The Exeter Times, 1888-12-20, Page 3"ROUGaG IT IN THEaLriliSH:"
CHAPTER XV,- Cononinms.
"1 saw the skeleton forms of halfeadozen
more of theta slinking :moue the bushea
that skirted a low bland; and tired and
cold, I gave myself and the oxen up for
lost, when I felt the ice tremble on when' I
stood, and heard men running , at a little
dietance. 'Fire your guns ?' I cried out, ae
loud as I could. lay order was obeyed, and
such a yelling and bowlivg immediately
filled the whole foreat as wquid have chilled
your very heart, The thievish varmints
Instantly fied away into the bush.
"1 never felt the least fear of wolves
nail that night; but when they meet in
large Wade, like cowardly dogs, they trust
to their numbers and grow fierce. If you
meet with one wolf, you may be oertain that
the whole pack is at no great distance."
We were fast appnoaohing bandy Point, a
long white ridge of sand, running heti morons
the lake and though only covered with
scattered groups of scrubby trees and, brush,
it effeetizally parcelled Stony Lake from our
view. There were so many beautiful floviera
peeping:through the dwarf, green bushes,
that, wishing to inspect them nearer, Mat
kindly rim the oanoe ashore, and told me
that he would show me a pretty spot, where
an Indian, who had been drowned during a
storm ofithat point, was buried. I immed-
iately recalled the story of Susan Moore's
father, bub Mat thought that he was interred
upon one of the island!! farther up. '
"18 is strange," he said, " that they are
snail bed 'swimmers. The Indian, though
unrivalled by us whites in the use of the
paddle, is an animal that does not take
readily to thenvater, and those among them
who inn swim selnom um it as a recreation."
Pushing our way through the bushes, we
oame to a small opening in the .underwootl,
so thickly grown over with wild Canadian
roses, in full blossom, thief' the air was im-
pregnated with a 'delightful odour. In the
centre of this bed of sweets rose the humble
nionnd that protected the bones of the red
man from the ravenous jaws of the wolf and
the wild cat. It: was completely covered
with atones, and from among the crevices
had sprung a tuft of blue harebells, waving
as wild and free as if they grew among the
bonny heather on the glorious hills of the
North or ohm* their tiny bells to the breeze
on the broom encircled commons of Eng-
land.
The harebells had always from a child
been with me a favorite flower; and the
first sight of it in Canada, growing npon
that lonely grave, so floOdel my. soul with
remembrances of the past that in spite of
myself the team poured freely from niy
eyes. There are momenta when it is lin-
poesible to repress those outgushings of the
heart -
"Those flood -gates of thereon' that !sever,
In passion's tide to part for ever."
If Mat and his sister wondered at my
tears; they must have suspected the cause,
for they walked to a little distance, and
left me to the indulgence cf my feelings. I
gathered.those flowers and placed them in
my bosom, and kept them for many a day;
they had become holy, when (leafletted with
• saored home recollections, and the never -
dying affection of the heart whioh the sight
of theni recalled.
A shout hem our companions in the other
canoe made un retrace our steps to the shore.
They had already rounded the point, and
were wondering at our absence.
Oh, what a magnificent scene of wild and
lo sly grandeur buret upon us as we swept
nen d the little peninsula, and the whole
inajesty of Stony Lake broke upon us at
once, another Lake of the Thousand Isles in
miniatnre, and in the heart of the wilderness'
Imagine a large sheet of water, some fifteen
miles in breadth and twenty-five in length,
taken up by islands of every BiZO and shape,
from the lofty naked rook of red granite to
the rounded hill,. covered with oak -trees to
its aummit ; while others were level with
the waters, and of a rich emerald green,
only fringed with a growth of aquatic
shrubs and flowers. Never did my eyes
rest on a more lovely or beautiful scene.
Not a vestige of man, or of his works was
there. The setting tun, that oast such a
gorgeous flood of- light upon this c xquisite
panorama, bringing out some of theae lofty
islands in strong relief, and casting others
into intense shade, shed no cheery beam
upon church spire or cottage pane. We
beheld the landscape, savage and grand in
its primeval beauty.
As we floated among the channels be-
tween these rocky picturesque isles, I asked
Mat how many ot them there were.
"1 never could succeed," he said, "in
counting them all. One Sunday, Pat and I
spent a whole day in going from one to the
other, to try and me.ka out how Many there
were, but we could only count up, to one
hundred and forty before we gave up the
task in despair. There are a great many of
them; more than any. one would think -
and, what is very singular, the channel
between them is very deep, sometimes above
forty feet, which accounts for the few
rapids to be found in this lake. It is V
glorious place for hunting ; and the waters,
undisturbed by steamboate, abound in all
sorts of fish. ,
" Most of these islands are covered with
huckleberries; while grapes, high and low,
bushed cranberries, blackberries, wild cher-
ries, gooseberries, and several other sorts of
wild 'currants grow here in profusion.
There is one island among these groups (but
I never could light upon the ' identical one)
where the Indians yearly gather their
wampum -grass. They come hem to collect
the beat birch -nark for their canoes and to
gather wild onions. In short, from d the
game, fish and fruit which they collect
among the islands of this lake, they. chiefly
depend for . their salosisterice. They are
very jealous of the white :settlers in, the
country coming to hunt and fish here, and
tell many stories of vsild beasts and' rattle-
seenes that abound along its shores; but
I; o have frequented the lake for years,
wn, 'es- g disturbed by anything, beyond
1
this dv pture with the wolf, which I have
alreadytad eott; The banks of this lake
are al steep and reeky, and the land along
the shore is barren, and totally unfit for
onitivetion.
"Had we time to run up a few miles fur-
ther, I Maid have tabooed you some places
well worth a journey to look at but the sun
is already down, and it will be dark before
we get back to the mill,"
The other canoe now floated alongside,
and Pat agreed with his brother that it was
high thee to 'return. With reluctance I
turned front this strangely fasoinating scene.
As we passed under one field, rooky Island,
Mat, said, laughingly, "That is Mount Ras-
cal."
•
"How did it obtain that neme ?"
ee
"Oh, we were out here berrying, with our
good priest, Mr. B----,--. This island
promised so fair, that WO tended upon it,
arid, aftev settolung for an hour, we returned
to the boat without a ,eingle berry, upon
a which Mr. B--namea. it ‘ Mount Rae
n cal."
, The bleed WAS so beautiful, it did, not
, , • de:large the name, and I obrietened it "Oak
fromthe abundance of oak -trees whioh
clothed its steep sides. The wood of this
oak is so heavy and hard that it will eot
goat in the water, and it 0 id great request
for the ruunets of lernber aleighs, which
have to•pase over very bad roads. "
The /stem, which nad rendered our sail
up the lakes so expeditions and :refrealibens
had stiffened into a pretty hivh wind, which
wee dead against us all the way down.
Betty now knelt iit the bow and assisted
her brother, equaw fashion in paddling the
canoe ; but in spite of all, their united exer-
laying light pieces of round timber eoroes
the trunks of ehe tree; and setting fire to
them at the point of contact, by whloh
means the trees are slowly burned through.
It was while busily engaged in this inter-
esting operation that I first became acquaint-
ed with the subject of this aketeh.
Some twenty or thirty little firth were
burning briskly in different parts of the
Macho/led field, and the old fellow wee
watohieg the slow progrese of his talents
"
niggers,' and replacingthem from time to
time as they eniouldered away. After
threading my way amen the uncouth logs,
blazing sea smoking in all directions, I en-
countered the old man, attired in an old bon-
net, or hood, of his wife Judy, with his
etched canvas trousers rolled up to his
done, it was past ten o'clock before we nem ; tem foot bare, and the other fur.
reached the mill. The good Norah was
wetting tea far aS. She had given the child-
ren their supper four houres ago, and the
little creatures, tired with using their feet
whet; with an old boot, whioh from its ap-
pearance had once belonged to some more
aristocratic foot. His person was long,
straight and sinewy, and there was a light
all day, were sound asleep upon her bed. springiness and elasticity in his step which
After supper, several Irish songs were would have suited ta younger man, as he
sung, while Pat played aeon the fiddle; a,nd skipped along with a long. handspike over
Betty. and Mat enlivened the oomnany with his shoulder. He was singing a etave mom
an Leah jig. the " Enniakilleu Dragoon" when I came up
It was midnight when the children were with him.
plated on my cloak at the bottom of the With his silver pistols, and his
long carbine,
canoe, and we bade adieu twthis hospitable
family. The wind being dead against us, We Long life to the brave Inniekillen dem
bright as day, and the oar warm and balmy ; lugubrious imagtnable, with his long,
goon."
were obliged to dispense with the sail, and
take to map:eddies. The moonlight was as His face would have been one of the most
and the aromatic, resinous smell exudeVetti Mingled hair hanging confueedly over it, in
the heat from the belmeesn giliead and nhe a manner whioh has been happay compared
pine -trees of the foredo elded greatly to to a " bewitched haystack," had it not been
our sense of, enjoyment So WO floated past for a certain humorous twitch or convulsive
Menem so wild and lonely -isles that assumed movement, which affected one aide of his
a mystenions look and character in that
witohing hour. In moments like these I
mimed to regret my separation from my
native land; and, filled with the love of
Nature, my heaat forgot for the time the
lov'e of home.' The very spirit of peace
seemed tobrobd over the waters, winch
were broken into a thousand ripples of
light by every breeze that stirred the rice
blossoms, or whispered throngh the ehiver.
ing aspen -trees. The far-off roar of the
rapids, softened brdistance, and the long,
monreful ory of die night -owl alone broke
the silence of the night. Amid these lonely
wilds the soul draws nearer to God, and is
filled to overflowing by the overwhemling
sense of His presence.
Item two otalook in the morning when
we fastened the mime to the landing, and
Moodie carried up the children to the house.
I found the girl still up with my boy, who
had been very restless during our absence.
My heart reproached me as I caught him to
my breast, for leaving him so long; in a
few minutes he was consoled for past eor-
rows, and sweetly sleeping in my arms.
OAITADIAN SONO.
Come, launch the light canoe;
The breeze is fresh and strong :
The summer skies are blue,
And 'tie joy to float along;
Away o'er the waters,
The bright -glancing waters,
The many -voiced waters,
As thee dance in light and song.
When the great Creator spoke,
On the long unmeasured night, "shanty," with hollowed basswood logs,
The living day•spring broke, fitting into eaoh other somewhat in the man -
And the waters own'd His might; ner of tiles for a roof, instead of shingles.
No iron WaS to be seen' in the absence of
which there were plentyof leathern hinges,
wooden latches for locks and bark -strings
instead of nails. There was a largefire-place
at one end of the shanty, with a chimney,
constructed of splib laths, plastered with a
mixture of clay and cowdung. As for win-
dows these were luxuries that could well
be dills:meted witheetlea semen -floor webs .an
excellent substitute for them in the daytime,
and at night none were required. When I
ventured to object to this airangement, that
he would have to keep the door shut in the
winter time the old man replied, in the
style SO oharIcteristic of his country, "Shure
it will be time enough th think of that when
MISCELLANEOlre.
So. called "revoiutions" in industry, oon-
eequent upon discovery and invention, follow
etre another so quicitly in these days that we
hate well nigh lost the feeulty of wonder, as
"revolution" we:reeds "revolution' with
hewildering rapidity. One of the latest ie
Baia to be an approaching "evolution" in
telegraphy owing to the alleged discovery
by a Spanish sevant of a method of sending
despatches without the use of batteries. Pre-
liminery teats in the presence of expert wit -
misses are said to have proved thoroughly
successful. '
We congratulate Mr. Q.Conno); verY
heartily on Ina victory over Teenier. It is
something for Torontonians to be proud
about, thetrn this young IriehUanadian
they have a champion who memo so likely
to prove himselt et worthy saccessor of Han-
lon, who may now be set down as out of the
rete. His day is done, and he must be con-
tent to pieta the pas to younger men. He
need not be *sloes, however, as he has a
brilliant record of victory on which to
look back and content hinieelf in the hour
of his decrease. We trust that O'Conner will
always show himself worthy of the respect as
well as the admiration of the people of
Toronto.
The recently formed plan of putting down
the East African Slave Trade promises to be
successful, It is to take the form of a strict
bloCkede of the coast by the Eoglish and
German fleets assisted so far by the Frenoh.
By this arrangement it is expected that the
imports neceasary for carrying on the slave
trade will be stepped and Mr the same time that
there will be no outlet, and conseimently no
countenance, whenever any droll idea PaBsed will
for the slaves brought down to the
through his mind. It was with a twitch of eeen.
By this plan, combined with the en
this kind, and a Certain indescribable otowt;rgement of legitimate trade, it is very
twinkle of his somewhat melancholy eye, as naturally expected that, as in the case of
he seemed intuitively to form a hasty mu" the Wein Airman slave trade, this accursed
°option of the oddity of his appearance to a iness along the Eastern shores of the oon
stranger unused to the bush, that he wen an
will within a comparatively ithorb
corned me to his clearing. He instantly "titn"Tio
altogether destroyed. •
threw down his handspike, and leaving his
For years Rad the world has been watch-
" niggera " to finish their work at their
ing with anxiety and protesting against the
leisure, insisted on our going to hie house to
growth of European armaments, and the
get something to drink.
On the way; I explained to him the object increase of the burden of taxation necessary
for the maintenance thereof ; yet the pro-
of my visit. which was to mark ont, or
pro -
" blaze", dee side -lines of a lot of land I had oess still goes on. To -day Russia is seeking
borrow $100,000,000 for the purpose of
received as part of a military grant, imme-
keeping up her display of strength; Ger-
diately asked him to accompany me, as he was well
the sZialve ant, thse$r6fit,00t00; ,0a d Englandinorrto s isneorri se ausas
acquainted with the different lots.
ly thinking of expending $50,000,000 in the
"Ooh!by all manner ot manes, and wel- same manner. What is all this to end in ?
come; the dhevil a foot of the way but I If not war at an early period, with its fright -
know as well as my own clearing; but come
, ful cost and its attendant horrors, is there
into the house and get a dhrink of milk, an not a danger that•the over -burdened people
a bite of bread an' butther, for sorrow a
may be driven to revoltn,gahist the tyranny
dhrop of the whiskey has crossed my teeth
and oppression of the system of militarism
for the last month; an' it's but poor inter -
which is slowly grinding them into the dust?
tainment for man or baste I can offer you,
As everybody who knew anything about
but shure you're heartily welcome."
the matter fully expected, the researches of
The precincts of the homestead were di-
d a the Mining Commission which the Ontario
vided into an infinity of enclosures,
Government appointed, are confirming the
shapes and sizes. The outer enclosure was
opinion, that as yet the majority of Cana..
a bush fence, formed of trees felled on eaoh
diens have very faint conceptions of the
other in a row, and the gaps filled up with
brtishwood. There was a large got„,,,nieg minetal wealth of their country. There is
iron ore in abundance, perhaps in inexhanst-
with wooden hinges, and a wooden latch to
ible abundance. There is silver. There is
fasten it; the smaller enclosures were made
copper. There is marble, too, and much
with round poles, tied together with bark.
other buried wealth which will make coming'
The house was of the rudest deseription of
generations rieh and powerful, meanwhile
the present generations seems to stand and
gaze like Joshua's moon at Askelon, not
knowing what to do about it. Ca,piteliste
are timid and will not risk loss in setting
up blast furnaces, and giving •ue oscular
demonstration, of what experts a -
fact, that we can manufacture as
as any on the continent.
The voice of many waters,
Of glad, rejoicing waters,
Of living, leaping waters,
First hailed the dawn of light.
• Where foaming billows glide
. To earth's remotest bound;
The rushing imean tide
Rolls on annemlemn sound;
- Goa'svoice is in the waters;
The deep, mysterious waters,
, The sleepless, • dashing waters,
Stall breathe its tones around.
CHAPTER XVI. -THE "Otrea Dwitatioorr."
the °oak" weather sets in," Everything
It is delightful to observe a feeling of about the home wore a Robinson Crnsoe as
-
contentment under adverse circumstances. Peon and though there Was not any appear -
'We may mile at the rude and clumsy at. mice of original plan or foresight, there was
tempts of the remote and isolated back- no lack of ingenious contrivance to meet
woodsman to attain something like comfort,
but happy he who, with the bouyant, spirits
of the light-hearted Irishman, dontrives to
make himself happy even while all others
would be miserable.
A certain degree of dissatiafaction with
our present circumstances is necessary to
stimulate us, to exertion, and thus enable us
to &Imre future comfort; but where the
delusive prospect of future happiness is too
remote for any reasonable hope of ultimate
attainment, then surely it is true wisdom to
make the most of the present and to 'culti-
vate the spirit of happy contentment with
the lot assigned to ns by Providence.
" Ould Simpson,' or the " Ould Dhrea
goon," as be was generally called, was a
good sample of this happy charaoter ; and I
shall prooeed to give the reader a sketoh of
his history, and a description of his Wenn
lishment. He was one of that unfortureite
Mass of discharged soldiers who are tempted
to sell their pensions often far below their
true value, for the sake of getting a lot of
land in some remote dettlemena where it is
only rendered valuable by the labour of the
settler, and where they will have the un-
enviable privilege of expending the last re-
main8 of their strength in clearing a patch of
land for the benefit of some grasping store-
keeper who has given them credit while en-
gaged in the work.
The old dragoon had fixed his abode on
the verge of an extensive beaver meadow,
which was considered a sort of natural curi-
osity in the neighborhood; and where he
managed by cutting the rank grass in the
summer time, to support several cows, which
afforded the chief subsistetion of his family.
He had also Managed, with the assistance of
his devoted partner, Judy, to clear a few
acres of poor rooky land on the sloping mar-
gin of the level meadow, which he planted
year after year with potatoes. Scattered
over this small clearing, here and there,
might be seen the but•ena of some half -burnt
hemlock tree, which had escaped the general
combustion of the log heaps, and now form-
ed a striking contrast to the white limestone
rock e whioh showed their rounded surfaces
above the meagre soil.
The " ould dhragoon" seemed, moreover,
to have some taste for the picturesque, and
by the way of ornament, had left standing
sundry tall pines and hemlocks neatly
girdled to destroy their foliage, the shade of
which would have been detrimental to the
"blessed pratiee" which he deignee to grow
in his clearing, but Which, in the meantime,
like martyre at the stake, stretched their
naked nranches imploringly towarde the
heavena. As he was a kind of hermit, from
choice, and far removed from other settlers,
whose assistance is so necessary in new,set-
dements, old Simpeon weal:compelled to re•
sort 'be the most extraordinary contrivances
while clearing hie land. Thee, after felling
the trees, inetead of cheeping them into'
lengths,' for the perporse of facilitating Ono
operation of piling them preparatory to'
burning, which Would have oost hira toe
much labor, he resorted to the practice of
"niggering," as ib ie called ; Which re simply
every want as it arose.
Judy dropped us a low curtseyas we en-
tered, which was followed by a similar com-
pliment from a stout girl of twelve, and two
or three more of the children, who all seemed
to share the pleasure of their parents in re-
ceiving strangers in their unpretending tene-
ment. Many were the apologies that poor
Judy offered for the homely cheer she fur-
nished us, and great was her delight at the
notice we took of the " ohildher." She set
little Biddy, who was the pride of her heart •
to reading the Bible; and she took down ie
curious machine from a shelf, which she had
" oonthrived out of her own head," as she
said, for teaching the children to read.
This was a fiat box, or frame, filled with
sand, which saved paper, pens, and ink.
Poor Judy had evidently seen better days,
but, with a humble and contented spirit,
she blessed God tor the food and scanty
raiment their labor afforded them. Her
cal," sorrow was the want of " idication" for
the Ihildren.
ihe would have told tis a long story about
ti trials and sufferings, before they had
attained their present comparative comfort
and independence, but, as we had a tedious
scramble before us, through cedar -swamps,
beaver -meadows, and the piny ridges, the
" ould dragoon" out her short, an we
straightway started on our toilsome journey.
Sibmson, in spite of a certain dash of
melancholy in his composition, was one of
those happy fellows of the "light heart and
thin pair of breeches" school who, when
they meet with difficulty or misfortune, never
stop to measure its dimensions, but hold in
their breath and run lightly over, as in
crossing a bog, where to stand still is to
sink. wet
(To BE OONTmutn.)
rearfully'and WenderfallY Made.
Avoid quotations, unless you are well
!studied in their import and feel their per-
tinence. A nian the other day, while look-
ing at the skeleton of an ate which had been
dug out of a sandpit, and admiring and won-
dering at the structure of that despised ani-
malmade a very mab.adroit use of one
"Ah 1" said he, with the deepest humanity,
and a simplicity worthy of Le Fontaine,
" are fearfully and wonderfully made 1"
The turkeys and chickens are '„beginaing
to roost high and far off.
The Prince of 'Wales was so delighted
with the Hungarian national danee (the
" Cseadae ") that he has made arrangements
to introdace le to English society. It will
be a feature at the fashionable London balls
thee season.
Several glass faetomes now cut the large
cylinders of window glans by encircling the
oylinder With a fino Wire) which is thee
heated to eedness by an electric current,
inid a drop of water being allowed to fall
Upon the hot glees, a perfectly clean out is
obtaitted. The old method was to draw out
a fibre of white-hot settilanotten glass from
the fetnace by means of Mega and to wrap
It rotted this cyltraler,
T e likelihoods seem to predi
the nesent winter three of the
tiet tstraterniefainfilinnn nj
or tither perhaps it would be more strictly
eat to thy of the pissing generation -will
co
have passed away. one ol these is a famous
poet, another is an equally famous Eccles-
iastic, known perhaps as widely by his world
renowned hymn, "Lead, KindlyLight," as
by his theological services or opinions, and
the third is a not leas famous Statesman.
One is a large Episcopalian, one an ardent
Catholic, and one a conscientious Quaker,
All three names, it is safe to any, are carved
high on the list of the Immortal. All of
them are worthy. of memorials in the shrine
which England has dedicated M the worship
of her God, and the memory of her best and
greaten!. It is hardly necessary to say, that
we refer to Lord Tennyson, Cardinal New-
man, and Mr, John Bright.
They have a Board of Railroad and Ware-
house Commissioners in tlae State of Minne-
sota, which, acting under 'instructions from
the State Leglelature, has been probing the
question of the best method of heating rail-
road caratand has reached conclusions which
are likely to be embodied in useful legisla-
tion during the winter. They unhesitating-
ly condemn the oar stove, an antiquated
abomination around whioh there !Mould by
this time have gathered associations of hor-
ror enough to banish it henceforth, for all
time. It is not by any meane a question of
having the oars heated by stoves, or not
heated at all, fbr the perfect feasibility of
adapting steam heat has already been tried
by the Rook Island road, as mentioned last
week, among others. May the day soon
come when our Canadian roads also will of
theta own accord free their patrons in this
way from fears of roasting. If they do nob,
some means will have to be found of forcing
their hend, with more or fess decisiveness.
Amid all the pessimi die outcry about the
foriner timer having been better than these,
it is pleasant to notice from the regular official
returns that theprisonpopulation of Britain is
always becoming smaller while the general in-
crease of inhabitants proceeds as usual. In the
course of ten years the numberof prisoners in
England and *Wales sank from 20,833 to 14,-
536, a diminution of 30 per cenefrom 1877,
to 1887. Another very gratifying fact is
that the reduction in the number of female
prisoners has been greater than among the
melee, for while the fallingoff in the num-
ber of men has been only 25.3 per cent. the
felling off of the female prisoners has been
41,2 per cent. If a still wider range of view
is taken the conclusions to be drawn are still
more gratifying. Daring the last quarter
of re century the lowest number of prisonere
Saint Nicholas,
Saint Nioholes was the !nest netsuke of
the mint! in the Ddiddle Ages. No other
wtohboysemnoarmee piseopinlet,heoreabirtharostr4aoPPwleierde
more unlike character and oircumetamthe.
He was made the patron of the common
people, of laborers, of prisoners, of eleves, of
travellers, sailors!, butchers, robbers, clerks,
scholars, and in a very special manner of
good gide and of boys. He has been
made the retain seine of Russia much in the
Bente way diet St, George is the patron of
flOg114tialede.life of this saint nothing ts known
with certainty. The most trustworthy ac-
00Uat Says that he was a native of Patare in
Lycia. As to the time of his birth it is less
confident. The supposed dote is in the
third century of our era, and his life
possibly extended into the fourth cen-
tury. He is mentioned most frequently as
hawing lived. under the reign of Constantine
the Great.
Nicholas was Bishop of Myra in Lyoia.
About six hundred years after his death his
body was removed from that place to Bari,
on the Southeaatern comt of Italy. He
had already become famous at the time
of this removal, and his reputation for
performing miracles continued to grow
rapAsidaly,
specimen of what was reported to
his credit, Sir Richard Torkingtom, who
made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in
1517; tells the following: "We passed the
Isle of Seynt Nicholas, where be tooles made
of Iron that never lose their edgge by my-
irsaaolsetso.%Seynt Nicholas; as they say -I saw
The day which, in the calendar, 'de-
dicated to Saint Nicholas Is the 6111 of
December. It is surprising to find the ob-
servance of that day postponed to the Christ-
mas holidays. When the °flange took
place, and how it was brought about, worild
not be easy to discover at this day. That
this observance and our present usage of
making presents at Christmas are one and
the same practioe will be seen from the
following account of the custom given by
an early English writer:
"From a very early day it has been
oustomary, on the eve of St Nicholas's Day,
for children to pub their stockings, shoes, or
slipper!! hi the bedrooms of those from whom
they expect or desire favors, when, sure
enough, next mornina their little feet -pieces
are replete with sweetmeats, toys or coins."
The manner of observing Sb.'Nioholas's
Eve described byes poet of two or three
hundred years ago at considerable length.
ilniaososm: can be found here for only a few
"Children on the eve do cause to fast;,
And when they every one at night in !sense-
less sleep are case
Both apples, nuts and pears they bring, and
other things beside,
As caps, and shoes and petticoats, whioh
secretly thent'hide,
And in the morning found, they say, that
this St. Nicholas brought."
Th0 shows that at that; time in England
presents were made onethe eve of the 6th
of Deoemberinstead of at Christmas, as now.
In the Greek Church and in the north of
Europe, however, sohoolboys still invoke
the liberality of St. Nicholas or Santa Claus,
as he isnow commonly called, on that night.
How St. Nicholas could become patron to
charaoters so unlike as robbers and good
boys is a matter now_,d_inon41nttheisunIsdaesrrestalinagds.
- As to this samrs peenamee ,
only know that itachwas therelation. High
waymen were called St. Nicholas's clerks
Rowley says, "1 think yonder come pranc
ing down the hills, from Kingston a couple'
of Si. Nicholas's clerks's."
Christ's Sympathy for Toilers.
;When a man's heart' is crushed within
hurt by the galling eyranny of sense ; when,
from the dawning of the day till the setting
of the sun, and for hours beyond it, he re
compelled to gather straw for Egypt's
bricks, and to bake them in the world'a
scorching kiln, till the spring of life is dried
up within, and he is ready to say, let me
but eat and drink and sleep, for there ie
nothing real but this endless teak -
work; then, how sweet to say to
one's sell: "And a oloud received
him out of their sight." Yes, just out of
sight, but as certainly as if the eye could
pierce it, there is a heaven all bright, all
pure, all real; there is One there who has my
very nature, in it toiled as ceaselessly as the
most care -worn and world-lader of us all, hav-
ing no Manse, and no leisure so much as to eat.
He 0 there -His warfare accomplished, His
life's labour fulfilled : He is there, at rest,
yet still working, working for me, bearing
me upon his heart, feeling .for and feeling
with me, in each trial and in each tempta-
tion ; an not feeling only, but praying too,
with that intercession which is not only near
but inside God ; and not interceding only,
but also ministering grace hour by hour, com-
ing into me with the very thought and recol-
lection of good, that exact purpose, and re-
• solution and aspiration, which is needed to
keep me bravo aud to keep me pure. -Mr.
• C. 17. Vaughan.)
Tassel With a Big Catamount.
While George Hardy and his son, a lad of
thirteen, were hunting opossums in the
wooded country adjoining Bennett's Mills,
Ohio, ther dogs treed what was supposed to
be one of the animals they were hunting.
Hardy lib • a torch and stationed the boy
some distance off, and approaohed the tree
to get a shot at the beast, when he yeas
horrified to see the animal springing through
the air directly toward his son. It struck
the little fellow and bore hint to the
ground, its claws, clutching in the clothing
on hie shoulder, tearing away a large chunk
of flesh. Mr, Hardy rained heavy. blows on
was rn 18o2.3, when there was a prison its back and head with a club. The oats -
illation 16,70Ce out of a . total population
pop. mount left the boy and sprang at the man,
of 18,400,000. This shwa that :last year, overcoat, which was battened closely about
its teeth fastening in the heavy lapel of his
with ten million more people, there were the neck. /6 would. have seized his throat
2000 fewer prieon ere than there were thirty-six
yearn ego. It woold he well if the sarne
thing mufti be mad of all the countries the
world over, and so far this can be said. At
a general rule the criminal population is not
increasing so rapidly as it lewd to dm
Hesults of Mouth Breathing%
Many diteese germs enter through an
open mouth. The mouth was not made for
breathing, but for letting and speaking.
The nose was made for breathing, and the
air, palming through the loom moist meal
Menages, is purified, and leaves behind duet,
dithase garner and. valets hnptirities, while
the air le wanted and tempered for the
lunge. Bat when the trieuth xs left open,
dust, dirt and disease rush down into the.
lungs and, hastening there, develop and
&Stray the Whole system.-tBoeten Budget,
but for the heevy goods warding off the
attack. eBy this time the dogs • had !seized
the beast aed dragged it to the ground,
where after a hard battle in which the doge,
Hatay and the boy all joined, it wee dis-
patched. The boy was terribly !matched
about the shoulder and left skio of blie face.
The nether edoaped With the lots of his over-
coat and 4 few deep cute on his chin and jaw.
The catamount mestueea nearly five feet,
and is one of the heaviest mein:We of its kind
ever seen in this !section.
Hit Sore Note.
g�11, Mr. Do Groom, am t your nose aw.
fol tore ?" Mr. Ds Groom*" Why, no, Ebba ;
what nude you think so ?" Etta-"Oli,
mamma said you had your nese down to the
grindstone ever abide you were marriegf, ate
I thotight it must be strful tore by this
se the New yut# Custom House, Among
There are twenty-three women inspectors
NOtee for Women.
then; is a sister of Rance Conkling. Whey
receive $21 per week.
And yet another Anim ican girl is to Marry
a foreigner and a title. The engagement is
announced of Baron Von Schroeder. of the
Pruseien Imperial Gueueln, to Mies Peach-
ard, of Boston.
It is said that the aneth o‘ Bonanza,
Banker Fled will give his daughter, Mise
Jennie, $50,000,030 and make her the
richest youug woman in the world. She
is fairly well to do now. It is related that
one day as she was sitting in her sewing
chair, her father dropped $2,500,000 of 4
per cent, U. S.bondean her hip.
Some distructive c ality has always been
assodated in the patio mind with the lady
of the White House. With Mrs. Grant it
was interest in national affairs; with MM.
Hayes, Temperance; with Mrs. Cleveland,
beauty, and with Mrs. Harrison it promises
to be domesticity. Nearly all the inems
about her tell of her doing her oWn
marketing and praise her skill as a house-
keeper.
A letter from Alabama tells of a girl
"who can drive like Jehu, ride and shoot
like a cowboy, run like a professional and
swim like a duck. ' She will go rowing with
no oompany but her dog and gun, and she
can drop her oars, !spring to her feet with
her gun and shoot a marsh 'hen or a gros-
beak without rocking the boat or misplacing
the oars. She sleeps on pillows of down
from birds and duoke killed by her own
hand, and expects by nextr spring to have
enough feathers of the same kind M make a
feather bed."
Mrs. Harrison is an enthusiastic china
painter ancl showed a correspondent the
other day with pride a set of salad and fruit
plates carefully painted under the instenc-
tion of a skilful Dresden artist now' in
Indianapolis. Each plate was decorated
with the separate ingredients of a salad.
One bore a delicate spray of celery, another
bore a sliced lemon ora bit of lettuce, an-
other a red tomato cut in half, and so on
through the order of pickles, carrots calms,
cucumbers and purple beets. The frnit
plates were finely designed with different
fruit -currents, gooseberries, plums and
grapes. Among other gems were a water-
color of pansies and a large square bile with
chrysanthemums.
Twenty-five years ago the now Princes
of Walea and tnture Queen of England wale
living on the third floor of a cornet' house in
Copenhagen, and her father, who no one
ever dreamed then of being a King, was
poorer than m eny a burgher in the same
street. She and her two sisters, now the
ermine of Russia and the Daohess of Cum-
berland, occupied the same room, scantily
furnished, and instead of a wardrobe a oar-
tain drawn across the wall hid the pegs on
which their few dresses hung. They had
never worn at silk dress in them livers. Now
Alexandra doubtless has all the dresses sin
wants, but it is more than likely that the
looks back with pleasure upon those years 12
the happiest of her life.
Almost any morning about 3 otcldok in
Charleston, S.C.., a lady who has nerne, not
nerves, may be seen going home &cm her
work. She is proofreader for The Charles-
ton World. She comes from it family which
is known both for brains and pluck. Her
duties take her to the office of the news-
paper about 8 o'clock every night andde-
tain her .nest he
outntilr el v3 upon nmexbere melragi
out ane
what "her hands find to do" she does is
with all her might."
Tongue Testers.
The popularity of Peter Piper's celebrate
ed peck of pickled peppers will probably
iever wane as a snare to catch the tongue
that would fain be agile; but thee test hae
formidable rivals. The following short
sentences, as their authors maintain, do
i
wonders n baffling the ordinary power of
speech :-
Gaze on the gay gray brigade.
The sea ceaseth, and it suffieeth ns.
Say, should such a shapely men *lobby
stitches show?
Strange strategic statistie.s.
• Give Grimes %TIM'S gilt gig -whip.
Sarah in a shawl shovelled soft snow
seftly.
She sells Bea shells.
A cam of coffee in a copper coffee-pot.
Smith's spirit flask eplit Philip's sixth aim
ter's fifth squirrel's skull.
A Story of Lord Westbury.
The London "Athenteum" preserves "this
story of the late Lord Chancellor Westbury
--" In his later life, whenhe was sitting
regularly on the Judical Committee of the
Privy Council, he met ex-Chiefjustice Erle,
and asked him why he (Minot attend. "For
three very gond and suffioient reasons," said
Sir William Ede : "because I ant old, be-
cause I am deaf, and became I am stnrad.'
"Those are not impediments," said Lord
Westbury; " is very old, --- is very
deaf, and— is very stupid, and yet we
four make an excellent court."
Blighted Ambition.
Billy -Hello, Jimmy 1 'Why don't yon
oome out an' play wid the fellers?
Jimmy -I dassen't
Billy -What for!
Jimmy -You know that book we was
retain' out in de barn? Well, X ran away
and was goin' to be de Scourge o' de
Plains," but before I got to the Souls' Side,
pop ketched me.
Billy -Ave, come on ont.
Jimmy -I nassen't. Pep took my panto
and hid 'em.
A Redeeming Featuret
Dismal dude-" Life has no Aar= for
me, I sometimes fhink I with I were dead."
Miss Blunt-" Well, there is one comfort
about suicide. It usually strikes the right
pereon,"
Indoor Games for Winter.
As cold weather and our deadly northern
winter comet again to shut us up, some in.
doors and. some in the grave, there are games
With balls to help drive the destroyer away.
All these are good. They bring every hua.
de into play and especially Mean the aye air
it followe the flying sphere to and fro. to awrift
atoommodation of vision. /3attledoro and
shattlecook, played ina omel hall At large
room, is next best to tonnim and it is aston-
lolling how much sport may be gained there.
Trinuting fut i selaote treed abonb the'
bottom of fur or cloth coat!, but silk era
brocade pennies are !metal:nth bound ail,
around with fur. '
vetr.14.44441.,11444.41.•,.