Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 September 1875 — Page 8

Hallucinations.

Mental hallucination is a morbid condition of the brain, which, while in a. very active state, is yet quite false to itself, rendering impressions which really have no basis of fact. Thus Earl Grey, during the latter days of his Ilf*-, was haunted by a gory head, yet the Earl could banish it by the power of his will, knowing that it was really an hallucination. Swedenborg.saw members of the heavenly hierarchy seated among the ministers at the council board and bowed "reverentially to them. Bernadotte, whenever be went forth on horseback, always met a woman : in a red cloak; and a patient. of a London hospital is mentioned, who was constantly followed by a ckt, then bv a skeleton which never left him, walkcd by his side, joined Ids family circle and nta re.l thmugh tains at night. Yet Swedenborg knew that it was not 11 esh-and-blood realities he acknowledged, and the King, while he Shrank from, it, did not Imlicve that there was really any red-cloaked woman at all, nor did the patient believe In the skeleton, knowing, in fact, that it was only a wild fabrication, an niter delusion. A recent eveiit in Paris has recalled this imbject at the present time.:~ritonsscau once wrote: “It it were' only necessary for you to hold out votir thumb in order to cause, thede.ath of an immensely wealthy mandarin in China, w hose hc.iiyou wouiu be, are you sure that you would not extend your thumb? - ’ <>ncday happened to attract the attention of Henri de Lacrois, a gentleman of high birth and liberal education, belonging to an excellent French family. His brain w: s thought by his friends to'he slightly affected from the loss of his large and very handsome property. This man said to himself: “If I could stretch out, my thumb, and that would be enough to kill my uncle and cotirin. I -should then become very rich." He was recalling the singular hint from Rousseau. Bechanced to be in a -room at the moment where large penned photographs of the family were hanging. • ■. ■■ ( - In a' sort of hallucination he‘extended his thumb toward the photographs of his uncle and cewrifo and raid: “Let them die, so that 1 mr.y inherit’” Strange to. say, within tifta:; day- both uncle and cousin were carried oil' by typhoid fever. Within the last few ‘months remorse preyed upon the mind of Lacrois, and he imagined that hi- spell had actually caused the death of his relatives: He heard their voices calling to him: “Thou hast killed me! Thou hast killed us!” He delivered himself up to the police* and asked to be executed. We sic by ourJParis journals tliat Henri de Lacrois lias jiist died in’ah insane tßylum.—AL F. liriWy.- 7-— — - '

A Daring Balloon Ascension.

One of the attractions of the pioneers’ celebration yesterday was the balloon ascension of j. 11. Steiner, the aeronaut. The ascent was advertised to be made at' three o’clock in the afternoon, but many who arrived before that hotfr were disappointed. because the ascension had already taken place. The air-ship was tilled from the gas-mains on the corner of AV ashington street and Seventh avenue, and carried down to the park, adistance of two blocks, at one o’clock. The professor found that he did not have sufficient gas, and that what he did have was rapidly escaping, • and notified the managers of the celebration that he would be compelled to make the proposed ascension immediately. At this time (about a quarter past one o'clock) the; aUemianee was pot near so large.as .it was subsequently, and die hasty determination prevented even many of those present in the park from being aware of what was so unexpectedly about to take place. Those who were aware, however, witnessed a surprise they wi re not prepared for, as Sir. Steiner, instead of attaching the usual car or basket to his balloon, dispensed with it altogether, aud, seated on a simple piece of rope, like a swing, sailed away-into mid-air. Waving ills hat to the spectators, who looked upon him with wonderment and a feeling of apprehension for his fate. They had witnessed a piece of trapeze performance that was not in the programme. At first tl(e balloon took an easterly direction, but soon changed its course to a northeasterly direction, and went across the Contra Costa Mountains in the direction of Moraga Valley. When the first range of mountains was crossed Mr. Steiner thought to alight; but the current of air in the valley below was strong enough to lift the balloon on to the next range, where the professor let go his hold of the balloon and dropped to the ground without sustaining any injury beyond a couple of scratches. The balloon, relieved of the weight of its passenger, rose up rapidly again, and continued its course until the’gas was exhausted,and has not been recovered. The balloonist was only thirty minutes in mid-air. and, on inquiry where he descended, found that he had traveled, some .eight miles over the Contra Costa Mountains to the verge of Moraga Valiev• There he found a dairyman, who took him back to Brooklyn in his wagon, and at four o'clock he was again in the garden narrating his adventure to the curious inquirers, many of whom had been fearful for his fate. The feat was a daring, one, and such as few would c-are t<> see repeated. But it sir >wshow little men of trained nerve and muscle care for positions the very thought of which makes others tremble. — Oakland (Cal.) Tribune.

Estimating Men’s Wealth.

One of the points iii regard* to which great numbers of people are apt to be venpositive is the amount of property owned by other persons, and especially ‘by men of wealth. We repeatedly hear it asserted that one man is worth $500,000, another $250,000, another SBOO,OOO, another sl.500.000, and so on. Sometimes these estimates allow considerable room for incomplete data; as, for example, when it is said that Mr. A. or Mr. B. is “ worth between two and three millions.’’ But in most cases the statement is more definite. though generally in round numbers. Indeed, it is remarkable how many men there are whose property, according to these reports, would, if turned into money, make exactly even change. The numlter of individuals in the city, for instance, who are said to be worth’ just $1,000,000 is very surprising. And what is, if possible, Stillmore wonderful is the circumstance that some of them have for several years, amid all the fluctuations in the value of property, remained worth the precise sum. How anyone could continue.to keep the gauge of his property so steady for even one week, not to speak of a series of years, is a problem to which the persons affording the information do not fleel called upon to furnish a solution. If the statements we sp often hear about the amount of this or that man's property were confined to men who were put of business, and, to use a familiar expression, were “living on their means,” they would even then be often rather absurd. If, indeed, an individual lias all his property invested in Government

loans, first-class railroad bonds and other securitieswhich have a definite and steady market value, and if he lias no objection to conversing freely about his affairs, bis neighbors mvjht be abledo form a distinct anff correct i lea as to the value of his possession-. But the property <‘f com 1 - parativdly few persons, especially men of igntaf wealth*, is invested in this way. The great majority of rich men, even when not eng'aged ‘in active business, would find it very difficult to say within a very considerable percentage wliat tiny themselves are worth. And of the estimate fliey are able to' form they are by I no means always willing to communicate I the figures to everyliody of their acquaintance. I But the reports of which we are speak- , ■ iirg are apt to be made about men 1 0.0 [*Fot»erty i«-rm : vested in their business as in regard to anyone else. It is not uncommon to hear an exact statement - of how - much a mer-'l chant that he has large liabilities, while his means are subject to vicissitudes respecting which no one can with certainty calculate.” It would sometimes almost seem I as if the.more fluctuating and uncert ai h j in its very-nature nn mriiyrlxTnl’s'budness ! is, the more precise ami positive are the I reports as to the amount of his property. There is many a man who would be exceedingly glad to be able to estimate in his own mind what he himself is worth as definitely as some of his acquaintances feel able to'state it; It need scarcely be mentioned here that ordinary reports of the property of individuals, especially of those who are considered wealthy, are apt to be greatly exaggerated. It is no unusual occurrence, when a man dies, to find, even in ca.*-es where his affairs were not all complicated, that his property is less than one-half, or even one-fourth, what it was supposed to be. And who that has had any opportunities of observation in such matters has not known many melancholy instances of men who had- been considered very rich, whose widow and children, when the e-fate'xvas finally settledyfoum! themselves almost penniless - ?' Cases sometimes, indeed, occur of persons whose deaths disclose the fact that, they were much richer than they had the reputation of being; but where there is onecase of this sort there are at least twenty of the opposite kind. It is to this tendency to exaggerate the amount of property owned that wc wish particularly to call attention. This kind of gossip, although not, indeed, generally malicious, is by no means always harmless., Great injustice is often thus done” by charges of parsimony and want of liberality which would be greatly modified if the real state of affairs were known. But this is not the only evil connected with the practice under consideration. It is very strange how often pecuniary credit is given almost entirely on the strength of unfounded popular reports of an individual’s wealth; and given, too, not unfrequently, by shrewd businessmen, who, it might naturally be supposed, would have known better. The experience of the community for the past two yekrs has, indeed, taught some terribly severe lessons on this point. It is earnestly to be hoped that the effect of these lessons "will be : -mOTe-permanentthan-tluit-of-tliete;u:h.ings. of business reverses usually prove themselves to Tie after ‘returning prosperity.— AL F. TVmea.

Pretty Tough Plug.

One day last month, when trade was dull, n Vicksbtirg.grocery clerk procured, a piece of sole-leather from a shoemaker, painted it black and laid it aside for future use. Within a few days an old chap from back in the country came in and inquired for a plug of chewing tobacco. The piece of sole Leather was tied up, paid for, and ’flie purchaser started for home. At the end of the sixth day he returned, looking downcast and deiected, and, walking into thestore, he inquired of the clerk: “ ’Member that terbacker I got here the other day?” “ Yes.” “Well, was that a new brand - ?” “No—same old brand.” “ Regular plug terbacker, was it "Yes,” “Well, then, it’s me; it’s right here in my jaws,”-sadly replied the man. “ I knowed I whs gittin’ party old, but I wus alius handy on bitin’ plug. I never seed a plug afore this one that I couldn’t tear to pieces at one chaw. I sot my teeth on to this one, and bit and pulled and twisted, like a dog at a root, and I’ve kept biting and pulling for six davs, and thar she am now. the same as the clay you sold her to me!” “Seems to be good plug,” remarked the clerk, as he smelled ot the counterfeit. “ She’s all right; it’s me that's failing!” exclaimed the old man. “ Pass me out some fine-cut, and I’ll go home and deed the farm to the boys, and git ready for the grave!”— Vicksburg Herald.

Walter Scott’s First Love.

Writing of the love disappointments of literary lights, a correspondent says: *• His early disappointment was very bitter and, although its lull details cannot lx; given, it may be said that when he xvas a poor young barrister, living still under the paternal roof at Edinburgh, he fell in love with a maiden whose rank was above his own and whom he could not expect to win. Still he hoped against hope. His father heard of the affair and, with sober sense of mature years, informed the lady’s friends of Walter’s weakness, and they'at once removed the girl from the city. Scott never knew the cause of this change till years afterward, but, as the income of his profession for five years averaged only £IOO a year, he could not expect to encounter the expense of a domestic establishment. The girl married soon afterward. and one of Scott’s friends was much alarmed for fear of the consequences. He writes as follows: ' This is bad news to our romantic friend, and I now shudder at the violence of his. most irritable and ungovernable mind. It is said that “ men have died and worms have eaten them, but not for love.” 1 sincerely hope it may be verified on this occasion.’ Scott did nothing worse than to pen a few stanzas, which are worth reading in this connection. They are addressed to the violet, and close thus": Though fair her gems of azure hue. Beneath the dew-drop's weight reclining, I've seen an eyt'of lovelier blue, More sweet through watery luster shining. The summer sun that dew shall dry Ere yet that sun be past its morrow;? Nor longer in my false love's eye Remained the"tear of parting sorrow! “ Before six months had expired this dis appointed lover was as deeply enamored of another girl whom he met while on an excursion into the north of England. ’ She was of French birth, and is described as very fascinating. One of his friends said: ‘Scott was sair beside himself about Miss Carpenter. We toasted her twenty times oyer, he. rating aboHt her until it was one in the morning.’ The next Christmas

they wen* married. It may be added tliat the match was not felicitous on the part of the husband, for, although their married life was harmonious, the wife wasdeficient ih that mental strength which such a union required. Scott never outlived the influence exercised on hub by his first love, and in his latter years he wejit at the mention of her name and the memory of old associations.”

Is it Best to Make a Change?

The farmer Is often puzzled by some such? difficulty as the following: If he has been cultivating wheat, as a main crop, and it fails for a season or two, he is generally ready to make a change and try something else. The low price of wool makes him inclined to sell his flock.for rttuftenv iF -beef goes ctowir flutter and cheese will suggest themselves as a substitute, and thus every partial or total failure to obtain a remunerative return, for labor or capital invested is likely-to breed discontent • and an inclination to make a change of some kind. There are at this moment, however, thousands of farmers as well as, men in other professions, who can look back a few years and see where they missed it in making what they supposed would -be a beneficial change in their business. It is an old axiom, that “to become successful one needs to become proficient,” and frequent changes are pretty certain to prevent one from reaching this point, no matter what the occupation may be. We conclude, from the’tone of the letters we frequently receive, that a considerable portion of our subscribers owning farms are constantly on the lookout for an excuse to make' a change in the kinds of crops cultivated. One farmer writes us that formerly he could raise wheat at a profit, but of late years this grain has failed to be remunerative, owing to a light yield. The price has not fallen, nor have the. seasons varied during the period named, but the yield per acre has diminished, and to this alone is attributed the present unprofitableness of the crop. Of course, when a man has arrived at this point, a change of some kind is imperative, but .whether it should be ah abandonment of a certain kind of crop, or a radical change in the system of culture, becomes a question worthy of serious consideration. If wheat has ever been a successful crop in any particular soil or region of country it is pretty, good evidence that it may be again. In fact, if history teaches us anything, it is the permanency of our leading agricultural products. From this we may conclude there is likely to be a steady demand for the principal products - of the earth, and there is no reason why our farmers should be so ready to make a change with every slight fluctuation of prices in the market. We think that an examination of the market prices of wheat, rye, corn and other leading kinds of grain for the past twenty-five years will show that a man stands abetter chance of making the culture of either one or more of Jhein a success by uninterrupted culture during a Iteng series of years than. by attempting to change occasionally to* hit the market. High prices one year are almost invariably followed by low the next, simply because a majority of our farmers have no constantly endeavoring to meet a demand as unreliable as a weathercock would be in showing the points- of the compass. This constant vacillation has been the ruin of many an otherwise good farmer; for to use a homely adage, their “ dish is bottom side up whenever it rains porridge.” But we find on the contrary that those who make a,specialty of certain crops or breeds of stock, and keep right along without wavering, regardless of the prices of their products in market, are quite sure to win in the end. We have known men near our large cities to make a very considerable fortune in raising cabbages for twenty years or more in succession" Moderate fortunes have also been made in raising tomatoes, onions, celery, asparagus and similar vegetables; but not by trying one thing for a year pr two, then another, thereby running the risk of hav ing a short or small crop in the seasons of the highest prices. Whenever a change in the products of a farm really appears to be advisable, it would be well for the owner to look over the prices for the principal articles for the previous ten years or more, and see if the average will not insure a continuance of the same. Of course we do not take into consideration any deterioration in the fertility of the soil or crops cultivated; fora man who permits this in one case is pretty certain to fail in whatever he may undertake ; hence it is scarcely worth while to offer him advice. A farmer who will permit the average yield per acre of wheat to fall from thirty to ten bushels in a dozen ye:#s, would probably neglect to feed or milk his cows, should he attempt to establish a daily; consequently a change from wheat to butter and cheese could scarcely be considered advisable. We are not disposed to argue against farmers making radical changes in systems of culture, or in the character of the products of their farm, for«thethoughtful, intelligent farmer often does it greatly to his advantage. But the constant vacillation from one extreme to another, varying the kind of products in a-vam-attempt to k-eepewen with markets. has ruined ten farmers where one has been benefitted.—A’. F. <Sizn.

“Gilt-Edged” Butter.

There are at least two dairymen and but-ter-makers in th,e neighborhood of Philadelphia who attvajys sell their butter at one dollar a pound, and cannot supply all who desire to be flieir customers. One of these attributes his success to three points, good food for his cows, uniform temperature of fifty-eight degrees in the milkroom, and neatness, cleanliness and dainty nieety at every step from the moment the milk is Obtained until the dollar is paid for the pound of butter. He feeds his cows often, and not much at a time, on white clover and early-mown meadowhay, which* he cuts tine, moistens and mixes with corn-meal and wheaten shorts, Pastures and meadows are kept quite free from weeds. The milk-room is kept at a temperature of fifty-eight degrees by flowing spring water. “As good butter can be made without water as with, but the milk and cream must be kept at all times a little below sixty degrees.” The other important point—cteanliness—he secures by keeping the milk-house free from all unpleasant surroundings, allowing no milk to sour upon the floor of the room or to decompose in the crevices of the milkpans, churns or other utensils. The above is descriptive of the care with which the costliest Philadelphia butter is made, but the ordinary article sold in our markets at half the price is not much inferior in quality, thanks to the tidy housewives in Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. — Philadelphia Ledger. —Always save the earliest and bestseeds for your own use; by so doing for vears ( tlie quality may be greatly improved and early ripehing will be hastened.

Fish Culture.

f The results so far attained in this country in the artificial culture of fish are eminently satisfactory, and the efforts made by the various fisheries commissions to increase the supply of food for the people are worthy of all commendation. Naturally, there exists a lively public curiosity to know the processes of fish-culture and information with regard to its history, its principles and its methods is heartily welcomed. In response to- this general demand, Mr. Robert B. Roosevelt, Fish Commissioner of the State of New York, has given a public lecture oil pisciculture, in which he very fully considers the subject in all its aspects. The lecture is very long and we must be content with indicating only a few of its points. There are, he said, two divisions 01 fish in our conn, try which are subjects of fish-culture, namely the Salmonidcef or salmon-tribe, and the Alosidce, or shad-tribe. Under the former head are included the salmon, the trout, the salmon-trout (or,lake-trout), the white-fish and the California salmon. The Alosidce are represented in pisciculture only by the shad, as yet. The first point in fish-culture is to obfiuntEe spawningifishinproper condition. In the Salmonidce, the eggs, when in a perfectly ripe condition, lie free in the abdomen and may be extruded by gentle pressure. They are caught as they fall in a basin and are vitalized by coming in contact with the milt from the males. Formerly, the practice obtained of having this basin full of water, it being supposed that this arrangement more nearly reproduced the conditions ; but subsequent discoveries led to a change of this method. The eggs are fertilized by the... spermatozoa of the milt entering through the micropyle and taking up board and lodging within. It was ascertained, however, in practice, that these spermatozoa are not fond of water, and, although very active when first emitted, soon drowned. They retain their vitality much longer when dropped among the egg's in a comparatively dry state, and this is the method universally pursued at present. As soon as the operation is completed the eggs are placed * in hatching-troughs. These are made of various materials, but are simply long, narrow boxes,- say twelve feet long by eighteen inches wide, and subdivided into apartments to keep the eggs from crowding on one another. Cold spring water, which has been carefully filtered by passing through several flannel screens, comes in at the head of these troughs, passes over the eggs in one compartment after another and escapes at the lower end. By this means the greatest ‘dangers to the'life of the embryo are avoid: ed. Sediment and confervce cannot pass the screens, insects are kept out altogether, and ducks and eels are disappointed of their prey. The eggs require about two months to hatch, with the water at. the temperature of forty-five degrees. They demand constant care and attention, for i’s one egg dies or becomes diseaseu it contaminates its neighbors. The ad rance of the process is, however, Soon visible in the egg, either to the human eye or under the microscope. At last the pisciculturist will have evidence of his labors being successful. Some morning on going to his troughs he will notice broken egg-shells in the v\*at ei*, - and- on closer inspection' wi 11 observe wiggling nondescripts on the bottom, neither like fish nor eggs, but compounded of both. When they once begin to appear they come in thousands, in millions, in myriads. The young need more water at this time, but require less care; yet still they must be watched. The young fish may soon be turned loose into the stream. If he is a salmon after a few months? preparation to strengthen his sinews and test his power he goes down to the sea, there to dwell, and feed and grow, gaining wonderfully in size, drawing his sustenance 'from the exhaustless storehouse of the world, and coming back to man in a few months a magnificent embodiment of strcyigth and beauty, bringing to the lord of the universe five or ten pounds of as delicious food as ever delighted a gourmand’s palate, or satisfied a hungry man’s stomach. If he is only a-trout, a younger brother of the glorious family'of Salmonidoe, he will lurk about the bottom of some pond, or graze the pebbly mountainbrook, and struggle up to a half-pound or more before twelve months shall have rolled dver his head.— Popular Science Monthly.

When the Chipmucks go to Work.

About Aug. 15 they commenced to work in real earnest. Instead „of tire playful careless creatures that lived from hand to mouth they became very busy and sober indeed. Instead of keeping comparatively near home they wandered quite a distance for them, and filling both cheekpouches full of corn, chincapins (dwarf chestnuts) and small* acorns, home they , would hurry, looking, in the face, like children with the mumps. This storing away of food was continued until the first heavy white frosts, when the chipmucks, as a member of Congress once said, went “into a state of retiracy.” The food gathered, we believe, is consumed in part on their going into winter quarters, they spending some time in their retreats before commencing their hibernating sleep. This belief, on our part, is based on a result of diggingout a third nest on the 3d of November. The last time we noted down seeing a chipmuck belonging to a certain nest was Oct. 22. Twelve days after we very carefully closed the three passages that led to the nest and dug down. VVe found four chipmucks very cosily fixed for winter in a roomy nest, and all of them thoroughly wide-awake." "Their store of provisions was wholly chestnuts and acorns, and the shells ot these nuts were all pushed into passages so that there should be no litter mingled with the soft hay that lined the nest. How long this underground life lasts before hibernation readily commences it is difficult to determine; but as' this torpid state does not continue until their food supply is again obtainable out of doors the chipmucks, no doubt, store away sufficient for their needs throughout the early spring, and until berries are ripe. I —Or. Abbott, in Popular Science Monthly ! for August. New London has the largest wharf in the United States. It is 1,150 feet long, and 200 and 250 feet wide, has twenty Teet depth of and covers nearly' six acres; the walls are solid stone-work, with a filling-in of gravel. The wharf is the terminus of the New London Northern Railroad, and is now about completed. " , To read, to think, to love, to hope and to pray—these are the things that make men happy. They have power to do these things; they will never have power to do more. The world’s prosperity or adversity depends upon our knowing and teaching these few things, but upon iron or glass, steam or electricity, in nowise.— Ruskin.

Truth Will Out. 4

A story with several morals comes from Windsor, Conn. Forty years ago there was a bank at Windsor. One morning the cashier opened the locked vaults and found everything in perfect order, including an envelope that held, the evening before, $50,000. But the money was gone. Detectives were summoned. They struck what they thought to be a trail, and followed it straight to the<house of Thomas the President of the bank. The evidence against him was wholly circumstantial, but it seemed pretty clear. With in a few short weeks Emerson exchanged' his home at Windsor for a cell at Weathersfiela—one of those terrible four-by-nine cells in which Connecticut used to suffocate, as well as starve, her felons. The ex-President lived several years within those gloomy stone walls, and then came out to find himself an outcast, hated by the plundered community which had once honored him. He lived to be an old man, but his crime was- never forgotten * and lie went down to the grave with “ thief” stamped upon him. The verdict was on record. Everyone knew of it. His feeble protests were vain to shakq the settled conviction of his sin. Years after the grass grew over his body, a chance stroke of a workman’s hammer proved his innocence, and showed that he had been one of the many victims of circumstantial evidence. The cashier of the bank, the man who discovered the theft, died about the time the ex-convict did. The odor of sanctity hung about him. His memory was cherished at Windsor as that of a truly good man. In an evil moment for his memory the present occupant of his old house decided to have it repaired. While the carpenters were at work on Monday of last week a misdirected blow’ with a hammer sank the head of that tool into a secret cavity in a Wall. A moment’s investigation showed that the hiding-place held the money "stolen from the Windsor bank forty years ago. Unless circumstantial evidence is again playing tricks with the truth the cashier stole the money, hid it, allowed a perfect innocent man to drag out his life, with the terrible curse, of .a. conviction for felony resting dn him, and was afraid to ever use the money for the sake of which he bartered his soul. The Springfield Re s puhlican says that there is “ quite a sensation” in Windsor on account of this revelation. .The fact is not surprising.—Chicago Tribune. .

A Cool Bank Robbery.

The particulars of a recent bold bank robbery in Huntington, W. Va., show an extraordinary amount of coolness on the part of the robbers. They rode up in front of the bank in broad daylight, being four in number, and three of them entering the bank and -instantly jumping over the counter wreathed the cashier’s head with the muzzles of four revolvers. The combination doors to the safe were open, but the reserve-fund drawer was locked. They turned the cashier’s head in that direction and ordered him not to attempt to look any other way, but to open the drawer. He, thinking, to gain time, refused, but they assured him that they knew their man and, notwithstanding his pluck, meant to kill him instantly if he did not comply. The four revolvers pressing against his head were too much to bear, and the drawer was opened. A colored man coming in had a revolver presented to his head and was commanded to keep quiet, which he did. The robbers, finding only $15,000, accused the cashier of having more, saying they expected the bank to have $50,000. _ They asked the cashier if he had any personal deposits, and he answered them no; but while coolly examining the books they saw that he had just credited himself with $7.50. The leader took from the stolen funds this amount and handed it to him, assuring him that they did not wish his money. He replied that if he had got to his revolver they wouldn’t have got the money; but they told him it -wasn't any account anyhow, which, on investigation, proved true, showing it had been tampered with. They then took the cashier out into the street, mounted their horses and, assuring him that he was a gentleman, rode away double quick over the hills and dales to freedom. The town was soon the scene of great excitement, and the citizens with shot-guns arid revolvers started in pursuit of the robbers, but they had not been found at last accounts.

Andersen’s Egotism.

A writer says of Hans Christian Andersen: “ He had not an idea of self-restraint or of apropos, and his intense egotism was nourished by everybody and everything. It never occurred to him that he was not the center of everyone’s life and thoughts. He once entered a room, shook hands all round, and then descrying a stranger, a young English lady just arrived at Copenhagen, he went up to her, took her by both hands, addressed her as * the English Rose, who had come to Denmark to see a great poet,’ added, ‘ all your friends will be happy that you are with Andersen,’ and went off to fetch a photograph of himself, which he bestowed on her with much emphasis. The admiring circle perceived nothing'either absurd or blamable in this or any other manifestation of Andersen’s vanity; and, indeed, its frankness, its sim-

pie reliance on everyone’s absolute admiration, preserved it from ridicule or censure; it was so childlike. He never conceived the notion of .satire, he did not feat it, therefore; and though his vanity was easily hurt, and he would pout and sulk like an offended child until coaxed into good humor again, he never suspected a shade of ridicule of him in anyone’s manner or mind. Wherever he was, he was invariably served first at table, and he was deeply grieved at a departure from this custom on the occasion of ‘the English Rose’s’ arrival at the house, near Copenhagen, where he was then staying. He became silent, then sulked, would noteat, and disappeared early in the evening. The next morning their hostess came to the English guest and asked her if she would mind not "being helped first, ‘it made dear And’semso unhappy; he went to the kitchen and told the servants he could see they no longer loved him, since they thought more of the English lady than of him.’j” Hartford is as thick with thieves, burglars and pickpockets as toids after a shower! but they have been pretty carefully looked after by the police. Quite a number of spectators at the races had to ask their neighbors the “ time o’ day.” “ Why don’t you Carry your wallet where I carry mine? and then you wouldn’t have it stolen!” said a man on the race-ground to a disconsolate who had been relieved of his money. “ Where do you carry yours, then?” Slapping his hand on a deep sifte-pocket; he exclaimed,. “ Here! but by thunder its gone.”— New Haven, Register. A schoolboy says that when his teacher undertakes to “ show him what is what,” he only finds out which is switch.

Birds Simulating Suffering—Animal Instinct.

In walking along the side of a river with overhanging batiks I came suddenly on a wild duck (Anas Boschus), whose young were just out. Springing from under the bankriie fluttered out into the stream, with loud cries and with all the struggles to escape of a helplessly wounded bird. To simulate the effects of sufferings from disease, or from strong emotion, of from wounds upop the human frame, is a common necessity of the actor’s art, and it is not often really well done. The tricks of the theater are seldom natural, and'it is not without reason that “theatrical” has become a proverbial expression Jbr false and artificial representation of. the real it i os—o£- life-- -----It was,. - therefore, - with no small interest that on this, as on many other occasions, 1 watched the perfection of an art which Mrs. Siddons might have envied. The labored and half-convulsive flapping of the wings, the wriggling of the body, the straining of tlumrefcyand the whole expression of painful and abortive effort, ■were really admirable. When her struggleahad carried her a considerable and_s.he_ saw they produced no effect in tempting us to follow, she made resounding flaps upon the surface of the water to secure that attention to herself which it was the great object of the maneuver to attract. Then, rising suddenly in the air she made a great circle round us, and returning to the spot renewed her. endeavors as before. It was riot; however, necessary; for the separate instinct of the young in successful hiding effectually baffled all my attempts to discover them. If now we examine, in the light of our own reason, all the elements of knowledge or of intellectual perception upon which the instinct of the wild duck is founded, and all of which, as existing somewhere, it undoubtedly reflects, we shall soon see how various and extensive those elements of knowledge are. First, there is the knowledge that the cause of the alarm is a carnivorous animal. On this fundamental point no creature is ever deceived. The youngest chick knows a hawk, and the dreaded form fills it with instant terror. Next, there is the knowledge thatdogs and other carnivorous quadrupeds have the sense of smell, as an additional element of danger to the creatures on which they prey. Next, there is the knowledge that the dog, not being itself a flying animal, has sense enough not to attempt the pursuit oFprey which can avail itself of this sure and easy' method of escape. Next, there is the conclusion from all this knowledge that if the dog is to be induced to chase, it must be led to suppose that the power of flight has been somehow lost. And then there is the further conclusion that this can only be done by such an accurate imitation of a disabled bird as shall deceive the enemy into a belief in the possibility of capture. And lastly, there are all the powers of memory and the qualities of imagination which enable good acting to lawpeiformed. All this reasoning and all this knowledge is certainly involved in the action of the birdmother, just as certainly as reasoning and knowledge of a much profounder kind is involved in the structure or adjustment of the organic machinery by ■which and through which the action is itself performed.—Duke of Argyll, in the Contemporary Review.

A Great Adventuress.

A female adventurer of no ordinary description has just come to grief in Paris. Some time ago she cut a dash at Pau, where she succeeded in getting into the good graces of distinguished families. She lived in fine style, but she paid nobody. Her debts then amounted to £I,OOO, but she was soclever that when any of her creditors dunned her she invariably pacified them with some promising story, and in one or two cases succeeded in borrow ing money from them. For example, instead of paying her doctor she got him to advance her £2OO on the belief that she was to come into her long-expected fortune. One of her principal victims at this period was a Mme. Ducout, to whom she introduced herself as the Countesse de Kersabiec, and said that Lord Palmerston had been one of her most intimate friends, that Lord Stanley had been charged with the administration of her fortune, which amounted to £20,000, but which she could not get at for the moment on account of a technical lawsuit. About this time Marie Gribaumont, her cook, fell ill and died in a few days, worth £7OO, which she had saved up. Our heroine at once set to work to obtain this money. She produced a false I. O. U., sent it to the lawyer and ordered him to see that the family of her deceased cook paid it, but before the matter came before the court she disappeared one night with all the money and valuables belonging to the cook. She now turned up again in Paris, where she made fresh victims, and then went to Versailles,' where she made debts and dupes on all sides, when her old Pau creditors, who had lost all traces of her for years, found her out and she was arrested. Her trial has only just come off. She appeared in court calm and collected, and gave an account of her strange, eventful life. The jury found her guilty and she was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment, 3,000 francs fine, and to the surveillance of the police for the rest of her life. She received her sentence with the utmost indifference, and left the court putting on her lavendercolored gloves as coolly as if she was going on an afternoon’s walk instead of to the prison cell.

A Frenchman’s Practical Joke.

Great commotion was created in the wood of a few days ago by the discovery, by a party of promenaders, of the body of a well-dressed young man suspended 1 from one of the branches of a sturdy oak, while his dog, lying on the ground just beneath his dangling feet, seemed to keep watch over , the corpse. The terrified pleasure-seekers hastily summoned one of the forest-keepers, who advanced to cut the body down. A sudden kick from the supposed dead man sent him staggering in the other direction, while the dog, with a howl of fury, fastened his teeth in his leg. This done, the body hung motionless as before. >“Try again,” said one of the bystanders; “ that movement was merely the result of muscular contraction.” But the second attempt was attended with the same result, and then a shout of laughter from the apparent corpse revealed the secret. The whole affair was a practical joke. The young fellow was suspended, not by his neck, but by a cord passed under his arms, and he had the courage and perseverance to remain hanging in that painful position for more than an hour in order to successfully take in somebody. Unfortunately the joke will not prove as laughable a one as he at first imagined, as he was at once arrested and taken to the station-house on the two charges of defacing the trees and having, kicked a keeper of the forest.— Paris Let. ter.