University of South Carolina Libraries
?????-?- ?????????? ?? : ;? - - "" & 'a.-;.-". KB $ '& '5.x? I ABBEVILLE PRESS & BANNER.:!! m ' ' s.&:# BY HUGH WILSON AND W. C. BENET. ABBEVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 1878. NO. 6. VOLUME XXVI. :v| 1 " ' >+" W . -? - - J f TIMFIT TAPIfU I Ttamg of Interest ".*41B Thanatopsis. WILLIAM CULL EN* BBYANT'S GREATEST POEM. To him who ia tlio love of nature' holds Commuaion with her visible forms, she speaks A various language : for bis fcnyer hours She has & voice of {;1 .dness. and a smile And eloquence of beauty, ai>d rhe glides Into his derktr musings, with a miid And healing sympathy, that steals away Their sharpness, ere he is aware. When thoughts Of the last bitter hour come like a blight Over thy spirit, and sad images Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall, And breathless darkness and the narrow house, ?- Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart; Go forth, unto the oft.n sky, and list To nature's teachings, while from all around? Earth and her waters, and the depths of airComes a still voice?Yet a few days, and thee The all beholding sun shall see no more Tn all hia mtirift; nor vet in the cold ground. Where tuy pale form was laid, with many tears, Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist Thy image. Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again, And lost each human trace, surrendering up Thine individual being, shalt thou go To mix for ever with the elements, To be a brother to the insensible rock And to the sluggish cJo^, which the rude swain TrnB with his share, and treads upon. The oak Shall send his root* abroad, and pieroe thy mold. Yet not to thine eternal resting place Shalt thoa retire alone, nor oould'st thou wish Oouch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down With patriarchs of the infant world?with kings, The powerful of the earth?the wise, the good, Pair forms, and hoary Beers of ages past, AH in one mighty sepulchre. The hills Rock ribbed and ancient as the sun?the vales 8tretching in pensive qnietneas betwoen; The venerable woods?rivers that move In majesty, and the .complaining brooks That make the meadowB green ; and, poured round all, Old ocean's gray and melancholy waste? Are but the solemn decorations all Of the great tomb of man. The golden sun, The planets, all the infinite host of heaven, Are Bhining on the sad abodes of death r Through the still lapse of agep. All that tread Tha Dlnha hnt n. hnnrifnl to the tribes That Blumber in its boeom. Take the wings Of morning, and the Barcan desert pierce, ?-s? Or lose thyself in the continuous woods Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound. Save his own dashings?yet?the dead are there; And millions in those solitudes, sinoe first The flight of years began, have laid them flown In their last sleep?the dead reign there alone. So shalt thou rest, and what if thou shalt fall Unnoticed by the living, and no friend Take note of thy departure? All all that breathe Will share thy destiny. The gay will laugh When thou art gone, the 6olemn brood of care Plod on, and each one as before will chase His favorite phantom ; yet ail these shall leave Their mirth and their enjoyments, and shall come And make their bed with thee. As the long train Of ages glides away, the sons of men, The youth in life's green spring, and ho who goes In the full strength of years?matron, and maid, And the sweet babe, and the gray-headed man? Shall one by one be gathered to thy side, By those, who in their turn shall follow them. So live, that when thy snmmens comes to join .The innumerable caravan, which moves To the pale realms of shade, where each shall take His chamber in the Bilent halls of death, Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and ij soothed By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch Ab?ut him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. Not the Pretty Miss Purdy. " It's inconceivable to me, mamma," m said Miss Blanche, "how any woman with spirit can make snch an exhibition of herself; but the fact is, Lily never Ko/1 a n?rtii>lfl nf snirit.. Even a worm I -will torn sometimes when it's trod upon, but I believe any one could trample the vitals out of Lily and she'd never murmur. The worst of it is, she spoils my plans, and it's too bad, when she hasn't the shadow of a chance herself, that she mil persist in acting the part of a dog in the manger. I should think, considering the self-sacrificing and uncomfortable role she's chosen for herself, the fact of securing her idol in the family would hold some charm for her; but the ridiculous display she makes of her unrequited affection is gradually bringing to ruin all our available prospects." Miss Blanche tossed the egg-shells from her fingers, and looked about her _ IL. e?ii?? r. v. I in CUBUtUU upuu l>Ut) UULLUUriiro:! uica&fast-room and its appurtenances. The house which the Purdys ocoupied had been rather an imposing one some years since, but the burden of unpaid taxes and assessments had broken its once high spirit, and its ohief and onlv charm now lay in the parlor floor. Poor Mr. Purdy had long since given up all idea of redeeming the place from its legal bondage; and indeed, as the mortgage was long overdue, it began to be apparent to even his hopeful nature that the property was slipping out of his hold. He consoled himself with the prospect of a legal squabble with the mortgage, and as Mr. Purdy was a lawyer himself, and he held one of the town offices, he thought his chances were good for another year. In the mean time, perhaps, something wonld turn up; and unconsciously his thoughts reverted to the extraordinary churms of his eldest daughter Blanche. He was I scarcely to be blamed for this, as a great many thoughts ran in the same -happy direction. So alluring were these charms, so bine were her eyes, so golden hei hair, so perfect her lips and the pearls within, so vivid her color, so lithe nnc graceful her form, so shapely her feel and hands, she was known far and neai as " the pretty Miss Purdy." Then sh< oould talk so well, and could smile s< archly, and blush so readily, and dance and row, and swim, and skate, and sing and play, and so divinely ! w'hat thei oould have done without her at th< church fairs, where she always reigne< at the flower stand, and threw in witl each bud so priceless a smile?how the; would have dispensed with her in th* I charades and tableaux and various con trivances by -which the big church an nually tided over its financial difficultie ?it would be hard to say. But nobod; thought of doing without the prettr Miss Purdy; indeed, it was generall; oonceded that the teacher of the Bibl' class, Mr. Henry Howe, meant to secur her as a permanency for the town o ? ** * ? yt_ l.3 i ISeabrooR. ana lie vicinity. ne nau dokj known to strongly object to the title o " the pretty Mies Purdy," and was reall; the most available party that could d away with it. She was rather cold an ooqnettish and shy, as became her ax altel position, but nobody bat a foe would refaBH tbe proffer of the fin house and landed property, and hand [ j some person, majestic manners, un! bounded perquisites in trade and in j society, that belonged to Mr. Henry | Howe. The pretty Miss Purdy was ! not a fool, by any means, so this magi nificent man and this lovely, engaging | woman were drifting together in this 1 natural fitness of things, when a queer I ?almost an absurd?obstacle presented itself. ! Tho younger sister of the pretty Miss j Purdy "fell hopelessly in love with Mr. I Howe. It seemed like a joke at first, J j Miss Lily was sovoung: she had scarce- j ! ly reached her eighteenth year, and had ] i just entered society. Then she was so plain so hopelessly plain ! It was such a misfortune, the folks of Seabrook said, to name a girl Lily, till you could form some idea of what her complexion would be; and dear me ! how very murky and dark and thick and turbid was the ekin ) 1 of poor Lily Purdy ! And her hair was ; j so abundant and straight and heavy, it j was almost impossible to arrange it be- j comingly, when it was irrevocably fast- j ened to the head in that way: it was so ! much more easily manipulated when un- ; 1 trammelled by these natural ties. She j had fine eyes, to be sure, large and 1 dark; but -what were eyes in a case like ' ! this I She was little and dumpy and 1 dull; and then just think of the disad-: ! vantages the poor child labored under ! ' j To be known, in contradistinction to her sister, as not the pretty Miss Purdy. j ! When the gossips of Seabrook were des- | | canting upon the success or failure of this or that entertainment, it was 60 j : natural to say, "Miss Purdy was there j : ?not the pretty Miss Puidy, but that ' i plain little sister of hers, you know." It \ ! was sad for the poor child, very sad; and, j i to crown all, she must go and fall des- , ; perately in love with Mr. Henry Howe, . ! the richest, handsomest, altogether the i I finest man in the place. At first her i passion was set aside as the foolish, I rather forward preference of a child. I Mr, Howe had been visiting there a I i o 7,'tti a wAfn rvynnrvTinno/l in I | 1UU^ nunc, Or iivvto wv/iv pvuvuuvvu ?u ; I his attentions than tho other suitors of j I Blanche, and gradually gravitating to j I the position of a suitor; this of course ! rendered his footing in the household an easy oji , and his bearing to the young- j | er sister was gent?e and encouraging and ' j familiar, as was natural under the cir- j | cumstances. It began to be apparent ; : tbat Lily clung to his presence pertin- j aciously?too much eoJaJtoge tner for 1 he j I comfortable American custom of letting j j young people arrange their matrimonial I ' affairs for themselves. Blanche en' deavored in vain to get rid of this stumb- j ling-block to her progress; hints and' i winks and frowns and little errands were I unavailing; at last the parental authori- j ! was called in, and the parlor floor be- ; came Blanche's undivided empire. But there was the Bible class, which Lily always attended, in storm or sunshine, and of course it was impossible to reI strict the child's religious privileges. ! Lily had not mastered enough of Bible I literature to make herself either a help ! j or a nuisance to her teacher; the poor girl was not even a hard student, or a blue-stocking of any kind. I don't know ! lUrtl -If wtmil/l Iiqtta nrrmnflrorl V?or nn i fortunate passion if she had been; I I think it rarely does; but anyway, 1 may I as well confess candidly that I am not holding back any capabilities in Lily's | : mind or person that will suddenly sweep away all obstacles to her happiness. : Her mind appeared to be sluggish as her blood, and her whole being seemed | so completely dominated by this over- j i powering affection that it overflowed to ! the surface, and" unconsciously to lier| self she was the talk of the class. When ; j she entered society her foolish partiality i I had been for a short time the talk of the i ! place?only a short time, because the | subject was too absurd arid unimportant I to occupy the gossips of Sea brook long, j i but it was long enough to make Mr. : Howe uncomfortable?very uncomforta; ble indeed. His maiden siste/, who ! superintended his home, began one : ! morning to inveigh in no measured terms against this unbecoming conduct j on the part of Miss Purdy. "Not the pretty Miss Purdy, Henry," j ! said Miss Howe. "I must say, although 11 don't altogether fancy the pretty Miss i Purdy" (it would be hard to say who j I Miss Howe did altogether fancy), "I've ' no fault to find with her manners or ap | pearance." j "There is no fault to find, Jane," said ; j her brother. "And as for this outrage| ous talk about Lily, it's the most moni strous thing I ever heard of." j "Well," said Jane, with an eloquent j sniff of her thin high nose, "I'm glad ! your conscience is easy. I should hate i to believe that vou had led the girl into this unseemingly idolatry. I have been forced into giving the matter some atj tention myself?'' "These confounded tattle-mongers of i Seabrook?" said Mr. Howe. Then j j paused, remembering that his maiden 1 j sister was at the head of this set. "?Some attention myself," pursued I Miss Howe, who never allowed herself J I to be disturbed by these fraternal out- , j bursts; '-and I have seen that she never takes her eyes from your face, that she ! I is obsequious in her attentions to you, j that she blushes with delight when you : i speak to her, and absolutely trembles at1 i vour frown." "Stuff and nonsense!" said Mr. Howe. : ) "I'll put an end to this." And soon j thereafter mounting his horse and rid-! ' ing in a familiar direction .he became so j vexed in spirit and out of temper with i ! the world in general that his high-bred ; nag caught the infection, and began to curvet and prance in unison. Mr. Howe had determined when ho i ! left the house to give the final blow to J j all this gossip by proposiug at once for I the hand of the pretty Miss Purdy. He j would have done so long ago but for I some fastidious qualms he bod iu rei lation to her father. He wished with all i his heart as he rode along that the c bj ject of his affection hadn't a relation in the world; and becoming more and .' more vexed and restive as a. hundred i hateful objections to her family arose in | his mind, when he reached the house, . j preparatory to dismounting, he Rave a ' savage jerk to the bit, that threw the i spirited animal beneath him on h? ! ; haunches. No sooner had she recovered ! from this shock to her sensibilities than she rose upon her hind-legs and bftgan ; to paw the air in a most lively manner, j i Mr. Howe always declared that he could I have managed the vixen if he had been t let alone; but, be that as it may, the r window of the front basement, where we i last left the pretty Miss Purdy and her ) mother at breakfast, wad suddeniy dash, ed open, and ont sprang a female figure in rfllifif of thfl imnfirillpd hnrRHmnn. r There waR a wild vision of flowiug [ 3 skirts and hair streaming in the wind, 1 a little arm and band catching at the j 1 rein and dragging at it for half a second i y or so; then all at once the animal became | 0 as quiet as a lamb, and bung its bead { - curiously over the female figure, now - prostrate on the pavement Mr. Howe s flung himself off his horse, and carried y Miss Purdy up the stairs to the parlor y floor?not the pretty Miss Purdy; bless y you, no. Mr. Howe might have cure vetted and pranced tliere on the two e hind-legs of bis horse till bis fate was f determined forever, so far as the pretty a Miss Purdy was concsrned. Besides, f her back was turned to the window; she y was busy reproaching her sister, who b had just entered the dining-room, and d poor Mrs. Purdy was looking on, when suddenly tbey saw the child's eyes bell come distended with a wild horror, and o ahe flew, as it were, out the window. It I- was all over then in a few moments, and Mr. Howe was carrying liis nnconscioui burden into the parlor. The mothe: rushed away for restoratives Mid a doc tor, and Mr. Howe in the next few miu utes went far to rivet the chains tha bound him to the pretty Miss Purdy, They were both hanging over the coucl of poor Lilly, and the occasion wai certainly calculated to call iorth th< strongest emotions of both parties Blanche was excessively fond of her sis ter in her own way. and the pitiabli coudition of the poor child was verj alarming. Blanche trembled and grev pale, and it was necessary for the strong arm of Mr. Howe to support her. "Don't give way, Blanche,"he said calling her thus familiarly for the Ural time in his life. "My sweet Blanche, don't give way, for my sake?for all oui sakes." Then Mrs. Purdy came into the room, and shortly after the doctor arrived; ant ns soon as the medical srentleman hac declared there was nothing very seriou! to fear, that it was only a slight concur sion of the brain, and with care anc quiet all would be well-ras Boon a.< Blanche was at ease about Lily, hei thoughts reverted to the tender accent* and unmistakably fond words of Mr. Howe. And the soul of the pretty Mist Purdy was rested in the thought thai this procrastinated and tedious wooing would now be brought to a speedy and desirable end. The doctor went away, Mrs. Purdy was called to some domestic duty, and Mr. Howe and the pretty Mist Pnrdy were left there together. Mr. Howe was sitting quite close to Blanche, his elbow on the arm of her chair, and his head resting on his hand. It was a graceful, almost a touching position foi a lover under the circumstances. Blanche was quite content that he should remair silent, feeling certain of what was going * 1 ' ? ? i i ~ t on in nis nearc. An me i now uum, axter all, we know of this unstable and perfidious organ ! Its quips and quirks and fandangoes pass all human understanding. Mr. Howe sighed heavily, andBlanohe put her hand sympathizingly upon hit arm. It was a pretty hand, slim and white, with rosy nails and blue veins?a very pretiy hand; and Mr. Howe'sothei hand was dangling uselessly at his side; but he made no effort to take the prettj little hand in his own. "Don't grieve,"whispered Blanche; " please don't. She's getting over it. See how regularly she breathes. Sho'l] soon be well again; the doctor said so, you know." " Yes, but think of me," whispered Mr. Howe, and whereas Blanche's whisper was soft and melodious, his waf hoarse and broken. " Of course she'll get over it, if nothing happens to put her back; but suppose, when she is recovering, sbe finds out we're engaged to be married, it'll kill her, it'll breah her heart, and I shall be her murderer! Great heaven I Blanche, you see, don'l you, that I can't do it ? It's the mosl infernally tormenting thing that evei happened to a man; b ;t I can't marrj one sister and kill another. I came here this morning prepared to make a formal proposal for your hand, and let everything go by the board but our happiness alone; but you know how Lily feels about me, how she risked her life foi me?all follv. of course: I could have managed the brute myself, but Lily waf beside herself with fright, and didn'l know, poor child, what she was doing: and you see?don't yon, Blanche?? what a position ull this places me in. A man would have to be made of stone tc go any farther just now." " Don't, Mr. Howe?don't say any more," said Blanche, in a voice that Bounded queer to herself, it was sc strained and harsh. "I should bo sorry to have you feel more ridiculous than you will when I tell you- that you have made a great mistake all through." Blanche paused a moment to get her breath. It seemed to her that it almost had left her body for a while there when this man was speaking. Not that she loved him?oh no, Blanche had never particularly loved anybody but herself, and &er family as acoesssories to herself. Bnt she was really capable of a vast amount of love in this way; and, oh ! how cruelly it had been torn and laacerated and trampled upon ! "A mistake !" he repeated. "Yes, a mistake," said Blanche; "rather a remarkable one, under the circumstances. A man should nevei take it prematurely for granted that s woman will accept his offer of marriage. In this case it was impossible. My word is already given to another." "What!" broke in Mr. Howe; "engaged to somebody else ? Oh, that can'! be. I can't believe that, you know, This is all a subterfuge, Blanche, Whc is the man ? what is his name ?" " I can not understand," said Blanche, coldly, "how the matter can concerr you in the least." Then, seeing a looi of sharp incredulity in his face, she waf stnng to desperation, and mentioned th< first name that occurred to her. " It u Mr. Brower," she said. "The man who holds your father'f montage f eaia iur. no we. "Yes," replied Blanche; and thet Mr. Howe got upon his feet, and wit! one pieroing look of disdain upon th< beautiful woman at his side, bowed lov to her, and said with her permission h( would go, but would, of course, cal again in the course of the day to asl after her sister. Then he took his leav< without a glance at the poor girl thai had caused all this trouble. As for Blanche, no sooner was he oul the door than she fell to crying?bitter ly, but under her breath, and withou any unladylike demonstrations. No that she loved him, mind; but she hai been goaded beyond endurance, ant without this ltlief of tears, which ar< woman's safety-valve, she could nol VkAvrA V>Anr? rtf Vinrcal f and ViAf uavo uovu uuouvua uw&uv*? mmm uw? plans. All at once the poor girl on the loung< struggled back to consciousness, anc opening her eyes upon Blanche, wai touched beyond measure to find her ir tears. It was really an extraordinary thing, and Lily was not to be blamec for taking these tears in pity to herself She put out her little cold hand anc pulled the dress of Blanche, and beggec her not to cry. "Don't cry for me, Blanche," sh said. " Don't?please don't spoil you beautiful eyen for me. It matters littl whether I die or live; I think I'd si much rather die if I could. It wouli be so much better for us all. But tel me jus., one thing, Blanc.le dear, pleasi ?oil I uo ten me, is ne nuri r Blanche began to respect Lily. Ther was a persistency about this paasioi of hers that appealed to Blanche's ide of power. She had always loved he child, in her own way, as a Purdy and part of herself, but now she began fc respect her. 44 He isn't hurt, you dear little goose, said Blanche; "he has just left us, am will come to see yon again to day." "And was he very much out of pa tienoe with ray?my absurdity?" sai Lily. " On the contrary." replied Blanchf " it quite touched the heart of his m? jesty;" and then such a sweet gladnea shoue in the child's eyos, such a prett color rushed to her cheeks, her fac became so suddenly radiant with an ir explicable warmth of tenderness an emotion, that Blanche found it far froi plain. If the couch had been crimso instead of blue, if Lily's hair had bee arranged gracefully, if instead of thi stiff white collar some soft yellow lac were abont her neck, if?if?and here 1 3 thought that was almost revelation I r seized the fertile fancy of Blanche, and - Mrs. Purdy coming in at that moment c - to take her place by the couch of her jj t daughter, Blanche ran lightly down the (; stairs to her father, who was walking y I up and down the dining-room, with his p 3 hands behind his back, apparently study- a 3 ing the dingy desigu in the faded carpet 8 . there, but really bent upon more im- e - I portant matters. 0 II When Mr. Howe called again it was at 7 the close of a long miserable day to him, g 7 as well as to some other human crea- h I tures. His sensibilities had also been p torn in their tenderest fibre, and being 0 , a man, he had not been able to cry and c I have it out with himself. He was too e , superior and punctilious to swear and ]j r vent his spite in rage and brutality upon a his clerks ani dependents, so all this g , wretchedness had become pent up within t . I x.n -:-u /..li i,a K1Tr,aoif K I I LI ILL! till lu^uu~joii, uuu mj.\j w*u u I as he moodily went in the familiar direc- j j tion that politeness dictated, bnt incli* 0 - nation forbade, that he would have to gl [ go on in this way till the end of time, p i He could not let the world know how ? cruelly he had been used, and could b i only be thankful he was saved the igno- t] miny of a direct refusal from this false, t< i scheming, heaitless woman, because his t] \ conscience would not allow him to ride a ; rough-shod over the heart of the only I being, he began to believe, that loved a , him in the whole wide world?this poor ^ little girl who had braved everything je i for that love: the tattle of these miser- n , erable gossips, the obloquy and re* ? , proach of her family and friends, and at t, I last her own precious life. His heart fl i melted within nim as he thought of it B( all. ^ > Mr. Purdy met him at the door, and o i appeared to be very much moved and a agitated as he wrung Mr. Howe's hand. t< A. cold chill shook the heart of Mr. a 1 Howe, "Great Heaven!" he cried; o 1 "she is not?not worse?" h ?? M/i nn?T Vinrin nr?t '* flnirt Mr. a' Purdy. " I sincerely hope there is noth- p ? ing to be apprehended of a serious na* p 1 tore; but, my dear sir," he pursued, in v ' a low, trembling voice, "sometimes this b > revulsion of feeling is dangerous?some ii times joy will kill. And this dear child has t< ! so long cherished what she has consid' vi ' ered a hopeless passion, a sentiment, b sir, that has occasioned unspeakable b ! sorrow to us all, that we have endeav- d ored in vain to curb and repress; and n ^ now sir, now, when she finds that pas- y, sion returned, when her life, which has fcl been repressed and shrouded by despair <si [ and sadness, is all at once allowed to bloom out in the vel'y fullness of joy? i Oh, Mr. Howe, God blee8 you, Sir, God [ bless vou!" But be careful, be very ei ; careful; remember, my dear sir, that joy v. "nil wn'll DAmofimOfl till " I [ Here Mr. Purdy's voice broke. He ^ : wiped bis eyes with bis handkercbiof, ^ ! and as fcbey had reached the end of the ; corridor, he opened the door softly, let ^ ; Mr. Howe in, then ohut it again, leaV- ^ ing himself ont, and Mr. Howe fonnd 0j ' himself qnite alone with Miss Purdy, jj i and not the pretty Miss Purdy. j( [ For a moment he stood there quite p I helpless and forlorn. The rodomontade ^ i of her father, whose wordy ways liad al- ? i j ways been a curse to him, still rumbled a, j in bis ears without any intelligible mean- ^ i I ing, and the figure on the couch before i 1 him confused and bewildered him. Tt j ^ i held a singular grace and charm. The 6] ; I light burned low, the fire from the grate j n | seemed to cast a soft crimson glow over | 0 ??a rHn??rv? rtnlnra/1 I ? ( tjvcly iluujj-uydjl Iiud rr ui-wiuiu\? q > i shawl that was spread about Lily, and Q ! the yellow lace at her throat and hands; 8( i upon her hair that fell back over the ^ ; pillow in a purple mass that almost ^ ? j swept the floor, and some short locks Q i about her face that had taken caressing i e : ; crinkles he had never noticed before. i And her eyes were wonderful. They jj j drew him, in spite of himself, to the 8, couch, and made him bend over her and e. i take her cold little hand in his own. j i 8he lifted it to her lips'without a word, i but her eyes were wonderful. They 8( I spoko a whole sweet language of their f( J own. A queer sort of yearning tugged ^ i Viio liooi-k Ha onnld nnt t?ll whftthAt1 i ; he was most miserable or most happy; I but the one thought that was uppermost ^ I in his mind was that here alone he could ? ! find peace and rest and trnth and purity. 1 He sank on his knees by her side, and n ; i put his lips to her forehead and whis- t] > ; pored, " Only get well, dear, bo that I a j can have you all to myself." tj i j Even in that sweet moment, you see. n I he hated the idea of the rest of the v 1 | Purdys. But he soon got over that, ^ j and even went to Blanche's marriage, ^ j which spee^jly followed his own, and jj t j shook hands cordially with the man that n , ! had held his father-in-law's mortgage. & > i He holds it now no longer, of course. He long since handed it over to Blanche, j , who in her turn gave to her father.' But j i how in the world, you will ask, did this ; Mr. Brower become as clay in the hands i of this beautiful and ingenious potter, > Miss Blanche? That I do not know; c j but I have said enough about her van- n ous charms and capabilities to make it r 3 no matter of astonishment. Besides ? people have no room for amazement 8 i on any other subject than the one* of jj l Mr. Henry Howe's marrying Miss Purdy j ) ?not the pretty MisB Purdy 1?Harper's 0 9 XWonhli, ^ ; ? h ; ! 8 " The Hoine and Habits of garibaldi, d ^ 8 b Garibaldi's home at Oaprera is the j. simplest of habitations, and the life he ^ t leads therein is as simple. He has bnt jj - few attendants, and it is told that n t guests are required to make their own v k i beds. The general's days are unevent- j. I 1 fid. He rises in the morning at four i ^ I | o'clock, and without taking anything to | e 3 ! cat goes off to look after some pets who j t | inhabit the border aud surface of a small ' pond not far frona the house?a flock of ^ geese. He feevls them, aud then, hav- j j 3 ing gone back to the house to get his j i ! oup of black coffee, he sets to work in ! j: 3 1 his fields until about an hour before j g \ midday, when he returns home and j s j . looks over andsigns letters which Basssi, \ 0 i ! his secretary has written, according to 8 . I his instructions. Soire twelve or thir- t 1 j teen years ago he used to employ this <. 1 j hour before dinner in teaching a little J; shepherd lad named Luca Spano. The q boy was little more than a cretin; but f r by dint of Bteady, quiet perseverance , e and kindness, Garibaldi succeeded in f 3 making something of him. Ho had j 3 learned to read well, write a good hand, c 1 and was progressing well, when, on the ^ r? ; OAth nf .TtiIv iftfifi. he fell bv the crener- h I al's side, fighting like a hero, at Monte j e i Suello. iu the Tyrol. Of this brave fi q death, and* other incidents connected ^ a 1 with his* adventurous life, the general I r ] freely discourses as he sits at the head a i of the board, his son Menotti and his ] o i friends on the one side and the other, ; and the servants "below the salt." Din- t " nee at Caprera is always a simple meal: ] d minestra, i. e., soup with Italian paste * or vegetables in it, followed by two j i- dishes at the most, and no wine on the 1 d table. At tlje end of about an hour the ? general leaves the table, and going to 1 >, his room, throws himself dressed upon 1 k- the bed, sleeps lor a while, and then 1 s reads the papers or any book he is in- < y terested in. At four o'clock he goes i e back to his work in the fields until six ] t- or six-thirty,when he returns home again' \ d in ?nr>. After suoDer he returns to his < ~ ?*wr* -* 4 - # p n room, never neglects to write a page in ] n his journal and the meteorologioal i n changes of the day, and is generally in it bed at the time when a great part of the i se world are beginning to turn night into a day. Peculiar Forms of Mania* There are several respectable a d reognized forms of mania. Book collecting is one of the most respectable forms. )ne man desires a complete history; he rill possess all tbi historians, all the oeta, all the novelists, etc.; another is specialist; perhaps he takes to Shakepeare?he determines to have every dition,every commentary,every treatise n the infinite Lumber of questions to 'hich Shakespeare and his works have iven rise. If he is a man of fortune, e will give higli prices for anything ire. Another phase is the collecting Id and curious books of all sorts; nnut copies, copies with large margins, ditions rendered curious by some well- | nown misprints, or any other peculi* rity which collectors have agreed to reard as giving the book a special value. 'bis* is called "UiDiiomama. xnen ere are the collector? of mauscripts. tut who has not met with the collector f autographs?4he enthusiast who beBts his acquaintances for every scrap of apor they may happen to possess bearlg the signnture of any one who haB ecome distinguished? Then there are iie collectors of objects of natural hisjry : amiable race! Who has not seen ie elderly gentleman in spectacles, rmed with a lai-ge green net on a rim ith a handle? Seel he gives chase to butterfly; he runs as nimbly as a shoolboy." Ah, he has bagged it! It i a much-ooveted specimen of Potyomxatus agon; he wants now only the lamberwell Beauty and Thecla betula ) complete his case of English butteiies. ' fie has long been at wofk at insets and birds, and his walls are covered dth glass cases; he is a correspondent f half the natural history periodicals, ud is the first to hear the cuckoo and ) see the glow worm. Then, too, there rfn,? re ine cxjueuwra ui itwjLo, ?uo aowuumer registers observations on the eavens; another records the rainfall nd the direction of the wind at different laces. Others collects facts about opuktion, the rate of wages, the prealence of diseases, the statistics of eneflt clubs, of railway traffic, and an lfintiy of topics. The number of amomr thus engaged is very large. They ofk silently, and their pursuits possess ut little interest for people in general; Ut only let a question be raised in the aily papers, and it is surprising how tany persons appear to have been for ears giving their entire attention to le subject.?Casscll'a Family Afagalne. The Tailor-Bird. Within the last few years, the interring habits of this celebrated bird ave been thoroughly investigated and M- _ j 1 TV- 1 ? K^.4 escriueu uy Ur. JCIUUU ttuu uwoin, wuu ithmore especial fullness by Mr. Allan [nme. From their accounts, we gather lat the real nest is a deep, soft cnp, iclosed in ft leaf or leave*, which the ird setts togethet to form its recepta[e. This is at various elevations, often igh up in a mango-tree, but as often dottn among the leaves of tie edible lant (Solarium eaculentum). The ne?t arie8 in appearance according to the umber and kinds of leaves made use of, ad is usually chiefly composed of fine jtton, with a few horse-hairs and fine rass-stems, the use of which is obvinsly to cnablo th9 cavity to retain its liape permanently. In some eases the est is'described as having been made f wooJ, down and horse-inir, ana one, lentioned by Miss Cockburn, as made f the down of seed-pods and fine gras38. Mr. Hume has found these nests ith three leaves fast ened at cqnal disinces from one another into the sides f the nest, and not joined to one anothr at all. Ha baa also found them beireen two leaves, the one forming a igh back and turned Up at the ends to [ipport the bottom of the nest, the othr hiding the nest in front and hanging own below it, the tip.only of the first saf being sewn to the middle of the scond. He has also found them with jur leaves sewn together to form a anopy and sides, from which the botm of the nest depended, and also beiveen two long leaves whose sides, from lie very tips to near the peduncles, were losely and neatly sewn together. For their sewing, thev geherally make Be of cobweb, but silk from cocoons, atead, wool, and vegetable fibers are Iso made available. Dr. Jerdon states aat he has seen a tailor-bird watch a ative tailor until the latter left the eranda where he was at work, then astily seize some peices of thread that r ??i ?3 a?at ?-iu rere lying aooui, ujju i?y uu mw wcm 1 triumph. Mr. Layard describes a est of the tailor-bird made entirely of Dcoanut fiber. With the same material dozen leaves of an oleander had been rawn and stiched together.?Scribner's fagazine. A Narrow Escape. The other day an exciting scene ocnrred at Little Falls, N. J., about five liles above Paterson. The Passaic iver at this place is crossed by a dam ifteen feet high. Above the river is mooth and below there are rapids. Two ittle girls,both grandchildren of Robert Jeatty, one of the'principal mill-owners f the place, aged respectively nine and Durteen years, were in the river rowing. ?hey went too near the dam and were wept over it to what appeared a certain leath. A number of persons who had een their efforts to reach the shore ran o the lower side of the dam, and to heir astonishment, saw that the boat iad gone over and landed right side up gainst a rocky ledge, almost under the rater fall. The children were in the >oat and apparently uninjured. No one iad ever cone over that dam before and j scaped, and the spectators conld scarcey believe their eyes. There was still ;reat danger for the boat was likely to le swamped at any moment or swept lown the rapids. After various sug;e8tions a rope was Btrptched across the iver near the boat. The current is too wift to wade, aud Mr. Henry Stanley olunteered to pull himself by the rope I mt to the boat. The current was too trong for him, and he had to let ro, >eing nearly drowned himself. Mr. iimonson took his place, and after a lard struggle succeeded in reaching the rirls. He seized the younger one and ought hiB way back to the shore safely rith her in his arms. Then he started or the other. She. however, was a arger girl, and the first attempt to resme her was unsuccessful. A long ladder eas then found and stretched between wo rocks, and with the aid of this and he rope the girl wos safely got to the ,hore amid the cheers of the crowd on he bank. An Alligator's Meal. While some of the hands were going o their work in the field of Col. McLieod, adjourning town, they discovered i very large alligator making its way to Hamburg lake. Ool. McLeod fired both jarrels of a shotgun, loaded "with bnck(hotinto its neck. Then a field hoe was Drought up, but tho firBt blow shivered ;he stout pine helve. An axe was then Drought, with which he was killed. An examination showed that it had feasted lpon e. hog's head, a turtle, and about a peck of blackberries.. Though but fifteen feet in length, it was the largest ?- t'n tVn'a nf ITInriila in f.liA 0 yc1 auilai ui vuio im v v* * avmmm .mv Lakes or fresh water streams. The buckshot did not penetrate the skin. No one that we have met ever knew before that alligators were fond of blackberries, and bow one can manege to pick the berries is still a mjntery.?Lak* City Reporter. AH ULlKJL'JLfflL AGW XUttK KlUr. How Rody-NnntchlnK add a ItlcdiCt Htadent'a Joko Led to an Attack Uflo a Hospital?The Trade Result. A correspondent in a New York papt writes as follows : About the middle of April, 1788, tlier was a clirnai of feeling in New Tor against medical students who for a yea paat had been rather reckless in bodj snatching. So long as they dissccte the remains of slates, or of the unfortt nates who> came from Potter's field, n one much cared. Bat a grate undf protection of Trinity pariah even, an several in the Greenwich street bnria ground, much used by the Methodistf had been despoiled. Thore was cons< quently mtich talk tmd indignatio about the outrages. ..Of ccrarae yoa r< nember the Now York hospital tht /r on ted West Pearl on Broadway. I my father's time it occupied the bloc to' Duane street and from its rea windows was to bo had an almost unii tertupted tie* of gfeGn fields and th river. The medical school of ' Ooltin bia'-^not long before called King's co. lege?was attached to that, hospita The college buildings remained nnt about twenty years ago fronting o Park place, and of course college an hospital were contiguous. The front c the hospital was said to be quite fine i appearance; its grounds were finely lai out With walks, shrubberies and treei and dt the back there Was an ope space that the boyS of tile period "Woul play in. A young Bob Sawyer at He Allen while dissecting one April affcei noon?1 think the 19th?had opened window for the sake of the rivet btee?( and from thence out of mere joke hel up an amputated arm to the Doyf One of them?and observe the curiou and appalling coincidences fate some times prepared <wen as in the oase c the two ftartisonsj father and sonmore inquisitive than the rest, pulled light ladder which was lying near an erected it against the hospital wall, s as to climb Up for a better View. Th 'sawbones,' still jocular, said ' SoUnj don't that look like your mother's arm' It was thoughtlessly said, but, curiou enough, within a few months the boy' mother had died. Full of this remar and thinking Upon tfhat no doubt he ha > J -/ ? uearu OI reBiLrreui/iumouj tuo uujr umj. ped from the ladder and went off to ?b his father^ who was thet engaged i laying brick cto a house in Falfcon streei The father dropped his tools afid wan up to the graveyfcrd that, I believe, wa somewhere near the Lispenard meadowf and, oddly enough, upon digging, th body was not to be found. It took but a brief time in |be littl city to bruit about the whole affair. Th workmen engaged with the father an infuriated widower soon raised a smal mob. The Btory was passed about a son and father told it, and in an hoa hospital grounds and the hospital itael were filled iHtli tinihitlkillg and enrage rioters, who, not cohtetit tHth drivin, out affrighted stddents and keepers practically rattled the bones and gutte the musenms and laboratories. Intelli gence was instantly sent to Mayor Jame Dnane, Recorder Richard "Varick am Sheriff Robert Boyd, and between ther they raised a posne comitatus and wen to the scene of riot. The poor maso: declared that be recognized parts of th remains of his wife; Whether in his el citement he did or not could never b verified; but there was no doubt tha his wife had been dissected. " The ptesfencfc of the authorities for time allayed the disorder, but two of th students had been roUghly handled am were in danger of being killed. j\t; father was then Lving with his owi father in Dey street, and waa engaged i home study when the news opme. H immediately repaired to the College ail found that the authorities thero wer naturally excited also, and that some c the medicals had been already locke up for safe keeping in the jail tha stood in the pai'k. It was the genera imnreBfrion that more bother must coni of it; therefore, thinking discretion til better part of valor, my father goes t the foot of Liberty street?where boat were kept, and was sodt taken across t Jersey, where etery day he got word a to what went on. " The evening of the riot was a fin spring one, and there was no need c any extra newspapers in those days By tea time, deckwards, east, wesl north and outwards were full of the oul rage. It was ' Down with the hospital, 'Death to the gfave^atealefs, etc Even women joined in the cry. Th feeling was rampant also with many ii ai . l- -ii? r\ _ toe ueuer ciuabu?. vreurgo uuuiuii wa then governor. Alexander Hamilto: was a sort of general peacemaker, a was John Jav. There was in the ever -ing a consultation of oitiisens and an thorities at the house of the mayoi who, I believe, then lived somewhere a the foot of Chambers street. To ns the medical phrase, they prognosed th affair quite accurately, for in the mora ing not a sudden but a preconcert? riot began around the hospital. 0: went the rioters to Columbia college t seach for the bodies, and to the house of all the physicians after mutilated re mainB, but of course, found nothing ea cept affrighted inmates. The few sta dents and debtors who were inside wer seriously frightened, aB at last becam +V?n nntVini-ifioa "Wnf ajrar\ fTio olivinonp of Hamilton nor the beloved face of Ja could accomplish anything; Then Sherii Boyd called out a company?of uni formed militia, who marched np the par fields and marched down again under shower of stone, sticks and dirt, for a yet they only had blank cartridge served out. Next, a few more bein added, the militia marched on the mo again, only this time to lose their mus kets. All day long the crowd assaulte the doora of the old jail; but it was strong old place, as revolutionary pris oners had found, and well barricade inside. Not until nine o'clock at nighl was an effective force of militia convenec but this tima the soldiers all had ba cartridges. Even now there was hesitf tionl John Jay being struck with stone and knocked down, the mayor wc about to order a fusilade, when Baro Steuben, who hated mobs but deteste the continental disregard of life by at thorities, begged him to desist. But remember my father would laugh whe he repeated the tradition, eo doubt tru< that while thus expostulating Baro Steuben was himself hit. .when he in mediately himself cried out: 1 Fire And the volley came! "The militia must have stood abot where the city hall now does. Seven were killed, but I dare say the numb< was quoted at hundreds, and a few moi were wounded; then the rest ran awa; and the riot was over excepting in thof mutterings which always follow sue scenes. But the college remained clos< for some weeks, and the medical branc of it was not reopened until autumn, t which time the dog dqys had killed ti heat of the populace. Nevertheless tl f - J --J ..4 lU* sore ieeung reinuiuuu, iuu wu uu eleotion four out of the seven alderme were on the rioter-killing issne beaten the polls, and a new sheriff, in the pe son of Morinus Willett, was put power." The idea of the earwig introduou itself into the human ear, and causii madness or death, may be ranked amoi vulgar errors. The wax seoretion of tl ear is itself a sufflciei.*- guard agair t.he entrance of an iiisoct. -whose natui | via unniting i,ups unu tuswun, Drinking from the same cmp by sevlI j eral individuals is an old custom -which ] n ! is still kept alive in Italy and in all parts c j of trerdany, and is not unknown in En- c >r | gland among those classes who are lovers a of malt liquor and driflk it "from the j? e pewter." When a friend meets another j t k in a coffee house or tavern, the one who ; t J"1 has already ordered something does not J r- I issue a second order for his friend, but j a i holds out the vessel to the new-comer, J i-1 The (German krug and the English pew- a o ter mug still show the popular feeling in t favor of one large vessel for a friendly a d patty, The formula of Salon politeness e 1- which consisted in two drinkers em- j ploying the same >e?iel is well known, t J- The first who drank said Wea heil n (Here's health to you), and the one who J- received the goblet before emptying it e it oaid Drink heil (I drink your health), a n Ifrom the "Soman de Ron" it appears c k that this wils cuotomary among the f tr English as late as the twelfth century, r i- There were hanaps mounted oil one <j e foot, in the form of a chalice, others i i- were mounted on three feet, and others 1- still were made in the form of a bowl \i or cup. Some were made witn covers, il others Without, and the materials emn ployed in their construction wore as d varied as their shapes* The hanap was >f particularly used by persons of hiph n social position; the tankard with handle ! d being the more popular vessel. And ?, such was the ft ar of p~;son in the midn die ages that a great personage was i served from a hanap with a cover which n cotlld bo used as a. vessel, from which > CoVer the servant drank a little of the a liquor, which he poured ffom the goblet Jj for that purpose. These precautions d ciledriy proved insufficient, and preserva>. tives against poisoning were sought s after under the most abstifd prejudices. ?- The fabulous animal known as the tini>f corn or licorne was thought to be the i - enemy of everything impure. People ' a fancied'that by causing their beverages a to be served tnem in vases maue 01 iuo c o horn of the magical beast, they could t e easily detect the presence of poison in their drink. Handles were made, as ?' they thtfught, of this material for c s knives; for it was said that blood would f s ezudo from horn and bone of the lieorne r k when brought in contact with poisoned c d meats. The long sword otihe narwhal 2 I- when brought to Europe was thought I d to be the horn of the unicorn; and it is ? n probable that fossil itory of many kinds 1 was also sold under the same name, c t Well-appointed houses possessed a large 1 s nttmber of hanaps. The inventory, en- 1 i, grossed in l&fO, of the household of ? e Charles V. of France, stifnamcd the Wise, describes four gold hanaps and as e many ewers, weighing in all nearly T 6 ninety-six marcs; and- 177 tankards of 1 3 gilded silvef, nearly all enameled and c ^ weighing in the aggregate 008 marcs of c 8 silver. Some or these vessels were pro*: * r vided with air-tight covers, as they were 1 t intended to be carried about with already < 3 prepared drinks. Among northern na- 8 g tidna they were sometimes made of 3 . maple WOod atld boaufcifully carved.? f d Scritmer's Magazine. j s ' 1 d Bijalf Commits an Outrage. 1 ? His honor hung up iuS coot on its ^ Q usual peg, after first removing from c one of the tail Dockets a parcel, contain- ? ing a banana and foar figs, but as he ! v g teached to place bis hat on the hook a : j. startled expression came to his eyes. I Betreating back a step, and surveying | , a his old arm-chair from several sides at iJ e once, his hair gradually worked up on i j1 endj his eyes took on a glassy look, and |1 he hoatsely Whispered: 8 Ya " Who has done this foul deed !" ' ? Q , thereby hangs a tale. Bijah had been I *' e | at work on that chair for twelve hours, i * j In the goodness of his heart he had j 8 e purchased 194 fancy pictures, a bottle F of niucilage, and ho had gone into kera- ;11 ^ mics. Even while the Norwegian onions j 8 j on his farm wanted Water, and his two ; 8 ,'i : strawberry plants were cailiDg on him : ? e to come and rest their backs for an liour, i " 0 he was pasting lions' heads on the legs j , 0 of that chait, and decorating each spin- i. a die with a paper zebra or an alligator. j 0 When all was finished, he stood back . ^ 8 and said: . " I've p truck glory and gorgoousness J! 6 rigli' bittfeen the eyes ! His honor will j J1 look upon mo ttith renewed love, and i , the boys will come to me to get their j a .* theatrical poses." I? ? He had skulked behind the door to j11 ? give his honor a chance to applaud and I c j exclaim, and from his hiding place he ? a ilflatd the words: .. a "Who has-done this foul deed? ? a What malicious-minded, stoop-shoul- ? Q dered, bald-headed caitiff has spoiled a a ohair which cost me six dollars ? Who 8 .. has dared to trifle with me ? Where is ! j ^ IflUl ptsreuil UULUCU J-?i J au ( The old janitor came out of his seclu- j sioi^* His face was pale, his eyes looked ; & e over the desk in the direction of New ' e Mexico, and he shambled along, instead | li h of stepping out like a horse. ; o 3 "Mr. Joy," said his honor, as he; ff looked down upon the shining pate, ; j, 0 "take that comic almanac?that hide- ic s oneness?that sample of double-dyed ' villany ont of my sight, and bring me a , wood-seated chair! You are fixing your j physical constitution for the gallows, 1 D e sir!" e Bijah made the change without a 8 e word in reply. Some folks can keep j y their jaws still and let the heart explode. | j Ho is one of the sort. He was seen j d [. wiping his eyes on the stove-pipe in J c k the corridor, bat that was the only sign. ! a ?Detroit Free Press. n s ? ? d 8 The Homes ef Oar Forefathers, g i ti b The history of domestio architecture, ; 0 j- j says a writer in "Cassell's Popular Edu- j r d I cator," in our own country illustrates I ?_ _ manner the rise of i fl I 1U U VCIjr Duuuiin i- j civilization and the extinction of bar- M d barism. We have not to travel back 71 y,t more than a few hundred years to find P lt domestic comfort a thing entirely un- | 11 known, and the abodes of princes en- s i- tirely destitute of conveyances which are a now considered necessary in the house F is of every peasant. Our Saxon foren fathers lived in the rudest possible style, p <3 The homes even of kings and lords con- t i- sisted simply of one large apartment or d I "hall," in which all the details of do- v n mestic life were carried on by them- ! t 3, selves and their immediate attendants. ! n Privacy was a thing entirely UDkown. t i- After the pursuits of the day?the ; j |' chase or the fight?they assembled a round the common board, taking place 1, it according to their rank in the house- j' al hold; and in the same apartment all , jr members of the household afterward J re disposed themselves for sleep. It was 3 cr onlv occasionally that one end of the jc 39 common hall was separated trom tne ; :h rest by a screen, affording a rude retir- ;I >d ing chamber for the lord and lady of | sh the house, with a few privileged attend-: >y ants. Almost the only ont-offices attach- j' ~ aA tViA hnll wore the sheds or pens for le the cattle and the swine. The clogs, , it more oherished, were allowed a place in j m a corner of the hall itself; and another , at corner was frequently occupied by the , ir- store of provisions. Sometimes, how- j in ever, the latter would be placed in receptacles or cellars dug out under the , hall. Itsi,flooring was of earth, its walls ig of wood and clay, and its roof of thatch. lg For the admission of li^ht, openings ig were left in the sides and olosed by lie wicker-work when night came on; for tot warmth a log fire was lighted in the cental ter of the apartment, and the smoke es^ caped by holes in the roof. X JLJ1IXU & X \7 JL JLVU. A "Female Hercules," a native of France, is to be seen in London. One >f her feata is to lift an anvil by the hair >f her head, and then have the same tnvil placed on her bosom, while three imiths forge a horseshoe with their jammers, she talking and singing all he while. A little more than ten vears ago the . Japanese army were still using bows ma' arrows, and wearing armor*?; now he soldiers use breech-loading rifles, ind the government has recently adoptsd the most potent weapon for the sup- \ >ressiou of rebellion?a just administraion of the laws. . I The rules of a ladies' club in War3Wj Poland, declare that no member ' hall give more than $26 for a morning Iress, $52 for an evening dress, or $6 < or a bonnet, and that at each quarterly neeting each member shall truthfully leolare that she owes neither a milliner's iot a dressmaker's bill. , . The recent growth of Paris is in renarkable contrast with former years. !n the reign of Henry XI., during he sixteenth century, it contained about .2,000 houses. About 200 hundred 1 'ears later, in 1760, the number had ; inlr innrflaafl^ tn 03 OAfl Tlf 1817. tVlftTA eere but 26,751; in 1834, 29,000. In .878, alter a lapse of only forty-four rears, there were 75,274. Mr. and Mrs. Flynn of Sidney, 0., lad been married only a few days when, n the middle of the night, the husband hought he heard a burglar hiding under he bed. He arose quietly and armed lumelf with a shotgun. The bride was asleep, nth ?ne of hef feet tanging over the idge of the bed. Flynn saw the foot, ,nd thought it was the burglar's face. Che light was dim, and the foot mar tave been unoommonly large. He fired, hooting away three of Mrs. Flynn's oee. , Of the 52,756,128 bushels of grain re- : leived at - the six Atlantic seaports the Irst four months of the year, New York . eoeived 24,952,957 bushels, or 46.6 per :ent.; Baltimore, 11,947,700 bushels, or J !1.8 per cent.; Philadelphia, 11,558,890 ! mshels, or 21.1 per cent.; Boston, 4,- 1 172,552 bushels, or 9.1 per cent.; Port- : and, 1,579,321 bushels, or 2.3 per lent., and Montreal, 45,208 bushels, or j ?"? rt 1 mi. /?onf. TVio nviAinfn at l COO UUOU V?A wuv# .wvv.r? tfew Orleans hive been about the same 1 is Boston. ' I In certain portions of our Wee tern ; )lains, great " sinks," as they are called, lave at times taken place. Few of them an compare, however, with one that j xjcurred near the village of Eragnignan, ( n the department of Var, about forty oildfl north of Toulon, France. There, j >ne day, an area of more that 10,000 . qoare feet sank suddenly to a depth of . .00 feet. The bottom of the hole tbus j ormed was soon covered with water; he hole itself is of an oval form. From he sadden appearance of water at the < jottom, it is supposed that the ground 1 tad been previously undermihded by a 1 ubterranean watercourse, which seems J he more likely, since there is a record 1 '* ? oKnnf o ( ff Q BllilAAttT WUlUi(UJi(;u vuoi^o ntA/uv c entury ago. 1 Some carious statements and calcuia- * ions lately appeared in the London i rimes correspondence as to the popular < lotion of high numbers, such as mil- < ions, billions, and trillions. Mr. Bes- ] emer said .that he did not think any i lear conception of a billion coold be i ormed. Other correspondents gave the < olio wing facts: A single thickness of < overeigns spread over the floor of a oom seventy-one feet six inches square j s almost exactly one million. If, in- ( Lead of being neatly laid in rows, the j overeigns are placed as closely as poesi- ] lie, a million will just cover the floor of ( room sixty-seven feet six inches square. ? Ir. M. Hawkins Johnson writes : j 'The difficulty of comprehending the j lea of a billion is scarcely so great as j Ir. Bessemer would have ns suppose, j l shot one-tenth of an inch in'diameter 3 an idea readily grasped. It would ake exactly one million of such shots a make a ball ten inches in diameter, nd a billion of such shots would make globe eighty-three feet four inches i diameter, which, although it may be ailed large, is not beyond ordinary omprehension." Mr. Lockwood writes: 1 In addition to Mr. Bessamer's dissecion of a billion, it may be mentioned bat fifteen persons may dine together a illion times without twice sitting in the ame relative position." Fashion Notes. China crape fichus tied on the breast re the favorite wraps with young ladies. A new dress trimming is velvet out in ice pattern and embroidered with colred silk. Bonnets are trimmed without droopag flowers or ribbons, and are very ompact in appearance. The stylish jacqueminot red, darker ban cardinal, is much used for trimlings of satin or of ribbon. White satin vests are worn with blaok renadines, which are trimmed with >lack and white lace. ?'-v. /wwtnmps have the sash iUttJLijr AAUiX vvw.u.? rapery, revers upon the corsage, and uffd elaborately embroidered in colors. ? The great question now for the dressmaker, in making the intricate princess ( jesses, is " where to put the pocket." ( Dressing sacques are made with a j rench back, a single dart in front, and rnamented with bows of light-colored 1 ibbon. j Cambric dresses are now made up rith as muoh pretension to being a la 1 xodc, as are toilettes of far more exensive materials. I Cambric costumes have basques, over- , kirts and demi-train underskirts, whicl} i itter are finished with two or three j ilea ted ruffles. For young women no feathers are so ] lopular as the soft willow dusters 1 ipped with gold or with straw, In their j Iressy evening toilets these feathers are ?hite instead, and are dipped with pearl teads. J Plain black bonnets have a plaited )ias scarf of bourrette grenadine around . be crown; this is either black or beige, ,nd the strings are black satin, with old ;old lining. Some yellow flowers are alnost universal on blaok chips. The fashionable round hat for very roung ladies to wear with short dresses "* ofT-ont in a Miin T)prW with ""u """" r * iquare tog to the crown, and for trmining only a wide band of galloon and a jinding to match; some stick in the oand a wing or a bird's breastt or a ihort bunoh of ostrich feathers. Monday, while one of onr office boys ivas at work at his case setting type, a full-fledged potato bug made its appearwce and began'crawling up towards the :opy. After getting in close proximity to the MSS. he stopped aud seemed to be deeply interested. It seems almost incredible that this bug could not wait until Thursday to find out where the potato fields are looa?ed.?Avon Herald. " How nicely this corn popB !" said a young man who was sitting with his sweetheart before the fire. " Yes," she /3omnrplv_ 11 It'fl ffOt OVCrlbO II l..IJJ'UUUUU, UUJli U1 mg green.'1 j Dead letters?D & 9 A hard case?Turtle shelL 9 Isn't it marder to kill time ? 9 A joint affair?Rheumatism. 9 Philadelphia has twenty hospital*. 9 The lawyer's paradise?Sioux City. 9 A pattern woman?The dressmaker. 9 Mr. Sitting Bull talks of going into 9 bankruptcy?Assets, scalps. H An unpleasant sort af Arithmetic.? 9 Division among families. ; Hj Oat meal is far richer in flesh-foraers 9 khan ordinary wheaten floor. H Morning milk will often be poorer in 9 total solids than evening milk. H Parents with a large family, all boys, 9 3an look on the sonny side of life. B Pea-soup is one of the most economi- 9 oal and nutritious'articles (rf diet. H Sea-otters kiss each other, and die fl with grief at the loss of their young. 9 When a man loses five dollars he must mm advertise if he wants to get a soent-of it. H When does an M. O. display most n physical strength? When he "moves" B the house. 9 A statistician says that every man eats, H on an average, eight bushels of wheat per annum. g "Stack tip, bat not proud," said the butterfly, as he was pinned to the ride ; of the showcase. &8ja In every profession there is alwmi room at the top. The big peaches in a box find it out first. Mosquito, fold ihy weary wings and cross thy legs upon thy breaat; put up thy bills and horns and thingB, and sink into thy final rest! Charley Birdsall, a little Troy (N. X) boy, put a button in his ear, and diea from that cause, all attempts to dislodge the intruding object proving futile. Fifty-one metals are known to exist, thirty of which are known to have been discovered within the present century. Four hundred years ago but seven were known. On being asked why he went into bankruptcy, he replied: "Well, my Liabilities were large,my inabilities numsrous, and my probabilities unpromising; and so I thorfght Fd do as my J neighbors do." ?t? J- ??h>4 mmmmtj uu juu AUVW n?xw ? -MXlargest species of ants ? Ton shake ywur 1 head. Well, I will tell yon. They're eleph-ante." Then mammasaid, "Mr dear, I can give yon a question to maim ? that, dan yon tell me what' relative kk v very undesirable? Ton believe not Well, it is a carb-unole." The physicians of Baltimore have been bring to decide whether a doctor may w Advertise in the newspapers without degrading the profession. It might have been urged against advertising, that the man wbo doesn't advertise always has more time for solitary oommnnion with laftoc^-NmSavmSesMer. It is a curious fact that Shakespeare's illusions to fish are most numerous in the various parts of " Henry IV." In bis other playB he mentions herring ^ seven times, eel four, luoe twice, pike once, salmon, cod, trout, minnow, twioe 3ach; mackerel, gurnard,daoe, gudgeon, loach, tench, and shark onoe each. The ancient Egyptians possessed the irt of cutting cameos to a degree of licety which we are utterly unable t J ipproximate, They knew the relative liametera of the earth and moon. They possessed the art of tempering oopper * io as to cut the hardest granite. Wria is a lost art to us. Hero, the Egyptian angineer, is said to have made a steam engine. * The telescope owes its discovery to an , iccident Two little- boys, sons of i spectacle maker in Holland, while t* their father was at dinner ohanoed to look at a distant steeple through two aye-glasses, placed one before the other. ' .j rhey found the steeple brought much aearer the shop windows. They told iheir (pther the ciroumstanoe and it led jo a course of experiments which ended * . in the telesoope. > ' The wooden leg used by Benedict Araold, the notorious man of Bevolutioir- . iry times, is now the property of Dr. Jerome Whitoomb, a resident of Boetoc, Mass., who received it from a man on iiis death-bed, who confessed that one }f his relations had robbed Arnold'a grave, and that the wooden pedal ap-. pendage had been stolen "for the fun of :he thing," and kept in the family as jurions article that recalled remembrances to the various members of the 'amily of the days of their ancestors. Samuel Kearney was physically the best man in Mendota, Illinois. Hit strength and endurance were remark*Die, and his powers gained for him the jfflce of oons table. Mrs. Sheahan, a young widow, was almost equally famine as an athlete. These two werejonpled in oourtship, and the appropriiteness of their pairing seemed olear; ret it lead-to a fearful tragedy. Eearley was overbearing in his conduct, and >ne day he attempted, playfully at first, 0 compel Mrs. Sneahan to sit in a chair.. J he resisted, and the athletic lovers were . . oon engaged in an angry struggle* vearney was unable to overoome the >owerful woman by fair means, and,. in* - . 1 frenzy of rage, he shot at her, chased1 ler out of the house, and killed her with l knife. Then he committed suicide. BEE-KEEPER 8 ASSOCIATION. . 3ome where the clover is kissed by the son; 3ome where the honey-bees drowsily hum; ... 3ome where the bumble-bee, happy old thing, 3rings op the boys with s sting-a-ling ting! Precious old bamble-bee, bird of my youth, Sharper thy tail than the arrows of troth. low oft, when the school-boy steps into yoixr realm, " Ton knock him stone blind with a touch at your helm. / low oft, when the picnicing children of LU6D , . ^ * * Hit down at the door of your grass-covered den, . t'ou will kick a big man 'cross a ten acre lot 3e the lift of yonr foot when its heated fed hot! Par worse than the candidate's buzzing to me ?Vaa the petulant buzz of the boy-hating bee; Appalling to men and to god* was the sight ? (Vhen a hard footed boy got a bnmbW-bee * bite. Bee of the humble, like memory's rhe notea of your bagpipe call np the. ola times; * \ knd still boyish hearts, light as birds on the wing. ' * '. Will howl when yon tinkle your sting-a-ling ting. Burlington Hawkeyt. State Fairs. The following places and dates are appointed for State fairs to be held next autnmn : . American Institute, New York.8ep^. li,Nov. 23 California, Sacramento ? .Sept 18, 21 Colorado, Denver .v. Sept 48 Connecticut, Hartford.- .-Sept. 10jJ3 Dakota, Sept 10^13 Georgia, Macon 2 Illinois, Freeport rSept. re,"21 Indiana, Indianapolis, Sept. w, Oct 3 Iowa. Cedar Rapids Sept 16, 20 Miohigan, Detroit ...Sept 16, 20 Minnesota, Minneapolis... 8ept. 2, 7 Missouri, Madis in 8ept. 9, 18 Nebraska. Lincoln..'. Sept, 23, 27 New England, Worcester, Mass.,..Sept .3,, 6 New Jersoy, Waverly '. Sept 16, -20 Vnu- Vnrk. Elmira.... Sept, 9," 18 Ohio Colnmbns Sept. v, w Oregon, Salem -..Oct. 10, 18 St. Louis Association, St. L?uis,Mo.Oot. 7, 13 Toxax, Auxtin Oct 39, Nov. 3 Texas. Houston.. Oct. 33, 36 Virsioia, Richmond. Oct 39, Nor- 1 o?a n i?