ployment. A half dozen veteran teacher* of our 
own city have, from choice or necessity, within 
the past two years, gone into as rnauy different 
employments; one Is a physician, one a lawyer, 
one a book agent, one a lumber merchant, one a 
farmer, one an oil speculator, one a civil engi¬ 
neer; all of them are reasonably successful, and 
I have not the least doubt much healthier and 
happier than they were while running the eternal 
round in which they had already tread too long. 
In conclusion, do not suppose I underrate the 
dignity or the necessity of the profession ; but 
only urge men not to stay in it too long, until 
by holding on, it may be said of them, as it was 
of Banquo’s ghost, 
“ The time has been that when the brain was out 
The man would die; bat now they rise again 
With twenty mortal murders on their crowns, 
And pash us from our stools!” 
Rochester, N, Y. t Dec. 28,1865. 
ground with the face three inches outside the 
face of the brick walls, and the projection pro¬ 
tected by an extra wide water-table. 
Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker 
THE TEACHERS' PROFESSION. 
A GLOBE OF GOLD 
MY ‘ GOOD-FOR-NOTHING.” 
Mr. John Calvin Moss, of England, has 
started a new theory respecting the centre of the 
earth. He believes that the interior of our 
globe instead of being a vast, fiery ocean, is a 
solid mass of gold and platinum! Gold aud 
platinum, he argues, are the heaviest substances, 
and in the cooling of the earth would naturally 
sink from the surface towards the centre. One- 
fifth of the earth may therefore be composed of 
these metals—a globe four or five miles thick. 
Just think of it! What a pile of money! 
Enough to pay Undo Sam’s debt, and give us all 
a million apiece. How provident in nature to 
establish such a sinking fund, and how provi¬ 
dential that it should ho discovered just now, 
when we need it so much to pay off our national 
debt! • 
‘ “Certainly,” says Mr. Moss, with becoming 
gravity, “ no safer place for such a deposit could 
be found, than the heart, of the earth.” 
But We hope he does not imagine It, is safe 
there! Just let our oil borers get a hint of his 
theory and old mother earth will be bored as she 
never was before. They will tear her very heart 
out. The company that proposed to run a canal 
under all the oil wells, and drain off the whole at 
one swoop, will undoubtedly relinquish that 
enterprise, and strike straight for the earth’s 
centre. Petroleum will be nowhere. The “Great 
Central Golden Globe Company” will be imme¬ 
diately organized—ten thousand million shares 
at one dollar a share. .Just let us get at that 
great central globe, and gold will be a drug in 
the market. Greenbacks will go up two liuu- 
dred per cunt, premium, aud Uncle Sam will be 
iu funds. 
BY EMILY HUNTINGTON MILLER. 
BY PROF. EDWARD WEBSTER 
What are you good for, my bravo little man ? 
Answer that question for me, If you can— 
Ton, with your fingers as white an a nun, 
You, with your ringlets ua bright as the sun. 
All the day long with your busy contriving, 
Into all mischief and fhu you are driving• 
See if your wise little noddle can tell 
What you are good for, now ponder It well. 
Over the carpel, the dear little feet, 
Came with a patter to climb on my seat; 
Two merry eyes, full of frolic aud glee, 
Under their lashes looked up unto mo; 
Two little hands, pressing soft on my face. 
Drew me down close, in a loving embrace; 
Two rosy lips gave the answer so true— 
“ Good to love you momma; good to Iovo yoa, 
It is quite the fashion, especially in Teachers’ 
Institutes and animal conventions, to laud the 
profession and its devotees, and to lament the 
lack for it of public esteem and consideration. 
“It is a noble calling," say its eulogists—“ a 
path of glory obscured by clouds of vulgar pre 
judlce and of aristocratic di-esteem Toil and 
privation, pinched and ill-paid manhood, and a 
neglected and unlionored old age-if indeed old 
age comes to him at all—is the saddended story 
of the professional school-master.” 
And yet, with all these disadvantages, the life 
tenure arM life service is pressed upon its mem¬ 
bers as a vital precept in the teacher’s creed. No 
teaching for a brief period as a means to other 
ends—no hundred day men—no enlistment ex¬ 
cept for the war, is to bo tolerated. A life pro¬ 
fession or none at all must be accepted as a pass¬ 
word for admission to the inner temple. 
Now r at the risk of being considered heterodox 
I venture to dissent most emphatically from 
these • dogmas, and assert that no man—unless 
he die young-has any call or business to be a 
common school teacher all his days. It is a 
splendid school of discipline for a young man at 
the close of. or during the progress of his own 
academic career, to teach for a few years, in 
order to fix more firmly in his own mind the 
knowledge he 1ms been acquiring, and to give 
him skill and readiness to impart his own ideas 
to others; but when these ends have been at¬ 
tained, when, by successive classes passing over 
the same identical ground, the work loses its 
mental stimulus, and begins to be mechanical, 
then, unless a way is opened for him to take a 
higher grade of instruction (which only now and 
then occurs,) it is time for him to break the 
school-master’s tether and go Into some other 
business. Anything that is reputable; anything 
that brings him in contact with active adult in¬ 
tellect, and new and varied experiences will 
answer; so that he escapes from the seveu-by- 
nine routine of the tread-mill, in which ho has 
evidently begun to grind. 
Within the circle of my acquaintance I do 
not know a solitary instance of a school-master, 
who, after years of experience in the profession, 
either from choice or necessity has fallen on 
other employment, but has from the bottom of 
his heart blessed the day from which he dated 
his emancipation. Under these circumstances 
it may be asked why school-masters in our cities 
and villages cling so pertinuciouffiy to their 
places, even alter educational boards and the 
public desire to get rid of them ? That question 
is eusily answered. The 6chool-master feels a 
kind of terror at a leap in the dark; the change 
of a certainty for an uncertainty—the fear that 
he sliall iowe hU salary, poor though It be, and 
get in place of it, he knows not what. He has a 
family looking to him for bread which bis pay os 
a teacher furnishes, If nothing more; and he 
knows if unsuccessful In another sphere that 
bread will bo withdrawn. He sees his eo-laborcre, 
it may be, push off from the shore, buffeting the 
waves manfully and with success, while lie stands 
shivering on the brink, fearing to make the 
plunge, until possibly the hand of some preju¬ 
diced or unfriendly committee-man gives him an 
unkindly push, and leaves him to struggle In the 
tide or perish. Lucky will it be for him if he be 
not so far advanced in years as to have lost his 
health, intellect, or ambition; for the field of life 
is wide and its harvest ample, if he but thrust in 
the sickle and ply it vigorously 
“With a heart fqr any fate.” 
I knew a school-master once who fitted for 
another profession, but adopted teaching as a 
temporary expedient, and being quite successful 
pursued it; at first from necessity, then to gain 
a* little pecuniary headway in order to be more 
sure of a launch In his proposed career; then 
because he did not soo his way quite clear to 
strike his oar into the untried sea, then fVorn 
habit, constitutional timidity —and the Lord 
knows what! until the original intention faded 
more aud more, and he laid half made up his 
own mind to die in the harness, as he would 
certainly have done, and that right speedily, his 
health slowly but surely giving way. 
Some wise 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker, 
SNOW FLAKES. 
For Moore’B Rural New-Yorker, 
DWELLING HOUSE PLAN. 
There is poetry in the snow flake which fur¬ 
nished tho muses, both in ancient and modern 
times, with many an apt and truthful illustration. 
The waters of Helicon have figuratively been 
often crystalLzed Into snow flakes. Burns says 
of pleasures, among other comparisons— 
“ Or like the snow flukes on the river, § 
A moment white, then lost forever.” 
Piekrhpont likens the ballot, to 
“ A weapon thut cotnen down as still 
As snow flakes fall upon the sod ; 
But executes a freeman’- will 
As lightedux does the will of God!" 
BY .J. EDSON SWEET. 
As long as the argument is indisputable that 
there is more room iu a square house, in propor¬ 
tion to the amount of outside covering, than in 
one of almost any other form, a large majority 
of our well-to-do citizens, who - are about, to 
build, seem determined to follow the fashion 
and have a square house or none at all,—not¬ 
withstanding the advice of all good judges of 
art, and regardless of the additional cost such 
a course inevitably entails. As long as the pro¬ 
duction of something' now (whether better or 
worse than the old,) U the desire of the Ameri¬ 
can heart, we who love to bo called architects 
are compelled to exercise more frequently the 
genius of on inventor than the gift of the trne 
artist, and are constantly required to devise 
some new mode of squaring up the old stereo¬ 
typed dwolling house. 
SECOND STORY. 
A, Hall. B, B, B, Chambers. C. C, C, C, Closets. 
D, Stairway to Attic. K. E, Bed Rooms. F, Bath 
Room. G. Store Room. II, Balcony. 
The brick walls ore ten. inches thick, with a 
two Inch hollow, which, for all ordinary dwell¬ 
ings, will when well built be found not only dry 
and warm, but abundantly strong and durable. 
The ventilating flues being built by the side of 
the chimneys have a better draft than if built 
independent. 
WEALTH OF THE MORMONS 
Lieut-Gov. Bkoss, of Illinois, who has been 
visiting the Mormons, explains the source of 
their prosperity as follows: 
Within the lust few years they have grown 
wealthy. The sources of their riches are easily 
understood. During all the California emigra¬ 
tion, scores, and iu some years hundreds, aud 
even thousands, of emigrants would arrive at 
Salt Lake with their teams broken down, or half 
of them dead, and, therefore, unable to proceed. 
Of course, the Mormons were ready, in true 
Yankee style, to trade good animals for those 
that were about worn out, pocketing a hand¬ 
some difference in hard cash. In a few months 
at most, these broken down animals would be 
fat and sleek, aud Mr. Mormon elder was ready 
to trade with the next emigrant thut came along. 
Of course, many goods and provisions were sold 
to emigrants. Within the last four years there 
has been a great rush of emigration to Montana 
and Idaho, and the Mormons have been able to 
sell all their surplus grain aud provisions at 
fabulous prides. With Com at three to six dol¬ 
lars a bushel, and wheat at eight to ten dollars, 
u#d provisions of all kinds at proportionate 
figures, tho Mormons have become rich far 
sooner than other people upon tho continent. 
Now, the hundred thousand people of Utah 
give a tenth of all they produce to the church. 
Brigham Young and his elders are the church, 
and hence the untold wealth they have been able 
to place in. their coffers. Two of the merchants 
of Salt Lake assured us that their freight bills 
aloue would amount, during the present year, to. 
$150,000. 
8uow flakes in their more perfect .forms of 
crealization aro very beautiful; specimens of 
which are given herewith. They aro very deli¬ 
cate aud frail; a touch of the finger, a breath of 
the mouth, and the star goes out. Great benefit 
accrues to the earth in winter from its mantle of 
snow. The depth to which frost would pene¬ 
trate without it would render many a country, 
now fruitful, a was^e and a desolation. Thia 
protection results, not from the snow being 
warm, but from its non-conducting proportion, 
which prevent the accumulated warmth of sum¬ 
mer escaping into the frigid atmosphere. Not 
unfrequently iu our own latitude, when the tem¬ 
perature of.the outer air is down to zero, the 
earth beneath tho snow Is destitute of frost, even 
when before tho snow had fallen the ground was 
like a rock for several inches deep; the heat 
below thawing tho crust, while the snow keeps it 
from escaping further. 
The freezing of ice aud enow sets free a vast 
amount of caloric which was latent in the water, 
and absorbs it again when the returning sun 
comes back with its vernal rays. This system of 
compensation tempers the severity of winter, 
and prevents In turn a too sudden revulsion to 
the summer heats. 
TREATMENT OF FISH, 
FIG. 4—FLAN OF FRONT DOOR AND PART OF VERANDA. 
Figure 4 Is au enlarged view of the front door 
and a part of tho front veranda. Tho style of 
finish appears to belong to that class of scroll- 
saw “ flumcdiddle ” work, of which there has 
been altogether too much done, but was con. 
structcd’of much thicker stuff than that com- 
monly.used, and every piece made to serve the 
purpose its appearance would indicate. The 
same may be said of tho cornice which is shown 
in Fig. 5. The brackets rest on the brick pro¬ 
jection and were set and secured in the walls 
when the brick work was laid, and the cornice 
built on the brackets, rather than, as is often tho 
case, the brackets hung up under the cornice. 
As there are many pet gold fish in our city, 
for the benefit of those who are uneducated as to 
the proper treatment, we oopy tho following 
rules from a long article credited to the Sixpenny 
Magazine:—When purchasing a globe, procure 
as wide-mouthed One as possible, and subse¬ 
quently let it, never be more than three parts full of 
wuter. Keep the globe iu the most airy part of 
the room, never letting it be Iu the sun or near 
the lire. Change the water daily, handle the fish 
tenderly while doing so. Some persons when 
changing use a small net, some the hand. Never 
give the fish any food; all they require when in 
the globe is plenty of fresh air and fresh water. 
They will derive sufficient nutriment from the 
animalcule confined In the water. 
Make a Beginning.— Remember, in all things, 
that if you do not begin you will never come to 
an end. The first weed pulled up in the gardea, 
the first seed in the ground, the first shilling put 
in the savings bank, the first, mile traveled on a 
journey, are ull important things; then make a 
beginning, and thereby a hope, a promise, a 
pledge, an assurance that you are in earnest with 
what you have undertaken. How many a poor, 
idle, erring, hesitating outcast is now creeping 
and crawling through the world, who might 
have held up his head and prospered, if, instead 
of putting oil’ his resolutions of industry aud 
amendment, he had only made a beginning! 
FIG. 5—PLAN OF CORNICE. 
Numbers of 
people kill their gold fish by giving them pieces 
of bread. Whenever a fish seems unhealthy, 
place It by itself for a few days; you will then 
see if the fungus will make Its appearance—if 
not, the fish may be returned to the globe. 
or unwise action in the powers 
above him, made a change necessary, seated a 
successor iu his professional chair, and gave him 
an unwilling opportunity to try his hand in the 
original career. 
“When I was assured my place was gone,” 
said he, “strange as it may seem, to you, and 
strange as it now seems to mo, I experienced a 
sinking of the heart such as I never experienced 
before! I did not shut my eyes to sleep that 
night, aud a feeling of uncertainty lqr the future, 
not uumiugled with pain at what seemed to be 
an unkind and an uncalled for change in the 
administrat ion of affairs, made me indescribably 
wretched. I put tho school house in condition 
next day, culled in the school authorities to wit. 
ness that all things were done decently and iu 
order, and then, in company with mf successor, 
locked the door, and handing him the key, thus 
turned in the street and apostrophized the ven¬ 
erable structure, rendered really dear by many 
pleasing and many paiufnl associations: 
“Good bye, old School House! If I were as 
sure of Gon’s approval on all other actions of 
my life as I am of my fidelity to you, I should 
have less anxiety a« to the final settlement of the 
great account!” And my successor reverently 
said “ Amen l” 
This experience of others teaches me the 
heterodox opinions herein stated; that a man 
ought not to teach a common school all his days; 
that after a few years lie should for his own sake 
give place to younger and fresher material, and 
take position in an active business or other em- 
To Young Men.— Two young men commenced 
the sail-making business at Philadelphia. They 
bought a lot pf duck from Stephen Girard om 
credit, and a friend hud engaged to endorse for 
them. Each caught a roll aud was carrying it 
off, when Girard remarked: 
“ Had you not better get a dray ?” 
“No; It is not tar. and we can carry it our¬ 
selves.” 
“ Tell your friend he needn’t endorse your note. 
I'll take it without.” 
AN UNHEALTHY HOUSE, 
A dark house is always an unhealthy house, 
always an ill-aired house, always a dirty house. 
Want of light stops growth, aud promotes scrof¬ 
ula, rickets, etc., among children. People lose 
their health in a house, and if they get ill, they 
cannot get well again In it. Three, out of many 
negligences and ignorances in managing tho 
health of houses generally, I will here mention, 
as epociiygns. First, that the female head in 
charge or any building does not think it neces¬ 
sary to visit every hole and corner of it evfcry 
day. Second, thut it is not considered essential 
to air, to sun, and to clean rooms, while unin¬ 
habited. Third, one window is considered 
enough to air a room.— Florence Nightingale. 
Two Ears, Two Eyes, Two Hands. —Yoa 
have two cars, aud only one mouth. Learn 
from this to listen much, and to speak little. 
You have two eyes, and only one mouth.— 
Learn to observe more than you talk. You hare 
two hands to work with, and only one mouth t» 
eat. Learn to work more than you eat. 
Think touch, and tisc hands, cars aud eyes; 
But little speak, if you be wise. 
Were a man every’ day to throw a purse of 
money, or even a single guinea, into the sea, he 
would be looked upon as a madman, and his 
friends wonld soon confine him for such- But a 
man who throws away that which is of more 
value than goid, than mines, than the whole 
world, even his health, his peace, his time, and 
his soul—such an one is often admired, esteemed, 
and applauded by the greater part of mankind.— 
Topladij. 
Section of Bracket , A, B. 
» m 
The Dubuque Daily Times says “ ‘ The 
Little Corporal,’ published In Chicago, Ill., by 
Alfred L. Sewell, is universally admitted to 
be the best child’s paper now in existence.’' 
As it costa but one dollar it would be a grand 
Holiday Gift. 
This, to one who prizes the genuine above the 
counterfeit, is a matter of some importance. All 
the work was done extra well, but In no elabo¬ 
rate or extravagant manner, and the whole cost 
was about four thousand dollars. 
| .Syracuse, N. Y., December, 1865. 
