Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 February 1877 — Page 3

The Rensselaer Union. RENSSELAER, - INDIANA.

PUMPKIN PJBB. I've tried the beet In Beat end Went, I've loncheCTiieatb tropic inn. The frvfta that fell, And like them every one; Bat North or South No human mouth, I will the world ararlae, ♦ K*er tatted fool On e-half so good As our own pumpkin plea. Upon the vine, In rain and shine, Through fragrant day and night, The yfellow globe In emerald robe Drlnka np the summer light. Ob, golden sweet. The sane repeat To mold thy luscious size. That we may come And roll thee home. And make our pumkin pies. Onr lovely girls. With shining curls . . Put neatly In a cap. Cut slice on slice, And peel It nice, And stew it to a pap: Then milk is had, And eggs they add, And sweeten as Is wise, While others haste To spice to tasle These home-made pumpkin pies. Oh, pure and fair. This food so rare, Hade of all that’s best! i No creature's pain Goes to its gain, But only nature's zest; For summer days And autumn haze And smiles from beauty’s eyes Are in the dish. Mixed to onr wish, That we call pumpkin pies. No wonder, then. That loyal men. From Florida to Maine, Their quarter eat, The same repeat, And nass their plate again; That exiles fret With vain regret, And vex the air with sighs. When forced to stay In climes away From their own pumpkin pies. So to our boast I give a toast. Embroidered all in rhyme: Mav pumpkins round With us abound Through future autumn-time I And may our girls,, With shining curls. And tender, beaming eyes, . All learn by heart The happy art Of making pumpkin pies! —Harper's Bazar.

THE EMPEROR’S BROKER.

A Story of the Secret Police of Parti. In spite of the activity and skill of the Parisian police, there are crimes committed in that great emporium of fraud and vice which never come to light, and others which, though known to the authorities, are hushed up and permitted to be compromised. Of these latter, the killing of Daniel Pereira, in 1862, is one of the most extraordinary. The facts connected with it have but recently come to light, and present a picture of violence, trickery and corruption seldom disclosed to" the public. Daniel Pereira was an Israelite, verging on three-score years and ten. He had never been married, and resided alone in an old dwelling on the Rue Bt. Quentin. He was reputed to be immensely wealthy, and such was doubtless the case. For years he had been one of the best known diamond merchants of Paris, and had had for his customers the most famous residents of the city, from royalty downward. The back parlor of his residence was his place of business, and' there he had a safe containing jewels of immense value,"and goblets of gold, whose history made them more priceless than if they had been gigantic gems. For years he had been collecting - these mementoes of the past, and prided himself on their possession, having repeatedly refused fabulous offers for them. The diamond merchant was fully aware of the great temptation which his valuable stores offered to the lawless and avaricious, and the entrance to his dwelling was guarded all day long by a stalwart servilor well armed, and all nigfet long by two experienced and long-tfied watchmen. These latter had been repeatedly approached and offered heavy bribes, but they had resisted all attempts to induce them to prove faithless to their trust, and had more than once successfully repelled the organized attacks cf burglars. On The forenoon of August 20, 1862, a cab drove up to the door of Daniel Pereira’s residence, and a gentleman with a valise alighted. On ascending the steps he confronted the servitor and asked: “ Is Monsieur Pereira within?” “ He is, Monsieur,” was the response. “ Your name and business, if you please?” “ Here is my card,” the gentleman said; adding, in a low tdne: “ 1 come from the Bmperor.” Theßervitor bowed and admitted the visitor. At the same moment two men alighted from the cab and ascended thß steps. The door was immediately opened by the gentleman who first entered. The two men passed in rapidly and the door was closed. The Bervttor had entered the back parlor an instant before the men were admitted. The three strangers passed noiselessly along the corridor, and the two latest comers placed themselves one on each side the door of the diamond merchant's private room. As the servitor crossed the threshold of the door he was seized, gagged and pinioned in an instant. The merchant, hearing the scuffle, approached the door. The gentleman who was first admitted sprang m and grasped'' him by the throat, at the samsUtaao drawing forth a handkerchief and placing it to the old man’s nostrils. The merchant’s limbs grew limp, and his assillant suffered hiin to fall gently to the ground. The three men then ransacked the safe, loading themselves with the precious plunder and filling the valise with the golden goblets and, gems. Then the man with the valise passed out to the cab, one of the men bowing to him obsequiously as he quitted die door, and then retiring within the house. The cab immediately drove off. A minute afterward another of the robbers was politely shown out by his companion, ana walked leisurely down the street In a short space the third man passed out, and departed in another direc- “ Theold Jew has been doing a heavy business this morning,” remarked Monsieur Thomas, who kept a wine shop opAt eight o’clock that evening, when the night watchmen reached the dwelling of Daniel Pereira all was dark within, and

tliair summons wits unanswered. Alters Jaw delay they forced a" window and entered. As soon as they had struck a light they knew that something unusual had happened. The servitor lay in the hallway bound and gagged. In the back parlor the old merchant lay on an old-fash-ioned couch, dead. Drawers and chamois leather wrappers lay strown around. When the servitor was released he was still half stupefied from tlie effects of chloroform, but he soon recovered sufficiently to give an acount of what had happened. The merchant, however, was ?ast all aid, and the finger-marks upon is throat showed that the murder had been designed, the chloroform, perhaps, having failed to act with sufficient power. By direction of the Chief of Police, the Affair was kept secret until the Emperor should be communicated with, and the fact that no particulars of the tragedy were ever made public would indicate that such was his pleasure. Measures, however, were taken to investigate the matter, and the two nephews of the dead Israelite were more anxious to recover the valuable property stolen than to avenge their uncle's death. The secret police and the detective force were employed on the case. The first thing aimed at was to obtain a clew to the cab in which the three were driven to the house of the diamond merchant., For this purpose, all the owners of such vehicles were visited and the men in their employ questioned. It was found that on the night of the murder one Jean Fonier, a driver in thp emoloy of Henri Dinout, a cab proprietor, threw up his employ very unexpectedly and disappeared. This man Fonier had been in trouble more than once for alleged theft, and it was thought more than probable that he had been selected bv the three men to convey them to Daniel Pereira’s house. Search was instituted for Fonier, but without success. ' He was a young man of short stature, with a smooth, handsome face and prepossessing manners. He had not quitted the city, and the im. pression was that after a time he would venture forth from his hiding place. A month however, and his whereabouts was still a mystery. At length, oi • 26th of September, one month aha five days after the murder, Fonier was recognized as he was getting into a private cab at the Opera Bouse. The detective who saw him was too late to capture him if he had felt so disposed, as the cab was immediately driven off. The officer, however, was better pleased to have it bo, as it afforded an opportunity of ascertaining where he was residing, and of perhaps making further discoveries. The detective sprang into a cabriolet and gave directions to the driver to follow the private cab. It Was driven at a rapid pace to an aristocratic neighborhood, and stopped at an elegant mansion. The officer in pursuit jumped from the cabriolet as the cab stopped and made toward it. As he approached, he was somewhat surprised to see an elegantlyattired lady alight and enter the mansion. He looked inside the cab, expecting to find there the man he wanted, hut it was empty. “ Who is that lady?” the detectivT asked the cab driver. ‘‘That is Madame du Torville,” the driver answered, ‘‘the wife of the wealthy speculator.” Turning away, the' officer returned to the cab and said: ‘‘You missed your quarry; you followed the wrong cab.” “What!” the driver exclaimed, “the wrong cab! I never took my eyes off it the whole time.” “ Your eyes are not worth much,” the officer said, and he sprang into the vehicle and was drive* away. In the meantime, the house previously occupied by Daniel Periera had been sold by his heirs. A short time after the incident just recorded, the detective who figured in it sauntered down to the scene of th e crime without any fixed object. He entered the wine-shop opposite and smoked a cigar, meditating on the mystery of the deceased merchant’s death. The landlord, observing that the officer was a stranger, got into conversation with him, and among other things referred to the sudden death of the wealthy Israelite, and pointed out the house which he had occupied for so many years. “His death was very sudden,” the landlord said, ” but not unexpected, for my wife says Bhe saw three doctors drive up in a cab that day; all of them were some time in the house.” “Indeed!” the officer said. “I see the house is unoccupied.” “It has been sold,” the landlord said. “Do you know who has bought it?” the detective asked, more for the sake of saying something than anything else. “I did know, but I forgot the name,” was the reply; “but mv wife will remember, I dare say. The gentleman’s servant came in here to drink and mentioned his master’s name. Wife,” the landlord called out, “ come hither.” The woman came and courtesyed to the stranger. “What is the name of the man who, has bought the old Jew’s house?” the landlord asked his spouse. “Monsieur du Torville,” was the woman’s answer. “Heis a speculator on the Bourse.” * The detective started. That was the name of the husband of the woman whom the stupid cabman had followed by mistake, instead of the man Fonier. The officer drank his wine, Daid his score, lighted a fresh cigar, and departed. Who was Monsieur du Torville ? The detective had an idle hour and he wanted to find out. On the street most frequented by the stock brokers and speculators there was a small building, the first floor of which was occupied by a hanking firm. In the rear was a door, with these words on it: “ August Rauches, Accountant.” Twenty minutes after the detective quitted the wine-shop, he was tapping at the door of Monsieur Rauchez. A voice within told him to enter, and he did so. A short, stout man, of middle age, sat at a desk, smoking. “ Good morning, Monsieur Rauchez,” the detective feaid. “ Now, then, be quick,” Monsieur replied, puffing out the smoke. “What is ft?” “I am Frederic Rulon, of the secret police,” the detective said. “I know you,” Rauchez said, “Say on, and he quick.” “You know Monsieur du Torville?" the detective asked. “Well,” was the reply; “ Is it business of the bureau ?” “It is,” Rulon answered. “ 1 want to know all about Du Torville.” “Sitdown,” Rauchez said. “A year ago, Du Torville came on the Bourse. He Is the Emperor’s broker. That is enough.” “i Where did he come from?” the officer asked. “ How much is there in this ?”* Rauchez inquired. “ A hundred thousand francs,” the dctective replied.

"And you want my services," Rauchez said. • ... “As the greatest of Paris detectives,” the officer replied, bowing. “A fair half, then?” Ranches said. “ A fair half,” Rulon responded. “ Then bo quick, and tell mo the whole story,” Rauchez said. Rulon unfolded the whole story of Daniel Pereira’s murder. “ This is hardly in my line.” Rauchez said. “ I’m employed entirely on financial crimes.” “ Wait a little,” the officer said, ana proceeded to relate how he had pursued the private call, into which he had seen Fonier enter, and how the cab drew up at Du Torville’B mansion, and Madame Da Torville alighted. “There is no Madame du Torville," Rauchez said. “ The woman at the head of his household •is named Jeannette Fonier.” “Heavens!” Rulon exclaimed, “then she is the sister without doubt of Fonier, the cab driver.” “ Very probably," was the reply; “and you think there is a mystery. Wait; I will help you to clear it up. Du Torville’s real name* is Trappe. He was a political prisoner in the Fortress of Ham when the Emperor was imprisoned tnere. He aided Louis Napoleon in his flight and the Emperor did not forget it. Trappe was in the bagne at Toulon for forgery. There was also a suspicion of murder against him. News does uot reach a. prisoner rapidly, and not until about two years ago did Trappe learn that his former fellowprisoner was Emperor of the French. He managed to communicate with Napoleon, and was released. He is clever, and has been successful. It you asked me how, I reply —lie has made money otherwise than on the Bourse.” “ Do you suspect—” “I do,” interrupted Rauchez, “and that the Emperor suspects or knows it to be so; here’s the order to keep the matter secret, and the desire on the part of the Jew’s nephews to let the crime be condoned on condition that they get hack the plunder.” “ And Fonier ?” the detective said, inquiringly. “ Fonier is in concealment,” Rauchez said, “in Trappe’s house, and the Madamo du Torville whom you saw alight at toe door, was—Fonier!” “ I see it all 1” Rulon said; “he had his disguise in the cab, and, seeing that he was followed, used it,” “ You’re right, without doubt,” Rauchez said. “Well, we must get back the diamonds,” Rulon said, “Emperor or no Emperor.” “ Wait,” said Rauchez, and he unlocked a drawer and took out a notebook. Alter examining it for a minute, he said: “Du Torville was absent from the Bourse all day on August 21st, the day of the murder and robbery. I will see him —be knows me well, for I arrested him for the forgery for which he was sent to Come here to-morrow.” The detective quitted the place, muttering to himself: -~ “I am a child, and I know nothing.” The next day when Rulon called at the office of Rauchez, the latter handed him a letter, and pushed him from the room, saying: “ Read that, and be quick about it.” When Rulon reached his apartments he opened the letter and read as follows: I have arranged it all with Du Torville. He will deliver the diamonds and other property for 300.000 franes. At eleven o’clock tomorrow; Madame du Torville will be at home. Show this letter to Madame Fleury of the secret police, and place the money lh her hands. She will wait on Madame du Torville, pay the 800,000 francs to her, and receive a box containing the property, which she will satisfy herself Is correct. Give her an accurate list of the jewels and other things. Let her take a cab, deposit the box in It and come to my office immediately. 5 Rauchez. Next day at eleven o’clock, Madame Fleury alighted from a cab at the mansion of Monsieur du Torville. A servant in livery showed her into a magnificent salon, and in a few minutes Madame du Torville appeared, followed by a servant carrying a large leathern sachcl. The servant retired, and Madame du Torvilie opened the sacliel. It was filled with sparkling gems and goblets of gold. Madame Fleury produced her inventory and compared it with the contents of the sacliel. It was correct. “ Here are 300,000 francs,” the female detective said, and she counted out the bills to Madame du Torville. “This sachel is heavy,” Madame Fleuiy said. “ My servant shall carry it for you to the cab,” Madame du Torville said. The servant was summoned and bore the precious freight to the cab, closely followed by Madame Fleury. Then he retired. “ Madame,” said the driver of the cab, c " have you far to go?” She gave him the direction of Monsieur Rauchez. “I shall carry this for you, then,” the driver said, “for my, harness has broken, and I shall have to leave my horse and cab here until I return.”, “Call another cab,” the female detective said, in an angry and disappointed tone. “ They are hard to find around here, madame,” the driver replied; “but I will carry the bag until you find one.” “Goon, then,” Madame Fleury said, and then added in an undertone, “ I carry a pistol, and if you attempt to quit me I will shoot you.” The driver assumed a look ot surprise and horror and then moved off, closely followed by the female detective. At the end of the street there was a private recess, and with an apologetic bow the driver turned into it. The cross stree t was a crowded thoroughfare, otherwis the female detective would have followed the driver into the retreat, despite all annoyances. As it was, she had to wait outside until he returned, which he did in a moment or two. Madame Fleury gave a sigh of relief as she saw the precious sachel under the. arm. A few blocks on they met an empty cab, and the female detective and her sachel were transferred to it. When Madame Fiefary reached the office of Monsieur Rauchez she saw the driver of the cab carry the sachel inside. “ Is it all right?” Rauchez asked. “Yes, thank God!” the female detective answered. She unclasped the fastenings with a nervous, gratified smile on her face, and threw open the sachel. It was filled with pieces of broken glass and bricks! When the disappointed and astonished woman had told the history of the sachel from the time she quitted the house of Monsieur du Torville, Rauchez said: “ I see it all. They bribed the driver while you were inside, and when he turned into that recess for a moment, there was some one waiting there who changed sachets with him. That’s all.” When Madame Fleury and Detective

Rulon returned, an hour later, to the Dtt Torville mansion, they found It in the possession of s furniture broker, who had Kurchased the contents the day before. [onaieur du Torville disappeared from Paris, and a week afterward, when certain of his creditors attempted to attach his property, they found that the house purchased by him from the heirs of Daniel Pereira had been conveyed to one AuCt Rauchez. When Detective Rulon ad this out, a long time afterward, he made inquiries, and discovered that the deed of conveyance was drawn on the very day on which Rauchez handed him the letter of Instructions as to how the stolen property was to be recovered. Nothing further hascome to light about the Emperor’s broker and his clever confederates.—St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

Dueling by Balloon.

Dueling in balloons has already been tried by two Frenchmen, and with results that should commend it to duelists. MM. DeCourcy and Remonin fought a duel in this wise near Paris, a few years ago, with satisfaction to both principals and seconds. The quarrel was about the famous danseuese, Henrietta, and as there was some difficulty during the preliminary negotiations about selecting a spot for the encounter, somebody suggested that the fight should come off—in air! A piquant suggestion of this kind was sure te take with Frenchmen, and it was at once adopted. Nadir furnished two balloons of about 30,000 cubic feet each —that is, of a capacity for carrying each three persons. When all was ready the aerostats were conveyed to a secluded spot near the capital, where tney were expeditiously inflated by a secret chemical process. M. DeCourcy, with his second and a physician, entered one car; M. Remonin, Gen. Nebel and a surgeon occupied the other, and preparations were made for the start. The circumstances wore Altogether favorable for the singular experiment. It was a delightful morning in the miadle of September; the sky was cloudless ; scarcely a breath of wind stirred the foliage; the affair had been so carefully concealed that nobody was present but the friends of the parties and the aeronautical assistants employed to superintend the arrangements. A brief code of signals had been devised by the seconds for the management of the aerial combat. When all was in readiness, the word " Let go” was given, ' and instantly the two aerostats shot into the air. M. DeCourcy’s balloon was made of blue and white spindles of silk; that of M. Remonin was white silk, painted with diagonal stripes of purple and green. At the height of 1,000 feet, by barometer, while the balloons were yet very near together, the seconds exchanged rapid signals, and agreed that the conditions were favorable for the contest. “ Ready!"—a pause—“Fire!”—nobody hit. “Reload and repeat— quick!” Bang! When the smoke cleared away, M. Remonin looked over the side of the car and saw his opponent’s balloon rushing downward with frightful rapidity. His shot had pierced the gas-bag, and the violent outrush of gas had torn open the whole side of the fabric, and a general smash of the occupants of the car seemed inevitable. However, the bag, suddenly loosening itself from below, gathered upward ‘ in the netting like a parachute, the terrific descent of the machine was arrested, and M. DeCourcy and his friendß reached the earth with no further damage than a sousing in a small brook. They landed within a kilometer of the place of ascension. M. Remonin and his friends, however, were wafted in the direction of Tours, and a freshening of the wind made their situation somewhat more difficult and perilous. However, they managed at length to anohor, and got out of the car witirnothing worse than a few bruises. The affair was the talk of Paris for a week afterward. Both principals ana seconds declared themselves satisfied, and there was no renewal of hostilities. Aeronautical duels have the advantage of removing the affair from everybody’s jurisdiction to a region, in fact, where writs Sire inoperative and Sheriffs harmless. — N. Y. World.

PERSONAL AND LITERARY.

“Extra Billy” Smith, Virginia’s war Governor, and a celebrated ante-war politician, is now a member of the Virginia. Legislature. Although seventy-six years of age, he is as robust in general health and vigorous in mind as he was twenty years ago. —The old maxim “ Cleanliness is next to godliness ’’ was not put into its present compact form by John Wesley, nor by the Apostle Paul, as a member of the British Parliament lately stated, but iB found in one of the old Rabbinical books, and is therefore of Hebrew origin. —The prevailing rage for baby-jewelry is deplorable in some of its phases, and justly excites the indignation of the censors of the press. Objection is taken in particular to the dressing of little Julia Grant Sartoris, at a late White-House reception, with a necklace, bracelets and a solitaire diamond ring. It is said that more baby-jewelry was sold during the late holiday season than ever before. The fondness for personal adornment grows soon enough in the female child, and need not be gratified by arraying in jewels the innocent little creatures that have not yet learned to express their desires. —Chicago Tribune. —An officer of the Senate tells this story about Senator Goldthwaite, of Alabama;; Senator Goldthwaite has long been afflicted with absent-mindedness. He has great difficulty in keeping track of his wearing apparel, constantly losing his coat or his hat. He also has the habit of taking other people’s coats by mistake, particular if they happen to hang near his own peg. One day a Senator missed his coat, which had about $3,500 in money in it. The disappearance was attended by such singular circumstances that detectives were quietly put upon the trail. Four days afterward two detectives called at Senator Goldthwaitc’s bouse, and asked him if he liad his own coat. After searching his closet for a time he returned, bringing the lost coat, and saying, “ This does not look quite like my coat.” The lost money was found safe in the pocket. —The Indianapolis Journal relates the experience as the Hon. John C. Now, while in charge of the United States Treasury, with Ferd. b. Winslow. Mr. New was aware that Winslow had formerly been President of the Scandinavian National Bank, of Chicago, and that the bank had failed under suspicious circumstances. He therefore determined to Eiace bit. Winslow where ho could do no arm, and accordingly assigned him to duty in the files-room, where his employment was merelv to indorse and file pa Ers, and where he was farYeinoved from »opportunity or the temptation to steal. In a few days Mr. Winslow came to Mr. New and said: “ Mr. New, 1 cannot work

where you have placed me. I am fitted for something bettor. 1 have been a bank officer, and my proper place is in the caith-room.” Mr. New’s reply was short and to the point: “ Very well, sua that settles the matter between you and me. If you can’t work where I have put you, yon can’t work in this office.” The exbank officer was accordingly transferred to another bureau of the department, and Mr. New saw no more of him. Subsequent events show that, as soon as practicable after Mr. New had resigned the office of Treasurer, Winslow procured himself to be transferred back to the cashroom, where, in due time, he pocketed a 912,000 package of money

A Wife’s Strategy.

Women desirous of reforming their lords and. masters who are given to quaffing the cup which cheers and inebriates, should take a leaf out of the book of an estimable and clever lady on the West Bide. Her husband, alas! is given to coming home at what the fashion reporter calls “ a late, or, rather, an early hour,” with his legs tied in double bow-knots and his speech about three feet thick. Does she jaw him, or threaten to go home to her mother, and put to him the unanswerable conumdrum: “O, why did I ever marry you?” and burst into tears, or lapse into an aggressive silence? Not much, she doesn’t. She just waits till next morning, and then brings him a hair of the dog which bit him, with a dash of seltzer in it, and prattles to him pleasantly, and devises a breakfast that picks him up thoroughly, and generally behaves to him In a generous and oblivions manner. These coals of fire soon melt his rugged aature, and, as he begins to look ashamed of himself, she sayß: “ Algernon, I do so wish you wouldn’t drink. You are, when sober, the best of husbands; but not when you have put an enemy into your mouth to steal away your brains. Last nisrht vou sat down at the table and called rot ‘2fwei !’ or some horrid thing like that, and then yelling: ‘Ain’t you going to fetch them beers?’ seized me oy the throat and, catching up the carving-knife, wanted to cut the children’s throats? If you don’t believe me, there is the knife before your own eyes. Thank Heaven, with the energy of despair, I was able to cling to you till you fell over the sewing machine and went to sleep with your head in my ■worlf-basket, singing 4 Happy be thy Ireamsl’” “Great Caesar!” says he, “did I do that, Maud?” “Dia you? Why, of course you did; but, my love, 1 know you were not yourself, for you would not hurt a hair of our heads if you knew what you were doing.” He, of course, doesn’t recollect anything about it, and considers it queer that the carvingknife should be on the sitting-room table at 2:30 a. m., but he falls a victim to circumstantial evidence, and, shuddering at the idea that he might have been a murderer, goes light on it for Awhile. Next time he goes on a spree she confiscates all his money except his small change, and tells him that when he came home he bellowed wildly, “ ’Tie mine, ’tis his,(and has been slave to thousands!” and threw all his money into the stove, threatening to brain her with the poker if she approached ere the crematory process had been concluded. Next time she Bhows him some silk and felt scraps as the remnants of her new hat which he tore to fragments in his wild rage, and he had to ante up for another one. Altogether she has played that husliand so completely that he has resolved to sign the temperance pledge and present it to her as a Christmas gift, and he means to keep it, too. The fun oi it is that whenever that husband gets drunk he is the most amiable and harmless of men, and that all his desperate attempts at suicide, arion and wife-butchery are sheer inven tions. —Chicago Tribune.

The Power of Conscience.

A touching incident illustrating the power of conscience, even in the most hardened criminal, recently occurred in Washington. At dusk, a well-dressed stranger rapped at the door of one of the houses, and, on being admitted, said to the proprietor: "You do not, sir, recognize my face. ’Tis well. Listen. Your pocket was picked about twelve months since’” “ It was, and I lost $12.62.” “ I was the thief. . Nay, sir, spare Kr reproaches. For seventeen days I not tasted food, and my wife and eleven small children lay at home on their miserable pallets, crying with hunger and cold. The money I stole from you then, sir, saved them; for, with part of it I bought coal, with part of it bread, and the remaining portion of it I played upon the eight, coppering the king, and called the turn till it ran up to fifty dollars; but pardon me for intruding the details of m. humble business upon your attention. I became an altered man, and determined to reform and lead another life. I am now well employed, and night and morning’my wife and children bless your name, though they, innocent ones, do not know that I stole the money. I have long since sought you, but was unable to find yon; 'but, fortunately, my friend and benefactor, I recognized you on the street-car yesterday; 1 followed you home and learned your name, and to-night I have come to restore to yon the money of which I robbed you.” So saying, the penitent gave the kind fentleman a twenty-dollar bill, received 7.85 change, blessed his benefactor warmly, and left the house. Next morning the old man found that the bill was a counterfeit, and the thief had, on leaving the house, taken the old man’s hat ana umbrella. Capt. J. W. Hall, who has just prepared the marine statistics of 1876, places the number of lake disasters at 639; valuation of the property lost, $1,173,260; the losses of timber rafts on the lakes amount to about SIOI,OOO. The greatest losses during any month were in September, amounting to $273,138. The number of disasters this year is 417 less than in 1875. The total number of deaths, either on board ship or on shore, among seamen is 155, of which number 30 were vesselowners ; 14 were lost by foundered vessels; 97*were drovimed; 28 died on shore; 13 were killed accidentally; 2 were murdered ; 2 committed suicide, and 1 Was found dead. The new tonnage amounts to 7,461 tons, a falling off from 1875 of 11,517 tons. The lost tonnage amounts to 9,990 tons, an excess oyer the new tonnage of 1,530 tons. Financially, the season of 1876 is the worst on record. ■ Great progress has been made in the use of iron for building purposes. One of the most remarkable iron structures recently erected is the church spire of the cathedral at Rouen, France, which is 493 feet high. _ Of the thirty-one persona condemned to death in France during 1875, but one had received a good school education. Only four could write, and the remaining twen-ty-six were illiterate.

■ISCELLiVEOIIH ITBMB. Li —The latest din—snowed »ln. v _ -Every day of your life is a .page fa your history. —Can the news transmitted through fiat ocean be fresh ? —The best portrait of happiness fa a laughing child. —A nice gorgeous affair—the ice gorge in the OhioTßiver. * " —lt’s too awfully cold In the Northwest this winter to pay bills. —No man can do business without letting the people know what be is at —Why is a nursery • good piece for dancing? Because it U a regular bawlroom. —As winter advances, an increased fullness of emptiness is dally being felt in the purses of the poor. —One fellow down East observes that the colder the weather gets the less the thermometer ’mounts to. „ —There is no excuse for any man not making an impression on the world—espedally in slippery weather. | , ( —Lay nothing on the table but hread when you give a dinner to the poor. It Is fashionable and economical. —Punch, in his dictionary, gives the definition of the word “conscience”— “My rule for another man’s conduct.” —“ Times are so hard,” says Brown, “ that I have had to reduce my cigar bill to fortydollare a month.” Poorfellowt —lt is no longer the Kings aad Emperors who run Europe. The great Powers in reality are the Rothschilds and Baron Krupp. . , 11 —“ Shovel off your roof,” said a Chicago policeman to a citizen the other day. “ I shan’t do it. I will keep my roof on and shovel the snow off.” # .. —ln a New Yqrk window is a log cabin made of sausage, with furniture made of head-cheese. A vivid imagination may even detect traces of bark on the logs. —A San Francisco boarding-house keeper has been burglarizing her neighbors for eight years, moving frequently to get a new field for spoils. She was caught by a family suddenly returning home in the evening. —The whining men and women seem to see nothing in the past, nothing to hope for in the fhture—always prophesying misfortune and ruin to the whole country, and sickness, rheumatism and agne to every inhabitant. ’ <•-» i —The Georgia Railroad Company has decided not to issue “ free passes to any editors, agents, or employes or any newspaper, to any member of the Legislature, or official of the State, except the Governor, or to any of other railroads, except the general officers on official business.” —lt is your second-rate, your merely clever man, who, ape-like, is always rattling at the bars of his cage, moping and mewing to attract attention, ana eagerly holding out his paw for the nuts and apples oxpublic appreciation, which, if he does not get, why, he sits and. howls T Dinah JfT Case. —We are glad to sec that the ladies are again forming clubs for the winter. The reading club is an organization that die-. cusses the character ofShakcspeare’sifcrtta for fifteen minutes, and the best manner of cutting a basque on the bias for an hoar and a half, and rarely falls to be of great profit.— Norwich Bulletin. . —Even sarcasm may be so venomously tipped as to blunt its own corroded point. It is ever thus when you precipitate • scoop-shovel full of snow from the top ol a four-storv building down upon the hat and shoulders of a passing stranger, and then shout at him gleefully, “ Shovel off your roof V '—Burlington Hawk-Eye. —The Providence (R. I.) Journal mentions a new way of paying old debts, in Newport, where a tradesman recently failed for $3,100, and offered to pay his creditors ten cents on the doilar, when he told them he could obtain the amount iff they would indorse his note to the bank. This they agreed to do, actually making themselves liable for the money they were receiving in full payment of the debts due them. —Many years ago, in Scotland, illicit distillation was a practice consequent upon the national love of potent beverages. It was lamentably prevalent. The idle Highlander planted his still in the remote glen of the mountain corrie, and prepared his whisky by the light of the moon. He was an incorrigible offender. An Argyleshire Highlander was reproved by his minister for engaging in this illegal traffic. “Ye mauna ask me,” said the smuggler, “to gie’t up, for it supports the family. My faither, an’ his faitlier afore him, made a drappie. The drink is gade—far better for a bodie than the coorse big-still whusky. Besides, / permit nae swearing at the still, an’ a’ is dune dacently an’ in order. I dinna see muckle harm in’t.” —A well-known citizen of Onondaga Valley, who is an early riser, had reason for wondering why it was that his sonsome twelve years of age, visited the hen, nery several mornings before daylight. One morning the father watched the son, and, after the latter had entered the building, the former took a position Iron which he could see what was to be seen. At once the boy walked up to the roosts and began seizing the hens and chickens and throwing them upon the ground. Lastly he dethroned Chanticleer, a large, fine fellow, when he revealed his purpose in making his morning visits by addressing the brood in this wise: “There! You’ll learn by and by to wake up when other folks do.” —When Sitting 801 l heard of the Bennett-May duel he merely remarked: “Ugh! Heap fire-water. No scalp. Ugh!” When Ah Sing heard of it he said: “Kehi! Melican man bumee flreclacker, allee same Chinee man. So Joss he makee looman bizness a'l lightee.” When Sambo heard of it he commented:. _ “Dat waz de orneriest job! DAT dev burned free loads ob powder dose hard times when dey might a’ shot a ole har in the brush an’ hab meat." When Pat got the news he asserted: “Bedad! It’s meeself would rayther have been forninst aythcr wan ov ’em, when they war shootin’, than at wan side, at all, at all!” Mid when Ham read the dispatches he said, “ Dat was ein high old Kriegspiel, py shinksl" — St. Louis Republican. —Daniel Smith, the torpedo man, who was blown into atoms at Petrolia, a few days ago, carried a S4OO gold'watch. The main-spring is all thathas been found. Not a splinter of the wagon has been discovered. Only about fifteen pounds of the remains of Smith and his partner, Humphreys, could be found on which to hold an inquest. Teas are brought from Japan to New York all the way for two cents a pound, while by San Francisco and rail* across the Continent the freight is four cent*, but there is a saving of about fifty per cent, in time, which operates to seMrW «s•*’ grades overland from the Pacific.