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PUBLISHED WEEKLY AT
BED CLOUD, NEBRASKA.
M.,H. W-A-IRlSriEIR,
RED CLOUD, NEBRASKA THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1S7.
NUMBER 2.5.
VOLUME III.
Editor mud Proprietor.
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(JENF.KAL KEV1S CONDENSED.
There was a shock of an earthquake
in Placer, Nevada, and Yuba counties,
California, on the night of Dec. 23d. No
damage is reported.
The trial of Embry for the attempted
assassination of Col. D. R. Anthony at
Leavenworth in May last, Iihs resulted
in his acquittal.
John Brugger & Son, stocking manu
facturers, of Manchester, N. II., are
' reported to have failed, with liabilities
aid to be $100,000; essls, f 20,000.
The jury in the Bowen libel suit
against the Brooklyn Eagle, found a
verdict for the plaintiff and fixed the
images at $1,000. Other cases of libel
are to be tried next term.
Indiana editors with their wives to the
aumber' of about two hundred, arc to
visit Philadelphia about the 16th of
January for the purpose of viewing the
Centennial buildings.
A coal miner named Lee, December
25th, at Charleston, West Virginia, was
set upon by two miners named Davidson
and Eastept, who stabbed bim thirty-
'three times. The murderers are in jail.
While a colored man named Simms,
was driving across the Potomac near
'Washington City, on the night of Dec.
34th, his horse fell from the bridge, and
.his wife, son and daughter, were drowned.
On the morning ot December 24th,
Xuther H. Briggs, freight conductor on
the P. C. & St. Louis railroad was in
stantly killed at Richmond, Ind., by fall
ing under his train, which severed his
head and fearfully mangled his body.
At a social party near Gallatin, Sum
ner county, Tennessee, on the night of
December 24th, Jack Suddlete was
shot dead by Joel Barres. The difficulty
originated in a dispute about the pos
session of a chain.
At an election held in Dakota and
Dixon counties, Nebraska, December
27th, on the question of issuing bonds
to the Covington, Columbus & Black
Hills Railroad Company, the bonds
were voted by four-fifths majority. Work
.on the road will begin at once.
While some workmen were repairing
fcitawncl on the Eastern Kentucky Rail
iroaft, Dec. 27th, a large mass of rock
Uell,-iwantly hilling J. W. Bower, road
imaster:; Robert Allen and Jack Thoinp
sOB, section men, and severely injuring
George Barney, section foreman.
Alaason Palmer, who, a fow years ago,
owned aoeoe of the finest steamers on the
great lakes, and whose great wealth made
him one ot the powerful citizens of
Buffalo, died the other day in an Insane
yAsylum, penmScas and craty, at the age
tf eighty-one years- He lost his wealth
in reckless speculation.
A storm in Southern Ohio, Dec. -doth
did considerable damage. M .Catawba,
Clark county, a new MetVodist .church
was wrecked; damage, $3,KW. In that,
vicinity and in the neighborhood of
McConnelsville, the streams were at
flood height, sweeping away fences, out
buildings, trees, haystacks and bridges.
On the night of December 24th, in
Cherea, Tenn., Monroe Gibbs shot and
killed Ike Walker for alleged seduction
of his wife, and then shot her, Inflicting
. a severe wound. Gibbs then attempted
suiciae, but was prevented by a party of
. negroes, one of whom threw a handful
. of mud in his eyes and then captured
ihim and delivered him up at the station
Ihouse. All were colored.
.Hon. W. A. Richardson died of para
lysis at his home in Quincy, Illinois,
.December ,27th. He tiad served five
ttenns'in the TJaitcd States House of Rep
ncsentativef, and was elected to fill a
wscaacjuntthedtenate occasioned by the
icteath of fltefben A. Douglass. He was
art the time of his death 04 years old.
JLt Providence, R. I., December 27th,
coroner's jury in the case of a child
killed in its mother's arn by! kick of
the drunken father, returned a verdict
that the person from whom the father
purchased the liquor which made -him
drunk, was guilty of the murder of the
, boy. The father, Phillip Gallagher, was
i held in $1,000 bail, to answer before the
; Supreme Court
On the 26th of December the bodies
. of two men were found on the roadside
t. within five hundred feet of each other,
near Waverly, N. J. Both were well
. dressed. One had his throat cut, and in
his pocket was found a knife with which
it was supposed he had committed sui
cide. He bore the appearance of being
,a German, about 45 years of age. The
. other was a man of about 25 years. He
Iliad a pistol wound in his temple, and
Hinder fcis body was an empty revolver.
-.Thomas H. Chandler, the town Mar
shal of Lebanon, Ky., on the 27th of
December, summoned a number of men
to assist him in arresting George F.
-aforthcraft, whose conduct was dis
.orderly. When approached by Chandler
:aad the citisens he resisted the arrest
-.and called on 6ome roughs to assist him.
A. general row ensued, a numoer ol
hos being fired by both' parties.
Chandler, the Marshal, killed North
.craft, and eome of Northcraft'a friends
.killed 'Chandler. General excitement
oUowed tke killing, but ;no other rows
occcurred.
FOREIGN NEWS.
A dispatch from Madrid says that 000
soldiers were to embark for Cuba on the
30th of December. It says that Spain
has resolved to retain Cuba even if the
insurgents should obtain greater forces
and conld rely upon some powerful pro
tector. The Centennial authorities recently
j sent Pope Pius IX. an invitation to give
his recognition to the enterprise by a
contribution to the Exposition of some
of the works of art from galleries of the
Vatican, or from the workshops over
which he may have control. The letters
of the Pope are couched in the warm
est terms of friendship for the United
States, and in them he promises a com
pliance with the request.
The Mark Lane Evprcst ot London,
Dec. 27th, in a weekly review of the
grain market, says: ''The large imports
-since the first of September has kept
prices down, but we cannot expect the
imports to continue while the rates are
so low. The business in Europe is rea
sonably dull and prices are barely main
tained. At Paris, at several of the pro
vincial markets, flour has again dropped
a franc and wheat one shilling and a six
pence. Belgium and Holland are about
a shilling lower. Vienna is drooping
and Odessa is dull. Holders are main
taining high prices.
The Weser Zeitung of Bremen, of De
cember 8th, coLtains the following
account of the capture and massacre ol
a detachment of Egyptian troops by
Abyssinians, briefly reported some time
since by cable. We have bad news from
Abyssinia in .the expedition of about
2,000 men sent by the Khedive under
the command of General Arendrop, a
Dane, to subjugate of the Abyssinians,
was drawn into hu a rubusli and nearly
every man slaughtered. Gen. Arendrop,
the Pasha, and many other officers were
literally hacked in pieces, their heads
stuck on spears before the Abyssinians,
and their bodies thrown to the wild
beasts. Mackilop, Pasha, is said to be
alive and a prisoner. Of Col. Roach,
the American, nothing is known, and
only officer, Schwcrzer, escaped. An
expedition, comprising 12,000 men in
fantry, cavalry and artillery is to be
sent out from Cairo without delay, and
will be joined by every American officer
in the Fgyptian service, including Col.
Stone.
PERSONAL,
Theodore Tilton will soon remove
himself and family to Chicago, to take
up permanent residence.
The Emperor of Brazil will embark
on board the nenlius on the 26th of
March, for New York, to begin his tour
ot North America and Europe.
The military of Savannah are making
preparations to celebrate the anniversary
of General Robert E. Lee's birthday,
January 19, by a grand parade.
The Rothschilds, who acted as bankers
to the British Government in the recent
Suez Canal stock transaction, made the
nice little profit of $1,500,000 for doing
the business.
The wife of Houston, the Chief En
gineer of the steamship Pacific, who lost
his life while trying to save the women
passengers if the ill-fated vessel, has
become insane from grief at the death
of her husband.
Dorrence Atwater, American Consul
for the Society Islands, has married the
Princess Moetia, a wealthy native lady,
whose right to rule, though she has not
asserted it, is equal to that asserted by
Queen Pom are. She is educated, ac
complished and beautiful.
An original portrait of Washington,
painted from life by eavage in 1793, is
on exhtbition at the Centennial rooms in
Bocton. Two others, taken previous to
this by the same artist, are In existence.
Charles Francis Adams has one and
Harvard College the other.
Professor Mosler, of Germany, is now
successfully treating phthisic; or pulmo
nary consumption, by making an incision
through the wall of the chest and draw
ing off the pus with a syringe, and after
ward washing out the ulcers with weak
carbolic acid.
The Hon. George Bancroft told a
reporter of the Philadelphia Item, re
cently, that the coming Centennial Exhi
bition would in every respect excel any
international exhibition ever before giveL.
He thinks it will drive away hard times
and encourage immigration to an aston
ishing extent. Mr. Bancroft thinks the
next Presidential campaign will.be the
most exciting one of our history.
Henry Porter, who was the color
bearer of the 19th Illinois regiment
during the civil war, and one of the in
conspicuous but heroic characters of the
great conflict, died on the 19th ot last
October, at Rugby, England. He was
taken prisoner before Atlanta, by the
tke forces ot General Hood, but con
cealed his colors about his person, and,
after a prolonged confinement at An
dersonville, returned them to his regi
ment. His sufferings during his impris
onment shattered his constitution, and
Bally lei to his death.
Modern Explosives.
Something About NUro-Cilyceriue, Gun
Cotton and Giant Powder.
The fearful explosion of dynamite
and consequent loss of life at Bremer
Haven, will remind many of a similar
disaster which took place at Aspinwali
some nine years since. Tin; dynamite
on the pier at Bremerhaven, it is said,
was iu the personal baggage of a passen
ger. The nitro-glyccrinc which ex
ploded on board the steamship European
at Aspinwali, in 1806, was invoiced us
"oil." Its powerful properties were
quite unknown at that tune in this coun
try. There were about seventy cases of
the stuff in the hold of the ship, which
had been transported from Hamburg to
Hull, England, and thence to Liverpool
by rail. It will never be known whether
the explosive quality of the compound
had been heightened by partial decom
position in the tropical heat of that low
latitude, or whether the careless hand
ling by the laborers in the vessel's h Id
brought about the disaster. The steam
er was blown up, many people were
killed, and much shipping and wharf
property and buildings were wrecked.
Great indignation was expressed against
the shippers who had disguised their
consignment in order to insure its
transportation. In the shape in which
it wa3 carried it completely deceived
the vciy people who should have been
made aware of the dangerous properties
of the cargo which they were obliged
to handle. This shipment was designed
for San Francisco, and, by a curious
coincidence, a similar disaster occurred
in that city about the samo time. Tid
ings of the two explosions reached New
York almost simultaneously. An
express company in Sun Francisco had
reciivcd, in the course of business, a
case containing several packages of
Ditro-glycerine, tho outer wooden
covering of which was saturated with
the perilous stuff leaking from the inside
cases. Nobody called lor it, and borne
man was instructed to open it iu order
to see what the contents might be. The
first blow of his mallet caused an ex
plosion which killed eight or ten peo
ple, wrecked the warehouse, wounded
many persons, and destroyed property
to the value of two hundred thousand
dollars.
Both these disasters occurred when
the manufacture of nitro glycerine was
yet new, and while the art of packing
it safely for transportation was com
paratively unknown. Of the various
serious accidents which have happened
from a careless use of this explosive,
that by which eight men were killed
and several were wounded, at Bergen,
N. J., in 1867, was most notable. In
this instance a laborer attempted to dry
a can of nitro glycerine by thrusting a
red hot poker into it. We now know
enough of nust powerful explosives to
handle them, at least, with great care,
aud to transport them from place to
place without incurring any such awful
penalties of ignorance as those which
followed its ignorant disposition less
than ten years ago. Indeed, the article
of commerce known as dynamite, which
caused the explosion at Bremer haven,
was the result of Alfred Noble's experi
ments to discover n form in which nitro
glycerine might be safely handled.
Noble, a Swedish chemist of Hamburg,
after studying the composition and
properties of such explosives as the
"wood gunpowder" of Schultze, and
the compressed gun cotton of Abel, in
troduced nitreleum, or trinitine, to the
world on a large scale. It was not until
1865 that it became well known in the
arts, and the series of shocking disas
ters which followed its introduction
brought it at once into great disfavor;
those who saw its immense value as r.n
explosive dreaded its hidden forces.
It was then proposed to diffuse the ex
plosive fluid in sand, or chemical sub
stances, by which means the explosive
force would be divided, and any latent
heat would be conducted off. Another
plan was to mix the oil with wood
naptba, which would form a non explo
sive compound, the naptha being easily
drawn off when the nitroleum is required
for use. None of these expedients were
found practicable, and the latest result
of all experiments was dynamite, or
giant powder. This is simply pulverized
si lex, saturated with nitro glycerine. A
cheap substitute for the sflex is a de
posit of infusorial earth, found in some
parts of Germany, and which answers
every purpose of the artificially pre
pared material. The saturated mass
looks like a damp grayish sugar. If
carelessly prepared, the nitro glycerins
settles or collects in crops, and is, of
course, dangerously explosive-
Of each of these compounds it may
be said, as of fire, that uit is a good ser
vant but a bad master." Railroad tmild
ing, and all enterprises requiring blast
ing, tunneling or excavation, have been
vastly cheapened by the introduction of
this tremendous explosive. It was esti
mated at one time that the Hoosac Tun
nel woald require less than one-half the
time and money to finish it by using
nitroglycerine than any ordinary process
would involve. In blasting, the bore
holes may be smaller and further apart
with nitro glycerine or dynamite than
with'gunpowder. Although an cxplsion
wlth these modern compounds is ex
traordinarily sudden, the mass to be de
tached is not thrown out with the vio
lence of a gunpowder blast, but is shat
tered and Insured without much pro
jection. The increased volume of un
exploded charge of nitro glycerine or
dynamite is enormous us compared with
gunpowder, being about thirty times
larger than that of powdf. There have
been iuudj sa-called "perfectly safe" ex
plosive preparations, of which dynamite
and dualine are the newest.
It is evident that, like the nun explo
sive burning fluido pe3V'd aoout the
country, these are not to tre trusted im
plicitly. Several mysterious and disas
trous explosions have occurred from
them, that at Bremenhaven, so far as we
know, being one against which no
watchfulness on the part ot the shipping
agents could gua'd. Tiiere is no such
thing us a safe explosive. The most
safe, under certain conditions, not yet
clearly understood, may be insidiously,
by the operation of the laws of chemis
try, transformed into uncontrollable ele
ments. A Tennessee Kuuunce.
Ho was young, he was fair, aud he
parted his hair, like the average beau, in
the middle ; he was proud, he was bold,
but the truth must be told, he played
like a fiend on the fiddle. Barring his
voice, he was everything nice, and his
heart was so loving and tender, that he
always turned pale when he trod on the
tail of the cat lying down by the fender.
He clerked in a store, and the way that
he tore off calico, jeans and brown sheet
ing, would have tickled a calf and made
the brute laugh in the face of a quarterly
meeting He cut quite a dash with a
darliug moustache, which he learned to
adore and cherish; for one girl had said,
while she dropped her proud head, that
'twould kill her to see the thing perish
On Snudays he'd searched the straight
road to the church, unheeding the voice
of the scorner; aud demurely sat like a
young tabby cat, with the saints in the
umen corner. lie sang like a bir.l, and
his sweet voice was heard, fairly tugging
away at long meter; aud we speak but
the truth, when we say that this youth
could outsing a hungry mosquito. She
was young, she was fair, and she scram
bled her hair like the average belle of the
city; she was proud, but not bold, yet
the truth must be told, the way she
chewed wax was a pity. Barring this
vice, she was everything nice, and the
world admired her bustle; and the Fay
etteville boys, being calmed by the
noise, walked live miles to hear it rustle.
She cut quite a swell, did this wax chew
ing belle, and men flocked in crowds to
meet her; but she gave them tho shirk,
lor she loved the young clerk who sang
like a hungry mosquito. So she hummed
and she hawed, and she sighed and
she "chawed," till her heart and her jaws
were broken; then she walked by his
store while he stood at the door awaiting
some lovely token. She raised up her
eyes with a mock of surprise, and tried to
enact the scorner; but to tell the truth,
she grinned at the youth who loved the
amen corner. They
met alas! what came to pass was soft
and sweet, and precious; they wooed,
they cooed; he talked, she chewed O
how they loved,good gracious ! They had
to part, he rose to start; her grief cannot
bee painted ; these are the facts, she swal
lowed the wax then screamed,then chok'd,
then fainted. Her pa appeared ; her beau,
quite scared, rushed out to get some water,
the watch-dog spied his tender hide,
and bit him where he "oughtcr." The
tale is sad, the sequel bad so thinks the
youth thus bitten. He sings no more, as
oft of yore he gavo the girl the mitten.
She pined apace, her pretty face looked
tender and dejected; her father kind, but
somewhat blind, beheld her and reflected.
His income tax he spent for wax Bhe
smiled and called him clever. She went
to work, .forget that clerk, and chawed in
bliss forever!
Political Conventions in 187ft.
Jan. 5 New Hampshire Republican
State Convention, Concord.
Jan. 5 Texas Democratic State Con
vention, Galveston.
Jan. 12 Texas Republican State Con
vention, Houston.
Jan. 13 Republican National Com
mittee, Washington, to select time and
place for holding the National Conven
tion. Feb. 22 Indiana Republican State
Convention, Indianapolis.
March 15 Indiana Democratic State
Convention, Indianapolis.
May 6 National Convention of Pro
hibitionists, to nominate a Presidential
ticket, etcjCJeveland.
May 17 National Independent Con
vention, to nominate Presidential tick
et, Indianapolis.
Captain ''Young, who commanded the
Pandora in her late voyage in the Polar
region, will be sent by the British
Admiralty next year to communicate
with the British expedition in the Alert
and Discovery, which is aiming to reach
the North Pole via Smith's Sound
THE WORLD OF SCIENCE.
The Proper Time for Cutting Trees'.
An extensive inquiry has been made
in Prussia into the effect ot the dura
bility of woods of the season at which
the trees are cut down. In general, the
wood felled when the sap is not running
b?s a decided pre-eminence as to its
durability, strength and density. The
heat given out in burning wood felled
in December and January is also, ac
cording to these experiment:!, greater
than for woods cut in Fcbititiry and
March.
Cleaning Silver-ware, Etc.. with I'o
tato Water.
Silver and plated articles should be
placed about ten minutes in the hot
water in which potatoes have been
boiled (with salt), and then be rubbed
with a woolen rag, an J rinsed in pure
water, when the articles will not only be
free from tarnish, but perfectly bright
Potato water that has become sour by
standing several days answers still bet
ter, and is also excellent for cleaning
articles of steel and glass water bottles.
Conduction of Heat by Building .Ma
terial. The coefficient of conduction for heat
of various building materiuls has lately
been carefully investigated by Ling,
who, in his studies, has eudeavored to
exclude the influence of radiation, and
has made measurements by means of the
thermo-electre multiplier. He finds
that the stones considered by him are
much better concuctois of heat when
wet than when dry, and that various
classes of stones Mich as miilile, sand
stone, granite, etc., have approximately
the sime coefficients of conduction,
while bricks of alt kinds are much
wo'se conductors than the natural stones.
The Elasticity of Purified Air.
Some researches of Mendeleff and
Kirkpitschoff sho x th:it the product of
any volume of air by iti pressure which
according to the law of Marriotte should
be constant for a'l pressure?, is not so
for the air, varying considerably when
the pressures diminish to so small a
quantity us half a millimeter. This
product in fact, which for perfect gases
is constant, varies tapidly in the ease of
air. The deviations from the Jaw of
Marriotte lor rarefied air arc contrary to
those observed by R'gnauM for com
pressed air. In fact, the product in
creases when the pressure increases, and
diminishes when the pressure diminishes.
These discordancos are far larger than
the possible errors of observation.
Moisture In the Air anil Intensity of
Frlctional Electricity.
Certain theoretical considerations hav
ing led Rosctti to the conclusion that
Ohm's law should apply to frictional us
well as to galvanic electricity, he has
instituted experiments .showing that,
under similar conditions ami in the same
series of experiments, the intensity of
the current is nearly proportional to the
velocity of the rotation of the disk of a
Hollz machine. TI113 relation is influ
enced by the moisture of the air in such
a way that the number of turn3 which
the disk must make, in order to give rise
to a stream ol" a certain intensity, 13
greater in a moist than In a dry atmos
phere. The quantity of work which
must be expended for the development
of electricity is exactly proportional to
the intensity of the current; therefore,
the ratio between the work expended and
resulting intensity o? the current is the
same with increasing moisture.
The Temperatnre or the Earth.
The interest which attaches to careful
observations of the temperature of the
earth suggests that the apparatus which
is used in Germany should be better
known in this country, in order that,
when practicable, it may l-e introduced
here. The following is a (!e3:rintion ot
it as used by observers in Hungary. In
its general ontlines it does not differ
from that recommended by Lamont. It
consists principally of a rectangular
tube buried permanently in the enrth,
withm which five rectangular prisms of
wood are placed one above the other, at
differeat depths in the ground, and
which by a simple arrangement, can be
easily and quickly drawn up. Each of
these tubes contains a thermometer, and
there is a hole in the side of the msin
tube, opposite to the bulb of the ther
mometer, where the woodwork is cut
away, and the opening closed by a plate
of thin sheet copper, whose temperature
may be presumed to be the same a3 that
of the adjacent ground. The depths at
which the thermometers' bulb3 remain,
are four, eight, twelve, sixteen and
twenty feet. Shenzi, as the result of ob
servation made during eight years, finds
that the time required for heat to pen
etrate to a depth of one meter is, on the
averags, twenty -one day.
Ex-President Thiers of France has
written a letter reserving the right of
loosing between the Senate and Cham
ber of Deputies if he should be elected
to both Houses. He adds that aii bis
wishes are for the establishment of a
Conservative Republic.
i
Curlouo Krr.tU- of m iuurtUnt' Hirl-
riareU.
A lady resident in thia city was the
delighted owner of a pel crow, whose
oddities of disposition and love of mis
chief tr.ustonned him into a household
pet. He was the 'icial lion" of his day.
and company were always entertained
by un interview with "Jim Crow," as he
was called. Though "Jim "has doubt.
les passed over into the hippy hunting
grounds of his ancestry, and may now
possibly le divettirg himself m the
same old way, thw recollections of
this inveterate mischief maker and his
remarkable freaks are d veined worthy of
n rtJiwarsal. His discevcrj and the
subsequent incidents of his eventful
history are thus related by the ladv her
self: "
Sitting iu the trunk of u tree beside
the cabin ot a wood chopper in the Alle
ghanies, I first saw "Jim Crow." He
was too young to fly, and, only partially
covered with feathers, looked so quee-,
so helpless, aud wilhtil so mischievous,
that I bought him, tied him in my hand
kerchief, and, hanging it on the pommel
ot my saddle, rode twenty miles to my
home. Tiie long ride in no way disagreed
with him, but seemed to have only in
creased his appetite, for from his perch
on tie apple tree his continuous 'caw
caw" could be heard all day from morn
till eve. It wus the amusement of all
the family to fill up "Jim Crow," which
meant to take pieces of bread and clo
ver heads, and indeed anything, almost,
to ''Jim,' drop it in his wide open
mouth till his craw, his thro:it, and his
mouth were filled. There he would sit
with his bill wide open, unable to shut
it till the fool slowly digested, then
recommence his "caw, caw, car." With
the wings came the quiet twinkle in
these black eyes foretold mischief, sly
and deep. Mischief premeditated axd
unpremeditated, and mischief purely
because he couldn't help it, and this
propensity wus exercised chiefly against
the cook, 1 'eciui.se she most felt his pres
ence and resented it.
He delighted in going into the cook's
room, whose careless habits made that
place a purudise to him. He would
gently put his bill under the lid of her
sewing box and turn off the cover on the
floor and then the fun began. The
needles were all carefully .stuck over the
bed one by one. The cotton was hid in
the woodhouse, uud the scissors nicely
tucked under the. pillows iu the room
quite removed from the scene of his
labors. The wax and thimble were
dropped into the equnrium. And, after
all this delicious fun, he one day took a
little pot of hard pomade in his bill and
hopped to the edge of the veranda roof,
ate the pomade with evident relish, und
then dropped the giuds pot on the stove
pipe below with n satished air at its
demolition. He then flew down and
carefully picked up each piece and put
it in the grass.
Thij room as his favorite resort. To
it we always went to find a missing
comb, a tooth or 11 hair brush, and were
sure to find it behind the gla.3 or under
the carpet or bed. During the short
illness of one of the family, rugularly
at 9 a. m., 'Jim Crow' ho,) cd along the
veranda roof, gave a quiet tap on the
closed window, and, on being admitted.
gravely brought with him to the bedside
and laid on the table a chicken bone or
leg, or something equally tempting.
Seeing that he was uuly observed, he
would rutlli; up his feather, make him
self appear like a large round ball of
black feathers, "caw," and then open hi9
month wide for a part of the invalid's
breakfast. Alter stirring up things for
half an hour or more, opening the clock,
picking at the hands, stopping the pen-
du'um. dropping the soap in the wafer
pitchr-r, and .taking all the pins out of
the pincushions, he would take his leave.
The fish in the course of time disap
peared from the aquarium, and although
all the haps and mishaps of the house
were attributed to demure little "Jim
Crow," no one su3pected tint he was
the cause of the fhh mystery, when
one morning he was discovered taking
a bath in it and a S-di breakfast afterward.
The mystery wa3 solved, and when the
aquarium wa emptied there came to
light two thimble, a pair of scissors, a
penknife, and a spoon.
To carry away smill chickens and
drop them into holes and cover them
with dirt, was his intense delight, and
when he saw a distracted hen rushing
madly about the birnyard, some one
looked up "Jim Crow" and went to the
rescue. One day, after a day' Ashing,
we were cleaning the fish ou the race
back, and busy watching the operation
was "Jim Crow" and some decks. One
little fish wss considered too small and
thrown into the water. A duck quickly
seized it by the head, and "Jim" took
the tat', and then they pulled and
pulled for a few lecondi. The scene
wi3 exceedingly amusing, for "Jim"
planted his little black feet firmly on
the edge of the bank, and was slowly
drawn into the water, holding on to the
fish. As soon as be found that he wai
DhPRiloifi of a Pet Crow.
i gettiug in too deep, he let go hi hold
i and tlew to a tree to take hi uu.il re-
venge in scolding, and with hi bead on
one side he ?colded till nil the tub ure
cleaned. Jim' scolding consisted of a
succession of guttural 30i:nd said over
and over with a very solemn face and
mournful mein, aud lus moved many
people to hearty Intightcr because it was
so intensely dioll. He loved to tee
the peacock, who ttme every dy aftr
dinner to the vcmudi to le fed with
pieces of bread. He would ent quickly
all that he 'xttilhly e uld, to t.-tke it
away fr 111 the peacock He would e.it
till his craw, thro.it aud bill wore full,
and then he would hop about unable to
shut his mouth and Mill trying t eat.
Jiut as the puces were ton smill aud hi
bilTtoo wide apart, he conld not tob thr
poor peacock any more, und he would
ily hwuv, di-nose ot it, und soon return
to repeat the operation, and, strange to
say, he was the tmor of the barn-yard.
The peuc icks were atr.tid ot him, n-
the geese ran uwny at hi approach.
While he ws quite young ho was tyra
uized over, and till the fowls, large and
small, had a pick at Jim. Hut one day
a happy thought seized Jim. He tok
a long straw in his bill, and chd the
geese, who lie 1 before him, and Jim
reigned supremo from that day, and
often repeated the scare, wo though:,
for his own amusement. Carefully ar
ranged among the loops and bows ot
our best bonnet we f.juiid apple core,
accordiug, no doubt, to Jin.' th.ttc, a
great improvement. In the pocket.- t
our coats there werw atonta and sticks,
aud never a pen or pencil could lie loose
on the table. Jim's strong point nm
butter, und on churning itaysutm stayed
at home und behaved himself. Hocuuld
eat a half a pound; but one day he ran
his bill through a pound, and tried to
fly away with it. He was caught rolling
over anil over the floor with it, and from
that time he was banished.
As the summer faded into autumn Jim
staid away more und more trom home,
and occasionally would leturn with
friends, evidently showing them around.
One Sunday afternoon the attention of
the family was drawn t ig-ious caw
ing on the veruiidii roof. There wan
Jim with three friend., nil ca.ving in
elegant crow language. They solemnly
walked in at the couk'it window and re
mained in the room aoinc time, keeping
up their convmalion. When they lelt,
all movable things were found over
turned, und the room left iu the state
Jim always left it. The pleasures ot
that place hud no doubt been described
by Jim to his friend.', aud he had
brought them along for a frolic. His
Is!tH from home became more and more
extended, but whenever he came he
ncolded ui much as ever anl seemingly
tried to ttlk. He would fit before the
house and deliver long harangue on
subject.! and iu lai guage too abfltruc
for us to comprehend.
One rainy Srptembcr day he bat for
hours on the apple tiec delivtring, it
must have been a farewell addrc.i-, for
wiien night came he fluw away and
never came horn again.
Jim was a great utiiiauce on waJi
days; between dropping tick and
stones unobjcrved into th tubr, find
flying away with the soap, and pulling
out the clothes p:n from the clothe on
the line, U-. wan kept very buy. He
regularly dropped small stone every
evening on a pet toad, who lived under
the kitc.tcn aud who came out to le fed
by the cook and be tormented by Jim
He would come quietly, meekly, hop
ping into the kitchen, looking o inno
cent and hungry, and us he pat-ed by
the cat asleep, he wotiM give hor one
frarful hard peck and fly out at the dour
or wirdow. ThU was repealed so often
that the cat feared him and aiumed the
defensive at his nrpro&rh. He stole a
quantity of butter one day, and hid it
near the chimney ol an out-kitchen.
We were a much surprised to feegreiMi
trickling down the wall n.t was Jim
when he went for his treainreand found
it gone The outojrt or c.W4 tint fol
lowed revealed the culprit. Jim loved
to steal, and for thi pure fun of belDg
chued he would come into the kitchen,
try to pick up something and fly away,
and if he failed In his object he would
hastily alight and pick up a lent orttoao
V) make believe he had been successful.
Rending 'i.) TimA.
A Wild Itoy.
A correspondent of the Greenup (Ky.)
Independent, from Floyd county, says:
"A boy, eight yeirs old, who, eight
months ago, waj driven away from the
sheltering roof of his parents by their
cruelty, was lately discovered by a chest
nut hunter. The boy had been consid
ered drowned during the high floods,
and was nearly forgotten. He has now
been restored to bi family, who, we
trust, will treat bim more kindly. Doriag
these eight months, while living in the
woods without seeing a human being,
he nourished himself with birch, sap,
sang, wild corn, and grapes, and was in
a fair way to turn completely wild when
found."
The statue of Napoleon was replaced
on the newly finished Vendoste Colussn,
Dec 27th. A large crowd witnef sed the
proceedings.
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