Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 May 1876 — Page 8

INDUSTRIAL, STATISTICAL AND TECHNICAL.

Bmib atatfeittttt geiUni calculates that from the coal- *" ,T r Wf" # l prices. Freights to AUanttc tat-board have also declined, **l •* •** months ahead. In ihe'bituminoua districts then are no material chavgea to note. Tta great staph- <>i coal. Commodities. is in the tamper monopolists, who regulate the pnmm this tael acooidlng to their greet!. « 'Wilinn II h I play the infa■fsMP*P qCextortion, but m&ing capitalhte. eei Ptetyown and monopolizing nauwagr Ul|t|imoßt.-4W« Journal. Stnvoans frM life of a railroad sleeper It seven years, the 88,000 miles of track •opsame annually 84,000,000 sleepers, or talrty tSßi' growth on. 88,000 acres of the best natural woodlands. Or, if the weepers are raised artificially, some 700,000 notes would he inquired, planted with twte heat adapted for the purpose, regularly cropped and scientifically managed, to supply the railroads already constructed. At leant 115,000 miles of fencing are required to enclose the railroads of the O0«l»try, which could not hare cost on an avenge toes than S7OO per mile. Onehalf of this would barely represent the oostofthe wood employ e«l, or $43,000,000; while It must take annually lumber to flm value of not less than $40,000,000 tofesq) thebe fences in repair—i/r. Hums übbantschitch, in a paper contributed to a German medical journal, directs attention to the fact that if a watch be held at a little distance &om the ear ton ticking is not heard uniformly, but there is a swelling and diminishing of the sound. If held at snch a distance as to he scarcely audible the ticking will come and go, being at times perceived distinctly, but at times becoming wholly inaudible, as If the watch were being moved to and from the ear. This variation in perception is not always gradual; it is sometimes sudden. The same holds good for other weak sounds, as that of a weak water jet or a tuning fork. Since breathing and pulsation have not the least Influence on the phenomenon, the interruptions o i the sensation must be attributed to the organ of hearing itself; our ears being unable to feel week acoustic stimuli uniformly, but having varying times of fktigue. To decide finally where the seat es me peculiarity lay, Herr Urbantschitch made both ear passages air-tight and applied a tuning fork and a watch to the head. The sounds seemed not continuous tat intermittent The cause must, theretote, be in the nerves of hearing. An apparatus of great delicacy has lately been invented by Dr. Mosso, of Turin; for measuring the movements of the blood-vessels in man. It is named toe plethysmograph , and its operation consists in Inclosing a part of the body, say thefareaim, In a glass cylinder with a caoutchouc ring, tilling the cylinder .with tepid water, and measuring, by a special contrivance, toe quantity of Water which flows out or in through a tube connected with the cylinder, as the arm excaoutchouc tubing with a glass tube S; downward into a test-tube susfrom a double pulley with coun- , to which the recording lever is 1, in a vessel containing a mixture ml and water. When the ypssels back from the test-tube into the cylinder, tie teat-tuba rises and toe counterpoise ifmtjpli Among other applications of the apparatus, Dr. Mosso employs it in studying the physiology of thought and eerebral activity. The slightest emotions ■ nre revealed .oy the instrument by a change in,toe state of the blood-vessels. The entrance of a person in whom one is interested during the experiment has the effect of diminishing the volume of the forearm by from lour to fifteen cubic .. centimetres, the work of the brain during the solution of a perplexing problem or the reading of an obscure passage is always accompanied by a contraction of the! vssaels proportionate to the effort of thought

Amateur Dress-Making.

“ 1* is hard times,” we said, in concert with everybody else, ‘‘and our own hands mutt put that twenty-five yards of bottle green poplin into wearable shape. No great trick with a GotUy't Book and a Demons! pattern, and plenty of pins and advfce ifom the neighbors.” We drew the blinds, bolted the doors and smoothed out the cloth on the carpet. Amateurs always cut work on the carpet. We had selected a deni i-train underskirt with a wide ruffle and a narrow one, and a shirr, and a puft, and a fold, and a cord, and an upright frill in knife-pleating for garniture, an apron overskirt with a ruffle and a cord and a fold and a frill around it, and bows all Sown the front, and a puckered pocket dapped on the left side, and a pud and a sash behind trimmed with folds and shirrs, and straights and biases, then a cuirass basque (it should be speSed ctgdouffl; We gazed at the figure dn the book* and felt Willing to be put under the thumb screws for a month if we Could come out like that in the end. We pinned the pattern on Several times and heaitated about the first clip. The bottle green was six shillings a yard, and we an poor, but a crick between the shoul4em ana a rush of blood to the head warned us that a bent posture is not the most desirable one for prolonged meditation, so w« called np the mptto “nothing risked,nothing won,”and slashed away desmretoly. We measured, and pinned, ana planned till the weary sun showed Symptom* of setting, and the twenty-five yards lay in separate piles on the carpet Mid chain. Two sleeves for one arm, a strange mistake in front and a lack of elothfbr trimming clouded our April sky. We basted the waist for trial, and, except a slight hitch under the arm, and a wrinkle on the shoulder, and a twist in the lorn-seams, it was a charming fit. ' Of course it would come all right cut by a pattern, and one doesn’t expect basted ihintt to 86t f Three weeks, four days and several kotura and minutes of mortal agony have passed since the pbove mentioned. We nave ehased down town six times to match bottle-green poplin, till it approximates forty yards we have lugged over the road. Our gait is under paralysis from too much sewing-machine; our finger-tips ere worn g and pleat coforj'the* house and yard are littered with striugs, and scrape of bottle-green poplin, ana we had a wad of bottle-green this morning, and, after all, *e wish you could see that thing that hanga In the closet yonder, but yon han’t We have crowded the bolt in, yet, like BtppWlt'l murdered man,’ fog ghost will not bs laid. It is alter us oonununlly, with a skirt that pulls forward instead of back, the frill dips, the tain folds over, tile overskirt draws, the pocket puckers heartlessly, tlie front reMOkfow a ends are like anti the .hews lop like Uic oareof a greyhound ; then the bsjque-il

swas-assa.—* »i§«|££g|S with our ears, and tho seam in the then's a new crow-foot between our eyes; our dearest friend has cut us because we wfere “not at home;” we have lost the thread of the post trader literature, and there, for recompense, that bottle grew thing of twists and wrinkh* which snail never drape this human form —never If We go to the poor-houss—unless some wretch puts as in It after ws are dead.— M. O. T., in Detroit Free Pmt.

The Denouement of a Dumb Courtship.

At the time that Francis I. of France was taken prisoner at the battle of Pavia, one of his officers, the valorous Chevalier Beauregard, smitten by the charms of an Italian lady of noble family named Aurelia, declared to her his passion. Aurelia, though flattered by the declaration of the gallant soldier, refused his suit on the ground of the levity of the French character and the natural indiscretion of that people. But Beauregard was not to be put off s»r easily. The depth and fervor of his love led him to propose to the lady to put his constancy to any proof she might think proper. Aurelia at length accepted the terms of the proposition and agreed to marry him if for the space of six months he would remain utterly and entirely dumb. The'chevalier promised, and then, with a silent bow, withdrew from the lady’s presence, and from that moment he opened not his lips with the sound of human speech. He returned to Paris, where his friends and relatives were STftftlten with sorrow at the terrible infirmity which had fallen upon him—for his had been a voice musical and entertaining. Beauregard expressed all his wants by dumb signs, ana seldom smiled. The best physicians were sent for, but he refased to see them. The captive King was at length set free and restored to his people; but his joy on his return to his capital was diminished by the sad misfortune which had befallen the chevalier, who had been the monarch’s chief favorite. Francis sent his best doctors to toe stricken soldier, who, out of respect for his royal master, took the medicines prescribed, but with no effect. The King even went so far as to employ the charlatans and necromancers, who then, as now, professed to hold specifics for all sorts of diseases. The news spread abroad and great was the sorrow. The court and toe people had become hopeless of his cure, when a fair Italian maiden, professing to be a fortune-teller, appeared before toe King and informed him that she would undertake to restore the chevalier to his speech. The Kingwould not cast away an opportunity. He summoned Beauregard to his presence, and told him that a physician had come who promised to cure him; but toe chevalier bowed low in silent discredit. The King nodded, to toe fair stranger, and asked her wnat she would do. “ Beauregard, my tried and cherished,” she said, turning to the chevalier, “ this must endure no longer. Speak to me!" The chevalier instantly recognized his beloved Aurelia, who had truly loved him, and whose heart had been deeply touched by the proof of his constancy and devotion, and he pronounced her name in rapturous tones as bp flew to take her outstretched hand. Francis was sensibly affected by toe romantic event, and he presented his restored favorite with a rich estate at his marriage.

Curious Companions.

Ton great insect-class|exemplifieß many remarkable associations, most of which, however, are examples of parasitism For instance, a curious relationship exists between ants and certain species of beetles. Indeed, some species of beetles which are totally blind, are nowhere to be found save in the nests of certain kinds of ants. These beetles are farther known, to be carefully tended by the ants, who at once attack any intruder into their nests, however nearly allied the latter may be to their blind friends. This is more mysterious than die well-known friendship that exists between ants and plant-lice, since the beetles do not, so far as observation has gone, furnish any secretion to, or otherwise benefit their hosts. One species of these blind (Claniger Duualii) is only found within the nests of a species of ant—the Latiut niger. Some ant-nests of this species may, however, be destitute of these beetle visitors; and when the latter are artificially introduced in such guestless homes, the ants at once kill them. M. Lespes, who has given us these details, thinks that the latter fact may be accounted for by dhe supposition that some ant-colonics are more highly “civilized” than others; but this explanation is more ingenious than probable or satisfactory. Among fishes, many examples of association with other fishes of widely different kinds, and for reasons not always apparent or explainable, are also to be found. The great fish frequently cast upon our shores after storms, and known as the Angler-fish or Fishing-frog (Lophiu* pi»catoriut), appears in many cases to give shelter, as a willing or unwilling host, to a kind of eel, which lives within the capacious gill-chambers of the Angler, and doubtless subsists on the food-particles which may find access to its abode, from the equally capacious mouth. The wellknown Pilot-fish has received its name from its supposed habit of piloting sharks toward their prey; whilst, as was believed by the. ancients, it also warned the seamonster against dangers of all kinds. Of the mere fact of the companionship between sharks snd.the Pilot-fish, there can be no doubt; bat it seems to be doubtful if the attendance is of the disinterested kind just alluded to, as the contents ot the stomach in the Pilot-fish, we are told, generally consists of food which it has picked up for itself. It is therefore not a mere parasite, bat may probably follow the shark from the expectation that its chances of picking up food are greatest in the neighborhood of so powerful a caterer.

The remora, or sucking-fish, in virtue of possessing a peculiar sucker on the top of its head, forms associations with other fishes, probably as an aid to locomotion. Fixed to the body of another fish, this clinging companion is saved all further trouble of movement on its own account, and roams wheresoever its foster-friend may list.—Chambers’ Journal. Or two threads of precisely the sam*. length and weight, the one span from cotton, never compressed, the other from a bale subjected to hydraulic pressure, (as is now commonly done in shipments from the South), the first will sustain twice the weight which the other will uphold, and the first retains its glossiness and Jliken sheen, and the otherlsduU and lusterless. —- Exchange. Farina Puddingi.—Five ounces of farina stirred gradually and boiled in one quart of milk, then let tt cool; separate the yelks and whites of five eggs; beat the whites to a stiff froth, and stir the yelks sad sugar together ; then stir all into the cool boiled farina: flavor and bake; it will be tight like • suffle if made in this manner. i.

NUMBER TWENTY-FIVE.

No. 85 in Our Square is a large brick bouse with live windows to the front and along balcony, foil of mignonette and geraniums thromghout the summer. For a long time nothing was known of Its inhabitants beyond toe Information contained in toe Dlrectonr, where they were registered at Miss Keith and Miss Indiana Keith. Indeed, for ten years Our Square was kept in total ignorance of their history. By sight we all knew them well, for frequently, if the weather was fair, they were to be seen walking in the square garaen, and were generally accompanied by a dark complcxfoned but pretty little girl, and a Hindoo, who, though dressed Uke an Englishwoman, was supposed to be an ayah. The little Leila, who must have been about three or four years old when they first came to Number 25, never joined in the games of the other children In the square, but used to walk with the ladies and the ayah, chattering away in a tongue which toe wondering nurses supposed to be Hlndostani, and which seemed much more familiar to her than English. At church toe Misses Keith were most regular, and generally on a Sunday morning Leila accompanied them, with the r“ *u who seemed to follow her like a ow. In all parochial charity lists their names appeared, and the clergyman was inclined to ascribe many an anonymous donation to their ltoerality; and often on a week day afternoon their carriage, instead of taking the direction of the park, would convey them to the workhouse or hospital, where they were ever most welcome. *

Of their personal appearance we have hitherto said nothing. Miss Keith, who might have been about thirty when she came to live in Our Square, was small and insignificant-looking; but her expression was mild and agreeable, and the tone of her voice pleasant. Miss Indiana, who must have been nearly ten years younger than her sister, was tall and slight, and her features were delicate and* beautiful; but her whole air and manner was that of a person who had passed through a great sorrow; and the sallowness of her complexion rather marred her general effect. Her voice, more musical than her sister’s, was mournful in its tone, expressive of a sort of quiet weariness, and very different from Anne’s cheerful, rapid accents; and yet, dissimilar as they were, the closest affection united toe two. And now, instead of letting our readers grope, as toe did, in the dark, we will, without further preamble, admit them into the secret or Number 25, and tell them toe stoiy as it was told to us nearly twenty years ago. Anne and Indiana Keith were the only children of Sir William Keith, who occupied a high judicial appointment at Agra, and had spent the greater part of his life in India. Soon after toe birth of Indiana, Lady Keith was ordered to return to England for toe sake of her health, and her two children went with her; and when, in a couple of years, she died, they remained there with their grandmother until her death deprived them of their horns, and they went out to join their father in India. At that time Indiana was seventeen years of age, and her beauty struck and delighted all the English residents of the city. Her rich coloring was a positive feast to the eye after toe sallow cheeks of toe Agra ladies, and only enhanced the luster of her glorious dark eyes; so that in a very short time the whole garrison was at her feet, and all toe civil servants were hopelessly in love. The elder sister was completely thrown in the shade, and she knew it; but she was quite free from any feeling of iealousy, and delighted in toe universal admiration that Indiana inspired. Of course among her worshippers there was one that toe beauty preferred ; and though toe spirit of coquetry which possessed her rendered her sentiments ooubtfcl for a time, she submitted at last to "become toe betrothed of Capt. Henry Willoughby, of Her Majesty’s One hundred and Thirty-first Regiment of Foot, a gallant officer and excellent man, who was a universal favorite, and especially approved of by Sir William, •it la true falx-means were small, but then the lady’s fortune would amply suffice for both; and as there was no particular reason for delay Indiana consented to theday being fixed for toe marriage. One morning as she and her sister were occupied in looking over a number of trousseau dresses just arrived from Calcutta she was told that a person wished to speak wito her, and two native Women entered toe room, toe first thickly veiled, toe other with her face uncovered and carrying a baby of about a year old. To Indiana’s rather hasty inquiry of what they wanted toe foremost answered by removing her veil and displaying features which, though dark, were strikingly handsome, and then, approaching toe white beauty, timidly asked in broken English if it was true that the Bebee was ?oing to marry toe Soubahdar Wiloughby. Indiana nodded assent with a smile and a blush, and Meen&h Baee continued: “ Does toe English iaw allow men to have two wives!” ■■■ ——i “Good heavens 1” exclaimed Indiana angrily, “what does all this nonsense mean ?” while her calmer sister answered: “ Englishmen can never take a second wife till the first is dead.” “Then the Bebee mustn’t marry toe Soubahdar Sahib,” and she handed fa-toe sisters a pleoe of paper which Indiana took and opened, and perused with an angry frown, though, as she finished it, she laughed and said: “ This is some stupid joke, meant to frighten me. Somebody has been making a fool of you, I fear.” Then, turning to her sister: “ Look, Anne; a contract of marriage between Henry Willoughby, Captain in Her Majesty’s One Hundred and Thirty-first Foot, and Meenah Baee, daughter of Holkar’s Dewan, with some unreadable name or other, dated two years ago at Indore. Do you mean to say,” and she turned fiercely to the woman, “ that you consider yourself married to Capt Willoughby?’’ Meenah Baee answered timidly in toe affirmative. A thick cloud rested on Indiana’s brow as she again examined the document.

“It is his signature,” she said, with choking voice. “ Here is a note I had from him yesterday; it is undoubtedly his writing, signed by a clergyman, too, the Rev. W. Jones.” “There is Henry coming?” exclaimed Anne, who was looking out pf the window. “We will have him in here,” said Indiana, coldly, and gave orders to a servant. “You, Meenah Baee, remain veiled till I bid you show yourself.” Captain Willoughby entered the room with a look of deep depression on his face, which, at any other time, would have roused Indiana’s tenderest sympathy; but now, without observing it, she bowed in a manner that at once startled and confounded him, and, before he could approach her, said: “ Oapt. Willoughby, you are come at a moment when your testimony is war ted. Have you ever seen that person before?” At her signal Meenah Baee raised her veil,and yfuloughby started slightly as he beheld the beautiful face, ana answered rather vehemently, for be fancied that Indiana was jealous: “ Never that I can remember.” “ Would it be inconvenient to jSSta to exert your memory a little?” demanded Indians In the same cold, bard voice: while Meenah Baee, exclaiming: “ It is heiitia my husband 1” threw herself at his feet, embraced his knees, and kissed the hem Of Ms garment in her rapture. Poor Captain Willoughby, thoroughly bewildered by this ebullition of tender-

ness on toe part of a perfect stranger, and by his betrothed's sudden change of mannory and also oppressed by toe sad news he had to communicate, could not speak for awhile, and his silence confirmed Indiana in her suspicions of his guilt. At length he replied: “I cannot moiled having ever seen her before, and ttmt she has to do with you and me, on my honor, I cannot conceive.” “ Your conscience should tell you,” said Indiana. “Bo you persist in disavowing her?” B But Heury Willoughby’s patience could last no longer, and without noticing toe last question he exclaimed : “ What aH this means, Indiana, you best know; but I confess it appears to me a very dnll jeat, especially turner the present circumstances. I have sorrow enough already without your adding to it. You, from whom I hoped for comfort!” he added with emotion. After a moment he recovered himself, and went on: “ My regiment is just ordered *o march at a moment’s notice against the Sikhs, and we start this evening.” Indiana’s cheek grew pale, but otherwise she gave no sign of emotion, as she handed him the paper and said: “It may appear a jest to you, but is certainly none to me. Beau that.” Willoughby read it; as desired, and then said: “I never signed this paper. It I* true I was at Indore about the time when this marriage is said to have taken place, but surely, Indiana, you cannot believe such a story about me. O, Anne! she cannot really believe It?”’ Miss Keith shook her head aorrowftilly, but did not speak, and Indiana, without looking at him, said: “Meenah Baee, can you swear to this man as your husband?” and the woman unhesitatingly answered:“ Yes.” .

On being further questioned by Anne, she related that her husband had been obliged to leave Indore a few days after the marriage, but that she had lived on there till the birth of her child, when her father, in ignorance of it all, and of her change of faith, was anxious to give her in marriage to one of her own nation; and to escape his importunity she had fled to Agra, and while making inquiries respecting her husband, she had seen him on parade, and hearing that he was about to be married, came forward to assert her own claims. In answer to all this Capt. Willoughby could give nothing but an emphatic denial ; but he owned that appearances were against him; and Sir William, whom Anne had summoned to toe conference, looked disturbed, and said that it was just as well that Willoughby should have to leave Agra now before the story got abroad. He would cause the affair to be thoroughly sifted, and the witnesses sought out whose names were appended to the document, and for the present, anyhow, the engagement had better be considered at an end. Capt. Willoughby, whose pride was deeply wounded at his word being doubted, acquiesced, and approached Indiana to bid her farewell, but his offered hand was rejected, and haughtily bowing, she turned away; and when that evening the One Hundred and Thirty-first left Agra, in high spirits at the prospect of an encounter with toe Bikhs, perhaps the saddest heart among them was that of Henry Willoughby, whose only hope now was that he might fall in battle, and that Indiana might then repent her injustice. But he was disappointed, and passed through all the battles of Moodkee, Ferozeshah and Sobraon without a scratch; and though risking his life on every occasion in the most reckless and daring manner and performing feats of the most heroic bravery, failed in finding toe death that he desired. After Willoughby left her father’s house Indiana still preserved the same stolid composure. Her pride was deeply hurt at the indignation that had been offered her, and yet, with strange inconsistency, she insisted on Meenah Baee’s taking up her abode in the house, and showed toe greatest kindness toward her and her child.

Perplexed by her sister’s conduct, Anne Keith knew not what to do, or how to rouse her from her unnatural calmness; but this was suddenly ended, for as the troops left Agra they had to pass by Bir William’s house, and at toe sound of the drums and fifes Indiana fainted away, and it was some hours before she recovered her senses. A long illness ensued, and left her so weak that the doctors assured Sir William that his only chance of savinghis child’s life was to send her back to England; and as his own health was giving way, he decided on resigning his appointment and returning with her. He had not forgotten ms promise to Willoughby, and every inquiry was made, but in vain. The Rev. Mr. Jones had been dead for a year and more; toe Dewan, though he had discovered that his daughter had married an Englishman, was either unable or unwilling to give further information; and the two native witnesses whose names were appended had left their country during some trouble, and could not be traced; and even Anne Keith’s faith in Willoughby was beginning to give way, though she still clung to the belief that some fatal mistake had occurred. ■ - Indiana’s long illness had destroyed the freshness of ner beauty, but she still possessed sufficient charms to attract numerous admirers, and one of the most pertinacious was a Mr. Spurgeon, who had been long devoted to her, and who, on Willoughby's departure, and, it was reported, dismissal, again took toe field, though with no more success than before.

Sir William had stayed too long in India, and after leading an invalid life for a year at Bath and Tunbridge Wells he died, leaving a fortune to his two daughters, who thereupon established themselves in Our Square, and led the useful and secluded life that we have described. Meenah Baee, who, though she had been baptized, was still known by her former name, and the little Leila, accompanied them ; and the child was the object of the warmest affection of both sisters, and more especially of Indiana, whose resentment had long since been extinguished by Anne’s kind and Chr’stian counsels, and who now felt only p.j for the unfortunate Willoughby, with an occasional feeling of pride when she saw bis name mentioned with praise in the dispatches, and of regret at the thought that such brilliant qualities should be united with so much baseness. One day, ten yean after the Misses Keith’s establishment in Our (Square, Anne was confined to the bouse with a cold, and Indiana went alone to the hospital where they were accustomed to pay weekly visits. In one of the wards she missed a familiar face, and in answer to her inquiries was told that the poor sufferer had died only the day after her last visit. “He talked a great deal about your kindness to bim, ma’am,” said the nurse, “and‘was very quiet and gentle to the last. But the patient who has his bed now is very troublesome. He was brought in nearly a week ago, having been run over by a cab, and was hurt so badly that the surgeon doesn’t tbink he’ll get over it; and lam afraid, ma’am, that ne isn’t in a right frame of mind, for he used dreadfully bad language when they brought him in, though lately he has been quieter.” When Indiana had gone the round of the ward, with a few kind words to each patient and the reading aloud of a psalm and a prayer to such as could bear it, she approached the bed of the man of whom the nurse had spoken, ana, though rather in dread of what he might say to her, sat down by him, and gently expressing her sympathy in his misfortune, asked if she

should read to him. The «n«fi whose rhad followed her with interest ever e »ne came in, aaaented with a readineaa and civility that aurpriaed the nune; and aa she read on in her sweet low voice his groans and rustless, movements gradually ceased, and he gazed on her still heaoiful face with an expression from which all ill-humor and suffering had vanished. When she finished one psalm he begged for another; and when at last she prepared to go he said: “ Did I not hear them call yon Mias Keith?” ” M|r name is Keith,” she wonderingly “Gantt be that you are the Indiana Keith whom I knew at Agra some ten years ago? You have her voice and her reatves; but you are somewhat changed, though not so much as I am.” “ Yes, I am Indiana Keith, and was living at Agra ten years ago; but who are vou ? I seem to now remember your face, but not your name.” 4 * Have you quite forgotten Fleetwood Spurgeon, who was one of the many you made fools of?" He spoke with an accent of bitterness, -and Indiana felt it, and colored as she answered: “ I remember you now; but you are very muoh changed. How came you in this place?” “ When you left Agra I didn’t care what became of me, and soon got into trouble and had to leave the place; and I went to Calcutta, and so on to Australia, where, alter some time, I got some gold. But I soon lost the greater part by gumbling; and so, tired of knocking about the world, I came back to the old country, and a warm reception the has given me. The very day I landed I met with this accident, and unless the pain ita my side gets better I don’t suppose I shall ever go out from here.” His reckless tone distressed Indiana, and she began to urge on him the necessity of seeing a clergyman and preparing for his end; but he interrupted her by saying: A parson would do me little good; but there is one thing which I must confess before I die, and to you only, for it principally concerns yourself. You remember Willoughby, ol the One Hundred and Thirty-first?” Indiana’s blush answered, for she remained silent, and Spurgeon proceeded: ‘‘You probahlv thought that the cause- of your injure! was known only to yourselves—l mean his previous marriage with Meenah Baee —but I knew it all, for it was a plot of my own devising. I was mad with jealousy at Willoughby’s success, and was meditating in what way I could injure him, when my evil genius threw in my way Meenah Baee, who had come to Agra in search of her husband, who was captain in the One Hundred and Thirtyfirst Native Infantry, but, as I well knew, had been missing for a year or more, ever since some skirmish or other. His name, Henry Millingsby, so capable of transformation into Willoughby; the fact of the number of their regiments being the same, and a certain similarity between their persons—they were both tall and fair—and a delusion that the poor woman had got into her head that Willoughby, whom she saw one day on parade, was really her husband, suggested to me the practicability of destroying his prospects, and, under pretense of assisting her search, I procured from her her marriage contract, which I destroyed, and substituted in its stead a forged deed, imitating Willoughby’s signature and those of the witnesses, who I ascertained were safe out of the way. Meenah Baee, who could not read English, and only knew her husband’s Christian name, never discovered the forgery: and after making her promise that she would not betray me to Willoughby, who would, I told her, never forgive me for destroying his prospects of a rich marriage, I sent her to you, and my plot succeeded beyond my hope. Your Indignation and the regiment’s sudden removal were most favorable to me; and' though I was deeply wounded at being a second time rejected, it was some comfort to know that my hated rival had no better chance than myself!” “ Can this be true?” gasped Indiana, who had listened in speechless astonishment. “ Surely you could not have been so cruel? Poor Henry!” she murmured in a low tone to herself, “ if I had only known the truth! Mr. Spurgeon, it is a hard matter, but still I forgive you the wrong you have done me; perhaps you hardly knew how great it was. Although it is late to do so now, I should wish to be able to clear Captain Willoughby’s name of the stain that has rested upon It, and write down the deposition that you have just made.” Spurgeon, who, to do him justice, had never known the extent of her affection for Willoughby, agreed, and affixed his signature to the* paper; and then, with trembling limbs and an agitated look that surprised the nurses, she left the hospital ana hurried home to rejoice her sister with the intelligence that her confidence in Willoughby’s honor had not been misplaced. . •. i.-w§

As she entered the drawing-room, where she knew she should find Miss Keith, she exclaimed with breathless eagerness: O Anne, Henry is innocent; it was all a wicked” but stopped short on seeing two strangers engaged in conversation with her sister and Meenah Baee. Her bewilderment did not at first allow her to distinguish their features, but she felt a strange trembling as she marked the tall figure of the one who came forward to meet her. No, she could not be mistaken; and in another moment her hands were clasped in Henry Willoughby’s, and her tremulous “ Henry, can you forgive me ?” answered by their warm pressure. Excess of happiness was almost too much for Indiana after her long trial; but by degrees she recovered sufficiently to be able to learn how this happy meeting was brought about. And first, Col. Willoughby—for he now held that rank—had to present to her his friend, Maj. Millingsby, who had unwittingly been. the cause of their long estrangement. “ After you left Agra,” continued the Colonel, “ I went through all the Sikh campaign, and then . my regimenfwas ordered to Gibraltar. After that—rather unfairly, as we thought, though had it not been for this piece of injustice, as we considered it, I might never have seen you again—we were ordered back to In. dia. This time I saw no service beyond the trifling business of reducing a refractory Mahratta chief, whose fort we took, ana there we found poor Millingsby, who had been prisoner for ten years and more, and was believed to be dead by bis own people, and so had never been sought for, and had given up all hopes of getting free again.” “Yes,” said Maj. Millingsby, “if you only knew what that feeling of utter hopelessness was; I could hardly realize that I was free, when the fort was taken. But go on with your story, Willoughby.” “ Well, Millingsby, when he had recovered his senses a little, began talking of his wife; and when I hoard her name and birth the truth suddenly flashed upon me, and though it was Impossible to account for the substitution of my name for his, I felt sure that the mistake had arisen from the similarity of sound, and that you, Indiana, had been equally deceived with me- Of course I hurried home at. once, add I will own that my first impulse was to meet you with reproaches; but your exclamation aa you entered the room disarmed me!” All was now joy and happiness at No. 25; and Meenah Baee, or, as we ought to call her, Mrs. Millingsby, was in a state of ecstasy at her husband’s return, though most penitent for the delusion whieh had caused Col. Willoughby and Indiana so much misery. Spurgeon’s confession, although not necessary, as it turned out, wan. satisfac-

tory, as clearing up the mystery of the story; and the wretched a.an, daring the brier remainder of his life. Was nursed with te der solicitude by her whose happiness he had so nearly shipwrecked, but who has now, thanks to the guiding of a merciful Providence, after long trials, given back to her taithful \am.—Oham bor'e Journal.

Children's Fashions.

Little girls, from six to ten, wear hats which tarn down all round and up in the hack. The flowers and bows are placed on top. Brown, white, and White and navy blue combined, are the favorite colors. Older girls wear turbans; and especially the Derby; these have scarfs of soft twilled silk In Madras colors, or plain colors, and a stiff wing on one side. Sailor hats are of dark bine straw, the brim turned up all round. For little boys these sailor nata are more like those worn by Portuguese sailors; the magic words “Invincible,” or “ Serapls,” In gilt letters on the front, give them a thoroughly nautical appearance. Scotch caps, in blue straw, are also very novel: these have the thistle in oxidized silver in front. Children’s dresses are still worn kilted; in plaids the blouse shape is a special favorite for boys and girls of five or six. It is sometimes made double breasted, and is confined at the waist by a scarf of soft woolen material, the color of some stripe in the plaid. Often the edges of the blouse are cut in squares and bound. The very plainest methods for making up children’s garmenta.prevail, simplicity in trimming being seen in all the samples sent from Europe. The favorite style of street garment for little girls is of gray cloth, with gabrielle front, sacque back and gilt plaitings set in at the waist; a broad sash starting from the side seams ties loosely at the back just above the kilt plaitings. Variations of this, in which embroidered bands or silk galloons define tabs and pockets on the front of the dress, are found in all the children’s dress departments. Little boys wear English walking jackets over their kilted suits; these have galloons of worsted or silk as binding, ana handsome oxidized buttons. Wide embroidered bands come expressly for babies’ dresses; these are also to be found in ecru linens, as well as white materials. Sashes are brocaded in satin on silk, Ivy-leaves, convolvulus flowers and shells being the newest patterns. Continental sashes in red, white and blue ribbons with fringed ends are also sold for children.— I\T. i. Evening Poet.

Forests and Fire-Proof Homes.

The following paper by. George May Powell, Chairman of the Forest Committee, was recently read before the American Institute, in New York: As suggested in our recent forest mo morial to Congress, “it is what is saved, not what is made, which constitutes natiorikl aswell as individual wealth.” Increase of fire-proof buildings, especially for residences for the people, will save much of the forest wealth now being worse than wasted, in building tindertraps and calling them homes. The human element of the forest question is likewise one of the deepest interest. Little feet grow weary early in the morning, the bloom of youth pales on the cheeks of young men and maidens, as they march to the dead line; and gray hairs dearer to us than our own fives have passed from our sight all too soon, because of malarial, pulmonary and other evils, which God’s green trees were intended to prevent or modify. Death, also, in homes turned to smoke and ashes, is another fearful count in the mortuary record of our country, in consequence of improper use of materials in their erection. If the statistics of those who have suffered from this cause were gathered, they would present ghaßtly and heartrending totals. Scarcely a week passes in which the press does not present us results of this class of fire record which makes the flesh to creep. Whole families or the choicest treasures of them, 'broiled and roasted and charred, or scarred and maimed for life, because the houses where they lived (and to build which the woodlands have been unduly depleted) have been unwisely constructed. The remedy is in fire-proof houses which will arrest both the holocausts and the waste of our arboreal wealth. That these fire-proofs are practicable as shelter for the masses of the people is proved by the almost absolute universality in which we find them in Oriental countries. We do not know of more than one house in the citv of Jerusalem, or any other Eastern city we have visited in Northern Africa, or in Syria, which would not be difficult or impossible to consume. That one, a modern wooden cottage, is on the high ground inside and west of the Damascus Gate. As far as we remember, all the rest—walls, floors and roofs—are masonry. These houses cost less there •than wooden ones. The same is true, to a great extent, of the popular architecture of the houses of the people in Europe at the present time. This point is substantiated by awell-knownstatementof Hiram Powers, the sculptor, to the effect that when there was a fire in an Italian city, they were in no hurry to put it out, knowing how completely it cari be controlled and how slowly it would spread. They would in most cases cost little more than wooden ones here, and the difference in expense of insurance would be good interest on that difference of cost, to say nothing of the feeling of relief from anxiety from the fact of security. By the use of some such material as terracotta, the French tell r or some other composite, cottages and villas and churches, as well as State buildings, can be erected over the heads of the people now and here. Those minor buildings can be so constructed as not only to be cheap and tasteful, but elegant. They are also healthier in respect to non-liability to sudden changes, to extremes of heat, cold and moisture. By reference to a British work on architecture it will also .he seen that ealia fragillie, (L), a wood which we can grow in unbounded abundance, is both non-flammable' and adapted to such portions of these structures as absolutely require wood. Treatment of curtains and some other house fixtures with a Solution of alum is another point worthy of consideration by way «of fire prevention. The minds or the masses need disabusing of the idea that insurance money makes good ‘tne losses from fire; the practical truth being that insurance is only a powerful suction pump to draw the losses of the few from the pockets of thß many. The loss from fire being, as a question of political economy, an absolute logs of just so much National wealth. There are over thirty-one ad a half millions of dollars of annual Insured losses by fire in the Empire State alone paid by the insurance companies, leaving uninsured losses out of the count

To whiten flannel made yellow by age, dissolve one and a half pounds of white soap in fifty pounds soft. water, and *l*° two-thirds of an ounce spirits of ammonia. Immerse the flannel, stir well around for a short time, and wash in pure water. When black or navy blue lmens are washed, soap should not be used. Take, instead, two potatoes grated into tepid soft water (after having them washed agd peeled), into which a teaapoonful of ammonia has been put. Wash the linens in this,-and rinse them in cold blue water. They will need no starch, and should be dried and Ironed on the wrong side. An infusion of hay will keep the natural color in buff linens, and an infusion of bran will do the same for Drown linens and prints.— Exchange.

The First Public Reading of the Declaration.

The declaration was written by J.eflerson, as be himself stated in a letter to Dr. Mease, in his lodging house at the aouthwest J borncr of Market and Seventh streets. The house is still standing, and is occupied by a tailor, who shows his patriotism by calling his shop the “ Temple oi Liberty Clothing Store.” The Instrument was sigqed, ss oar readers know, in the east room of the State Houae, on the lower floor. It appeared in the next day’s paper side by side with an advertisement of a negro child for sale who had had measles and small-pox, but was not officially given to the people until noonday on the Bth of July, when it was read to • large concourse of people in the State House yard by John Nixon, deputed to the task by the Sheriff of Philadelphia, who had received it from the committee. The stage on which the reader stood was a rough wooden platform on the line of the eastern walk, about half-way between Fifth and Sixth streets. Deborah Logan, who lived in the neighborhood, states that she heard from the garden every word of the instrument read, and thought the voice was Charles Thompson’s. In spite of all evidence in favor of Nixon, we choose to believe her. The man of truth should have first made known those words to Humanity. Cheers reni the welkiu, a feu-de-joie was fired, the chimes of Christ Church rang through al4the bright summer day, and the old bell gave at last to the world the message it had received a quarter of a century before, and proclaimed liberty to all the world. The daily papers—little thin sheets a few inches square—gave us for weeks afterward accounts of the rejoicing and wild enthusiasm of the other provinces as the Delaration reached them. In New York one singular ettect produced was that “a general jail delivery of all prisoners took flace, in pursuance of the Declaration of ndependence by the honorable Congress.—RebeccaHwding Davie,in Harper'» Magaeine.

Trials of a Prison Convict.

Nearly nine years ago a man named Moses Wheeler was sentenced to the State Prison for the crime of arson. The evidence against him was conclusive. Wheeler, however, protested his innocence, and declared that the testimony against him was a conspiracy to get rid of him, oh account of a few dollars that were in dispute. He also was prepared to prove an alibi, but for some unknown reason his witnesses were not called by the Government, and Wheeler was compellea to go into State Prison. Not quite a year ago a woman, the wife of the man who was instrumental in getting Wheeler into prison, the husband of the woman having died in the meantime, confessed on her bed, in the town of Wakefield, that Wheeler was innocent of the charge upon which he had been convicted. Duringthe eight years in which the man had been imprisoned he had endeavored to obtain a pardon, the authorities having been quite satisfied that be was innocent. It was upon this woman’s testimony, more than anything else, that he was convicted. Immediately following the death-bed confession, which was duly made before a Justice of the Peace, poor Wheeler was Eardoned. And now he comes before the legislature and asks the State to reimburse him in the sum of $30,000, the amount which he would probably have earned had he lived as a free man. The committee on the subject, while admitiin? the justice of the petition, have given Wheeler “leave to withdraw,” on the ground that the payment of such a sum to him, under the circumstances, “would establish an expensive precedent.” Wheeler is not the first citizen of the State who has done “time” at Charlestown upon perjured evidence. Wheeler feels the stigma of State Prison life clinging to him, yet he has no means of redress. His present motto is, “ God Save the State of Massachusetts.” And still hundreds of guilty wretches are allowed to go free.— Boeton Cor. Chicago Journal.

A Spunky Homan.

The Des Moines (Iowa) State Regieter of a recent date contains the following spicy communication from a woman in reply to an advertisement previously published by her husband: “ I hereby certify that lied, and he knew it, when he said I left his house with my three little children, without any provocation. As I consider (and think others would if they knew the truth), I had a great many provocations. All I ask of him is to pay his just debts and not wrong people out of their just dues, and leave me and my children alone, and pay me my Government pension that he has used ten years (being $350) and interest on it for half the time he has used it, and my furniture that I took there. I will risk getting my sugar without calling on my friends to help hunt what has been put away for the sick babe. I will further say that I can make as good a living for myself and three little ones as we had with , although he would have people believe that lwas a great expense to him. I confess he got me two ten-cent calico dresses within three years. I think It will keep him busy to gather up enough of his neighbors’ hogs to keep himself and his two children; however, it don’t take much of such pork to do me. I will say that through his scowling, pouting and complaining, I quit drinking coffee six years ago; but he continued chewing, smoking, and using his ooifee as usual. Then, last tall, he openly forbade my using tea. T suppose tobacco and coffee had raised in price. The whole trouble arose from his wanting my share of my first husband’s estate without giving anything to show that he had ever received anything from* said estate. He did not get it, nor won’t.”

The Stewart Fortune.

It is highly probable that the widow of Alexander T. Stewart will be annoyed and persecuted beyond measure by beggars of various degrees, even now that Judge Hilton is employed to assist her in disbursing it. If she had retained the whole she could not, during her life, give away more than the merest fraction of the interest of her vast fortune. If she knew on whom to bestow it, and occupied all her time in making small donations, she could not give it all away during her lifetime. Suppose her to be worth $50,000,000. and to disburse only the interest, she could get rid of SIO,OOO a day, or SI,OOO every working hour. In other words, she could perpetually give away sl6 a minute for ten hours of every working day and new touch the principal! If resolved to transfer to others the entire fortune, it would take her a year if she counted, out $8.50 a second. In SIOO bills, laid end to end, it would reach from the Battery to Central Park. If divided into $1 bills, and kept at componnd interest, neither Mrs. Stewart nor any single line of successors could ever count it and give it away, even if the counting were continued for thousands of years ana each coanted as fast as possible. If it was all in $lO bills and a thief should get adfcess to the pile and take one bill a minute, it would require more than thirty years for him to capture the fortune. Then in some States he could be punished only for petit larceny* .because .the individual thefts Would amount to'**' less than $15.” On the whole, Mrs. Stewart and her legal Cerebus are not to be envied.— N. T. Graphic,