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.

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