The new Northwest. (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, December 08, 1876, Image 1

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    She
UBS. A. J. Dl'XIWAT, Editor nd Proprietor.
OFFICE Con. Fbost 4 Wasuisoton Stke ets
A Journal Tor the People.
Devoted to the Interests of Humanity.
Independent in Politics and Religion.-
Alive to all Live Issues, and Thoroughly
Radical In Opposing and Exposing the 'Wrongs
TERMS, IK ADVANCE:
of the Masses.
One year.-...
Six months
Three months..
-$3 00
175
100
Fkee Speech, Free Press, Free People.
Correspondents wrltlngover assumed signa-
Itures must make known their names to the
Edltor.or no attention will bo given to their
ADVERTISEMENTS Inserted on Reasonable
Terms.
VOLUME VI.
PORTLAND, OKE Gr OIN", FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 187C.
NUMBER 13.
I communications.
EDNA AND JOHN:
A Romance of Idaho Flat.
By Mrs. A. J. DUXIWAY,
AUTHOR OK "JUDITH REID," "ELLEN DOWD,"
"AMIE AND IIEXKT LEE," "THE HAPPY
HOME," "ONE WOMAN'S SPHERE,"
"MADGE MORRISON,"
ETC., ETC, ETC.
En tered , accord 1 n g to Act of Co ngress, 1 n the
year 1S7C, by Mrs. A. J. Duniway, in the office of
the Librarian of Congress at Washington City.
Woman's degraded, helpless position is the
weak point of our Institutions to-day a dis
turbing force everywhere, severing family ties,
filling our asylums with the deaf, the dumb,
the blind, our prisons with criminals, our cit
ies with drunkenness and prostitution, our
homes with disease and death. National Cen
tennial Equal Rights Protest.
CHAPTER VII.
March was abroad in the laud. Ac
companied by chilling winds and fitful
snows, alternated by brief and brilliant
sunshine that waked to life the early
bloom of springtime, he searched
through and through the rickety roof of
Aunt Judy's humble home; blew ashes
down the chimney ; bit her tender
chickens with frost nips, and played
havoc with her ducklings; thawed the
suow away from field and highway in
great patches; brought mud and muck
by day to alternate with icicles by
night; and the prospect over all the
landscape within Edna's range of vision
was as dreary and hopeless and chill as
the aching void that slumbered within
her desolate heart.
Her husband came in after Aunt
Judy's departure, sullen and silent.
When he had abruptly left her after her
last cruel taunt, he felt that he would
gladly remain away for all time, could
he know where to go. But Aunt Judy's
home, humble as it was, was better
than no shelter, and he sauntered back
at last resolved to make the best of it.
A kindly word or look or act of recog
nition or affection from Edna, and all
had been temporarily healed that was
well-nigh a rupture between them; but
Edna would notcondescend. She merely
stitched away, a trifle faster than before,
upon a patch-work quilt, the material
for which had been surreptitiously gath
ered from her mother's ample store and
brought by the same trusty hands that
had carried her wardrobe to Aunt Judy's
dwelling, and she was resolved, as .she
formed patch after patch into shape,
that, though she would always work for
John, and as far as her conduct weutf be
true to him, he should never hereafter
receive a word or look of love from her,
i unless he should himself inaugurate it.
"What John thought she could not di
vine. He was as imperturbable as ada
mant, and it was long betore she looked
at the legal tome he was holding with
sufficient scrutiny to observe that it was
upside down. This discovery caused
her to curl her lip contemptuously, but
she would not speak.
At last John shut the book with a
bang, and with a desperate effort so far
conquered his pride that he threw him
self upon a stool at ber feet.
"It's no use, Edna; I can't live this
way!" he exclaimed, impatiently. "I'm
a poor dog, without home or master.
I've no resources, no profession, aud no
trade. I've a wife that despises me
and I don't wonder at it. I'm going to
California."
"O, John !"
"Are you willing, Edna ?"
"Willing, John! I'm only too anx
ious ! But you might just as well say
you're going to Jupiter."
"I can work my way."
"I'd like to know how you'd work
your way? You can't drive oxen
you've no norses or wagon, and no
money nor energy."
Unwise Edna ! How could you be so
cruel? John needed encouragement
and you failed to bestdw it ! Alas for
Edna, and alas for John !
The husband was already suffering
keenly from a humiliating sense of bis
own littleness, and needed kindness
rather than censure. He buried his
face in his hands and wept bitterly.
Edua stitched spitefully at the patch
work quilt.
"I wish I were dead !" he said at last,
"There are two of us in 'that condi
tlon !" retorted the wife. "Anything
to get out of this 1"
"Would you be happier If you should
never see me again, Edna?" asked
John, bis voice faltering.
Edna's expression of contempt
changed to one of pity, and she left her
needles in the cloth, and in spite of her
resolution, laid her right hand caress
Ingly upon his brow.
"Could you try to love me just a lit
tle, Edna ?
It was her turn to weep now.
"Get up and sit beside me, and be a
man!" she said, through her tears,
"As you have said, we're 'in for it,' and
cannot help ourselves now. I want you
to go to California, but I do not wan
you to go alone."
"Would you be willing to go with
me, provided I could arrange for your
comfort on the journey ?"
"Yes, John. Anything to get away
from the humiliation and discontent of
this dreary existence. I feel like a pris
oned eagle here. But what are we to
do? You know that I and ours will
need nursing and tenderness. I shall
not be able to be of much help to you
for months to come, and the Almighty
Dollar is my constant dream."
"Is that your father riding through
the lane?" asked John, suddenly. -
"It's Solon Rutherford, Esq., sir,"
said Edna. "The man upon tfhose
shoulders rests the responsibility of
having trained me up in a conservatory,
in order to fit me to grow on the bleak
mountain top, and then left me on the
mountain without any shelter, is no
parent of mine. No, John, don't say
he's my father. I disown him !"
Ah, Edna, what a discipline you are
yet to have, ere all the woman in your
nature shall assert itself and you shall
come out of the crucible of a hard expe
rience, tried, as by fire ! What a pity
the vast capabilities of your strong na
ture have been perverted by a false edu
cation ! What a pity you were not
trained aright from your infancy ! Aud
above all, how sad is the reflection that
the worst mistakes of the parents are to
be visited upon the children !
"I have an idea, Edna," said John.
"I'm astonished !" was the contempt
uous answer. And then, as Joun only
looked down his nose and made no
further remark, she at length glanced
p from her stitching and said :
"Well ?"
"I'd only astonish you further by ex
plaining, and my idea is of no conse
quence," was John's sullen reply.
Edna liked that. If John would only
act with a little spirit of his own, even
if directly opposed to her wishes in all
things, she felt that she would like him
better.
"Then you needn't explain your idea,
only suggest that you act upon it.
Anything is better than this accursed
stagnation."
That's strong language for a lady,
Edna."
"I look like setting myself up for a
lady, truly, with these elegant sur
roundings and a wealthy husband!" was
the unwomanly response.
John did not wait for further bandy
ing of words. Leaving the house in a
nervous, impatient way, he hurried
across the fields toward the Rutherford
farm-house, while Edna gazed after him
with mingled curiosity aud contempt.
"To be fettered for life to such a milk-
and-aterish nonentity is an outrage ou
my common sense !" she exclaimed, iu-
oluntarily.
"She doesn't appreciate me, or depend
upon me in the least, else I might have
little more ambition," thought John.
Aud so, while Edua went ou with her
stitching and John was hurrying across
the fields, both were as thoroughly mis
erable as each had expected to be sin
cerely happy in the relation for which
they were so poorly fitted that no state
involving "cruelty to animals," over
which philanthropists have distin
guished themselves, could be compared
to their condition.
John found Mrs. Rutherford in the
cheese-room, with her skirt turned up
and fastened behiud her waist with a
pin, her sleeves rolled above her elbows,
and a scrubbing-brush in her suds-
wrinkled hands.
'I don't ask you to forgive me for
marryiug Edua, for I never can forgive
myself," he exclaimed, stepping gin
gerly upon the wet flags aud looking
about him with a critical air.
"Why, John? What now?" and
Mrs. Rutherford placed herarma akimbo
and gazed at her son-in-law as though
he had been a monkey.
"You didn't bring her up right, ma'am.
She's as full of hoity-toity notions
about her fancied superiority over me as
am full of determination to rule my
own household."
"Yes, John Smith," said Mrs. Ruther
ford, excitedly, "and she has more sense
in a minute than you'll ever have in
your lifetime. If sue were the man
and you the woman, as times go, she
might lead you aloug and make a liv
ing; but with the power and the privi
lege all on your side, and the sense and
ability to manage all on hers, you are
both in a sorry predicament, John
Smith a sorry predicament."
Poorohn! What could he do? De
pendent, as this marriage had made
him, upon the relations of his wife for
his daily bread, he was compelled toac
cept the humiliation in silence.
"I want to go to California !" ho said.
at length. "And I want to know if you
can 'assist me. I can't guarantee you
any security against loss, but I will
promise to do my beat to repay you
when I can."
"You know that married women have
no right to their own earnings, John
Smith. If they had, it would be easy
enough for me to aid you. But I've
toiled "for a third of a century on this
farm and there's nothing here that be
longs to me. It's all Solon's. Why
don't you see what you can do with
him ?"
"Because he won't even look at me,
Edna might bring him to terms maybe,
but she is so much like him that sh
won't bend an inch."
Mrs. Rutherford nodded satisfactorily,
"I'll break her in yet; see if I don't!'
John added, sotlo voice.
"What will you do with Edna while
you are away ?" asked the mother.
"She wants to accompany me," said
joun.
"And do you think you cm take care
of her?"
"That's a strange question to ask
man about his wife."
"But a very natural one for a, mother
to ask about her baby, John. You must
remember that Edna, is very dear to
"Of course; but it isn't to be expected
that you will care for her as her hus
band does. A wife belongs to her hus
band, you know."
"I know," sighed Mrs. Rutherford,
stooping to wipe her eyes with her wet
apron; "but, husband or no husband, I
can't forget the long years of her child
hood, the sweet ways of her babyhood,
the terrors of her birth, aud the antici
pations I have felt for her future. If a
mother must yield up all claim to her
child as soon as the child is married,
there ought to be a provision in nature
to uproot her fond affection at the same
moment. But my scrubbing is done
now. Let's go into the dining-room
where the fire is. Solon won't bo at
home to-day, and we can have a chauce
to lay some plans."
The two had scarcely had time to be
seated before Aunt Judy's rubicund face
appeared at the door.
"Come and see what I have bought,
usau," she exclaimed, not knowing
John was by. "Four yoke o' cattle, a
splendid wagon, provisions enough for
x mouths, a tent and camp fixings,
and I've made up my mind to go with
em myself."
John shrank behind the door and his
heart beat high with hope.
"Edna's strong willed, and isn't half
isposed to be just to John. He's no
Solomon, but he can be managed "
Mrs. Rutherford put her lingers on
her lips aud the sentence was not fin-
shed. John wondered what it all could
mean.
"What little household plunder 1
have doesn't amount to much, and I can
give it away," continued Aunt Judy;
and you know I can coutrol the team
if it remains in my name, for I'm not
married, whereas, if John knew it was
Edna's"
"John is here !" interrupted Mrs.
Rutherford, turning deathly pale.
Aunt Judy saw the situation in a
twinkling.
I was just going to say," she said,
extending her hand with a smile, "that
f Solon knew the team aud outfit I've
beeu buying was for Edna, he could
give us trouble."
'I don't see how he could give us
trouble about auy thing that belonged of
right to my wife !" said John.
Aunt Judy was Nonplussed. If Edna's
husband did not comprehend her ruse,
he was certainly iuformcd as to his own
legal prerogatives.
"At any rate," she continued, "the
easier way is the better one. This team
and outfit is mine, and, if you want to
go to California, now is your time. Go
home and tell Edna all about it. I'll
be along presently, and we'll soon be on
our way across the Continent. I'm go
ng with you."
John obeyed Aunt Judy's suggestion
with alacrity. He was not at heart a
bad man. Indeed, his natural impulses
were for good, and, had he been 'prop
erly trained to rely upon himself, rather
than depend upon an allowauco that
had, prior to his marriage, rendered per
sonal effort for subsistence unnecessary,
his case would have been by no means a
hopeless one.
With a much lighter heart than he
had carried an hour before, he retraced
his steps, and hounding into Aunt
Judy's abode in a manner that fright
ened the dog aud caused the cat to spit
aud grumble, he shouted :
"Eureka, Edna! We're oil to-mor
row for the setting sun ! Aunt Judy'sa
brick, if she is old-fashioned and pokey."
"Much prospect see for gettingofT!"
said Edna, risiug from the hearth with
her face flushed from bending over the
hot coals, where she had been baking
"dodgers" for the last ten minutes.
"The old woman's got the team and
the outfit complete. 1 heard her say so
And Mrs. Rutherford put her finger on
her lip and warned her to keep still, or
Pd have gotten into the whole secret
Depend upon it, they're putting up some
job on that refractory dad o' yours, and
are trying to keep me in the dark, as
well. I'll go to California, but I'll find
out what they're up to."
"My mother and Aunt Judy will at
tempt nothing that is not honest, John,
and you will show your good sense, if
you have any, by holding your tongue
over that which doesn't coucern vou
ou know the team isn't yours, and if
they give you and me the joint use of
it, common courtesy, to say nothing of
gratitude, will keep you from meddling
in their private affairs."
"I heard Aunt Judy say the outfit was
Edna's," said John, aside, "and if it's
hers it's mine, and- what's mine's my
own. I'll have no wife o' miue ownipg
property aud holding it over me ! That
outfit's worth a cool thousand to start
on. John Smith, you're a lucky dog,
A day or two of bustle and prepara
tion, and all was ready for the jour
ney.
At that time the Pacific Railroad was
only a creature of ambitious imagina
tions. Hundreds and thousands of ad
venturous pioneers accomplished the
journey every summer, often leaving
the buried remains of individual parties
of their number as a tribute to the des
ert solitudes of the plains, and often en
during privations and fatigues which
were only surpassed oy the grief of sud
den bereavement.
Mrs. Rutherford well knew that Ed
na's proposed journey would be no
child's play. Her husband had not
only forbidden Edna to enter his house,
but had commanded. his wife to see their
daughter no more. And but for the
fact of an unexpected call from home,
which he, as owner of great possessions,
was compelled to obey, Mrs. Rutherford
would not have dared to bid her daugh
ter farewell.
Edna's brothers and sisters, with their
wives and children, had entirely cut her
because of her new relation, and it was
a sorry parting wheu her mother, alone,
among all her many loved ones whom
the sacred ties of affinity and consan
guinity rendered dear, held her in a last
embrace and mingled her tears with
hers in a parting too grievous for mother
and daughter to bear.
Aunt Judy alono was tearless. Her
face beamed with a quiet pleasure, born
of awakened purpose. The smallest
preliminaries received her particular at
tention, and she could with difficulty
restrain her curiosity when Mrs. Ruth
erford consigned a little fawn-skin cov
ered trunk to Edna's keeping, with a
few whispered words which caused the
daughter to blush aud reply, "I will,
mother, and may God bless you."
To bo continued.
Home Life a Hundred Years
Ago. One hundred years ago uot a
pound of coal or cubic foot of illumiu-
atiuggas had beeu burned in the coun
try. JNo iron stoves were used and no
contrivances for economizing heat were
employed uutil Dr. Franklin invented
tne iron-framed lire-place which still
bears his name. All the cooking aud
warming in town aud country were
done by the aid of fire kindled on the
brick hearth or in the brick oven. Pine
knots or tallow candles furnished the
light for tho long winter nights, and
sanded floors supplied the place of rugs
aud carpels. Tho water used for house
hold purposes was drawn from deep
wells by the creaking "sweep."
No form of pump was used in this
country, so far as we can learn, until
after the commencement of the present
eeutury. There were no iriction
matches in those early days, by the aid
of which a fire could be easily kindled,
and if the fire "went out" upon the
hearth over night, aud the tinder was
damp so that the spark could not catch,
the alternative remained of wading
through the snow a mile or so, to bor
row a brand of a neighbor. Ouly one
room in auy house was warm unless
some of the family was ill; in all the
rest the temperature was at zero during
many nights in tho winter. The men
aud women of a hundred years ago un
dressed and went to their beds in a 'tem
perature cooler than that of our modern
barns and wo'odshcds, aud they never
complained.
Interesting Discovery. An im
portant discovery, hitherto not. men
tioned in public, of numerous well
preserved bones of diluviau animals,
is reported from Steeteu, on the Lann,
u Uerinany. The cave in wbich
they were found was accidentally laid
open by the fall of a colossal block ol
loiomite wnicii had closed it water
tight. A dry, soft, dolomite sand, which
nilec: tne cave, Had preserved tne or
ganic remnant most beautifully, with
out any incrustation. The bones were
tbose of tue cave lion, larger than the
present Aincau lion, ol tne cave bear,
aud of the cave hyena, tho latter of
much more powerful build than the liv
ing species. There were also re in a tits
of the horse, the ox, the stag, the rhi
noceros anu tne elephant, as well as of
several smaller animals, winch had
been the prey of the lion, the bear and
the hyena. It seems that the elenhaut
caives uau Dy preiereuce been attacked
and devoured by these diluvian carni-
vora. bo called koproliths, or petrified
excrements, were numerously mixed
with the medley of bones. It need
scarcely be said that the several beasts
of prey did not inhabit the cave to
gether, but that similar species of them
used it during successive periods. A
good selection of the remnants found is
contained in the museum of Wiesbaden.
Beeciier's Accusers. Henry Ward
Beecher is as fortunate in having reck
less enemies as he is happy in the pos
session of devoted friends. It is safe to
assume that had It beeu known a year
anu a nan ago tnat JUrs. Woodhuil was
suing for divorce from her last affinity,
that JUr. Mouiton had involved his Iirm
in such frauds upon the reveuue as com
pelled it to pay ioO.OOO penalty aud
forced him to retire from the partner
ship, and that Mr. Tilton was addicted
to misadventures in sleeping-cars, to
the great confusion of lady travelers.
the "conspiracy to defame and black
mail" the Plymouth Pastor (as his law
yers called the scandal) would never
have been so far successful as to reach
the courts. What character the princi
pal witnesses against Mr. Beecher pos
sessed during the trial disappears as the
truth about them now comes out. The
latest scandal about Mr. Tilton ha?
been unwarrantably made public by
the same scandal-mongers who, pretend
ing to he his friends, urged him on in
uis prosecution oi xseecuer. ne now
doubtless perceives that such chroni
clers of filth make no distinction of rep
utations ; sex nas no consideration
friendship finds no favor, and doubtless
kinship would be disregarded. JVeio
York Uribune.
In the Oregon Legislature a resolu
tion, submitting the question of Woman
Suffrage to the people, passed the House
by a majority oi seven, dud was de
feated in tho Senate by three votes,
The New Northwest is cheerful atth
advancement of tho cause in Oregon
as it has good reason to be, since it is
so much the result oi its own work,
Eight or ten years ago, it says, such
resolution might have been tabled
contemptuous silence, or overwhelmed
with scornful ridicie. ew uige.
"These men seem great to us because
we have been on our knees before them
Let us stand on our feet and look at
them," said the old patriot in the French
revolution of aristocracy.
The following notice is posted con
spicuously in a Scotch office: "Shu
the door, and when you have done talk
ing on business, serve your mouth the
same way."
PEIVATE OOEEESPOOENOE-NO. 1.
How many of our readers- ever pause to
think of the many gems of thought that lie
hidden away in old letters ? The following Is
the first of a series of such whlcll fell Into our
hands in New York, and which, by the writer's
permission, we hereby present to the public,
teeiing sure that their perusal win cause every I
icautriuwuiuu uuw me wmcr, wiiuui e arc
pleased to class among our legion of friends:
near a :-on a bieaK and wintry
dayin the dreary month of March, we
crossed the ferry from New York, and
entering one ol tne most luxurious
iPullman palace" cars, right royally
started on our Southern trip in search
of .health and happiness, warm weather
and strawberries.
Our train, flying at a most rapid pace
through little Jersey staying its speed
for a second, when passing through one
or two of the principal places in the
larger, n no noo.er state oi rennsyi-
vania-uasuing into xuaryianu in a way
determined to let all Know it was tne
mmous -limitea express" rusneu witu
pulling of steam and blowing of whistle
into the crowded depot of the most noted
city in the District of Columbia, the
far-famed city of Washington, creating
perfect furor among the hackmen when
disgorging its human freight. "Have a
hack ?" "Here's a carriage !" "Take a
cab?" were words shouted in our ears,
still deafened with the fearful noise and
dazed with tho bustle, our bewildered
senses were truly glad to find rest, when
our party of three were safely seated in
the stage and fairly on our way to the
hotel Arlington. Far too weary for
anything but sleep, we left the beauties
of Washington to be discussed the next
day, and resting that night "without
dreams" we were ready "todo"ourcoun-
try's capital in the true traveler's style
seeing a great deal remembering lit
tle. But feeling sure there is scarce a
person in the remotest borders of our
broad laud, but knows full well,
either by description or observation, all
the wonders of the "city of magnificent
distances," we will, dearS , hurry on
to places more noted, if less interesting.
We left Washington, by boat, after a
four days' stay about six in the morn-
ng, and at that early hour there lay a
dense fog upon the smooth waters of
the Potomac, shutting from view all
objects of interest, but just as we neared
Mount Veruon, the heavy mists sud
denly rolled away, "vanishing like a
dream," and in the distance we saw the
tomb of our noblest patriot nestling
among the trees.
Our sail was brief, only two hours-
then a tedious ride in a car, with very
little claim to tho name of "palace,"
over the country, where for four long
weary years were encamped so many of
the noble sons of the North aud South,
but where little trace was now left,
scarcely an earthwork remaining, kind
old "Father Time" trying to efface all
evidence of what was ' once the great
'camping ground" of brothers. Six
hours of the most uncomfortable riding
brought us in quite a famished condi
tion into the once "confederate capital"
of the Southern States. And truly dis
appointed have I been in the place. The
town is very irregularly built, with lit-
tie or no pretensions to beauty. But
driving around the city brought to view
many places of "memory sad" such as
Castle Thunder" and "Libby Prison,1
where so many of our "braves" wasted
their life's blood for weary months-
were again teeming with busy factory
life, and filled with those for whom so
much had been given and who were
busily happy preparing the "daugerous
weed." And quite amusing was it. to
watch the different processes through
which the tobacco went, from the leaf
to the little cake.
Some of the fortifications around the
city arestill remaining, and when stand-
ing beside a window in the State Capi-
tolone could welh imagine the terror
that must have filled the hearts of those
gazing upon the hills beyond, knowing
that from their heights death missiles
might at any moment be showered
among them.
Sundav afternoon we attended the
largest colored cfiurch in the South, and
when beside us sat hundreds of our
brethren of the "darker hue," it gave us
some faint idea of the vastness of their
numbers, which, to a Northerner, "born
and bred," has always been a difficult
thing to realize.
A magnificent monument of Wash
ington, surrounded by Virginia states
men, was one of the few things I cared
to place in "memory'sstore-house" and
sitting alone in a forlorn little room in
a wretched hotel the best the place af-
fords my heart is quaking, for I fear
me Southern travel, Southern cities,
and especially Southern hotels, will be
far different from what our bright an
ticipations pictured. And the weather,
though warmer than was that to which
we bade "good-bye" one weektigo, has
but little of the "sunny warmth", about
which we have so often read; and green
grass, and a few peach trees in bloom,
o 1
is all of summer that has so far greeted bl u,?, T T"1 u VUU" ing tne numoer, at iast, ne reau wnu
. , , . , gress, ambitious to make at least one puzzled air: "Circe and the Compan
eyes weary with the bieakngss and ? h for the Eratification of his con- ions nf ITIvs.s He looked once more
dreariness of Northern winters. Still
with hope, we will, to-morrow, journey
on, and of other places more anon.
car with nothing to read, and somewhat
tired of gazing upon the same style
scenery as we have looked upon since
leaving Richmond "yester mom" me
thmka time will fly faster by taking
out my letter any. continuing to "jot'Mizecun Japan as a day or rest.
down the few adventures, or rather
want of adventures, that befall the
wearied travelers.
The country through which we. are
passing is very level, uncultivated, -and
In most parts uninteresting. A succe3-
sion of barren fields, followed by pine I
wrests a lew smau settlements scat-
tered among the "clearings" then fields
again, with the forest following in their
wake, and so the panorama continues.
Avery noticeable feature of Southern
houses is. that thev are niostlv built
with their chimneys outside, and one
can readily imagine the effect to be
truly ugly.
Our numerous little stations at which
we stop are crowded with the "colored
folk," and amusing it is to watch the
little raccred children, with coverings
rvitnhpd thiit sn.-irpp a tmrp U loft nfl
what was once ,he flrjfc garraent( tat
with eve3 brimminir with hanniness.
and mouths wide open, showing rows of
ittie teeth clltterine in their dark
mountings, and with faces so contented
one could scarcely believe their homes
were "cabins of logs," not to be com
pared tp the shelter of many a Northern
cow.
"We stop at every wood-pile, and so
obliging are Southern conductors that
verily do I believe they would delay a
whole train to regain anything acci-
dently dropped from the window.
So truly are we among the "pines,
that as yet we have seen but few trees
with any foliage to remind us of our
uearer approach to warmer climes.
Now and then a fine old oak appears,
covered with the hanging moss, so
weird and dreary, so famed as one of
the wonders of the South.
Our colored porter gave us his little
history last night, beguiling the time
while we, in the center of a dense forest,
waited for our engine to return and take
us farther on our journey, for the coup
ling having brokeu, the engine with a
long train of freight cars wended blowly
on its way for some distance before be
coming aware of the loss it is said to
be a usual occurrence in this land of
anythiug but "rapid transit" aud we
half-dozen people, with lights too dim
by which to read, and glad to have
thoughts taken from so desolate a situ
ation, encouraged our porler iu his little
reminiscences, and trujy listened with
interest as he recalled his early life.
When but a "child of fouryears" hewas
taken from his parents aud, fortunately,
sold to the kindest of mistresses, for
whom he seemed to have the strongest
attachment. And he 3poke with much
pride of being always the companion of
her little children, even on all their
pleasure excursions" truly "one of
them." "Through all. the privations
and hardships which his master' fam
ily had to eudure, he clung to them aud
remained faithful to their interests un
til peace was declared" so said his
warm letter of recommendation which
he proudly showed us,
Ourrldeiu thesleepingcarwasfarfrom
delightful, poor Iv never closed her
eyes aud I only-dozed, so troubled was
I with creeping chills making me think
my journey was really towards tho po-
Iar regions instead of the "burning
South." "We took our breakfast at such
a queer little place, so primitive in style
but being regaled with good "griddle
cakes," wo enjoyed quite a hearty meal.
I have beeu with my head tar out of
the car window looking down upou a
trestle bridge, over which we have been
passitig for at least three miles. 'Twas
over marshy ground and small rivulets,
I and being between thirty aud forty feet
high, it looked, and was very dauger-
ous, aud the creaking of the timbers be-
ueath us was not pleasant to hear.
Truly summer Is at last appearing,
.
for our porter has just presented us with
a lovely bunch of yellow jasmine,
plucked by the way-side while the train
was resting at another village.
The distant lights of Charleston
glimmering through the trees, aud the
bustle of preparation, warns me we are
nearing our journey's end. K.
On the wing, March 12, 1S7C.
A Pathetic Picture. George W.
Curtis paints the following pathetic pic
ture, which every one could wish less
true to nature : "1 thinK oi many a sad
eved woman who seems never to have
smiled, who struggled with hard hands,
throuch. meltinc heat and pinching
cold, to hold at bay poverty and want,
that hovered IIKe wolves about an ever
increasing flock of children. How it
was scour in the morning, scrub at
night, and scold all day long I How
care uiurrea tue winuow nite a ciouu
hidinir a lovelv landscape ! How aux
iety snarled at her heels, dogging her
like a cur! How little she knew
cared that bobolinks, drunk with blithe
idleness, tumbled aud sang in the mead
ows below, that the earth was telling
the time of year with flowers in the
woods below. As I think of these
things, of the taciturn husband coming
in heavy with sleep, too weary to read,
to talk, to think, I do not wonder that
mad-bouses are so richly recruited from
the farm-houses as the statistics show."
" " ' 1
I it'- rv hi . 1 f i '
stitueuts, thus began: "Mr. Speaker,
the generality of mankind in general
are generally msposeu io exercise op
kind in general." "Set down !" whis-
nered a iudicious friend, nullim? at his
coat-tails, "you're coming out of
of hole you went in at." He sat down
nco f.or ,aUA n,',3 vo'ce was heard
mrtrck in tnnf null
UL4 uiv u iuuv utw
The Christian Sabbath has been legal-
"Goshen."
The little town of Goshen had queer,
independent notions. Indeed, it was uo
uncommon thing to hear neighboring
villages say, "That is (iosueny no ap
peal from that !" This same opinionated
town would not build ou its "central
green" any other than a Grammar
ocnooi, because a century oeioro squire
Smith had bequeathed a sum of money
?r 1m .?ur"5e' . w?,s,.lb-1"
ELiS
or public schools? Just nothing, so a
wrammar School was built after a
model suggested by the memory of the
oldest inhabitant, who "had heerd them
tell that lived nigh to squire Smith,
what his idees was and how he wanted
'pm parried out to thn lfittnr " This
same town was intolerant toward all
churches save its own peculiarly sacred
one, the Baptist. Again provision was
made lor the support ot tuts institution.
Half a century before, a thoughtful dea-
r -iy'
,A iV , i.uJt l
sonage in -repair, aud once in ten years
to aUa "ty books to tne Sabbath School
library, which have beeu written by
pious, Baptist writers." Every item of
the will had been faithfully managed,
and so the brethren in that lucky church
went to heaven on flowery beds of ease,
so far as dollars and cents are concerned.
Cenvenienttothemeeting-house, Hunt
ley's Creek sunned itself and lazily
stretched along between low, wiilow-
muged banks. It was a very proper
stream; it never overflowed it never
hurried it never answered the sun in
bright sparkles, nor fidgeted when the
moon sent thrilling glances into its
depths. If aught inanimate can give
one to understand that It is charged
with a mission, that stream so expressed
itself. Anybody could read on its sur
face, "I am the Baptist Church, and the
Baptist Church is 1 1 iNo oue entereth it
save through me !" Iu times of deep re
ligious fervor, Huntley's UreeK seemed
to express more even this: "I am the
gate of heaven ! No one entereth it save
through me !" Had Goshen possessed
auy other church, this assumption of
the stream would have been very de
pressing, if not exasperating; but as it
was, the Baptists had it all (heir owu
way, and hugged the sweet delusion to
their souls.
I should not say they had it all their
own way, for they did have some sharp
thorns in the llesb, which vexed them
sorely at time's. To the western edge
of the town, a few Universalists clung
ind laughed to scorn Parson Cook's
hebdomadal visions of the bottomless
pit. These "reprobates" were very re
spectable people, if voting the Republi
can ticket, if being strong temperance
men, kind to the poor and obedient to
the sum of all the commandments, can
make oue respectable. They even went
so far as to have a Missionary Society,
as if they themselves were not greater
heathens than any they could hud in
foreign parts ! I give the opinion of Ol
ive Ann Spooner, the village spinster,
who had great authority in church. To,
the eastern edge of the town clung one
lone, lorn Spiritualist, aud plied a mixed
business iu heaven aud ou earth. For
a "lawtui suiiuug" ne would summon
any spirit, prescribe for auy disease, tell
your fortune, anu lor "live aud six
peuce" would ierret out any ordinary
thief aud bring him to justice. The
Goshenites gave him no countenance,
but so far as possible ostracized him.
But the dwellers in the next village be-
in tr somewhat curious to know the se
crets of the spirit world, came often to
the Isolated home ol the clairvoyant and
gave him so much of their substance
that he was fast laying up treasures
somewhere, whether iu heaveu or ou
earth, uo one ventured to guess. There
is an air ot mystery and uncertainty
about an individual who seems to be
equany at home iu the body and out of
the body!
While the two extremities of the
town were ripe for divine judgments,
the middle was a miuiature jNew Jer
usalem. Not a reformer of either sex
had ever disturbed its sweet serenity
uot a heretic had ever profaned its sanc
tuary. But for newspapers, which are
so hospitable toward every new sensa
tion, tfosueu wouiu never nave Kuown
of the terrible unrest among women
and their still more terrible demand for
the ballot. They would never have
kuown the steady inroads women are
making into the professions hitherto
held sacred to men. Deacon Aruott
rasped for breath as he read of the or
dination of a woman ! Squire Board-
man, the male oracle oi the village,
said "that when men got sb feeble that
they could not dispense the bread of
life, let the world starve better starve
than feed on such panada as a woman
would cive ! Before I would let a wom
an teach me," and down came. his cane
by way of emphasis, "I would I would
" The sentence was never veroany
finished, but the Squire's look, as he
calmly surveyed his listeners, impressed
them with a sense oi tnemtter incapac
ity and worthlessness of women. To
speak of women lawyers, doctors, min-
isters, and voters, was like a red flag to
- a bull. It was iJrotuer linapp's iavor-
ite auotatiori: "You can't touch coals
without bein' burned; and you can't
hear or read of these new-fangled tueo-
ries without some fool among us will
pitch in headlong and believe tne-wuoie
abominable stuff! No, friends, there is
no safetv but In shutting ouraoors agin-
everybody who don't square his life by
the apostle raui, anu n jraui uuu u
- shut down on women, will you, In tho
name of common sense, toll mo who
or does?"
The snbjects of pictures in ArtExhi
KUtAn n ATomnrifll Hnll onntlnno tn
,e the unsophIsticated mind. The
K.u- .i shniwsirt. frpntlomnn n1n.nt.pfl
hlmseif before Riviere's beautiful pic-
ture- He evidently greatly at-
tracted by the ficure of the half-nude
a n,r ,irQ p I,-- i,,nl,
gwiue aud sought eagerly in the cata-
logue for the explanatory title. Find-
I . . . , . i . i , s.t.
on the nvmoh and the swine, read the
title again, and finally drawled, as he
- walked away: wa ai, ina s raytuer
A r.nt writer observes: "It is curi-
the ous and possibly a little disheartening to
think how terribly a journalist may
no toil, and yet leave behind him hardly
1 nmnnmont tr hia Tiriolirtr nnrl in.
any monument to his fidelity and in
dustry." They are so busy making rec
ords for others that they have no time
to think of their own monuments.