University of South Carolina Libraries
** _ . . .- ??__??? ? f ' , ABBEVILLE PRESS & BANNER. ' ^..' y - '* r 's - . ? ' ?>". BY HUGH WILSON AND H. T. WARDLAW. ABBEVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 1881. NO. 83. VOLUME XXV. ,J| ^ _ __ / nr. . V What My Lover Said. By the merest ohanoe, in tho twil-ght gloom, In the orchard path he met me? In the tall wet grass, with its faint perfume, And I tried to pass, bat he made no room. Oh! 1 tried, but he would not let me. 801 stood and blushed till the grass grew red, With my lace bent down above it, While ho took my hand, as he whispering said? How the clover lifted each pink, sweet head Jo listen to all that my lover said! ^ Oh I tVin rtlnvar in Kl/w*m T lAvft It ' V/U IUU I KJ*. 1U VAW4AA A. 1V< V AW. high wet grass went the path to hide, And the low, wet leaves hung over, . But I could not pa"s on either side, For I found myeeli, when I vainly tried, In the anna ol my steadfast lover. And he held me there and he raised my head. While he closed the path belore me, And he looked down into my ey es m d miO. IIow the leaves bent down iiom the hows o'er head, To listen to all that my lover said. Oh! tho leaves hanging lowly o'er me. Had he moved aside but a little -way I could surely then have passed him, And he knew I never could wish to stay, And would not have heard what he hud to say, PnnM T nnlr ooi^a Viavo naat him It was almost dark and the moments sped, And the searching night wind lound us; But he drew me nearer and soltly said? How the pure, sweet wind grew still instead To listen to all that my lover said. Oh! the whispering wind around us. > 1 am sure he knew, when he held me last, That I must be all unwilling; For I tried to go, and I would have passed, As the night was come with its dews at last, And the sky with its stars was filling; But he clasped me close, when I would have fled, And he made me hear his storv. And his sonl came out from his lips and said? How the st;.:-8 crept out when the white moon led, To listen to all that my lover had eaid, Oh, the moon and start) in glory. I know that the grass and the leaves will not tell, And I'm snre that the wind, precious rover, ill carry his secret so eafely and well That no being shall ever discover One woid oi the many that rapidly fell From the eager lips of my lover. And the moon and the stars that looked over Shall never reveal what a lairy-like spell They wove 'round about us that night in tho dell, In the path through the dew-laden clover; Nor echo the whispers that made my heart Bwell As thoy lell from the ups of my lover. - ? AT FIFTY. ___ i Yas, iifty is a great sge?people seem to think it is; a half century. I have felt it fis I locked back upon the years; \ I have lelt it as I looked before me In the glass; 1 have felt in the socicty of Belle and her mates; I have felt it ^ when people treated me with the cool w- politeness cue their own self-respect. W ard, that done, have Aid to the charms f of Ji!tic Belie and Alice; and if I had any common-sense I should not have felt it wuh the regret I did. But I hated all along to he growing toward tif ty. I hated to see that I could not sit oi.t doers of an evening without ? Kn f liot 7 nr\v\ 1 ri nnt- tobfitha VI Hint f iuf u A wuiu uvw b?nv vuv ?M rumbles ar.-l rtfes of my youth unless'aligned; that instead oi thrillinsr frej-hly in every nerve to the beauty of sunset and scenery as I used to do, I quivered only i:> remembering how I used to thrill. Ana then, too, I dreaded to be old, thinking if some day?someday?Mask<elyn should see me, and pass by without knowing me, cr, if knowing me, knowing only to suffer mortal shock at the sight; never thinking that Maskelyn also was erowing old. Ah, perhaps I should have dreaded it all the more if I had thought the years were setting lines in the smooth olive of that face, were dimming Uie tire of those great eyes, were whitening the darkness of the locks that fell across that brow of his, were impairing the music of that voice I never aid think .it. To me he had a . sort of immortality. And now?now I am fifty years old, as 1 was yesterday; hut it is not bitter any more, as it was ! yesterday, wit-h that old bitterness of vanished strength and interest; lor I love life. I feel the blood bounding < warmly in my veins; deaih seems If farther away than ever?it is only bitter now because I have nothing but this oio lace, mis oia nearc, mese usea-up fifty years, to give MaskeJyn. It is bitter, too, lest people should smile at Maskelyn? 1 was silting in the porch, thinking of my 5 ears, that day. After all, it seemed but ttie day b'.tore that I had sat there with the delirious odor of the honeysuckles blowing ali about me in the dusk, and Mr.skelyn sat at my side, and the very air we breathed fanned to and fro in the fragrance full of the dark sweet mystery of love. It seemed as if all the world had been made just to come to blossom in that evening, stars and winds and vaults of heaven, the evening that he first said in words that he oved mc, although our lives had srown togetherso for years that we bad each known the thought of the other without speaking, and knew that there were no others on earth that could ever come as close to either of us as the other did. But this crowncd the wh: ie with cerrtainty, and we looked in taeh other's faces in the gleams of the starlight as if we were the two only people on the _ planet. Alas, we were not! ?For Maskelyn was still very young; and as the traveler for a commercial house he had his way to make. It was the morning after ttiat night in the dark * and the dew and the honeysuckle odor that he left the ring on my linger, and went off on one of his journeys. He was to go down the river to New Orleans before he returned, and he took the stea r or Beauxtemps at St. Louis?and it was thirty years before I heard from him how it happened. But the world s full oi tongues, and I heard it, all the same, on the four winds that blow no one knows whither. There had taken passage on that fatal steamer a wealthy planter of Louisiana, ? with his wife, an invalid French lady, cd their young daughter Adele. She was a lovely little thing, this Adele, and she sang like a bird. Maskelyn heard her singing one evening, and passionately fond of music, he soon made her acquaintance, and was singing with her. She was as child-like, too a3 she was young and pretty; she had soon confided to him all her affairs, and he, secure in his plighted love, and never dreaming of misconstiuction or trouble, became hn- Hourly associate, and took pleasure in her innocent companionr ship. One afternoon they sat in their accustomed seat, reading, as it chanced, from the same book. In their occupation P? and their talk they nad taken no notice t of the excitement of the people about them, and if they imow they were racing b the Charon, so tliey had been doing half the week, and thought nothing of it. And all at once a shriek of countless ^ voices rent the air; there was a shock and an explosion, as it th<J bottomless pit had broken through the bed of the river. The air wm full of flying beams and falling m n and women; the river ' wa3 full of them; and they weret^o among thf-m ail, afloat but r..i ; c. Afloat in the branches of a huge tree that was sailing and swirling down the river, and in no immediate danger of destruction, but exhausted, and unabl< to do uiovc than keep the breath the} bad for awhile. If others had beer sared,, they had reached one ol th( bat.Y.s, or had heew picked up by the Ctir.ron's bouts. The quick Southerr dush was upon them before Adele hac? done more than open her eyes and close them Renin. Neither she nor he had been seriously hurt, hut they -were absolutely alone in the thick night and the rushing river. What else couid children, sitting side by side in the cradle made by the big branches, and trembling at all the dark, unknown tumult of the torrent, tiil suddenly, with a shock that might have wrecked them had not their clothes been caught on the branches, they were anchored on a mud-spit, and the stream was sweepin? by? The morning dawned redly over the Crept sea like river. Flat-boat and raft md steamer went along; but no one mw 'heir signal*, or seeing, no one heeded them. Another weary r.ight, famished and faint, but keeping each other's courage up; and at noon of the next day they were taken off. But in the two days and ni-rhts Maskelyn had learned that she loved him. And when, in turn, she learned that her love was in vain. It was only by force of arms that he hindered her from seeking the watery death from which he had rescued her. The poor little passionate tronical creature ! lie saw her, however, no more ior a monui iuicT uie time mai lie jeu uer at, her father's door in Now Orient)?, where he found the black-robed parents, who had themselves been saved, but who had thought their child lost, and received her as one raised from the grave, and would have given Maskelyn their all as h(r preserver. But Maskelyn did not present himself there again; and it was not till his return from atrip through the neighboring region that Adele's father was able to find him, and to beseech him to accompany him if he would save his child a tecond time from death. And he found her on the brink of madne-s. Compelled by their kindness and their grief, he couid do nothing but remain, and add his efforts to t heirs. It was a superb home; wealth and art and climate could hardly do more to make it perfect. Perhaps the sense of its ea3e and luxu. y were delicious to the tired and penniless young man. And then there were always"flowers, music, paintings.scrvants moving iike shadows, cordial warmth and blessing, and the lovely young creature whose trouble his presence was beginning to lighten. Ah, yes, you see I am excusing Maskelyn?irymc to make you excuse him. But it was all to be foreseen. Thiee against one? It was tjie wo*l?Ligainst one. For here at home vTTLs nn woman. with her burely com for tabic and there, on the other hand, were beauty, wealth, distinction, and all the promotion and succ ss that come in the train of such things. But it was none of these that weighed sufficiently with Maskelyn. It was the one thought that his own action, his own thoughtlessness, his imprudence, had stimulated tDe passion that was driving the pitiful young girl to a madhouse. He felt that the sacrilice of his own dreams of happiness wa-i a trifle in the iway of expiation. And for me? pray do not smile at the idea?he somehow subtilely felt that be and I were as one; that I could only desire and urge him to absolve himself from any wrongdoing in the affair; that it would be my wi^h?as it is my wish?that he should not suffer a life-long burden on his conscicnce, whether that conscience was morbidly sensitive or not, for the mere sake of our own present content, which never would be content, in fact, while he was restless under an accusing spirit and f was wretched in his want of ease. And so he married Adele. Perhaps it would have been better had he written me the story of it. and not have left me to my imaginings. But he thought the course kindest to me was to let me think him a villain, and be healed of my hurt the sooner. And then, too ?you must not think ill of me for saying it?I appeared to him so altogether lovely, and to be loved, that be could not but believe, cost him what pang it might, that I should speedily be h*ppy in the love of otfe I should hold to be a better man. And from that hour his career besran ?the carecr of no commercial traveler, but that of the son of a rich and powerful house, put forward for fre3h honors all the time, now governor, now senator, and when war came, unwilling to take arms aeainsteitter his native North or his adopted South, going with the others to the villa ontiie Mediterranean, where life was a long dream of idleness and ease. He was a good husband, I am glad to know. He never allowed himself to feel that Adele had done him an injury; he forced himseif always to look at the other side, and value the advantages he received through connection with her father She was a gentle little being, always beautiful, never altogether of perfectly strong mind or will acain, but living and breathing through him; and she lived and breathed through him for twenty-nve yeers. He could only b3 nroud of her. in a certain wav. at Southern springs, in congressional life, as they went through Europe; hrr exquisite erace, her dark, large-eyed loveliness, "the simplicity of lier always perfect ladyhood, if one may use the word, were things always to admire, and crowds followed her. He also admired her; he had a tender care lor her, a gentle attachment to her, and if he never loved her, she never knew he did not. She hardly remembered that he had ever had his poor pale passion in the North. She died at la3t, thinking of him as only her own, and thanking him for the bliss he had given her in his long faithfulness. But his poor pale passion had become an ideal thing to him, a sort of pole star round which his soul revolved so entirelv as to be au tomatic and unconscious in its motion. He did not actively and all the time remember it, but it helped to shape his cocrse. and it was always there. And at last, then, Maskelyn was his own master once more. But of me in his freedom it did not occur to him to think as an actual possibility in flesii and blood. He had never heard of me; he had ne^er dared to ask for me; he took it for granted th?t I was long since another man's wile. And wher, after some years more, in a manner unawares to himself, the memory began to work in his heart, he came to the old town again as a pilgrim visits a shrine, and without a dream of finding me. And in all these vears. after the first one of unbearable suffering, I had staid here in my home, doing the duty that came first to hand, both since it was duty and since it might prevent mv pain. And the pain had passed at length, had left only a soreness and sorrow, had become sublimated, as it were, into something I would not lose for all its pang. One by one, father and mother, brother and sister, had left me; but I still dwelt in the sweet old house, and sat of summer evenings on the porch among the honevsucktes. At first I had thought i could never breathe their breath again; but at last it had grown precious to me; it was my all of the love, of the life, I had hoped for. But the score and more of years had not been unhappy to me; m? daily routine had taken much thought; the poor children that I taught, and Belle and Alice and themt,served in somedegree to kesp me young; lor, as I said, I hated to grow old; and if any < ne was kind enoiieh to say they would hardly snow me for more than the elder sister of the young girls about me, my skin still so smooth, the color on my check so delicate, the pale gold of my hair still untouched by silver, it was apt to move my heart with a little pulse of pleasure, ' although I knew, in truth, and for all that, that fifty years must always count j for lifty years. Now and then I he r of Maskelyn in his public life?I bad i thougnt it wrong, once when I wen 3 a jarge city, to buy a photograph ; him, with "these ot some other pu t people; but I kept it locked aw [ ard alio v< d myself to look at it but c > every yeir. And when I (Md look i i it was only with one hurried glanc . the eye, one thriii and spring of [ heart, lest I sinned, lest I made him : 1 and I wrapped it the closer away ag) j But the day after I had seen that I i w.-is always a day of mourning. Am last I kuew that he had no longer or? fn orwl noeir Txrorvf Krr i.ttfl VOoP < ""^1 """ JV'? ?VJ,U KJJ, ] 3-car; and lie bud not come. Sometin ; in wondering and thinking, my he , would beat so loud that it seemed a cnly fasting aud prayer would still and I bluahei and burned to thin wasted a throb on one who had i< a.o ceased to care, who never carnc see; and one day I took his p'cture, t of the boyish beauty and that of the si wart man, and burned them both allies, and prayed that my love mij burn to ashes with them, and my he be cold and at peace in that my fifti year. But if I had not learned every line the later picture by heart, whethe; would or no, 1 might not have kno Maskelyn when lie came sauntering the gate that night, and gave a look the porch, and started ai if a bolt i struck him, and stopped and leaned folded arms on the gate, and stared mo as I sat there. He knew me. In the softly beginn: shadows of tbc tw:light my face seen hardly changed, and air and attiti were still the same. He knew me, 1 he dirt not believe in me; he thou; something had happened to his bra or else that he saw a vision in a tran He lifted his hat and rubbed bis fo head: l:e h-ul turned to go away; tl he wheeled about, opened the gate, a came slowly, up the path, with solemn gaze still fixed upon me. / how sweet the honeysuckle bre! came '.irred by liis advancing motii " Livia!" he said. " Maskelyn !" I replied. And I ] as he did?impossible to say whether was dead or alive, whether it was tl worid or the next, whether I really si iiim, or it wa9, as it had bven ma times before, that I d<earned I d And then I said to mjrself: "The wo has come. I shall hear presently tl RIaskelyn is dead." But he was sayi to himself?and yet I heard him: "C it be ? Is it so ? Herself ? In the ( home! My God! If ehe should yet free!" And then a glad cry, and we w< in each other's arms. And we were fi: years old. Too old for such joy; an< drew back all blushing and asham< only to be taken in those armsaga He broke off by-and-bye a branch of t honevsuckle, and twined it in my ha Iselld Uil'l Alioc otxy I murmured. " Who arc Belle and Alice3" said 1 And in the sudden jealous spasm tha had I realized anew my fifty years a their twenty. " I am so old," I said, " and they 5 so young!" " For me you have eternal youth," answered. " We are going tc live ba< ward all the years in which I have L you, since you arc so good, my angel, to love me still, to refuse to reproa me, to forgive me." And sometimes I ask if they to wh< fate seems kinder, and gives a smoc current of love in their early seasc have half the depth of delight in it tl they find who at a later day love w; the concentrated force tbat, spread c over all the intervening years, mif have been a shallow and stagnant do Did I love Maskelyn any better twenty ? Not any fraction so dear Did ho love me more ? I cannot i swcr for that. One could hardlv lc more than an abject worshiper love saint in her shrine, and so he seems love. And so I am to be married to-m< row. I sit hero in a daze, while Be and Alice are weaving garlands on t Dteps below. It does not seem to stri them as anything strange. "Wewc always sure you had a romance and ! hero, Miss Livia," tbcy say. " Oh, il like reading a new chapter. And y are going to come back here, after y have seen the great world, and nei let us lose you?" And 1 forgot, as 11 him coming up the walk while tl weave, that 1 can no more ride and ra ble without fatigue, for now I have arm on which to lean; and I knowtl I shall thrill once more to sunset a sunrise, water scene ana mountain vie for there will he eyes to double all t beauty and reflect it back on mil I forgot that any time has been siol from me when 1 look at Maskely face, that has only grown stronger n more rugged and noble in the full iii of his noon. I thank heaven, that letting me begin this life, however sh the life may be, so blessed, so blessii although at fifty years.?fixrper's I ZUT. ________________ Albanian Hospitality. Alhol Mayhew has an interesti article in Scribner called "In Albau With the Ghegs," from which we eu this extract: The hospitality of the house that gj us shelter was unbounded. Sra trees were heaped upon the fire in 1 center of the floor, and scarcely w we seated by the ruddy clow wh centered around a cirr.le nf smili faces, than there wes a sound without of the strangulation of a hen. Presen some men entered bearing a nev slaughtered sheep, still warm a dressed entire, with a huge wooden s running throu. h the steaming carc from head to tail. We smiled apprc ingly, and, for lack of language, bo'w our acknowledgments and ejacula "Mir! mir(good! good!) with gr heartiness; for in Albania the m ipikilaun, or shetp roasted whole, is 1 greatest mark of consideration s friendship a mountaineer can otter cuests. Who could describe the on; which followed unon the dismemb ment of the rnish? We took our fc after the primitive custom of the count sitting on the floor and using one ha lor a plate and our fingers lor knives a forks. We swallowed lumps of tej mutton-fat, and washed them do with draughts of a peculiar home-br which tasted like rancid mead. TL we had a course of hot lard and lion cakes, followed by an entree of shee kidneys. Next a big gourd full of r: was put into circulation, and once agi we returned to our mutton. But it v fearfully trying work, and after an h( or so of persistent muttonizing I tr; to ft-ign sleep as the only possible capo from apoplexy. Scarcely had closed my eyes, however, when our h pressed a warm sheep's-trotter in :o ] reluctant hand, with a reproachful g ture which said too plainly, reoe-ncn nos moutons! During all this fesvsti the women-folk sat apart in a corner the cabin, twirling yarn from their c taffs, and ever and anon casting s.nxit glances at tho rapidly disappear) meat. Late in the night, when 1 mish ipikitawi was almost exhaust and we had coiled ourselves up 1 satiated boa-constrictors underour blf kets, they were permitted to sup up our broken victuals; for not even in i mountains in Albania are the won permitted to join their lords in i pleasures of the table. For want of t other accommodation we slept thatnij where we had supped?upon the tlo with our toes toasting at the embers the fire, and our heads pillowed on c saddle-bags. But before I was waf into the land of Nod I saw one of i mountaineers still picking at a bla bone of mutton, and when it was p fectly clean he held it up to the light the tire, and, accc i l>! lie invaria I custom of the couiui j, began to expl; ! aloud to a group ot eager listeners : i prophetic pictures which every moi I taineer believes arc to be traced in transparent portions ot the bone. lard FARM, WARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD not I Farm and Garden Notes. i of Apples boiled with meal are good foi blie pigs. &y> Asparagus thrives best on a deep ?nce sandy Joam. r^nf Remember that your fowls need p gravel just as much as they need food sin and ^eep a suPP^y constantly by them. tjn' Spent tan bark has been plowed into ? Face compact clay soil with the best results rtat as it rendered the soil mellow and ir !X creased its warmth. ind Pastures that have been fed a few jCs, seasons will generally produce more art milk or make more fat than those s if which have been newly seeded down, it' Do not undertake to keep sheep on k 1 low, undrained lands. They will sureI5 3n? contract disease, and a sick she p is ]t0 about a^ mean a thing as we know of, J^t not excepting a sick chicken. Ashes are, for many soils, a standard fertilizer. Places where a tree or brushheap has been burned often show the efetj. fects of the manuring for many years. It is an old saying, " The land never , f forgets ashes." r I Experiments have proved that wooden wn posts put in tue ground in the same pobv sitionin which they grew, top upward wiil rntlpn sftvpral cpnrs finnnpr Kid than they would if placed topdownliis ward in the soil. at A French writer recommends a novel mode of enriching and promoting ing the growth especially of geraniums, led Namely: watering the plants with a 1(le solution of 150 grains of glue in about >ut two gallons of water. :.1't One great object in feeding animals ee should be to enrich the land, hence it p ' becomes of the grc.ii.est importance to v-" know what food can be produced that nd ipiure ^an(^ *n ^cast? an<* en' his l*ie manure heap mostA good thing to give a horse after he ttb has been driven is a quart of oatmeal 3n. stirred into a pail of water. It refreshes an*1 strengthens him, relieves his imfelt mediate thirst and prepares his stomach I for more solid food. It is like the Dlate [lis of soup before dinner, satisfying and apaw petizing together. ny a laciy wno nas raised a largenumoer id. of bens says that after vainly trying rst the recommended remedies for lice, she lat has hit upon the plan of giving them ng once or twice a week a large loaf made 'an of Graham flour, in which a handful of )ld sulphur has been mixed. The hens like be it, and are freed from lice and kept ?re healthy through the season. Marsh lands r.re remarkably prolific ;V in grass. To make such lands service:Q> able for eheep culture would be a vast 1.n' advantage and economy In. that part . e of England where the Romney-Marsh sheep are kcsi the marshes are ditchcd, 1 Mill cvCIl OIL;:1, to keep nut thoU^o water; and on Jf.Pie exposed lands these haiuy sh??p food in summer and winter. , Some of these pastures are so luxuriant ac< as to carry fourteen sheep to the acre. YVhat a sheep this would be for those of ue our farmers who think this animal is . well provided for on the lee side of a straw stack. With this even they f- might secure their mutton.?Rural New "" Yorker. lCj Why Bee? Work in the Dark. Every one knows what fresh honey is Dm ?a clear, yellow syrup, without any >th trace of solid suear in it. After strainjn, ing it gradually" assumes a erys'al aplat pearanee?it candies, as the saving is, ith and ultimately becomes a solid mass of >ut sugar. It has been suspected that this jht change has been due to photographic tol. action; the same agent which alters the at molecular arrangement of the iodine of ly. silver on the excited coliodian plate, and determines the formation of cam>ve phor and iodine crystals in a bots a thf, causes honey to assume a crysto lalline form. Mr. Scheiber inclosed honey in well-corked flasks, or- some of which he kept in perfect darkille nefs, v?hlie the others were exposed to he the light. The result has been that the ike portion exposed to the light ?ooncrystalire lizes,while that kept in the dark remains a unchanged. Hence, we sec why the bees S is are so careful to obscure the glass winou clows which are sometimes placed in ou their hives. The existence of the young ^er depends on liquidity of the saccharine <ee food presented to them, and if light 11 j 4.1.:- li u Ll?y were aaowi'u access i<j tui?, 111 an piuum ability it would prove fntal to the inan nates of the hive.? fl'extern Fanner. Weight of Stock. w The following rule for finding out the he weight of an animal by measuring may [ie' prove convecier t. See that the animal [en stands Suu&rc. Then take his ciroutnn'a ference behind the shoulder-blade. This nd is the girth. Then measure from the ,ht bone of the tail which plumbs the line 5 js with the hinder part uf the buttock, and ort direct the string aloDg the back to the ng fore-part of the ehoulder-blade. This ja'. will be the length. Then work at the figures thus: Suppose the girth of the bullock t,ix feet four inches, length five feet three inches, which, multiplied together, make thirty-three square supering ficial feet; and this,multiplied by twentya three, the number of pounds allowed tke for each superficial foot of cattle meas* . Dirty Mike's Kiss. A noted Irish agitator is thusdesc ed : He is named in newspaper r< p " M. G. Considine, Esq , but better km to hi? fellow-citizens as " Dirty Mil > Mr. Considine is a fine specimen of good oid crusted Irish \ at riot. He I pursued patriotism ever since the c T\.?~.'rtl a*\A 5f roHr.ii U1 JL/iUliCi \J v;uuucu, aiiu iu 4vuww , greatly to his honor that he is nov poor as when lie started as a pati This Milesian Diogenes is in many spects the most remarkable man in county Clare, after, if not before, ' O'Gorman Mahon himself. He is : r the dirtiest." But the grime on Mr. C } sidine has a romautic origin. It is ! fakir's robe of filth. When he was only a budding pat i the great liberator once kissed h 1 Mr. Considine determined < that i cheek sanctified by the embrac< , O'Conneil should rever again be ] Janed by water, that the kiss she never be washed od*. Without sp< ! iating as to the degree of cleanlii previously f/ivored by Mr. Consid it must be conceded that it is very d . cult to wash day by day, or weet weeK, as me ease may ue, iuuuu a v tain spot 011 tho cheek, which, moreo' woula soon get oat of harmony with remainder of the countenance. II easier, " wiser, better far," to bring whole face into harmony with sacred sunny side of it. This has been done; and the resull a picture worthy of Murillo or Zubar : irom the grimy but handsome well face gleam a pair of bright, marveloi bright, blue eyes, and the voice wL bid3 welcome to the stranger is curioi sweet and sonorous. Mr. Considim quite tho best speaker here, and summons will always bring an audie toEnnis. One enthusiast said to 1 " Whin lie dies may the heaven be bed, and his statue should be bes O'Connell's inEnnis." Now,thismc patriot whom every one must perfc respect for his perfe.t honesty and t interestedness, keeps a wretched li shop in a trumpery cabin. His stock-in-trade consists of a ] newspapers, his pantry holds but tatoes, ana his wardrobe would set 1 BoucicaulL at defiance. Yet he i great power in Enni?, and the candid for that borough who neglected t would fare badly. I am not insinuat that any charge of venality can atti to Mm. Quite tho contrary. He admitted to be a perfectly disinteres citizen by those most opposed to i socially and politically. He has k the sacred fire of agitation burn since the days of O'Ccnnell. A Tale of Lore ana sncrmce. "Bat papa?" " Notnnother word. T'm a wild when my back's up, and don't you for it." The speaker was a hard-visaged m dressed with au elegance that accorded with his evident want of c ture. She who had addressed him "papa" was a fair-haired girl of eight summers. Reared on the knee of luxu she had never known what it was have her slightest wish thwarted. I father, a plumber, w as from the nat of his business, a man of iron will, I he was not devoid of pity or enerosi as many a debtor whose house and he had taken in part payment for tixi the water pipes, letting the balance the account run along lor two mont could testify. He had surrounded Cecil, his o: child, with all that wealth could p< chas", looking forward to the time wt she won Id mnrrv the eldest son 0 Niagara Falls hack man, or some per; of fortune commensurare with her o\ But she had allowed her heart to be snared by the wiles of Cupid, and t morning had asked her Bire's consent her marriage with a poor but not pre young man whose agricultural ope tions on the board of trade had i been attended with success. It was t request that produced the answer gv nbove. Again Cecil pleaded-with her par not to crush the love that blossomed her heart. The old man's mind w b.vk to the happy days when he 1 told her mother of his love, and h they commenced life with nothing I strong arms and willing henrts. Plac his tan-like hand on Cecil's shoulc the old main locked at her tenderly i said: " Look ye, my lass. You say 3 lore this man and cannot live with" him. Mebbe not. I have promised } a sealskin sack this winter. Jjtt test your love. If you become t man's bride I shall not buy the sai In my hnnd is a check for $300. In wheat pit over on the board of tradi your lover. Which do you choose? Wi thout raising her head she react out convulsively for the check.?Chic Tribune. Tho JRagpickers of Paris. There are in Paris, says an Engl writer, upward of thirty thousand r pickers, who form a community ap? congregating together in " cites," i! are hidden away in remote subur rarely txplored either by the dwell in, or visitors to, tiie capital of pleasu Through these cites, which are i famiiiar eround to most persons, I p pose conducting my readers; but bef doing so it will be well perhaps to cc mence with a few statistics. Thirty thousand men and won trudge ..ightly through the city strei seeking in tl: e rubbish and refuse, in sweepings of the boudoir and kitchen, the saloon and the scullery, hospitfil and the restaurant, daily bri for themselves and their families. T heterogeneous mass, which thetraterc of the hod and crook collect, finds way eventually to the sorting rooms which there arc two hundred in Par where the street sweepings are sif and sorted previous to reappearing the world under new forms. About 1,000 men and 10,000 won earn their living in these Ateliers, we have a totfti of over 60,000 persi employed one way or another in I chiffonier trade. The ragpickers divided into three categories; there i some?the bourgeoisie, so to say?vi work on their own account, get 1 highest market price for their wai and contrive, one day with another, earn from forty to fifty sous per die These are looked up to by their c leagues a i indepen ent gentlemen r ladies, at the mercy of no hard ta A A ..1 1 ^ uii;su;r. a stcunu ciisa, iuwcl uuwii the social ladder, are those who disp of their findings at so much per pou: the goorl with the bad; these find i hard matter to make the proverl ends moet. And there is yet ano 1 category of chiffoniers, such as are p a franc or less per day by the wholes chiffon merchant, who is ?enerallj thriving person, while his employees the barefooted outcasts of society. Domestic Joys. 4 Topnoody, you Topnoody," cal Mrs. T. early in the morning, "get and build a tire in the kitchen stove i put the tea-kettle on, and grind coffee, and get a bucket of coal an pail of water, and cut that kindl wood, and start a fire in the parlor, s take out the ashes, and sweep the sn off around the house, and call the cl dren, and wait on the milkman, and and get a beefsteak, and Iced chickens, and set if the cow's in stable, and then come back here i stir out my fire, and wake me up bo' can get breakfast. Do you hear? I believe you men would like to seeev one of us poor women work our ting ends off, and freeze to death in the b gain!" Then she fixed herself for ali snooze, and Topnoody arose to go ab the pleasant duties of the day and tin his stars he was not a miserable ba e.\ov. ?Steubcnvillc Herald. It is said that th'j greatest of Gee Sand's works were written with bar an erasure. unng less man sevon ana more man nve ivc feet in ?irth?makes 759 pounds. When iall the animal measures less than nine and the more than seven feet in girth, thirtj'-one ore is the number of pounds to be estimated ich for each superficial foot. And suppose ing a small animal to measure two feet in ; al girth and two feet in length, these multiy tiplied together make four feet, which, zly multiplied by eleven?the number of ind pounds allowed for each square foot pit when cattle measure less than three feet a?s in girth?makes lorty-four pounds. )v- Again, suppose a calf or sheep, red etc., to measure four feet six ted inches in girth and three leet eat nine inches in length, that multiplied ish together makes sixteen square feet, and i,he this multiplied by sixteen?the number Lnd of pounds allowed for cattle measuring his less than five and more than three feet ics in girth?makes 256 pouuds. The dier mensions of cattle, sheep, calves and >od hogs, taken this way, will give the iy, weight of the four quarters of the ani,iid mal, sinking the otfal. A deduction md must be made for animals halt fat of one oid pound in twenty from those that are fat; wn and for a cow that has had calves one ew pound must be allowed in addition to # !*? f.Av vi/\f Koivtor fof oit?i?w len VUU 1UL IIVU UWli? 1UU UJJV/li UtUJ ey. twenty. pig MuIchiiiK Uoitea. aki Peter Henderson says, in the Oardeniiin er'.v Monthly, that he has discovered that ras mulchin? roses in pots to force flowers >ur for the holidays, in January last, with ied common moss mixed with a 203d pores tion of bone dust, say one part bone I dust to thirty of moss, had a wonderful ost elTcct in bringing forth early roses. In my two weeks after the mulch was first apes plied a change was clearly to be seen, s a and by the end of May the plants had ing attained from four to six feet in height, of and though they had bloomed profusely lis- during a period of nearly six months, jus were in the most perfect lieal'h and ing vigor. All other piants on which the the mulch had been tried showed marked ed, benefits. ike Household Hint*. m" Cracks in stoves may be effectually >on stopped by a paste made of ashes and the 8ait mixed with water. To remove grease from white goods, nv wa!!h 805lP or alkaline lye3. Colore! buttons, wash with lukewarm , soap lyes. Colored woolens the same, of or limmonia- Silks, absorb with French Jhalk or fuller's earth, and dissolve ted KWay benzine or ether. Liie To select nutmegs, pick thpm wilh (je a pin. If they are good, the o;l willinl(?r. stnntly spread around the puncture. :of When you drive a nail into a wall, ble clothes press or cJoset, to hang things r.in on, drive it through a spool up to the the head. Lin- ? the Men marry to make an end; women to make a beginning. She Had Business with Congress, rib- "Where's Congress? I'm looking for ortg Congress," said a tall, one-eyed woman, )wn peering through one of the doors of the fe<? tlouse of Representatives, the other the morning. "Is that fellow with a bald ]ja? head CongressP" lays " What do you want with Congress, lhds anyhow ?" demanded a deputy doorkeep7 a3 er, gruflly. "Hold on; you can't go jot. in there!'' re.? " 1 came from Bucks county,j Pa., to the see Congress, and if you've got it on X*tie draught an> where around here, I want also some. What's the reason I can't go in !on. there P" "'Cause you can't. Nobody allowed here but members." riot "That red-headed man with a squint jm> amemberP'' the "No; he's one of the members'secre, 0f tari.es. He has a right on the floor." 3f0_ "Is that lops-ided chap with a wig mid one of the secretaries P" jcu- "No; he's a lricndof a member. Had less a pass*" ine, " What's that bare legged boy falling iffi- over the back of a chair ? Has he got . i? anv friends ?" ;er_ " He's one of the pages." per, "Who's that red-nosed artist with a the 3ore ear F Did he have a pass P" ; j3 "That's a messenger. He don't need the pass." the " What's that fellow with his legs on a desk P Is he one of the bosses ?" t j8 " He is one oi the clerks." an, "Any of them felloes pay any cut taxes P" lsls " I think not. Don't know." said the [ich doorkeeper, indifferently. ls]y "Now, young feller, you want to hunt B i3 for room to stand in while 1 bust hia through this door. Don't fool wit'.i me, n'ce or your friends will thin 1c you've been ne: doing business with a sieam grindstone, his I pay taxes on three acres and eight pigs lide up in Bucks county, and I'm going ,del through this 'ere Congress like a congee tribution box through a congregation, lis. You just crawl out of sight, if you don't ttle want your spine to change places with the next township. Where's the Confew Kress from Bucks county P Show me the po- Bucks county Congress, and if he don't yir# get a bill through this town to 9 a send that hare-lipped old sky-rocket, [ate who wants to lorclose a mortgage um on my place, to the penitentiary, iue he'll wish he'd been born a tree and cut ach down and burned up when he was in^ a'Square loot of Con^ss left by th<^ time I reach it, it'll wish it was covered with hair that comes out without hurting." They induced her to leave by telling cat her that the " Congress from Books get county " held its sessions in the patent <?. and she departed, threatening to an, get the bilfofaydftB hu mui ill- through before she left town, or make ul- the Bucks county member think a "cider as barrel had busted under him just as a sen shot-tower fell on top of him."? Washry, inglor,i Post. i to ler A Hermit's Sad Story. ure in a wretched little hut on Ocean Jut Beach, near the Golden Gate, was t7? found the badly decomposed remains .lot of a man known ag "The Hermit." He in? had lived alone for five years, and his of story, romantic enough lor a novel, has just been learned. His name was George Jacob Hoeffel. Bom in Gernly many, of wealthy parents, he was edunr cated at Heidelberg, and about icu uie time 01 me rituico-irrussiaii ' a war came to America. He had son relatives in New Orleans and vn- there married a society belle. His pn" health was poor, and on the advice of tiat physicians he came to this coast, with ; t(> his wife and child. He grew worse, and >ud decided to visit the Sandwich islands, ra* hut his wife would not consent to not accompany him. Finally be left her and his the child with friends and departed, pen she soon pot into fast society. Meanwhile the husband recovered his health pnt and returned, eager to learn why he got i iQ no letters from his wife, but sure of her ent safety, as he had ieft ample means at iad his banker's for her support. When coja mat sue uau gone n-asi, iie siantu put out to iind lier, but after two years' search, in which he spent much money le:^j for aetectives, he returned here broken ^id jn heart. He had severe illness, and f?u when he recovered his mind was shatDUt tered. He refused to associate with ?ou fj-iends, built a hut on the seashore, and H9 gained a living by fishing and gathering driltwood. He would not write to his ck. parents in Germany, though many letthe tcr3 from them were found in his room. ?13 It is related that about a year ago, while he was wandering along the beach, a ied carriage drove by, in which he re.ogay? nized his lost wile. She knew him also, and gave orders to the driver to wLip the horses and drive on- Hoeffel rushed after the carriage, shrieked: My wife! j8h my wife!" and iell senseless on the sand. ttg_ The woman, it is said, then left the oity irt, f?r good.. Hoeffel died alone, and his bat cabin showed the miserable, squalid life bg, be had led.?San Francisco hronicle. !crs ? ire. An Important Corporal, on- It Is related that during the American ro- Revolution the corporal of a little comore pany was giving orders to those under ?m- him relative to a piece of timber, which they were endeavoring to raise up to icn the top of some military works they 2ts, were repairing. the The timber went up with difficulty, the and on this account the voice of the litthe tie great man was often heard, in regu2ad jar vociferations of "Heave away! There ins she goes! Heave nor* iity An officer, not in military costume, its wa3 passing, and asked the non-com(of missioned officer why he did not take is), hold and render a little aid. ted The latter, astonished, turning round in with all the pomp of an (mperor, said: " Sir, I am a corporal!" len 41 You are, are you?" replied the offiso cer; "I was not aware of that." and 3119 taking cff his hat and bcwing. the office cer said, " I ask your pardon, Mr. Corare poral," and then dismounted and lifted *re till the perspiration stood in drops on rho his forehead. ,he When the work was finished, turning es? to the commander, he said: " Mr. Corto poral, wli'n you have another such job ni and have not men enough, send for your :ol- commander-in-chief, and I will come ind and help you a second time." sk- The corporal was thunderstruck! It on was none other than Washington who oss tiiu3 addressed him. nd, t a Words of Wisdom. >ial Man is sometimes the slave of ten her thousand imaginary necessities. Many men wearing rapiers are afraid ' ? of goose-quills. ,ire The passion of acquiring riches in order to support a vain expense corrupts the purest souls. Justice is like a ghss. which cannot jC(j be bent but is easily broken. up A man's fortune should be the rule fox his sparing not spending. Extravagance tjie mav be supported, not justified, byafflud a ence. iug It is not only arrogant, but it is proflimd eate, for a man to disregard the world's ow I opinion of himself. Jil-1 Do what good thou canst unknown; go and be not vain of what ought rather to the be felt than seen. ^ Opinion is the main thing which does *n<: good or harm in the world. It is our false opinions of things which ruin us (,ry True politeness is perfect ease and er3> freedom. It simply consists of treating ,.ir. others just as you love to be treated nal yourself. (>ut Motive - are better than actions. M n | ink drift into crime. Of evil th'y do more ch- than they contempiatc, mid of good they i contemplate mom than ihuy do. It is a r-rrr known to ail great j >rge men, that by conferring an obligation I dly they d.j not always procuic a friend, but; are certain of creating muuy enemies. ' TIMELY TOPICS. A Boston capitalist has engaged a company of raisers of forest seedlings in Illinois to break and plow a large area in Kansas and plant no less than 2,720 trees to the acre, and cultivate these until they shade the ground. At the end of that time?say ten years?the plantations will be delivered over to thx? owner. No trees less than six feet high are to be counted. The famine in Russia, it is predicted, will assume proportions altogether beyond previous estimates, and no steps are taken to meet it. The Russian peasant cannot afford at the best of times to eat wheat, and thi3 grain has been sold long ahead to the Jews and other middlemen. What 13 needed is an immediate importation of cheaper grain, if such can be obtained. The Finnish government has hit upon apian for riddinqtlie grand duchies of wolves and afford the soldieri practice in shooting. Enormous numbers of wolves having appeared in the forests of late years, it has been decided this winter to dispatch against them a battalion of rifles. The men will be allowed unlimited ammunition, and wiil be told off in squads to ;ittacfc the ei cmv, and at the end of the contest money prizes wiil be given to those who have killed the greatest number of wolves with the fewest shots. The edict of Joseph Emanuel, king of Portugal, published in 1769. is not without it? interest at this time. By this instrument widows of more than fifty ,\ ears of age wfire forbidden to marry, ' because, the preamble recited, " experience has shown that women of that age commonly marry young men of no property, who dissipate the fortunes such marriages put them in possesaion of, to the prejudice of children and other relations." Spinsters were not apparently considered so liable to be beguiled. Dr. Schweinfurth, the Soudan traveler, has published at Vienna a letter just received from Cairo, which stigmatizes in strong terms the recent increase in the Egyptian slave trade. The re* sum^tion'of the traffic dates from the deposition of the ex-khedive and the retirement-?f Sir Samuel Baker; but it Jom increased. more especially since nrffifffH 1nff in spite of the and jjfi^agsilfatea, there is every week a whnl?Sfe:4mp$rtation of little negro children into^^adah,and there is no prospect lucrative W WUU^ W fc^? r ht.i mo &MV "In the present condition of applied sck-nce tiufc4Aae*ta^el^w^ieleefaeSti(?Jfcgtt telegraph lines will be undergTOTn<?7 where they will least impair the beauty of streets and be protected from adverse a'mospheric influences. And it is not improbable that after a few years' experience of the cost, not to say the danger, of elevated railroads in cities, noiseless, smokeless, well-lighted, and wholesome tunnel routes of city rapid transit will be adopted. The facilities for both changes are even now within reach. Senator Booth, of California, who wants to succeed himself in the United States Senate, has a formidable opponent in General John Bidwell, f x-governor oi that State. General Bidwell is worth over 31,000,000, mo3t of his property being in lands. His ranch at Chico, in Northern California, where President Hayes and his party were entertained during their recent trip, is one of the gre itost of the many things oi tuat ataie. ud iuis piace mere are more than one hundred miles of fences and it is possible to ride for hours in any direction without leaving General Bidwell's property. Petroleum fountains and asphalt mines, very rich, have been discovered in Venezuela, South America. The petroleum issues in streams from a sand bank full of holes. One of the fountains spurts petroleun^ and water at the rate of 240 gallons per hour. The petroleum is found to equal in value that imported from the United States. Excellent an tbracite coal is also lound in ttie same' regions. The discoveries are near the city of Maracaibo in the State of Zulia. The presence of the petroleum was known sixty years ago, but there was no method of refining it at that time. It now promises to become a valuable article of commerce. The Methodist Record derives very little comfort from the fact that, notwithstanding the wide-spread prevalence of both diphtheria and scarlet fever, the types of the disease are not unusually severe at present. It contends that this is by no means a subject for congratulation at this season, in view of the reasonable possibility of the increase of both diseases during the spring, and the probable increase of their malignancy. Very few physicians have lost fifty per cent, of their cases of diphtheria thus far. Even twenty per cent, would be a very high figure. Still, the prospect of the continuance of this comparatively low ratio of mortality is far from promising. At least, the wise practietioner must be on his guard, and do everything he can, not only to treat promp.ly and efficiently ail oases in hand, but prevent tbeir increase. Whatever can be done by the physician to narrow the chances of the spread of the contagion lessens the chances of mortality even in mild epidemics. Recently complaints have been made to the French authorities that oleomargarine butter ihas been substituted for the genuine article in the asdums of Paris. The Paris Academy of Medicine has made a vigorous investigation, under an order from the government. The ronnrf nf tlm pninmittiip iq fl train t.'lfl use of margarine '"n the asylums, and is also adverse to its general use as a substitute for butter. The margarine as originally pi-pared is no longer on nhi.iof r\ f r>nmm(>rr?P hnintr fnn dear. That which is actualiy in use is an industrial product open to various frauds. Vegetable oils are especially intoduced, and if it is easy to decide by chemiral analysis whether a given product consists of butter or margarine, it is very difficult to affirm whether this margarine is pure or mixed with oil?, and vegetable oils j.re known to be more difficult of digestion than animai fats. It was found to be a miserable conglomerate of peanut oil diluted milk and beef. No Fnucral There. lie had a mournful look about him, and he advanced with measured steps to the table. " I'm a useful member of society," said he in a sepulchral voice. "Indeed, no one would suspect it. A face like yours?" " Is a blessing to its owner. I can manufacture more melancholy in ten minutes than any other man can in a week.^ That's my business. I go about touching up the tender feelings of people and reducing them to palpable tears?" "A reguiar brine drawer?" "To be short, yes. One look at me will make the strongest eye weep. I'm very useful at funerals." " This is no funeral, but it will be, find thera will be joy instead of .rourning if yo:j don't take your melancholy mug outoi heie in a hurry," and just as he \V!W . ing to ask for n qunrter a paste potwsj jt whizzing by Ins head aud he retreated, leaving a streak of Wue behind him that will last a week.?Hew Haven Register. " Well, Johnnie, did you catch any fish to-day?" "No," replied the lad. " but I drowned a good many worms." A Cat and Bat Tarn. From the very nature of things cats 1 rarely make pets of animals of the rat 1 description, but neverthele.-s a genuine case exists in Cleveland, Ohio, according to an exchange, which says: In the family of a resident of Irving street for several months past an animal of the Thomas species fans been a member of the household. His catship, it may be said, is uncommonly large and of the Maltese description. About two weeks , "TIJ/.U1) aiioniHA/t/l thi* 'vimofna nf I/iUti OUl uuc lulling VI the house bv an unusual proceeding on the rear porch. He was ] making a great ado about some- ] thing. Looking out, they saw " Dick" racing up and down with a rat in its I mouth, row and then allowing its cap- 1 tive liberty to run a few steps, when ! the teeth of " Dick " would once more 1 close upon the fugitive with a vice-like j grip. Every evening about the same ] hour the commotion on the porch was , repeated with nightly capture, till one J evening last week a great fuss was heard in the yard outside. The voice of j "Dick" was heard in unpleasantuni- ] son wnn auotner or cue lenne genus. Evidently no friendly interview was taking place. On going out, the bead of the family discovered " Dick " backed up in one corner of tbe fence, endeavoring to ward, off the attack of a neighbor's eat, which eeemed intent on seizing something which was sheltered behind its antagonist. All the time both animals were yelling as only cats can yell. The strange cat wa3 driven off. and on looking in a corner behind "Dick," a rat, evidently much frightened, was discovered, and it seemed as the ugh its protector was merely shielding it from seltish motives. "Dick" was much pleased to have his captive inspected, and strutted about in. high glee. The gentleman, seeing the cat leading off too far from the rat, supposed the latter would escape, and belore the little fellow J could recover from his fright, pulled ofl his slipper and dealt the animal a blow t which stunned it. " Dick " sc med much displeased, and never offered . to molest the fallen foe. Ae 1 soon as the rat began to show signs of returning life "Dick" ? was overjoyed. He gently pawed the ' rat, turning it over to assist in resuscitating it, and when at last the effects of i the blow had worn off, " DickTI jumped c - 1 ?A. 3 A.~ m|am K.*a UUUUt aim lUCU tu vriuu uio companion. The rat took it into it? a head to leave the premises, and so i climbed the nigh board fence and dropped down into the next yard. . 'Dick "did not follow over the fence, j. hut went some distance down the lot evening performances were ex- t plained. "Dick's" playmate comes regularly each evening^ and the two ? have been watched in tlMrniteetiaga. t The cat is always glad to see his friendT 1 while the rat seems to reciprocate the feeling, but is not so demonstrative. s t Winter Boles. Never begi a a journey until the break- ^ fast has heen'eaten. r Never take warm drinks and then 9 immediately go out in the cold air. i Keep tne back?especially between the shoulder blades?well covered; also the l chest well protected. * In sleeping in a cold room establish i the habit of breathing through the nose, r and never with the mouth open. Never go to bed with cold or damp f feet; always toast them by a lire ten or a fifteen minutes before going to bed. N ever omit regular bathing, for unless a the skin is in an active condition the cold will close the pores and lavor con- . gestion or other diseases. . After exercise of any kind never ride * in an open carriage nor near the window 1 of a < ar for a moment. It is dangerous 11 to health, and even to life. When hoarse speak as little as posji- d ble until it is recovered irom, else the c voice may be permanently lost, or dilh- t culties of the throat be produced. r Merely warm the back by a fire, and never continue keeping the back ex- \ posed to he it after it has become com- \ fortably warm. To do otherwise is de- [ biliating. } W hen goine from a warm atmosphere j into a colder one, keep the mouth closed, so that the air may bo warmed hy its passage through the nose, pre it reaches 1 the lungs. : Never stand still in cold weather, j especially after having taken a slight I decree of exercise; and always avoid standing upon ice or 9now, or where the person is exposed to a cold wind.? 1 Albany (N. Y.) Argus. ' ( ( Circnmvented. < A Qnincy drugeist was sitting beside the base-burner in his store staring 1 sleepily at the rows of bottles o;i the L shelves, and wondering why people ' don't take more medicine, when the ' door softly opened and an eigbt-year-o!d I urchin dod?ed in. Walking up to the compounder of prescripti ns, he said: i " Mister, ain t there some kind of 1 stuff that you kin rub on that'll make c a fellow's skin as tough as an ele- p pbant'sP'' a The druggist looked the boy over, and replied: t "Yes, the oil of tannin will harden the c skin, if that's what you mean." k "That's the trick I'm playin' fur a exactly. Gimme ten cents worth." " While putting it up the druggist / asked: "What do you want to harden your hands for? Going to the country to 1 husk corn?" j? "Husk nothin', an' my han's is as ' tuft as rawhide now. I'm just a work- v in' up a little scheme to circumvent the 0 old woman's slipper. I tried a layer o' 8 sole leather, but she tumbled to my lit- 'J tie game at the first interview, an' when ^ I fell back on a folded newspaper she heard it crackin' atore she got me over C her knee, but if this here stuff does its s duty, I think I've got the bulge on her, s right from the word go. How long does c it take such ile as this to put on a pad 6 ttiicK enougu 10 kdock iiie lire uui ui o an average spankin1?" When the desired information was g given him, he trotted off down the j street singing: "If at first you don't } succeed, try, try again!"?Argo. ? i. t FIofttiDg tirain Mills. 1 a. umcopuuiauL, uccvuuiu^ < Ui|i . down the Danube in Austria, says: The floating grain mills on the Danube ( are perhaps its most curious feature, f Fancy two canal boats moored parallel * to each other, in mid-river, about lii'teen or twenty :eet apart, and supporting beiween them the crank of a gigantic * mill wheel, turned by the current of the stream. Fancy, moreover, the sides of , one of these boats carried up one story * higher than those of the other, thin F roofed over, a la Noah's Ark. ? with doors and windows as needed? 11 and ycu have a fair idea of these Danube ? grain mills, some four or live thousand of which, in groups of ten or a dozen s together, arc scat.ered along this watery highway, all the way down from C Vienna to Belgrade. Eichmill is in- p scribed with its owner's name, and I t found time in passing to copy one or t tiro such as "Julias Istvnny ces Lan- c dos" and "Jonsisviteh MaUopoponi." s as being curious samples of Magyar a peasant nomenclature. As the steamer I goes shooting by these mills, so close & tliat th" alow "clack, clack," of the a miil wheel j.s distinctly audible, it i* c amusing to note the inmates, looking for f all the ^oild like Hampty Dumpty in r the play, rushing to their doors or win- a dows to wave a salute, and have a look i at the passengers. s The Winter Snow. Snow to tho grasses, snow to the trees, 9now like star showers thrown on tho breeze. Snow like white blossoms flnng from the skies, Now kissing our cheek as onward it fliee, Now upward borne on the wild tempest's wing, Now melting in the air like loam on a river, Now swelling the tide of some crystal spring, rbat flows to the ocean that flcweth lorever, Now wreathing its white and beautiful locks Ground the bare brows ol tho surge-beaten rocks. Mow resting awhile on a mountainous crest, Sow dissolving in dew on the* ooeau's calm breafit, . ' -*'/. Sow sailing aloft on a wild eagle's back, S'ow blinding the course of the mariner's tracks r;\ ? Sow cleaving the skirts of a vaporous oload Vg now veiling the eurth in a beautiful shroud; y-^' l Sow melting in dew on a lair lady's lip, \ ^ Sow bippiqfc where a lover might tremble to I Sow clasping itshands around her bright hair, j Vow wetting a carl on her forehead so fair. ^ )h, snow, snow, sparkling snow, f lerald of misexy, hunger anil woe, rull many a wretch, mantled in rags, ' day pillow his head on the piilowleea flags; .' i.nd the shivering beggar may halt in tho street \'d make thy mantle his cold winding sheet{ > lave mercy, oh, bright and sparkling know, lave mercy on those who have nowhere to go )h, fly, fly away oa thy white silver wing, ind die on the bosom of bcantifnl spring. ?John Scott. ITEMS OF INTEREST. A notorious eavesdropper?Rain. "Chest" protectors?Good padlocks Belgium had no gold coin until the rear 1847. , > This year's flax crop of California is hree times that of 1879. A yreat was;?The dog's caudal ap)endage.?Waterloo Observer. Jones calls his wife "Old Pic" be- r ause she is so crusty.?Steuaenville ?? lera1d. During the yea? 1880 4,946 miles of tew railroad have been built in this :ountry. The man who is always boasting ol ipeakmg his mind, usually has the hast , . ^ nind to speak. ^ Because a house is let out does not ffi nake it aa y larger. Very often, though, be tenant is taken in. A facetious ourglar, who had broken nto an editor's house, said the only 9 faing he struck was a match.?Fat Cton? 9 BE*. 2 ? y/ynmr v lino a cj| fWflr"loma3 Jefferson, and is going | tOL^^^r^it for the benefit of the York: - ; p Of 20,000,000 people transported b / steam vessels in the United States in ;he past-gear, but 185 lost their lives? E esiTthan bflSrto eacS~milIfBHr"?" |j Hint to a musician?Thesurest and^-"""^ afestw&yto strike A flat is to creed lp behind him when he isn't looking, " ind after you strike him take a run. It is said to be a singular fact that, vith the exception ol Turkey, every cigiiing royal family in Europe has ome of the blood of Mary ^Stuart in ib veins. An old lady who had been readingtha . tealth officers' reports thought that' Total" must be an awfully malignant lisease, since as many die of it as all tbo est put to2ether. A bright little girl, who had" snccessullv spelled the word "that," was .sked what would remain after the "t" iad been taken away. " The dirty cups { .nd saucers," was the reply. A novel pump, discharging fifty ga! ons a minute, worked by Hand, Lias been nvented by a convict on Blackwed's sland Now we know where all the lovels come ivom.?Lowdl Citizen. * Wheat has fallen fifteen cents a buabel luring the past week, but the interest n mortgages has remained the same. Ib akes a pretty hard season to depress a Qortgage on a larm.?Peck's Sun. Tavm/ih Dm aViawam DcAct/lanf r\f < ho fttLuro uuuuaiiau, a. u.mucuu ut vuu Jnited States, made an election bet in 819 and lo3t it, and the deed by which le conveyed the land he forfeited is, in its own handwriting, on tile at Warren, >* : | ?&.' A father of three sons and five daugh;ers was asked what family he had. The answer was: "I have three sons and*? ncy have each five sisters." " Mercy!" eplied iho interrogator; "sich a ' jH amily!" AH Mr. Parnell, head of the Irish land eague, is very abstemious, drinking ! ittle but water or tea. In the intervals >1 agitation he is a great rider, a mod;rately keen sportsmnn and something )f a fanner. ^^9 A thousand persons, mostly women, ire employed in engravine and orinting :overnment money and banknotes at tVashin^ion. Tbey are so strictly vatched during work hours that they ook upon themselves then as prisoners. The lions in Algeria arc fnst diminshingin numbers, and will soon,doubtess, become ex tine;. To meet tue inreasing demand for fi'~" ?rd zoological .ardens, lion-breeding i.-3;ab:ishmfnts ire coming into vogue in that country. A meditative man was roaming Lirough an anatomical museum, and ame across the skeleton of a don;ey? " Ah!" he said in reverential awe, s he adjusted his green spectacles, ' we are indeed fearfully and wonderally made." It all depends on how you look at' hese ancestors. One little aristocratic irl was yesterday boasting that her urefathers came over ith the pilgrims, rlien another wee maiden, whose wid wed mother had recently married, aid: "Shaw, go 'Jock with your old uda, I've got a bran new father."? Oil ity Derrick. Accordins to the imperial budget the rerman army ? n a peace footing, as upplementPd by the accession of trength recently voted, now consists if 18,128 officers, 427,274 men, and 81,29 horses, the addition including 901 ifficers. 25,615 men and 1,736 horses. Chiel Justice Waite .ives in a handomc bricK and brown-stone house on Ihode Island avenue, Washington. It s pleasantly adapted lor entertaining j _ n _ c l LUU 15 1U11 U1 pil'lUi'CS, uuu&a auu uiuunents. Tlie chief justice docs all his - . vork in a charming library on the secrad floor. "My wife lost her pocketbcok with ifteen dollars in it to-iiay," said a sadooking man. "When; troing down own or coming home? " asked somrlody. * "When? Didn't I tellyou she ia<l some money in it?" demanded the ad-looking man, and everybody know vhen she lost it.?Boston Transcript. A farmer's wife in Bioomington, 111., ras watering stock recently when a ict cow turned its head quiekiy and :nocked her into a weil, where she renamed lor three hours. She kept her lead above water by clinging to the ricks, but died from the chill soon after he was taken out. It is related of the late Lieutenant Jommander H. C. Nields, of Puiladelihia, that, while employed on the mainopsail yard of a sai.ing vessel during a errible storm at night, he was pitched iverboard by a terrible lurch ot the hip. He immediately disappeared mong the v.aves that ran mountain ligli It flashed upon him Uat the truirgle was hopeless, and so that his .<^oi;y mi'.'ht rot be prolonged he lasted boiii hands over iiis Lead and u'rmitted iii'iiseil to sink. At that mooent the ship bore down upon him, .nd. as it by a miracle, his h i'ids came n coutaet w ith a rope, his life being aved.