Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, November 12, 1876, Page 3

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE :‘ SUNDAY., NOVEMBER 12, 1876—STXTEEN PAGES. 3 STROUSBERG. tncidents of the Trial of the Rus- sian Swindler at Moscow The Prisoner’s Address to the Court---Remarkable Self- Complacency. Dr. Stronsberg, the German railway king, has recently underzone his trial at Moscow for of- fenses acaiust the Russian commercial laws in- volved in his transactions with a certain finan- (ial association in Moscow called the Commer- cial Loan Banle. It was Jaid to his charge that e secured advances from the bank on terms unduly favorable to himself by briblng eome of jts. chief officials. The jury found Dr. Strousberg and M. M. anden, Pol- janski, and Soumacher guilty. The other accused parties were acquitted. The number of persous accused was very great. Seventeen members of the Coundl of the Bank were charged with having presented a fictitious report for the years 1873 and 1874, Two of the Directors were accused of having accepted bribes from Strousberg to advance him some 7,000,000 roubles without suflicient secarity, and of hav- fug prescuted to the sharcholders and published in the mewspapers a false. balance-shect up to Ot 1, 1873, and ffteen members of the Council were charzed with having, either by negligence or counivance, facilitated these and other ne- farious transactions. A dispatch from London dated the 7th inst. stated that the Doctor had Dbeen sentenced to perpetual banishment from pussis. The following is a summary of his ad- dress to the Court at Moscow: «Up to 1874 I did not know the name even of the Moscow Commercial Loan Bank. Inthat vear M. Manczyk, the partner of a Berlin bank- iug firm, went to St. Petersburg to cash a bill of mine. Onhis return be told me that while at St. Peterstiure he had renewed his acquaintance with M. Landau, a Director of the Moscow Com- mercial Loan Bank, who was anxious to extend his business. Before describing my transac- tions with the bauk, I beg to be allowed to say afew words upon the manner in which this subject has been treated by the Public Prose- Cutor. am a stranger here, unac- uainted with the institutions and habits of the country: but_ trom what I have secen in my own land, and in other countries, it scems to mie that the Public Prosecutor, conscientious- 1y to fulfill to duties of his oflice, should have jncduded in his statement not only what he thinks is agaiost e, but also what is in my favor. To blacken my name and reputation, tne Public Prosceutor has gone so far as to rep- resent the mere fact of my requiring large sums of money as proof that something was amiss. If { wanted much mouey it wus because I had a large and prosperous business for which my capital, great as it was, did not suffice; and if it is alleged that I had mo credit, a glanee at my ledgers will show that many of the greatest. firms in the iron and engine manu- facturing line were in regular and mutually profitable connection with me. It is true, cer- 1afn Berlin bankers have always been against me. You are probably aware that when no rail- ways ‘had been constructed in Germany for years, because the public could not be induced 10 invest under arrangements and usages of those days, I laid down hundreds of miles of rail, and floated shares to the amount of hun- dreds of millions. I did thisat my personal risk, and without getting any assistance on the part of bankers, I incurred thercby the hatred of those whose help I did not need atthat time, and who were only too happy to make me smart for it at a later period, when the .rapid growth of my iron-works, the establishment of locomotive and railway car- riage. manafactorics, and other concerns con- sumed more capital than I had immediately at ommand. To give an idca of the business I was doing, and the property I owned, I nced only say that my Bohemian. estates contained a full third of the immense mincral wealth of that country. have created this business in the widst of diflicultics brought on by two suc- cessive wars; and if the third war—that of 1870 —did me serious harm, this, I believe, is no ar- . gument against me particularly. Many others suffered while I ~managed” to keep my lead above water. As was eventual- Iy * proved by. the official administra- tors of my_ Austrian business, I ghould have recovered lost ground and founded the greatest iron-works and manufactories in exist- enee had I been able to complete my Bohemian enterprise, instead of being snatched away from business and detained.at Moscow. Well, in 4, { wanted money for the purposes men- tioned, and as my books proved me to have owned ten million roubles at the time, it’cannot with truth be said that I pad no _stake in my ess. Nor has it _ever been doubted by any one that every penny borrowed, in addition to my own capital, went to the works, to complete which I strained every nerve. 1 borrowed wuch, it was not 1o make a private purse, Lut to form aud perfect a concern the profit- able character of which has been recognized b¥ persons in authority. I moreover, re- sbonsible for what I borrowed, and had much tolose of my own. The Public Prosecuror, if Te chooses, may call me rash, imprudent, and thoughtless, but he has no right to doubt my integrity just because I was doing business on alaree scale. Nor is it very likely that he, or certain commercial geuntlemen ina small way wlom he has consulted, should be able to form an adequate idez of the lucrativemess of coterprises such as Wwas ep- fnaed in. I received large advances rom the Moscow Commercial Loan Bank, fer which I gave bills and pledzed mortgages, shares, and bills of lading. The bank eventually beeawe bankrupt when I happened to be at Moscow to mnegotiate for a further loan. Though T had fulfilled my oblizations to the bank up to that date—though no bills of* mine in the possession of the bank were due at the time of the bank stopping pavment—still, when the bank did stop payment, I was _arrested on the pretest of being 2 borrower to a large amount. Unacquainted with the Russian laws as I ‘am, it was evident to me from the first that no civil or criminal case could be based upon such a3 prefext. to borrow is a crime, mo foreirn merchant can 2%ord to_buy anything in Russia. After Thad been detained in~ prison for some thne, for no other reason thanthe one stated, the Public Prosecntor preferred another charge smainst me, I was accused of bribing the Directors of the banl to lend me money, which, Lad they had the bank's interest at heart, they would Fave refused. All I can say in reply is that the few trifling presents I madeto iwo Dircctors were made not before, but after I re- . ceived_ the advances, and that in doin this I certainly bhad mo idea that was transgressing the Jaw of the land. No one _can deny that fees are habitually given and received in Russia. When I was in Bt Petersburg in 1874 I noticed that contractors were in the habit of feeing right and left, and that the money paid in this way was always ac- cepted. M. Meck, to my kuowled;zeh could not obtain a certaln concession until he had paid 1,500,000 roubles down. If other moral stand- ards have since been introduced into Russia, I am glad to hear it; but I cannot help regretting that T have been singled out gs the only victim. . Astotne Jareer sum one Dircetor reccived, 1 bad pothing to do with the paying of it. The persons who put me in com- munication with M. Landau continued to act 2§ intermediatories, and brought me the money from the bank, having previously de- ducted what they thought proper. They had we in their power for the moment, and did what they liked with me; but though I con- kented to be robned, I treated them as lacqueys, a’:d 1 "’roum never condescend to bargain with erm. ‘These persons, Dr. Strousberz continued, were 10 doubt on au intimate footing with M. Lan- dan. But how much they gave M. Landau, and how much they kept for themselves, he was un- able to say. A special reproach was made againet him by the Public Prosccutor, for ot hoving ihe 2,000 railway carriages ready when the money wasadvanced upon them. But the bank was perfectty sntisfied with the transaction, having sent persons to inepect his works and convince themselves that the car- riages were in hand. 1f the carriazes had been finished at the time would Lie have been satisfied with the stipulated advance of 900 roubles apiece? And was it not iust ‘because the car- «riages were not ready that he deposited a_quan- tity of Paris .\'n.rbonn'l: shares, in addition to ‘pawning the es’ = Dr. b’imflsbcrs’ Zpeech was_delivered in"Ger- man and translated juto Russian. sentence for sentence, by the interpreter. The epecch took three hours to deliver in this way. e —————— PHILADELPHIA’S BIG BARN. ADELPHLS, Nov. 1i—At a meeting o§ the citizens to-day favorable to forming a stock company to secure the Main Building as 3 per- manent exbibition, the Hon. AMorton AMcMichael was called to the chair. Gov. W. Allen was elected Secretary, and Mr. Collins appointed Trensurer to receive subscriptions. Clement C. Biddle srated that notice of application fora charter has been given for & new compauy, to be called_the International Exhibition Company of Philadelphia, with a capital of 1 divided into 6.000 ehares of $100 each. It was also stock: 1, Payable in cash as called for by the Board of Directors to be appointed by the stock- holders; 2. Payable by transfer of stock of the Centennial Board of Finance, the stock of _the Internationsl Eshibition Company < belne isiued st var for the acinal eash | that mzy be realized. . Lwenty single tickets for a2dm. proposed to receive subscriptions to the- There was pro- posed u maintenance fund to be mvads of subseriptious fu_cash on stock of the Cen tenuial Board of Finunce, cash sabscriptions being entitled 1o 2 senson ticket for 1577 for ¢ach $10 contributed, and the other contributors to one seasou tickiet Jor_every two shares, or to g on for each shure. The amount needed vas $250,000 in cash, as may . be asked for from time to time, “and the remainder in stock. It was stated that the Pennsylvania Railroad Company held $114,000 in stock, and that thev would lie equally willing to subscribe liberally to the enterprist. The same _state- inents are alsomade in regard to the Lehigh Val- ley & North Pennsylvadia and other steam roads. Subscriptions amounting to near $100,- gpgcua) r:g?_l audd;_!sfl,m?d in stock were received. ceting adjourned to meet Tuesday next in the Common Council Chamber. 4 ——— RUSSIAN CRUELTIES. Whipping Poles to Death. The following is a quotation from Rufin Plo- trowski's work on Slberia, which was published in 1803 by an English firm: “I now approach a dark episode in_ Polish suffering. The civilized world will doubt its trath, and declare it ex- aggerated, as it once doubted the horrors com- mitted at Kraczentniky and Leknly in the days of the bar confederation; as it doubted the bar- barities of Cherchyn; and listened with in- credulity when the story was first told how Catherine 1L incited the” peasants of Podolia and the Ukraine to massacre and despoil their lords: and how Suwarrow, after the storming of Prarue, left. no living creature within its walls. The world did not, and still does not belicve that this system was then ‘commenceed which drives us away in thousands into the heart of Russian Siberia to fill prisons and casemates; that in Warsaw in the days of Covstaatine, . brother of Nicholas, no Polish family could lic down at night twithout the fear that perhaps erc morniug one of its members might be torn uway, consigned to a dun, eon, scourged, and tortured with hunger and thirst, 50 that the confession needed might be wrung from his azony. Sircinski and four others who had been drafted in the ranks of the Siberlan army were condemned cuch to 7,000 blows with a- stick, {without mercy.” If anyoneof the members outlived the sentence fic was to be seut to the Nerchinsk mines for the rest of his life. The great mass of persons ierllmted were _ varfously condemned to 2,000, 1,000, or 500 blows with the stick, and those, who survived in some cases to hard labor for life, in others for s number of years to penal colopization, and_others azain for wilitary service. . . . At daybreak two battalions of 1,000 men marched out of Omsls, one charged with the extenution of those con- demned to 7,000 blows, the other with the cxecution of the lesser sentemces. The battalions halted, each formed in double line, face to face, leaving passage through the long- drawn ranks. - The executioner, Galafleyef, su- perintended the arrapgements, and remained With the men who had to give the 7,000 strokes. According to reneral usage the soldiers charged with such duties are placed closely shoulder to shoulder in dealing the -blows, but slightly raise the arm from the elbow and keep the Tect together as when on parade. The sticks should only be so thick that three can be dropped in‘a carbine-barrel. On this_oceasion all this was reversed ; Galafleyef placed the sol- diers at arm’s length from each other, made them raise their arms high in’ carrying out the sentence, and the sticks were twice the usual weight and size. The victims were brought from their prisons to the place of execntion. The bloody work was begun simultaneously by both the battalions. From both came the same shrieks of azony. Sierovinski is left to the last and compelled to wituess the fate of his friends ere his own turn came, aund he had long to wait for that deadly walk. Then his shirt was_ stripped from his shoulders and his hands, according to the regulations in such cases, fastened to a carbine held by two soldiers, who thus compelled him to keep reg- ular step. The order of march was given. The priest entered the street of death, reciting, inalow voice, ‘Uiserere mel Deus sccundum magnam |misericordiam tuam. _Gelafieyef shouting frantically, *Harder, barder, strike harder!” and the subrmissive tools of despotism obeyed so well that Sierocinski, after walking once down the line and recciving 1,000 blows fell insensible, weltering in his blood. He was 1ifted to his_fcet to fail neain immediately, and then a hurdle, prepared for this occasion, was brought. He was bound on it kneeling, and so dragzed up_and down until his sentence was fulfilled. He had given at first a few shrieks of ony, and still was breathing until the 4,000 blows, the remaining 3,000 were struck on his corpse, or rather his now fleshless bone. Eye- witnesses assure me that the flesh was cut in strips by the rods, the very bones were crushed and splintered, and the cairails exposed.” —e— SPANISH PRISON HORRORS. Cuban Patriots Merded with the Worst Criminals-——Convicts Treated with Fiend- ish Cruelty. Zomdon Times. In Ceuta the prisoncr is alone, separated from his friends, without a God to love or bope inj without any religious consolation or education whatever. He draes and curses throughout his weary, suffering life, then lies down and dies with ab]:spl\mn{ on his lips. In thke autumn of 1837 an English gentlemnan,—now holding her Majesty’s commission as Viee-Consal in o well-known town in Spain,—was_ridine along . tbe then anmade road between Puerto Santa Maria and San Lucar de Barrameda, where 1,000 convicts, called presidarios, or inmates of the nearest presidios, were at work, makine the road which, watered with these poor wretches’ blood. is now one of the best in Spain. ¢ The sight that I saw,” says he,—and I give his own words,—“curxiled sud froze my blood. These 1,000 men were - lent by the Government to the contractor who had engaged to Inake the road. They worked— driven to it by blows froni the thick sticks of other prisoners made cabos, or screeants, be- cause stronger or more brutal than themselves, from morning until night, oa one scanty mess of pottage.” The winter passed along, unusual in its severity in 1837-1838, and the wind sweot in fury avross the low, aguish flats of San Lucar. My friend ecxpostulated with the Superintend- ent, and said, “This is not even human; it is fiendisn; it is hellish to_treat human beings thus.” “I cannot help it,” was the answer; tthe contractor does as he chooses.” My {riend passed by once more. An overscer rode by on_horseback. One of these poor, half- gtarved feliows came crouching to his stirrup to supplicate for mercy. He loosened his right foot from the stirrup, and struck the man’s naked breast so feariul a blow that the blood gushed from his mouth. e rolled, over on the ‘earth, and was_carried off a_corpse. *Ever since that awful sight, when I'had oceasion to those presidarios, I set spurs to'my horse, and galloped eway from the spot.” There is a mound in the burifl-ground of San Lucar which, it its rottinge inhabitants could speak, could tell o tale of awful suffering ‘hardly egualed in_these latter days. Theresleen 5000f those 1,000 raggzed, reckless, wicked men who were placed by the Government of Madrid ' at the disposition of their road-contractor.” Cold, yprivation, blows, and want of clothiug did their 1ell work. No ear heard thesc sous of crime ery out; no ear bowed down to listen to their complaint; they never koew of any ear that would hear, halls Qs and so they passed away, by fives 1 at the same rate: apd by lifties, and a little lime and ¢ solved the tale, and the road was made, and the remnant of the band, “not the 1,000, were drafted Lack to their respective prisons. It may be said, nay it was said, “These eresuch awfully depraved and lost suns of crime that it is best to kill them.” Possibly, but not under the pretence of offering them fife and work, to pive them death and slavery. Utterly reckless 1 knoy they were. A friend of mine used to frive the poor fellows cnartos to buy bread when fhey thronged round him snd pleaded their hunger. Said the overseer (a humane one) to him, It is no good; they won't buy ‘bread with your farthings; they will only gamble, :uxg lose all the rags they have to oue another.’ The end of thi3 narrative is instructive enough: the merciless Government contractor died in great poverty, and on his deathbed repented alond of his inhumanities. Before his death he had been brought to trial for murder, but was acquitted, although one Judge, the tirst before whom his case came, said, “Iwill leave mo tone unturned to bring that man to the gal- lows.” 3 X "Ilie ascent to the hacho, or chief prison, is long and severe; the silence aud desolation 85 oue -approaches the summit arc extreme. On cither side spreads the blue gleaming sea, flecked with searce a passing sail, and away to the enstward a mass of wiite cloud, risiug up as thongh out of the waves, hides the deformity of the English Ceuts. . A few prisoners out on Teave, rough-lookinz fellows, tolerable epeci- nens of the S00 or 900 coofined in the hacho, edus. They were on their way to the town 1o cater for provisions or obtain work for the coming week, for to-day was Sunday; the dis- fant strains of the fifes and Kettle-drums of the troops were borme to us on the breeze, and the eye conld just discern them, 3 dusky column, wending thar way to the review- ground, where the altar, etc., for the field fisa was already set up on a knoll of rising ground. The prisoners in this jail number from 800 to 1,000;_their habitat is in various shedshlhmly dotted over the slopes of the fortress. ey are allowed to ply their several trades, but_many seemed to be too much gone: in health, ‘hopes, and spirits to perform auy active dutics. Of the money earned by them, & certain proportion, as stated in mv last letter. is recerved by the Gov- ernment to pay the expenses of their mai; naace. Sotne ¥nnkc szuklngs, some shoes, 2;%‘ 80 on. But they are, for the most part, old ana worn out. Cladinsoldiers’ taticred red brecches, or, as oftentimes, najied 10 ndecency, they tot: ter in and out of the wretehed shied which™ they call their home; devour aud quarrel like hyenas over their wretcbed, insuflicient fare; smuegle kuives into the fortress, and fight and kill one m’gfiher Ilike wgd beaste. o ey sleep in unfurnished sheds, open to t] roof 100 of 200 in each shed. The s e floored with carth or pitching stones; the ver- min creep over the walls; few have beds, hardly auy 2 bedstead; all about the rooms are patches of stagnant, stinking water and ordure, into one of which I plunged my foot, for thc place is well-nigh dark.” These men are under no order, mo discipline; they have not enough to eat} they have nothing whatever to raise them above the misery and filth in which they grovel. ‘They et one, possibly two meals a day, but the vile system of contract prevails, and the Government contractor eives these poorwretch- es pulse and water instead of pulse and o' or bacon. On what is given they cannot live i so they die, rotting away month by u: and very gladthey are, so far as I understand. But most of them, with tuce heavy, downeast faces, expressionless cyes, seemned too sullen to hold any prolonged cous versatios These men were nfi1 apparently of the lowest class; Cuban insurgents in. some numbers, assassins, -and robbers. There i said to be, « roll-call twice or three times . day. Sometimes a prisoner escancs to the wild Moor- ish couatry, but the Moors, the hereditary enc- mies of the Spaniards, immediately go in pur- suit, and Lringing back the prisoner amid a shower of blows and imprecations, eagerly «claim the $5 offered as a reward by the authori~ ties of Ceuta for the apprehension of an escaped convict, No words of mine can paint the dark- ness, the filth, the seething corruption of these dens of convicts—~dens into which no speci: of sun~ light, Divine or human, ever finds its way, and where notbing is heard or seen but assassing and cruelty on the one hand, misery, starvation, and obscenity on the other. ———— CALIFORNLY’S CURRENCY. Amount and Character of the Coin in Early Days—The Famous 850 “Slugs.” San_Franelsco Clironicle. The fact that the inmense commerefal, min- ing, and general business of California is being dune with less than $20,000,000 of gold voin brings to mind the state of alfairs in early days, when “dust” and even produce was the cur- rency, and coin transactions few and far be- tween. Previous to the discovery of gold, and the consequent rapld influx of - popula- tion, there was but little coin in California, and. that little was mostly in the towns of . Monterey, Sae Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Throughout the couutry, as a rule, paymdits were made in cattle, bides, and such articles of barter as were in demand. An eminent banker, now doing business in_the city, has preserved an old nccount, credited 4y two cows in full,”” for a doctor’s bill of $20. This was given near Los Angeles, in the vear 1847. Atter the discovery of gold, that Bubstance, in its natural state, became the rec- ognized currency, and passed in all business operations at $16 per ounce. Custom-House duties, however, had to be paid incoin, andvery often the article was so_scarce and the demand for it 50 urgent, that gold dust was frequently offered at $3 and $10 per ounce. Thig was par- ticnlarly the case in November and December, 1843. During the same months in 1849, the bankers’ rates in coin_for the natural produc- tion were as follows: For grain dust, $15.50 to $15.75 per oz.; quicksilver dust, §14.50to S14.75; received on deposit, $16 per ounce, and repaid The first public meeting to fix the price of gold dust was held on the Sth of. September, 1848, It was the largest meeting that had ever been held in San Francisco, most of the old inhabitants of tne then thriving vil- Jage having returned for a bricl scason from the miues. Dr; Z. M. Leayenworth was called to the chair, and J. D. Hoppe clected Secretary. The meeting unanimously decided and resolved that $16 per ounce was a fair price for the dust, and that it ought to be taken in all business transactions for that price. A committee was also appointed to urge upon Congress the neces- sity of the immediate establishment of a branch mint at San Francisco. On the 1st of December of the same year, coin wasvery scarce and prices of provisions high, with considerable fluctua- tions. Flour was sclling for $27 per barrel; beef, $20; pork, $60; butter, 90 cents per pound, and cheese 70 cents. Only two weeks later flour sold at from $12 to $15 per barrel, and other ar- ticles had fallen in -proportion. Brandy was in good demand at $8 per gallon, and zold dust dull of sale at $10.50 per ounce. During the flush and exciting days of 1859, the cireulation of mon- ey—partly coinand partly zold dust—was very great, everybody had a sublime indifference to fhe smaller pieces of coin, and stalked of dollars as other people would of dimes. A copper coin was mnot to be seen. For any ser- vice, however light, nothing less than a four-bit piece was received, and 23 cents was exacted for the most trifling article. Every mouthful of diuner was valued at 2 dime, and a square meal cost from $5 to 57, according to the quality of the viands. Gold dust paid for all foreign sup- plies, and filled the pockets of every shrewd and active man. Millions of dollars worth of the “ pure stufl,” in lumps, nugeets, and dust, reached San Franciseo every month. On the 3d. of April, 1854, the Branch Mint opened for busi- ness purposes. The bill for the™ establishment of the much-needed iustitution dated back as far as July 3, 1 but it was not tillthe fall of 1853 that active steps were taken to construct the cdifice and sccure the necessary machinery. The building was situated on Commercial stroet, between Montzomery and Kearney, and was torn down thislast summer to give place to the new Snb-Treasury building, now nearly completed. When started, the Branch Aint had the capacity of coining about $30,000,- 00 in coin per annum, or nearly $100,000 per The silver coinaze produced by it was com- paratively small. Previous to ihe establish- ment of the Mint many private coining estab- lishments existed, but’ most of them were crowded out by the firm of Moffat & Co., fora Jong time United States assay contractors, who chicly supplied the forge gold coinage that was required by the increasing ‘population aud com- mercial transactions of the country. As early 2s 1851, however, gold dust as a currency had Jong given place to coin. Two years before the buyer would carelessly tumble out a heap of dust in payment, while the seller would bave his welght “and scales ready for it as a matter of course. These weights and scales are gtill in use in some of the small mining towns where gold.dust, is purchased or taken inl exchange for oods. In those daysalittle lump more or ess to the quantity was o matter of very little consequence to cither party. Coin was plen- tiful, aud its fair worth was generally looked for. Specimens of nearly the colnage in the civilized world were in constant circulation. Approximate values were bestowed upon the pieces. and i anything near the value they xcads_v pussed current. The English shils ling, the American quarter of a dollar, the Freuch frane, the Mexican double real, were all of the spme purchasing valug, and no fault was found or distinction made. The English crown, the French five-franc piece, and the American or Mexican dollar were alsu of the same valte. 1t did not matter if some coins were worthirom 10 to 25 per cent more than others. Four single francs were quite_ns good as the English five- ehilling piece. The smaller silver coins of whatever denomination and of every country were alike * bits,” aud passed as such without the least objection. Copper money Wwus never AHbit? was scen, and paper was a myth. ! the Jowest %c‘x’:oxuinution of moncj‘, and it was precious” little that it would buy. Bé- sides the coins above mentioned, there were Indian rupees, Dutch and German florins and nilders, and the dozen or more diflerent coin- ages of South America, and, in fact, every known picce of moncy that circulated in Eu- rope and mavy other parts of the world. The defldiency in the American proper coinage was thus awply made up, especially 50 far 25 silver mouney was concerned. In gold there was a large quantity of foreign coin, although very many European pieces of that metal were i cireulation. Thne 310 and $20 picces issued by the United States_sssay flice served all the urposes of & standard coinage previous to 1354, The $50 gold-picces called “slugs” were oue time quite_common, though ¥very bulky to and not pussessing good wearing Y, gxr:filiee. These ‘‘slugs” were of pure gold, made up iu the shape = of octagonal blocks with sides perfectly plain. On the top there was stamped in the centre the figures $50, aud on the other side the name of tlic assayer. Many of these ‘‘slugs” found their way to the Eastern States, where they +were looked upon as great curiositics. Qccasion- ally a “stug? could be found in 2 money- broker’s office in this clty, but 2sa rule they havé almost entirely disappeared. Before the establishment of the Aszay Office, which finally gave way to the Branch Mint, large quantities of wold coin were supplied by abont adozen different vartics, but as thes¢ coinages were generally of less intrinsic worth in purity and weight of metal than their nominal value, they soon fell juto disrepute,and were gradually forced out of cireulation. ~ Some of these coins were very neatly executed, and stray specimens can be found to this day. " Inthe gold-dust days the currenfiy was ear- Hed about in small buekskin bags, and whenthe gambling mania was at its height hundreds of these dirtv-looking but valuable purses were to be seen piled upon the gaming-tabies in the sa- Joons. Beside them were heaps of gold coin and lumps of the pure metal to tempt the look- ers-on. Occasionally the sums staked were enormous. and Zambling-saloons of those early days made s better display than a modern money-broker’s office. The sums staked were oceasionally enormous. One cvening $16,000 worth of gold-dust was laid upon a faro-table as asingle bet. This was lost by the keeper of the table, who counted out 1 lile amount of tbe “real stufl 7 to the winner without indicating ltbst be had sustained more than n ordinary oss. WIDE AWAKE. how Mr, Bellamy Tried to Keep ITis Eyes Open In Church and the,\Woes It Brought upon Him, $ Purtington Hawckeye. The other day Mr. Be'.lnm?;. of Pond strect, rcndhln a religious paper-the following para- graph: “Many very good peoole are annoyed by sleepiness In church. The following remedy s recommended: LIft the foot seven inches from the floor, and hold it in suspense without sup- port for the limb, and repeat the remedy if the attack returns.” B Now, Mr. Bellamy is very good man, and he is subject to that very anaoyance, which, in bis case, amounts to a positive affliction. So he | cut that paragraph out, in acordance with the appended fnstruction, and pasted it in his hat, and was rejoicing in his inmost soul to think that he haa found a relief from his aunoyance. He hoped that Deacon Ashbury, who had frowned at him so often and so dread- fully for nodding, hadn't scen the paragraph, for “the Deacon sometimes slept under the preached Word, and AMr. Betlamy wanted to get even with him. And Mr. Driscoll, who used to sitin_the choir, and_cover his own sleepiness, and divert attention from his own heavy eyes, by laughing in a most irreverent and indecorous manner at Mr. Bellamy’s sleepy visage and struegling eyes and hcad—how the good man iA want to get it on Driscoll! So he chuckled and bhugged his treasure, so to speak, in his mind. He was so confident that he had found the panacea for his trouble that he went to the minister and told him what a burden his_drow- stuess had been to him, but that he had wade up his mind now to shake ft off, and to con- tinue to keep it off, and he was certain that he had suflicient strengrth of mind and foree of will to overcome the habit. "And the minister was so pleased, and commended Mr. Bellamy so warmly, and_said that he wished he had' 100 such men in his congreration, that Mr. Bellamy was 50 h:grv, and elated, and confident, that he could ha wait for Sunday to come to try his new mcthm{ of averting drowsiness, Sunday came, however, and soon enough, too, forit was Saturday sfternoon plumb, chick. chock full of men with bills, over-due notes, trifling accounts, little balances, fm{-roll, rent, narrow-gauge subscription, political assess- ments, and one little thing and another, almost before Mr. Bellamy knew it, although it hadn’t been here half an hour betore hie had some sus- gluion of it, and was soon very confident of it. Sunday morning found the good man in his ae- customed place, devout and drowsy as ever. The church was very comfortably filled with an attentive congregation, and Mr. Bellamy was soon cornered up in one cnd of the pew, and the strange young lady who sat next him s attended by a very small white dog, that looked like a roll of cotton batting with red eyes and a black mose. The opeuing ex- ercises passed off without incident, and the minister hadn't got to secondly when Mr. Bella- my sudden]g roused himself with a start from a doze into which he was dropping. His heart fairly stood still as he zhaufinn how nearly he had Torgotten his recipe. He feared to attract any attention to himself, lest his precious meth- od should be discovered, and slowly lifted his left foot from the footstool and held it about seven inches in the air. As he raised his foot the stramge young Jady shrunk away from him in evident alarm. This annoyed dir. Bellamy, and disconcerted bim so that' he was on the point of Jowering his foot and whispering an explanation, when the dog, which had been qul- etly sleeping by the footstool, opened his eycs, and seeingz the uplifted foot sluw\g descending in its direction, hastily scrambled to its fect and backed away, barking and yelling terrifically. The young lady, mnow thor- onghly salarmed, ~jerked her feet from off the footstdol, which immediately flew up under the weizht of Mr. Bellamy’s foot, and the dog, escited by this additional eatastrophe, fairly barked himself into convulsions. Deacon Ashbury, awakened by the racket, came tiptoe~ ing and frowning down the aisle, bending his shaggy browns upon Mr. Bellamy, who actually believed that if he got any bhotter, he would break out in flames that not even the beaded perspiration that was standing out onhis scarlet face could extingmish. The young lady rose to leave the pew, Mr. Bellamy rose to explain, and as he did 50, she_was quite convinced of what she bad been before suspicious, that he was crazy. She backed out of the gew and asked Deacon Ashbury’s protection. Mr. Bellamy at- tempted to whisper an cxplanation to the Deacon, but that sustere officlal mentioned bim back into his seat, and, as the minister paused until the interruption should cease, gaid in a severe undertone that was heard all over the church: “You've been dreaming again, Brother Bel- lamy.” Mr. Bellamy sank into his seat, quite coy- ered with_confusion as with a couple of gar- wents and a bed quilt, and his unbappiness was greatly agaravated when he looked up into the choir and saw Driscall conyulsed with merri- ment. stufling his bandkerchief into his mouth and shaking with suppressed langhter, After service, Mr. Bellamy, who was, all +hrouzh the service, the centre of attraction for the entire congregation, waited for his pastor, and made one more cffort to explain bis unfor- tunate escapade. But the minister, whose ser- mon had been quite spofled by the affair, waved bim in silence and sa‘d, quite coldly. “Never mind, Brother Bellamy: don’t apolo- ou meant very well, T dare say, but if ake so much disturbance when you sre you you awake, 1 believe I would prefer to have sleep quietly throuzh every sermon I preach, ———— TOE ITALIAN 100-TON GUXN. How the Largest Cannon in the World Is Operated. Currespondence London Times. SpezIA, Ttaly, Oct. 22.—Not onc moment too too seon have we made our English eighty-one ton guns, and even now the Italians are more than abreast of us, for they have launched one ship, the Duilio, prepared for 100-ton guns, and another, the Dandolo, is in course of construe- tion at Spezin. One sample gun has been sup- plied by Sir William Armstrong & Co., seven more are in the varions stages of completion at Elgwick. The Duilio and Dandolo will each carry four of these guns in turrets, and become the most powerfully armed ships in the world for the time-being. The problem set before Sir W. Armstrong and his partners by the Italian Government was to build a gun, with all its appurtenances, capable throwing a 2,000-pound shot with such a velocityy as would enable it to strike an ironclad with a’ force of 490 foot tons per inch of the shot’s cir- camference. This would needionly an inital ve- Tocity of about 1.350 feet a second, and there can be no doubt that such a velocity will easily be attained, and even considerably more: for, siuce the gun was desiened, experiments have shown that the power of any existing gun can be increased by enlarging the powder-chamber, and there je'no reason why tbe 100-ton gun should bean cxception to the rule. However, the actual bargain has first to be fulfilled, and we shall now sec what means have Leen taken to produce o force equal to that required to lift 25,000 tons through the space of vne foot. Let nstake the gpparatus in order. First in importance stands the gun itself. Until quite lately a areat difiiculty stood In the way of artillerists. In order to load n gun within the limited space of & turret, the piece must be short; but short guns do nof retain the proje:tile lung enough o re- ceive the full effect of the powder charge. The velocity was, therefore, lower than ought to be given in proportion to the charge and conse- quent strain on the interfor of the gun. To obviate this difliculty one of the members of the Elswick firm—Mr. Rendel—invented o method of- loading the piece outside the turret, but from pelow the deck, out of danger. Iis desions have already been carried out in the Tuundercr and have answered admirably. We shall come to them presently. Mean- while we arrive at the point that a long gun can mow be worked fna turret without expos- ing a single man to the caemy’s fire. The 103ton gunis no less than thirty-three fect long—that i3, only six feet short’ of half the length of a full-sized lawn tennis ground. The Jenzth of the bore is thirty fect six inches, and theinterior steel tube is in two pieces. “The diameter of the breech s 6 fect five inches, and the thickness of the metal round the powder charge is thirty inches. The caliber of the gun 15 seventeen inches, and the grooves for rifling number twenty-scven. They are shaped like those of the oid breech-loading Armstrongguns, and have o twist which rises from one turn in 150 feet at the breech to one turn in fifty feet near the muzzle, continuing _at that inclination tothe end of the bore. The iun is not yet chambered, but probably may be hereafter. The Paolliser shell _thrown by this mon- ster weighs 2,000 pounds, or = not far ghort of a ton, and stands 4 feet high. It is rather sharper pointed than the ‘usual shape, and has no studs or projections of any sort on its body. The method of giving it the riflied spin in the bore is pecnliar, and pro- duces one of thebest effects claimed asthe birth-right of brecch-loading guns, namely, closing up all windage. A cup of copper, with alittle zinc fn it, fits on to base of the shot, which is grooved to hold it fast. When the gna is fired the first pressurc of the zes produced drives the cup forward, fills up the grovves of thé gun, and, eripping the shot tight, forces it to spin with the velocity impressed upou It by thema: £Tonves—name- 1y, one ty ¥ 5 prozress. The powder is the same as that used with the elghty- one-tou gun; each grain has a thickness of one- and-a-hall inches, and, when all details are set- tled, will probably weigh about 330 pounds. Now, such a2 mass as 100 tons of metal leaping backwards with a recoil from the effort f throwing a shot of 2,000 pounds with a hizh s o terrible power to deal with in any case—much more when it_has to be stopoe:d be. fore it has moved four fect. The mere liting such a gun is to much for any chains, so that a crane, with 2 solid rod_to haie the wun to. had to be devised. How, then, is the monster to be controlléd when in the midst of his violent re- coil? And how is he to be pushed forward aeain? By the simplest and commonest agent—water. If water be confined in a tube witheit means of escape, it will stop anvthing so lon £ tube does not burst, anu if it be al small means of esvape, it will tion of amy force and deloy it whil liquid is taking the uecessary time (. cape. On the other hand.” if water be pressed through a small tube, say one inch square, by a force equal to the weight of one pound, s6 that it rushes into a laree tube, sav one foot square, it will act upon auny oppasine body with a force equal to the one po: tiplfed by the number’ of square inc there arein a square foot—that is, 145, Thu. a pressure of one pound in tiie small tube may be made, speaking ronghly, to move 141 you: in the larec tube. Thede two priveiles of scienee of hydraulics have been bronght to bea on gun carrigzes. Tae recoil is checked by water, in a Jarge tube unable to escape except through small holes, and then under the pressure of spiral springs which have a torce of over fifty atmospher and make the exit difficnlt. The gun moved forward, elevated, or depressed is forcing water through 4 small tube into a laree one, where it acts with greatly multiplied foree on the weizht to be moved. Once accent this prin- cipleand all becomes easy and simple. No more complicated apparatus of wheels. ropes, pulleys, and chains. The gun is placed with its trunnions resting fn two blocks of metal. which slide on fixed beams built in the flooy of the tur- ret. Guides prevent the sliding.blocks from moving right or left or jummping/Behind the blocks are cylinders which act. the part of the large tubes spoken of above—pistons attached to the rear of the block work in these cylinders and can be driven forward by the action of water foreed through small pipes into the larger cylinders by means of the steam power alwars available on board turret ships. The breech of the zun is supported on a beam, which again has a hydraulic ram underneath it, 80 that the breech can be raised or lowered as may be wished—that is, the gnun can be de- pressed or elevated. The rear end of the beam pivots vertically on a horizontal pin, and to this spot the breech always comes when the gunis run back, efther by the natural recoil or the artificinl running back. Thus, wheneyer the un s fully back it must be horizontal, and all anger of its strlkiufithu top of the port in the turret is avoided. However high the muzzle may be uplifted when the piece is fired, it bows again to the horizontal position as it comes back atter firing. 3 ‘The next point is_the loading arrangements. Think of the difficulty to be overcome. Here is aturret exposed to the fire of the enemy’s small arms and shrapnel, and the gun is so long that its muzzie is always outside the turret. Into that muzzle must be & sponwe to clean it, ajet of water to wash it, and extinguish any re- mains of fire left from the discharge, a cartridge weighing at least 2s much as two heavy men, and a shot the welwht of which falls little short of a ton; and all this must be done quickl with avoidance of all nervousness. Z shot must be promptly rammed home, lest the gun should be strained or even burst. Here again comes to the aid of the artil- lerest the silent, * calm, irresistible force of water. The muzzle of the gun is depressed till it comes opposite a round iron door leading below the deck. The door, which is covered from the enemy’s fire by a hood formed by slop- ing plates of iron, glides back, and the head of &N enormous sponge appears, cartied in front of a metal rod. Swiftly and_silently it enters the bore of the gun, lencthening itself like a tele- scope till it reaches the bottom of the bore, when a spring is touched, 8 valye opens, and & deluge of water rushes from the head of the sponge, extinguishing every possible trace of fire. Obedient to the touch ol one manon a handle, the sponge_will advance and retire as often as is willed, then withdrawn, leaving room for the cartridge to appear. tridge and shot are safe below the ‘deck, cach shot with its charge on a sepa- rate_truck in the magazine always stowed in readiness for use at the moment of action. A word from the turret causes the truck with its frelght of ammunition to be rm outontoa small trap-door on the maindeck. Instantly the door rises, till the cartridge is in the turrct between the sponge-head and the gun, which receives it by a short, quick thrust of the sEungL\-hefid. now become a rammer. Another short lift by the same power, always water, and the shot is in front of the muzzle, The sponge- rammer then sends lome the shot and charge together perfectly steadily, and always by means of the water-power. Before going further, let us mark s pectliarity in tne cartridze. It is not solid. A hollow cone of brass runs up from its base to {ts centre, and near the centre only does the ignition take place through the vent, which is in Tear of the gun in the 2xis line. Thus we have all the work done b&wflter— hydraulic pressure, 9s it is called. If the gun has to be ran forward, hydrauli: pressure at any gressm'c up to fifty atmospheres is brought to ear behind the trunnion pistons. The same force is applied in frout through another small tube, if the piece has to be run back. Only in case of the desperate force of recoil do ‘the springs come into play, because they hold down the valves with a power suflicient to close the large cyhinder during all ordinary conditions of working the gun. A pressure of fifty stmos- pheres {s taken as suflicient for all ordinary pur~ poses, and the springs are not moved nor the valves opened till the pressure has become con- siderably higher. Hydraulic pressure is used to 1ift the ammunition from the main deck to the level of the fire in the turret, tocleanse the gun, and to ram home the cartridge and shot to- gether, ———— RAILWAY-MURDER. £he Recent Belgian Horror. Zondon Times. The Flandre Liberale and the Independance Belge publesh details of this murder. It is established now that when the gendarme Meeus left the train at the risk of his life, his Erisouer was no longer there. The d'.-:xd ody of the quartermaster (Warechal-des- logis) was picked up two or three minutes after the train had passed, at a distance of about 200 metres from the Sness bridge, which separates the districts of Tronchinnes and Ghent. The body was found on his back; it hadbeen thrown forward threc or fourtimes along the road, here marks were visible. It was found at o distance of fitteen or twenty metres from the lace where it first touched the ground. ‘he head was serfously injured, and. tne blood was running from it freely. There was found on Meeus none of the documents relative to the arrest of Aubliu or the orders he was carrying out, but a revolver, handeuils, his purse, con- tainine money, and his watch. His waistcoat and the upper part of his shirt were un- buttoned, as if they hnd been torn open. Aublin had leaped from the train while it was runniog at full speed, at s distance of 300 or 400 mctres from the spot Where Meeus was found. The road, the level of which had been raised by stag and ashes, showed marks similar to those at the spot where Mceus was found, Lut they were not so deep and spread overa larger surface. If the speed of the train at the time_was twelye leagues an hour, it will follow that Meeus had jumped [rom the train balf a minute after his prisoucr. I'he suggestion is made that the gendarme could not have taken his leap with thesame dex- terity as the assassin. Ia the first place, the dress of the gendarmericisrather heavy. Again, it is probable that in order to make his escape Aublin took sdvantage of amoment when the offi- cer had fallen asicep, and leaped to avoid danger with his face towards the locomotive. The gendarme, on the othier hand, quickiy woke up by the nofse, and no longer seeing his prisoner. may have lost all sclf-possession, and leaped without considering what he was_doing, not to- wards the locomotive but towards the prisoner, scen, perhaps, not far from the traim, but be- bind it. Under these circumstauce thu leap must have been fatal. It fs asked what has become of Aubin. The Flandre Liberale considers the question, and gives the following answer: * Aublin did not remain on the way. He did not fall; he did not in any way injure himself, bot be ran ards in a direction contrury to that of the traio— that is to say, away from Ghent, and then he jumped over a hedge, which bounds the way, aud walked alonz the side of it, l:avinF the marks of his feet, aud afterwards crossinga field, he was spoken to twice by & working man, who was surprised to see him, and to whom he made no reply. The workman spoke Flemish. Aublin walked in front of him with a firm step, and with his hands in his ts. It was shout © o'clock at the time. Continuing along the road which he had eatered, Aublin arrived at Tronchiennes. He -;';_Eem to have rested for a ‘short time there in the house of a epter, Then, avoiding the great roads and f:g = footpath which runs along the Lys, behl:% the great Jesuit establishment, he reached the second iron bridge over the Lys and thestonebridze of Tronchiennes, Therehe tried to make a bargain with the guard, who was alone, for the sale of his watch. They came to an agrecment, but the guard had to take back Aublin to his house. a quarterof a Teague from the place, in order topget the 12 francs he had agresd to give bim. By u singular coincidence Aublin returned towards midday in this. way to the very place where the work- ingman had spoken to him in the morning, and ot a distance of a few hundred yards, gendarmes” were at the very time examin- ing the spot where the body of Meers had been :cied up. It was not known at the time that 2 prisoner had escaped. The sule of the watch, lwwwever, gave pise to suspicion. Aublin pro- tested, in the most emphatic manner, that it was not stolen property. He received the 12f., and went away without being followed. The description given by the persoms who saw him {s in exact conformity with that ucd by the police, and there can be little oubt of “his faentity. It is, moreover, known that about 2 quarter-past 12 he crossed the Lys he lavage o Eaud+ Patyntje, afterwards 1 the road witich Ieads to the town. It is not lknown what direction he took as he ap- proached Ghient. - On Saturday and Sunday the police examined the spot. On Menday norning the report was spread in Glent that the escaped murderer had n arrested at Lakeren; but it appears that s UCWS was as fuaccorate as the statement of arrest at Nevele. On Monday evening it tated that the police were on his track, aat he conid not escape, and that in twenty- Iu)|_r nours e would be in custody. . The remams of Meers were removed from Ghent to Brassels, to be baried with military honors in the cometery of St. Giles. Mcers about 35 yeurs of age, unmarried, lived in tie Gendarmes Darrack on the Boulevard Waterloo, and he was specially employed in connection with extradition easex. It was ho who, in the Lerinning of the current year, was intrustel with the removal to hesels of Eugene T'Kint de Roodenbeke. The ¢ of the prisoner Aublaia is suld to have a source of much expense to the public Treasury. In fact, wore than 6,000 dispatehes Lave been sent from Brussels alone to_foreign countries, including America, in arder to cireulate the descriptions and other information relative to the tragedy at Tronchitnnes. To ‘added to this are the traveling expenses of persons employed to make inquirics, and the expense of correspond- ence, printing, postage, ete. . .26.—The murderer Aublain, ivered by the English Government into the hands of the Belaian oflivials on Friday last, and who ' murdered the officer in chdree of him on the journey to Brussels and cffected his eseape, has beun again arrested at Lille. e — A TALE OF TARITI. Feing the Experiences of an Amateur Savage. Stdney Dickinson in the Svringyteld ( Mass.) Repudlican. The man who related to me the following tacts was a quartermaster on board one of the Pucific Mail Steamship Company’s vessels, who was known to the oilicers and sailors as “ Nick,” and hagd, so far as T could discover, no other name. He was a Chilian by birth. a short, thick- set, and muscular fellow, with swarthy akin and black hair, and was a wman of quiet lansuage and manner. He was a little shy, withal, and for some time evaded my attempts to caltivate his _acquaintance, whicli I desired to wake from having_heard that his history was an unusual one. Finally, one calm, star-lit night, when a number of us were sitting Iround the edge of the fore-hatch, enjoying the cool breeze, Nick, whose spirits were, tcm‘)crcd into complacency by the gift of a prime vigar, unfolded the roll of his expericnces, and spun the following yarn: He was born in Valparaiso some thirty years ago of pareats in humble life, who zained a scauty subsistence by catching lish and gather- ine fruit, which they bawked ubout the city. As Nick grew up to boyhood he was impressed into the service of the family and made tocontribute to its support by selling the fish which his father caught and the fruit which his mother gathered. This was dull business, indeed, and, though an oceasional fishing trip in his father’s old bost was allowed him, 1t was quite insuflicient to satisfy his loye of the sea, and he looked Jong- jngly” at the huge ships which folded their wings in the harbor after a long voynze or spread them again for new flights. Often did Nick watch them from the shore as they melted away in the distance, and wish that taking thought could not only add onc but several cubits to his stature, that he might at once become a man, and embark for strange countries. Bunt the prospects of attain- ing this glorfous estate looked remote enough, for Nick was ouly 10 years old, and the 10 or 11 years more which Iay between him and the point Where the thorny foot-path of youth broadens into the smooth birhway of maturity looked almost interminable to him, as to all of us at. ‘his age, though after we bave passed them they look brief enough. Such projects and visions naturally incapacitated Nick for business, so much sn, indeed, that floggings were bis daily eriences. ne day, after a particularly souna castiza- tion, Nick made a desperate resolve. There wasa French frigate in the harbor, bound for Tahiti, and aboard of her was 8 man tattooed all_over with beautiful blue and red anchors™ and ships and flags, and women with fishes’ tails, and numberless other designs which were as a sealed mystery to Nick, but which he sup- posed a voyage would make him quite famiiiar with. This living panorama of marine wonders had excited the hoy’s admniration from the first, and he had done all in his power, by presents of fruit, ete., to win_his friendship. ~ So well did he succeed that the saflor offer- ed to smugzle him aboard of the vessel, secrete him till she sailed,and then, when it was too late-to do anvthine ahout it, introduce him to the captain. This functionary, the eatlor in- timated, would be liicly to give him a flogging which would quite eclipse nni" of his previous experience in that ling, but he was convinced that all would thereafter be serene. Niek ac- cepted the sailor’s proposition, and was scon Iyine in a particularly incouvenient coroer of the hold, in utter darkuess, and in the midst of an uncomfortably-smelling cargo. Nobody dis- covered bim though the search, for ~him extended even to the ‘vessel in which he was hidden, nnd his friend, the pols- chromatic saflor. kept him well supplied with food ana water. in a day cr two the frigate sailed, and as soon as she was out of sight of land Nick was brought on deck by his patron, who presented him to the Captain gs a stowaway. That worthy at once knocked Nick down, then hanled him up by the collar with an enthusfasm which segrecated it from the rest of his coat, and beat him_till his‘qaxm ached. Then he swore at Nick for half an hour in a blood-chilling manner, but as the oaths were all in_ French they didn't hurt. He was then ordered into the main-top to cool off, and, as he sat there above the pitching deck and bezan to be sea-sick, he wondered whether the charms of ‘“a life on the ocean wave " had not been a little exaggerated. After a day or two, which he passed as much out of the Captaiu’s range of vision as passible, Nick was installed as cablo-boy, and gained his first naucical knowledge in_polishing the Captain’s shoes, scouring up his epaulets and swvord, and carrying his spittoon ground, getting an occa- sfonal flozging from his patron,—who hada pleasant vein of humor, and flozzed Nick in accordance with his stated idea that the rope wouldn’t do him any burt, and migzht do him good, and that Mf he wasn't at the time doing anvthing worthy of stripes it Was prob- able that he soon wowld be, and it might not then be convenient to chastisc him. _ Besides these bits of philosophy, Nick gained a very good Insiaht into the French lan- guage, and, by the time he reached Tahiti, a French possession, he conld converse in it with considerable fluency. He made a great many friends among the eaflors, too, and, on the whole, when_the ship reached Tahiti he was rather sorrythe Yoyage was at on end, and look- ed with plcasare to the long journcy to France which the frigate was soon to make. But this experience Nick was destined never to enjoy, for when they reached the shore the Captain, Who, like Mrs. John Gilpin, “hads mzn] mind,” gave him over to the care of a French merchaat in the town, representing himself 10 be the boy’s guardian, and pocketing the money which the trader offercd in consideration of having Nick bound ont to him foraterm of ears. 4 “Thus Nick found himself in reality a slave to this man, who, thonzh calling himsclf a mer- chant, was onlya little, dricd-up old French store-keeper, who sold ram and othe- such nec- essaries of life to the natives, and performed a notable part in the degradation and almost com- letcaunibilation of the people which these fer; iquors and thelr consequent vices have caused. Such a man was, of course, 2 hard master, and Nick soon found that his escapc from service at home and bis scttlement in Tahitihad been mere- 1y a lelsorely change from the frying-pan into the fire. Besides compelling the boy to wait on castomers and dv all the.drudgery of the prem) laesfiln process of time his master Installed him in the cuisine and initiated him in all the mya- teries of cooking, which, while they afterward stood him 1n gomi stead, were irksome enough at thetime, principally on account of the blows and maledictions which attended the instruction. Now, among the native patrons of his master's ery, there were several white people, one of whom, a grdylwred and venerable-looking Frenchman, apparently taken quite s likiog' to Nick, and used often to” converse with him, ‘When —which was a frequent occurrence, ~—he was particularly affable, and it was a prac- tice of his to burst into tears, and, sciziog Nick’s band, swear that he was a lad after own hefiwho reminded him of a son burled in la France, and for whom he would shed his best blood, if needbe. The constant recurrence of these protestations of regard =o influenced Nick at last, that, upou one occasion, whe master had given him a tremeadous torai foreetting to salt the omelettes prepar ¢ to; Lreakfast. he fled tie huuse, aud, humisgup i s verbose admirer, besought Lim to save him rom the rum-seller’s brutality. Tue veteran was deeply moved, indced, out in o manner Nic’ hal little counted upon, for after reading hiw a lee- ture upon in itude in leaving a master who had rescued him from the perils of the sea and installed him in the best bar-room in Tahiti.— which he secmed to conmsider the heightof human felicity,—he flogged him with as m vigor as weakness caused by age and dissipati would allow, and bore bim to his ol quarters, where Nick was again beaten and locked in an upper chamber in solitary confinement, while the veteran was presented with a demijohn of rum, and retired into a state of drunken seclu- sion, which lasted for over a week. Nick,smart- ing with wounds and fll-trestment, Jay upon the floor of his prison tll nightfall, and all the household had zone to sleep, when he managed to burst open the window, lowered bimselt to the groun o?l’; arope made from the coverings of some goods stored in the room, and ran out into the night, he kuew not whither. ‘While passing through the town he suddenly encountered a tall and fierce-looking native, whom he recognized as the Chiof of one of the wild-tribes in the interior, to whom he had fre- quently sold liquor, for which, like:the rest of his people, the Chief had a consuming passion. ‘This native, who was more intellizent than most of his race, and could speak a little French, in- terrozated Nick as to his destination, and, upon hearing the circumstances, offered to take him with him to his tribe, and traiu him as his own son. The natives were cannibals, and Nick was rather doubtful whether his introduction might not be the signal for a_grand feast, at which he shiould figurc ns the principal baked meat, but ‘e finally reflected that he might as well die at once as perish by inches with "his inhuman mas~ ter; moreover, the chic! seemed sincere and friendly, and, if he fulfilled his promise, a carcer of such Surpassing delizhts was open be- forc him that to a boy of Nick’s temperament it was perfectly irresistible,—so he took the savage's band, and accompanied him to his canoe outside the town. After pnddxln% all night and a part of next day, they reacheda large native village nestling in a valley among the hills and " fronting' upon o beauti- ful land-girt lagoonm, ' where the water was crystal clear and little troubled by the waves of thesea. Nick thought he had never seen a more beantiful spot, and though he was a little alarmed at the actions of some of the savages, who flourished unpleasant-looking clubs and spears made of sharks’ tecth and fish- bones; in a very suggestive manner, be was soon relieved by the Chief, who in a few words avparently explained his position in the tribe, and caused the demonstrative ones to throw aside their weapons and bear him on their shoulders in trjumph tothe home the great man occupled. Here the garb of civilization was removed from him, and the costume of the country, consisting of a quantity of blue paint and cocoanut .oil, with the minor item of a narrow strip of cloth about his loins, was placed upon him. A native artist, with a fish-bone needle and a preparation dis- tilled from the juice of certain plants, then tat- tooed his shoulder with & mark denoting that be was of the chief’s houschold, his cars were ierced and ornamented with riugs, 2nd a plenti- ul repast of fish and fruit was set before him. Thus besan his lifc amoug the cannibals,—n life Tasting for four years, and made fnterestinz by many scenes and experiences which, if narratedd, would too far extend the limits of this article. Sutlice it to say that ne thoroughly enjuyed it while it Jasted, for at that age he was little trou- bled with thoughts of the future, and he was the Jeader of all the boys of his years by virtue of his adoption as the *chief's bos.” Being endowed hy uature with a_strong constitution and excellent physique, he was soon able to outstrip all his conpznions in feats of strepsth and acility, and in time became the most sue- cessful hunter and fisher fn the tribe. Thouch the want of clothing ratuer ebarrassed him at first, he Dbecame so habituated. to 2 tate of mnatarc in this respect that he never since been quite abie o enfoy th babiliments which a cole: ime and. the prejudices of society require. flis relutious with the trine were gencrally very friendiy, and as he grew to be 15 or 16 years old—a periodat - which people mature in that part of the world— many a dusky maiden began: to logk apon himn with no unkindly cyes. Indeed, Nick was at this time little bettcr than nsa d beeome as brown as the natives the 5 Tahitian language was the sonly oue e kin erfectly, and [n most respects {t wonld b een diflicult tosee in him any traces of civilizatfon which bad treated bim so culimily, and which, indeed, he had for that reason tried to forget. It was not perbaps strangw, then,that tle daughter of the chief, his patron, should liave feit a preference for him over the other you, men of the tribe who sought her favor, or thy her father so interested Limself in the mateh as to begin erectinga house for the youns couple. Nick louked upon these preparations with apathy, end made no movement to interrunt them, for, though he had no particular fond- ness for the g'rl, he knew that any ob. Jjection he migit urze would be of vo _effect, and mivht get him into trouble. Besides, -he had lived so long with theé- savages that he almost forgot that he had once been a civilized obeing, and the thoughts of his former condition were, at best, cnly misty and undefined. Bat, at about the timie which was to_consizn him_forever to bar- barism, an incident occurred which recalled himn tohis true position. The tribe of which he was a member had been for gome time nt war with another on a remote part of the fsland, and after & decisive battle, in which the former were Vie- torious, the warriors returned to their town with alarge train of prisoners. They were greeted with loud acclamations, and, on lowing davy, the instruments of butchery were arranged, fires buflt, and every preparation made for 2 bideous cannibal orgie. - Ths scenc which followed bas been so often described 03 to require no repetition,—it is enough to say that Nick, thonzh nearly fainting at its horrors, ‘was obliged, by his fears of exciting aralnst him- self the inflamed passions of the savagds, to witness the dreadful feast and the equally fear- ful drunkenness with ensued. His refusal to oin in : ‘e horrid revelry nearly cost kim his ife as it was, and only by the interposition of his guardiun, the chief.” and his clected bride, his daughter, who faced the angry people and quelled their raze, was he preserved for further adventures. When night came, Nick, whose thoughts would not let *him slcep, stole away from the village, which was wrapped in drunk- en slumber, and repaired to a favorite lookout of his upon the hillside, overlovking the tea. His mind, which had lain dormant daring the four years of his life in that spot, had bevn sud- denlg awakened by the scencs of the day, and for the first time in years be began to think. The joys of savage life had suddenly grown distastctul vo him, and, as he reflected upon what the future might bring, he made a sudden determination to escape to clvilized life ufn[n. Stealing down to the beach, he secured a light canoe, embarked in it without food or water, and paddled away into the sea and darkness. He had no idea in what dircction the town lay, but determined - on. following the coast till he resched i, and _on the third day, baving seubsisted by running ashore occasionally and procuring sup- plies of fruit, he saw the town before him and an American man-of-war in the harbor. He was kindly received on board the. vessel, whero he was decently clothed and restored to all the outward sembfance of his former self, and in her he made 1he voyage to New York. BSince then he has constantlv followed the ses, and, though sometimes pining a little for his former wild and free life, he alwavs enters an emphatic protest against ever renewing the expericnce The British Ocean Postal Service. Zondon Netcx, 0. 25. The Postmaster-Gencral has issned a circula? to the steamship companies engaged in the transatlantic trade, which is of importance and interest to the commercial world. He has intl- mated that the contract for ing the malls between the United States and Great Britain which expires in December next will not be re- newed, and that the service will be conducted after the 1st of January on the same principles as that followed by the Postmaster-General of the United States. Each steamship com will be Invited on the first of each month to send in a list of their proposed sailings, naming the port of departure and arrival, with a copy of the log for each of their three previous voyages made by the stecamers they prog to run. From this list the Postmaster-Gen- eral will make his selection. and the rates of remuncration will be the same a8 are now paid by the United States Goveroment. These payments will average, we understand, something like £100 a voyage. The subsidies st present paid under the existing contractsaumount to £110,000 2 year. A considerable saving will therefore be effected, but there is a difficulty in m.rryl:g out the proposed scheme which hasyet to be adjusted. Steamers carrving the ontward mails have to submit to a detention at Queens- town which will average some seven or cight hours, and It is & just question whether the drot- class lines which now muke the voyare to Amer- jca with so much spced and regularity will con- sider it worth while for the sake of 2n odd hundred porads now and again to submit to this detention. The difficulty does not arise on the inward 7oyage, so that the analogy of the arrangement which exists with the United States Government, and which is referred to hr the Postmaster-General in his dreular, is not 2%~ together perfect. A detention at Queenstown must involve a steamship company in & certain amount of loss.