University of South Carolina Libraries
rr^ !fc HAND IX HAND. Hie boats go sailing Over a silver soa: rhe wind has hushed its wailing Through brush and tree. Hand in hand, let us fare together, Through the sunny and windy weather. IQ9 Diras nave uusuea tueir eaurua, Stars, through the twilight soft, Will soon bo glimmering o'er us? The moon's aloft. Hand in hand, let us hold together, Through tho dark and the starlit weather. With dewy drops of healing, The thirsty grass is pearled; A Sabbath calm is stealing About the world. Hand in hand, let us fare together, Through working days, and Sabbath weather The little flowers are sleeping; Tha enr* ic onf. r\f cio*V?f", God bave us in His keeping All through the night! To-morrow let us faro together, Still onward through the changing weather. ?The Quiver. GIRLS OF GRIT. It had been a dull day at the store, fcnd Netta Carstairs was tired of standing behind the connter with nothing to do. Mr. Bobbinet was always a degree crosser than usual on dull days. He 6C0lded the little "cashes'' for whispering, criticised Miss Drggett for the way in which she piled her collar-boxes on the counter, and reproved Miss White for packing her parcels of lace under the shelves. "It is very easy," said Mr. Bobbinet, aao rV.ufr vnii vnnnnr wnmpn Vinvp. nrt personal interest in things." "Why should we?" whispered Rosa Nixon to Miss Carstairs. "He has no personal interest in us, except to contrive how much money he can make out of us." And Mr. Bobbinct had told them? probably to increase their spirits?that after the first of May their scanty salaries would be docked twenty-five per cent. "Fori am losing money in the business," said Mr.Bobbinet?"yes, positively losing money all the time. I ought to have cut you down at Christmas, but I am a conscientious man, and mid-winter is a hard time to reduce wages." Netta Carstairs had looked incredulously at Lillian Hand. Was it not on the very last Sunday afternoon that they had walked past tho elegant new house that Mr. Bobbinet was erecting on Paragon avenue? Did that, they asked ? t 1 *T__ l : 0 tneroseives, iook. iikc i using in-juuv i "What an old humbug that man is!" said Rosa Nixon. "If I knew any respectable farmers wife who wanted a 'help,' I'd quit business and go to her? see if I wouldn't!" ^ "But we are all dependent upon our salaries," sighed Lilian Hand. "What can we do?" _ This was at the noontime, when Mr. ***" Bobbinet had gone down stairs to quarrel with the fireman, and the girls hud -, died disconsolately around the registers to eat their little paper packets of lunch. "I know what I'd do if I had a house," said Netta. boldly. "What?" said Clarissa Daggett. "I'd keep boarders," said Netta. "Boarders! Dea." me, what a funny .Idea!" cried Lilian Hand. "What made ' you think of thati" "Because I had a letter from Stonington last night," said Netta. "And my old grand-aunt Locke is dead, and she has left me a lot of old furniture? the accumulation, in fact, of two or three generations. What could I do with old furniture, or new, either, for that matter? The homestead?a tumble-down place enough?is left to a cousin up in Maine, and all the ready money to a ne'er-do-well relation out in Kansas, who will speud it before the dear old soul is fairly cold." "Furniture!" repeated Lilian Hand. "Why, isn't that strange? And I have got a house out at Watch Hill?a lonely old place, on the very edge of the sea? that is, if it hasn't fallen to pieces in these heavy winter-tides." "What sort of a house?" said Netta. "I don't know," Lilian answered, laughing. "I never saw it. My uncle died theie, and I am the only surviving relative. I might have fitted it up for a country-seat if I had been rich; but 1 am not." Netta put her light hand on the other's shoulder. "Lill," said she, "there's a fate in these things. You have a house, and I've got the furniture. Watch Hill is the very place to take boarders in!" "Are you crazy, Netta?" said Lilian. "The big hotels would swallow us up, as the whale swallowed Jonah." "Fiddlesticks!" cried Netta. "Our chance is as good as anybody else's!" "Oh, girls, let me keep boarders, too!" urged Kosa Nixon. "I can't stay here, if old Bobbinet mows down our wages bo pitifully. I haven't got any capital, but I can make such stunning cake and pie, and I can beat all creation on bread, and biscuit and johnny cake." "I could help you, too!" said eager Miss Daggett, who was a tall girl, with hectic red spots on her cheeks. "That is, if the house was out of repair. I painted all the inside of Cousin Dobson Daggett's house once, and papered the parlors in blue and buff. And you don't know how nicc they looked! Oh, do take me, too 1" "But it's all nonsense!" said Lilian. 1 'No, it isn't!" said Netta. "Listen! You and I keep boarders. Rosa is our cook, and Clara our carpenter. Here's a fair beginning. Hush! here comes old Bobbinet, looking as black as a thunder-cloud. Now for a lecture half an hour long. Well, let him blaze away. I don't care whether he discharges me or not!" "What sort of a place is Watch Hill?" whispered Clara Dagget. "It's the seashore," said Netta?"directly on the grand old Atlantic. The very place for you to get strong in, Clara. And I say?suppose we ask Fanny Hoyt, that little, ailing cash-girl, to come with us? She could wait on the table and wash dishes, you know, and?" "Young women! young women!" solemnly croaked Mr. Robbinet, "is this bu3iness?" But when the April winds began to 1 rlnot onrl w^?r]trin/1e Af Ulv TT ViVUUO V/A UUOV UUU HUillHlUUg Vi paper scraps about the streets, Lilian Hand and Netta Carstairs set boldly forth for the rock-bristling shores on Watch Hill, stopping by way of Stonington to overhaul the .old furniture bequeathed by grand-aunt Locke. "Enough to set up a dozen boardinghouses," said Netta, exultantly. "We'll have Clara down to repair and varnish it at once. And now for the house!" "Sea Cottage" was an old stoae house on a shelving beach, with apple orchards behind and a little garden in front, where sea sprav sprinkled ihe "Rose of Sharon" trees at every high tide. It was ancient and inconvenient, with additions clumsily fcu'lt on; steps to go up here and oteps to come down there. . (ftio W'uuuvvs were suiail; ike s'.o~c wmamm?? ?aamwminn i?iibbo*?hmmam porch ludicrously proportioned, and Netta clapped her hands in glee. "The very place!" said she. Lilian pointed disconsolately at the great hotels on the heights beyond. "What of them?1' said Netta. "We shall not interfere -with their customers. We are appealing to an entirely different class?the people who abominate bands and Germans?the people who come here for rest and quiet. Why, there must be fourteen or fifteen rooms in this delicious old cubby-hole. And such a view of the sea! Count the lighthouses! Look at the signal service buildings! Lill, I already see ourselves shoveling gold pieccs into our pockets!" "I wish I could be as hopeful as you," said Lilian, softly. So the brave little brigade went to work on the wave-washed beach of "Watch Hill. Miss Daggett proved herself not only j an adept at repairing old furniture, but i she went valiantly out with hammer and nails and mended the fence, put in new panes of glass, whitewashed the ceilings, and. with the aid of a young Rhode IslI laud carpenter, actually put up a row of : cow-sheds and hen-houses in the rear. Rosa Nixon reduced the kitchen de- 1 ! partment to working order, and drove j sharp bargains for a supply of provisions ! from WesTerlv to Stonington. ! "It isn't the kickshaws that trouble I j me," said Rosa. "I Gan make ice-cream equal to Madame Habcnstein herself, 1 i and nobody can beat me on jellies. But 1 the gardens here arc so late. And city 1 j boarders want green peas and strawber- 1 ; ries and all that sort of thing just the j same as if "Watch Hill lay on the edge of , j the tropics. People are so unreasona- 1 ble!" 1 In the course of their business affairs, Netta had made the acquaintance of the 1 editor of a New Haven newspaper. 1 j "My dear sir," said she, with charm- ' i ing frankness, "I'm going to advertise : in your paper. Nothing can be done 1 - -* -t i?-: XT ( nowadays witnout aavertisiiig. -l-huw, don't you want to give us a pull? The ' least bit of one will do!" ' "I am always ready to commend 1 genius," said Mr. Fordyce, gallantly. ! , 4'In fact I was going to speak of cngag- | ! ing three connecting rooms?with a view i ol the ocean, of course?for Mrs. Forj dyce and the three little ones and their ; nurse. Just write your notice, and we'll ' j try and edge it in!" "You are so kind!" cried Nettn, who 1 ' telt just a trifle disappointed when Mrs. * j Fordyce and the children were men- ' tioned, though why she did not know. j i "Business is business," said the edi- j ; tor, sereneIj*. 1 j But when Lilian read the notice she I opened her blue eyes wide. ] "Why, Netta," said she, "you give 1 the impression that Sea Cottage is lull c of boarders." ! "Well, what then?" said saucy Nctta. c j "Xo one wants to be first at a place like . this." i .I x ii. 1:--!. : ? l ( Almost ;lie earnest uriivai nua wc I ne'er-do-well cousin from Kansas, wi-th 1 ! his wife and sons. lie had settled dov^n 1 into a portly, middle-aged merchant, r and his appearance lent a solid sort of f respectability to the place. j "Never believe what you hear," said ' he to Netta. ,lI was rather wild as a r lad, but I am soberer than twenty judges s now. Ask my wife. And I came here J because my boys like the sea. Never * ! expected to find a relation on the prem- 1 ises." | ' Do you call those six-f ooters loi/&?) * said Netta, laughing. i Sea Cottage throve under its vigorous t ; new administration. Clara Daggett kept everything in ap' pie-pie order. Rose Nixon worked like f a bee in the kitchen, aided by little Fanny 1 ; llovt, and a barefooted ton of the soli, who dug clams, caught blue-fish, turned J i the ice-cream freezer and ran errands. ! Everything else was done by Netta and Lilian (Carstairs & Hand they called themselves on the bill), and well done, ! also. j And early in the morning before any : of the boarders were up, they ran down i tc the fringy edge of the .sea and had ' their "dip"?the delicious tonic that i gave them strength and courage for their I day's work. "It's better than drudging at old Bob- 8 ; binet's, isn't it, Lil?" said Netta. 0 I "Oh, a thousand times better!" j In the second week the editor arrived, i with a dashing young woman, a colored ^ 1 nurse and a swarm of little ones. I ! "There she is," said he, as Netta came 1 to greet them. "Miss Carstairs, let me c introduce my stepmother, and little f | brothers and sisters.,' v | Netta's cheeks flamed; her eyes c sparkled. } j "They are very welcome to Sea cot- } j tage," she said, gracefully. 9 11 And Mrs. Fordyce afterward complain- F | ingly remarked that "if Miss Carstairs 1 had been a duchess, she could scarcely f j have assumed more gracious airs. Not 1 : but that the house was well kept and u ! the table really excellent. But, after 0 j all, the young woman was only a board- = ; ing-house keeper!" 3 | And her amazement may be imagined, when, at the end of the season, her step! son calmly announced his engagement to a I Miss Carstairs. ^ j "I do like a woman that has gfime ? j pluck and go in her," saici ne. -one j i suits me exactly, and I mean to do my ^ best to suit her." ^ Miss Daggett, it presently transpired, 9 j had been plighting herself to one of the v tall Kansas "boys." 3 "He says the West will be the rery c climate for me," said he. "And you ^ mind, Lily dear?will you??but Rosa v I Nixon has promised to marry the young ^ ; man who keeps the books for the Triton ^ hotel. I do think the air of Watch Hill c promotes weddings?" c Lillian Hand laughed. c "You are all typical women,"said she. 0 "Well, well, go and fulfill your mis- * sions?make home happy and all that f sort of thing. But I mean to stay here and keep the Sea cottage. There are plenty of half-starved and overworked city girls who will come out and help i me; and I rather like the business. Oh, s of course I shall spend my winters in c Stonington. There is always new house- I linen to make and old to mend, and r [ plenty to keep mo busy; but I really g ' think I have found my vocation at last." j And thus triumphantly closed the first c campaign of the Sea Cottage brigade.? t Helen Forrest Grates. t ' t Lima a Preservative From Bnst. F All steel articles can be perfectly ? preserved from rust by putting a lump of freshly burnt lime in the drawer 01 B case in which they are kept. If things ? are to be moved (as a gun in its case, for : instance) put the lime in a muslin bag. I This is especially valuable for specimens of iron when fractured; for ia a ! moderately dry place the lime will not want any renewing for many years, as it 8 is capable of absorbing a large quantity 1 of moisture. Articles in use should be placed in a box nearly filled with thor- a oughly pulverized slacked lime. Before g using them rub well with a woolen cloth. 0 Men make a living in New York by ^ picking up cigar stubs thrown away in ^ , the streets by smokers. j TIMELY TOPICS. The German government has discharged all women who were employed in its postal, telegraph, and railway service as clerks and in other capacities. As during the last twenty years they nearly monopolized such service in some towns, much suffering has ensued among the discharged. The motive alleged is that women are unfit for such public service. Widows and old maids can take comfort. Any woman twenty-one years of age, who was born in the United States, or whose parents or husband got naturalixed, can take up a homestead, a preemption or a desert land claim. By the words "any woman," a single or widow "lady" Is meant. A married woman whose husband is still living cannot taKe up land unless she is divorced, as the privilege is limited to "head3 of families." It appears that a valuable substitute for alcohol in the sphere of medicine has, by experiment, been found in nitro glycerine. The Boston Traveller mentions that "it is stated by medical authority that nitro glycerine, as a heart stimulant, is far superior to brandy, and may be Ejiven with confidence whenever the administration of brandy is indicated. Two irops of a one per cent, solution are equivalent to an ounce of brandy, and the effects of the drug are felt immediately. It creates no uunatural craving." A novel and absorbing entertainment is sweeping over the social surface of the :ouutry with the rapidity and earnestness nf the sr>r?]lin<? bee. Mum Social is its name. And mum socials are all the rage. The rules are?All entgring the room will be expected to maintain perfect silence. Second?The first person svho speakg will be fined eighEy-three sents. Third?Each succeeding person ivili be subject to a fine of twenty-five scnts and be entitled to a ticket for refreshments, and the privilege of talking ind of making others talk. Fourth?No cvriting allowed. The proceeds are demoted to charity. The American Architect and Building .TAnnU,, nnn nf nftlvAlnnm in. LT'WtJ auvuurttc^ IUC UOC ui VIVUIU 1U stead of coal for the heating of houses ind for the making of steam. At pres;nt crude petroleum is not only used in Russia, but also -widely in the western >art of our own country. It is thrown n a spray across a lighted wick and nto the furnace, where it ignites and generates great heat. Its use in this ivay is almost unknown in the Eastern States except in steam launches. The )dors that arise, however, are said to be ;o disagreeable as to make its successful :mp!oyment in these still very doubtful. The Mexican Financier says thnt one )f the greatest disappointments to the projectors of new railways in Mexico is hat the country through which the lines un doe3 not attract settlors. Imini,'rants are rushing by tho thousands to he Northwest, but the fertile lands and 'avorable climate of Mexico have little ittractioa for them. And tiiey win not ;ettlc there until land may be bad at low ates. They know that the land of Hexico is owned in huge tracts by a few )eople; in fact, Mexican authority states hat the land of the country is in the lands of some 50,000 out of 10,000,000 >f people. This monopoly of the soil is he cause of -the backward state of things, i Among the recommendations of the ;hief signal officer in his annual report s one for the establishment of signals to jive warning of approaching tornadoes md other violent storms. Lieutenant ?inley, who has made this subject a ipecial study, says that the storms which :ause the greatest loss of life and prop;rty in this country can be predicted at east from five to eight hours in advance. U present the means of giving warning >f approaching danger of this kind are >f the most primitive description. In he regions in which severe storms are lot unusual proper arrangements for distlnvinr* eirfnftlo orA rrroo t l rr* nnrfo nn/> ""Jlu6 "'fi""'" ?* '" fc> 1 ind would result in saving many lives knd much property. Mr. Hutchinson, the apiarist, writea to he Farmer#' Review that the raising of ilants for honey alone is not profitable, f sweet clover or something of that kind an be made to occupy waste spots in ilace of the weeds usually found there, veil and good; but good, tillable land an be more profitably occupied. Tha jest that can be done in the way of raisng honey plant is to raise some crop that 3 profitable aside from the honey it may iroduc?. The writer knows nothing Viah iq hpttpr for this numose ban alsiko clover. He one season had hree acre9 of this clover, and from it line colonies of bees gathered 300 pounds >f honey; or, to be more exact, they gathered enough honey from it to enable 00 pounds to be extracted. An experiment has recently been tried ?t the Inventions Exhibition aquarium >y Mr. W. August Carter, with a view to liscovering how far fish are prone to leep. After close examination he found hat among fresh wuter fishes the roach, lace, gudgeon, carp, tench, minnow, ,nd cattish sleep periodically in common vith terrestrial animals. The same intincts were found to actuate marine fish, >f which the following were observed to >e equally influenced by somnolence? riz,: the wraBse, conger eel. dory, dogish, wrasse bass, and all species of flat ish. Mr. Carter states that, so far as he :an discover, the goldfish, pike, and ingler fish never sleep, but rest periodi:allv. Desire for sleepamonsr fish varies iccording to meteorological conditions, rish. do not necessarily select night time or repose. A New Musical Instrument.. The "Pyrophone" is the latest musical nvention. It is a novel instrument, contracted to make music from gas. Its :ompass is three octaves, with a key>oard and it will be played in the same nanner as an organ. It has thirty-seven jlass tubes in which a number of gas etsburu. These jets, placed in circlcs, :ontract and expand like the fingers of a land. When the small burners separate he sound is produced, when they close ogether the sound ceases. The tone de)ends upon the number of the burners >nd the size of the pipes in which they mm sn thfifc bv a nareful arrangement ,nd selection all the notes of the musial scale may be produced in several ocaves. Some of the glass tubes in which he jet3 burn are nearly eleven feet high. Vnen the "Pyrophone" is played upon eith the keyboard it gives out a rich, ull tone of remarkable delicacy, and to , great extent resembling the human roice. The Miquelon islands, four in number, ,t the lower entrance to the gulf of it. Lawrence, are all that remain of the nee vast^ possessions of France in North Lmeiica." A steamer makes fortnightly rips to them from Halifax. The resilent population is about 6,000. St. ?ieric is tho capital and DfiacUwl toivji. A CALIFORNIA ROMANCE. Strange Story- of a Couple who Were 1 ong- Separated. Last week, says a San Francisco correspondent of the Sacramento Bee, the residence of the late Judge Delos Lake was sold at auction for $17,000. It cost to build it over $.50,000. It has rather an interesting history. It is u monument to a woman's folly and a man's weakness. In the early days of California, a Massachusetts farmer started for the land of gold, after selling his farm and dividing the proceeds with his wife, who, with her two little girls, he left in Boston. His wife did not hear from him for a long time, and her money being expended, she had a hard struggle for life, but she went to work bravely, making fancy horse blankets through the day and giving music lessons in the evening. In this way she managed to feed aud clothe herself and children and save a very small sum every month. Communication between the Eastern States and California was not so direct nor sure then as it is now. and kIio thought that the letters she wrote might have gone astray, and a iike misfortune had prevented her from hearing from her husband. Then came a letter, short, and containing no intimation of what he was doing or how he was prospering in his new home. After this she received one or two letters .it lonfr intervals, and then thev " o / ceased forever. She wrote continually, but received no answer, and she feared he was dead. She gave up all hope of ever seeing him again, and devotod herself to the education of her two little daughters aud the saving of money for a rainy day. Years went on, and she did not hear from her natural protector until a lady returned to Boston from California on a visit to some friends. The anxious wife called upon the California lady, and inquired of her whether she had" ever heard of her husband in that wild western land, aud was surprised to hear that the lady knew him, aud that he wis considered quite a rich man out there. She obtained his address and wrote him, but received no answer. Then, like a brave Yankee, she sold her belongings, took what money she had saved, and with her little children started for San Francisco, arriving there with $7.50 in her pocket. She inquired for the si!ent husband, was directed to where he Jived, and presented herself to him with her two little ones clinging to her skirts. You would imagine that a first-class circus would have ensued, but it was not so. lie received her calmly, as though it were quite an ordinary thing to have a wife and two children drop down on him from the clouds, and expressed himself as pleased to see them. She was a spunky little woman, and no doubt "gave him a bit of her mind," but it affected him no more than the cry of poverty does a millionaire. He gave no reason for his long silence, and she found on looking over his trunks, all her letters unopened. When she asked him why he acted in the way he did, he only answered, "I don't know." That was all?he did not know?and she docs not know to this day why he remained silent. lie had formed no other ties of any kind here, and there was not the slightest evidence of a woman being at the bottom of it all. lie was a good-natured, kindly, well-disposed man, honest and industrious, not given to any vices, and had accumulated quite a large fortune. He was stopping at a hoiel when she arrived, but he immediately, on her arrival, took a house, furnished it, and they went to housekeeping. The wife, for the first time in many years, enjoyed the comforts of a good home and rest from hard labor, but she was net content. She could not let well enough alone, and determined to make a show with the fortune which the. old man had quietly accumulated. The first thing she must have was a fine house, then fine clothes, a carriage and servants. The old man pi obably thought he had no right to refuse her anything under the circumstances, weaKiy acceuea 10 aer request, and began the erection of a fine house on a fifty-vara lot in the then most fashionable portion of the city. The house was finished and furnished, and a big hole was made in his pile. Then came expensive living, and then, in a little while, a visit to the East to show her friends the fine lady she had blossomed into in California. She went East, sujnmered at Saratoga, married one of her daughters off. aud cut a dash generally, returning home to find a mortgage on the new house. The old mau had not?as is usual with rich husbands when the wife is away? gone in for dissipation, but a misfortune just as great overtook him. He got into the hands of sharpers and they robbed him. Loss followed loss until he was hopelessly involved. Most of his money was gone and his spirit was broken. While he remained at his old business of making bricks he was all right,but when hn crave nn that olebian buisncss, and ? ? o ? j- (? # started out into what the wife considered a wider sphere and one more in keeping with their wealth, he was all at sea and was soon a financial wreck. He wa9 still silent with reference to his affairs, and the extravagant style of living was kept up until the inevitable crash came and the sheriffs red flag floated from the graud mansion.. To day the old couple ate poor and the husband an invalid. They had their time, at least she had. The house came into the possession of Judge Delos Lake, then judge of the criminal court in this city, where he lived until he was carried from it to be placed in a narrower house in the city of the dead. There seems to be a fatality about the house, for his family left it almost as poor as that ot its builder. A Knoningr Old Rabbit. Here is a story which beats the old dog stories hollow. According to M. Laborde, a writer in the Heme Scienlifique, a rabbit, one of the ordinary tame species, was bought for purposes of experiment at the Physiological Laboratory in Paris, and after a portion of the facial *erve had been removed it wa9 left to run about the laboratory. It very soon recovered from the effect of the operation, and was for four years M. Laborde's affectionate companion. It would await at the top of the stairs his arrival in the morning and would sometimes run to meet him. Whenever it had the opportunity the rabbit would jump upon his knee, and was as fond of caresses as a cat. During the progress of an experiment it would sit on the operating table watching the nroceedin??s with every appearance of interest. Bunny's chief delight, however, was in a microscopical examination. As soon as M. Laborde put his eye to the microscope the rabbit would pcrch on his shoulders and endeavor to take a peep. This wonderful animal lived on terms of the most affectionate friendship with two dogs belouging to the laboratory; but when a strange dog arrived he invariably turned it out and sometimes chased it along the street. Nor did he show himself very friendly to unfamiliar biped visitors.?Pall Mall Gazette. It take? eighty men and women to make a postage stamp. i JOSH BILLINGS. i IXcminiicci?os of the rate Humorist ?Specimens of fits Fun* I was sitting down to lunch one raorni ing .at Dclmouico's with a literary friend when there entered a gaunt, tall man, with stooping shoulders, a slouching walk, iron gray hair and a pair of keen, bright eyes, who deposited liimse f upou a chair at the nearest vacant table. My friend touched my foot to direct my attention to the new comer and softly said: "Do you know who that is?" "No." "That's Josh Billings," he ??? V* In4<P11 nnlr liim fr? lAin na " J X. U tto IV A-JL A l XJk w \J> JW1U ItOf My friend arose, went to hjs table, grasped his hand and in another instan: I was introduced to the author of a vast amount of mis spelled wisdom. "How's every bone in your body?" said Josh to my friend. Then, turning to me, he said: ' iilad to see you, sir. Just arrived from England, eh? Bring my cutlet and colfee here," he went on, addressing the waiter, as he inserted his loug, lean legs under the table. Jo3h rattled on, telling us strings of adventures and now and then uttering a quaint, wise thought. One remark I remember. He was saying that a friend of his had been on a spree for a fortnight and that he had a whisky head on h;m. "What's that/" I asked. "Why, his head was so swollen that he had to work on his hat with a shoe-horu." Josh was extremely fond of animals and had a cat at his housa in Albany which he gravely addressed as "William." I suggested that that was a dignified name for puss, as cats were usually called "Tom" or "Tip" or a quick, short r.n<?nnmeif. o "J3ut that's a special, swell, blueblooded specimen of the feline race, I wish you to know," rejoined the humorist. "Recently, poor fellow, he has hid fits, and since then I call him 'Fitz- William.' " Before I left New York I callcd on Josh Billings with an album and modestly solicited his autograph. He took it on his knees, gave his mouth a comical twist and wrote: ''Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel j just." The Bard of Avon. "And four tim93 ho who ge!s his blow in fust." J. Billinos. "Mr. Billings," I said, at parting, "it's astonishing how your wise saws and comical straws float all over Christendom. One can scarcely pick up a paper in any part of the world where the English language is spoken but there, in au odd corner, nestles one of your little grains of philosophy. You keep yourself well before the public." His reply was compact, pertinent and to the point: "Yes, sir, I keep myself just sufficiently in the public eye without putting it out." I complained to Josh one September ! night some years ngo, when on this side j of the Atlantic, that the nights were so ! abominably hot I couldn't sleep. ' "My dear boy," he replied, "you I ought to accustom yourself to these American alterations of heat and cold. Summer and winter I always sleep with three quilts. In summer, I may remark, I put them under me." When Rubenstein was over here he j ras presented to Josh, and the pianist j vas careful to impress the American with ' accounts of the nobility of his ances- ; tors. "My family," said he, loftily, i "croes back to the time of the Crusaders, j My researches in this direction enabled | me to discover that one of my ancestors j nn/tAmnnniArl PmnorAr T-tavhurncQfl " ! UV/^UU1|;UU1^U l>U^I X^iU^/Ul VI vwwvf, Josh smiled, and affecting to be immensely impressed immediately remarked: "On the piano, of course." A good story is told of the humorist being thrown, on one occasion, among a batch of students in a country town near New Haven. Ho was tramping along with a rusty yellow dog, and entered the j bar-room of a hotel for some refreshments. A group of the Yale lads ' chanced to be there on a frolic, and irn- j mediately interviewed Billings, whom ; they evidently mistook for a farmer, j They inquired with affected interest after j the health of his wife and children, and Josh, with counterfeit simplicity, gave 'hem a graphic account of his family andarm. "Of course you belong to the church?" J .sked one of the boys. "Yes, the Lord be praised, and my j , father and grandfather before me." i j! "Now, I suppose you would not tell a ! j lie," said one of the students. < "Not for the world." j "What will you take for that dog?" t pointing to Josh's cur, which was crouch- s ing beneath his chair. 1 "I won't take twenty dollars for that | dog." L "Twenty dollars! Why, he's not worth ; | twenty cents." j "I assure you I would not take twenty a dollars for him." "Come, my friend," said the ?tudent, who, with his companions was bent on having some fun with the old man. "Now, you say you won't tell a lie for e the world. Let me see if you will not j t do it for twenty dollars. I will give a you twenty dollars for your dog." ii "I'll not take it." v "You will not? Here! let mo see if 1 this will not tempt you to a lie," added J the student, producing a small bag of; i: half dollars, which he built up into small j t piles on the table. Josh was sitting by ! I the table, with his hat in his hand, ap- ! ii parently unconcerned. "There," added j A the student, "there are twenty dollars, } d all in silver; I will give you that for the j o animal." Josh quietly iaised his hat to b the edge of the table, and, as quick as1 a thought, scraped all the money into it s< except one half dollar, and then ex- ii claimed: 1c "I won't take your twenty dollars! tl Nineteen and a half is ns much as that a: dog is worth; he is your property". p A tremendous shout from his fellow b students clearly showed the would-be i o wag that he was completely sold and I ci that he need not look for sympathy from j w tlinf-. minrf-pr sn hn cnod-nnturcdlv ac- Ol knowledged himself beaten. Jo9h was impatient of the airs and J graces of the Bostou shop girls. I went j in with him into a store in Washington j le street one day, and he asked one of the : c< maideus if she was the attendant who j fe had sold him a handkerchief the day j hi before. j cl "I am the saleslady who served you," tc responded the reduced empress in ni fringed hair and ringed lingers who pre- i cl sided at the counter. I cl "Well," said Josh, "I will take a hj dozen more, and as I wish to get them }1( to my waslierlady at once I will get you b< to send them to ray carriage around the d< corner. My coach gentleman cannot get bf to the door just now in consequence of re the cart of the ash gentleman blocking m the way." ni in It was Josh who originated the phrase of that is now a national expression?"The i dc Knainaai onri nf ft WAsn " and whwn hn ! di said to a lady, "It is better to be iv laughed at for not being married than to an be unable to laugh because you are," it be leems to me he uttered a sentence, to m use one of his own expressions, "bulging out with first-class wisdom." Three little points of interest before I close. Josh did the greater part of hia best work after he was forty years of age, and the New York Weekly paid him $100 a week for a column of "Sayings." and he wore the long hair that trailed down his back and flowed over his high coat collar to conceal an unsightly wen on his neck.?Howard Paul, in Philadelphia Times. Dojs A?ainst Mountain Lion. Jack Gaylor, a noted hunter of the Wind mountpins, Montana, has a breed of dogs famous for their fierce courage and active strength. They are a pure cross between the bloodhound and the best English bulldog. Many bear, elk, and mountain iion have these dogs brought to bay and assisted in slaying. Ilair and Hide are the two foremost representatives of the gallant and efficent breed. ftot long since Mr. Gaylor was aroused from sleep during the night by a piteous bawling in his calf pen and an uproar among his dogs. Hastening out, he perceived by the light of a brilliant moon two lions making off. They had come for veal, and had nearly succeeded in getting it. The next night Mr. Gaylor watched his corral, but the wary brutes did not come. The following night there came from the snowy summits ol Wir.d mountains a light snowfall. The old hunter was now sure of his game. Taking Hair and Hide in the early morning he sallied forth. In a short time his course was crossed by the trail of the whole lion family. The dogs at once sped along the freshly-tracked snow and soon the game was touna in a leafy covert of pine and quaking aspen. Pushing his way through the snow-laden boughs the hunter came in close sight of the family. The lion was standing on the trunk of a huge fallen pine; his long tail swingiug from side to side, while his eyes flashed with green fire. The lioness was crouched a short distance oft at the foot of anether huge tree, in the forks of which couli be seen two active whelp3. Ilair and Hide at once sprang for the lion and the savage fray at once began. With a long leap the lioness came to the aid of her mate, but a ball from Gaylor's ride broke one of her shoulders, and she retreated, spitting with pain and rage, to the vicinity of her whelps. The combat between the royal brute and his fierce and active foes now became terrific. Gaylor watched the lioness and the fight. He was sure of his dogs, and wanted them to kill ptipttiv nlnnp Fv(>n if he had been disposed to lend a helping hand such was the fierce confusion of the struggle that he would have been as liable to have hurt his faithful friends as their savage foe. After a ten minutes' struggle the deep growls of the lion became more faint; soon they ceased entirely, and the proud hunter beheld his two brave dogs, one at the broad muzzle of the mountain king, and the other at his wide haunch. The lion was dead and fairly "stretched out," to use an expressive westernism. Hair and Hide were dripping with gore from a dozen different wounds, both deep and sore. They were on the fight still, however, and wanted to attack the lioness at once, but Gaylor would not allow them to do any more, and a ball from his rifle stretched the lioness in death. Each of the whelps demanded a bullet, and the whole royal family had paid the stern penalty of their tyrannical customs. ? Chiaigo Tribune. A "Stick" of Importance. From a Gold Coast (Africa) letter to the Boston Bulletin, wc take this extract: The guide knew his ground, and was A* Knmn aq fA miMfumonfa frnm pi;! ICUbiJI ai/uuuiu ag bv IUV? vutvuvo *AVU4 this time out. He led on to the entrance of the African village proper, halted for a "custom," and waited till the messenger from the chief put in an appearance. A medium rigid carbonate soon showed up and the customary dash was made up and sent with some flourish to the receiving officer who examined it, and tinding it all right, forwarded it to his bigness, who in turn sent us his "stick," which is "safe conduct" through his loimtry, and with quite a deal of flourish said stick was presented. Now this was ao ten cent cane, but a jeweled piece of jbony beautifully carved and curiously nounted. This stick serves many purposes in different African conntries. In lome provinces, Cape Coast, and in !act anywhere on the Gold Coast from Dommenda to Whydah, the "stick" is ;be oath test and its presenta;ion is the same as a bond signed by the lender. Contracts are ratified over the 'stick." The guide received the "mark" as a )ledge, and turning a cunningly wrought igure toward me, I saw the emblem and mew we were in a country where we hould find friends. A Japanese Plant Care. On the bodies of almost every Japanse, and sometimes on every part of the >ody, one sees round white spots. These re the moxa spots, produced by burnQg the flesh with a species of plant, yith the object of curing some affection. , "his is a universal popular specific in ; apan, which is its home, although moxa \ 3 to found used elsewhere. It was in- , roduced from Japan to Europe by the 1 'ortuguese and Spaniards,and the name , 3 Japanese. In May the leaves of the irteraisia Chinensis are powdered and ( ried, and the mass cut into small blocks , r pieces. One of these is laid on the ody ana set on fire, burning slowly , way. At first it naturally produces a j jre, more or less deep, according to the ? itensity of the heat; soon this heals, t saving the scar for evor. The belief in j le efficacy of this process is universal, nd Dr. Baelz thinks, not altogether mis* laoeJ, for the moxa acts much as our listers do. Moreover, from the accounts f those who have gone through the jre, it is by no means as painful as one j ould anticipate from the heroic nature f the remedy. c A Remarkable Case in Surgery. An accident so remarkable occurred c i this city a few days ago to one of our r ading merchants that it has no rc ^ )rded parallel in civil surgery and but g tw in military experience. The patient ]( id been playing and romping with* his a lildren. After he had sat down to rest, fl ) his ama/.euient he found that he could ^ at place his back close to that of the c inir. Finding no aDnarent cause in the ? 1 4 * liiir for this obstruction he requested ei is wife to examine his back, and to her )rror she discovered a hideous protu- 0 ;rance in the region of his right shoul- S| ;r blade quite six inches beyond the jj ick and adherent to it. lie at onca ^ paired to his physician. Dr. C. Cole- hj an Benson, on Pearl street, who recog- ^ zed the lesion as displacement of the ^ ferior angle of the scapula by rupture ^ the superior fibers of the latissimui ^ jrsi muscle, and quickly reduced th? ^ slocation so as to alleviate the excess- jj. e pain and distortion in the shoulder ^ id arms. Appropriate bandages have a, ien applied, and the case is progressing V( ost favorably.?Baltimore American. ? WORDS OF WISDOM. * Good manners and good morals art sworn friends and firm allies. 1 Chance is a word void of sense; noth* ing can exist without a cause. A good name is your best trademarkf It can be equaled but not counterfeited* He that waits for an opportunity oj taking his revenge, watches to do him? self a mischief. Many people believe that where a great deal is said something must be true; the) split the difference. On the diffusion of education among fiie people rests the preservation an(f perpetuation of our free institutions. ^CT _ _ 1 ? . . i ' i ou can prove your peaigree Dy youi parents, but your good qualities will be recognized without any such evidence. To excel others is a proof of talent; but to know when to conceal that supe* riority is a greater proof of prudence. To find friends when we have no need of them, and to want them when wfl have, are both alike easy and common. To succeed in any of life's endeavors, be our talents what they may, we require perseverance, decision and tenacity of will to reach the lull measure of suecess. A man who can give up dreamiogaad go to his daily realities; who can smootheu down his heart, its love or woe, and take to the hard wm-k of his hand; who defies fate; and if he must die, dies fighting to the last?that man is life's hero. Men are more civilized by their pleas* ure than by their occupation. Business dispensed not only with ceremony, but often with common civility; and wt should become rude, repulsive, and un? gracious did we not recover in our recre* ations the urbanity which in the bustle ol our labors we disregard. The first cracks made in the smootlj surface of friendship are as dangerous as those which come to the sheeny satin garment of a young married love. Free- * doms of speech and exactiuguess of at? tention, neglect of due forma, - liberties beyond the license of just intimacy, all these are cracks to be stopped in the he* orinninor rlcp t.hfi will r.ome when ' no masonry of tact or of affection can repair them. A Clock Wound Once in 400 Dajs. "This clock after once winding will go for 400 days." The foregoing inscrip* tion, neatly printed on a card, appeared over a small timepiece exhibited in an uptown New York jeweler's window. A. reporter for the Mail and Express asked the manager of the store to explain hovi the clotfk worked. lie said: "It is just an ordinary clock, but it will go for 400 days." "Do you mean to say that if started on New Year's irorning it will run into February ot the next year before stoppine?" <rThat?s just it. It takes about three times as long as an ordinary eight-day clock to wind up, and then if stood on an even mantel piece or a sideboard will run as I have said." "Are the works at'all peculiar?" "Well, it has a very strong spring of course, but 1 don't tfaink the work9 are any different from other clocks. It is an imported instrument. Just look at it." The clock stood about six inches kigh,, and was about three inches deep and broad. The works were very like any. other clock, except the pendulum. This consisted of a heavy round weight suspended on a very fine wire. Instead of swinging this weight revolved, twisting round in one direction and then reversing. It took just four seconds for this clock to tick once. > * ?i i -t "inis is tne longest running ciouk ever made, and is a great novelty," said the manager. "There is a great demand for clocks just now in all shapeg. Some you see we have mounted on earthen- . ware, some represent nautical, some sporting, and all kinds of scenes." Drooping Shoulders. This is a serious evil. It comprise! both appearance and vitality. A stooping figure is not only a familiar expression of weakness or old age, but it is, when caused by careless habits, a direct! cause of contracted chcst and defective breathing. Unless you rid yourself of this crook while at school, you will probabls go bent to your srave. There" is one good way to cure it. Shoulder-bracei will not help. One needs, not an artifU cial substitute,but some menns to develop the muscles whose duty it is to hold the head and shoulders erect. I know of but one bull's-eye shot. It is to carry a weight on the head. A sheepskin or other strong bag filled with twenty to eighty pounds of sand is a good weight. When engaged in your morning studies, either before or after breakfast, put this bag of sand on your head, hold your head erect, draw your chin clo?c to you* neck and walk slowly about the room* coming back, if you please, everj minute or two to your book, or carrying the book as you walk. The muscles whose duty it is to hold the head and shoulders erect are hit, not with scatter* ing shot, but with a rifle-ball. The bone? of the spine and the intervertebral sub? rtance will soon accommodate themselves to the new attitude. One year of daily practice with the bag, half an hour morn* in# and evening, will give you a noble carriage, without interfering a moment tvith vourstudies. It would be very difficult to put into a paragraph more important instruction :han this. Your respiration, voice and strength of spine, to say nothing of your ippearance. will find a new departure ia his cure of drooping shoulders.?Dio Lewis. Foretelling the Weather. When distant obje;ts stand out very ilear in the atmosphere a storm is near, f there isn't any clouds in the sky it nay mean more of a storm than if tha :louds are plentiful. "When the stars are lumerous and bright that's a sign of bad weather before long. If you see shafts >f red in the east just before the sua ises there's going to be wind soon, per.aps the next day. When the swallow# y high it is clear weather. If they flj 3w look out for rain. If pigeons hang round the coop it means rain; if they y away and fly a great deal the weather rill be dry for at least a day or two. Of ourse, I mean well fed pigeons. A tarved bird will look for something ta at, rain or shine. If a male cat stays in the house of hia wn accord at night look out for a torm in less than twenty-four hours, f a she cat washes her face befora reakfast it's a sign of rain. The aver ?e dog will come in under shelter sir ours before rain, no mattei how clear le sky is. If the pains of glass in your* indDws are cool when the weather is 'arm rain is near. No matter hovr arm you may be in the city on a sum* ler's day if you can breathe freely th^ eather will continue clear; if you feel 3 if you needed air, or as if choking/ ou can be sure of rain in a short whila?: Brooklyn Union* j