The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-04-01
April Magazines.
Ifarper's,

an entertaining and beautifully illustrated ar
ticle, by Ben j. Losing, on 1.-THE Romance
of The Hudson" No region in the U. s. can
compare with that of the Hudson for i,s &c
gendary, romantic and poetic associations
Cooper, Irving, Paulding, Gaylord Clark, and
a legion of other poets and novelists have
made classic every turn of the river, every
mountain peak. gorge, valley, glade and riv-
ulet In it's vicinity from Champlain to Man.
haitian. Mr. Losing has selected the most
notable of these classic spots, and with pen
and pencil giving US glimpses OF their rugged
wildness or quiet beauty, briefly and pleas
anlly relates the historic, romantic or legend
airy "reminiscences that their names recall. Fol.
lowing is an example:
Between two hills, one wooded and desc.
late, the other bare and inhabited, just above
Washington Heights, flows narrow stream
1t is Spuyt den Duyvel Creek, which, with
the Harlem river, separates Manhattan Isl
aud from the mainland Its queer name
often puzzles the curious, who inquire for i.s
origin. Diedrich knickerbocker solves the
problem. He tells us that when Anthony
Van Corlear, Governor Stuyvesant's great
rumpeter, WAS on q mission to stir up the
country to war beyond The Harlem River, he
came to this stream. There was no ferry
boat there. The wind was high and the Wa
ters were turbulent. Feeling the urgency Of
his errand, Anthony swOre he would CROSS
the creek en- spuyt den duyocl lin spite of the
devl), and taking q hearty embrace of his
stone bottle, he plunged into the stream.
When half way over, he was seen to struggle
violently, and giving vehement blast of his
trumpet, sunk forever to the bottom. The
clangor Of the trumpet aroused the people
far and near, who hurried to the spot 10
amazement Here an old Dutch burgher,"
says the chronicler, "famed tor his veraciIy,
and who had been witness of the fact, re-
lated to them the melancholy affair, with the
fearful addition Ito which l am slow Of Civ.
ing belief that he saw the devil, in the shape
of huge moss bunker, seize the sturdy An.
thony by the leg and drag him beneath the
waves" The stream ana the wooded point
have been called Spuyt den Duyvel ever
since.
"Spiting Dewitt" shouted the brakeman on
a Hudson River car one eveaing, as the train
slowed" at this spot "What gave this place
so queer names" ayoung woman asked a
stranger who was sitting BY her side He told
her Irving's story, supposing she understood
1t to be q legend. Not so. Her womsnly
sympathies were aroused by the recital of the
tate OF the trumpeter, and she inquird, "Did
he leave familys' The gentleman modest
ly referred her TO the chronicle. That chrOni-
Gle says: Though he was never married,
yet did he leave behind him some two or
three dozen children In different parts OF the
country, fine, chubby, brawling, 6atulent lit
tie urchins, from whom, if legends speak true
and they are not apt to lIe) did descend the
innumerable race Of editors who people and
defend the country. and who are bountifully
paid by the people for keeping up constant
alarm and making them miserable"
Professor Samuel Lockwood's second pa.
per on the Microscope is simply illustrated,
and credits that instrument with some curl
Gus revelations; telling, for instance Of an
eminent microscopic who had biz of sub.
stance submitted to him TO decide what it
was.
The saeaat appealed to his microscope.
Entirely Ignorant OF this tiny bit of matter,
except as he had taken counsel with his in. |
;trument, the wise man declared that ii was
he skin Of human being and that, judging
by the fine hair on il, il was from the social.
II naked portion of the body, and, further,
hat it once belonged TO fair.cOmplexioned
per son. The strange facts now made known
% the man Of science were these: That,
thousand years before, q Danish marauder
lad robbed an English church In the spiri,
IF the oldfsshioned piety the robber was fay.
sd Qet us hope that he was killed Hrst), and
he skin was nailed TO the church door. TX.
,ept as tradition or archaeological lore had
L, the affair had been forgotten for hundreds
,f years. Time, the great e.odent, had long
ago utterly removed the offensive thing. Still,
however, the church door held to its marks
of the great shame. for the broad headed nails
Somebody extracted one, anu un.
1erneath its fiat head was this atomic rem.
lant OF that ancient Scandinavian malefaciors
iair skinned robber from the North
In view Of the approaching centennial, Mrs
Ftebecca Harding Davis contributes pro
usely illustrated paper on Old Philadelphia
Il will puzzle the modern visitor, we reckon,
o find and recognize her localities and bnild.
ngs, as they are all of ante.revolu,iouary
late.
Dr. Muhlenberg'a beautiful charity on Long
STAND. known as st. J0hnlaud, IS apprecia.
lively COMMUNICATED in paper by DR.. o.
rood.
The paper Of the First Century Series" Is
devoted 10 the progress of fine arts.-and
sritten by 5. s. Conant.
DIR. Tower, in an article entitled Before
and after Meals" makes many sensible prac.
icsl sugges,ions and William Hooper brief
y rccounls the history of the famous tulip
mania in Holland in the 18th century. the
frenzy OF which is hard TO understand at this
day. As specimen of the value which tulip
buds al one time reached, the writer gives
the actual copy o! bill of sale of certain
articles given in exchange for one single root
OF the Niceroy species:
y" mss w "bcdt -. .......-.... fliJl
Two lasts Of rye. 293
-Four Tat oxen 100
Eight fat swine 90
Twelve fat sheep as
Two hogsheads of wine os
Four tuns beer -. I3l
Two tons butter y