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: ~%gi. .<Sy' * > - *. J*? ? ' ; "FAME." The master wrote his grand old uama Upon the whitened sands of Time; Above, he traced a land sublime To speak forever of his fame. Again he came; an hour, a day, Had wrought a change upon the sand, As tho' an unseen, jealous hand Had swept his laurels all away. The singer sang a tender lay Unto a smi ing, eager throng, And dreamt her little, fleeting 8'. Would last in memory for aye. A year, an age; she sought again In broken voice and tattered gown The chosen friends of her renown, But sought remembrance all in vain. * A little child, in meadows green, Uancea gayiy u or too uuuumj nunns, Nor counted laps of fleeing hours, Nor envied Fame her title?"queen." The butterfly, in gaudy dress, Was her especial care, the bees Joined voices with her 'neath* the tftes? And this alone was happiness. ?Flora N. Montgomery. A BRAVE GIRL. i. JjC; "There, mother; there's something for you." The girl, who was well nigh blooming j into womauhood, threw into her mother's j lap a half dozen oranges. Her mother j looked un. a smile brichteninsr her pale \ face, and. drawing the"child close to her j side, kitsOu ue: uu^t tenderly. "I've got some good news for you, j mother. Would you-like to hear it?" aid the girl, as she removed her bonnet and laid it on the mantelpiece. The smile that grew brighter on the mother's face wa; the only answer made to the query, and the girl, standing by her parent's side and holding one of her thin hauds in her own, said: "Well, you recollect that advertisement I answered day before yesterday?I think it has turned out a lucky thing for me. I'm going to leave the envelope factory on Saturday, and on Monday I shall be employed in Smith ?fc Williams's dry goods and fancy store as a saleswoman at a salary of $3 a week. Now, isn't that good Dews?" She leaued forward and kissed her mother, in whose eves the tears were starting. "I feel so happy to-night, mother," ahe said, "for I hope now that we shall be able to leave these disagreeable rooms for pleasanter apartments, where you can be more comfortable. There, now, don't cry. Maybe the sunny days will come back to us, after all. I want you to be happy, dear mother, and I am going to make you so if I can. There, now," she added, as she kissed her mother again, and then went bustling about the roonj like the busy and restless creature she was, and began to prepare the evening meal. Jennie Wilson, although shehad passed through much affliction for one so young, was a handsome girl, who had nearly reached her ISth year. Her features were regular, her eyes were dark blue, and - her light brown hair fell back luxuriantly in a cluster of glossy curls. i Though slightly below the average j tature, she possessed a fine figure and j wa=; graceful in her movement. Nature ! had endowed her with many personal j charms, and some might have pronounced ! her a beauty. Usder more favorable i rireum>tanres she certainlv would have I m \?-r ranked as one. But Jennie Wilson was only a working , girl, and as such she was a type of th?t i class of wage earners of the gentler sex I which, through trial, sorrow, and often | privation, bravely tights the battle of : life and is seldom deserted by fortitude, , hopefulness, and self ie-;pect. Mrs. Wilson, her mother, was a woman ! who had seen better days. She had been a widow for nearly ten years. Her hus~ band, who was a commercial traveler for . a New-York tirm, had been killed in a j railroad accident during one of his busi- ; ness trips. He had supported his wife and daughter very respectably, and at "* the time the disaster by which the wife was widowed and Jennie was made AAniifi-Of] V* *Q ni-AOAft^fc wore laiUCHVOO VtV/UII^Uj |/ivwj/vvv^ ?IV*V I brightening, and he hoped ere long to ! be placed upon a business footing which would prove a sure step to fortune. But up to that time he had applied most of hiscarnings to the support, of his family, and when the sudden ending of his life came the wordly possessions consisted of $200 worth of household goods and $30 in ready money. Although the widow was almost heartbroken by the calamity that had befallen her, after the grief had mellowed into a rational sorrow for the dead husband, he looked with eves more lovinsr than ever upon her little girl and lesolved to bear her bereavement with as much fortitude as she could command and five and toil for Jennie's sake. "We ghall never see papa again in this wor'.d, my darling," she said one day to .Jennie, "but he will always be with us in msmcry and, in the remembrance of the love he bore me and you, I must make the best f our affliction. You are my only treasure now and I shall do all I can to make your future life a happy one." At the time of her mairiage Mrs. Wil i J i?. - Mi? on was empioyeu in a mnuncry suop m the Bowery, and now that she mast gain earn her bread by the toil of her own hands she became re-employcd there. Jennie was a faithfu! attendant at one of the public school?, and for several years the mother and daughter lived ery comfortably and contentedly iu some neat apartments in one of the plras*nt streets on the west side. But sickness rame. The mother was taken ill with fever and for weeks sha lay hovering between life and de.ith. It was a terrible blow to Jennie?who nur moolioil fnr.iK rrno !* nn/1 although some kind and sympathetic friends made frequent visits to the sick chamber, *he alone acted as nurse and kept "the house" in order. Several pieces of jewelry had to be sold in order to procure the money to pay the doctor indpurthase medicine and the common neccs:i..rie3 of life, and d.ir'tig the long period of convalescence which followed the breaking of the fever. Mrs. Wilson obtained money to meet her necessary expenses by selling some articles of furi-:.\ . niture. "I must have my rent or you must Via- a ') tnl/1 <'>!io rli?T 1C9> C 11U1C) JiltU uvi ittiiuiutu wuv 41 Vou'rc owing me over two months'rer.t now; so if you can't pay jou mt.3t get * out." * "I expect to be able to go to work gain in a few days," aaswered the poor woman, who, although still very weak, was now able to be up and about, "and I will pay just as soo,n as I get enough together to do so. I hope, sir?" "No, no; I must either have my money or my rooms." The words were cruel in themselves, but the tone in which they were uttered was still more creel. The unhappy women burst into tears, atid Jennie turned to the window and looked o:;t into the street, feeling as if her heart would almost break. "Well, I'll give you till Saturdav? -- '*'S aow Tuesday/' said the landlord. "If you don't pay up then you must leave." | He walked out, slamming the door, and left the wretched mother and daughter to their misery and tears. Saturday came nnd he received his rent money. By selling some more furnituie and pawning several small articles?Mrs. Wilson had gathered a sufficient sum to meet the indebtedness. But when the next month came the landlord was prompt in his demand for the rent. The poor woman had not been been able to resume her work and she had no money. The landlord was inexorable, and in a few days he served her with a legal notice to vncate the apartments. She secured two small rooms on the top floor of an East side tenement house, and although still weak from her long illness, she returned to her work in tiie millinery snop. iiui bub wus uuable to accomplish much and lier earnings were very scant indeed. Jennie found employment in an envelope factory downtown, and with their meagre wages combined they continued their fight against starvation. " But there was stil! further misfortune in store for them. A year later the mother was again taken ill, and this illness left her a confirmed invalid. Jennie, however, was in the enjoyment of excellent health, and she had proved heiseif so faithful and efficient at her work that her wnges had been raised, and with the small stipend that she received each week she supported her mother and herself. Again, and then again her pay was increased, and at the time our story opens she had become so accustomed?young and inexperienced as she was in the ways of the world?to her life of labor, and had been so encouraged by even the small increase of wages she had received that the natural kit/vrronnTT aP Vioh nofurn V?or| riOftfl fthnVfl l/Ul/J??Ul.jr V* UV. V. the depression of spirts which at times had made her life seem almost hopeless, and she had resolved to make the best of fate, to cheerfully work on for her mother's sake, and to look forward to the future with the hope that some day she might discover a silver lining to the cloud which had so long darkened the sky of her young life. " Good-by, mother," she said, when Monday morning came and she was about to leave for her new scene of labor u A ua auieawuiiiau iu a iautj oivit, "God bless you, my child!" said the invalid. "I shall pray for you all day aud wait yoiir retura with anxiety." They kissed each other, and Jennie left her humble abid'ng place with a lighter heart than she had known for years. She hummed an air as >he tripped down the poorly lighted stairway of the old tenement and hurried on to the store with a feeling that was akin to joyousness. She found the situation a pleasant one, and as the days went by and the spring advanced she resolved to celebrate the advent of summer by removing to a more cheerful dwelling place. Mrs. Wilson was still invalided, but by the labor of Jennie she was made comfortable, and poor as they were, both were quite happy under the improved condition of tneir moderate means 01 subsistence. It was now mid-Maytime. Birds were singing in the parks, leaves were whispering from the trees, and the air was redolent with the perfume of blossoms. Only a few weeks longer and the old quarters would be exchanged for other and pleasanter ones. And .Jennie was bo happy. Weary as she often was when she came home at night, cheerfulness was ever her companion. Fidelity to her mother was to her a religion, and she was thankful to heaven for the continuance of her good health and the opportunity to earn sufficient money where with to purchase ths simple comforts which made her life to a degree pleasurable, aud by which she was enabled to keep her mother from becoming the inmate of some charitable institution. It was a hard struggle for this girl to keep the wolf from the door, but nature had cast her in an heroic mold, and she never for a moment lost h art. One evening on returning home she found her mother very ill?so ill, indeed, that she became alarmed and sent a lad, who lived with his parents in some apartments adjoining, tor a doctor. "Vour mother is very sick, miss," said the doctor as he was leaving the place after prescribing for the patient, but I will do all I can for her." "Oh, doctor," said Jennie, "save her for me. Do not let her die and leave me alono in the world. Doctor, doctor " She could say no more. Her poor heart was almost breaking, and leaning against the rickety bannisters in the hallway she buried her face in her hands and sobbed bitterly. The doctor, who was a man of sympathetic nature, spoke to her encouragingly and tried to console her. "I will call again in the morning," he \ said. "Are you all alone? Is there no one with you and your mother?" "We are alone, doctor,'' she said between her sobs, "but there is a kind old lady who lives in apartments next to ours, and she will come in and stay with us to-night. Please don't fail to call in ; the morning, doctor." She was now quile calm, and biddiug | the doclor good evening, returned to ' her mother's bedside. Oh, the weary watching by day and ; i night! Oh, the heartache! Oh, the j wretchedness of that poor young heart! ! Oh, the loneliness! Oh, the cross that ! she must bear! But the end came soon, and within a i r i_: i.?_ i.! i. I _ ioriuigiibs lime sue uy h cuiiiu 111 ; I which lay the body of her dead mother. ' The weary and over-burdened spirit had taken it3 flight, and this faithful, resolu'e girl, surrounded by a number of her shopm .lcs and a small group of syrapatlir.ng neighbors, awaited the coming of tie morrow, when the lemains were j to be bo:n3 to Greenwood and there laid j at rsit. It was the first day of June when the j burial took pla.-e. Natute was arrayed j in hc-r loveliest robes, thy sky above was ! cloudless and the birds above were | 1 cheerily singing in bush and tree as the J i i. -T_ 3 J 1 I , gnci-airiCKCU miu uuw v puaui'u L;III stood by that grave, and as she tjrned away and was driven back to the city i she seemed to bo dazod. The ordeal of : alfliction through which she was passing was indeed terrible for one so young to j | face. Minnie Hay ward, one of her shop-1 1 mates, invited her to her own little! room in a bo.irdiag hous'.*, ar.d for sev-j | cral days Jennie whs unable to leave lier j j bed, she was so prostrated by thu blow ! drall her by the hand of fate. She was ! very weak and many days went by be| fore she felt strong enough to resume 'work. Her place in the store had been given to another and she was obliged to I seek employment elsewhere. The few articles of furniture in the apartments where her mother died she gave to the kind neighbor who had assisted her in attending to the wants of her mother, aud she accepted Minnie's invitation to remain with her until she had found something to do. All the money which she hid saved j since the holidays and with which she had j intended to sccure more comfortable j apartments for hex mother had been ex ' Tt. * hausted by the cost of medicine, by the doctor's fees, by the purchase of a burial place in the cemetery, and in defraying the fuDeral expenses, and she was now penniless. Many a one among her elders would have completely broken down undcrsuch a heavy load of affliction, but the steadfast resoluteness of her nature abided with her still. Her spirit, though deadened by bitter experience, was still unbroken, and despite the anxiety, the temptations, the dangers, the possible injustice and perhaps cruelty which she might still be doomed to encounter, she, with a true womanly persistence, resolved to toil on and trust to the future for some bright day wh'.-n the clouds would break and the sunshine of happiness flood her pathway with its glorious lierht. Day after day she answered advertisements and made personal applications for situations in stores and factories, but was unable to secure a place; and if it had not been for the kindness of the hospitable friend whose room and bed she shared, God alone knows to what extremity she might have been driven. She kuew of no living relative in the world except an uncle who, before her father's death, was living somewhere in Maine; but whether he was now living and exactly where his residence was she knew not. She was really alone in the world. "Oh, Jennie! I'm going to tell you something that maybe you'll like to hear," said her kind-hearted friend one evening when she returned from work. "I've got something for you to do." In the full gratitude of her heart the JJULU gill UIII 51, 1I11U luciiu. "Now, now, don't do that, Jennie," said her cheery-hearted companion. ''There now, stop crying," she added, as with her own handkerchief she stanched the tears in the eyes of the weeping girl. "The wages are only $4 a week, " said Mamie, "but you can manage to get along on that for the present. You can remain here with me, for I know what trouble is myself, Jenuie, and go to work. Heaven only knows what we friendless girls would do in this great city, so full of temptations and wickedness designed to entrap U3, if we didn't sometimes stana Dy eacn ouier. ocumc, I am your friend, and when I heard today that there was a small situation vacant in the store, 1 at once went to the forewoman and asked her to give it to you. She thought you were too proud to take such a place, but I took the liberty of saying that you would take it. Now, will you, Jennie?" The child of affliction threw her arms around her benefactor's neck and kissed her. Pride! It was no time for pride. The living that would come from that small stipend might be poor, but it would be better than a continuance of the dependence upon the generosity of her companion, who had been so kind to her, and whose own life was a struggle for existence. So she accompanied Minnie to the store the next day, and went to work, earning wages for her own support, she felt the old buoyancy cf spiiit return, and in a few weeks she once ? libn fVio .Tannift Wilson as muio. ivvacu UI\W ? . she appeared when she told her mother of her intention of removing her quarters on that June day?alas! that June day wheu, instead of taking up her abode in a pleasantcr place, she sat mthe old tenement in the presence of death. Several years have passed 6ince then, and her name is not Wilson now. Lovo came to her one day and led her to an altar where a ring was placed on her finger, and for the fir3t time she was made happy by a husband's kiss.?New York Sun. Implements of the Baseball Player. "I can tell you a few things about bats and balls which the general public do " tni/l r>r.n nf thfi Inrcpflt SUOrt UUU XXAAVy ?' J vwv W. w o -J ing goods manufacturers in the world to a Tribune reporter. "The buseball cf to-day aDd the little globe of even seven or eight yeais ago are quite different things. The balls now in general use by professional clubs are about as near perfection as it is possible lo make them. The materials used are the best quality, and some of them have to be imported from the other side of the water. The rubber centre and horsehidc cover we can get without much trouble, but the yarn used has to be of the very best quality, and have to be selected with great care. The thread used in sewing the cover we import from Scotland. We have a machine now with which we roll the balls after the covers have been put on, and if there is the slightest imperfection in the roundness or in the stitching it can instantly be detected and the ball is thrown out. These bails are used in all National League contests and retail at a $1.50 each. Even at that figure there is little profit in them for the makers. You can buy balls from 5 cents to $1 each, but you will not get much service out of a ball when you pay less than the second price. Nearly all the factories are in the East. The balls used by the Lcagueand Association are this year almost exactly alike. We sold last year 2,000,030 baseba'ls. Probably fully 8,000,000 balls will be sold th's year, of which number we will probably sell about one-half. "More attention is also given to the bat thau of old," continued the dealer. "Ash is now used almost exclusively in the manufacture of these clubs or sticks, and the best ash obtainable. At that much trouble is experienced in getting the right kind of timber. The be9t bat? are made from wood with extra wide grain and solid timber. The effort is to get the weight as light as possible and yet have the bat contain the necessary strength and firmness. The weight of the bat9 will run from 33 to 40 ounces, only the heavy-weight players using the latter weight. Counor, Kelly and Anson all use" the 40-ouuce bat, but there are not many players of that calibre in the country. You will find the average weight of the bat used by professional players to be about 34 ounces. Thayer, ol Howard College, invented the catcher's mask. It was a crude thing at first, and yet through royalties and finally by the sale of the patent, he has m.ide a small fortune out of his little invention. William Giay, of Hartford, invented the body protector u ed by the catchers, and also made a good sum out of this wind saver."?New York Tribune. A Now Crop of Hair. A Sioux City (Iowa) raau who has been bald foi years, was surprised lately to discover a patch of fiery red hair, about the size of a silver dollar, growing from tfie crown of his head. It came forth with surprising rapidity, ana m a lew days wa? several inches in length. The queer thing about it is, that what little hair he had before was jet black, and the red lock covers only a small portion of the bald place. It is so funny that he scarcely dares to take his hat off. One of the luckiest real estate investments ever made in Omahi wa3 that of B. J. Saxe, who paid $;?00 a few years ago tor a lot in the south part of the citj that ia now worth $30,000, ' . y -:, : ""' ' ^'n.. BUDGET OF FUN. HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. The Last Straw?At the Ball Game?The Charm of Music? An Eye to Business? Etc., Etc., Etc. He had been walking up and down the room with the baby for two hours. ''John," said his wife, from among the pillows, '"you dou't look very well of late. I'm afraid you don't get exercise enough." John laid the baby in the crib, with its feet on the pillow, aud went to sleep.? HarperBa.ar. At the Ball Game. He excitedly)?"By Jove, did you see that left fielder catch that fly?" She (petulantly;?"Of course I didn't. I don't see how you can catch a fly so far away, when it is all I can do to aee the ball. What do they do with the poor little flies, anyway, John, when they catch them?"? Washington Critic. The Charm of Music. Fair Visitor (to convict)?"I suppose, sir, that the singing of the birds relieves the monotony of your dreary life?" Convict (profoundly nonplussed)? "The singing of the birds, miss?" Fair Visitor?"Yes, sir, the little jail birds, you know. They must be such a boon."?New York Sun. An Eye to Business. ' Citizen (to undertaker)?"Fine establishment you've got here, Mr. Mould." Undertaker?"Yes; we are getting thing9 in shape. I hope, Mr. Smith, fVia.fi mtion -cnn wnnf anrf-Viincr in mv line you will bear me in mind; and should you not be in a condition to er?um? attend to the matter personally, I trust your friends will not forget me."?Life. He Lacked Accomplishment. "Mabel, I love you." The words came forth like the plaintive, vibrant sigh of an Jiolian harp. ' It can never be." "But I am rich, and lean furnish you with every luxury. Besides, I am doing well in my profession, and may one day be famous." "I know it, Hnrold, but you can't tell the ditlerence between a home run and a three-base hit."?Merchant Traveler. An Onfsifle Study. Al/1 nn tft AAA VAU A 1 W WU4V *V WW about these bills o' yourn, Harry." Harry?"i"es, sir; but you know a scientific education is very expensive." Old Boggs- <lI dessay it is, Harry; but if you took mathematics instead of poker it would not only be less expensive, but might prove of more use to you later."? Life. Poetry Which Pays. Society Dame?"Who is that young man who is so attenti. e to you now?" Great Belle?"He is a poet." ' Mercy on us! And do you,the proud daughter of a hundred millionaire, propose to throw yourself away on a poor, miseraoie starveling 01 a pouti "Jh, he isn't that kind of a poet. He writes soap advertisement*." "My own. own daughter, after all. Ask him to dinner."?Omaha World. It Does Make a Difference. The Governor?"A pretty fellow you are to disgrace me in this way 1 What on earth tempted you.to run away with that girl?" Alfred?"Why, leaving out all sentiment, sir, it was?her twenty thousand a year." The Governor ? "Oh?ah?it was nrpf-fv mnoh after all. to have met with r' W"V O? ? r so much opposition." -Life. Two Constructions of a Wish. "I could gaze at the moon for hours, Mr. Sampson." she said in a voice full of sweetness and pneumonia. "I never tire of it." "Ah," he responded, "would that I were the man fn it!" "Yes," she assented softly. "And why, Miss Clara?'' he asked, getting ready to take her hand. "Because, Mr. Sampson," she said, shyly veiling her eyes with their long lashes," you would be four million miles away."?Epoch. A Bright Youth. An Austin parent ha? a dreadfully Btupia ooy. me oiner aay me oia man told him to bring him (he bootjack, but the boy couldu't find it, although he stumbled right over it. "What have you got your eyes for?" asked the irate parent. The boy thought and thought, and finally he said: "To open them in the morning when I wake up." When the boy grows up he will make a boss night watchman or a policeman. ? Texas Siftings. A Care for Scandal. Mrs. Du9enberry?"What queer ways they have in some countries! This paper says that in Morrocco when the women talk scandal their lips are rubbed with cayenne pepper." Mr. Dusenberry?"An odd custom indeed. (Half an hour later.) Where are you going my dear?" Mrs. Duseuberry?"To the sewing circle. Let me sec; I've got my scissors, thread, thimble " Mr. Du-senberrv?"And cayenne pep per V'-^Dclroit Free Press. Method in Her Madness. Bachelor (whom Brown has brought home to dinner;?"l)oe3 your wife always kiss you. Brown, when you return from the office:" Brown?"Yes, always, never fails." Bachelor (with a sigh)?"Ah, it must be delightful to haven cosy home like this and a lovely wife to greet you with a kiss!" Brown (also with a sigh)?"Yes she kisses me to discover if I have been drinking anything."- Epoch. No Fool Remedies for Him. Brown?"I can tell you what will cure that cold, Dumlry. You take a big | drink of hot flaxseed tea to-night at y I o'clock and go to bed." Dumley?"Nonsense; I'm on my way to j see a doctor now. "When I am sick 11 don't take any fool remedies." Dumley (later, to physician)?"Doctor, I've got a severe cold." Physician (gravely)?"Um; bad, very bad, particularly at this season of the year. Had it long?" Dumley?"About a week.'' Physician?"Um; in the head or on the chest?" Dumley?"It's got me both ways, Doctor." Physician?"Um; let me try your lungs." (Doctor seizes Dumley with what! is known in Gra co-Roman wrestling parlance ns the grab him-quick-and-chuck-1 him-over-your-head-and-kill-him hold, \ " ' :'-?^ "V-v .'. v ... ,^-~y 'rcV'^". ' " a - . ' < ' and listens intently for ten minutes.) "Um; appetite good?" Dumley?"Fairish." Physician?"Um: sleep well?" Dumley?"Haven't slept a wink for two nights; neither has my wife." Physician?4'Um; wife troubled with a cold, too?" Dumley?"Yes, troubled with mine." Physician?"Um; let me feel of your tongue?er?I should say, see your tongue and fe?l of your pulse. Um; yes, pulse feeble and tongue coated. Where did you get this cola?" Dumley?"I was over in Pennsylvania last week, and I think I got it there." Physician?"Um; yes, people can't be too careful about going to Pennsylvania. Throat sore?" Dumley?"It's gcttin' sore, Doctor." ?- - -. * - iv ion .Physician?"um; taicen anycnmg yetr Dumley?-"No." Physician?"LTm; well, Mr. Dumley, to-night at 9 o'clock you take a big drink of hot flaxseed tea and go to bed. In the morning I think you will be all right." Dumley (gratefully)?"Thanks, Doctor; how much?" Physician?"Two dollars, please."? New York Sun. A Samoan Beverage. I suppose most people by this time know the orthodox mode of preparing this. It is chewed, or ought to be, as in Samoa, by yoimg and of course pretty girls, and the masticated stuff being thrown into a bowl and mixed with water, the woody particles are fished out with a wiBp of the fibre vau fa malva ceous tree), and the liquor is then carried round to each guest in order. Of course, by the old school this mode of preparation is thought very superior to the Tongan innovation of pounding or grating the root. Certaiuly the ingredients differ somewhat, and the dash of human secretion in the orthodox mixture possibly promotes digestion?an effect not to be de-pised after a square meal of half a dozen pounds of yam! Even in the humblest menage the natioual bowl is not prepared without some form and circumstance?elaborate traditional motions of the hands in clearing the bowl and rinsing the fibre, strict attention to precedence in handing the cup to tne gue3ts (a matter in which, when Europeans were concerned, I was in other islands sometimes consulted), and to other points of etiquette, the transgression of which is viewed with some severity. Thus it is de rigueur to empty your cocoanut cup at a single draught. On my first occasion of drinking I had neglected this rule, for the cup was large, and the taste, as I thought, nasty. Accordingly, on returning the cup, which you do by sending it spinning along too noor to cue nmsa-i ui uciemonies, the usual quiet clapping of hands and murmur of applause which should follow this was withheld. On discovering the cause of the silence I hastened to explain that I had never tasted the cup before, and thought it so good that I could not resist prolonging the pleasure, bu*. I saw that my solecism was too great to be easily excused.? BlackicoocPi Magazine. A "Valuable Discovery. G. 0. Hayford, of Colfax, has made a most interesting and what promises to be a very valuable discovery in the way of nut growing. Owing to observations that the nuts of the black oak and the - *" * -1.^11 Italian cnestnui were simuur m such auu texture of meat, he concluded that the latter might be successfully grafted upon the former, and last year tried the experiment. He grafted a number of small oaks with scions from Italian chestnuts of-previous year's growth, and with the most gratifying results. Nearly every one of the grafts grew and attained a remarkable height for a single year. The union between the stock and grafted section is excellent, and the new growth erives a specially vigorous and hardy ap pcarance" There can be no doubt that trees so grown will be equal if not superior to the natural stock of the chestnut, and from results of experiments in other ingrafting it is believed that earlier bearings will be secured. The outlook, then, appears to-be that persons having land upon which young oaks are growing, may, instead of grubbing them out, graft them, and thus soon have a field of thrifty Italian chestnuts, without even plowing the land. Thinning, however, sufficient to permit the field being plowed, would unquestionably increase the rapidity of growth and be desirable. Marco Yarozza, who has an excellent farm at Middletown, nrar Placerville, El tried the same thing sue cessfully two years ago.?Placcrville (Co/.) Herald. Found a Toad in a Stone. Stories are occasionally published about the finding of live toads imprisoned in the thick walls of stone, and doubtless mo3t of these are considered unreliable by the average reader. A few days ago, however, a Statesman reporter met a Yonkers (N. Y.) geatleman whose veracity cannot be questioned, and to the reporter this Yonkersite related an interesting experience. ' Live toads in a rock? Oh, yes, I have heard of such occurrences, and in fact I once found a toad in such an enclosure. It was in the year 1840, when T ?An flm nt>/\nApf.V nAW 1 was Ut VYUin. via |/iV|ywwj *iv.. owned by Robert P. Getty. We had been getting out some sandstone, and came to a chunk nearly a yard square. When the piece was rolled over and broken a small hole was found near the center, and from this a live toad jumped out. The sandstone was porous, and for that reason, probably, the toad had been enabled to live." "How old do you think the toad was'<" "1 have never learned how old a toad may become, and have no means of knowing how old that one may have been. The sandstone must have formed around the toad and have held him fast there for two or three years, perhaps. A Singular Case of Hearing. frorne time ago an engineer on the Miami Railroad was suspended because, -fl? flvominn/1 hw Fir CMurlr Uliur ill l V i Li ucoll cauiuiuvu wj ay* vmu wy he was found to be quite deaf. The engineer claimed at the t'me that he could hear everything while running his engine, but the doctor found that in a still room he could not hear ordinary conversation a foot away. The engineer lived at Cincinnati, and received treatment in that city for his disease, but without any special benefit. After being suspended eight months the engineer again came to Dr. Clark and insisted that he could hear perfectly while on a moving engine. The doctor thought he would test the case, and, accompany iug the man to Cincinnati, made a number of experiments with him on engines. The result was that the doctor found the engineer was not only telling the truth in regard to the matter, but also that the deaf man could hear low remarks and whispers on a moving engine that even Dr. Clark's keen car failed to catch. The engineer was reinstated in his former place.?ColumVu* {Ohio) Journal. 'imsB&t&aL _ ... illl HEAD-GEM " A DESCRIPTION OP THE WA* MEN'S HATS AliE MADE ; i " '. . The Method of Making, the Fell from Fur?Shaping the "Body"? Various Other ProcessesMaking Silk Hats. With a view to learn How men's hats are made, a New York Telegram reporter visited a number of bat manufactories and gives below the result of his inquiries. Commencing with the derby, wnich is the hat of the multitude end which ia made of tine felt, otherwise known as e.? ai i.:? fl?;efla IUT, lilt; (JUCdblUil LiUl? uuunvuiouj wtiovQ? , What is felt? How is it made sad what is it made from? Felt then is a fabric without warp 01 woof, made by hair interlocking together and forming a solid sheet, more imperv-1 ious to air and water than any woven fabric. How is this done? By Bimply shaking the hairs together. It looks easy when written about, but the shaking requires skill and special machinery. Any person who takes the trouble to pul! a hair out of his head will find, if he has a delicate sense of touch, by passing it through his fingers first one way and then the other, that when pulling it in one direction there is a slight resist ance, while if pulled in the other direction it glides smoothly. This is because ia nearly all hairs," particularly short, fine, soft, hairs, there are minute barbs. A hair sometimes gets into the fabric of a garment and travels all round it occasionally. This is because it can only,go one way. By brushing or putting on or off the garment the hair is pushed along and works its way, always in one direction, because the barbs prevent it getting back. This is the reason why matted hair is so difficult to straighten out. The barbs become interlocked. Felting hair or fur is producing a fabric by causing the hairs to interlock ciosciy. JuerDy nais ui iuc ucsi, ?.mu, galled fur hats, are made of the fur of certain animals, notably the Russian hare, the nutria, which is found in the Andes in South America, the beaver and the cony. The fur of these animals is particularly well adapted for "felting." There are three colors and qualities of fur on each of these animals. When a manufacturer is going to make fur hats, jither high or derby, he makes a mixture lomposea of fixed proportions of six or i<?ven different kinds of fur. The first speration is to put the mixture through i blowing raacnine in ordef to clear it :rom long hairs which do not felt readily. Some manufacturers buy the skins ind cut off the fur themselves, but a ?reat many have the hairs supplied hem. After the fur has passed through the blowing machine and is ready to be msed the quantity for each hat to be manufactured is weighed out. To make ;hc hat, whether high or a derby, the !ur first passes through the "forming"' nachine, in which is a revolving table. The fur is fed to this table, which passes 'nto the blower, where it is blown upon i revolving cone, forming what is techlically known as a "body." The body or cone is lifted off and dipped into a caldron of boiling vitriol ind water. This "cone," which is to be ;he hat when completed, is about four :imei the size of a finished hat and of the flimsiest texture, something like 5ray wadding torn apart. The bath of vitriol and water gives it its tirst sizing, ft then goe3 to a very skilful workman, :alled the hardener, who first carefully alls- every hole by throwing in spare fur md then puts it through a machine which causes the fur to shrink closely together. Then it goes to the sizing maihine, in which are a numlierof rollers, which partially clear it of loose down ind where it is reduced in size by compression. From the sizing room it goes to the jtiffening room, where it passes through 11 bath, in which shellac is tne principal ingredient. The specific ingredients of which the bath is composed and the proportion of each are various, nearly every workman having a formula of his own. tc emerges from the bath a dirty gray :olor and is sent to the colorer, who puts it, with other hats, into a large vat containing the dye, where it remains two days. The colorer sends it to the blocking zoom, where it assumes the. first approximation to the shape of a hat. It is then In shape like one of the beaver bats worn in London during the reign of George IV. 5f" From the blocking machine it goes to " " * * ?- ?i?x a the finishing room, wnere it is eoueneu. by steamed and reblocked again iuto the 3hape it is designed to appear in for sale, [t is then finished by a hot iron and carefully sand papered. The hats, after passing through the finishing room, are sorted out in dozen lots, and the foreman of the finishing room examines them very carefully, laying aside any imperfect hats, which are kept for "knock downs," as they are :allcd, and finished for a cheaper kind of aat. The curl of the brim intended for the style of hat required has then to be given. Sometimes they are curled by hand, but generally the curling is done by machinery. After they are curled they receive the i "set," being either rolled up on the side or dipped front and back as ordered. j The hats next so to the binders, the | binding being generally done by girls. It | is in most case3 done by hand, although j a machine has beeh invented for the purpose. The binders put the binding round the outer edges of the hats. From the binders they go to the trimmers, who put in by hand the silk lining called the Mtip,"next the band, and finally, the sweat band or leather. In some cases the sweat band is made and put in by machinery, but in the finest hats it is "whipped in" by hand. The finished hats are carefully examined by the foreman and sent to the packer, who brushes them carefully and packs them generally three in a bnx and three dozen boxes in a case ready for the market iu any part of the country. T -*??? aa /*vf Vlftfa 1 PflQ P7. ID IHU UUaiSCl glUUM vr? ... pensive mixtures of furs are used and there is les3 time occupied in cleaning and sandpapering. Soft hats go through almost identically the same processes, with the exception of the stiffening. The brim gets the set by the hat being placed crowu downward on a vessel with a lkinge and another vessel containing hot sand is placed on the brim which rests on the flange, thus giving the brim its set. Silk hats are made on a buckram body, which is stiffened with shellac. The fine silk plush with which the hats are covered is generally imported from and flermanv and is attached to tho body with shellac. The processes of curling, brushing, trimming and packing are exactly the 3ame as with felt hats. Bananas have become so cheap in Queensland, Australia, that their cultivation is no longer profitable. Only one shilling per bunch of twenty-five dozen is caid fw the fruit. r'" * i - * _ ; CURIOUS FACTS. Ticket scalping is unlawful in Pennsylvania. . , " : ' Marietta, Ohio, was named-for Marie -j Antoinette. The making of woolen cloth was be- ?>| gun in England in 1331. Forty trains run honrly on Brooklyn v? Bridge, carrying 20,000 passengers. Albany, N. T., was founded by the Dutch in 1614; made the capital o>| the State in 1797. A New Tork oculist says that the greatest enemy to the eyes of young men is the cigarette. A few years ago' cotton seed was thrown away as worthless, but to-day the seed is as valuable as the lint. A young man in Beading, Penn., was I made seriously ill from the effects of I kissing a girl's rouge-painted sheeks. Philadelphia has a saloon which is known [as The Morgue, because several men have dropped dead after drinking there. A German walked most of the way from Texas to Boonville, Ind., to marry a young woman. It took him nearly six months. The Flint river swamps, in Sumter . county, , Ga., are full of wild turkeys, as many as fifty and sixty having been seeu in a drove. Los Acge!e3, Cal., has produced a lemon weighing three pounds and a quarter. The tree on which it grew had but half a dozen lemons. Dr. 0. F. Malbon, a former dentist of Thomaeton, Me., now located at Home, ~ ; Italy, writes to a friend that he has just received the munificent sum of $1500 for filling a tooth of one of Rome's nobility* *1 UA stalking horse" is a mask or dis- .1 guise. The saying originated from the '{ practice of hunters to conceal themselves ' } behind canvass, oh which was represented a grazing horse, in order to come | upon their game unawares. Two ragged Italian children, who were "4 arrested in Chicago while gathering cigar stumps on the streets, explained that they sold the discarded weeas to ? fellow countryman for fifteen cents a pound, and that they were "made into ~ cigarettes.1'' Dr. Eberhart, of Palo, Ga.f says, that he saw a man moving a few- days ago . and his wife was in the cart with an <ud . setting hen in her lap; The hen had thirteen eggs, and before the woman arrived to her new home the eggs .had all hatched and the little chickens were doinsr well. * . Numerous Conger eels, killed by the frost, have been washed up on- the southern coast of England. Some of them weighed seventy pounds, being m seven feet long and twenty-four inches in circumference?miniature sea serpents, in fact. No similar occurrence has been known since the Crimean war. John H. Cormer, living on tho Ocklawana River, Fla., shot and killed an. alligator over eight feet long. Opening ?' it, out of curiosity, he was surprised to find, snugly ensconced therein, a water snake a foot long and eleven young ' snakes. The reptiles had evidently been in their novel home some time, as the r?l 1 ir?ofnn rrroa e?y inotiaa rt?f liVQL Vi vuo OlUgaiiUl n ?g qia uivuww vuw of its normal position and was flattened oat in places by the continued pressure of the snakes. Superstitions Chinese Brides. : k Chinese girl who is partaking of the last meal she is to est in her father's house previous to her marriage sits at the table with her parents and brothers; but she must eat no more than half the bowl of rice set before her, else her de- . parture will be followed by continual scarcity in the domicile she is leaving. -. -v If a bride breaks the heel of her shoe in going from her father's to her hus- ' " band's houso, it is ominous of unhappi ness in ner new regions. A piece of bacon and a parcel of sugar are hang on the back of a bride's sedan chair as a sop to the demons who might molest her while on her journey. Tha "Three Baneful Ones" are fond of salt and spices and the "White Tiger" lik.t sweets. A bride may be brought home while a coffin is in her husband's house, but not within one hundred days after a coffin is carried out. Domestic ' roubles are sure 1. _ ? u;M TO come upon one wuu is uittincu wumu a hundred days after the funeral. A bride, while putting on her bridal garments, stands in a round, shallow - . basket. This conduces to her leading a placid, well rounded life in her future no me. After her departure from her father's door her mother puts the basket over the mouth of the oven, to stop the mouths of all who would make adverse comment on her daughter, and then sita %. down before the kitchen range, that her pcace and leisure may be duplicated in her daughter's life. A bride must not, for four months after her marriage, enter any house in which there has recently been a death or a birth, for if she dees so there will surely be a quarrel Letween her and the orrnnm Tf a vounff mother crocs to see a bride, the visitor is looked upon as the cause of any calamity that may follow. ?Popular /Science Monthly. The Fate of a Big Sliark. Captain John Gray has presented to the Left-Handed Fishing Club the skeleton of a shark which is said to have been the largest ever seen on the coast of I the Gulf of Mexico. The shark, it seems, had b?en hovering about the quarantine station Pass Cavallo for some days last summer, and his con* tinued presence in the pass made the men about the quarantine station uneasy .u..ak?H<inn in <ho enrf Th<? mnfain UUUUi. Maiuiu^ JU wuw wu.A, of the State quarantine schooner determined to catch the monster of the deep, and securing an immense Bteel hook, he attached it to a trace chain, and a rope to the chain. The rope was then tied to the moat of the vessel. It took the combined strength of two men to haul the fish to the side of the1 boat, working with the aid of a block and tackle. His head was pulled out of the water, and several well directed blows with an ax killed him. He was then hauled upon the beach. He measured fourteen feet in length. The backbone and head now adorn the walls of the club rooms of the Left-Handed Club, being suspended just in the rear of the de.sk of the chief shark, who is the pre- J siding officer of the club. The mouth < is thirty inches in diameter. It is relntArl nf this shark that he was not at all fastidious in his diet. It made no difference to this monster of the deep whether it was a small boy, a dog or a hog that he caught paddling in the water. Some weeks before he had caught a mule wading out into the water, and (he shark swam out to him and bit off his left hind leg, and swal- ' lowed leg, foot, iron shoe and all with- j out an apparent effort. After the fish ^ was caught the hind leg of the mule was rescued, but too late to be of use to the jmm, mule, he having reconciled himself to three legs for the rest of his life. The shoe was taken from the hoof, and it flj hangs over the door of the room.of the . jfl Left-Handed Club. - " -i