IS
volume:
^'ifE BSSVEIi
OXFOKl), N. C., WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 1876.
Oh, wonderfa] stream is the River of Time!
And it flows tliroug'h the realm of tears ;
■\Vitli a faultless rhythm and a musical rliyme,
And a broadening sweep and a surge sublime,
As it bends with the ocean of years.
How the winters arc drifting lilte flakes of
snow !
, And the siftnmors like buds between ;
And the cars and the sheaves, how they come
and go,
On the river’s breast, with its ebb and flow,
As they glide in the shadow and sheen.
There’s a magic isle up the River Time,
Where the softest of airs are playing;
There’s a cloudless sky and a tropical clime,
And a voice as sweet as a vesper chime,
And the Junes with the roses are staying;
And the name of that isk; is the ‘‘Long Ago,”
And we bury ouj’ treasures there;
There are brows of beauty and bosoms of
snow,
There are heaps of dust, but we loved them
There are trinkets and tresses of hair.
There are fragmetits of song that nobody sings,
And a part of an infant’s prayer ;
There’s a harp unswept and a lute without
strings,
There are broken vows and pieces of rings,
And the garments she used to wear.
There arc hands which are waved when that
fairy shore
By the mirage is lifted in air,
And sometimes we hear, through the turbu
lent roar,
Sweet voices \vc’ve heard in the days gone
betore,
When the wind do\\'n the river is fair.
Oh, remember fur aye be that blessed isle,
All the day of life till night;
And when evening comes with a beautiful
smile,
And our eyes are closoil in slumber awhile,
May that greenwood of soul be in sight!
B. F. Taylou.
MASaOOAIVY.
(lis
tlie
The Jlahogaii)' tree was
covered just a little before
year 1600, and not till nearly a
century later was it brought into
J'luropean use. The first mention
of it is that it was used in the re-
j)iiir of some of Sir Walter Ral-
eigli’s sliips, at Trinidad, in 1597.
Its finely varieg.'ited tints weie
admired; but in tliat age tlie
dream of El Dorado caused mat
ters of more value to be neglect
ed. The first that was brought
to England was about the begin
ning of the last centur}’, a few
j)laiiks having been sent to Dr.
Gibbons, of London, by a brother
who was a West Indian captain.
Tile Doctor was ei'ecting a house,
and gave the planks to the work
men, who rejected them as being
too hard. The Doctor then had
a candle-box made of the wood,
his cabinent-maker also complain
ing of the hardness of the timber.
But, when finished, the box be
came an object of general enrios-
ity and admiration. He had one
bureau, and Her Grace of Buck
ingham had another, made of this
beautiful wood ; and the despised
mahogany now became a promi
nent article of luxury, and at the
same raised the fortunes of the
cabinet-maker (Wollaston), by
'vliom it had been at first so little
regarded. Since that time, rival
ing and almost displacing all
other ornamental woods, mahog-
anjj- has become everywhere in
dispensable, and is, all over the
World, converted into whatever
of useful or beautiful may pro
mote the convenience and com
fort, or delight the taste, the ca
price, or the religious sentiment
of civilized man.
The mahogany tree is found in
Florida, and may thus be claimed
as indigenous to the United
States ; and there is no reason to
doubt that it may, and hereafter
will be, planted and cultivated to
great advantage. But hitherto it
has been cut chiefly in the native
forests of the Bahamas, the West
India Islands, Honduras, and Yu
catan.
Full grown it is one of the
nionarchs of the forests of tropical
America. Its vast trunk and mas
sive arms, rising to a veiy lofty
height, and spreading witli grace
ful sweep over immense s])acos—
covered witli beautiful foliage,
bright, glossy, light, and airy’
clinging so long to the spray as
to make it almost an evergreen—
presents a rare combination of
loveliness and grandeur. The
leaves are very small, delicate,
and polished like those of the lau-
rel.^ The flowers are small and
white, or greenish yellow, fl’ho
fj’uit is a hard, woody caj^sule,
oval, not unliko the egg of a tur
key ill size and shape, and con
tains five cells, in each of which
are inclosed about fifteen seeds.
A few facts will furnish a tol
erably distinct idea of the size of
this splendid tree. The mahog
any lumbermen, having selected
a tree, surround it with a pfat-
torm about twelve feet above the
ground, and cut it above the plat
form. Some dozen or fifteen feet
of the largest part of the trunk
are thus lost. Yet a single log
not unfrequently weighs from six
or seven to fifteen tons, and some
times measures as much as sev
enteen feet in length, and four
and a half to five and a half feet
in diameter, one tree- furnishing-
two, three, or four such logs.
Some trees have yielded twelve
thousand superficial feet, and at
average prices, have sold for fif
teen thousand dollars.
_ [Messrs. Broadwood, London,
piano-forte manufacturers, paid
£3,000 for three log’s, all cut from
one tree, and each about fifteen
feet long and more than three feet
NUMBER
ests of the Bahamas.
T ho old Jamaica mahogany,
now so scarce, grew also in arid
and rocky soils, matured very
slowly, and was remarkable for
the variety and beauty of its
veins, spots, clouds, and figuring.
But Jamaica, as well as the
Bahamas, has been almost strip
ped of this valuable variety of
timber. In 1753 not less than
521,000 feet of mahogany were
shipped fi'om this single island.
1 lie old Jamaica mahogany has
disappeared from the market;
and the trees npw cut in that is-
land,_ growing, as it do, on low,
alluvial soil, furnish an infei’ior
timber, pale and porous, and less
esteemed than that of the Cuba,
San Domingo, or Honduras.
Ti-SE PYKAMIBS OE EGi-pT.
square. Of these logs it is re
corded that the wood was partic
ularly beautiful, capable of re
ceiving the highest polish, and
when polished reflecting the light
in the most varied manner, like
the surface of a crystal, and from
the wavy form of the pores offer
ing a different figure in whatever
direction it was viewed. Cut in
to veneers of the sixteenth of an
inch thick, these logs would cover
an area of nearh^ two acres.] ■
In low and damp soils it is of
very rapid growth ; but the most
valuable trees grow slowly amidst
rocks and on sterile soil, and seem
to gather compactness and beauty
of grain and texture from the very
difficulties with which they have
to struggle for existence ; just as
in human life affliction and trial
develop the loveliest traits of hu
man character. In the Bahama
Islands, springing up on rocky
hill-sides in places almost desti
tute of soil, and crowding its con
torted roots into crevices among
the rocks—I speak now of a time
long past—it formed that much
esteemed and curiously veined
variety of wood known and valu
ed so highly in Europe as “ Ma
deira wood.” The relentless axe
of the lumberman has long ago
exterminated the mahogany for-
Rev. R. Dunn, in a letter from
Suez, thus describes the pyramids:
The pyramids, destitute” alike of
beauty and utility, yet as mile
stones upon the highway of tinre,
their rough sides and broken tops
mark the progress of the ages and
the advance of the world’s civili
zation. They- are appropriate;
as destitute of beauty as their
builders were ot taste. In their
coldness and hardness represent
ing properly the philantlu’opy (!)
which drove 100,000 men to ten
years of toil in building the cause
way for transporting the stone
from the river in CheoDs, and
then drove 360,000 men to'twenty
years of slavish toil in building
that one artificial mountain, cov
ering more than twelve acres of
land. And there are more than
twenty- of these monstrous tombs,
some of which are almost as large
as Cheops. And yet there is a
strange interest felt in these mas
sive piles. They- were old when
Christ was born, and carry one
back nearly- four thousand years.
I’hey- show the effect of combined,
persevering effort. Their mag
nitude is overwhelming. Think
of it. One single pile of square,
rough-hewed stone, with 12 feet
removed from each side, and still
covering moi-e than 12 acres of
land, rising nearly- 450 feet, and
containing 85,000,000 cubic feet
of stone. Enough to fence in
3,500 farms of 160 acres each;
or enough to build more than
37,000 houses, 30 by 40 feet,
which, with six persons to each
house, would accommodate over
200,000. One of these twenty
would furnish building stone siilii-
cient for comfortably housing the
entire population of Boston.
tegrity of thought, advance of in
telligence, and chaste and upright
action of women. Oiir land af
fords, from olden day-s down to
[ the present time, numberless in
stances of virtuous women ; but
still, if wo regard the matter in
respect to the whole of our coun
try, it must be allowed that the
regulations for the education of
women are exceedingly defective.
At the present raomoiit, refoi'in
in enliglitenment has gradimlly
progressed ; and it is a source of
rejoicing to the myriads of our
jteople that the Tokio Normal
riehool for girls has been estab
lished, and that by her majesty’s
attendance to-day,- the ceremony-
of opening the school is favorabh-
carried out. Our earnest desire
is that those who may in after time
complete their education here
may beconse virtuous women, and
so assist their husbands ; virtnons
mothers, and so to instruct thoii
ciiildren ; and that by their giv
ing birth to and roaring uj) a
worthy population, our country-
may become a prosperous and
tranquil land.”
The Empress replied :
“Upon hearing last y-ear that
this school was about to be estab
lished, in order to foster the
growth of education for girls, I
was unable to contain my joy-.
Its construction has now been
completed, and the ceremonies of
its opening has been performed.
My earnest desire is that this
school may- henceforth be pros
perous, and that I may- eventual
ly see tho beautiful fruit of fe
male education appear in profu
sion throughout the whole of tho
land.”
BBMESiSIOlMS OE'I’JJE AMEK-
1€A»[ EAKES.
Wo2*ls of Wisdom.
The Japanese Normal school,
in Yeddo is for the education of
girls. The Empress and other
high dignitaries, who presided at
tlie opening recently, were escor
ted to tlie main liall of tlie build
ing by tlie Vice-Minister of Edu
cation. Tlie Superintendent of
the school read an address, as fol
lows :
“We humbly venture to think
that the enlightment of a country-
depends upon the excellence of
its government, and that the ex
cellence of its government de
pends upon the perfect nature of
the regulations of families. Now,
the perfect nature of household
regulations depends upon tho iu-
The greatest length of Lake
Superior is 335 miles ; the great-
e.st breadth is 160 miles; mean
depth, 988 feet; elevation; 627
feet; area, 23,000 square miles.
The greatest length of Lake
Michigan, is 360 miles; its great
est breadth, 108 miles; mean
depth, 900 feet; elevation, 687
feet; area, 23,000 square miles.
The greatest length of Ijake
Huron is 200 miles ; the greatest
breadth is 160 miles ; mean depth,
800 feet; elevation, 474 feet;
area, 20,000 square miles. The
greatest length of Lake Erie is
250 miles ; its greatest breadth is
80 miles; its mean depth, 200
feet; elevation, 555 feet; area,
6,000 square miles. The great
est length of Lake Ontario is 180
miles; its greatest breadth is 65
miles ; its mean depth is 500 feet;
elevation, 262 feet; area, 6,000
square miles. The total length
ot all five is 1,584 miles, covering
an area altogether of ujtwards of
90,000 square miles.
k nd friend happens in—God sent,
a.id y on are soothed, cheei’ed
and encouraged ; the veil is lift
ed, and you are h ippy- once in iro.
Many are able to give substantial
help to those who are in need,
inoney, to tide over some finan
cial^ trouble; food, to keep a
family from starving ; gifts that
nourish the heart with assurance
of love, something that mav be a
trifle in itself, but helps make np
the sum of human iianpiness.
But perhaps you cannot do this ;
y-ou have a largo family and limi
ted income, or are otherwise pre
vented from making tho hand the
almoner of the heart. Well then
draw on the spiritual treasury.
Give kinds words to those who
need them ; comfort those who
are boived down ; speak lovingly-
to little children, and encourau’-
inly to those who faint for tins
support. Stand ready to help
everybody-.
Extremes ot Kaiiit'ali.
It is well known that in some
parts of the w-orld I'ain is a nov
elty. The clouds never distil
their grateful show-ers, and vege
tation cannot flourish. Not a
drop of water falls in Northern
Mexico, or on the Peruvian coast,
or in Central Arabia, or in the
deserts of Sahara ,and Gobi. On
the other hand, in Ihitagonia and
other countries, it seldom leaves
off raining.
Tho quality of rain varies quite
as much as its frequency-. An
inch a day- in England is an ex
traordinary amount; in Scotland
and in this country three or four
inches a day are not uncommon ;
while in Gibi-altar thirty-three
inches have fallen in twent\ -six
hours. In France the average
annual fall is thirty inches; in
Russia, fourteen ; in this country-,
from thirty-five 1,o fifty; but
among the Khasia, hills, opposite
the head of the Gulf of Bengal,
it is often forty--foiir feet. I his 's
probably the w-ettest part of the
globe, for, on the -ivestern coast
of Ireland, where tho moisture
from tlie Atlantic creates perpet
ual rains, the animal fall is only
ton feet.
EAMOl-S E.\«1ASII OAKS.
HEEEI«i« ©a'HEItS.
It seems a strange thing, but it
is nevertheless true, that sharing
another’s burden will lighten our
own. If you begin doing little
things for your neighbor, it will
very- soon be easy- for you to per
form great deeds in his behalf.
No man is sufficient unto himself.
Trust in Providence is nothing
but liigher belie! in humanity-.
You may feel very much depre-s-
ed some day-, discouraged and
well nigh despairing, when some
21ie Kinq Oak, Windsor Forest,
is more than 1,000 yeai-s old, and
quite hollow-. Profes.sor Burnet,
who once lunched inside this tree,
said it w'as capable of accommo
dating ten or tw-elve persons com
fortably- at a dinner sitting.
2 he Oak, in Bagshot
I ark, is 20 feet in girth, five feet
from the ground; the branches
extend from the tree 48 feet in
every- direction.
The Wallace Oak, at Ellerslie,
near where Wallace w-as born, is
21 feet in circumference. It is
67 feet high, and its branches ex
tend 45 feet east, 36 w-est, 30
south and 25 north. Wallace and
300 of his men are said to have
hid themselves from the English,
among the branches of tlusVee’
which was then in ftfll leaf.
A colored preacher, comraen'
ting on the passage, ‘Bo ye there
fore wise as serpents and'harmless
as doves,’ .said that the mixture
shoidd be made in tho proportion
of a jiouiul ol dove to an ounce
of sei'peiit.
I’ 'L.