1878-07-26; Clare County Press

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SECTS MMHMSX CBUSCET.
Well, **dle, I've found the model church! I worshiped there to- day;
It -made me think of good old. times, before my
hairs -were gray.
The meetinVhousa waa finer built than they were
years ago;
But then I found, when I went in, it wasn't built
for show.
The Bexton didn't seat me 'way back by the door;
He knew that I was old and deaf, aa well as old and
poor.
He must have been a Christian, for he led me
boldly through
The. long aisle of tbat pleasant church to find a
pleasant pew.
I wish you'd heard the Eingin'—it had the old-time
ring—
The preacher said with trumpet voice, " Let all the
people sing;" "
The tune was " Coronation," and the music up*ffard
* rolled
Till I thought I heard the angels striking all their
harps of gold.
My deafness seemed to melt away, my spirit caught
the fire,
I joined my feeble, trembling voice with that melodious choir,
And sang, as in my youthful days, "Let- angels
prostrate fall,
Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord
of all."
I tell you, wife, it did me good to sing that hymn
unce more;
I felt like some wrecked mariner who gets a glimpse
of shore;
I almost -want to lay aside this weather-keaten
form
And anchor in the blessed port forever fSom the
storm.
The preachin'! well, I can't just tell all that the
jreacher said;
I kno*-** it wasn't written, I know it wasn't read;
He hadn't time to read, for the iightnin' Of his
_   ± eye
went passing long from pew to pew, nor passed a
sinner by.
^-r^^KW^'Va^
ntj*&S.-fe "-n.- - .-m*W^T?%'2*. .rS^T:
■ay****-
o
kilt. SOffilS.
i -
The
wasn't flowery, 'twas simple gospel
men like me, it fitted hopeful
sermon
truth.
It fitted poor old
. youth.
'Twas full of consolation for weary hearts that
bleed,
'Twas full of invitations to Christ—and not to
creed.
The preacher made sin hideous in Gentiles and in
Jews;
He shot the golden sentences straight at the finest
pews.
And, thougb I can't see very well, I saw the falling
tear
That told me hell was some way off, and heaven
very near.
How swift the golden moments fled within that
holy place;
How brightly beamed the light of heaven from
every happy face!
Again I longed for that sweet time when friend
-»       shall meet with friend,
When congregations ne'er break up and Sabbaths
have no" end.
Subscription \ $1,50 per Annum.
CLARE, MICHIGAN, J18IDAY, JULY 26,1878.
Single Copies: Five Gents,
tended that she should drudge after we
•were married. When I had hoped for
that, I did not mind work myself, but I'd
never have made a slave of my wife.
This Mr. Zaceheus could not make of her
a; more precious treasure than I would;
I knew that. I was thinking this all
over one evening in the meadow, when
suddenly I heard some one
—Mr. Wollmerath !"
say;
[Ah
that minister, the congregation,
the skies, that shines
hope to meet
too,
In the dear home beyond
from heaven's blue,
I doubt not I'll remember, beyond life's evening
gray,
The face of God's dear servant who proclaimed His
word to-day.
Dear wife, the fight will soon be fought, the victory be won,
The shining goal is just ahead, the race is nearly
run.
O'er the river we are nearin' they are throngin' to
the shore
To shout our safe arrival where the.weary weep no
more.
A   MITE   SOHG.
Only a drop in the bucket.
But every drot) will tell;
The bucket would soon be empty,
Without the drops in the well.
Only a poor little penny,
It was all I had to give;
But, as pennies make the dollars,
It may help some cause to live.
A few little bits of ribbon
And some toys; they were not new,
But they made the sick child happy,
Which, has made me happy, too.
Only some outgrown garments;
They were all I had to spare;
But they 11 help to clothe the needy,
And the poor are everywhere.
A word, now and then, of comfort,
That cost me nothing to say;
But the poor old man died happy,
And it helped him on the way.
God Ioveth the cheerful giver.
Though the gift be poor and small;
WhatdothHe think of His children
"When they never give at all 7
BX K W.
I looked up, and there was Mr.
Zaceheus, nattier than ever, with a cigar
in his mouth.
If he had known just how I felt toward him, I'm not sure that he'd have
come to find me alone in the great
meadow, and I thought of that just as I
jumped up from the grass and looked at
him. But he was smiling as politely as
possible, and there is something in a
man's heart that makes it hard to do the
first rude thing to one who is civil.
Still I was not polite to him.
"That's my name, "said I to him. "Do
you want me ?"
"I-want something of you," said he.
"There is a little excursion to-night
from our,house. We're going to take a
lady. Have you any little light trap and
a horse, of course, that you could let me
hire for the evening? I'd rather go
alone with her than in the big wagonette.
You know, I'm sure, how it is—that a
fellow had rather ride alone with a pretty
girl, and, if you will help me out, I will
be ever so-much obliged to you."
So he had come to ask me to help him
to have a nice time with my girl—he
who had cut me out! I looked at him,
just holding my hands still by force, and
I thought of him riding along the moonlit road with Maggie close to him.
I asked myself whether his arms would
not be around her waist, and whether in
the shadow, as they fell a little behind
the others, he would not kiss her.
"And vou want me to help you?" I
said, out loud.    "Me!"
" Yes," he said.    "Please."
"Come along," I said. "I'llshow:
you what I have got."
On the farm that was mine there was
one building, a little cow-shed. We put
the tools in there sometimes, and I had a
padlock for the door; the key was in my
pocket.
It came into my head that I could
spoil this evening for him, and spite
Maggie, too, by locking himin the shed.
And if he had spirit enough to tight me
for it afterward so much the better.
I led the way down into the meadow
where it Btood, and unlocked the door.
"Just look in," said I, "and see if
that wiil suit you."
•" Can't see anything," said he.   " It's
pitch darjfe.   Wait, I have a match."
He took one from his pocket and
stooped to strike it on the sole of his
boot, and then I gave him. a push and
reached the door, plunging my hand in
my pocket for the key, I could, hot find
it. I had dropped it somewhere. It
was not about me.
"Zaceheus!" I cried; "Zaceheus, are
you there ? I am on the outside. Courage !"
There was no answer.
"For heaven's sake, if you can speak,
do," I shrieked, but silence answered
me.
Doubtless the smoke had already
smothered the poor fellow, but I set to
work and tore away the burning boards..
I was scorched—my hair, my face, my
eyebrows. Twice my clothes were on
fire, but I rolled on the dew-wet grass,
and was up at the flames again. Oh, it
was horrible!
If he had been my rival it would have
been bad enough, but aninnocent young
fellow; his sweetheart waiting for him
somewhere!
What a monster I was!
"Heaven have mercy on him!" cried
I. "Let me save him, don't punish me
by making me a murderer!" and I tore
and wrenched the boards with my burnt
hands. And in a moment more—well—
it was the roof that fell, I think—I don't
know.
I did love her! Oh, how I did love
that girl! And they say all is Mr in
love and war, and perhaps, that is some
excuse for me.
I had 'liked her a long while, and I
knew that she liked me.
I was as big a fellow as she could see
anywhere about. I had a farm of my
own, and, when I was married, father
had promised to build me a first-rate
house and stock the place for me.
And when I went to church on Sunday, or to town, I had good clothes, and
was never told I looked ill in them.
On the whole, I felt myself a good,
fair match for Maggie Franz, though
she was so nice a girl. And her father
and mother thought sbj too, and she
never refused my attentions.
I had settled, in the slow, quiet
sort of way in which countrymen do
settle these things, that we'd make a
match of it.
The other young' fellows knew it, and
if we were not fashionable we were so
far gentlemen that we had our code of
honor. None of them ever interfered or
tried to cut me out.
But then "he" came, you see—dapper and pretty, and dressed like a tailor's
fashion-plate, and talked of things I
knew very little about, and his hands
were white, and he had graceful, gallant
ways that 1 had never learned.
Mr. Zaceheus, that was his name.
And in that summer holiday of his,
while we were working hard over the
hay and were tanned, dirty and worn,
and so tired that sleep was about all we
wanted when work was over-, why then
he, soft, sweet and smiling, made himself agreeable to the girls, and crept into
Maggie Franz's heffitt—-my Maggie.
She scarcely looked at me. She did
not care whether she met me or not; and
on Sunday, there he was making me feel
somehow so coarse, rough, and vulgar,
and when I wanted her to go with me
into the par^ where we used to sit in
the great, green shadows, and listen to
the birds sing, she had some excuse for
staying at home, and when, on the road
from church, I took her hand in mine,
she snatched it away, and said, quite
crossly:
"Don't, Frank; don't do such silly,
rustic things, while folks are he re. They
never do it themselves, and they laugh
so."
"Mr. Zaceheus laughs, you mean, I
suppose," said I. " That's gentlemanly,
too."
"You are criticising Mr. Zaceheus'
manners, are you ?"
After that there was a coolness between us; but, though it made my" heart
ache, I could not think that it mattered
much, to her.
I stayed away from her father's house,
and did not walk home with her from
church on Sunday; indeed, I did not go
to church at- all. And I know the young
folks—aye, and the old folks, too—were
saying that we had fallen out with each
other, and I suppose everyone guessed
why; but I would never answer any
questions—not even when my own
mother asked me—not I.
So the summer came and the autumn
passed on, and the town people stayed
and stayed. I saw that fellow's silk hat
and twill umbrella, and exquisitely-fitting garments wherever I wtnt. Farther
than I could see other people, I used to
see him and her—Mr. Zaceheus and
Maggie.
Th8y had never made Maggie work
much at home, and she had plenty of.
time to enjoy herself—an only daughter,
you see, I mean, and her people were
what is called forehanded.    I neyer in-
the key in my pocket.
" xou'll not make any one hear very
soon, my lad," said I, " and you'E not
. kiss Maggie Franz going over the bridge
this evening."
Then I went away and laid myself flat
upon the porch infront of our house,
and felt happier than I had felt before
for a long time.
Revenge is sweet now and then.
I do not pretend to have none of the
old Adam in me.
I'd been there about half an hour,
and the chirp, chirp, chirp of the crickets was lulling me off to sleep, when
suddenly! heard a little light step close
by me, and saw a woman's white dress
fluttering, and, jumping up, stood before me, Maggie Franz.
The first thought that cam*) into my
mind was that she was Jooking for her
beau, and it made me fiendish.
" Is that you, Miss Franz ?" said I.
"Yes;"Mr. Wollmerath," said she—
and, though I had said Miss Franz, how
it hurt me not to be called Frank. "1
came over to see your mother. Is she
in?"
"No," said I.
" Then I'd better go home," said she.
But she lingered.
" Not looking for any one else ?"
said I.
"No," she said very sadly. "Goodnight."
But I could not let her go without a
cut.
"I thought you'd be on this wonder-
full moonlight drive," said I.
"There you were mistaken," said she.
" Did he forget to come for you," said
I. "Mr. Zaceheus, you know."
"Ihaven't been asked to drive," said
she. "I don't know why you speak so.
Mr. Zaceheus, I suppose, is with the lady
he's engaged to. She came down last
week with her mother."
" Oh," said I, and I began to wish I'd
asked a few more questions before I
locked young Zaceheus up in the cowhouse.
We stoQd still, apart from each other.
I saw her lip quiver. Was it for him?
Had he jilted her ? That was tit for tat,
anyhow.
But she was so pretty, and so sad, and
so winning that I felt my heart give one
great throb. I took a step nearer, she
took another.
"Oh, Frank," cried she, "I can't
stand it, if you keep angry with me. 1
always have liked you best, but you've
been so awfully cross."
And then she was crying on my shoulder.
Did yon ever make up with some one
you'd quarreled with, loving her all the
time?
Did you ever feel, holding the dear
face between your two palms, pressing
sweGt kisses on the dear, soft mouth,
that it had" all come back, all the old
love, and trust, and sweetness, and hope
that you thought dead ? If you have,
you must -know what I felt that minute.
I found myself again. I was Frank
Wollmerath once more. How strange it
was!
Out of all my life I'd like to have that
one moment back; it was tha sweetest X
ever lived through.
Up in the midst of the far meadow
rose a column of flame. The cowh-ouse
was on fire, and I had locked poor, innocent young Zaceheus upjm it, thereto be
roasted alive.
" Oh, Maggie," I cried, glaring at the
horrible sight. "I'm a murderer—a
murderer-^-don't touch me,"
. And away I flew to undo my mischief,
if there was time. There might be, perhaps. Never was. such a run as I took
across that loag meadow.    When I
" He'll do very nicely now," said some
one—" very nicely; plenty of nom*ishing
food, and the wine as directed. No danger, though bis escape is wonderful."
It was the family doctor, and I was on
the spare bed inthe bedroom, with bandages about my hands.
Mother sat there; so did Maggie.
Father looked over the bed foot. Maggie
WermeBkirchen, Lizzie Rhu, Frida Hen-
sel, Angelica Hensel, and yet one whose
first name is not known by me were also
visible.
"And why he was so set on saving
that old shell, I can't tell," said mother.
"He must have hid something precious
there.*" " *  ""
They did not know, then. I sat up in
bed and looked at them all.
"Itwasn't the shed,"Baidl. "Mother,
father, Maggie, it was Mr. Zacheus. 1
had locked him up there. I've murdered
him."
"No, you haven't," said another voice,
and some one  came around the bed.
" I'm alive, you see. You didn't think
I'd stay locked up in a cow-shed when I
had an engagement with a lady, did you?
1 -just burned the lock off with my cigar,
and came away. I intended to give you
a fright in return for your trick. I suppose it's what you call a practical joke in
the country—but I didn't think of anything serious.   I'm really sorry."
I don't know what I said. I know I
felt very foolish; but that was not half
as bad as feeling like a murderer.
next "four weeks, but I didn't mind it as
much as if Maggie had not fed me with
hers.
She petted me as if I were a hero instead of an idiot. I believe she thought
I had done something noble and grand.
And she's been my wife, now—how
long, Maggie?   Not so long as to have
Introduction of American IProdacts—Danish, Italian and. "Gei'ltta-a tabor.
John Wilson, "United fltates Consul at
Brussels, in a dispal&sfe* to the Department of  State,  at Washington,  gives
some hints as to the mllhods of introducing American mann*6&ttures into Europe.   He starts out with, the assertion
that prejudice is a great|s obstacle than
tariffs or unregulated €rade.   It is not
enough to send abroa^l circulars  and
price-lists.   Sample deiots, with competent agents to make kiaown the character, uses and qualitiet* of our inventions are what is needed^  Patience and
perseverance on the parfof these agents
are also required in &4&ling with the
people of Europe.   Wi& these, success
is sure.    Innovations,  jand  especially
American innovations, a1:© generally repugnant to Europeans, %at this prejudice hf.s already yielded, in a marked
degree.    There is now if0 difficulty with
articles like flour, bacoif£-lard, petroleum and breadstuff's,    petroleum met
with universal opposition at first, but is
now introduced into^t^j^hqmes of the
better classes as well as ^mong the poor.
Indian corn has yet to" overcome a prejudice like that which, if few years ago,
assailed  petroleum.  J0& peasant  of
Belgium not only feeds^iimself, but his
horse, on coarse, black, -rye bread.   Indian corn,   substantial!*? unknown   to
him, would be cheaper fcud more nutritious.   He needs, tobeifughtthis.   The
importation of this grai^has largely increased in Belgium.   All this applies?
with nearly equal f omx-to our canned
fruits, vegetables and in%ts.   These are
constantly   overcoming hostility   and
prejudice, and their useT|a increasing in
many places.^ Competent agents have
secured these ends.    Similar education
is needed to introduce largely our perfected stoves,   ranges,'-'carriages,   etc.
The Consul, therefore, iirgently recommends that American manufacturers and
producers combine and''Establish agencies for the purpose ct educating Europeans up to the use M our machines
and products.
The United States C&SBttl at Copenhagen^ Mr. Henry B. ^yder? sends to
the Department of Sta# & report; of affairs in Denmark. Ae£ in other countries, a general stagnaM^u,prevails. Of
the currency of DenmsfTc hesays: "The
circulation amounts to ti 1,000,000 crowns
in paper money. Th$sp!&in the bank
amounts to about 35,00^00. The National Bank of Copenha^Dtt is the only
bank in the kingdota Ifiowed to issue
paper money. The horJB of the bank
are redeemable in gold<*»b, which is the
legal tender, silver bete; used as a fractional currency, and al%s& tender only
tS the amount of 30 CM#*as,   The circu-
have to work ten or twelve hours daily.
For a family of six persons the cost is
about $7 a week—an amount that few
families can earn, as the depression of
trade and the reduction of time allows
few to do a full week's work, although
wages are nominally a trifle higher than
five years ago. The state of trade is deplorable. Factories are run and sales
made at a loss, except, perhaps, the sill
and button industries. Retail trade ii
somewhat more prosperous.
THE PHOSAU-TOtfEAPH.
Absolutely tlie latest Invention of 3?rof.
Edison's.
*•    [From the New York Tribune.]
Inquiry was made at the Metropolitan
Elevated Railway Company's office yesterday regarding the means which
Thomas A. Edison will employ to lessen
the noise of trains; " Oh, that is all
settled," was the reply: "Mr. Edison
is going to put instruments on the cars
which will absorb the noise. The sound
made by the trains will be collected and
bottled up until the cars get to the end
of the road. Then it will be discharged
up through a tall chimney."
Mr. Edison was found in his office at
&0. 267 Broadway, last evening, and
laughed heaitily at the statement of his
plan to bottle up sound. He had been
at work all day, he said, along the line
of the road, taking observations. He
had not yet found all the sources cf the
noise produced by the trains, and, until
he had fully determined what the causes
■of the noise weie, he could not decide
upon remedies. He was making an instrument, which would be finished in a
day or two, by which he could determine
the character of the sound vibrations,
and thus get at the causes of the offensive roar. This instrument Mr. Edison
described. It consists, in part, of a
funnel to condense the sound vibrations.
At the small end of the funnel is a diaphragm, which is made to vibrate by
the sound. A cylinder, similar to tha
used in the phonograph, is placed near
the diaphragm. About the cylinder is
wrapped a piece of paper -which has
been blackened by being held over the
fumes of burning charcoal. A straw is
fastened to the funnel diaphragm in
such a manner that the point falls on
the blackened paper. As the cylinder
is turned, the sound vibrations are
traced by tiie straw on the paper in such
a manner that they are plainly visible.
The instrument is called the "phonauto-
graph." By its use records of sound
vibrations, for. any desired length of
time, can be easily made. These records, Mr. Edison, believes, will enable
him to determine the causes of the peculiar roar produced by the trains on the
Metropolitan road.   He intends to use
BR ITAIN*-S TBITOPH.
The Won Swallows tlie Turkey.
forgotten to be lovers, though my boy's
head is on a level with his mother's
shoulders, and my own is turning gray.
Chicago, 111.
The Flying HacMne,,
About 50,000 people assembled on the
common to witness the first exhibition of
the flying machine in open air. The
plan was to sail around the tops of the
houses and over the principal streets and
demonstrate to a wondering multitude
the possibilities of air navigation. When
everything was ready the machine was
let go, but instead of flying up gradually
and gracefully, as intended," it shot up
like an arrow to a distance of 2,000 feet.
Every one came to the conclusion at once
that it was unmanageable, and the poor
aeronaut was the object of much symathy
as he floated upward. He soon let off
some of the gas, but did not descend.
He went up higher and higher, and it
was soon evident that he was as much at
the mercy of the currents as any balloonist. He sailed over Brookline, Boston Highlands, and out through Norfolk
county, and landed at the little town of
Farnham. Here he was an object of
wonder to the inhabitants, and after they
had gazed on him he essayed to fly back
to Boston, but on reaching Dover gave
it up, and, packing his machine on the
train, he eame home by rail. He explains his failure by paying that the
gearing got out of order. The steering
apparatus would not work, md£ one of
.the rods was disarranged. He says he
had to tie it with a cord and strap his
foot to the pedal.
- The belief is.that the machine is incapable of navigating any except the
air confined in a hall, and that any current will carry it away just as it does the
old-style balloons.—Boston Cor. New
York Herald.
isfe of BPl^..M^'^^^^-^^.  the phonautograph both in the cars and
lull- or sniVffi* air-ivi:usrm^Slf^.nxnl 'aViknnJir-^Zl^ZZ>^^^-:~T-. ■ ■ _■ -r..-j-s-^-_-.   .—A—a— ^Jt~,
TOufoTMve^'aio?^^^^^ffia er^eop
per at 500,000.    The cohtfof Denmark,
Tlmrlow Weed on Lincoln, Clay and
Wreeley.
" Whom do you regard as the greatest men of your time?" "Well, that
would be difficult to tell. All such
things are comparative. I could name
a great many men who have served their
country and. their time with eminent
ability. But a man's public usefulness
depends largely oh circumstances. Mr.
Lincoln, for instance, had a great opportunity, and he was equal to it. If
circumstances had not found him, if he
had not been the right man, at the right
time, in the right place, he would have
remained in obscurity all his life. I regard Henry Clay as foremost among the
men laboring all their lives to elevate
themselves, and who labored always ior
the object -by promoting the welfare ofthe country and the interests of the people. Horace Greeley labored with
equally pure motives, as I think, up to
„the point where he allowed his ambition
7to rule him. I knew him intimately for
years. A truer, more useful and more
devoted practical philosopher I never
knew... He labored with a single eye
and a single heart and both hands for
the good, till he thought he could be
still more useful in office. He was a
frank, honest man, with nothing tricky
about him. The very moment he found
his aspirations in conflict with those of
Mr. Sewardr he wrote that well-known
letter dissolving the political partnership whioh had existed between ue,"—
Interview with Thurlow fFeec?,
Sweden and Norway ar4 legal tender in
each country. Wages are from 10 to 15
per cent, less than in 1S72, while the
cost of living is a trifle higher. Laborers earn from 8 to 10 crowns per month}
mechanics from 2 to 3 crowns a day.
The cost of living to a laborer ia from .1
to"2 crowns a day. There is a large surplus of labor and no employment for it."
Mr. Henry Noble, United States consular agent at Turin, Italy, in a dispatch
to the -Department of State, of recent
date, gives some statistics of labor in
that country, viz. t Daily wages of farm
hands, nine months, 24 cents per day;
three months (harvest time), 60 to 70
cents per day, without maintenance.
Women are paid about one-half of these
rates. Youths, from 14 to 16 years old,
are paid from ^20 to $24 per annum,
with board. Railroads run by the national Government pay their engineers
from $30 to $42 per month; common li\-
borers from 50 to 60 centsper day; chief
conductors, $360 to $400 per annum;
station-masters, $800 to $1,000. Pensions
are provided to employes after a certain
number pf years of faithful service, and
to their widows in case of accident or
death while on duty. Females who
guard the crossings receive 16 cents a
day; ticket-sellers, 20-cents, their hours
of labor averaging four or five per day.
The cost of living for laborers is about
18 cents per day. During the past five
years both wages and the cost of living
have advanced about IS per cent. Trade
is deplorably dull. Exportation of manufactured goods has almost ceased, and-
matters seem to be going from bad to
worse.
In Italy there are six banks having
the right to issue paper money without
being compelled by law to have any re
serve in coin. The circulation of these
banks amounts to 624,000,000 of francs,
including Government notes and coin.
The Government notes are good for -all-
dues,* are legal tender, except for duties
on imports, and are guaranteed by the
banks. For the guarantee the banks re-,
ceive a commission of 8 cents for each
100 francs issued. The premium on
coin—mostly gold—ranges from 9 to
11| per cent. The wages of all classes
are paid in paper money.
The Department of Stale has received
from the United States Consul at Bremen a very full report on labor and
wages in his district. For agricultural
labor the pay varies greatly, according
to the proximity to, or remoteness from, ■
manufacturing centers, and ranges from
56 cents a day in the neighborhood of
Bremen to 31 cents a day in the lower
Bhine valley,' and as low as 18 cents in
parts of Silesia. At Bremen, Crefeld
and Dusseldorf carpenters, coppersmiths, plumbers, machinists and wag-
onsmiths earn from 51 to 75 cents daily-
saddlers and shoemakers from 47 to 52
cents daily; bakers and brewers, with
board and lodging, from $1.42 to $2.14
-weekly, and without board from 60 cents
a day to $4.28 a week; farm hands are
paid from $107 to $215 yearly, with
maintenance; railway laborers from 56
to 83 cents per day, and as high as 95
cents daily for piece-work on tunnels ;
silk-weayers can earn from $2.15 to $2.85
a week- per loom. Factory women, $2.15,
aad children $1 a week." Business and
wages are very low. In. good times
wages are 80 per cent, higher. The cost
of the necessaries of life has increased
some 50 per cent, in thirteen years, although now it is but little higher than,
five years ago. A man and wife, with
two or three children, can live in two or
three rooms in a poor and comfortless
manner for $275 a year,^ and to support
Buob. an esfeafeiigameafc &U the members
on^SS^gro-Ea^
One great source of noise has* already
been discovered by Mr. Edison to be the
vibration of the iron-lattice stays cf the
girders. These stays cross each other,
but are not joinod where they cross.
At every passage of a train these stays
vibrate with so much force that the
strength of a man's hand is not sufficient
to keep them steady. Their vibrations
are rendered very sonorous by the ties
of soft wood on which the rails are laid.
The entire road is thus made an immense sounding apparatus, and might,
Mr. Edison says, be compared to a piano if the noise produced were not so
inharmonious. By fastening the lattice
stays where they cross,- their vibrations
will be checked in a measure and the
noise lessened, A change from spruce
and pine ties to oaken ties would also
have an effect in lessening the noise.
Death of Br. James C. Ayer„
Dr. James C. Ayer, the well-known
patent-medicine proprietor, has died at
-.Yinchendon, Mass. For the past two
years he had been in extremely poor
health, and for some part of that period
his mental condition was such that he
had to be confined in an asylum for the
insane. Dr. Ayer was undoubtedly the
wealthiest maker of patent medicines in
this country. He had been engaged in
the manufacture of pills and sirups for
many years, and his name is known
through his medicines all over the world.
In the later years of his life, before his
mind became unbalanced, he was desirous to become known to the public as
a statesman, and not alone as a maker of
pills. Having great financial interests
in Lowell, Mass, where he resided, and
in its surrounding towns, he succeeded,
in October, 1874, through agents, while
he was in Europe, in procuring the Republican nomination for Congress in
the Seventh Massachusetts district. A
great deal of opposition to him was made
on account of his cold manners, and he
was defeated by the Democratic' candidate, Mr. Tarbox. A few days subsequent to the election the superabundant
ill-feeling toward him in the town of
Ayer—which is named after him—found
expression in the pxiblic burning of his
effigy. It seems likely that brooding
over his defeated hope of acquiring political position, and over the indignities
cast upon him by the men he expected
to rally to his support, caused his mind
to become unhinged. In June, 1876, he
became so violent that he was conveyed
to a private asylum in New Jersey, where
he remained for some months.—Next)
York paper.
A Drunkard's Liability.
The theory that drunkenness does not
excuse a man for crime seems to apply
to liability under a contract made by a
drunken man, provided he gets drunk
untarily. In the case of O'Connorvoi
against Rempt, the New Jersey Court of
Chance cy has decided as follows : "A
deed made by a person while in a state
of intoxication will be set aside if advantage has been taken of his situation,
or his dru-okenness was produced by the
act or connivance of the person to be
benefited by the deed. Courts cannot
protect the rash against the consequences of imprudent contracts, if they
enter into them voluntarily, and not
through fraud or artifice."
The Chicago Times, commenting upon
Beaconsfield's great diplomatic victory
in the Berlin congress, says: Confidently as those who have duly studied
Anglo-Saxon growth and character may
have believed that in the outcome of the
Russo-Turkish conflict Great Britain
would suffer no loss of national prestige
or advantage, nevertheless it may be
truly said that the British triumph which
concludes the long and fierce controversy is amazing.
The caricature picture-makers might
graphically represent this latest contest
on the " Eastern question" under the
similitude of the Russian bear fighting
the Moslem turkey at enormous cost of
life and treasure, while at a distance the
British lion quietly watches the furious
combat. For a time victory inclines to
the side of the feebler combatant, and
the lion manifests a lazy and indifferent sort of satisfaction.. But the tide of
battle suddenly turns. The bear seizes
the turkey and is proceeding to dimem-
ber it. The lion wakes up and begins
to roar vehemently. The bear growls
savagely. The animals show their teeth
and make ready for combat. In the situations presented by the succeeding diplomatic maneuvers, the artist will find the
subjects for a series of graphic illustrations, showing the bear rampant, the
lion "isolated," with his teeth out and
his tail gone, etc., concluding with a
congress of national quadrupeds, in
which the lion appears with the turkey
inside of him, magnanimously tendering
to the bear a small fragment of one of
the tail-feathers.
At a cost of $1,000,000,000 Russia has
played the glorious part of the monkey
that drew from the coals the finest lot of
chestnuts Great Britain has ever gained.
What Russia has gained is defeat, humiliation, and a loss of prestige. The
recarving of Turkey in Europe advantages Austria without cost, but not Russia. The acquisition of a narrow slice of
Bessarabia is of no practical value, political or military, while the new compact
between Turkey and Britain brings the
Hon and the bear face to face in Asia,
and puts a terminus to the advance of
the latter in that direction.
In effect that compact makes Great
Britain henceforth the predominating
power in Asia. In effect, if not in terms,
it is the erection of a British protectorate over Asia Minor, carrying British influence and control from the Dardanelles
to Persia. In the probable reality of the
future, it is the extension of British India westward and northward through the
valley of the Euphrates to the Mediterranean and to Constantinople. Already
ah English navigation company occupies
the Euphrates and monopolizes theebm-
_imgjc^4?|_&flt_g_rea|1< QriemtaThighway.
Wine is made from wild oranges iu
Florida. . - ..        .     .
Lake OiiTABib and tributaries swarm
with young shad.
The Corsicana Snarling Scrap is a
new Texas paper.
Cases of insanity in Oregon have
been more frequent in the past three
months than ever before.
A new coating for the bottom of iron
ships consists of brown paper attached
by a suitable cement.
FoELOwiNGf many vocations has ruined
the life of many a man. Following none
has ruined a great many more.
Ink stains may be removed from marble by washing first with dear water and
then with a weak solution of oxalic acid.
Sambo, who was at sea, says: "All
de passengers was aheavin', anddeCapt-
ing gub orders for de ship to heave to."
An editor in Cincinnati, puffing airtight coffins, said: " No person having
once tried one of these coffins will ever
use any other."
Senator Hmii says that at the next
session of Congress he will advocate a
bill permitting States and corporations
to issue paper money.
Mn. Ross says it has cost him $80,000
net to find his lost Charley. A good
many men would gladly lose all their
boys for half the money.
Biddx (to her husband)—"What
makes yer nose so red, Pat?" Pat—
"It's the hate, me darlint." Biddy—
"Yes, hate of cold wather."
AnTrFiciAi.- blackberries, wild strawberries, elderberries and cherries are
used for bonnets and hats, or for dress
trimmings, but other fruits have gone
out of fashion.
Dudeey: Selph, the Louisiana marksman, has just won a valuable prize in a
shooting match near New Orleans, scoring with his rifle 210 points at 800, 900,
and 1,000 yards.
There is a man living at Tarnell Sta:
tion, Ga., who churns his butter, rocks
the baby,' and keeps the flies from his
dining-table by water power. This is
later than the phonograph.
A month ago Mme. Denizot, of Noyon,
France, killed her two children, then
herself. Her husband was abroad, but
on his return, two weeks later, he
sought out the grave where the three
were buried, and, lying down upon it,
blew out his brains.
ThttkiiOW Weed is one of the largest
and mort muscular of the editorial fraternity. This remark of course applies
to his earlier days, for he now feels the
effect of time. He is just three years
younger than Bryant, having been bom
in 179?, and considering Ids age, h§ is
in remarkable presesYfttion.
way from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean is announced, and the construction of another line, hitherto proposed,
connecting the eastern extremities of the
Mediterranean and the Black seas, is
now virtually assured. The process of
Anglicising Asia Minor, politically as
well as commercially, is begun.
Moreover, the astoeishing outcome of
the Berlin congress has given again an
emphatic answer to the question whether
the"Almighty made the Mediterranean
sea for an English lake. At any rate, if
the Almighty did not make the Mediterranean for English use, events prove
that He has had very poor success in
carrying forth the purpose of its crea-
tian. For more than a century England
has commanded it at the middle and one
end." And now England commands in
the middle and at both ends. The cession of the island of Cyprus to the British renders their control of the Mediterranean, in its whole length and breadth,
complete and absolute.
The possession of Cyprus is to England hardly less important than that of
Gibraltar. Within a few hours' sail to
Port Said, and to Adriatic ports on the
east and north, it is admirably situated
by nature for a great military and naval
rendezvous from which can be commanded the whole Asiatic peninsula and
all the routes, both land and water, to
India. It is the real key to the Orient,
and as such will unquestionably be held"
and used bj the British power.
In fine, the outcome of the Berlin
congress is the greatest triumph fcr
Britain that this century has witnessed.
It is not surprising that in Russia great
indignation should, be manifested on account of an out *ome which is for Russia
worse thau her defeat by the Turkish
arms would have been. Nor is it surprising that even the English nation
should be amazed at this unexpected
success of the most audacious programme of national aggrandizement at
another nation's cost which an English
Premier has ever undertaken.
What Becomes of Wealth.
A boot and shoe dealer has hanging
in his store a pair of boots worth $7.
They constitute a part of his wealth,
and a portion of the wealth of the world.
A man buys them and begins to wear
them; by friction against the pavement
little particles of the leather are rubbed
off, and thus separated from the rest of
the sole. Every particle that is thus
removed takes out a portion of the value
of the boots, and when the boots are entirely worn out the $7 of wealth which
they formed is consumed. The wheat,
corn, etc., which was raised by our
farmers last summer is being eaten up.
No particle of matter is destroyed by
this process, but the value which was
in the grain is destroyed.
As, while men are wearing out clothing and eating up food, they are generally busily employed prodncing wealth
of Eome kind, the wealth of the world is
not usually diminished by the consumption, but it is changed. TMb applies, however, only to personal property; town lots and farms generally retain their value, but personal property
is Bubject-to perpetual destruction and
renewal. As the several particles of
water which constitute a river are forever rolling away to the ocean, while
their places are being supplied from the
springs and fountains, so the movable
wealth of the world is constantly being
consumed to gratify human wants, and
constantly being renewed by the restless activity of human industry.
Estimated population of the earth
1,396,842,000.
Mrs. Myra CijArk Gaines has won
another case in the courts and got a title
to the whole town of Kennerville in
Louioiana. A master in chancery, has
been appointed to estimate how much-
the° lucky widow should have for the
past revenues of-the place.
Another important improvement in>
connection with our Western lake com- *
merce was completed on the Fourth of
July—the Sturgeon "Bay ship canal,
which, by a short cut, connects Lake
Michigan with Green bay, Wis., saving
a long distance of navigation.
Miss EmtiiY FAirHFTJij, in a recent address on the extravagances of modern
life, said that outward luxury was becoming a perfect passion among English
men and women, who had lost the taste
for simple pleasures, and, in their pursuit of gold, were losing sight of higher
characteristics.
Spain has again commenced io use
the island-bf Cuba for her pecuniary
benefit. -A' loan of. 20,000,000 teas,
just negotiated with the jfepeb. ftyaii-
^at^is jwemfefl by pk%?e*v3a eafee>
little or no^bvenue has been derived for
ten years or more.
These figures show how London has
grown in the twenty years since the first
great Exhibition:
If 51. 1871.
Inhabited houses      305,086 419.642
Inhabitants  , 2,303,405      3,206,987
In the twenty years ending in 1876
the total ratable annual value of property has increased from -£11,283,663 to
£23,111,313.
What our great men are doing—Thos.
Ewing has been blown up in a Mississippi steamer. Disraeli is a tramp at
Ottawa. James Madison has been acquitted of a charge of burglary : t St.
Louis. Daniel Webster, a shoemaker,
of Washington, has been figuring in a
lawsuit about a pair of boots he made
for John C. Breckenridge.
Henri de TouRvmiiE, the rich London lawyer who was convicted by an
Austrian tribunal and sentenced to death
for murder, by pushing, his rich wife,
whose heir he was, over a precipice in
the Tyrol, and whose sentence was afterwards commuted to one of twenty years*
penal servitude, has been disbarred, and
Ms name removed from the list of members of the Middle Temple.
The late,Wm. Dixon, of Vicksburg,
Miss., was a philosopher. The day before he was—before they—in fine, the
day before his death, he caught three
mice, erected a miniature scaffold in his
coll. and worked them off. The result
of the experiment satisfied him that
death by hanging was painless, and next
day he walked to the gallows like one
sustained by an unfaltering trust.
Drunkenness in Australia.
Sydney is now an irregularly laid out
and an irregularly built city of about
200,000 souls; with its suburbs, the
population is estimated at 250,000,
A careful enumeration would place one
salcon (hotels they call them here) to
every twenty inhabitants of Sydney and
suburbs. If this should be called exaggeration, it can be met with the reply
that the evil needs desperate measures
for its. correction. Well, these "hotels"
are the most prosperous concerns in New
South Wales—not alone in Sydney, but
in every place I have been. I bund it
the same in Queensland, and I expect to
find it the same in Victoria. It is no
unusual thiug to see drunken men and
women staggering about the streets. I
have seen not a few, but a great many,
nearly every evening I have been out.
Persons who have read the pnn-picb-
ures of low life in England, as delineated
by Charles Dickens, only have to come
to this place to realize that Dickens did
not exaggerate, I have seen a littlo 6-
year-old girl trying to lead her besotted
grandmother home, and that venerable
woman so drunk sho could not stand excel t against a house side. Women frequently appear adorned with two black
eyes. * Of course, these are very low and
very poor people, but they frequent the
principal streets and mingle with the
general throng. Drunkenness is the
saddest feature of this beautiful country,
and one gladly turns from its contemplation to a consideration of those features
of the colonies that it is a pleasure to
chronicle, and such, too, they are, as we
in America' would do well to imitate.—
Sydney Cor. Chicago Iribune.
"Whisbx is your greatest- enemy,"
said a minister to Deacon Jones.
"But," said Jones, "don't the Bible
say, Mr. Prealcher, that we are to love
our enemies?" "Oh, yes, Deacon
Jones; but it don't say we are to swallow
thena,"