MSS. A. J. BBXIWAT, Kilter and Proprietor
A JournalrorthePeopie.
UevoteU to the Interns tsof Humanity.
independent in Polities and Rellgon.
Mlve to all Live Ihms, and Thoroughly
Radieai in Opposlugand Exposing the Wron ga
of the Masses.
5 FFICK COR. PbOKT fc WABHI)TiTOiSTBKET
TBRMg, IN ADVANCBl
One
178
Tire moataa..
1
ADVKBTOKXKNTBIneertedon Reasonable
lermc.
HER LOT;
OB,
How She
Protected.
Br Mas. A. J. DCSTWAY.
AUTHOK OF "JCDtTH KKID," "KIXBH DOWD,'
"AMIE AND HDltl LB," "THE HAPPT
homk," ojr vo VAX's ar-HKjut,"
"MADQE Jf OKRJS03C,"
KTC., ltd KTC
(EDtered.aceordlnirtq ActofConcreu, In the
year IKS, by Mrs. A. J. Danlwmy, in tbe office of
the Librarian of OoncreM at Waahlnfton City.
CHAPTER XXVII.
We made a grave for my baby Clara
beside my poor erring bimI unfortunate
boy, Gerald, )u Uie deep, lem-covered
mrifM of tbe somber wlhiwood, ami I
retaroed to my daily tasks again, de
voutly thankful that tbe preelous child
was dead.
Good reader, you niay wonder at this,
bat it ie trae, and I cannot help IL Life,
to me, bad been such a burden that I
could not choose but rejoice when I saw
that my helpless waif bad missed its
sorrows. Not that my mother heart
was not wrung. God knows I suffered
all tbe agony unspeakable with whioh
tbe bereaved mother heart must ever be
torn under like conditions, no matter
what tbe circumstances.
Bat I was now in a manner free. My
twins were two years of age, my three
months old baby was not. my older
children were large enough to wait upon
themselves in a great measure, Gerald
was expected to be two years absent,
and I once more gathered courage to re
new tbe battle of life and devote myself
to boeinese.
Bat I found, after sixty days, that I
could no longer stay the remorseless
rigor of tbe law. A writ of replevin was
duly issued for tbe recovery of the per
sonal property held by the stranger,
Grayon, under my husband's bill of
Mile, and I was obliged to part with my
team and cows, under tbe fiat of a power
that claims to protect women, and pro
vide for and support them far better
than they could manage for themselves.
There is a wise provision in human
nature that always impels it, in some
way, to redeem the faults of Its kind.
Bat for this I mast long ago bave per
ished with my children.
When my neighbors learned of my
great privation, they with one accord,
and of their own free will, assisted me.
One loaned me a team, another a cow,
another a farming implement, and so
on. So that, aside from tbe sense of hu
miliation and wrong under which I suf
fered because of being legally robbed, I
did not mis my stolen property nearly
so much in fact as in ethics.
I dressed my girls in boots and bloom
ers and put them after the plow. With
my own bands I sowed the wheat,
planted the trees, gathered the firewood,
cooked the food, and prepared for the
winter. A traveler, In passing, left us
a fair supply of books and out of date
newspapers, and we really spent a com'
fottable and harmonious fall, winter,
awl spring in our new quarters.
After a few months I almost ceased to
IWak of Gerald. Or If I remembered
Mm, it was only as a troubled dream,
The children openly expressed their dis
like of him, and tbe hope that he would
never eross our threshold more.
"Don't fear, my darlings; for I will
not permit him to molest us again," I
said, confidently; for I was now mistress
of tuj own homestead, where I thought
no man wouki dare to molest me or
make me afraid.
It was near the close of our harvest
season, and our prospects were unusu
ally bright. The crop, which was a re
markably good one, considering its lim
ited extent, was well nigh gathered in,
and at the ruling price for wheat I was
to be in possession of several hundred
dollars In excess of harvesting expenses.
"Mother, look. Somebody's coming,"
said my daughter Ethel, now a radfuut
and bead tiro I girl, just verging oti the
eve of what iu all new and primitive
countries is falsely considered woman
hood. "I hone we'll have no company to
night," I replied, imfiatiently, "for I
ana too weary to think of taking a single
unnecessary step."
But the words were barely out of my
moo til before a wagon was at the door,
and I beheld upon a stretcher the man
gled and apparently lifeless body of
Gerald, my husband !
Th RlrU screamed In terror and dis
gust, but I, who was used to suffering,
was as one petrified. They rested tbe
stretcher in the middle of my one sitting-room,
near th, uble, which was
bountifully spread for my bevy of har
vest men.
"Gentlemen, can you tell me wuat
this means, and how it happened?" I
asked, forgetting my weariness In u,e
now excitement, and rising to meet the
exigencies of the occasion as only
loag-suiTeriug woman oan.
"Your husband got into a fight,
ma'am. He's quarrelsome when he's
drinking, you know."
"Bat I thought lie was off for a two
years' voyage. I did not imagine that
be was within two or three thousand
miles of Morseville."
"He got discharged in Liverpool,
ma'am, and so he worked bis way home,
after jaaay a hardship. He couldn't
, get a steady job, and the best thing be
could da was u ? omewhere among
people (iwat he b&ii claims on, so he
VOLXXX13 "VII.
eould be taken care of, and that's why
he came home."
What moral claim he had upon me
that justified him incoming back In his
present plight I did not stop to consider.
He was my lawful husband aud the
father of my children, and In spite of
ray oft-made resolves to have nothing
more to do with him, I forgot an eise
save the relations lie bore to us, and the
fact that he had once beeu luexpreeibly
dear to me.
Of course my reader Is thoroughly
disgusted with me by this time. ery
well: so be It. But please rememuer
that a million wives are to-day endur
ing dlflerent degrees of dissatisfaction,
wlio are as often resolving to break
tbeir bonds, aud as often succeeding in
breaking only their word, as I. I do not
offer this fact In extenuation of what
you may choose to consider my folly. I
merely proolaim 11 as the truth.
To recount tbe weary labors and the
ceaseless vigils of the next six weeks
would only tire you. For several days
Gerald lay in a state of coma so nearly
allied to death that the corps of skilled
physicians whom I called from Oregon
City and Portland to attend lilui well
nigh gave up tbe case as hopeless.
Then he began to change for the bet
ter, and my real trouble commenced in
earnest. He would allow no one to lift
him, give him food or water, or in any
other way asBlst him, except myself.
His tone and manner were so authorita
tive that I never thought of refusing to
obey. Indeed, marvelous as it now
seems, even to myself, I was mortally
afraid of him. I felt willing to do any
thing else for peaee except tight for It.
Besides, tbe news of my vehement eon
duet, as related in tbe preceding chap
ter, had been so well circulated that I
felt It necessary to retrieve my charac
ter. Ami this I thought I could only do
by making a martyr of myself In a
double sense. The opinion prevailed
among my neighbors that it was my un
wifely vehemence that had driven my
busbaud to extremities, aud I, with the
sense of magnanimity strong within
me, willingly allowed myself to hear
the entire blame without protest.
I lifted Gerald till I so severely
strained my muscles that carbuncles
formed on tbe cords of my arms. Added
to these was the dreadful malady, pro
lapiu, so common among overburdened
women. And I know that I waited
upon him for many weeks, dancing im
mediate attendance upon his smallest
whims, when he was far more able to
care for himself than I was to care for
anybody.
During his illness our harvest, so
promising before he returned to blight
it, was necessarily neglected, and we did
not save tbe half of that which we had
counted upon.
Then came the tug of war. The
physicians' bills were enormous, aud
tbe drug bills almost equal to them. But
I felt secure in possession of my home
stead, and vowed that my husband
should liquidate his own bills or they
should remain unpaid.
But again I reckoned without my
host. The expenses, one and all, had
been ioourred by my orders, aud I was
considered morally awl lecallv bound
for them. The bills came in, and as I
could not honor them without selling
my home, I was constrained to do it.
Since I bave grown older aud wiser, I
have learned that this extreme step was
not legally necessary, as the ofllcers of
the law could not have levied upon my
individual real estate without my per
mission. But I did not know it then,
nor did I deem it womanly for my sex
to understand the law. I was an ex
treme stickler for what I considered
womanly propriety when in my normal
senses, anil I never allowed myself to
get excited beyond self-control after
that memorable time when I had defied
my husband and the law, with no last
ing benefit to my purse, position, or
property.
Gerald promised, If I would sell the
laud, that he would go into Eastern
Oregon and secure me another traot,
equal In acreage, and far superior iu
many respects to my present homestead.
Although he had so often wronged me
as a wife, he had never literally broken
bis word about minor matters, and I
bad no fear but that he would do as he
agreed, 'rue, I was afraid to trust him
with inooey because of his inebriety;
but this I could obviate by only allow
ing hitn a sufficient sum to defray his
traveling expenses up the Columbia
River. Because of my aliments, it was
not possible for me to acoompany him
upon tbe journey, and neither could
leave the children, not oneof whom had
ever remained alone an hour since that
never-to-be-forgotten day in Melbourne
when I, a mere child, had wandered
. . .
away lor a season irom Uerald, my
baby, and thereby Riven Gerald, mv
husband, an exouse, as he thought, for
bmhk deeply Intoxicated.
y husband, as soon as he became
mnvaiu.
- sueparted for the scene of
,eav,u5 beWnd a load
of solemn pr.mlM.of complete reforma
tlon, Iu whioh 1 bad do 8ha,W
deuce. - i
In a fortnight he returned, sober, dig
nified, and self-confident. I was
joyed. Was It possible that tbe evening
of our lives was yet to be illuminated by
the rays or trutu auu soberness 7
Ah, mel
Gerald gave a glowing account of the
sew borne he had selected, and my
POTtTX"VlVI, OKEGON, TIItJKSDAY,
daughters cought the contagion of his
enthusiasm, and were as anxious as
himself to bo settled upon It.
I need not describe in detail the inci
dents of that journey, down the W II
lamette to Its mouth, aud up the Colum
bia to what was at that time deemed
the head of steam navigation.
I would prefer to dwell for a little
time upon my last visit to the somber
wlldwood where my blichted buds were
hurled. I felt a strange calmness as I
knelt upon tbe tangled ferns and bade
the precious dust of my darlings a long
farewell. Maybe I was very wicked I
suppose I was; but I pould not help feel
ing that if Gerald, my husband, were
only lying there beside them it would
be no worse for him, and certainly far
better for my five surviving daughters
and my own sick, sad self.
I closed my eyes and listened to the
sighing breezes. The white clouds
floated over me, and the deep blue sky
sent down electric currents that filled
my sorrowing soul with a feeling of
chastened joy. I do not think I fell
asleep. I am sure my senses were well
about me, but again I saw a vision.
Tills time it was a landscape, beautiful,
distinct, vivid, glorious. I was afraid
to stir lest it might vanish. I feared to
even think, lest I might lose it.
But 1 remembered Paul iu tbe Third
Heaven, John in tho Islo of Patraos,
Swedenborg in the Sixtli Sphere, and
Wesley in the Land of Souls. I held
my breath lest I might blur tho vision;
and then I prayed, not audibly, but In
wardly, as I thought of the dark valley
of strife through which my earthly way
meandered, and the burden of my
prayer was, "Father, If it be possible,
let this cup pass from me forever."
As I prayed, a beautiful form, radiant
as the suu, and fair as the moon, ap
proached me with a gilding motion. I
pressed my hand upon my eyes to shield
them from tbe overpowering light, hut
the Involuntary action did not dim the
vision.
"Mother, do you not recognize me?"
asked a voice, if voice it might be called,
that gave fortli no audible sound.
And then I knew that I was addressed
by Gerald, ray boy. But oh, how he
had changed ! How surely be had
emerged from the benighted surround
ings of his earthly life, and encompassed
the marvelous liberty of our Father. God!
I rose to olasp him in my arms, but
the apparltiou vanished. I turned my
weary steps toward our former home,
from which every arrangement was
made for our final removal, and I felt as
though I were treading on air.
"Eye bath not seen, nor ear heard,
nor hath it entered into the heart of
man to conceive the possibilities of the
Hereafter," I said softly to myself, as I
rejoined my family, aud we repaired to
gether to a steamer landing, hard by our
olden home.
Of tbe magnificent scenery of the
mighty Columbia my reader has heard
so much and so often that I will not
here attempt a description of that
which, after all, must be seen to be im
agined. In the words of an illustrious
statesman, "We paused, awe-struck aud
astonished, at the torrent of the Colum
bia where it bursts Its boundaries aud
tears its way through the mighty chasm
guarded by Mounts Hood and St, Helen,
in its onward way toward tho sea." We
gazed, silent aud satisfied, upon tbe
swirling waters of The Dalles, as they
tore their way through their rocky road,
and sung the roaring monotone of the
ages. We gazed in speechless wonder
upuu me treeiess pampas ot the upper
river, wuere wild bunch grass waved iu
the silent breezes, the vast monotony
broken here and there by the wigwam
of the wild Indian, who watched for
salmon in tbe foaming waters.
The Cascade Mountains, with hoary
Hood as their eternal sentinel, were left
far in our rear, and their lesser sisters,
the Blue Range, loomed up In sight in
tbe purple distance, tree-crowned aud
beautiful.
We landed upon a graveled beach,
wit n no sign ol lire near us save a
prairie schooner, or ship of the desert,
bard by a ramp-fire where a half-dozen
men were cooking venison steaks. The
high wind blew the sand aud gravel in
all directions with a blluding fury. The
evening was growing cold, and by the
lime we had gathered driftwood and
built a fire we were chilled through and
through. I was terribly disappointed
with the outlook, the girls were crying,
and Gerald was cross.
"I have done my best to please you
he said, "but none of you appreciate
me, or are satisfied with anything I do."
With this be strolled away, leaving
us to pitch our tent, prepare the supper
aud wood, and fetch the water and
make the beds for tbe night's much-
needed rest. He had wandered away
alone, so I felt uo particular apprehen
sions on account of his absence, and I
did not see him approach the bevy of
campers before mentioned, else I should
have asked them not to give him liquor.
Ah, me!
To be ronUnoed.
In the neiiitentiarv at Auburn. New
York, there are twenty-seven clergymen,
ioriy-iwo lawyers, tlilrteen doctors, and
three printers. Whereupon the Elko
IKM speaks thus encouragingly: "We
are ax tbe bottom of the list, brethren,
... ... "espnir, piucK and persever
ance will yet win."
rru
;re women employed as
telegraph operators In Ureal Britain.
Prkb Speech, Free Press, Fjiee People.
THE INDIAN "WAR OF 1855
The first reglmeut of Oregon volun
teera was composed' of the following
companies, viz.: A, Captain Wilson, of
Multnomah county; B, Captain Hu-
mason, of Wasco; C, Captain Kelly, of
Clackamas; D, Captain Cornelius, of
Washington; E, Captain Hembree, of
Yamhill; F, Captain Bennett, of Ma
rlon; G, Captain Burch, of Polk; H,
Captain Loyton, of Linn; I, Captain
Munson, of Benton, and K, Captain
Con n oyer, of Benton. These compa
nies were mainly composed of men iu
tbe full vigor of manhood, and who had
been schooled to the privations and
hardships incident to frontier life.
They were equally at liome on the back
of a "buoklng cayuse,''.' standing the
midnight watcii In the heart of the In
dian country, or preparing their coarse
food in tho miuer's cabin, or by the
lonely camp-lire In the wilderness.
They were generally well acquainted
with the true character of the red man,
and when I add that the rifle and six
shooter were their inseparable compan
ions during their years of wanderings
over the dangerous frontier, it will he
seen that it was only reasonable to expect
them to give a good account of them
selves In tho hazardous expedition upon
which they were eutering.
A few there were of another equally
hardy class. These were men who, in
ured to tiie excitement and perils at
tending the life of n sailor, quit their
berths without an interview with their
employers and enlisted, as much, per
haps, for the sake of a change as any
thing else, and who were as ignorant of
the geography of tho couutry they were
to traverse as was Livingstone orSpcket
when in the heart of Africa they sought
to solve the mystery of ages, the source
of the Nile.
Company F arriving at Portland, tho
writer, with a number of others, was
sent to a rickety old building on Front
street dignified by the name of "Orleans
House," to get our meals. I do not
recollect the landlord's name, but I
doubt not that he has long since retired
from business with a competency, for
he certainly understood keeping hotel
to profit. His plan was to ascertain
what Ills boarders ate the least of, and
afterwanl provide that nnd nothing
else. Our horses fared better. They
were kept,, iu a stable still standing on
tbe corner of Second and Morrison
streets, aud, though the quartermaster
furnished ouly bay and "chop" for
them, the proprietor often fouud our
chargers sampling somebody's oats,
but as lie was careful to keep his oat
bin securely locked, he wax satisfied
they nevercame from there. Money was
more plentiful then than now, and, as
here were individuals here who did not
scruple toexchange whisky for that com
modity, night was often made hideous
from the Bacchanalian brawls and up
roarous hilarity of the volunteers during
our week's stay iu the place, and I
doubt not many of the good people here
heaved sighs of relief as they watched
the last one of us walk on board the
Senorita," en route for the front. We
expected to bo fully equipped for service
at Vancouver, but, on reaching that
place, found uo arms except a lot of old
muskets, that were supposed to have
been burled in some leaky arsenal ever
since having been surrendered by Corn-
wallis at the close, of the Revolutionary
struggle. They threw a ball with about
the force and accuracy of a pebble
hurled by a dextrous school-boy from a
hand-eliug. In fact, the shooter was In
more danger than the sbootec at a
hundred yard's distance, for the former
was certain to be most viciously kicked,
while the latter was In little more dan
ger of being hit than of being struck by
lightning.
We readied Tiie Dalles the fifth day
from Vancouver, however, with the loss
of but four men from Comnanv F.
When or where they left us, or we
them, no one knew. We only knew
that on leaving Portland we had four
names more ou tho muster roll than wc
oould find men to answer to them after
reaching Tho Dalles. Here, with Com
panies I aud K, Fourth United States
Infantry, we crossed tho Columbia and
proceeded to tho scene of Halter's de
feat in the Yakima country. Arriving
at tiie bill overlooking the Tapnlsb, we
oould see Indians excitedly scurrying
about over the valley, but none of them
allowed us to come near enough to them
to risk a kick from our venerable mus
kets. We then proceeded over to the
Altannum, where the eelf-sacrlficiug
Pandozy had braved the dangers of as
sassination up to withiii a few days of
our advent, and had at last tied, prob
ably from fear of us Instead of the Iudi
ans, leaving everything, even his sacer
dotal robes, behind him. It was of
Father Pandozy that Oregon's most
witty ex-Senator wrote, that it was
difficult to determine which was tbe
reverend Father's principal stock in
trade, "gospel, or gunpowder."
We spent two or three days in the
Yakima Valley, and, starting to return,
were overtaken by a drenching rain.
Being destitute of tents and poorly pro
vided with blankets, we expected a
verv disagreeable night, drenched to
the skin as we were, but when tho rain
eave nlace to snow on toward morning,
not a few of us wished ourselves in more
comfortable quarters. Daylight came
at last, and orders were given to pro
reed without breakfast toward The
VVfOTJST ltVfc
Dalles. The men generally seemed to
make the best of the situation, as with
jest and song we made the welkin ring
as we spurred or dragged our horses
through the blinding storm. With us
was a youth fresh from school at Sa
lem, and who was as familiar with hie,
hce and hoc, as with the unstudie
vernacular of the sturdy frontiersman,
and who rode along through the driving
snow, the very picture of discomfort.
His pants were not of extra length, fail
ing, by several inches, to meet the tops
of his socks. Compassionating his
case, some one declared to the student
warrior that, were he in the former's
shoes, be should "proceed to denude his
superior habiliment of its attenuated
caudal appendages, and utilize them in
effecting a copulation of bis pedal en
velopes, and the termini of his bifur
cated elongations." But we reached
The Dalles In due time without loss,
and generally supposed tbBt our cam
paigning was at an end. We did not
kuow at the time that all the savages,
from the Klamath River In California
to the British line, were leagued to
gether with tbe avowed determination
of exterminating the hated white race
from the whole country, hut it was so.
At this Juncture, when union of effort
between the handful of regular troops
on the Northwest Coast and the volun
teers in the field was of so great im
portance, jealousy and ambition Inter
posed, and rendered their future co-operation
Impossible. General Wool,
who had assumed command of the reg
ular troops, asked, as I understood It,
that the volunteers should serve under
the regular field officers, and be gov
erned in all respects by the regulations
of the regular army. But in that case,
how could any of the numerous as
pirants for colonels' Insignia from tbe
volunteers' ranks reach tbe goal of
their ambition? Or how could tbe
freedom-loving mechanic, farmer, of
miner harbor the thought of submitting
to the restraints Imposed upon the com
mon soldier? I was young and simple
enough then to oppose, with the ma
jority, submission to General Wool's
requirements, but I become convinced
before the war was over that there was
nothing unreasonable or improper In
them.
To be continued.
Heat in the East.
Oregdnians scarcely know how to ap
preciate the blessings of their climate
until reports of the Intense heat that
prevails upon the Atlantic slope reaches
them, llarpet't Weekly taya:
How to keep cool is the greatest proli
lem just at this present writing. The
merciless July suu beats down upon the
lurched earth, and humanity pants and
droops. ' We long for cooling showers,
aud are tempted to sit with a fan in one
hand and a glass of iced beverage in
the other, aud to divide our atteutlou
between tbe thermometer and a fre
quent adjustment of diminished cloth
ing. Such protracted beat Is a serious
draught on streugtb and vitality. Nev
ertheless, there Is little doubt that our
sufferings are intensified by constantly
thinking about and lamenting over the
hot weather. A calm and steady en
gagement iu suitable occupation is re
ally more comfortable than absolute
Idleness. And as the majority of people
have something to do, they may con
gratulate themselves thereupon. Those
who are forced to expose themselves to
the sun's direct rays, or to labor iu con
fined heat, in these days, are to be pit
ied, and need to take many precautions
against prostration. But for those who
may to some- extent choose for them
selves, there is uo better way to keep
cool in the city than, while avoiding
exposure to the sun, to engage in light
avocations, to avoid vexatious subjects
of thought, to drink sparingly of ice-
water, to eat lightly and dress sensibly.
It is a promising trait of our political
condition that education is still making
Its way to places wuere It uas never
nourished, that even tbe ultramontane
inllueuce has failed to check its progress
at the North, aud that iu many of the
Southern States the violent prejudices
of caste are yielding to the useful influ
ence ot tuo intelligent teacuer. Here, in
fact, is our best hope of future union
and peace. An educated communitv
will prove our only safeguard against
insincere anu unwortuy political lead
ers. Tbe murderer, duelist, gambler,
sink before the progress of knowledge.
Educated communities punish or scorn
them. Barbarism fades before the pub
lic school. Humanity and honesty sur
round tho modest school-house. Clean
liness, sobriety, decency are learned lu
childhood. Labor Is cheered and
adorned by the study of letters, and the
humblest workman may spend at least
one hour a day with the poets, histo
rians and philosophers.
No wonder men are always preaching
about the happiness marriage confers on
women, for "the wife of Prof. Rust, of
the Madison (Ind.) Commercial College,
was so disheartened by her husband's
scolding, because supper was late, that
she hung herself, ou Friday night; and
when thebody wascutdown, next morn
lug, her babe of five months was found
lying on the bed, crying from hunger.
The husband slept iu auother part of the
house that night, and went away in tho
morning without eattug breakfast or
seeing his wife, and did not know of her
fate till tho nelghbor'scbildren weresent
to tell him."
One of tbe teachers In a Bingbampton
public school received the other day an
excuse written Iu bebalf of tbe delin
quent pupil by the father. It runs in
this wise: "Mr. Teactcr : Dot poy of
mine vos absent de oder day ven be
sbtayed out. He got von big cold In bis
neck vot make blm much trouble all de
vile. Please don't give blm some bun
isbment ven he vos late In de morning.
He woult got there shust in time every
day, but he not himself to blame; be is
got no mother. She vos dead ten years
ago. I am this poy's parent by his
mother before she vos dead."
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
TO THE RnlTOROPTIIB NEW NoKTIIWKST
Our thermometers have been climbing
up so high of late that one begins to
think tbey have exhausted all alti
tudes, and are now sending down such
masts oi sweltering neat as to arouse a
suspicion that this is an installment of
that perennially hot climate which
gives such great concern to Bob Inger
soil and the clergy. It's hot as blazes
here, and our whole population seek the
country. Excursion parties go down
the river and in our beautiful parks to
escape tbe sun's sweltering rays. The
coming elections, investigations, Mrs.
Jenks, and the Paris Exposition are all
forgotten through tbe all-absorbing
pressure of a Os'-ln-the-shade ther
mometer. Our Daily rott is sued for libel. This
paper, under flaring head-Hues, re
cently announced a painful and very
embarrassing scandal occurring in a
certain Methodist Church in this city,
the parties thereto being one "Britt, a
book-binder," and a Miss Julia A. Sim
mons, whose tender heart was throb
bing with dreams of heaven and a hus
band, and whose young girlish nature
felt it necessary to cling to some strong
pillar which promised protection in her
pilgrimage to piety aud paradise, etc.,
all of which appears, by the petition
asking damages, to be unadulterated
fiction, tbe parties being total strangers
to each other, etc. It is doubtless inter
esting to tbe I'oU to contemplate the
notoriety of one suit by Miss Simmons
claiming damages at ten thousand dol
lars, and another by "Brother Britt"
for an equal amount. Had the item re
ferred to "Julia," not "Julia A.," it
would bave escaped a suit.
There seems to be an unusual emula
tion among discharged clerks, employes
and the like, to prefei charges against
their superior o nicer, bringing ou tbe
Inevitable investigations of which this
season was so prolific. For some time
past our Columbia Hospital, one of our
Congressional pets, has been tbe stage
of grave inquiry into certain serious
charges of brutality to the inmates on
the part of Dr. Murphy, the physician
in charge, preferred by a discharged
nurse. Not only has the evideuce
failed to sustain the allegations, but tbe
complainant has ingloriously failed to
appear to sustain them, and our public
mind is relieved from the iudignation
excited at tbe supposed cruelties and
wrongs done to the helpless.
Our defunct Board of Health, which
Congress wiped out of .existence by tbe
new District government charter, grace
fully submitted recently to the inevitable
by boldinga final meeting, at which each
member alluded to tbe work accom
plished during the seven years the
Board has been In power. No one who
has noticed tbe summary manner by
which health nuisances have been
abated, typhoid fevers and small-pox
bave been stamped out, and tbe sani
tary reforms effected among our ig
norant colored and white people through
our Board of Health, can, now that it is
gone, refrain from commending its
labor, and from hoping that Its good
works may be coutinued by the health
officer who succeeds it.
The President has pardoned Charles
Goodman, who was sent from here to
the penitentiary for shooting Sam
Weeden, and thus ends a rather exciting
feud. The two worthies had been warm
friends in the fast circle In which they
moved, but between a bad woman and
worso whisky, they became deadly
fighting enemies, and for several years
our police courts chronicled a constant
series of assaults upon each other. J
First one would perforate the other with
a bullet, and the wounded man, upon
recovering, would give a Roland for the
Oliver he got, and as a consequence the
doctor, the police, aud the prison au
thorities bave bad constant charge of
the fellows. Both, however, bave be
come reconciled friends, aud tho Presi
dent's pardon of Goodman, we trust,
takes both out of public notice by
terminating their jail-bird career. Our
roughs in tbeir brawls rarely oblige us
by fatal shooting. We could well
spare many of them, and we regret
tbeir undoubted longevity for evil.
Mr. Hayes has removed to the Sol
diers' Home, where he and his admin
istration will remain during tne sum
mer. Nature and art have done so
much for the Soldiers' Home, that no
more fitting place for rustication by the
President can be found in the country.
Martin Van Buren spent many of his
summers at Alexandria county, Vir
ginia, at tbe house of a friend named
Brown, distant about three miles from
Georgetown. Since tbe war Caleb
Cushlug purchased tbe Brown resi
dence for a summer-bouse, but has re
cently sold it. Felix.
Washington, D. C, July 10, 1878.
Reasonable Supposition. In the
environs of a country town a few days
ago, a peasant sees a haggard stranger
throw himself into a nond. Hp fiii.
him out, and a quarter of an hour later
observes bis haggard stranger hanginc
to a convenient bough. "All richt "
says the Dhilosonhie
ntI!.H 3rTn.way',,et him eo how he
likes It. That evening tho philosophic
peasant is summoned before the mayor
1"! Interfering to prevent suicide.
"What would you do?" he says. In a
tone of a much-abused man. "I had
just pulled him out of the water, and
presumed he had hung; bJUnseir up to
Correspondents writing over aawraed sign a
tares mm make known tbeir names to tbe
Editor, or no attention will be jrlven to their
eommnnleatlons.
A Woman's Prison.
The Women's Prison in Sherborn,
Mass., is about a mile from South Fratn
Ingliam, its railroad connection, and
about an hour by rail distant from Bos
ton. This prison ha3 been occupied only
since lost September. If tbetrue history
of its development and existence were
known, it could be traced, we believe,
directly to the ellorta of women wbohave
worked long and faithfully, if unknown
and silently, for the amelioration of the
condition of women in prisons and when
released from them. So far as we know,
there are, besides this prison at Sherborn,
only two others exclusively for women,
and under tbe immediate control of wo
men; one in England and another in
Indianapolis, Indiana.
iNow tuat tbe experiment uas proved
successful, of having women prisoners
fsnlnffwl frnm tlio nriunnQ nf mon bvu! nf
I having them under the supervision of
worueu. it is like everv other onward
stride in civilization; we wonder it has
been so long delayed.
We found several small rooms and a
large, bright, sunny ward, appropriated
to hospital uses; these are presided over
by an Ann Arbor graduate, a woman
evidently well suited to the position.
It made our hearts glad to hear her kind
words spoken to these poor unfortunates,
and to see that heaven's own sunlight
came iu upon them unstintingly. Iu
two large, sunny rooms were seen forty
four babies; some, as if conscious of tbeir
fate, bewailed it vociferously; others
greeted us with smiiiug faces, and were
as fair to look upon as if palace instead
of prison walls surrounded them. The
majority of the mothers were young;
should we lift the veil from this, perhaps
their first temptation, what complica
tions of tbe heart would be revealed I
The question would force itself upon the
mind, "Where were their male accom
plices in guilt?" In many instances
they are respected members of society,
men of families, old in sin, while their
youug victims alone are made to suffer
tbe penalty of tbe law. The mills of God
grind slowly," but let us hold on to tbe
Diviue Justice and believe it true.
A school is kept during six hours of
the day, and each hour brings In a fresh
class, of as many as are free from duty,
aud composed of such as most need In
struction; those unable to read and writo
being given tho first chance. We saw
women verging upon middle age. as
well as those quite young, who had been
born and bred iu New England, desti
tute of this elementary instruction.
Some read to us with apparent pride in
their achievement, and tbe copy-books
of many showed a very commendable
progress in this direction.
Respect the Name of Woman.
Tbe following admonitions should be
periodically republished in every news
paper, in order tuat tney may be inef
faceably stamped upon the memory of
every young man, and every one else
accustomed to make ligbt or a woman's
name, which should be the "immediate
jewel" of every one's soul:
JNever use a lady's name in ws im
proper place at auy improper time, or iu
mixed company. Never make asser
tions about her that you think untrue,
or allusions that she herself would
blush to hear. When you meet with
men who do not scruple to use woman's
name iu a reckless manner, shun them;
tbey are the very worst members of the
community; men lost to every sense of
honor, every feeling of humanity.
Many a good and worthy woman's char
acter has been forever ruined and ber
heart broken by a lie manufactured by
some villain, and repeated when It
should not have been, and in presence
of those whose little judgment could not
deter them from circulating tbe foul and
bragging report. A slander propagated,
and the smallest thing derogatory to a
womau's character will fly on the wings
of the wind and magnify as it circulates,
until its monstrous weight crushes the
poor unconscious victim. Respect the
name of woman. Your mother and sis
ters are women, and as you would bave
their fair names untarnished and their
lives unembittered by tbe slanderer's
bitter tongue, heed the ill your own
words may bring upon the mother, the
sister,orthewifeofsomefeliow-creature.
Nothing to Do. The brave man or
woman will always find something to
do. I know a little woman who, by her
husband's illness, has been reduced to
work for a livelihood. She will do any
thing which is honest. One week she
does some copying; the next week she
Is at her sewing machine. A friend's
eyes are weak, and she happened to say
she was looking for a seamstress. At
once our heroine (for are not such hero
ines v; stamped on tier pride, which
squirmed horribly and said, "Remem
ber she was your bridesmaid, and don't
kuow how very poor you are; you'd bet
ter pretend you know of a seamstress."
Down came the foot, and tbe words are
spoken bravely: "If I may take tbe
work home, I will be very glad to do it."
Another time there is sudden sickness,
and a nurse is required. She goes; and
so gradually she acquired a reputation
for intense earnestuess in fulfilling her
duty that of earning money for her
children and, one thing leading to an
other, she learns how to support her
fnmily comfortably, and with ease.
Where there's a will, one can generally
find a way.
One of the largest and most expensive
light-houses ever erected by the United
States is now in process of construction
on Fowey Rocks, on the northern ex
tremity of the Florida Reefs. It is seven
miles from land, and completes the
chain of similar structures arouud these
dangerous reefe. It is a peculiarity of
these reefs that they are so precipitous
that their locality can scarcely be dis
covered by the most careful soundings.
This new light-house Is composed
wholly of Iron, and its improved meth
ods of illumination render it, perhaps,
the most perfect in the world. Thellght
will be visible in clear weather about
eighteen nautical miles, and Is composed
of both glasii and metallic reflectors,
constructed so as to send a blaze of light
along tbe whole horizon of tbe ocean.
It is estimated that this structure will
last three or four hundred years.
"Anything new or fresh this morn
lug?" a reporter asked in a railroad
office "Yes " replied the lone occupant
o the apamenUP "What Is U ?" quer
ied the reporter, whipping out 1 "s note
book. Said the railroad man, edging
toward the door, "That paint you're
leaning against,"