SYMPATHY. I might have said a word of cheer Before I let him go : His weary visage haunts me yet, But how could I foreknow. The slightest chance would be the last To me in merey given ? My utmost yearnings cannot send That word from earth to heaven. I might have looked the love I felt My brother had sore need Of that for which, too shy and proud, He lacked the speech to plead. But self is near and self is strong, And I was blind that day ; He sought within my careless eyes, And went, athirst, away. I mignt have held in closer clasp The hand he laid in mine ; The pulsing warmth of my rich life Had been as dangerous wine, Swelling a stream that even then Was ebbing faint and slow, Mine might have been (God knows) the art To stay the fatal flow. Oh, word and look and clasp withheld ! Oh, brother-heart, now stilled ! Dear life, forever out of reach, I might have warmed and filled! Talents m!sused and seasons lost, O’er which IT mourn in vain, A waste as barren to me tears As desert sands to rain ! Ah, friend, whose eyes to-day may look Love into living eyes ; Whose tone and touch, perchance, may thrill ! Sad hearts with sweet surprise. Be instant, like your Lord, in love, And lavish as his grace, With light and dew and manna-fall, For night comes on apace. — Marion Harland in the Congregationalist. MISUNDERSTOOD DOG. A Satan’s master was somewhat disappoint- ed in him. The dog did not show any signs of that ferocity which he had been led to expects; yet his appearance was savage enough to make him an excellent guardian of his master’s house and prop- erty. And that was the irony of the situa- tion, that the huckster’s neighbors gave him a wide berth, and even admired, at a distance, his threatening aspect ; while he, poor fellow, looked wistfully at them, and felt weary of life, he so much longed for sympathy and affection. Satan’s stay with his master was brief. The huckster, in a few weeks, sold out his business and left town ; and since the dog had cost him nothing, and he had no affec- tion for the animal, he left him behind, homeless and forsaken. Satan was now without any human ties whatever ; and to be without such helps to upright conduct is as dangerous for dogs as for men ; at such times the steps down- ward to disreputable ways are very easily entered upon ; vice beckons most persua- sively when virtuous influences are absent ; and a living, hoping, loving soul, whether in a man’s body or in a dog’s, must have companionship and sympathy as a safe- guard. So it came about that Satan made friends of various degenerate specimens of dog- hood ; or, rather, he allowed them to make friends of him ; and together they foraged in alleys and backyards, and led a precari- ous existence in the lower streets of the town. Often he thought of his old home, with its merry group of playmates ; and gladly and quickly would he have sped across the country to his shelter and its love, bad he not recollected, with sadness and pain, the sharp words of dismissal which had sent him forth. So he shut his great grief within his breast, and tried to find some new friend among the crowds of the street ; but al- though each day he hoped for some passer- by to give him a friendly word, yet each day the hope grew moredim. Harsh words and unkind looks were his portion ; and as the cold weather came on food, even of the worst kind, became scarcer and scarcer, and poor Satan knew, for the first time in his life, what real, gnawing hunger was like. One day he was searching among the re- fuse barrels and waste heaps of a vacant lot for some scraps of food. He was search- ing in desperation. Suddenly he caught sight of a few morsels of meat, as they were thrown out into the lot from the rear door of a restaurant ; in an instant he leap- ed forward ; in those morsels there was a respite from starvation for some poor four- footed creature. Satan sprang toward the food, seized it, and was about to carry it away when he heard a savage growl behind him, and turned, barely in time to avoid the spring of another larger dog, who also had set eyes of hungry intent on the covet- ed meal. Then came a louder and more threatening growl from the larger dog, as he recovered himself and made straight at Satan’s throat. There wus no time for re- flection ; Satan had no desire to fight, but here was an unjust attack. The scraps of meat belonged to him by all laws of prior seizure ; yet this larger dog, trusting to his superior strength, was bent upon tak- ing them from him. For a moment, only, Satan reflected and hesitated ; he must have what belonged to him, if, indeed, he could keep it, which seemed unlikely. The big hungry dog again sprang for- ward, and Satan dropped his morsel and met him with open mouth. The greater weight of the would-be robber rolled Sa- tan over upon his back ; but, by a lucky snap of his strong jaws, as he rolled, he seized the other dog firmly by the throat. There he hung. The big dog growled, and swept him from side to side over the ground, raising a cloud of dust ; and then, lifting him fairly from the earth, shook him savagely in the air ; but, all the time, Satan, by the instinct of self-preservation, more than by any definite plan of battle, held silently by his throat, and resolved that there he would stick. Of course the noise and the sight of the struggle drew idle spectators, like flies, to the scene. Some of them expressed delight, and some horror ; but all showed profound interest in the proceedings. Satan had his eyes shut, and could not see them, but he heard them, and he hoped each minute that somebody would interfere. He dared not let go his grip, for he knew that the big dog had strength and weight enough to kill him, if it were once brought to hear fully upon him. But the big dog was now the more fright- ened of the two ; and his growls had be- come subdued to a whine, and his efforts became less and less vigorous. Presently a big blacksmith mustered courage to seize Satan, and a stout wagoner ventured to clutch the other dog ; and as soon as Satan saw that his foe was likely to be held back he loosened his jaws and gladly retreated from the struggle. The big dog was in no condition of mind or body to renew his attack, and slunk away ; Satan, hardly less frightened, yet pressed by hunger, at once bethought him- self of the scraps of meat, and quickly took possession of them, his hunger soon ban- ishing his fright. The crowd of idlers, some of whom had seen him before, were unanimous in his praise ; they had not the words to fully express their satisfaction at the ‘‘gameness’’ of ‘‘the little un.” His feelings of fright and his instinct of des- perate self-preservation they interpreted as an innate love of bloodythirsty strife ; and they one and all agreed that such pluck had not been seen in that town since the remarkable day when ‘Bill Reynolds’s terrier choked the life out of Sam Baker’s red setter.’’ 3 This episode in Satan’s life brought him into the ownership of a new master ; and the new master was no other than the | tramp who presented himself, with the dog beside him, at the parsonage porch. It happened in this wise : After the conflict was over, most of the idlers lounged back to their haunts around the stables and saloons. But one of them went over near Satan, ashe enjoyed his hardly earned meal, and talked to him in a friendlier tone than he had heard for many a day. Itmay be that the two glasses of whiskey which had very recently passed down the man’s throat had some- thing to do with this friendly expression ; but, whatever the cause, the kind words were very grateful to Satan. And he even paused, half-famished as he was, to return ! the friendly advances with a brief, spas- i modic vibration of his tail. {When the food had been eaten, a slice of | buttered bread from the rear pocket of his | visitor’s greasy frock-coat completed the | mutual confidences ; and Satan licked the | hand that patted him, and gave several snuffles and sighs of deep content, and felt that perhaps the world was not so cold and i heartless as he had supposed. | The dog’s history, from this point on, | was told me by various police officers. | and it runs as follows : This man, Satan’s next master, was | drunken and disreputable enough to dam- | pen the enthusiasm of even the most zeal- ous ‘‘slum-worker.”” He was a tailor by trade, and had given up regular work long before, having learned (that most danger- ous and demoralizing fact) that in this country a man can obtain bread without working for it. He had, withal, a certain attractive good-nature, which, with his ready tongue, made it especially easy for him to cajole thrifty householders out of the desired bread and coffee. So the two faced the world together ; and whatever food the tailor got by his persuasive ways he shared with his dog ; and the two became devoted friends. Sa- tan was at first puzzled by the long periods of rest and profound sleep in which his master indulged, on occasions, at the most unexpected times and in the most uncom- fortable corners of public parks and alleys; indeed, he never fully understood the rea- son for them ; but he learned to stand guard at such times over the prostrate form ; and, as the police told me, woe to the man—brass buttons or no brass but- tons—who then tried to lay band on the drunken tailor. Thus weeks and months passed by. and Satan’s life was not an unhappy one. He grew more and more dirty and unkempt, but the dog had what he most longed for, affection. The one redeeming virtue in the disreputable tailor was that he really was fond of Satan. Other better-kept dogs looked scornfully at him, but he only glanced up confidingly at his master, and trotted along with great content in his breast. : When the tailor was sober he was kind- ly ; and when he was quite filled with li- quor he was soon stupid and helpless. It was when he had drank a little only, and desired more, that he was inconsiderate and cross. At such times he was inclined to speak sharply to his faithful companion, and often tried to urge him into quarrels with other dogs ; but he urged in vain— Satan had only good-will toward both man and beast. He could not understand why he should attack any creature who had not attacked him. Thus the tailor was some- what puzzled, and was considerably dis- appointed in him ; for he had witnessed the dog’s remarkable prowess, and felt sure that he was a wonderful fighter. Late in the afternoon of the day when the two had stood in the parsonage porch, a great thirst for liquor came over the man ; and the one glass of whiskey which he was able to beg from an old crony only whetted his appetite and made him cross. He spoke sharply to Satan, and once even tried to kick him. Then an evil combination of circum- stances gathered about the two compan- ions. The owner of a bar-room where the thirsty tailor was lounging, hoping for a ‘‘treat,”’ had recently bought a dog ; and he offered to bet Satan’s master that his new dog could whip Satan in a fair fight. The tailor declared, in the high hope of unlimited drinks, that he could not ; and several of the bystanders supported his declaration, and dropped sundry remarks in praise of Satan’s prowess. The result was that an agreement was then and there made to set the dogs at each other, and have a trial of their respective merits. When the new dog was brought out he proved to be nearly a third larger than Satan, and much heavier, and the scars on his breast and shoulders showed that he was no stranger to the dog-pit. The tailor was just enough excited by the whiskey already within kim, and stimulated by the hope of the larger quantity which he hoped to add to it. to be blind to the impending danger. As for Satan, as soon as he saw the other dog, he wagged his stump of a tail in the friendliest possible way, and would have entered at once upon a frolic ; but a re- straining hand held him, and the new dog uttered a forbidding growl. After a few more drinks the crowd adjourned to a yard in the rear of an empty house, and disposed themselves on barrelsand boxes and on the fence. Then the dogs were brought near each other, poor Satan wondering what it all meant, and looking for an explanation. A practiced hand now pushed the ani- mals roughly up against each other, and although Satan only took this to be an ac- cident, and hoped it would not be repeat- ed, the trained pit-dog knew it, of old, as the signal for conflict, and broke from the hand than held him, and flew at his antag- onist. Now it must not be understood that Sa- tan was a coward, for he was not ; and when this ferocious animal sprang at him, great as the odds were against him, he de- fended himself. He was not as heavy as the pit-dog, but he was quicker ; and like a flash he leaped aside, and, as the other passed him, he seized him by the throat. The pit-dog, thus impeded in his leap, rolled head-long upon the ground, and Sa- tan fell with him. At once from the bar- rels and boxes and the fence went up a All expressed great confidence in Satan’s powers, heavy as the odds were against him. . The next instant Satan felt the powerful jaws of his enemy shut into the side of his chorus of yells at this masterly defence. neck. His own hold prevented those jaws from quite reaching under his throat, but the strong, sharp teeth brought pain, and blood flowed from both dogs. For a few moments there was a pause. On the part of the trained pit-dog this was only a feint ; on Satan’s part it was in the hope that this was the end of the matter, and that now kind human hands would stop the savage struggle. But the half- drunken tailor only shouted to his dog, urging him on ; and no help came. Suddenly the pit-dog let go his grip, and by his greater strength bent his head for- ward and seized poor Satan's right paw in his strong jaws. Instantly there was heard a cracking sound. The bone was broken like a pipe-stem. That was the method of warfare to which be had been trained by savage human instructors. Satan felt the horrible pain shoot through his whole body, and his own slenderer jaws shut more desperately on his foe’s tough throat. But what could the poor fellow do, thus maimed and weakened ! He could only hold on, in a frantic, hope- less way, while his drunken master loudly cursed him, and declared that he would yet conquer. But not so. He was not a fighter, either by nature or training ; all his reputation for ferocity was not justified by his instincts or by his past actions. And while the pit- dog, hardy, savage, relentless, felt only irritation at the grip upon his throat, Sa- tan’s strength and courage were fast eb- bing. There was another violent struggle, con- fused and blood-curdling, and then the pit- dog tore himself from Satan’s weakened grip, his blood flowing freely, but his strength unimpaired, and his savage nature roused to fury. One quick movement, and he had Satan by the throat and shook him like a rat. A deathly silence fell on the crowd ; those who were at all sobet saw that the smaller dog was doomed. The drunken tailor fairly foamed, in his obstinate wrath at his nnhappy dog. His drunken mad- ness swallowed up the affection which he really had for his four-footed companion. Poor, desperate, dying Satan looked plead- ingly, piteously at him, but that look of entreaty met no response. The brute in- stincts of his master had supplanted the human sympathies. Then there was a sickening scene as the maddened pit-dog shook his helpless an- tagonist, and set his jaws more firmly in the unresisting throat. Deeper and deep- er he thrust his glistening teeth, now dyed red with the blood of his victim, until fi- nally there came a great gush of the red stream of life, and he crouched like a tiger over the quivering body, and the struggle was ended. Poor Satan, misunderstood through all his life, would be misunderstood no longer. Then the crowd of idle, brutal loafers, following the instincts which always gov- ern such natures, deserted the ‘scene, and in a shambling, shamefaced way, strug- gled, in twos and threes, back to the sa- loons and stables. The barkeeper, with great difficulty, pulled his maddened animal away from the unresisting body ; and the tailor, now de- serted, and partially sobered by the dread- ful scene. stood fixed in a stupid, frigh- tened stare. He stood thus several min- utes, as if expecting the inanimate form to rise and come toward him, as of old. Then he spoke, weakly, hesitatingly : ‘‘Satan ! Satan ! come—here !”’ But there was no response. Faithful Satan gave no sign of recognition ; the stumpy tail and the ragged ears, always so expressive of the owner’s hopes and fears and sympathies, now gave no token of life and intelligence. The wretched tailor started forward ; he leaned over his faithful companion’s body ; he gazed into the half-closed eyes, but nosoulful, eloquent glance, as of old, now met him. He laid his trembling hand on the discolored body, and it grew colder and colder under his touch. Then, for the first time, the truth seemed to penetrate into his drink-obscured mind. The full extent of his loss came over his brutish nature. He groaned aloud ; he looked about him, but his careless, seltish companions were gone ; he knew that he was alone in the world ; his one faithful friend was dead. Then he took off his coat, and laid the lifeless body upon it ; and, gathering the disordered bundle into his arms, he walked —with weak, tremblingsteps, though not now with the gait of a drunken man— straight over tothe parsonage ; and there on the porch I met him ; I met them both, amid the shadows of evening, as I had met them in the sunshine of the morning. The poor, unhappy man seemed to trust me, as if confident of my sympathy ; and, as his eye met mine, the stolid, fierce ex- pression left his face, and great tears rolled down his cheeks ; with a groan he laid his burden at my feet. I was moved, deeply moved. I know something about men and a good deal about dogs ; and I knew that these two had been loving, devoted friends ; more truly sympathetic than are many a man and wife. Never was a loving response lacking from this faithful dumb compan- ion. The very quality which a man values most in the wite of his bosom, unfailing love, always leaped outand up from this poor creature to his master. I laid my hand on the man’s shoulder, and said, tenderly, ‘“‘My man, you have lost a dear friend.. Tell me about it! Come in and sit here!” And then, as he hesitated, I caught his feeling, and I ad- ded, “Certainly, bring in his poor body ! We won't leave it lying there alone.” So the broken-hearted man came in, and laid his burden beside a chair, and, seat- ing himself, confided his troubles to me— though I was the younger of the two—-as a child might confide in its father. When the sad story was told, with sobs and tears, I had never a chiding word to add ; the man’s grief was great. ; and to- gether we gave the poor, torn body burial, peace, and rest,under the shade of a cherry tree, at the end of the garden. Then I was able to talk more quietly with the poor, broken-hearted fellow ; I tried to turn the current of his feelings into other channels ; but he constantly revert- ed to his great sorrow. After a moment or two of deep, silent reflection he suddenly exclaimed, with touching eagerness, ‘‘Does dogs have sowls, Yer Riverence ?”’ I assured him that they had, and the thought seemed to give comfort : then, after another pause, ‘‘An’ hees there dogs in hiven, Yer Riverence ? Good dogs, av coorse, I mane.”’ ‘‘Yes, Michael, I certainly believe that there are.” “Bliss Gard ! bliss Gard! and the howly mither av Gard !”” he ejaculated, fervently. . However, the sense of ‘‘things seen and temporal’”’ was strong upon him ; it is strong upon all of us, far too strong ; and he could not divest himself of the feeling that his faithful friend Satan, was some- where there in the ground, soul with body. So I understood and sympathized when he presently asked, with a pitiful repres- sion of eagerness that was very touching, if I had not some job of work about the place which he could undertake. Accord- ingly I made some work for him, and he did it faithfully. And afterward I set him about some important changes in the flow- er-beds ; and the result—well, we shall never know the full results of any of our actions until the Great Day—but the re- sult at the present time is that Michael, with never a relapse, with never a sign of regret for ‘‘the road,’’ still potters about the grounds and my dear old church ; and, each year, he renews the plants and vines upon the little mound beside the now mouldering trunk of the cherry tree. Sometimes Michael and I talk over the past ; though the true-hearted, single- minded old man never speaks with any directness of the sad episode which brought us together ; but from casual allusions dropped by him I am sure that the years have done for him, what they should do for us all : they have cleared away many mistakes and false fancies ; and I know, with entire certainty, that poor, dear Sa- tan is no longer ‘‘a misunderstood dog.’’ —Bradley Gilman in Seribner’s Magazine. How the Greeks Were Defeated. In the current number of the Forum Frederick Palmer, who was so fortunate as to witness every emportant engagement of the main army of the Greeks during the recent thirty-one days war with Turkey, tries to tell how it was that they were so easily and thoroughly defeated. He succeeds in fully explaining their de- feat by showing an almost incredible folly and incompetence in both officers and men, and the wonder only is that this state of things was not recognized before the war began. The facts that many of the Greek officers had been educated in France, that the troops were well uniformed and fairly well armed and equipped diverted atten- tion from the glaring faults and weaknesses which assured the terrible national ter. The greatest of these faults seem to have been an utter lack of discipline, and a fatal contempt for the enemy which soon gave place to undue dread. From generals to lieutenants the Greek officers seem to have been utterly unfit to command. On the verge of hos.ilities there was no drill- ing of even the raw levies. “They lined up their men in the morning and left them to their own devices for the rest of the day.” Colonel Smolenski is named as almest the only exception to the prevail- ing worthlessness of the officers, and it is | stated, by the way, that this Greek-hero is a pure Slav. ‘‘It was sad to see how few of the Greek officers realized what defeat meant. They rather seemed to enjoy hav- ing so fine a piece of news, asa great down- fall, tochatter about in their little cafes.’’ As for the private, ‘‘having been taught that the Turk was a ragged fellow, who would run at the first shot. it was in his nature, when he saw the Turk advance so bravely, to fly to the other extreme. The body wounds of the Greeks were usually in the back.” : On the other hand this observer credits the Turks with their traditional bravery, but denies that they showed military skill. Edhem Pasha ‘‘was most fortunate in his opponents.”’ The Greek army, organized by a French officer upon as good lines as Greek politics would allow, was nominally under ! the direction of ten colonels, who quarrell- ed with one another. When it was seen that a head of some sort was necessary the Crown Prince Constantine, to whose per- sonal courage Mr. Palmer strongly testifies, but whom he charges with an oriental dis- like of rapid and decisive action, and a tendency to be easily discouraged, was sent to the front to prove that ‘‘in no sense did he possess the qualities of a general.” This critic does not hesitate to assert that | in spite of his victories the Turkish army plainly showed an oriental lack of energy which would have been fatal to it against a more worthy foe. ‘‘The blunders of the Turks succeeded only because the blunders of the Greeks were greater and more num- erous,’”” and chief among these Turkish blunders was slowness. Not until after breakfast at ten in the morning is the Turk- ish officer ready to say to his men ‘‘If you love Allah, advance !”’ It is comforting to read this well informed opinion that ‘‘a continental army equal in number to that of the Greeks would have sent the Turks back up the pass after they had debouched into the plain at Mati,”” and that, to the Turkish officers military science, is a pro- found mystery. It may not be pleasant to look for les- sons to Americans in this explanation of the defeat of the Greeks, but they are there all the same. We may justly flatter ourselves upon being courageous as a people, and amendable to discipline in spite of our love of personal liberty, for upon these points we were fearfully tried and not found wanting in our great war; but the war also developed difficulties in the selection and support of commanders in the field similar to those that helped to ruin Greece. Polit- ical influences put weak men in places of the gravest responsibility, and the same in- fluences withheld adequate support from able generals at critical moments. As that tremendous = conflict progressed these faults, in a measure, cured themselves; but a way should be found to avoid them in any future trouble. Never Thought of Her. The best joke of the honeymoon season is told by a Southern hotel keeper. The male half of the new partnership registered like this : ‘‘August Buerger and wife.”’ He remained one day, and when he stepped up to ask the amount of his bill the clerk said it would be $4. “Four dollars I> Mr. Buerger said. “Why your rates are rather high, aren’t they 27? : ‘‘No, I guess not. day.” ‘‘But I have been here only one day.’’ “I know, but it’s $4,”’ the clerk re- plied. ‘‘How do you figure that?’’ the newly wedded man asked, as he leaned over the counter with a frown of perplexity on his otherwise blissful features. ‘“Well. there’s yourself, one day, $2,and there’s your wife, one day, $2; two and two make four.”’ The fellow slammed his fist down ou the register, while a crimson flush of blood suf- fused his cheeks. ‘‘Well, I'll swear,’’ he cried, ‘if I didn’t forget all about her, I'll eat my hat ! Here take this V, keep the change and say nothing about it, please.” But the clerk didn’t keep the change, so he didn’t think there was any reason why he shouldn’t tell the story. That’s only $2 a Dr. Talbot Elected Bishop. The convention of the Protestant Episco- pal diocese of Central Pennsylvania, in session at Bethlem for the purpose of elect- ing a bishop to’ flll the place made vacant by the death of the late Nelson Somerville Rulison, D. D., elected the Rt. Rev. Ethel- bert Talbot, D. D., LL. D., four ballots being necessary to a choice. Dr. Talbot is at present missionary bishop of Wyoming and Idaho. : Mrs. Nack’s Confession. Mrs. Augusta Nack, who had been ac- cused, together with Martin Thorn, of the murder of William Guldensuppe, turned state’s evidence, testified that her male accomplice took a leading part in procuring Guldensuppe’s death, and also admitted that she was connected with the horrible crime. The action which she took will probably result in saving her life. It will also have the effect of sending Thorn to the electric chair. In the history of criminal women, in the records of fallen man, it would be difficult to find one who pos- sessed more thoroughly the characteristics of a fiend than Mrs. Nack. We do not see how any person, masculine or feminine, could be more wicked than she has shown herself to be. She is both an adulteress and a murderess. Her own husband she deserted to live with Guldensuppe. She tired of the latter and then took up with disas- | | disabuse them of that notion. i can be sold with in the State and no game Thorn and, we have reason to believe, in- stigated the latter to kill her former para- i mour. Now, tosave her own life, she be- | trays her accomplice in murder and gives i convineting evidence against him, thereby practically ensuring his death, while, if | she had not turned informer, his conviction | might not have heen secured. There is no doubt that both Thorn and his counsel had some reason for the confi- dence with which they announced that a verdict of acquittal would be rendered. ! Such an outcome previous to the confession of Mrs. Nack would not have been un- warranted. Of course, justice loses noth- ing by the developments that have taken place in this case. Thorn richly deserves the death penalty that will be meted out to him, and the sending of Mrs. Naek to the penetentiary for life will be about as much of a punishment as can be awarded to her, after revealing the full details of the horrible crime. Cost of Solomon’s Temple. A noted statistician and investigator who has lots of time for such work has heen doing some figuring on the cost of the Tem- ple of Solomon, and says few people, even in these days of palmy extravagance and millionaire display have an adequate im- | pression of the enormous cost of the great | temple. According to Villalpandus. the ‘talents’ of gold, silver and brass were | equal to the enormous sum of 6,879.822,000 | pounds sterling. The worth of the jewels | is placed at a figure equally as high. The vessels of gold, according to Josephus, { were valued at 140,000 talents, which, re- { duced to English money, was equal to 1 575,296,203 pounds. The vessels of silver, according to the same authority, were still more valuable, being set down as worth 646,344,000 pounds. Priests’ vestments and the robes of singers, 2,010,000 and the trumpets, 200,000 pounds. To this add the expense of the building material, labor, etc., and some wonderful figures result. Ten thousand men hewing cedars, 60,000 bearers of burdens, 80,000 hewers of stone, 3300 overseers, all of whom were employed for seven years, and upon whom, besides their wages, Solomon bestowed 6,733,970 pounds. If their daily food was worth 50 cents each, the sum total for all was 63,- 877,088 pounds during the time of build- ing. The materials in the rough are esti- mated as having been worth 2,545,337,000 pounds. This gives a total, just for this much of the expense, which by no means expresses the whole cost, of 10,719,860,261 pounds, orabout $52,117,034,867.46. Fluctuations of Wheat. Its Value Has Gone Up and Down for Two Hun- dred Year. A London statistician has been looking up the records and has made a diagram showing the annual variation in the price of wheat since 1641. The most remarkable fact disclosed by his investigations is that the prices rises and falls with great regu- larity every four years and he explains that the phenomenon is due to the fact that when the market has been good farm- ers have planted an increased quantity, thus making a larger supply and forcing prices down again. The average price in 1895 was 23 shillings 1 pence a quarter or 70 cents a bushel, and in 1896 26 shillings 2 pence or 88 cents a bushel. The highest price ever known for wheat occurred in 1812, when it sold for 126 shillings 6 pence a quarter, or about $3.85 a bushel The lowest price was in 1743, when it fell to 22 shillings 1 pence, or 60 cents a bushel, al- though it should be remembered that the value of money was very much greater in those days than now. Wars in any part of the earth have invariably increased the price of wheat. The most rapid advance ever noted was in 1799, when the career of Napoleon was at its height. Wheat went from $2 to $3.50 a bushel in a few months. Stories of the Day. Thankful Tha: the Warm Place Was at Last Full. James G. Blaine is said to have related the following story to a coterie of friends while crossing from America to Europe : ‘A few years ago I attended a perform- ance of ‘Faust’ at a Dublin theater. In the third act, ‘Faust,’ the lost, is dragged down into the infernal regions in a glare of fire. On this occasion the actor imper- sonating ‘Faust was an abnormally large man, and the trap door of the stage an un- usually small one. At the proper time the door separated and a volume of blue and red smoke burst forth. ‘Faust’ was seen dragged by a hidden power, struggling through the opening. His legs went first, and he proceeded as far as his waist. Here he stuck. Those underneath tried to pull him through, while he endeavored to get out. He could move neither way, his portly body completely filling the aperture. There was an embarrassing pause. The audience was as silent as the tomb. Then an old Irishman back in the gallery arose and, with his eyes fixed on the scene, rais- ed his hand and fervently exclaimed : ‘I thank God, hell’s full.” Must Eat All Youn Shoot. Hunters will do well to bear in mind that they are not ‘‘pot hunters,’’ and that they cannot dispose of any surplus that they have. Therefore when you shoot all that your family and friends can consume —quit. The season is now open for all game. As many persons labor under the mistaken impression that they can sell the game to the consumers, it will be well to No game taken out of the State under any pretext whatever.— Ex. Mary and Her Goat. Mary has a Billy goat, its tail is sort of bent, and everywhere that Mary goes the lamb is sure to went. He followed her to school one day, which made her hot as fire, for Mary had ridden on her wheel and Billy ate the tire. FOR AND ABOUT WOMEN. | Helen Gould, who is worth $25,000,000 in her own right, has entered the law school of the Columbia University with the inten- tion of qualifying herself for the active practice of law. Any woman who studies effects will soon see that the color which itensifies the color of her eyes is the one which is most becom - ing every time. Pale biueand pink should be carefully avoided by women with red hair , as they exaggerate 1ather than soften the natural coloring ; but they will never make any mistake with any of the dark shades of brown, especially the red brown. Brown is also the color for a brown-eyed woman, as it will bring out the beauty of her eyes as no other color can if she but chooses the right shade. Gray is becoming to women with gray hair, and to young women who have gray eyes and lovely complexions, while white is becoming to al- most every one, providing she selects the right tint. The blonde can wear the pure white without a tinge of yellow or pink in it, but the brunette must be careful to wear the soft cream shades, and if she wears black at all, it must be very glos- sy, while the pronounced blonde can safe- ly deck herself in the dull black which is used for mourning. Green is the color which is pretty sure to be suitable to every complexion, providing one is fortun- ate enough to discover the particular shade which harmonizes best with her col- oring. The effect of all the new skirts is to flare considerably from the knees and sides ; at the same time they fit the hips and front of the figure smoothly. These skirts to be thoroughly stylish, should set out well in the back, the back being accentuated by { using reeds or haircloth in the petticoat worn beneath, but under no circumstances in the skirt itself, the use of any stiffening or other mode of extension invariably spoiling the graceful set, as it tends to break the line from belt to hem in the back. Gray is certainly the favorite color and appears in all shades from the faintest pearly tinge to the darker slate. The tint looks well with almost everything. It is seen much with purple and yellow and is often adorned with heavy cream lace about the neck and shoulders. A popular trim- ming for these gowns consists of bands of the dress goods or of veivet of the same color, stitched on in a purely tailor fashion. This is very simple, but effective, and im- parts an air of quiet elegance to an other- wise very plain dress. Tucks are fashion- able and appear repeatedly in both heavy and light materials. Purples and dark reds are prevailing colors. They seem especially to invite a combination of beautiful velvet and fur. Blue is not popular just now, but neverthe- less has its own devotees, who regard it as too old and tried a friend to be slightly cast aside and far too durable and attractive ever to be entirely discarded. Skirts are scant in front, fitting smooth- ly over the hips with a very little fullness directly in the back. They are generally one with the lining and descend into quite a perceptible demitrain behind. Bodices are made loose in a scant blouse- like fashion and are belted into the waist by a girdle of ribbon. If they develop they develop below the waist line, the skirt of the bodice being extremely tiny, being scarcely one inch and a half in length. Every gown, almost without exception, boasts of gnimpe of some description over which the dress is built. These guimpes are either very simple, hooking to the in- ner line of the waist, or elaborate enough to be worn as separate blouses, everything being determined by the size and cut of the bodice. They are generally of heavy yellow lace over white silk with a long jabot-like stock, or they are made of chiffon puffed and tucked into an intricate mass with a soft dropping bow at the throat. Poultices are valuable aids. not so much on .account of the material of which they are made, but because they retain the heat for a long time. There is a right and wrong way of making a poultice. Heat and moisture are the two requisites. What- ever be used, whether flaxseed, oatmeal, or what, it should be cooked well with water, and if it be soft some thickening substance may be added. It should be spread on a piece of linen and not too thin. It may be from half an inch to an inch thick. Cheesecloth, muslin or other substances hold a poultice better than linen, but the latter is smoother and more agreeable to the skin. The material should be laid out and the poultice spread over init in a thick layer, and then another layer on the linen, or whatever is used should cover the poul- tice and the edges be folded over so that none of the flaxseed comes in contact with the skin. Two poultices should be made, so that one should be hot while the other is in use, or when a poultice begins to cool off it should be changed. As poultices have a certain amount of weight they should never be laid on the chest or abdomen of a child, as they impede the breathing and do more harm than good. Sashes will be worn extensively this win- ter but it must not be imagined that: they are anything like the sash from the past, far from it. They are an altogether glorified reproduction. Their ends are trimmed with tiny ruching of chiffon, bands of pas- sementrie, frills of lace and netted fringe, and they are either drawn through a buckle in the back or on the left side, or knotted in a fanciful manner. One end should touch or just escape the hem of the garm ent the other hang a trifle above it. Close fitting jackets with short basques elaborately braided and bordered with nar- row band of Astrakhan, are now the height of the fashion—that is the first fashion ; | in the second grade come the Russian coats { made in plain cloth, braided cloth or velvet with more or less elaborate trimmings. Red jackets, Russian and all other kinds, seem to have taken the public mind might- ily, and our old friend the cape remains with us, made fuller than ever, with high collars in all colors, rows of stitching at the edge. The mess jacket has superseded the Eton jacket especially the Astrakhan and Persian lamb. All the corsets this year are short, short in the bust and short on the hips. The ‘French waist’”” now aims to be natur- al and in consequence the fashionable fig- { ure has wide and abrupt hips flat stomach | and low bust. This is as it should be, and ! for once we can thank fortune for a sensi- | ble turn. | To be sure the general effect is somewhat | dumpy. Especially after we have so ac- | customed ourselves to the extremely long English figure (imagine an English wom- an in one of the new corsets!) but what | does a little thing like that matter.