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THE SINGER'S ALMS. In Lyons, in the mart of that French town. Years since, a woman leading a fair child, Craved a small alms of one who, walking down The thoroughfare, caught the child's glance and smiled To see behind its eyes a noble souL He paused, but found he had no coin to dole. Ks guardian angel warned him not to lose This chance of pearl to do another good; So. as he waited, sorry to refuse The asked-for penny, there aside he stood And with his hat held as by limb the nest, He covered his kind face and sang his best. T"he Ay was blue above, and all the lane Of commerce, where the singer stood, was filled, And many paused, and, listening, paused again To hear the voice that through and through them thrilled. I think the guardian angel helped along That cry for pit}- woven in a song. The singer stood between the beggars there, Before a church, and overhead the spire A slim, perpetual finger in ths air Held toward heaven, land of the heart's desireAs if an angel, pointing up, had said: "Yonder a crown awaits this singer's head." The hat of its stamped brood was emptied soon Into the woman's lap, who drenched with . tears Ear kiss upon the hand of help; 'twas noon? ( And noon in her glad heart drove forth her fears. The singer, pleased, passed on and softly thought: "Men will not know by whom this deed was wrought." But when at night he came upon the stage Cheer after cheer went up from that wide throng, And flowers rained on him; nought could assuage The tlimnlf", of t.hft Wfllrnmo antra frVin mn?r That he had sweetly sung, with covered face, For the two beggars in the market-place. ?Henry Abbey, THE SWAMP GANG. AND HOW IT WAS "WIPED OUT." Some tea years ago I was engaged with others in the re-survey for the gov- i ernment of certain portions of the Ar- i kansas river. In order that we might run into creeks and over bars we were pro- < vided with a small steamer called the 1 Sprite. The crew consisted of captain, 1 mate, engineer, tireman, cook and wheels- i man, and my brother surveyor was a gen- 1 tleman named Mortimer White. The ac- I commodations were rather scant, but we < lived well, and, as is the rule in such < cases, none of us was overworked. We < had time to hunt and fish, and there were 1 days when the steamer's fires were not t lighted at all, our lines being run by the 1 aid of the skiff. 1 At that time?and it may still be the j t case?there was a hard population along j i the Arkansas. I do not refer to the ' 1 towns, but to the so-called hunters, trap- 1 pers and traders who made a living along 1 the rivers, and whose skiffs, rafts and t house boats were encountered half a i 1 dozen times a day. They were a crowd < of restless Arabs, and if there was an t honest man among them we failed to dis- s cover his presence. On several occasions s attempts were made to steal our skiffs, t ana 11 rope or cnam was left on tne bank lor half an hour unwatched it was spirited way in a mysterious manner. While there were some genuine hunters beating np and down the banks, the great majority of the wanderers were chaps-who had gone into hiding to escape the law, and they were hard-looking cases. One afternoon, while most of the crew were fishing in a bend half a mile above the boat, and while those who remained with me aboard the steamer were asleep, I caught sight of a villainous-looking face watching the steamer from the bnnhftS. Wp wprc tVtpn nn t.n tVip < right-hand bank, about twenty miles be- 1 low Pine Bluff. While I could see the < fellow through the blinds of my state- < room, he could not catch sight of me. ' He made a long and careful scrutiny of 1 the 9teamer, and after a time was joined 1 by two others. All three had rifles, re- 1 volvers and knives, and the condition of. i hair, whiskers and clothing proved that 1 they had been hiding for months. They < approached the steamer within six or 1 eight feet, looked her over again, and re- 1 tired as noiselessly as they came. The presence of the strangers was reported when the crew came aboard, but I VIA r\r> O ooflmo/"! fA *"5 if nn ft 1 uv vuv oc^uigu m\j ic^aiu 10 ao a otnuuo matter. The men had probably been mousing around in hopes to lay their hands on some article of value. We had been keeping a sort of hap-hazzard anchor watch when tied up with the fires out, and this night the man who stood watch was probably fast asleep as soon as the rest of us. I turned in about 10 o'clock and was soon asleep, but at midnight was awakened by a voice calling: "Come now?you are wanted outside !" I sat up in bed to find a rough looking man in my stateroom. My lamp had bean lighted, and I saw that he had a revolver in his hand. <rWhat do you want!" I asked. "I want you. We have concluded to take the job of running this steamer off your hands." "Then you belong to a gang who have captured her?" "Exactly; and if you fool around much longer I shall get mad and do some shoot. tog-" As I got out out of bed and began t;> dress I heard men running back and forth, and presently the boat began moving. As she had no tire under her boiler, I felt certain that she was towed down stream by one of the skiffs. "What are you going to do with the Sprite?" I asked the man as I was dressing. 1 IV ? 1 i VI-- 41 ? JL^UUC SJ yum uubim^B, nu prumpujr replied. I had had a rifle and revolver in my stateroom, but they had been taken away. As was afterward ascertained, the outlaws had crept aboard as quietly as Indians, found the anchor watch fast asleep, and had entered every stateroom and gttbnereu up an me wt:?puiib uuiuie uu_y one was aroused. I was marched to the main cabin, which was our dining room, and there found the rest of the people assembled and under guard. All had been aroused in the same manner, and nobody had yet been hurt. It may well be imagined that we were a disgusted lot of citizens; but we had been fairly trapped, and there was no help for it. The captain had counted six outlaws, Iwo of whom were in the skiff towing the steamer, one at the wheel, aud the other three keeping guard. We were towed down about five miles and then up a bayou setting in from the right-hand shore, and running back into the swamp for a mile or more. There was no current in this bayou, and they towed the steamer up such narrow channels that we heard the bushes brushing against her sides. She finally came to a stop and was made fast to the bank, and then the outlaw who had been acting as captain camu into the cabin and said: "Now, then, ashore with you, and if any of you attempt to play U3 any trick, ping! goes a bullet through your skull." "What do you intend to do with us?" asked our captain. "Ask no questions, but come along," was the stern reply. We were covercd by four or five revolvers, and there was no show for resistance. Two of the outlaws preceded us, and the others brought up the rear as we marched ashore. We walked up the shore, which was very spongy for about a hundred feet, and were then turned aboard of an old house boat. This craft was in such a dilapidated condition that : it was plain she had been there for two < or three years, and once inside we saw 1 that she had been used as the headquar- 1 ters of the gang. The cabin of the boat < was one long room, with an old stove and a few articles of kitchen ware in one 1 mi 1 .U 4 corner. liicru were suvurui uiu. cuaus > and a wreck of a table, and the gang had 1 slept on straw which had not been re- : newcd for a year. Daylight was just breaking as we filed 1 into the house boat, and we could now i get a plainer view of onr captors. If the J State of Arkansas held a more villianous s gang we never had the honor of an intro- 1 duction. They looked more like wild beasts than men, and every other word that fell from their lips was an oath. The house boat had once been provided with windows, bat now only the sashes remained. The boat was afloat, and tied 1 to trees by grapevines. The captain } of the outlaws followed us aboard, and, . standing in the doorway, with a cocked revolver, he said: "Make yourselves at home, gentlemen: j and I want to say to you that any j move to break out will result in some- j body's getting killed." j The door by which we hid entered t was the only door to the boat, the other s having been stoutly closed up. As the t outlaw withdrew he fastened the door j with a padlock, and we heard him moving t off in the direction of the steamer. Indigna- ] tion, disgust,and a feeling of revenge took j possession of us for the first hour. Then x the colored cook set to work to get us ( BAmn Knftolrfocf kllf if WflQ llfilp fitnpir OULUL VI VUUlttO V, MUV * w uw 1AVW4V wwv? | ^ we had on hand. There was a part of a j bag of meal, a jug of molasses, and a few ( pounds of bacon. No one would eat be- ; yond a few mouthfuls, and we then held c a council of war to plan some relief from r our embarrassing situation. j By peering through the cracks and , devices in the stern of the house boat ^ ?ve could see the steamer and note the , fact that the outlaws were getting up t jteum. It was probable they intended to a leave us as soon as the Sprite could take f :hem away. As the black smoke poured ! ^ :>ut of her stack we become deeply ex-11 lited. It might be possible that one of ! ^ ;he fellows was an ex-engineer, but this ! c ?vas not at all probable. If any one among I 0 1 *V. ViJmcjftlf cm o on All rrV* fo I * , LLC 111 tuuu^ut nuuavu ouiuiv vuvu^u w i j. un the engines without having had any I ^ previous experience, the gang were ha9-1 r ;ening toward a calamity. The engineer i [ emembered that the water in the boiler ! ^ ivas very low, and as we watched the j t ires increase we saw a commotion among j q he outlaws. Steam was making so fast j f hat they had become alarmed. If they | ^ cuew enough to try the water cocks, they J n lid not understand how to start the pony j j, ;ngine and renew the supply. Pretty ! a soon steam began to escape from the * ;afety valve with a loud whish, and then n hp 1r idpr of the fran<? came runniner ud i. *" O O q; * ;o the hou9e boat and commanded the a jngineer to come out. This action had been anticipated, and t ;he engineer had been posted as to his ine of actton. He walked out and was jrdered aboard the Sprite to set things x> rights. It did not take him long to mderstand that none of the gang knew c how to run the engine. He drew the n 5res, and after the steam went down the r Doiler was filled so full that uo further j, iffort could raise a pound a :>f steam. He not only did ~ :his while pretending to put things ship- ? shape, but he made it otherwise impossi- ^ Sift for the steamer to move herself out + >f the bayou without a practical engin- j ser aboard. When he had finished his svork the leader of the outlaws had some- j. thing to say to him. They had captured j. the boat with the intention of running r her down the Mississippi and up some of j. the tributaries to a point where she could j t be sold. The idea was a foolish one, of _ course, as a telegram from any point on j | the Arkansas would have put hundreds j. on the watch. These outlaws, however, seemed to think that if the Sprite could t get a couple of days the start of us it would be impossible for us to overhaul j. her again. c The idea was to win the engineer v over to join the gang, but he indignant- ^ ly spurned all proposals. He likewise held out against threats, and this so an- j. gered the outlaw leader that he drew his revolver and fired full in the man's face. ^ The bullet struck the engineer's scalp 4 and plowed it up for six inches, and, ^ as the blood poured ever his face and he fell like one dead, the villain turned ! j away and left him in the bushes, never i ^ doubting that he had made a sure job of j ^ it. This was about 1u o ciock in tnc r morning. The engineer was stunned for l a quarter of an hour, but as his senses t came back to him he made no move- T ment. He had been taken down the , bank of the bayou several rods from the *' steamer, and was entirely out of sight unless he. stood on his feet. While his wound was a severe one, he determined to remain "dead" until the time came to get even. The outlaws held another consultation i fr.hr> shnotinrr. and aorain the fires 1 ""vv* """ n1 o ? were.startcd under the boiler. All the j wood aboard was consumed by noon, and ' the fellows went at it and gathered more. < By 2 o'clock, however, they gave up t all hopes of raising steam, and we heard < them quarreling in angry tones. They had caught a Tartar, and seemed anx- < ious to let go. About 3 o'cloc k it seemed to strike them that, if they could not get ] away with the steamer, they ought at 1 least to rob us, and we saw the whole i crowd moving down on the house boat < While all had knives and revolvers, ther. : was not a rifle among them. The two , they had captured from us were Henry's. , When the crowd reached our prison "the , men formed on the bank and the captain . opened the door about an inch and called out: i "V/ome, now, pass uui. juur piwii auu watches." "You show your nose inside and we'll kill you," replied our captain. We had found a couple of stout clubs in the house, and these were in the hands , of men on each side of the door. While j their positions were sheltered any one attempting to enter would find himself I in peril of his life. We were determined j neither to leave the shelter of the place ; nor to allow any of the oulaw3 to come in on us. They soon discovered that we held the key of the situation, and their passions were aroused to the highest pitch. They commanded and threatened, and, finding this of no avail, opened fire on the house. It was built of stout planks, and so long as we kept away from the windows there was no danger from i their bullets. They maintained the fusilIo/Ia t* ^olf on on/1 fin AT* I citing event occurred. That hero of an engineer, with his blood soaking his clothes, and the mosquitos biting him by the thousand, lay quiet where he fell until the outlaws abandoned the steamer to attack us. Then he carefully worked his way aboard, secured one of the Henry rifles, and crept through the bushes until he had them cut off from the swamp. Then he opened fire, and his first bullet passed through and through the leader's body and struck the house boat. Almost as fast as one could count we heard the crack of his rifle. The villians were seemingly petrified with astonishment and terror. Not a shot was tired in return, nor did a man of them seek to escape. In three minutes the lust man was down, and every one of them dead as men can die. We couldn't, of course, form any correct idea of what was going on, having long before given the engineer up for dead. He advanced to where the bodies were lying, counted them to make sure that none had escaped, ind then came down and let us out. The affair was never investigated even by a coroner. We gave the bodies burial, md when it became known that the swamp gang had been wiped out, no steamer, barge, or raft passed us without ipr fnnhain shouted his thanks.?New York San. Expulsion of the Poles. The Prussian government, in the sumTier of 1885, issued an order for the expulsion of all Poles from the country, rhey were to be allowed a certain time :o dispose of their effects, and at the end >f that time were obliged to depart whativer their circumstances or condition of lealth. As the Russian government reused to admit these banished people un ess mey couia prove mey were uuru ih ;hat countrj% their hapless condition iroused much sympathy in the German ;tates, and upon the meeting of the eichstag, or German parliament, a resoution was passed requesting an explanaion of this action. To this Chancellor iismarck replied that the matter was a Russian affair wholly, and as he could lot admit the right of the reichstag to :oncefn itself in those affairs that wert sxclusively the province of the states, le could give no explanation. Subsejuently, however, a similar resolution vas passed by the Prussian landtag, >r local assembly. To this Bismarck eplied, January 28,1886, at some length, le said that the primary cause of the fovernment's action was the disloyalty j >f the Poles to the German crown. They vere always, he said, engaged in inrigues, endeavoring to set foreign states gainst Prussia, and keeping up a coninual agitation against the government. | ?he government had therefore decided ? o banish the evil element that made all his trouble. The government had deid ed to purchase all the real estate wned by the Polish nobles in Prussian ^land, and place German colonists on he land hitherto occupicd by the excelled people. None of the Poles were o be allowed to repossess the land, even >y renting it, and to make its colonizaion more permanently valuable to the rerman empire, the colonists were to be orever prohibited from marrying Poles. Vhile it is admitted that the govcrnlent will have some difficulty in carryQg out these extreme measures if they re not concurred in by a majority of he Prussian assembly, it is certain that either Bismarck nor the king is likely o concede a single point of the plan, nd their influence is quite powerful nough to bear down all opposition to hose measures.?Chicago Inter-Ocean. The Climate of Alaska. Current notions as to the severity of the limate of Alaska require to be somewhat lodified. There is a strong ocean curent which sweeps sonthward and breakag upon the Alaskan shores produces long the coast an effect similar to that iroduced by the Gulf stream. A correpondent of the Chicago Advance, writQg from Puget sound, gives an en- ; ranting account of the climate there in anuary: TViJo mnrninnr ATonnanr T rnnnt.nl 1"'? """"'"a V" J "/ - I en different varieties of flowers in full I doom out of doors, among which were , 03cs, pansies, red and white daisies, blue- j >ells and chrysanthemums. The grass of J he hillside and meadow is as fresh and ;reen as in spring time, with here and here a red clover blossom lifting its lushing face as if to apologize for its uaeasonable appearance. Strawbarry vines, oo, scorning the figures of the calendar, >er3i3rently refuse to take their winter's iap, and with large, luxuriant leaves j :ontinue to shield the tender blossoms vhich nestle beneath their shade. Th? ; liligent, irrepressible Chinaman eitill j nakes his accustomed morning call with ' >askets of "celery, turnip-pe, beet-e and abbage-ge," fresh from the garden,while he festive "siwash" and his beloved 'klooockman" roam the streets baroicaded and barefooted in til their native )ride and dignity. The mean temperate for December was forty-three and a lalf degrees. At 2 p. m. it ranged from ,hirty-four to sixty degrees for the month. There were only five frosts, and no snow intil December 31, and then only enough ;o cover the ground. To-day the sun is v.irmlv shining, flowers are blooming," md all is merry as May. And this in the niddle of winter at forty-eight degrees lorth latitude. A Large Tarantula. The largest tarantula I ever saw paid ne a visit one evening and walked into the parlor without waiting to be announced. Several Niissau gentlemen tvere spending the evening with mc, ana sve were talking and thinking about anything but spiders, when somebody exclaimed : "There's a ground spider!" If a hand grenade had come through the ceiling ind dropped on the floor none of us could have been on our feet quicker. Everybody jumped back two or three feet, for the beast was right in our midst. He was >n the floor at our feet, not a yard away from any of us, and had walked in as unconcernedly as possible. He was, witham? av-iiTirorahinn jih hirorft as thft ? ? ?r>crowti of a man's hat. His legs looked as thick as the neck of a small bottle-and were covered with coal-black hairs, some of which were more than an inch long. Fortunately I was following a massau i custom at the time of leaving the floors imcarpeted, and we had no trouble to see him against the light-colored boards. There was immediately a rush for walkin i sticks and umbrellas to fight him nth; but one gentleman, with great presence of mind, picked up a large ottoman that stood near and threw it at him. Hie one shot put an end to the tarantula's ircer. He was soft, and the ottoman t nothing of him but a big spot on the ioor. larger than the rim of a hat, and a little hpap of black hair and legs.?Boiton Bulletin, ' ; * ' - . ' . Y '* . BUDGET OF FUN. HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. Unsatisfectory Explanation?No One Waiting on Her?A Seat on the Floor?"Chestnuts"? A Born Journalist. "Mr. Featherly," inquired Bobby, "What is meant by a 'bee line?"' "A 4bee line,' Bobby," explained ' Featherly, with an air of erudjiion, "means the manner in which a bee flies , to its hive after it has loaded itself with honey." Bobby's face assumed an expressson of perplexed amazement. "Then what did pa mean," he asked, "by saying that he never met you on the street that you weren't making a beeline for some saloon?"?New York Sun. i No One Waited on Her. < She waa young, she was green, she was 1 very new in Washington. At a recent ' swell affair she had gone with the crowd ] into the refreshment room. Presently an elegantly looking waiter, for all the world like a foreign Ambassador, bowed ! politely before her and murmured: "Is there any one waiting on you, miss?" "Sir? sir?" she stammered in startled 1 embarrasraent. 1 "Pardonnez moi. Is there any one 1 waiting on you?" j * "Oh!" she said, blushing brightly. ! ' "No, sir; not in "Washington. But when ' I'm at home I've got more beaus than any other girl ia town."?Washington ^ Critic. i A Seat on the Floor. j "Do you ever visit the Legislatur?" i asked a member from Wayback district to one of his constituents. "Yes, I was up to Bosting yesterday and went into the legislator'." "That so? Where'd you set?" , "Set in the gallery." "Wall, call me out next time and I j will give you a good seat on the floor." , "Wall, I swow, do you suppose I'd come way from Berkshire jest for a 1 chance of settin' on the floor to hear you j j fellers spout? Wall, I guess not. I , should think that after a feller worked as hard as I did for your election, you j might at least have offered me a chair, t By hokev, this is the last time you will j get my vote."?Lynn Union. . j "Chestnuts." 1 Scene: Private dining-room at club. 1 A company of gentlemen dining. Mr. I < Y., a slightly garrulous party, loquitur, J triumphantly: "Sharp boy, my Bob; rather got even j with him yesterday, though. Guess he t found the old man quite sharp enough for him. You see 'twas this way: I had been telling about that time when the boat upset at Lake George and not one of the six in it could swim but myself, and at the point where I swam ashore with Bob's mother (we weren't married then) that young monkey remarks: " 'Oh, chestnut 1' " 'Chestnut?' said I; 'what is that?' "'It means you've told it before; it's an old story,' said Bob. "Pretty soon Bob passed up his plate for more meat. Quick as a flash: " 'Chestnut,' said I. " 'What do you mean by that?' asked the boy in surprise. " 'It's an old story; you passed your plate fnrmore meat yesterday.' "Bob looked pretty streaked, and said if I'd give him some meat he would never j s sav 'nhfistnut' a<rain. Rather turned the I i J o tables on the young scamp, eh? And ] then his mother said, with a smile: 1 " 'You shouldn't notice those things, j Robert. Only think of the years I've ] heard your father tell that story!'" V? somehow failed to appreciate the ] laughter that greeted his story.?Boston j Record. A Born Journalist. George D. Prentice, while editor of the , Louisville Journal, was often importuned ; by college men who panted for a chance , to send a quiver through the great read- ( ing world. A graduate named Edwards , was so fortunate as to secure a trial on the , Journal. He was a modest young man, j and did not claim that he could, the first j week, take quite all the work off Mr. \ Prentice's hands, but he knew that after , the first month he could take the place | of the chief editor and discharge his | duties in a way that would render the \ readers oblivious to the change. The ( great journalist had, by a very dear , friend, been recommended to Prentice, , consequently the editor was anxious that , the young man should do well. Duringthe | afternoon of the third day, Edwards \ went into Prentice's room, and with an j air of self-confidence, began to boast of his newspaper acquirements. 1 - ? ? ?f V*n r> onrcrvo nor " I lJCre 19 grcuiucai ill tuc ugTTo^/u^vi I business after all," said he. Mr. Prentice agreed that there was a < great deal in the newspaper business after all. 1 "Yes. sir," Edwards continued, ( "when I was at school I used to think ' that a man could learn all about the |< whole thing in a day or two, but he can't 1 do it. I think, though, that some men ! inherit a kind of insight into the journalistic profession, don't you?" 1 "It seems so," Mr. Prentice replied. '< "Yes," Edwards resumed, "some men 1 have a natural facility for forming the ' opinions of others; and, sir, the beauty * of it is the natural product journalist i forms opinions so skilfully that the man ] - .1 i? n < who reads it swallows it, ana, Dy uniurge, | sir, thinks that he himself formed it." 1 "Very often the case, no doubt," re- ! plied Mr. Prentice. 1 "Now," Edwards went on, "that's j1 what I regard as journalism. None of i 1 your slip-shod business about that. I 1 suppose, Mr. Prentice, you have observed i that I have learned to say things pleas- ! antlv?" 1 "Yes." "That's one acquisition. Now, what next would you advise?" 1 "Learn something to say." ' ?? ? ? ? * 1 r_ 71.1 ? "Wiiy, i?i?" swminerea mr. x<u- ; wards, "J thought that?" "No explanations arc necessary," said Mr. Prentic e. Then, turning in his chair and bestowing a quizzical look upon the l upstart, the man whose idlest pen stroke ( was sometimes a gouging pasquinade ' said: ^ 1 "Vamt fnrp-sicrhf. ia t.no clear f;o enable 1 yon to become a journalist!" "How so?" "Why, you see through the whole thing. You can look into the business of a newspaper like a prophet could look into the future. This, in the end, must render the business distasteful to \ you. As all strollers will tell you, the most pleasant road to traverse is the one 1 that offers the largest number of surprises?glimpse of shining water, a moment's view of rich landscape. Therefore I would advise you to give up the newspaper business, for it will undoubt- 1 edly become distasteful, like a monoto nous path too often gone over. I know that it would be a struggle to tear yourself away now, but you should make the 9*r>rifin(? Ynu owe it vour father, your mother, your creditors." "I know there is much truth in what you say, Mr. Prentice, but I have given i so much thought to this business, that j now to throw it away and engage in something else would be changing the course of a life?would be like changing the channel of a mighty river." Edwards smote his troubled breast, lifted up his moustache, put a finger on each side of his mouth, and missed the spittoon about six inches. "I foresee the struggle." said Mr.Prentice; "but because a struggle is foreseen is no reason why it should be averted. Life is a struggle." "But, Mr. Prentice, what would you advise me to do?" "Your foresight prompts me to suggest the advisability of running a government. I don't know anything about the chances for getting that kind of situation it present, but I do know that you could io up the work to the delight of the }ueen and to the taste of the entire royal lousehold. Let me see. How are you :n Greek?" "First-rate." "i-TooaDiy you mignc get a suuauuu is a writer of circus posters." "I wouldn't like that." "No? Well,how would you like to float down the river on a raft, spending your spare moments in the study of current lavigation, sand bank philosophy, andthe wholesome casuistry of ferrymen who charged double price when the water was j tow, because it is low, and double price when the water is high, because it lb iiigh*" "You are making fun of me." "Oh, no; quite impossible. I cannot make anything of you. Here, Bill," calling a porter. "let in that other graduate ind we'll give him a turn."?Arkansaw Traveler. Wonders of the Sea. The sea occupies three-fifths of the surface of the earth. At the depth of ibout 3,500 feet, waves are not felt. The temperature is the same, varying only a ;rifle from the ice of the pole to the burnng sun of the equator. A mile down, the water has a pressure of over a ton to ;he square inch. If a box six feet deep ivere filled with sea water and allowed to jvaporate under the sun, there would be ;wo inches of salt left on the bottom, raking the average depth of the ocean to je three miles, there would a laj'er of pure salt 230 feet thick on the bed of the Atlantic. The water is colder at the bottom than at the surface. In the many 3ays on the coast of Norway, the water jften freezes at the bottom before it does ibove. Waves are deceptive. To look at them n a storm, one would think the water traveled. The water stays in the same alace, but the motion goes on. Sometimes in storms these waves arc forty ;eet ftign, ana travel nuy raucs an uuur ?more than twice as fast as the swiftest iteamer. The distance from valley to ralley is generally fifteen times the height lence a wave five feet high will extend jver seventy-five feet of water. The force )f the sea dashing on Bell Rock is said td je seventeen tons for e;ich square yard. Evaporation is a wonderful power in Jrawing the water from the sea. Every (rear a layer 01 tne enure sea iourceuu iceo ;hick is taken up . into the clouds. The winds bear their burden into the land, and ;be water comes down in rain upon the ields to flow back at last through rivers. The depth of the sea presents an interesting problem. If the Atlantic were lowired 6,564 feet, the distance from shore to shore would be half as great, or 1,500 ? miles. If lowered a little more than three uiles, say 19,650 feet there would ; be a road of dry land from Newfoundland to Ireland. This is the plan on which the great Atlantic cables tvere laid. The Mediterranean is comparatively shallow. A drying up of 660 feet would leave three different seas, and Africa would be joined with Italy. The British channel' is more like a pond, which accounts for its choppy waves. It has been found difficult to get correct soundings of the Atlantic. A midshipman of the navy overcame the diffi:ulty, and shot weighing thirty pounds carries down the line. A hole is bored ? ' ?i i J-\ 1. ? tnrougn tne sinser, inrougn wmcii a rod of iron is passed, moving easily back jnd forth. In the end of the bar a cup is dug out, and the inside coated with lard. The bar is made fast to the line, ind a sling holds the shot on. When the bar, which extends below the ball, touches the earth, the sling unhooks and the shots slide off. The lard in the end jf the bar holds some of the sand, or whatever may be on the bottom, and a 3rop shuts over the cup to keep the tvater from washing the sand out. When the ground is reached, a shock is felt as if an electric current had passed through the line.?Electrical Review. A Clock of Clocks. The famous clock of Strasburg is put 3omr)letelv into the shade bv "the great World Clock, or the ten-thousand "year ;ime indicator." "It was constructed in Serraany during mony years' labor by Christian Martin, clockmaker." The ;lock marks the years and leap years, and will run for a hundred centuries, when, is the bill frankly admits, its "mechanic works" will have to be changed. The face of the clock is about ten feet square, ind has a large number of dials and little niches, where 122 little figures have their abiding place. These latter, as the sver-readv bill exDlains. are "to allego rize human life." Every minute a sorrowful looking angel hits a bell with a sledge-hammer. When he has done this fifteen times another angel in a red robe strikes the first quarter. "The Genins," dressed in a Louis XIV. costume, turns a dial so that the figure is shown. At the same time the figure of a child appears at h lower door. At the second a youth appears; at the third an aged man with spectacles and a high hat, and at the fourth, a decrepit old wreck with a white wig. While all this is going on below, death, in the shape of a Comanche Indian with wings, has been vainly endeavoring to hammer a bell in an upper niche, but an angel has headed him off in every case and protected the k,imnr> fomilv "hv rftininrr tho rinrhf; hand I'".'1**" O o in an allegorical relation," as per programme, until the fourth quarter. Then death gets the better of the struggle, strikes the hour and bundles the old man off to eternity. The. twelve apostles are trotted out each hour. Above them is a figure of Christ, "who blesses with both hands each Apostle in passing," ;isthe bill states, with mathematical exactness. At morning, noon and Light a number of bell-ringers ring their respective bells with vindictive energy, and an old man drops upon his knees as if some one had ----- * j? :? aii kicked his legs out irom unacr mm. ah these and many other wonders, exposing the family secrets of the zodiac, the heathen gods, the seasons, the moon, and the globe all run regularly. The whole structure is surmounted by a cock, which crows at 6 and 12 o'clock.?Pall Mall Gazette. V ' KING OF THE DUDES.! PECULIARITIES OP A NOTED NEW YORK CHARACTER. A Man with Enough Clothes to Stock a Rig Store?Expensive Jokes which Helped Use Up his Fortune. A gentleman, who is well posted on the subject, was talking to a Star reporter the other day about the many peculiarities which gained for Mr. E. Berry Wall, of New York, the title of "the King of the Dudes." Mr. Wall still wears his crown, although the money that helped materially in acquiring it is all gone, and royalty is now forced to live on the memories of the past, with the help of an indulgent and wealthy mother. He still gits about all that an ordinary man can want, but it is said that the mother refuses to pay any bills of the son contracted during the height of his reign. '-Wall isn't ? ? :J ii :<.i. IX Ucl u i t/llU W 9 atuu 1/11C gUilUClIJUU Wltu whom the 5tar mail was conversing. "There is nothing wicked about him. Ho has a heart as big as that table. But he is the biggest fool about dress that I ever heard of. He never had any idea of the value of monev. He never has found it necessary to do a stroke of work, and he succeeded in getting away with $300,000 in three years. He has seen more life, as the boys call it, than m->st men of twice his age who may be considered fast. He has been going it hard since he was fifteen years old, and he is now barely twentyfive. He has a brother who was in Paris the last time I heard of him. He is about as eccentric as Berry, but has never attracted so much attention. His weakness is for pictures. He has so many that he hasn't room for them, and is continually getting more. Good taste? No indeed. He is just as apt to pay $1,000 for a daub as for a gem. The father left both boys wealthy when he died, and his will gave both entire possession of their inheritance when they became of age." "As everybody knows," he continued, "Berry Wall thinks more of clothes than anything else in the world,and he possesses enough to open a first-class clothing house. If he never gets another cent he will be well dressed for the remainder of his lifp has nr rnthpr "hn.fi mifi rnnm given up entirely to his clothes. A long table on one side was covered with piles of trousers of all styles neatly folded. In this way they always showed the crease I which swells have learned to approve because its 'English, you know.' The wearer of hand-me downs, however, always has his trousers pressed before he will wear them. The dude king would enter the room in the morning, and running the back of his hand up a pile so as to get a glimpse of the colors, would draw out a pair that suited his fancy. He would Dana tnem to nis vaiet, ana proceed to select the rest of his outfit for the morning. His overcoats occupied a portion of the room, his cutaways another, his frocks and sacks another, and so on, all carefully hung on frames. Under the long table referred to were shelves filled with all kinds of shoes of the finest make. I remember that a representative of an English tailor received a letter of introduction to "Wall from an intimate friend. When he presented it to get an order the dude king said: "I am awfully gorry that I have given orders for my spring clothes to Poole and others in New York, and that 1 can't give you a good order, but if you care to you can make me up thirteen suits and send them over." That's a fact. He took a few miles sail on the Despatch at New York not long ago, and he took with hinl three or four overcoats, each a shade heavier than the other. He devoted as much attention to his underclothes, which were always of the finest silk, costing not less A J /\ J _ 11 per pair. "Next to clotlies," went on the Star's informant, "Wall loves horses and dogs best, and he has owned many fine one3 in his day. I have known him to hunt through the New York kennels in search of a dog to match a suit he particularly fancied. I saw him one day walking down Broadway with a log of a cane under his arm and at his heels the ugliest bulldog I ever saw in my life. Of course he attracted attention. The next day & number of swells could be seen with club canes and ugly bulldogs following them. Wall was the recognized monarch of dudedom, and he set the fashion for his admirers. He often dabbled in stocks, UUl K.XlUWiiJg UULIJIUg auuuu uicm gciuviu struck them right. On one occasion he showed a telegram to some friends which informed him that he had lost $40,000 in cotton at one stroke. He met # his reverse with good grace and never cried over spilled milk. He spent his money as freely on others as on himself, and was always ready to lend a helping hand to a friend in trouble. He was governed by impulse in nearly everything, and would carry out any freak that entered his head. He would at a momen'ts notice take the steamer for Europe and catch the first returning one he could, bringing with him something to prove to the boys that he has done as he intended. He has been known to overrun and literally smash a coupe on Broadway containing a friend just for a joke and pay Brewster $500 to fix it up. Walking along the street sometimes he would wonder how a brick would look flying through a big plate glass window, ana wouia at once take steps to find out and promptly pay damages. He would buy anything that struck his fancy, no matter what it might cost. Berry came to the end of nis string some time ago, but will probably never want as long as he behaves himself half decently. He occasionally came to "Washington during his reign, and invariably brought a wardrobe sufficient for half a dozen men. He has a number of friends here with whom he is quite popular. It wouldn't surprise me to see him take a sharp turn and show himself to be a man."?Washington Star. What Flame Is. According to Dr. Siemens, larije furnaces, on account of the nature of flame, must replace small ones. He claims to have proven that solid substances interfere with the formation of flame, and that flames injure solid substances with which it comes in contact. To account for the phenomena he advances, preferably, an electric hypothesis. Accordingly he explains flame as the result of an infinite number of exceedingly minute electrical flashes being due to the very swift motion of gaseous particles; and a solid body which opposes itself to these flames is cut by them, while the motion being more or less arrested by the solid body, the flame is thus more or less subdued. Siemens insists, therefore, that flame must not be allowed to impinge on bodies to be heated, but must simply heat the bodies by radiation, and furnaces must be so constructed as to allow the flame to develop out of contact, not only with the substance on its bed but with the walls and roof of the furoace itself.?Phrenological Journal. Portland, Me., houses 200 men .possessing from $100,000 to $3,000,000 each. ? ':wu . . ' ; , v '' ,* POPULAR SCIENCE. Glass plates hare been substituted for \ copper in the sheathing ( an Italian skip, the advantage claimed being exemption from oxidation, and incrustation. llw glass was east, like iron, in plates to fit the hull. An interesting field for scientific roBMkTrh Iijlr bp?n ooened bv Prof. S. P. Langley, by the discovery that the keat radiated from the soil is of an almost totally different quality from that,which comes from the sun. Nordenfelt has now built a torpedo boat 100 feet long to carry two Wnitehead torpedoes of 300 pounds each, and capable of accommodating a crew of fix men under water for six hours. These boats would cnt the strongest steel nets, and its torpedo would abolish the greatest ironclad. , Late investigations indicate that the chlorophyl. or jrreen coloring substance of the leaves, is most liable to pick up metallic matter absorbed by the roots of plants. When vines have been manured with sulphate of copper, most of the metal is deposited in the leaves, merely a trace appearing in the juice of the grapes. Tea-leaves contain much iron, doubtless due to the ochreous soil on which they best grow. After a study of nearly 12,000 cases, Dr. Hermann Brchmer, an able German physiciau, rejects the theory of the contagiousness of pulmonary consumption.. He finds the disease to be due to defecient . nutrition of the lungs, which may result frnm varinnn nnl-pperifint nflllSPS. such U inherited defects of constitution, and vital organs impaired by disease, injuij, or mode of living. He believes that thf operation of all these causes may produce such changes that it may be possi- j ble?years, even decades, in advance? to predict with great probability which members of a given' family will be af- . flicted with pulmonary consumption, and which will remain healthy. Percy Smith, writing on the liability ' of trees to be struck by lightning, says: * The suggestion that oak trees are struck because they contain iron is both erroneous and absurd. If oak did contain iron >VVit would in all probability increase its conducting power and act as a preventive^ If oak contained an estimable quantity of that metal the wood would turn black on exposure to air on account of the tannin which is present. The blackening, '-v may be seen surrounding me iron nan ., in any oak fence. The contour of th? ground, nature of the soil, and the pretence or absence of water have more influence in deciding the locality of an electric discharge than the height of tree. Add to this the difference m con-.. ' ductility between various woods, and wfl have at once an explanation of the apparent peculiarity of tall trees escaping unharmed ' while shorter trees are destroyed." . . Where Maud S. Got Her Name. The society columns of a Cincinnati paper not long si nee contained the following: "Miss Maud Stone entertained a number of her joung friends at he* father's elegant home in the East End last week." I think I hear you say, re? ^ ? marks the gossip of the Philadelphia ' . News, "Well, I don't see anything Strang* , in a notice.like that." There is not, only the young lady mentioned is the one thfl fastest trotter in the world was named for. Her father had purchased the young filly from a gentleman named Btfgher for $300. Not long after he took a friend out to Chester Park to look at some racing stock. The filly was in the '"infield," and as they walked toward the stables Captain Stone said: "There is a filly I bought the other day and I think she hai a turn of speed." His friend looked hex over, and liking her points remarked: "Start her up and let's see how. she . moves." Taking off his silk hat, the captain rattled it with his hand and the a-~ -* 1 ~AP of fViT-oa line Jr'UUUg UU1U131 Siaitcu ? a uuw minute clip. "Why, she's a natural trotter, " was the comment. 4 'She is, indeed," replied the captain, with commendable pride in his purchase. "I wish I kne* a good name for her," he added. "Why not call her after one of your children I*' asked the friend. "I had not thought of that," was the reply made as they walked away. The friend thought no more at the filly for about two weeks, when he met Captain Stone coming out of the postoffice. "Hello," said he, "I hav? acted on your suggestion and just posted the letter claiming the name for my filly. I am going to call her after my daughter Maud." "Maud Stone will be a pretty name," responded the friend. "Oh! Til not call her the full name," replied the captain, with a blush. "You see, she'll mature before my daughter, aud I wouldn't lik? tn see her full name on a race card, so I have called her Maud S." After the filly made her great record at Lexington she was sold to W. H. Vanderbilt for $21,000. He never knew how to handle her, and was never able to get her speed out of her. Captain 8ton? tried to buy her back, and offered $100,000 for her, but the Vanderbilta would not let him have her. An Elcctric Tree. A German explorer, one Dr. Kummel, has discovered, it appears, an electric tree, the Elsassia Elcctrica, in New Guinea. He proposes to chop it into slices and set up a central station for lighting by solid generators. The following description is given of the find: "I stopped under a large tree which seemed particularly to attract the attention of Kummel, who had been finding all kinds of novelties the whole morning, to take exact bearings of a high peak, which was visible through an opening in front of us. To my surprise the compass seemed utterly drank. While Kummel and I were discussing this phenomenon one of the men struck with a machette one of a number of peculiar buttresses, which ran up the outside of the tree, splittting off a large slice aud severing a * Klnrtlr nAKn T-r?V*ir?Vt fnrrnft/1 curicms-iuuaaiig uia^iw tuxuinu* ivimw the centre. Kummel placed his hands on the two ends of the core to look at it more closely (rational action), and instantly gave a yell and rolled head over heels, getting up without his spectacles, and stammering that he had had a severe electric shock (say, 150 volts!)." The expedition did not pcs<ess a galvanometer. but an apology for one was made with a helix of copper wire and the compass. the result going to show that a strong current was pasring through every portion of the tree. A l'orest ol tneae trees was seen, the locality being nearly bare of other vegetation. The black core, we are informed, is composed of pure amorphous carbon. The story of Dr. Kummel strongly suggests a strong favorite German beverage of the same name. Very likely the combination of these two "ICummels" may have resulted in the production of the above fruit of the pen.?London Globe. Tiru?4- on aTiimini ia man t W Un4 m TT k vv aiiv a strange, chaotic and contradictory being! Judge of all things, feeble earth-worm, depository of the truth, mass of uncertainty, glory and butt of the universe, incomprehensible monster!