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THE STORY OF A SHELL. I held the pink-lipped shell to his ear, And it murmureu soil anu iuw A melody in a sweeter strain Than a human voice could know, And sad as the moan of an autumn wind, Or the sigh of a river's flow. "My soul is full of a story told By a river that journeyed down Throngh valley and quiet meadow land And many a stately town. And sang of the (lowers anil vinos and trees, And the great rocks, mossed and brown. "But she stopped her singing and sobbed one night, While rain went down from the sky, As if it pitied her sorrow so It would give her sympathy; While she told of a quiet forest nook She ever went softly by. "For the trees bent over with long, green arms To give her a blessing of love, And up through the shadows cool she saw Where the sky arched far above, And the fleecy cloudlet moved across Like a sail.or snowy dove. "A youthful face with a golden frame Of waving, shining hair, And bright eyes in a fringe of black, And a forehead broad aud fair, Leaned over the river's edge one day And laughed at its image there. "The river carried the picture fair Pah monvond trior*v o vonr Till it came again?a man's face then? With the bright eyes dull and blear, And ali wine Hashed and all accursed, With a slavish look of fear. "A few months after it came once more, All haggard, with gu'lt and shame: Then a curse, and a shot, and a prayer were > - heard, And the curse and the prayer were the same; And the light burned out of the sun-sick-eyes, Like a iiuiverinsr. smoldering flaraa." So the river carried the memory Of the fa vs, one in three, And told the tale as a secret To the restless heart of the sea; And the tinted shell on the mantel Brought back the story to me. -Lyttleton Savage. i BESET BY BURGLARS. In the fall of ISM I was employed as a clerk in a general store at a cross roads in Sou'hern Iudiana. The s^tore, a church, and a blacksmith shop, with two residence"?, made up the buildings, and the families of the merchant and the blacksmith were the only residents. The country about was thickly settled up, however, and trade was always good. Before the merchant engaged me he announced that I would have to sleep in the store o' nights, aad that unless I had pluck enough to defend the place against the marauders he did not want me at any price. He showed me a shotguu, a revolver, and a spring gun, which were used, or on haud to be used, to defend the place, and the windows were protected with stout blinds and the door by double locks. The close of the ?*? ?? clri n Vvn/3 nAnnlofiAM infrt ""4 """ ?" ??* ? Indiana. The highways were full of tramps, and there were hundreds of men who had determined to make a living by gome other means than labor. Several attempts had been made to rob the store, and it had come to pa-s that no clerk wanted to sleep there alone. The merchant seemed satisfied with the answer I gave h'm. and on a certain Monday morning I went to work. That 6ame night a store about four miles away was broKen mlo and x-obbed and the ! clerk seriously wounded. Two nights J later three horses were stolen in our ] neighborhood. At the end of the week ; a farmer who was on bis way home from i our store was robbed on the highway. If I had not been a light sleeper from habit, these occurrences would have tended lo prevent too lengthy dreams as I lay in my little b'.-droom at the fiontof the second story. The revolver was olti/avc linrlnr mv rnllnur nnH tlin a. .. i.j<. "V f""~" ?? shotgun stood within reach. The spring gun was set ab?ut midway of the lower floor. It was adouble-b.ureled shotgun, each barrel containing a big charge of buckshot. ai:d the man who kicked the string and discharged the weapon would never know what hurt him. . It did not seem possible that any one could break into the store without arousing inc.. There was no door to my room, aud after the people in my neighborhood had gone to bed I could hear the slightnriiL-A in tlio ct avn T liu/1 Ia-iIt/i/1 tlm HV/l.-'V 1M IUV/ OIVI V. A i\y>/rv\,\4 I Ills , place over fora wcaksj'Of, and had failed j to find it, but ruy own confidence came j near proving ray destruction. I should , have told you. in describing the store, that just over the spot where we set the spring gun was an opening through I which we hoisted and lowered such goods j as were stored for a time on the second j floor. "When not in use this opening was ! coverod by a trap door. Toward evening, on the tenth day of my clerkship, I | hoisted u? a lot of nails and tubs, ami I Lad just finished when trade became so brisk that I was called to wait upon customers. Later on I saw that I had left the trap door open, and I said to myself that I would let it go until I went to bed. The store had the only burglar proof safe for miles around, and it was customary for the farmer who had a hundred dollars or so to leave it with ?s. lie received an envelope in which to enc'ose it, and he I could take out and put in as lie liked, i On this evening four or five farmers came in to deposit, and, as I afterward figured up, we had about $1,300 in the safe. There were two strange faccs in the crowd that evening. One b.-longed to a roughly dressed, evil-eyed man, who an nounced him-elf as a drover, and the J otlier as a professional tr .nip. I gave the latter a piece of tobacco and sonic crack- j ere and cheese and he soon went away, ' and we were also so busy up to !) o'clock ; that I did not give the drover much at- ; L WU?., T,r? cl.i.fr 11 rv ICUIIUU. IV UWII *?V/ vuuiv vvr 1?|? Ii.v store he had gone from my mind altogether. We counted up the cash, made some charges in the day hook, and it | was about 10 o'clock when the merchant | left. I was tired out and 1 took a can- ! die and made the circuit of the store, set the spring gtin, and went to bed. I! had to pass within six feet of the trap ; door as I went to my room, but I did not | see it. It was rather a chillv ni'^ht in Oc- I toher. and we had no Sis cs ye% nnd as I got under the Mi nkcls ihu w:;rm'h wai so i^nstcfui that I S)on fell ;:s!eep. It was the tir.-t night I had gone to bed without i thinking of robbers and wondering how < I shou:d act in c? se they came in. I did \ nnt knr.u- when I fell as!oe:>. Suddenly I ] found myself half upright, in bed, and | there was an echo in the store as if the fall of something, had arouted me. It w;is 011c o'clo k and I had bee.i asleep al-; most thmr hours. I.caning on my elbow. 1 I strained my ears to cat< h the slightest sound,and alter a minute I heard a movement down sta rs. "While I could not say what it was, n son of instinct told me that it wa-s made by some human being " I Everything on the street was as sncnc as the grave. My window curtain was up, find I could see that the sky had thickcncd up and was very black. I did not wait for the noise to be repeated. I was just as sure thatsoinc one was in the stoic as if I had already seen him, and I j crept softly out of bed, drew on my trousers, and moved out into the big I room, having the revolver in my hand. | There was no door at the head of the stairs. I intended to go there and listen down the stairway. As I was moving I across the room, which was then pretty | clear of goods as far as the trapdoor, I suddenly recollected this opening and m,. r.rmrso to reach it. It was terribly dark in the room, and one unfamiliar with the place would not have dared to move a foot. Half way to the trap I got down on hands aud knees,and as I reached the opening, I settled down on my stomach. There was a dim light down stairs. That settled the fact that some one was in the store. After a minute I heard whispers, then the movement of feet, then a certain sound which located the intruders to a foot. Tliey were at the safe in the front of the store. I drew myself forward aud looked down the opening. I could see a lighted candle and two or three dark figures at the safe, and I could hear the combination b ing worked. My first thought was to drop my hand down nnd open fire in their direction, but I remembered that we had so many articles hanging up that ' ? j _ e 1,; 4.^ HO DULlCt IliXU U C'HHUL'U ui icuuiuug wu %,u\* safe. I was wondering what to do when I heard oue of the men whisper: "It's all nonsense. We might work here a week and not hit it." "But I told you to bring the tools and you wouldn't,"' protested another. "Oh, dry up!" put in a third voice. "What wc want to do is to go up and bring that counter hopper down and make him open the box." "I'll give the cussed thing a few more j trials," said the first man, and I heard him working away again. My eyes could not have told me the number of robbers, but my cars had. There were three of them, and they were uo doubt desperate and determined men. They spoke of bringing me down to open the safe as if; no rcsista-ice was anticipated or taken in- j to account. Indeed, they might well reason that they had me at their mercy. I The rain was now falling, the night was : very dark, and a pistol shot in the store j could not have been heard in either of the dwellings. If they had reflected that I might be armed, they would have offset it with the fact that I was a boy of eighteen with a girl's face and probably a j ?:..Pc nnn-o T don't tlnnv that I was a i g... O ..v,* >,. J _ bit rattled, and that my lip would quiver I in spite of me, but I was at the same time I fully determined to protect the store if it cost me my life. How to get at the fel-! lows was what bothered me, but that trouble was soon solved. "There," whispered the man at the combination as he let go of it, "I won't fool here another minute. That kid knows the combination, and we can make him work it. Come on." They are coming up stairs. The best place for me would be at the head of the stairway. The stairs had a half turn in them, and I would fire unon the first man who came within range. I heard the men coming back to the stairway, and my nerve gave way. It wasn't from cow ardice, but the knowledge tnai i was 10 i kill a human being upset me. .1 decided to retreat to ray room, and, if they persisted in coming that far, I would shoot. The trio had rubbers on their feet, but they came up stairs without trying very hard to prevent making a noise. The one who came first had the candle, and, as he got to the head of the stairs, I saw a knife in his other hand. They made no delay in approaching my room, and, with a great effort, I braced myself for what I saw must happen. Thoy could not sec me until within three or four feet of the door, and tlieir lirst lntiinauou that I was out of bed was when they heard me call out: "Stop, or I'll shoot!'' I had them covered with the weapon, and for fifteen seconds there was dead silence. Then they got a plan. The man with the caudle dashed itonthe floor,and I suppose they meant to rush in on m:: in the dark, but I checkmated it by opening Are. They then either meant to retreat \ downstairs or toward the rear of the floor, j for I saw the three together moving off, I ? -1 a* ? -'1 ->*- 'liiw Tl.rnn ! unu uri'u ui mni unu uguivo. auivu seconds later there was a great shout of horror, followed by the tremendous report of the double-bnrrele.l spring gun, and then there was absolute silence. I I think I stood in the door, shaking like a I leaf, for fully three minutes before the j silence was broken by a groan. Then it ' came to me that the robbers had fallen through the open door upou the cord leading to the gun. I struck a match, lighted my own caudle, and, going to the opening, saw three bodies lying below. Running back to the bedroom to re-charge my revolver, I then ! went down stairs to investigate. It was ; as I suspected. The three had pitched j down together. The top of one's Lead j had been blown off by the shot, u second hud a hole in his chest as bi.ir its your list, | while the third, who was responsible for j the groans, was severely wounded in both { legs. It was three 1110:1 tiis before he j could be put on trial, and lie then got j four years in prison. The whole thing j was a put up job. The "drover" was a Chicago burglar called " Clawhammer j Dick." and he had hidden himself in the store that night, and then let his pals in j by the back door. They had a horse and | Wilson in the reirof the building, and the I plan was to rub the ston; of goods as well i as to get at the money in the safe. A bit | of carelessness on my part not only saved the stoic and probably my life, but wiped out a very desperate gang.?New York Sun. Carrier Pigeons in War. Steps have been taken in nearly all European countries fo establish military communication by means of carrier pigeons in time of war. England, Fiance, Germany, Belgium and Italy have definitely organized military carrier i ------ i 1 - -: JI pigeon services, ana some nave suusiuized the j?rivute training establishments with the right to use the pigeons in war. This method of communicating originated in China, or, at least, in the cast, and it was most likelv in use by the ancient Arabians. William of Orange and Napoleon I. used these messengers during their wars; but the greatest service was that rendered in 1870, between Paris and Tours. l):iiin?r the sictre of Pans 150.000 of ficial <ii-patches and about l.OuO.OOi) private communications, repr; sentinjf ? money value of about $38,000, were conveyed by these pigeons. In this case the messages were reduced by microscopic photography so that a tiny piece of silk paper, one and three-quarter inches long by one and one-i|Uarter inches wide, could contain 3,500 messages of twenty words each, or 70,000 words. The total disnatch thus arranged weighed at most less than one-ijuartcr of an ounce, and wa< secured by a lij;ht thread to the tailfeathers of the pigeon. Vpon arrival the dispatch was removed, enlarged bv photography and deciphered.?Public He/rice lift iw. J [ SNAKE STORIES. LATEST CONTRIBUTION'S TO OPHIDIAN LITERATURE. Killing' of a Cow by a Coach-Whip Snake ? Serpents "Hatched by a Hen?A Cat and Snake Fight. ? ? * T I 31essrs. Heorgcanci .josepn nuiucmmu, I worthy citizens of the thriving town of j Edgewood, in De Kalb County, Ga., two j and a half miles out of the city, gave the j following facts, which seem to corroborate the currcnt belief that the coach| whip snake uses his tail as a whip with j fatal cffect: A few days ago a milch cow of a widow | residing in an adjoining district broke her record for promptness in coming home at night, and the following day was found in an old field, a mile off,dead by the side of a bluff. The upper side of the bluff was a thick mass of weeds. The cow, upon being skinned, showed evidences of a [ terrible flagellation. The bruised places were all regular rings around the ''-l- - -! s .Ann. uuuy. x lie ? iuuwj imij?? iu(tv oujuvbody hud wantonly beaten her cow to ! death, wasgreatlv mortified. The Messrs. Holdcrfield did not believe in the idea entertained by the widow, and began a thorough investigation. As they were moving on to the bluff they catnc across a negro man, who exclaimed : "Boss, you better be keerful how you walk around that bluff. Dar's a snake there that slips up on a feller, and he's a crowder." They had scarcely reached ' the bluff before they spied the head of a | snake peering over the weeds, darting his tongue out with lightning-like rapidity, I and his eyes sparkling with rage. They ' niiinklw however, disnatched his snake *J J 1 7 | | ship, and it proved to be a coachwhip nine feet long by actual measurement. His tail was plaited like a whip, but the end was as completely frazzled out as a buggy whip after several j'ears' constant use. It was evident that it had been used but a short time before. These gentlemen were unanimously of the opinion that the cow had been whipped to death by the snake, and as a jury of inquest so rendered a verdict.?Atlanta (Ga.) Constitution. Snakes Hatched by a Hen. About two weeks ago a little English lad named Sorby, who lives in Fetterman, took a basket and went to the neighborhood of Wallace Hun for berries. On the road home, while crossing a field, he found a number of round, white balls about as large as walnuts. ' These he put in his basket and carried home. As soon as his father saw tnem he pronounced them turtle eggs, and as they had at that time a lien that was anxious to set, and. in fact, had been setting around on brickbats, lumps of j coal, and other things of like nature, he ' concluded he woula try an experiment just for curiosity. So the supposed turtle eggs were placed uuder the hen carefully, and she was left alone in her glory. About a week after that, one bright morning, the family were startled by the greatest commotion in the chicken-yard. Upon running to learn the cause, what was their horror to see the place literally alive with black snakes, that were dartInn, Jr. onfl nil t thfi fllfl SfittillP" lllo 1U W,1U (wuv B vv"v" o lien, and wiggling around at a great rate. The supposed turtle eggs were those of a black snake, and the lien had hatched them out. The snakes were 011 an average, about six inches long, and as lively as crickets. They would protrude their ugly heads from beneath the old hen's wings and dart their little red tongues out at any one who would approach them. The Sorby family looked on in astonishment until one of the snakes wrapped itself round its foster-mother's neck and began to choke her to death. Then they procured sticks and went to work killing olf the horrid brood. After killing tvventv-eiirht the remainder?about half a dozen that had taken refuge under the old hen?were allowed to live, and it is said that she takes as much care of them as if they were little chicks. Wherever she goes they follow, and seem to know her cluck. She scratches diligently for them all day, but 110 one has yet seen them eat. At night they crawl under her wings aud sleep soundly. It is a queer family.?Ncio Brighton {Penn.) Netca. ! A Cat and Snake Fi?;ht to a Finish. In describing a duel between a cat aud gopher snake on a ranch at Los Gatos, Cal., a correspondent of the San Francisco Kannincv says it was conduct cl with groat skili 011 both sides. The cut, however, showed more determination, and from the beginning of the fray acted in a manner indicating that she proposed to make it a tight to the death, while it was evident th it the snake would have been glad to call it a draw at any time and retire with "honors easy.'' Pussy is a large Tom of the dark, handsome, striped or ' tiger" kind. Two years ago lie conceived a deadly hatred for snakes, and began to kill them wher-1 ever he found them. That is he merci-' k-ssly destroyed every non-poisonous serpent he found, but, with rare intelligence he did not attempt to molest the venom oil* sort. When lie aw a poisonous snaKe on the ranch he ran mewing to my son, and would lead him to the place where he had left it. If the snake had delayed in taking his departure my son found it, and lie has thus killed a dozen through the cat's able instrumentality. Hut Tom has slain not less than a hundred by his own unaided efforts, though none nearly as large as the one 1 saw him fighting I st ! week. He never eats any portion of a j snake when he has killed it, but after he ' has torn and bitten its life out tie leaves the bodv lying on theground, and walking away with every manifestation of disgust, stretches himself nj?on his bed in the closet and is ill for two or three days, during which he refuses to eat anything. "It was just growing dark when my little grandson called the whole family to the door to see 'Tommy tackling a gopher.' AVe li:id an excellent view of, the battle. The combatants were on an open space in front of the house,and hostilities had just commenced when we were called to the scene of action. They fought on quite regardless of our presence. "The serpent was fully four feet long, but he evidently feared Tom, who was showing unwonted caution in the en- , counter. Whenever the >nake made an attempt to reach the adjoining brushwood, which it did at every opportunity, he rapidly headed it off and stopped it. | Then the gopher raised his flat head high > from the earth, its eves {flittering with rage,- and made three or four forward darts, as if to seize Tom. wlio at such times kept carefully out of his opponent's reach, and. sooner or later, gave the j snake another chance to glide toward the brushwood, only to encounter the same check as before. "It was evident that if this went on the snake must eventually escape, and he cat began to cast anxious glances at ; -TV' ' ' ' the low bushes, as the battle gradually drew nearer to them. But suddenly he altered his tactics. When the snake's head was raised as high above the ground as the reptile could rear it, the cat les- 1 sened the space between them to a very short springing distance. The snake was visibly startled, but it viciously ] f.iced it foe. Then the cat, still keeping at. close quarters, began slowly to circle arounu. uiesnasc, m il? suuh-u^h^uk position, was compelled to twist its body painfully to follow, for it dare not for a single instaut turn its eves and fangs from the point of danger. At last its form was strained to the utmost, and it i could turn no further. This was what the cat was waiting for. "With astonishing rapidly the snake ] suddenly spun around in the opposite direction, but the movement of the cat J was yet quicker. With a spring like an arrow from a bow it seized the snake by the back of the neck and the strange conflict was virtually over. The gopher coiled itself around its opponent's body, but it could obtain no hold with its fangs, and as Tom could not be persuaded ( to let it go, its struggles soon ceased, | and it lav dead. Then the cat, looking j very much exhausted, crawled to bed, and was wretchedly sick for & couple of days. Making Slftte Pencils. In the northwestern part of the town of Custleton, Rutland County, Vt., is the only manufactory in the United States of slate penoils. The stone as it comes from the quarry is first sawed into blocks from four to seven inches wide, according to the length desired for the pencils. These are split quite easily with a chisel into slabs a little thicker than the finished pencils?.say o-lG of an inch. These are passed through a planing machine and over an emery belt to make them flat, smooth, and of a uniform thickness of about. 3-16 of an inch. Next they are pushed into the jaws of a "crocodile," which consists of a pair of steel plates, in the under one of which are six rows of curved knives, each set so as to cut a little deeper than the one that went before it. These plow out parallel grooves half way through the slab, which a man then turns and lays on a stetfl plate, havind ridges which just fit these grooves. I This slides back under the six rows of | teeth of a second crooodilc lying in wait alougside, which cuts the grooves on the J other side, and leaves the pencils side by side. Lastly, they are broken and rolled | oil for an instant, to point them upon an | emery belt. A man can give this last . touch to about 8.000 in a day. The i !. i. OA AAA I average aany output isnuuui, ov,vuv, uuu i the mill gives employment to some , twenty-five hands. The old plan was to ! saw out square pencils from the slab one by one. These were boxed and distributed among poor families, who whittled them round by hand at from a quar| tor to half a dollar per thousand.?Pot ttry and Ultmicare lleporler. Another Old War Horse. , A UofflA Af Wilcnn'o Prpplv. All- i < | iLllt'l UlC UaiKW W4 ft liuvu s? w.vvy gust 10, 1S6I, General Sigel conducted the retreat of the defeated L'nion troops, ! says a Hamilton, Mo., correspondent. In letiring from the field the General's < horse was wounded by a stray minie ball. < j The hurt was not discovered, however, until the animal fell from exhaustion con- \ . sequent upon the loss of blood. Mount- < ! ing another horse, Geueral Sigel left the ' wounded charger to die. A sutler, ] [ chancing to pass that way, made an ex- ] . animation and found that, thougti severe, i 1 the wound was only a flesh one, and that j i ' the horse, with a little attention, would 1 recover. In a week or two the horse was j ] able to be reported for duty, but the ! shrewd sutler concluded to ship him to ! ] St. Louis, believing private buyers would ' \ ' pay more for the horse than the Quarter- j i [ master. lie was sold to 1>. W. Peay, a 1 ] liveryman. He trained the horse tohar- | noss and made a fine roadster of him. In ] Itfij:} Mr. Peay sold him to his brother, J. : < J. Peay, of Howling Green, Mo., who i owns him now. The old war horse, ] though more than thirty years old, is still ?-?a. i it active. His uwiiur rcucimj smu. xj have not had a bridle on Sigel for three J yoars. 1 keep him in the pasture in sum- 1 j mer and grind his food for him in the ( ) winter." Sigel is full fifteen hands high, j blood bay in color, and has a long silky ? mane and tail. He is the pet of the cn- j tire neighborhood. ? St. Paul Pioneer ? Pre**. j In a Venezuelan Market. I \ | Going ashore early, before sunrise, ! our lirst visit was made to the market { place to sec what Maracaibans live upon. ; 1 A better and a cheaper market would be f hard to find. Excellent beef, goat, pork and fowls averaged 10 cents a pound, and 1 all varieties of tropical fruils abounded j at corresponding prices. Tied together i in bum-lies wore great green lizards, two 1 or throe feet long, with brown warts all 1 over them, and vicious black beads of s eyes. They snapped at us like dogs as i we passed, and when teased with a stick, { clung to it like bull terriers. These were ' iguanas, whose delicious white flesh is 1 eagerly eaten by all classes. It tastes like j chicken, but is more delicate. Of course ! considerable hunger would be needed to j make them appetizing to a stranger who a should recognize them in a stew. Farther 1 on, an animal with head and. tail like a t rat, feet like an aligator, and a coat of ( arms like an ironclad man-of-war, was ' ? tied to a post. Upon receiving a poke it | rolled itself promptly into a ball, head j and all being ipiite covered by its plates, ! and thus defied further attack. This I was an armadillo, also a tidbit when ' j properly stewed or roasted.?American c Mwjuzine. t ? ~ .7" j Men >> Mo Mil)' ^eeuit's. v "Needles! needles! five cents a card, 1 four packages on a card?five cents a v card,'' and as fast as the vender could pass the cards they were bought by men j crowding around the stand, blocking the ' sidewalk and treading upon each other s in their frantic endeavor to be ''first ' served." "Do I sell many?" said the I vender. "Doyou sec this tray ? Twentyfour square feet of needles, four cards '' deep. Every evening I return home i without a card?Only five, sir- to a cus-1 tomcr?and do you know that my cus- n --- ? oii; 1 turners are am men, uu nunnu u>, Strange, as you say, but there's no better j place in New York to peddle pins, I needles, thimbles, perfumes or any ar-1 tide considered indispensable by women, si than dowu town where men only can be h relied on to buy. Why! Simply be-1 si cause they want to crow over their wives, i bragging about the bargains they can get. That's n man's weakness, and we seize on it. Oh, eertaiuly, we sell cheap, but we make u living out of it for all that.? Coin mcrcial A dcertiser. Si I'aiisies. Soft as silk or satin, And lovelier to behold III their blended beauty Of purple and of gold 1 'Mid the gentle moonlight | '' | With no mortal near, C They may be the dresses That the fairies wear! J I ?William H. Hayne. ' ? BUDGET OF FUN. HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. Didn't Wan't Any?Frolics in the Atlantic?Security Demanded ?Sectional Hate?A Suggestion, Etc., Etc. Barber (to bald headed customer)? "Ah, Mr. Jones, you ought to try some Df Professor Invigorator's hair restorer. It's?" T .Art 'f rrnnf nntr V/U3lUmci? jjuu x uuu w ttuuo ??j hair." Barber (in astonishment)?"Don't want tiair?" Customer?"No, I'm married.? iVtfic FvrA Sun. Frolics in the Atlantic. French Woman (at Long Branch)? "Oh, we hat sooch a line time bathing in lie otcean. M'sieur Brown, he gif me?vot you calls 'em?a gosling." American Woman?"A gosling! Why, a gosling is a little duck." French Woman?"Zat is vat he gif me?a leetle duck.?Tid-Bits. Security Demanded. Teacher?"Class in interest, take the r* 11 r\ _ 1 x.l_ - Av/tlintifvn IlOOr. VY nut IS tLiu uicuium vji cAtuuujj^ in the United States?" Class (in concert)?"money." 'Yes, but there is something more. Can't you think of another article that is used as a medium of exchange?" Class silent. "Supposing I were to come to you and want to borrow a hundred dollars, what would you demand of mo?" Class (animatedly; ? "Security." ? American Commercial Traveler. Sectional Hate. "Going "West, sir?" inquired a Chicago drummer of a fellow passenger, by way of opening the conversation. "Yes, sir, I expect to take in the representative cities." "You will tind Chicago a lively town." "Oh, I shan't visit Chicago; only the representative cities, you know." "Conductor," whispered the Chicago drummer a little later, "who is that foureared mongrel I was talking to a moment ago?" "He's a St. Louis fish dealer," said the conductor. X fiiin>n>nctlnn "Gosh blame the measley hammer any how," howled a traveling man who was tacking down a piece of carpet, as he flung down the hammer." "What's the matter?" asked his wife. "Look at that," he said, taking out his hand from under his arm and showing the thumb. "I can't hardly bend it." "Why don't you aim at your thumb when you are tacking down carpet?" isked his wife sweetly.?Merchant Traveler. Only a Brief Interruption. It was in one of the stately mansions sf Beacon street, Boston, that our story opens. He was declaring his love in language that only a Boston youth can use, and even he must be sober. "Dearest Penelope," he said, "if I had loved you less I could have told you that [ loved you long ago. 1 " But he suddenly stopped. A far away [vhither-am-I-drifting look h id come over the girl's face, and his heart sank within him. "If my words arc displeasing to you, \Iiss Penelope," he went on in his broken :oties, "if I have said what I ought not tosav, or you ought not to hear; if [ "Not at all,'' interrupted Penelope, J ooKing wnuiy aoouc ner, --out i nave certainly lost my spectacles. Oh, there ;hey are. Thanks. As you were saying, Mr. Walilo ?jS'cic York Sun. A Surprising Reception. Book Agent?"I am offering to the jublic a new work, the 'Encvclpedia Universal, Eternal,' only five?" Omaha Man?,sCome in, sir. Don't itand there in the hot sun." "I?I guess you didn't understand. I im selling?" ' Certainly. There, take that seat l>y lie window. I am delighted to see *ou." "Permit me to 'xplain. Tliis book, jlorious work, is complete iu forty-tivc ,*olumes, at $5 a volume, and I am the igent for it." 'I am sorry you brought only one rolumc. Can you get the rest soon?M Oh, yes, but?" "By the way. there's the bell. Stay ;o dinner, won't you?'' T nniwlAn TllIC ?C V/?]T I L UCj; traiige. Am 1 awake or dreaming?" j ' Yes, the house don't look very pretty, j Iocs it? You sec, this is a private! unatic asylum, and I am one of the )aticnts."?Omaha World Held on Like Grim Death. First Omaha Burglar?I tell you, it"s 1 iwful the way things are in New Engand, twenty or thirty women to every j nan. Second Omaha Burglar?I suppose so. Ul the men have come West. "Yes, that's how it is." ;'I?i<i you get much boodle there?" "Yes; hut I had a narrow escape once, noticed a lot of the finest diamonds j 'ou ever saw on a Boston girl just going nit of the house to a lecture or sonit-; hing, and I watched my chance and got1 11 and hid under her l>cd. You see, I ras thinkin' she would be so interested j n the lecture she went to that she j I'ouldu't think to look around for burg- > ars, you know." "Yes." "Hut when she came in the first thing he did was to look under the bed, and I t.A ? HUM' MIC Oil? AMU. ' Did she scream or faint?'' "She just grabbed ine with both ands and held on like grim death." 'Eh! How did you ?et away?" "I explained to her that I was already larried and she let me go."?Omaha Vorld. i I He Lost. The occupant of an office on Lamed trect went out the other afternoon, leavig a boy in charge, and pretty soou a tranter called and asked: "Is Mr. Illnnk in?"' ' No, sir.'' "He in soon?" "J?l cum i Know. "iJone out of town ?" "I dunno. You want to sec him peronally?" "Yes. How long has lie been out?" ! "Quite a spell. Can't you come in tolorrow?" "No; must see him to-day.*' The boy got up and walked around or two or three minutes, breathing as if onsidcrably excited, and then observed: | "Say, mister, if you've got a case for , Ir. Blank he ought to know it; if you've o' a bill he wou't pay it. I'll take the chances and ask what you want' to see him for?" "To collect a debt of $7." "Humph! I took the chances and t lost. He won't be home for a week."? Detroit Free Press. A Dr>aft\ATiArl Pll norftl. / A lady who is famous among her friends for the correctness with wtiich all her social duties are performed, and who is particular in attending to all the details of intercourse with her acquaintances and friends, was recently put in nn amusingly awkwark position by the stupidity c of a servant. A neighbor being danger- i ? ously ill, this lady one morning sent her ji new maid over to inquire concerning her condition. F "Go over," she said, "and inquire how Mrs. X. is tlxis morning. And if she is ? dead," she added, as the girl started, * "ask when the funeral will be." 0 The messenger went as directed, and 8 soon returned with the air of one who n has done her whole duty. "Mrs. X. is better this morning,." was | 8 her report, "and they cannot tell when ! r the funeral will be."?Boston Cirurier. P D Points on Memory. " Memory can be cultivated, of course, J but a great deal of noneserise is written 11 -1 j. ..1? ? ? , 1 uuuui mu au-ciiuuu ui l ui zuucuivuiw, ? j_ said a professor of philosophy. "There are different kinds of memory, to be j be sure, and all susceptible to improve- g raent by constant practice. But as rule ! c a man's memory is strongest when fol'ow- |.. ing the particular bent of his occupation. , General Grant had a fine memory as to I e persons. Once a reporter met him in > . Jjan Francisco and had just a few words | g( with him. Five years afterwards hie met 1 ^ him in Washington. The General said: w 4 Yes, I remember you,' and called him by 8 name, Outside of this his memory was ^ not extraordinary. c "There are many 'freak' memories, _ as I call them. They are in an abnormal ^ condition, of course, and strong only in one direction. The boy who takes the p guest's hat at the h /tel as he goes in to ~ dine and remembers to give back the right hat has no 'freak' memory, bnt simply _ one he has acquired by practice. Clerk ? Carr, of the Fifth Avenue Hotel, remem- a bered a California banker he had not seen for forty years. The banker did ^ not recognize him,and asked if he knew a f( Mr. Carr clerking in the hotel. The reply gj was: 'Yes, I am he.' Then the banker ^ said: "I will stake a great deal that you r( not . know mc.' Mr. Carr immediately ^ called him by name. Mr. Carr's memo- ^ ry, outside of names and faces, is not extraordiuary. Ex-Gov. Charles Foster, 0 when Governor of Ohio, remembered p the name of every county officer through- ^ out the State. He now remmebers where every gas well in the United States is 1 situated and its daily output. Thomas 0 M. Nichol knows by rote nearly every ? j message that President Lincoln sent to ^ the Senate."?New York Mail and Ex- ^ I press. t( The End of a Desperado. Jack Hayes lias been taken to the insane asylum. About six years ago Hayes entered the jail a big, burly, brutal desperado, with a voice hoarse and harsh, ^ and with the blood of Philip Mueller on 1 ^ his hands. Yesterday he tottered to the j gate a poor, weak, halting wretch, palsied w | in every limb, his face expressionless,his j.j I voice a childish treble, and his mind a . j blank. g "Do I leave my little house?" he piped as the guards called at his door. "Yes, Jack, you're going home." "Poor, poor little house!" and he ran | 1 his thin, long, clammy hands along the j g I iron walls, and then sat down on the old I | bed he had picked to pieces and gave Q | vent to a tremulous sound from his | throat which kept time with the patter ! of his palsied foot upon the stone floor. n, i.<, I 1.1 / 1)1 "V'UIIIC, i \_UL11U UUi I9U1U bAAU Q. I guards. I jj j lie went back to a little cigar box in a I ft] I corner of his cell, and took therefrom a | ^ little sparrow. He stroked it with his ' ^ hand and mumbled on it, and then put j it down upon the floor. It ruffled its ! _ wings and strutted about, aud he watched ; ? it with U smile which behind the black j jj hair streaming on his face gave him a ! ^ j ghastly appearance. The guards helped ' tj him on with his coat, and then, leaning ^ 0:1 their arms, he was led totteringly, j ^ mumbling all the while in his dreary, I 0) 'high-keyed tone, to the gate. It was ? opened before him, and he was led out. 1J It shut behind him rather sharply,and he ; ^ j started: "My poor little house; my 1 I bird," he said, and he continued repeat- !ci ing these words while he was lifted into j the ambulance. lie was then rattled ! away to Bedlam, and a few hours after 1 the guard came back and handed to the 1 r< I jailer a receipt from the Superintendent I ^ j of the Insane Asylum for "one insane pa- I tj tient, Jack ilaves."' | aj This is the end of a c riminal as vicious ! and brutal as ever the police had to do j t( with, a murderer of ti.e coldest-blooded j kind. The terror of Butchertown is now +i so mild not even a sparrow fears to perch upon his finger.?i?t. Louis Republican. Q, w Alli<rntnr.nii(].Kiill FisrJit. m We learn from an observer that a bull was wading in the edge of the Flint | River swamp last Monday, nipping cane '1E aud keeping cool, when a huge alligator j w made a dash at his nose, but missed a I rf hold. The bull made fight and prodded | 8( the alligator with his horns. Then com- , CI menced a fierce aud bloody encounter in j m the shallow water. The alligator struck 8' out with his tail and snapped furiously with his huge jaws, tearing the skin and | b* flesh in big strips from the bull. The I ^ bull got his horns into thegaitor's sides, c' and lifting his carcass t s-cd him high ^1 and tlrv on the ?*rou::d. and following up ! P with a tlcrp bellow ru heel aga u upon it's Cl foe. The alligator met him with a terri- 01 ble blow of the tail, knocking oil one hi hi rn and bringing the bull to his knees. The other horn not in under a fore leg of the 'gaitor, and the 'gaitor getting a ai front foot of the bull in its month they j P' became locked, and rolled and tumbled " fearfully. They got into the water again, where after a brief struggl;; both expired. ai The entrails of the 'gaitor were pro trtiding in several places while the bull j was nearly stripped of his hide ;.ml ilesli. ? ?Sumter (Oa.) Republican. a! VI A Room Lined with Bank Notes. One of the millionaires of St. Peters- pi burg. Russia, lias a smoking room in a ^ residence which lie has recently built, ^ which is at once the most expensive and T unique apartment in the Russian Kmpire. m The furnishings of this ror>/?, although B rich and handsome, are rather simple than otherwise, the expense and beauty " .He .nwl noilincr. which art> literally lined with European banknotes. k, The ceiling instead of being a mass of 0| white, crucifying to the artistic sense, is composed of a profusion of Austrian notes grouped with marvelously pleasing effect "about a ten-florin bank note. The ^ walls arc adorned with French, English, Italian, and Russian bank notes, composed in most charming designs. Many distinguished guests from all parts of the Bi world have been admitted to this curious 53, room. 1 21 . . "v''Vr;^? IN THE FORTIES. GAMBLING OX THE MISSISSIPPI IN EARLY DAYS. >.3$. Ln Experience of a Reformed Card " Sharp "?Cleaning Oat a Party of Arkansas Toughs?Escaping Their Wrath. During the palmy days of steamboating >n the Western and Southern waters,forty dd years ago, one of the chief pastimes ndulged in by the passengers, says the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, was card laying, and to such a great extent was b carried on that the river interests reeived an unenviable reputation through he press, and the boat-owners were, bliged to prohibit all games upon their teamers. id tnose uays 11 was a com* ion thing to hear of the highest State ? nd National officials sitting down to ames where large moneyed stakes were . . isked, while sharpers and tricksters lade it a regular business of traveling ack and forth from port to port, fleecag the unsuspecting. Sporting m^n ilayed planters and others for high stakes, nd in many a case as high as ten and wenty thousand dollars would change ands in one night's sitting at a game of loker. Gamblers at times almost took possesion of steamers, and the captains and lerks had no way of protecting their assengers. Every trick known in cards ras played for all it was worth upon the migrants and others upon the steamers, j nd many an unfortunate deck pasenger met with a watery grave after he ad been deseed out of what means he , > as possessed of. In those days money V eemed to be more plentiful than now; he south prospered, and her planters beame rich through successive sea3ons of ood crop3. Jionev secmca 10 now mio heir hands, and with true Southern 30 haracteristic hospitality the planters librally spent it, and during those years of rosperity south the Mississippi River teamboats were favored with heavy caroes and large passenger lists. There wjis no better known person long the river in those days gone by i jan Colonel Geo. Devol, of Cincinnati, rho is at present writing an account of 3 irty years' experience uiong the Missisippi River. Surrounded by a party of iends a few days ago, Colonel Devol slated some incidents of his experience, .uiong other things he told of some of is tricks on the passengers with cards, 1 a game known as raonte. To use hia wn language, the Colonel, throwing hi? X;. ortly form back in a large, easy chair, ad placing his thumbs under his sua- } enders at the shoulders, said: "The good old days for sporting1 men n the river are past and gone. Forty ears I led a gambler's life, making .&>. loney fast and spending it freely. But ae last five years of my life have been )Ugh, I tell you. I've quit cards, and ropose now, in my old age to try and ve a moral live. But you want to hear ? bout my book ? Wc'.l, I'll relate one of ly personal experiences: "Coming up on the Sultana one night , .*> aere were a')out twenty-five of the DUghest set of men as cabin passengers btlieve I ever met. They were on their ray to Napoleon, Ark., which at that / me was a great town and known as the imping off place. In those days these [apoleou fellows were looked upon as ut-throats and robbers, and thought $ othing of murdering a fellow, simply ) make them appear b g men with their f ang. I had for a partner a man named anada Bill, as game a party as ever ;rode the deck of a steamboat, and one f the shrewdest gamblers I ever encoun;red. '?$? "As soon as supper was over this gang f Arkansas toughs got in the eabin nna f course wanted to play cards. Bill ad opened up business in the main hall, 2 ad a great crowd had gathered about im. 1 saw that most of these chaps had een drinking, and gave Bill the nod, hich he of course understood. He only layed a short while and left the game, retending to be broke. Then we tixed V! up that I should do the playing and - ' e would watch for any trouble. Well, ie result was I got about everything the venty-fiye men had, including their atches, and beat some srven or eight tlier passengers. ine men mi iook u pparentlj good naturcd at the time, but 3 the night wore on and they kept rinking from their private flasks I made :"j sneak to my room and changed my lothes. By the back stairs I slipped own into the kitchen and sent a man fter my partner. I h id blackened my ' tee, and looked like one of the negro )usters. I only had time to warn him, hen a terrible rumpus upstairs told me le jig was up, and with their whisky to id them they were .'earthing for me, and they caught me it would be good day ) me. I paid the cooks to keep mum, id Bill ma le himself sc.irce. They had leir guns out, and were kicking in the atcroom doors hunting for me. Some f them came down on deck, and were alking back and forth by me, cursing id threatening vengeancc. -Js "The boat was plowing her way along p the coast. The stevedores were shoutig to the hands, hurrying them along ith the freight for a landing soon to be sached. The boat's whistle blew, and >on she was heading in for he :-hore. A owd of these fellows were awaiting for te, as they suspected I would try and ^ it olf. They were looking, mind" you, >r a well-dressed man. As scon as the Dat landed about ten of them, guns in md, ran out over the stage to shore and oscly scanned the face of every person lat came otf. There was a stack of '} lows to be discharged from the boat's it'go, and noting the fact, I shouldered ic and with it l'o lowed the long line of and* amid the curses of the mates, and lirlv flew past these men who were ixnti 'g me. 1 kept on up tne mgn oamc id over the levee, and when I threw my low in the- pile with the others, made off >r the cotton fields and laid tint on my / irk until the boat g>t airaiu underway, id the burning pine in the torches on eck had been extinguished. ' It was a rlosc call, I can assure you. J; ill met me at Yicksburg the next day id brought the boodle, which we dided. He said the crowd took lights id searched the boat's hold for me after e left the landing. Bill must have aved his part well, as he told 111c after ard that they never suspected hiin. es, I could tell many of my exploits, he river was for the greater portion of ygambling career my strongest hold, ut it's all over now." A beautiful illustration ot the unconiious poetry of chilhood was given by a ttle girl a few mornings ago, after one : the heavy rain storms. ".Mamma, I uess that some poor angels have been id dot into trouble, 'cause, see, tne oon au.d the siars they's been cryin' ml all night." The "Ycdas," the sacred books of the ruhrainic religion, are believed to be 900 years old, to date back as far as >00 B. C. _ .. . * ? f?'V? ' .J- -sfe