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to their camp and ask to have a surgeon comw and see him. Between the surgeons and my nursing we got him through the crisis. I nursed him for six weeks. Then he became convalescent, and it was very nice to have him sitting up in an arm-chair on the veranda looking so pale and handsome. I used to sit by him with ray work, and he seemed so gentle and so patient?not at all like he appeared to me when I first saw him riding back to the barn to 'press the horses?that I began to feel sorry he wasn't one of our own men instead of being nothing but a detestable Yankee. One day while I was sitting on the veranda beside him, sewing, he said: "Miss Molly, are you still holding my horse as a hostage?" "Yes. Ours haven't come back yet." "Don't you think you could let me take him when I get well, if I should promise to go and find your horse3, and have them returned?" "I'll see about that when you get well." He'd been talking already about going on to join the army, but I din't think him well enough, and didn't mean to let THE MAJORITY. How fare they all, they of the pallid faces, Beyond our power to beckon their return? How is it with them in the shadow places? How shall we learn * Their solemn secret? How can we discover. By any earnest seeking, the true way Unto the knowing in what realm they hover, In what high day, Or in what sombre shadows of the night, Tbey are forever hidden from our sight? We question vainly. Yet it somehow pleases, When they have spoken the last sad good-by, ft somehow half the pain of parting eases, That in the sky, In the vast solitudes of stars and spaces, There may be consciousness and life and hope, And that when we must yield to death's embraces, There mav be scope F?r the unfolding of the better powers, Bo sadly stifled in this life of ours. ?Tracy Bobinson, in Boston Transcript. THE CANNON'S MOUTH. BY F. A. MITCHEL. They said it was a forced march. Tiret, some soldiers on horseback went tearing by with a terriblo clatter, leaving a cloud of dust behind them, then it was 11 quiet for an hour. I heard a tramping, and looking up to the crest of rising ground to the north, saw the road packed with soldiers on foot. They came quickly up, and I scarcely had time to see what they looked like before those in front had passed. They didn't march like soldiers I had seen in the city on a gala day, when I was a little girl; they hurrJed along, cach man walking as he liked. I wondered how they could go so fast, they were loaded down so. They carried great heavy knapsacks and blankets, and tin pans and canteens, besides their muskets. They look more as if they were going to set up house-keepingthan to war. While I was leaning on the widowiill, looking out and watching them, I aw a young officer ride into the yard, just as if he belonged to the place?or, lather, as if the place belonged to him? and back toward the barn. Two soldiers lode close behind him, and they got down oif their horses and went into the barn. I thought at once they were after our horses. My pony was there, and I made up my mind they shouldn't take him without walking over my dead body. I ran down stairs and out to the barn. If I had been making a forced march myself I couldn't have gone faster. Before I got there they had two horses out, and were harnessing them to the * i-? -t-i. A farm wagon, jl marcneu siraigut up iu the officer and asked him what he was doing. He was a trifle startled at seeing a girl standing before him, looking as if she ^^^iatended to make a resistance. BJ^^^"We're 'pressing all the horses and J^^^^uns we find along the road/' he ^^^^"What do you mean by 'pressing W/f them?" . V "We're 'pressing them into the service." "What for?" "To carry the men's knapsacks. They can march faster." "Do you think it makes it any more respectable to call it 'pressing?" The officer's face was flushed. I thought it was because he was ashamed of his work; but I soon noticed that he was m a burning fever. "You shan't take my pony, anyway," I cried, going to a man who was leading him out of the barn and seiz;ng the halter. ".Never mind that horse," said the offceti " it's only a pony. Take it back f&tanhe stable." The man obeyed at once. They harnessed two horses to the wagon, and led the team into the road. As the sy loldiere marched past it they threw their knapsacks on the wagon, and it was >oon loaded, and one of the negroes drove it away. Just then an officer ^ame along with a number of other officers and a train of horsemen following him. 1 noticed that be had stars on his shoulders, and wore a straight sword instead of a crooked one like the rest. "Captain," he said, looking at the ofIcer who had taken our horses and wagon, "you'd better not try to go any g- farther."* "I can go on, general. It's only intermittent." The general cut him short with, "Stop where you are." He spoke so sharp that I thought he was going to bite the captain's head off. I wished the captain had the courage to answer him, but he hadn't. The general and those who ' were with him rode on, leaving the sick nan sitting on his horse looking after them, to take care of himself a3 best he ould. I noticed he wore the same ornapaent on his cap as those about the general?a wreath?and I concluded he was one of them. There was an interval in the passing regiments, and no one was near but the captain and me. "What are you going to do,1" I asked him. I was sitting on the fence, with my feet dangling. It wasn't a very graceful position, but I was only a country girl then, and didn't know any better. "I don't know," he said, wearily; "I guppose I must ride back to ft . There's a hospital there." If he hadn't been a Yankee and a robber, or a 'presser, which is the same thing, I'd have asked bim to come into the house at once, he looked so sick. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself," I aid, "to take horses that don't belong to you?" He did look ashamed. "It isn't a pleasant business," he said. "You'd better get that pony of yours out of the way; there'll be more troops along here by-and-by." When he said this his voice sounded so pleasant, and he looked so sick, that I made up my mind to ask him in. but I couldn't bring myself to speak kindly to him. I couldn't forget that he was a Yankee soldier. "Come into the house," I said,sharply. He looked at me out of his melancholy, feverish eyes. "No, I thank you. I'll ride back to N and he turned his horse's head to ride away. ^ I called to him to stop. He obeyed me, and I went out into the road and took hold of his bridle. as "What do you mean by that?" he i | asked, surprised. ft "I going to 'press your horse." & "What for?" "To keep for the safe return of those ^Antfve taken." BKSflfcle looked at me sort o' dazed. He hand to his head, and didn't ^^^^^^H^^tnow what to do. I led his Qj^BBVHH|^^^he veranda. He dismountHSSmgffiJ^lfcebly up the stcp3 and to bed. He case B^RHgB^NRH?H3H|KBB^k^en troops M9nSBHBMuHEH99fecrhood, I over him go. He couldn't very wen go without his horse, so I wouldn't let him have it. "What hostage do you require in token of my appreciation of your kindness since I've been sick?" he asked. "You haven't anything to leave. Besides, I've done very little, I'm sure." He thought a moment. Then he said, somewhat sadly: "Yes; there's one thing I can leave? only one. I'll leave that with you." I couldn't think of anything he had except his revolver, and I was sure he wouldn't leave that. It wasn't appropi iatc. I waited for him to tell me, but he said nothing about it then. At la?t he was well enough to go. At least he thought so; I didn't. He was still as weak as a kitten, but I saw how anxious he was, and I didn't oppose him any longer. So one pleasant morning, when the air was soft and the roads were dry, I told one of the colored boys to bring the captain's horse round from the barn. The captain stood on the veranda ready to mountand ride away. His blanket and rubber poncho were strapped behind the saddle, just as he had left them, and his horse was so anxious to be olf that the boy could hardly hold him. The captain took my hand in his to say good-by, and looked straight into my eyes. I lowered them to his spurs. "You're a good girl," he said. "I'll not forget your kindness." "Oh, I would have done the same for any one." "Any one';" "Any one." Then I asked myself: "What did I want to say that for.-' 'I leave you the hostage I spoke of," he said, "bnt it is a very poor return for so much kindLess?a mere bagatelle." I could have bitten my tongue otf. He was going to make a return?to pay for what I had done for him. "Yon will find it," he added, "if you have the shrewdness to guess where it is.'' With that he gave my hand a pressure, and looked long and steadily into my eyes. Then he mounted his horse and rode away without once looking back. As soon as he had gone I commenced to think what he could mean about leaving a hostage. I was sure he wouldn't offer anything very valuable. He must know I wouldn't like that; but I thought he nf ght leave some little trinket for me to remember him by. I ransacked the room he had occupied, looking into bureau drawers, into closets, any place the ingenuity of man could find to hide anything. I even looked behind the 1 "? -- 11 T pictures Hanging on me wan. xucu x went all over the house from attic to cellar. Not a thing could 1 find. Then I recalled his words: "If you are shrewd enough to guess where it is," and went all over my search again. At last I gave it up. "A pretty way to treat mo," I grumbled, "after taking care of him so long!" I vowed that if ever I should see him again he should tell me whether he had really left*anythiug, and what it w.s. ? * "T * * * * News came of terrible fighting at the front. Stragglers, broken-down horses, wagons, ambulances from which now and then a ghastly face would look out, kept going by day after day for several days. The yard, the barn, the kitchen, were full of - men. They first day they drank up all'the water in the well. Then regiments marched by almost as fast as wheu they were making their forced march South. They passed on by the house, but stopped on the crest of the hill up the road. There they began to dig with spades and shovels, and the next morning when I looked out there was a long line of forts, and the Yankee flag flying above them, and, great heavens 1 the black mouths of cannon frowning directly down at us. While I was looking I heard something rattle far down the road. It sounded like emptying a barrel of stones into another barrel. Then another rattle, mingled with a constant dull dooming. All the morning the sounds kept coming nearer, till at last I could dis tinctly hear the loud reports ot cannon and of muskets all fired at once. I noticed a great stir in the forts above. Horsemen were galloping back and forth; new guns were every niomeut thrusting out their ugly mouth*, and men were marching ana countermaiching. I could hear their officers shouting gibberish at them, which they must have been Ind an or Chinese to understand. Then more soldiers passed the ho::se from the South, tiicd, dusty, grimed, some of them running, some wounded and tottering along slowly. All passed in a steady stream behind the fort?. Suddenly a ho?ieman dashed up to the ! house?he was all dust and dirt, and his ' horse was covered with foam. He threw himself from the saddle and came up on to the verauda. Good gracious! the captain. "Come away from here at once,"' he said: "our men are repeating; we are going to make a stand behind the works. You are directly in range. Be quick! the fire i9 liable to open at any moment." Then there was a scramble to snatch a few things. One took a lamp, another a pitcher, another a photograph album. It seemed as if everybody took the most nselesi thing to be found. All except me were hurrying down the walk to the gate; I stayed behind. The captain tried to make me hurry. He was stamping up and down on the veranda and through the hall, almost cra'.y at my delay. "Come, be quick 1" he said, as sharp as if he were the general himself. "Captain? " I said, hesitating. "What is it?" he asked, impatiently. "The hostage." "What hostage?' "That you left when you went away; I couldn't find it. Must we leave it." He looked at me a moment a3 if he thought I had lost ray senses; then he burtt into a laugh. I never could stand to be laughed at, and just then it was particularly obnoxious. I made up my mind that he -v.. , should tell me what I had hunted for, J and tell me there and then. "Never mind that," he said, seeing1 that I was irritated. "Save yourself ana it will be in no especial danger." "I'll not leave it, whatever it is," I said, resolutely. "Come, come! this will be a battlefield in a few minutes." "I won't stir a step till you tell me' what I want to know." "Nonsense!" he said, severely. The more severe his tone, the more resolute I became. I stood-stock-still. "For Heaven's sake!" he urged, becoming really frightened; "the gunners1 are standing with the lanyards in their hands ready to fire." "Let them fire!" I folded my arms. A volley sounded a short distance down the line of forts to the west. The captain tried to seize my wrist. "Do come," he pleaded. "Tell me what was the hostage," I said, stubbornly, "Here?" "Here." "No, no; this is not a fit place to tell you that. For the love of Heaven do come away!" I vowed I would conquer him or die on the field. "You shall either tell me or I will stay here till the battle is over." He looked at the frowning forts auxiously, then back at me. 'You must know?" "Now?" "Now." j "Well, then, Molly dear, I left you my heart." "I stood as one who sees an engine coming straight down on him, and whose limb* are paralyzed from the suddenness of the discovery. Merciful Heaven! what had I done? What stupidity! The blood rushed in a torrent to my cheeks; I covered my face with1 my hands. "And now, sweetheart" taking one of my hands from my burning cheek and leading me away?"if you're satisfied about the hostage, we won't stay here any longer." As he spoke there was an explosion in the forts, and it seemed as if a dozen shrieking cats were whirling over our heads, I almost wished one of them would strike me dead. The captain led me like a child toward the forts through smoke and noise and confusion. I didn't think of the battle that was opening; I only thought how immodest he must think me, and that he never would believe I could be so stupid as not to know what he meant by leaving a hostage. I have had to suffer all my life for that one mistake. I never can have my way abo.it anything; for when my husband finds all other expedients for governing to be failures, he invaribly taunts me with having forced his secret at the cannon's mouth.?Harper'a Weekly. Old Ships. The Resolute scoured the Arctic seas in search of Sir John Franklin. She was frozen fast in the middle of a wide waste of ice and abandoned by her crew. The ice setting outward from the frigid zone, bore her southward, and after a remarkable drift she was picked up by an American whaler. The United States Government refitted andjeturned the derelict to Great Britain. > She lay uucared for at her moorings in the Medway for several years, and was ultimately taken in dock and pulled to pieces. A suite of furniture was fashioned from her oaken timbers and presented to the President of the Republic. Small pieces of her were smuggled out of the dockyard, and many a wooden article is held dear at Chatham as a relic of the brave old discovery-ship. The duel between the Shannon and the Chesapeake (June i, 1813) forms an nana in fVio Vliafnrt? nf tVlP JLUCCi OO Olilg ?u v?v muw.j struggle between the United States and Great Britain from 1812 to 1815. The Americans had crowded the Chesapeake with inexperienced landsmen, and had made ready, it is said, a feast on shore for the crew on their return flushed with victory. The unexpected happened as ; as usual; the American frigate became the prize of the ship of the mother | country. The Shannon also was broken ! up at Chatham, and parts of her hull were sold at a premium. Sir Francis Drake's tiny ship, the Golden Hind, at a still more remote period came to a similar end at Deptford. A chair made out of her timbers is treasured by the university authorities at Oxford. The Betsy Caius brought over "William of Orange to this country in 1688, and was cast away in 1827?139 years later. This historical ship, that helped to change a dynasty, was over 150 years old when she ceased her combnt with the winds and waves. The Brothers, a wooden brig, built at Marvoort in 1786. is even now ploughing the waters of the North Sea. We noticed a good model of her in South Kensington Museum. She is one of those box-like craft thatVailors say are built by the mile and cut off as they are wanted. The Robert, a wooden barkentine built at Harnstaple just ten years after H. M. S. Victory, is in active service. The Truelove of London, an American-built bark of 1704, would appear to be the oldest trader in this country, or indeed in the whole world. The Goodwill, built at Sunderland in 1785, the Eliza, built at Whitehaven in 1702, and the Cognac Packet, built at Burslcdon in the same year, complete the list of British ships remaining to us from last century. The Norwegians possess three vessels that have been employed actively for 100 years?Chamltcn' Journal. Picnic Prisoners. Can I give you something that I found , in a delightful book called: "Among tho Azores?" It is about convicted criminals in Flores, one of the Azores, where inC 1UW HUlUHllJ twiliptio a beoome his own jailer I He is given the keys of the establishment, and is expected to keep himself closely confined, but with extenuating priv.leges. The liberties he enjoys, his freedom froir toil, the friends whom he admits to keep him company, render his prison life rather a luxury than otherwise. The windows of the prison are always inviting to gossiping loungers, and it is rumored that prisoners have been known even to take pleasant rambles through the streets of the city after dark. There is supposed to be a jailer connected with the establishment, but he has an easy time of it.?St. Nicholas. Persian Carpet Making. A native of Finland named I?unen,wa3 sent about two years ago to the East at the expense of the Government with the object of endeavoring to discover the art of Persian carpet weaving, the secret of which is strictly guarded by those engaged in the trade. He made the journey disguised as a simple workman, but it was only after long and fruitless efforts to obtain admission into a Turkish carpet manufactory that he succeeded zi a small place near Smyrna in acquainting himself with the process and making a design of a loom. A Persian carpet manufactory has now been established in Finland, and important results are expected from the new branch of industry thus introduced.?Pall Mall Gaztttv. WOMAN'S WORLD. PLEASANT LITERATURE FOR FEMININE READERS. Bogus Wedding Presents. A correspondent of the Jeweler?' Weekly, says: "I just accidentally learned of a new society wrinkle, which I must say almost took my breath away. A little while ago a well known fashionable lady-came in, aud after looking over some silverware and jewelry asked mo how much I would charge to hire a lot of it to her. She said she only wanted the use of it for a few' hours, and was prepared to give ample security that it would be returned in the sime condition as that it in which it was received. 41 'You see,' she said, 'my daughter is going to be married next week, and I want to make Bure that there will be a good display of wedding presents. You can send up the articles I want on the day of the wedding ana t^ey will be safely returned to you as so^n as the guests have all left. I can't afford to buy the thiugs, but am willing to pay anything in reason for the use of them ' "As I never hire out goods I declined to make any terms; but 1 have n'j doubt there are plenty of places in the city where she could be accommodated. Queer idea that, of having bogus wedding presents for the guests to look at and talk about; isn't it?" Millinery Taught in Private. Teaching millinery is a business which begins to thrive. The demand for milliners to go from house to house and work by the day or the hour at rates which economical folks can aford to pay is at present greater than the supply. Two millinery schools run by moaistes who originally learned their trade abroad have sprung up, and have a good number of pupils each. The girls who learn the trade range from eighteen years old to twenty-five. They give three months or thereabouts to diligent practice under training. Some of them fail entirely, for only a girl with a touch of the arti3t in her can be a milliner, but others succeed. When they are equipped they find circles of employers waiting for them, and they go from house to house like the peripatetic dressmaker doing up the family millinery by the day. It is an immense saving when the results are satisfactory, for they charge $2 to $4 for time in which to concoct four or five $30 or $50 creations, and some of the more clever are establishing very well paying lines of patronage. The houseto-house milliner is an institution. She has come to stay.?New York Mail and Exprett. Coral Jewelry. "Has coral jewelry entirely gone out of fashion?" asked a XewYork Telegram reporter of a big Broadway jeweler. "The almost complete absence of coral from the show windows,"he replied, "is a noticeabie fact, and it cannot be explained why it ia so little worn by the present generation. I feel confident that if more coral jewelry were kept in stock it would, before long, become fashionable once more. My reason is that coral is 'becoming' to nearly everybody. Its brilliancy makes the skin look whiter by contrast, and with dark hair it harmon * *1. lZes oeautiiuuv, wuuo us cuai, js uisu very agreeable when in conjunction with blonde tresses. , "Like all fashion in gems, this has had its ups and downs; but it is always in favor in some part of the world. The taste for it is almost universal. But it has been a long time since it reigned in the fashionable world here, and it would not be surprising to see it come in again. It is not so many years since it held a high place and furnished a prominent industry in France. The Empress Eugenie, when she set the fashion for the world, was extremely partial to ornaments of this sort. The Russian ladies of to-day wear thousands of dollars worth of coral and among the Orientals both sexes delight to wear it. The artistic efforts possible by a combination of gold and coral are great; in fact, there is almost unlimited scope for the exercise of the jeweler's taste and ability." New Freaks of Fashion. The whimsicalities among fashionable firls include rings on their thumbs. hese jewels will not come into vogue, because only seekeis of oddity will wear them. Another new freak of fair hands, fingerless gloves, was a novelty at a recent dinner. They were a compromise between wholly gloved hands, wnicharc clumsy and unsuitable to eat with, and bare hands, which seem hardly the right thing for a dressy occasion. So a number of ladies, as though by pre-arrangement, wore gloves that stopped a little beyond their knuckles. These were like the mitts of our grandmothers, except that they were made of kid. Not only did they have the advantage of beauty and utility in the handling of knives, forks and spoons, but they permitted a display of jewelry. The atrocity of rings on gloved fingers is not often committed by fashionable women, who have therefore been reluctantly compelled to hide, or leave off, their finger jewel3 at all times when gloves were prescribed. The fingerless gloves, as thus introduced, were a special manufacture to order; but the dealer will, of course, hasten to meet a d' mand. Customers can't wait for an importation, which would take six weeks, by whirh time the season of spring dinners will be over. So dealers will have to amputate the fingers of gloves already in stock, and finish the c .t edges with fancy stitching. If anbody desires to go into the business of supplying kid covers for sore fingers, he can now lay in a supply cheaply.?Albany Journal. , Outdoor Games for Women. It is not many years ago since the idea of women joining in outdoor games was regarded with aversion by most people. Not until the Indian game of badminton was intraduced to English society did people see that there can be a great deal of harmless amusement and genuine healthy exercise derived by women from such games. Tennis soon succeeded its stupid elder sister and attained the popularity of a regular craze. But novelty is the order of the day, and cricket is now being introduced among the fair tennis players in many of the linglish clubs with considerable success. But the sport is not well suited to women players, and the game, as played by them, is shorn of all its power, grace and fine points. Nevertheless, a good deal of cricket of J that kind is being played. Thore is at present in the West End of London a ladies' school which plays almost nothing else, and its first yearly match is against the eleven of a neighboring boys' academy, in which it has frequently proved victorious, thereby arousing jealously and dissatisfaction j among the boys, who arc not always chivalrous enough to accept their defeat in proper spirit. In the West of England there are many women's clubs and private matches, each side captained by a gentleman, are frequently played. Shropshire is the cnief center of cricket for women, and among the worst of counties in th? ordinary cricketing sense of the term. The women, however, make ample amends for their husbands and brothers, and even under unfavorable circumstances can polish off the women of Lancashire or Nottingham in a single inning.?Chicago Herald. Fashions in Fans. Fans this season will be of every variety of color, shape and design. They may match the costume, or contrast with it; be large or small, pretty or curious, exquisite or plain, according to the whim of the wearer. There are no restrictions as to what style should be used, and the fair purchaser will find the fan counters at the stores loaded with a bewildering variety. A wider range of material and design is employed than, ever before. Delicate carving, exquisite painting and even diamond ornamentation are lavished on the more costly fans. The moderate priced article displays wonderful taste and beauty, and even the cheap fan is quaint and pretty. Among the novelties is the ribbon fan, composed of gauze, with rows of narrow ribbon wo.ked in and out between the sticks, which are of mother-of-pearL The ribbons are delicately tintea and form a harmonious combination, producing a rainbow effect. Gau e fans, with delicately carved sticks of ivory or enameled wood, and ornamented with spangles, painting or embrodery, are popular. Fans are made entirely of flowers to match different costumes. Japanese fans will be used bv the masses as much as ever. Several pretty de-igns of feather fans are made for evening use. They are popular with debutantes. A handsome fan that will be very popular this summer is an arrangement of gossamer and gilt. It has a lace border and is usually painted with Watteau designs, or with bunches of flowers in delicate colors. The ivory sticks are exquisitely carved or are inlaid with gold. Elegant fans made of satin, vellum and gauze and painted by prominent French artists cost from $50 to $500. The finest materials are employed in making these fans. The sticks are of amber, tortoise-shell, motherof-pearl, sandal-wood, gold, and silver. The painting is usually a group of figures or a bit of landshape. Flowers usually encircle the scene, but are seldom used alone to decorate these costly fans. The most expensive fans are the jeweled toys that are made to order. There are white swandown fans with diamonds and rubies set in the sticks, and point lace fans with a design picked out in small diamonds, and clusters of precious stones set iu the bar. The cost of these freaks of feminine fancy is from $500 to $800. Society belles usually have a fan for each costume. A dainty painted silk and ivory fan serves for the morning. A beautiful lace affair is used at the afternoon tea. The elegant dinner toilet requires an exquisitely painted study in vellum or gauze, with amber sticks. In the evening a fan of ostrich plumes, spangled gauze or jeweled lace will complete the costume.?Mail and Express. Fashion Notes. t-> : _i_:_ j.,ii A liupc rings yi piaiu, uuu ^v/m aig twij stylish. The multon-leg sleeve is in great favor with Worth, especially for lace dresses. Colored camel's hair and black lace are combined in some very dressy Frcnch mantles. Gold and steel ani silver and coppper embroideries are often used to trim black lace costumes. Striped moire and grenadine, either black or white, is much chosen for watering place wear. ' The basque with plain back and full fronts girdled from the side is the popular corsage for lace toilets. Flounces are a feature of the latest importation of French dresses3, and they are arranged in various ways. Many of the new black and white fichus are made with ladder-like insertions through which ribbons are run. Poppy red dresses are imported in a great variety of fabrics, nnd are likely to be extremely popular at the seaside resorts. The Marie Antoinette fischu is being revived, to wear with high or low corsages of afternoon and evening dresses. White dresses are not likely to be worn so much this summer as for several at'aSUllS |JU3Lj WLLU |JiUYaiuu^ muvj i/biug for colors. Some of the prettiest white veilings comc with a silk selvage like a repped ribbon, which is arranged to serve as a garniture. Red silks with white figures or stripes, trimmed with white lacs and having a soft vest of white silk muslin, are used for some very effective summer gowns. Dresses of white wool are trimmed with gold and steel together, or with net or galloon embroidered with silver or copper, also with ruffles of coarse-meshed lace. An example of the prevailing fancy for irregular arrangements showed one-half of the back of the skirt covered with flounces, the other half having a pointed shawl drapery. Pretty costumes of India silk are made with shirred corsages, the long draperies falling nearly to the foot of the lower skirt, which has a flounce of lace gathered over a pointed one of the silk. The blouse bodice, now so much to mnnVi Knf a wilre nnfl ft LUC 1U10, io muwii ?. j ? full ruffle sewed upon it, the ruffle long enough to come six inches below the belt in front, tour on the hips and five behind. Snow Blindness. When in Colorado shooting, the end of last year, writC3 a correspondent of Nature, my friend had a very bad attack of snow blindness, caused by a long march on snow wi:h bright sun. My eyes also were very bad the next day and caused much pain. Some days after I was under similiar circumstances, when my guide stopped, and taking some burned wood from a stump blackened his nose and under the eyes well down on the cheek bone. On asking him the reason, he told mc it stopped snow bliudness, and as the glare was very strong I did the same, and found immediate relief. I did this all the time I was out, and never found the snow a-fcct my eyes in any way. Everyone I spoke to abouft it could give no reason for it, but all used it on the march. Some use glasses, but, as my man remarked, "glasses cost dollars, dirt nothing." Extermination of tho Birds. The birds of tho Florida coast are fast dieappearing before the guns of the plume hunters. There is an especial Bcarcity of the great American egret, the snowy heron, the Louisiana heD, the reddish egret, Ward's heron, and the little blue heron. Bitds that were common at Fort Ogden a year and a half ago are no more to be met with. The past dry season has enabled the merciless pine hunter of the border to penetrate dryshod into the former impenetrable retreat of the birds.?Savannah News. ' . . .; ? \ v musk-rats: I" METHODS OP HUNTING THE 1 LITTLE RODENT. A Novel Sport That is Becoming j Very Popular with Amateur Huntsmen?Shooting and a Spearing Them. Musk-rat hunting is a sport that is c just beginning to attract considerable attention in different parts of the coun- f try, where extensive areas of marsh-land j form favorite feeding grounds for these little rodents. Resides the professional , trappers, who live in huts along the edges of the marshes, and earn their , daily bread by hunting the rats, thousands of sportsmen engage in the business every spring merely for the pleasure ( which the sport affords. When the ? game is found in abundance, the hunters s tind excitement enough in capturing the active little creatures, for they h>ive < methods of effecting escape when pur- 1 sued by enemies which often lead the ( sportsmen long races. With the exception of the beaver, the ( musk-rat is Drobablv the most ingenious > of rodents in the construction" of its < houses. It always selects wet, marshy { places for its homes, and all of the rivers and streams of water emptying into the Atlantic Ocean have their share of the small creatures. The low marshes * abounding in treacherous bogs and quag- J mires, which are a terror to amateur huntsmen, are the places selected for the musk-rat's home, and usually a location ( is preferred which is flooded at high ! tide, but which is clear of w*ter at low * ebb. The houses are generally two or 1 three stories high, and connected with 1 the creek or stream of water by a long, narrow tunnel, which the musk-rat bur- ? rows at low tide. The ground floor ia 1 laid on a level with this tunnel, or lend, ] as it is called, and is circular in con- 1 struction. A second lead, or sort of i spiral stairway, connects the groundfloor with the second room directly above , it, which is slightly smaller than the first. ( The height of the house is regulated by j the tide. The top floor is always just ] above the highest water-mark. \ There are three ways in which the rats are hunted, any one of which makes , good sport, Shooting them Is the mode of hunting that usually suits the foreign , huntsman, for in this he is not compelled to tramp across the treacherous meadows, and run the risk of miring waist-deep in ' sticky mud. He usually goes in a boat along the edges of the stream on a clear J bright night when the rats come ashore to feed. The rats, though very vicious in the daytime, become bolder and more 1 daring after dark, and they will freqently i allow a boat to approach quite close to ' them. After they have secured a spicy root they approach the water's edge, and dipping it in the steam they rub off the nn/1 uracil if tVlnrrtll Orh 1V hpfnrA hft "UU, " ? 1) J ? ginning to eat. While engaged in this operation the hunter can easily shoot the : little creature, provided the night is not so dark- that he is unable to get a fair view of the rat on the marsh. On dark nights a headlight with a strong reflec- j tor may be used with good effect. Trapping the rats is another mode of capture. The traps are constructed somewhat after the fashion ot, the old boxtrap. They are placed in the leads which connect the houses with the rivers at low ebb. When the rats return through their miniature tuunels they push against the wire door of the trap, which easily opens for them, and closes immediately after they have entered. They can then proceed no farther until they gnaw through the trap, but before they can do this the tides rises, and drowns them in their underground prison. Nearly all of the hunters have a number of trap3 set, which they can easily attend to while they are engaged in killing the animals in another way, which is the most destructive mode of capture of all. This ia by spearing the rats, and it can be done snenessfullv onlv bv the old trappers, who understand how to use the spears with considerable effect. It is not looked upon favorably by sportsmen, as it has a tendency to drive the rats away from the more accessible part? of the marsh, llie spearfl simple of construction, but deadly in their use. In a strong cross section piece of wood a number of sharp spears, three or four feet long, arc fastened. Approaching the rat-house as quietly as possible, the hunter suddenly plunges the spears down into the soft mud aud rushes as far as he can shove it. With a pick-axe he then pulls the house to pieces. By this method he often captures two or three musk-rats at once, as the iron spears will impale all of the rodents that happen to be in the house. But in this work the hunter must need be very cautious and waiy in his movements, as the slighest noise will frighten the rats awav before he can plunge the spears through the house. The hunters of the musk-rats use the flesh for food, but it is the fur for which they are the most valuable. This is of two kinds, black and brown, the black being considered the most valuable, as dealers pay as high as twelve and eighteen cents apiece for them. The brown enn often be Durchased for six and ten cents each. The brown rat is larger, however, than its black coasin, and when full grown it will measure twelve or fourteen inches from the tip of the nose to the ro.ot of the tail. The rats are distinguished by a peculiar kind of musk, which is found in a little sack just under the skin in the lower part of the body. A Six-Hundred-Doliar Dog. Mrs. Joseph Lotz, of this city, has disposed of ner magnificent St. Bernard dog to G. B. McDougall, of San Francisco. The price paid was $600. This dog was secured in France from the kennel of Baion Rothschild by Miss Matilda Lotz, the artist, and was brought here in September, 1880, when she presented it ] to her brother's wife. The dog is a j handsome specimen of his species. He was very much attached to Airs. Lotz, j and always accompanied her in her walks, j He is supposed to be the only thorough- j bred on this coast. He is called Jumbo { II. and was born in November, 1880, at < Eastwcll Park, Kent, England. He is < by Champion Cadwallader, out of Abess j VI., both of whom have first class p?di- \ grees.?San Jose (Cal.) Mercury. < ? ( Rearing Canary Birds. 1 The breeding of canary birds is a com- 'J mon occupation among the Ilartz Moun- 1 tains, and a ready market is found for them in tho City of Goslar, au aristocratic place of 30,000 inhabitants, where some of the deceased rulers of Prussia lie buried. The birds generally sell at , priocs ranging from a few dollars to $50, but there is one variety, exceptionally , fine singers, which frequently bring $100. j The bird serves the purposes of a teacher to the others in the matter of singing, and is therefore eagerly sought after. Recently a dealor in canary birds from the Harts Mountains lauded in New York,bringing with him upward of 2000 , beautiful songsters It was his intention ( to dispose of them in the large cities of ( 1 the country.?Star Sayings. y.: r > .... . v>* ' ' ' . -* 4 ' ' ' %?' CURIOUS FACTS. A silvor pound piece of Charles L jrought $275. Thirty loaves of bread are sold for $1 it Fcrt Yalley, Qa. J. P. Irwin, of-Oswego, N. Y., paid (10,000 for a Bible. There are estimated to be 300 opium ind morphine takers in Ithaca, N. Y. The voice of Henry Hammond of Mas>eth, Long Island, who died recently, :ould be heard a mile. Dade City, Fla., turns out an alligator ourteen feet long, and with a spread of aws to close around a pork barrel. A South Carolina newspaper says that here is an old colored man in Jouesboro vho has been married nine times and las had 117childien. Ed Snyder, of Dayton, Ohio, has a log that eats onions. The curious mimal will dig up an onion bed to get it the bulbous vegetable. A Tuscola county (Mich.) man has. luring the past eleven years, been tapped 134 times for dropsy, and 2500 pound* >f water taken from his body. The wife of Votello Sanchez, a Mexican, gave birth at Pomona, Cal., to three lealthy boys. The babies have been jailed Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Jan Diego. An elm tree growing in the grounds >f the Pennsylvania Hospital, in PhMalalphia, is a scion of -the famous tree maer which William Penn held the first ???* V* To/li'ana licatjr TTlbU LUV XUUIMUMI A Georgia man has a three-legged jhicken -which, it is said, when it grows ired of walking oh two legs, corkscrew* tself over and hops along on the third in i highly entertaining and original manler. A Paget Sound (Oregon) sawmill has lent a stick of timber 151 feet long and 20 inches square, to an exhibition in San Francisco. It is believed to be the argest piece ever turned out from a sawnilL Two young boys of Lafayette, Wis., went Out hunting a few mornings ago and shot five wolves before noon. Then they cook the scalps to the County Clerk and received $100 in bounty certificates for their morning's work. Mr. Boyd, of Collinsville, La;, must be set down as a fast man, however ex* jmplary he may be. Lately he hauled lumber, built a house and moved into it, ill in a space of a day and a night, which certainly beats the record up to date. Giles Shoot, of Calhoun Ccunty, Ga., has a steer twenty-three years old, by whose help he has managed to raise twenty crops and a big family. The animal, once jet black, is now very gray, but spry and hearty as a two-year old. Mr. Arbuthnot, of Beaver's Falls, Penn., fed his twenty-year-old horse oh brewers' grains for awhile; and from being the steadiest animal in town, the herse has developed an idiosyncrasy of running away that makes folks think him crazy. For the past ten years the owner of a flouring mill at Dubuque, Iowa, had ? eign on hia fireproof safe, reading: "No money is here?please call at the house." It was intended for burglars, and the other nigbt one called at the house and secured $1870. Jesse Ruth, of Newtown, Pen'n., had the little toe of each foot amputated the other day as a remedy for corns. He had suffered such pain that be threatened to cut the toes off with a chisel if the -- / family would not consent to hare surgeons perform the operation. Nancy Hanks Lincoln, the mother of Abraham Lincoln, is buried on the outskirts of Lincoln City, Ind. A plain slab of marble about four feet high, almost covered with grass and dogweed, marks her grave. On the stone is the inscription: ''Erected by a friend of her martyred son, 1879." The oldest merchant Vessel, with one exception, now in actual service is the schooner Good Intent. She was bc^lt by Clapp & Loring in Braintree, Maw., in 1813, and was originally a sloop, with square stern and no figurehead; her length 48 feet; her breadth, 16 feet; her depth, 4$ feet, and her measure, 29 tons. Tlje home port of the Good Intent, according to the list of 1886. was Camden, He. A Hero of bemi9try. Dr. Gotterman, of the University of Gottingen, has enrolled himselt among the heroes of chemistry. Chloride of nitrogen (N. CI. 8), discovered in 1812 by Dulong, is one of the most terrible explosives known to science. It has always been supposed that its elements were in the proportion now proved beyond doubt, but no one dared to con* firm it. Dulong himself, whose discovery was accidental, suffered the loss of an eye and three fingers, and since thai nothing more positive has been learned about it. Dr. Gottermann, in the prosecution of his examination, was compelled to wear especially prepared gloves, protect his eyes with thick glasses ana the greater part of his body with two thick window panes, from behind which * > " ' -A vr^ ne watcnea ine buuswulb. ?\v auiuwi happened, and he was able to prove, after a protracted analysis, drying, etc., that the formula, N. CI. 3, is correct?om atom of nitrogen to three of chlorine. He farther observed that CL S doel not explode in the dark or twilight, bat a ray of sunshine will cause almost instant explosion. This knowledge will enable chemists to handle the substance with comparative impunity. Dr. Gottermann is heralded as one of the coming scientific stars. Bunsen, being nearly eighty years of age, and Hoffman well oa to seventy, will both soon retire, and ane of their places will probably be givea to Dr. Gottermann.?Globe Democrat. Carions Wants at Druggists' Counters. The National Dniggitt gives the following amusing specimens as fair samples of every day experience: ' Send me some of your essence to put people to sleep when they have cut their ~ a 1.1.1 a. inger9 on." "i warn iumtamug iu wiag tobacco out of my mouth." "riend me i baby's top to a nursing bottle.11 "Something for a sore baby's eye." "Enough ipecac to throw up a girl of [our years old." "Enough anise seed to :ake the twiat out of a dose of senDa." "Something for a woman with a bad :ough and cannot cough." ' 'Something [ forgot the name of, but it is for a swelled woman's foot." ".For a man with i dry spit on him." "For a woman whose appetite is loose on her." A Queen's Kebnke. Recently the Queen of the Belgians ivas driving through the Palace Royal, it Brussels, when she noticed a man riolently beating a dog who was attempting to draw a heavily loaded barrow. The Queen at once stopped her :arriage and dispatched the footman for i gendarme, who brought the offender up to the carriage, where he was sharply rebuked by Her Majesty, after which he was taken in charge, for cruelty, and the Queen drove off amid cheers from the irowd. <