MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER, 
VENTILATION OF THE SCHOOL-LOOM, 
People are quite ready to acknowledge 
the necessity of an abundant and pure supply 
of air, but they recognize the abstract princi¬ 
ple far more readily than they act upon it.— 
In former times, when buildings were much 
more open than at present—when the broad 
throats of huge fire-places yawned across half 
the side of a room, and received within their 
ample jaws, for a single fire, a pile of wood 
sufficient to supply a stove for a week—when 
every window and door clattered in its frame, 
and admitted the outside atmosphere in quan¬ 
tity ample enough to make up for the draft 
of the chimney and the breathings of the in¬ 
mates, there was no necessity for entering into 
any scientific arrangements for ventilation.— 
The very absence of science in construction 
obviated its necessity, and made up for all 
deficiencies. But at the present day, when 
brick and stone are constructed into air-proof 
walls — when door3 fit their casing3, and 
windows their frames, in perfect joints—when 
roof, and ceiling, and partition, allow neither 
of admission nor exit for a breath of air, it is 
all important that attention of the builder be 
called to the subject of ventilation. Especi¬ 
ally should this be the case in school-houses 
and churches, where large numbers of persons 
are congregated. 
Put one hundred pupils in any school-room 
in this city, and let the ventilators be closed 
for half a day, and a person entering it from 
the fresh free air of the street, will perceive 
instantly a very offensive and depressing 
atmosphere. It contains all the elements of 
a subtle poison, and one, which carried to a 
higher degree of concentration, would produce 
almost instantaneous death. 
Bad ventilation produces ill consequences 
in two ways ; first, by depriving the respira¬ 
tory organs of the necessary supply of oxygen, 
and secondly, by substituting a poison in the 
shape of carbonic acid in its stead. The 
former gas, inhaled in the air, supports in the 
animal system a slow combustion of the car¬ 
bon elaborated from the food, and carried 
into the circulation. The result of this com¬ 
bustion in the animal economy, as in a fire¬ 
place, is carbonic acid accompanied by the 
evolution of heat; and the new gas is then 
exhaled in place of the exhausted oxygen. 
Provision must be made for its removal, and 
for a fresh supply of oxygen, or disease and 
death will ensue. There are more scholars, 
twice told, injured, we venture to say, by 
sitting in ill-ventilated school-rooms, than by 
over mental or deficient physical exertion. 
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, ALBANY. 
The first printed book known is the cele¬ 
brated Mazarin Bible in two folio volumes.— 
It was so called from the discovery of a copy 
in the library of Cardinal Mazarin at Paris, 
about the middle of the last century, since 
which time seventeen other copies have been 
found in various parts of Europe ; of these, 
nine were in public, and nine in private libra¬ 
ries. It has no date, but at the end of each 
volume, of the copy in the Royal Library at 
Paris, is an inscription in red ink. That in 
the second volume is as follows : 
Tfritten for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker, 
A PLACE TO PRAY. 
“ This book, illuminated and bound by 
Henry Cremer, Yicar of the Collegiate Church 
of St. Stephen at Mentz, was completed on 
the Feast of Assumption of the Blessed Vir¬ 
gin Mary, A. D. 1456. Thanks be to God. 
Hallelujah.’’’ 
Some think the work was finished in 1450 
or 1452, while others fix it at 1455, as the 
binding and illumination of this particular 
copy, would, in all probability, soon follow its 
publication. But in the infancy of the art, it 
is probable that it was from five to seven 
years in printing ; hence the inference would 
be that it was commenced before the year 
1450, an opinion in which most investigators 
agree. 
Until within a few years, no copy of this 
rare book was known in the United States, 
but about seven years since, one of the great 
private libraries was brought to the hammer 
in London, and news was spread far and wide 
that a copy of the Mazarin Bible was among 
its rarities. The book collectors of Europe 
were on the qui vive. Crowned heads, princes, 
nobles and wealthy collectors, were alike anx¬ 
ious to secure the gem ; but a princely collec¬ 
tor in New York bore off the palm, and se¬ 
cured the inestimable volumes fon» £500 ,— 
(about $2,500.) 
These magnificent volumes are two folios, 
about the size of the folios of our day, and to¬ 
gether include 1,274 pages. The paper upon 
which they are printed is hard, tough and of 
superior quality. Its color is a delicate 
cream-colored tint. Its typography is a 
gothic or old English letter, not quite as uni¬ 
form as the printing of the present time, yet 
possessing a clearness and sharpness of out¬ 
line, that renders it difficult to decide whether 
the types are cut in brass, or cast in moulds. 
The ink is, even now, as black as it is possi¬ 
ble to make it. The register is very exact, 
and in all respects, the beauty, the perfection 
and magnificence of these volumes quite sur- 
E ass every production of the press for three 
undred years after. There are no ornaments, 
illuminations or engravings in this copy, and 
the binding, which is modern, is a plain blue 
morocco.— Am. Publisher’s Circular. 
I know a place, 
Where I can go and pray, 
■ Spread out my hands and lift to heaven my fac», 
While tears commence an overflowing race, 
And earth retires away. 
I love to go, 
In silence and unseen, 
To this my quiet little heaven below, 
And all my longing on my Lord bestow, 
And on His bosom lean. 
I bow my knees, 
And tell my wants and woes, 
To Him who every secret yearning sees, 
And in His love my heart finds holy ease, 
And Christian comfort knows. 
With God alone. 
In prayer I love to ho, 
And if I do not find the Holy One, 
I sigh and wonder where my Lord has gone, 
With many a wo-i3-me ! 
But sweet to tell! 
If God do not appear, 
I know no way to find Him half so we'l, 
A 3 by upmounting on faith’s citadel, 
To read there— God is here ! 
Written for Moore’a Enral New-Yorker. 
MI GLAND -PARENTS. 
PUNISHMENT OF THE KNOUT. 
WASHINGTON AT SCHOOL. 
Randall’s Common School System. — The 
collection of school laws made by the Hon. S. 
S. Randall, under authority of the Legisla¬ 
ture of 1851, and entitled “ Common School 
System,” is out of print. It is useless to ap¬ 
ply to this department for copies ; they can¬ 
not be had. 
To Town Superintendents .—All Town Su¬ 
perintendents coming into office, who have 
not communicated their names and post office 
addresses to this department, are requested to 
do so at once. 
There exists in many instances a marked 
discrepancy between the number of school 
houses and school districts in different towns, 
as enumerated in the census, and as reported 
by the Superintendents in July last. Circu¬ 
lars of inquiry have been directed to those 
officers to which immediate answers are re¬ 
quested ; as the undersigned will proceed to 
make the annual apportionment as soon as 
the requisite data are obtained. 
In June, the blanks for annual reports of 
trustees of school districts were duly forward¬ 
ed to the several county clerks. They were 
much altered from the blanks of previous 
years, being more explicit, and definitely ar¬ 
ranged with special reference to the reports 
of the Town Superinterdents. But it is sta- 
t&l that several County Clerks are distribu- 
«&g old blanks ; in which cases there must^ 
be made a second distribution immediately. 
The new blanks are more full, ard the fourth 
page is half covered with instructions. Each 
item is included in a single paragraph. It is 
easy to distinguish them. The blanks for 
joint districts are headed accordingly. It 
seems impossible to make a mistake. 
Public Money cannot be Divided without 
Authority .—It is held that when the inhabit¬ 
ants of a school district neglect to authorize 
the division of the public money allotted to 
such district into two portions, to be applied 
ore of them to each term of school, the trus¬ 
tees are directed by law to appropriate it for 
teachers’ wages, as the same shall become 
due ; and that they cannot under these cir¬ 
cumstances make out a rate-bill till the whole 
shall be thus expended, unless by some vote 
the division has been authorized as a matter 
. of regulation, and thus became a standing rule. 
Contracts, etc., by Trustees .—In employing 
teachers, making contracts, preparing tax lists 
and rate-bills, and every act not purely min¬ 
isterial, trustees should act jointly as a board. 
Those functions are deliberative, and cannot 
properly be delegated to one of their number; 
nor should one act singly with the expecta¬ 
tion that his colleagues will ratify what he 
shall have done. The three should meet and 
confer upon all questions relating to their 
official duty. 
Having no longer the benefit of a father's 
instructions at home, and the scope of tuition 
of Hobby, the sexton, being too limited for 
tho growing wants of his pupil, George was 
now sent to reside with Agustine Washing¬ 
ton, at Bridge's Creek, and enjoy the benefit 
of a superior school in that neighborhood, 
kept by a Mr. Williams. His education, 
however, was plain and practical. He never 
attempted the learned languages, nor mani¬ 
fested any inclination for rhetoric or belles 
lettres. His object, or the object of his 
friends, seems to have been confined to fitting 
him for ordinary business. His manuscript 
school books stili exist, and are models of 
neatness and accuracy. One of them, it is 
true, a ciphering book, preserved in the li¬ 
brary at Mount Vernon, has some school-boy 
attempts at calligraphy ; nondescript birds, 
executed with a flourish of the pen, or pro¬ 
files of faces probably intended for some of 
his schoolmates ; the rest are all grave and 
business like. Before he was thirteen years 
of age he had copied into a volume forms for 
all kinds of mercantile and legal papers ; bills 
of exchange, notes of hand, deeds, bonds and 
the like. This early self-tuition gave him 
throughout life a lawyer’s skill in drafting 
documents and a merchant’s exactness in 
keeping accounts, so that all the concerns of 
his various estates, his dealings with his do¬ 
mestic stewards and foreign agents, his ac¬ 
counts with government, and ail his financial 
transactions are to this day to be seen posted 
up in books iu his own handwriting, monu¬ 
ments of his method and unwearied accuracy. 
He was a self-disciplinarian in physical as 
well as mental matters, and practiced himself 
in all kinds of athletic exercises, such as run¬ 
ning, leaping, wrestling, pitching quoits, and 
tossing bars. His frame, even in infancy, 
had been large and powerful, and he now ex¬ 
celled most of his playmates in contests of 
agility and strength. As a proof of his mus¬ 
cular power, a place is still pointed out at 
Fredericksburg, near the lower ferry, where 
when a boy he flung a stone across the 
Rappahannock. In horsemanship, too, he 
already excelled, and was ready to back and 
able to manage the mo3t fiery steed. Tradi¬ 
tional anecdotes remain of his achievements 
in ihi3 respect. 
Above all, his inherent probity and the 
principles of justice on which he regulated all 
his condupt, even at this early period of his 
life, were soon appreciated by his school¬ 
mates ; he was referred to as an umpire in 
their disputes, and his decisions were never 
reversed. As he had been formerly military 
chieftain he was no legislator of the school; 
thus displaying in boyhood a type of the fu¬ 
ture man. 
Severity of punishment is always in in¬ 
verse ratio to ihe advancement of civilization. 
Corporal punishment, such as whipping, still 
lingers in certain cases among the most hu¬ 
mane people, but it is a relic of barbarism 
still clinging to a better code, like a spot of 
rust upon a surface of polished steel. Eng¬ 
land, for instance, applies the “ cat” to the 
backs of her delinquent soldiers, and U. S. 
Commissioner Loring of Boston, interprets 
the recently passed law abolishing flogging in 
our navy so as not to cover a case of beating 
with a rope’s end. 
Russia boast3 of having abolished from her 
penal code the infliction of the death penalty, 
but she substitutes punishments far more cruel 
and terrible ; banishment to the mines of Si¬ 
beria, beating with sticks as the victim 
marches with bare back between two files of 
soldiers, and punishment by the Knout.— 
This punishment is inflicted whe e, among 
other civilized nations, the penalty is death, 
and the criminal rarely survives infliction.— 
He is stretched upon a bench as seen in the 
figure, and Ike executioner wields an instru¬ 
ment of torture that coils around his body 
like hooks of iron, cutting into the flesh' at ev¬ 
ery turn like the edge of a knife. It is com¬ 
posed of a thong of thick leather, four or five 
yards long, cut in a triangular form, and fast¬ 
ened to a short handle. In Sear’s Illustrated 
History of Russia, it is asserted that so fear¬ 
ful an instrument is the Knout, that the exe¬ 
cutioner can break the victim’s back at a sin¬ 
gle stroke. "We have no heart or desire to go 
into details of such a punishment, but will 
substitute a single word in the exclamation of 
Madam Roland on the scaffold, and say: 
“ Ah Justice! how many crimes are commit¬ 
ted in thy name!” 
THE DOG’S VOICE. 
The world is more apt to reward appear - 
anees than deserts. 
The teacher is not always surrounded by 
sunshine in the school room. It is a phan¬ 
tom hope to expect to be. Sunshine, dark¬ 
ness aud shade alternate at almost stated 
intervals. Therefore, the teacher that em¬ 
barks in the responsible calling of the guid¬ 
ance and guardianship of the youthful mind, 
must certainly be qualified for the position, or 
he will fail, in the same proportion as he lacks 
qualification to discharge the duties of his 
rtrust.— Ex. 
The dog’s larynx (the upper part of the 
windpipe) has many peculiarities. It is very 
complicated, and exquisitely constructed.— 
Few persons have, perhaps, much attended to 
the notes of the animal’s voice ; but those 
who will observe the reunds, will find they 
take a range far more wide than is generally 
imagined. The dog’s voice is remarkably 
expressive, and to my ear it speaks very in¬ 
telligible music. The deep growl is not with¬ 
out variety—for, by the feeling of the animal 
that emits it, the note is always modulated. 
The rumble of expostulation the favorite 
gives utterance to, when the master pretends 
to take away its bone, does not resemble the 
rattle of joy with which the child’s playmate 
accompanies a game of romps. Both, how¬ 
ever, are distinct from the suppressed warning 
with which the watch dog announces the 
advancing stranger, or the sharp defiance by 
which he signifies his determination to attack. 
The bark, also, is not by any means mo¬ 
notonous, but is capable of infinite variety. 
The cries of the animal are remarkably mod¬ 
ulated ; but the soft and gentle sounds it can 
emit when inclined to coax its master, or 
answering to the excess of pleasure which his 
caresses create, are full of natural music. The 
dog’s voice is not to my ear less beautiful 
than the song of a bird; but more delightful, 
because it is more full of meaning." The 
nightingale has but one song, which it con- 
| stantly repeats. The cur has many tuneful 
1 notes, with which it responds to my attention. 
Music has been recognized in the tongues of 
the pack, but I have heard harmony more 
delightful from the hound in my home. I like 
to hear the dog’s voice, especially when not 
too loud ; and, having studied it, 1 have often 
wondered the animal did not speak. There 
can be but little doubt it would be able to 
frame words if it possessed the power to com¬ 
prehend their meaning ; but the Ijigh intelli¬ 
gence of the creature unfits it for parrot-like 
mimicry. If any physical incapacity exist, it 
is to be found rather in the formation of the 
mouth, than in the construction of the larynx, 
which presents no explanation of the dog’s 
inability to frame definable sounds like words. 
Scaling Turtles. —The tortoise-shell of 
commerce is merely the scales that cover the 
bony shield of the turtle. These scales are 
thirteen in number, varying from an eighth to 
a quarter of an inch in thickness. A large 
turtle will furnish about eight pounds. To 
detach this shell from the living animal is a 
cruel process, which it made my flesh creep to 
witness. The fishers d o not kill the turtles ; 
did they do so they in a few year3 would ex¬ 
terminate them. When the turtle is caught 
they fasten him and cover "his back with dry 
leaves or grass, to which they set fire. The 
heat causes the plates to separate at their joints. 
A large knife is then carefully inserted hori¬ 
zontally beneath them, and the laminae lifted 
from the back, care being taken not to injure 
the shell by too much heat, nor to force it off 
until the heat has fully prepared it for separa¬ 
tion. Many turtles die under this cruel ope¬ 
ration, but instances are numerous in which 
they have been caught a second time, with the 
outer coating reproduced; but in such cases, 
instead of thirteen pieces, it is a single piece. 
Had the poor turtle the power of shrieking 
they would have made that barren Island a 
very hell with their cries of torture.— Bard’s 
Adventures on the Mosquito Shore. 
s toner. 
For Moore’s Rural Naw-Yorker. 
MISCELLANEOUS ENIGMA. 
I am composed of 2-5 letters. 
My 7, 5, 17, 21 is both concave and convex. 
My 4, 20, 7, 8 is a pagan Deity. 
My 2, 24, 16, 12 is a point of compass. 
My 18, 15, 2, 11 is dregs. 
My 25, 23, 19, 17 is animation. 
My 22, 10, 20, 2 is bare. 
My 1, 13, 8, 5 is a circle. 
My 14, 6, 1, 18 is an Italian bird. 
My whole are three things which all should 
reverence. 
Leatherville, N. Y., 1S54. C. H. 
fffcp Answer next week. 
How often do I think of them, a3 I used to 
visit them in their quiet, pleasaut home but a 
few rods from my father’s house. There they 
had retired to spend the remnant of their 
days, away from the cares and anxieties of a 
pastoral life, for my grand-father was a min¬ 
ister of the gospel. 
Yes, he was a good man. In his younger 
days he enlisted as a soldier in the cause of 
Christ, and faithfully did he fight the “ good 
fight of faith.”^ But his warfare is ended, 
and he ha3 gone to his re3t. The warfare 
between the flesh and the spirit,—with .sin 
and temptation ,—13 finished. No more shall 
he strive against the powers of the'tempter ; 
the time for which the Christian hopes, when 
he shall be free from sin, has forlhim long 
since arrived. Those high and holy jaspira¬ 
tions which arise in the mind at time3, that 
fail to find utterance, even in the heart ’3 own 
language, and which we ourselves, in our 
present state of imperfection, are incapable of 
understanding, this, which tells me there is 
a state of existence beyond the present,—a 
state of perfection for the good and just—all 
this and these have been opened to his spirit’s 
view. The hidden mysteries of the mysterious 
mind, the perfection and glory of a wise Cre¬ 
ator, and ail the wonders within the pearly 
gates of heaven, are revealed to him. He as 
now in the enjoyment of God, of the holy 
angels, and of all the just made perfect. Oh, 
who does not long for heaven ? Surely, 
“I would not live alway—away from my God, 
Away from yon Leaven, that blissful abode.V 
And my grand-mother, too, has joined the 
company of the redeemed. For two years 
she mourned the loss of her beloved compan¬ 
ion, and then she passed away to the world of 
spirits, to be reunited to him whom she loved 
in her youth, and in age and death the same. 
Side by side in the quiet grave-yard, they 
peacefully slumber together, knowing naught 
of the ills of life, or the sorrows of the world. 
Of my grand-father it may be said, “ he 
rests from his labors and his works do follow 
him,” for “ many shall rise up to call him 
blessed,” and many an erring one whom he 
has directed to the Savior's feet, is now pro¬ 
claiming Christ crucified to a sinful world. 
He was instrumehtal in the conversion of 
many souls, and his labors have been univer¬ 
sally blessed. He will be remembered in the 
hearts of many when he will have been for¬ 
gotten by the world. 
Sometimes I think they are looking down 
from Heaven upon their unworthy grand¬ 
daughter, and watching over her and guiding 
her through this world below, to meet them 
in the better land. And then I think, why 
should their enjoyment be marred, by wit¬ 
nessing the transgressions of a wicked, sinful 
race. Although God has said that the saints 
in heaven shall be ministering angels, yet in 
my mind it is a mystery. Oh ! there are 
mysteries in the word of God, that is not for 
mortals to unravel. But they that are faith¬ 
ful shall become acquainted with the myste¬ 
rious things of God, when they shall stand 
redeemed at his right hand. 
On his tomb-stone, sacred to the memory 
of my beloved grand-father, are these words : 
“ They that be wise shall shine a3 the firma¬ 
ment, and they that turn many to righteous¬ 
ness as the stars, forever and ever.” 
York, November 3,1S55. Eliza 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM. 
Mathematics and Languages. —The study 
of the mathematics cultivates the reason; 
that of the languages at the same time the 
reason and the taste. The former gives pow¬ 
er to the mind ; the latter both power and 
flexibility. The former by itself would pre¬ 
pare us for a state of certainties which no 
where exists ; the latter, for a state of proba¬ 
bilities, which is that of common life.— La- 
Tiir.ee men bought a grindstone of fifty 
inches diameter. I wish to know how much 
of its diameter each must grind off to have 
equal shares, if one first grind his share and 
then the next, until the stone is ground 
away, making no allowance for the eye ? 
ffir Answer next week. 
Forgiveness of Injuries.— When some of 
the courtiers endeavored to excite Philip the 
Good to punish a prelate who had used him 
Ini a r >> La u tKot t 
ill—“ I know,” said he, “ that I can avenge 
myself; but it is a fine thing to have ven¬ 
geance in one’s power, and nos to use it.” 
Revenge is a common passion; it is the 
sin of the uninstructed. The savage deems it 
Answer to Biblical Enigma in No. 308 :— 
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of 
wisdom. 
noble; but Christ’s religion, which is the 
sublime civilizer, emphatically condemns it.— 
Why ? Because religion ever seeks to ennoble 
man, and nothing so debases him as revenge. 
God punishes in this life to do good. 
