THE ALAMANCE GLEANER.
VOL. I.
POETRY.
SNOW.
BY MRS. 8. J. MEGAItOEE.
Fleecy mantle from the skies,
Like charity art thou ;
Covering o'er the naked branches,
As beneath the winds they bow ;
Filling in the dreary places
With thy robes so soft and white,
That they shine upon the traveler
In'the darkest hours of night.
Hiding 'neath thy magic veil
All the ugliness of want;
Draping with thy graceful wreaths
E'en the very vilest haunt;
Frescoing poverty's scant garb,
As well as that'of wealth ;
And giving to the pale, wan cheek,
The rosiness of health.
Spreading with kind, fostering care
A carpet o'er the wheat,
To shelter it from winter's storms,
Its keen breath and its sleet;
And all the tender, trembling plants,
That shiver in the oold,
Are wrapt, as by jumother's hand,
In many a snowy foid.
Oh, Ood! if man would doff for ayo
The garb of siu and crime
AVhich clothes his very inward soul
With fllthiness and slime.
And don the robes of Love and Faith
Which Thou to him hast given,
AB pure as snow would be his life,
This earth another heaven.
MISCELLANY.
Star Where You Are.
One of the greatest drawbacks to
prosperity is the restive, loving, and
unsettled spirit of the people. Each
one imagines that there is ai El Dorado
somewhere, or that some section is
more prosperous than his own, and
that he must get to it befort he can ac
complish anything. The id* a unsettles
him, and if he does not "pull up" and
migrate at once, he is forever thinking
about, it, and neglects to improve bis
present home and farm. Tie delusion
lias been wide-spread since the war,
and much individual disaster has been
the result. The curse of Reuben seems
to rest upon the people. The terrible
"Texas fever," which so raged a few
years ago, caused untold families mis
fortune, and ruined many excellent
farms and good farmers.
It is a great mistake. Contentment
is the great secret of life. Old Horace
struck the right key when li& said:
"Happiness depends not upon place nor
climate, but upon the state of one's
mind." "Rolling stones gather no
*, moss," and the experiment of selling
out and moving, in the hope of better
ing the condition, often ends in bitter
disappointment and irretrievable loss.
Thousands in the South can testify,
from experience, to the truth of this
assertion.
Better stay where you are. If you
are in a good community, and your
lands have bottom, drive down your
pegs and locate. Remember that
there's more in the man than the
land," as old Jones said on returning
from Texas, after terrible sailures, to
the old worn-out homestead he had
sold, and found it blooming hke a
garden. Right-up the old dwelling,
renew the out-buildings, palings,
fences, and barns; spend a few dollars
in white paint, and give the premises
an air of cheerfulness. Cultivate less
ground, and make it richer every year.
Make plenty to cat and some to sell,
and let your cotton crop be clear profit.
Plant fruit trees, have your rye, oats,
barley, wheat and clover patches, fine
horses, fat cows, and rich butter. Give
your wives and daughters flower gar
dens, and assist them in collecting a
good assortment of roots and
Do these simple things, and,tour word
for it, your houses will take new hold
upon your affections, and, instead of
the rickety, dilapidated establishments
and solemn, hungry-looking counten
ances so common in our country, wo
will find comfortable and inviting
homes, where all is love, contentment,
and happiness. It will be like a Col
chian enchantress infut.ing new juices
into the veins for Una prolongation of
life and youth. Trjlit. Turn over a
new leaf and begin anew. Fear God,
love your neighbors, your wives and
f children, and don't try to get rich in
one year. Teach your little ones to
love their homes. There is a world of
melody and sentiment in that immortal
old ballad, t
"Mid pleasures and palaces, where'er we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's DO place like home.'
French Colleges.
A movement now being made in
France to Jim prove the condition of the
French oolleges has brought to light
some facts which are astonishing, aa to
the general indigenoy and inefficiency
of the institutions of learning in that
country. Even the college of France,
in Pans, is so poorly endowed that it
was obliged to decline, recently, a very
valuable geological collection which
had been bequeathed to it by the late
Elie de Beaumont, because it had not
funds with which to provide properly
for the care of it. Snch collections as
it possesses are stored away like so
much rubbish, and it actually has no
library. The provincial colleges are
said to be wretchedly poor, and twenty
dollars a year is the average allowanoe
to them for fnel and books. There are
forty-three faculties scattered over
twenty-five towns, which consist of
only four or five professors each, and
whose course of teaching is limited to
two years. ■ -~" v •
Unless these facts are exaggerated,
there can be no donbt that it was the
schoolmaster who triumphed in the
late oonflict between Germany and
France. If the Gaols ever expect to
have their day of revenge they mnst
borrow a hint from the Teutonic schools
before they go into training for it.
GRAIIAM, ALAMANCE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 1875
THE MAID OF DAMASCUS.
In the reign of the Greek Emperor
Heraclius, when the beautiful city of
Damascus was at - the height of its
splendor and magnificence, there dwelt
therein a young noble, named Deme
trius, whose decayed fortunes did not
correspond with the general prosperity
of the times. He was a youth of ardent
disposition, and very handsome in per
son ; pride kept him from bettering his
estate by the profession of merchandise,
yet more keenly did he feel the ob
scurity to which adverse fate had re
duced him, that in his lot was involved
the fate of one dearer than himself.
It so happened that in that quarter
of the city which faces the row of palm
trees, within the gate Kesikn, dwelt a
very wealthy old merchant, who had a
very beautiful daughter. Demetrius
had by chance seen her some time be
fore, and he was so struck by her loveli
ness that, after pining for some months
in secret, he ventured upon a dis
closure, and to his delighted surprise
found that Isabelle had long silently
nursed a deep and almost hopeless
passion for him also; so, being now
aware that their love was mutual, they
were as happy as the bird that, all day
long, sings in the sunshine from the
summits of the cypress trees.
True is the adage of the poet, that
the course of true love never did run
smooth ; and in the father of the maiden
they found that a stumbling block lay
in the way of their happiness, for he
was of an avaricious disposition, and
they knew that he valued gold more
than nobility of blood. Their fears
grew more and more, as Isabelle, in her
private conversation, endeavored to
sound her father on this point; and al
though the suspicions of affection are
always more apparent than real, in this
they were not mistaken ; for without
consulting his child—and as if her soul
had been in his hand—he promised her
in marriage to a rich old miser, twice
as rich and nearly as old as himself.
Isabelle knew not what to do ; for,
on being informed by her father of the
fate he had destined for her, her heart
forsook her, and her spirit was bowed
to the dust. Nowhere could she rest,
like the Thracian bird that knoweth not
to fold its wings in slumber—a cloud
had fallen for her over the face of
nature —and instead of retiring to her
couch she wandered about weeping,
under the midnight stars, on the terrace,
on the housetop, wailing over her hap
less fate, and calling on death to come
and take her from her sorrows.
At morning she went forth alone into
the garden; but neither could the
golden glow of the orange tree nor the
perfume of the roses, nor the delicate
fragrance of the clustering henna and
jasmine, delight her, so she wearied for
the hour ol noon, having privately sent
to Demetrius, inviting him to meet her
by the fountain of the pillars at that
time.
Poor Demetrius had for some time
observed a settled sorrow in the con
duct and countenance of his beautiful
Isabelle : he felt that some melancholy
revelation was to be made to him ; and,
all eagerness, he came at the appointed
hour. He passed along the winding
walks, unheeding of the tulips streaked
like the ruddy evening clouds—of the
flower betrothed to the nightingale—of
the geranium blazing in scarlet beauty
—till, on approaching the place of
promise, he caught a glimpse of the
maid he loved—and, lo ! she sat there
in the sunlight, absorbed in thought, a
book was on her knee and at her feet
lay the harp, whose chords had been
for bis ear so often modulated to
harmony.
He laid his hand gently on her
shoulder, as he seated himself beside
her on the steps, and seeing her sorrow
ful face, he comforted her, and bade
her be of good cheer, saying that
Heaven would soon smile on their for
tunes, and that their present trials
would but endear them the more to
each other in the days of after years.
At length, with tears and sobs she told
him of what she had learned ; apd,
while they wept on each other's bopoms,
they vowed over the Bible which Isa
belle held in her hands, to be faithful
' to each other to their dying day.
Meantime ihe miser was making pre
| parations for the marriage ceremony,
j and the father of Isabelle had portioned
! out his daughter's dowry ; when the
lovers, finding themselves driven to ex
tremity, took the resolution of escaping
from the city.
Now it so happened, in ace4slanee
with the proverb, which saith that evils
never come single that,at this very time,
| the city of Damascus was closely in
vested by a mighty army, commanded
i by the Caliph Abubeker Alwokidi, and
I in leaving the walls, the lovers were in
! imminent hazard of falling into their
| cruel hands ; yet having no other re
source left, they resolved to put their
; perilous adventure to the risk,
j *Twas the Mussulman hour of prayer
Maggrib ; the sun had just disappeared,
and the purple haze of twilight rested
on the hills, darkening all the ctdar
forests, when the porter ot the gate,
Keisan, having been bribed with a
bribe, its folding leaves slowly opened,
and forth issued a horseman closely
wrapped up in a mantle ; and behind
him, at the little space, followed an
other similarly olad. Alas ! for the un
lucky fugitives, it so chanced that
Derar. the oaptain of the night gnard,
was at that moment making his rounds,
and observing what was going on, de
tached a party to throw themselves
between the strangers and the town.
The former rider, however, discovered
their intentions, and called back to
his follower to return." Isabelle—for
it wa4 she—instantly regained the gate
which had not closed, bat Demetrius
fell into the hands of the enemy.
is wont in those bloody wars, the
poor prisoner was immediately carried
by an esoort to the presence of the
caliph, who put the alternative in his
power, of either, on the instant, re
nouncing his religion or submitting to
the axe of the headsman. Demetrius
told his tale with a noble simplicity ;
and his youth, his open countenance
and stately bearing so far gained on
the heart of Abubeker, that On his re
fusal to embrace Mahometanism he
begged of him seriously to consider of
his situation, and ordered a delay of
the sentence, which he must otherwise
pronounce, until the morrow.
Heart-broken and miserable, Deme
trius was loaded with chains, a,nd
carried to a gloomy place of confine
ment. In the solitude of the night he
cursed the hour of his birth—bewailed
his miserable situation—and feeling
that all his schemes of happiness were
thwarted, almost rejoiced that lie had
only a few hours to live.
The heavy hours lagged on toward
daybreak, and quite exhausted by the
intense agony of his feelings, he sank
down upon the ground in a profound
sleep, from which a band, with cree
cented turbans and crooked sword
blades, awoke him. Still persisting to
reject the prophet's faith, he was led
forth to die ; but in passing through
the camp, ths soubachis of the caliph
stopped the band, as he had been com
manded, and Demetrius was ushered
into the tent, where Abubeker, not yet
arisen, lay stretched on his sofa.
For awhile the captive remained re
solute, preferring death the disgrace of
turning a renegade ; but the wily caliph, '
who had taken a deep. and sadden in
terest in the fortunes of the youth,
knew well the spring by the touch of
which his heart was most likely to be
affected. He pointed out to Demetrius
prospects of* preferment and grandeur
while he assured him that, in a few
days Damascus must to a certainty sur- j
render in which case his mistress must
fall into the power of the fierce soldiery, i
and be left to a fate full of dishonor, I
and worse than death itself, but, if he j
assumed the turban, he pledged his !
royal word, that especial care should !
be taken that no harm should alight on ■
her he loved.
Demetrius paused, and Abubeker
saw that the heart of his captive was
touched. He drew pictures of power
and affluence and domestic love that
dazzled the imagination of his hearer ;
and while the prisoner thought of his
Isabelle, instead of rejecting the im
pious proposal, as at first he had done,
with disdain and horror, his soul bent
like iron to the breath of the furnace
flame,' and he wavered and became ir
resolute. The keen eye of the caliph
saw the working of his spirit within
him, and allowed him yet another day
to form his resolution. When the
second was expired, Demetrius craved
a third ; and on the fonrth morning,
miserable man, he abjured the faith of
his fathers and became a Mussulman.
Abubeker loved the youth, assigned
him a post of dignity, and all the
mighty host honored him whom the
caliph delighted to honor. He was
clad in rich attire and at
tended; and to all eyes Demetrius
a person werthy of envy ; yet
in the calm of thought, his conscience
'upbraided him, and he was far lesß
happy than he seemed to be.
Er6 yet the glow of novelty had en
tirely ceased to bewilder the under
standing of the renegade, preparations
were made for the assault; and, after
a fierce but ineffectual resistance, under
their gallant leaders, Thomas and
Herbis, the Damaofr.es were obliged
to Bubmit to their imperious con
queror, on condition of being allowed,
within three days, to leave the city un
molested.
When the gates were opened, Deme
trius, with a heart overflowing with
love and delight, was among the firßt to
enter. He enquired of everyone he
met of Isabelle f but all turned from
him with disgust. At length he found
her out, but what was the grief and
surprise—in a nunnery I Firm to the
troth she had so solemnly plighted, she
hid rejected the proposition of her
mercenary parent! and, having no idea
but that her lover had shared the fate
of all Christian captives, she had shut
herself, from the world, and vowed to
live the life of a vestal.
The surprise, the anguish, the horror
of Isabelle, when she beheld Demetrius
in his Moslem habiliments, cannot be
described. Her first impulse, on find
ing him yet alive, was to have fallen
into his arms ; but, instantly collecting
herself, she shrunk back from him with
loathing, as a mean and paltry dastard.
"'"No, no," she cried, J'you are no
longer,the man Iloved ; our vows of
fidelity were pledged over the Bible;
that book you have renounced as a
fable, and ho who has proved himself
false to heaven can never be true to
i» *
me !
Demetrius was conscience struck;
too late he felt nis crime and forsaw its
consequences. The very object for whom
he had dared to make the tremendous
sacrifice, had deserted him, and his own
soul told him with how much justice ;
so, without uttering a syllable, he
turned away, heart broken, from the
holy and beautiful being whose affec
tions he had forfeited for ever.
When the patriots left Damascus Isa
belle accompanied them. Retiring to
Antioch she lived with the sisterhood
for many years and, as her time was
passed between acts of charity and
devotion, her bier was watered with
many a tear, and the hands of the grate
ful duly strewed her grave with flowers.
To Demetrius was aestißed a briefer
career. All conscious of his miserable
degradation, loathing himself and life,
ana mankind, he rushed back from the
city into the Mahometan camp ; and
entering, with a hurried step, the tent
of the caliph, he tore the turban from
his brow, and cried aloud.—
"Oh, Abubeker ! behold a God-for
saken wretch. Think not it was the
fear of death that led me to abjure my
religion—the religion of my fathers—
the only true faith. No, it was the
idol of love that stood, between my
heart and heaven, darkening the latter
with its" shadow ; and had I remained
as true to God, as I did to the maiden
of my love, I had not needed this."
•So saying, and ere the hand of
Abubeker could arrest him, lie drew a
poniard from liis embroidered vest, and
the heart blood of the renegade spouted
on the royal robes of the successor of
Mahomet.
Two ol Syinphtliiiiiig.
Mr. Goldtliwaite was much surprised
upon entering his comfortable sitting
room _ one bitter cold evening, to tind
Ins wife wiping the corners of her eyes
with the daintiest of cambric handker
chiefs. Had she been reading a novel
he could readily have accounted for
this, but she was only intent upon the
daily paper, and as that does not usu
ally appeal to the tender emotions his
curiosity was excited, and he asked:
"Lucretia,dearest, what is'the matter?
Don't you feel well this evening?"
With a long-drawn sigh Mrs. Gold
tliwaite replied, "I have just beep read- j
ing of a family starving to death out in -
Nebraska; its terrible! The govern- I
ment ought to do something for the
relief of the sufferers."
"Perhaps we could do something for
them ourselves," said the gentleman,
reflectively. "Hut then there's no
knowing that it would ever reach
them."
"And even if it did, the little we
could give would amount to nothing
among so many. Oh! it's dreadful to
think of so much destitution. It will
drive me crazy if I don't, have some
thing to divert my mind."
So saying, she took up the latest novel
and soon forgot the real sorrows of the
world in imaginary ones.
That sameeveningjohn Smith, sitting
with his wife and children around the
evening lamp, read aloud the same
heart-rending account of starvation and
suffering in the west. Before he was
half through Mrs. Smith exclaimed with
her usual energy:.
"John, those people must not starve
while we nave plenty of everything;
something must be done right away.
We can give something ourselves and
get others to help us."
John replied, more cautiously, "We
are not rich. Mary ; I am afraid we can
de very little "
"No, we aren't rich, but we can share
what we have. I will get an alpaca
dress instead of the silk one you prom
ised me, and put my name down for ten
dollars."
"Spoken like my own bravft little
wife," said John, smiling. "I will make
my old overcoat last anothei winter and
put my name*d«Avn for ten dollars
more."..
Then twelve-year-old Charlie caught
the infection and spoke up, "John Blake
offered to trade his new skates for mv
old ones and a dollar to boot, but I'll
keep the old ones and give you the
dollar" And before lie had finished
Alice chimed in, "Mamma, mayn't I
give the fifty cents I earnedJtieniming
Uncle Frank's handkerchiefs?"
There was something more than ap
proval in the mother's smile, as she
glanced from the elder children to the
little four-year-old in her lap and
asked:
"And what will Freddy give to the
poor little boys and girls out west?"
The little bov looked first at his slip
pered feet and then at a pair of new
boots on the floor which he had owned
for a wfjole day, and choking back a
sobhesaid manfully, "Mamma, wouldn't
they like to have I reddy's new bocts ?"
There were tears in her smile as she
kissed the eager, upturned face in re
ply, for though boots would be a Door
substitute for a breakfast, there was no
mistaking the generous heart of the
little giver.
But Mrs. Smith did not stop there;
she talked the matter over with three
or four neighbors, then a meeting was
called and a committee appointed to
canvass the township. They worked
with a will, and at the end of two weeks
a large box of good, though half-worn
clothing (including Freddy's Ixwits) and
three hundred dollars in money were
sent to the western sufferers. If every
eastern neighborhood would but do as
much no man woman or child in Kansas
or Nebraska need die of cold or hunger.
Aa Antique Conveyance.
One of the many sleighs on the
Brighton road recently is worthy of spe
cial notice. It was labeled r, 1778,"
and contained four people attired in the
garments of "ye olden time." Jhe
sleigh itself was made by a man named
Caldwell, in Dunbarton, N. H. in 1778.
It was then- the extreme fashionable
form. In the Caldwell family it re
mained until a year ago last Thanks
giving, when it was bought by Messrs.
Moses Coleman fc Son. They have
since kept it as a valuable piece of
property, and being desirous to exhibit
a number of old garments, the musty
heirlooms of Bome ancient Essex fami
lies, settlers near old Newburyport, it
was brought out as above stated.
Several of the garments were over a
hundred years of age, and bad been
worn all through the Revolutionary
War by a Lieutenant French. One
wore a cloak smuggled over by a bank
president sixty-three years ago;' an
other, a lady's cloak of scarlet broad
cloth, which had been in existence
since 1770. All the other old garments
that were worn, although in perfect
preservation, were of very ancient
origin. The Messrs Goleman procured
these garments from *the owners, and
dressing up four of their employees,
sent them to parade about the city.—
Boston, Traveller.
Question for florists—ls not a rich
mandarin a China Astor ? T
Vulgar People.
' Mr. James Parton, in his lecture be
! fore the Liberal Club New York, said
j Shakespeare was evidently a tory of
| the old school, as he likened the clown
| and the farmer to fools fitted only for
! the jest of kings aud princes ; and even
I the common people, such as the tailor,
| shoemaker and baker, were treated
j with marked contempt, skilled work
men though they might be. They were
i vulgar people in his esteem, and he
| made frequent use of them in his plays.
! The late Horace Greeley used to think
differently. He thought that manual
labor was no disgrace. Lord Chester
! field considered loud laughing one of
! the worst features of vulgarity. Scott
I thought it was vulgar to belong to any
church but the Established Church.
Vulgalarity was to be noticed in a
thousand forms. Some women were
rude in their manners and especially !
in their dress. At an evening pnrty
you may see them often decked out in
what one would suppose were costly ■
trinklets—jewels everywhere ; the set !
complete—and how much did the fret? 1
complete, cost ?—the large sum of §l4. j
Well known German writers had con- j
demned shell-fish simply because they {
had understood the American people j
ate so many of them that they lost their j
wits, and finished up their clam-bakes
with wild speeches, dancing, shouting,
and gouging out each others' eyos.
Vulgarity could be seen every after
noon in Central Park. Dashing and
vulgar equipages could bo seen there
after the style of Fisk aud Helmbold. |
Some people had been guilty of many :
acts of vulgarity, if nothing worse, by j
municipal gifts ; one in particular—
William M. Tweed. He gave one I
winter 810,000 to the people of his ward, ;
after taking a much greater sum from t
them. Such charity was very- vulgar. |
Then agaiu there were some vulgar j
clergymen, who, like Tyndall or Huxley
or Carlisle, could teach young children j
what they did not, believe themselves.
For instance, he himself went into a j
country church one day, and there the j
clergymen was talking to a number of j
children about the deluge, as if he be- j
lieved it. This Illinois pastor kuew he
was lying, and yet what should those
children think when they grow up? A
gentleman not to be vulgar, must be
pure, temperate aud honorable. A
short time ago New York jvas nearly
swallowed up by foreign vulgarity—
such a time was never known before.
There were foreign politicians—men
who wore diamonds—here, there, and
everywhere, until diamonds were not
worn by any one else who did not wish 1
to be considered vulgar. • New York |
was turned upside down. The great I
event was the Americus Club ball.
There could be seen miles of carriages
carrying vulgar people to that ball.
Indeed it might well be said New York
was then at its lowest, for the lowest
were at the top.
Parton evidently don't consider him
self vulgar, wherein he differs with a j
great many.
A Uood Pleader.
"May it please Your Hdhor and gen
tlemen of the jury, the case is as clear
as ice and sharp to the point as 'no'
from your sweetheart. '1 he Scripture
saith, 'TIIOB shalt not kill;' now, if you
hang my client you t rausgressthe com
mand as slick as grease and as plump
as a goose egg on a loafer's face. Gen
tlemen, murder is murder, whuthercom
mitted by twelve jurymen or by an
humble individual like my client. Gen
tlemen. I do not deny the fact of my
client having killed a man, but is that
any reason why you should do so? No
such thing,gentlemen. You may bring
the prisoner in guilty, the hangman
may do his duty, but will that exoner
ate you ? No such thing. In that case
you will all be murderers. Who among
you is prepared for the brand of Cain
to be stamped upon his brow to-day ?
Who, freemen—who in this land of
liberty and light? Gentlemen, I will
pledge my word not one of you has a
oowie knife or a pistol in his pocket.
No, gentlemen, your pockets are odori
ferous with the perfumesof cigar stumps
and tobacco. Yon can smoke jtne to
baccoof rectitudein the pipe of apeace
ful conscience ; but hang my unfortun
ate client, and the scaly alligators of
freniorse will gallop through the inter
nal vertebra*, until the spinal vertebra
of your anatomical const ruction is
turned into a railroad for the grim and
gory goblins of despair. Gentlemen,
beware of eoinniittingmurder!—beware
I say, of meddling with the eternal
perogative!—beware, I say. Ueniemlier
the fate of the man n lio attempted to
steady the ark, and tremble. •Gentle
men, I abjure you by the manumitted
glio-t «f temporal sawctity to do no
murder! I abjitre you by the name of
woman, the mainspring of- the ticking
timepiece of Time s theoretical trans
migration, to Jo no murder! 1 abjure
yon, by the love you have for the escu
lent and continental gusto of our native
pumpkin, to do no murder! 1 abjure
you, by the stars set in the flying en
sign' of your emancipated country, to
do no murder! I abjure you by the
American eagle that whipped the uni
versal gamecock of creation, and now
sits roosting on tin* magnetic telegraph
of Time's illustrious transmigration, to
do no murder! And, lastly,gentlemen,
if you ever expect to wear long-tailed
coats, if you ever expect free dogs not
to bark at yon, if you ever expect to
wear boot* made of the fuse hide of the
Rocky Mountain buffalo, and, to sum
up all, if you ever expect to be anything
but a set of sneaking, loafing, rascally,
cut-throated, braided smalt ends of
humanity, whittled down to indistinc
tibility, acquit my client and save your
country.'*
The prisoner was acquitted.\
The traditions run that Brougham
once asked Jeffrey for £I,OOO upon a
promise to work off the debt ia a year,
anjl did it, writing"the whole number of
the Edinburgh Review.
VARIETIES.
Men who can cut a shine—Glaziers.
Happy thought—rut the thermome
ters in the oven.
A man who would try to stab a ghost
would stick at nothing.
The place for proof-readers; the
house of correction.
The mouth that is always open—The
mouth of the Mississippi.
Nobody need be hungry when there's
j so much "snap" in the weather.
Farmers gather what they sow, while
seamstresses sew what they gather.
Troubles are like dogs ; the smaller
they are the more they annoy you.
A disgusted Milwaukee fisherman of
fers a chromo to every fish which will
take the bait.
The crow is not so bad a bird after '
all. It never shows the white feather,
and never complains without caws.
"I allow that Job was patient, - ' re
marked a farmer, "but he never saw a
determined Shanghai hen sitting on a
nest full of boiled eggs."
Some people have peculiar constitu
tions. Mark Twain once complained,
after a long interval of idleness : "This
working between meals is killing me !"
A wicked man in Davenport being on
his death-bed, wished to consult some
proper person regarding his future
state, and his friend sent a fire insu
rance agent to him.
The Duke of Oonnauglit, better known
as Prince Arthur, of England, is about
to make a tour in the east, and will go
up the Nile, the modern fashionable
excursion. He travels incognito by
special desire of the queen.
Among the dealers who applied for
permission to place booths on the
boulevards of Paris for the sale of hol
iday gifts, was one who wanted to sell
preserved heads and prepared human
boues. Permission was refused.
"I comprehend now," said John
Henry, as his wife's four-story trunk
went up stairs on an Irishman's
shoulder, "why porter and stout are
synonymous terms." And then he
walked into the bar and took some
synonymous.
The total number of species of birds
included in the fauna of Norway is 2">o.
Of these, 174 have been discovered
within the Polar Circle, and of the
174 ranged as far north as within the
limits of Tromsoe Amt, while 150 spe
cies belong to the fauna of Finmark
proper.
A Dnliith paper proposes a railroad
on the ice the whole length of Lake
Superior, four hundred miles, and
thinks that such a railroad conld be
laid in the winter and-taken np in the
spring. The rente fronld be a dead
level, and the ice, which is thijjs enough
in winter to bear a tr&in gener
ally lasts till spriiig. Jules Verne
ought to interview thfe editdr of that
paper.
"Bonnie Dundee"'is not qnite as
charming a spot as the poet has painted
it, from the accounts. Last year, 502
women there were punished for drunk
enness and 810 for crime produced by
drunkenness ; in other words, 1,318 wo
men, or 2) per cent, of all the women
of Dnndee, are such drunkards that
the officers of the law mußt deliver
them to the judge and the judge must
fine or send them to prison.
Jobbery in China, with a bad resnlt.
In a recent number of the Pekin
Gazette is a minute of the trial of Li
Kwang-Chao. The culprit endeavored
to secnre official favor and a big "job"
by making some generous proposals
relative to the supply of timber to be
employed in bnildmg the Hummer
Place, which proposals he was subse
quently unable to carry out. He played
a high game and lost, and now awaits
execution after a term of imprisonment.
A new Swiss lake, or pile-dwelling,
has recently been unearthed at the
hamlet of Vinglez, near Biel ; the plat
form, which was found at a depth of
three or four feet, rested upon piles,
and was composed of beams nearly a
foot thick ; these w.ere of oaK, and well
preserved, the woody fibres of the
•'rings" being easily detected. It was
near this point that, during the last
winter a well preserved boat was dis
covered. This was forty feet long and
three wide ; it WHS embedded in a de
posit of marl near the edge of the river.
Dancing iu Russia is said to be rather
a heavy pastime. The peasants in
dancing, merely sway backward aud
forwajrd to the bahttjAca, a long guitar,
whose notes are frequently, drowned by
the shouts and songs of bystanders.
THe Cossack's dance is described as g.
noisy tramp.* But the court danoe—
tne polonaise (of Polish origin, as its
name indicates—is simply a promenade
or march, which affords the best op
portunities for conversation, while the
strictest etiquette may be observed.
The redowa, mazurka and vareovienDe
are all of Polish origin. The jig and
| country dances (c ontre (lanse) are
purely English, while the reel is un
j mihtakabl.v Scotch. The minuet origi
nated in the old French of Poitou, and
was afterwards introduced in England,
where it was long and deservedly pop
| ular. 'lhe waltz contrary to the popu
lar belief, is also of French origin.
The polka was brought from Hungary
in 1840. The election of President
Polk about the time it became popular j
here, gave rise to the erroneous notion
that the new dance had been named ' i*
his honor. The cotillon known M thfe
German, is really a yery old danoe
slightly modified. The Orientals are
fond of witnessing ballets and intricate
pas Beulß, bat never danoe themselves.
•L ■ ,-x v
NO. 5.