Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1878-04-12, Page 1R7. , APRIL5, 1878. and all kinds otgood, dean, first.ehisa 'for Sale. Also, Flour, Feed, 40‘, &e. uue-om ee tra. 533 - „OVER SEED, Timothy Seed, Pisa Garden Seeds, To Onions. Dutch Seta_ 4„ and cheapest in town, at ALLmi -ebZ Seater -0i. 537 fE BEsT Bargains in China, Creeks tt wassw&..1. are to be had at Wn.Soli Wssm. as SALE, a SeCOnCl-hand 131EttfOrritt 4 1,20(1 pounds. Apply to Ilrezsou Blau, 'a Drug Store. 531:a =HER LOT of those Cheap Raisins Erlheap Currants,. Received at D. D. Roses [y Grocery. 53$ 1 FALL CATCH Lake Huron. Ifei. the half barr-cl for $1 75, at]) D. Roses. y Grocery. 5.4ff frUTE Smart SYRUP, the cheapest iss - AL.r.v.ea Grocery. 537 .1ED APPLES- 111 Abundance assa. , at ALLEVS Grocery. 537 GEIVEII THIS WEEK AT THE 777 777 GAON'S NEW BLOCK. THE CHEAPEST LOT OF IR, 1\1- 111 THE CHEAPEST LOT OF (.1-LOLL/ANDS THE ..H.,A.PEST LOT OE IHIT.E, COTTONS. THS 011EjAPEST LOT OF RAY QOTTONSL THE CHEAPEST LOT OF THE CHEAPEST LOT IpIo / : k - -44 - »JCKSI DUCKS. TS C '1A.PEST LOT OF CY RESS GOOPS, THE CHEAPEST LOT OE .KS, BLACK AND COLORED,. Ttt CHEAPEST aur OF r_tITSiTIZ-P1S THE CHEA.P.b,ST LOT OF LACK CASHMERES.. THE GHEAREST LOT OF F ENCH MERINOES. THE CHEAPEST LOT OF RESS TRIMMINGS.. THE CHEAPEST LOT OF D • TER OtELFEST LOT OP TKE ClIAREST LOT OF - N TABLINCS AND TOWELS. Ever offered in this country. A. C. MGDOLIGALL & CO., Ccolinek's Block, Seafortk. _ SALE..--PEngine and Boiler, 12 -horse pow- er- All complete and in good order, *vat ,11- A.- G. VANEGMONDMil* , Woolen orth. 68914.. WANTED.---i\Vented, a smart, aetive, in* tolligent bay.. Enat be well reeoramended i willing to make himself generally useful' to Titoataa KIDD, Seaforth. 5$04 ORE TO 11ENT.--To Bent, the Store. 11- Cently occupied, by C. Armstrong, in gat tney'S block.. One or the best busineell- _da in town,. -Apply to IfIRS. wHITNITs 53* NDE RS WANTED.—Tenders will be recall* ?Id by Mr.A. Ufly Seaforth, for the draWing. ie milk ou the Second Conceosion Line to af- t End Cheese,144-otory, for the present sea- McieUADE. 589 ESS -MAKING. -i -MISS BURGESS UV it° - inform the Ladies of Seatorth and surr00nd-- 1:ountry that she is prepared to- do all aorta m and Mantle Making in the utast styIeit _cuttingandattling. Booms over J. :e. Apprentices, wanted. ACHEI1 WANTED.—Applieatione !in ef`ried by the undersigned, up to April 1314 remale Teacher for one of the niniorila` menta of the Seaforth Public School. to commence April 22nd. Salary at the 4 per annum, WILLIAM BALLANTYNNI ry Schoiel Board. 532-2 ED WHEAT.. --;,A. Goverdoek wouldint s.030 ,hcse who have prdered the Last Nation Saeg-___ !at from hirnx that it has arrived, and Ts eau be filled at bis MUI. Winthrop, or ai 1. Wilson's faun, Silver Creek, near Searortb• aR still 11I1 a- few more orders, Rua taw*, LiEg to secure this Valuable seed should OW r,e. Price, $1 -per bushel ANDREW GOV' ZCK. 034 - NDERS. WAN XED.—The irOdersighed- 141* .rkceive Tenderfor the erection of a Bit Asia. 24.tal, two storeys, until Satarey 1 13th. Separate tenders tor reason Cuter work preferred. Material will .t.ie-11 by undersigned for mason work. or to provide all material for carpenter and Speeifieations oan be seen go. of the undersigned- The lowest or...3117 er net neeessurily accepted. D. • Seaforth. • - • ELEVIINTH YAAR. WHOLE NUMBER, 510. Ittiott SEAFORTH, F.IDAY, APRIL 12, 1878. { McDEAN BROS., Publisher,s. $1.50 a Yeax, in Advamee. 1878 SEAFORTH. 1878 TAILORING DEPARTMENT OF THE -THREE SEVENS NOW FULLY ASSORTED: A. G. MCDOUGALL & CO. TAILORING DEPARTMENT NOW FULLY ASSORTED WITTE ALL THE • BEST SCOTCH, ENGLISH AND CANADIAN TWEEIDS. • FINE WORSTED SUITINGS AT $20,$2i..", $24 AND $26 A SUIT. • COME EARLY AND GIVE IIS YOUR MEAS- URE; WE GUARANTEE A FIT AND WORK DONE PROMPTLY. TAILORING DEPARTMENT Now FULLY ASSORTED WITH ALL THE BENT Scuren, ENGLISH AND CANADIAN TWEEDS, • FINE WORSTED SUITINGS • AT $20, $22, $24 AND $26 A SUIT. COME EARLY AND GIVE ITS YOUR MEAS- URE. WE GUARANTEE A FIT AND WORK DONE PROMPTIX. TAILORING DEPARTMENT Now FULLY ASSORTED WITH ALL THE BEST SCOTCH, ENGLISH AND CANADIAN WELDS. FINE WORSTED SUITINGS - AT $20, $22,. $24 AND $26 A SUIT': COME EARLY AND GIVE US Yous MEAs- um. WE GUARANTEE A IT AND WORK DONE PROMPTLY. TAILORING DEPARTMENT Now FULLY ASSORTED WITH ALL THE BEST SCOTCH, ENGLISH AND CANADIAN • TWEEDS. FINE WORSTED SUITINGS AT $20, $22, 1 $24 AND $26 A SUIT. COME EARLY AND GIVE US YOUR MEAS. URE. WE GUARANTEE 4 FIT AND WORK DONE PROMPTLY. TAILORING DEPARTMENT Now FULLY ASSORTED WITH ALL THE BEST SCOTCH, ENGLISH AND CANAIiIAN TWEEDS. FINE WORSTED SUITINGS AT $20, $22, $24 AN $26 A Sum COME EARLY AND GIVE US YOITR. MEAS- URE. WE GUARANTEE A FIT AND WORK DONE PROMPTLY. TAILORING DEPARTMENT NOW FULLY ASSORTED WITH ALL THE BEST SCOTCH, E.NOLISH AND CANADIAN TWEEDS. FINE WORSTED SUITINGS AT $20, $22, $24, Awn $26 A SUIT. COME EARLY AND GIVE US YOUR MEAS- URE. WE GUARANTEE A FIT AND WORK DONE PROMPTLY. TAILORING DEPARTMENT Now FtTLLY ASSORTED WITH ALL THE BMW SCOTCH, ENGLISH AND CANADIAN TwEEns. FINE WORSTED SUITINGS AT $20, $22, $24 Ali? $26 A SUIT.. COME- EARLY AND GIVE US YOUR MEAS - nu. WE GUARANTEE A FIT AND WORK DONE P.ROITPTLY. TAILORING DEPARTMENT NOW FULL.' ASSORTED WITH ALL THE BEST SCOTCH, ENGLISH AND CANADIAN TWEEDS. FINE WORSTED SUITINGS AT $20; s$22, $24 AND $26 A Sum COME EARLY AND GIVE US YOUR MEAS- URE. WE GUARANTEE A FIT AND WORK DONE PROMPTLY. TAILORING DEPARTMENT NOW FULLY ASSORTED WITIC ALL THE BEST Semen, ENGLISH AND CANADIAN TWEEDS. FINE WORSTED SUITINGS AT $20, $22, $24 AND $26 A SUIT. COME EARLY AND GIVE US YOUR MEAS. rim. WE GUARANTEE A FIT AND WORK DONE PROMPTLY. A. G MCDOUGALL & • SEAFORTH, ONTARIO. LETTER, FROM COLORADO HuEnpArto Co., Col., Yrtreh, 1878. DEAR EXPOSITOR: Spring is osiening with us here as it is with you. There has been a good. bite of green grass for stock fot two weeks past. Unlike yours our winter has been pretty severe. We have had more than an average fall of snow and our full share of cold weath- er. A terrible storm swept Northern Colorado about the 10th of this month. This storm did not strike us here, but throughout the northern half of the State andin. Wyoming and part of Ne- braska, it was dreadfully severe. Quite nuraber of persons were overtaken by it On the prairie, and losing their way were frozen to death. The losses in live stock were in some places very great. I have heard of cases where whole herds of sheep were covered by snow drifts and smothered to death. The cattle fared little better, but as they run loose, the exact losses cannot be known till the owners come to gath- er them next summer. You have storms every winter in Can- ada more severe than this one or any we have here,—but you expect them and are prepared for them. Here we provide for nothina but sunshine, and when a wintry blast't comes we feel it so much the worse. Farmers are very busy just now get- ting in their Crops. It is expected this will be a good crop year. There are no signs of grasshoppers, and none are ex- pected. There is a great deal of snow in the mountains, so the streams, which are mainly formed of melting snow, will be full most of the summer, and • there will be plenty of water for irriga- tion. With -no grasshoppers and plenty of water, there is reasonable assurance of a good crop. Farmers who are well beforehancl with their work sow wheat in February ana oats and barley early in March. In some places the, wheat is already -showing green several, inches aboveground. Fall wheat is not grown here, but the spring wheat is a very fine sample. The berry is larger a,nd plump- er than average Eastern winter wheat, and quite equal to it for milling pur- poses. Oats and barley of geed quality are grown, but the corn is hardly equal . to that brought from Kansas and Mis- souri. Potatoes will not grow except in the mountain valleys at 6,000 to 8,000 feet altitude. When planted in the lower valleys they all run to stalks, the irrigation and heat not being fa- vorable to the formation of the tubers. Singular as it may seera, the "Colora- do bug" is unknown here. The name of that enterprising insect would, there- fore, appear to be a misnomer. In the mountain valleys at the eleva- tion I have mentioned, there is general- ly sufficient ram, together with the heavy dews, to make irrigation unneces- sary. Although there is usually frost every month in the year, potatoes, wheat and oats will grow and mature very Well, and without much labor. This has caused. people to settle among the mountains wherever a 'fiat piece of grouni for a potato patch could be found. Some of these mountain farms would. be a curiosity to many of my reade'rs, as well as the make -shift im- plements used to till them. But after • passing over the terribly rough roads necessary to reach them, the survi- vor would hardly wonder a.t anything. Ever since I knew anything about them, I have had. a profound admira- tion for the perseverance and pluck of the Colorado farmers. I think it is only three average crops they have had. in the last ten years. • Yet they stick to it in, a way that deserves success at least. When there is so much talk at home about " How to keep the boys on the farm," it might be well to inquire how these poor Colorado fillers of the soil are so faithful to their avocation. Perhaps farming in Canada is too sure and profitable a business. It may be that it is the "glorious uncertainties" of agriculture which make it so attrac- tive here. Some men like to take big ehances, and if a greater element of risk and. a better prospect of failure., could be incorporated into Eastern husba,n the preblera "How to keep the boys, &c." might be solved. Another difficulty the farmer here has to contend with is,`that there is no sure cash market for anything; except beef and wool and. wheat. As the Colorado farmer very seldom has cattle, and al - Almost never sheep, it will be seen that the sources of ' his revenue are limited. After teaming a load of potatoes, corn or other farm productions it may be 50 or 60 miles to market, a man is expect- ' ed to take' " truck " for payment. I know an -honest Swede who lives on a mountain farm such as I have spoken of. One day last winter he got a post card from the County Treasurer, dim- ning him for his taxes. He was filled tvitli alarm—visions of the sheriff and of his wife and children turned out of doors, flashed. through his mind. He hurried home and that very night load- ed his wagon with potatoes, and before daybreak had started for Santa Fe, a distance of 220 frriles, where he expect- ed to be able to exchange his potatoes for a little ready money. The system of working land. on shares is very common. The owner -of two or three hundred acres of arable land., will have half a dozen "croppers." Where the cropper furnishes team, toolsand seed, his share is usually half, where the owner of the land supplies these, the cropper takes a third. This system is -responsible for much of the miserable '.shiftlessness and improvidence which characterizes the country. The crop- per has no interest in the improvement of the land, and the proprietor is al -1 ways niggardly in furnishing seed, im- plements and the conveniences. In all my experience here I have only seen one man applying manure to his land. Actually, the most common way of cul- tivating wheat and oats is to sow the grain right on the top of the ground, among the stubble or weeds left from last year's crop or last year's lying idle, then plow it under three or four inches, and as a finality drag a heavy log over it, by way of smoothing the surface. Then when the plant shows above the ground it is flooded two or three times with water, and the cropper thinks he has done his d.uty by the soil. I some- times think if the land hero was only worked. with the intelligence and in- dustry applied where they know how to farm, there would be fewer crop fail- ures and a different result generally. Even with such culture as above, th.eie have been cases where 40 bushels to the acre of very fine wheat have been pro- duced.. Colorado does not at present produce sufficient for its own consumption. Be- fore railways reached so far west, there was scarcity of breadsbuffs, and enor- mous pric-ea were obtained by the fann- ers. Now, however, every kind of pro- duce can be brought in from lia,nsas and. Nebraska and obtained at moderate rates. As a consequence farmers, and in fact nearly everybody else, talk very bitterly against railways. It is the same way in California and all this -western country. Before the railways we had lots of money, flush tines, big wages; ever since they camp it has been hard times, no raoney, very little work and low pay. In Califorbia they say there have been no good. times since '67 when the Pacific came through. The British Columbians and the Manitoba, people, who are in such a hurryfor rail- ways, might reflect with profit on the experience otCa,lifornia, and. Colorado, - and possess their souls in patiekce. West of the Missouri River inen never speak of bushels. Everything is quoted. by the pound. or by the hundred potmds. This is a little awkward. at first, but when one gets accustomed to it, it seems much better to make the pound the standard of measurement than that rather indefinite quantity, a bushel. At present wheat is worth about $1.75 to 52 per 100 lbs.; corn, lie. per lb.; oats, lie. per lb.; good flour, about 53.50 per sack -of 100 lbs.; bacon., 10c. to 120. per lb. These prices, you see, are uot so very -much out of the way. People can live here very cheaply, if they are con- tent to live poor. Farm workers and. 'laborers can be had for 75e. to $1 a day; sheep herders get from $12 -to. 5.20 ruonth ; cattle herders, about $25 a month in the summer. • The price of reaLestate depends altogether upon the necessities of the seller. Almost every ranch in the country is for eale, and the price simply depends on how hard up for money the owner may bo. The price of groceries and other store goods de- pencls very much on where one bUys them. At railroacl towlis like Pueble, where there is competition, things can be bought very reasonably, but ii a man •has to patronize the country stores, he may expect to pay. about double prices. The country store in Colorado is one of our most peculiar institutions. It is .usually situated. at the crossing of a stream on a W011 travelled road, and in addition to raerchandizina, the mer- chant keeps a sort of hotel for the ac- comodation of travellers. Near the store is alwayg a cabin about 6x9, with a fire -place, and over the door a rude sign, beating the words "Pilgrim House." This is furnished free . for sleeping piu:posess and where there' is any remuneration for- the use of this su- perb apartment it is in the shape of the profit on the hay or corn -bought at the store for the campers' horses. . There is always a post office at the store, and it becomes a resort for the people for miles around as a sort of loafing place, and exchange for goasip. The proprie- tv buys and sells everything froin a beef steer or a sheepskin to a paper of needles or a pound of sugar. The stock -in -trade is generally very emall. If a man asks for anything in the way of provisions, except bacou or flour, they are almost sure to be "just out," but expecting it "-to-morrow." The stock of whiskey, however, is never known to fail. I suppose, as it is mosts ly made up. on the premises, there can be no excuse for being out of that., There is a different pride for every cus- tomer. If a man is able to pay cash, and a sharp buyer he may escape with: - out being swindled more thau a little, but woe to the poor farmer who cannot go elsewhere, or to the pOor Mexican, who is not 11, judge of values. Many of these country Merchants are Germans, • often German Jews, and they speak with equal facility German, English and Spanish.. I have often been amused watching the way business is done in some of these stores. The ens - toppers are supposed to understand only English or Spanish, and whenever an article is sold. a consultation takes place in German between the store- keeper and. his assistant as to lio-a- much the price will be. The country mer- chant is generally a prosperous. and. im- portant personage,—the people about him are most of them in his debt and he is quite a little lord so fax as his in- fiuence extends. As you pass the store of an afternoon, you will see from half a dozen -to a score of saddle horses standing about the hitching place. It is a country where everybody rides horseback,—to see a man walking—un- less a Mexican—or ].riving a horse siugly along the road is about as rare an occurrence as to see aping hat. En- ter and. you will find the place nearly filled with stalwart, sunburnt, hirsute fellows, who dispose of themselves in every conceivable attitude of awkward - nes, the favorite one for as many as can attain it being sitting on the coun- ter with legs dangling down. ,All are masticating tobacco and ejecting the sa- • liva promiscuously about. There is little conversation, and a sort of dreamy. melancholy seems to prevail. They have already discussed. their horsees and. commented on the forwardness of the gra,Ss, and what is there left worthy of remark? What little conversation there is is conducted in the charming dialect of the Southwestern States, in- terlarded with ponderous oaths. Sud- denly the gloona va,nishes, the loungers stand. up and stretch themselves, and a general air of expectancy is apparent. What can have caused. this unlooked for animation?' Some one has proposed to "set 'em. up," that is, promptelil by a freak of prodigality or perhaps ifl pay- ment of .0' eet, he has offered to buy drinks for the crowd. There are not enough glasses to go round, but we take turns, swallow a halt -tumbler of vile compound, supposed. to be whiskey, make a deep andnoisy expiration, then resume our lounging and relapse into our customexylsad.ness. Drinking, how- ever, at the etore is almost never car- ried. to excess, for, to d.o us justice, not many of us in Colorado care for the taste of whiskey. But few people who lead an ous-door and. isolated life do. We d.on't drink very often, and when we do, it is generally out of a bottle. Stock in this part of the country has wintered very well, so fax as I know. In sheep b ere have been almost no losses for 1his winter. This country is about eq ally divided between cattle men and sleep men, and togetherlive a cat and dos's, life. The cattle run loose everywhere, andtheir owners claim that they are driven off by the sheep—that they will nbt graze where sheep have been. Th€y claim in a very arrogant way the wl ole country as their "range," while by 1 v and reason they are en- titled to sr ly that which backs their water front ge. This would be a very good county for sheep, if it were not for this tro ble with the cattle men. Some of us think that as the country gets older, nd. the creek bottoms are all cultiva ecl and fenced, the cattle will be dr yen back from water, and scattered u ore year by year, until rais- ing cattle ill become un.profita,ble, and they will b driven off to some newer country. We think this system of keeping cattle by branding and. round.- iug-up is n t consistent with civiliza- tion anyw :y, and must yield. to the march of h. provenaent. 'These are the views of fhe sheep interest, - and, of course, pre ent but one side of the sub- ject. t_he e are two facts, however. which leave eome under my notice, and. which I caa give without prejudice. They are, t iat a given extent of coun- try will sup orb a greater value la sheep than in cat le, and that wherever -the sheep men have settled, they have ina- proved. their ranches by building, fenc- ingand cultivation, while the 'cattle men as a rule do little beyond. putting up a cabin and a corral. Next to the cattle mon our greatest trouble is with the scab, which is almost sure . to, get • into our herds and cause loss of wool and flesh. We find a sure remedy for this in dipping the sheep in a strong de- coction of tOba,cco and sulphur. If we could get rid of our cattle friends as easily we -would be well satisfied. Ono Of ray neighbors, a sharp intelli- gent fellow, has -just returned from Ar- kansas. He spent most of the winter travelling through that State, for the most part o4 liorseba,ck. Yesterday he paid us a visit at our cabin, and gave us an account'of his observations and ex- periences. "It's a good place to go to,'' he said, if you wan't to the. It takes two men there to make a shadow. People have chills half the year, then when winter comes they have pneumonia, and. that finishes them. They're taking quinine, and. calomel, and blue mass pills all the time, and it's hard to find a man who hasn't been salivated." " But in. the Western part it's health.y, isn't it ?" "Yes up among the hills they have good health. When they see a man looking kind of rugged they say, 'Ye're from the hills,bain't ye?' But up there they have to sharpen the sheep's noses to bite between the rocks." " What lurid of a country for stock and farming ?". Too wet for Sheep. Cattle do first- rate, and hogs splendid—liVe on mast— but both their cattle and hogs are poor bred. Splenclidrich soil, will raise any- thing, but poor farming and poor far- mers—all in poor health. They live on corn bread and bacon ,had.nothinsatelse to eat all the time I was there. Thelowest- down people I ever a,w. The niggers are twice as well off as the white folks." " What do they raise ?" " Oh, _they raise cotton. It's Worth 7 or 8 cents a pound,and.takes 10 to make it. They raise a little corn, too, and a few vegetables, which they eat in sum- mer, but -save none for winter. They don't make any hay or save any fodder for that timeof the year they're all down with the chills and can't work." "What kind of houses have they?" "Log houses—most of them one room —whole family sleep together. Fire places—no stoves. Lots of titaber, bilt no barns, no stables. When a man has a double log house with a veranda, he thinks he's some. Worst roads I ever saw—covered with water—and the mud, oh, the mud is fearful." Iittle Rock is a fine city, is it not?,i "Yes, Little Rock has two good build- ings, the post office and. the penitentiary, both built by the T.J. S. Government. Otherwise all Little Rock is a great land agency. The whole population lives by beating the emigrants coming in. Great immigration there just now. Thousands from Ohio and Indiana, and all the old States. Guess some of them will be sick enough of Rackensack ' be- fore a year. But land is ch.eap. A man , can get farms at his own price. Rail- road''land is the dearest in the State." "How did it look On your way up through Kansas 2" - "Oh, lovely, the grass springing and the prairie green, and the wheatlooked well. I tell you Kansas is a paradise from March till June whatever it may be the rest of the year." While my .neighbor was describing Arkansas, I thought of a certain adver- tisement I. ad seen lately in several of the Cana an papers I receive, it is headed, "1o!.for Arkansas," and is or- • na.mented. with a cat of an Indian rid- ing a grass -hopper pursuing a pilgrim, who calls out, "Inn bound. far Arka,n- sae ! There are n) Indians, nor chinch brigs nor gloppers there." For ray part I -Would 0.4 soon have Indians for neigh- bors as chills and pneumonia for per- manent guests, and the chinch bug and. grasshopper are only occasional in their visits and partial in their depredations, but the corn -cracker and the nigger are on. hand. the year round. I should be sorry to think that amens( the number of victims of the Little Rock land. sharks there should. be some Canadians, but doubtless there are. Roped in, too, in the first place by this precious adver- tisement. Our Mexican brethren have had. a bad time of it this winter. Small pox has been among them, and has made ter- rible havoc. I don't think there is a Mexican house in this County, but has had one- or more cases of small pox. The proportion of deaths has been very great, nearly half the cases resulting fatally. The contagion has ceased now simply because the material is exhaust- ed. All liable to the disease have taken it and recovered, or taken it and died. It has been almost confined to the Mex- ican population, very few cases having occurred among white people. The gre- garious habits of .the Mexicans, their uncleanliness, and. general disreCard for all sanitary laws render them peculiar- ly liable to small pox and other conta- gious diseases. They do not practise vaccination, but itt many cases inoccu- late with the small pox virus, which, of course, tends to still further spread. the contagion. •They take no care to avoid the infection, but absolutely seem to court it, visiting the .sick, and waking the dead in the most effusive manner. "If it be the will of God," say they,that we die,all right who can't help it?" Then they have no proper medical treatment. The Americp,ns,as a general thinawould rather see them die than not. No med- ical officer is appointed to go among them and they are left to die like rot- ten sheep. X cannot avoid self -gratifica- tion when comparing the conduct of the ; Canadian authorities towards the North- • west half-breeds and reela,nders when ravaged by contagion with that shown to the Mexicans here. Yet the Mexi- cans are our "fellow citizens"—yes, en- titled. to vote and. hold office. In many respects the Americans are a great peo- ple, but they do not understand the treatment of the inferior races. To illustrate how contagion may spread: The 'Mexicans are much in the habit of sleeping on • sheepskins. Give a Mexican herder a, single blanket and a sheepskin and he thinks himself • well furnished with bedding. They would pass through a siege of small pox on their sheepskin. beds, and when one got hetter or died, the sheepskins would be c011ected with others and sold in the way of trade. The consequence was, that before they knew what wail the matter, three or four sheepskin buyer& in different parts of the country were laid up with, varioloid and small pox. One in Pueblo, the largest dealers in hides and skins in Southern Colo- rado caught the small pox from hand- ling infectedpelts and. died. Sheepskins are at a discount now for commercial purposes. When I was in Pueblo about a month ago, I had a few with me to sell for a friend, and it was only by giv- ing the most solemn assurances as to their character and antecedents that I could get rid of them. The Colorado Giant or stone man has made quite a figure in the world since I wrote you about him last fall. In this country he is known always as the "Muldoon." This name was the hap- py thought of a Pueblo editor, and. it is said was borrowed from an Irish song concerning a certain Muldoon, who was a solid man. Amid oceans of pointless slaws, the Western papers occasionally get off a good thing; this was one of them, and the name stuck. The suc- cess of Muldoon is only another illus- tration of how gullible people are—even scientific people. If some of the concoc- ters of the fraud had not split on. them- selves it would no doubt be exciting the wonder and. admiration of the savans of sEurope by this time. Now, that the humbug has been shown up it is hard, even in Pueblo, to find one who ever thought there was anything in it. We all " knowed it," yes, and. we " told you so." A. McL. Canada. Edith O'Gorman, an escaped. nun, is making a lecturing tour through On- tario. —Rev. B. B. Ussher, Rector of Christ Church (Reformed Episcopal), Toronto, has accepted a call to St. Bartholomew's charch, Montreal. —The sum of 5500 has been granted by the Ontario Government, to the 'Me- chanics' Institute Association in Lon- don, for the purpose of establishing a school of design in connection with the Institute. —Mr. John McLeod, onesof the oldest settlers in the cotinty of Oxford, died on Wednesday of last week, at the ad- vanced. age of 93 years. He settled on the Oth line of Zorra some fifty years ago, and lived there till the time of his death. —Miss Teryhurst, a school teacher in Mewls township, Muskoka, late- ly encountered a pair of grey wolves on, the Port Carling road. A dog she had with her started the wolves into the woods, and Miss Teryhurst started herself for the nearest dwelling - house. • --A sad accident befell Murdoch Mc- Donald of Ripley, on Mon.day last week, which resulted. in his death. It ap- pears that he went to the slashing close by, to get some fireweed, and. not re- turning at tiee proper time, search was made, when'he - was found lying near the road dead, with a. stump he had been carying, lying acmes his neck. It is supposed that in crOssing over some roots one caught Ms foot and tripped him, the stump striking him a little above and on part of the ear. The de- ceased was a singIe man, about 40 years of age. —A farmer in Greenock has fall wheat the blades of -which measure 15 inches hi length. The wheat is on new • land and was so -wed very early last fall, —The by-law granting a bonus of 55,000 to the Stratford and Huron rail- way, has been carried be the township of Bentinck by a majority of 180 votes.; —Phillip Brodie, a brakeman on the • Grand Trunk railroad, was instantly killed last Friday forenoon by being struck by an overhead bridge near .Drurnbo, on the Buffalo and. Goderich Division. --Last Sunday morning a printer in Toronto named Charlton. Losee, aged 2$, died from the effects of two ounces of laudanum, administered by his own hand. ' He belonged. to Lindsay, where his mother resides. • —The Chatham Chief of Police found a lot of light weight, prints of but- ter on that market a feva days since. They were nominally one pound prints of chbice quality; the Chief confiscated some 70 pounds. — The wife of Mr. R. Nelson, of Eg- remoiat township,presented herhusband with a son on the 29th of May las, and on the 7th ultimo with twin sons, thus increasing hie fa„naily by three in nine months and 13 days. —A_ young man named Dick Craig, son of Robert Craig,tanner of Cornwall, was found dead in his father's tannery with a gun by his side. An ugly vvound in the abdoraen caused by the gun is supposed to have caused his death. —Dr. Allen, of Belleville, for com- plicity in an abortion case, has been sentenced to one years' imprisonment in jail with hard. labor; and Robert A. Wilson, for forgery, to three years' Ira- = prisonmeat in the Kingston Peniten- tiary. —David Winkler, well and. favorably known throughout the Western Penin- sula', died at Neustadt on Monday last, after a protracted illness. , Deceased was the founder of the -village of Neus- teat, and one of the :pioneers of Nor- mandy. —Dr. Richardson, of Sinacoe, met with a serious accident at a fire there last week. When endeavoring to at- tach a hook to the burning building his feet tripped, and he fell on a pile of burning boards, when his face was bad- ly burned. —The paying teller of the National Bank at Detroit took a trip across to Palladian 'soil one day last week, leav- ing a deficit of 55,000 to be accounted for. The bank managers publish a de- scription of him, and offer a reward for his arrest. •—Mrs.Mary Johnson died at her resi- donee, Don Mount, near Toronto, on Thursday -of last week, at the age of 102. She came from Ireland to this co-tmtry 40 years ago. She remembered the rebellion of '98, and could recite in- cidents of it. _ —In New Hamburg, there are four -men whose combined weight amcamts to 1,142 lbs. Or on an average of 2853: lbs. each, Their names and invidual weight is as, follows: John Rau, 327; John Stauffer, 284; Francis E. Tye, 282; and Mr. Englehart, 249. —In the village of Lynden, Went- worth county,- the temperance cause has been making rapid progress, a great number of meetings -ha-ve been held: 448 persons have signed the pledge, and large club has been formed there, offi- cered by influential men. —Mr. Sae, of Rend Eau, is the pos- sessor of a rare a,lid valuable curiosity— a magnificent ,walking stick of Scotch oak, which belonged. to the poet Robert Burns, and which has now been in his • family for many years. He has refused an offer of forty guineasior the staff'. —Wm. Vaughan, convicted of the murder of Mary Quinn, at St. John, New Brunswick, has been sentenced to be hanged on Saturday, June 22nd. The prisoner said he had nothing to say, except that he left the matter in the hands of a just Goa. He was quite unmoved, and exhibited an overshow of bravado. • — At the Woodstock Assizes on Fri- day last the case of Regina vs'. Mrs. Collins and. Lutes, of Tilsonburg, for attempting to commit abortion on the person of Theresa Collins, was con - chided. The evidetice against the prisoners was very weak, the evidence against them being that of Mrs. Harris. verdict of not guilty was returned. —At the April session of the Board of Examiners of Land Surveyors for Ontario, held at the Department of Crown Lands, the follo-wing candidates passed a successful examination, and were duly admitted. as Provincial Land Surveyors: W. R. Burke, Belleville; John Davis, Alton; C. B. Franks, Hamilton, and James A. 'Patterson, Galt. —A• short time ago a mare be- longing to Michael Sparrow, 12th conces- sion Elderslie, got fast in the stall. Mr. ISparrow to free her commenced cutting down the stall with a broad axe -which flew off the handle and struck the animal in the abdomen completely cutting through the walls, allowing the intestines to escape, the animal had to be destroyed. —The lady superintendent of the I General Hospital in Montreal, and. four English trained' nurses, have resigned their situations. This will make over 200 employees, principally female 1 nurses, who have either been discharg- ed from or resigned. their situations in the institution. since the new system of -trained nurses was introduced two years and a half since. . —A cornesr's jurEhasfound that Julia Rowswell ORMO to her death on Friday, the 22nd day of March,1878, in the river Speed, in Guelph, by drowning, and that her death was caused by her own act, while in an unsound state of raind The deceased. had been staying at the house of a friend. at Guelph, she 11 had arisen in the night, and unknown to ally of the family had. quitted the house through an upper story win- dow. — A 3 -bung man in St.Catharines nam- ed George Covey, aged 19, grandson of J.E. Lamb, ex -collector of customs for that port, was found last Saturday morning suspended. by the neck in one the outbuildings at Mr. Lamb's resi- dence. —David Gillies and wife, of the vil- lage of Carlisle, are charged with bru- tally beating and ill-treating their lit- tle girl, aged about 12 years. It is said the child, during the past year,has been beaten with a poker, thrownout - of doors, &c. —T. V. Roy, the Brahmin priest, has been acquitted. of both charges of lar- ceny brought against him, at the Went- worth Assizes ast week. He has since been arrested in Toronto on a charge of bigamy, no fewer -than three women claiming him as their husband,. • -, .—A young man named E. J. Wigle, 23 years of age, has mysteriously dis- appeared frora the Park House, Am- herstbura, he had with him between $200 and 30�. The missing man was of strictly tenaperate habit's, and is a nephew of Mr, Wigle, M. P. P. Foul play is suspected. —The hroy Age says: About a week agooia. Indian Doctor from the neigl orhood of Goderich, came to Wardsville in company with another Indian, got on a spree, and while lying on the ground sleeping off the effects of the liquor, SO)110 person or persons re- lieved. him of $60 in bills, which he had on his person. No clue to the robber. —On Tuesday, 2d inst., the Grand Trunk Company ferried across the river 861 cars in 24 hours. The same day the Grand. Trunk delivered to the Michigan Central 175 passengers and 185 pieces of baggage transported. on one train. The next day, Wednesday, it transfer- red. from a single train 190 passengers and 205 pieces of baggage to the Michi- gan Central. —The steamer Quebec of the North- west Transportation Line, the first of the season, left Sarnia last Fridaynight for Lake Superior with above 200 -tons of freight, including450 barrels of pork, 500 bushels of potatoes, a car -load of oil, 11 horses, and a number of bug - ales and light *agons, besides n quanti- ty of miscellaneous stuff. She also had. from 200 to 300 passengers, deck and cabin. —A man named Snyder, who.stole a goldwatch anciother valuables, amount- ing to about $200, from a bureau in Mrs, Donald's house in Drummondville, while doing some painting thAre last week, was arrested. on suspicion. The goods were found in a Water closet on his mother's premises.. He pleaded. "Guilty." and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment at Welland, with hard labor. —Mr. Zahn English., of North Dor- chester, recently celebrated his 88th birthday. He is hale and hearty for a man of his age. He threshes oats enough to Make straw to feed. 20 head of cattle and attends to the same. He was one of the earliest settlers in Lon- don township, and aisessed the same removing to Dorchester, where has he for eight successive years previous to resided for the last 31 years. He has never paid a dollar to a doctor in his life. —A singular case of poisoning occurred in London last week, the whole family of Mr. James Howie, with the excep- tion of Mrs. Hewie being prostrated. Fortunately medical aid was secured itt such thne as to prevent fatal results. It is suspected that the poison was Paris green, and that it came from potatoes -Which had. been served up for dinner, this being sustained by the fact that Mrs. Howie had not paretaken of any of the vegetable, and silo alone escaped. —A da x or two ago a gentleman in Hamilton took a cab and. was driven to the Great Western Railway station. The owner of the cab was indebted to him for some work done, and, when the gentleman merely asked 11 he would charge the fare, the -cabman eeized upon a piece of luggage and. refused to give it tip. In coneequence of this the gen- tleman missed: the train. The probabil- ity is that this cheeky hack man will appear itt the police court to answer for his unwarrantable conduct. —The Enterprise published in the village of Chesley, Bruce County says: 4 gentleman named Robertson, a most prominent Conservative of a neighbor- ing Village, is said to be the happy possessor of the first flock of chickens of the season. He has also two roosters, one of which he has named McKenzie, the other Sir John, As might be ex- pected, these birds have some severe combats, with a good deal of crowing and clapping of wings, and. the worthy owner of these feathered Mormons is always delighted. -when the Sir John rooster gets the better of the McKenzie bird; but what just now troubles the mind of the owner of the gasne cocks is the difficulty of deciding whether his chickens are Reformers or Conserve.- ives.A. " —robbery of 51,000 in greenbacks from the counter uf the Hochelaga hank, - in Montreal, was effected last Monday by two respectably dressed thieves. One of them engaged the receiving teller in conversation, pretending that he desir- ed to purchase a bill of exchange, while the other took up the time of the pay- ing teller. The first sharper, -having been referred. to the cashier, offered a hthim their pretext whereby the receiving teller was induced to leave his box and accompany atobsetnheee t'eharipaceritisegeoffior grreaurbigacics was taken by the accomplice from the counter. After the parties haa made their exit the robbery was di's:coveredj and the detectives were informed the circumstance. The stolen reafney of consisted of a $500 bill and twenty fiso 520 bills.