The True Northerner from Paw Paw, Michigan • Page 3

WISCONSIN FIRES. Particular of the Destruction of the Vil lae of Peoatlao 4ther '-oaflaratlna icrrioie lsomm 01 irtie ana I'ropertf, Menomonee, Oct. 11, 1871. Ihe village of Peshtigo is burnt to the ground, and 1,000 persons are out of homes and employment. Fire had been raging around the vil lage some days before, but had become subdued, and the people felt secure; when on Sunday night, all of a sudden, when the wind was blowing a inado, it again broke out from the fires of the camps of the hands at work on the railroad, and immediately overwhelmed the village, inmates of houses having 1 4 A A oniy ume xo escape as iney rose irom their beds.

The people living in the main portion ot the village were driven by the rush rag names aireciiy towards the river, and, horrible to contemplate, cattle had preceded them and blockaded up the passage to the bridge; consequently human beings had to take to the water where a large portion were either burneu to death or drowned. It is reported that some 150 men, find ing escape cut off, took to a large barn belonging to the Peshtigo Company and were burned up in it. The wounded have been removed to Ocont mainly, as being the nearest vil lage, which is south of Peshtigo. The villages of Marinette and Menomonoe, six miles north, being themselves partly fire, offered no chance for help or protection to the sufferers from that quarter. Menomonee has suffered to some ex tent, how much wo are unable to tell.

It is conceded some of the mills and some dwellings have been burned. The mill on the Point, known as the Gil- more mill, the property of R. Stephen son has been destroyed. At Pensaukee between twelve and fifteen barns and dwellings on the Little River road were burned. The farmers in that section have suffered generally in the loss of fences and hay, and many of them have been burned out wholly.

From the Fond do Lac (Wla.) Commonwealth. GRAmiC ACCOUNT BT ONE WHO HAS BEEN THERE. The first news of a great disaster is gen erally exagerated, but the first reports of ino recent fares in tno northeastern part of tnis state tell lar short of the truth. When we heard that Peshtigo was burned and sixty lives lost everyone said it must be an exaggeration. They could not understand how, in a village, so many lives could be lost; but a recent visit to the fields of desolation and death made us wonder how any were saved.

From Oconto, twenty-five miles north of Green Bay, we went by teams through the burnt district to tho Sugar Bush, Peshtigo and Marinette. The fire came close to Oconto, the people having to work heroically to save the city. For the first eight miles nrth of the city the country was burned over, destroying immense quantities of timber and some nouses. Scarcely an acre of ground escaped unburned. If the owners could cut the pine which was burned so badly as to kill it, and get it manufactured into lumber this year, the loss would not be so fearful but it would be impossible to cut so much in one year.

Eight miles north of Oconto the tornado began its terrible work of destruction. From this point to Peshtigo, a distance of twelve miles, the timber was very heavy. Where the tornado began the timber was mostly 1)inc, and farther on it consisted of oak, each and maple, many trees running up eighty feet to the first limbs. It is probable that the tornado carried the fire along with it with wonderful rapidity. For mile after mile not a tree of any size was left standing, only a sapling here and bending to the blast, withstood the storm.

The trees were blown down, the roots in many instances, after the trees had fallen, standing twelve to fifteen feet high, with rocks and dirt among them, were left. The ground was either covered with ashes or burned until it looked red. The underbrush, the small limbs of the trees, the bark, the leaves, were all burned. It seems impossible that a week ago it was a forest of evergreen pines. Wherever there was a culvert in tho road built of logs and covered with ground it was burned; also, the logs in the corduroy road, leaving the ground hollow.

There was no sign of life, either animal or vegetable. Deer and partridges were lying along the road burned to death. About fifteen miles north of Oconto is the lower Sugar Bush Settlement. The road through the bush runs east and west. The land is cleared back and cultivated about three-quarters of a mile on each sido of the road.

The farm houses were scattered along this road for a distance of five miles. Not a building nor a fence is left. The clover fields were burnt over as if stubble; every stump was burned black, and in many instances in plowed fields the stumps were burned entirely up, leaving holes in tho ground where the roots had been. The heat must have been intense. We saw the iron work of a wagon by the road-side, and there was no evidences of any combustible material near the wagon, and yet not a splinter wood-work of the wagon was left.

The skeins had dropped in their proper places, with the tires lying around them. The chain used to fasten the oxen to the wagon was stretched out from where the forward axle would have been, and at the other end of tho chain lay the irons of the end of the tongue. Near by where every farm house had stood, were lying dead horses, cattle and hogs. Through this settlement runs a small stream of water; the fish in it were dead. In this district but one family was saved.

They ran down into a creek behind a small mound of earth others went into the stream, but were found dead. None of the inhabitants were burned in their houses. They were found scattered in the fields and woods. A Mr. May was found three-quarters of a mile northwest of his home, his wife about the same distance north, and his little boy, four years old, about the same distance northeast.

The Newberry families, consisting of seventeen persons, were all lost. They lived near each other. They owned a mill and three farms. Old Mr. Newberry was not i found.

Charles Newberry ran about half a mile and fell, and his two little beys, running hand in hand, were found a little beyond the father, side by side, while the wife and mother was found on tho road near a 4 bridge; she, forgetful of her own suffering, tried to save her babe. Her charred hand was pressing the head of her child upon the ground, so that it might not breathe the fire. The child's face was all that was uninjured. One of the Newberrys was found dead in water onder the bridge. Warren Church, probably to escape a worse death, cut his throat with a jack-knife.

Charles Lamb hU wife and four children in a wagon when the fire began; tho horses became un- manageable, and ran away; the children were thrown out one by one; finally Mrs. Lamb was thrown out. Mr. Lamb was dragged into the corner of a field, and was the only one of the family saved. Mrs.

Caroline England, expecting to be confined very hour, rode four and a half miles, to TV.htigo, stood in the water five hours, three out of four of her sister's chil-Hren. and gave birth to a daughter the day In the middle of Sugar Bush, a boy Emned into a barrel of rain water that itood ear the house, but seeing his father lad mother in a green turnip patch, started Jo go to them; but getting badly burned a he tried to climb the fence, he went back and eot into the barrel again. The father and mother were burned. The toy was found there, two days after, alive. The Davis family found refuee in a well.

The curbing burned, and the whole family of six persons were lost. They were not found for three days. Une woman with a oaoe ten days old, and four other small children, displayed more bravery than many a general on a battlefield. She gathered her children around her, picking the coals off her family as they fell. She was badly burned, and one of her children has since died but the babe escaped.

Mr. Tanner, son-in-law of A. II. Hart, of Calumet county, tried to save his wife and two children when his wife fell dead, he took a child under each arm and started on the run. His children ed in his arms, and then he drew a knife and tried to take his own life.

After stabbing himself twice, a limb of a tree knocked him insensible and thus his life was saved. Passing on to Peshtigo, we found the re ports published had given but a faint idea of the loss. Not a stick of timber was leit of the houses, and on the south side of the river the only evidence left that there was once a town there, were the posts or the gar den fences, which were not burned so close to the ground but that we oould trace the outline of the fence. It was reported that one house was left unburned. This house was not completed only rough boards encased it and yet it did not escape without one side being burned black.

It would be useless to at tempt a description. You can imagine i beautiful and thriving village, with its im mense manufactories and busy life, now a waste of sand, deserted. The carcasses of fifty horses lay in regular rows as they had stood in their stalls, with scarcely a vestige of the building remaining. The people only nad ten minutes' warning ox tne nurricane of fire, and no time to comprehend the situ ation. They rushed into the streets and started for tho river, but were overtaken by the storm of fire, and fell in the middle of the streets.

One man, carrying his wife, approached the river, but the blast drove tV I- A' 1 II! t- mm over some ODSirucnon, ana, iauing, ne was separated from her. He picked up a woman, supposing her to be his wife, carried her into the river, and saved her. It proved to be another man's wife, and his own was lost. One man was sick with typhoid fever; a young man stopping with him took the sick man out to the back of the house, and buried him in the sand. He was saved, and is rapidly gaining his health.

The half has not been told the whole will never be known. The loss of life in creases evervhour. On Friday last twenty six dead bodies were found in the woods, and on Saturday, thirty-six. The woods and fields are literally full of dead bodies, and mrny were burned entirely up. We found some teeth, a jack-knife and a slate pencil.

It must have been all that remained of a promising boy. Truly, in this case the darkness preceded the light. On Sunday night, October 9, iust after the churches were closed, for half an hour there reigned the stillness of death. The smoke settled down so thickly that the darkness, like Egyptian, could be felt. Then came light gusts of wind, and in the south was seen through the smoke and darkness faint glimmers of light.

The earth trembled, and the roar of the approaching tornado and the shock of the falling trees broke the awful stillness. No one could realize the approaching tornado and the shock of the falling trees broke the awful stillness. No one could realize the approaching danger, when in almost a moment the holocaust was upon them. The fire, in its maddening rage, could not keen pace with the wind, and trees and houses and men were blown down that they might bo more rapidly consumed. Men, women and children rose again to rush like specters through the flames, and fell separated from each other.

In this terrible moment men thought the final day had come when tho earth should be burnt, and they bowed themselves to offer their last prayer. More might have been saved if this conviction had not seized them. One man gathered his family into his store, and resignedly walked to and fro in the roem, awaiting the awful consequences, and if they believed prophecy, had they not reason for this belief? A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains. A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth; the land is as the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses.

and as horsemen so shall they run. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble; the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The best data gave the loss in the Sugar Bush and Peshtigo at eight hundred. On the east shore forty bodies were found in one field. They had fled to the fields hon ing to escape, and they ran into the worst place possible.

Small clearings were more safe than large fields. J. H. Hauser. Pearl Fishery, Thero aro few positions in life in which perfect integrity is more requisite than in that of a pearl diver.

It must be a sore temptation to any man not working on his own account, and in whom good principles have not been properly instilled, to leave at the bottom of the water any promising oysters he may find until ho has an opportunity of a private dive for his personal benefit. This temptation seems to have been too strong for tho resistance of the native divers at tho Tinnevelly Pearl Fishery. Captain liichardson has, says the Madras Gazette, lately made an inspection of the pearl banks of Tuticorinj and found that the oysters have not improved to any appreciable extent. It appears that in some places the divers brought up one oyster at a time, and it is believed there is a combination among them. At the Pimia-coil banks tho behavior of the divers was such as to arouse suspicion, and the oysters, so plentifully found on tho frevious inspection, seemed to have eft the place.

On the bearing of the Trickendur bank not one well-grown oyster was found, and it is suspected that secret orders have been given by some of the dealers to frustrate the work. Captain liichardson also inspected the Manapud banks, but with no appreciable result. The divers brought up Borne oysters attached to the Rcna shell, which were very much covered over with barnacles. The Madura coast was next surveyed, and it was found that the oysters were not so numerous as last year, and though the divers brought up a good many large-sized oysters, the fish was gone. From the Vypar banks a few oysters were obtained, but they were not much approved.

It is proposed to engage the services of European divers, as the natives have proved so very distrustful but surely it would not be impossible to organize submarine police force a few detectives concealed in coral reefs or disguised as sharks would soon put an end to this subaqueous dishonesty. Pall Mall Gazette. JosEm It. HtonEs, of Lawrence, Kansasj was shot on tho 14th inst. by his business partner, Thomas Topping.

Tho affair grow out of a business difficulty. THE CHAMPION CORRESPONDENT. The Ingenious Madeatr af New York Let ter-Writer-What He" did al the Ureat Fire Vrom Th Time. Oct. 30.

Chicago has endured the presence of many healthy prevaricators in tue psi, but in her late amiction sue nas ueen victimized upon a scale fully commensurate with the magnitude of her calamity. Chief among the persons who have built Munchausen histories upon our woe. a correspondent of the New York Evening Telegraph stands out in bright and unapproachable relief. Perusing his account of personal adventures, one is left in painful doubt which to admire genious defiance of all rules grararaati cal. 41 An lie says, "which I am about to relate, which, while it coiled up mv verv soul in horror, failed to entirely obliterate from my mind, my sense of duty, or to take away completely my sense of consciousness of what should be done on such a terrible emergency, in such a sudden and terrible emer gency, which is part and parcel of every man's innate composition to a more or less degree.

"On the night of the second edition of the great fire, iust as tho flames burst with ungovernable fury down along Wabash avenue and that vicinity, surprising many of the inmates of the residences of that rather aristocratic locality. with some hundreds of others, stood disturbedly in mind at least, contemplating the tearful ravages the devasting element was making among tho palatial structures that lined that thoroughfare, when mcthought I perceived the face and partial form of a human being frantically gesticulating at on3 of the second-story windows ot what I was afterward told was No. 15. I instantly called the attention of my neighbors to the heart-rending spectacle, and wildly called for some volunteers to assist in a rescue. The house was enveloped in flames in a moment, quicker than pen can describe, in a moment aiso xne shadow of a form had disappeared.

Feeling lest a human being or beings were about to perish in sight of a mul titude of fellow beings, placed, however, in comparative safety, a sudden desperation all at once seemed to take posses sion of my whole frame, and with some wild, incoherent expression, 1 dashed down the street, determined to do or to die, as the phrase is. and with leaps rather than strides I made for the house, never losing ght ot the window at which I had first distinctly discovered the form, and almost instantly found myself panting at the very door. The heat was almost insufferable in fact I felt my very breath scorched as I stood there, at the same time the perspiration was rolling off my forehead in massive drops, which seemed to my excited imagination bucketful. I had thus stood a lion at bay as it were, lor tne space 01 about nve min utes, when I saw a woman, all ablaze, her garments nearly completely burned oil' and the few shreds remaining one mass of fire, dashing through the living hell, holding tenaciously to what again appeared a parcel of consuming com bustible matter, such as wood or woolens of some description. Without calcu lating the immense risk, or the appalling danger, I gave one spring and clasped the expiring form in my arms.

At the same instant the bundle was dropped from the arms of the female, and she herself fell on my arm for support with a groan, quickly conveyed the woman blistered and smouldering gar ments hanging trom the pale of the flames, and then sank to the ground more like a corpse than anything living. A few of the more courageous of the lookers on done tho rest that is, carried tho rescued woman and my unconscious self to a place of safety, and thus saved two lives that otherwise would have been sacrificed immediately after escaping the greater peril. The bundle that tho lady had under her arm was subsequently ascertained to have been an only infant, a sweet boy of two months. He perished at tho threshold of rescue, dropped by the exhausted arms of its mother, who held it as long as human power sustained her. li My injuries were trifling, considering the desperation of the exploit, and 1 am now so far recovered as to feebly detail the particulars of one of the most excru ciatingly appalling experiences that it base ver been my fortune to bo the hero of.

Tho above can be vouched for by 500 witnesses if necessary. Tho name of the lady or the fate of tho rest of the family, I am yet in total ignorance of, but will ascertain and forward as speedily as my researches will admit. At last ac A ounts she was in a state of insensi bility, but in a fair way of ultimate re covery." Tortures of the Dinner Table. The discourtesies often visited upon gentlemen at public dinner-parties, de- scrvo an earnest protest. Men are call- ed to their feet not only against their known wishes, but against pledges, and compelled to speech that is absolute torture to them, ihe boobies who thus distress modest and sensitive men ought to be kicked out of society.

No one ias a right to give an innocent man pain by compelling him to make of himself a public spectacle, or summoning him to a task that is unspeakably distasteful to him. No man ought to be called upon at such a place, except with his full consent previously obtained, and he who forces a modest man to a task like this in the presence of society, fails in the courtesy of a gentleman. The truth that no dinner is pleasant unless it be entirely informal. The moment it takes on a formal character its life as a social occasion is departed; and those who foster the custom of speech-making drive from their society multitudes of men who would bo glad to meet them whose presenco would give them pleasure and do them eood. Let us have done with this foolishness.

Dr. J. G. Holland in Scribner'i for November, 11 Dexter." says Budd Doble. is a phenomenon.

Ho is tho greatest trotter in tho world. He is tho best and and the fastest horse that I ever pulled the rein over. I tell you positively that I drove Dexter a mile to a wagon in 2:13. And if Dexter had been kept on the track I would stake my life that he would have trotted a mile in harness in 2:12. I know what I'm talking about, and I say there's no horse in the world that can beat THE LATE GALE.

Fearful Hreneson the Wentern Lakes Upward of Fifty Vessel Htranded and Manr Llvea I.aat. Chicago papers of the 19th inst. con tain accounts of the frightful loss of life and property on the lakes occasioned by the late terrible gales of wind. Tho late terrible storm found almost every vessel afloat on the lakes at sea and the loss of life and property come quently was immense, entirely ove. shadowing the work of destruction by any single gale since the inauguration of lake navigation.

Any single disaster would furnish matter for columns, but with our limited space all that can be made is mere mention. The brig Mechanic, bound up for Chicago with coal, foundered with all hands. The captain's name was Henry McKee. The names of the other eight unfortunates are unknown. She was valued at $18,000, and was owned by Bliss, Burch Bruce, of Racine.

The schooner Dolphin was run down off Sheboygan by an unknown vessel. In her water logged condition 6he was picked up and towed into port. The sufferings of the crew were terrible. The vessel is lumber-laden for Chicago. The schooner II.

C. Winslow capsized off Point Becsies. Paul Kinsley, his wife and two daughters, were on board. The ladies were drowned. The spars broke off and the vessel lighted, but by this time she was waterlogged.

After the crew had remained exposed to the fury of tho tempest forty-eight hours, the propeller Annie L.Craig fell in with the wreck and took them off. They lost everything. The Winslow is owned by Capt. Payment and E. W.

Hudson, of Detroit. The case of Mr. Kinsley, as related to us, is a sad one. lie moved to uanada from Portland, settling near Collins Inlet. While residing there, his eldest daughter, a young lady of seven teen, became acquainted with a young man, who accomplished her ruin, and she was afterward drowned under circumstances which led to the belief that she had been murdered.

The young man was arrested on suspicion, but discharged for want of evidence to convict him. This sad affair so preyed upon Mr. Kinsley's mind that he determined to move farther west, and accordingly took passage upon the Winslow, only to meet with a still greater bereavement. All the monev he possessed, some sixty dollars, was in his wife's keeping, and is of course lost. He is now here, home less, friendless, and penniless.

The bark Osborne went on the break water at Buffalo, and is severely injured. She has been released. The bark Monarch and schooner Elm City sustained injuries. The schooner B. Parsons is missing, and supposed to be lost with all hands.

She was 304 tons. Her crew consisted of twelve men and a female cook. She was coal laden. There is nothing new concerning the oss of the schooner Cevant. Thornum was the only survivor.

Ihe bark twilight, laden with lum ber, drifted ashore near Kinchardine, Ont. All hands are cone, and are sup posed to have perished. Ihe schooners Lucy Anchard, of Al- gonae, and Mary Thompson, of Chicago, are ashore at Point Albert. No lives lost. The fine passenger steamer It.

G. Coburn foundered in Saginaw Bay last Sunday. Seven of the crew and three passengers are known to have been saved. Two boats with the officers and balance of the crew are missing. Lost Treasures.

In reviewing the principal art losses resulting from the siege of Strasbourg it may be mentioned that the cathedral has only been damaged in certain minor points, and can be easily restored. Tho museum, as a building, was nothing re markable, but it contained some interesting objects, including paintings by Carregio, Tintoretto, Guido, Alexander Veronese, Hemling, Jordeans, Claude Lorraine, and a celebrated Quarrel in a Flemish Inn," by Van Ostade. There were also a number of works by Strasbourg artists, of all of which not a single canvass was saved, for even after the bombardment had been announced no efforts were made to remove the pictures to a place of safety, and the museum, was among the buildings first destroyed. Among the treasures in the library were volumes of great rarity and some manuscripts dating as far back as the twelfth century a collection of canonical laws made by a bishop of Strasbourg in 788 a prayer-book of the eighth century a missal of the sixteenth century, bearing the arms of Louis XII. a collection of the constitutions of Strasbourg the proceedings of a lawsuit between Gutenberg and the heirs of his partner, Dritzelin a collection of Roman antiquities found in France; a plan of tho city and fortifications in 1574; all the instruments of torture in use at Strasbourg during the middle ages the red flag placed on the cathedral during tho reign of terror; the sabre of Marshal Kleber; and a unique collection of portraits and medals.

After the fire a piece of the handle of Kleber's sword was found, but everything else had utterly destroyed. In the construction of tho underground railway in London, a part of tho route extended under the Church of St. Nicholas, and to support the building while tho excavations were going on, tho following plan was adopted: At intervals in front of the walls of the church, wells of the diameter of three feet and a half were sunk to the depth of forty feet, and these wells wero then filled in with brick work and cement. The same method was adopted to sup- Cort a tall chimney stack in the neigh-orhood, and in both cases the old and tho new structures remained firm. Cuttings in another portion of the lino were made through a mass of human bones sixteen feet thick, which were the remains of an old and disused burial ground.

In the construction of the station at Cannon street two thousand workmen were employed, for nearly four months, within a space of two hundred and eighty square yards, and one hundred and fifty thousand tons of earth and rubbish were removed, while fifty thousand tons of new material were brought upon tho ground. Firm prevail in the mountains the whole length of California. Military Pensions Interesting1 Data Relative to Pensioners of 1812. Considerable speculation having exist ed in reference to the question of how many survivors of the 1812 war are en titled to pensions under the act of Feb. 14, 1871, tho following data, compiled from the ofhcial records of the War De partment, will bo read with interest.

During the war of 1812-14 the following number of enlistments occurred Soldiers of the regular army who served twelve months 38,186 bailors and marines who served twelve months 17.816 Mililia men who served twelve months 7,147 Militia men who served six months and less than twelve months 00,325 Militia men wno served three montns ana lees than six months .125.643 Militia men who served one montn and less than three months 125,307 Militia men who served lees than one month 147,200 Total enlistments 547.65 There were, therefore, 255,147 who served three months and longer, to which number should be added one- third of those who served one month and less than three months, amounting to 41,769, a total of 297,910 sixty-days' men, in whose ranks those claiming pensions under the act of Feb. 14, 1871, must have served. It was estimated by the Pension oflicer, and reported to a committee of Congress in 1858 59, that 189,019 soldiers of the war of 1812, of all terms of service, survived at that date and again, in I860 07, that (including widows), 99,055 were then alive. The latter report also referred to the estimated number of Revolutionary soldiers who would be entitled to the benefit of the provisions of the act of 1832, at the time it was pending before Congress, and to the actual number of pensions admitted under it, which not only sustained the calculation, but indicated that it might be underrated. The duration of the war of the Revolution was more than double that of 1812, and the number enlisting more than onco would, no doubt, be proportionately increased.

One of the acts for Revolutionary pensions required nine months' service and the applicant to be in indigent circumstances, and the other required six months' service, with out any other restriction. Of the enlistments in that war, 55,110 re ceived pensions, or one to every five soldiers without including widows. The same rule applied to soldiers of the war of 1812. Allowing a period to expire equal to that which intervened between the termination of the Revolutionary war and the date of the estimate, viz. fifty-one years, gives 59,383 as entitled to pensions in 1805.

The service re- quiied by the act of Feb. 14, 1871, being but sixty days, the number would be materially augmented. From similar data it is estimated by the Pension Office that in 18G5, 21,190 widows of the soldiers of the war of 1812 were then alive, making a total of 82,579 entitled to pensions, bo far as the examination of these claims has progressed the average age of the claimants is found to be seventy-nine years. If 82,579 widows and survivors were entitled to pensions in 18G5, at this time, according to the Carlisle tables, 44,992 would be embraced within the provisions of the act of Feb. 14, 1871, which at the uniform rate of $4 per month, would amount to G8 per annum.

The following circular has been issued by the Commissioner of Pensions In lieu of previous instructions from this office, dated July, 1871, for the in formation of applicants for pensions under the act of Feb. 14, 1871, you are informed In view of the express requirements of the act of Feb. 14, 1871, granting pensions to the survivors of the war of 1812, proof of loyalty will in all cases be carefully examined and the law strictly construed. When witnesses testify to the loyalty of a claimant their character must be established by tho certificate of an oflicer of the United States Court, United States Commissioner, Assessor, Assistant Assessor, Collector, Deputy Supervisor of Internal Revenue, or a Postmaster, showing to the satisfaction of this office that, after careful investigation, he is convinced the above witnesses are men of undoubted good character for truth and veracity, and that their statements in tho affidavit referred to are worthy of full faith and credit. Total number of applicants for pensions for service in the war of 1812, up to date, is 30,540.

Transmission of Sound by Wooden Rods. An interesting modification of Wheat-stone's celebrated experiment of tho Telephodic Concert wa9 recently tried at tho Central High School of Philadelphia. A rod of English deal, about 20 feet in length and three-quarters of an inch thick, was let down through a f)latform into the room below. Insu-ation from the platform and tho ceiling of the lower room was obtained by inclosing tho rod with small sections of thick rubber hose. Against the lower end of the rod the sounding-box of a small tuning fork was placed.

On speaking or singing into the open end of this the sounds wero transmitted by the rod to the room above, the volume of the sound being increased by placing a guitar on the upper end of the rod. The experiment is exceedingly interesting and striking. Although tho interval between the notes is perfectly preserved, their intensity and quality are changed very decidedly, the eflect being similar to that produced by ventriloquism. As tho position of the rod is immaterial, striking effects can be produced as though by ventriloquism. A small figure placed on the end of the rod or on the sounding-box adds greatly to the effect.

A song is transmitted in a very amusing manner. As it is preferable to have the tounding-box held so that the pulses should impinge in tho direction of tho length of the rod, the experimenter in tho room beneath rested, for convenience, on a settee. This mode of transmission of sound does not, of course, give as good results as by means of hollow tubes, as the transmitted sound cannot be heard at as great a distance. It is interesting, however, from its novelty. A new custom treaty has been signed between France and Germany.

The financial portion of the treaty provides that tho balance of the indemnity money remaining duo by France shall be paid in specie bills to tho amount of 80,000,000 francs every fortnight until the entire balance is paid, such payments to commence on the 15th of January next. Current Items. Tuc Empress Augusta, of Germany, has contributed 1,000 tbalers for tho Chicago sufferers. Several negroes were sworn in, in New York, on Saturday last as Inspec- tors ot Elections. Telegraphic communication between I long Kong and Nogodi has been stopped, the Chinese having picked up tho cable and stolen quit a length.

A terrible typhoon occurred on the Chinese coast, destroying several hundred lives. C. F. Leiine, a well-known citieen of Peoria, attempted to commit tuicide by cutting his throat on the 12th inst. Cause, temporary insanity.

A civil war has commenced in Liberia owing to the refusal of tho President to resign his position, the Liberian Con- having recently passed an act imiting the Presidential term to two years. Mr. Tuom as Garrison, for many years prominent citizen of Rockford. 111., died at Nevada City, on the Oth inst. Since the defalcation of Major Hodge, the Secretary of tho Treasury has civen instructions that all tho accounts of disbursing officers connected with the Treasury Department shall be promptly examined.

Tde settlers in the lower part of Arizona are preyed upon with impunity by Mexican outlaws, who are robbing them of property in every direction. London advices say that large num bers of Americans are leaving for home, owing to the Chicago calamity. Count Watchtriester, Minister of Foreign Affairs at Stockholm, dropped dead of apoplexy on the 15th inst. An address has been issued from Saratoga, N. by a large number of prominent Democrats, repudiating Tweed and the lato Democratic Con vention.

Seven distinct attempts were made to fire the city of Syracuse on tho night of the 14th inst. Fortunately no croat damage was done. The strong Democratic counties of Pennsylvania gave a heavy vote against the holding of a Constitutional Convention. On the other hand the votes of the Republican counties were in favor of a convention. Admiral Porter expects a war with China, and has written a letter to tho Secretary of the Navy recommending an increase of the Asiatic squadron and the building of several gunboats for use in such an event in the Chinese rivers.

The wheat crop of Great Britain av erages from twenty-six to thirty bushels per acre. The exact words of Mr. Disraeli, in lis speech relative to tho Queen, wore as loiiows ine lact is, we cannot conceal from ourselves that her Majesty is physically incapaciated from performing duties, but it is some consola tion to her Majesty's subjects to know that, in the performance of those much higher duties which her Majesty is called upon to pel form, she is still remarkable for a punctuality and a precision which have never been surpassed, and rarely equalled by any monarch of these realms." low to Elevate Water Without a Pump. Pursuant to announcement, Mr. John Ponton, a reporter of this paper, performed the experiment of raising a barrel of water by means of a cotton wick from the pavement in front of tho arshall House on ashington street, to the roof of the building.

A platform was constructed projecting five feet from the cornice. It feet wide, and the total height was seventy feet from the ground. The pump bench was placed upon thi3 platform, on which were two pulleys, one thirty inches and and the other six inches, for obtaining speed. The third pulley, upon which the wick was run, was three inches in diameter, and tho pulley in tho barrel below was the same size. The crank was turned with moderate expenditure of hand powor, amply sufficient to keep up a steady flow of water.

The wick was composed of 100 balls of ordinary cotton wicking, made into four strands, wound together In tho form of a rope, of the diameter of three-eighth of an inch. The revolution of tho wick over the upper pulley produced at that point a steady vertical flow, thrown out by tho centrifugal force from the wheel. There was little spray from the ropo in tho ascent, although it was thoroughly saturated, and on its descent it was nearly dry. With all the imperfections of tho crude apparatus and contingent delays, a little over half an hour was occupied in filling the barrel above. So rapid was the absorption of tho water from below that two men and four buckets could not keep up the supply from a short distance.

A tin spout conducted the water from the wheel to the barrel which stood on tho roof, but it was so hastily constructed that about two thirds of the water was lost, thus prolonging tho trial for a considerable period. The peoplo commenced assembling as early as 0 o'clock, and waited patiently an hour and a half, for tho splicing of the wick, and the first revolution of tho wheel. When tho trial commenced they numbered 2,500 persons. Many ladies wero also present in carriages, but the bulls" and bears" monopolized tho Oil Exchange. Tho experiment on the whole was very satisfactory.

TttusvilleiPIIelJ. The Lake Superior Timra says that the Silver Island oro has yielded as high as $0,000 per ton. The Thunder Bay mine is now idle, owing to poor management. A heavy party of capitalists from Toledo, Ohio, are tho controlling owners of the Beck mine, which is nearly ten miles from Prince Arthur's landing. Various rumors aro afloat about the mine in regard to its wonderful richness, and it is reported that a portion of it has been sold at an enormous price.

Rich deposits of silver aro said to exist around Lake Ninigon, and that country is already filled with anxious adventurers. Superior City but two hundred miles from the mines, and a boat leaves this point every week for the silvery regions. A terrible hurricano ocVurrod at Halifax on the 11th, and tho tide roo two feet over the wharvoa..