Ti
Lenoir TOpici
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V .'Hit
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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.