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About The Albany register. (Albany, Or.) 1868-18?? | View Entire Issue (April 9, 1875)
SKEW OT THE DESERT IN AN HOCK GLASS. BY H. W. LOXntlAOW. A handful of sand, from the hot clime Of Arab deserts brought, Within this glass becomes the spy'of Time, The minister of Thought. How many weary centuries has it been " About these deserta blown ! Bow many strange vicissitudes has seen. How many histories known I Perhaps the camels of the lahnueUte Trampled and passed it o'er, When into gypt from the patriarch's sight His favorite son they bore. Perhaps the feet of Hoses, burnt and bare. Crushed it beneath their tread ; Or Pharaoh's flashing wheels into the air Scattered it as they sped ; Or Mary, with the Christ of Nazareth Held close in her caress, Whose pilgrimage of hope and lore and faith Illumined the wilderness ; Or anchorites beneath Engaddi'a palms Pacing the Dead Sea beach. And singing slow their old Armenian psalms, In half -articulate speech; Or raravana, that from Bassora's gate With westward steps depart; Or Meoca's pilgrims, confident of fate. And resolute in heart t These have passed over it, or may have passed Now in this crystal tower, Imprisoned by some curious hand at last, It counts the pawning hoar. And as I gaze these narrow walla expand Before my dreamy eye Stretches the desert with it shifting sand, ' Its unimpeded sky. And borne aloft on the sustaining blast. This little golden thread Dilates into a column high and vast, A form of fear and dread. And onward and across the setting siin, Across the boundless plain. The column and its broader shadows ran. Till thought pursues in vain. The vision vanishes 1 these walls again Shut out the lurid sun Shut out the hot, immeasurable plain The half-hour's sand is run. TAKING THE CHAXCES. The folio-wine; narrative is from a trans lation of a Mexican book. A Captain of the insurgent army, during the -war of Mexican independence, is giving an ac count of a meditated night attack upon a hacienda situated in the Cordilleras, and occupied by a large force of Spanish soldiers. After a variety of details, he continues: " Having arrived at the hacienda un perceived, thanks for the obscurity of a moonless night, we came to a halt under some large trees at some distance from the building, and I rode forward from my troops, in order to reconnoiter the place. The hacienda, so far as I could see in gliding across, formed a large, massive parallelogram, strengthened by enormous buttresses of hewn stone. Along this chasm the walls of the haci enda almost formed a continuation of another perpendicular one, chiseled by Nature herself in the rocks, to the bot tom of which the eye could not pene trate, for the mists which incessantly boiled up from below did not allow it to measure their awful depths. The place was known in the country by the name of ' The VaWloro. . "I-had explored all sides of the build ing except this, when I know not what scruples of military honor incited me to continue my ride along the ravine which i protected the rear bf the hacienda. Be tween the walls and the principal there was a narrow pathway about six feet wide : by day the passage would have been dangerous, but by night it was a perilous 'enterprise. The walls of the farm took an extensive sweep, the path crept round their entire basement, and to follow it to the end in the , darkness, only two paces from the edge of a per pendicular chasm, was no very easy task, even for as practiced a horseman as my self. Nevertheless, 1 did not hesitate, but boldly urged my horse between the walls of the farm-house and the abyss of - the Yaladero. I had got over half the distance without accident, when, all of a sudden, my horse neighed aloud. This neigh, made me shudder. I had just reached a pass where the ground was but wide enough for the four legs of a horse, and it was impossible to retrace Hallo! x exciaimea aiouu, at me risk of betraying myself, which was even less dangerous than encountering a horse ' man in front of me on such a road. There is a Christian passing along the ravine. Keep back.' "It was too late. At that momenta man on horseback passed around one of the buttresses which here and there ob structed this accursed pathway. He ad vanced toward me. " For the love of God, can yon re turn f I exclaimed, terrified at the situ ation in which we were both placed. " Impossible ! replied the horseman. I recommended my soul to God. To turn our horses round for want of room, to back them along the path we had traveled, or even to dismount from them these were three impossibilities, which placed us both in the presence of a fearful doom. Between two horsemen so placed upon this fearful path, had they been father and son, one of them must inevitably have become the prey of the abyss. But a few seconds had passed, and we were already face to face the unknown and myself. Our horses were head to head, and their nostrils, dilated with terror, mingled together their fiery breathing. " Both of us halted in a dead silence. Above was the smooth and lofty wall of the hacienda ; on the other side,, but three feet distant from the wall, opened the horrible gulf. Was it an enemy I had before my eyes? The love of my country, which boiled at that period in my young bosom, led me to hope it was. Am -on for Mexico and the Insux cautions to take,' said the Colonel. He wno shall be condemned by the lot snail retire backward. It will be but a feeble chance of escape for him, I admit ; but, in short, there is a chance, and especially m favor of the winner.' " You diner not to life 1 I cried out, terrified at the sang froid with which this proposition was made to me. 1 clinsr to life more than vourseu, sharply replied the Colonel, for I have a mortal outrage to avenge. But the time is fast slipping away. Are you ready to proceed to draw the last lottery at which one of us will ever exist ? ' " How were we to proceed to this drawing by lot by means of the wet fingerTlike infants, or by head and tail, like the schoolboys? Both ways were impracticable. Our hands imprudently stretched out over the heads of our 'frightened .horses might give them a fatal start, should we toss up a piece of coin, the night was too dark to enable us to distinguish which side fell upward. The Colonel bethought him of an ex pedient of which I never should have dreamed. " Listen to me, Captain,.' said the Colonel, to whom I had communicated my perplexities; 'I have another way. The terror which our horses feel makes them draw every moment a burning breath. The first of us two whose horse shall neigh ' " 'Wins! ' I exclaimed hastily. " Not so shall be loser. I know that you are a countryman, and as such can do whatever you please with your horse. As to myself, who but last year wore the gown of a theological student, I fear your equestrian prowess. You may be able to make your horse neigh to lumier mm from doing so is a very aimcrut matter. "We waited in deep silence until the voice of horses should break forth. lasted for a minute for an my horse who neighed first. gave no external manifestation joy ; but, no doubt, he thanked ana anxious one of our The silence age ! It was The Colonel of his God to the very bottom of his heart. " 'You will allow me a minute to make my peace with heaven i ' said I, with a falling voice. " 4 Will five minutes be sufficient ? ' . " The Colonel pulled out his watch, I addressed toward , the heavens, brill iant with stars which I thought 1 was looking to for the last time, an intense burning prayer. " ' It's time,' said the Colonel. " I answered nothing, and, with a firm hand, gathered up the bridle of my horse, and drew it within my lingers, which were agitated witn a. nervous tremor. . "Yet one moment more,' I said to the Colonel, 'fori have need of all my coolness to carry into execution the fear ful maneuver which I am about to com mence. -" Granted,' replied Garduto. " My education had been in the coun try. My childhood, and part of my earliest youth, had almost been passed on horseback. I may say, without flat tering myself, that if there was any one in the world capable of executing a diffi cult equestrian feat, it was myself. I rallied myself with almost a supernatural effort, and succeeded in recovering my entire self-possession in' the very face of death. Taking it at the worst, I had already braved it too often to be any longer alarmed at it. Prom that instant I dared to hope afresh. "As soon as my horse felt for the first time since my rencounter -with the Colonel the bit compressing bis mouth, I perceived that he trembled beneath me. I strengthened myself firmly on my stirrup to make the terrified animal understand that his master no longer trembled. I held him with bridle and the hams, as every good horseman does in a dangerous passage, and, with the bridle, the body and the spur together, succeed in backing him a few paces. His head was already further from that of the horse of the Colonel, who en couraged me all he could with his voice. This done, I let the poor, trembling brute, who obeyed me, in spite of bis terror, repose for a few moments, and then recommenced the same maneuver. Ail of a sudden x felt ins fund legs give way under me. A horrible shudder ran through my whole frame. I closed my eyes, as if about to roll to the bottom of f The Spring Trade. The New York Daily Bulletin of March 4 has an article giving the result of its inquiries as to the prospects of the spring trade in New York. It says : Appearances leave no room for ques tion that the worst point of depression has been reached, and that we are now fairly on the way towards a healthy con dition of business. The degree of re covery varies in the different branches of trade. The dry goods and grocery trades are most hopeful ; while those trades which furnish goods less necessary to subsistence or comfort are naturally later in exhibiting the symptoms of re covery. The South is in a condition of extreme mercantile depression. The merchants of that section can do little without credit from New York, and a pretty lib eral one, as to time ; and yet, under the threatening uncertainties that surround the cotton States, our merchants are dis posed to contract such credits very severely. A large amount of population dependent on the iron trade and upon the various ramifications of the railroad interest have as yet found no relief from the prostration that has fallen upon them with greater seventy than upon any other class. And, again, the extraordi nary severity of the winter has, in a very marked degree, checked travel and the forwarding of products over nearly the whole populated area of the country. W e have this substantial fact to rely upon: that the . agricultural population, the main stay , of our commerce, have suffered comparatively little from the panic. They have had abundant crops; the condition of the foreign marKets suggests the probability of better prices for the surplus remaining from the har vest of 1874; and there is, therefore, every reason to expect they will require an average quantity of goods, and the more so as the late decline in prices has virtually increased their purchasing power. So far as respects a majority of the trades, we seem to have reached a condition in which a fair show of activity would greatly strengthen confi dence and create a marked revival of business. MOURSrSW AN EMPEBOR. How They Do the Thing In the Flowery Kingdom. The Mysterious Circles. Cut from a card two disks or circular pieces, about two inches in diameter ; in the center of one of them make a hole, into which put the tube of a common quill, one end being even with the sur face of the card. Make the other piece of card a little convex, and lay its center over the end of the quill, with the con cave side of the card downward ; the center of the upper card being from one eighth to one-fourth of an inch above the end of the quill. Attempt to blow off the upper card by blowing through the quill, and it will be found imposible. If, however, the edges of the two pieces of card be made to fit each other ac curately, the upper card will bo moved, and sometimes it will be thrown off ; but when the edges of the card are on two sides sufficiently far apart to permit the air to escape, the loose card will retain its position, even when the current of ab sent against it be strong. The experi ment will succeed equally well whether the current of air be made from the mouth of a pair of bellows. When the quill fits the card rather loosely, a com paratively light puff of air will throw both cards three or four feet high. When, from the humidity of the breath, the upper surface of the perforated card has a little expanded, and the two opposite aides are somewhat depressed, these de pressed sides may be distinctly seen to rise and approach the upper card, di rectly in proportion to the current of air. Another fact to be shown with this simple apparatus appears equally inexplicable with the former. Jjay the loose card upon the hand, with the concave side up, blow forcibly through the tube, ana the same time bring the two cards toward each other ; when within three eighths of an inch, if the current of air be strong, the loose card will suddenly rise, and adhere to the perforated card. If the card through which the tube passes have several holes made in it, the loose card may be instantly thrown off by a slight puff of air. Plain Explanations of Obscure Proverbs, " The more the merrier." Multitudinous assemblages are the The London Weekly Dispatch has the following: . . , V " The .Emperor or inina. ueing ucaa, all his subjects, according to their rank, will be required to mourn his decease. On the proclamation of the Governor of the province, tne maiwariiiw uuuer mm not only put on mourning, but paint out the decorations on their house walls, and wrap their sedan chairs in black doth. The common people have to shave their heads, and also to perform certain cere monies prescribed especially for them ; but as for the mandarins and loose gentry, on a second proclamation from the Governor of the province, they meet together on certain appointed days in a particular temple, to lift up their lamentationa' for the departed monarch, whom most of these mourners never once beheld. The mode of their pro ceedincrs is in this wise : The mandarins, gentry and others entitled to take part in the ceremonial, having mustered in side the temple, slowly and silently take up each one the position prescribed for Tnttv, according to his rank, on a raised platform previously prepared. . This done, a professor of ceremony appears upon the scene. - Everything being ready the professor, amid profound silence, calls out in a commanumg tone Kneel down I ' Immediately one hun dred individuals, more or less, being the highest in rank and power in the prov ince, simultaneously fall prostrate. Then the next order . comes : Knock your heads once on the ground,' which the company immediately do. Again and acain the foreheads tap the floor, and yet a third time they are required to knock and knock. j" The professor, while they are stall on their hands and knees, now com mands them to ' begin their lamenta tions,' whereupon these adult, rational beinsrs commence to moan and weep in a whimpering, subdued tone of voice. This having been kept up for a minute or so, all are ordered to ' stop their cry ing,' ' rise up,' and ' disperse from their i places,' which, by this time, they seem not unwilling to do. Thus ends the ceremony of three bowings and nine knockings.' The funniest thing con nected with the whole business is that, until the Emperor's death has been officially announced from Pekin, no body is supposed to be sorry. A steamer commonly brings the news down to a province long before the Governor's official dispatch arrives, and thus, though the Emperor's decease is perfectly well known, everybody surprisingly com mands his feelings, and goes about his business as usual. It is only when the Governor sends forth his public an nouncement that the land is convulsed with sudden and universal sorrow. Happy is the monarch whom the people delight to honor." 'Jer-e-rniah I Tell Dr. Scrapen to send up Willie's right kidney at once, whether it is done or not. He's had it there more'n a week, and the child might as well be without any kidney, and done with it i jjanburjj jsews. Western Pork. A correspondent of the Chicago Times at Aurora, HI., has been interviewing Daniel Valentine, the great hog-buyer, who threw out some suggestions about pork which may be of value to hog raisers in this section ; " When I first came west, over twenty years ago," said iv v ttientiue, x oougnt nogs ana sent mem to the .Eastern markets. - X knew the flesh was hard and fine, for the hogs had been fed on corn, and the "product must be superior to the swill-fed hogs oi the .eastern states. Notwithstanding, when the returns came. I found it was selling for one cent a pound less than the Eastern product. Satisfied that this was all wrong, and that the pork was being sold on its name, Western, with out reference to its real quality, I went East and brought the matter earnestly to the attention of the buyers, demon strating the difference of the texture, but producing little ettect. It was western, and that name was enough to condemn it, as it did butter and cheese, in , those days. .Resolving to go to the root of the matter, and have this pork question tested on its merits, I had a quantity of my Western shipments of pork laid away until the dog-days, the time when the keeping qualities of all provisions would be most severely tested. When the hot weather approached, barrels of this, together with barrels of Eastern raising, were sent out together, and the duplicate orders were for my brand. The best tests were the Dutch retailers, who sold the pork for frying, and who gave the solid, close-grained, corn-fed Western pork the preference, as there was some substance remaining after it was fried, while the softer Eastern prod uct shriveled over the fire to mere nothing." After much exertion, during his fourth year in the West, he got $1 per 100 pounds more for his pork than the swul and slop-fed pork of the tst brought. That prestige was long main tained, but lie now complains that the quality of pork hereabout is deterior ating. The nne-boned, nne-gramea Chester White, Suaoik, and grass breeds are being superseded by the larger, coarser Berkshire and Poland Chinas. The farmers are sacrificing quality to quantity, and losing in the end. Mr. Valentine says the farmers here are waking up to the knowledge that they have been in error for a few years past, and are trying to return to the standard when hogs of fine skin, firm flesh, small bone, and weighing from 300 to 350, were the rule ; and he also says they must again attain to that standard, if they would obtain the most money for their pork. British TSevf apapers. George Washington - Smalley writes from London to the New York Tribune i The Daily lelegraph came out on Monday " considerably enlarged," as it has for some weeks been promising it j would. The enlargement consists in adding one column to each of its pages, j and lengthening each page about two and one half inches. This must occasion great distress of mind to the Standard, which has been inlthe habit of placard ing itself all over London as the largest newspaper in the world, by way of retort to the Telegraph announcements of the largest circulation in the world. The two are now of the same size, but though each page is bigger than the Times, neither of them is or ever was, taken as a whole, so big as that leviathan among journals. They print eight pages, the Times usually sixteen. I suppose there is no disputing the Telegraph s assertion about its circulation. An eminent corps of accountants certify that the number of papers printed from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, 1871, was 45,980,405, showing a daily average of ? 176,174. Both this ' and the Standard are now printed on Hoe presses, those of the Telegraph specially manufactured in America, and capable of producing 100,000 copies per hour, which means that they have either yeight or ten preBHen, uie niTinniin impression uemg 12,000 copies, per hour, and the average, I suppose, allowing . for stoppages, not more than 10,000. ' The Daily News has quite lately equipped itself with Walter presses. . Of the three the press-work on the Standard is the best. - The Tele graph presses are either not yet in com plete order, or the poor ink or paper is accountable for the blurred look of its pages. There must be economy some where when a newspaper of this size is sold at a penny. At that price it was im possible to give as much space as the Times at three-pence does the adver tisers, and probably the present change is due partly to their dissatisfaction with the supplement system. little else than advertisements was printed in the sup plements, and everybody threw them away unread. SW A -A aW aii-UTT UVhlVLU I ,. - . . rt , the abyss, and I gave to my body a sud- most provocative ' ""7." 1 rin on t & aide neVt to the ha- " 15irda of a feather flock together. cienda, the surface of which offered not gents ?" I exclaimed in moment of ex citement, ready to spring upon the un known horseman, if he answered in the " Mexico e Insurgent ! that is my password. replied the cavalier, I am theCoL Garduto. n t ttiA dartt. Castanos. onrvnsint&nce was of long stand- ins and. but for mutual agitation, we should have no need exchwige our n rv.Jonel bad left us two .1. : ty, head of a detachment, -..i:.-u Littnnoed to be either prisoners or cut off, for he had not been seen to re- .f,. I exclaimed, I am sorry that yen e pot a8raniard for you perceive that one off na must yield the pathway to the other. . the bridles on their neckXlnl Tini mj hanof to bolster 7iVZ-Jie Chanel, with aWnlness, t'g-" -i i i Mnm mt tlx brains of yorse; but f &e fear lest mine in J . nhould precipitate meTwTtTyoelf; to tt botiom of the I remarked, in ft, ?w already held Ms pistols in JfJL? both rlaintained almost V0--Our horses felt the danger like ourlye .-i immovable as if their feet were nailed to the MT ex" dtementliad entirely subsided. - ,1 .3 "AIswiaI."'" " 'Draw lota to see which of the two t. 4. tmtyi. the sole means of a single projection, not a tuft of weeds to check my descent. This sudden movement, joined to the desperate strug gle of my horse, was the salvation of my life. He had sprung again on his legs, which seemed ready to fall from nnder him. so desperately did I feel them tremble. " I had succeeded in reaching, between the brink of the precipice and the wall of the building, a spot some few inches broader. A few more would have en abled me to turn him round, but to at tempt it here would have been fatal, and I dared not venture, x sought to resume my backward progress, step by step. Twice the horse threw himself on his hind legs, and fell down upon the same soot, it was in vain to urge him anew, either by voice, bridle, or spur; the ani mal obstinately re rased to tase a single step in the rear. - Nevertheless, I did not feel my courage exhausted, for I did not desire to die. One last, solitary chance of safety appeared to me like a flash of light, and I resolved to employ it Throuerh the fastening of my boot, and in reach of my hand, was placed a sharp and keen knife, which 1 drew forth from its sheath. With, my left hand I began caressing the mane of my horse, all the while letting him hear my voice. 'The poor animal replied to my ca- not to alarm him. my hand followed. little by httle. the curve of his nervous neck, and finally rested upon the spot where the last oi tne verxeoraj unites itself with the cranium. The horse trembled, but I calmed him with my voice." ' When i xeis nis very me, bo vj eak, palpitate in his brain beneath my eers. I leaned over toward the wall, mv feet eently sud - from the stirrups, and with one vigorous blow I buried the pointed blade of my fcmie into the seat nf the vital principle. The animal fell tut if thunderstruck, without a single motion; and, for myself, my Knees almost as high as my cnin, a lounu myseu a horseback across a corpse ! I was saved ! I uttered a triumphant cry, which was responded to by the Colonel, and which the abyss re-ecnoeo. wiui uuuuw nnuu, cm if it felt that its prey had escaped it. t rniitfod the saddle, sat down between the wall and the body of my horse, and vigorously pushed with my feet against 1, rnwi of the wretched animal, v,; VUaA into the abyss, i: I then arose, and cleared, at a few bounds, the dietar-ice which separated the place where I vas from the plain; and, under the irresistible reaction of the terror which I had long suppressed, I sank into a swoon upon the grouno. Habitants of ether, similarly plumed, gregariously assemble. Out of the frying-pan into uie-nre, Emergence from the culinary utensil ; into the devouring element. " Too many cooks spoil the broth. -A superfluity of artists deteriorates the mock turtle. " A stitch in time saves nine. A connecting cotton link, properly es tablished, is ninef oldly economical. It is a long lane that has no turn ing. That rustic pathway is muuDiiaoiy longitudinal that has no circumlocution. " Xjove me, love my dog." Evince an amatory disposition toward myself ; let your deportment toward my canine be also affectionate. Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Dwellers in crystal palaces should re frain from the propulsion of irregular shaped partielee of granite formation. " lis an ill wind that blows noboay good." The blast of JEolus is indeed malew dent that benefiteth not, though borne- opathically. some portion of humanity, . . - . . - A. bird in the nana is worth two in the bush." ' A natural production of the feathered tribe, properly, secured, is more than eouivalent to a greater number in a comparative state of freedom. " Old Pomp" Great Doings Over a Dog. Few of your readers who have visited Georgetown and stopped at the Barton have not known something of Jim White's splendid, but aged and ninrm, Newfound land "Pomp." In his youth and prime he was a noble animal, full of life and joy, and desperately devoted to his mas ter, it has since been plainly evident that the affection was mutual. But I sat down to tell yon that " Pomp " is dead at last. Age, with its infirmities, catches dogs as it does men, and carries them away to the " hereafter " by much the same process. On Tuesday morning about 3 o'clock he passed away. A handsome casket, silver mounted, was made, and the re mains inclosed therein. As he lay in state, stretched out at full length, his head reposing as naturally as life upon his paws, scores of people who had known and loved him came to take their last farewelL- At 10 o'clock Thursday morn ing Mr. S. W. Not drove up to the Barton with a four-horse sleigh, and the remains were transferred to it. The horses were appropriately adorned with streamers of crape, also the ball-pearers who took charge of the ceremonies. Six large dogs, bearing crape streamers about their shaggy necks, were ranged in double file in rear of the sleigh, as mourners, and the solemn cavalcade moved slowly away to the cemetery. Arriving at the grave the venerable Stephen Decatur made a few touching remarks on the life, character, ana no bility of the deceased, and was followed by one of Georgetown's prominent law- ers, Mr. N r. Messrs. x , e, and B tt, pall-bearers, then lowered the body to its final rest. The procession then reformed, and marcnea directly to the Barton House and drank peace to " Old Pompey " in his happy hunting-ground. Thus after nine years A Sanguinary Affair. Always cork up your catsup bottles tightly. Going out on the steam-cars the other day, we observed a man place a bottle of tomato catsup, neck down ward, in the rack above bis seat. Pres ently a friend -came in, and in a few moments the friend who was cleaning. his nails with a knife, introduced the subject of a third term for Grant. The discussion gradually became warm, and as the excitement increased, the man with, the knife gesticulated violently with the hand containing the weapon, as he explained his views on the question Meantime the cork jolted out of the bot tle overhead, and the catsup dropped down over the owner's heed and coat and collar without his perceiving the fact. Directly a nervous old lady on the oppo site seat, who caught sight of the red stain, and imagined it was blood, began to scream " murder" at the top of her voice. As the passengers, conductors, and brakemen rushed up, she brandished her umbrella violently, and exclaimed, "Arrest that man there! Arrest that willin' ! I see him do it. I see him stab that other one with his knife till the blood spurted out. Oh, you wretch! Oh, you willinous rascal, to take human life in that scandalous manner. I see on punch him with the knife, you utcher, you ! and I'll swear it agin you in court, too, you awdacious rascal. They took her into the rear car and soothed her, while the victim wiped the catsup off his coat. But the venerable old woman will go down to the silent grave with the conviction that she wit nessed in those cars one of "tlie most awful and sanguinary encounters that have occured since the affair between Cain and Abel. Max Adeler. The Black Hills How to Get There. (From the Sioux City Journal. The region known as the Black Hills is situated in Western Dakota, with their southern Blope stretching into Wyoming Territory, their southern extremity ex tending within fifty miles of the north west corner of Nebraska, and their northern limits touching on Montana Territory. While within the Black Hills Proper there is a vast extent -of very fich grazing and agn cultural lands, abundance of timber and water, to ap proach them from anywhere in the, East ern States the traveler must pass through a strip of country varying in width, and generally destitute of water and vegeta tion. Taking Harney s Peak, near . which the richest gold discoveries were made by Custer's miners, as our objective point, and measuring the distance as shown by the government maps we are enable.! to furnish the following table of distances from important frontier points . Milom. From Bismarck to Harney's Peak. ....351 From North Platte, Neb., to Harney's Peak 934 From Fort Pierre, Dale, to Harney's Peak. . 163 From Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Harney's Peak.. 201 From Fort Randall, Dak., to Harney's Peak..., ..168 From Brule City, Dak., to Harney's Peak 193 Of the six starting points above named, the route via Brule City, Dak.- is the best and is really the only feasible one. Say for example, a Chicago man desires to go to the Black Hills. He must travel by some one of three railroad routes, with distances respectively as follows: of . a lovely human life. Liet those who , have found that pearl of great priow keep it safe. Within the doors where love dwells no evil things should enter,, and the loving bride who would be that happy wife must speedily guard against her own impatience and despair, when the lover ia merging into the husband the flatterer into the friend. Afarparer Fuller, -- " - ' -y,-. Around the World. The Wilmington (Del.) GaseUe hwr the following: "Mr. Mark Grason oT Richmond, Va., is now in this city train ing for the prodigious and bitherto unat- tempted feat of wanting axon n a u world. Several weeks ago Mr. Grason,. backed by Lteon Macarthy, entered into a wager oi $zo,uuu witn . a . vi uaumat and Thomas li, Murdoek (the parties be ing all from Jbuchmona, v a.j was j could walk around the world in 600 days. The distance to be included in the entarjr route is 19,226 miles, which will make m daily average of a little over thirty-tw miles. Under the terms of the agree ment, which have been accepted and signed. Grason is to start from, the City Hall, New Xork, on batnrday,,, April 1875, and to return to the saxae plans Thursday, Nov. 23, 1876. Pari of ham. trip will be on the ocean steamers, chiv ing which time he will make up ims oairar. average by walking on ship-board. . He- 1 will be accompanied by Mr. Macartbrr- and some persons to be sent out by tlw other parties to the wager. The exoep uons lQciuaeu in- uie agreement kto u lays occasioned by assault or unavoida ble accidents. Mr. Grason is twenty eight years old, five feet seven inch -. high, weighs 136 pounds, and has been. known in xuchmond in the various capa cities of an actor, author and pedestnazw JJunng the excitement occasioned trjr Weston's walks, he started out in the- pedestrian line, and soon accomplished! a walk of 100 miles in twenty-four hours xurmg the neymour and lilair campaign. tcrna 1 . , t a . -r. i -. ui looo, ne vraiaea irom rucumunu cu Umaaa, Neb., a distance of about 1,50 miles. He carried the Stars and Stripes, and made 123 Democratic speeches eau the way at various places. He now claims to be the champion pedestrian sS the, world." lAfile. Vxrc. Chicago to Bismarck, Dak 1,000 S40.8S Chicago to Cneyenne, Wyoming 1,100 48.50 Ohlcago to Yankton. Pak 600) 19.65 ' Best Things. The best theology A pure and benefi cent life . The best philosophy A contented mind. The best law The golden rule. '. The best education Self-knowledge. : The best statesmanship Self-government. The best medicine Cheerfulness and temperance. - The best art Painting a smile upon the brow of childhood. A Memorable January. Old Zero ' had everything Ids own way clear across the continent; during? the month of January, several interest ing facts are given in the monthly; weather review from the Signal Service ofnee. A table of averages, by distnctav comparing the average for January, 187tv with the average for the same montfe during a number of years, shows that l - the ot. xjawrence valley the average ttast year was six degrees below that of a, number of years; in New England seven and one-tenth below ; in the Mid dle Atlantic States, seven and three tenths below ; in the South Atlaitoe States, six-tenths below ; in the Gull States, two and seven-tenths below ; ra the lower lake region, nine and five tenths below ; in the upper lake region, . nine and seven-tenths below ; in the Ohio valley and Tennessee, five and five tenths below ; in the Upper Mississippi valley, eleven and six-tenths below ; in the Lower Missouri valley, nine antll five-tenths below, and in Minnesota., thirteen and one-tenth below. And Febru ary is of the same piece t Never wa tht thermometer so utterly demoralized as it . has been for nearly two months. Syra cuse (JV. Y.) Journal.. How a Cat Won a Wager. A number of persons were in the? American House billiard saloon recently,., when a man eame in with a cat in arms. A momentary wonder was ex pressed as to what the corrqaaioiialux. meant, as men are not in the habit of going about with cats in their arma The observers had not long to wait, as the cat-carrier exclaimed: " Bet anybody -this cat will carry a bottle of ale ten feet. ' Somebody, . either doubting that pussy would perform the feat or willing to bb? it done, took the betu. Two chalk linexa were made on the floor, the bottle was-s- produced, and the performance began The bottle was placed on one mark, axuif the cat was to carry it to the other. Seis ing the animal by the tail the man hang; her head down over the bottle. Obeying:: known impulse, the cat grabbed the iaiVw. nnA sent a Delaware man by ex press a paving-stone weighing thirty-six fl ,3 oa ha nnenad the box after paying $11 charges, bis voice was heard How Bar-Boom liquors Are Mtde. There may be seen daily, on Chestnut street, says the Philadelphia Bulletin, a man dressed in lauiuess apparei, witn a exeat diamond upon his breast, vainly endeavoring to outglitter the magnificent solitaire on his - linger, xn a uerman university he learned chemistry, and not even Liebig knows it better. His occupation is the mixing and the adnl- i 1? . Tt - ,lr. leisuoa m imuun. - with iuiu wwu casks' of deodorized alcohol, , and the next day each of them will represent the name of a genuine wine or a popular spirit. He ,i enters a wholesale drug store, bearing a large basket upon his arm.-.- Five pounds of Iceland moss are first weighed out to him. . To raw liquor this imparts a degree of smoothness and oleaginousness that gives to imitation brandy the tmoness oi . tnas wnicn is most matured. An astringent called catechu, that would almost close the mouth of a glass inkstand, is next in order. A couple of ounces of strychnine, next called for, are quickly conveyed to the vest pocket, and a pound of white vitriol is as silently placed in the bottom of the basket. The oil oi cognac, , the sulphuric add, tend other articles that give fire and body to the liquid poison are always kept . in store. The mixer buys these things in various quarters. They are staples of the art. Why is a coachman like the clouds f Because he holds the reins. of faithful devotion to his master, whose appreciation was always tender and kind, a noble brute went, let us hope, to the highest sphere of dog-heaven. Jim, his owner and friend, is inconsola- ble. Georgetown Cor. Colorado lieg ister. . i A Richly Endowed Bead. In the matter of real estate, Tom Scott's Southern Pacific road has an amount given it equal in size to Pennsyl vania and Massachusetts. The State of Texas gave it a subsidy of 810,000 a mile for 600 miles, or 13, 376.000 acres of land, provided the Con stitution was changed. The change was made ; the road, therefore, gets nearly thirteen and a half millions of acres of land in Texas land that is to-day valua ble, and is yearly becoming more valu able. , . ... ' It should be understood that the United States owns no land in Texas. Outside of Texas, beyond the hue in the Territories and California, the gov ernment has given the company 17,843, 200 acres of land. 1 , So we see this corporation starting out with 31,219,200 acres of land. With these lands for a basis, ana we should remember that nearly all of the Texas grant is salable, to say nothing of the rest, we understand what induce ments there are to go ahead. This land can not be placed in market until the road is built, or partially so, hence the exeat pressure upon Congress to indorse uie bonds ana give tne enterprise mo send off of its credit. Dr. Jiedfteld, in Cincinnati Commercial. Ax Encrlish physician recently removed a section of a patient's liver, placed it on a plate, scraped it carefully, and returned it to its place, fully restored to its nor mal action. iui urauucD vj " revolution in the ; treatment of disease, and in a few years we will have an addi tion to domestic literature - wmeuune like this : " Husband, I wish you would take John's right lung down to the doc tor this momin tr. ana nave tne miaoie lung fixed," or, "Will yon stop into the doctors when yon come home, this noon, ana see if he has iiary s uver meuueu, as she wants to go out to tea una even iner " TUa -nronrJee win become so com mon in timn. we are sure. - that none of the neighbors will be in any way startled to see a wife, with a veil tied around her head, leaning out ot a doutooiii wumuw, ana shontinar to a receding uuuuauu t -' - Grammar In Rhyme. The name of the author of the follow ing effusion should not have been allowed to sink into oblivion "unwept, un- honored and unsung." On the contrary he deserves immortality, and the grati tude of generations yet unborn, for we have never met with so complete a gram mar of the English language in so small space. Old, as well as young, should commit these lines to memory, for by their aid it will be difficult, if not im possible, for them to fall into errors con cerning parts of speech: a 1 ill - i . r A fVM Jl The best science Extracting sunshine "Y Vv. xi, walked over to the chalk mark, and the-: .ummKt rme' I chngmg desperately to the bottlcw Three little -words you often see Are Articles a, an and the. A Bonn's the name of anythiuo-. As teluMl or jfarden, hoop or twitut. in. Adjectives, the kind of Nonn, As great, email, pretty, tehite or trovm. iv. ... . Instead of Monns the Pronouns stand Her head, h is face, your arm, my hand, v. Verbs tell something to be done To read, tomt, laugh, ting, jump or run. "-.. vi. .... How things are done the Adverbs tell, As eloviy, quicktg, ill or well, . . .."VII. ' Conjunctions join the words together As men and women, wind or weather. .. vm. The Preposition stands before A Noun, as in, or tttrough Uie door. The Interjection shows surprise. As Oh I how pretty AK1 how wise. , The whole are called Nine Parts of Speech, Which reading, writing, speaking, teach. ., from a cloudy way, The best war To weakness. The best music The laughter of an innocent child. The best journalism Printing the true and the beautiful only, on memory's tablet., The best telegraphing Flashing a ray of sunshine into the gloomy heart. i . The best biography The life which writes charity in the largest letters. The best mathematics That which doubles the most joys and divides the most sorrows. The best navigation Steering clear of the lacerating rocks of personal conten tion. The best diplomacy Effecting a treaty of peace with one's own Conscience. The best engineering Uuilding a bridge of faith over the river of death The Other Boy, Says the New York Herald: The news that the Prince Imperial has left school is very important. we have full ac counts of this event in the . English papers. . Royal boys are in the fashion now. One 13-year old lad has resumed his tops and velocipedes to become King oi opain. Another imperial lad 13 tod dling on to the sacred throne of China. The Spanish boy was born in 1857, and will be eighteen next November. . The young Napoleon was born in 1856, and will be nineteen this month. Accordingly, he is a year older than his royal brother, and we are glad to learn that , he is number seven in lus classv and the head of it in fencing and riding. So that if France wants - a . sovereign here new .emperor reaay on the verge of his nineteenth year, who can fence and ride, and who will, if allowed, do as much for France. ' bv the crace of Clod. " as his royal brother Alfonso ia doing for opuui. Who are Rich! Thb man with good, firm health is rich. So is the man with a clear conscience. So is the parent of vigorous children. So is the editor of a eood paper with a big subscription list. So is the clergyman whose coat the children pluck as he passes them by in their play. - ... So is the wife who has the whole of the heart of a good husband. . So is the child who goes to sleep with a' kiss on its lips and for whose waking a blessing awaits. , So is the maiden whose horizon is not bounded by the' coming man. but who has a purpose in life, whether she meet him or not. So is the -young man who, laying bis hand on his heart, can say : "I Jhave treated every woman I ever met as I should wish my sister treated by other men." . carried it along the floor, to the speci fied distance. The wager was won. Miner's Journal. The Son's Eclipse. The eclipse of the sun on the 5th ot April next is now exciting nearly ' set much interest among astronomers aa the late transit of Venus. It will be total and, according to the British astronomer llind, will afford the best opportunity for the observation of totality likely ten be offered till toward the close of tlt century. Although the course, of : the central line in this eclipse is prinrapail a sea track, fine opportunities for ol ' serving it will be had during its rjossage from the Nicobar Islands, in the Bay & Bengal, to Siam. The central eclipse.. it is computed, passing from the Nioo bars crosses Bentinck Island, where the- : maximum period of totality will be tumsr rrhnutes and seventeen seconds. Ati several other adjacent insular stations the phenomenon will be observable fox about the same space of time. The Kinr of Siam has heartily invited British axMxl other astronomers to make the obeei tions within his dominions, and volun teered to extend them every facility aikl . hospitality. Exchange. A Hoi-se-LoTlng Clergyman. " A Massachusetts man "vouches for th- f olio-wing anecdote of old Priest Williams,. fifty years ago the pastor of the Congre gational Church, he having overheard! the transaction when a boy: The pastor was V particularly fond " of a good horse, and always kept hia "pacer.", One oiT Ilia pariiihionerB, Jeremiah Shura war- owned a fine animal which the clergyman. desired to possess, and one unday- morninsr Mr.' Shumway drove up to Xlmr- church door in fine style, just as ths minister was about dismounting irom uu- carriage, a few steps away. Ihe preaeh A. i n, in xUB imi irti - CUBIOUS cemetery svnstji in TV-ma I -. a A. n, fnnar ilmv liina, Nothing human is interred therein, yet Undo a moment. "Jerry." said the good man, fanunawy, -ue x k w nroachinir voa slip out and take a few- turns up the road with it has its tombstones, its dead celebrities. its graves sought by the multitude that remember 1 the occupants, the Yoricks who have delighted them in life. This graveyard is 1 almost a parody on the solemn sleepers who have had Christian burial. This is the official cemetery of the Jardin des Plsntes. Over 700 bodies of animals that have died are buried in it. The favorite elephant, Chevretts ; the first giraffe ever seen in Paris, and lately the huge rhinoceros, are buried there, The rhinoceros was one of the. best known of all the animals in the Jardin, having been in captivity nearly tau-ty years. ThbYoukq Wr i. The marriage of middle age is wmpamonship, the second marriags of maturity, perhaps the repara tion of a mistake, perhaps the pallid transcript of a hurried joy, but the mar riage of the loving young is by the direct blessing of God, and the complete idea turns up the roaa win my mare, hmi after meeting is over, teil me now yoa will trade." And they traded on Mop day morning. Pumpkins will keep better " abovar ground.nnless the cellar is very dry and! oooL They are excellent food for milcb cows in winter, making rich and 11a flavored milk and beautiful yellow - but ter. Beets, turnips, carrots and parsnip, possess greater fattening properties, but, do not make as good milk. BBtmsBH once said: " An inconsistexA woman is one who ia no longer in love; a false woman is one who is already its ove wilh another person ; a fio kloswoui&v a one who neither knows whem she oves nor whether she loves or net, and he indifferent woman one who does iki ove at all." ; ' 'There are nevertheless, some pre- dear over m vuj aica. Bys;'