--fXv.
mm
VOL. II. NO. 21.
WARRENTON, N. C, FRIDAY, MARCH . 1880.
SQKIffTIOI PBCI $150 per
)
A Leap Year Proposal.
Tray, gentle being, give me hoed,
Ah km eling 1 umbly by tby tdcto,
With lacerated heart I plead
That thou'lt beoome my blushing bride.
I long I wildly long to preaa
Thee to my heart, yet stand alasb
I pine to print a fond cartHB
Upon thy meek and mild mustache,
Why, tell me why thine eyolidd drop
Ard turn away bo pettishly,
And why witjh tierce, tnmnltaon flop
Thy bosom hefcvtu coqucttiehh V
I know ib u art yonng and fair
As tiny buds in early spring
liut thou shall be my connUut euro,
Thou frail and fragile little thing,
T'li sew thy shirts aud darn thj Lus,
Thy victual cook, tby firea will light
Ill grease tby gracious Grecian nose
Each tn jwj, croupy. wintry night.
Bo, surely, thon'lt not tell me nay
And-bid me dying qait thy side
Brace up, pull down thy vest and say
Tha thou will be my blushing bride.
SAVED FROM SUICIDE.
TbrilMo sketch
Twenl y-Fi c
of I ii 1 1 tor n i it
Yearn Auo.
Life
J? rem the advanced sheets of
fornia Sketches. " by Rsv. Dr.
"Caii
O. P.
Jbitzgerald. editor of the Nashville
Christian Advocate, we take the follow
ing descriptive of
"AN INTERVIEW."
An I viiH oming out of the San Fran
cieeo Fotsfc Office one morning in the
year 185 , a tall, dark-t-kinded man
placed himself in front of me, and fixing
his intensely glittering eyes upon me,
Baid in an exciting tone:
"Sir, can yon give me a half hour of
your time this morniug? '
"Yes," I replied, "if 1 can be of any
service to yon by so doing."
"Not here but in your effice, private
ly," he continued. "I must speak to
Homebody, and having heard you prtach
in the church on Pine street, I felt that I
ojuld approach you. I am in greet
trouble and danger, and muot speak to
sme one!"
His manner was excited, his hand
trembled, and his eye had an insane
gleam as ho spoke. We walked in si
lence until wo' reached my ofltiae on
Montgomery street. After entering 1
laid ''own my letters and paper?, and
was about to offer him a chair, when
he hurriedly locked the door on the
iuside, saying as he did so:
"This cjnversatiou is to be private,
aud I do not intend to be interrupted."
A he TWrucd toward me I saw fchrft T.
had a pistol in his hand, which he laid
on a desk, aud then sat down. I waited
for him to speak, eying him and the
pistol closely, and feeling a little un
comfortable, locked in thus with a mad
man of almost giant like size and
strength. The pistol had a sinister
look that I had never before recognized
in that popular weapon. It seem to
grow bigger and bigger.
"Have you ever been haunted by the
idea of suicide?" he asked abruptly , his
eyes glaring upon me as I spoke.
"No not particularly," I answered,
"but why do you asked?"
"Because the idea is haunting mo,"
he said in an agitated tone, rising from
his chair as he spoke. I have lain for
two nights with a cocked pistol in my
hand, calculating the valuo of my life.
I bought this pistol to shoot myself
with, and wonder that I have not done
it; but something has held me back.
"What has put the idea of suicide in
to yonr mind?" I inquired.
"My life's a failure, sir; and there is
nothing left for such a fool as I have
been," he said bitterly,
"When a man has no hope left he
should die."
I was making some reply when he
broke in :
"Hear my history, and then tell me if
death is not the only thing left for mo,"
laying his hand upon the pistol as he
sptoke.
When he told me his name I recog
nized it as that of a man of genius,
whoeo contributions to a certain popu
lar periodic xl had given him a wide fame
in the world of letters. He was the son
of a venerable New EDgland bishop,
and a graduate of Harvard University, I
will give his story iu his own words, as
nearly as I cm.
"In 18C0 I started to California with
honorable purposa and high ambition.
My father being a clergyman, and poor,
ana greatly advanced in years, I felt
that it was my duty to make provision
ior mm ana tor the family circle to
which I belonged and of which I was the
Aiiiiunteu uy uus purpose, 1 was
full of hopo and energy. On the ship
that took me to California I made the
acquaintance and fell into the snares of
a beautiful but'tmprincioal woman, for
whom I toiled and sacrificed everything
ior eigut years oi weakness and folly,
never remitting .a dollar to those I had
intended to provide for at home, carry
ing all the while an uneasy conscience
and despising myself. I made immense
sums of money, but it all went for noth
ing but to feed the extravagance and
recklessness of my evil genius. Tortur
ed by remorse, I made many a struggle
to tree myself from the evil connection
that blighted my life, but in vain. I
had almost ceased to struggle against
my fate, when death'lifted the sLaiow
from my path. The unhappy woman
dried, and I was free. I was astonished
how rapid and how complete was the
reaction from my despair. I felt like a
lowiui? hopes that had
ueeu smothered revive!, and I felt some
thing of the, buoyancy and em rgy with
which J had left my New England hills.
I worked hard and prospered. I mado
money aud saved it, making occasional
remittances to the family at home, who
were overjoy e 1 to hear from me after so
long aud gnilty silence. I hadn't the
heart to write to them while pursuing
my evil life.
"I had learned to gamble, of course,
but now I resolved to quit it. For two
year I kept this resolution, and had in
the meantime saved over $6000. Do
yon beleivo that the devil tempts men?
I tell you sir, it is true I I began to feel
a strange -it sire tovisit some of my old
haunts. This feeling became intense
overmastering. My judgment and con
science protested, but I felt like one
under a spell. I yielded and found my
way to a well known gambling hell,
where I lost every dollar of my money.
It was like a dream I seemed to be
drawn on to my ruin by some invisible
but resistless power. When I had lost
all, a strange calm came over me, which
I had never understood. It may have
been the reaction, after a night of fever
ish exoitement. or possibly it was the
unnatural calm that followB the d ato of
hope. My self-contempt was complete.
No language could have expressed the
intensity of my self-f orn. I sneaked to
my lodgings, feeling that I had parted
with my manhood as well ar. my money.
"The very next day I was surprised
by the off of a lucrative subordinate
position in a Federal office in San Fran-f
cisco. This was not the drat coincidence
of this sort in my life where an rnex
pected influence had been brought to
bear npon me. giving my plans and
prospects a new direction. Has God
anything to do with these things, or is
it accident? I took the place which was
offered mo, and went to work with re
newed hope and energy. T made a vow
against gambling, and determined to
recover all I had thrown away. I eavod
every dollar possible, rmebing myself
in my living, and supplementing my
liberal salary by literary labors. My
savings had again run high up in the
thousands, till my gains were steady.
The Frazer-River mining excitement
broke out. An old friend of mine came
to me and asked the loan of a hundred
dollars to help him oh to the new mines.
I told him he should have the money,
aud that I would have it ready for
him that afternoon. After, ho lott the
thought occurred to me that $100 was a
very poor outfit for such an enterprise,
and that he ought to have more. Then
the thought was suggested yes, sir, it
was suggested that I might take the
hundred dollars to a faro-bank and win
another to place in the hands of rr.y
friend. I was fully resolvod to risk not
a cent beyond this. The idea
session of my mind, aud when he came
for the money I told him my plan, and
proposed that he accompany me to the
gambling hell. He was a free-and-easy
sort of fellow, and readily assented.
We went together, and after alternate
snccess and losses at the faro bank, it
ended in the usual way : I lost the
1 1 1 .1 1 ! T .
uuuurwA uunars. i went nome m a
freiDzy of anger and self reproach. The
old passion was aroused again. A wild
determination to break the faro bank
took hold upon me. I went night after
L'.u: i i , ...
niKut, uemug recKiessjy until not a
dollar was left. This happened last
week. Can you wonder that I have
concluded there is no hope for as weak
a fool as l am?"
He paused a moment in his rapid re-
eitai, pacing me noor, with his nana ou
ii a . i i . ,
the hammer of the pistol, which he had
taku up. i
"Now, sir, candidly don't vou think
that the best thing I can do is to blow
out ray brains?" said he cocking tho
pistol as he spoke.
The thought occurred to me. that it
was no uncommon thing for the suicidal
to give away to the homicidal mania.
me man was evidently half mat, and
ready for a tragedy. The pistol seemed
almost instinct with conscious evil in
tentioa. If a suicide or homicide was
to end the scene, I preferred the for
mer.
"How old are you?" I askel aiming to
create a diversion.
j"I am 45," he answered, apparcntlv
i i . ...... "
orougnt to a little more reooollectioa of
himself by the question.
I should think," I continued, having
arrested his attention, "that whatever
may be your follies, and however dark
the future you have to face, you have
too much manhood to sneak out of life
by the backdoor of suicide."
The shot struck. An instantaneous
change passed over his countenance.
Suicide appeared to him a new light as
a coward Jy, not an heroic act. He had
been facmated with the notion of having
the curtain fall upon his career amid ti e
blase of blue light and the glamour of
romance and the dignity of tragedy,
amid the wonder of the crowd and the
tears of the sentimental. That was all
gone; the suicide was but a poor creature,
weak as well as wicked. He was sated
He sank into a chair as he handed me
the pistol, which I was very glad indeed
to get into my hands.
"You ahould be ashamed of yourself,
sir," I continued. "You are onlv forty-
five years old; you are in perfect heal h,
with almost a giant's strength, a classi
cal education, extensive business exper
ienc?, and with a knowledge of the
world gained bv Vour mistakes that
should be a guarantee against the pos
sibility of their repetition. A .brave
man should never give up tie battle
th! bravest never give up."
r Give me the pistol," he said un quiet
ly; you need not be afraid to trust me
with it. The devil has left me. I Will
not act the part of a coward. You will
hear from me again. Permit me to
thank you. Good morning.
I did hear from him again. The
devil soemed indeed to have left him.
He went to British Columbia, where he
prospered in business and got rich, be
came a pillar in the church of which his
lather was one m" the great lights, and
committed not suicide, but matrimonv,
marry mg a sweetJ and cultured English
girl, who thinks her tall Yankee husband
the haudsomeest and noblest of men.
When Mr. Fowler, colonial secretary
of Honduras, was reeentlv exniorinr tho
interior of the colony, he was overtaken
by a drove of peccaries, and had only
time to take a snap shot at the first f
them andcramble up a tree, dropping
his rifle in the performance, before the
whole puck were round his perch,
gnashing their teeth at him, grunting
and sharpening their tusks against his
tree. Now the peccary is not only fe
rocious but patient, and rather than let
an object -of its anger escape will wait
about four days, so that the secretary
had before him onlv t WO cnnrpe
either to remain where he was until he
dropped down among the swine from
sheer exhaustion and hunger or eUe to
commit suicide at once by comin down
tooeeaien tiiere and then. Whiln ho
was in this dilemma, however, a jaguar
appeared. This animal has a particu
lar fondness for wild pork, and the pec
caries bolted helter-skelter. The jaguar
was after them with admirable prompti
tude, and the secretary, finding thet
coast clear, made his escape.
The Masker's Last Mash.
Down the Baltimore and Ohio tnwam
Newark, Ohio, we fly. We fly close to
'the ground but all the same it is flying
"Here comes the masher," the fat
passenger said, " How much be travels
this winter. His coat is Hart v;0
trousers are light, Mis collar is high and
nis mamy uiroat is bared tn t ho
i ,1 - .
Dreeze.
"With a lump in it like the .ornt.ro r
an old oak tree," said the cross passen-
letters on his little KuSua &fl3S
valise is parted in the middle: hi r.
glass is faultiest and his Iront hair is
banged '
" And there m
something hulking in the urer story,"
stud the tall thin passenger, v his head
lopes irom the buinn of se P-estopm
down to his nose forwHrd. find rnhe
straight down to his neck aft.. Hp is
not brilliant, he U not useful, he is not
inUlligent, he is lacking"
mere is a hole in his skimmpr ov.'.
dently," said the man on the wood
box.
" Pale saffron is his neck-scarf, and
brightly theion gleams the twenty-cent
diamond of Alaska," remarked the sad
passenger; "meager is he as to his in
tellect, but fertile are his whiskers; fas
cinating beyond the song of the siren is
the melody of his voice -t he cannot pro
nounce R, and the Italian A is soft in
his speech, but he says ' git' and 'bbet"
up,' and when he gbeth he says he is
'goin'.' Sweet is his countenance,
and the lone, helpless female who gazes
upon it is gone."
" She is left, indeed," sighed the fat
passenger.
"You bet," said the brakeman, ear
nestly, " she is clear broke up."
" She is paralyzed," mourned the sad
passenger, " and the palpitations of her
maidenlv heart palp only for him."
' And he lets it palp," said the man
with the sandy goatee, " for if he would
he cannot many all of them. He i
sorry for the girls, but he really cannot
do it."
"And so," said the tall, thin passen-
rr i it- 1 4 I w i i . . . - - C 1 " j 1
,-.., pine awtiy ior mm; iiiey.
watch for his coming in the car, and
their faces grow brighter when he
comes; they admire him when he paces
up and down the platform and smokes
the attenuated but harmless cigar of
the kraut plant of the Connecticut plan
tations'; his plaid pantaloons are day
stars to their longing eyes, and his cut
away coat they adore. They cannot
help it; they love to have him stare at
them, and he knows it. He is too irre
sistible; he is too sweet to live, and he
knows that, too."
"Let us look at him also, and admire
him," said the fat passenger. "See
how he sits graceful as Apollo new
lighted on a rail fence to talk politics
with the neighbors. But soft, here
comes a girl seeking a seat. Maiden,
our prayers are all lor thee. Too late ;
all in vain; the masher has caught her
eye, her fate is sealed, her heart is lost."
She was a beautiful girl, fair as the
morning, lrandsomely arrayed, little
U loved hands that you would even like
to have box your ears. Drawn by the
irresistible fascination of his inviting
eyes, she approached the masher who
made room for her beside him. Her
eyes beamed on him in beauty only
equaled by his own, her voice was
sweeter than the song of the siren when
she spoke to him. She had to speak to
him, how could she help it?
"Sir," she said, and the music of her
voice thrilled the car. " Sir, is this seat
engaged?"
He looked up at the vision of glow
ing cheeks and laughing eyes, marble
brow and clustering curls, and he re
lented, even the masher's heart warmed
toward the lovely girl, the latest victim
of his manly charms.
" Oh, certainly not," he said, and his
bow 'was a study of grace for the steam
man. "Oh, certainly not; you are en
tirely welcome; I shall be onl7 too
happy "
"Then," cried fhe charmed victim,
"Mother you can sit here beside this
gentleman."
And an old woman, seventy-three if
sue was a day, witli no teeth, and only
one eve, a small box, a bie band-box in
a nag, a green reticule and an umbrella,
two paper bags and a piece of calamus
root, tott ered into the pronered seat and
saTdown and piled her things into the
3'oung man's lap. And the girl, the
beautiful girl, went and sat down beside
the passenger vvith the sandy goatee,
who "was so bashful that he couldn't and
didn't say a word to his companion all
the way to Newark, and blushed to his
ears every time the fat passenger winked
at him. Thu? ended the saddest chapter
in the history ot the masher. Burling
ton Hawkeye.
A Terrific Snarl.
A letter from the Austrian capital
says: A lady well known in the fashion
able society of ,Vienra pined to go to a
lily ball, which is the Viennese repre
sentative ot the Jrarisian Mabille. At
last she found a conddential connection
of her husband's family, whom she per
suaded to take her to the ball in domino,
but with all her disguise she refused to
lay aside for the time her wedding ring,
which she held to be the talisman oi
good luck, not to be parted with for a
moment. It was a peculiarly cut ring,
set with seven bcautilul diamonds,
which some mask admired even more
than the woman's adorable eyes, and
while he was comparing them in a com
plimentary speech to the lady, which
she endured with a frolicsome spirit
natural in a disguised domino, the ring
disappeared. The lady was frantic
with fright, and her escort with fear
that her husband would shoot him if he
discovered the escapade, and so a fac
simile ring was made, and the lady
fondly thought that she was safe, when
suddenly a detec ive appeared with the
real ring. This story being related by a
Bohemian of the press, th re at once
epsued a complicated situation. A
pawnbroker came for the price of the
ring, and the husband of the lady ar
rived to whip the man who took her to
the ball ; the wife of ihe escort of the
lady came to have a diyorce on account
of jealousy, and the owner of the newly
found ring wrote to the Bohemian nar
rator of the story to come and explain,
and a poor actor, being mistaken for
him, was badly pummeled, and sued the
husband of the ring-owner. So the net
result of the frolic was that three men
were beaten, one couple divorced, all
o Parties involve,d in scandal, and last,
bu not lea' the BohJmJan discovered
He Ires in a Vienna prison, wishing he
had never told the truth in a news
paper. Near Monkstown, Texas, a deer was
found fastened by his horns in a tree
top. He was captured, of course.
iu ut au uim ' 11 in j ui uiiv c viiiixivuiii
STARTING A PAPER.
A Story of Two ( lever HnmerUta.
It was nearly twenty years ago when
Dan De Qoille and Mark Twain at
tempted to atari a paper in Mendocino
county. They toolf the type and ma
terial of their re cent'y defunct estab
lishment in San Francisco, and, loading
the stuff on a big wagon struck out into
the country to retrieve thiir fortune.
They packed their type jost as it stood
in the forms tied up th articles' with
spout cords by a process well known to
printers, and packing them closely in
boxes, vowed to establish a newspaper
somewhere which would bo the leading
exponent of politics aud liistory of the,
rcinc coast. .Had not tfn unfortunate
circumstances taken plica it is evident
that the newspaper which they con
templated founding would have been
alive to- lay. Their journey over the
mountains was utterly uneventful until
they reached Simpson's station, a spot
well known to old travelers on that
route. Here they met a party of emi
grants making for Lower California, and
the latter had with them a small
mountain howitzer which they' had
brought with them across the plains.
Twain took a great fancy to this gnn,
and offered fifty dollars for it, with two
kegs of powder. The emigrants were
glad enough to part with it, as they con
cluded the time for its use-had passed.
Dan thought the purchase of the
artillery and military supplies was a
reckless piece of extravagance, and said
as much, but Mark replied:
When we start our paper we must
fire a salute. A newspaper office with
artillery has a big bulire on the business.
No well regulated tmoe in Uilifo nia
should be without a howitzer. If a man
coiuts in for a retraction we can blow
him into the next county. The howitzer
goes.
This silenced argument, and the day
the two journalists took the road wita
their printing outfit and artillery.
The next night they camped in a
mountain ravine, fifteen miles from
Simpson's, and after building the usual
camp fire, fell asleep. About eleven
o'clock the horses wakened them by
prancing about, and the two journalists
were led to the conclusion that a party
of Indians was making arrangements for
a night attack. In the dear moonlight
human forms could be distinguished
about half a mile away at the foot of the
ravine. The idea of encountering In
dians had never entered the heads of
the two fortune-seekers, and they had
no arms. Suddenly Twain brightened
up, remarking:
I'ho howitzer!
We've got nothing but powder,' said
Dan,
Well, powderll scare' 'em; and we'll
load her up.'
The piece was immediately loaded with
a good big charge, an-4 the two men felt
quite certain that the Indians, hearing
the roar of the gun, would beat an un
conditional retreat. The piece was
hardly loaded and placed in position
when about forty red skins came charg
ing up the ravine.
Twain seized a brand from the camp-
fire and was about to lay it on the touch
hole, when Dan yelled tflold on !' as he
rammed something intdjfthe month of
the piece and remarked :fi
Turn'er loose!'
The roar of the howitzer echoed
through the lonely forest, and the sav
ages, with frantic cries of pain, reeled
down the ravine in wild confusion.
What in h did you put in?' asked
Mark.
A column of solid nonpareil and a
couple of sticks of your spring poetry. '
The poetry did the business, Dan.
Get one of your geological articles ready
for the next charge, and 1 guesT it 11 Jet
the red devils out for the present cam
paign.' v
The savages again advancid. Mark
attended to the powder, and Dan as
sorted the shot, so to speak.
'Jeems Pipe a song, 'My Mountain
Home.'
Good for three Indiane sock er in.
An acrostic by John B. Ridge, in long
primar.
It Jl paralyze em.
Frank Pjxley on the constitution-half
a column of leaded brevier.'"
If it hits 'em, the day is wod.'
'Your leader on Law and Order.'
'8a ve it as a last resort.'
Dan pulled the type out of the boxes,
and stuffed column after column in the
howitzer's mouth as the aavages came
charging on. Another round from the
gun, and the redskins rolled over each
other, like boulders swept away Jay a
mountain cloud-burst. Mark.""" in an
ecstacy of delight, pulled an American
flag out of his effects, rrtled it to the
tail-board of the wagon, and was about
to make a speech, when the dusky fig
ures of the foes were once more seen
moving to the attack.
The piece was again loaded, and this
time with a double charge. Mark's leader
on Liw and Order; the puff of an auc
tion house, by Fred. McOrellish, 'an a
sickener,' Dan said; Frank Gross's verses
on 'The Rebel Yell,' an agricultural ar
ticle by Sam Seabaugh, showing the
chemical properties of corn juice as an
educational lever; a maiden poetical ef
fort by Olive Harper, and some verses
by Col. Cremony and .Frank boule com
pleted the load.
'That poetry reaching 'em first will
throw 'em into contusion, and my editor
ial coming on the heels of the rest will
result in a lasting demoralization. It will
be like the last cavalry charge of the
French troops at the battle of Auster
litz.' For the third and last time the faith
ful howitzer belched its typocraphical
compliments to the advancing foe. The
havoc was terrible. There was a wild
yell from a score of savage throats, and
then the low groans of the dying floated
up the ravine on the gentle wind. The
two men walked over the field of slaugh
ter and counted fifty -six aboriginals ly
ing in heaps. The bodies were horribly
mutilated with nonpareil, bourgeois,
caps,' misery dashes, and un as or ted
pi.
My leader cooked that man's goose,'
said Mark, pointing to a savage hanging
over the limb of a cedar.
'My geological article did the business
for him.' rejoined Dan, nodding careless
ly at an Indian, whose headVyjas lying
twenty yards away.
The pen is mightier than the sword.'
'You bet. Hurrah for Faust and Gut
ten berg!'
Is there any type left!
'Not a pound.'
Ten days later the two journalistic
tramps reached Virginia City, weary .dis
couraged, and footsore, and secured
places ou the Enterprise.
A few days ago Dan received the fol
lowing from his former partner:
Habtfokd, Conn., Jan. 1, 1880.
Dear Dan: I send yon the congratula
tions of the New Year. Do you recol
lect the time we exterminated the tribe
of unlettered (?) savages in Mendocino
county? Ii you oan tpare the time, I
wish yen would make a pilgrimage to
that historic spot, gather the ghostly
relics together, and plant a tablet (not
too expensive and at yov own enpeose)
to the memory of the departed. Have
a 'shooting-stick lying across a long bow,
with our monogram and coat of-arms
entwined, and some appropriate epitaph
carved on the stone; an extract from
Carl Sohurz's views on the 'piece policy'
might do. Enclosed is a dollar and a
half for your incidental expenses; yon
can deadhead traveling expenses.
Yours, Mask Twain.
P. S. Send me a thigh-bone of the
fallen chief by next express. M. T.
Dan will attend to the matter in the
spring. The old howitzer used on the
occasion is still in his possession.
The Disadvantages of City Boys.
Some months ago. Rev. Washington
Gladden, of Springfield, Mass., bleiv
ing that if he could find out how the
active and prominent men of his own
city spent their boyhood, it would help
to solve the problem of what is the best
training for boys, prepared the follow
ing circular, which was Rent to the one
hundred men who coo 1.1 fairly be taid
to stand at the btal of the financial,
commercial, professional and educa
tional interest of the city.
'My deer sir: I desire to find out, for
the benefit of II e boys, how the leading
men of this city spent their boyhood.
Will you be kind enough to tell me.
'1. Whether yonr home during the
first fifteen years of your life was on a
farm, in a village, or in a city, ard,
'2. Whether you were accustomed,
during pny part of that period, to en
gage in any kind of work when you were
not in schorl?
I should te glad of course.to have
you go into rariiculors as fully as you
are disposed to do; but I do not wish to
tax your patience, and I shall be greatly
obliged for a simple answer to these two
questions.
No less than eighty eight of the busy
gentlemen who received this circular
were kin I enough to answer the que s
Hon. some of them briefly, most of
them quit j fully, and it turned out that.
few he d been brought up like most of
the boys who crjwd the ball grounds
and fill the streets of our cities in these
after doyp. Here is a brief summary of
the returns.
Of- tbeie eighty -tight men, twelve
spent the first fifteen years of their life
in the city, twelve in villages, and sixty
four were farmers boys.
But ef the twtnWfour who lived in
villages and citie3, six were practical
farmers' bovs for thev lived in Bmall
villages, or on the outskirts of the cities,
and had the same kind of work to do
that farmers' bovs have. One of these
village boys tau
'I learned to hoe, dig ana mow; in
in fact. I was obliged to work, whether
I liked it or no. In winter I went to
tchool, r nd worked nights and mornings
for my board. '
Another said: 1 used to wort away
from home tone en a farm m manner
and fall. In winter, when going to
sahool, we three boys used to work up
the wood for winter use.
Farther obhers told substantially the
88 me story. As these were abort; the
same as farmers boys, we may add them
to that list, so that seventy out of eighty
eight. almost four-fifths of all these
men, had the training of farm life.
Now how was it with the eighteen
city and village bovs on the list? Did
they have an easy time of it? Five o
them did, as they testify, five of them
had no work in particular to do, but one
of the five says that he strdied law when
out of school, and that was not e xactiy
play. The rest of the eighteen were
poor boye not paupers, by any meanp
but children of the humbler classes
many of them in narrow and needy
circumstances and though they lived
in cities or villages, they were accuBtoni
ed from their earliest years to hard
work.
Was generally employed,' says one,
during the tummer months, and in
vacations, ingoing any kind of work
that offered.'
Four of the city boys were newsboys.
One of them ss: 'The last year I was
connected with the press, I earned one
hundred dollars before breakfast.'
Another : 'I have paid my own way
since eight years of age, without any
assistance except my board from my
eighth to my ekventh year.'
Of all these eighty-eight boys five
onlv bad nothing particular to do.
While these boys were growing and
working, a great many other sons of
merchants and lawyers were growing in
Spriiigtield. going to school and amus
mg themselves, as boys of their class
are apt to do. Where are they? Only
five of this class are heard from among
the eighty eight solid men of that city.
Seme of them, perhaps are prosperous
men in other cit'es, but the number
cannot be large, fcr in Springfield only
five men out of eighty-eight came from
this class. Ninety-four and a half per
cent, were either farmers' boys or poor
and hard working town boyF.
Save the Rags.
The price of paper has been advanced
heavily all over the country. If the
price is maintained the public will be
compelled to pay more for their news
papers. Many daily and weekly papers
nave already increased their subscrip
tion price.
The advance in paper can be stopped
if the people will save and sell their old
paper and rags. Three months' saving
of rags and old paper by the entire popu
lation, and selling them in the markets,
would check the advance in paper.
Every newspaper in the land should
appeal to the people in this matter. And
they should also economize in the con
sumption as much as possible.
Historic Slang.
How common is the expression. "Oht
she is down in the dumps" that is out
oi spirits, l his is a very ancient slang
phrase, and is supposed to be derived
irom "Dumpos, King of Egypt, who
built a pyramid and died of melan
choly;" so that the thieves and gypsies
are not all to blame for having given us
a few expressive words.
We next come uoon a word full of na-
thetic meaning for many of us; it is the
ghost that haunts and pursues us mnrr
or less throughout the year it is the
wora -aun." it is a word of conse
quence, for it is at once a verb and a
noun, and is derived from the Saxon
word "dunan," to din or clamor. It
owes its immortality so tradition says
to having been the surname of one Joe
jlud, a famous baiiinT of Lincoln, in the
reign ot Henry VII., who was so aettov
and dexterous in collecting bad debts
that when any one became "slow to
pay," the neighbors used to say. " Dun
hini" that is. "send Dun after him."
"Draw it mild" and "Come it
strong," have their origin in music, be
ing the terms used by the leader of an
orchestra when he wished hi violin
players to play loudly or gently. From
this they have passed into synonyms for
exaggerators and boasters, who are re
quested either to moderate their state
ments or to astonish their audience.
The word "coach," in these duvs. is a
familiar one, as parents know vriio have
to employ tutors to assist their sons to
swallow the regulation amount of
cram " necessary for competitive ex
amination. The word is of universitv
origin, and can boast of a logical etyniof
ogy. It is a pun upon the term "git-
ting on fast." To get on fast -you must
take a eoach; you cannoi srt on fast in
learning without a private tutor ergo.
a private tutor is a coach.
Another tanular worn in university
slang is "a regular brick" that is. a jolly
good fellow : and how the simile is logi
cally aeuui-ted is aiiiusm enough. A
brick is deep-red, so a deep-read man
is a brick. To read like a brick, i? to
read until you are deep-read. A deep-
read man is, in university phrase, "a
good man ;" a good man is a " jolly fel
low" with non-reading men ervo. a
oily fellow is a " brick."
A Railroad Bridge on lee.
A Montreal correspondent of the Bos
ton Herald describes the passage of the
first train on rails laid across the frozen
surtaoe of the St. Lawrence river: At
the hour appointed for the trial trio an
immense concourse of citizens lined the
river banks on both sides, many, no
doubt, being attracted by morbid curi
osity to witness the spectacle, which
many predicted as likely to take place
of a terrible disaster wherein several
hundred people would be swallowed up
in the cold waters of the St. Lawrence.
Fortunately, they were disappointed, as
the experiment resulted in a grand tri
umph, invitations had been issued and
accepted by the -ministers of the pro
vince, the city corporation, judges.
members of the press and others, and at
noon ahout i)00 persons got on two plat
form carsj upon which seats had been
improvised, and the start was made
under favorable circumstances, a ring
mg cneer irom the snore sending the
voyagers off on their exploit. At first
the rat of speed was moderate, so as to
ascertain the durability of the founda
tion, but, as the city was gradually left
behind, the rate was increased until, at
mid8tream, a speed oi twenty miles an
hour was attained without in anv way
detracting from the pleasurable sensa
tion of the trip. As the train slowly
emerged from under the shades of 1 he
Hochelaga highlands a visible depres
sion in the ice was apparent. An omi
nous cracking, followed by the appear
ance oi water on the surface, impressed
the passengers with a sense of their dan
ger. All fear, however, was dispelled
y the announcement from one of the
managers that the water was only the
superficial deposit occasioned by .fast
night's rain. Thus reassured, jollity
and mirth again reigned supreme;! but.
as the swiftly-gliding cars passed the
several (air-holes, close observers per
ceived a slight detection on the surface
in midstream. A stoppage of ten min
utes was made so m to allow a photo
graph ot the train, with its living freight.
to oe made. Has concluded satisrador
lly, steam was once more applied, and
the opposite shore was soon reached
without anything occurring to militate
against the pleasure of the voyage. A
sumptuous lunch was spread at the sta
tion at Longueuil, and a good timr spent
there by the eompanV in feasting and
speech-making. The return journey was
subsequently made with as much safety
and satisfaction as thchrst crossing.
A Novel Bridal Tour.
It is a little out of the usual order to
make a bridal tour on a Mississippi
river flatboat, and it is not often aone
but every now and then a spirit of ad
venture strikes into the hearts oi a
loving pair and the excursion is made.
Last year, or the year before, a Captain
h&py, ot ltiarag buu. Jml.T married
oeautnui Wluo valley heue, nu u up a
real bridal chamber in exquisite style,
and regardless ot expense, started on a
voyage to the Lower Mississippi, where
the live oak forests tower, and the frag
rant orange blossom? spread their odor
upon the breeze. The couple passed
several months in this way, and the
time was delightful for both. Y ester-'
day another pair of bridal tourists went
by here, going south on a flatboat.
They were also from Rising Sun, Ind . a
short distance below Cincinnati,-on the
Ohio, and the boat was a month out
from her starting point, the pilot beinz
Captain Thomas, and the same who
steered the Espy boat south last
se;ison. It was the silver bridal
trip of Captain and Mrs. William
Hemphill, ot Kir-ing Sun. a couple well
on in worldly goods, and whose resi
dence is the finest and most attractive
in the town of Rising Sun. The gardens
and eroves in which their house is situ
ated occupy ten acres, all in a high state
of culture and carefully kept. In ad
dition the captain owns a large and pro
ductive farm near by. He has been flat-
boating for the pist thirty-four years,
and this is the first time Mrs. Her phill
ever made a trip from home. Their
children are all grown but one, a lad oi
fourteen, who accompanies his parents
on the voyage. Several of the children
are married, and all are well-to-do. The
boat upon which Captain and Mrs.
Hemphill are floating down the river
contains 5,000 bushels of corn for distri
bution and sale among sugar plantations
in Louisiana. At one end of the craft is
a neatly-fitted cabin, where a stateroom
is comfortably fitted for the lady and her
spouse. She enjoys the novel voyage,
she says, and will not in future allow her
husband to make other trading trips on
the river unless he takes her along.
I Memphis Ledger.
ITEMS OF GENERAL INTEREST.
William H. Vanderbilt has riven tz,-
000 to the University of Virginia.
Two sleighs have been sent front
Pouffhkeensie. N. Y.. to the Emrjeror of
Japan.
A Mr. Harel. one of the richest men
in Roacn, recently died, leaving his en
tire fortune of several millions of iranes
to hig valet. , w
The corn crop of Illinois is prodigious.
For the year 1879 it amounted to 396,-
813,477 bushels, and the value of the
crop was $97,483,052.
An octopus embraced a diver in an
Australian river, and it was twenty
minutes before the man could release
himself. He was nearly exhausted.
Tt aid that owing- to nature's still-
ness ariu the clear air and silence per
vading the Arctic regions, a sermon
strongly delivered can be heard at a dis
tance of two miles.
Durine the winter iciclns thp si nf
a man's Dody fringed the mouths of the
noun tain tunnels along the Central Pa-
" a a ... .
cine raiiroau, ano constantly endangered
the brakemen on the freight cars.
Mrs. Harris was ill. at Mitchell. Ind.
and deliriously insisted on equine out of
bed. The hushond tried by persuasion
to keep her quiet, and then losing his
liauencc, Kiueu uer wmi an axe.
The Suez canal receipts are reported
to have decreased in 1878 S323.2O0 from
those of 1877. and 1879 showed a still
reaief fallingoff. Ahout three-quarters
of the vessels passing through are
British.
Mr Oliver Dalrymple, th irreat Min
nesota farmer, intends to cultivate 30.00C
acres ot wheat this year. He will have
twenty steam threshers in operation.
with 135 reaping machines. Last year
he employed 600 laborers, and this year
will increase the number to 700.
The first steamships that crossed the
Atlantic were the Siriua and Great
Western. The former sailed from Cork,
April 4, 1838.and the latter from Bristol,
April 8, 1838. They both arrived in
New York on the 28th of the same
month, the Sirius being only twel-e or
fifteen hours ahead of the Great West
ern.
An oak tree in a graveyard. at Carth
age, . u., apparently died and re
mained d ad for several years, all the
lintha and twigs falling off- A man
oica anu was nurn-a at tne loot ot dm
tree, after which it came to life, flour
ished, and is three feet in diameter at
the base, having as fine limbs and
boughs as one could wish to see.
Will L. Marple. a St. Looiinrlist. has
applied for a divorce from his wife. One
of his grievances is that she snt a
broken frying pan to an art show, where
some of his pictures were on exhibition,
with a request that the haneing com
mittee would give it a position, as " an
example of the way in which the tah
ented Mr. Marple provided for his fam
ily's necessities."
An Ohio mining company nas dis
charged forty employees because they
are single men. The alleged objection
to the unmarried is that they do not re
turn ap much money to the corporation
store Ss married men. Whether this is
an argument in favor of getting married
does not appear, as the married em
ployees oi the company strur-k on ac-
count of the discharge of the bachelors
Conversation through the telephone
between St. Louis and Omaha, a dis
tance ol 410 miles, was successfully car
ried on during a recent Sunday. The
conversation was varied with singing,
of which apparently not a note was lost?
The wires over the greater part of the
distance were quiet and not in use, but
at the St. Louis end there was a heavy
induction. This is said to be the Ion treat
distance over which the telephone has
been successfully operated.
During the past year there have leen
in r ranee twenty-nve persons con
demned to death, of whom two were
women. Three of these condemnations
were pronounced by Conseils de Guerre,
and were all commuted. The remain
ing twenty-two sentences were pro
nounced by tie assize '-ourts of France,
and four bv the assize court of the
Seine, namely, against Abadie and
Gillc, Delatre and Prevost. Of the-
twenty-five sentences only three have
been carried out: eurht remain to be ex
amined by the president of the repub
lic: the rest have been commuted.
A bill has been passed in Congress
providing for the ini(orLation. free of
duty, of all articles for exhibition at the
Millers's International fair, to be held
in Cincinnati, Ohio, during theiummer.
The exhibition will be opened June 1.
The m chinery will be shown in mo
tion. In vie w of the enormous inter M 1
involved in milling, the variety of grains
made use of, the numerous rival sys
tems and processes employed, and the
wide range of invention covered by
million apparatus, it is safe to predjcl a
notable exhibition. American millers
and mill furnishers are taking a lively
interest in the fair, and the president of
the National Millers' Association re
ports a hne prospect ior a mil and in
structive cispiay.
Ap account of a case of clear grit,
phylical endurance and suffering from
pain, which stands without a parallel,
comes from Ontonagon county, Midi.
The story runs i hat a woodman named
James Irwin left Rockland for hi forest
home aLLac-Vieux Desert.on snow fch
over an untraveled road through tic
woods, which was covered with two or
three feet of snow. A short distance
out he stopper to buiid a tire, ajd while
engaged in chopping some fuel he cut
one ol hia feet. Failing to appreciate at
the time the extent of his injury,
he continued on his way, and
when out about twenty-five miles Irom.
Rockland he discovered that his wound
was a serious one and required tlie
offices of a surgeon, and as there was no
physician at Lac Vieux Desert, be re traced
his steps toward Rockland where
he could get one. His foot rapidly cot
worse, so that he could not hear his
weight on it. Alone, on an unbroken I
trail or road, heavy with snow, with a
crippled and painful foot, his horrible
position can be imagined. It was a case
of life or death with Irwin, so falling on
his knees he commenced crawling on"
" all fours " and after thirty-six davs he
was found within three miles of Rock
land, having crawled iwenty-two miles
in a most deplorable condition, and
barely life enough left to stir. The
wounded foot had to be cut off. and
it was thought he would lose the
other one, which was frozen. For sev
en days he had dothingto eat. A man
who would undertake to accomplish
what Irwin did was not turner! out of
a common mould.