Eaton Weekly Democrat, 1870-07-28

Among the great commercial move ments that characterize and render notable the present times, probably the most important, both in amount of capital involved and in the character and extent of anticipated results, is the build building - ing building of the Northern Pacific Railroad, with its branches, feeders and connec connections. - tions. connections. The Suez Canal, constructed un under - der under the auspices of the French Govern Government, - ment, Government, cost about sixty million dollars. The Union Pacific Railroad, extending from Omaha to Ogden, a distance of 1,082 miles, involved a necessary outlay of per perhaps - haps perhaps forty million dollars, and the Central Pacific, completing the line from Ogden to Sacramento, 748 miles further, did not cost more than an equal amount. The Northern Pacific Railroad, controlled by a single corporation, will span the continent from deep-water navigation on. Lake Su Superior - perior Superior to tide-water on the Columbia River and Puget Sound a distance of about 1,750 miles ; and the branches al already - ready already projected will increase the total length of road-bed to nearly two thousand five hundred miles. The cost of con construction - struction construction and rolling-stock will not fall far short of one hundred million dollars. It is the comprehensive design of the projectors of the Northern Pacific, not simply to build a railroad from lake to ocean, and then wait for results, but to render results certain by (1,) securing fa favorable - vorable favorable connections with the railroad systems of the Pacific coast and the At Atlantic - lantic Atlantic States, and with the commerce of the Pacific Ocean ; (2,) by constructing a series of lateral branch roads to the South and ' North of its main line, which will drain the entire Northwest between lati latitude - tude latitude 42 and Central British Columbia ; (3.) and by organizing such a thorough, wise and humane system of emigration from Northern Europe and the thickly peopled portions of our own country as will settle and render speedily productive the vast belt of fertile lands tributary to the road and extending across the conti continent. - nent. continent. During the years occupied in its construction the road will give employ ment to thousands of men, and create a large demand for everything that our people manufacture or produce. It is impossible that such an enterprise, managed bv the sort of men that control this one. should not benefit the whole country, while specially and vastly bene fiting tne region Known as tne ureat West. This greatest of commercial pro jects, viewed as a matter of national im port, is entitled to the same hearty sym pathy and confidence that greeted the first Pacific Railroad, and the recent at attempts, - tempts, attempts, in Congress and by a portion of the press, to represent the Northern Pa cific Company as an insatiable devourer of the public lands, were as unfair as they were unfounded. A bit of Pacific Rail Railroad - road Railroad history may be in place : The Illinois uentrai was, we oeiieve, the first railroad to receive a grant of lands directly from the government. Of the wisdom and good results of that ini tial grant probably ne one now en' doubt. Whes the Union and Ceni Pacific roads were chartered in 1862, two other charters were also granted -one for Northern, and another for a Southern Pacific railroad. Upon the Union and Central Pacific Companies, which pro posed to build their roads at once, a sub subsidy - sidy subsidy of lands and bonds was conferred, more than enough in actual vaiue to ouiia the roads the bonds, however, being in the character of a loan. The Northern Pacific, which it was correctly believed, would be the second line built, received only a land grant, equal in amount, but far superior in quality, to that of the Union and U antral, rue question oi a money subsidy or loan to the Northern line was left in abeyance until the time when its construction should be near at hand ; and the Southern Pacific was left with a bare charter, the state ot tne country then seeming to indicate that many years would elapse before the actual construction of a Southern road could be thought ot In this way the government made provision tor three main lines of railroad across the conti continent, - nent, continent, and fully committed itself, with the hearty approval of both political parties, to the policy or aiding tne construction oi these three national highways. The mo tives which lead to this action were ob vious enough. (1.) - The Government considered itself under some obligation to assist in opening communication between the older and the newer sections of the continent, thus benefiting both and be getting a closer sympathy and a oeuer understanding between distant communi communities - ties communities and the General Government which taxed them and claimed their allegiance. (2.) It was known that in time of peace the bulk of our standing army is em employed - ployed employed on the Western plains acting as a police between the Indians and the white settlers, and that a large part of the great exnense ot maintaining troops at frontier stations consists of the excessive cost of transTjorting men and supplies where there are no railroads. The saving of several millions a year in army transpor tation, and the redoubled efficiency of troops when they can be rapidly con conveyed - veyed conveyed from point to point, were legiti legitimate - mate legitimate reasons for extending Government encouragement to railroads built beyond the settlements. (3.) The third and weightiest of the reasons which influ influenced - enced influenced Congress to adopt the land grant policy was one which appeals even more direetlv than the former two to the com mon sense of plain people, and is enough of itself to iustifv the system, at applied to the three continental line of road. Five years ago the United States Government was proprietor of eleven hundred million acres of wild lands, lying between the Mississippi and the Pacific coast, not in- . , -7 1.11. 1 J .. P IS... ClUCung me ovaie puuiiu amanp aco. Such a domain is too vast for compre comprehension, - hension, comprehension, and only an approximate notion of its magnitude can be obtained by con considering - sidering considering that it is equal to thirty-four State the size of New York, or to two hundred and four States as large as Mas Massachusetts. - sachusetts. Massachusetts. Of these lands, the govern government, - ment, government, during the last five years, has been able to sell, and give away under the homestead act, less than four millon acre per year. At this rate the present gene generation - ration generation would reap next to no benefit from the public lands, and 275 years would elapse before they would all be taken up, much less tilled. The reason why these lands cannot be given away to actual settlers is that they are inaccessible and hence worthless. No farmer will agree to live on them for them, and for .the. ex excellent - cellent excellent reason that no farmer can afford to. A farm without a market is without value, and a market without a railroad is usually Impossible. Under these circum circumstances - stances circumstances the government, through its sys system - tem system of grants, says to responsible corpo corporations, - rations, corporations, " Build a railroad through these

which I had never seen before. I was half a mind to turn back to father's, but the thought of Mary alone with the baby, w aiting for me, urged me on, and I ad advanced - vanced advanced blindly in the darkness, trusting in my good luck to guide me aright. My luck failed me this time, for by the time 1 n: d got down to the woods upon tne other side, I found that I had lost the path, and had got into a tangled mass of fallen trees and bushes, through which 1 could hardly force my way. Still I did not teei lost, tor l Knew that i had only to work my way down the mountain to come out somewhere in the valley near my cabin, which I could soon find, when once on level ground. But it would take me longer to pick my way along, and there would be greater danger of stumbling and getting a fall, than though I had managed to keen the oath. But there was no help for it now, as you might as well have looked for a needle in a hay-stack, as to have searched for it I had got what I thought was about half way down the mountain, when I was startled by a tern We sound tnat came from the mountains to the northward, and which drowned the rush of the tem tempest - pest tempest about me. It was a rush and roar a mingled "crash of earth and rocks, which made even the ground beneath my feet tremble. I knew not then what it could be, but I found afterward that it was the first great slide which came down near the Notch. I knew by the brooks which filled every hollow which I had to cross, that the riv river - er river must be swollen to many times its usual size, and that each moment was ad adding - ding adding new streams to it, to cause it to over overflow - flow overflow its banks ; and this, with the terrible sound that had come from the mountains above, filled me with alarm for the safety of my wife and child, and I hurried off, catching more than one fall in my haste, which tore my clothes and covered me with bruises. At last I knew that I must be pretty well down towards the valley, and eager eagerly - ly eagerly I gazed through the trees for the light I knew Mary would set in the window to guide me to tne cabin, l knew not exact exactly - ly exactly where I was, but I must be somewhere near my own clearing, I thought, and the light could be seen from any part of it, on the side I was approaching. I could hear the rush of the river, and a great fear took possession of me that the cabin had already been swept away, and that my loved ones had been engulfed in the merciless waters At last the foot of the mountain was reached, and against the dull sky I could see the outlines of the great straggling trees which had been scathed by the fire, and which stood leafless about my clear clearing. - ing. clearing. Their dead branches creaked be beneath - neath beneath the fury of the tempest, making a dismal, moaning sound, which seemed like an omen of some terrible disaster im impending - pending impending over the valley. I moved down among them, and in a moment found myself to my middle in water, and I sprang back again, fearing that the next step would carry me beyond my depth. Great God I was the valley flooded with water, and had my cabin and its loved inmates been swept away ? Sick at heart, and oppressed with- this terrible fear I asked myself the question, as I stood trying to pierce the darkness which filled the valley before me, and to comprehend the exact spot where I stood. At last I decided the latter question by a study of the dead trees before me, and then moved slowly down the valley to bring myself opposite to the spot where I had left my cabin standing in the morn morn-fust - fust morn-fust then, to my great joy, a light beamed out through the darkness. For moment it wavered, and then burned brightly, and I knew that as yet my cabin had not been moved irom the spot where had placed it ; but the rays of the light glimmered upon a sea of dark water which lay between it and the spot where stood, and any moment it might float away. I wondered why it was that the water was so still, and not the rushing torrent I should have thought it would have been ; but this was soon made plain as I reflected upon the subject. A short distance down the valley the hills came close down to the banks of the stream, and here, owing to the amount of drift-wood, jam had been formed which the force of the water had not yet been able to break, and so had flowed it back, covering the entire valley. How much longer the drift-wood would bear the strain it was impossible to tell, but it did not seem as though it would for many minutes, as I could hear the rush and roar of the waters as it battled with it from the spot where I stood. Suddenly a shriek, full of mortal terror, rang over the water. My heart stood still in my breast, for I recognized the voice as that of my wife, and I knew that some fearful danger menaced her and the child. Again it was repeated, and I sent back an answering cry. A moment more, and I stood mute with horror and dismay. The light was moving slowig down io the bottom of the clearing, telling as plainly as words could have done, that the cabin was afloat. For a few moments it seemed as though were chained to the spat where I stood. The light, as it floated downward, pos possessed - sessed possessed a terrible fascination, and I could not take my eyes from it if I would. I could seem to see its timbers falling asunder, and the pale faces of my wife and child sinking into the black, turbulent waters. The horror of that moment I shall never forget so long as I live. Another horrible crash among the mountains, to the northward a sound as if a huge cliff had been hurled downward, broke the terrible spell that bound me to the spot, and roused me to an effort to try and effect the escape of my loved ones. Another cry of despair which reached me from the cabin, I answered back, though doubted if I was heard, the cabin was so near to the rushing current of the river ; and then I hurried along the edge of the clearing, which was the boundary of the lake, toward the spot where the river brofce through the hills, and where the jam had been formed which flowed the waters back. Steadily the light glided down the waters of the little lake, and from its mo motion - tion motion I judged that it had not as yet float floated - ed floated into the current of the river, and I breathed a silent prayer in my heart that it would not be so, for then all hope would be gone. If the cabin would but hold to together - gether together and keep out of the current of the river, it would lodge among the trees at the foot of the clearing, where I would be ready to bear them from it to a place of safety. The way round to the bank of the river was difficult to get over in the dark darkness, - ness, darkness, but I accomplished it much sooner than I had expected, and by the time the cabin had floated half the distance from its site to the spot where I now stood.

plete the Job. The sky, as usual, had given signs of rain, but we put no confi confidence - dence confidence in it, thinking that we should be disappointed, as we had been all along ; though an old Indian woman, who dwelt in a lodge on the side of the mountains, far up the valley, and who chanced along, and paused in the doorway for rest, de declared - clared declared that we should have the greatest storm within two days that we had ever known. But we put little confidence in this, for we considered her half crazed, and had she not been, we thought it was little that she could know of what was to come: The next morning when we arose, we found that it had rained a very little some time during the night ; but the sky and clouds did not look so threatening as they had done for days previous. We had an early PreaKiast, and when it was over I set out over the mountain to do mv day's work, telling my wife that I should not be back before dark, but should surely return some tune in the evening. I found, when I reached father s, that he was not as well as he had been the day before, and that mother was much wor ried about him. He declared that it was nothing, only one of his attacks to which he was subject, and that ne would soon be over it. Mother shook her head, and hoped that he was right, and I went out into the field to work, and did not come again to the cabin till noon. instead of being better, he was much worse, and mother declared that I must saddle the horse, and go down to Conway for Doctor Bugly ; but father would not hear to this vet : so after dinner, I went back to my work, and in the course of a couple of hours, my sister came running out to call me. Father was growing worse fast, and had given his consent that I should go for the doctor. I was not long in making ready. The horse was in the pasture close at hand, and it took but a few moments to catch it, and throw on the saddle and bridle. 1 lost little time in the house, and then set out on a swift gallop. I had ten miles to go over a rough road. bctoro reaching the doctor's, and i smew that unless I made good time, I should not get back till after nightfall, and then I should have to cross the mountain to my own cabin, which would make me late home. I had promised Mary that I would return, and I knew that she would pass a sleepless night, if I did not, as she had never yet remained alone through the night. Lone before I reached Conway, my eyes were fixed upon the clouds which seemed to be gathering from all directions, and piling themselves upon the mountains be behind - hind behind me, until the sky in that direction had the appearance of the deepest mid night. They had gathered there -every day for a month past, but nothing like the way they were doing now. Great black masses that seemed to cover the sky, would roll swiftly along and pile them themselves - selves themselves upon those already resting there, and as I often turned my head and watched them. I could not helD thinking of what the old Indian woman had said the day before, of the great storm which was coming. I hurried on. and reached the doctor s, who I found was sick himself, and not able to ride the distance he would have to go that night. I described as near as I could the symptoms of father's complaint, and he fixed some medicine, which he gave me, with directions for using, and then I went out and mounted my horse to return. The doctor followed me to the door. and we talked for a minute or two of the strange appearance of the sky to the northward. He was of the opinion that we were going to have a heavy storm, and that, according to the looks of the sky, I should get a good wetting before I got back to lather's, l replied mat l wouia do willing to take that, if we could only have the rain we so much needed, and then I set out. leaving him standing in the door way, with his eyes fixed upon the sky. My face was now to wards tne mountains, and the great mass of clouds piled above them ; and it almost made me tremble as I gazed upon them in their blackness, and watched the lightning that every little while darted out from their folds. I had lived among the mountains since I was a little child, but had never seen anything like it before, and I could not help think thinking - ing thinking that some fearful thing was about to happen. I was not more than half-way back to father's, before the rain came down in tor torrents. - rents. torrents. It hardly seemed as though it could be night, yet the darkness came with it, and in a little time, I could not see a rod ahead, along the way I was going. In less than five minutes, I was wet to the skin, and the water was dripping from me in streams. I made good use of the stick I carried, and as the old mare's head was towards home, I made good time, and in the course of an hour from the time it com commenced - menced commenced to rain, I reached father's, as wet as though I had swam that distance in the river. 1 found him easier than when I set out, and giving mother the medicine I had brought, and hastily eating some supper she had prepared for me, I set out over the mountain for home, against the advice of both they declaring that I could not keep the path in the storm and darkness. I knew that it would be hard work to do so, for the rain came down as though we were going to have another flood ; but I had promised Mary that I would come back that night, and I meant to make my word good to her, if I could do so. And then I was afraid of the water. If it continued to rain as it was doing now, I was afraid that the water would rise, and come so near to tne caoin, as to give her alarm, and to put them in danger. I knew every step across the mountain well, as I had been over it many times, both night and day ; but I found, as I began to ascend, that I had never un undertaken - dertaken undertaken the job when it was so dark before. To keep in the path, I had to go slowly, sometimes feeling for the track with my hands, when my feet were at fault, and all the time the rain was falling in such torrents as I had never known before. I came to a small brook about half way up, which I had crossed that morning upon its dry bed. Now it was a foaming torrent, ready to overflow its banks, and crossed with difllcalty ; but I got over by holding fast to the bushes that grew upon either side, and kept on toward the sum summit, - mit, summit, where I knew my greatest difficulty lay, as it was destitute of trees, or even bushes of any size, the path leading over the bare rocks, with nothing to guide me in the darkness, and prevent my losing my way. When I at last came out of the woods upon the rocks, I was completely at a stand still. In vain it was that I tried to see through the darkness, the like of a I I a I I

Russia possesses at present 686,282 needle-guns. Tirana were 83,000 violent deaths in England last year. ' Tribe are five American convicts in German penitentiaries. Teau are 13,814 draft, and 2,928 driv driving - ing driving horses in Brooklyn. Titbrk are three hundred and forty ex existing - isting existing species of pigeons. " I shall be better presently," were the last recorded words of Charles Dickens. The birth-place of ex-President Pierce recently brought $8,125 at auction. GusTAvx Picakd, 108 years old, is the champion ragpicker of Troy, N. Y. FortTT-ForjB thousand women are em employed - ployed employed as out-door laborers in England. Tes T. M. O. A. of Chicago has found employment for over 5,000 men the pes year. Two hundred miles of pathway has been explored in the Mammoth cave of Kentucky. A York State octogenarian has married a girl of 16 younger than some of his grandchildren. Bbtwren three aud four thousand American boys are studying in European schools and colleges. Therk are in the United States four hundred newspapers published in foreign languages. Post master Burt has introduced young ladies into the delivery department of the Boston Postofflce. Gauabaldi's novel, we are told, was published in six languages, but never paid its expenses in any. The style of Parisian ladies hats now and one hundred and five years ago is said to be identical. It is said there is danger of the total extinction of elephants, the hunters are killing them off so last. Eisht y miles on a bicycle In eight and a half hours has lately been accomplished by a gentleman at Dundee. A Pnn.ADBnL.PBTA lady proposes to build a memorial church to George Washing Washington, - ton, Washington, in Westmoreland county, Va. Two chairs, which had once been the property of Benedict Arnold, were lately sold for f 2,250, at St. Johns, N. B. Over 4,000 women used the free baths in New York City on the Fourth. They represented all ages, colors, and condi conditions - tions conditions of life. The machinery used in the State of Massachusetts is capable of doing the work of more than a hundred million of men. 1 1 Form business-firms in London have names which make curious combinations Flint A Steel, Ward & Lock, Lamb St Hare, and Holland & Sherry. Four thousand" tons of ore were throw out at a single blast in the Lnw rrnperior iron region I IiiioJ Ii T Fifteen and a lnill ! ptTirnr r were used. New York was in such ichahcsLeosUg, a relieve the suf- tion the other day that nf ice were necessary to of ber uniiapv-y cawena. A Paris shoemaker is said have in vented shoes provided with rollers, which allow the wearer to move as fast as a horse, and to stop immediately. Pnaora who prefer stale bread can have their taste gratified by sending to Pompeii, where tney nave i oaves oaxeu over eighteen hundred years ago. BsxonrhT. a little kingdom or ll.SW square miles, about the sute of Maryland, gives a comionaoie support vo orer 5,000,000 people, or about 500 to th square mile. There are fifteen hundred and thirty - nine incorporated societies in one prov ince in Austria ; of these eight hundred and eighty are in the city of Vienna. Trkrb is a mountain in the north of Sweden situated so near the Arctic Circle, that from its summit on a midsummer night may be seen the phenomenon of the midnight sun. A mam in Lyndon. Vt.. has been on his bed twenty-one years, unable to move or bend a single Joint in his body. Every joint has been affected by rheumatic dif ficulty, ana aii me Donea appeax vu asrs grown into one. Thk hirsute appendage of a young lady in New Orleans became undone the other day, and when she became aware of her misfortune a string of hair several yards long wss streaming behind her in the wind. A bat In a store In Troy, " fooling around" with a piece of tin, attracted the attention of a policeman, who, thinking it was a burglar, watched several hours for the latter to come out. The rat is now dead. In Queen Victoria's crown there are 1,863 brilliant diamonds, 1,878 rose C3s monds, and 141 table diamonds, 1 large ruby, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 4 small rubles, and 277 pearls a total of 2,186 precious stones. Therk are two ladles in the Poet-Office Department at Washington who are em employed - ployed employed in translating the foreign corre correspondence, - spondence, correspondence, and in keeping up the accounts in foreign languages. They are scholars in four languages German, French, Span Spanish - ish Spanish and Italian. The average number of persons liv living - ing living in a single house in London is 8, in Berlin 82, in Paris 85, in St. Petersburg 52, and In Vienna 65. For every 1,000 inhabitants the average annual mortality in London is 24, in Berlin 25. In Paris 88, in Bt. Petersburg 41, and in Vienna 47. A widow of forty recently married, at Paris, a widower whose first wlfc was a widow, whose first husband ''was a wid widower, - ower, widower, whose first wife was a widow. In this family, for the last 175 years, this ac accidental - cidental accidental marriage of widow and widower has constantly taken place. In the second week in June there were 1 hi QiA nn.rsons in receipt of parochial re lief in London, of whom 32 847 were in the work-houses, and 99,007 were out outdoor - door outdoor paupers. This was an increase of 4,014 upon the numbers in the corre corresponding - sponding corresponding period of last year. An assistant secretary of the British Astronomical Society, Mr. Williams, has just finished a translation of the Chinese records of comets observed for 2,250 years, ending A D. 1640. This is the only con continuous - tinuous continuous registry of the kind in existence, and la expected to yield important results hereafter. There is a boy living In Woodward township, Lycoming county, Penn-, 17 years of age, who stands six feet sight inches high, and weighs over two hun hundred - dred hundred pounds. His name is GrorgeWurs GrorgeWurs-ter. - ter. GrorgeWurs-ter. There is also a girl living In Middle Middle-bury - bury Middle-bury township, Tioga county, 14 years of age, who weighs 400 pounds.

waste lands of mine, rendering them ac cessible and valuable, and I will give you ten per cent, of the lands affected. 1 re regard - gard regard this offer not as a charity or gratuity, tor you nave no claim to either, but 1 con consider - sider consider it a business transaction, in which I shall receive back in the enhanced value of my own lands and the increased area and constituency for taxation, very much more than this grant is worth to me or to you." So a farmer, owning a submerged marsh which is absolutely worthless ex except - cept except for rearing frogs, and, not oaring to venture his own money in the doubtful enterprise of reclaiming it, would gladly give a portion of the wet land itself to any one who would ditch, underdrain and render productive the whole. The fact that the Government retains the alternate sections along these Pacific roads and offers them for sale at $2.60 per acre, is sufficient guaranty that the rail railroad - road railroad companies will not hold their lands at an exorbitant figure ; and the fact that the business and success of the roads will depend very largely upon the rapidity with which the adjacent lands are settled, is ample warrant that the railroads will not long hold their lands out of the mar market. - ket. market. Self-interest and the public good will here harmonize. The Northern Pacific Company, in coming before Congress and asking for the recent legislation, which has occa occasioned - sioned occasioned so much discussion and misunder misunderstanding, - standing, misunderstanding, requested four things : (1.) That the original land grant, voluntarily con conferred - ferred conferred by Congress six years ago, be made good by permitting the Company to ap appropriate - propriate appropriate other public lands to compen compensate - sate compensate for those belonging to the grant, which had been taken up by settlers and speculators; (3.) That the short branch road to be constructed from Portland, Oregon, to Puget Bound be entitled to the same land subsidy as the main line ; (3.) that the company be permitted to make the junction of its two western branches at a point further east than the original charter specified, this in order to avoid engineering difficulties in the mountain region ; and (4.) that specific authority be given the company to make a single mortgage covering all its proper property - ty property and rights of property. This last re quest was made in order to avoid the ne necessity - cessity necessity of making a fresh mortgage every time a new instalment of land came into the hands of the company by the comple tion of each twenty-flvc-mile section of road. Under the legislation recently en enacted, - acted, enacted, the lands of the North Pacific grant will pass under the general mort- Sge to the bondholders Just as fast as by e completion of successive portions of the road, they pass into the control and ownership ot the company and no faster. The current assertion that the bill author authorizes - izes authorizes the company to mortgage its lands in advance of the construction of the.' road, is without foundation and absurd. The charter provides when and on what con conditions - ditions conditions the lands of the grant shall be become - come become the property of the company, and the recent legislation does not change the charter in this regard, nor authorize the company to nvrtgwfy that which hnwlta property. Tit fact that w application or tne Northern Twttrc Oompfflie In addi- tional legislation named above was proc proceeded - eeded proceeded and followed by the introduction in Congress of a swarm or petty lano gram schemes for local and imaginary roads schemes having: no merits and no claims to consideration should not be allowed to prejudice a great and genuine enter enterprise, - prise, enterprise, which the people are really desirous to aid, because it will aid them in return. Undoubtedly the country wishes Congress to limit the application of the land sub subsidy - sidy subsidy policy to the three trunk lines of Pacific railroad. Here the rise of dis distinction - tinction distinction should be drawn, and here the nation should put down its foot. Let the continent be traversed by a Northern, a Central and a Southern Pacific ruuroan, opening up the western wilderness, in three broad belts, to settlement and cul culture, - ture, culture, travel and trade ; then let local rail railroads - roads railroads be built by private enterprise as fast as population and business demand them. The land-grant system, as applied to these three main routes, Is common sense and sound ecomony. Carried to the extreme, and applied to the numberless local cor- S orations that are clamoring for aid at the oors of Congress, it is indefensible waste.

You moat remember well the Willey flood as plain as though it was bat yester yesterday, - day, yesterday, stranger t" "Did you live in the same place that you do now f" " My cabin stood out yonder, near the bank of the river. You can see the spot from the doorway here. There, near where that large elm stands." "I should have thought that the water would have swept it away, standing as it did on the low ground." " It did sweep it away, stranger, and my wife and child with it. If you hare time to hear it I don't mind telling you the story.'' "Plenty of time, and nothing would suit me better. I am always anxious to hear anything of that night which has invested the Notch of the mountains with such mournful interest." The foregoing conversation took place one day last rammer between myself and an old settler among the mountains, at whose cottage I had topped for a glass of milk, and to rest awhile from my walk. From one thing concerning the moun mountains - tains mountains to another we passed, and I found that there were many incidents which he remembered of much interest to the tourists, that had not found their way into any of the guides or histories of the mountains which have been put forth. At last we came to speak of the great freshet known in all the hill country as the Willey flood, and which possesses a mournful interest for all the dwellers in that region ; and then ensued the conver conversation - sation conversation which I have recorded as a preface to the story which I have reproduced for the entertainment of my readers : It was in 1838, and I was a young man then, and had Just set up in the world for myself. I had been married two years, and my wife had a baby boy of some six months. For the first year I had lived with my father over the moun mountains - tains mountains yonder, and then I bought this piece of intervale, and built a cabin on it, and commenced a life for myself. We had no neighbors very near then, the nighest be being - ing being - some three miles down the river, while across the mountains to fath father's - er's father's it was a mile further. Still they seemed nearest to us, for we saw them much oftener than any one else there never being but a few days at a time but some of U8 passed back and forth. I worked hard the year I built my cabin, and by toe opening of the next season 1 had quite a clearing made about it, and I and Mary, as we sat in the doorway in the early evening, and gazed about over our possessions, used to think that we were on the high road to prosperity, and looked forward to the time when we should have one of the best farms lying about us, that there was in all the moun mountainous - tainous mountainous region. Of one thing we were sure, and that was, that the soil could not be beat, and labor only was wanted to make it bring forth abundantly. The first part of that summer, our crops looked finely, and gave promise of an abundant harvest; but as the season weat on, a drought set in, which bade fair to scorch everything green and tender from the face of the earth. Every day the sun came up, and went its fiery round without a cloud to keep its fierce rays from the earth, and when at last August came in, even the little dew that had fall fallen - en fallen at night was withheld, and the crops, deprived of this, no longer strove to live, but turned yellow, sank upon the earth and withered away. A large part that I had planted went in this manner, and our clearing presented little the appearance it had done in the spring-time. Still, if rain would come soon, there would be enough saved to carry us through the winter, and that was more than many would have. As the month went on, there came signs of rain, but all of them failed. In the morning, and through the early part of the day, dark clouds would gather and cover the summits of the mountains, and we would think that it must rain, but by noon they would all clear away, without as much as sending down a few drops upon the parched earth. And so the month wore away until the morning of the twenty-fifth, the one be before - fore before that on which the flood came. That dav I had hern over the moun tains to father's, doing some work few him, as he was unwell, and I promised to come back the next morning and com

W n T? irrrtnvr. ftf CXa-n ova C Vi i r v v -. aaiwBiviii V wuv v im vuau sends to Avvteton's Journal the following account of how a spide; builds its web: While at work one 'y in the field, I accidentally destroyed tie web of a com mon spider. Uunousto Know what tne little creature would do in its great calam calamity. - ity. calamity. I made mvself comfortable and await ed results. The spider, not in the least disheartened by its lota. Immediately com commenced - menced commenced building another web. it first described a circle nt regular, but agree agreeing - ing agreeing with the irreguhrities of the spires of grass on which it was suspended in a verticle position. laving strengthened this outer line (whicl may be likened to the felloe of a carriaje wheel), by passing around it several tines, adding each time a thread, it proceed et to form the spokes. It ascended to the upper edge of the cir circle, - cle, circle, and securing its thread, swung off, slowly descending ta the lower edge, where it fastened the other end. Ascend Ascending - ing Ascending this last formed line to about the cen centre, - tre, centre, and fastening its thread, it proceeded again to the circumference, thus forming another spoke in the wieel. It continued this operation until enough spokes were made, then, beginning at the centre or hub, it passed round and round in en enlarging - larging enlarging circles, until It had formed some six or eight threads, about one-fourth of an inch apart. This, I noticed, was not done with that care which marked its subse- ?uent work ; but it was only intended (as afterward saw) to be t sort of stay-lath, and not a permanent affair. It now daited to the outside of the web, and com commenced - menced commenced to weave in the woof, which was done by passing a thread from spoke to spoke around the wheel, in diminishing circles, the distance between them being determined by the length of the spider's hind legs, for it walked on the line spun at the previous revolution, and guided the new thread with one of its hind feet, hold holding - ing holding it toward the centre as much as possi possible, - ble, possible, and allowing it to run between two of its claws around a pulley. As it passed over each spoke it would with this hind foot press the newly-conned thread to it, thus firmly uniting it. In the same man manner - ner manner it proceeded on until it came to the stay-laths, when it fell to work, and, in a twinkling, tore them away, and soon fin finished - ished finished its work, and retreated to its corner to await the approach of some luckless fly. Twice during the coeration its thread broke, but, not noticing it until it got to the next spoke, it did not retrace its steps, but fastened it where it was, thus leaving a break. Nearly all of the webs tint I have examined havs the same defect. That which surprised me most was the extreme rapidity of the spider's, move movements, - ments, movements, as it was not probably more than ten minutes from the time of destroying the web before another was completed. a a

The battle of Aliwal was fought on the oci. . . r T ....... 1 fUA Tt tha AObU uay ui uwimiiwj, akv. - " bloodiest in modern history up to that time ; since then it has been eclipsed in its sanguinary character by Inkermann, by Solferino, and by Sadowa. At one time the Sikh cavalry had well-nigh cap captured - tured captured Sir Harry Smith himself, who was obliged to shift his position in conse- A . . V 1 . mnmanl a n r, ffl rAT flf hi. . U V staff was struck down by a fragment of l ,1 1- .. V. r..l Kin rirrllt t ll 1 IT1 ftnil sneii, which Djiuwiw uu . fs"v hip joint in a hideous manner. Some men of his troop, seeing him fall, obtained 1 , . n. fr. Mm UltllmnML ml in a fflW minutes he was on a stretcher and being earned iu vna ictu. iuo ujcu uv- ,1 rt Vim anH tflAV l"M 1T1 him TUbCU iw uiu, UUU J through that dreadful field of slaughter . i - . Aa IS wmvoulnif o YKw Willi BMi mo u , m J in its cradle. When within a short dis tance of the Staff Surgeon's tent, the came upon a private of the th reg ment, lying desperately wounded. The poor fellow looked up ptteoualy and touched his cap, as he recognized his offi officer - cer officer in agony on the stretcher. Captain i 11 A ttia man tj li.lt. and to raise him up slightly ; leaning over, he anon saw the nature of the soldier's wound, which was far less dangerous than Lift me out," e said ; " I can't move ; that'll do. o-entlv ves. that's broken, too," (as they touched his spine.) " So now carry him to the doc doctors - tors doctors ; they can do nothing for me, not too late for nim yet JUSl a lime muig mv, .1 ii ,lit. It placing mo enemy ), .- " But, sir " remonstrated one of the " Be quick with him, then come bacK; I'm not likely to have leu mis, nc auuou, with a slight smile. The men did as ordered, and depositing the wounded trooper, they went to Cap Captain - tain Captain C , He had not, indeed, left that ; ho lay facing the enemy still, and the playful smile with which he had addressed to them his last words lingered yet on his face ; but his troubles were over ; victory or defeat were now alike to him, and he had left the field of strife lor that peace peaceful - ful peaceful world where dwells the spirits of the just made perfect. , The instances of men hopelessly wounded refusing to monopolize the doc doctor - tor doctor are by no means rare i and if a battle field is sometimes the scene of outrages at which humanity shudders, it occasionally provides us with instances of unsurpassed heroism and self-sacrifice.