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BOOKS AND LIFE. Truths there are I read in books Of the poets and the sages. Who, from out their solitude, Speak the oracles of ages. Ave, I find some lowly life. That, in far-transcendiug beauty. Wrought these truths unconsciously ? ' * ? - J? C in ine living lorm 01 uutj. Back 1 come unto my books, And I am no idle dreamer, And the poet is not mad, Nor the sage a subtle schemer. ?Ida, A. Ahlborn, in Inter-Quean. RELIGIOUS READING. I What is Life? A littlo crib beside the bed, s A little face above the spread, A little frock behind the door, A little shoe upon th3 floor. A little lad, with dark brown hair, A little blue-eyed faco and fair, A little lane that leads to school, 1\ 11LUW IWIUJil, SlilltJ auu & uio. A little blithesome, winsome maid, A little hand within his laid; ** A little cottage, acres four, A little old-time fashioned store, A little family gathering round-, A little turf-heaped, tear-dewed mound; A little added to his soil, A lit Je rest from hardest toil. A little silver in his hair; A little stool and easy chair; A little night of earth-lit gloom; A little cortege to the tomb. Where U Your Place's A place for every man, and every man in his placc! This motto is as good for Christ's Church, as it was for the army during the war. But what is every Christian's right place? We answer it is the one for which God made him, and for which the Holy Spirit converted him. To mistake it is a sad blunder; to desert it is a disgrace. The Bible acknowledges that God made His servants for some especial "niche;" for it says "having the gift differing according to the grace that is given us, j let us wait on our ministering; or he ; that teacheth on teaching; or he that exhorted on exhortation; he that giveth let him do it with simplicity; he that , ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness." The principle laid down here is that every man or woman who loves Jesu3 should select, and should fill that post of duty for which his or her gifts have fitted them. Bu- "let no man neglect the gift that is in him." Some men?like Spurgeon and New man Jiall ana tfisnop Dimpson?were created for the pulpit. God gave them clear heads, warm hearts, strong lungs and eloquent tongues, and a hunger for saving souls. To possess such gifts is a clear call to the ministry. And thousands of humble preachers who cannot attract Spurgeon's crowds, are yet as clearly called to the ministry of the Word as the London Boanarges. Suppose a man or woman feel?after deep prayer or self-examination? that God has not called them to ths pulpit ; what then ? Must they be silent? Are all the speaking gifts of the pious lawyer, or doctor, or merchant, or mechanic to run to ' # ; waste? No, verily! Let such proclaim ; the glad tidings of Christ, and the story of their own Christian experience in the miAciAn onKnAl rvn prayer*IUCCUU^ ur iuu ui?oivuowuwtj v* i the cottage conference meeting, or I wherever they can find souls to plead j with. How successfully this lay-labor may be made, let such men as Harlan ! Page and Richard Weaver and George j H. Stuart and D. L. Moody and Uncle Johnny Vassar bear witness. Let the powerful lay preaching heard every day in "Fulton street" answer. Some of the best discourses I have ever heard were but five or ten minutes long, and were delivered in my own prayer meeting. A Christian wtio is keen for work, will soon find his place. If he is "apt to tcach," ho or she will soon gather the I Sabbath-school class, and will be there, J Bible in hand, every Sunday, even j though the rain spatters on the pavements. Commend me to the teacher who wears a ' ater-proof and always consults conscience sooner than the barometer! Whoever has the gift of song should join in God's great choir, at every religious service. The owner of a good voice must give an account for that voice at the day of judgment. We shall never have genuine congregational singing until every redeemed child of Christ sings from duty, and consecrates the gift of music to the Lord. Those who expect to sing in heaven had better practice here. Tract-distribution is going too much out of fashion. It is a blessed and heaven-honored work, and any one with spare time and a tongue and a little pious tact, can go out with a bundle of tracks to the abodes of ignorance and irieligion. Tliose who cannot exhort or teach in a Sunday School, can at least live for Jesus at home and come and join in the | prayers of the prayer-meeting. The oldest, the timidest, the least gifced can do surely as much as add his penny when the contribution-box is passed. The gift of a "cup of cold water" in Christ's name has its reward. Every | one whom Jesus saves has a place as signed in the vineyard. An idle Christian is a monster! Friend! have you lound your place??Rev. Thctdorc L. Cuyler. Christians are often employed in digging wells to find comfort, and the deeper they go the darker they get; the Fountain of Ufc, salvation and comfort, ia atirn'c- r.all imon thv God aud look up, and the light of His love will soon Cheer thee. As water runs down from the swelling hills, and flows together in the lowly vale, so grace flows not but into humble heartd. AGRICULTURAL" " TOPICS OF INTEREST RELATIVE TO FARM AND GARDEN'. Rnnr fJr.il'tin!?. Most of the apple trees sold by nurserymen are root grafted. There are several advantages and some disadvantdges of this method of obtaining trees. The natural stock if top grafted can make but one tree; but by using small pic es of roots two or more grafts may be inserted in those from a single stock. In rich, well cultivated ground the length of root to be grafted makes little diilereren: e in the growth, as the new plant soon puts forth roots of its own. For convenience in planting, the root is usually made very small. The roots to be grafted may be taken up in the fall and packed in sand to keep them from drying out. (irafting may be done through the winter, as it requires 15,000 to 20,000 trees to set an acre, it furnishes employment fot several hands in a large nursery for a considerable time. The graft after insertion is bound by a strip of waxed cloth, made especially for this purpose, and much more convenient than using grafting wax from the roil. 15uds seldom start f:o.n the root, and the entire tree i-; thus of the same kind as the graft. With ' oine of the less hardy or vigorous varieties of apples this is not as well, and .such varieties should be top grafted on stocks of npnrnvAfl viuor and hardiness.? Cultivator. t,.v. ? "O Roads. Good roails not only save lioiseHesh, but vehicles. Take what arc ordinarily callcd "good roads" and "bad roads." and a vehicle used on the lirst only wili last twice as long, at least, as one used on the latter only. 2so one can doubt that country roads would be fifty per cent, better than they now are, if the labor and money put upon them were properly applied. Ilow to have that work and money properly used is the matter to be discussed now, ihat the best methods may be ready for adoption when the seaBon for road making comes. Whether or not the road bed should be only surface-drained. or unc'cr-drained with tile, or by putting in a corduroy foundation; whether or not gravel or plank should be used; how best to use gravel, or plank, or tile?these are points to be decided before spring. The Farmers' Club should | also discuss specifically the repair of each j highway in the neighborhood. This will lead, among other things, to an understanding whether or not it ^ ill be proper to shorten a highway by straightening it; whether a road that now goes around a hill should be carried over it by grading dowu the hill, or whether making a road longer by carrying it around a hill will j be compensated for by the less grade: | how to keep weeds from growing in the | highwa- s, to seed the adjacent land, and ! many other points which, thus being settled, would greatly add to the improvement of the roads.?American Agriculturalist. Early Maturity. The question of early maturity in the feeding of animals used as human food ! is always interesting. It is simply a | question of the cost of material food to ! .3 3 ~r ! prouucc a [iuuuuui mum. iuc cjucsliuh , of preparation of food comes in, of: course, collaterally. In the feeding of any farm stock it is dclinitly settled that the younger the animal the more fully is the food assimilated. That is, | the young animal will give a greater re-! turn for the food taken than will an older one, and the younger the animal | the more fully is the food assimilated. ; That is, the joung animal will give a! greater return for the food taken than j will an older one, and the younger the ' animal the greater the return. Of j beeves, at the Fat-^tock Show at Cliica- j go it was shown that of nine steers i weighing pounds c'.ch at the end of j the tirst year, the cost to the breeder < and feeder was three aud a half cents j perpo:ind. In the second year five of these gained an average of OOG pounds each, the cost being nine cents per pound. Two of thess the third year J gained (WO pounds, but cost to make 1 thirteen cents per pound. This of course 1 is an extreme case where the cost of arti- j ficial feeding and care must be taken j into consideration, but the fact neverthe-! less remains that the older the animal the Ie>8 cam is there tor tne iooci consumed. The time inevitably comes ; when, however much food is given, however rich the food, no gain can be ; found. Hence it may be set down as a constant rule that the older the animal the ' less return shall we get for the food ; given. In this connection the rule has been found identical in England. In j relation to this matter the Burnley Gazette (England), in rc-1 ttion to feeding in that country, says: I 'At Islington last year a prize-win- ! ning Devon steer weighed 80i? pounds j at W8 days old, having made the very; satisfactory pain for a small breed of two pounds daily. This year at Birming- ! ham the pri e-winners in the "under j four-years old" class had all gained less than two pounds daily, the cross-bred j Short-Horn and Angus bullocks having bred the highest daily gain of one pound fourteen ounces. The ''under three- i years-old'' animals had made a daily gaiu of two pounds one ounce, and two pounds one and a half ounces in the case of the pri e Short-Horn and Polled Angus, and of two pounds three and a half ounces in that of the cross bred Champion oxen. The same story, showing the advantage of early maturity, might be told of sheep. Colonel d'Arbres's Hampshire lambs have been exhibited, weighing 14<? pounds at ten months old, and whose young sheep ' are sold as mutton at s -ven, eight, and nine months old. weighing 112 pounds, orasn.uchas wethers did formerly at one year ojjler." The practical le-son to be learned from the foregoing is that the fcider who keeps animals in low flesh for years and then puts them up to fatten loses money. The daily waste of an animal is a constant factor.. It take a certain amound of food to keep this up. Only the excess of this, or what h gained, goes to the credit account. Hence it has come to be a recognized fact among the better class of feeders that the fuller any animal destined for the butcher's block the larger the profit, and hence the earlier the maturity the larger the return.? C/ti-i'go Tribune. Farm and Garden Notes. Treat all plants as weeds when they are growing where not wanted. Apply long, strawy manure to heavy soils, to render them open and porous. It will pay to pile the manure a year before it is used, turning it about twice and keeping it moist. Interest is like an open faucet to the tnnirtococ nnrml The molasses will run oat slowly; but it will all get out. No matter how hard the farmer works, if he does not labor with skill he cannot keep up with the progress of the times. Like produces like, and it is impossible after grain is put into the bin to tell whether it came from a large, vigorous plant or not. High farming is precisely like the keeping of superior animals. To get the best return, not only the animals but the soil must be well fed. The man who puts up a barbed-wire fence in Nebraska is responsible for any damages sustained by men or animals coming in contact with it. n i The American Dairy mi n says a thor- I oughbred cow in a herd has a refining intluencc in the family,and every farmer should have at least one in his herd. If the compost heap is unsightly it may be built up at "the far end" of the stable-yard, and refuse matter thrown on the heap will help to increase its value. j If a farmer will take care not to purI chase whit he cannot use or has little need for he will soon learn that it is poor economy lor him to buy anything but the best. Breeding stock should not be pampered, but be kept in a thrifty condition, and not allowed- to "run down." They need muscle rather than fat, as the latter always means a loss of energy, if not of health and vigor. The average yield of butter, says Mon- j trcal Witness in fair to good dairies, of fifty cow.-? or over, is 175 to 200 pounds a cow; in very good dairies 250, and a dairy which reaches the high average yield of ;5rt() pounds is rare in our best butter sections. A fine saw is a good implement for cutting off the larger grape-vines, and a ! sharp kniTe for the smaller ones. In all j ca^cs make a clean cut, without hacking 1 or bruising the wood which is to remain, 80 the wound will heal up neatly and not leave a shattered stock to bleed and rot. The Fort Wayne G'isc/te says: Farmers should be sure and sign eVery paper presented to them by a str inger. If the stranger forgets to present one ask him ab )Ut it. It may be added, if signed, it may come back in the shape of a promissory note in the hands of innocent (?) parties, and the courts have decided such must be paid. In preparing food for stock, such as cooked vegetable, chopped feed, etc., olnroTra tMJnn -rolf-h snlf "Klvprv ftnimftl craves it and must have a certain amount os saline matter introduced into its system to enable it to thrive. Many animals really suiter for the want of salt, and lose appetite, which ia attributed to some other ca u-e. A correspondent, who is an old Iruit grower, says that he prefers winter to spring for pruning his orc hard. The tree perhaps does not do any better for it, but the bark does not peel off easily when rubbed by the ladder or the boot soles. Then, too, it is much easier getting about in the tree tops when the branches are free from leaves or bloasoms. It is claimed that a flock of sheep can be made more prolific by selection. In tliis way the Shropshire*, that have been improved so as to bring forth a greater number of lambs, arc selected as breeders, and gradually the breed has become more prolific and each ewe, taking a llo k as a whole, produces an average of one lamb and a half per year. The green aphis is usually destroyed in plant houses by fumigating with tobacco or tobacco stems. When only a few house plants are to be rid cf them, it may be done with soapy water in which is a little tobacco water, that is, water in which toba co has been soaked or steeped. The tops of the plants can be dipped in this water, or it can be applied to the foliage by means of a syringe. A fruit grower says that in his opinion the peach tree should be kept headed in, not thinned out, for best fruit yields. As . sure as the tree grows tall,, spindling ' limKa or> aurA f.hl? fr.lit hftpomes small and I imperfect. In the autumn he cuts trees at least half of all the new growth. He don't advocate thinning out the branches of the peach tree, but' approves of thinning out the fruit to induce a yield of fine, large peaches. When pullets are forced to lay early, by stimulants or highly concentrated food, it ! is an injury, aa it taxes the vitality. A pullet that is forced will lay very small eggs for a while, and when she ccases, in urder to nest4 she will not begin again as soon as a matured hen. She becomes prematurely old, and docs not prove on the average as profitable as when she is given ample time to mature before beginning to lay. The protection of a bed of lilies, saya C. L. Allen, is a aimple and inexpenaive operation. The best and most natural is a covering, say six inches deep, of newly fallen leaves; theae kept in their places by a few brush or pieces of board, tfalt or marsh hay is also an excellent -A lK. J . protection; corn scants answer u jjuou purpose; in short, whatever materinl is the mo-t convenient that will accomplish the purpose is the best to use. There is no fixed rule for miiking kicking cows, but a correspondent in an exchange names the following as his method: Approach the cow whistling, singing or talking, to attract her attention. Lean gently against her side and tell her to "hoist." Place the head against her and adjust the stool, sit down and gently grasp the farther fore teat, then i he near one, and with the head still resting against her keep milking, whistling until the job is finished. Wherever there is live stock to be fed there should be regular measures to deal out the giain with. This will insure evenne-is in feeding and enable one to know exactly how much grain is being consumed. With the use of one-half inch thick pine boards for the bottoms any farmer may readily get up a set of measures. A one-quart size should be four inches square, by four and one-half inches deep; two quarts, five inches square, five and three eighths inches deep: three quarts, six inches square, five and three-fifths inches deep, and a fourquart size six and three-fourths inches onnnro five and nine-tenths inchcs deep. Do not send half fat or otherwise mean chickens to market. Send the fat ones and feed the underlings a little longer. It is the even lot of any stock animal as well as birds that brings the most money. Take special care in picking and packing. ; Here again is where monoy is lost. No mun will buy a nasty lot of fowl3 if he can get those clean and nicely picked, and then never at a paying price to the grower. Take a lesson from the city merchant. See how nicely the packages look. It is one of the "tricks of the trade," and an essential and honest one. I , The fa'ilt more often lies with the farmer | than with the commission man that the 1 shipper d^cs not get remunerative re| turns. A cow in milk should never he driven faster than a walk. Good cows have larce and well filled udders, which cause pain to them if they are hurried or : ? * ~~ u.. .. ? i Qriven iu <i run, as %jy a taxciv/oo uvjr ui u | dog. Besides, tliers is danger of overbeating the blood and milk, and thus j greatly injuring it and reudering it unwholesome. The common companion of the "cow boy" is his dog. Every owner | of cows should understand that dogsexi cite and worry cows, and this ought to ; tcach him that dogs should never be al lowed to come near them. We have seen i a farmer send a dog to bring up the ; cows, and he would bring them on a dead run. The dog was less at fault than j the man, and he did as he was told with] out knowing how much injury he was ; doinir. , UGLY ELEPHANTS. BIG BRUTES CREATING DISTURBANCES IN SHOWS. Romeo, the Most Trcacherouu of All Circus Elephants?Other Elephants That Are Always Ripe for Mischief. The worst elephant that ever walked in a circus parade in the United States was Forepaugh's well known big elephant Romeo. He was as full of mischief as a monkey, and as dangerous as a dynamite mine. He was not bad in spells, but always bad, and his attendants never knew when his big trunk was going to swing at them with the force of a battering ram. He considered every man who traveled with the Forepaugh show his born enemy. He had a special dislike to Adam Forepaugh, Sr., and never lost an opportunity to attempt the veteran showman's life. Whenever Mr. Forepaugh went near him he would make a swipe at him with his truuk or throw at him the first missle he could find. When the show came to Philadelphia to winter Romeo had to be chained in the middle of a big room alone, out of reach of the sides and top. His chains had to be fastened to a post anchored about ten feet in tho ground. His hind legs had to be fastened with chains stretched obliquely out and back from him. Whenever an especially violent fit of temper seized Komeo it was ucccssary to throw him and beat him into submission. The throwing was accomplished by fastening block and tackle to the chains on the hind legs and drawing those members tin under his birr bodv until he was i compelled to let himself down. Once down he was chained tight and held, while a dozen men would surround him and thrash him w.th poles until h? trumpeted "enough." It frequently took ten hours to beat him into submission, and he was often kept lying on the floor for three or four days before he would give in. The last seven years or his life Romeo depended on one eye to guide his elephantine way through life. The other was shot out by his kc per, Stuart Craven, one day in the fall of I860, on Ridge avenue, Philadelphia, after Romeo had broken down the brick wall of the animal house at Twenty-third street and Columbia avenue, the old Ridge Avenue Street Railway Depot, where Forepaugh was wintering. Romeo took a notion to wander, and after raising merry war amon? the other animals he butted down the brick wall of the house and started down the Ridge. Stuart Craven followed him with a shotgun and empted about a pound of shot into Romeo's leather hide. One load took effect in one of his eyes and blinded him, and at the same time conquered the big brute so that he allowed himself-to bo driven back to his qu irters. In the fall of the same year Forepaugh was showing in the National Circus Building, at Tenth and Callowhill streets. Romeo was kept in a portion of the building where he could reach the roof with his head. One day he took it into his big head to get "bad," and he drove his keeper and everybody else out of his quarters and kept them out for nearly two weeks. He was entirely master of the situation, and as soon as anybody would attempt to go into him he would work himself into a fury and try to break his chains in the e.fort to get at them. He raised the roof off the walls with his head and burst out a portion of the side walls. His water had to be handed to him on the end of a pole, and if the attendant dared to show any portion of his body Romeo would grab the bucket and let fly. His keeper, Stuart Craven, dropped a $500 diamond ring on the floor of Romeo's stall just before he got the spell, and it lay there in plain 3ight for a full week before he would dare make an attempt to raise it. A couple of years later Romeo killed an altendaut called ''Canada Bill" at Ilartboro, Pa., by throwing him against j a wall and then getting in front of j him and kneeling upon him. Mr. Forepaugh put him in a car to ship him from Girar.J, Pa., to Philadelphia, and before the train had gono twenty miles it was discovered that Pomeo was trying to become a train wrecker. He smashed I the top and sides of the car to splinters, i and, whsn he got tired of that, began to I rock the car until it was in danger of j toppling from the track. He had to be ! unloaded and driven to Philadelphia by his keeper. ''Elephant George," an attendant, was nearly drowned by him while riding across a river on the elephant's neck. Romeo dived three times In the attempt to drown George, who was rescued just in time by the other people of the show, who went after him in boats. Pomeo died in Chicago in 1872 from lockjaw, caused by the sores made on his ankles by the shackles. His skeleton is now mounted in the College of Surgeons and Physicians in Chicago. In his time he killed three men and destroyed $50,00'') worth of property. Kmpress, of the O'Brien show, that killed the painter White at Forcpaugh's winter quarters two years ago, is almost as wicked an animal as any that travels. She can never be trusted, and constant watchfulness is required to keep her from doing damige. When she has one of I her bad spells on her it is not safe for ! ?n?hnrtv tn rrn npnr her. She knocked ! WUJ VVV,J *' o ~ , down and nearly killed a man when the i circus opened the season in Philadelphia ' in '84 at Broad and Dickinson streets, i and there are a number of people ! throughout the country who remember | the black brute because of the bones she ; has broken with the vigorous swing of her trunk. Bisman k. now with the John Robinson show, is another treacherous brute with a bad record. About three years ago he killed John King, a well-known elephant trainer and performer, by butting him against the end of a car at Charlotteville, Ya. Golddust, one of the performing elephants with Forepaugh's "Iilepliant Band,1' requires constant watching to prevent him from doing damage. In the summer of 1881 he disemboweled a man in Worcester, Mass., with a stroke of his tusk. Last season he was rented to Frank Kobbns's show. At one of the show stands Golddust gotJoose and got into the woods. Craig, the boss animal man, went to bring him in and nearly lost his life for his rashness in going alone. As soon as Craig got near the ' elephant the latter rnshed at him, and with a swinging blow of his trunk knocked him senseless. Fortunately for himself Craig fell between the trunks of I a clump of trees, and the angry monster could not reach him, and he was rescued without serious damage. Pickaninny, the little clown elephant, known all over the country on account of his funny performances with the clown, Ohar.ic McCarthy, was performing at Slocum's Minstrels several weeks a^o and kept histemper well enough until the last ni^ht, when he took a notion to play the bad elephant. He started by knocking his keeper down and then picked him up and throw him against the wall. The man was nearly dead when lfcCarfhv rftsciifid bim. Empsror, who was Jumbo's side-partner with the Barnum show during the season before last, took a fit of stubbornness on him in Troy, N. Y., while being driven through the street, and he broke away and went on a rampage. He got into an iron foundry and burned his feet and then ran into a crowded street. Before he was caught and chained he had in jured four men and a woman and had done $4,000 worth of other damage. Barnum's Albert had to be shot in Keene, N". H., after killing his keeper, James Sweeney, or James McCormack. A military company of the town took the part of executioners. "When Adam Forepaugh started in the menagerie business he had but two elephants with him. They were Romeo, the wickedest in the country,and Annie, a black African elephant, the trickiest on the road. It was Annie's delight to frighten farmers' teams into running away, a'nd she was never happier than when she could scare a cow out of seven years1 milk. Whenever she saw a cow on the road out went the big cars like sails, trunk and tail were elevated, and with a soul-harrowing series of trumpetings Annie would make at the cow, and in about five seconds that cow. surrounded by a cloud of dust, would disappear over the homon. The biggest and wickedest elephant in f V* o nAnnfrir will Kor?lr f\fT from ft rf\f or mou3e, and will tremble and trumpet if advanced upon by the little animal.? Philadelphia liccord. Boring for Gas. Boring for gas is exactly like boring for oil, in all its workings: but the afteroperations of pumping and packing, as in the case of some oil-wells to raise the oil. are not necessary in gas-wells. If the gas is there, it will comc up of its own free will and accord, and come with a rush, blowing tools and everything else out of the well before it. Indeed, ga9 men would often be as glad to keep their treasure down as oil men are to get theirs up. The great pressure at which it is confined in the earth, and the corresponding fores with which it escapes from the well, make it somewhat hard to mange or control. This pressure is enormous? as high as five hundred pounds to the square inch in some cases where it ha3 not been gauged, the pressure is estimated to have reached* eight hundred nrmnds to the sauare inch. Anv attempt to confine the gas in this well for the purpose of measuring it would doubtless nave resulted in sending iron casing flying from the well, or in producing other effects more startling and costly than satisfactory or agreeable. Indeed, until recently, no plan had been devised by which the flow of gas from a well could be stopped or reduced. The quantity of gas that escapes from some wells is enormous, but probabv nocorrcct estimate of it has yet bean made. Where the gas is "piped" away to mills and houses, all that comes from the well may be used; but if it is not all used, the remainder must be allowed to escape into the air. This is done at the regulator, where it is burned. The regulator is an anangement of pipesand valves, placed between the gas-well and the town supplied with the gas. It allows only just as much gas as is being burned in the town to go on through th2 pipes, and so rcduccs to a proper and sr-fe point the dangerously high pressure of the gas as it comes rushing along from the well. The temperature of the gas as it comes from the wells is about forty-five degrees, Fahrenheit.?St. Nicholas. It Helped Both Ways. Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, of Philadelphia, is almost as well known as a story-teller as he is as a physician. One of his stories is a personal experience which occurred during the war. Reports of cruelty to the Confederate prisoners confined in the millitary prison at Fort Delaware were sent to the Federal headquarters, and a committee of gentleTT'Vinm mo? T~1 r Alitfthfill. U(CU) UlUUU^ If uvu* XHW J visited the prison to investigate the matter. The reports were found to be exaggerated and most of the prisoners limited their complaints to an insufficient supply of tobacco. One of the men, whose uniform showed him to be an officer, said he had been granted his exchange, but had no money to return to his home. I)r. Mitchell emptied his pockets and gave him $20. "To whom am I indebted for this loan?" inquired the officer. Dr. Mitchell told him his name, and added: "Never mind where I live; give it to the next Union soldier you find who needs it as badly as you do, and I shall consider that sufficient payment." The doctor returned to Philadelphia, the war came to an end and he had forgotten the incident of the Confederate prisoner, when one day a stranger, dressed in the uniform of a Union soldier, entered his office and inquired if he was Dr. Mitchell. The Doctor snid he wa?. "Dr. S. Weir Mitchell?" the man asked again. ,;Tho same," said the doctor. "Then I have some money to return to you which you lent me through a Confederate officer you found in prison at Fort Dalaware. He gave it to me to pay my way back to the North," and the man handed the surprised doctor $20.?Philadelphia Press. Refused to Leave His Command. Of Brigadier-General Gladden, this anecdote is related by the Atlanta Constitution. lie had his left arm shattered by a ball on the first day of the fight at Shiloh. The staff surgeon hastily per formed the amputation on the field, and the brave officer mounted his horse and continued to command. On Monday he was again in the saddle. Tuesday he was still iii command. Wednesday a second amputation near the shoulder was necessary, and General Bragg sent an aide to General Gladden to ask if he would not be relieved. "(Jive (General Bragg my compliments," he said, ''and say that General Gladden will only give up* his command to go into his coffin." Against all remonstrances, he continued to sit in his chair receiving dispatches and giving directions. In the afternoon lockjaw seized him and he died. The Real Ruler. This a free countryi Well, may bo. So long as you haveu't A baby. Young or old, tlio' golden Or gray be Our heads, we're all ruled by A baby. Fond and foolish the words that We say be When we bow to that tyrant, The baby. The wise man's a fool and A gaby And a hobby-horse for his Own baby. ~~ 1 ? JLJut ot ngnts in our uumo, wueic u A ray be Without that bright cherub, The baby I Then hallowed and blest let The day be That brought that dear despot, The baby! ?Boston Glob* AMONG THE JAPS. UNIQUE CUSTOMS OF AN" ORIENTAL NATION. How New Years Is Observed in Jap anese Houses?Cleaning Up? Rice Bread?Making Presents?Grand Pay Day. A letter from Yokohoma, Japan, written to the New York Commercial Advertiser by a cultured native of that country, says: During the ten days preceding the new year every house in the land undergoes a thorough cleaning. To take, for example, a house of a somewhat welloff family: Some forty or fifty men will be asked to do the work from among the lower class to whom you arc in the habit of giving custom. Early in the morning, at about 2 o'clock, they begin to arrive and will be soon at work. The first process is to knock dust out of the mats, of which Japanese houses are full. It is done by knocking them with bamboo niPPM nnrl nlnn rnllpd mnft.innr*. Half a dozen men, holding a bamboo piece in each hand, procecd from one end of the room to the other, while a couple more follow them, driving dust with the rolled mattings. This will be repeated about three times, and then brooms will sweep the dust farther. Every piece of the furniture is removed and every corner swept and wiped. All the wood work is wiped with wet cloths?doors, pillars, and even the ceilings. With- so many men, and beginning so early, the whole concern is finished before the noonday. A sumptuous dinner is served to all who have taken share in the cleaning, which, by the way, is callcd the grand annual cleaning! It must not, ior the moment, be supposed that the Japanese houses are kept in bad condition all the year round until the new pear. Far from it; in every house in Japan, the first thing in the morning of B(tO days in the year i3 to sweep and wipe dust, whether or not there is dust at all. In fact, the grand annual cleaning is done move for th? sake of the dinners than for the good of the ho?f. The next custom very generally observed is to get made a kind of rice bread. This is prepared in the following manner: The glutinous rice is steamed up for a short time and is then placed in a wooden mortar; it is beaten with a wooden mallet. In the process of beating it is important that a second man should turn over the rice with his hand, so as to have it beaten uniformly. When the rice becomes a mass of glutinous substance it is taken out of the mortar and placed on a board covered with dry rice powder, and there the mass is cut into the required number and made into different shapes. In the course of about three days they get dry. The flat ones are cut into square pieccs and are to be eaten by everybody in the first soup PAw.^/1 An VTow Voor'a I ogi Ttu UU bUV il V H A VMk u Ml ? regret that I cannot enlighten you as to what this custom 18 for, nor can I explain how it originated. I have made inquiries of some old gentlemen, who are well posted in these matters, but their usual answer has been simply that it has been in existence from time immemorial. Two of the round pieces of this rice bread will be placed on a high tray, one on top of the other, wit'n some ferns and seaweeds between. An orange and a small dried fish will come invariably on top of the whole. This tray will be placed in the most conspicuous position in the drawing room just before the New Years day, and will remain there for three, seven or fifteen days, according to the habits of the families' which have been handed down from their ancestors. During the week previous to the New Year's day presents of all sorts pa?s among acquaintances, and of course children get tho best of it. The gates, entrances and even insides of houses are decorated with evergreens, oranges, sea J C.l. ?1 1 nr>d weed, urieuj U8II, uumuuai, |;a|iuivi uuu the like, all trimmed on a straw rope. Some people have also, besides this, great big pines, bamboos and plum trees on both sides of their entrances. The pines represent great longevity, bamboo great endurance and strength, and the plums blossom first of all flowers. Another important custom preceding the New Year is the gr.md pay day. Every bill, whether large or small, will be presented on the 31st day of Decerai ber, and they are to be paid on that day. I The collectors run about from early i morning until midnight and give the j streets the busiest sight in the whole l year. I Whether you meei all the bills or not, ' the next morning is tho greatest holiday | in Japan. Every office, every factory, I every store?in fine, everything?is i stormed. The nostoffices in Japan are I open every other day in the year, but on I New Year's day even they are closed, j The male members of a family pay visits i to acquaintances and relatives and express the compliments of the season, while female members receive them at j home. The New Year's calls are to be I made within three, or, at latest, seven I days. I Everybody is naturally dressed in his best costume, and children and even the grown-up people enjoy the New Year's day to the best of advantage. Among others the handball, battledoor and shuttlecock and poetical playin? I cards are the amusements most induleged in. On the 2d day of January every business place is open. At least for awhile co^nnlhnvs r<md one na<?e of their book and write a few lines. AH the retail shops open at the very first hour of the day, and many of them make some small presents to customers who buy anything at all. The buyer class also consider it unlucky if they do not make some purchase on the first shopping day of the yenr. and the retail districts give a very busy sight. In the olden days the New Year's decorations were kept up until the loth day of January, and till then the holidays continued. But now most of the people /Ilill&c 111UIL uunuajro IUUI.U ou-/< ?v? , uvm.v i keep only the first three days, while others allow seven days. Amputated Fingers Reunited. "Numerous instances have been recorded of late in the medical journals." says Science, "of the complete reunion ' - ' v?-i ?.,4 01 portions 01 lJUgers wuiuu jliuu uuuutub J off from ihe hand, in some cases by the knife and in others by the ax. In one ease a man, in cutting his kindling for ! the morning fire, accidentally cut off the j end of his thura#. He had gone from I the place some twenty feet when he returned, picked up the end, wiped it and replaced it, binding it in its original place as nearly as possible. The wound united, and the finger is now a* good as ever, save that its sensibility is somewhat diminished. In another case a boy chopped off the ends or tnree lingers. He was seen by a physician three or four hours after the accident. The end of the fingers had been found in the snow, and were brought to him. He attached them, and two of the three united." Insects injure United States agriculture i four hundred million dollars annually. WORDS OP WISDOM. Speech is the golden harvest following the flowering of thought. If a thins is not richt, don't do it; if it it is not true, don't say it. It is a happy thing for us that this is really all we have to concern ourselves about?what to do next. Opportunities are very sensitive things. If you slight them on their first visit, they seldom come again. He is happy whose circumstances suit his temper; but he is more excellent who can suit his temper to any circumstances. Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many, not on your past misfortune, of w hich all men have some. Our sentiments, our thoughts, our words lose their rectitude on entsring certain minds, just as sticks plunged in the water look bent. If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself alone. A man, says Dr. Johnson, should keep his friendship in constant repair. The memory is perpetually looking back when we have nothing present to entertain us; it is like those repositories in animals that are filled with stores of food, on which they may ruminate when their present pasture fails. To strive to forget enemies, or to throw out to them only friendly thought, is as much an act of self-protection as it is to put up your hands to ward off a physical blow. The persistent thought of friendliness turns aside thought of ill-will, and renders it harmless. "Sandbagging" in Chicago. Belated pedestrians are nightly waylaid, "slugged," and robbed in all parts . of the city. The deftness which characterizes many of these jobs suggests the clean action of that noted exponent of highway robbery, Patrick Kent, and, were it not for the fact that Mr. Kent is spending the second of a series of winters to be passed within the walls of Joliet, the police would say he was the. man with the bag. Patrick Kent, the ablest , man in the profession, terrorized the residents on the avenues east of 8tate I street two years ago. "Within a month I he sandbagged twenty-two persons and i carried off considerable plunder. "Sandy" Kent had a system. Ho knew many of the high-salaried men in and all about the b.isiness houses on the i south side; knew their pay days and the amount they received, and when they would start for their homes. In this way he was enabled to pick out the man who had stuff, and he himself said that | he never dropped a man without being I well paid for his trouble. The persuader ! he used was a long canvas bag one and | half inches in diameter, with about ; eighteen inches of the length filled with i hird shnt.. Then there was about six j inches of slack for a handle. No matter how heavy a blow was struck ifc would not fracture the skull, but it was sure to knock the victim insensible. "Winter is the proper time for going bagging," said Kent a few days before he went to State prison. It is the only j time in which the work can be done | safely, and the night must also be dark. J Your man mu9t be picked out early in : the day, and you must know the route j he takes to his home. Of course he ia ; bundled up. Men going home after dark ?business men?are like cows going home to be milked; they take the same i path all the time, see? Well, what's the : matter with bein.' in an alleyway when he | is about to pass? If you want to be successful you must wear rubber shoes, then , you can sneak lip when his back is turned and .do him. He's stunned for a couple ; of minutes and pives you time to go I through him. He doesn't know who struck him, an' the chances are two to one that you'll escape. But never soak the stuff: that's how I was caught." The only way to escape a collision with | a sand-bagger is to provide yourself with J a 44-calibre revolver and take the midj die of the street when going home or to work at a late hour. Mr. Kent has pre| scribed this rule, and his authority can j not be questioned.?Chicago lleraia. The Sea. ; The temperature of the sea is the same, j varying only a trifle from the ice of the ' pole to the burning sun of the equator, j A mile down the water has a pressure of j over a ton to the square inch, if a box six j feet deep were filled with sea water, and j allowed to evaporate under the sun, there i would be two inches of salt left on the bottom. Taking the average depth of the ocean to be three miles, there would be a layer of pure salt 2'JO feet thick on the bed of the Atlantic. The water is colder at the bottom than at the surface. In the many bays on the coast of Norway th9 water often freezes at the bottom before it does above. Waves are very deceptive. To look at them in a storm one would think the water traveled. The water stays in the same place, but the motion goes on. Sometimes in storms j these waye3 are forty feet high, and travel fifty miles an hour, more than twice as fast as the swiftest steamer. The distance from valley to valley is generally fifteen times the j height, hence a wave five feet high will j extend over seventy-five feet of water. | Evaporation is a wonderful power in | drawing the water from the sea. Every year a layer of the entire sea, fourteen | feet thick, is taken up into the clouds. The wind bears their burden into the land, and the water comes down in rain ! upon the fields to flow back at last through rivers. The depth of the sea presents an interesting problem. If the Atlantic were lowered 0,501 feet, the distance from shore to shore would be half as great, or 1,500 miles. If lowered a little more than three miles, say 10,680 I feet, there would be a road of dry land j from Newfoundland to Ireland. This is the place on which the Great Atlantic cables were laid. The Mediterranean is comparatively shallow. A drying up of 000 l'eet would leave three distinct seas, and Africa would be joined with Italy. The British Channel is more like a pond, which accounts for its choppy waves. Esquimau Dogs. Referring to Esquimau dog teams, Mr. J. II. Ilubbard said to a Montreal Ga-ettf reporter: "There are usually four, but very often six or eteht in a team. The best dog is a cross between a wolf and a collie slut. They are not ! savage, but on the contrary, are very dcl ..??/>.! fim mnn who fperls thorn. Thev | I UtVV* ... ? are very peculiar m this respect. A man may drive a team for five years and feed them every night, but if he sells them the buyer feeds them and thereupon he i becomes their boss. They give implicit obedience t5 the man who feeds them last. (Jood dogs are worth from $25 to $.10. They used to be employed in drawing fish from Lake Winnipeg into the town and are often used yet by the Indians who come in on treaty days for their pay. When the Indians have their sun dance they Kill and eat the oldest and most useless of the dogs, for it would never do to have a dance without a meal of roast dog afterward. The Stonies never do this, but the Crees, the Sioux, and some other tribes do.'1