The Albany register., June 25, 1875, Image 3

Tr-BZ.B.rtT.-D max TniT vt
COLL. V.A.N CLEV
E.
ALBANY,
OREGON.
FKES1I TOPICS.
A formidable rival of Bret Harte and
JoLn Hay is looming up in Indianapolis,
where a detective recently testified as
follows on tlie witness stand: "Pearl
chinned me to take this house work; this
was not at the Sheenys. He told me to
cheese it on the Sheeny, as he had given
lihn away. I then asked him what kick
Tip he and the Sheeny had, as ray mob
had split on me, and left me without a
.finneff."
A provoking piece of impudence was
recently perpetrated upon Miss Emily
"'Soldene, the opera btraffe singer, in New
Orleans. A superb boquet was thrown
upon the stage,' and the (fair artist, after
sniiling sweetly upon the young man
who threw it, stooped to pick it up.
Just before her fingers touched it, it was
suddenly withdrawn, a string Laving
been attached to it for that purpose.
The gifted youth has been heavily fined
for the outrage.
Thk beretfa which was recently be
stowed upon our new Cardinal McClos
key with such ceremony, by the Papal
-ambassadors, is not the Cardinal hat
proper, but a simple skull-cap, to be
worn at the pleasure of its possessor.
The Cardinal hat, which is to be. given
Cardinal MeCloskey at the hands of the
l?ope in Home at some- subsequent date,
is never worn upen the head, and ap
pears only on important occasions, when
it is carried at the side of the Cardinal
iby his chief officer. - - '1-
' A cttbious fact is noted by Prof. Hay
den in his description of the Blue Range
of mountains in ' Colorado." -This is the
discovery of vast ' quantities of dead
, -grasshoppers on the masses of snow lying
'on the sides of these rugged mountains,
-where bears eagerly seek them' for food.
At certain seasons of the year, the Pro
fessor says, the air is ruled with grass
he ppers, apparently flying in every di
rection, to a height beyond, human vision.
It is probably, he thinks, that they be
come chilled in flying over these high
peaks, and, dropping down on the snow,
perish. .
Brisham Young, whose opinions are
-valuable indicators' of what "civilized
communities should avoid, believes in
systematic brain-cramping. In the re
cent Mormon conference he said : "1
.am opposed to free schools."- Children
-should be educated under the care. of
their parents, and parents should labor
.md pay for that education. All the ed
ucation a child wants is to fit him to get
his own living. In the, prisons, ganib-
JeVaaU. OUV J-'Oj VMiva uaa w imsetMj f
3J-OU see the results of the education of
-children in the free schools, and. away
from the care of their parents."
Hznbz C. Bowes says there has been
-a vast amount of lying and perjury in
-this Beecher business, and he insists that
the chief perjurer in the case should not
be permitted to leave the court room
.after the verdict is pronounced without
being arrested forv perjury. This opin
ion ia universally shared, except by the
tniiltv man himself. If the jury nnd a
verdict, they thereby find either- Mr.
IBeecher or else Mr. Tilton and Mr. and
IMrs. Mdnlton trtriltv of the most infa
mous series of perjuries. If these per
jurers remain unpunished, the law against
-the crime should be stricken from the
statute book. .,
I""' fc
Those California editors are pointed,
if not polite. .Here is what one in Ama--dor
county says of his neighbor : " Now
we will inform the sweet-scented evader
of troth and honesty who trims"; the litUe
rugger nost-rag" across the street that he
-cannot run any of his infernal lies down
our throat, for wo know him- too well to
believe anvthincr he Bays, even under
oath. He has also been attempting to
ram a batch of his lies down the throats
of the people of this county in regard, to
his honesty while in office, .but, judging
from the opinions "yre hava heard -ex
pressed upon .the subject, the majority
of -them are about as distrustful of his
"veracity as we are."
, A TKEMEiJDOtrs explosioii recently oc-
"Curred in San Francisco, , caused by the
-Carelessness of a single-individual, tone
-Clark, and resulting in tha-death of-sev
eral persons. One Of "the local "journals
-thus pleasantly suggests an epitaph for
the man .who caused the sad disaster
"The explosion !Whido ?cost 'so many
persons their, lives ' was' caused by
jepark from a pipe, which the man Clark
fwas smoking, dropping, into some pow
der. .They need not look for Clark's
brains ; Tut when , they- get the rest of
Turn together , they, ought to bury the
.fragments in a prominent square,' and
-erect over them a monument, containing
I he inscription : Sacred to the memory
' oi a d d fool I Wr;;-;..-':.-r;f.
Ik a Cincinnati'; jljeer-garden, where
cLenaof hucre snakes are kept on exhibi
tion, the most attractive part of the enter
tainment is the placing of live mice and
Uquirrela in the cages to be devoured by
the reptiles. The terror and struggles
and final death of he poor! IS tie (beasts
in the presence of the horrible serpents
were enjoyed as a pleasing spectacle by
those who hava a hankering ' after such
ights. . As a role, the mjoe meet death
-with trtmhTiag; noa-resistance,; but
sometimes the sqairrels show a gallant
fight for life. The ether evening, relates
the 'Commercial,' bright squirrel was
placed in a diamond snake's den to be
deweied, and in the battle which ensued
killed Hi rasfion-faiiged antagonist. The
brush-tailed little conquerer is to be
placed in the Cincinnati Zoological Gar
den, along with the donkey that whipped
the lionessT. . - '
Mbs.
created.
House,
cently,
Rousbt, the English
actress,
a sensation at the Grand Opera
Cincinnati, " one night re
by coming before the
at the close of the act,
curtain
and making a bitter speech, complaining
SVin said one actor had
got drunk, and his part had to be read
by another. She felt mortified to have
to appear under such circumstances,
which, she declared, was the most dis
graceful she had ever met. A long wait
followed this speech. The members of
the stock company looked on it as an in
sult, and refused to proceed without an
apology. ' At last the curtain jWaa rung
up, and the play proceeded, but was in
terrupted in the middle of the second act
by a shaking of the scenery, as if moved
by an earthquake. Mrs. Ronsby ordered
the curtain down.' In five minutes tae
curtain went up, and the play proceeded.
It was discovered that the commotion
was the result of a discussion back of the
flats, between the Earl of Essex and a
super, about Mrs. Rousby's speech. The
super sustained her, whereupon the Earl
knocked him down.
POLITICAL MEMORANDA.
Gov. TrtDEii 'weighs only-130 pounds,
and has not varied eight ounces from
that figure in fifteen years. . . ' . .
Delesatbs to the Pennsylvania State
Kepubkcan Convention are still being
instructed to support Governor Hart
ranf t for a renornination:
Thk Republicans of Maine have de
cided to hold their State Convention at
Portland on June 15. Gen. Selden Con
nor will in all probability bi their nomi
nee for Governor.
Mb. EsTTT.TtTTE, the new Speaker of the
Louisiana House of Representatives, is
a native of Illinois. He is 42 years of
igi?, was graduated at Yale ia 1837, and
was a rebel. ; ; i
Thk Richmond Whia advocates the
choice of Mr. Iiamar as Speaker of the
next House "of Representatives,; on the
ground that lie " nas experience, is dili
gent and-energetic, and knows everybody
and everything."
Thk Missouri Constitutional Conven
tion, which met last week at Jefferson
City, elected as its presiding officer Wal
do P. Johnson, who was expelled from
the United States Senate in 1862, and
subsequently served in the Confederate
Senate. -
Natt Head was a candidate for the
New Hampshire Senate, but some of his
constituents thought the name was
Nathaniel," and so voted. The deter
mination of the political complexion of
the Senate turns on the question whether
the Nathaniel"-votes can be counted
for " Natt."
Thk Washington Republican publish
es an interview, with Mr. stannall rela
tive to the Speakership of the next House
of Representatives. He thinks the po
sition will be a difficult one to fill, and
that the man chosen ought, in making
up the committees, to take into consid
eration the proclivities of members in
favor of protection, free trade, expansion
of the currency,'' contraction, ' etc.", and
give each interest a fair show, regardless
of his own notions.
Osiflr a few days ago : Michigan 're
pealed the "Personal Liberty bill" of
1855, passed as a check upon the opera
tions of 'the fugitive' slave law. Up to
18o9 similar bills had been passed. in
Ohio, Massachusetts, Kansas, .Connecti
cut, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, all
embodying provisions agamst the im
prisonment of fugitive slaves in State or
county jails, or . their apprehension by
State or county officers, and guarantee
ing them the right of trial by jury, and
privileges of habeas corpus.
. Old London.
London as a city of oders is not attrac
tive. There are in the city fifty courts
and alleys, with 536 houses, in which the
intermittent water supply now furnished
jus received eitner in ruinous old water
butts, often kt the cellars, and exposed
to emanations from sewers or closets, or
in cisterns open to-every kind of accidental-or-designed
pollution. In one 'such
cistern, the report tells us, "boys have
been seen to wash their feet : and the
inhabitants of some of the houses are
compelled to store water in open vessels
in their often crowded living and sleep
ing rooms, where in a very short time it
becomes loaded with' organic impurities
and living organisms. .Cleanliness is im
possible and disease is rue. ' some of the
details are too disgusting for repetition,
but they are the inevitable results, of the
water which has been described. - Many
of these courts are inhabited : " by foreign
Jews. ' who ' are not naturally cleanly in
their habits, but who in London could
not be cleanly if they 'would : and Dr.
Saunders protests " against the coward
ice and iuhfetice of. blaming for their
.dirty: habits, people yho aire compelled
to use zdjb same earov measure o. waior
Dmes over iot wiuuuluk ur iut,cwiuui8
. .. iT: m . w:
vuTDOses. and who. -if they are thirsty.
must go to a public fcotwe,' because their
. . . i ... -i . i i i
ruuiy waier-ouits ana osiurus ieiu cuuv
wnat is undnn&abie, ana dqj .enougn
even of that."-Jvew Yore JZxpresa.
'r- 'The IfexJean Outrages,
A Waahineton disuatch-- savs : Mai.
Ben. Perle-r Poore;nd WuMan Walter
Phelps, the sole survivors of the Sena
torial excursion, have : returned from
Mexico. They report a very disturbed
condition of affairs upen the Rio Grande
border. They fully confirm the Ameri
can side of the-story, and "place' the re-
sponsibiuty for tne border outrages upon
the ex-Mexican Gexu Juan' Cortina .and
bis raders. 'Xne- Mexicans along the
border maintain that the portion of
Texas bounded north by the Nueces
river stall rifirntfuJUy belongs to JVloxico.
and in making these' inroads they claim
to be expelling intruders upon tneir own
soih. It is practically impossible for in
dustrious settlers to maintain themselves
anywhere within that district. Mai
foore was tne bearer or coimaeDtiai dis
patches for our Minister in' Mexico' to the
State Department.
The largest pumpkin grown in France
was exhibited for a long time in one of
the show-windows of a Paris restaurant.
Its weight was about one, hundred and
mnetv-eifzht and jone-naif pounds avoir-
someuun more inau uuie itseu
. Thk Port Scott Monitor printed a full
account of the centennial of the battle
of Lexiagton, Ky.
... THE JQtTKG FOLKS.
Robert's XlckiuMns. f
Tbers ma a boy, and tor nam
,Of course he did not want.
Twm Robert, but with ertrj mo '
Hia nickname was "I-eaiA." t
Because, when any task waa given
To him of any kind, - ,
Instead of trying to do his beat, h ( ' '
"I cant," he always whined. -
To ours thia fault hla parents tried -" ' "
To hit upon some plan,
" SSf1". V"' U" boy," ,
Iay what will be the man J" :"':
-'--- . ;.- :- 'It-,.
They bought a parrot that eoold talk -
It soon learned Robert s name.
I cent," "I cant," " I eant I" it screamed
.Soon aa in sight he came.' .. ,
; Twaa so at morning and at night.'
Twaaaoday after day v
." That hateful bird l" would Robert crjr. -I
wish twere miles away."
He learned at last to say" 111 try ' u r '
.' Whate'er he had to do; .'""',
"The parrot heard the words so oft l" "
That soon it learned them, too. ' '
, , Va try," " r try "Wt- n. ' ,
Without a word of blame, "oro"n
- -"rUtrr-ia Robert's nickname now " '
- He seems to like the name.' ,-'";
, Beartfi ami Home, . , ' '.
, . A Grand "Wedding.
- ,lhad been sent down to grandmother's
that summer, while father . and mother
were in Europe. I had never been away
from, home alone before, and waa rather
nomesicK until Kob came down to spend
bis vacation. Even then I was afraid I
was going to bej for he was just the age
when boys consider themselves, so much
superior to girls and pride themselves
upon it. I think he was rather inclined
to plague me ; but grandmother came to
my aid, and after that we . got along
nicely. . Rob, found some new amuse
ment every day. I remember I thought
him a remarkable boy, to be able to
think up so many plays, We rode home
from the fields on the hay ; we hunted
hen's nests ; "wis picked berries ; we
drove the cows home from pasture ; we
niaae ooate ; we wnt to mul with grand
father. . All this'on pleasant days; and
rainy weather we resorted to the garret,
where the treasures of half a century
were stored. We seemed, to have ex
hausted the list of amusements, untii one
day I happened to think we ' never had
made use of grandmother's cats. .
. It .came about in this way, . Belinda
Paige was over spending the afternoon
with grandmother ; and I '. heard , her
telling about a grand wedding that was
to take place at the Squire's the next
week. Belinda was one of. those persons
who, having met, with a "disappoint
ment'.' in youth, bear about the evidences
ever after. . She could give you a minute
account of every wedding or funeral that
had taken, place ' in the village for the
last twenty-nve years. . Weddings were
her special grievance..
" Grand wedding at the Squire'B, next
week, Miss Thompson," said Belinda, in
a Heartrending tone. Twenty loaves
of weddmg cake! Just think of it! All
frosted, too ! .They'd better save ' the
money, and give it to them poor tenants
of- his. Laury Ann Canfleld told me
there were to be five bridesmaids, all in
white gowns." ;
I did not stop to hear the rest pf her
story, but ran out . to find Rob. I had
got an idea, and must tell it to him.
Now we would have a new play.. . We
would have a grand wedding, too. Rob
was in the wood-shed, . constructing
another ship to add to the already large
fleet that had been wrecked on JLittle
Pond. . Somehow Rob's ships always
keeled over and went down, like the
Royal George. . . . . . ; .
, "Oh, Rob, let's have a wedding!"
said I. ,.,.! -.-'.-.-.- ..." . . !
A what ?" he queried- still intent
upon his work. ; . - ,i
, "A weddin&r, Rob, you know.. - Marry
somebody to somebody else."
"I don't see how we can," picking up
a nail from the floor. "I can't be mar
ried to you, because you're my cousin;
and I'm sure I won't marry Old Belinda
1 aage. " . : xnis last very empnaucauy.
''Every one else in the house is mar
ried." -: ' : J r-"-
" I don't mean a truly wedding, Rob:
but a play one," I replied. "We will
marry the cats." -
' Marry the cats ? . liet s see you .catch
them first." .
You can catch them, Rob. Please
do. Take them up in the shed chamber
and I'll get some things to dress them
in,", I continued. , "We'Jl have a real
nice tune. .Please do, "Rob seeing
that he hardly appreciated the "real
nice time." -. t ',
Well. IH do as you say," he answer
ed. " I- go home to-morrow morning,
and I want to leave a good impression
with all my friends," bowing condeseend
inerlv to his little (wusin. . '
So off Rob .started- in search of the
pussies, whistling " The girl I left be
hind- me ' as : ne went, wnue x, went to
the house for the wedding feast and gar
ments. I procured a, slice of ginger
bread for wedding cake, a spoonful of
sugar with which to frost it, and a saucer
of milk. : A searcn in tne rasr-oair securea
to me a ereen .barecre veil and an old
black silk handkerchief. I then hurried
to the shed chamber, where I .found
Rob,: with the five cats tied up in an
emutv meal-bac. sinsnnfir a new version
of Saint Ives: , - j. - . :
t . "In each sack mere five eats."
" I've cautrht them at last. But didn't
I have a fine chase?" : : 1 - ;!
t As a rule grandmother S - cats were
well-bhaved animals, but they were not
used to such close -' conrinemeht,' and
made known their disapproval so heartily
that Rob was glad to release them.
!"Now we must get Some wedding
presents, I said.
v "JlTn,sure J. don t see wnat you can
rive Teats." Rob replied. '
Why, rata ana mice, and lots of good
thin its to eat.' - That's what you would
want if you were going to be married.
Rob" understood me, for' there never
was a' boy who liked "'good things to
eat " better than he. We Left the pussies
m the chamber and went m search of
mice, two of which we found in the trap.
Bob caught six grasshoppers as his pres
ent. : I said " No: fer ther make kitties
poor, and grandma wouldn't like it."
bo he contented- mmsell wit arranging
a huge bouquet of sorrel blossoms and
white weed. ,' "V ' '
Before proceeding to the wedding fes
tivities I must tell you something about
these cats. There were five1 of them.
Jenny; Deans, the 'mother "of ";Plossy
Whitefoot, was the oldest. ! She came
from England, when a kitten, on a ship
commanded by my great uncle.' Ialwavs
had a great reverence for that cat. Great
uncles were such terrible creatures, and
this cat lived with mine once. All these
cats had met with some kind of wonder.
Xul .adventure. ., victoria xtegia. .when
kitten, had .fallen into, the well, and had
been fished out in the" old oaken buck
et. " fler two children rejoiced, ia v. the
renowned appellations of -Napoleon and
Josephine Bonaparte. Nap was always
having a battle with some member of the
feline household. He had , even , tres
passed on the neighbors , gardens in order
to gratify his thirst for war, - Josephine
was always under some one's feet, and if
one sat down in a rocking-chair, one was
sure to hear a terrible cry upon the first
movement ox tne rooters. . We chuoren
t -I. . n tm rm i . a
u&ea x lossy muteioos Deet,: ane was
pet. ., So -we; decided that
she should be bride and Napoleon groom.
the table, and -1 arrayed, Jjlossy in the
""bd ou ouu in meneoxer
chief, afterhich I. shut them in the
closet ,unta Josephine was ready. Her
costume yrea simple,, being merely my
iuucuu njjruu sieu around her
neci. , ax nret it traiied very gracefully
behind- her; but when she disoovesed
the strings under her chin she began to
play with them, and soon spoiled her
effective costume. ; , The two , .mothers,
being comfortably ' seated T on empty
cheese boxes, were allowed to attend
the wedding in their everyday clothes.
The ceremony was , performed, in the
most approved manner Rob reading
his service- from: an Ayer's almanac. s It
was necessarily short and somewhat in
terrupted, for Nap would insist on
jumping' on the table, and Flossy was
decidedly uncomfortable' under, her bri
dal vail. ' For the wedding ring was sub
stituted blue neck-ribbons. . " Blue
means true, you know, and as long as
these ribbons, last you. must be true to
one another, kitties. - : , ti s
' After this wise ooncluding remark we i
partook of the wedding feast, giving the
cats the milk and eating the gingerbread
ourselves. Then we presented Napand
Flossy with a , mouse apiece. They
seemed to appreciate this part of the
'play ', as well as any, and the other j
pussies would have been glad of a shar9 j
of tlie treat. ' '. 1 '
" The order of exercises having been
completed at this place, we will now
take; the happy couple on their bridal
tour,' said Rob, in most solemn tones.
' I looked up in astonishment from my
last piece of gingerbread. Rob had be
gun the play reluctantly, and now he had
suggested a continuation of which I had
not thought. i,
" Where will we ro'. I asked?" mv
mouth so full I could hardly speak. . .
uiear your mouth, ta&e lossy, and
follow me, " was his only reply. ..'
When Rob took that way of talkinsr I
always obeyed, if it led me over juni
per bushes barefoot, for it seemed to
me he must be a remarkable boy to talk
in that tone. He captured Nap and we
started f er Little Pond. " Arriving there,
Rob helped me into a boat that was fast
ened to the shore. From that we stepped
into one in the pond, and from that to
another. By moving this about we con
trived to reach One quite a distance from
land. " "
" We'll let our bride and groom play
go to Jiiurope, said Rob, rocking the
boat.
" Don't rock the boat so,"hard I said.
or you will get it unfastened." I was
really quite alarmed, not being used to
life on-the water.
Why! you know 'we must have a
storm at sea to make the play go right,"
was my only consolation.
"I guess we shall have a real storm
oeiore long, anyway. Xjook, iiob. see
those clouds. I know it will rain before
long." '
He said " No. In this instance my
"remarkable boy" was' mistaken," for
soon the first few drops before the heav
ier shower began to descend. We had
moved the boat about so much that sev
eral moments were
consumed in crettinflr
it into such a position' that we could step
r z. zt ai. x . i . a .
shore. It was accomplished, at last, in
the midst of the pouring rain. After
reaching the shore, we had quite a walk
before us ; so on the way we planned to
get up to our rooms, chancre our clothes.
and say nothing about 'our adventure.
Alas ! there in .the back door stood Be
linda Paige.
" ljand sakes I whatever have you two
children been up to now ? Where have
you been?" she asked. " Mis' Thomp
son, do come here and see these children.
They look for all the world like drownded
rats." .
Grandma hastened from the sittincr
room, and Katy, the housemaid, from the
kitchen, and then such a score 'of ques
tions. These were not answered as satis
factorily as we could" have desired, for
grandma never allowed us on the pond
alone. We were both hurried to our re
spective rooms and sent supperless to
bed. I think grandma added the hard
est punishment of all when she sent Be
linda Paige up stairs with a bowl of hot
ginger tea. 1 ve always hated hot ginger
tea ever since. - But I drank it. How
could I do otherwise, with Belinda stand
ing over me? . ' "
After she had erone and I "was nearrv
asleep, I heard a whisper at my door :
" Bay ;
"That you, Rob?" - ' ' '
"Yes. Had any ginger tea?" '
"Ugh! Yes."
" I think it's too bad. We didn't mean
anything. But say, you ain't mad with
me - ." - - -
"No, Rob" v
"Good night" -"Goodnight."
An Incident in Charlotte Cushman's
--' ! " Early Life. ' -: -'
More than fiftv vfears mm. . Tnov. BfiTTie
16 or 17 years of age, was at work one
afternoon bn the bid " Bingham Station
Talra WUJ..I. rl 1 i 1
. n i ,
some of our citizens as for years occupy
ing a berth at the head of the dock where
State street block now stands. It was an
afternoon when there was no school, and
a girl; somewhat younger than the boy
alluded to, was passing the half -holiday
in piay near tne store of her father. Ven
turing too near the edge of the dock,
she missed her footincf and fell overboard.
It being high water at the time, she dis
appeared. No one saw her fall, but, by
accident, -the lad noticed some bubbles in
the water, and, having just before seen
the little miss on the wharf, instantly
took in the situation. Springing into
the water, he succeeded in bringing her
to the surface, and calling for aid, she was
taken on Shore and restored to her parent.
This act of heroism saver ti life of one
'who has become the most distinguished
American actress ' of the age," a lady as
rropeciea i or nes moral worth and
irreproachable private character as she 4a
renowned all over the world for her emi
nent histrionie achievements. '' Her res
cuer is to-day one of our most 'estimable
citizens and less than a year ago ac
quainted the lady with the circumstances
bf her deliverance' from a watery grave
through his instrurnehtality-a fact she
yen remembered, although 1 till the
ignorant of the name tf her preserver.
Cornelius Lovell had saved the life of
Uharlotte Cushman.-jE'aaf 'Boston Ad
vocate. .'-.;- - " -f '----'-"'
A Bbavb Box. A large wild-cat en
tered a house ia . Nova Sootia. where i
boy 9 years old had been left,- by his
parents in charge of two younger sisters.
The boy, with great courage caught up
a billet of wood and assaulted the animal,
while he gu-ls, mounted, on the table,
watched, lie', conflict i and encouraged
their champion by shouts of -"give it to
him, Sammy,", and Sammy1 did ive it
to 14m. The fight was long and fierce,
but the boy conquered at last, and whew
his father and mother got -horned they
found the great cat dead on the floor,
and ; Sammy standing over him, very
proud, as he had reason to be, of his ex.
ploit, . : '.-.- Vr,-:wfi 5 .,r,V.-,i. i
suah a little
TITAL STATISTICS.
Ieatb Bate In City and Coanh-y .
, Alarming Mortality of the Great Cities.
xn the . increased attention given to
hygienic subjects, both bjr piofessional
men and by the public, the question of
unman longevity and vitauty assumes
the leading place. In spite of the popular
assumption that the average length of
human life is steadily though ; slowly in
creasing, this theory is not borne out
Dy the statements of thoughtful scientific
writers. 1 On the contrary, ; those who
have dealt most closely with vital statis
tics in this country, generally hold that
muko iiob vmu a uecims in cue neaitn,
fecundity and longevity of the people. :
This observation is speciallv and in a
marked degree true of our sreat cities.
InPhiladelDhia. the second citv in tor-
.ulation in the United States, there were .
fifty deaths to every one hundred births
in the year 1790; while in 1870 there were
ninety deaths to k every one hundred
births in the same city, being-very nearly
double the proportion of mortality eighty
years ago. rom 1806 to 1820 there was
one death to every forty-eight inhabi
tants in Philadelphia, while from 1861 to
J.H7U there was one death to every thirty-
nine.- The average duration of human
life in Philadelphia near the close of the
eighteenth century was about twenty
eight years; now it is only about 24.5
years. : ! -! ' -
The. alarming- mortality of American
cities is especially marked in the destruc
tion of young children. . In s New York,
out of 365,608 deaths reported during-
half a century, 50 per cent. - were of chil
dren under five years of age. In Chicago,
from 1843 to 1869, 51 per cent, of the
deaths were of infants under five years;
and in Philadelphia, 45 per cent, of the
ehildren born did not reach the age of
five years. In the latter citv. the statistics
of forty years ago showed only 89 per
cent, of the total mortality from children
under five years of age, thus showing a
great increase of early -deaths... - '
- in .Massachusetts, the State Board of
Health reports that the ratio " of deaths
under one year of age, to the births, was
iy.il percent, in Boston, but only Vz.ay
per cent, in . the ' rural portions of the
State. The mortality of great cities is
found to be, both in tn.fr country and in
Europe, more than twice as great as that
of the rural districts; indeed, it is ' fully
two and a half times as great, for the
-cities . are counted with the country in
those comparisons, thus reducing the
difference in their favor; and moreover,
the mean average age at death in cities is
falsely increased by-the fact of the im
ported population of towns having passed
the most critical period Of their lives in
"the country. , .-. , . .
. Ui. Jtuchard JL rice, in his annuity
tables, says the expectation of life of a
child just born : in Shrewsbury is 33
years; in London only 18 years. He adds
that while in the country parishes one in
twenty persons live to be 80 years and
upward, in London only one in .60
reaches that age. Dr. Morgan, - an emi
nent English statistician, : gives the
average age of country laborers at death
as 39 years, but of city mechanics as only
22 years. - .
, By the census of 1870, the mean aver
age duration of human life ia the United
States was 39 years; but irr New York
and Philadelphia the average term of
life is only 23 years. Taking the country
at large, there is annually one death to
every 79.8 inhabitants, but in New York
there is one death to every 39-3, and in
Philadelphia one to every 39.1 inhabi
tants.
In 1,000 deaths in the country in En
gland, 202 persons reached the age of 70,
while in the crowded city of Liverpool
only 90 attained the same age. Aocording
to the Registrar-General of Great Britain,
about one-half of all that are born' alive
die before the end of the fifth year in
Liverpool; while in the country districts
nearly one-half live to the age of 50.
Physicians have carefully : computed
that diseases of the nervous Bystem are
five times as fatal in - great cities as in
the country; pulmonary diseases twice as
fatal, while the proportion of mortality
from diseases of the digestive system is
2 to 1, comparing city with country.
What are the chief causes of "this en
hanced mortality among urban popula
tions? They may be summed up in the
evils of overcrowding, vitiated air, de
ficient exercise; late hours, over-stimulus,
and habits . of luxury and debauchery.
Dr. Morgan tells us that the deaths ex
ceed the births in London by 10,000,
annually, and. if the influx of new-comers
did not continually recruit the popula
tion, the city would rapidly decline, and,
in course bf time,- become extinct. ' Yet
the tendency in England; as in our own
country, is steadily toward cramming
the cities with people, and depleting the
rural districts. A century ago the coun
try held 74 per cent, of the entire popu
lation of England, while now it has but
44 per cent., the cities absorbing the
enormous proportion of 56 per cent., of
the entire population. . - .-v -.
- Some of our physiologists tell us that
it may yet . become a serious question
whether the American Nation - -would
grow to be a permanent one if immigra
tion were cut off. And they point us in
proof to -the undoubted . fact , that
the .number of i children ? born to
native - parents is - small, and . is
annually . decreasing, . t while ' our
foreign born population have a much
greater degree of fecundity. It is his
torically certain that the march of wealth,
luxury and population has not tended to
the longevity of nations, any more than
the spread of habits of high living and
herding in thickly populated cities has
tended to length of life in individuals.-
Cincinnati Commercial.
Wfth a Jump."
Says the Hartford Herald: ,When
you are given a word to spell, go through
it at one jump. Don't go feeling along
as if you were on thin ice, or down yon
will go, sure. Tackle it in thia style:
I-n In, with an In, d-i di, with an Indi,
a-n an, with an an, with, an- in, with an
Indi, with an Indian, a-p ap, with an ap,
with an In. with an Indi. with an Indian,
with an Indianap, o, with an In, with an
Indi, with an Indian, with an Indianap,
with an Iadianapo, 1-i-s lis, with an In,
with an Indi, with an Indian, with an
Indianap, with an Indianapo, with an
Indianapolis. ' ' 1
Francis COnbot had a great deal of
confidence in his constitution when at 80
years of age he came to this country
from Ireland twenty-three years ago. He
sawed wood for a Irving in . New York
until one day last week, when he caught
a vtlil. which developed bronchitis, and
he died, aged 103. - There is no knowing
how long he might have lived if he could
have kept from taking cold. .His wife
died three years ago, aged 91, and he left
. r , . . . .
lour or nve ciuioren ranging irom eu to
70, 'who will Aow. have to saw their own
wood and take care of themselves. It is
a very healthy family of orphans, and all
expect to step into the next century.
X Charles T. F. Wxmas CVbtib, of St
Louis, took a bottle of laudanum be
cause the light- of his eyes had left the
city, but what could be expected of a
youth whose same was SO fnghtf ally cut
apt ;;. '";. .:2:f'if'v-''ttaff.-jA:ais.Fi)?
The Fighting Editor. .
We have added a man 'to our staff.
He is the Chesterfield of the editorial
corps, and1 occupies the first room sev
eral doors 'from the chief editorial re
treat. He is of the' Hibernian persua
sion, has bright red hair, strong, sinewy
arms, and airs himself with coat off and
sleeves welf rolled up. He sports a
cane, that is always handy, of solid hick
ory, huge dimensions, and loaded at the
butt. He keeps two pets of the English
bull-dog breed, with a litter of well-grown
pups in the corner to keep up the sup
ply in case ef accident, and" it is a fancy
of his to keep a brace of loaded blunder!
busses against his chair. It is his busi
ness to do the delectable part of the edi
torial work of the times. - He receives
the short-haired women and long-haired
men - who flock to every newspaper
with piles of manuscript upon their ' fa
vorite hobbies, said to be "just the thing
for an independent journal," - and he
welcomes the large and growing family :
of CoL Mulberry Sellerses, who have a
patent method of paying the national
debt, and pf making money plenty for j
everybody ; without earning it au of
which they could demonstrate to the sat-
isfaction of any one by publishing ' forty j
or fifty columns in an independent jour- j
naL He also greets the crowd that
comes with the scandal of the streets and
gin-mills,' and insist upon publishing it
anonymouBly, to' " break up the rings
and restore the city to law and order."
With all these, : and others in the same
useful line, pur new man has to deal, but
he acquits himself with wonderful satis
faction. Now and then there is a little
confusion in his office a chair or a table
broken, or. a window smashed, and once
in a while the dogs are seen pawing a bit
of 'silk, and bugles and things, and pan
taloon patches out of their teeth, and
the pups do occasionally play with an
ancient reticule, or a grandmother's fan,
or an old slurt-dickey, but upon, the
whole the department is a success, and
we can confidently commend it to all our
brethern inclined to an independ
ent newspaper venture. Philadelphia
Time. . .
A California Horror.
Sometime in March two men, J. W.
Rover and J. W. Sharpe, went to Hum
boldt county, .Nevada, to take charge of
a sulphur mine, which Rover had located
there. Sharpe represented the interests
of a Mr. McWorthy, a partner of Rover's
in the mines. Sharpe had been at the
mine but a short time when Rover be
came jealous of him, and it has since
been ascertained that he made threats at
the Humboldt House that he would get
even with Sharpe. r A week aero last
Thursday. McWorthy sent word to Rover
to meet him at Mill City, a few miles
from the mine, with a team to haul some
goods to the mine. ' Rover came several
hours .after the, appointed time, and
when asked where Sharpe was remarked
that he was not his keeper., ' McWorthy,
accompanied by a friend and Rover, re
turned to tne mine, but could not nnd
Sharpe. He waited four days, and then,
Sharpe not .putting in an appearance,
and satisfying himself that Sharpe had
not returned to Oakland, Mc Worthy's
suspicions were aroused. Rover pro
tested the utmost ignorance of what had
become of Sharpe. McWorthy then re
turned to Humboldt and swore out a
warrant against Rover, charging . him
with the murder of Sharpe. . The. war
rant was given to Sheriff Nash, who went
to the mine and found Rover, who stout
ly denied all knowledge of the missing
man. A search was made in the hills.
and the Sheriff and McWorthy were hor
rified, to. find portions of Sharpe 's re
mains secreted in different parts of the
surrounding hills. " He had been killed
with an ax, and his body cut to pieces
in the most brutal manner. His head,
was found in a sulphur bag, and his
thighs, arms, legs and body in separate
places, each limb carefully tied up in a
sulphur bag.. ' About $200 in coin and a
pistol he had on his person were missing,
while his gold watch and . papers were
found in his pockets. The footprints of
Rover's boots were tracked to every spot
where portions of ; the body had been
secreted.5 Rover has not been found.-
San Francisco Call. '
TpATold Being Swindled.
We expect to read this year the usual,
number of notices Of farmers and others
being swindled by patent-right men, by
vendors of wonderful secrets, by travel
ing agents, by men selling goods by sam
ple, etc Simply learning how to avoid
one trick is unimportant. ,' There are,
however, ereneral principles which will.
if borne in mind and acted upon, almost
always protect one from loss. .Xtxej may
be briefly stated thus ;, . ; ' ;
-Never listen to any proposition which
is commended to vpu as giving oppor
tunities for making money dishonestly or
by selling an article for much more than
its worth. The man ' who proposes to
have you defraud others, will cheat you
if . ha has a good opportunity. ,
As a rule, when a stranger, paoposes to
sell you any article at very, much less
than its value, it is safe to decline buy
ing, unless you are a good judge pf the
article. " .' ... -
. Never make a purchase .or contract
with a stranger when his assurance s the
only .evidence you have of value. -. .
; Never sign a paper presented by a
stranger ' without reading it and being
sure .you understand, its character.'
-. As a rule, avoid engaging in enter
prises, however attractive they may ap
pear, if entirely outside your .usual busi
ness. , - . , ,
Buy of; and sell to . men whom you
know personally, or who are engaged, in
regular' permanent, business, whenever
this can be done. . . .. .
Other things beingi equal, bay and
sell in the market nearest home. West
ern IturaU :: , . . -. ....':, -,. : - , ; ..,
. . Big Enterprises,
i? Great enterprises are springing up all
over the world. Beside : the Mount
Cenia tunnel, the Alps are being pierced
by a still , greater bore under Mont St.
Oothard, ,The Suez Canal finds a coun
terpart jn -., the - projected mter-oceanic
canal across the Isthmus of Panama.
The problem of a tunnel beneath the
English, Channel, which has long been
mooted,, . Itjegins to assume 'i, tangible
shape, and now it is seriously proposed
to unite jiurope and Africa by a tunnel
under the, Straits.of Gibraltar. Vil As now
projected, the tunnel is to be. constructed
in a straight line-, and be extended be
tween Tarifa and Algezras,' !on the Span
ish coast, toward Ceuta and Tangier, on
the boast of "Morocco. The
part will be 44,160' feet long, or nearly
uuio xuugiiBu , mues. xnis enterprise,
however, presenta greater difficulties than
mat unoer the raiguah Channel, tliongh
the latter is twice as 'long as the former.
The maximum depth of the Channel at
the points to be out through, is but 163.2
feet,, while that of the Straits amounts to
2,621 feet. . In case the tunnel under
Gibraltar be bored at a depth of 1,000
feet, its total depth beneath the surface
of the sea would be more than 3,000 feet,
while the galleries leading to it on each
side would be three miles long.'
4-s2t' is ; ... i rn ...i t;:-'-'-i -em
7 Thh end of everythingthe letter g.
(. , ,v People aad Things. ,;r
'' A mule ia worth S600 in Cuba Cabas
dollars. -.. .... , ...
. M. Thxebs, France's greatest man, has
attained his 79th year. , - . :
Thk free lunch system has been intro
duced in fashionable Parisian stores.
Monwn Amvsw, - of ; Napa, CaL, can
split a pistol bullet on a knife-edge at
ten paoes.
: Maine claims to have been the' first
State to allow women to solemnise mar
riages..'.: -ri--!' - ;
Nicohat and Hay, the private secre
taries of Abraham Lincoln, talk of bio
graphing him. , . V i t j
Texas papers believe more cattle will
be driven out of Western Texas this year
than any previous year.
A Phtti, pedphia dry aroods merchant
has just received $25,000 life insurance
on a bankrupt creditor, ...
Mbs. Surra says she celebrates her
wooden wedding every day. - She mar
ried a stick, .and that's how it is. ' -
In Mexico education is hereafter to ba
made compulsory, and normal oollegea
are to be established for" the higher edu
cation of women. . , , ,
A game of ehess, commenced by cor
respondence between Baden and New
York in 1850. has just resulted in favor
of the American city. . .. , .
Brig ham Young is seventy-fdnr. but
can preach for two' hours with the se-
renest unconsciousness that twentv-twa
infants are yelling in the tabernacle. ., .
According to the Journal des Ohem-
ins de Fer of Constantinople, the total
length of all the railroad lines in the
world is 122,462 miles, and their cost.
$11,255,100,000, - ! '
It is proposed that everybody,, man.
woman and child, plant an elm. oak.
maple or other good tree, as a Centen
nial offering to those .who may come
after them and sit in the shade of the
same. ?,-; -; ., ,- '-'.; .
Robert Bubns' aatocrraph sold in
London, the other day, for 60, while
Queen Elizabeth's broucht onlv a nnar-
ter that sum. -
" The rank is but the alaea stamp,
The man's the gaud for a' that," -
The peasants of France are the irreat-
est accumulators of specie in this age.
They keep their own money in old stock
ings, buy for cash, and so get interest
on their capital, absolutely refusing; .tox
give the old cashiers a chance., f . ;
Tub Marquis de Chatillon is a knhrht
errant of modern times. In the streets
of Paris he surprised several small boys
hanging a dbg. "for fun." : He let out
right and left, rescued the animal and
gave a poor woman fiftv francs to take
care of it. - -' ; ' - - ;
Young Anderson, livinar near -Red
wood Falls, Minn., experienced religion
at a revival meeting last week, and staid
too long for after prayers, so a lady ac
companying him thought, and she walked
home with another beau, whereupon An
derson nought arsenic, tooK it and died.
Mrs. Jdtja Ward Howb is troubled
about an error in the printincr of her
Centennial hymn. She says the lino
"Our fathers met at break of dawn" ia
wrong. "Our fathers did nothing of the
sort, ilt should have stood thus: "Our
fathers met at beat of drum." 'J .
A lunatic asylum at Nice was recently
burned, and the lunatics went wild with
delight. The last day of judgment hav
ing few fears for them they walked into
the flames whooping and hurrahing
young revelers at a banquet. , Several
were burned to death before thev eonhi
be rescued by the soldiers, and the asy-
iuiu was destroyed. ... ,-n ,. . .... -
A caveat for a novel invention has
been filed at the Patent Office, at Wash
ington. ? It is for a new motive, power.
which is to be a sort of cold steam tren-
erator from water and air. ' The inventor
claims that it will supersede' coal and
wood for all purposes except for warmth
and cooking, and that it will revolution
ize the present system of motive power.
The scientifio experts who have exam
ined it state that the invention is entirely
practicable and will be patented. -
From statistics of the police of New
York, it appears thai there are about
7,000 professional 'thieves who make that
city their home or headquarters. . , They
are classified as follows: .
Burglars, first class..". ...'.'..I..,..,..... 978
Burglars, aeoond class.. aOO
Bnrglara, third class. 42S
Shoplifters ; ................j. ...... 90
Panel thieves ("badgers1..... .;. ...... ..i.'.'..; 60O
Pickpockets . 1,880
Contldence men... .............. ...... ..XWO
Forgera.. aoe
Other petty thieves,-... ................ 78
. Total Piie-rea........:..v....ii.'...l,....T,aOS
It is estimated that fully 1,000 of these
people have, at some time in their career
of crime, committed murder or felonioas
assault, yet have' escaped on some tech
nicality of the law. .J.,,.
: The Ft Plant, r'" '.f'';t!::"'.
The pi plant Iz a luxurious weed, that
iz kultivated in the garden, and the more
it iz kut off the better it .grows. It looks
not unlike the wild burdock, and grows
just about az hi, and has a leaf on it like
tobacco. , .
" The leaf ar the pi plant iz about the
size ov an elephant's, ear, and the stalk
on which the leaf grows ia a delikata
wine color. ... , . . r.
I ov stslfe e pi iz made, and it
iz the first pi out or green sass that yu
kan git in the spring.,-, I V j
The pi plant iz az sour az a country
school marm, and one pound oy plant
tekes four pounds ov sugar to soothe it.
There iz sum pholks think that this pi
kan "beat the pumkin pi, but right here
iz whare they err.
"They 'dassent bet on' it."
When enny man tells me that sutch
and sutch a pi kan beat the purakin, I
konside'r that man may hv sense enuff
to sett on a jury, or perhaps assist ia
tending a toU gate, but for all the im
portant; dutys oy life he iz of no mca
use than an axe without enny handle.
v But pi plant iz better' than no pi, but
it does take in the 'sugar the darn deet.
If I was a going Into the pi plant pi
spektdashunr I should want a partner,
and I should let him. furnish the sugar
and I would put up the roots, and we
would divide the profits equal. ;
-'. T ahmM bhv thai thia would be a smart
Eiingfor me to do. Josh BiUinga. .... ,
' Cougutno. The best method of easing
a cough ia to resist it with all the force
of will possible, until the accumulation
of phlegm becomes greater ; then there
is eomething1 to eough'againsts and it
com ea up very much easier and with half
the coughing. A great deal of feackir.ov
and hemming, and coughing in invalids
is purely -nervous or the result of mera
habit, as is-shown by the freqiw?rs-y witli
which it occurs while the r- ' ot ia
thinking about it, and ita c . r-&;&iv
rarity when he is so much enaed that
there is no time to think; or when the
attention is impelled in another direo
tion. Scientific American, - '