THE ALAMANCE GLEANER.
vol.. I:
POETRY.
IT IS SO.
; i
I've seen many a girl
Who would marry a churl,
Provided he'd plenty of gold,
And would live to repent,
When the money was Bpent—
When she found that her heart had been' sold,
It is bo ! it-is so!
You may smile if you like,
But it's so.
I've known many a lass
Who would thoughtlessly pass
Whole hours parading the street;
While the mother would scrub
All the while at the tub,
Never minding the cold nor the heat.
It is so ! it is so !
You may smila if you like,
But it'B so.
There is many a man
Who will "dress" if he can,
No matter how empty his purse;
And his tailor may look.
When he settles his book,
For liis patron has bolted or worse.
It is so ! it is so !
You may smile if you like
But it's so.
I know people so nice
They will faint in a trice
If you mention bard labor to them;
Yet their parents were poor,
And were forced to endure
Many hardships life's current to stem.
It is so ! it is so !
You may smile if you like,
But it's so.
There are many about.
With a face "long drawn out,"
Who will prate for the harm of a laugh;
Yet they'll cheat all the week.
Though on Sunday's so meek.
To my mind they're too pious by half.
It is so ! it is so !
You may smile if you like,
But it's so.
MISCELLANY.
Know Thyself.
"If we knew half aB much of man on
this continent as Agassiz has taught us
of turtles, or his son has taught us ef
echinoderms, we should be most fortu
nate." So speaks Dr. Oliver Wendell
Holmes in his last essay on "The
Americanized European." This being
true, it would seem as if some of the
energy devoted to the *study of animal
life might to great advantage be directed
to a pursuit that concerns the welfare
of the human raoe almost as much as a
knowledge of tortoises or sea-urchins.
"Few subjects," Dr. Holmes informß
us, "would repay investigation better
than that of human development and
health, at different ages and in the two
sexes, in the different regions of
America." Unfortunately for us, while
the study of marine life has enlisted the
devotion of very superior minds, the
question of human development has
attracted the attention of a host of
charlatans and half educated theorists
who have confused the world with a
mass of purely mendacious or half
digested utterances upon the subject.
If a thorough and intelligent investiga
tion of all the phenomena pertaining to
the race in America would, as Dr.
Holmes declares, repay the inquiry, let
us hope that some of our wise men of
scienoe, our cool, balanced, large
brained men, will take the subject up,
and pursue it—at least far enough to
generalize the great masft of facts that
have already been collected. Let /the
human family stand in as much rever
ence with these savants as fossils and
the lower organisms.
Means to Get Rlcli.
Ten or twelve years ago there was a
miner working in the upper levels of
the Oomstock at $4 per day. He lived
in a little cabin down the canyon, did
his own cooking, and whistled softly,
"There's a good time coming, boys."
To-day that miner walks about the
streets of Virginia City, as cordial as
in the old days ; he dresses no better
than any ordinary gentleman of Vir
ginia, and eats no better food than a
conscientious editor ought to have.
And yet, as his fortune is rated in the
stock list daily, he is so rich that, were
his stocks turned into money, he could
lend Soott that $70,000,000 he wants
and have enough left to live comfort
ably upon. He oould, unaided, go
down and open, at his own expense, the
Darien Canal; or should his fancy run
that way, be oould "advertise to-morrow
that the Government through him had
determined to resume immediately
specie payments, and pretty nearly
make the promise good. He could
endow a college in each State of the
Union with $2,000,000 each, or oould
build a double track narrow gauge
railroad from San Francisco to New
York, and solve at once the problem of
cheap transportation. There is no tell
ing, indeed, what he might do; but
what he will do is apparent enough. He
was here when thirty feet of ore near
the surface was a big mine. At 1,500
feet he has found it three or four times
as wide. He believes at 4,000 he will
strike it 500 feet wide, and get rich,
and he is going for it.— Virginia En-
Urpritt. ■ i.
A Paris authority Bays : "There is
nothing more difficult for a woman to
do than to ait gracefully in a carriage.
The lorette lies down at full length ;
the strong-minded woman orosses her
legs; the bourgeoise sticks up her
kneee ; the waiting maid leans over the
side, and the .high bred lady only holds
herself as she ought to do without
either carelessness or stiffness, an"
looks as though she had been born in a
carriage."
GRAHAM, ALAMANCE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1875.
HIS WITS ABOUT HIM.
BY ROVER.
i.
I certainly thought he was "ont of
his head." He had such peculiar ways
and said such peculiar things ; and he
went about as if he was in a somnam
bulic state, almost; that is, I don't
mean quite that, but he never seemed
to take the same notice of what hap
pened about him that other men do.
And as to his ever being surprised at
any thing, 1 never knew him to show
surprise on but one occasion in'his life.
What that occasion was I shall naturally
mention before I am done.
His name was Joseph Harrison, and
he was a student at the academy in
Sanford—one of the style of academies
that seem to have nearly gone out of
date now, where both the sexes were
taught under the same roof. 1 attended
the Sanford school. The principal's
house was on the corner, across the way
from the academy, and he boarded a
dozen or so of the students. 1 was one
of these boarders.
I shall never forget the day Mr. Har
rison came to the house to board. I was
sitting on the second floor piazza, atu
dying. It was late on a summer after
noon. As he entered the gate, I leaned
over to look at him, and when he was
just underneath, I chanced to drop my
book. It struck him on the shoulder
and fell thence to the ground. He
turned and looked at it quietly, and
then poked it aside with his big cane.
What does he carry that big caYid for?
thought I; and why don't he pick up
my book, or look up at me, or do any
other thing a rational being would ?
He rung the bell, and I saw no more
of him till tea-time. He sat directly
opposite me at the table. Would you
believe it, he never looked at me once
—nor, indeed, at any one else, it
seemed—which was the reason, per
haps, why I looked at him more than I
ever did at any other young man in my
life, in the same length of time.
After tea we gathered in the parlor, I
as we were in the habit of doing, * and
he was introduced to me. He bowed,
and then, for the first time, looked at
me, or rather, he looked through me,
as if he saw something behind me, and
my head was as transparent as glass.
Then he smiled and turned away. '
I confess I was provoked at the man
ner of the young man. What amuned
him I should like to know. When Belle
Harrison asked me afterward how I
liked her cousin, I said I didn't like
him at all. She only laughed, and said
she believed nobody ever did like him
at first.
Somebody asked me to sing. I seated
myself at the piano, and gave a song in
my best manner—which I had been
taught to believe was not an inferior
manner, by any means. My voice was
good, and I had received the best
musical culture. What mysterious in
fluence was upon me I did not know,
for, if ever I thoroughly disliked a
person in my life, I certainly disliked
Harrison ; but, it ia true, notwithstand
ing, that I sung for him ; and when I
turned away from the piano, it was with
some special curiosity I anticipated his
comments, if he chose to make any, or
its manner and its meaning, if he chose
to hold his tongue.
If you will believe it, the man was
looking at a painting on the wall, look
ing at it standing up, with his'hands
clasped behind him, and his back to
the company. Was there ever suoh a
clown ?
"What is the name of that beautiful
song ?" asked Orville Red way, a young
man from the Tillage, who had been
invited to tea, and now sat with us in
the parlor.
I told it to him.
"I must have it," said he ; "it is ex
quisite." And he took out a pencil to
write on a card the name of the piece.
He broke his pencil lead. "Will Bome
one be kind enough to lend me a
knife?" he asked. "I have forgotten
mine."
Mr. Harrison heard the question,
although he was still looking at the
painting, and he produced a large
pocket-knife, whioh he handed to Mr.
Redway.
"It is very sharp," said he; "be
careful."
The first thing Redway did was to
cut his hand. The blood spurted out
in jets. He turned pretty pale, but he
just gathered his hand in his handker
chief, and said: "It was a mere
scratch of no consequence."
4 "Beg your pardon, sir," Mr. Harri
son spoke, "it is of some consequence.
You'll lose your life, if you don t look
out. I'll fix you."
He took his own handkerchief and
tied it loosely around Red way's arm.
Then he took the knife, shut it care
fully, put it under the handkerchief,
next to the arm, and began to twist it
about. As the handkerohief tightened
on the arm, the blood ceased to flow.
"bend for a doctor," said Mr. Harri
son.
"A doctor I" exclaimed Redway.
"Isn't this a good deal of fuss over a
little cut?"
"A little cut 1" . said Mr. Harrison,
"when yon cnt an artery, it's a big cut."
Dr. Miner was three doors off, and
he came in a few minutes. He ex
pressed great approbation at young
Harrison's conduct. 9
Young Harrison, is unconcerned as a
post, had returned to his inspection of
the painting he seemed to admire so
much. Mr. Red way soon went off,
with this doctor.
The k))ife lay en the table. Out of
pure imprudence, or some similar feel
ing, I took up this terrible knife, and
accidentally out the end of one of my
fingers nearly oft I screamed loudly,
for it was a horrible wound, and the
blood flowed oopionsly.
"Well, upon my word," remarked
Mr. Harrison, "here's another 1"
Another! How contemptuous the
word sounded to me! I, Margaret
Bailey Monroe, confessedly a belle, a
beauty, and a lady of rare accomplish
ments, besides being heiress to a hun
dred thousand dollars I was just
"another I" Why didn't he call me a
person and be done with it ?
Well, what would he do with my
frightful wound ?
"Mix a little flour and salt, and put
on it," said he, "that will stop the
bleeding. It is a mere trifle."
It may have been a trifle, but it w#
enough to make me swoon. Or, pet
haps, I swooned out of downright vexa
tion at the man.
When I recovered, he was gone. By
and-by, when Belle and I were alone—
we roomed together—l asked her what
Mr. Harrison said and did when I
fainted.
"He said," Belle answered, " 'lay her
on her back, and leave her alone."
"Is that all he said ?"
"No ; not quite. Some one brought
the flour and salt, and he put it on
your finger, and said, 'There, tie a rag
around it.'" -
• A rag ! I should certainly hate this
young man.
After that he became such an object
of interest to me that I could scarcely
keep my mind off him an hour at a
time.
I was not long in learning something
of his history. It seemed that a love
of adventure had set him on a cruise
round the world, when he was a boy of
about sixteen, both his parents being
dead. He had been absent from his
native country about four years without
interruption, and on his return, had
decided to go to the academy a short
time, to correct certain lacks -m his
education. This explained why a man
of his advanced age should be attend
ing school—for he was twenty-one if he
was a day, Belle assured me. I myself
was about seventeen. I was the only
female student of German at the
academy, and it was on that account
that Mr. Harrison manifested some
degree of interest in me, I suppose, for
he was almost enthusiastic in his ad
miration of that scholastic tongue. So
I saw a good deal of him after all.
The following winter, at a party at
Mrs. band's, in Sandford, one bitter
cold night, I chanced to be alone with
Nellie Wells, one moment, in an upper
chamber, which was used £s a cloak
room for lady guests. There was a
furious fire in the stove, and its sides
were red-hot.
Nellie was a pretty girl, but rather
dull. a dress of some gauzy
fabric, and going too near the stove, it
took fire. ' I ran out of the room,
screaming at the top of my voice :
"Mr. Harrison I Mr. Harrison I Oh,
Mr. Harrisbn 1"
He came quickly into the hall, saw
me, was up the stairway in a bound,
and as I was running back into the
room, he went past me, pushing me
aside rather rudely, and took in all,
with a quick, cool glance.
Nellie had hauled a quilt from the
bed that was in the room, and was try
ing to stifle the ilames.
He threw her on the floor, rolled her
over in the quilt, like a mummy, and
extinguished the flames at once
hugged her, too. She was not very
badly burned, after all, and her face
was not touched by the flames, softhat
she remained as pretty as ever.
"Remarkably sensible girl," said Mr.
Harrison, afterward, to a group that
clustered about himy in the parlor.
"Most girls would have rushed head
long into the hall, screaming like"—he
looked at me—"like mad," he added,
with a quiet smile. "I ever I marry,"
said he, "which I probably never shall,
I shall marry a sensible woman—a
woman who would not set up a scream
if our youngest should fall into a tub
of hot water, but would pull the ohild
out as quickly as possible, and send
for a doctor."
Somehow, I was vain enough to think
this sarcastic speech was intended
solely to rebuke me. I knew I should
certainly scream in such a case. It was
my nature to scream, and how could I
help my nature ?
As for that poor little Nellie Wells, I
hated he?, and almost wished it had
been my own dress that had canght
fire— only I should certainly have
burned to death before Mr. Harrison
would have come and wrapped me in a
quilt and hugged me.
From that day forward, some power
ful influence was at work upon me. I
struggled hard after that cool manner
in danger which Mr. Harrison pos
sessed in so eminent a degree. I even
ventured in the pursuit of perfection,
to ask him how he could do it
"I suppose," aaid he," "it is because
I naturally have sach an extreme ter
ror of danger in every shape—such a
lively sympathy with those in peril—
that I feel very atroagly the necessity
for being calm when others are excited.
I think that whatever excnse a lady haa
for losing her wits—and that is, at the
best, a very little—a man has no ezcuae
whatever. I always try to keep my
wits about me."
"To be calm, then," said I, with the
withering irony common to girls of from
fourteen to eighteen," one only needs
to have his wits about him."
"Exactly," said he; "or te change
the, sex, her wits about her."
"Just as," I added, "the secret of
wealth is to get money. "•
"And to keep it," said he.
One thing I was fully determined—
he never should hear me scream again.
However, he left the school soon
after ; and I did likewiae in about aix
■Qothf. '
I had effected a great change in my
self before I met him again.
It was in the summer of the year
which saw me pass my twentieth birth
day, that we met at Niagara Falls. He
was there with his cousin, my dear
friend Belle Harrison, and I with my
sister and mother.
~ On a certain day we all took a walk
on Goat Island, when mother dropped
her parasol, and it slid down the bank
some fifteen feet and out of reach. Mr.
Harrison descended the bank after it,
and, though he used proper precau
tions, his foot slipped on the treacher
ous soil, as he was returning, and he
slid rapidly down to the very verge of
the precipice. I expected nothing else
than to see him go over and be dashed
to pieces on the rocks a hundred feet
below; but though the other three
ladies screamed, I did not. You see I
was pretty thoroughly drilled by this
time. However, as Mr. Harrison neared
the edge of the precipice, he threw out
his right hand —still holding the para
sol in his left—and seized the upturned
roots of a tree whioh leaned over the
chasm. The tree shook violently under
the sudden shock, and the roots began
to tear themselves out of the thin soil,
slowly and.steadily, under the influenoe
of this superadded weight. In a few
minutes more it would inevitably give
way, and then Mr. Harrison would be
killed. I knew my face was pale, and
that I was terribly frightened ; but I
leaned forward and spoke to him :
"Tell me what to do !"
"Take all the ladies' shawls, skirts,
and any other articles of dress that you
can spare, and which are strong enough
—cut them in wide and strong Bttips,
then tie them firmly together, and make
a rope."
I obeyed as calmly as I knew he
would have done, but none the less ex
peditiously on that accout, be very
sure.
He continued speaking to me at in
tervals while I was doing his bidding,
and he spoke as deliberately as if he
stood in safety at my side.
"Your calmness is quite charming,
Miss Monroe," said he, "be sure and
make the knots tight. I judge that
this tree may be relied on with perfect
confidence for ten or fifteen minutes
vet.... Your rope is long enough now,
1 think.... That's it. All right now.
Do nothing but hold fast and stand
still, ladies, and I will come up to you."
He drew himself up, hand over hand,
with extreme caution, and was saved.
My mother's parasol was restored to
her with a courtly bow, and he brushed
the dust from his olothes and walked
away with us. I walked by his side ;
but he made no reference to the peril
just passed.
That evening, however, as we sat on
the piazza of our hotel, where it over
looks the river—how well I remember
the rushing sound of the waters down
below !—he said :
"We are alone now, Miss Monroe
and I can thank you for saving my life,
without offence to the other ladies."
It was too dark out there for him to
see the blush of delight that went over
my face at these words. How much
they meant to me !
"I knew I was as good as saved,"
said he, "when I saw you standing
there with tightly olasped hands and
your upper lip uressed Dy your shining
teeth. while Belle and the other ladies
were tryiDg to drown the roar of old
Niagara with their shrieks. I never
saw one of your Bex before who had the
oontrnl over herself that you manifested
to-day. If I had seen such an exhibi
tion anywhere, it would naturally have
awakened my admiration ; but when it
happened to be an exhibition in which
my own life or death was concerned,
you may imagine mv feelings."
The tone in which he uttered these
words was so tender and true—it said
so plainly that he would gladly devote
all nis future life to me 1 Bat though
tone and manDer said this, his words
did not say it, and I knew the reason.
He believed me already betrothed.
William Willis was the son of a New
York merchant, who had been a school
mate with my father. It was my
father's wish that we should be mar
ried. I loved my father and was anxious
to be pleased with his friend's son.
Young Willis had been a frequent guest
with us, and oonsidered us
already betrothed.—He was an agree
able companion in the parlor—a good
dancer and all that; but I cared more
for one look of Joseph Harrison's hon
est gray eye* than I did for William
Willis' whole composition.
According to a previous appointment,
Mr. Willis came to the Falla during our
atay, arriving on the evening of the day
that witnessed Mr. Harriaon'a narrow
escape frojn death ; he came out on the
piazza where we sat, that evening, and
we shook hands.
The gentleman were alightly ac
quainted, but it was plain Mr. Harri
son did not like Mr, Willia much ; and
with a playful, "Ich mutt weggehen,"
to me, he rose and went into the ball
room, politely offering his seat to Mr.
Willia.
Several iaya passed. While actually
in the position of a rival toward Mr.
Willis, Mr. Harrison by no means per
mitted himself to act as if he were
such. He waa very courteous to Mr.
Willia, and quietly yielded all prefer
ences relating to me in society. He
seemed, however, to be studying taa—
weighing the evidence of regard between
us—trying to form a conclusion as to
the probable extent of our relations
matrimony-ward. Oh ! it seemed to
me as though he might—so brave a man
as he was—plainly put a few quettiont
to me on the subject I I would have
qnickly assured him how little Mr.
Willis was to me. ~
At last, I had nearly made up my
mind to do a desperate thing ; nothing
less, indeed, than to seek the interces
sion of his cousin, my friend Belle. I
would tell her how much I loved Mr.
Harrison, and beg her to inform him in
some sly, feminine way, that I should
never marry Mr. Willis, and that we
were not engaged. However, I neglected
to do this just one day too long. ,
~ It was on Monday, the last day of
our intended stay at the Falls. Mr.
Willis invited me to ride. I had no
courteous refusal at hand, and I con
sented to go with him. Indeed, I had
half promised him some days before.
There was a New York friend of ours
staying at the Falls, who had with him
a favorite horse —a fiery, handsome
animal, and Mr. Willis had repeatedly
invited me to ride behind him. I oould
put off the ride no longer, of coarse.
I did not much like the vioious man
ner in which the horse, at starting, laid
back his ears and bounded away, but I
said nothing. We had not been riding
many minutes, ere the animal ohose to
take fright at the flapping of a line full
of newly-washed clothing in a door-yard
of a house near the river bank ; and
taking the bit in his teeth, he ran
away. Our road lay along the bank.
Safe enough, "certainly, for a ride with
a horse under control, but decidedly
not the best place for a runaway, be
cause there was a spot, not over a half
mile distant, where the chanoes were
frightfully great that we should be
thrown over the preoipice and killed.
At the rate we were now going, we
should reach that dangerous place very
soon. •William Willis, looking ahead,
comprehended the danger, and his face
blanohed.
"Good God !" he cried, "it'sdeath 1"
With that he threw up the reins and
jumped out of the buggy, striking a
rock and breaking his collar-bone, as I
found afterward.
As for me, I kept my seat. If it
should become necessary for me to
jump, then I would jump; but I was
determined not to take that venture till
it was imperatively demanded by the
imminency of the danger at hand. So
long as there was a possibility that the
horse's progress might be arrested, I
held to that hope; because, when a
horse is running furiously down a
smooth road, there is no choice between
jumping places till the crisis is at hand.
While I sat, clinging firmly to the
seat, and looking sharply out ahead,
for the dangerous place must now be
drawing near, a man—it was Mr. Har
rison—sprang with astonishing agility
at the horse's head from among some
trees at the roadside, oaught the bit,
jerked it back, and out of the horse's
teeth, and actually tore the animal's
lips so that the blood flowed, so ener
getic was the action. There was no
relisting the iron will backed by the
iron nerve. The runaway 6ame to a
stop. Mr. Harrison drew him to the
side of thp road and examined the
harness tfnd buggy oarefully.
"Nothing broken," said he. "Avery
narrow escape, Miss Monroe. I saw
you ooming and just had time to get
my wits in order. There, don't thank
me : I didn't know it was you, and
tihould have done the same thing for
any one else."
"But you are hurt," said 1, notioing
that he limped.
"Tea, the horse trod on my foot."-
"Oh, how unfortunate ! Shall I get
out ?
"No," said he ; "it is not necessary
that you should. Hit still and get
rested. He will run no mbre to-day, I
promise yon."
He came around and placed his lame
foot carelessly on the wheel of the
buggy and spoke in his usual calm tone.
"When a horse has had a fine lively
run like that, he is inclined to be quiet
the rest of the day. You oan drive him
back in perfect safety. Bat I did not
know you were so fond of taking drives
all alone by yourself, Miss Monroe?"
"I was not riding alone," said I, "my
driver jumped out."
"And left you?" said he, astonished.
"Yes." ■
"He ought to be horse-whipped.
May I ask the coward's name ?"
"His name," said I, "is William
Willis."
Mr. Harrison started, amazed.
"Willis! I beg yonr pardon, Miss
Monroe." This very coldly. "I should
not have spoken in these terms if 1 had
known your companion was your—"
He stopped and bit his lip.
"My fiance, you would say," 1 made
quick response. "But he is not my
fiance, Mr. Harrison. I would sooner
marry a woman than such a ooward 1"
I spoke with some heat, and he
looked up at my excited faoe with his
dry smile. "Will yon jaimrrj me, Miss
Monroe ?"
"Yes," said I.
And I did.
It waa a queer place for a proposal,
waa it not ? But my husband la not
like other men ! He always has hit
wilt about him. . >
Here I had finiahed, but my husband
reading what I had written, made this
oom merit:
"Which few man do when they pop
the queation, my dear, nidhwahr!
Nest for Oar Caesar.
A banquet has lately taken place in
Paris at which Firmin, the eminent
Imblisher, presented a sirloin of lion* a
eg and heart of the same animal,
artistically cooked—that is, disguised.
The flesh, though firm and close- grained,
oould not be ranked higher than with
that from* the horse. The heart was
rather tough. The meat waa not of a
nature of justify the opening of a
special butcher's shop, or the forma
tion of a philanthropic joint stook as
sociation to enoonrage its consumption.
TABIITIKB.
Haydn wrote his wonderful produo
tion of "Creation" in 1798.
It is a mistake to anppose that the
inhabitants of Sardinia are sardines.
The growlers from * large portion of
the population of every unhappy town.
Every man admires moral courage,
even thoagh his own backbone be made
of pulp.
N
Schiller once said: -Whenever art
fails, it is through the artist."
Wild pigeons are so numerous in
some parts of Europe that they sell for
ten cents a dozen.
A Cairo judge has decided that a
young man has a right to buy a fiddle
and sit in his room and fiddle all day
and all night, no matter who doesn t
like it.
' ifi
There is a wina produced in Alsaee
called Drei Manner or "Three Mas"
wine, before which Jersey lighting must
pale its ineffectual fires. It derives its
name from the fact that it takes three
men to dispose of it—one man sitting
in a chair, a second to hold him there
and a third to pour the wine down ths
victims throat, What an eye-opener a
celery glass full of that sort of stuff
would make, to be sure 1
The proprietor of a tea store in
Boston offered to give a quantity of tea
to the best and second best guesaers of
the capacity of a huge copper tea-ket
tle used by him as a sign. The iwud
was made on New Year's Day. The
total number of guessers was 120,000.
Of these eight were within three gills
of the correct figures, 227 gallons, 2
quarts, 1 pint, and three gills, and
seven were within 5 gills.
A Russian lady artist has introduced
a new kind of artistio religious enter
tainment. It oonsists of a number of
transparent piotures, representing sub
jects from the Nativity, whion are
brought out before the spectator. An
invisible orchestra and choir perform a
cantata composed by the artist. The
audienoe are in the dark during the
performance, which lends a mystery to
it well calculated to impress weak
minds.
The well-informed woman may gen
erally be known by Tfhat she does not
tell yon : (or she is the last to take
pleasure in mere gossip, or to make
vulgar allusions to tne appearance,
dress or personal habits of her friends
and neighbors. Her thoughts are not
in those things. The train of her re
flection goes not along with the eating,
drinking, visiting or scandal of tne
ciroles in which she moves. She baa a
world of interest beyond her local asso
ciations.
The public baths and washhouses are
a feature in the life of English cities
that is worth attention. In many of
them a bath, with clean towels, etc.,
can be obtained for two oents; and hot
water, use of tubs, and all neoessaries
for washing linen oan be had for two
cents an hour. One of the largest of
these establishments belongs to the
parish of St. Marylebone, ana is situa
ted in Seymour Place. It possesses ac
commodations for some hundreds of
bathers and washers, and is very largely
patronized.
The common oat tail of our swamps,
scientifically known as typha latifolia,
is susceptible of being used as food,
for which purpose it is highly esteemed
in some countries. The plant is per
ennial and propagates by the formation
of underground stems containing:much
starchy matter. In Southern Russia
the young shoots, are tied np as aspar
agus is for our markets and sold in all
the markets. Boiled as asparagus is
boiled, and seasoned with salt and
spice, it is pionounoed quite delicious
by travelers who have partaken of it.
The plant is found in more or less
abundanoe in swampy plaoes all over
the United States, and may be very
easily introduced in plaoes where ft
does not grow already
To say that a coal mine has been dis
covered in the bed of the canal at Syra
cuse. wpuld probably create hopes of >
a reduction In the priee of that neoss
sity whioh might be cruelly disappoin
ted ; bnt we may announoe without fear
of exceeding the truth, that a valuable
ooal bed has been discovered, and is
being worked by enterprising citizens
at the place named. The discovery
was made when the water was al
lowed to run out of the level, and as
there was no one to prevent them, a
throng of poor people instantly repaired
to the spot with the implements neess
sary to secure the black treasure of the
earth so mneh coveted by households
at this season: and at last scoounts
many tons had been mined, and are now
contributing to the comfort and joy of
families to whom a pailful of coal is
frequently a God-send.
The evolutionists hare received unex
pected encouragement from a oolony of
English wasps which lately developed
a taste for artistio decoration. A many
colored neat waa discovered suspended
from the branch of an apple-tree. Un
dulating lines of red, blue, green, yel
low and white went round and ronnd
the spherioal neat with great regularity
the colon being kept distinct and the
whole presenting a rery curious speci
men of insect paper-making. The
owner of the orchard was for • long
time puzzled to aooonnt for thin phe
nomenon, bat it was at length diaeor
ered that the warns had procured their
material from a lot of colored paper
trimmings which had been need to
oover atrawberry bedßin • neighboring
garden. The question naturally ariaea.
Why Aid these waapa keep the tints
separate if they ware not ansoeptiblrto
NO. %