The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, October 20, 1880, Image 1

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, : : ?? a . ? * " " " ' " ' '' . '" I V' 'Z' ~U ', T "' ', ' X^J V' " " " ^ '' I ^ ,1| M - ? ? ?? r ~ Hi' 11 i i , "*'' '-': V ~^;: . ABBEVILLE PRESS & BANNER. 5 -? * - ?z ===--? ' >>*' BY HUGH WILSON AND H. T. WAKDLAW. ABBEVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1880. NO. 20. VOLUME XXV. ?.; Onr Darlings. Down by the bitter November sea, In the dreamy, quaint ol i buriti:-p!nce, We Inid the first-born ot our lo:d, "With the heaven look, on her i.ace. Oh, little Bnow-drop, so sweet anl pure, Ah, wise little maiden, aj dear, eo true, We have given yon back ng>uti to God, It was cruelly hard to do ! But still there was one wee maiden left, The one who had slept by our si lo cue ni^ht, " God will bo pitiful," we said, As we thankfully held her li^ht. Even in heaven wero yen n-.t gin!, That you never could ttay a space apart? For wo watched her pale little homesick face And a dread fear woke ftl cur 1mart. And when two wearisome weeks had gone, in igc quiet, nusn 01 u:e lading '.my, W Sho heard her little sister call, As she sat at her lonely piny. Her face, as an angel's seemed to glow, Its gladness and beauty bedimuicd our sight, And out ot Our empty, ttiul yearning arms, She had followed her love that night. Down by the bitter November sea, * Together, our darlings arc sleeping last; Only a memory remains Ol tbc'r beauty and grace at last. Some day Irom out ol the cherubim, Xtf* l<w.Aa 1/.1./.1 u o ouuii uauiiKou ?> u iy>uu unu ivzij Content in our joy to lorget the pain, And God will remember the cost! NICK VON DAM, i. Madison avenue and Fifth avenue, New York, are parallel?the houses on one side abutting with their back-yards upon the houses of the ether; for even palatini mansions, vritU ht own-stone fronts, have Uicir back-yards, where clothes ore bur:? to dry, and where aristocratic fchiidrtn are permitted to play. Some twenty or more years ago the Bcene of this true f-tovy opens, in the back-yards of two eli-gunt houses thus situated. One morning :i tine, manly boy of twelve was on one side, and a beautiful little curly-haired darling, say five ^eurs old, on the other side of a high, close, board fence. The Icnce iiad a knothole in it. The boy w ;s tjine a tin can to the tail of a struggling Maltese cat that had clambered over the dividing lence, and the girl with tlushed face and snapping, angry eyes, was looking through the knothole. It was her cat. Assnnn ss mir 1 it tin ladv had frtirlv taken in the situation st c railed through the fence, with her pouiing lips to the hole: "I siy, you boy, have you seen my kitty ?" ''No, he replied. " You are a nasty, bad boy, and tell stories; you have got my kilty; and if you den't give her back to me I'll build a fire and burn your play-house down." This was not an idle threat, for our youngster on the Fifth avenue side had a play-house, supplied with toys and curious playthings, provided by his rich i.illier and indulgent mother, as an indui ement for their only and petted chiid not to mineie wit-h the vulgar playmates on the streets. "I say, who are you?" askedj the boy. " !sever you mind?give me my kitty." I will i'f you kiss me.1' "Kiss you through the fence?" and she laughed a silvery, rippling laugh. "Yes, through the knothoie." "Well, give me my kitty first." " No. give me the kiss first." ' Will you give me my kitty then?" Yes, truly." " Well put your mouth to the hole." And to the hole he placcd his face, and ti'o omaek of a sounding kiss. mere now eive rue me tuny. lie did so. The little tiling, scrambling over the fence, was soon safe in the arn:s ot i's little mistress. She kissed it again anil again, while the boy looked on. * I ? iy, it s natty to kiss a cat." " A cat is not so nasty as a great,'nasty boy." "Yes, it is; and I played a joke on you, for you kissed ice on ray nose." "Only I didn't; for I didn't kiss you at ail. I spit on my fingers and rubbed them on your nose, and then smacked my jips didn't I, kitty?" Again she laughtd a loud and merry laugh. "lhe boy turned away with an angry flush?threatening to "get even." ii. The chilidren, whose silly episode we described in our last chapter, grew upas children usually do. Miss Lillian was sent to school, passing her breadand-butter days at Vassal*, growing up to become a paucy beauty of spoiled ninAtnon Hnr l?orA r\f fhn ntit linrl graduated and studied hi3 profession and traveled in Europe, and was sowing his father's n.oney?as young gentlemen ^vho have no knowledge of the trouble of money getting are apt to do. From time to time?she from school and he from college, she from her and he from his European tour?had visited their respective homes in their respective avenues; but had never met. Nor did the now widowed mother offthe^fair Lillian Know even the names of the family of Von Damen bergs, whose only . son Nicholas had had his nose spit upon through the kuot-hole of the division fence. Years went flying by. To young people years fly, but arc Jong; to old people years drag but are shoxt. These young folk were killing time. Lillian was drifting about the world with her gentie, qu;et mother, wuo louncl it an easier Jlt'e to he dragged about by lier imperious daughter than to remain at home with ber. Nirk was abroad, on Lis own book; sometimes yachting among the liorjs of Norway, and sometimes shooting on the plains of Upper Itfoniana. At lust both parties met?at the California Gevsers. Nicholas vo:i Daiuer.berw h, with two companions in shooting-jackets, had arrived from a " scoot around Clear lake.1' They had arrived, n>-?^ w ' 1 r> in o /I T7<? n f>n n f f lifji t* In rr ill liauu, ill uuruuvv v<? HUH 1UUgage, and as yet liad not registered. Mrs. Margaret Mercer and her daughter, Miss Lillian Mercer, were established guests. The Geysers were famous for aids to compexion. It the Mercers had visited them for any such purpose us improving theirs, it must have been for the brown and quiet mother and not for thebloom ng maid. As for Nick and his comrades, iiey were black-and-tanned and burned and browned beyond the immediate reJief of nature's cosmetics. v The hero and heroine of this our little love story met upon the piazza?she, sweeping along in the peculiarly queenly and regal majesty of a nineteen-year-old girl, with good clothes, a beautiful tigure. pretty lace, plenty of money, and consciousness of good birth, good education, sood manners and an assured position in good society; Nick, with his shooting-jacket, bare head and brown face, was preparing to clean his gun. and, being heart whole, fancy free anc! quite independent in his mode of lite and manner of thought, was just the least degree careless about his deport ment. He saw our beauty sweeping down upon him, and, by sort of inspira ties divined that she wasthesame litt' girl, grown up, who had kissed, or hac not kisFeJ, his nose through the fence when he had endeavored to bell her ca with :< tin can at its tail. As 5?Sic came down upon him, sh< sU/pjird. "Are you one of the ser van is r' ' 1 '.:n your servant, miss, if yoi ] lease. What can I do for you?" * i mean do you belong to the house? " Xo3.1 am the outrdoor man?sort c ?uide; I lake parties fishing and r nicking to the woods; I drive I phaeton for ladies who are too timid drive themselves, and I sometimes out with ladies on horseback." " What is your name please?" " Miet- v.tn lJ<tm ?t milr aorvii miss. Is tJicro anything I can do ] you?" ''Yes; I want a man to do just I things you mention?to escort i mother and myself, while we stay liei ti to ail the piaccs about. But I want y .altogether?that is,we want your excl sive service, if you can arrange it." " Oh, certainly; I can fix it with IVj Foster, the proprietor, and then I w devote myself to you alone?' excl sively.'" t Mi^s Lillian blushed slightly, ai said: " My mother will compensate yo if you are faithful." And he answered: "I assure yo miss, I will lie to you very faithful." Again she blushed, and said that si wouhl see her mother. To put up the conspiracy upon tli girl and her mother, and somehow get even with her for spitting on li nose, had become a fuli grown schem It was easily arranged with Propriet* Foster and with his comrades?when 1 assured thc-m it was only for a lark, ai 11) 11" nflAnln wnru A*ir-o l.,\, "NT,, v*?.vv MWVpiV/ ntiv VilVb LI ID XIV York neighbors?over the fence. Thus was the acquaintance renewe nnd Nicholas von Damenberg, Esquir became the hired servant, guide ar valet de place of Mrs. Mercer and h daughter Lillian. m. So long as the parties remained at tl Geysers. Nick von Dam, as he was de ignated, was subject to all sorts of jok< ?intum for the practical one he wf playing upon the Mercer ladies. " Will you allow your servant t order up my horse, Miss Mercer?" sai one of the young gentlemen to hero one occasion. "Oh. certainly!" she replied; "Nichc las, will you be kind enough to order u the gentleman's horse?" The gentleman's horse came up wit! a burr so deitly airanged under the sad die that upon mounting, the "gentle man " was tossed over the horse's hea< During the week "^lcuolas," who hat made terms for indefinite employmen at " six'.y dollars a month and found,' made himself useful in numberless way; ?escorting the ladies while riding, rianc ing and picnicing; doing camp duty cutting bait and baiting the hook fo: Miss Lillian to fish; carrying her ease and camp stool over the hills to romantic glens; holding the sunshade while sh< sketched; sometimes with the mother on lonely hillsides, and sometimes aloni with the daughter, in sight of the liousi or camp. Whenever he and Lillian weie aloni together, he addressed his fair com panion with the studied courtesy of the well-bred gentleman. Ilis language wai then of the choicest,his remarks finished he talked of books, and art, and music, Once he surprised her by taking tin brush from her hand, to explain, by his practiced touch, a suggestion of perspective, Whenever they were in th( presence of the motner, or ot any third person, he dropped strangely into bad i grammar, spoke in German patois, iOOKca me ciown ana aurea lue awswarc nian-of-all-work that be affected to be. Wlien alone, she called him familiarly "Nicholas," and on one or two occasion, "Nick." In the presence oi strangers "Nicholas" bccame "Mr. von Dam." To Lillian he explained that he had been servant to a gentleman in the University of Heidelberg; and there in association with student life, he had had the opportunity of instructions in art, iind especially in music. Leaving the valiey of the Geysers, the Mercer party made the grand round of California sights?with the ever-faithful and intelligent valet de placc, the always-respectful and most-handy Nick von Dam. They visited the Yosemite? that grand chasm reft in the Sierra, with its matchless rocks and its splendid waterfalls; the beautiful Lake Tahoe? up among the primeval forests of pine, a splendid sheet of crystal water, narrowing blue skies, and circled by grand old forests that shadow the pebbled margin of fabulous depths. Together they had idled upon our ocean shores? the pebbled bcach at Pescadero, and the nine-shaded t/ools of Monterev. To gether they had traveled through California's semi-tropical 3outh?amid its vineyards and its orchards of orange, lemon and olive. For her he had plucked the red clusters of pomegranate and once, when Ijor hands hud been oe cupie.i, lie had modestly placed th< flowers in her golden hair?above hei glowing facc, rosy with the flush thai Liad permitted such liberty from tin hand of a menial; and which, for a day entailed upon our friend Ni';k tin severest dignit y?to make him feel tha he was a servant earning sixty dollars f month and expenses paid. IV. In June the party had gone dowi from San Luis Obispo to sketch th< "Moro," a solitary rock upon the shore V? tttii rrno -mnali Sfi MiWlUHlii UUt WIJCIC tiic. navvo rv<iou it. base. Tlie horses had been detaehec from the carriage, Mrs. Mercer dispose of in a swinging hammock within : shady wiiiow group, easel and camp stoofnice'y arranged and Miss Lilliai hard at work with brush and color Nick, his labors over, had thrown him self carelessly at the artist's feet. Nic] was beginning to admit himself in lov with the beauti.ul .girl. His origin:! threat of " getting even" for her kissim Lis noso with her wet fingers hai resolved itself into a determination t marry her. At the same time he clun tolhurominticfrea of making the prow beauty fall in love with the poor Nic von Dam, and resolved to conquer lie in liis present disguise. He had thrown himself upon th grass at her feet. " Don't you tliink Miss'?for he had never dared to ea her Miss Lillian?"don't you think,: you turned your d:ick upon tnai ion rock of the 'Moro, with it3 waste c dard waters lying beyond, you coul find a more interesting picture? Loo inland toward the Coast Range, an across this broad mesa, to the terract and plateaus, the valleys and hillside! I wonder how these terrace formatior ?so noticeable on the coast?occurre< Glacial actiou, doubtless, away back i the gloomy and mysterious past, whe the great ice-shect that clothed our coi tinent, and the great ice-belt that locke our ocean shores in its embrace, move downward to the sea and south war< impelled by in*esistible forces, sculptu ins the rocky coast barrier, and planir ofi'the ir^gular lulls to level mesas." Lillian h:id suspended her work, an looked down upon the splendid, man form that lay at her feet. He was lool ing out upon tbe wide sea?dreamin but dreaming an intellectual drean looking back, back to when the coi tinent was more than primeval?wh( it was chaos?before it was clothed i the grand old forests, glimpses of whi( he caught upon the Coast Ranee; b 1 fere grassy lawns came down to 1 t k: ff ed with the warm sea waves. > " I wonder how this lone rock escapi I the embrace of the glacial morsterJ beg your pardon, miss; is there ai J service I can render you? I think yo mother is sleeping." ; " Accident, I suppose," she answere " I sometimes wonder, Miss Rlerct ; if there is any such thing as accident I the world. 1 wonder if everything , not ordained from the beginning. The t can be no accident allowed in the a terial universe. Everything must mo e in accordance with some plan. If one - the heaveniy bodies should, by accidei slip out of its place, it would play liav i with the balance of creation. 1 do r believe in accident. It is said m: " riages, even, are made in heaven?" " And," interrupted Lillian, " if su ic- slight and unimportant events are pre he jimmied by a divine method, you think u to all more serious ones should bo likewise h go provided for." si " I did hot say so. I c!o not think so. 1 l regard marriage as a man's most seri- r< ee, ou3 aet. When we marry, our destiny p for I is cast, our fate is fixed?for ever?for o I life?for eternity." L l>n I T.illinn tiirnoH lipr trropt lliminrmt! I Oi ny eyes upon the now erect form, and said, aJ re, with a laugh ?a hollow, mocking, taunt- st ou ingiaugh : " Vou dream of some frau- 90 xi- Jein, at Work in a vineyard on the Rhine." M Ir. "I dream, Miss Mercer, of a proud ill and beautiful girl I love; gifted, well- sv u- born and proud, rich and arrogant be- ,. cuisc she is well-born. She was my nd neighbor when we were children; and if m u, we were not friends, companions and f child-lovers, it was because we were u, separated by a cruel barrier. She would y1 love me if she dared. She knows I am dc lie her equal in everything but name. She knows that, in my love for her, I would !is fling myself into the sea from the apex to of yonder rock. She knows I am poor, Ljs but she is not mercenary, and would not ? e< care for that. It is this devilish pride ^ ->r of family; and yet her family w.-.s, some or ie generations a*o, no better than mine. ^ icj A great business glacier may have w wounded my ancestors, and the family bears the scars and seams; while she, r'1 like the'Moro'escaped, and now stands , up so proudly, and so she would scorn , id me. Yes, ah, yes?I believe in acci- ba er I dents." " Have you told her your love?" " 1 never dared." " Then you arc a coward, and perhaps fir ?well, as this does not concern me, I tu think we had better cail mamma and su t*r?n j return. \v 111 you ou kiuu inougu 10 i "? ,g attach the horses. Mr. von Dam?" " J js " You will excuse me, Miss Mercer, ' J I was presumptuous to tcil you my |[( ;o story. 1 will drive the carriage here, P"1 d and take in yourself and easel, as soon as lia n 1 have n.y team re'tdy." an While he was gone our Lillian solilo- ml )- quized?all alone with the sea and its S,U! p sobbing waves, as they broke against the ( a rock of the Moro and came rippling at u". |j her feet. " Oh ! what a fool am I?w!iat R'1 [. an arrant, blundering fool! And so he H1' !. loves another; and I?oh! I could whip . d myself! I?I thought he loved me, and tin. I I thought him prcsump:uous, and was t fighting him in my heart! Had it been be] ? me, and had he proposed to me, liow I Se> 5 would have wounded him, and how . proudly I would have rebuked him?the 7 i . j r i. _ n.O ; servanr. adu now i sue uis presump- ~ ~ r tion. VVhydoC3 lie tell me his stupid 1 iove tale? Some fat fraulien of a Ger- .we. ; man baroness in a ruined castle, I sup- 1 2 pose; some family with a name?some , proud, unpronounceable name. And 900 2 yet he has not been rejected by this re? 2 German woman?that's not in the way at least." 3 Now this girl knew that away down WG - in her heart she loved this man-servant arc j of her mother's. ' She knew that in vaI ? every intellectual quality he was her out ; superior. He was to her more hand- out , some than any other man. The nc- ?.uf 3 quaintance of camp, travel, and daily i intercourse, like theirs had been, dis- b?r . closes more of real character than years Wl1 i of conventional life. She knew" this tllG 1 man was brave, and good, and pure. me' 1 She knew that he was the equal of any ?.?c , man. And yet, when she thought he Jics i loved her, and was planning how to on? , capture her, she had determined to ",u.t r mortify and humiliate him, reject him, Qui: teach him a lesson. How care lie? 90" : Now it turns out that he loved another. d?c She felt the humiliation, and determined '?p 1 [ that she was an<*ry because he had told ('r? i her. What was it to her whom he i loved, or how his wooing thrived? And mu i then there came across her just the glimmer of a resret?she wished he had not told her. Now he could only be a ser- 3U? i vant to her; and she began to pity him. ft s : When he drove up with the carriage, C'UI and?so strong and firm?lifted her on i mother and herself into the carriage, ler^ arranged their wraps so gently, and "rLl looked so sad, poor fellow, she pitied stai him the more, and found in her heart a seei . soft place for poor Nick von Dam. ler They roi'e back to the hotel at San s^?1 Luis Obispo in silence. But when ^'ir mother and daughter had entered their ^,e rooms and closed the door, Lillian's Tlx i anger burst torth. Like all persons who s? 1 are angry with themselves, she found it a'w necessary to pour forth tier tide ot pa<=; sion upon some one else. This time it iru5 was her eood, patient, simple-minded, unobservant motlier who caught the .' i hurricane of her wrath. In the whirl- j?01 , wind of her incoherent words, her poor, He I innocent mother caught the idea that, a11t ; sorcehow, Nicholas had offended her 1,110 proud daughter by proposing love to i her, and the good lady was justly indig- I51? nant. t " Oh, mother, mother, you poor, dear, col< ; simple, foolish mother! You are just s?h , too innocent to live. lie did not pro- an(J ; pose to me?he will not?I wish ho lea< t would?he is in love with another. I s.un t am a born fool, and it is all your fault, j?v( mother. I am in love with him, and ")r you must send him away before I var make an idiol of myself." dr3 "Lillian, my daughter, are you cnizy? anc i In love with a servant?" the e " Yes, mother, crazy?crazy as aluna- bea . tic. So, as you have no convenient s acylum for me, send this servant of i yours about his business. I do not J 1 want',o meet him again. For a hundred ^ie i worlds I would not have him know. stf'; Send him away to-day, mother, dear;" ? i and the proud girl kissed her mother '. and withdrew to her own room?for An tears all by herself. a" < The nicest possible Lhing in the world J e for a girl in love is to have a nice cry. "I 1 Lillian experienced the benefit, and, w}* rr *?httv> or* Imnf /\r two r?nmn nnf r\f htp Mil [I room looking like a rose. the o As she joined her mother, tlmt patient 'Kl1 K lady said: "I have tried to send him ord away, Lillian dear; but he says he is en- J,:l1 k titled to a month's wases, or notice; b-f r and so I told him he might ren.nin till we went to San Francisco, and then I t"'1 e would pay him oil*. 1 don't see how we "Ui can get along without him, darling.1' wh 11 " Nor I," said Lillian. " Well, denr tlJC if mother, we shall leave in a day or two; m ,e and I will suppress myself and endure ?P.C >f him for that time." ??< d Just how it was brought about is not 'lir k necessary to this narrative, but the d same evening Nick was driving Miss in ;s Lillian through the old olive grove, in ?>r 3. nn open phaeton. Nick had reached aic is the darkest part of the prove, when ho wn i. sprang from the carriage, tied the horse, "1S n and turned fiercely upon the now pale he n und trembling Lillian: "And so, Miss i- Mercer, you endeavored to have your kir d mother discharge me. Have I not been lr,( d a good servant? Have I not boon re- It 3, spectful? And now?because I told to i*- you my love?you drive me away. Ho sir ig you know thai I am saving every dollar, "? that I may yet win this .ady??that I no id dream of a cottage home, and vines and [e:i ly fruits, in this charming land, and that ,1C ?- you, and you alone, are the one to de- cr? stroy this dream?" 1; "And why did you tell mo of your love? What is your dream of love to ;n me?" answered the now deliant giri. Su in What right had you to make me the th Jh confidant of your story?" tic e- "Because I love you! And you I t>c charge me with being a coward, in not pt daring to tell the proud beauty of my ar sd love. Yes, I love you, Lillian Mercer; th -I and in everything except wealth and pi 3y birth I am your equal. fn love, I am io ur your slave. I tell you this, here and to alone, where you cannot fly me?cannot tt d. turn in scorn upon me, 1 tell you my m ?r, love here where you are compelled to m in hpar it; and now I release you. I drive h, is you home?to-morrow i leave you. I g< ;re shall never see you again. And?and? n: ia- oh, Lillian, may I say to you that I a; ve think I am worthy of you? I could be ti of worthy of you. I would make you b nt. proud of me, even among your own rr oc proud acquaintances. You need not ti iot marry me now, but in after years?when I have accomplished something. You y shall advise and help me. Love me, ti ich then I shall succeed." " . t: Slowly, Nick withdrew. Slowly, he ntied his horse. Humbly, and silently, e took up hif? reins and resumed his ?at. Silently, they turned homeward, he horse went on a walk. In the narjwcst part of the lane, in the darkest art of the grove?just as a cloud camc ?cr the moon?the sweet and eraciou? - 11 l.? Ill]Mil Ienuiiru uci ;um .wuunu lwj ucw f Nick von Dam, and kissed him fairly id squarely on the lips. The horse opped?horses always do; it is horse insc. " Was it ycu that kissed me, Miss [ercer?" "Yes. Mr. Von Dam,'1, meekly anvered Lillian. 44 And are you sure Lillian, that you d nut just spit, on your finger, touch y nose, and give a smack?" Lillian turned her great round eyes li upon Mr. von Dam?the great moon rned on its fuil light?moons aiways >. " Arc you sure," said Nick, " quite ,rcP I was fooled ia that way once j a girl." 44 And you ?" "Yes, thank you, Mi33 Mercer; I am ieholasvon Damenberg, your neighbor i the other side of tlie fence, upon hose nose you put your wet finger? ssing for a cat. I told you then I juld cet even; and now In me be so.xn e kiss was tenui .e by your repeating Thi3 happened years ago. They have bie3 now. Preserving Autnmn Leaves. In Appletons' 44 Summer Book " we l(1 some directions for preserving aumn leaves, written by a lady, whose ceess in the preservation oi'sueh leaves s given her quite a iocal reputation. From my own observation," she says, [ think it is a mistaken idea that jsts are needed to brighten and deepen e tints of autumn leaves. 'Leaves ve their time to fall' is as certain as y of nature's marvels, and they do it ich more gracefully in the mellowing nshine, ripening day by day, every y showing new tints and beauties, til they fall, their mission accomshoi. To preserve their coloring 2y should be gathered from the treos fore frosts (setting all the shades atd ts possible), singly, and in sprays table for prcssing7and at once placid ,,veen the leaves (not too near toK n mnrvo r>nro on rl iHCl I Ul UUMiVa V/l (VII VI reral pounds' weight laid upon them. | ey shouid bo kept, while pressing, in ool place, and as often as every other ( y (every day is belter during the first ( k) changed into new books. This mportant, because the paper absorbs . i dampness from the leaves, and they n become discolored if allowed to aain. j 'They should be kept in press until < irougLly dry?between two and three \ eks?otherwise they shrivel. They , then ready for a coating of oil or nish I find a mixture of three ' ices of spirits ol turpentine, two j ices of boiled linseed oil, and half an j ice of white varnish preferable . ier alone. Get a perfectly smooth ] trd. large enough to lay a spray upon, ? ;h no reaching of the leaves beyond ] outer edges, or in an unlucky mo- i tit comes the wail: ' How could I be :areless as to break off the very lovet leaf!' I have done it more than e, and have thereby learned that umn leaves are brittle things and re- ( re tender handling. Take a piece of , cloth to apply the dressing. A brush j s not do it as evenly, and there must ( 10 streaks. They are a blemish when . After the application the leaves st be laid carefully on boards or j ers (not overlapping each other) un- ] dry, and then disposed of as taste , zests, avoiding as much as possible ( tiff, unnaturai arrangement. They ( rm me most in sprays and group? | curtains or wails, with or without ( is; but they can be arranged very < stically on the panels of doors, usini? \ ch for holding them in place. I have ( 1 them used with evergreens in windecorations with great effect. The | n can be broken off, and a fine . e attached in its place, which makes j tu a little more yielding to handle. { ?re i3 beauty for some in a wreath, f jailed, of autumn leaves; but I have !, ays failed to see it. more especially if ler glass. They have such a helpless, j nisoncd look?the beauty all ] tened out ot them. Not long since I read the malcdic- j is of an individual on a newspaper. ; had read in it: 'To preserve ( umn leaves, put a little white wax on j surface and pass a warm iron over m.' He says he sat up till after mid- ( wnini'Txv o Ktialinl fhn l/wplipsf-. till iUUllll^ lit uwoaw /? , trcs lie ever saw. 'It left them the : jr of an old felt hat.' I have had j ic experience in the ironing process, 1 I can truthfully say it spoils both . srr:s and temper. The leaves of , aach and the Virginia crecper, or , !-fingered ivy, will retain their beauty , a time if pressed, and can used to ad- \ it age with other leaves; but after , ring they have not much substance, I soon ' the grace of the fashion of \ m perisheth,' as do so many other , utilul things." Died as a King Should. . E. Murdoch has written a book on * sta^e, in which occurs the following . ry: Ir. Macready was fond of telling the \ owing story as his experience of < leriean independence, exemplified in j Jestern actor of the self-satisfied kind: \ n the last act of Hamlet," said he, was very anxious to have the king, j 0 was rather of a democratic turn of \ id, to fall, when I stabbed him, over steps of the throne and on the right id side, with his feet to the left, in cr that when I was to fall I should /e the center of the stage to myself, a? itting the principal personage of the J gedy. No objection was made to 1 s request on the part of the actor; ' ; at night, to my great surprise, he eeled directly round after receiving 1 sword thrust, and deliberately fell 1 the middle of the scene, just on the \ )C where I was in the habit of dying. ; >11, as a dead ;man cannot move uself, and as there was no time for 1 iers to do it, the king's body remained possession of my place, and 1 wa? ced to find another situation, which I I, and finished the scene in the best y I could. When I expostulated with - majesty for the liberty he had taken coolly replied: 4Mr. Macready, we estern people know nothing about igs excepting that they have an odd 3k of doing as they please; therefore bought, as I was a king I had a right do whatever I pleased; and so, , I fell back on my kingly rights, m which, you perceive, sir, there is appeal.' I retired," said Mr. Macidy, "to my dressin;-room to have & arty laugh over what I felt more like /iug over a moment before." Oh, My! A. foreigner writes to the New York \n: I am studying English, and for at reason 1 pay a great deal of atten>n to theJanguageof those with whom happen to converse. Now the little isscssive pronoun "my" is so often used id, at- least in my judgment, abused, ;at it begins to worry me. For exame, a lady recently said to me: "I | eked my door and went to my butcher i order my provisions. When I reirned home I found my stove cold and iy lire out, and that was lucky, too, for ly kettle was nearly empty, and it would live been ruined if my fire had been oing. I expected my husband every linute, so I hurried to make mv fire gain and prepare my dinner. Unformately my butcher had forgot'.en to ring my tripe, so I gave him a piece o iy mind and sent: him back for my ripe," and so on. Now I nm not a communist, but I rouJd rather drop ' my" altogether than a apply it equally to husband, butcher, ripe and tea-kettle. Sleeping Heroes. I do not know a more picturesque evolution in mythology than that by which the Hindoo king of death became in Persia the king who never died. The vedic king of death was Tama, which seems to mean " the declining," the reference being probably to the sun going down into darkness. But the Persian dream dwelt on the radiant glories of the sunset, which pointed tho way westward to golden islets and Hesperian gardens. By such dreams, perhaps, man was drawn to some of hiii earliest migrations. But the sunset lusters correspond with the splendors of onnrico YVhnn t h<?rnfnrp flip TTindnn lord of dentil, Yama, reappeared as the Persian Jam', he was associated with the dawn as well as the sunset. He was fabled as the first monarch of Persia. It was the ,?oldcn age when he began his reign; for a long time there was no oppression, injustice, sickness or war. But ultimately this happy ago was broken by an evildoer, and then Jami bade adieu to hie country, arid went to dwell in a beautiful island in the west, where he still lives, but will some day return to restore the blissful era. Jami is probably the patriarch of all sleeping heroes?ol Epimenides, who slept fifty years, t;hen waked up to save his country; of St. John, who still sleeps at Ephesus, while his counterpart, Ahasuerus, finds no repose; of Boabdil and Sebastian, who still await the bugles which shall recall Moor and Portuguese ?o struggle again for a dominion awarded by destiny to neither; of Barbarossa, whose red beard rooted in his cavern floor, has sent threads far and wide through the folk-lore of Germany; of the priest of Hagia Sophia, ? i-?' u:J? ?.i.? Tii^lro WliU U1UC3 bllC u?v *Viiuu l/u? JL utao shall be expelied from Constantinople; of Tell, who wm so wide-awake after hia mythical slumber in Switzerland that he emboldened some scuomr to resolve him into sunshine; and of Charlemagne, supposed to be still alive, but who must be very restless, considering the variety of localities in which he is said to be sleeping. "A little while after," says Rabelais, "Pantagruel heard news that his father Gargantua had been translated into the Land of the Fairies by Morgue, as heretofore were Ogler and Arthur." The iairy Morgue entertained the Dane Ogier so pleasantly that the pagans seized Jerusalem >n his absence i and in connecting a similar catastrophe to his Ul.opia with the' ranslation of Gargantua, Rabelais vould seem to have recognized the necessity of reminding the pious of this region that there were advantages in being occasionally wide-awake. But Mythology had already made the discovery before him, and reported that now and then, iu emergencies, the Seven Sleepers sallied forth to be the Seven Champions of Christendom, and that all of the-ie enchanted heroes will wake up at last, tn one sense the prophecy has been largely fulfilled: Tennyson has summoned Arthur from Avalon, and Irving lias summoned?Jefferson keeps awake ?Barbarossa under the droll disguise of EtipVan Winkle. The fairy I'oesy is ibie to break the spell of the enchantress Morgue.? M. D. Conway, in Harper's Magazine. A Chinese Story. An American merchant who has been ingaged in the tea business for seventeen ?ears in Hon^ Kong related lately some ncidents which had fallen under his >wn observation in China, which throw i pleasant light upon the character of ,hcse iittle-known people. " Americans," he said, " are the best -J J 1 4. *TT^,.1/1 t'U JUIU UCat-UiUtiicu pcupitiu bur< rivnu. [t is absolutely impossible for them to ealize the excessive poverty which ;xists among the agricultural population )f Northern China. They have no food jut rice and water, and seldom enough )f that. There are hundreds of thouiands of them who do not possess ;wenty cents in currency in the course )f a year. " When famine comes?and it needs 3Ut a partial failure of the rice crop i:o jroduce famine?they are reduced to ive upon earth and grass. Lots are irawn to find which of the children shall be sacrificed tr.r the others, and the rictim is brought down into the town md sold for fifty cents as a slave, the parents parting with it with a grief and iespair which arc, I believe, genuine. " Female infants are strangleoat birth n a1 hard summer,' because, the parents iver, it i9 simply impossible to feed iheru, and it is better for them to die !n thi3 way than by slow starvation. "I tell you of these extreme condi;ions of their life to make you under J ?? ??? f ixr/inf TXTlfh QniTIA si.'iuu my aLui v. i .. u Engl:sh ofiicers duck shooting up into ihesc barren regions. Becoming separated from my companions, I lost my way, and asked the assistance of one Df the poorest of these Chinese ' ricepJanters.' He left his work instantly, ind with the smiling, friendly courtesy Di which, by the way, one is always sure in the poorest Chinaman at home. He remained with me from noon till dark, searching among the winding wfeks. and flat'marches for my com panions. When we had found tliem, I handed him a dollar, a sum larger than he would own probably in two or three years. He refused it, nor could ill my Dcrsuasions force him to take it. "4 My religion,' he said, ' bids us be kind to strangers, and the chance to sbey the rule comes to me so seldom that I dare not destroy the good deed by taking pay for it.' " How many Christians might learn i lesson in humanity and faith from Lhis poor follower of Confucius!" The Story of the Elnis. There is a quite singular fact in 'connection with Stiles' hili. in the town of Southbury, known to the country resiients living within sight of that eminence. For six decades two tall elm trees stood side by side, a little distance mart, upon the topmost point of the elevation; tliesc trees were visible tor many miles around, and frcm this fact they became noted landmarks. Upward of sixty years ago two little eirls were wont to PM9S over the summit of this hill daily, during the summer season, to drive their father's cows to pasture. They were impressed by the sightly attributes of the elevation and often tarried to gaze at the widespread landscape. One day they conceived the idea of planting each a tree upon the hill summit, which should be to them a reminder of their childhood days in the years to come. They put their idea into effect, and two slender elm shoots soon waved their green branches as solitary sentinels in the open space rouni about. Years passed by and the shoots grew into tall, stalwart trees. The girls grew to womanhood and passed out of the parental home into the great wide world. Occasionally they would meet one another and allude to the living reminders of youthlul days, and often they wou'd visit the familiar haunts of their girlhood and would sit beneath the widespreading branches of the mammoth elms. About five years ago one of the girte died, an aged lady of almost eighty. Scarcely had the intelligence of her death reached the neighborhood of her youth than the residents observed that one of the old elms was dying. Its leaves wilted and withered as though I scorched by flame, and although midsummer yet the foliage fell to the ground leaving the naked, lifeless branches and stock looking disconsolate enough. Decay quickly followed in the great tree trunk and during a high wind, one night ti'.e following winter, it fell to the earth. fi .ie other girl, though an octogenarian, still lives, and the old elm which she planted in her fresli young girlhood, still live3. But the people to wliom the above circumstances are known , watch it with interest, feeling that a subtle relationship exists between the two iives, ar.d that the one will cease with the other.? Walerbury (Ct.) American. FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD. PloTvlfiK Corn Stubble. All plowing under or otherwise disposing of rubbish from gathered cfops should be done during September and October. If roots are to be grown next season where corn stubble is to be plowed under, let it be done deeply and all the stubble well covered. Root culture requires good farming, and rough* uneven plowing, with loose corn stubs on the surface, is not good farming. A : well-p'owed corn stubble may be worked witli the disk harrow in the spring and well fitted for roots, which are preferable to oats to follow corn. One of Poor; flutter. In giving some directions as to the treatment of milk nnd cream for churn- ' ng, Mr. T. D. Curtis, of Utica, N. Y., says: Half the butter in the country ' and I do not know but a larger propor- 1 tian?is spoiled by letting the milk stand ' t o long before- skimming, and the pro- 1 duct is still further injured by letting the cream stand still longer before churning, i Milk should he skimmed when it begins i to thicken on the bottom of the pan. If 1 it stands longer there is a loss of J quality without any compensating gain 1 in quantity. The cream should be i churned at once. The longer it stands 1 the greater will be the loss of aroma 1 from the decomposition and evaporation ] nf the volatile flavoring oils. Only the slightest acidity, if any, should be per- < mitted ini the cream before it is churned, s Yet it is a common thing for people to let the milk lopoer before it is skimmed, and to allow the cream to stand until quite sour before churning. Nothing but bad-flavored and rapidly decaying butter can be made of such cream. Yet I have seen cream standing with moid on it, and scrum filling the cracks of the creamery. Is it any wonder that there is 30 much poor butter in the market? now to Increase the Yield o'Corn. As a rule among our farmer acquaintances, fair, plump, large ears of corn are selected for seed without any regard to the number growing on a stalk. From our own experiments we deem this a mistake. It is better to save the largest, fairest ears than those which are imperfect or collected indiscriminately. But such selection is just as linble to encourage a lesser as a greater yield in the future crops. Corn is very susceptible to change from selection, as we may know from the scores of dis- 1, trnriflfiflfl TmAtim Tf XXTO blilUUl V iliai iiUU yiwitwto auu ttu< x? tiw jwould increase our yield we must select n seed from the most prolific plants. This, , which is true of all plants, is especially _ so of the corn plant. If, further, an iso- ? lated plot, as far removed as possible a from other corn, were planted yearly for seed and the tassels as soon as they appear were destroyed on both those which were sterile and the least prolific, we doubt not the farmer would, ina , few years, be amply compensated for V his pains. In this case seed would be saved which had on both sides the most e prolific percentage. We attribute our r immense yield of Blount's corn at the ? RuraVs farm, in a great measure, to our 1 very careful selection of the seed. There j; can be little doubt that such selection r; will in a few years increase the yield of c any variety of corn. On the other hand, ? if only the largest, handsomest ear3 are c selected, regardless of the number of J ears borne on a given stalk, simply t what; may be considered the normal J yield of the variety will be continued ? from year to year.?Rural New Yorker, r Ilonsehold Hint*. { In cooking a fowl, to ascertain when c it is done, put a skewer into the breast, r and if the breast is tender the fowl is [ done. <1 It is stated that dishes placed on a pie F plant leaf are protected from ants. The e leaves must be replaced every mom- t ine. t A piece of rag soaked in a solution of 5 cayenne pepper is a capital thing to put into a rat or mouse hole. They will not 3 try to eat it. E c Old boot tops, cut into pieces the t right size and lined, make good iron holders. The leather keeps all heat jaway from the hand. * 1Stains caused by printer's ink may be S removed by plenty of naphtha or ben- t zole, by strong, hot caustic soda, or by v potasli dissolved in water. Common a ink stains can usually be removed by C washing them first in a strong solution v of oxalic acid and then in a strong solu- t tion of ehloxide of lime. Rinse well h with clear water before putting soap on y the article. a The Photophoiie. t This remarkable invention i3 own sis- I * i- I ter to the teiepnone. it means, iu uim by light. The idea upon which it is l! founded is this: ? Certain substances are sensitive to . ii?ht, and changee their c'.ectrical condi- r tion according to the amount of light 11 that falls upon them. To understand ? this, vou may observe that colwred cloths {; fade in the sun, and certain chemicals c change their color in a beam of light, as , in taking a photograph. This is called 1 the actinic effect of light. In like manner certain chemicals change their electrical condition when exposed to light. This ' is a new fact in nature, and upon it is 1 founded the new apparatus for talking by light. Tue apparatus consists, first, of a transmitter for causing the sound of the voice to afi'ect a beam of sunlight. This a is a thin diaphragm of silvered mica Is arranged somewhat like the diaphragm t of a telephone. A powerful beam of f sunlieht is directed upon the front of e this, and is reflected through two lenses t to the receiving station, which may be v several hundred feet, or meters, away, e The operator stands behind the mirror, p and speaks against the back of it. At s. the leeeiving station is a reflector ar- 1: ranged to receive the beam of light and concentrate it upon a curious substance r discovered a few years ago, and called i A rtAv,*, r\A in o nmnilinv t suiujnuiii* uuu uimucotuu iu *.?? ? manner with a telephone. '] Now if tlie operator speaks behind the t mica mirror, the person holding the tele- i phone to his ear hears every word that ( is said. To trace the curious changes I the sound goes through from one opera- t tor to the other, wc must observe that r the vibrations of the air move the mirror. and cause the beam of reflected r light to vibrate. The vibrations of the t light affect the electrical condition of t the telephone; the electrical vibrations s are transformed in the telephone back c again into sounds. This truly wonder- s lul invention is so new that it is yet im- \ nossible to say what may result fiom it. i This much h:?o, however, been proved: i The sound of the human voice and musical notes may be sent to a distance by means of a beam of sunlight or by the light of a lamp A Strange Monster. There is a lake three miles long and i 20i) yards wide seven miles southwest 1 of Elkhorn station, a mile from the ] Platte and four or five miles from Salt < creek, The water is brackish. In this i lake is reported a monster about thirty j feet long and eight feet in diameter. It ; lias a mane like a horse and four feet : like a lizard, jaws like a crocodile, and ; otherwise it resembles monster snake. While its general habitat is in the i wa'er, it frequently comes up on the land and carries off and devours hogs, i sheep and calves from the adjacent farms. It dies at a rapid rate from human beings, and takes refuge in the deep, saline waters of the lake. Hunters have been vainly trying for seme time to get a shot at it. The Indians, from an instinctive superstitious dread, never bathe in the lake; and the white settlers around its border have a horror of going near it. The supposition is, 'he monster came up, while young, from the Mexican gulf by the Missouri, and up the Platte, and was thence carried into the lake by one of the periodical overflows of that river. The academy of science might investigate it.?Omaha (Neb.) Watchman. & Hints to the Consnmptive. The diet of the consumptive should be 3implc and nutritious; very strict rules as to special articles of diet are uncalled for, unless the stomach should have exhibited unusual signs of imperfect power. Meat should'be taken once or twice a day, with a good allowance of fat. Fish is nutritious, especially oysters. Milk is very nutritious, and two or three pints may be taken in the course of the day. At ihe Hospital for Consumption at Brompton many of the patients have a glass of rum and milk the first thing in the morning, before breakfast, to help them to dress, and undoubtedly it often does good. Asses' milk may be taken wben ordinary milk riisagrees. Another favorite prescription is fat bacon for breakfast. Sugar is very fattening, and there is no objection to taking it even in considerable quantities. A moderate allowance of wine or spirits is advisable, but it should be taken with caution when it flushes the face or quickens the pulse. Moderate ind frequent exercise in the open air is sissential. We do know that now and again it is very essential to " change the iir;" but we consider that to do that svith any chance of advantage it is necessary to go far afield; and we think also that such change of the air is only needrul when sickness of the body has come iipon us, or when it threatens to come. When nothing else can be done, sitting nit in the open air should always be inlisted on?in a carden. on a balcony, or ;ven at an opon window. Anything is 9ettor than remaining shut up in the iame room from morning to night. We aeard of a man who, on being told that riding was beneficial, hired a horse and ralloped about till he was so exhausted ;hat lie did not recover for a fortnight. Sxercise should be carried to a point ihort of producing fatigue. In ordilary cases of consumption there is not he slightest occasion for the patient to teep to his room, but still it is very imjortant that the sleeping apartment ihould be properly ventilated. The rrnnt. in(T in cpt fts miirih mirfi air as jossible consistent with warmth and the ibsence of draughts. Only a moderate emperature should be permitted, so hat when in bed the patient does nob eel cold. In summer, good ventilation hould be secured by letting down the windows lor an inch or so at the top. U t.,e Hospital for Consumption at Jrompton the wards and galleries are ;ept, w'nter and summer, at a uniform emperature of a little over sixty degrees. ?hc policy of this system is open to quesion, and, in the opinion of many com etent judges, the patients would do etter if the temperature were considerbly reduced.?Family Physician. The Land of Palestine. Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. )ver it broods the spell of a curse that ias withered its fields and fettered its nergies. Where Sodom and Gomorrah eared their domes and towers, that nlomn nnw floods th? Dlain. in fhose bitter waters no living thing ex9ts? over whose waveless surface the ilistering air hangs motionless and lead?about whose waters nothing ,tows but weeds and scattering tufts of :ane, and that treacherous fruit that iromises refreshment to parching lips, >ut turns to ashes at the touch. Nazaeth is forlorn. About the ford of Jorlan, where the hosts of Israel entered he promised land with songs of rejoicng, one finds only a squallid camp of antastic Bedouins of the desert; Jeri:ho, the accursed, lies a moldering uin to-day, even as Joshua's miracle eft it more than three thousand years go; Bethlehem and Bethany, in their loverty and their humiliation, have lothing about them now to remind one hat they once knew the high honor of he Savior's presence; the hallowed pot where shepherds watched their locks by night, and where the angels ang, "Peace on earth, good will to nen," is untenanted by any living reature, and unblessed by any feature hat is pleasant to the eye. Jerusalem itself, the stateliest name in listory, has lost all its grandeur, and is lecome a pauper village: the riches ol lolomon are no longer there to compe he admiration of Oriental queens; the ronderful temple which was the pride nd glory of Israel, is gone, ana the )riental crescent is lifted above the spot trhere. on that most memorable day in he annals of the world, they reared the I toly cross. The noted Sea of Gallilee, irhere Roman fleets once rede at anchor, | ,nd the disciples of the Savior sailed a their ships, was long ago deserted by he devotees of war and commerce, and Ls borders are a silent wilderness; Japernaum is a shapeless ruin; Magdala i the home of the beggared Arabs: Jethsaida and Chorazin have vanished rom the earth, and the " desert places" ound about them, where thousands of aen once listened to the Savior's voice nd ate miraculous bread, sleep in the lush of a solitude that is inhabited only ?y birds of prey and skulking foxes. Palestine is desolate and unlovelv. knd why should it be otherwise? Can he curse of Deity beautify a land. Palestine is no more of this work-day /orld. It is sacred to poetry and traai- I ion?it is a dreamland.?Mark Twain. Great Works in Olden Times. Wendell Phillips thinks the ancients ttained perfection in some arts, the :nowledee of which has been lost in our ime. It is certain tlnat those most amiliar with steam power and modern aachinery are puzzled to explain how he grand structures of the ancient rorld were erecteo. Builders say that 10 modern contractor could ercct the ;reat Dyramid in Egypt, and lift the ;igantic stones at the summit to the leight of four hundred and fifty feet. A recent visitor to Baalbec, and the uins of the great temple of Baal, doubts f any modern architect could rebuild lie temple in its ancient grandeur. Three huge stones, sixty-four feet long, hirteeu high and thirteen wide, stand n a wall at the height of twenty-feet, | ^ine other stones, thirty feet long, ten ligh and ten wide, are joined together vith such nicety that a trained eye canlot discover the line of juncture. A column still stands in the quarry, a aile distant, which is completed, with he exception that it is not detached at 1 he bottom, It IS sixiy-mue jcut xuug, eventeen high find fourteen broad, and ino cannot understand lmw it can be cparated at the bottom from the quarry vithout breaking. The ruins of this rast temple inspire respect for the genus of former ages. Nankeen. Of all the cotton produced in China, lie most remarkable, as well as the nost beautiful, is that used in the fabrication of the calico known in Europe under the name of nankin or nankeen, ft has been long a matter of debate whether the texture called nankeen was manufactured from a raw material, having, previous to any manipulation, the yellowish hue which distinguishes it, or whether it owed its peculiar shade to a light dye. M. Van Braam, who was at the head Df the commercial mission sent out by Holland to Pekin in 1794, had been instructed by the European merchants to request that the nankeen destined for their different markets might for '.lie future be dyed a deeper color than tliey had been lor some time past; and he had an opportunity during his stay of ascertaining that the color of these textures were natural to the raw material, and not subject to fade. Sir George Staunton, one 0/ Lord Macartney's embassy, found, on going through the province of KiangnanT that the cotton it produces is naturally of the yellow color, which it retains alter spinning and weaving. He also says that when the nankin cotton is transplanted to another province it degenerates nnrl becomes white. TIMELI TOPICS. Secretary Schurz reports that on his recent visit to the Sioux reservation he saw some farms worked exclusively bv Indians which compared favorably with those operated by white men lurther east. It is believed by Englishmen that in ) time it is possible that American com petition in meat will be as lormiaapie as the competition in wheat. America already supplies twelve and a half per cent, of the meat used in England. The great suspension bridge over the East river, between New York and Brooklyn, will not be finished?as was hoped?by next July. The work has been retarded by unavoidable delay in the delivery of the steel used in its construction. A monster sewing machine, weighing over four tons, and run by steam, has been constructed for a manufacturing firm in Liverpool. The machine is the largest in the world. It is adapted for general manufacturing purposes of the heavier sort, although specially made for stitching cotton belting. The habit of clipping coins is becoming very prevalent in the United States. Sharpers in every large city make a living at it. Not only dollars and half doli - ? J I U - J L..i. iais arc cnppea auu puuuueu. uut quur ters, ten and five-cent pieces are shaved in that way. The postoffice authorities and most government officials refuse the mutiMed bits. On the Second avenue elevated railroad, in New York, the cars run for long distances at the level of the housetops, and the down look through the slender iron scaffolding is a dizzy one. A comical novelty incidental to this situation is the decoration of nearly all the chimneys with flaming advertisements. Dr. Norman Kerr, in a paper read before the British Medical association, estimated the mortality from excessive use of alcoholic liquors tD be 120.000 deaths per year, one-third being due to direct effects upon the topers them, selves, and two-thirds of the deaths due to starvation, disease, accidents or violence occurring to other persons by the intemperance of the topers. Mr. and Mrs. Ames, of San Francisco, agreed that they were unsuited to each other, and that a separation was desirable: but how to obtain ? divorce was puzzling, because neither had a grievance that would stand the test of the law. Their conclusion was that the hnahnnrf nhrmld pive the wife erround for complaint by whipping her; so he amiably knocked her down, and she got the divorce. Mr. Fawcett, the British postmaster general, has a new plan for lacilitating the small savings of the poor. A saving child may now get an official strip of paper intended to hold twelve stamps, add a stamp at a time to it as he can save a penny, and when it is full take it to the postoffice and get a savings bank receipt for a shilling, the minimum deposit which it will pay the postoffice savings bank to take. One of the paying-tellers of a Montreal bank was kind enough to leave his stall with the door unlocked. The office was crowded with customers at the time, but that fact did not trouble the impudent thief who, opening the door, pulled out a roll of bills containing $7,000 and quietly left the premises. Two or three employees saw the transaction, but through some stupidity failed to raise the alarm until the offender had disappeared. A sudden outbreak of uiphtheria in certain tenement-houses in New York is attributed to the severe cold storms which came in September, and which flood the cellars of those houses, leaving a death-bearing sediment. In one house eleven deaths were reported, an confined to the lower stories. In another tenement there were fourteen deaths in rapid succession. The matter was investigated b7 the health department, and a general cleansing and fumigation of the cellars on the riverfront was ordered, which was followed by an immediate decrease of the sickness. Undoubtedly a severe epidemic was prevented by these prompt measures. A strange pagan scene was witnessed recently in the Volkovo Kladbishche, the largest orthodox cemetery of St. Petersburg. From early morning it was crowded by thousands of men, women and children. After a solemn requiem by the metropolitan and clergy, thf relatives and friends of the dead treated each other to kutia, or rice boiled with raisins, and drank in memorium vodka, or rye whisky. In half an hour there could be heard not only loud weeping, but singing, swearing and boisterous laughter. Some ingenious rascals in Mississipoi have made photographs of greenbacks, and have circulated them in the back UUUI1UC3 IIS liurv OU)iU tuYuuuiviii checks. They discounted 'them, and the parties who took them circulated them until they found their way into the local banks. Here the fraud not being detected they sent over $ 19,000 worth to the treasury for redemption, where, of course, it was instantly discovered that they were nothing but photographs of the face of United Slate3 notes of large denominations. Malarial fever prevails in Springfield, Mass., to an extent never before known there. It is estimated that there are nearly 1,000 cases, generally, however, of a mild type. The State board of health has< been investigating the subioof nrif! in resnnnsG tn inouiries the physicians oi Springfield and vicinity assert thai the fever is extraordinarily prevalent up and down the Connecticut valiey. In their opinion, there has been a steady progress of a malarial wave from New Jersey northeastward, for eight or nine years past, due to causes which no one can explain. The plan of an undereround railwa through Broadway in New York city has been often discussed in late years. And now a company has just been organized witn prospects that indicate its final success. It is expected that within three years cars will be runnins from the South ferry to the Central Park through a tunnel under Broadway. In order to avoid the annoyance existing in the London undereround roads, it is proposed to buiid two separate tunnels with an ex'ensive system of ventilation, to use smoke-c_>nsuming engines, and to light the cars and tunnels with electricity. Plans for the construction of the road have already been made, and the work is to be commenced soon. The divorce question assumes a threatening shape in Switzerland in consequence of the new federal law, enacted a few years ago, which gives almost unrestricted freedom in marriage contracts. Divorce in Switzerland was made almost as easy by the constitution of 1874 as marriage. A mere disagreement of tempers or ideas suffices to enable a husband and wife to apply to the civil tribunal, and obtain in a few days, .?nd at the outlay of a few francs, a release Irom their bonds. The strangest point of the new law is that it does not provide for the custodv and support of children b :rn before the dissolution of I the marriage. The point is left for the [ commune in each canton to settle in in dividual cases. ... ... Homo Song. Stay, stay at homo, my heart, and rest; Home-keeping hearts aro happiest, For those that wonder they know not where Are lull of trouble and full of care: To stay at home is best. Weary and homesick and distressed, They wander east, they wander west, ? And are baffled and beaten and blown about ', * By the winds ol the wilderness of doubt; ^ \ ? To stay at home is best. 1*2*}# Then stay at home njy heart, and rest; * The bird is safest in its nest; ' O'er all that flutter thoir wings and fly - *" A hawk is hovering in the Bky, To stay at home is btst. ?Longfellov^ ===== :+\ HUMOROUS. A night-gown is a nap-sack. A good thing to be fast?A button. Even the laziest boy can catch a lick- 4 ing. A noise that can be felt?The brooms tick. The iron horse has but one ear?The - engineer. v . " Rest assured," said the life insurance agent to his victim. Every harness-maker leaves traces of bis work behind.?Free Press. Ti e man who threw up his employ xnent must have been sick of it. What is a rivulet? A small stream, \ What is an inletP A small tavern. The Philadelphia Bulletin says salary day in a circus is the greatest payraid. ",7/j Leonidas was one of the original deadheads. He held the pass at fher- . mopyl?. A good whisky sling: Sling the bottle out the window.?Boston Journal of Commerce, ' - j There is not much danger when it rains "cats and dogsbut when it Spitz dogs look oat. Some one who believes that "brevity is the soul of wit" writes: " Don't eat staleQ-cumbers. They'll W up." % A Chicago paper asks: "Will the coming man use both handsP" No; both feet. He comes on a bicycle. #In the first transports of delight the happy father rushed into the room, ex- * claiming: "I've got a son; it's a boy. ' * Young man, when you make an engagement keep it. By failing to do you are liable to be sued for breach of promise. In one respect Cleopatra's needle has the advantaee of most emigrants. It brings plenty of characters from its last place. - tA hint to the fair: Locomotives now . carry mirrors which enable the engineer to soe whether his train is all right without turning around. Vanderbilt will have one stone containing 196 solid feet in his new house on Fifth avenue, New York. It takes the. rocks to pay for such stones. ' * ? " W hat did your father die of?" said ? man to an orphan who was soliciting alms last week. "Cholera infantum, * / sir," was the prompt reply. % Near-sighted sportsman (who flas made a succession of missw) -"Have i hit anything this time, Rodgers P" Dis justed keeper?"Yes'er- you've hit the dog." " What, ho!" shouted the army worm. " Po-tat-hoe," responded Ihe bug, and then they joined in a duet, calied "To the hills, to the hills away!"?New York Graphic. Play spades if you would win potatoes; play clubs if you would deal with a ruffian; play hearts it you would win friendship; play diamonds if you would win a woman. A young lady wrote some verses for a . paper aboul her birthday, and headed *"l~ ~? 44 OfH-V* It Tb olmncf moiip hpr LUUIU 111. a J UUbll. XU UUIiVUW *** ? hair turn gray when it appeared in . print, " My 30th." j ; j Tourist?" I say, boy, what's the bame ot that hill yonderP" Boy?"Dunno." Tourist?"Don't know? What! lived here all your life and don't know the name of itP" Boy?"No; the hill waa here afore I com'a." " Why, Franky!" exclaimed a mother at a iriend's table, *' I never knew you to ask for a second piece of pie at home." " I knew't want no use," replied Franky, quietly, as he proceeded with his pie : ating.?Boston Transcript. A London magistrate sent a man to prison for cutting a cat's tail off. Served him right. Any man ioolish enough to cut off a cat's tail when he might have cut her head off merits incarccration in a jail surrounded with a high caterwaul. v ' .r: " I'm on the press," said John Henry, as he folded his girl in one sweet em- * - brace. "Well, that's no reason wuy you should try to pi the form," she replied, as she reananged her tumbled collar and pinned up her hair, which had come undone. "Courting an Attack" is a head to a patent medicine advertisement now making the rounds of the press. The head line may be in bad company, but it is none the less true that courting is an attack that ofttimes is stronger than a three-year-old steer, and as constant and capable of adjustment ns an inrii* rubber door-mat.?Loc^port Union. "Ah," said old Mr. Middlerib, watching an exciting chase between his neigh bor Bilderback and his son, in which the old man held the whip while thi! boy was making time that threatened to shut his parent clear out at the distance pole. "Ah, truly has it been said, 'The child is farther off the man.'"? Burlinqton Hawkeye. A gentleman on the Hill is the owner of a somewhat vicious cow, and the children in the neighborhood have been repeatedly warned against going near 5*- A fho nntff ooPQnpH * It- XV uajf wi IYYV OJUVA. buv W ?? from the pasture where she was kept, and went prancing down the street toward two children who were playing on the sidewalk. Remembering ihe warning, and seeing the danger, the older ol the two children (herself scarcely five years old) called out: "Sister, come into the house, or Hough's cow will horn you wite up to God."?Hartford Courant. Lire Up to the Mottoes. There is no use in putting up the motto " God bless our home," if the father is a rough old bear, and the spirit of discourtesy and rudeness is taught by parents to children, and by the older to the younger. There is no use in putting up I the motto," The Lord will provide, * ! while the father is shiftless, the mother is shiftless, the boys refuse to work, and the girls busy themselves over gewgaws and finery. There is no use in putting up the motto "The greatest of these is charity," while the tongue of the backbiter wages in the family, and silly gossip is dispensed at the tea-table. There is no use in placing up conspicuously the motto, "The liberal man deviseth liberal things," while the mouey chinks in the pockets of the " head of the household," groaning to get out and see the light of day, and there are dollars and dimes for wine, tobacco and olht r luxuries, but positively not one cent for the church. In how many homes are these mottoes standing?let us say, hangingsarcasms, which serve only to point a jest and adorn a satire! The beauty of quiet lives, of trustful, hopeful and freehanded, free-hearted, charitable lives, is one of surpassing loveliness, and those lives shed their own incomparable fragrance, and the world knows where to find them. And they still remain fresh and fadeless when the colors of the pigment and the tluss have faded, and the very frames have rotted away in their jo'r Is.?Christian at Work.