Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 September 1874 — Page 1

HORACE E. JAMES & JOSHUA HEALEY, Proprietors.

VOL. VII.

THREE ANGELS. They say this life is barren, drear and cold; Ever the same sad song was sung of old, Ever the same long, weary tale is told, And to our lips is held the cup of strife; And yet—a little love can Bweetcu life. They say our hands may grasp but joys destroyed; Youth has but dreams and age an aching void Which Dead-Sea fruit long, long ago has coycd, Whose night with wild, tempestuous storms is rife; And yet—a little hope can brighten life. They say we fling ourselves in wild despair Amidst the-broken-treasuree scattered there Where all is wrecked, where all once promised fair, And stab ourselves with sorrow’s two-edged knife; And yet—a little patience strengthens life. Is it then true, this tale of bitter grief, Of mortal anguish finding no relief? Loi midst the winter shines the laurel’s loaf; Three angels share the lot of human strife, Three angels glorify the path of life— Love, Hope and Patience cheer us on our way; Love, Hope and Patience form our spirits’ stay; Love, Hope and Patience watch us day by day, And bid the desert bloom with beauty vernal Until the earthly fades in the eternal. , —Frazer's Magazine.

A POETICAL MARRIAGE. [Aug. 5. 1874, “ poetically," by Rev. 11. J. Squires, Will B. Williamson, of Henrietta, Ohio, and Mies Sarah Breckenridge, of Kawsonville. Ohio. No cards.] * The marriage ceremony was ae follows: MINISTER. . Thia woman wilt thou have™ And cherish her for life, Wilt love and comfort her And seek, no other wife” HE. This woman I will take That stands beside me now, I’ll And her board and clothes And have no other “ frow.” MINISTER. And for your husband wilt Y6u take this nice young man, Obey his slightest wish And love him all you can? SHE. I'll love him all I can, Obey him all I choose. And when I ask for funds lie never must refuse. MINIBTER. Then you are man and wife, And happy may you be; As manv be your years As dollars in my feel

JOSIAH TODD.

BY MRS. A. M. FREEMAN.

It was a liappy day for the Todds. It would ho doubt have been a happy day for any one of us had we been so lucky as to have had the Todds’ fortune. An hundred thousand dollars isn’t a small item, especially when .it is successor to so many cents. Josiah Todd had made an investment. Bailie’s fortune had been let down in a shaft leading to a well of pure coal oil, and now it had come up magnanimously, having added to itself a thousand fold. Josiah Todd came into the house, his round, red face all aglow, his little eyes shining happily. “Bailie!” he cried, excitedly, “I’ve been offered a hundred thousand for my share in the well !” “A hundred thousand! oh! Josiah, I hope you have taken it.” “ No, Sallie; it is worth as much to me as to any one. I’ve never been rich. I want to learn how it will seem. It must be mighty tine to be the biggest man in the place. There’s old Plum isn’t a bit finer fellow than I am; he’s wonderfully looked up to. as for Mrs. Plum, she’s only a shadow to you, Sallie; and their Matilda isn’t near so hearty a lookin’ girl as our Polly.” Josiah Todd was a small man—that is, measuring only his length—but if one attempted to consider his breadth he might be counted as a modern Brobdignag. In faet he was a staunch old Knickerbocker, a genuine descendant of the worthy Aldermen who, Washington Irving tells us, cut their garments into strips to measure the boundaries of their land. Josiah Todd could have encompassed a respectable section. Josiah went out into the street. He threw his head back, placed his thumbs in his pocket, tipped his hat a little to one side, and prepared himself thoroughly to do justiee to his new importance. But however much he had felt elated he was scarcely prepared for the extra condescension with which he was greeted. A little way from his own door he met Lawyer Snibbs. Now Bnibbs had often met Todd and had always passed him indifferently, sometimes with a little nod, just the slightest, in fact; then again lie would walk by quickly, paying no more attention to Josiah t ham as though he had not been directly in his way. You see, Todd lived in a little wood-colored frame building —Snibbs lived in a stone front. “How do you do, Mr.'Todd?" said Snibbs, warmly, pulling off his black kid and reaching forth his white hand. “Quite well, I thank you,” said Todd, delighted, and extending his little short, brown hand. “ We must be neighborly, Todd,” said Snibbs. “ I’ve often wondered that your family didn't call. lam sure our young people would be delighted with each other.” “ Why,” said Todd, stammeringly, quite unprepared for this speech, and, in his ignorant simplicity, unable to detect its insincerity, “ I am sure we have been waiting for you. Of cohrse Sallie would be that glad to drink a cup of tea with Mrs. Snibbs, and as for Polly, the child has wished so many times that shexould be near enough to your stylish daughter so that she might "learn exactly how to arrange her back hair. You see, the rats will show.” “ Well, come in, Todd. Come in.. Let us be friendly.” So saying the lawyer passed on. “ Not so bad a fellow, after all,” reflected Todd, “A very pleasant-spoken man. Quite generous .of him to invite us in. I must speak to Sallie. No doubt it is our own fault that we haven’t had friends.” A little further down the street Todd met the doctor of the place. “ How are you, Todd?” said Dr. Beck, grasping Todd’s hand and shaking it as warmly as though Todd had been the grand Mogul himself. “ I -hope you are |

THE RENSSELAER UNION.

well. Is Mrs. Todd thriving? All of the little Todds lively?” “ Quite well,” answered Todd, rubbing his little fat. fingers together in ecstacy. “That’s a blessing, Todd. When a man can point to so perfect a family as yours—can pronounce them physically healthy, and morally whole—it is a positive proof that he himself has been an honest man in his life, as his fathers be fore him. That’s aristocracy, sir! That’s blood! That’s our nobility!” “ I didn’t know,” said Todd, reflectively, looking after the doctor, “ that Beck was so good natured a fellow. I thought' him short and gruff, a little kind of stuck up, as though lie was better than common folks. A pity that we ain’t any of us sick, so that we could call him in. But Sallie is so healthy, and the young ones are like knots. But here comes Plum. I declare, if he isn’t lifting his hat and bowing —smiling even.” “ I was just thinking of you, Todd. The very man I wanted to see. It was only this morning that my wife gave me instructions to invit«xyourself and family to the excursion. Only the first families of the place are going. We’ve chartered a boat, and intend to have a tiptop time. Do join us, and prevail upon your amiable lady to make one of the party. Nothing will delight the young people so much as to have your son ana daughter of the number.” “Thank you! thank you!” replied Josiah, throwing back his head a little further and stepping prouder as he walked away. When Todd went home that noon it was with the firm determination to render his family worthy of their illustrious head. He carried with him the last guide to etiquette, several fashion'magazines, engaged a dress-maker, rented a brown stone front, gave it over into the hands of the upholsterer, and made speedy preparations for immediate exodus. Sallie begged to be excused from joining the excursion, but as Plum had sent, the invitation Josiah could not permit it to be declined. When the day came he superintended the arrangements himself, feeling assured that getting the feminine portion of his home oft' in style was the most particular part of the whole affair. Josiah, junior, had been dressed by the draper. Ilia coat was black and shining, ’liis hat a silk fur, his vest white, his watch-chain immense, his pants a perfect fit—so pertect, in fact, that the last words from the senior Todd were that he should be careful about making any sudden plunge, or indulging in any of his usually exuberant spirits, for fear of the direful consequences to that perfect fit. Miss Polly was dressed in a gorgeous rainbow silk with a wonderful train and an immense Elizabethan ruff. Josiah himself had donned a blue coat with brass buttons, upon which the American eagle made a wide-spread display. Hiß shirt collar came up high under his ears, three immense studs glistened from his shirt front. His vest was orange, his necktie a delicate salmon.

Through all these arruugements Josiah had felt that Sallie’st was the most trying form to decorate. Sallie was stupendous. The fashionable modiste pulled at corset strings, at buttons, hooks and eyes, until she was fairly black in the face. But Sallie’s form was genuine; flesh, bone and blood were more irrepressible than cotton. With the united efforts of the family poor Sallie was got into a new silk gown. Then came the bonnet, a little crownless thing, half hat, with wide strings tied back of the ears, brought forward under the chin. Sallie sighed in the plebeian depths of her heart for the comforts of her old Sunday dress, but with the firmness of a martyr she endured her torture. Josiah’s happiness had always been more to her tljan her own comfort, and she did think that Josiah was just splendid in the blue coat and brass buttons, though she must say that salmon was a little too red for his complexion. When it came to Sallie’s gloves there was a failure. No amount of puffing and blowing, of pinching and pulling, would work them on. The gloves were kids and Sallie’s hands were flesh. The hands had the best of it, and, do their utmost, the dainty gloves could not get on the outside of them. “Put one thumb in, so,” said Todd, illustrating. “Mrs. Plum always wears hers in that manner, and of course Mrs. Plum is correct.”

“Happy to see you,” said Mr. Plum, as they came on the boat.-“ Mrs. Plum, here is Mrs. Todd and daughter. Here, Sophronia, take charge of Mrs. Tpdd. A fine young man, that son of yours, Todd. Going into the professions? Intellect — there. what we need. Men of the people—those are the only men of principle.” Josiah looked over to his son rather doubtfully. He. had never considered him remarkably bright, in fact had regarded him as rather slow, and perhaps a little stupid. But, of course, if Mr. Plum said that lie was' bright and talented, Mr. Plum knew. He, Josiah Todd, would never dispute that sagacious man’s opinion. Everybody went hv what Plum said. At-tliis stage of his reflections Josiah became alarmed at Sallie’s loquacity. Sallie was the most industrious woman living, and, quite unknowdto Josiah, had managed to smuggle along her knittingwork, and thus she sat in her broadbackcd chair, her 4 feet planted firmly, against the railing, forming, with the bright steel needles glancing in and out, the '.immense proportions of Polly’s stockings. Josiah felt the drops of perspiration breaking out all over him as he paused, listening to Sallie’s uninterrupted flow’ of talk—a recapitulation, heard by hint for at least- the hundredth time. Recipes for all sorts of colds, coughs, catarrhs and influenzas, wonderful stories of ghosts and goblins, little anecdotes of Josiah, junior, and Polly when they were children, etc,.,’etc. Mr. Todd noticed too that the young people were laughing behind Sallie’s broad back. Something must be wrong. He did wish Sallie wasn’t so difficult a subject to dress fashionably. It was with considerable misgiving that Josiah gained a position where he could view Sallie from the rear. What was the poor man’s consternation to find that Sallie’s

RENSSELAER, JASPER COUNTY, INDIANA, SEPTEMBER 24, 1874.

chignon had been forgotten, that the little knot of gray hair, not so large as one of the buttons on Mrs. Plum’s redingote, was all there was to fill the empty back.' The front of Sallie’s head was covered with frizzes, the back was as bald and bare as was Josiah’s own. Of course this was a catastrophe, but not more trying than the incident which occurred immediately after. Dinner was announced, and when they came to the table Josiah, junior, seated himself at the head in the Captain’s chair, from which the waiter politely ejected him. In vain did Mr. Plum scowl at his family; the Misses Plum laughed broadly. Poor Josiah blushed scarlet, and in his helpless embarrassment awkwardly destroyed with a spoonful of hot soup the immaculate whiteness of his shirt. Following the book of etiquette was a difficulty to which the Todd family, from pater familias down, were unequal. Knives would go into mouths, bits of meat would fly away from under folks, tea would empty itself into saucers, napkins would slip off to the floor. Josiah thanked his stars devotedly when the day was ended. It was quite out of the question, he saw, that Sallie should ever be equal to polite society. She was as she was, and they must make the best of her. But Polly must be sent to boarding school where she could be properly finished, and Josiah should have a tutor. Hadn’t Plum praised his son and noticed with compliment his -daughter?- Plum wanted to see him about the election. Plum was talking of running for representative, and had said just the day before that lie considered himself as good as elected if he secured his—Todd’s—influence. All of the working men would go with Todd. They knew that he was no fraud. He was no railroad speculator, no bloated bondholder, no thieving monopolist.

At Mr. Plum’s a most cordial welcome awaited him when he called on the following afternoon. Mr. Plum was absent, but Mrs. Plum and her daughter Sophronia, though they were dressed for a grand dinner party at Col. Purseproud’s, the richest and most aristocratic family in town, greeted him with great affability. And Miss Sophronia, dear, artless girl! advanced to meet him, and placing her outstretched hands in his inquired sweetly after the health of Josiah, Jr., and her lovely friend Polly, and that dear, good-hearted woman, Mrs. Todd. Josiah was quite overcome by such kindness. He did not stay long, for Mr. Plum was out of town, and our plain Josiah could not long sustain conversation in ladies’ society,hut departed, after being warmly urged by the ladies to be sure and come again qn the following day, when’ Mr. Plum would-be at home, and would be so glad to see him. The next day Josiah went. .Poor, unsuspecting Josiah! Why did not some kindly fate check thy steps, even on the marble threshold of that dwelling, and preserve thy faith in human nature intact? The kindly fates were all busy elsewhere, doubtless, and ft was a very 111-condiiioned sprite that led him up tlio steps and guided his hand as it rang the bell of Plum’s door.

The servant showed him in. Plum was expecting him—had given orders that he was at liOme to no one but Todd. “ Mr. Todd!” announced the servant, throwing open the door of the family sitting-room, not noticing that Todd had left the waiting-room and was just behind. Josiah stepped to one side. ‘‘That vulgar Todd!” said Mrs. Plum. “ How can you abide such people? If that creature in his yellow vest and salmon necktie isn’t the most ridiculous specimen of shoddy I ever saw.” “ Hush! hush!” cried Plum, alarmed. “ I left him in the waiting-room,” said the servant. “ I am sure that I had just as soon he would hear as not. The idea that you should insist upon Sophronia, the dear, particular child, associating with those vulgar Todds. The very name is enough. It is a shame, Plum, that you insist upon our countenancing them.” “Todd has influence, my dear. His gold is as patrician in its ring as that of the Mayor. Todd will work for our party, which means that he will work for me. After election it will be easy enough to throw him off This is done every day. Such men are used only as a means. After the end is attained the means are laid aside. 1 w T ill dispense with Todd when I am representative. Show the man in.” Todd had heard enough. He walked out of Plum’s house, shaking the dust from his feet, went home and repeated the conversation to Sallie. “ And I didn’t wait,” said he, in Conclusion', “ until the servant came back. 1 have made up my mind, Sallie, to iive for our own comfort, to leave Polly to act like the sensible girl that she is, to let Josiah go on and finish learning his trade, for no doubt he will make a better mechanic than gentleman. As for you, Sallie, you newte’t wear the frizzes and the chignon, and the rug, and the bustlq, and the train; but may just take to your old plain ways again. As for me, Plum shan’t be representative.” Nor was he. Josiah laid aside his yellow vest and buff necktie, and when Plum met him on the street so- attirfed he felt that he had a formidable antagonist, one who was too sensible to run the risk of being snubbed after election. Josiah’s fortune was no bubble. Ilis luck had been genuine. In all of the country there is not a more hospitable house or politer family—a hospitality and politeness born of innate goodness rather than of wealth. —Our Fireside Friend. —The tobacco-growers of Connecticut arc fast recovering from the dejection caused by the inferiority of their product last year and the dullness of the trade for several months past. The prospects for this year’s crop are excellent in nearly all parts of the State as regards both quantity and quality, and the harvesting has begun in good earnest. The failure of the crops in many parts of the South and West enhances the hope of selling this year’s yield to advantage. —There is not in all the State of Texas a single Universalist church edifice or church organization.

A New Way to Dine Without Price.

Lucy Hooper, writing to the Philadelphia Press from Paris, says: “ One of the nastiest tricks, but at the same time one of the cleverest of the day, was recently perpetrated on the restau-rant-keepers here. An enterprising genius set out one day to get a first-class dinner without paying for it, and he succeeded in this wise: Having procured a quantity of cockroaches, he killed them by immersing them in boiling water, and with the lifeless remains of his victims tiecTup in a handkerchief'and concealed in his pocket he sallied forth in quest of dinner. Entering the Case Brebant, he took a seat at a table in the public room and ordered some soup. The soup was brought in its neat little plated tureen, and the hungry customer proceeded to ladle out a plateful of it, which he consumed with much appetite. Having nearly finished his soup he watched his opportunity, popped one of the cockroaches into the tureen, and then screamed for the waiter. The waiter came, and with speechless indignation the rascal pointed to the defunct insect. 1 Bring the proprietor!’at last he gasped. ‘I will complain l —l —l ’ ‘ For heaven’s sake, be silent, sir,’ whispered the distressed servant; ‘ you will ruin the reputation of the house. Of course we will charge you nothing for the dish if you will sav nothing ’ ‘ Ah —well—in that case —but I can eat nothing more here, -lam too_sick—Good morningJ So off went the gentleman, followed by a storm of apologies and regrets. He proceeded To the Maison Doree and ordered a dish of fish, which he obtained on the like cheap terms and in the same ingenious manner. The Case Anglais supplied him with a roast, the Case Riche with fowl and salad, and he wound up his day’s campaign with some ices and cakes at the Case Neapolitaine, having obtained a first-class dinner without spending a single cent. When the waiters of the different cases began to compare notes, of course the trick was discovered, but it was then too late to punish the adroit swindler.”

His “Small-Pox.”

The New York correspondent of the Boston Journal writes: “One of our railroads runs by the county buildings. Prisoners, paupers and the diseased are transported often on the street ears to save expense. This practice creates great indignation. So far all protests have been in vain. The other day the conductor was collecting fares from a crowded load. A foreign person, poorly dressed, and with an eruptive face, handed up his money. In answer to the question, ‘Do you go through?’ which means do you go beyond the city line, he said: ‘I have got de small-pox do!’ ‘Haveyou got the small-pox?’ said the astonished conductor. ‘Yes, I have got de small-pox do.’ The passengers came to their feet; women screamed, and the excitement, was intense. ‘ Come, get out of this car; you can’t ride here,’ said the official. The unfortunate made for the front platform. He was hustled out of the car and nearly pitched headlong into the street. He recovered himself and started for the front of the car. The driver took the car-hook and threatened to brain him if he got on. The poor fellow kept up with the horses, shouting, ‘l’ll go; give me my small pox, give me my pox, give me my pox,’ pointing to a small two-foot square chest standing on end behind the driver. The mystery was explained. The honest German wanted to - pay for his small box on the car as well as his own fare. The conductor apologized, and a seat was offered to the man. But he had had enough of that company. He refused all invitations to ride, shouldered his ‘ small pox,’ and trudged on foot to the almshouse.”

Making Matches.

For those wlio care to experiment in making home-made matches the following hintsfrom the Scientific -American, may prove serviceable: The preparation is different according as they are chemical or lucifer matches. For chemical matches, put forty grains of phosphorus in a widemouthed bottle; add enough oil of turpentine to cover the phosphorus; then mix in ten grains of flour of sulphur. Put the bottle in hot water until the phosphorus is entirely dissolved; stop the mouth of the bottle with a cork, and well shake the whole until it has become cold; afterward pour off the supernatant oil of turpentine. Into the mixture of phosphorus which remains in the bottle dip the extremities of the matches; ana after some time, when they have become dried, drop them into the following mixture: Dissolve thirty grains gum-arabic in a small quantity of water ; add to it twenty grains of chlorate of potash, and mix them intimately together; then add Ten grains of soot, previously mixed with a few drops of spirits of wine. In about twenty hours the matches will be perfectly dry, when they will ignite on rubbing them over a rough surface. For lucifer matches use one-third of phosphorus and the remainder of gum-arabic water and Coloring matter like minium or Prussian blue. Mix in a water bath and muller carefully,' The dipping is performed in the following, manner: The melted composition is spread upon a board covered with elo'h or leather, and the workman alternately dips the two ends of the matches, that are fixed, in a frame. The fumes are very poisonous.

Strong Mortar.

So very marked is the mortarused in modern buildings as poor, compared with that long ago used* that various attempts hqve been made to ascertain the “ secret,” if secret it was, of the composition of the Old builders in mortar-making. One “secret” which the old builders possessed tyg may quietly here impart to those of the present day; that is, that to make good mortar, good lime and plenty of it must be used; the old builders did not use a composition nearly all sand, and that sand not fit often to be used, and then call it mortar, as do the builders of the day oftentimes. When

we examine almost any piece of modern work, we find that the mortar hardons very slowly, and even when hardened as much as it will harden, it crumbles away, loses cohesiveness, so much so that in many cases it is quite an easy matter to detach the stones or bricks trom one another and from the mortar. The very opposite characteristics are found in ancient work, and on examination it has been seen that the mortar has in great part been converted into silicates, entering into close union with the particles of quartz. It is to these silicates "that mortar, owes its firmness, antTff is~ to the slowness with which silicates form in modern mortar, and small proportion of these present in it, that this owes its poverty. A method of setting free the silicious earth, and promoting the rapid formation of silicates, has been discovered by a Prof. Artus, and which yields a mortar resembling in its characteristics those of the ancient kinds. The great recommendation the process possesses is its simplicity. Lime is in the first instance well slacked, and mixed carefully with finely-sifted sand; to the mass is added a quantity of unslacked lime to the extent of one-fourth of the sand in the first instance mixed with the slacked lime; mix the whole thoroughly, the mass heats and the mortar may be at once used. When the mortar is not wanted for immediate use, the first process only is carried out, namely, mixing the sand with the fine-slacked lime; when wanted for use the unslacked lime has to be added. A very strong mortar is said to be the result.— Builder.

“You Pays Your Money and Takes Your Choice.”

A Paris correspondent writes: A good story among the many that might be told in connection with the rage for undergoing the action of mineral water panaceas is that of the renowned actor, Perlet, wjiose leanness was something phenomenal and who was tormented by the most determined longing to “get some flesh on his bones.” A well-known physician of this city advised him to go to One of the bathing-places in the Pyrenees. Perlet accordingly asked for a leave of absence from his theater and went off to the prescribed locality, where he drank and bathed with the utmost zeal and perseverance. But neither drinking nor bathing seemed to have any effect upon him, and he remained just as much a skeleton as before. “Patience!” urged the local doctor in reply to his expressions of disappointment; “ there is nothing like the water of our springs for making people fat!” One day, when Perlet was patiently soaking himself in a bath, in the hope of an increase of weight which seemed in no haste to declare itself, he oveTheard a colloquy in the bath-ing-cabinet next his own, between the local Esculapius and a lady of enormous obesity. “ Doctor,” remarked the lady, “ I am really losing heart and patience.” “ Why so?” inquired the doctor. “ Because, though I have been taking these waters regularly for two months, lam not one inch the smaller nor one ounce the lighter.” “ Patience, Madam!” cried the doctor, in his most persuasive tones; “ there is nothing like the water of our springs for making people thin."

An Intelligent Mare.

On the Harrodsburg road, four miles from Lexington, lives Mr. Funkhouser. Last Tuesday night, as Mr. F. was enjoying the profound sleep which follows an honest man’s liard day’s work, he was awakened by the repeated neighings of his saddle nag. After waiting some time for the mare to cease, he became impa-, tient, and, bouncing out of bed, drove her off. He thought it rather strange, too, that she should come to the house and leave her colt in the woods, where she had been running some weeks. He thought it still more remarkable that his man, usually very careful, should have left the gate open, so that the mare could come from the woods to the house. While he was turning these things over in hits mind, in that half-unconscious state preceding sleep, he was again aroused by the mare. She neighed loud and shrill, and at last put her head to his window. Her persistency finally suggested that something might be wrong with her. He got up again, but as soon as he approached she started on a brisk trot for the woods, and he re-entered the house. But scarce had he seated himself in the bed when the mare was again at the window, making more noise than ever. At last he thought of the colt, and, remembering some wonderful instances of intelligence in brute's, determined to follow. The mare preceded him to the gate; when he opened it she passed through, and immediately struck out in the darkness, and he lost sight of her. When lie had stood pondering a few minutes, thinking the mare had played a rather sharp game on him to get back to her colt, and when he had just started again for the house in no good humor, the mare reappeared. At first he was disposed to go on home, but she actually blocked his way at every step. He tooKthe hint and again followed her, and near the middle of the wood she stopped at a sink hole. A little examination showed him the colt lying on its back at the bottom and unable to move. He, had but one match and used this up in seeing the position of the colt. He found himself unable to extricate it without assistance, and it was near morning before he obtained help and got the colt out The mare, meantime, had pranced around, showing the liveliest interest in everything done, and when the colt was finally relieved her joy seemed extreme. Mr. F. made a careful examination to ascertain, if possible, how she got out of the woods, and finally found where she had thrown a top rail off, and then jumped the fence. Sjie had never been known to jump a fence before. —Lexington {Kp\ Gazette. —Rosa Bonheur is fifty-two years old, and unmarried. She rejoices with a subdued joy that no man has ever been able to divide her pure and unselfish love for cattle.

SUBSCRIPTION; #2.00 a Tear, In Advance

This was our last day in the Black Hills.. Occasionally as we reached the summit'of one of the border peaks we could see stretching away like an ocean, miles and miles beyond us to where the brown earth and the blue sky seemed to meet, the hot, dry plains that for days thereafter were to be our marching ground, and with much regret did we think of leaving the cool, shady valleys and fresh water for the hot and dusty prairies and alkali. The eastern and northern ranges ofthe hills are qulti as beautiful and fully as rich in every way as the other parts, and will be, perhaps, more available for settlers when they are permitted to enter it, as the valk leys are wider, the hills are generally lower and less abrupt, and the genenu face of the country more adaptable ta agriculture. Frequently the valleys widen out into broad, level parks'large enough for a vegetable farm and as fertile as a Rhode Island garden, which one could see in his mind’s eye laid out according to the rules and regulations of market men “ into all the luxuries of the season.” It cannot be long before these imaginary picturfis are realized; the future does not stretch far forward before it reaches the settlement and improvement of this oasis of the Dakota plains. The miners continued their prospecting as we passed northward from Harney’s Peak, and several times found the color of gold but never succeeded in getting the metal. They claim that it is there —that the belt stretches southeastward, and that their test was insufficient, as is no doubt the case, being hastily and hurriedly made. Frequent indications of iron were found, and large gypsum beds, like those that lie to the west of Inyan Kara. The deposits are pure and easily available, but unfortunately the demand for the substance is not sufficient to call for its mining. It is the gold, if anything, and the beautiful hills and valleys that will bring people to the Black Hills

Those who are familiar with the Indian reports of the country claim that we have not seen the richest portion that west of where we are now camped, in that district which lies between. Bear Butte and the southward bend of the Bello Fourche, which we have “straddled,” to use a vulgar phrase, lie the treasures of which the Indian is so jealous; that the theme of all the fabulous stories is located, and that all the gold nuggets that Dame Rumor ever heard of were picked up, where we hava not been. But Gen. Custer found the country impassable for his train, and led his tram through that portion of the billa which, although extremely difficult, was most easy to enter, and as his time was limited the explorations of this El Dorado must be left for another year. Already the expedition has done more than, was even hoped of it by the most sanguine ; more, even, than Gen. Custer himself, who has never learned the use of the word failure, expected, and its direct results will be of great value on many accounts. The topography pf Southwestern Dakota, Southeastern Montana and the northwestern comer of Wyoming has been secured by the engineer corps to a degree of accuracy that is unusual; the course of all the streams has been, determined, and all the progression of mineralogy, zoology and botany has been applied to the investigation of a part of the country that was hitherto totallyjunknown, with a result that will be valuable as long as the star of empire westward keeps its way. The fact that gold and other mineral deposits exist here has been verified, and, still further, the fertility of the soil and the healthful fragrance of the atmosphere has been found to equal any locality on Uncle Sam’s farm. And from all the indications we have seen it does not appear that the Indian need he jealous of this portion of his titled estate, nor will it be robbing him to deprive him of it. We have found no settlements in the Black Hills. All we have seen have been hunting parties from the Missouri agencies, who came up here for a little summer sport. There £are few traces to show that they make this their home any portion of the year, or ever did, and the only temptations to draw them are the herds of elk and deer, which a few years of active hunting would exterminate. They cannot mine the gold or iron ; the timber docs them no good, and they will never make any use of the rich soil that has been waiting centuries to be utilized. But lam meddling with a question it is not my province to discuss. I will state the fact and let other people formulate the theories. The great fact here is: One of the most valuable landscapes on the continent, fenced in from all civilization —one of the richest storehouses ever filled with the gifts of the Almighty locked and barred by human legislation from those for whom it was meant. — Cor. Lnter-Oeean. ■— ' i i —The Paris Cab Company has instituted a mode of advertising which it expects will yield a considerable income when its advantages are known to trade. On each hiring the cab-driver is bound to give a ticket bearing the number of the vehicle and the tariff of charges. Instead of tickets the company’ now distribute to its drivers little books of a few’ leaves, the outside of which contains the matter of the former tickets, the inside being left free for advertisements. The average daily number of hirings of the company’s, vehicles is 31,000, and from the class of the public who use cabs, and the probability that the advertisements will be read by the, passenger to while away his time on the journey, this mode of publicity will probably be appreciated by advertisers. • —The Protestaffi Episcopal Church Congress, to.be held in New York in October, promises to be an important religious gathering. The congress is the result of a meeting of New England clergymen held in New Haven some months ago. The sessions will be held in Cooper Institute. The meeting will be devoted to a frank and courteous discussion of different views, without the authority to settle or determine anything.

NO. 1.

The New El Dorado.