Rensselaer Standard, Volume 1, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 November 1879 — Page 4

ODDS AND ENDS.

The English Jockey Archer has an income from his profession of slo,ooo* year. France’* wine crop will be below the average in quantity and quality this season. " Oxk firm in Boston has imported and sold SIO,OOO worth of English bicycles since May. 'Phiuejj gentlemen of leisure rode from Milan Italy, to Lyons, France, a a distance of 530 miles, on bicycles, in five days. , • . Ex-Senator Dorsey of Arkansas has a Colorado farm eighty miles long and forty-five miles wide. Thirteen hundred head of cattle graze upon it. It is estimated that over one hundred and fifty thousand miles of wire fence have been constructed since its first use for this purpose. The increase of flouring mills in the four States of lUinois,Wisconsin, lowa and* Minnesota from 1860 to 1878, was was from 1.138 to 3,000. - SH.K culture has been successful at the New Orleans Convent of St. Augustine since 1854. The product compares favorably with foreign competitors. On seeing Harmon Boyers, aged 18, sent up from Cynthiana for arson, Governor Blackburn said he wanted no boys in the penitentiary, and ordered his immediate release. The Duke and Duchess of Norfolk made a pilgrimage to Lourdes to pray for an heir, and now that their petition has been granted, they will make another to return thanks. Rich and pretty Miss Lillie Ayer, daughter of the liver pill man, is engaged to the poor and titled Prince Phillippe Louis Marie de Bourbon, grandson of Doro Pedro. In writing letters put your name and address on the outside. They will be returned to you if not deli'ered to those to whom they* are addressed, whether you ask the return or not. The Walla Walla valley farmers in Washington Territory raise from twen-ty-five to sixty bushels of wheat to the the whole cost of raisiug and marketing is only twenty-four cents a bushel.

I? he town of Astoria, founded in 181Uby John Jacob Astor, as a trading was the first white settlement in Oregon. Its early history is recorded in Washington Irving’s “Astoria.” At present it has two thousand inhabitants. A brilliant young graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Law School, has just died in the penitentiary. If his talents had been confined to writing essays and briefs he would not have got there; but he took to writing notes and signing other people’s names. . Mbs. Babtlett, a wealthy Georgia widow, aged fifty-nine years, recently married, after a three-months’ widowhood, one of her late husband’s employes, John Childrews, aged twentythree years, and she is now thoroughly educating the young man at college. Statistics show that the inhabitants of New Jersey who are in the State Prison have better health aid longer life than those who are out of prison. Whether this is due to the strong constitutions of the convicts, or to their forced observation of the laws of health is not shown by the figures. But, from either standpoint, the facts are significant. At no lormer period has the lottery been so flourishing in Rome, whtre there are now open no fewer than eighty-nine oflices now ready to take in the hard earned pittance of the people. Now here else is the institution so demoralizing as among the Romans, who are w edded to old games, and who, in order to play at the “lotto,” will sell the last, mattress off their beds, the shirt off their backs, or starve, beg, steal, or stab.

Four Scotchmen, one of whom was Lord Dunmore, ltave been indulging in real heroism. A pleasure yacht was wrecked in the Hebrides, leaving four men, three women and two children on a desolate, storm-swept rock, eleven miles from the coast. They clung theVe, with nothing to eat, and suffering intensely from cold, for a day and a half. No beat Would attempt the perilous voyage necessary for their rescue, until Dunmore and his companions put out in an open fishing smack. The lives of all the nearly exhausted party were saved.

What is reputed to be the largest and handsomest collection of postage stamps in existence has iust been purchased by. Edward Wolfer, a dealer in papeterie and postage stamps of Frank-fort-on the- Main, for §2,000. Von Volpi, a leading physician in the Bavarian arm y in 1866, and now a journa ist of Trieste, took ten years to get the collection together. It contains specimens that are amoug the rarest and haudsomeSt to be found, some of them having a market value with collectors of sl2 to S2O each. The total number of stamps in the collection is about twelve thousand. English and French collectors are travelling to Frankfort to examine it. Before he began this collection Von Volpi had made another, which, though uot equally fine and extensive with the one now sold, was the. best in existence then. It was purchased by the British Museum. A “Medical Man” reports to the Liverpool Courier the following incident which came under his own observation : ' “I was called the other night to see a man in the agonies of cholera cramp, apparently the result of drinking freely on the occasion of his niece’s marriage. I found not less than a dozen persons, mostly young women, in a room with fall glasses before them, a three-gallon jar of strong ale on the table, and several bottles of whisky. The latter had been replenished over and over again. The revels were kept

up for five day*, and I have been assured by the uncle of the bride that ‘the drink’ alone oost them the sum of £2O. Sundry young fellows had been ‘saving up’ for weeks previously, so as to have a regular spree, with their sweethearts on the occasion of their friend’s marriage. The father pawned his watch and several articles of furniture; one young fellow pawned his coat, bat, and watch; and the sum of £5 was advanced on the security of their names by the publican, to findits way back into his till as fresh supplies of liquor were called for! The debauch lasted five days, and the whole party of revellers—twelve to thirteen in number—slept together on the floors or anywhere of a small three-roomed cottage. The revels ended, the whole party proceeded to the house of Father Nugen* and sighed the pledge.” A two-years convict Just released from the Milwaukee house of correction, whose veracity is vouched for, tells a most revolting story of the atrocious practices in that institution. During his incarceration he was not allowed to write to friends or counsel, and bis family supposed him dead. He gays the flour furnished the convicts for which the county pays $6 per barrel, is damaged cow feed and can not be baked, and that the meat is putrid, and that immature and diseased animals have been furnished for meat. He says the convicts were beaten and put in the black hole, which is a filthy dog kennel 5 feet and 4 inches by 5. A man can not 'lie atlength in it. It has no ventilation, and the floor is covered with the most disgusting filth. Men have been placed there for twenty days, and two died in it. A young man named Powner, arrested on the charge of stealing at Columbus, but since acquitted, makes grave charges against the Globe Light-ning-Rod Company of Chicago, under whose employ he has been for the past two years. He claims that by a neat swindle perpetrated in different counties in the State, the above company have obtained about $30,000 for rod that should have cost not more than SB,OOO. From his statement the operations of the agents are about as follows: They go to the trustee of a township and contract with him to furnish an amount of rod for the different school houses. In order to make the contract they give him a certain sum for “managing,” etc., for which he signs a receipt. Then instead of sending him the amount of rod he ordered, they send several hundred dollars worth. When he protests against payment they confront him with his receipt and threatened exposure fQr selling his influence upless he pays the amount. He then realizes that he is in their power, and pays the required amount out of the Township fund. This, according to Powner’s statement, has been carried ou all over Indiana, and if true, it is not only a huge swindle of the “Globe LightningRod Company,” but also places a countless number of township officials in an awkward position, as it is unlawful 011 their part to go in such a transaction.

The New York Evening Post tells a touching story ot a young lady who navigated her father’s ship, the Templar, from South America to San Francisco. Captain Armstrong, the father, sailed from New York to San Francisco, having his wife and daughter on board. All went well till they left Rio Janairo. Then yellow' fever broke out on board the ship, Sailor after sailor died, and was lowered into the deep. The Captain’s wife died too, and he and his daughter were attacked. Both survived, however, the Captain weak and helpless as a child, the daughter weak too,, but strong-hearted as a hero. The first mate became panic-stricken, and headed the vessel back to to the Rie De la Plata. The daughter resolved it should - reach its port of San Francisco. She obtained her father’s premission to command the ship herself. Then she deposed the first mate put the second mate in his place. The second mate knew how to take observations ofjatitude and longitude, but not how to make the calculations reducing them. Miss Armstrong did know, however. At high noon he took observations and submitted them to the girl for her calculations. These she made and gave her commands. At length, after a terrible voyage of nearly a year, Miss Armstrong headed her ship into the port of San Francisco. For many weeks of the time her father lay unconscious, hovering between life and death. There was a daughter worth having.

GENERAL.

Even the turnip crop booms, exceeding all former years. Nine tons of gold from Europe landed at New York in four days. A Number of Swiss colonists have just purchased 75,000 acres in Nebraka. Heavy rains and a flood, causing serious damage to the new cotton crop, are reported from Alabama. The latest official report of the strength of the army makes it 21,715 white, and 1,947 colored troops. Five hundred and fifty New Englanders, from Vermont and Maine, have started for .the western states. The most novel joint stock company yet formed is at Chester, Pa., where fifteen stockholders own an animal said to be the best coon dog in the country. The Spanish commission on reforms in Cuba has agreed to recommend that slaves shall be entirely emancipated in seven years from the date of passage of an emancipation bill. The English papers are doing ail in their power to discourage emigration to America. The German and English steamship companies are increasing their rates on American freight.

Bluflfe, lowa, last week, while en route to California. Cash to the amount of $556 was found on his person. As the entrance foe to Masonic lodges In Turkey is so high that only the richest can Join the order, the Turkish officers in Connecticut have united with a lodge in the land of steady habits. WjUiAH McMillan and J. W. Newall, confined in the Elliott county Kentucky Jail, were taken out one night last week by regulators and hung. The men were charged with ail manner of erimes. At the session of the Episcopal Church Congress, in Albany, New York, recently, the subject es positive Christian education was discussed. The general sentiment was against the introduction of religious training in the public schools. It is believed the French chambers will shortly be convened at Versailles, and not at Paris, for the discussion of ‘he questions of amnesty, finance and tariffs. The government hesitates to discuss these absorbing questions within the hearing of the communistic Momenta of Paris. While digging a well at Btreator, 111, one day last week, a species of lizard was unearthed at the depth of fiftythree feet below the surface. It was alive, and was evidently enjoying itself when disturbed. There was no trace of any hole in which it might have descended, but it was imbedded in solid rock.

Gottleib Nailer, a farmer living near Berea, Obfo, his wife, and an idiotic son, were shot and left for dead by Lewis Nailer, a son of Gottleib, aged 22, who then attempted to make his escape, but was caught at the depot and confessed the crime. He claims to have been drunk, and not to have known what he was doing. A few days ago the Indians along Bassamaqueddy Bay, Maine, chose their governor,and subordinate officers. The installment took place the evening of the election, the ceremonies beginning by each Indian placing a spot of red paint on his forehead. There were a variety of dances in which no squaw was permitted to have a male partner, plenty of singing, an address, and an immence feast. Ouray, the head chief of the Utes at theUncompahge, who is believed t oe friendly to the whites, lives in a house, cultivates some sixty acres of ground, has a large flock of sheep, wears the clothing of a white man. and has largely adopted the habits and customs of civilization. He can read and write, and corresponded with President Grant freely on matters concerning his people, besides visiting him twice. lTt|bstß $250,000 or less to build a first-class iron freight steamer of 2,500 tons, that will rate A 1 for twenty years. Six weeks are allowed for a round trip from New York or Philadelphia to Europe and back for a steamer of this class. Granting a liberal allowance for laying up for repairs, the ship will make seven round trips a year. The average value of her outward cargoes may be fairly estimated at SIOO,OOO, and the freight lists will average not less than sio,ooo. Mrs. Freeman the wife of the man who offered little daughter as a sacrifice at Pacasset, Mass., because, as he stated, he had been so commanded by God, as was Abraham, was discharged the other day. The husband

was indicted for murder in the first degree. The steamship Wireland, from Europe last week, brought $1,418,000 in French gold coin. This makes a total of $4,541,000 gold arrived from Europe in four days. Nearly $55,000,000 of specie has come into the country since the resumption of specie payments, and nearly nine-tenths of the whole amount arrived since August 1. Mormon elders and other polygamous leaders are in England, endeavoring to make proselytes, and induce them to emigrate to the United States. Major Greig, of the Liverpool police, has notified English” Mormons that, under the laws of the United States, potygamy is punished, and warns them against violating American laws. A Chicago sugar-broker, who is posted in the tricks of the trade; has given his opinion to the world that not more thau one barrel in a hundred sold in that market is pure sugar, the remainder being an article known to the trade as “doctored goods.” As it is not probable that Chicago is exceptional in this matter, it may be said that the whole sugar trade of the country, perhaps of the world, is one stupendous fraud. The distress in Hungary on account of the bad harvest is very great. The government has suspended the collection of taxes until the next harvest has been gathered. In fifty-seven towns nd villages in Temes county the greatest distress prevails. In Saros county, some cases of starvation have occurred. Forty parishes are threatened with famine. Frightful accounts have also been received from the counties of Abanja, Heves and Zelpin.

In giving in his experience the other night an old California ’49er admitted that his life had been a failure. Said he: “When I left Indeanny to come to Californy my whole ambiition was to dig enough gold so that I could go back home and buy a tumblin’ shaft threshin’ machine and go about the country every fell doin’ custom work and livin’ on roast chickens. Now, here, I am, and nary threshin’ machine yet, an’ even es I had the machine my appetite lor chicken is gone. I tell you, boys, my life’s bin, afeilur’.’’ The Khedive of Egypt has ratified the gift ofhisfether of the obelisk to the City of New York, and the removal will be begun at once. The massive and novel machinery constructed under the supervision of •

Gorring* byl the Roebiiugß, of Trenton, N. J. f for taking the monolith down, shipping it, transporting it across the Atlantic and setting it up again in New York City, was sent to Liverpool on the 7th insL, and will soon be on its way to Alexandria. , * It Is estimated that 10,000 more immigrants will arrive in this oouuty during the last two months of the year. This will make a grand total for 1870 of almost 150,000 foreign settlers. The Commissioners of Immigration think that upon an average these people have each brought with them S7O in money and an equal value in personal effects. This would make an aggregate capital of $52,200,000. Germans rank first in numbers. Next oome Irish, English, Swedes, Scotch, Norwegians, Swiss, Russian*, Welsh and French, in the order named. The reoent vote in Ohio was officially counted last Thursday, aud the result announced as follows: Total vote for Governor, 008.007, divided a* follows: Foster, Republican,B96,26l; Ewing, Democrat, 819,182; Stewart, Prohibitionist, 4,145; Piatt, National,9,l29; Foster's majority over Ewing, 17,129; total vote for Lieutenant Governor, 888,802. divided as follows: Hlckenlooper, Republican, 885,140; Rice, Democrat, 810.402; Sharp, Prohibition, 4.384; Preyor, National, 9,566; Hlckenlooper's majority over Rice, 15,678. Supreme Judge. Johnson, Republican, 836,009; Gilmore, Democrat, 816,994; Hardy, Prohibitionist, 8,332; Jackson, National, 11,831. Auditor of State, Oglesbee, Republican, 335,184; Reemelln, Democrat, 817.442; Fanning, Prohibitionist, Roy, National, 11,621. Attorney General, Nash, Republican, 386,100; Pillars, Democrat, 816,778; Foster, Prohibitionist, 4,360; Grogan, National, 11,165. Treasurer of State, Turney, Republican, 335,670; Howells, Demo* crat, 317,184; Blair, Prohibitionist, Jenkins, National, 11,222. Member of Board of Public Works, Fullington, Republican, 338,591; O’M&rrah, Democrat, 815,968; Hortan, Prohibitionist, 4,389; Platt, National, 11,103

INDIANA INKLINGS.

Ft W ayne has a five legged dog. The sparrows have become pests at Goshen. The pumpkin crop of the State is immense. ' Nelson Prentess, of Albion, has a cat that weighs sixteen pounds. A law department has been added to the Valparaiso Normal School. The barn-burner is still getting in his work extensively in this State. Two car-loads of hickory nuts were recently shipped from Indianapolis. A St. Joseph county cow recently swallowed a pocket book containing SIOO. The removal of the Singer works from South Bend, is among the probabilities of the future. There are forty-seven more students at Notre Dame this year, than there were last year. Fifteen horses died from the effects of heat, in Tipton county during the late, fall heated term. At the recent stock sale of James Wilson, near Rushville, yearling Blue Bull colts were sold at SSOO each. The south fork of Yellow river is to be ditched for a distance of about twen-ty-five miles, in Marshal and adjoining counties. A Rochester shoemaker has drawn $l5O in the Louisiana lottery, and his neighbors are watching for the beginning of his downfall. The Wabash county Board has decided to build a new jail upon the plans and estimations of architect Enos, of Indianapolis. Oscar Boglby, of Hebron, has a pair of tongs that are 200 years old, they have been in the Bogley family for eight or nine generations. William Crim, of Anderson, re cently had peas for dinner that same up voluntarily and matured after the first crop had been gathered.

Recently, in Huntington, Emmett Shark and William Briant, lifted a sate that weighed 1500 pounds, three feet upward, and placed it on a window sill. Wm. McCove, of Portage township, Porter county, recently lost 500 bushels of potatoes. He had dug and piled them in a heap, and the warm weather caused them to Mr. and Mrs. Barbour, of Peru, expect to celebrate their golden wedding in February. Mr. B. can read fine print without using spectacles. Mrs. Isabelle Okey, a convalescent patient at the State Insane Hospital, committed suicide, the other day, by strangling herself with a string. A young man, named Henry Forman, had one of his eyes burned out by a red-hot cinder at the Ohio Falls Iron works at Jeffersonville a few days since.

S Wm. Gentry, in jumping a fence a Bloomington, the other day, with an unsheathed dirk In his pocket, fell and ran the hlade of the dirk into his breast, inflicting a very dangerous wound. A lightning rod agent named Powner, recently got into trouble in Rush county, and, it is said, threatens to show up the crookedness of a large number of county and township officials in the purchase of rods for public use.

A driven well case has been sent from the Elkhart Circuit court to the United States courts. The transcript of the case covered 872 pages of foolscap and cost $262. The point at issue Is whether a man has a right to patent a hole in the ground. [ Lee Morgan, who murdered Patrick Carroll in a bagnio at Cambridge City the last day of August, was captured at Springfield,Ohio, and brought to Richmond the other day by Detective John C. Norris. The county gives a large reward for his capture. A large edge tool and implement manufectory in New Albany has just •ioeed a contract for 5,000 picks and mattocks. The impetus given railroad eonstruotion by the revival in the times has created a heavy demand for all tools used in railroad building.

STARTLING FACTS

Depart of the National Bureau of Education. Intar Ocean. The report of the Bureau of Education is at hand, and, as usual, is frill of interesting information regarding the educational condition and growth of the country. The most striking thing In the whole volume are the reports from the southern States, which show the rapid decay of education in that section, and the almost absolute abolishment of the public school systems which were established there by the much abused “carpet-baggers,” Take the State of Arkansas, for ins+anoe. In 1872 it had one of the finest systems of public and normal schools in the United States, supported by a direct tax upon the people Nearly $1,000,000 had been expended in the erection and equipment of buildings, and educated teachers were imported from the colleges of the North. The report of the Commission of Education shows that last year only $190,000 were spent for school in Arkansas. The number of scholars enrolled was smaller in proportion to the population than in any State of the Union, or even Territory. (New Mexico sent more children to school than Arkansas). The teachers were paid less in Arkansas last year than In any State or Territory or the Union, and fewer teachers were employed. Of the 31,720 children reported for enrollment, only 14,437. or less than one-half, ever attended. Ttye number of school-houses in use was 1,015 less in 1872. The Mormons in Utah spend more money for schools, have a better system, employ more teachers, and had a larger attendance of pupils last year than Arkansas or Florida. The following table contains interesting statistics about the school population of each state, the number enrolled in school last year, and the amount of money expended last year for school purposes.

s”‘" ~ ~ || 3 | H 33 ■ ' S> o S SSB O STATES. 22. ®cf *go.S O _ C. 2 —9 o b 5 - a -o&** : O : S* c -*® : 7 : ? 7?? New York 1,586,234 1,028.715 810,9762234 Pennsylvania 1,200,000 907,412 8.6832J79 Ohio 1,027,248 722,412 7,411068 Illinois 992,354 694,489 7,888,596 Missouri 725,728 394,84 c 2,3741960 Indiana 694,706 498,726 4,678,766 lowa 668,026 490,163 5,197,426 Kentucky 512,808 248,000 1,130,000 Virginia 482,789 1 060^40 Wisconsin 478,388 291,271 2*2491638 Michigan 469,444 857,139 3J87 913 Tennessee. 442,458 227,643 699,513 North Carolina 408,296 2u1,459 290.790 Georgia 394,037 179,405 400,151 Alabama... .... 369,447 141,230 392,439 Mississippi 324,939 100,528 481,215 New Jersey 818.378 198,709 1,929,902 Massachusetts...... 297,202 307,832 5.582.619 Maryland 276,120 150,276 1,637,583 Louisiana 266,038 85,000 369,829 Minnesota 238,362 102,561 1,181,327 Kansas 232,861 157,919 1.328,376 South Carolina 228,128 102,396 226,021 Maine 217,417 155,428 1,170,668 California.. 200,066 147,863 2,749,729 Arkansas 190,282 31,150 119,403 West Virginia 184,760 123,504 793,272 .Conencticut 137,099 119,208 1,510,223 Texas 127,085 109,052 496,083 Vermont 92,925 72,909 537,153 Nebraska 92,161 56,774 861,264 Florida 74,828 26,052 101,722 New Hampshire... 73,418 68,035 604,654 Rhode Island 53,316 43,698 725,962 0reg0n...., 50,649 45,584 241,893 Delaware 35.6491 24.061 218,025 Colorado 21,009! 14,085 215,256 Nevada 8,4751 5.521 102,760

An examination of the above table should set people, particularly the statesmen from the South, to thinking. The schools in the South have been very rapidly running down within the last few years, until they have now reached a point just one grade better than no school at all. It can not be said that these figures are inaccurate, because they are furnished by the superintendents of education in the several States, who would naturally place the best side forward. It will be noticed that lowa, with about the same school population as Virginia, pays more for education than the whole of the Southern States put together. Kansas, with a school population the same as South Carolina, pays more than South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina and Georgia put together. Little Rhode Island, with a school population, less by one-half almost than the smallest State in the South, pays more than Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana and South Carolina put together, which States have about fifteen times as many children. Michigan pays more than all the Southern States, except Missouri and Kentucky, together. Schools were, intended to educate voters, and there is a bad outlook in the South. If the educational test fur voters should be established, the South might become disfranchised in a few years if its schools become much worse.

Taking the value of school propertv, as given by the Commissioner of Education , Louisiana and Kansas have very nearly the same school population, the numerical advantage being in favor of, the former. Kansas —a new State, with no large cities—has $4,337,654 invested in school houses, while Louisiana, with a large city, has only $736,575. The States of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas report no valuation of school property. Make a similar comparison to the above between the States of North Carolina and Michigan. Their school population is not far apart in numbers, but North Carolina, one of the most prosperous States in the South, has only $225,000 invested in school property, while Michigan has nearly ten mihion of dollars. The Cherokee Indians have nearly as much money invested in school property as the State of North Carolina. Another interesting way of observing the subject is the expenditure per capita of population for schools. Strange to say, the Cherokee Indians spend more per capita than any State in the Union; and the Choctaws more than any single State, except Massachusetts and California. The Cherokee Indians expend $24.78 per child, and North Carolina 68 cents per child; the Choctaw Indians, $12.62 per child, and Alabama $1.02 per child. Yet the privilege of suffrage is not extended to the Indians of these nations, because they are “half civilized.”

Minding His Own Business.

There was a herdsman driving a hundred head of sheep or more down Mineral Springs avenue. They went along as sheep always do, first a steady little plod, then a clumsy canter like a wooden rocking horse, and now altogether in a mammoth wad of animated wool. There was a good natured man with an umbrella in his hand standing near the fence and waiting for the disorganized herd to approach He thought he had better lend a hand, and so he rushed in front of the flock and waved his umbrella as a scepter of authority. The result of this generalship was that the sheep rushed pellmell into a schoolyard just as the scholars, like a lot of human sheep, were pouring out for a recess. In one minute urchins and lambkins were hopelessly mixed and intermingled. There was first a sheep and then a

boy, next a girl and then a lamb, while the man, the over officious and superserviceable chap, who bad tamed the “9®* * w *y from the turnpike, was left alone between the swaviiur and surging flock and the schdolhouse. Him an aged and petulant male member of the flock marked for immediate and condign punishment, and upon him this homed and woolly Nestor of the flock charged furiously. The man shut his eyes and opened his ufobrella, but of no avail, for through the umbrella covering the creature crashed like a circus rider through a papered hoop. In wild dismay the man took to his heels, and then old Nestor sent him sprawling in advance of his flock, and before he could regain his feet the flock fell back into single file and each sheep went scampering over him. It was ten minutes before the last sheep had gone over him. and then he arose, shook the bits of broken watch crystal his pocket, picked up the rim of his hat, and hobbled away, remarking: “After all, I kinder reckon the beet business a man ever stuck to is his own business and nobody else’s.”

The Bicycle in Baden.

A recent Baden letter says: Baden, from being the most expensive of summer cities, is becoming one of the most reasonable. The views afoot in every direction are among the most cbtffmiug in Central Europe. The English makes the most of them, too, as may be imagined. Parties of these lusty trampers start every day toward all points of the compass. It is one of the amusements of the Germans, French, or other cosmopolite tourists, to see these hardly pleasure-seekers set out, the men in the coarse, durable clothing which the British of all ranks cover their big limbs with, and the women not a whit behind them in stuff gowns that shed rain aud don’t show dust or the travel stains of the road. Many of them come provided with the big bicycles which are now the mania of the English youth. These groups are, of course, compelled to confine themselves to the valley, where the smoother roads are found, though there are adventurous spirits who have actually traversed a large part of Switzerland on the precarious vehicles. The long legs of the race have necessitated enormous machines. I have seen these two wheels whirling like express trains along the Baden roads, even up the hills, sixty inches in diameter. Think of working the treadle of such a circumferuce! As now constructed, the bicycle is a far different thing from the clumsy “boneshatter” introduced in ten years ago. Great companies have been formed in England, which do nothing else but fabricate these extraordinary vehicles, and you hear young men talk about the superior speed of a “Coventry,” a “Sparraw,” or a “Stanley.” The fore wheel being sixty inches, the back wheel is so small that when the machine is in motion you can hardly see it. It is, by regulation, not two feet in diameter. Indeed, the appearance preseut, as these enormous flashing circles dash past on the smooth road, is that of a great hoop of glittering steel, with a human figure perched on the top of it. The spokes are thin cords of steel wire, trending into the wire from a very wide hub.

A Hell on Earth.

The following is an extract from the letter of a missionary’s wife, and vividly describes the terrific heat which prevails in India during the summer; “I remember seeing a fantastic lining by Gustave Dore, representing Tophet. The fire burst forth from the mouths of huge caverns, and everything had a molten and red-hot appearance. India at present is very much in this condition. The hot winds blow uninterruptedly from four to eight hours daily as from a fiery furnace, The fiercely blazing sun scorches and burns everything in the most uncompromising manner. The earth has an Oveny appearance, and is cracked open in large fissures with the intense heat, and scorches the feet even through thicksoled boots. The miserable trees look unhappy and hang their poor wilted leaflets. Thereis not a spear of grass visible. Folks out of doors drag their weary lengths along as though each were carrying a ball and chain. They seem to have no ambition on earth but to drop down and die quietly in some shady nook. The roads-are some inches deep in dust and the air is filled with it so that breathing is difficult and painful. There are no vegetables nor any fruits.; Wells and tanks and cisterns are low and the water muddy and unhealthy. Indoors the furniture burns the body through the clothing. The sun glares into every crack and crevice so persistently that blinds and shades and thick curtains

can hardly darken a room sufficiently. Every outside door is closed tightly, from early morning until after sundown, to keep out the heat. The air becomes stagnant and suffocating. v A little relief is obtainable from the punkah, a large fan suspended from the ceiling and worked by a servant from the outside. The punkah swings day and night. The man whose business it is to keep it swinging sometimes falls asleep, and then the air seems to press upon one at the rate of a thousand pounds to the square inch. Breathing is next to impossibly. At night there is still less comfort to be had. The Ded is hotter than the body. We sprinkle the bed first and then jump in, but it is dry and hot again in almost no time. We sprinkle the floor and furniture and do everything imaginable to cool the sleeping room, but ml uselessly. It is like trying to sleep in a well heated oven. Although we may long to renounce the flesh and sit in our bones, still we know that both flesh and clothes are absolutely necessary in order to protect the body from the hot air. How superlatively happy must fhose be who live in a cold climate. What would I not give for a breath of cool air from the Ardiondacks, for a plunge into the surf at Newport, or for a walk on the strand, or for a distant glimpse of the sea?”

Mrs. Abercombi’s Family.

Mrs. Betsy Abercombi, who died recently in Laurens county, 8. C., was one of the very few who could say on a given occasion. “Rise, daughter, go to thy daughter and tell her that her daughter hath a daughter.’’ Mrs. Abercombi’s daughter Sallie is a widow with a grown daughter, making “four generations and three widows who lived in the same house. The two old ladies were not able to do anything. The two younger ladies did all the field work, plowing and hoeing the crops. They had made good crops and supported themselves since the war by their own labor without the assistance of any male labor.’’ The United States Consul *t Rochelle, France, says all the grapevines in that district must be completely destroyed. All devices for arresting the progress of the phylloxera pest having felled, the only remedy left is to import vines from America, which are proof against phylloxera.

AGRICULTURAL

This te the fifth successive “had year” in British agriculture. lowa to accredited with producing sprigs Wheat crop of any State in the Union, aggregating 28.707 - 812 bushels, while 'Wisconsin stands second In rank with 24,375,445 bushels. Small lkrms with good cultivation yield a better revenue than great estates illy cultivated. It may perhaps be better put by saying that every 4 farm, large or small, should possess a good farmer. j In giving accounts of the yield of milk some give it in pounds, and oth- , in gallons. A gallon ,of milk weighs 8| pounds. Milk is usually bought by the 100 pounds at factories. ■ t t k fL not f l u * te twelve gallons to weigh 100 pounds. The American Agriculturist says the Jersey red pigs grow rapidly to an enermous size; put the flesh is nearly all fat. Where this is not an objection, perhaps the best breed for one who desires to procure heavy pigs at au early age. In the year 1801, a year of scarcity , apples, instead of being converted into cider, were sold to the poor; and the laborers asserted that they could stand their work ou baked apples, without meat, whereas a potato diet required either meat or fish.

Land which without an application of manure will give a yield of fifteen bushels of wheat per acre will, by the addition of eighty pounds of nitrogen, in a favorable season give from thirty-, five to forty bushels of wheat with a proportionate increase of straw. Potatoes suffer more from weeds than any other crop. One weed will take up and evaporate a good deal of moisture from the soil, and rob the crop of what it greatly needs. This loss of moisture is not often -thought of in considering the effects of weeds, but it very important, when too late to be killed by cultivation the weeds should be hand pulled. The stock kept upon a farm affords the owner a ready contingent market for all the grains and grasses raised and this market is never overstocked, but the demand is always greater than the supply. Cultivated fields are subject to wear and tear, and, like man, require replenishing with food. The best way to furnish it is to consume all that is raised on the farm; in fact, this is the only way to make the land respond liberally to our behests; hence the farmer has a double inducement, and should act upon the suggestions that point out the right way. * * ' Many writers advise the selection of a Sheltered spot for an orchard, and some have even advised the planting of a belt of quick growing forest trees in such a position that it will screen the orchard from high winds. A Maine farmer says: “Were I to plant an orchard, and had two locations, one in a valley, surrounded by hills except on the south side, and the other a higli elevation, expostni to high winds, I would choose the latter in preference to the former. The same holds good as regards peach orchards. A great object is to keep back the blooming as long as possible, and this can be best done in northern exposures without shelter. Going in debt was a very common habit a few years ago. It was altogether too common among farmers, it is not so common now. . Farmers have seen the evil of- it. They have seen it is much easier to get into debt than it is to get out of it. 11 is like getting into quicksand. Every effort to get out only sinks one deeper. The cash system is far better. It makes one more economical. It is better to deprive ourselves of luxuries, than to pay too dearly for them afterwards.

A writer in the New England Farmer who tried numerous experiments in setting fence posts by reversing, salting and charring, is satisfied that charring did no good. Salting dry posts was beneficial, but upon green ones it was useless. 'Hie best thing was reversing the ends. On the various kinds of timber of which posts are made, red and yellow cedar rank the highest for durability, aside from the effects of any preserving process. Swamp oak, I think, is conceded to stand next in order, with upland white oak following. A very successful way of destroying ants is by taking a vial or saucer, nearly filled with sweet or olive oil, and sinking it in the ground near the ant hill or their runaway, so that the rim is about even with the surface of the soil. The ants are very fond of the oil and will seek it, but it is sure death to them. We recommend the use of coal oil diluted in water to destroy insects. This substance seems to be very destructive to insect life, and its use for this purpose is rapidly extending. A tablespoonful to two gallons of water is the ordinary mixture, and it is said will kill mealy bugs and all the insects that ordinarily infest plants. The oil is sometimes used with a soapsuds of whale-oil soap. The best method to apply it is with a syringe. Many fruit-growers make the mistake of allowing a tree or vine to carry to maturity all of the fruit which sets after blossom, the consequence, in most cases, being a large yield of inferior quality and size. Careful experiment has shown that the results have been more profitable when the system of thinning out the young fruit at least one-half has been adopted, producing large, fine, perfect specimens, which will always command a remunerative price, even when the market is glutted. Apples, pears and K aches should receive this attention fore they become larger than ordinary marbles; grape clusters may be thinned while in Dlossom,\an4 plum trees, by a vigorous snakisg. can be relieved of their unnecessary surplus.

Played a Joke.

Rockland Courier. When a Rockland man went homei the other evening, he saw his dog lying just inside the gate, and thinking to play a joke on the animal, he stole softly near, and with a loud whoop jumped in front of the dog’s head. The dog didn’t skurry away, yelping with affright. He had been raised another way, He merely stood up on his hind end and simply put his "teeth into the nearest part of the man that he could reach, and shut his eye*, sighed gently and hung on. The startled man, with a vivid impression that he had inad verdently sat down on a red-hot paper of very large Government tax. emitted a yell like a fog-horn, and dashed through the gate and down the street, with the heroic dog clinging to him like » curse. When the procession passed the corner there seemed to be something waving from it behind, and as he got under the.'gaslight, a policeman observed that there was a black-and-tan train attached to it reaching nearly a block. When the crowd finally caught up, after hard rutfning, ? they discovered a very much exhausted and profene man, leaning up against a tree and holding on to himself with his hands, while near by was a dog with a quiet smile on his countehanoe, busily engaged in pulling shreds of broadcloth out oihis teeth with his claws,