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WOMAN AND HOME. A HOPEFUL SIGN FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY. Putting on Gloves-A Wife's Letters. Types of Gossipers-"Tailor Made Girl" Tales Told by Faces-Conversation. Cure for Ivy Poison-Notes. If there is anything calculated to disturb my usual self-poise and serenity of soul, it is the spectacle of an educated, accomplished women, suddenly reduced from wealth to poverty, sitting down with folded hands and harping about her "better days," or the cruelty of the fates that made her dependent on her own resources for a livelihood. All of us know or have heard of such women. They are dreadful thorns in the sides of all their old friends. I went once with a friend to see a woman who had once been rich but was now poor. A few remnants of her former glory were to be seen in her two or three little rooms. The second sentence she uttered was, "Oh, sir, do not think I have always lived thus; ah no! I have seen better days!" This was said with a sweep of her hand that took in the pieces of furniture and bits of expensive bric-a-brac and a costly picture or two representati'ro of her "better days." Then she began to weep, and I let her weep. There she sat, a strong, healthy, accomplished woman, in the very prime of life, weeping because there was be fore her the necessity of earning an honorable living for Lrself. I didn't weep any myself. Her friends had exerted themselves to se cure her an excellent position as teacher in a school where her duties would be light. But she said she "shrank from coming into con tact with anybody and everybody," and said something about being forced to associate with "all sorts of common people," that quite upset me,-and I was glad when I was outside with my friend, and at liberty to expresamy self freely and forcibly. Is there, on the other hand; a spectacle more worthy of praise and admiration than that of a woman suddenly thrownon her own resources, rejecting the charity of friends, and bravely taking up the battle of life for herself, and, perhaps, for her children? Hundreds of women are doing this in our own country, doing it bravely and well, with out vain drivelings and repinings for "better days," the days that were not, after all, their better days. Many of them would not go back to their old, useless, easy lives if they could. To work should be "the common lot of all," and a hopeful sign for the future of our own country lies in the fact that so many women are today earning their own living and taking upon themselves duties and re sponsibilities hitherto relegated tomen alone. It is, I take it, a sign of increased good sense that so many of our women do not, in the days of adversity, sit down to weep, but with sleeves rolled up, perhaps, make themselves useful, self supporting and independent women.-Zenas Dane in Good Housekeeping. Opening the Wife's Letters. Charles Dudley Warner, in replying to the question, "Can a man open his wife's letters?" said that it would depend upon what kind of a husband he is. I think it would be nearer right to say it would depend upon what kind of a wife she is. "Discretion is the better part of valor," as. many a husband would learn if he made so bold as to open his wife's letters. There is scarcely a wife who does not take her husband sufficiently into her confidence to tell him who her letters are from and to read them to him, or, perhaps, let him read them himself; but this is a very different matter from having them first opened, read and passed upon by one for whom they were not intended. Of course, many women receive letters that never reach the eyes of their life partners, not be cause they contain aught that would not bear the light of day, not be cause the wife is afraid or ashamed to show them, but simply because they contain things that are non-i -' his affair. How often the home letters are written only for daughters' or sisters' eyes! How much of the family cares can be told her that would be proudly withheld from son-in-law or brother-in-law! Then there are the letters from dear, inti mate girl friends, who pour out the secrets of their heart upon paper for the sympathy and entertainment of sweet Mrs. Jones, but not for the eyes of sarcastic Mr. Jones. A very laughable but sensible reason for a wife withholding her letters from her husband was giveri by a contemporary not long since. She said: "These letters contain the con fessions of another soul, the confidences of another mind, that would be rudely treated if given any sort of publicity. And while husband and wife are one to each other, they are two in the eyes of other people, and it -may well happen that a friend will desire to impart something to a discreet woman which she would not intrust to the babbling hus ba'nd of that woman." That's the whole thing in a nutshell.-Bal timore American. The Putting on of Gloves. A great deal depends on the first putting -en of gloves. Have the hands perfectly clean, dry and cool, and never put on new gloves while the hands are warm or damp. Where .a person is troubled with moist hands, it is well to powder them ere trying onthe gloves; but in most cases, if the hands are dry and cool, this is not needed. First work on the fingers, keeping the thumb outside of the glove, and the wsist of the j~love turned back. When the fingers are in smoothly, put in the thumb and work the glove on very carefully. then plying the elbow on the knee work on the hand. When this is done, smooth down the wrist and button the second button first, then the third, and so on to the end. Then smooth down the wh~le glove, and fasten the first button. Fastening the first button last, when putting on a glove for the first time, makes a good deal of difference in the fit, although it may seem but a very little thing. It does not strain the pert of the glove that is the easiest to strain at first, and prevents the enlarging of the buttonhole, either of which is sure to take place if you begin at the first button to fasten the glove. When removing gloves never commence at the tips of the fingers to pull them off, but turn back the wrist and pull off carefully, which will, of course,- necessitate their being wrong side out. Turn them right side out, turn the thumb in, smooth them out length wise in as near as possible the shape they would be if on the hands, and place away with a strip of white canton flannel between if the gloves are light, but if dark colored the flannel may be omitte... Never roll gloves into each ether in a wad, for they will never look as well after. There is always some moisture in them from the hands; conse quently, when rolled up this moisture has no chance of drying, and must work into the gloves, making them hard and stiff, and of very little use after, as far as looks or fit are concerned.--Boston Budget. Love and Friendship. Men of every nation, with the exception, * perhaps, of France, go to men for intellectual sympathy, for exchange of earnest feelings, for spiritual intercommunication, in short, for companionship. Love, as generally un MCHALLENGED TO FIGHT. An Unpublished Romance in the Late Banker Corcoran's Career. Few know or remember, perhaps, that the deceased Washington philanthropist, Mr. W. W. Corcoran, once in his life had been challenged to a duel, says the New York *2legrarn. Strange as it may seem, this in offensive, prudent, benev nt and wealthy banker was called upo to fight with deadly weapons according to the dueling code. While duels take place sometimes be tween hotspur politicians and those in high public station, professional men, or others who usume to be gentlemen, they are almost unknown among the class of people engaged in banking and large busi ness transactions to which Mr. Corcoran be longed. But the challenger was of a different class. He was a proud young Spaniard, holding an official position in this country for his Government, who imagined he was bound to maintain the dignity of his name, character and station by demanding satis faction at the point of the sword or mouth of the pistol for having been roughly treat ed and humiliated by Mr. Corcoran. This gentleman was Mr. Murnaga, the Secretary of the Spanish Legation in Wash ington at the time Mr. Tassara was Min ister-and while Mr. Buchanan was Presi dent of the United States. The present Spanish Minister at Washington, Senor Don Emilio de Murnaga, presumably is the same person, for he has in full the same name. In the circumstances which led to the challenge and in subsequent events con cerning those who were connected with the difficulty there is a story as intdresting as a romance. Mr. Corcoran had a daughter, an only child, who had just reached the age of wom anhood. He being rich, there was no heir ess in the country then, probably, with the prospect of inheriting a larger fortune than Miss Corcoran. She had been brought up with great care and had all the advantages that wealth could bring to a young lady under rather strict though affectionate guardianship. Being delicate, her father deemed it pru I dent not to overtax her with study; hence, while she was well educated, she was not remarkable for accomplishments or intel lectual ability. She was, however, a sen sible, good, gentlo and sweet-natured young woman. Her father, in his great love for her, ap peared to be overcareful and restrictive, so that she saw little society except such as he entertained at their residence, and her life, therefore. was too much like that of a re cluse. For the benefit of her health she was accustomed to ride horseback along the roads outside of the city, and, whether friends were with her or not, she was at tended by a groom. Mr. Murnaga, who was a good-looking and an accomplished little fellow, and always well dressed, used to ride in the same di rection as Miss Corcoran. By some means, whether in regular form or not, he became acquainted with her, and this acquaintance ripened into love in the young lady, at least, for she admitted Murnaga to stolen or secret interviews, which she would hardly have done had she not been fond of him. Miss Corcoran evidently was afraid to let her father know she had a lover, particu larly as the gentleman was a foreigner and held no higher position than that of Secre tary of Legation. The residence of the Spanish Minister, where Mr. Murnaga lived, was on a street near that of Mr. Cor coran, and, therefore, convenient for the lovers to meet when the way was clear. When Mr. Corcoran was supposed to be safely away from home Miss Corcoran re ceived Mr. Murnaga in her drawing-room or parlor. How often these stolen meetings were repeated is not known. At last Mr. Corcoran heard of them and determined at once to break the acquaintance of his daugh ter with the Spaniard. One of the most prominent public men in the country at that time was Jesse Bright, United States Senator from Indiana, and he was a particular friend of Mr. Corcoran. To im, therefore, the angry banker went for advice. Having a trusty informer, a plan was devised to pounce upon the unsuspect ing lovers at the time the Spanish Secre might be in the house of Mr. Corcoran. ppruiysoon came, and Mr. Cor coa, accompanied by Senator Bright, re turned home unexpectedly. In terror Miss Corcoran urged Murnaga to hide himself under the piano. But her father knew he was in the house, and, after searching a few minutes, dragged him from his hiding-place and hustled him out of the house in a rough manner. This was humiliating, of course, to a proud Spaniard, and Mr. Murnaga, after consult ing with friends, sent a challenge to Mr. Corcoran. Among these friends was one who visited and dined frequently with the Spanish Minister. This was Mr. John Eusts, a Representative in Congress-from Louisiana, and a refined, charming and handsome gentleman, who had hardly reahed the middle age of life. Had a duel been fought he probably would have particI pated as a second of Murnaga or a witness. To the friends of Mr. Corcoran, as well as to that gentleman himself, no doubt, the idea of accepting a challenge to fight a duel under the circumstances appeared absurd. In fact, the thought of this venerable and benevolent man of sixty years of age fight ing a duel under any circumstances could not be entertained for a moment. It was understood that Mr. Murnaga and Miss Corcoran never saw each other after this distressing and abrupt check to their courtship. An intimation was made in formally and kindly to the Spanish Minister and his Government, either by Mr. Buchan an or some others in high station, that it might be well to remove Mr. Murnaga tc another post, and not long after that gentle. man left the United States. Possibly he might himself have asked to be removed. Certainly he was not disgraced in the eyes of his Government for what had occurred in Washington. The curious sequel to this story is that Mr. John Eustis, Murnaga's friend, and who might have been Murnaga's second had there been a duel, subsequentiy' courted Miss Corcoran himself and married her. The Eustis children, offspring of this mar riage, both parents being dead, now inherit the vast wealth of their grandfather, Cor coran. __ _ _ He Saved the Frame. A well-known showman who, once rana newspaper in a Pennsylvania town tellsa story which will amuse the printers. He hired a big colored person to do chores abou1 the office, and on one occasion directed himi to move a form from one place to another. The darkey promptly put it on his head, and just as promptly his head went through, and there was a terrible mess of p1. To his employer he thus reported: "Boss, I done spilled the type,_but 1 saved the frame." Summoned Aloft. A compositor in the London establishmeni of the Messrs. Cassell, publishers, commit :ted suicide recently. He left the following note, addressed to his foreman: " Dear Mr. Shinner: Please excuse my leaving withoul the usual fortnight's notice, but I have re ceived a peremptory summons to go t< eaven to get the title-page of the Book od Life. Yours, H. G. S. Agnew." The jur3 naoil a wrdict of tenory insaitj. ST. MARK'S CHURCH. A MOST PERFECT AND CONSUM MATE WORK OF ARCHITECTURE. A Study of the Groat Church in Venice. Pen Picture of a Wonderful Interior. Bewildering Lights and Shadows. Nothing In the World to Match It. I know of nothing in all the world. unless it be an autumn sunrise through valley mists, that is so bewildering in its effect as is this marvelous creation. That it is the most fascinating and en chanting work is confessed by all who have ever come within its influence; but, further, I believe it to be the most per fect and consmumate work of architect ure in the world. This may be said hur riedly and thoughtlessly, or ignorantly, or vainly. but after long study, which serves only to disclose some hitherto un expected beauty, I cannot name any building in England, France, Italy or Germany which can remotely be com pared with it for perfect union of all the powers possible to architecture. And now let us enter the church through the central porch-a kingly por tal, indeed, fit for the central fact of the city that once was the central fact of the world, and remains even now its loveliest and most precious treasure. On either side rise wide ranges of slender shafts, serpentine and alabaster, and pure Greek marble and verd antique, each with its varied capital of intricate design. A double tier on either hand, from the top whereof springs the vast circling archi volt of most exquisite tracery. There the forest of columns closes closer and the arches sink lower, leaving above a vast field where once glowed the golden mo saic of the "Resurrection;" then. last of all, the finer, clear lines of the archi trave, and so we pass beneath and stand within the atrium, that, in a series of low, vaulted domes, follows two sides of the basilica. A wonderful place even this, with precious columns of finest stone ranged everywhere along the wall. covered now with soft gray bloom, like a fresh grape, but polished here and there so that the exquisite veining shows in all its beauty. A long gray corridor this, that follows far around to the transept door beyond. This is only the prelude to what is be yond. Lift the curtain of one of the side doors and go within. After the pearly light of the atrium all that one sees at first is a golde:. gloom, in the depth of which we stand. Shadowy shafts rise about us, and beyond them lies a great space of soft, golden light, not bright and clear, but low and solemn. Beside us a vast wide wall of polished marble of the color of incense smoke, warped into bend ing lines, lifts itself clear from the rugged mosaic beneath our feet; and as it rises the precious marble gives panels here and there of solemn saints and winged angels, shadowy in color, with dull gold gleaming behind them. Higher and higher reaches the field of stone, and changes now to vast, vague mosaics in strange design and mystic symbolism. Higher still, and long lines of soft light strike through high windows, and then far above comes the vast arch of a golden vault where still are figures and designs in endless measure. Down far below the shadows thicken and dark pillars and arches rise close, circle above circle, and through them one sees dimly how the shadows gather closer again and shape themselves into the indistinct form of a chapel, where slender shafts with fretted capitals, delicate statues of saints and screens of varied marble rise over the still deeper shadow beyond, where only is seen the flickering flame in brazen lamps and the dim glory of a golden aureole. And always through these gathered shadows glows here and there the golden light in some domelike vault or strikes a pencil of trembling rays from an unseen window- - Yet all seems very small, with little space. Let us walk towvard the light in the chapel beyond; over the heaving floor of shattered mosaic we advance slowly as the shadow opens for us and closes be hind. Shaft and pier and circling arch and inlaid vault fall always into new arrangements of perfect light and shade, and the eye lingers with loving delight on the carven marble of a thousand colors that sheathes the wall in every varying beauty. And now wc stand among the vast, piers of marble, four square, soft rosy brown in color, rising from bases of crimson marble, joined above with golden arches and lost above in gloom, where they bear the domes as yet unseen. Turn to the right, down the transept isle, into the deeper darkness, toward the strange Arabian doorway, where the red lamp burns continuously; then step out into the widL space of the transept, and without looking up, as yet, walk to the further aisle and sit down on the marble seat that stretches along the transept wall, and then raise your eyes slowly. All the closeness of the shafts and piers is gone, "and there opens before us a vast cave, hewn out into the form of a cross, and divided into shadowy aisles by many pillars. Round the domes of its roof the light enters only through nar row apertures, like large stars, and here and there a ray or two from some far away casement wanders into the dark ness and casts a narrow, phosphoric stream upon the waves of marble that heave and fall in a thousand colors along the floor." Below is all strange shadow and in distinctness, whereupon the marble shafts seem to gather themselves into being like transmuted columns of purple incense, rising in slowly growing strength Iand clearness in the upper air, spreading into fair walls of polished alabaster that break and curve into vast and wonderful arches. And so upward, where seems a sunlight forever, for the walls glow now with broken gold, and arch and vault flash back swift gleams of fire or gather in heavy gloom of luminous shadow. And everywhere a wonder of mystic images on wall and arch and vault, higher and higher yet, until the paired walls bend to each other and join In circling arches of sheeted gold, and lift at last and over all into one magical sequence of circling domes, sheathed with splendid gold, and charged with ;olemn figures of saints and angels, and owers of good and evil; and over all hrist looks down upon ils people. Cor. Boston Transcript. Few Quails in Dakota Quails are almost unknown in Dakota. and some of the gun clubs are trying to introduce them. The Kimball G.raphic notes as a remarkable freak that eight of t~he little birds alighted on the sidewalk in the business part of the city recently. rhey were evidently bewildered strangers to the country, or the street was one of those noted sometimes, w~here the mer 2ha~nts do not advertise.--Chicago Herald. tnarstronomical observation--"MY A CAPITOL TiAL.. An Old Washington Guide Relates ad S cident of His Experience. Not a half dozen people among the mag thousands who daily pas; from the Senaut ming of the capitol through the corridoz past the Supreme Court-room and around the well to the great rotunda have any ides that above themi in the little round tops that crown the well and corridor ceilings is a curious maze of dark, winding, gloomy passages and irregular chambers that fair .ly rival the classichl labyrinth or mytholo gy, writes a Washington correspondent. In moving a stock of time-stained documents filling one of these round tops the laborers disclosed a door t hat for ten years has nevw er swung upon its rusty hinges. The dis. covery of this forgot ten exit served to re mind an old guide who has piloted sight seers about the capitol for a quarter of a century of an incident which recalls vividly the romance of Lady Ginevra, the mistle. toe bough and the great oaken chest. Be. fore the invention of the electric light the great circles of burners about the galleries of the dome and the clusters about the Senate and House skylights were ignited by an electric current that flashed through a series of wires leading from an enormous battery. This battery was located in the round top above the well, and lined its cylin drical walls with great generating jars. One wintry afternoon this guide began the long ascent, piloting one of the number less bridal couples that every season makes Washington a Mecca. The young man was an enthusiastic sight-seer, and as the guide .pointed out the interesting features of the ,ascent he suffered his bride's hand to slip from his arm and pressed on several paces ahead, until a sudden turn in the stairs hid him from her view. Piqued at his desertion of her she toiled up the stairs alone, until her eye fell upon a door standing ajar at the head of a short flight of steps leading off to the right. In a spirit of mischief she ran up the steps, pushed open the door, and entered the electrical laboratory, resolved to hide from her husband. Hardly a ray of light penetrated the gloom of the chamber, but for a moment curiosity overcame her, until with a bang a strong draught swung the heavy iron door shut with a loud click of ''the spring lock. For a moment she was dazed, and then realizing that she was shut in sprang to the door and endeavored to ! open it, beating upon its hard surface with her little hands and crying loudly for help. In the meantime her husband, who did not for several minutes observe that she was not following, had climbed from above the laboratory, then calling to her and re ceiving no answer ho hurriedly retraced his footsteps, expecting to find her hiding be hind each angle of the descent. Becoming thoroughly alarmed. he called her loudly by name: "Annie! Annic! where are you?" The echo of his voice alete responded, and, crazed with fear, he rushed up and down the stairway shouting wildly for help to find his lost wifc. The guide endeavored to calm him, but, breaking away from him, he ran down the stairs to a sudden turn in the flight, lost his balance and fell over the rail, a distance of thirty feet, to the roof below. The guide elimbed quickly down after him and found him stunned by the fall. Sum moning assistance they bore the insensible man to a carriage and took him to his hotel, where he lay unconscious for hours. Be liovine that the injured man's wife must have found her way out of the building the search for her was abandoned. About nine o'clock that night the electrician of the capi tol had occasion to visit the laboratory. Fitting the key to the door and pushing it open he was astonished to find a woman lying on the floor apparently dead. Raising her carefully he bore her to the office of the capt'n of the watch, where she was resusci tated. She was rapidly dril-en to the hotel, just in time to fall into her husband's arms as he recovered consciousness. HE WASN'T ROMANTIC. A Young Man Who Did Not Believe in Midnight Eloponents. Cutting it across the country at midnight -otherwise eloping o get married--Is a custom that has long prevailed in Kentucky, says the Milwaukee Wisconsmi. Many blue grass girls wouldn't carec a cent about mar rying if they couldn't run away and do it. Young men in that favored region are of that way of thinking, too. But there was one who didn't feel that way, as the follow ing shows: "Mother, young Brown was in the store to-day, and he said be wanted to marry our Kate," said an old gentleman down in Kentucky to his spouse. " Well, Brown's a good fellow," she re plied, "and I don't believe Kate can do better. "That's what I thought, and so I got red in the face and pretended t~o be mad, just as your father did when 1 asked for you, you remember, and yelled: *'You can't have her! Bet off my premises or I'll set the dog on.ye, you young scamp.' " "There'll be an elopament, then," said the wife, with a smile of pleasure, recalling the result in their case. '-No, there won't," replied the husband, with a sigh of discontent. "Why not? That's the way it always works in Kentuck." " Well, he's a smart one, mother, and no mistake. He first give me the wink,and says he: " 'Father-in-law, I'm dead sot agin elope meats. Too much trouble. The Ohio style of getting married en the premises is good enough for me. I knew'. it ain't popular in Kentuck. It ain't so romantic as cutting it across the country at midnight, escaping across the river in a dugout, and hunting a strange justice of the peace who chews plug tobacco while he ties the k-not; but I ain't romantic. For a starter 1 want the milch cow and the bed-clothes, the trousseau and other knick-knacks that go with the regular way. One can set up housekeeping easier. I know it will come a little higher for you, but you'll have to stand it this time. Per haps the other girls will furnish the elope meats necessary to keep up the reputation of the family, but none In mine!"" " And what are you going to do about it?" asked the wife. " Do? Why, sell some bogs and rig Kate out, of course. What else can I dol" Women Industrial Workers. The manufacture of boots and shoes em ploys altogether 114,152 hands, and 28,605 of these are women and children. Carpet man ufactures employs 20.371 hands, and of these 10,207, or more than one-half are women and children. Cotton manufactures employs 1i2,54 operatives, and of this num b er 112,794, or more than onc-half, are women Iand childrecn-13,213 of children being under fifteen years of age. In hosiery and knit goods there are 28.885 hands employed-21, 368, or more than two-thirds of them, women and children. M1ixed textiles employ 43,873 hands-2,902, or considerably more than one-half, vromen and children. Paper man ufacture employs 24,429 hiands-,2S0, or more than one-third, women and children. Silk manufactures emiploy 31,387 hands-21, 9f2, or two-thirds, women and children. Woolon manufactures employ $5,604 hands -39,546. or~ r~early one-half, womeni and chil dren. The wood hat industry employs 5,470 hads-2,228 of them women and children. Worsted go'ods employ 18.$03 hands-1l2,36S, or two-thirds of them, being women and childra TIIE COSTERMONGER. A ROUGH AND READY CHARACTER OF THE BRITISH METROPOLIS. Fondness for Street Brawls-How the Costermonger Settles Disputes with His Female-The Overworked Pony Idle Swarms in the Streets. The London costermonger generally wears a fixed kind of dress. His hat is always a black derby, rusty from rain and weather. His coat is generally a rusty black frock. He rarely wears a waistcoat. His trousers may be corduroy or any kind of the cheaper woolen patterns. His shoes are thick soled and hobnailed. He always wears a colored handkerchief tied around his neck in place of a collar. These hand kerchiefs are always dirty, except upon rare Sunday and holiday occasions, when new ties are donned. These handkerchiefs are always of a fanciful color, light blue and red being the favorites. They are worn high up on the neck, leaving a couple of inches of dirty neck showing between the handkerchief and the greasy collar of the shambling frock coat. The handker chief is really the badge of the order. This handkerchief about the neck designates the character and standing of a man in England as completely and thoroughly as if he wore a uniform prescribed by act of parliament. The costermongers are men engaged in street traffic of all kinds. They Are generally dealers in vegetables. They begin with push carts. and if they are prosperous and reach the climax of their ambition they become the owners of small two wheeled wagons, drawn by little don keys or ponies. The strength and endur ance of these small animals are phenome nal. I have seen from six to eight grown people on a costermonger's cart being drawn at a furious pace by a pony not much larger than a Newfoundland dog. The costermonger never gives his pony an'y rest. He works him during the week in his business and uses the wretched lit tle animal on Sunday to give his friends a treat in the shape of a ride to some cock ney resort in the suburbs. The coster mongers live in the street. They are never indoors except for eating and sleep ing. A very severe, driving storm will sometimes force them into the house, but they generally take refuge under an awn ing or some gateway. They are a hardy, tough, coarse fibered people. They are noisy, and have a ,perfect passion for scenes of uproar and excitement. You rarely hear of costermongers murdering any of their associates or of their using knives or pistols in their quarrels. They have a way of pounding and kicking each other when engaged in disputes, but are rarely arrested, as they never seem to carry malice, and their fights generally end up in a good natured way. The costermonger and his female are often the chief actors in a street brawl. When once a costermonger has began to keep company with a costermonger female then she is considered his property. She speaks of him as her man and she is spoken of as his "gal." It was Sunday morning. The two had started out evidently for a holiday. He was in his best. He was a surly, heavy sawed fellow, .with black eyes, a short nose and brawny, hairy fists. He wore a little black derby hat about three sizes too small for his great, round head. His handkerchief was the lightest of sky blues. She was buxom, burly, of medi um height, dressed in true costermonger style. Their dispute grew out of a dif ference of opinion as to where they should spend the day. She insisted on going one, way and he the other. They disputed for half a moment, and then he turned around and deliberately gave her a kick which lifted her about six inches from the sidewalk, to convince her that his way was the best.. She turned quickly and began kicking him in return. The way she brought her number ten boots around against his shins very soon con vinced him that she was as strong at that kind ofr agment as he. They kicked at each other for about five minutes, the center of a delighted and cheering crowd, and then the costermonger female by her skill in kicking carried the day. In a mo ment or two more he gave up, grinned good naturedly and the two walked off together for a happy Sabbath. The way domestic brawls are carried on in the streets '"of London cannot be matched, I am certain, in any other city in the world. The common people who walk the streets regard these quarrels as their own private theatricals and sternly resent any interference of the police. As a general thing the police do not touch the brawlers unless they make too much of a disturbance and block up the streets. The police then simply order them to move on, and make arrests only where the disturbing party resists. During my stay in London I have seen more street ights than I had ever seen before in my life. The actors in these street fights or domestic brawls appear to take great pride in the parts which they are called upon to play. They are stimulated by the cheers and roars of approval from the au dience and do their best to maintain their reputation for courage, ferocity and skill in retort. The women are especially excitable and active in a street fight. The man gener ally looks sulky and sheepish when en gaged in a fight with his female in public. But the women never give them a chance to back out. They are much ipiore vin dictive and active than the men. After the man has been kicked three or four times and has had his face scratched up to a proper state of rawness, be be comes excited and then strikes out brutally and cruelly, unless a police nma happens to be too near. The women are generally the victors in these street fights. The fighting women generally have babies in their arms. I have seen a number of costermonger viragos bound ing from the gr-ound like hyenas, rushing up andl down with great leaps, howling insults and epithets, then sweeping down toward the hated object of their wrath for a blow or a kick, and when the man strikes out the baby never seems to be re garded as anything more than a buffer. The costermonger female uses her baby as a shield. The poor, wretched baby, is generally a philosopher dud rarely, if ever, howls or cries. I have never heard a costermionger baby even peep during the most exciting phases of a street fight, although the mother may be howling like a panther in her rage and excitement. It is this class of people that makcs even the best parts of London disagreea ble. When their work is done they crowd the streets and fill the publics, drinking, swearing and quarrelia.g. They wander in great idle swarms up and down the best streets, never turning to the right or left for any one. I do not know when they sleep. I have never been out so late an hour that I have not found any num ber of them marching about hooting and howling, and without the slightest check or hindrance from the authorities.-T. C. Crawford's London Letter in New York World. . A SONG. All the earth is wrapped in shadows, And the dews have drenched the meadows, And the moon has ta'en her station, And the midnight rules creation. Where is my beloved staying? In.or chamber kneeling praying. .- ~ Is she praying for her lover? Then her heart is flowing over. Iy beloved! Is she keeping Watch, or is she sweetly sleeping? If she sleep not, if she pray not, If to listening ears she says naught Thought with thought in silence linking Oh, I know of whom she's thinhing: Think, oh, think of me, sweet angel. Rose of life, and love's evangel! All the thoughts that melt or move thee Are like stars that shine above thee; And while shining, to the center Of thy spirit's spirit enter, And there light a flame supernal Like eternal love, eternal. -Hungarian of Petofi. FLASHED UNDER THE SEA. Ingenious Business Men Who Can Give Points to the Cable Managers. When ocean cabling cost $1 a word it was perfectly natural that the brokers ad merchants who found it desirable to use that means of communication for business- should do everything possible to reduce the num ber of words necessary to convey the mean ing of their messages. One of the methods immediately employed for cutting down the quantity of language was the employment of cable codes, where a designated word was used for an entire phrase, and another method was to register a word or a name at the offices at either end of the line, which served as the addreds. The people who use the cables have gotten on to a new wrinkle in the registering of the names, to which the cable companies distinctly object, but so long as the present competition continues they don't feel themselves strong enough to take any determined stand in the matter. The wrinkle in question is the arrange ment of the cable code in such a way that the address not only serves to carry the mes sage to its destination, but has a significance of its own. For instance, a New York firm telegraphing to ites-J ndon branch addresses them under twere. .jlve or thirty different registered namei,af which are recorded in the London oe,-If the message is sent to Jack, London,'st not only reaches John Smith & Co., for whom it was intended, but John Smith & Co. know from the very fact that they have been addressed as Jack, that 1,000 pieces of some line of goods are re quired to be sent by the next steamer. If, on the other hand, the firm is addressed un der the name of Robert, London, which is also a registered name, and which reaches the firm in due course, they know that a dif ferent order is intended. In this way these ingenious people practically get out of pay ing for the address, and the cable company see them wriggling out of the responsibility of cable regulations, and are practically powerless to do anything. Another favorite mode of cutting down the number of cable words, especially in cabling to Germany and Italy, is to take two or three foreign words, each of which may represent a phrase, and blend them together in what appears to be one word. By this means nine or ten letters of the alphabet, costing twelve or fifteen cents for its trans mission, conveys to the other side an entire sentence. The regulation in regard to the length of words" is that no word, either a manufactured word for 'code purposes or a genuine word of the language, shall be trans mitted for the ordinary tariff if it exceeds ten letters in length.-New York Mail and Express. The Bat's Liver Superstition. Of all the queer superstitions of which 1 ever heard there is one possessed by a man on 'Change that caps the superstitious climax. I won't tell you his name, but he is one of the most prominent gain and pork dealers in the city. One mght last summer he was a visitor at the Fifth district police station. We were bothered a good deal just then by bats, that kept flying up and down through the stable attached to the station. Our visitor and the stable boys killed several of the bats, and the liver was taken from each of them and carried away in the mer chant's pocket. Be wanted them, he said, to give him luck in his business transactions, for he declared there was more good luck in one bat's liver than there was in half a hun dred rabbits' feet, which were well known to possess luck of no mean proportions. He told us where he had discovered the bat's liver charm. It was on a lower Missis sippi stembhoat, about a year ago. A party of colored deck hands were playing craps. One of the party had a bat's liver, and he laid it on the deck floor every time he picked up the ivoriestfothrow. As aresult, he won all the money his companions had. After doing this four or five times on the trip up from New Orleans to Memphis, the bat's liver holder was barred from the game. He couldn't lose. The merchant to whom I re fer carries his bat's liver to this day, and never thinks of going on 'Change without it. -Police Sergeant in Globe-Democrat. A Flea for College Training. A young man with a common commercial education receives employment sooner than a graduate from the classical department of a college. Thus at the outset in the race of life the one with the bare necessities actrally takes the lead. But he does not hold it. He is too short winded. Slowly, but surely, the other creeps up. and before the race is fin ished he has passed and distanced his com petitor. There is but one way to account for this. Brain force is the power to be used in the race of life. The greater the force, the greater the chances of success. The cultured aptitude for footing up columns of figures, making Qorrect entries, calculating discount, etc., is very good as far as it goes. But it doesn't go far. He whose education has sim ply fitted him for such occupations will for ever feel that he is abrain dwarf. Our suc cessful business men are comparatively few. Who can tell the heights to which some of them would have risen had they received the training afforded to the mind by a good col legiate course.-St. Louis Republican. Japan's "Seven Ages of Man." The "seven ages of man" were depicted by Japanese artists long before they became famous in Shakespearean recitatiens in this coungy, and, perhaps, before Shakespeare was born. On the walls of a great tea store in New York city, which has branches in Hong Kong and Shanghai, hang a series of Japanese pictures illustrating the seven picturesque periods of man's existence. The material used is matting, not canvas, and great ingenuity is displayed in the execution of the tableaux. The infant, of course, figures in the first picture. The next shows the boy namitted to a university. In the third he stands fip for betrothal. In the fourth he is a soldier. In the fifth, much older, he is a mandarin. In the sixth he is a dotard, dying. In the seventh he is a wraith wafted away in the wind.-New York Sun. The standard oil men of Russia are the two Nobel brothers, who are said to be worth $400,000,000. Their income is greater than