Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 March 1885 — Page 3

FIGHTING IN THE DESERT.

Gen. Graham’s Troops March Up Hasheen’s Hills and Then March Down Again. Masterly Retreat of the British After “Winning” a Stubborn Fight by a Scratch. The British forces at Suakin started out on a reconnoissance March 20. On reaching the hills near Hasheen, the Arabs rushed from ambush and got within ten yards of the British lino before the latter commenced regular firing. Lieut. O'Connor and four men were killed, and Capt. Birch was speared through the shoulder. The cavalry took some prisoners, and the British retired. Gen. Graham telegraphs as follows: “We moved out of camp at 6:15 this morning, leaving the Shropshire Regiment to guard it On reaching the first hill, at ■8:30 o'clock, we found that the enemy had retired and occupied another hill a mile and a quarter distant. After a short halt the Berkshire regiment and marines were ordered to clear the hill, the Indian contingent and Guards acting as support. This was done very effectually, the enemy being ■driven off th? ridge, and, streaming south toward Tam li, were charged by squadrons of Indian lancers iu the bush. The cavalry then retired toward the Guards. Many of the enemy passed the Guards at the foot of the hill and made for a hill west of Hasheen. These were shelled by the Royal Horse Artillery, while other parties moving round our right were engaged in the bush by fifty lancers. “Meanwhile a Zareba, with four intrenched posts on a hill commanding it, is being formed. The advanced troops have all returned to this position and will return to our camp, leaving the East Surrey regiment, with two Krupp guns and four Gardners and water tanks and signal appliances at the intrenched position. “Our killed are two officers and two men ■of the British,and five Sepoys. The wounded are two officers and twenty-six men of the British, and one officer and ten men of the Indian contingent The infantry behaved with great steadiness. The number of the enemy is estimated at 4,000. Their loss is not known, but is heavy. “The engagement lasted five hours. The Arabs carried off all of their dead and wounded. ” A correspondent gives the following account of the battle: The Arabs displayed desperate bravery. The marines drove the Arabs from the hills and forced them to retire to the plain. Then the Indian troops charged upon the Arab position, but were outflanked, and an unsuspected body of Arabs succeeded in getting behind their line. The Indians found themselves between two fires and fled. During this retreat they were closely pressed by the Arabs, who hamstrung the horses and speared the riders. The Bengalese fell back in confusion upon the Engl sh infantry and the Guards, who had been formed in a hollow square, and the square leisurely retired, while the Arabs were yelling that they had regained their lost position. At this juncture artillery came to the rescue, and a brisk fire of small shot from the machine guns and shells from the Krupp field mortars drove the Arabs from their position. The marines maintained steady firing throughout the engagement, but the honors of the day are probably due to the Irish Lancers, who changed the tide of battle by a desperate charge and retrieved the fortunes of Gen. Graham’s command when they seemed almost hopeless. The British troops have returned to their former camp near Suakin.

Climate of the Soudan.

[From the Pall Mall Gazette.] We published a few days ago an interview with Sir Henry Green on the subject of the employment of Indian sepoys in the Soudan. The following remarks by Sir Henry upon climatic influences, which we had not space to print then, may be of interest now: “And what about the climate, Sir Henry?” said our representative. “Well, those who have been in Scinde are not likely to be scared by the Soudan. As I spent most of my li e in those baking deserts, I can not share the alarm expressed by many concerning the prospects of a summer in the Soudan. In Scinde we have heat so terrible that sometimes you may see horses roll over with sunstroke in all directions, but I have very seldom seen any European down with sunstroke. The cause is the excessive dryness of the heat. When the air is so dry you perspire profusely, and the perspiration saves your life. When the atmosphere is damp, the perspiration is checked, and after sunset men die like rotten sheep of heat-apoplexy. In the Persian campaign we camped out from October to October near Peshawur, one of the hottest places you can find in all Asia, and our sick was only 2 per cent.; while ®n board the ships in the roads it was almost impossible to live. Dry heat can be borne to almost any extent with comparative impunity. I have seen French regiments come in from the desert with nothing on their heads but kepis, under a blazing sun which would have decimated the ranks had there been the least humidity in the atmosphere. “As regards the making of the railway between Suakin and Berber, that railway would probably have been made long ago but for Lord Granville. Everything was arranged; the Duke of Teck was to be the Chairman; we had a very powerful and influential directorate. A financial house had agreed to raise all the money that was needed, the Egyptian Government was to guarantee 4 per cent., the whole work was completed on paper, when it was suddenly brought to nothing by the antipathy of the Pashas of Ca ro to any scheme which diverted the Soudan traffic from the Nile to the Red Sea. ‘You have taken away half our trade by making the canal,’they said, ‘and now you want to take away the rest by your railway.’ The scheme was stifled; but one word from the Government would have secured its execution. That word Lord Granville emphatically refused to say. The Soudan lay altogether beyond the sphere of our interests, they said. So the railway was never commenced, with results which you know only too well. I naturally disbelieve the stories as to the necessity for running through tubular tunnels on account of the sand-storms and moving sand-hills. The other day Florida strawberries were selling in Baltimore at $1.50 per quart, while in some parts of Florida it was difficult to give the luscious fruit away. The ineomes of Baron Mayer Karl and Willy de Rothschild have been respectively rated, for taxation, at Frankfort, at $1,140,000 and Nobway has the smallest number of inhabitants to the square mile of all the countries in Europe. In Misonla, M. T., guns are discharged as fire alarms.

TWO HUNDRED LIVES

Crushed or Asphyxiated in a German Colliery. Less than Two Score of the 219 Diggers Accounted For. [By cable from Berlin. 1 At the mining district of Camphausen, near Saarbruck, in Rhenish Prussia, a fearful explosion occurred early this morning. Just before daybreak the last of the day shift of men had'gone down in the cages of one of the largest mines. Everything was reported in order, though reports of firedamp in two of the levels had somewhat disturbed the superintendent. Still, the ventilating apparatus working through the main shaft was in perfect order, and no catastrophe was feared. The men, in taking their safety-lamps, had been specially warned to be careful. After a while the cars laden with coal began coming to the surface. The 219 men who had gone down were at work, and all was well. At 6:30 a terrible rumbling shook the earth. A flash of flame leaped up the shaft and a volume of stifling smoke poured out This was followed by the crashing of timbers and the tumbling of earth down the shaft. From all quarters men and women came running to the mouth of the pit. There are fifteen thousand employed in the Camphausen coal-field-, and in a quarter of an hour a crowd of five thousand men and as many women and children, the latter shrieking and sobbing, were around the mine. As soon as the heavy smoke had rolled away an attempt was made to work the cages, but they would not move. The force of the return draught at the pit’s mouth told that the explosion had shivered the ventilating engine. Still the ventilating engine was kept going. It might do some good. It was thought from a first glance that no after fire had followed, and this may prove correct. Volunteers were called for to descend. A temporary cable was rigged, and six brave men went down to save their fellows. On reaching the uppermost drift they heard voices calling and signaled to stop. Thirty men were there in a state of terror and semi-stupefactibn from the dense fumes still pervading the galleries. These men were brought to the surface alive. The rescuers and the rescued were greeted with shouts of delight as they came in parties to the surface. The thousands of women were on their knees praying. The main difficulty now began. There were still 189 men in the mine whose chance of Hfe was ebbing away at eveiy instant. Doubtless many of them had been killed instantly by the blast of exploding gas, and others had been smothered shortly after, before they could retreat to the main shaft The volunteers went down again, but their progress soon was stopped. The shaft had been filled with rocks and earth shaken out by the blasts. All endeavors to communicate by signal with the entombed men were fruitless. Some of the men thought they smelt fire, but this could not be definitely settled. There was only one way to reach the unfortunates, and this was by clearing the shaft. This news spread despair over Camphausen. At one? work was begun with a wilt Thousands offered their help, and the offers of hundreds were availed of. The work soon progressed. It* was tedious and dangerous. At every removal of the displaced rocks and timbers there was danger a fresh caving in of the sides. After eight hours’ work a lower level was reached, and there over forty bodies were found around the shaft. Suffocation had evidently quickly ended their struggles. The breaking of the air-shaft left them at the mercy of the poisonous after-damp. The search went on. At level after level dead miners were found in close proximity to the shaft. In all nine-ty-two bodies were brought to the surface before night. The work still goes on. There are still ninety-seven men in the pit It is feared that all are dead, but*the sturdy Prussians with hopeful hearts are working on by the light of great fires and amid the wails of the women waiting around the mine foe their dead.

GIVING HIM THE GRIP.

Albert Victor Joins the Masons and Is Put Through the Mysteries. [By cable from London.] The dignity and traditional grandeur of Freemasonry was largely vindicated and illustrated when last night, in the Royal Alpha Lodge, in the presence of a large company of Masons, Prince Edward, heir presumptive (o the English throne, was initiated by the Prince of Wales, his father, heir apparent, Grand Master, and at the same time a working Mason, in the office of Worshipful Master. The lodge is private, and its working dates from‘l722. The by-laws of the Royal Alpha restrict the number of members to thirty-three, nearly all officers or past officers of the Grand Lodge of England. Also the principle that no visitor can be received enables the work to be carried out in the presence of lodge members only. Willis’ room's, near St. James Palace, was the meetingplace. The lodge was laid out in a firstfloor apartment, garnished with fine portraits in oil of Past Royal Grand Masters, Worshipful Masters and Wardens. There were chairs in gold emblematically decorated and other appointments in keeping. The Prince of Wales took the Worshipful Master’s chair, donning above his Grand Master’s clothing the blue collar of a working Mason, the pendant being the instrument which forms the rude and proves the perfect mass and marks him as a master of the arts and sciences. All the officers wore the blue collar of working members of the speculative craft over purple and gold Grand Lodge officership pendants in silver, the centers being works of art in enamel, with rays studded with diamonds. The candidate was prepared in an adjoining room for the ceremony. The craft does not admit illiterate persons, and the first act required of a seeker after Masonic knowledge is to prove himself capable of entering upon the study of the liberal arts. The Prince was then admitted with full solemnity within the portals in the manner in which all enter the craft. The ceremony was performed with all the grace and dignity which characterize the Grand Master and his officers, all skilled craftsmen, and all noblemen or titled persons. When the ceremony was completed the young Prince was seated in the place of honor and witnessed such work as is restricted to the first degree. The lodge being closed in due form after its labors, the members adjourned to a banquet, where the initiate, sitting next the Worshipful Master, according to ancient custom, received the congratulations of his elders. There are about 60,000 more females than males in the city of Berlin. This fact is all the more remarkable as there is a garrison of soldiers in the city which numbers 19,000 men. Of the French Senators elected on the 25th of January ten are Protestants, which is three times as many in proportion to the population as the Catholics have. The latest regarding Daniel Webster is that he never used a profane wortL It is figured that 7,000,000 sermons are annually preached to Americans.

AN ANCIENT CITY.

The Central Point for Much Furious Fighting. [From,the Chicaeo Tribune.] It may not be uninteresting to take a glance at famous Herat, which has once again loomed up before the sight cf the world as the bone over which the Lion and the Bear are growling. Herri, as it was anciently called, from its contiguity to the Herri Rood River, has a record beyond the pen of accurate history, and, according to Afghan traditions, it had an existence close to the time when the world was miraculously evolved from chaos. In the Zoroastrian annals of the “Vendidad Sade," it appears as “Hariwa,” or the country of the Aryans, and as the founder of the Gebir or Fireworshiper faith is supposed to have lived contemporaneously with Moses, it follows that its ancient inhabitants may have been contemporaneous ' with the patriarch Abiaham when he was grazing his flocks among the deserts of Mesopotamia. There seems to be no reason to doubt that Alexander the Great encamped at Herat in the famous campaign which Xenophon describes in his Anabasis, and that it occupied a certain Oriental magnificence contemporaneous with that period of Graeco romance when the names of Bacchus, Semiramis, and Hercules became so fulgent as to shine down through the centuries to the present day. In the East there exists a tradition that the Afghans are really the offspring of the lost tribe of Israel—a tradition to which color is lent by the remarkably strong Jewish type of feature that characterizes the Afghan race—and that it was that Israelitish tribe which gave outward splendor to Herri as a city. Whatever truth there may be in all this, it is certain that Herat rose its battlements in the mists of antiquity, and that where the trading provindah now leads his camels through its toiiuous, narrow streets to-day Aryans lived and died who have since given their cognomen to a conspicuous division of the human race. XJWhile Herat possesses immense interest historically, it occupies a geographical importance of such a nature as has for many centuries made it the central part for furious fighting among tribesmen and nations. Again and again it has been made the focus for Persian fury and ambition, and it is only by continual hard fighting that it now remains in the hands of the Ameer of Afghanistan. When England obtained, Ijy intrigue, chicane, and hard fighting, the dominant control of Hindostan she fully recognized Herat as one of the points d’appui from which an enemy may threaten that dominance, and hence it became the fashion to name the city “The Gate of India." Situated picturesquely upon a sour of the Hindoo Koosh range, and surrounded by a bewildering network of deeply irrigated rice-fields—so bewildering that cavalry operations are made impossible with any feedojn of action—Herat is at the same time powerfully fortified artificially. Recent Russian travelers have averred that nowhere in the East is the art of canalization carried out so thoroughly or on so vast a scale as it has been in the Velley of Herat, where the waters of the Herri Riood are utilized to the utmost extent. This state of circmstancos naturally makes Herat a valuable basis of supplies for any army that may be fortunate enough to obtain possession of it. It is, therefore, no wonder that Herat has become a singularly important point of Central Asian commerce, roads forking from it into Persia, to Kabool, to Kandahar, to Beloochistan, and northward through the Merve oasis and Turkestan, more especially that part of Turkestan which is known as Bokhara. The city is nearly quadrangular, with faces about a mile long, and the high inner wall of defense is pierced by four gates pointing toward the different great cities with w£qch it has communication. Thus, for instance, the great gates in the celebrated walls of Delhi were known as the Lahore Gate, the Cashmere Gate, and so on. The stupendous earthwork upon which Herat is built has been the wonder of modern times, being, according to Sir Henry Rawlinson, the great English authority on Eastern matters, 250 feet in width at the base, fifty feet high, crowned by a wall twenty-five feet high and fourteen wide at the base, and supported by no fewer than 150 circular towers, which again are protected by a ditch forty-five feet wide and fifteen in depth. There have been disputes about the true strength of the fortress. In 1846 Gen. Ferrier of the British army gave it as his opinion that the place was only an immense redoubt which a European army could reduce in twenty days, but it is significant that in 1837, with the assistance of two English Engineer Lieutenants, the Heratese successfully held at bay for.ten months a Persian army of 35,000 men supported by fifty pieces of artillery, which were in many cases directed by expert Russian officers. The mosques of Herat are made exceedingly picturesque by bluish-tessellated tiles, the bazaars are rich, and swarm day and night with motley groups of men drawn from every part of Central Asia, Afghanistan, and India; and bearing in mind all these facts, together with the fortuitous geographical position of Herat, it s is no wonder that the famous city is coveted both by Russia and England. It possesses the unenviable reputation of being one of those cities so happily situated by nature that it must become perpetually the object of every powerful nation placed in its vicinity.

Sullivan Knocked Out.

[Philadelphia dispatch.] This afternoon John L. Sullivan found one man who could knock him out. He went with Patsey Sheppard to a matinee at Egyptian Hall, where Professor Keller was doing his cabinet trick. When the Professor invited a committee to go upon the stage and tie him the audience shouted for Sullhah, and he and Sheppard did. Keller then invited Sullivan to go into the cabinet with him. The slugger afterward s.iid: “I was never so much surprised in my life as I was after I went into the cabinet. The first thing I knew my overcoat was gone. I felt all around for it, but I couldn’t find it, and then I was chucked out of the cabinet onto the stage as if I had been shot out of cannon. My inside coat was turned inside out, and I lay sprawling on the stage as if some fellow had kicked me one in the jugular. I’ll be blanked if Keller ain’t the strongest little man I ever saw. I don’t want any more cabinet business. ” Five rabbits were recently killed at one shot by a Rabun County (G% ) hunter. The bunnies were all huddled together in an old hollow log to keep warm during the snowstorm. An offer of the contract for laying 3CO miles of pipe across the desert, to supply the English soldiers in the Soudan with water, has been made to a citizen of Yonkers, N. Y. A knot-hole in the frame of an old house, erected about 1750, at Newington, Conn., has been the home of a family of bluebirds for seventy-five years. It is asserted that the car® of Arizona’s criminals and insane costs the Territory more than one-half of her running expenses. The freehold farms in New Zeland are alone worth $170,000,000.

Mr. Blaine Complacent.

Latest advices from Mr. Blaine, late candidate of the late g. o. p. for the Presidency, are of the most encouraging nature. He might be described as fair, fat, and fifty-five. His complexion has freshened, the fish and oysters of the Chesapeake have fattened him, and he reached the five and fiftieth milestone of life a few days since. He is said to be actually robust and buoyant. He is gradually scalping his enemies, and blazing his way by easy stages to the nomination of 1888. It is stated that he considers himself almost “even" with Mr. Arthur and his Premier, Mr. Frelinghuysen. He thinks he defeated Mr. Arthur's Senatorial aspirations, and that Mr. Frelinghuysen and nis family have been so effectually “snubbed” that they will be glad to make a masterly retreat into Jersey early in March. Senator Edmunds a d ex-Senator Conkling are his next big game. Their discomfiture will not be so easily effected. A recent correspondent of the Chicago Times says that they “give Blaine more trouble than either the President or any of his Cabinet. Mr. Blaine realizes that there is no hope of dislodging the Vermont Senator from his seat. Mr. Edmunds is as firmly fixed in the Senatorial chair ns the Green Mountains of his native State upon their base. But Mr. Blaine is not neglecting the frigid Vermonter, and is determined to make his seat as uncomfortable for him as possible. Edmunds is unpopular among his Senatorial colleagues, and not a few of them on the Republican side are more than willing to render aid and comfort to Mr. Blaine in this matter. The only Republican whom Mr. Blaine really fears is Roscoe Conkling. He believes that the latter will make an early effort to re-enter public life, and his return to the stage of affairs would be as unwelcome to Mr. Blaine as Banquo’s ghost to Macbeth at the royal feast IJ is still war to the knife between these ancient enemies, and will be to the end.” In regard to the next Presidency, Mr. Blaine intends to make a fight for it During the next four years he proposes to be the leader of the Third House, always a formidable power in Washington City, and then, too. as this same correspondent, already alluded to, says, “he has a grip upon the machinery of the grand old party which he does not believe can bo shaken during the ensuing four years. With no one in the White House to wield the public patronage against him, he sees no opportunity for any of his would-be rivals in Republican leadership to render themselves formidable. Altogether, Mr. Blaine is today in a decidedly happy frame of mind. He has learned to look upon the past with complacency, and he gazes into the future with confidence.” Mr. Arthur thinks that the “g. o. p." will not nominate Mr. Blaine. They tried the experiment once, and it cost too much. It is, perhaps, however, to the interest of the Democratic party leaders to encourage Mr. Blaine’s hopes and aspirations for another campaign, or at least they should not discourage him. Give him plenty of rope and —taffy.— lndianapolis Sentinel.

The Absurd Protective Policy.

Mr. David A. Wells, of Connecticut, was up to 1871 a rank protectionist. So prominent was he by his arguments in favor of high tariff that a Republican administration »ent him on a Government mission of investigating the manufacturing industries of Eu'Ope. But in the performance of his duties j light shone from the conditions about him, showing him that the protection laws he had so earnestly espoused were burden, some to the working classes and the indusies of the United States. He was presented after the manner of St. Paul, and has, since his return home, twelve years ago, been a zealous worker for tariff reform. In an address recently delivered by Mr. Wells before the Brooklyn Revenue Reform Club on “The Absurdity of the Protective Policy,” he made certain suggestions and arguments which not even Mr. Randall has the temerity to attack. He was backed with official statistics showing that within the last ten years, while the average wages of operatives in free trade Great Britain have increased s.per cent., wages in the highly protected State of Massachusetts have decreased 10 per cent. He argued that an aggregate of 15 per cent, represents more than the savings of the most economical laborer. He holds that the British laborer gets as great an advantage from the present low price of food products as does his American brother, and even greater; yet Great Britain is a free trade country and America has protection. Coal is proUved by a duty of 75 cents a ton, yet how mmy coal miners get 75 cents a ton for mining, or what influence has protection on the price of coal? A railroad pool places the price of coal wh re it wishes. The highest average wages paid in this country are in industries which are least protected. Where is the equity in taxing the public to make any business profitable? Grant that wages are higher here than in England, and waive the point as to whether a day’s wages in America will purchase more than a day’s wages in England, does it prove that protection is better then free trade? If so, why is it that wages are higher in free trade England than in protection Germany? And why is it that in China, where there has been a prohibitory tariff for the last 3,000 years, the average wages are 6 cents a day?— Exchange.

How Cleveland Did Blaine a Favor.

Cleveland’s manly action is said to have saved Mr. Blaine, after the Indianapolis libel suit came Jo an end, from an embarrassing The Democratic managers had lithographed in Indianapolis the letters concerning the Blaine family, which had been gathered by the Sentinel people iu anticipation of the libel suit trial. These lithographed letters they proposed to publish in immense quantities for distribution to annoy and humiliate Mr. Blaine. They wore of such a character that such a procedure would have greatly harassed the losing candidate. The matter came to Cleveland’s knowledge and he promptly put a stop to it, declaring that any one in any way responsible for it need never ask any favors from him. This attitude ended the plan, for those concerned in it were Democrats “with hopes in the future.”— Cor. Springfield liepublican. In England, France and the United States the average wealth per inhabitant is as follows: England, $1,249; France, $1,092; United States, $931. In France there is more wealth in land for every inhabitant than in England. The French have also more bullion. The English have more in cattle, houses, railways, movables, and sundries. The increase in population in the United States has been very great, and renders the increase of wealth per head materially less; The nineteenth century has been prolific in thought and discovery. Civilization has advanced with sure and rapid stride; but with all our progress in science, art, mechanism, politics, horse-racing, and so forth, the humiliating fact cannot be dodged that a reliable test for coming at the age of a spring chicken is one of the things that the best brains of futurity alone can evolve. It’s a cold day when the small boy remains in the house voluntarily.

GOOD MANNERS.

l>isagr<*able Candor. A man who never reminds his friends of unwelcome facts or tells them unpleasant truths is sure to be liked; and when a man of such a turn corner to old age he is sure to be treated with respect. It is true, indeed, that we should not dissemble or flatter in company; but a man may be very agreeable, strictly consistent with truth and sincerity, by a prudent silence where he cannot concur, and a pleasant assent where he can. Now and then you meet with a person so exactly formed to please that he will gain upon every one that hears or beholds him; this disposition is not merely the gift of natu.e. but frequently the effect of mucn knowledge of the world and a command over the passions. Frequently that which is called candor is merely malice. —.Boston Gazette. Tact. May we not describe tact fairly well as the antithesis of clumsiness? Etymologically, as we know, tart is touch, and it may be called, therefore, a deft way of handling people. It is born with some men and women, like the supple, delicate fingers of the artists hand, and those who have it use their gift instinctively. It is not measured alike to those who have it—men possess it in different degrees; while others, again, are wanting in it altogether. Tact ought not to be confounded with savior faire; it is not merely the English equivalent for that term; one may have a large acquaintance with the world and its conventions, and be perfected in the practice of social duties, great and small, and yet be lacking in this fine sixth sense, so invaluable to its possessors and to all with whom they come in contact. It is the outcome of intellectual and of temperamental qualities, and implies the possession of clear perceptions, quick imagination, and delicate sensibilities; it is these that give the tactful person his subtle intuition of another’s mental processes and moods of feeling, and in the same moment the exactly right mode of dealing with these. Tact, it is true, like any other natural gift, may. be consciously exercised and brought by use to a higher perfection. Pra diced on a large scale, with experience and foresight aiding, it makes the successful diplomat. It is impossible not to feel a certain pleasure in the use of special faculties, of whatever kind; and it is not to bo wondered at that a person possessing the gift of dexterous touch should regard with a mingling of amusement and compassion the unfortunate individual who goes on his blundering way through the world, forever stumbling against people’s idiosyneracies, bruising their small foibles, oversetting their cherished prejudices, while a little adroitness might save all the damage. There are men and women who are always doing this, just as there are those whose awkward motions and clumsy fingers are continually bringing disaster upon themselves and wiiat they handle.— Atlantic Monthly.

The Delights of Walking.

For good, honest interchange of thought and sentiment; for sifting a man, and separating the corn from the chaff in his moral, spiritual, and social characteristics; for getting a grip stronger than ever in the way of possessing his heart, I know of nothing that can bring better occasions or wealthier chances to you than walking with him on the king’s highway. You shall learn more of a man’s heart, his likes and dislikes, his hobbies and idiosyncrasies, his weakness and his strength, in a day’s walk than you shall be able to get by a month’s riding with him in a diligence or a postchaise. The breeze that winnows your very heart, and sends all the draff of dark and doubtful thoughts from you, leaving the kernel of true grain white and clean, is surely an unspeakable blessing as you tread your way along the crisp and shining upland road. Then you have the bright or ever-changing sky, and gleaming cottage homes here and there, sheltered under their warm wings of thatch, covered over wjh golden stonecrop and green moss, all sprinkled daintily with crystal gems of hoary rime and frozen snow. Beyond all this, the exhilarating swing in every step you take, and the glorious joy of freedom you possess, combine to open your heart to him who throws in his Jot with you for the t me, and jogs along with you with ready wit and responsive reverence, keenness of vision, and brightness of heart. What a rare privilege is given to every walker on the king’s highway, and through the sweet, shadowy rural lanes and meadows, threaded by silver streams and lined with willow holts, leading therefrom I And yet how few accept with gratitude and act upon the gift which nature ever extends to them with open hands! Wh.t lovely pictures and gleams of lasting joy they who do not go afoot miss forever!— The (Juicer.

The Earliest Parchment.

In the early middle ages a man would take a simple rough sheepskin and with his own hands convert it into a missal, illuminated and “noted” for music. “Graduate unum, promanu formavit, purgavit, punxit, sulcavit, pria scripsit, illuminavit, musiceque notavit syllabatim.” Among other interesting particulars brought before the reader we learn that the process of the Inquisition against the Knights Templars was engrossed on a roll more than seventy feet long—a charge inevitably as fatal, though by no means as brief, as that brought by the Spartan Judges against the poor Platmans after the fearful two years’ siege. With the introduction of parchment begins the* systematic history of miniature. The use of linen paper, however, is spoken of as early as 1125, the most ancient fragment extant being that on which the Sire de Joinville wrote a letter to King Louis X. in 1315. Pens, pencils, inks—in short, everything belonging to the art of the scribe and the miniaturist—‘are minutely treated of and particulars given, from reliable sources, of the cost which the decoratinn of an illuminated book would reach when such books were executed for wealthy patrons.— The Academy.

INDIANA LEGISLATURE.

lx the Senate the following bills were introduced on the 16th Inst: To amend section 9of the election law so as to authorize County Commissioners to make such changes in election precincts as the nubile good may demand: providing for the appointment of a commission of three members to be appointed by the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, who shall meet in the city of Indianapolis for a period not to exceed over sixty davs, and shall draft a bill fixing the fees and salaries of county officersand employes ot the State institutions and General Assembly, and report the same to the next Legislature; providing that County Commissioners shall not authorize any expenditures in excess of $25,000 without lust obtaining the consent of the tax-payers of the county, which may be expressed at anv general election. Senator Thompson at ose to a question of privilege, and denied the statement published in The Indianapolis 2'tmes that he had vo.ed for the May claim because he bad been requested to do so by Vice President Hendricks. He concluded by saying: “I supjMise that the verdancy of the editor of that paper has been imposed upon, but 1 m free to say that he i’ a falsifier, a liar, and I should not be surprised if he was a horse-thief,” which remark caused much laughter. A commit’ee was appointed to investigate plans for a soldiers’ monument. In the House no quorum was present. The time was spent in the discussion of various matters. Senator Foulke’s bill, providing that County Commissioners shall not authorize an expenditure of $25,0c0 or more without first obtaining the consent of a majority of the taxpayers reoommending the passage of the measure, was debated in the Senate on the 17th. A motion to lay the bill out he table was defeated by nays 20, veas 1K Subsequently Senator Foulke moved to amend the bill by making the limit of expenditures without the consent of the majority of the taxpayers $50,000 instead of S2S,UO(', which was adopted by yeas 24, nays 14. The majority report recommending its passage was concurred in, but a motion to engross the bill was defeated—yeas 19, nays 20. Fenator Ensley's bill authorizing County Commissioners to erect monuments to the memory of soldiers at an exiiense not to exceed S2S,MH) came up for consideration, with a report of a special committee recommending that instead of requiring a majority of the taxpayers to give their consent at a general election, the monuments m.ght be erected if a majority or the taxpayers sign a petition asking it. The report was Adopted and the b.II ordered engrossed. Senator Campbell called up a bill regulating the hiring of prison convicts to contractors tor a consideration. The committee recommended an amendment limiting the working hours of convicts to nine hours instead ot eight. An additional amendment was otlered by Senator Fowler, providing that no contract should be for less than fifty men. Both amendments were adopted and the bill was engrossed. 'lhe bill forfeiting live times the amount of usurious interest was defeated. Speaker Jewett lectured the House on its failure to advance business. He urged them to do an honest day's work every day, and not to allow dilatory measures to be considered. New bills were introduced: By Mr. McMullen, authorizing county commissioners in counties of less than 20,000 voters to borrow money tot building bridges, court houses, and jails; by Mr. Gooding, provldin for the appointment ot expert witnesses; by Mr. Pendleton, fixing the salaries of trustees ot townships of over 59,000 inhabitants at $2,000 a year (the bill having reference only to Center Township, Marlon County). Mr. Kellison s bill amending the mechanic’s lien law so as to provide that such liens shall stand when the contracts for the labor or material are not made directly with the company, as Is now necessary, was passed. Senator Youche's resolution fixing March 25 as the day for final adjournment of the special session was brought up in the Senate, March 18, and under a suspension of the rules was passed, forty-one members voting in the affirmative and none in the negative. In the House the bill for the reorganization of the Knightstown Home was taken up, and Mr. Sayre moved to suspend the constitutional rules and advance th j bill directly to its passage. Objection was raised because tills action would cut off amendments, but the motion failed to prevail by a vote of 05 to 2), two-thirds of the House not voting in the affirmative. The bill was then read a second time, and a dozen more amendments were sent up, McMullen proposed that two ot the tiuscees should bo honornbly discharged Union soldiers, and Boyd moved that the entire board be so const tuted, which provoked a lengthy discussion. Boyd's substitute making the Board of Trustees ail Union soldiers was adopted by a vote ot 46 to 41, and the House took u recess, and afterward amended the bill so that no two trustees shall bo o the same political party. The bill to have freight trains stop at all stations and'curry passengers was defeat: d. This bill was for the benefit ot commercial drummers. The bill to reorganize the State Board of Health passed. Bills authorizing the appointment of guardians for insane people sent to asylums, and allowing the redemption of lands sold for delinquent taxes by the payment of 15 per cent, penalty within six months, were passed in the Senate on the 19th Inst. The Senate Indefinitely postponed the bill to extend the Metiopolltan Police system to the larger cities of the State. In the House, the bill for the reorganization ot the Knightstown benevolent institutions was passed by a unanimous vote, and a bill appropriating $60,000 tor the expenses ot the special session was passed under a suspension of the rules. During the ptoceedings Representative Patton, who had been criticised by the Indianapolis Jomieit, arose to a Suestlon of privilege, and bitterly assailed John . New, proprietor of the paper, calling him a white-livered coward and lying scoundrel, and declaring that he would hold him personally responsible for what was printed. The speech created quite a sensation. Mr. Bayre. in behalf of the Republicans, introduced a bill reapportioning the State, so as to provide for the election of only sixty Representatives and thirty Senators, instead of 109 and fifty, as now provided, which, after debate, was referred to a committee. Senator Hubton introduced in the Senate (March 20) a bill relating to the collection ot interest on school-fund loans. The law now simply provides that the County Auditor “may” collect the interest semi-annually, and Senator Huston's bill makes it mandatory. It is said that in some comities under the existing law schooi-iund interest lias not been collected in some cases for twenty years. Among new bills introduced was one for a dentist for State reformatory Institutions. Mr. Ensley's bill authorizing County Commissioners to appropriate money to an amount not exceeding 4:6,000 for the purpose of building soldiers’ monuments was passed by a unanimous vote. The bill regulating the hiring of convict labor to contractors, introduced by Senator Marvin Cameron, was passed, the yeas numbering 31 and the nays 4. The bill limits a day’s work by convicts to nine hours, and prohibits the “lapping” system. A bill requiring that the teachers in township schools shi.il devote one day each month—not Saturday—to institute work, and shall be allowed pay for It, was passed. The Senate then adjourned until Monday, March 23. In the House the call of counties was made for the introduction of new business, and a large number of new bills were proposed by various members. The most important were: For the protection of laborers: reducing the pay of legislative officers to $4 a day, employes, $3, and pages $1.50; requiring applicants for liquor licenses to be residents of the town or township; for the relief of John ]Hutchtison, who lost public funds in the failure of the Commercial Bank. ot Brazil, Ind. Amendments to the constitu tion were proposed by resolutions introduced by Mr. Kellison. increasing the number of Judges of the Supreme < ourt from six to nine, nnd divldstg the State into three jud ciai districts, and by Mr. Smith, prohibiting the contract system of convict labor. The regular order ot business was then resumed, and the first bill taken up.was Mr. Frazor's, authorizing the extension o. charities and maintenance ot free gravel roads, and a long discussion of its provisions ensued. Various amendments were offered and rejected, and eventually the bill was defeated by a vote of :.-3 to 53, and then the vote was recons dered and the bill was recommitted to the Committee on Roads, A bill was passed composing a Board of Trustees for the Soldiers’ Or; hans' Home, of two men and one woman. A modern philosopher says that “women who excite the greatest love are often ugly.” They are also generally very rich. “Is the howling of a dog always followed by death?” asked a little girl of her father. “Not always, my dear. Sometimes the man that shoots at the dog misses him,” was the prompt reply. Municipal suffrage has been granted to unmarried women and widows in Ontario and Nova Scotia, and full suffrage for women has been obtained in Washington Territory. The name of God in theHindoostane* language is rain. In Persian, sire.