Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Albany register. (Albany, Or.) 1868-18?? | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 1875)
COLL. VAN CL.EVK. ALBANY, OREGON. TOPICS OFTHE DAY. I is estimated that during Decem ber last two hundred newspapers -daily and weekly suspended publica tion in the United States, aDd that dar ing the entire year of 1874 no less than S8,000000 were lost in the newspaper 'business. Thb House of Representatives at "Washington has passed a general law granting to railroads the right of way through the public lan2s of the United .States. The bill provides that the right of way through the publio domain shall be granted to any road duly or ganized under State or Territorial law "to the extent of 100 feet on each side of the road. The King of the Sandwich Islands has paid his promised visit to Chicago, . and of course all the toadies, big and little, flocked to see kim. As it is the -first time a real live king ever set foot in the Garden City, a little curiosity on .the part of the people to view one of royal blood is perhaps , pardonable. The Chicago papers state that the dusky monarch bore himself with be coming dignity." Don Carlos, the pretender to the Tthrone of Spain, persists in his rebel lions movement, notwithstanding the restoration of Bourbonism under Al fonso. The Carlist army continues to maintain its warlike attitude. This, a 'threatened war with Germany, and the -continued insurrection in Cuba, will fgivo the young King enough of busi ness to keep his hands full for some itime. -s Thb quarterly statement of the con--dition of the eighteen Chicago national banks shows that these institutions have nearly regained their ante-panic position. It exhibits an increase of Joans of $1,010,000, and a decrease of -deposits of 3,500,000. This last item shows an increased activity in busi ness; it proves that people are not hoarding their means in banks, but are .putting it out where it will do the most good, in their estimation. t There has 'been a alight decrease in circulation from the previous quarter. Thb late Capt. E. B. Ward, of De rtroit, died leaving property valued at -rthe sum of 5,250,000. By his will, 'which has lately been admitted to pro bate, he leaves the bulk of his property, -in real estate and bonds, to his widow -and children, and decrees that the rest -of kis assets shall be devoted to pro Tiding an income for the children and .family of his first wife. He remem bered a number of old friends, Ben "Wade among them, with a gift of ;$5,000 each. Ts the year ending June 30, 1873, we -exported breadstuffs to the amount of -$93 318,599, and in the year ending with last Jane the amount was $160, rS85,421, an increase of $63,000,000. Provisions and petroleum were about the same in both years, while cotton rfell off $15,000,000 in the last year, and -tobacco increased $8,000,000. j On the - other hand, the imports for the year ending with Jane, 1874, were reduced $68,000,000, thus showing that are we lfinally getting the heavy end of our ao -counts with other climes, on our side. Thb great scandal suit of Tilton against Beecher, now in progress at Brooklyn, bids fair to be one of the .longest and most celebrated trials of -the age. The first week was consumed in choosing a jury. Judge Morris, leading counsel for Tilton, devoted three days to bis opening address, and -over a week was consumed in the exam ination of the first witness, Moulton. .As yet no testimony farther than that -contained in the celebrated " state ments" of last summer, has been brought oat. It is the opinion of counsel that the trial will be protracted through the winter, and possibly far into spring. Gen. S. V. Bbhbt, Chief of Ordnance, -estimates the number of heavy guns now in our ports at 1,745, of which 321 are 15-inch Rodman gun smooth bore ; -1 .294 10-inch i Rodman stubs, smooth -bore ; 90 8-inoh Farrott rifles ; 40 10- ineh Farrott rifles. These Farrott ri fles are so few in number as to consti tute bat an unimportant item among the -4,181 guns required for our forts, when readv for their armaments,- and he -recommends that an appropriation of -$250,000 be made by Congress jor oou vArtinr smooth-bore stuns into rifles by lining with wrought iron or steeL The -above sum will enable us to convert at Heast 140 guns. OmciAX. advices have been received trfrom the City of Mexico confirming telegraphic reports or important rau iroad undertakings in that republic. ' A -contract was signed between the gov--ernment'aad a Few England company -on the 5th of December, for' the eon---stmction of a railroad J from Mexico to Leon, and, on the 12th of December, -another contract was signed with Ed ward Lee Plumb, representing the In ternational Railroad Company of Texas, for the construction of a road from Leon to the Bio Grande, to connect -with the International railroad. Thia -will make it necessary to construct 1,080 miles of railroad in Texas to the 'City of Mexico. Missouri, following the "example of nearly all the Northwestern States, pro poses to enact a law regulating freight nd passenger tariffs' on her railways. -A stringent bill has already been intro duced in the Legislature for this pur pose. It enacts that no railway shall charge more than two cents a mile for passage money, except when the amount is a fraction of five cents, in which case the fraction may be added. It provides that suits for violation of the law may be brought in the Circuit Court of the county wherein the in fraction was committed, the action to be brought in the name of the State. The penalty is fixed at not less than $50 nor more than than $300, one half of the fin e to go the informer, and the other half to the school fund of the county in which suit may be brought. This year's annual dividends, says the Detroit Tribune, on the stocks and bonds of the various .corporations at Hartford amount to $2,518,698. The insurance companies cry aloud at their losses, which keep their dividends down to from 12 to 25 per cent, per annum. The Phoenix pays a quarterly dividend of 5 per cent., with an extra dividend of 5 per cent ; the Connecticut pays 6 and 3, and the Travelers', knock-kneed and gouty, hobbles up to the front with a semi-annual cash dividend of 6 per cent., with a stock dividend of 20 per cent, additional. The JEtna Insurance Company pays 6 per cent., and a total of $180,000; the Hartford total is $100,000; the Phoenix $60,000; the Travelers' $30,000 ; the National Screw Company (which is not an insurance company) pays 7 J per cent. ; total. $37, 500 ; and the Gatling Gun Company, 15 per cent.; total, $37,500. Mb. G. E. Morrow, of the Western Rural, delivered an interesting address at the meeting of American Dairymen, at Utica, New York, a few days ago, in which he showed the large proportions to which this industry is growing in the Northwest. Mr. Morrow exhibited a map giving the regious in Illinois. Wisconsin, Iowa and : Minnesota in which dairying has become prominent, and a history of the rise and progress of the business was given ; also a dis cussion of the obstacles and circum stances favoring prosperity in these States. Liability to extreme drought was named as the mos- serious ob stacle. The cheap lands and abun dance, and cheap food in summer and winter, except in times of great drought, give a marked advantage. The cheese product of these four States for 1874, was estimated at 25,000,000 pounds, Wisconsin and Northern Illinois pro ducing most of this and about equal quantities. Iowa produoed about 1,250, 000 pounds ; Minnesota but a few hun dred thousands of pounds. The prob able increase of cheese product for 1875 was given as 20 per cent. Whales as a Motive Power. It could hardly be otherwise, and the " divine fitness of things" still exists. It was all well enough when whales were necessary to the light of the world that they should be killed for their blubber ; but how, in the days of coal oil and gas, when the incentive to whaling is nearly gone, it seems all right that a new utili ty should be found for those monsters of the deep. To the philosophers who have been racking their brain and pon dering on this great waste of power, a little paragraph published in a Halifax newspaper must open a world of light. This luminous statement is to the effect that on the 23d of November the Ameri can fishing schooner Sultan, while riding at anchor on the Grand Banks, with 150 fathoms of cable oat, was taken in tow at the rate of twelve knots an hour by a whale which had become entangled in the cable. After an hour and a half the monster was cut loose, and got his harness for his pains. This might be the germ of a great discovery. Why should not whales do service in the sea in the same way as horses on the land ? We can fancy some New Bedford mariner, who has made the habits of the whale the study of his life, training a school of young mon sters. . First, to test their utility, he might try them with a small boat ; but to find out their power he must ship aboard a fishing schooner and hitch one of his immense steeds to the anchor. All that is necessary is to form a stock company, buy- up Coney Island for a stable, and make application for the privilege of taking the merchant ma rine to and fro. "There's millions in it. " New York Tribune. Height of Human Beings. M. Silbermann draws proof of the equality of the sexes from a somewhat novel mode of studying the human spe cies, lie finds that the average height of the individual in France, male and female, is 1.60004 metres, when stand ing with the arms hanging by the side, and two metres when the arms are ex tended above the head. Two persons lying extended would measure four metres, which is to the earth's meridian as 1 to 10,000,000, precisely as one metre is to the earth's quadrant as 1 to 10,000,000. Four metres, therefore, or the average measure of a wedded pair, he calls the base of the harmonic pro portions of the human race, in whieh woman fills one-half the measure, and therefore is by right equal to man. A more interesting result of M. Silber mann's measurements and studies is his conclusion that the average height of the human race has not changed since the Chaldean epoch, four thousand years ago. This strangely confirms the view of the substantial identity of the races, in which the family of man is new di vided, with those which existed in the beginning of the historic period. A Tkbbtblb Death. The Buffalo Courier says : Augustus Catwinkle, of Salisbury, Herkimer county, left his home last Wednesday week to look at some timber land several miles distant. TT tvuMma Injifc axtA whilA nrniuino- a creek broke through. . He "pulled off his boots to empty the water, and they froze so hard that he could not get them .mi. , TTa than nrawlfwl for s lnntr distance on his hands and knees in search oi some reiuge irom me pene fnr afmnflTtherA. but death tint an JF , " " I J9 u:m aTiiTAi-incra. ftnrl vhnn fnnnw ciiu w o- I he was in teat position, xv was seen where he had attempted to build a fire with bark which he had pulled from the trees, and in another place he attempted to make a snew icwu J? top of a bushy spruce tree. Those who v.itiV Via traveled at least a 1UUUU Juu " . ........ dozen miles before he was frozen, and everywhere along jus iouwj uusie were indication of his having resorted to every imaginable plan to save his life. Carrent Paragraphs. Thb labor market in the Luzerne (Pa.) ooal district is reported glutted. Scranton, with a population of 35,000, cannot now give steady employment to 3.000 men. Carbocdale, sixteen miles distant, with a population of 12,000 men, cannot employ 1,000, and so it is all along the Lackawanna valley. Sheffield has not yet recovered from the fright occasioned by the saws sent there by the terrible Yankee manufac turers. Well, it does look a little alarming. Just imagine what commo tion it would create among our Western Grangers if tne Eaglish farmers would commence exporting corn to Illinois. Two of the old cannon used in the Revolutionary war at the old fort at Cambridge, Abbeville county, S. C, were sold for $5 each the other day, and were sent to Charleston. The can non were about three feet long, with a bore large enough to shoot a lemon, and could easily be carried by a mus-' cular man. The production of opium in Asia' Minor, which in former years averaged annually from 2,000 to 3,000 baskets or cases, each containing 150 pounds, has of late years much increased, and the crop now averages from 4,000 to 6,000 baskets. Out of this quantity, which is shipped at Smyrna, the United States take about 2,000 cases. Some time ago, W. W. Corcoran, of Washington, offered to the Columbian University an estate valued at $250, 000, ai an endowment fund, on condi tion that other friends of the institu tion would raise within a certain period an additional sum of $100,000. The Executive Committee of the University now announces that the requisite amount has been subscribed in Mary land, the Middle and New England estates, ana in tne Uistrict. Thb gold and silver production of the district of country west of the Mis souri river for 1874 is stated as fol lows : California Nevada Oregon Washington Idaho Montana Dtah , Artso&a Colorado. Mexico BritiBh Columbia. . Total .$20,809,581 . 35,453,333 609,070 155,535 . 1,SSO,004 . 3,43t,498 . 5,911,278 20.066 . 4 191.405 788 878 . 1,636.557 $74,401,055 Thb New York Iribune recently sued to recover moneys alleged to be due for advertising. The suit was defended on the ground that the advertising had been obtained by misrepresentation as to the circulation of the Weekly Trib une, which was claimed to be consider ably over, while, the defendant alleges, it was considerably under, 100,000. The court made a conditional order for the production f the company' books, and the- , t r the present, the TO eed ing rests. " A bachelor in Omaha, Neb., who was the fortunate possessor of a house ready furnished, recently effected a most advantageous arrangement. He found a pleasant family anxious to take boarders, and willing to take his house and furnish him with board and part of the profits for the rent. This arrange ment worked very pleasantly for the bachelor until the other morning, when he awoke and found the family gone and himself with a house full of board ers to provide for. At last accounts he was trying to extricate himself from the dilemma. These recently died in the north of France at the age i of eighty-three, a miBer who lived alone, and whose hut, when examined by the authori ties after his death, proved : a sort of gold mine. His pillow alone contained 19,000 francs in gold pieces of the time of Louis XV and XVL He had a taste for old pieces. He had been robbed many times, and the thieves were generally detected through the antiquity of the money they stole. The total of the sums robbed from him in his life, for which men have been convicted and sentenced, reached 100,000 francs. Home and Happiness. There can be no doubt that the truest happiness is ever to be found at home. No man without a home can be leng and truly happy. Bat the domestic group can be productive of happiness only when it is assimilated by affection, and kept in union by discreet friendship. Then it tends to produce as much hap piness as this world is capable of ; and its sweet repose is sought for by all sensible men, as ever by the wisest and the greatest. What can be compared, in our intercourse of life, with the atten tions of our family, with their exilarat ing smiles and unassembled loves ? All this raises the gentlest and most pleas ing emotions, and calls forth' all the sentiments of uncontrolled nature. What are the raptures of ambition, the pleasures of fame, the delights of honor, in comparison with this? Utterly worth less and insipid. Hence it is that we see senators and heroes shutting out the acclamations of an applauding world to partake of the endearments of family conversations, and to enjoy the prattling of their little children in their harmless pleasures. This is one of the purest sources of mirth. It has in fluence, too, in amending the heart; for innocence is communicated by com ing in contact with it; and the sweet simplicity of children tends to purify the heart from the pollution that it has acquired from moving in the world and mixing with men. Into what an abyss of moral degradation should we not be sunken were it not for women and children? Well might the Great Author of evangelical philosophy have been de lighted with the presence of children, and found in them what he in vain sought among those who judged them selves their superiors goodness and vir tue. Cicero, with all his liberality of mind, felt the tenderness of home at tachment. At one time he acknowl edged that he received no satisfaction in any oompany but in that of his wife, his little daughter, and, to use his own lan guage, "hishoneyedyoungCieero." Sir Thomas Moore, with his great powers of mind, devoted a great share of his time because he knew it to be his duty and felt it to be his delight to the amuse ment of his children. Homer, in his Iliad, in the parting interview be tween Hector and Andromache, - has interested the heart of his reader in his terrible hero by showing the amiability of his Trojan chief ; by depicting him, while standing completely armed for the battle-field, taking off his helmet that he might not frighten his little boy with its nodding plumes. How re freshed are we by this scene of domestic love 1 And how pleased to see the arm which is shortly to deal death and de struction among a host of foes, em ployed in caressing an infant son with the embraces of paternal - love.-Pen and Plow, :. ... .. 1 . . Auosso the Twelfth' is the title of the new monarch of Spain. THE LITTLE FOLKS. The Foundling. AH the long night poor kitty waa lying Oat on the door-step, the dear little pet ! . Crsnched in a oorner and feebly crying, " Pleaae let me in ; I am hungry and wet." t Nobody shewed her a morsel of pity, And wildly the r tin and the tempest did roar ; Nobody oared that a poor little kitty Waa crying, " Please open the window or door. " Give me a corner, no matter how narrow Only a aheltdr from weather and wind ; I have no nest like the mouse or sparrow, A cold, dripping door-step is all I can find." Long after daylight we heard the faint mowing. "A kitty I" cries Jenny, and springs out of bed, Steps to the door to ses what she is doing, And finds the poor creature is very near dead. Bnt Jennv soon had her wrapt np in her tier, And Effle and Bella brongnt milk in a disn. And Gip was delighted, and 1'om lit the lire, And kitty soon had all a kitty could wish. Lightning In Johnny's Hair. " Combs can't bkw can they ? " Could yon guess what Johnny meant by such a queer, backhanded question ? I couldn't, nor his sister Mary, either. I was quite sure, however, that be meant something sensible, if one could only get at it ; but Mary was doubtful. "Blow what ? " she asked not so gleasantly as she might. " Why, blow air," said Johnny, " to make wind." ' Of course not, you silly child ; what makes you ask such a silly ques tion as that ?" Mary thinks Johnny is a pretty bright little fellow in general, but on particu lar points she is always ready to call him a dunce, without stopping first to find out what he really means to say. The trouble is she knows so little her self that she thinks she knows every thing, at least everything worth know ing ; and Johnny is all the time puz zling her with questions that she has no answer ready for. "What have you seen to make you ask that question ?" I inquired. " I didn't see anything, ' said Johnny ; " I just felt it like some one breathing softly on my face and hand when I held my comb near." B "Nonsense," said Mary; " you just imagined it." " No I didn't," Johnny insisted ; " I felt it really, this morning, when I was combing my hair." "Oh," said I, suspecting the cause of his difficulty ; " what kind of a comb was it ?" "A black comb," said Johnny. " Horn or rubber ?" I asked. " It s a rubber comb," said Mary. " How did your hair behave when you were combing it ?" Mean as anything, " Johnny replied. "It stuck up like Mary's when it's frizzed, and wouldn't stay anywhere." Part of that was for Mary's benefit. Johnny likes to tease her. " Did yisu think the comb made it do that by blowing it?" I asked. "Not at firstc," said Johnny; "the comb seemed to crackle, and I put it to my ear to listen ; then I felt the wind on my cheek." " Suppose you bring the comb here," said I, " and show us what it did." Johnny ran off for the comb, but came back quite crestfallen. " It won't do it now," he said. " As much as ever !" cried Mary, tri umphantly. " But it did this morning, truly," he he said, rather humbly. "Pshaw?" said Mary, "you imag ined it." Like many another discoverer, John ny had to learn what it is to be discred ited and ridiculed for knowing too much. Because Mary had never noticed what he described, she was as ready as older people to cry "nonsense," "impossi ble," and all that sort of thing, without stopping to consider whether he might not be in the right after all." " You had better try again some other day," I said to Johnny. " Try differ ent combs. Try in the dark, too." " What for ?,r Johnny asked. "You might see something," I said. "In tne dark?" "Yes, in the dark." Johnny wondered how that could be ; and he wondered still more when I sug gested that it might be a good plan to try the comb also on Humpty Dumpty that's his shaggy dog. Two or three mornings after, Johnny came pounding at my door before break fast; when I let him in he cried, "It blows now, sure I" "What blows?" " Why, the comb." I took the comb from his hand and putting it to my cheek, said, " I don't feel any wind from it." " That isn't the way," he said, reach ing out for the comb. " You must do this first," and he ran the comb rapidly through his hair a few times, then held it to his cheeJE, saying, " I can feel it plainly." "See if it will blow these," I said, stripping some bits of down from a feather and laying them upon the table. Johnny repeated the combing, then held the comb near the down expecting to see the light ( stuff blown from the table. To his great surprise it was not blown away at all, but on the contrary it sprang suddenly toward the comb, then dropped off as suddenly. That's queer," said Johnny. I excited the comb again and held it near the back of my hand, calling Johnny's attention to the fact that all the fine horse hairs stood up when the comb came near them. " When you hold the comb near your cheek," I said, " the downy hairs stand up like that, and the feeling is just like that of a breath of air." t " Then it isn't wind that comes from the comb ?" "No, it is not wind." "Maybe the comb Is a' magnet," suggested Johnny, seeing its attraction for light hairs, dust and the like, as I held it over them. I took a small mag net from my table-drawer and held it near the feathers and hair. It did not stir them, no matter how much I rubbed it. It picked up a needle though, very quickly. Then I rubbed the comb, and though it attracted the feathers it had no effect on the needle. ' " Is that like a magnet?" I asked. ' " No," said Johnny. - ' When the needle . springs to the magnet it sticks there; but when the hair or down springs to the comb it flies away again instantly." It is very queer," said Johnny. " Try this horn comb," said L Johnny tried it, but comb his hair as much as he might, the horn would not draw anything. Then he tried a shell comb, and an ivory comb, neither of them acting as the rubber comb did. "I don't understand it all," said Johnny. " Nobody does fully," said I ; "but if you keep trying you may learn a good deal about it in time." Then we went to breakfast. It was several days before the subject was brought up again. " I've been watch ing a long time," said Johnny, that evening ; I began to think it would never happen again, but it's a first-rate day to-day - V Have you found out anything new?" I asked. ' , " Not much," said Johnny. "I tried Humpty and the comb crackled like everything. What makes it do that ?" " 1 think we'll have to study that to night," I replied. " Where's Humpty ?" " In the kitchen. Shall I call' him ?" " If you please ; bring pussy, too." Johnny was soon back with Humpty and Nebuchadnezzar th&t's pussy. We call him Neb, for short. Then we went into the library and put out the lights. "Hew can we see what the comb does ?" Johnny asked. " Some things oan be seen in the dark," I replied. Then 1 drew the comb briskly through Johnny's hair, making it snap and sparkle beautifully. " See," I Baid, bringing the teeth of the comb opposite my knuckle, "this is what makes the snapping." " How pretty !" Johnny cried, as the tiny sparks flew from the comb to my knuckle. "What is it?" " Lightning," said L "Lightning! In my hair?" " Certainly," I said. " Let me comb out soaie more." Johnny was almost afraid of himself when I brought another lot of sparks from his head. . " Folks had better look out when I'm around," said the little fellow, pomp ously. " Mary says I make more noise than a thunder-storm sometimes ; I guess it's the lightning in me. Some body 11 get bit yet." " Not very severely, let us hope," said I, laughing. " Suppose we try Hnmp ,ty. Maybe he's a lightning bag, too." Sure enough, when we passed the comb through his shaggy coat the sparks flew finely. So they did when we rubbed him with the hand. Let's try Neb," said Johnny ; " here he is under the sofa; I can see his eyes." But Neb had no notion of being rubbed the wrong way. As soon a3 the sparks began to show his patience gave out, and he went off with a rush. " I guess Neb's lightning goes to his eyes and his claws," said Johnny. After that we tried the sheepskin rug, Mary's muff, and several other things of the sort, getting sparks from all of them. Everything seems to have lightning in it," said Johnny. "Apparently," said I, " but you can't make it show in everything alike ; any way, not by rubbing. Try the chair back, the table, the sofa, and such things. Generally when two things are rubbed together the lightning or elec tricity as it is commonly called es capes quickly. When it can't do that, it accumulates as it does in the rubber comb and goes off in a snap when it gets a chance. When a cloud contains more electricily than it can hold, some of it jumps to another cloud or to the earth, making a flash of lightning. The thunder is ita prodigious snap and the echoes of it. Are your slippers quite dry?" " I think so," said Johnny, wonder ing what that had to do with lightning. " I think the furnace has been on long enough to make the carpet .quite dry, too," I said, turning just a "glim mer of light on. " If it is, you can make a little thunder-storm of yourself easily." "How ?" Johnny asked eagerly. " Just skip around the room a few times without taking your feet from the carpet." Johnny spun round like a water beetle for a minute or two j then I stopped him and told him to reach ont his forefinger. When he did so, I reached ' my forefinger to his, and as the points came together snap went a spark between them, whereat Johnny cried, " Oh !" and put his finger to his mouth. "Did it burn you ?" "No," said Johnny, "but it scared me." He was not so badly soared, however, but he wanted to try it again and again, while I turned up the light and went on with my reading. By-and-by Humpty came out from under the sofa to see what was going on, and Johnny sent a epark into his nose. It didn't hurt any, though it surprised him not a little. " Wouldn't it be fun," said Johnny, "to give Mary a shock?" " Charge yourself again," I said, "then come to me with your hands down." Johnny did as I bade him, where upon I stooped and kissed him on the mouth. It was his turn to be sur prised that time. Just then Mary came to tell the young lightning-catcher that it was time to go to bed. " All right," said the little rogue, cheerily, skipping about the room. " Kiss me good-night, Mary, but don't touch me with your hands," he said at last, demurely holding up his mischiev ous mouth. Mary gave the kiss, and got in return what she didn'J; expect. " You little rascal 1" she cried, " you've got a pin in your mouth." " No I haven't," he said. "It's a piece of rubber, then." "No, it isn't rubber." " What was it ?" " Lightning," said Johnny. " See I" and he skipped a few times across the floor, then gave her a spark from his finger. Then he ran off to bed, laugh ing at Mary's bewilderment. Christian Union. A Long Baggy Bide. A gentleman from our distant sister State of Kansas is visiting in this city for a few days, who drove all the way from Kansas to New Hampshire in a top buggy drawn by a single horse. This is 1'homas H. -Kinney, of Wells ville, Kan. Mr. Kinney left the fertile soil of the garden of tne West on the 5th day of October. He carried only what baggage he could stow away in the buggy-box, traveling thus in light marching order. His horse was a native Kansas 4-year old oolt, sired by the celebrated Gen. Mitchell, which follow ers of the turf have often heard of. They started out in the early morning, and traveled three days without incon venience. Then, for the first time in his life, the horse was shod. Later on the shoes were taken off and reset, and afterward en route he was shod a sec ond time. This was all the shoeing necessary. The roads were all sorts, of course, and onoe or twice, on account of rain and other causes, Mr. Kinney had to stop over for a day or so at a time. But he met with no accident, and ac complished the .whole 1,529 miles in fiftynine days, arriving at Charlestown, N. XL, both horse and himself, in the very best condition. Norwich (Conn.) Bulletin. Thb word "bonanza" has been freely launched upon the sea of journalism, and. is likely to become a household word. A Nevada paper says it is Span ish, end means "fair weather at sea." Applied to mines it means " a body of rich ore." When a Spanish miner strikes a good vein, he replies . to the query: "How are you getting on?" in his own language, " Oh, ir en bo nanza," which means in American slang, Oh, we're all hunkey-dory 1" Why Alexis Hade a Trip Around the woria. A correspondent of the New York World, writing from St. Petersburg, says: You remember the vague rumors concerning the marriage of the Grand Duke Alexis, the handsome youth about whom so many society belles in New York went half wild at the time of his visit to the United States. The story has never been told in print except in a very fragmentary way. Among the demoiselles d'honneur of her Majesty, the Empress, there was a pretty and attractive girl, the daughter of a high official who was a member of the Coun cil of the Empire. She was attached to the imperial household and lived in the palace ; Alexis fell in love with her fell in love over head and ears, which was very wrong for a Grand Duke. He declared his love and found it recipro cated, and with the headstroncr impru dence of youth he proposed to elope with her and be married. She, poor girl, did not weigh the consequences, and probably was not aware what a mess she would make by accepting his offer. One day while the court was at Moscow the twain met by appointment, sought a priest and were united. The marriage waa kept secret for two or three months, but marriage, like mur der, will out, and this case proved no exception to the rule. When it bee ime known there was a scene such as does not often happen. The Emperor swore and the Empress cried, and the whole imperial family was in a funk. Alexis was talked to in a very plain, old-fashioned way. It was determined to send him on a long journey in the hope of curing him of his love, and so he was started on the voyage that brongnt nun to America and took him home by way of Japan and Siberia. Mrs. Alexis was sent out of the empire by a special train, and the eye of the police was not taken from her until she was safe over the frontier. The priest who performed the ceremony was packed off to Siberia in spite of the protest that he didn't know the parties, and that he married them just as he would have married any other couple. They didn't let on who they were, buj only - gave their names a la Husse as Alexis Alexandro vitch and Marie Paulovna, which are about as traceable or suspicious in this country as John Smith and Mary Jones would be in New York. Alexis came back after an absence of three years, and he is now commander of one of the crack ships of the Russian navy. It is intended when the Grand Duke Constantino, present Grand Admiral, has passed away to make Alexis his successor, and so his voyage aound the world cannot fail to do him good. The wife and the priest are still in exile, the former in Switzerland and the hitter in Siberia. Alexis has repented of his folly, and the family quarrel has been partially smoothed over. A Razor that Talked. A city man who has had one of his country relations " come down " to spend Christmas with him, was asked for the loan of his razor by his guest. Wishing to afford every facility, he put an extra edge on his best Damas cus, and passed it over. It came back with the edge turned, and the user re marked that he " couldn't exactly get the razor used to his baird, fur he didn't know what it was doin', some how." The gentleman glanced at the " baird" in question, and next day handed his visitor another razor, which had done duty in chiro pedal operations ; but. repenting of tne act soon alter, visited the room of the member from Cranber ry Center to reclaim it, where he found him before the glass with the instru ment going through the aforesaid " baird " sounding like the grit of a teazle or pair of wool cards, with the hair flying like a shower of iron wire, and now and then a patch of skin com ing with some of the more vigorous pulls. The words of apology that rose to the lips of the host were checked by his guest, who paused in his labor and turning from the glass, observed : "None of yer new-fashioned razors fur me. This is a razor that you know what it's doin'; this razor " as he fell to work again, and a sound as of sand paper scratching glass arose "this razor talks, and tells what it's about." ' A Colored Boy's Story of the Sea. Charles Tuttlef a colored boy, who ran away from his home in Ellington, Conn., three years ago, has returned, and has a sailor's yarn to spin to the wondering countrymen. He has been as a whaler, and says his ship got blown from its course, and , food and water gave out. After three days, lots were cast among the crew in order that one should give his life to sustain that of the others. The blank was drawn by an old sailor, and he being a favor ite, there was a cry from many that his life should be saved. It became evi dent that mutiny must prevail. 1 The captain and party and other sailors formed sides and armed themselves ready for a bloody fight, .but just then there came a cry of "a sail," and every sailor dropped his arms and good feel ings were. restored. A Dog's Exploit. A gentleman in Des Moines owns a very intelligent little dog, which he has trained to bring him his morning paper from the front gate, where it is left by the carrier.. The other day some one stole the paper directly after the carrier had left it, and Carlo was greatly mys tified about the matter. Fearing his master's anger if he entered the break fast room without his accustomed bur den, he scoured about in great distress. A happy idea struck him, however, as he espied a journal lying on the door btep of the opposite neighbor, and gal loping off in high glee, he soon came into the house with ears pricked up and ' tail briskly wagging, with ; the stolen prize in his mouth. It is quite needless to add that his penetration, though misdirected, was rewarded with a bone of extra siae. - DKSTBUcnoir or Man-Eatkbs. The destruction of man-eaters, tigers and leopards, by means of strychnine, proved so effective in the Coinbatore districts in Madras that the lossof human lif e has been reduced to nil during the present year, and the number of cattle killed has been much less than usual. Fifty-three tigers and thirty-two cattle killing leopards have been destroyed within the twelve months, the majority of them poisoned by baits prepared by order of the village magistrates, ! and the others by shoe ting and trapping. Although the wild beasts thus disposed of were most of them only cattle-killers, it is stated that by . their destruction there is a much less chance of man eaters being developed. ' ! j Sixes the famine set in in Asia Minor 60,000 people : have , emigrated from various parts of the country, half of wnom nave -suooumred to disease. : ; Carious Legends.; ; i The Festival of the Asses, which has been for long ages observed in Verona, grew out of the following circum stances : According to the legend, the young ass on which our Savior entered Jeru salem was set at liberty immediately after, and profiting by his opportunity, took to traveling in Palestine, from whence he made the tour of Egypt visiting every place of interest or note, and nobody appears to have caught him I Crossing the Mediterranean dry shod, without the aid of any ship or bark whatsoever, he went to Cyprus, Bhodes, Candia, Malta and Sicily ; he then walked up the Adriatic to Venice, which citv. by the way, waa not then in existence; but he seems not to have liked the little island, for soon he passed on to Yerona. where he fixed his resi dence, and where he died at a very ripe age. The pious and hospitable Vero nese placed his remains in a reliquary of the same shape, and they kept it in tne cnuron dedicated to " saint Mary of the Organs ; " every year this inter esting and valuable donkey was carried in solemn procession through the town of Yerona ; at the present date, the Festival of the Asses has become a mere name. The'Geneese were fortunate enough to obtain the tail of the above-mentioned ass, and they kept it with great piety in the Church of Saint Dominiok, whioh stood where the Theater Carlo Felice was afterward built. In the city of Constance, on the lake of the same name, among the relics may be seen the spider swallowed by Saint Conrad, when taking the wine at mass, the spider seams to have made good his claim to mummification by making his exit from the thigh of the saint, without having done any harm, during his residence within 1 Two lambs belonging to Saint Francis of Assisi distinguished themselves im mensely by pious acts; one of them went early to wake a lady whom he afterward conducted to mass, and the other lamb attended mass every day, remaining on his knees during the en tire service ! - - la the curious legend of Saint Julian encountering a deer in a wood, there is a trace of the Eastern belief of trans migration. The saint went hunting deer in a forest, when suddenly the animal he was following stood at bay and spoke thus : " Do not kill me, for, in so doing, thou wouldst kill thine ancestors." Saint Boch, or Boque, is always por trayed with a dog in close company, to commemorate the story, that, being struck down with the plague when far from all human aid in the wood, he was discovered by his dog, who brought him food every day till -he was entirely re , stored to health. The crab of Saint Francis Xavier has been rendered more notorious by some curious old frescoes in Sienna, tnan by the printed histories whioh relate that the saint, being desirous to calm a sud den squall, reached bis hand out beyond the bulwark of the ship, intending to show the crucifix in his hand to the -waves, but his hold relaxed and the crucifix fell into the sea, whereupon, a "saintly crab," as the legend calls him, hastened after the vessel, politely offer ing the recovered ; crucifix to Saint Francis, and the fresco shows this courtly crustacean holding up the re covered treasure in his claw. The Cock of Saint Peter is said to have been carried into Spa'n by the Apostle James; feathers were sold at great prices to the pilgrims who visited Compostella. The poet Southey gives the story in some unimportant varia tions in his humorous "Pilgrimage to Compostella." The name of that city is said to be merely a corrupted pro nunciation of " Sanctus Jacobus Apos tolus." RepeliiIko Ants. Some years ago, says a correspondent of the London Times, at my house in the country, a colony of ants established themselves under the kitchen flooring. Not know ing the exact locality of the nest, I en deavored to destroy the insects with treacle, sugar, arsenic, etc. ; but, al though I slew numbers thus, the plague . -tt - . A. 1 LI 1.7 buxi increased. . at laoc, oei.iiiiia.m8 myself that ants dislike the smell of tar, I procured some carbolic acid and diluted it with about a dozen times its weight of water. I squirted a pint of., the mixture through the air-bricks under the floorine. and my enemies vanished that day, never to return. It has always been successful. For crick ets, etc., also, a little of this sent into their holes acts as an immediate notice to quit. ' - ; Ths Lost " Mtjbxjuiio." The famous stolen picture of Moriilo. whioh was found by Mr. Sohaus, a picture dealer of New York, has been returned to Spain. There -are comparatively few so-called picture dealers who would have recognized the priceless treasure, even if they had seen it. especially in its damaged condition. By a fortunate onanoe tne persons wno nad somenow or other come into possession of it took it to Mr. Shaus, who is a connoisseur as well as a dealer, and in the most graceful manner he has returned the prise to the country from whioh it was stolen. It is an incident which will always be recorded among the interesting anec dotes of celebrated paintings. Thbsw too Hard. A boy in Lan caster, Penn., fourteen years old, broke his arm in a curious way, a day or two ago. lie was snow-oaiung witn otner. boys, and expressed a determination to l throw a snow ball over the top of a bell tower. He made several unsuccessful attempts, and in making a final " good . effort " the. bone of his right arm was broken square off between the elbow" and shoulder. He was standing in the middle of the street at the time, and. had no opportunity of striking .his arm" against any outside obstacle, and there seems to be no doubt that the bone was fractured by an unusual exertion of ' muscular force. The other boys present . -say that " his arm cracked like a pistol." -- - .- ' - ; . ; I As Mb. Mobtdrs Nth, Mayor of Lapcrte, and Mr. William Trowbridge, of New Castle, were taking extremely front seats at the Metropolitan the other night, Mr. Nye, says, says he. " There's Morg. Wier ;" and he pro ceeded to whack Mr. Wier across the shoulders with his cane. Mr. Morg. " Wier turned around, and it didn't hap pen to be Morg. Wier at all, but the fellow that looked like him. It took." all the eloquenoe of the Mayor of Laporte to pacify the man that looked T like Wier, and all three took a little lemon in it. IndianapolU Herald. Bkoausb Mrs. Sid don a declaimed hex request for the potatoes or ask&l for gravy in the same tone that she cried -"Infirm of purpose, give me the dag gers," most modern tragedians feel it their daty to say "How do you do ?" with a sepulchral emphasis that sends ' shivers down the hearer's spinal column.