Indiana State Sentinel, Volume 27, Number 21, Indianapolis, Marion County, 9 January 1878 — Page 2

THE INDIANA STATE SENTINEL, WEDNESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 9, 1878

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9. THE JOl'RXAIft PLATFORM. ADVICS TO IIIKSKSATF, The senate should indefinitely postpone the hill repealing the resumption law, and then eongres should give the people rest. THE BLAXI 1UI.L. The remonetization of silver under the terms of the K.aud bill will tie more disastrous in lis consequences, in our opinion, than the repeal of the resumption act. It might in its present form properly be termed an act to reduce the ral je of greenbacks six per cent. THE VOTE ON THE KLAMi 1SIT.I. NoT VOK THE 1NTKRfMTS OK THE COUNTRY. The members of congress, no doubt, think they are representing the will of their constituents and that the masses of the people In the west demand a repeal of the resumption act and a reinoretizatioii of silver under tt;e terms of the Bland bill. This is probably true In certain districts; but, taking the country at large, it is not true, but If it whs true, it does not follow that it is right or for the best interests of the whole people. Hfl't I'. LI CAN NKKVE. Where, the republicans have had nerve enouzh to go to the eipie demanding a lorward inarch to resumption tbey have won in the contest. We think ttie time has come for the republicans of Indiana to take a position as a party and stand by the administration on the linatu-Ul question. The position is right, and it is only a question of time when it must pievail. . ii nn an honor was recently won by a little girl Ecarcely fifteen years of age in New York. She was one ot eight hundred applicants for the free scholarship to the conservatory of music in that city. She proved herself so capable and talented that she received the coveted prize. Dcttis'i the month of November the losses by fire in the United States and Canada amounted to $7,210,000. The insurance companies lost on this aggregate $ l,S-"0,000. This is largely in excess over the loss of November, '7t, and the amount that the insurance companies loss is almost double that of the year previous. The goose has been for ages the inveterate nemy of robbers, whetller they attempted to burglarize a nation or individual. The last exploit of this amateur detective force was at Annapolis, Maryland, where a house was saved from the burglar's prying lingers by their cackling, lie found he could not stop them after they were once aroused, and Jie discreetly left. Thk young ladies of the country must certainly have a kindly feeling for Mrs. Jane Grey Swisshelru. A few weeks ago she made a most cruel and unwarranted attack upon the Irish girls of the United States. She is now turning her attention to school girl3. She says: "Yassar college is a college 'at Poughkeepsie, with rive hundred young 'lady students principally fools." The president of the New York board of health is trying to free the minds of the people from the idea that the warm weather of December was prejudicial to invalids. He says that New York city has never been so healthy as at present, and that the sick and death rolls are down very low. Children have been exempt from an unusual degree of sickness, and the general health of the people was reported better than at a corresponding time last year. Victoria Woodhcll's lecturing tour in Kngland has proven in every regard a failure. She has been greeted by rough, coarse audiences; she ha3 not made money enough to pay her expenses, and has been forced to remain in seclusion or else associate with those as vulgar as herself. She sjys she expected different treatment, piter the popular feeling in sympathy with Mrs. Besant The difference, however, she does not seem to comprehend between herself and that lady, who is everywhere regarded as a pure woman. All the churches and schools of Topeka, Kansas, have been closed on account of the alarming prevalence of scarlet fever. There will be no more public gatherings until it abates. Tatrons of the public library of that city have been notified that in case they have the fever in their family they can not take out any more books until the disease disappears; and that If they have books in their possession before returning them they must thoroughly disinfect them by exposing them to the open air, and keeping them from the rooms where persons are ill. t'oME interesting statistics have been gleaned from the report of the coroner of St. Louis. During the year 1877 he has held 441 inquests, there being 284 deaths without medical assistance, and 149 by accidents and 10 cases of infanticide. Sixty-one men committed suicide, and only seven women; and the favorite means of self-destruction was drowning, 10 persons having chosen this. Next comes 17 by shooting, 10 by poison and 12. by hanging. The palm of being the birthplace of the largest number of suicides was carried off by Germany, as 34 of the CS were born in that country. There were 14 Americans on the list, six Irishmen and only one Frenchman. There were 20 murders in the city, nine being committed by the knife, six by the pistol and four by the club.

The series of failures In central Kentucky that have recently been reported in our columns have alarmed the short horn breeders, acommittee cf whom are now at the door of the legislature asking aid. They atnrm that unless a stay law is passed the blue grass ref ion one of the richest agricultural district n the world U in danger of universal bankruptcy. Cincinnati Gazette. Now where is Henri Watterson, the author of the "piggin" policy? Henri swore by "blue grass." His soul was enamored of "blue grass." He wanted to live and die in "blue grass.'' When the "brass-hooped pig'gin burst at the fountain" Henri sought consolation in "blue grass." When the one hundred thousand unarmed Kentuckians did not respond to his call to inaugurate Tilden Henri fell back upon "blue grass" and thanked God that it would sprout and bad and blossom. Now we see that the blue grass region is In trouble.where la Henri?

THE SITUATION AND THE OUTLOOK Congress reassembles on the 10th inst If we are to believe the half that is reported the fight between ConkliDg and Hayes will be renewed. Hayes will prove stubborn, and Conkling's aggressiveness will have a keener edge. What of it? Simply this: Radicalism will be employed in destroying itself. But it seems that efforts are to be made by democratic senators to keep if on Its feet and rescue it if possible from utter annihilation. The Washington Post is a zealous advocate of protecting Hayes in his fight against Conkling. It professes to see the shadows of wonderful events that are coming. As, for instance, Conkling is going to bring about a solid north in his favor, which will make him president in 1SS0. llenee the necessity of sustaining Hayes by antagonizing Conkling. This is pme poppycock and unadulterated gush. The policy of the democratic party is to permit the radical party, like Kilkenny cats, to destroy itself. The good Lord will remove some of the leaders', others will be sent to the penitentiary, others still will be retired from service by democratic victories, and in due time the ascendency of the democratic party will be secured. It should be understood that the reign of the bloody shirt is ended. There is absolutely no such thing possible as a solid north against the south. Carpet-bagism is p!ayed out The reign of common sense has commenced. The policy of the democratic party is not a solid north or a solid south, but a solid country a union of hearts, a union ot interests, a union of prosperity, a union in which the principles of free government shall be indestructably established against which the waves of fanaticism may beat forever without disturbing or endangering their perpetuity. The democratic party can not afford to Indorse Hayes. It has compelled him in one or two instances to abandon the wrong and pursue the right, but for this h deserves no more credit than attaches to a burglar for surrendering his plunder to the officers of the law. It does not obscure the damning stamp of fraud that J. Madison Wells and his co conspirators burned into his forehead and made as ineffaceable as the firy track of a lava flow. Let Conkling and Blaine and Chandler curse him, let them spit upon him and denounce him. Let the hot breath of the people's scorn burn him. Let him stand in the pillory while honest men wag their heads and pronounce his punishment just and righteous the only man that ever mounted into power on a ladder of sour damning lies. It is enough for the democratic party to watch him, Btand guard over him, keep him from pursuing a policy of devilishness, and compel him to hesitate when he intimates any wrong act. To indorse him ia contamination, lie is in office by fraud. He is a pirate on the quarter deck of the ship of state. Fortunately he can not steer the ship among radical shoals and breakers. Look at him. The country wants - relief from the curse of contraction. Hayes proposes to reverse their will by a veto. The venal creature of bondholders and money sharks, he proposes for their benefit to veto the remonetization of silver and the bill to repeal the resumption law; and the Journal of this city advocates the veto programme. The democratic party need not be uneasy about 1S30. Radicalism has no more chance to win with Conkling or any other "man than the devil has to transfer his dominion to heaven. The democratic party is in a position to make Hayes "tote level." Beyond that they need have no concern about him.

THE QUESTION OF INTEREST. Recent events are forcing into prominence the question of interest upon loans. To the west the subject is one of vital concern. It is the debtor section. It owes vast sums of money to eastern capitalists and moneyed institutions. It desires to pay, but under a financial policy that crushes every interest and paralyzes every department of business it has become, in a large number of instances, impossible to pay the interest on the indebtedness, and as a consequence the process of foreclosing mortgages is steadily going forward. It is fair to assume that the states of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois owe eastern capitalists, independent of state municipal and railroad indebtedness, fully $180,000,000, an average of $20,000,000 each, secured by mortgage upon the property of the people, which at the time the debts were contracted represented fully three times the amount of the obligations, but which now, if offered for sale, would barely realize enough to square accounts. It is fair to assume that the average rate of interest upon the indebtedness named Is 10 per cent. In many instances, including commissions, eta, a much higher rate has been paid. But omitting such considerations, the problem is sufficiently formidable at the rate named, to excite the gravest alarm, and make its solution under present circumstances an impossibility, except that which passes the bulk of the property, held as security under the operation of law, into the hands of eastern capitalists. Assuming, as we have done, that the indebtedness of the people of the states named amounts to $180,000,000. it will be seen that it requires an annual drain of $13,000,000 to pay the interest We may have placed the indebtedness too high or too low; our purpose is to approximate facts. But the real question which we desire to discuss is that of interest Manifestly 10 per cent will ultimate in widespread ruin. In fact, in this regard we are not left to conjecture. The disasters consequent upon the debtor's inability to pay Interest at the rate named set in months ago, and have Bince followed each other in rapid succession. If eastern capitalist determine to maintain the exorbitant rate of interest as an inevitable result they will be compelled, in a vast majority of cases, to accept the property in liquidation cf their mortgages. And Just here a question is pre eoted

which they would do well to consider. If the owners of the property in question have been unable, by prudent attention, to make it pay 10 per cent, how can non-resident owners obtain from it that rate? As a plain business proposition it is manifestly impracticable. It does not commend itself to common sense views of business, and business men and capitalists, unless their greed obscures their judgment, will conclude that if a lower rate of interest will secure prompt payment their welfare will be better subserved than by exacting a high rate of interest, nltimating in the transfer of their property to their ownership. Referring again to the assumed indebtedness of the states mentioned, !t might be possible for the debtors to pay seven per cent, or $12,000,000 annually; when 10 per cent, or $18,000,000, would be an impossibility, and even the low rate mentioned is fully three per cent above the admitted average increase of wealth in the country. But as seven per cent could be paid, while 10 per cent as a rule is an impossibility, we conclude that capitalists would consult their financial well-being by reducing the rate. But the Bubject has a still wider significance, for we assume that whatever may be the desire of capitalists to realize large dividends they are not all Shy locks, and do not desire to impoverish those who employ their capital in legitimate enterprises. By exacting 10 per cent, however, they are pursuing a policy that directly tends to that result Business men throughout the west find their property shrinking in value, the result of a policy they have opposed. Unable to apply the needed remedy they are. compelled to see their fortunes disappear and their business paralyzed. Struggling against adverse influences that they can not control they find that 10 per cent interest is largely in excess' of what they can pay and go on. To reduce the rate is therefore not only the part of wisdom, but a necessity from which there is no escape but in bankruptcy. We believe that a prudent agitation of this vital question would attract the attention of capitalists, and result in such modifications as would prove of incalcuable value. to both the creditor and the debtor.

LOSSES RESULTINU FRO If VICIOUS FINANCIAL LEGISLATION. It has at all times been a difficult matter to estimate the cruel curse ot radical legislation in favor of the bondholders and money sharks. It is possible, however, to arrive at such approximations of results as to satisfy all fair minded men. In considering the deplorable condition of business affairs there must of necessity be a starting point in the estimate of the losses the people have sustained by legislation enacted in the interest of capital and in opposition to the welfare of the country. In seeking for statistics we are forced to consult the ensus reports of 1?70. They furnish the most reliable data that can be obtained, and the general reader will accept the figures as authentic. By consulting the census reports of 1870 it will be seen that the "true" estimated value of the real and personal propsrty of the United States amounted to $30,068,518,507. Under ordinary circumstances it is held that the average increase of wealth will reach 4 percent This would equal 32 per cent addition to the amount given, making a sum total of $30,090,434,419 as the present valuation. But instead of an increase in the wealth of the country we are confronted with losses such as the world never before contemplated in times of peace. Under the influence of vicious legislation, in the interest of the rich and in antagonism to the welfare of the country, the reign of shrinkage, bankruptcy and ruin commenced and has been going steadily forward. It has withered like a sirocco; it has shaken down like an earthquake; it has killed like a scourge and eaten like a canker; it has sent the best business men in the country Into bankruptcy; it has made wrecks of stately fortunes; it has filled the land with idleness and poverty, and created an outlook of intense gloom and depression. It could hardly ba otherwise. The vicious legislation that proposed the contraction of the currency as a rueans of reaching resumption on the 1st of January, 1879, inaugurated the reign of shrinkage of values, and instead of an annual gain of four per cent In the wealth of the country, there has been a loss of fully 40 per cent Nothing has appreciated except bonds, and, while legislation has taken care of the creditors, it has laid the most grievous burdens upon debtors. While it has eought to aid bankers, cyndicates and money sharks, it has paralyzed all other descriptions of business. We have shown by our figures that with an average annual four per cent increase of tne wealth of the country we should to-day haye reat and personal property valued at $39,090,431,419. but it is conceded that the shrinkage in values since 1S70 equals 40 per cent, giving a grand total of losses to the country, on a valuation of $30,008,518,507, of $12,027,407,402 Nor is this all, for the enrmxaire mat commenced with the bondholders' policy arrested all increase of values, and hence the country not only suffered the actual loss of 40 per cent on the valuation of property as furnished in 1870. but has also suffered the loss of the annual gain that would have accrued, provided the legislation in favor of the money sharks bad not been enacted, and this eivea the sum total of loss to the country since 1870 of $21,649,323,314 or more than seven times the cost of the war. Indiana's share of this withering, blighting curse Is about one nineteenth part or $1,139,438,000 an I more than $000 per capita for every man, woman and child in the state in 1870. This crushing curse has been going on for years. It is no longer tolerable or ' endurable. The people are a unit : upon the necessity for a charge. They say repeal the resumption law and thereby assist CQatraoioQ and thiinkage; remonetize silver,

give us unlimited coinage and unlimited legal tender; in a word, give the country relief. As we have shown, Indiana has vital interests at stake. Her wealth is disappearing. Merchants are breaking. The average in Indianapolis alone is one application a day for the benefit of the bankrupt law, equal to 3G5 during the year. Farmers are losing their farms. Machinery is hushed in the grasp of the contraction legislation. Idleness increases, and proverty is whetting its fang In the faca of these disasters the Journal. the venal concern, pleads for contraction and

denounces the Bland bill. It goes off half cocked daily in favor of the veto power. It would deepen the business gloora. It would increase the woes of the poor; and all for such considerations as Bisselism may propose, or in the hope that Hayes will give it an office and permit It to live off of the misfortunes of the people. The Sentinel advocates measures of relief. It demands the repeal of the resumption law and the free coinage of silver. Such is the will of the people.- The Sentinel denounces the veto power when used to crush the people. Our platform Is honest The Journal is mean, treacherous, venal and pusillanimous. TRUE AH OOSi'KL. The Pre and itie Pulpit. , Fairfield (Me.) Chronicle. He was manager cf a church fair, and one morning he walked into the newspaper olliee and said: "Want an item this morning?" "Of course," replied the editor. Whereupon the visitor laid the following note upon the table: "The ladies of the Street church will give a festival at their vestry hall next Friday evening. Literary and musical entertainments will be provided and a supper will be served to all who desire. The ladies in charge of the affair have much experience in such matters and are sure to provide a good time. The admission will be only IS cents, and it is certain that no one can spend that amount to a better advantage. Be sure to jro and take your friends." When the editor had read it he said: ''Oh, I see, an advertisement." "No; not an advertisement We prefer to have it go in the local column," replied the manager. And seeing that the editor looked skepticle, he continued: 'It will interest a great many of your readers and help a good cause; besides, we ha e spent so much money getting up our entertainment that we can't afford to advertise it without increasing the price of the tickets. In such a matter as this we ought to be willing to help each other." "Well," paid the editor, '"if it goes into the locals, I suppose yon would reciprocate by reading a little notice in your church next Sunday." The visiting brother asked what notice, and the editor wrote and handed him the following: The Weekly Chronicle for the coming year will be the best and cheapest family paper in Maine. Its proprietor has had much experience, and has all the helps which a large outlay of money can procure. His paper has a larger circulation than any other published in the country, and is to be furnished at only $2. It is certain that no one cn spend that amount to better advantage. Be sure to take the Chronicle and subscribe for your friends. The manager hemmed and hesitated.-and then said, solemnly, that he doubted whether it would be judicious to read such a notice, but suggested that if it was printed copies of it might be distributed at the door of the vestry on the evening of the entertainment "Yes," said the editor, "but it would attract more attention in the middle of a sermon. It will interest a large number of your congregation and help a good cause; and, be&ides, so much money is spent upon the Chronicle that I don't see how the owner can afford to print handbills to advertise it without increasing the subscription price. In such a matter as this we ought to be willing to help each other." Then the gentleman saw the situation. Necrology. France has lost Thiers; literature, John Lothrop Motley, Robert Dale Owen, John S. C. Abbott Thomas Barriere, Samuel Warren, Lady Stirling Maxwell, Alexander Bam, Julia Kavanagh; science, Leverrier, Fergusson; the altar and pulpit. Archbishop Bayley, Cardinal Sforza, Dr. William Smith; cotemporary politics, Oliver P. Morton, William Mublen G. Brownlow, Emery Washburn, Lewis V. BoRy, George Odger, Johann Jaccby, - Picard; journalism, Walter Bagebot, Buloz; the stage, Edwin Adams, F L. Davenport, Ben De Bar, Lucille Western. Matilda Heron, G. L. Fox. Mme. Teresa Titiens; the army, Von Steinmetz, Von Wrangel, Aurelle l'aladines, N. B, Forrest, Aguilera; the navy, Charles H. Davis, L. M. Goldsborough, Charles Wilkes, Raphael Semmcs; the college?, James Orton, President Asa D. Smith, Alexis Caswell, Isaac W. Jackson, Taylor Lewis, Sanborn Tenney; the business world, Cornelius Van'derbilt, Henry Meigps, Moses II. Grinnell, William B. Ogden, Fletcher Harper. William Longmans; invention, Ross Winans, R. P. Parrott; and Mormonism, Brigham Young. Hard Times. The cry of "hard times" continues to come from England. In its survey of the industrial situation the Labor News records discontent and strife in several places. In Northumberland, it says, the colliery mechanics have accepted a redaction in wages, and throughout the district of the northern board of arbitration the iron workers' wages are likely to be reconsidered at an early date. The textile trades are generally depressed, and at Rochdale some mills are on short time. In the Forest of Dean and South Wales great distress still prevails, and measures have been taken for its relief. At Sheffield a large number of pnddlers and 8bingters have received notice of a reduction, and under present circumstances it is likely to be accepted. In the building trades several important strikes still continue, and labor is continually coming and going on the works affected. At Stafford the boot and shoe trade is especially slack, and at Brimingbam manj of the staple ind ustnes are but indifferently employed. ' Rnvdan Olvorera. Divorces are not allowed in Russia, but a marriage can be annulled for informality; and so divorces are pretty frequent. It is only a question of money, like most Russian things. In Lithuania and some parts of Little RusBia it is the custom for the bride's nearest relative to give her a slap on the face at the moment of leading her to a priest the object of this being to establish, in a case of need, that the bride married under compulsion which would be enough to break the marriage. Russians themselves assure strangers that the slap is only a reminder to the bride to behave well in future; but the true Bense of it is that just stated, for other wise the reminder would presumably be i given by the bridegroom.

THE POPE'S HEALTH.

Confl Ictlng Accounts of His Condltlon-A Temporary relation of the C'rlnlw The New Cardinal Pio No no" Days El. dent ly JEnuibered Who Shall ISiu-ceed Him? Rome, Dec. 13, 1377. Very contradictory reports concerning the health of his holiness the pope have kept the telegraph constantly in motion between Rome and the other Italian states. But the perplexity caused by opposite views has been nothing compared to the agitation at the foot of the Antonian column and around the fountains of the acqua vtrgine. Swarming crowds . and swaying lines follow in dense masses by" moonlight under the towering buildings which gird the piazza, or people suddenly rush forth epileptically inquiring, gesticulating, thakins lists, then subside again into a low grumble, while ragged newsboys cry out the names of half a dozen organs, all ot which are equally discordant The journal which sells most at present, though it prowls about stealthily, is La Lupa (she wolf.) It is a satirical paper and minds not whom it devour?. Then come the Capitate and the Popolo Ilomano. As to the ultramontane Voice of Truth it hs no chance at all, but yet keeps up a shrill note in the kiosks. THE roPE'S (OXDITICS. Not one of these papers telij the exact truth about Pio Nouo. Party feeling and financial speculation always will either reduce proportions or magnify them. The fact is that the jope's life is hanging by a thread; that he is a verv p.ged man, also obstinate, and, when suffering from rheumatism, loses temper if contradicted a thing he is very sorry for afterward, but still he has not been dt terred from his fancy. The Carcassonne pilgriins who came from France last month proved rather too much for him. He was ailing when he consented to give them an audience, and he did so because, considering, ss he said, the revolutionary state of their country, he felt prompted by a vivid sense of his pastoral duties toward them. The effort to appear strong and to exhort brought on prostration, then fever, or it might rather have been fever first and prostration afterward; but as there are several physicians their reports on this head disagree. Be it as it may, the last appearance in public of the pope was for the Carcassonne pilgrimage. THE CRISIS TEMPORARILY OVER. The crisis has momentarily subsided, and his holiness has peremptorily asked to b8 carried about again in his large arm chair. It does not appear probable, nevertheless, that the eye which has remained dim can ever brighten as it did before, or that the listless hanging arm can again rise and be stretched forth with its former vigor; that the hanging underlip can resume its usual cheery smile. There are undeniable symptoms cf the light wearing fast out, even of the mind being absent at times, but this state may be prolonged, and the hereditary elasticity of disposition so remarkable in the pooe's family may keep the wick burning, only the sky must remain bine, the atmosphere mild and dry, and no ill rumors get mingled with the fragrant breezes that creep" up from the gardens below. The pontifical entourage are positively afraid of the exertion Pio Nono is determined to try kby fits and starts. THE SEW CARDINALS. He has given out his intention to create two new cardinals on the 28tli instant. One is the present archhishopof Ravenna, the other Mgr. Pellegrini, who, though a prelate, officiated for the first time at mass last week. The ceremony is to be performed under the special presidency of his holiness, and, although the event is anticipated with terror by the medicid advisers, clericals declare unanimously that the pope will here take a new lease of life. When the latter are a-ked why, his holiness being better, the physicians' staff should have been eo considerably increased, they reply with a comforting smile that the pope's case is unlike that of other people; the more doctors he has the better he is, for that he is very stout and while some nimbly dress his wound others are only wanted as assistants to support his increasing strength. What these optimists call health, strength, vigor, etc., may be heavy corpulence and that kind of bulk which . nears powerlessness. Should their system be ad mitted, there is no reason why the 80 beef eating looking fellows who lounge about by turns in the Vatican, dressed up in Jack of Diamonds attire, should not be made of some use now, and at length show that young, sturdy muscle can serve a good turn. Meanwhile the pope's pigeons, that he liked to feed with his oa u hands, strut about in his private garden and huddle together on the edge of his favorite fountain, exactly as if they were lovingly watched by a kindhearted old pontiff. His birthday is approaching.and he hopes to gather his monthly roses in that part of his walk not covered with orange tree. Meanwhile, good, bad and indifferent opuscules are published on his probable successor the successor, savs a conventional form of Epeech, to St Peter's chair, but sitting down will not be his chief f auction, and the political state of Rome rs such that he may not even be able to stand it PIO SOSO's FPILEPT01D SEIZURES. The London Lancet correspondent at Rome writes as follows: "Notwithstanding tbo optimist representations which the Oservatore Romano and the Voce-della Yerita bave been instructed to put forth with regard to the health of the pontiff, it is manifest that his strength is slowly and steadily declining. The e pile ptoid seizures to which the pope has throughout life been subjected have left his circulation languid and prone to that passive serous effusion which Las deprived him of the use of his lower limbs. An increasing sensitiveness to barometric pressure is also apparent in the general aggravation of the symptoms conseqent on Buch continuous wet weather as has prevailed in Rome these last ten days. Hence, too, the alleviation that has followed on the retnrn of a clearer atmosphere. Today (the 10th inst) there is no change for the .worse, and the senile catarrh, which formed so alarming a symptom some days ago, is less severe, and provokes fewer of those paroxysms of coughing from which, in the patient's tecdency to epileptoid seizure, eo much is to be dreaded, Simultaneously, too, the appetite slightly keener, and a better night's rest is looked for. But the condition, as a whole, ia not such as to warrant a relaxation of the vigilance of Drs. Ceccarelli and Antonini in their efforts to obviate the tendency to death by asphyxia or coma. Of fatal syncope bis physicians have less apprehension, the 'fainting fits' which the lay press from time to time record being simply epileptoid in their cause, tl eir character and their consequences." Old Postage Stamps. A curious poitage stamp story comes from Boston. It aptears that some time in October an aged lady in New York, so poor as to be unable to sepport herself and having no relations, applied to several persons for assistance in obtaining admission to the St Luke home for women in that city. A Boston gentleman to whom she applied said: "If you will collect 1,000,000 of old postage stamps I will give you the $300 needed to obtain admission to the home." The old lady at once cought the aid of some friends

of better days, and was fortunate in enlisting two benevolent and enterprising ladies in her cause. Their plan was as follows: To call at many of the cilices in the city and ask that all stamps on letters received might be saved. The merchants and bankers agreed to accommodate them. The enthusiasm with wb?h this idea was received was wonderful. Children began to watch for letters that came to their houses with almost as much impatience as any lover watches for dainty, perfumed notes. Men and women on receiving letters would proceed to cut off the stamps before reading the epistle. From hundreds the number became thousands and tens of thousands. Last week it was found that the r quisite number of stamps had been collected. Oa being informed that her home for life was ensured, the lady expressed her- gratitude to the kind friends who had assisted her. .What final disposition was .o be made of the stamps was for a long time a matter of much curiosity. It was at last ascertained that tbeyaretobe sent to Europe, to be used in the manufacture of paper-mache goods, the paper of which the stamps are made making them very desirable, and the mucilage also adding to their strength. The million stamp?, packed closely, till an ordinary Saratoga trunk. OPKN WINTKR.

Its EfVert I'pon Trade. New York Sun. In the chief cities of the Atlantic coast retail trade has been greatly stimulated by the recent charming weather. In the west rains have made the country roads impassable and paralyzed tratnc, and until cold weather freezes the earth so that farmers may haul their products to the railroads and take supplies home, no amelioration in the dulness of western business can be looked for. Although an unusually large proportion of the grain cropof 1S77 is still in first hands, the deliveries of wheat at the Atlantic seaboard ports from September 1 to December 22 inclusive, were nnprecedentedly great, reaching 33,443,107 bushel?, against 13,543,042 for the corresponding period in 187G. The visible quantity of wheat and corn in store on the last named date was as follows: Wheat, bu. Corn;bu. New York............w....,Wi!,74i 1,317,2(3 BHltlmore 4..545 KVJfiM Pbiladelphla ......... lo,0(iO 7H3.000 Boston Nv7 217 211 To this supply, available for immediate export, must be added 4.50,000 bushels of wheat and S5,000 bushels of corn afloat in New York harbor. Owin;? to the mud blockade in the northwestern states, the railroads are bringing to the east very little western produce, and if an active export trade should spring up, and the western roads not freeze, the supply of wheat and corn on the Atlantic seaboard might soon be exhausted. But of this there need be no fear. The total visible supply of wheat and corn, comprising the stocks in granary at the principal points of accumulation at lake and seabaord ports, and in transit on the lakes, on the New York canals, and by rail, on the 22d of December wa. of wheat 10,540,417 bushels; and of corn, 5,052,7ii3 bushels. For the week ending December 2d. the clearances of grain from New Yorkfor Europe were, o wheat, 435,378 bushels; and of corn, 327,619 bushels. With the freezing of the western roads to a sufficient depth to furnish a solid foundation for ordinary wagon transportation, millions of dollars' worth of western grain and other marketable produce will be rushed into the market Open weather throughout the winter would ruin western and eastern business interests. Jannary and February are likely to. be unusually active months in all branches of western trade, and life in the west will make lively times for eastern jobbers and manufacturers. New York has been enjoying weather that Rome and Naples might envy. Our streets and shops have been crowded all day long. Building is active up town, the probabie completion of the rapid transit roads by spring having already given rise to many buildins projects that will Keep the wheels of business in motion throughout the win ter. Altogether, the prospect is encouraging. Alpaca. The late Sir Titus Salt, the famous alpaca manufacturer, though immensely rich and generous, had the habit of economy. He was always careful not only of his money, but of such trifling things as blank leaves of letters, which were not thrown into the waste basket, but laid aside for use. When he began to make money he thought of buying himself a gold watch, but he resolved that he would not buy it till he had saved a thousand pounds. How proud he was of that watch in his after life! It was worn by him till the close of his life, and when his own hand became too feeble to wind It, he handed it to others to be wound in his presence. He had little knowledge of literature and little love of it "His library," as his biographer records with pride, "was large and well selected; bnt his knowledge of books was limited, and the range of his reading confined to religious publications and the daily press." In his old age some one asked him what books he had been reading lately. "Alpaca," was the quiet reply; then after a short pause he added: "If you had four or five thousand people to provide for every day, you would not have much time left for reading." A Scarred Veteran. The Nashua (N. H.) Telegraph gives the following for a true story : "We know a man who has walked up to the cannon's mouth without flinching or losing his presence of mind, who has received what he believed at the time to be a death wound and made no fuss about it, to become so excited because of an alarm of fire that be couldn't speak the name of the city he lives in. This veteran was down town with his wife. His only child was at home with the hired girl. The alarm of fire was given, and when he beheld the light in the vicinity of Concord street be spoke not a word, but increased his speed from a rapid walk to a double quick, and from double quick to the speed of a frightened hound. When near General Stark's residence he saw the flames enveloping his house, and his heart sank within him. A team was passing. He hailed it and when the driver stopped he jumped aboard, seized the reins and the whip, and ' urged the horse at his utmost speed, regardless of consequences. He arrived 'at home' to learn that the fire was a half mile or more beyond. When his reason returned he did not know whose team he had used, and he has not learned yet. Mme. Pappnnelin,ii Temper. Mme. Pappenheim did not appear Friday evening at Memphis, as advertised, and the papers attribute her indisposition to jealousy of Adelaide Philiips. who received more applause than the handsome German. It was also asserted that Herr Blum refused to sing in a trying duet with madams at a previous performance. This angered her also, and was really the cause of her indisposition. The Memphis Avalanche says, however, that Madame Pappenheim was behind the scenes in street dress the night of the performance, and that the management did not know that she would not appear until the curtain was about to be raised.