Ti Lenoir TOpici 1 V .'Hit "an DKVOTKD TO TIIK QKRAT IMI'EREBTS OF CALDWELL, YVATAUOA, AJjJIX . AMD ADJACENT COUNTIES. VOL. II. LENOIR. N. C THURSDAY, MAY 24X187 : ij r ' ctt. U NO 36. Urn WHIM SCHOOL LETS OUT. Wh.a .obool lets oat at auDOowo time, An4 fhaAewa long np hillsides ollmb, Wlih Imp tad roup tod laoi,b and bout, In kill ant amuck tad roundabout. By grala-Aal4 fenoe, through peature graaa, (ouMrora Way, th. scholar, pwwed t And brlgit-Teoed tit and browu-raoed lout Go b.art-glad. heme, when school loU out I alt and watch, wh.re, white md .low. The nUtreae MTM In grao. bt low ; A HUM yonnf f IrL with folded band, With tow-down look. In wld., browu baud., Who oeU In light wbor. deep abad. lira, With tweet, sad look. In lake-bin. J ; I .U isd Watch, Mid boo and doubt I know not what, when .obool leU out War I to young aa Jbty wbo kuow Th. mild made-rale, jait Ib.r. below. Would I bt altd aa they wbo paa. By tTaiafleld fenoe and paatur gratia t Would I b glad lb. home-bound way, And laugh and about and romp aa thj t It mlgbt be eo in roundabout, But not aa dow, whan tohool let. out. Bom day bow aoon I oannot tell. Bat aomedey aoon, I know full wrll My feet .ball fall with lea t a alow The green-laid way that h.r. do go, And I aball feel my gnat heart rle To tender look, from lak.-blu eye. And thera aball be, no fear, no doubt. Her hand In mine, when aohool loU out. My Grandmother's Ghosl Story. BY M. W. We were seated around tlx fin-, in the old oak-panelled parlor, tired out after a long day's skating, and tlm ronghly enjoying the iilet ami repose hihI till' comfort Hiid warmth of the do mestic hearth, in a sleepy, cat-like fashion, when .lack, my eldest brother, ronstug hiniHolf with a stretch and a mighty yawn, exclaimed, "Why, girN, hoW jrtlct you all are! Are you ipiite don up V Can't any one King a nice pathetic ballad, or a good jolly hunting song? or can't any one of yon play something t No ? a 11 too tired!' Well, who will tell iim H good ghost story ';'" "Rubbish, Jack! A ghost mtry who believes suoh follies!'" rofilietl Ueraldlne. We are quite above sinli nonsense In these practical inatter-nf- "Ah,"' replied Jack, with a long drawn sigh, "Is there un fnlth left on the earth 'I Oh, these degenerate days ! Arc all the charming talc we used to shudder at so delightfully in the days of our childhood utter bosh? docs not one amongst us, in his or her secret soul, nurse a fond, lingering, uncoii fessed belief in the shadowy world of ghosts, hobgoblins, fairies or spirits?" "1 do," interrupted our grandmother, Hhortly. "You. granny V" exclaimed a chorus of astoiilsTied voices. "Yes, children, 1 do," replied the old ltdy, looking at us over her spec tacle! in ft very dignitle manner. Now, my grandmother a the last person 1 should have accused of believ ing In the supernatural. A rong mfllded, strong-bodied old lady, some what on the wrong side of seventy; practical and matter-of-fact to a fault; handsome still in her old age; and the clear-cut nose and brow, and decided mouth and chin, forbade the notion of weakness or credulity being leading features in her character. "You believe in ghosts, grandma?" said little Alice at length; "and in fairies, too?" "In wraiths, corpse lights, and fetiches?" laughed (Jeralditie. "Nay I did not say that," replied my grandmother. "You make too much of my confession of faith. I merely said I believe in ghosts; and 1 do." "Why?" we all exclaimed, with one voice. "Because," answered the gentle lady, "I have seen what I firmly be lieve to have been a spirit from the other world." "Oh!" exclaimed Alice, in a voice of awe; "tell us about it grandma, please, do?" And we all joined eagerly in the request. "Well, my dears," said the old lady, after a little hesitation, taking off her spectacles, and laying down her knit ting, "I will relate to you my one sole experience of the spiritual world. Though the event I am going to tell you about, happened more than fifty years ago, it is as fresh in my mind as If it had only taken place yesterday. No lapse of time will ever deaden or ef face the impression it made on me. Fifty-three years ago 1 was a young girl of eighteen years old. I was a tall, strong, active lassie, fond of rid ing, hunting, fishing, and all country sports and pastimes. I ccmld dance down any one in the country side, lead the hunt In my own county, and was never known to turn aside for the still est fence, or to refuse the broadcRt ditch,, Pear was an unknown sensa tion to me. I did not know what nerves meant, and headaches were strangers to me. I was full of health, strength, and spirits. I was not bad-looking, either, In those days," added the gentle lady, w ith a sigh, and glancing at Qeraldlne, who our father had often told us, was the image of what he remembered his mother In the days of his own child hood. "I had many offers, and not a few admirers. I never cared but for one of them, children, and he was your grandfather. , "Ah, what years ago it seems!" and my grandmother paused a moment, and wiped her eyes. Well, when I was just about eighteen I went to pass a couple of months with your grandfather's uncle at Gayton Castle. It was a long time before the lire which afterwards destroyed the west wing took place, and no one who Iiiih not ace n the ('.Nile before that hap-iM-necl can Imagine what a iierfect hH'c Iinen of a ineilLi-val architecture it then was. It made a great Impression on ine, 1 remember, as 1 drove up to It for the llrst time one afternoon early In De cember. The ray of the setting son glistened on the windows, and caused I be stained glass to glow and sparkle like Jewels In their light; alongaveuue of beeches led to the ( 'astle gate, through a finely wooded park, ami In the dis tance u long runge of mountains stood out, clear and distinct, against the sun set sky. A large party of visitors were as sembled ut the Castle quite thirty of us 1 should say, and a merry time we bail of It flslilng and slioollug, and hiiulfrig, in which the ladles jolnetl, were the order of the day. At length a bard t'rimtt.i t In, which ell'ectually put a stop to all outdoor amusement, anil obliged us to fall back on Indoor pursuits for our diversion. And when, one evening, we were all tired of cards and music, and knew not what to set about, all bailed it as a bright Idea when a young lady of the parly suggested that we should explore the disused jMHtlon of the Cattle, com monly called the west wing. "Aha, young ladles!" exclaimed Sir (uy, "take care of yourselves when you get into the haunted room." "Im there a haunted room?" I ex elail I; "how delightful! Come, la dies, ben; is the housekeeper; let us follow her, and find the ghost." Heaven forbid, miss!" said the old woman, gravely; "It would be an ill sight, indeed, and followed by III con sequences." "Oh, Mrs. Carey," I laughed, "who believes In such nonsense as ghosts? I will sleep any night yon like In your haunted chamber, with pleasure, and 1 will answer for it no ghost or sprite will disturb my peaceful similiters." "That's right, Kate!" exclaimed Sir ;uy, laughing. "You're a brave girl. I don't believe in the ghost, though Mrs. Carey there does, and my own poor mother did also; but she was a nervous fragile creature, Heaven bless her afraid of her own shadow, poor thing! The ghost Is the only family possession 1 do not value, and for which I have a secret contempt. Hut there! I am shocking Mrs. Carey by my ir reverence, so lw otr all of you on your voyage of discovery." We followed Mrs. Carey down a long corridor, which led from the south to the west w ing of the Castle, up alongtbe oak staircase, through a number of dis used rooms, some paneled with carved oak, some hung with tapestry, till at length, pushing open a heavy door, winch creaked grimly on its hinges, we found ourselves in an octagonal room, dark and gloomy-looking, In spite of the large oval window lacing the rest that gave light to it, and beneath which lav the still, deep waters of the moat, on which the rays of the winter moon now sparkled and glittered. The room was completely furnished iu the style of two centuries ago, A large carved oak four-poster, hung with deep red curtains, stood in one corner; beside it, on the right, was an old and massive chest ; and on the left a ward robe, high, narrow, and curiously carved. A spinnet stood not far from the im mense hearth, and variously shaped cbaiis stood here and there in the apartment, w hilst a large mark on the wall, In the form of a crucifix that had once hung there in former days. The place had a strange, weird aspect, and silence fell on us as the housekeeper said, "This, young ladies, is the haun ted chamber. " A cold air, colder than the December wind, seemed to pervade the apartment, and some loose pieces of taxstry, hang ing on t he walls, rustled and quivered iu the blast. "Come away, Kate!" said my cousin Lucy, shuddering; "come away, do! There's something horrid here, I'm cer tain." "Why, Loo!" I cried, taking her by both hands and looking her in the face; "I declare you are quite pale ! 1 vow I have taken quite a fancy to this room, and shall never be satisfied until 1 have slept in it." "What! alone, Kate!" she replied, shivering. "Indeed, I think it will have to be alone, for none of us would dare to sleep with you, and as to the maid servants 15nt do come away ! Ah ! w hat w as that ?" she added, as a sound between a moan and a sigh w as heard, followed by a pit-pit-pattcring. "Saints defend us!" ejrciilated Mrs. Carey, who was a devout Catholic, crossing herself. "Nonsense, girls !" 1 exclaimed; "it is nothing but the wind, and the snow falling from the roof." But they all took to flight, led by Mrg. Carey. When I left the room I was fain to confess that I heard a heavy footfall behind me. I followed the Hying crott'd, how ever, with a slow and dignified pace. I felt nofear, but only anintense curiosity and a feeling of determination to in quire into the secrets of this haunted apartment more closely. As Christmas drew near, other guests were added to our numbers and all the usually occupied rooms of the Castle were occupied, when Sir Guy received a letter announcing to him the advent of a relation to whom he could not well refuse his hospitality. "My room is at your service, uncle," said 1 gaily. "And where will you migrate to, Kate?" replied he, doubtfully glancing at Mrs. Carey. "Oh ! to the haunted room, sir," I replied carelessly. I should really like it. You know I have no fear of the supernatural, so do say yes." I begged, I coaxed, I entreated, and at last prevailed on Sir Guy to give the necessary order for my change of apartment; but Mrs. Carey was far harder to persuade than Sir Guy, and it was with the greatest difficulty that I Induced her to have, the terrible room put Iu order for my reception. "It's tempting lVovlilence, mis and laying you rae If open to the snares of the tempter. If Mr. Gerald were here he wouldn't allow It, dceud on It, iiiIhs,', said the good woman. "Nonsense my dear Mrs. Carey !" I replied, laughing. "I shall sleep here a soundly unci as safely a I should In the newest brightest room In the Castle. So good night, Mr. Carey, mid don't alarm yourself about me." The roM- Ix-slde the chlmney-plece rings the aluriu, Miss, should you re quired help," she replied, gravely, and left the room. itefore getting into lied 1 examined my new apartment; the emlsr glow ed on the hearth, and I put on a log or two to keep up the lire. Now that the place bad U'cn dusted, and the furni ture set in order, the room didn't look so weird; and yet and yet well, I was not sorry w hen I found myself In bed, and the candle safely put out! I felt (Hid, but, for all that, I soon fell asleep. Next morning many were the In quiries with which I was greeted when 1 appeared ut the breakfast table, but to all them I triumphantly replied that never bad I passed a better ntght, and that Mrs, Carey's ghost, like all others, was a myth. Ho two or three nights passed quietly, but on the fourth I awoke suddenly with a start. What bad brushed by my bed-curtains, and whose was the foot step I now distinctly beard cross the room? I waited with a leatlng heart . The fire-light still dimly illuminated the room, and, to my horror', a dark "something" crossed It, then the flicker ing flame died out, and I was left iu the darkness with my unknown visitant. At this moment the Castle clock struck two a deep sigh echoed through the room. I remember no more I suppose I fainted ! Next morning my pale looks attracted universal attention. But I complained of a violent headache, to which I at tributed them. "Well, well. Kate." said Sir Guv. I "I've news for you that will bring ' l.L- tl.j ..i.l., t.. ........ ..1 1- l.l n in,, v.iiwi iv J Will I I1VI VJei illU will be bore to-morrow!" This was news indeed ! Your grand father, who was then iu the Guards, had not excctcJ to get leave for another three weeks at least. I soon forgot the vision (for so I jkt slsted in calling it to myself) of the previous night, in dreams of a far dif ferent order ; and when, that night, I retired to lied, sleep quickly fell on my weary eyes, and 1 woke not until the bright morning sun flung his rays on the new ly awakened w orld. But the day passed and no Gerald ar rived. Vainly I waited and wntched, longing to hear the sounds of his horse's hoofs ringing up the avenue; and when the Castle clock struck eleven, more disappointed and vexed than 1 cared to acknowledge, I slowly took my departure to my weird cham ber in the west wing. It looked more repellant and gloomy than usual, 1 thought, and felt as if un seen beings were lurking about. I started at the sound of my own foot steps, and when I crossed the room to get. into lied, hardly dared to lookup behind me. But I slept ; for I reniemlier rousing to a sense of existence by a loud thud that shook the whole room, and the same low, shivering sigh I had heard three nights before was repeated close to my ear. The heavy footstep crossed the room, and distinctly, at the foot of my bed, the figure of a monk wrapped iu a long, dark robe, w ith a hood drawn closely over its head, shaped itself slow ly out of the darkness. I could not discern the features of the apparition, but the glittering of the snake-like eyes was plainly to be dis tinguished; I gazed as if fascinated on the awful being lie fore inc. I cannot say I feared it, but my heart felt chill, and the marrow in my liones frozen with awe; and a sense of deep, inex plicable mystery took hold of me, as I saw it raise its white hand, and beckon to tne to follow it. The eyes of the fearful being seemed to exercise a strange influence over me and I raised myself in bed as if to obey its bidding. At that moment the sigh was repeated and I heard a faint voice whisper close to my ear intones that curdled my blood, "Heed him not !" Uut the influence of those eyes was too strong for me, I could not resist, and quitting my bed I followed my ghostly conductor across the room, feeling I had no w ill but bis. The room seemed changed and was lit up by a strange glare. Over the niche in the w all hung a large crucifix, veiled in black, and beneath it stood an altar, on which burned many lighted tapers; and to the left of it a small door in the oaken wainscoting stood open. Through it and down a narrow stair case I followed my guide. Presently we stood together on the edge of the moat beneath the oriel w in dow. The snow fell fast, and the wind whistled bitterly around us, but I felt it not. What awful power had this fearful being obtained over uie that I followed him whither he would through storm and snow? 1 felt 8peH-bound, without an atom of my boasted power of will to resist his behesta. At length we arrived at the angle of the west wing, where the old draw bridge had once stood; and there my guide, turning suddenly towards me and throwing hack his hood, struck at me with a shining weapon he held in his hand. Thereupon .tho spell that had held mo seemed broken, and, with a wild cry, I fell to the earth insensible. When I recovered consciousness, Ger ald was bending over me. He raised me in his arras, wrapped his traveling cloak round me, ami carried mo into the Castle. Then for many days, I lay sick unto death. The strain on mv nerven, aiir the ripoMiire to the cold had been too much for me, and it was month before my wonted strength returned. For a long lime Gerald and I avoided all conversation relative to my atrunge adventure; but curiosity to know how It was he bad arrived lust in time to ave me, overcame my dislike to talk on the Miibject . Your Grandfather told me that when a mile or mi only from the Castle he had suddenly became Imbued with a certainty that I win in some deadly imtII, und in need of him ; that this feeling bad quickly Increased; and that a he entered the avenue a voice had whispered to him, "Haste! haste!" He then galloix-d to the door, and a he dismounted lie had distinctly heard the same voice w hlser, "Help her the mout!" and some unknown lnflu eniiejiad then Imix lied him to rush to the Knot, where he found me "ttfl sensible on the ground. Now, children, do you wonder I 1m lleve In ghosts ?" We were all silent for a w hile, and then Alice said, "Is there no legend re lating to thin monk, grandma?" child, she replied; "your grandfather told me that too, after wards. The legend Is vague, but tradi tion says that the young w idow of one of the first Lords of Gay ton was drowned In the moat by her confessor, a monk of the Dominican order. Since the west wing has been burned down, Gayton Castle has been free from spiritual visi tants. And now, grandchildren, see, It is past the witching hour of midnight, and so let us off to bed." Literary Prediction. A writer in the seventeenth century William Winstanley in his "Lives of the English I'octs," thus sjieuks and prophesies of Milton: "John Milton was one whose natural parts might de servedly give him a place among the principal of our English jioets, having w rittcn two heroic poems and a trag edy. But his fame ha gone out like a caudle in a snuff, and his memory will always mink." One of 'be most illus trious of Milton's brother bards, Ed mund Waller, in one of his letters, re fers to "Paradise Lost" aa a tedious Mem by the blind old schoolmaster, in w hich thefre is nothing remarkable but the length. -Horace Waljiole as shrewd a man ami as accomplished a critic as ever lived, has obligingly informed us who were the "llrsl w riters" in 1753. Posterity would probably guess with Macaulay that they were Hume, Field ing, Smollett, Richardson, Johnson, Warburton, Collins, Akenside, Gray. Not at all. They w ere, according to a contemnorary, Lord Chesterfield, Lord Bath, Mr. William Whitehead, Sir .Charles Williams, Mr. Soame. Jenynge, Mr. Cambridge, and Mr. Coventry that is to say, a pack of scribblers, only one of w hoin is known even by name to ninety-nine readers out of a hundred Lord Chesterfield, and he it i remem bered chiefly as the niaepln. of Dr. Johnson and Cowper. George Stev ens has remarked that nothing short of an act of Parliament would induce peo ple to read the sonnets of Shakspeare, and Johnson prophesied a safe immor tality for Pomfhret's famous "Choice." Ercrvonc know s how the great Edin borough received Byron's first attempts and w hat it "prophesied" concerning him. When Dickens brought out "Pickw ick," a leading review, conde scending to notice the "low cockney tale," shrewdly perceived that the author was already proving himself un equal, and that the "thin vein of humor" was rapidly showing signs of exhaustion. In the author of ..ffnone" "Loi ksley Hall," and "The Lotos Eat ers," the keen and searching critical aeumen of the (Quarterly could only see a minor star of the "galaxy or milky way of poetry of which the lamented Keats was the harbinger," and the future author of the "Idyls" and "In Memoriam" w as received with peals of laughter, and consigned placidly to ol livion. t London OloOe. idler Afraid X Hire. Tho correspondent of the London lines writes: Our company is made up of Servians, Russians, a Frenchman, a Swiss, a Prussian, an Austrian and a Croat, so that we are rather a polyglot were. T he thatch of the barrack swarms with mice, which have a fes tive habit of dropping down on the sleeper' face, and they have been ac cused, I cannot say with what justice, of attempting to nestle in beards. The Russians have a perfectly frantic hor ror of mice. I have seen a veteran who would not turn hit head at an explod ing shell, jump from his bed in the middle of the night in a paroxysm of fear, and, drawing his tword, make frantic cuts and passes at the spot where he believed his tormentors were harboring. I have teen another rush ont into the cold night air because a mouse ran across his face, and refuse to re-enter till the break of day. Gen. Douchtouroff, wbo used to be one of the inhabitants of oar barracks, emigra ted altogether on account of the mice, and fitted up for himself a rough UU iV abri behind it, into whieh he crept nightly without undressing, and slept there till the wind wrecked his habita tion, when be had to go into winter quarters in the Chanoellerie. Mice abound there, too, bat he fights against them by the device of having his iron bedstead in the middle of the room, and he doea not so much mind their playing on the floor nnder him. The new Chinese coin is the fif tieth part of a cent In value, and five pounds are equal to a nickel. An average of 110,000 letters Is dally received at the Boston postoflioe. A year ago the average was 91,000 letter a day. " veeJrtft steal i.ee. The curious custom of lokinir on the nr. nr. tvr inwCry 4a frolttetW errands, for the sk of making them feel foolish and having a laacb at them, prevail very widely in this world. And whether you call the victim a "Fourth month dunce," an "April fool," an "April fish" (as in France), or an "April gowk" (as in Scotland), the object, to deceive him and laugh at him, is everywhere the tame. The custom has been traced back for Ages; all through Europe, aa far back as the records go. "The Feast of Fooja" i. mentioned as celebrated by the ancient Horn an a. In Asia the J4ia4oo have a festival, end In (ton the Klat of March, called the 'Uali festival," in which they play the tame sort of first of April pranks, translated into Hin doo, lauftbinsr at the victim, and mak him a "Huli fool." It goes back even to Persia, where it is supposed to have a beginning, in very ancient times, in the celebration of spring when their New Year begins. How it came to be what we every where find it, the wise men cannot agree. The many authorities are so divided, that I see no way but for us to accept the custom as we find it, wher ever we may happen to be, and be care ful not to abuse it. Some jokes are peculiar to particular places. In England, where it is called All Fools' Day. one favorite ioke is to send the greenhorn to a bookseller to boy the "Life and Adventures of Eve's grandmother," or to a cobbler to buy a few cent worth of "strap oil."- straD oil being-, in the language of the shoe- making brotherhood, a personal appli cation of the leather. The victim usu ally gets a good whipping with a ttrap. There was a old superstition in Eng land that prayers to the Virgin at eight o'clock on All Fools' Day would be of wonderful efficacy, and it is seriously mentioned by grave writers of old days. In Scotland the first of Anril fun is called "hunting the gowk," and con sists most often in sending a person to another a long way off, with a note which says, -Hunt the gowk another mile." The recipient of the note gives him a new missive to still another, con taining the same words; and so the sport goes on, till the victim remembers the day of the month, and sits down to rest and think about it. In France, where the custom is very ancient, the jokes are much the same; but the victim is called an "April flah," because he is easily caught In one part of France there is a custom of eat ing a certain kind of peas which grow there, called poi$ chiehet. The joke there is to send the peasants to a cer tain convent to ask for these peas, tell ing them that the fathers are obliged to give some to every one who comes on that day. The joke is as much on the monks as on the peasants, for there is often a perfect rush of applicants all day. A more disagreeable custom p're vails in Lisbon on the first of April, when the great object is to noar water on the passers-by, or, failing in that, to throw powder in their faces. If both can be done, the joker is happy. I need not tell you the American styles of joking: nailing a piece of sil ver to the side-walk; tying a string to a purse, and jerking it awav from greedy fingers; leaving tempting-look ing packages, filled with sand, on door steps; frying doughnuts with an inter- liningof wool; putting salt in the sngar bowl, eta. You know too much al ready. Bat this custom, with others, com mon in coarser and rougher times, is fast dying out. Even now it is left almost entirely to playful children and the un educated classes. This sentiment, quoted from an English almanac of a hundred years age, will I'm sure, meet theapprovalof "grown-UDs"of the nine teenth century : "But 'tin thlo to bt dJipntad, Which U the gTMIMt foul reputed, Th on who innocently want, Or h that bun iieine4lj Mot." -St. Nichoku. esk Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beau tifully furnishes a house. The plainest row of books is more significant of re finement than the most elaborately carved sideboard. Give us a home furnished with books rather than fur nitureboth if you can, bat books at any rate. To spend several days at a friend's house, and hanger for some thing to read, while you are treading on costly carpets, and sitting on luxu rious chairs and sleeping upon down, as if one were bribing your body for the sake of cheatingyour mind. Books are windows through which the soul looks out. A house without them is like a room without windows. No man has a right to bring np his children without surrounding them with books, if he has the means to bay them. It is a wrong to his family. Children learn through being in the presence of books. The love of knowledge comet with reading, and grow upon it; and the love of knowledge in a young mind is almost warrant against the inferior ex citements of pasasion and vice. ran u inn. , i yf - Boeton Is striving to got the bulk of tb ber-thlpp4ng bualuee to Eogfhud la her owu bnu. A chair ot houiueopaUiy la Iu be es tablished In tta Iowa HtaU Uulteralty during the summer. Prof. Seelye, the tcholac In politics, has given his salary to the town of Aov hem, the money to be expended In sidewalks. It la claimed that $30,000 worth of hog have died during the past year of cholera In a circle of live miles aroanJ Homer, 111. It is said that there are more Bap tint churches and member la Philadel phia than In any other city In the world, aave London. ,.r The Qrashlo Is the only paper, la this country wnloh can Illustrate a boat race 0,000 miles away on the same day of It happening. The Pennsylvania railroad com pany la having l'i5 refrigerator ears constructed for the carrying of meat from Texas to New York. The boat of the Royal National Life Boat Institution, of England, last year saved 615 lives, besides assisting numerous vessels In distress. Judge Peleg Sprague of Boston U the oldest ex-United State senator now living. He was a member of the Maine Legislature fifty-six years ago. The manufacture of silk Iu the United States Increased from two mil lion dollars worth in 1860, to twenty live million dollars worth lu 1871. The Permanent Exhibition at Philadelphia is an assured suooess. Every foot of space has been applied for, and half as much again could nave been disposed of. The Russian czar, during the 32 years of his reign, has not Indorsed a single capital sentence, although there were XIX such in the period from 1856 to 1860 alone. The colored people of Raleigh, N. C, have called a convention on the first Monday of May to devise some plan for bettering their condition by coloolxa tlon or otherwise. A private polar expedition will leave New York in the early summer, ostensibly for trading purposes, but In reality to search for records of the Franklin expedition. The male members of the Swedish colony In A roe took county, Me., were all naturalised several days ago. The colony now numbers about 600 persons, snd is said to be flourishing. Capt. Kben Pierce and Relmar EggerB, both of New Bedford, Mats., have Jointly Invented a breech-loading whaling gun, which will throw a lance 750 feel with destructive effect. Off the coast of Virginia, about five miles from the mainland, is an Island upon which roam numbers of ponies as wild as the mustang. How or when they settled there1 Is not known. The ctty council of Danville, III., prohibited the boys from running vel ocipedes upon the sidewalks. The boys In a spirit of retaliation petitioned the councils to prohibit the wheeling of baby wagons. One of the rarest books printed in the nineteenth century is the first edi tion of the "Book of Mormon," pub lished at Palmyra, N. Y., In 1830. Lord Macaulay tried in vain for year to pro cure a copy of it. Hannibal Hamlin, since Simon Cameron's retirement, Is the oldest senator, reckoning from the time he entered that body, but his service has not been continuous. Senator Anthony is tho oldest senator In continuous ser vice. The Baroness Mayer de Rothschild lately died on board her yacht at Nice. She had been sailing about the Mediter ranean all winter in the hope of bene- mung ner neaitn. uer only child, Mile. Hannah de Rothschild, inherits the estate. Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain, once possessed a ponderous set of mill Wry maps of France and Belgium, and these have Just been presented to the University of California, by Mr. Mall laird, of San Rafael. One of the map cases is perforated by a bullet. Mrs. Frost Thome, the widow of the gentleman who was drowned In the Mohawk disaster last summer, inlands to return to the stage. She is a daughter of E. L. Davenport, and will take baok her maiden name of Lily Vining Daven port when she resumes her old profes sion. Judge S. C. Hastings, of San Fran cisco, has offered to deposit $100,000 with the Treasurer of California, oa condition that the State shall promise to pay 7 per centum a year forever to the University of California, the amount thus received to be divided into, two parts, one of $4,000 and the ; other of $3,000, the former to be used at first to purchase books for a law library, and the latter for a professor's salary. The Central Pacific Railroad Com pany has lately arranged to have 40, 000 Eucalyptu Globylui trees set out along the 500 miles of the right or way of the company. This la only the first instalment, as It will require about 800.000 of the trees for the 600 miles of valley where they are to be cultivated. The immediate object of the plan is to. Increase the humidity of the region, and lessen the liability to droughts. The Modoc Indians, now number ing fifty-four males and sixty-three fe males, are located on a very fertile tract containing 4,000 acres, in the northeast corner of the Shawnee re serve, Indian Territory. They have engaged energetically in labor doriag the past year, and as a result, have a large and valuable crop on their farm. The Government has expended $1,182 for their schooling for tan months, which Is under the supervision of the Society of Friends.