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About The Daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1876-1883 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1877)
iSA v'S f v J. 3 i 4 f f , A Sudden Cure. A melancholy woman lay Iu sickness oa her bed, And, in a faint and broken voice, To her sad hubband said: "Dear David, when iny earthly form Has turned to lifeless cla, 0 wait and weep a little while. Nor throw yourself away. "J know a woman, kind an' true, On whom ou may depend: Oh! marry Amanita Jones She is my deaicst friend." "Yes, Hannah, I have wanted Ionic To speak o' this before; For Amarilla Jones an' I Have talked the matter o'er." "Then you and Arr.arilla Jones Have been too smart and sly; 1 tell you, David Wilkinson, I'm not a-oingto die!" Her dark eyes flashed; her strength returned; She left her bed of pain; A week had scarcely passed away When she was well again. EuymeJ. Jlall, in tlic Chicago Tribune. The "Witness. AN INCIDENT OF THE SIIOItE. NEW ENGLAND There is a deep gulf of verdure which rims inland between two rocky promon tories. The sea once flowed there, but loug before the memury of man. It had finally baned itself out by throwing up, year after Tear, a sandy barrier across the entrance to the gulf. No doubt, even after the tide was stopped from flowing iu, some strong eastern wind had driven the sea roaring over the bar and heaped higher the bulwark of sand. One could read this as he stood upon the rocks and looked down upon the green spot, which, for its contrast to the gray rocks and un planted deep, was named Paradise. From the sea itself its green, cool depths are very inviting. The coast at this point was thinly in habited. A few fishermen's houses were clusteied near the shore just beyond the rock that jutted out; but the men wore aw8y lor weeks at a time, and the wom en wcie unceasingly busy over their in door ork. Only the children who played on the beach gave the place a happy human look. As a group of them was gatheied on the sand one morning they saw coming toward them a singular fig uie, moving along the shore in the di rection of Paradise. They stopped their play, wondering whether it were man or beast, so confused was the outline. Little by litt'e,as it moved slowly toward them, they discerned a mau's form, bending be neath some burden. They retreated a few step and gathered upon the flat stone that stood before the doorway of one of the houses. The man made no motion to corae 4oward the house and seemed not to sc the children. As he came oppo site tw where they stood they discovered that he bore upon his back a huge wooden cross. He kept on his way, staggering through the deep sand beneath hi3 bur den, until he waalost to sight behind the rock which made one of the walls of Paradise. "Let us tell Nancy," said one of the children. And they entered the house together. Winterer happened in or about this little settlement was sure to come, sooner or later, to the ears of Nancy Dacre. Re mote from town,the people had no church, minister or priest; but they were not so very forsaken so long as they had with them this widow, Nancy Dacre. It u?.ed to be said that no secret was safe from her, but every secret was safe with her. Thei e are some women who are born con fessoia, and she was one. It was impos sible to withhold confidence from her. Silent herself, she was the repository of other people's talk, and all,' whether chil dren or grown people, went to her with news or with perplexities. It would be difficult to say in just what consisted the abso'ution she gave when faults were con fessed, as they often were; certainly not m any tormal words. Still, a certain gift of peace belonged to her as surely as the gift of hearing confessions. She was at work in the house when the children entered, and went with them to the door, although the man had already disappeared. "He carried a great cross," said one. 'He wore ear-rings." "He was very dark and bent." "That was the weight of the cross." Some of the bolder were for following him, to see what he was about; but Nancy dissuaded them "If he did not speak to you, it was be cause he did not wish to be spoken to. Leave him alone. He may come back this way. You need not be afraid of him," she added, as the younger ones came closer to her. He did come back at dusk. The chil dren had scattered to their several homes, and Nancy sat alone on the door-step, -when she perceived a man coming toward her. Prom his appearance she did not doubt that it was the stranger whom the children had.scen. She rose as he came to the door. "Good evening," she said. Heanswrered her in her own words; but given with a certain thickness of utter ance which showed him to be a for eigner. "May I give you some supper?" The man looked up at her quickly and nod ded. She entered the house, while he took, his seat on the flat stone, and pres ently she brought him a bowl of milk and some large ship-biscuit. He made a low bow to her as he took his supper and placed it before him on his knees. She looked at him narrowly, as he sat in si- Some of the children began to lence eating and drinking. He was a thick-set, somewhat clumsy man, with a face browed deeply by exposure, and black curly hair. His eyes, overhung by thick brows, did not look directly at her, but, while averted, every now and then stole a look at her. Something about the man,she could not say what, seemed fa miliar to her; and she studied his face closely, trying to recall it. Perhaps the earnestness of her look made him uneasy. He drained the bowl dry, placed it on the stone beside him, and then stood si lent, with his hands moving restlessly by his side. "I have seen you before," she said, finally. Her voice was kind; but he stepped has tily aside, then looked at her furtively. "I don't remember," he said, slowly, and turned his face away. "Not to-night," he uttered: "not to-night." But then, as he was about 'to leave, he stopped and said, "Many thanks." "But where will you sleep to-night? You may stay in my shed." "I will sleep over there," and he point ed toward the rocks. 'tin Paradise? There is no house there." The man gave a groan. "Is that Paradise where the gras grows green?" "So we call it." He turned and walked hastily away. The woman followed him with her eyes until the could no longer descry him, as he was lost in the shadow of the rocks. His face perplexed her; but she could not remember where she had ever seen it. Sev eral days passed, and once or twice the man had been seen clambering about the rocks and apparently gathering ber ries. Once he had been seen fishing,and a smoke curled up occasionally from the rocks. His presence there served to keep the children away, while it yet tempted them to go nearer and see what he was doing. One, more daring than the others, crept round by another way, and brought back word that the cross which he had been seen to carry was Taised above the beach in front of the opening to Para dise, but the man was not to be seen. All this and the stories wThich one and another had told of other men who had acted strangely began to affect the little community ; and, at length, on Sunday afternoon, Nancy Dacre, unwilling that the uneasiness should continue, left her home and walked along the beach toward Paradise. follow her. "Come back! Come back!" their moth er cried. "Nancy will go. No one will harm her. But you must wait till she has been." Nancy herself was not unwilling to go alone. The cool breeze blew freshly be neath the warm July sun, and the long, swooping dip of the sea-gulls gave her a sonse ot treedom and hie. She stepped quickly forward, and each step seemed to make her more buoyant. Victory is fa bled to be winged, and this woman's life has not been without its overcoming. She passed round the rocky ledge and came out in view of Paradise, with the gray rocks which formed its northern boundary. Midway she saw the cross standing. It could not fail at once to take her eye; and at its foot the man was kneeling, his head nearly leaning upon it, while his hands seemed busy. He did not at once perceive her, and she stood not far off on the sand watching him. She saw that he had a knife in bis hand, and was cutting into the wood. Presently he laid his knife aside; and, going a little way off, fell upon his breast, and, prop ping his chin between his hands, looked hxeoly upon the cross. The woman tor a moment was disturbed. She had seemed to enter this man's closet and to break in upon some secret devotions. Yet to go would be to disturb him more. She re mained motionless, her eyes fixed upon him. Then she saw his face drop into his hands, and she could no loDger hesi tate. She went toward him. He heard the sound of her dress and rose hastily. His face showed signs of great emotion, but the sight of Nancy wrought a change in it. He came to her and looked in her face. "Are you the woman wTho gave me my supper at the house yonder, and asked me to stay?" "Yes, I am." "And you are not afraid of me?" "No; I should not have come here if I had been. I came to see you. I didnot know but I might help you." "You are a good woman. I am a bad mau." "You cannot be wholly bad. You have raised this cross here." "Do you think so? Do you say so?" he cried, eagerly. "Oh! look at me, tell me that again." Nancy looked steadily at him, trying again to recall his features. "No," she said, deliberately. "You are not wholly bad, and you have suffered much for what you have done." "I have suffered hell for ten years. You are a good woman. I have told nobody. Yes, 1 have at last told the world. Let me tell you here." He seized her hand and drew her near the cross! "Do you see this cross? Do ydusee of how many pieces of wood it is built? I have "been ten years building it. Yes, ten years it was ten years ago. See, that piece is from Malaga. I was born in Malaga,and I went back there first; but I could not stay there. And that is from Brazil. And that is from Alexandria. I bought it of a Greek. He said it was a bit of the true cross; but he lied. I gave him all I had for it, and I put it in the middle see there; but it never drove it out of my heart. And there's not a country where I've not been and brought away a bit of the wood. It's all the work of my own hands; and I thought when I finished the cross it would go away. And I worked patiently, though the men mocked me. And it's not gone away. Then I thought if I planted it right here, right here, that would be the end; but it wasn't. And now I have cut my name and what I did on it, that all the world may see; and, O God, it's on me yet! '' aere shall I go? Shall I lay myself ;n there, 'side of him and the boy? "Y re tired. Sit ye down and I'll tell it all to you. No? Yell not sit down? Ye'll stand by the cross. It's all cut on it. Ye can read it. That's the story. 'Requiescat in pace. I, Daniel Mora, seaman, did in a passion kill the skipper of the schooner Nancy and his boy, and scuttled the Nancy about two leagues to the eastward of this cross which I set up, and may God have mercy on my soul. Ye'll say now that I'm not a bad man? Ye'll not be afraid of me now? 0 blessed mother, take it away ! Take it away ! Yes, it was off there, where ye re looking. Oh, but it was terrible! "Why don't ye speak? Do ye see anything? Oh ! do you 3ee it? I bound them in the cabin after I after they were I didn't take any money. It was not for that. There was nothing but ballast in the lading. My God! The judgment day." Out of the blue water, under the sun set sky, slowly there was rising, as they looked, the masts and then the hull of a spectral schooner, half-careened over, water-logged, slimy. No sound was heard ; but the silent witness to Dauiel Mora's words lay before them, moving sluggishly on the water. To-day the in cessant rolling of ten years had released the last weight that held it down. Mora's eyes started from beneath their shaggy brows, as he grasped the cross and then clutched at his companion's dress. He did not see her. He only saw the witness, on which his eyes fixed with a look of despair. "Dacre! John Dacre!" he cried, stretching out his hands imploringly to the hulk. "Ay ! ay !" said a voice at his side, and he turned suddenly. The woman stood before him, her hands clasped tightly be fore her. "He was my lnyband. That boy was my child." The man fell at her feet. "Rise, Daniel Mora. I am not thy judge. I am a sinner, like you." But she herself bowed low upon the ground. Her forehead touched the cross, which carried the tale of her old grief and this man's crime. Daniel Mora crept thither also, until at length he felt two cold hands laid on his head. "God be merciful to us sinners!" she said. And he repeated the prayer after her. Horace B. Scudder.in the Independ ent. The Japanese Restaurant. The most popular of all the. eating houses of Tokio is the Matsuda, on the Ginza, at Kiobrtsbi. This is really an immense establishment, having ac commodation for 2,000 customers at once. It is owned by a wealthy woman named Matsuda Kane, by whom it was first opened in 1872. No rooms are let for lodg ing purposes, and the patrons are mostly residents of Tokio, though occasionally a rural party may be seen staring at the unaccustomed sights about them, to the no small amusement oi ineir uroan neighbors. The customer is given a numbered ticket on entering, by which his account with the house is kept. A few rooms are furnished in semi-foreign 3tyle, but most preserve their Japanese charac ter, and the food is almost entirely native. The "bill of fare" includes some twenty different dishes, ranging in price from five to fifteen sen, each, the charges de pending largely on the state of the fish market. "While no meat is served, fowls are cooked in a number of forms, and all kinds of liquors can be obtained. The Matsuda in opened at eight o'clock iu the morning and closed about nine or half-past nine in the evening. The busi est hours are at midday and after sunset, when the fifty attendants are kept very active by the crowds of hungry and thirsty patrons. To the passer-by the restaurant looks most attractive at night when the rows of lanterns under the eaves, and the illumination of the whole building, showing through panes of col ored glass, present a very gay appearance. Tokio (Japan) News. Sm Isaac Newton An Exajiple for Boys. Iu the middle of the seventeenth century there was an Euglish boy of mean and diminutive appearance, and behind all other boys of his age. He was con stantly at the foot of his class, and verily it was believed that this boy would be come only a bungler of some kind, for surely the soul of learning was not in him. At the age of twelve a change was wrought in the character and fortune of the youth that had never obtained a "re ward of merit," and was reg'arded by teacher and schoolmates as an inferior. At this time an altercation took place between this backward boy and the one above him in the class, whereupon the latter treated him with indignity and violence The pride of the boy was outraged. He could not revenge the insult by a blow, because he was too weak to cope with his opponent physically. " How, then, shall he humble his assailant? He re solved to surpass him in study, to get above him in the class, and there remain, to look down uponhis enemy and clip from him the laurels he' so indiscreetly wears. He resolved accomplished; be cause a most devoted scholar; com menced a career of glory; and Sir Isaac Newton appeared with a key to unlock the mysteries of motion, and a true chart of the stupendous universe. Progress in China. The last budget of Chines news ixdl cates decided progress toward an aban donment of the old ruts on the part of the Celestial empire. Half a dozen new ports have been opened for trade with the world ; the postal service has been ex tended, .and the Government is making great preparations to secure a fine exhi bition of the art and industries of the country at the Paris Exposition. Under the Viceroy, Li-Hung-Chang, China has made enormous strides in material pros perity. Should the little Emperor Tsia tien die, there is little doubt that Li-Hung-Chang would declare the present dynasty out and assume the imperial honors himself. He is the head and tront ot Uhmese progress, ana his own province of Chilili shows the impress of his hand. If the Viceroys of the remain ing seventeen provinces were fully in sympathy with this remarkable man, there is little doubt that the old barriers would all be demolished and China would be eutircly open to the introduction of foreign ideas. Li-Hung-Chang has en couraged the introduction of steam navi gation on the vast rivers of China, and to day several native and American and British lines of steamers are in operation from Shanghai to Hong Kong and Can ton, a distance of 1,000 miles, and be tween Shanghai and Kantow, a distance of 700 miles. Telegraph lines have been commenced this year, and a railroad is in operation between Woosung and Shanghai, a distance of fifteen miles. The Chinese have resisted such advanced civ ilization, but its triumph is only a ques tion of time. The interior provinces of Uhina, accessible Dy great rivers, are enormously wealthy, and contain cities of great magnitude and importance, whose trade has excited the cupidity of all foreigners, who have chafed under the obstructions placed in their way. The British have forced their way into many of these trade bonanzas by threats, and their Chinese traffic is to-day greater than that of any other nation. The Chinese are peculiarly a nation of traders, and as the foreign wedge has gained an entrance into their persistent exclusiveness, and they are perceiving that what is good for the foreigners is good for them also, there is little doubt that the magnificent reign which for some thousand centuries has been closed to the world will before long become a rich trade arena for the nations. Louuiille Courier-Journal. Dairy Farming and Practical Train ing In. Mr. Clement Hill, British acting charge d'affairs at Munich, states in a re port which lie made to the foreign office, that in Bavaria great importance is attached to the application of sound principles in dairy produce, and he gives an account of a school founded seven years ago by the agricultural committee of the district of Southofen (encouraged by the promise of a small government grant) for the instruction of youths in the dairy system of the mountain pasturage district Algan. In this school practical instruction is given in all that contrib utes to the manufacture of good cheese and butter, such as the proper treatment of cows, milking, discrimination between the good and the worthless kinds of milk, and the process it should undergo. The theoretical part of all this is also taught, as well as simple book keeping rates of exchange, and where possible some in struction in veterinary art is added. The course lasts from March to June. Many persons come from Austria and neigh boring districts to attend the weekly lec tures. The theoretical teaching is gratu itous, but the pupils have to find them selves food and lodging, and to pay about eighteen shillings a month to the propri etor of the dairy for the practical instruc tion. The six courses 1869 to 1874 were attended by sixty-three scholars. Mr. Hill states that similar institutions ex ist in Switzerland, Denmark and other parts of Europe, and he suggests that their creation in England, under the auspices of some leading agricultural so ciety, might work a radical improvement in dairy farming. He is of the opinion that America, where dairy farming is now pursued with great success, because on scientific principles, would then be no longer able to supply England with cheap cheese. Mr. Hill states that it is not uncommon for cows of Algau, when they have been eating bitter herbs, or in stormy weather, to yield salt or bitter milk, and in such cases it is the duty of the senior to taste the milk of each teat, and if it is unsound to milk it all away, or at least till it runs sweet, and the re sult is to insure a ready sale for the pro ducts of the milk, buyers knowing that they will be sound and good. All "Work and No Plat. It is unfair to expect your boys and girls to work hard at home while they are attending school. To acquire an education is at this period the business of their lives. If reluctant to learn their daily lessons they should sternly be obliged to do so. They should be taught alike, that from this there is no possible escape and that be yond it nothing is required of them. The rest of the day is theirs, and they should be permitted, in all innocent ways,to pass it as they list to frolic and to play, the prerogative and necessity of youth, whether in the lower or higher animal creation. But through fear of creating habits of laziness, parents too often ex act labor of their children after study hours, and thus, while yearning for play and needed recreation, under these cir cumstances work becomes absolutely re pugnant to them. This is the way to make Jack a dull lad, and to establish the verv habits it was intended to avoid for a boy that works reluctantly is only happy when that work is finished, and he is thus tempted to slight and skimit over, that he may the sooner be released. In this way not only are the habits of lazi ness created, but of negligence, and of a deep-seated dislike of work which often cling through life. Hints for Girls. Somebody gives the following advice to girls. It is worth Salt in Agriculture. volumes of fiction and sentimentalism : "Men who are worth having want wom en for wives. A bundle of gewgaws, bound with a string of fiats and quavers, sprinkled with cologne and set in a car mine saucer this is no help for a man who expects to raise a family of boys on bread and meat. The piano and lace frames are good in their places, and so are the ribbons, frills and tassels; but you cannot make a dinner of the former, nor a bed-blanket of the latter and awful as the idea may seem to you, both dinner and bed-blankets are necessary to domestic happiness. "Life has its relations as well as its fancies; but you make all its decorations, remembering the tassels and curtains, but forgetting the bedstead. Suppose a man of good sense, and, of course, good prospects, to be looking for a wife, what chance have you to.be chosen? You may trap him, but how much better to make it an object for him to catch you ! If you should entrap and marry an industrious young man, and deceive him, he would oe unnappy as long asne lives, ao ren der yourselves worth catching, and you need no shrewd mother or brother to rec ommend you,and help you find a market." T T A Scetch: subaltern at Gibraltar was one day on guard with" another officer, who, falling down , a precipice, wasr killed. He made no mention of the ac cident in his guard report, leaving the addendum, "N. B. Nothing extraordi nary since guard-mounting," standing without qualification. Some hours after the brigade-major came to demand an "You Few persons realize the value of salt in agricultural operations. In large doses it is of course an injury, destroying everything vegetable it comes into con tact with. In heavy soil it is also an in jury, as the tendency is "to make it still heavier, and thus whatever good it might have in one respect is outweighed by the other. But in light, sandy soil, or those elevated tracts of land not wet, but which are liable to become dry in summer time, it has been found of the greatest benefit, and this chiefly on account of the prop erty it has of absorbing moisture from the earth in dry weather. It is for this perhaps as much as for any chemical quali ty that it proves so beneficial in these cases. Usually wheat does best on rather heavy though not wet lands; but where salt has been used on light soils, as good crops have been gathered as on the most favored heavy soils. Iu the far western States, where rain does not fall often, and the danger to crops is chiefly through droughts in the summer time, salt in light doses ought to prove beneficial; and in the sandy soils of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, it might be employed to a much greater extent than now with profit. It is chiefly for the moisture it seems to draw from the atmosphere, that it has often been found of' so much good for as paragus. The asparagus requires an im mense deal of water in the make up of its stalks, though it does not like to grow in wet ground ; and this moisture the salt supplies. It has also been found of ex cellent benefit in raising turnips, beets, cabbage and other succulent vegetables. But it must not be forgotten that it is an injury in soil already wet or heavy; and therefore good as it is in so many cases, an indiscriminate use of it will result in disadvantage. In this respect it is like lime and some other things in which even "salt will not save it." Germantown Telegraph. indulgence in sor- Life is shortened by anger, ill-will, anxiety, envy, grief, row, and excessive care. The vital powd ers are wasted by excessive bodily exer cise in some cases, and want of a due portion in others. explanation, sayin say, sir, in your report, vLxoming extraordinary since guard-mounting,' when your broth er officer, on duty with you, has fallen down a precipice four hundred feet and been killed." "Weel, sir," replied he, "I dinna think there's ony thing extraordinary in it; if he'd faun doon a precipice four hun dred feet and no been killed, I should hae thought it vary extraordinary indeed, First Relation op Dam with Sire. I am aware that the great majority of stock breeders do not admit of the prin ciple that the after pregnancy of the dam will follow her first produce in looks. My attention several years ago was called to an old brood mare, of what breeding I cannot recall, but with at least two thirds thoroughbred blood coursing in her veins, who got a "chance colt," as her first colt, by a jack. Her owner, recog nizing this principle mentioned above, selected the finest,mo3t perfect and proved stallion to breed to he could find, and anxiously awaiting the expected foals advent, which when it did come present ed a decidedly mulish appearance, espe cially about the head. When I saw the mare she wa3 suckling her sixth colt. Her five colts were ail from different stallions, yet in. each case there was the mulish appearance about each foal, but growing less and" less from the second down to the sixth one. As all the six were on the same plantation I satisfied my curiosity by a thorough examination of each and all. Am. Stock Journal. The rice crop of Louisiana increased from twenty thousand barrels in 1866 to over one hundred and seventy-five thou sand barrels in 1876. The yield of this year is estimated at nearly one hundred and seventy thousand barrels, on a de creased acreage. Chief Justice Warren, of Georgia, reminds youug lawyers who are inclined to use flowerv language, that "rose3 fade, and wTad hae put it doon in my report." I seeds keep."
