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About The Albany register. (Albany, Or.) 1868-18?? | View Entire Issue (June 11, 1875)
"THE BOYS." JTbc fallowing lines, hy Dr. Oliver Wendell SalniiK. appeared in the Atlantic Monthly for Feb iraary. 1851. They were written, it is said, for a .ftmtkvo Kalherinc of hia old classmate ' ' The "at Harvard College. J , j--f. ., the mixed with. fellow got oat without making there any old oys 7 .If, (here has, take him noise! , . -s. BaB the Almanac's cheat and - the Catalogue's jte ! , . LTinaeisaliar! "We're twenty to-night r we're twenty f who Bays we are him the "We're twenty more 7 Mew tipsy young jackanapes ! show . door ! " 4 - "- : -Ory temples at twenty t5 Yea, white, tit we nlcaae ; e ' "Where the now Cakes fall thickest there's nothing . . cau freeze! , ,, (.. T, ,. ...... f -t "Was it snowing I spoke of-! ' Excuse the mistake I "XooJK close you will see notthe sitfn of a flake : "We waut some new garland "f or those we have tilled ' Mmd. thete aro white rosea in place of the red ! "We've a trick, we young ; fellows, yon , may have been told. " . K talking n public) as if we -were old . -nut fcoy we call " Doctor, ana itM a neat liwle Action of course It's all fudge,, - irrt fellow's the " Speaker "the one on the right ; nr. Mayor," my young one, how are- you to- Xtat'sour Member of C&gress, we aay when we roan ; "There's the "Reverend taake me laugh 1 ' this wa call what's hia name don't L it with the trrave mathematical look id believe he had written a wonderful book. , Jtsd the Koval Academy thought it was tins I r , -Jto they chose him right in ; a good Joke it was, too! ,:-. i&j !.'j.-.li -Xksarefe a boy we pretend with s three-decker brain, - , - That could harness a team with a logical chain ; Wkea be spoke for our manhood in syllabled fire. S called him the "Justice, " buf now he's the - .-si'e." f. - t .,.,.,...,. 'r.';'- Jknd there's a nice youngster of excellent pith- fee tried to conceal mm oy naming mm tuts ; a he Hboutea a song xor we orave ana tne rree last read on his medal " My country of ttu-e !" i - ?. ; "Cam bear that boy laughing? you think he's all fun ' ' "Satt the angels laugh, too, at the good tie has done Tat children laugh loua as they troop- to bis call, Jad the poor man that knows him, laughs loudest of all! with, tongue See, we're boys always 'playing wuapen ,;, Ami I sometimes hare asked Shall we erer be men? . -4 . s9call we always be youthful and happy and gay, TOil the last dear companion drops smiling away 1 TOken hue's to our boyhood. Us gold and its gray ( Tka stars of itr- winter, the dews' of its May I -aussi when we nave done wttK its ufe-laetine: toys. siseer r i lier, take care oi tny ootioren, tne do oyst 1R. JACK'S TALESTDiE. " Sae is " his siter, you know. So he thought I did not know who ; it came from and he changed his mind and put it in 1 hia pooket and went Off. When I teased him afterward to let me see it; he said: " 1 . .' ' "1J;f -'-'-'' " No; there are some things a fellow would be a cad to show.' " ." f " So I saw it hit hom'e, tm& well it might. It was a' tremendous letter,. Nelly." - - ; And Kitty ended with a hug and Mss, and a look of that royal admiration which a girl can give another girl now and then. ;; "y-t - When the spring came, Jack Greene went away1 from Chester, and did not come back there' any more. No doubt Nelly Hunt . would have forgotten his very existence but for that valentine which she eould,not forget. She used to blush as she grew older to think how bumptious ' it was, a& she used to call it to herself . -:.'---;-:. . Nelly was twenty when - Jack Greene came back to Chester agaim And now he came a physician,' just throusrh his' studies and anxiou& to build up a prac tice. Soon his fame grew. His patiabts were among tne poor at nrst, and he cured them. Arid then richer people heard of it and sent for him. : But, while he took all the patients! that came to him, he never gave up the practice among those iwho most needed him. - His praise was in all their mouths. There had never been -any doctor like , this Qna. 1 i :''-,','-..-'.... ' Nelly was Miss Hunt now for Bertha had gone away from her into the next country and Nelly's grief had made her gentle heart yet more gentle and her helpful spirit yet more helpful. ; Toward, night, one summer day, she had gone to see an old woman who had been her nurse once, and had found her very ill quite too ill to be left alone and certainly in1 need of a physician. ' So Nelly tore a leaf from her memorandum book and wrote on it a few lines, begging Dr. Greene to come at once, and then called to the first passer-by, and entreat ed him to take it to the doctor. It was scarcely half an hour before Dr. Greene came in quietly and gravely.' He attended to his patient with that careful consideration which made all those poor souls- whom he visited ad6re him. Then he turned to Nelly. - - W no will stay with Her to-niglitr The sons of Mrs. Slocum be came prosperous ' business men, and after the close of the revolution they used every effort to recover their lost sister. " In 1784 two of them visited Niagara, where a large number of In dians were gathered, made diligent in quiries; and offered liberal 'rewards for any information of her. They prose cuted the search for several weeks, and returned home with; the impression that she was dead. ;!' The mother,; however, could not be persuaded that such was .the case, -. and four years later tha Slocums spent sev eral months in the West among the '.In dian agent and traders, publicly offering $500 to , any one who wool i give, any authentic information of tli death of their sister, but their success was no better than before, s A similar . expedi tion was undertaken in 1797- by four of the brothers, with the same, result. As in the Ross case, the search brought numbers of stole children to i light, but none was tne one particularly i wanted, ii - Mrs. Slocum never lost faith in. her daughter's existence. She believed she was somewhere waiting to be clasped in her arms, and she continued -the search with scarcely , any intermission .until 1807, when she died, her children prom ising her to use every - effort to learn what had become of the little one ab ducted nearly thirty years before. They faithfully carried out this pledge and in 1826 made a long and expensive "journey to. Upper Sandusky to see a woman who, .there was no reason to hope,' was .the one for whom they , were i searching. Disappointed again, they finally came to the conclusion that Frances ,was dead, and the search ended., , 1 , In the month of January, : 1835, Col. George W. Ewing, a" gentleman con nected with the public service, among the Indians, and able to speak several of their languages -was benighted near an Indian town known as The Deaf Man's Village, on a branch of the -Wabash. He applied for lodging, and was hospit ably received at a respectable dwelling. He was fatigued and unwell, and after eating lay down upon some skins in the. corner. The household consisted of a venerable woman and a number of chil dren, all of whom treated her with the createst deference, and who denarted to ! their own .rooms, ' ' ? f' , ' As CoL Ewing lay upon.' his' pallet he many of the latter .beLtg around her. After a time she seemed to form quite an attachment for her brothers who of course, were old ' men, and she .offered them half her land if they would live near her. ' They in turn pressed her to join them further' East, but she thanked them and declined. She was' an Indian in everything except birth, and such she lived and died. ' The Tables, Turned." THE NEW ORLEANS HORBOR. Details i of the There were half dozen of the girls together pretty creatures in the '. very -first season of their long dresses the e&lost not quite sixteen. . They were all Jsrsids and puffy curls all loops 'and aibbons all smiles" and dimples. It was Saturday before. Valentine's day, in a -certain year of grace, of whidh I will not ive you the precise 'date, but less than .Sen yews ago and more than five. " What are you thinking about, Nell ?" 'Bertha asked, sitting 'on the arm of 'JSeilVv chair. ' -.--.i ;"'-' 1 -s : : -1 These valentines,"? .Nelly answered lowly. . y , ,. ' Well, surely they need not make you aober they are absurd enough." " Yes, and it's because they, are so ab nrd that they make me sober. I was just wondering why we couldn't just as "well have done something to help some body think to do some -good. 'ft. " Nelly's heroic 1" cried Kate Greene, flippantly ; " Miss Hunt is moral re former !" (-.:-.' . Kr:vi'!-. Nelly blushed from her pretty cars to file roots of her sunny hair, bother eyes hone clear, and there was a ring of ear nestness in her voice as she answered : - " Ton can laugh' if 1 you will, but I mean what I say, and I'm going to try an experiment. Ill write one boy a valen tine, such as I think a girl ought to write, . nnd I'll send it." ' ' ' Her task was harder than she had im--atgpned. It is only the old," perhaps, who -'aresasge in counsel by nature. - At any - rate, to give good advice did, not come -Batrirally to pretty Nelly. y; But she had asm idea' of .what she wanted to say, and . at last he got it said. She had written . amd re-written it, and finaHyooncinded Jhat she could do no better, and then ' - -copied it out into her neatest hand writ- : ing before she called, the others. - It was ; ij little stiff, to be sure, and preachy and j-bih Sown, but it sounded like a lofty ; &Skst and a complete success to the listen ing girls. This is what it said : ; , MrV-AiENTiNK : Yon will have plenty of fine speeches and praises and perhaps of fun and fancy from others ; sol shall not .give you those I would have . but one interest in yon, namely : that you be the best boy and the best sman . which it is possible for' you become. , If you are t selfish, if yon are indolent, if you 'are -mean, you will never be happy in your own society until you' have" sunk so low Stat you don't know the difference be 4ween goodness and badnesa.' But if you met out to be a gentleman and m man Of focxior and faithful worker, ; you will do jgood deeds and live a happy life and be worthy the everlasting esteem of ' JJellie read it with, rising color and a little quiver about iier moutn wnicn J5er- tha understood; but she read it with rffl voice and careful, deliberate .accent. Then she said when she had finished, I shall burn no all the rest of -mv val entines and send only -this one r for it is I mean in earnest, and. as oldAuntv Smoke says, " If it don't dp no good, it antdono mum i Iviivt t;f-i-" To whom shall you send it. dear? Sextha asked gently, f a little subdued by JMelly a epistolary success, r .i v , ' v.- I hadn't made up my mind. " NeUy duoswered thoughtfully ; '" they all need it" - UU't7,fL " Oh, send it to Jack," cried .Kitty "Greene, "He boards with us, and ha needs it bad enough; If ever a boy rs full of his pranks Jack ii;, and if ever a boy tormented a girl's; life out Jack 4aoes mine.'::.; ..- r'4-i -iw fi-'.i.i fk' . A color clear and bright as name glowed m Nelly Hunt's cheeks. Had she had dark-eyed Jack in her mind all the while ? She onlv answered very quietly : "I don't t'ind. I had just as lief send .' sdL to Jack." :?ff.: -'ty-ii.-i: ! ( . On the 15th the ! girls were altogether Mi school comparing notes and exenang inn confidences. - But Kitty Greene drew Kelly aside, while they walked up . and lown the hall together, their axms around acli other, as girls will t . "I saw Jack tret it. -Nellv.." Nellv's creitv cheeks crlowed and her -eyes shown like stars, but , she r asked no questions. Indeed they - were- scarcely necessary, for Kitty was eager enough to -fell her story. ,: .iVi' 'i.i-iv'.. " He got it, don't you think, along with half a dozen others and he read them all roeiore ne came to the ne, I knew this, yoa know, by the shape of the envelope, When he came to it I saw him read it all tiirough, and then I saw him go back and reaa it again. . x nearu . rumsay to rum eii, inats an nonest letter from some . Xl&Ue saint. - - Then he came np to mo and held it .' toward me, while I pretended to be very busy with my vaientinss. . Then he Do you know that ' hand writing ' I felt like an awful little liar, but I Iad promised you. I stretched out my Jmnd for it and said carelessly. -"'Why, ain't it Sne'sr; - ' ' he-asked : for indeed she hardly ought I watched the old lady moving about, and . ..' . .. . . -V AJ J I.. V 1 1 to be left alone. I shall sta," was the quiet answer. ! "Then- come to the door with me, ! please, and let me giv you your -diree-: tions.". - ' ' " ' ' Nellie followed and stood there in the soft summer dusk a pretty' creature with' the wild rose flush dawning in her cheeks and a new light- kindling in- her blue eyes. She listened carefully to all his injunctions, and then turned as if to go. Bmt he put out a hand to . detain her ., - j,-.. "How very much I owe to you," he said. ,- - ..) k..i li "You, how," and A "Vleep, deep crim son dyed Nellie's face and throat. In that moment she thought of her "bump tious" valentine, which had not crossed her mind before for a long time. He looked at her with a smile -in his eyes, but wim a face that preserved all its respectful gravity.' He took his red leather case out of his 'pocket, and from the case he took the Very old ' valentine which Nellie remembered so well. Then he produced the brief notes she had written that afternoon, and still there was light enough left in the day. to see them by as she held them side by side. t "xour nana Has ' matured somewnat since this valentine was written," he re marked, quietly; "but some of these let ters 1 snould Know anywhere. Sio one could deceive me;" - s ; ' ' - "I did not suppose you had kept that foolish thing," Nellie said, with a piti ful little quiver in her voice,- as -if she was just on the point of bursting 1 into tears.- "I am so ashamed." f ' Dr. Jack looked at her a moment, as she stood there - in the waning light, a lovely, graceful girL from whom any man might , be proud to win even a pass ing interest.- Ho this ' was tne : woman the thought of whom he had, tarried in his heart for years. If he had ever done any good thing, he was- paid V for 'it in the satisfaction of tnat hour. .- . "Are .too. sorfv." he asked1 slowlv. that you have helped one man to be his best self t ' Those words of yours were to me like the Voice of my inmost ' souL Since then this paper has never left me, nor have I ever ceased ' to strive to be worthy of the esteem " of my unknown valentine. It ever 1 nave been gen erous instead of selfish, brave instead of cowardly, strong instead of , weak, it nas been because I have remembered the words written here, and meant 1to live in the'r spirit. -Are you sorry for that? Or do you grudge me the pleasure of tnarttong you I No, I'm not Isorry, nor do lI grudge you anything; but it was a girl s freak and I am not worthy of so much praise and honor' - ' . .. : "It was a good girl's good intention, he said almost solemnly. "Let us be thankful that it sttcceeded.r ' -One night the doctor had. left his horse at home, and he and Nelly walked away together. They talked about the linger ing sunset and the soft south wind, and even the old woman-1 for Nellyy wemfen like, was struggling desperately to keep Dr. Jack from saying what she desper ately wasted to hear. ' But at last' it came a nail-blunt, ; - nau-awaKened. speech, yet K with-' Dr." Jack's - honest heartin itf.'t' -i;n tn4:r.-$dp.rv r :-- I've- lived all i these .years just to earn your esteem, and mow (find that I don't care a thing about that-unless 1 can win your love !"..- m hw.i-Wii i X thinK Timry a answer must nave - sat isfied him, for she is Mrs. Jack' Greene now. and that "valentine worn and old. but choicely framed-always- hangs 'over tne doctors study-table. : ' LOST FOB A LIFETPfE. ' , Some thirty years aaro John Quincy Adams attracted .considerable attention in Congress by a strong speech in favor of a bill iatrodueed by B. A- Bidlaok of Permsylvania, which provided that one mile square;, of the land then, -occupied by the Miami - Indians, embracing .the house and improvements of JFranoes Siocum, should be granted in fee to her and her heirs forever. .. The bill became a la w, nd she occupied this .special re serve until her death in the spring of '1847.r ;.;r'-T.f t :.v' vrl.-. -; :The,- history., of this woman was re markable. She was the daughter of a Quaker, who lived in the Wyoming, val ley - during : ; (the . revolution. Several months after the . massacre of ,1778 , she was caught up byi party ot marauding Delaware TT"aT" who got off before any attempt could be made to v tescue her. She was five years old at . this time. About a month later her father was shot dead by the TriiAri while at work in a field near hi9 houses Knowing that he was gone to his eternal rest, , . the widow, in time, became reconciled to .. her loss, but she could never forget her child, the last sight of which was when she was in the arms of a brawny Indian, struggling and calling piteously upon her parent to come to her help. . . i I noticed particularly the color 'of 'her skin and hair. The result of the- scrutiny Convinced him that she. was a 'white wo man, and he opened a conversation with her. She admitted that his suspicions were correct. She said that 'she was stolen by the Indians when a very small child, and she had carefully concealed that fact from those of. her own race whom she met for fear that, her relatives would 'come and' take Jier away. . She wa$ now so old that she felt she could not live much longer,' and if 'any of her friends ware living she would be "glad to see them. In short, she was Frances Slocuni, and she remembered distinctly the name of her father, though her own given name was forgotten, j . ' ! Col. Ewing was so impressed with Her narrative that he addressed a long letter, giving the particulars, to the Postmaster at '.Lancaster, Pa. " He 1 had never heard of the Slocums, but he judged from certain answers made by the old lady that her home was somewhere in that State. , ' ' "' .' " ;. . ' ; . The letter reached its destination, but when the Postmaster came to read it he concluded .it a hoax and flung it aside, among some waste papers, where it lay for two years. At the end of that .time the Postmaster died, and his widow in overhauling his effects, came, upon CoL E wing's letter. She bad never heard the name of Slocum, but thinking there was something in it, she sent the misssive to the Lancaster Intelligencer,, a copy of which, containing the letter, fell into the hands of Kev. Samuel Bowman, who was' intimately acouainted with the .Slocum family, and be mailed a. paper to ner brother, who lived in V UkeaDarre. -j The reception of the letter threw the whole community into excitement, there being not a particle of . doubt as to the identity of Frances. : As two years had passed since the letter was written, and as it stated that tne eld lady at tnat time was under a premonition of death, an in quiry was addressed to CoL Ewing, by John J. Slooum, the nephew of -Frances. A-prompt renlv. dated at. Lotransnort. came.-to hand saying that the old lady was still alive, and. would be glad to see them. The. letter contained minute di rections as i to the course they were, to take to reach, her. Arrangements were at once made to do so. Mr. Isaac Slo cum and Mrs. Mary Town brother and sister of 'Franees, resided in. Ohio, but not' in the same neighborhood. Joseph Slocum, of WHxesbarre, another brother, started in his carriage, taking his sister, while Isaac went in advance, it being agreed that they - should meet at Deaf Man's village. Isaac reached the place ahead of the .others, and accompanied by an interpreter, made ' a? call .upon the lady, t who received them pleasantly, Jtut evidently with suspicion. The. brother found her to all appearances a perfect Jndian, but he had fixed 19 hia mind an unerring test of her identity. Previqus to, being earned away, iiity-nine years crushed. the forefinger of .her left hand with a hammer. - Taking hold of her hand. and. raising it, he. saw the disfig urement. : "What caused that?" he added. "My brother struck it with hammer a long tune ago,' , was the an swer. vv.. . ' ' I' r ' He remained some tame in conversa tion, but the woman did not seem at ease, and 'he "returned to- the village of Fern to await the arrival of t his brother and sister. When they came the three made them another visit, t She treated them with the same kindness as bef ere, but was stoical and unmoved, and when she saw tears in their eyes and every- in dication of a coming " scene " she looked anything . but pleased. - The;- only ,time she showed any signs of emotion' was when she was asked her name. ' ' She re- lied that it was . forgotten. : " Is it 'ranees?" ; Her dusky. features sudden ly lit up and she nodded her: head. " Yes-yes,' Franca; Franca;' -i The visit was prolonged for several : days, and some months later was repeated, some or the nieces and nephews joining the party. - - ; - - On the day when little Frances was captured, fif ty-nine ' years f before, she was carried rapidly through the woods a final halt was made near the Genesee river.' In the fdUowing spring she was taken to Sandusky, where she stayed un tdl antumn, when her TTwHari friends ;moved to Niagara, where she lived year; ! In accordance with the nomadic habits of : her people, her home was con tinually' changed.. Her greatest dread was of being discovered by her relatives and taken away, and there is no doubt that when the weary mother was hunting up and down the earth, she more than once came within hail of her lost child, who carefully avoided her. It was for tunate they never met. .! . ., --!! Frances had been married to a . Miami, by whom she : had four children. She was wealthy and held in the highest ven eration by her tribe , audi descendants, , The fast-freight lines, which have long been the bone of contention, among rail roads, and , which were the main cause why the Baltimore and Ohio did not join the Saratoga combination,, are experienc ing .considerable opposition from ..the roads of the West - and Northwsst. It has long been the desire of most of. the Western railroads to xlo their own freight business, and allow no independent lines to run over their tracks, but the fear pf the displeasure of Scott, Vanderbilt and other Eastern maarnates in favor of and interested., jn these fast-freight lines has induced them to tolerate them thus. fair. The ' Chicago,, Burlington and . Quincy has at last taken courage, and sent forth . the edict that hereafter fast-freight lines will be, tabooed on its road, and.no lon ger permitted! to run over it, and it is un derstood that several other leading Wes ern railways will follow suit. , -To under stand the relation which theie lines hold to the railroads, it is necessary to know of their orgin. , When first established they .were owned and controlled by- the railroad companies,, each of which con tributed a certain number of cars.to make up a line. . , These cars were used ex clusively for the transportation of through freight, and the manner in. which the roads received compensation was as follows : Each company paid a certain mileage to the otherroads for the hauling of the cars, and the. amount received for the trans portation was divided, according to the number of cars .owned by" each road. Latterly, however, a number of private corporations have gained control qj some of the . freight lines, . and have operated them .to their own advantage. .They have allowed the railroads a specified mileage, and a .percentage ofi freight money. From the fact that the lines havo had the virtual making of freight rates, they have cut the prevailing tariff in ntira t crless instances, and have , become, in this manner, a nuisance pi the eyes .of the railroad companies, and various ef forts have been made to have them abol ished. Tlese have failed,iioweyer; from the fact that no' concerted action f could . be secured between the railroad compan ies. The ' Chicago, Burlington - and Quincy railroad, however, being in a position where the lines eannot affect its business bt operating upon rival roads, they, have determined to -cut the Gordian knot and -become a national benefactor, t IridianapolU Jqurnai' , ., ... , , Pugilism and the Bench. V . r Mr. .-Justice Brett has just startled re spectable society by .giving a lift to the prize-ring. It seems that in -February last, two men had a pugriistic encounter in a field in the neighborhood of London. It was arvery stiff fight, though the money was only 1 a side;, and while. the victor was seriously wounded, the. beaten man died the same night from the injuries he had received. His nose was broken, bis head fearfully battered, and the cause of death was concussion of the brain. . It was, according to the rules of the prize ring, a fair fight, and Mr. Justice Brett was led to regard it favorably in contrast to the cowardly atrocities in the way of kicking; of which we have lately had such a shocking epidemic. He said he could not regard fighting with the fists as a very heinous onense, even though it did sometimes result in death; it was at least better that people should use their fists than a knife or iron-heeled boots. He accordingly let off the victor in the fight with a week's. imprisonment, his confederates and abettors being, various ly sentenced , to a week and three days. There is, of course, no reason to suppose that the triumphant combatant in this case had any idea that he was, actually killing his antagonist, but it is thought that the Judge would have. done well to avoid saying anything in justification of -what at. the best is a brutal and danger ous sport. It is remarkable how rapidly and completely pugilism has gone down since the great .tight between Bayers ana -Heenan, and between Heenan and Tom King which seemed ; to promise, trom their popularity and the distinguished patronage they enjoyed, a. revival of the noble art. .iThet sport has now. only, a fluctuating existence - among the lowest and most obscure classes of . the popular tion, and is scarcely ever heard of, by the rest of the -public. Even the sporting papers have long, ago given up taking notice of what was once one ef their fa vorite pastimes, fjondon Correspond ence New York Times. , . . . 'j' 's .Tenacltj of Metal. ' - ' Many experiments have been tried, in France to test the t effect of , cold on rail way axles. Many engineers , suppose that, accidents to wheels ao not result front any diminutisn of tenacity of the metal, but merely from its losing all, its elasticity, owing, to the frost hardening the surface of ths earth. A fact which can be adduced as a strong argument in favor of that theory was observed by, the inhabitants of - Montmartre during the last period 01 irost. xne passing 01 ine trains which run so frequently through the "Raticnolles tunnel at a distance of half a- mUe was heard by 'them day and night, which is .never the case in ordina ry circumstances. As soon as the thaw . . . . . " , A T ' 1 S . set in - the trains .ceaseu. w ue utniru; the earth having resumed its, former elasticity, .the souncls were dissrpated as before, . ' ' . ' ; " .X - , ; ; i - - ; Burled Jn"the,fSBOw; !',v ',' !A ' startling discovery 'was made, in Cherokee gulch, near Georgetown,, on Satin-day last. . The facts, furnished, by a correspondent of the 2Veui,'are about these: In February three prospectors took possession of a deserted cabin near the head of the gulch, several thousand feet above any. trail or"1 traveled road. While the men , were; sleeping, an ava lanche of snow swept down from above, striking and burying out of sight the cabin and its inmates. On Saturday the three men were' found,.' the, snow having Tmnaed off. Their names are Patterson Martin, Christopher Johnson and Pat Morgan. The bodies were found side by Ride, and covered ; with blankets. 1 he remains were brought to Georgetown Saturday evening-, and an inquest was held,- - resulting in a:verdict in accord ance with the facts as stated. Dawer JSTetvs. - -''' -''- X-jf vt;.;i Consukption or Wood m J; ranch. The Independence JSelge- gives some statistics relative to the consumption of ,wood in France.. A large quantity of soft wood is .used for making toys, and ,to give an idea of the magnitude of this trade it will be , sufficient to take one ar ticle alone, children's drums, of which in i, Paris alone 200,000 are sold every month. Xlia , total number made an nually in France is estimated at 30,000, 000. while a considerable quantity of wood must be consumed to supply 60;- OOO.UUO drumsucKS. .- Ilurnins; of the Steamers Kyle, Bodmsnn, and Explorer.' r The New Orleans papers contain the accounts of the recent burning of the three steamboats at the wharf, in that city. The Times' narrative has the fol lowing: ; "At 4' o'clock las1, evening a fire, which originated in the blacksmith shop on the starboard side of the steamer John Kyle, lying at the head of Gravier street; re sulted irr the almost immediate' destruc tion of that steamer, together? with the steamer Charles Bodmann and Exporter lying alongside, v The moment the alarm was given, Officer Harrigan,. of the har bor police, rushed on board, and, stand ing at the gangway, prevented the Crowd, which was very great, from passing. ' "'A careful examination hiade by sev eral steamboatmen, including the officers of the Kyle, led them" to - believe ' the flames could be extinguished, but within eight minutes after the first discovery they had spread to the upper works, and were rapidly penetrating everv-erevice. r A few on the lower deck ran ' ashore,. when - Mr. E. F. Burch. mate of the Lessie Taylor, the steamer lying along side but nearer' Canal street, seizing an : ax cut her ' head and ' spring "lines. A brisk wind was at the time blowing from the northwest, and this, combined with . the strong eddy, "forced the fatal steamer against, the Charles Bodmann. News of the disaster spread with a quickness bor dering thought itself. An ' immense mul titude congregated upon the levee; The wharf of the Canal - street ferry was so overburdened with their weight that the police, to prevent a second "disaster, was forced to drive them away. Another large crowd rushed on board the steamer Exporter, and in far less 'time .than it takes to write the foregoing,' and; even less than that in which the readers can peruse it. the three boats were in. flames, and drifting out into the stream. The scene now depicted was sickeniag. Stand ing on a pile of corn at the head of Gra vier street, one of our reporters viewed the fearful spectacle, and- one, nore frightfully real and electrically swift, in its execution he hopes' never tov behold again, i - When within 150 - feet from the wharf the Kyle, separating from the Other twbj drifted down stream and apparently raising herself amidships broke, leaving her wheelhouses high above 1 the upper works " Before leaving -the wharf, her chimneys went overboard, and simulta neously a hosti of 'people were seen to leap into the river. Cleared in the stream a sea of firfe. bearing mueh the resem blance of a burning island, floated in her wake. ' She quickly disappeared." behind the other steamers lying at the wharf and was lost to' view. " . - . The Bodmann. brought into a full perspective- by the floating away of the Kyle, was one mass of fire from stem to stern. f Far hf t stood- two ' solitary men , one in the act of lowering the other, apparently-aged or very infirm, - into the river. A' Skiff, containing two men, were immediately in the wake, but the single pair Of oars seemed useless in stemming the current. ' "Iri an, instant' the seemingly ' older man fell,' and the people of the skiff, one of the men in which had just rescued some one else, pulled him in. The Ex porter, which at that time was abreast of I Lafayette street, was ablaze from her forecastle to. stern. On the narrow island in this 'sea of fire thus made were huddled perhaps forty souls. For a time they appeared engaged in forming a raft with some rough boards and an empty hogshead, but in the course of two or three minutes one man jumped over board, then two, and " the flames sweep ing forward all sprang into the river ap parently in a body. A cry of horror arose from the crowd gathered on the shore, and several shrieked to the com manding officer of the tug Nellie, . then pumping water about 100 yards from the ill-fated people, to steam to their rescue. The little tug Dime came promptly to the spot, and in the course of a' very few minutes the river was full ef small boats. The turbid waters for several hundred yards at this time were dotted with hu man heads, ' and the ' crowd 1 upon the shore wrung their hatids in anguish at their struggles. Thanks, .however, to the energy everywhere exhibited afloat. the rescue soon ctftnmeneed. -Two boats from the Kansas filled with. Uncle Sam's tars (heaven bless them I) were 'quickly in the midst of a -throng of victims, and as one after another were lifted' the spec tators breathed more freely. '. . ' ' "The big white barge of the City of Merida was ' also promptly on hand, and quickly filled : herself to the i gunwales with drenched and' shivering passengers. "Several "stage planks were sent adrift and quickly crowded. : One ' man Was ob served ; standing oh a plank ' up to his knees in water and stripping' on his shirt. So promptly had the work of de struction been consummated that scarcely twenty minutes elapsed ere scarce a ves tige -of the three magnificent river palaces remained. The Nellie after a tune-threw overboard 'a number of life-preservers and steamed up. Her officers, we hear, state that, being a' propeller, they cannot extricate ner reacuiy, ana tearea uut oy coming' in contact -"-with ' the 'burning steamer she would also be consumed. HalLan hour more was exhausted in rescuing the victims, but by 5 o'clock. siuiuugu H.U fmuj.3UBp crowd stui lin gered on the levee, every " vestige of the disaster had disappeared." , .' ; " How Snow Avalanches Form. A'Nevada newspaper, speaking of the avalanches of snow which have been so destructive to life and property this win- i ter, says: . ' - '' The purely sliding avalanches, or snow-slides, are such as occur in dry or merely moist, snow, while the rolling avalanches take place when the snow 3 wet or sufficiently moist to form into balls by rolling. The avalanches' that occurred in ' Virginia City were of the genuine rolling description the kind most dread ed and most destructive in the, Valleys of the Alps. A very small, beginning when the snow is in proper condition may end in a destructive avalanche. A ball of snow ho larger than a man's head, started high up on the side" of Mount Davidson," might have swept away several houses at the foot of the mountain." . The fearful force of the avalanche was shown here when one broke into a house and kille d two men and buried ' five persons, whor were rescued with much difficulty,' A further illustration of the terrible force and destructive power of the avalanche is to "be found in the fact that twenty-eight Chinamen were killed by one that fell near Genoa. , ' As we have said, a small ball or snow started high up on the Blope Of Mount Davidson would ' result" in - , a" genuine avalanche. In rolling a distance of fifty yards in the moist snow the small ball of snow would become iour or nve jeei in diameter,. when it burst, and each piece of it would an instant after forma ball of large size ; these in turn would explode as soon as it had 'acquired a ' certain weight and velocity, and a moment after i there would be hundreds and thousands of these balls in motion, all bounding down the steep side of the mountain. While hundreds of these are exploding or just forming, other hundreds are of full size and are picking up rocks, dirt, and all manner of rubbish, which be comes involved in the grand downward rush.' Toward the lower part of their course, the balls become so numerous that they bound and clash together so often that they are broken before they acquire ' any . great "size, and the whole avalanche is then a plunging,, sliding mass of snow." The avalanche which knocked two houses to pieces and buried five persons, started but a few hundred yards above where the houses stood. ". It started at a bunch of 'rocks which pro jected fifteen or twenty feet above the general surface of , the slope of the mountain. On these rocks the snow had fallen and . accumulated to the depth of about three feet, hanging' in places as snow is -seen to do on the eaves' of a house. From . one of . these rocks fell a bunch of snow, which began to roll down the hill, and the result was a de structive avalanche. Doubtless the ava lanche which killed two men started in much the same way.' . , " ' THE rrilFKIJt. ' Written upon' receiving the gift of a pumpkin pie. ' BT JOQK a. wmnigB. . ....... Oh, greenly and fair in the lands of the son, " l ue. vines 01 tne gonra ana ma ncn meron ran, -And the rock, and the tree, and the oottage enfol d With broad leaves all greenness and bloesaoms au gold. Like that which o'er Nineveh's prophet once grew, While he waited to know that his warning was true. And longed for the storm cloud, and listened in vain - - . ' "' f For the rush of ths whirlwind and red are rain. On the banks of (he Xontt, ths dark Spanish maiden Comes np with the fruit of the tangled, vine laden ; And the Creole of Cuba laughs out to behold Through orango leaves V"'"g the broad spherera gold; , Vet with dearer delight from his home In the North, On the fields of his harvort the Yankee looks . forth, . , . - ; Where crook-necks are coiling and yellow frttit shines ; . And the snn of September melts down on his vines. Ah ! on ThanksglTing Day, when from East and from Went, ' From N. rth and from South come the pilgrim and guest. When the gray-haired New Englander sees round hie board The old broken links of affection restored, ' When the csre-wearled man sees his mother once more, ... . ,, . -a And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before. What moistens the lips and brightens the eye What calls back the past like the rich pumpkin pie T Oh ! fruit of loved boyhood ! the old days recalling. When wood grapes were purpling and brown nuls were falling! " p When wild, ugly faces were carved on its skin, Glaring out through the darkness from the candle within I When we laughed round ths ooro heap, with hearts all in tune, - . Our chair a broad pumpkin, our lantern the moon, Telling tales of the fairy who traveled like steam. ' In a pumpkin-shell coach ; with two rats for a team. " Then thanks for thy "present ! none sweeter or bet- ter ....... .-. -..'r E'er smoked from an oven or circled a platter ! Fairer hands never wrought a pastry more fine, ' ' Brighter eyes never watched o'er its baking than thine! .. And the prayer, which my mouth la too full to ex press, .... . . - Swells my heart that thy shadow may never be less ; That the days of thy lot may be lengthened below. And the fame of thy worth like a pumpkin vins grow; And thy life be as sweet, and its last summer sky , Golden-tinted and fair as thy own pumpkin pie 1 .. r Little Johnny' Composition. "''T' ' THE MOTH. ' '': This is the jocky wich spiles my fath . er's bea close by eatin; and " then roases hisself in the candle. Wen he is in' the close he is that little and meek- you wud dent be afraide to leave the baby with him, but he tunnels woolen like he was'a railway enjinear, and my ' father he says the worse of it is he never gives you a e8simate of wot the improvements is a going to coss you. But were he gits his wings, and wy he wants em off wep he is got em, is wot floors me ! I think it wud be a presus good job if he wad cre mate hisself before he , was a draper. When ole Gaffer Peerses dbtter,' wich is Missus Doppy, was to pur house, her baby was left in drawn room wile the wimmin fokes was' up stairs agigglin like they, always dose at their selfs, and it was evening,' and the" windose was open for summer, and we herd the baby "a yel ling awfleij Wen they went into it, Mis sus Doppy said its poor' teeths, and my mother said take that pin' Out of its close, and my sister said wot it had been eatin, but Billy he lit the gas, and they was a whole handfle of mots, cot "in its hair, which is red like its mother, for the mots thought its head was a lamp with a globe on it. Then Missus Doppy set down and corned 'em out with her fingers, and said pretty things, how' fond (they .was of chilern, but J. took notice .they' didn't none git awaya live. Fora I get done 111 tell you a other story about a red heded baby, wich' will make you laughf, cos it is funny, but not true like thisn. There is a kind of. moth call the.dess hed moth, wich as a skul on its back, not a realskuL but jus mark that way. , Jack Briley, the sailor, says it is a piret, and the skul is run up to sho no quorter to the other mots, but when I tole him it wasnt run up, he said it was painted on tneir upper decks, wich was the same thing and bet ter too, cos the mots wich is merchent mens cant see it till theyre close along side. . Moths is cover, with. a , kine of powder like wot my , mother dabs ou to ,the baby wen he is , wosh, and thats wy some fOK.es cau em minera, uus were is their wite hats Ide like to no. , , .,, : r ; j The Jewish Wachers. ( ; . ; Among the Hebrews' of New York there is a class of men arid women about whom the general public know little or nothing, viz: those who watch and pre pare the 'dead for burial. As au Israel ite, according to Jewish law, is not al lowed to touch the . body of a deceased relative, it is apparent how necessary to ineoewisn community are 'tnose people engaged in the peculiar business of car ing for the dead. T The technical Hebrew term fo them is "wachers, "'"and 'their number is comparatively small; they are kept busy almost constantly, very often not getting any regular rest for a week or more at a time, their powers of en durance in withstanding the attacks of the drowsy god for days together being reauy wonaenuu as - a general thing, wese wacners are pious, orthodox Israel ites; but there are some among them who are rough and coarse; brutal and blasphemous. : Even ' the most devout are so hardened to their work that' they pass their nights ' and days ' beside the dead m a gay and festive manner; that is, being possessed, despite the horrible nature oi, their employment, of cood. hearty appetites; they kill time by eat ing, drinking, arid smoking, early, late, and often, and by reading and convers ing on both humorous and serious sub jects .some of them are so very -relig ious that they invariably wash their hands and pray before eating, and will not partake of food; which is cooked on the Sabbath. , Sometimes whole families are engaged in this business of watching me ueaa ana preparing them lor burial. . Queen .Victoria, ; writes for the Lon don Times. Wages not stated. ; 1 r " Bemedy tor Xightniare.' "V " , Slight derangement of the digestive or 'other functions is often sufficient to 00 casion a temporary delirium in children, commencing aunngsieep mm, pruivug- ed after waking. The suffering is great and the condition an alarming one to Parents and friends.. The mental excite ment is so intense as to resist impressions from without, to an extraordinary, de gree. . It, is here that the, associations of smell can be used more enectiveiy than any others to break up the morbid tram. A cood whin 01 cologne almost always brings the little sufferer back to its or dinary world ; r a little ammonia may be used. But an odor which is agree able Is probably more effective than one which is merely pungent. It is a com mon observation that mental associations are awakened by odors more than by the . .1 T- 11 impression 01 any owet wuiw. m me case of nicrhtmare the " strong, familiar .smell seems to break up the train of ab normal mental excitement.; journal 0 Chemistry. . ' - , , ; Stage of the Paris Opera House. " The stage is the largest in existence. Communication with the rear of the building can be cut off in case or lire by an iron curtain and iron doors, and a curtain of iron net-work can also be low ered to keep the flames from: the audi torium. The "flies" are twenty metres above the floor. Nearly all the scenic machinery is made of iron, but no changes of importance nave ueu euecwu in th "workinar" of the stage, 'although some innovations on time-nonorea meth ods are to be attempted hereafter. A large organ, and a carillon of ten bells, the heaviest of which weighs six hundred and fifty kilogrammes, are on the stage. Scnbner for May. , - , , . -It is estimated that if the English Channel is successfully tunneled, the 800,000 travelers who now cross it will increase to 3,000,000. 1 A journey from London to Paris will then take but five or six hours, with the dreaded rough sea voyage taken out.; The ; boring is to begin i simultaneously m u ., mu England, from the bottom of two wells, a hundred feet deep. 1 The bore is to be nine feet in diameter, by machinery in vented by Mr. Dickinson Bruntou. ' ' , , Wit and Humor;1 ; ' : X ; Pressed for time mummies. , ' ' " Enoagep for the next set-hens.. 4 " Nature's spring smV-a bloomer. J .. Booted sorrow An aching tooth.5. "A cmxjD of the sea A harbor-buoy. ' . A distant relation Your Ant-Ipodes. " Lovers do the cooing before marriage, and tradesmen do the billing after 'it. '' - Musings . among . the apple-stands " Buy their f raitsye shall know theau." The man who courted an investfgation savs if isn't so 'good as an affectionate gh-L . . ;" - v " Why is " naming the day " like a naya battle. Because it's a marrytune. eu gagemcnt. . . -jT-j j' , ' - JocxmAR entomology Professor : De fine a black , beetle. Pupil : A" coaly hopterous insect. ' ". n ; '' Canai. frauds Shouting ' low bridge" to a prima donna who used -to cook on a -. canal boat, just to see her drop. " ' , r Ever? one turns his dreams into reali ties as far as he can; man is cold as ice to the truth,', hot as fire to falsehood. ' ' The man who sang, " Oh t breathe no more that simple air," went into the smoking car, where it was more mixed. Be not offended at a jest. If one throw never so much -salt at thee; thou will receive no harm unless thou art taw. Wht are the fond glances a mother casts upon her baby like Turkish cav alry Because they are mammy-looks (Mamelukes). - .". - ,. : When the song's gone out of your life, you can't start another while it's a-ringing in your ears, but it's best to have a bit of silence, and out o' that may be a psalm '11 come by and by. . - Wsknow men who will "patiently sit ' for an hour waiting for an opponent to study out a' move on a checker-board, yet will growl if they have to wait ten minutes for their dinner. ,' , " ' How pboudlt we enjoy what we have won in. wars ! Ths wounds are healed ; how weU become us vow -the scars!- Yet conflict leaves a sting behind is in the heart ,' j The honorable scars will in bad weather smart!, ' HucktrU v ' - . .- A good way to restore a man appar ently drowned, is to first dry him thor oughly inside and out, and then clap" a speafiang trumpet to ms er ana .miorm hirn that his mother-in-law is dead. ' ' A XOUNO lady, while out- walking. heard, for the first time, of her, mother's intention, to marry again, and she .was ' obhged to sit right down and cry about it. She could not go a step-farther. f , Thb man who tried to enforce conjugal obedience with a cowhide subsequently remarked,-as he put a fresh piece of court plaster on his nose, that he had a -wife who' couldn't be beat anywhere. The tenor and soprano in a Boston choir are to be married soon. A wag says: ' " They met by chants, the usual . way. Perhaps if they were to" in-ciioir of some married man they might not duet.". '-'V ' '' - ;V" " Mr dear," said a wife to her hus band, " do you know what is the most ' curious thing in the world t" "Xes, mauam,' gruffly answered the brute, " the most curious thing in the world is a woman who is not curious." - ', t- , " Whjt, what drove you from home such a bitter . night as this !" asked a woman of a; poor lit hie-boy, shivering, and crying at the corner of a street, " Cross words," he answered,' with the tears streaming down hia cheeks. . . The Baptists of " .CSatakffl;" af com. munion, recently found themselves with out wine. A thief had, somehow, stolen it, and the Recorder adds: "Any man who would rob a church will slide down hill in his grandmother's coffin." - , Some men always want to cant cloud of gloom over a good-thing. For exam ple, when Mr. Harrisoxi, of Delaware, found that he must die, he said to hia wife: "Jane, you'll have full swing now, and it wont be a year before youll be in the poor-house." She didn't take a bit of comfort at the funeral. ' An- elegant edition of the Scriptures was sent to a Washington paper for no tice. . The volume was placed in the hands of the regular book reviewer of the establishment, who read it . entirely through, and proceeded to speak of it in high terms as a meritorious original pro duction. Fortunately his mistake was discovered oy tne cxuei, - .XX"- Grasshoppers, A Kansas lady writing to a friend here, under date of April 19 says; "I spent the day at thsfarm last Thursday, and I never saw so many grasshoppers in my life, They are very small not a quarter , of an inch long. The planks around our flower-beds were completely covered with them, and it was impossible so waiK without killing therm. Mamma's rosebushes, and all the plants, were stripped of every leaf, and not 1 a blade of grass was left. The wheat is completely ruined. -As if that' were not bad enough, the chinch bugs &r wuiting for the corn to come up. Papa Bays ha has ten acres in, but he don't think he will plant any more; it is too discourag ing. Chicago Tribune, .