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"THE SICK GENERAL." Hov. T. DeWitt Taimage Draws ; an Instructive Lesson Prom the Story ot Kins Naaman, the JLeper, find Presorts a Certain Cere, . Free to the World, For the Leprosy of Sin. ' The following sermon, having for its subject "The Sick General" was chosen by Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage for publica? tion this week. It is based on the text: Ho was a leper.?II Kings, v., L Here we have a warrior sick; not with pleurisies or rheumatisms or con Gumptions, but a disease worse than all these put together. A red mark has come out on the forehead, precursor of complete disfigurement. I have something awful to tell yon. Gen. Naaman, commander-in-chief of all the ' 'Syrian forces, has the leprosy 1 It is on his hands, on his face, on his feet, -on. his entire person. The leprosy! <?et out of the way of the pestilence!; If his breath strike you, you are a dead man. The commander-in-chief of all the forces of Syria! And yet he would be glad to exchange conditions with the 'boy at his stirrup, or the hostler that blankets his charger. The news goes like wildfire all through tho realm, and the people are sympathetic, , and they cry out: "It is impossible .that our great hero, who slew Ahab, and. around whom we came with such vociferation " when he returned from victorious battle?can it be possible that our grand and glorious Naaman has the leprosy?" Yes. Everybody has something he wishes he has not David, an Absalom to disgrace him; Paul, a thorn to sting him; Job, car? buncles to plague him; Samson,, a Delilah to shear him; Ahab, a Naboth to 'deny ' him; Haman, a Morde cai to irritate him; George Washington, childnessness to. afflict him; John Wesley, a termagant wife-to-pester himj'Leah, weak eyes; Pope, a crooked back; Byron, a club foot; John Milton, blind eyes; Charles Lamb, an-insane sister;- and yon, and you, and yon, and you, something which yon never bargained for, and would, like to get rid of. The reason of this is that God does not want this world to be too bright; otherwise, we would always want to stay and eat these fruits, and lie on these lounges; and shake hands in this pleasant so ?ciety. We are only in/the vestibule of . a grand temple. God does not want us to stay on'the doorstep, and therefore He sends aches, and annoyances, and sorrows, and bereavements of all sorts to push us on, and push us up toward riper fruits, and 'brighter society, and more radiant prosperities God is only whipping us ahead. The reason that Edward Payson and Rob? ert Hall had more rapturous views of Heaven than other people had was be? cause, through their aches and pains, *God pushed them nearer up to it If God dashes out one of your pictures, it is only to show you a brighter one. If Ho sting your foot with gout, your brain with neuralgia, your tongue with nn inextinguishable thirst,it is only because Fa is preparing to substitute a better jody than you ever dreamed of, when the mortal shall put on im? mortality. It is to push you on, and to push you up toward something grander and better, that God sends upon you, as He did upon Gen. Naaman, some? thing you do not want. Seated in his Syrian mansion?all the walls glitter? ing with the shields which he had captured in battle; the corridors, crowded with admiring visitors, who just wanted to see him once; music and mirth, and banqueting filling all the mansion, from tessellated floor to pictured ceiling?Naaman would have forgotten that there was anything bet? ter, and would have been glad to stay there ten thousand years. But 0, how the shields dim, and how the visitors fly the hall, and how the music drops ?dead from the string, and how the gates of the mansion slam shut with sepulchral bang, as you read the clos? ing words of the eulogium: He wae a leper! He was a leper!" There was one person more s3'rapaN thetic with Gen. Naaman than any other person. Naaman's wife walks the floor, wringing her hands, and try ing to think what she can do to al? leviate her husband's suffering. All rcmodies have failed. The surgeon general and the doctors of the royal staff have met, "and they have shaken their ueads, as much as to say: "No cure; no cure." I think that the of? fice-seekers have all folded up their recommendations and . gone home. Probably most of the employes of the establishment had dopped their work and were thinking of looking for some other situation. What shall now be? come of poor Naaman's wife? She must have sympathy somewhere. In her despair she goes to a little Hebrew cap? tive, a servant-girl in her house, to whom she tells the whole storv; ns sometimes, when overborne by the sor? rows of the world, and finding no sym? pathy anywhere else, you have gone out and found in the sympathy of some humble domestic?Rose, or Dinah, or Bridget?a help v/hich the world could not give you. What a scone it was; one of the grandest women in all Syria in cabinet council with a waiting-maid over the declining health of tho mighty gen? eral! "I know something," says the little captivo maid; "I know some? thing," as sho bounds to her bare feet "In the land from which I was stolen ?there is a certain prophet known by the name of Elisha, who can cure al? most anything1, and I shouldn't won? der if ho could cure my master. Send for him right away." "0 hush!" you say. "If the highest medical talent of all the land can not cure that leper, there is no need of your listening to any talk of a servant girl." But do net scoff, do not sneer. The finger of that littlo captive maid is pointing in the right direction. She might have said: "This is a judgement upon you for stealing mc from my -native kind. Didn't they snatch me off in the night, breaking my father's and mother's heart? and many a time I have l&is and cried all night because I was so homesick." Then, flushing up into childish indignation, she ini?fht have said: "Good for them. I'm glad Naaman's got the leprosy." No, For? getting her personal sorrows, she sympathizes with the suffering of her master, and commends him to the fa? mous Hebrew prophet. And how often is it that the finger of childhood has pointed grown per? sons in the right direction. Oh, Chris? tian soul, how long is it since you got rid of tho leprosy of sin? You say: "Let me see. It must be five years now." Five years. Who was it that pointed you to tho Divine Physician? "Oh," you sa3', "it was my little Amie, or Fred, or Charley, that clambered up on my knees, and looked into my face, and asked me why I didn't become a Christian, and, all the while stroking ray check so I couldn't get angry, in? sisted upon knowing why I didn't have family prayers." There arc grand? parents who have been brought to Christ by their little grandchil? dren. Thero are hundreds of Chris? tian mothers who had their at? tention first called to Jesus \>y their little children. How did yon get rid of the leprosy of sin? How did you fiud your way to the Divine Physician? "Oh," you say, "my child?my dying child, with wan and wasted finger, pointed that way. Oh, I shall never forget," you say., "that scene at the cradle and the crib that awful night. It was hard, hard, very hard; but if that little one on its dying bed had not pointed me to Christ, I don't think I ever would have got rid of my leprosy." Go iinto the Sabbath-school nny Sun? day" and you will find hundreds' of lit? tle fingers pointing in the same direc? tion, toward Jesus Christ and toward Heaven. Perhaps you have had an invalid go out from your house on a health ex? cursion. You know how the neigh? bors stood around and said: "Ah, he will never come back again alive." Oh, it was a solemn mo? ment, I tell you, when the in? valid had departed and yoii went into the room to make the bed, and to remove the medicine phials from the shelf, and to throw open the shutters, so that the fresh air might rush into, the long-closed room. Good-by, Naa mart! There is only one cheerful face looking at him, and that is the face of the little Hebrew captive, who is sure he will get well, and who is so glad she helped him. As the chariot winds out and the escort of mounted courtiers, and the mules, laden with sacks of gold and silver, and embroidered suits of apparel, went through the gates of Damascus and out on the long way, the hills of Naphtali and Ephriam look down On the procession, and the ret? inue goes right past the battlefields where Naaman, in the days of his health, used to rally his troops for fearful onset, and then the procession stops and reclines awhue in the groves of olive and oleander; and Gen. Naaman is sick?so very, veiw sick! How the c.ountrymon gaped as tho procession passed! They had seen Naaman go pass like a whirlwind in days gone by, and had stood aghast at the clank of his war equipments; hut now they commiserate him. They say: "Poor man, he will never get homo alive; poor man!'' Gen. Naarnan wakes up from a rest? less sleep in the chariot, and says to the charioteer: "How long before we shall reach the Prophet Elisha?" The charioteer says to a wa3'sider: "How far is it-to Elisha's house!" He says: "Two miles. Two miles?" Then they whip up tho lathered and fagged-out horses. The whole procession bright? ens up at the prospect of speedy arriv? al. They drive up to the door of the prophet. The charioteers shout "Whoa!" to the horses, and tramping hoofs and grinding wheels cease shak? ing the earth. Come out, Elisha, come out; you have corapan3r; the grandest companj' that ever came to your house has come to it now. No stir inside Elisha's house. The fact was, the Lord has informed Elisha that the' sick captain was coming, and just how to treat him. Indeed, when you are sick, and the Lord wants you to get well, He always tells tho doctor how to treat you; and the reason we i have so many bungling doctors is be- \ cause they depend upon their own ' strergth and instructions, and not on j the Lord God, and that always makes ! malpractice. Come out, Elisha, and tend to your business. Gen. Naaman and hisretinue waited, and waited, and i waited. The fact was, Naaman had two diseases?pride and lepros}-; the one was as hard to get rid of as the other. Elisha sits quietly in his house, and docs not go out. After a while, when, he thinks he has humbled this j proud man, he says to a servant: j "Go out and tell Gen. Naaman j to bathe seven time3 in the River Jor- j dan, out yonder five miles, and he will i get entirely well." The message comes out. "What!" says the commander-in- 1 chief of the Syrian forces, his eye kind- ! ling with animation which it had not shown fur weeks, and his swollen foot \ stamping on the bottom of the chariot, regardless of pain. "What! Isn't he : .coming out to sec me? Why I thought certainly he would come and utter some cabalistic words over me, or make some j enigmatical passes over my wounds. i Why, I don't think ho knows who I am. Isn't he coming* out? Why. when the Shunamitc woman came, to him, he rushed out and cried: 'Is it j well with thee? is it well with thy hus? band? is it well with thy child? and will he treat a poor unknown woman like that, and let me, a titled person? age, sit hero in my chariot and wait, and wait? I won't endure it any | longer. Charioteer, drive on! Wash in the Jordan! IIa! Ha! The slimy Jordan?the muddy Jordan?tho monotonous Jordan. I wouldn't be seen washing in such a river as that. Why, we watered our horses in a better river Mian that on our way here?the beautiful river, the jasper-paved River of rharpar. Be? sides that, wo have in our country an? other Damascene river, Abana, with ioliaged bank, the torrent ever swift and ever clear, under the flickering shadows of sycaraore a:id oleander. Are not Abana and Pharpar. rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel?" Well, Gen. Naaman could not stand the test. The, charioteer gives n Jerli to the right line until the bit .snaps in the horses mouth, and the whirr of the wheels and the flying of the dust show the indignation of the great com? mander. "Ho turned and went away in a rage." So people now often get mad at religion. They vitupcru.i,e against ministers, against churches, against Christian people. One would think from their irate behavior that God had been studying how to annoy, and exasperate, and demolish them. What has he been doing? Ouly trying to cure their death-dealing lepros}'. That is all. Yet they whip up their horses, they dig in their spurs, and they go away in a rago. So, after all, it seems that this health excursion of Gen. Naaman is to be a dead failure. That little Hebrew cap? tive might as well have not told him of ? the prophet, and this long journey might as well not have been taken. Poor, sick, dying Naaman! Are you go? ing away in high dudgeon, and worse than when you came? As his chariot halts a moment, his servants clamber up in it and coax him to do as Elisha said. They say: 'it's easy. If the I prophet had told you to walk for a mile on sharp spikes in order to get rid of this awful disease, 3'ou would have done it. It is easy. Come, my lord, just got down and wash in the Jordan. You take a bath every day anyhow, and in this climate it is so hot that it will do you good. Do it on our account,, and for the sake of the army you command, and for the sake of the nation that admires you. Come, my lord, just try a Jordanic bath." "Well," he says, "to please you I will do as you say." Tho retinue drive to the brink of the Jordan. The horses paw and neigh to get into tho stream themselves and cool their hot flanks. Gen. Naaman, assisted by his attend? ants, gets down out of the chariot and painfully comes to the brink of the river and steps in until the water comes to the ankle, and goes on deeper until the water comes to the girdle, and now standing so far down in the stream, just a little inclination of the head will thoroughly immerse him. ne bows once into the flood, and comes up and shakes the water out of nostril and eye; and his attendants look at him and say: "Why, general, how much better }rou do look." And he bows a second timo into the flood I and comos up, and the wild stare is gone out of his eye. He bows the third time into the flood and comes up, and the shriveled flesh has got smooth again. He bows the fourth time in the flood and comes up, and the hair that had fallen out is restored in thick locks again all over his brow. Ho bows the fifth time into the flood and comes up, and the hoarseness has gone out of his throat. He bows the sixth time and comes up, and all the soreness and anguish have gone out of Iiis limbs. "Why," he says, "I am almost well, but I will make a complete cure," and ho bows the seventh time into the flood and he comes up, and not sb much as a fester, or a scale, or nn eruption as big a3 the head of a pin is to be seen on him. Ho steps out on tho bank Rnd says: "Is it possible?" And the attendants look and say: "Is it possible?" And as, with the health of an athlete, he bounds back into the chariot and drives on, there goes up from all his attendants a wild "huzza! huzza!" Of course, they go back to pay and thank the man of God for his counsel so fraught with wisdom. When they left tho prophot's house ?thoy went off mad; thoy have come back glad. People always think better of a minister after they nrc converted jthan they do beforo conversion. Now, we are to them an intolerable nuisance, be? cause we tell them to do things that go against the grain; but some of us have a great many letters from those who tell us that once they were angry at what wo preached, but afterwardglad l3r received the Gospel nt our hands. They once called us fanatics, or terror? ists, or enemies; now the}' call us friends. Yonder is a man who said he would never come into the church again. He said that two 3'ears ago. ne said: "My family shall never come here again if such doctrines as that arc preached." But he came again, and his family came again. He is a Christian, his wife a Christian, all his children Chris? tians, the whole household Christians, and you shall dwell with them in the house of the Lord forever. Our uu d3'ing coadjutors are those who once heard the Gospel, and "went away in a rage." I suppose that was a great time at Damascus when Gen. Naaman got ^BSjg^^The charioteers did not have to drivcsK'wly any longer, lest they jolt the invalid; but as the horses dashed through the streets of Damascus I think tho people rushed out to hail back their chieftain. Naaman's wife hard!}' recognized her husband; he was so wonderfulty changed she had to look at him two or three times before she made out that it was her restored husband. And the little captive maid, she rushed out, clapping her hands and shouting: "Did he cure 3'ou? Did he cure you?"' Then music woke up the palace, and "the tapes?y of the windows was drawn awa3', that the multitude outside might mingle with tho princely mirth in? side, and the feet went up and down in the dance, and all the streets of Damascus that night echoed ani re? echoed with the news: "Naaman's cured! Naaman's cured!" But a glad? der time than that it would be if 3'our soul should get cured of its lepros}'. The swii'tcst white horses hitched tc the King's chariot would rush the news into the eternal city. Our loved ones be? fore the throne would welcome the glad tidings. Your children on earth, with more emotion than the little Hebrew '.?aptive, would U( ticc the change n your look and the shunge in 3*0111 ma 1 ncr, and would put their arms around your neck and say: "-Mother, I guess you must have become a Ciiristian. Fa? ther, I think you have got rid of the leprosy." 0, Lord, (iod of Elisha, have mercy on us! AUTHORS' SLIPS. Amusing Errors Modo by Many Famous Writer a Carious Anachronisms In bbakcfipear**! Plays?Two Estimates of Monto Crluto's Wealth ? Thackeray Gets Ilia Characters Mlxod. Bomo ono has been telling tho readers of the St. Louis Globe-Dem? ocrat about tho errors of which well known authors arc guilty, in their books, errors in history, philosophy, astronomy, geography?everything. Read what he says: Shakespeare speaks of King John and his barons as fighting with can? non, whereas theso instruments of destruction were then entirely un? known; ho causes one character to mention printiug two hundred years before the time of Gutenborg, and another to allude to striking clocks fh tho days of Julius Caesar; he mentions a billiard tablo as part of the furnituro of Cleopatra's summer palace, and causes Hector to quote Aristotle; he makes ridiculous blunders In geog? raphy, giving seaports to Bohemia, an inland country, and speaks of Delphos as an island. In a popular novel of recent dato the author decided to kill his victim with 'consumption, and then gave him all the symptoms of pneumonia. Wilkie Collins avoided blunders of this kind by a curiously practical method. When he wished to uso sickness as a means of promoting the plot of his story ho interviewed the family physician on the subject. The "Count of Monte Cristo" is full of slips that could have occurred only through the author's forgetful ness. The fortune with which ho endowed his hero is enormous, be? ing about four million dollars to be? gin with, and after years of the most reckless expenditure, after money has been scattered with both hands, and in lavishly prodigal fashion, the author assures his read? ers, in calm forgetfulness of the amount with which he started tho count on his career, that tho re? mainder is upward of ten million dollars. Thackeray, who was exceedingly anxious to got everything right, was perpetually getting things wrong. Any reader who takes the pains to examine critically the works of the great English satirist will find in? numerable blunders, arising for the most part simply from carelessness. The names are mixed. The hero is sometimes called by tho uamo of ono of the other characters, and in at least one place an important charac? ter is called by a name from another novel. This was Philip Firmiu, whom he culled Give Newcome. Nor was this his worst blunder, for iu another story he killed and buried old Lady Xew and later brought her again on the scene to round off a corner of the story. George Elict, whose knowledge of science is highly commended, in tho "Hill on the Floss" makes the odd blunder of having the boat over? taken in midstream by a mass of drift floating at a more rapid rate than the frail craft, a physical Im? possibility. Wore than one astronomer has pointed out the mistakes Charles Reado has perpetrated in astronomy und geography. But Reado Is not tho only sinner in this particular. Howells sometimes makes a parade of his knowledge, und in one place in "Silas Lapham," alludes to the "rank and flic" as synonymous with officers and nico. Dean Swift speaks of Pennsylvania as a frozen, desert plain, a blunder that might be ex? tenuated on the score of the igno- j ranco prevailing in his time, and, for j l.hut matter, ever since, in England, ! of American matters; while. Amelia I B. Edwards, in "Hand and Glove," ! mentions "an overseer on a Massa? chusetts cotton plantation." Ono Sole Writing Requisite. There Is at least one essential anal ideation for the leader writer. We dou't refer to a knowledge of grammar und spelling, though this is an advantage; still, printers' readers belong to a very superior class, and they are generally aolc to j rectify any little slips of this sort; besides, if an accident does happen, i so very few people will notico it. But there is one power he abso- i lutoly must have, and here again the | young man is generally at an ad? vantage compared with the old, since it depends upon muscle and nerve rather than brain. He must be able to write fast, and the posses-! sion of this power will alone go far to the making of the complete leader writer.?Macmillan's Magazine. A Cooking Episode. A young woman was making her first essay at housekeeping. A friend had sent her by mail a recipe for some new kind of bread, giving her directions to take a portion oi the dough uta time and make it into the requisite form for baking. This seemed explicit enough, but what was tho surprise of the friend to re? vive a telegram from tho young housekeeper lo this effect: "What shall I do with the rest of tho dough? Please answer."?De? troit Free Press. LONG BOWS. Peoplo Have Been Drawing Them from Time Immemorial. Tbo' expression ''drawing along bow" docs not of necessity mean tho telling of a falsehoood. It some? times refers to a wonderful story which may be true enough, but which Is so marvelous as to require a firm trust in the veracity of the narrator to enablo tho hearer to believe it Some of the longest bows of this sort have boon drawn about bows and ar? rows, says the Youth's Companion. These stories began long ago. Vir? gilen the "iEneid," tells of four arch? ers who wore shooting for a prize, the mark being a pigeon tied by a cord to the mast of a ship. The first man hit the mast, the second cut the cord and the third shot the pigeon as it flew away. The fourth archer, having nothing loft to shoot, drew his bow aud sent his arrow flying toward the sky with such speed that tho friction of the air sot the feath? ers on fire and it swept on like a meteor, to disappear iu tb? clouds. That is a bow-and-arrow story which it would bo difficult for even the most credulous to believe. The stories told of Robin Hood's archery, illustrated by his wonder? ful performance at Locksloy in Scott's "Ivonhoo," arc also a de? cided strain upon a sensible person's credulity. The famous story of Wil? liam Tell, doubted by many persons, is believed by others to have a foun? dation of fact. There was a Dauo named Foko of whom the same story is told, and William of Cloudeslay, an Englishman, is said to have shot an apple from his son's head merely to show his expertness. Most stories of bows and arrows relate to the accurate aim of tho archers, but a Frenchman, Blaise do Vigenere, tells one which shows the tremendous force with which an ar? row may be propelled if the bow is strong and long enough. Accord? ing to his own account of the mat? ter, he saw Barbarossa, a Turk, ad? miral of a ship called the Grand Solyman, send an arrow from his bow right through a cannon ball! Whether the cannon ball had a hole through it or not he neglects to inform us, probably not considering such a trifling matter worth men? tion. Perhaps the most astounding of all stories about arrow shooting is that of tho Indians who used to in? habit Florida. It is said that a group of them would form a circle. Then cno would throw un ear of In? dian corn into the air; tho rest would shoot at it and shell It of every grain beforo It fell to tho ground. Sometimes tbo arrows would strike so hard and fast that it would remain suspended in tho air for several minutes and the cob never fell until tho last grain had been shot away. " It Is such stories as this which fully Justify tho use to which the expression "drawing the long bow" is sometimes put Old Indian Mathematics. It is remarkable to what extent Indian mathematics enters into tho science of our timo. Both the form and the spirit of tho arithmetic and algebra of modern times aro essen? tially Indian and not Grecian. Think of that most perfect of mathematical symbolisms?tho Hindoo notation; think of tho Indian arithmetical op? erations nearly as perfect as our own; think of their elegant algebra? ical methods, and then judgo whether the Brahmins on tbo banks of the Ganges are not entitled to some credit. Unfortunately, somo of the most briliiant of Hindoo discoveries in in? determinate analysis reached Europe too late to exercise tho influence they would have exerted had they como two or three centuries earlier.?His- | tory of Mathematics?Cajori. A Tall Company. Six feet one and one-half inches! That Is the avorage height of tho thirty new recruits who arc now seeking admission to Company A, First regiment, 0. N. G. Tho com? pany has always been noted for its tall men, having now iu its ranks twenty whose heights average five feet eleven and one-half inches. With the enlistment of theso new giants tho rauks of Compauy A will bo j much fuller than those of the aver- ? age company, and the average height j of its enlisted men will be six feet It will be, it is claimed, the tallest company in the United States.? Portland Oregonian. A Cold Spot. Werchojansk, Siberia, is the cold? est spot on the earth's surface. Bo low will be found a synopsis of tho report of the Royal Russian Weather Service giving exact data from that place of cxtrcmo frigidity: Mean temperature for the year 1893, 2D de? grees below tho zero of Fahrenheit Tho meau for the two months of De? cember, 18fJ2, aud January, lS93,wa3 G2 degrees belov.- z.<ro. Highest over noted, July 21, lb9o, GO degrees above. Lowest recorded natural temperature ever noted, 63.G below zero, Fahrenheit, was taken at Wer? chojansk on the night of January 17, 1SS5.?St. Louifj Republic. EARRINGS IN FASHION. Onco More Jewelers Have the Fash ionablc Damo by the Ear. Men arc fond of saying that oar rings arc a relic of barbarism, and. so far no woman has seriously dis? puted tho statement; nevertheless, they have been recalled from their state ot innocuous desuetude, oud once more the jeweler has the fash? ionable damo by the ear. Buyers are taken into the trying-on room to get the effect of artificial light. There is a maid servant and toilet requisites for the coiffure, for only a vulgarian ever wears jewels in daylight with a bonnet. Trays of hoops,pendants, screw solitaires and car bobs arc brought forth for in? spection, and if nothing iu the col? lection pleases the lady her measure is taken, stones are selected, flu i.shed designs are submitted and the ornaments mado to order. For more than two thousand years the earring has fluctuated with the tide of fashion. At one timo the ear-hoops were two inches in diam? eter, and only forty years ago our swooning, light-headed, lachrymose mothers wore pendant ornaments as long as their totting shuttles. Those who could not afford solid gold were content with "loaded" earrings, and it was not until the car lobes gave out that the fashion, for which the vain-glorious Eugenie was responsi? ble, changed. So wise a lady as the queen of England adopted the wag? ging bugles. But this is not the point. Ear? rings are in fashion again, and it re? mains to be seen whether or not they will be the style. ' If the bandeaux take?and they have taker in Paris ?the earrings will be indispensable to the broad or moon-faced women who adopt the coiffure. Parting the hair and then drawing it down to or over the cars has the effect, as ovcry lady knows, of wideniug the face, which is not the best view. of an ugly face. By oruamenting tho cars the effect may be softened or the attention distracted. But the sex is not as sheepish ao it was, and notwithstanding the of? ficial stamp put upon the bandeaux and the bugle, the woman of tho world will study her glass before adopting either.?N. Y. Telegram. WALKING BEAN MYSTERY. Explained by the Presenco of a Cater? pillar in the Interior of the Bean. Many persons who have purchased the walking beans have wondered why such a hard, impenetrable ob? ject should exhibit so much life. To gratify my philosophical turn of mind and being convinced that, it was not electrified, I carefully removed a segment of the flat side, when I dis? covered a species of caterpillar. As nature had not provided it with any natural warm covering, the coid ex? posure made it torpid until I placed it under the glass cylinder of a mi? croscope, when it soon felt tho warmth and began to thatch over the opening in its roof. This it did by spinning a silken web and at? taching it to each side and coating it with some mastic until it was completely incased. Its modus op? erandi as seen through a microscope was extremely interesting. I would advise great care in opening it, as the least wound would destroy it, also keep tho beans in a box for fear that when they emerge from their cocoon they may be a species of the Egyptian moth which will cost the commonwealth another Hundred thousand dollars to ey'.orminate. It would be interesting to the pub? lic to hear from some naturalist about their origin, and if the 60 called bean is the cocoon of the in? sect or a vegetable product in which it immolates itself for the winter and emerges in the spring as a beautiful butterfly or a destruc? tive caterpillar.?Boston Transcript. Menu for Luncheon. A menu for a simple luncheon that requires very little work and little expense is cold-boiled ham garnished with parsley, creamed browned po? tatoes sent to table in baking-dish, velvet rolls and pickled cauliflower. ' For the second course, 03'ster salad and warm seafoam wafers; and for the third, lemon jelly tinted pale green and filled with green grapes, fig-crackers and coffee. The jelly should be allowed to stand until it begins to harden, then pour a little in the mold and lay in it a perfect bunch of grapes. Pour in more jolly, scatter through it single grapes, then more jelly and grapes until the mold is full. Other fruits may be used, and, if it is liked, plaiu or whipped cream may be served with the jelly.?N. Y. Post. Popping It Gravely. In putting "the question of ques? tions," a Scotchman took his inam? orata to his family burial ground, und said: "Would ye lie there, Jennie, by-and-by?" She said she would, and thus the thing was settled.?Harlem Life. In Voluntary Exile. The number of Russian peasants who voluntarily emigrated to Siberia was 0,000 in* 1SS5, 30,000 in 1S00, GO..000 in 1801. and 100.000 in 1892.