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About The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911 | View Entire Issue (May 23, 1883)
THE JOURNAL. WEDNESDAY, 31 AY 23, 1863. Zstirai it tie FsttaSct, Cokatu, Hefc., is teeai elm aaiie?. BOBIN AM) I. Once; upon a winter day, Ast-aat, forlorn-and sad. Thlmrmg. in a fretful way. Of the toe when I was glad Hopping lightly o'er the enow. Came a robin that I know. On the window ledge he stood. With a bright Inquiring eye: Twas a compact that he should Always call in passing by. Just to show we might pretend Bach to entertain a friend. When I saw my tiny guest Waiting for his daily crumb. Dainty, trim and self-possessed. Never doubting it would come, I could almost hear him say: ' Mistress, food is scarce to-day." And my heart made sad reply. As the little dole I threw; Strange that one so poor as I Should have store enough for two! Bobin. if the thing could be. Would you throw a crumb to me?" Not a sound disturbed the hush, ; Save my own impatient sigh Bobin to a neighboring bush Darted off without good-bye. How! you leave me, faithless bird. As I waited for a word. Ah ! I wronged that heart of flame ; Through the silence, sweet and clear. Forth his cheery carol came. And I held my breath to hear. For that dear familiar strain Woke my better self again. Twas a benediction sweet. Chanted in a foreign tongue. Like those graces after meat. By the warbling scholars sung. Where the reverend customs hold. Handed down by men of old. Did I dream that, as he sang. Some one entered at the door. That some childish laughter rang, And small footsteps crossed the floor? Who hath touched my lips with wine. Mellow juice or Auld Lang Syne? Suddenly the music ceased. Yet the silence breathed of balm: Art thou flown then, small hedge priest. Somewhere else to raise the psalm? " Man," the Master finely said, Doth not live alone by bread." Good Word. PLAY. A short time ago one of our greatest living musicians received a visit from an intimate friend, who had arrived un expectedly from the country at a some what early hour of the forenoon. When admitted into the house the visitor at once made way to the composer's study, and, presuming on the close and cor dial nature of their long-standing ac quaintance, entered softly unannounc ed. Sheetsof music-paper blacky scored, covered the desk and the table, and even overflowed on to the carpet tell ing of a rich brain-harvest of harmony reaped by the midnight pen. Bulky manuscript-books lay open here and there, and displayed their cabalistic hieroglyphics, prisoned within "bars," like so many inky imps, grotesquely struggling over the pages. The piano was open; and a violin and bow, lying in juxtaposition across their empty case, seemed to indicate that the maestro's ideas had taken audible form and ex pression but a short time before. But what was the maestro doing, since his pen lay for the moment idle, with its ebon blood oozing on the blotting-paper, and violin and piano mute? Pacing the room with knitted brow and far-off eyes? Tearing his hair in a fine frenzy of agonized inspiration? Gqzing at the newly-risen sun in search of the divine afflatus? Not just then, at any rate. Standing with his face turned a little away from the door, and consequently unaware for several mo ments of the presence of an intruder, he was tossing three oranges, keeping them all in the air at once, with a dex terity of manipulation that a profession al juggler might have envied,and which betokened no inconsiderable amount of practice. Now high, now low; now faster, now slower; now apparently re Tolving from one hand to the other in regular rotation; now darting in and out, backward and forward, with a rapidity that seemed to trace yellow circles and triangles before the bewil dered eye, whirled the oranges; and there, as gravely eager and intent upon maintaining their motion as though it were the weightiest concern of life, stood the genius who had given opera and oratorio to the world, and who had touched the hearts of thousands .by his wondrous invocation of wood and wire with a power such as has been vouchsafed to but few men. An exclamation from the astonished spectator at length broke the spell; the vanges descended to the floor in an un premeditated grouping; and the mu sician turned in some confusion to stammer out a greeting to the witness of his feat of legerdemain. Feeling that an explanation of the scene was expected and to some extent necessary, he presently volunteered it in these terms: " There is nothing which, once thor oughly learned, is ever entirely forgot ten; and nothing is ever learned use lessly, provided that it be not in itself immoral or prejudicial to the individual or the community. Put anything care fully awa they say of material ob jects, and you will be sure to lind a use for it before seven years are over. It is just the same with every mental ac quisition. True, our time may be put out at better interest in some pursuits than in others; and it is very likely that the hours which I devoted to these monkey tricks,1 as my parents and other guardians not unjustly termed them, when I was a boy, might have been more profitablj' employed; but they have served their turn, neverthe less. At school, I was an adept in amateur jugglery; and I believe that it was to the perfect independence yet harmony of the two hands, which such a tour tie force as the one that j'ou sur- Srised me in the execution of engen ered, that I owe the ease with which I mastered, almost at the outset of my musical education, certain compositions which are marked by difficult inequali ties of time, and which usually con stitute a great stumbling-block, not only to beginners, but often to more mature performers such, for instance, as the concluding Vivace ' movement of Beethoven's Sonatina in G, Op.79 More than that, it stands me in good stead even now. After a long night's work, as this has been, when I tiave been writing music for many hours by an artificial light, all earth, sea and air seem ruled with five parallel lines, and I behold men, not as trees, but as crotchets and quavers walking. Then I take up my three oranges for a few minutes; and the rapid and incessant shifting of the eyes from one to the other brings relief and renovation to the vision strained by monotonv. Play properly chosen should in its 'kind be an assistance to, not merely a relaxa tion from, work." And, indeed, we find this principle exemplified not only in the private rec reations of many great men which have been made known to us, but in the teaching of some of the most straijrht-1 forward and outspoken of them. On the first of October several years ago two eminent surgeons were "delivering the introductory address to the students at the opening of the medical schools attached to their respective hospitals in London for the winter session. One ad wised his hearers to cultivate some me chanical art, such "as wood-carving or turning, or to habituate themselves to tke use of carpenters' tools as -much as possible, in order that they might acmiire a digital dexterity and pliant readiness of hand a tactual instinct, as be termed it-which should belt them to become skillful operators. The other bade them devote their leisure i to w .mmmm.Jt" some musicaHnstrumeat with the same object. While, by a curious coind dence, a celebrated physician in Scot land was at the same moment counsel ing his youthful auditors to pursue the study of music, not only as a healthful change irom their graver labors, but in order that the ear might be educated to the delicacy of perception which would be of great service to them in ausculta tion with the stethoscope. A renowned philosopher not long dead is said to have delighted in con juring tricks, and to have declared that he could guage a stranger's character better by the manner in which he took or refused a "forced" card, than by an hour's conversation with him; and as a sort of corollary, and at the same time a converse to this, it may be noted that prestidigitators who are of necessity close observers of hnman nature cer tainly seem invariably to select with out hesitation those who are best fitted to serve their ends without suspicion, from amongst an audience whom they have never seen before. There can be no doubt that many of the minor details of work can be ac quired or developed in sport; that play may be the forerunner of bettered work. Nor is this to be considered a mere psychic conceit when we remem ber that in perfection of minor detail is summed up nine-tenths of excellence in art Genius.or rather what is frequently called genius, is only the residt of inde fatigable perseverance and attention to the lowest mechanical completeness. What painter could hope to reach the pinnacle of success who did not under stand the process of properly mixing his colors? a process no more 'artistic in it self than that of a baker who compounds a loaf. What musician has attained to eminence who has not undergone the drudgery of the scales, or plodded through the Dryasdust mysteries of thorough-bass and counteqomt? Above all, where is the poet who knows not Lindley Murray? Whately says that words are pre-requisites of thought; Dr. Angus goe3 further, and affirms that " the thoughts we cannot express are properly not yet ours." Seeing, then, that iu play may be laid the actual foundation of what is more to be relied upon thangenius, anil with out which genius itself is impotent, it be hooves us to direct the pastime of those over whom we have any control into such grooves as will be conducive to the greatest benefit in after years. Some natural bent or aptitude may occasion ally be indicated, and taken as a guide: but as a rule, a healthy mind may bo trained to success iu anything, if fol lowed up in the one direction; just as a healthy body will excel in pedestrian ism, pugilism, swimming, wrestling, or acrobatics, according to its education. Chambers' Journal. Purification by Torture. The Hermanos penitents, a fanatical religious sect, numbering about two thousand, in the Territory of New Mex ico, who believe in periodical atonemept for sin by inflicting on the bodies ago nizing tortures, were originally within the Roman Catholic Church, but Arch bishop Lamy, shocked by the barbarous cruelties, promulgated a decree banish ing them from the communion. Theii numbers have greatly thinned since, and they now inhabit principally but four counties in the Territory. Great care is taken to prevent the discovery of their identity by spectators, and all are masked while they conduct the an nual penance. Devotees often travel hundreds of miles to undergo prescribed torture. Los Griegos, a small Mexican village near Albuquerque, boasts a body of penitents, a fact known only by the brutal ceremonies taking place ihere every year. This morning the ceremo nies were inaugurated by the introduc tion of a procession containing about thirty men and women. The process oJ purification by torture began at ten o'clock. Five men naked to the waist, barefooted, wearing black robes, and hoods to completely conceal their identity, were seen to issue from the adobe lodge house of the sect, led by the master of cere monies carrying a veritable cat-o'-ninetails. Two huge wooden crosses weigh ing two hu ulred and fifty pounds each were placed on the naked shoulders oi two self-torturers. The sharp edge cutting into the naked flesh caused th blood to spurt out and drop to the ground. One penitent produced a e harp goad which he thrust into thr flesh o? fellow-sufferers from time tc time while the procession moved up the street to a wild gibberish chant in Span ish. Halting once, the crosses were transferred to the other shoulders, atr tendants applying the raw-hide whip mercilessly, each blow taking off the skin and bits of flesh. The procession took its way to the goal, half a mile away. During the march not a groan was" heard or a word spoken, but just before reaching the goal, a small aiobe hut, an ordeal was encountered which tried the nerve of the boldest Foi some distance before the door cacti plant had been strewn thickly on the ground, and as the barefooted cross bearers approached it one hesitated. Instantly half a dozen whips de scended on the bare shoulders, and with a bound he sprang into the cacti, his every step and follow ers marked with blood. As the torture grew more terrible, tht chant grew louder and the thongs fell with more vigor, iteaening the door ot the house they were lost sight of. Snntinels guarded the entrance, and only broken whips and pools of blood, bore witness to what transpired within. Issuing from the house the procession re formed, turned to the house of worship, and so the horrifying exercises con tinued, one batch of sentinels succeed ing another until night, when the grand procession and chant wound up the exercises for the day. During these marches to and from the House ol Refuge, the sceuc at times was too sick ening for description. Powerful men submitted their bodies to most merciless flagellation, until in some instances the bare muscles were seen quivering at even- blow. The whole proceedings were a savage attempt to honor the Easter season. Hitherto the law has made no attempt to check the wild ex ercises, although one penitent whe threw another bearing the cross into the river near San Juan and drowned him was lynched by infuriated witnesses. Recent Denver (Col.) Dispatch. Broken Up. How a small convention was broken up in a hurry is told by a down east exchange as follows : "Oh, " "said Daisy to her mam ma, "I was in the parlor last night behind the sofa, when the preacuet came in to see sister Katie, and they did sit up too close for anything; an' the preacher said: "Katie, dear, Iluvyou,' an' Katie said: 4Oo, oo;' an" then the preacher kissed her right smack in the mouth, an' said: 'Dear Katie, how good the Lord is to us poor sinners; an Katie said: 'Oo, oo;' an' then an' then" "Well," said her mamma, "you wicked child, you wicked child, what did you do?" "W'y, mamma, 1 felt so good, I blurted right out: Lct us pray,' an' you ought to have aeeo em' jump." The coffee blight seems to be trav ersing the globe. It has spread from Ceylon and the Fiji Islands to BraxS, where the loss is already so serious that the Minister of Agriculture is making every eflbrt to discover a means of stop ping it. The product of one of the largest plantations, which in the past has regularly been more than two hun dred tons annually. One theory at tributes the blight to a minute parasite at the root of the plant; another to ex Juration of the soil through jugjbot. Lies Abeat Snakes. "Oncct mo an' m' son Jerry we was i scttin' under a tree in our medder svherc we'd been a hayin'. Me an' ferry was a scttin' thar catin' of our 'bite' what th' ol' woman hed put in th' basket for t' stay our stummicks till dinner, when all t' oncct I see a snake to a sailin' past. Sich a snake as thet fer 't were a blacksnake I've never ice afore. It were eighteen feet long b' actual measurin'." "Why, Jerry," said Judge Ridgway, a blacksnake never grows beyond six feet in length, never! "Well, rt don't make no diff'ence; this yerc snake were jest nineteen feet iong, 'cause me an' Case measured it, Jest t' satisfy ourselves," retorted the hampion story-teller. "A moment ago you said it was sighteen feet long, ' remarke'd Asher. "I never said nothin' o' th' kind, Asher; ye must 'a' been dreamin'. I mid that th' snake was twenty feet ong, an' that me an' Jerry measured it. 'Well, ez I were a tellin' of it, me an' ferry we see this yere snake. By Jin cers, pap,' sez Jerry, 'look't that make! ' I sez t' him, sez I, I'll show re a leetle trick, m' son,' sez I. Well, jumps up an' made a dash arter th' make an' grabbed it by th' end o' it3 ail. Well, ez I told ye oncet before, Jiat snake were twenty-one foot long, in' as big around as a man's leg. Jest z soon ez th' snake felt me grab 'iin by :h' tail, he turned 'round an' made fer ne with mouth open an' eyes a spittin' ire. Just ez Mister Snake was a goin' ,' bite me, I stuck th' end o' his tail in lis mouth. I s'pose he thought he had aie sure, for he shut his eyes tight an' commenced a swallowing " Well, he kept on a swallowing and i swnllowing of himself, till fin'ly there rt-asu't nothin' left o' that twenty-two foot snake 'ceptin' his head, and then, (est ez soon's I could git breath from laflin', I up an' grabbed a rock an' smashed his head t' pieces, an' thet's th' end o' th' story, though I alters think that jest ez I was a goin' t' smash that thar head the snake's eyes opened an' seemed t say t' me: 'VVell, Jerry Greein', ye've played me fer a sucker an' took "me in nice.' Yes, siree; that snake looked as 'shamed o' bein' "ooled as Asher did the dav he went t' kick thet tramp out o' th' saloon an' he jot so beautifully thrashed hisself. " But I never see nobody so struck of a heap as my boy Jerry was when he ?aw me make the snake swaller hisself. 4 Where did ye ketch on to that?' sez he. Then I told him 'bout a snake ad venture my Uncle Joseph oncet had with a snake. His wife had gone over in th ten-acre lot t' milk the black heifer, an left th' baby in th' cradle. It were in th' early spring, when snakes is awful hungry an' they hain't par tic'lar what they eat so long's it's fill in'. But, as I was a remarkin'. Uncle Joseph's wife hed gone t' milk th' black heifer in th' ten-acre lot, an' when Uncle Joseph went into th' house he see something thet made his hair stand straight on end. Thar was the baby lyin' asleep in th' cradle, an' right longside o th' cradle was a snake ez big round ez a barrel. Afore he could jrrab anything t' kill th' snake with he was just paralyzed with fear, fer, jest ez he was a gettin' his gun ready t' shoot th' reptile, th' snake opened his mouth and swallowed th' cradle, babv an' all! " Yes, sir, it's th' gospel truth, th' snake swallowed th' whole thing an' commenced movin' out o' the door. Uncle Joseph was so s'prised thet the snake hed gone some distance afore he could grab th' ax an' follow it. He chased th' critter, though, an' finally killed it. He cut th' snake open with th' hatchet, an' there he found th' baby sound asleep in th' cradle. Ye see, th' queer motion snakes makes when they crawl had kept th' cradle a rockin' an' th' baby was asleep and well." Detroit Free Press. Mining Romances. There is always something romantic and interesting connected with the dis covery of the principal mines of the world, and the reader never tires of the recital of the little incidents and advent ures leading to the finding of a big bo nanza The famous mines of Potosi were discovered by an Indian herder. In chasing a mountain goat he pulled a bush out of the ground, to the fibers of which a quantity of silver globules were attached. He concealed iris discovery for a season, but his sudden display of wealth excited the attention of his Spanish masters, and under torture he was forced to reveal the locality of the precious deposit. These mines have yielded to date the enormous sum of $2,000,000,000. To appreciate the magnitude of this sum we may say that it exceeds the amount extracted from the bonanza mines of the Comstock lode twenty times that is, that for ev ery dollar the bonanzas yielded the mines of Potosi yielded twenty; or in Western parlance, "Potosi has seen the dollar of the bonanzas and gone nine teen dollars better.'4 No wonder Spain became such a wealthy country in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. There were lots of Floods, Mackays, and other bonanza kings in those days. In 1858 Comstock, of the Comstock lode, visited San Francisco and endeav ored to enlist capital to develop his mines. He went up and down Front street begging our merchant princes of that day to aid him, saying that he had a mountain of silver-ore on the eastern slope of the Sierras. They laughed at him, and he received the name of 44 crazy Comstock." He returned to his mountain home without a dollar, and it was reserved for Grass Valley men Judge Walsh, George Hearst, Joel Clark, and others to be the chief instruments in making the wealth of the famous lode known to the world. In 18 38 a Shoshone Indian, in con sideration of a square meal and a bot tle of whisky, guided John Turner, Applegarth, and others to the summit of Treasure Hill, in the White Pine District, and there unfolded to their gaze the riches of the Eberhart mine. Some of this ore was so rich that a nail could be driven into it as into a bar of lead. From a chamber in this mine big enough to turn a stage coach and horses around in over $o,000,000 was extracted. The Indian has been an important factor in mine discov eries, both in South America and on our own continent. The great wealth of Tabor, the millionaire miner of Colorado, arose from $175 worth of grub furnished by him to some Lead ville miners. These men discovered the celebrated Little Pittsburg, Chrys olite, and other mines, and brought into prominence a camp which has added nearlv $100,000,000 to the world's wealth since 1879. In 1879 fioniw D Robinson was a store-keener in Lcadville with a stock of goods titiutu at auuui v,vw. vut uj uu 44 grub-staked " a miner with $60 worth of provisions. The prospector sallied forth and soon afterward dis covered the celebrated Robinson mine of Ten-Mile District, near Lcadville, and Robinson realized $1,000,000 by his trifling investment of the sum of $60. In 1879 Southeastern Arizona was given over to the red and ruthless Apache, and was supposed to be defi cient in mineral wealth. But a daring miner, Edward Scbicffelin, penetrated the region and brought out the news of good ore and plenty of it. His sole cap ital was $150, but to-day he is a million aire. His spirit is, however, unsubdued, and sighing like Alexander for other worlds to conquer, he has sailed to the Arctic, and has there discovered rich diggings on the headwaters of the Yu kon River. Alaska will receive a thor ough exploration this summer. As soon as the country is released from the icy embrace of winter the adventurous miners and prospectors will strike a bee-line for the new country. Rock of almost fabulous wealth is exhibited in this city, coming from Alaska, and stories are told of ledges one hundred feet wide full of free gold. Who knows but Humboldt's prophecy, that in the nor'h the great matrix of gold is to be found, may be verified this year? Cer tain it is that the mines of Siberia have yielded an average of $22,000,000 a year for the last seventy years, and their product is greater now than ever. San Francisco Exchange. Death in the Stocking. Every now and then of late one hears of cases of fatal poisoning from wear ing colored stockings, but the rage for bnght-hued hose continues undimin ished, and the demand for the most in jurious shades shows no sign of falling off. Fashion rules the feminine world with powerful sway, and, as a promi nent hosiery manufacturer put it this morning, "women will be in the style even if they know they run enormous risks." It is not our fault," he said, "if what we sell them poisons them. We must supply the demand or go out of business. We would much prefer to make only the standard goods, but fan cy hosiery is worn now by almost every body, and the cry for new colors is loud and" emphatic. "We must follow the manufacturers of dress goods. When a new hue or tint becomes popular in silks or woolens we must have some thing in stockings to match it. Perhaps this particular fancy can not be reached without the use of poisonous dyestuffs. The dealers don't care and the wearers don't know. Even if they did the prob abilities are that they would cry for the goods just as loudly. In ourstock here we have thirty-six different colors, and, while we pride ourselves that they are all 'fast,' and warrant them as such, there are of course some of 'the shades that will come off. It can't be helped. The very best grade of goods gives ofl some color when the feet of the wearer perspire, and it is idle to say they don't. We are particular to use the finest yarns, the most carefully dyed and least injurious, but some of them are really dangerous for all that." "What colors do the most damage?" was asked. "The greens. There is no question that green stockings of any shade are liable to poison the wearer. Of course a great deal depends upon the quality of hosiery. If it is cheap the more likely it is to poison you. Poor dye stuffs are used and the color rubs oft readily. But even the best is far from safe. For my own part, I wouldn't wear a stocking with a tiny pin stripe of green in it. You see some people are more sensitive to poison than others. Some can rub the leaves of a poison vine all over their faces and hands and not be affected in the least, whereas others can not go near where such vines are growing without having their faces swelled to an enormous size and their hands looking like boiled lobsters. So it is when they wear colored stockings. Thin-skinned people who wear green hose are apt to get the poison into their blood; their limbs and feet become in flamed and swollen, and if they do not speedily do something to arrest the spread of the poison death will very likely ensue. Now this happens more often than any one has an idea of. I believe that many cases of small-pox can be traced to the wear ing of colored stockings. The blood becomes poisoned and this infectious disease is the result. Sometimes, even when the skin is not thin, poison may get into the blood through a scratch"; or, as is often the case, the skin becomes rubbed from the heel and the dye makes its way through the chafed place. Black " stockings, in dyeing which logwood is the principal material used, are also very injurious. These are very popular now with ladies, and where the very highest-price grades aro used the chances of poisoning are small, but the cheaper line of goods arc dan- ororniis. TJn nnlnr nihi Aft" as ilons this black. It is almost impossible to get a black dye that will not come oft' on the feet the first time the stockings are worn. If the dye is poisonous look out! There is little danger to be feared from red and blue and brown stockings. Cor. Philadelphia Bulletin. The Taming of the Shrew. Opposite your correspondent at a table in a Cornhill restaurant at dinner recently sat a man from Cambridge, who was a native of New Hampshire. Meeting an old acquaintance, the con versation soon turned on family topics, and the pair began to talk about their former neighbors in a most famiUar way. "Yes," remarked the Cam bridge gentleman, " Sara was in many respects different from the rest of the boys. You remember who he married? Well, when the old man, his father, found that he was shinin' round with her, he called him one day in the barn and said: 4Sam, d'ye intend to marry Beckie?' Sam never said a word, so the old man said: ' Me boy, ye know all about them. I can't tell ye nothin'. Ye know how the sisters has turned out, and not one of them is now livin' with their husbands.' Sam was as mum as a pantomime, and just as soon as he was ready he and Beckie got tied. "They lived on a farm, and every thing went on smooth for about a year, and it came to hog-butcherin' time. Sam got all ready to have the usual party for the occasion, and just as he was'sharpenin' up the knives Beckie came out and said: Sam, I'm goin' home.' Sam protested in his quiet way, but it was no use, so he said he'd get a man to row her across the pond. It was about half a mile over. She said: 4No ye won't; ye'll row me over yer self !' Sam told her he couldn't, and Beckie fired up and said: 'Then I'll drown myself. Sam said he'd go with her if she wanted to do that So the boat was got ready, she got in, and they rowed out till the water was twenty feet deep. Then Sam stopped and said : Well, Beckie, this is a good place for ye to drown yerself !' She didn't open her mouth. He waited awhile and then said: 'Come, Beckie, I'm in a hum' to git back.' She never looked up. Sam put down the oars, caught hold of her, and pitched her in. She grabbed for the boat, but he wouldn't let her get near it. When she was almost done out she said: 'Sam, let me in that boat and ye'll not hear anything more from me out o' the way.' "So he pulled her in, and they went back home. She changed her clothes and entertained the guests. They're now nearly eighty, ana you never saw a happier old couple did you? I don't think they ever spoke of that duckin' since the" day she was goin' to drown herself." Boston Letter. A number of people in New York and vicinity have been very much ex ercised because of certain national bank bills being dated on Sunday. It seems that the charters of a number of banks expired on the 25th of February, and the new bills were given that date. It was not noticed at the time that the day fell on Sunday. Some of the hold ers of these bills were so firmly con vinced that they were worthless that they got the opinions of legal gentle men. They ascertained that there is no Federal law affecting contracts made on Sunday, and the bills are just aa good as if made on any other day. m m Miss Verdant, of Verdantville, bought a "letter-writer," and then wrote an indignant letter to the book seller because she had to write th let ten herself. The "Promised Land. I was once crossing a scries of undu lating ranges abutting on Mount Hcrmon with an English tourist who was making merry at the utterly barren appearance of the "promised land." It turned out, however, that his attempted wit served o sharpen our observation, and we found that all the hill-sides had once been ter raced by human hands. A few miles further on we came to Rasheiya, where the vineyards still flourish on such ter races, and we had no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that the bare terraces, from which lapse of time had worn away the soil, were once trellised with the vine, the highest emblem of prosperity and joy. Similar terraces were noticed by Drake and Palmer in the Desert of Judea, far from any modern civilization. It is rash to infer that because a place is desolate now, it must always have been so, or must always remain so. The Arab his torian tells' us that Salah-ed-Din, before the battle of Hattin, set fire to the for ests, and thus encircled the Crusaders with a sea of flame. Now there is scarcely a shrub in the neighborhood. In wandering through that sacred land, over which the Crescent now waves, ono is amazed at the number of ruins that stud the landscape, and show what must once have been the natural fer tility of the country. Whence has come the chauge? Is the blight natural and permanent, or has it been caused by accidental and artificial circum stances, which may be ouly temporary? Doubtless, each ruin has its tale of horror, but all trace their destruction to Islamism, and especially to the blighting and desolating presence of the Turk. That short, thick, beetle-browed, bandy legged, obese man that so many fresh tourists tiud so charming, is a Turkish official. He and his ancestors have ruled the land since 1517. A Wilberforce in sentiment, he is the representation of "that shadow of shadows for good Ot man rule. The Turks, whether in their Pagan or Mohammedan phase, have only appeared on the world's scene ti destroy. No social or civilizing art owes any tiling to the Turks but progress ive debasement aiid decay. That heap of stones, in which you trace the foun dations of temples and palaces, where now the owl hoots and the jackal lurks, was once a prosperous Christian village. Granted that the Christianity was pure neither in creed nor ritual; yet it had, even in its debased form, a thew and sinew that brought prosperity to its pos sessors. The history of that ruin is the history of a thousand such throughout the empire. Its prosperity led to its destruction. The insolent Turk, re strained by no public opinion, and curbed by no law, would wring from the villagers the fruits of their labor. Oppression mnke3 even wise men mad, and the Christians, goaded to maduess, turned on their oppressors. Then fol lowed submission on promise of forgive ness. The Christians surrendered their arni3 and the Hashing cimeter of Islam fell upon the defenseless, and the place became a ruin amid horrors too foul to nan-ate. Contemporary Review. Outcome of a Spelling School. A graduate from the High School in this city had a call from a country school about two hundred miles north of De troit, and he went his way provided with several written recommends and a whole cart-load of enthusiasm. He found the school house to be a one-story affair made of logs and large enough to hold thirty scholars in case the teacher stood in the door. When school commenced the score of scholars could only muster a geography printed in 1848, an arithmetic a few days younger, a dozen leaves of a speller and the half of a broken slate. The teacher, however, went to work to hammer knowledge into their cranl ums, and he had convinced most of them that the world was round, and that the sun neither rose nor set in that country, when it came time to have a spelling school. For convenience sake it was held in a big barn, and the turn-out included everybody from the boy who spelled "corn" the same as "horse," for con venience sake, to the old man who always put "inhaist" on his letters to his brother in Vermont It wasn't much of a contest until the last half-dozen towered aloft. "Catarrh' ' and "photograph" laid em out by the dozens, and when only the champions were left "Constantinople" floored all but two like a bolt of lightning. Then came the word "pai-asite." One ren dered it "parysight," and the other gave it "perrysytc," and when the teacher shook his head ono cried out: "I'vo writ that word over a hundred times, and I guess I know!" "And I've seen 'em every day of my life for forty years, and I don't sit down for anybody!" added the other. "It is parasite," replied tho teacher. "I dispute it!" "So do I." "That's the way Webster gives it?" "Who's Webster?" "Yes, trot him out." Then the friends of either rose up. In the shindy the teacher came in for two black eyes, a cracked rib, kicks on the shin and bites ou the ears, and the min ute he could get clear and over the fence he headed for Detroit and reached home in want of so many repairs that it took two months to make him presentable. He had a few dollars due him, and he left a change of clothes up there, but he doesn't want to hear from the directors. They may consider that he has resigned, and any parasite desiring the situation can have the vacancy without paying bonus. Detroit Free Press. Teachers of Grammar A scholarly knowledge of the science of grammar, for instance, is not specially advantageous to the teacher whose sole business, as an instructor in grammar, is to impart to the 3oung an under standing knowledge of first principles. What is the object of gramatical instruc tion in a common school? Certainly to inform the young that language has certain laws of construction; to teach the correct use of words and proper dis position of sentences; to prepare the pupil for the higher departments of training, whose province it is to teach the forms of correctly worded and com posed writing. The object of grammati cal instruction is certainly not to inform the pupil that there ii a science of grammar; in a word, it is not to teach him grammar, but to teach him English to make him intelligent as far as elementary grammar instruction can do so. Who is the best teacher in any given branch for example, grammar? It is not necessarily he who has every gram matical rule stored in his memory. A teacher may be thoroughly skilled in the science of grammar, but lack every pedagogic ability to impart his informa tion. In this case he will be a goed grammarian but a very poor grammati cal instructor. The best teacher of grammar must, JP the first place, know what he is totejak, why he teaches it and what is the object of teaching it In the second place, he must have a good plan of feanrilMr grammar; he must know how to teaM it in order that his pupils may learn ana profit by what he knows. In the third place, he must be able to teach it; he must have the pedagogic' ability t in struct his pupils in grammar so that ft knowledge of grammar 'will be useful t them. Cincinnati Commercial GtdttU. Speaking of a doubtful man in Mel ety, the New York Commerciql AjfwT" liser says so long as he has got ingots it makes no difference how he got in. - America, Miss Emily Faithful is far ahead of the old wprldjh ine the field of work and edfieat women, SCHOOL AND CHURCH. Dr. Meredith has a Bible class in Tremont Temple, Boston, which had more than 2.000 members a few days ago. The New York Tribune has a rat tling article against the vicious system of crammiug large masses of undigested tacts into the heads of our public school children. Ignorance is preferable to the evils of such a system. It does not follow that a girl has entirely finished her education Decause she has, as one said lately, been through the "nominal" school "and ciphered clear through from simple ambition to chemical fractures." If. T. Herald. Yung Wing," the new Chief Magis trate of the city of Shanghai, is a Chris tian and has an American wife. . He is a graduate of Yale College, and the original promoter of the scheme of edu cating Chinese boys in the United States. Political economy is said to be the one subject in which no Harvard student fails to elect a course during the three years in which he is allowed a choice of studies. Ten years ago there were seventy-one students of political econo my, while this year there aro 210. The fire drill is being practiced in several of the public schools in Toronto, Canada, it is said, with excellent effect. The children are roiuired, on the alarm being given, to leave theirseats in order, divide into two lines, one at each side of the room, and at the exit meet and march out two abreast Missouri has next to Indiana, the largest amount of permanent fuuds de voted to school purposes in the Union. They aggregate $9,471,696, not includ iag the annual apportionment of State revenue. The State has a school popu lation of 741,632, and of this number 438,000 are enrolled in the public schools. There are 8,822 schools in operation, conducted by 10,607 teachers, and last year $3,568,4:3 were expended upon these schools. Detroit Post. It is not often that a country church has more than ordinary luck with the contribution basket. Once in a while, however, the church gets even with the penurious hearer. In Huntingdon last Sunday a man accidentally dropped the contents of his purse on the church floor just as the contribution box was passing him, and the liberal-hearted man who sat in the next pew gathered up a hand ful of silver and filled the basket A cheerful giver is a joy to the country church. Philadelphia Times. Notwithstanding all that has been said about the dignity of the common school teachers, their pay remains, on an average, below that of ordinary me chanics. The average monthly salary is 67.54 for men and $30.59 forwomen. in Massachusetts, against 32.36 tor men and $28.42 for women, in Penn sylvania In Alabama the monthly pay of white teachers is $20.96; Kentucky and North Carolina, $21.25. But iu Nevada it is $101.40 for men and $77 for women; in California, $80.26 for men and $64.73 for women. The 47,200 common.school teachers of Prussia re ceive, on an average $282 per annum, besides a house and fuel. Chicago Journal. m m PUNGENT PARAGRAPHS. Inasmuch as the course of true love never did run smooth, wouldn't it be a pious idea for Congress to make an ap propriation for the stream of love? Grip. A man, lately married, was asked at the club about his bride. "Is she pretty?" "No," replied he "she is not "but she will be when her father dies." Some men are ever ready to offer a remedy for everything. The other day we remarked to one of these animated apothecary shop3: "An idea struck us 3'esterday and before we could finish he advised us: "Rub the affected parts with arnica. Ilarfivell (Qa.) Sun. The average age of different men is put down thus: Merchants, fifty-five; plrysicians and lawyers, fifty-eight; farm ers, sixty-one; clergymen, sixty-four, and great geniuses, sovonty-five. It will be observed from the above that the journalistic professiou tends to longevity. Rocliester Post-Express. Poem on Bells The cry is heard on every band To stop the church bolls ringing; But it would be quite as uuwise As if they'd stop the sinking-. Say what you want about the noiM This fnct is worth repeating: It is the belles, nnd nothing less. That call younx men to meeting. N. Y. Stai. A company of gentlemen, who were dining at an inn, inquired if the turkey that was served to them was fresh. "Fresh is it!" said the Irish waiter, JHuntily. "Faith, it's not six hours since that turkey was walking around on his own rale estate, with hi3 hands in his pockets, never draining what an urgent invitation he'd have to jine you gentlemen at dinner." Extract from a modern novel: "She had thrown her heart at his feet, only to be rejected. What greater punish ment cau any woman have to hear?" Well, he might have picked up her heart, carried it home and given it to his dog. Or he might have put his foot upon it and gr-r-r-rouud it into the dust Or, worse still, he might have lifted it up .tenderly, placed it in his coat-tail pock et, married her the next day and made her work in a shirt factory while he fooled away his time and money in a pool room. That would have been some thing like punishment The Judge. He was a depositor in a Rochester savings bank. He entered the institu tion the other morning and timidly in quired "Is the Cashierin the city?" "O, yes, he's at his window." "And is the Treasurer around?" " He is." "And the President?" The President is in his office." "Has the bank been speculating in oil, wheat, cot ton or mines" "No, sir." "And if I were to present my book could 1 draw tho four dollars I have on deposit?" "You could." "Well, that takes a great burden off my mind," sighed the stranger, as he walked out with greatly improved looks. Rochester (AT. T.) Democrat. Experienced Matrlmontalists. The ancient church of Birdbrook, En gland, which has just been reopened after important restorations, contains a monumental slab bearing this extraor dinary record: "Martha Blewitt, of Swan Inn, at Baythorne-cnd, in this parish, buried May 7, 1681. She was the wife of nine husbands consecutively, but the ninth outlived her." The entry in tho register is quaint: "Mary Blew itt, ye wife of nine husbands successively, buried eight of ym, but last of all ye woman dy'd allsoe, and was buried May 7, 1681." In the margin is written: "This was her funerale sermon text" The same tiblet records that Robert Hogan was the husband of seven wives successively." The Messenger ef tke Sea. The Vice Consul for Sweden and Nor way at Bordeaux, Mr. Gundersen, sug gests that tha time-honored bottle as a means of sending messages from the sea should be replaced by the small red bal lons which at present serves no better purpose than to delight children and torment everybody else. They will float rapidly before the wind, keep their eon tents dry, and are a noticeable object at considerable distance. One of them was recently thrown overboard from one of Mr. Gundersen's ships which was ashore near Dover, and two hours later the letter was posted Dover by an un known hand. It is quite possible that guch balloons, made of tougher material than those sold to children the world over, might gju:ful. EASTWARD. Daily Express Trains for Omalin, Cnl coo, Kansas City. St. Loiiit, aud aU poiuts East. Through core via i'rorln to !nllun--AlxiU. Klokut Pullman l'utart- t'ar aud Day coaches on all through trains, and Illnln;; Tsir. east of Missouri Itiver. TbrouRh Tickets et thotowrat Katos nro on salv nt all tho important stations, ami bappigo -will l-o chpcl;o.l to destination. Any information as to ratca, route or timo tnblea will Ikj chwrfully furnished uiwu ni'ilicutiun t. uny ?" 'r to 1 S. EUSTIS, oViural Ticket Agent. Omaha. Kob. NOTICE2 Chicago Weekly News. -AND S0LVUB7S, nil ::t:.l: FOR $2.50 a Year Postage Included. The OHIOAGO WEEKLY NEWS is recognized as a paper unsurpassed in all the requirements of American Journalism. It stands conspicuous among the metropolitan journals of the country as a complete News-paper. In the matter of telegraphic service, having the advantage of connection with the CHICAGO DAILY NEWS, it has at its com mand all the dispatches of the Western Associated Press. besides a very extensive service of Special Telegrams irom all important points. As a News-paper it has no supe rior. It is INDEPENDENT in Politics, presenting all political news, free from partisan bias or coloring, and absolutely without fear or favor as to parties. It is, in the fullest sense, a FAMILY PAPER. Each issue contains several COM PLETED STORIES, a SERIAL STORY of absorbing interest, and a rich variety of condensed notes on Fashions, Art, Indus tries, Literature, Science, etc., etc. Iks Market Quotations are complete, and to be relied upon. It is unsurpassed as an enterprising, pure, and trustworthy GENERAL FAMILY NEWSPAPER. Our special Clubbing Terms bring it within the reach of all. Specimen copies may be seen at this office Send subscriptions to this office. 1810. 1883. TIIK $alun(bus $omml Id conducted as a FAMILY NEWSPAPER, Devoted to the best mutual inter, ests of its readeru and its publi!i. ers. Published at Columbus. Plattt county, tke centre of the agricul tural portion of Nebraka,it iread by hundred. of people cant who are looking towards Nebraska us their future huiiifc. Its subscriber in Nebraska are the staunch, solid portion of the community, as is evidenced by the fact that the JOUKNAL has never contained a "dun" against them, and by the other fact that ADVERTISING In its columns alwayB brings its reward. UusinesH is business, and those who wish to reach the solid people of Central Nebraska will find the columns of the Jouknal a splendid medium. JOB WORK Of all kinds neatly and quickly done, at fair prices. This species of printing is nearly always want" ed in a hurry, and, knowing this fact, we have so provided for it thatweei furnish envelopes, let ter heads, bill heads, circular-, posters, etc., etc., ou very short notice, and promptly on time as we promise. SUBSCRIPTION. I copy per annum ...: " Six month ... " Three months,. $2 00 . 100 . no Single copy sent to any address in the United States for ft cts. K. TURNER & CO., Columbus, Nebraska. EVERYBODY Can now afford A CHICAGO DAILY. THE CHICAGO HERALD, All the News every day on four large pages of seven columns each. The Hon. Frank W. Palmer (Postmaster of Chi cago), Editor-in-Chief. A Republican Daily for $5 per Year, Three mouths, $1.50. One trial 50 cents. month ou CHICAGO "WEEKLY HERALD" Acknowledged by everybody who has read it to be the best eight-page papr ever published, at the low price of $1 PER TEAR, Postage Free. Contains correct market reports, all the news, and general reading interest ing to the farmer aud his family. Special terms to agents aud clubs Sample Copies free. Address, CHICAGO HERALD COMP'Y 120anul22Fifthav., 0-tf CHICAGO. ILL LYON&HEALY State A Monroe Sts.. Chicago. WM in JtTU to y Uinm litir AND CATALOGUE, &r 1M3. J00 cars, IW hacroiai of iMtrasmU, Salu, Cp. Bell m, Eftoitn. up-uata. . unn jimiori auBii oa Sundrr Bu4 Otlttlfc Kraktu Lb. abo UclfeUi laitncdoa mail Jti- f or Aofttesr Bcs Jj. Hi ft C; fCt&K4M;&t - - flYSLBUaOi VE9TWAIU. DaUy Express Tralna for Denver, con necting in Union Depot for all Kinta iu Colorado, Utah, California, nnd tho otitiro Vt-st. The advent of this line fcives tho trav olor a Xew Koute to tho "Vit. -with scenery auu auvauiag?3 unoqnxiieu cuownuro. THE- Special Announcement! SEDUCTION IN PEICE. AW oner the .Iouicxai. in combination with the American Agriculturist, the bet farmer magazine iu the world, for 93 a year, which includes postage on both. IN ADDITION, we will sendrce to ev en' person who takes both papers, a .Magniiicen'. Plate Kngraxinsrof DI'PUK'n lat Great Painting. !."" 'MIK .11 KA IIOWV now on exhibition in New York, and offered for sale at 5.T.OOO. " Toe eminent Artist, K. S. CHIMU II, writing to a friend iu the country last October, tint- al'iides to this Picture: '. 1 was delighted this morning to see otfered as a Premium a reproduction of a very beautiful Picture, " I Till-: HI K A MOW," by Dupre. This Picture is an Kducator " This superb engraving lTi by VI inches, exclusive of wide border, is worth more than the cost of both .lotirnals. It is mounted ou heavy Plate Paper, aud sent securely packed in Tubes made expressly for the purpose. When to be mailed, 10 cents extra is required for Packing, Pot age, etc. I57S inscriptions may begin at any time, and the Agriculturist furnished iu German or English. O YOU WANT THE BEST Illustrated "Weekly Paper published? If so, sub scribe lor TAe WJUy Grrmskio. It contains four paged of illustrations and eight pages of reading matter. It id terse. It is vigorous. It is clean and healthy. It gives all the news. Its homa department is full of choice literature. Farming interests receive pe cial and regular attention. It treats inde pendently of politics and affairs. During tho year it gives over 200 pages of illustra tions, embracing every variety of subject, from the choicest art production to the customs, manners and noteworthy incidents and everyday scenes of every people ; aud Cartoons upon events, men and measures. Try it a year, subscription price $2.50 a year. Sample copies and terms to agents, 5 cents. Address THE WEEKLY GKAPHIC, 182 & 184 Dearborn Street, Chicago. We offer The "Weekly Graphic in Club with The Columbus Journal For ::.!K) it year iu advance. LUERS&HOEFELMANN,' HKALKKS IN WIND MILLS, AND PUMPS. Buckeye Mower, combined, Self Binder, wire or twine. Pumps Repaired ou .short notice 32JOne door we.-t of ileinli's Drug Store, Ilth Street, Columbus Neb. s REST net, life is sweeping by, go and dare before you die, something mighty ami uoiiu)c leave beuind ci'iiiiiicr time. $ a week in your own town, i't outfit free. No risk. Every thing new. Capital not required. AV'e will furnish you everything. Many are making fortunes. Ladiet make as much as lucii, and boy and girls make great pay. Reader, if you want bu.-ine.-s at which you can make great pay all the time, write for particulars to II. Hallett fc Co.. Portland. Maine. ai-y 70 ivs U I fJ now be ' not iu ek made at home by the inous. iscst business efore the public. Capital eeded. AVe will start you. Men, women, boys and girls want ed everywhere to work for us. Now is the time. You can work in spare tinie,or give your whole time to the business. No other busiues will pay you nearly as well. No one cau fail to make enormous pay, by engaging at once. Costly outtit and terms free. Money made fast, easily and honorably. Addcss Trus & Co., Augusta, Maine. 31-y, D A Y V