The Tribune, 1874-12-09

.s the shy in seven hours, as was said t< it have been the case in 1833. And neithei it did the meteors " fall as thickly ai ? snow flakes," as one observer desoribec - their appearance in 1867. But it musi <3 be remembered that the theory onb o calls for a number decreasing with eacl ? year succeeding 1867, and that require ment was amply satisfied. From mid k night until early dawn there weri searcely any ten consecntivo minutes ir b which the heavens were not crossec ' by a gleam of phosphorescent light, one occasionally several meteors might b< r- seen at once. And, as an astronomer g would have expeoted, most of tin meteors flashed oat from the vicinity o '8 Gamna Lcoins. In short, withou wishing to magnify in the least th< >r number of meteors that were visible y they were abundant enough to shot d that they could not be the sporadic o it accidental shooting stars of any caaua is evening, but were really the remnant <1 or after-thought, so to speak, of thi magnificent periodical display of 1867 whioh, as the peried is thought to b< te thirty-four years, cannot be again ex L0 pected before 1901. So remarkable i ro phenomenon as this has of course callec s- forth many theories as to its explana if tion. One, for instance, is that tin ih earth at each revolution in its orbi t. plunges more or less deeply into a riiij >e of debris which circulates about tin e. sun. This theory demands a belief ii ih the existence of an indefinite, or rathe it of an infinite number of small heavenl; if bodies, technically called bolides, tha' wander aimlessly through space in ai i- orbit which, if it exists at all, is an ir 3, regular one. Another theory is tha o- this shower of meteors is caused by tin

i Herndon, a farmer of Gage oounty, ~ I Nobraska. He says he met Sir. HeraJ ! don on his way to Linooln, where he has relations residing, and where he . j expects aid. From Mr. Herndon's own j I lips he learned the story of his sufferj ings. Some three years ago Herndon * moved to Gage county from Iowa, and i purchased sixty acres of land, nine I : miles from the oounty seat. He pros' ! pored, and was succeeding well until _ | the late disaster, which not only de, stroyed his property, but left him alone in the world, the fire having overtaken his family, consisting of his wife and two children, and burned them to ' : death. Herndon says he noticed the . , fire miles away, but it was no unoom1 mon thing to see the grass burning, ! and he paid but little attention to it, ; | although his wife seemed considerably " alarmed, and before bedtime she had ^ j called his attention to it several times. In the morning it was notioed that the : fire was burning with more vim, and had evidently come nearer to them. He was still inclined to believe that it would pass around and leave him unmolested, or that it would rain and 1 i thus put danger out of the question. ' ! A heavy wind springing up at noon, | i however, and blowing directly from the | fire toward the house, warned him that " the danger was growing imminent. His children were now orying through fear, 3 ! and his wife was importuning him to " make the best of time. Arrangements 3 : were soon made for the journey, and in 3 a two-horso wagon they started, more a i :i - j e 1.1 n

UlUii LULL Ullica 1U IKlVttUUO UL but) UTU, " j with every probability of being able to ; gel out of its reaoh. Good time was 1 I made by the team, and not until late in " I the evening, when the wind inoreased 3 I in fury, was there any apprehension of ^ ' danger. About dusk the wind inoreased 3 to a hurricane, and the flames began to " approach them with terrible speed and 3 awful grandeur. Easter and faster 1 they oame, and Mr. Herndon sayB that * j it wtto oviucub ill by would overtake L" them in a very few moments. What to 3 be done under the circumstances was a | question that had to be decided quickly. t The horses had now become unmanage7 able, and were as likely to overturn the 1 wagon and start for the flames as any " other way. A marshy piece of ground ' was some two miles distant, and near 3 this was a small branch of water, from 1 which, he remembered, he had fre| quently watered his horses. This was ' the only chanoe for life, and hastily 3 leaving his wagon and team to their r fate, he started for the marsh, with his 3 youngest child, a lad of eight years, in ' his arms. It was a struggle for life, t Death was coming, and they made one 9 grand effort to get out of its reach ; but, ? alas ! it was unavailing. We will not k' undertake to depict the anguish of that T father, as he was compelled to see the 1 cherished ones of his own heart, those 8 whom he loved even better than his 9 own life blood, sink down, one after the

vmugoviT auuuu DUU1C UUO Utkllt'H [ "Dimbley's man" and what he had said. This did not make mnch impression, but in a day or two I again heard 1 a remark abont Dimbley's man to the effect that ho was coming to-morrow, j > In our next little walk, grown ourions j about the matter, I asked my father: r " Who is Dimbley's man, father ?" He started, r " Why ?" he said, " what abont him ? What do you know abont him ? Who wants him ? These questions were put quiokly and with agitation. I told him what I had heard, when he almost gave a cry j and turned sharply round to go home. , i " I see what they are at. I suspected it. They Want to sell the things." 1 We returned hurriedly?he was in a pjrfeot fever, and, when he entered, i flew to inspect his treasures, which he t found all safe, though he discovered I the two women busily engaged in peering into the oabinets and handling them cautiously. But with them was a gen> tlemanly and fluent personage who was 1 giving his opinion and admiiing the collection. He read the whole situation at a i glance. The color flew to his cheeks, and, with vehemence that was wholly i artifloial ana unnatural, he addressed the party. i "I know well what all this means," 1 -.1 . UTMl 1 1 * 1 1

terrible typhoons which recently swept over Nagasaki and Hong Kong evidence conditions of excessive humidity on the opposite side of the Northern Hemisphere, balanoing the excessive aridity prevailing in the United States. Such physical changes appear anomalous enough, especially when we contrast those which oaused the Bengal famine in 1878 and the floods in 1874. Are they due to regular oyolioal causes, recurring in supra-annual periods? So it would seem ; and it also seems likely that these extraordinary phenomena travel slewly around the' globe, somewhat as the ordinary storm does. The attempt has been made to trace hot and cold years to the variations of sun-spot frequenoy, and eminent scientists have contended that the sun-spot periods are followed by corresponding climatic changes on the earth. But, however, this may be, the abnormal seasons we have experienced are directly traceable to the variations of atmospheric pressure on the earth. Thus, according to known laws of the atmosphere, the abnormal prevalence of hot southerly winds on any continent north of the equator proves that there has been an aerial depression of long standing in the ocean west of it; and a similar exoess of oold northerly winds argues an exoess of pressure. If ih?aA Innc-ntandino' hiffh and lew nrftS -

> other, and become a prey to that most 0 terrible of all deaths?fire. The little ' daughter was the first that was over;i taken, and the mother was prone to * stay and give up her life with her darling, but sho kept on, while the e flames were yet more than a hundred yards behind, and little Mary was left ? upon her knees, praying that her 0 Heavenly Father might take her to His 11 bosom, and save her mother and father r and little brother from perishing. )' Death soon came to her, and not long did it wait for the little brother and 11 mother. In a few moments the mother's " clothes were on fire, and she was un^ able to proceed. The father, with desu perato determination to save his little c son, pushed on ; but already his clothes were on fire, and the little boy, the ^ pride of his heart, was struggling to free himself from the tortures, and soon ho was at rest in death. His body but ^ hindered the progress of the father, and 'fc to savo himself he determined to >' abandon it. Thus freed of all incume brances he sucoeeded in reaching the stream. ? After the fire had passed by he reL' traced his steps, and gathered in one ^ place the blackened and charred re" mains of his late household. Next day S t.lia ImmpH nf uhiyia diafnnf. farrriAra vopta

y mo. Aud yet this only made me fee e more acutely the cruel loss of the t- piece of earthenware, which I felt thai ?. nothing could ever restoie to us. 1- It was a long time indeed before J g set myself seriously to the task o! is making out what was written on ths e slip of paper. e It began, "CJodicil to my will," ant o stated that it revoked the bequest of i ?, particular date, and left all his per o sonal property and effects, including d the ohina, which was to be sold off, t< his two children, l- I This I did not quite understand ai I, ; the time, nor did I see the full force ?. and meaning of it. But seizing a favor d ; able opportunity I got out of the d house, aud hurried to a friendly Mr. is | Baker?of course bald aud benevoleni io i ?to show it. He started as he read. o| " This makes a moBt important dife ference," he said ; "you must leave it 10 ! with me, and I will cail up in the morn r, | ing." I- Everything, as it proved, was ours, l- The cruel pair got nothing, save the n small sum that had been settled on hoi ie at the time of her marriage, le The collection brought a va6t sum, e much moro than any one had ever an ticipated. And the teapot, as I have ;r said, repaired with the most exquisite XT ! Off nn u* vminaoc in (l nlnnn nf linnnw

1 oiguu uiuui^ut iuh cuior w uib cneoKB, | t for he had nothing of that pattern in L the collection. It was exposed in a poor, mean little den?not a curiosity I I 1 shop at all?a kind of huckster's place. ! Here the teapot was offered with a view : . to finding some purchaser who would ' " use it for the purpose of making tea. ! He was enraptured with it. He could 1 at least ask the price. Four and six: pence?worth, he said, five guineas, and would be worth double by-and-bye. As we went out it was offered for three and six. -It was very tempting, but he ! resisted it then. . , The next day he took me out with " him for a walk, but this was for a second inspection. He delayed long 3 ; before he oould make up his mind, but ' at last the purchase was made. Then 3 | it was to be brought home, and then ; came the difficulty. Where was it to j l bo placed ? for their Argus eyes would 1 detect the slightest change. But they ! had an instinct that something was 1 3 wrong. The daughter was in a parlor window, looking up and down the 3 street, while she (I always thought of her as though Bhe were a unique, like a - teapot) opened the door and gave a policeman-like glanoe at his figure. > The grotesque was hidden away under his coat, but a great protuberance re -