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* 11 ii^?? AT CHRISTMAS TIDE. | Bo blithe this boar, when once again The Star glows steadfast In the sky; Co hope attuned, when human pain Grows less, for faith that help is nigh; So hallowed, when the angel train With song and harp are passing by. Once more, between the midnight's gloom And the pale rose of breaking dawn, Heaven's matchless lilies wake and bloom, And far athwart the ea^t are drawn The pencilled sunbeams which illume All pathways men must journey on. Again the Sages and the Soers Bend low before a little cnua; And o'er the long and stormful years, The desert spaces vast and wild, The strife, the turmoil, and the tears, fie looks, and smiles, the undeflled. *Tis Christmas tide! At Mary's knee The shepherds and the princes meet! Love-bound in dear humility, To clasp the Infant Saviour's feet. The 8tar Is bright o're land and sea; The Gloria song is full and sweet. ?Margaret E. Sangster, in Harper's Bazar. HEYSEffS CHRISTMAS. BT FLOBEXCE B. HALLO WELL. ^ ?'c^00^ on \^7 Kg Christmas Eve, * anc* 8*ree's ?' the busy faotory m town of L? were ' crowded with fcagcu, c juiicu shoppers. Sill*s variety store was <like a great beehive, and the clerks were kept busy wrapping tip dolls, trumpets, drums, toy pistols and other toys dear to the heart of child hood; while the buyers jostled and crowded each other good - naturediy, too thoroughly imbued with the peace and good will of the 6eason to mind a i dig in the ribs or a bruised toe. "How happy everybody is!" exclaimed a bright-faced, middle-aged woman, pausing a moment on her way past the store to look in. Then she ' drew her old plaid shawl oloser around her and hurried on, the sawdust-filled limbs of a big doll dangling from a cumbersome parcel on her left arm. If 6lie had paused a moment longer she might have caught the derisive, contemptuous sneer on the face of a young man "who lounged in the open doorway, his hands thrust into his pockets and his soft hat pulled down over his scowling brow. His eyls followed the woman in the plaid shawl until she disappeared in the crowd, and a short, hard laugh escaped his * lipB. "Everybody happy I" he guttered, 'What fool remarks some women do make!" A little girl passing before him just then dropped a bundle; but he didn't stoop to pick it up for her. He wasn't in the humor to do a kindness for any one. All this Christmas excitement and hurry had filled his heart with anger and bitterness. In his pocket j 1 LI. i 1 "W^re 111B wetJ*. o wages?inamc uu^ul silver dollars; but he didn't expect to spend a sent. There was no one to -whom he felt inclined to carry even a dime's worth of candy, no one who expected anything from him. He remembered Christmas Eve of last year. He and Nan had gone shopping together. They had bought a woolen cape for old Mrs. Bosley, with whom Nan had lived previous to her marriage, and a trumpet for a little orphan boy Mrs. Bosley was "raising," and Stockings and flannel for the Widow Wisk and her imbeoile daughter. They had also laid in a stock of n good things for their Christmas dinner, to which old Mrs. Bosley and Sammy had been invited, and had deliberated a long time whether to have plum pu'dding cr fruit for dessert. Nan hadn't been sure the plum pudding would prove a success, for she had so little experience in cooking, And so, they had boaght fruit. What fun it had been to buy their presents (or each other! Nan had made him promise not to look while ehe made a hasty tour to the counter on which were men's furnishings, and where she had bought a crimson muffler and two bordered handkerchiefs. mi xi T? J -x A men tUtJJ uau Btu^pvu ai a jowoujr store, and Nan had waited outside while he went in and made a mysterious purchase, which she found under her plate at breakfast the next morning, and which proved to be a plain gold ring. Heyser remembered how she had kissed him and told him it was just what she had wanted, for she had always regretted not having been married with a ring. The wind canght one end of the red muffler around his neck and whipped ;< it against his cheek, and Heyser flung away from the store door with an angry growl, the scowl on his face growing darker. He turned from the busy main street into one that was comparatively quiet, and in a few minutes was at the door of the great, barn-like tenement house in whioh he had lived ever since he and Nan had quarreled and parted. That was nearly nine months ago, and he had never seen Nan since?had never heard a word from her nor sent her a message of any kind. They had . parted in hot anger; he had told Her she was a wretched cook, and he'd I warrant she could spoil anything she turned her hand to; and when she had replied that she wished she had never married him, he had rejoined that she didn't wish it half as much as he did, and that he could have had Sarah Humes for the asking. Nan had always been a little jealous of Sarah, and this remark had fanned her anger I. to white heat. Recriminations and JP- reproaches followed, and the quarrel had ended in his leaving the little : house which he had bought on their j marriage, vowing never to enter it } again until Nan apologized. l The next day he had sent a mes\ Benger for his clothes, half hoping the ? apology would come instead. But il ' hadn't. He had felt angry at himscll for searching all the pockets for a i note, only to be disappointed; and he I had swern to make Nan sick of hei fr 'blasted pride." f He had left his place in Hinckle'i ' (tore i& Bridge City, where he hac i' . - - / ' been employed since boyhood, and had gone to L?, to take a place in the iron works. And not a word had ever come from Nan. A bitter loneliness filled his heart as he entered his cheerless room with its carpetless floor and curtainless window. The fire in the rusty little stove'had gone out, and the cheap kerosene lamp on the wooden mantel (jOYO VUIjr CO il^UV* Heyser shivered and flung out of the room, muttering something between his teeth. It was too early to go to bed, and he had lived so entirely to himself during the past year that he had no friends in the tenement house upon whom he could drop in for an hour's talk. What was he to do with himself? Walk up and down Main street, he supposed,and see people 6tare at him because he had no bundles. As he went downstairs he heard the Payne children laughing, and through a door that stood a little ajar saw them hanging up their stockings. Heyser's heart swelled with selfpity, and he tugged at the muffler about his throat as if it were choking him as he went stamping down the bare, dark stairway. In all this Christmas festivity he had no share. Thflra TT-ac nn fiTin fr> civo a thoUffht to him, no one of whom he must think. And it was all Nan's fault. She had ruined his life. How could he help hating her ? Why had she never sent that apology? Evidently she had neve* repented her share of their qaarrel. Beaching Main street again Heyser hesitated, gave a quiok glance around him to see if any one were looking who might suspect his purpose, and then turned abruptly down a street that led directly to the river. He walked rapidly, with his head down, "CHRISTMA the collar of his coat high above his ears, and his slouch hat pulled down over his scowling brow. It wouldn't do any harm to go and give a look at his old home?that pretty brown cottage in which he and Nan had lived for four 6hort months. He had nothing else to do?and he needed the exercise. The wind blew stiffly as he crossed the bridge. On the other side a woman was crossing in the opposite direction. She had a shawl about her shoulders and wore a white hood. Hey ser remembered tnat JNan naa worn a white hood on Christmas Eve just a year ago. The keen air had made her cheeks rosy, and given a sparkle to her black eves. People had turned to look at her on the street, and he had felt proud of his pretty wife. He had not dreamed then that in less than three months from that time he and Nan would have gone separate ways. It was only a short walk from the bridge to the heart of Bridge City, and the little brown cottage Heyser had bought stood on one of the steep, ungraded streets. He felt a chill sense of disappointment when he reached it and saw that it was dark and all the blinds were closed. He stood at the little gate and stared at the cottage.for a long, long time. Nan had deserted it, of course, and it had 6tood empty all these months. He onght to have known she wouldn't stay there alone, and yet?somehow he had always thought Of her as keeping a home there, waiting for him to come back. He was stiff and chilled when at last he turned from the gate and went slowly up the hill, with a vague idea of walking through the village before returning to L?. Not that he expected to meet Nan?that was most unlikely. In all probability she had left Bridge City and was following her trade of dressmaking in some larger place. As he reached the top of the hill he saw a sudden tongue of flame shoot up from the roof of an old house which stood back from the street at some distance from any other. It was the home of old Mrs. Wisk and her weakminded daughter, and Heyser sprang forward as if electrified, wondering if any one were inside. As he approached the rgate he saw the imbecile girl run out from the front door, and at the same moment the flames burst from half a dozen piaces in ine rooi. "Isany one in there?" shouted Heyser, seizing the girl by the shoulder. She only whimpered and smiled in reply, and Heyser released her, and with one bound was at the door and had dashed it open. Before the wide, o?>en hearth was a i wickerwork carriage, and in it, Btaring 1 up with bright black eyes, lay a baby i perhaps two months of age. Heyser seized it in a rough but careful grasp and rushed out?just in time, for the ( old roof fell with a crash behind him, 5 sending the sparks flying over him : and his precious charge. k The yard was full of people now i who had come running from every r direction, and as Heyser etaggered forward with his burden he heard a 5 loud, piercing cry, and a young woI man ia a big shawl and a white hood .'I * ' ' ; \ ' sprang through the gateway and tore the "baby from his arms. She was weak and almost breathless from fright and her rnn up the hill. Heyser looked down at her, passing his hands over his eyes as if to clear away a mist. "Nan!" he cried. "Jerry!" and around his neck went one round arm, while the other hold the baby close to her heart. "Let's get away from here, Nan," said Heyser, thickly; and he led her through the gateway and down the hill, paying no attention to old Mrs. Wisk who ran after them, cry in? and wringing her hands and saying she had gone out only for a minute to borrow a little molasses, and if the baby had been burned she never would have forgiven herBelf?never! Heyser's brain seemed strangely I confused; but just at the base of the hill he stopped. "What did she mean, Nan?" he asked; "and?what's this?" he asked, touching the baby. "Didn't you know?" she cried. "Oh, Jerry! I thought some one would surely tell you." Hevser 'shook his head. He couldn't answer her just then. Nan stopped at the gate of the little brown cottage and drew the key of the door from her pocket; but just as she put it into the lock Heyser threw both arms arms around her and strained both mother and child to his breast. "Oh, Nan, I have missed you soI? he whispered, huskily. "And to think you've been living here all thin time!" "I knew you'd come back, Jerry," she said, and then she drew him into the warm sitting room, stirred the firA. nnt the babv in its cradle, and I then seating hers elf beBide him oa s Comes But On( I the old sofa gave him the history of the months she had spent apart from him. * "I left baby with Mrs. Wisk while I went to L? to leave a note for yon," she said, as she nestled against Viim ViAT arm a n.Hnnt. hin npfilr. ftnfi her rosy oheek against his rough and bearded one. "I couldn't let Christmas go by and not?Jerry, we must never, never quarrel again." "Never!" rejoined Heyser, fervently. ' 'And now I'm going back to L?. I've got to buy you and the baby something for to-morrow. I oan keep Christmas now as well as other people. '* And any one seeing him coming across the bridge on his way home, two hours later, would almost have imagined him Santa Claus himself, so loaded down was he with bundles of every shape and size. Impatient as he had been to return to Nan and the baby?which as yet he hardly realized as his own?he had toli-an fimfi tn errt tn hia ln^crinc hntlRfi for Nan's note, and he read the words it contained with eyes suspiciously dim. How gayly his heart beat as he tramped across the bridge! How happy he felt! Christmas was a glorious time! He didn't wonder people enjoyed it! And this time when he reached the cottage it was all aglow with light and warmth, and Nan met him at the door and exclaimed over the number of his bundles, and laughed because he had bought the baby a'drum and a toy engine. "But we can save them for him," she added; "and just come out into the kitchen, Jerry." Jerry followed her, wondering what he was to see, and gave a little gasp of surprise when he found a nice supper spread upon the table and a delicious aroma from a coffee pot filling the room., "I've learned to cook, -Jerry. Mrs. Bosley says I can't be beaten at it," saii Nan, laughing, though her eyes were full of tears. Jerry's lips quivered, and he swallowed a lump in his throat. Then he put his arms around his little wife and drew her close to his happy heart. "This i3 a ChrifltmaB, sure enough, Nan," he whispered, huskily.?Independent. A Victtm Already, Highwayman?"Halt! Your money or your life." Victim?"It's no go, stranger; my wife's in the same line of business always at Christmas time, and she's just finished with me."?Chicago Inter Ocepn ' j ' Christmas In Egypt, v The following Christmas experience in Egypt is related by a writer in Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly. He was at the house of a Greek who was apparently not a Croesus, as the entire furniture of his cafe consisted of a stone-and-mud fireplace in one oorner, a palm-branch divan occupying the remainder of that side of the banquetting hall, and a lot of rush mats on the earthen floor. I took the place of honor on the divan, says the writer, and soon the Arabs oommecced dropping in and squatting on the floor. Our Copt had made so much noise that he had awakened the whole village. It was Christmas Eve, or, rather, morning, and I felt liberal, so I ordered coffee and mastic for the party, and kept the landlord busy until I had filled the whole lot?a feat never before accomplished in Tel-el-Baroud. I began to feel hungry, and the land lord fished oat from under the divan, which also served as ft chicker-coop, three squabs, which he killed, pluoked, broiled and served up on Arab bread. This bread is baked of unbolted flour in round cakes, seven inches in diameter. It is hollow like a doughnut, and of about the consistency of heavy blotting paper. After breakfast everybody went on a hunting expedition. After their return they all went for their bath, a .ohaQge of clothes, then to dinner? and such a dinner! The bill of fire could scarcely be equalled at that season of the year in this country; the little oysters from Alexandria Harbor (they were first planted there by MoKillop Pasha, who was admiral of the Egyptian fleet under Ismail Pasha), soup, fish from the Mediterranean, turkey, ham, ducks, snipe, fresh vegetables of every de A YEAR." Y? "...vr | scription, figs, grapes, oranges, ba; nanas and the flaming English plum* pudding. Christmas Feasting in Old Times. Th#re are certain dishes which are peculiarly dedicated by custom and tradition to the Christmas feast. The plum pudding is almost the sole survivor of a long list of equally savory ones. There was the boar's head, always the herald of the feast, and always seasoned with mustard. Next in importance was the peacock. The skin was carefully stripped off, with the plumage adhering; the bird was then roasted; when it was done and had cooled, it was served up again in its feathers, and, with gilded beak, was sent to the table. Sometimes the whole body was covered with gold leaf, and a pieoe of cotton, saturated Tn-ifVi onimto nlanoil in its hpftlt And lighted as it made its gorgeous entry. The noble bird was not served by common hands; that privilege was reserved for the ladies most distinguished by birth and beauty. Geese, capons, pheasants, and pies of carps' tongues also helped to set out the Christmas table in days gone by. But while Christmas, as far as its eating was concerned, always had its specialties, it? liquor carte was unlimited. An Old Christmas Custom. It was an old custom in Oxfordshire for the maid servants to ask the men servants to bring in ivy and other greens with which to decorate the house. If any man refused, the maids stole a pair of his trousers and nailed "? '* ?i- A - ~ fl tiiem on ine gateway. aa a uwi greater punishment, the uncomplying men were debarred from the privileges of the mistletoe.. As Usual. "Did any one remember you on Christmas Day?" inquired Jhones. "Oh, yes," responded Smith, showing a handsome collection of lately opened envelopes, " my creditors did." A Holiday Conundrum. The Goose?"What's the difference between the Easter girl and the t Christmas turkey?" i The Turkey?"I dunno." The Goose?"Why, one is dressed to kill and the other is killed to dress." & uavmm?ammm?mammmmm?mmmmm?mm?mma CHRISTMAS ~MYT~ DECEMBER 25 WAS CHOSEX AS CHRIST'S BIRTHDAY. At First Christmas Was a Movable Festival?Origin of Some of the Yuletlde Customs. / V" HRISTMAS was first kept as a I / holy day A. D. 98. We have V J no means of determining the exact date of the Saviour's nativity. The statement that the date was preserved in the public archives at Kome, though asserted by some of the early fathers, is not now generally credited. As to the year, preponderance of opinion and of such evidence as we have seems to favor that of 4 or 5 ?. C. As to the month, December is the height of the rainy season in Judea, and, therefore, the fact, as stated by the New Testament, that shepherds were watching their flooks on its plains while stars were shining in the heavens on the night of the Saviour's birth, makes it extremely unlikely that it could have occurred in that month. Many learned treatises have been written and plausible arguments advanced to prove that it must have taken place in October, but the question will ever remain in abeyance. For the first three centuries Christmas was one of the most movable of all religious festivals. The Eastern Church observed January 6th as the ftnnivfirsftrv hnt,h of Christ's birth and circumcision. Bat in the fourth century Pops Julias I. ordered an investigation of the matter, and after long deliberation, the theologians of both the East and West united in appointing December 25th to be kept as Christ's birthday. It seems not improbable that in selecting December 25th as the date of the greatest event save one?the crucifixion?in the world's history the worthy fathers were influenced by a desire to sapplant the many heathen festivals of the winter solistice, such as the Saturnalia or great festival of Saturn and Ops, which began on the December 19th (or after Ceosax's reformation of the calendar on the 17th) and continued for .seven days. This presumption is made more probable from the fact that for many centuries the festivities of Christmas were prolonged until the "Twelfth night," January Cth, and even till Candlemas Day, February 2d, while they usually began as early as the night before All Saints' Day, or Hallow'E'en, thus showing the desire of the early fathers of the church to make the heathen converts to Christianity feel that they had lost nothing in harmless pleasure and enjoyment by the substitution of the Christian festival for the heathen one. Not only did the Romans observe this period of the year at a time for mirth and rejoicing, but many of our most familiar Christmas usages are derived from the old heathen festivals which Christmas replaced. The custom of giving Christmas presents, now so universally observed, was derived from the old Eoman Saturnalia, or n i -i n.i -1 ? _i: ,1 x easi 01 oaium, auuy# jxicuw^cu, ai which it was customary for all the members of a household to offer gifts to each other. It is not traceable, as has been sometimes ignorantlj stated, to the New Testament acooant of how kings and wise men made rich offerings to the infant Jesus. The Yule clog, or log?the great stick of timber placed in olden times upon the Christmas fire?was derived from the Saxon feast of Jul or Yul, at which a similar piece of timber, gave the principal fire and the prinoipal light. The Yule clog and the superstitions connected with it are among the most venerable of Christmas associations. The Yule clogs that blazed in the vast halls of the old English feudal barons ot tne middle ages were large trees, and we are told that even just before the olose of the last century the.mansion of an English gentleman residing near Shrewsbury was totally destroyed by fire in consequence of too large a Yule log having been lighted on his hearthstone. When the Yule clog was not all consumed before dawn and burned on the light of Christmas Day its as^es were carefully preserved until the next Christmas Eve, and were believed to bring good health and fortune to all the household, but should they be scattered and lost death and misfortune were thought sure to follow. The custom of decorating churohes, dwellings and places of business witb evergreen, holly, laurel, bays and mistletoe at the Christmas season has also a heathen origin, being a perpetuation of an observance of the old British Druids, whose belief it was that kindly sylvan spirits sought these ornaments of living green and hovered near them, untouohed and unharmed by nipping frost, until the death of winter. Those same old Druids attached much importance to the mistletoe, investing it with a peculiarly hallowed and mystic character. They regarded it as an emblem of luve, and believed that it typified the beneficent feelings of their gods toward mankind. It is doubtless to this old Druidical association of the mistletoe with love - - ? - -I'll I that the -tingiisn custom, wmcn sun btains, of enforcing the forfeit of a kiss from any female who is caught I under a branch of it at Christmas time is traceable. But the celebration of Christmas, with its grand liturgy, its magnificent music and its pictorial and dramatic representations of the principal events in the life of Him whose birth is commemorated, it was sought to replace these heathen festivities and to lift up the minds ol the people to something higher and holier, though from the first the day was regarded both as a holy commemoration of a most sacred event and as a mirthful, joyous festival. In the middle ages the festive observances of the day often so far overtopped its more sacred features that the clergy were fre quently compelled to cnecit ttie uneeemly merriment of their flocks. The name of Christmas assigned to . the festival was derived from Christ and the Saxon Maesse or Mass, and the two words were combined to denote a special service in honor of the birth of the Son of God. Probably one of the most generally known of the old Christmas observances, next to the giving of pres| ents, is the singing of Christmas 7f. y; i ' ' ' carols. These were piooc canticles designed to replace the ribald songs of the old heathen festivals, and the custom of children and even gTOwn people going about from house to house singing them at the door on Christmas Eve and being rewarded with Christmas cheer and Christmas spending money is maintained in many parts of England even at the present day. Wliat Christmas Means to Children. What is Christmas not to the children? It'is their golden milestone, the landmark from which tbey measure everything. As soon as they 6top looking back to one Christmas, they begin looking forward to another. An atmosphere of mystery?always delightful to a child?enshrouds the Yale-tide. It is more than a family gathering, and a big dinner and presents and candy unlimited. It is the Christ-child, and Santa Claus, elves and fairies, singing angels and kneeling cattle, won taping shepherds and gift-bearing Magi, a Star of Bethlehem and a manger, "a sleighful of toys and eight tiny reindeer," all blended in the blissful confusion impossible outside of a child's brain, that knows not reverence or irreverence, but bestows wonder and love with impartial generosity upon Christian story and Pagan myth. So it is, after all, to the children that Christmas is dearest/ Next after them it is most loved by those who Lave never lost the childish heart, those greatly to be envied ones who still feel "Christmas in their bones" as the holiday comes around and rejoice in the joy of others more keenly than in their own happiness; for the true meaning of Christmas is lost as soon as flhe element of selfishness find* a place in the celebration. Even the children soon learn this, and they are defrauded if this lesson if not early and tenderly brought home to them. They must not be de pfived of the joys of giving, 'and they will not be slow to learn that tbeix merry-making is sweeter and gayer foz the thought that by sending happinese into the homes of the needy they have made themselves one .with the spirit of the Founder of the feast day, whose whole life was one continuous gift. The sweet solemnity of the thought will not cloud the mirth. It will, if it is rightly taught and apprehended, be the brimming drop in the cup of happiness of old and young.? Philadelphia Times. Christmas Fare. One remarkable feature of the siege of Paris?in 1870?was that every one's appetite increased enormously. So says the author of "France in the Nineteenth Century," who was a witness in the scenes she describes. Thinking about food stimulated the ? ' -5 -J craving for it, and deiore ine ena 01 the year there were serious apprehensions of famine. Of the appearance of things during the holiday season, the author says: Christmas Day of that sad year came at last, and New Tear's Day, the great aud joyful fete-day in all French families. A few confectioners kept their stores open, and a few boxes of bonbons were sold; but presents of potatoes or small packages of coffee were by this time more acceptable giflf. Nothing was plentiful in Paris but champagne and mustard. The rows upon rows of the last named artiole in the otherwise empty windows of the grocers reminded Englishmen and Americans of Grumio's cruel offer to Katherine of the mustard without the beef, since she could not have the beef with the mustard. Here is the bill of fare of a dinner given at a French restaurant upon that Christmas Day: Soap from horse meat. Mince ot cat. Shoulder of dog with tomato sauce. Jagged cat with mushrooois. Boost donkey and potatoes. Ruts, peas and celery. Mice on toast. Flam-pudding. Christmas Tree Myths. In almost every land the Christmas tree has taken root, with numberless pleasant myths and mysteries, charming to childhood, clinging to it. But some of the old fantasies we instinclively reject. We relegate to oblivion the witches and demons who wera snDDOsed to have special power to work misohief during Christmastide. Odin then swept through the air with his malignant crew, foretelling calamity; Berohta, sometimes lovely, then became a malevolent witch, the bngbear of all children; Ruprecht frightened the little ones with threats of punishment if they forgot their prayers; and the dreadful Klarbauf, who kidnapped all naughty children, was the terror of the ntu> sery. Even St. Nicholas, the beloved Santa Clans of children nowadays, used to make his appearance carrying a huge bundle of rods, so that his com* ing excited terror as well as joy. Mighty Near It. It's getting olose to Christmas; across th# bills and dells, You can almost hear the chiming und the rhyming ot the bells; But the skies ure olear and candid, with no clouds that dream of snow, And you hear In dark and daylight all the Knnloi hlom I iJiiiU UUfjiW ViV H ? It's getting cl09e to Christmas; there's a something in the air That seem9 to breath of Bethlehem and all the glory there: And sweet the bells and bugles sound through our dreams of resrP.ing, bells, your sweetest music! and bugles blow your best! It's getting close to Christmas. 0, time of peace and joy! And 0. to be once more, onoe more, a wakeful, watchful boy, With the stocking In the corner for old Santa Claus to Oil! But we still thank God for Christmas, and we're boys In memory still J ?F. L. Stanton. Variety. "Did Santa Claus bring you any thing for Christmas?" "Yes, sir," replied Johnny. "He brought lots of candy." "Did your father bring you anything?" "Yes, sir; he brought the doctor." Mme. Regnen; a florist ofRoostoen, Holland, is the owner of a giant rose bush, which had 6000 roses in full bloom at one time during the past summer. ft r WtWfM I i coma beassemblesT LAST TERM OF THE FIFTY* THIRD SESSION OPENS. Scenes Attending the Inauguration of Both Senate and House?The Attendance of Members Surprisingly Large?The President's Message Bead and Heferred. The third session of the Fifty-third Congress began at Washington tamely and without unusual incident. Contrary to general expectation, the attendance was large, the ' number of absentees from the Senate and House being In marked distinction to that noticed toward tho close of the second session. The galleries were crowded, and half the desks on the floors were smothered with flowers. In the Senate the reassembling wa? attended with the usual scenes of well-fllled galienee ana sanatoria! greetings, xi wan up void of dramatic Interest, however, as the President's message consumed two hoars and was the only business of Importance transacted beyond the presentation of several resolutions calling for information. Promptly at 12 o'clock Vice-President Stevenson called the Senate to order, and Chaplain ttilburn, in eloquent terms, pronounced the opening prayer. He referred feelingly to the critical illness through whloh the daughter of the Vice-President had safely passed. The roll call showed the presence of slrty-slx Senators, considerably more than a quorum. After the usual routine, a recess was taken until 1.90, and After the reassembling the President's message 'was read. Shortly before reference to the Eastern war wan reached the Chinese Minister, attended by Mr. Chung, an attache, entered the gallery reserved for the diplomatic corps and was an Interested listener to the foreign featores of the message. Mr. Lodge offered a resolution calling on the Secretary of State for particulars concerning the execution of two Japanese students by the Chinese authorities at Bhanghal when the students had been given the protection of the United States. Mr. Blancnard presented a Resolution protesting against the recent Turkish atrocities against Armenians and directing that the remonstrance of this Government be communicated to Turkey. The resolution went to the Committee on Foreign Relations. Mr. Hoar- offered a resolution, which was adopted; requesting Information concerning the recent massacres of Armenians, and as to what protests, memorials, etc., had been presented by Amerloan citizens. At 4 o'clock, on motion of Mr. Gorman, the Senate adjourned. In the House, perhaps, the most popular Interest was shown in the assembling became there the Dolitical noheaval had been most marked. Long before the hoar of meeting at noon the galleries were crowded to their utmost capacity, while the floor ol th? House was lively with the movements to and fro ol members who had come early to greet old friends. There was no absence of qaorom, as had been feared, the attendance being comparatively large. There was a mild sensation when four men entered the chamber carrying upon their shoulders a floral school house, which wa3 placed on the desk of Mr. Linton, of Michigan. It was fully four feet in length and two feet in height, and it was the gift ol the American Protective Association of the District of Columbia. The leaders on both sides got enthusiastic receptions from their respective partisans, the appearance of Speaker Crisp, ex-Speaker Reed, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Bdrrows being the signal for long and loud outbursts. There was no cbanoe in the first day's proceedings for any public reference to the election, so that the actual proceedings were dull and uninteresting. Seven new members were sworn in. and after a lorn; wait the President's message was read. It was listened to attentively, a&cl referred J to the usual committee. The death of the late Representative Wright, o: Pennsylvania, was then announced, whereupon the House, as a mark of respect, ad- ' Journed. PROMINE^TJPEOPLE. | (PtEstDEirr CziKVzlahd suffers still fron* tneumatlc gout. Cecil Rhodes, the Premier ot Cape Colony, South Africa, is worth $15,000,000. Fbanot Kossuth has taken the oath of allegiance to Emperor Franc Josef, of Austria. Ahdbtw Cabxioie, the Pittsburg Ironmaster, sayi) that "a man who d'.ea rich dies disgraced." 1L T. Myoshi. the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Japan, is a deacon in a Congregational church. Economic writers declare that the Income of the Czar ot Russia Is equal to $25,000 per day every day in the year, Thbtz Englishmen are lecturing In America thlB season?Conan Doyle, Dean Hole and David Christie Murray. Bobebt Loins Stevenson's estate in Samoa Includes 400 acres of forest land, and is situated at an elevation ranging from 600 to 1500 feet. Captain Charles Ecto, the novelist, has , been offered the Adjutant-Generalship of Wisconsin. He and Governor Upham were classmates at West Point. The Bishop ot Chichester, England, the Bev. Dr. Dunford, now In his ninety-second year, has just returned home from a pedestrian tour in Switzerland and the Italian ( lakes. Oscab wrldi wears an enormous cravat, and his coat tails are a little longer than anybody else's. He Is adorned with a gold chain bracelet, and his little finger of his left hand is ringed to the nail* uzab Nicholas means to aooiiaa tae na*t alan secret police, and to allow greater freedom to the press. He says that If he Is fatedl to be murdered, all tl}e secret police In the world cannot prevent it. Gexebal Willi am H, Gibson died in Tiffin, Ohio, recently. He was known in Ohio as "General Bill Gibson, the silver tongued orator." He was born in Jefferson County,' Ohio, seventy-two years ago. Count Capbiti, the ex-Chancellor of Germany, had never been active in public lif? when sailed to office In 1890. But he took t<> speechmaking as a duok to water and sooa made a reputation as a trenchant debater. . Henri Kekn-et, the Hartford (Conn.) millionaire, who died recently, was a lucky man. In 1842 he Invested 8260 in a fire" insurance company. 81nce then the investment has paid 9124,864 in cash dividends, and is now worth more than 880,000. Conobessman Grout, of Vermont, has ona peculiar iaa mot is noncea Dy nearly every visitor to the hall of the Houee of Representatives la Washington. He Insists on having bis chair covered with oilcloth to protect him more satisfactorily from unexpeoted drafts of air. Mb. Caeneoie's munificence has given Pittsburg a 81,000,000 library building an<t $40,000 a year to run It, but the library 1? without sufflolent income for the purchase of books aad the management of the concern, so that the city will be alow In receiving the fall benefit of the gift. A MEBcnANT of Clinton, Mass., has this to say of Dr. Parkhurst, the New York civlo reformer, in youth: "Charlie Parkhurst was a likeable young fellow. He relished lively conversation and Jokes, and seemed to enjoy witty saroasm particularly well. He was a persistent fellow, with strong purpose. But he was only a fair salesman." PROTECTION FOR DENBY. The Asiatic Squadron Ordered to Pekin's Seaport Town. The State and Navy Department at Washington aro apprehensive that the situation in China is very grave, and have determined to mobilize the entire Asiatic squadron at some point near Tien-Tsin in order that marines may be landed to afford protection to American lives and interests near the points of the threatened outbreaks. Orders wero issued to Admiral Carpenter, commanding the station, to gather his fleet at Taku, and there land marines to guard the Legation at Pekin and the Consulate at Tien-Tbin and other cities whore a large number of Americans reside. TnE Alabama convict fn?m has not worked: satisfactorily, and it is proposed now to return to the lease system, and hire out the) convicts to mine owners. u