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- i A SUMMER SHOWER. Clouds in masses meeting Break in slants of rain, Through the branches beating, Pelting on the pane. Field and lawn are dreary, Dreary is the town; All the world is weary When the rain comes down. How the 9hower is ended? ouorwivea. suiuiiifr 5UU?C4 , Jewels clear and splendid Gleam in every flower. Leaf and lawn are bi ighter, Softer breathes the air; Every heart is lighter, All the world more fair. Life has clouds of sorrow, Hearts have tears of rain; Though they fall to-raorrow, Do not thou complain. Not a tear in vain drops? Let this faith be ours; Rainbows come from raiu-drops, Flowers are born of showers. The Rejected Manuscript. New York, N. Y., Nov. 7,188? Diar Madam: We regret that the manuscript has not been found available for the magazine. So many consideration* enter into the question of "availability," such as the previous tcoeptance of somewhat similar material, or ? auperabundance of matter on hand, or unfitness on account of the editor's present plans, that the return of your manuscript does not imply tnat it was inougut aencieni irom a Mterary point of view. With thanks for your courtesy, we are, wy truly yours, Editor// Magazine. Blanche Raymond read the letter through several times, and then with a little sigh took up the poor, rejected manuscript. 4iNot available," she murmured, glancing over the carefully-writt?n pages. "Not deficient from a literary point of view." "Well, they are at least courteous; I shouldn't wonder, though, if they meant that last remark as balm for my injured feelings. I am told that editors are so deceitful." With these thoughts of editorial perfidy rankling in her bosom, Blanche relapsed Into silence. She compressed her lips until the dimple in her chin was scarcely visible, and a perceptible frown darkened her usually serene brow. It was evident that something importAnt was being evolved from her busy brain, for the frown deepened till the gray eyes- looked almost black beneath IL _ 1 _ _! we long lasnes. Suddenly she arose from the low rocker in which she had been sitting, saying, nith a merry twinkle iu her eyes which effectually dispelled the frown: 'Til do it 1 It will be a great lark, and I will at kast get another opinion of my poor paper's literary merit or availability." 4,A great lark"'?strangely improper language for an aspiring author. "Where are you going, dear!" asked Mrs. Raymond, as B.anche, after a carefully prepared toilet, descended to the iitting-room, where her mother sat sewing. "Well, mamma, you know I told you that the H Magazine had returned my mauuscript. I happen to think of the D Mayazine, of our own city here, which has not been long established, but is fast gaining popularity. The dazzling idea has occurred to me to j take my story there, instead of sending ! it out alone. Perhaps I can make an im-! pression if my story can't," laughed the I . the little miss, casting a sly glance at the bright, sweet face reflected iu the mirror opposite. "But, my dear, is that the proper | thing to do ? I don't like to have you [ go alone to one of these places," said the ; old lady, evidently regarding "one j)f i these places" as something uncanny. "Why, mamma, there is no harm in it at all. It is purely a mutter of business. ! TTie editor is probably a baldheaded, apectaclcd ogre, who will wilt me with ! One glassy stare. But I'm going to get I him to accept my story before I wilt, ?ven if I collapse immediately afterwards," said this very determined young lady, who had not learned that saddest word in youth's bright lexicon, "fail." "Well, hurry back, for I shall be very ; nxious till your return." With a kiss and a smiling good-by, ; Blanche tripped from the room with a j heart not quite as light as when sho first i thought of her venture, but she would : not own it, even to herself. Our heroine was little more than a ; child, although the suus of nineteen summers had darkened the once flaxen curls. I The youngest child and only girl of a family of five children, she was of course K'eatly petted and caressed, A girl of a sb sweet, even disposition, might have shown the effect of such a training in im- j perious manners and pettish exactions, i but .Blanche, without special effort, had : escaped these evils. Living her happy I life, surrounded by home love and com- i forts, she had not given herself up en- j tirely to pleasure, but had labored dili-1 gently to improve a naturally bright mind, trying to make the jewel worthy yvf lto fiir eotf1nor I The cable-car sped along the frosty I track, bearing Blanche nearer and nearer 1 her destination. Her ardor was cooliug ; rapidly. With all her bravery she began to feel that facing the lion in his den was not such a very pleasant matter. However, she was not the girl to give up a venture when once fairly begun, so she tTied not to feel nervous, but to compose her thoughts into a neat little speech for j the edification of the "spectacled ogre." | Finally she stood before the dread por-1 tal, and "the shaky knock she gave toldaa ' plainly as any words the corresponding ' condition of her thoughts. "Come in!" called a musical voicc, but' she didn't "come." With the admirable ! caution of her sex, she resolved tliat the "lion" should meet her at least half way. ; She knocked a second time, a little louder j than before. After a brief pause?an j awful pause to Blanche, the door was j thrown widft ftnpn hv a?hiilrlhpnrlp*! spectacled ogre? No, indeed! by a tall, ; slender man of perhaps twenty-seven years, with brown, curling hair and mua- , tache, and mirthful brown eyes. "Oh! ah! will you come in?" said the young mun, with a little embarrassment i in his voice. Blanche entered and took the politelyproffered chair without a word. The : "neat little speech1' was forgotten?in fact she seemed to have lost all speech in her complete surprise."Did you wish to see mo?" came the , pleasant tones of the young man, nfter a moment of dreadful silence. "Yes? that is, I wished to see the editor of the D Magaziue," faltered ciancne. "I have that humble honor," he replied. Blnnchc cast one swift glance at him, and then slowly drew from her muff the prrcious manuscript. An amused smile pluycd about the editor's handsome inou h. and his eyes assumed the unmistakable '"I told you so"'expression. ' I have written a little story, and I thought perhaps?it would be wise, if?I ? -I want to get it printed!" and an ! undignified tear dropped on the little muff. i "Certainly! may I see it?" She gave it to him without looking up, her thoughts in a turmult aa to "what mamma would think" to see her talking to this handsome man, who?e admiring 1 browu eyes were harder to meet than the glassy stare s'ic had anticipated. The editor unfolded the paper and glanced over the pages, pausing occasii .1ally to read ;i sentence through. Ulanche sat with downcast eyes. Notli ing broke the silcnce save the rustling of the papers and the ticking of the clock. "Ahem! excuse me, but is this part ol the story?" asked the editor, as he held up before her gaze?horror of horrors! the very letter she had received from the 11 Magazine ! In her haste and enthusiasm over her "great lark," she hnd gathered up with the manuscript, the letter which had been lying open upon it, and the editor's quick eye had grasped its contents at a glance. Blanche gave one terrified look, and then, forgetful of everything, sprang forward and clutched the fatal letter. "Oh, how could you!" she gasped, with a little sob, glaring at the innocently offending editor through her tears. "My dear young lady, it was wholly unintentional on my part! I had looked at it before I thought of Its not belonging to the story. Never mind," continued this soft hearted editor, growing confidential in his efforts to be consoling, "I once received the same kind of let- I ter. Your story is a very pretty one, prettily told, and I think "l can use it in my magazine." He would probably have taken it, if it had been a mother goose rhyme, so thoroughly sympathetic had he become undei the magic influence of the bright tears. "Well," said Hlanclie, recovering her self-possession, "I will tell you all about it," and in a simple, straight-forward I I manner she told him of the return of the manuscript, and the letter accompanying if "T dirl not mean that vou should know it had been declined once," she s:tid, with charming candor, the swift blushes dyeing her checks. "Was it very wrong for me not to tell you?" "Not at all," said this unabashed young man,smiling in spite of himself at her earnestness. "Why!" ho exclaimed, as he noticed the name and address at the bottom of the last page, "do you live at No. 373 C street?" "Yes, I have lived there five years." "Then I am delighted to have met my next-door neighbor. I live at No. 371." It was now Blanche's turn to be astonished. To think that she had thus ignomiaiously introduced herself to her nearest neighbor! "Why, I have never seen you," she began. "Nor I you," he interrupted, "but that is not so very strange. I have been boarding there for only two weeks, and m T rro awav uuite early in the morning, " o ? * ^ and it is dark when I get home these short afternoons, we could easily miss seeing each other." ' Well," said Blanche laughingly,comprehending the novelty of the situation, "I feel heartily ashamed that you have met me under such unfavorable circumstances. In the first place I had expected to see a baldheaded old man. I had the impression that all editors were old and bald. Being completely surprised at not finding the indivdiual I had pictured to myself, and being a little consciencestricken over my deceit concerning the manuscript, I fear I lost my self-possession." "You are certainly excusable under these circumstances," said the editor, smiling. "By-the-way, I beg the liberty to tell you my name; my name is also Raymond?Raymond Douglas," and he drew from his pocket a card, which he passed to her. "Miss Raymond," continued this au-. dacious young man, "I will look over this manuscript carefully, and if I should happen to finu some little mistakes might X"?hesitatingly?"might I call, say tomorrow evening, to have you rectify them? I know that you would much prefer correcting them in your own way, and I would be extremely happy to afford you that privilege. Beside, I am a neighbor, aud sometimes very lonely," he added, with a melancholy glance from the brown eyes. How could Blanche refuse this handsome young editor who had all the wiles of his profession? Besides, was it not very kind of him to take such an interest in lxer poor little story? With a blush and a smile she told him he might come, and then, with a pleasant good-by, left Mr. Douglas to dream of a pair of gray eyes glistening through bright tears, ana a sweet, sensitive mouth saying: "How could you!" in reproachful accents. Did he find any mistakes? Trust to Raymond Douglas for that! The next eveniug found him fairly introduced at No. 378. The acquaintanccship begun under such novel circumstances progressed rapidly in the forty-five minutes Mr. Douglas spent under the hospitable roof of his next-door neighbor, and a kind invitation to "call again" sent him on his way, rejoicing that fate had cast his lot in such a pleasant placc. And Blanche? Ah, she was but a girl?and what girl has not had bright dreams? Time passed on, bringing in the New Year, bringing the first faint breezes of spring and the perfume of the earliest J violets, bringing Kaymond Douglas often to the house of the gray-eyed damsel, and bringing a true, pure love to the hearts of these two. And so, when the old earth looked its fairest in its emerald robe and flower garlands, these two were wed. Blanche has escaped the distress caused by rejected manuscripts, by not writing any more. A sure way out of the difficulty.?Miriam V. Crocker. Clouds and Rain. * * ll T "\Ta A commumuauuu iu tuc uuuuuu mw teorological Society, by Captain Toynbee, states his conclusion, that clouds of not less than two thousand feet in thickness lire seldom accompanied by rain, or, if they are, it is very gentle, consisting of minute drops; with a thickness of between two thousand and four thousand^ feet, the size of the drops is moderate;] with increasing thickness of the clouds comes an increasing size of the drops, and at the same time the degree of temperature becomes lowered. When the thickness amounts to more than six thousand feet, hail is produced. When the Year is Young. In the spring a thinner shadow Haunts the young man's pocketbook And he casts upon each nicKel A much longer, fonder look. In the spring a livelier yellow Cotnes upon the butterine; And the boarder much susjiects that Things are not just what they seem. In the spring the jolly fisherMan doth hie him for a worm; And with joy doth place the first one On his hook to see it squirm. In the spring a young girl's fancy T.io-Knv fn f.Hnnorht.c nf Ancliier "tender blue eyes sparkle i With a lovely ten-cent gleam. I ?Columbus LHspatck. ????^mm?tt^mm? "WOMAN'S WORLD. PLEASANT LITERATURE FOR FEMININE READERS. | Becoming Famous Late in Life. i Very few women distinguished in literature have attained fame before reaching the prime of life. -George Eliot was 08 when her first story was published. Elizabeth Browning?37 when she married?produced her best work after ncr marriage. Mrs. orowes -unuiu Tom" was not published till the author was 39, and Miss Alcott's first noteworthy story was published when she was 37. II. H. was hardly known in literature until after she was 40. These facts should be consoling to ambitious/young writers,, whose manuscripts are "returned with thanks." The Maid of the Valley. Miss Ellen Callahan, of Sierra County, female stock-raiser, is known as the | "Maid of the Valley." Her possessions are valued at $10,000. Iler age we do not I know, and should not mention it if we ' did. She weighs about 130 pounds, wears neither false teeth nor hair* she has a | good healthy complexion ana blue eyes, j Sho would make a good match in marriage for a middle-aged man with muscle cultivated to work, and it is our opinion that none others need apply. Dudes would not, we believe, be noticed as candidates for the matrimonial hand of Miss Callahan. She can harness a team, break wild horses, run a mower, feed the stock, or do any kind of work on a ranch.?Sierra Valley (JVev.) Leader. How a Mother Should Act. She should be firm,'gentle, kind, always ready to attend to her child. She should never laugh at him?at what he does that is cunning?never allow him to think of his looks, except to be neat and clean in all his habits. She should teach him to obey a look?to respect those older than himself; Bhe should never make a command without seeing that it is performed in the right manner. Never speak of the child's faults or foibles, or repeat his remarks before him. It is a sure way to spoil a child. Never reprove a child when excited, nor let your tone of voice be raised when correcting. Strive to inspire love, not dread?respect, not fear. Remember you are training and educating a soul fo* eternity. Teach your children to wait upon themselves, to put away a thing when done with it. But do not forget that you were once a child.?Calijorn ia Farmer. How Some Ladies Killed a Deer. Last Sunday week, as Mrs. James A. Ward, accompanied by her little daughter and two other ladies and a dog, were | taking a walk through the woods on Mr. Ward's ranch, on Dry Creek, Mendocino County, they had a little adventure that that they will long remember.' After getting a short distance in the woods the dog jumped up a deer, and, being a little fleeter of foot, soon ran up with and caught it. Of course the ladies joined in the chase, and by their shouts confused the deer and encouraged the dog to do his level best. They soon reached the dog and deer, and, takiDg hold of the latter, held it down until Carrie, Mrs. Ward's little daughter, ran back to the house and brought a knife, with which they cut its throat. They then tied the deer's legs, and, slinging it on a pole, regular hunter fashion, formed a triumphant procession for the house.?Santa Rosa (Cat) Democrat. Improvised Toys. "The very word toy implies something that is intended to amuse. Very many of the mo3t elaborate and costly toys only do this for a short time, as long as they are new, while some article that by accident the child has become possessed of is a daily source of pleasure. "As I write my little girl of two sits ! : on the floor with a button hook, in her j hand tryiug to button ancl unbutton ncr little boots. She is not playing, rather ' she is working; but she is interested in .. what she is doing, her attention is con centrattd upon it and she is happy. We ; do not give the hammer and looking gloss, but some equally queer articles. ! We let her have a patent egg beater. " 'Suppose she should break it?' What i if she does? It costs much less than or- j dinary toys, and serves her vastly better. I When she had learned to put the end of . it in a little dish and turn the wheel? !1 'just as mamma docs'?she was happy, and her pleasure in her new plaything lasted for weeks. She would not hurt i herself seriously with it, and finding there was one way in which it acted and made a noise, she did not throw it about i and use it as a hammer, but used it properly, came to have a high regard, and, I have nc doubt, a deep respect for it. Another plaything is a clean lamp burner j with a long piece of wick knotted at the ends so that it cannot fall out, or with I the ends sewed together. The child can i turn the thumbscrew and make the wick move, and thus find much pleasure."? Babyhood. A Novel Wedding Trip. Two weeks ago, writes the New York correspondent of the Philadelphia Press, a bicycle was seen leaning against a little stone church up-town. A tricj'cle stood by its side, and fifteen more bicycles ! were stacked on the church green. The owner of the vehicles were attending the ] marriage of a wheelman and wheelwoman ' inside. Presently out came the bride and groom, both in fresh club colors, and ' wheeled away on their marriago trip for a 200-miles spin. It would have looked < more sociable to the ordinary eye if they i had ridden a tandem, but the time may < come in the course of their partnership i when their steeds will suit each other's 1 paces better than now. The tricycle will i be ridden this summer much more ex- i tensively by women than has been the i case in any year before. For one thing, the machine is an exDensive foible and it has taken it some time to make its way. It it is heavier than the bicycle, too, and a little unfair to the Vf&kcr sex 1 in handicapping it at the start in point of >' speed. In spite of these disadvantages, 1 however?and they are not nearly so no- < ticeable a9 in the lumbering tlit^p'Aat 1 went byTft; . name a half-do?.eTr'*| years ago?the 1 improved tanden^iiiitamSj^DushancN ! and wife or lover and lass to rioS-t^cth- ] er, is gaining ground rapidly, and Mr. } and 3Zrs?*fiijiifc>!l will find many imifa- 3 tors in their vartifion trips on thejkhjcl. * Tricycling is an exercise thai cans for ' a special dress. Nobody who has been ' through the dusty and oily experiences < f ?* 1 i;/_ ?*ii xt !_i. _e ,i:? ] oi wneei ine win mioK. 01 uispmiuj; that fact. The gown worn by the expe- ' rienced is always of a medium-weight i woolen material, and in ninety-nine cases < out of a hundred is quiet and uncon- 1 spicuous in color. English women choose ] almost without exception a flannel or ' merino combination of ordinary walking 1 length, with overdress made as simple as ' possible, loose trousers to match the ] dress in color, black woolen stockings, 1 Norfolk jacket, straw hat, a club ribbon, 1 a::d a free and substantial walking boot. American women, as a rule, hav6 not yet adopted the trousers, but wear a skirl; of sligntly different cut. The dress U3ed by the women riders in Central Park this '; spring shows a skirt without back drappery, but ornamented as the wearer's fancy choose9 in front. For length it is like the usual promenade ' dress, but has a. slope of about three inches behind to prevent lifting by the saddle at the back. For hoadgcar one should choose a small light-weight cap of the same color as the dress, or on a long trip or a pa -ade a ventilated helmet. Kid gloves are cut of order. Silk and | linen or lisle thread are the only , things allowed on the wheel. For under- i wear the same rules thai; govern the boat- 1, ing dress hold, Hannel next the skin, no ( corset or crinoline, and as few skirts as , may be. . ? I i 1 Fashion Notes. Rubies are decidedly in fashion. , Horsehair bor. nets are a novelty. I "Wraps for summer woar are rich in i jets. I Necklaces ars very little warn nowa- ! days. I Lace insertion and ribbon dresses are ' now very fashionable. The- fashionable waist is extravagantly long and idiotically tight. Blouse waists meets with much favoi from both ladies and misses. The perennial Scotch tartan bra ids have again made their appearance. Turbans remain ic. favor for city , streets and for traveling bats. Audacity is the most marked clicirac- i teristic of the season's millinery. Crownless bonnets, worn like the old- I fashioned head dress, are favorites. Scarf mantles, very convenient wraps {J indeed, are in favor for spring wear. Light tan-colored gloves of Danish kid i are still used with dresses of any color. ; j Gold lace is much used for trimming ' i the miniature bonnets now fashioaabe. j Plain net without dots now rivals poinl I d'esprit with ifcj many dots for dress bon- | i UVIO. White veils Trill be much worn. The} ' make aDy sort of skin look "peaches and : creamy." Tailor-made gowas are just now a? , much in demand as in the opening dayj of autumn. I Very few black parasols are shown this i season except those having handsome | lace covers. ] The peculiar and startling colors of the I season give bad taste every possible chfinct i to assert itself. 1 Artificial flowers never look well in the ' hair unless thai; and the complexion are ' artificial as well. ' Veils are usually chosen to match, the- , bonnet. A black veil, however, may be , worn with any color. Gold and jeweled buckles are worn ( with handsome high-necked drsuses, , either at the throat or on the belt. 1 Gay striped and plaid India silk' and | 1 surah blouses are combined with various ] skirts for morning wear at home. l Leather buttons, morocco, kid, s:eal, ' alligator and dog skin, hand-painted, are 1 a new fad for ntreet wear in New York, i French milliners, it is said, often pro- ' vide mere burlesques of their best de- ' signs, to meet English and American tastes. j White jerseys', thickly covered with < white ivory beads,are a novelty, and look prettier than one would think from the i description. i Silk-finished corduroy suits are quite ( fashionable this season, especially in pale 1 terra cotta, golden brown, and the many 1 1 shades of gray. ( Linen collars and cuffs continue to be } worn with street dress, but ruchings and ^ lace frills represent the favorite fashion ' for house wear The fashionable bride wears but one t glove. The first bridesmaid carries the ( other. It is rot good form to employ a ( messenger boy for the service. Street gloves have broad stitching on | the back, either in the same or a darker \ shade of the same color. Upon black i gloves white stitching is frequently l used. ] Balaveuscs for the protection of the i inside of the dress skirt are once more worn. They lire for use, not ornament, and should not show below the edge of the skirt. Simple small mftutlcs for various dresses are made of plain Bengaliae for the basque back audmanilla fronts,while the sides ara of French lace, with many ends and loops of black watered ribbon. The fashionable handkerchief has a very narrow hemstitched hem, with a very small initial embroidered in one corner, ur sometimes a delicate vine of embroidery ltwidc the hem, and a very narrow border of Valenciennes lace. All white is preferred. All white is the rule this year for conimencemeut dresses, and lace is the favorite material, with ribbon in unlimited Quantities as a garniture. These lace arcs-es should be made over white lawn, which gives the appropriate effect of simplicity and girlishncss. As a garniture for Summer buntings, cashmeres, surahs and similar fabries, lace will be l'jss used than last season, ribbon and velvet accessories being preferred. The amount of ribbon whicn may be used is limited only by the inclination or by means of the wearer. The newest ruchirigs are flat ih cffectT" A /-vl J r>m aP A a aTi Anr inn UUIJ a IU1U Ul 0UI1CA V/l lutuo guv n iug about a fourth ol ail inch beyond the s jdges of collar and sleeves. Black ruching9 aro very fashionable for use with black dresses, but as all ladies do not find them becoming, individual taste is often illowed to ovcrr W *he decree of fashion. y' * Poise teeats. It is strange how few people know a iyhat-tljcir normal pulse is, said a phy- s rician to a St. Louis Globe reporter. They c know that the average pulse is about sev- t jntv, and imagine that they are well or r ~~.herwise as their pulse approaches or de- I fort^j^few standard. It is true that I in average of all pulses would give a re- t suit of about seventy beats, but in no other j physical peculiarity is there such a wide t individual variation. I had two students 1: n my office at the same time, both very f itong and remarkably healthy young s neri. The normal pulse of one was for- 1 ty-seven and the other ninety-three. This j iifference is unusual, few pulses falling t below sixty or rising above eighty in a r Wealthy subject, but an unusually slow or b nulflA ir. {n/linot irvn whflffVPr fl i?p iu puioi; u\j luuituuvu uv.?v * w. ? m :lisoase, as is popularly supposed to be c the case. Most people overestimate their pulje, as they often count its beats when talking about the matter, and it is a fact e well known to physicians that theexcitc- c ment of conversation will quicken the i( pulse from five to twenty beats. The best time to arrive at the true normal Is shortly after waking in the morning, when the j s lerves are unexcited. I n &?&. ik j I A BURGOO. " tHE MAKING AND DRINKING OF 1 A GREAT KENTUCKY SOUP. [ Grraphic Account of a Political Meeting in the Woods? Ingredients of the Burgoo?Eloquence Versus Appetite. James Lane Allen gives in the New Fork Post a graphic account of an institution peculiar to Kentucky. We quote J3 follows : At . the first streak in the east, some summer morning, an old negro man?the ?lder and blacker, the better?makes his way to the heart of some beautiful bluejrass woodland and begins the boiling 3f the burgoo. By ten o'clock it must be done, for the next two or three hours will be needed for the cooling. Everything has been arranged beforehand; the kettles have been swung, the wood has bas been cut and hauled, the huge paddle trimmed for the stirring, all the substances. that enter into its unequaled lomposition have been put in readiness. What these are it is hard to say. The iged chief, with his clay pipe in his mouth, puffs and shakes his head sagaciously, and hints at secrets worth knowing. But for the reader's benefit I shall give the contents of a single kettle that I saw at a burgoo last summer. The kettle itself weighed a thousand and fifty pounds, and held two hundred and fifty gallons. The contents were, as far no ooooi-toinnd fr?iir r>niin<l? f)f i beef, two dozen chickens, a bushel jf corn, a bushel of onions, tomatoes ac- ] lording to the chef a taste, a barrel of Crish potatoes, various peppers, notably J sayenne in burning quantities, and, , lastly, probably six turtles. But the ideal . burgoo must contain, also, three geese. ( rhese are furnished by the old negro, , ind must be neither bought nor begged, [n jffain words, they must be stolen by , light, otherwise the burgoo will not have ] its perfect flavor. The farmer in the . leighborhood who misses three plump ( jeese from his flock has no right to cornslain. If he fancies, as he smacks his ips questioningly over his pint of burgoo \ i few days later, that he detects in it j ;he presence of his dear lamented birds, jstablished decorum forbids his asking j ?ny questions. Meantime, while the vast cauldrons are bubbling and boiling, the morning ad- 1 ranees and the little birds fly away from 1 ihe sickening heat and horrible scenes. 1 For near the kettle a deep trench has ' Deen dug, tires have been Kindled beneath, and soon the whole air is filled ] cvitb. the odor? of barbecued meat. Across a single trench last summer were stretched the juicy, brown sacrificial ' jfferings of thirty-nine blue-grass sheep, ' ind usually there is roast pig that would ;1 have drawn from Lamb a better than his j ^ heartfelt eulogy. Not far away-is the dinner table, made 1 of boards some two and a half feet wide, 1 ind on this they are beginning to pile ^ the dinner; thousands of loaves of baker's ] bread, sliced ham, sliced tomatoes, little * piles of salt and pepper. By and by the < mutton and the roast pig, done to a turn, 1 will be brought and carved. What j1 stacks of meat then! What ponderous 1 joints and mighty chunks! It is the age 1 jf the carnivore. The meat must bo '1 jeized with the hands and torn with tne , ' teeth and fingers, in the honored style of Dr. Johnson. The table groans beneath [ i its weight. Blowing across it, the wind i j latches up the strange fragrance and j i whiifs it away to the audience gathered i iround the speaker's stand. Hunger is i never a sin. Now it is a virtue. Some ] ine detaches himself from the audience i ind follows up the scent as straight as a 1 bee would track the perfume of a rose, < sr a bee hunter would ''line" the bee. j < But policemen are guarding the tables, j He stands at a distance ana his eyes de- I pour the sight. Others come. Soon j i ;here gets to be a line of hungry men ! i md boys passing to and fro between the j speaker and the dinner. How flat elo- < juence has all at once become! Let the , < country go to ruin, if the dinner but be i saved I Will the honorable speaker never be done? Does he?can he?believe j cnat nungry peopie warn, iu usivu : to him for ever? Can't he see 1 burgoo stamped upon every face before i bim? A terrible whisper has gone { iround that it is cool?that already the < ungovernable greedy on the outside have 1 gotten to the kettles?driven away the i 300k. How long?in l eaven's name, j ! bow long! Ah!?an old gentleman j 1 starts forward from the rear f the plat- j < form, in a white heat of impitient excite-! 1 ment, and whispers somethmg in the i orator's ear. Dinner at last, thank God! j I [t is too late now to talk about good i manners. The time has passed for that; j ] there is a shout?a rush?a charge upon ! i the tables. As the crowd comes, it is 1 met by a hail-storm of tin cups that arc ! 1 thrown up from behind the tables and j j fall down upon the heads or are caught i by outstretched hands. Thousands'* of 1 them glance bright in the sunshine. They j ; ire for the burgoo. Get to the table, if i pou can! Struggle like a man. It is the 1 >ld original battle of humanity. Seize ] jrour half-lc-g of mutton, your ribs of i ihoat, your baker's bread, and now make J i :or your burgoo to wash it down. You ] lave been as quick as anybody, but how j t uany there are before you! They are i ying down here, there, yonder, every- t ivhere, in twos and threes, and'little c :ompanies,under the shade of the trees? s ;heir tin cups full?eating, drinking, I I aughing, the battle is over. | r The barbecue did not, of course, i a Kentucky, but it is claimed hat the burgoo'Thence it has pread to other regions sdc": and west. )f old the custom had in tlr\ State its { ligh political import. It formed a ' lotable feature of those anniversaries held j T n honor of "Old Dick Johnson" and the | c of the Thames. It went some- i j1 imes with regimental and battalion! nusters. It was regularly associated with ? :ounty contests for seats in the Legis- 1 ^ ature or for lesser offices, and it formed * , convivial background to the toasts and j J peeches of the Fourth of July. High ! 1 Irinking occasions some of these old- { F ime gatherings were, for it must be * emembercd that whisky was the pioneer , f; >everage, and its use in private homes ' >ecamt almost as common as is that of n ?eer among the Germans. Great tul>3 of J? ?unch, therefore, often graced the ? >arbecues of those days, to be drunk from luge earthenware bowls, and since party ecling was high and party lines were trictly drawn, it is not surprising to earn that on one occasion a barrel of 1 mnch was spoiled by tartar emetic, ^ hough the discovery of this was not ^ nadc until the enemy's evil wish had v >cen more than gratified. Sometimes a fter the public speaking came rustic c Qusic and dancing. ? d A# ofnal nnnc ia ^ 1 Ul> auuuai jnuuuvuv/u uj ottui pv.uo w stimated at $4,000,000, but the value ? reated with them remains to be calcu- ,, ?ted- i1 The amount of chocolate innually con- t umed is about 80,000,000 pounds, the d aarket being headed by Frnnco. j d POPULAR SCIENCE. Natural gas has been put to a new um ound about Pittsburg. A market garlener is raising asparagus in the open air jy its aid and proposes to carry his experiments to beds of other vegetables litherto grown in green-houses. At the Berlin aquarium Dr. Otto rT ? 0 Inmlnnna ltnr?il]na nuniiua uoo aiuuitu <? mutmviM [n the air the organism emits a bluishjreen phosphorence, which can be comnunicated to dead fishes and to sea ;vater, but not to fresh water. At a :cmperature of about one hundred depress the luminous property is lost. It is an error to suppose that severe winters are destructive of insect life. According to Mr. McLachlan, an English jntoraologist, larvse may be frozen until is brittle as rotten sticks, in which conlition they can scarcely be said to live, jut on the return of warm weather they evive quite uninjured by their freezing, [t is a noteworthy fact that butterflies ind bumble-bees have been found almost is close to the North Pole as man has ivcr approached. An English paper gives an account of i new ammunition which is being adopted 3y the German Army, and which is about :o be manufactured under British patents it Mill wall. The bullet is partly of lead ind partly of steel, and is said to have a ^ eat penetrative power, and it is shot From the barrel by compressed powder. j The new cartridges will keep for any * length of time without deterioration and with safety, for the explosive need not be attached to them until they are required for use. Schweinfurth has mentioned that toy hoes are used as money by the NiaraNiams, of Africa. Tippoo Tip now describes a remarkable tribe of skilled copper-workers on the Congo, among whom copper spears form the standard of value. Enormous spear-heads, some six feet in length, serve as currency. Like bank notes with us, these spears ire given a conventional value, the large ones, though' of small intrinsic worth, being reckoned at one thousand dollars in the purchase of ivory. Edison's phonograph is distanced by a Frenchman's invention of photographed sound. By speaking into a photophone transmitter, which consists of a highly polished diaphragm, reflecting a ray of light, this ray of light is set into vibration and a photograph is made of it on i traveling band of sensitized paper. Now comes the wonderful part. If the image of this photographic tracing is projected by means of an electric arc ar oxyhydrogen lifjht upon a selenium receiver, the original speech is then heard. Enormous snowflakes are recorded as [laving fallen January 7, .1887. A writer in one of the magazines publishes measurements of single flakes two and a fcialf inches in length, two and threeFourths of an inch in length, two and three-fourths . by two,. and a .half and, :hrce inches thick, and even three and a half and four inches in length. When ,netted the largest one yielded sixteen Irops of water, and many gave^fourteen >r fifteen drops. The storm was'only a few minutes in duration. These unique results can be accounted for by the fact :hat the temperature was 32.6? Fahrenheit, and hence several ordinary flakes night become congealed to form a larger me. The London Lancet records a remarkible case of transmission of disease from mother to child. The woman wa3 . admitted to the hospital suffering from icute pneumonia?in the left lung?already four days advanced. The temperature was 103.6 degrees. That evening she was delivered of a child and iltimatelv recovered. The child, howjver, died twenty-four hours later with jvcry symptom of pneumonia. The post-mortem examination showed that ;hc whole of the left lung of the child ivas also affected and had undergone the iVCil-Known acuie pneumuaiu wusuuua;ion. This is believed to be the first :ase recorded of transmission of this disease. London Cabman. The cabman is, indeed, a 6sher of men, jays Robert P. Porter in a London letter to the Troy Times. lie starts out in the norning about eight or nine o'clock and generally returns to the stable hy ten j'clock at night. What tha harvest has seen no one knows but the cabby himself, and it is not often he will tell. Sometimes, to be sure, an uncommonly urge fish is hooked, perhaps in the shape >f one of our American millionaires with .heir "half-crown tips," but too often it equires a net with tine meshes to retain he herrings, the tittle-bats and the miniows floating about the sea of London. [ have talked with at least twenty cabnen during the past week, and some of hem assured me they had not earned ;welve shillings a weeic, alter mey naa jaid for their cab and the yard dues. This is less than $3. On three months lis hopes of gain depend?May, June and Jul?: "Then," sai.d one, "I 'ope to nake thirty or fui'ty 'bob' ($7.50 toj$l0) a j tveek." This is the cabman's Wve&t. < For this he spends days and nights of nisery and wretchedness, in the cold, the J 'og, the sleet, the rain and the snow. ! For this he foregoes the bright fireside, ! he companionship of his wife and the nerry laugh of his children?enjoyments i hat the thrifty mechanic and artisan can ilaim. No wonder that the sentiment is oakedoutof him and his spirits chilled, "fo wonder he becomcs something of a nisanthrope No wonder that the joys ind sorrows of life disturb him not. Big Crystals in Dakota. It is well known, of course, that America has long been celebrated the ; vorld over as the home of enormous rystals, and the prodigious specimens of patite, beryl and other minerals have >een the subject of wonderment. But mong these the crystals of spodumenc rought to view by the excavations in the i?- ?i Lilia 11D Hlliic m rcuuiuyi,uu v.uuui,j, i )akota,are believed to be without a rival a respect to size. According to the re- | tort made on this subject by Professor j Jlake it appears that one of these crysals is thirty-six feet in length in a straight inc, and from one to three feet in thickess. The cleavage is smooth and straight, ut the lateral and terminal planes are [escribed as being obscure. A High Old Celebration. Perhaps the most unique celebration of he German Emperor William's birthday ras that which took place 7,000 feet igh on the southern summit of the Baarian Alps. Two mountaineers?Stanzi nd Walch by name?ascended to this levation, and then kindled a bonfire, the materials for which they had laboriously [ragged with them. They had intended limbing to the very summit of the Watz uanil, UUt uuep SIIUr? j?mu?vviiuM, am* he bonfire of wood and petroleum was it on the Falzkopfl. The ascent of the lountain often brought the climbers up o the shoulders in snow, but they were .etermined to perform the feat, and they ;!d it. j FACTS FOE THE CUBI0C8. The mainspring of a Waterbury wetcfc is twenty-four feet long. The spring of ah ordinary watch is twenty-sixinchei. Over 7,000 houses are owned in New York city by the Astor family, who keep a large number of architects constantly busy. In Mexico some of the doctors keen lamps burning in front of their houses every night to let people know that they will answer night calls. In boring an artesian well at Eureka, Cal., they found charred wood at 500 feet, and pieces of shell and parts of the skeleton of a bird at 580 feet. The first four successors of Mahomet? Abubeker, Omar, Othman and Ali?his chief agents in establishing his religion and extirpating unbelievers, all aicd violent deaths, and his family was wholly extirpated within thirty years of his decease. ^ Morris Diamond, a New York book feener. has written seven Docms. measur ing 3,120 words, on a single postal card. It took him nine Lours to do it. The writing is legible, particularly with tlie aid of a magnifying glass. Once before Mr. Diamond get about 1,000- more words in the same space. The letter# must be about the size of "diamond" type. (Jocoanut growers say that each tree in a grove produces one nut a day, -or-865 in one year. Owing to the great height of the trees it is impossible to pick the nuts, and they are allowed to hang till * they fall. The native? gather them up and carry them to the husking machines, where the nuts are stripped or the tlfick outside shells. A nut is most delicioui just after it has dropped from the tree, Some one has taken the time and trouble to figure out the various combinations of coins that might be used in changing a quarter, and places them at 215. The pieces used in making the changes are the 20-cent piece, 10-cent | piece, 5-cent piece, 3-cent piece, 2-cent piece and 1-cent piece. To be able to make all the changes would require one 20-cent piece, two 10-cent pieces, five 5-cent Dieces. eicrht 3-cent pieces, twelve I * A i ' w * ! 2-cent pieces and twenty-five^. 1-cent | pieces, in all fifty-three pieces of mcney, representing $1.38. | Tunnage and poundage were ancient duties levied on every tun of wine and ! pound of other goods, imported or ! exported, and were the origin of our "customs." They commenced in Eng' land about 1346, and were granted to tns ; kings for life, beginning with Edward ; IV. Charles I. gave great offense by levying them on his own authority, 1828. They were granted to Charles II. for his lifetime, June 24, 1600. By act 27 George III., chapter 13, these1 and other < duties were repealed, 1787, and a new arrangement of excise and customs was introduced. <.$totn?e Religion of the Wild Kurds. Nor far from Mosul in Mesopotapai* there are a few Kurdish villages where one finds neither mosque nor minaret, I synagogue nor medrash, church nor me^t ing nouse. Moslems?saving " an %ccai sional government official?are rarely seen there, travelers not at all. Ordinarily, there is nothing in the appearance of these places or the people to attract the attention of wayfarers, apart from the white dresses of the women and the vests of the men. But one day in the year the village assumes quite a holiday aspect in preparation of a strange , ceremony annually enacted there. The I houses are plentifully decked with gar- j lands of yellow flowers, and the people i take up positions outside?the women in j spotless gowns, the men with a twisted | black cord around their necks. Then a procession of some thirty persons emergea . from the residence of the "pir" or priest ; and begins slowly to prcambulate the village. In front march half a dozen | weira-looking personages in long black i robes and strange black headgear; then * ( come half a score "kawals" in yellow mantles and white turbans, chanting religious hymns in an outlandish tqngue, and behind them as many more playing an accompaniment to the singers on reedy flutes and tambourines. Following these is the white-robed priest, bearing upon his shoulders a kind oi epaulet, i and holding aloft the bronze figure of a 1 bird, gnarded on either side by a fierce < 1 1 * ? Tr oraonol.'nf i loosing jvuru, vvnu u jjcuw-i small arms about his person. In the rear rides the white turbuned sheik of tho , district, with a second batch of "black , heads" to wind up the procession. The party makes the round of the village, the people raising their hands toward the I brazen bird as it passes, and then halta [ in front of the priest's house. Here a ' sheep is in readiness; it is cut open and ! the heart is torn from it and thrown down at the feet of the black robed figures. The procession then re-enters the dwelling, while the sheep is made ready ' for the pot; and in honor of the day the residents afterward <Vl7?e togelner iT^n 1 as their "stew" is r.'ady. These Kurdish i villagers are the "Yezidis," or "devil' worsnipers" of Mesopotamia, and their annual procession?known as the "showing of the kingbird," the melik taonsor "peaco. k king"?is the only ceremonial of their mystic cult. The devil worshipers accept no proselytes. "A Yezidi," they say, "must be born a Yezidi; he cannot be made." They have no cere monial ablutions or attach no importance to them, and are allowed to us? nothing colored blue. They will not sit down on a sofa having a blue tassel or enter a room containing an article of furniture covered with blue cloth. Their religion prohibits them from serving as soldiers, though there appears nothing to prevent them from cutting throats on their own account. They baptize boys and girls, and when old enough every member has to make a choice of a sister or brother who is to be his or her companion for eternity.?St. James i Gazette. No "Carryings On" There. The story is now being told of a con-' scientious tithing man in a New England town years ago. General H., the big man of the town, had a daughter who was educated in Boston. Once she brought home with her a lover, a Boston man, now a merchant of New York City. He went to church with her, sat in the same pew, and when the first hymn waa given out found it and handed the hymn DOOK to ner. one uoweu anu toon. is. Second hymn, the same. The old tithing man looked aud frowned, but did not like to offend General EI. But he thought it over and over, and his conscience accused him of being a "respecter" of persons. He took his seat in the afternoon, resolved to do his duty fearlessly. The hymn was given out. The young man found it and handed the book to Miss H.; she bowed and took it. Rap, rap, rap, went the old man's stick. Then pointing to General H.'s p?w: "Yon, you?I mean General II.'s girl and her Boston beau I None of your carryings ea here, I say."?vnwago nercua. The sugar refineries in the United States have a total refining capacity of J* 1.000,000 barrels a mouth. I * '