University of South Carolina Libraries
LIFE'S SILENT THIRD. Sometimes, when weary with an overstrain, There comes a sick'ning sense of fleeting breath, And all endeavor seemeth worse than vain, A sweet, reproachful voice low whispereth: "Why is thy heart unstrung? A third of those spent years that thou dost weep Thou hast not iived?they passed thoo by in sleep; So thou art young." And then again, wheu wantoning and glad, The heart holds revel, while its tense strings thrill Beneath life's joyous fingers, speaks a sad And solemn voice that strikes the music stih: "Thy years to thee are told; A part thou knoweC, but a third of all Are locked away in sleep's oblivious thrall; And thou art old." ?diaries Coleman, in Independent. HANNAH'S VISITOR. BY HELEN F0KRKST CRAVES. It was late afternoon of a mild April day, and the usual crowd of loafers and loungers, collected around the general store which served as postortice, shoemart, drygoods emporium and a little of everything else forxhe straggling settlement of Wrigsville, in the northern part of Maine, were congratulating each other on the chance to sit and smoke ; their pipes on the wooden benches out- I side the door, instead of around the j white-hot stove within, where the odors j of codfish, cheese and red herrings mingled oddly with tobacco-smoke and damp leather hoots. ".Nice weather this, for the time o' year," said Zenas Powell, staring steadily at the sun going down behind Cherry 3Iouutain. "Yes; I dunno that I've any fault to find with the weather," slowly answered Squire Sedlcy, who had came for his mail. He had hardly completed his sentence, however, when there was a cracking sound of slipping stones ana rending branches in the steep ravine at the back of the house, and young Dawson, the hunter, stood among them, his cheek flushed with exercise, his gun balanced on his shoulder. "Buunin' away from a catamount?" grinned Squire Sealey. "2s~o; only racing the stagc-coaoh," said Dawson. "Ikuew I could do it if I took the short cut through the glen." "Coach isa-comm', eh?" saici Leander Stokes, who kept the store, a heavy man with a bilious complexion and a soft hat wedged on the back of his head. "Yes; and such a passenger abroad?" cried Dawson. "Billy Best, ain't it, with the machinery for Dingle's new grist-mill?" hazarded Stokes. "Billy Best," nodded Dawson. "But he ain't the only one, I tell you. I jumped when 1 stuck my head into the stage window to holler to Billy Best." "'Taint none o' them Canady defaulters, is it?" demanded Sedley, with I an air of heavy facetiousness. "No," said Dawson; "it's the stuffed grizley for a fur store up in I'arkersdale. And a fine animal it must have been in its day. Six feet high it stands at least, and as fat and sleek as if it were alive:" "A b'ar, eh?" said Stokes. "Well, I'd sooner meet it dead than living," observed Seel ley. "So they took it as inside passenger, eh?" "There wa'nt 110 room for it outside," i explained Dawson. "I s'pose likely they'll be wantin' storage space for it here all night?' said Leander Stoker, all of whose meditations tended in one direction?namely, that -of turning a jjenny? honest or dishonest, he scarcely cared which. "But I^won't store no grizzly b'ars for nothin', I'll let 'em know that!" "He won't want no board," jocosely observed Squire Sedley; "an' ef he stays long, he'll bring lots 'o custom. Folks j must buy something, ef it's only a paper o' needles, ef they come in to get a squint at the grizzly. "Yes."' assented Leauder; "but grizzlies ain't in the reg'lar line o' business, like they was bar'ls o' molasses or a hundred-weight o'hogs. Them as stores extras must expect to pay extra." But 1 c-atider Stokes's covetous expec-! tations were doomed to disappointment. "When the stnge-coach rolled and rumbled up the steep, saudy hill, careening like a vessel at sea, there was no grizzly on board. And this was how it happened : Mr. William Best, general freight agent of the Kattleday i'.uilroad line, had 6topped the coach opposite a quiet little red farmhouse in the wood?,and knocked at the door. Hannah Perry came to answer the summons?a bloom :ng eighteen-year oiugiri, wun snauy uiue eyes ana nair j of the glossiest chestnut-brown. "Wiiy, Willi" she cried, her whole face lighting up. "I didn't expect?" "2\o, I know you didn't," said Best, in his driest business way. "I say, Hannah, you ain't using the kitchen bed-room since Uncle Silas went away? There ain't nobodv sleeps there?" 'No. Why:" ' "I've got some freight I'd sort o' like stored there over night, if you hain't no other use for the room." "I'm sure you're welcome." said Hannah, cheerily. "What is it?" "A?grizzly ji'ar Hannah gave a start. "Alive?" "Bless your heart,no, child! As dead as the nails in Methusaleh's co.iin. Stuffed! A fancy front-door sign for Jenn'.ngses's new fur store up in Parkersdale. I might leave it at Stokes's; but the creetur'd get pawed and handled over by all the idlers and ne'er-do-wells that collect around the store, so't mebbe he wouldn't be no use fur a sign by the time we got him safe to I'arkersdale. So. if you wouldn't mind, Hannah, it tc Alll/1 V?n o rr rn o f /\K1 i <vo * ? ?? ? *1 nvuivt uv, a. 51v-.it uwij^auuu iu 1UC. "Mind? oh, I shan't mind in the I least 1" cried Ilannah, the shady blue! eyes sparkling. And she stood by, greatly amused, while the stage-driver and Billy Best between them hoisted the cumbrous, stuffed monster out of the stage-coach, up the narrow path, where the crocuses were sleepily closing the lemon and I purple stars wherewith they had welcomed ihe sunshiny, spring day, and still borders of box distilled their aromatic perfume, aud bestowed it safely in the nearest angle of the kitchen bed-room, where Uncle Silas had so recently slept the sleep of the righteous, on a stiff little cot-bed, with a husk mattress and a I gorgeous patchwork quilt. "We've never had a bear for a lodger before I" cried Hannah, gayly; "though I used often to Fay?didn't I, Natty," to her little brother, who stood by?"that "Uncle Silas was quite as cross as any bear could be? Natty, do you think this fellow will give us the nightmare?" "I guess not," Natty answered, soberly "Now mind, Nathaniel, you don't touch the creetur'," said Best, gravely surveying his arrangements. "These 'ere stulfed animals are plumb-full of arsenic, and all other sorts o' poisons, and who icnows what might happen*" ".Natty is not a meddler," said Hannah. "Natty won't touch the grizzly." "Your father ain't come home yet, I s'pose?" said Best, on the threshold. "He isn't coming home to-night," said Hannah. "He's gone to Wolf Hollow to see about hiring a man for the spring work." "Not coming home to-night?" Hannah shook her head. Best stood a moment with preoccupied eyes and contracted brows, then he departed. Hannah went on cooking supper; little Natty, after indulging himself with a prolonged stare at the shaggy thing in the bed-room, returned to his sums in arithmetic, and the eager audience at Stokes's store were sorely discomfited. The stage-driver was not communica- j tive at the best of time3, and Billy Best ! allowed the host of loungers to believe that the grizzly had been shipped off by wagon at the cross roads below, direct to Parkersdalc. "Wal, that is too mean," said Zenas Powell. "I never seen a grizzly." While Leander Stokes, disappointed in his hopes of money-making, relieved I his mind by putting an extra penny on the next; ];ound of cheese,.which he sold to a little gin, ana seuing xne seuouu grade of shag tobacco at first grade prices to two red-sliirted miners. When !) o'clock came, Hannah Perry went quietly to her room, as usual. "Sister," said Natty, "can I leave the door between our two rooms open? I, somehow, can't help thinking" of that stuffed bear." "But the bear can't hurt us, Natty." "No; but his glass eyes shone so, and he looked so fierce!" "That's nonsense, Natty," said the brave little elder sister. But if you like, I'll go down and and lock the door on kitchen side." "Not yet, Hannah, ".pleaded the child. "I'd rather you'd stay here. "Wait until after I'm asleep. ' "What a little goose it is!" said Hannah, laughing. But she sat some time at the glass, nutting her hair into crimping pins, and ii j i ,.i +V.o? men rcau nci uiguujr iiiujitti, ou iuao Natty's even, regular breathing at last conviuced her that he had forgotten all his appreheusions in slumber. "I don't think it's really necessary for me to go down,-' thought she. "But still, since I promised .Natty?" And taking the candlestick in her hand, she glided noiselessly down the stairs. To her surprise the kitchen, which she had left dark and silent, was lighted from the bedroom, whose door was ajar.. A man sat on the side of L'nc-le Silas's^ bed, ravenously eating bread and meat. Beside him stood Billy Best, with a flat, wicker covered bottle in his hand. At the sound of Hannah's footsteps they both started. The strange man would have made for the door, but Best detained him. "Stop," said he, in a suppressed voice. "Don't be afraid. She's game?game to the backbone. You've found out our secret, Hannah," he added, "but we aren't afraid to trust you. It's lioyal Bensley, the defaulter?the best friend I've got in the world, barring no man, and the worst used. The bank president was in the scheme, and half the mealy-mouthed directors; and the miuute things went wrong, they all backed out, and left him to suffer, single-handed, for it. But he won't, not if I cau get him safe across the Canada line, eh, old boy? Yes" (as he saw Hannah's startled glance turn toward the heap of fur in the corner), "that's the way he came, nil packed around with hay, and no breathingplace but the hole in the beast's red mouth, and one or two air-holes we made where nobody would suspect what they were for. And a pretty hard siege he's had of it, too, poor fellow! And now, my girl, is the time to show your pluck, aW 1 know you've got plenty of it. Trust everything to me; only keep silent. Go back to bed, and leave me to manage." Without a word of remonstrance, Hannah obeyed. Once back in the drowsy atmosphere of little Natty's serene breathing, it seemed as if the scene down stairs must have been the fragment of a fevered dream. Hut the sound of muli!ed steps, the occasional murmur of suppressed voices, the careful opening and closing i 01 WIUUUWS uaun, 1U1 uauc uma wuunusion. Not a wick did Hannah Perry sleep all that April night. She lay there wide awake, listening and wondering, her heart beatius at a fevered pace, while she repeated, ever and anon, to herself: i "Will Best is there. I can trust Will ! Best/' Soon after midnight, however, the j furtive noises subsided into silence; and when in the morning Haunah descended with Natty trotting close at her heels, the farmhouse kitcheu bore no signs of la?t night's invasion. "Sister," said .Natty, "can I peep in at the grizzly( Just once before I go to school?'' "Yes," said Hannah. "I'll open the door for you." There, to her amazement, was the grizzly bear, upright in his comer, giassy-eyed and portly as ever. "Ain't he funuy!" chuckled Natty, poking his finger into the fur sides of the creature, and wondering how he ever could have been so timid of him the night before. And Hannah looked at the grizzly as if she half believed the whole thing was a vision of the night. Natty was off to school when Billy iiesc ana nis express wagon arnveu iv claim the grim, furcoated hostage. "Yes, I know," said he, answering the mute questions put by Hannah's eyes; "but it's simple enough when once you have the clue. He's safe now on the other side of the line, thank Providence! He came all tne way from Philadelphia packed inside that skin, and he says there ain't money enough going to induce him to do it again?not if a score of lives huug in the balance. We took the straNvaud husks out of your Ur.c!e Silas' mattress to restuff the old hide with, and sewed it up good and stroug. Thnt thimble and needle aud I skein of brown linen thread of yours in the table-drawer was mighty handy, I tell you, Hannah. And then we left Bruin squatting in the corner, and got off as quick as we could. Aud you're the bravest girl in Maine, Hannah Terry, and the prettiest into the bargain!" So speaking, Mr. Best helped himBelf ! to a kiss?to two or three of them?before he drove oil with the griz/.ly bear. Leander Stokes, Squire Sedlcy, Zenas Powell and half a dozen others of similar type, were standing at the store door when Mr. Best rattled by, putting his brown mare to her utmost speed, cn [ route for Parkersdale. Half an hour afterward the sheriff's j man came around with hammer and I tacks, putting up a printed description of the fugitive from justice, and the ! store idiers all agreed, with one accord, > that it would be an impossibility for that man to get across the line. Hannah Perry herself stopped to read the words as Leander was doing up her package of pink paper muslin, but she said nothing. And one of the reasons which Bill] Best subsequently gave for wedding pretty Hannah was that he had alwayi been looking for a woman who knew how to hold her tongue, and that he had at last found her. ?Saturday Night. Coffee Ad alteration. A Brooklyn man, who has been in the coffee business all his life, made a peculiar experiment in the presence of a New York Sun reporter. Taking a handful of newly ground coffee and placing it in J a tumbler he filled the glass with water, j Every particle of the coffee immediately arose and floated in a dense mass on the top of the water. The water, at first perfectly clear, gradually became discolorcd, until at last the coffee on the top had lost its natural shade and grew a whitey-brown. "That's the only sure way to test coffee," said the grocer, smiling confidently over the success of his experiment. "If this sample had contained the least adulteration whatever it would Ii.iva remained fit. t.Vifi linfctnm nf t.hp glass. Coffee is a bean, while chicory, its most common adulterant, is a root. The one is carbonic, the other earthly matter; and the one floats while the other sinks. If the average coffee drinker knew the mcdical qualities of chicory, he would never drink coffee without being assured of its absolute purity. Chicory not ouly makes the coffee taste bitter, but it is one of the most violent emetics known. "It has been known to bring on paralysis, and has the most deleterious effect on the eyesight. Chicory, while the most common, is not the only ndulerant used by the coffee mills. Peas, rye, rosewood, sawdust, and in fact, anything that will burn brown, are employed without stint. The adulterators justify themselves by contending that if only pure coffee was employed, people in ordinary circumstances would be unable to buy it, as the amount imported represents such a small proportion to the total used. Whea a grocer goes to buy coffee he always states whether he wants it pure, 75, 50 or 25 per cent. "If he buys it pure, an effort is always made to sell him adulterants, as a grocer is looked upon as a crazy man who gives his customers the genuine article. A man who sells coffee for 25 cents a pound and gives away prizes with it recently gave me his formula. The ingredients "and their cost was as follows: One pound of coffee, 12 cents; one pound of rye, 2| cents; one pound of peas, lucent; one pound of chicory, 0 cents. For 22 cents he made four pounds of 2ii-cent coffee, thus allowing him enough profit to give his customers good prizes, which he didn't do. Coffee ijs a very clean thing to handle, but when it is adulterated there is always a lot of dust left in the scales alterweighing. "Even pure coffee can be spoiled in the making. As a newspaper man, you must have often realized that you got a better cup of coffee for five cents in a beanery than for three times the price at a more aristocratic resort. The crowning sin of coffee makers is the use of a tin pot. The tannin of the coti'ee acts on the tin, and the result is that the coffee has a bluish tinge. Nothing but earthenware should be used in brewing coffee. When made this way it is said to keep good for six weeks." Lunched on Glass and Water. "Hold on there, man, you'll kill yourself," exclaimed Dr. Shoemaker in the receiving ward of the Pennsylvania Hospital as Michael Hanly, a patient, picked up an ordinary tumbler and took a bite from the side. "That won't hurt me," said the man, as he chewcd and swallowed the glass and rolled out his tongue to show that it was not concealed in his mouth. "This ? 1 i ?i ? IS only my usual lULKJJJ, uuuiiuuuu mo I mail, as he bit out another generous i chunk or glass. "This is simply suicide, and you can't i eat any more," said the doctor, as the man was about starting in on the last section, and the fragment was taken from him. "I'll tell you what I'il do," said Jlike1 "I'll eat that jar for five cents, and I won't charge you anything if I don't eat every bit of it. You'll have to give me plenty of water, though, for that kind of stuff's very sweet," as he picked up a pint porcelain jar from the surgeon's tray. "Wc don't want to see you kill-yourself, and besides it wouldu't pay to give you money to eat a jar worth half a dollar." "Don't be afraid of me killing myself. You fellow.1} don't know .my capacity. I'il tell you what I'll do, I'll drink water faster than you can hand it to me.'' "I'll give you a drink, if that's what you want." said Nurse McCann, as he moved toward the cooler, and the man's capacity for drink was tested." .\JcCann produced two good sized tumbers and started the water. Hanly drained the glasses and handed thein back as fast as they could be tilled,until seventeen had been emptied into the maw anrl thfi watering nrccess ? f n 4 was peremptorily stopped by the doctor. Mike was then dismissed, and the last seen of him he was trying to borrow a nickel from one of the nurses at the door. The man never posed as a freak, and can only be considered an amateur. A few-years ago he was a prosperous newsdealer, and was known as the fastest counter and folder of newspapers in the city. Unfortunately, like many othegood fellows, he took to drink and lost his business.?Philadelphia North American. The Smallest Craft. Mr. E. M. Goodall and a friend arrived here Sabbath morning in a thirty-twofoot craft of eight feet beam, after a run of 1100 miles at sea from Sanford, Me. The boat is a novel combination, as it can be run either as a kerosene launch or a sloop-rig yacht. Thi3 is the smallest craft that has ever made the run from Maine to Florida, and she is looking as fresh and natty after her long battle with the breakers as if just in from an hour's pleasant cruise. The owners, the Messrs. Goodall, who are noted as the manufacturers- of plush upholstery for parlor couches, will pass tVi<? winter eniovin? the deliclitful vacht ing and fishiDgon the now famous Indian River. This is but one of several yachts that have recently arrived on the scene of "winter sport and game carnage.? Indian liicer (Fla.) Aeics. TVIiy the Teeth Chatter. It is through the skin, and only through the skin, that we receive sensations of temperature. The chattering of j the teeth from the feeling of cola is j caused by what i3 termed rellex action of the muscles of the jaw. When an impression is made on the sensitive | surface of the skin it is conveyed by an excitor nerve to the spinal cord, and is there reflected back on the muscles by a corresponding motor nerve, the action being involuntary, like that of any other mechanism. Chattering of the teeth, as well as shivering and sneezing,is nature's effort to restore the circulation of the blood which has accumulated ia the [ larger near the heart. 1 WOMAN'S WORLD. PLEASANT LITERATURE FOR FEMININE READERS. His Flag of Truce. A young man of Hawkinsville, Ga., | and his "best girl" quarreled some days ago, and remained "at outs" with each i o^her until the young man relented and began to devise some plan to "make up." He finally decided to try the effect of a flag of truce and cutting a delicate piece of white ribbon into the shape of a miniature flag, he sealed it in a sweetly perfumed envelope and forwarded it to his fair enemy. It had the desired effect, and she at once gave him permission to cross tbe line and be happy again.?Detroit Free Press. An Amphibious Maiden Lady. There is a maiden lady in a city not far from Elberton, Ga., who is so constituted that she cannot live out of water but a short while at the time. After remaining away from a bathtub for a couple of hours she commenies to faint and almost suffocates, and to procure re lief must at once cover her entire body in cold water. She has in her room a pool of fresh water, and in this she spends a greater part of her time, both winter and summer. Otherwise her health is very good. Her physical pe culiarity, while doubtless inconvenient, must be less obje tionable to the lady's friends than the opposite extreme would be.?New Orleans Times-Democrat. The Accordion Cloak. The accordion cloak is one of the latest things. It is merely five straight breadths of double width nun's veiling or cashmere, the length from shoulder to foot, hemmed all round and the plaits held close at the top and sewn fast into a velvet collar. But this not all exactly. The same thing made of ten widths of the thinest silk or silk mull is sewn into the same collar, and falls loose into the plaits of the outer gores, thus making what is actually two plaited circulars, one within the other. Pretty women who envelop themselves in such wraps soon learn the tricks ballet dancers in short accordion skirts always make us$ of, and throw their arms about, holding an end of the cloak in their fingers, thus stretching out and drawing in the goods in graceful curves in the most coquettish aud bewildering manner. The beauty and etlectiveness 01 tnin, aencate marerials has never been shown in a way to surpa?s these accordion plaitings. For the underdress of the esthetic Greek toilets they are extremely appropriate.? Chicago Htrald. A Youthful Dakota Amazon. Nearly every paper I have read lately has an article about the brave little girl of Lake County, Dakota, who plowed forty acic3 of ground. It was a grand thing for a little girl only twelve years of age to do, but I think the following will discount it: C. M. Hutchinson had charge of my farm in Deuel County, Dakota, in 1^87, aud his daughter Maud, only seven years old at the time, drove a team and did her 3hare of the work in stacking over oOO acres of hay and grain. Wc ran from three to five teams every day, and she would drive a load to the stack, change teams, drive back to the field and change teams, driving a different team every time. Somejof the teams were not very gentle, but she managed them as well as any of t&e men. At one time, while hauling hay, the load slipped off, throwing her under it. She crawled out, overtook the team, caught the lines that were dragging on the ground, turned the team around, drove back to the hay on the ground, unhitched the team, took one of the horses and rode back to the field, got help to come aud load the hay, and drove to the bam as though nothing had happened. Miss Maud is a lady-like, slight-appearing girl. If you can find a * .n a Sjiri oi seven years uiu iuui u;is uujjiajcu j more sand and good horse sense than she did on this occasion I will throw up the sponge.?St. Paul Pioneer Press. Professional Nurses. I have often wondered, says a writer in the Brooklyn Citizen, why more young ladies do not study for professional nurses, for there is money in the business, besides the physiological lcnowl- I edge is well worth having. It is not a | difficult matter to gaiu admittance to ' the Brooklyn Maternity on Concord I street, which is one of the oldest lying- ! in institutions in the city. There are now seven students there, three of whom come from the northern part of the j State and four from other pans of the country. A lady wishiug to become a i nurse should bear a certiticate from her I family physician as to her health, and oue from her minister ns to her character. These, recommendations she presents to the tirst directiess. The nurses ' graduate once a year, and a part of the I last six months of their course is spent j outside, and half the money they re- j ceive there goes to the-institution. This i contribution to the maternity I say is I ftnlir iii'irJn rlnrintr Rfivpr.ll xvee'vS of the I term. When the student graduates she j gets a certificate and she can go where she pleases to pursue her calling. After ! three years outside labor she will get a i diploma if she can furnish evidence 1 from her patients that she has filled the I bill as competent nurse. A woman with ! an irritable disposition, bad manners and ! a fondness for dress will cut a poor j figure as a nurse in a sick room. She should be as sweet and gentle as au j Evangeline or a Priscilla, so that her j very presence will have a soothing in- j fluence on her patient. The pay of a good nurse in. Brooklyn is from $15 to $21 per week and in New York city from $20 to $35. A New-Fanjjled Wedding Rinjj. ! "There is a constant demand for novel- ' ties in wedding rings nowadays as well | as in every other article of luxury," an expert jeweler said the other night, | "and we have to meet the demand or ! lose the very desirable custom of young j couples contemplating matrimony. This ' season has brought forth the most curi- ' ous and beautiful wedding rings yet de- | signed by the trade. Now, isn't this a ' dandy?" Tiie expert held up an opal loop of gold. ' Why, that's just like any other ring, j The only difference is that it has a crooked scratch across the surface." "Ah, that's just where the beauty lies," retorted the expert. "Just notice this e'Tect." He th:ust a tiny pair of jeweler's , pliers into the inner edge of thering op- j posite what appeared to be the scratch, j i pressed lightly on the needle, and in| stantlv the ring dropped into his hand I transformed into two tiny hoops of gold looped together. The needle had split j the ring into two halves, each half hav- j | ing a Hat, broad edge. "There," said the jeweler, "you see ' J that the ring is more elaborate than lit | appears to be. Those flat surfaces are ' designed for the purpose of being en- ! graved with any tender or romantic inscription that the bride or groom desire to have placed upon the ring, and they j will eoutain much more than can be put j upon the inner surface of an ordinary ring. After the engraving is done the ring is closed again bj fitting the two loops together, and locking them securely by a concealed catch fitted on the inner edge of the hoops. It requires the closest scrutiny to discover, as you see, that the ring is not an ordinary hoop of gold. These rings have made a big hit. One of them was used at a swell society marriage in a Fifth avenue church the other day. The society belle who was the bride made the selection herself." "How much do they cost';" "The cheapest bring $10, and the value increases with the increase of weight in the-ring. But of course the exquisite workmanship and the knowledge that the ring is something new and fashionable compensates for the increased cost over the ordinary gold nuptial symbol."?New York Sun, Fashion Notes. The most stylish new spring mantles are lined with watered silk. Silk mull promises to be a favorite material for late spring and summer dresses. Many summer costumes will be made up in pink and bla.k?a favorite combination for that season. A in '.kV.Anfl ie +V*?o?T ronno/l XX ilV/VCJLI/jr iU IIL'UUUOIO bilU UVy T? 1 ribbon with edges of gauze. It is very pretty and makes up well. Mourning mantles are big capes of fine, dull, black wool. They have deep bands of crape down the front. A new round silver hand glass has a silver tennis girl by way of handle and a tennis scene etched on the back. Wraps, mantles and pe'erines will all be very small, and late fashions show them in immense variety of style. Some very handsome bonnets of recent /nanufacture are made wholly of velvet flowers in soft and delicate shades. New cloth robes for spring wear are ornamented with woven embroidery in a single metal, as gold, silver, or steel. Borders of woven embroidery in a single metal, as gold, silver, steel, ornament many of the ne.v cloth robes for spring. The moat stylish new silver has a plain burnished surface, with the suspicion of etching or chasing in a narrow band about the top. Paris greatly favors the big "comet" rosette of very narrow ribbon in several colors as a garnishment for its spring bonnets. Light summer vests will have five . ft ..rvllftr wlion Qin Crl I UUbbUUO auu C* CUitUi l?UVU vuv breasted. When double, but four buttons must be worn. Bog-wood or dull jet is the only proper deep mourning jewelery, but cut-jet, black onyx and crape stone may be used after a few months. Spring hats have wide brims and low square crowns, though there will be many styles and shapes. They will differ in degree more than in kind. Black will remain the leading color for headgear, with green next and brown, lead-gray, dull blue, old rose and copper shades about equal as thirds. In straw bonnets Milan braids are likely to be most worn, but Tuscan, Neapolitan and lace braids will be more in favor than for several years past. Cloths in old rose, reed green, blue gray and fawn color are being made up as gowns for the buds and blossoms of passage, now sojourning in the South. The long gloves which accompany short sleeved evening gowns are less wrinkled on the arm than formerly, and the wearer has a variety of shades of tan, gray and cream color to choose from. The front of a novel dress bodice was made of a large silk handkerchief, with gold-embroidered corners. It was fastened under the arms and knotted across the bust, the comer being turned downward. The combination of green and black has become somewhat tiresome it is so common, and many ladies have substituted blue, of the same vivid tone as the green, to combine effectively with the sable hue. Full toreador vests of silk muslin are worn with cashmere dresses. They have a jabot of knife-plaiting down the middle, and similar plaiting is attached to the high-standing collars and worn turned down. The English nainsook3 and wool challis have a soft quality and are delicately tinted, but the new American stamped China silks and cheap challis have failed to catch the well-modulated tones of color, graceful designs and fine texture common to the imported material. Ginghams opened the spring season with a flourish. 3Iany city shop windows arc piled high with bolts of stripes and plaids in every shade. Some of these will make charming house and street dress, dignified by a touch of velvet, or, even better, made up with extreme simplicity. A pink silk gown finished recently for a pretty young woman, just out, wa? trimmed about the top of the bodice and down a broad side?panel of the skirt with curling delicate green ostrich plumes. Long feathers decorated the waist, while short over-lapping tips were used upon the skirt. Sliding in Earnest. The Esquimaux of North America, on land journeys, often encounter hills where it would be very dangerous to attempt a descent with a heavily loaded sled drawn by dogs. When such a place is reached, they unhitch the dogs and let the sled descend by its own weight. All the'men act as brakes to prevent, if possible, a descent so rapid as to land the equipage a complete wrecte at the bottom. The two strongest of the drivers take their places on the sides at the front of the sled, and the others hold on where they can, all pull back as strongly as possible when the speed increases. Some plant their feet straight in front of them and send the snow flying as if from a snow-plow. Others find themselves taking Jeaps that would astonish a kangaroo, are dragged furiously aioug, or maybe, come rolling to the bottom after the sled. The dogs regard the whole affair as a joke, and with their traces tied together come dashing along in the wild chase, some barking: joyously, others yelping distressed ly as, caught in the traces, they are dragged to the foot of the hill by their reckless companions. It often seemed a wonder when, even with all our exertions, we could land sled and party at the bottom in safety.?St. Nicholas. Bullet-Riddled FInars. The German War Department will shortly publish, in accordance with the expressed wish of the late Kmperor William, (v history of the flags of Prussia since 1807. The work is intended as an introduction to the history of the Prussian regiments which is being prepared. In the period extending from lfj(>4 to ISfiG niDety-niDe fla^s were pierced ty bullets on the field, of battle,and in 1870 151 flags were similarly punctured, the flag of the Seventh infantry alone being hit by twenty-three bullets at Mars I a Tour. In the campaign of 1870 thirtyeight standard bearers were killed.? i York Star, . ' *- -y : * ' >. --i. > ~~ ORISKANY. MOST SANGUINARY CONFLICT OP THE REVOLUTION. The Desperate Valor of the Old Continentals Foils an Ambuscade ?Indomitable Herkimer? The First Starrj Banner. About twomilei west of Oriskany, N. Y., writes John Fiske in the Athntic Monthly, the road was crossed by a deep semi-circular ravii e, concave toward the east. The bottom of this ravine was a swamp, across which the road was carried by a causeway of fogs, and the steep banks on either side were thickly covered with trees and underbrush. The practiced eye of Thayendanegea at once perceived the rare advantage of sucn a position, and an ambuscade was soon prepared with a skill as deadly as that which once had wrecked the proud army of Braddock. But this time it was" a meetmg of Greek with Greek, and the wiles of the savage chief were foiled by a desperate valor which nothing cuuld overcome. By ten o'clock the main - ? i i 1 i-J DOdy ot nerKimer s army nau uoscenueu i into the ravine, followed by the wagons, while the rear guard was still on the rising ground behind. At this moment they were greeted by a murderous volley from either side, while Johnson's Greens came chargiug down upon them in front, and the Indians, with frightful yells, swarmed in behind and cut off the rearguard, which was thus obliged to retreat to save itself. For a moment the main body was thrown into confusion, but it soon rallied and formed itself in a circle, which neither bayonet charges nor musket tire could break nor penetrate. The scene that ensued was one of the most infernal that the history of savage warfare has ever witnessed. The dark, ravine was filled with a mass of fifteen hundred human beings, screaming and cursing, slipping in tho mire, pushing and struggling, seizing each other's throats, stabbing, shooting and dashing out brains. Bodies of neighbors were afterward found lying in the bog, where they had gone down in a death grapple, their cold hands still grasping the knives plunged in each other's hearts. Early in the fight a musket-ball slew Herkimer's horse, and shattered his own leg just below the knee; but the old hero, nothing daunted, and bating nothing of his coolness in the midst of the horrid struggle, had the saddle taken from his dead horse and placed at the foot of a great beech tree, where, taking his scat and lighting his pipe, he continued shouting his orders in astentoiian voice and directing the progress of the battle. Nature presently enhanced the lurid horror of the scene. The heat of the August morning had been intoler1 * 1-1.-1- iL J A . AIAII/IA ATTAO aoie, anu uiuck. muuuor uiuuus, u?oihanging the deep ravine at the beginning of the action, had enveloped it in' a darkness like that of night. Now the rain came pouring in torrents, -while gusts of wind howled through the treetops, and sheets of lightning flashed in quick succession, with a continuous roar of thunder that drowned the noise of the fray. The wet rifles could no longer be fired, but hatchet, knife and bayonet carried on the work of butchery, until, after more than five hundred men had been killed or wounded, the Indians gave way and t.'ed in all directions, and the Tory soldiers, disconcerted, began to retreat up the western road, while the patriot army, remaining in possession of the hard-won field, felt itself too weak to pursue them. At this moment, a9 the storm cleared away, and long rays of sunshine began flickering through the wet leaves, the J sound of the three signal-guns came boominsr through the air, ana presently a sharp crackling of musketry was heard from the direction of Fort Stanwiv. Startled by this omninous sound, the Tories made all possible haste to join their own army, while the patriots, bearing their wounded on litters of green boughs, returned in sad procession to Oriskany. With their commander helpless and more than one-third of their num cr slain or disabled, they were in no condition to engage in a fresh conflict, aud unwillingly confessed that the garrison of Fort Stanwix must be left to do its part of the work alone. Upon the arrival of the messengers, Colonel Gansevoort had at once taken in the whole situation. ile understood the mysterious firing in the forc3t, s-.:w that Ilerkimcr must have been prematurely attacked, and ordered his sortie instantly, to serve as a diversion. The sortie was a brillaut sue ess. Sir John Johnson, with j his Tories and Indians, was completely routed and driven across the river. Colonel Marinus Willett took possession of his < amp, and held it while seven wagons were three times unloaded in the lort. Among all this spoil, together with abundance of food and drink, blankets and clothe*, tools and ammunition, the vi tors t apturcd five British j standards, and all Johnson's papers, | - - J1 ? < rtnfni'm'nrr full I maps, anu meuiuiuuuu, < uumiu.ug tuu instructions for the proje ted campaign. After this useful exploit, Colonel VVillett returned to the fort and hoisted the captured British standards, while over them he raised an un outh flag, intended to represent the Ameri. an stars aud stripes, which Congress had adopted in June as the nationnl banner. This rude Hag, hastily extemporized out of white shirt, an old blue jacket, and some strips of red i loth from the petti oat of a soldier's wife, was the first Ameri an flag with stars and stripes that was ever hoisted, and it was first flung to the breeze on the memorable day of Oriskany, August (>, 1777. Of all the battles of the Revolution, this was perhaps the most obstinate and murderous, hach side siems to have lost not less than one-third of its whole number; and of those lost, nearly all were killed, as it was largely a hand tohand struggle, like the battles of ancient times, aud no quarter was giver on either 6ide. The number of surviving wounded, who were carried back to Oriskany, does not seem to have exceeded forty. Among these was the indomitable Herkimer, whose shattered leg was so unskillfully treated that he died a few days later, sitting in bed propped by pillows, calmly smoking his Hutch pipe and reading his Bible at the thirty-eighth Psalm. Three Matrimonial Pops. There are three varieties of popping the question now in vogue?the pop hesitate. the pop deliberate and the pop piccipitate. New York inclines to the hesitating pop. Philadelphia has lonn favored the deliberate pop, so much so that courtship has been known to extend almost from the cradle to the grave be fore the preacher got a job. i ears are sometimes consumed in studying out each other's pedigree. But in the wild, hoyden West it is very different. There the pO|> precipitate reigns, and it is 110 uncommon thing for a woman to get an offer on si?;ht. The other day in St. J.ouis a Boston widow found a husband in an hour. The Arkansas man who popped meant business, and gave her 9 minute to decide. Westward the hope 0* spinsters takes its way, ?PAila klph.a Timti, * ' ' WORDS OP WISDOM. Love 'will out.' Woe makes man! ' War is a suspension of morality. , Do not kick every one in your path. , Learn to think and act for yourself. A woman cannol be sought; she must be found. Love betters the be3t, and may save the worst. , - > No accidents are so unlucky but thai the prudent may draw some advantage' from them. When in traveling a Chesterfield to discovered arrangements should be made' to fire a gun. Evidence seems to show that ag'd affects the intensity of sleep more thait the frequency of drenms. When rulers want war they declare it They then order some lawyer-statesman to publish the reasons. The man who gives his children habiti of industry provides for them better than by giving them a fortune. We want characters that will stand temptation, and not snap asunder nndef the sudden pressures of life. Nothing sets so wide a mark betweena noble and a vulgar soul as respect fof and reverential love of womankind. ? * i ? i _ n 2 The greater tne want 01 logic, too greater the auditors. Nothing is mora fnlacious than war, yet what has mora devotees. In lore one is often disappointed, surSrised, unhappy; but still one loves. >n the brinlc of the grave one looks back to say: I have suffered much, I was disappointed at time3, but?I have loved! A Nabob's Stupendous Enterprise. Two men, one sonewhat gray-haired, and the other slender aad dark-whiskered, were walking down Broadway the other day unnoticed in the great throng of passers. "These two men are among the wealthiest in this city, and each represents many millions," said a well-posted broker to a New York Mail and Kxprm reporter. "Who are they? The gray-haired gentleman is J. H. Flagler, and the other is Jay 0. Moss, who has more duties to perform in the way of being at the head of great in-? dustries than any man I know. He is Treasurer of the Cotton Seed Oil Trust President of the Hocking Valley Coal and Iron Trust, is connected with the Richmond Terminal, the Baltimore and Ohio and many other railroads, and yet {a Konnv onn ho a Anorfttyftd ill another big enterprise that would make! the head of the Marquis de .Mores swimH to contemplate. Mora had a dreamH that he could handle all the cattle infl tne West and bring the meat here directH for market. He had good ideas in thcH main, but, he had the middleman tight and he lost. Well, Flagler iifl President and Moss Vice-President? of the American Meat Company,? organized not long ago, and they pr&o-H tically have the largest ranches in tii<H West at their disposal. It is something? stupendous to contemplate. The follow^H ing men I know have their ranches iofl the list: Congressman S. V. White, ex? Secretary Delano, John 6. Alley, th? Boston millionaire, who has the thirt? largest ranch of any in the company? P. G. Ingersoll and E. 0. Converse, pro? prietor of the National Tube Worki ir? Pittsburg. The latter employs 600? mr>n in hi? works. The erreat Dlant a? Kansas City has been bought, and therAI the cattlc will be killed and the me&fl shipped here. At lea^t 70,000 poundfl of beef per day will be shipped, and 20(S refrigerator cars have alreaay been puxfl chased and are now in constant usefl They have also purchased and own josfl 1,89?;,000 acres of laud in the West, afl area larger than Connecticut.' On commonwealth of land 250,000 head ofl cattle graze and fatten for the Easterifl market. In order to keep active, HrH Moss has added this little industry t<H his daily duties. 9 Silk Hal9 Need no Polishing. H Said a fashionable downtown hatterr'^B "I wish I had a dollar for every tim^f I polish a silic hat. It's absolutely ridicH ulous, the way men drop in, perhaps aH often as twice a week, to have theirhatfl "Most of them are customers, and oH course I never charge them anyth'ngB Then I don't think it good business polfl icy to charge strangers, for they mighH become customers. In fact, I do gain good deal of custom by polishing th^B strangers' hats as a matter of course an^H beinir very courteous about it Whe^l tliey"offer to pay I say in an oT-han^ way that we never charge for that work^l and invite them to give me a call somH time when they want to buy a hat. An^J very often, as I said, they do. U "But the frequency with which th^| same man brings in the same hat is rathH er absurd. The hat is already a? lu^f trous as it can well be made, and unnec^fl essary polishing only wear* it out. Bu^l it wouldn't do to tell the customer thi^B I send the hat downttairs and have kept there ten m nutes and then sent up^H perhaps without its having beo^f touched. But the man doesn't kno^H this,and departs imagining his headgea^f sheds a brighter radiance than when oH entered."?New York World. fll Living Wholly on tfie Cars. H - s-i x 1~ 1 met a commercial traveler iu Hoffman House a few days ago. pointed out a fact not often recognizee^? "The great cities throughout the West,M| he said, "are all situated equally distan^H that is, in regard to time. They from nine to twelve hours from one ai^| other. The result of this is that man^H commercial men live wholly on the car^H moving from place to place, doing bus^B ness in different cities day after d&]^| St. Louis to Kansas City; to Chicago, Indianapolis, twelve hours. The with the other cities."? New The Spider-Web Parly. 9H The "spider-web" party is the late^f fad with people bent on novelty. Fivfl| strings are stretched from nails in on^H room to pieces of furniture in anothe^H where their ends are concealed. <?ucst is given a certain string in tlSi first room and is supposed to trace it its hiding point in the next, a favor some sort being the reward, it havjn^H been fastened to the concealed end the string. The disentangling of thc^H strings is no easy matter. The card -r invitation to one ui misc puuua uiu spider's web engraved in the corner M the card. ? Commercial Adver:iitr. An Athletic Vegetarian. Mr. If. E. Thacker, of this city, noil in his niuth year of total abstinence fro^H meat, took a pedestrian trip in the jacent country of over fifty miles o^H day last summer, without the least dif^H culty. He published the interesti JB fact'in the hope that the deraonstrati<ll of capability of such a feat with the fall ne feeds on might lead worthy people |l consider whether there is really need slaughter of vast numbers of innoce^H creatures for human food?"the gre^H question on which vegetarianism mnH stand or fall."?Ifeu Ytrk Tribune, 9K