Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 April 1875 — Page 2

RENSStIAER UNION. JAMES* HIALEY. Proprietor*. RENSSELAER, - INDIANA.

THE NEWS.

Thinning of the Carlist A- <W} . by Desertions. Collision on the C., b. & q. k. K in lowa—F <tal Resilts. The Chicago ‘'Times” Editor Iwnrissued for Contempt. Be Is Sttapetfty Liberated, Cider Bwds, by i Writ of Sipenodess. The U. S. Supreme Court Decide* Against Female Suffrage. ,•.• . . . The Beecher Trial—The Defendant on the Witness Stand. -ff --- Partial Abandonment of the Senatorial Excursion to llexico. • • Other Interesting News Item*.

FOREIGN. The French Government has denied to the Due de Montpensier a passport to Spain on the ground that in giving it the Government would establish a precedent by which exQueen Isabella might return to Spain, which was undesirable. Nearly 100,000 people met in Hyde Park. London, on the 29th ult. to express sympathy with and demand justice for the Tichborne Claimant The French Government has issued a decree prohibiting the importation of American potatoes. The object is stated to secure France against the introduction of the- Colorado beetle. A Paris paper of the 31st ult. announces the intended abdication of the Emperor of Brazil in favor of his oldest daughter, the Countess d’Eu. The paper adds that “ the Emperor, on his abdication, will make a tour of Europe, after which he will proceed to the United States, where he will make his home.” 7 . It was reported at Washington on the 81st ult that the yellow fever was epidemic at Havana. A special dispatch from Berlin of the Ist says a great financial crisis had occurred. There had been twenty-eight failures and several suicides in consequence of financial reverses. The Carlists were reported on the Ist to have entered the province of Santander with a view of penetrating Castile. The Uruguayan Chambers have passed a decree suspending payment of interest on the public debtand providing for its redemption by the issue of new paper at a forced price. The foreign representatives have protested, and the situation is considered serious. A dispatch from Berlin of the 2d reports that eighty ecclesiastics had been imprisoned in Posen alone, and that a Papal delegate who had been administering the Archbishopric of Posen since the incarceration of the incumbent had been arrested. The funeral of John Martin, the brother-in-law of the late John Mitchel, was attended by 20,000 persons. Schichken, the Russian diplomatic agent in Servia, has been appointed Minister of Russia to the United States. A Madrid dispatch of the 3d says that the Carlist Gen. Saballa had had an interview with Gen. Campos at Olot, under a flag of truce, with the view of seeking terms for the transfer of his allegiance from Don Carlos to King Alphonso. It was reported that ISO Carlist officers had already given in their adhesion to the latter and that the Carlist army had been largely thinned by desertions.

.-DOMESTIC. The directory of St Louis claims a population of 490,000 in that city on the Ist of last January. According to th; Atlanta (Ga.) correspondent of the Louisville Courier-Journal the recent tornado which passed over portions of Georgia and South Carolina was the most destructive ever experienced in the United States. The number killed in Georgia will not fall below 300 and the wounded will reach 1,500. The casualties in South Carolina are reported to be equally as great. The bursting of a kerosene lamp recently set on fire the house of a farmer named Colson, twenty-five miles from Wadena, Minn., and thefiames spread so rapidly that in a moment the night-clothes of the father, mother and five children were on fire. Colson finally dashed out of a window and rescued his family, but in a sad condition. Thev all dragged themselves to the nearest neighbor’s, a mile distant, barefooted and naked, leaving tracks of their progress on the snow ail the way. The father and two children have since died of their injuries, and it was thought the mother and remaining son cauld not long survive. The PoetoSce at Neuces, Tex., was robbed aad burned by a band of armed Mexicans during the recent raids from over the border. The Postmaster himself barely escaped with his life, the robbers believing that he had perished in the flames of the burning building. A man named Smith was murdered, and several Americans were taken prisoners and subjected to the most cruel treatment. One of .the leaders of the murderous gang was subsequently captured and taken to Corpus Christi, where he was aummarily tried by a people’s court and speedily sentenced to death and hanged.. A telegram was received in Washington on the 31st ult. from Gov. Coke, of Texas, announcing the recent raids made in that State by Mexican robbers, and calling upon the President for protection against the invasions. On the 31st ult Gen. Sheridan issued a general order in relation to the policy of theGovenunent in reference to the Black Hills region. The order covers a recent letter from the Department of the Interior to the SecreXaiy rs War, in whW it U stated that a com-

petent geologist wo . region, and if ft be sent to explore that metalsexist-in 1 ; •* eteund that the precious made to exti’ titles efforts would be' teed bV the aguish the Indian title guaranalready c ' teeaty 1868. Negotiations had ence of >**M»<®ced to this end, but the preser . trespassers in that section likely Aanger their success, and the Interior r therefore called upen the War Aeparftnent to remove interlopers and furnish * military escort for the geological party. The following is the statement of the condi- , tlon of the public debt April 1: Six per cent, b0nd551,149,135,900 Five per cent, bonds 574,2 2,750

Total coin bonds.. $1,728,388.650 Lawful money debt $14,678,000 Matured debt ...* 7.973,650 Legal-tenders..,,. 379.298,882 Certificate* of deposit .. 403,45,000 Fractional currency 44,343.209 Coin certificates 21,191.900 Interest 29,049,419 Total debt 52,265,968,711 Cash in Treasury—--Cohr;. $8'41105,52(1 Currency 5,182,412 Special deposits held for the redemption of certificates of deposit, as provided by law 43.045,000 Total in Treasury $132.332.»33 Debt less cash in Trea5ury52,183,684,778 Decrease during March 3,681.210 Bonds issued to the Pacific Railway Companies, interest pavable in lawful money, principal outstanding $&4.623.512 00 Interest accrued and not yet paid... 969,352 Interest paid by the United States. 26,264,102 Interest repaid by the transportation of mails, etc "5,243,748 Balance of interest paid by United States... L ...... 20,320,354 Several riots were reported in different mining localities in Pennsylvania on the Ist, and in seme instances the disturbances hud resulted in the loss of life. Gov. Hartranft was taking active measures to put a stop to the outbreaks.

Recent accounts state that the ice at Bay de Noquet, on the upper Michigan shore of Lake Michigan, was five feet and one inch thick, by actual measurement. A Washington dispatch of the 4th says the Mexican Government would soon have brought to its attention by tho Department of State the enormity of the offense recently committed by invading Mexicans on the Texas border, with such demands for reparation as will satisfy our national honor. Ex-State Senator Robert McKenna, of Tennessee, was recently tried for marrying the grand-daughter of his former wife and sentenced to the Penitentiary for five years. He has been pardoned by the Governor. The suit of . Morton and others vs. The State of Nebraska, involving the title to rich saline beds a mile from Lincoln, has been decided in favor of the State. About 12:30 on the morning of the 4th the Chicago express train collided with the Pacific express train on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, near Tyroneplowa. Both engines and several cars were demolished. H. L. Miller, conductor; C. M. Pickle, fireman, and W. A. Gardner, express messenger,were instantly killed, and several other train employes were injured, some fatally- One passenger was reported killed and several wounded. The accident is said to have been caused by the telegraph operator at Tyrone neglecting his instructions to hold the Chicago-bound train until the other train had passed that point

PERSONAL,. Gen. Spinner has tendered his resignation as United States Treasurer, to take effect July 1, and the resignation has been accepted by the President, and the position offered to John C. New, Cashier of the First National Bank of Indianapolis, Ind. Some days ago an article appeared in the Chicago Times characterizing a Grand Jury in the Criminal Court of Chicago, which had just found four indictments against Mr. Storey, the editor, for libel, as a disreputable, contemptible and dishonest body. Because of these strictures Judge Williams issued au order that Mr. Storey should show cause why he should not be punished for contempt. The hearing occurred on the 29th ult., and resulted in Mr. Storey being sentenced to ten days’ confinement in the County Jail. About eleven o’clock on the evening of that day a writ of supersedeas was issued by Judge McAllister, of the Supreme Court, under which Mr. Storey was held to bail in the sum of $2,500 to await the action of the Supreme Court

James Lick, the San Francisco millionaire, has filed in the Recorder's office of that city a revocation of the trust deed executed last July conveying his property to trustees for various benevolent purposes. He recites, in the revocation, that he wishes to provide for parties having natural claims on him; to amend the original instrument, and, with returning health, to give his personal attention to the execution of his designs. He confirms the acts heretofore performed by the trustees. Several witnesses testified in the Beecher suit on the 29th ult. as to the whereabouts of the defendant on the 2d, 3d and 4th of June, 1873. Mr. Turner and son testified that Mr. Beecher arrived at his farm at Peekskilion the afternoon of the 2d, early enough to take dinner. Two telegraph operators testified to the sending of a telegram on the morning of that day announcing Mr. Beecher’s intended visit to Peekskill. Another witness swore he saw Mr. B. there at that time. Thomas J. Tilney, lawyer, swore that he was married in Brooklyn on the evening of June 3by Mr. Beecher. Frederick A. Putnam testified that he saw Mr. Beecher at the depot of the New Haven Railroad on June 4, 1873. John Winslow, Stephen D. White and H. B. Claflin, members of the Plymouth Church Investigating Committee, testified as to the statements made by Mr. Tilton regarding the evidence against Mr. Beecher, Mr. Tracy’s connection with the case, and as to the settlement of the difficulty between Mr. Tilton and Mr. Bowea, most of which was corroboratory of former evidence adduced on the part of the defense, tk At St Louis on the 29th ult., in the case of A. C. Buell, charged with libeling ex-Senxtor Chandler, of Michigan, in the Detroit Free Pre**, a year ago, and which ease was appealed by the Government from the United States District to the United States Circuit Court, March 9, Judge DiHon, of the latter court, rendered a decision affirming that of the lower court, and Mr. Buell was discharged.

H. B. Claftin continued his evidence on the 30th uIL, his testimony relating chiefly to the tripartite agreement, which witness stated Mr. Ulton fully agreed to, and both Mr. Tilton and Mr. Moulton agreed to the award of the arbitration ($7,000 by Bowen to Tilton) and to the condition that all the papers relating to the scandal should be burned. At the cross-examinatibn witness said the arbitrators never considered the truth or untruth of the atones in the papers relating to the scandal nor did they discus them. Charlo* Storrs gave similar testimony

to tfc'at of Mr. Claflin relating to the tripartite agreement. He also stated that in January, 1871, Mr. Tilton had tqld Lim that Mrs. T. had accused Mr.l Beecher of improper proposals. After the publication of the Woodhull scandal Mr. T. had said to witness that it contained a great many lies about Mrs. T. and Mr. Beecher, and that nothing criminal had occurred. Two other examined relative to Mr. Beecher’s visit to Peekskill on the afternobn of June 2,1873. The trustees of the Lick fund in San Francisco have held a meeting to discuss Mr. Lick’s revocation of his will, and express a determination not to resign their trust Mr. Storrs concluded his evidence on the 31st ult., and he was followed by Mrs. Mary E. Perkins, sister of Mr. Beecher, who testified that she spent the whole of the winter of 1871-72 at the defendant’s house, during the absence of Mrs. Beecher, and was in the habit of receiving Mr. Beecher’s guests, and during that time did not see or hear of Mrs. Tilton being at the house. Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Moore swore that they would not believe Kate Cary (who -was once in theiZ employ) under oath. On the cross-examina-tion they said they formed their conclusions from stories they heard while Kate was in their employ, James Redpath testified that Mrs. Tilton showed him the “True Story” in January, 1873. Witness was shown and identified a copy of the “ True Story” shown him by Mr. T. ' Mr. Redpath was cross-examined on the Ist, and stated that in an interview he had with Mr. Beecher the latter did not deny that he had given Mr. Tilton cause of.offense. When asked if, in ail his conversations with witness, Mr. Beecher had denied the commission of the crime with which he is charged, witness answered that he did not ask him (Beecher) about it. Mr. Beecher was the next witness called to the stand. He said he had conscientious scruples against swearing on the Bible, and was sworn by the uplifted hand. He then began his evidence, in answer to questions by his counsel, giving a detailed history of his life and his acquaintance with

Messrs. Bowen, Tilton and Moulton down to " about the year 1870. His evidence for the day closed with a statement of an interview had by witness and his wife with Mrs. Tilton and Mrs. Morse, at Mrs. Tilton’s residence, and at her (Mrs. T.’s) request, on which occasion Mrs. Tilton and Mrs. Morse spoke of their domestic difficulties in Mr. Tilton’s family, and the result of which was that he (witness) coincided with the views of Mrs. Beecher that a separation between Mr. and Mrs. Tilton would be the wisest course for them to pursue. John C. New, who is to succeed Mr. Spinner as Treasurer of the United States, is said to be a hard-money man. George Reynolds, a Mormon, on trial at Salt- Lake City for polygamy, was found guilty on the Ist by a jury composed of both Mormons and non-Mormons. A motion to set aside the verdict for the reason that the defendant had never been arraigned and asked to plead, and never had the indictment' read to him, was granted, after which the defense waived a new trial, with a view if taking the case to the Supreme Cburt. Tn the case of George Q. Cannon, on the same charge, the defendant plead the statute of limitation, a demurrer to which was overruled, and the defendant was discharged.

In his testimony on the 2d Mr. Beecher emphatically denied any and all charges of either criminal conduct or intent on his part in his relations with Mrs. Tilton at any time. He reiterated his statements made before the Church Investigating Committee. He flatly contradicted the evidence of Messrs. Tilton and Moulton with regard to the confessions of criminal conduct they alleged he had made. He asserted that the letter of contrition which he signed was written by Mr. Moulton when he (witness) was laboring under great excitement caused by his feeling that perhaps he might have been unintentionally led into doing Mr. Tilton an injustice by listening and subscribing to the reports in circulation against him (Tilton) at the time of his difficulties with Mr. Bowen. He further said that Mr. Moulton suggested to him (witness) that Mrs. Tilton had allowed her affections to be alienated from her husband and to center upon witness; and it was this assertion on the part of Mr. Moulton, together with the fact that Mr. M. emphatically pronounced false many of the scandalous reports afloat against Mr. Tilton’s moral character, that led him (witness) to express himself in a contrite manner for having unintentionally added to Mr. Tilton's sorrow at that time. Witness denied reading or having read to him on that occasion the memorandum of his remarks made by Mr. Moulton, and which he , signed at Mr. M.’s request as being the better way of showing to Mr. Tilton that he (witness) entertained no unfriendly feelings ■»r feelings of enmity toward him.

Owing to the illness of Henry M. Cleveland, formerly manager of the Christian Union, it was necessary that his testimony in the Beecff.er trial should be taken at his residence, and his evidence was begun on the 2d. It is reported that he testified that Mr. Beecher was in the office .of the Union on the 2d of June, 1873, between eleven and twelve o’clock of that day. That is the date on which Mrs. Moulton, in her testimony, alleges Mr. Beecher was at her house for three or four hours, and talked of suicide, and when she advised him to confess to Plymouth Church. According to a New Orleans dispatch of the 4th the Senatorial excursion to Mexico had broken up, several of the party having decided at New Orleans to go no further, while a few would proceed to Vera Cruz by the regular mail steamer and as private travelers. Advices from Washington, fear of the yellow fever, and the illness of Mrs. Morton are among the causes alleged or a change of programme.

POLITICAL. The United States Supreme Court has decided. in the case of Mrs. Minor, of Missouri, who claimed the right to vote under the Fourteenth Amendment, that the t Constitution of the United States does not confer the right of suffrage upon anyone, and that the Constitutions of the several States which commit that trust to men alone are not necessarily void, The court is unanimous in this decision, which was delivered by the Chief-Justice. The California Democratic State Convention is to be held at San Francisco on the 29th of June. The Rhode Island Prohibition State Convention met at Providence on the 29th ult and renominated the present Governor and Lieutenant-Governor. The remainder of the ticket was made up from the Republican State ticket The Ohio Legislature adjourned tine die on the SOth ult . - —lt is estimated that the cartage, bill paid by the commerce of New York amounts to the enormous sum of $12,000,000 per annum.

FACTS AND FIGURES.

—The municipal public service of New York coats the taj-payers of that devoted city S4O apiece per yehr for each inhabitant, or $40,000,000 in all. —The Khedive of Egypt wants to borrow $75,000,000, at 12 per cent, interest, payable monthly, just to get rid of a little floating debt he has of about the same amount. —The fences of the United States are said to be worth $1,800,000,000, and it is added that it costs $98,000,000 annually to keep them in repair. There is nothing more interesting than statistics. —A Maryland farmer killed 691 crows in four days, recently, with strychnined corn. He says that nearly all were blind in one eye, which he attributes to snowglare. —The total emigration from Germany in 1874 was 76,289, against 135,000 of the year before, which is partly owing to the depression in business of all kinds in this country. . —The total number of messages forwarded from postal-telegraph stations in Great Britain during the week ending Feb. 6, 1875, was 342,892, against 367,176 last year. —A citizen of Chattanooga has just invested in the stock of a Tennessee railway, purchasing shares which represent a par value of $367,000. He paid the enormous sum of twenty-five cents forthelot. . —lt appears that the last cotton crop was not a large one, after all, and that if the Southern planters had not marketed their staple so soon they would have got two cents a pound more, amounting to some millions of dollars. —According to a telegram received from Mecca the number of pilgrims in the holy towns of the Hedjas already amounts to 100,000. Of the number are several Indian princes and Mussulman notabilities from the different States in Central Asia.

Honing a Razor.

“ The first requisite,” says our correspondent G. W. D., “is to have a wellshaped, well-tempered and well (water) grouxd razor; unless very truly ground it will be impossible to hone it properly. Take an Italian hone, of not too fine grit, face it perfectly with fine emery paper glued on a board; dust it off and drop six or eight drops of sperm oil on its face. Hold the razor perfectly flat on the stone, draw firmly but lightly from heel to point (from"" the further right hand corner to the lower left hand corner), against the edge; if a wire edge be produced, run the edge lightly across the thumb nail, and a few strokes on the hone will remove all trouble on that score. If you will examine the edge of the razor now by aid of a magnifier you will find that the fine grooves or teeth incline toward the heel.

“ I would here say that the hone must be kept perfectly clean, as, after using a few times and then neglecting it, the pores will get filled with steel, and in that casejt will not be possible to get a keen edge on the razor. I have had a hone in use for forty years, for my own and friends’ razors. I have kept it perfectly true, and yet there has been no perceptible wear. “ I make my own straps as follows: I select a piece of satin, maple or rose-wood, twelve inches long, one and three-fourth inches wide and three-eighths inch thick; I allow three and one-half inches for length of handle. Half an inch from where the handle begins I notch out the thickness of the leather se as to make it flush toward the end. I taper also the thickness of the leather; this precaution prevents the case from tearing up the leather in putting the strap in. I then round the wood very slightly, just enough (say one-twelfth of an inch) to keep from cutting by the razor in strapping and turning over the same. I now select a proper-sized piece of fine French bookbinder’s calfskin, cover with good wheat or rye paste, _then lay the edge in the notch and secure it in place with a small vise, proceed to rub it down firmly and as solid as possible with a tooth-brush handle (always at hand or should be), and after the whole is thoroughly dry trim it neatly and make the case. “Use cold water forlather, as it softens beard and hardens the cuticle; hot water softens both and makes the face tender. Always dip the razor in hot water before using and also after use, as it will dry and prevent rusting.”— Scientific American.

Childhood’s Legends.

I wish I had stopped growing old when I reached the age of ten, and had not learned that all the pleasantest stories of childhood’s days were deliberate lies, concocted on purpose to deceive. There was a time when 1 believed that “ Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard to get her poor dog a bone,” and that she failed to find bone or crust when she opened the doors. I grieved over the old lady's poverty, and had I known her place of residence I should have slipped a loaf of bread under my arm and hastened to her relief. And I used to see before my eyes, when I went to bed, the hill which Jack and Gill toiled up to get a pail of water. I could imagine the size of the boys, the color of their hair and eyes, and Gill had a patch on his knee. I wondered if it hurt them when they fell down, and if the pail sustained any damage, and what their mother had to say about it. What use was it for anyone to concoct such a lie to harass a child’s mind?

And what wretch originated the poetic story of the mouse which ran up the clock? Did some one clock door open? Did the mouse gnaw his way through? Did he run up among the wheels and stop the time-piece? How did they get him out? Ah! I used to ask myself these questions over and over, and wonder what became of the mouse and where it all happened. And how mean it was to tell that lie about the cat and the fiddle, the dish running away with the spoon, and the cow making such a fearful jump. A thousand times, when I was a boy, have I looked up at the bright moon to see if I couldn’t see a cow; making the leap? I used to wonder if it hurt her much when she struck, it she was a red or a spotted cew, and if- the owner ever found her. How could a cat get into a fiddle, and how could a dish run , away with a spoon? I queried and questioned, but I was always left in the dark. Many and many a night as I was tucked into bed I grieved for fear that “ little boy blue" was still “ under the haystack fast asleep.” His mother would miss him when night Came, and his father and the neighbors would make a search, but they might overlook the spot, and “ boy blue" would be out all night and shiver with fear and cold.

But the worst of all is the legend of the bears who disguised themselves, knocked at a widow’s door, were admitted, and then proceeded to devour their unsuspecting victims. I solemnly declare that I have been kept awake more hours by that story than by all the sickness ever coming upon my family. In my imagination I would start the bears from their den in the woods and follow them through it all; and I would shiver, and sweat, and breathe hard, and finally yell out in my nervous terror. If I ever catch the man who wrote that legend I will do him some grievous injury, in revenge for the niental torture inflicted upon me. ■ When my boy comes sliding up to me of an evening and asks me to tell a story, I say in reply: “ There are no stories. If you want some fun take my jack-knife and whittle away at the table leg.” I’d rather he’d make shavings of all the furniture than to know that he suffers in mind as I used to over these horrible legends.—M. Quad, in Our Fireside Friend.

Strange Customs of the Ancient Aztec Empire.

Mr. 11. Bancroft, in the second volume of his “ History of the Native Races of the Pacific Slope,” gives the following description of the royal dinner of Montezuma— “ The King took his meals alone In one of the largest halls of the palace. If the weather was cold a fire was kindled with a kind of charcoal made of the bark of trees, which emitted no smoke but threw •ut a delicious perfume; and that His Majesty might suffer no inconvenience from the heat a screen ornamented with gold and carved with figures of the idols was placed between his person and the fire. He was seated upon a low leather cushion, upon which were thrown various soft skins, and his table was of similar description, except that it was larger and rather higher and was covered with white cotton cloths of the finest ware of Uholulu, and many of the goblets were of gold and silver or fashioned of beautiful shells. He is said to have possessed a complete service of solid gold, but as it was considered below a King’s dignity to use anything at table twice, Montezuma, with all his extravagance, was obliged to keep this costly dinnerset in the temple. The bill of fare comprised everything edible of fish, flesh and fowl that could be procured in the Empire or imported from beyond it. “ Relays of couriers were employed in bringing delicacies from afar, and as the royal table was every day supplied with fresh fish brought without the modern aids of ice and air-tight packing, from a seacoast more than a hundred miles distant, by a road passing chiefly through a tropical climate, we may form some idea of the speed with which these couriers traveled. There were feunning cooks among the Aztecs, and at these extravagant meals there was almost as much variety in the cooking as in the matter cooked. Sahagun gives a most formidable list of roasts, slewed and boiled dishes of meat, fish and poultry, seasoned with many kinds of herbs, of which, however, the most frequently mentioned is chile. He further describes many kinds of bread, all bearing a more or less close resemblance to the modern Mexican tortilla, and all most tremendously named; imagine, for instance, when one wished for a piece of bread, having to ask one’s neighbor to be good enough to pass the totauquitlaxcallillaquelpacholia; then there were many curious messes, such as frog-spawn and stewed ants cooked with chile; but more loathsome to us than even such as these, and strangest of all the strange compounds that went to make up the royal carte,, was one highlysavored, and probably savory-smelling, dish, so exquisitely prepared that its principal ingredient was completely disguised, yet that ingredient was nothing else than human flesh."

Whether for religious or ordinary reasons, the Aztecs were cannibals. They regaled themselves on the flesh of their sacrifices. At the feast of Tezcatlipoca a number of human sacrifices were offered up, but there was one especially who for the past year had been the representative of the god, and who went to his death with great ceremony. Among the captives who were brought out the year before he had been set apart as the one who had the finest form, the most agreeable disposition, and the most cultivated mind. He was taught all the accomplishments which distinguished the higher classes. He was fed on the fat of the land, but obliged to take doses of salted water to prevent obesity. He was permitted to go into the town attended by eight pages arrayed in the royal livery. His dress was of the richest, from the helmet of sea-shells which adorned his head to golden bells jingling upon his ankles and the pretty painted slippers covering his feet. Twenty days before the feast he was bathed, and had his hair dressed after a peculiar manner. He was then married to four accomplished damsels, to whom the names of four goddesses were given: Xochequetzal, Xilonel, Atlatonan and Huixtocioatl. It was the duty of these ladies ’to make him happy till his death. For the last five days of the twenty he was the object of increasing honors, and when with innumerable ceremonies he was finally offered up his legs and arms were reserved as food for the lords and people of the temple. A moral was intended by the Aztecs in this ceremony; it was that pleasure and wealth may end in sorrow.

The Field for Skilled Mechanics.

A practical mechanic, says the Springfield Republican,, who has been looking over the locomotive works of England, wrices to the Railroad Gazette a letter, comparing the British engines with American, and makes some very pointed suggestions. He thinks the American locomotive material the best, and that the American engines are put together with the most skill, all the parts being easily accessible and adjustable. On this account a class of repairs frequently necessary can be done in twentyfdur hours on the American machine which on theßritish necessitates the taking apart of nearly the whole engine and the building up again. The position of the bClt-heads and nuts where they can be easily reached makes all this difference. The use of forward trucks also in America enables our engines to run double the length of time of their rivals, an English engine “ tearing itself to pieces in twelve months,” to u|se the mechanic’s expression. On the other hand, apart from this fault ih their general plan, the British engines are built better than ours and have fewer breakages. There are “no broken straps, no abominable cast-iron cross heads," in the technical language of the writer. The proportion of the parts is better, and on the “ a British engine is a com-

pany’s engine, while an American engine is a. builder’s engine.” And one great occasion of the superiority of the British article, says our observer, is the “ general employment of skilled draughtsmen to carefully design all the parts before they are made in the shop, while in our railway work-shops draughtsmen are unknown.” The excellence of American tools 6s attributed to the constant emJ plcyment of the best skill in design in American tool-shops, while the rule-of thumb guess-work is elsewhere in our industries too generally prevalent. Nevertheless, even with this drawback, the great superiority of the American system of providing for the locomotive a flexible bed-truck enables us to contest the mar kets of Canada, Russia and South America. The Custom-House returns show that for the past two years sixty or seventy American locomotives a year have been sent abroad, at an annual valuation of nearly a million dollars.

We have treated this subject thus fully in order to suggest and enforce the veryfirst importance to our mechanics cf education in their respective tradesThe alert American intelligence is the promising thing for us to cultivate. It will do more for our industries than pro. tection or free trade. It is the one steady element of our industrial success on which we can rely. We can illustrate, this by the steady growth of the exportation of manufactures of iron for the past quarter of a century. This export tation represents the degree to which American skill in ironworking is able to J revail over the skill of foreigners. low during this interval we have had low tariff and high tariff, destructive war and general peace, and yet tho growth of this exportation for long periods has been quite steady. In 1850 it amounted to $1,900,000. in 1853 to $2,500,000, in 1860 to $4,500,000, in 1873 to $12,500,000. It has more than doubled every ten years. American skill comes in direct competition with British in all the (rest of America. The engineeringSjournals tell of a railroad bridge in Peru which, after being twice set up by English makers and engineers, was at length contracted and built by American parties before it would stand. In the same way the American chilled castiron car-wheel, after having made the conquests of Canada and South America, is being reluctantly adopted in Great Britain. We cite these cases, not toprove the superiority of American skill, but to show how directly it comes in compete tion with. British. The necessity of technical education is one thing; how to provide it and acquire it is another. We do not believe that it is necessary -to engraft it upon the public schools,' which cannot assume the burden of educating either professional men or artisans as such. We will now merely take occasion to suggest that the mechanics themselves do not realize their own opportunity and the opportunity of their sons. American artisans are not a pauper class, and they are able to spend and do spend much for the education of their youth, but it is too often to make them lawyers, ministers and doctors, or journalists, or insurance agents, or bank clerks, or merchants, or drummers—all avocations which are crowded, and in which success is doubtful, and the opportunity for failure abundant, while the field of skilled industry stands wide open and almost tenantless. The Nashville Union and American says the loss by the late floods was overestimated. The total direct loss in East Tennessee will not reach $500,000. The disaster will hardly shorten crops by a single acre; the wheat land that got washed will be available for corn, and it and the rest of the bottom lands will raise a better crop for having been overflowed.

THE MARKETS.

NEW YORK. April 3. 1875. BEEF CATTLESIO.SO @512.00 HOGS—Live 8.00 @ 8.50 SHEEP —Live 6.00 @ 7.45 COTTON—Middling 16%@ .17 FLOUR—Good to Choice 5.15 © 5.45 WHEAT—No. 2 Chicago 1.16 @ 1.18% CORN—Western Mixedß6 @ .86'4 OATS—Western Mixed7o%© .72% RYE....,90 @ 1.00 BARLEY 1.30 @ 1.35 PORK—New Mees, 21.50 © 21.75 LARD—Prime Steam .14%@ .14% CHEESEIO © .16%, WOOL —Domestic Fleeceso @ .60 CHICAGO. BEEVES—Choice $5.85 0 $6.25 G00d.... 5.50 @ 5.75 —Medium.;. - . 5.25 @ 5.50 Butchers’ Stock 3.75 © 5.00 Stock Catt1e......... 3.50 © 4.75 HOGS —Live—Good to Choice.. 7.25 © 8.25 SHEEP—Good tc Choice 5.50 @ 6.50 BUTTER—Choice Yellow . .25 @ .31 EGGS —Fresh 24 @ .25 CHEESE—New York Factory.. .17*/l@ .18 Western Factory. . .17 © .17% FLOUR—White Winter Extra.. 4.50 @ 6.75 Spring Extra 4.25 © 4.75 GRAIN-Wheat-Spring, No. 2. .95*4© -07% Corn—No. 268%@ .70 Oats—No. 2...57 @ .59 Rye—No. 2..99%@ 1.00 Barley—No. 2 1.08 © 1.12 PORK—New Mess 21.40 @21.50 LARD 14.45 @l4 50 WOOL—Tub-washed .45 @ .58 Fleece, washed4o @ .52 Fleece, unwashed 27 @ .37 LUMBER—First Clear 52.00' @ 55.00 Second Clear 46.00 @ 50.00 Cons mon Boards... 11.00 © 12.00 Fencing 13.00 @ 13.53 “A” Shingles 3.00 @ 3.25 Lath...." 2.00 © 2.25 CINCINNATI. FLOUR—Family $5.00 .© $5.10 WHEAT—Red 1.12 © 1.16 ' CORN7O @ .72 OATS6O © .64 RYE 1.11 © 1.12 BARLEY—No. 2 1.20 © 1.25 PORK—Mess 21.25 @21.50 LARDI4%@ .14%

ST. LOUIS. BEEF CATTLE—Fair to choice $5.25 0 $6.15 HOGS—Live 6.00 © 8.15 FLOUR—FaII XX 4.65 © 4.90 WHEAT—No. 2 Red Winter.... 1.12%© 1.13 CORN—No. 2 69%© .70% OATS—No. 2 62%@ .64 RYE—No. 1 J. 1.02 © 1.05 BARLEY—No. 2 1.20 © 1.22% PORK—Mess 21.00 @ 21.25 LARD v . .14%© .14% MILWAUKEE. FLOUR—Spring XX $4.90 © $5.20 WHEAT—Spring No. 1 99%© 1.00 “ No. 2 94 © .94% CORN—No. 2 70 @ .70% OATS—No. 2 54%© .55 RYE—No. 1 r 1.05 © 1.06 BARLEY—No. 2 1.05 © 1.06 CLEVELAND. WHEAT—No. 1 Red sl-17%© sl.lß No 2 Red.... 1.12%© 1.13 CORN .72 © .78 OATS—No. 1 61 © .bi DETROIT. ; WHEAT—Extra. $1.20%© $1.20% CORN—No. Lv--... -74 @ -75 0AT5........7.....?..............59 © .50% TOLEDO. WHEAT—Amber Michigan $1.12%© $1.12% No. 2 Red 1.18%@ 1.13 CORN—High Mixed .71%© .72 OATS—No. 2.... 80 © .60% BUFFALO. BEEFCATTLB 1... $5.55 @56.75 HOGS—Live 7.40 & 820 SHEEP—Live Asor. © 6.85 BAST LIBERTY. CATTLE—Beet. ?. . $825 @s6 75 Medium A. 5.50 5.75 HOGS—Yorkers 7.« @ 7.70 Philadelphia...; 8.»1 © 9;10 SHEEP—Beet .. ASO © 7.00 Medium..... a. 75 © 6.35