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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1889-6-28, Page 3JUNE 18, 1888, 0. �asxtttrmAmw�.� _.. , THE SALLINGTON GHOST. When it was known that the Wolferde had pnrchaoed " the old Ballington plane " and would move into the great homes which had been standing empty for years, there was head-haktug in the community, and more than one lady waa heard to way, "Well, I'm nob eoperatitiouo, bub I'd hate to live in that home." The Ballingtone had, for several goner% tions been one of the wealthieet familiee in the neighborhood, and 18 had been a part of bho family policy to marry wealth, Ib wan generally understood drab the marriage of the last representative of the name—or rather the last ono who had reached man's estate, for he had a little eon—had been founded on this oonsiderutioo, mud had boon of his father's making rather than his own. Hie young wild, a pale, quiet, ,dreamy• eyed lady, never made any effort to oulti. vete friendly relations with her neighbors. She returned the Ballo which she received, bub her visite were always brief and formyl and her conversation confieed to the more elegant commonplaces, It was remarked by those who visited her, that she always received them in a loose white wrapper, in summer, made'of muslin or some light wool material ; in winter of cashmere or flannel trimmed with velvet or satin. Though she was never heard to complain of invalidism, and she was always scrum lonely neat—even elegant—in her attire, she always presented the appearance or at least euggested the idea, cf baying just arisen fram aomo plane oiinva:id-like loung- ing. She had two ohildrea, a boy, a sturdy little ohap mush like hie father, who carried the ohild with him everywhere he went, as Boon as bo was large enough to take out of the house so much, and a little girl, the miniature of her mother, and like her, always olad in white. It was rumored that the conjugal tffootton existing between Bernard Ballington and his wife was nob very strong, and that the poor lady did not reaeivo the kindest treat. menttrom her husband. Certain it was he had seemed moody and restless ever since his marriage, and there seemed some truth in the assertion of the goeelpe that hie affection was centered on his boy. The mother woe left to console herself with her little girl, of whom the seemed very fond, In a listless sort of a way. When this child was two years old she sickened and died, After thia, the mother looked paler and more dreamy than ever, and it was averred, by tho ever -busy gossips that her husband gave her nob a portlale of sympathy in ber bereavement, Within a few months she, too, died, suddenly and mysteriously. This event oauaed no alight sensation in the neighborhood, and it was whispered by some that the poor lady died of poisoning ; by others, that the was ad- dicted to the opium habit and her death had ensued from an overdose of the drug. Whether the one or the other of these re ports was true, no one ever knew. The fami ly physician, in learned terms, gave an ex- planation of her death which the sensation - loving utterly refused to believe. Immediately after the funeral, Bernard Ballington left for parte unknown, taking with him his little eon, and report mid he had another companion in the person of a beautiful and fascinating lady of a neighbor• ing city. Since then until the purchase of the Bal- lington plane by Mr. Welford, through Mr. Ballington's agent. the house had been unin habited ; but rumor declared that a noc turnal visitant, clad in a long white robe, was frequently seen wandering abonb the place, slowly moving its hands up and down and giving vent to bhe moat piteous and sepuichral moans. This it was which led so many unsuperetitiouo ladies to deolaro a pre- judice against living in the Ballington house. But Mrs, Welford was not only no. suporatitienu, but unprejudiced also, and being an affectionate and dutiful spouse, and having the utmost confidence in the finan- cial sagacity of her haaband, when he re presented to hor that the purchase of tho Ballington property would be a good invest- ment, its unpopularity having brought the price down very low, she consented without demur to take up her abode in the "haunt- ed house." The Wolferds took possession of their new home in midwinter, Mr. Wolford,, the energetic, declaring that he did not want " a moving scrape" on hand in the spring, at bhe bimo when he ought to be pushing the farm work, He would take time by the forelock, and spend the remainder ot the winter in getting everything in readiness for vigorous work during the " cropping season." The day on which the evem-to.be dreaded moving took plaoe was olear but oold, and the earth was covered with a . glittering sheet of snow. The great old house was dank and dratby, and dinoomforb reigned supreme. But by dint of unremitting labor, tugging, tacking, hammering, arranging and "fixing' generally, by evening several carpet's were put down, curtains hung, furniture arranged and cheerful firer burning in eitting-room, dining -room and kitahen. Still, it waa, not until almoeb eight o'clock that the family, very tired and very hungry, seated themselves ..around a bountifully ape ad supper table, Said Mre. Welford, "I was determined to have something good for supper as we had to put up with a cold dinner." Something good 1 She did have "some, thing good" indeed. Ib was such a`eupperas might have made a dyspopbia shudder. There were hot bieouits, fragranb coffee, waffles, light and hot, with tender, (clap, curled cages, bhe lovelieat of golden batter and the richeat of dream, scarcely the worse for having been shaken and frozen on the way, cold boiled "old ham," the besb ot fried haulage, clear, delicato.fl,avored honey, fried potatoes, pickled pig's feet and sweet -pickled "Indian" peaohee. "This is something like comfort," maid Mr. Welford, aa, after a hastily said "grace" he conveyed to his plate a steam• ing forkful of waffles. "T'his does nob look much like a plane that a ghost would oath to ocme to," he added, glaueing over the well•filled table and around the oozy room. "I,don't think her ghostahip will intrude upon us," said hie wife, smilingly, "1 aint afraid of no ghost," aeeerted Fred, the aeoond hopeful eon, cutting a " pat" of sausage in two and oremming half of ib into hie month. They really did nob look like pporsone with whom a ghostly personage could have much in common, that healthy, ruddy faced family, with their faces, rendered atilt more ruddy by the day's exposure to cold and the 1ubsequenb baekieg by the glowing fire, The family oonsiotod of the father, mother and five ohildren—bwo boys, egad respect• ively twelve and fourteen, and three little girls, After supper Mr. Welford said to his +wife, "I believe I'll jueb take tho boys and .gobank to the old piece and stay all night. 'We oan make it, easy, by ton o'olook, and In the morning wo oan got up and load up the thin a that are left there, and he bee* in tgrine For breakfast, if yeu don't got lb too earl ; and I don't think yon will answered hie wife, "mad perhaps it would be bettor for aomo one to be et) the old plane to -night, to she that nothing le dfs• tubed," And you think you won'b bo afro id f the ghost, with nobody here but Mollie and the children 1" laughed Mr. Welford. " I am not at all afraid of the ghost, I think we have already changed the interior of the house eo much that oho would fear to enter it; and besides I don't think ghosts ever care to visit persons of my tempora• moot," replied Mra. Welford. " No, 1 don't think they do," answered Mr. Welford, leaking ab his bamboo= blooming wife, end mentally congratulating himself than few women wero oo "omarb" and independent as she. The horses were thou brought out and hitched to the wagon, and the father and sons were speeding off over the crisp snow which sparkled in the bright moonlight, By ton o'clock the inmates of the Bal. lington house were snugly onsconoed in bed, Mollie the 000k, was not so courage:m a as Mrs. Welford and insisted so earnestly that she, Mra. Welford and the three little girls all sleep in the lame room, that euoh an arrangement was made, Mrs. Welford had slept she knew nob how long, when she was roused, she fancied, by a stop coming slowly down the ebairs which led up from the ball. 1b was a heavy light stop, if so paradoxical a description mlghb be given ; a lingering, languid, and withal, stealthy tread. The steps came nearer and presently the door was pushed noiselessly open and a white -robed female figure glided into the room. Terror•bound and unable to move Mra. Welford lay and watched ib. It passed slowly np and down the room, moving its hands np and down and uttering dismal, aepulohral moans. It approached the trundle -bed in whish two of the children were sleeping. With horror the agonized mother, still enable to move a muscle or utter a Bound, gazed upon the ghoulish creature as it bent over her dear. lingo. Ib breathed upon their faces and suddenly the change of death came over them. There they lay upturned in the bright moonlight, pale and rigid with oyes as blankly staring as those of her who had breathed upon them. Tho destroyer turned from them and re. mimed her pacing np and down the room, toning up and catching something which looked like a ball of coagulated blood. Watching her with the fascination of hor- ror as she moved about, Aire Welford ob- eerved that her hands were peculiar, round, fingerless members, like nothing else in the world so much as waffles. Ab length, as ehe continued her movements in the moonlight, which seemed to grow brighter and still more supernaturally bright, Mrs. Welford noticed that the thing which she fireb thought to be a ball of blood now appeared to be a pickled Indian peach, such as hod been on the table for supper. Whatever it was, the horrible apparition dropp ed it and slowly approached the bed where bhe terrified woman lay. She, or it, bent over her and clasped its clammy, woffia-shaped hands about her throat. Just at that moment the child who lay beside her aried out and pulled at her arm, and Mrs. Welford started up her brow oovered with cold perspiration, She glanced about the room. A potoh of moonlight was still shimmering on the floor, but not so bright as it had appeared a few momenta before, and the ghostly visitant hod vanish. ed, " Mammo," orled• the ohild, "I am nick and my head aohee, and I want a drink of water." Mra. Welford rose and hastily lit a lamp. There lay her two children in the trundle bed, sleeping sweetly, the they flush of life and health upon their oheeke,and Mollie was anoriog away comfortably, on the lounge at the other aide of the room. For the firat time in her life, eine° child- hood, Mra. Welford felt a nervous fear of going into a room alone, and roused Mollie to go with her to get the water for the child. Her dream had been eo horrid, no vivid, she was trembling In every limb ; and it was nob notil the had related it to her husband, and laughed over it at the cheerful breakfast table, that she was able to shake off bhe disagreeable impression it left upon her. The Ballington ghost has never been Been since bhe Welford& took poeoeasion of the place ; bub Mrs. Welford says that the thlnke she could get up o Buppor which, if liberally partaken of, might conjure it up, at any bimo.—[Good Housekeeping. THE BRUSSELS POST. BESIEGED BY SIOUX. The Thrilling Experience of Sonia Mack 4111 Miners Luring the Geld Fever et '7e. "In the HAT num of '76, when the Black Hills' excitement firsts began in real ear. oeet," mid Mr, Coate, to a reporter of the Ohloago Times, " I was the owner of a See farm in northwoatern Nebraska and In addition was doing a good baafnoae as a ear veyor, Oee of my neighbors, named Bell, was an old California minor. Ho at once hcoame infatuated with the idea of going to the now El Dorado, and I, too, soon caught the fever. Against the advice of my wile and friends, and even against my own better judgment, 1 determined to nook a fortune in the hills. Hastily arranging my aflaira 1 nob out, acoompanied by Bell. We made our way by steamboat to Forb Pierre, whore we j deed a heavily armed company of forty gold hunters. "211e journey to the foothills was without incident, although the oountry was alive with murderous Sioux. 1/e reached a aamp on Spring creak in the southern hille the 20.h of July, where we found fifty others already ahead of use The first comers had staked out claims and builb a very strong fortreoe upon a rocky knoll. They were o0 harassed by the Indiana that they acarcoly dared venture outaide their fort. Being re- inforced by our company they felt able to defy the redokine and determined to begin motive mining operations. Yob so pressing waa the danger that the entire company was divided into four equal parts which were to alternate week about in the varione labors. The first division was to hunt at a safe die. tamefrom the fort. This was an important duty, for our only provision were the game brought in by the hunters. Only a small supply of food had been broughb from civili- zation, and of course there were no means of getting more. The second division did garrfeun duty ab the fort ; the remaining half of the party worked the mines ; that le, one -ball of the squad acted as sentinels wbile the others plied pink and shovel. It was very clow, very hard work. In bho hills all the planes mines are in dry guloheo instead of beside the streams, as in California. All the "pay. dirt " had to be wheeled a evertor of a mile to got to water. Our beat txerbiona only yielded $4 or 65 per man per day. Divide this amount will; the three others who were guarding or hunting for the miner and you can see that no one had muoh prcapeob of getting rich. "Bell and I wore bhoroughly dioguated in leas than a week. We had come to make money and nob to toil and eb ,rve for a pit• tante that a aeation•hand would acorn. Wonderful stories were told of the richness of the mines ou Meech oreek, twelve miles south. There we determined to go, though we were told it would be equivalent to walking into our graves. In alt that corn - pony of fearless pioneers not one would entertain the idea of accompanying na for a moment. Nothing would daunt us, however, and waiting for a dark eight, so as to escape observation by prowling Indiana, we planed the scantiest of outfits on a mule and set out, after having secured careful direotions from an old scout who was thoroughly ac- quainted with the country. We reached French creek safely at day. break after an exhausting march in the darkness and over the fearfully rough hills, After a scanty breakfast we moved np the creek malice: distance and came to a place Ball said had a good appearance. I mounted guard while Ball Bank a prospect hole. He found bed rook at a depth of two feet, Scraping up a panful of dirt he took ib to the oreek, and to our infinite delight it yielded at least) $o' in very coarse gold. You can judge the value of our find when I tell yon that dirt that will yield 3 cents to the pan, under ordinary oir,umetances, is worth working. Throwing prudence to the winds we both began to dig and wash, never atom ping until dark. We were utterly exhaust- ed by that time and were glad to roll our- selves in our blankets and go to sleep with- out a morsel of supper. Next morning w hila Bell hurried oub to shoot something for breakfast, I examined our eurronndingo. We had stopped just be- low a point where the oreek burst through a narrow cleft in the mountains and made a sheer deooent of BOMB twenty feet. At the base of the ledge and almoeb directly under• heath the waterfall I noticed a bole in the rooks that seemed partially lighted from the rear. I could readily enter it by crawling on myhando and knees. I found the hole was the entrance to a passage about twelve feet inlength that, after an abrupt turn, ended in an irregular chamber 10x20 foot in ibe grey b• est measurements. Ib waa clean and fairly lighted beside the oreek above the falls. It: was a Splendid stronghold, furnished right to our hands. 0,e man could have held it agaioetl00 When 13,11 returned we mores our few effects into the cave and considered ourselves secure. For aweek we worked hard together, not even taking ordinary precautions against surprise, so greedy were we for the yellow duet. Lathing back at it now it seems nothing less than miraculous that we wore nob surprised and killed and I can not oom- prohead 8mm eve could be eo careless. Our buakeki„ • .d filled rapidly and we were talking 01.,, ,morning just oub aide our cave of returning to Spring oreek to tell of our good fortune when a score of bullets oamo whizz ug Ir' m the rooks and trees around us. Bill was struck in the thigh and I received alight wounds in the leg and arm. feel much ithe rising very early." while deoth, frightful and inevitable, loom- ed in the baokground, "All that day we could hear the Indians prowllo around ontalde, but they made no YOUNG FOLKS. gg THE BEACON LIGHT. furtherdemonetra8ions, Toward evening our ;e huu I woo a bay," eaid old Walter eufferinge from thine became comet ing,hyinwlek, "there wee no light on yon hoed awful. We lioked the damp otoneo for land, and many a good boat and ship went molature. About dark the Indiana tried to smoke us out by dropping a great heap of baroing wood in front of the ontrenee from the ledge above. The eremite went otraigbt up, however, lootead of oomingiubo the cave. After that they lot ue alone until next day noon, We were getting weak from hunger, thirst, and loss of blood, and had nearly given up hope. "1t must nave been about 1 o'alaok when we notioed a little stream of water brioklrng through the crevice, We tried to ohoub a prayer of gratitude as we flaked up the pre - aloes fluid, bub our parched throats uttered no sound. Soon the stream inoreaeed until we wore otantliog kuee deep in oold, opriag water. Then we understood that the Indi- ans hod damned the creek ao as to turn it in- to the cave. Cur previoao suffering were nothing to what we now had to endure. We were soon numb with cold and in our weak- ened condition It required our greatest ex ertione to keep from :inking down into the water and drowning, How we eve• lived though that long afternoon I de nob know. Wo determined to make a Bath for our liven 00 Boon as it became dark. `Fortune favored as in our attempt for a heavy downpour of rain began at sundown and kept up nearly all night. An hour after dark we dropped on our knees and crept out. The water no nearly filled the entrance that we almoeb strangled. Tho night waa inky black and the heavy storm had driven the besiegers to shelter, to wo were nob die - covered. 'We followed the oreek for half a mild and then started out in the direction of Spring creek. Once out of immediate don• ger nature asserted herself and we both sank utterly exhausted before we had pro- ceeded another mile. Luckily Bell chanced to drop down near a young rabbit which wo caught and tore to pieces and devoured while the flash was yet quivering. This revived no somewhat and after rooting a while we got up and straggled on again. "About noon the n, -x0 day we crawled into the camp at Spring Creek more dead than alive. Some of the men were just preparing to return to Fort Pierre and I was permitted to stretch my pain reeked bones upon the top of a load and in this way reached home. I had a raging fever all the way and was delirions part of the time. I kept my bed for six months afterward and have been disabled by rheumatiamever sine I returned to the hills five yaara later and have accumulated some property, bub for all the wealth of the Black hills I would not again endure the horrors of those two days and nights in the cave " 'Twonldn't Wok. He was a plain, farmer -like man, and he was is charge of a young man with hie bead bound up and otherwiee injured, After one of his tripe to the water cooler to give hie patient a drink, one of the passengers. inquired : That young man mot with an accident?' " That's exactly what he met with, air, Gosh durn him 1" "Relation o'youre?" " My second oldest boy, Bill. I'm taking him home to be nursed up. Liked to have had his empty head knocked off." " Oareleee, oh ? How was it 1" "Wall, a young feller up our way tumbl- ed off a train on this road and broke a leg and got $2,000 damages. It aort o'give our Bill ounbhin' to think of, and after getting a good ready he starts 008 to go np to Roches. ter. What doom he do after riding a ways, but atiok hie noodle oub of the window, and purty soon along oome0 a awitob board and flattens hie face until you can play marbles on it, He's mending fast, but be'e going to carry a phiz around with him which'll Beare a yeller pup out of a year's growth." ' And the company refuses to come down 1" " Of course it does. Bill went agin the rules and regulations, and he's left, If he'd had hie head knooked off I might have gob a few hundred on a compromise, but au it is he'll have to grin and bear it. Thab is if him grinner wasn't smashed all to Hinder along with hie noes. Hey, Bill, how you feeling now ?" "Putty weak, father." " Shouldn't wonder, but its all right. Boy of your age, who hain'b got nothin' but marsh hay in hie head, deserves no pity, list lay back and take ib easy and refloat on whether you are going to hire out to a dime museum or hunt a cave in the hillt,"— [N. Y, Sun, One Thing Forgotten, Pfeiffer: " Aro you euro you brought everything wo need ?" Heeler : "Yee, I've a dozen bottles of wine, the same amount of beer, a pint of brandy, a whole lob of things to eat, and games of all kinds. Pfeiffer �" And the Usingbookie4 Heoffor . No, by Qeorge, I forgot that t)• Well, that doesn't matter," A Sad Case, Mrs. Jones (who ie reading the morning paper) -A prominent coal dealer• woo para- lyzed in bit oflioe lash week. 1,it Tones—Paralyzed, was he Probably the driver forgot to weigh himself before he " No, I shall not be anxious to rise early, drove off with 1,600 pounds of opal, "We darted into our hole with the Ind len yelling right behind us. Ono oovage fiend seized me by the heels and had nearly drag- ged mo bank in reach of his companions' tomahawks when Ball sent a bullet through hie brain. Before I could be naught again I was inside and out of danger. The Indians poured, a perfect storm of lead into the mouth of the cave for a time. Ad we made no emoted in reply they concluded we wore killed and orowded up to got our scalps. Three of them were good Indiana before they could realize that we were nob in eoalping condition and could get out of range. Then they began their howlb and their shooting anew, but their bullots simply flattened against the angle in the wall. "Finding this useless they began to look for other means of dislodging us. They Boon di000vorod the theme) and began shooting down It with renewed yells. Presently they tried bhe effect of their fusillade by waving ono of their headdresses before blur entrance on the end of a pole. As we did not "hoot at it they felt certain they bad flolehed us and crowded up to the holo again. It coat the lives of two of thereto find oub their mfg- take that time. After this they settled themeelvoe for a regular Binge. Wo then had to dress our wounds oh beet we could and consider our predicament, Wo were nate from the bullote of blmsavages, but wo had not mouthful of food nor a drop of water, and our wounds already be- gan to make us thirsty, Now we nursed our improvidonoo then. W,e would gladly have given all our gold for a e fogls days B rations of food and water, 'Besides, it was chilly in the cave, oven In that August weather, and our wounds' were very painful, Our sites, Gen was out of hourly inoreasing horror, to her doom among those rooks, "I well remember the firet time 1 went to NA. How proud I felt ) My unole owned a fishing boat, and he tools me for hie 'aeo- boy,' to my infinite delight, Grandfather (with whom I lived, fir el was an orphan) was pleased and proud too. 'It's in the blood, Wabty,' he said to me, - 'in the blood! We aro all born aailo's, and I hope you'll find the sea as good a friend as I've done. 1 you keep off the rooks, and see that you tail in a wellfound vooael, and go by your chart, and compare, you'll bo all right,' I did not payee much attention to grand. father's worcle ea I should have done, fur I was young, and my head a bit burned with excitement. 0' Tho old mac stood on the shore and watched us mall out from the novo. As we got fully under weight waved my cap to him, and he nodded to me. "I had often been out sailing, of course, before that day ; but never 'at sea' as 0 'hand'; and you may be sure I was eager to help and prove my skill at pulling ropes, reefing, and ateering. "That firat night was all bub my last, for a storm came on very suddenly, and it grew so dark we could not see ahead. We tried to make our own harbour, but the villages straggle for miles along shorn, and we would not dietinguieh the lights of EastLtnga from those of West Linga. Some of the rooks rise In precipices of fearful height; some run out in straggling reefs across the bay. When ib is light any man of us can bring a boat safe bo land, but in the darkness it to a difficult matter, and in a storm it means daring death, The open sea in to be preferred. "On the night I speak of it was Impossible to remain oat, and wo made for home with anxious hearts, hoping to steer olear of rocks, yet doubtful of our comae. "Uncle acid onae, 'Perhaps the old man will think of lighting his bemoan on Linga headland. Ale, poor old father 1 mauy's the time I've helped him drag the broken tim- bers to the top of the headland to make a light for them at sea ; and many a good boat's crew has blessed him for it. I hope he'll think on'b to I answered that the boyo of the village were always ready to lend grandfather a hand in getting np his bonfire. And by and by, as we were peering through the darkness, hearing the roar of the surf upon the rocks, and being confused by the many lights along the bay, we saw— high up on our right—the merry blaze leap towards the lowering amide, and I shouted hurrah 1 for grandfather's bsaoon, "So we were guided safely to our harbour. Grandfather died at a good old age; and the lash thing his oyea looked upon was the new lighthouse on Linga headland, and he said, 'Lord, now betteet Thou Thy servant depart in peace.' He was a devout man, and had been a light among his tellows all his days. He had set an example to those around him, and as I watched him die I thought, if every boy and mon would show their light as he had done, many The Accumulation of Iutexe t. From the National Economist; Waehingt , n.0.1 Some conception of the accumulative power of interest, and its effect upon the producing iuduatry of the nation, may be had from the following calculation. Not only dose this example ahoy; the burden put upon the people through interest, but also the enorm- ous gains to the National banks through their control of the currency, and makes clear the reason of bhe growing poverty of the industrious masses and the enormous accumulation of wealth in the hands of the speculative few. This estimate la made from tho Statiebioal Abatraot of the United Stabea for 1887, prepared by the Bureau of Statistics, under the direchlon of the Secretary of the Trea• awry. This document reports the total number of National hanks on October 5, 1837, to ba 3,049, and that these banks had oub on loan at that time $1,580,000,000. For banks which discount paper, make short loans, and take all the advantages interest give's, 10 per scat is not an unreo- aonable rate. The amount they aro cffi daily reported to save out on loan, with iutereeb calculated at ton per cent., and compounded only every ten years, would yield in fifty years an aggregate of $50.- 560,000,000 ; which amount is far in excess of the total valuation of the entire property of the whole nation, such total valuation being $44,645 000,000. Jr one hundred years (which is as noth- ing in the life of a nation), by oompounding only every ten years, the aggregate would reach he incomprehensible amount of $1,- 617,920,000,000, or nearly forty times the total of all present ealum —an amount be' yond the possibility of any race of people being able to pay or create in a hundred times that length of time. "'Sailing on life's solemn mein, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother Seeing may take heart again.' I've tried, in my small way, to follow in hie footsteps ; and I never look at the light- house yonder that I don't think of the good old man and his beacon -Sae and hie exem- plary l ife. "Aa I stand by the shore and watch the boats go out mud in, with merry boys and stalwart men abcard,— as I think on the long voyage of life I've made, and how I've been kept off the rocks by God's epirib— it has seemed to me that yon beacon on the height is the symbol of that which has been my guiding light. His word, the tower ; His spirit, the lamp. And I pray that every boy who lannahea upon the 0000n of life amid the rocks, and storms, and darkness, and wild waves of a troublesome world, may be led safely to their desired haven by theb heavenly beacon. JESSIE M. E. SAxay, Do Not Sign Speoioue Contracts. It would seem that the Bohemian oat swindle will never come to an end. In the MadisonCouuty, Ia, court, ten suite were lately decided in favor of tbo " innocent purohasera" of the notes. The court held that the notes were given in consideration of a bond exeauted and delivered to ehe maker of the notes, and as euoh wore not gambling contracts within the msaniug of the statutes, The oourbdenounced the or ignalo tranemotiou as a fraud, and said that the notes ae between the original parties would have been void, but having been sold to an innocent: purchaser before maturity, were protected by the rules of commercial law, and were oolleotable, the Supreme court haonot passed upon any of these oases, though there have been various decisions In the lower courts of this and other states, There la an easy way nob to be taken in by travelling frauds. Buy your goods of regular and well-known firms, who advertise their wares legitimately. Bub 00 long as the cupidity of ignorant men exists—men who think themoelvee emorter than those whose buainese is fraudulent miarepreoent- ation—we suppose that the courts will have plenby of business bo untangle tho meshes by whioh deceit lives and thrives. We have often advised farmers not to sign contracts with men who were not known to reope"t- able buainese men of the vicinity whose word was known to be gooh, 8 FIGHTING STRENGTH OF THE U, B. The `t'icaknaes of the American Army Shown by the "St. James Ea.:mete." You have recently drawn much attention to the attempts wbieb the Americans aro making to develop a powerful navy, and you have hinted that iu a few yaara an addition may be made to the great potential righting States of the world. 1 have passed a good many years in America, and from what I have seen there 1 have ocme to the conaln- slon that yoo. in °umpany with moat Eng- lighmen, et' retain much too high an opinion of the poaeib.o offensive power of the United Sbabas, Now for one Improvised cruiser that bac Amerdoaus could put on the omen or the lakes, It is certain that we could pub at least twenty and better ones at that. Their "cruisers" would be pimply cargo steamers armed and manned anyhow, just as they were during their civil war. Tho army of 300,000 to 500 000 would be composed of our old Mende the " new men with muskets," totally "unamenable to discipline," to whom plenty of good ex,,uaee for mutiny wtuld be supplied by the army eonnraotora. The overgrown republic is always, from differing and jarring interests, naturally dispose,, to split into halves and quarters, and the " shaking up " whish a foreign war would give Ito rather array institutions would be an exaelleet opportunity for malcontent States to "got looao" from one another. The vest Southern and Western ci devant seceding States have act forgotten what followed the war, or the foot that they have been bled ever aiaoe for the benefit of the Northern capitalists and manufacturers who conquered, plundered, and trod them down. Then there is the largo and increas- ing negro population, who feel that the end is nob yet, and live in alarm and uncertainty, dreading the final issue, perhaps re-enelave- meat, perhaps massacre and deportation ; anything in euoh a oounlry and such condi- tions being on the cards. Again, the agricultural population, two-thirds ab least of whom are foreignersfrom every nation in Europe—Germane preponderating—would not admire being coneoripted to fight the English in order to please the politicians and oblige their Irish petrous. Then the Indiana (refoferaed by considera- ble numbers half breeds and "Indian white men" who have married equawa and become affiliated with the tribes or adopted into them) would be very likely—they are all well armed with reheating weapons—to take to the war petit, having been merciless- ly swindled for the past thirty years or so, in violation of the moat solemn treaties. Some people maintain that the cowboys—who, as Gan. Sheridan remarked : "Fight pretty well when they are drunk," and are regular nomads, aa averse to diehipline 08 a Kurd or Bedouin—would hold the Indians in check : but this is doubtful. The interests both of cowboys and Indiana are identi- cal, as are their pursuits. Both hate the "Grangers," or agrionitural squatters, who continually pour in from the Eastern Sbatee, encroach upon and break up cattle rune and reeervationa, and aro a growing danger and menace both to red men and cattle owners. A big foreign war would leave the latter a free hand, and the Gran- gers might possibly—as they say in Texaa —"hear something drop." The Future of Canada. [From Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, June S. The apprehension that the monarchies of Europe felt, a little over a oentury ago, re- garding the establishment of a great republio on this continent was justified. England, with ite Canadian possessions, naturally feared for the loyalty of its subjects to the north of the United States if this republio were firmly planted. It is a matter of his- tory that the English Government tried, by every effort, to secure a foothold on the southern limits of the original thirteen Statee, and thea hem in the new republic on all eidee ; bub the gracious Providence whioh planted the American Republic, as a seed that should in time spread republicanism throughout the world, fostered the insti- tution of American liberty, and tae pro - served it until this day. The recent agitation in Canada in favor of commercial union, olosor reciprocal relations, and even annexation with tho United States, is oigeifioanb. It is predicted that the tri- umph of the Liberals in Canada ab the pending election would be the triumph of those who favor separation from the Mother C.+untry, and separation would inevitably lead to accession, and next to annexation. So critical is the situation, Ib le said that Sir John Macdonald ehortly expects to vieit London and commit with her Majesty's Ministers upon the aubj.ab of Canadian re- lations with the United States, The building of the Canadian Pacific rail- road, at enormous expense to the Imperial and Dominion Governmonte, the strengthen- ing of the fortresses at Halifax and other pointe en the Ablantie comet, and the state- ment that it is the intention of the Imperial authorities to make improvements in the de- fences of the Pacific seaboard, all reveal the perturbatton of the Home Government ae well as of the loyal followers of the Crown in Canada. Meanwhile various questions agi- tate and divide our Canadian neighbors. Closer relations afforded by the facilities for travel and tho cheap rates of transportation have inspired in our neighbors on the north a feeling of kinship and friendship, and have drawn them farther away from the Mother Country. It is inevitable that this relation- ship, in a social and bushman way, moth con- tinue to grow warmer as the benefibs of our -republioan form of Government are more and more appreciated, and the spirit of unrest which has taken possession of a large part of the Canadian people will increase until the cry for separation will become so general that it must be heard, It wouldtbe indeed singular if, one hundred years after the bhirteen colonies had torn themselves loose from the Mother Country, their example should bo followed by the re- maining British colonies of the American continent. In tho event of a revolution in Canada agatnet bho lmperiel Government, the sympathy and aid of the United States would be manifested for the rebels to each an extent that the triumph of bhe seoeeoioniste would bo aseurod. • Medioinal Planta. The cathartic jalap is the powdered root of a oonvolvulua or bindweed, C. jalapa; roob large, full of a milky juice ; flowers red and purple, a native of Mexico; name de. rived from Nader., a province of Mexico. Squill ie obtained from a plant tolled scilla by bote,nis'a. This word is derived from the Greek, meaning to disquiet, ib being a strong emetic, It is a native of the South of Europe, Its flowers, like many of the class, spring up before the leaves. The flowers are ou spikes, white and green ; the blude erelong, tunlcated roots, as large as the human head, The common sonnet is obtained from a plant called easels Benne, a native of Egypt and Barbary. Another, C. Fistula, is a na- tive of the West Indiies, where it is much cultivated for the sake of its pulp, whioh is a mild and pleasant laxative. The .East Indian variety, however, is of very old re- pute, and, in time of Avioena, the Arabian physician, was known by the Dame of cassia solutiva, These plants are totally different from loathe cassia, or bastard cinnamon, the bark of whioh was, as a apices or perente, fume, eo much in favor with the anal - Oxalic acid used to be obtained from, and is the basis of our nommen wood sorrel. The family have the loaves of a trefoil or clover, the flower of a geranium and the tanto of sorrel, but the flavor is more grate ful, nearer to lemon, and le sometimes used out up in salad. It is called in Italy luj ula, which has been corrupted into altenia. Old English authors name ib ouckoo•meat, it flowering there at the time of the arrival of that bird. Oxalio sold le woeful to take iron -mold out of linea, and under the name of the eaeontial oil of lemon used to be obtained from this plant, as well as from others. It is now, however, obtained most- ly from the action of nitric sold upon auger, • Had Lost His Ground. In Scotland the topic of a aerator: or die• course of any kind le called by old.fanhfoned folk ite "ground,' or, as they would say, its "gruad." An old woman, bustling into kirk rather late, found the preacher had nom• teemed, and, opening ber Bible, nudged her next neighbour, with the Inquiry, " What's his grand 1" "Oh," rejoined the other, who happened to bo a brother minister, and there fore a privileged oritt°, "he's lost his grand long eines, and he's jest swimming l" To :Encourae Informers. Over a bridge al Athena, Ga., is the fol• lowing—"Any person +°riving over this bridge at a pees factor than a walk ehall, if a white man, bo fined five dellen, end, if a eogro, resolve twenty-five lashes, half the penalty to bo bestowed on the informer." Indian Corn as Food, One of the interesting features of the Paris Exposition is the exhibit of Indian Dorn and the food prodnote made from it. Aa yet oorn'is very little used es food by Europeans, and ib is to prove to them that it le both palatable and healthy that this exhibit is made, Boston brown bread, Indian pudding, Johnny oakea, hominy, and the other viands that ate families to everyone in Amerioa, will he dispensed free to all who caro to partake, and itis hoped enough of an appetite for the food products of Dorn will be created to oonoiderably extend the exporb of corn to Europe. Certainly, if bhp people of Europe realized the value of porn as food,, it would speedily take the places of the bitter blank broad and poor wheaten bread that ooneti Oates the obiof cereal feed of the working oboe moa in some notions of Europe, The exhibit Is a very oommondablo Idiom of enterprise, both from the atat.dpoiut of trade and of inoroaeing the quality and variety of the food of the plr noeA l hail to the Paris crusade in favor lof King g Corn, A Buooessfnl Struggle, "Charlie stayed pretty late last night, didn't he, Lti ?" aekod oioter Rate next morning, "Yee," Bald Lfl, sleepily, " we wore try iog the nige in clover puzzle rill nearly eleven .'clock." on bho And did you get the pigs in pen, Li14" asked Kate, eagerly. "Noy wo dldo't; but 1 got my finger in tit; ring," The Emproeo Eugenio, moving about Eeg• land' now, attracts very little attention. In Birmingham recently alio and her companion, the daughter of the duke di Baseauo, and thob amidst visited a hotel and a reetauranb in the town without their identity being eueppeoted. The empress' ebony walking. stick and darkened eyebrows aro noticeable features. She seems in excellent spirits..