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About The Albany register. (Albany, Or.) 1868-18?? | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1875)
OF TEE ISLANDS. CAKI1BAL tTune, " Katbrouk.' The Kiss oi the Cannibal Islands Derided to eonqner mm dry lands, , Ho he marched over valleys and highland With twenty -four oannihal braves ; , With two down man-eating knaves, All hungry aa no many graves, He skirmished through earthlands and S-ylandp, Defiant ot weather and waves. Re cam to Atlantis the Hoi V whom people were jamo-uae ana owiy, Though growing a tooch roly-poly And languid in lasting and prayers ; They fasted while sleeping, like bears, And nraved In their Vanity Fairs, And walked in the narrow way slowly, - Much cumbered with Beelxebub'a wares. Then followed' a wonderful battle ; Good lack ! how the weapons did rattle ! The women, the children, the cate Took nart in the de Derate Strife I They carried the war to the Knue ; With Blaushter Atlantis waa rue ; About It the Muaes wiU prattle While Providence grantem tnem life. The Cannibals turned out the winners, They made twenty-five hearty dinners, They gobbled the saints and the sinners And put all Atlantis to sack; They swallowed white, yellow and black, The hungriest, greediest pack Of robbers and pickers and skinners That ever sent region to wrack. Henceforth they were chiefs of the nation, And lived by relief legislation ; They served up a bill for collation And fattened a law like a beast; Their appetites daily increased ; A lunch was a patent, at least; While railroads and steam navigation Scarce furnished the Joints for a feast. .. . W. lte Forest, in Scrtbnerfor March. CURIOSITIES OP ANIMAL FOOD. For several years past the fantastic. French have been hixurating on horse flesh, and recently a wild Englishman gave a grand dinner, at which choice cut tings from a favorite horse were served up as the leading delicacy of his table. The horse was 18 years old, and had been ridden on many a splendid hunt ; but those facts, of course, only tended to enhance the luxury. In certain parts of Africa, in Trinidad, Ceylon, Borneo and South America, boiled and roasted monkey is considered a delicacy the red spider, fox and howl ing monkeys each possessing a peculiar flavor. Indeed a gorilla steak, to the South African, is a morsel not to be ex celled ; but, as this custom is too nearly allied to cannibalism, Anglo-Saxon travel ers have seldom been tempted to partici pate. In the islands of Mauritius and Mal abar, several varieties of the bat, some of them with wings four feet in extent, are eaten by the natives with avidity, but the story that the Dutwh, when in possession of the former island, were fond of the monkey, is said to be incor rect. The Arabs do not object to ike flesh of the hyena, although so rank that the dogs will not touch it ; and it is well known that the polecat is eaten by the aborigines of North America ; while the opossum is appreciated even by the better classes of the Southern States. In Italy the fox is considered fit for the table of a Cardinal, and, while ravenous Esquimaux dogs will not touch this animal after killing, the Indians them selves consider it excellent food. The natives of the Malay peninsula eat the flesh of the tiger, which is thought to inspire courage, and the Hottentots and other African races are wont to feed upon the lion ; while the American Indians have no scruples in regard to the wolf, the panther, the cougar, or ihe lynx ; many varieties of people esteem the flesh " of the dog ; the ancient Greeks and Ko mans thought it light and wholesome, and the comijaoia- people f modem lioma depend upon it to a considerable extent ; in China they are fattened for the table ; in Zanzibar a stew of puppies is a luxury even with the King ; and in the Sand wich Islands a pet puppy is often placed before a hungry guest, and roast dog is common among the natives of Africa and the Indians of North America. In Australia, where alone the kangaroo is found, it is considered a delicacy, and its liver, when dried and then pounded, is used as a substitute for bread, and it is a remarkable fact that the aborigines of that country always eat their food roasted, being without the utensils for beating water or cooking liquid food. These people also enjoys frogs, snakes, mows, ana gruos, dui amior oysters. Among the Esquimaux roasted mice are considered delectable, while the wal- rus, - the porpoise and the whale are among the necessaries of life. In some of the West India islands. and in Brazil, fried rats are considered superior to frogs, and among the Chi nese rat soup is only equaled by a soup of caterpillars boiled in a thin gravy with onions. -.-j- In various parts of South America the ant-eater and armadillo, the latter roast ed in its shell, are constantly eaten, and are said to resemble roast pig. ? ' In Africa and India the flesh of the elephant is generally eaten, and the paws considered an Apioan luxury. . In Abyssinia the descendants of Ras selas doat on a hippopotamus or rhi noceros steak. . The nomad tribes of northern Asia and the aborigines of America are famous for their : horse flesh feasts ; horse-eteaks have long been authorized and . publicly sold in Copenhagen, and one of the-- latest gastronomic innova tions in France and Germany is the use of horse flesh.: The Persians and Tartars hold the flesh of the common and wild ass in high es teem, and, wherever the camel and the giraffe are found, they are frequently eaten, ihe tongue of the former and the marrow of the latter being considered " deUeaciea.fi'.'--fr -i-. -.-..-.- . The ornithological tastes of the human race are more appropriately and generally diffused than is the case with the mam mals ; and with the exception of a few such birds as the crow and the buzzard, - both of which are sometimes eaten, all the feathered tribes em to have been cm ployed as food, when necessity or luxury haa demanded their death. The only really curious fact connected with bird food is that which exists among the Chinese, where the- nests o a species of swallow, formed of a mucilaginous substance, is considered a luxury, the constituent qual ities of which have never been, ascer tained by analysis. ,- --iS& yv.; But in regard to the reptile race, the . barbarous epicures of the world practice some singular habits. The true lizard, called the iguana, is considered, in moat tropical consrfcries, as but little, inferior to the common fowl in flavor ; the alli gator and crocodile, in all the countries where they are found, are considered fit for food, and are said to resemble veal, both in appearance and taste ; seme of the tribes of Southern Guinea eat the boa constrictor j in Ceylon the flesK of the anaconda is esteemed as food by the natives, and ia various parts of America the s rattlesnake is pronounced capital food, while in Frasicti, as is well known, frog are deemed luxury. L What has been said in regard to birds is quite as applicable to the fishes of the rivers and the sea,' fend thera is nothing very curious or. cirnninj? ia .raployiEj : any of them for f -the varieties of few of thera sr -doubted, bi t queer-loLI:1 such otLnJi i . not cyc" excepting C'. -,u Xju&b soma or.ous cannot be " such awfully $ re known by s-vl so rare, that THK KCTQ they may be permitted to pass on their way rejoicing. In the Shetland Islands, lobsters and crabs abound, which the people catch for the Liondon market, but refuse to eat even when half starved. English epicures consider the john dory a delicacy, but the inhabitants of Devonshire, in England, and of Ireland, never touch them. In Scotland an eel is rejected as if it were a snake. Along the coast of Xew England the sword-fish is heartily enjoyed, but in the markets of New York it meets with little patronage. In former times the Creoles and Indi ans of South America looked with horror Upon a turtle, and yet in the United States none but the rich enjoy the fare. But, when we come to consider the in sect races, we find that they furnish more food delicacies than is generally supposed. The grub or the paini weevu is considered as something delicious in the West Indies, in Surinam, and the Island of Mauritius ; the larvte of the cocoanut beetles are enjoyed by the inhabitants of British Guiana, and in South America and Western Africa cer tain mammoth beetles are eagerly de voured, some specimens of which, in former years, have been sold for English cabinets at the rate of 50 ; in Australia,, many worms, bred in decayed waod, are collected for human food ; va rious members of the locust family are now, and have been from time immemo rial, employed as food in various parts of the world, and, as they live on vegetable food, it is difficult to understand why a mess of grasshoppers may not be as pala table as a dish of shrimps ; a curry of ants' eggs is deemed a luxury in Siam ; various kinds of water-bugs are eaten in Mexico ; butterflies in Australia are more higldy esteemed for their flavor than their beauty ; spiders form an article in the list of Bushmen's dainties in South Af rica, and roasted spiders are spoken of as enjoyed by the people of New Cale donia Lolande, the French astronomer, having been fond of them and Hum boldt tells us he has seen the centipede eagerly devoured by the children in South America. In Italy cockchafers are candied and served up with other confectionery, and in Austria large wood ants are served up and eaten alive. The diversity of tastes prevailing in different parts of the world in regard to food would seem to confirm the proverb that " one man's meat is another man's poison." In very many instances, what 13 higldy esteemed in one country is ab horred in another. Milk as an article of food (except for sucking babies) is loathed by the South Sea Islanders. Goats have been intro duced into several of the islands, but the people deride the settlers with using the milk, and ask them why they do not milk their sows. On the other hand, dogs and rats are favorite articles of food with them, As for pork, it is on religions grounds that the Jews and Mo liammedans abstain from it, as the Hin doos do from beef. But the Christians of the East seem to have nearly an equal aversion to it ; and the like prevailed until lately in Scotland. Maize or Indian corn has been intro duced into New Zealand by the mission aries, and the people cultivate and higldy esteem it. But their mode of preparing it for food is, to civilized people, most disgusting. They steep it in water until it is putrid, and men make it into a kind of porridge which emits au intolerable stench. , Human flesh has been and still is eaten in many parts of the world, and that by the people considerably above the lowest rank of savages, such as those in the Fejee islands and an Indian people called the Batto, who are said to have a written language. And even in cannibalism there are great diversities some nations eat their enemies and some their friends. Herodotus relates that a Persian King asked the Indian soldiers that were in his service what reward would induce them to burn the dead bodies of their friends instead of eating them.-- They replied by entreating him not to mention anything so shocking. On the other hand, the New Zealand j ers before their conversion, who seemed ; to have considered that the proper diet of mankind is man were once in the habit of eating only their enemies, Among the Australian savages it is ; said that if a mother finds a young baby troublesome to carrv about, she will eat it (although she will! not allow any one else to do so), under the full persuasion that she merely deferred its birth, and that the next child she bears will be a reappearance of the ' eaten one. When remonstrated with she will reply: " Oh, massa, he plenty come again!" By Eome Arctic travelers it has been asserted that the ' Esquimaux have been known to eat their sledges when pressed with hurgar ; but when we remember that these sledges are made of frozen salmon, with skins sewed over them, our wonder is modified, and, in an ex tremity, a piece of one sledge, washed down with whale oil, might not be such a dreadful tit-bit. Ships of the Desert in Nevada. It looks queer to see a Nevada pappr protesting against obstructions to camel travel, and yet that is what the Virginia Enterprise is doing.. It says: "We hope members of the Legislature will, before voting, ' carefully - consider Mr. Car ling's bill, which seeks to prohibit the traveling of camels and .dromedaries on. the' public . roads. .;,,Members should remember that these . animals were brought here originally at great expense by the government ;. they thrive well in the desert ; they are useful as. pock ani mals ; the man or men who own them have property rights. ' All these things must be considered. ' To turn them off the roads is to destroy their : usefulness. We hope vMr. CarJttng will . explain whether the roads usually traveled by these animals are crowded by , teams, or whether it is necessary for the safety of men who drive-horses that these ani mals be excluded from, all public high ways. Mr. Car ling ought to make a full explanation ; and as he is a young leg islator we suggest that on this subject of camels he humpJ himself a little. " It is definitely settled that Chicago is to have a narrow-gauge railroad. Con tracts have been made by the Chicago, Millington and Western Bailroad Com pany Jbr sufficient iron to lay the first thirty miles of track from this city, west ward, to,be delivered within the next two or three months. Ten miles of the line are already graded, and the entire . route from Chicago to Muscatine, Iowa, has been surveyed. The road will run via Aurora, Princeton, etc, westward to the Mississippi river, and will, it is thought, be the inauguration of an extensive sys tem, ultimately, of narrow-gauge lines, with Chicago . as a ctmter.r-(?hicago Journal. tj , ........... - ..r .i-..-ft.-.?;..--- Okk 'train came into Denver, eleven days from Kansas City, bringing six tons of mail matter 12,000 letters for Denver alone, and 40,000 letters for surrounding points; one ton of newspapers also form ing an agreeable feature of freight Sew York Fashions.: The spring stock of Lyons silks will consist of failles of medium reps, and of darker colors than were ever before worn in April and May. There are no more high colors and no more mixed ones, but many natural quiet hues that will please the most fastidious tastes. Brown and gray shades make tip two-thirds of the importations. Beige shades, thit are natural soft browns, predominate, and range from the deepest noisette up to cream and flesh tints. The' grays are clear and deep, with occasioned blue tones. Deep green, blue, violet, and plum-color are so dork as to be almost black. French manufacturers are still happy in nomenclature, and have given expres sive names to new shades : for instance, chinchilla gray is the lightest shade of the fur of that name ; argent is the clear silver gray so dear to our grandmothers ; Oxford is a blue-gray like that of the English linens worn last summer ; 'a stylish hue is a deep stone gray, ycleped Sphinx ; tempctc (fempest-colpr) is the suggestive name of a murky grayish hue ; Suedoise is a cold gray with un told depths of blue ; French gray is soft dove-color ; Prussian gray is like old fashioned aahes-of -roses ; and to com plete the gray list are two nondescript hues called Ashantee and Coomassie. . The handsomest and freshest brown shades are clear, rich and deep, without any reddish Bismarck tints, or the green ish olive and bronze hues lately worn. Seal brown and nut brown predominate. The darkest natural beige brown is called Concha, and a similar shade is Trabucos; Tunisienne is a lovely clear brown, and ronce is brier brown. Penelope, Cep, and Noe are capricious names for equally capricious tints. Veronique is the name given dark greens whose color is almost invisible. Hydre is drab of beautiful bluish shades. Jujube is the color of the dark red paste of that name. Cratere is reddish-brown. Capre is dark rich green. Aeier is Bteel color. Light shades for evening j dresses are amande. or almond-color ; cream-color, that is, unbleached white ; Italie, a clear i i . - . l ni n T.T 1. siraw-coior ; a on pin-, uutb iub xreuuu call sourire fa smile) ; and myosotis, which is forget-me-not blue.j Many ar aent. or pale silver shades, are' also shown. J New black silks are of what merchants call "finer makes." meaning smaller reps instead of the heavy cords lately worn. They have also morel luster than thev have had for years, and are of coal- black hue instead of that blue-black once in vogue. PONGEES. The serviceable pongees once so much prized in their quiet gray I and brown solid colors have been transformed also into gay plaids. Some of j these have lavender or gray grounds with maroon bars, or else they are all brown and ecru with occasional lines of blue, or purple, or white. raw silks. Many novelties for spring suits are shown "in raw or crude silk fabrics that are very similar to Chinese silks both in color and quality, and also ! in designs. Indeed, the tendency in spring goods is to represent soft Oriental; stuffs that drape prettily, and do not crush easily. The matelasse caprice is also repeated in these crude silks as the designs are copied, though the fabric is so light and thin that it has not the wadded appear ance of the heavier stuffs. I These dia r mond, star, compass, and other "quilt--"' ed " designs are found m 1 ecru, beige brown, and gray raw silks that are similar to the Txmsrees of two years ago. There are also crude undressed silks woven in plaids of beige shades on cream-colored grounds, with occasional bars of cardinal or of navy blue. These are $2.50 a yard, and are to form parts of costumes. GBEKADIKES. Checks, blocks, plaids, stripes, damask patterns, and matelasse figures are all brought out in the new black grenadines for next summer's dresses. The checks and blocks are in square canvas meshes, alternating with solid reps of the same shape, or else they have lace-like blocks beside a brocaded squarei The mate lasse and damask patterns will probably be popular, as they are new. The bro caded figures are so fine that they might be mistaken for , needle-work. ! These figured grenadines are far more largely imported than plain canvas grenadines, but the latter will not be abandoned by conservative ladies who del not seek the latest novelties. j ' BYRON COIiAB AND CTJFFS. The coming noveltie in :' ladies' lingerie are Byron collars and cuffs ; in deed, they have already been introduced, and have become popular with fair young ladies whose complexion can endure this broad expanse of linen ; boarding-school girls especially delight in! them. They are like gentlemen's shirt collars, with rather more exaggerated points. They are made of doubled linenj attached to a bond, as gentlemen wear them, and would be improved by having a collarette of muslin added. Price 25 cents. The cuffs, made to match, are fwide and square-comered, and are worn turned up on the outside oi the sleeve or tne areas. The fashion of wearing linen cuffs out side the sleeve is about jto be revived. Those now seen are made to order for ladies who lead fashion ; they are narrow on the inside of the arm, and extend to a deep point outside, Vhere' they are fastened by three linen buttons. Other new linen , cuffs are. ; straight, deep and large, with a fall below the button-holes, which may be edged with needle-work or lace, or merely stitched: COIORED IJNGB&IE. New colored collars and cuffs of the y.ngliah standing shape j are of solid colored ; percale instead j of plaid or striped, . The entire collar and cuff are plain lavender pink, blue, fcrownor gray, with : a daintily wrought flower embroid ered with floss of the same color in each corner. -. The set of collar , and sleeve costs $3.? s . . - I . Gingham borders or hems on handker chiefs, with collars, cuffsy and neckties trimmed to match, are the latest caprice for wearing with morning toilets. ... j ? 'icii,-'.-,: , --. VABIKTIBS. J . a Lace liandkerchiefa are . s almost one solid piece of Valenciennes i wrought in arabesque designs, that are vastly im proved when laundried by having- the figures raised by fluting, tongs. Other lace . handkerchiefs are trimmed with rows of Mechlin insertion and lace. Mechlin, Malines, , orj old-fashioned thread lace is fast becoming the popular lace. It is a difficult matter to get the real hand-made. Mechlin. Most of that sold here is pure thread, but is macliine made. . ''! The most dressy -veils seen on the promenade are white tulle mask veils edged with Valenciennes lace. They are rounded on the lower edge, so that the lace falls just below the chin, and the veil covers the face smoothly, without wrinkles. Inch-wide laoe is used. When this , is of Italian Valenciennes, the veil costs $1.50. . Mechlin laces are newer for this purpose, and when trimmed with Mechlin the veil costs $2.00. Only very young and fair faces, not spoiled by cos metics, should wear this thinnest of all veils. Harper's Bazar. i All Sorts. Ovkb sixty different nations, includ ing Japan, now burn American kero sene. , ' j .... Thh Cincinnati city water-works laid over six miles of water-pipe during the year 1874. A steamer which arrived at Halifax the other day short of coal had burned 100 bags of nuts for fuel. r ... ; Ik the north part of Ireland an agree able beverage is prepared from parsnip roots brewed with hops. A Connecticut firm has just received an order for wooden type from China to be cut in Chinese characters. Jot, 111., will, on the second Tues day in March, vote on the adoption of the Holly water-works system. Ik Australia, inoculation of cattle is now regularly practiced for the pre vention of the pleuro-pneumonia. ; Lowell's Council is very common. One of its members spent a recent night in a police station for intoxication. We consume annually, according to Treasury statistics, 290,000,000 pounds of coffee, and only 60,000,000 pounds of tea. ; - j The lumbermen of Minnesota have advanced the price of common lumber from $10 to $12. They expect a short crop. Oat-meaii is becoming popular; a prominent dealer says the consumption of the article has doubled within the past year. There are claims amounting to $6,001, 770.09 against the estate of Jay Cooke, and there is a suit pending for $1,000,000 worth of land. - Ik Missouri there are about 748,000 children between 5 and 21 years of age, about 8,200 schools, about 10,000 teach ers and 380,000 enrolled scholars. Ibok manufacturing interests are re viving in the South. The Tredegar Works at Richmond are again employing a full force, having received large orders for cars. The famous : Cashmere shawls, ' it seems, are all woven by men and boys, three or four persons working on a sin gle shawl from three months to two years. The Southern Medical Record says that castor oil applied to the corn after paring closely each night before going to bed, softens the corn, and it becomes as the other flesh. To fastek the track to the cars and draw them over rollers secured between solid ties close to the ground, is the latest railroad invention. It was proposed by a Chicago engineer, at a recent meeting of the Civil Engineers' Club of the Northwest. No details are communi cated. A " maiden home " has been started in Berlin, partly with a view of offering shelter to genteel " : orphan girls of all denominations between fifteen and twenty years of age, ; partly also to put them in a position to earn their own liv ing, on the principle of Miss Faithfull's " Educoatihal Bureau." ' Giant Trees in California. has been supposed that the Sierra It seqnoias, or big trees of California, were confined to a few small and isolated groves like those known to tourists by the names of Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mer ced, and Mariposa, scattered at con siderable intervals along the western slope of the mountains for a distance of sixty miles. It was known that a collec tion of big trees larger than any of those in the Maraposa and Calaveras regions exists in Fresno county, where Thomas' Mill has for several years been sawing this red-wood of the Sierra to supply the market of Visalia, but it was die-1 covered last snmmf r - that this body of big-tree timber is not ; properly a grove, but a forest extending for not less than seventy miles in a northwest and southeastward direction, with a width in some places of ten miles, and interrupted only by the deep canons which cut across the general course of the forest, and reduce the level to an el evation below that at which the tree is found in a wild condition, although when cultivated it thrives in all our valleys. Different persons have traced the for est from the basin of the Tule river, in latitude 36 deg. 20 min., across those of the Kaweah and Kings to that of the San Joaquin. The elevation has not been carefully measured, but is supposed to vary from 4,000 to 6,000 feet. At one point, and one only, this forest is acces sible by a wagon road, and ' that : is at Thomas' Mill, forty eight miles from Vi salia. Unlike the groves further north, this forest consists mainly and in' some places almost exclusively of the big trees, and : there are also a multitude oi small ones in all the ages of growth, some just sprouting, and others saplings only two or three feet through. The largest stand ing tree as yet measured is lorry leet m diameter ; a charred .. stiimp-rf-the' tree itself having disappeared measures forty-one feet across. A tree twenty-four feet in diameter, four feet above the ground, , is precisely the same , thickness sixty feet higher. A fallen trunk is hol low ; throughout its length, and the hole is large enough to drive a horse and buggy seventy-two feet in it as La. a tun nel. v;-t'.::K W -v ff? This forest is so extensive, ; the timber is so abundant and excellent in quality, and the demand for it is so great in the bare valley at the foot of the mountain, that it cannot be- withheld from the ax and the saw-miH. . The ' wood is similar in general Character to the coast tequoi, or common redwood, straight in grain, splitting freely, even enough in grain for furniture, and far- superior to oak in its keeping qualities in positions exposed to alteration of moisture. ' The Sierra Se quoia does not throw np sprouts from its stump as does the redwood, and can therefore be felled out more readily. It was wise ..in Congress to make a reserva tion for pleasure purposes of the Mar iposu Grove, which is near Xosemite, small and conveniently accessible to tour ists by the present -routes of travel ; but the Tulare-Fresno f oreet--it is all ia those two counties cannot be converted into a public reservation t Numerous saw-mills will be built on its line, and , flumes . will carry the lumber down to the consumers. Wagon-roads will ascend from the rail road turns to the California Alps, passing through the forest' and receiving great attractions from it--jS jfranciSoAUa. Ik the village of -Aumere in La Ven dee, France, recently, an idiot belonging to a farmer's family was found chained to a heavy block of wood and living in a miserable sort of kennel or pen. He was eqiysttiug upon a manure neap, his limbs " were shriveled and aumb from cold, and he did not even have strength enough to change his position. . Ho had been living in this way for over two years, his food being raw apples. PERILOUS ADY-HSTURE. One of the Meat Remarkable Eaea pea from ' Death on Record. , . A ship some time ago arrived at Bristol, after a successful Pacific whaling voyage. Time was when thousands of vessels tracked the great sea monsters in search of oil, but the discoveries of the mineral article has mode the trade no longer re munerative, or, at least, much less an ob ject of pursuit. The ship referred to was the West Wind, commanded by Capt. Parker, who met with a most perilous adventure during the cruise, and which came very near costing him his life. Under the most favorable circumstances the occupation of the whaler is one of great danger and physical trial, and very few ships ever return to port without losing one or more hands by the ordi nary exigences of the service. It seems that Capt. Parker was out from his ship, with a boat's crew, chasing a whale, and, having fastened his harpoon to the creature, it dived, as usual, and the line, coiled in the bow of the boat, began to run out with lightning speed as the monster sunk to the extreme depth of the ocean. At this critical juncture Capt. Parker went to the forward part of the boat to be sure that there was no twist in the rope to prevent its working clear. The line was running out with such rapidity as to cause smoke to arise from the woodwork of the boat, and the Captain threw water as is the custom, upon the spot. By some unlucky lurch of the boat, he was canted from his posi tion, and he naturally threw out his left hand to prevent hmiself from falling: but, in doing so, he unfortunately placed it so that the rope coiled about Ins wrist, j and he was overboard and out of sight in an instant. He was perfectly conscious while he was rushing down, head foremost, and with an incredible swiftness, and it ap peared to him that his arm would be torn from the socket, so great was the resist ance of the water. During these awful moments he was well aware of his peril ous situation, and that his only chance for life was to cut the line. But ' how could he do this ? He eould not move his right arm from his side, to which it was so closely pressed by the force of the element through which he was being drawn. The pressure on his brain grew more and more terrible, and the roaring as of thunder, sounded in his ears. He opened his eyes for a single instant, and it seemed as though a stream of fire was passing before them. And now came that inevitable activity of the brain which characterizes all such perilous situations, where one's whole life seems to pass in review in an instant of time. ; But the Captain was a very practical man, cool and courageous always, and consequent ly still self-possessed. i 5 He began to struggle with ail his muscular power to reach the knife which he wore in his belt. He felt that he was growing weaker every instant, audit was ; now or never with him, though we should say, parenthetically, that what requires so long to describe occurred in time which was reckoned by seconds rather than minutes. Oh, if he could but com mand his right hand for one stroke upon that fatal hue ? Now his heart began to fail him. He did not absolutely despair, but his brain reeled,, his nerves seemed j to relax their tension, light and darKness appeared to alternate before bis eye-balls, j and his head felt as though compressed in an iron vice. Were these his last mo ' ments? He thought, in spite of the j agonizing pain he endured, he would make one more brave etfurw . , . The line providentially slackened for a second; lie reached his Kniie, and, as quick as thought itself, nn the rope be came taut again, the keen edge of the blade was upon it, and by a desperate effort of his arm it became severed. He was freed, and then commenced his up ward passage, caused by the natural buoyancy of the human body. After this, he only remembered a feeling of suffocation, a gurgling . spasm, and all was over until he awoke to an agonizing pain of reviving consciousness, in the arms of his boat's crew. Truly, one of the most remarkable escapes from death on record. For the Ladies ew Spring Styles. rFrom the New York Sna.l Judging from the importations up to this time we are to have a decided change from sacques and jackets to round capes and loose mantillas for spring wraps. No doubt English-walking jackets will be worn, but the woman of fashion will adopt the round cape or the abbee man tilla. This abbee is a queer little wrap, with a full pleated back, reaching just a little below the waist. The fronts are long, plain, and square. It requires a very stylish figure and graceful person to wear this garment. Both the round capes and mantillas are trimmed with jet fringes, or with graduated rows of Her cules braid, seeded with jet on each side. The plain braids are preferred by many leaders in the world of fashion and ladies of tmnA tsuiti- FliiHtnnA stillr. n. soft Mntwxl or nnrAtxl f.hri in tha favnrite material; but cashmere and other light ! all-wool fabrics are also used in their! manufacture. The linings are of soft 1 Marcelline silk; sometimes of flannel, 1 with facings of farmer's satin. Lace ! and ostrich feathers, and rook feather j trimmings are used to a limited extent also on these spring wraps. : - ' ; It is said ' that in Paris many of the ' most elegant dresses are -being made' without any flounces or pleatings on the skirt, many clustered rows of graduated braid forming the only garnitures. The edges of the braid, are, however,' fre quently seeded with jet. i This beaded braid is brought out in large quantities for spring trimmings, but importers and dealers all agree that the rage for jet will be over in another season. Still, many of the new importations of fabrics ; for spring costumes, black silks, cashmeres, and ' grenadines, are wrought' and' em broidered in fine jet. The block grena dines are displayed in suite, with the cuirass apron, ' and flounces richly em broidered -with jet t Other suite have bands of jet embroidery, to be introduced diagonally or lengthwise between puns of grenadine in the long apron, - the sleeves, and corsage. . - Lace and jet beaded fringes are need for- trimming them. - Diagonal trimmings on the long aprons, and diagonally arranged aprons are also noticed among the new suits, r. j A Telegram in 1S4. !' The Hoit Hendrick B. Wright, of Pennsylvania, writing to CoL J. Thomas Scharf, in regard to some notice . in his " Chronicles " of Mr. Polk's nomination to the Presidency of the United States at the Democratic convention held in Baltimore in 1844, says : T , , " In connection with this f act I wish to state to yon an anecdote concerning the telegraph, ; At that date, May 19, 1844, the only telegraph in the United States was from Baltimore to Washing ton. I was the President of the Conven tion. We nominated Silas Wright as Vice-President of the United States, and the Convention directed me to notify him of his nomination and learn if he would accept it. I sent a dispatch, and he an swered immediately that he declined the nomination The Convention, however, refused to consider the information as authentic They- could not be made to understand this way of communication, and adjourned the Convention over to the next day to enable a committee to go to Washington by rail, where Mr. Wright was, and get at the truth of the fact t So we adjourned over, and on the next day the committee came back with the same answer we had received by wire ! And so incredulous were the - great ma jority of the body, that, after the final adjournment, many of us went to the telegraph-office to see the wonderful in vention, and, even when the wires were put in motion at our suggestion, many of the delegates shook their heads, and could not but think the whole thing a deception." Baltimore Sun. j or Eyes. j The eyes minister to sight, "that most important' of the senses, which brings ns into communication with the physical world ; and not only do they subserve this property of human intellection, but they also constitute a medium for the ex ternal expression of " the thoughts and desires of the heart." This expression in its numerous phases is the most easily learned and understood by all classes of mankind. Many of these phases, indeed, need no interpretation, but are instinct ively comprehended by the civilized and savage among men, and by even brutes. As a vehicle : for transmitting thoiight or intelligence, it is most facile. The questioning eye, the " look that answers ' Yes, ' " the stem gaze that says so plainly " Nol' Jiave no need of the tips to act as their interpreter. The dog reads his master's wishes in his eyes, and hastens to obey the command before it goes forth. All comprehend and acknowledge the power that speaks in .the flaming eye, that inspires terror in the guilty and fresh courage in the virtuous ; in the com manding eye, that compels i awe and prompt obedience; in the "look that speaks volumes" when the tongue fails to express the fast-thronging thoughts and emotions. As a natural j organ of language, the eye may express all the nobler emotions of the mind j so, also, may it be made the servant of baser uses. The look of coarse insolenee, the leer so expressive of brutal mind, the insinua ting glance that hints more than the lips dare otter, are some of the forms of the lower language of which the eyes are sus ceptible. Annual of Phrenology and Physiognomy, llaklng Boxes, j ' The Swiss have a clever way of making cheap boxes without the use of nails, the mitred sides being fastened together by wedge-shaped pieces of wood. An En glish inventor has recently patented an other process which may be used for heavy, as well as light boxes.' The two pieces of wood to be fastened together are first mitred in the ordinary way, and a hole is then drilled in each piece ver tically from the bottom upward, at a short distance from the mitred edge. . A channel or groove is then cut by a saw or otherwise from the mitred edge to the drilled hole. .This channel ; is of less width than the diameter of the hole, and mav be cut either parallel to the sides of the piece of wood or at right angles to the mitred edge, so that when the two edges are put together there shall be a continuous channel from one side to the other, shaped somewhat like a dumb bell, and running from the I top to the bottom of the box. A key is formed by rnnning a fusible metal, such as lead, into this channel. The key may be made separately of solid metal and driven into I the channel ; I Hit, iu either way j a joint is j formed 'which can be broken only by ; ; tearing away the mitred edges of the wood. - - - ' Aer1ea Apples In ttreat Britain. American apples (says the London Grocer) are now selling at moderate rates in provincial towns, both in Eng land and Ireland. The highly-colored and well-flavored Baldwin is the com monest kind as yet. As usual, they come in barrels, without any kind of packing materials, and come, as a rule, in excellent condition. That apples should be sent several thousand miles, and then be sold as cheaply as home- wte of 'progress, fruitless and cold crown tmit. is a noteworthy iact. At I regions will soon be supplied with the i finest fruits at a cost that places them ! within reach of all classes, j The Precious Metals. The following statement exhibits the product of the precious metals through out the world in 1874: f CouatritH. Gold. Sitetrl $43,000,000 ft,000,OOt 3,000,000 1,000,000 . 1 ,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 Total. $100,000,000 36,000,000 17,000.000 (17,000,000 , 10,000,000 - 7,000,000 3,008,000 America.... $ .17,000,000 Burope. 31,000,000 Asia Australia.. . . New Zealand Africa Other ooun's. 14,000,000 81,000,000 ,000,000 6,000,000 1,000,000 Gr. total.. $164,000,000 $35,000,000 $219,000,000 The annual product in 1853 was $285, 000,000; in 1850, , $135,000,000; and in 1843, $03,000,000. i i Dr. BiKJWN-SbQUABD, iu a recent leot- si1 that muscular motion by no mean's, indicated, life. He referred to well-known cases of snakes, tortoises and other lower forms of animals moving on the slightest stimulns several days after decapitation. He has seen the iris of an eye contract on exposure to a strong light sixteen days af ter death. He had also witnessed pulsations in the heart of a dog forty-eight hours after its removal from the body, and in the human heart thirty-six hours after decapitation. . An arm fourteen hours alter amputation was injected with fresh blood, when it immediately contracted and extended the muscles. . : ' - . - , -- The other night, as a Detroit father sat with his feet on ' the coal-etove, he picked up one of his boy's boots and re marked : " This pair of boots seems to stand John twice as -. At this point a tobacco-box, full of the weed, fell out of the boot, and it wasn't over five min utes before sounds of the press-board striking against a boy in fee night were heard over the neighborhood, mingled with the wafting explanation : " Oh t dad that 'ere box must have fallen down my boot-leg while I was in a tobacco- store Mr. Kent, a resident of Rochester. heard his door-bell ring. and. going out quickly, found a baby on the steps and a man . run rung , round the corner. He chased , the man, collared him after a long race, and discovered him to be Dr. -LiUjah 1 Wood, a well-known young physician of that city. Wood had been paid 850 by the mother of the baby to rid her of it in this way, she choosing Mr. Kent's house because he had just lost a little child, and so she hoped he might welcome this one in its stead. ' A srxBOEOif has lately published the results ' of experimtnts tried by him which have proved to his satisfaction that the application of a white-hot iron to the body is absolutely painless, while when only -red-hot it is an extremely painful operation. When operating with a red-hot iron on men their screaming was fearful, whereas when the iron was white-hot, not a murmur was . heard. When ha operated on a horse with white hot iron the animal seemed scarcely to be aware of wliat he was doing. GRASSHOPPER PLAGUE. Bow It Might Ban Been Averted Spar Mae Birds. To the Editor of the Hartford Ccarant : And no wonder. The marvel is that, it does not sweep over that whole region when we read of the wanton destruction of its birds. An item in a Chicago paper, not long since, stated that 10,000 quail and prairie chickens were fed to swine in a single day, in that city. It goee on to say that in the country west of Chicago quail, ruffed grouse, and prairie chick ens are destroyed by the million, irre spective of law or season. .. Tons of bird snared and shot out of season are boiled down and fed to swine. On one daw there stood a wagon on the corner of two streets containing 180 dozen of prairies chickens, while on the near sidewalk, were piled thirty-seven boxes, containing 560 dozen of quail, corrupt, decompos ing, and condemned by the health officers as only fit for swine, ' They are trapped, shot, and snared and sent to the market, where they find a ready sale np to the middle of March, and yet the discrim inate slaughter continues. The young birds and setting, hens all alike are cap tured and sent to Chicago and other cities on commission, and destined to be fed to swine. The birds, the .editor says, must soon disappear before such reck lessness and vice. Yes, the birds haven disappeared, almost entirely, from many Western localities, and grasshoppers andl other noxious insects have multiplied and swarmed forth, to spread famine and des olation. - The divinely arranged balance-! between birds and insects lion beem destroyed by ruthless bird-killers, and' the cry of famine rings out over the-. . land. Such is- the retribution for the violation of the equipoise of nature ; and' the making of discord in the divine har mony of nature's works. This harmony runs through the whole creation, and its disturbance always pro duces suffering. The innumerable river which roll into the sea are freighted withr all the impurities of the land which, if" not abated in some way, would turn the ocean into a vast cesspool. But thra impurities and foreign ingredients are ab sorbed, or worked up into islands for the future occupancy of man, by millions and millions of animalcules, and other marine scavengers. To them is given a task, in finitely greater and more laborious than the building of the pyramids, or the tun neling of granite mountains, which all the mighty men of the earth eould not perform. . So the birds have a task, which variorDK governmenta have tried in vain to get ' done, by offering bounties as induce ments to their citizens to destroy the insect pests.- But it has been found that . the-birds are Hie only exterminators of the enemy, without whose divinely ap pointed labors, in keeping the insect . world in check, the earth would soon be made void as at the beginning, and' gaunt famine would reign over all its--realms. - - Some predict that the winged scourge is - outward bound. This is not im- Erobable ; and whence will oomo our de-: veranoe I Our natural helpers hang up in our meat-markets by rnillioiis, sncn- -ficed to the gratifieation of epicurean appetites. Not only the largest varie ties, but the little tiny birds with tlieir erops full of insects, are brought to the New York markets in barrels and sold for-, , a f ew cents a doaen. The older civilizations of the East are ' I more appreciative and protective of birds j ban our own. in Japan they are neiu sacred and never destroyed. On the oo -casion of the visit to that country in. 1854, of the squadron commanded by Commodore Perry, who opened it to the commerce of the United States, several' of his officers, one day, went out to shoot birds for their amusements. The-' natives were horror-stricken when seeing; the destruction of their favorite birds, , and ran to the Commodore to remon strate agaipet the cruel conduct of liim subordinates.5 This soon put an end to the sport of American bird-killers in' Japan ; and when the treaty between the two countries was negotiated, ther?. Japanese authorities were "carefnl to have inserted an article protective of the-' birds of that country from American-, fowlers. Effect of Exercise. - It is found by observation that the ef -feet of " training,'' or the persistent of gymnastic exercises, is to enlarge the- heart and rungs both in siz and capaci ' ty. Archibald McClaren, Superinten dent of the Oxford Gymnasium, and au thor of Physical Education," says i " One of the army officers sent to me to . be instructed in gymnastics gained five; . inches in girth around the chest in kwt than three months." Tliat this growth is not explained by the mere enlar$- ment of the pectoral muscles is proved by the increased volume of air wluch the lungs are enabled to expire, as. is de-' xnonatrated by the spirometer, and post mortems abundantly show an inereoBeI capacity as well as size in the heart and large blood vessels. The lungs increai both in length and breadth, forcing ts ribs outward and the diaphragm down ward. ' It is for this reason that athletes;;, .and gymnasts ore enabled to make pro longed and, violent exertions without:, getting out o wind. The capacity oS" the heart and centzvl arteries being en larged, they can accommodate morw blood. Their contractile power beinf?; increased . by this new demand upon them, they are enabled to send on the current through the lungs with, in creased -velocity, and - thus " by their- greater capacity are able to oxygenize the blood as fat as it is supplied to them, and so no congestion takes place..' and no inconvenience is felt. The nor mal capacity of the lungs of an adult.' male is about two hundred (200) cubic? inches. It is computed that an enlarge ment of three inches around the chest, gives an increase of fifty cubic inches ot" lung capacity. , Tb Toothache. A correspondent says that after suffer ing excruciating pain from tlus ache, andt having tried in vain to obtain relief. 4 Betty told mo a gentleman had beeia WB4U 'g HO HI UUiV kll J.JIW 1VH , wuu rAK he would not detain me one minute. ILt came friend I had not seen for year. He sympathised with me, while I briefly told now sadly I was afflicted, My dear friend," exclaimed lie, !., can cure yoi in ten minutes." How T how t" inquired I ; "do it, ix pity." - Instantly,' said he. " B itty, lmvio yon any ahun f " . "Yes." " " ' Bring it, and some common salt, They were produced ; my f len d pul verized them, mixed them in ej ,,I quan tities ; then wet a small piece ot cottony " causing the mixed powders to adhere, and placed it in my hollow tooth " There," said he, " if that does not nm yon, I wJ forfeit my head. Yon ra&y tall this in Oath, xtd publish it ia Asca lon ; the remedy is infallible.' It t u to. ' I experienced a aensation of col i ness, oa applying it, which rftd.is'.'y ! nbsiJed, and with it the torment of tW tooth iche. Ea-uly tried.