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About The Daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1876-1883 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1877)
v r j - W , Nature's Nobleman. Tell me not that he is a poor man. That his dress is coarse and bare, Tell me not that his daily pittance Is a workman's scanty fare. Tell me not his birth is humble, That his parentage is low. Is he honest in his actions? ' That is all I wish to know. Is his word to be relied on? lias his character no blame? Then I care not whence his birthplace; Then I care not wheuce he came. Would he from an unjust action Turn away with scornful eye? Would he, than defraud another, Sooner on the scaffold die? Would he spend his hard gained earnings On a brother in distress? Would he succor the afflicted, And the weak ones' wrongs redress? Then he is a man deserving Of my love and mj' esteem, And I care not what his birlhplace Tothe ayes of man may seem. Let it be a low-built shanty, Let it be a clay-built cot, Let it be the City Hospital, In my eyes it matters not. And if others will disown him, As inferior to their caste. Let them do it. I'll befriend him As a brother to the last. B. "La Belle France." It is no wonder that Frenchmen de light in the above affectionate compli ment to their land. The exclamation of a stranger will most naturally be, "How pretty!1' Greater solidity, broader enter prise, wider knowledge, may be found elsewhere; but for neat arrangements 2leasing to the eye, and for graceful and even picturesque grouping, there is noth ing to rival France. Already in some of our American cities we have taken a leaf out of the Gallic book. The removal of the black and repellent railings from parks and squares, the construction, and even ftie name, "Boulevards,"' the fur nishiug of seats in open places of resort, and the introduction of the finest flowers to the gaze of the poorest of the people these are points in which London, New York, and other great capitals, wisely imitate Paris. It is not, surely, an un likely thing that eyes habituated to fresh ness, order and beauty in the streets, will more readily crave it in the home than will those whose doors open on unsightly heaps of dirt, or piles of decaying rubbish. The features of Paris have been so often- describe!! that it is useless to dwell on them. The only objects that strike one unpleasantly are the Hotel de Ville and the Tuileries, in ruins, a new street to run in front of the latter, of which the only portion undestroyed is that which ' the late emperor had restored for the Prince Imperial, which still stands a hopeless omen to the minds of the Bona partists of the restoration of the family to power. There are the same clean street?, the same level drives, the same Rivulets of clear water each morning flowing down what is no longer a ""gutter" (Salt Lake City has a like ar rangement), the same clean looking working, people in the blue blouses, and the same courteous civility as of old. f our coachman, starting in the evening, finds himself without a, match to light Tiis lamps; he stops at a stand, asks for one and receives it with as much polite ceremony as if giver and receiver were dukes. It is a little matter, but it is one in which the Anglo-Saxons have some thing to learn. The features of rural scenery in France have been less noticed than the attrac tions of Paris. Indeed French country life is hardly known at all to mere tour ists, who pass hastily from great city to great city, many never stopping after they have quitted the capital. In con trast with English and American fields, there are practically no fences. Multi tudinous farms lie alongside, with their crops disposed in narrow ribbons ot wheat, oats, sanfoin, potatoes, turnips, hemp, and, in the South, vines, with no boundary that catches the eye. The va riety of color is great, and the effect to the eye is pleasing, but the arrangement suggests the smallness of ths farms and the multiplicity of proprietors. Ma chinery does little, the hand does most. In a ride.of nine hours by rail, in harvest, only one reaping-machine was seen. One consequence of this arrangement is the utilization of every foot of the soil. Earl Russell once described Irish fences as earthen fortifications, along the road tops ot which a carriage might be driven. There is an improvement in this respect, but there is room for more. No such waste occurs here. A man's wheat drops its heavy heads over the carrots of his neighbor, without a bit of unsightly or useless soil between. The absence ot cattle from the fields is a less -agreeable feature. From Paris to Dijon, a run of over three hundred miles, in only two instances were cattle seen feeding. One could understand the heavy back-loads of grass, vine-leaves, And the like, being carried home by the women, who certainly take their full share, apparently, in the labors of the field. The cattle have to be provided for in their sheds. In a few cases flocks of sheep were seen in patches from which the crop had been removed, a man on one side, and a dog on the other defending the crops from them. Poor things I they looked embarrassed and uncomfortable, very like a company of Saxons making believe to be at their ease in the dreary interval that precedes a public dinner. One would rather see them ranging freely over the green expanse, as on the Eng- i lisk downs, or the Scottish moors. If tney tuiuK at an in. fiance, tney no doubt feel tha like bipeds in many places, "they are governed too much." One misses also the birds which give so much pleasure in an English landscape. Even a solemn and reverend crow in his spotless black, or a pair of magpies with .their look of self-satisfied impudence, one prefers to the total absence of birds. $4- Under the impression that they were mis chievous, the departments once set a premium on the heads of small birds, and their e'xtermination was effected. Then it was found out, too late, that ln obtaining their "board" the feathered visitors paid for their "lodging" by de stroying the insects. But the evil was done; and it is easier to drive a good thing away than to win it back. As we send cheese, bacon, preserved fruits, and have begun to send iron, beef, and cotton prints, to Europe, so by and by we may he able to export our surplus sparrows. The days in which safety could only be had in towns are recalled to one's mind by the arrangements of life over much of France. One does not see small farm houses in tke middle of the farms. The people live in towns and villages. The eye ranges over miles of country, tilled as we have described it, without a dwel ling. The social -qualities of the people probably contribute to this plan, which in its turn gives a certain "town" charac ter to all the people. There is no room for the awkward boorishness which grows up in the isolation of English farming life. The thrift which must be exercised, in order to win moderate comfort, is everywhere apparent. The tall poplars, by far the most abundant tree, one finds stripped annuaHy of their branches, ap parently for fuel, and that coal-dust which every wind scatters around Pitts burgh , and so many other American cen tres of coal and iron-working, is here collected, compressed into huge bricks, or handsome round masses, and piled up for use at railway stations, with as much elegance and order as if the heaps were on exhibition. Of course, all Englishmen and Americans have learned from infancy upward their own immense superiority to the poor creatures who cannot speak English, and only babble in French; but a. candid person will be compelled to admit, notwithstanding, that in matters of courtesy, taste, thrift, order, and ar rangement, our Gallic friends can teach us something. iV. Y. Ledger. After the Batfle of Plevna. At 3 in the afternoon, after leaving Sistova, I was resting near one of these natural fountains, when a long line of ambulance wagons, enshrouded in dense clouds of dust, appeared over a hill in the distance. As the head of the line reached us and halted by the fountain, I learned of the heavy battle fought the day before in front of the Turkish forti fications around Plevna. The ambulance wagons gradually gathered, until the large space around the spring of cool water wasxovered with these conveyances, filled with human beings mangled in every conceivable form, who gasped for a drop of water. Some could not drink, as the attempts fo swallow brought gush es of blood from gaping wounds in the throat and chest, which prevented them from cooling their parched tongues cov ered with the horrible dust which rose at the slightest movement upon the roads. Weary with this sorrowful scene, I mount ed my horse and pushed on. A shqrt distance from the fountain I encoun tered a second ambulance train loaded like its predecessor. For two hours they continued to pass me, and then came still longer trainB of country passport carts, loaded with the less severe cases, inter mixed with an apparently endless stream of ammunition wagons, surplus baggage carts, and camp equipages, until finally the road became completely blocked "by the indiscriminate mass of horses, carts, wagons and mangled" humanity, stream ing toward Sistova. I was compelled to lead my horse to a rhillock by the road side and wait for an opportunity to pass on, as well as to allow my wagon to come up. For more than an hour I stood there watching the passage of this motley caravan, and beheld hundreds of gallant fellows roll by in open, springless carts, with a blazing sun pouring down upon their bloodstained forms, with choking clouds of dust parching their burning J throats and settling in masses upon their agonizing countenances,until they ceased to look like human faces. "While waiting for the road to be cleared, we were often asked if there were no troops coming to the rescue, and many were the bitter com ments made on the folly of dashing those brave fellows against the vastly superior Moslem force, strongly intrenched on the height before Plevna. One officer who was badly wounded had led the extreme advance in the assault on the Turkish in trenclunent. He had. penetrated far into the Moslem lines, and said if he had been properly supported they could have car ried the positions ; but the column was not strong enough, from want of troops or generalship, and the Turks, finding this out, turned upon them and drove them back with fearful loss. "Not more than half of that column came back," was the mournful close of the wounded officer's statement. I learned here that the battle of the previous day had lasted from morning until night, the Russian at tack being made on both wings "of the Turkish lines under the command of Gen. Krudener, who led the right in person, while the Russian left was commanded by Gen. Prince Schakoffski. "We could not do anything with them; they were too strong for us," was the universal re mark of officers and soldiers, and their cruel wounds told how wrathfully they had endeavored to carry out the senseless orders to carry Plevna by storm. The above quotation really tells the story of the battle. The immense num bers of ammunition and transport wagons suggested momentarily a Russian retreat; but the absence of artillery lefuted this idea, and I saw that the ammunition wagons were empty, and were evidently going for supplies, while the other wagons contained the tent and camp equipage of the dead and wouaded, which were no longer needed at the front. While I was waiting at this place a poor fellow died in one of the wagons, and was buried by the roadside. At last, after the stream had been passing me for four hours, I was enabled to pursue my journey, and a short distance from my halting-place I came upon a mournful scene. The dead body of another Russian soldier lay be side an open grave by the roadside, while a party of Bulgarians were saying their funeral service. Leaving this funeral group, I soon came upon an officer in command of the escort of the immense trains I had encoun tered on the roads. He said their losses had been terrific befere Plevna, and that during the whole operations around that place they bad probably lost 10,000 men killed, wounded, sick and prisoners. This number, of course, includes the 2,000 previously telegraphed to you from Bu charest as the results of the fighting of the 19th, 20th, and 21st of July. I be lieve the number to be about correct, judging from the w.ounded that I. saw, and more especially by the thousands of knapsacks I met going to the rear, and which had belonged to the men put hors de combat before Plevna. After leaving this escort I passed through a valley con taining about twenty ancient mounds, some of which had been opened in for mer days. They are probably burial places, constructed after some great bat tle of ancient times, as they could not be intended for any purposes of defense or for watch towers down in this deep val ley. Plevna Correspondence of the London Times. A Warning to Advertisers. The insanity of Dr. I. C. Ayer, of Lowell, affords a terrible warning to ad vertisers. Here was a man engaged, in the manufacture of a pill, not differing much from a hundred other pills that may be obtained at any drug store. In an unguarded moment he made up his mind that he would advertise, not in the picayune style of the ordinary dealer, but in a comprehensive sort of wayj by which he could reach every possible pur chaser of pills. He started with the idea of devoting half of his profits each year to advertising. The result might have been foreseen. He accumulated money so rapidly that he did not know what to do with it. When he had rolled together fifteen million dollars, and had vainly endeavored to find some outlet for his ever-increasing- profitd, his mind gave way under the absorbing cares of his vast business, and he is now a patient at an asylum for the insane. How easily this calamity might have been averted. If he had stuck to the conservative methods of many of our merchants and refrained from advertising, he might have been passing quietly through bank ruptcy now instead of being loaded down with his uncounted millions. It is a dangerous experiment for a man who does not want to become rich to adver tise. Or if he advertises at all he must advertise grudgingly and at long inter vals, lest his profits should grow but of all proportion to his requirements, and he should find himself burdened with wealth. Advertising, conducted on the principle of devoting half the profits of a business to it is, we repeat, a dangerous experiment. It precipitates a fortune upon the advertiser so suddenly that the chances are even that he will not . know what to do with his money. Utica Ob teraer. Alive, Yet Officially Dead. An illustration of the injury which, under the French laws, may be inflicted upon an innocent man by the loss of his certificate of birth is afforded in the case of Alfred Loichot, who, at the age of 21, left Montbeliard, his native place, to serve his time in the army. At the ex piration of Ms period of service he did not his parents having died in the mean timereturn to Montbeliard, but fol lowed his trade as a watchmaker in vari ous places. A short time back, having become engaged to be married, he de termined to go there and obtain the necessary papers, but on applying at the payor's office, he was told that it would be useless giving him his certificate of birth as in the archives was contained the certificate of his death af; the Toulon galleys in 1871. Loichot found, upon further inquiry, that all his former ac quaintances believed that he had. been condemned to penal servitude for murder, and had died at the galleys, and he failed to understand how the error could have arisen until he remembered that while in garrison at Beasoncon his money, watch and papers had been stolen. " The thief had availed himself of the papers to pass himself off as Alfred Loichot, and having committed some fresh offences, was sent to the galleys. He died while uncter goisg his term of imprisonment, and hence arose the mistake. Alfred Loichot has been compelled to apply to the civil tribunal at Toulon for a correction of the error, and for the removal of his name from the death register, and the judge ment in which sentence was passed upon the usurper of his name. A learned sergeant was once accused of having disgraced the bar by taking sil ver from a client, the etiquette of the profession requiring that his fee should be in gold. "I took silver," he replied, "because I could not get gold ; but I took every farthing the fellow had in the world, and I hope you do not call that disgrac ing the profession." An Unrecorded Hero.' HOW BLODGET CAPTURED THE RED COATS ON THE WAY TO TICONDEROGA. We have all read of the intrepid cour age of the "Green Mountain Boys" at the time of the revolutionary war,andthe usual supposition is that all those of a patriotic spirit were to be found in the ranks of the American army,but many a brave man, perhaps by the force of circum stances, was obliged to tarry at home. At the time the following incident occurred, the British were in full posses sion of Ticonderoga, and the towns for many miles around were subjected, to the lawless depredations of the "red coats," which aroused the just indignation of all who favored the "patriotic cause." But as a little free speech often deprived a man of liberty, it was thought best (using .a homely expression) to "grin and bear it." One day a company of British soldiers, numbering about twenty, in passing through the town at Cornwall, Vt., lin gered around long enough to place a certain mark on the house of every person suspected or known to favor the patriots, that others of the "King's Own" who should follow after would know by this mystic sign where to find, friend or foe. Now tliis raised the ire of one man in particular, who determined to circumvent them by a little plot he had formed in his own mind. So, taking the British officer aside and speaking in a cautious manner, this person (Blodget by name) saidj "Say, now, be you goin' to Ticon derogue?" but without waiting for a re ply, continued, "for if you be, me- and some of my neighbors want to go 'long with ye. We've been waiting for some chance like this" for a loner time, and if you'll just march out of town, so as not to excite suspicion, you see, and will wait for us at a certain spot I can tell ye of, why I'll see the other men and we'll join there. What say you?" Now the army, both on the American and British side, was always willing to take new recruits whenever offered, and as this man's story seemed plausible enough, the British captain willingly ac ceded to the proposal of Blodget, who thereupon proceeded to appoint a rendez vous which was where the public high way or road was cut through a ledge of limestone rock, forming a wall sOme ten feet high on either side, on top of which was a stunted growth of trees. Blodget, requested the officer to wait there a cer tain length of time, and they would make all expedition in joining him. As soon as Blodget saw the soldiers out of sight, he hastily mounted his horse and started out to inform his good "Whig" neighbors of his intentions. It needed but a few words in those days to arouse a person's patriotism, so each man, taking down his trusty firelock, or old fusee, with no military outfit, except the three-cornered hat of (Geri.l) Blodget, which he fortunately discovered in some old resting-place, they proceeded by a much shorter route to the point of ren dezvous, so that they had. time to secrete themselves among the bushes at the far thtr end of the limestone pas3 before the Britishers came up. According to "florae's History," published some sixty years ago, military tactics in these days were not by any means perfect; even Gen. Putnam overpowered by strategy rather than numbers. Soon was heard the tramp, tramp, tramp of the soldiers as they marched into the pass, where they were expecting to halt at the further end and, wait for the recruits to join them, but when midway between either opening, with the great rocks, as impenetrable as prison walls, rising on two sides of them, even obstructing the sunlight for a time, they were astonished at hearing a sten torian voice, cry "halt!" They stopped, surprised, when the impromptu Gen. Blodget, who had reigned his horse di rectly in front of the opening, command ed them to lay down their arms and sur render. At first the officer attempted to parley, but Blodget knew it would not do to give time to consider the position, so he Degan in a loud voice, amid a great flourish of arms (in the background), "First platoon, rise and ." But there was no necessity for him to add "fire !" as the captain (supposing themselves surrounded by a large body of American soldierg) by a sign gave the other to un derstand that he would surrender. Then Blodget ordered the twenty men to walk off a few paces, stack their arms, and fall back again. Having done so, he ordered five of his own company to take posses sion of them, as the five were all the men he could muster. Strange as it may ap pear, they really marched the twenty as prisoners of war, not to Ticonderogaj but to Gen. Stark, then at Bennington. Rochester (If. Y.) Union. Jake wa3 heard calling across the fence to hi3 neighbor's son, a colored youth, who goes to school at the Atlanta University: "Look hyar, boy, you goes ter school, don't yer?" "Yes, sir," replied the boy. "Gittin' eddykashun, ain't yer?" "Yes, sir." "Larnin' 'rithmetick and figgerin' on a slate, eh?" "Yes, sir." "Well, it don't take two whole days to make a hour, does it?" "W'y, no I" exclaimed the boy. "You was gwine ter bring dat hatchet back in an hour, warn'fc you?" "Yes, sir." "An' it's bin two days sense yer bor rowed it. Now what good's eddykashun gwine to do you thick-skulled niggers when yer go to school a whole year and den can't tell how long it takes to fotch back a hatchit?" Soon or late love is his own avenger. Rules for Bathing. Whether in bath-tub, river or ocean, bathing should be accompanied only by pleasurable sensations. The whole body should be keptaglow. If any shiverings or chilly sensations are experienced, either you are not well, the water is not of the right temperature, or you are bathing too long. At all events, such feelings are nature's warning that you should at once leave the water and give yourself a thorough rubbing with a coarse towel. Bathing, especially swimming, necessi tates great muscular activity, therefore in order that digestion may not be inter fered with, at least one hour, and better still, two, or three, should elapse between a hearty meal and bathing. It is. easily seen that eleven in the forenoon, four in the afternoon, and just before retiring at night, are-the best times for bathing. Some like a cold dash on rising in the morning. Very few, comparatively, can stand such a shock to their nervous svs tems. Let those who enjoy it, and ex perience a glow during the operation, continue the practice; but let them be careful how they urge its adoption upon those whose nerves possess a less degree of resistance. Any one desiring to acquire the habit of a cold bath every morning should be gin the custom in the warm weather, con tinuing it during the winter, and not com mence it in the latter season. If you are perspiring from walking, rowing or other exercise, as you reach th place of bathing, do not (as some advise) sit down on the bank to cool off before entering the water. Doff your clothes and dash in as soon as possible,, only be ing careful to keep up the exercise with out intermission after you are. an the wa ter. In this way you continue the glow which you experienced from the previous exercise. Ten or at longest fifteen minutes in the water should suffice for the strongest aqueously inclined urchin. Strive always to leave the water before you feel chilly or certainly at the first approach of any such sensation, and continue or rekindle the glow by a vigorous rubbing with a coarse towel. Turkish superstition says, wet your head thoroughly upon entering the bath ; we say, do it to prevent rush of blood to the brain, which event may cause death. Finally, as bathing, apparently, a sim ple process, is not without its dangers, we would warn all boys not to begin the practice too early in the season, or to re peat it too often daily. Many have found an early grave by over-indulgence, while others have endured long years of suffer ing from the obscure effects of excessive bathing. No physician should consider it below his calling to give specific direc tion to all seeking his advice as to when and how long they should bathe. Home Quarrels. A house divided against itself shall not stand, saith Scrip ture, and there are no truer words. At home there should be peace and unity, though all the world is at war. Those bound by the ties of kindred should up hold each other, and bear with each other's foibles, and hide them from strangers' eyes. Those who dwell under the same home roof must fight under one flag or be defeated. Policy, if not good feeling, should bind together the members of one household. Bad as it is to quarrel with one's neigh bors, people may do that and yet have some bright spots in their lives, if they shut their doors on their quarrels, and find within only partisans and sympa thizers; but when brothers and sisters, parents and children, and, worst of all, husbands and wives begin to disagree, spat, snarl, abuse each other, and finally come to open quarreling, those who dwell under that unhappy roof know before hand the tortures of the lost. There is nothing on earth so near Heaven as a hap py home so like perdition as an -unhappy one. M. K. D.y in New York Ledger. Meaning op Amen. A correspondent writing from Dacon, 111., sends -the fol lowing account of a boy's attempt at de fining: m During the last winter there was a re ligious interest at Varna, 111. The pas tor of the Methodist church, the Rev. Mr. Demming, was in the habit of hold ing a daily children's meeting, at which the boys and girls stopped for a few mo ments on their way from school.' In or der to interest and instruct children, the pastor presented a variety of topics. One day he asked the meaning of "Amen." No one answered. "You 'have often," said the clergyman, "heard the brethren say 'amen ! amen I' while some one was praying. What did they mean? If any one knows, let him hold up his hand." Up jumped a little fellow, too eager to answer to wait for recognition. "I know," he called out. "It means hurry up and get through." There was an audible smile, and many of the elders, we have no doubt, felt that the definition would be very useful if it could be generally accepted, and "amen" used to shorten long prayers. Youth1 Companion. God respecteth not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how long they ere; nor the music of our prayers, how melodious they are; nor the logic of our prayers, how methodical they are but the divinity of our prayers, how heart sprung they are. Not gifts, but grac3 prevail in prayer. Trapp. Conscience is a clock, which in one man strikes aloud and gives warning, in another the hands point silently to a fig ure but strike not; meantime, hours pass away, and. death hastens, and after death comes judgment. v. jm.mscs' ". J iJ-'&- .