Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 December 1874 — Page 8

A Daring Theft.

“I Bay, up there!* shouted * to some roofers who were at wort on the new addition to the Boston Public Library; but the men were working so far above where the noisy fellow was calling from that they did not hear him for some time. Finally one of the mechanics nearest to the gutter looked over the cornice into the street below, and caught the eye of the fellow who was calling so loud. “ I say, you roofer.” “ Halloo." “ Throw your hammer and chisel down here for a few minutes, will ye?” ’ “ What for?” “ Got to fix this plaguey lightning-rod.' “ Use your own tools, then.” “ Left ’em at the shop." “ I can’t help that.” “Say!” “Well?" “Just help me with your hammer for a few minutes." “ Can’t spare it.” Here another roofer crept to the cornice and looked over to See Who was making such a noise. He was instantly hailed by the man below. “ Say, can’t you lend us a hammer and chisel for a few minutes?” “ What for?" “ Got to fix this lightning rod.” “ Well, bring 'em back safe." “ All right." “ Will you come up and get ’em?" “ No. 'Drop them down." There was a plat of ground partly covered with grass under the windows, and so the accommodating roofer dropped over the spare hammer and chisel, which were duly picked up by the man belowFinally, after much hallooing, having thus got the tools, he stripped off his coat and went to work on the copper lightning rods which ran down both sides or the building. * He seemed to be a very good-natured fellow, and whistled about his work in a careless and pleasant way. Indeed, the lightning-rod man must have been quite a musician, for he whistled very loud, and he whistled very well, varying his notes by introducing snatches from all of. the popular operas, marches and waltzes of the day while he worked his way upward from window to window. At last, after more than an hour’s labor, he had got one of the long rods nearly off, all but a couple of fastenings, when, seeing a policeman standing below, , he called out: “Say, policeman?” “ What do you want?" “Just stop the people from coming too near the building for a few minutes until I let this rod down. It’s nearly ready to fall and might hurt somebody. ’ “Very well," said the policeman, taking his stand and ordering the passers-by to go on the other side of the street, Finally the lightning rod man got a rope, borrowed from some quarter of the building, and making it fast to the copper rod lowered it away to the ground, apparently well satisfied at the completion of the job. “All right, policeman. If you are coming this way by and by I snail soon have the other ready to lower." “Very well," said the officer, going off on his beat The lightning-rod man stopped to disjoint the long rod, and piled it together nicely before he commenced work upon the other. This was a much more difficult one to handle than the first, owing to the portion of the building upon which it was secured, but patience and perseverance accomplish all things, and in less than two hours the musical fellow had got the second one ready to lower. Before he cut away the last fastenings he looked round for the policeman to keep people from getting hurt if the rod should fall or go down by the run, but as no officer was in sight he hallooed vigorously to a mason at work on a portion of the building, and engaged him to keep all dear below. “ Can’t stop long." “Only for a minute," shouted the lightning-rod man. “ Why don’t you let it down?” “ Going to. Look out!” ’ And sure enough the second rod came down without the rope attachment and came within an ace of smashing in the skull of the accommodating bricklayer, who barely jumped one side in time to save his life! <■' “A miss is as good as a mile," said the mason, half joking and half seriously, “ but that is as near to being killed as I wish to be." “ I told you to look out,” said the light-ning-rod man, who had now descended to the ground. “Yes. I heard you!" said the other dryly, as he marched off to his work again. , The links in the long rod were carefully disjointed like the first and piled together close to the building; then the man remembered that he had borrowed tne roofers’ tools and so went away up to the Up of the building to return them. “ Thank ye. old fellow, for your hammer and chisel,” he said, as he returned them. “ Oh, you’re welcome,” was the answer. The lightning-rod man disappeared for a little while but soon returned, driving up to the Library with a wagon. He quietly proceeded to load his copper rods, and as they were heavy he took off his coat and was occupied some time in getting them all carefully into the vehicle. In his work altogether he wasemSloyed for some hours upon the building. io one for a moment suspected but that he was acting under orders of the proper authorities, but the truth was he was a thief! After coolly loading hi? wagon he resumed his ooat, cracked a joke or two with the mason who had so nearly lost his life, and quietly drove away. , The upshot of the whole matter is that the city of Boston will have to pay for new lightning rods for the Public Libra ry!—N. F. Weekly.

Long-Legged Horses.

For most every-day purposes shorilegged horses are in general preferred, because in themselves they indicate superior strength, and because, by nature, they are associated with depth of chest and carcass, and other signs of stamina and durability; but the long leg possesses advantages in stride and leverage, and therefore, where speed is required, becomes a desirable formation. The length of limb must very much depend on the purpose the animal is destined for; a long leg would be as Ml adapted for a cart-horse, as a short one would be for a -racer. To get over the ground length becomes absolutely necessary in the propelling parts of the machine, and these arethe loins and the limbs. Occasionally we meet with horses with long limbs ana short bodies; but such are rare and undesirable conformations—the limbs doing

too much for the body, or, rather, the latter restricting them in their action. People in general make objection to horpes with undue length of limb; such a horse has “ too much daylight underneath him to be good for anything,” is a common expression enough in these cases, and, prima facie — and in nine cases, perhaps, out often —these people arc correct in their disapprobation. But every now and then comes a horse before us with all this apparent objectionable sub-cor-poreal “daylight,”' and yet with extraordinary power in his long limbs, with circularity in his chest though it be not deep, and with the known character of being “ a good feeder after work;” and when such a horse does present himself, we may. should he possess breeding, regard him, notwithstanding his long legs and light body, as an animal of a rare and valuable description. His legs, having but little to carry, are therefore likely to “ wear well” and he is likely to prove a fleet horse, and withal a good-winded horse—one that is likely to turn out a most valuable acquisition. One ought not hastily to reject a horse with long limbs and their ordinary accompaniment, a light carcass. — Prairie Farmer.

He Didn’t Want Any.

The other day a well-dressed stranger, carrying a hand valise, called into a life insurance office and inquired if the agent was in. The agent came forward, rubbing his hands, and the stranger asked : “Do you take life insurance risks here?” “ Yes, sir; glad to see you, sir; sit down, sir," replied the agent. “ What do you think of life insurance, anyway?" inquired the stranger as he sat down and took off his hat. “It’s a national blessing, sir; an institution which is looked upon with sovereign favor by every enlightened man and woman in America.” “ That’s what I’ve always thought,” answered the man. “ Does your company pay its losses promptly?” “ Yes, sir; yes, sir. if you were insured with me, and you should die tonight, I’d hand your wife a check within a week." “ Couldn’t ask for anything better than that.'' “ No, sir; no, sir. The motto of our company is: ‘ Prompt pay and honorable dealing.”’ “ How much will a $5,000 policy cost?” inquired the stranger, after a long pause. “You are—let’s see—say thirty-five. A policy on you would cost sllO the first year. “ That’s reasonable enough.” “Yes, that’s what we call low; but ours is a strong company, does a safe business, and invests in only first-class securities. If you are thinking of taking out a policy, let me tell you that ours.is the best and the safest, and even the agents of rival companies w ill admit the truth of what I say.” “ And when I die will my wife get her money without any trouble?” “ I’ll guarantee that, my dear sir." “ And I’ll get a dividend every year?” “Yes, this is a mutual company, and part of the profits come back to the pol-icy-holders.” “ And it won’t cost me but sllO for a policy of $5,000?” “ That’s the figure, and it’s as low as you canget safe insurance anywhere. Let me write you out a policy. You’ll never regret it.” “Them’s the blanks, I s’pose?” said the stranger, pointing to the desk. “ Yes," replied the agent, as he hauled one up to him and took up his pen. a What do you say—shall I fill out an application?" “ No, I guess I won’t take any to-day,” replied the .stranger, as he unlocked his valise, “but if you want something that will take that wart off your nose inside of a week I’ve got it right here! It’s good for corns, bunions, the toothache, earache, sprains ” He was placing his little bottle on the table when the agent reached over and took him by the shoulder and hoarsely whispered: “ Mister man, if you don’t want to become a corpse you won’t be two minutes getting out of here!” Aud he wasn’t. — Detroit Free Press.

The Late Express Robbery in Missouri.

Frank B. Webster, the express messenger of the train on the Kansas Pacific Road which was recently stopped at Muncie, Mo., and the express safe robbed, has made the following statement to a reporter of the Kansas City Times : “ About 3:45 this afternoon, as the train drew up at Muncie, I heard a loud hallooing outside, and, not suspecting Anything wrong, walked up to a small window which is between the mail-room and the express-room. A revolver was thrust under my nose, and I saw’ a large man in dark clothes, with a cloth tied over his face, completely concealing his features, standing in the mail-room. He ordered me to come out, threatening to shoot if I refused to obey. I immediately crawled through into the mail-room and from thence to the ground. On getting outside another man approached me and told me to hold up my hands. I did so, and while looking around three other men, making five, and all of them masked and heavily armed. In a moment they ordered me to go back into the car, which I did*, both of them following. Once inside one placed a revolver to my head while the other leveled a Henry rifle on the other side, and I was told to unlock the safe. I readily obeyed, and at their order handed out the contents. One of them took a mailbag, and as I handed out the packages the other threw them into the bag. I took out SIB,OOO in currency, $5,000 in gold, and all the packages of money in the safe. They said they did not want a silver brick which was there, and also gave me back my watch, saying they did not want my personal property. After having got all there was in the safe without touching anything else they ordered me to get out on the ground. While one guarded me, the other took the money and got on his horse. The other left me, and with the others rode away to the north, going over a hill,” - —Removal of Dry Putty —According to an English journal the tiifficulty of removing hard putty from window-sash can be obviated with great readiness by simply applying a piece of heated metal, such as a soldering-iron or other similar implement. When heated (but not redhot) the iron is to be passed slowly over the putty, thereby rendering the latter so soft that it will part from the wood without any trouble. .—The Boston Transcript well says that churches should be thoroughly ventilated every Friday. It is trying to heat dead air that plays the mischief with church wanning.

Warm Stables—Blanketing Stock.

The Western Rural believes that, if it could be properly estimatefl, fully onehalf the grain fed by farmers in wintef is wasted for want of suitable quarters, care and clothing. Every person living on the prairies knows that in a windstorm on the open plain every endeavor must be used to keep from freezing, while, as soon as the shelter of the timber is reached, it is as though one had reached another climate; anti the clothing that \in the first case ’had failed to keep the individual warm, eyen. with violent exertion, in the last case becomes oppressive, even under the most moderate labor. So it is with animals in barns or stables, exposed to every storm of wind ami snow sifting through wide cracks and ill-fitting doors. Is it _any wonder that animals are found in the morning drawn up, shivering, the heat of their bodies blown away faster than nature can supply it? If the stable had been made impendous to wind, and any stable, however rude, can be made so very easily, fully one-quarter of the food consumed might be saved, and that now too often wasted would have been accumulated as flesh and fat. In the first place the stable, unless underpinned with stone and well pointed with mortar, should be banked with earth above the sill, and the spaces between the girths and posts ought to be packed with chaff, or some other material easily procured on the farm—unless, indeed, it has been provided that these spaces may be bricked up or clayed at the time of building, thus making it cool in summer and warm in winter. Stables may be easily protected by setting stakes a short distance from the weather-boarding and attached at the top to the building by braces or The space between the stakes andtfie building may then be filled with the coarse manure from the horse stable or littdr of any kind. At the present high prices of grain some protection of this kind will be found to pay a better interest than any simple arrangement that can be deviated. It is one of the most singular things in farm economy that many farmers will deny their animals, their horses especially, the comfort of blankets. We have found the blanketing of work cattle and steers intended for extra beef to be profitable, and that a blanket to each horse will pay its cost with interest each season there is no doubt. The farmer may buy rough blankets at a mere nominal cost. In these days, when every family is or ought to be provided with sewing machines, it will be but little work to stay those portions which are to support the cord or strap passing around the thighs of the animals and the straps across the chest, which may be fastened with a large button or simple hook and loop that may now be cheaply bought by the dozen. These may be quickly lined with some cheap, strong stuff, as burlaps or other rough material, thus insuring them from tearing and adding to the durability of the fabric. We advise every farmer who has never tried this to lose no time in doing it. It will add to the comfort and consequently to the keeping of the horses. The blankets will be found a very good thing to help keep out the cold from the farmer on the way to market, and when the team is standing about the streets of the village or market-town they will be sure to appreciate the comfort of the covering from the chilling winds that too often lay the foundation of disease which costs the worth of the horse to cure.—Wiwferh Rural.

Charge It.

A simple little sentence is this, to be sure, and yet it may be considered as one of the most insidious enemies with which people have to deal. It is very pleasant to have all the little commodities offered for sale in the market, and it is sometimes hard to deny one’s self of the same when they can be obtained by saying “ charge it.” But this habit of getting articles, however small the charge may be, without paying for them, keeps one’s funds in a low state most of the time. “ I have no money to-day, but should like the article much,” says a young man who happens to go into a store and sees something which strikes his fancy. “ Never mind,” says the gentlemanly clerk, “ you are good for it.” “ Well, I will take it and you may charge it.” And so it is that little accounts are opened at one place and another, till the young man is surprised at his liabilities, which, though small in detail, are sufficiently large in the aggregate to reduce his cash materially when settling-day comes. In many instances, if the cash were required, the purchase would not be made, even had the person the money by him; but to some, getting an article charged does not seem like parting with an equivalent. Still, when pay-day comes, as always it does, this illusion vanishes, and a feeling is experienced of parting with m'bney and receiving nothing in return. If there is an actual necessity of making a purchase, and the means are not at hand, there is a reasonable excuse for obtaining the same on credit; but when the article can be dispensed with until payment can be made, it is much to the advantage of the purchaser to do so.— Anwrtcan flgraZ Homa -N

The Way to Make Enterprising Farmers.

In the first place there must be successful farmers to teach beginners the correct principles and the better and most reliable practices of agriculture. A farmer who dislikes his livelihood—who don’t care to be a successful* tiller of the soil, and would abandon farming wholly if he could engage in any other pursuit—is not the man to instruct beginners in the great art of agriculture. Such men always drive their sons and employes from the farm. Farming is looked upon by them as the most unsatisfactory and unprofitable business that they can engage in. Hence they are always morose and crochety and forever grumbling that farming don't pay, and they do not want their sons to engage in such business. The same is true with reference to most of our schools and colleges. The practices and courses of instruction adopted at agricultural institutions, thus far, have been educating young men away from the farm rather than toward it. The agricultural colleges are as yet an unfinished experiment. How much aid the farmer* can derive from the schools remains to be seen. But there is a work which can be done before the young man is given into the hands of professional instructors. He can be in terested in the farm or disgusted with it before he leaves the paternal roof.

In this early training lies the secret of holding the young men. Let there be intelligent and enterprising farmers to instruct ? beginners in the better practices of farming. Let the farmer lighten the labor which he puts upon his son by telling him all he knows about the reasons for doing it. Explain to him the processes of nature, so far as they are known, and show him the things which remain to be discovered. Show him that agriculture is only just begi n ningto understand itself. Excite him to think by mentioning the many things a farmer does without knowing why he does them. Induce him to, think of these things and he will perceive that every thing which invites investigation is not away from the farm. Show him that, by pushing ahead and availing himself of new discoveries and ideas, he can make a better farmer than his father. This is the way men in other occupations hold their sons to carry on the enterprises which they have labored to promote; and thus must the farmer gain early the interest and sympathy of his boy if the boy is to build onward and upward upon foundations which his father has laid. There is no class of citizens that have so much leisure and such easy times and that can live so luxuriously as farmers, if they understand their business., True, at certain periods of the year farmers must labor unremittingly ’ for a few days, after which their duties are light for days, weeks and months. Farmers should exercise themselves to love their employment.— New York Herald.

Pie.

Pie is the bane of the American household, the lurking devil of the cupboard. I, beguiles childhood by seductive appeals to the uneducated palate, and by gradually vitiating the taste it becomes a cherished weakness of the adult, in the end, if adhered to, banishing all the peace and joy of the head, heart and stomach. Of mince pie a close observer has not inaptly said: “Moist and indigestible at the bottom, flaky and indigestible on top, with untold horrors between." Other pie has the excruciating characteristics of mince, with a differ ence in the degree of the horrors deftly hidden between the upper and nether crusts. And this concentrated dyspepsia is carried everywhere. The poor child is allowed by thoughtless parents to take pie to school and munch it six times a day, thus darkening its whole future. Married couples become sour and morose, and at last separate. They pronounce the cause incompatibility of temper. They are wrong; it is pie. Promising homes are broken up;. the young man goes out into the world in anger and the old man’s curse follows him. Pie again on both sides. What an absurdity for a reformer who carries in his shrunken face the distorting, tell-tale marks of pie to rave about narcotics and stimulants. Eradicate the imp of the larder and there will be one less influence at work to drive young men to seek the imp which lies in the bottle. Let us have a genuine cookery reform. — N. Y. Evening Post. - ' ■ ■

The Manufacture of Pins.

In writing about the manufacture of pins by the American Pin Company at Waterbury, Conn., a correspondent of the Hartford Times says: They employ about sixty hands, which is less than half the number employed in a driving season. Last week they turned out two and a half tons of pins. They have capacity for eating up twenty tons ofwireinaweek. Each machine is complete in itself. All that is necessary to do is to place one end of the coil of wire into its greedy .maw, and it will bite off the wire the right length, point it, swedge up the head, and spit out the pins at the rate of 175 a minute. Now a slight knowledge of arithmetic will enable us to get at the capacity of the concern, supposing they were driven to the utmost, with two sets of hands, day and night. They have seventy-two machines, each machine capable of turning out 175 pins a minute. What do we see? For one machine 10,500 pins an hour; for ten hours ten times as many, or 105,000. Now the night hands come along, and before daylight the never-tiring brasseater has made the number 210,000. Then let us see what the seventy-five machines have been doing in the same time. Seventy-five times 210,000 is 15,750,000. Now this is the sum total for a single day. Multiply it by six, the number of days in the week, and you have 94,500,000 a week. If you have any curiosity to follow farther, you can multiply it by the number of weeks in a year, and the grand total will be 4,914,000,000. Whew! Enough to take one’s breath away. That beats the national debt. They actually have the capacity to make more pins in a year than the United States owes dollars. The principal manufactories for making pins in this country are at Waterbury, Birmingham and Winsted, of this State. No wonder the question is asked: “ Where do all the pins go to?” For sticking them in paper the pins are fed in a hollow revolving cylinder, and are taken up in the compartments of longitudinal ribs which extend along the inner surface of the cylinder and drop open upon an inclined plane, down which they slide and are caught in the links of an endless chain. Each link is notched for as many pins as make a row, and each notch receives its pin hanging in by the head. The whole is then left together in the paper. The only attention the machine requires is to supply it with paper and pins. The first attempt to manufacture pins in this country was made soon after the war of 1813, whom pins were sold for one dollar a paper. —An extraordinary scene occurred recently at Zion Chapel, Nottingham, England. The appointment of Mr. Langford as minister is disputed by a section of the congregation. Mr. Langford entered the pulpit on the morning of Nov. 15, in spite of a request that he would not do so, and conducted the service, but in the evening the opposing body obtained possession, and Mr. Langford was stopped at the pulpit steps. He then gave out a hymn, m,which part of the congregation joined, the opposition party at the same time starting another hymn, thus producing great discord. Mr. Langford began to preach and the minister appointed by the oppositiop party commenced reading a psalm. Mr. Langford preached his sermon while his opponents were singing, Idli by the harmonium. Some police officers were in attendance but no violence occurred —Kennebec Dodgers. —One egg; cup of molasses; three cups sour milk; one teaspoonful soda; Indian meal sufficient to make a little stiffer than flapjacks. Bake in a shallow pan. Winp done should be just thick enough to split; split while hot; butter and serve at bnce. ‘

Caught in a Bear Trap—A Terrible Experience.

A party of hunters from this city, who have Just returned from an expedition into the Sierra Nevadas, about forty miles from town, relate the following remarkable incident: On last Thursday afternoon, about thfe&» o’clock, two of the party were on the trail of a deer'„ which led them into a remote ravine in the fastnesses of the mountain into which they had not before ventured. The snow being about two feet deep and the walking very heavy, they became discouraged, and losing.all hope of overtaking the deer, which they had wounded, they abandoned the pursuit. On their return one of them discharged his gun at a hare, and soon after a faint halloo was heard at some distance to the right, as if from some one in distress. Uncertain whether they were not mistaken, and had not been deceived by the whistling of the wind, they shouted aloud, when the cry was repeated. As night would soon come on, they held a consultation, and were about proceeding to their camp,' three or four miles away, concluding that the noise was made by wandering Indians or came from a party of wood-choppers. They started on, but soon a prolonged and mournful howl was borne down the wind and again reached their ears. They stared at each other a moment, and then by a simultaneous impulse turned in the direction from which the sound proceeded. They went on for some distance, floundering through the snow down a precipitous descent which led them into a gloomy canon As they drew nearer the voice of a human being could be distinctly heard calling for relief. They answered that aid was approaching. The man’s yells of misery changed to cries of joy, and they could hear him, at intervals, shouting: ‘ For God’s sake, don’t go away and leave me!” “ Come and get me out!” “ I am caught and starving!" Still they could see nothing. But, guided by the man’s cries and cheering him with hopeful answers as they advanced, they pushe forward and at last discerned what seemed to be a small cabin built of logs, without windows or doors. The snow had drifted against the side of the hut nearly as high as the roof, and as they could see no entrance they went ardhnd to the other side. As" soon as the occupant saw them he uttered exclamations of the greatest joy and explained his situation in a few words, by stating that he had built a bear-trap and caught himself in it five days before. The door was made of heavy logs and was so arranged as to slip down into its place from above. They tried to lift it up, but failed. Finally, by means of a stick of timber which lay near by, they pried it up sufficiently for the prisoner to crawl beneath. He appeared more dead than alive, but by judicious use of a flask of brandy they were able to get him into their camp about dark, where their companions had a blazing fire awaiting their return. The half-famished man ate ravenously. He was supplied with plenty of hot coffee, and smoked a pipe, after which his strength somewhat revived, and he gave the following account of how he got into the situation in which he was found: He said his name was Thomas Way, and that he had been engaged in chopping wood in the mountains during last summer. Since the first snow-fall, about a month ago, he had frequently noticed the tracks of bears among the pine trees, and had often tried to get a shot at them, but without success. At last the idea struck him to build a pen such as he had often seen grizzly bears caught in in Lake County, Cal., where he used to live He explained that the bear trap is made by building a small, square house of heavy hewed logs and covering it with a strong roof. The door is of heavy logs also, and slides up and down in grooves. When it is up there is an open entrance about five feet high and four feet wide. A sheep is killed and hung up inside of the pen attached to a rope, which is connected with a trigger, so that when a bear enters and seizes the mutton the door falls and he is caged. Way went to work and completed* his trap to his satisfaction, and intended to bait it the same night. Having a curiosity to see how it would work he went in and pulled the rope slightly, when the door fell down. He attempted to raise it, but was horror-stricken and his hair stood on end when he found that he was unable to budge it an inch. He worked and struggled., but the heavy weight refused to move. The pen worked only too successfully, and he was caught in his own trap. He yelled, shouted, called for help, but, knowing that he was miles from a human habitation, and in a savage locality where few persons ever ventured, he sat down in blank despair. He spent that night in agony, and got but little sleep. It commenced to snow, but fortunately he had a heavy blanketovercQat which kept him comparatively comfortable. The next morning he commenced shouting again until his throat was sore, but was only answered by the howling of the tempest. He had set his gun against a stump outside, and longed to get at it that he might fire it off and attract somebody’s attention. He soon began to get hungry. His thirst he quenched by thrusting his hand through the chinks between the logs and snow and eating it. Thus day after day elapsed, during which his mental sufferings were terrible. “I tell you, men,” said he, “I thought of everything I had done in all my life from the time I was a boy six years old.” At last a brilliant idea struck him*. He had matches and would burn his way out. With the heel of his boot he would kick and grind a log until he had accumulated a quantity of dust and splinters, which he would light with a match and blow the fire with his hat until he had burned a hole laree enough to cr-awl out. All the day previous to hat on which he was found he was thus employed, but on trial the scheme would not work. The wood refused to burn and he again lay down to die. That day passed, and the next day he had abandoned all hope and was calculating how long it would take a strong, healthy man to die of starvation. He was in a state of abject stupor when he heard tlie report of a gun. He was in doubt whether it was not the effect of his own maddened imagination, but he hallooed with all his might and kept on shouting. When his cries were answered he was almost delirious with joy. As the voices approached his visions of approaching death fled away and the realities of life came back like a flood. He was profuse in his gratitude to his deliverers, but declared his intention of getting out of the Sierra Nevadas as soon as possible and abandoning bear hunting. He said that he had had most too close a call and didn’t want any more of it in his. The next

morning he left for the camp of some wood-choppers, who were no doubt at a loss to account for his long absence.— Virginia City (Neo.) Chronicle. : J.

A Scrap of Paper Saves a Man From State Prison.

For several days past the Essex County Court of Quarter Sessions in Newark has been absorbed in the trial of a young New Yorker named Patrick McCarragher on an indictment for complicity in the wholesale series of burglaries perpetrated during last summer in the suburbs of Newark by one Louis Walrabe, alias Meyer, “ the Orange Mountain burglar.” The circumstances of the case are exceedingly interesting and reveal a degree of blundering and looseness in the administration of justice which fur-, nishes the reverse of a flattering commentary on “Jersey justice," about which the ex-State of Camden and Am. boy is wont to be so proud, and, in the main, justly, indeed, as the sequel will show; it was only by chance that an innocent man was saved from conviction of crimes which would have consigned him to State Prison for ten or fifteen years and his octogenarian mother to her grave. The facts in the case are as follows: This W alrabe, alias Meyer, above mentioned, had found against him twentyfive indictments, the full penalty for which, in case of conviction, would reach nearly 100- years’ sentence in the State Prison. He’ had several accomplices. One of these, Richard Barrett, was also arrested and indicted. Walrabe, in the hope of having his sentence toned down three or four score years, pleaded guilty and turned State’s evidence. Through him it was hoped to sweep in quite a gang of burglars. Barrett stood trial and was promptly convicted. In the meantime Walrabe said a certain James Murphy was an accomplice. He gave a description of the latter to the Newark Chief of Police, who took it down in writing on a scrap of foolscap and gave it to Detective Becker. Becker went to New York and saw McCarragher go in and out of Barrett’s house. Thß excited in Becker’s head the idea that he might be implicated, so he induced McCarragher to go to Newark with him, saying that he might be able to do something for Barrett. On reaching Newark what was McCarragher’s amazement to find that seeing him,.declared that he was James Murohy. Upon this evidence the Grand Jury indicted McCarragher as an accomplice of Walrabe. He was placed on trial, and the evidence seemed pretty strong against him, though his friends and employers—all highly respectable people—came from New York and did all they could for him; proving him a person of unblemished reputation. But Walrabe swore that McCarragher was Murphy. During the trial it came out that the paper upon which was the description given by Walrabe to the Chief and by the Chief to Becker was lost. The case went to the jury on Monday at two o’clock. They were out all night. Yesterday forenoon the Court sent for them and McCarragher. The Court handed them a scrap of paper, saying that that doubtless would facilitate their deliberations. They took a searching look at the prisoner, retired, and in & few minutes returned with a verdict of acquittal. The paper was the description of Murphy. It called for a person the very opposite in appearance from McCarraghetf a light-complexioned person, whereas McCarragher is dark. As a matter of course there was great rejoicing among the friends of McCarragher over his hair-breadth escape from a felon’s doom. — N. Y. Herald.

Willing to Oblige.

A very prepossessing young lady, canvassing for a popular book, stepped into the office of a real estate broker in Springfield, Mass., the other morning and, finding the broker apparently at leisure, asked him to look at her book. The gentleman politely informed her that it would only be a waste of time, as he could not purchase it. “ Oh, never mind that,” ejaculated the vivacious young woman; “it won’t cost anything to look at it, even if you don t buy. I should like to have you read gome portions of it and see what it is." The accommodating broker took the volume and, glancing at the title-page, commenced a perusal of its introduction. This finished, he began at the first chapter, and read carefully and leisurely along. It was about nine o’clock when he commenced, and an hour passed silently away. Then the book agent began to exhibit signs of nervousness, which were apparently unnoticed by the broker, for he never raised his eyes from the volume, but read steadily on. Eleven o’clock came, and the lady began to walk rather smartly about the room, glancing occasionally out of the windows. At noon the broker was still reading, and the agent wore a decidedly troubled countenance. A .few minutes before one the broker laid down the book, leisurely donned his overcoat and hat, and remarked, blandly: “ That is a very good book. lam sorry that I cannot read more of it, but I am obliged to go to dinner. If you will call in this afternoon, I will read some more of it."

House-Plant Compost.

The Ma»sachu»ettß Ploughman says: Compost for house-plants should be made of the following ingredients: 1. Good garden mold. 2. Mold'from decayed turf, from a pasture or field. 3. Decomposed stable or cow-yard manure. 4. Mold from decayed leaves. 5. Sea or river sand, free from salt. 6. Peat from the meadows that has been exposed to frost. 7. Coarse sand or gravel. 8. Broken flower-pots, charcoal or oyster shells. 9. Old mortar or plastering. Garden mold will not be needed if there is a supply of fine decayed turf About one-fifth of the pot may be filled with the drainage materials, viz.: broken bits of pot, charcoal or oyster shells. If a little meadow moss is placed over these it will prevent the earth washing through. Compost for camellias, roses, geraniums, etc., should be: One part river sand; one part leaf mold; one part manure ; two parts leaf and turf, br garden mold. For cactuses: Two parts coarse sand; three parts leaf and turf mold; one part peat and a little broken plaster. —The First Baptist Church was recently organized in Los Angeles, Cal. Chinese and English services were held by the Rev. Francis and Lee Kee; also open-air English and Chinese services on the public square. 7" ■' '’ • . ■ ft •