Advices from Santo Domingo to January l, 
report that the treaty with Hayti has been rati¬ 
fied. In future all duties are to be paid three- 
quarters in gold and the remainder In Govern¬ 
ment bonds. 
It is proposed to send out expeditions from 
India to Benlinck Island and the Andaman 
Islands to observe the eclipse of the sun in 
April next. 
Advices from Cape Town to the 16th of De¬ 
cember report that the country had been vis¬ 
ited by a terrible storm. The wind blew a hur¬ 
ricane, and unprecedentedly disastrous floods 
prevailed. Many vessels were wrecked. Im¬ 
mense damage was done to property on both 
land and water. 
Active operations arc to be resumed against 
Don Carlos, the Government having ascer¬ 
tained that he has determined on a vigorous 
prosecution of the war notwithstanding the 
restoration of the monarchy. 
Prince Bismarck has Intimated to Spain that 
recognition of King Alfonso will bo deferred 
by the German Government, until the decree 
suspending two Protestant newspapers and 
closing the Protestant chapel in Cadiz is re¬ 
pealed. 
The brig Agnes Raymond was lost with all 
on board at White Island, thirty miles from 
Halifax, on Thursday week. 
The Princess Galltzln, a near relative of the 
Orloffs, and one of the belle* of the Russian 
colony in Paris, Is going tore-marry w ! th Count 
Aresa, an Intimate friend of Napoleon III. 
Lord Lyons, the English Embassador In Paris, 
is declared to be the best dinner-giver in the 
French capital. He introduced the English 
fashion of giving music during dinner—a 
fashion that is now copied by all the best 
dinner-givers In Paris. 
Mine. MacMahon received as an rtrenne from 
the ladies of Saint Pierre, near Calais, a basket 
tilled with almost every kind of lace that is 
made In that place. Most of the manufactur¬ 
ers there are English, still retain their English 
customs, and speak French with an English 
accent. 
for the winter months. Our largest snows 
came on the 18th and 27th of November, but 
toon vanished Into the sot!, and we have been 
moving around dryshod ever siacc. The people 
here are herding their cattle and sheep on the 
prairies, and some, who have but few, are 
letting them graze on their grain. We feel 
flattered over the favorable prospects of wheat 
culture in this part- of the country ; also ef rye, 
oats, and barley. We are inclined to think our 
winter wheat, here, will make as good flour as 
that obtained by our old friend “ Dally Rural- 
lst," up beyond Denver. Wo are not quite so 
high up in the world as Denver, and although 
we are above high water mark we do not have 
to irrigate. Our fall grains always mature in 
advance of drouth, bugs, or locusts, and as our 
last crop may more than double in acreage and 
better in condition than was ever koown in this 
country, we will j'rnbably, by the middle of 
Jane, forget the pestiferous visitation of the 
past summer.—F. M. 0. 
Rente, Oneida Co., IV. V., Jan. 11.—Cold, 
yes very cold, but pleasant this morning. Wu 
have just passed through a very cold wind 
storm from the west, roads all full, but to-day 
the sun is shining brightly and the prospect Is 
it will be warmer again. Not a single team or 
person passed on the road yesterday. Your 
correspondent, however, went to church in 
town, three miles; not a single team or person 
there from the country to our church, and but, 
one to any other church In town, so far as I 
know'. The storm began on Saturday about 
noon; that la, the wind storm from the west. 
There Is little doing this winter. Hay Is being 
used up rapidly Ibis cold weather and is worth 
in market from $13 to $15 per tan; corn. 00 cts. 
per bush, of (10 II)*.; oats, 65 to 00 cts.; potatoes 
same price; wheat, very little raised In this 
section for sale—worth $1.25 per bush.; apples, 
very plenty—worth $1.50 to $2 per bbl. Cheese 
dairying is the great, interest in this county and 
that has been good the past year.- j. T. 
McPherson Co., Kamo,*. —The weather ail 
through December was pleasant. Some plow¬ 
ing has been done, but the ground is frozen 
now. Winter wheat looks very promising and 
people are getting hopeful once more. The 
many who have been made destitute by the 
grasshopper raid are receiving aid—some from 
friends, and some from Relief Societies. A 
quantity of army clothing has been received 
from the TT. S. Government. The greatest difli 
culty will be to get stock through, not in good 
order, but if the breath of life can bo kept in 
their bodies it Is about all wo can expect. It is 
pitiful t.o think of the poor stacks of bones that 
will be turned out to grass next spring, and 
hard will the winter be for the poor tilings that 
have no shelter. Winter wheat is $1 per bu.; 
spring wheat, 80 cts.; oats, 80 ots.; corn not to 
be had.—Mrs. S. A. 
Harper’)! Ferry, JelT. Co., Went Virginia.— 
Our summer was a very dry one, and our fall, 
and the winter so far, lias been most, delightful. 
Wo have had two light snows, and but very 
little rain. The Shenandoah River, on the 
banks of which wo reside, and the Potomac, 
near by, aro very low. Our wheat crop, though 
not a heavy one, was the best we have made 
for the last three or four y ears. Our corn crop 
was below an average ; and owing to the drouth 
and the ravages of the Colorado bug, the pota¬ 
to crop was much below an average one. Upon 
the whole we have great cause to be thankful, 
as we have abundance for man and beast, and 
some to spare.-j. a. it. 
tlollftml, Ottawa Co., Michigan, Dec. 30.— 
The past season was fair for most crops. Hay 
$13.00 per ton; corn 70c. per bushel, shelled; 
potatoes 65c. per bushei. Butter26c. per pound. 
There is much complaint of hard times, espe¬ 
cially by those who live beyond their means, 
and also by those who trust everybody for the 
sako of getting their custom. Laud has dimin¬ 
ished in value the past few years, partly be¬ 
cause it has been held at prices greater than it 
was worth, for the double purpose of extortion 
and of preserving the “ historical associations" 
of the place intact.— Observer. 
A severe explosion of ga* took placo in one 
of the basements of the Park Hotel, Beekman 
and Nassau streets, N. Y., severely burning two 
girls and a man. 
It is reported at Fort Laramie that Captain 
Henry has returned to Camp Sheridan, hlmBelf 
and men badly frozen. It was 45 below' zero for 
a week. • 
In consequence of the snow blockake on the 
Kansas Pacific, the Colorado malls are seut by 
the Union Paolfic, via Omaha. Express and 
other important freight is being sent by the 
same route. The Kansas Road will not be clear 
for several days yet. Traius on the Union 
Pacific are all moving. 
Pinehback has been elected United States 
Senator from Louisiana by the Kellogg Legis¬ 
lature In opposition to the wishes of Oov. 
Kellogg. 
At the meeting of the delegates of the various 
colleges at Hartford, it was decided to row the 
annual regatta at Haratoga on July 14. 
A large number of women from the Treasury 
Department have been sent to the Government 
paper mill at West Chester, Pa., to count the 
sheets of paper on hand. 
The Georgia Legislature met Jan. 13, and 
organized by liie election of T. J. Simmons of 
Mibb County, President of the Senate, and Tom 
Hardeman, Speaker of the House. 
The supreme court ol Minnesota has rendered 
a decision in the case of Oakes Ames and 
Oliver Ames vs. the Lake Superior and Missis¬ 
sippi Railroad Co. to the effect that the charter 
of the company is unconstitutional and void. 
l>r. F. R. Thomas, who occupied the leading 
position in Philadelphia as a practitioner of 
dental surgery, died in that city on Monday 
week from the effects of an accident, by being 
ran over by a street car. 
Thomas K. Hrainlette, ex-Governor of Ken¬ 
tucky, died at his residence, in Louisville. Mr. 
Bramlette wa* Governor of Kentucky during 
the closing years of the war. He was regarded 
as one of the ablest and most promlnentlawyers 
at the 8 Late Bar, and a short time since acted 
temporarily as Judge of the Federal Court. 
He was always regarded as lionest according to 
his political convictions, of good quality as a 
gentleman and citizen, and a warm and stead¬ 
fast friend. 
Senator Jones of Nevada, has married Miss 
Sullivan of Sau Francisco, and come East. The 
bride received many handsome presents, con¬ 
spicuous among which was an Ivory statue of 
Ariadne, with abase edged with polished quartz 
specimens from all the mines in which Senator 
JoneB is interested and ornamented at each 
corner with a silver bear. 
PUBLISHER'S SPECIAL NOTICES. 
Additions to Clubs are now in order, and 
whether in on- lau*. five* or tens, will prove ac- 
cepiab'c. "The more the merrier,” and every ma¬ 
terial addition to a club will redound tithe benefit 
of the Agent in the way of Premium*. 
New Clubs.—It is not too late to start new club* 
for 1-7j, and we hope many of our reader* will see 
what run be done for the Rural (and the benefit of 
neighbors) In their respective localities. As the 
Rural. I* eleolrotyped we can furnish back num¬ 
bers to all new subscriber*. 
Back .Numbers of this Volume (from Jan. 2) 
can be furnished to all new subscribers, and we shall 
send them for some weeks, unless specially directed 
otherwise, so that all may have the volume complete 
for prose vail on and binding. Those who desire can 
begin with any number, however. 
The Best Paper, and the Best Premiums to 
Agent*, 1* our motto. We Ignore Chromos and all 
other cheap colored picture*, preferring to put our 
money in tlu paper, and tu Premiums to Agent*. 
Select Your Premiums, All persons entitled 
to Premium* will please designate what they prefer 
and notify u* how and whore to forward—whether 
by Freight or Express—tf articles are not mailable. 
No Traveling Agent*. — Remember that the 
RURAL employs no traveling canvaB*ers, but de¬ 
pends solely upon Local Club Agents and other 
friends to maintain and augment Its circulation. 
Tlic Rural as n Present. -Remember that any 
Subicriber can send the Rural to a relative or 
friend, as a present., at the lowest club rate— only 
$2.1?) u year, Including postage. 
Act fi» Agent I—Reader, if there is no agent lor 
the Hull A i. In your locality please become one by 
forming a club, it will pay. 
At Our Risk.—Tou can remit by Draft, I 
Money Order or Registered Letter at oar risk. 
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS 
The Massachussetts Dental Society has pass¬ 
ed resolutions emphatically condemning the 
use of chlorofor mas an anesthetic, and declares 
any member administering it liable to expul¬ 
sion. 
A favorite article of food w itli the Chinese is 
the dried sea-slug, which is collected in abund¬ 
ance among the reefs, islands and bays of the 
east, coast of the Sooloo seas and of Palawan. 
In New Zealand the office seeks the man,and 
not Hie man the office. Witness a recent, ad¬ 
vertisement in a local paper calling for a man 
to fill a public office, the salary of which is 
$1,500 gold per annum. 
Divorces are riot very numerous in England, 
all things considered. Roughly estimated,there 
are upward 5.000 ,000 of married couples, and in 
1870 154 marriages were annulled, 166 lu 1871,172 
in 1872 and 215 in 1873. 
At the late Franklin Institute in Philadelphia 
there were weighed 15,840 men, aggregating 2,- 
314,260 pounds; 17,437 women, aggregating 2,- 
249,370; making the average weight of each man 
1485S pounds, and of each woman 139 pounds. 
The Chinese have names which correspond 
with the Browns and Smiths of Anglo-Saxon 
Christendom. Those most frequently occuring 
arc Chin, Chang, Wing and Shin, which are the 
equivalents of gold, long, prince and stone. 
Germany is so determined to rid herself of 
everything French that she has ordered thut 
certain words derived from the French, such 
as paste restante shall no longer lie officially 
used, and has defined what German words 
shall be the equivalents of these. 
TIMELY TOPICS 
The Louisiana Question. 
(Jen. BhbRIDAN’S dispatches from Now 
Orleans, and the action of Gov. Kellogg calling 
on U. S, Troops to expel from the hail of the 
legislature men alleged to be non-members of 
that body, roused a spirit and expressions of 
indignation at this unconstitutional action on 
til opart of tbc U. S, authorities. Legislatures 
have denounced it. Governors have written 
messages uponthosubject. Public meetings in 
various cities have been held and speeches 
made and resolutions passed in protest. In 
the Senate and House of Congress the opposi¬ 
tion to the Administration has had the field 
and criminations and recriminations have re¬ 
sulted. The part isan press, on both sides, have 
found food for the editorial grinder and a vast 
deal of flue writing and rhetoric has been 
launched upon an inoffensive people. 
Finally President Grant, in response to a 
Congressional resolution of inquiry', has sent in 
a judicious and temperate message, rehearsing 
the history of tire Louisiana troubles, his acts 
and reasons for them, and disavowing any in¬ 
tention or purpose to interfere in any way with 
the rights of the people of the State as repre¬ 
sented by their Legislature. The conciliatory 
tone of his Message and these disavowals take 
the stmg out of the denunciations of bis oppo¬ 
nents, nod it is hoped Congress w ill act in such 
a way us to secure peace. 
FOREIGN NOTES 
Don Alfonso was enthusiastically received 
at Valencia. It is reported that Gen. Moriones 
has pronounced against him. 
Twenty-six lives were lost by the foundering 
of the steamer Cortes. 
The last of the Venezuelan insurgent, gener¬ 
als lias been captured. 
Count Vaimaseda has been offered the post 
of Captain-General of Cuba. 
President MacMahon will retain his present 
Cabinet until the Assembly comes to a decision 
on the constitutional bills. 
The Formosa question is likely to be reopened. 
The Australasian colonies have succeeded in 
incurring public debts amounting in the aggre¬ 
gate to $230,000,01)0. 
The West Cumberland Iron and Steel Com¬ 
pany—a British corporation report a loss of 
$190,000 on the business of last, ye.tr. 
The Parliament of Victoria, Australia, lias 
granted a sum of $50,000 to be expended in 
“prospecting" for gold, coal, and oilier min¬ 
erals. 
The llritisli Admiralty have purchased for 
$90,000 the steam-whaler Bloodhound, with a 
view of sending her with the Arctic expedition. 
A turret-ship of 1,800 tons, 185 feet long, 44 
feet beam, and drawing six feet six ineheB of 
w'ater, has been constructed in Liverpool for 
the Argentine Government. 
A report is current in Glasgow that Mr.Baird, 
the donor of half a million sterling to the 
Church of Scotland, is to be made a baronet. 
The number of plays, original and adapted, 
produced in London between December, 1873, 
and November, 1874, was 151. 
Prof. Iluxley is to undertake the duties of 
the Chair of Natural History in the University 
of Edinburg during the ensuing Summer ses¬ 
sion, in the absence of Prof. Wy ville Thomson, 
who is with the Challenger Surveying Expedi¬ 
tion. 
The Imperial Bank of Berlin is to offer an In¬ 
creased price for gold, in view of a prospective 
resumption of specie payments In America. 
Emile Olivier, the ex-Mintster of Napoleon 
III, is said to be devoting his leisure hours to 
the study of art, and to be preparing a work on 
the Sistiue Chapel. 
No French play will hereafter, dating from 
January 1,1875, be allowed to be acted in Al¬ 
sace or Lorraine. 
A committee at Dortmund, Prussia, offered a 
prize of $750 for a musical setting of a hymn in 
honor of Bismarck. They have received 150 re¬ 
plies, including more than 100 oompositionsfor 
solo, chorus and full orchestra, 25 songs with 
piano-forte accompaniment, four large instru¬ 
mental works, eight marches, and one sonata 
for piano. The successful competitor has not 
yet been announced. 
The Dukes De Broglie and Decazes will be 
the chief members ef the «ew French ministry, 
THE SEASON, CROPS, PRICES, ETC 
HOME NEWS PARAGRAPHS 
Mr. Francis Keunan of Utica is to be the 
next U. S. Senator from New York, he having 
been nominated by the caucus of the Demo¬ 
cratic member.* of the Legislature on the 15th. 
Two fatal railroad accidents occurred near 
Toronto, Wednesday week. 
Twenty-seven Inches of snow on the Laramie 
plains- 
Tho iwenty-flm child of Seldon Spencer of 
Mood us, Conn., was born last week. 
Senator Buckingham of Conn., will not prob¬ 
ably take his seat in Congress at ail thissossiun. 
Beriah Bradley, the oldest inhabitant of New 
Haven is dead, at the age of 97. 
T. T. Eckert has been elected President uf 
the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company. 
A despatch from Erie, Pa., states that several 
persons iu that vicinity were frozen last Satur¬ 
day and Sunday week, besides a large number 
of horses and cattle. 
The Americau LlthographieCompany’sbuild- 
ing In New York was damaged some $30,G00 
Wednesday night week, by lire. 
The loss by the burning of Decamp's carriage 
manufactory, at Dayton, Ohio, is said to reach 
$ 100 , 000 . 
Charles River has not been thoroughly frozen 
over this season between Cragie's and West 
Boston bridges. Last year it. was frozen for 
nearly three months. 
Mrs. Edward Warden of Long Branch, has 
been missing since theSbli inst. A reward bus 
been offered. She is supposed to be deranged. 
Victoria Woodhull has a petition to present 
to Congress, claiming that she lost half a mil¬ 
lion by her persecution before the Uuited 
St ates Courts in New York, and asking damages 
or relief in the sum of $100,000, 
Winter NVhcnt in Kansas.-From advance 
sheets of the Report of the Kansas State Board 
of Agriculture for 1874. we learn that the in¬ 
crease of acreage of wheat uow in the ground 
as compared with last year, is 83,913, or 16 per 
cent. The report says:—The prospects for an 
excellent crop of winter wheat never were 
better in this State, at this season of the year, 
than at the close of this report, Fall pasture 
lias been nutritious and abundant. Domestic 
animals are free from any prevailing disease, 
and go into winter in good condition. Ample 
hay has been secured, a very small per cent, of 
Which has been destroyed by prairie fires, com¬ 
pared with previous years. In most counties 
where the corn crop has been destroyed, spring 
wheat can be purchased at forty-five and sixty- 
five cents per bushel. Counties reporti ng a de¬ 
crease in area of winter wheat, are Allen, An¬ 
derson, Bourbon, Coffey. Crawford, Franklin, 
Linn, Miami and Woodson—all in ono body in 
the southeasterly part of the State, where the 
chinch bugs did the most damage to small 
grains last spring. Total acreage of winter 
wheat reported, is 513,092, An ordinary yield 
another year, say sixteen bushels per acre, 
would give 8,193,440 bushels. Assuming that 
the yield of spring wheat will equal that of the 
present year, 3,010,777, we have an estimate of 
11,304,217 bushels as the wheat harvest of 1875, 
for the State. At this date Jan’y 5, live stock, 
especially work animals, are in poor condition; 
cause want of room. 
Abilene, Dickinson Co., Kansas.—We had 
splendid w’eather during December. Our wheat 
and rye are looking finely. Our fall rains and 
November snows put it in a favorable condition 
WHAT SOCIETIES ARE DOING, 
Western New York Fruit Growers’ Society. 
—This organization held a very successful meet¬ 
ing at Rochester, Jauuary 6 and 7. In another 
department of this paper we shall hereafter 
give some of the information elicited by it. 
Here we have only space for the names of the 
officers-elect: 
President—P atrick Barry. 
Vice Presidents—E. A. Bronson, Geneva ; H. 
E. Hooker, Rochester; Hon. L. H. Babcock, 
Lockport. 
Sco'y and Treasurer-P. C. Reynolds, Roch¬ 
ester. 
Executive Committee—W. C. Barry, Roches¬ 
ter; J. B. Jones, Rochester; Dr. E. W. Sylves¬ 
ter, Lyons; T. 0. Maxwell, Geneva; E. Moody, 
Lockport. 
Committee On Native Fruits—J. J. Thomas, 
Union Springs; Charles Downing, Newburg; 
W. C. Barry, Rochester; S. D. Willard, Geneva; 
W. B. Smith, Syracuse. 
Foreign Fruits—George Ellwanger, Roches¬ 
ter ; T. C. Maxwell, Geneva; C. L. Hoag, Lock- 
port. 
Nomenclature—Charles Downing, Newburg; 
P. Barry, Rochester; J. J- Thomas, Union 
Springs; D. W. Beadle, St. Catharines, Out.; 
George G. Atwood, Geneva. 
Entomology—Hugh T. Brooks, Pearl Creek ; 
Dr. A. Merrill, Geneva; C. L, Van Dusen, Ge¬ 
neva; Mr, SaupUers, Optario, 
