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About The Albany register. (Albany, Or.) 1868-18?? | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 1875)
jUbaug Register. r-nusn"1 kvttst j-wt7t r.T ALBANY, I - . 'OREGON. A SEWING GIRVS TRIUMPH. How a Penniless Seamstress Became a Suc cessful Authobess. Battle Creek (Mich.) Cor. Chicago Times. "The well-known publishing house of D. Iiothrop & Co., of Boston, hare a new book in press entitled A White Hand : A Story of Noblesse Oblige by Miss Ella Farm an, of Johnstown, Barry county, this State, which will be issued in time for the holiday trade." Such is the announcement that has gone the rounds of the Michigan papers. But the readers, who prob ably glanced carelessly over the brief paragraph, had no idea of what a his tory it contained a history of success attained after a hard Btruggle with poverty and want. The story of the life of the authoress is a story of the final triumph of a poor sewing girl over difficulties that would have made many a stronger heart give up in despair. Miss Farm an came to Michigan from Augusta, Oneida county, N. T. which was the place of her birth, at the com mencement of the rebellion, and took up her residence in this city. She made a living, or rather attempted to make a living, by doing sewing for one of the tailoring establishments. Soon after her arrival here she made the acquaintance of Miss Emma Shaw, whose parents reside in Johnstown, and who was also a seamstress. They were congenial companions, and an at tachment sprang up between them which ripened into a friendship as con stant as that of Damon and Pythias, and ever since they have lived constant ly together. The two girls rented rooms in a dwelling-house, did their own work, and endeavored to earn their bread by the needle. But your corre spondent is informed by those who were acquainted with their circumstances at that time that they had a hard struggle to get along ; that their earnings were often too small to afford them more than a scanty subsistence, and that they frequently failed to "make both ends meet." They were very self-reliant and independent, however, and would not accept assistance from any one, but re ! lied entirely on their own efforts to make a living barely a living at the most. While striving and laboring on in this manner Miss Farman occasion ally wrote short Btories and sketches for the newspapers, but with little pecuniary results. About this time the Detroit Tribune offered several prizes for short stories. The obscure authoress took the fourth prize, which, although but a small sum of money, -was a "God-send" to the poor girls. This small reward encouraged Miss farman to persevere in her efforts to become an authoress, and she continued to write until her talents did become known and appreciated. She has con tribnted to the Atlantic, Harper's Scribner's and the Galaxy, and her 8 to lies are now solicited by the leading pub lishing houses of Boston and New York. Her previous works consisted of stories and dialogues for the young, among which are the following books : " The Allie Bird Series," "Annie Maylie, "A Iiittle Woman," and "Grandma Crosby's Household." With her first earnings Miss Farman bought a little house and four acres of land in the township of Johnstown, Barry comity, nine, miles from this city, and a short distance from Bedford Cen ter, Calhoun county, which is her pres ent poetoffioe address. From time to to time, as circumstances would permit. she has added to her possessions, and now she has a little farm of thirty-five acres. With her still resides her con stant and ever true companion, Miss Emma Shaw, between whom and her self there exists a singular and most de voted attachment. Miss Farman's widowed mother, in her declining age. finds a comfortable home with her affectionate daughter. The three con stitute this happy little household. Miss Farman has one sister, a young lady who is engaged as a teacher in the public schools in this city. . V Miss Farman has received numerous letters frjm the admirers of her writ ings in the East, and has had several earnest solicitations from wealthy peo ple of Boston and New York to spend the summer with them at their summer residences. It must be particularly gratifying to her whea she looks back on the years that she passed in this eity overcoming apparently insurmount able difficulties, entirely unrecognized by our citizens, to think that she is now the recipient of the most flattering con gratulations from the Eastern literati. Michigan has furnished the literary "world with but few novelists, and among the number Miss Farman will rank with the foremost. Her new book is a novel entirely complete within itself, and is said to be her best effort. It will meet with a rapid and extensive sale in this section; where the story of her literary life is known. That she is deservedly entitled to her hard-earned success is the verdict of all. THE "DEVASTATION The English government has an ele phant on its hands in the iron-clad Devastation. She was designed as far back as the early part of 1869, and she lias never yet been trusted in really Tough ocean waters. There was a talk of sending her to Vigo this autumn to see how Atlantao waves agree with her ; but the visit is postponed, for it has been discovered that all openings to be below, except from the hurricane deck, would have to be closed for four or five days, and toward the end of that time ' the atmosphere between the decks would become a " poisoned air-bath. When this has been put right the Ad- 1 miralty will consider whether she can safely be sent into ( the open sea ; but not much, hope is entertained of her ever being fit for that. , ENTOMBED ALIVE. A Horrible Talk or a Twelve Years Soli tary CONFINEMENT IN THE WILDERNESS. A strange and horrible tale comes to us in the Allentown (Pa.) Chronicle, of a man imprisoned on the Blue moun tain in that section, within four brick walls about seven or eight feet high, bricked over the top and inclosing a space of six feet square, without either door or window. The discovery of his whereabouts was accidentally made by a Mr. Edward Powell while out hunt ing. He says the man bricked up in that monumental coffin, and who suf fers death in life, is named Levi Hand work, and that he has been imprisoned at that place for twelve years. It seems the father of Handwerk died and left his son $4,000. He was a lunatic, subject to fits of ungovernable rage, thereby endangering the lives of .those about him. The mother of Hand werk married a second time, and it was then that Levi was consigned to this dungeon a violent, raving mad man. Here, if the details of this hor rible story be true, he has wallowed in filth, nis food passed through the small aperture made by leaving out a brick in the wall, exposed to the severity of the winter weather, crying, shrieking and yelling, when the storms have swept over the mountain, and making night hideous with his frantic cries. It seems incredible impossible. Yet Mr. Powell is sure of the brick dungeon and its in mate, and gives the story of the pris oner as it was given to him by the neigh bors some of whom say that the last time he was seen he was perfectly nude and his body covered with long hair from head to foot. The motive for the confinement is that he is not safe to be at large, and " if he had been sent to a lunatic asy lum, the $4,000 would have been appro priated by the State to keep him." Certainly, this story demands investi gation. It is dreadful, indeed, for a man to be deprived of reason but to be bricked up in the woods, to be for ever removed from every influence that might possibly soften his great afflic tion, to be left like a beast in filth, to be perpetually in darkness and in solitude it is a fate so horrible that humanity shudders at the thought of it, and we cannot but hope that the story here re lated and made known through Mr. Powell may be exaggerated, if not un true. Mr. Powell, however, positively asserts that the man is there a con fined as described. On Monday Mr. Edward Powell, of Allentown, the gentleman who first dis covered Handwerk's situation, accom panied by Coroner Moser, Messrs. George Hersh and D. H. Nothstein, proceeded to the place in Washington township, and were led by Mr. Powell to the mysterious structure. The building is situated, it is said, about 100 yards from where his parents (?) reside, and when the Allentown party arrived, a Constable from Slatington and another gentleman were preparing to remove Handwerk. The strong iron bars were taken down by the Const ble and the party entered. The sight that met their eyes is simply indescriba ble.' Lying on a patch of fine straw, in a nude state, covered with a thick crust of dirt from head to foot, was a human being, the stench arising from the bed of filth being intolerable. The pen in which he was confirmed is four feet square, made of brick, lined with rough pine boards. When the party "entered Handwerk "was lying in a crunched position, and it was only with assistance that he could "stand on his feet, his limbs being paralyzed. They carried him to his mother's house, and after washing and clothing him he was taken by the Constable to Slatington. A permit was procured for his admis sion into the Lehigh County Alms House, in which institution he will re ceive better and more humane treatment than heretofore. When brought to the light of day, he looked wistfully around and occasionally muttered inco herently. He rubbed his eyes vigor ously, which were almost concealed by dirt, and although his sayings were un intelligible, it was noticed that his countenance beamed with joy at hav ing secured liberty after so long con finement. : It is alleged that years ago he was in his right mind, as records kept where he sold game to other par ties testify of business transactions which were by no means conducted by an insane person. A PH0 TO GRAPHIC NOVELTX. An application , of photography, which is antlv described as startling. has been hit upon by an English ama teur, whose name is not given. The inventor claims to have discovered a method of fixinar the image of an object on a sensitized plate, not more than half an inch in diameter, an impression from which can be afterward ; enlarged to the necessary size. The plate is fixed into an ordinary locket or keep sake hanging from a watch-chain, and can be suddenly exposed, by a touch of the finaer. on entering a room, and an image taken of a picture or of a person without any one besides tne operator being aware of it. 1 Thh Charles town (Mass.) Advertiser should be turned out of church for say ing that the " magnificent chromos" presented by the religious press gen erally as premiums to subscribers, " worth $5 each," cost them all the way from 85 to $15 per 100 ; that is to say, from five to fifteen cents apiece. ChabtiW8 Lamb said of one of his critics: "The more I think of him, the less I think of him." COR HO RAT, JOHN SMITH'S TACTICS. Coi-pvial John Smith with four men was employed lately on' detail duty a few miles from Foi t Sill, Indian Terri tory. It should be mtntioted that the party was accompanied by a small and unprepossessing dog of the famous mongrel variety. Corporal John Smith and party, in the pursuit j of a short journey across the prairie,' were so un fortunate as to suddenly find them selves most uncomfortably situated. Their discomfiture arose solely from the fact that they were surprised and sur rounded by about a hundred hostile Indians. The demeanor of the savages indicated at once their blood thirstiness and the confidence that they were soon to call the scalps of five United States soldiers all fondly their own. The red skins underestimated . the character of Corporal John Smith. He directed his men to avail themselves of the only available retreat an old buffalo wallow, and there, most uncomfortably cramped, they managed to keep the Indians at bay for the day and night. Want of food and water began then to tell on the little band, and Corporal John Smith played his last card. He tore off a comparatively unimportant piece of his shirt and upon it penciled an earn est appeal for assistance. This he tied about the neck of the disreputable mongrel ; then battering up a canteen, he attached it securely to the tail of the animal, and with a vigorous kick sent the cur off yelping painfully. It is a fact with which most people are familiar that a dog with a tin can tied to his tail makes good time, and the mongrel was no exception. The corporal, describing the occurrence afterward", eaid the deg "just humped himself." The, Indians, thinking the whole scene merely an act of useless bravado, paid no attention to the dogand within two hours he ar rived at the fort with the canteen at one end of him and the message at the other. The message was read and Cor poral John Smith and party speedily relieved by a company of soldiers, at whose approach the Indians fled. Saoh is the brief record of a Western advent ure, and if Corporal John Smith does not receive promotion, then republics are ungrateful and no mistake. With a West Point education the corporal would be invincible. A BEAUTIFUL HUNTRESS. Miss Clara Hale, of Harrisburg, Pa., has been on a gunning expedition down the peninsula, and met with consider able success. Early on Tuesday morn ing of last week she went out, and in a short time succeeded in bagging sixteen patridges and three quirrels. ; The night of the same day she shot eight muskrats, two of which, however, she failed to get. On Wednesday afternoon she gave a few invited friends an ex hibition of her skill in handling the revolver. An old-fashioned copper cent was fastened to a fence post, and she hit it eight times out of ten. Several pigeons were let out of a trap, every one of which she brought down. Miss Hale is a beautiful brunette, about 17 years old, and her form is perfect. She is intelligent, a fluent speaker, and de lights in recounting her hunting ad ventures in the mountainousregions of Pennsylvania. Her uniform consists o a tight-fitting light corduroy jacket, a short skirt of the same material, with the inevitable bustle, which she utilizes for the purpose of carrying her ammu nition, etc., several pockets being neatly arranged in it. Her cap is also of light cordaroy, with an oil-cloth reversible cover, and her feet and 'ankles are tightly encased in a pair of india-rubber boots. She carries one of Bemington's handsome fowling-pieces, land seems greatly attached to her two canine com panions, who answer to the names of Eloise and Skippo. The Seaford Citi zen says she is now visiting a few friends in Sussex county, and will soon return home. I ANIMAL PETS. j It is, perhaps, too much to say that cruelty Co animals and crime necessarily go hand in hand ; yet it is a suggestive fact which Mr. Bergh records in his paper, the Animal Kingdom, that of two thousand convicts of whom inquiry was made, only twelve admitted they left pets at home ; and this is in accord ance with the experience of all visitors among the poor, who tell us that the pet squirrel, the canary hung in sunshine, the cat purring on the hearth, are sure indications of quiet and content within. Who has not often passed a humble dwelling and, catching sight of flower pots in the window, has not felt that re finement had l its abode there? Leigh Hunt pleads for a 1 geranium in the window; we plead for other flowers as well ; and for pets, too. Give your children all the means you can for asso ciation with life, vegetable and animal, and jou will humanize them, while you save them from the vicious thoughts of idle hours, and give them a pleasure which they will cultivate and perpetuate through life. Cowper, who would " not needlessly set foot upon a worm," ac quired his love for pets when a child ; and some of our greatest men notably Clay, Webster, Agassiz, and Marcy were as fond of pets in later years as in early manhood. SINGULAR. ' i The Galveston News relates a roman tic story of a Texan murder and the dis covery of the murderer. It is to the effect that some weeks since, in the Cot tonwood neighborhood in , Guadaloupe county, Mr. Job Drennan and his wife and daughter, when returning from meeting, were shot by wayside assassins. Near the bodies a piece of gun wadding was found, but partly burned, and tracks leading toward the house of an old man, a German named Kunda, and his son Fred. In the old man's house, on the mantel shelf, was found a torn Ger man newspaper, into which the partly burnt piece of wadding fitted exactly. On making the connection a broken line read: 'And he raised his gun to his face and shot him dead.' Though this sentence was but a part of a story in the paper, it was the nucleus of a most sin gular and startling coincidence. VISITORS TO EDITORIAL ROOMS. This brings us to another point, and one upon which we have often felt like saying something. . The Springfield in terviewer, when he visited the Gazette office, thought he had reason to feel he was not treated politely. He found several persons in the office, all at work, who did not drop their pens and rise to their feet when he approached. They answered his questions in as few words us possible, and without looking up, perhaps. That was not polite, but it is a species of impoliteness that has be come a necessity in the editorial rooms of newspapers ; and people who visit such places on their own business must calculate upon apparently cool recep tions. Not all who visit editorial rooms are intruders or bores, but a great many are, and these are so numerous that all visitois are looked upon with some de gree of suspicion until their business becomes known. It is never pleaBant to be interrupted in editorial work. It has a tendency to make men cross. There is a pressure upon editors. They work nearly all the time under a pressure. Often their ideas do not flow freely, and when they are not pleasing themselves they are not in a mood to spend much time upon those who interrupt them. We suppose it is safe to say that three-fourths of 'those who call to see " the editor" have no business properly with that individual. Often they do not know him personally, and in order to find him they interrupt half a dozen or a dozen men, who have important work to do, and only a limited time to do it in. Then, if they receive short answers, they feel aggrieved and talk about impolite treatment. The editorial rooms of a newspaper establishment are private, and are only to be visited, except as a matter of favor, by those who have business that concerns the editor. The best way, if people have something to say to an ed itor, is to write it down and send it to him. This would save time on bot sides, and answer a better purpose, nine times out of ten, than a personal inter view. Cincinnati Gazette. THE LADIES' COCKED HAT. The following opinion of the Hart ford Courant in regard to the present style of ladies' hats is not complimen tary, but, perhaps, just : Believers in th6 intellectual equality of the sexes are puzzled to account for the sheep-like manner, in which the entire female sex will rush into a dress absurdity at the dictation of some dressmaker or mil liner, who possibly draws her inspira tion fron the Parisian demi-monde. As an instance take the last agony in hats. Some unknown woman satirist conceived the idea of exhibiting the weakness of the sex by means of the ordinary felt hat, cocked on one side. A year ago the average fashionable woman would as soon have worn cavalry boots and spurs. But to-day you may count them as they go by on the street-blue-blooded or shoddy, strong-minded or weak, intellectual or frivolous nine out of every ten will have the same style hat, cocked as to one side, and we suppose they speak of them with the same tender and gushing admiration as of the "loves of bonnets " which a few years since ornamented the wonderful superstructure which adorned the female head. We admit that this is a danger ous subject. We may be told that the cocked hat is no more absurd that most of the other styles of head-gear which have been invented, and that the creat ures who consent to wear stove pipes are not competent to judge what is absurd in the other sex. And we must admit that there is just the least shadow of foundation for the retort. The silk hat is not exactly an article of beauty, and the felt hatis better than the aver age, but let us suppose that some am bitious hatter should attempt to intro duce a tile with no brim on one side or shaped like a funnel, how many of his fellow-citizens would adopt the ab surdity The Hon. Alvah Crocker, Represen tative in Congress from the Tenth Dis trict of Massachusetts, died at his home in Fitchburg a few days ago. Mr. Crocker, was, we believe, the oldest member (in years) in the lower house of Congress, being in his 78th year. He was eminently a self-made man, and had acquired a vast fortune. He be came a factory operative at 8 years of age, but in the intervals of his work managed to secure an academic educa tion, by means of which he obtained employment in confidential relations with the proprietors of paper mills, and became himself an owner ef mills. His political life began in the lower house of the Massachusetts Legislature in 1836, 1842, and 1843. He was a mem ber of the State Senate two terms, was elected to the . Forty-second Congress Jan. 2, 1872, to fill the vacancy occa sioned by the resignation of William B. Washburn, and was re-elected to the Forty-third Congress. He was not a candidate for re-election last fall, being too infirm for further service, and Prof. Seelye, of Amherst College, was elected to succeed him. Pomadk Caused Beak's Orb. Melt together over a water bath; soft or lard body, six pounds ; oil of almonds, three pounds ; mix well and upon its com mencing to congeal add oil of bergaznot, two ounces ; oil of cloves, one ounce ; oil of rose, twenty drops. Beat well with a wood enspatula until cool. Teb best protection against other people's ill-manners are one's own good manners. FRIGHTFUL EXECUTION. The Hahoino of the Murderer Murphy, at Carbon, Nevada. In May last John Murphy shot and killed, while he was unarmed and run ning, his former companion and asso ciate, John B. McCallum, because of bruises and cuts he had received in a fight a few days prior. Murphy swore that n5 man should draw his blood and live, and, while his victim was writh ing in the agonies of death, Murphy said he had rather be hanged th n see McCallum get well. The murderer was hung for his crime, last month, at Carson. The San Francisco C-ll gives the following de tails of the execution of the hardened wretch : After surveying the crowd, he quiet ly took a chair, while the Sheriff read the warrant, and listened attentively throughout, interrupting once to ask for a drink of water. At the conclusion he looked at the beam overhead and asked for his books and manuscripts, from which he read an hour and ten minutes. Opening the book by Judge Edmunds, on Spiritual ism, he cast a long look at the beam and noose overhead, stepped forward on the trar, and, in a screaming, al most unintelligible and weird voice, said, looking at the noose : " This is my doom : But this book teaches me that I will never die." "I never thought I was worthy of being hanged, but now I must be hanged, and, before God, I am inno cent. I never had a fair trial. The Judge had the names of my witnesses and put them in his pocket, and left me in the lurch. The jurors, by Cx d ! had their minds made up beforehand. This is h 11 of justice ! I have no re more of conscience. Had I had a fair trial I would now be walking the streets of Carson, whistling ' The Girl I Left Behind Me.' " He then said, with a demoniacal laugh: "I am not a Christian ; I do not believe in the Bible or in Christ as the Son of God. I would sooner die a Tom Paine than hug the delusive phantom of Christi anity around me." He then gave a detailed statement of the killing, ending with a couplet about his foe, and added that " when Johnny Murphy draws, he draws to kill." He then read passages from Edmunds' works on Spiritualism, on life, death, and immortality, and from his own manuscript, subsequently, that capital punishment is wrong ; that when society forgives, the law has no right to interfere, and that the gallows is a hideous feature of civilization and a trap-door to dam nation." After reading for some time, he again became hoarse, and a large drink of brandy was poured out to him. . He drank it with a relish, and said, "I have been a horrible drunkard all my life, and like it to the last. They say an open confession is good for the soul, and I now make it." He then leaned with his arm akimbo over on the rail ing, and recited a piece of poetry, rail ing at judges, clergymen, the various professionals generally, and Christian ity in particular, laughing while recit ing humorous passages, and then con cluded saying, " I will detain you not much longer." Then taking another book, he leaned his head on his hand, as if in painful thought, walked to and fro, and then stood firmly, dirpctly un der the noose. Kneeling, he read a short prayer from the book of his spir itualistic faith, and then eaid he asked no more than an American welcome from the people. He then stepped aside, and v-hile the Sheriff was manacling him ea U : "I have suffered a gieat deal, gen iemen." After standing silently for a mc inent he said, "Be Jasus 1 it's too light, and I would like to give them J udges a lit tle ' drop' if ever I oome back." Then he said to the Sheriff: "Did'nt I tell you I would die like a statue 1" He hoped the life of Somers, who is to be hanged at Genoa on Thursday, would be spared ; and, recognizing the Gold Hill News reporter, said, "Tell them I'm in a tight place." The rope was then adjusted, and the noose being high he had to stand on tip-toe, ' and it was noticed that he turned a little red in the face. The noose fitted rather loosely, and Murphy said, "Sheriff, draw the rope tighter." The black cap was then drawn over his face, he shook hands with the Sneriff, and said, " Good-bye, John." Deputy Condon shook hands with him just as the rope was cut, and was almost pulled over through the trap by Murphy as he fell through the door. Those on the plat form, and many others, instinctively turned their heads with a shudder as he fell with a heavy thud through the trap, his feet reaching within two feet of the ground. The drop was six feet. Almost instantly he gave a convulsive shudder, drawing up his legs abbut two inches, was then apparently lifeless for a second ; anqther writhing convulsion, and all was over. He died in half a minute, his neok being broken almost instantly, AN INL) US TRIO VS WOMAN. A short sketch of her history may be an encouragement to other lone women : When her husband' died she was1 not able to buy a head-stone complete, but bought a marble slab in the rough and finished it. She then carved some work and took it to a marble-worker, and told him she was a widow with a family of children and wanted work. The dealer examined the work, said it was good, and that he would give her work on two conditions. First, she should promise not to work for any other dealer in the city ; and secondly, she should promise not to open business on her own ac count. She said she would agree to this if he would agree to keep her in work all time. But this lord of crea tion would agree to nothing of the kind. She went to another city, there got work without special agreement, and is now doing well. LAND SLIDE ON THE AMAZON. The banks of the Amazon are not just the place one would like to locate a house, if we may believe Mr. Bates. He says that canoemen on the Upper Amazon live in constant dread of the landslips, which occasionally take place along the steep earthy banks,, especially when the waters are rising. Large ves els are sometimes overwhelmed by these avalanches of earth and trees. One morning I was awakened before sunrise by an unusual sound, resem bling the roar of artillery. , I was lying alone on the top of the cabin ; it was very dark, and all my companions were asleep so I lay listening. The sounds came from a considerable distance, and the crash which aroused me was suc ceeded by others much less formidable. The first explanation which occurred to me was, that it was an earthquake; for, although the night was breathlessly calm, the broad river was much agita ted, and the vessel rolled heavily. ' Soon after, another loud explosion took place, apparently much nearer than the former one ; then followed others. The thundering peal rolled backward and forward, now seeming close at hand, and now far off ; the sudden crashes being often succeeded by a pause, or a long-continued dull rumbling. At the second explosion, Vicente, who lay snoring by the helm, awoke, and told me it was a " terra cahida," but I could scarcely believe him. The day dawned after the uproar had lasted about an hour, and we then saw the work of de struction going forward on the other side of the river, about three miles off. Large masses of forest, including trees of colossal size, probably two hundred feet in height, were rocking to and fro, and falling headlong, one after - the other, into the water. After each ava lanche, the wave which it -caused re turned on the crumbly bank with tre mendous force, and caused the fall of other masses, by undermining them. The line of coast along which the land slip extended, was a mile or two in length ; the end of it, however, was hid from our view by an intervening island. It was a grand sight, each downfall created a cloud of spray ; the concus sion in one place causing other masses to give way a long distance from it, and thus the crashes continued, swaying to and fro with little prospect of a ter mination. When we glided out of sight, two hours after sunrise, the destruction was still going on. Mr. . Bates' New Book. . ; SPONGE-FISHING. The majority of the boats used in the fisheries are ordinary fishing-boats three parts decked over, and carrying one mast with an ordinary lug-sail. They are from eighteen to thirty feet in length, and are manned by a crew of four or five men, one of whom is spe cially engaged for the purpose of haul ing, while the rest are divers, j In seme cases the men own their own boats, but generally they are hired for the season, which extends from June to the middle of October. No wages are paid ; the remuneration consists in an equal share of the produce of the fishing. The profits of a good diver reach as high as forty pounds a season. Diving is prac ticed from a very early age up to forty years, beyond which few are able to continue the pursuit. It does not appear, however, that the practice has any tendency to shorten life, although, as the diver approaches forty, he is less able to compete with his younger and more vigorous brother. The time dur ing which a Syrian diver can remain under water depends, of course, on his age and training. Sixty seconds is reckoned good work, but there are rare instanced of men who are able to stay below eighty seconds. The men on the coast, however, make extraordinary statements as to the length of 'time their best hands are able to remain under water, and gravely assert that eight and ten minutes are not impossi bilities. For the benefit of the curious in such matters, we give a description of the manner of diving : The diver naked, of course with an open net around his waist for the receptacle of his prizes, seizes with both hands an oblong white stone, to which is attached a rope, and plunges overboard. On ar riving at the bottom, the stone is de posited at his feet, and keeping hold of the rope with one hand, the diver grasps and tears off the sponges within reach, which he deposits in his next. He then, by a series of jerk t o the rope, gives the signal to those above, and is drawn up very thankful to once more breathe his nat; ve air, one would imagine! Thb editor of the Bastrop (Texas) Advertiser having been absent from that lovely town for a short time, in forms us that " a glow of satisfaction permeated his heart as he once more trod the flagstones of Bastrop." His return seems to have called forth the tenderest emotions of the human heart as it beats in Bastrop, for. he ; was pre sented with " a fifteen-pound beat, two large heads of white cabbage, a mid dling of dried fish, and a whole wedding-cake." No wonder a glow of satis faction permeated his heart under the circumstances.' It must have been drier than one of the dried fish other wise. ' v A cask of sickening cruelty on the part of the Sheriff of San Antonio, Texas, toward a prisoner confined in jail, is reported. The prisoner was held for murder, and when a circus came to town the other day the Sheriff refused to allow the man to attend. Public in dignation at San Antonio is naturally aroused by this barbarous and heartless nnovation. SPAIN'S NEW RULER. Don Alfonso is a youth of seventeen years, not strong either in body or mind. He is universally regarded in. Spain as illegitimate. He has no claim whatever upon the throne except that he is the son of his mother, who, was asu bad a woman as queen. . Her mother was like herself, and her father if pos sible, worse. For four generations th line is utterly corrupt and worthless. Since Charles IIL no one can point to a good reign, we may almost say to a good action, of aSpanith sovereign ; of course we except the unfortunate ex periment of Amadeus of . Savoy, who was a gentleman at least. vBut Charles IV. and his son Ferdinand were not gentlemen in any sense of the word. They were cowardly, treacherous, un truthful, weak, and personally dishon est. Queen Christine and Queen Isabel were sot ladies; it is -not possible to call them so without casting derision upon the name. They were unfaithful rulers, unfaithful wives, not honest even in money matters. Both the Kings and both the Queens we have mentioned broke their word so frequently that no one. could trust them. Their public character was as bad as their private. We do not accuse them f being the. cause of all the misery of which Spain has suffered for the last century. Even v the best of Kings, like Charles IIL for instance, could not make Spain happy. But it is as clear as day. that these sovereigns, while doing no good have done infinite harm to their unhappy kingdom. Their incapacity as rulers was as evident as their immorality as individuals. Tneir acts were as noxious as their example. New York Tribune A TOOTHSOME ROMANCE"? A touching tale of man's inconstancy and cruelty comes to us from Evans ville, Ind. It is but the "old story of r - i a it 1 J3 Bupernciai auecnon wu lauuew u eoer tion, but there is a slight variation from the. usual details which gives the case a special interest. But a few short weeks ago the relations existing be tween a certain man and. , woman of . the trnvn mantiAnAd ff 4-.TiA nlnfiAal1 anil warmest. - Mutual vows were inter- f changed, and, for once, the course of as the muddy Ohio meandering past the town. It is recorded that the amorous lover, in the depth of his affection, even went so far as to present the lady with a set of false teeth to re place the natural ones missing from the lips where his were wont to stray and Bip the honey-dew of love.' But man is fickle, and this man wasn't any excep tion to the rule. He allowed his" affec tions to transfer themselves to another Evansville maiden. Then came, the unkindest cut of all. The new inamo rata chanced,' too, to be toothless and the hard-hearted lover went to her he had deserted, and, wresting away the set of false teeth he had bestowed, pre sented them to the new love. No won der that outraged maidenly self-respect rebelled at such an act! The first wearer of the teeth now wants the as sistance of the police to recover the useful apparatus, and there is great commotion over the case in the society of Evansville. The case, taken; alto gether, is a remarkable one, and sug gests one interesting query : Are all Evansville women toothless? Wilt the Evansville papers explain, the matter ? ALGERIAN RACES. M. Topinard concludes his paper on. the anthropology of Algiersi by .draw ing attention to the five periods which characterize the anthropological history of the colony, and which are those, of the brown-skinned Kabyles ; the light, skinned Kabyles; the Numidians, to whom we must refer the greater num ber of the Berber inscriptions hitherto found ; the Romans, Arabs and Turks ;. and lastly, the Aryans. M. Topinard is of the opinion that in the fair rand dark-skinned Berbers we have a kindred, race with the oldest West-European races, and that therefore, with due re gard to locality, we have evidence that European colonies could be made, like those tribes, to flourish in various parts of Algiers. In the meantime, however, as General Faidherbe has remarked, it becomes a question of political as Well ethnological importance to investigate, and, if possible, arrest,' the causes which are diminishing the numbers of , the native population, whose existence, is the more important fromi.heir being the best able to bear the climate, and cultivate the soil. M. Topinard -considers that the mortality among the na tive races is not to be ret erred with any special prominence to diseases intro duced by Europeans, but is due very much more to a natural scrofulous di athesis antecedent among them, than to any important constitutional taint, while famine, war, and many other causes depending upon political condi tions, are probably the most "important agents in the process. COLORED MASONS. A colored Freemason, belonging to a Connecticut lodge, is in the lecture field lecturing on " legitimacy of colored Masons in the United States." Having investigated the record he finds that. Masonry was introduced , among the colored men of this country by the initi ating, passing, and raising .of thirteen colored men into a traveling-lodge, at tached to Gen. Gage's amy, statiened at Boston,onMarch6.1775. In September 1784, the Duke of Cumberland, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge oj England, granted a warrant for thenstituting of African Lodge No- 459 n 1792 Jhe Master of tMs lodge instituted another in Philadelphia. In 18274the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania warealled lnto- and in 187 the National Grand Lodge was formed. There are now over one hundred thousand colored men in the United States who are Masons.