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ifer VlVTll "'I'T'T1-' LLI.i!..LYLlJ.MJ.U.Lm f-l.?.1t Bill A New Wrinkle. A writer in Practical Farmer says 1 when a calf is dropped we first turn it on its back and examine the teats. If there are four well placed and two ru-1 dimentary or extra ones, all right. ; Next we look into the calf's mouth. If ; there are six or eight milk teeth well through we call the calf well born and worth raising. If it has but two teeth, though, it is not worth raising. We will not fnss with it. It shows that , the mother has not vitality enough to properly start the calf. We want to breed from the best. We do not raise calves born with two or four teeth just stioking through. They will be weakly, puny, subject to disease all their lives. The well-born calf is half raised." This is a new wrinkle, and there may be something in it, especially if you are buying a young calf, though we could not imagine a breeder rejecting a calf for the above reason. As for six teats instead of four, we see nothing in that except that we want those four teats large and wide apart. ? Home and Farm. Profit In Squashes. \ H. A. Wilcox, of "Oxbridge, has for , several years made a specialty of squashes. He says: "In 18911 thought I should not be able to attend to them, : ^ ao did not send for seed until June, and did not finish planting until July 1. On September 25, after a light . frost which killed the vines, I har- ; 4vested from forty-eight hills of Hub- . bard and Essex Hybrid, three onehorse loads in bulk?from one and ; one-half to two cords in all. Single Hubbards weighed twenty-one pounds, and Hybrids as high as thirty-one pounds, in eighty-six days from seed. This crop was raised on old pasture, which had not been ploughed for thirty j odd years, ana wmcn i consiaerea ^ Worn ont. It -was manured with fresh, ; coarse horse manure, broadcasted and ploughed under, and about a pint of high grade phosphate worked into , % each hill. I consider the Essex Hybrid the best main crop squash, although ^ some consumers and some dealers will , have nothing but Hubbard. The marrV's for fall use, and the Fordhook, Cocoanut and Low's Bay Siate have been satisfactory. "With me the Essex Hybrid is the best cropper, and the Hubbard next. As most of this crop was retailed from a milk wagon at from two to three cents a pound, I found it 1 profitable."?New England Farmer. j The Shepherd's Dog. mi. . i? f - -l J A lie training ui u oueop uug is a mat- < ter of considerable importance to the i shepherd. The American Sheep 1 Breeder gives the following hints: 1 4 'Begin training in the most cautious, k natural way at two months old, or as , m noon as the puppy is able to follow you , r among the sheep. If he comes of good ( i stock he will take naturally to sheep, j ft as a duck does to water, and will be r very quick to interpret your wish and ambitious to execute it. Your main trouble will be to restrain and teach him moderation. Like all puppy kind ] lie will be impetuous and inclined to hurry and worry the sheep too much. Deal gently with him. Don't whip him or show your displeasure by dra- 3 matic tantrums, yells, and threats. I "If of the ri^ht sort the young dog 1 will catch your meaning with a word, 1 motion of the hand or head and even 1 the expression of your face. The young collie is intelligent, tractable, and mi i pressionable to a wonderful degree, i and anxious to please beyond any ] other animal. Common sense, patience, 1 and moderation on the part of the i shepherd, -will soon make his charge a : valuable shepherd dog. "Especially do not allow different persons to be mixed up in his training. Do that yourself, and the little fellow will soon come to understand you and your flock. Good blood in the puppy and good sense in his management are the main things to consider. " Grafting the Apple. Grafting the Apple is the subject of Bulletin 65 of Kansas station, which oontains many photographs of trees, one, two and three years from the graft, taken up with aJ their roots intaot, showing the root systems and | unions resulting from various methods of oTaftincr. [ ' The controversy which arose several i years ago over the relative merits of whole roots and piece roots, and long i I or short root pieces, long or short sci- i ^ons, and grafting low or high on seed^ling stock, etc., led the Kansas station ( [ to enter upon a series of elaborate ex- | periments, which have been carried ] through the intervening years. Judge i "Wellhouse, of that State, the most ex-; , tensive apple grower in the world, has ; , also experimented for mauy years iu : . the same line, and this bulletin gives ! the results reached by him also. The conclusions arrived at are as j follows: Whole root grafts possess no J ] A^vantace over t>iece roots. On the ! ? 0 - X- j , contrary, unless the whole root stock ! ] is very hardy, a severe winter freeze or ' j drouth may kill it. Especially is this true where the graft is set above 1 ground on the seedling stock. In the . oolder, extreme Northwestern States ! the hardiest trees are made by graft- i ' ing a hardy scion of ten inches long 1 upon a short bud. The short root, piece keeps the hardy scion alive until: it throws out a good root system of its 1 own, like a cutting, and these roots i strike deeper than the lateral systems , of whole roots. Judge Wellhouse finds the two-inch root piece best, but at the station pieces five inches loug gave slightly better results than those half that length. The longer the scion, up to two feet, i ^ the stronger the growtn, probably heft cause of a larger leaf surface; but the difference is not sufficient to cover the axtra expense on a large scale. Prob-j * ably eight to twelve inches are best. j Lime. The proper and judicious use of lime ' io often an item of profit on the farm, i Lime enters into the composition of plants and is ah element necessary to ' fcheir growth. The fact, however, that L i heb amjgwBRCpqsffgBbbbbgga I it***-** :? ~ iiicic ir? ucui ij m?uja a nuiuuicui ou.pply of lime in tlae soil to serve as plant food proper, renders it seldom if ever necessary to apply lime to make up a deficiency. On the otlier hand, the aim in giving the soil a dose of lime is usually to improve its physical condition. If the soil is sour, lime 'will sweeten it; if it is light, lime will make it more compact, if it is too compact, lime will loosen it. An object lesson as to the effect of lime upon soil is illustrated in the following simple experiment. If two pieces of heavy clay soil, one of which has had lime sprinkled over it, are placed side by side, and allowed to dry in the sun, the one which has no lime on it will bake, become hard and orack, while the other piece on which lime has been sprinkled will become more porous and friable and crumble easily when submitted to a slight pressure. The lime has permeated the pores and brought about this condition, which is desirable in soils and which adds so much to their produotive capacity. On n.n ftwrnfffl it will Ha fnnnd ad visable to apply lime about onoe every five years. From thirty to forty bushels per acre of air slaked lime would be a sufficient quantity. It is best to broadcast the lime over the plowed surface of the field. Do not work it into the soil, as it will soon permeate of its own accord. Besides its action in improving the physical condition of the soil, referred to abore, the lime also liberates some plant food, notably potash. If potash previously existed in the soil in an insoluble state, the lime will make it available as a plant food. It would be poor policy though, to continue to apply lime alone, since the soil would soon become exhausted of its natural supply of plant food which the lime has liberated. An economical plan, therefore, would be to keep up the soil's natural supply not only of potash, but ilso of phosphoric acid and nitrogen is well, since these are the elements which usually become exhausted first, ind which the farmer has to renew in the shape of manures, etc.?M. J. 3helton, in Home and Farm. Poultry Notei. rto4-V?nr rlvrr i?aorl /Inaf or*/I nnf oxrra-rr VUtUtl V*-l. J ivuu UU>JV UUV4 ^uv in barrels in a dry. place for next winter's use. It is not luck, but pluok and persistent, applied concentration to all the minor details in the care of poultry that brings success. Don't give vermin a chanoe, and the anly -way to prevent their getting a start is to use remedies that are known to be beneficial in ridding a place of their presence. Burn all old nesting material and replenish with clean, new hay. Then 3ee that the nests are saturated with ;oal oil or whitewash that is strongly impregnated with carbolic acid. Put the brood coops you are through witil in uuuipieie repair ramj lay, whitewash them or give a good soaking with kerosene oil, and then store away under cover for use nest season. Give the late broods a chance to run by themselves. They will not n;et their share of food, nor will they amount to much if they are jostled iround by the older and stronger chicks and fowls. If a poultrvman does not get the most good, the most profit, out of his market fowls, it is because he lacks knowledge of feeding for beBt results. Right feeding is a science. Poultrymen should study how to feed for best results. Keep the turkeys and geese growing by not overfeeding them, and giving them plenty of exercise in seeking after insects, grubs and worms. In another month begin to feed corn meal dough mixed with milk and fat scraps nn/1 on/1 tti 11 fKan r?nf An UUU W1U) QUU KUCJ ?Ul UU^U Jk/UV v/u fat quiokly. For a breeding pen of ten or twelve fowls, a room 8x12 will be large enough for perohing, and a laying room, attached to which should be a yard the same width and from twenty to thirty feet long; a number of these breeding pens may of course be made under the same roof of a poultry house, and for the most successful treatment of this breeding stock, the grounds should be so arranged, with a grass plot adjacent, that each yard may alternately be turned upon it for exercise, green food and the search for insects. % The supposition that common fowls are hardier than pure breeds is not borne out by the facts. Those who batch chicks of the common kinds lose a large number of them, only the strongest surviving, and every year they are more and more inbred. The pure breeds suffer from being pampered Jby their owners in many instances, in which cases they do not compare favorably with common fowls; but common are of but little value compared with the pure breeds, which Liave been found to be more profitable in every respect. To prevent roup is something not very easily done, as the fowls are affected by the weather. In cold, dry seasons, the roup 'does not prevail a3 much as in the fall, when the rains are frequent, the ground wet, and discomfort exists in the poultry house. To guard against the disease, the windows should be so arranged as to permit plenty of sunshine in order that the tloor and walls may be warmed and moisture evaporated. While the pure air may be admitted when desired through the doors and windows, it should not be overlooked that draughts of air on the birds are liable to hasten an outbreak of the disease. By keeping the floor well dusted with fine airslaked lime, the disease may be checked in the beginningand the room made dry.?Poultry Keeper. How some people eat at Eaton Rapids, Mich., may be guessed by the rea??^I of a housewife who in c year has baked eighty-four loaves ol bread, 729 biscuits, 140 cakes, 15(1 fried cakes, 191 pies and 1026 cookies, i STORY OF THE EARRING. j P0SSI3LE REVIVAL OF A TIMEHONORED FASHION. - - - I \ Badge of Servitude Among the Hebrews and Phoenicians? In Ancient Rome Earrings Were Generally "Worn, and Very Heavy?Once Worn by Men. In England the Queen's jubilee seems to have created a tendency toward the revival of the earring, and a writer in the Golden Penny devotes some space to a history of that relic of barbarism. The custom of studding the person with gems is of extreme antiquity, and the fashion of piercing the ear lobes I for the purpose of sustaining gems set ! in rrnlfl lioo Kaon fnllrm'Pfl Kir mnflf. races from the earliest times to the present day. Homer describes how Juno placed pendants in the lobes of her ears. Ear-drops were presented by Eurydatnas to Penelope, and among the Athenians it was a mark of nobility to have the ears bored. Among the Phoenicians, however, the wearing of earrings was the badge of servitude, and the same custom obtained with the Hebrews. The rabbis assert that Eve's ears were bored when she was exiled from Eden as a sign of slavery and submission to the will of her lord and master. The Egyptian women wore single hoops of gold in | their ears, and in Biblical times the custom appears to have been universal. They appear to have been regarded as the most cherished possessions of their wearers, and were only parted with under great stress of necessity. Thus the golden calf is supposed to have been made entirely from the gold ear?* ~ A ~ A.AKn lings vi tiic pcupiu. tuo n.iuuo the expression "to have a ring in one's c ears" is synonymous with "to be a slave," and to the present day an Arab BYZANTINE (SIXTH CENTURY). Ci who has been conquered by another n rvlftAAO n ??i' n rt iliVAIKVn Vli a ?iO t o a o oi fm piauco u ;iu^ imvugu UAO VUL U>J H gj of obedience and servitude. So general was the use of errings in ^ Rome and so heavy were they, that j there were women whose profession ^ was that of "earhealers" who tended the ears of those ladies who had torn jr or injured the lobes with the weight jof the pendants. These specialists ^ were known as auriculoe ornatirei. At one period the Roman man took to y wearing earrings, but the custom was forbidden by Alexander Severus, _ while in Greece the children wore an earring in the right ear only. ^ Coming to more modern times, the a fashion of wearing earrings appears to a| have been general in England from the Conquest. | The early Saxons appear to have k worn rings of plain gold in their ears, v| while in the fourteenth century these ' appear to have been decorated with I small pearls. In the reign of Eliza- U beth earrings were adopted by men of v fashion and, the custom spread until > James I's time all the courtiers had ^ their ears pierced. The earring worn ^ by men took the form of either plain ' wire rings, or crosses or triangles or gold studded with gems. There is a 7ery ancient notion which is still held by country folks that the ^ piercing of the ears is good for the sight. The origin of this belief is lost, bu: it has obtained for centuries. It is ticarcely necessary to state that the belief is quite without foundation. j. In the middle ages it was the custom ^ for lovers to present earrings to their w mistresses, the persons who were ^ about to be married used to stick a flower through the ring or over the cj ear, much as a clerk would a pen, as a flign of their being engaged. ^ A curious variety of earring much worn during the reigns of Elizabeth ^ and James I. was the ear string. This has been alluded to by many writers. Thus in the Westminster drolleries we And: n i'et for thy sake I will not bore mine eare tl To hang thy dustless silken shoo ties there. And Marpton, in his satires, pub- al lished in 1598, has: What maan'st thou, him that walks all open-breaeted, . Drawn threw the ear with ribands? As to whether she wearing of wires a through the ears is likely to come into A general fashion again in this country A we do not offer any opinion. There A must, we should imagine, al ways be a ; A prejudice against the mortification of | A the flesh necessary, and the custom of ? ? A CRKK ^|^^^EARftlNC < il? a ^ I h 1 jt ^ X i? ? !; Laving children's ears pierced has | a ceased to be general for many years, j But the dictates of fashion are ncKie, i and it is just possible that we may see ! leaders of fashion wearing both ear s and nose rings before the close of the v century. Who knows? e The returns show that the average cotton spindle in the United States ^ I produces more than twice as much ii yarn as the average cotton spindle in h Great Britain. b THE EARTH'S POPULA OCEANIA ETC in in nnn nnn EUROPE: 400,000,000. wl On the Continent of Asia live lore than the number of North and J A MOVINC FORTRESS. laimed to be the Mont Destructive Agen Ever Used In Warfare. The German Emperor is having ew fighting machine constructed fo rmy use in the field which, it i laimed, will be the most destructiv gent ever nsed in warfare. It i nown as the battle-line destroyer nd it has been chiefly designed b; Lrupp, the great gunmaker, at whos rorks at Essen it is now building [any features of ii, however, hav een suggested by the Emperor him elf, who will personally take posses ion of the first one constructed. The battle-line destroyer will hav ae outward form and size of a Pull ?iiL xi? aicc iv mu car, wiiii mo umereuue tuav iu heels uje not visible, the walls to ie car reaching to the ground. Tiese walls will be of the ver trongest steel and fortified on all fou idea and on top by many steel prong ticking out like the bristles of a por cipine. The walls will be pierced b; umerous portholes, that open an< hut automatically. Behind these porthole 3 will be ma line guns to throw shot and explo ves. The crew of each car will con iut of only twelve men. The car wil in on very broad wheels resting 01 nmensely strong springs. It wfl o on its own rails and will be able t< c? so in any desired direc tion. The destroyers aro to remain unde: if. eye of the Commanding Genera Qtil the battle is well under way THE NEW FIGHTING MACHINE, hen, when great masses of the enenr e engaged, the car -will be een ;ainst them. Herr Krupp is said to have demon ;rated to the Emperor that the battle ne destroyer will make cavalry at icks unnecessary. In fact, the poldieri ill only engage in skirmishing afte: le destroyers have been introduced It has been a question whether thi irs will be able to withstand heav^ rtillery fire. Krupp says they will le prongs warding off shot and th( lachine being too heavy to be over irown. Animals In Groups. The ingenuity of the sportsman is erhaps, no better illustrated than b; le use he puts the English languagi > in dpflicrnatinor -nartiftiilar nrouns O -0 o X O X" aimals. The following is a list o le terms which have been applied t< le various classes. covey of partridges. A flock of geese, aide of pheasants. A bevy of quails, wisp of snips. A cast of hawks, flight of doves or A trip of dottrell. swallows. A swarm of bees, muster of peacocks. A school of whales, siege of herons. A shoai of herrings building of rooks. A herd of swine, brood of grouse. A skulk of foxes, plump of wild fowl. A pack of wolves, stand of plovers. A drove of oxen, watch of ni{ .itin- A sounder of hogs, gales. A troop of monkeys clattering of A prido of lions. cloughs. A sleulh of bears, herd or bunch of A gang' of elk. cattle. On Attaining Long Life. Some philosopher, after reading thi antradictory reports of v.irious healtl 2giineni:. followed by persons who ha< ttained great age, says: "jxotmiij latters, except your being provide) 1 the fii"3t instance with a sound con titution (which is never your owi oing), and perhaps using all thing i moderation, which is another con titutional quality. Most people wouli ay that cleanliness was jikely to con uee to longevity, but ;here is oi ecord the case of a Mrs. Lewson, wh< ied iu the early part of the century t the reputed age of 106, and wh( over washed herself, but merel; nbbed her face at intervals with lard elieving the people addicted to soa] nd water were apt to catch cold." Siteol Harder Than Stone. It is easier to crush the hardes tone known than steel. Corundun as chosen for the stone in a recen xperiment. A weight of six ton mashed the corundum, but forty-twi ons were required to crush the steel Vith a loud explosion the steel flev ato powder, and sparks are said t< ,ave bored miuute holes in the crush ag machine. TION SHOWN BY COHPARATIVE Fl ASIA O 900,000,00( 900,000,000 beings, over twice the popula' louth American inhabitants. Africa is thi: TROT, PACE AND RUN. t Description of the Various Motions of the Horse When Extended, a When in full motion the runner r strides with both front feet at the s same time, following with the hind, u and leaving the ground first with the s front. In ether words it is a "foret and-aft" action. y The pacer moves by lifting both feet 0 of the same side simultaneously, and 9 [ e ___ - I 11 L , , 1 TROTTING, PACINI 3 is known as a "side-wheeler." It is a j" na'oura gait. In the trot, when going slow, there is always one foot on the ground, a part ' of the time two and a part of the time three. When fast, there are two intervals in each stride when all of the feet are off the ground, the horse leaving the ground from the hind feet in succession, while in the run he leaves the ground from a fore foot. The limbs of the trotter move in pairs, dif agonally, but not quite simultaneously, even in the "square trot." The trot is not a natural gait. The fastest marks at the three ways of going, and the number of feet that 5 the champion runner, pacer and trot ' ter covered in a minute, are as fol-1 Iowa: Runner, Salvator, 1.35J; 1 minute, 3315 feet. Pacer, Star Pointer, 1.59J; 1 minute, " 2660 feet. 7 Trotter, Alii, 2.03}; 1 minute, 2559 feet. Unpaid Scavengers. The crustaceans are among the im portant scavengers of the sea and are 9 also valuable as food for fishes. The r collection of crabs, shrimps, and lob stars forms large industries all over : 9 the world, contributing directly to the ; 7 support of man. In Delaware the i . horseshoe crab is used as guano, while 5 the collection of fossil crabs, as trilo- i bites, is a peculiar industry. The i fresh-water crayfish produces a concre- * tiou used as an antacid, well known to chemists. We owe many of the beau- : ' ties of our summer fields to insects, ' ^ all of which have their special func- : ? tions and use. Even the persecuted ] flea may render man a'service by keep- I ing the drowsy watch dog awake, 3 while the mosquito in tropical countries may aid in preventing the human inhabitants from living a continual siesta. The flies are among the most valuable insect scavengers. The spiders , prey upon flies, holding them in check. The silk of the spider is used as a cross line in astronomical instruments, and that of a Bermuda species as sewing silk. Bridge makers have ob, tained valuable suggestions from these silent workers, from whose web one of the Kings of France is said to have made a coat. Grasshoppers and locusts are enemies of civilized man, but are eaten by the Indians, while in the e Malay country the dragon fly is coni sidered a delicacy.?Appletons'Popu1 lar Science Monthly. 3 1 Why Old Clockft Have IIII. Not every one who looks at the dial 1 of a clock knows that the four I's 8 j which are in place of the usual IV. to - I t.lia number 4 are there be I ? 1 j cause of the obstinacy of Charles V. " j of France. "When Henry Vick carried 1 to the King the first accurate clock D j the King said to him that the IV. was > | wrong and should l>e changed to I III. 0 i Vick said: "You are wrong, your MajP ; esty." Whereat the King thundered > out: "I am never wrong. Take it !' away and correct the mistake." From that time to this day the four I's have stood as the mark of the fourth hour. ?Seattle Post-Intelligencer. } I A isce-Line. t The eyes of bees are made to see s J great distances. When absent from a their hive they go up in the air till ' . | they see their home, and then fly to- 1 v j ward it in a straight line and with r> great speed. The shortest line be tween two places is sometimes called a 1 "bee-line."?St. Nicholas. i GURES OF THE RACE* I N.&57AA\ ERICA ^BTVr rtp^AFRICA' || 250,000,000. tion of Europe and almost seven times rd in number of people. Smallest Book In the World. The smallest book in the world is not much larger than a man's thumbnail. It was made in Italy by a firm of Padua publishers, the Salmin Brothers. It is four-tenths of an inch high and about a quarter of an inch wide. The volume contains 208 pages, each having nine lines and from nine' ty-five to 100 letters. The text is an unpublished letter written by the fa ? i AND BUNNING. I 1 mous inventor of the pendulum olook j to Mme. Christine, of Lorraine, in the year 1615. The next smallest book is i issued by the same firm. It is an edi- i tion of Dante's "Divine Comedy," be- I ing a little more than an inch high, a , little less than an inch wide, with type so small that it takes a microscope to read the letters. | j I i A Gold Leaf Temple. r j ' Not in Amerioa, not even in the ' Klondike, but in the far-off East, at j Rangoon, the capital of Burmah, is | situated the famous golden pagoda of | a Buddist temple, the whole of the 1 exterior of which is one mass of shim< mering gold. This generous coating | of the metal is the result of years and I 1 _ <r?: A*. I I JtttlD Ul UilCI 111^3 \AJ U UlXlli-lO, 1UI UC" | j votees from all parts of the world j ( come to Bangoon and bring packets ol j i gold leaf, which they place on the j 1 pagoda. Daring the last century the King of Burmah gave his (literal) weight in gold to the walls of the pagoda, an offering worth ?9000 sterling. The Blood Travels 168 Miles a Day. The mileage of the blood circulation reveals some astoanding facts in oar personal history. Thus it has been calculated that, assuming the heart to beat sixty-nine times a minute at ordinary heart pressure, the blood goes at the rate of 207 yards in the minute,, or seven miles per hour, 168 miles per day and 61,320 miles per year. If a man eighty-four years of age could bave one single blood corpuscle floating in his blood all his life, it would bave traveled in that same time 5,150,B00 miles. Parrot Hatches Chickens. J. D. Austin, a merchant at Kansas City, has a large Brazilian parrot that is the proud possessor of five little < bantam chickens, which the big bird t watches over and cpres for as if they | were her own brood. Some time ago j the parrot, although unmated, laid two I eggs. These were taken from her and ? POLLY AND HER FIVE CHICKS. 3 a half-dozen suuxll chickens eggs were placed in the iiest. Polly comes fortb regularly with her little chickens 2>eep ing ami scratching about her, and I many people stoj) to view the strauge ! 3 sight. ] It is a very unusual thing for the j parrot to breed away from its native j i land even under the most favorable j ' circumstances, and it is more remark- j able that the parrot should adopt the chickens as her own offspring. Skamania County, Washington, boasts a railroad four miles long which t cost $3,000,000 to build. . i GOD'S MESSAGE TO MAN. KKtUNANI THOUGHTS h KOM 1 ht WORLD'S CREATEST .PROPHETS. God's Eyes See Clearer?Transformed by Beholding? No Needless Trials Laid ? A Prayer for Redemption-The Fog Will Burn Away?The Kealty of Sin. Thank God for failure, shattered hopes, lost aims And ungained garlands, for He knoweth I longed to win for God and for the truth, To spread His kingdom over sea and shore, Struggled?and lost, while others gaine^ their crowns. Baffled and sore, cast out and left behind? "They also serve who only stand aud wait;" rercnanee tney aisa win wno seem to tail; v jpij God's eye sees clearer than our earth-dimmed sight. Nothing to lay upon Thy altar, Lord, No palm, no laurels, naught but empty hands, But thus they clasp Thine closer. Take them, Lord! Fill or leave empty! I can praise The* still For what Thou hast denied. '0 ?Laura Wade Bice* ' ^ Transformed by Beholding. Far up against the deep blue sky, lightly passing on the summer breeze, was a pure, white fleecy cloud?a thing so utterly unsoiled it seemed to belong to heaven much more tban to earth. The great Bea lay and looked at it. and whispered to itself, ''They say that thing of beauty was onoe down here where I am." and the sea sighed within itself, "How fair a thing it is, how peaceful, right up there among the stars, in the very bosom of God." And then theseagrew vexed. "It is nonsense. How could I ever get up there, heavv and clumsy aa I' am? And if I got there, how could I stay there? Besides" . ; ?and the sea was silent It thought of the fierce passions that slept within it?the cruel storms ; it shuddered as it pondered of the dreadful things that dwelt in. its depths ?of the wrecked ships, and the dead men- '; Then it sighed again: Not for me, indeed. I could never be like that." And yet the sea could not rest Still it looked, and won- ,:v$ dered. and longed. Then it roused Itself and said, "I will try." It gathered its strength, ' < f and it borrowed the force of the winds. I saw it as it rose up in the strength of Its purpose, arched in its pride, dashing on in its desperate resoluteness, till K hurled Itself against the rocks, and leaped high up, a quivering column of spray, " ' and seemed to catoh at the height ; Then it fell, baffled and^beaten; and in a hundred rivulets of foam it hastened to hide Itself in the depths, as it hissed, "I knew it , 19 was not for me." Reader, Las my parable any meaning for you? Is it not the story of longings, and stragglings, and failure? Come, then, and it shall teach us the secret of success. At last the great sea lay quite -ft vrJfi still in the silvery light of the morning, and 4* it looked up at the sun. "Canst thou not help me?" it cried. "The moon draws me hither and thither across the earth, bat it cannot uplift and transform me. Canst thou?" "Yes," said the sUn, "indeed I can, .a! If thou wilt let me. And the sun sent down a noiseless ray that shone upon It, and warmed it, and loosened it, and uplifted it. ' And lo! the sea knew not how, nor oared to know, but it oried, "I am there." And there it was, a pure, white, fleecy cloud ' , against the heaven's blue. "He tqat bath ears to hear, let him hear," with eye, and heart, and nope, and longing fixed upon Jesus Chreit our Lord. He Himself bendetb over us; He shineth upon us; He loosen- * eth; Heuplifteth. How, it is not for us to know or care, but this we do know?we are transformed by beholding.?Bev. Mark Gay Pearge. No Needless Trials Laid. The Lord is as careful about the measure of His children's trials as He is about the nature and the timeliness of them. He never lays an atom's weight more tban is needful for His purpose on the shoulders of one whom He Is testing; nor does He consent that the burden imposed by Him shall rest there a single second after it has accomplished the work to which it was set by Him rhe night of trial may seem very dark , and very long, to you, but He who i? your Keeper neither slumbers nor sleeps. He is more desirous of the morning than pou can be, and it shall not be delayed in Its ooming. These twinges of pain may jeem to you intolerable; but tne Great Physician sits by you .as if with His fingers pressed tenderly on * your pulse; and the pery instant that your pain can leave you lately, it 9ball end. You may find yourself in the crucible of sore trial, while the flames burn intensely on every side; He who has permitted you to be there sits as the Beflner 3f silver looking down into your character ind heart, and just so soon as He sees the molten mass sufficiently purified to give back clearly the reflection of His loving < Face, he says, "Enough; now I know that :hou iovest Me;"and your place is no longer n that crucible of refining. Among other ihings which the Lord is sure to provide for ' ;,'S ifl bis children, is relief at the very moment (Then relief can be given with safety. ?Anon. A Prayer for Redemption. 0 most merciful Father, who lovestallthy shildren, we confess our manifold sins and shortcomings, and beseech thee to show us ;hy mercy and favor. We are not worthy to 3e called thy children. We have gone as* ;ry from thy commandments,wandering like ost sheep, walking in paths of our own. :hoosing. But ihou art our Redeemer. We thank thee that when we slumber ivhen we wake, when we think of thee and ind when our minds are on the cares >f earth or on the joys of friendship, ;hou hast us equally in thy care, jrooding over us with a mother's love. \% L'ea, we thank tnee that when through the iarkness that lies about us, or the grosser iarkness of perverted will within, we wanier from thy ways, thy compassion forsakes is not. In pity thou reachest out thine arm ind bringest back the wanderer to bis fa;Iter's house. 0 Lord, lift us up and lead us - tto r\9 MliLra na tA Lrnrnxr thv -'v.*' II mo naja ui u??. > ;reat salvation. Quicken us by thine holy ipirit, and breathe into our heart* newness )f life that, as in times past we have lived into the world, so in time to come wo may ive to God.?Amen. x .'H The Fog Will Burn Away. Fog in one's spiritual life need be no more asting than thai in nature. "It will burn )ll before long." How often weather-wise >eople say this, when the gray mists of the lea-shore depress the hearts that were onging for a oright day! Anu so it proves. I glow of silver in the sky near the sun; & binning out here and there of the vapory ihroud; glimpses of blue, clean outlining ind swift sailing away of the clouds -and ho fine clear day is here long before noon. iYe might oftener save ourselves from heavy learts and gloomy faces when early mornng shows gray in. our lives or other lives ibout us. Mists are leit over from a storm esterday. The day closed on a misundertandiug. The morning is foggy and deceasing. Why talk auout it? Let the feather alone. Fog is shallow, "it will ?urn off before long," There Is a good varm sun of love at work, and the blue sky vill soon be over us.?S. S. Times. The Iteality of Sin Alwayg Present. There is such a reality as sin in our world ; inder whatsoever temptation, I cannot argue t out of my experience, it is the thought if my wisest hours, not of my most foolish, am more alive to it, not when 1 forget what have done and what I am,but when I re.AMUA|. nn^ r.Aitdur Ufhnt I Ituvn [1CIUUC1 uuu jauuuv4 nuu? & UMI y nuu un. Especially i9 this true when the Btory if Jesus is fresh in my mind, and the image if the perfect God very eiear before the yes of the soul, and the light Within burnug bright.?llufus Ellis. A Strange Gun Accident. David Hesford, a resident of Liberal, !lo., was accidentally shot in the right >reast and died within an hour. He took a ?un to the barnyard to kill a hawk, and 9et t down upon the ground, the muzzle restng against his side. While shelling com or his chickens he dropped an ear of corn, vhich struck the trigger, discharging tht ?un. A Hani Head. After falling thirty feet into the hold of a iteamer at Canton, Md., and .striking on hie head, a colored stevedore rode away laughing and uninjured. ^