The mountain Democrat., 1865-12-23

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was "grandPa's birthday" and how
merrily children. and grandchildren 6irt-
ed about among the loaded tables. carry.
ing dainties, and especially loading grand
pa with the choicest Of them all. The
brOwn-eyed maiden Of the singing school,
the lovely bride, the graceful matrOu and
true hearted wife and mother, whore is
she on this festive day Not there 0ot
to be seen by the eye Of sense but the
white haired old man locks up aud from
out the deep blue Of the heavens he sees
her looking down with a smile Of meta.
BILE tenderness and love, and while his
voice joins in the merry msking round
him, he hears . voice they cannot hear,
sweetly speaking of the bliss Of heaven,
and q speedy meeting there.
And when the nirth has died away,
and the twilight shadows fall, and the
bright evening star shines out, the old
man goes to his quiet room his bosom
is full Of peace; he is praising God for
all the mercies of the past, but praising
him still more joyfully for the bright fu.
ture which by faith he sees opening be.
fore him, and with joys infinitely hOlier.
richer, and more satisfying than earth
can give.
And SO ended the old mans birthday.
MCARoNE ON Observation-Disclosures,
in the New York Musical Review, gives
his experience Of inGammGtory rheumG'
tiSm as follows:
There are no roses in the wilderness Of
vines that enclose the piazza Of the cOan-
try-house where write, but an eAsterly
wind, Of much ssperity and virulsnce, is
makiRg itself very much at home there,
and wbiStling like 6rst class boatswain
whose mother Was 4 cAlliope.
Easily enough this eastsrly wind brings
me to the rheumatism.
1t also brings the rheumatism to me.
Did you ever have q red-haired man
throw q milestone ON your hand and then
bore into your elbow with a centre biti
That is the sensation of the ihfiAmmA.
tory TheumstiSm as performed by me for
seven consecutive days and nights.
had some very fine, eccentric and hu-
morous ideas, during this period but
when fellows right thumb is swollen to
the resemblance Of a Hamburg sausage,
and his fOre6nger has wire run through
the bones lengthwise, he is not in good
condition to write down even the most
brilliant mental scintillations.
Neither is he expert with those frail,
unassuming, but potent instruments, the
knife and fork.
Buttons, also, at such times, present o
formidable resistance, and the razor be-
comes vain and impotcnt toy.
The only thing, in fact, that runs the
easier and slides the more vigorously for
the rheumatism, is profanity.
There is a peculiar twist TO the elbow,
coupled with simultaneous twinges in the
hip and knee. that produce great fuency
in that particular.
The remedies that ones friends suggest
are by no means the least troublesome
portion Of the complaint.
One suggests common horse.chestnut,
or buckeye" carried in the trowsers
pocket, as an inlallible preventive.
A lady says that an application Of cot
ton batting is sure thing.
| once knew a famous cricket player
who was cGred Of batting by rheumatism
but never knew the rule would work
both ways.
A thrd suggestion was that ! should
be enveloped from bead to foot in blue
claw, not to be disturbed till it cracked
off Of itself.
This last struck me as good idea, eS-
pecislly if | were TO be placed at the bot
tom of pit six feet deep, to be thus ell
veloped, the hole to be then filed up, and
neat headstone erected to mark the
place.
am assured that the clay under these
circumstances, would crack and come Of!
of itself, at about the time when Gabriel
performs his solo obligato for the trntn.
pet.
These are but invalid cOnctits; of the
rheumatism, rheumatic; but can hard.
ly do better to-day. This paper lis, in fact,
the first have written for the press for
nearly fortnight, and is buta sort Of ex.
pertinent.
Indeed, if it gives you the same pain
in the elbow to read it, that it gives me
to write it, sincerely pity you.
But If, as said, "easy esding is hard
writing" this stands chance of being
uncommonly easy Of perusal.
am a little out of humor with Fate,
or whatever you call it, for this shabby
treatment. 1t was rather rough to give
a fellow whole summer of billious ago
MES, with no remittant fevcrs, and moth
ing to hope for except remittant fevers,
and then to crowd on crippling rheuna
tism at the end Of it
1t is hard on a fellows stamina, anl
constitution, and things. The thought Of
dumb bells makes q weak feeling creep
down my beck; and when walk, lean
ing on my cane. You might take me for
some old sport, like Prof Holmes " Last
Leaf"