Rensselaer Standard, Volume 1, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 October 1879 — Page 4

ODDS AND ENDS.

Cincinnatil* ninety years old. Spain owes $2,500,000,0d0, and cap* not pay 4he interest. - New' Yop.k has a child that w eighs only three-quarters of a pound. Growing plants in the window sweeten the air of the whole boose. Many of \Jjc streets of Parte are still lighted by means of oil or petroleum lamps. *r» lx long tramp the race is, not with the swift, It goes to the man who holds on. A Cleveland boy of 17 years is six set nine and a quarter inches high In bis stockings. a The famous thorouglibred mare Nina died at Richmond, Virginia, Friday, in her thirty-second year. Gladstone, the English statesman, lias a large family. His daughters are ail unmarried except one. The ax with which Glass, the Illinois murderer, killed Newman was

used to cut the rope at his execution. n»*v \i;ij 1 i,«leston has writtente ; y ».. ft-' acted in Sunday-sehoofa, . .i. ' t.i l lx- published in- Bt. NiehoIC, , i_iK Glani h coining to Amerjk •, fto siniwi people {list she js not .•.1. llcr misluind will accompany A mkmrkk of the grand jury now ittiugat Columbus* <)., is tinder in-v diet merit for malicious destruction of property. Tnr bard liuicM oau-icd . asuCs prl ing diminution of ' drutittnrh among ttlv l-'hgli.sh and* Sc deli laboring men. " ' • • A BOSTON man has hi vented a nmchiue for cobbling old sluhm By it they are quickly, neatly ,:!ioroughly repaired. Tub I'uivcrsalisl ehur '\ f , the United States has l,0»io lu::M.nj*s f 7**o ministers, 1"> academic* ; • sqs, and 17 newspapers. * Since I>r. rn cu * .**- c initiatory at Washington, i’y., ;v. ‘ bis childreu have dud, iat nt-ith«. i ;e*n have lieen circulated. Dion Boucicault fural :• eda water free to the' audience ' . [New Vork theatre, and lias liveried waiters to serve it in the boxes. Five I*i incetou students l..»ve jbeen iismli~ed for throwing kisse- at |>iretty. actre—e- oti the stage, and breaking in • ' son? hi the staid old eitv of Trenton.

Joe I’kntz wat married with a rifle in hi** hand at Gap, IVxasj He went prepared to quell a 'ti.-turljunce that a jealous rival was ex. ail to make. f j ! Uetckxs from the corn cron in; Nebraska >h<w a niagniticcnt'prosiH.’et,, with the yield iu some eases estimated a- liigfa as sixty bushels to the aere. Xi.\m-THKEK monasteries - and forty-seven eon vents have Ihs.ii broken np iti lioiqe since 1373. The eonftseatisl ehureh pr«*j»ertv sold for $5,f1U0,000. * The Nihilists burned up $15,tw0,000 worth of projierty in Itussja in the month of August. What they can’t have they ale not 'willing that others should pos-ess. * T in: manuscript copy of Wesley’s , hymns are in the possession of a Philadelphia lady, who-e grandfather received it ot Wolev’s printer in part l«y for a debt. ' _ New Youk city, which is able to support a college of its own, and teach German, French and the other'•‘accomplishments’’ in the grammar grades, is ton poor to furnish instruc-. tion in the rudiments of “ ’rithmetic,grammar and geography',” to 2.000 children who sought admittance to her schools.'

Commander Ca iu».v, of llu- English navy, describe a system of telegraphy which has in use among* tile natives of Africa or hundreds of years. Drummers are at ionetl at intervals of a mile apai and intelligence is conveyed from one to the other by means of tajw on the drums. Dispatches are thus transmitted with great rapidity. o tvu lass was recently sent to ■ -*.*cnjy days for cheating r« r lawyers—an ujiprcce- - !■ 1.. slte was a domestic ser«f age, aiid, represent-, i -urn that she would jhc . ?. cable foitune, giving * :* c- 1. i mictions lur.v to dispose <if her. s. i live “property.” she induced i jl -«f tU* is rut** gentlemen to ady .-e her smalls for present nebcSsi- ; :tS. X * t*y » fanulyjof.Spain nave spent .he summer in the Gaudarmma mountains. 3,.SUu feet above the level of the sea. I’liillip V. built hero si palace, and . laid out gardens in imitation o's Versailles, employing his time front ‘1719 to IT-Hi with such disregard t the cost that the gardens alone cat - i.l usi outlay of $45,000,000. I h return throypeuses Uhl* king had, as he vas heahl to say,- the satisfaction of a habitation higher ia the air than any eriegn in Euroi>e. %

MEWS NOTES

It is reported that 50,000 l.umlud weight of rails have been recently bought in Germany for the United States. Canadian financial authorities are examiuii.gour national banking system with a view to its adoption in the Dominion. * s ; - Jt It is stated that it cost more seven years ago to send a bushel of wheat to New York than it now costs to send it to Europe. , The Treasury Department has arranged with express companies to transport all shipments of fractional silver to parties ordering it atjjovern* ment contract rates. The number killed dj the recent railway disaster a» Jackson Michigan, was fifteen, and at last accounts two

of the thirty-one who were serioudy injured were not expected lo live.*** 1 A great fire 'recently occurred in the French quarters of Shanghai, destroying 991 houses. No lives loot. Tara year's peanuOrop in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee, Is estimated at 1,825,000 bushels, which Is about 450,000 in excess of last year’s I crop. The persons who robbed the National Bank «of Laconia, N. H., last April, have been discovered and Indicted. The amounT of their plunder was $125,000. _Bomh of 'the shrewd me chants in Liverpool have succeeded in creating a corner in American cheese, whereby tbe price has been advanced from 60 to 100 percent ' /• s- 4 The Post itffice Department has reconsidered its detenuluationto exclude letters of lottery companies from the mails until the matter can be farther looked into, and all laws bearing on the subject examined.

The cash receipts of the Cincinnat Exposition, which closed night, were SIOO,OOO. The total number of visitors who passed through the turnstiles was 422,879. It was the most successful exposition ever held in the West. A movement is on foot in Ireland to prepare an appeal, to be addressed through lay and clerical committees to their kinsmen in America, asking for substantial aid to enable them to tide over the inevitable calamities of the coming winter. N - • > A train was stopped at Glendale, Missouri, a small station niueteen miles east of Kansas City, the other night, and tlie express safe was robbed of S3t),OQQ in currency. It is believed that the robbers were led by the notorious James brothers.

Three desjHjradoes, supposed to be a jmrt of the gang engaged in the recent train-robbery in Missouri, have been arrested, and numerous persons are on a hot trail after the rest of them. Heavy rewards are offered for Iheir ca iture. The total number of new cases of yellow fever reported at Memphis last week seveuty-four, of whom forty were white persons. Total to date: Cases, 1,421; deaths. 425. During the previous week, sixty-eight new eases and twenty deaths were reported. The Coroner’s, jury investigating the disaster at the Adrian, Mich., fair grounds, place the responsibility upon the architect and builders of the grand stand, and upon the Superintendent of the fair, all of whom have been arrested on a charge of manslaughter. Fifteen persons lost their lives by the breaking down of this defetiveiy constructed building.

The two sons of Stephen A. Douglas, Stephen A, Jr., and Robert M., have recently came into possession of aiioht $200,000 by tiie decision in their favor of a suit in the court of claims for the recovery of the proceeds from a quantity of cotton belonging to their hrtber and confiscated in Washington county, Mississippi, -by the Federal troops during the war.

A decision has just beeni made by tlie general term, of New York, upon the right of a juror to have a preconceived opinion. The general term decides that if a juror has such control over his mind as to be able, to reach judgment oil the evidence in the same manner as though he had no -opinion before-hand, the exisience of that opinion need not disqualify him. The boom of prosperity, is unprecedented in the West and North. Michigan is selling more lumber than ever before. Minneapolis is sending off 3,000 barrels of flour |>er day, ami the city has 50,000 inhabitants. Duluth, the “Zenith city of the uncalled seas,” is ,receiving 120 car loads of wheat every twenty-four hours, and the Northern Pacific is pushing on. At a variety show in Baltimore the other night, in the last act of the play of Roving Jack, in which a discharge of musketry takes place, a young man named John Nelson, of Queen Anne’s county, Md., a medical student of the University of Maryland, who was seated in the audience, wus fatally shot from the stage, one musket being loadiil with hall instead of blank cartridge. Nelson wasr shot through the head.

England’s revenue for the past year shows a .continued decline over that of the two previous years. The income tax is the only item which shows an advance, but this is solely attributable to the rate having been raised. Even had a full revenue been realized, there would have been u deficit of 53,000.000, according to the budget of expenditures. The aggregate deficit of the last three years amounts to $32,750,000. . A few more wars with savages will prepare the Euglish taxpayers to raise a cry of re’ pudiation.

DußiNd'the year ending June 1, 1875), actual settlers purchased 8,050,119 acres of public laud.. The amount of land thus bought ami entered upon has steadily and astonishingly increased since 1875, during which year 3,500,000 acies were sold to bona-fide settlers.' These figures must be construed as showing a very extensive abandonment of other pursuits for agriculture. It is not at all improbable that this fact has had much to do with the present reVival of business and of manufacturing industries. It has, of course, been an important factor in the enormous grain production «*f the country during the current year.

INDIANA STATE ITEMS

The nut crop in all parts of the State is reported to be immense. A Plymouth man lias a cat that is trained to butt like a goat. Porte is suffering the effects of

water famine, while awaiting the eom-1 pletion of a water work well. Mb. Robert Bradley, no'old resident ot Port Mitchell, NoWe county, was found dead In his bed a fete days agoMias Libbie Wade, of Valparaiso, has been made insane by the constant noise of a woolen mill, her health being poor. William Mullknix, a bad character, who recently fired the calaboose in which he was Imprisoned, at La Gro, and was almost suffocated before he could be released, has since died of the internal injuries then received. Mbs. William Gordan, of Muncie, maintained the physical superiority of her sex, the other day, in a fair and square knock-down fight with her husband, whipping him so badly that he couldn’t get out of bed for three days. Andrew J. Bates, of Warsaw, is second cousin to Captain Bates, the Ohio giant who travels with Coles circus. Andy is no puling infant, as standing by hid big cousin the top of his head reaches to the giants ear. Thirty-five or forty persons hare each instituted suit, by their attorney, W. R. Pierce, against the Commissioners of Madison county, for the recovery of bounty money The claim in each case amounts to übout S4OO.

The Christian church at Leesbury, was destroyed by an incendiary fire, the other night. Loss $4,000, Insurance SI,OOO. During the same night, audio the same neighborhood, the fire bug got in its work in on a valuable barn and its contents. A man by the name of Austin, residing in Henry county, near the Madison county attended the fair. His wife remained at home. Toward the middle of the afternoon ehe locked up the house and went out upon the farm; during her abecense some one entered the house by means of a back window and took therefrom $475. James Murphy, a youth of twenty summers, entered the store of Eieh A Warner, at Greeusburg, Decatur county, a few days ago, and asked to see a revolver. He was handed one to examine, when he placed it against his right temple and snapped it four times, for the purpose of ending his days. As the weapon was not loaded, it was no go. He claimed to have run away from Greencastle, some months ago with SBOO, and as he had spent all his money, he wanted to die. Samuel King, of Clark county, had fallen into habits of dissipation, and this so grieved the loving, sensitive mother that she lost her reason. In her despair of his reformation, she attempted to hang herself, but was discovered by persons on; tbe place, and saved. Evading the guard placed upon her, the mother went out and plunged into a deep cis’ern, nearly filled with water. She was discovered just as she made the leap into the cistern, but the effort* put forth to save her failed, and she was dead when taken out. The heartless son at this time lay iu the 1 tousc in a helpless state of intoxication.

About daylight, not long since, Mrs. George Dari more, who lives on a farm about one mile west of Beesons, Fayette county, opened the door to go out in the yard, when a man met her and tried to get into the house. She ran back, screaming, when her husband, who was at home, hurried to the door to see what was the matter. He met the man, who appeared to be a tramp, still trying to force his way into the Jiouse, and giving him a push, the tramp fell back heavily off the step, which was a low one, and was so injured thuthe died in less than ten minutes. He appeared to be quite au old man, aud nothing was found upon his pereon by which he could be identified or from which any clue to his antecedents could be found. The services of tpe coroner could not be obtained, and no inquest was held. The body was buried by the citizens.

The Cobra at a Dinner Party.

Chambers’ Journal. 1 was assisting at a burrakhaua or big dinner party, aud we had all been extremely vivacious. At last the ladies "rose to depart, when, just past the muslin skirts or a very pretty girl who had been my right hand neighbor, there glided a cobra, which forthwith made for the open window behind us, but was attacked and killed before it could escape. The young lady, not unnaturally, got rather hysterical, but she soon came around, and then told us what, considering all the circumstances, there was not the slightest reason to disbelieve, that during the progress of the dinner her foot had on several occasions touched a soft object, which once or twice moved slightly, but which she concluded to be a pet dog, belonging to the master of the house, which she knew was perfectly quiet and good tempered. The dog, however, had not been in the rtxim at all, and the object she had touched had undoubtedly been the coiled up snake, whose bite would have been fatal to the poor girl, who little guessed the awful danger she had so narrowly escaped. * '

It Wasn’t a Cow.

Saginaw Cornier. Joseph Willett was out in a boat on the Sheboygaining Creek last Sunday, and saw at some distance away an animal in the water, which he took for a cow, but on rowing up to it, discovered that it was a large bear. He made a pass at bruin with a pike pole, but the wary animal warded off the thrust with a blow that broke the pole, and commenced climbing into the boat WiUet fortunately had an ax with him and succeeded in dispatching the brute and yesterday it was brought to town! It weighed 300 pounds.

Five Millions Overlooked.

Sun Francisco Bulletin.' • In the inventory of the Mark Hopkins estate United States bonds to the value of about $5,000,000 and $300,000 in gold to the credit of Mr. Hopkins in the Treasury at Washington were overlooked. They will be Included in the Inventory as soon as practicable. The hairs were cons durably surprised to find themselves $5,000,000 richer that, they supposed thev were.

THE CAVE OF LURAY.

A Visit to ft Virginian Wonderland, Norfolk Landmark. . > I must begin my account of the cave of Lotay with Warrenton, because it was from here We started on our expedition to the cave, and Warrenton is well-known to the people of Norfolk, so many of whom have pleasant memories ot visits to this charming place. I think many have felt as I have, when, after climbing our mountain here and standing under the “View Tree,” they have looked westward to the towering heights of the Blue Ridge, wondering and longing to see what beautiful land lies beyond those blue mountains, whose outline seems melting into the sky. I had been told of the Valley of the Shenandoah—that land of “Fertile plains and dewy meads,” around which the great mountains stand protedUngly, but it was not the Shenandoah Valley that we beheld when, one evening after driving all day towards those mountains, whose turquoise hides turned to emerald as we approached, we finally surmounted the gap and looked down upon the fairest little valley that ever the sun shone on—or moon either, for both sun and moon beautified it when first we saw it, the one with warm, rich tints of suuset splendor, while as the gorgeous colors faded away the full moon in its perfect beauty shed over her gentle light.

Beyond us lay a lower range of mountains, the Massanutton hiding the Hhenandoah, and below us lay a littW happy valley—the valley of Luray. A pretty stream flows through it like a Silver thread in the landscape. The little tqwn, gayly decked with flowers, eemsto be the abode of peac e ami tranquility. Near it is a fittle hill—a most unpretending little bill. So demure it looks, how could one ever guess the secret it has kept these hundreds of years? Yes, a mighty secret has been nidden in that quiet valley. Farmers have bought rich land and plowed and tilled and raised their golden harvest, and have soorped the barren hill where only pine trees and scrub oaks grew; the children have for ages played over it'little dreaming of the

depths ot wonder aud of mystery that lay beneath their feet. Sun aud moon have shone on that little hill. Sounds of human joy and woe have been beard there from the town close by, while down below, in perfect sileuce, in utter darkness, a work has been going on that is startling in its resemblance to the work of human hands, and shapes and forms of those far depths are surprising like those of the upper world. The night we arrived the cave was lighted up for a gay party, who went there to enjoy the novel entertainment of a dance under ground. We did not care to see it in that way—at all events, we preferred a night's rest after a drive of twelve hours over mouutaiu roads. The next morning we were impatient to behold the wonders that should be revea;el. A short walk brought us 1o the hill where a house has bwn built over the (entrance to the cave. It is proposed to have a hotel here; the site is p^eifect—no one.could lovelier view. A long flight of steps led down to the door through which we passed with our guide,|each one provided with oindies with a tin reflector. Our first sensation was of darkness; we realized what was the “darkness that might be felt.” It It seemed to close around us, and our little candles made scarcely any impression upon it with their feeble flames. After a while our eyes accusomed themselves to the strange darkness, and we could then see dim passages through which we went, mysterious shapes around us. We came to an open space; the roof was high above our heads; from it hung stalactites great and small, and folds of drapery like curtains partly concealing gloomy caverns black as night. Stalagmites rose like giant columns froth the ground. Some were of a yellowish, earthy color; others were white and glistening. Here we decided to burn some of the red fire we had brought with us. The rosy light flashed over fantastic forms, giving them a new beauty. The cave was filled with a warm, brilliant illumination. We gazed around in breathless wonder at the scene disclosed, and then the light was gone, aud smoke, dense, suffocating smoke, only remained. There was no way for it to escape, and so there it staid, making a thick fog. “This will not do,” said the guide; “no more red light in here!” So ours was the first and last. I may say just here that after several hours of wandering and exploring the intricacies of the cave, when we returned to the scene of our little illumination, we found the smoke still there. I hope in time it found its way out, but it must have been a work of time, The further we penetrated the more were we entranced, and *§ore wonderful became the formations. We were allowed to burn the magnesium wire we had brought, as that gave but little smoke. We had, our guide to flash it upon whatever was of most interest, and by its vivid light we saw huge elephants, grinning monkeys, the fish market, where huug rows of fish, ooking as if yet wet with their native! water. In one cave satan old woman as though crouching down and shivering; High up on a marble pedestal sat a grand Turk, cross-legged, with turban on his head and a flowing beard. Near him was perched an eagle oil what looked like an old dead tree. We saw the Tower of Babel towering upward in pride, arch upon arch rising white and beautiful, and we saw Pinto’s Cavern, dark and grim, and looked down into its untold depths of blackness. Then, as we groped our way aloug, on either hand were dim, mysterious vaults that one could easily fancy must lie the abode of elves and sprites. A little child, the youngest of the party, started back.

From one of the blackest recesses approached or seemed to approach us, a tall figure most;ghostly in its appearauce. One arm was extended, the other seemed to be holding together the long white veil with which It was enveloped from head to foot. An irresistible fascination made us strain our eyes to discern the features that it seemed to try to hide, and yet one felt sure that what was hidden was horrible. - A few steps on brought us to a different scene. An angel’s wing, white and beautiful, guarded the entrance to a glorious cathedral. Stately rows of columns and noble arches appeared, and at the farthest end was seen a huge organ. Suddenly we were startled by strange sounds that broke the silenoe—from the organ came strains of unearthly music—for as the guide swept his hand over the pipes th*y responded to his touch and sent forth a weirc melody. Beyond this we found the ‘Hianciug hall,” the largest of all the apartments. It is difficult to estimate size where everything is so odd and unusual, but this hall is said to be about the size of the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington. From one of the doorways we see fair lady hurrying away, her flowing rapery of creamy lace trailing behind her in her flight. It is Cinderella

freak, which struck us as pathetic, in ft corner of the dancingriialiwe find the “cemetery.” It lias, been railed off as though to protect from desecration the heaving mounds and grave stones standing upright. A human Interest is given to the cave by a tragedy here enacted. Years ago a poor Indian boy was lost in these recesses. What must have been his feelings of horror and dismay, buried alive in such a vault! We find the oot-priut of his moccasin and notice how he has slipped a little on the muddy path the print has become as hard as stone —and there it has remained to touch with pity for his fate the hearts of those of another race after long ages have passed and his people have been swept from the land. Some distance from the foot-mark, showing how tee had wandered, we find where he had fallen. Poor boy! he struggled hard, no doubt, for his life, but a deep and terrible pitfall gaped before him; into it he fell, and there his skeleton now lies half buried in a stony covering. I think the most beautiful object in the cave is the “crystal fountain.” It is au oblong box, white as marble, most delicately carved; over it hangsa canopy fririgwi with whst looks like Icicles. It is filled with the clearest water. In this water had been found a tiny mitten; it certainly must have been knit by fairy fingers for some little brownie lover ! And we fancied

the poor little elf trying iu vain to reach after it when it had fallen in by ftoc : dent. But he never recovered that mitten. The good-natured guide won the eternal gratitude of a boy of our party by presenting it to him, to be treasured as the gem of his museum and a souvenir of Luray. I cannot tell half of what might be told about this marvelous cave. A visit to it is like having a glimpse of another world, a land of shadows and of mystery. And now, when I look over towards those blue mountains, the charm of the- unknown is gone, but in its place is pleasaut memories of a smiling valley, a pretty little town resting upon its bosom, and far beneath sunlight and moonlight a land that exceeds all my childish fancies ever pictured in my dreams of “Wonder-land.” "

A Prisoner’s Wonderful Escape.

Oil City (Pa.) Derrick. Who will believe tliata man 20 years old, and 150 pounds in weight, crawled through a hole in a stone wall six by eleven inches in size, twenty-five feet from the ground, and escaped down a rope? These were the exact circumstances under which Gharles Croton, sentenced on Friday last to one year’s imprisonment and SIOO fine and cost on two. indictments for assault and battery, escaped from the Venango county jail at 12 o’clock Monday night. Croton, with John Murray, convicted of the same offence and sentenced at the same time, was confined in the cell farthest removed from the apartments of the sheriff. Using two case knives, which has been converted into saws, lie first cut through one and a halfinch upright irofl bar dividing the window, which is six inches wide. He then, with a cold chisel, cut into the wall, which is composed of a soft freestone, until he had freed both ends of a flat cross bar of half-inch iron, through a hole in which the upright was passed. Just below the next cross bar above hecut into the upright to a depth of three-sixteeiiths_ofuninch, aud, inserting one end of a bed slat, lie and his partner, by applying their united strength to the slat, broke of the bar where the nick had been made. This left a space six inches wide and eleven inches high. Previously he and his partner had torn their blankets into narrow strips and platted quite a neat rope there from. Securing the rope to what was left of the upright rod, he thoroughly soaped the sides of the opening, soaped his own naked body and wriggled through this small hole,climbed down the rope, dressed himself after his clothes were thrown down by his accomplice, /md escaped through a storm of rain. His companion, being of larger frame, did not attempt the hopeless task of getting througlL the window, but went quietly to sleep. There were found in the cell two knives, one cold chisel, one hammer and two bags, converted into sacks from the sleeves of a shirt, connected by a cord of sufficient length to bring them, if hung over his shoulders, down to his hips, and which may have been used to protect his sides as he edged his way through the aperture, although this is scarcely probable. These were filled with soft bread.

A Southern Romance.

During the rebellion a well-to-do family, consisting of John H. Reynolds, his wife and daughter, were driven from their North Carolina home because of its occupation by Federal troops, and settled in Walker county, near Birmingham, Alabama. There accompanied the migrating family a handsome woman, who, though called a quadroon, was hardly to be distinguised lrom a white person. This quadroon devoted her time to the eare of Mrs. Reynolds, a Confirmed invalid. After the war Henry Horton settled on an adjoining plantation. He had a son named Mark, and Mark grew up as a playmate of Jessie the daughter of the Reynolds household. A few years ago both families beiug prosperous, it was arranged by Reynolds that if the children could be induced to love each other there should be a union of the houses. Jesssie was sent to a girl’s sehool at Louisville, Ky., and Mark entered at Princeton College. Return ed from their collegiate studies, the young folks sure enough fell in love and were married under the most promising auspices. A month or so ago a child was born to them, and it was remarked that young Horton

and wife were among the happiest of mortals, but a eloud came upon the horizon shortly after the birili of the child. The quadroon fell sick, and Dr. Blackburn, theliffniingham physician, told her that her death was at hand The quadroon sent for young Horton, hhe told him that her conscience hud tormented her into making a deathbed statement. She said Jessie had negro blood in her veins; that she was her daughter. John Reynolds was Jessie’s father, but the invalid Mr. Reynolds had never been a mother. The life long illness of the latter had In fact been caused by Reynolds, who at Jessie’s birth forced his .wife to acknowl edge the child of the quadroon as her own. Tiie death of the quadroon occurred soon after Hortoh had been given the statement. Horton at once told his innocent wife the story of her parentage, drove her from her house and sued for divorce in the Walker county «Surt now sitting. The other day thepourt decreed the marriage void because of fraud. Pending the decree Horton disposed of his property and left for California. Reynolds is now endeavoring to sell so that he may return to North Carolina. The poor young wife and mother is wild with grief. It is not likely that she will bear the: strain, and an educated, refined

«bPpHI be broken under her weight o' | woee, the victim of mi institution of the past. *

An Infernal Machine.

Philadelphia Special to Chicago Tribune. Up to midnight all efforts have failed to find the whereabouts or Robert Parrish, Jr., the attorney in whose office-desk an infernal machine was exploded to-day, causing serious, and, perhaps, fatal injury to tbe office-boy. A loud explosion was heard in the office, No. 229 South Sixth street, and a rush was made, when a volume of stifling smoke poured out of the door, and Willi am McDowell, 17 years old, was found in a corner of the office with a hand tom off at the wrist, and so shocked that he has been unable to give any account of the aflair yet. In the drawer of the desk occupied by Parrish were found three large .pistol barrels pointing directly at a chair placed iu front of the desk, with emery paper and matches so adjusted that any attempt to pull open the drawer ignite the matches and the train of powder that had been laid. They had evidently been loaded to the muzzle with inch slugs, for one of the barrels was burst all to fragments. Three slugs had gone right through the back of the hair-cloth chair placed in front

of the desk, and two more through a thick door and buried themselves in a pile of papers. The lock was buried in the chair and the desk smashed. It is persumed that the boy jumped on the desk to open the window, and the jar rent the infernal machine oft". A warrant has been issued for Parrish, under the statute making it felony, to cause the injury of any person bv explosion, but it is belie veil that Parrish had placed the machine there under the influence of insanity. He is a member of the bar, 50 years of age, but did no s practice, and very little is known of him beyond the fact that he had a claim to a large fortune in France. He served in a California regiment during the war, and has since been trying to prosecute his claim, which was for 1,I *oo,ooo francs. He believed that he was pursued by persons who were trying to wrest his hereditary rights from him, and when he lost a deed lately, he laid it to emissaries of the Frencli government. He went out of town, on Thursday, and has not since been seen.

How He Measured It.

During the siege of Fort Wagner a line of abatsis was to be built across a clear space in point-blank range of the rebel gunners and sharpshooters. “Sergeant,” says the octfier in charge, “go pace that opening and give me the distance as near as possible.” Says the sergeant (for we will let him tell the rest of the story), “I started right off. When I got to the opening I put er like the devil in a gale of wind. What with grape, canister, round shot, shell, had a regular bees’ nest of rifle balls, I just think there must erbeen a fearful drain of amnnition on the confederate govruent aboutjthat time. I don’t kno vv h w it was, but 1 didn’t get so much as a scratch, but I did get powerful scared. When I’d got under cover I couldn’t ti told for the life ’o me whether it was a hundred or a hundred thousand paces; I should sooner er guessed a hundred thousand. Says the Captain, “Well, Sergeant, what do you make it?” Soon as I could get my mind, says I, ’Give a guess, Captain.’ He looks across the opening a second or two, and then says. ‘A hundred and seventy paces, say.’ ‘Tnunder! Captain,’ says I, ‘you’ve made a pretty close guess. It’s just a hundred and seventy one.” “And that,” added the Sergeant, after the laugh had subsided, “that’s how I got my shoulder-straps.”

A Boy’s Presence of Mind.

A little time ago a young man died in Philadelphia who was popularly kuown from his swiftness in running, as “Deer.” His story was a singular one. A few years since he was a ragged, shrewd lad, peddling newspapers about railway depots. One day he happened to be on the line of the Pennsylvania railroad, when he saw an engine rushing down the track without any driver or tender. By some chance it had been separated from the cars, and was driving on alone. The boy knew it would meet au express train this side of the next station. He had about four minutes’ start, and darted down the track after it. The engine was, of course, not at full speed, yet nobody but Deer could have won in such a race. -.He did win, was cool enough to remember the signal to the station keeper necessary to have the switch placed so that the engine would be turned on to another track. It was done just two seconds before the express train went thundering by. Deer, for this service was granted by the Pennsylvania railroad corporation a monopoly of the newspaper and book trade on its trunk route, and from this he derived a handsome income.- It was to the boy’s coolness, as well as to his fleetness, that hundreds of human beings owed their lives.

They Must Talk.

What is known as the “silent system” in prison management has been severely criticised, but it generally prevails in large establishments. In England the effect of this sort of discipline has not been entirely favorable. The chaplain of a military prison, being much surprised at the general and very earnest responses of the convicts during the services, was told by the officers that v#y few knew or cared what the responses were, but were indulging in them man ly as a recreation. 'The silent system has proved so injurious to general health, that it was strictly enforced on only short-term prisoners. The others were, through necessity, allowed deviations. For sanitary reasons, all were encouraged to respond in the chapel, and they availed themselves of the chance to use their voices as if a great luxury, and all sang vociferously for the same reason. We do not recollect to have before seen a claim that talking is essential to the preservation of health. It Is certainly a curious and suggestive

M—di—aka’s Thrilling Story.

According to a St. Louis paper M—<ij- ska is writing a story for Scribner's Monthly. It is a love story. The heroine’s name is Griseldavltch Topplewatcbkitzky, and the hero’s, Vladimir Tschezarotsh. The scene is laid iu the quiet little Polish village Stirritupifvltch, on the banks of the classic River Muddibechky, in the region of the Kotzebutitzelosky Mountains. We extract a passage from advance sheets: “Within her wan hands she bad her face concealed, when to her Vladimir asked if she did truly lose him. ‘Yea, I lose thee; by yonder bale moon I adjure it.’ ‘Let us, then,’ said he, ‘flee,’ but she, hesitating by reason of her trunks, which being still unpacked. The tears wandered from her eyes, but meanwhile Vladimir repeated whaf for she would not be coming pretty soon, not having been aware of the gash the words of him made on the inside of her heart.” There are 130 students in attendence at Earlham College.

AGRICULTURAL.

As a general thing, it fa cheaper and more convenient to get seeds of the regular seedsman thau to save them. But ifßiiy are saved, let them alwayshe of the earliest, fairest and best specimens. The manureofeows and pigs reals decomposition for a longer time than that of the sheep and horse, both the fatter being dryer than the former, and decomposing more readily in the soli. Gardening is regularly and practically taught In more than 20,000 primary schools in France. Every school house has its garden, aftd teachers must be not only good gardeners, but qualified to teach horticulture'or thev cannot pass examination. “The "charm «.f breeding,” writes Mr. bimpson, as quoted by Turf, Field and farm, “lies in the uncertainly of the pursuit. Were the coupling of a stallion with a mare reduced to an exact science, the fascination of the business would be done.” '

There is mote money in good poul-try-raising, considering its cost, by onelialf, to be had annually, than can be realized from the pigs or the sheep on a farm. And yet the fatter are fed aud housed and bred everywhere, to the entire neglects almost, of fowl stock. For a kicking horse fill an old sack with hay aud suspend it from the loft by means of a rope, in such a manner that the horse wifi be able to kick it every time it swings against him. Let him kick until he stops of Ids own accord, and you will have no more trouble vith him that way. v * It is believed by many that red clover is one of the most valuable of soiiiug crops. A half acre will keep one cow throughout the mouths of June, July and August, if cut aud fed at tbe stall; while more than twice this amount of land, if grazed, according to experiments in England, will barely subsist a cow during the same time. • '

White Belgian carrots do blast badly where the land was freshly manured. Where rye, manured last August was plowed under, the foliage remains untouched. This kind of carrot has a habit also of growing out of the ground now and then in a way to interfere somewhat with cutting the top with a thrust hoe before plowing the roots out. / Cows that have access to water at a times will drink often, but little at th time, and return to their feeding Cows deprived of a sufficient sUpplv o water fail in milk and flesh, and when they are allowed to fail, it is almost ■ impossible to bring them back to their proper yield of milk and condition of flesh, at least without extra expensefor trouble.

A most valuable remedy for heaves and said to be a sure cure: Fortv sumac buds, one pound of rosin, one’piut °f ginger, half a pound of mustard, one pint of uusiacked lime; one pound of epsom salts, four ounces of gum guiaeum, six ounces ot cream tartar. aL:; thoroughly ami divide into thirty 'powders, ami give one every morning ui then - feed before watering.

Born to be Guillotined.

London Standard. . t \ A case is shortly to come before the Paris assizes which tends to prove that he who is bom io be guillotined may expose his life with impunity on the most sanguinary battle field. Sagnier enlisted at the outbreak of the FrancoGerman war in the now famous Ninth Cuirassiers, quickly rose to be a corporal, and took part in the heroic charge made by that regiment at Woerth. “I heard the bullets,” he said to the judge, “rattle like rain on my breast plate.” He was unhorsed by a stab from a bayonet and finally picked up from among the dead. As soon as be recovered from his wound he took service again, and was one of the defenders of Strasbourg. There he was wounded again by a shell splinter, aud after the capitulation of the city he was sent a prisoner to Germany and confined in the citadel of Breslau. On returning to France he settled in Paris and became a whitesmith. As he was a very intelligent and clever workman, he might have lived happily and comfortable on bis earnings, but he grew discontented, hjs temper soured, he imagined himself the victim of perpetual persecutions and could not resign himself to the misfortune of not having received the Cross of the Legion of Honor for his bravery during the war. He took to drinking absinthe, and his brain thereby became so much affected that he bad to be confined in a lunatic asylum. He left it cured, and the doctors who have examined him in connection with the horrible crime to which he has confessed state that he is quite responsible for his acts. To come to that crime, here are the facts: On the 12th of August last year, about nine in the morning, a young woman, Mine. Delachaume, who had gone to the cemetery of St. Omen to pray at the tomb of her sister, was suddenly attacked by a man armed with a hammer as she was kneeling on her sister’s grave. The brute, after knocking her down, trod her under foot, and finally, after battering in her skull with his hammer, left her weltering in her blood, but not before having robbed her of a cross she wore, and also of her watch and chain. Twq'other ladies had been assaulted and robbed in the same cemetery. The police at last succeeded in arresting Sagnier and charged him with all three crimes; for the two last mentioned he was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. As for the capital charge, Bagnier explains it by alleging a fit of madness broughton by drink. He said: ' . Lweut to the cemetery, of St. Omen with my mechanic’s hammer to fasten the cross on the grave of my little daughter who died recently. I had prayed fervently for her. All at once - I saw the cross and watch-chain of the kneeling lady beside me glisten in 'the sunshine. A bad thought took possession of mj brain,aud 1 struck without knowing what I did. *

Eaten by His Friends.

A Carthage correspondent of the Watertown (N. Y.) Dispatch tells a queer story to the' effect that Captain C. L. Smith, formerly a stove merchant at that plac %, was eaten by his friends, after casting lots, to escape starvation. Smith was an officer in the Second New York Heavy Artillery’. In 1869 or 1870 President Grant appointed him Consul at some point on the Amoor river. Resigning, he went into the fur business iu China for a New York German firm. He made a fortune for himself and the firm, and, With others, started in a junk to intercept a vessel bound for America. The Crew mutinied, robbed them, and put them offou a barren island. They came near death’s door, cast' lots to see Which should be killed and eaten, and Smith was the man. Mis friendsate him and were finally rescued. Smith's wife, who with friends in Chicago, after her husband’s appointment did no! hear from him for years. She was found dead in bed before the story became known. When Smith was made Consul he was in the stove business at Tennally town* M«L The story of his death did not reach his friends Until recently , when a Chinaman, who was one of the survivors, related the-fact to a friend of Captain Smith's.