He told mo to wait a few moments and he
would be glad to give me any information in
his jxjwer. He thereupon poured a little
coffee in a tin cup that I noticed standing on a
box (that evidently was used as a table) and
giving the cup a dexterous twist, evidently
to rinse it out, threw the coffee out of tbe
door, and turned the cup bottom up on the
improvised table. He then broke a crust off
of some bread on the table, and swathed off
the tin plate, ate up the crust, and turned
the plate over by the cup. He then took tho
knife and fork and stabbed them in the sand
in front of the door once or twice apiece, and
wiped the dirt off on his jiants, and taking
an old flour sack dusted off the top ofetbe box
and threw tho sack In the corner. Then
diew up a cracker-box near the door and
seating himself, and asking me for a chew of
tobacco, saitl he was ready to give me anj in
formation in his power.
Concerning the Age of a Tree.
The Continent.
It will lx> remembered that some time since
an apparently authoritative statement was
published in our columns setting forth that
the concentric rings in the cross-sections of
trees were not a trustworthy indication of a
the tree's age. It appears, however, that the
old idea has its friends, who are ready to
come forward with facte. P. C. Smith, Esq.,
au Ohio lawyer, publishes a letter in which
he describes a number of land-grant cases, iu
tbe trial of which “it very frequently became
important to show the date of the surveys.
