Plymouth Weekly Democrat, Volume 14, Number 32, Plymouth, Marshall County, 15 April 1869 — Page 1

WEEKLY DEMOCRAT. VOLUME XIV. PLYMOUTH, INDIANA, THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 1869. NUMBER 32.

PLYMOUTH

poclnj.

THB OLD RED GATE. BY BSSM DAVIS. Onck mor in tho rtyin t dty. By the oM red sra'e I tanl : Th clover lies preen at my feet. It b1ooms re whita in my hand ; While hadowf th'i tocast are waving. Wirb a dull, nncknrwld?ed naln. For tim to come SSCS I am wishing, With the sift of my yoath again. Oh ' to tand In the amher lh'h. With my heantiful dark-yed love, Whn the clovar V.iy irre-n at onr fret. And tn ! locu wer; blooming above ; To hold a w'ii'e hand af pnrtnj, And touch the rod !ir- of fhe irirl. Whn the moor. roe ov-r tta lik'let. Which shone like an Orient pearl. he is Mn asleep in tho churchyird, 'Veath blo!om. and bow. and "ine : Mv name a inscribed on the h:n:tttone The name thit wis her and mine ; And earland- of will efeaatfl Are "'rondlnu' the dn-k K ite, Whoo U;. r. t mine when we parted. Way down by the old red gite. The !aiie were whiteninr the hillside. And cv m -n I n g like stars the heath. Wh-.n I tOd with my pale-faced darling Dose d-wn by the wave? of death ; So closj that I heard In fancy The ni'h of the fitful tide. And the dripnin? oars of Um hoa'Aan Who wafted aw.iy my bride. Ah, well : the years that have lingered. So freighted wttfc sorrow and care. For tf.e si'nt-whi'e face in the coffin Have silvered the brown of my hair. I am looking from life's wet window, Thr sky is clondles- and clear : Bi: I know by the 1 -n?th"ning shadows The sonset of doath is near. When the boll that ran? at my wedding For joy; shall solemnly toll : And Mm Cuttles, so frail and stricken, Ni longer shall prison my sonl ; In hn Bfiral of the rial to morrow, I'll tzt from the oM rod gate, To find in the ereat hereafter Mv beir.titnh dark-eyed Kate. Selected itttsccllann. THE USE OF A JlifilC-L INTERN. Dr. d.KTr.r.s was a widower, whereas Moflj Bawn was seventeen ; and Larry Dirrons, Jan. (too rich to rare tot any thing trat the hoa of his "H D.," -hould it ever come), wag girlhood's ideal of rsnnhood. Tie wa the reverse of the Doc or. "He wi-; tall; he was dark; he as haughty of mien." Obviously, then, the Doctor mnt have been short, florid, and genial. Playing the fidrllc might liave seemed inconsistent with Larry's haughtiness; but then Apollo enold have pVayed the fiddle (if he had had ore), and Larry not only had one, but co lli play it much better than the Doetor. For Dr. Gaylen could only play tune0, while Larry could, i.pou those magic string, speak, lauirh, wai!, sob ; and came out wonderfully like a cat. a mocking bird, or a hand-saw. The Doctor's bas was fine; but Larry's tenr was operatic. They were both visiting in the neighborhood of 44 Bawn's Mills " (the country seat of Morris Bawn, Eq , opposite the mills, i one rf the finest suburban features of Philadelphia); but Dr. Gaylen was with a staid Quaker family; whereas Tarry was tbe guest of Benoni Gadfly, E-q , father of the Mises Gadfly, who were the dearest friends that Molly Bawn had in the world. Of an evening Larry Parrots would ride over to call unon Miss Bawn ; and, of a morning, Miss II iwn would drive over to see the M'-es Gadfly. There was another guest at the Gadfly v lla who was verv attentive to Miss B iwn ; but from him Larry Darrons derived n uneisines, as he had been equally attentive a her mother eighteen years before. This gentleman's name was Slipkin. At the Far Mr. Slipkin was eminently useful. After the first day he became known among the ladies as that dar Mr. Slipkin." he was so obliging! Then he was a person of inexhaustible resource; and if i.ny thing in the way of an address in-ist-C I upon being made, he, Mr. Slipkin, v aa the man among men to make it. On the second evening of the Fair fhej improvised a concert, the most delightful thine y io. can bugiael In the course of which enter'ainmect Dr. Gaylen had the opportunity of assuring Mi.s Rawn, from the very depth of his chest, hat " he'd oflei her that hand of his, if he could love her less" which was not Hkely; but he was much applauded at the close of his seif denying observations. T:.e little glow of satisfaction, however, whieh had been imparted to him by the public appreciation of his voice and approbat;on of his sentiments speedily coo'.e 1 d wn v.hen, in answer to a highlypitcaed frquert from Larry Darrons for an interview, under HW favorable circums'ances than fhOM afforded by an unnit rtably crowded concert-room, Mb? Molly B iwn resnonded. unhesitatini?lv. " Yes, I'll meet thee by moonlight alone ;" I UM trie entire audience evinced complete satisfaction with the arrangement. Hence the Doctor wh- very reluctant to Live ids promise to partake in another entertainment of the 8imc naHire, as announced by the Rev. Mr. S'rate Westcott (the el. quent iect r of St. Pancras), for the ensuing evening ; and was only brought to terms by ft M Do! fron Bliss M 'My Bawn. " But I warn you," sai l he, " that I shall ask a favor in return." " Oh, Tit do anything you ask me to, Dr. Gaylen " answered the young lady, glancing at him over her shoulder as she took Larry Darron's arm. The Doctor did n t kd complimente 1. That childlike confidence had rather the air of regarding him as a fither. " A lively girl, Bir,Mnld Mr. Slipkin, of fi ring Dr. G tylen a cigar as they walked homew.ird together. " Have you known her long?" akcd the D etr, accepting the ouation, but half inclined to be jealous of Mr. Siipkin. 44 E r ince she was a baby," replied that gentleman. I knew her mother." l Did you indeed !" exclaimed the Doct r. "So did I" 44 1 admired her mother immensely," said Mr. Slipkin. 'So did I," reillttd the Doctor. "Yes; I don't mind mentioning it to you, after all these years At oac time I was quite a h-au of hers." " Bö was I," eaid Dr. (Jaylen, bushing. 44 Well, upon my word r cried Mr. Slipkin, j yously. 44 And did she never speak to you ol me f Never," answered the Doctor, emphatically. 44 She was a trreV. flime f mine, nevertheless. Way, Sir, I I s:tively loved that girl" What a coincidence! My dear Sir :o did I." 44 Hi, ha! Ye?, Sir; 1 actually asked Urr to be mv wife." So did I," the Doctor confessed. And she actually refused me." " So she did me," said the Doctor. " Bot he was a charming woman, never

theless. 'Still all's for the best, you know I was four years her junior." "Ail's for the best, no doubt," assented the Doctor. 44 1 was seven. I hat! rather a fancy for old girls in my extreme youth, b it I've gotten bravely over it." 41 So have I," said Mr. Slipkin. 1 This is Gadfly's gate. There they all are on tlfe porch. Quite a merry party. Fug-i-OM anni labuntur. Eh, Doctor? The girls don't care for old fellows like you aDd me." Dr. Gaylen bade him good-night with pome precipitancy. The second concert was even a greater success than the first. The Doctor was cheerful up to the very close of the evening, when his spirits evaporated, on hearing Larry Darrons again inform Mips Bawn, a1 an incentive to punctuality, that he had distinctly promised to 41 show the night flowers their Queen." As noth inir, however, was further from M 'llv's thoughts than allowing herself to be exhibited in that capacity, the Doctor need not have fullen into such a brown study, nor have jumped out of it with such a bounce when the Queen ol the night-flower-? touched his arm so might she have touched her uncle's and reminded him that she was in his debt. " What was the favor, Dr. Gaylen f 44 1 wo . only going to ask," the Doctor's voice trembled a little, perhaps from fatigue in singing, 4: whether I might drive ovt r for you and bring you down to the Dissolving Views." The Fair was to close next night with that exhibition. The Queen hesitated a moment, and then said, 44 Certainly ;" and then added, 44 Thnk you." 44 At seven!" " Yes ; at seven." And she again took Larry Darrors' arm. For all that, the Doctor went homeavoiding Mr. Slipkin comparatively hap py, to dream of a fair landscape flushed with sunset, with a roid in the foreground, along which a splendid bay wr.s drawing a spick and span new buegv. He was to drive Miss Bawn to the Dissolving Views. Blissfulne8S I But he didn't. That office was performed by Larry Darrons. It happened thus : Young Mr. Darrens, with whom for the distance was not great Miss Molly Bawn had usually preferred walking, went over to give her the opportunity of exercising that preference, and found her all ready and waiting in the parlor. 44 Drecsed !" he exclaimed. " Yes," said she faintly ; for she had not told him of her covenant with the Doctor, and knew that there was gall with bitterness in store for him. 44 Unusual promptitude! Would you mind explaining?" But explanations were spared to Molly by the entrance of an excited handmaiden with a summons for the Doctor. The poor people of the neighborhood, among whom he had practiced a little, had conferred that title upon Larry. "Who is it?" 44 Sure, lU bring him in till ye see him." And, returning in a few moments, the green daughter of Erin ushered in a ragged, red-faced, pantine, soWing. little urchin, who announced that "his daddy was took very suddint with a broken leg." Took with a broken lesr, is he ?" repeated Larry, looking as though he himself were 44 took very bad " indeed with something that went raspinely against the grain. "Go for Dr. Burton." " Dr. Burton's away to town." 44 Dr. Worster, then." " Dr. Worster says he's sick and can't come ; and, besides, daddy din't pay him la&t time ; and he had to go somewhere else, and so that's the reasor." " Well, 1 can't go," said Larry, looking at the he i res of Bawn's Mills. " Please, Sir, you was to come right away. Daddy's been since noon, and we couldn't get no help." 44 1 tell you, my little man, that you must go f r pome one else. There's Dr Ashton he's always ready. Tell your 1 daddy 1 that I had a prior engagement." 44 1 irould go if I were you," said Molly, softly. 44 What ! and give you up for a whole evening ! I care more for you than I do for all the all the broken legs in the world." "How very fl-ittering !" returned the Queen of the night flowers. "Besides, I am not a physician quite yet." 44 You're very skillful." " You've no idea how awkward I am at times. T have an inward presentiment that this would be one of the times. Ah, Molly !" he lowered his voice and looked at her with very melancholy eyes 44 don't banish me. They can easily get some one ; and I had set m heart upon tonight." " Never mind me just for one evening. It's very kind of you to wish to be with me, but" " There can be no buts about it, Miss Molly," said the young man, turning away and looking out of the window. 44 Here, my boy : tell your aha ! The very thins ! There's Gaylen in his gig." The Doctor drove up, radiant in new

garments and anticipations of happiness. Larry opened the window and hailed him joyously. The way out of the difficulty was clear. 41 Man's leg broken ? No physician to be had. Want one to come ? Poor Dr. Gaylen ! How the light faded in his kindly face ! What a strange, gray shadow came over it ! Molly remarked his change of countenance, and somehow felt more complimented by it than by all Larry's protestations. But the Doctor was true to the instincts of his profession. 44 I'm very sorry, Miss Bawn," said he, looking especially melancholy about the wrists, as he let the reins dangle and fest roa themselves over his knees, 44 but if that poor fellow's been lying there since noon, the sooner I reach him the better. You'll excuse me, I suppose." "Indeed, I will, Dr. Gaylen, and thank you for going." 44 Yes, I rather supposed that too," Faid the Doctor, looking mournfully at Larry D irrons. 44 No no no. I didn't mean" Molly began, but she was confused rather than audible; and the Doctor went on ! 44 You needn't be incommoded, though. Til send back the bugry by this little man, who looks as if he could drive, and" (said the Doctor, sighing) "Mr. Darrons can driva you down." "That's a capital arrangement 1" 6aid Larry. In due time the vehicle returned. L irry handed the young lady into it, and though she was rather silent they had a pleasant drive through the shaly roads and between the fields of spring, beautiful in the level un. And that was the realization of the Doctor's dream. They were in ample time for the DisEolving Views, bqf Miss Bawn insisted

upon taking a seat upon the penultimate bench, toward the door. "You can't see here," said Larry l).rrons. 44 1 can see all I want to," answered Molly. Who should be the orator of the evening but Mr. SMpkin ! How eloquent he wa3 ! how pathetic ! how facetious ! and how centlemanly ! And with what a variety of themes he proved to be famil iar. The projectors of the exhibition had counted largely upon Sunday-School patronage, and ppeial selections of subjects had been made under the " suggestions" of Mr. Gadfly, with the purpose not only of amusing the hopes of the community, but also of improving the occasion to their moral instruction and advancement. As one means, among others, to this latter

! end, there was called into play in the j magic circle on the great white sheet a 1 very pale little bo', with an expression of ! the utmos' nausea depicted on his otherj wise ingenuous countenance. He was re- ; clining, evidently in a state of physical prostration and mental contrition, against I the giant bole of an oak, ia a boundless contiguity of shade. An empty basket : lay supine beside him, and a pound cake, beautifully frosted and deeply excavated , on one side, fell from hi 3 nerveless hand. The picture told its own story, and Mr. Slipkin improved the occasion with marked ability. While he was doing so a gentleman , came quietly in and stood near the penul- ' timate bench. 44 And now, children," concluded Mr. I Slipkin, 44 the friends of this greedy little boy will have to come out and find him in the woods, and take him home, and send for the doctor to come." A id then Molly, looking up, saw that the Doctor had come without being sent for. " Dr. Gaylen !" 44 Ah, Miss Bawn f " How is he?" " Fast asleep.1 44 Thank you." "Yep," thought the Doctor, "I know what f he thanks me for." But the little boy who had made himself sick was now in a state of dissolution ; and the Doctor looked at the screen Another lit'le boy This view was very striking and elicited great applause. In j front of a heathen temple, with all the , modern conveniences, a group of children had been arranged by the gifted artist a? they never would have arranged them- ! selves. The house was so white, and the garden so green, and the children so viv- , idly dressed thf.t there was a small whirl- ! wird of 44 ohs " and 44ahs." But the central figure was that of the other little boy, who had an empty basket in one hand and 1 a prize peach in the other. He was a chubby, sturdy little chap, and became . popular instantly He looked very happy, j and so did his playmates, each of whom I held in his or her hand a specimen of the kindly fruits of the earth. "Now, my dear children," eaid Mr. Slipkin, when he could make himself heard, i4 1 want vou to look very hard at that little boy." Mr. Slipkio's emphasis on j " that " was one of the finest points ever ! made in American orator v. 44 lie has had a basket sent to him, at his school. But, instead of stealing away bv himself with it. lik a very selÜ3h and wicked little boy, that litilc boy has called all his little com- ! panions around him, and has given one thing to one and another to another, till all that he has for himnelf is one single, solitary Peach ! !" ic Grand climax on the part of Mr. Slipkin, which brings down the house, Dr. Gaylen applauding with the loudest. 4 I asked you, rhildren," Mr. Slipkin continues, 44 to look very hard at that little boy. And why, children ? why did I ask 5 o-i to look very hard at that picture and at that little boy ? Becavse, children, : that is a true picture, and that little boy was a real boy." Profound sensation. " And now he's a real man f Increaced sensation. " And his name is " Br--a' bless suspene. 44 You all know him" , Feverish impatience. " Dr. GatLBHII" Thunders of applause, during which the Doctor rushed wildly out of the building. Mr. Slipkin, after the exhibition, being sent to look for him, finds him in the deepest shadows on the other side of the way. ; 44 Gaylen ! " " Slipkin ! Dear mc how could you do that I I had forgotten all about it !" 14 Never mindf You and I and Jack Stencil were at the 1 Infants' Retreat' to- ; gether ; and Jack remembered it and painted it. There's a young lady waiting for you Miss Bawn." 44 For me ? Where's Mr. Darrons?" "I rather think it's all up there. And, look ! 8kf up there at the window look ing tor your " I'll get my horse," says the Doctor. The net profits from the Fair were $1,000. Unfortunately, the very next week, the stiff little steeple blew down ; and it cost exactly that sum to put it up again Those cases of fracture are sometimes very tedious ! Not steeples but legs and arms. But it was 44 real good " of Dr. Gaylen so the Misses Gadfly said to drive out all the way from town to see his poor patient ; at first once a week ; then, as he got better, twice ; as he continued to improve, every other day ; and ultimately, every day. At last the Doctor's patient is well enough to hobble to his cottage door and bid the Doctor good-by. In the distance is the Rev. Mr Strate We6tcott, with a new fifty dollar bill in his pocket-book. The Doctor is not in his buggy. He is in a close carriage. He is not alone. A lady is with him, a young lady, who looks all the happier for being there, and all the prettier for blushing. As the carriage rolls down the hill .h)9 lady, looking into a little basket, says: 44 There is just one peach left Charley ; will you have it?" But the Dieter there being nobody in that shady road to catch him doing it kisses Lr cheek and does not care much about peaches. Harper's Weekly. A mem her of the New York LogislaI ture recently, on returning uome, left his r 'cketbook in the cars, with $1,800 in it. When the brakeman who found it returned it to him, the graceful legislator give him $20, and then whispered in his ear a quiet warning to this effect : "When l you get up to our place to-morrow you needn't say anything about my losing my eocketbook. You see, they wouldn't now how I came by that $1,800 exactTiie arable land of the United Stales ia estimated a,t l;?r?0.000,0oo are?

TBE CHEAPNESS OF BEAUTY.

BV TTARRIRT BBECHEB STOWE. We propose to write an article on the subject of beauty as applied to the livingrooms of houses. We bold the truth to be self-evident that in the arrangements of life, things should be so disposed as not merely to secure physical comfort, but also to produce the impression of beauty. Now, here we are met at the outset by people who tell us that of course they want their houses handsome, and that when they get money enough they intend to have them handsome, but that at present they are too poor, and because they are poor they dismiss the subject altogether apparently, and live without any regard to it. We have often seen people who said that they could not afford to make their houses beautiful, who had spent upon them, outside or in, an amount of money which did not produce either beauty or comfort, and which, if judiciously applied, might have made the house quite charmin T. We will instance one case. A man, in building his house, takes a plan of an architect. This plan includes, on the outside, a number of what Andrew Fairservice called 44 curly-wurlies" and 44 whigmaliries," which make the house neither prettier nor ni-re comfortable, and which take ip a good deal of money. We would venture to pay that we could buy the chromo of Bierstat's 44 Sunset in the Y'oSemite Valley," and four others like it, for half the sum that we have sometimes seen laid out on a very ugly porch, that looked like nightmare abortion, on the outside of a house. The only use of this porch was to cost money, and to cause everybody who looks at it to exclaim as they go by : 44 What ever induced that man to get a thing like that on the outside of his house?" Then, again, in the inside of houses, we have seen a dwelling looking very bald and bare, when a sufficient sum of money had been expended on one article to have made the whole very pretty. The thing has come about in this way. We will suppose the couple who own the house to be in the condition in which people generally are after they have built a house having spent more than they could afford on the building itself, and yet feeling themselves under the necessity of getting some furniture. " Now," says the housewife, " I must at least have a parlor carpet. We must get that to begin with, and other things as we go on." She goes to a store to look at carpets. The clerks are smiling and obliging, and sweetly complacent. The storekeeper, perhaps, is a neighbor or friend, and, after exhibiting various patterns, he ells her of a Brussels carpet he is selling wonderfully cheap actually a dollar and a quarter less a yard than the usual price of Brüssel, and the reason is that it is an unfashionable pattern, and he has a good deal of it, and wishes to close it off. She looks at it and thinks it U r..)i: at all the kind of carpet she meant to bay ; but then it is Brussels, and so cheap ! And as she hesitates, her friend tells her that fhe will find it " cheapest in the end that one Brussels carpet will outlfist three or four ingrains," etc., etc. The result of all this is that she buys the Brussels carpet, which, with all its reduction in price, is one-third dearer than the ingrain would have been, and not half so pretty. When she comes home she will find that she has spent, we will say eighty dollars, for a very homely carpet, whose greatest merit it is an affliction to remember namely, that it will outlast three ordinary carpets. And now, because she has bought this carpet, ehe cannot afford to paper the walls or put up any windowcurtains, and cannot even begin to think of buying any pictures. Now, let us see what eighty dollars could have done for that room. Wc will sup pose, in the first place, she invests in thirteen rolls of wall piper of a lovely shade of buff, which will make the room look sunshiny in the day time, and light up brilliantly in the evening. Thirteen rolls of good satin paper, at thirty-seven cents a roll, expends four dollars and eighty-one cents. A maroon bordering, made in imitation of the choicest French style, which cannot at a distance be told from it, can be bought lor six cents a yard. This will bring the paper to about five doars and a half ; and our friends will give a day of their time to putting it on. The room already begins to look furnished. Now, let us cover the floor v ith, say, thirty yards of good matting, at Gfty cents a yard. This gives us a carpet Tor fifteen dollars. We arc here stopped by the pre judice that matting is not good economy, because it wears out so soon. "We numbly submit that it is precisely the thing for a parlor, which is reserved for the recep tion-room of friends, and for our own dressed leisure hours. Matting is not good economy in a dining room or a hard-worn sitting-room, but such a parlor as we are describing is precisely the place where it answers to the very best advantage. We have in mind now one very attractive parlor which has been, both for summer and winter, the daily sitting-room for the leisure hours ofahuhband and wife and family of children, where a plain white straw matting has done service for seven years. That parlor is in a city, and our friends are in the habit of receiving visits from peo pie who live upon velvet and Brussels ; but they prefer to spend the money which such carpets would cost on other modes of embellishment ; and this parlor has often been cited to us as a very attractive room. And now our friends, having got thus far, are requested to select some one tint or color which shall be the prevailing one in the furniture of the room. Shall it be green? Shall it be blue? Shall it be crimson ? To carry on our illustration, we will choose green, and wc now proceed with it te create furniture for the rooin. Let us imagine that on ono side of the fireplace there be, as there is often, a recess about six feet long and three feet deep. Fill this recess with a rough frame, one foot high, and upon the top of the frame have an elastic rack of slats, make a mattress for this, or if you wish to avoid this trouble, you can get a nice mattress for the sum of two dollars, made of cane shavings or husks. Cover this with a green English furuituro print. The glazed Fug lib h comes at about twenty five cents a yard, the glazed French at seventy five cents a yard, aud a nice article of yard wide Frnch twill (very strong) is from seventy five to eighty cents ayard. With any of these cover your lounge. Make two large, square pillows of the same substance as the mattress, and set up at the back. If yon happen to have one or two feather pillows that you can spare for tho purpose, shake them down I into a square shape and coyer them with

the same print, and you will then have four pillows for your lounge one at e?ch end and two at the back, and you will find it answers all the purposes of a sofa. It will be a very pretty thing, row, to cut out what are called lambrikins of the same material as your lounge, to put oyer your windows, which are to be embellished with white muslin curtains. The cornices to your windows can be simply strips of wood covered with paper to match tho bordering of your room, and the lambrikins, made of chintz like the lounge, can be trimmed with fringe or gimp of the same color. The curtains can be made of plain white muslin, or some of the many styles that come for this purpose. If plain muslin is used, you can ornament them with hems an inch in width, in which insert a strip of gingham or chambray of the same color as your chintz. This will wash with the curtains without losing its color, or should it fade it can easily be drawn out and replaced. The influence of white muslin curtains in giving an air of grace and elegance to a room is astonishing. White curtains really create a room out of nothing. No matter how coarse the muslin, so it be white and hang in graceful folds, there is a charm in it that supplies the want of multitudes of othe" things. Very pretty curtain-muslin can be bought for thirty seven cents a yard. It requires six yards for a window. Now, get your men-folk to knock up for you, out of rough, unplantd boards, soms square, ottoman frames stuff the tops with just the same material as the 1 unge, and cover them with the self-same chinta. Now you have, supposing your selected color to be green, a green lounge in the corner and two green ottomans; you have white muslin curtains, with green lambrikins and borders, and your room already looks furnished. If you have in the house any broken down arm chair, reposing in the oblivion of the garret, draw it out drive a nail here and there to hold it firm stuff and pad, and stitch tbe padding through with a long upholster's needle, and cover it with the chintz like your other frrni'ure. Presto you create an easy chair. Thus can broken and disgraced furni turc re-appear, and being put into uniform with the general suit of your room, take a new lease of lile. If you want a center table, consider this that any kind of tab!e, well concealed bcaeatii the folds of handsome drapery, of a color corresponding to the general hue of the room, will look well. Instead of goinu to the cabinet-maker and paying from thirty to forty dollars upon a "little narrow, cold, marhk'-topped stand that gives just room enough to hold a lamp and a bo k or two, just reflect within yourself what a center-table is made for. If you have in your house a good broad, geuerous-tnpped t ible, take it, cover it with an ample cloth of green broadcloth. Such a cover, two and a half yards squ ire, of fine green broadcloth, figured with black end with a pattern-border of grap - leaves hiu. been bought for ten dollars. In a roc'un we wot of it covers a cheap pine table, such as you may buy for four or live dollars any day ; but you will be astonished to see how genteel an obj ct this table makes undtr its green drapery. We set down our center table, therefre, as consisting mainly of a nice broadcloth cover, matching our curtain? and lounge. We are sure that any one with 44 a htart that is humble" mav rommand such a center-table ard cloth for fifteen dollars, and a family of five or six may all sit and work, o: read, or write around it, and it is capable of entertaining a generous allowance of books and knick-knacks. Hearth and llvmc.

How Comlnefors are "Spotted." Perhaps there Is no cl iss of employes who havj greater inducements or better opportunities to pilfer, with les8 fear of detection, than conductors on steam railroads. They receive a great deal of money, and must necessarily be left to render their own account of it, and the correctness ot their returns consequent' depends in a great degree upon their honesty. The well-established weakness of human nature requires that some sort of surveillance be exercised upon them, and this .s done by " spotters," detectives who make 44 runnincr a railroad " a business, and are extensively employed by the different railroad companies. 44 To 44 run a road successfully requires the outlay of considerable capital, as the operation consumes from three weeks to three months, and requires the services of from six to a dozen men, or even more, according lo the length of the road operated upon, and the number of its branches There must also be taken Into consideration the number of trains run daily to and from certain points, and the average number of cars in a train, as each car ha3 to be covered by a certain number of operatives. Fpon starting out to run a road each operative is furnished with written instructions, printed blank, which specify the number of the 44 run," the points to and from, the time of departure and arrival of the train, the car he is to enter, whether passenger, baggage, or smoking car ; its ocation in the train, the seit he is to occupy, either right s'de or left, and its number counting from the forward end of tbe car, the end nearest the engine. Each operative is furnished with an outfit of stationery, which includes report and expense paper, blank cards, envelopes, pens, and lead pencils. Thus prepared, the detectives leave their quarters for the place agreed upon for a starting point, j each one going singly and by a different route, so as not to excite suspicion. Upon arriving at the train, each operative enters the car and takes the seat assigned him in hia instructions. If he is late in reaching the train, and finds the seat already occupied, he takt s the next nearest unoccupied one and keeps it till he reaches his journey's end, unless otherwise orderet!. The least experienced "spotter" in placed in the forward part of the car. about the fourth or fifth seat from tho front ; the next most experienced is placed j on tho opposite side, in about the eighth : seat, while the moRt experienced one takes his seat in the extreme end of the car. Neither of the operatives is expected to make noes of fares other than those paid by passengers occupying seats between j himself and the operative ahead of him ; although It often occurs that the operative ! In the forward part of the car will see a fare paid in the rear end of it sufficiently i plainly to enable him to make a eonect report of it. But an operative in trying to note fares paid by passengers in the rear Of him, met use extra care and caution, so that he does not excite the suspicion of either tho conductor or passengers, for 1 among the latter there may be frhmds of

the former, who would not hesitate to put him on his guard. The operative, when making memoranda of fares paid, uses a pencil not more than two inches long, and has to write with it in his pocket on blank cards, a package of which be carries in a rubber band. When he has noted down a fare he draws out the card and drops it in his pocket, putting but one fare on each card. It is no easy matter to write well in one's pocket while shaken by a railroad car going at the rate of 15 or 20 miles an hour, and the specimens of hand-writing executed under such circumstances are very apt to look more. like Egyptian hieroglyphics than the style of penmanship in common use. When making memoranda of fares paid to the conductor, the following facts must be noted down : The name of the station at which the passenger got in ; whether alone, or witn another person ; the seat he occupied, whether near the a'sle or window ; the denomination, character and amount of money handed to the conductor ; also, the change received by the pnssenger, if any, and any conversation overheard between the conductor and passenger. The form of the memoranda made by the operative when taking down fares, is about thus : 14 NEWp.rnun. Yonn? mm in fifth eeat, alone, pave conductor a U. B. Treasury note, saying 4. Bedford,' and received pome postal currency and yellow check, which conductor tore from check-book and wrote on with pencil : 1 Went to Bedford.' " The other operatives in the car who are so placed as to see this fare paid, will also make a note of it, although they may not be able to note all the particulars, such as the denomination of the bill or the exact amount paid. What they do see, however, and note down, goes to corroborate the report made by the operative who eat nearest the passenger and saw the whole transaction. Upon arriving at the station where the " run " ceases, each operative with valise in hand, will wend his way to his hotel, which Las already been decided upon, and the name and location of which are down in his ins'ructions. All the detectives do not go to the same hotel, as it would be apt to exeite suspicion. Two or three, at the most, put up at the same house, each one dropping in singly and engaging his room. While at the hotel they must treat each other as entire strangers, and are allowed to communicate only when in their private apartments. After each run, and after the operative has reached his hotel, he sits down and writes his report. "When the reports are finished the operatives assemble in the room and compare notes, beginning with the first passenger car in the train. It is seldom that there is any great variance in the reports. Sometimes there miy be a dispute as regards the amount of fare paid in a particular instance, but when the places the passenger got in and out at are decided the account of fare paid is soon settled by a reference to the schedule of prices. Beside the amount of fares paid, the report of a 44 run" ofien contains a description of the conductor, whether polite and attentive to passengers ; whether the car was crowded or otherwise; whether it was well ventilated and the lamps lighted ; also, if the conductor canceled all tickets on presentation to him, and gave chicks for them ; also, if there appeared to be any suspicion in his mind of being 44 tested." In short, every thing that comes under the observation of the detectives that is likely to be of any interest to the Company is reported. From three to five "tests" are generally sufficient to show the honesty or dishonesty of a conductor, but they cannot be made daily, as it would excite his suspicion to see the same faces in his car on four or five runs in succession. A great deal of judgment and shrewdness are required to 44 run a road" successfully, and avoid being 41 dropped on" by the conductors, who, as a class, are rather knowing than otherwise, and are generally on the look out for spotters. 1 It is therefore necessary for the detective having the operation in charge to be welltrained and ably assisted, or the chaDces are that the 44 run" will 14 go up." Rem York Tribune.

Itip's Philosophy. 44 It ain't ours, now, don't it?" sys Rip Van Winkle, when his wife reminds him of the farm that he drank up. " No, it ain't." 44 Well, den, I wouldn't bodder 'bout it, if I was you. I'd let them bodder 'bout it vot it belongs to 'em." While there should be a lesson in the career of Rip by which he hst Ml acres, there is much sense in his philosophy. The world abounds in people who are 44 bordering" themselves about what don't belong to them. Sometimes it is riches that have taken unto themselves wings, at other times lost opportunities that were not taken advantage of, and again it is youth torevcrgone. Men somet'tnes spend sutlicieut time in mourning a lott fortune to make another, miss fif y opportunities of the present bewailing one tint is passed, and render their old age miserable, repin ing because their youth had lied. In all such cases they need a little of Rip's philosophy, though they need not draw it from the same source, and 44 let them bodder 'bout it vot it belongs to 'em." Fat Contributor. Invited to his Wife's Wedding. A pay or two ago a letter directed to the 41 l'ostmaster, Rufialo, New York," bearing the signature, " Your friend," was received at the office in this city. The letter was mailed at Winchenden, Mass., and was in the words following, to wit; 44 Mr. O B d : Your wife is soon to be married. If you wish to como to her wedding, come soon." And then followed on the reverse the following request : 41 Hesse to hand this to B d if he can be found in the place. He is a machinist by trade." We do ne-t know where to find B d just now : but would say to him that the least he could possibly do, under the circumstances, would be to accept the invitation and attend the nuptials. If a man won't accept an invitation to his own wife's wedding, we'd like to know what ho would accept. According to our way of thinking, it is the best thing he couid possibly do. Buffalo Commercial. Tall SnooTrxo. A gentleman remarking Id a tarern that b had shot a hawk at ninety yard with No. ft fhor, another renlieu : " Maat hare a good gun, but Unci Dare hre has one that bat it." 44Ah!"atd the flrft, "how far will It kill a hawk with No. ft hot T " 'I don't nee nhot or ball cither," answered Uncle Dave hlmeelf. ' Then whut do yon rise, I'nrle Dave? " " 1 eboot MM altogether. I kill my c imo to far with my gnn that tho jraai" wonUt pMe before I ruu'd get It."

FACTS AND FIGURES. A man in Pittsburgh has a beard eight feet long. P.vrER coffins arc the latest European invention. Geneva. N. Y., boasts of a cow which recently sold for $3,0 no. It costs $300,000 per annum to feed the dogs of Cincinnati. Two Americans have opened a dentist shop in Odessa, on the Black Sea. Omo paid $337,997.73 of her State debt during the month of March. TnKRE were 2v0 alarms of fire in St. Louis la. vesr; total tOM, $2,020,800. Insurance, 1,65S,1(ML Titers arc 30,200 ministers of all denominations in Great Uritain, with l,7ö0 churches and chapels. The Cornell University has thirty-one professors (with twelve additional professorships to be filled) and 383 students. Bisrrop HuNTWUTON, the new Eoisco pal Hishop of Syrakus, N Y., has been presented with a $25,000 house. The telegraph companies of Great Britain and Ireland own 100,000 miles of wire and manaarc 3.109 stations. There are 148,000 shade-trees in Paris principally the Elm. Plane, HoneChestnut, Maple, Linden, Acacia and the Alianthus, DüBIMa 1963, 153 persons were accidentally injured on the New Jersey raHroads. In 104 cscs the injuries proved fatal. Manchester, N IT., authorities allow no one on Sunday to smoke a pipeor cigar upon the public pave, within one mile of the City Ha'.l. A baut advertised for adoption in London was wanted by 370 applicants, all of whom sent money as a pie tge of good faith. The father of a cash boy in a Louisville dry goods store has brought action rgainst a salesman for snapping the urchin, layiog damages at $2,000. A siNotLAR miske was made by Fields A OqgOOd, the other dav, in binding the curreut number of Our Yonq WWb$ in the covers of Partou's 41 DnMi Iland." TnE Fall River cotton m: s manufacture 114,:y4,000 vard; or 4 '77 miles of cloth, yearly. The pay -roils of the various establishment I amount tofflOO.OOQ a month. M. BcHHBDCS, the President of the Frtmh Corps L"giJlaif, is one of the wealthiest nv.m in Frauc. He has four da-tchters. each of wheui will inhcüt one million dollars. The Imrgomaster of Leipzig h is prohibited voloeipo-le riding in the streets of that city, owing to the numerous accidents which have recetly befallen the velocipedists of Leipzig. A Paris bookseller. M. Orwoltl, kM recently been pentencd to three years' imprisonment, and fined one thousand dollars, for idling books and plnmphlet not very complimentary to Napoleon and Eigenie. Mrs. Jonv Jacob Afros, of New York, celelral.l tbe recent cming if aje of her son, by furnishing Mr. Brace, of the Children's Aid Society, witn the amount require! to provide one hundred orphan boys with homes in the West. DuBOra 1868, the seventeen street railways of Philadelphia, with a total length of 173 milei of track, transported 50,435.512 passengers, received fS.SMjtSS an-l paid oul 32,460,703 During the same time, 11 hordes were killed on the roads, and 14 injured. Five rustic New Yorkers gave a polite metropolitan sharper $:)50 to buy their tickets to California, on big assurance thit he ooald siv-.' ten dollars on each one's passage money. The clever fellow disappeared in a crowd and forgot to return. A Bridgeport gentleman lately saw, without interference, his landlord tleeccd of $100 by gamblers nu the train, nnd remarked in exp nnation, 44 1 wasn't going to warn him. He raise ! my rent $200 this year." From which let all avaricious landlords take warning. CiiEVALiER,the aeronaut, who proposes to cros the Atlantic, has had a hundred applicants for seats in bis car on the occasion. He has concluded to charce $250 per passenger. The voyage is to be undertaken on the Olst of July, from New York. Tnr: London Lancet mentions a case in which new blankets, having been infected by scarlet fever, were put away rrnrlfsod in a wardrobe. Fourteen months afterwards the mistress of the house had thtsc blankets taken oof and put upon her own bed ; in a few day- she tot k .h? fever and died. A nACK driver in Buffalo, who had detainee! two gentlemen purposely from reaching the train, in order that he might make more money out of them, was arrest ed at the instance of the gentlemen, and was compclleel to pay their hotelbi!l and the costs of the case. A (Jentlkmax who h s had several months erperience with the velocipede, states that tew beginners, instead of propelling the machine by adjusting the hollow of the foot to the treadle, would find it much easier and more conducive to health to use the forward part of the fa t. The Journal of OierniK'ry states that fish may be kept alive for ten days or more wi'hout water, bv rilling their mouths with crumbs of !re:id s;i1urated with brandy, and pouring a little brandy into their stomachs, after which, in this torpid state, they may be packed in ftraw. They become aive in a few hours, when again placed in fresh wad r. TnE New York OermJi states that, of the seven or eight societies organizes! in that city eighteen nvmths ago, f r the purpose of furnishing groceries and other supplies at cheep rates to the sVekholdcrs, only one lucceeded in establishing a st re, and that lias been doted at a 1- s of $-,-500. There are, however, several bnild ing societies in the city and vicinity that are more or less tuccessfuh A very amiable and modest w Mowlady lived in a certain country. Soon after her husband had paid the debt of nature, having her his legatee, a claim was brought against tho estate by his brother, and s process was served upon her by the sheriff of the county, who happened to be a widower of middle age. She was much alarmed, and meeting with a female friend, she exclaimed with agitation : " What do you think ? the sheriff h ts been after me !" "Well, said the coubiderate lady, with perfevt coolness, 44 Le is a very tine man.' But he says he has an attachment for me," replied the widow. 44 Well, I have long Misperted that he was a'.taehcd to you, my dear " 44 But you don't understand ; he Rays I musi go to court." 44 O ' that's quite another affair, my child ; don't you go so far as tbt ; it is his place to come and court you.''