1878-05-31; Clare County Press

              ~p
I.
-S'ssi'tminame, I beg: you, old fellow, 111 do very
-trail here 2I011& j
Yaa must not be Sept from your " German" because I've dropped in like a stone;
Leave all ceremony behind yon, leave-all thought of
aught but yourself,
And leave, if you like, the Madeira, and a dozen
„ cigars oa the shelf.
As for me, you mil say to our hostess—  'Well, I
scarcely need give you a cue.
Chant my praise!   All -will list to Apollo, though
Mercury pipe to a few;
Say just -what you please, my dear boy; there's
>aore eloquence lies in youth's rash
ult^oken heart-impulsethan ever growled* under
this grizzling mustache.
don the dress-coat of our tyrant—youth's panoplied armor for fight-
tie the white neckcloth that rumples, like pleasure, and lastB but a night,
pray the Nine Gods to avert you what time the
- Three Sisters shall frown,
nd youll lose your high-comedy figure, and sit
more at ease in* your gown.
,^a, ***>>. *x»tti**mP4
He's off! There's his foot oa the staircase. 'By
Jove, what a bound !   Really now
Did I ever leap like this.springald, with Love's
chaplet green on my brow ?
"Was I such an ass ? No, I fancy. Indeed, I re-
u  member? guiteplain;
A gravity mixed with my transports, a cheerfulness
softened my pain; . •..■-■
Subscriptions §1,50 per Annum,
CLAfi'E;
.        s v    ■       :    —,
ICHIGAN, KEffDAY, MAY 31,1878.
Single Copies 5 Five Cents,
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-"%
He's gone! There's the slam,of his cab door, there's
■ the: clatter of hoofs and the wheels,        "•;
And while he the light toe is tripping, in this armchair I'll iflt up my heels.        .
j, He's gone, and; for'what?"  for a tremor from a
"i        waist lite a teetotnm spun ;
ForajoflejbHd-that'sornmpled bymany before?it
Is gathered by one.
Is there naught in the halo of youth but the glow of
la passionate race— s • --
'Midst the cheers and applause-of a crowd—to the
goal of a beautiful face? „.   .
A rac3 that is" jiot^tbe svfif t, a prize that rft> merits
enforce, -
But is won by sows faineant youth who shall simply
walk over the course ?
V
Poor boy! %hall I shock his conceit ? Wheli he talks
of her cheek's lovelinees,
Shall I say 'twas'the air of the room, and was due
to carbonic excess 1
etthatj when waltzing she drooped on his breast, and
the veins of her eyelids giew dim,
'Twaso3yge,n's aVsence she-felt, -butnever the pres-
"ence«ofhim!
Shall I tell him! First Love is a fraud, a weakling
. that's strangled in birih,
Recalled with perfunctory tears,, butJost in nnsanc-
tified mirth Y
Or shall I go bid him believe in all womankind's
charm, and forget
In the light ringing laugh of the world therattle-.
snaKe's gay castanet 1
Shall I tear out a leaf from my heart, from the book,
thatfofever is shut . '   •
On the past?   Shall I speak of my first love—Augusta—my Lalage ?   But
I forget.   "Was   it really   Augusta?   No,   'Twas
Lucy!   No.   Mary!   No.   Df!
Never mind, they were all first, and faithless, and
yet—I've forgotten just why.
No, no.   Let him dream on and ever.   Alas! he will
" waken too soon ; .
And it doesn't look well for October to always be
• preaching at June.
iPoor boy!   All Ins fond foolish trophies--pinned.
yonder—a bow, from her hair,     *""
A few billets-doux, invitations, and—what's-this-?
My Same!' I declare. " '      .J
• Humph!   " You'll come, for I've got you a prize1—
■ with beauty and money no end;
YouTsnpw her, !• think; 'twas on dit she once1 was
engaged to your friend;
But she says that's all over."   Ah, is it?   Sweet
Ethel!   Incomparable maid!
Or—what if the thing were a trick?—this letter so
freely displayed— . .     .    . .
Oh,
My opportune presence!   No! nonsense!   Will nobody answer the bell?
Call a cab!   Half past ten!   Not too late yet.
Ethel!   "Why don't you go ?   "Well?
M Master said you would wait—"   Hang your master I   " Have I ever a message to send ?"   -
Yes, tell him I've gone to the German to dance with
the friend of his friend.
—Harper's Magazine for June.
msi sawss. sohg.
"Where was it Theard' that song,
And why did It ring "so- sweet-
Its exauieit&*harmQnies, bounding and strong,
Keepingfime to my heart as it beat ?
Whyr jndee3?'. JSTor, as if in a "dream,
I remember the blended strains
Ceased, one by one, and the wandering theme
Snn oa into faintsr refrains-^-
r£ill the music grew harsh and thin,
Iiiko the vqice-of a dying bird,
And neve? cg3in. the bfsufy could win
Ehat first in its notes I had heard.
and, springing to his feet, regarded him
with astonishment.
"Who are you, and what do you want
here ? " he asked, in a mariner sufficient- j
ly imperative. .
). "Who I am is a matter of no importance/' replied the stranger; "but I am
here on "business. I believe you are"
buying up flour ?"
"I am/' replied old Hiram, becoming
interested and gracious in a moment.
'" Take a seat, sir, and let me understand
your business," ' ** r -   , p
He pointed to a chair, and the visitor
ieated himself immediately, crossing his
muddy boots, and folding his elfin arms
upon his bosom, as he bent down his
head and peered from under his drooping black brows straight into Hiram
Gormley's face.
" We have flour to sell," he said.
"We?" said Hiram, interrogatively.
"I and my partneiyror,- more -politely
sneaking, my partner and I," responded
me little man*
" Oh," said Hiram; "may I ask the
name1 of the firm ?"
"I'd rather not mention, names until
I'm sure that we shall come to terms,"
replied the little man. " But let me tell
you, Mrf Gormley, that such a chance
has never been offered to one man before. If you accept it bread "wjll run up
this year to such a price that a loaf of
the .better sort will be worth its "weight
in gold, and rich men will give great
sums for what they now esteem as nothing. How many barrels do you think
we have on hand, my partner and I ?"
"How  many?"  asked   old  Hiram,
trembling with eagerness.       -..'■'
^ , The little man bent forward and whispered something in his ear which made
him start to his feet once more.
" So many l(' he cried.     "Why, the
very speculators themselves "will be at
my feet,   i shall be the richest man in
the "whole "world.   I'll buy it all in—all,
all!, --When eanIsfieit?-*-when earuiM
sign the contract?   Be quick—tell me
.where all the store is hidden ?"
I " In -pur-office^'-said the little man. ?
"What office- "would   contain such
quantities ?" asked Hiram.
" Hush !" whispered the little man;
"there is an underground passage and
a cellar or vault capable of containing
ten times what it now holds. As for' the
time, you may come with me to-night,
if you like; all hours are the same to my
partner and me." "   "'-      *: '
The words were scarcely out of his
mouth ere Hiram Gormley had. hurried
on his, overcoat, dashed his broad4
brimmed hat over his eyes and seized
his gold-headed cane with a nervous
grasp of his right hand. "Lead the
way," he said; "lead the way; I'd f ol:
low you if you were going to the moon."
The stranger only grinned and passed
the two, as he flung open a narrow door
to his right and beckoned "Hiram to approach. "Light Up, boys, light up!"
And at the words a myriad of torches
flared down: •& Tseemingly-interminafelgt
vista; and Hiram looked upon myriads
and myriads of barrels, stretching away
•until they faded into mere specks in the j
distance,
" Enll i of, f|our,. Irom the. very ;,>first
brand down to the poorest; hot another
barrel left in the market. You can have
the upper hand of the whole of themfe
Hiram Gormley; wjjen you can starts
ten millions if you like to do so. Do
you close the bargain, or shall we send
for some one else ?"    Jp,
"Hush! I agree/, Tell me your
terms.?" gasped Hiramj-iiervously.
"rTney9are very easy," said the tail |
mariiablack, "-Sit down, if you-please
Her© Is 4he pen; ink and paper, and the f
document."    .
Hirani -seized the paper, and conned it
rapidly^ growing white and "cold as he
read on. JLt lasfche/flung it from Mm
and screamed,
"My soul 1 Promise to give you my
soul!   In the name of the fiend, who are
jou?":;.'.. :C-      ■-•■ "   ■'■■■•     .-•-^"L-
" Your humble servant!'.' said the
black-clad creature^ bowing: -and Hiram
Gormley saw a cloven fodt peeping from
the queer boot and distinguished the
perfume pf brimstone.    /., ,
"Let me go!"*he said. "Let me
go!".
"Softly!" said the creature #t his. elbow. "Softly ! wily do you care so
much for what you have already mortgaged? You are half mine already, do
vou know that?"
" It is false!" said old Hiram. " I
cheat no man; I belong.to the ;church;
and I subscribed $50 to the missionaries
a year ago."        "   " a , .   .,-..;. »
The da'rk being grinned contemptu-
.ously. " Bring me Mr. Gormley's box,"
he said.
And he who had conveyed old Hiram
to the spot where Ehe now stood set upon
the table a box like that in which lawyers keep the papers of their clients, labeled, "Hiram Gormley, Esq." From
the depths of this box he drew, a pile of
parchment,.'and'read from thence : "A
mortgage on the soul of Hiram Gormley, given on. the day when he turned
his daughter fr"o"rd the door. * Another,
%hen he seized old widow Potter's furniture for rent-. Another,, when-he took
advantage of a -flaw' in the'papers tb
etade the payment of a just debt of his
own. Myriads .when he first began
business, told fifty lies a day, and gave
false weight and measure, and one tre
A Narrative off Suffering and Ueatbi Almost
Too Btorriblcft;^ Belief.
fdetter from Dr. WilliamfTfo the Utica Herald.]
;, The  piteous tales-^"ȣ woe from the
flamine^stricken distri-cp of Ohma which
have reached me de^'Sbe the desolation caused by the wa«tj/of food there in
such moving terms tbn'l i am led to send
^you an abstract in. tij^-jpe of moving
^haritable-fieople-in 'Tibland.|o help.
The portions  of" Shr iu provmce^ described in theletter^.^oived, are now
probably beyond out "vcach, for such
destitution must so£L*''-' "spopulate the
■j.. - sear the sea-
vho can be
.{1 by timely
. all from the
■'Jilx   exceed
iitairi about
— . -    - - ■ ""If
mendons mortgage for- passing 'through-1 Wsfc rea,aJ '*? feEfSll+!£
the world without one loving, tender,
sympathizing;feeling for mankind.
land, but on their boit
shore, there are m£yr:
reached, and their livr}<( -
relief. The total yefc-.^".;;
EastjKai? States cani^IVL
$5,000, and" from QaS^t'i
£14,000 has gone.       "C"
The writer is T. EicJCfirds, an English
missioiiaryj living in >he capital, Tai-
yuen, who made a jotni%y about Feb. 1
|o see for himself '$ what was the
state of the district nc0h. of that city.
I abridge his repo^ which, bears
the marks of eareful" ejytotness and good
jSense in. dealing with {he misery around
"aim: .   "^
"Jan. 59,—There vgi a fall of one
inch of snow iK».the£r^i^r--Saw four
dead'on the road, and ^ie moving on his
hands ah|l knees. Oa»|iof the dead was
:a-boy 10 years old, caxfjf.d by his mother;
she laid him on the sn&T*
"Jan. 30,—One of j'Fietwo dead, bodies just gassed was-v^ii dressed, and
coutdjaojrfiatia been a'f-l )or man: justbe-!
yond them I met one^faggering like a
drunken jajaa along feyoad, and-as I
looked a puff of winaL/: ,ew him over to
rise no more. xf
" Jan. 31.—Passed*; lourteen dead,
some of them- stripped?! 3r their clothes.
One corpse was so lig!,/ $hat a middle-
i sized dog cfeagged it ahj| .t. Some were
lying face downward^. .J if one had its
winding-sheet of snovV—^ showing that
no wolves OE foxes wen*-* :iear. I talked
with an old man white' climbing a hill
together, after we htil 311st passed a
youth lying dead, and hy rrid, in. the most
touching manner* HjlU'J mules and
donkeys &te> all eatec^-jotir'-feborefs
"ppk all dead; howisit'iiKLt Heaven lets
us poor people die 2ike,£- tins ?' In one
place a notice declare^'t'iafc those who
rob and steal chouldJ^s put to death
without merejv ' f:  [     ..,    . ^
"Feb. l.v^gsBides ^rib.women and
•two men seen unbusie^adar the road, I
met two youths, app!ij ?ntly brothers,
15 ,to 18 years old, saiTfng along like
men of 80s ort flieir stc^tV t ° iheu a young
man, canyiog Ms moiVji'i 021 his back,
last.   Saw
-Jnonth to each individual; in the capital 20,000 persons goto three soup kitchens outside the gates. Where grain is
distributed, two or three ounces a day
to each person is the limit. I have the
best authority for saying that in many
districts men are eating human flesh.
Coal rises in price because it is unsafe
to go to the mines alone to get it, for
the persons will be stripped, and their
horses, cows, mules or donkeys taken
for food."
ALL BOKDSo
Brer.:? c iQoIsga only emerge
Of r.'.-■!, cad snow, and the falling tear,
O:? iJnrlcint of the spent sea-surge.
Ah.: •'~ ii tile same old song ?
ifec"; raa one says it began
TTiQ'-ii" jays of my life, and will last a3 long,
So Eii23ure in music life's plan.
1 zi tho tones that wrought its old spell—
jQuih, hop* and joy—toot wing ;
And the tune of my life sounds hardly so well
vThen played on a single string!
~£r. -P. Laihrop, in Appletons1 for June.  -
UORfflLEVS 'ADYENTUBE.
t
SO"
4
A Story witli a Moral.
Old Hiram Gorrr ley was an individual
whom fortune had not forgotten in her
distribution of the good things of this
world. "He had a fine fortune, a magnificent* dwelling, and a plump, good-
tempered wife. Moreover, he had a
great reputation for sanetity and uprightness, and was an elder of the church
to which he belonged. A very good
man andra thorough Christian old H|ram
considered himself, for he had family
prayers every morning, went to church
every Sunday, and allowed the cook to
give all the uneatable scraps of bread
which remained in the larder to any beggar who applied for them. A judicious
parent he believed himself to be, and a
just one, for when his only daughter had
married against his will he had cast her
Off-forever, and refused to see her when
she stood weak and trembling at his
door to tell him that her husband lay
upon the verge of death and that starvation stared them in the face.
"As she has sowed so she must reap,"
he muttered, as he saw her turn away,
hiding her grieved face in her shabby
bonnet. "She might have had old
Grimes and lived in clover, but shemade
her own choice and must abide by it."
And, so saying, he went back to his account books and. banished his daughter
from his mind as soon as might be.
Old Hiram Gormley was, as I have
said, very wealthy, but he yet clung to
trade with the utmost pertinacity.
Money-getting was his life, and he was
never so happy as while making a bargain.. Among other things he had speculated in flour, and had made morOj perhaps, in that line of business than in
any other. How old Hiram and his
brothers in the trade chuckled as the
poorman's loaf decreased and the store
in their own coffers augmented, is best
known to themselves.
It was &u such a season that Hiram
Gormley sat before his parlor fire, basking in, its blaze and sinking gently into
an after-dinner nap. His portly form
filled the huge velvet chair, and his own
portrait looked from its gilded frame
upon its drowsy original with a bland
dignity entirely of the artist's own invention. Mrs. Gormley had gone out
to dine, and the carriage was to be sent
for her at an appointed hour, so that the
old man and his portrait were alone together in the comfortable room.
They; were alone, at least for many
minute!. But as the silvery-toned timepiece rung out the hour of seven, the
outer door was opened, and a small man,
clad m a faded green velveteen coat, entered the room with the soft tread of a
stealthy cat. He was a queer-looking
individual, so withered and wrinkled
that he might have resembled some old
goblin,^ and his white hair stood out,
strangely enough, upon either side of
his brown forehead. Upon his meager
lower limbs he wore great, mud-stained
boots, a world too wide for him, and in
his hand he carried a cap of the same
color and material as his coat. He
looked first at old Hiram, then at his
portrait, then back again to the origin-
aL and* finally stepped forward and
touched him on the shoulder.
earn Qoiml&j -awoike with & itast,
At the gate stood a small vehicle,
black as ink, and capable of containing
only. two persons. A small, elf-like,
pony was fastened to its shafts, and a little black boy held the reins. Hiram
glanced doubtfully to the shabby turnout, but, in compliance to a nod from
his fellow traveler, stepped in and took
his seat beside him. .If the shaggy
pony was small and uiipromising-tp look
at, he" was nevertheless as fleet of foot
as any race horse, and the dingy vehicle
spun along at a rate which made old
Hiram cling to the sides with both hands
and shut his eyes that he might not
grow giddy, until, passing from the
village, it turned down the broad -country road, and'paused at the margin of a
little piece of woodland.
"Your office seems to be in a strange
locality," muttered old Hiram, suspiciously.
,f Not at:'all,w replied the little man in
green-p :¥?only wer are going by the un-e
derground way, so as not to attract attention."
"Ah!" said old Hiram ; "well, this
does seem to be an underground passage, sure enough!" for they were tumping now into a sort of cave, and only
one faint ray of light in the far distance
saved them from being wrapped in utter darkness. "I shall be glad when I
am safe home again," he added, to himself. " How do I Know where this fellow is taking me ?"
But even as he spoke the distant light
grew larger, and the carriage paused at
an iron-bound door with a grating in the
top, through which fell a red glare, like
that of a flame from the cliimney of a
pottery on a'dark night.
" This is our office," said the little
man in green; and old Hiram followed
him as he leaped from the orazy vehicle,
which suddenly disappeared in a most
mysterious manner.
A rap at the door summoned a dark-
visaged man, who admitted them without parley, and old Hiram Gormley
stood in a veritable counting-house, the
most Igpacious which had ever met his
eyes. He glanced" down the rows of
diligent clerks, all dressed in black, and
all engaged in making entries in immense iron-bound volumes; at the huge
fire, which he could see reflected on the
roof through a wide grating in the distance, and which rendered anything in
the way of lamps and candles unnecessary ; and then turned toward a tall,
dark man, who strode toward him from
the very center of the glowing light.
He was clad in black, and his hair was
bound together in an old-fashioned cue.
Ther& Was a: sort of supple, snake-like
ease in his movemeats, and his feet were
singularly shaped,.and covered with
shoes that suggested either the-gout or
bunions. °
"Mr. Gormley," said the little man
in green, "Mr. Gormley, partner. He
has came to inspect our stock of flour;
he'd like to buy it in."
"He would Tike to buy it in, would
he?" said the new comer. "You are
very welcome, Mr. Gormley. I have no
doubt we shall come to terms. Gentlemen, this i&: Mr, Hiram Gormley, with
whose'name you are so well acquainted,
and whom you have expected so long."
As he spoke tlia long rows of black-
clad clerks arose with one accord, and,
bowing, turned upon him their hollow,
blood-shot" eyes, filled with a light
which must have been reflected from the
fire beyond, it was so red and horrible.
Old Hiram Gormley shuddered involuntarily, as, addressing himself to his
two companions, he said: "Can I see
this flour ofj which you have been speaking?' ^
gig," replied th© iaHes of
, " Your soul—bah, l^JOwfeisit^gtHi  ^J^gLgyPffiffg
Mo heads* put to ii^C^
those "whj>
back.   I'll have my
husband home.   I'll
now?
"I'll take it all
daughter and her
pay"—
"Too late!!' said the dark creature.
"Too late, Hiram Gormley; too late !"
But the old man, stretching out his
hands, screamed aloud in terror, and
fell backwards in unconsciousness.
? .When Mrs. Gormley returned from
the dinner-party she found her husband
stretched upon the hearth-rug, with a
blue lump upon his forehead as large as
a hen's egg.
When he related his adventure she
considered it a dream, and laid the blame
upon the old port in the decanter on the
sideboard ; but, dream or reality, it had
a strange influence upon old Hiram, for
in a week he was reconciled to his
daughter, had ignored the flaw and
made the* settlement, performed various
unwonted acts of charity, and was, in
fact, an utterly changed and altered
man, while, singular* to say, no earthly
power has ever yet been able to induce
Hiram Gormley to speculate in bread-
stuffs.
Stammering.
The Paris Debats publishes some curious statistics of stammering in France.
Of 2,086,826 conscripts' examined in
twenty years, from 1850 to 1869, there
were 13,215 exemptions on account of
this defect. There were about 700 per
annum before the new recruiting law,
and they have reached 1,000 since the
whole force has been subjected to examination. It is calculated thai stammering affects 125 per 130,000 persons
in France. It is more common in the
South than in the "North, reaching, for
instance, the proportion of more than
fifteen per 1,000 conscripts in the Basses
Alps and Bouches du Bhone; while in
the Department of the Haut Bhin the
proportion is only .63 per 1,000. This
difference is attributed to education being more widespread and the pronunciation more attended to in the North than
M the South of France. It is pointed
out that, as long as exemption from military service is accorded on account of
the defect, there will be little desire on
the part of parents to get their children
cured of it. in a recent report to the
Minister of Public Instruction, M. Oher-
vin dwells on the necessity of abolishing
this exemption on account of a deficiency
he considers to be curable my merely
obliging children to pronounce rationally.
Mary's Little.- Lamb.
The following -is the Chinese version
of Mary and her lamb:
Was gal name Moll had lamb,
Tiea all samee white snow;
•   Evly place Moll galwalfcee,
t> Ba Ba hoppee long too.
We heard a son of Erin trying to surround Mary and her little lamb the other
day, and this is the way he understoodit:
Begorry, Mary had a little shape,
And the wool was whito intoirly;
An', wherever Mary wud sthir her ethumps,
The young shape would follow her complately.
—Council Bluffs Globe.
So",celebrated a'pde"m should have a
French version:
La petite Marie had le June muttong,
Zee wool was blancb.ee as ze snow;
And, everywhere la belle Marie went,
Le June muttong was zure to go.
—Imported poet of the Stamford Advocate^
Oui, monsieur; you avez tin very large
imagination; mais comment est this, pour
Deutsche:
Dot Mary hat got ein leedle schaf,
Mit hair yust like some vool;
"Ohd, all der blace dot gal did vent,
Das shaf go hie -ein fool.
—HackemackJRepublicm,
Os1 the 04OO.OOQ required to save the
Old South Ohusoh, Boston, the sum of
11158,000 issUil to b© raised..
"Feb. 2.—Saw a _
together, who appeared-to
ruK
St. Patjii has a genuine case of
leprosy.
Kktg Htjmbeet has set apart $200,000
out of the income of his civil list toward
the monument to his father to be raised
in Turin.
Take pains to keep trashy books away
from your children, send them to school,
and resolutely keep them in-doors o'
nights.
When a man presents himself before
a public- audience it often happens that
his body is inclined .to sink while liis
head swims.
The New York Presbyterian Homelo*
Aged Women has received $30,000 from
a benevolent person* whose name is withheld from the public.
The Sultan never leaves his palace
even on the shortest expedition unless
he is accompanied by a wagon laden
with refreshments.
.v[ Mobe than 10,000 men were provided
with employment by the Young Men's
Christian Association in the United
States during last year.
A snake eight feet in length, and
which had been refreshed by swallowing
thirty eggs in a hen-house near Paris,
Tenn.. was killed the other day.
Thebe are at present 4; 000 fugitive
Jews at Constantinople, toward whose
sustenance the Alliance of Israelites has
contributed 246,000 francg.'
If a tax of $100 be placed on every
Chinaman landing in California, the imperial authorities at Pekin threaten to
impose a similar tax on Americans landing in China. -
Samuel. L. . Mason, the : National
nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania,
enjoys the distinction of being "the
father of the Greenback party in Western Pennsylvania."
. A iaTiLE son of Mr. Haus, living ni
Lexington, Minn., while playing with
his sister, became enraged at her, and;
seizing an ax, cut off both her feet, from
the effects of which she died.    .
In rTe^s^tb© railway employes: all
I carsy'GliOfc^sggs^'iipfsCfj? '$h®m ■ backs,
'^^°l^snePoStoffica I^ttifaieSf^S-i'ilfi'
^r^ued an order ■&^es^z^toad^m&
FABIS   EXPOSITION.
BiS-
Siree lying
be a father,
son and grandson. OryLthe snow there
weie marks of a struggle and blood,
but no body near*. Two more heads
hung from the trees in cages, For
miles many of the trees along the roads
were stripped of their bark five, ten; and j
twenty feet above the ground for food.
Several houses were passed with doors
and windows open, jars and other utensils inside; nobody was left, and nothing had been touched, for they could
not l>e turned into money nor food.
"Beyond this I was gladdened by the ;
sight of wheat appearing from under I
the snow for a distance of ten miles,
where the springs had furnished water
for irrigation. The people told me that
last season the crop was very promising
up to the time of plowing, then a sudden flood and mildew blasted their
hopes, and left them nothing but straw.
"Feb. 5.—This afternoon, at Hung-
tung, we saw the dead actually heaped
on each other. On the main street was
a man lying dead with the edge of a big
stone between his teeth—he expired
biting a stone. Saw two men grinding
something very dark, and, on going
near, learned it was the husks of millet
mixed with old cotton wadding. People are now pulling down their houses
for fuel, for coal is too dear for them.
"Feb. 7.—I bought three stone
cakes, which I saw men eating. It was
the same stone as our soft stone pencils (probably talcose slate), and is
pounded to dust and mixed with millet
husks and baked. It does not look bad,
but tastes like what it is—dust. This
was the worst day of the journey. There
were more dead bodies on the roadside
than before when we went by; we^Ount-
ed twenty-nine in a distance of eighteen
miles. Some of them seemed to have
been robbed and left to die; one woman,
robbed of all she had and left, still
moved, though unconscious of any one!
passing by. Another headless trunk-
proved that ssme murdered as well as-f
robbed. I-was away from my houso^
fourteen days,c and send an account of
only a few of the dreadful sights I have
seen. ' -< i  '"' ,   "
" From others I learn that along the
whole route from Fang-in Szckuen here
(a distance of over 500 miles) dead men
lay by the roadside every now and lihen.
In Kansuh, far irt the Northwest, grain
was abundant, but grew scarcer eaeh
step as one approached the northern dis:\
tricts of Shansi. - This vear the'cold had
been unusually severe in the region of
the Yellow river. Soft stone is sold at
from a-half to a third Of a cent per
pound, and bark at less than a cent per
poundjir-both for food. But the people
die of * constipation. Grain is three or
four times the usual price, turnips and
cabbage five or six times,
" It is almost impossible to ascertain
how many haye died from famine. At
Ping-ydng, the people said that two
large pits had been filled, and two carts
were daily employed in carting the dead.
The deaths in the hamlets among the
hills are far more than in towns along
the great thoroughfares or near rivers.
In one district it was reported that one-
third had died; in another, three-fifths.
Whoever I asked coming from the
southern departments of the province,
Puchan, Kiang, Ping-yang, declared that
one-half of the people were gone; and
instanced villages numbering 300, 400
and 500 inhabitants, in which only 100
survived. Still, even if theBe estimates
are exaggerations, what w£U it be at the
end of the famine! :
"The Government is doing what it
can, The lowest aUewaaea I hwvd of
■was SO eeata, aad thoMghfiofc 10 esaio a
^»T^|rg*g£S£l^?^^SLr,r7:
itrTTfS8*^*^
Tlie American Department—Tli© Art
play.
{Paris Cor. New York Herald,]
The great Exposition continues to be
the uppermost topic in this city, whieh
never better deserved the epithet of the
gay capital than now.   Marked progress
has been made in all the departments,.
particularly the American section, where
another week will, it is to be hoped, find
everything complete.
The educational exhibition, with its
various appliances, which will be one
of tlie most interesting features of the
American department, has hot yet been
located. .   v '"
A beautiful model of a Pullman palace
car excites general curiosity in the machinery annex, Our steam engines, our
compressed-air brakes, and labor-saving
machines equally sustain our character
for practical ingenuity.
Space has been reserved for .FlfJESjbn's
telephone and phonograph andoffier inventions, which will be daily exhibited.
The-fine art collection of the Exhibition is remarkable both for the number
and high quality of the works exhibited.'
Some idea may be gathered from the
fact that the artists and art patrons of
the various countries have 'contributed
the following number of oil pointings:
France, 861; Great Britain, 283; United
States, 86; Sweden, 82; Norway, 38;
Spain, 115; Hungary, 61; Bussia, 144;
Switzerland, 93; Belgium, 300; Greece,
U; Denmark, 76;: Holland, 102: Italy,
166; Luxemburg, 2; Bepublic of San
Marino, 2; Peru, 3; Japarf, 2; Hayti 1;
Uruguay, 4. The German ieolleotion has
not yet been opened.   ,
Besides.these; there are innumerable
water colors, pastels and architectural
designs.
The statuary^ and
Italian contribution
many fine specimens
ari* ■■,--..
Among the many mechanical curiosities of the Exhibition is an automaton
swimmer, who riatates in a tank with
the grace of* a professor of the art. and
the tirelessnesi of- a Sqciety Islander!
There is also an automaton preacher,
who has only to be wound' up and off
he goes, .carrying out Carlyle's idea: of a
cart-iron-parson to the letter.- ;
Dinners, balls and fetes succeed each
other with bewildering rapidity^ Ministerial and private entertainments innumerable are given* The event of last
week in this respect was the grand, ball
given to the Prince and Princess of Wales
by the Prinees&e de Saigon. It was a
magnificent afiair. Twelve hundred invitations were issued.
The "electric* light plays a great part in
these fetes.   In the garden its effect is
Iprfecfcly fairy-like.  * It has just "been in-
!4Ji22"&qed&3>n the stase_attheJ?heateE_du
- 'gtTTSEJT? SILVSS^GmST,
BY KESBESS BESELEX EBEnrrAtT.'
How light her fairy footsteps fall I
The garden gate she geatly dlcis::,.
And wanderb-by the blossomed wall,
While June makes mirth-cmoBg rae tfirS3.
The burnished braids that bind her iieafi,
With careless ribbon loosely holdan— -
Her friend -Louisa calls them red,
Louisa's brother says they're golden.
Unschooled in the maturer arts
Of picking all her friends to pieces,.
Nor skilled to chain her lovers' hearte
With •witchery of love's caprices j
Lips that would scojjn the truth tcr bide,
A laugh that's fiEvery and hearty,
The angel of the poor, the pride
Of every jolly Christinas party.
To flirt Triiii poor old Colonel Chance,
And -wing lis heart •with glances haughty
.Between the pauses of the dance—
""It's nice—but oh, it's V6ry n3«ghty!
Then seatwards -when her waltz is done,
For fear mamma should scenfcthe ireasosl
Poor innocent! condemned to run
The gantlet of a city season.
She dreams all loves beneath the moon
* ~. Are equal parte of truth and honey;
-Leave her alone—-she'Jl learn too soon   	
■? "     That love's another name for money.
Where is the nameless grace of old,
;,,- -r-L-The sp&tless soul, tHe pure compassion
Alas 1 is all the virgin geld.-   , '.   ■ ■
'  Untarnished by the dust of fashion?
J. And she, a city season's belle,
Of slaves and suitors she'll haye plenty,
And marry, if her world goes "well,
A rich old widower when she's twenty.
PITH AIB IPOiifo
particularly the
thereto, includes
of the sculptor's
Oambkia county, Pennsylvania, boasts
of a female butcher—a lady who not only
slaughters sheep, calves, and even bullocks with her own hands, but cuts the
meat and sells it from the wagon to all
who wish to buy.
=A Baltimore man has been arrested
for playing ghost by dancing around at
night on the tops of houseB in his nightshirt, his object being to depreciate
property in his neighborhood so that he
could buy it cheap.
The Catholics have bought, 7,000
acres of land in Mecklenburgh county,
Ya., on which they are going to establish an industrial farm for educating
freedmen. This is better than shipping
them to Liberia to starve.
A eettjbn issued of cases in which
Coroners' juries have returned verdicts
of death caused by starvation or accelerated by privation in the metropolitan
district of London during the year 1877
shows that the total number of such
deaths was seventy-one.'
Pkobablx the smallest paper in the
country, if not in the world, is published at Orlando, Ma. Its size is two
and a half by three inches, and it claims
a circulation of 1,200. It is printed
monthly, and its name is the Florida
{Mite.
The Turks have discovered the secret
of the Whitehead torpedo: from two
Russian specimens which they captured
atBatoum, and are manufacturing them
in great quantities. Otherwise they
would have had to pay $125,000 for the
knowledge.
Tim Bkown, a 'colored boy on the
farm of Warren Gentry, St. Louis county,
Mo., is the possessor of a most extraordinary pair of feet. They measure 22£
inches. The heel is enormously long,
extending back "from the foot at least
four inches.
; j Receiver Peck, of the Chicago and
I'liake Huron railroad, has just issued a
circular, in which he offers the engineer
"who kills the smallest number of cattle
during a space of six months a prize of
^75, and the one standing next upon the
list a $50 prize.
John Mobkissey. used to say that he
came to Congress in order that his boy,
since dead, might claim that his father
was something better than a gambler
and prize-fighter, but that since he came
he had made up his mind that there was
very little choice.
Some of th© steamers winch run to
South America keep an ice-making machine on board, which provides all the
ice that is required to preserve the perishable freight that may be on board,
besides making all that can be used by
passengers and crew.
A catfish was recently caught in the
Mississippi river at New Orleans, which
when, opened was found to contain the
skeleton of a baby and a box of shoe-
blacking. The box was open, but when
the blacking was tried it was found to be
as gopd as when first bought.
While removing the remains of a man
executed for horse-stealing from the
graveyard at Douglas, Kan., a frog
jumped out of the giave, and a man
present believed the frog was the
spirit of the dead, and was frightened
nearly out of his senses,
A woman in Huntingdon county, Pa.,
placed a new-born infant where the hogs
were enabled to get it. The animals
would have devoured it but for the fact
that its cries were heard by a lady residing in the neighborhood, who rescued
it. The inhuman mother has not faien
dii6Q?exed»
t3na@ietr
An Iowa Paper on Slanderers.
Whisky under ordinary circumstances
can, and does, do'a great deal of mischief. But, when you desire to seethe
devil do his best work at torturing poor
humanity, just call, and see him when he
has turned a lot of long and limber
tongues loose in a community. There is
a class of creatures—hes and shes—
things that are neither men nor Women—
they are hyenas in human*form, and they
gorge themselves to the full on the foul
and fetid falsehoods that continually
ooze from the slimy and stinking sewers
of each other's mouths. Their daily food
is falsehood and filth; and the more nauseating and nasty, the more nourishing
and nutritious to these gloating ghouls.
Their daintiest dish is served up in its
most savory manner when two or three
of them meet to bandy bawdy lies about
some good and virtuous girl or woman.
These he-harlots of hades are always
happiest when spreading the spawn of
their lecherous lies over the sainted name
of wife or mother, for by so doing the
devilish ichor dripping from their ulcerous lips will eat through and poison the
whole family. The she-scorpions are
the samples which Satan's drummers
have located in each village to show to
mankind the meanest thing on earth or
in hell—a tell-tale termagant. Shut your
ears and doors against them. Let these
filthy fiends feel that you loathe them as
you do the sow that is. fresh from her
wallow. If the long-eared and long-
tongued hound comes into your presence,
bid him begone and return to his vomit.
Kick these skunks of society from your
path. Make them feel that they are no
more welcome to your homes or in your
presence than is the bedbug or the pole-
eat. Show these vermin that there is no
place for them in decent society, any
more than theie is for the buzzard, or
the bawd, or the house-infesting bat.
Sooner would we welcome to our humble
home a slimy snake than one of these
babbling, tattling, scandal-nerving cesspools that befoul society.—Ottumwa
(Iowa) Onward.
Mr0 yelileiclier's Bond Bill,
Representative Schleicher, of Texas,
has introduced a bill in Congress which
authorizes the Secretary of tne Treasury
to issue in sums not exceeding .in the
aggregate $40,000,000 coupon or registered perpetual bonds, redeemable only
by purchase in the open market, interest payable semi-annually in coin of the
present standard value, at the rate of 4
per cent, per annum, their proceeds to
be applied solely to the purpose of
erecting public buildings for the use of
the Government. The bill appropriates
for public buildings at Atlanta, Ga.,
$100,000; Chicago," $1,500,000; Cincinnati, $3,250,000; EvansviUe, $30,000;
Grand Rapids, Mich,, $50,000; Little
Rock, $150,000; Memphis, $400,000:
Nashville, $250,000; St. Louis, $1,600,-
000; State, War, and Navy Department
buildings, Washington, $5,000,000.
The bill also makes provision for the
extension -of the Library of Congress,
and an appropriation of $400,000 for a
building for the Bureau of Engraving
and Printing.
Soldiers and Lawyers,
An officer and a lawyer were talking
of a disastrous battle. The former was
lamenting the number of brave soldiers
who fell on the occasion, when the lawyer observed that " those who lived by
the ^sword must expect to die by the
iword," "By a similar rule," replied
the officer, "those who live by the law
I must ©xpeofc to dis by the law."
A man of parts—The barber.
A sbeing-bbd maker—The gardener.
Meat for repentance—Trichina
. A CABBiAGE-HoijsE—Aa espress-oi
Motto for a cat-show—"Com©to
scratch"."        . ^
An ice thing—A refrigerator. (That's
an ice joke, too,)
Home-made bread is good; also, hoe-
niade vegetables. ■
To flatteb a fool, askHs advice. T©
equal Mm, folio wit.
A wobd to topers—Don't complain so
much of your luek. It's all in your
rye. > -. ■  .      ■ •    ..    •
• The Jersey fisherman, when he gets
to be sentimental, sings of the "shad
sea waves."    "
The proof of the pudding ris in the
state" of your stomach the ffiteaiog after
you-haye ^aten it.
. NoMANWho doesn*t take Mstations
regularly (whenhe-oan.get them) can bo
called a rational being,   1
What relation are the occupants of &
rentedr,ljepse to the landlord? They
are his ten ants, aren't* they ? -
If there is anything in this world; of: %
more uncertain tenure "than J& minister's
salary, it isa^woman's thimble.    --'
It is singular how early m life a ehild*
gains the reputation of resembling .tfte
richest and best-looMng relations.        **
A little girl-told a playmate that two
miners had been at her house nearly'all
the week. The. miners referred to were
calciminers. .•"*-,        -
A Detboit man jumped intothe river
the other day to cure his toothache. He
must have what they call ** a jumping
toothache."
The Cincinnatians asLeny that -the
founders of their city weteL the descendants of'Ham. They very-"idea makes
them bristle with indignation. ;
There is a man only 25 .years of age/
who   has   already   married   lourteeB'-
women.   He is a clergyman, and ma/"
ried them to their husbands.
A betibed pugilist and a man who explains the meaning of something as®
=er,
■"■rl
*>.
/
was the
""for'bachelorism is a luxury."
sat, Paddy, that is. the worst-
^^Sr^amfe^^fe^?^^^^*^^^
h. eebson, being asked why halfiS!*
given his daughter in marriage to*fc$&asi
with whom he was at enmity, answeiei.»
"I did it out of pure revenge." ;
LiTTtE notes from, creditors,
Little bills oil slate,
Mate the average bank cashier
Behypothecate,
—St. Louis Post.
"Youbachelors ought_to be taxed,"
said Mrs. Lockford to a resolute evader
of the noose matrimonial.    "I agree
with you perfectly, madam,"
reply
"I sat, Paddy, that is
looking hqrse  you drive I ever
Why don't you fatten him up ?"
him up, is it ?   Eaix, the poor beast can
hardly carry the little mate that's on him
now," replied Paddy.
The young man whose fancy lightly
turned to thoughts of love, about a
month ago, had- better begin to buckle
down to; business and provide a sinking
fund against the advent of the ice-eream
season»-r-J>«c^.
"Tommt Leach," said the schoolmaster, " when your father drinks, what
vegetable does it remind you of?"
"Pars-nips," promptly responded the
boy. "Thomas," quoth the pedagogue,
"you may take your books and pars'
out." •-!.;
"Tat's de matter—vat's de matter?"
exclaimed • an old Dutchman, as he
tucked up his apron and ran out of his
shop to know the meaning of the crowd
in nis neighbs'-rhood—" vat's de matter?" "There's a man killed," replied
a bystander. "Oh, ish dot all?" said
our friend, evidently disappointed; " ish
dot all?—shoost a man killed ? Humph'
Itho't it vas a fight. "
"little."
A pompous attorney; -while trying a cause,
Was quizzing a -witness and " picking for flaws,"
The witness, who owed him a personal grudge,
Provoked him until he appealed to the Judge.
" I demand, sir," he cried, with a fiery red face,
" A little attention while trying this case."-
"Your Honor," responded the meek little man,
• I'm paying as little as any one can."
The Judge, with a frown,
Looked solemnly down
On the " squabble," and said, from the bench where
he sat,
"We want nothing but silence, and Utile of .that."
1 i
! I
i 1
! T
1
A Prussian Buel,
A Captain in the Sixty-fourth Prussian
regiment had been "oajing attention to
the young wife of tne Adjutant of trie
regiment, and had allowed himself to
speak publicly in a cynical manner of
his intimacy  with her.   The remarks
having been repeated by his brother officers to the husband, the latter laid the
matter before the Court of Honor of his
regiment, and, with the sanction of this
tribunal, a duel between the officers was
arranged.   The Lieutenant, being the
challenger,  demajided that   the  duel
should be fought with pistols.; the first
shots to be fired at fifteen paces' distance,
the opponents then being at liberty to
advance to within five paces of one another and the firing to be continued until one or other of the opponents should
be so severely wounded as to be unable
to fire any longer.   The meeting took
place in an open space in a wood near
the town.   At the first exchange of shots
the bullet of the Lieutenant grazed but
did not seriously injure the Captain;
and, at the fourth round, the latteE shot
his adversary through the the right lung
and heart.   The corpse of the Lieutenant was taken to Angermunde, where
the usual inquest was held, and thence
to Prenzlati, where the deceased officer,
who was  only 29 years of age, was
buried with military honors.   In sa order published by the commaadef of th®
regiment it was aaaouMed &s& fitemfe,
W. kod di©d Buddsaty sa4 Msaa©SeD£%,
USSIS*!*   «"»   .-'!!