Jasper Republican, Volume 2, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 October 1875 — Page 1

gke jasper stptsblitat(. _t o PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY, 'A BY CHAS. M. JOHNSON, llMwui rnfHrfw, RENSSELAER, ■ - INDIANA. JOB PRINTING A SPECIALTY. T«m« of i«b»erlptto*. One Tear. $1 SO On«-bslf Ye*r 75 On*Qurter Tear SO

THE NEWS.

Belgrade dispatches of the 29th ult. say that the Turks had crossed the Servian frontier despite the protest of Servia. A Ragdba special of the 29th ult says the HerzegOTinian insurgents had refused to treat with the Porte directly in any case, but insisted that a commission delegated by the great powers should make and guarantee a treaty. A London telegram of the 29th ult. says the latest returns of the cattle plague showed that in East Sussex there were 5,292 beasts affected; in Gloucester 12,000; iu Warwickshire 8,000; in Cumberland 7,500, and in Westmoreland 400. Yorkshire also showed a large increase. A railway train was thrown from the track near Sorel, Canada, on the evening of the 28th ult., and ten persons were killed and twenty-five wounded. The August and September report of the Agricultural Department gives the condition of wheat harvested for all the States as 79 per cent., which is poorer than for several years. The oat crop is superior in quantity and quality. The barley average for the country is 85. Potatoes are 10 per cent, above the average. The wool crop is full average weight in nearly all the States. Tobacco is 10 per cent, below an average. The acreage of hops is largely increased. ' The Massachusetts Republican State Convention met at Worcester on the 29th ult. Vice-President Wilson presided. A. H. Rice was nominated on the third ballot for Governor. The rest of the ticket is as follows: Lieutenant-Governor, Horatio G. Knight; State Treasurer, Charles Endicott; Auditor, Julius L. Clark; Attorney-General, Charles R. Train; Secretary of State, Henry B. Pierce. The resolutions favor a speedy return to specie payments and declare against inflation; oppose thfe Presidential third term; eulogize the President and expresse an earnest desire that the people of the South may enjoy universal free education and security of personal rights under local self-gov-ernment without the necessity of any interference from abroad.

The Board of Education ot Chicago recently abolished the reading of the Scriptures and repeating the Lord’s Prayer in the public schools of that city. The Society of the Army of the Tennessee met at Des Moines, lowa, on the 29th ult All the officers of the society were re-elected. President Grant was present and read quite a lengthy speech. Other speeches were also delivered. Philadelphia was fixed upon as the place of meeting next year. According to a Madrid dispatch of the 30th ult. the Carlists had been forced to raise the siege of San Sebastian. The Anglo-American Tel egraph Company have raised their tariff to SI.OO in gold per word, in consequence of the accident to the direct cable. A dividend of 20 per cent, on all audited claims against the Washington Freedman’s Bank will be paid Nov. 1. Two children of John McCormick and wife, of Newark, N. J., were recently burned to death by the explosion of kerosene while kindling a fire in the kitchen stove. A large number of the operatives at Fall River, Mass., resumed work on the 30th ult. Quiet prevailed and no further serious trouble was anticipated. Rev. Dr. George B. Porteus, late pastor of All-Souls’ Church, Brooklyn, N. Y., was drowned in Long Island Sound on the 28th ult. by the capsizing of a boat The stock on the farm of the President, near St. Louis, was sold at auction on the 30th ult., and brought exceedingly low prices. A new counterfeit ten-dollar bill on the National Bank of Cincinnati has made its appearance in Chicago. It was pronounced by experts to be almost perfect, except that the lower left-hand comer of the back of the note is much blurred.

A telegram from the Red Cloud Agen cy was received on the 30th ult., which stated that the commissioners had abandoned all hope of consummating a treaty, but had submitted a last proposition to the Indians, offering $400,000 per annum for the right to mine, raise stock and cultivate the soil in the Black Hills country; or to purchase the country for $6,000,000, in fifteen equal andfial installments; also offering to purchase the Big Horn country in Wyoming for $50,000 annually for ten years—sso,ooo in addition to be distributed in presents among the Indians. According to Austrian official telegrams of the Ist an engagement had been fought at Kiek on the day preceding, which resulted in the defeat of three Turkish battalions. Servia had summoned all her subjects abroad to return within three weeks and join thclandwehr. A Copenhagen telegram of the Ist says sanguinary riots had occurred at Stockholm, Sweden, between the militia and the police. The origin of the trouble was not stated. A Berlin special of the Ist says the Bishop of Breslau had notified the Ecclesiastical Court that he w%p determined not to obey its summons to attend for trial. The Comptroller of the Currency on the Ist reported that eighty-three National Banks had been organized since Jan. 14, 1875, with a capital of $9,284,000, to which circulation has been issued amounting to $3,023,730. The total amount of additional circulation issued since the passage of the act is $10,218,000, of which $234,000 had been issued to Ohio, $381,000 to Indiana, SIOO,OOO to Illinois, and $121,000 to lowa. The legal-tender notes deposited for the purpose of retiring circulation from the passage of the act

THE JASPER REPUBLICAN.

VOLUME 11.

of Jane 20,1334, to Oct 1,1875, amounted to $25,042,749. The National Bank circulation outstanding on the Ist was #347,868,742. The following statement of the public debt was published Oct. 1: Six per cent. b0nd*........ ~.r $1,07tt,649,’00 Five per cent, bond* 632,782,750 Total coin bond* $1,703,481,850 Lawful money debt 14,000,000 Matured debt ... 20,018,950 Legal-tender notes ... 374,010,966 Certificates of deposit 60,600,000 Fractional currency 40,783,575 Coin certificate*. 11,645,200 Interest 30,304,364 Total debt ... $2,256,749,895 Cash in TreasuryCoin $67,833,316 Currency, 4,790,352 Special deposits held for the redemption of certificates of deposit, as provided by law . 60,660,000 Total in Treasury $133,283,668 Debt less cash in Treasury $2,122,466,227 Decrease during September........ 3,342,562 Decrease since June 30 H. 298,499 Bonds issued to tbe Pacific Railway Companies, interest payable in lawful money, principal outstanding $64*23,512 Interest accrued and not yet paid... 969,352 Interest paid by the United States. 28,202,807 Interest repaid by the transportation of mails, etc 6,396,524 Balance of interest paid by United States 21,806,283 Ned O’Baldwin, the “ Irish Giant,” was fatally shot in a saloon row at New York city a few days ago. The mother o? Mabel Young, the victim of the belfry murder at Boston, has become insane and has been placed in an asylum in that city. A Rangoon special of the 2d says China and Burmah had formed an alliance, of. fensive and defensive, to oppose the demands of Great Britain. Belgrade dispatches of the 3d say the insurgents had been defeated in an engagement in the northern part of Bosnia. The Turks had burned the town of Mischkovac. According to a San Sebastian telegram of the 3d the Carlists had on the preceding day thrown 150 hot shot into that city. A railroad train between Saragossa and Barcelona had been stopped by outlaws and all the passengers robbed. Among them were seventeen officers and seamen of the United States war steamer Franklin. A 150-carat diamond has recently been found in the South African diamond fields. The negotiations with theSionx Indians for the Black Hills country have entirely failed, and the commissioners have abandoned the field. A Cheyenne dispatch of the 2d says the bands of Indians who had assembled at the Red Cloud Agency were sullen and ugly. The Bank of California resumed operations on the 2d. The deposits exceeded the withdrawals by $750,000. The. announcement was made that $7,930,000 had been subscribed to meet the indebtedness aud liabilities of the bank and continue its business.

The Third Avenue Savings Bank of New York city suspended a few days ago, owing depositors $1,340,000. The failure is said to be a bad one. According to a recent luling of the Postoffice Department, anything whatever, except the address, printed or written upon the side of a postal-card intended for the address renders such card unmailable unless prepaid at the letter rate — three cents. If by inadvertence it reaches its destination without such prepayment it is chargeable with double the letter rates. The Secretary of the Treasury has called in for redemption 5-20 bonds of the issue of June 30, 1864, to the amount of $2,500,000, and of registered bonds to the same amount. Interest on said bonds will cease Jan. 1,1876. A Washington dispatch of the 3d says it was generally conceded that the new mint would be located at Chicago. The President and family reached Salt Lake, Utah, on the afternoon of the 3d. They were called upon by Brigham Young.

THE MARKETS.

NEW YORK. Live Stock. —Beef Cattle— Hoga -Live, $8.5008.75. Sheep-Live, $4.2506.124. Breadstuffs Floor—Good to choice, $6.06® 6.50; white wheat extra, $6.50(37.35. Wheat—No. 2 Chicago, $1.24® 1.26; No. 2 Northwestern, $1.2401.26; No. 2 Milwaukee spring, $1.26® I. Rye—Western and State, 88092 c. Barley—[email protected]. Corn—Mixed Western, 684® 724 c. Oats—Mixed Western, 4304540. Provisions.— Pork—Mess, $31.874023.25. Lard —Prime Steam, 13401334 c. Cheese—64ol24c. Wool. —Domestic Fleece, 43065 c. CHICAGO. Live Stock. —Beeves—Choice, $5.75®6.00; good, $5.00®5.50; medium, $4.25®4276; butchers’ slock, $2.5003.75; stock cattle, $2.75® 4.00. Hogs—Live, $8.i5®8.50. SheepS-Good to choice, $4 [email protected]. Provisions.— Butter—Choice, 06@31c. Eggs— Fresh, 18019 c. Pork—Mess, $22.85023.00. Lard—513.624013.65. Breadstuffs.— Flour—White Winter Extra, $5.7507.50; spring extra, $5.12406.00. Wheal —Spring, No. 2, $1.1201.124. Corn—No. 2, 55 0564 c. Oats—No. 2, Rye—No. 2, 714072 c. Barley—No. 2, $1.0101.02. Lumber.— First Clear, $44.00045.00; Second Clear, $43.00045.00; Common Boards, SIO,OOO 11. Fencing, $10.00011.00; “A” Shingles, $2.5002.90; Lath, $1.75®2.C0. . EAST LIBERTY. Live Stock— Beeves—Best, $6.3006.70; me dium, $5.0005.50 Hogs—Yorkers, $7.9008.50; Phiiadelphias, $9.2509.50. Sheep—Best, $5,250 5.50; medium, $4.7505.00.

Grant’s Speech at the Soldiers’ Reunion at Des Moines.

After a few humorous remarks in, reference to the calls for himself and Gen. Sherman, in which he said it had been customary at the reunions of this army to call upon him just because he always made the shortest speech, the President said he had concluded to disappoint them this time, and he had, therefore, jotted down what he wished to say, when he read as follows: |“ Comrades —lt always affords me much gratification to meet my comrades

OUR AIM: TO FEAR GOD, TELL THE TRUTH AND MAKE MONEY.

RENSSELAER, INDIANA, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1875.

in arms of ten and fourteen years ago, to tell over again the trials and hardships of those days—hardships imposed for the preservation and, perpetuation of our free institutions. We believed then, and we believe now, that we have a Government worth fighting tor and, if need be, dying for. How many of our comrades paid the latter price for our preserved Union! Let their heroism and sacrifice be ever green ih our memory; Let not the results of their sacrifice be destroyed. The Union and the free institutions forjyhicli they fell should be held more dear for their sacrifices. We will not deny to any of those who fought against us any privileges under the Government which we claim for ourselves. On the contrary, we welcome all such who come forward in good faith to help build up the waste places and to perpetuate our institutions against all enemies as brothers in still interest with us in a common heritage; but we are not prepared to apologize for the part we took in the war. It is to be hoped that the like trials will never again befall our country. In their settlement no class of people can. more heartily join than the soldiers who submitted to the dangers, trials and hardships of the camp and the battle-field, on whichever side he may have fought. No class of people are more interested in guarding against a recurrence es those days. Let us, .then, begin by guarding against every enemy to the prosperity of free republican institutions.

“Ido not bring into this assemblage politics, certainly not partisan politics, but it is a fair subject tor the soldiers in their deliberations to consider what may be necessary to secure the prize for which they battled. In a Republic like ours, where the citizen is the sovereign and the official the servant, where no power is exercised except by the will of the people, it is important that the sovereign people should foster education and promote that intelligence which is to preserve us as a free nation. If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s, but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other. “Now, the centennial year of our national existence, I believe is a good time to begin the work of strengthening the foundations of the structure commenced by our patriotic forefathers 100 years ago at Lexington. Let us all labor to add all needful guarantees for the greater security of free thought, free speech, a free press, pure morals, unfettered religious sentiments, and oi equal rights and privileges to till men, irrespective of nationality, color, or religion; encourage free schools and resolve that not one dollar of money appropriated to their support shall be appropriated to the support of any sectarian school; resolve that neither the State nor the nation, nor both combined, shall support institutions of learning other than those sufficient to afford to every child growing up in the land the opportunity of a good common-school education, unmixed with sectarian, pagan, or atheistical. Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private school supported entirely by private contributions, and keep the church and the State forever separate. With these safeguards I believe the battles which created the Army of the Tennessee will not have been fought in vain.”

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Chairs and sofas stuffed with aromatic herbs, “ which fill the air with an agreeable, bat not too powerful, perfume,” is the latest Parisian folly. In excavating for ore at Salisbury, Conn., the other day, the workmen found a layer of frost, two inches thick, fourteen feet below the surface. “ Don’t you think things look, blue ?’ said a man to Spilkins yesterday. “ That’s just azure inclined to look at them,” replied the Jncorrigible Leander. Roederer said a “ constitution should be short,” and he would have added “clear,” but Talleyrand interrupted and said: “ Yes, short and obscure.” That name is “Herzegovina,” and if you hear a newsboy crying out: “Awl abawt the Hearsagovineyard war!” you may know that he means well enough. Has anybody ever explained why a young man who is going to be married invariably casts a gloom over the occasion by having his hair cut, and short? An Emperor respectfully asking a Parliament to give him a vacation for eighteen months, as just seen in Brazil, is preeminently a nineteenth-century spectacle. Never speak harshly to a hack-driver. Though he may not be an orphan, he will answer you in language so meek and gracious as to make you feel ashamed of yourself. - Napoleon IV., like other modern Princes, is going to take a tour round the world. He cannot take one of his papa’s iron-clads for the purpose,' however, for several reasons.

A law in Nebraska requires every business firm to register its name and kind of business, and the name of each member of the firm, with the County Clerk, under penalty of SI,OOO fine. The managers of a New York cemetery recently gave an excursion to a lot of jovial undertakers. This is getting the popular weakness down among the dead men with a vengeance. A seven-year-old girl of Westfield, Vt., weighs 111 pounds, measures three feet six inches around the waist, thirtysix inches around the chest mid twenty-two inches around the head. East Rock, whieh overhangs a number of cottages near Great Barrington, Mass, is "'Bo shaky in its balance that the cottagers are imploring Government to protect the weaker from the bowlder. Dr. Gustine, of Hanover, N. H., has been taken to the asylum as hopelessly insane. The developments of his malady were peculiar. He went about the street blanketing all the horses he found. The good boy who goes heme and tells his mother how he rebuked his companion for robbing birds’ nests will perhaps pass the p&ntry twenty times that very day —and still find it locked. How ignorant parents are, and how little they understand their children I

TBE “ CRADLE-TOMB" AT WESTMINSTER. A little rudely-sculptured bed, With shadowing folds of marble lace, ‘And quilt of marble, primly spread, And folded round a baby’s face. Smoothly the mimic coverlet, With royal blazonries bedight, Hangs, as by tender fingers set, And straightened for the last good-night And traced upon the pillowing stone A dent is seen, as if, to bless That quiet steep, some grieving one Had leaned, and left a soft impress. It seems -no more than yesterday Binee the sad mother, down the stair, And down the long aisle, stole away, And left her darling sleeping there. But dust upon the cradle lies, And those who prized tbe baby so, A*d decked her couch with heavy sighs, Were turned to dust long years ago. Above the peaceful pillowed head Three centuries brood; and strangers peep, And wonder at tbe carven bed: But not unwept the babe’s steep; For wistful mother-eyes are blurred With sudden mists, as lingerers stay, And the old dusts are roused and stirred By the warm tear-drops of to-day. Soft, furtive hands caress the stone, And hearts, o’erleaping place and age, Melt into memories, and owu A thrill of common parentage. Men die, but sorrow never dies! The crowding years divide in vain, And the wide world is knit with ties Of common brotherhood in pain; Of common share in grief and loss, And heritage in the immortal bloom Of Love, which, flowering round its cross, Made beautiful a baby’s tomb. —Swan Coolidge , in Scribner for. October.

A PERILOUS VOYAGE.

BY CHARLES E. HURD.

Those familiar with the lumber regions, not only of the United States, but of Canada, know that the great streams which float the huge rafts of timber down to the various ports and mills along their course are often made serviceable for other purposes. Sometimes the lumberman or shingle-maker takes his family with him to the scene of his winter’s labors; and in the spring, when the season’s work is ended, places them—women and children, sometimes a round dozen —on a raft of logs or shingles, and, keeping close to the shore, floats down ten, twenty or thirty miles to his home. The hunter who has for weeks hunted and trapped in the vast forests along those streams binds his packages of furs together, makes himself a conveyance by lashing half a dozen logs firmly to each other, and accomplishes his journey of a hundred or more miles in twenty-four hours. As a general thing there is little risk in such a journey. If the weather is fair and the river clear of floating lumber there is hardly more danger than there would be in making the distance behind a pair of farm-horses in a country wagon. People, however, if they live in constant contact with danger, grow careless in time, and often risk their own lives and those of others where there is no apparent necessity. And so it happened in the instance I am about to relate.

John Allen was a well-to-do farmer of Woodstock, on the St. John River, and, besides the income derived from his land and dairy, he owned, in connection with his son, a tract of wild timber, some dozen miles up the river. Beginning to turn its advantages to account in a small way, the two had erected a small shinglemill near the shore and kept a half-dozen men at work during the winter. The result the first year was so satisfactory that it was resolved to increase the facilities of the manufacture, and, that it might be done understandingly, they determined to visit the mill for a personal examination. They were to have one of the farmhands drive them up as far as they could get with a team; and from that jpoint it was hardly more than a mile to the mill. More than half the way the road was merely a rough cart-track through the woods, making the journey rather a tedious one; but by starting very early in the morning they calculated to make all the necessary investigations and get back early in the afternoon. This was the plan agreed upon and the time set was the following Saturday. As soon as it became known in the house the two youngest boys, Harry and Jack, were wild with excitement. “Mayn’t we go, too?” they shouted in concert “ Please let us go. We never saw a shingle-mill.” “A 3hingle-mill isn’t much to see,” answered their father. “ And, besides, you’ll be getting into all sorts of danger.” “6 nofwe won’t. We’ll be so careful if you’ll let us go. It would be such a nice ride!” “ Why don’t you let them go, father?” said Mrs. Allen. “ They won’t take up much room and they’ll enjoy it so much.” “ Well, well,” said the farmer, goodnaturedly, “ let ’em go, then; let ’em go I shall have to take tine double wagon if they do, though; mid that’s big enough for the whole family.” “Why not take the whole family, then ?” asked Mrs. Allen, half in earnest. “ I’ve hardly been out of doors the whole winter and spring, and I should enjoy the ride as well as the boys.” Farmer Allen laughed. “ Any more of you want to go ? What would you do with the baby?” “Take her, of course. You don’t suppose weather tike this would hurt her? She needs the air as much ap anybody.” “ Are you really in earnest, mother?” “ Certainly. I don’t see why you can’t make a pleasure-jaunt out of it as well as a business one. I haven’t been so for away

from home for five yearn, and I guess the house could get along without me for half a day. Becky can get dinner for the men at noon, and we should get home by two or three o’clock at the latest.” “ Well, just as you say, then. I’m sure I’ve no objections. .We'll have to start pretty early, and, instead of having erne of the men to go with us, £ shall have to drive.”** So the matter was settled. At seven o’clock the next Saturday morning the party set out, all in the highest possible spirits. Innumerable charges were left with Becky as to what to do about dinner and how to dispose of other household duties, if they should not return at the time expected. A huge basket of lunch was placed under the seat, much to the satisfaction of Harry and Jack, who had been too much excited in regard to the journey to care for breakfast. It was a splendid April morning, and but for the brown looks of the fields and the thinly-leaved trees would have seemed like June. The sun shone and the birds sang, and everything seemed delightful. The two boys were constantly finding something new to admire in the things about them, and their merry shouts often occasioned a sympathetic “ coo” on the part of the baby, who stored with her big round eyes at the commonest objects as if they were the most wonderful things in the world. It was after eleven o’clock when they reached the mill. The wagon had been left at the end of the road-, a mile back, the horses token out and a bag of oats emptied upon the ground for them. They were both steady-going old veterans, used to the harrow and plow, and would stand just where they were left hours at a time. The farmer, however, had taken the precaution, after putting the bridles in the wagon, to tie the halter to one of the wheels.

The mill stood close down to the water’s edge and in front and all around it were heaps of blocks, refuse timber, logs and shavings. It was not a very romanticlooking place, but the children were delighted with it. The long ride had given them all a good appetite. A rough table was made out of some boards laid across a couple of stumps, and the contents of the big basket were soon placed upon it. Lunch finished, the farmer and his son began their investigations, while Mrs. Allen and the children wandered about looking for arbutus and gathering pine cones. There was more to be looked after about the mill than was expected and it was two o’clock before the job was finished. So busy had they all been that the gradual clouding up of the sky had not been noticed, and it whs not until the sudden pattering of rain began upon the leaves that the little party began to look about them.

“ It’s nothing but an April shower,” said Tom. “We shall have to get under the shelter of the mill till it passes over.” “Don’tyou believe it!” returned the farmer. “ We’ve had rain hanging round for a week past, and we’ve got it now, sure enough. Do the best we can we shall be drenched. on ahead, Tom, and put the horses in, so as to be ready by the time we get there. We’ll be right after you.” Obedient to his father’s advice, Tom hurried rapidly along the path leading to the spot where the team had been left, while the remainder of the party followed after as fast as they could. The place was reached at last. The wagon was there, the two bridles lay just where they were thrown, but the horees were gone. For a moment the farmer stood dumbfounded. Then he began to examine their tracks.

“ It’s plain enough,” at last he hurriedly said. “They’ve slipped the halter and have started back home. You’ll have to see if you can overtake ’em, Tom. I’ll take your mother and the children back to the mill. The wind is rising and it is setting in for a cold, raw storm.” The rain came faster and faster, and by the time they had regained the shelter of the mill they were thoroughly wet through. A fire was soon kindled in the little, cracked stove used by the shingle-makers the winter before, and the time spent in waiting for Tom’s return was employed in drying their clothes. An hour passed away. The storm grew more and more furious. The rain poured down in-torrents and the great tops of the pine trees bent and writhed in the terrible gusts, which became more and more frequent. The river, always rapid and strong, was now a fierce, turbulent stream, wbose middle current nothing coaid cross in safety. At last Tom burst into the mill.

“It’s of no use,” he exclaimed. “We’ve got to stay here or swim home. I went clear to the main road, more than five miles from here, and found that the horses have turned the wrong way instead of going home. If they had gone straight back the men would have known that something had happened and come for us, but there’s no chance for that now.” ,/-i * At this Harry and Jack began to cry, and even Mrs. Alien looked dismayed. “ Staying here to-night is out of the question,.” said Mr. Alien. “We must get home somehow. We haven’t a morsel to eat, and every hour we stay makes it worse. We’re in for a long storm, and the road half the way from here to the turnpike will be under water within twelve hours.” “ What shall we do, then?” asked Tom, who was holding his dripping coat before the blaze. Mr. Allen shook his head. “If it was fair weather I should know what to do quick enough; and I don’t know but we shall be obliged to come to it anyway.” “Why, what do you mean, father?” asked Mrs. Allen, anxiously.

NUMBER 4.

He pointed to the river. “I should take that shingle-raft lying by the landing. It is staunch and strong and just as safe as any boat that ever floated on the St. John River." Mrs. Allen had all a woman’s dread of the water, and her heart sank at once. But the idea of being compelled to remain for two or three days in that desolate spot without food or a chance to sleep was more dreadful yet, and she felt almost Like urging her husband to carryout the desperate idea he had announced. “ We’ve got to decide upon something very quick, ” continued the farmer. “ R’l. he dark in an hour and then we shall have no choice.” 1 He went to the window and looked out for a moment at the river. Then he came back to the stove. “It storms fearfully; but then we’re pretty nigh as wet as we can be now. I believe We can keep in-shore without much trouble, and at the rate the stream is running now we-should reach Woodstock in less than an "hour. I’ve done it in worse weather than-this.” “I shouldn’t be afraid myself,” said Tom; “but then there’s mother and the children to think of.” “ I’m not afraid, Tom,” said Mrs. Allen. “ And even if I were, I believe it’s the only thing we can do.’? “ We’ll try it, then,” said Mr. Allen, decidedly. “ Come, Tom, we’ve no time to lose. See if there is rope enough in the corner there for a coil to throw ashore when we get to the landing at Woodstock, and put the paddles aboard. Let me take the baby, mother. Now, boys, jump on. There’s room enough for a regiment.. You’ll have to make up your minds to stand a good deal of water the next hour Push her off!”

The raft swung slowly round from its fastenings, and in another minute struck the shore current, which, though less swift than that in the middle of the river, was yet so strong as to make safe navigation a difficult task. The rain came with such blinding force that it was almost impossible to see the shore, and the increasing dusk threatened to grow into total darkness before the end of their perilous journey was reached. It was barely three-quarters of an hour from the time they left their startingpoint when the raft touched the landingplace at Woodstock, and Tom, rope in hand, jumped on shore, to throw the loop over the post which had always stood there.

To his dismay the post was gone, and as the raft swept along he felt the rope slip through his fingers in spite of his endeavors to hold it. There was another point lower down where the raft might strike, ii his father could keep it out Of the current by his single arm. Beyond that the river made a sudden bend, and if the landing should be missed there no power could keep them from going down the river. He hurried to the nearest houses of the village and gave tlje alarm, and then flew down the street, which ran parallel with the river, to the lower landing. He was just in time to see his father spring from the raft, holding the rope, and, rushing in the water up to his waist, caught hold of it to assist. Their united strength bade fair to bring the raft into the eddy, and the shouts of rapidly-advancing men, who had been roused by Tom’s brief warning, gave them additional energy. Two minutes later half a dozen strong arms were aiding them, and the raft was slowly drawing to the shore, when the rope suddenly parted.

With a wild scream the mother rose with her babe in her arms, as if to plunge in the river. Then, seeming to remember the children who clung to her garments, she sank down again, and the next moment the fierce current had swept them away in the darkness. There was but one hope more. If the ferry, five miles lower down, could be reached in time they might be saved; and the almost distracted father and son, mounted on horses provided by sympathizing friends, galloped there. Too late! The ferry-keeper had seen some black object rush by in the darkness and heard cries for help, which he was unable to give. They were in the hands of God and He only could help them. All that night Farmer Allen paced the floor of his desolate home. The friends who came to comfort him found their endeavors vain. He wished to be alone with his sorrow. Tom had remained at the ferry, determined to take a boat at early daylight and follow down the river. There was little sleep that night in Woodstock, and long before the usual time for the village to be astir little groups were abroad in the rain discussing the sad event of the preceding evening. Suddenly there was a stir in the direction of the little telegraph office, and the operator, who slept there, came rushing out with a sealed envelope in his hand, in a state of great excitement

“ Who’ll carry this over to Farmer Allen’s?” he shouted. “What is it? Any news? Is it about his folks?” “ He’ll tell you. It’s his news. I’ve no right to tell you. I wish I had! Who’ll take it?” “ I will! I will!” exclaimed half a dozen, eager to be the bearer of the news. The message was intrusted to one of the fleetest-footed boys of the village, who sped over the mile which lay between the office and Farmer Allen’s like a greyhound. “ Here’s something for you,” he panted, as he burst into the house without knocking. , The farmer took it mechanically, without a thought that it concerned those whom he already looked upon as in heaven. Breaking the seal, he opened the folded slip of paper and glanced at its contents. Then ?fith a fervent “Thank

gfr* gvyer £epibUtatt. ADVERTISING rates. One Column one Year $lO 00 One-half Column one Year MOO One-qaarter Column one Year 24 00 Busranss Cabbs, five lines or less, one year, $5.00, payable one-half In advance. LnoAi, Advertisements at legal Local Notices, ten cents a line for the first Insertion, and five cents a line for each additional nsertio n. - Resulab Advertisements payable monthly. A change allowed every quarter on yearly adver tisements. Communications of general and local intercat solicited.

God!’? he fell upon his knees and the feelings so long pent up found vent in tearsof thankfulness. The message was a brief one. It ran: L Frkdzrkton, N. 8., April 19. John Allen: Your wife and children were picked up at light this morning on a shingte-raft, three miles above this city. All safe. Answer. Swift as were the feet of the messenger, they had hard work to keep, pace with John Allen’s on the return. The news spread like wildfire, and within half an hour everybody in Woodstock knew the contents of the dispatch. Little more need be said. Fanner Allen followed the message he sent without the loss of an hour. That was Sunday morning, and it was Thursday night before the parted household again met be* neath the roof whose few hours’ desolation made it yet the more sacred and precious to all. — N. T. Independent .

The Floods In Texas—Accounts of Some of the Disasters.

The New Orleans Bulletin of Sept 28 gives the following particulars of the terrible effects of the inundation at Indianola: Thursday at ten a m. the wind was blowing fearfUUy, the water still coining in higher, and in two hours rose six feet, Submerging most of the town. The alarm spread like wildfire. Those who had boats were plying about in the waves taking women ana children to places of fancied security. Families were sent up to the highest portions of the dwellings, household goods were confusedly hurried into garrets and the whole town was one scene of terror.

There were no means of leaving the town and so all had to secure themselves as best they could. Midnight Thursday a heavy current set in, running through the town, and then commenced the dull crash on all sides of falling houses. The water by this time had reached a point covering the whole place fully six feet Looking out, nothing could be seen except housetops and the white foam on the heavy rollers. With every crash, above the screaming of the wind and the roar of the waters, could be heard the wail of despair from drowning women and children. Frantically clinging to the remnants of the wrecks, mothers with children in their arms vainly implored for help when all around were unable to render any. The scene beggared description. Strong men, overcome with emotion, wept like children, and some Wanted to rush forth to certain death rather than suffer to see the victims perishing before their eyes whilst they were powerless to render assistance. Not an eye was closed that night in Indianola. The loud splash and cracking of timbers proclaimed another house gone and the sound was echoed by piercing screams. About daylight Friday morning the wind lulled ana the water fell as rapidly as it had risen, and by noon it was possible for people to get about in the higher portions of the town. The severity of the damage done was then fully appreciated. Not a house in the place but showed evidence of the gale. Squares completely vacant, stores and houses having been carried off by the current, ieaving only the foundation to mark the spot where once they stood. As soon as the citizens were able to get out they set to work relieving those still in peril. Those confined in the upper stories of the dangerous buildings were taken out and the corpses caught by falling timbers removed. It was a sad work, and nobly did the people*respond to the call for duty. It was then that the most heart-rending scenes were met Here a little girl, almost nude, wading in the water in search of father, mother and sisters, whose bodies lay bleaching on the sand, miles distant; there, old men, pale with emotion, looked for their grandchildren whose prattling voices were forever stilled by the treacherous waters. No pen could portray the sad picture of Friday at Indianola. A'town of 3,000 inhabitants under water for twelve hours, with 250 of their number suddenly stricken down, could not but tear-stain the paper and make the hand of the chronicler tremble. Up to Monday evening last ninety bodies had been recovered and given Christian burial. As there were no coffins left after the storm in Indianola, friends of the deceased were forced to devise from dry-goods boxes, in fact, from everything, a covering for those who died. Fathers bore to their last resting-place the flowers, of their family flock, and alone buried those who were dearer 'to them than life itself; husbands laid away beneath the sands the remains of wives, children and fathers. Singular to say, most of the bodies were not found in the town. The tremendous current swept even many of those who were caught beneath fallen buildings, and carried them back to the lake in the rear of Indianola. Along the shores of this could be seen, protruding through the sand, almost buried, the arms or heads of the victims. It was next to impossible to recognize a single one. The action of the waters and waves had been such as in cases to completely behead the drowned. The last remnant of clothing was torn from them, and only in cases where a bracelet or finger-ring remained could friends identify the lost. It would seem almost as though the demon of cruelty had been at work. Headless trunks, armless bodies, all were scattered about on the beach, memorials of the storm’s dreadful work. It is rather surprising, writes a Paris correspondent, to see how the dress of even the most fashionable American ladies at home occasionally differs from the Parisian model, which they all profess to copy. For instance, a party of elegant and wealthy New Yorkers arrived in Europe about six- weeks ago, all wearing bonnets with immensely-broad, turned-up brims, the tike of which had never been seen in Paris during the entire season. So much attention, in fact, did their novel head-gear excite that they were all forced to pay an early visit to the fashionable milliner. As a passenger train halted at Laramie the other day for dinner an insane woman leaped from one of the cars, threw her babe into a mud-puddle and ran frantically up one of the streets, howling as (4* went. The mother and her infont were placed aboard the train again,