The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1858-01-21

"Sl'am"r '>llrr. \,,;jr Ocean. July -,
1851. We quote ~ ra>>ay" which will hr
universally read with keen relish:
II WIS now II o'clock, and Svrrhnlt
glow,,l in fiery bronze u>tcr as we ROUNDED
it, the ,l'lirs of returning h;rls that hal
been frightened from their r"oSts bv the fir
ing o! the steamers gun cleaning golden in
the nocturnal sun, ike drifts Of beech leaves
i'll the October air. Far to the north the
sun lay in Il bed of saffron light over the
clear horizon Of the Artic Ocean. \ few
bars Of ,l:,zzln" orange cloud lloatcd above
him, and still isher in the sky, where the
salirons melted through delicate rose color
into blue, hung light wrca,hs of vapor,
touched with l";.ry. "pauc iiu>l'cs of pink
and golden gray. The sea WAS Ikea web
of pl;r,ctc color, shot through, with threads
Of orange and saffron, from the dance of !,
myriad shifting and twinkln. rirpleS.--
The mir WIS i.r! and prrmca;cd with the
soft, mysterious glow, and even the very
azure OF the southern sky seemed to shine
through Il net o: golden ga,Ize. The head
lands Of this deeply indrntcd coast-thc
capcs OF the Luxe and lorsanger Fior'ls,
and it May"rr-lav around us, in different
degrees o! distance, but all with forc!ca,ls
touched with supernatural glory. Far to
the Northeast WAS Norkvs, the most north
ern point Of the mainland in Europe. glram-
ing rosiiv amI faint i'll the full beams Of the
sun, a,rl l>i :,> "rr watches denoted midi
night :he North Cape appeared To the west
ward-a!on: lin" "l purple hiulf, presenting
Il vertical tront OF 900 feet in height to the
Polar Sr:t. Midway lciwccn these two na~-
nlicent hcad!lnds stood tl:r Midnight sun
shining OH us with sn'"lncd fires, and with
the gorgeous ro!ori:ry Of IN hour for which
we had no uamc, since it is neither sunset
nor sunrise, bu, the fIc,,lol lovelncss Of
botli-hut shining at the same moment in
the heat and sp!enlor Of noonday on The Pa
Cilic Isles.
This WIS the midnight Sun as | had
dreamed tits had hoped to sec it,
Within fifteen minutes after midnight,
there WIS Il p"rccp'iblc increase of attitude,
and i'll less than lla!f in hour the who'll. line
of the sky had changed the yellow bright.
cniny into orange, and the saffron melting
into the pale vcrnllinn Of dawn. Yet j.
was neither H." color nor the same clarac-
ter Of li-h, as we had had half an hour be.
fore midnight The difference wa, So slight
rs scarcely to be described, but it was the
difference between evening and morning.
The fantest TRANSMISSION of one prevailing
tint into another, had charged the whole
expression of heaven and earth, anI 80 i'm.
perceptibly and niracuIo',sly that II new day
was already prc>cn: to our consciousness.
White Pri"i;ng.--.A correspondent wri-
ting to lis from Washington, -. g., gives
us his opinion tl:at if books and papers W, rc
printed with white ink on black or dark
colored paper, rcadiu. would not be SO ir-
furious to tic eyes rs It is ut present. He
says 1.-The great flare which is reflected
from the white pages distresses the d;iI;cate
organ Of vision, and inlcrlcrcs with the
prompt transmission Of the reflected letters
to the rctina."
Our attention was directed to the same
subject, about two years ago, hy Cali
fer.a correspondent, and published in "A for
mcr volume. We are not inclined to adopt
the opinion Of our correspondent, especially
as it regards paper with a black ground and
white ink. II in reading, the eyes have to
recognize a hundr' letters per minute, the
rays Of light must be both absorbed and
reflected Il hundred times in that pcriod.-
Tie eye Is, therefore, subject to severe labor
III reading, not on accoun, If the white re-
tlccted light from the paper, but frcqucn,
intermittent absorption AMI reflection of
light. This accounts for the effect called
'Iazzling," which is produced by looking
for very brct period on Il piece of white
and black checked cloth, the stripes Of which
are very fine, and Of equal Lrcadth-,hc
black stripes absorb, and the white reflect
the rays of light Scientific -1mcrican.
p Crinoline.-NotwiIhstanding the recent
Iy expressed opinion, or rather wish, of the
Empress, the ladies' dresses are ballooninc
out to such an enormous size, that they
threaten to affect the health if not the lives
Of The wearcrs. At an evening party last
week at Madame Perpignon's, not less than
five tainted, from sheer exhaustion, and
Madenoisellc B (wcIl known in the
Tuilcries MAS since proved a martyr to the
steel and whalcbone iniIiction. She is at
present confined to her bed, her maladv
puzzling her physicians, bit all in The Sc
crct affirming that tie weight she. carried