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Singing by the Way. He Bang as the blithe-hearted robbia . Rugs in a summer day, Unmindful that any listened To the music of his lay. Tbe joy of life and of living Seemed voiced in the simple strain That filled the air with s?ch sweetness As the fields hare after rain. His weary and toil-worn neighbor Heard, and was glad to hear, For into bis life of labor It threw a thrill of cheer. It lifted his thoughts from sadness, It charmed away his care. And the music and its gladness Brought a blessing unaware. ^ We may all be singers, my brothers. Of songs to help and cheer. The strain may not be lofty ; There may be few to hear. But into some life the music Of the song we sing may fall, Brave with its faith in the goodness Of the God who is over all. Let the joy of oar lives ran over Oar Hps in a cheerful song, And the world may have more of sunshine And tbe faint of heart grow strong. Sing, for the joy of singing, And smg your cares away, And share with others the gladness That comes to yon day by day. ?fEben E. Rexford. MISS GBAYSON'S ADVICE - For two whole years Capiain Jump ison had been the idol of the spinsters of Ban boro agir-by-the-Sea. Cheery, good-natured and good-looking, his private means were limited, if they existed at all, and his pay was insuffi cient to enable him to indnlge any of those expensive tastes which lare young men frota the mi-der delights of tea and tennis, lie neither hunted I in winter nor played p?lo in s am mer ; and he was always ready to dance half the night at the Ban borough balls. He really wasr a very nice man indeed ; every one agreed that he wonld make a very nice hnsband for any one of the young ladies of Ban borough to whom he might finally determine to offer himself ; and for two years he distributed hie favors freely, but with absolute impartiality. u The re is safety in nnmbers and the coward knows it," said Miss Gray sou, of the Valley Cottage, to Maud Oak ley, who had been unbosoming her soul to her. Miss Gray son was the kindest of elderly ladies where young people's love affairs were concerned, and Maud Oakley had known her since ehe (Maud Oakley, not Miss Grayson) was a baby. "Cowards ! " said Miss Grayson again under her breath, and Mis? Oakley sniffed depre catingly. She had been talking to Miss Grayson for an hour and had told her sympathetic listener a good deal that was, in the language of the vulgar, "stale news." Miss Grayson was quite aware (all Bunborongh might have told her). that Captain Jnmpison had quite recently shown a distinct preference for the Oakley family. He dined there whenever he was asked and had won General Oak ley's confidence by delicately express ing unbounded belief in his stories ? not always an easy task; he had been most attentive to old Mrs. Oak.ey during supper time at several balls, and his visits to the house for o o'clock tea had not been limited by invitations issued to him or jfined to those occasions when Gen eral aud Mrs. Oakley were at home; but there were two Miss Oakleys, and to which of them Captain Jnmpison intended his attentions to be devoted was a question which Bunborongh-by - the-Sea would have liked to have an swered. It was not strange, however, that the public were puzzled when Maud-Oakley had had to. confess to Miss Grayson that she had no very dis tinct idea whether her sister G?raldine r herself was preferred by the man tc whom she had unreservedly lost her heart, though she admitted she had her fears. ?G?raldine has Dr.Coverdale," said Maud. "She would be quite happy with him." ' Quite so," said Miss Grayson. "It never rains but it pours." Maud had wondered whether it had | ever ''poured" with suitors in Miss j Grayson's young days, and said noth ing. "Can't we make Dr. Coverdale pro pose to her?" said Miss Grayson. "And G?raldine accept him I" added Maud doubtfully. Miss Grayson was u determined-looking old lady, but even she seemed to consider the pro ject impracticable. "Did yon ever try boohoo with any one?" said Miss Grayson. "What !" said Maud. "Bcohoo, boohoo, boohoo," cried Miss Grayson, excitedly; and an elder ly lady who had selected the precise moment to be announced by Miss Gray son's pretty little parlor maid very nearly turned and fled. She came in, however, and her impression i that Miss Grayson had gone demented j was confirmed by the apparently im- ! beeile laughter with which her greet- j ing was received. Maud rose to leave and Miss Gray son, who had recovered her presence | of mind sufficiently to inquire after ! her new visitor's husband (he had ? 1 j been dead seven years), accompanied 1 ber to the front door. j ? "Don't you understand, you silly j 1 child 2" ehe said, kissing her affection- j < itely on the doorstep. "Cry, cry, cry [ your eyes out; not one of the wretches I { in a baker's d?zen of thctn can stand | tears." And the kind old lady re- j turned to pacify a justly indignant ' c widow; while Miss Oakley walked ! ' home, with a light breaking slowly in j on her as she pondered the somewhat ! ? enigmatical advice she had received. Meanwhile Captarti Jnmpison was!1 striding down the flinty road leading | from the barracks to Bun borough as I if he trod on air. He scarcely knew j how i*e had transferred himself from i uniform to hte newest mufti : but be- a tween hi* beating heart and tiie tweed j * coat which formed |tc outermost ! i covering he could feel the communi* cation which had that afternoon altered the course of hie career for ever. *kOu Her Majesty's service" it had arrived; and "on Her Majesty's ser vice" it informed him he was expected to proceed fort with to a somewhat distant portion or her dominions where, in return for a salary exceed ing his wildest dreams, he was to perform dulie* as to which ho still felt vague. But they probably in cluded the dispensation of substantial justice with lavish hand to sandry swarthy fellow-subjects and the in struction of the male portion of them in the use of obsolete weapons and the evolutions of an improved drill. The climate?well, every rose has its thorn, and Government House and his society would reconcile G?raldine Oakley to a bursting thermometer aud a diet of quinine. She could have her sister to stay with her if she felt lone ly ; he was quite fond of Maud,though, of course, she did not care for him ; did she not always retire when he came to tea and leave him alone with her elder sister, and always refuse to orive him more than four dances in one evening? But Geraldino was different. Dr. Coverdale would do very well for Maud when G?raldine was gone. Ihere she was?Maud, not G?raldine ?standing on the top step waiting for him as he almost ran up the garden walk. "How do yon do?" she said shyly, as she ushered him into the drawing room. "I will go and tell Geraldino you are here?" He was delighted; could anything have been more thoughtful? But, oddly enough, she did not go. She sat down, on the contrary, and began fingering a "chair back" nervousiv. "It is a fine day," she said, and then stopped. "Hang it" he thought; "I meant to tell G?raldine the news first, but there's no harm in beginning with her." So he began, pulling out his official letter to show her. "I have come, Miss Oakley, to tell you some news aud ask you to con gratulate me." "What!" she exclaimed, "are you engaged to be mar"? ?;Oh, no! " he answered, "not ex actly?that is, not yet?in fact, I mean , aot exactly." j And he got very red, and so, curi >usly enough, did she. She looked ' rery pretty blushing, and witli her lower lip quivering a little. G?raldine 1 svas not so pretty as Maud, he admit ;ed to himself as he looked at her. "No," he said, "it's the appoint- 1 nent I told yo:i (or was it your sis :er?) my uncle was tiying to get for no?the verv thing I have been want ng." And he proceded to paint the ] ?harms of the new career opening be fore him in glowing colors. He said ' lOlhing about the quinine. When he ' in me to an end of all the details she 1 cvas silling, with an expression of 1 leep interest, looking at him, and he ( felt that had she only been G?raldine ' hat very moment would have arrived 1 ?that precise opportunity not always 2 sasy to obtain particularly in a small ri Ha. ??And so," he said, feeling he ( nst bring his tale to a conclusion : ind give her an excuse for going lo ( fetch her sister?"aud so. Miss Oak- * ey, I leave Bun boro ugh very soonj : imi have come to say good-by." ; " Good-good-boo-hoo." 1 She did uot hit the precise note 1 ivhich had startled Miss Grayson's * visitor; but the effect on him was J ;ven more electrifying. ; "My goodness!" he murmured. 1 "Boo?hoo, boo?hoo?-o." And 1 die buried her head in the sofa cush- 1 ions. : For a minute he said nothing; bis * irst inarticulate entreaty to her died >n his lips before her giorni of grief, jo he bit his mustache in silence. Then ihe front door slammed; Miss Gerald ine Oakley was going out for a ( ivalk, totally unaware of his arrival. 1 Tonld he stop her? lie could hardly i >peti tiic window and shout. He noved towards the drawing-room ' loor, but he had to pass Ihe sofa, and ' is he did so the girl on it rose, as if { ?he, loo, half dazed, was seeking a ( ? of escape; and as their hands j 1 net on the door handle she sank sob- ? 1 >ing into his arms. j ' "Don't, don't!" she whispered, j * ?ardly articulately, but ho was doing I 1 lothing from which he could desisi, ! * for ho could scarcely let her drop on j 1 he floor. 1 "My goodness," said Capt. Jutnpt- j ' son again; "will no one come?" But ' he house was still, and he reflected | 1 :bat perhaps it was as well Ihat no one ! 1 should come in at that juncture?at all j * . vents, not without warning; and 60 j c here was another patHC broken only 1 >y her sobs. He could tee her sister : hrongh the muslin blinds. She was j ( ooking over the garden gale talking o some one. Would she change her j nind and bring whoever it was in to j ea? If she did, Maud would surelv ? ? tear them entering the house and rc- j ( rear. But G?raldine stood lalkiu" at I he gate. Only the rector wore a high I < i?t at Bunborough-bv-thc-Sea and Dr. I 1 Coverdale. ? "Click!" went the garden gate as ! t G?raldine pa-sed into the sunuy road- j i vay. $ "Boo-hoo!" If, was a very gentle \\ >ne this time, from somewhere near ! 1 lis wat eh-pocket. j g "Click !" went the garden gate, as it j 1 wung back on its hinges. j > And Capt. Jnmpison surrendered ai ? liscretion. ? [St. Jame? Budget. ! c -~m*~- j ? The Qfclest Known Inscription. \ I In the palace of the Louvre, Pari?, ? I that position set apart for Hebrew j \ iniiqnitkcs, may be fecn the famous j t ?Pillar of King Mesa." It is fash- ! t oued from pure bjack basalt; meas- ! ores forty* inches in height, twenty eight iu width and fourteen inches in thicknees. For 2S00 years this famous, hi storica i *'stela" remained in one po sition in tho ' ?country of the Moa bites," on the shores sf the Dead Sea, at the spot, as is supposed, where the froutier of their territory joined with that of the tribe of Reuben. It bears upon its faces the very oldest in scriptions that have yet been deci phered, character*, words and sentences that were 'graved thereon? at a time contemporaneous with the Bible, nine hundred years bi fore the birth of the Savior. One remarkable thing in connection with this antique pillar and its history is the fact that it was not buried in the sands, as most well-preserved ancient relics have been, bat remained Staudtug erect in the full light of the day for twenty eight centuries. The first news of the whereabouts of this ancient pillar was communicated to M. Ciermont-Gan neau, one of the French Consuls at Jerusalem, in 1870. The great his torical value of the find may be judged from the fact that many of the in scriptions supply facts thatiiave been wholly omitted from the biblical ac counts of the wars betweeu King Mesa and the Israelites.?[St. Louis Repub lic Chinese River Travel. O. L. Kiiborn, one of the seven Canadian missionaries who have gone to settle in Chon-tu, tho capital of Sze-Cauan, has sent home an account of Chinese river travel. At Ichaug, Mr. Kiiborn and his companions em barked, with their belongings, on two houseboats and began a journey of one thousand miles up the Yang tse River. The Chinese houseboat is a flat bottomed punt, of which the stern half is covered in. Rather more than the auterior third consists of open deck, where the fourteen rowers stand wheu they wield their oars, and where the whole crew spread their mats and sleep at night. Turning on a pivot at the bow is a long, heavy oar, which, when skilfully handled, cloes more of the steering thau the rudder. The boat is furnished with a tall and strong mast, and, with the least fair wind up goes the Chinese sail, ribbed with the light bamboo. When the wind drops, eighteen men jump ashore; fifteen of them tow-the houseboat along with from 2u0 to 1000 feet of bamboo rope, chanting as they pull, while two men keep the rope clear of projecting rocks along the river bank, and the remaining me runs beside the rest, spurring hem to their work by shouting, waving his arms, and clapping his lands. Often the banks become to precipi tous for this '-tracking,'* and the fourteen rowers take to their oars. mode of progression is changed en or fifteen times a day. Often the joat crosses the river to gain quieter prater or a smoother bank, and is car ried down a quarter of a mile in the ?ourse of this manoeuvre, though all muds stamp the deck fiercely, row with desperation, and fill the air with ?relie. On reaching the rapids of Tatnng wo bamboo ropes were put ashore nul seventy-five men and boys hauled >n them, to the accompaniment of a ?mall barrel drum furiously beate?? by man sitting on deck. The Chinese inthorities have established life-sav ng associations, which keep several we'i-mauncd boats constantly plying it all the dangerous rapids. Such a thing as au anchor was never seen. Sometimes a pole was driven down hrongh a hole in the bow, but usually a rope was tied round a aowlder or stake on shore, or in de fault of these, round a heap of small >tonc3 gathered for the purpose. The Fastest of Sailing Ships. Until the Guion steamer Arizona was launched the record for the great-. . number of miles covered from noon to noon was held by a sailing >hip. This was the Flying Cloud, than which no faster ship has ever sailed he sea. Many famous ship3 have been built in America and sailed uu 1er our flag. Mystic, Connecticut, Mice turned out craft remarkable for heir ?-peed, about the last of which tras the Twilight. There, too, was attached the Gamecock, a well-kr.own ' :ea-c!ipper, and probably the last sail ing ship out of Xew York possessing well-furnished armorv. There, too, ?robably was built a certain ship which was owned in Middle town. Evervthing connected with this vessel was carried out in defiance of all su >erstitioiis concerning Friday* Her . <eel was laid on a Friday, she was attached on a Friday, named Friday, commanded bv a man named Fridav. ind sailed on a Friday?and was never ifter heard from. titling and proper mil.?[New York Fost. ( London's Splendid Police System. 'Nothing of all I ?a in Europe," ( ?aid Mr. II. W. Crawford to the Cin- , annali Times-Star, "impressed me j nore than the splendid police system ? >f London. The street in front of the , c Sank ot England is crowded as you ^ lever sec a street crowded here, but ^ he multitudes pass without interrupt- ] on or entanglement. The police t itami in he midst of the crowd of j chicles and are supreme in authority. , f an officer tclis a cabby to siop; he tops. If he orders him to move on, :, ie moves on, and the luckless driver .? vho by accident or design brushes aa? \ ?fiieer with his wheel, finds himself | leprived of a license the following ,? lay. Iu Auletica iL would be impost ile to establish such a respect for au- : li?rity, but it is a good thing iu it* y vay. I have seen mure scrapping on he streets of Cincinnati in two days !? han I paw in three months in thf Jaropean sities,- e "THE HOLY CITY." A Description of Mecca, Its Streets and Buildings. Vast Numbers of Pilgrims Visit It Annually. Mecca, the city to which Moham medan worshipers make annual pil grimage in vast numbers, is described by Charles Dudley Warner in Har per!* Magazine. We quote from ihe article as follows: Mecca, sometimes called Om-cl-Ko ra (the mother of towns), lies in a narrow sandy valley running north and south, among barren hills from two hundred to live hundred feet in height, about forty-six miles from the Red Sea port of Jedda. In Burck hardt^ time the town, including the suburbs, occupied the broader part of the little valley, extended up the slopes, was not more than three thou sand five hundred paces in length, and had au es imated stationary popula tion of thirty-tbreethonsand; the per manent residents arc probably now about forty-five thousand. It i?-described by Burckhardt as a handsome town, the streets broader than usual iu Oriental cUies. The houses are built of gray scone, many of them three stories high, with win dows opening on the street; many windows project from the wall aud have elaborately carved and gaudily painted frame work. The houses are built, as usual in the East, about courts, with terraces protected by parapets, and most of them are con structed for the accommodation of lodgers, so that the pilgrim? can have convenient access to their separate apartments. The town, in fact, is greatly modified to minister to the great influx of strangers in the annual Hadji. Ordinary houses have apart ments for them, the streets are broad to give room for the crowd of pil grims, and the innovation of outer windows is to give the visitors a chance to see the procession. The city lies open on all sides; it has few trees, and no fine buildings except the great mosque. It is no1 well supplied with water, and in the height of the pilgrimage this fluid be comes ecarce and dear. The wells are brackish, and there afe few cisterns for collecting rain-water. It is true that the flow of the holy well Zem zem in the mosque is copious enough to supply the town, but there is a prejudice against using the water for common purposes, and besides, it is heavy and bad for digestion. The best water is brought in an aqueduct from the vicinity of Arafat, six or seven hours distant, but the conduit is in bad repair and uucleaned, and this supply often gets low. The streets are uupaved, and ?*j the country is subject to heavy rains, alternating with scorching beat, they are always either excessively muddy or intolera bly dusty. The fervent heat of the town is al ways contrasted with the coolness of the elevated city of Medina. Moham med said that he who had endured the cold of Metlina and the heat of Mecca merited the reward of paradise. Sud den and copious storms of rain fre quently deluge Mecca; sometimes the whole town is submerged, houses are swept away and lives losr, and water has stood in the mosque enclosure as high as the black stone iu the Kaaba. Although Burckhardt says he enjoyed his stay there and was very comforta ble (the Hatlj that year was iu No vember), his experience is liot that of most pilgrims.?[Harper's Magazine. Telegraph Lines in the Tropics. The business of telegraphing has its difficulties and is prolific of exaspera tions in t?jis town and country, with dead wires and live wires, crosses and tangles, cyclones aud blizzards, and auroras and "bugs." Telegraphic communication anywhere is subject to interruption from a hundred and one causes, and f j people who kick about the service are aware of the difficulties to be overcome in main taining a perfect electrical circuit. But in the tropics the maintenance of telegraph line in good working Drder is a constant up-hill fight against ill manner of interrupting enemies hat linemen and operators in this latitude never dream of. Iti Brazil the wires get tangled up imh the cablc-?kc web of an im nense spider, which, dripping with lew or rain, makes cross connection*, >hort circuit?, and grounds almost laily. Ant? often destroy the poles a few weeks. Monkeys swing on .he wires and break them, and in the forests creepers and rope-like withes >vcrgrow the poles and wires every few weeks. All this is inore or less rue of ali Central and South America. Cuba there is an orchid that in trusts the wire and causes leakage. In he West Indian Islands the John 'rows or turkey buzzards, make life niscrahle for the telegraph and tele fone people. These big. heavy birds, he only scavengers, ate around in ;rcat numbers. They roost on the vires or fly up against lhem, and in ai iabiy break them short oil'. In one arge town the telephone lines that un by the public market hail to be )tit underground because the buzzards ongrcgated there in gtcat umbers, ested on the wires, and broke them .Imost nightly. On the pampas of Argentina the herds of practically j riUl cattle nib and butt against the oles, and frequently break ihetn j .?>wn. Kor some years it was altogether inpossrbte to marinain a line of t< le-1 raph through Persia foi more than t'sv days at a time; the natives regtt niy destroyed it as a device of the ? vil one. Finally the ?Shah issues an j diet making the loss of an oar the penalty for a l'iva orto ce of destroy ing the telegraph lines, ihc loss of a hand for the second, and death, by being bariceli to the neck in the sand beside the telegraph line, the penalty for a third offence. One-cared men were common in Pers'a for several years, for the Shah was ue?ermiiicrt to introduce civilizing iniluences. ? [New York Sun. The Interior of Greenland. Greenland, a great continental is land, lying between the northern lands of Europe and America, ami uncon nected with either, is aiunst U00 miles in lcngih and 700 in breadth, with an area of 320,000 square miles. Its interior is covered by a vast ice cap, many hundred feet in thickness? in some places not less than 3000 feet. From this iuland ice great projections extend down the vaUcysaml mountain gorges toward the sea. These are glaciers and are really ice rivers, and are in slow bat constant motion. As they are pushed onward into the sea,or into the deep fjords which indent the coast, great f ragmeuts of them, break oft and float away south as ice bergs on the Arctic current, ami be come the terror of mariners in the North Atlantic. When the explorer climb* the slope of these projections or glaciers, he finds himself on the bari glittering ice of the interior at an ele vation of 2000 or 3000 feet above the sea level. The "great and terrible wilderness1' of ice extends in all direc tions as far as the eye can reach. In winter and early spring a thick coat ing of snow covers it, which the heat of summer only partially melts. No signs of a living thing is here; noth ing to break the monotony, but here and there the surface is torn by crevas ses, into whose awful depths the streams from the melting snow plunge wiih sullen roar. Such is the interior of Greenland_[New York Tribune. Broad Tires and Boads. In a recent issue of the Northwest ern Agriculturist there appeared au artie'e concerning the use of broad tires on wheels as a meaus of protect ing the roads. The article was as fol lows: Many people are talking about roads and road making and broad tires auct narrow tires who never did more than ride in a soft-springed buggy over good road?. A pretty theory is very sure to get a wide circulation in po litical farm papers and agricultural annexes to the big dailies. The tact is that a broad-tired wheel 13 good for use on hard, well-drained roads, so rounded iu the center that the water rnus ofi' freely and quickly, prevent ing the formation of ruts and mud or chuck*' holes. But where ruts or mud holes have been made during a spell of wet weather tho man who starts out with a broad-tired wagon will l?mi that he has a load of mud on his wheels as big as hie wagon box. The wide tire, which is supposed to roll down the road so beautifully, is found to be carrying whole acres of mud along ou the inside of its broad felloes, and if the team had a vote on the question it would cast a most em phatic protest against broad tires. In soft meadows they will carry a good load and ride on the surface, where narrow tires will go down, but if they once cut through it is necessary to rally the neighbors and their horses to get them on top of the earth agaiu. Co-operation iu Boad Making. The new system in New-Zealand of constructing roads and railways is by what are called co-operative contracts. In these, a small party of men, gene rally six in number, is allotted a cer tain section or length of road or line; one of them is elected a "ganger" and trustee for the others, to deal for them with the Government. The Govern ment engineer states a price for the portion of work, and as this is done by an unprejudiced officer it is gene rally accepted without murmur by the men. The results usually have been very satisfactory. Progress payments arc made fortnightly, for the benefit of the men's families, and the whole amount is paid up in cash on the work being passed by the engineer. It is the intention of the Government to provide small farms of ten or fifteen acres each for these workmen in vil lage settlements, so that they may be induced to make their homes itt coun try districts, and thus in some degree neutralize the centralizing tendency of modern industrial life. The Bark Most Popular on the Sea. On the California!] coast (he barken tinc is a favorite rig and many of them cross a sky-sail yard. There is no rig which combines so many ad vantages as that of the barkentine for oil-shore vessels of from four to seven h undici tons register. Of course, on the eastern pide of these United States the fore-and-aft schooner with a va rying number of masts floats pre eminent. It is said that Jerseymcn can be dis tinguished from Downeasters by the number of different colored headings on the elites of their schooners. Ital ian*, Austrians and Scandinavians ad here to the bark rig, and four out of live of their foreign-going vessels are barks. Their smaller craft are gener ally hermaphrodite-brig rigged. Take the sea-faring community the world over and the bark is still the predomin ating rig.? [New York Post. What Peter the Great Liked to Eat. Peter the Great disliked to have many attendants round him while he nie?"listening lackeys," as he called them. He loved a dinner composed is follows: A soup with four cab bages in it. gruel, pig, with sour cream for sauce; cold roast meat, with pickled cucumbers or salad: lemons and lamprey ; salt meat, ham .ml Limburg cheese. ? [Chicago rimes. WATCH WONDERS. Extraordinary Facts Concerning Little Timepieces. Their Tiny Works Are Marvels of Construction. Open your watch and look at the little wheels, springs and screws, each an indispensable part of the whole wonderful machine. Notice the busy little balance wheel as it flies to and fro unceasingly, day and night, year in ani year oat. This wonderful little machine is the result of hundreds of years of study and ex ( criincut. Tho watch carried by the ave; age man is composed of 98 pieces, au I its manufacture embraces more th. u 2000 distinct and separate oper ations. Some of the smallest screws arc so minute that the unaided eye cannot distinguish them from steel (Lings or specks of dirt. Under a powerful m signifying glass a perfect screw is revealed. The slit in the head is 2-1000 of an inch wide. It lake* 3u8,OU0 of these screws to weigh a pound, and ?* pound is worth $1,585. The hair-spring is a strip of the finest steel ah*?*H 9 1-2 incites long and 1-100 inch wjtie ami 27-10,000 inch thick. It is called up in spiral form, and finely ;?4mpcrcd. The process of tem pering *jic<c springs was long held ae a secret by the few fortunate ones pos?cbSU'g it, and even now is not generally known. Their manufacture ret}uire* great skill an 1 care.* The s.rip is gauged to 20-1,000 of an inch, but no. me asuring instrument has as y ci been devi>ed capable of fine enough gauging o del ermine before hand by the size of the strip what the etteiigth of the finished spring wili be. A 1-20,000 part ot an inch difference in the thickness of the strip makes a difiere ace i:i the running of a watch of about six minutes per hour. The value of these springs, when finished and placed in watches, is en ormous in proportion to the material from which they are made, A c ?m parison will give a good idea. A ton of steel made up into hair-springs when in watches is worth more than twelve and one-half times the value of the same weight of pure gold. Hair-spring wire weighs one-twenti ( ? of a g^aiu to the inch. One mile Oa vire weighs less than half a pound. Tue balance gtVcs five vibrations every second, 300 e velini unte, 18,000 every hour, 432,000 evtyw;. day, and 157, 680,000 every year. At each vibra tion it rotates about one and one fourth times, which makes 197,100,000 revolutions every year, in order that we may better understand the stupen dous amount of labor performed by these tiny works let us make a few comparisons. Take for illustration, a locomotive with six-foot driving wheels. Let its wheels be run until they have given the same number of revolutions that a watch does in one year and they will have covered a dis tance equal to twenty-eight complete circuits of the earth. All this a watch does with ?ut other attention than winding every twenty-four hours. Shakers of Kentucky. No more prosperous colony o? Shakers can be found than that near High Bridge, K\\, in one of the most beautiful sections of the blue-grass country. These Shakers originally came from Mount Lebanon, Ohio, where there is still a wealthy settle ment of these people. The migratiou to Kentucky was made in 1805, whilo the Indians still roamed through its forests. The village which they founded is known as Pleasant Hill or Shakcrtown. Pleasant Hill is tho old home of the late Bishop li. L. Eades, the author of "Shaker Theology,"' to which Count Leo Tolstoi, in his "Kreu zer Sonata," made reference on the subject of celibacy and morality. The Pleasant Hill Shakers number 200, and live iu three-story brick houses in the inidirt of 3500 acres of fertile land. Their principal occupation is stock raising, but they also make brooms, weaving-looms,spinning-wheels, cedar buckets, ami wooden ware generally. ? [Boston Transcript. Seneca's Prophecy Fulfilled. Nineteen hundred years ago Strabo, the Roman geographer, basing hie reasoning on mathematical grounds, stated that land would be discovered in which Atlantis was supposed to lie, md in the middle of the first Christian century Seneca, a Roman poet, pub Micd some verses, which is, perhaps, [he most circumstantially accurate prophecy ever fulfilled, Their trans at ion runs as follows: "Time will ;onie, as years roll by, when ocean will unclasp the bonds of Nature, and great laud will be discovered, and he sea will disclose new climes, and I-hule be no longer the last land on iarth.'' That this prophecy points di cci ly to America is indicated by the 'act that in the days of Seneca, Ulti ma Th?le, or the Western Islande, vas then considered tho last laud on arth. ? [New York Advertiser. Care of the Umbrella. In the first place, do not expect veri istiug wear of an umbrella, no natter of what cost; and, in the see nni place, treat it well if you wish ong servire. It looks neater to carry t foiled on the street, but it should ;c unfastened and shaken out wheu lot iu use, to prevent the folds from putting. An ocoa-onal coat of var ii*h over the ferrule end will save it Vom looking shabby, as the stick will ;ct marini there. ; When wet, dry partially wPh the ' tubivi ! ; closed ami reeling with the :i..il?c down. Cicau a black mnurtlia, liieu spotted with mud, with Amo* ia and water. FOB THE HOUSEWIFE. to pickle ha 31. To one hundred pounds of meat a? !ow ten pounds of coarse salt, three pounds of brown sugar, one quart of syrup, two ounces of saltpetre, oue ounce of eoda aud six gallons of water. Boil well together and skim; when entirely cold pour over the meat and let it stand three or four weeks, and then take out and drain nefore smoking.?[New York Observer. ONE WAY TO DRY ANDKEliCHIF3 It is not tire washing but the drying and ironing that is so disastrous to the beauty of tine handkerchiefs, which, unless great care be taken, soon be come sad I draggled and worn. A mo3t sensible plan, and one which is being adopted by the most e legai i: wo men, is to superintend the washing of your handkerchief* by having in your boudoir a small basil) especially sci a.>idc for the purpose, in which the dainty p:eces of lace aud cambric may be washed with your own hands. Then comes the drying, and, thanks to some womanly genius this may be easily accompli ed. A handkerchief drying glass is so easily made that it is wiihin ihe reach of all. A square piece of glass larger than handkerchiefs is b mud with rib bon, upon which some suitable motto is worked, and silk cord sewn securely on the two upper corners suspends the novel affair. After washing \our kerchiefs, rin-c well and then stretch them, one al a time, upon the/ gla^s, patting them down smoothly ami picking out each scailop and corner with care. Hang the gla>s in a draught, and in a short while yon will find your handkerchief exquisite lydried.?[New Y?<rk World. DIRECTIONS FOK DYEING. Black?Tj dye five pound* of goods take two ounces of extract of logwood, twoouueesof blue viir.ol and di-solvc the vitrol in sufficient water to cover the good*. Wet the goods in sud ami put into the dissolved vitriol. L-t simmer two hours then wash ia three good sud?. Throw away the vitriol water, wash the keltic and make the dye with the extract using plenty of water. Put in the goods and let simmer two hours longer, stirring often to prevent spotting. Jlinsc well in cold water and wash clean in sud*. Green?Take the yellow goods dyed by the above recipe and dip ilicin into blue dye made as follows: Dis solve a quarter of a pound of copperas in soft water, put iu the goods and allow them to remain about fifteen minutes. Take them out. Take clean soft water, and dissolve two ounces of prussiatc of potash. When it is milk warm put in the goods. Let them re main in this fifteen minutes. Then take out the goods and add one ounce of oil of vitriol to the potash dye when it is only milk warm. Put in your yellow goods again and boil to the right shade. Brown?For live pounds of goods of any kind, one pound of jap?nica, calchouc, four ozs. bi-chroinate of potash, two tablespoon fu s of alum. vVet the goods in sads before coloring. Dissolve ihe japonic aud alum in sufficient water to cover the good*; put them in and let them stay two hours at a scalding hear. Remove from the fire and let them stand in the liquid over night. In the morning wring the goods. Dissolve the potash in enough water to cover the goods and let this come to a scalding heat. Put in the goods and let them stand for an hour. Stir occasionally, take out, wring and rinse through two waters; then wash in suds ami rinse again. This is a very nice color.? IDv'troit Free Press. recipes. Sugar Cookies?Two eggs, one and one-half cups of sugar, one cup of butter. Beat together very light. Add one-half cup of milk, one tea spoonful of soda, two of cream tartar. Flour enough to roll out thin. liaised Graham Bread?Oue pint of graham flour; one pint of wheat fl air; teaspoon ful of salt; tablespoon ful of sugar; pint of warm milk; quarter of a yeast-cake. liaise over night. In the morning, drop into gem pans and raise ihe same as biscuits before put ting into the oven. Bake iu a hot oven. "The Mule Blowed Fust." the Boston's mule was sieU aud a neighbor advised him to administer calomel. "How will I get it into him?" asked Babe. "Put it in a quill, put the quill in his mouth and blow it down his throat," responded the neighbor. A few days later the neighbor met him. Babe was as thin as a rail; he looked right green and was all doubled up. "What's the matter with you?" asked the neighbor. Babe placed his hand pathetically over his stomach, gave a sigh like a blacksmith's bellows with a hole in it aud replied: '?The mule blowed fust." Civilization in Japan. As a proof of the manner in which the civilization of the West is seizing hoJd on Japan and all that is Japan- , ese, it is slated that in a private mis sion school in the town of Kiota , there were 400 Japanese women, j Ten years ago the fathers of these - girls looked upon them as slaves, or at best upper servants. Now they strain every nerve to give them a lib- ] eral education. Even young husbands j are sending their girl-wives to school. The cr?se to learn English is univer- j Bal. The coolie will ?fter to work for an English-speaking master for the a price of two pounds of rice a day, if c he will ouly talk to him in English. j A Song of Liberty Across the land from strand to strand Loud ring the bugle notes, And Freedom's smile from isle to isle, Like Freedom's banner floats. The velvet vales sing "Liberty!" To answering skies serene; Tbe mountains, sloping to tbe sea. Wave all their flags of green ! The ri vers, dashing to the deep, Still echo loud and long, And all their waves in glory leap To one immortal song ! One song of liberty and life, j That was and is to be, Till fyrsifct flags are trampled rags And ail the world is free! I One song?tbe nations hail the notes From sounding sea to sea. And answer from their thrilling throats That song of Liberty! They answer and echo comes From chained and troubled isles, And roars like ocean's thunder-drums Where glad Columbia smiles. Where, crowned and great, she sits in stata Beneatb her flag of stars, Her heroe's blood the sacreJ flood That crimsoned all its bars ! Hail to our country ! strong she stands, Nor fears the ward rum's beat; The sword of Freedom in her hands? The tyrant at her feet! ??Frank L. Stanton, in Atlanta Constitu tion. HUMOROUS. Justifiable larceny ? Stealing a while away from business Fanny is a beautiful name for a wife who delights to raise a breeze. "I have a high duty to pertorm," as tbe balloonist said before he made au ascension. He?I am altogether unworthy ol you, darling. She (tenderly)?That's what papa says. He?Darling, let me assure you of the depth of my aflection. She?Ah! No bottom to it? ' I hear your shooting party had an accident. Is it true?" "Yes; Billy Smith shot a duck." It may not be uninteresting ?o note that in Algiers soldiers were always employed by the dey. Money may be the root of evil, but poverty is at best but a rough-skinned encourager of virtue. Some barbers have very few brains, but we must give them credit for a good deal of head-work. St. Louis boasts of a man who hai lost two legs and two arms. They say he is not half a bad fellow. "Buy me a pair of cream-colored glovee" she said. And he, being city bred, bonghi her a pair of pale-blue kids, At a natural history examination. "What is the auimal capable of the closest attachment to man?" "The leech." A dentist maybe a jolly fellow to outside appereanccs, but he has a way of looking down in the mouth that is striking. If folks will fool with other people's money and get behind the wicket of a cell door in consequence that's their lookout. Customer?Have you any fresh maple syrup? New Grocery Clerk? No'in; but I can mix some up ri^ht away for you. First day out on the steamer?A.? Where is D. this morning? B.?In his stateroom. A.?How is he? B.? Barely holding his own. Cha wies?I have made my plans to spend all next summer at the big fair. Ethel?Won't that be nice! Shall you go as a visitor, or?as an exhibit? Teacher?Docs heat always expand and cold always contract? Tommy Taddles?Cold expands sometimes. Indeed? What docs cold expand: Coal bills. "Where ye goin', Johnny9" -'Don't bot lier me. Pin a relief expedition, 1 am." "Are ye piayin' North Pole?*' "Naw. I'm goin' to the drug store for paregoric." Bertie?Well, I have wealy changed my mind once more. Algie?Bertie, dealt boy, I hope you didu't get one of those strong ones that you wou'j know how to use. "I can take 100 words a minute,'' said the stenographer. *'I often take more than that," remarked the other in sorrowful accents; "but then I have to, I'm married." "What was Helen crying abou*, Pv>l!y?" asked Polly's mamma, as the little onc?ame in from the playground. "She dug a great big hole in the gar den, and her mamma wouldn't let her take it into the house with her," said Polly. "Do you think," asked Willie Wash ington, "that dudes have any value iu the world?" "I don't know," replied Belle Peppcrion. "It seems to me that one might make a collection of them and then speculate in them as a vacant lot." "I don't want to go to school," sobbed Walter. "Don't you want to learn to read?'' asked his nurse. "What will you do when you grow to be a man if you can't read?" "Oh," said the little fellow, "you can read to me just the same." Pecan Culture. Pecans make a profitable crop, and the largest "paper shelled" nuts bring rcry high prices. The trees wiil bear 5. little fruit in from eight to ni?"> rears, but a paying crop will no* be produced before tea or fifteen years. The planting ot the best nuts is almost sure investment, and although they lo not produce for so many years, the rrouud need not stand idle but cau be >lanted with other crops until too nnch shaded by the trees, when it cau >e used as pasture land. The pecan nut is little known ibroad, so that there is no danger of rverstocking the market.?[American aruior.