Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 June 1874 — Page 1

THE RENSSELAER KM, Published Every Thursday by HORACE E. JAMES, JOSHUA HIAIET, PROPRIETORS. Office ovet Wood’s Hardware Store, Washington Street. Subscription, $2.00 a Year, In Advance. JOB WOBK Of every kind executed .to order In good style end at low rates.

seUt[ied " - * HIS SHARE AND MINE. [The grief of a mother upon the taking away of her child, with something of her self-comforting thereafter, finds expression (and many hereavad mothers will feel it) In this tender poem by Mrs. S. M. B. Piatt:] lie went from me so softly and so soon, His sweet hands rest at’morning and at noon. The only task God gave them was to hold A few faint rose-buds—and be white and cold. His share of flowers he took with him away; No more will blossom here so fair as they. His share of thorns he left—and if they tear My hands instead of his, I do not care. His sweet eyes were so clear and lovely, but To look n the world’s wild light and shat Down in the dust they have their sh of sic p; Their share of tears is left for me t eep. His sweet mouth had its share of kisses—Oh I What Jove, what anguish, will he ever knowl Its share of thirst, and murmuring, and moan, And cries unsatisfied, shall be my own. He had his share of Summer Bird and dew Were here with him—with him they vanished, too. His share of dying leaves, and rains and frost I take, with every dreaTy thing he lost. The phantom of the cloud we did not see Forevermore shall overshadow me. He, In return, with small, still, snowy feet. Touched the Dim Path, and made its Twilight sweet.

THE SORROWS OF A. J. PERKINS.

A schoolboy’s story. His name was Andrew Jackson, but they called him Andy for short; age. about twelve years; he was a youth “ built stromr upon his legs,” after the good, old English pattern. nil Europe wept over an imaginary Wcrther; shall no tear be shod upon a real,, Andy ? Nay, not so. Though he may not have the appearance of one, he is a suffering hero, and he shall be sung! Full many a boy is born to blush unseen, and waste his anguish on the desert air; but Andy shall be plucked and put under people’s noses; perhaps they will afterward be tender toward his kind. Personally, Andy was the average boy. You would not have suspected, as you gazed on his hard, round cheeks and apple nose, that he was the victim of adverse fate. His hair grew thick and bristling over his scalp, reminding one of that good old hymn, “ There’ll be no Parting There!” In vain did his mother essay to blaze a track through this wilderness; the plow may break wild prairie, but comb could not break Andy’s locks. No girlish curls hung upotf his brow. He had no sweet effeminacy—wasn’t a “dear little fellow,” nor a “good boy.” He was that young scoundrel Andrew Perkins, who was always smashing things, and fighting, and getting disgraced; who was a burster of ears; a sauce-box to old ladies, and an elephant on the hands of his nervous mother. Scrapes were Andy’s normal condition. Those thorns of “ought” and “ought not" were forever goading his flesh, if he had one unharrassed moment, this was merely the silence preceding some thunder clap. Andy leaped from his pillow and went forth ’unsuspiciously to a day of woe. These dear boys I they swing their caps and rush into an atmosphere of heartbreak with “ hurrah 1” on their lips. Their brothers are as hard to them as broken banks to their papas, and their despairs partake of that grim desperation with which grown men put their heads into noosed ropes. . Sliding down a stair-railing, as usual, Andy caught one leg and fell, smashing the gas-shades and upsetting a hat-rack, while the brass buttons on his new jacket flew in all directions like sparks. And as their custom was, on such occasions, his father’s household railed against him. His sister wheeled from her piano, frightened out of an Italian squall into a genuine English one; his father got him by the collar and shook him, salting his bruises witfl trite remarks; the younger girls stood around, pious, proper and horrified; and his mother sat down and smelled camphor, wondering if the boy meant to kill her ? Then at the table they would not let him alone. They asked him, sarcastically, what napkins were made for, when he wiped his molasses on the table-cloth; they prevented his putting three biscuits in bis mouth at once; they groaned when he rested his elbow in the bottom of his coffee-cup; they confused him about knives and forks, and raised such a breeze when his gravy ran down on the wrong side of his stomach that Andy went to school desperate, taking the scalps of many a youth on his way. As he wriggled about in his desk and wondered why he was born, he encountered Miss Slocum gazing upon him with her usual superior air. Miss Slocum was a damsel of eight, and though Andy had a soft side and secret admiration for her sex generally he had no such indulgence for her. Her very existence was a continued insult to himself. Were not her praises tooted in his ears from morning till night? His teacher measured his recitations on Mias Slocum’s superior performances; his mother extolled Miss Slocum’s manners, and his lift!" sisters imitated her. No fault was ever found with Miss Slocuin. Andy squinted at her. Miss Slocum resented this. Sho lifted her nose at him. Then there followed a duel of grimaces; Andy nearly floored her with a hideous face made by rolling his eyes upward, sticking his tongue out, and waving his one hand from his nose—just like a triumphant battle flag. But Miss Slocum plucked up heart and lip, puckered her chin and shot a fearful sneer at him. Andy, however, who was the best paper-wad artillerist in school, was not to be killed by blank cartridges; so immediately returned his shot by turninghis eyes upward, sticking his tongue out longer and adding another triumphant banner to the nose-fort. Miss Slocum wavered before such prowess; but she gathered her resources and made up a compound face, which I will call Greekflre; nothing can adequately describe it; it was a feminine masterpiece. But Andy had in reserve another move, which brought her proud crest to the earth; he drew mouth and eye sockett back till they formed complete circles round his head, and came down -on her with the effect of Medusa. His teacher also saw It, and for an instant even she was turned to stone. But she soon recovered herself, and called the injured, weeping Miss Slocum to her side to be comforted w ! th caresses; and then the very properly took that desperate boy into a closet and threshed biiu for his outrageous conduct. Before “ it had quit hurting” Andy had promised to ** lick” so many boys for

THE RENSSELAER UNION.

VOL. VI.

laughing at him that the whole day proved a serious campaign. He had poor lessons, and was humbled. He made some disastrous trades, and got such a stock of worthless strings, cracked marbles and bladeless knives on his hands as would have driven a pawnbroker mad. He couldn’t eat his dinner in peace. He was told that “he should be seen and not beard;” but when, in accordance with the desires of his family, he reduced himselfto amerespectacle by upsetting the cranberry sauce over his entire length, they resented the very sight of him. “I can’t do nothing!" howled Andy, sent to his room in disgrace, “ they won’t let me play with the boys, nor even look at the girls, nor eat when I’m hungry—nor nothing! This is a mean old world. I’ll run away and go to sea!” With boys resolution and action are twin, brothers. Andy girded himself to dodge downstairs the moment he could elude his vigilant parents. And, as he meant to run away in good style and according to the letter of storybooks, he felt it incumbent upon him to write a letter of farewell to his Now Andy had once been constrained to Write an epistle of duty to the unfortunate gentleman who had stood godfather to him at his christening, on which occasion he had recourse to an'old letter-book in his father’s library. 80 he now flattered himself he was equal to a heartrending testament, and, finding a stumpy pencil, he sat down and wrote, fragments of the letter-book floating in his mind. Three-quarters of an hour he spent upon his work, which, being finished, he placed under the lid of the Bible he had received for cramming 8,000 verses when his head was younger and tenderer. Andy pictured to himself, with grim pleasure, his weeping household standing around its liejad, who would Jbetween_ many sobs, read the following note: Dear Pairents: i hav run awa and you wont never sec me no More you hav bin very Uarach and tirannicle when i am off making Munuy praps yon will repent my undutiful conduct. So no more the girls may have my tolse. Your obedyent servant Audrew jacksou perklDS. Before the evening gas was lighted he struck out and attempted to set his face seaward. But Andy’s geographical knowledge was limited; he wished he had consulted a map before he started, for he knew not which way to turn. He, moreover, regretted sincerely not having filled his pockets with cookies. It was a November night, and Andy hadn’t been allowed to partake of the evening repast. He will remember that night. I think I see the dear boy wandering up and down, blowing bravely on his red fingers, watching the flaring gas jets, putting a fist into his eye occasionally. He saw life that night —•- It did not appear he could realize his “ munny” immediately. Before ten the boy spirit was cooled. He stole back to his father’s door, but had not courage to ring. Then he wondered how he could stand it out all night. Here and there rambled Andy. He stood in the shadow of the doorway (evading a policeman) of the house where Miss May lived. Miss May was a young lady whom he specially admired. He felt a strong desire to see her that evening. And as he stood, crying silently, like a little soldier, because he was so cold he could hardly stand it, the door opened and a gentleman emerged whom Miss May bade a lingering and really affectionate •goodnight. Bhe stood an instant watching her lover before she closed the door, and in this instant Andy exploded with a big sob. After screaming, as all orthodox young ladies do, Miss May recovered herself ana drew the child in. Here is a sacred picture in Andy’s life. He will never tell anyone how happy he was one hour, sitting in the heart of a warm room at Miss May’s feet,.taking his supper and unloading his heart to her. She was a woman who loved and understood boys; their brusquerie, their heavy antics, their overplus of spirits never made her “ nervous.” She had helped to bring up several boys creditably and joyously, and was now about to try her hand on somebody else’s brother. “ If they’d only let me be,” stufflug unlimited tarts into his mouth, “ but I never can do nothing 1” - ’ Miss May smoothed the brown hand which Andy, in a gush of confidence, yielded to her (your sturdiest boys have a sneaking fondness for being petted), and as she gazed into the grate she fretted within herself—” Why is it that parents will drive these baby-men desperate; that teachers will try to cram them—will sit on the safety-valve of their natures ? I wish I had all the boys! I’d make a boys’ paradise I They should walk on their ears if they wanted, but they should likewise know the best use of their ears. They should live their honest, joyous hearts out; and never learn to sneak, lo lie, to whine, to cant, to ape Miss Nancy, to sacrifice their sense of right and throng to the mere pleasing of some other person 1 Oh, I’d—” And here the proverb about maids’ children and bachelors’ wives came into her mind. She laughed aloud and stooped to kiss Andy. It was such a hearty, wholesome kiss that he took it without sheep-facedness. It was decided that, a 3 his parents believed him asleep in his own bower, they should not be notified of his running away, and that night Andy slept in Miss May's house. Early next morning he laid a hand on the note which was to have fallen like a thunderbolt on his people and sent it to oblivion. He walked as circumspectly as Andy could. But a Micawber-like fit of letter-writing-seemed to have seized hun. Though he could fly to his comforter when trouble lowered, and though she never denied him a personal interview, Andy sought a pen, with which he hacked the English language and spilt ink like black gore upon a large cap sheet. His honest little heart spouted forth to the one who appreciated and helped him: Dear Mies May; i dident get licked all day and had my ioggerfy,Jnat hokey good i touched my cap to old mis pease and mama sed that looked better than rnnnin over her like i always did i love you if i goln to get married 1 wood marry you. your obedyent servent ’ * Andrew Jackson perkins. —Locke'i National Monthly. —I- *** As the steamer Alexander Mitchell was putting off freight at Alma, Wis., a keg of wine fell into the river. The mate insisted upon one of the deck hands, a negro, jumping in after it. The negro objected, upon the ground that he could not swim. The male took him by the Collar and pants,to pitch him in, but, as drowning men will catch pX straws, so the negro fastened On the mate’s' collar, and they both went in together, the mate clear under, the negro to his chin. They both dune out wiser and wetter men.

RENSSELAER, JASPER COUNTY, INDIANA, JUNE 4, 1874.

LATEST NEWS.

England Demands of Spain Explanation and Indemnity. Serious Riot in Limerick, Ireland. The Cad’s Hill Robbery Paralleled in Michigan. Destructive Conflagration at Independence, lowa. Other Interesting Personal and General News Items. THE OLD WORLD. Madrid papers of the 26th announce that Caleb Cushing, United Btates Minister to Spain, had been banqueted by the Opposition Deputies. Diplomatic relations with Mexico had been resumed. Madrid dispatches of the 31st ult. say that United States Minister Cushing was received with the usual ceremonies by President Sabella on the morning of that day. The Spanish Miuistry had ordered the press act to attack the financial schemes of the Government. The Carlists were investing Uernani. The Queen’s birthday, the 25tb, was celebrated all over England as a general holiday. Prince Arthur had been created Duke of Connaught. —This is the first Iri-lt title ever conferred on any member of the royal family. Tin Italian Parliament, on the 24th, defeated a measure presented and advocated by. the Finance Minister, and the members of the Cabinet tendered their resignations in consequence. King Victor Eknmanuel refused to accept the tender and directed them to intro duce new financial bills. Prince Nicholas, who was recently arrested at Bt. Petersburg, Russia, for giving his mother’s jewels to an actress, has been decided to have been Insane. According to a dispatch from Calcutta of the 27ih the famine in India was increasing. The Government were feeding nearly 3,000,000 people. According to London dispatches of the 29th the British Foreign Office were pressing the Spanish Government for an explanation of the Virglnius outrage and indemnity to the heirs of the victims. . The United States Catholic pilgrims left Paris for Rome on the morning of the 29tb, after receiving the blessing of the Archbishop of Paris. A riot occurred in Limerick, Ireland, on the 31st, a mob attacking a company of militia. Several were injured. THE NEW WORLD. On the 25th ultimo articles of impeachment against State Auditor Wheeler, Chief-Justice McClure, the Associate Justices, the Circuit Justices, and all the prominent officials in the 3tate connected with the Brooks movement were reported in the Arkansas House of Representatives. The cases of McClure and Wheeler were acted upon immediately, impeachment being voted by a large majoHty. On the 26th'Atty.-Gen. Sloan furnished Gqv. Taylor with an opinion maintaining the constitutionality of the Railway law of Wisconsin. The omnibus-drivers of New York city struck on the 25th for an advance of wages from $2.50 per day to $3.00. Not a “stage” appeared on the streets during the day. Forest City, Ark., was recently very nearly destroyed by fire. The loss aggregated $70,000. A vert destructive fire occurred in Independence, lowa, on the morning of the 25th, which burned the business portion of the town. The loss is estimated at $500,000. ArTER the announcement of the acquittal of Prof. Swing by the Chicago Presbytery upon the charge of heresy, and the notice of appeal by Dr. Patton, a telegram was received from the former declaring that he had withdrawn from the Presbyterian denomination. A meeting of the Elders of his church was subsequently held, at which it waa decided to continue pastoral relations with the Professor, the church still remaining in the denomination. On the 25th a formal letter was presented to the Presbytery stating that he should at a future time ask letters of dismissal, assigning as reasons for such request a repugnance to religious controversy and a desire to promote harmony in the church. A call was Issued by the Democratic and Reform members of the last Michigan Legislature, on the 26th, for a mass convention, to be held at Lansing on the 6lh of August, to take steps to“BCcnre the organization of a party on a basis of live issues, and for a restoration of purity and statesmanship to the high places of our State and National Governments.” one hundred and twenty-five buildings were recently burned at ’Central City, Col. Loss $500,000. La(% advices from Rio Janeiro are to the effect that another rebellion had broken out in Paraguay. Admiral Shubrick, the senior ofllcer on the retired list, died at Washington on the 27th. He was eighty-three years old. The Committee of Investigation into the affairs of the District of Columbia concluded its labors on the 27th. The-following are the officers of the Illinois Press Association for the ensuing year, Chosen at its recent session in Chicago: Pres* ident—George H. Bcroggs, of the Champaign Gazette. Vice-Presidents—D. L. Phillips, Bpringfieid Journal; Mrs. Myra Bradwell, Chicago Legal N<m; T. E. Woods, Mattoon Journal. Recording Secretary—Cadet Taylor, Wenona Index. Assistant Recording Secretary—C. N. Whitney, Princeton Herald. Corresponding Secretary—C. P. Richards, Duquoin Tribune. Treasurer—J. W. Clinton, Polo Pre at. Executive Committee—J. W. Bailey, Princeton RepabKcan; 3. B. Bradweli, Chicago Legal New; H. L. Clay, Carrollton Gazette. , A call has been issued for a State convention of Independents to be held at'Topeka, Kan., on the sth of August, for the nomination of candidates for State offices. Calls are also to be Issued for Congressional conven-

OTJBfc COUNTRY AND OUR UIVIOIV.

tions in the various district?. The Democratic State Central Committee and the Executive Committee of the Farmers’ Reform organization unite in the call. The following are the officers of the Grand Lodge of Good Templars for the current year: Right Worthy Grand Templar, Col. John J. Hickman, of Kentucky; Right Worthy Grand Counselor, Joseph Molins, of England; Right Worthy Grand Vice Templar, Mrs. Mattie McClellan Brown, of Ohio; Right Worthy Grand Secretary, W. S. Williams, of Canada; Right Worthy Grand Treasurer, J. K. Van Doom, of Illinois. A late Washington dispatch says that other departments beside the Interior Department hare suffered in the sale of their printed questions for civil-service examination. The market price of these questions appears to have been $25 a set. John Edgar Thomson, President of the Pennsylvania Central Railway Company, died at Philadelphia on the 28th. The Ellsworth monument at Mechanicsviile, N.Y., was unveiled on the 27th, with appropriate ceremonies. Resolutions were adopted by the General Conference of the M. E. Church South, recently in session at Louisville, Ky., advocating the re establishment of fraternal relations with the General Conference of the M. E. Church North. A call has been issued for a convention of the friends of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers improvement to meet at Oshkosh, Wis., ou the 24th of June. A cikcular has been issued to County Superintendents by the State Superintendent of Public Schools of Tennessee, advising that no more teachers be employed in the State until Congress acts finally upon the Civil Rights bill. A proclamation was issued by the President, on the 29. h, extending the provisions of the treaty of Washington to Newfoundland. According to a Washington special of the 29th the President had requested Solicitor Banfield, of the Treasury Department, to tender his resignation. The total internal revenue receipts from Julv 1, 1873, to May 30, 1874, were $93,181,014.36. A decision has been rendered by the New York Supreme Court denying the motion for a mandamus to compel Justice Davis to sign the bill of exceptions in the case of W. M. Tweed. The following are the officers elect of the Ohio State Editorial Association: J. M. Comly, President; James A. Estell, of the Ilnime* County Farmer, and 8. N. Delacourt, of the Hamilton Telegraph, Vice-Presidents; David S. Fisher, of the Lima Democrat, Secretary; Executive Committee, !. Harper, Mount Vernon Banner; A. J. Mack, Ohio Statesman; C. M. Nichols, Springfield Republic, and W. T. Bascom, Canton Repository. An attempt was made ou the evening of the 29th to rob the Atlantic express car on the Michigan Central Railroad, near Three Oaks, Mich. The messenger shot one of the robbers dead, but the other escaped with some of the money packages. Mrs. Charles Hoover, of Toledo, Ohio, was fatally burned on the morning of the 29th, while trying to hasten the burning of an obstinate fire by the use of a can of kerosene oil. Her husband was also badly burned in his endeavors to extinguish the flames. The crusading women of Pittsburgh were successful in their appeal to the Common Pleas Court against the judgment of the acting Mayor. The judgment of thatoffleial was reversed, and the fines they had paid were ordered to be refunded to them. The New York State Temperance Convention has been called to meet at Auburn June 23. Saturday, May 30, was very generally observed throughout the country as Decoration day. In most localities the graves of Confederate and Union dead wqre alike decorated. The house of Robert Jones, a farmer, near Zanesville, Ohio, was burned on the evening of the 30th ult., and three of his children, aged thirteen, eleven and nine years, were burned to death. A Wisconsin station-agent of the Chicago <fe Northwestern Railroad Company was recently tried for overcharging, found guilty and fined one do’’.ar. Gov. Kellogg, of Louisiana, has appealed again for aid for the sufferers by the rde'ent overflow. „ THE MARKETS, June 1, 1874. New Yoke.—Cbfton~lß*@lß*c. Flour— Good 10 choice, [email protected]; while wheal extra, *6.70® 7.10. Wheat- No. i Chicago. $1.46*01.48: lowa Spring, $1.4701.49; No. 2 Milwaukee Spring, $1.4901.50. Rye— Western, [email protected] Barleysl..>[email protected]. Corn —79oßlc. Oats— New Western, 59@t>0c. Pork —New mess, $17.80017.65. Lard —U*@ll!4c. Wool—Common t.. extra. 45082 c. Beeves— sll.oo3l2.7s. Hogs— Dressed. s7.3i*o 7.64*. Sheep —Live (clipped), $4.5006.50 Chicago.— Beeves— Choice, $5.8006.01; good. $5,400 .70; mediant, $5.0005.25; butchers’ stock, $4. 005.25: stock cattle, $4.0005.00. Hogs— Live. $5.1505.80, Sheep — Good to choice (shorn). $4,250 575 Butter— Choice yellow, 24037 c. hggs— Fresh, U*@l2c. Pork— Met-S, new,sl7 12*017.15. Lard--$10.62*010.65. Flour— White winter extra. $6. (50 9.00; spring extra, [email protected]. Wheat— Spring No. 2, $1.16*01.16%. Com —No. 3, 56*0’5*c. Oats— No. 2, 49044 c. Rye— No. 2, Doc. Barley— No. 2, $1.4001.45. Wool— I Tub-wasbed. 45048 c; fleece, washed,3so42c; fleece, unwashed, 23026 c; pulled, 32037 c. Cincinnati.— Flour— $6.0096.36. Wheat— sl.2s @1.27. C0m —63063c. [email protected] Oate-VS @soo. Barley —sl.sool.ss. /2>r*-$17.75@18 00. Lard- -10*011* c. Bt. Lotits.— Cattle— Fair to choice, $4.5008 00. Hog* —Live, $4 5 @5.60 Flour—XX Fail, $5,500 6 00. Wheat- No. 2Red Fall, $1.3-01.40. Com— No. 2,56*@58*c. No. 2, 46046*c. Rye 93 @9sc. itdrfey— sl.sool.ss. Fork- Meaa, $17.75 01800. Lord—lo*@llc. Milwaukee.— Floor— Spring XX, $5.7005.90. HTieol—Spring, No. 1, $1.2301.24; No. 2. $1.20 @1.20*. Com— No. 2,5 05 *c. Ogte— No. 2,43 044 c. Rye— No. t, 94095 c. Barley— No. 2. $1.5001 55. Cleveland.— Wheat— No. 1 Red. $1.4101.42; No. 2 Red, $1.3301.3L C0m— 66067c. Cate-80. 1,54066 c. Detroit.— Wheat— Extra, $1.5901.60. Cbm—--63066c. Oats- 50051 c. Toledo.— Wheat— Amber Mich., $1.85*01.36; No. 2 Red, $1.3401.35. Cbm—Mixed, 60062*c. Oats —(3*ossc. Buffalo.— Beeves— $5.5006.50. , Bags Live, $5.5006.50. Stop—Live (clipped), $4 7506.15. East Liberty.— Beeves— Best, $6.6006.75; medium, $0.0006.12*. Nope—Yorkers, $5.5005.80. Philadelphia, $6.4006.60. Stop—Seat (clipped) $6.0006.25; good.ss 0005.25. CONGRESSIONAL, Tn the Senate, on the &Sth, bills were passed—to incorporate the Texas Pacific Railway Company and to aid In the construction of the road; House bill to revise, consolidate and amend the laws relating to pensions, approved March 3, 1873, which provides that all persons who have lost an arm at or «bove the elbow shall be rated In second-class and receive a pension of $24 per month... A joint resolution waa introduced proposing an amendment to the Constitution providing that, if any State shall fall to maintain a com-

mon school system under which all persons between the ages of five and eighteen years, not incapacitated for the same, shall receive free of charge each elementary, edncatlon as Congress may prescribe, Congress" shall have the power to establish therein such a system and cause the same to be maintained at the expense of such State... .The conference report on the Naval Appropriation bill was agreed t 0.... Several amen Iments to the Deficiency Appropriation bill were adapted.... Tho Hnnso resolution was presented announcing the death of Representative Mellleh, and after a few appropriate remarks by Mr. Conkling the Senate adjourned. In the House, on the 25th, among the bills introduced were the following: Providing that the residence of three years shall be snlficient to entitle an alien, being a free white person, to beoomc a citizen, his declaration lo be made one year before his admission: declaring that all corporations doing business in any State are subject to the State courts of that State; to repeal the law which suspended payments to loyal masters for slaves drafted and received as volunteers in the military service; restoring to the pen ion roll the pensioners of the Mexican war who were struck off for disloyalty. ...The Senate bill to facilita'e tbe execution of and to protect certain public w- rks . f improvement at the month of the Mississippi was passed A motion to suspend the rales and take up the substitute for the Senate Currency bill was lost, as was also a motion to suspend the rules and take up the Senate Supplementary Civi Rights bill and refer it to the Judiciary Committee. wi'h leave to report at any time .. .Announcement was made of the death of Mr Mellish, and appropriate remarks were made, and resolutions relating to his funeral were adopted .. Adjonrned. In the Senate, on the 26th, bills were passed—to legalize and estahlbh a pontoon railway bridge across the Mississippi River at Ptairle du Chlen, Wis.; to extend the time five years for the completion of the railway from the St. Croix River, or the lake between Townships 25 ar.d 31, to the west, end of Lake Superior and to Bayfield, Wis,; House hill to provide for the protection of the frontier settlements of Texa* against. Indian and Mexican depredations; the Deflcierffiy Appropriation bill, with several amendments: the Centennial hill—2 to 17- with a proviso that the United States shall not he liable directly or indirectly for any expense attending snch exposition or hy reason of the same... The members of the Senale attended the fnoeral of the ia'e Representative Mellish, in the House of Representatives, and the Senate afterward adjonrned. In the Honan, on ttie 26th, speeches were made on the report of the Ways and Means Committee on the Sanborn contracts.... Several amendments to tSe bill to amend the existing Customs and Internal Revenue la-ts were agreed to in t’nmmittee of the Whole... .Messrs. Hale of New York. G. F. Hoar and Young were announced by the Speaker as vi.l 1 ore to the West Point, Academy The funeral services of Mr. Mellish were conducted, in the presence of the members of the Senate, in a solemn and Impressive manner.... Adjbumod. In the Senate, on the 27th, hills were passed—to prevent hazing at the Naval Academy; araenaatory of the act to reduce duties on imports and to reduce internal taxation; the htl! to revise and consolidate the statntesof the United Stateß, in force Deo. 1, 1873; House bill to extend the time to pre-emptors on the pubic lands in Minnesota to make their final payments ....A.hill was introduced to aid in the improvement of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers.... A resolution was offered declaring Spencer not entitled to the seal as Senator from Alabama, and that it be awarded to Sykes.... Adjourned. In the House, on the 27th, after further debate on the report of the Committee on Ways and Means on the Sanborn contracts, the bill repealing the law on which'such contracts were based was passed without objection, with an amendment prohibiting any Senator, Representative or Delegate in Cougress from acting us an agent, attorney, proctor, advocate, solicitor, or counsel for any person in connection with a violation of the Customs or Revenue laws.... Among the other bills passed were the following: Providing that the pay of a deceased member shall be given to his widow or helrs-at law up to the date of the ejection of bis successor, whose pay shall commence from bis election; removing the political disabilities of Raphael Semmes, of Alabama; providing that no person shall serve as juror in United Slates courts who cannot read and write the English language; regulating the removal of causes from State courts to United States Circuit Courts .... An evening session was held to consider the bill to amend the existing Customs and internal Revenue laws, and several amendments were disposed 0f... .Adjourned. In the Senate, on the 28th, the bill to set apart a certain portion of the Island of Mackinac, in the Straits of Mackinac, as a National park was passed.... The Alabama contested election case of Sykes vs. Spencer was further considered, and the resolution to award the seat to Sykes was rejected yeas 11, nays 33 and the committee was discharged from further consideration of the subject; so Spencer retains the seat... .The bill to establish the Territory of Pembina and to provide a temporary government therefor was taken up, and an amendment providing that the right to Vote or hold office In the Territory shonid not be restricted on account of race, color, or sex was, after considerable discussion, rejected—yeas 19, nays 27—and the hill itself was then rejected—yeas 19, nays 29.... A lengthy written report was mado from the Committee on Privileges and Elections on the question as to the bebt and most practicable modeof electing President and Vice-President, and providing a tribunal to adjust and decide all conteateo questions connected therewith, which report was ordered printed and placed on the calendar ...Adjonrned. In the House, on the 28th, the Senate amendments to the bill to legalize and establish a pontoon railway bridge across the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chlen, tvis., were concurred in, with an amendment.... The substitute for the Senate amendment to the Currency hill was rejected—yeas 112, nays 117— and the Benate substitute was then rejected—yeas 70, nays island a Conference Committee on the disagreeing votes was then ordered—l 22 to 82—and the Speaker appointed Messrs. Maynard, Farwell and Clymer as such committee on the pan of the House ... .An evening session was held to fnrther consider the Tariff and Internal Revenne MII, and several proposed amendments were disposed 0f.... Adjonrned. In the Senate, on the 29h, an adverse report was made on the bill to extend the time for proof and payment on pre-emption claims upon pnhlic lands A motion was made to reconsider the vote by which the bill to establish the Terri lory «f Pembina was rejected.... The House Finance bill and the resolution of the Honse disagreeing to the Senate amendments, aud asking for a Committee of Conference, were presented, and a motion that the Senate Insist upon its amendments and grant the conference asked by the (louse was agreed to—3l to 24 aiid Messrs. Morton, Sherman and Merrimt>o were appointed n The Senate con - ference Committee .. Bills werejiassed—to legalize and establish a pontoon railway bridge acres* the Mississippi River a 1 Prairie dn Chlen. Wk; explaining the intent and meaning of the four.h sec ion of the act granting boutfly Imds to cer aln officers and soldiers who have been engaged in the military service of the United Slates: to equalize pensions in certain cases; to increase the pensions of soldiers who have been totally disabled ....Adjonrned to the let. In the House, on the 29'h, the bill for the gradual redaction of the army was debated at considerable length and several proposed amendments were dispos. d of. and the hill was passed—llDio 104.... v hill wa- passed changing the time of holding the United States Circuit and District Courts at K.ansvilie, (nd.. to the first Mondays of April and October. ...The Senale araendm nts to the Legislative, Executive aud Judicial Appropri. ation bill Were taken np, and some of them were non-com-iirrcd in and a Conference Committee waa appointed.... Adjourned to the Ist.

Crop Statistics.

Indianapolis, Ind., May 80. Th* National Crop Reporter, published to day, has returns from 198 correspondents. covering 125 counties in the States of Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas, in relation to the area planted this season in cotton and corn in those States. Deductions are also published from the estimates of correspondents in relation to the total of spring and winter wheat now in the ground in the States of Hit, nois, Indiana, lowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. The following is an abstract of the principal information furnished in the matter: Of cotton there is Shown to be a falling off from the area planted last year averaging in tbe four States first named 14 610 per cent. The decrease in area is 18 410 per cent, in Alabama, 9 410 per

cent, in Arkansas, SO 410 per cent in Mississippi and 5 2-10 per cent in Texas. The area devoted to corn in the same is placed at an increase over last year to the extent of 97 10 per cent. The increase is given as 10 410 per cent, in Alabama, 9 410 per cent, in Arkansas, 8 per cent, in Mississippi and 10 0-10 per cent, in Texas. The stand of both cotton and corn in the States named was, May 15, much bel6w a full stand, although the stand of corn was better than that of cotton. In Louisiana the majority of the reports received speak of a considerable portion of the land as overflowed. In all the four Btates the lateness of the season very much delayed the crops, and, although much of the planting which became necessary had been accomplished at the date of the reports, there will stili be a good deal of land lying idle. The estimates of correspondents in the eight Western States previously men tioned indieate an average increase in the total area of wheat at 8 2-10 per cent. The increase is 14 per cent, in Illinois; 13-10 percent in Indiana; 185 10 per cent, in Iowa; 24 per cent, in Kansas; 37-10 pet cent, in Minnesota; 17 410 per cent in Missouri; 5 percent, in Ohio, and 4410 per cent, in Wisconsin. The general condition of the growing erain at the date of the last report was all that, could be desired, although the crop in lowa has suffered somewhat from the depredations of grasshoppers.

Appearances Against Him.

The history of English law contains few more startling judicial tragedies than that to which the statute against murder owed such humane amendment as to make the finding and positive identification of the body of the slain person essential to the conviction of the murderer; and as the same remarkable case had a peculiar moral ami social significance fortheyoung lovers of all times, who, in their passionate devotion to each other, are altogether too apt to disregard the fortunes of every body else in the world, it may be recalled appropriately for modern reading. Upon the death of Mr. George Perkins, a widower of considerable property, in London, it was found that his will appointed a brother of his, living near Epping Forest, the sole guardian of his only daughter, and directed that said guardian should inherit the whole fortune devised in case his young ward should die either unmarried or without children. Implicit confidence in his brother, who was a middle-aged bachelor of limited means, had, of course, inspired the dying man to make such a will; but a numtierof family relatives pronounced the document an extraordinary piece of servile fatuity, and darkly hinted that harm would ensue from 'it. This feeling caused an alienation between the occupants of the Epping Forest residence and the aforesaid prophets, and made the latter the bitterest prosecutors of the dead man’s brother in the strange and tragic succeeding events, which have been described as follows: Uncle and niece were both Been one day walking together in the forest, but the young lady suddenly disappeared, and the uncle declared that he had sought her as sooths he missed her, and knew not whither she had gone or what had become of her. This account was con sidered improbable, and, appearances being clearly suspicious, he was arrested and taken before a magistrate. Other circumstances, hourly coming to light, rendered his position serious. A young gentleman in the neighborhood had been paying his addresses to Miss Perkins. It was stated and generally believed that he had gone, a few days before she was missed, on a journey to the North, and that she had declared that she whtuld marry him on his return. The uncle had repeatedly expressed his disapprobation of the match, and Miss Perkins had loudly reproached him with his unkindness and abuse of his authority over her as his ward. A woman named Margaret Oass was produced, who swore tba< at about eleven o’clock on the day on which Miss Perkins was missed she was passing through the forest and heard the voice of a young lady earnestly expostulating with a gentleman. On drawing nearer the Bpot whence the sound came Margaret Oaks testified that she heard the lady exclaim: “ Don’t kill me, uncle, don’t kill me!” The woman was greatly terrified and ran away from the spot. As she was doing so she heard the report of firearms. On this combination of circumstantial and positive evidence, coupled with the suspicion of interest, the uncle was tried, convicted of murder, and almost immediately afterward- -according to the customs of those days—was hanged. About ten days after the execution of the sentence upon the uncle the niece reappeared, and, stranger still, showed by the history she related that all the testimony given on the trial was strictly true Miss Perkins said that, having resolved to elope with her lover, they had given nut that he had gone on a journey to the North, whereas" he had merely waited near the outskirts of the forest "until the time appointed for the elopement, which was the very day on which she had disappeared. Her lover bad horses ready saddled for them both, and two servants in attendance on horseback. While walking with her uncle be Reproached her with her resolution to marry a man of whom he disapprove, and after some remonstrances she passionately exclaimed : "• I have set my heart upon him. If I don’t marry him it wilt be death to me; and don’t kill me, uncle, don’t kill me!” Just as she proclaimed those wordsshe heard a sun fired, at which she started, and she afterward saw a man come from among the frees with a wood-pigeon in his hand, which he had shot. On approaching the spot appointed for a meeting with her lover, she fbrtnpd a pretense to induce her uncle togo off’before her. She then fled to the arms of her lover, who had been waiting for her, and they both mounted their horses and immediately rode off. Instead, however, of go mg to the North, they retired to Windsor, and abtfut a, week afterward went on a tour of pleasure to France. There they passed some months so happily that in those days, when newspapers were scarce, when there was no very regular postal communication and no telegraphs, they never heard of their uncle’s sad fate until their return to England.—-N. T. Graphic. —The saddest thing in life is the spectacle afforded by a young person who has burnt all her hair off her forehead with a hot slate pencil and cannot afford to buy a row of curls. V Domestic prints are so pretty this summe- that housewives of taste are using shilling calico for home wrappers, and luxuriating in half a dozen of the various patterns. v

THE RENSSELAER UNION. RATES OF ADVERTISING. Advertisement* not muter contrmet mnat be marked MSS pafd qoarterty in’ advance. *Pr< SSSJS line* or lcaa, one year, *5.00. kvac*. lm. Sm. *ra. 1 yr. One aquare s*oo HW f»JO *HU Two aqnarea 5.00 TX» 12.00 16.' < Onc quortcr column 10.00 12.00 16.00 »X i One-half column 12.00 16.00 22.5) aO.C , Om column.. • • ■«**• I i6.uo law* j-asiwj mum

NO. 37.

The largest room in the world Is the room for improvement. Sulphur comes from Vesuvius; therefore it is good for eruptions. Carpenters are not particular about their food. They are used to boarding houses. Eight hundred marriageable young ladies, for whom thero is no visible prospective husbands, is what’s the matter with Eastoa.Pa. i. The production of brick in the United Stater in 1870, if laid in a wall one foot thick and ten feet high, would reach a distance of over 2,908 miles. A brother of Nathan K. Hull, of Killingworth, Conn., who was recently killed by a train of cars, has committed suicide from grief by jumping into a well. A Deb Moines genius who loves his ease has l vented an automaton firelighter. He lies in bed, pnlls a string which sets the kindling on Ire, and when he liears the kettle singing he gets up. A Bostonian keeps a large standard dictionary on a slightly-inclined shelf in his parlor, which the children and adults of the family can instantly and easily comult for a definition or a lesson- in spelling. A town in Kentucky has developed a queer specimen of qenu* homo in the form of a facetious dentist, who advertises that he will pull teeth “ without pain to the operator, and with very little to die bystanders. The Columbus (Ga.) Enquirer says: “ We are going to quit <he newspaper business; it doesn’t pay to ran a paper in a town where business men read almanacs and pick their teeth with the tail of a herring.” On the average of the last six yean the loss of life in English coal mines, by explosion and other accidents, ammints to one death for every 100,01)0 tons of coal, not to mention injuries of a more or less serious character. The Boston Common Council has voted that the 4th of .Jcily shall be celebrated at an expense to the city not exceeding $25,000, while SBOO has got to answer for June 17, the anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill. Thirteen years ago John Kendall, of Alabama, culled Arthur Spooner a liar. Spooner reflected, got mad, and the other day decided to shoot Kendall for the insult, and did shoot him; and now bis honor shines like a new tin pan off a gatepost. While Prof. Watson has been fooling away fifteen years of his life in the study of astronomy, a very common fellow in Delaware has discovered that a turnip tied to a string and hung to a hook will S revent rheumatism from entering the ouse. There must be a demand for sawdust in Gardner, Me. A local paper says that the sawmills in that city make from fifty to seventy.flve cords of sawdust per day, which sells readily for abont as high a price as though it were in solid long lumber. ± A Baltimore paper tried to say something about “ Churches and Skeptics,” and the writer of the article pleaded piteously for some one to put him out of his misery when he saw his pions editorial appear under thh head “Crutches and Sheeptics.” At Quccbee, Vt., the farmers were plowing in January, and on May day had the pleasure of seeing a foot of snow on their fields. Some of the hill roads were rendered impassable by snow-drifts. The birds were starving, and many robins were found dead. Lccy C. Donegan, of Dubuque, lowa, has sued Frank 8. May for SIO,OOO damages. May bad the small pox, and hung some of tqe clothes he had worn upon a fence near plaintiffs house, whereby the woman ana two of her children were infected with the disease. Many Cuban sugar-planters are emP grating to Southern Texas, glad to exchange the comparatively quiet condition of affairs in that State for the existing troubles at home. The country between the Sabine and the Rio Grande is well adapted to the sugar cane. “A man in a Pennsylvania lunatic asylum,” says an exchange, *'imagines himsell a woman, and for that reason parts his hair in the middle.” Beveral young men outside of the lunatic asylum part their hair in the middle because, it is supposed, they have no reason. North Hadley, Mass., is disturbed by foul water iD its wells, and an old astrologer, well known in that vicinity, has traced, with his mysterious rod, a sub'erranean stream from the cemetery, a few rods distant, to the welt at the parsonage and to others along the street which contain foul water. The preparations of the United Btates for observing the coming transit of Venus are very nearly completed. Eight') parties are to be sent out from this country. One will go to Siberia; another to Central Asia; a third to Nagasaki, in Japan; a fourth to Pekin .China; m d the rest will go to the Southern seas by the sloop-of-war Swntara, which is n»w being fitted up'with all necessary appliances for tbat purpose. The Syracuse (N. V.) police authorities are dealing severely with those little boys who, in their anxiety lor fun. play such games as “ slump the leader” and *• follow jhe leader.” The games themselves are harmless when properly played, but the Syracuse youths, in following their leader, r.>ull down fences, tear the roofs off houses, trip pedestrians, etc., which is carrying the game too tar. —There were 14,087 births in Connecticut in 1873, a gain of 282 over the previous year, and ot 43 12 percent over 1803; the marriages numbered 4.841, 189 less than in 1872, and the deaths 9,822,148 less than in 1872. A noticeable fact in the record of births Is, that Bridgeport, which has little more than half the population of Hartford, reports 1,082 against 939 in tne latter city. A young lady of respectable parentafp, living near Carlisle, Ind., mane a fortunate escape from a fickle marriage recently. She was engaged to be man led to a young man, ana every preparation was being made for the wedding. The day previous to the day set for the occasion he called with a buggy and they took a long, pleasant ride, ana ne left, making arrangements to take her with him to Virginia immediately after the ceremony At the appointed hour the expectant bride waa dressed, the minister and friends were present, and the feast fully prepared, but the young man never came or sent any word, and when the train came along he stepped on board and left without explanations.

CURRENT ITEMS.