t
FRIDAY DECEMBER 15, 1876.
NOTICE.
Agents -will please take notice that It Is a
great tax upon ns to pay express charges upon
small sums, and they 'Will confer a great favor
by remitting to us through money orders or
registered. letters.
COULD YOU HAVED0NE AS MUCH ?
The deceased was a kind and indulgent
mother, who, by her own energy, has raised
and educated thVee daughters, who with many
friends, she leaves to mourn her loss.
Pausing as this record of a brave and
useful life closed with the iibove para
graph, we thought of a declaration
made by a man hut a few days since in
our presence a man, too, of intelligence
and position and honor, "that a wom
an's place is home; that any attempt to
go outside of that to find her work is
merely a quarrel with the Almighty
because she is not a man, and that wom
en never had and never would accom
plish anything which required endur
ance." It would seem, indeed, that any man
who would use his eyes and ears and
exercise the common wit derived from
his mother might know better than
to make such declarations as these,
and further, that if persons do not
know better that it is of no use to waste
argument upon them. Yet, we have
hope, sometimes, even for these self
blinded individuals and so, while with
great effort we preserve our soul in
patience, we pick up and cite instances
which mayhap fall under their eyes
aud cause them to pause aud consider
before they pronounce judgment so ut-
terly at variance with fact upon the
brave, struggling, working women of
the world.
"By her own energy she has raised
aud educated three daughters." Is this,
(?) sapient law-giver, a merit, and could
you have done so much and kept strict
Jy at home? Could you have done as
much, indeed, merely by your "own en-
ergy" taking the children from their in
fancy up, even with your enlarged
sphere? Would you not have had to
call in the aid of a woman before the
children were taught to feed and dress
themselves? Could you have toiled at
hardest labor for scanty wages, taking
them with you and caring in every way
for their wants, or stolen time from
your sleep to mend aud turn their gar
mcnts while they slept? No, but you
say you could have hired these things
done. Could you, if circumscribed in
your sphere of action as you assume to
circumscribe the sphere of these toiling
mothers? If from political and social
disability your place in the financial
world was limited to that of mere beg
gary only, as with almost superhuman
energy you wrung a reluctant pittance
from some already over full position,
whence would have come your funds to
pay for these cares that it were im
possible to bestow yourself?
Think a moment and tell us if this
woman has not done more than you
could have done, aud done it in the
face of obstacles that you would not
contend against for a moment. Use
your eyes and your ears and your un
derstanding, we beseech you, and never
again, in the hearing of a woman who
has performed unaided what you would
never attempt, declare that no woman
has. ever accomplished anything that
required steady perseverance aud long
continued labor and endurance. Ponder
and tell us farther, whether it would
have beey more commendable, more
womanly, more pleasing to the Al
mighty, who gave these to her charge
and left her their sole guardian, for this
woman to have listened to the senti
mental twaddle to which you treat
women about staying at home and work
ing solely therein, aud helplessly wring
ing her hands because she was a woman,
when her children were put upon the
town or "farmed out" to vigorous task
masters, or to have bravely seized upon
every opportunity to labor away from
home, not stronger in her mother love
than in the determination to do any
thing she could do regardless of what
theorists might say of her sphere. And
never, until all women are provided
without exertion on their part with
homes to stay in, be so unreasonable as
to declare "that all women were made to
Stay at home."
A CHANOEJTO WOEK.
We call the special attention of suffra
gists to the appeal of Mrs. Lougbary to
be found in another column. Her sug
gestion relative to the appropriation of
the working hours of a designated day
for this purpose is good, and we trust
will be acted upon by all who can leave
their homes upon this important errand
Let this day be known as "Woman's
Day" throughout the State, aud let.
each friend of woman's enfranchisement
go forth and work as if upon his or her
own exertions depended the great vic
tory. Let it not be said that the Wom
an Suffragists of our fair occidental
.State are lukewarm in the cause, or in
different regarding its speedy triumph.
We have many earnest, talented, ener
getic friends in Congress friends who
will be glad to aid us when 'we show a
disposition to aid ourselves. Let us
prove our earueoiucos by our endeavor
in this matter.
One hundred copies of "David and
Anna Matsou" are on the way to this
State, aud will arrive m a -lew days,
Specimen copies will be Immediately
forwarded to various localities. We
will mail the books postpaid on receipt
of price, for which see advertisement.
There is nothing later from Mrs. Dun
Iway than the "Editorial Correspond
ence" published in this issue. It will
be seen that she talks "home" and we
still expect her by Christmas.
A law has passed the Spanish, cortes
making education obligatory.
BEPOEM EXTBAOEDINAEY.
The bogus economy, retrenchment
and reform inaugurated last winter by
the Democratic House of Representa
tives for political bluster and purpose
will be judged in the proper light by
the "dear tax-payers" when they see
how this year the appropriations must
be doubled up in order to meet last
year's deficit and pay current expenses
of running the government.
Detailed estimates of appropriations
required for all branches of the public
service for the next fiscal year have
been furnished by the Secretary of the
Treasury to Congress.
The Pacific Coast estimates all far ex
ceed the amounts grauted last session,
but are all recommended as absolutely
necessary to bring up arrears in work.
The people will readily admit that the
kind of economy that degenerates into
absolute parsimony, scrimping and
cramping the civil service of a great Re
public for one year, only to be doubled
in order to bring up arrears the next
year, is, to say the least, doubtful econ
omy. And when, in addition to this, we
take into consideration the millions of
dollars demanded on rebel claims by the
same economical House that with vir
tuous show of retrenchment went even
into the kitchens and laundries of the
nation to curtail the wages and slop the
supplies of government employees, we
are enabled more fully to understand
the motives that led to such pretentions
and loud cries of reform. AVhile count
ingwith eager and ostentatious parsi
mony the nation's dimes, and doling
them out with grumbling protest to pay
necessary expenses of carrying on the
government with even a show of re
spectability, these champions of reform
were devising means or hearkening to
projects that would scatter like chafl
before the wind the nation's double-ea-
gels and keep her coflers empty for de
cades to come. In view of these things
it is no wonder that the more practical
and intelligent citizens of the Republic
are ready with loud acclaim to cry:
"From such reformers with their re
trenchmcnt schemes may the good Lord
and a loyal Concress speedily deliver
us."
THE BEOOKLYN HOEEOE.
If there is anything more horrible
than a swift, suddeu, aud merciless dis
aster that tnves ocean sepulture to
hundreds of - human beings by ship
wreck, it is a holocaust fed by writhing,
struggling humanity that but now was
listening with pleased attention to the
rendition of the drama. Such a horror
as this last burst upon the city of Brook
lyn on Tuesday evening of last week
and nearly 300 charred and dismembered
bodies were afterwards taken from the
ruins of Brooklyn Theater. The fire
broke out upon or about the stage, the
alarm was given, and the hundreds that
thronged the edifice rushed with frantic
haste toward the entrances, only to find
them completely blocked by prostrate
human forms piled so high as to prevent
the egress of the panic-stricken crowd
that shrieked aud struggled behind,
But few minutes elapsed between the
alarm and the death by suffocation,
pressure aud heat of several hundred
persons. The details are sickening.
The instinct of self-preservation, height
ened to a frenzy of selfishness by the
appalling danger, caused the weak to go
down before the strong, and even these
in many instances were totally un ible
to save themselves. The morgue for
two or three succeeding days presented
a spectacle that in its awful melancholy
admits of no description. On Saturday
1,00 bodies of unrecognized aud unrecog
nizable dead were deposited in a circular
trench opened in Greenwood, whose
pitying clods never before covered such
harrowing calamity from mortal sight.
me entire city seenieti to be in mourn
ing as the ghastly procession proceeded
through the streets to the cemetery, the
flags flying at half-mast, and rent with
the bitter winds that seemed singing a
solemn requiem. Dispatches giving
with horrible minuteness the fearful de
tails have filled the papers for a week
past, and yet the dreadful scene is but
imperfectly described. The catastrophe
will, lor a time, at least, cause the multi
tudes to turn away from places where
insufficient means of exit are provided
in case of the ever possible calamity of
fire.
THE PUTTY MANOF THE SENATE
If there is one man more execrated
than alt others in this State at present
that man is James K. Kelly. Instead
of being in his seat in the United States
Senate when that body convened, where
he is paid to sit, although the seat, for
that matter, is better vacant, "he, at tha
behest of party tricksters, doubled upon
his traces and returned to Salem to
further outrage the people of the State
he has for six years disgraced by his im
becility in the Senate, in attempting to
defraud the majority of their rightful vic
tory. His career as a politician is about
ended, and it is supposed that a knowl
edge of this fact induced him to listen
eagerly to a proposition that promised
pay in any quarter. His new Centen
nial catalogue, "A woman, a dead man,
and a criminal," is a fitting close for his
brilliant (?) public labors. The Corval
lis Gazette thus sums him up and dis
poses of him:
Acting for six years as the "figure head" or
Oregon in the U. S. Senate, without accom
plishing anything of importance for the State,
beyond voting, like a putty man, he has now
rendered himself ''notorious" and odious, and
In a few weeks will vacate the position he has
disgraced and sink Into oblivion.
The report of the Superintendent 'of
the State Penitentiary for the quarter
ending November 30, 187G, shows the
income of the prison from all sources to
be $3,015 56; amount paid for main
tenance over and above this, $2,699 43.
The Senate has confirmed the follow
ing: Henry W. Wright, Register of the
Land Office at LaGrande, Oregon, and
M. II. Kaign, Receiver,
THE SILK INDUSTEY IN AMEBI0A.
There Is no other article of feminine
apparel in which women are so univer
sally interested as the different silks
which are displayed in the shop win
dows of all the principal cities, labeled
with attractive figures which attest
their quality and price.
It is intimated, in an introductory
chapter to an interesting work under
the caption tbat heads this article, that
when our mother Eve draped herself
in the broad leaves of the banian fig,
she must have, inaugurated the silk
dress mania; and, if we are to carry out
the.simile toits conclusion, as we be
hold the effects of that act observable at
the present day, we must admit that the
desire for silk, like the original trans"
gression, increases according to the de-
maud.
Belonging to the feminine order, and
lacking none of the hereditary fondness
for silk which mother Eve so univer
sally transmitted toherchildrcu through
hurrying up the process of manufacture
by appropriating her first installment
in the fig leaf state, rather than wait for
worms to eat the fibre and spin cocoons,
and having outgrown the hurry while
enjoying the fondness, behold the writer
at the Cheney Silk Works in South
Manchester, where millions on millions
of dollars, scores aud scores of looms,
thousands and thousands df spindles,
and hundreds and hundreds of opera
tives are employed in improving upon
the original fig, or mulberry leaf, which
the persevering worms of China and
Japan have died to manufacture, or es
caping death, have pierced aud gone
forth to propagate, leaving their former
homes to be gathered up by a patent
process and taken through a hundred
different Btages of treatment, bringing
them out at last in the elegant gros
grain fabrics of commerce, which are
such an improvement upon the original
ng leaf as to cause the beholder to won
der why it is that croakers are always
harping upon the good old times when
there were no Corliss engines to drive
the spinning jenuy and no Chenev
Brothers to build South Manchester
Mills.
These brothers are the sons of
farmer in South Manchester, Connecti
cut, and cultivated a few mulberry
trees and reared a few silk worms in
their boyhood; but, as they grew up,
they became scattered, after the manner
of American boys. They were a good
old-fashioned family, too, of seven or
eight brothers, most of whom distin
guished themselves in some branch of
trade or the professions before engaging
in the silk business. Some became ar
tists, some farmers, one a merchant,
and the younger ones remained at home
with the parents. t
Years after, and while these brothers
were in the very prime of successful
life, they were attracted again to the old
farm, the homo of their boyhood, an un
dulating tract ot wood and field-land,
well watered aud in high state of culti
vation. Here, in January, 1838, Ward,
Bush, Frauk and Ralph Cheney started
the Mount Nebo Silk Mills. After a
while the mills were temporarily closed,
when Ward, Bush aud Frank removed
to Burlington, New Jersey, where they
established mulberry orchards, cocoon
eries, etc., and conducted aud published
from July, 183S, to July, 1810, the mag
azine known as the Sill: Growers' Man
ual. Other members of the family es
..I I!.! 1 . it
lauusueu muiuerry plantations near
Augusta, Georgia, also in Florida, aud
at Mt. Healthy, Ohio. Reopening tho
MouutNebo Mills in South Manchester,
they commenced the manufacture ol
sewing silk aud twist, to which they
shortly added ribbons, handkerchiefs,
aud eventually-broad goods. They also
made the first successful experiments in
the production of spun silk from the
pierced cocoons, floss, silk waste and
whatever 6ilk canuot be reeled. This
they soak, boil, card, spin and weave,
with machinery especially adapted for
preparing it, aud it is now made into
substantial, durable dress goods, for
which there is a large and constantly
increasing demand. Of these silks the
writer is in constant receipt of the most
favorable recommendations from ladies
who aver that they will wash and iron
like muslin and outwear any otherother
goods in market. These silks are some
what wanting in luster, having the ap-
leuruucu 01 xrencn popnn, out are
much cheaper, of better width, and
vastly more durable. In addition to
these lusterless, or spun goods, they
have manufactured limited stocks of
dress goods from reeled silks, that have
for the past three years excelled all Im
poneu iaorics oi ineir class. Tuey are
also, at present, large manufacturers of
of pongees, lining and trimming silks
handkerchiefs, twist, etc., etc., gener
ally making only such goods as are or
dered by large dealers.
The brothers occupy elegant mansions
on the old farm site, with numerous
tasteful dwellings for the operatives in
view of the mammoth mills, where em
ployes are paid for their labor according
to the work Instead of the sex of the la
borers.
The employes are unanimous in thei
appreciation of the kindly interest of
the Cheneys in their behalf. Their two
great establishments at Hartford and
South Manchester are models ot con
venience aud ventilation, and their
manufacturing village at South Man
Chester has not been surpassed in this
country in its abundaut appliances for
health, comfort, instruction and enjoy
ment of their operatives. The cottages
for the married have ample room, with
water, gas, and garden plot for each
There are no fevers throughout the vil
lage. Commodious boarding-houses are
erected for the unmarried, and there is a
fine hall, library, and reading-room
well sustained by employers and em
ployed. A first-class school, an armory
for the military company, and ample
opportunity for religious worship, are
also provided. The work is not severe
nor the hours long, while the pay is
iairiy liberal.
America is more deeply indebted to
the Cheney Brothers than all other
agencies combined for the present stage
of the silk industry within her borders.
Their attention has been directed not
only to the manufacture but the growth
of silk, the mullicaulis, or French mul
berry, having been largely imported and
propagated by them for the subsistence
of tho worms. Each brother has eo
largely contributed to tho success of the
various branches of their mammoth en
terprise that it is difficult to point to
any one portion of the work and say
who did it. Tbey have co-operatecf
heartily in all interests, yet each has
his private property separate from the
mutual fund. Two of the brothers,
Charles and Ward, are now deceased,
their death making a melancholy gap
in the harmonious family's ranks.
Although we speak from personal
knowledge of the Manchester Mills, we
have not hesitated to write this article
principally by authority of L. P. Brock
ett, M. D., who has prepared a hand
some and comprehensive volume upon
"America's Silk Industry," to which
we refer the reader for further historic
information.
WOMAN SUITE AGISTS, ATTENTION!
we nave been appealed to by our
valiant co-laborersiu the East to canvass
the State of Oregon for signatures to a
petition to Congress which reads thus :
PETITION FOB W03IA2 SUFFRAGE.
To the Senate and House of Representatives
in Congress assembled : The undersigned citi
zens of the United States, residents of the State
of Oregon, earnestly pray your honorable Bod'
ies to adopt measures for so amending the
Constitution as to prohibit tho several States
from disfranchising United States citizens on
account of sex.
It is necessary to do at once what we
do in this matter, as the petitions must
reach Washington by the middle of Jan
uary. Printed petitions will be sent to
all active workers as soon as possible,
but do not wat for these. Clip the
above from your paper, paste it at the
head of a sheet of foolscap aud begin
the canvass at once.
I would further most earnestly and
respectfully urge of the friends of uni
versal suffrage and equal rights through-
out the State to set apart and devote to
this special object Monday, the 18th day
of December, between the hours of 9
o'clock A. sr. and 4 p. sr. If this su
gestion were faithfully carried out,
doubt not that many thousand names
could be enrolled upon these petitions
in this State. Come, friends, the exper
iment is well worthy of a conscientious
trial. As soon as the canvass of your
town or neighborhood is completed,
mail tho petitions filled to the under
signed. It is necessary that they all be
in by Christmas.
H. A. Loughary,
' Pres't O. S. W. S. A
Amity, Oregon, December 7, 1876.
"WOMEN AT POLLING PLACES.
During the recent campaign in Mas
sachusetts, when the Woman Suffra
gists worked with the prohibitionists
many women went to the polls in vari
ous places to distribute ballots. We
have the testimony of many of these
and all goes to disprove the idea once so
popular that women would be insulted
by their protectors if they ventured in
and about precincts heretofore known
only to the feet of men. Instead of be
ing met with gibe and insult, as many
man maligners of their own sex have
asserted would bo the case, they re
ceived everywhere respectful attention
and heard nothing offeusive to decency
or morality.
One womansays: "Pipes aud cigars
generally slipped out of sight in the
presence of women; no indignity of any
kind was offered them, and I heard no
one ooject to tueir presence save one
imported citizen, ail aucient Irishman
who, when he came in sight of the worn
en, turned back declaring, "if the worn
en Is comin' here, be gad I 'ou't come; I
'on't voteat all.'"
Remembering the fearful pictures of
outrage and violence that had been held
up before them, the women went to the
polls with some trepidation; tbey wen
away elated. Thus actual experimen
dispels another of the popular objections
to Woman Sutlrage, aud in duo time
all will vanish by the same convincing
power.
WE WILL OBEY 0EDEES.
A plucky little woman In one of the
interior counties, whose husband had
ordered her paper discontinued several
weeks since, writes as follows : "Please
send 'the New Northwest to my ad
dres3 again. You must uot think that
my husband stopped the paper, because
be found fault with its sentiment,
The truth is, his wheat crop was a fail
ure this year, and he thought he had to
economize, aud man like, his wife's pa
per was just as convenient as anything
else he could retrench on. I had spent
all my butter money at that time and
was not financially independent. Last
week, however, I collected some more
butter proceeds, and as money brings
independence, I iuformed the head of
the family that I had been out of the
world long enough and proposed to send
for the New Northwest again. He
acquiesced very gracefully, saying: 'All
right; I suppose you will not rest con
tcuted unless you know what mischief
the female women of the period are up
to.' Of course I won't. What woman
of the period would? So please send the
paper In my name aud until I order it
stopped."
Mitchell introduced a bill in the Sen
ate making further appropriation of
$250,000 for continuing the construction
of the canal and locks at the Cascades of
Columbia River, Oregon; referred -to
committee on transportation routes.
The Tribune gives a carefully-pre
pared list of the names of all persons ab
solutely kuown to have been lost in the
Brooklyn fire. This list gives a total of
271. Of these the remains of 217 have
been identified.
EDIT0EIAL 00EBESP0HDEN0E. '
Dear Readers of the New Northwest:
Between conflicting emotions of joy
and sorrow we again essay to write you.
We are glad because our book is done;
glad because the critics like it; glad be
cause there is a prospect tbat it will pay
its way; glad, thrice glad, because we're
going home ! But oh, so sorry that we
had to be absent when Willis left the
parental roof! It seemed we couldn't
live and bear it. The one simple para
graph, announcing that the boy who
had been for three years foreman on the
New Northwest, who had set type on
every issue thus far, and who had now
plumed his pinions and betaken him
self to San Francisco, there to carve a
career of his own, meant very little to
the general reader, but oh, so much to
us 1 Important literary work was before
us and we had no time for the luxury of
grief. JVhat cares the world for domes-
tic.sorrows, and why should we intrude
them here?
We have been so rushed with work,
and had so many important themes to
write of which have been compelled to
await a more convenient season, that
we slull now omit many things we
ought to tell you; but we shall do the
best we can to gather up the missing
links. When again in the shadow of
our home, we'll recall every important
theme that is now forgotten, and shall
have food for thought the winter
through.
That promised second journey to
Philadelphia was long in being made.
The work on the book lingered, and we
were compelled to check impatience and
wait. Finally, when the full time for
closing the Exposition had come, we
took a hurried journey, and at nigntfali
were again the cuest of sood Miss
Ihompson, with whom we spent a busy
aud profitable week. Mr. Dufur, whose
successful career at the Centennial de
serves the compensation that a nig
gardly Legislature should be heartily
ashamed of having denied him, again
obliged us by many favors. Tho regu
lar exhibition was over, but thousands
still visited tho grounds, where police
men stood guard over all the foreign de
partments and pushed their noses and
fingers into every bundle and lunch bas
ket, and Anally capped the climax ol
caution by refusing to allow us to pass
the doors with a single copy of "David
aud Anna," which a, gentleman at the
far end of the great building had pur
chased, aud which we were compelled
to leave at tho Commissioner's room,
where somebody stole it, and thereby
protected the rights of the American
government from smugglers.
Not having seen the People's Paper
regularly for a longtime, we can't re
member what has been written up, but
guess we haven't riddled that "Woman's
Pavilion" yet. Plainly the work of a
disfranchised and pauper class it looks
and has looked all summer. As com
pared to the great hall where the men
displayed almost everything of utility
as though it were their own, although
two-thirds, at least, was the work ol
women, every thinker was reminded ol
the mansion of the slave owner as com
pared to the hut of the slave the most
pitiful part of the whole melancholy
farce lying in the fact that a fewsno.bby
women were perfectly satisfied to thus
celebrate their own serfdom without
protest in order to get their names in
the papers, reminding every one that
took time to think of the principles of
equality which that pavilion helped
men to trample upon, of the snobbish
darkie in white gloves aud livery who
had ail the rights he wanted when he
was massa's footman and belonged to
him, soul and body, in his good clothes.
" Oh, that God the giflio gi'o us
To see oursel' as ithers see us !
'T would from many a bluuder free us
And foolish notion."
Oue dear old lady, blessings on her
memory, held aloft a drooping banncron
the closing day a revolutionary relic
and bowed her head aud wept, the only
sensible thing the women of that pavilion
have done this summer. The Tories of
the revolution are not oue whit more de
serving of execration and contempt than
are the Tories of to-day, who inveigh
against the principle which our fathers
fought for, that "resistance to tyranny
is obedience to God."
But we have not time now to write
further, and have little encouragement
to trust this to the mails, as yoU don't
get half we do write. Hoping the miss
ing links of "Edna and John" have
come to band ere this, and praying tbat
we may very soon be home again, we
bid adieu to New York and start on the
westward way in the morning.
' A. J. D,
New York, November 23, 1870.
P.S. We don't often add a postscript,
but it is necessary to state that the Na
tional Woman Sutlrage Association has
changed our name, or, rather, resumed
a part of our maiden one, and with the
first of January the New Northwest
will do likewise.
"Indignation meetings" have been in
order since the executive judicial farce
was euacted at Salem last week. Reso
lutions condemning in strongest terms
the action of the Governor and Secre
tary of State iu attempting to override
the popular vote have been unanimously
passed in many places.' His Excellency
has been repeatedly burned in effigy, in
token of the people's co'ntempt and in
dignation. While we deprecate this
manner of proceeding in any crfse, as
being impotent and undignified we feel
that the people have just cause to express
themselves as doubly outraged by the
recent action of the Governor aud his
sneak-thief backers.
Major Shroeder has called a meeting
of the different relief committees to take
action iu regard to persons who have
been deprived of their support by the
Brooklyn theater fire, and suggests that
ladies should visit the houses of suffer
ers, and asks tbat a collection be taken
up in the churches next Sunday.
LETTEE FBQMWASHINGT0N.
To the Editor of the New Northwest:
Excitement having reached the ex
ploding point, has begun to subside, and
with genuine Anglo-Saxon calmness all
classes seem inclined to await the issue
of events. Meanwhile bogus telegraphic
dispatches continue to keep the bail in
motion, and furnish newspaper para
graphs and bar-room conversations.
The lower class of Irish are counting
upon Tilden's election to suppress the
negro, force him to the cotton fields,
confiscate his property, and teach him
the difference between white and black.
The Southern gentry hail Democratic
rule as a harbinger of good. They count
upon the payment of war claims, a
happy release from carpet-bag officials
and negro Congressmen and Senators;
they chafe Under Yankee rule, and are
t . i- . .
as nrmiy pieugeu to states rigbls as
they were before the first gun was fired
at Sumpter; and the negro trembles at
his coming fate, for whichever way the
tide turns, his danger at least seems im
minent. The South has waited long
and staked its all upon this issue; it
cannot and will not. brook disappoint
ment quietly, nor must the North ex
pect these people to abide by any decis
ion that is adverse to their interests.
But the greatest excitement exists
amongst department clerks, nearly all
of whom are Republicans, aud depend
upon that party for a living. Even
women, although debarred from a polit
ical exercise of opinion, nevertheless
have strong feelings upon the subject,
and uot unusually pay the penalty of
expressing their sentiments by dis
missal. For the most part, however,
they are a prudent, quiet, hard-working,
much-abused class of the com
munity, always trying to do a man's
and woman's work at one and the same
time, write all day, sew all the evening,
and entertain their acquaiutances hall
the night. Very many of these womeu
are counected with families moving iu
fashionable life, and often feel them
selves compelled to keep up appearances,
dress to the full extent of their means,
and exhaust their strength and brains
by a senseless, hollow, frivolous round
of receptions and evening entertain
ments. Several attempts have been
made within the last few seasons to in
troduce a higher tone to the society in
Washington, but alas! for ten who en
joy .Horatio .King's soiree literaire,
twenty call to see Mrs. Williams' last
Parisian robe, or listen to Mrs. Robeson
chatter to diplomatists iu a language
uot ten of her guests can understand.
It is presumed that several quite fash
ionable houses will be closed this win
ter, and all who failed to see Mrs. Shep
pard's "white drawing-room" will have
lost their chance, perhaps forover. Uni
versal regret is expressed at the failure
of Alexander R. Sheppard, for whatever
may be his failings, ho has beautified
Washington Ijeyoud conception, and
laid an everlasting obligation upon its
inhabitants.
Many other failures are expected,
should Mr. Tilden be declared elected;
for tho most part government clerks
support the. commercial houses in the
city, and as a general thing are creditors
to a greater degree or lesser extent, aud
should these clerks be dismissed sud
denly, they will be unable to meet their
liabilities.
The pardon of William O'. Avery has
been hailed by the majority of people
as a simple act of justice. Few who
were personally acquainted with Mr.
Avery ever believed him guilty of the
grave crime to the extent of which a
chain of circumstantial evidence seemed
to encompass him; that he was weak
enough to allow himself to be made a
cat's paw of cannot be denied, but it is
also true that he was shaved out of the
chestnuts. His wife, who, since his
conviction aud imprisonment, has been
employed in the Interior Department,
is to-day a happy woman, and looks for
ward to rejoining the husband she has
never ceased to love and regard. Mrs.
Avery has been untiring in her efforts
to promote her husband's release, and
Mr. Avery may well be proud of many
a name and endorsement which is sub
scribed to his application for pardon.
Amongst these are the signatures of
Seua'tors of the United States, judges of
the courts, members of Congress, and a
legion of personal friends aud acquaint
ances. Whilst the uncertainty of who the
next President will be is agitating the
public mind, every one takes comfort in
the fact that there is at least oue thing
certain in the campaign. Peter Cooper
is defeated, no one attempts to deny
that, aud all men, too, concede the elec
tion of the widow Butler, the life and
spirit of the House of Representatives.
A prophecy made by an old 'Quaker
lady at least a century ago is being
passed from mouth to mouth, and is
creating great excitement in old cliques
and in families who are the happy pos
sessors of the old document. Tho war
of the Rebellion was an especial point
in this prophecy, and the details were
fully accomplished according to the
oracle. The next incident of import
ance was, that after eight yeare of peace
under a great military chief, who would
during that time fill the Presidential
chair, another war ruore bloody than
the first would follow; then long years
of anarchy, followed by a monarchial
form of government, which would be
overthrown and succeeded by a Re
public more stable, more upright, more
judicious than any heretofore known.
We hope the old Quaker lady is mis
.takeu, "yea, verily," we believe she is,
and consider the anarchy part of the
prophecy to be the result of madly try
ing to learn by heart a verse of a favor
ite meeting psalm (do Quaker's sing?)
which we think runs thus:
"Dear friends and fellow-mortals,
We'll all turn to rattlesnakes and snapping
turtles."
Cactus.
Washington, D. C, November 14, '70.
Jacobs' official majority in Washing
ton Territory is 223.
CHILD'S
PLAY WITH
UTES.
THE STAT-
To the Editor of tue New Northwest :
Did you e.ver play at the childish
game of cob-house? I remember back
in the old Buckeye State that while the
larger members of my father's family
were passing the long winter evenings
shelling corn by the wide kitchen fire
place that we little romps frequently
amused ourselves by constructing min
iature houses, pressing the long corn
cobs together log-cabin style. This was
unprofitable employment, but it cost
nothing and, to us, it was rare sport.
But when father or big brother, in utter
disregard of our feelings, would ruth
lessly kick these tiny monuments of
ouringenuity iuto the blazing fire well,
we would build others. Now I. have
been reminded of this childish pastime
by the abortive attemps of our law-makers
to frame a law preventing the vice
of gambling. Our statute touchiug this
subject previous to the meeting of our
last Legislature had been mercilessly
kicked into oblivion by the Supreme
Court, and the Legislature of the cur
rent year proceeded to enact another
law from which lovers of good-order ex
pected much. But I see tbat it, like its
oblivious predecessors, ' proved but a
child's cob-house, and Judge Shattuck
hurled it into smithereens with his lit
tle boot.
Pray, how is this ? Other States have
succeeded in framing laws effectually
preventing this ruinous vice; laws, too,
that -have stood judicial tests. Are our
courts more acute, or are our law-makers
more obtuse than those of other
States? Or may it be that saloons have
been rearing these cob-houses merely
for the sport of witnessing their destruc
tion at the hands of our courts? (Al
most everyone prefers being considered
knave rather than a simpleton,
therefore, I shall charitably adopt the
last as the probable key to the mystery.)
Still none but men are capable of acting
as law-makers. Why not admit the
other sex to the rights of citizenship,
allow' them to assjst in making laws,
and I'll guarantee that tbey will at least
have sense enough to copy the statute
of another State on this subject, and
then the courts will kick at it in vain.
ALfEC.
Albany, Oregon, December 9, 1S70.
Out from the forests of Oregon has is
sued a new female poet, bearing aloft an
elegant volume of verse, entitled "David
and Anna Matsou," by Abigail Scott
Duniway (S. R. Wells & Co.) Her por
trait, which serves as the frontispiece,
shows that she possesses uncommou
force of character, and preparqs us to
believe the accouuts that are given of
her success in various walks of life. A
perusal of the poem will euable the
reader to form u judgment upon the
propriety of her continuing to pursue
this line of literary activity. It is a nar
rative poem, based upon a strange aud
touchiug tale of the Euoch Ardeu sort,
once told by John G. Whittier. She
expands and elaborates tbesimplestory,
developes the three characters that ap
pear iu it, aud clothes its scenes and iu
uidents with the haudiwork ofJierfaucy.
There are higher powers of characteriz
ation, emotion, aud imagination than
those which she displays; but yet her
poetic narrative is suited to the minds
of a multitude of readers who would
feel ill at ease if takeu up to the intel
lectual pinnacle's upon which a few gi-
auts have disported themselves. In
short, there is no doubt that Mrs. Duui
way's poem will interest aud please
many people, and even critical readers
will find iu it passages which must
command their attention. The main
poem of the volume is followed by some
shorter pieces that possess such poetic
qualities as warrant us in awarding her
a place among the attractive aud popu
lar poets of the day; and of these "Tho
Dirge of the Sea" aud "West aud West"
are marked specimens. After a life of
successful labor iu other fields, Mrs.
Duniway of Oregon has, at this time of
her life, made a beginning that gives
promise of future achievements. There
are many pretty and pleasing illustra
tions in the book, which has been set
out in beautiful style by the publishers.
JV. Y. Sun.
The following squibs on the political
farce last week enacted at Salem are
from the New York Tribune:
"Grover has already been called Beu
Jict Arnold 1,707 times, and Judas Is
cariot 1,053 times. It seems to be a case
of a unanimous verdict without consul
tation. Even Democrats fail to defeud
nim, which is the most startiiug con
demnation possible."
"The spectaclo of a party trying to
steal one President and to impeach an
other at the same time, has been re
served for the Centennial year. Tho
success of tho experiment will undoubt
edly be so lamentable that a second trial
will not be made for another century."
"As between Croniti, who takes cer
tificates that do not belong to him and
fills vacancies which do not exist with
men whom lie has no right to appoint,
aud a postmaster, wicked and depraved
though he must be, wo have no choice.
Let Croniu bo content there is a post
mastership vacant, and before long he
will waut to hide away inside of some
thing." Mfc, is a. common enough thing for
two persons to claim to be one, but Cio
uiu of Oregon stands alone iu history as
the first and last man who claimed to
be a plurality of a board of three mem
bers." The Corvallis Gazette has taken a new
departure, having been merged into a
corporation. The articles of incorpora
tion are signed by Dr. J. B. Lee, James
A. Yantis, and W. B. Carter, aud have
been duly filed according to law. The
capital stock of the compauy is fixed at
$2,000, in shares of $50 each. The new
company will take full control on the
1st of January, 1S77.
Five cases of small-pox are reported
on Spencer Creek, eight miles west of
Eugene. A mystery attaches Itself to
these cases, as to the manner in which
they became exposed to the disease, this
being the only place where it was prev
alent, aud all cases there were discharged
fully six weeks' before theirs broke out.
The exports of Oregon average $318 to
every man in the State. Her wheat,
wool, salmon and fruits command from
five to ten per cent, higher price than
those from any other country. Her ex
port of wheal equals oueiseventh of the
total export of the United States. Such
a State is not a poor State to live in.
Mrs. Jane Shelton, of Olympia, was
the first white child born on American
soil north of the Columbia River. She
is now in her 30th year.