Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 October 1874 — Page 1

HORACE E. JAMES & JOSHUA HEALEY, Proprietors.

VOL. VII.

THE SABBATH BELLS. The old man sits in his easy chair. And his ear has caught the ringing Of many a church-bell far and near, Their own sweet music singing. And his head sinks low on his aged breast, While his thoughts far back are reaching To the Sabbath morns of his boyish days, An,d a mother’s sacred teaching. A few years later, and lo! the bells A merrier strain were pealing, And heavenward bore the marriage vows Which his manhood’s joys were sealing. But the old man’s eyes were dimming now, As memory holds'before him The sad, sad picture of later years, When the tide of grief rolled o’er him. When the bells were tolling for loved ones gone 1 For the wife, for the sons and daughters, Who, one by one, from his home went out. And down into death’s dark waters. Bnt the aged heart has still one joy Which his old life daily blesses, And his eyes grow bright and his pulses warm ’Neath a grandchild’s sweet caresses. ( But the old man wakes from his reverie, And his dear old face is smiling, ~ While the child with her serious eyes reads on, The Sabbath hours beguiling. Ah, bells, once more ye will ring for him, When the heavenly" hand shall sever The cord of life, and his freed soul flies To dwell with his own forever. —Harper's Weekly. THE NEST. Under the apple-tree somebody said. ■“ Look at that robin’s nest overhead! All of sharp sticks, and of mud and clay— What a rough home for a summer day!’ Gaunt stood the apple-tree, gaunt and bare, And creaked in the winds which blustered there. The nest was wet with the April rain; The clay ran down in an ugly stain; Little it looked, I must truly say, Like a lovely home for a summer day. Up in the apple-tree somebody laughed, ‘ v 'Littlc'yonknow-ofthetruehome-craft. Laugh, if you like, at my sticksand clay; They'll make a good home for a summer day. May turns the apple-tree pink and white, Sunny all day, and fragrant all night. My babies will never feel the showers, For rain can’t get through these feathers of ours. Snug under my wings they will cuddle and creep, The happiest babies awake or asleepj.’ Said the robin-mother, flying away After more of the sticks and mud and clay. Under the apple-tree somebody sighed, “ Ah me, the blunder of folly and pride! The roughest small house of mud or clay Might be a sweet home for a summer day. Sunny and fragrant all day, all night, With only good cheer for fragrance and light; And the bitterest storms of grief and pain Will beat and break on that home in vain, Where a true-hearted mother broods alway And makes the whole year like a summer day.” —St. Nicholas for October.

THE FAIRY OF THE CASTLE.

A HUNGARIAN STORY. I had fulfilled my youthful dream, and become possessed of an old castle and large estate in Hungary. It was at some distance from Pesth, and I had not visited the property previous to purchasing, for the lawyer’s representations convinced me that it was a bargain, even with the incumbrances, which consisted of an adopted daughter and some favorite servants of the late Count. These were all, however, provided with Annuities by his will, so that it only remained to endure their presence in the castle, and if they should prove to be serviceable I should already be provided with servants accustomed to their routine of duties. From the lawyer’s manner on discovering that I myself intended to reside in the castle I concluded that it bore the reputation of being haunted, and rather reveled in the anticipation of bringing to light the secret terrors of the place. I wrote to the steward to send a carriage to meet me at the nearest station. This 1 found in waiting, with a prim coachman m deep mourning, which I at first Supposed to be for the late Count. The man understood his business. His driving was faultless. But his continual sighs and moans, alternated with weeping outright, at last led me to questions, which resulted in his confiding to me that he was mourning for his sin in having murdered his younger brother. I was somewhat startled. But in spite of his violent grief he drove well, and soon brought me to the village in a state of bewilderment both as to his actions and my duty in the case. Some time before we reached the castle we saw the porter posted on a large stone, in military attitude, and shouldering a long stick as if it were a rifle. As we approached, he shrieked in a fearful tone, “ Present arms!” and began to imitate the sounds of the drum and trumpet, while with his stick he went through the eight movements of the Austrian parade regulations, after which he jumped down from the stone, mounted the stick as if it were a horse, and galloped before the carriage like an outrider, all the time shouting, “A master is a master even in hell! ” When we reached' the gate the porter dismounted and stood like a post, saluting me as I sprang from the wagon, and retaining -the most precise military attitude. I looked at him sharply. He had an honest, open countenance, stamped with faithfulness and loyalty. This man was not drunk, but, it would seem, somewhat out of his head. I next encountered the gamekeeper, who speechlessly turned his back in answer to my inquiries; but „in a moment there appeared the valet, a gay fellow of over forty, with his face wrinkled into the most comical expressiohs by habitual laughter. He was communicative and well trained in his duties. While assisting me oil' with-my overcoat Louis informed me that the three servants I had previously encountered Were all mad. By the time he had shown me to the steward’s apartments it was sufficiently apparent that he himself was at least equally so, though his was perhaps a less disagreeable monomania. The prospect was not cheering. It was thankful to find the steward, at least, a rational man. He was remarkably well informed with regard to his duties, although his appearance would rather have indicated a public officer than a farm steward. After a long conversation, during which he informed me that the ..adopted daughter was also insane, I asked him for a pen and ink, in order to write to the lawyer from whom I had made the purchase. He politely showed me his writing-desk, and then brought me a lamp similar to the Davy-lamp ased by miners. , I wrote somewhat sharply to the lawyer, winding up by saying that the only redeeming feature in this bedlam was the

THE RENSSELAER UNION.

finding of a remarkably sensible and well-educated steward. ' —- ■■■' •. Having finished, I asked the steward for a light and sealing-wax. He begged me to use wafers, and upon my still preferring wax insisted that I should not seal it in his room. He begged to be pardoned, and turned pale as he said: “I must tell you, sir, that I suffer from a peculiar malady. The air in my lungs changes quickly to hydrogen, so that the room in which I am gradually becomes filled with hydrogen gas, and if any one should enter with a light the gaseous vapors would explode and would set the house on fire.” I fell back in my chair. Good heavens! this man was the most insane of all. I was here with six mad people, and was myself the seventh; for I had bought this splendid company. I tore up the letter and despairingly sought my room. Having locked the door after the valet, I noticed that the fire was burning brightly, and that the supper stood upon the table, and could not but wonder what madman had cooked it. I could not sleep. I turned over in my mind scores of plans for getting rid of the property or for leasing it, but none seemed practicable. There was only the one thing certain —that I must get away. Excitement played tricks with my imagination ; the old Count seemed to descend from his frame on the wall and approach me, murmuring, “ Now I have another fool;” an old clock began to strike, and kept on into the hundreds; the bed was uncomfortable; the moon shone in and tormented me till I curtained it out, lest I too should go mad, as was everything else, servants, pictures, clocks, beds and moonlight? I sprang up in a rage, resblved that the morning should rid me of ■my tormentors. Suddenly something began to steal over me which quieted thought. What was it, song or music?—a tone escaped from the harmony of the spheres? I knew not whence it came; but it was enchanting and exerted a wonderful influence. It ceased in a few moments, even before 1 could be certain what it was. I forgot my annoyances, opened the window and leaned out in the moonlight, listening. But the window opened on the court-yard, and there was no sound but the low barking of a dog. I went out into the hall. The song began again, and seemed as if it were under me. It was deeply melancholy—yet not a song, only a dreamy, rhymeless melody, like the notes of a forest bird, but so charming and beautiful that I stood enchanted, forgetful of my surroundings. As it ceased I wondered if this could be the insane girl whom the steward had said had no language but song. I took a light and started in search of some position where I could hear better; but the old castle seemed '"have be?h built from a labyrinthine model. I went through the first story, and up and down stairs, and along innumerable halls, till at last I opened a door -which seemed familiar and found myself again in my own room, without knowing how I got there. I noticed that my bed ■was re made, the fire replenished, and that a thick green curtain was drawn over the Count’s picture at the foot of the bed. Some one had been here! While I remained, listening, the song recommenced, but this time it seemed to be above me. I lay down again and fell into a sleep, from which I awoke in a different frame of mind. I resolved to stay here, to continue the Count’s good work, and to unravel the riddle of the nocturnal songstress. After a residence of half a year I had discovered various means of dealing with and even decreasing some of the peculiarities of my servants. The honest and deeplessly vigilant porter, although most foolish, gave me least care of all. The poor dunce had only one ardent .wish—to wear a red coat, such as he had once seen on a fox-hunter. After that I believe the already devoted fellow was ready to go through fire and water for me. My gamekeeper, though almost dangerous if airy one else presumed to order him—the King of Lapland, as he imagined himself to be—yet bowed in humble submission before me, whom I made him believe to be the Czar of Russia. My steward was such a learned and useful man that I resolved on a heroic cure of his monomagia. I brought gaspipes from Pesth, and endeavored to bargain with him, to supply the castle with gas from his breath. The shock occasioned by my proposition threw him into a severe illness, but he arose from it an entirely sane man. » There were only two remaining in the house who had not been, at least in a measure, benefited by my system of cure : one was my invisible siren and the other was myself, who was in love With her. /■" ■ „ ■*.. As soon as daylight was gone het song began—a song of the lark from human lips; it came and went, sometimes soothing me to sleep, and sometimes waking me, but I could never discover whence it came.* ■< , • . , Nay, more—when I slept she came and went in my room, often remaining hours. I had several means of knowing this. I always left a lamp burning on my table. When I woke it was always extinguished, and being turned dpwn instead of blown out had evidently been touched by a human hand. This was to prevent my seeing her should I suddenly awake. Again, there was a clock near my bed; this I wound up myself before retiring. If I fell asleep at eleven o’clock, and awoke at four or five, the clock would stand at one or two, and yet it went correctly in the daytime. My invisible caller stepped the clock, so that its striking should not awaken me, and started it again when she left. By this means I could tell how long she remained. And yet i could find no trace of her means of gaining admission. I myself locked the doors, and left the keys in the locks on the inside. My windows were protected with iron grating. There could be no trap-door in the floor, for the carpet was of one piece, and nailed down around the-edges of the xfrall. I tried the walls, too, but nowhere was any trace of a hidden door. I took down the picture, but was rewarded with nothing blit cob-

RENSSELAER, JASPER COUNTY, INDIANA, OCTOBER 15, 1874.

webs. Then I examined the roof of the castle, but found only an immense quantity of seed corn spread out directly over my room. Neither could I discover any door leading -to the part of the castle which she occupied, and her windows were doubly secured with, iron gratings. What did this strange creature eat and drink? Is she really a spirit that exists without food or raiment? I questioned ifiy servants, except the porter, w*ho I knew beforehand would only answer, “ A master is master even in hell,” whereas I was not master in my own house. The steward knew nothing of the secret, but he assisted me in my researches, and was as much astonished as myself at what I related. The coachman crossed himself, told a story of a ghost, and prayed I would allow masses to be said for the repose of her soul. My valet, Louis, said it was a wonderfully beautiful enchanted girl, who dressed in gold and silver, who drank only dew, and lived on the nectar of flowers, like a butterfly. At her will she can change into air’and pass invisibly through doors. When it should come winter I must notice the frost-pictures on my windows. If I should find a round, melted spot among the flowers, that would be the point through which she had vanished. He had, at least, a poetical idea of the matter. Not so the little gnome-like gamekeeper, who declared it to be no good spirit. At night she changed into a were-wolf and ate little children. He claimed to have met her often in the forest, and tried to shoot her, but she seemed bullet-proof. In vain I tried feigning sleep. She seemed to understand my st rat age m, and I could even hear her laughing—somewhere near me, surely, but where? I pictured her tall and graceful, with blonde hair reaching to the floor and glittering like gold in the sunshine, complexion transparent, long black eyelashes, and melancholy, lustrous, sapphire eyes, and the delicate lips marked with a faint line of pink. My days were spent in the care of my estate, but they were filled with impatience for the return of evening and my fairy enchantress. At last I dreamed of sitting with her under the shade of a pomegranate tree, while the sun, mirrored in the lake before us, threw its reflection upon her angelic face. In my dream I gave her one of the apples, which she pronounced sour. I then took one myself, and putting it between my lips told her it w r as sweet, and that she must take a bite of it. Oh, the absurd ideas we have in dreams! She leaned over, smiling, looked at me with her glorious blue eyes, and came nearer and nearer to take the red kernel. Then suddenly she passionately pressed her lips to mine, not like a spirit or dream-picture, but as a real human W' ihg. Beside myself with unspeakable rapture, I quickly threw both arms around her—and at the instant a sharp outcry awoke me. No, all that could not be merely a dream. It was a human kiss, a reabembrace, a living outcry. And yet there was no one in the room! A thought came into my head. I sprang up and rushed to the chimney. Then I was ashamed to have imagined that my fairy could have come through the flue! And to render the idea utterly absurd, the grate was still full of glowing cinders, and it was, besides, shut in with iron bars. My heart was still beating from the embrace and my lips burning from the kiss. . ' ■ ' \ As I relighted my lamp, and feverishly began to pace up and down the room, a strange object suddenly met my sight—a tiny embroidered slipper, so fine and delicate that it might well have been worn by no earthly foot. At last I had proof that she had been in my room, had sat by me, and fled in haste, losing the slipper, which she had no time to pick up. I dashed a pitcher of cold water over my head in order to make assurance doubly sure, and then' I locked this wonderful little slipper in a drawer, still feeling that it would not be there in the morning, for men often dream that they have foundr treasures of gold and have locked it in an Aron chest, to find, on awakening, that it was only a tantalizing dream. Then I went to bed again and slept later than my custom. As soon as I was fairly awake in the morning I pulled out the drawer of my writing-desk in order tp assure myself that the last night’s experience was either a reality or a dream. The slipper still lay there, just the same, of white lace and red ribbons, and a Julian flower and butterfly in the finest embroidery. From this time on it seemed impossible for me to stay in the house. Day and night, with every thought intent on solving a riddle to which there seemed no key, I should soon be as crazy as the rest of the household had ever been. No, there must be an endof it! Idealistic dreams are very beautiful, but they did not sujt my constitution. I resolved to quit the castle and return to Pesth, and either rent the estate or leave it in the hands of the steward. Accordingly I called the servants together and told them my plan. For a year after my departure I would continue their wages in addition to the allowance made them by the will of the late Count. I then dismissed them unceremoniously, for I was getting into that state of mind in which I did not wish to see any face about me. All departed except the foolish doorkeeper. Of course he was going to sell me that “A master is master even in hell!” To my great surprise the man put off his military manner, approached me, kissed my hand, and began to speak in an entirely changed and unaccustomed voice. , “ Why will you leave this place Does? the poor girl annoy you?” I was astonished beyond measure. The man, then, was not mad! “ It seems to me that a great change, has come over you,” I returned. “Yes, sir. I wish to tell you everything, and you will then underpaid -much that up to this time must have seemed strange; and then, I think, you will not leave the cattle.” His manners, language and expression were such that I involuntarily invited

him to sit down, which he did. I was now convinced that he knew the secrets of the castle, and anxiously awaited his developments. / “The deceased Count,” he said,““had an unfortunate secret alliance. Wishing to make reparation to his child, who was motherless from her birth, he brought her here in order to educate and lawfully adopt her. But he was not permitted to make full reparation on earth. The girl grew* very beautiful, but never learned to speak. She is not deaf and dumb, for she sings and notices the slightest sound. But she never speaks a work; she only sings. Like a forest bird, she has different tones, with which she makes known her pleasures or griefs to those who understand her speech. The poor Count and I learned this music language, and I understood her. I was the Count’s only confidant. He once said to me: ‘lf I should die, leaving testimony that this child was mine, what would happen to her? Peo- < pie would certainly consider her crazy, which she is not. She has understanding, a good heart, natural affection, and comprehends human thought. Still they would put her in some insane asylum, and so make her really idiotic. How shall I prevent this?’ Then the Count had the strange thought to make an asylum out of his own castle fdr the sake* of the child. From far and near in the vicinity he brought together the village dunces, and the steward he brought directly from an insane asylum. I was the only one of all who was in possession of my five senses, but I pretended the worst madness of all, so that the affair should become notorious. Then the Count gave himself up to the. care of the unfortunates with ceaseless patience, and gradually made docile, quiet human beings of them, till at last he had no servants that he had not partially cured from some mental disease. His object indoingthis, and leaving them a home here for life, was to prevent his heirs from either living in or selling the castle, for he thought no one would buy an estate under such conditions. I confess, sir, that when you first came I counted on your not remaining more than two months in the castle. It is built with secret passages between all the rooms. I myself do not know how they are arranged. Viola alone possesses the secret.” Viola! The name startled me. And yet it would well suit my fancy picture. “ In this way Viola comes down to the hall every night, where I have her food prepared. If I should die the steward would care for her. On these occasions I often spoke to her of you, and was surprised to find that the “poor girl, instead of being afraid of the stranger who had bought her father’s castle, was so much pleased with you that she sighs and blushes at the mention of your name. Yes, she even let me know that she was accustomed to sit by you while_ you slept, and guard your dreams. You have perhaps not known that before ?” Oh, I knew it very well. “The child is not insane; but if you should go away now she certainly would become so. To-day she came to me weeping. I could not imagine what had happened. As she became somewhat calmer she made me understand that while you were asleep she had again stolen to your room, and—had even kissed you. I cannot describe the tender, modest smile with which she acknowledged it. Then, frightened, she covered her face and fell upon her knees, wringing her hands, with a beseeching look, and the tones of a wounded bird entreating the hunter not to kill or imprison it. Viola prays that you will not be angry with her. She will not disturb you again, not even with her singing. She will be still in the house. You shall not even be conscious of her existence; only pardon her this. But I pray you, sir, not to leave the castle. You know* Its secrets now. We who are here love you so much! No one but you could so well manage these poor unfortunates. I really do not believe that Viola will visit you again; blit ifyou should accidentally meet her you will act with that thoughtfulness which every prosperous human being ow*es to the unfortunate.” I became suddenly aware of the fact that my porter and I were shaking hands in a friendly way; but I had already grown accustomed to extraordinary proceedings. Having assured him that I would remain and that I was not angry with Viola,! begged he would no longer keep up the role of an idiot in my presence. For two months I never once heard the voice of my fairy. I was like one who has lost a friend whom he nightly dreams is alive again, and who ponders how strange it is that anybody can be alive w*ho is certainly dead.’ About this time a bold band of robbers began to spread terror throughout- the neighborhood; they had broken into many of the neighboring castles, committing robberies and shooting whoever opposed them. My neighbors advised me to be on my guard, for a gentleman, happening to pass my village, had been taken for me and robbed on the highway, and it seemed pretty certain that my turn would come. But I was too much given up 10 my dreams to pay much attention to the warning. One November evening—it was sleet ing bitterly—l sat alone by my grate, piling stick after stick of wood upon the fire and watching the glowing, whistling spirit forms into which the wood became transformed, when suddenly I was aroused by a loud shout, w hich was quickly followed by a shot. To spring up, snatch my revolver and rush into the hall was the work of an instant. In the opposite door appeared two masked figures. I received them with two shots. One of them returned my fire without effect, the other fell, apparently badly wounded, and was dragged out by his comrade, who again shot at me the half-open door. I partly covered myself with my own door and stood ready to meet another attack. At the moment I became aware that others were endeavoring to force an entrance at the opposite dodr of my room. I was attacked on both sides. In this emergency I thought how fortunate it would have been if the fire were burning less

brightly. As it was, I presented a distinct mark for the robbers’ aim. Scarcely had this thought passed through my mind when the room became dark, and as I looked in astonishment toward the chimney I was startled to see that the grate and the fire had vanished, and in their place stood a pale to white-robed figure, with a lamp in one trembling hand, and shading its flame with the other. She was the embodied, picture of my dreams! After a second’s hesitation my fairy ran to me, seized my hand, and drew me toward the open space in the chimney, when the enchanted floor instantly began to descend. Here, then, was the key to the mystery. The whole foundation of the chimney, with the fire-grate, ascended into the flue, leaving beneath it an opening which took us half a story lower. Between the ground floor and that above it was a space high enough for a grown person to stand upright, and which was yet not discoverable either from without or within. When we reached a corner wall my strange rescuer again drew me to her, and pushed back a bar in the wall, when the square on which we stood quickly ascended. Here, also, as in my room, was the secret opening to the chimney, through which I was now so magically led. I felt as if waked from a dream. A moment before in mortal danger, and now safe in this quiet spot with my fairy. Here was the apparition of my dream! This was the being who had kissed me under the pomegranate tree! The same countenance, the same eyes, the same silent lips—and now also again the same sudden disappearance! On looking around I could see her nowhere. But this time what-IJiad seen was no dream; for in a few moments I heard the alarmbell sound from the castle tower. The entrance to this tower also I had never been able to find. It, too, then, was only to be reached from Viola’s room. Poor child! as soon as she had imagined from the shooting that my life was in danger she herself disclosed the protecting secret in order to rescue me, and afterward hastened to signal the danger to the inhabitants. In a short time I heard the people noisily approaching my residence. This was followed by a sharp skirmish on the veranda, ending with a shout of victory from my good people. The robbers had fled, taking with them the dangerously wounded man who had been hit by my bullet. Another lay dead in the court-yard. The gamekeeper had stabbed him with his butcher-knife. The robber had ventured to oppose the King Of Lapland, who had hurried up to the support of his mighty friend the Czar. The remainder of the band were taken together within the year. But the faithful porter had been killed. As the servants brought lamps, and by their light we raised from the ground the bleeding body of the man who had so de votedly offered himself, Viola began to lament like a young bird stolen from its nest. She threw herself on the ground, and went into such paroxysms of grief that I began to fear for her reason. Raising her tenderly, I assured her I would now take the place of the protector she had lost. At this she cast her eyes down tremulously, but the tears rolled from under the long, half-closed lashes. She had, then, understood my words. Whoever can understand words can certainly learn to speak them! A month has passed since this occurrence, and during this time I have tasked myself with teaching our mortal language to a fairy. My instructions have not been without result. I am now teaching her that short sentence of our marriage service which ends with the words, “As God is my help—Amen.” When she can say this sentence correctly Viola and I will stand side by side at the altar and repeat it in turn.

Sing More.

Cultivate singing in the family. Begin when the child is not yet three years old. The songs and hymns your mother sang, bring them all back to your memory and teach them to your little ones; mix them all together, to meet the similar moods, as in after life they come over us so mysteriously sometimes. Many a time and oft, in the very whirl of business; in the sunshine and gayety of Fifth avenue and amid the splendor of the drives in Central Park, some little thing wakes up the memories of early youth—the old mill; the cool spring; the shady tree by the little school-house — and the next instant we almost see again the ruddy cheeks,, the smiling faces, and the merry eyes of schoolmates, some grayheaded now, most “ lie moldering in the grave.” And anon “ the song my mother sang” springs unbidden to the lips and soothes and sweetens all these memories. At other times, amid the crushing mishaps of business, a merry ditty of the olden time pops up its little head, breaks in upon the ugly train of thought, throw’s the mind into another channel; light breaks in from behind the cloud in the sky and a new courage is given to us. The honest man goes singing to his work; and when the day’s labor is done, his tools laid aside, and he is on his way home, where wife and child and tidy table and cheery*fireside await him, he cannot help but whistle or sing. The burglar never Bings. Moody silence, not the merry song, weighs down the dishonest tradesman, the perfidious blerk, the unfaithful servant, the perjured partner.— HalVs Journal of Health. The flame of the gladiolus in our dooryards has nearly biyned out. The lady’s slipper is getting much run down at the heel. The portulaccas find it hard work to make up fire earlv -in the morning. The china asters, with a star on their vest, do police duty at the funeral of flowers.— New York Commercial Advertiser. An Alabama girl slid doWq a rope ladder, Stole a horse, rode twelve qiiles and paid the parson’s fee, rather than not have the marriage ceremony come off. It has been discovered that the moon’s diameter is 156 feet longer at one point than at others.

SUBSCRIPTION; $2.00 a Year,*la Advance.

M. Gilson has recently concluded a Journey round the world, which he made for the purpose of ascertaining the condition of the trade in gems. In an article in the St. Petersburg Gazette he states the results of his investigations. Diamonds he found at a lower rate than they have reached in ten years past. Pearls and emeralds are, on the other hand, at a premium. An opal the size of an average olive would bring in New York, at the present time, about $180; a sapphire of the same size would bring $1,350 emerald, $7,500;'’ a diamond, $13,500; and a ruby $37,500. In Europe these gems would rank somewhat differently, opals and sapphires rating higher and emeralds lower.. Pearls are now brought from Central America, California and the Persian Gulf, but none of them rival those of the East Indies. About $5,250,000 worth of diamonds are annually imported from South America into Europe, and the same into America. Many of these are of good size, and most have at yellowish tinge. In consequence of this heavy importation diamonds of the same hue have fallen 75 per cent, in the market. But this effect upon the value of the stones may be considered merely temporary. A* similar depreciation in ..their price occurred at the discovery of the diamond-mines in Brazil —Golconda having previously supplied the market —but they soon regained their value. —Men are not in the habit of looking at things alike. If they were, we would have a wonderfully unpleasant world of it. It pays to be thrown among men who will differ with us, providing we can recognize, wisdom in others, and do not set all down as fools who do not come up to our standard.

Deep Sea Soundings.

The curious in such matters will read with interest a brief description of the process by which navigators are able to obtain samples of the earth lying at the bottom of the ocean. The machine used n sounding is known as the Thomson machine, having been patented by Sir William Thomson, of London. It consists of a drum or wheel thirty inches in diameter, on the edge of which is a V-shaped flange in which the wire is wound. This drum is mounted on a platform extending over the ship’s side, and has on the axle a register which shows the number of revolutions. There is also an apparatus to control the running out of the wire, and another for reeling in the wire. The sounding cup is the invention of Commander Belknap, of the United States navy. It consists of a rod about two feet long, with an auger at one end and a sliding cup which, w*hen the rod descends, incloses the auger and retains the mud. ooze, or gravel which is collected. To the rod is connected a fifty-five pound shot, and the material used for lowering and raising is the No. 22 piano wire, weighing fourteen pounds to the mile. The wire is made to run slowlv at first, the velocity being gradually increased. When bottom is reached the drum stops turning, but with the motion of the ship w ill start again and make three or four turns in a sluggish way, which to the experienced is a sure sign that the sinker is on the bottom. Sometimes, when the ship is rolling badly, the drum will come almost to a dead stop, and those unaccustomed to the machine would think that the sinker had struck, but in a moment the drum starts-again, and runs more rapidly than ever. The machine itself is so simple, and occupies so little room, that any cruiser might carry one as a part of her outfit and. make soundings from time to time, when getting up steam in calm weather, or for the purpose of going into port. Commodore Ammen is now* having manufactured some piano wire weighing twenty pounds to the statute mile, which is designed for use in the upper splices where the depth is 2,000 fathoms or more. This will decrease the liability of breakage and consequent loss of large amounts of wire. With the above machine and apparatus Commander Belknap has recently taken a series of deep-sea soundings in the Pacific, the result being an important addition to geological science, together with more valuable information as to ocean currents.— New York Observer.

Elephant Laborers.

It would be too long to relate all the uses to which elephants are applied in Burmah. Let us watch them at work among the wood-yards where the trunks of tickwood trees, which come floating down the river, are piled. Every work-ing-elephant is mounted by a driver called a “comae,” whose principal business is rather to excite the animal than to direct it. In the season when the roads are cut the trunks come down the river to the bar much faster than they can be disposed of in the saw-mills, and they accumulate in vast quantities all along the banks. It is necessary, therefore, to drag the trees out of the water and arrange them in piles until such time as they can be cut up. There are only three sorts of piles, varying with the size of the trees. First an elephant in the water clears the logs from the mass and ranges them one by one upon the river bank. He carefully examines the chaos of logs and proceeds with tusks and trunk to disengage the tree he has selected and which he intends to carry to land. As soon as the tree is placed on the bank another elephant is harnessed to it and drags it to the wood-yard,where he leaves it. Two other elephants now come up, and one of them takes one end of the log upon his trunk and drags it to tne pile upon which, inyiew of its size, it ought to be placed, while his companion assists him by pushing the log with all his might. As soon as they reach the proper pile the first elephant lifts the top of the log upon the pile, then he forms a kind cf ring around the log with his trunk, while the other with a vigorous blow of his head shoots* the log into its place. The intelligence displayed by these animals is almost incredible, and we should scarcely have believed it if we had not seen their movements as described above.— Revue des Deux Mondes.

Gems.

NO. 4.