Floors for Horse Stables. As long as we can remember, the question as to the best floors for horse stables has been discussed. We have tried clay and ordinary dirt, but they did not prove satistactory, Holes w ould be dug almost daily by the forefeet’ the urine would gather there, and uniess great care was taken to fill then up and to smooth over the soil daily and wash the horses’ feet, seratehes would follow, and probably what is commonly called quarter-crack result, which is likely permanently to injure the Sand and even sawdust have heen recommended, but as they were clearly not desirable, we never tried either. We began with plank flooring, were dissuaded from using it, but have re urned to it, and found it preferable to the others. We prefer hemlock, a double two-inch plank, with the front part kept well covered with straw at all times for the fore-feet, and au nights to be weli-bedded with straight rye straw. We have found no disadvantages from the flooring: the teet have not suffered, £0 far as we can discover. Some object to the planks, first, because they are hard, and others that they be- come slippery, and the horse is liable to fall and stmin himsell in getting up; but, if we re member rightly, the plank roads were pot objected to on account of their hard. ness or slipperyness; and as to slipping, if the flooring is a little inclined the water is oarrted back, whence a slicht gutter, also inclining somewhat, either removes it from the stable on the outside, or itis allowed to pass under the floor through small holes in the gutter. But where these arrangements have not been made, a oovering of sifted coal over the floor will pre. vent the slipping. We have known floors in stalls to be made of boards or planks turned up on an edge, which is about as hard as anything can be; also, of flagstones, mortar, and even of as- phaltum, all which we should suppose might prove injurious to the animal, but we have never heard that they were. Hemlock planks, laid as we have mentioned, will prove, take all the cir cumstances into consideration, about as satisfactory as anything that can be substitu‘ed, and far neater and not more expensive. —Germaniown Telegraph. ashes flensehold Hints, The best preparation. Never mix or piace on the same dish, meats or vegetables that are unlike in fiavor, To boil meat, when the meat is to be eaten, plunge it in boiling water, so sear the outside and retain the meat requires the simplest as to juines. To make soup, when the ohject is to extract all juices from the meat, cut up i | pieces and put on in cold walter. I'o roast meat properly, the air must have free acess to it. This is the rea. son why meat roasted before an open fire is more palatable than that roasted (baked) in a close oven. of whatever kind, get rder easily and usually cumber ‘hen, and annoy everybody who } r to do with them. In all things re cheapest, Neatness is the first virtue in the chen. The dishes of a careless cook all have a mixed flavor, as if cooked in one pot. general rule is to cook long and slowly, with an even heat, so as to reach every part. Frying ought be ) hod for cooking 0 x boil, roast, stew or bake meats. Broil, Dairy Notes. n the manufscture of butter the cuss i become general after churning ¢ butter with cold brine of greater or less strength, not only to wash it but twice, if the first washing does not remove every trace of buttermilk. An exchange says that white-oak firkins soaked for two days in sour milk, when washed oul and soaked one day in strong brine, and then rubbed thoroughly with sait make the best ves- seis for packing butter. The secretary of the Royal Agricul- tural society, of England, advises to stop the churn when the butter is the head, draw off the butter- er, and repeat this water- o buttermilk remains. In rs from many dairymen, until the butter reaches the size of wheal grains. Butter must be packed while perfectly fresh. Immediately after the final should be put away in the wash th 0 Once, size Of 8 working it ) packages Mr. X. A. Willard expresses the ief that “ropy "milk is due to weeds, had water and had treatment to cows, and Professor Englehart once said he knew it was a weed. Dr. Leffmann has known it stop when cows were changed from good to bad water, and as for weeds the disease appears atfall times. A Canada correspondent recommends when b will not * come ™ placing a small piece of fresh butter in the churn, ch will cause the globules to gather. If that fails, the best way is to place the cream in a vessel and put that ves- sel in another containing hot water on the top of a stove. Bring the cream to a temperature of about eighty degrees, then churn } Of io Lr Tattooing, We doubt if the owners of those rough hands that follow the work of tattooing **on bourd ship” two-day know much of the antiqujty of the custcm, or would find much meaning in the statement that it must have been not merely one of the first steps in the decoration of the person, but one of the first achieve. ments when that decoration began to assume the shape of art, however rudely. It seems to have been prac- ticed by the more uncouth barbarians as far back as we have any record, and always to have been a fashion with most or the islanders of the southern halt of the globe, with whom itis a sort of aspiration toward the pictoral. Captain Cook, speaking of the people who met him at Adventure bay, savs they ** wore no ornaments, unless we consider as such, and as a proof of their ove of finery, some larg? punctures of ridges raised on different parts of their bodies, some in straight and others in curved lines.” Among people of paler face. the sail- ors have a:most a monopoly of the cus. tom. Some older man of their number becomes an expert in the matter, and they submit themselves to his skill. The *‘saucy ship” that is stippled over the heart of the man before the mast, is carried by him almost as religiously as a pledge ot faith ; he adds to it the flag and shield, the name of his “girl,” a heart pierced with darts, anchors and eables, verses and mottoes and legends, all drawn in red and blue ink, with a precision of which, while ns open shirt betrays it, he grows prouder every day as an ornament, although first assumed asa badge of loyaity to all that is dear- est to him. Nowhere is tattooing to be seen done in the complete manner in which itis exhibited by the natives of the South sea islands. erty, aimost a disgrace, if a young man more or less elaborate style. do their work with a delicacy, and one might almost gay with a beauty, sur- passing belief. It is the habit there for severa: young men to unite and go throuzh the affair together, companion: ship makipz it more endurable, > by means of the rotation ef the victim, } | { matter and the irritation infinitessimal punctures, coloring of the Bells and Their History. Bells are of very ancient origin. They | are mentioned as worn on the high | priest's robes ( Exodus xxviii. 33). The | prophet Zachariah (xvi.20) speaks of * helis of the horses,” which were prob- | ably hung on the bridles of war horses | to accustom them to noise, Bells were used by the Greeks and | Romans in private houses and iu camps | and garrisons. The hour of bathing at | Rome was announced by the sound of a bell, The priest of Proserpine, at Athens, rung a bell to call the people to sacrifice. According to Pliny, the mon- ument of Porsenna was decorated with i Sheep-bells of bronze were used | in ancient Italy, and are yet preserved in the museum of Naples, ells were brought into use for churches by Paulinus, bishop of Nola, in Campania, about the year 1400, They are first mentioned in England by Bede, toward the end of the seventh century. Chimes, or peals of bells, are of an- cient date, the first chimes introduced into England having been put up at Croyland Abbey, in 860, In the cathedral of Limerick, Ireland, is a chime of bells about which an af- fecting story is told. They were made MWS, A revolution swept the land ; he became | a refugee and an exile; the monastery was destroved; the bells were carried off. After many years of wandering, he came to Ireland. As the vessel which carried him sailed along the placid Shannon the sunset chimes rang out from the cathedral, and he recognized the sweet sounds: Thev came trom the bells which he had made. He leaned against the railing of the deck and lis. tened in silent rapture to the well known, Jong-unheard music. The boat reached the wharf; the sailors spoke to him, then touched him--he was dead His spirit bad departed while listening | to the ravishing sounds Some writers say that 1he custom of christening bells was introduced by Pope John XIII, whe occupied the pontifical chair from 965 to 972, and who first consecrated a bell in the Lateran oburch and gave it the name of John the Raptist. But it is evidently of an older standing. for there is an express prohibi tion of the practice in a capitular of Charlemagne, in 759, Pope John IX. ordered bells to be rung as a defense against thunder and lightning. in the year 900. All the bells in Europe were rung in 1456, by order of Pope Calixtus Il1L, to scare away Halley's comet, which was supposed to | be in some manner identified with Mo. hammed 1I., who had just taken Con. stantinople. The comet left, but Mo- hammed stayed. [t was an ancrent custom to ring bells for persons about to expire, to notify the people to pray for them, from which arose the name of “ passing bells.” It was supposed that the sound of the bells drove away evil spirits. The wealthy were induced to bequeath prop- erty for the support of favorite bells, which were t) be rung at their funerais. During the thirteenth century, lsrge bells began to be cast. The “Jacque. line” of Paris, cast in 1300, weighed 15,- 000 pounds: one cast in Paris in 1472, weighed 15,000 pounds; the bell of Rouen, cast in 1501, weighed over 36,- 000 pounds. The great bell of Moscow, cast by or- der of Empress Anne, in 1734, weighed 193 tons, It remained suspended only until 1737, when it fell, in consequence of a fire, and remained partially buried in the earth until 1837, when it was | raised, and now forms the dome of a chapel formed by excavating the earth underneath. Some deny that the bell was ever suspended, while others in- sist that it was, and that, when in mo- tion. it azilated the air of the surround- ing country for forty miles. The great bell of Burmah, at a temple in the environs of Amarapoora, weighs 260,000 pounds. Klaprath statesthat in an edifice before the great temple of Buddah, at Jeddo, is the largest bell in the world. It weighs 1,700,000 povnds, four times greater than the great bell of Moscow, and fifty-six times larger than | the great bell of Westminster, England. The finest bell in England was the great Tom of Lincoln, considerably older than St. Paul's. Its elevation gave | it an horizon of fifty miles in every di- rection. Its note was like the chord of A upon a full organ. It fell from its support and was destroyed. On the largest of three bells placed by Edward IIL. in the Little Sanctuary, Westminster, are these lines: “ King Edward made me thirty-thousand | weight and three; Take me down and weigh me, and more you shall find me.” On the famous alarm bell called Ro- land, in a belfry tower in the once pow- erful eity of Ghent, is engraved the sub- joined inscription, inthe old Walloonor Flemish dialect: “My name is Roland; when I toll there is fire, And when I ring there is victory in the and!" The bell known as the Liberty bell, | which, ‘on the fourth of July, 1776, an- nounced the signing of the Declaration of Independence, in Philadelphia, has upon it the following inscription, taken from Leviticus, xxv. 10; * Proclaim liberty throughout the | land, unto all the inhabitants thereof." thusiastic fondness for bells. Every church and round with them in endless variety. In Amsterdarn, not less than a thousand bells are kept constantly ringing, which creates a Gin that is almost intolerable to strangers.— Golden Days. I The Common Law. What is called the * common is, in the United States, modification, the same as the *' com- mon law of England.” The phrase means, in fact, ancient custom, 1 aw,” aE Ce- jared by the courts. Suits are con- some question of law or equity that has never before arisen. There is no act or statute law that applies to it. The court then decides the matter accord- ing to the general principles of justice. The judge, in announcing his decision, cumstances, a guide and rule for all inferior courts, and usually for those of equal dignity. The whole body of such decisions forms the common law of England. a case, he searches through the volumes lar eases. two suits where the facts are entirely alike, and consequently the lawyer on one side undertakes to prove that the decisions cited do, and the opposing lawyer that they do noi, apply to the cage on trial. that the common-law principle is an- ent. The common law governs only when there is no special act. A laws and customs with them. When they separated from the mother coun- try, they retained the old laws, and bui't the new ones upon them, New York constitution of 1777 adopted as they stood on a certain date, so far as they were applicable to the new State. As our national customs have de- parted further and further from those of Great Britain, the ¢ommon law of the sometimes costs as mudh as two thous- and dollars of our money. When half done, the workman pauses for his pay; if it is not ready, work on the delin quent ceases, and he goes about, the re- proach of all his world. A rLumuver of fine needles and a little mallet are the tools. The young men who go in robust and hearty, come out the skele- tons of themselves, but proud and happy in their new possession—a suit of silken lace, as one might describe it, in the best instances, drawn over the swarthy and shining skin, hidden only by the ‘“lava-lava,’’ or breech-cloth, wronght with fine meshes and all sort of exquisite interlinear tracery, with such nicety as to carry the thing near the region of art, and to make it very different from the crude anchors and arr »ws in general use in the forecastle decoration. or from any of the quaint designs which the early Portuguese sailors learned of thesailors of the East and Farther Ind. 4 | | Yet, even now, there are no very wide differences, and decisions by English judges are often cited in our courts as establishing the law. Countries which do not supplement tLeir legislation with what we cal com. won law, are governed hy a ‘‘code.” This is a collection of laws and princi- ples, to which all cases, as they arise, are referred. France is governed by the Code Napoleon, which also forms the basis of legislation in a general way in some other European countries. Our State of Louisiana, which came to us by purchase, has always been gov- erned for the most purt by a code, which was modified from the Code Na- poleon. But the English common law is also in force even in that State, The result of living under the com- mon law is generally satisfu~tory. be- cause, as a rule, the judges of both Eng- land and America have heen men of wisdom and justice. But they have not all been of equa intelligence and integ- rity, and their work is, of dburse .not all perfect.— Chicago i.cdger. A MILE IN MID-AIR. Inaccessible Mountain and Falls | S5,O000 Feet High In Guiana, Barrington Brown, during his memor- able survey of Guiana, reached the foot of Roraima snd ascended its sloping the level of the sea. Between the high- | est point he reached and the foot of the | great perpendicular portion which n forest covered its top, and that in places could gain a hold, there they clung The gigantic oli itself is composed ot lavers of red shale, | the whole resting on a great bed of red diorite. The length of Roraima is about eight or ten miles; Kukenam ls perhaps larger; and the avea of lliehea eur is certainly more extensive, ft is impossible to view this wonderful group of mountains with- out vealizing that far back in the youth of the world they formed part of an archipelago in tropioal seas That they are well wooded and watered is made certain by visible trees and the enormous wateriall which pours at least from Roraima. A grand view of ton Brown from the mouth of a cave, in- hiabited by guacharo birds, and situated | 1.882 feet above the level of thesea Through the clear atmosphere was dis- tinotly visible at a distance of thirty miles the white thread of the waterfall, The Indians said it was the head of a branch of the Cotinga river, but it is more probably the head of the Csroni, a branch of the Orinoko. This tropical Staubbach is probably the highest fail in the world, and is at the same time of considerable bulk. The cliff of Ror. alma is 2,000 feet in height, over the upper half of which it fell like a plumb. line and then descended with a slight slope outward. The remaining 3,000 eet to the valley below slopes at an angle of ered, the rest of the fall is hidden by fol iage. The invisible attraction of the curious Savanna range of island moun. tains to naturalists arises from the inac- cessibility. Thisshould not be under- stood as the mere desire to excel others in a feat of climbing, but as the hope that some relics of the mammalian lite of the so-calied * miocene” period may have survived on these isolated alti. tudes, cut off wom all communication with the living, moving world. If any of the ‘* miocene ” mammals lived upon them when the sea washed over their bases, the descendants of those animals may exist there still, as the lemurs exist masupials, such as the kangaroo, in Australia. Perhaps a balloon may one day solve the mystery which lends a charm to these island mountains, and the happy naturalist who lands asone will, of course, and in time—on | the summit of Roraima, may find him. self among the descendants of the races long since blotted from the lower world in which the evidence of their existence is recorded in the great stone hooks! alone. Amid the forest depths, on which rests a huge cloud, he may find not the gigantic saurians of the youthful world, grim monsters of the fish-lizard and bird-lizsard form, but the great pro- genitors of existing mammalia. Leaving the tapir, one of the most ancient of ex- tant creatures, at the bottom of the Roraima cascade, he may find at its top its gigantic cogeners— huge herbivorous animals fifteen and eighteen feet in length; and the dinotherium, a tapir.-like creature, larger than the elephant; antique analogues of the mastodon; an cestors of the horse, the hog, and the greater cats. which in the known parts of the continent are represented by the jaguar, the puma and the ocelot. The prospect of the dinotherium alone would be sufficient to compensate an enthusi. astic naturalist for the labor of vears It is the largest of the terrestrial mam. malia which have inhabited our globe, and deservedly stands at the bead of the thick-skinned animals, as the mega- therium or gigantic sloth at that of the tardigrades, Probably the dinotherium would be found, if found at all, pursuing a life like that of the hippopotamus, Its great head and tusks are fitted for grub- bing up aquatic plants, and like those of the walrus, for helping the animal out of the water, But the dino- therinm 8 but one of the start. Roraims if its cliffs be really as difficult Lizards in the semi opha- dian stage might be encountered, and as the little boy of Professor Owen's, *‘had not quite made up their minds what they were going to be.” The question is, is Roraima as inacces- sible as it looks? From recent evidence there is a break in the waterfall ata summit. Now 1,000 feel do not cover a very great height, and there is no good evidence as to the inaccessibility of the mountain. Travelers have looked from afar, and Indians have talked, and noth- ing has been done among them. Has any white man tried the ascent and Is the scientific worid of to-day never been seriously attempted? A Terrible Duel. A sickening account of a duel in Mo- rocco is given by a eorrespondent of the Republique Francaise. Two young men of noble birth were paying their attentions to the daughter of a neigh- boring chief, and as she showed equal | favor to bot of them, it was arranged t by mutual conseat that they should {meet in single combat and fight a duel to the death. ‘The con- ditions of the duel were that they should meet on horseback, each of the combatants being armed with a | rifle, a revolver and a hunting-knife. They were placed a hundred yards apart, and upon a signal given by one of the seconds. they set their horses at full gallop and rushed at each other, For a few moments the spectators could see nothing but a cloud of dust, from {out of which were heard two succes. sive reports of a rifle, and then a third, followed by the neighing of a horse. When the dust had cleared away, ashocking sight met the gaze of the spec- | tators; one of the combatants, concealed the saddle. The Iatter i horse and mnde it rear, the noble beast for his master. was dismounted, rusked forward to { grapple with his adversary, but a second shot frnetured his shoulder. Nevertheless, retained sufficient strength to discharge two chambers shots taking eflect. combat then ensued, the two adversar- fee, neither of whom was able to stand, stabbing each other repeatedly. ithe seconds and spectators at lasy ine terfered the two were picked up dead-— he | versary's cheek, while the latter's hand | other's chest. A Words of Wisdom. To keep your own secret is wisdom, | to expect others to keep it is folly. To despond is to be ungrateful before. ‘ hand. Be not looking for evil. Often | thou drainest the gall of fear while evil { is passing thy dwelling. I don't like to talk much with people { who always agree with me. 1tis amus. while, but one soon tires of it. The old lady who believes every calamity that happens to herself a triad, and every one that happens to her friends a judgment, i8 not dead yet, He who thinks no man above: him but for his vice, ean never be obsequi- ous or assuming in the wrong place, knife. No humility is perfect and tioned but that which makes us ourselves as that kneels in the dust, but gazes on the skies, A man often needs his anger—as well as his other passions—to blast away. the obstacles to his path; out the indiscriminate use of his nitro-glycerine is dangerous and destructive. Examples of vicious courses, practiced in a domesti¢ circle. corrupt more readily and more deeply when we be- hold them in persons of authority. Childhood. knowing nothing of the future, imagines it is to be the ** golden age,” and mankind, having failed to find perfect happiness, imagines that it is only attained in childhood. 9 inte FOR THE FAIR SEX. Fashion Notes, qtockings are now made in colors and combinations of color enter into other fabrios, The gold and silver laces closely the patterns of the Mechlin and torchon laces, and are neither pretty nor becoming. Many maragin collars ave still worn, both of white and black lace Two plaited pieces of “dantelle de Pau n make a very pretty collar, Frenoh thread hose are open-worked in fanciful designs on the instep, as are the tine silk hose intended to be worn with the low cut shoes and fancy slip pers : Silk kerchiefs bordered with lace in serting, a band of allk jardine embroid ery, another band of lace inserting and a border of lace are the latest fancy for the neck. Among the many colors in silks ave changeable ** gorge de pigeon," with hiue heliotrope and blue, tire color and water green and mauve with gray; these silks combine admirably satin. Beaded fiohus of nearly the same shape as those old-time erotchoted shoulder afghans worn by ladies in the house and under their wraps, are among the imported Parisian novelties for street CORUM es Straws lined in various in shirred silks or satins are fashionable, and the outside may be trimmed with ribbons the same shade of the linings, but richly broeaded in all kinds of flowers in rich hues, while clusters of blos