Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1873-10-11
GLEANINGS AND GOSSIP.


Tor the beauty and spirit of its women.
In the ante-revolutionary days the fam
lily once boosted of seven dashing sis
ters, so full of life and fun and frolic
that they were known the country over
as 1.-THE seven Blackhall boys" None
OF them but could ride horse bareback,
row a boat, or swim far out in the sound.
Handsome and fearless, they were &C
complished women, and good house
Keepers, withal hence they had no lack
of suitors. Of the oldest, it ia narrated
that when a male cousin, while on Wis.,
1T to Blackhall became much interested,
but did not dare to speak, she, one day,
met him going upstairs as she de-
scended, and, meeting him more than
halfway lin double sense) stopped,
saying, sweetly: "What did you say,
cousin?" To which, the tremulous
young man replied: 30 / didn't speak,
! didn't say anything" "High timsy you
did, cousin. High time you did," re-
piled she, as she passed on. The young
man took the hint, and happy married
life ensued.
The word humbug, says De Quincy,
rests upon very rich and comprehen-
sive basis it cannot be rendered sde-
quately either by German or by Greek,
the two richest of human languages. Its
origin, however, is wrapped in doubt,
the stories concerning it being vague
and uncertain. The following regard
as the most Trustworthy: At one time
there was war between Germany and
Austria. and constantly the widest and
most incredible stories concerning the
victory or defeat of the German arms
would be spread, entirely without truth.
They were all traced to Hamburg, 80,
whenever anything marvellous was an
nounced, men would say, 80 that is q
Hamburg" and finallya "humbug."
The Atheneum administers the fol-
lowing sharp rap to Mr.. joaquin Miller
in its last number 1--WE have been I'M
fortunate enough to incur the displeas-
ure of Mr.. Joaquin Miller. Our re-
viewer, having said that his new-book
was dull romance, Mr.. Miller, who
thinks otherwise, writes to us that he
wishes, to tell him to his teeth that he
is liar, a coward, and cur Mr..
Miller states that he has written with
out consultation with his publisher. We
think that gentleman of the high.:repu-
tation of his publisher, will be shocked
when he hears how sadly wanting Mr..
Miller is in the courtesies of life and the
advantages of education"
"A recent writer on the Mormons
and their system, who lived long time
in Utah, says MOrmonism is even o
greater humbug as an industrial system
than as a religion, there is less pro-
duction to the number of workers,
though, take it as one may, it is the
champion humbug of modern times. 1t
began on stolen romance iraudulently
palmed off as bible. Its prophet was
fiddling sot his successor is socially
a boor, and as financier or manager,
the worst-overrated man of:his age and
its pretenses of industry, morality, and
soberiety, are even more fraudulent and
unfounded than its claims as religion"
The greatness of India is hardly
appreciated by the western world.
Bombay, for instance, is the third larg-
est city in the British empire it is con-
siderably more populous than New York,
and nearly as rich and the province
attached to it is on an equality with q
first-class European state. The province
of Madras contains more men than
France Lower Bengal has population
now known to equal that spread over
the enormous area ofthe Russian empire;
and the Punjab, the poorest Indian
province, is more populous than Spain, |
and hiss a considerably larger public |
revenue.
Mr.. Ruskin has now fallen afoul of |
Darwin, and declares, in his last essay,
that "we might sufficiently represent |
the general manner of conclusion in the |
Darwinian system blythe statement that if |
You fasten hair-brush to q mill-wheel,
with the handle forward, so as to de-
velop itself into neck by moving al |
ways in the same direction, and within |
continual hearing of o steam-whistle. |
after q certain number of revolutions,
the hair-brush will fall in love with the
whistle; they will marry, lay an egg,
and the product will be nightingale.
"A learned divine says that he once
married a couple and the man said !: |
Be short be short !" I said: eyes,
1 can do it in three minutes, but it will |
last longer than that" "That's right" |
he said. 1 saw that there was some |
little dissatisfaction on the part of the
other half. / said : You don't wsnt
to have it too short ?" "No," she said,
"a body don't want to get herself mp
so for nothing"
"A Glasgow firm is making q couple
OF monster umbrellas that altogether
eclipse the famous specimens that Paul
Pry loves to sport upon the stage. They
are 80 feet in circumference and suffi-
cient to afford protection to about Is
people, and cost $3.50 each. They are
made for trading firm in Africa that
intends to present them to two polyQa.
nous negro chiefs for family umbrellas.
Lord Timothy Dexter, who sent a
cargo of warming pans to the West In
dies, has an imitator in the British ad-
miralty, which recently sent out q cargo
of rice from Portsmouth to it's COLONY on
the coast of Africa, which is besieged by
the Ashantees, only to find when it was
too late that rice was the only article of
food which abounds in that country.
Arizona was made jubilant, . few
days since, by the setting of the first
telegraph-pole, which, being speedily
linked to others, will unite this out-of-
the-way country into close communica-
ton with civilization. The ceremony
was performed at Fort Whifie, Mrs.
GenI Cook breaking the ground, and
Mrs. Genl Dana the christening bottle
If wine.
The telegraph line to the top of