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| NUMBER 21,
: OLMSTEAD & C0., PUBLISHERS..
22 SCHOOL STREET, BOSTON.
THE MOBBIES.
A MINING TALE.
|, -. “What are the mobbies?”. Many people would
leave you in suspense till about the end of the
story: but, to prevent this, I will inform you that
the mobbies are formed of a strong strap about a
yard long, with a buckle at the end, to which is at-
tached a chain of about the same length, terminat-
ing in a hook.
+ “Well, Iam as wise as I was before,” I think I
hear some of you exclaim. a
But don’t be impatient, young friends; their use
will appear in good time. So much for a preface.
One day, passing through Bilston, a very black,
dirty town near Wolverhampton, Eng., I was
driven by a heavy but altogether unexpected storm
to take refuge in a mean but tolerably decent inn.
I walked into the bar, which served also for parlor
and kitchen.’ An elderly man, comfortably, though
rather roughly dressed, was speaking. © .
“Never you do it again, lad; it’s about the most
dangerous game you can play.’ You chaps may
think little or. nothing of it, but there is always
plenty of danger in a pit which no one can help,
without going and running your head into it for the
purpose. But perhaps if I just tell ye summut as
happened to me, it will have more effect than an
hour’s lecturing.” . :
The boy may have been seventeen or eighteen
years of age. Ie was evidently in the habit of
working ; but, as it was Monday, and there was no
work being done at his mining pit, his skin was as
fair and his face as clean as yours, young reader.
’ «Well, grandfather, let’s hear it,” said the young
man,
°°] hope you will have no chjection to my listen-
ing?” I interposed.
«(, no, sir, not a bit, if you care to,” said the
old man whom I had addressed, “though Iam
" afraid what I have to say will be hardly worth your
attention. Well, about the year 1814, when I was
about sixteen years old, I was at work ina thick
coal-pit, driving a horse. My duty was to drive
‘the horse that drew the skips full of coal from the
place where the men had filled them to the bottom
of the shaft, and the empty ones back. again.
Sometimes the skip would get off the iron rails on
which it ran, and to help me in getting it on again
L used the mobbies (the strap of which went round
the loins.) . By fastening the hook to the skip, and
‘by heaving with all my might, I could easily lift it
‘on again. : . .
«There were three or four other lads in the pit
about my own age, and we used to try the trick
you were speaking of, Jack—that. is, when a skip
was just started to ascend the shaft, sometimes one
sometimes another of us would catch hold of an
jron bar which went across the bottom of it and try
_. who would venture to be drawn highest up the shaft
‘and then drop. A chap called Bill Whitehouse had
gone up higher than any of us had deen before that
morning. It was my turn; 80, determining not to
be beaten, I caught hold of the bar, and up went
the skip. Moe ow an .
«he skips are hooked on toa chain or rope,
-which is raised or lowered by an engine commonly
called a ‘whimsey.” When the mines are not deep
this work is done by a gin (almost the only good
work gin does) or capstan, worked by a horse. Our
* pit was far too deep for anything in the gin way
it was worked by an engine of 70-horse power,
which made the skips rattle up the shaft like shots.
This time I think it must have started faster than
‘usual, for, almost before I had begun to think of
“such a thing, I heard them calling out below,”
«Drop! drop! or you will be killed!’
“J Jooked down, and, twice as far off as I had ex-
pected, I saw the candles. I was frightened, and
i held on tomy bar. The right moment had passed.
In vain I cried ‘Short! shaw-ert ?—which means
own—my voice was lost in the rattling of
&
i on
e
>
pa
5 Were and the clattering of the engine, &e. All
s ‘was dark as pitch. The skip was bumping from
side to side of the shaft, and large pieces of coal
: were continually falling within a foot of my head,
“for the skip was filled with coal. I clung to my
bar like grim death, Which, in its most horrible
: form, awaited me in the dark abyss now yawning
at my fee
—I could not possibly hold on much longer. I
thought in less than a moment of the many crimes
I had committed—of ali the wickedness I had bee.’
led into by others, and which I, in my turn, had
led others into—of all thé drinking in which we
lads indulged, and the swearing to which we gave
way. I believe I almost breathed a prayer in that
moment; but suddenly an idea shot across my
brain—the mobbies! - With the’grasp of despair I
clung to the bar with my right hand, seized the |
chain in my left, and gave a convulsive spring up-
wards. A faint click, and-I was saved! I had
hooked the strap round my waist on: to the bar,
and was safely supported by my middle.*'
“] don’t know what next took place. The first
thing I was conscious of was lying ina little bed in
a hovel at the pit’s mouth, and. about half-a-dozen
men standing round me. I did not recover the
shock’ to my nerves for some weeks, and the im-
pression on my mind was still moreflasting. From
that time I left off all the wickedness in which I
had delighted before. I became steady, saved
money, and am now, thank God, comfortably pro-
vided for in my old ages”.
“Thank you,” said I; “very much obliged to
you; but does this sort of thing ever happen
now ?” wi . :
“O dear, yes, sir. I am sorry to say almost
évery year we hear of deaths from it. Now I hope
this will be a warning to you, Jack.”
“All right, grandfather ; I'll never do it again.” |
“Good day, sir.” .
“Good day.” :
And he went his way and I went mine. I never
saw either of them again; but the story still-re-
mains in my head, and I have put it down as near
as I can remember.
+
. THE LOADSTONE. |
The two properties of attracting iron and point-
ing towards the north are communicated to iron by
rubbing it against the loadstone. This discovery
introduced the magnetic needle or compass, so in-
dispensably necessary to navigators in long voy-
ages. -
These virtues in the loadstone have prompted
naturalists to examine it further, with the hope not
only of finding the cause of such surprising effects,
but also of discovering new properties in the stone.
They are more fortunate in the latter respect than
in the former. It was observed that the loadstone
does not at all times, and in all places, point di-
rectly to the north; but that it, sometimes inclines
a little to the east, and sometimes to the west. It
was remarked that its attractive powers were al-
te
“] had ascended nearly half the distance, about
‘one hundred yards, when I felt my grasp relaxing
1 i
ways equally strong, though some bodies ‘were
1
|
THE RIDE ON THE RIVER.
placed between the iron and stone, which might be
supposed to prevent the effect; as glass, fire, wa-
der, men, and- animals, ‘with every metal except
iron, It was discovered that in two loadstones the
two poles of the same (northern and southern) re-
pulsed and seemed to fly from each other. It was
therefore concluded that the power of attraction
might be in the iron as well as in the loadstone, as
they seemed to attract each other equally,
In order to be convinced of the truth of this ex-
periment, it is only necessary to hang a loadstone
on.one end of the beam of a pair of scales, and put
an equal weight at the other end, and when the
loadstone is balanced, and not in motion, to place
a piece of iron under it; the loadstone will imme-
diately be drawn down by the iron, and the other
weight will fly up. If their situation be reversed,
the loadstone will attract the iron in the same man-
ner. ee
_ BILLY’S SPECULATION,
Have you not all heard of the “hen fever,” which
swept over the land a dozen years ago, and searched
out the weakest spot in many a wise man’s brain;
when to talk learnedly of Shanghaes, Cochin-
Chinas, and Bantams, was as much of an accom-
plishment as to speak the French tongue, and a
man with a chanticleer’s tail sticking out from un-
der his arm, was no more of a sight than a man
now-a-days with a feather in his cap ? -
How many men were extremely silly about that
time! And here let me tell you, boys, that for all
your boasted superiority over your dear, tender,
weaker-minded little sisters, when a man sets to
work in earnest to make a fool of himself, he does
it by the wholesale ; he is pretty apt to put in the
shade the weakest-minded of all weak-minded
women, + hoe . . ‘
Women didn’t have the “hen fever ;” but hosts
of men did, and some boys likewise. I knew a lad
who had it most severely, Billy Jenness was his
name,—a cute, bright, lithe little fellow, who: has
now grown up into a stalwart man, .
The mania was at its height, and Billy had been
greatly exercised for some time on the hen ques-
tion. ‘ There was Bob Long over the way, who had
a real Shanghae cockerel and a pullet. . The cock-
erel crowed like a brave one, and the pullet laid al-
most golden eggs., Bob only paid five dollars for
them both, and he was’ going to reap a rich har-
vest, when the eggs hatched. , |
» “Lean’t stand it,” said Billy, one morning, jump-
ing out of bed, awakened by a lusty cock-a-doodle-
doo from over the way, ‘I must have one of the
real kind before night,—I can make such a heap of,
money.” Then be went to a drawer and took out
: property, a five dollar gold piece, the birthday gift
of his. Aunt Betsey. :
Billy turned it over and over, and stroked it, and
then thrust it into his jacket pocket. “Yes, I'll do
it,” he said, at the same time smoothing out a bit
of crumpled newspaper, which I have reason to
know contained this queer advertisement :
: : GREAT CrRrosity.
real Swartow fowls, just imported. They
have no tails, and their legs are covered with inverted
feathers. .
Price—Five dollars. Cheap as dirt, Callon ; -
AL
A pair of
MUEL SHARP, ~ .
No. 9 Cheatem Street.- °
“That's the kind,” exclaimed Billy, exultingly.
“They'll beat Bob’s out and out.” Cock-a-deodle-
doo came from the hen-coop over the way.”
“Crow away,” shouted Billy, “we'll show a game
worth two of that, in a day or two.” .
I will not stop to tell you how the clever Billy
carried his point at breakfast-time, and how the
hen-coop was devoted by promise to his proposed
purchase. It may seem strange to you, but you
must remember that the hen fever was a stern
reality. :
Billy started for the Swartow fowls. Tle crept
down a back alley, lest Bob might suspect him, and
had the good fortune to be the first morning cus-
tomer. Rather a humble abode, thought he, for .
such illustrious birds, as he found himself knock-
ing atan unpainted, shabby cottage. § =,
A slip-shod girl came to the door. “Is here
where the Swartow fowls are ?” asked Billy. -
“Yees,”. said the girl, “I reckon ‘tis. Them ”
that dad had brought over the other day. Won't” u
you come in?” : So, ah
Just then a tall man, with a sharp nose anda © :
pair of green glasses, stepped out. = sy {
a
“What do you want, my little fellow?” he asked.
“Have you some real, imported fowld?” asked —
Billy. : co
“Do you want to buy?” said the man. wot
“Yes,” answered Billy, as innocent as a lamb.
He, had not learned then how to drive a bargain.
“Got any money?”, asked the man. , Billy
showed his gold piece. Mr. Sharp, for he it was,
clutched it nervously, and wiped his lips with the
back of his left hand. se a
“Come round this way,” he said, “and I will
show you a sight that'll make your eyes stick out.”
The girl giggled, but her father boxed her ears. |
. Avery humble place for real fowls, thought Billy;
again, as he followed Mr. Sharp into a;shabby‘lit-
tle coop made of slabs. But the fowls—there was
surely no sham about them. There they were, fat
as butter, with inverted feathers on their legs, and f
no tails. Billy’s eyes did stick out. Co eR |
“Got anything to put em in?” asked the many i i
Billy hadn't. oe nS
“Got any money to buy a box with?” oo
Billy had just a quarter, which he was saving for
the missionary box... a
“That'll do,” said the man, and forthwith pro-
ceeded to nail the fowls up in an old glass box,
which the girl brought from the house. :
* Billy got his fowls home and well established in
the henery before dinner, though hardly anything
was good enough, or clean enough; to serve their,
royal Swartow highnesses. Billy, too, was forafew | *
days the lion of the neighborhood. He put Bob :
allin the shade. OO ,
* To be sure, Mr. Swartow was not nearly as large,
and did not crow nearly as loud as Mr, Shanghae ;
but then, didn’t his feathers grow upside down,
and wasn’t he minus a tail ?
One serious drawback, also, Billy had. While
Bob’s pullet bid fair to be the mother of many
chickens, Mrs, Swartow had a most vulgar habit
of eating her new laid eggs, despite most liberal
allowances of lime and charred bones. |
“This will never do,” exclaimed Billy, one morn-
ing, this time awakened by the combined cock-a-
doodle-doo of Mr. Swartow and Mr. Shanghae. .
“] shall never grow rich at this rate.”. So creeping
quietly down-stairs, so as not to awaken the house-
hold, Billy went out to his hen-coop, and intro-* .
duced himself to his proteges as a gentleman-in- *~
waiting for a new laid egg. .
Of course, before the .treasure was available,
Billy had a fine chance to study natural history ;
and during the forenoon he made several wonder-
t
q
Tee ee ae
Te:
‘
foe
i
a little port-monnaie, which held his only personal
ful discoveries, not the least of which was this fact,
