The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1855-03-14
SurrEn1so AND DEATH ON THE pkA,.

the prairies, a descripti6nof which is
really heart sickeming.
1t seems that ON the Dist January
last, violent storm happened, and
that on the Saturday preceding two
families, consisting of ten persons,
were i'll the act Of moving from South
ern lndiann to N, rthern Illinois,
They arrived ut Oxford, the county
seat Of Benton county, <Ind about
forty miles northwest .i Lafayette,
with iwo OK teams, and well provided
with necessaries for the rod. They
remained there through the storm, and
on Monday morning resumed their
journey. Last Tuesday morning q
man passing over Il prairie, only about
live miles from Oxford, came upon II
sight which filled him with horror.
The carcises Of two oxen, from
which the visccru had been removed.
lay upon the ground. Inside of o,.e
Of th-nI were the frozen b, dies of 10 :. r
children, and in the other the truzen
corpse ut the mother, with a nursing
Inant ut her breast. Under the snow
was heap Of ashes, in winch the iron
Of the wagons shove that the party
had brukoii them up, and burned ev.
erythinS they had in them, in the effort
to save their lives. Not lar from this
spot, Was found the body of the other
woman ot the party, partly concealed
IN Il snow driit. aud near her one ot tue
men. The two other men had not been
found.
1t Is probable thlt the party became
IneXlilcably involved in the snow
drifts OH the prairie, and lost their
prescucc of mind. After burning up
their wayu"s it would seem that the
men had killed twu of the oxen for u
shelter to those found in them, and
then, accompanied ny one woman,
vanity cmdeavered to reach the town
they had lett, and procure aid to res
cue their companions. Tho Two other
oxen hud wun4crrd utl'. There ,swas
nothing about the persons to indicate
wilo.they were, and nothing more is
known about them than was accide,l.
N"h'J ny LHG!H IIlnu
their bricl stay ut Oxford.
1-s N.@.S
UNCERTAINTIES OF UTHuRsHIP-
The following curious item in the his.
tory Of the . Wide, Wide Wurld,"-
II book which has secured for itself a
world wide ia ne is gwen by one ui
or Boston c"ntc purarles. 1t shows
th,t publishers are no. alway he best
Judges of nanlScri pt~, and that an ap
parently casual circumstance may ut
once establish the 'epututioll of book
aud M author.
1T Is /; curious fact, that the popu.
larIty OF that book began with AL up
prccIatIns notice in IL baptisl review.
Not onl y was the n.alluScripC refused
BY several publishers, but, when pub.
llshed, the book fell dead and wuulu
not sell ut all, for week and even
months. 1t is said on good authority.
That when at length Mr. PulnaIn
received one day, 10y ,eleg an o..
der for fifty copies, he refused to an
swcr IT ut first, 80 sure WAS he that
there was II mistake somewhere.
The noble influence ui the b ,uk ra,lnnL
t'c "verslatrd; and the critic o. The
journal which gave it its nolu,icv,
may take credit for doing so."--Pr,s.
Jyferiun.
PROPERTIES oy GLAss. Glass has
properties peculiarly its own: one 1t
which is that it is OF NJ greater bulk
when hot, or in the melted state, than
when cold. Some writer's state that
it is Contrary to the analogy uf other
mctal>) OF greater bulk when cold than
when hot.
1t is transparent in ITSELF bnt the
|rntAe'ials of which it is CONFUSED are
Opaque. 1t is not maieabIe but its
d"cliiity ranks next to- gold Is
tlrx'bilily also is SO great thu, when
ht,t it eau be drawn out like an elastic
thread miles in length, in a moment,
aud to a minutenes, equal to that uf
he silk worm. Brittle, arso,, to -
p,ovcrb, it is so elastic that it can he
blown t" ganze like thinncs,, SO rs
easily to float upon the air. It's
lustcity is also show by the fac, ,h.t
Il globe, herneticalIy sealed. it drop.
pc. upon a polished anvil, will rccoir
two thirds the distance Of It's laiI, aud
will remain entire until the second ar
third r, bound. The force With which
solid balls strike each other may be
estimated nt ten, and the reaction by
reason Of the elastic property ut
uine.l Vessels, called bursting glass
srs, are mad. oi sufficient ST. cngth ,o
lie drawn about Il floor f; a bullei may
be dropped into one without fracture
of the glass; even the stroke of IL
mallet sufficiently heavy t" drive
mai has tailed to break SUCH glasses.
In word, ordinary blows fail to
produce an impression upon rticles
of this kind. II, however. d piece If
flint, cornelnn, diamund, or other
hard stone. tall into one uf these yIas.
seS, or be shaken therein IL lew mo.
ments, the vessel will fly into q myri.
ad ofPieces,