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About Washington independent. (Hillsboro, Washington County, Or.) 1874-18?? | View Entire Issue (April 6, 1876)
if THE INDEPENDENT, Every Thursday Evening, - BY u. is. u v c i:. Office, Old Court Houee, lia.tnouo, oukoov. THE INDEPENDENT AdrertUing Bates. LKUALADVEKTIIBMEXTI (!.) One qur or 1pm, ona Insertion II M On square tch ubceqneol In cert Ion SO BimnKM ADVKRTMBHEm (rin. A. aaeiDenaeii nut. S. i i i i 1 1 col v c'l I rul I i T 1 month.... limn oo ft ims a i too sorjoro WashinMoii Ii Juh.iuIh... 4 0i I VI 111) I 10 00 17 fin IT BO t mouth... ion toj t ou ii ou ii on w su ai linonU.... JsJlOON U SO 15 Ul IT BO S3 OH SO 00 t )'er 10 0U( 1 o SO 00( 33 00 10 0u( SO uj 10 00 Trrnu of Mnhtrripliun .coin r4-t.i hinlt! copy per year f i 30 j bliilfle copy U month 1 30 Single uuiubwr VOL. 4. HILLSBORO, WASHINGTON COUNTY, OREGON, THURSDAY, APRIL G, 1876. NO. 1. The Dead Past. Yes, gone forever gone. Wr t aiiiint now recall The' vanished hours of other days, Yet still their shadows fall And cast a shade o'er all the light. As when the. Mm ha.- set at night. The hepes of other days, When life was bright and fair; It seemed as though the future time Would hi; as free from care; Hut as the years went swiftly hy. The dark clouds gathered in our tky. We saw the promise sweet. Of fairest, sweetest llowcrs; They witheud even at our feet, Kre we could callthein ours. It might have tieen, and yet was not; Oh, can it ever he forgot? Although the past is dead. Its memory still is here; The happy tones of other days Still echo in our car. The sound is sad a note of woe; It might have been, yet was not so. Lite of an Old Hunter. OU1 11 1 in Tecple, of Preston township, was in town for the first time in years ti ii few days ago. Phiti is crowding seventy-five years pretty close, and is proba bly the oldest active lmnter in the state. Since lie was eleven years old he has carried a ride, and lived, as it were, in the woods. He looks like a man of forty, and within a month brought down a haw k with his title on the wing at a hundred yards. Phin everybody calls him Phin hunted in northwestern Pennsylvania when it was ull wilderness where nine out of ten of the villages in this section are now located, lie says he has hung up many a deer near where the court house in this place now stands, lie has kept u record of every deer and bear he has killed since 1S20. From Mil to that time he did not keep account, but thinks he must have shot at least a hundred deer mid t mi or twelve bears. The total num ber of deer killed since IS 20, including thirteen the past season is 0,01s. lie has killed 439 bears, und thinks he shot, in 1SU5, the last gray wolf ever known in this section, although he cnu remember w hen they w ere quite plenty.' When he was fifteen year old he shot a panther. He had been sent from where his peo ple lived up to a 1 1 1 1 1 clearing" after the cows. It was early in the fall, and he took his ritle w ith him, as he always did. He got the cows and started them down the mountain road, and thought he would taltt? a cut across through the woods in the hope of "jumping up" a deer. As he was passing cautiously along, he heard something in the brush, and looking that way saw a large panther coming toward him, clearing the scrub oak at every bound, and evidently meaning business. The young hunter knew it would be use less to try to escape from the animal, so he jumped quickly behind a pine tree, and watched the panther, which had cleared the space between them to alwmt twenty yards. There he had stopped and waff crouching down, lashing his tail and glaring in hungry expectation. Young Phin shoved his ritle out from behind the tree, ran his eye along the barrel, and covered a vital sjxt of the panther. The report of the rille was followed by a blood-curdling yell from the animal, which bounded several feet in the air and tell to the ground dead. I'hin tried to carry his game home, but it was too heavy. lie related his adventures when he arrived at the house, and two men went out with him and brought the car cass in. Since then he has killed three panthers, the last one in li2 5. Besides the game enumerated, he has killed and trapped innumerable foxes, minks, otter ami other "small deer" enough, he says, to bring him a small fortune if he had the skins to sell now. The old hunter loves to relate the adventures he has had in the forest during his long life therein. He says that the reason the number of bears he has kilted is so small is because he never made a point to hunt them much. The bears he killed were mostly those he came across accidentally in the woods; and many of them he was obliged to kill for self-protection. He has had numerous hand-to-hand contests with Imnus, even wounding one near its den, when it turned on him and was joined by its mate, a huge she-bear, with two cubs. He killed them all with Ids knife and hunting axe, but received some wounds, the scars of which he carries yet: He says he would rather "tackle" half a dozen bears than a wounded buck brought to bay. Old l'liin tells a great many stories of his adventures in the woods, and loves to dwell on the many scrapes lie has been in during his life as a hunter. Ho tells about bring treed once by a wounded and revengeful buck, and says it was the most exciting adventure he ever had. It was on the border of Wayne and I 'ike counties, in the year 121, about three miles from the village of llawley. He was hunting on what w as called the Pati pack Ridge. There were three in the party, one being the late lion, l'aul S. Pre ton. I'hin stood on a run-way near the Wallenpaiipack Creek, and" all at pee an immense buck came tearing down from the mountain and plunged into the stream. The hunter sent a rille ball after him and put it behind his fore shoulder. The buck went down but was up again in a second and turned to take the back track. I'hin met him on the bank, and drawing his hunting-knife attacked him. The buck used his horns and feet to such advantage that the hunter was compelled to ilee to save his life. The deer was evidently determined to have nothing less than a complete victory, and pursued. I'hin "shinned it" up the nearest tree and took a position on a limb out of the reach of the infuriated beast. He supposed, of course, that the buck would finally succumb to the shot he had giveu him or make olT into the woods. It did neither, but after walking around the tree several times, lay down on the ground beneath it, as .nuch as to say that he had plenty of time and would wait for the hunter to come down. Phin had left Ins gun on the bank of the stream. It was bitter cold and night was coming on. To add t the unpleasant ness of his jxisitiou it was not likely that his companions would come that way, as they were to meet at a place abont a mile up the creek. He knew from experience that a wounded buck brought to bay was the worst thing in the world to fight, and he did not care to get out of the tree to test the qualities of the one in question. The deer was alert, and at every move of the treed hunter was on his feet in an instant, ready for w hat might come. I'hin shouted for his companions until he was hoarse. Night came on, and every minute it grew colder, lie remained in the tree, watched by the deer, from five o'clock in the afternoon till ten at night. The moon w as shining, and it was as light as day. To keep his blood in circulation he Climbed from his perch to the top of the tree and back from time to time, a feat that was at teaded with no little difficulty and dan ger, j About ten o'clock he heard a shout and returned it. His companions were out looking for him. They approached the tree, but the deer w as still game, and stood his ground against the attack ot the hounds, until a ball from Paul Preston's ritle went whizzing through his heart. and he tell dead in his tracks. Although this happened fifty years ago and more. old Phi n still laughs heartily at the recollection of his ridiculous yet very unpleasant adventure. Phin carries a ritle he has had for forty years. It is seldom out ot his hands He has a great contempt for the sti le of shooting adopted by the ritle teams. He says he'll find a team of men, the youngest not under sixty, who will give the rule team odds and beat tlieni shooting, if they w ill shoot fair. He thinks it child's play to take all the fancy positions the ritlemen do, resting their guns and cal culating half an hour over one shot. Phin's style of hunting is of the never give up sort. When he starts a deer he makes directly to head him oil", and knows so well the habits of the animal and the woods he hunts, that he seldom fails to strike a run-way that is sure to bring the deer within his range. Once in the trail of a deer, he never gives it up till he bags it. He has followed a buck three days, and has finally killed him within a hundred yards of his start ing place. He once killed six deer in going a distance of three miles. He killed two at one shot. They were all bucks. He fore game got so scarce in this country, he says it was not a rare thing for him to kill three deer without moving from his tracks, and he has killed four. When he was a boy he once in his excitement shot his ramrod at a large buck. He did not get the deer at the time. The next season, in dressing a buck he had shot, he found about a foot of his ramrod in the hind quarter. It had not touched a vital spot, and the wound had healed and closed over the piece. Of late years Phin lias spent the deer hunting season in Potter coiinty,the game being more plenty there. He goes out at the opening of the season and stays in the woods until the law and rigor of the weather drive him away. He lias two sons who are c hips of the old block. They would rather meet a bear in the woods than sit down to a feast. One is Chris, 22, and the other TJje, 20. Two years ago the boys brought in two big bears they killed with their hunting-axes near Wolf-Pond. Chris had one of his arms nearly "chawed" off in the encoun ter. They have killed ten bears in their wanderings so far, and hung up fourteen deer the past season. Old Phin has been wishing for year that there would be a war with Spain. He has killed all sorts of mean "var mints," from a wild-cat to a skunk, he says, and would like to shoot a Spaniard befoie he dies. He thinks "they are a leetle tin; meanest reptiles he knows." A'. V. Sun. Integrity of Character. Young men should be deeply impressed with the vast importance of cherishing those piinciples and of cultivating those habits which will secure the confi dence and the esteem of the wise and the good. A young man may be unfortunate, lie may be oor and penniless, but if he possess unbending integrity, and unwaver ing purpose to do w hat is honest and just, he will have fiiends and patrons, what ever may be the embarrassments and ex igencies into which he is thrown. The young may thus possess a capital of which none of the misfortunes and calamities of life can deprive them. We have known men who have sud denly been reduced from affluence to penury by some ovcrwhclmingmisfortune, which they could neither foresee nor pre vent. To-day they were prosperous, to morrow, every earthly prospect was blighted, and everything in their future aspect of life was dark and dismal. Their business was gone, their prosperity gone, and they feel that all is gone; but they have a rich treasure that nothing can take away. They have integrity of char acter, and this gives them influence, raises up friends, furnishes them with ecuniary aid, with which to commence life once more, under auspicious circumstances. We cannot too strongly impress Uon our young men the importance of abstain ing from everything which shocks their moral sensibilities, wounds their con science and has a tendency to weaken that nice sense of honor and integrity so indispensable to a go! character. "In tegrity of character!" Whoever possessed it, that did not derive untold advantage from it? It is letter than riches, it is of more value than "diamonds and all precious stones;" and yet every man may possess it. The poorest may have it, and no pow er on earth can wrest it from them. Young men, prize integrity of character above all earthly gifts. C.uti. Schckz says, in speaking of the Centennial: "Thw country will in the coming year resound with eulogy of the men who founded the Republic, but those old patriots, if they could, would tell us to spend fewer efforts in praising them and make stronger efforts to follow their example." The Fnwt-Flowers of Russia. A Ronton journal describes a extraor dinary frost-llower of Russia which has been produced, it is said, in Boston, in a teniierature of artificial cold. This won derful plant, or rather flower, is found only on the northern boundaries of Si beria, where the snow is eternal. It was discovered in by Count Swinoskoff, the eminent Russian botanist, who was cuobled by the Czar for his discovery. Bursting from the frozen snow on the first day of the year, it grows to the height of three feet, and flow ers on the third day, remains in flower twenty-tour hours, and then dissolves itself into its original ele ment stem, leaves and flowers being of the finest snow. The stock is one inch in diameter; the leaves three in numlx-r in the broadest jtai t are one inch and a half in width, and are covered with lnfinitesstnial cones of snow; thev grow only on one side of the stalk, to the north, curvinggracefiilly in the same direction. The flower, w hen fully expanded, is in shape a pertect star; the petals are three inches in length, half an inch wide in the broadest parts, and tapering sharply to the ioint. These are also interlaced one with the other in a beautiful manner, forming them. t del icate basket of frost-work, the most won derful. The anthers arc five in number and on the third day after the birth of the Hower of snow are to be seen on the extremities thereof, trembling and glit tering like diamonds, the seeds of this wonderful flower alut as large as a pin's head. The old botanist say's, when he first be held the flower, "I was dumb with aston ishment; filled with wonderment, which gave way to joy the most ecstatic on be holding this most wonderful work of na ture, this remarkable phenomenon of snow to see this flower springing from the snowy desert, born of its own com posite atoms. I touched the stem of one lightly,but it fell at my touch, and a mor sel of snow only remained in my hand." Gathering some flowers in snow in order to preserve the little diamond-like seeds, he hied to St. Petersburg!! with, to him, the greatest prize of his life-time. All through the year they were kept in snow, and on the first day of the year follow ing, the Court of St. Petersburg!! were delight ed with the bursting forth of the wonder ful Frost-flower. Our friends in Boston succeeded in ob taining some of the seeds, and ail through the summer and autumn they have been imbedded in snow brought at great ex pense from the White Mountains and the coast of Labrador; and they now have the most unbounded satisfaction and pleasure of announcing that all signs are favorable to the realization of their fond est hopes, the production of the flower of snow. The snow and ice are in a large glass refrigerator, with the thermometer forty-five degrees lelov zero, and the solid bed of snow has already begun to show little fissures and a slight bulging in the centre, unmistaken evidences of the forthcoming of the phenomenon. A". 1'. Ch rixtinn Adtoaitf. The Decay of Ormiiz. The nearly deserted, barren island of Ormuz, in the Persian (Julf, was, as late as the seventeenth century, the seat of wealth and jwiwer. It was settled at a very early period and it is probably the Ogyris of Strabo and the Organ n a of Ar rian and Ptolemy. In the fourteenth century it was the capital of a kingdom comprising a considerable part of Arabia and Persia. In the fifteenth century it had acquired great prosjterity, and was the entrejMit of the commerce Intween India and Persia, and the trade of Sam arcand and Iiokhara. At the beginning of the sixteenth century its reputed wealth and splendor attracted the cupidity of the Portuguese, and in l."07 Albuquerque sailed against it, but found the city de fended by ;;(),000 men. In 1515 he re turned with twenty-seven ships, reduced it and built a fortress. In 15 t;t the island paid to Portugal an annual tribute of 100,000 ducats. Its commerce simmi began to decline, the Portuguese allow ing no ships to navigate those waters ex cept under expressive conditions; but it retained sufficient importance in the be ginning of the seventeenth century to arouse the jealousy of Shah Abbas of Per sia, w ho, aided by the ships of the Eng lish Kast India Company, captured the fortress in April, 1022, although it was defended by 300 guns and 2,500 men. The city was destroyed by the shah, who wished to transfer its trade to his new jxut, Bunder Abbas, and a great part of its building material was transported thither. Appleton American CtclojHedia, recited edition. The late Rev. Dr. Wightman.one night, sitting up later than usual, sank into the profundities of a great folio tome, imag ined he heard a sound in the kitchen in consistent with the quietude and security of a mouse, and so, taking his candle, he proceeded to investigate the cause. His foot being heard in the lobby, the house keeper U'gan with all earnestness to cover the fire, as if preparing for bed. "Ye're up late to-night, Mary." "I'm jist rakin" the fire, sir, and gaun to led." "That's right, Mary; I l?ke timeous hours." On his way back to the study he pis.ed the coal closet, and, turning the key, took It with him. Next morning at an early hour, there was a rap at his Ixxln Him door, and a request for the key, to put a fire on. "Ye're too soon up, Mary; go back to your bed yet." Half an hour later there was another knock, ami a similar request, in order to prepare for breakfast. "I don't want breakfast so soon, Mary; go back to your bed." Another half hour and another knock, with an entreaty for the key, as it was washing day. This was enough. He arose and handed out the key, saying, "to and let the man out." Mary's sweet heart had been imprisoned all night in the coal closet, as the minister shrewdly sus pected, where, Pyramus and Thisbe-like, they had breathed their love through the key-hole. A Normal, school for the education of girls has been opened in Yeddo, Japan It is under the superintendency of a Jap anese who is a convert to the Christian religion. English Children. English children rise at half-past seven all the year round. They are carefully bathed " and rubled, and by half-past eight are hungry lor breakfast, which consists of a dish of oat-meal or hominy, and a bow l of milk or cocoa, with a little stale bread crumbled into it. Instead of the oat-meal or hominy, they may occa sionally have a perfectly fresh, soft-loiled egg, mixed with crumbled bread. After breakfast they pay their mamma an hour's visit, and then go tor an hour s walk. On their return they play in the dav nursery until twelve, and then arc put to bed tor an hour and a halt, lieiween half-past one and two thev have dinner. This meal should consist of strong beef or mutton broth, free froia grease, and mixed with half its bulk ot nee or barley It must be cooked especially for the children, and the cook must be made to understand that children s meals should lie prepared with even more care than grown jieople's. For desseit they may eat a little stewed fruit or rice pudding At three o'clock they take their afternoon walk, remaining out, unless in the bitter est weather, until five. Then they have what is called afternoon tea bread and blackberry jam and sweetened Ixtilcd milk. The next thing is a g(od hearty romp in the nursery, in which the whoie family takes part, until about half-past six o'cloc k. Then mamma takes them to her room w hile she is dressing for dinner, and at seven they aie put to led. This regimen is pursued with undeviating reg ulaiity until the child is four years of age, and it builds up a fund of orderli ness, steady nerves, and blooming health, which generally lasts through life. Hints alniut Beauty. There is nothing more unfavorable to female leauty than late hours. Women who, either from necessity or choice, spend most of the tlay in bed, and the night at work or dissipation, have always a pale, faded complexion and dark rimmed, wearied eyes. Too much sleep is almost as hurtful as too little, and is sure to bloat the person w ith a pallid and unwholesome fat. Diet also has a marked influence upon personal beauty. Gener ous living is favorable to good looks, as it tends to fill out and give color and sleekness to the skin. A gross and ex cessive indulgence, however, in eating and drinking, is fattl to the female charms, especially where there is great tendency to "making flesh." Regularity of time in the daily repast and scientific cooking are the best means of securing not only good health but good looks. The apetite should never le wasted dur ing the intervals between meals on pastry, confectionery, or any other tickler of the appetite, w hich gratifies the taste, but does not support the system. Exercise is, of course, essential to female leauty. It miniates the whole physical life, quick ens the circulation of the blood, height ens the color, develops the grow th, and perfects the form ot each limb and the entire lxdy. It also gives . beauty ami race to every movement. New Blankets for Eioiit Cents. V suggestion has frequently been made in the newspajHTS that a sheet of brown paper used as a bed-covering between or on the top of other wrappers, w ill impart additional warmth and Itc as serviceable as a blanket, has been acted ujHn by Mr. boiler, who has taken out a patent tor paper blankets. They are perforated at distances of about four inches, in order to promote the ventilation which the density of the brown paper material in-J terrupts. these paper blankets will be a great boon to the poor, and as they are clean ami economical, and ready for use in any emergency, they w ill be acceptable in hospitals, for the supply of which Mr. Ixler has already obtained two or three contracts. In schools ami private fami lies their cleanliness and com'ort will bring them into much service, and in hot climates, where blankets are liable to le infested with insects, these pajtcr cover lets will le found to be very desirable. They will also Ik? welcome for leing bghtas well as efficient. Prices are, 48x 3.' inches, four jkmicc per blanket, and the larger sizes five pence and six jkmicc each. Jlritixh Mml. Poached Eo;s. The beauty of a jMached egg is for the yelk to lie seen blushing through the w hite, which should only be just sufficiently hardened to form a transparent veil for the egg. Have some lioiling water in a tea-kettle; pass as much of it through a clean cloth as will half till a stew pan: break the egg into a cup, and when the water boils re move the stew-pan from the stove, and gently slip the egg into it; it must stand till he white is set; then put it over a very moderate tire, and as soon as the wa ter boils the egg is ready; take it up with a slice, and neatly round off the ragged edges of the white; send them up on bread toasted on one side only, with or without butter. To Boir. E;;s to Eat in the Shells, ou ion Sai.aiis. The fresher laid the iietter; put them into boiling water; if you like the white just set, about two minutes Ixnling is enough. A new-laid egg will take a little more; if you wish the yelk to be set, it will take three, and to boil it hard for a salad, ten minutes. A new-laid egg will require boiling longer than a stale one, by half a minute. Scotch Short-Huea. Rubone pound of butter and twelve ounces of rinely- powdered loat sugar, with the hand, into two pounds of flour, and make it into a stiff paste with four eggs; roll it out to twice the thickness of a penny-piece; cut it into round or square cakes, notch the edges, put slices of caadied peel, and strew some caraway seed on the top, and bake them on iron plates in a warm oven. Scotch Scones. Four jiounds of flour, one ounce and a-quarter of cream of tar tar, two ounces butter or lard, three quarters of an ounce of soda, one ounce of sugar, one ounce of salt. Rub into the flour the other ingredients, and make the whole into a proper consistency with either sweet or buttermilk. Bake in a quick oven. Anecdotes of Charlotte Cushman. The Philadelphia Timet has culled the following recollection of Charlotte Cushman from actors in Philadelphia wno were professionally associated with her: Owing, perhaps, to the, fact that she bad no great pretensions to personal beauty, she once fin 1845) experienced great difficulty in obtaining au engage ment by Maddox, a Hebrew who man aged the Princess' Theatre. But she had energy and perservcrance, and hav ing been often rejMilsed, but never con quered, she applied again, ami exclaimed "I know I have enemies in this country; but (throwing herself on her knees and raising her clenched hands aloft) tto help me iod! ITl deteat them!" She ut tered this with the energy of Lady Mac bcth and the prophetic spirit of Meg .Mernlies. "llcl-lio!" said Maddox, "s'help me! she's got the stuff in her!" And Maddox engaged her. So much for her pluck. She was in the habit of saving "my dear," when addressing the ladies of the company. When I, says Mr. Pugh, brought her on to act at the Chestnut tho whole company was demoralized. But she soon brought chaos out of dis order. At first "it was difficult, but when they saw her acting at rehearsal as real as if she was In fore a crowded audience they soon imitated her. I re member once when a page was unable projeily to approach her throne as a messenger in "Henry V.," when she jer formed Queen Catharine, she finally de scended from the throne and acted the page herself, in order to instruct him, with as much grace and dignity as in her own character. But the most amus ing incident was at a rehearsal of the little comedy of "Simpson k Co., at the Walnut, when her acting was so ludi crous and she was so brimful of fun that her support was hardly able to utter their words tor I a ugh in r. One little rrcncli lady, particularly, could not look at her without bursting into a laugh, and Man ager Hall, who was present, had to leave the theatre whenever he saw her acting in that part, as he could not refrain from laughing at the remembrance of the re hearsal. She had a fund of humor, was brilliant in conversation and took and enjoyed a joke hugely. I remember when we were tiaveling on the Penn sylvania Railroad at one time, she was taking a sip of iron water through a tube, in the cars, how she enjoyed a joke of mine, that "if she kept on drinking iron water she would certainly have an iron constitution. "And become an iron clad," was her merry reply, and the idea tickled her immensely for some time afterward. TllEOUTOF THE RCHEXSTEIX Ml'KDER. -A queer theory of the Ruliensteia tragedy is presented by M. A. F the New York corresMindentof the St. Iuiis Republican. "All juries," she liegius, "are made up of muddle heads. A clear headed man always evades jury duty. No man could convince me of his smart ness if ever I knew him to sit on a jury. Therefore the sort of stuff to lie dealt with is of weak nature a dozen sub stantiated histories of cases where all circumstances wiuted unerringly to guilt, and which eventually always too late proved entirely wrong. A sort of poxt-tnortem vindication of a poor devil's character would have done Home good perhaps. I'm glad Mr. Beach didn't think to give him this good measure for paltry C,0(MJ. Pesach is convicted anil it's a righteous judgment, which if not interfered with, will hang him high as Hainan on the 25th of March. On the trial a great deal was said of a struggle and the insufficient strength of Ruben- stein to kill a big hearty girl like the victim. It didn t seem to occur to any of them that the poor creature - went wil lingly to her slaughter. Without a doubt this excellent Pesach, in view of the condition of the girl and the arrival J All! - ot ins w ne irom tcrmany, loui uer iney were aw ful sinners and the liest thing to do would be to make an end he would kill her and then commit suicide. With that intent she followed him like a slave to be slaughtered, and if the coward ever had any intention of killing himself, he saw enough of death in the murdered woman to convince him he wouldn t like it at all. How Ai.iiEHT Bauxes Reiuked a Great Evie in the Chuiuit. A corres pondent of the Interior, in a letter refer ring to the late Rev. Albert Barnes, the well-known minister and commentator, gives the following suggestive incident. In the afternoon ot one Lord s Day, a year or so after this renowned man lie- came pastor of First Presbyterian church, Philadelphia, he was in the midst of his sermon, when three strange men, in full sailor's garb, entered the door and awk .. . . . a . i wardly strayed upincaisic. oncoi ine congregation moved to give them ascat per haps because there were numbers ot empty pews that warm afternoon. As the three waddled up slowly toward the front they betrayed considerable embarrassment. Just then the preacher stopped short in his discourse, stepiiec. down irom the pul pit, and showed the tars into the pew ot his own family. As might have been ex pected, when the minister resumed his sermon the eyes of the sailor were fixed upon him, and were kept riveted upon his face until the final word. The meanwhile the congregation was taught a wholesome lesson touching church hospitality. The alovc account I had from a brother of mine, who was present in the gallery. A member of the Missouri Legislature, whose reputation was exceedingly below "par," absented himself for a while, and then had his death announced. There upon the Legislature passed the usual res olutions of condolence, some of the wily member's bitterest enemies eulogized their departed friend' exalted character and high moral worth," and the next day he reappeared in bis seat with the resolutions and eulogies neatly pasted in his memorandum-book, as a receipt in full for the past and a letter of credit for the future. Two hundred and fifty thousand gal lons of beer are sold in London daily. Everlasting Fire. In the neighborhood of Baku, on the Caspian Sea, there is a phenomenon of a very extraordinary nature called the ever lasting tire, to which a sect of Indians and Persians called Gaum pay religious worship. It is situated about ten miles from the city of Haku, in the province of Mnrvan, on a dry, rocky piece of ground. On it there are several ancient tein pies, built of stone, and supposed to be all dedicated to fire, there lieing one among them in which fire worship is now carried on. Near the altar there is a large, hollow cane.from the end of which issues a blue flame. The worshippers alarm that this flame has continued ever since the deluge, and they believe If it were suppressed in that place it wouU break out m another. At a short distance from this temple there is a horizontal gap, two lect irom the ground, about six feet long and three broad, out of which comes a constant flame of the color of that in the temple. When there is a strong w ind it rises to the flight of eight feet, but is much lower in calmer weather. The earth around, for more than two miles, has this extraordinary pnqierty, that by taking up two or three inches ot the surface and applying a lighted lamp, the part uncovered immediately takes fire, even before the flame touches it. The flames make the soil hot, but do not consume it nor affect what is near with any degree of heat. It is said that eight horses were once consumed by this fire under a roof w here the sui lace of the ground had been turned up and by some accident had ignited. If a cane or tube of pajier be set about two inches into the ground, closed with earth below, and the top of it touched with a live coal, a flame will immedi ately issue forth without consuming the tulie, provided the edges be covered with clay. I luce or lour lighted canes will Iki water in a pot, and arc sometimes used to cook victuals. The flames have a sulphurous smell but are itioffensive. A Curious Problem. Most things In our world seem made for the use of man, and eveu the vermiu that trouble him are found to be of ser. vice in some way to the general good. But a few singular facts puzzle every student of natural history. How does it happen, for instance, that birds of para dise, the most beautiful birds in the world, are found only in savugc coun tries, where there is no cultivated tatc to admire their wonderful beauty? Mr. Altred It. WalUce, who has taken more nains. ncrhans. than anv one in our age, to obtain sieciuiens of this bird, says there are eighteen know n species, of which the finest have never been seen alive in Europe; and he, after years of search, could obtain specimens of only five species. JIc says, "It seems as it nature had taken precautions that these her choicest treasures should not be too common, ami thus be undervalued. The northern coast of New Guinea is exposed to the full swell of the Pacific Ocean, and is rugged and harborlcs. "the country is all rocky and moun tainous, covered everywhere with dense forests, offering in its swamp., and preci pices, aud serrated ridges, an almost im passable barrier to the unknown interior; ind the people are dangerous savages, in the very lowest stage of barbarism. In such a country, aud among such a people, are found those wonderful productions of nature, the birds of paradise, w hose exquisite beauty of form and color, and strange developments of plumage, are calculated to excite the wonder aud ad miration of the most civilized and the most intellectual of mankind." The Gulp Stream. It is a well- known fact that the north-western coast of Europe is far warmer than the eastern coast of America, w hich lies in the same latitude. Formany years the favorite theory in explanation of this fact has lieen that the diffcriMiccHif temperature is due to the Gulf Stream carrying a powerful current of warm water from the Gulf of Mexico across the Atlantic, to those European coasts. Dr. Carpenter, however, one of the most eminent scien tific men in England, who has large ex perience in deep-sea soundings, says it is impossible that the (Julf Stream can contain enough heat, after crossing the ocean, to raise the teiiijicraturc of Eng land and Norway. He asserts that the Atlantic Ocean, to the depth of six hundred fathoms, has a northern movement, and it is the heat of this vast lody of water, and not that of the narrow and shallow Gulf Stream, which tempers the climate of northern Europe. Home careful observers, who formerly accepted the Gulf Stieam theory, have I wen led by Dr. CarKnter's discus sion to reject it, and to accept his theory instead. The fact of the remarkable warmth of these countries is certain, though the theory to account for it may yet lc a matter of doubt. The New Free School Guard. A secret organization has recently been started, and has already a membership of 15,000. It is called the Free School Guard. Its headquarters are in Wash, ington. The rules for government are similar to those of the Patrons of Hus bandry. Its objects are as follows: The Uuioa and the Constitution. "Liberty and Union forever." The preservation of our public institutions. free schools, free speech, and a free press. Public schools to be free from sectarian influ ence and control. No sectarian school to receive State or National aid. The State or National Government to provide for the education of every capable child. Education shall be compulsory. No ed ucation no franchise. One term of six years for the President of the United States. Loyalty to the government. Church property to le taxed. The President of the United States to be elected by a direct vote of the people The declaration of principles is po litical, but not partisan. Its motto is "Intelligence, freedom, and union." and its watchword: "Preach a crusade against ignorance." High Life in Washington. The wives of two Congressmen wcro waiting for the elevator last evening at one of our hotels. I was demurely read ing the evening pajier with my eyes, eagerly devouring their conversation with my ears, aud this is w hat 1 heard. Said Mrs. II.: "I'm awful tired; I've made twenty calls to-day, and to-morrow I must mako as many more. There's precious little fun alioutlt." Said Mrs. L. : "Fun! indeed! not a bit of it. I'm disappointed in Washing ton. Why, at home, when George whs elected, I held my head higher than any body iu the county, and 1 expected to have such a gay time here, but when you get three hundred Congressmen and their wives together one don't count much. I needn't have worried so about my dresses!" Mrs. H.'s face was Uibly lengthening a!l the while her friend was talking; then she responded : "That's so! There's Mrs. Grant, whom everybody wants to see once; there are the w ives of the Secretaries, w ho bow po litely when you call ami never know you again" "Oh, yes they do!" interrupted Mrs. L. "Mrs. Fish never forgets a lace, ami Mrs. Bristow Is Just lovely!" "Well, anyhow, Mrs. Robeson never knows anybody lower than a Senator's wife, and Mrs. Bclkuan never returns our calls. This is the ordei : The Cabinet ladies, the wives of Senators, ladies of the foreign legations, the families of the army and navy, a few citizen known for wealth or positions given by inheritance; and then, wives of Congressmen are classed with department clerks! I wish I had, u t come at all . "I won't say that," said Mrs. L , "for at home it does sound so nicely to say you were in Washington during the sea- win. I shall make the most of my po sition there you may be sure! Now, this is true, dear friends, fur the wife of the inconspicuous M. C who comes here with dreams of social glory will find the reality exceedingly com monplace. If she be really a latly, re fined and intelligent, she will draw about her a circle of pleasant friends well worth possessing. If she be exceedingly beautilul, or so wealthy that 4ier enter tainments make a stir, society will court her with sweetest phrases, aud she will have cards by the half bushel; she shall have more invitations than she can pos sibly accept, and oeither days nor nights shall be long enough for her wish. Once u the center of the whiriixiol, struggles are in vain ; you can't keep near the outer edge; it is the vortex of nothing. I know one married pair, who are elderly and ought to be staid, but the lady, gaz ing at Washington through the glamour of fancy's painted viata. deal red to be a high flyer at fashion," while the hus band a genuine "Shoddy Bollin" de tested the whole thing, but follows at my lady s footsteps like a reluctant but obedient Newfoundland dog. It is the greatest fun to watch his hands, when stuffed into white kids, he attends a party. Every separate finger stands at a different angle, and the thumbs are at enmity with ull the rest. After shaking hands with anyone he curiously inspects the liberated digits, and sticks them out again as if to assert their independent individuality. 'Cleveland Plaiudealer, A Rook Agent Fifty Yearn Ajro. In Scribner for March there h an illus trated paper on Alexander Wilson, the Ornithologist, from which we take the following account of his trials iu search of subscribers for his now famous work: Wilson, according to his custom, had started for Pittsburgh on a trip to tho West and South, which was to terminate at New Orleans. At tho outset of this expedition, at Lancaster, he was encour aged by the Governor of Pennsylvania, w ho "passed some good-natured compli ments ou the volumes, and readily added his name to my list;" but, on seeking patrons among the Legislature, he found them "such a pitiful, squabbling, polit ical mob, so split up and jostling about the mere formalities of legislation, with out knowing anything of its realitius, that I abandoned them in disgust." A still more displeasing experience awaited nm a little Jurther on, at Hanover,- where "a certain Judge took upon him self to say that such a book as mine ought not to be encouraged, at it ea not within the reach of the commonalty, and therefore ineontittent with our republican inntitutior.t I ' a mode of reasoning w hich the ornithologist followed out by admit ting the principle involved, and inveighing agaiust the Judge's gross in faction of republican Institutions in living in a large aud elegant house, wholly beyond the reach of the commonalty; and, after establishing this position, he went on pointing out to him the great influenco of science on a young, rising nation like ours till he began to show such symp toms of intellect as to seem ushamed of w hat he had said." At Pittsburgh w here he succeeded lcyond expectation iu get ting subscribers he learned that at that season the obstacles fu the way of his further journey by land were insuperable by reason ot the freshet; so, buying a skiff, which he named the "Ornithologist," and, turning a deaf ear to cautious ad visers. who discouraged his attempting such a voyage aloae, ho waited ouly for the ice to leave a passage down the Ohio Kiver, and, on February 23d, set out on his solitary row of more than five hundred miles, to Cincinnati, This place, then a town of a few hundred houses, ho reached in the second week iu March, and, accord ing to his diary, "visited a number of the literati and wealthy! of Cincinnati, who all told me that they would think of it, viz., of subscribing; they are a very thoughtful people," pRAiniR DU Chein. Wis., is reloiclnif at the successful ending of the Ixirinir of an artesian well within her limits. The well was commenced last October, and is 000 feet deep. Tho water rises in tho tubing alsout 60 feet abovo the ground, and about 100 feet above the level of the Mississippi river. Tho flow of water is rery large.