H G-EQ. S. BAKEB, Editor and Proprietor. T,ERIS : S2.Q0 per ..Alnnum. .-. .-. ! - ,. ; . . -i . - . .. - - . . " " j ', VOL. IV. v LOUISBUKG, X. C, FRIDAY. JANUARY 22. 1875. . NO; 1:3. 11 . ; i r : : : : : C " .'V Good-Bye Bweethe&rt, 'good-bye ! the flattering sail Is spread to waft me far from thee,. And Boon before the fav'ring gale My uhip shalli bound upon the sea. 4 Perchance, a, It desolate and forlorn,. I Thotte eyes shall miss me many a year ; , Uut nnforgotten every charm ( Though loHt to sight, to mem'ry dear. Sweetheart, good-bye ! one feet embrace: 0, cruel Fate I true souls to sever ! But in this hearts moat sacred plade Thou, thou alone shall dwell forever And still shall recollections trace i- In Fancy's mirror ever near, ' ' Each smile-,' each toar, that form, that face, Thought lost to sight, to mem'ry dear. . TllK MGIIT OFFFKIl,. Tho (lay had been cold and cloudy, and j the night -was but a continuation of the dreary weather, with the. addition of a drizzly rain from the northwest. I hrfd bcen.busy all tho day in my office, and had twelve more additional hours of work, a tho night operator had been, called away, leaving me to take his place. I luul worked at telegraphing for some time, and had of ten to take a twenty-four j hours run, ho the thoughts of a sleep less night did not worry me ; and after the ten o'clock train had passed, and the signals given, I stopped into the - eating room; at the other end; of the depot to get rny accustomed refreshments.: As I approached the bar I .noticed, two or threi strangers in the act of drinking, in company with the station night hands, '.whom, I inferred from the conversation, they hud asked to join' with them. , On my j appearance, I was accosted with a half -drunken familiarity, and requested to drink with them at their expense. I used to drink in those days, and accept ed Him invitation. .While thej beverage was being prepared I took occasion to givo a pecxjinl look at the free-hearted k at the fre strangers; - " From a b((y I had jwssessed tl! trait of retaining faces in my mind if one Been, aud when I run a quick glance over th.) group' I found a face that hail a pl.ieo in my memory. A moment's .thought,, and then I knew that when I last saw tliat face it was in a Icoiirt-room, where- its possessor was being tried for robbery. The others I 'did not know, but tliat one person I was suce of ; but why veero they at the station at this time K , of, night f They were not .waiting to take a train, as the, ten o'clock express did not 'fjt)p at Millville, and a railroad station w.is not thtt place for ?sucli persona to tfikn out a spree in. Things looked sus-.-pittion', and' perhaps there was work fthnad that would require a clear! muid. No ihiid: for mo that night, and when I took my glass it was only to j empty its contents, unobserved, down my i sleeve, aud t iking the -messenger boy, who had junt finished a lemonade, I went -back to . the )fliee to thiuk j'uid act. If gang had come to rob the station they had chose u a good time. The pay for two or three excursion trains -had -been given to the station agent that day, 'f which, with. tho regular proceeds; of the week, made up a good roiuid sum; be .Mdos, I had taken from the eity bank the thousand dollars saved up from my earn ings, to invest in a specuhition, and laced it in the station safe until wanted. . Hie more I thought the subject ovet -the more I was convinced that the stran- l?ers were not at the station for any good ; and, wTiting a note to tho station agent, I went to, wake up the boy that had gone to sleep on the setUet to deliver it. But all my efforts to arouse him were of no avail, and oh examination, I found him exhibiting the usual symptoms of a per son that is drugged. The whole .truth now flashed upon me. A gang of despe radoes, knowing of th largo amount of moneys iu the safe, had secured the co " operation of the saloon-kueper ; and, drugging the night hands, now had pos session of the station Quickly going -to the door, I found tliat the kev. ! wliich had hven impriidently left on the out side, was turned, making me a prisoner, lint other communications to the outside remained, and, 'turning out the gas to conceal my movements, I went to my in strument ; but oa giving the signal, I found the wires had been cut off at both directions of the line. They, had well plauued their night's work, but there , wiis one more hue that went to a little village up in the mountains, and then back to the main lino at W :, ninety miles to the west. The wire we'at out of the building at a tliflerent place, and per hapsN it had essapeV their attention. A trial proved ikat it was' all right, and muffling the sound as much as I could, the following message was sent as quick as the instrument would click it off : . llobbf rs have taken possession of the Millville Station. Send down help. Stop the Express at R ." ' It was eleven o'clock when I turned off tho gas, and I knew if they-could get the warning from WT to R , that Was seventy niiles east on the main line, by half -past twelve, the train .would be stopped, and not run itself into the im pending1 danger t'xat would await them if the aid did not arrive in time from the west j To do so, the message would have io " go a long circuit and encounter de lays, and the chances were that it would not reach its destination -in time but had done all that I comld do, and had only to sit down and wait. I had a seven ehooter, and iinolested, was determined to use it to tile best advantage. In a few minutes back came the answer, " All right,"-and I knew that my message had been received at W . S3 far all had been silent without, but now a dull punching oould bo heard from the ticket office, and I knew that the safe was being broken open. Soon I oould hear men at j work at the track in front of the station, tearing up the rails and obstructing the ; road. My suspicions had been correct, and they were now preparing to wreck the express from the east. Either they j did not understand the switches, or j wished to wend tho train from the ob structed curve into tho building to com plete' their" work of destruction. Only once did any ne approach the telegraph office, and then, after listening a moment. he went away m uttering that I was not in j a fit condition to telegraph after taking that. little 4 'eye-closer. " It was a lonely watch there in the darkness, hearing the robbers going about in their lawless work, and knowing that I might not escape the night's work alive. At last, climbing up to the clock and feeling itj face, I found tliat it Only wanted twenty minutes to the time when the express, if it came, would be due. Once I thought I heard ihe distant rumble, of a train from the west, but it soon ceased, and all was siUnt again. The .road 'could be seen several miles to the east, and I watched it1 elofcely. Sud denly a faint star, appeared away off in thej distance, which grew brighter and brighter, and I knew that it was the headlight of. the express. My message had not V reached It- in time, and, ignorant .of, the robbers' work, the l engineer was running the tram at his usual high rate of speed to an almost certain destruction. On tile engine leaving the track my, office would be directly in its path, and escape from death almost impossible. The train was last approaching, alid I formed my" resolutions to escape from the room and perhaps signal ihe; train. Grasping the still unconscious boy,' and throwing our united weights against the window, we went through on to the platform, but I hAd scarcely touched the planks when I received a blow on the head that render ed me insensible. When I awoke to consciousness I was laying in the waiting-room surrounded by a crowd; of excited people, and Carl Mc Williams," the president of the road, and his daughter busy at work bathing ' my forehead and bringing me back to my senses. A littleKvay off some of the robbers were lying in irons, and a guard of police keepicg the passengers from do ing them further harm. My dispatch had reached Ii iu time, but the president being on board the train with hi3 family, had. 'resolved- to capture the band of desperadose, and, not alarming the passen gers, took a force of armed police on and made th regular run, stopping in .time to escape the obstructions, and giving the boarding ruffians a warm reception. A band of armed men)- from a relief train from, W r, which had stopped up the road a mile or two, had -arrived on the" ground at the same time, and every one of the gang had been either killed or captured. My dispatch had saved thou sands of 'dollars, besides the lives of many passengers who crowded the express. Well the company remembered me, aud I am now the superintendent of the telegraph lines on the road, and Mo Williams never had one word of abjec tion when I asked hinf for his consent to , marry that little woman who always in sists that I saved ker life on that night of peril. , i Weddinfs. It is the time to plead for a reform in . -weddings. Every, year this sacredest of all occasions is turned more into a mere oijportunity for display, and for replying to some fancied social obligation. In stead of the time when a few of the closest "friends gather . to witness -the 8olemne3t compact human beings can frame, it is chosen as the . moment for bringing together the larger part of a familv's social eirele. to show th brilA iH htr briJal glirmenta . to prove how many flowers and refreshments the fami ly can afford; and, , with shanie, bo it said, to exhibit to criticism and light comment the precious tokens that should have come, with tender regard to the niaid on the eve of her new life. '' A wedding must not be uncheerful; but it must - certainly he solemn to all who realize what it lis. On the one side, it is renoimcing old ties, promising t begin with faith, and hope, and love, a new and wholly, untried existence. On the other, it is the acceptance of a sacred trust, the covenent to oroVr life anew in such ways as shall - makejhe happiness of two instead of one." Can such an oc casion be fitting for revelry? ' Is it not wiser, more delicate, to bid only the nearest of friends to a marriage oere mony, and leave the feasting and frolic for a subsequent time f We are sure that there are few girls' who, if they re flect on the seriousness of the .step they are about to take, will not choose to make their vow merely within the lov ing limits of their, home circle. All our f best instincts point t the absolute sim plicity and privacy of wedding services; only aperversion of delicacy could con template the asking of .crowds- of half sympathetic or wholly curious people to attend the fulfillment of the most solemn of contracts. Let there be as much party-making, rejoicing, and pleasure-taking afterward as heart desire; but let the solemn vows be made in the presence only of those nearest and dearest. - j Carbonado, a Nobwegiax Pish. It consists of mince meat, eggs' and "fine herbs made up into a kind ef cato and men ineu or oaKeiL i he meat, proba bly, if cooked in an ordinary way, would defy mastication, but thus treated it is really a dainty plate. j TJie Clothes-Moth. j This destructive little creature is, per j haps, the most insidious enemy our wardrobes and textile fabrics have to contend with, and careful housewives are always on the alert to "thwart its destruc tive efforts at spoliation. To meet our adversaries, however, it is well to know something of their habits and nature. It is not the moth that is the actual cause of mischief, but ths caterpillar of the moth, which, as soon as it quits the egg deposited by the mother moth in some appropriate fabric, begins to col-" lect materials to form its nest. For this purpose, having first spun a thin coating of silk provided by itself, it cuts fila ment of wool or fur close to the thread of the cloth, and applies the pieces to the outside t)f its case, to which envelope it tenaciously confines it3elf, unless greatly disturbed. "When feeding, it thrusts its head out at either end of the case, in which it can turn; but when inclined to change its position on tho cloth, it protrudes its hear! nml nlionf 1flf ita Vm-kIit ami Vw -fW- inc its hinder Wa- finnlv in the, tiw i ing its hmaer legs- hnniy in the ease drags the latter after it. When the case becomes too small, it collects the material- from around it, and makes an addi tion at each end. This fact has been as certained by observant naturalists re moving the creature from cloth of one color to another, when the hues of the addition are plainly observable. After changing into a chrysalis, it re mains quiescent for about three weeks, j when a small moth of a silvery gray color comes forth. We deem these particulars very essential, as it will be seen that in the first place the moth has to find a fit ting rejeeptaele f ojits eggs,, then that the eggs have to lie for a certain time before they are developed into the maggot form, and afterward into that of the chrysalis, when At finally becomes a moth alto gether, taking a considerable time,- com paratively, before the creature com mences its destructive mission. inere are very many remedies given. Cuttings of Kussian leather have- proved protective; and a distinguished fly-fisher, who once suffered greatly from this moth gettign among his store" of feathered lures, has found, by the introduction of a small piece of - tallow candle into his cases, , that the ravages of these destruc tive insects have been entirely over come, i Fishing in Lapland. The water is very clear at Hammerf est, in Lapland ; you may see everything that goes on among the fish. A few feet down you may see the young cod snap ping at your hook, if you have one; a little lower- down the coal-fish, and tie huge plaice and halibut," on ; the white sand at the bottom ; in other places the star-fish,' as large as a plate, and purple xmd green shell -fish of all - sizes. The plaice is taken in the following manner : In calm weather the fisherman takes a strong fine cord, to' which lie has fas tened a heavy spear-head, like a whale harppon. This he holds ready over the bow 'of the boat, while another 'person paddles it forward slowly. When the fish is seen at the bottom the boat is stopped, and the, harpoon is suddenly dropped upon him, and thus the fish is caught. In two hours the fishermen win get a Doat-ioaa. The halibut are caught with hooks. They sometimes 1 weigh five hundred pounds, and if drawn up carelessly will overturn the boat. In many of the mountainous districts the rivers swarm with trout, the habit of wkich is to conceal themselves beneath the boulder rocks in the bed of the stream, venturing out to feed only at night. Men, eadi witha a heavy ham mer, will enter these waters and strike one or two blows on the stones, when the fish rush from their lurking-places partly stunned, and are easily caught. Ahe for Orchards. The Scientific American says : " The point to which we now call'' attention is, that our farmers and .fruit-growers have ignored, or rather been ign'orant of, the importance of wood ashes as a vegetable stimulant and as the leading constituent of plants. Even coal ashes, now thrown away as useless, have been shown both by experiment and analysis to possess a fair share of alkaline value. .We will re late only one experiment: Some twenty- five years ago we treated an old hollow J pippin apple tree as follows: The hol low, to the heiglit of eight feet, was filled and rammed with a compost of wood ashes, garden mold, and a little waste lime (carbonate). The filling was securely fastened in by boards. The next year the crop of sound fruit was sixteen bushels, from an old shell of a tree that had borne nothing of any ac count for some time, and' for seventeen years after filling the oldpippin tree con tinued to flourish and bear welL" ' Manure am ll'am Manure. The following testimony to the virtues of -a patent1 manure was received by its owner: 44 Dear Sir The land composinir my farm had hitherto been so poor that a Scotchman could not sret a livincr off it and so etonv that we had to slice our potatoes and plant them edgewise; but hearing of your manure I put some on ten-acre field, surrounded by a rail fence, and in the morning I found dhat the rock had entirely disappeared, a neat I stone .wall encircled the field, and the? j rails were split into" firewood and piled I np systematically iu my backyard." It is with a word as with an arrow; the arrow once loosed does not return to the bow nor a word to the lips. Tewa. Tom Flbssof er was the queerest boy I ! ever knew. , I don't think he ever cried ; I never saw him. If Flexla found her i tulips all rooted up by her pet puppy, j and cried, as 'little girls will, Tom was j sure to come round the corner whistling, j and say : ' "What makes you cry ? Can you cry i tulips ? Do you think every sob makes j a root' or a klossom f Here, let's try to right them." -Sr Vi "would nick m the voor flowers. put their roots into the ground again, whistling all tho time, make the bed'look ' smooth and fresh, and take Fleda off to hunt hen's ne&ts in the bam. Neither I 1 1 - 1 did he do any differenUy in his own ! troubles. One day, his great kite snapped the string and flew away far out of sight. Tom stood still for one moment, and then turned round to come home, whis- ' tling a merry tune. " "Why, Tom," said I, "aren't ypu sorry to lose that kite ?" Yefi, but what's the use t I can't take more than a minute to feel bad. ' Sorry won't bri rry won r onng oacx. tne Kit, anu want to make another." Just so when he broke his leg. 44 Poor Tom !" cried Fleda, " you cant play any mo-o-o-o-re.". ( ' ' I'm not poor, either. You cry for hie ; I dn't have to do it for myself, and I have a Bplendid time to whittle. Besides, when I get well, 1 shall beat every lxy in school on the multiplication table ; for I say it over and over till it makes me sleepy, every time my leg aches." : ; ' Tom Flossofer was queer, certainly, but I wish a great many more people were queer that way. - - The C7iice Heroic Ieriod. Gan-tsze was a trusty servant to the Duke of Ts'e, and one day the Duke said to him, Your house is too near the market. The noise and dust must an noy you. Besides, it is too small. I will build you a better one." Gan-tsze declined the offer on the plea that what was good enough for his. father was-good enough for him. " Besides," said he, "it is so" convenient to live near the market; I can always get what I want easily." The Duke laughingly rejoined, "Of course you know the prices of things, then-.: Tell' me what is cheap and what is dear." Gan-tsze replied, " Shoes for people whose toes have been cut off are dear, but other shoes are cheap." Cutting off the toes was one of the forms of . punishment in Ts'e, and this Duke was so severe iu inflicting it that there were persons who sold shoes specially made for the toeless. Gan tsze's reply set the Duke thinking, "and from that time he diminished the sever ity of his judgments. Afterward, how ever, he took advantage of Gan-tsze's ab sence on an embassy to erect a fine man sion for him, to make room for wliich he pulled down some houses of the common people, and of course without going through the formality of getting an act of Parliament passed, N and providing compensation for the evicted proprietors. Gan-tsze came back, and learned what was done. He went to court, reported his mission, and returned thanks for the flne.nl favor in treseiitinr lum with so splendid an abode. He then went home, had the new house razed to the ground, rebuilt the dwellengs which had stood on the site, and reinstalled theirhhabitants. Cernhill Magazine. Fainting Sltlngle It oof. The Countru Gentleman has the fol- lowincr on the subiect : Our own ex perience is against the use of either coal tur or paint. The surface made by ap plying the tar causes the roof to become hot in the sun's rays, and shingles to wrap and crack; the wood becomes water soaked beneath the tar when it rains, and the tar .prevents speedy drying. The consequence has been that tarred roofs are destroyed in a comparatively few years, while the rain-water always has a copious black sediment. Painting roofs produces a similar result, but in mush less degree, unless the f hingles are thor oughly, painted on both sides, and are kept thus painted, "which is almost im practicable. Some years ago we took up a roof laid about twenty-five years before with' good shaved pine shingles, painting before laying with good red-ochre paint in oil. Every shingle when removed was completely rotten. The paint had held the moisture longer beneath, and done more harm than good. A roof is so much exposed to the direct rays of the sun and to the rain, that it is nearly impossible . to prevent cracking of the paint arid the' entrance of the water j and when this process once begins decay j goes on rapidly. Well-laid pine shingles have lasted forty years and more when not painted. , . Salt for Hog'. The Western Rural says : 44 The unre strained appetite of swine will often lead them to consume things that are highly i inmrious to them. Cases of po'isonim? I bv rmrt&kinir of excessive ouantities of salt often occur among hogs at this sea- a 1 son, when beef and pork barrels are j emptied of the old brine and refuse salt t A case in wliich several hogs were lo?t in England was recently, noted. Hogs j require a certain amount of salt as do j otht-r animals, but it should be given to them with caution, and either evenly mixed ' or scattered very thinly about their troughs, so that one more greedy than another cannot take more than its proper share. Queer AX OLD WOU AX'S STOItY. The Hate mf m Ota Merchant Ilia Xepheurm Sate UU Mead Off. A singular trial for murder has taken place at. Missivria, and has. ended in the acquittal of the prisonera-4two brothers, who were accused of the murder oi their uncle, a rich old Odessa merchant The old man, having retired from RCve e arul vound up his business, returned from Odessa some years ago and settled down in Misaivriahia native town, K"'" muuiruJ V tne Shaved handsomely to his Pws, with whom he lived, and whom hf MP! ont f powrty respect- j IT 1. - V I !i A. 1 Ptw,lll'" 111 "u uuue. j.uret jrwanj j ago the old man suddenly disappeared. No serious inquiry, however, was made to ascertain what had become of him. His nephews made liberal donations to the churches, and inherited, or rather appropriated the old man's wealth. Probably they would have been left en j xx ,m lur nnriuuar j ; whiclx for atime must have causeathem j I some trouble and anxiety. On vex.uu.ix iiay iu tne l ixiiy mil oi i..;.. i ii. .. i x the year 18 4 4 an old woman asked for an j i- ' , u . j audience with the cadi, and on Ieini2r ad- i vv, i mitted, made a deiositioh as follows: "It was a dark, stormy night," the old woman said. " The wind luul several times blown in my window sash, putting out my lamp, aad causing the, embers of my fire to fly about the room. . Suddenly, amid tho howling of the storm, I heard a shriek, then- a moan. Strange sounds followed, which seemed to come from the house of my neighbor, the" Odessa merchant. I . crossed myself, and drank a little raki to keep up my courage, and then I remembered that there-was a crack in the wall of my closet, through which I could see into the house of my neighbor the merchant. Thither I went, and applied my eye to the crevice in the mud wall,1 and this is what I saw; "Two men were pressing down a pil low upon the face of another man, whom they kept prostrate, and a woman was holding a light. The old man I recog nized him was very strong, for he over threw his nephews, although his .throat was cut, and blood, gushed from the woun. He would have escaped, but the woman struck him in the face with a chair. His head was bent backward, as though he could not keep it in its place. on account of the gash across his throat Still his eyes flashed life; he .staggered toward the window: but there he was again struck down- by bis nephews. Then they sawed away at his throat till Ms head was separated from the trunk." The accuser went on to say that she threatened the murderers with a dis closure of the crime she had witnessed, but tliat they promised her " hush money;" that, as she was poor, she agregd in consideration thereof to hold her tongue, and that she washed the blood from the floor of the room where the old man had been put to death. The 44 hush money, 'V however, had not been paid, and as she 'was starving, she determined to make vknown her story. The story was told in . March, or April, but no proceedings were taken until August. The accused parties vrev then arrested "and confined in the Zaptieh "Oda." The old woman, too, was put in prison, and was flogged and half smothered between mattrasses night after night until the trial ended, and the per sons '. whom the vox populi still stigma tizes as murderers were declared inno cent" ' A Xete Ship. The poly spheric ship is the name given to the latest novelty in - nautical construction, and is due to English in genuity. The bottom is flat and fitted with three inclined planes with square ends, the effect being as though three teeth of a . gigantic saw were moved tlirough the water with the sloping por tion of the teeth first. The inventor has tested the device, by means of small models impelled by rockets. A seven pound model was driven by a three pound three ounce rocket a distance of one hundred and five yards in three seconds, or at the rate of sixty-three knots per hour. The motion is said to resemble sliding over ice. There is scarcely any water disturbance, aud the decks are apparently motionless. WTien drawn slowlv over the ' water the veeeels offered more, resistance than models of the ordinary shape ; but when the equi librium between the horizontal pressure i Qf the inclines forward and the pressure .; 0f the water in the contrary direction are destroyed, the model at once rises in the water . and passes over the mass o. hitherto obstructing fluid. The Sterenm Battery. 'We have often read, says the ScientiJU; A merican, referring to the offers made for the Stevens Battery, of the value of workmanship, and how raw material worth a few cento a pound may be, by j skillful manipulation, changed is to watch hair springs worth their' weight in' gold ! or microscope objectives mors precious ! than diamonds: but here we see that, in j the estimation of would-be purchasers, j the value of a vessel that cost millions of dollars, expended with a vast amount of ? tho highest engineering talent, is not j over $145,000 in any case, unless some other government than our own wants it; and then the importance of the vast t structure to our navy will be allowed to Solomon said, ages ago : 44 It is nought, it is nought, saith the buyer; but when he hath gone his way, then hVtoasteth,'' ' A Sad Aeeldent. Shaft No. 5 of the Delaware and Lacka wanna railroad tunnel is . about mid way between Hoboken and Jersey City. A party of night workmen were going down the shaft at 1 jk. x. A bucket had j already been lowered twice, taking down four men each time and several more ! stood around the aperture awaiting their i turn. The iron bucket which was about t three fett in diameter, was attiched to n wire todc bv a hook- The bucket handle ' was smooth, well worn, and without any ' V ' ring into which the hook could be passed, originflllv attached to thp hook ll6Ml broken 0fT and not 1)lactH, Tbere thns notllilJg yjjjt the bucket ; from ulippirii? over the4 j hook. TIih mouth of the nhaft.was very narrow, ho much so that when the bucket was lowered the men standing upon its edges had to bend tliir bodies inward to avoid striking the sides.' The platform upon which the men stand above the shaft being raised about twelve feet from the wind and j, anil thp meu llre Jly anxiou- to t inU where Uie tMratnrp tem- rn. n n, a L i i i i first down was shown, and when tho . . . . i : hntf t- minA 1111 fur fh- uwrnil time M, MO .v., nnA ou the edge. They were James Burns, Daniel Murphy, and Martiu Sullivan. John Berger was on the point of stepping on also when a man behind him com plained that he had crushed his finger, and Berger .turned round to look at it Bernard Kirley at once took his place, and the- engineer at once began to lower the bucket The bucket hail not moved six inches !. downward when one of its bolts caught in the woodwork, abovo the shaft, and sustained it just long enough to allow the rope to become slack ; the hook swung aside, and in a moment the bucket drop ped like a stone, the four men following it to the bottom. The workmen who had previously leen lowered were tunneling about a hundred and fifty feet from the lttom of the Bhaft, when they heard the crash and saw ;tli5 shower, .of sparks made by the iron bucket striking the rocks below. " A second afterward the dull thud of the falling bodies was heard. Two of the men approached with a light, and seeing th motionless figures lying there, le came frightened and ran away. Other men went to the bottom of the shaf t, and the rope having leen by this tim? drawn up and sent down again with a second bucket, -Sullivan, who still breathed, was placediu it, but before he was brought to the surface he was dead. All the rest were killed instantly. Christmas Evergreen. Before the holidays the wharf at Cats kill, on the Hudson -river, was "piled with evergreens awaitiug transportation to New York. The hardy rnoimtiiuccrs cut beautiful trees from their own farms from other lands and send them to the metropolis, thus materially increasing their: yearly incomes. The sale ' of ever- greens is a lively branch of trade in New lort just belore Christmas. Ihe supply comes not only from the! Cat skills, but 0 "W IT' Sl.t irom -ew jersey, xxtner island, and the best and cheapest are brought from Maine. In Fulton and Washington a markets, as well as in all smaller mar kets, in stores, on the sidewalk, and at street corners in every available place of sale Christmas-trees, wreaths, crosses, stars, and sundry ornaments made of evergreens can be bought for a trifle. Every family fastens a bij, of Christmas green somewhere to rive a cheery look to the home rooms, and shop windows do not lack decoration. S the Kale is enormous. The custom of - deck ing houses and churches with evergreens at Christmas dates' far back to the times of the ancient' Druids. It was a fanciful belief that sylvan spirits might flock to the evergreens, and there be protected from frost till a milder season came. The favorite trimmings were the ivy, holly, rosemary, laurel, and mistletoe. Holly and ivy are now most .esteemed in Eng land. Among us almost any pretty ever green is satisfactory for Christmas adorn ing4. A Xete Fertiliser. ihe sxttiltnc American describes a strange fertilizer. At Stratford, Conn., where mosquitoes are as thick as fog. lives an ingenious Yankee, so they say believe it who may who puts the in sects to profitable uses. He has invent ed a large revolving sooop-net covered with lace, which is put in motion by a windmill, water-power, or steam. The upper half moves through the atmos phere, and at each rotation draws an im mense number of the 'squitoeti down into the water, where they drown and sink to the bottom. Every revolution of the net draws in an ounce of mosquitoes, or a ton for 32,000 turns of the machine. ihe mosquitoes inns collected make a splendid manure for the land, worth $15 a tun. Toe hrighirejed darlings of the house- 1 whisper golien words sometimes, and a scrap from a holiday poem, by Sophia P. Snow, will bear republication as a child's prayer on (Christmas Eve : riesM. Deeoa. et Sui Tsos tarn down to night And bring us aorae presents before it is Igitt ; I vuxt ha eoal LV me s nice 'ittl sed. YTtd bright shlnin' 'oncers, au J ell painted eJ ; A box full of taodr. a book, and a toy Amen. And den. Deeds, m be a dood boy !" The prayer was overheard, and per hap that Bed and Undy didn't oosxe I lit Kxverlemee , No, sir, I never regretted marrying MoUie here. She'a been the making of me. I was an idle dg when I met her and thought of nothing but spending my money at saloon just as fast 1 earneu it She was only poor neainsircsff. but was industrious, bouevt, aud frugal in habits, for she'd had a hard row to ho., poor girl ! WelL for her sake I grew saving and careful, and xm had a little money in the Itank. Finally o wer married, and after f orrdshing two ..... 1 rooms had just a hundred dollars u u. It was not muclC but it was our own. That was fourteen months back. Now we have this little house. We liave car lets on the floor of two room. .We havA nine pictures on the wall, and nearly fifty books in tliat case f iuielv up there whi?h I made. Our house is imall, but there is no envy; no fear of t'jt future, fadt-fiiuling or nelfUhnesa in it We have nearly a hundred dollars saved. lxSsiden these things iu the house. Our reut is paid for the entire year till Jiext spring. . We go to church rifjularly, at tend couoerU and hvtums. icid a:nn- inents when tho price is nut tt lnglu Sometimes the prie!s are so liigh wi can- " not afford to go. Then we stay nt home, read to each other, have visitor or" go out a little way and a little jwhile t visit few friends clse by. I haven't Uvu in a saloon since I waa uiijrriotl, nir, and will never enter one again. I had rather these book, picture-.!, cnrot cud that organ nhpuldW in or houe than in the house of the ian who niakew.his sahxm attractive bom to eutico men there to spend their earnings. We find that thu life is what we make it -We are h. lping each other, and the more we do for each otheivtho better we love each other, ami thus my wife is leading me to- ht aven. And from the liottom of my heart 1 wili thatll young men who are now travel ing the road I traveled two years ago would follow my example, for, ir, they'd never regret it" ' A -old Strata. The American Journal of Scirncc and Art contaias nn account 'of curious fact that the miners in Clear Creek Cu., Colo rado, have discovered. It is particularly noticeable in the Stevens mine, about 1 i2,50Q feet a1oe the level of th- mm,. on Mt Clellan mountain. After a deith or dihtinee of ninety feet from the surface. the crevice matter in wluch the Kilver is found is frozen solid. Sam cur and winter have no visible effect to chart go its temiierature, nor in thre -ver any lHTceptible snow. Pick and drill fj.il to" work the frozen nuvs, and the uulv way the workmen procMd is to kindle a largo fire at night against the matter, nnl an the morning to pick at the tlisiutegrP.Unl ore. After this curious faction tho mine has been lirofitdtlv conducted for two years, ifrom nine leer, wuere um com was struck, the tunnel proceeded inward. now nearly two hundred fit-1, and the cold is 'in no way diminished as yet. j Other minea in the neigblxtrbood alkw. I the name singular condition? and in all of them the depth under ground is Mich J tliat frost cannot possibly bayejM'iietrut- ed there. -The conclusion rMchel ly the contributor of the article is tliat this is' a relic of a glacial era. Whatever iU Origin, it w certainly a singular ana in teresting fact, and the method of mm- - ing, although profitable, is simple and . primitive as could well bo duvisd. The Ummte of It. In one of the bent' Burlington lmard- ing houhcs a healthy young man wit din cussing his dinner.and getting decidedly th letter of the argument His appe tite was good, the dinner alatflbl, and he went through, so to speak, th- bill of ' fare, in. a way tliat might have made butchers and grocers, had they nwn him, go Jg of the provision marke t. In due time he reached desHcrt, and tok some peach pudding. He had eaU-u about half of it Then he struck a nag. something hard, that resulted the att w-ks of his siwxm. Unable to go thnmll it, he carefully dissectedaway the surrrjd iug pudding, and his jfatient laltor was rewarded with the discovery of a largo. luisp of. coal, about stove rize. Care fully removing it to a side dish, he calld the bland chief waiW. Thomas," h said, with a reproachful air, and pointing to the coal, 44 it is not the mixing of th pudding in the coal hod that I object to, but it seems sinful to waste coal in this way when so many poor famili'-s are suf fering for want of fueL" . Home of the tommumptire - Along the baw of the Allegheny range of mountains, as found in North Can lina, says a Polk county cotTefoudnt, is a belt of land known as the Thermal Blt where thf-re are no dew ir .white frosts. Here is a raild atmosphere, free from every extreme of winter or mim mer. I send you the leaves of the i ach, the wi-.l cherry, the poplar, white oak and chestnut, (Jacked Decrtnler 2, and as yet untouched by frost which is the best evidence that oould bo ad J'yced of the no frost feature, reaches, and in iImI all fruits planted here, never fail persons living n this belt say from their j owu memory there has been do failure f the peach for fifty years. So likewise . people born and raised here say Jhai a case of original consumption is not- known to exist When it- is found it is found to have been brought ia from other parts not so highly favored. But for the cold rains of January the tender est plants would on this belt survive the winter; as it is, the tobacco plant is perennial. "