Gambling. Not half the gamblers in this world ever play cards. There sre 50 juany other modes of risking money that cards seem superfluous. This, too, is without considering the commonplace methods of betting upon what ere known as sperilng even's. An) body can bet on the result of a horse-race or © prize-fight or a wal king-mateh, but there are delicate and wsthetic ways of risking money that, compared with these every day methods, are as chuloe pleces of Sevres china compared with the ti! ek coffee-cup of the cheap ree- gsurent. Fly loo i perhaps one of the most exciting of these modern in- ventions. Fly loo is now #0 old a game that its novelly is gone, but there 1s still peculiar pleasure in hear ing the captalus of some of the big oxean steamers describe nerve racking games of fly loo with saloon passen- gers, A dozen or fifteen pirsons seat themselves about & table and each lays in front of hima lump of sugar and a dime, or a quarter dollar, or whatever the stakes are, The party remain as quiet as possible till a fly alights upon one of the lumpe of sugar. The proud ow er of this lump is the winner of the stakes, A newer sport, equally exciting, is called “{rickelily.”” Two gentlemen, deter mined to risk their money on some thing, watched a window pane on a rainy day and bet upon (he compara tive speed of two drops of rain eoursing down the glass, each gentleman choos- Ing a favorite drop. It has remained for the French, however, to invent a sport that is said to outstrip both of these favorites in interest and excite ment. This new delight, which has gerved to enliven French watering places through the season, is crab racing. The interesting animals are firs weighed and haodicapped, and then put in line. Each * sportsman " lays his finger on the back of the (rab which carries his colors The starter waves his bandkerchief, the backers lift their fingers and the crabs are off. Their Instinct takes them invariably tows rd the sea, and the crab races are always on the beach. The sport has become 80 developed on the coast of Nermandy that the length of the course has been definitely fixed at twenty metres. There seems no doubt that this diversion is even more ex. citing than the once popular sport of betting whether a distinguished pas senger on & steamer would step ashore first with his right foot or his left. et fp Clips. —— An Indian woman is a squaw; therefore an Indian baby is a squaw- ling. A German speaks of Washingtlon show ciety, snd he isn’t yery wrong. Jones believes in policemen, and thinks they are all square men, “At any rate,” he says, ‘they are never round.” A Vermont debating society will tackle the question, ‘‘Whieh ls the most fun—to see & man try to thread a needle, orto see a woman try to drive a nail ?” An old Dutchman froze his nose. While thawing the frost out be sald ; “I haf carry dat nose forty year, unt he never freeze hisselfl before, I no understan’ this ting.” “Mary, go into the sitting-room, please, and tell me how the thermom- eter stands,” Mary (after investiga tion) : “it stands on the first mantel. piece, just again’ the wall, mua.” Whoever denies that the newspaper has a mission should enter a car and see how useful they are to the men when a fat woman with a big basket is looking around for a seat, An Irish lad complained the other day of the harsh tréatment he had re ceived from his father. ‘‘He trates me,” said he mournfully, '‘as ir I was his son by another father and mother.” He was just from the West, snd very talkative until he tarmed to a cold looking msn on the train snd said : “'1 left heaps of snow out on the plains.” “I am very glad of It,” sol emnly replied the cold man, “for we've had enough snow here this winter.” “Yes,” he said, "one of the very nicest, best girls In the world is in love with me, and folks know ft, and it just breaks my heart. Whyshould it? Why, don't you know that nice fellows always get some cheap creature fora wile, and the nice girls always marry worthless fellows ? Folks know she isa thoroughly good girl and they'll set me down ss a regular tough, My charao- ter is ruined. Sf Milk contains all the elements of food necessary for our support. The cream is rich in earbon, both in the fat, while buttermilk contains casein, Skim milk has ossein, potash, sods, lime, magnexis, iron, phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, silielo acid and chlo- rine. It is really superior to the cream liar flavor of butter is imparted by batyrin, sad it is also affected by other substances not familiarly known such as caprin arachin, ete, Er — AN UNPUBLISHED POEM, BY ALIOE OA RY. —— “ahall { be Prophet, Human Heart ? Shall | tell thea Sorrow stands Ready, with guid and cruel hands, Ihee frem thy ohiefest ‘@ved to part?” My soul was chilled with sullen pain § Yet thus I made reply © “My chlefest loved can neverdiel And even Earth's friends sia'l iive again.” Old Mime smiled stoculy ; “Tocu art young And hopeful, Waust if sickness paie Makes nerve to bend snd heart to all, Wi toh now with buoyant life are strong?’ ¢ My strength les not in hops or yout ; The clldhood of immortal years C nnottesiiuk with mortal teare | Even Death but rens the vell of ruth,’ “ Death, thou presumptuous one, perchancs Witain whose doors of gloom He walta, dread shadow, till thou come; Watchesthy heedless steps advanos, Even to the open tomb I"! “I will pot tremble ! I wil] trust | My days are thine, O Savior dear ! hou seest all this coming year, Thou lovest me, and thou art just ; hy poor child will not fear.” fime tone: ed ; the massy gates swang wide; I paused—a Volee not all nnknown S;o%e to my hear! in sweetest tore : “Onild, [ will be thy guide Fear not to travel on,” al ee—— Marriage by Capture. ——— ’ When an Eskimo youth has killed a polar bear unaided, and so proved himself eapable of providing for the wants of a family, he is sent forth al night to obtilain a wife by seizing the first girl he can surprise Guawares, Bhe sereams, of course, bringing out the whole population, and an appre ciative sudience secured, sets upon her captor with tooth snd nail, releases herself from his clutches, and darts among the erowd. He follows, push- ing aside the old women who attempt to. bar his progress, heedless of the seal-skin scourges they lay about his shoulders. Should he cateh the flying lass, more scratching and biting en- sues, and perchance, a second escape. The chase is then renewed #s before, only the wife-hunter is inspirited by knowing that, a third capture effected, there will be no more maldenly strug- gles; the girl accepting her fat, and allowing him to lead ber away amid the applauding shouts of the excited spectators, The aboriginal Australian adopts & more sSUIMIATY process when tired of single blessedness, He looks about for a likely helpmale, and find- ing one, waits bis opportunity, knocks her down, and carries her home. Marriage by capture, in this simple form, is now unknown out of Bivage- dom, having elsewhere resolved itself into bride-chases and sham bridal battles; mere mockeries cr mimiories of the grim realities of those ancient days when men literally took wives unto themselves in practical assertion that ** none but the brave deserve the fair.” In Bingspore the winning «f a bride depends upon the matrimoniaa aspirant’s flestuess of foot or skill in paddling his own canoe. In the first case, a circular course is marked out, half of which is traversed by the maiden — encumbered only with waistband-—ere the word is given for the would-be possessor to go in pur suit, in the hope of oveitaking her be. fore she has thrice compassed the cir cle; that achieved, she has no choice but to take the vietor for her lord, In the water chase, the damsel takes her place in a eanoe, and plies ita double bladed paddle until she has obtained a reasonable start, when her admirer sets off after her. The contest is usu- ally but of short endurance, the pair having come te a proper understand- ing beforehand ; but should the girl have no faney for thesuitor, and pos sess sufficient determination and strength of arm to gain the goal Amt, she is at liberty to laugh atthe dis consolate loser of the match, and re- serve herself for a claimant more to her liking. Bride chasing 1s generally & (rial oj horsemanship. In this shape it is prac. ticed by most of the nomadie tribes of Central Asia. Captain Burnaby tells us that when it is to be decided how a Turcoman belle is to be settled in life “the whole tribe turns out, and the young lady, being allowed the choice of horses, gallops away from her suitors. They follow her. Bhe avoids those she dislikes, and seeks to throw herself in the way of her affections. The moment she is caught she be. comes the wife of the gaptor. Further ceremonies are dispensed with, and he takes her to his tent.” In some tribes the girl is burdened with the carcass of a goat or lamb, which must be snatched from her lap. The Hasarchs mark out & ocolrse some twelve miles long and three wide, As soon ss the maiden has got far enough from the crowd to be able to guide her steed with perfect free her hands to the waiting horsemen, sud her father gives them the signal to goin pursuit, The chase is sometimes s long-lasting one. A traveler records one in which, after two hours’ gallop ing, the field of nine had dwindled to four, neck and neck together the : gained on the come, miy Peri! I am your lover!” One of the horses suddenly faltered in that the aan of her heart was out of the hunt, Making a quick turn, she darted right across the path of the exultant three and made at full sped for her lover. The bs fled suitors choeked thelr hendlong eo: rer with one ae rd, but comiog Into collision, two of them rolled ever on the plain, and, eluding the remaining detil mental’s grasp with a triumphaut jsugh, the maiden reached her lover's side, In a moment his arm was around lier walst, and she was his own, Amorg the Kilmucks the bride race {8 reduced to a match, and Dr, Clarke avers that the girls are such good horsewomen that for one ‘to be caught againet her will was a thing unknown. Kalmucks of high degree, however, do not run their brides down ; they bargain for them, and the bargain concluded the bridegroom and the chief men of his horde ride to the camp of the bride's people, who feign opposition to the mateh, and only surrender the lady after a mock confliet. Hometimes, the conflict is real enough. Jf a Kalmuck swaln cannot find the wherewithal to satisfy the demandsof his lady love's parents, or is for any other reason obnoxious to them, he enlists the aid of his Kins men, who at the earliest chance swoop down on the adverse camp, and, pro- viding they do not get the worst of the fight, carry the prize of their valor to the expectant lover's arms, In Circassia, the carrying off of the bride is a pearranged affalr, the bride. groom and his followers rushing into the | ride’'s house while the wedding revelries are at their height there, and bearing the unreluctant damsel ofl with them. Againstsuch an irruption the Indian Mussulman provides by closing the entrances to the lady's abode, and setting a guard before it to receive the expected assaijsuts, * Who are you who dare to obstruct the king's cavalcade 7? demands the leader of the wife-seeking band. **There are thieves asroad at night; possibly we behold them,” is the reply. A long interchange of uncomplimentary badi- nage ensues, terminating in an st tempt to break through the ranks of the bride's defenders. Falling in this, the bridegroom pays down a certain sum of money and the gates are flung open. There is a second contfest of strength within the gates, ending as a makter of course, inthe giving up of the maiden and her departure with the victorious party. The Khoids have turned marriage by eaptare from comedy into farce Riding one night among the bills an Euglish « ficer heard loud eries, see. ingly proceeding from a village hard by. Making for the spot, he saw s man carrying upon his neck some- thing enveloped in scarlet cloth, He was surrounded by twenty or thirty young fellows, who had all their work to do to pretect lm from the desperate assaulls of anumber of girls. The man had just been married, and was conveying his blooming bride home; snd not antil he was within the boundaries of his own collage did his fair pursuers cease hurling stones st him, as he aud they ran their hardest, The mock-battle forms jart of the marrisge ceremonies of the Kookirs dwelling on the northeast frontiers of Indias; but with them the bride's party has the best of the bout. After the purchsse-money agreed upon has been paid down the friends of the bride- buyer essay to feteh his bargain, and get well thrashed for their pains ; but the hurly-burly over the woman is brought out, conducted to the cottage- gate and then given up without any more ado, Among the Garrows o Bengal tue respective positions of the parties to the marriage are reversed. It is the gentleman's part to affect un- willingness 16 enter the bonds of mat- rimony ; it is for the lady to do the coutting. When the has brought her wooing to its hoped-for end she fixos the day and bids her friends come and make merry with her. The [feast finished, the guests bear the hostess lo the ri ver and give her & bath. Then a move is made for the happy man. Seeing the advancing procession he pretends to hide, but soon suffers him self to be esught, carried to the walter and well dipped therein, The parents, petting up a dismal bawling, rescue him from his captors and loudly de clare they will not part with their be- loved son. Thereis a scramble and | they are overcome ; a cock and hen ‘ure sacrificed, and the pair are man and wife, $0 late as the seventeenth century it was customs ry insome parts of Ireland for the bridegroom's friends to receive those of the bride with a shower of his stride, and the dismayed girl saw pretended fugitive and bear her off in trinmph, The Berrlcors of Frarce are the only Euronesn people among whom the form of upture still survives. Upon the day of the wedding the doors of a bride's house are closed and tarricaded, tne windows barred and her frlend- mustered within, Presently the bride- groom's pariy comes, asking admis- sion on one false pretence afler an- other. Finding speech of no avall they endeavor to force an enirance, with no better fortune, Then comes a parley ; the bhesiegers proclaim that they brivg the lady a husband and are admitted within doors, wo fight for the possession of the heart, win it and the bride with it, the couple being forth- with united in the orthodox fashion. eA op —— Steamers for Chinese Trade, a A company has been formed by the leading merchants in the China trade for the purpose of acquiring and work- ing a fleet of high class steamers to ‘rade between this country and Asia, east of Indis, The direct tiade be tween China and the United Btates is also to be taken up. In fact, these merchants intend to own their own ships in the future, and the name of the company is the China Shippers’ Mutual Steam Navigation Company, Limited, The capital i= £1,000,000,000, but only £500,000 is to be issued now, in 25 500 £30 stares fully paid, trade sre on the board or direcily in terested in the company this money should be cbtained with no difficulty, ture about the scheme, is pot going to ships, and is embarrassed by no con- tracts, Tt will begin at the beginning, building or buying a fleet of vessels, and, except that ships are now dear, there is no reason why it should not succeed granting its well managed. The principle is the same essentially ss that « f mutual insurances, The company » A pro rata refura on freight will be made as the earnings sallow after pay- ing ten per cent. d. vidend on the shsre capital, ate circle of the shareholders will thus participate In what gains there may be, but primarily the company will be a China merchant's flair, and the gain will be their own, There must have been sirong discontent created against existing arrangements sleDn. - Exploring for Fanaticism, There lndicrous js something exquisitely in the following telegram the centre, of Islamism. 1 sought vainly for traces of fanaticiam ; there ence that L. found four vears ago. The Coptic clerk from the Ministry of Public lnstruction who accompanied us sald that fanaticism did not exist in Egypt. This selties the matter, ard thenceforth let us hear no more about fanaticism In Egypt. Bat bow delightful it would have been to have seen the pair on their tour of discovery through the famous university, snd heard them oonducting the exhaus- tive ir quiry which has had such con- clusive and satisfactory resulta, The sunual inspection of the vaults under Parliament House would be nothing to this wonderful exploration. Possibly they expected to find the dreadful commodity neatly done up in canisters and labled like gunpowd: r, or perhaps they hoped to detect it by the smell. Unfortunately for our peace of mind an suthority who has just assured us that 80 per cent. of the natives do not even think at all, was not ¢xsctly the best qualified to divise the secret thoughts of the Moslems at El Azher, PE iin More Petroleum. i The reported discovery of ex!ensive petroleum deposits in Brazil, Venez- uels, Buassia, Roumanis, Hue, ary and elsewhere outside of Penosylva- nia and the Canadian Dominions, has excited some attention of late, The Iatest news iu this line is that petro- Hum abounds in paying quantities at Siguenszs, Spain, about a hundred miles northeast of Madrid, on the line of railway leading to the latter city. It 1s stated that wells in that locality have been worked for about two years by the proprietor, and that they are capable of being greatly extended. To this end articles of amociation of a at Madrid, The analyses of the oll are good. Farnaces, retorts and other necessary have been al- ready put down. The Manchester Guardian says of the projet : *‘Judg- ing from the quanlities of oil which Pennsylvania, and the high price ruling, the success of the company Is probable, It Woman's Fule in Russia, “Who ls now the leading spirit of the Czar's government?” 1 asked a high «ficial, "A woman ss usual’ he anew red. "Like other monarchial count: ies, we have always had poms woman sat the top or bottom of our govirnmert.” ; During the thousard 1dgitwenty years of Russia's existence tuere have been eighty rulers, sll told, of whom ooly five were women, been ruled by a woman, Among Russian sovereigns there are seven canon'zad as “Baint)” several are “Great,” one is “Apostolical ’ one “Monomachos,” one one ‘‘Blessed,”” one “'Boothssyer,’ oue “Dark,” one ‘Imposter,’ “Brave,” one “Pioud,” one *lerri- “Longarmed,” “Moneysack,’” sud one *‘'Liberator:” but song the host of crowned heats that have ruled Russia for the pss! thousand years there was apparently but one “Wise” head, and Woman's, the tenth century, the first Christian sovereign of Ris:d4, is kaown in hie tory as **The Wise,” When the great Prince Viadimir, being yet pagan, consulted the repre. sentatives of his people as to what re- ligion should be adopted, they an- swered : “The Greek religion, for were { it not the | Olga, the wisest of women, would not | have ado, ted it,” and the worihy | grandchild tdilowed the example of | his grandmother. The philosophers | of to-day, however, would call her “The Bmart,”’ er “The Canning.” that & bent, After Olga for seven centuries no woman ascended the Russian throne, In 1725, when Peter the Great died, | his charming and witty wife, “The i Russian Aspasia,” was proclaimed au- | tocratrix under the name of Catherine In course of time there were thre. | othir Enprewes, Ann, the niece of i i i { i i i : | boy Czar, Peter 1I.; Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great and mur. | deress of the baby Czar, Ivan VI.;and | ess of Czar Peter IIL | of Catherine II, as | that appellation. As for Aun and | Elizabeth, the classical name of Mes | salina would be perfectly applica { to both, Mme, ble Pobedonosizefl, the leading to-day, is the wife of the Chief Procu- | ponfidential | She is young, beautiful and ambitious, | Bhe married Mr. Pobedonostzefl but a | few years ago. old gentleman, is in love with her, It js said of him that the knightly motto, | “God snd My Lady.” be changed into | “God and My Wife,” | 3% devoutly s8 a knight of old. He | arises early, prays to God, adores hi wife, and then goes to see the Czar, oi | the ministers, or the holy synod, and | everywhere he tries his best to carry out the commands of his charming goddess. Meanwhile she herself is | not idle. She receives hosts of fair vie tors of high rauk, who, while offering their homage, s«!z2 the chance of com- mending their husbands, brothers or cousins, Sometimes this or that Min- ister of Biste does himself the honor of paving his respects to her. O oa. sionally she visits her majesty, the Cgaritza, to cheer her soul in her golden cage. And the Czar himself is there always at hand. Thus it has come about that while the Czar keeps away from the capital of his empire, Mme. Pobedonosizefll has somehow found herself to be the ocen- ter of the Russian political world. Instead of the Czar's policy, of the Chancellor's or the Minister's policy, we hear of the Madam's policy, With the modesty of an ascending star, she does nov reveal her projecis, but it is very doubiful whether any liberal re- forms will ever find favor with her. The Family Fish-Pond. Seth Green Explains How to Make It and How to Stock It. There are many artesian wells seat- tered all over the Western country, and most of them many miles from any lakes or streams or fish markets, It is my epinion that nearly all of the flowing wells will furnish enough sar- plus water to sapply & pond that will supply & family with fish. A very small stream will furnish enough water for some kinds, I would recom- mend carp sas being the fish that would most likely be a success, as they require less care than any other fish. Ido not consider them the very best of fish, beosuse of late years I have been used to eating the very best hinds our coun'ry affords, but I do remember when my mother cooked the suckers and shiners I caught with a bent pln. The; were the best fish the.e was. It would undoubtedly be the same with a family raised on carp. They would be the same to them aa the shiners were to me, My opinion has often been asked rly how a carp pond could be constructed | for family use. The pond can be | made in any she pe to sult the locality, | but I would prefer egg shape if the | Ieation was ju. t as well adapted for { it. The pond would breed flies of a | reat many kinds ; one of them would be mo quitoes, The larva of all flies { is the bet food for young fish, I have { bred them by the bushel, but some of | the moequitres would be apt to take : wing before the pond got well-swocked with young fish, and to protect the | family in a messure I would advise building the pond to the leeward of the houie of the prevailing winds of their locality. If, for one instance, i the prevailing wind was (rom ths went, the pond should be Luilt on the east, northeast or southeast, because if { the pond were placed directly east of | the house it would make a lee for { them under which they could essily | reach the house. They can beat any sailing craft be fore the wind, but on the wind they { tre nowhere in the race as they have | no keel. The whole human family | ghould be thankfal to the Creator for not putting a kel on them, and if | their bowsprit had not been quite so | sharp they might not receive so many | handkerchief selutes from the verac-~ | das of the Long Island hotels, but | would be just ss useful and orna { mental, The pond can be built with | plow and scraper. It should have a | deep place iu the centre and very shal- | low on the edges. If you have iquare | sides the young fish would have no | protection from the old ones. When | scraping is commenced, carry the earth ! a8 far back a8 you intend making the | | wer outside of your embankment. | Keep scraping until the pond is four | to #ix feet in the ceatre, If the local- | ty is such that the ice freezes very { thick the pond should be made deeper, | and boles kept open through the ioe { during the winter to keep the fish | from su locating. 1f the embankment { was raised three feet and pounded down and sodded or sown to grass the waler could be raised #0 that but three | feet in the centre would have to be ex- | cavated in order to have a pond six feet deep. The pond should be rown with some kind of grass or water plant, with the exception of about fifty or seventy-five | feet square in the cenire, The grass and water plants make the spawning i ground, breed food snd protect the | young. The ponds should not have | any other kinds of fish In them, and | if the grass gets too thick it can be | raked out. | i ss si tt AGIs Alluding to the | rominent personal | part thst Lord Spencer has taken of | late in Irish sflairs, a leading English | weekly observes that “almost ali the { most prosperous periods of Irish his- { tory have been connected with the | presence in Irelar d of Viceroys of de- | cided personal character.” Unfortu- | nately they have been few aud far | between. The most notable was Lord | Che teorfield (the letters lord), whose | Irish administration was a bright epi- | sode in his csreer, and who unques- tionably teok a conscientious interest in his great « fice, and was deeply anxious to do good service to the peo- ple. He “had rather,” he said, “be known ss the Irish Lord Lieutenant than as the Lord Lieutenant of Ire- land.” When some bigoted block- head told him, with a long face, that he had a Roman Catholic coachman in his service, his Excellency said : “Indeed! is that so? Well at all events, I'll take good care that he never drives me to mass.” The diffi- culty in the case of Trish Viceroys of this complexion of mind has been that, as notably in the case of Lord Fitzwilliam, their sympathy with the ruled was a ground of cffense to the small but dominant Anglc-Irish fao- tion in Ireland. Lord Spencer, how- ever, labors under no such diswdvan- tree, and he is undoubtedly honestly and earnestly siriving that he may leave the couniry in a very different temper and condition to that in which he found it on the blood stained day, six months ago, on which he entered Dublin in state to assume the govern- ment. As the only Viceroy who has, we believe, been a Cabinet Minister, Lord Bpencer’s position is unique among Irish rulers. AAI sii, An Unfortunate Client. Nobody was more bitterly witty than Lord Ellenborough. A young law- yer, trembling with fear, ross to make his first speech, and begsn: ‘My Lord, my unfortunate clieni—my olient—my Lord-—" “Go on, sir, go on,” said Lord Ellenborough ; “‘as tai ss you have proceeded hitherto, the court is entirely with you." In manuring frait trees the cherry should receive a lighter application than most other kinds, [tis not ben- efitted by mush stable manure, buk can be top dressed with ashes or any- thing containing potash, almost with out stint. All stone fruits, especially those that are acid, need liberal doses of potash, ee