MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
[Written for the Rural New-Yorker.] 
TII15 COCHINEAL, 
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL, 
The Cochineal of Commerce has m 
the appearance of a seed or grain; 
and few persons who are unacquaint- / / 
ed with the natural history of the / Sp 
article which is the principal ingre- ^Pj 
(]iet)t in all of our most brilliant dyes, 
would, on inspection, believe it to be 
a member of the animal, instead of 
the vegetable kingdom. But so it is, 
and millions of pounds of these mi¬ 
nute insects are reared and sacrificed, 
made an important article of com¬ 
merce, and sold in the various marts 
of t he whole civilized world, in order 
to gratify the eye of man. 
Two members of the lower animal creation 
plawimportant parts in ministering to human 
Luxury and pride, viz., the silk worm and the 
Cochineal fly;-—the former in spinning the 
thread of all our most costly textile fabrics, 
and the latter in giving them their brilliancy of 
hues, from the flaming scarlet, the brilliant or¬ 
ange, and the blushing crimson, to the delicate 
pink, and the pale-tinted rose. All these col¬ 
ors, in their infinite variety of shade, as wqII as 
all others where a tinge of red enters as a 
component, are made from Cochineal. 
The insect is obtained from Mexico and the 
neighboring countries, and is raised on a tree 
of the Cactus family, on the juice of which it 
feeds. When the insects arc properly matured, 
Eos. Rural :—Incidents of travel upon the 
great thoroughfares of our country, have fur¬ 
nished ample themes for the “ pen of the ready 
writer,” until now there is scarcely a city, 
thriving village, or enchanted spot to be met 
with upon the line of a railroad, navigable 
river, or canal, but what has, in fancy, been 
repeatedly placed before the gaze of all news¬ 
paper readers in the country, and thus become 
to them almost as “ familiar as household 
words.” In complying with a request of yours, 
on leaving the dust and noise of the city, to 
transmit to you occasional notes of travel, 1 
will not “ bore ” your readers with a lengthened 
account of everything that drew my attention 
at the far-famed Falls of Niagara and vicinity 
—what might be said of a trip through on the 
Great Western Railroad, passing through 1 let- 
Majesty’s Dominions from Niagara Falls to 
Windsor, opposite Detroit, nor yet what can¬ 
not fail to interest the eye of every traveler 
who passes through on the M. C. R. R. to 
Chicago. Literally, there is “ nothing new un¬ 
der the sun” to be said about these # oft-fre¬ 
quented routes, and their associations. 
Remaining at the city of Chicago for a few 
days, gave me an opportunity.to witness how 
business is done in this great emporium of the 
West. Without the hurry and bustle usually 
attending the transaction of business in many 
of our Eastern cities,— implicitly obeying the 
old adage, “ hasten slowly,”—every movement 
indicates the transportation of heavy burdens. 
I could but think, while walking the thronged 
streets, and seeing the teeming population, how 
grand is the thought that here, upon the very 
roots of the primitive forests, lias suddenly 
sprung up a vast metropolis, whose pulsations 
are felt to almost the fartherest verge of our 
continent! With her commerce upon the wa¬ 
ters, her railroads, her internal resources, and 
the fine rich country around, Chicago is des¬ 
tined tb have few rivals among t^s. 
TtlAtb.'A'he steamboat at evening, the next 
morning we were, safely mooijuv . ihc harbor 
of Grand Haven, at the mouth of Grand River. 
We were not long m stepping from the cabin 
of the Pacific to that of the little river steamer 
Michigan, and soon were plowing the smooth 
waters of the river. The width ,of the stream 
gave a fine opportunity t.o view the scenery 
upon both sides. The boughs/ of the beach, 
maple and elm skirting the shores, bent down 
as if to embrace the bright glassy waters; and 
the dense foliage, with its variety of hues, 
changing from time to time by the gentle winds 
! and glancing sun-light, possessed a richness, a 
luxuriance, I never remember to have witnessed 
before. To one who, during the long, dreary 
winter, had been shut in by high walls of brick 
and mortar, you can well imagine how enchant¬ 
ing was the scene all along the river course.— 
Occasionally, upon the sloping bank, is to be 
seen a little quiet village, with its church and 
school-house, and many indications of improve¬ 
ment and growth. At night-fall we arrived at 
the little city of Grand Rapids. This city, 
with us, would be honored with no higher ap¬ 
pellation than that of a village, notwithstand¬ 
ing it has its Charter, Mayor, Aldermen, &c. 
It numbers nearly 5,000 inhabitants, and is 
rather pleasantly situated at the rapids of 
Grand River, which are about a mile in length. 
With its fine fruitful country around, its im¬ 
mense water-power, and facilities for commu¬ 
nication with larger cities on the lake coast, it. 
will doubtless, in process of time, become no 
inconsiderable city. Navigation is quite as 
effectually stopped here, as at the rapids of the 
Sault St. Mary’s, and a Sloop-canal was con¬ 
templated and partially built around the rapids, 
but for want of means, or some other as good 
reason, has been abandoned. 
Stepping on board another little steamer, 
above the rapids, we passed through the midst 
. of as fine scenery as the day before, and what, 
with slow sailing and occasional stopping along 
: the shore, “ to take on ” and “ let oil'” passen¬ 
gers, it was nearly night when we arrived at 
: Ionia. From this place you may hereafter 
, hear from me again. s. a. e. 
Ionia, June, 1854. 
[ For the Rurcil New-Yorker.] 
TRUST IN GOD. 
rWritten for Moore’s Rttral New-Yorker.] 
One of the greatest errors in the erection of 
School Houses, is the selection of the proper 
sites. In the first place, they are almost uni* 
Bfrsally too small, and very often chosen with* 
HLuny regard t.o adaptation 1o the purpose 
iLhich they are to be employed. Frcquent- 
A^fcy are located in an angle where two 
cross, so that, a considerable portion ol 
■ i^fnfenced “lot” belongs rightfully to the 
V YWic,” and that important, personage gen- 
usurpsthe right to complete the triangle, 
the ^liape of a 
iad to the 
I trust in Thee, 
Father of life ! Thou great and glorious one, 
The shadow of thy wing is over me, 
And terror there is none. 
Why should i fear? 
My God who on the stormy billow t ides, 
Gives the glad sunshine and the calm, to cheer, 
And the lone bubble guides. 
No harm can come, 
Thy hand o’erruletli all things for my good, 
That hand which guides the sparrow to its home, 
And gives the raven food. 
When earth is drear, 
When sickness lays her hand upon my brow, 
Thy voice, 0 heavenly comforter. I hear, 
Like music soft and low. 
[THE COCIIIXF.AI,.] 
they are killed by pouring over them boiling 
water, or by roasting them on plates of iron. 
After being thoroughly dried, the insect is 
packed for the trade. Immense quantities of 
this dye-stuff are used, both in Europe and the 
United States, in silk and carpet manufactories. 
The belle who, in a five hundred dollar 
shawl of Canton crape, promenades Broad¬ 
way, captivating the hearts and turning the 
heads of fools and coxcombs by the magnifi¬ 
cence of the display, does not, perhaps, know 
enough of natural history and the mechanic 
arts, to understand that all the costly parapher¬ 
nalia is manufactured out of the shroud of a 
crawling worm, and dyed with the life-blood of 
an immolated bug. 
I ienuse in 
from/on?! ro: 
this done, and a School 
Jl^be, erected, it is seen 
Pftive at first, lias grown 
md beautifully less.” I he 
i the triangle aforesaid, 
ve must ascertain as in 
s, by its loss of weight in 
ally surrounded by, some*’! 
hat liquid, which is alwaysf 
e is as narrow and limited 
ledge of physiology. It is 
n whatever for ventilation, 
e constructed in the best 
ring the seeds of consump- 
;h a poor stove and poorer 
b teacher, who is expected 
inst ignorance and vice, or 
after t heir entrance. Here 
with forty urchins, “ morevor less,” of all ages, 
classes and conditions — “black spirits and 
blue, green spirits and gray”—here, in this 
heterogeneous mass, he is expected to bring 
order out of chaos—to build upon this basis a 
temple of knowledge, glorious as that ot King 
Solomon of old, and that too “without the 
sound of any tool whatever. Here, undei 
these adverse circumstances, he is expected to 
make great advancement up the ladder ol 
learning—rapid strides up the hill of science 
In the lone night, 
When darkness spreads her wings from pole to pole, 
What visions of unspeakable delight 
Flow in upon my soul 1 
In lowly prayer, 
When heart and soul how 'neath thy searching glance, 
Some angel-wings my spirit seem to hear 
Upward in holy trance. 
And then I know, 
Thy chastening hand is stretched out in love. 
The thorny hedge guards from the gulf below, 
The sky is bright above. 
For every tear, 
Which sorrow wrings, the patient soul shall win 
Au added gem, in that bright crown to wear, 
When freed from earth and sin. 
Then Holy One 1 
Be still my stay—to Thee my cry is given, 
Gird up my soul, till the bright rest is won, 
The glorious rest of Heaven. 
New Haven, June, 1854. 
PHILOSOPHICAL LECTURES. 
[For Moore’s Rural New-Yorker.] 
You have all observed, I have no doubt, 
boys, your mothers’ tea-kettle boiling on the 
hob. Before it arrives at the boiling point, 
how it sings, and shakes, and sighs, as if some 
demon-spirit was confined within, and was 
striving to get loose. It is a curious perform¬ 
ance, and many of you have speculated upon 
the cause. 
Everybody loves him. That is, everybody 
that knows him. lie is an apprentice boy, 
abont sevenjs*!, ’/eafsof a|£ 
widow , and of course/ has not. a large circle of 
acquaintances. But he is a modest, quiet- hot, 
industrious, and faithful to his employer, who 
confides in him, knowing that his work will lie 
as faithfully performed in his absence as in his 
presence. His evenings are spent at home; 
he is fond of books,— not light, trashy novels, 
which dissipate without informing or strength¬ 
ening the mind,— but histories, biographies, 
travels, popular scientific works, religious me¬ 
moirs, and treatises. Jlis Bible lies constantly 
on his table, and a portion of it is perused 
every day. 
From his active daily labors, he finds in 
these rest, recreation and enjoyment. 11 is 
Sabbaths are to him days of rest, hut not of 
idleness. He has a little class in the Sabbath 
School, and he is interested and delighted in 
instructing them. His bright face is always 
seen in the accustomed place in the sanctuary, 
and he is always cheerful, famishing a model for 
a picture of quiet, peaceful enjoyment. His 
widowed mother lays her hand upon Ins head, 
and smoothes his glossy hair, with maternal 
pride and comfort, for lie promises to i>e the 
support and solace of her declining years.— 
There is a smile for him on every face, and 
every eye grows brighter when he'ciiiers the 
home his presence always makes happier,— 
all who know him love him. 
I know another youth, a little older. He, 
too, is an apprentice, and his mother a widow. 
He hurries from his work in the evening, and 
mutters his impatient displeasure if his supper 
is a little delayed, because lie is in haste to be 
out again among his companions. He is reck¬ 
less and boisterous,— has no taste for reading, 
beyond an occasional glance at a newspaper, 
and his evenings are uniformly passed in the 
streets, and as often as he can get the means, in 
the theatre. His conversation is always low 
and vulgar, often obscene, und generally inter¬ 
spersed with profanity. He thinks it manly to 
be able to toss off a glass of liquor at a tavern- 
bar,— affects the bully, and often threatens 
to tight. He delights in rude and mischievous 
pranks, and finds pleasure in tormenting others, 
— helps to “make night hideous ’ with his 
boisterous laugh, his ribaldry and blasphemy, 
and at a late hour he seeks lii^ lied, more 
wearied by his amusements, than hydrin labor. 
His work indeed, is irksome to him, and fre¬ 
quently neglected or slighted. His Sabbaths 
are gala-days, being spent upon wild excursions, 
or in roving the streets in search of amusement* 
His mother’s heart is oppressed whenever she 
thinks of his wayward life, for he is no coinin't 
to her now, nor is there any probability that he 
ever will be. His home, never happy, is more 
wretched when he is in it. For, boisterous as 
is his mirth in the street, at home he is grum¬ 
bling and sullen. 11 e is cauterizing all his social 
affections, leaving uncultivated his intellectual 
The good done by the evening school can¬ 
not be estimated. Those in attendance were 
au interesting class of our population. 
They were young persons whose circumstan¬ 
ces compelled them to labor through the day, 
and they were engaged as clerks, apprentices, 
journeymen, &c. A large number were for¬ 
eigners, some of whom, at the commencement 
of the school, could not read, nor scarcely 
speak a word of English. They commenced 
with the alphabet, determined to know some¬ 
thing of the rudiments of the English language. 
They lost not a moment by idleness or iuat- 
aention, and at the close of the school, many 
of them could read with considerable facility. 
They learned the first principles of the lag« 
guage, and judging from their often expressed ] 
gratification and zeal, they will continue when 
away from school to employ their leisure time 
tu study. Others speaking no language belt 
jJUdi’ -weits scarcely toss advanced in the 
Biliinents of education. The evening school 
ftforded them opportunities never before cn- 
SjVyed, which they diligently improved, and 
seemed highly to appreciate. Reading, spell¬ 
ing, writing, geography, and arithmetic, were 
the principal branches taught. A few, whose 
advantages had heretofore been better, pursued 
a higher class of studies. 
Aside from the intellectual culture, and the 
moral training received by the attendants of 
the school, its effect in withdrawing this por¬ 
tion of our juvenile population from tempta¬ 
tions to evil, is a consideration of no small mo¬ 
ment. A majority of the 4U0 scholars regis¬ 
tered in the evening school, had they not been 
in attendance upon it, would have spent their 
evenings in the streets, and at various places of 
resort, where evil, and only evil, would be 
learned. The better faculties of their nature 
would be crushed out by the vicious examples 
around them, and the seeds of vice allowed to 
become so strongly rooted, that it would be 
next to impossible to eradicate them, and plant 
a desire for virtue and intelligence. 
In a city like this, there will always be per¬ 
sons of school age situated like those mention¬ 
ed, unable to attend a day school, and yet wil¬ 
ling and anxious to learn, and it is most devout¬ 
ly to be hoped, that tiiose who shall succeed 
the present Board, will follow the example so 
auspiciously commenced this season, and pro¬ 
vide evening schools for all, otherwise deprived 
of educational facilities, who can be induced to 
attend them. If the present Board has taken 
advance steps in the cause of education, the 
establishment of the evening school must be 
regarded as the noblest of them all. 
The steam is generated fro-yq the 
water in contact with the hot meta'iifc surface; 
and then as it rises.towards the surface, is con¬ 
densed by the water above r .ioi yet'rrused to a 
boiling point. This produces a' partial vacu¬ 
um, and is the cause of the commotion in the 
fluid. Look at ‘..las glass llask, under which I 
have set a spirit lamp; Bee how the bubbles 
the wafer boils, and look 
at th /white cloPn which you call steam, as it 
rushes out ol the lube. Close down to the 
mouth or the tube you can see no steam, but 
as it passes further and further away, the col¬ 
umn of vapor grows larger and whiter, until 
it forms a cloud, and then scatters and mixes, 
and becomes invisible in the air. Is it lost, do 
you suppose? Is the water I have boiled 
away destroyed or annihilated? No; it has 
only changed its form, and passed off into the 
atmosphere in the form of vapor, from whence 
it will return again to the earth in the shape 
of dew or rain. 
The cloud of vapor which you see issuing 
from the tube—the spout of a tea-kettle, if 
you please to call it such—is not steam after 
it becomes visible, but water in minute parti¬ 
cles. Steam is as transparent as air, and can 
no more be seen than 
If a locomotive 
boiler could have a shell of glass, we could see 
inside, above the water, only what appears to 
be an empty space; and yet there would be a 
body of steam in that apparently empty space, 
so densely compressed, that it requires seventy 
pounds on every square inch of the boiler shell 
to confine the steam. If the iron plate of 
which the boiler is composed should prove 
weaker than that, it would be torn to rags, 
killing aud wounding all within its reach. 
You see this hollow iron ball. If I should 
fill it half full of water, stop up the orifice, and 
then throw it into the stove, it would be blown 
to pieces, as it would be by so much gunpow¬ 
der. It would not be necessary for us to seek 
egress at the doors or windows, for there 
would be none left in the room, nor would 
there be any occasion for us to repeat the 
philosophical experiment. Steam is a potent 
agent for the execution of human purposes, 
but it is a demon that must be bound in strong 
fetters; but the stronger they are, when he 
does break them, then the more terrible will be 
the slaughter he producea It is an excellent 
servant when kept under control, but confined in 
fetters which it can snap asunder with the exer¬ 
tion of its wonderful strength, it scatters 
death and destruction in all direetiona The 
caution which one of our poets gives when 
assuming to speak for steam, is truthful to the 
EVENING SCHOOLS, 
The following extract from the Annual Re¬ 
port of the Superintendent of our city Schools 
R. D. Jones, Esq., illustrates forcibly the ad¬ 
vantages to be derived from the establishment 
of evening schools, as auxiliary to the day 
school, for the purpose of disseminating the 
blessings of education among that class of 
persons who have neither the time nor the 
ability to devote the day to purposes of intel¬ 
lectual culture; to these the value of the even¬ 
ing school is inestimable: 
Seven teachers, on an average, were employ¬ 
ed in the Evening School, which closed on the 
27th of February, having been taught four 
months. The amount paid for teachers for 
this school, was $5(54. Other expenses, inclu¬ 
ding gas fixtures, gas, &c., about $311, making 
the expenses of the evening school, $875. 
The whole number of scholars that attended 
the evening school, was 400. Average attend¬ 
ance, 250. 
The experiment of establishing an evening 
■ d eminently successful. At 
it, it was doubted by some 
aid be a sufficient number of 
to attend, to occupy the time 
Almost immediately, it was 
acher could not successfully 
idmittance, and other teaoh- 
ed. The number of pupils 
1, until the several rooms in 
iccupicd, were filled to 1 heir 
At the close of the school,' 
umber of scholars in atteud- 
TEACHERS’ INSTITUTES. 
The history of these institutions in our Sfate 
is full of instruction. A law was passed in 
1847, appropriating sixty dollars to each 
county in the State, ou its compliance with 
certain regulations. Prior to that, they had 
been held with the best of success in a large 
number of counties. But the abolition of the 
office of county superintendent, and the excite¬ 
ment incident on the passage of the free school 
law, had a tendency to detract from their in¬ 
terest and usefulness. Another cause ol' their 
decline was the difficulty of securing compe¬ 
tent men to conduct them. All of these influ¬ 
ences would have been counteracted, however, 
if teachers themselves had kept up their inter¬ 
est. . The flagging of their zeal was the real 
cause of the decline. 
< But a new interest is springing up. Teach¬ 
ers have done much within the last two years 
in advancing their cause; and now, are they 
not ready to revive institutes? The legislature 
have made the appropriation for the ensuing 
year, and will undoubtedly continue it if the 
money is well used. , Now is the time for ac- 
tion. A bill was passed in 1847, and upon 
which the present appropriation is bused.— 
Though its provisions tkre quite stringent., they 
can be followed to the flutter, if the proper ef¬ 
fort be pat forth.— Y. Teacher. 
The Seventeen-year Cycle. —The seven¬ 
teen-year period is one of the most important 
in the animal world. Epidemics are known to 
recur at this period, the cholera being one of 
these. In 181G-17 it commenced its ravages 
in India; it was prevalent in Europe in 1832-33, 
and again in 1848-49. Humboldt mentions a 
similar cycle as having been observed in South 
America, in the prevalence of the small-pox. 
In the United States locusts have appeared 
every seventeen years in large quantities, con¬ 
currently with the epidemical diffusion of chol¬ 
era, namely, in 1832 and 1849. There is a 
species of Cicada which has its trivial name 
from its periodical recurrence at this interval of 
time, the C. septemdecem punctata.—Quar 
ierly Ilevieto. 
“ But harness me down with your iron bands, 
Bo sure of your curb and rein ; 
.Vor I scorn the strength of your puny hands, 
As the tempest scorns the chain I” 
At the sea shore women bathe by them¬ 
selves; they are clothed with a long robe which 
conceals them from their own looks; but in the 
evening you encounter at the balls, these same 
women, just sufficiently covered to cause the 
remark how little they are covered; so that 
.[hey have the appearance of dressing to go to 
the bath, und of undressing to go to a ball.— 
Montt^dfif Fashion. 
Prepare yourself for the world, as the ath¬ 
letic used to do for their exercises; oil your 
mind and your manners, to give them the nec¬ 
essary suppleness and flexibility; strength alone 
will not do.— Chesterfield. 
Trifles make perfection, but perfection itself 
is no trifle. —Michael Angelo. 
