--
x.
Dark Days Passed.
“Won't you buy a bunch of flowers
for your lady ?"’
The gentleman to whom this ques-
sion was addressed looked down into
the face of the speaker, a rosy cheeked
boy of eight or nine summers,
little fellow had a tiny basket on his
ym, filled with bouquets such as we
are wont to see in May or June.
wers of the spring time, suggestive of the
bright and happy days of our childhood
when we were told by the teacher that
we might vote for our next May Queen.
Roses there were, white and pink moss
roses, wild roses, and snowdrops ; lilacs
there were, too, and all made up in
lovely bouguets that it needed but a
glance to know that a most artistic
hand had arranged these chilkren of the
spring.
“But, my boy, it is the beginning of
September—where did you get these
lilies and roses from ?"’
“They are not real flowers, sir, they
are artificial. Mother and auntie make
them."
The gentleman looked more astonish-
ed than before, and after a keen look at
the lad, he asked :
“Where do you live, my boy ?"’
<¢ Away outside the city, in a cottage,
We have real flowers, too. I have a
flower patch of my own, and mother
lets me plant just what I please. But,
won't you buy a bunch of these, sir?
They are only twenty-five cents, and
they won't fade as soon as other
flowers,”
+ Yes, I will buy two bunches of you,
if you bring me a bouquet out of
your garden to-morrow. Here a
half a dollar for these and another
half for the flowers you are to bring
to-morrow. Don’t fail ; I shall expect
you at this hour, here in this saloon,
where I generally drink a cup of choco-
late.”
The little fellow thanked the man,
and was off in a moment.
‘Why had the man questioned the lad
so about his mother's dwelling place?
He could not account to himself for it,
He, who came and went every day,
and drank his chocolate in
hardly looking up at any one, had actu-
ally held a conversation of ten minutes
duration with a little boy. Soon after
he left the house, forgetting to empty
his cup. Well, that was something
new, and the waiters noticed it and
commented upon it; for the gentleman
had been their regular customer every
day, for nearly a year, and they had
is
silence,
never known him to speak to
before, except to order his customary
after drinking in
silence he would lay his money down
and walk out as moodily as he had en-
tered,
The next day after his conversation
with the boy, the man came a half hour
sooner than his wont, and he
seemed excited. Every now and then
he glanced toward the door, as if his
life depended on the flowers that he
was expecting. He had not long to
wait, for the littie fellow had evidently
been as anxious to bring them in time
as the gentleman fo get them, Aftera
glance at the beautiful bonquet, he
said, more to himself than to the child,
who seemed to be expecting a word of
praise for his quickness or beauty of his
pets,
any one
beverage, and it
was
“I thought I was not mistaken. No
one knew how to arrange a bouquet
like her. And the resemblance of this
child! My God ! could I, after all, have
been deceived ? It cannot be; I must
have certainty.” Rising hastily from his
chair, he grasped the astonished child
by the hand and said : ** Come, show
me where your mother lives, my boy,
I must see her.’
** But mother never company,
sir. She only lets the old gardener
come into our house to tend to the
flowers.”
“But I must see her.
is your mother’s name ?
thought of that before.’
** Mrs. Norton, sir.”
A shade of disappointment flashed
over the man’s face, but only for a
moment.
I must 8¢ your mother, child, else
your face, too, deceives me.’
The lad made no more objections. ** If
we take the shortest road home,” he
said, * we must go through the market
house here, and then the other streets
will soon be passed.’’
The walk was quite long, and cspe-
cially so to the gentleman, who was
traveling it for the first time. At last
they came in sight of a little cottage
sees
Stop! What
I might have
could hardly be seen, so thickly was it
covered by vines and creeping plants,
But one glance showed to an observer
that no unskillful hand had been at
work, and an uncommon mind must have
planned the whole, to make the small
place so complete a paradise. Opening
the gate, the child led the way up the
graveled walk toward the house. On
the portico, which was not only conceal-
ed by vines, buf two splendid chestnut
trees, he was received by a voice of sur-
‘What has happened ?’
¢ Mother, dear, don’t beangry. The
gentleman who wanted my flowers said
he must see you, Here he is.”
gentleman, who was just stepping on the
portico. He had stopped at the sound
of the voice, and then reeled as if about
to faint ; but, rallying himself, he walk-
ed on until he confronted Harvey's
mother, The lady looked at the gentle-
man in surprise, and was about to turn
| away ; but one more look and then a
cry, and she would have sunk to the
floor had not the strong arm of the man
caught her, But she did not faint; she
was only overcome for the moment.
‘ Harvey, dearest, or I
dream ?'’
it is you
“ Yes, my beloved wife, itis I. After
a whole year's search I have at last
found you, through what I know as our
boy, whom I left as a babe,” After
mutual explanations, the gentleman
said : *“ Ah these were bad days, when I
had to leave you and our darling boy so
destitute through the failure of that
bank.”
“ Did our creditorsseize all ?
“ Yes, all; except our jewels.”
“But why did you let me mourn you
as dead all these years? Tell me that
first.’’
‘ Darling, I wrote so often and never
received areply. Not a word of en-
couragement in these weary years of
turmoil and trial: You know I left for
China. I wrote from every port where
we stopped and with every returning
ship or steamer I sent you letters, After
my arrival at Pekin, I wrote to you
again to take heart, as I had the good
fortune to get a situation in an Amer-
ican tea-house, and would, as I did
send you half of my salary which was
to be deposited semi-annually at the
bank of New York.”
“1 must be there yet, then, for I
have never drawn any, nor heard a word
from you and mourned you as dead, as
my wearing
When I turned my jewels
labored hard, for
than a year at a millinery store, sister
taking care of our boy.
you can see by widow's
weeds yet,
into money, I more
That was the
hardest of all, to be separated from him
so much. But I did it, and after I had
along very comfortably, for sister Ruth
assisted me so faithfully. At iast I had
accumulated enough to lease this little
place which was at that time a perfect
wilderness and you see what four years
of patient toil have of it. We
had ample time to make our artificia
flowers,
made
for than a year,
Harvey has been in the habit of selling
them for us, Yesterday I
some bunches as I used te do for
and more
arranged
you,
and gave them to Harvey to sell.”
‘“ And it has been the means of my
finding you ; for I had made inquiries
jor you everywhere, and no one knew of
your Thank the kind
Lord who aided me. We will purchase
his place, for I have ample means and
whereabouts,
we will forget in our future happiness
the dark days that are past.”
-.
Personals.
The late ex-Congressman Lewis Selye
of Rochester, N. Y.. began life as a
blacksmith.
The crar's new throne for the coro-
nation is of black oak, carved richly,
costing about $0000, 1ts style is sadly
suggestive,
The Queen of Servia writes all her
husband's letters, although the poor
thing cannot paint, or embroider, or
play the piano.
On her ninetieth birthday, Mrs. E.
A. Jewett of Georgetown, Mass, , coast-
ed down hill on a hand-led at a speed
faster than that of a railway train,
T'he oldest clergyman in Massachu-
setts 18 Dr. Leonard Withington, Pastor
Emeritus of the First Congregational
Church of Newbury, Mass., born in
1789,
The Emperor of Russia often plays
battledoor and shuttiecock with his chil-
dren. People record such facts as if
there were some reasons why emperors
were not human beings,
It is said that the four stars, Nilsson,
Patti, Modjeska and Langtry, will carry
£350,000 out of the country at the elose
of their tour through the States, If
they wish to double the sum, they will
leave it behind them in investments.
Once a year the Emperor of China,
with all his ministers, plows a furrow
across a field for the encouragement of
agriculture, and the Queen of England
enters the lists as competitors at local
fairs for the same purpose,
family friends from others in the church
at the wedding of the daughter of Mrs,
| Attorney-General Brewster, where the
bride was assisted by ten bridesmaids,
A band of Indians from the far West
' recently visited New Haven, and when
they heard the Yale boys yell they drew
' wpart and wept to think how they had
| been fooling themselves for years with
the idea that the knew how to howl,
Scientific and Useful.
Sir William Thompson follows Dr,
Thomas Reid in ascribing to man six
senses instead of five, namely, the sense
of force, of heat, of sound, of light, of
i taste and of smell.
An excellent soap-bubble preparation
is composed of oleate of soda and glyce-
rine, and from it bubbles two feet in
diameter and of exceeding brilliancy
can be blown, Some of these have been
kept forty-eight hours under glass,
An apparatus for recording the exact
speed of a train during its entire run,
including stoppages and startings, has
been invented by M, Pouzet.
M. Jacquellin says that carbons free
from ash ean be made by passing dry
chlorine gas over pulverized coal or coke
heated to bright redness,
According to the Sanitary Review the
causes of the high mortality in Memphis
have been shown by Dr. Thornton to be
connected chiefly with the negro popu-
lation,
In Great Britain the large sum of
$40,000,000,000 1s invested in railways,
Some of the engines weigh 45 tons and
take a load of 60 tons at a speed of from
48 to 50 miles an hour.
There died in New York city last
year 37,951 persons, The whole num-
ber of suicides recorded was 199, against
166 in 1881, and 152 in 1880, Of these
165 were men and 34 were women ; 71
were Germans, 50 Americans and 20
Irish,
Bordeaux red is a new coloring mat-
ter for wine, It appears to be a nap-
thaline dye. Its presence in wine can
be very easily detected. Silk is turned
by it to a granite red, and the addition
of a little ammonia makes the doctored
wine brown.
A strong infusion of sassafras root is
recommended by Dr, Hinton as a pow-
erful remedy for poisoning by Rus toxi-
When it is cool eloths are
wet in it and applied frequently [to] the
patient, A day's treatment will effect
a cure usually.
The grapevine in France is surely and
steadily failing. The phyllogera has no
doubt contributed much toward its de-
struction, but aside from that the vine
codendron.
seems to be in a state of natural decay.
The young and vigorous vines of this
country must in the future supply the
deficiency of the French vineyards,
Bricks are thus made without baking :
Equal parts of hydraulic lime, sand and
are pounded and then mixed,
being made into a paste by the addition
SCOTIA
of water. This paste is submitted to
strong pressure in molds, and afterward
hardened in cold The bricks
therefore, it will be seen, simply consist
walter.
of hydraulic cement,
There
gained in blindfolding a balky horse
advantage
If
the habit is not inveterate, closely band-
is sometimes an
aging the eves will distract the attention
and set the animal at work again, To
ao this with the best effect the bandage
must fit closely over the eves, and the
common blinders which only partially
exclude light will not answer as well,
Artificial slates: Boil four gallons
walter, add when boiling, four
pounds and one and one-half ounces
borax, and then one pound gumalac,
in small portions. Then add two
ounces lamp-black, eight ounces silicate
and
solution
nine ounces silica.
of soda (sirupy), one pound
When this mixture
is of convenient thickness it is applied
on thick paper,
Some experiments have been made by
M. Decaux, on the effect of the electric
light on the colors of cloth and paintings,
ete. The colors were exposed for 1500
hours under thin glasses to the action
of an arc light at a distance of 150 em.
(about 60 inches), and under these con-
ditions the effect of the electric light
was found to be similar to that of sun-
light, but only one-fourth as great.
It is almost a self-evident fact that
there should be some other way of dis-
posing of sewage than turning it into
streams, But there is hardly any cen-
sure too severe for those who cut and
store ice from polluted waters, Or-
ganic germs of disease are contained in
such ice. People drink water cooled by
it in the summer, when the system is
most liable to sickness that may last all
the year round.
An automatic electric mechanism
that is designed to announce the ap-
proach of railroad trains has been tried
on whit is called the Paris-Lyon-Medi-
terranee line, It consists of a box filled
with mercury placed under the rail at
the required distance from a bell. When
a train passes over this box the mer-
cary is so agitated as to form contact
with the wire communicating with the
bell, and thus make it ring.
The South says that s number of
ladies of Sumter, 8, C., have organized
a silk hssociation, bought land near the
town, purchased mulberry trees and
silk-worm eggs, given notice of applica-
tion for a charter ind entered upon the
venture in a very business like manner.
The ladies propose to buy a reel and reel
off the silk in Sumter instead of sending
the cocoons off, and hope to have at
y time a silk man .
or Thomas Taylor of Washington
has made some investigations which
convince him that the common house-
fly, aside from being an annoying pest,
isfpossessed of the capacity of transmit.
ting disease by carrying the germs from
place to place.
It has been proved by numerous ex-
periments that flour cannot bear the
action of the sun, even when not ex-
posed directly to its rays. When flour
is exposed to the heat of the sun an
alteration takes place in the gluten
similar to that produced by the heating
of the stones. For this reason it is ad-
visable that the transportation of flour
should take place, if possible, on cool
days or by night, as well as that flour
should be stored in a cool place,
A favorite antidote for rattlesnake
poison in Mexico is a strong solution of
jodine in potassium iodide. Mr, H. H.
Croft has tested some of the poison
itself with this solution, and finds that
a light brown amorphous precipitate is
formed, the insolubility of which ex-
plains the beneficial action of the anti-
dote. When iodine cannot be readily
obtained a solution of potassium iodide,
to which a few drops of ferric chloride
has been added can, perhaps, be used as
an antidote to snake poison,
The sunflower does not turn with the
sun, but a recent observer finds that a
majority of the flowers do have a pre-
vailing direction when opening. Inthe
case of one of the perennial sunflowers
( Helianthus mollis), of sixty-eight flowers
up to one time all had their heads in-
clining to the southeast. Three day
ater this, with seventy-three flowers
open, twenty-one (among the older
flowers) had advanced toward the north-
east, their horizontal faces becoming
nearly erect during the journey.
A non-conductor of electricity has
yet to be found, for all substances hith-
erto discovered are conductors of the
force under certain known conditions;
but those which offer a great resistance
to it serve the purpose of non-condue-
tors in practice, although they may be
all classed as good or bad conductors,
The best conductor known at present is
silver ; the worst conductor is solid par-
affine. The Mayall metal, a substance
composed of plumbago and rubber, re-
cently patented by Thomas J. Mayall of
Reading, Mass, , is said to be economical
and most efficacious in this connection.
Dr. Merkel states that the height of
an individual after a night's rest, meas-
ured before rising from the bed, is two
inches greater than it is in the evening,
measured standing, There isa grad-
ual diminution in height, caused by the
vielding of the plantar archesand of the
intervertebral discs di-
individual rises,
of the
The sinking at the
of an
to one-eighth of an
at the hip, two-fifths of
cand a sudden
the
articulations
when
at the
lower extremities,
minution,
occurring
ankle one-third
knee,
inch
is inch ; at the
one-twelfth
an inch,
The shortening at the knee is probably
the cartilages.
At the hip there is, in addition, a sink-
ing of the head of the femur into the
cotyloid cavity.
For our Better Halves.
Somebody has found a new use for the
rubber-cloth hooded garments, If glazed
on the inside, they make excellent fever-
proof suits, and may be worn by doctors,
due to the elasticity of
nurses and other persons compelled to
enter the rooms of those sick with
contagions disease,
Silk muslin kerchiefs in white or
colors are made up for house wear in
very simple styles. They are bordered
with a frill of lace, and have a small
velvet flower in one corner. Nef squares
and scarfs have the flowers from Spanish
lace applied in the ends or corners.
Scarfs of Oriental lace almost a yard
wide and two yards long are shown for
summer wear. They have very deep
borders on the end of medalions or
flower designs set close together and
are sprigged over nearly their whole
surface,
The patterns for summer
dresses indicate a decided Jowering of
thestandard of good taste, for every
one of them is made of flowered mate-
rials. and two have birds in the design.
There is nothing very new about the
styles in which they are made, although
in two the drapery is massed very high,
apparently puffed out by some stiff sub
stance, and in one model this armge-
ment is carried to absurdity, the puff
being so large as to suggest that it is
meant for a child to sit upon while the
wearer stands. As for sitting down
while arrayed in this way it is clearly
impossible.
Black illusion dresses are dotted with
pearl spangles, beetles’ wings or butter
flies, rather than with jet, by London
dressmakers. The effect is better than
that seen when jet was worn by every
second woman in a ballroom.
The waist most in use for young girls’
ball dresses in Paris is crossed in front
and at the back and has a belt fastened
by a rosette, It has a delightful air of
old fashion which makes the wearer, if
at all pretty, look positively babyish,
Still another use has been found for
the little silk tufts, They are hung to
the loops and ends of satin ribbon which
sometimes trim the panels of skirts and
Dasar
have a very good effect.
»
The Last Railway Census of the
United States.
The Becientific American collates the
following railroad information.
The census report of 1880 relating to
railways shows that for the fiseal vear
ending 1880, there were operated in the
United States 86,7814 miles of railway,
the cost and liabilities for which were
a little over five thousand six hundred
millions of dollars ($5,658, 914,158),
The average cost of the railways,
counting capital paid in and borrowed,
has veen approximately $62,552 per
mile,
The aggregate transportation earn-
ings for 1880 were $680,450, 5094. and the
expenses were $352,800,120, Net earn-
ings, $227,650,474. After paying inter-
est and other fixed charges the amount
available for dividends was $110,344. -
97.
The total railway stock subject to
dividend was over two thousand six
hundred and thirteen millions of dollars
($2,613,606,204), on which a trifle over
4} per cent. average dividends were
earned, and an average of 2.70 declared.
the balance of 1.80 being held,
The earnings per mile were $0,088,
per mile, $4,065, Freight
{rains earned $1.65 per mile, and cost
to run 98 cents per mile. Passenger
trains earned $1.19 per mile, and cost
to run them 70 cents per In
round numbers, 201,000,000 tons of
freight were carried ; average distance
each ton, 112 miles. Passengers to the
number of 270,000,000 were carried ;
average distance each, 23 miles,
Expenses
mile,
No. of passengers killed, 148 Injured, 544
H 9% 617
1475 1513
2541
Total killed and wounded for
8215,
The equipment is as follows
employees
other persons *
5674
1RR0,
No. of locomotives,
3 PRSSETIZETS CATS, 12.580
mail, express, and bag
EHREe Cars
4.475
fonioht " nr 8160
Cf 21
PTI CA Yi O18
11 at} w ¥
aii olher car
quip
80 138
ment 8415045, 450
The
" -
as follows
number of railway emplovees is
] pio}
office clerks,
Stationmen,
Trainmen— Engineers
h $44
Conductors
All others
Mach
Carpenters
All otl
hers
Shopmen
nists
Trackmen
All dther« mei
11s for the vear
ni Af —
Sanitary.
Errecrs or roo Mucu Bras Work
FOR CHILDREN, Dr,
R. 8., delivered a lecture on ** National
Necessities as Basis of Natural
Education,’ before the Society of Arts,
and brought forward the following facts :
“In large
taining about six hundred children, half
girls and half boys, the means of indus-
trial occupation were gained for the
girls before any were oblained for the
boys. The girls were, therefore, put
upon half time tuitions ; that is to say,
their time of book instruction was re-
duced from thirty-six hours to eighteen
per week, given on the three alternate
days of their industrial occupation, the
boys remaining at full school time of
thirty-six hours per week, the teaching
being the same, on the same system,
and by the same teacher, the
school attendance in weeks and years in
both cases, On the periodical examina-
tion of the school, surprise was ex-
pressed by the inpectors at finding how
much more alert, mentally, the girls
were than the boys, and in advance
in book attainments. Subsequently,
industrial occupation was found for the
boys, when their time of book instruc-
tion was reduced from thirty-six hours
a week to eighteen, and after a while
the boys were proved, upon examina
tion, to have obtained their previous
relative position, which was in advance
of the girls.” ;
Teraxus rrom A Cantovs Toorn,
~The Amevican Jowrnal of Denial
Science says that a very remarkable case
of fatal tetanus, ascribed to the irrita-
tion of a carious tooth, was reported
some time back in one of the West of
England journals, The patient was a
shoemaker, residing at Bridgewater,
who Bad enjoyed excellent health until
he was seized with violent pain in the
side of his head. He was treated in the
first instance by a chemist for neuralgia,
but the becoming aggravated,
Mr. Kemmis, a medical practitioner,
was called in. He found the patient in-
sensible, with his jaw locked and im-
movable. Treatment, however, was
una ; the man remained insen-
sible, and died in a few hours. At the
Richardson, F.
the
one establishment, con-
sane
opinion that death was due to tetanus
brought about by a decayed tooth, and
-
he characterized the case as a most ex-
traordinary one, a statement with which
every one will agree, Simple trismus
from some form of dental irritation,
generally the difficult eruption of wis
dom teeth, is not a very rare phenom-
enon, and cases of it are recorded,
But general and fatal tetanus from a
similar cause is happily of rare occur-
rence, Mr, Tomes has recorded a case
which was apparently due to the opera-
tion of pivoting, and Wedl has men-
tioned one in which tetanus followed
the extraction of a tooth. In Mr.
Tomes’ case, as in the one the particu-
lars of which are given above, death oc-
curred very soon after the first appear-
ance of muscular spasm,
Curious Facts.
A spring in St. Tammany parish,
Louisiana, pours forth clear, cold water
all day, butat sunset it suddenly goes
dry, discharging no water until the sun
rises again.
While sawing veneer from a wal-
nut knot an Indianian discovered in the
twisted fibres of the wood a perfect pic-
ture of a spaniel’s head.
as accurately drawn as if by the pencil
of an artist, and when framed this na-
tural curiosity has all the semblance of
art.
The lines are
One theatrical sham which has been
revealed by a florist is the remodelling
of designs received by actors and actress
The material of a flower ship re-
ceived in the first act appears in the
shape of a harp in the second, of an an-
chor in the third, or of any other de-
And all the time the audience
is amazed at the extravagant profusion
of flowers.
The contrarieties of Chinese,
as compared with us, have often been
The Rev. Selah Brown
them We
shake hands as a salutation ; a China-
shakes hands with himself. He
stands at a distance, and clasping both
together, he shakes them up and down
at you. Weuncover the head asa mark
€8,
sign.
the
commented on.
writes about as follows:
man
of respect ; they keep their heads cov-
ered, but take off theirshoes for polite-
ness, We shave the face ; they shave head
and eyebrows. We ent our finger nails ;
consider it to
from inches long,
which they are obliged to protect
The Chi
is outside his coat, and his drawers out-
they aristocratic have
nails three to five
sil
:
ir
VEr CASes, aman’s waistcoat
side his trousers, We blacken our shoes ;
he
first course at dinner, and dessert at last ;
whitens them. We have soup as a
they have dessert at first and soup at
last. We want our wines ice cold ; the
hot, We
bury in the earth; they on its surface.
Chinese drink theirs scalding
With us, black clothing is a badge of
mourning : with them. white garments
indicate the In that
is the old men who
flv kites, walk on stilts, and play the
shuttlecock, and, to keep up their odd
ways of doing things, they play the latte:
with their feet instead of their hands
of friends,
1
sR
land of opposites it
In China women do men’s work,
men are the milliners, dresfmakers
washerwomen,
and
and
With us the right hand
is the place of honor; with them it is
the left hand. Indating letters we place
the vear last; they writeit first. They
always speak of the mariner’s compass
{their own invention) as pointing to the
south. We pay our physicians when we
are sick 3 they pay while they are well,
but as soon they get sick the pay stops.
Here men kill their enemies, a China-
man gets revenge by killing himself,
We use a soft pillow: they a block of
wood. They launch ships sidewise.
ring bells from the outside, and actual-
Iv turn their screws in the opposite di-
rection from durs.
-—— -
Swedish Expediiion to Spitz-
bergen.
The expedition dispatched to Spits-
bergen last summer by the Swedish
Academy of Sciences. under Baron G.
de Geer and Dr. Nathorst, two eminent
naturalists, has resulted in a greatly in-
creased knowledge of that desolate land,
The outlines of the fjords and valleys
of the southern part of the island and
the relative depth of the seas around it
and Scandinavia have been mapped out,
rendering it evident that Spitzbergen is a
ridge placed upon a comparatively level
plateau, identical with that from which
Scandinavia arises. This plateau sinks
abruptly into the ocean west of Spite.
bergen.
The fjords and narrow valleys are
due to the action of glaciers, Old gravel
beaches and marine shells occur far in-
land, showing a considerable re-eleva-
tion after the subsidence that followed
the glacial period during which the
mountains were sculptured. Some of
mals of Scandinavia exist in Spitsber-
gen, a circumstance due to a former