Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 November 1875 — Page 8

Trained Fleas.

Signor Bertolotto, a venerable Italian, upward of sixty, in connection with the flea has established a European reputation. Yesterday he had his menagerie at 89 Union square, and invited a select audience to witness his performance. The arhibitor is a genial old man, With a voice modified by long intercourse with his minute friends his hand, though large, possesses an exqdisite delicacy of touch, and he bends over and fondles his singular pets as though he felt a real affection for them. In 1832 he began the training of fleas in England, and amassing a con siderable fortune retired from professional afe. Recently times have gone hard with him. and again he summons the fleas to his rescue. The professor's present troupe consists of 100 female fleas (male fleas are discarded as utterly intractable), which were brought from Canada,- the professor making the delightful announcement that fleas are extremely scarce in the United States. The performance yesterday opened with a p:issage-at-arms" between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, two blood-thirsty fleasthat, mounted 6n tiny paper-horses, attacked each other with spears. The tiny paper-horses being stationary, no great damage was done to either of the contestants, but the fleas really appeared actuated by. deadly hatred, and whirled the little spears about in a furious manner. Next an illustration of the immense strength of the creature was given in the performance of an herculean ea, who, being harnessed to a little gilt chariot, weighing just 1.200 times his own weight, drew the same about the table. As an agent of locomotion, however, the flea is not as much of a Success as in some other particulars, for, its legs being centered in the- immediate neighborhood of its head, there is an unavoidable slovenly appearance about the way in which it carries the remainder of the body; and besides, the natural gait of the flea is that of the agile kangaroo, and it can never be trained to assume a comely trot. However, the little creature shambled around with the chariot, and one of its fellows sat on the box asdignified a driver as ever cracked a whip. A wild flea was next produced, one that had never received any educational advantages. Its habit was still that of a creature who lives only to hop and bite, and aUhain and ball attached to the hindleg told of its unfltnes.s to associate unrestrained with its civilized brothers. The chain and ball were of gold, the former being just one inch in length and containing 400 links: On thesame microscopic plan all the paraphernalia used was constructed, little hats and coats fitting with remarkable nicety. Other of these remarkable insects were made to turn cranks and hoist- buckets, but the cZiefd~ oeuvre of the entertainment was some two dozen fleas at a ball. Al one end ot the ball-room was a complete orchestra, each flea holding its peculiar instrument in readiness for the dance. Op the floor two couples were seen, and on a tiny sofa another was engaged, at least so paid the professor, in a very desperate flirtation. A music-box was then set in motion, and at the first’sound the little insects began their respective vocations, those on the floor whirling; about in the dance and those in the orchestra working their legs, to which were attached the instruments, in a most enthusiastic manner. When the size of the flea is remembered the task of handling them at all will be appreciated. Fortunately, they sire as tough as porcupines, and can be unceremoniously picked up with- the little steel pincers without danger of hurting them. The average lifetime of a flea is about eight months, and as torn- months is required in subduing their spirits and altering their gait from a hop to a trot it will be seen that the process. of training is an endless one. Of the 800 fleas in this collection about half are performers and have to betaken from their harness of threads once a day to be fed. Their fodder is nothing less than the blood of the professor, who permits the whole flock to . browse on his left arm every morning.—W. F. ll 'orld.

A Sad Tale of Autumn.

Mrs. Barlow had long urged Mr. Barlow to hare that stove put up. She assured him that there were such draughts in the house that the carpets rose on the floors, that Samantha had caught her death of cold, and little Bertram’s lungs were digested, and the doctor’s bills would eat • them out of house and home, and that if he had had the spirit of a man the stove would have been up months ago. Perhaps, though, he expected a poor, weak woman like her to Here Mr. Barlow apologetically and promptly remarked that he would tell the tinsmith to “ The tinsmith Ireplied Mrs. Barlow, with a shudder; “The tinsmith!! Come, Samantha and Bertram” she cried, hastily bundling them up in a shawl, “ come, let us go to the Poor-House: your father is going to waste all his substance in riotous tinsmiths. John Snediker Barlow,” she cried, addressing herself to him, “what be you a thinking of? The tinsmith would charge you a dollar if he’d charge you a cent. Here I am, toiling and moiling from morning till night, week in and week out, from year’s end till year’s end. and if I talk of spending a dollar I never litar the last of it. But" you—O’ you can go and throw away your ” Here Mr. Barlow surrendered at indiscretion, and promised to put up that stove on Sunday. . . . Early on the morning of tlie sacred day the Barlow household was disturbed by such unaccustomed noise as the pounding of pipes, the rustling of soot, the rattling of step-ladders, the "bumping of stbves, the suppressed swearing of Mr. Barlow, and the by- no-in ean s - sit ppres sed' scdfding of his spouse. Finally Air. Barlow got the stove up, a brick and two chips serving for the missing leg; he erected about five lengths of pipe from the back, and he suspended about five other lengths from the chimney and ceiling. Remained but one elbow to connect these two perpendicular and horizontal systems. Mr. Barlow had by this time become both perspiring and profane: when the send soot got into his eyes and made them smart he had rubbed it out with his hands, which were covered with soot; he had cut his fingers seven times with the sharp edges of stove-pipe, and pinched them seventy times seven times between joints. Mounting on a chair, placed on four bricks, placed on a washboard, placed on a tub, placed on a table with one short lag, which was eked out with a scrubbingbrush, Mr. Barlow essayed for some time to fit the elbow. Mrs". Barlow, meanwhile, stood below, commenting audibly, but by no mekns favorably, on ius method of conducting operations. At last, being aggravated beyond bounds, Mr. Barlow gave the elbow a sharp blow horizontally. A suspended stove-pipe offers comparatively little resistance, and Mr. Barlow lost his balance. The game leg of the table slipped from on the scrubbingbrush, the tub slid from the table, the washboard tilted from the tub, the bricks fMI from the washboard, the chair turn-

bled from t)ie brick, and Mr. Barlow descended frutn the chair like Lucifer falling from wcaven. For a few moments the atmosphere was filled with Mr. Barlow, Imcks, soot, washboards, chairs, profanity, tubs, tables and shrieks; then there was a dreadful silence. About nineteen square yards of carpet were ruined, and the circumjacent rooms were a sight for a housekeeper’s eye. Hardly had Mr. Barlow risen and begun to take stock of his numerous gashes and abrasions than Mrs. Barlow’s voice rose, anxiously demanding: “John Snediker Barlow, have you •bentthat elbow all oute’n shape?” “No,” roared Sir. Barlow, “ but, by the jumping, ten-toed Jehosaphat, I will," and, suiting the action to the word, he flattened it bevond all recognition on the corner of the piano. . . . Then he went out, and, drawing a revolver on the tinsmith, ordered him to be round by daybreak on Monday, or else . —Chicago Tribune.

A Snow-Storm in the Sierras.

In his serial story begun in Scribner for November Bret Harte gives the following vivid description of a snow-storm in thy Sierras: Snow. Everywhere. As far as the eye could reachr-nfty miles, looking southward from the highest white peak. Filling ravines and gulches, and dropping from the walls of canons in white, shroudlike drifts, fashioning the dividing ridge into the likeness of a monstruous grave, hiding the bases of giant pines) and completely covering young trees and larches, rimming with norcelajp the bowl-like edges of still, cold lakes, and undulating in motionless white billows to the edge of the distant horizon. Snow lying everywhere over the California Sierras on the 15th day of March, 1848, and still falling. It had been snowing for ten days; snowing in finely-granulated powder, in damp, spongy flakes, in thin, feathery plumes; snowing from a leaden skysteadily, snowing fiercely, shaken out ofpurple-black clouds in white, flocculent masses, or dropping in long, level lines like white lances from the tumbled and broken heavens. But always silently! The woods were so choked with it, the branches were so laden with it, it had so permeated, filled and possessed earth and sky; it had so cushioned and muffled the ringing rocks ami echoing hills that all sound was deadened. The strongest gust, the fiercest blast awoke no sigh or complaint from the snow-packed, rigid files of forest. There was no cracking of bough nor crackle of underbrush;- the overladen branches of pine and fir yielded and gave way without a sound. The silence was vast, measureless, complete! Nor could it be said that any outward sign ot life or motion changed the fixed outlines of this stricken landscape. Above, there was no play of light and shadow, only the occasional deepening of storm or night. Below, no bird winged its flight across the white expanse, no beast haunted the confines of the black woods; whatever of brute nature might have once inhabited these solitudes had long since flown to the low lands. There was no track or imprint; whatever foot might hove left its mark upon this waste, each succeeding snow-fall obliterated all trace or record. Every morning- the solitude was virgin and unbroken; a million tiny feet had stepped into the track and filled it up. And yet, in the center of this desolation, in the very stronghold of this grim- fortress, there was the mark of human toil. A few trees had been felled at the entrance of the canon, and the freshly-cut chips were but lightly covered with snow. They 7 served perhaps to indicate another tree.- “ blazed” with an ax, and bearing a rudely-shaped wooden effigy of a human hand, pointing to the canon. Below the hand was a square strip of canvas, securely nailed against the bark, and bearing the following inscription: ,

NOTICE. Capt. Conroy’s party of emigrants are lost in the snow and camped up this canon. Out of provisions and starving! Left St. Jo, Oet. 8,1847. Left Salt Lake Jan. 1,1848. Arrived here March 1,1848. Lost half our stock on the Platte. Abandoned our wagons Feb. 20. HELP! Our names are: Joel McCormick, Jane Brackett, Peter Dumphy, Gabriel Conroy, • Paul Devarges, John Walker, a Grace Conroy, Henry March, Olympia Conroy, Philip Ashley/ Mary Dumphy. (Then in smaller letters, in pencil): Mamie died Nov. 8, Sweetwater. Minnie died Dec, 1, Echo Canon. .i_ Jane died Jan. 2, Salt Lake. James Brackett, lost Feb. 3. HELP! The language of suffering is not apt to be artistic or studied, but I think that rhetoric could not improve this actual record. So I let it stand even as it stood this 15th day of (March, 1848, half-hidden by a thin film of damp snow, the snow-whit-ened hand stiffened and pointing rigidly to the fateful canon like the finger of Death.

Where Two Sundays Come Together.

“ Well, I never did- —” “ I know you never did. my 7 dear, but you may, one of these days, when our ship comes in and we start on that round of ours. We can’t very well start until that metaphorical vessel does arrive; can’t go out until she comes in. Y’ou see, the sinews of war are also the muscles of peace, and it needs a financial biceps to enable one to strike out effectively on such a round.” “ What on earth are you talking of,” s:tid Mts. Penn, " with such a jumble of finance and pugilism and maritime affairs ? It strikes me "that your metaphors are slightly mixed.” “ Well, you said you never ” “ Y'es. I’was going to say that I never heard of where two Sundays came together.” “Exactly. And that is what I was talking of." I was about to explain it to you.” “Do you mean to say that there is such a place?” “ I do.” “And time?” “And time.” Then I should like to know what becomes of the Seventh Day of the strict Sabbatarians?” “That is a theological question, my dear. We’ll not medale with it.” “ But how do they make two Sundays come together ?” “Just in that way precisely. They make ’em come together. For instance, on board a naval vessel, say, when the officer in charge of that duty finds by an ‘ observation’ that the sun is precisely over the line-of the ship’s meridian (». «., the point or degree of longitude east or west of M ashington or Greenwich where she then is), he knows that it is noon of that day (to a landsman; to him it is the beginning of the next day), and he reports accordingly to the proper officer:

* Eight bells, sir,’ and receives reply: 'Make it so, sir,’ usually with the agreeable addition, * and pipe to dinner.’ So it*""is that the I slip’s officer, upon occasion, makes two Sundays come together, or, for the matter of that, knocks Sunday out of the week altogether, according to circumstances.” “Knocksit out altogether? Only one Sunday in two weeks?” Precisely. He can jump from Saturday to Monday if he will.” # “Worse and worse! (Well, explain, please. Let me understand the ‘ circumstances’ under which these nautical gentlemen so coolly double Sunday or drop it.” “ Here goes, then; We were talking of that little prbposed round of ours.” “ O yes! What round?” “ Why, round the world. Haven’t we been speculating and castle-building on taking one of those through-tickets for the yet-to-be-fashionable tour, with lay-over coupons for Chicago and San’Francisoo and Yokohama and Hong-Kong and Calcutta and Bombay and Suez and Brindisi and Paris and London? Well, it depends on which way we take that ticket) eastward or westward, whether we lose a day —Sunday it may be as well as any other—or make one on our trip. It is usually on the Pacific Ocean that this gain or loss is made, because, Washington or Greenwich being the ‘given, or governing meridian’ from which American or English vessels calculate their longitude, it is only on that ocean that they find the one hundred and eightieth degree, or half-round-the-world point, at which they effect the change.” ... “ Yes, I see that by the globe. Here is the one hundred and eightieth degree west or east of Greenwich, right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Go on with your yarn.” "■ Thanks to common schools and the electric telegraph most landsmen now understand that a difference in longitude makes a difference in the time of day; that a message going westward arrives at its destination before its apparent hour of starting; or, as Pat would say, ‘ it’d rache . St. Louis before ye sint it from New York.’ Orreries have taught our youngsters that, as the earth turns toward the sun, at the point which is full-face to that luminary it is high noon, while at one-quarter of the earth’s circumference toward the west it is just sunrise. This difference of time is, at the equator, just four minutes for each degree of longitude—equal to six hours (360 minutes) for the ninety degrees, or quarter circumference, above noted. Thus at St. Louis, fifteen degrees west of New 7 York, it is sixty minutes earlier than with us, or eleven o’clock when it is twelve here, and a ship circumnavigating the globe going westwardly thus gains on apparent time (laps over on to the next .day) four minutes for each of the 3GO degrees of westing, or twenty-four hours for the entire circuit of the earth. In other words, going west, aud keeping her record of days from the day of the w 7 eek on which she starts, on. arriving back at her port on what to her is Monday she finds that it is Tuesday on shore, and she must jump from Monday to Wednesday to set herself right. Making the circuit eastwardly, the case is reversed, and arriving from the w 7 est it is Tuesday on her log, while to-morrow is Tuesday to the board-ing-officer. The ship then doubles Tuesday and squares her record. “ But most seamen correct this seeming error on passing the half-way point; i. e., on reaching the 180th degree west or east of their governing meridian a day is dropped or repeated, and the ship • arrives without being in next week or last week, when she should be in this. Landsmen’s ignorance of these facts has caused some amusing scenes on steamers on the Pacific. Some twenty years ago the New Orleans, the first passenger steamer that ever crossed the Pacific Ocean, was on her way from San Francisco to Sydney with a load of gold-hunters, including some Pike County men, whose nautical education was limited. The purser had posted his usual daily bulletin of latitude, longitude and distance run since the previous noon —always an interesting episode in the histoiy of a day on a long voyage—dated, we’ll say, Monday, the 10th. The next day it stood Wednesday, the 12th, the 180th degree having ’been passed meanwhile, and the intervening day duly dropped. The apparent blunder caught the eye of the eager readers at once. “ ‘ Halloo, purser, what’s this? You’ve made a mistake; you’ve dated this Wednesday.’ “ ‘ Y’es, sir; that’s all right.’ “‘AU right? Why, yesterday was Monday; here’s your own bulletin up yet.’ ‘“Y’es, sir. That’s right, too.’ “‘Right, too? Where in thunder’s Tuesday?’ ‘“Knocked out?’ “ ‘ Oh, come, now,’ said Pike, on the lookout for sailors’ tricks on green hands, ‘ that won’t do. None of that with us. Who ever heard of knocking a day out of the week'?’ “ Bets were finally made, to be«settled at Sydney; and when the pilot boarded them the" papers Showed the purser to be right, and that it was the 16th, say, in Australia, while Pike was a day behind in his almanac. On the return’ trip from Sydney to Panama, on reaching the 180th degree, bulletins were posted ‘ Sunday, the sth,’ and the next day the same. Here was another fuss; the John Bulls on board were especially disgusted. . “‘All ’umbug! "Two, Sundays! The Captain’s a very clever man, no doubt, but that won’t do, you know. No Yankee tricks on us!’ tion that that was the time when his notes fell due, and he was ready to meet them. So, you see, honest Jack has a real time in his mind, and means wiial he says when he promises to pay his debts if presented ‘ where two Sundays come together.’ ” “ Well.” said Mrs. P., ‘‘ the middle of the Pacific Ocean is a good place to go into liquidation.” — Harper's Weekly. —A native gentleman writes to the Friend of India from Behar: “laske# an opulent zeminder the other day * Why don’t you educate your son, instead of loading him with ornaments as a temptatiorirtosome ruffian to murder him?’ With a stave face he told me that his nephew had learned to read and write, and was looked upon as a learned young man in the village; lilt he died of small-pox, and, the same coincidence having occurred in his uncle’s family, it is now settled once for all that ‘ learning in our family is inauspicious, and brings adversity and death.’ It is the fact that nothing will induce any member of this family to learn. ‘Do we hot see hundreds of educated men,’ added he ‘ absolutely starving, while ignorant men are enjoying ease and comfort? Besides, learning unfits d man of our clan to follow his walk of life, and in ninty-nine cases out of a hundred learning makes a man good for nothing.’ ” —“ Why is it,” asks an exchange, “that cripples are such bad-natured people?” We don’t know, but they certainly are not to for being a little crutchetty.

Social Life Among the Aborigines.

The Indian f squaws, says a correspondent writing from Red Cloud Agency, are exceedingly interesting to a visitor to the agencies. Their faces are more oval-shaped than the males, and less stern of expression. One might even say they had a pleasing expression. They wear their coal-black hair in two braids hanging down on either side of their head. To one of these braids is fastened a little bag ornamented with beads, and filled with sweet-smelling leaves. Their teeth are better than those of the men, white and even, and rarely decayed. This redeeming feature softens the sensual look of the large mouth and thick lips. Their eyes-are large, almondshaped, and something of a dark brown, sparkling and merry. While it is hard to associate the idea of beauty with a squaw whose garments are dirty,"yet I have seen those whose faces could not fail to please. Their usual garment is a calico dress, called chunwigga-uneka ntinnie-lioa, made in one piece, with flowing sleeves. It is gathered at the waist by a broad leather belt, worked with brass ss beads and ornaments of Gefman silver. This sack is cut short, exposing red-flannel leggings, called hoouska, and buckskin moccasins, handsomely adorned w ith beads and painted porcupine quills. Occasionally a red sack is worn, st udded witn elk teeth, which is highly prized. They wear no covering for the head, either in winter or summer. Occasionally a squaw may be seen in summer time with a variegated umbrella. Pieces of German silver and brass wire are made into finger-rings, and armlets are in common use. Large holes, varying in lengtk-from a half-inch to an inch long; and from a quarter of an inch to a halfinch in xwdth, are cut in the upper and lowef parts of the ear. In these holes are fastened large brass rings, to which are attached turquoise beads, ditided into from, five to ten longitudinal sections. In each section are from three to five beads, fastened together by means of buckskin and raWhide. On the end of this ear-ring is the handsomest portion of a mother-of-pearl shell. I have seen as many as three of these articles of adornment in one ear. A necklace of the same material, and fashioned in the same manner, is worn about the neck. The only weapon carried by a squaw is a knife, called me la, placed in a hand-somely-beaded case and fastened to the waist-belt. For occasions of ceremony and dance the buckskin dress and leggings are donned. These garments are ..ger geons, with bead-wo.rk,_the__s.hQulders__ and sleeves being covered with beads in various devices representing men and animals. The leggings have the same ornaments. They "are expert in the management of horses, and at a distance it is difficult to distinguish a squaw 7 from a “ buck,” as their manner of riding is identical, even to the incessant punching of the ponies’ sides with the heels and beating the beast with a whip. In childhood tiiey play as merrily as white children, making mud-pies, building miniature lodges, and seemingly making the most of their time against the hardships of maturer years. As a rule they all painttheir faces. One of their fashions is to tattoo a small round spot in the center of the forehead and a streak down the center of the inch. __________ The age of womanhood is hailed with gladness by the parents, and is the occasion of rejoicing in the form of a feast, to which are invited all the friends of the family. On this great occasion the joyful fattier of the girl gives aw 7 ay as many ponies, robes and blankets to his friends and the poor of the tribe as his possessions permit. Now the young girl is careful of her personal appearance, as the “ bucks” will watch her. She adorns herself in garments of flaming colors, paints in an extravagant manner, and powders her hair with sweet-smelling leaves. Polygamy is the almost universal practice. There are three modes of marriage. The courtship of one form of marriage is conducted in a singular manner. A young “ buck,” becoming enamored of a young squaw, waits a convenient time, when, approaching stealthily, he wraps his blanket around her, and then, holding her in a firm grasp, pours his tale of.love and devotion into her (sometimes unwilling) ear. This being completed he goes to the father and.the price of the maiden is agreed upon, according to the young man’s wealth; one to three, and sometimes more, ponies are given for the girl. This transaction finished the girl becomes the warrior’s wife, whether she has said “ Yes” or “ No.” There is one thing certain, however, that while she remains with him, she obeys him. The squaw may leave her husband, or rather she may be deserted by him, and then, going back to her family, she is ready to be bought again. There seems no especial ■ regard between the “ buck” and the squaw 7 . In view 7 of this fact the Indian, strangely enough, evinces a strong affection for his children. Where there is no love between man and wife you w’oiild suppose this could not exist. It is nevertheless a fact that the children are dearer to an Indian than his horses. Of course the squaws grow old fast, and soon become ugly hags. At this stage they are treated as an incumbrance. Old men, as well as women, have frequently been left on the prairie to die. A small store of provisions, to sustain life a few days, is given them; this gone, death by starvation follows. This, lam told, is no longer practiced by the agency Indians.

The Troubles of a Heathen Deity.

Juggernaut seems to be in a bad way in India, owing to the dilapidation of his pagoda at Pooree. An immense block of stone fell the other day from the central dome of the temple. It is fortunate that no one was killed, for the stone, it is statetl, is ten fleet long, five broad, and four in depth, and belongs 'to the inner cornice of the temple. The damage is imperceptible to the eye, owing to the intense darkness in the interior of the edifice, but the fall of the stone is a serious matter for Juggernaut for this reason: There is, it seems, a pfophecy that when the first stone is unfastened the temple shall not stand. The repairs, it is estimated by the Oriaks, will take at least fourteen years to complete, and during all this time no public worship or festival in Pooree is allowable. It is, however, not surprising that tlfo temple is a little out of repair, for it was built by Rajah zknangabhima Deva, of Orissa, in the middle cf the twelfth century, before the days of “scamping” contracts, and during -the last 700 vears not a trowel has been laid upon it for the purpose of repair. The dome is composed of immense blocks of stone, not kept together by cement or mortar of any kind, but made fast by an elaborate process of dove-tailing, the slabs being arranged in horizontal layers narrowed toward the end, covered by a huge head-piece carved and ornamented.— Pall Mail Gazette. Stephen Upton, of Peabody, Mass., is the oldest Deputv-Sheriff in the State. He is eighty years old, was commissioned in 1832" and"has held office continuously ever since. .4. - . .

The Hangman’s Tree.

In Dry Gulch, just outside of Helena, Mont., stood, until a few days ago, a big pine tree, with great, sprangling branches, on which, in the early days of that Territory, no less than sixteen malefactors dangled, at various times, in expiation of their crimes. But last week it fell before the woodman’s ax, and w r as converted into ashes to its last friendly service to mankind. The act of cutting it down by the owner of the land on which it stood was denounced as a piece of vandalism, and considerable indignation was manifested by the old-timers. The tree has been dead for some time, and would ere long have naturally bowed before some strong-headed tempest; but it we could have had our way it should never have fallen by human hands. It was an historic landmark. Many of our citizens still remember the day and circumstances when Johnny Keene there paid the penalty for the" first 'murder committed in Helena/ Many more remember the last occasion, when the two wretches who robbed and thought they had murdered and killed the poor Dutchman in the valley, a little way from town, were com veyed to the same tree to settle the sentence that had been pronounced by the Grand Jury of all our citizens, with only Ope dissenting one. A few, perhaps, may be able to remember every otfe of the many other executions that have occurred on the same tree. Perhaps the tree had become an unwelcome object to those who lived so near as to be compelled to look upon' it daily. Perhaps there were some who could not overcome a superstitious dread at its appearance, and fancied they heard the wailings and shrieks of the doomed victims -when the wild winds mourned through its gnarled and withered branches. But to most of our people it stood as a symbol of swift vengeance, to warn those on the paths of crime that law’s delays and technicalities could not save a murderer from the doom that his crimes demanded. Poor Daniels, with an executive pardon in his pocket, found how weak a defense it was to shield him from the righteous wrath of an outraged people. The old pine tree stood as a silent witness to a power higher than all constituted authorities T-back of all the forms and ceremonies of courts and juries —of a power not even conscious to itself of its existence —a power born of an emergency, -when a whole people become awake in an instant to the presence of a common enemy, and the instinct of selfproteetion andiself-preseiwation ferrets out the foe and dispatches it as a venomous thing. There is something singular in the coincidence that this hangman’s tree should stand till after the courts of law have erected a gallows and at least one victipi had suffered thereon. The dawn of the new era had done away with the necessity of preserving -the emblems of an earlier aud ruder administration of justice. Should like need for its use return it will not be hard to supply its.place. So, peace to its ashes.— Helena (MontJ Herald.

How One Co-operative Association Is Managed.

There is an association of young persons at Springfield, Vt., known, as the Im dustrial Works, that furnishes all its members with constant work at fair wages, and a pleasant home at a small cost, which is meeting with a success so marked as to attract the attention of all thinking people. The members of this association are all young people who are willing to rid themselves of all bad habits, work steadily, dress economically and save a portion of their wages; no others are taken. All the men who join are required to furnish a small amount of capital, and to save one-fourth of their wages, which must be invested in the capital stock of the association. Women are not required to furnish any capital in the outset, but must save one-sixth of their wages and invest it in the business. Those who do not comply with the requirements of the asso ciation are expelled, and those who wish to leave can do so at any time, andean withdraw their capital by giving six months’ notice. The wages paid to each member is fixed by a board of directors and is proportioned to their skill and ability. They have a large dwelling or home where the members live and enjoy many privileges and comforts not usually found in families or boarding-houses. All pay a moderate price for their board from their wages. They have two new factoiy buildings, and a good water privilege, and considerable machinery, and are engaged in the manufacture of toy and house-furnishing goods for which they find a ready sale. They commenced business a year ago with five hands, and are now working forty-five, their sales for last month were over $3,000; their pay-roll for the month was over $1,200, and the saving of wages which was added to the capital of the company was more than S3OO. The average amount saved from the wages of each man in a year is $l5O, and of each woman SSO. Manj 7 of the members have saved much more than this during the year, but this is all that is required of them. The aggregate amount saved by the present company in a year will be nearly $5,000. — Woodstock (Vt.) Standard.

A Suspicious Character.

A Willimantic (Conn.) paper tells a curious story about a Norwich clergyman who supplied a country pulpit on a recent Sunday and was obliged on liis return home the next morning to travel by stagecoach about three miles to the railway station. .On the route the driver heard Something rattle in the gentleman’s car-pet-bag which sounded to him like pieces of steel striking together. Putting- the gentlenian’s reserved manner, keen appearance and the ominous sounds from the carpet-bag together the driver concluded that his passenger was a first-class burglar perhaps a bank burglar—. and after- his arrival the depot he hunted up ;in officer and imparted his suspicions tahini. The officer went to the depot and there was the suspected burglar pacing up and down the platform, waiting for the train. The officer thought him a suspicious-looking character and his suspicions were confirmed by the tenacity with which the gentleman clung to the carpet-bag, for it was nqver out of his hand from the time he left the stage until the train came. In a short time the train came along and the traveler entered and took a seat. The officer, intent on duty, saw a gentleman on the train with whom he was acquainted, pointed out Ihe suspected individual, imparted his suspicions and requested his friend to notify the police in Norwich if the gentleman stopped there so that they might be on their guard. When the train arrived at Norwich the gentleman alighted and "’Went up town, shadowed closely by Jhc other man until the fatter found a policeman, whdn. pointing out the suspected party, he inquired of the officer if he knew that man. “Know him? Y’es! That’s one of our ministers. Rev. Mr. pastor of the Church-”

A Sad Incident of the Late War.

Scene, Charleston. Time, Apnl 23, 1864. The Yankees from time to time threw a shell into the city and nobody seemed to mind it. Miss Anna Pickens, the daughter of one of our former Governors, never consented to leave the city. Despite the representation of Gen. Beaugard she remained, braving shells and Greek-fire, tending the wounded and cheering all with her presence. Among the wounded officers under her care was a Mr. Andrew de Rochelle, a descendant of one of the noblest Huguenots of the city. This young man was foil of the liveliest gratitude for his nurse; gratitude gave birth to a more tender sentiment; his suit was listened to; Gov. Pickens gave his consent, and the marriage was fixed for the 23d of April. Lieut, de Rochelle was on duty Fort Sumter in the morning, and it was xietermined that the ceremony should take place at the residence of Gen. Bonham at eight o’clock. At the moment when the Episcopal clergyman was asking the bride if 'she was ready a shell fell upon the roof of the building, penetrated to the room where the company was assembled, burst, and wounded nine persons, among them Miss Anna Pickens. The scene that followed cannot be described. Order being at last re-estab-lished, the wounded were removed, with the exception of the bride, who lay motionless on -the carpet. Her betrothed, leaning and bending over her, was weeping bitterly and trying to stanch the blood that flowed from a terrible wound under her left breast. A surgeon came and declared that Miss Pickens could not live but two hours. We will not paint the general despair. When the wounded girl recovered her consciousness she asked to know her fate, when they hesitated to tell her. “Andrew,” she said, “ I beg you to tell me the truth; if I must die I can die worthy of you.” The young soldier’s tears were his answer, and Miss Anna, summoning all her strength, attempted to smile. Nothing could be more heartrending than to see the agony of this brave girl struggling in 'the embrace, of death and against a mortal pain. Gov. Pickens, whose courage is known, was almost without consciousness, and Mrs. Pickens looked upon her child with the dry, haggard eye of one whose reason totters. Lieut, de Rochelle was the first to speak. “ Anna,” he cried, “ I will die soon, too, but I would have you now die my wife. There is yet time to unite us.” The.young girl did not reply. She was too weak. A slight flush rose for an instant to her pale cheek; it could be seen that joy and pain were struggling in her spirit for the mastery. Lying upon a sofa, with her bridal dress all stained with blood, her hair disheveled, she had never been more beautiful. Helpless as she was, Lieut, de Rochelle took her hand and requested the Rev. Dr. Dickinson to proceed with the ceremony. When it was time for the dying girl to say yes her lips parted several times, but she could not articulate. At last the weird was spoken, and a slight foam rested upon her lips. The dying agony w 7 as near. The minister sobbed as he proceeded with the ceremony. An hohr afterward all was over, and the bridal chamber was the chamber of death.— Charleston (S. C.) Cor. Atlanta Constitution. ■

Two Sword-Fish Stories.

On Saturday afternoon, about the time the frigate Repulse was getting underway, a large fish was seen by the natives of Waikiki, rapidly approaching the bay. As he neared the reef he cleared it with one leap of fully 200 feet, and skimmed over the shallow water inside until he landed high and dry on the sand beach, directly in front of’Mr. J. W. Pfluger’s seaside cottage. Here he was seized by a native, who, however, was unable to hold him, and the hhge fish floundered about till he finally got into the water. A crowd of natives corraled him, and the water near shore being to.» shallow to allow him to use his fins to any advantage they soon killed him with an ax. It proved to be a species of the sword-fish, measuring eight feet in length, while his sword'measures thirty-six inches. The latter may be seen in our office. He appears to have been frightened by the Repulse, and shot like an arrow through the water and over the reef with such an extraordinary speed that he could not stop until out of his native element and high on the land. Those who witnessed it say that it was a most exciting scene.

These sword-fishes are very powerful. We remember Capt. Stone telling of an incident which occurred while he was running the brig Josephine between this port and Jarvis Island, about 1858. The brig was an extraordinary sailer, and while going at her full speed, ten miles an hour, she was struck directly under the stern-counters with such a shock as to jar the whole vessel and to awaken the Captain out of a sound sleep, who supposed the brig had struck a whale or a reef. Immediately the pumps were started, but there was no -water in, the hold. On returning to port the brig was hove out to find the cause of the shock, when, near the sternpost, imbedded in the thick plank, the blade of a sword-fish was found, fully twenty inches in length. To have hit the brig under the counter the fish must have been going in the same direction as the vessel; and one may imagine the speed with which it moved to have plunged its sword twenty inches through the planking. It must have been going at the rate of twenty or twenty-five miles an hour, and evidently intended to hit the brig, supposing it to have been a whale. From this one can get a faint idea of the fights which take place among the monsters of the deep.—Honolulu Gasette. A. case in Lincoln, Ont., illustrates the liability of courts and juries to cfuel mistake. A few months since Matjiias Konkle was found guiity of an assault upon a female child ten years of age. He was convicted and sentenced to be. hanged, but the sentence was afterward commuted to imprisonment for life. It now appears that there was a conspiracy to' get rid of Konkle, in which his stepmother was the principal mover, her motive being to obtain possession of property. She took into her confidence the grandmother of the little girl and a servant-maid. These together arranged the plot against Konkle, the child being brutally maltreated to furnish evidence against an innocent man. At the trial Mrs. Konkle “posted” all the witnesses for the Government She with her fellow’-conspirators have been arrested, and the convict will be brought from prison to testify against them. The little girl has turned Queen’s evidence, and her statements, which are very clear, leave no, doubt of a malignant plot to put a trouble-’ 'pome heir out of the way. «- What we want now Is to exchange photographs with the boy who put a porous plaster in his school-teacher’s boot. — Danbury Nws.