North Carolina Newspapers

$Jh4 (lhatham jucorrl 1 II H. A. LONDON, Jr., IR. -ARTIES OF K1HTOR AXP I'UorUIKTOH. vv yy ADVERTISING. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: One square, one insertion, Oue square, two insertions,- - . One square, one mouth, - - - - ?1.00 1.20 2.30 i 'in 1 ". '" J't'ar, - 0'I' .lV IIIOIIlilH - one voi) threw muutlis, - f..oo 1.00 .so VOL. I. PITTSBOKO CHATHAM CO., X. C, FEBRUARY 6, 1879. O. 21. For larger advertisements liberal contracts will be made. V y I II II IV 1111 II VI. II II II dvqrUsctmnte. LARGEST STORE LARGEST STOCK Cheapest Goods & Best Variety CAN BE FOUND AT LONDON'S CHEAP STORE. Hew Goods ReffiiYedOTT Wert. You can always find what you wish at Lon don's. He keeps everything. Dry Goods, Clothing:, Carpeting, Hardware, Tu Ware, Drugs, Crockery, Confectionery Shoes, Boot?, Caps, Hats, Carriage Materials, Sewing Machines,Oils, Putty, Glass, Paints, Nails, Iron, Plows and Plow C'astiugs, Sole, Upper and Harness Leathers, Saddles, Trunks, 8atchels, Shawls, Blankets, Um brellas, Corsets, Belts, La dies' Neck-Ties and Huffs, Ham burg Edgings, Laces, Furniture, &c. Best Shirts in the Country for $1. Best 5-cent Cigar, Chewing and Smoking Tobacco, 8uuff, Salt and Molasses. My stock Is always complete in every line, and goods always sold at the lowest prices. Special inducements to Cash Buyers. My motto, "A nimble Sixpence is better than a 6low Shilling." fcs?All kinds of produce taken. W. L. LONDON, Pittsboro'- N. Carolina. H. A. LONDON, Jr., Attorney at Law, PITTSBORO', X. . JBsafSpeeial Attention Paid to Collecting. J. J. JACKSON, AT TOR NE Y-AT-L AW, pittsboro x. a "All business entrusted to him will re ceive prompt attention. R. H. COWAN, DEALER IN Staple & Fancy Dry Goods, Cloth ing, Hats Boots, Shoes, No tions, Hardware, CROCKERY and GBOCERIES. PITTSBORO'.N. C. NORTH CAROLINA STATE LIFE INSURANCE CO., RALEIGH, . CAR. P. H. CAMERON, Preident. W. E. ANDERSON, Vice JVc. W. H. HICKS, AVc'y. The only Home Life Insurance Co. in the State. All Its fund loaned out AT HOME, and among our own people. We do not Bend North Carolina money abroad to build up other States. It is one of the most successful com panies of H3 age in the United States. Its as set)) are amply sufficient. All losses paid promptly. Eight thousand dollars paid in the list two years to families in Chatham. It will cost a man aged thirty years only five cents a day to insure for one thousand dollars. Apply for further information to H.A. LONDON, Jr., Gen. Agt. PITTSBOKO', N. C. Dr. A. D. MOORE, PITTSBORO', C, Offum bit profession! services to tbe citizens of Cbthm. with an experieoot of thirty year he hupea to g lv vutir. satisfaction. JOHN MANNING, Attorney at Law, PITTSBOEO', XT. C., Practices in the Courts ot Chatham, Harnett, oore and Orange, aud ia the Supreme and Federal Courts. O. S. POE, Dealer in Dry Goods, Groceries It General Merchandise, All kinds of Flows and Castings, Baggy BaterUli, Furniture, tto. PITTMBORO', N. CAR. A WOMAN'S QUESTION. KMZAHKTH BAUHKT DROWNING. lo you know you have asked for the costliest tiling Ever made by the Hand above A woman's heart and a woman's life, And a woman's wonderful love ? Do you know you have asked for this priceless thing As a child might ask for a toy ? Demanding what others have died to win, With the reckless dash of a boy. You have written my lesson of duty out, Man-like you have questioned me Now stand at the bar of my woman's soul, Until I shall question thee. You require your mutton shall always be hot. Your socks and your shirts shall be whole ; I require your heart to be true as Hod's stars. And pure as heaven your soul. You require a cook for your mutton aud beef ; 1 require a far better thing : A seamstress you're wanting for stoekings and shirts 1 look for a man aud a king. A king for :i beautiful realm called home, And a man that the maker, Hod, Shall look upon as he did the first. And say, "It Is very good.' I am fair and young, but the rose will fade Prom my soft, young cheek oue day Will you love me then, 'mid the falling leaves, as you did 'mid the bloom ot May '! Is your heart an ocean so stroug and deep 1 may lauuch my all on its tide ? A loving woman finds heaven or hell On the day she is made a bride. I require all things that are grand and true. All things that a man should be ; If you give this all, I would stake my life To le all you demand of me. If you cannot do this a laundress aud cook You can hire, with little to pay ; Hut a woman's heart aud a woman's life Are not to be won that way. A WHITE ROSE AND A STRAW. Mr. Frederick Woodman, acred twentv- two, was the master of the village school of Pigsborough, and one of the best little men. as far as temper and looks were con cerned, that you could possibly imagine. All his scholars and, in fact, almost everybody liked him. Indeed, it would have been very difficult not to like such a weu-spoKen gentle anil amiable little gentleman. On the dav mv storv commences, how. ever, he was neither gentle nor amiable. He treated the schoolbovs with annmmmt of severity which surprised them greatly. jL-ireeuy ne naa dismissed the boys for the day, he locked up the school, and waiKea aostracieuiy into his own little domicile, adjoining. Taking oil' his hat he sat down upon a chair, looking greatly worried, and then burst out with : " What a fool I was to quarrel with lit tle Nell last night ! What does it matter if she does flirt ! I might know by this lime that she likes me better than the other wretch." Having thus relieved himself, he rose, sauntered out, and paced up and down the little flower garden in front of the cot tage. Presently he was fired with an idea, and returned to the parlor muttering : I know. I'll write Nell a loving and penitent letter, asking her forgiveness for my hastiness last night. First of all, though I'll secure a messenger. Trotting out to the end of his garden, he soon sighted a knot of pupils playing at cricket, and selecting one called out : Hi ! Briggs, my boy, I want you." And in another minute up came Briggs, anxious to get in his masters "good books," and hot trom his exertions at cricket. "Yes sir 1" panted he. "Step in, and sit down a minute Briggs, I want you to take a letter for me." And the little schoolmaster went in, while Briggs sat down on the porch, fan ning himself with his old misshapenedjhat, and wiping the perspiration from his face on the sleeves of his smock. Mr. Woodman had said he would write a letter, but doing it he found very dif ferent. He commenced five, one after the other, tearing them all up in disgust. Then thinking Briggs would get tired of waiting he employed a little artifice to de tain his intended messenger, while he made another attempt at a long and peni tent letter. "Briggs, my boy," said he, coming out with a pen on his ear, "would you like a piece of cake?" "Oi think oi could eat joost a little crumb, and thankee, sir," said Briggs, smirking. So our hero went in and cut him a "little crumb," weighing about half a pound, brought it out on a clean plate, and then retired to think what he should say in his billet-doux. As he sat considering, a "happy thought" struck him. He would send her a message in flowers. He reached to his book-shelf, and took down a little book called "The Language of Flowers," which he at once began to study, searching for an appropriate em blem. " 'Union a perfect straw, ' " he read. "Ah, that will do. Reunion is just what I want. Now for a little flattery. Ah, here it is: 'Delicate beauty a white rose. Hurrah 1 That will do splendidly. I have heard her say she undersiands the language of flowers. It was a capital idea of mine." He hurried out into the garden, past the astonished Briggs, and plucked a beautiful white rose, alter which he came back, and asked Briggs "if he could get him a wisp of straw anywhere." "Oh, yes, sir," answered Briggs, much astonished, and away he went, his mouth full of cake, and soon returned bearing the trophy, which he handed to our hero, and resumed his cake and seat in the porch, with serious doubts as to his schoolmaster's sanity. His reflections were interrupted by Mr. Woodman coming out, bearing an envel ope, which contained the rose and the straw, carefully wrapped in scented wad ding and sealed. This he handed to Briggs, with a smile and sixpence, and said : "Make haste and take this to Miss Mor ris, and bring me back a reply." Briggs trotted off merrily, and Fred stood in the garden watching his messen ger's retreating form, and anxiously awaiting the answer to his floral message. Pretty little Nellie Morris sat alome in her mother's little parlor, crying. Her parents had gone to a neighboring fair, and would not be home till late, and she was so lonesome and wretched that she felt she must cry. "Why was I so unkind to poor dear Fred, last night?" she asked herself be tween her sobs. "Oh, how I wish he would come and make it all up !" she in wardly uttered. "I do feel so miserable." At that moment there was a tap on the door. Nellie's heart beat wildly. "Come in," she said, feebly. And oh, how she wished, yet scarcely dared to hope, that it was Fred come to make up the quarrel, and be good friends again. But she was disappointed. The door opened slowly, and Briggs entered, holding out a crushed and dirty letter and mumbled that it was from Mr. Woodman, and he was to wait for a re ply. Nellie took the soiled missive, broke the seal with trembling fingers, and took out a faded white rose, and a broken straw, the definitions of which she knew too well the former meaning "I loved you once," and the latter oh, cruel stab ! "Thus do I break my fetters!" Nellie, scarlet with indignation, flung the letter out of the open door, motioned Briggs to follow it, which he did more amazed than ever, and then sank upon a chair in an agony of tears. All this sorrow was caused by Brigg's weakness for cricket. He had stopped to have a game on his way, and put the let ter in his pocket, whereby the rose was faded and the straw broken. Our hero was waiting impatiently in the garden when Briggs ran up, looking very frightened, and holding out the re jected billet doux in his hand. He at once broke out in a string of dis jointed sentences concerning his luckless adventure. "I gave it to her," said he, "and when she took out the brukken straw an' the faded rose, she turned me an' the letter fair out o' the house." "Broken 1" echoed Fred. "Faded !" Then a light suddenly dawning upon him "Did you get playing on your way, sir ? Answer me." shaking the unhappy mes senger violently. "1 only '' commenced Briggs, fear fully : and then he began to blubber, and applied the sleeve of his smock to his eyes in the most woe-begone manner. "For goodness' ake run home before I'm angry with you," said our hero ; and Briggs obeyed, thinking it a very strange aflair altogether. Fred ran in, thinking perhaps he had sent the wrong emblems, and looked again at his "Language of Flowers." No ; they were quite right. Just then his eye caught an item as fol lows : "White rose (faded) 1 loved you once," and he groaned. Then he turned to another page, aud had another shock on seeing these words: "Straw (broken) Thus do I break my fetters." That was truly the last straw which broke the camel's back. Fred leaned back in his chair, and almost cried with vexation, to think of the sorrow his care less messenger had caused. The shades of evening began to fall ; still he sat there, thinking how ho could heal this fresh wound. Meanwhile: unhappy Nellie sat crying in her dreary parlor. Ah, me ! At last our hero came to a resolution. He would go and see Nellie and explain the whole of the wretched blunder. He was soon striding away over the fields in a flutter of hope and excitement. The sun was just sinking in a dazzling mass cf gold as he reached his destina tion. He tapped gently on the door, hut ob tained no answer, so he softly lifted the latch and stepped gently inside. Nellie was sitting by the window, her face buried in her hands sitting still as death. Fred advanced noiselessly and touched her upon the arm. She sprang hastily up. and, seeing who it was crimson with anger and wounded pride she ordered him to leave tbe house ; but the effort was too much for her, and she sank upon her chair again, sobbing as though her poor, innocent little heart would break. In an instant the little schoolmaster was on his knees by her side, and in less than two minutes had poured the whole history of the mistake into Nellie's wil ling ear. In another five minutes they were bet ter friends than ever. The" schoolboys were surprised next day when our hero, in addition to a half holiday, gave them a penny apiece all around. But they did not know what we do, did they? Briggs has been forgiven. He often carries messages from Mr. Frederick Woodman to Miss Nellie Morris, but they are invariably in black and white. The little schoolmaster has had enough for a little while of the language of flow ers. THE COLD SHOULDER. Expressions which are apparently fanciful and illogical are sometimes more telling than others in which no criticism could find a- flaw. For in stance, the curious and rather awkward phrase, "giving the cold shoulder," has acquired by usage a force which could scarcely be equalled by the most faultless English. We can not pretend to account for the popularity of this idiom, which has long been exalted from the de radation of slang to the re spectability of conventional English. It may be more interesting to consider the uses and abuses of the thing than to speculate on the history of the word. Precedents of great antiquity may be found for the use of the cold shoulder, but it is nevertheless a special charac teristic of the day. In past times ene mies had many resources duels, horse whipping, tournaments, pluckings of beards, and smitings under fifth-ribs; but in these days their only choice lies between a dead cut and the cold shoulder. The readiness and portability of this last weapon renders its use but too common, and it is rarely that any social gathering takes place without some very pretty fighting with this in strument. It has also this advantage, that its use is not confined to the male sex, for women can wield it on occasion with the fierceness of petroleuses. The graceful use of the cold shoulder fairly deserves to be ranked among the fine arts; while, on the contrary, nothing can be more ungainly than its awkward application. When a tactless man meets the object of his detestation, he looks nervously self-conscious, and seems undecided whether to cut. or merely slight his enemy. After blush- mg in a foolish manner, he gives an awkward bow, which, intended to be graceful, is in reality ludicrously clumsy. A casual observer might impute his singular behavior to shyness rather than hatred. The most successful hand at cold-shouldering is the heartless and listless man, who can put his victim completely out of his mind, and forget his presence, if not his existence, as soon as he has accorded him the coldest of recognitions. Without insinuating that women are more heartless and listless than men, we may observe that they are far greater adepts in this art than the opposite sex. Most men are more or less ill at ease when they know that they are giving pain to others, but this is by no means invariably the case with women. We might even go so far as to say that ladies sometimes too evidently derive satisfaction from the annoyance of others while retaining their own caloric; but men cannot ob tain a like result without first becom ing icicles themselves. The lords of the creation, moreover, when wishing to appear dignified, are apt to assume an air of vacant stupidity. They are, in fact, bad actors; and when a man would like to knock another down, he rinds it an effort to treat him with cold politeness. But if the art of giving the cold shoulder is worthy of acquirement, much more so is that of receiving it judiciously. It is quite possible to en dure its application with such becom ing dignity that the aggressor comes off decidedly second-best in the encounter. Perhaps amused indifference forms the most efl'ective armor against its thrusts, for few things so disconcert an enemy as to find his attacks affording diver sion to his antagonist. The probability in such a case is that he will either lose his temper, and thus put himself im mediately in the wrong, or else sur render unconditionally on perceiving the absurdity of the situatiou. It is said that people who have an inordinate fear of infectious diseases are more sus ceptible of them than others; and, in the same manner, those who are always dreading the cold shoulder are most vulnerable to that kind of attack. Indeed, men who live in perpetual fear of slights from others become so con strained in their manner that it is ex tremely difficult for their friends to treat them with geniality. The coldest mannered people are frequently those who look for most warmth from others; and when their expectations are not gratified they forget that the coolness they meet with is but a dim reflection of their own. But miserable as is the state of persons who suffer from over sensitiveness, it is to be preferred to that of the hardened wretches who are impervious to the sternest onslaughts of the cold shoulder. There are beings who are so convinced of their own at tractiveness that nothing will per suade them that they are objects of special aversion. If they observe that the manner of an acquaintance is un usually cold they attribute it to dyspep sia or to a depreciation in the value of his investments. It may be doubted whether any human being has ever lived to the age of thirty without experiencing the cold shoulder in some form or other. Who does not know what it is, when casually falling in with a couple of friends, to see them smile significantly at each other, and then accord him a colder greeting than he expected? Or who has not heard a knot of his acquaintances chuckle with ill-concealed mirth when he left them? If any one has escaped such a fate, has he never found the conversation of a friend cold or abrupt when he had hoped it would be sympa thetic aud familiar? Is there a man so lucky that he has never been made to feel that he was in the way when pay ing a call? Have not most of us oc casionally found that our most interest ing communications have been re sponded to by a vacant "Really," while our best stories have failed" to provoke a smile? Do no friends who once signed themselves "yours yery affectionately" now conclude their let ters with a chilling "yours truly?" Have none of the old nick-names and familiar expressions been dropped, and are all the standing invitations to luncheon still in force? Have we not written affectionate and detailed epistles which after long delay have received but purt notes in reply, containing no allusion whatever to our friendly re marks and inquiries? Are not our tempting invitations sometimes re fused with no better excuse than re grets that those whom we invited are unable to accept them? At first sight it might be imagined that nobody would be subjected to cold shouldering unless he had committed some heinous offence, or at any rate lay under suspicion of having done so. Practically, however, it is otherwise, as the punishment of which we are speaking is apt to follow comparatively innocent actions, while real wickedness often escapes scot-free. Conduct which might bring the offender into the Divorce Court may possibly expose him to the cold shoulder of good so ciety, but visits to the houses of the leaders of the opposite cliques, or inter course with respectable people whom "nobody knows,'' would quite cer tainly render him liable to severe penal ties. Again, it is simply "sad" when a man becomes a confirmed dipsomaniac ; but if he changes his religion, however conscientiously and at whatever sacri fice, he is visited with the severest penal ties of the cold-shoulder. Those, how ever, who wish to taste the cold shoul der in all its bitterness should take an energetic part in canvassing at an election--! f possible, selecting one in which both candidates are of similar politics. Instead of being a political contest, it then becomes a purely personal affair, and although, when it is over, there is a great deal said about letting bygones be bygones, and although it is generally understood that no absolute cutting is to be allowed to follow, the families and supporters of the rival candidates find abundant opportunities for the use of the only alternative weapon of modern social warfare, nor are they slow to use them. The two champions very likely may shake hands, and de clare each other to be excellent fellows, and at public dinners it may be given out that there is to be peace on earth and good will towards men; but. for all that, it is said in private that this man has acted like a traitor, and that man like a scoundrel, that Brown told a lie and shall be some day made to eat his words, that Jones represented the fa miliar friend of evil notoriety, and that Robinson behaved in a manner that can never be forgotten. It can not, there fore, be a matter of surprise if freezing politeness is the warmest kind of inter course that takes place between the rival factions for months, if not years, to come; and the cold-shouldering which follows resembles a general en gagement rather than a little quiet dueling. Bad, however, as are elec tioneering contests in this respect, the most enduring chilly treatment is that which a man experiences after heavy pecuniary losses. At first the sufferer meets with a good deal of ostentatious sympathy and patronizing condolence; but this is succeeded by coldness, as surely as the autumn follows the sum mer. But hardest of all to bear, to a man with any real self-respect, is the coolness of the poor and of social in feriors. Nothing can well be more humiliating than this, for it implies that, much as it would be to their private interest to curry favor with him and put up with some disagree ableness on his part, they have such a contempt for his behavior of character that no accidents of birth or circum stances can make up for his personal deficiencies. It is sometimes scarcely less disagree able to give than to receive the cold shoulder. Its infliction occasionally becomes a duty, and few things require more discretion. However necessary it may be to administer this form of chastisement, there is no reason for making it unduly painful. The lesson will be far more taken to heart when given in a gentle manner than when it is accompanied with rudeness and sarcasm. When we consider ourselves called upon to inflict a little cold shouldering, it is as well to remember our own experiences under like treat ment, and we may also profitably re call the ridiculous fiernre sometimes cut by those engaged in its administra tion; nor snouia n oe iorgotten that, however wholesome this kind of disci pline may be in moderation, it has a peculiarly hardening tendency when used to excess. It is desirable, too, that we should be on our guard against being supposed to be bent on cold shouldering when we are quite inno cent of any such purpose. London Saturday Review. THE BIBLE. ITS WISK AXI WIJOLJEbOME COUNSELS. Who composed the following des cription of the Bible we may never know. It was found in Westminster Abbey, nameless and dateless ; but, nevertheless, it is invaluable for its wise and wholesome counsels to the erring race of Adam. A nation would be truly happy if it were governed by no other laws than those of this blessed book. It contains everything needful to be known or done. It gives instructions to a senate, au thority and direction to a magistrate. It cautions a witness, requires an impartial verdict of a jury, and fur nishes the judge with his sentence. It sets the husband as the lord of the household, and the wife as the mistress of the table tells him how to rule, and her, as well, how to manage. It entails honor to parents and en joins obedience to children. It prescribes and limits the sway of the sovereign, the rule of the ruler, and the authority of the master; commands the subject to honor and servants to obey, and the blessing and protection of the Almighty to all that walk by its rule. It gives directions for weddings and burials. It promises food and raiment and limits the use of both. It points out a faithful and eternal guardian to the departing husband and father; tells him with whom to leave his fatherless children, and whom his widow is to trust, and promises a father to the former and a husband to the latter. It teaches a man to get his house in order, and how to make his will; it ap points a dowry for his wife, and entails the right of the first born and shows how the young branches shall be left. It defends the rights of all, and re veals vengeance to every defaulter, overreacher and trespasser. It is the first book, the best book. It contains the choicest matter,gives the best instruction, affords the great est degree of pleasure and satisfaction that we have ever enjoyed. It contains the best laws and most profound mysteries that were ever penned; and it brings the very best of comforts to the inquiring and discon solate. It exhibits life and immortality from time everlasting, and shows the way to glory. It is a brief recital of all to come. It settles all matter in debate; re solves all doubts, and eases the mind and conscience of all their scruples. It reveals the only living and true God, and shows the way to Him, and sets aside all other gods, and describes the vanity of them, and all that trust in such; in short, it is a book of laws to show right and wrong; of wisdom that condemns all folly and makes the foolish wise; a book of tiuth that de tects all lies and confronts all errors; and it is a book of life, that shows the way from everlasting death. It contains the most ancient an tiquities and strange events, wonderful occurrences, heroic deeds, and unpar ralleled wars. It describes the celestial, terrestial and internal worlds, and the origin of the angelic myriads, the human tribes and the devilish legions. It will instruct the accomplished mechanic and most profound critic. It teaches the best rhetorician, and exercises every power to the most skill ful arithmetician, puzzles the wisest anatomist, and exercises the wisest eritic. It is the best covenant that ever was agreed on; the best deed that ever was sealed; the best evidence that ever was produced; the best that will ever be signed. To understand it is to be wise indeed; to be ignorant of it is to be destitute of true wisdom. It is the king's best copy, the magis trate's best rule, the housekeener'a hfist. guide, the servant's best directory, and the young man's best companion; it is the schoolboy's spelling-book, and the great and learned man's masterpiece. it contain's a choice grammar tor a novice, and a profound mystery for a sage. It is the lemorant man's dictionary and the wise man's directory. It affords knowledge of witty inven tions for the humorous, and dark say ings for the grave, and is also its own interpreter. It encourages the wise: the warrior and the swift it overcomes; it promises an eternal reward to the excellent, the conqueror, the winner, and the preva lent. Ana tnat which crowns all is, that the author is without uartialitv and without hypocrisy " In whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning." CURIOSITIES OF CURRCENY. The bank officer who saw a compen sating advantage from the passage of the silver dollar bill because payments of silver would be so bulky as to assist in checking runs, and in cases oi large amount would render a wheelbarrow necessary, probably based his remarks upon a knowledge of the experience of the Swedish merchants of the last cen tury. During that period copper was the chief medium of exchange in Swe den, and business men who went out to collect their bills carried wheel barrows to contain the copper dalers. The inconvenience of such a medium kept down trade a result which the Spartans of old sought to obtain by the introduction of iron money. Cattle were the medium of exchange in still earlier times, Homer frequently valu ing the armor of his heroes at so many head of cattle. Indeed, it is now gen erally conceded that our word pecuni ary is derived from the Latin pecus, cattle. Sir H. S. Maine, in his interest ing Early History of Institutions, shows that being counted by the head, the kine were called capitate, whence "cap ital," "chattel," and "cattle." Skins were early used as currency, and lea ther money is said to have been cir culated in Russia as late as the reign of Peter the Great. Among the few facts that are left us about the laws and usages of Carthage is the employ ment of leather currency. Maize formerly circulated in Mexico ; and in Norway corn is even now deposited in banks, and lent and borrowed. As our Indians use wampum, the natives of East Indies, or portions of them, have resorted to cowry shells as small money, and a considerable export of them goes on from the Maldive and Laccadive islands. The Fijians cir culate whales' teeth red teeth ex pressing the higher denominations. The introduction of American gold into Europe displaced silver as the common measure of value a position it held in Queen Elizabeth's reign. The French use the word argent (silver) as a comprehensive term for mone , a circumstance illustrating the position the metal once held. A French savant is of the opinion that in the very earli est ages stone implements were used as the circulating medium between tribes. He bases his theory on the circum stance that some of the implements are made of materials not to be founi in the region of their discovery. In our own colonial period, bullets and tobacco passed as currency, and, dur ing the civil war, hotel tickets, car tickets, and even shoe-irons were ac cepted as such. Olive-oil continues to be the medium in some of the Mediter ranean countries, and large transac tions have been based upon it. Auti och and Alexandria are said to have used a wooden talent. Lead passes current in Burmah. Tin farthings wrere struck by Charles II. in 1680, a stud of copper being inserted in the middle of the coin to render counter feiting more difficult, and tin half pence and farthings were used as late as 1691, but never obtained a really wide circulation. Tin coins were form erly employed in Java and in Mexico, and the metal is said to be still current by weight in the Straits of Malacca. The Bussian government, which owns the principal platinum mines, began fifty years ago to coin that metal, but after seventeen years of experiment gave it up. The appearance of the metal is inferior to gold, and the fact that it is seldom or never used for pur poses of ornamentation is also against its use. Nevertheless, at the monetary conference at Paris, in 1867, the Bus sian representative proposed that plati num should be employed for the coin age of five-franc pieces. The forms of coins are represented in almost every shape, from the gold button or grain of Pondicherry to the scimetar-shaped pieces once employed in Persia. Au stria finds it profitable to continue the coining of the Maria Theresa silver dollar, with the original design and date (1780), because of its great popu larity in Northern Africa and the Levant When the British govern ment undertook the Abyssinian expe dition, the military chest contained large quantities of these dollars, which are in great demand among the natives. In some portions of the Orient porcelain coins are used, and are quite in demand. Boston Journal of Commerce. LEFT HANDEDNESS. At the late meeting of the British Association, Dr. II. Muirhead made a communication on "left handedness." He thought it depended upon which half of the brain took the lead. Left handedness once begun in a family was likely to run in it. It was a curious lact that lett handed people had the left foot one-third to one-eighth of an inch longer than the right. Med. and Surg. Hep. Every prisoner in the Covington (Ky.) jail got a Christmas present. Mr. Henry Esler, of B?rgen county, N. J., has been postmaster of the Sad dle Biver Post-office for twenty-five years. He was appointed at the time the post-office was established, during the administration of Franklin Pierce, and through all the changes of the Government has retained his position down to the present time. The Poor Directors of Erie county, Pa., have applied to the County Com missioners for the sum of 25,000, to improve the almshouse by the addition of a department for the insane. The Commissioners have refused to comply, and the Directors ask the Court to issue a mandamus compelling the former officers to grant the money. The apple which tempted Eve is not probably in existence, but there is a very old one in Muhlenburg county, Ky. It grew at the lieginning of the Revolutionary War, and is now in the possession ot Mrs. Drake, widow. Mr. Drake received it from her, she being betrothed to him, just as he departed for the army. He kept it during the whole war, and when the war was over he returned and married her. The apple, which has been sacredly pre served in the family, is dry and shrivelled, nothing remaining but the woody fibre. The Buffalo Commercial prints its annual statement of the lake trade of that city, showing that the receipts of flour have been heavy, reaching nearly 1,000,000 barrels, but they were not so large as in several preceding seasons. The arrivals of gram, however, were far ahead of anything on record. This year's totals reach 83,517,233 bushels, or nearly 11,000,000 bushels in excess of the best previous year. The lumber trade also shows a marked improve ment over the two previous years, the aggregate receipts being 175,820,899 feet, to 130,731,000 in 1877, and 114, 582,000 in 1876. But, outside of grain and lumber, the down lake movement shows a general decline, which ac counts for the low rates of freights that prevailed last season. Mrs. M iry Pardosanchez, of Mal aga, Spain, died on Wednesday morn ing at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Mesea, No. 83 Middagh street, Brooklyn, at the remarkable age of one hundred and ten years, five months and sixteen days. She was the thirtieth daughter, her mother having had six teen boys and fourteen girls. She came from Spain fourteen years ago, and was married seventy-three years ago. Both her husband and father were architects. When she was ninety years of age she lost her sight, and was totally blind. At ninety-seven she recovered her second sight, and could see much better than her daughter. She was smart, and did the housework until after she was one hundred years old. She was up and about the house until within a few days of her death. The Hungarian papers announce the death, in prison, of the celebrated bandit, Rosza Sandor, known in Hun gary as the "Bobber King.'' He was born at Szejedin in 1813, and both his father and grandfather were robbers by profession. His achievements, however, soon eclipsed those of his family, and he was admired as much as he was feared. The reckless courage with which he attacked the police, and even military escorts, on the high road in broad daylight, his generosity to ward the poor, and his gallantry to ward women made him a sort ot national hero. He was twice captured and imprisoned, but afterwards par doned, but soon resumed his old pur suits, and in 1872 he was captured for the third time and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to im prisonment for life, and was carried out. The French Court of Cassation consists of fifty-six members, and their salaries aggregate $210,000. The nrst president has a salary of $6000 a year; the three other presidents each receive 5000 a year; the forty-five councillors $3000 each, and the six functionaries called procureurs general and avocats general much like public prosecutors receive salaries varying from $3600 to $6000. The several courts ot appeal are estimated to cost $1,207,260 there being 20 first presidents, 02 other presi dents, 617 councillors, VJ4 procureurs general and avocats general, aud 61 substitutes. The first presidents get, with a few exceptions, S-'iOOO a year, while the majority of the other presi dents get only 1500. The salary of the councillors of the Court of Appeal is from S1000 to 2000, while that ot the procureurs general and avocats general is not more than 81200 a year. The House of Priam might, in the opinion of Dr. SA'iemanri, have had more than one hundred rooms, and he thinks it was originally five or seven stories high. One of the rooms now contains a jar so large that it is nearly filled by it. Four of such jars have been found by him, each measuring five and a half feet high and four feet seven inches broad. The large number of jars found on the ground floor in duces the belief that it was used for store-rooms. The four huge jars con tain a number of beautiful terra-cotta vases, of which also many fine speci mens were found in the brick-colored ashes with which the rooms are filled. Dr. Schlieraann thinks the most re markable thing in the ancient mansion is that here and there beneath it the walls of a still more ancient building are found; he ascribes them to the first city erected on the site of the famous city. All the fragments of pottery which he has seen in the rooms of the mansion immediately below the Trojan stratum have, he says, on both sides a beautiful lustrous red, black or brown color which he has never found any where except in the strata of the first city. He is further of opinion that the great circuit wall was not built by the people which inhabited Troy at the time of the catastrophe, but by their predecessors.