Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 January 1877 — Page 3

The JteiMwahMr Union, v?qi iiqa. d'ti: JB! T 3 'W I I

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. —Head sneeze. —Newer postpone happiness. —Self-possession ia nine pointe of the law. >■' * —People of Wforebtd dispositions—Auc* tionedrs: —Cash Advances—Attention to a rich widoW?*' —Multiply 987654321 by 4C and see •what a Curious result of figures it gives. —lt makes a difference whether you put 41 Dr.}’ before a man’s name or after it. —lmitation diamond rings only cost seventy-five cents, and they ihake a woman happy for atldast tbo Hours. —NikUiufi ia-thfi naroe?)f the pew Russian Genera!, and Turkey needs England to back ’er more than ever now. ‘ ‘ —lt was by a tyifograpUfcill crrof that all mention of the meteor was left out of can. be a couple of down. ipjo. —“He died game, anyhow,” as the hunter remarked over the body of his dead comrade state —Last sumdb* bMMVHMuFhot selA son, and it is well to remember it when a man digs through a foot of snow to find his k —W® caahelfa and thqt her, husbatufl had attempted’ suicide with opiuw 7 “ ffiMte rough M make assurance Mw,” jjrasjll sfie said. —Afltdaydrooxs are wonderful filings. Such binding with such contents reminds one of putting silver hoops on a swill barrel.—St. Louis Republican. mvys* —Ladies, the best Way to beautify the hand is to put a quarter in it and then shake hands with some suffering fellowcreaU|i>— 7"^— A great deal has been written about sisteifw loyg, but you jupt find a sister who will give up a rocking-chair and a new dime novel to the best brother in the ’-Ittsa g* tt? W wife, a Sherftiin man made fifty a rajhej; neat way. He was going to spehctMat amount in a.visit to the Centennial, but died instead.—Danbury News. —A Detroit grocer can’t see why folks shoifid ta cd particular When times are hard. Hq happened, to spyj. a 'little kerosene into aAeg. of prunes,'and no one would buy them, evimon citdit. j n uji —Thera is thia marked difference be tween arnitahd i volee. The first li-not good for anything until it is broken, while a voice—well, you ail know what a broken voice is good lor. —. —Erarorfw is said To be the eafence ‘of wit, but it 4a' difficult to make a mafried man believe it after he has put, on tores shirts and found that there SdTA Collar butfim on any of them.— Norwich Bulletin, —Thb iollAwiflg is an example of didactic humor which is afforded by a New Jersey graveyard! Here lies the body of Mary Ann Lowder: She burst while drinking a seidlltc powder; Called b oni thia world to her heavenly rest. She should have Waited till It effervesced. who recently dissolved his Connection with his parish, at the close of his fareweff senpon, in told ; his side of a. church quarrel, gate out a hymn for the choir to sing. The tune was played, when the choir and congregation SSffilS XW'— “ —The Norwich Bulletin is an observant and outspoken journal, and .it remarks, that ” only a few years ago a ntaff'used to • put the tea! of affection on her lips. Now he haste put tton'herback, and if it isn’t trimmed with otter she makes trouble. The new style costs more, but it can’t compete with the other kind for real oom* fort.” w—The receipt given by Senator Ferry in token of his having received the vote of the Electors of a State is about as cautious a doctmicQt as any well-greaved Greek could have prepared. He acknowledges havisgveceived from a person “claiming the of persohs “ alleged to have been elected” Electors.— N. Graphic. —The London Spectator says that one of the most interesting Inferences to be drawn from the records of the Arctic expedition appears to Be Ujfit *tWTtot|l\ab. stainers—at least, those '6f total • abstainers who had been in the habit of total abstinence for ■sdtiie time before the Arctic expedition—were apparently much less liable to scurvy, and able to aomuch more i work tfnder exposure to great cold, than 1 those took the ordinary proportion of alcohol. ought to cany this cremation idea.*; little further,” solemnly remarked a Chicago father before his household, last evening; “just enough to introduce age »,you wouldn’t find toany wives who coula be Hindoosed to try; that I” The father started, looked at that girl a minute over hittpectocles, ‘Stemmed*»violently, and* then asked nefif it wasn’t strop* tfao>'shewent tq bed!—CAteapo Journal. r . ’ , , , —Some people say that brains make* the man; KMffi thaAit is fito grit he has in his teHF-ftat it toHhe victutoHahisatomaoh. Hut, friendsand fellott philosophers, we take a broader Sound andxltuifi that it takes all three of ese qualificafianswrihaLa perfect is a kind of a gracefid three-legged stool, as it were, with one leg doing it ß part as “brains.” another as “ grif<'and another as Doubt this Who may, it must bo conceded on the exercise of a little thought that a man with brains is good forlittle without grit and victuals ; that a man with grit is useless for any Icntlh of time withatfMqtuitfiMinffbrains; and that the wretch endowed with victuals brains and W*'Pertli& decreasing, beingless tifittf three millions. A The decreate is attributed to earthquakes, diseases, civil war, and brandy, especially the latter , ij Ml The vote 4# lasC dsfctioo was 47,taw Wifit flfioulA®f Chicago, 62,000. ritak > s■'•wssek.JtataDuuiflitetaftM# “.v. r «

TERRIBLE BAILROAD DISASTER.

tabula Mlver The Cara Take Fire, -and fr the !»• Veaeengere Abosit IAO I Lose Their Lives by Being Crushed, Burned, Franca or Browned—A Tale of Horror. Cinniajro, Dee. 89. At T:3O o’dock last evening an Iron bridge over the Ashtabula River on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad gave way under the Padflc express, a train which consisted of eleven cars drawn by two enginea. The forward engine had just cleared the bridge when It fell, and, by the breaking of a coupling-pin, was left on the track. The rest of the train fell a distance of seventykve feet into the water below. The crash of the falling bridge and train was heard at a distance of a mile from the scene, and was immediately followed by a brilliant illumination of the sky, caused by the burning cars, which took tire almost inatantto Crowds of people were soon on the ground rendering what assistance was in their power, which was little enough. About fifty were picked up from the wreck, and taken to neighboring houses. Of these several have already dial. . The most heart-rending Incidents are told. Several ■ pertens firmly wedged between . heavy Batters, yet not mortally hurt, were burned to death before the eyes of helpless bystanders. A man, a woman and a child are now known io have died in thia way. The man was roasted for full half an hour, uttering.the most pitiful cries for aid meanwhile before death eame. One of the most remarkable escapes recorded Is that of a gentleman, on# of of four playing " wnfst in a double seat Two of his companions were crushed and the third was mortally hurt, but he escaped uninjured. Two babes wore taken from the wreck alive and n<4 f#al!y injured. There is no one to X specie to" the Chicago Tribune, of the 81st, says: The disaster was dramatically complete. No element of horror was wanting. First, the crash of the bridge—the agonizing moments Of suspense as the seven laden cars plunged down their fearful leap to the icy river died; then the tire, which came to devour all that had been left alive by the crash; then the water, which gurirled up from under the broken ice, and offered another form of death; and, finally, the biting blgst. filled with snow, which froze and benumbed those who had escaped water and fir?. . It wa§ an ideal tragedy. The scene of the accident was the valley of the creek which, flowing down past the eastern margin of Ashtabula village, passes undqr the railway three or four hundred yards east of the station. Here for many years after the Lake Shore Road was built there was a long wooden trestle-work, but as the road was improved this was superseded about ten years ago with an iron Howe Truss built at the Cleveland shops, and resting at either end upon high stone piers, Hanked by heavy earthern embankm nts. The Iron structure was a single span of 159 feet, crossed by a double track seventy feet above the water, which at that point is now from three to six feet deep, and covered with eight inches of Ice. The descent Into the valley on either aide is precipitous, and, as the hills and slopes are piled with heavy drifts of snow, there.was no little difficulty in reaching the wreck after the disaster became known. The disaster occurred shortly before eight "o’clock. It was the wildest winter night of the year. Three hours behind its time, the Pacific express, which had left New York the night before, struggled along through the drifts and the blinding storm. The eleven cars were a lieayy burden to the two engin -s, and when the leading locomotive broke through the drifts beyond the ravine, and rolled on across the bridge, the train was moving at less than ten miles an hour. The head lamp threw but a abort and dim flash of light In the front, so thick was the sir with the driving snow. The train crept across the bridge, the leading engine had reached solid ground beyond, and its driver had Just given it steam, when something tn the undergearing of the bridge snapped. For an instant there was a confused crackling of beams and girders, ending with.* tremendous crash, as the whole train but I the leading engine broke through the framework, and fell in a heap of crushed and splintered ruins at the bottom. Notwithstanding the wind and storm the crash was heard by people within-doors half a mile away. For a moment there was silence, a stunned sensation among the survivors, who, in all stages of mutilation, lay piled among the Sand dead. Then arose the cries of ed and suffering; the few, who remained unhurt hastened to escape from the ahatteredjears. They crawled out of windows into freezing water waist-deep. Men, women and children, with limbs bruised and broken, pinched between timbersand transfixed by jagged splinters, begged with their last breath for aid that no human power could give. Five minutes after the train fell the fire broke out in the cars piled against the abutments at either end. A moment later flames broke from the smoking-car and first coach piled Serose each other near the middle of the stream. In less than ten minutes after the catastrophe every car in the wreck was on fire, and ths flames, fed by >he dry varnished work and fanned by the icy gale, licked up the ruins as though they had been tinder. Destruction was so swift that mercyfras baffled. Men who in the bewilderment of the shock, sprang out and reached the solid ice, went back after wives and children, and found theta suffocating and roasting in the flames. The Neighboring residents, startled by the crash, were lighted to the scene by the conflagration, which made even their prompt assistance too late. By midnight the cremaI tion was complete. The storm had subl sided, but the wind still blew fiercely, and the cold was more intense. When morning camo, all that remained of the Pacific express was* winrow of car-wheels, axles, brakeirons, tuck-frames and twisted rails lying in a black pool at the bottom of the gorge. The wood had burned completely away, and the ruins were covered with white ashes. Here and there a mass of charred, smoldering substance sent up a little cloud of dokening vapor, which told that it waa human flesh slowly yielding to the corrosion of the fire. On the crest of the western abutment, half burled in the snow, stood the rescued locomotive, all that remained of the fated train. A* the bridge fell, its 'driver had given it a quick bead, of steam, which tore the drawbead from its tender, and the liberated engine shot forward and buried itself in the snow. The other locomotive, drawn backward by the falling train, tumbled over the pier and- fell bottom upward, on the express car next behind. The engineer, Folsom, escaped with a broken leg. How he cannot tell, nor can any one else imagine. The three charred shapeleas lumps recovered up to noon to-day are beyond *ll hope of recognition. Old or young, male or female, black or white, no man can telL They are alike in the cruel ble of death. For the rest, there are piles of white ashes in which glisten the crumbing pai tides of calcined bones; in other places masses of black, charred debris, half under water, which may contain fragments of bodied, but nothing of human semblance. Among-the victims of the disaster were P. P. Bliss, of Chicago, the well-known oompcfaelrof Several popular pieces of sacred mtislc, and his wire. It was at flrat thought that Ma two children were also among the Silled, but it was subsequently ascertained had beeqleft behind *t Rome-Pm, dnd consequently had escaped the terrible «e of their parents. Mr. Bliss was on hie yto Chicago, to take part In the revival services at the Tabernacle in that c ty. He has been associated with Mr. Whittle in re. viral movement* In several part# of the West, and was a very popular and effective singer. The Taber acle tn Chicago waa at once draped in mourning, on the reception of the news of his sad death,and memorial Service* were held there and in other West- > ihcompiete up to the Ist. as the names of all on board

the train had not yet been ascertained. A reporter of the Cleveland Leader telegraphed on the night of the 81-1 tlrat in all thirty six bodies had been found tn ail stage* of disfigurement. A few which were under water show very little mutilation. Others were burned away so that al! that wa* left of a man or woman could be put in a clgar-liox. They were all laid out in the freighthouse of Ashtabula, and a more horrible sight human eye never looked upon. Some were without heads, others without hands or arms, others itill ail burned away except the large bones of the trunk. The bones were either calcined to snowy whiteness or covered with block, charred flesh. In some the bowels alone res ated the Are. The faces of such as were best preserved by water wore a look of fearful horror—eves open and staring, tongues protruding and hands clenched in hair or clothing, or held as If to ward off * blow from above. TUB DXAD. Aswtabvul, Jan. 1. Following is a revised and complete list of the dead as far as known: Mr. Aldrich, of Dea Moines, lows; LewivJ. Barney, of Buffalo; Mr*. W. H. Bradlev’* child and none, of Chicago; Mr. and Mr*. P. P. Blie*, of Chicago; C. Brunner, of Gratiot, Wl«.; Mr*. C. Brunner; two children of Mr. and Mr*. Brunnor; David Chittenden, of Cleveland; L. C. Crane, of New Haven, Conn.; M. P. < ogg*well of Chicago; Mr*. R. Cook, of Wellington, O.; William Clemen*, of Bellevue, O.; Mrs. Bmma Coffin, of Oakland, Cal.; James Doyle, of New York; Clarence Gage, of Charleston, HL: Alfred Gillette, of Cranberrv Island, Mo.; Mr*. George, of Cleveland; Ml** George, of Cleveland; L. W. Hart, of Akron, O.; H. T. Hall, of Chicago: Mrs. P. L. Hall, of Chicago: F A. Hodgkins, of Bungor, Me.; Charlea Kane, of Pittsburgh; Annie KJtterer, of Beloit, Wi*.; George Kepler, of Ashtabula, O.: Lawrence Louergrand. of Cleveland; Maggie L. Lewis, of St. Louis, Mo.: Philip McNeil, of Cleveland; Miss Minnie Mixer, of Buffalo; Mrs. J. D. Marsten, mother and child, of Chicago; Sarah S. Mann, of Cleveland; Mrs. W. R. Moore, of Hatnmondsitort, N. Y«; Isaac Meyer, of Cleveland; Birdie Meyer, of Cleveland; Richard Osborne, of Tecumseh, Mich.; Mr. and Mr*. J. D. Peck, of Peoria, 111. (doubtful); Mrs. G. B. Palmer, of Binghamton, N.Y,; George A. Purrington, of Buffalo; John Pickering, of Chicago; Daniel A. Rogers, of Chicago: G. B. Stow, of Cleveland; F. Shattuck, of the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Delaware Railroad; R. Stlndel (doubtful); Mrs. Trueworthy and daughter, of Oakland, Cat; Mrs. Lucy O. Thomas, of Chicago; Charles Vogle, of Albany; 8. D. Wa<te, of Toledo; Webb, of Boston; tn* Rsv. A. K. Waahburne, of Cleveland..

The Deadly Upas Tree.

Much that may be termed wonderful and curious has been said of ti e upas tree, and, while these statements have been generally received as credible, there are pot wanting those who are accustomed to regard all or most of such representations as intended merely for the credulous and superficial, and even the very existence of such a tree has by some writers been questioned—of course on account of the many absurd characteristics which have been attributed to it. We well remember, in fact, the interesting specimen of this growth, brought home in a flourishing condition fr#m Java, by Lieut. Marchland, of the United States navy; it being by great care preserved alive during the long voyage, and, a few days before its arrival at Norfolk, Va., the leaves be gan to sprout forth, as though it were in itanative climate and locality. It was presented to the National Institute, at Washington, and given a place among the rare tropical plants comprised in the collection of the new conservatory—and this notwithstanding the idea entertained by some of the poisonous effluvium of the tree being so fatal that birds flying over it dropped dead, and that all vegetation died under it and around it 1 More recently, a description has appeared of a superb tree of this kind below Bruni, Borneo, about two feet or more In diameter, and rising sixty feet without a branch, and then spreading with a dense green foliage, the frunk being smooth and of a dirty silvery color. To such an extent did the impression at one time possess people’s minds, in regard to the terrible properties of the upas, that the story was current and accepted that, in the country of its growth, it was held in high estimation for the poison which exuded from it, and was peculiarly valuable to the King, for the purpose of poisoning his arrows in warfare. But the procuring "of this poison was, it seems, a matter of much difficulty, for the noxious vapor from the tree had the power of killing all-who approached. Criminals, therefore, were the only ones employed in this dreadful service. Of these, several were every yearsent on the fearful errand, with a promise of paidon and reward if they returned with the precious poison gum. Hooded in leathern cases, with glass eyelet-holes, and secured as much as possible from the foul effluvia of the air they were to breathe, they undertook this melancholy journey, always traveling with the wind. About one in ten escaped death, and had the good fortune to bring away a little box of the direful commodity. The various facts, however, which have been,given by reputable travelers concerning this tree, ao not in fact warrant any of the popularly-received stories as to its malignity. Growing in various parts of Java, it is there well known as oqe of the largest trees of the forest, being described as having a stem or trunk cylindrical and perpendicular, and rising, completely naked, to the height of sixty, seventy or eighty feet, being coveted also with a whitish bark, slightly bursting in longitudinal furrows. Near the ground, the nark is in old trees more than half an inch thick, and, upon being wounded, It yields plentifully the milky juice from which the poison that has given such celebrity to the upas is prepared. It seems, from the observations made personally by Dr. Horsfleld and others, that a simple puncture er incision being made in the tree, the juice or sap appears oozing out, of a yellowish color, somewhat frothy, from old trees, bnt palerand nearly white from young ones. When exposed to the air its surface become* warm; the consistence very much resembles milk, only it is thicker and more viscid; and this sap is contained in the true bark, a cupful being soon obtained from a large tree. The inner bark, on being washed and bruised, furnishes a coarse stuff, suitable as a dress material for the natives, but one by no means agreeable, from the deleterious irritating quality peculiar to it. The tree has short boughs at the top, and flowers spring from the extremity of the branches. It may be not only approached, but ascended with safety; it delights in a fertile and not very elevated soil, and is only found in the largest forests. Like the trees in its neighborhood, It is on all sides surrounded by shrubs and plants, and in no instance has the ground about it been observed to be naked or barren; on the contrary, Dr. H. states that the largest tree of the kind he met with was so closely environed by the other treesand shrubs, that it was with difficulty he could reach it—vines and shrubs, in complete health, adhering to it. The complete variance between the experience of Horsfleld and the representations made by Dr. Foersch—and which excited so much wonder at the time on the part of the credulous—is surprising. A noted specimen of the upas, according to Foersch, was situated about twenty seven league* from Batavia, and aome fourteen

leagues from Soura-Charta, the place of theEmperor** residence. It grew fa a deep valley, entirely sqrroundcd by barren mountains. Being determined, however, to ge as near to the fatal spot as safety permitted, and having obtained the Emperor’s sanction for so doing, he states that he setoff and traveled entirely around the mountains that inclosed the upas valley, keeping always at the distance of eighteen miles from its center. At court a Malay priest had fhrnished him with a letter of introductien to another Malay priest, considerately placed by the Emperor to prepare the souls of the criminals who were sent to gather the poision of the tree. This priest, he says, lived at a place about fifteen miles from the tree, and was very kind and communicative. He stated that he had held his s«d office some thirty years, daring which time he had dispatched seven hundred individuals to the upas, of whom not two in twenty had returned. When the victims of justice chose this lot, so the story goes, they were generally instructed how to proceed with the greater chance of safety, and Individually presented with a silver or tortoise-shell box, in which they were to deposit their poison; they then put on their best clothes, and, accompanied by their friends and relatives, journeyed as far as the priest’s residence. who furnished them each with a pair of leather gloves, and a long leather cap which reached as far as the breast, having also two eye-holes with glasses to permit the wearer to see. When thus accoutered, the priest repeated the instructions for the journey, and, after taking leave of their friends, the criminals ascended a particular mountain pointed out to them—then descended on the other side, where they met a rivulet, whose course they were to follow, as it would Side them to the tree, and there their e awaited them. It is even asserted by Foersch that he was present at one of these melancholy departures, and had such close communication with the victims that he gave them some silken cords with which to measure the tree, and earnestly requested them to brin" him back a piece of wood, or a small branch, or a few of the leaves; he obtained, however, only two dry leaves, with the scanty information that the tree was one of middling size, with five or six youug ones of the same kind near it. A continual exhalation—according to the few who returned—issued from the tree, and was seen to rise and spread in the air, like the putrid steam of a marshy cavern; that whatever this vapor, or the miasmAta from it, touched it killed; that not a bush nor a blade of grass was found in the valley, nor on the surrounding mountains, for a circuit of many miles, all animal life, too, was extinct. But, leaving these highly-colored and legendary representations for the more satisfactory—because more recent and well confirmed—statements of scientific travelers, the process of preparing this well-known poison, and the effects produced by it, are points of peculiar interest To inform himself precisely as to these, Dr. Horsfleld took pains to get an old Javanese, noted for his skill, to attend to the preparation, which was observed to be as follows: About eight ounces of the juice, which had been collected the preceding evening and preserved in the joint of a bamboo, was carefully strained in a bowl; the sap of a variety of native substances, including common onion and garlic, was poured in; a quantity of finely-pounded black pepper was then added, and the mixture stirred. The preparer now took an entire pint of the Guinea pepper, and, carefully separating a single seed, placed it in the fluid, in the middle of the bowl; the seed immediately began to reel round rapidly, now forming a regular circle, then darting towards the margin of the cup with a perceptible commotion on the surface of the liquor, which continued about one minute. Being completely at rest, the same quantity of pounded pepper was again added, and another of the Guinea seeds laid on, as before; a similar commotion too place in the fluid, but in a less defree, ana the seed was carried round with iminished rapidity. The same quantity of pepper was added a third time, when, a Guinea seed being carefully placed in the center.of the fluid, it remained quiet, forming a regular circle about itself, in the fluid—this being considered a sign that the preparation of the poison is complete. The effect produced by the upas juice, when thus prepared, is thus described: A dog of middling size was wounded in the muscles of the thigh, with an arrow that bad been immersed in the poison, and had been exposed to the air one night; -in three minutes he seemed uneasy, trembled and had occasional twitchings, his hair stood erect, and, an attempt being made to oblige him to walk, he could with diffl culty support himself; in eight minutes he trembled violently and his breathing was hasty, then succeeded the vomiting of a frothy matter; in twenty-five minues he fell down suddenly, screamed, extended his extremities, which were convulsed, and died the next minute. In another experiment an animal of the ox tribe, or buffalo, large and healthy, was wounded by a dart somewhat larger, and immersed in the poison; the wound was made in the internal muscles of the thigh, about six grains of poison adhering to the wound, on the extrication of the dart; he died in great agony in a little more than two hours. A mouse, similarly wounded, died in ten minutes, a monkey in seven minutes and a cat in fifteen.— St. Louis Republican.

A Brave Little Yankee.

It happened in 1776 that the garden of a widow, which lay between the American and British camps, in the neighborhood of New York, was frequently robbed at night. Her son, a mere boy, and small for his age, having obtained his mother’s permission to find out and secure the thief, in case he should return, concealed himself with a gun among the weeds. A strapping Highlander, belonging to the British grenadiers, came, and, having filled a large bag, threw it over his shoulder The troy then left his covert, went softly behind him, cocked his gun and called out to the fellow: ‘•You are my prisoner; if you attempt to put your bag down, I will shoot you. Go forward in the road." The boy kept close behind him, threatening ana was constantly prepared to execute his threats. Thut the boy drove him into the American camp, where he was secured. jYhen the grenadier was at liberty to throw down his bag, and saw who had made him prisoner, he was extremely mortified, and exclaimed: “ A British grenadier made prisoner by such a brat—by such a brat!” The American officers were highly entertained by the adventure, made a collection tor the boy. and gave him several pounds. He returned fully satisfied for the losses his mother sustained. The soldier had side arms, but they were of do use, as he could not get rid of the bag -rFctttA’s Cowuroaton.

I’outbaLßeflaruncutv, TBB LXTTBRS AT BO BOOL. Oh* day the letter* want to school, And tried V> learn each other; Th*y got •« mtaad 'twa* raally hard To pjck out one ip»m t’other. A went in flnt, and Z went l**t; The mat all were between them— K, L and M. and N. O, PI wish you could have aeeu them 1 • B, O, D, K and J. K, L, 8 >on Jostled well their better*; Q, R, 8, T—l grieve to e*y—are very naughty letters. Of course, ere long, they came to words— What else could oe expected! Till B made D. J, C aad T Decidedly dejected. Now, through it all, the Consonant* Were rudect and un< outhest. While all i he pretty Vowel girl* Were certainly the smoothest. And simple U kept ftom Q. „ With face demure and moral, “ Because," she said," we sre, we two, So apt to start a quarrel 1" But sp'teful P said, “ Pooh for Ul” (Which made her feel quite bitter). And, calling O.L, E to help, He really tried to hit her. Cried A, "Now B and C, come here! If both will aid a minute. Good P will Join in making peace. Or else the mischiefs in it.’’ And smiling B, the ready sprite. Said, “ Yes, and count me double.’’ This done, sweet peace shone o’er the scene. And gone was au the trouble! Meanwhile, whan U and P made up, Tne Co s’nanls looked about them, And kissed the Vowels, for, you see, They couldn’t do without them. —M. M. D.. in St. Nicholas.

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Antli up four flights of nckety stairs, in a bit of an attic, lived three children, with their mother and little Pussy Marble. There was Patty, a round-backed, sadeyed, long-armed little girl of ten frosty winters, for never a summer seemed to have come into Patty’s wearisome trot of life. Then there was Princey, a smiling, restless, shock-headed boy of eight, and baby Pep’mint, with white, puffy cheeks and very limp limbs, and such a big head, that hung down all day long, asleep or awake, over the aching shoulders of careworn little Patty. 'Twas New Year’s morning. Pussy Marble was curled up fast asleep before the nice warm stove. Mrs. Marble was washing and wondering as usual how much longer Princey’s boots and Patty’s gown and Pep’mint’s one little scrimped, patched petticoat would hold on. Patty was sitting on a block of wood, and with baby Pep’mint’s big head slung very far over one shoulder, was patching Princey’s best trowsers. A slipshod sound of old shoes clacketing briskly up over the creaky stairs was presently heard above the noise of the rubblng-board and the doleful croon of Patty’s lullaby. “’Appy New Year!” burst forth in liveliest tones from the lips ’ of a queer little figure that paused for a moment on the threshold of the attic, and then turned a series of somersets across the bare floor up to the very heels of startled Mrs. Marble. “ My stare, Princey Marblet” cried out his mother, whirling round and wiping her nands on her apron preparatory to cuffing young Princey BufPrincey vaulted nimbly out of her. way, turned another somerset, and then straightened himself in his ragged shoes. “ 'Appy New Yer!" he yelled again, darting outaide for a uundle, which he set down on the floor, and concluded his performances by emptying a shower of paper •parcels from his pockets, while he turned proudly round and round to exhibit his new coat. By this time the baby was roaring loudly, and Patty, dropping the old trowsers and thimble ana scissors on Pussy Marble’s back, rose up andu)ried out, “ O dear, dear, our Princey’s gone and been a thief! He’s stole a coat! O ma! O Pepaminty, what shall we do!” “ No, I ain’t a thief! It was give to me. ’Appy New Yee-e-e-r, 1 tell you.” Princey fairly bawled his innocence in Patty’s ear. “Give! Who give!” shrieked Patty and her mother, rushing at him and seizing him by the collar, as if to shake the truth out of him. And this was Princey's story: “ I took home Miss Blivins* clothes for her, to Chester Square; she said she’d give me two cents ’f I would. I rung the bell. My fingers was ’most frose 'thout any mittens. ‘ Miss Blivins is busy, so I’ve brought ’em home,’ says I. ‘ All right,’says he; ‘take’em along up two Eir of stairs, flrat door to the right, and ock.’ I did. ‘ Come in,’ say* somebody. I come in. Oh, my! but I thought it was tlte President’s parlor, ft was so ponty, and such a lot of nice girls and boys jabbering, and having a good time. ‘ ’Appy New Yer!' they au called out. ‘ Thank ye, mum,’ says I, and I made the nice bow to ’em that teacher showed me. ‘ Why don’t you say ’Appy New Yar back to us!’ says a little girl, with goldy hair. She poked her fingers in the Doles in my jacket, and Oh’d ’mazin pitiful at ’em. ‘Here’s all our New Ytr'e presents; what did you have!’ says she. ‘ ’WotAjn’,’ says I. Then their mother asked me all about my folks, and then she went to the closet and brought out this iligaia coat, and says,' I hope it will keep you warm, and I wish you a happy New Yer.' ” “What did you say, Princey Marble!” asked Patty, eagerly. '■'■Nothin'. The words stuck in iny throat. They sent me down stairs to the kitchen, to get a nice breakfast. I bet it was a jolly one. And then the cook sent me up stairs again, because little Goldy Locks wanted to see me. She toted tins bundle out to me. ’Twas most too big for her to carry. And say* she, ‘ Take that home to your mother and sisters, and be a good boy all the rest of the year, because I want you to. I'm going to,’ says she, ‘ when I\don’t forget.’ ‘So ’ll I,’ says I. Then another little girl stuck things in my pockets. 'That’s for Pepaminty,’ says she; she stopped to laugh. ‘That’s for Patty.’ says she. ‘ and the apron is for yonr mother. Tell ’em ‘Appy New Yer, for me..’ 1 I will,’ says I. Now am 1 a thief, Patty Marble!” Princey, too happy to be angered long by Patty’s suspicions, strutted round and round the attic in his new overcoat, and Patty flew after him and hugged him with her one unoccupied arm. The mother, meantime, was wiping her eyes on her sudsy skirt and peering into the bundle. “ Goodness gracious, Princey Marble, this is the first time anch a happy new year ever dim up lheoe *talra. Why, look a here! A hood! just in the nick of time for me, for mine ia all to tatters. A gown! Two gowns! stockin’*! O my, what warm, whole ones. A pair of shoes for Princey, ’* good as new! And I a thlnkin' thi* very morning the Lord had given out pervidm’ for us Marbles.”

■ v. - : .1, JTTWJV4 -V; Mro. Marble wiped her eye. again on “““O we S^it*riTht’down and eat this beautiful New Yeas'* pie! bundle, nodded sweat, Do they sat right down and devoured the pft, Pepaminty having a generous share, and a piece being laid by for ma, and for lame Johnny who lived down-atair*. 7 ‘ ’Appy New Yorp' they both shouted, as they cleared away the last crumb and took heart for the days which were to come.— Blois Gorham, in YotOh'o Companion.

Twenty-Eight Lives Lost in Sight of Shore.

Nm* Toaa, Dm. M. A special dispatch from Bridgehaaapton, L. 1., say*: “At four o’clock the ship Circassian, ashore on th# bar off Bridgehampton, on the •oath chore of Long Island, Was entirety broken np bv a southeasterly gale and lost, together with twenty-eight live*. The Circassian went ashore in the storm on the night of the Utb Inst. At that time th* crew and officer* were raved. The storm yesterday caught thirty-two men, employe* of th* Coast Wrecking Company, on board, and a short time after midnight the ship went to Siece* with an awful crash.' According to >e account, four surviror* were washed ashor* this morning, more dead than alive, on fragments of the wreck. None of the remaining twenty-eight men have been seen, or heard from, up to the present time, and there is but little doubt that all have perished." Thi* second wreck of the ship Circassian is the most disastrous that has occurred on the Long Island coast since the wreck of the John Milton, fifteen years ago. She ran ashore In a blinding snowstorm, and all on board, thirty persons, were lost The crew of the Milton were frozen stiff in the rigging, their arms standing straight out m front of them. The men on board the Circassian had finished on Friday night a)l necessary preliminaries for attaching a hawser with which she wa* to be drawn off. During the early hours of the night th* wind freshened a little, and the sea began to ran yery high, until at about six o’clock it began to break clear over her. The men, apprehending danger, went into the fore rig* ging, where they were ordered for greater safety. All on board, thirty-two souls, all told, remained thus exposed until early in the morning, when it was deemed advisable to shift quarters, as the falling of the top , hamper caused by the rolling of the Teasel, made it difficult to hold on. The crew was safely transfixed to the mizzen, where signals of distress were shown. All this time the shore was plainly fat sight The moon was shining brightly, and fires built by the crew of the life-saving station showed plainly the figures of the crowd on the beach as they hurried to and fro, in vain endeavors to aid the men in the rigging. It was an awful suspense for the pool fellows lashed to the masts and yards of the ship. They saw att mpt after attempt made to establish communication with them fail, and each failure seemed to measure their purchase upon life. Every effort to get a boat off shore proved futile. As often a* it was attempted the sea drove it high and dry on the beach. Capt Henry Hunting, of Life-Saving Station No. 10, now brought s mortar into service, and several balls with a rope attached were thrown out to the ship. But one of the cords reached the ship; Its hold was not very secure, aad it presently fell off, and the slender thread upon which thirty-two human lives depended wa* snapped forever. The station-men, all the while these endeavors ware being mad*, could see men in the rigging quite plainly, and hear their cries for nelp. Many of the weather-beaten heroes on shore, who have been on wrecking vessel* aad saving Uvea since boyhood, were moved to tears by the piteous importunities of th* wretched men off shore. ■ The violence of their efforts to save mitigated the suspense they would otherwise have felt daring the early hours. But when the last change wa* shot off, and nothing else possible to human effort or bravery remained to be done they became unmanned and many of them wept The nervous excitement and sudden inao tlvity utterly Incapacitated them for any duty. They could not leave the spot, and ft was only left for them to remain inactive and see tbeir fellows perish before their eyes. To leave the beach would only add to the terrors of the death that stared its victims in the face, and to remain inactive would probably give cause for reproach from thejoor helpless waiters on the wreck. Supt. Hunting and bis men remained and tried to answer the c*Re from the wrecK, but nothing that was said on shore was heard on the ship on account of the direction of the wind. In terror and suspense the morning wore on, the wind having veered around in the meantime to west-southwest During the early part of the night before the men went into the rigging the cables were slackened, bnt the ship moved only* short and continued through the bight to strike the bottom. Every time she struck the men thought she would lose her meets, to which they hedlsshedtitemselves. While conscious of the great danger and the utter impossibility of saving themselves If the mast should go by the board, it being of Iron, they were unable to slacken the lashing. Some of them, with more self-poeseMion than others, had taken this contingency into their calculation*and had notsecurdy lashed themselves, and among those were the only four saved from the wreck At half-paA four a. m. the long-dreaded crisis came, and the mizzenmast went by the board with a erash, carrying the nuinmast with ft. A tremendous swell had struck the Circassian aft and raised her very high. When It receded she thumped heavily, and the terrific jar threw the mast over her side. The masts, being iron, went to the bottom immediately, carrytag with them twenty-eight souls. The Custom-House officer, detaDed to superintend the lending of her cargo, in bls description of the terrible scene says: “ The ship was lying about 600 feet off the ebore. Amid the bowling of the tempest and th* roar of the waves there was bome to ear ear* the voices of the poor fellow* la the rigging, ringing h.vmn* and praying tn chorus to God. There wa* hardly a dry eye on shore among u* as we heard these thrilling and supreme appeals made to God. Among those on the wreck were ten shinneoock Indians, who as a rule are very good men. During this agonising scene, which lasted for hours, we heard these men praying. Th* beach waa lined with hundred* of people, many of them women, sobbing piteously. Some of them were wives of the doomed men. The wind on shore raged with terrible violence, driving people hither and thither. The life-saving crews of Southampton, distant live and a naif mile*, and East Hampton, about the same distance, bringing their mortar* with them, but did not attempt to use their life-line when fl>tng, as nothing could be done. They however fired a number es blank shots to reanimate the courage of those on boord.” Onb of the most modern authorities on mental derangement records it as a startling fact, not a mere rumor, that orer 10,000 persons o£ unsound mind are fined in lunatic asylums in the United States, driven mad from over excitement by spiritualism. Insanity from this cause 1* also now vary prevalent in England, and is increasing day by day . The increase of crime in Mamnchnsette, which has been so noticeable since the civil war, is still going on, though, perhaps, not so fast as atone perted, State Prison report, just made public, shows that of 744 convicts at Charteaton on the Ist of October, seventy-five, or more than on* tenth were Hinwrth municants.