"EVENING STAR" SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT OF ENTERTAINING READING.

No. 57 j

AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1876

[Price: ONE PENNY,

Poetry.

AFTER THE BATTLE.

BY GSOBOB HOMKR METER. \ « /uriins my darling, the red gory tide I IMsrd*J l "°l'igfiowing in streams from my sldo ; oni^dewlß B randinjr in drops on mybrow ' r «,inir of thee, dear one, as here 'mid the slaia, \\l «Hn th .throbbing, this torturing pain ; IlL* vnf the days ere the war-trump wag blown. jSkofffioystbatferever have flown. .* „„, i__for lone ere the coming of dawn iSffldttSdistant beyond will hay» gone ; 2JT hosms of the morning, whon darkness hath fled, Sfi fcK thecold, P»"id face of tho dead I ffl, darling! my da ling ! 'tis hard thai to die v Watcher no kinsman, no comforter nigh ! S r.rt for unsheltered, unseen and unknown— of God 1 lilt jarful to die thai alone ! , n thou wert beside me. thy faca would illume ™ »! «Jnant beauty the darkness and gloom ; • Jf presence would cheet me. thy qrtrlt would > M y oSfln its flight o'er Death's shaddowy tide. ' ittnt thou art afar beneath happier skies, : iKer again may I ffu» m thin" eyes ; i a thnii dost not know how in battle I fell, tfhwr the last whisper that biJs thee-farewell!' ainVx fninter and faiater ttie dying one's tone. Ssoal of the soldier hath taken its flight.

THE FALL CRICKET.

I Two little gauzy wings \ Making a lonely sound, A mournful voice that sings Of earth's departing things Along the dusky ground. Wbenthe twilight, cool and gray, Creeps o'er the purple hilla, That lone, monotonous lay, From near and far away, The brooding silence thrilla. From yonder hill-side sere, . Faint in the orange sky, From pastures far snd near, And thickens dim, I hear That homeless voice go by. A sad, complaining Bound — To me it seems to say How man is cypress-crowned, How love in tears Is drowned, • How all things pass away. Thy youth is in ita tomb, Tho pleasant dream is o'er: To thee its strength will come, For thee its roaes bloom No more, no more, no more. Gone is the rosy light . That over all things lay, Making tbe bright more bright, Making a starrier night End In a summer day. Graves, graves, & world of graves ; ♦ We cannot walk or stand; Graves where the sunshiae lares The woods, and where the wave 3 Breaking on the lonely strand. In the east and west The lone graves of our love; \ Across the peaceful breast Are weary hands at rest; And the *tars shine on above. Dark eyes, sweet faces lean - Across the wltberodJ yews. " For no longer seen, for yonder mounds In green Dim through our falling tears. So in the haunted night Tho singer Bingi to me. Whilst all the hills are bright And the moon like a sralley white. Is ploughing a silent sea.

BEAUTY.

The sovereign blush of beauty fills My Boul with rich delight ; ; I see it tint the glorious hill, And breast the stars by night. My soul the glow of beauty owns. I see it through the land- In Venice with her sculptured stones, In halls where statutes stand. Tho wild rose filled with diamond tears, The midnight's brilliant hush, Tha noiseless march of wonderous years, The timid maiden's blush- Sweet feature?, veiled with raven hair, The pale moon's cloudless blias. The heaving bosom, fond and fair, The mother's fervent kiss- Have each a beauty more than words To lisiening ears can tell, A joy that thrills life's deepest chords, A sweet enchanting spell. The summer brin?s its blaze of flowers, Its warm luxurious eves, Its spa Wing weilth of snmmsr showers, Its blossm lulled in leaves. Oh.Beautr! in thy radiant spin The univers is lairl; Thou art the dazzling throne of man, From sSy to emerald glade— The mirror of tbat unsoen God, By sasce and poet sought, The silent crowner of the sod, The central throne of thought I 1 With thee I ever love to roam, And own thy potent sway— Thou girdest up the rainbow's home, The gorgeous brow of day. The great and good of every clime Thy looks all gracious claim. With passions earnest and sublime, As mwtyr's couch of flame !

FIRST AND LAST.

"But tell me dear,' she said— And coaxingly the sof c eyes shono, And shyly drooped the modest hoad Beside his own— 'But tell me, have you loved beforo Or one or more V The eager, sparkling face "Was full of tender, trusting grace ; Slo did not fear his answer then Bet Mug of men! 'But tell me, dear, the best and worst, Or, am I first?' He turned his eyes away ; Yet closer still her hand he preued, Nor answered yea nor nay, A blush confessed All in one burning word. Unsaid, unheard! Quick came a hurst of tears— A tempeßt from an April sty— And then, "Forgive my doubts and fears, He heard her sigh, Why should I care what loves are past, So mine be last.'

'Now, Willie, do have a little courage. When I >o a powdw to take I don't like it anymore ihan ido. but I m»ke up my mind that I will take It, lido!' 'And when I have a powder to take, lied Willie, 'I make up my m\nd that I Wont «It and I don 1.

The Living Skeleton.

BY THE 'FAT COHTEIBUTOE."

She was a large, stout woman, with a hoarse voice and a self-dependent air, like one who had "travelled a great deal and seen much. She came into a rail road car and planked herself down by the side of a timid-looking passenger, after lifting his carpet-bag out of the seat and dumping it upon his toes. When the conductor came along, and asked for her fare, she said :' Tou don't make no reduction for show folks, do you ?' The conductor remarked that they did not if they knew it. As she counted out the required amount, she said when her husband was alive, they frequently got alon?,; on half-fare, if they weren't • dead-beaded' altogether ' but ' she added, ' times is different | since poor G-eorge died.' The curiosity of this timid looking passenger by her side was excited, and he ventured to enquire what business her husband followed when alive. 'He was the ' Livin' Skeleton,' she answered, with a husky pride in her voice, 'and the best one that ever stood on two legs, if I do say it.' ' Was he born for it ?' asked the man after a pause. ' Born for what ? r ' For a skeleton !' 'In course he was. Cut out for the business at an enormous expense,' as the show bill says. He didn't bring enough flesh into the world for a mos quito to start a meat shop with. His joints had to be held together with stickin' plaster to prevent his falling to piecea. His folks thought it im possible to keep the breath of life in such a little heap of bones, *but the kid seemed to have a presentment of the future there was before him— appeared to drop on what a card he would be for a side show if he could only live ; so he wouldn't ' croak,' but held on like a country mayor for a show license. His mother used a pair of candle moulds to cut out his panta loons by until he was 14 years old j au ordinary umbreilJt coyer made him a very comfortable overcoat. I don't let on he was one of your George Washington fellers, that never told a lie ; but if he did, it never helped him any; he was so thin, everyone could see right through him. His name was George, but they called him ' Slim Jim ' around home. Tou hare heard of the slender young man who went to a masquerade ball with his head chalked to represent a billiard cue ? George was that feller.' ' How did you come to meet him ?' asked the timid passenger. ' I was going to tell ye. I had been in the show business for some years, travellin' with my first husband, the • Arabian Giant,' as he was called, and managin' theshow. He was considered the best giant in the business when he was alive. He stood seven feet and a half in his stockin's, and weighed 632 pounds. We took in a heap of money, but expenses like him, was heavy. He could eat as much as a whole managarie, and I had to charter a freight car to transport him from place to place. No woman as hasn't had a giant on her hands knows what a trouble he is. Yet I loved him, and had the satisfaction of knowin' he was all my own. He was a man I looked up to a great deal,' she continued, trying to choke the rising sob, ' and — when —he —died —' 'He died, did he?' broke in the timid man, greatly interested. 'Yes, he died, and right at the openin'V the State Fair, too. Some body sent him a keg of beer, and he drank it all without removin' the bung hole from his lipe. ' Budge' was his weakness, which I may remark has carried off more giants than any other one thing. It cost all we had taken in that season to bury him, I had to buy so many cemetry lots to get him in, that all the real estate of that, nature doubled in price immediately. If you cuold have seen the undertaker s bill you would have thought there had been a battle in the neighborhood, and that 'ere undertaker had the burym the dead on both sides.' ' You were going to tell me where you met your second husband, the— the skeleton,' timidly suggested her fellow-traveler.

c Met him at the grave of the giant,' said the show-woman, with an emotion that did her credit. ' I was takin' the last sad look at me husband, prepara tory to the coffin bein' loweted into the grave by the derrick that had been erected for that purpose, when I chanced to look up, and there stood the skeleton the other side of the. coffin. I was prostrated with grief at the loss of me husband, and the bustin' up of the show, and here cornea this walkin' shadow right across me path like a beam of light-—though it was a very light beam I,am forced to say. It flashed across me # a minute what a card it would be^to work the faira, and what a red&ition I could make below previous expenses. "You know you kin run a dozen livin' skeletons for what it costs to keep a giant.' The timid man didn't know, but he ventured to say : 'Of course.' ' I would have to get out a new lot of bills for him/ continued the stout woman; * but I reflected that I might use the giant cut to show how big he waa before he fell away to a living skeleton. This may seem a little queer to you, speculatin' in that way_ at my husband's grave, but business is busi nes, and its all circus, anyhow-.' The timid man answered her that it appeared to him the most natural thing in the world. 1 Well, the upshot of the matter was.' contitued the stricken widow, 'the skeleton walked back to tho hotel with me from the grave, and I secured him at once for the remainder of the tenting season, at $4< a week and found, though it was hard work ;to find him sometimes, as he was so thin. He could double himself up and hide in one of my first husband's vest-pockets. One day he offered me his hand. I told him it was < too thin ;' but as he wouldn't have- it, and as another show was tryin' to hire him away from me, and we was married —made t%ne of one bone and flesh of flesh, thouffel had all the flesh amd he all the bonl|jft You would have laughed to have seen him try to wear my first husband's clothes. After he got into them, it took a search warrant to find him.' * And you say he died, too ?' said her companion. ' Yes, poor G-eorgo petered out after a few years. He kept growin' thinner, and thinner, until I had to go to the expense of calcium light to show him at all. I was arrested once by a doctor who had missed a skeleton out of his office, and swore I had it,' ' What killed George, as you call him ?' asked the timid man. 1 Didn't anything kill him. He grew so thin that the breath he drew into his lungs passed right out between his ribs without doing him any good what somever. I showed him three days after he was dead before I discovered he was no more. The doctor tried to buy his body of me—said they wouldn't have to touch him with a knife, as it would be only necessary to fasten his joints together with wire, and brace him up in a glass case. Bat I wouldn't consent, and he sleeps by the side of the giant. I had a moument erected over their remains, bearin' the follow in' epitaph, which I writ myself; «Dearest husbands, you have left me, And your loss I much deplore ; Gone are all your days of showin', For you're where yo'ull ' take ' no more. Fold away their little canvas, Where we took the public in ; Gone are all those days of gladness, Making ' blunt' through thick and thin. Gone to meet the What-is-it.' The timid man wanted to ask her if sho had any idea she would be able to find a pair of Siamese twins to marry next;, as a matter of business ; but his timidity made him htsitate too long, for at the next stopping place she got off the train.

It was a Cheyenne sm%U boy who wa^ being talked to by a Sunday-schojl toac'iec on tho slas and frailties of tho body, and was askedl: _ Well 1117 son, what have you besides this sinful body ? Quick as thought the urchin responded ; ' A cloan shirt and a nice now pair of breeches.' ,-- n i« A little girl having beea instructed that the angols were clothed in white, suprised her parents by On remark after a shower followed by fleecy clouds, that the angels were hanging out thoir clothes « ° dry. Twenty Brooklyn ladies voted on the question. •Has a young lady the right to kin a gentleman with whom sheUkes an evening ride?' There.wore,lo affirmative votes. Tho ono negative vote was cist Uy a woman with rod hair and a glass eye. A lady, leaving home was thus addressed bjr hor little boy: 'M«nm», will you rernembsr and buy me a penny whistle, andlatit be a religious ono, »o that I c*n usa it on Sunday,'

Catching Bats by Steam.

It was in the Summer of 1859, on board the steamer Chester Asliely, that we were laid up on account of low water, on the Arkansas Eiver. The boat had become so overrun with rats that _we were in danger of having the whole freight to pay for. Our cargo consisted almost entirely of bacon and flour, and they had perforated this in every direction. As a laat experiment to get rid of them, we had the entire load carried ashore, and then commenc menced a grand rat hunt. The anima's all took to the hold, and among her in numerable salt boxes and under the dunnages found shelter, that but few could be disloged and killed. It was in this emergency that the genuis of the chief engineer shone forth with dazzling brilliancy. ' Let's ' said he, ' turn steam into the hold and run 'em out.' This being agreed upon, while he was' raising steam in tha nigger boiler, the rest of us went round stopping up their places of egress, and stopped them all except one hole which came through the deck a few feet from the ice cheat. This ice chest was a favorite resort of the old rodents, for in it was kept the delicacies of the table. Pies, fruit and clioice cakes were always thera. I suppose the rats looked on this place as a sort of free Saratoga. At all events they would put in a few hours 'of every night there, and this might represent their seasons. This ice chest was about eight feet square, with the opening on top—that is our opening ; the rats had theirs to the back close down to deck. This we also left open, and this arrangement left the rats only one hiding place on the main deck. Steam being now ready, and a cock opened to admit it into the hold, I took my station where I could see the; 'varmints' aa they defiled from their untenable cover to one they thought more promising-^-and -it was a study for a saw-mill man. As tho steam filled the hold, they commenced their march. Pirst came a venerable look ing old chap, on whoso head the frost of many winters had settled. He passed along with a measured gait, slowly moving his head from side to side, *as though he said ' .Boys, I'm afraid you've got us this time,' and he seemed to be astonished that no missiles were hurled after him, but he was allowed to enter the ice ch§st un harmed. During his march, another —not a sister—prop't his head out the deck hole, watched his progress, and when he saw him safely housed, out he came, too, and made the march un molested. This seemed all they waited for, for they poured out in one unbroken stream, and they were all there — The wife whose babe first smiled that day; The fair fond bride of yostcr eve ; The aged sire, the matron gray. And all the young bucks just kept coming until I thought they had some way of getting from the ice chest to the hold again, and wero keeping up an unbroken circle. But at length there happened breaks in the process ion, then these breaks became more frequent and of greater duration, and after a while they came in single in dividuals and in more of a hurry, for the hold was getting hot, and later they came slower and less hair on them, and the last ono looked sick, didn't seem to caro' whether ho got anywhere or not, and as he passed me he cast a look of holy scorn and holy sadness, as if to say, < You fellows think you're smart ; you ought to be ashamed,' and to tell the truth, I was. I felt the same impulse to save ita life that actuated Pocahontas on a historical occasion, and from an association of ideas I named the rat John Smith. And now they were all in the cheat and the hole plugged. We call a council of war as to the best way to finish them. Hie eugineer wanted to carry out his design and turn the steam and*cook them alive , but the old man wanted some fun ; he had a couple of imported Scotch terriers, full blood and long hair, and here was just such a chance to try their mettle as ho long had yearned for. So he raised the lid I

on top, dropped them in and closed the door with the remark, ' Gro for 'em.' Then he looked at Ms watch.

They mnst have went ' for em,' for the sounds that followed were a« mixture of yelps, howls and tiny squeaks, mingled with a rattling, surging sound, as though the life within was c.omfiined and trying to knock out fit.,!; jue end of the chest and then the other. The old man would sing out at intervals : ' Gro for 'em boys I'iThen he would wink at us, shut one eye, double himaelf up, and raise his right leg as though he was in ecstacy of enjoyment.

At length all inside became quiet, and he looked at his watch again. ' Sixteen and a half minutes,' said he ' Now, men, let us turn over and count the rats, for I think, them pups have knocked the spq|s off of all former records.'

We turned it over, the lid flew openj and a whole flood of rats came pouring out like bees from an upturned hive. "We had to clear the track until they all escaped and when we looked in the box those dogs were in more pieces than ever dogs, not made into sausage, were ever before. [■ They looked as though they had been dead a month, and only one solitary rat kept them company—and it was John Smith.

The Value of Volunteers.

The veteran campaigner, Ricciotti Garibaldi, in one of his articles on national defence to the Argus,' says, with reference to Volunteers and their value in national defenca: 'jlseeinthe report of the commission the old cry taken ud about Volunteers .only being fib for a third line and so on ; but have those who cay this ever handled Volunteers against Regulars, or have they ever taken the trouble to investigate the action of those troops in active warfare ? If they had, they would probably have found out that where ever Volunteers have been led by capable men, enjoying their confidence, notwith« standing being badly armed, and with no discipline to speak of, they have in eight cases out of. ten beaten regular troops in equal or suparior numbers. Ido Dot speak specially ot.our own Garibaldians, but also of the Carlists, the Republican troop 3 under the first French Republic, tho Legitimist French Tireura in France, at Chateau duD, &c. In our own case,the Italian Volunteers have met some of the best; troop inEurope, the Neapolitans, French, Austrian, aod Prussian regu'ars, and n ei^hi c sea out of tea have caniel off tbe palm of viiv.ory, though generally iv inferior numbers, as at Calatifini, Veletri, Volturno. blolazz), Palmero, Como, Varece, B:z;c:-», Paqueß, Dijon, &c. Voluuteering has always been cried down by military authorities, who, having no practical oxperienco ia this liae, consider tttGmsilvoi as capable of giving an opiuion on ib as on any osher subj ;o5 they may hava studied, and this unfavorable opinion has also in a great muasuro arisen, from tho litble favot thai regular' offi-jars tneot with in volunteer corps. We have found ia prac r.ico thai iuoq accuatomod to tha hircl and fns^ discipline uf regulars are totally incotnpout to de-^l witli thaso troop*, and whenever some j uned us wo were obliged to employ thorn simply as itistriiobors or on tho staff, or in the scientific arms ; but as arms; bat ai loaders of volunteers, they were generally failures, as, wish the troop 3 they were accustaaed to, you might pus a machine at the h'wl of a regiuunb, and, as long ai this gave the ri^hS w.>rd of cjojmiui ab the right timo, little h'lhq would bo required Bat with volunteers i 5 is very different. Nob only must au olfije" know his du'.y, but ho must a!a ) have au intimate acquaintance with, ani moral influence ovo.", hitmen, which he can only obtain by a direct and famiiar ooutaotwitahigsubordinatea -totally opposed to the working maxims of regulars.'

Fix mon'hs is tiio regulation psrlod presaribod be c'ord -a wiciotf cvj sit sit tin front p\rl')Uf win low an t pejp through tti« flats at the gcmlem n goin» to aid returning from their bnsiueSs, but Sha g.jnerill/ doe< it ihfi day Jtftur tho fuaer.il 'Gdsel-la,' writing from Saratoga to tho ' Hartford Times'. Bays cf Mrs. Morga'i wi.e of the Republican oind'.d ifce for Govisrner : 'rfhe is a va.-y h»uglr.j--lo ik ing dame and I don t ihinksho pisscses enuiuh aff i biilty to be popular ii tha Girorno.'s mvauoa. T think sho i< stuci up, by money, flu-s olostic3 and dia tnon '8 ' Thei-o Uft grent change in dancsi Ths gilop Ins be come a pft'vi Wiil'z. .■i.ndtho wal'Z hai a brhk f-xorclsa a cross between tlniaovonidnt of 1110 Je^s iudiiced by colic and hop-sootc!i s^t to music The polka ia in high favour again, Mid tli3 miauatis to bs dittoed nt all the balh and pa ties next AVintor. 'Why cau wo not oanoa as wn uso I to -sny ton yoirs ago ? 'Wliat would y-ju like ?' ask-d Jove?, as 113 led Miss Smith into tho refrcsbmsnt-room. 'Pop,' was tha blnshin; svnswor. Jonos dida't see it. 'There is nothing i ■. this world so truly gret tying, said Mrs Potter 'as the strict performance of one's duty." and she savsg ly threw Potter's nigh(.-iey into the cistern. i'rldgdt iMacßlilnu. a devewt Cith.ilsc of Cinnci n iti, always koeiJ3 hor Friday fast, ana at the same tirao has a weakueS3 for r w-egjs Oaa morning, there was aftorriflo scream In tha feitcliou, »nu tha mist few' rushed in oryib.gr, 'Gjodnsss gracious, Bridget, what is the miicor with you ?' 'Oca, holy murther, thin, I ji.*t brokedan egi? quite by accident, mum, and ewal lowotl it in a hurry, mum, for fear of its being lost. An' it hnd a rfroksn iait, mutn, An'to-d*y's Friday, mum. Ooh arrone Wnen a common school teacher in Virgiria, found on his exa-idnation papers the question : " How does a ship at sei find its latitude and longitude?1 ho a"os> to the o:o.iuou and promptly wrote ; 'It finds its lougitii'ie hot an i its latitude <;old ' S lid a mo lier to her little sen, ' There ! your heo!s are out Of your Stockinßa agiiu: stems to me thoy w; ro out iv a hurry ' G ivi,g » comical icei1, he said ; 'Do youkaoivwnyatoosingswt-ar out first at the uses • No.' ' Bsoauso heels wriggle, and toes doa'ti