Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 July 1875 — Page 2

RENSSELAER UNION. JAKES & HEALEY, Proprietors. RENSSELAER, * v INDIANA.

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

* POREHiK. An official dispatch published in & Madrid paper of the 90th states that Gen. Dorregaray, the Carilst chieftain, had been wounded and had taken refuge in France. The council of delegates from all the Presbyterian churches in Christendom met in Lofton on the 90th. Many representatives of American and Canadian churches were present The Governor of Bosnia has been ordered to dispatch troops to suppress the insurrection in Hercegovina. Alexander and William Callie, of the firm which lately suspended, were arrested in London on the 21st, charged" with obtaining ♦1,000,000 under false pretenses. They were held to bail in the sum of #40,000 each. At Wimbledon on the 21st Maj. Fulton, of the American team, won the American cup. On the 22d, in the British House of Commons, a remarkable scene occurred. Mr. Disraeli bad given notice that the Government had abandoned the Merchant-Shipping bill for the session, when Mr. Plimsoll, the humanitarian, arose in his seat and with violent gestures and insulting speech declared that such a course would be the destruction of thousands of human'Tives. Being called to order he repeated his remarks, and declared that certain members engaged in the shipping interests were villains. He was ordered from the House and retired shaking his fists at the Government benches.” It was thought that Mr. Plimsoll had become temporarily Insane. The constitution adopted by the Pan-Pres-byterian Council was published in London on the morning of the 23d. The name given the new union is the “ Alliance of the Reformed Chnreh Throughout the World.” All churches are Included which hold to the Presbyterian system aad creed. Sir Francis Bond Head, formerly Lieuten-ant-Governor of Upper Canada, and an author of considerable note, died on the 23d.

About 800 German manufacturers have announced their Intention, to exhibit their wares at the Philadelphia Centennial. Four thousand acres between Earith and De®burgh, England, were flooded on the 23d> and 8,000 cattle deprived of pasturage. The water was also four feet deep on 4,000 acres near Whittlesey. The Spanish Government has decided to contract a loan of #7,000,000 to indemnify the owners of emancipated slaves in Porto Rico. A London dispatch of the 94th says Don Carlos had written a letter to King Alphonso, reproaching him for allowing the Civil war to be conducted with such excessive rigor, and counseling moderation ou the 6ide of the Alphonsists on pain of reprisals by the Carlists. The official statement of Caillaux, Minister of Public Works, to the French Assembly estimates the total damage done to property by the Inundation in the South of France at ♦15.000,000. The Carlist losses during the three weeks ending July 25 arc estimated at 4,000 men in killed, wounded and missing. A lock-out commenced in several cottonmills in England on the 24th. At a meeting held in Birkenhead, England, on the 25th to indorse Plimsoll’s course in Parliament resolutions expressing sympathy with and pledging support to him were adopted. Several thousand sailors and workingmen attended the meeting.

IMEttESTIC. On his return from the Indian Territory some time ago Prof. Marsh, of New Haven, wrote to the President, charging that supplies furnished to the various Indian tribes were inferior and improperly distributed. He also charged Secretary Delano and Indian Commissioner Smith with being cognizant of these frauds. In regard to Indian Agent Baville, of the Red Cloud Agency, Mr. Marsh declared that he was wholly unfitted for his position and guilty of the grossest frauds upon the Indians in his charge. This letter was accompanied with samples of the goods furnished. The President called the attention of the department to the letter, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs straightway came out with a positive denial of the charge of fraud and corruption, so Tar as his own department was concerned, and said the commission appointed to inquire into the condition of affairs at the Red Cloud Agency had completely exonerated the Agent. A New Haven dispatch of the 18th says that notwithstanding the above denial and explanation Prof. Marsh has reiterated his former statements and charges. A special commission appointed to investigate these charges met in New York on the evening of the 19th. It consists of Messrs. Faulkner, M. C-, of West Virginia; Harris, M. C-, of Massachusetts, and Fletcher, M. C-, of Missouri. The meeting, which was strictly private, was organized by electing Gov. Fletcher Chairman. Prof. Marsh and Indian Commissioner Smith appeared before the body, accompanied by Gen. Fisk, Chairman of the Board of Indian Commissioners. Mr. Marsh presented his charges in pamphlet form, which had already been printed. Investigation will take place at the Red Cloud Agency. The substance of John D. Lee’s confession relating to the Mountain Meadows massacre is that thirty Mormons, with the assistance of a large number of Indians, decoyed the emigrants from their entrenchments by a flag of trace; that all were murdered except seventeen children; that the' deed' was done under orders from the leader of the Mormon Church; that took the news of the massacre to - Brigham Young, who deplored the transaction and said it would bring disaster on the Mormon people. . Lee’s statement, so far as known, says a Beaver <Ctah) dispatch of the ‘2oth, only confirms the previous reports in regard to the massacre. Thirteen miners and four wagons were cap-■fturedforty-five miles north of Fort Laramie, en route to the Black Hills, on the 16th, and tiiken into the fort on parole. Air. Eads reported on the 20th that the Mississippi jetties had been run out 3,000 feet, and. were progressing at the rate of 200 feetdally. Four hundred men are employed. The confession of John D. Lee, of Mountain Meadows massacre notoriety, not being j satisfactory to the Prosecuting Attorney, Lee | was, on the 21st, placed on trial under the old and three new Indictments. A jury was impaneled oi* the 22d, composed of eight Morions and four Gentiles. A cooking-tank in Close & Son's paper mill, at lowa fSty, exploded on the evening

of the 22d, and destroyed more than half of the mill, killing six men, four of whom were a distance of over SOQ feet Two of the Victims were .el tb#* - buried in the ruins or blown into tliu river. One man was blown to the estimated height of 500 feet,- and in falling went through the roof of a paint-shop seventy yards away from the mill, knocking a hole through the shingles, the inch sheathing beneath, and breaking two rafters. The names of the killed are: Chiha, Gilmore, Smaler, Tienea, Bechtel and Sinton. In the Mountain Meadows massacre trial at Beaver, Utah, on the 23d Philip K. Smith, Mormon, testified. His story, it is said, in its details is the same as Lee’s suppressed and rejected confession. He implicates Lee, Dame, Higbee and other Mormons, and directly accuses them of taking an active part, with himself, in the perpetration of the outrages and murders. The crime was committed at the. instigation of leading Mormons, and on being informed pf wbat had been done Brigham Young cautioned them not to talk about it among themselves. The property of the slaughtered emigrant* was appropriated by the Mormons. Indians were associated with them in the massacre. Witness and a. few others of the Mormons were opposed to the commission of the crime, but could not help themselves or refuse to carry out the orders of their superiors. Returns of-the Department of Agriculture fob July lshow the condition of spring and winter wheat together at about 82 per cent, of an average. Winter wheat, including California, averages 74, and spring wheat 90. Spring wheat States in the Northeast and Northwest are generally in high condition. Of the winter wheat area the South Atlantic and Gulf States are generally above the average, but in the Middle States the condition is very low, New- York ranging down to 45. West of the Alleghenies the prospect is better, the State averages being between 71 in Ohio and 95 in lowa. California reports winter wheat at 76 and spring wheat at 75.

The Postoffice Department has sent to the Department of Justice the names of thirtynine mail contractors who are to be prosecuted for failure to perform service after their bids were accepted. The contracts were relet by the Government, and the difference between the amount paid and the bids, for the thirty-nine routes, was #417,087, which is the amount of damages claimed against the delinquent bidders. The New York Tributu of the 20th announces that the* Postmaster-General had set the new route along the shores of the lakes for the fast mail to the West, expected to run by the Ist of October. It will make the distance from New York to Chicago in not more than twenty-six hours, and it is hoped to reduce the time to twenty-four, a gain of twelve hours oyer the present mail and express train. A girl named Mary Frames, of Indianapolis, attempted on the 23d to light a fire in the stove by using kerosene oil. She was fearfully and fatally burned.

rURSONAL. A Boston dispatch of the 21st says that Jesse Pomeroy, the boy murderer, had been surprised in a cunning and desperate attempt to cut his way out of Charles Street J ail. His arrangements were made for escape on the evening oi that day. Washington dispatches of the 22d state that at a Cabinet meeting, held the day before, the subject of Dist.-Atty. Fisher’s official conduct was under discussion, and the conclusion was unanimously reached that he should be requested to resign after he had been allowed sufficient time to complete the business then pending in his office. It is said the President in asking the AttorneyGeneral to suspend his request for Fisher’s resignation had merely desired to afford the latter an opportunity to reply to the complaints against him. The charges against the Interior Department were also, it is stated, fully discussed, the President expressing in strong terms his confidence in Secretary Delano’s capacity, integrity and faithfulness as an officer, and assuring the Cabinet‘4hat he would not allow the attacks on Delano to injure him the least iu his opinion until the Chartres of his dishonesty should be fully proven. The President returned to Long Branch on the evening of the 21st. Judge Fisher, Attorney of the District of Columbia, sent his resignation to President Grant, at Long Branch, on the 23d. The missing aerouauts, Donaldson and Grimwood, had not been heard from up to the morning of the 24th, and no traces of them or of the balloon had been found iu the lake. The general opinion was that the men had perished, although faint hopes were still" entertained by some that they might have been carried into the forests of Michigan or Canada, and would yet be heard from. Hugh Donahue has recently completed, iu Boston, the task of walking 1,100 miles in 1,100 consecutive hours. He was in good condition at the close.

POLITICAL. The Connecticut House of Representatives ‘ on the 21st voted— lo 2to S3— to indefinitely j postpone the bill giving women the right to ! vote in a Presidential election. The Democratic campaign in Ohio was opened at Gallipolis on the 21st, Geo. H. Pendleton and Gov. Allen being the principal speakers. The Nebraska Republican State Convention is to meet at Kearney on the 15th of September. At a Bankers’ Convention recently held at Saratoga, N. Y., resolutions were adopted—favoring immediate specie resumption and calling upon every citizen to hasten the day when every promise of the Government to pay a dollar should be redeemed in coin; eall- : ing for a repeal of the war tax on banks; urg- ! ing Congress to issue coupon bonds in exchange for registered bonds; demanding the abolishmdnr of the iwo-eent stamp tax on checks abd vouchers; favoring a permanent ; organization of national bankers. A resoi lution opposed to the Usury laws was also 1 adopted by a close vote. The Maryland Democratic State Convention, at Baltimore on the 23d, nominated John Lee Carroll for Governor. The resolu. lions adopted oppose a high protective tariff and protest against any increase of the j circulating currency, and demand that Congress shall pass such measures as will resultin a resumption of specie payments at the earliest possible moment. The Democrats of the First Mississippi District have, by |-acelamatiOD, renominated L Q. C. Lamar for Congress.

I This year the southern counties of CaliI fornia sent to San Francisco 5,380,000 oranges, 620,000 lemons and 80,000 limes. The consumption of California is about 10,00(1,000 orsOiges a year, and 5,000,000 are brought from Mexico and the Pacific isles.

Breakfast.

Julia C. Abulrews writes in Bmikfant, Pinner and Tens “The hour for taking the first meal varies even among people of the same nation.i The farmer rises before the sun and sits down to his breakfast at five o’clock with, a strong appetite The professional man rises later in the day, and eight, it may be nine, o’clock finds him sipping, his cup of coffee. The London nobleman is scarcely prepared for it by midday, and the shadows of evening (all before the Parisian epicure has taken his first meal. I)r. Tobias Vcnner, of Shakespeare's* time, recommends to persons, ot sedentary habits a couple of poached eggs seasoned w ith sauce, a few corns of pepper, drinking thereafter a good draught of claret. Izak Walton breakfasted while fishing on a piece of powdered beef and a radish or two. The Greeks ate but two meals, the first at midday, the second at evening. The English in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries had four meals a day. In the sixteenth century my lord and lady sat down to a repast of two pieces of salt fish and a half a dozen red herrings or a dish of sprats and a quart of beer and the same measure of wine. Pepvs, of Charles ll.’s reign, had at his company-breakfasts a barrel of oysters, a dish of neats’ tongues, a dish of anchovies, with wine of all sorts and ale. Miss Sedgwick writes- of an English breakfast party that tlie number oT guests is never allowed to exceed twelve. There are coffee, tea, chocolate, toast, rolls, grated beef and eggs, broiled chickens, reindeers’ tongues, sweetmeats, fruit and ices. When Airs. S. C. Hall breakfasted with Miss Edgeworth the table was heaped with early roses upon which the dew was still moist. There was a little bouquet of her arranging always by each plate—this from Maria Edgeworth, tiien between seventy and eighty. A breakfast in Scotland consists chiefly of cold grouse, salmon, cold beef, marmalade, jellies, honey, five kinds of bread, oatmeal cakes, coffee, toast,, and tea. Southey alludes to the different preferences of various nations in regard to food when he describes a man of universal taste as one ~whd would have eaten ‘sausages for breakfast at Norwich, sally lunns at Bath, sweet butter in Cumberland, orange marmalade at Edinburgh, Findon haddocks at Aberdeen, and drank punch with beefsteaks to oblige the French if they insisted upon obliging him with a dejemner a VAnglaise. He would have eaten squab pie in Devonshire, sheep’s head with the hair on in Scotland, and potatoes roasted on the liekrth in Ireland, frogs with the French, pickled licrrings with the Dutch, sour-krout with the Germans, macaroni with the Italians, aniseseed with the Spanish, garlic with anybody, horseflesh w ith the Tartars, ass-flesh with the Persians, dogs with the Northwestern Indians, curry with the Asiatic East Indians, birds’-nests with the Chinese, mutton roasted with honey with the Turks, pismire cakes on the Orinoco, and turtle and venison with the Lord Mayor; and the turtle and venison he w r ould have preferred to all other dishes, because his taste, though, catholic, was not indiscrim, mating.’ ”

A Few Commissions.

Habitues of summer hotels and water-ing-places will recognize the following as a correct specimen "of the domestic dialogue which takes place while paterfamilias is waiting for the omnibus to drive up to the front piazza, or his buggy to take him to the steamboat landing, or for the whistle of the expected locomotive: “ You have got the pattern for the muslin, my dear?” “ Yes.” “And you won’t forget Charley’s slippers and my bathing-dress in the lower bureau drawer?” “ No, darling.” “ And the cold cream and camphor from the upper shelf in the closet, and to bring us some books from the library, you know", and a bottle of cologne?” “ Yes, yes.” “ And baby’s caps,* you know, and tell the dressmaker about having my dress sent by express, for I want it for the hop. And do ask Aunt Maria .to send my driv-ing-gauntlets ; I forgot them.” “ Anything else?” “No, darling, nothing, only if you could step over to ma’sand ask her to lend me that purple and white hood, and bring me down that new 7 sun-umbrella, and my india-rubbers to wear when we go out in the boat; it is so damp that ” “ Stop, darling! I have just thought of something I’ve got to do myself.” “ What is it, my dear ?” “ Why, I want to run iu my store for five minutes for my own business if there’s any time left after transacting yours.” “ Lor’ now, Charles, I hope you are not goihg to be disagreeable about a few 7 little errands, I’m sure.” Charles —Oh, not iu the least, only I haven’t quite got used to this express business yet, and I can only give nine-tenths of the time to it this summer, that’s all, tootsicums—there's the engine-whistle. “Good-by, dear; don’t forget the ” But the rest of the sentence Was lost in the rattle of the wheels that bore Charles on his way to town.— Boston Commercial Bulletin.

The wife and daughter of Henry Norton, who resides in East Berlin, Conn., went into the cellar of their house recently and while there heard a peculiar noise. Searching for the cause they found an immense rattlesnake coiled up iu the coalbin. His head was erect and his tongue was darting out furiously. The ladies went out of the cellar in a hurry and called the men folks,who, armed and equipped, went in to kill his snakeship. The old fellow wasn’t in a hurry about dying, however, and therefore glided into Ins hole in the cellar wall. The men watched for him from ten a. m. until four p. m., when they shot him as lie put his head out of the wall. He proved to be an ' old settler, having eleven rattles, and was fourteen years old. The body was skinned and stuffed; the head was too badly damaged to he made available. —A man.of Fort street east going home at a late hour in the night saw"that"the oc- ; cupants of a house standing flush with the | street had left a window "up, and he de* j eided to warn them and prevent a burglary. Putting his head into the window hecalled out: “Hello, good peop—!” That was all he said. A whole pailful of water struck him in the face, and, as he staggered back, a woman shrieked outi I “ Didn’t I teli you what you’d get if you wasn’t home by nine o’clock V'—Detroit Free. Press. * Alluding to the fact that 135 children under one year of age and 167 under five years died in Baltimore in one week, the Gazette advocates the publication by physicians of summer rules of daily diet and daily life: Proper care at home, it thinks, is after all the best preventiv e in poor fam ilies for sickness incidental-to the season,; and ft adds: “At least one-third of those infants who die perish of ignorance quite ; as much as of heat.”

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

Thb Liquor law is to be enforced on Sundays at Indianapolis. According to the Reriew Elkhart has a magnolia tree in full bloom. The Catholic ladies of Teijre Haute are engaged in temperance work. Terre Haute claims to have a “bearing banana bush” in that city. Lafayette wife-whippers are urged to emigrate after being released from jail. The grand Masonic Hall building contract at Indianapolis has been let for $28,800. Dr. Isutt, President of the Indiana State University, lias been summarily retired. A popular amusement at Germantown is wrestling-matches between the opposite sexes. Lafayetteyoungladies walk the streets howling like hyenas, according to the Courier. Brazil has under contract public and private improvements to cost not less than $125,000. A Spencer County farmer set out an aefe of mullein under the impression that it was tobacco. Prof. John C. RiDPATH,of Greencastle, has just finished his school history of the United States. The Democrat by careful inquiries reaches the fact that 36,600 pounds of wool hare been bought in Sullivan. A company has been organized to build a narrow-gauge railroad from Indianapolis to Shoals, in Marion County. The Thornton union fair have issued their circular. Thirty-five hundred dollars cash premiums are offered.

An enterprising young man of Kokomo has started a buttermilk fountain, which promises to be a financial success. The negro Monroe, who recently murdered his w ife at Indianapolis, has been sentenced to imprisonment for life. Things are being stirred up again among the Brazil miners, and that lively region promises to become lively again. ‘ The State Treasurer has bought up sixty-three internal-improvement bonds, which with interest amount to $384,000. The Indianapolis News says there is a disease circulating among the dogs there which sets them stone blind within a few hours. A farmer in Perry County got two rival machine agents to cut his wheat on a trial and then concluded to wait till next summer to buy. A committee of the Trustees of the State University started East a few days ago for the purpose of looking up an eligible man for President. A boat containing Geo. Campbell and two horses, while crossing the Wabash River a mile east of Logansport, recently, capsized and all were drowned. Indiana has thirty daily, three tri-week-ly, three semi-weekly, 295 weekly, twenty, four monthly and two quarterly publica. tions, making a total of 357 newspapers and other periodicals. The members of the State Board of Education are conducting the examination for State certificates. These certificates are good for a lifetime, and license those holding them to teach in any part of the State. Isabel McOry, thirteen years old, was drowned near Merom recently. In attempting to cross a swollen creek on a foot log she fell in. A companion also fell into the stream, but by clinging to the log was saved.

The aggregate expense of the public schools of Indianapolis for the year ending June 3(1 was $266,793.45, of which $122,953.86 was for teachers’ salaries. The city has twenty-one district schoolhouses and one high-school building. F. Osborn, a wealthy and highly-re-spected. citizen of Boston Township, has had his residence stoned, the windows broken, and a poster nailed thereon ordering him to leave town or the building would he burned. All good citizens are highly indignant. The Evansville Courier says that Robert Dale Owen is now 7 safe with his own children at New Harmony, where he is receiving all the care that affection can bestow. It is a pitiable sight to see the venerable and gray-liaired gentleman passing about the streets of the village of New Harmon} 7 and witness his acts, which indicate too clearly his aberration of mind. Jacob T. Letterman, thirteen years old, w 7 as killed at Parrott’s Grove picnic, near Evansville, on the sth. In fixing a swing in a tree he climbed out on a branch about thirty-seven feet from the ground with a"hatchet and commenced to chop at the limb to fix the rope. The hough broke under him and the youth struck the ground. with such force as to rebound' slightly. He fell On his face and was picked up insensible, and died at night.

The wife of Richard H. Pigg, Jr., in Cass Township, was alone a few evenings ago when a storm came up, and becoming alarmed took her two youngest children in her arms and leading the other started to go to a neighbor's. A culvert had washed out in the road, and into the dashing current the unfortunate woman plunged in the darkness. The two little ones she was carrying were drowned, but she managed to get out with the oldes child, is a list of patents issued to Indiana inventors for the week ending July 6,1875: S. Parker, Sheffield, window screen; H. R. Allen, Indianapolis, body brace; H. W. Caldwell, Indianapolis, grain conveyer; J. G. & G. J. Moss, Ashborough. flooring clamp; M. Newton, Kentland, washing machine; J. E. Saunders, Indianapolis, scaffold; R. E. Poindexter, Anderson, saw gauge; A. E. Hughes, New Albany, chemical fire extinguisher ; S. W. McOmber, North Manchester, fruit-can; J. T. Piehl, Richmond, stove-pipe elbow; J. Walker,-Vincennes, railway switch.

The Moslem Bride.

We called on the daughter of a Moharu. medan living in this city (Tripoli’. Though the girphud been married several days, she had never been seen by her husband. He had only gone to the mosque when the ceremony wa« performed, «he taking no part in it. After the ceremony the bride usually stays at her father’s house nine days, during which time she sits in state, decked in her finest dress and jewels, receiving calls from her friends. Then her joy is at an end. She must go to her husband, take off her fine clothes and become a perfect slave, subject to the will of her cruel master. The of the bride were very poor. Her mother was dressed in a Tittle better than rags, and was at the tonyua washing clothes. All the women of the bride's company had their hair plaited full ot gold coins? these were heirlooms, and so greatly that a woman would almost starve before parting with one of them. The present given to the bride by the family was an elegant pale blue brocade silk dress and a black silk, embroidered with gold. The former cost $l5O. The bridegroom’s presents were a sumptuous lilac silk, heavily embroidered with gold; ear-rings of pearls and gold, bracelets as,wide as a .finger. During the call she wore the bridegroom's presents.. The other dresses were hung spread out on the wail. We stopped at the house below, according to custom, and. sent word we were coining. The bride’s return answer was that she would be glad to salute us. After waiting about twenty minutes we went up-stairs, for she lived on the second floor. She had not quite finished her toilet and saton the floor before a large mirror surrounded by fine 13’. As we entered she arose and saluted us, and then returned composedly to her dressing. Of all the strange and ghastly sights her face was the most wonder! ul, as may be imagined from the way which it was prepared. First, - hot wax spread over the whole face, which, when cool, was peeled off. This was done to remove all the hair from the face. Then whiting was rubbed on till the skin looked like marble. Iler eyebrows were painted jet black; her lips ancfja large spot on each cheek painted brilliant red. On these red spots, on her forehead, and at the corners of her niouth gilt flowers were pasted. Then over the whole face powdered sugar had been snapped, which made it sparkle as with diamond dust. She wore pearl ear-rings, and around her neck were a string of large amber beads, three strings of roped pearls, and a curious necklace, which we were privately told was borrowed for the occasion. It was made ol five-pound gold pieces, overlapping each other like scales. The usual head-dress was 'covered with real aud artificial flowers. Tile finishing touch was put on in the shape of a piece of black wax, heated over the danoon till very hot, made round and flat, aud then stuck between the eyes.

Mississippi Steamboat Racing.

Racing was. royal fun. The public always had an idea that racing was dangerous; whereas the very opposite was the case—that is, after the laws were passed which restricted each boat to just so many pounds of steam to the square inch. No e. gineer was ever sleepy or careless when liis heart was in a race. He was constantly on the alert trying gauge-cocks and watching things. The dangerous place was on slow, popular boats, where the engineers drowsed around and allowed chips to get into the “doctor” and shut off the water supply from tiie boilers. In the “flush times” of steamboating a race between two notoriously fleet steamers was an event of vast importance. The date was set for it several weeks in advance, and from that time forward the whole Mississippi Valley was in a state of consuming excitement. Politics and the weather were dropped, and people talked only of the coming race. As the time approached the two steamers “stripped” and got ready. Every incumbrance that added weight, or exposed a resisting surface to wind or water, was removed if the boat could pos•iblydo without it. The “spars,” and sometimes even their supporting derricks, were sent ashore and no means left to set the boat afloat in case she got aground. When the Eclipse and the A. L. Sliotwell ran their great race twenty-two years ago it was said that pains were*taken to scrape the gilding off the fanciful device which hung between the Eclipse’s chimneys, and that for that one trip the Captain left off his kid gloves and had his head shaved. But I always doubted these things. If the boat was known to make her best speed when drawing five and a half feet forward and five aft, she was carefully loaded to that exact figure—she wouldn’t enter a dose of homoeopathic pills onjtsr manifest after that. Hardly any passengers were taken, because they not only add weight but they never will “trim boat.” They always run to the side when there is anything to see, whereas a conscientious and experienced steam boat man ' would stick to the center of the boat and part his hair in the middle with a" spirit level. — Mark Twain , in the August Atlantic.

Handling Cobras.

A correspondent of the London Times who was present at the Zoological Gardens when about a dozen Indian cobras were removed from the box in which they had traveled into a clean, though narrow, cage describes the mode in which lliose deadly reptiles were handled by the keeper as truly astonishing. With his lonsrhandled wire hook he from a respectful distance managed to draw out a snake tail first, and, catching it by the tip, let it gently down, head foremost, into its new cage, the lid of which, a glass slide, was open just wide enough to receive it. One after another eight cobras were thus re-moved-nnd safely housed, some dilating their “hood” and angrily hissing as they tried to strike whatever object they could' reach. Snake-charmers and Indian jugglers thus handle the cobras with impunity 7 . Suspended by the tail they are powerless to raise themselves and wound the hand that holds them; but care must be taken lest the creatures strike at the limbs. Thqj specimens ‘just arrived are Baja tripudians , the common cobra of Ihnta. One other of the,same species, but a sickly snake, is already in the gardens; another died lately. In their narrow prison-house the new family presented a miserable appearance. Ampfo space to bathe and move freely would be their sin bst only chance ol'health, and it is to be hoped that when the lions’ new ami commodious quarters are read}' to receive them a more suitable home will be built for the ophidians. Several of these new cobras were foupd to be already dead. In Sydney. Australia, at a newspaper office, there was at one time a tablet informing visitors that the editor could only be spoken to during business hours upon being paid for his time, Fersonsdesiring an audience were to purchase tickets of admission at the door—ten shillings for half an hour.

VARIETY AND HUMOR.

—Wisdom and had hand-writing don’t always go together. . —Green apples are now weaving fantastic knots in the stomach of the bad little boy. —Caterpillars are becoming a devouring pest in the gardens around Portland, Oregon. — —— —A Saratoga belle writes home: “It is horrid here —not a man in town worth over $50,000.” « A Baltimore man has invented a balloon in which he expects to cross the Atlantic in fifty hours. —The average temperature-for the first half ot July was 5Jy cleg, less than it was the same time last year. —The destruction of mutilated banknotes during the past year has been five times as much as the usual average. —A baby boru in Springfield, Mass the other day weighed twenty pounds and two ounces immediately after its birth. —One reason why there is such a scarcity of harvest hands this year is because the hard-hearted farmers won’t let a man sit in the shade and rake and bind. —The New York Tribune says that the Philadelphia water works will not be able to quench the thirst of half the people who visit the big Centennial. —Advertising pays. A Toledo man advertised for a servant girl, and oue of his three wives knocked at the door in less than five hours after the paper was out. —ln a case recently tried in a New York court the parties to the suit and all the witnesses, eight persons in all, had been married, but are now separated by divorces. —The London Lancet says that no per. son should sit for more than half an hourS’posen a fellow is sitting on the sofa with his girl, is he going to he particular to a minute?

—A dyspeptic at the Virginia Sulphur Springs hung himself the other day, leaving a note behind which read: “It’s a mighty good joke on dyspepsia!” And so it was. —“Tell Sam to grease the wagon before the procession moves,” were the last words of John Teko Ledyard, of Virginia, the other day. There’s no doubt where that prudent man went. —A New York census enumerator stumbled upon a fam'ily whose children claim the alliterative names of John, Jonathan, Josiah, James, Job, Jane, Julia, Jeruslia and Jedediah. —The thorny cactus, heretofore worthless, is about to become a tiling of much value. It has been ascertained by experiment that its pulp is especially adapted for the manufacture of paper. —The enormous crop of peaches and ice this year will be of mutual benefit. Englishmen import their peaches- from the United States now, and they are prepared for the market by freezing. —Young men will tell you that they* don’t care to argue, and will then stand on one leg in the hay-field, lean on the rake and argue a straight half-hour as to whether a bumble bee is an insect or a bird. —Tlie Petersborougli (N. H.) gold mine is rapidly giving out and no gold or anything else lias lately been obtained. The company has expended over $65,000 in buildings and mining machinery, but it is generally conceded to be a bad job. —While a woman in Paris was crossing a bridge her baby sprang out of her arms and fell into the river. She jumped after it, but could not swim, when another woman jumped in who could swim, and brought out both, the mother half-drowned and the baby dead. —The Worcester Spy gratifies the people of Massachusetts with the announcement that they are more heavily taxed than the people of any other State in the Union. The State and municipal taxes for the current year amount to $17.10 for each individual of the population, while each New Yorker pays only $11.06, and the fortunate dweller in the sparsely-set-tled State of Texas only $1.37.

THE MARKETS.

NEW YORK. BEEF CATTLE $11.50 8513.50 HOGS—Live 7.1)0 © 7.62)4 SHEEP—Live 4.50 © 6.50 FLOUR—Good to Choice 6.50 @ 7.00 WHEAT—No. 2 Chicago 1.38 © 1.40 CORN—Western Mixed 90 © .94 OATS —Western Mixed 62 @ .63 RYE 98 © 1.19 BARLEY—Western 1.25 © 1.31) PORK —New Mess 20.90 @ 21.00 LARD—Prime Steam 14 @ .1414 CHEESE ..." JOS “© .11 WOOL—Domestic Fleece 50 © .63 CHICAGO. BEEVES—Choice $6.00 © $6.25 Good 5.50 © 5.75 Medium 4.75 @ 5.25 Butchers’ Stock ... 3.50 @ 4.50 Stock CattleiV.. ... 3.0 © 4.00 HOGS —Live—Good to Choice.. 7.30 © 7.70 SHEEP—Good to Choice 4.25 © 4.75 BUTTER —Choice Yellow 20 @ .25 EGGS-Fresh 14 @ .14# FLOUR—White Winter Extra. 6.00 @ 7.50 Spring Extra 5.25 @ 6.00 GRAlN—Wheat—Spring, No. 2. 1.21*4© 1.22 Corn—No. 2 7'i%@ .73 Oats-No. 2 51)4© .52 Rye—No. 2 99 @ 1.00 Barley—No. 2. 1.20 @ 1.25 PORK—Mess 21.00 @ 21.10 LARD.... 13.90 @ 13.92)4 LUMBER—First Clear 45.00 @46)0 Second Clear 43.00 © 45.00 Common Boards... 10.00 @ 11.00 Fencing 10.00 © 11.00 “A” Shingles...... 2.50 @ 2.80 Lath 1.75 @ 2.00 CINCINNATI. FLOUR—Family $6.25 © $6.50 WHEAT—Red 1.45 © 1.50 CORN 74 @ .75 O 4 TS 58 © .61 RYE 1.20 © 1.25 PORK—Mess.... 20.00 © 20.50 LARD 13 © .14*4 >. ST. LOUIS. BEEF CATTLE-Fair to choice $5.65 © $6.62)£ . HOGS—Live 6.65 © 7.40 FLOUR—FaII XX 4.75 © 5.25 WH s. AT—No 2 Red Fall 1.40 © 1.42 CORN—No. 2 69 it .69)4 OATS —Mo. 2 62 © .62*4 RYE—No. 2 < 97 © 99 POKK-Mess 21.00 @ 21.25 LARD IV?i© .13 MILWAUKEE. FLOUR—SpringXX $4.75 © $5.00 WHEAT—Spring. No. 1 1.31 © 1.31*4 , Spring, No. 2 1.29*4© 1.30 CORN—NOvL-f, 7354© ■ .74 OATS—No-lid L 504© 51 RYE—No. 2 ... .1-4*4© -95 BARLEY-*No. 2 1.14 © 1.15 DETROIT. WHEAT—Extra $1.44 © $1.45 , CORN—No. 1 77 © -7S OATS—No. 1 53 © .56 CLEVELAND. WHEAT-No. 1 Red $1.37)4© $1.38 4 No. 2 Red l.ttJt© 1.33 CORN-High Mixed..., 79 @ .80 OATS—No. 1. 61 © -62 TOLEDO. WHEAT-Amher Michigan ... sl-42*4© $1.42 No. 2 Red 1.40*4© 1.41 CORN—High Mixed .784© .79 OATS—No. 2 55*4© -56 ’■ BUFFALO, BEEF CATTLE $5.00 @56.85 nHOGS Live 7.50 © 7.75 SHEEP—Live 4.75 © 5.30 EAST LIBERTY. CATTLE-Extra .$7.00 @57.25 Medium., 6.00 @ v 6.25 HOGS—Yorkers........ 7.50 © 7.70 Philadelphia 7.75 ® 7.80 SHEEP—Best 5.00 © 5.25 Medium 4.50 @ 4.75