Pneumatic Street Cars.-A trial of a new tramway motor came off lately on the lines of the Vale of Clyde Tramways Company at Govan, Scotland. The car, having been charged with the necessary quantity of compressed air, was made to take its trip among the ordinary cars running from Govan to Paisley Road Toll. Experiments were made to test the power of the machine for slowing, stopping to take up passengers, etc., and it appeared to be under the most perfect control. The noise was scarcely perceptible, while horses alongside did not seem to recognize the car as anything unsightly, or to be feared. Mr. Moncrieff was accompanied by the chairman and directors of the Vale of Clyde Tramways Company. The result of the trial was to impress all present with the complete success of the invention, and its adaptability to tramway purposes. Remarkable Bird.-The London Daily News publishes an interesting letter from Mr. Smithurst, the engineer of the steamer which made the voyage up the newly discovered Baxter River, New Guinea. The river seems to be a magnificent one, and could evidently, says Nature, be made navigable to a considerable distance inland. The exploring party found the banks to consist mainly of mangrove swamps, though, near the end of the journey, high clay banks with eucalyptus globulus were found. Scarcely any natives were seen, though there were frequent signs of their being about. Mr. Smithurst refers to a very remarkable bird, which, so far as we know, has not hitherto been described. The natives state that it can fly away with a dugong, a kangaroo, or a large turtle. Mr. Smithurst states he sa and shot at a specimen of this wonderful animal, and that "the noise caused by the flapping of wings resembled the sound of a locomotive pulling a long train very slowly." He states that "it appeared to be about sixteen or eighteer feet across the wings as it flew, the body dark brown, the breast white, neck long, and beak long and straight." In the stiff clay of the river bank, Mr. Smithurst states that he saw the footprints of some large animal, which he took to be a buffalo or wild ox," but he saw no other traces of the animal. These statements are very wonderful, and before giving credence to them we had better await the publication of the official account of the voyage. Alleged New Cereal.-A new cereal has been grown in the State of Oregon, and thus far no one has been able to classify it; for while it bears a general resemblance to wheat, yet its stalk, mode of growth, and heavy filaments cause it to be taken for rye or barley by the most experienced farmers The grain was originally discovered in the stomach of a wid goose, by a farmer. From seven to ten stalks spring from one root, and attain a height, when ripe, of four and a half to five feet. They are very thin, compact, of a bright straw color, and extremely hard, as if they contain a large quantity of silex. OBITUARY, familiar to all who have frequent occasion to pass along the Lancaster and Port Deposit public road. This old place of worship in the early days of the church, was a centre of religious influence, the quarterly meetings held there attracting people from Philadelphia, Baltimore, and other more remote points. It was at one of these meetings, held in 1798, that Henry Boehm was converted, and shortly after the expiration of his probation he was appointed a class-leader. In 1800 he first attended a Methodist conference, and shortly afterwards began his labors as an itinerent Methodist preacher. Rev. Henry Boehm.-This venerable preacher, better | chapel (still known as Boehm's Meeting-house), which is known as Father Boehm, and renowned as the oldest preacher of the Methodist Church in this country, and probably in the world, died on December 21st, 1875, at the home of his granddaughter, near Richmond, Staten Island. He was seized with illness on the 12th of December, while attempting to preach in the Village Church, at Richmond, Staten Island. Medical attendance was unavailing, and he sank gradually. During the past year he has frequently prophesied that this would be his last in the journey here below. He passed away so peacefully, that his two daughters, who were at his bedside, were unaware that their beloved father had yielded up his breath to that God whom he had served so faithfully for three-quarters of a century. Father Boehm was born in Conestoga (now Pequea) township, Lancaster county, in this State, June 8, 1775, only seven years after the first Methodist Church was erected in America, and nearly a year before the Republic's birth. His father, Martin Boehm, son of a clergyman, was first a Mennonite preacher and afterwards became prominent in the organization of the United Brethren Church. Henry was instucted at an early age in the German language, and was carefully nurtured in religious training. In 1796 there had been erected on the Boehm homsetead the Methodist In 1802 he was appointed to Kent circuit, the oldest of the Philadelphia conference, and remained there until he was 25signed to one in Eastern Pennsylvania. He was nearly a man when Washington was President, and cast his first vote for John Adams in 1796. Jefferson, Ham ilton, the Adamses, Madison, and Monroe were among his familiar recollections, and as to Jackson, Clay, and Webster, they were youngsters belonging to later generation. He was a member of the General Conference of 1832, and that 1844, when the Church South seceded. He afterward ac quired a home on Staten Island, where his wife died, and in 1842 obtained a supernumerary relation in the New Jersey Conferenee, which he has held for over thirty years. XV. THE CURTIS HOUSE, JAMAICA PLAIN. On the margin of a little stream called Stony | trast with its surroundings on every side. Every Brook, in Roxbury, Massachusetts, William Curtis built a substantial dwelling of wood, in the year 1639, under permission of the authorities at Boston, according to the following entry in the town. records. "William Curtis had leave to build upon his lot, his other dwelling being seated so inconveniently. March 13, 1638-9." day in the year, "Sundays excepted," fifty railway trains go thundering by it, their steeds screaming like horrid monsters and breathing forth fire and smoke. Near the house, shaded by the magnificent elm seen in the picture, is the living spring which doubtless determined the locality of the dwelling, and from its clear basin the family The house then built is yet standing in a state in the house have been supplied with pure cold of excellent preservation, and it still belongs to water for more than two hundred years. The the Curtis family, descendants of the original owner. great elm, seen in the picture, tradition says, was It is now inhabited by the widow and children of planted by one of the family a hundred years ago; Isaac Curtis, the fifth Isaac Curtis who has occupied its size warrants the belief that it was planted by the house, and the seventh in descent from Wil- nature before the Mayflower anchored in Cape Cod liam Curtis, who built it. I do not think our Bay. Every year it shows, by its luxuriant versocial history can furnish a parallel case of con- dure, the vigor of lusty maturity; but the house tinuous habitation of a dwelling by the same and the tree are doubtless doomed to a speedy refamily for almost two hundred and forty years. moval, for the civilization of cities, irreverent and Our restless, ever-changing and emigrating popu- grasping, treats such vestiges of ancient days as lation has made it rare to find a family whose the civilization of the State, soulless as corpora members have occupied the same homestead a tions, has hitherto treated the red men, who hundred years, or even fifty years, for we have no owned the continent when William Curtis came, laws of primogeniture, by the consent of which "cumberers of the ground." Trees are the real estate may descend from father to son genera-only living relics of another century which we may tion after generation. The region in which the Curtis House was built was then a heavily wooded country, abounding in wild deer, and it was the shelter for prowling bears and wolves. In the old house may now be seen a pair of antlers taken from the head of a buck that was shot from the door-yard, probably while drinking from the brook. Twenty years after the house was built, the Boston records reported that the sum of "20 shillings" had been "paid to Philip Curtis, for killing a wolf in Roxbury," probably on the Curtis farm. Now that once lonely dwelling, whose chambers echoed at night the howling of wild beasts, is in the suburbs of a great city, whose hum of active business falls upon the ears of the dwellers in the Curtis House almost perpetually. It stands near the Boylston Station, on the Boston and Providence Railway, modestly remaining in the presence of statelier edifices, and commanding the respect and reverence of every beholder who knows its history. The Curtis House is probably the oldest inhabited dwelling within the domain of our republic. Its features of absolute repose are in striking con as cherish, and when the life of one is menaced by an act like that of the corporation of Cambridge, which has imperilled that of the sacred elm under which Washington stood when he took formal command of the Continental army a hundred years ago, by running a sewer among its roots, the nation ought to speak out with indignant voice. The Curtis House, I have said, is built of wood. The timbers are massive oak, doubtless cut from the farm at Roxbury. The nails are all wrought by hand, for there were no machines then for cutting them. The building is two stories in height, with a garret above, and a small square entry on the lower floor, separating two rooms. The roof slopes down at the rear to within a few feet of the ground, and in the centre of the house is an enormous square chimney. The windows are small. Originally the glass was diamond-shaped, set in leaden sashes, but they were removed at the beginning of the present century, and their places were then supplied with small panes of glass which appear antique to day. A small porch is at the front door, which is open in summer, but is closed in winter, forming a protecting storm-box. Much of the old furniture graces the rooms. The pieces are real antique, handed down from the days of the Pilgrims from one generation to another, six in all. Could these antiquated objects speak, they might tell some stirring tales of Colonial times. Perhaps in that old chair once sat Governor John Winthrop, or some of his magisterial successors-Thomas Dudley, or Richard Billingham, or John Endicott, or John Leverett, or Simon Bradstreet, or Samuel Shute, or William Dinsmore, or William Burnet, or chief rulers in more modern times. Perhaps Sir Edmund Andros, the "tyrant of New England," or Governor Shirley, stood under its sheltering roof; and there cannot be a doubt, for reasons that will appear presently, that the faithful John Eliot, the indefatigable missionary, often sat at that quaint old table and asked the Almighty to bless the food that was set before them, and to give them thankful hearts for his bounties and mercies. Such is the Curtis House now, with its bubbling spring and its grand old elm that was its cotemporary in its early days, as seen in the picture at the head of this paper, made from a pen and ink sketch, drawn in 1867, by Miss S. Clarke, a granddaughter of General Hull, a descendant of William Curtis, and now a resident of old Rome. I am indebted to the kind courtesy of a brother of the artist, Mr. Samuel C. Clarke, of Jamaica Plain, for the use of the sketch, and for many facts concerning the house and the Curtis family herein given. Its history has made its vicinity one of the most interesting spots in England. The Abbey has the surname of Holy Cross, so called, because, it is asserted, a sacred cross was planted there by some miraculous means during the reign of the famous Canute. Tovi, Canute's standard-bearer founded a religious house on the spot for two priests. It finally reverted to the crown, when Edward the Confessor gave it to Harold, on the condition that he should build a college there, and wellfurnish it, in memory of the King and his spouse Editha. Harold did so, and it became an eminent place of learning. Harold also rebuilt the church, and gave it and the school many manors Previous to the battle of Hastfor their support. ings, in which Harold lost his life, he offered up his vows in that church, and therein he was buried. The college was discontinued in 1177, when Waltham Abbey was founded there for regular canons. In 1191, it was made a mitred abbey, and Henry the Third often resided there. that sacred fane the body of Edward the First was taken in 1307. More than two centuries afterward, the establishment was surrendered to Henry the Eighth, when that monarch dissolved He had a the monasteries of his Kingdom. pleasure-retreat near the Abbey, and there he was first introduced to Cranmer, who played so important a part during the reign of "bluff Harry." Το This Abbey and its neighborhood has a peculiar interest to American students of New England. history. In the same parish of Naseing, John Eliot called the "Apostle to the Indians," the translator of the Bible into the Indian tongue, and who labored long and faithfully for his Divine Master among the heathen of New England, was born in 1604, and there (possibly in the church, of which the old Abbey forms a part), William Curtis and Sarah, daughter of Bennett Eliot, and This building is a good specimen of the second period of New England architecture, the first being the log-house. Of the earlier style was doubtless the other dwelling of Mr. Curtis, "so inconveniently situated." Many examples of this style remain in New England. The third style was that in which the gambril roof appears, similar in principle to the Mansard, with dormer win-sister of the "Apostle," were married, in 1618. dows, and which prevailed until the period of the old War for Independence, after which came the Grecian, with columns in front, seen everywhere in our older villages. William Curtis, the original owner of the old mansion, was a native of Naseing, a parish on the River Lea, in Essex County, England, between Epping and Harlow. He was born near Waltham Abbey, a magnificent specimen of early Norman architecture, the remains of which stand on the east bank of the Lea, about a dozen miles from London. After that we lose sight of Mr. Curtis and his family until the arrival at Boston, in 1632, of the ship Lyon, with one hundred and twenty-three passengers. Among them was William Curtis, his wife and four children. With the latter came Mary Eliot, a young sister of Mrs. Curtis. There was also another young woman among the passengers in the Lyon, who was a neighbor and friend of the Curtis's, she came on an errand of love and duty, and was of love and duty, and was not disappointed. This was Anne Mountfort, the affianced of John might sow good seed in a rich soil, and reap an abundant harvest of converted souls. So he sailed for Boston, with about sixty other passengers, among them the wife and children of Governor Winthrop. It pained him to leave Anne Mountfort behind, but she promised to follow him the next year, and did so. Eliot, who had come to America the year before in the same good ship Lyon, arriving at Boston on the 3d of November, 1631. Anne Mountfort believed in the goodness of John Eliot, then less than thirty years of age, and she followed him across the stormy Atlantic with full faith in his promises. That faith was justified, not only by their marriage a month after her arrival, but by the events of a long and very happy wedded life. She was a woman of exemplary piety, and was prompt to share with her husband the labors of love for the good of human souls in which he was constantly engaged. Mr. Eliot had been fitted for ministerial duties by pious parents, and the training at an English University (Jesus College, Cambridge), where he acquired a thorough know-in-law, who was settled at Roxbury, and the atledge of the Hebrew language, and the accomplishments of an acute grammarian and sound philologist. When Eliot left the university, he engaged in the business of teaching in the school of the Rev. Mr. Hooker, who afterward became a shining light among the Puritan divines of New England. Mr. Hooker had been silenced as a preacher because of his non-conformity to the rituals of the established church, which were then enforced with a high hand and a king-supported arm by Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, an infamous prelate, who, only from policy, refused a Cardinal's hat. Hooker had established his school at Little Baddow, in Essex, and there John Eliot, by precept and example, was deeply impressed with the value of heart-felt religion, and was warmed with a desire to devote his life to the spiritual good of his fellow-men. He always spoke of his residence at Little Baddow, as a rich blessing for himself. "When I came to this blessed family," he wrote, "I then saw, and never before, the power of godliness in its lively vigor and efficacy." From that time Eliot resolved to devote his life to the Christian ministry. In England, then, there was no chance for a non-conformist or Puritan to labor in Christ's vineyard, except in great peril to person and estate. The awful fate of Dr. Leighton was continually before his eyes; and when Eliot saw the good Mr. Hooker, who, in his quiet seclusion, had given no just cause for offence to any one, compelled to fly to Holland, to escape the tyrrany of Laud, in spite of the entreaties of forty-seven conformist clergymen, he turned his thoughts toward America, where he The church at Boston was without a pastor when Eliot arrived, and he accepted an invitation to conduct the public worship there. His eloquence and fervor charmed and invigorated the congregation, and when, a year later, he resolved to become the pastor of the church at Roxbury, great efforts were made to retain him in Boston. No doubt the influence of Mr. Curtis, his brother tachment of his young wife to Mr. Curtis's family whom she had known in Naseing, and with whom she had crossed the sea, were strong inducements that drew him from Boston. Besides, he undoubtedly found the Boston peo ple too straight-laced in their theological notions to suit his liberal spirit, and he hoped for greater spiritual freedom and a more congenial field of labor, in Roxbury. That it proved to be so is evinced by the fact, that he presided over the congregation there more than fifty years. During nearly the whole of that time his faithful wife stood beside him as a supporter, she dying only three years before his final departure, when she was past eighty-three years of age. Mr. Eliot, at the beginning of his ministry, at Roxbury, conceived a passion for converting the savages around him to christianity. There were then twenty tribes within the claimed domain of the English plantations in Massachusetts. He prepared himself for the great work by mastering their language; and for him is justly claimed the honor of being the first Protestant clergyman who preached to the North American savages in their native tongue. His labors were crowned with success. "Praying Indians," as the converts were called, became quite numerous, and for them a town and church called Natick was built on the Charles River, in 1650 and 1651. He made a grammar of the Indian language, and translated the Bible into it. He taught the natives to instruct one another; and he greatly desired to have qualified Indian preachers. Some trained red men were sent out as missionaries, with good effect. These "praying Indians" suffered much during |