Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Jeannette's Hair. the curls that you wear. Jeannette. e tangle my hand in your hair. my pet, the world to me had no daintier sight your brown hair veiling your shoulders white. brown, with a golden loss. Jeannette, was finer than the silk of floss, my pe. was a thing to be braided, and jLweled, and kissed, vas the loveliest hair in the world, my pet. My arm was the arm of a clown, Jeannette, It was sinewy, bristied, and brown, my pet, But warmly and softly it loved to caress Your round white neck and your wealth of tress, Your beautiful plenty of hair, my pet. Your eyes hadt a swimming glory, Jeannette, Revealing the old, dear story, my pet: They were gray, with the chastened tinge of the sky When the trout leaps quickest to snap the fly, And they matched your golden hair. And your lips-but I have no words, Jean nette, They were fresh as the twitter of birds, my pet, When the spring is young and the roses are wet With the dewdrops in- each red bosom set. And they suited your gold-brown hair, my pet. 0, you .tangled my life in your hair, Jean nette. 'Twas a silken and golden snare, my pet. But so gentle the bondage, my soul did im plore The nght to continue your slave evermore, With my fingers envieshed in your hair, my pet. Thus ever I dream what you were, Joannettc. With your lips, and your eyes, and your hair, In the arness of desolate years I moan, And my tears fall bitterly over the stone That covers your golden hair, my pet. --Miles O'Reilley. One Kind of Reading. And how few persons who can devote but an hour or half an hour a day to reading and study, take due thought as to how they can make the most of their little leisure. They read in a desultory way whatever comes to hand, and think that if they had more time for books they would soon become much better informed. But the half hour a day, if used in the wisest manner, would make a vast difference in one's mental growth as the years glide by. An incident occurs to me that well ii lustrates this. A pretty maiden-hair fern, growing in a flower-pot, was given to a young girl, hopelessly ill with spinal disease. It proved thing of beauty and of inexhaustible interest, as the delicate, graceful fronds came up, one by one, and slowly uncurled. There was a little pot beside the fern and under its spreading fronds, in which grew an gloe. By-and-by the sick girl noticed in the little pot some tiny ferns, scarce an inch high, quite unlike the maiden-hair. Whence came they? Her interest was aroused. She was no botanist, but she wanted to learn sorme thing about ferns. She could use her eyes for reading but five minutes at a time, and not more than twice a day. A book on ferns came to her, and an other, and another. Friends, knowing her interest in ferns, brought them to her fresh and green from the woods, or sent her pressed specimens of rare varieties gathered in distant lands. Sometimes a visitor would read to her from one of her precious books, but only for four or five minutes. "1 can not remember more at a time," she would say, "and you have read enough for me to think about for a long time." It is now some years since the maid en-hair fern was givento her,-a nt she has become an authority as to the species and culture of ferns, and is an enthusiast in regard to them. It is true that she has become educated in one direction only, and is not particularly well-informed in other respects. But is it not a great gain that she should talk about her ferns and their wonderful method of reproduction, awakening her listeners' interest and teaching them many things worth remembe~ring, rather than to dwell chiefly on her pamns and privations? It is many years since she was able to step out of <doors, but when you are with her you do not think of her as an invalid, so interested and in teresting is she. The growth of cryptogamous plants would not be a matter of absorbing im terest to all persons, but the habit of reading thoughtfully and carefully what we read, and of retaining it in memory. is a great factor of mental growth.-Boston Transcript. A Southern M1ule concert. To fully appreciate the mule one should listen to his voice. You never can really know whether younlike a mule or not till you hear him sing. I attend ed a mule concert at Chickamanga dur ing the war. The wagon train was in front. The mules were starved for wa ter. The gallant Cleburne was protect ing the rear. Thomas pressed him hard. The music or programme open ed with a soprano solo and then swung into a duet and then pranced off into a trio, followed up by a quarter and end ing with a full chorus of the whole army train. I didn't hear the whole thing, for when I came to the regimental stur geon was standing over me giving me powerful restoratives, and I heard him say.[ might possibly eet out again, though I would never ~ea weil man. I have been in places where it took nerve to stand--such as the falling out of a three story window and having been through the New York Exchange, and having spent part of a day in a boiler factory, and have been on one or two Sunday school excursions where the crowd were all girls-but I never knew what noise was till I heard a lot of army mules bray. - Dyersburg (Tern.) Gazettc. A Man's Yearly Food. From the army and navy diet scales of France and England, based upon the recognized necessities of latrze it numbers of men in active life, it is inierred that about two and onc-fourth poundstl avoir dupois of dry food per day a~e rqie for each mndividual; of this atbout three fourths arc vegetatble anti the~ restA ani mal. At the close of an emitre ye the amttount is uipwardls of 40U ;ounds. Enumiertin~g under the titic of wa'ter ail the various drink<, its eSuatedC quantity is ab~out 1,0 poutnds pe an 1Jum1. iThe air received by breathdng may' be taken at 800) pounds. W\ith these figures before as we are able to show how the ease standis. Theii food, wvater, and air which a man receives amount, in the aggzregate, to mord than 8,000 pounds a year-about a ton and a balw, o twenby times his weight. THE FUEL OF THE FUTURES Coal Ground in a Cyclono Pulverizer-Big Furnace Men Fronounceo It a Success. The steel and iron men of the country, and il the roliing mill and furnace men also. are interested in the newest rival to natural ;as as a saver of fuel. It was a m:ode.t ...le exiisition that was given in Che.er. Pa. the e:.er day, but it proved pretty conclus:vely that where natural ..gas is not, pulverized coal is sure to be ere long. J. G. McCauley, of California, for that is the discoverer's name, claims to have found a process by which 50 per cent. of the coal now used in furnaces and rolling mills will be saved, and steel and iron greatly improved in the puddling process. McCauley is one of the latest additions to the uray of genius collected by Erastus ia, te :ta ten Island millionaire. The C(aifonian hunted around a good while in -enrch of a man of means who would peciatel his invention. He could have iall the capital he wanted several ye:;r: 1". lut he wasn't able to get coal pulveri:: d fine enough to spray into the fure ,. and McCauley's process consists ia sp.yn coal that is pulverized into an itil able powder into a cumbustion c.amher attached to the furnace. The combustion that takes place is perfect, and it is instantaneous, and all the gases are absorb edl, so that none of the sulphur gets into the iron and lessens its value, as is now the case. That's all there is to the new process, but it does the work, pro vided the coal is powdered so fine that you can blow it around as you can the smallest particles of dust. It was at this stage of the proceedings that McCauley met Wiman. The man from the Pacific coast explained his pro cess to the Staten Islander. The latter said he would test it, because he had a machine he got from two Wisconsin farmers that would grind the coal out cf sight if necessary. Two young Wisconsin farmers were plowing when they saw a cyclone come along safely out of their way, and tear a town up. They noticed how the two currents of air, moving in opposite directions, knocked houses, barns and paving stones into smithereens. The thought struck one of them that if that principle could be applied in machinery, it would make the biggest grind in the world. So the young men, whose name was Raymond, and who were brothers, went to Chicago and invented a machine that they called the cyclone pulverizer. Wiman met the Raymonds and they were his, and so was their machine. The Staten Islander has a fortune in the pulverizer, which has yet to meet a material it can not reduce to powder, I am told, and the Raymonds were paid a fortune by Wiman for their discovery. So McCauley and Wiman formed a combination. Wiman's machine pul verized the coal and McCauley tested his process at the big Chester works. It was a success beyond doubt, and had it been put into operation before natural gas was discovered, it would have had a clear monopoly of the field. lt isn't a free puff to say that pulverized& coal sprayed into a furnace unquestionably saves the manu facturer hundreds of dollars a day. The big furnaco men at Chester and out in Ohio say so, and so do all the big-guns in the manufacturing realm who were present at the Chester exhibition. Out side of the natural gas localities pulver ized coal is going to be the fuel of the future. McCauley and Wiman are even bold enough to say that they will confront natural gas right in Pittsburg with sprayed coal. The conflict ought to be an interesting one. Certain it is that to the industrial world the new process of Me Cauley it the bi:gest item of -news +t has received for years.-Cor. Boston Globe. Kate Field's "Co-operative" Plan. Kate Field is known to be a woman of versatile talent, but is hardly suspected, by those not intimately acquainted with her, to have the qualities that go to make a good housekeeper. She showed great tact for that feminine branch of art when she had a house of her own in Devonshire street. London, a few years ago. She had been living for some time in hotels, board ing houses and lodgings, was tired of all and determined to set up for herself. Having no desire to live alone, she made a plan by which she would have company and all the comforts of a home, and still have the bills shared by others. She called the plan "ce-operation," the same name she gave to another and more ex tensive undertaking on this side of the water. .It worked well as far as the co-oper atives were concerned-they were all per fectly satisfied. She furnished rooms at low prices and the kind of food that is longed for if you live at a restaurant and dreamed about if you have to live at home. After dinner every one found the drawing room pleasanter than any other room in that or any other house, and there the friends congregated, for, of course, they were all friends of the host ess. They chatted and played cards until the "night cap" hour came round, and after a mild libation retired to bed "K. F.," as she was familiarly called, made a success of what she undertook except as fa-r as she was concerned. "Co-operation" turned out ta be only a name, for it was she who did all the work, battled with druuiken cooks, fought the noublesome trades people, and received only in return unshared if welcome praise. It is not to be wondered at if at the end of three months the project was aiven up.--New York Press "Every Day Talk." A Firo Worshiper's Child. On the birth of a Parsee child, aimagian and a fire priest, who is always an as trologer, are called in to predict the fu ture life of the babe. The magian, dressed in a strange robe of many colors, a pointed cap with jingling bells, and, armed with a long broom made of be resmta twigs (which is thought to have the power of putting evil spirits to flight), enters the chamber of the Parsee mother and babe and, setting the end of his broom on fire, dane~cs around, exorcising the evil spirits; finally he flourishes his firebrand over the mother and child and in all the corners of the room. This done,, the fire priest draws a number of squares on a blackboard; in one corner of each square he dratws a curious figure of bird, beast, fish or insect, each of which stands for some mental, physical or spiritual char acteristic, together with its appropriate star or planet. The magian then proceeds by means of spells and incantations to ex orcise any evil spirit that may be lurking unseen in the blac'kboard. Next the fire priest beg is to count and recount thxe stars miriIer whose influence the child is supposed to be born, and then with closed eyes andl solemn voice he predicts the fu ture life of the babe. Next he prepares a horoscope or* birth paper and hands it to the fat her. Tihen, placing thle babe on his kneus, hie way over it the sacred flame, sprioks t wih ha water, fills its ears and natrils wi hh salt to keep out the evil sp'irits, a nd iinally returns the scrami;. infai: to i~s mother's arms. Traps fez fl ok Agents. "You seldom see an advertisement for a book agent in these days," remarked a veteran canvasser, "but that doesn't sig nify that the much abused man is no longer eein abroad in the land. There is a certain stigma attached to the business, and a man is deterred from becoming a book agent for the same reason that prompts a woman to do anything rather than go out to service. The houses that deal in subscription books are well aware of this feeling, and unscrupulous publish ers resort to the most ingenious plans to word their advertisements so as to con ceal the real nature of their business. If they made a direct call for book agents they would receive very few applicants, but by couching their advertisements in ambiguous and alluring language they are sure to get the pick of the unemployed men and women. Their main object is to get the people to call, for it is then easy enough to induce the most likely to try their luck by holding out flattering prom ises. The scheme most usually employed is to advertise for collectors at a fixed sal ary. When a man calls and proves satis factory he is told that he can have the job as soon as it is ready. being made to be lieve that he is to have a new route as soon as the canvassers have drummed up enough subscribers. "In the meantime the man is advised to do a little canvassing himself. He will be able to make living wages and familiarize himself with the business. The man is, of course, a little disappointed, but at last consents to become a book agent for the time being in anticipation of getting a place as collector at a fixed salary. An iron bound contract is then drawn up, for the sake of formality, he is told, by which he agrees to sell the book on commission. He is then required to de posit $10 as security for the dummy copy he is to carry with him. Time passes, and the route on which he was to serve as collector is as far from completed as ever. He has found that canvassing is hard work and doesn't pay his board. He gets discouraged, turns in his dummy copy and demands the return of the deposit lie paid on it. The firm refuses to return the mono-, and point to the clause in the agreement that refers to . breach of con tract. The firm has the law on its side, and the man has no redress. The cost of manufacturing these dummy copies is not one-tenth of the security de manded, and many firms pay their run ning expenses with the money received as deposits."-New York Evening Sun. In Havana's Eating Houses. The cafes of Havana are as bright and winsome as those of Paris, but are more attractive at all seasons of the year, for the climate allows of a greater openness to the street. This is taken advantage of in all little ways of decoration and ar rangement that stand for invitation and welcome. Some of them are very grand affairs, but all possess an atmosphere of snugness and daintiness that is delicious. Indeed, it must be set down to the credit of all these people that the delicate refine ments of life are inherent. - Courtesy, po liteness, consideration, or at least the sur face use of it, are universal. They are an artistic people in the environment of little things, though themselves unconscious of that national characteristic; and both facts are delightful to one who tarries with them. These cafes and fondas (or eating houses, for the latter are equally resorted to) are the resting places of the gay city. Their number and patronage are remark able. They are all -wide open to the street the year round. One fancies they are almost a part of it, as frequently more thin one-haelf the cafo is underneath long, wide, huge pillared porticos. Here chat tering crowds by day and brilliant crowds by night, under the flare of lamps in great century old metal frames, never cease cigarette smoking, gin and wine drinking, although ali liquors, however frequently ordered, are used in sparing quantities. And: betwveen the shrill cry of the dulceros, or confection peddlers, the hoarse impor tunities of the lottery ticket mobs, the ever minor music of the wandering street minstrels and the marvelously gay but never brutal and more than half Oriental city life, the "click, click, click'' of the universal and never silent dominoes upon the marble tables come to you as an undertone staccato of myriads of unseen castanets.-Edgar L. Wakeman's Letter. Origin of the Blizzard. Where is its cradle, its home? The Arctic regions. The papers talk about a blizzard having started from Manitoba, but that is not its home-its starting point. Manitoba is only its half way house. Why do blizzards come by way of Manitoba, and make themselves most felt upon the west side of the Mississippi river? Why do we never hear of blizzarils in Canada, New England and the middle states? Because the Laurentian range of moun tains stretches westward from Labrador along the southern line of British Anmer ica 3,000 miles, skirting the north shore of Lake Superior, and tapering out in northeastern Minnesota, furnishing a pro tecting wall of solid rock 4,000 feet high against blizzards for all the region south of it. Geologists tell us that this range is formed of the oldest silurian or sedimen tary rock to be found upon the globe, and that it extends 80,000 feet below the surface. From northeastern Minnesota to the Rocky mountains is an opeii, treeless platetau-a -great doorway 1.000 miles wide-throu gh which the ice king: rushes. From that line southward is, in the main, the same treeless prairie all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, forming west of the Mississippi river the royal toboggan slide, 3,000 miules long, upon which his ice crowned ma jesty, the blizzard, sweeps in all his jew eled robes to swoon in the arms of the tropical sun. The Texas norther is only the frayed fringes of the bizard ki.ng's mantle as he whirls past. -C. M. Cadv in New York Sun. The Sewers of raris. The idea~ of keeping the sewers clean had not thoroughly penetrated the minds of the engineers early in the century, and in nonie of the smaller ones was it possible to sta'nd erect. Many were built too niear the surfa~ce, and it was sometimes neces sary to climb a ladder to get into them. In every case they were of solid masonry. Until anite lately the Paris sewers wvere bu"it en'irely of cut stone or partly of cut stone and partly of a soft. excessively porous- stone called meulicre. 1t is.in te'nded in future to huild entiirely of meu liere. TIhe manner of using it is this: A great trench is (lug, in which a wooden frame is placetd, the size and shape of the desired sewer. The meuliere is placedl about this frame and a concrete made of the bes cemnent is applied in such a man ner as to 1i1l solidly all the cavities of thet stone and make a durable wall imperviouis to moist ure. T1hie frame is reinoved and the trench filled up as soon as the concret u is sufficiently hardened.-Paris Cur. San SOCIETY'S DEBT TO PAUPERS. A Physician Takes an Unexpected Attitude on the Question of Public Charities. "The pauper has always had a hard time in this world," said a New York phy sician to a reporter. "Men whose hearts have been crowded aside by pletuorie pocketbooks." he a'lded. "dole hia their pennies ii the same spirit that characterizes their dealings with unfor Lunate relatives. Yet the pauper has be come an indispensable element in the march of civilization and science. "Before the Christian era and for many centuries after he was crowded out u life, like Lazarus in the parable, dying on the doorstep of Dives' palace, covered with sores and in all respects a veritable old time tramp. In this enlightened age, however, he has no one but himself to blane if such a misfortune overtakes j him. Society needs hini and is willing to build and maintain extensive public insti tutions, where he may eat, sleep, be clothed and die at an annual expense in this city, for example, of less than $100 per capita, including a pine collin and a grave in l'otter's field." "IBut is not the pauper a great drain on the taxpayer?" "Hardly. The obligations of society to the pauper, and the pauper's obligations to society, when weighed in the scales of primitive justice almost balance each other. If anything different can be found, the pauper has the worst of it. Unlike his brother, the criminal, whom the public is obliged to maintain, he has not become a burden on society through laziness or evil inclinat ions. Disease, old age, accidents are his irremediable misfortunes. iHe is compelie'l to accept charity; yet in the puilie estimation this fact overwei hs all formier services he may have rendered his fellow mnci in the discharge of his duties as a citizen, and society holds him body and soul until his obligations are ful tilled." "In what manner can he possibly cancel his obligations?" "In many ways. When disease over takes him lie becomes the object of medi cal exierimeruts. Professors and students gather around his bedside and seek for some new light which may guide them in their practice among the independent classes, and surgeons undertake in his case operations they would never dream of attenptinig if Ute life of a pay ing patient were at stake. Thousands upon thousands die each year, giving up their lives in the interests of science; and the wealthy taxpayer derives in the end this benefit, that when some deadly disease strikes him down, his cure in many cases is effected by a new method of treatment, perfected by experiments which cost the lives of perhaps a hundred paupers. Glance at the medical experts in different diseases. The results of their experiments read something in this way: Total number of cases, 100; died, 70; im proved, 2.3; cured, 7. Then follow the de dttions as ':o-the best treatment of the malady under consideration. Such com pilations may be found in any medical work, and pauper cases have been in al most every instance the basis of the calcu lations. "Aside from this how many obligations does one pauper cancel in sacriticing his body upon the dissecting table? How many physicians of reputation are indebted to him for their knowledge of anatomy and the functions of the various organs in the human body? What an important part he plays in the education and training of professional nurses? Thus he repays doubly whatever obligations he may owe to his fellow men. As a final considera tion how could the commissioners of C. and C. manage to spend 51.500.000 Der annum of the taxpayers' money if it were not for the paupers?"-New York Mail Express. Hideousness of Mourning Raiment. When a death occurs in the family the dressmaker is instantly sununioned and everyt hing~ that human ingetnty can de vise in tihe way of hideous and mournful raimnemi is instantly ordered and worn in deinlaitely. In FEurope the custom is dif ferent and much more sensible. Six months is considered a sufflciently long periodh for anybody to wear deep mourn ing, andl deep mourning abroad means simply anything black. A widow in the first (lays of her grief will wear a costume of glistening black silk covered with bril liant cut jet. And pray, why should she not? H~ow much more elegant and suita ble, not to say sensible, is a gowna like this instead of the dense somberness of (our own miourniing costumes that are enough to aliliet every one with chronic blue devils? In this country people are begin ninig to showv more common :ense than heretofore abotit the lengthi of tiu e mourn ing should be worn, but there is s: 'll much to be desired in the character of th.e dress itself. Thecse inky phantoms that parade our streets are neither cheerful nor edify ing speca:ces.-Clara Lanza's New York Letter. Lincoln's Idea of Harnlet. It is relhued that Abraham Lincoln once sid to liaelset t. the actor: "Why do you atars alwaiys play Hiamlet as an irresolute, vacillatling, vague, iddle aged sort of a man? "B.caumse lhe was," said Ilackett, with an air of certainty. "But he was not, samid ILincolnl: "he was young, im-j ptuous, fuld of action, prompt. ie is a ways do'ing somethinig. T1he play is fu - of il n. h ought to be played ats a young man . Wat Whit man thus expressed hs opiniotn: "is not that the msey the w o der. the fun of it, as the slan w oid woni have it. that Ihamlet eom bieo ht hItos phasesl~O thle untc'ont rolla ble tile. tigressive temperamt,~lt and, it theI sameC time~ time meditative, philo sophie, an.xiotus, hesitautiing numa? Is not ths 'lhe in'terest of the chlaracter wvhichi has~ caus-ed it to lie everlaid with zreat ac cumiulitionis, which lhavi hidden tile poet'. real purptiose--if lie hatd onie."--iooklyni Eagle. ________ A cutriou~s Nurs-. In India, where tihe elephanit. is treated by hi-s mia:hut lmnl as one of the famtaliy, tie grtieiul aimal:I makes a ret urn for the kindnltess shtown it by volunatarily taking ca:re of the baby. It will patiently prmiit itselhf to be mauled ly its little charge and will show great solicitutde when the chill e-ries. Sonmet imes the ele phant will become 51o at :achied to its baby friend as5 to inISist ul- -t itostanit pres ece. Such a cas'- is known where the elephant wV'at so far as to refuse to eat exc-pt in thle presenlce of its little friend. Its atttachmentlt wast so ge'nuine that the child's parentis wold~( not hiesitlate to leave the bahrv in the elephant's care. knowing that it conH hllI ve no moore faithful inurse. Ada th~e :ndly minster never belied the trust reposed in it.-St. Nicholas. French Drums and Trumpets. There hias been invented for tile use of the trtump!vet'rs in the French army an in st-uent wh ich at will enni be turned so as to thriw the solunds backward. A inew patter~n of drum. snialler and lighlter than before. has also been prescribed for use in the arn-hhsta Transcript. No Such Thing as Waste. The complete erasure of the word "waste" from the dictionaries, at all events in so far as it has any relation to industrial products, is, if not quite an acconpld:hed fact. undoubtedly heconing more and more imminent: and we may thank the chemists of this generation for teaching us how to recover and utilize in numieralde substances which, in their ig norance, our grandfathers threw away. Thirty years a:;o the manufacturers of iron. gas and chemicals, everywhere neg lected all but the prime objects of their industre's. whereas tod:ay:. on the system of taking care of the pennies and allow ing the pounds to take care of them selves, competition has induced us to re gard our legionary by-products as so many integral parts or branches of each enterprise. If the intelligent men who have "gone before," and who were looked upon by their contemporaries as wise in their generation, could by any chance re appear among us, we might conduct them to our gas works, and with a certain pride explain the origin of our sulphate of am monia, ottr aniline dyes, and our hundred other extracts from coal tar. From the contemplation of gas we would turn with them to some of our smelters and furnaces, and point to the mineral wool, the cement, the iassware, the pottery, the fire bricks and the fertil izer, all derived from our furnae -iag; and finally, entering a great chenical works, we should show thema how the once devastating gases, so fatal to life and vegetation, are no longer sent free into the air, but are condensed and trans formed into staple articles of tr.:de, and how by an ingenious and, to them, un dreamed of process we extract the precious metals from our exhausted sul phur ores. To their wondering question, "hlow can these things be:' we might re ply that all these marvels result from a modern and enlightened policy, which, in many countries, has fostered every specks of research in every branch of science. en couraged great minds to ponder over and gradually unravel the mysteries of nattn' and stimulated a general thirsting for that knowledge which, properly apii'd, must ever ameliorate our condition in t'is "vale of tears."-The Age of :2teel. Difrerent Phases of "Mind Cure." Now that all forms of mentalhe"i are much talked of and largeiy adopted, it might be well for the public to know that the disciples of the di Feren : ch'ls resent the common practice of omia: d;rs bulking them all under the head of : cure." Mind enters into each one, to he sure, but in different forms and borouh different doors. They wh'o pri'e C "Christian science" draw healing f?:'cc from the Infinite Mind, and consider their own minis as at most a mere tele raiah line through which the vivifying power reaches the patient's mind. Plain "mind cure" works by the operation of the heal er's individual mind on the subject, and partakes of what is known as mesmerism or hypnotism. "Faith cure" andi "prayer cure" are one and the same, both relying upon faith to override disease. If any one doubts that the healing of disease by mental methods is going on briskly in this city, let him drop into the offices of some of the best known practi tioners and see the collection of patients waiting hour after hour in order that each may get a treatment. Nine o'clock is the hour for beginning the business of healing. An hour before that six and eight patients are in readiness to get their slice of life and health as drawn from the infinite source of all life and wholeness. From that time on until the office closes at night it is never empty, and most of these reach a point, when they declare themselves healed.-New York Press "Every Day Talk." Scheme of the Brokers. "Have you heard of the latest scheme of some of the Wall street brokers?" was the query put to a reporter by a Western Union operator. "They are devoting their spare moments to learning teleg raphiy. .A few days ago the regular oper ator in a New street broker's office was absent, and I was sent for to take his place for the day. I noticed an extra set of instruments in the office, and supposed that some of the office boys or clerks wer e learning to manipulate the key. I was somewhat surprised during the day to see a member of the firm comie in and coin mence practicing the Morse characters. I learned that he was paying his operator extra to remain after business hours and practice with him. Upon quietly investi gating the matter, I ascertained that sev eral other brokers were assiduously strug gling with the MIorse alphabet, with vary ing success. One broker, who started out wit'h the expectation of becoming sufli ciently expert within six weeks to read messages coming over the wvire at ordinary speed became somewhat discouraged when, at the end of that time, lie found it impossible to catch even the small words. Their idea is that if they can be. come expert enough to read messages passing over the wires it wolda be an easy matter for 'them to drop into other brokers' ofices and, by listening to the click of the telegraph instruments, per haps gain some valuable information." New York Evening Sun. Concerning Opium Cultur. In a few states the farmers have experi mented a little with the white poppy, hu we have not regarded opitum as ever likely to cut much of a figure amion:g onr products. Mtr. P'ratt, the U'nited States consul at Teheran. whlo has beent sttudy lg opium culture in Persia. where a very ine article is produtced,. says he bielieves large regions in Ca:lifor'nia and the southe(rn states are weil aidapted to he cult ivat ion of the white poppy, and, in view of the superior qual ity of Perisian opium, he details the methods 'if ctultivation in vogue there as a u:ie fo'r our poppiy iraisers. Tlhonghl the abuse of opium has made it, in the opin ion of nmany, a disireputale drag, it serves a lairge number of useftul purposes, and if we couhld raise what we rersuire for le'.itimmet~ 1es opiumn culturie wuibi hue a cnsiideraile adit~ion to our' wealth piro deing resurces.--New York Sun. The Aniti-Gossip ('lubi. If your friend's faunlts annoy you, tell himi ho ut for heaven's sa ke keep silent about them' in the presenice o other people. You ii never reform himi by eallng the t ttntion of t le world to his errors. I hve ima'' a reso lutioti which I wouhlt like to em.i .n an organized socie'ty, and 2ail iL tile Anti ossip club. Thel~ resolu tin i's thi: Wh'loeve'r speaks iii oif another peso to met miust mteet that pe'rsoanm my pre c:ne ilhinal a week's tinme and repeat t e words, thus giving~ the acense:1 an apotui'ty to dlefenid, explaina or refor'm hi ro.I think a few ex:'erience's of tL'1 kin0 wtou!.1 d1'ter peopl' fr'om comling to us witht unkind gssip.-Ella WVheeler There are fin' men in the house who par-t therir lair in the middle. THE WONDER BALL. n Ingenious Manner of Making Cbzh mas Gifts Continue Their Interest. As the season for gift-making draws near ingenuity in that direction will no doubt bring forth a host of novelties, which the eager feminine mind will be quick to grasp. One called the "wonder ball" is already rolling on its way. This is of German origin, as the motive con nected with it will show, for, as a peo ple, the Germans, more than any other, invest the common affairs of life with an atmosphere of sentiment. The wonder ball is a form of gift many gifts in one. The friends of the one who is to receive it are in amiable cahoots together, and by their united ef forts it is produced. An amount of bright wool is bought, say enough for a shoulder shawl, or even for an afghan. The gifts, which should be of small bulk, are wrapped in paper, with the giver's name, a note, or any other personal re membrance affixed, and then the yarn is wound about until it is covered, when another is added and the same process repeated. This goes on until all the gifts are in eluded in the package, one at a time, each interwoven with its concealing web of threads. Now comes the charm! The receiver is requested to knit from that ball or to crochet any article they may choose to fix upon, and not by any chance to -un wind the yarn only so fast as the work progresses. It is like undoing a long Christmas stocking with presents in it down to the very toe. And see what a stimulus to industry! Curiosity will grow stronger as each gift appears, and the work ia pretty certain to he swift and soon completed. Here is an example of onewonder ball. A lady had a bi'rthday, and her friends decided to give a handsome work-basket and its furniture. German knitting yarn was bought for a skirt-two colors, four hanks of blue and two of pink. This of itself would make a huge ball, but in separate packets were inclosed a thimble, a case of scissors, an elaborate assort ment of needles, needle-leaves, a spool box, spools of every number and color of thread and silk, an emery strawberry, a tape measure, and other trifles. These were interwound until the ball was of formidable proportions. Then it was presented in the basket and the lady given to understand she was to work herself into a knowledge of her presents or to remain in ignorance. - Al lowing for this work only such chance minutes of leisure as a busy woman can snatch from more pressing duties, it would take a month to get at the heart of that wonder ball. A Domestic Picture. The people who pass to and fro across one of the north side bridges are treat ed every now and then to a scene from a pretty domestic drama that is enacted in one of the many happy homes in this city. About 8:30 o'clock almost any morning there may be seen crossing the aforesaid bridge a pretty young woman, apparently about 23 years of age. al ways neatly and becomingly 5ressed, with a sweet, good face, and a quaint. matronly air that renders her perfectly charming and conjures all sorts o? visions of a snug little home, a hearth that is in reality an altar of honest, true affection, and a sturdy. strong hearted young husband. Perhaps who knows?-there may be a bright faced, prattling little boy who rules autocratically this model little home. Although this young wife is alone on her morning trip, yet she never comes back alone in the evening. The hus band, who must get to work earlier in the morning, always guides her home ward steps with that air of proud pos session and absolute love and trust that is as charming as it is rare, and than which a young husband can have no more graceful attribute. 'The constant sight of this couple prompted curious inquiry, with a result in perfect accordance with th'e prima facie evidence in the case. The facts are these: T1he husband is one of many clerks in a large establishment here. His salary is but $85 a month. The wife is a well born girl, but one; of that great number who have suffered deprivation through the dishonesty of others. They were engaged three years, and the marriage postponed for prudential reasons. .At last the young people took the law into their own hands, and casting fear and doubt to the winds entered 'hand in hand on the rough path of life. Three months after nmarriage the young bride obtained a position as assistant cashier in a milliuer-v store. Their total income is $125 per ionth. On that .they not on~v live well but happily. Their house is a small one. but piece by pice has been prettily and neatly furnished andl in every corner there is perfeet evi dence of the tonich of a woman's hiand, whose labor is love. For three years they have been married and in that time this brave little woman has saved over $500. Think of it, ye hundreds of voung men and women who fear to inar-ry on less than $3,000 a year, and ve young mien who keep sellishly the hionest hieart of a girl waiting in patient expectancy while you waste annually enough to give her the comfort both of a roof of your own and your love! Last nizht this happy fatmily went to .the theater. Both were neatly and even stylishly dressed. They sat in breath less absorption. It was a rare ti-eat which will last reminiscently a long time. Every good point was gravely marked by mutual glances of apprecia tion, and when the drop curtain fell, with a sigh of regret the young~ wife took her husband's arm and together they went to that house where tuo strength ot a1fetion and thke energyv of endleavor- are blended into one syny: phony of happiuness.-Lhicago Ncws. Alrs. Trouctor, the widow of Barry Cornwaill, is still, as for the last half century, one of the most charming wo men in London. She perfectly well re members the national jubilee in Eng land on account of Kinig Gieo:rge ill..en tering the tiftieth yeair of his reign,. which tuok place Oct. :25 1809. Guw--liave you put the important qute- aon to old Mloney bag's (laughter, a {?" .J:1k-"No. I hear there is a prnor ant:chmient there.' Gus-"You lnt say so?" Jack-"Yes, the sheriff has attaebed everything the old man ~ - Y. Sun.