jUbaug Register.
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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.