Saturday Evening Mail, Volume 9, Number 12, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 21 September 1878 — Page 1

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Vol. 9.---N0. 12.

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THE MAIL

A P^P^R FOR THE PEOPLE.

SECOND EDITION.

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Town-Talk.

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GAB.

The following letter speaks for itself. And it deals with the subject suggested so much better than be feels able to deal with it—Isn't T. T. modest?—that be prints the letter in place of writing an artiole. T. T. wo aId odd that he is alwajs grateful for letters that save him the trouble of writing himself. He always was willing that other people shonld do the work, provided the pay came to T. T.:

TOWN TALK—Dear Sir 1 Why don't you write an artiole on "Gab" You have in your day lifted yoar voice, or rather your pen, against many evils— now and then against a good thing— and some of the evils have been popular ones, but you never ridiculed or denounced so senseless a custom, or one which does so little good and gives BO much pain, as the everlasting and ever present ding dong of speech making. It is the omnipresent bore of American life, in season and out of season, especially out of season, there must be a speech' Speeob! Speech "Whither shall I flee from tbypresence? If I ascend up unto heaven thou art there If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there." There is no heaven of social or intellectual comfort but must be marred by somobody calling for a apoeoh. There is no hell of disoomfort iu America where the fires of torment aro not made hotter by speech making. There must be gab, gab, on every kind of public occasion. If one goes to a picnic, lo there is a platform in the middle of the grounds, and no day of enjoyment In the woods is permitted to pass without setting up a gab mill, which is quite as abominable to most who listen us a hand organ is to one who has an oar for music. The boys and girls who wore having a splendid romp together, and the young gentlemen and young ladies who had just gotten nicely paired and found quiet nooks out of sight, and the people who oame out to rest, all hands must be drummed up to listen to A speech. Nobody wants to hear it and, ten to one, nobody wants to make It. It's a boro that bores both ways. At sohool examinations, in Snnday Schools, at public dinners and suppers, on all public and seinl-publlc occasions, thero must be a speeob. You onght to aim your shafts at this custom in the interests both of the speakers and listeners. It is true that there aro-some people with a."glft of gab" who are perfectly happy when they are makiug a speech, and who always hanker after a call for a ''few remarks." These fellows ought to be squelched anyway, so go for them. But with a good many public mou the one great horror of their lives is the incessant speech making. I know how it is myself. Never mind who I am, or what my occupation. I am a martyr to this one vice of the American people. If I go to a public meeting of any kind-, some aw is sure to bray for a speeob. If I go into the public schools to see how the little folks are getting along the teaoher politely Invites and urges me to make a speech. In fact wherever I go I am haunted by this speechnmking demon. Not long aluco I vraa even nailed upon at a funeral for "few remarks." 1 simply mention my own cam to illustrate how many people who are constantly called upon far speeches feel about it. The people who call tbera out think tEey aro doing them a greet favor and honor. A few inveterate gab mills so regard it. But sensible people, of whom 1 claim to be oue, abominate it. The speakers, however, who sufffcr from this are few compared with the listeners. And in their behalf you onght to take up the weapons of defense which you are accustomed wield. People do not want to hear speeches. They ere tinxl of It, Especially are they tired of those speeches which ere called out by the occasion. No man can speak well, i:o matt ougiii to try,' or be compelled to try, to speak without previous preparation. No man ought to speak unless be has something to say—some­

thing more than words. But as it is, every audience, no matter for what purpose brought together -is liable to have thru it upon it a man who has made no preparation, and who has nothing to say. Somebody who has unfortunately escaped the fool killer gets up and says he sees in the audienoe the Hon. or Rev. —, or Mr. as the ease may be, and hopes he will favor us with a few words. The Hon. Rev. or Mr. rises and responds. He is not prepared. Was not expecting to be called upon. But now that be is on his feet will say that he Is interested in education, and thinks the children of the present have great advantages, and it is his opinion, after considerable observation, that two and two make four. But he had no thought of making a speech when he came here. He is not prepared to do so. Therefore With these few remarks he will close. It probably has taken him a half hour to say this, and everybody is bored. But I need not illustrate. You have a sharp pen and can take this matter of capitallly, and do a great deal of good. Go for this gab, gab, gabbing. Yours truly,

SUFFEBBB.

Topics of the Times.

THE INVENTIVE CRAZE. It is now seriously proposed to distribute steam to the houses and factories of a city as water and gas are distributed that if, to have works centrally located for the manufacture of steam and conduot it through pipes to wherever it is wanted. By means of it dwelling bouses are to be heated and all the various machinery of the city propelled. It is statod that experiments made at Lockport, N. Y., have demonstrated that steam can be successfully conducted in this way for a distance of two miles from the works. This would supply a territory four miles in diameter from works' located at the Genter. It is argued that the new method would result in cheaper and better beat and power than can be had under the present system, while the dirt and huisauce of numerous chimneys and smoke staoks all over the oity would be avoided, because the smoke made on a great scale at the central works could be almost entirely consumed by methods now well known. This would add infinitely to the cleanliness of the city.

Inportantas thisjlmprovement would be, it seoms we are on the tbreshhold of even a greater scheme, which is nothing less than the distribution of mechanical power by means of electricity for hundreds and thousands of miles, at small oost By means of this invention

IN MEMORY OF

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wheels vyill be placed in the various great water-falls of the country and the power thus obtained will be conducted on a main line'which can be tapped at any point desired to supply whatever amount of power .is wanted at (hat place. It is calculated that by an economical use of the water Whioh pours over the falls of Niagara enough power can be bad to run all the machinery of the world! But as there are many other considerable falls It would not be necessary, at least for some years to come, to save every thimbleful of Niagara's waters. The telemaohon is the name (in Greek) of this new invention which Eddison did not invent but whioh be is going to help perfect, and it tssaidto give promise of entire success. We doubt if old Ben. Franklin, wild as his visions may have been when he sent his kite up into the sky on that memorable search for electricity, ever dreamed of results like those we have lately seen and are yet to see! If this mania of invention keeps on at the rate it has been going of late, what will become ol us anyway? mffAiQW

HOW THEY/GO UP.

In this country the road to success lies open before every man who chooses to be sober and Industrious. A Mr. Walker of Worcester, Mass., iu testifying before the Congressional labor committee recently, made the statement that out of the forty shoe manufacturers In that city there ia only one who was not formerly a journeyman or worker for wages. And is not the same thing true of every city in the land Whp are the capitalists, the leading men In business, the most influential moulders of public opinion? Not, as a general rule, the sons of the rich of the last generation, but the sons of comparatively poor men. The boys who ran errands thirty years ago are at the head of the great commercial houses. Former journeymen are conducting the metropolitan newspapers. The men who leveled the forests and grubbed out the saplings now own broad farms and herds of blooded stock. It is rare indeed that a man who is industrious, energetic and thrifty, fails to secure a competency with the ceming of gray hairs. If be fails at all he is the victim of some peculiar misfortune. It the wasteful, extravagant and reckless alone who never make any considerable ascent oa the ladder of prosperity. These are their own wont eaeciitts noUiipg keep* them down but their own vices and they have no right to complain of their ill fortune.

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TERRE HAUTE, IND., SATURDAY EVENING/SEPTEMBER 21,1878

"Not always would she live whose mem'ry fair Thrills myriad hearts as sweetest, noblest, best." tf & $ WSen upon the field of life, Weary with the battle'sstrife, Doubt e'en clouds the sky above, Cries my heart for one lost love. Hrar'st thou tby child where angels sing When all thy soul'sa"mothering"? 11. Dearest and best, thy journey done, Thy warfare o'er, the vict'ry won The mother heart that yearns o'er thee E'en in dread death's last agony, Thonlt find when Heaven's gates open spring She waits 'till thou goest mothering! Peace to thee! departed tool, so tender, true Peace to the virgin body, faithful band Peace to the hearts who with sad tears bedew Her grvae—dark portal to the better land.

F.A.VonM —r.

A Woman's Thoughts,

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BY A NEW CONTRIBUTOR.

DNATH OF MRS. HAOOKRTY.

One of the saddest events that we have been called upon to chroniele for many a day is the death of that lovely and estimable woman, Mrs. Etaggerty. She has passed away, and the mystery of her death will never be solved. It is not my province even to conjecture in regard to it, and I would not refer to so sacred a subject were it not to comment upon one incident connected- with it. She was taken home and the family physician summoned. All was anguish and excitement. He made an examination, and without any investigation into the facts, he added to the general horror by giving as his opinion that "she had been met by some wretch, assaulted, cut with a knife, and thrown into the river!"

Imagine the feelings of that husband upon hearing such a statement, and tell if you can, what possible excuse may be made for a physician who would say such a thing at such a time. Even if, after careful inquiry into all the minutiae of the case, it bad seemed probable that an assault had been committed, would not common delicacy and humanity have suggested to this physician that be Impart this information only to the family? Subsequent investigation declared that there could have been no assault, but that the wounds were the natural result of the unfortunate lady's long and feverish wandering, and thus this terrible horror wss lifted from the heart of the grief stricken husband but what should be done with a physician who would so far yield to his lovq for the marvelous and sensational as to make such a wild and uncalled for statement

THJ9 NEW MINISTER. .,

In asocial way, the chief topic of conversation has been "the new minister." Have you seen him Have you heard him How do you like him And the general reply is, "I have seen him and heard him, and pronounce him good One says, "He is too small, but he has a splendid voice." Another, "He is too thin, but that cannot be said of his sermons, for they were exoellent," and another, "He is too fair, but he seems to be a man of profound sense."

Alas! poor minister! Better be the humblest sheep in the flock, as far as independence is concerned, than a minister in this or any other'ohurcb, and if this is a trying position for an elderly man with years of experience, what must it be for a young and unmarried one?

Think of the bright glances snd bewitching smiles he must encounter from the girls. Why, already they are crimping and primping for his benefit, and woe unto him if he does not divide his time equally among them, for there are the mothers waiting to pronounce judgment. And there are the venerable elders ready to pounce down upon any departure from the old and established doctrines of the church, any new schism or ism or ology and there are the rising generation with a taste for philosophy, a leaning toward materialism, a love of free thinking, who want a live, original sermon, none of your musty old doctrinal treatises. And in the midst of all these incongruous elements stands our new preacher, unfortunate young man!

But, aside from all jesting, Mr. Bacon has every reason to feel gratified at his reception. The people were prejudiced in his favor before he came, and thus far are pleased with their choice. If he only possesses sound judgment as to what he ought to do and firmness enough to do it, with sufficient knowledge of human nature to suit the individual tastes of his three hundred members and half as many outsiders, he will do nicely and mey abide among us and draw his salary for many months.

TKKRB HAT7T* SOCIETY.

To change the subject from spiritual matters to temporal I want to relate an incident. A family consisting of husband and wife, In good droumstances and moving in the best society lived in a town south of this. The husband Sailed ia business and lost everything. His wife was visiting a lady in Gro&ucastleand in conversation said: "lam young and have a good education and no children and I see no reason why I

should not do my share toward retrieving oUr fallen fortunes. I want my husband to move to Terre Haute and we will both begin anew." What doyou think was the reply of the lady who was well acquainted in our city? It was this: I commend your resolution but dont go to Terre Haute. There is not another city on the faoe of the earth where strangers are treated as they are there. No matter how well edcucated and well-bred you may be if you have not wealth or at least the appearsnoe of it you will never be recognised by the best(!) society worse than that, you will be unmercifully* snubbed." Wss she too severe I think not. Such is the reputation of Terre Haute. There is not a city of its size any plaee where education,' refinement and true worth count for so little and wealth and display for so much. To prove this you have only to attend some of our aristocratic entertainments and make observations. Listen to the ungrammatical conversation, the utterly shallow and insipid remarks you hear on every side. How littleiculture, wit or true nobility is manifest but let a dance be proposed and behold the eyes brighten. Terre Haute society can dance and can dress, Let us claim that much for them and then keep silent. Now I do not wish to be understood as saying that there are no ladies and gentlemen in the true sense of the word for we have some of the finetft families that can be found any where but our society is not largely composed of these.. .Terre Haute has no reputation for hospitality. Strangers are treated with utter and unfeeling indifference and cannot hope in any way to enter the best society until they have accumulated enough wealth to make a certain amount of display.

And yet with all their snobbishness, their exclusiveness snd their arrogance Terre Haute people do not enjoy themselves as a rule.

The society is all divided up into little clans, each feeling superior to some other and trying to outdo them each trying to get up one set" higher and yet barring their doors securely to keep other people out of their circle.

Any one who has lived in Terre Haute a great many years, as has the writer of this article, will remember of more than one family who have come in our midst, rented an expensive house, kept their carriage and servants, worn elegant dresses and been received into society with open arms stfcne resplendently a few years, spent all their money, and been considerately dropped into nothingness by that same society.

And thus it goes, and people of education and resources of the mind, whioh no panio or' sudden fall in Btocks or real estate can ever take away, can view these things with amusement and a oonscious superiority.

Have I offended any one Then dear Sir or Madame you are the very one I have been talking about.

A nbw and novel way of getting square with a merchant has developed Itself in New York city. It seems that a Mr. Seymour purchased an umbrella of the firm of J. C. Johnston, and subsequently Mr. Seymour returned the umbrella as being imperfect, and asked the firm to exchange it for a good one. Messrs. Johnston refused to exohange umbrellas, alleging they never sold the artiele to Seymour. The latter gentleman then caused a large plaosrd to be printed, and hiring a huge negro to carry it, Mr. Seymour caused the moving advertisement to be paraded up and down before Messrs. Johnston's store announcing to the passers-by that the firm bad sold him worthless goods. The firm twice caused the negro's arrest, but each time he was dismissed, as the Judge held that the colored man had done nothing criminal, and that if any one was liable it wss Seymour. At last accounts the negro still carried the objectionable

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lacard, much to the annoyance of J. A Johnston. FEW people are aware of the remarkable curative and preventive powers of the lemon. The lemon will keep oft the ague when quinine flails to perform its boasted function and while the lemon is pleasant and uninjurioas, there Is no medicine more obnoxious to the taste than quinine, and its effect in the head and upon the tympanum is noticeable. The lemon will keep the stomach in tone and destroy the malarial poison In the blood. We have an abiding faith in the beneficial qualities of the lemon.

Tax Chicago Times suggests as a "happy thought," that all the political candidates should turn into the yellow fever fnad the money they had intended to spend in buying votes, and trust to the thanks of Providence for their election.

Thomss realixedf 4,500 from hi* benefit. There are plenty of men who would leave New York for less than that.

HOW IT IS IN COURTSHIP. Prom the Oil City Derrick. I know where there is another arm just as pretty as thb one," he said to his sweetheart as be pinched her fair arm last evening. The storm that qniokly gathered on her brow quickly passed away when he pinched her other arm and said, It is this one, dear."

Scraps of Style.

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Lace will be sll the rage this fell. Plushtabrics will be much worn. Ladies do much knittingfnowadays. Bonnets will be worn of a larger rise. Lustreless silks are the most fashionable. 1

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Felt bonnets will be embroidered with gold. Tinsel threads crop out in many new fabrics.

Composite costumes are ss fashionable a Velvet will be used for trimming dresses.

Felt hats will be more popular than ever this fell. 11*. ,n& Side combs are* sjgaln worn Ty ladfei) old and young.

Flowers of fttr will be among the winter novelties. Suits of English costings are made all

Two, three, and four kinds of material will be used in the fabrication of fall and winter dresses.

Chaste, quiet dressing at hop9 is now a la mode. Nothing can be more vulgar than overdressing.

Waistcoat stuffs are shown for ladies' wesr of corduroy—brownj blue, Thiers red, gray, drab end ecru. .. 1

Pleated basques snd pleated waist polonaises with deep yokes and wide belts are coming in vogue.

The panier soarf is seen on some of the new dresses, and is said to be the precursor of the panier proper. "Nothing but leaves," said Eve, pleasantly, when Adam praised the taste shown in her new polonaise.

The engagement bracelet is a "new ides. It is a narrow, flat gold band, and locks 9n the wrist with a combination tock.," !5

Jewelry is fantastic in its shapes at present.. Reptiles, snakes, insects and dragons seem to be the favorite subjects for use.

M. D. Conway says that in Peris cor* sets are not made to lit the women, tut the women have to be fixed to fit the corsets..

It Is the fsshion now to line white muslin curtains with color, and to tie them back with a strip of the same as the lining.

A new style of bracelet is made of delicate, flexible spirals of gold in one continuous pieoe, and so arranged that it will fit any arm.

In '58 a woman of liishlon Would just sssoon be out of the world as to have the least suspicion of quaintnees about her. But now—-

On eome of the dresses for the next sesson are to be worn accessories—that is to ssy, plastrons pockets and cuflh composed entirely of feathers.

Powder and gloves are the last things put on by a girl going to a party. [Basaar.] Yon are not going to get us to ssk what is the first, If we never find out.

A novelty In gentlemen's underwear Is a netted shirt of soft, twisted cotton, small cord, to be worn under the flannel or in place of the flannel in very warm weather,

The bulk of tin first importations of dresses for the autumn and winter consists of short suits intended for walking dresses for the street, but which have also been adopted In this country for morning dreasas in the house.

It is, perhaps none of our business, but we would like to know waa Eve's gown a pull back or a kilt ?—[New York Exprsss.] Is that a medUU question? All that we have heard about it Is that Eve first tried the garment on a f-l-g.

A Chicago hosier claims great skill in adapting hfe wares to his customers. For thin legs he recommends ringed stockings, for {dump ones stripes, and for thick ankles combined with lean calms be advises rings aboye and stripes below.

The designs for which popularity was predicted are those with a coat basque,

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Silver gray satin will be trimmed with a pi on a The train skirt will be but little worn on the streets this fall.

The fur flowers of the ooming season are light, airy and oh arming. White satin will be trimmed, with peacock and pheasant feathers.

The leading styles in bonnets are the gipsy, Quaker and cottage shapes. Short and demi trained dresses are equally fashionable for street wear.

The latest novelty in veils is black dotted net lined with white illusion. Young ladies, oan now wear their grandmother's old mits, and be In styie^' .:

Court plaster "beauty spots" are in keeping with the revival or old time costumes.

If you wish to be ih style Write your notes on large, perfectly square, gilt edged cards.

Price Five Cents

vest, slightly boaffiant overskirt, an* short, narrow walking skirt. The coat basque has a veet front, either separate or simulated, from which it slopes away, or over which it may be buttoned serosa from waist line up to the reverse collar*

The style of arranging the hair at present tends to smoothness, but this change is still confined within an exclusive aircle. It is necessary to be very young, very pretty and very distinguished in order to tske the initiative in a revolution of the feshlon, or even to range one's self among the neophytes But* it is safe to say thvt ladies with their hair arranged In smooth bands in front and simply braided behind, aro no longer exposed to censure, but that, on the oontrary, this style is oonsldered charming, although not every one as yet has the courage to^adopt it.

Harper's Basaar says the merchants who have returned from Paris aro unanimous on one matter at least they all speak with enthusiasm of the short walking dress, and of the graoeful designs in which it will be^ brought out this fall. The short skirt is by no means to be oonfined.to the plaited kilt, which will be mostly used for plaids this skirt is heavy when made of winter goods, and consequently msny ladies will use Instead the round gored skirt, cut short enough to clear the ground. For the waist double breasted coats will be worn, fastened by from three to six buttons, and out away at the top and below the waist line to show a vest of different material. Dealers show various materials that are designed especially for vests, suoh as oorduroys, quaint small figured brocades, and Oriental stripes. For the house, dress skirts will be longer and wider, with the fullness forming panlers and bouffant effects. Conservative ladies will be sorry to give up the graceful princesse dresses, hence they will be more abundantly trimmed with drapery in the way of searfe and aprons, to give them an appearance of fullness. Polonaises of new designs are shown, and there are basques with overskirts, and others with a single skirt trimmed to Mmulate an overskirt. Two material^ will be uaed again in new combinations, and the economical reader will be glad to know that most of the dresses of lsst season can be remodeled easily and without great expense. i, .v.f

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Feminitems.

Chicago young ladies obtain the autographs of Chinamen for their albums. $ According to sn observing New York paper "ladles in bathing always hug the shore." How the buoys must envy the shore.

Books must, be made of an enormous •sise in England. We read of a young lady who was buried In one of Wllkie Colilns's novels.

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No female can be employed in an Austrian railway office unless she is under 25 years of sge, good-looking, and will promise not to marry undor three years. ,.u &

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A girl says that when she dies she desires to have tobscco plsnted over her grave, that the weed nourished by her dust msy be chewed by her bereaved lovers. There is poetry In the Idea. "Do not marry a widower,* said the old lady. "A. ready- made family Is like a plate of cold potatoes." "Ob, I'll soon warm them over," replied the damsef, an£ *he did.—Stillwater Lumberman. 7 ,• jM,

It was lucky that Lucy Jane Patrick really had a strawberry mark on her right arm. She was stolen from ber home In Alabama when she was baity, snd now, after sixteen yesrs, her par-: enta Identity her In Michigan.

Two young girls In. Paris suffered from '^Inflammation of the eyelids and one of them also from an Inflammation of the lower part of the lei) auricle. All the usual remedies proved inefficacious, but both patients quickly recovered after their copper earrings were discarded. f,:

T^enyou see a young fellow who a year ago u*ed to step up and order lager for the crowd with the utmost sangfroid, patiently trundling a baby carriage along the street on Sunday afternoon, and looking chop-fallen in his last season's hat, don't It speak volumes for the reforming Influence of woman's society?

Two Russian ladles, rival beauties, sojourning at Petigorsb, a fashionable resort on the northern slope of the Caucasus, recently quarreled over a dashing cavalry officer. One sent a formal challenge to the other to fight a duel. This was aoospted, and the parties met. Before the belligerents had taken position the trembling of one lady's hand caused the pistol to go off, the bullet passing through the dress of the other. The latter fell in a swoon, when the former threw away her pistol and ran to help ber antagonist. The prostrate lady recovering from her fright, seized her rival by the hair, and the two fought It out on the grcund, boxing each other's ears, polling hair, punching, scratching, etc. The police put In an appearance and carried the assailants off the ground.