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SHOWER AND FLOWER. Down the little drops patter, Making a musical clatter, . Out of tho clouds they throng; Freshness of heaven they scatter Little dark rootlets among. "Coming to vii.it you, Posies! Open your hearts to us, Roses!'' > That is the Raindrop's song. ^ Up the little seed rises; ' Buds of all colors and sizes 1 Clamber up out of the ground. clrrr cnrnriQPQ CHili ny wiu w?v x The earth with that soft-rushing sound. ,rWelcome!"?the brown bees are humming "Come! for we wait for your coming1" Whisper the wild flowers around. Shower, it is pleasant to hear you!" "Flower, it is sweet to be near youl" This is the song everywhere. Listen! the music will cheer you! Raindrop and blossom so fair Gladly are meeting together, Out in the beautiful weather; Oh, the sweet song in the airl ( MISS MODA'S "TRAMP." BY HELE2? T. CLARK. "It's going to be a bitter cold night, Savilla, and you had better set the breadsponge by the sitting-room stove, or it will take forever and a day to rise." "Yes, Miss Rhody." "And be sure to move the plants before you go to bed, especially that new -waxplant. I wouldn't have that nipped for a dollar. You can lock all the doors, and I will take the key of the little side entry." "Yes, Miss Rhody." "Oh?and, Savifla, be sure to put an extra quilt on your bed. The turkey-red knotted comfort is to be put on the best bed when Cousin Palmyra's folks come, so don't take that." "No, Miss Rhody." The tall, straight figure of Miss Rhoda Goodwin moved down the garden path, between the now desolated flower-beds, out at the gate, and down the crisp, crunching road. She was bound for the Wednesday evening prayer-meeting, and carried her copy of "Gospel Hymns" inside her large, old-fashioned mull. "I hope Savilla won't get nervous about tramps. It's a dreadful night for any poor, homeless creature to be roarnjwing around. I don't believe the Lord intended things to be so unevenly divided in this world." And Miss Rhody began to ponder in her honest heart the old, vexed question, -?old as the hills, unsettled as the restless ocean?the question of poverty and wealth. She could not shake it off, even when she entered the vestry of Little Zion meeting-house, and greeted the faithful few assembled there in the subdued manner consistent with the place. The minister delivered his short, informal discourse, the last hymn was sung, ?it chanced to be "The Ninety and Nine"?and there was the movement of loosened tongues and preparation for departure. Miss Rhody exchanged goodnights with two or three friends whose homes lay partly in her direction, then hastened on alone. The session had been long, and she was afraid that Savilla might forget some of her parting injunctions. "Savilla means well," she said to herself, "but you can't put an old head on young shoulders?nor a young one on old shoulders," she continued, as a stinging blast whirled needles of fine, sharp snow into her face, ears and neck, even under her thick, white "nubia." The storm had come up suddenly while the worshippers at Little Zion were singing the final hymn, the words of which were still echoing in Miss Rhoda's ears: "Away on the mountain bleak and bare! Away from the tender Shepherd's care!" Again she thoght, "What a bitter night for the poor!" and hurried on to reach her own warm, tidy sitting room. The point of view makes all the difference. Miss Rhoda, kind-hearted as she was, formulated her thought much as one would say: 44What a beautiful sunset!" or "What a cross dog!" and she congratulated herself the next moment on thosnugness and comfort awaiting her at the end of her short, bracing walk. Another woman treading with chilled and weary feet the self-same snow, and battling with feeble strength the selfsame wind, a few rods behind Miss Rhoda, thought the same thought with a far different sequel. "It is a bitter night. God makes such nights to reconcile the poor, desperate wretches like me to death. But when the nver is frozen one must lie down in the snow or some icy doorstep to die." Some inexplicable attraction drew her after the tall, military figure before her. "It makes small difference whether I turn down this road or the next. The end must come in the morning." When Miss Rhoda turned in at the garden gate, and opened her little sideeitfry door, the woman leaned heavily upon the fence-pailings, and devoured with her tearless, restless eyes the comfortable outlines of the house, the red glimmer on the enow from the isinglass windows of the "Radiant Home" heater in the sitting-room, the yellow flare of the lamp that Miss Rhoda lighted. When the latter came to the windows and drew down the curtains, the woman at the gate gave a sudden choking sob, and then, like Dicken's "Joe," "moved on." Miss Rhoda sat down to warm her feet and to look over her weekly religious paper before going to bed. Savilla, with unusual thoughtful ness, had set the teapot on the back part of the "Radiant Home," and prepared a plate of buttered toast, nicely covered with a clean napkin. Miis Rhoda's eyes brightened and softened, as she murmured: "Savilla is o frirl n mrvcf nvnollonf 1/1 1 U JfUUU ^11 1 a 1ULW/OU VAVVIiVUV vmiMi A am realiy quite foud of Savilla." She had poured out a cup of tea and broken a tempting slice of toast in halves, when a faint cry arrested her attention. She listened, and it came again. Miss Rhoda put down the tea and toast untested, and carried the lamp to the side door. When she opened it the rays fell upon a dark, snow-sprinkled figure at her very feet. The woman had come back, still urged by a mysterious power, and had thrown her weary body across . Miss Rhoda's threshold, whether to die or live she knew not, and scarcely cared. Miss lthoda set the lamp on the entrytable, and raised the exhausted creature in her arms. It was the work of a few minutes to get her into the sittiug-room and upon the old-fashioned chintz sofu which Miss Rhoda wheeled close to the 6tove. "I needn't disturb Savilla," she thought. "This is a case that I can surely handle." The woman had not Jost consciousness. Her great dark eyes were burning with a I wild light as she opened them on he&res- i cuer. Then Miss Rhoda saw that the ' wanderer was neither old nor plain, i though suffering had sharpened her feat- i tures and wasted her figure. Miss Rhoda : took off the wet and ragged hood, and masses of dark curly hair uncoiled them- i selves and feel to the woman's waist. As she brought the cup of tea and j plate of toast to the side of the sofa she said kindly: "Eat and drink, my dear?so provi dential that these were all ready, you sec ?then tell me your trouble, and how I can help you out of it." The sympathetic voice brought tears to the dry eyes. "No one can help me. I am not wicked, but heart-broken, and there is no rest or comfort this side the grave." She told her story in the intervals of eating and drinking, and her listener felt that she was speaking the truth. She had been a wife and mother, but one day her husband, in a fit of drunken fury, had strnck her senseless to the floor, and when she came to herself she found that he had gone, taking their child, her very idol, a little girl three years old. For two years she had wandered vainly from city to village, from village to city, in search of her little Elsie. Sometimes she nearly starved. Often she grew so hopeless as to almost yield to the temptation to take her own life, but the thought of little Elsie left to her fate in the hands of a brutal father nerved her to more, desperate efforts. I "While her strange guest slept that night on-the chintz sofa, Miss Rhoda was revolving plans in her wakeful brain. She went down stairs early next morning to hold a conference with Savilla, and discovered that the pilgrim (instead of making off in the night with the spoons) had found her way to the kitchen, and was helping with the breakfast preparations. Savilla had provided her with toilet la- j cilitics, and her dark hair was neatly brushed and braided around her wellshaped head. "When Cousin Palmyra Henderson and little Love come next week we shall want extra help, Savilla, eh?" said Miss Rhoda, when the woman had gone into the next room to fold the quilts under which she had slept. "Yes, Miss Rhody," said the plump, rosy handmaiden, briskly stirring her batter-cakes. "She seems handy?and neat, too, Savilla." "That's true, Miss Rhody?and anxious to help." When Miss Rhoda .proposed to the woman to stay with them a few weeks, and get properly nourished and clothed, besides earning a small sum of money, the grateful creature could only weep I her thanks. Palmyra Henderson and her little daughter came a few days later, and I Louise Morgan (for so the stranger called j herself) attached herself from the first to | little Love with a clinging, passionate tenderness. Love Henderson was one of those 1 angelic children, beautiful to behold,and 1 still more beautiful to know. Her large i ] blue eyes mirrored only sweet and lovely 1 thoughts, and the gold of her long, * heavy curls was not more precious and 1 shining than the golden impulses of her 1 pure, true little heart. She returned Louise's devotion ardently, 1 and when the day of parting came, sobbed ' and would not be comforted. "My TVeesie must do wiv us, mamma. ' I tant live wivout my Wcesic,"?and she j clung to Louise, whose tears fell fast on < on the golden head nestling within her | < arms. The journey was delayed an hour j1 that Louise might prepare to acccompany j < them. The two kindly women, Iihoda I and Palmyra, ached with sympathy for j this robbed and agonized mother, and j would not grudge her the one drop of comfort in her bitter cup. Moreover, the Hendersons lived in a thriving town on the line of travel, and fate might throw some stray crumb of information in Louise's way, even before she was ready to go upon her search again. She had been with the Hendersons several weeks?spring had come, and she felt anxious to be looking for Elsie again. The chance to show maternal care and tenderness to little Love had made a new creature of her, and Palmyra found her "a perfect treasure" in all the departments of her well-ordered housekeeping. "If fate would only bring her/thild to our door, Louise need never leave us," said Palmyra to her husband. "She relieves me of so much care that I am actually growing a year younger every day, Gilbert." "And so," said Gilbert, with a humorous twinkle in his kindly eyes, "as you ! are now thirty, at the end of the year 1 you will be three hundred and thirty- j 1 five years less than zero. I don't know j 1 that I care to have you quite such la 1 vanishing quantity!"' * ( One beautiful day, Love was standing at the garden-gate, enjoying the early flowers and a piecc of gingerbread at the same time. Even angelic children must lunch on something more substantial than "a lily in a glass of water," or their beatific qualities would exhale like dew before the sun. A woman, accompanied by a child somewhat older than Love, was sauntering along the sidewalk. A professional beggar, her eyes rested hungrily on Love's dainty shoes and garments, the blue ribbons on her hat, and the tiny gold ring on her finger. The child, a dark, thin, elfish creature, glanced from the gingerbread to the golden curls, then back to the gingerbread. "Poor little durl! Is oo hundry?" :J T : l xi_ AT._ Sctju. IJUVU, lubiuuiiy rcufiiiujf iuu giujjur- f bread through the gate. It -was as in- t stantly seized and devoured. i "Oo wait, an' I tell my Weesy to spread i a drate bid piece of bed-a-butter." t The woman, nothing loth, suffered the ] child to linger, and lolled on the fence t herself while waiting. There might be a chance to wheedle this fine little miss out of her trinkets, and trinkets meant money, and money meant gin. t She gave the unoffending child beside t her a malicious push, which threw her to i the ground and scratched her hand6. ! 1 When Love should come out again and I see her crying, the woman could say she f was crying for the ring, etc. s But Love did -not come out alone, t Louise, always apprehensive of possible s harm to her adopted darling, carried out t the bread and butter herself. When the t beggar's child lifted her tear-stained face, t and held out her claw-like fingers to re- I ceive the food, Louise gave a cry that a must have rung to the courts of heaven, j and, casting the bread and butter on the J gravel path, she seized the waif aud c strained her to her bosom with wild t kisses, broken, sobbing words and dis- t jointed prayers of thankfulness. j Love looked on in great-eyed astonish- t ment, and the other woman immediately c BUDGET OF FUN. HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. information Sought and Found?As Much as He Always Had?Fnlly Equipped?Not an Old Master, Etc., Etc. Said ambitious Jones, 'Tm a down-hearted m.int I try to get rich, but I'can't find a plan; I look forward and back And try to get track Of aught that will make me a rich man." mm Rmnrhr Smith, a rich mnn from assumed an attitude of belligerency. 1 Her defiant manner subdued, however, at sight of Gilbert and Palmyra, who, aroused by Louise's outcry, came hurrying from the house. The situation explained itself to those who knew Louise's story. Even a stranger, glancing from Louise, kneeling and swaying on the grass, to the poor waif on her breast, over whom she was uttering such frantic words of love and thanksgiving, could not doubt the nature of the tie between them, though kindness and generous fare had done so much for the one, while privation and needlessly cruel treatment had made the other thin, colorless and hollow-eyed. Gilbert Henderson threatened the woman with instant imprisonment for vagrancy, if she did not explain how Louise's child had come into her possession. The story was briefly this: She and the child and its father, until he died in a debauch, had traveled in company, begging or thieving, as opportunity offered?in summer taking to the open country?in winter herding with others like themselves in vile city dens, where the child's young eyes and cars must have met sights and sounds that would have wrung her mother's heart had she known. Even Palmyra the merciful said to her husband that night, after the woman had slunk away out of all their lives forever, and while Louise was lying wakeful for abundance of joy, with her rescued darling on her arm?even Palmyra said: ..... ir.r"' "I wonder if we arc risking too much for our own precious one." But Gilbert answered reassuringly: "Trust the child's mother for that, my dear. She and the good God together will weed out all unlovely things that may have taken temporary root in thai poor little soul." And Louise and the good God together did weed them out. Elsie's mother abated no jot of her tenderness to little Love, and now the feeling was mingled with measureless gratitude. As the years passed by in peace and plenty, no night closed over Louise's head that sha did not lift a grateful prayer to the Power that had so persistently impelled her, on that bitter winter night, to follow Miss Rhoda and to cast herself upon the threshold of that door which opened to admit her to rescue, refuge and abiding joy.?The Housewife. T.ift* Rah path the Rubbish Duiuds. At the foot of 110th street is a dump where the refuse collccted from the ash barrels of the city is loaded into scows. Au Italian contractor has purchased the right to sort over this rubbish and collect from it old bottles, tin cans and other articles of more or less value. Underneath the dump is a rude floor of boards, where gangs of men work among the piles night and day, sorting over tho rubbish, while in one corner is a rude hut, where several of the men live. On a recent evening during a stoiin three men were found in the hut, gathered around an open fire of such coal as they picked up. The sides of the hut were composed of thin planks, which afforded only a slight protection from the cold. In one corner was a mass of rags where the men slept and as the boards of the floor tvere laid loosely, the water could be heard swashing against the piles a few Feet beneath. Inside and outside the hut wore heaps of rubbish partly sorted over, which gave out a horrible odor, rendering the use of tobacco a luxury. Lying 5n one of the rubbish heaps were threo logs, whose presence would seem to be oseful to keep off the wharf rats which ;ould be seen moving among the piles, it high tide the men said that the water ivas only two feet below them, but they lid not appear to mind the rats or the poisonous odor from the rubbish, although :hey complained of the cold. During :welve and often fourteen hours each day :hey are at work picking over the rubbish, and are paid $1 a day. At the dump foot of Eightieth street natters were worse, as six men were crowded into one little hut, which af 'orded hardly any shelter, while the atnosphere was even more poisonous than it the other dump. At this place the nen work from twelve to fourteen hours i day, and the expert pickers receive ?1 - * 1_ mi.? | tor a clay s or nigui s wons. me wuist feature of the dumps is that it is impossible for the men to live on them and keep in a state of health. They are certain sooner or later to fall victims to disease from the very air they breathe, to say nothing of the exposure from the :old. But the men do not know this; they only struggle to earn their pittance md keep warm, while people living near, (vho might be supposed to fear a pestilence, will, say in answer to inquiries that they believe there are Italians living under the dups, and pass on, knowing little and :aring less about the matter.?New York tribune. ~-~ ~ The Oldest Bank Notes. The oldest bank notes are the 1 'flying money," or "convenient money," first issued in China, 2697 B. C. Originally these notes were issued by the Treasury, but experience dictated a change to the banks uuder Government inspection and control. A writer in a provincial paper says that the early Chinese "greenbacks" tverc in all essentials similar to the modern bank notes, bearing the name of the bank, date of issue, the number of the note, the signature of the ofiicial issuing it, indications of its value in figures, in works and in the pictorial representation in coins or heaps of coins jqual in amount to its face value, and a aotice of the pains and penalties of counterfeiting. Over and above all was i laconic exhortation of industry and ;hrift: "Produce all you can; spend vith economy." The notes were printed n blue ink on paper made from the fiber )f the mulberry tree.' One issued in 1339 B. C. is still carefully preserved in :he Asiatic Museum at St. Petersburg. liiuuuiu kjiuaniMiij; twiuii uiiiuii. Talking with an old occan traveler ibout the recent changes in steamships md their accommodations for travel durng the coming season he told me that it las recently been discovered that the urge vessels are the cheapest in the end, or, although their first cost is enormous ind they are laid up in the winter time, hey can take over vast crowds of pasengers when Americans are rushing off o Europe. The interior arrangements of he Etruria offered many improvements vhich all the later ships have followed, ler stateroom partitions arc removable md rooms can be erected in almost every >art of the ship. During May, June and Fuly she carries no steerage passengers, ivery available inch being occupied by he cabin passengers. In the slack season his space is occupied by cargo, steerage >assengcrs and for other purposes, and he removable stateroom is now a feature >f all the new boats,?New Torfc Star. Flint? "Oh give me, I pray you, a pointer, a hint Where the most money's made?" For an answer he stayed. Smarty Smith stroked his chin and replied: "In the mint!" ?Judge. AS MCCH AS HE ALWAYS HAD. Mr. Darringer?"What a temper that boy has! He never got it from me." Mrs. Darringer?"No, Abner, you have as much as you always had."?Detroit Free Press. FCLLY EQUIPPED. "Bromley, I hear you are going to housekeeping?" "Yes, Darringer." "What have you toward it?" "A wife."?jDetroit Free Press. NOT AN OLD MASTER. Visitor (to butler who is showing him through the picture gallery of the old mansion)?''That's a fine portrait. Is it an old master?" Butler?4 'No. That's the old missus." ?Boston Courier. EXCHANGE OF COURTESIES. Mrs. Donohue?"I wad have ye comprehind that me own family always moved in the higher sircles of sassiety." Mrs. Doyle?"I am aware of it, Mrs. Donohue. I have always heard that the scum always rises to the top."?Omaha 1 Yffrld. A FRIEXDLT CRITIC. Stamp Clerk (at postoffice window)? "You'll have to pay letter postage on this package. It's first-class matter." Persevering Author (about to send his manuscript on its seventh trial trip)? "Ah, thank you! Couldn't you get a position as editor somewhere?"?Harper's Weekly. BUSINESS IS BUSINESS. "Honesty is the best policy," said the old farmer, sententiously, to the audience in the village store. "Not much," exclaimed the brisk in surance agent on the cracker barrel, suddenly making up. ' 'My company has got a policy that beats that out of sight."? Sortierrillc Journal. A BAD PREMIUM. Pell?"By Jove, old man, that's a pretty necktie you have on!" Mell?"Yes; I flatter myself that I have good taste in selecting neckties. Have a cigar?" Pell?"Thanks. (JLights it.) Umph! (Puff.) Did this cigar come with the tie?"?Clothier and Furnisher. A SLIGHT MISTAKE. At a -wax figure exposition. Blobbs (approaching a lady sitting on a sofa near the entrance)?"Natural as life. Pretty enough to kiss." Lady (rising indignantly)?"Sir!" Blobbs?"Heavens, madame! I thought you were wax. I beg a thousand pardons."?Chicago Herald. WELL REPRESENTED. Young Man (applying for situation)? "I have had considerable experience as a commercial traveler, sir. Would you not like to engage me to push your products?" Manufacturer?"Your services will hardly be required. There are already about seven million men engaged in pushing our products in this country. Wc manufacture baby carriages.?Burlington Free Press. he didn't know iter. Mrs. Spitfire (handing her husband a photograph)?"How do you like my pictures, John?" "Who is it?" "Why, it's me! Who do you suppose it is?" "I wouldn't have known it. I never saw you look that way before." "What way?" 'Pleasant."? Chicago Ucrdld. . ~r ?-- - -i - . amoxg Tin: hogs. On the Chicago Express?Passenger (who is acquainted with the conductor)? '.'Hello, Ed! You look warm?as if you ViorJ Koon Vinrnncr mmp nrnttrrhard work." Conductor?"Yes, I have. I spent twenty minutes in the second coach packing hogs. It was full of drummers, and every one of'm had four seats apiece and passengers were standing in the aisle."? Burlington Free Press. CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DTE. Rownc de Bout ? "I saw Upson Downes the other day give away a good winter overcoat to a miserable tramp; few know what an impulsive, generoushearted fellow he is; he doesn't get the credit he deserves." Hyand Lowe ? "Oh, Downes gets credit enough. He bought that very overcoat over a year ago; and, to my certain knowledge, it isn't paid for yet." HIS ONLY LEGACY. "So John is dead?" remarked Mr. Friendofthefamily when the widow called at his place of business to see about get ting employment. "Yes, sir, lie died three months ago." "And you are his widow?" "Yes, sir." "Did John leave anything?" he inquired, precautiously. "No, sir; nothing but rac and six children."?Washington Critic. A LUCKY DOC. A.?"What did your uncle do for you in his will?"# B.?"His will was entirely in my favor. I'm in luck." "Left you all his money, did lie?" "Not directly. He left all his property to charitablc institutions." "I thought you said you were in luck?" 4'So I am. All the other heirs are going to break the will, and they have employed mc as their lawyer."?Texas Si/tings. A HUNGRY YOUTH'S PHILOSOPHY. A ten-year-old lioy, making a journey by rail, became hungry about eleven o'clock and began an attack upon the bountiful lunch that had been prepared for him. A gentleman who sat behind him was moved to remark: "My boy, if you eat so much now, you won't have any appetite for dinner." To which the boy calmly replied: "Well, if I haven't any appetite I shan't want any dinner."?London Pick-Me-Up. rivaled the gems. Ethereal Wife (rapturously) ? "Oh, George! Mrs. Van Dorcmi has bought the clcgnnt sapphires which have been on exhibition at Stiffanny's. She paid $12,000 for them. Oh, darling! I have never before or since seen such a rich blue as they are!" Husband?"If you could have seen Mr. Van Doremi, as I did, just after his wife I told him of her purchase, you would not | say that, deare3t. He was infinitely more blue thau the sapphires."?Jewelers' Weekly. A NATURAL INQUIRY. "Are you the girl who was to come to our house as a nurse?" asked a fashionable lady of the healthy looking girl who had just entered the room. "I am; ma'am." "I have examined your references, and I find them satisfactory. You may begin next week." "But if ye plaze, ma'am, I'd like to ask yez wan question." "What is it?" "Is it a baby or a poog-dog that I'm to look afther?"?Merchant Traveler. WHY SHE WAS INTERESTED. Sweet-Faced Young "Woman?"Your paper yesterday contained an account of the flogginginto insensibility of a prisoner. Have you received any more particulars?" Editor?"Oh, yes. Owing to the strong protest we made tne poor fellow is in the hospital and receiving the best of care." Young Woman?"Oh, I don't care about the prisoner. I am a member of the S. P. C. A., and I want to know what became of the cat?the cat ne waswmppea with, you know."?Tore Haute.Express. ENTERPRISE. Grace (from a booming Western town, continuing conversation)?"And our new cable line is just simply immense. You should see it in operation, and especially on the incline?steep as a toboggan chute, ye know." Kate?"Gracious! what would they do in case the rope would break on a downward trip?" Grace (with enthusiasm)?"Do? Why, they'd have a temporary, track built for them to run on by the time they reached the bottom. Talk about enterprise!"? Bazar. A SnOCKIN'G STATEMENT. Miss De Pink (trying to get the conversation into a pleasant groove)?"I was so shocked while reading Max O'Rcll's book to-day. He says in America the girls do the proposing. Isn't it con teraptible in him to print sucn a sianaers | Mercy! Why any self-respecting-American girl would die before she'd let a man know she loved* him. The idea of our girls proposing?" Mr. Bashful?"Don't they?" "Of course not." ' 'I?I'm very sorry, because I never, never could pluck up courage to propose to a girl. I feel very blue to think a girl would rather die than?than let me know she wanted to marry mc. I?I guess I'll go home. Good-by!" "Oh! Oh! Oh! Don't go. I?I love you. Mercy! I nearly lost you. Sit down on this sofa, my darling."?N. Y. Weekly. HE PLAYED TO LOSE. He was a keen, sharp-looking young man, and he said to the lady of the house on Second avenue as he stood in the hall: "Madam, I have called for the suit of clothes which needs brushingandfixing." "What suit?" she asked. "Your husband's Sunday suit, ma'am. He called as he went down this morning." ' And he said I was to let you have them?" "Yes'm." ' 'Did he appear in good health and spirits?" "Why, certainly." "Look and act natural?" "Of course. Why do you ask!" "Because he has been dead eighteen years, and I have some curiosity on the subject!" "I?I ^ave made a mistake, perhaps!" stammered the young man. "Perhaps you have. The man you saw ?o out of liere an hour ago is my brother, ou may. have bettter luck in the next block with the old-fashioned confidence game. . Good-morniug!"?Detroit Free Press. A Glimpse at Russian Misery. In the Russian district of Kola a band of Bohemians were recently lynched by a crowd of Russian villagers. These Bohemians had stolen two children in the village of Marskaj, and had blinded fViom Vu-i+Vi for tVio mimnsp nf nsinrr them I lUWU , _ a for soliciting alms. Such cases are very frequent in Russia. In the same district of Kola, where the winter was this year exceptionally severe, the wolves have given a great deal of trouble. On Saturday last the mail coach was attacked by an enormous pack, horses, driver and passengers being devoured. At the same village of Marskaj an old farm woman gave battle to a huge wolf who was carrying oil one of her fattest pigs, which she had just killed for salting. The old woman pursued the wolf and helped him to the knife. The pig was reserved for the salting tub, but the old farm woman has only six lingers left to do the pickling with.?Timca-Democrat. Sea Anchors. nlioro fri^rl nfc JJApCI ILilClltO uutv mwwm ?..*>? ?~ Dover with a so-callcd sea anchor, invented by Captain Waters. This apparatus consists of a canvas bag about four feet in diameter and five feet deep, with either a strong hoop to hold it opun or a square bolted frame to answer the same purpose. The bag is attached to abeam, i or float, in such a manner that it lies just below the surface of the water, and a stout ! rope forms the connection between it and the bow of the vessel employing it. The ' object of this sea anchor is to bring a boat ' or ship's head to the sea when in danger of foundering from getting broadside toward S waves. There is notlving very new in the ] idea, for such a contrivance has frequently 1 been extemporised with advantage. The 1 veteran aeronaut Green also constructed 1 an anchor to hold a balloon near the 1 surface of the sea, which was almost ? ideatical iu form to this one. 1 WORDS or WISDOM. ; Modesty is the politeness of conceit. Brackish water is sweet in a drouth. i Oblivion is the older brother of stoicism. i In the journeys of life the pleasures are ^ halts. Don't clean your fish till you catch ' them. * A hungry stomach is ready for anything. 1 He that loves to be flattered is worthy ! of the flatterer. It is better to be sensitive than to be ' deficient in sense. '' Much money, many dishes; little money, little wishes. The most manifest sign of wisdom is | continued cheerfulness. Compulsory society destroys the object for which society exists. tjat-aw mofwr fr\y 1/\t?o Kllf cqq W UiaiiJ UUt 1U1 1U? tj l/uu OVb Vuuu ( thou lovest what is lovely. There would be none to reform if the reformers were all reformed. The most lonesome man is he who is seeking some one to lean upon. Excessive labor is wrong, but judicious labor is the safety valve of life. Industry need not wish, and he that lives upon people will die fasting. The-man who succeeds in imitating another will be an original failure. Falsehood can make the best spurt, but truth can do the steadiest trotting. Woe unto them who give scant measure and exact full measure from others. Thy friend has a friend, and thy friend's friend has a friend; be discreet. The lightning is vivid against a dark cloud, so the bravest lives are amid trials. Fashion is only gold front jewelry, it may appear well but the value is not there. There cannot be a greater rudeness than to interrupt another in the current of his discourse. Three Men Attacked by Weasels. George Gray, an employe of. Fanner Bull, near Pine Mill, Penn., went out in one of the fanner's fields to haul away some stone piles that had been lying in the field since last fall. He had thrown on the drag but a few stones from one of the piles when a weasel jumped out of the pile. Gray kicked at the animal as it was passing him, and the fierce little brute turned on the man and sprang for his throat. Its teeth closed*on Gray's flannel shirt at his chest. In tearing the weasel loose it set its teeth into Gray's arm, tearing the flesh down for three inches. The taste of blood seemed to increase the fury of the weasel, and Gray had all he could do to keep it from springing on his throat. He at last succeeded in stunning the weasel by a kick, and was about to hurry to the house to have his wounds dressed w"hen six other weasels, one after another, trooped from the stone pile and made a combined attack on Gray. Thej swarmed upon him, biting and tearing his flefch on the legs,arms,and body. Fearful for his life, Gray turned and fled, followed by the weasels, which chased him clear to the house, over half a mile away, inflicting still further wounds with their sharp teeth. Gray's shouts for help brought a son of his employer and another man out of a barn, where they were they were threshing. and the two ran to Gray's aid. Even these re-enforcements did not daunt the weasels, and before they were routed, which was not until three of them were killed, they had inflicted many ugly wounds on their foes, and the three men were covered with blood from head to foot. Gray was confined t<f his bed. It is well known that weasels will fight to the death when cornered, or will attack a sleeping person, but for them to fight three men in an open field, assuming the aggressive at the start, is something unheard of before in that region of hunters md trappers. One of the "Liberty Tree" Lanterns. An interesting reminder of the preRevolutionary period has just been presented to the Bostonian Society by the widow and children of the late Joseph H. Hunneman, of Roxbury, in the shape of one of the lanterns that were used to illuminate the old Liberty Tree on Essex street, on May 20, 1706, in celebration of the repeal of the Stamp Act. The news of the repeal reached Boston by a brigantine from London, which came into the harbor on May 16. A public meeting was at once held in Faneuil Hsll, and the evening of the 19th wag set aside for a general illumination. On that evening the principal feature was a pyramid of fire on the Common, and a few lanterns were hung on the Liberty Tree; but the citizens, feeling that they had not done enough to honor the spot where the agitation against the Stamp Aet had originated and had its growth, decidedjo ilUiminate the tree 05 &e'n\xt~ evening. May 20. On that evening 108 lanterns were hungupon the tree, and the one now deposited in the Old State House was hung "on the west bough, opposite Frog Lane," now Boylston street, as appears by an inscription on the button.?Boston Post. - .-f. A Gastronomic Freak. Bon-vivants in London are being treated to a new sensation. There is now a Gastronomic Club established in Oxford street, and the members of it will have the oppor- i tunity to acquirc an unexampled practical j knowledge of the way the world lives, without being put to the expense of travel to obtain it. The new club began its career with an Italian dinner, strictly limited to j the dishes and wines native to Rome and \ *T?1 ?'1 t??r? rr*.?v ciirmnCP Hv I IVt'llUC, UUU aui > tU, 1A1CIJ .;u|/|/vvv, , King Humbert's subjects. If the plan is , followed until the nations of the world are j exhausted, no one can complain of any lack j of variety in the fare at Oxford street. But t perhaps when it comes to China or to India ' the line will be drawn; certainly in these j cases the native dinner ought not to be un- ( dertaken without a preliminary educating t process.?Boston Post. 1 t Turkeys Fed 011 Gold. I Mrs. Fritz, who is employed as cook i in John W. Boulden's family, purchased a i turkey at one of the city markets. Mrs. Fritz iu removing the craw discovered a ^ small gold uugget. She disposed of the uuggct next morning to a jeweler, receiving ?3.50 for it. All the turkeys in ^ :hc markets of this city were raised in Fresno County. Here is a clew for the c jold-hunter, which,if successfully worked * jp, might lead to a fortune, as we think c t very improbable that the keeper of any ? uarket to feed ?3.51) nuggets to ?1.50 ^ :urkeys in order to sell the birds. There 1 nust be more gold on the browsing * grounds of the decapitated turkey.? c jan Franciico Chronicle. s I rOPULAE SCIENCE. fl Chicago bridges are to be turned with Bj V>iT moort? of m nt:r?rs. H CICUMAWI/J WJ v* It is proposed to train naval signal! iien in postal telegraphy and electric: ight signals. A German artillery officer is said to . lave produced a new explosive fromcarbolic acid. Experiments are being made with dogs, to train them for service with the imbulance corps. ^ One of the latest inventions is a three-, cornered steel nail that will drive easily and will not split the wood. The so-called annelid tubes of the Sutherland quartzite are said to be the! remains of terrestrial plants that grewi upon sand dunes. Promoters of elevated railroads are finding great encouragement all over the United States. Most of them will be operated by electricity, it is said. A new clectrical shell has just been invented, 6 feet 8 inches long and 200 pounds in weight, which carries 6 pounds of explosive. It is to blow up vessels. The wire belt to run the American _: machinery at the Paris Exposition was made at Beaver Falls, Penn., and is sixty feet long and twenty inches wide, all wire. . :7-v An espalier tree at Pollet, France, was planted in 1580, and is now the oldest ^ in Europe. It spreads 100 feet, its stem is three feet through, and it still bears 3000 to 4000 pears yearly. The death rate in the case of brewers, commercial travelers, and other classes exposed to the temptation of frequent alcoholic drinking, is six times greater than all the other industries combined. A wave motor, for utilizing the force y< of the tides, is in semi-successful operation at Point Lobos, Cal. Another wave motor, the invention of a Lynn (Maes.) man, is reported to have been successfully tested. Services for the deaf are held in the. church institute at Sheffield, England. The' preacher speaks into a bell-shaped receptaDce, from which tubes convey the sound of his voice to the ear of each per-' son present. A laboratory intended mainly for the study of bacteria in milk is to be estab-. lished in Berlin. Infant mortality unknown to be largely due to unwholesome milk, which can be rendered harmless by ; destroying the germs. An experimental tank 500 feet long onrl tnronfr'.+Trn forfif Tt-idfl Vina inot hf?f?n finished for use at Spezzia, Italy, to determine which form of ship shall havetho least possible resistance at a certain speed, and to determine the relation of power to speed. A New Orleans writer says that Southern florists are rejoicing in their ability to raise the exquisite lily of the valley today after an immense amount of effort. Every one of the delicate blossoms were imported formerly, but now, by freezing the bulbs, they can be had at first hands with small expense. Colonel Majendie concludes that one volume of liquid benzine will render 16,000 volumes of air inflammable or 5000 violently explosive. Neither a glowing coal, sparks from flint and steel of? flameles3 fuse, however, will ignite the most explosive mixture, actual flame or white heat being necessary. Artifical coffee beans are a curiosity of the German market. They are made from roated grain flour, with an addition of dextrine or similar substance, and the counterfeit is only detected by a critical examination. Two. establishments offer ,-nln /Mitfffe nloimn^ in itkiVa frnm 1 OOfl 1U1 oaiv^ uutuM \/M?nnvu w UM?W.V *?WM? .? to 1200 pounds of these betns each per |H Curious minerals are found in Utah 9 Territory. One is a deposit of alum B eighteen inches thick and of dazzling B whiteness; a natural mineral wax, proof 9 against air, acid and water, and a perfect B insulator. The deposit is three feet wide B and a mile long. The Salt Lake is an im- B mense limitless magazine of salt. Hun- B dreds of tons of sulphite of soda are B picked up on the banks of the lake blown H there by the winds under certain tem- H peratures. SH Farm Animals of the United States. 99 In this country the growth of popula- H tion in the West and of manufactures in H the South, coupled with the enforced de- h crease in the value'of cattle by the dressed H beef combine, has tended to increased IB attention to horse breeding, and im- "BP proved quality is now as apparent as in- BH crease of niunbers. Milch cows have increased with the population during the. El past year, as has every other kind of live' 9 stock except shgep, the reduction of widch has been du? to the discouragement at the low price of wool. The aggregate numbers of the differ- H ent species of farm animals on farms and M ranches in the United States, but not in- Bj eluding those held in towns and cities, H are: 1SS9. 1839. ' H Horses 13,172,938 13,663,294 Mules 2,191,727 2,257,574 H Milch Cows 14,856,414 15,298,625 Em Oxen and other cattle. .3i37S,363 35,032,417 Sheep 43,344,755 42,509,079' M Swine 44,346,525 50,301,592 EH The total animals of the world are: jflfl 293,380,341 cattle, 60,455,504 horses, '^K 9,331,822 mules and asses, 497,343,612 KB sheep, 99,687,973 swine and 29,136,984 goats. Profit in Flowers. SB The florists must do a profitable busiaess or there would pot be so many of Bfl :hem. To judge by the prices charged )ne would say the business was very re- ||H nunerative. It is not generally known EH :hat the leading florists sell their old stock m :o the sidewalk venders, who undersell :hem from thirty-three to fifty per cent. rhe florists claim that only inexperienced wml<? will imv from the sidewalk vend ;rs, even if they undersell them, because heir flowers, worn and faded, will ndt jSH list, but will fall to pieces almost when ouched. The florists preserve their floral >eauties in refrigerators, and they will lot last a second handling entailed by the BB treet vender.?Kea: York Star. IS iYanted an Objcct Lesson in Hanging. It is said that when the Shah of Persia ast visited England he was taken to Newgate and shown, among other arti-' 9H les of virtu, the gallows. In this engine ic invinccd the greatest interest, and,' xpressing a desire to see how it worked, isked the Governor to hang a man. The, Jovernor explained that he had not a man cady for the experiment, whereupon the Shall expressed his contempt. "Hang. H| >ne of these," he said, pointing to his' nfl uite. Needless to say the Governor did) lot comply.?San.FraricUco Qbronvio* EH