IN THE EVENING HUSH. [Vhat witchery dwells in the evening gloam when the tire burns low and the shadows roam take flitting ghosts where the dim light falls fn flickering shapes on the dusky walls? What spirits come when the heart goes back, And moves again o'er the darkened track — That walk with me through the long ago In the evening hush when the lights are low? What shadows over the dim room creep JTO silent mourn or to pause and weep And place a wreath on some crumbled tomb Half lost in the dust of the ancient gloom? Forgotten shapes that in silence come When the ears are dulled and the lips are dumb, And only the dream tides ebb and flow la the evening hush when the lights are low. Gray spectres out of the vanished past Come stealing forth; and all flying fast, The mystic ones from the future greet And clasp white hands as the winding sheet Unrolls, quick flooding the haunted room With the scent of a long dead rose's bloom; And memory's visions come and go In the evening hush when the lights are low E° THE AURORA DIAMONDS J PJ Being the True Story of Cuban Anita *1 £ and the Bast Indian Prince. | TT LL the American residents of /\ Havana were interested in tlie masquerade ball which (j" was given by the American officials to the distinguished Cuban of ficers at the close of hostilities and at which function diplomats of every country were entertained, when all hostile feeling were to be laid aside, and peace and harmony were to pre vail. On this account the ball was ex pected to establish an era of prosperity as well as one of returning luxury and splendor. A number of Americans in high offi cial positions had rented palaces in Havana from their impoverished own ers, and they did not hesitate to con fiscate for that one occasion the price less jewels and laces on which they had advanced money to necessitous Cubans. Costly raiment, such as princes alone possess, attracted and enslaved the eye. The barbaric opulence of dress was the feature of the evening; dominoes were not worn, a ma.sir being the only safeguard of the face, the gorgeous character costumes prevent ing identity. Every one present was in costume, excepting one, and he was the most superbly and elaborately robed of any there. The exception was a Hindu prince, wearing the cloth of gold which only those of the royal caste may wear, a chaplet of great pink Oriental pearls at his neck, a jeweled sasb about his waist, n turban, the crest a cluster of Oriental jewels, covering his head. Tho Hindu's breast was covered with decor ative orders also blazing with gems. He accompanied an impersonation of the goddess Aurora, a woman sumptu ously robed in transparent laces and white satin overlaid with pearl em broidery. A pale tissue of white floated over the costume like a mist, and this was accentuated by rose-red diamonds of fabulous size and beauty, the jewels forming into a stone for her slender waist and a tiara for her hair. As she turned in the undulations of a mystic, dreamy waltz Aurora at tracted admiring and ecstatic attention from all the male dancers, but the Hindu prince was her constant escort. The jewels she wore flashed in constel lations of light and sent out prismatic jays that seemed alive of their own volition. "Who is she? Who is she?" was asked with intense curiosity. At last a masker in the character of Mephisto pheles answered: "Who should she be in tow of the Oriental but old Lynde's daughter, the beautiful Anita, who has some foreigu blood, although born in the neighbor hood of Sixth avenue, New York. Her father bad some money, but hasn't much now, and if the girl would save him from bankruptcy she must marry her Hindu right soon." "Bankruptcy, when he can give his daughter a dower of diamonds lit for the Queen of Sheba! I thought it was she," and the counterpart of King Solo mon sighed regretfully. "The diamonds are new to the fair Anita," said another of the company, this time a woman, dressed as Martha Washington. "I presume they are a betrothal gift from her lover, the Hindu. Yet I niu told she has refused him twice. His devotion to-night is not discouraged, however." "Perhaps the diamonds are treasure trove of some Cuban lord who has abandoned them. Saw you ever finer gems or any to compare, indeed?" "Their brilliancy is unnatural—they hurt the eyes. Can you estimate their worth ?" "By my faith, no. Mine uncle would advance several fortunes on them. Hush! They are coming this way. I feel dazzled." "There are representatives of every aatlon on earth here to-night. It is a Kit weird. I believe that Hindu Is numliling his prayers. Hid you hear a Itrnnge oracular chant as they Kassed?" What they had heard as Aurora and ler Hindu prince swept by was appnr mtly said for the purpose of sustaining nterest in the character impersonated. It was intoned monotonously, and was leard but indistinctly through the rrash of music and the clatter of con rersation. But a few caught the words. They had a sound of forebod es- k "Death! Death! Forgive, O fcod of Ah! Always thus in the eerie time 'Twixt night and day, I can hear the chime From the clock of fatfe, on either hand From the curtained past and the unknown land I have dreamed about but have never seen; And I hark to both as I sit between, While the white ones mingling come and go In the evening hush when the lights are low? There are ghosts of Sreams that I dreamed when young; When hope her shimmering bright 6carf flung All jeweled, streaming adown the sky, And love's bright chariots thundered by. Bright dreams they were; but the brightest now Are they of the palest and care-lined brow When the ghosts of the old days come and go In the evening hush when the lights are low? The firelight dies and the night is here; The flickering shadows disappear To roam again in the far-off land And beckon me with a spectral hand. Ah, well! not long till I, too, shall be A silent one of the company, And haunt the gloom and the firelight's glow In the evening hush when the lights are low. —Lowell O. Reese, in the San Francisco Bulletin. the Universe! Death to the inuocent. Death! Parameshwar! Forgive the sin of a Christian." Aurora's red lips paled as tho fateful words reached her, but she was not sure she had heard aright. It must be her conscience that affrighted her "Did you speak, Prince Sanyuka?" she asked in a low voice. "No, I.ight of the World, I spake not. What has disturbed my Pearl of the Occident ?" Anita Lynde was playing a desperate game to save her old father from tho disgrace of n failure in the great finan cial scheme of which he was the pro moter. It was not the prospect of pov erty that appalled her for herself, but for her loved ones. It was not true that she had rejected the Hindu prince —he had not asked her hand in mar riage, and she feared that her lack of fortune would remain a barrier be tween them. And she was perpetrating n crime for his benefit that should have sent him back to Indian had he known it to grovel at the feet of his gods. Not that she believed it a crime. She was but following the example of a lady of high degree who had done the same thing Now Iter one fear was that her prince might gain an inkling of the truth, when Iter pretty conceit would in his eyes become a deadly sin. At the height of the revel the beau tiful Aurora vanished as suddenly as if she bad been translated. Her Hindu prince did not ncompauy her, but at the moment of her sudden departure he stood in the centre of the ballroom waving his jeweled hands in semi circles in the air. and after a revolu tion or two like a whirling dervish he laughed, declaring that he was for saken by his goddess and joined with the rest lu the further festivities of the night. Aurora's diamonds and the peculiar actions of the Hindu furnished food for much speculative gossip after the ball. The rumor went forth that the young American girl had been followed on that occasion by armed detectives, who were present to guard her dia monds, that they really were a be trothal present from the Hindu and were worth a king's ransom. But they were all wrong. The diamonds were her own, and her scheme had worked so well that confidence in her father was restored and she had piloted bis plans to success. And Anita was be trothed to the Hindu the week succeed ing the ball. The annual American bnll which has just been held in Havana was graced by the presence of the Princess San yaka, more lovely that when as Aurora she appeared there the preceding year. Gems of great value and diamonds like drops of light decorated brow and bosom, but they had not the subtle radiance of those of a year ago. The prince was dressed in the evening clothes of an American gentleman and looked especially bright and happy. Before coming to the ball they had each made some admissions. "Light of my Life," Sauyaka had asked, "why not wear the diamonds that made thee a tjucen at the last ball?" The heart of the princess throbbed violently. "I cannot, my prince. They —they—l no longer possess them." "I would see thy costume, my Anitn. Send the maid for it, my heart's de light." The beautiful head of the Princess Sanyaka drooped. "My sin has found me out," she said, but she sent for the dress. When the maid unfolded it from the tissue paper In which it was wrapped In careful layers there was visible only a mildew of tiny black spots, which covered the whole rose and white fabric. "These were my diamonds," she said, in a low, broken voice, and then she took her prince's hand in hers and led him out on the balcony. The perfect Cuban night was aglow with millions of tiny lights corrugating the ntmos phere like hosts of electric sparks. "We caught them in nets—my ntaid and I—thousands and thousands of them—the pretty glow-worms that die in a night, and wo tied them in little bags of rose gauze, and, struggling to he free, they emitted that wonderful light, and every flash of my diamonds cost a life—and I know the Hindu doc trine that souls might oe in transml- grntlon there—and, oh, my dear lord, what shall my punishment be?" "This, O my beloved," and he kissed her with the tenderness ot renewed love, "know, O my princess, that I helped thee do that brief cruelty. My race has many secrets, and I have solved them for my own knowledge. It was I, Light of my Eyes, who ex aggerated the feeble brilliancy of the glow-worm into that rare glory of dia monds. I who made the curious see what did not exist, and It was I who held them spellbound, that you might leave unseen." "But my Lord of Rajput, how gained you this strange power?" "Ask me not, O Splendor of the Earth. I practice It no more, since in renouncing my people and my faith I lose the power." "But Is it not accounted a sin In your country, my lord, to destroy life —even the life of an Insect?" "Joy of my Soul, I am no longer In India, and I believe no more In its tra ditions, beloved one, since I have known thee."—Chicago Record-Herald. A TEXAS DESPERADO. Career of Ben Thompson, Who Killed Twenty-six Men. "When Ben Thompson was killed In San Antonio, in 1883, the last of the desperadoes of Texas 'crossed the big divide,'" said Mr. W. B. Brush, former postmaster and a leading citizen of Austin, at the New Willard. "I knew Ben Thompson Intimately. He was, when free from the influence of liquor, as modest and courteous • gentleman as one would wish to meet. Drink did not exactly make a demon of him, but It made him very aggres sive, and woe to the man who crpssed him at such a time. He was as brave a man as ever lived, and never took an unfair advantage. "His skill with a pistol was some thing marvelous. He could operate a pair of revolvers simultaneously, and his aim was unerring. He made one of the best Chiefs of Police that Austin ever had, nnd during his admin istration the town wus a model for or derly behavior. If he went out to make an arrest, the toughest cowboy had no thought of resistance. "Ben was born lu England, but came to Texas when a child, and grew up during rather a stormy and lawless period. He was always attired In the height of fashion, and some of the best men of the town were his warm per sonal friends. One day a gentleman in a bantering way asked him how many men he had killed. "Ben paused as if stopping to count up his victims and then replied: 'Well, as near as I can remember, I've killed twenty-six people.' For a moment no body said a word, and then Ben broke the silence by exclaiming, 'but that doesn't include Mexicans.' "—Washing ton Post. Senilis Cemetery Botfl. •'lt is no wonder that I dress In black, for my business is the selling of ceme tery lots. Is there unything In the world more solemn?" The speaker, a fat man, fingering his black tie, resumed: "I don't believe I'd ever make a sale If 1 wore gay, joyous colors. For most of my patrons are people who have suddenly lost a near relative—couples that have lost their first child mainly— and their grief is profound as they conduct this ghastly business of buy ing graveyard ground, aud It is my place to jar on them as little as possi ble. Hence I wear black and look grave. "My work is sad, but it Is saddest of all when old couples—old, childless couples—come to me to buy lots. A couple are getting on in years. One will soon be gone. It is necessary to select with care, consulting one anoth er wistfully. They consider the view. It Is best, they think, to be on an emi nence. They consider the subject of shade. The fertility of the soil, also, is an important question, for they think that they will like flowers to grow on their graves. "I admit," said the agent, "that I make a good deal of money. People, you know, are in no mood for driving bargains when they come to buy their graves, and I take advantage of that fact. But my work Is so sad that It has to be very lucrative to keep me at it."—Philadelphia Record. Things That Went Wrong. Mrs. Maliala Jcnks, an estimable married woman, residing in Neoslia County, Kas., awoke from an after dinner nap one day with a loud shriek. She had dreamed that something ter rible had just happened, or was about lo happen to her father, a farmer In Illinois. So strong was the impression upon her that she looked at the clock and noted the hour, firmly convluced that her dream was a reality Two days afterward Mrs. Jenks re ceived a letter from her father, writ ten on the day when she had her dream, conveying the news that every body in the family was well, and he hoped these few lines would find he! enjoying the same great blessing. Kobosplerre's Clock. Robespierre's clock, which stood in the room occupied by him in the house of the carpenter Duplay, is now In the possession of Mile. Geniat, an artiste of the Francaise. The clock, aside from its historical value, is most Inter esting ou account of Its curious works. The face Is of copper and has only one ' hand. At the Chicago exhibition this i clock was an object of much interest, i It is to be placed iu the Curnavalet i Museum, by the side of the great clock I of the Tuilerles, which struck so many i j historical hours from the time of the Directory until the burning of the Ttiil eries ou the evening of May 34, 1871. 1 AS BADLY OFF AS SELKIRK. The Impecunlouß Scotchman Wlio Har HKsetl a Good-Natureil Man. Edward H. Sanborn, well known it Philadelphia manufacturing circles says the Philadelphia Record, tells o| a professional deadbeat who has liaunt ed him for years. "My first encounter with him," says Mr Sanborn, "was whefl I was connected with the drug business in Boston, nearly fifteen years ago. He introduced himself to me as the son of a prominent chemist in Glasgow, Scotland, nnd said that he had come to this country with glitter ing promises that had not been ful filled, nnd spun such a hard luck tale that I gave him some assistance. He came around regularly after that, and his pet expression was: 'I am cut off as completely from my friends as Alex ander Selkirk was on the Island of Juan Fernandez.' He got to be such a nuisance taat I told him I had ro more money, and he needn't come around, or words to that effect. "Well, one evening after I came to Philadelphia I was sitting In the Rev. Russell H. Conwell's parlor, when a Scotchman was ushered in, on a beg ging mission. I didn't recognize him until be chanced to remark that he was cut off from his friends as completely as Alexander Selkirk was on the Isiand of Juan Fernandez. I called Dr. Con well aside, and tne result was that the fellow went away empty handed, and without recognizing me. "On another occasion, when I was doing newspaper work, I was writing at my desk one night, when a fellow strolled into the office and announced that he was a Scotch newspaper man 1n hard luck. I paid no attention to him until the words floated over to my corner: 'I am cut off as completely from my friends as Alexander Selkirk was on the Island or Juan Fernandez.' I looked up and recognized him, and again his plans were frustrated. The other day lie braced me ou the street. 'Are you as lonely as Selkirk on the Island of Juan Fernandez?' I asked. He gave me one look and sneaked away." RUSSIAN ENAMEL. A Com ins Novelty 111 the Why of Jewel i-y For the Fair Sex. Quite a smart novelty Introduced by a live jeweler is what is called Russian enamel. Naturally it is m.ule In Ger many—nearly everything is. It coines in a number rf forms, all pleasing and all decidely odd. The quaintest part of it is that the enamel is transparent. This quality is particularly well ex ploited in the hatpins. There are two sorts of heads—one in the shape of Mercury wings, 'he other in a design that tops a knight's staff. They cost $3, and show off the design the best of any of the pieces, because they stand out where the light may shine through. For mere prettiness, the double shell Is the choice; it Is one of the novel things to hang on a chain. The shell folds together with room between for a keepsake. The enamel changes front blue to green, and is marked off finely with gilt lu cathedral glass effect. This costs SB. Much more elab mate is a necklace with a pendant. It Is of gold, iu au ancient design and two bits of the en amel breaks its length a few inches each way from tile pendant. And this pendant is in the shape of a human head with green and blue hair around her ivory face in true posteresque fash lon. A cabochon emerald Is on her forehead, and the more you look at It the more you wonder if the idea Is Egyptian or ecclesiastical.—Philadel phia Record. Atmosphere of Ceylon. When visitors enter Horticultural Hall, in Philadelphia, they pant. The heavy air—stagnant nnd warm and moist—oppresses their lungs. But t lie tropical plants in the hall would die without this kind of air, aud a man said of it the other day: "It is very much like the air of Ceylon. Ceylon has just such a heat, and just such a crushing prostrating humidity as this. Do you know that every European house out there has amoffg its servants a clothes nirer—a man whose sole duty it is to air and beat the clothes, which otherwise would become covered with a thick, white coat of mildew In a few hours? I took a $l5O camera with me to Ceylon. The dealer had warranted the wood to be perfectly seasoned, hut I had not been in the island a week be fore my camera had warped and fallen apart. The Ceylonese, la their horrible climate, are liealtby because they eat no meat 'and drink only water."—Phila delphia Record. A Historic Xloc. The oak tree under whose branches Abraham Lincoln and Stgpben A. Douglas held a political debate iu 185S, is still standing iu Bloouiingtou, 111., in the yard of E. M. Boweu. It appears to be centuries old. In 1858 the tree marked an inelosure then known as Hinshaw's pasture, a former public meeting place. George Hlnshaw. ibe owner, was a Democrat. He arranged to have the debnte there, being au ad mirer of Douglas. The two candidates for United States Senator had engaged in a series of debates, and the one held ill Bloouiingtou attracted voters rroiu far aud near. A platform for the can didates was constructed directly under the boughs of this old oak. Its shade protected the audience as well as tlie speakers. Only three men nro now living iu Bloouiingtou who heard the famous orators. They are Join: Dawson. Adam Guthrie aud W. S. De pew. Kentucky has withiu her borders nearly one-fourth as many sheep as nil the t-ther Southern States com ' -lued. How to Attain Success. By W. Bourke Cock) an. SHAVE been some time in the world, and the result of my experience is that there is one way by which success may be obtained with absolute certainty, and that Is to develop capacity. In all my life I have never known an instance of undiscovered merit. There are too many seekers to al low ability to remain hid. If you possess ability and were placed in a diving bell and lowered to the bottom of the sea, expeditions would be fitted out to discover you and T bring you back. No matter what calling you embrace, if you have ability you will be in demand. If a lawyer, think how many persons there are in trouble who would be seeking your advice; if a physician, how many there are who are 111 who would want your services; if an architect, how many who desire better houses built. I have heard it said that a young man needs a pull to get along, ray no attention to that. If you have ability you will win. JS? Ideas on Ideal Woman. By Professor Benjamin Andrews, Chancellor of the University of Nebraska. LTIIOUGH the Ideal of man is agreed on and confirmed £ ffVyS from time to time, in the case of woman there are various is m ideals and with numerous intelligent adherents. These ■> 9A O Ideals nre so different that not all of them can be correct. 4 A" U I will mention three principal ones, from which there are, of Q M course, many variations. A UIXCTQuUI First, there is the masculine Ideal of woman—tlie notion J that she is to be as strong and as much like man as possible. Then there is the reverse idea. She is to be merely a pet, a plaything—simply an ad jective, as it were. And thirdly, there is what I will call the substantive ideal—she is to be like a nun. The different ideals of woman vary indefi nitely in peculiarity, all the way from the first to the third. A woman's life is not any more than a man's incomplete or a failure by virtue of the fact of celibacy. But the ideal woman must be a woman, not masculine. She is a substantive member or unit in society, not a mere ad jective, like Dickens' Dora; and the question Is, how can these requirement? be combined? For tha ideul woman must be sweet and strong at once. The Science of Forestry. A Climatic Necassity. /SgWjjgjJSN HE profession of forestry, unknown not very many years ago, / M is rapidly assuming importance in the eyes of the world. y (JjJ >j v j!j]l It cannot too quickly become important in the minds of j j§ I ©j) Americans, for at the rate at which the lumbermen are de- i ® I Us) s l 10 '" n K our woodlands it will not be long before we shall 'W H]| [jjfj have uot only no forests, but no climate worth mentioning. y y-.Jfljj It may make some difference with the practical ones to explain that there is profit as well as principle in taking care of one's trees. The little kingdom of Saxony, which Is about as large as the State of Connecticut, is said to have the best regulated system of forestry in the world. The timbered land is supervised by graduates of a regular course of training In this science, who have been taught chemistry, physics, miner alogy, zoology, mechanics, geology, mathematics, botany, surveying, for estry proper, and the provisions of 'he game and fish laws. The forests are said to be worth $80,000,000, nnd by preserving them an annual revenue ot nearly three and a quarter millions is derived. After the salaries of the foresters are paid and all other expenses met, the State gets two and a quarter millions out of this revenue. It Is wealth on such a scale as this that reckless and unscrupulous lumber compauies have been destroying for us. And we Americans call ourselves the most practical people on earth, and consider the German mind dreamy and unpractical. It looks very much as if the people of this land had been living under the impression that the Government had literally money to burn.—New York News. j£r Education as & Reserve Power By Orison Swett Marden. of our great Iron manufacturers, a man who is success fully controlling the labor of thousands of men, recently said that the best thing for a young man to do Is to go to work, to S get into business as early as possible. He decried the idea of getting a college education and acquiring culture. This man will probably become one of the richest men in the country, and, twenty years hence, when he shall have grown tired of 717171 accumulating money, he will not know how to get any high enjoyment out of It. His intellectual tastes must remain crude and undeveloped. There are too many such men in America, ranging from millionaires 10 men with small fortunes. They nre thus numerous because so many of our young men rush Into business, in their eagerness to make money, with out having received an adequate education for mental training nnd growth late in life. It is well-nigh impossible for most of such men to acquire habits of study after thirty. The intellect, at that age, has been formed to hold and associate certain kinds of images, ideas, nnd thoughts, and only by efforts that ninety-nine men in a hundred cannot make can such mental \ habits be formed. One of the hardest tasks is for a mature but illiterate * mind to learn to love reading. Illiteracy, fixed by habit, holds the mind as a vise clamps iron. But the uneducated men most to be pitied are those who have reached middle life without success. Education is the one thing they need, and .tlieir chances of acquiring It have become even more uncertain than those of the men who have achieved partial or complete success in acquiring property, nnd influence. They lack power and self-confidence, gifts that such minds can acquire only by early training and discipline. "Failed for lack of an education" would be a fit epitaph for many an unfortunate. JZ> & JZ? Matrimony, Eminence and Longevity By Edgar Saltus. OROFE3SOR THORNDIKE, of Columbia University, discusses in the current Issue of a popular periodical two proposi tions of general interest. First, that men of eminence marry young; second, that matrimony Is good for them. * The prior proposition is uncontrovertible. Shining ex nmples are superabundant. Last week, or the week he fore, the Sultan of Zanzibar was married. The Sultan 19 precisely seventeen. In Zanzibar he is certainly eminent Then tuere is Mr. Reginald Vnuderbilt. Mr. Vanderbllt is twenty-three. He is not married yet, but he is going to be. If we may believe everything we hear, aud that is always such a pleasure, he also is au eminent young man. Then, too, there is the German Kaiser. Concerning his eminence, it would be Mnjestnts-verbrechen to express a doubt. Tills gentleman married at au age so tender that the next morning he was up before breakfast treating the guards to a drill. There Is, moreover, Mr. Sage. Ills eminence is equally unquestionable. Just when he married we arc uot quite certain, but we are sure that It oc curred lu prehistoric times. In view of these examples Professor Tliorndike's proposition may be ac cepted with ease. But its corollary is not so clear. Matrimony, particularly when the party of the second part happens to he of a tempestuous disposi sition, is highly chastening, and that, too, whether you are eminent or not As such It is beneficial to us all. Yet concerning its further advantages, X political economists manifest an occasional reserve. ™ To this reserve Dr. Schwatz has latterly supplied an accent. Dr. Schwatz Is a Berllnese scientist. In a recent monograph he contended that matri mony is not merely beneficial, but conducive to longevity. With an in genuity which we can only qualify as lovable, he produced in support of the contention a number of centenarians. He showed that each of them had married, and that all were widowers. Which latter fact, however, proves or seems to prove not so much perhaps that matrimony is conducive to longevity, but rather that he who survives matrimony can survive any thing.—New York American nnd Journal.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers