Newspapers / Lenoir News-Topic (Lenoir, N.C.) / April 20, 1876, edition 1 / Page 1
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i HE lyALDWELL JAS. C NUTTY, Publisher. divotid to thi qixbkal WWiraw Of calwill, watauga, ashi asd awacht cototdb. TERMS: 61.50 per Annum VOL. I. LENOIR, N. C, THURSDAY, APRIL 20. 1876. ' NO, 30. 1 . ' ' TRAPITM OF COWQUBT. Hit Onto of Marlborough, legends say, Though bettle-llgbtnlnga proved hU worth, Wm aoathed Ilk other, In hi day. By fiercer fires at hia own hearth. The patient chief, thoa sadly tried Hadam the Dnoheaa waa ao fair In Bleuheim'a bonora felt leea pride Than in the lady's lovely hair. Onpe (shorn, aha had coiled it there to wound Her lord when he ahonld pees, 'tis eaid) , Shining across hia path he found The glory of the woman'a head. too endden word, no enllen look. In all nia after daya oonfeeaed He mlaaed the obarm whoee abeenoe took A aoar'e pale ehape withlo hia breast. I think ehe longed to hare him blame, And aoothe him with lmperiona tears As if her beauty were the aame, He p raised her through beroourteoua years. 'Bat when the eoldler'e arm waa dost, Among the dead man'a treasures, where He laid it aa from moth and ruat, Tbey found nia wayward wife's sweet balr. The Oalary. (From the Oerman of Frederic Frederioh. Simson's MotheHn-Law. BY KMILT R. STEINESTEL. I shall probably excite a ripple of India-nation In the minds of some readera at Drenching so delicate a subject as the one In question. Still I am willing to concede that a good mother-in-law is a blessing in any household. To the young husband her advice Is golden in value, a calming Influence in possible domestic storm or tribulatlbn, a guar dian angel to the little folks, and alto gether she Is a treasure. But a bad mother-in-law Is the very demon of a household, and such a one I am about to present for your delectation In this sketch. Charles Slmson Is a merchant, and about to unite his destiny with the daughter of a Captain Beyer, dead, or gone to a better land. The bride Is a pretty, well-educated, sensible girl, who, since the father's departure into peace, had assisted her mother In keep ing up a respectable appearance "by do lng bits of fancy work, the proceeds of which, addted to the little fortune left by the captain, helped them to live nicely, altnough Insufficient to allow them to cut much of a dash in society. Slmson Is well aware of his sweet heart's poverty, but being In good cir cumstances himself, he Is entirely too sensible to estimate a wife' value by her fortune, lie wants a wife to satisfy his heart, one that will transform home into a taste of Paradise for htm; when turning his tired steps away from busi ness, will meet him with a spirit of domestic cheer, chasing from his brow the dry and practical thoughts of com merce and care, and substituting by the witchery of womanhood an interest In loetry and art. He loves Charlotte dearly, and not a doubt enters his mind in regard to his perfect happiness with her lor his wife. Charlotte's mother is a tall, lean, yes, we might say, an arid sort of woman. She is a descendant of nobility, and al though her branch of blue blood is souiewhat impoverished in purse and estate, nevertheless the lady looks back proudiy upon her pedigree. Nothing but sympathy and necessity could have induced her to condescend to a union with the plebeian and departed captain, who still had many excellent and dis tinguishing qualities as a man. .The lady has a pair of dark, uncom fortable looking eyes, and her manners and bearing are stately, majestic, rather a naturaleonsequence of her geneal ogical superiority. Slmson never ventured confidentially near her. although she invariably re . oelvcd him with kindness, and called him "my son, Mr. Slmsou." But with his flippant consideration of her cour tesy, he has not realized this as a gentle familiarity on her part. lie used to say to himself, "I'm not going to marry the mother, but the daughter," and thus the mother slipped Irora his mind. The captain's widow, who Impresses her servant with her Importance Into calling her "my lady," has never made any claims upon Slmson, but this never occurred to him until one day when In her and Charlotte's company, looking about for their future place of residence, they found a house that he imagines entirely too large for their little house hold, and the stately lady with calm decision said: "My son, Mr. Slmson will secure this house, as it is quite a suitable one for us. These two rooms will be reserved for myself, the others you may arrange to your own liking." Slmson looked at his Charlotto aston ished, who returned the look with a blush, replying: "Dear Charlie, my mamma wishes to reside with us, and I should so like to have her. You know It will be so lonely when you are away all day If 1 do not have her with me. Slmson cannot deny an appeal made so so tenderly, he thinks "she Is right, the old lady is so accustomed to Dclng with her child, her coat will not be consider able, why separate them ?" Neverthe- leas he considered it just a little pre suming to select the two most cheerful apartments In the house for her own use. The situation changes, however, after his marriage; he arranges his room to milt his taste, places the furniture ac cording; to his ideas or easy comfort, He hastens home from business the first evening alter they begin houee- keerjlng. feeling Joyoua and llghtneart' anticipating social evening In their horoe-like little room, In the company of his charming wife. At the open door of his room be stands stock still; he must be dreaming no every piece of furniture has been moved, the sofa taken from Its snug corner near the stove and moved close to the window, the table in the middle of the room, the chairs backed stiffly against the wall in a row, as If they were sub-offloers saluting their supe rior. "Charlotte, Charlotte t what does this mean?" he exclaims. "Who has brought about this terrible revolution T" The wife approached with a loving smile, striving to hide her embarrass ment. "Dear Charles, my mamma thinks the room looks so much better this way." "Better!" exclaimed Slmson. "Why. we will freeze on the aofa in winter, over there, and be broiled by the sun in summer. And my dear I do not comprehend I was under the impres sion this was our own, not your moth er's room. I hope I am at liberty to use my own taste and Judgment in Its arrangement, and I trust she has not constituted herself my guardian lie is going excitedly to work to re arrange things. Charlotte clutches his arm tremblingly "0 dear, dear Charley I You will offend mammal Please, for my sake, leave tbem lust for to-day." She put her little hands on his cheeks and her rosy Hps to his mouth. The tempter has conquered he clasps her In his arms "Well, for your sake, my angel, I will leave them ; but I do hope your mamma will please to mind her own afialrs, you know, darling." It is meal lime. The mother-in-law sails in and seats herself at the table with silent grandeur. She nips her food. Slmson is delighted when the meal is over, trusting the highborn lady will betake herself to her own room for he is vexed in spite of himself at her remarkable Industry during his absence to-day. Even his wile acts somewhat subdued In her presence. Good gracious! is It possible? The lady takes a seat on the sofa, draws her knitting out of her Docket, nuts on her spectacles, and assumes a position, com fortable and resigned, as if she had taken up her quarters on the cozy sofa for the next year and a half. Slmson stares at the knitting In SDeechless aironv. No doubt of It. the old lady Is going to grant them the pleasure ot ner company the whole evening. Charlotte takes a chair near her mamma. Slmson measures the room with rapid pace, to aid him In disguising his ex oesslvejoy. He lights a cigar; scarcely has he taken a whiff when the lady be gan to sniff and scent the air, while trom under her glasses she flashes glance at him and then at her daughter "Dear Charley," pleaded his confused little wife, "Mamma cannot endure smoke." "You assured me. Charlotte, that you liked me to smoke," he replied. "I do but mamma?" she says look lng at him so tenderly, supplicatingly He is not quite decided whether to sacrifice his cigar or his mother-in-law He slips to the window, opens It with a. bang;, but be only throws out the cigar With Increased rapidity he resumed his march, his blood boiling; an egf could have been poached in it. Truly this is a promlsiug beginning, not be allowed to smoke in his own house I The captain's lady glances sharply at him again, then at Charlotte, who does not appear to comprehend until it is renewed with decided lmpresslveness "Dear Charley, mamma cannot toler ate that incessant walking back and forth," the wife implores w ith a flush of distress on her pretty face. "Please come and sit down here by me will you? " Slmson bites his lips and grits his teeth savagely, then exclaims: "Oh Lof course' certainly I why not?" He bounces Into a chair with such violence that it groans at every Joint. Charlotte knows why he Is o vexed, and tries to divert him by every conceivable device of her gentle heart until his brow Is clear once more under her tender lnflu ence, and he no longer observes his mother-in-law's drawndown mouth nor her searching glanoe, nor the hateful click of her knitting-needles. By and by Charlotte asked him Jestingly, what he would like Tor dinner on the morrow The dame's head la suddenly erected "Child, you forget that we have already decided on to-morrow's dinner," she said, coldly. "But, mamma, maybe Charles has some favorite dish," the wile replied shyly. 6 "My child. In well regulated families special wishes cannot be observed, but must be subservient to rales," was the lady's answer. Slmson beat a tattoo on the back of his chair. He had a disposition to ask her If he was her guest, or vice versa but he restraln.-d, saying, as he caught Charlotte's Imploring glance, "I shall not be home to dinner; a particular friend has also Invited me to breakfast In the morning. At all events, I shall not be at home." The olock strikes tun. The knitting Is rolled together and Madam Beyer takes her departure with a stately bow Slmson gives a sigh of Infinite relief. Charlotte throws her arms around him a moment, then runs and lights a cigar for him. saying, "dear, dear Charley don't be cross, don't be provoked 1" Can a cloud of anger rest on his brow after that? But his last thoughts on going to sleen were of the various stories is had beard about awful mothera-iu-law The following day he waa enlightened about the character or his motner-in law. She waa proud, domineering sensitive and presuming. She Is mas ter, and evidently bad an- Idea that Simeon wm eternally Indebted to her for giving him ber daughter. War Is declared the very next day between the iwoi lie la anxious w spare nia wm, but the mother's presumption is lutol arable: but for Charlotte's take the battle is conducted In eilence. When he found that 10 o'olock waa her hour for retiring, he set the olock an hour ahead. She soon discovers this and re mains until 11 o'clock. Simeon acted as If. he did not notice it, bat smoked so vigorously that he nearly blinded him self, j . The old dame accustomed herself to it pobly. He replaces the furniture to his HVlng, and every time he comes home, the chairs stand ranged against the wall again, like a line of grenadiers on duty. At the expiration of two weeks the old lady is boss of the estab lishment. The servant obeys only her, Charlotte Is treated like a child in her "teens." The old lady commands and the old lady knows everything better tnan anybody else. The young couple can have no enjoyment without her. If Charlotte desires to visit the theatre, the mamma stands unmasked and un invited, ready to accompany1 them. If ne decides to walk, she cans a carriage, when he and Charlotte take a Walk, she trips along, either beside or after them. The woman has determined to embitter his life. He has lost his appetite be cause she is at his table. When she turns those great cold eyes on him, the victuals become acrid, or tasteless as the case might be. He might he able to endure this, but in his absence she endeavored her ut most to turn his wife against him also. She tyrannized over the poor little wo man terribly. He tries to convince Charlotte trrat It would be for the happiness of all con cerned If her mother would live else where. He offers to pay all her ex penses, anything, everything in the power of man, but Charlotte is afraid of her mother and cannot be Induced to eject or forsake her. "If she expressed a wish to leave us of her own accord, then I should gladly reconcile myself to do without her," the wife declares. Slmson takes the hint and immedi ately sets about the delightful task of making his house as agreeable for the lady as possible, but she has her wits about her, and enjoys her revenge. She Ilkea the room warm. As soon as he enters every door and window is thrown open. He is ready to freeze to death rather than endure his mother- in-law. The old hen trots out, but re turns wrapped in furs. She orders in turn the very dishes he dislikes above all others, and is compensated for ber troubles thus : She is taken sick. The first day she Is forced to keep her bed. He believes himself In heaven, to have the table alone with Charlotte. He Is so happy he stays home the whole day. The next morning the doctor Is called aside and anxiously asked how his patient is. "Do not be alarmed, my dear sir. Your mother-in-law will be about again In a day or two." "You are mistaken, doctor," the poor fellow exclaimed, "you treat her case too lightly. She Is ill, very ill ; in fact, she is out of her bead. Oh, for heaven's sake impress her situation upon her ; do not let her leave her room for at least a week or two, or a month. She is sick, the woman is indeed. Tell her so." Some evil spirit must have whispered his Joy to the old lady, for Charlotte was In such constant demand at her bedside after this, that Slmson got so tired of taking his meals alone and hav ing no one to talk to evenings that he longed for her convalescence. He knows his mother-in-law detests the sound of music, or practicing on any musical instrument, and he begins to take les sons on the cornet. Morning, noon and night this abused instrument gives ut terance to such terrific groans and ear- splitting shrieks that the neighbors threaten to have him arrested for dis turbing the peace. The old lady Is furious but shestuffs cotton In ber ears, covers them with ear-muffs, and scents herself so fear fully with musk that the house Is Into! erable, because she knows the least bit of this perfume makes him sick. The conflict becomes warmer on both sides If he ventures to bring a friend home to supper, he can be sure there will be nothing fit to eat. or that it will not be served until bedtime. He cannot drive the woman away. His house becomes a hell to him, and he begins to pass his evenings at the club. 1 lie second even lng he finds his door key ral&slng, has another made, and It likewise vanishes. He bribes the night watchman to sound the hours directly under her windows, and she revenges herself by a noisy quarrel with the servant before his door an be takes his noon-day nap. He is frequently tempted to strangle the dragon, pitch her out of the windo or poison hor, but the angelic patience and sweet disposition of hia wife bold him in chock. He wonders how this angel can be the offspring of such devil. He observed her spectacles fall one day and he placed bis foot upon them until they were ground almost into dust, i he following day be found all his olirarahad been thoroughly oiled. Accidentally be discovered that his mother-in-law had a perfoot horror of mice. He Jumped for joy. In the even ing he brings home a box literally swarming with white mloe. He con quered his own disgust for the creatures ior the pleasure of tormenting his mother-in-law. He takes one of them out of the box for the purpose of show Ing the cunning pet to Charlotte. By chance It escapes his bold and rushes for the sofa where the old lady It sit ting. With a wild cry. she rushes out of the room. He catches the little mousy and kisses it In bis extravagant delight. He would have bugged a rat that nad driven this woman away. He resolves to follow up bis suooeee and become a regular mouse hunter. The following noon the august dame sails Into the room wtttv t cat on her arm. However, Slmson Is not dleoour aged, i Rethinks a est can" dispose of ten mloe a day. I will fstth home twenty; If she devours twenty I can get forty. Hs It resolved to SJacrlfloe hit fortune, if need be, mica,: end st last tuceweei in eleaxlng tut reoan eftbe old lady, and Slmson permits the de tested little beasts to overrun his whole j house. The mother-in-law procures another cat, and scatters poison about, nut ne daily brings home a new case of mice, and after awhile fetches two rats. I It was war to the death with him, If he was forced to scour the seweri of Paris and London to obtain the wherewith to conduct It. The old lady does not venture out of her room any more, but Issues her or ders from there to Charlotte and the servant. Ills wife complains that the noxious animals are destroying kitchen and lar der, even penetrating the clothes-press to build their nests. "Never mind, let them devour and destroy everything, I will buy morel" He thought it was time enough to begin to exterminate rats and mice when the larger annoyance was extirpated. "I shall not give up until they have de voured us all! Your mamma has de stroyed weeks and months of my hap piness, and that cannot be replaced." One day Charlotte lnlormed him that mamma had found another residence and resolved to leave them. He clasped her in his arms and danced around the room like one mad at this information. Sure enough, the very next day the dame departed bag and baggage. Slm son straightway buys his wife the finest outfit in town, donates fifteen dollars to the poor, and absolutely goes to church the following Sunday to pour out his gratitude for this deliverance. Months passed before his mother-in-law honored his house with a visit, and then only because Charlotte was obliged to keep close and guard a little son of tender age. Slmson received her with ceremoulous pomp. Since then matters seem quite tolerable between them. The captain's widow never remains after eight o'clock in the evening and rarely sits at the table with him. And Hrmson is happy. The Celtic OjrlBtT Ml la Ireland. It is very probable that the use of the Celtic tcr.uo will eventually die out It Is by ii n.nssomuch In vogue with the rising guiierauon as It was with the former, mere are but few persons now, even among the old, who really "have no English," as the phrase goes; although many will pretend that this is the case for purposes of their own. believe, also, that the peasants would by . no means wish their superiors to lparrf thalr BnMrh Vtrarfhalaaa rkair will express approval and admiration of any efforts made in this direction. Both Protestants and Romanists mutilate and distort the Saxon language In the most wonderful manner. They are as fond of long and difficult sounding words as the negroes are said to be. lhey are even ingenious enough to mount polysyllabic terms, on the spur of the moment, when memory falls to bring forth any compound sufficiently startling. "Oh, Sir, you gave us a very One allegation to-day," a respectable man said to his clergyman once. Now, If the time had not been immediately after morning service, there might have been some difficulty in discovering that the subject of commendation was a ser mon. A maid servant on one occasion angrily called a troublesome child "the most ecclesiastical boy she had ever seen in her life," as the greatest term of reproach she could think of, and the same woman described a Fenian gather ing as "a wonderful triangleof people." Then, w hen one of the gentry was ill in a country neighborhood, there were many Inquiries made as to whether he would be likely "to Intercede," mean ing were there hopes for his recovery. A dispensary becomes an "expensary " the excise service "the outside." To expect Is to "Inspect," and vice versa. A cypress-tree Is a "cypher," a surplice a "cypress," an inn "an end," and ao. ad infinitum. The staple malady and cause of death in Ireland Is a pain or stitch In the heart; but the peasants also suffer etcastonally from "a great impression," and a "fluency on the chest." The most grateful peart can find no richer or more elegant mode of expressing thankfulness for some favor done than to wish the patron "a blanket of glory in Heaven." Argosy. The Aneleat Cltlea ef Mexlee. In Mexico the Spaniards found all that deserved the name of civilization on the northern continent. There waa organized power, there were homes to fight for; there were the wealth, dis tinction of caste, and highly developed religion which are to some extent com parable with the details of our own polity. The Conquerors first swept all this civilization out of existence, and destroyed every trace of It they could discover. Then thejr gave most glowing descrlpllons of It. The few relics they left for our Inspection and criticism are as meagre as those of some forgotten pooplo, the remnants of whose huts and feasts are dredged from a mountain lake. In tho popular mind their de scriptions are combined with the dis covery of highly sculptured ruins In Guatemala and other countries south of Mexico, and It Is by adding together all the conjectures to which the sight of these carved stones give rise, and all that is reported of the Mexicans, that the popular notion of the Aztecs has been formed But this It rank confusion, for the sculptured buildings of Copan and Pal enque were the work of another and probably a preceding race to the Na huas, of whom the Aztecs were part. The fact that a previous people had better houses than the Mexlcaua, built grander cities, and faded out before the kingdom of Mexico was founded, of course offers a fine field (or speculation. Oalaiy. "The excuse of the third man," said Mr. Moody, illustrating the parable of the guests who were backward in com ing forward, "waa more absurd than any I have married a wife and there fore I cannot oome. Now, why didn't he take hit wife along with him?" Cels A cold is simply a developer of a dis eased condition, which may have been latent or requiring only some favoring condition to hurst out into the flame of disease. That this is usually the cor rect view of a cold as a disease-Dro- duclng agent, under all ordinary cir cumstances, may be made plain by re- nection upon personal experience, even to the most ordinary understanding. When the human body is at its prime, with youth, vigor, purity and a good constitution on its side no degree of ordinary exposure to cold gives rise to any unpleasant effects. All the ordi nary precautions against colds, coughs and rheumatic pains may be disregarded ana no m effects ensne. But let the blood become impure, let the body be come deranged from anv acquired dis order, or let the vigor begin to wane, ana tne mammies or age be felt oy oc casional derangement in some vital part, either from inherited or actual abuses and the action of cold will ex cite more or less disorder of some kind, and the form of this disorder, or the disease that will ensue, will be deter mined by the kind of pre-existing blood Impurity, or the pre-existing fault of these organic processes. It follows from these facts and considerations that the secret of avoiding these unpleasant consequences thought to spring wholly from the action of cold upon the body has very little dependence upon expo sure, but a great deal udou the imnure and weak condition of all the vital pro- ceases, in other words, with an average or superior constitution and intelligent observance of all the laws of health, men and women could not take cold If they wanted to ; they might be exposed to the action of cold to a degree equal to the beast of the field, and with like impunity. But in case of persons with feeble constitutions, and who disregard. knowingly, or otherwise, the conditions of healthy existence, no degree of care will prevent the taking cold, as It is termed. They may really live in houses regulated with all the precision of a hot-house, they may cover themselves with the most highly protective cloth ing the market provides, and yet will take cold. I don't think the consump tive person lives, or ever will live, even if kept In temperature absolutely uni form and clothed in a wholly faultless manner, in whom the well-known signs of one cold after auother will not be apparent. But, on the ftther hand there are those who. like the late Sir Henry Holland, of good constitution and living in accordance with the laws of health, may travel, as he did, from the tropics to the Arctic again and again, clad only in an ordinary dress coat, and yet scarcely know what It Is to have a cold or slcKiiess of any kind. The truth is to avoid taking cold from ordinary, or even extraordinary exposure, the vital processes must be made f trong enough to rise above the untoward influence of external conditions. The Sanitarian. A Qaer Ifa er Hmtcb. One of the moat practical and intelli gent negro servants I have met was cook ana housekeeper to some friends to whom I was paying a visit. She could read, write, and sew, and studied her Bible every Sunday. She became very much interested in my travels, wishing to know the names of the vari ous places to which I bad been all of them "Greek" to her. Finding that she read her Bible, I thought she might feel interested to hear about Egypt, the land of the Pharaohs. "Missus been there?" she exclaimed, her eyes glitter ing with wonder and delight; "I reckon now, mlssie been everywhere pretty near." Then, aa if a sudden thought had struck her, "I 'specie missie's been as far as heaven now, and seen all de angels, and tell all 'bout it." Rather nonplussed, I remained slleqt, and she continued: "Warn'tde singing beau tiful, and warn't de angels' wings all golden? I 'spects m lisle knows all about it " On relating this story to her mistress she laughed, and remarked that, like the rest, she could never grasp an Immaterial idea, but that as far as every-day life went she waa neverthe less the beet negro she had ever had, and far more Intelligent than the most of them. Appletont Journal. The Vafwrtwaale Elephant. An elephant had been endeavoring to rive the bole of a knotted oak with nls trunk, but the tee closed upon that member, detaining it and causing the hapless elephant intense pain. He shook the forest with his trumpeting and all the beasts gathered around him. "Ah, ha, my friend, said a pert chlm pansee, "you have got your trunk checked, I see." "My children," said a temperate camel to her young, "let this awful example teach you to ahuu the bole." "Does It hurt you much?" said a compassionate gnu : "Ah, It does; It does; it must; I have been a mother myself." And while they were sympa thizing with him the unfortunate ele phant expired In great agony. Moral The moral of the above Is so plain as to need no explanation. Talk Is cheap. "No one," aays a writer on bird keep ing, "who has not a kind heart, thoughtful head, observant eyes, and gentle hand, has the least right to keep birds. One should weigh the matter of keeping a bird as If It were the question of adopting an orphan." If a careless person neglect a cat or a dog, It will I make its wanU known, and, the worst coming to tne worst, go oat on roraging expeditions, and appropriate whatever It finds to its own use. But the poor neglected bird has no voice to tell Its hunger t til Its notes are called "sing Ing." It cannot escape from prison to borrow, beg. or steal seeds from Its neighbors, and can only beat Its little wings against the bars. Therefore those who enjoy keeping birds should make their care a matter of conscience. FOOD FOR THOUGHT. Pleasure and sorrow are twins. Poetry is truth dwelling in beauty. If religion were hurtful there are few men who would get enough of it to In jure health. There are some kinds of men who can not pass their time alone. They are the flans of occupied people. He who reforms himself has done more towards reforming the public than , a crowd of noisy, Impotent patriots. Nothing exposos religion more te the reproach of Its enemies than the world liness and hardheartedness of the pro fessors 01 it. ; Praise never gives us much pleasure unless It concur with our own opinion, and extol us for those qualities in which we chiefly excel. - "?' Among all races, the Eng)ish lusWer shown itself most keenly alive to the tear of making itself rldienlouf ; 'and among all, none has produced so many humorists. I ' At Chatham, Eng., recently, some workmen In making excavations on an island, for dock purposes, found a huge vessel several feet beneath the surface. She was probably one of the .several sunk 200 years ago to impede the Dutch fleet on its passage up the Medwavto destroy the dockyard. Seven guns, a quantity of shot, some tobacco pipes, and a coin dated 16S3. were among the articles found on board. There Is a rage in Parts just now for old tapestry, carpets, church vestments ancient coats, vests, and ladtes dreskes, Ac. At a recent sale' at the Hotel Drouot, a very small embroidered car pet of the seventeenth century . Sold, for 500 francs ; a yellow silk bedcover,, em broidered, for 410 francs; a white satin chasuble for 300 francs ; a hoop dress, time of Louis XVI., for 430 francs'; a velvet coat, same period, for 385 francs ; a drum, time of Louis XV., for 135 francs. A regular poser a clincher la the case of an Irishman named Dennut, If true; if not true, the Annual Register must be held responsible. He died at Athenry In 1804, at the age of one hun dred and seventeen: he had been mar ried seven times, the last time at the age of ninety-three1. He survived the birth of forty-eight children, twd hun dred and thirty-six grandchildren, four hundred and forty-four great-grandchildren, and twenty-live great-greatgrandchildren. A recent visitor to the Dismal Swamp describes It as having lost none of Its characteristics which gave it its name. Bears are not so plenty there as when the region was but rarely penetrated by man, yet they still afford sport for the hunters. Lake Drummond,' once be lieved by the ignorant to be bottomless. is really not in any place more than 14 feet deep. Its water, Impregnated with the juices of juniper and gum leaves, is of the color of wine, and is drunk as a remedy by consumptives. The late Oulkwar of Baroda was sup posed to have had the most inagnllieent coat ever made in India, valued at six lahks of rupees, which he sent as an offering to the shrine of the prophet at Mecca. But this coat is about to be eclipsed hy . one lately made for the Maharajah of Puttiala, which a corres pondent of the Delhi 'Gazette' tells "ua la "valued at fifteen lakhs, set with precious stones, and fringed about the collar, cuffs, and front with large pearls. The coat will be worn at the durbar of the Prince of Wales." A venerable talker of twaddle, a so ciety man who has outlived his useful ness, but who still hovers aroand at receptions and parties, and indulges In small talk at which no one laughs but himself, sailed up to a couple engaged In conversation in a cozy corner the other evening, and in his most winning tones said "Judging from the color of her cheeks, I should say yon had beed saying some very complimentary things to Miss , ray boyf" "I never deal in compliments," said the 'boy,' rather gruffly. "Don't you believe it," broke in the fair Miss . "He baa paid me a better compliment than you ever paid a lady In all your life. He has been talking to me as though I knew some thing." A French connoisseur lately entered a Paris "curiosity shop," and ssw a beautiful Dresden vase. Asking the price, he was told 40, "and," said the dealer, "If I had the pair they would be worth 300." M. A. offered 30, and: came several days running to renew his , proposal, but In vain. One day i man came to M. A.'s apartments to show bint some old china plates, and Induced him to visit his shop In the BatignoUea. , To, his surprise andSdellght M. A. saw In an obscure corner of the , shop a vase exactly similar to the coveted Dresden, and eagerly secured it for 48, wlth the assurance that the pair. If forthcoming, would be worth 400. M. A1, rushed off to the first dealer, and offered bin his own price for the vase. ''Ah, sir," said be, "you come too late; I sold It yesterday to a dealer at the Batlgnolles !' Some Indian tribes have a custom which some of the grown-up whites, as well as the little ones, could follow. Whenever a member of oue of these tribes finds a soft or dangerous spot in a marsh, or discovers some precipice bid by trees or bushes, he puts up In i the moat consplcnous place a certain sign which is understood to mean 'dan ger near,' and so, no matter how many of bis tribe may travel that way, none of them ever come to grief. What a blessed thing it would be if we would follow tuch a custom throughout ear lives, snd whenever we make a costly mistake, or fall Into an error, pat tip a sign whloh would warn our friends or the danger and enable them to steer clear of a similar fate. If you think well of this, remember , that It Is never too early to begin doing good, and that habits for good or evil grow with us, as 4 1 wax eller aid stronger.
Lenoir News-Topic (Lenoir, N.C.)
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April 20, 1876, edition 1
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