THY MOTHER, Lead thy mother tenderly Down life’s steep decline Once her arm was thy support, Now she leans on thine, See upon her loving face Those deep lines of care; Think-—it was her toil for thee Left that record there. Ne'er forget her tireless watch Kept by day and night, Taking from her step the grace, From her eye the light; Cherish well her faithful heart, Which, thro’ weary years, Echoed with its sympathy All thy smiles and tears, Thank God for thy mother's love; Guard the priceless boon; For the bitter parting hoar Cometh all too soon. When thy grateful tenderness Loses power to save, Earth will hold no dearer spot Than thy mother’s grave, A year before, the psce had been a wild, unbroken prairie, with here and there tracts of woodland. The people had come with the advancing railroad, and there was now a town, They called there was no bay there, The nearest stream of any sire was ten miles to the eastwaad, and this was only navi- gable for hight steamers at high stages of the water, With that curious com- pleteness of modern frontier life, the town within ninety days of the time the first rongh shanty was pat up had a post- office, churches, school-house, stores and saloons, The people had arrived, settled down, laid out the city, and as- sumed a certain state of eclivilizotion within the space of three months. Though coming from fourteen different nations, total strangers to each other, and hardly able to master the legal language of their adopted country, they seemed to imbibe at once with the free air of the prairie that spirit of fra. ternity, helpfulness and good nature that charscterizes the Western Amaori- can. With it all there was also the deeper human nature that underlies all tongues and nationalities. in these raw, nnpainted houses lived men and women, young children, young men and maidens, Where these are spring friendship, sweet domestic life, hope, jealousy, patience, virtue, selfish- ness and love. 1t was not all of life to grub up the rough sod, to [ell the trees, to plant, to build fences, to buy and sell and make a home. When night fell, and the lovers’ moon rose above ragged woods, there were young men and maidens, shining eyes under home- ly hoods, and whisparings on the silent, open prairie, where only the stars could hear, a new land, as it were in an eddy of the mighty stream of immigration, was Mina Landerfelt, Her father, evident- ly released from Prussian military ser- vice too late to be of any valne to him- self, had taken a quarter section, and with some help from the neighbors, particularly the Americans, had reared some kind of a house just at the edge of the woods, Here with him lived Mina, stout of heart aud strong of limb, his daughter and more than helpmeet, Wife and mother there was none. She slept near Bingen on the Rhine, With the others came also Silas Hig- gias, from Vermont, half farmer, half sailor, a wanderer with neither home nor friends, He, too, had run up a yellow shanty, and lived alone, his own housekeeper, man-of-all-work, gardener and earpenter. There were whispers through the place that he was in some sense wanting, a witless creature, vision- ary and anpractical. This Iast, in the eyes of the Americans, was enough to place him at once among the failures, He had a few tools, chiefly an axe, whieh he could wield with wonderful skill, and his services were always in request. He seemed a sby man, re served, silent, and not social, This, too, wns against him, tn the opinion of the foreign elemezt, Moreover, he saved his money, which in the eyes of the saloonkeepers and patrons was a serious fault, He was, in truth, a man ignorant of himself, His life from his youth up hed been so rough, so marked by toil, negleet and hardship, that he had grown patiently dull, He had not yet waked up to human life, He had been too long struggling for food. Mina came— and he lived. He was at the rough shed that served as a railway station when she and her father were set down on the raw prairie, weary, frightened and a little dazed at the strange place and stranger people, He had even spoken her about ber baggage, and offered elf as house-builder—for they mus ave a house. She under- stood not a word, and yet she did un- derstand, and blushed and smiled upon him. had been born of full stature in that place. He was a thinker, an observer and an inventor, If he toiled before, now he worked. If they had thought him stupid once, now they ealled him insane, her father's land adjoined his own, He had often tried to speak to her, but it had not been a happy conversation, and yet it served to thrill him with some- thing new, which he guessed at, but could not name, Itseemed too good to He could not tell her. He could only show her, some day, by some grand deed, and then she would kuow and understand, His new birth made him an observer, and this is what he observed: the one great danger thst overhung the town was fire. If a forest fire should ever get beyond control, nothing could save the place, the farms, the houses, or even the people. Flight would be nearly impossible, Where could they go from the fire that outran the wind? here could they hide from a tempest of flame? From ol he moved on, impelled by a desire to do some- thing, if need came, for Mina, to in- vention, He would prepare for that dreadful day-—the coming of fire, Not with swift horses to run to the river; that were idle, He wonld stay and fight the fire, He would build an ark of safety against the deluge of smoke aud | flame. ic hand, in search of something, He goon found town, and at once sold part of his land, and with the proceeds bought what goomed a worthless tract of land on the banks of a little run. He smiled in a was complete, The ignorant settler had practically sold a mine—a mine of alumina, most precious of metals, but bank. my brickyard.” bank, He wanted the olay for another was an afterthought. That was a little notion that would keep, prepare for the deluge. Already four | weeks had passed without rain, The | dust in the rough sireets was almost unbearable, Three nights before he had | seen a suspicious glare on the far south: ern horizon, where the grass seemed to meet the sky, “The day o round somewhere, | afloat,” The next day he hired a man aod cart to team clay from his new mine to | his land in the village. The man shov- eled up wealth and did not know it, and was content with two dollars a day | for self and horse. As for Bilas, he refused all offers of work, and staid at home busy in one corner of his land, judgment is Ic afin’ It's time the ark was ! { plenty to do at good wages. aflair, ever, beer garden had a lager and dancing. plenty of leisure and money. He played the fiddle at tho saloon, and by pointment, “She'll have him, dance, and she likes that, Mebbe she likes that kind,” The stranger's suit—for seemed —appeared to prosper, such the little capital in the place to start a small brickyard, and he had given up his carpentry to become a manufacturer, | ings, | ground a stockade of stont posts, mak- ling an enclosure almost thirty feet square, with a narrow opening at one side, which seemed to serve as a gate, covered with laths, while bireh brush | was woven in between the posts in a rnde kind of basket work. At nightfall the people gathered about | the structure with curious questions as {to its object. Was it house, pound, { corral, or what? To all of which he means ark o' satety.” He seemed to | work upon the thing with a sort of mad | haste, eating his meals in the open air, | scarcely sleeping at all, and toiling | nineteen hours in one day. By the | third day a heavy flat roof had been | added, supported by rough posts sunk {mm the ground, within the structure, | One narrow opening had been left for a door, and a square hole near the roof seemed intended for a window. From carpenter he turned plasterer, The dry clay brought from his pit was tempered with water, and with a big wooden trowel he plastered over the entire structure, without and with with a | heavy coat of clay. Now were the people convinced the man was insane, Even Mina, who had watched the work from her father's house, was moved to a mixture of pity it ia, toward so foolish a man, and doubt per- haps of the people, and dimly wonder- ing if it were not they who were insane. Oace, in the night, she Lad risen to wait on her father, who was ailing, and had gone out in the dark to draw some water, It seemed like the approach of dawn, for there wax a rosy glow in the sky. By its uncertain light saw Silas toiling in frantic haste at She stood watching ale his crazy scheme. unobserved for heard through night the refrain of soma oid a the moment, and ALO at } i “0Ya, the Lord abides with him," she said in German, and then she went into the house, sure that he was not insane, and with a vague dread of something, she knew not what, It was strange the sky was so red at that early hour, Having covered the walls with clay and spread the entire roof thick with it, he built a roaring bonfire inside the | stricture. people said, He even piled brushwood | against the walls of the structure and sot fire to this rlso, so that the bmild- ing without and within seemed des. uned to entire destruction. Some | of the people remounstrated with him, sad said 18 was dangerous to build such only kindling-wood. He pointed to | two large tubs standing near, each filled with water that was muddy with clay, fle would watch the fire, It would do no harm, Many idiera gathered near to see the thing burn down, but to their | surprise it remained intact, By night the fire burned ont, and the next day a dull brick red. The work was complete, and Silas sat faced Yankee, called at the open door, “Been lookin’ at that ark o' yours, | Qur'us concern, but 1 guess she'll do. | Goin’ wo charge much for storage o | papers and valuables?” “You've struck my notion of thing, | neighbor—only valuables | Bents will be high, and if wuss | comes to wuss, cargo will be liable to be | thrown overboard to save hfe, Under. | stand?” “No, Storage and insurance | storage and insurance. Didn't like the looks o' things last night, There's { smoke in the air ncw, Got some | fire,” “The kara was not built for cargo; | it's for passengers, I'll take your staff, if trouble comes, but it will cost you ten dollars a day for every square foot of space, and if I must throw it out to save life, out it will ge." “Folks will never look themselves in that oven, It's only fit for papers and the like.” “Mebbe not. We'll see when it comes,” In one day the opinion of the town changed from one extreme to another, They had called Bilas Higgins a orazy fool. Now he was the wisest and clear. ly the richest man on the section. He owned a olay bank and a safe deposit —4two banks of unknown eapacity for wealth, Nothing happened for three weeks, and the brick hut would have been for gotten had not its black und red walls been in plain sight of the main street. There were new arrivals every day, new pa | them, They were walking arm in arm along the dusky road toward the town when he overtook them, There was, low in the north, a faint glare in the sky, and as he passed Mina stopped and in rather wild English asked him what it meant, “it's the day o' judgment, And, Miss Mina, if wnss comes to wuss, don't try to ran. It will outrun the fastest horse, Don't run, but come to "” me, stood better than Mina, lasoghed, and said to her in German: “The wind is the wrong way. There is no danger; and if there were, I would take care of you." “The day had been hot and sultry, with a fitful breeze and yellow sky. The alr seemed pungent and fall strange odors. changed suddenly, and blew hot and dry from the northweet, Silas prepared his evening meal with his own hands, as waa his custom, and sat down listless, with no appetite, snd heavy with disap- pointment, and filled with a vague dread of something he could ot define. Just as he sat down there came a hurried knock at the door. He took a lamp, and opened the door, There was no It was as light as day, 1 he the road a team, with two men unloading a huge trunk. By the door stood the Eastern man, “Hore it is. Measure it yourself, Me and my pards are going to run for the river, If we never get back, bust open the trunk and take your pay out «' what ye find." The two men took the trunk and ran with it to the kara, and then as quickly ran back to their team. Just then a four-horse wagon loaded with men, wo- men and children was driven at fraatic speed past the house. There were shouts and cries in the air. Above all rose a deep, sullen roar—a something advancing through the forest behind the town, The road was filled with cattle as by magio, bellowing and toss- their rns, He heard a child scream by the gale, and ran bage-headed al ii meant. A child 1, trampled upon ti took it sad ran for the Che deluge ready. He hauled the of " ing h cl lay by 'Y ihe up fea brick hut, The ark was laid the child down inst trouk within, and with won. derful skill took up a kind of shutter coated with clay and jamme the window, wher to fit igh had come. Tron £ + cvs did ’ it Bene hen plunging his hs a tub that stood ready by the window, he took up wet clay and plastered it over the crack round the shutter, Before it was half done adozen frantic men and women were at the door, some with bundles, some with children in their arms, “Help me!” cried Silas, “Rig up the 1 i: & 3 * Pp all Ready hands seemed to eateh hint, and in a moment the door was hung and ready to close, “Don’t be scart, Koep outside as Just watch the thang half a minute.” I'hen he was gone, How he reached the Landerfelts’ he never knew. Mina stood by the door stupefied with horror, They had no horse, Whither ecounid they fly before such a sea of fire? Her helpless, and lay upon the bed and moaned, Mina met him at the door, Not a word was said, and Silas paused just for a moment irresolute, save both? “Mein fader,” “Yes, I'll carry walk.” She did not understand, She did not see how he could save them, and sup posed he had come perhaps to die with them, ‘No, no! Go-—you go-run--run!” It was all she could say in Eoglish, though she talked volubly in German. He entered the house and took the sick man on his back, and then together him, it you ean with the red wonder all about Half the town was on fire, All the sky was an oven, the woods were a furnace, It's hot breath was in their faces, On reashing the kara they found it tightly closed, The people had sel- id gone inside and left them to their ate, “Open the door! 1 will tear it down!” The heat was intolerable, the smoke blinding. He laid his burden on the ground and looked at Mina, “Mina, 1 built that for you, agin this day. These wretches have stole it; but t shall die with ns, I'll ron it in half a minute, Anyway, 1 oan die with you, and that's something. Open the door, or [ break the hull thing to pieces!” There was a movement inside as if some humanity was struggling with brutal selfishness, Then the door was opened slightly, “The man done this deserves to be killed, and I'll do it. Open the door, or I'll destroy ye altogether,” It seemed almost too late, The door was pried open, and Mina crept in, and Shalt het § , HOW quite wi “Wait a bit now tll I fix it all snug,” Open the door, or R— - to make doubly sure, “Mein Gott! Look at him!” him. Bhe had crept ont again, and stood pointing toward the street, There, reeling was a man with a violin case under his arm, He seemed to be lost and blinded in a sea of fire, “Let him die, It istoolate. He never will get here,” “Mein Gott! mein Gott! ered.” again, His feet were shod with clay, “(ive me your shawl,” He took it from her and wrapped it round his head, splashing the wet clay over it and upon his body. “Mina, I love you, Good-by.” She broke away and stood gazing iuto the flery furnace with her arm before her face to keep away the heat, It was all the work of a moment, The crea ture fell twice, but was somehow dragged along over the smouldering grass past the blazing fence, not one second too soon, The door, damaged by the attempis to close it, seemed about to fall, but Silas stood ready, and at every tiny puff of smoke that entered he aimed a of the fire, The heat within the place was fearful, yet none com- plained, It was, indeed, an ark of They heard the deluge go past Not a word was said during the whole two hours they were prisoners in the hut, At last Bilas gpoke and said: “We kin just thank the Lord for His 1 guess it's "bout over,” He tore down the door, and they all came forth, a sorry company in a desert of ashes, brilliantly lighted by the burning town; not a house or a fence standing; absolute poverty for all; nothing saved but hfe, The fire had burned close up to the kara on every left it unscathed. They all filed slowly out, the man with the violin case being close behind Silas, He had elung to it through all, “‘Hotter cali the poll and see who's saved,” said Silas, ‘Come ont, all of ye, and give yer names, Are all of Ye here?" **No, sir,’ a wretchea said one man. “There's Datechman hiding there He was the first to get in. It was he who suggested to close the door and shut you and the gal and the old man out.” “Call the skunk out.” I'he situation was too terrible for choice of words, Two men dragged the creature out, and he stood cowering before them all. It was the violinist, “Oh!” cried Mina; ‘it were a mis- take, He-—who was ho—the man saved with the violin?” The creature with spoke for himself, fiddle at the garden, “Never seen this gal before, did ve, mister?” The head Fhis gal kinder begged for yer life, shed ye thinking -—wa'al v ii ] 1 at 5 5 you Miak that Duteh- itl shill. the He violin Was CRO second man looked at Mina shook , Bud 11s iui ia, Was Silas them all, “Mix ' paid belore ‘there be times when it don’t 2 : kinder difference make no what company nd. 1 built this ark for you against the day o' judgment. It has come. 1 love ye, and ye must jedge between us ~that--that thing and me.” She took his arm, and he winced, “Don’t! It's burnt pretty bad, Never mind, It's all right. I always knew loved me.” ms si A The FEugquette of Cards. iw Visiting cards play so large a part io the of our cities that it 1s well to understand their use, but it is at least better to turn them nightly. A young girl from a Western city, making a visit to a iady in Boston, sent up her card with the corner turned down-—a thing that should never be dune when the person called upon 1s at home. This mistake, made by a reflned young lady, sugeesis the demirableness of & little technical in- formation for girls brought up 10 parts of the country where card etiquette is less understood than in our large cities. When a call is made with a hope to see called upon, inquiry should made at the door if the lady and if 80, a card should be sent be up, that When it day, on which the lady of the house bas her, but the wisitor should leave one upon the hall-table. When the person visited eud, or the upper right-hand corner, of the card may be turned down, as a token that the vimtor has called in person. The best way to make what the French call the “visit of digestion,” after a dinner, or the call after an evening party, is —exoept in eases of real intimacy--t0 leave a turned- down card, as it would be too grest a tax on the time of & hostess if she were com pelied to receive each guest again, sepa rately. Cards may be sent by post, on arriving at a place, 10 notify friends of one’s presence in town, and may also be sent on departure, marked ““P. P, OC." ~— pour prendre conge-4o take leave. A married lady who 18 strictly puactilious about social observances leaves her hus. band’s card with her own. The English style of gentlemen's cards, which is being widely adopted iu America, 18 a small card, not much more than half the size of a lady's. But a Frenchman still uses cards as large as his wife's, as was formerly the American custom. It 1s much better never to turn a card down than to turn it down not according to rule, for not to turn it 18 of no consequence, while, for instance, to send a tarned-dewn card to a lady who fs at home does betray ignorance of the social *‘convenances” one is attempting Wo observe. si A ID ISA A New York foundry has a steam hammer that strikes four hundred times a mioute, Passers- imagine thut it is a Chioago girl her musio lesson. Victoria's Domestic Despbotisa, The queens | families prove how great gratitude for the privilege of not belong- | 18g 10 any of them. This dreary [ate migal have happened by a mere accident {of birth, 1t 18 8 narrow and fortunate | escape, and thelr 18 the cause for biographies of is drudgery and thraldom. The letters {of the Princess Alice, like all literary emanations from persons of royal birth, | confirm this fact. The tedious detalis of | her cramped and monotonous court life | give strong evidence of Bat throughout the pitiful revelation this truly good and wrote occasional trnthful observations, of which the following 18 one of the best: “People with | more responsible than for the color of | one's eyes, have things to fight against and i i wr Bolt Hands Out of Date, The place was the house of a weslthy family in Fifth avenue, New York. ‘The oracle, President Barpard of Columbia College, was discussing on the thorough. breeding imbued a human being with refinement, “With my eyes blinded, as they are,” he remarked —~he wore eye bandages because temporary inflammation—**1 could probably distinguish by a shake of the hand between a person of refinement and a person of coarseness, ’ “Let us test you, Mr. Jarnard,” sald i | | “agreed,” smd he, Here let me interpolate some informa tion as to the fashion ip hands, There was 8 time, pot long ago, when Lhe elegant belle slept with greased hands in old gloves | and equable dispositions, who are free from violent emotions, and have conse quently no feeling of nerves—still less of irritable nerves. One can overcome a great deal, but alter one’s self one cannot,” Queen Victoria apparently has a mans tor opposition. While her subjects are comparatively free, her sons and daughters are 1n bondage. She 18 more deserving of the “Madame Velo” than wes the unfortunate Marie Antoinette during the French revolution. The Queen curlails socielity, nigh neck dresses, opinions, Princes Princesses. connected august title customs, plans, Everything and everybody with the royal family are sub- mitted 10 her pproval, and seldom approves of anything but piety, prudence, precedence and unhmited hard work performed by others in her name. The Prince and Princess of Wales are the hardest worked of all the court slaves. They are forced to pass a great portion of their ume in presenting flags, schools, hospitals, charities, bazars, ing at all varieties of pubhe functions and Bilate ceremo and lsying of corner stones of churches, mers, and in working tor their future populanty. And In midst of their few breathing epelis pleasures they are Invariably and suds recalled Windsor, Balmorsa Oshorne House, to lunch with the ( Their not to be envied. It mu a crumb of consolaticn tw the Bocialists the Nihilists, the dynamiters, the O'Dono van Rossas and the rest of the discontent people. pastimes, and she pening presid- es, and 1 ’ CTY $ tr Vv vi # T+ must be it 18 i —E A ———— Picking by Machinery. Comton 3 The perfection of al picking u 8 regarded as to “revolutionize labor” at the Bo machine of this kind has long been de sired, as second 10 importance only Lo Lhe cotton gin; aud it 18 cisimed hal & Suc cess has at last been attained by Mr. Mason, of Sumter, B. C. An "mperfect” mode! has already picked 300 p an hour. The improved machine, | the inventor has now completad, is expec ted to pick 600 pounds an hour. One hand and a pair of borees will do the work of | fifty hands, as at present employed. Har- vesting that pow costs $80 is reduced t £2.50, the saving per bale being $6 Mason is spoken of enthumastically as “‘the Mahdi: of the South, who is to deliver the © grower from his grealest trouble, and rescue him from merchants’ | claims and storekeepers’ bills—to revolu ionize the entire situation of labor.” The inventor has refused $1,000,000 patent, ana, will engage in the the machi a practi cott iRcaine Cf st} iid minds in which wion backed by abundant manufacture an thal t Aim probable : and that Lhere are slid be overcome; bul if a tral nplished what a be no Gouin the ly aceor there actus 8 « i Can that L100 1 . In chanic L voars it YOATSs, is view of ng the past thiny say thal & coninv ance of this sort is impracticable. The effect of such an invention colored labor—for this is the only sort that has been trained to pick colton--is vari. ously estimated. The Southern papers generally concede that It will, at first, greatly injure the colored people in the | potion Slates. But eventually, it | thought, “the cotton picker material benefit to the Bouthern colored people, as they will be drawn from the fields iato the mulls as operatives, or into cities, where they will earn more unen | the with better educations! advantages; while for those who rema’n industriously at agriculture there will be, with thrift and economy, improved opportunity for ad. vancement. They will, it is srgued, in picker, land owners and planters, instead of hired laberers.” We see why the picker should injure the laborers binder, or laborers in the enable the planiers their acreage, 10 and the than the threshers, wheat belt, to increase greatly | gather their crop at the critical time when it 1s ready, and to add largely to | their profita. And this should add to the | general prosperity of their section, in which all industrious and temperate citi zens will share reaper injured It will i i Bellowing Ilassos. A good story is told of John Gilbert, the primo baseo, who succeeded the late | George Uonly in the Abbott opera troupe, and who will make his reappearance next season in legitimate HKnglish opera Jack,” as his inumate friends call him, lis a great ‘‘kidder,” and occasionally | indulges nis fondness for a practical joke. | When the lamented Conly was at the | height of his artistic career, he Wisited | his native city, Philadelphia, where | Gilbert was then studyine for the lyric stage with Bugoor Ettore Barili, the half brother and only teacher of Adeline Patti, who had likewise been the leacher of Conly. One day the two bassos mel at Hornickel's Cafe, a favorite resort for professional people. “I'l wager you that I can bresk a pane of glass by sumply swelling on one note,” sad Gilbert, “I'll wager you'll not be able to do it, and that 1 will,” sad Conly. “Done!” exclaimed Gilbert. Conly began the contest. The window rattled violently, and though the glass did not break there was a gr panic among the waiters, Then Gil tried and two ~wple of friends outside the window, who olayed thoir parts admirably and wan sued a "es their canes at the thoe ‘s ng Was engaging the astention of Conly and the spectators. the sun, like mushrooms growing white in a cellar, 80 that thegimignt look though they they had never come in contact with anything rougher than satin. It 12 wholly different now; athletic sports mare in high approval. The daughter of wealth oars, tennis bats, bridle relos and tricycle handie-bars, all without gloves, and she is proud of the culous palms which ensue, and the red rosiness of knuckies used 10 be the hue « lily. Her hiking for out- hag not yet taken her inlo base-ball field, where her fingers might permanently di ! uy and 80 the hands are Erase the thal if the (00r eXercise Lhe get ge, becoming dis- again be were, rured breaks will never soft as Barnard evidently was not posted nalerial matter, for be fell pre into the trap set for him. il maid,’ said the rogue, ‘‘and : hapds with her. Bhe is and can hardly say ‘boo’ without violating some grammatical rule. Bhe's without a bit of ure. You shall also shake hands with a young isdy who, as you will admit when tid her name, 18 nothing rt of cultured perfection. But mind you, mustn't aliow yoursei! Ww softness or hardness of palm. **No,” he promised, | will id nad solely of their clasp.” sciared that the ma 1 m #3: pony waty aor rh JUKE #0 small they will il $ “wt LET cull sh » entily the lady and the subtle characteristics Nevertheles who was brou to give smooth, nl hand, was Lhe ady, who had a leathery hand in was the servant. If ant A Arnis Being Understood. The nPOriancs f able 10 express ot versation or in wri estimated. Yet, if the talk of if nelg hi Mi Kis being in cone IVEr- y judge from & railway car, and from the columns of tl average newspaper, Lhe ranch of learning that, considering ils im 5, 8 10 neglected. 1f he has plenty of ¢ at Lis disposal almost every one can make him. self understood, but too often the number of words used iz out of all propertion 10 the ideas. The peculisly nervous tem- perarent, and the limited vocabulary of most AmMEricans, express themselves In a vague, verbose fashion. I'bey arc i at the pith f what t aking shout; and when ; ir inability 10 words, thal n a8 compact, 10 use is No lead them to $ 1 » ” too long ny eEre which one knows cause of much loose, mesa: which may serve ils purpose but which more oftener leaves a listener in such a state of uncertainty that he 1s a8 likely us not to attribute his doubts to has own dullness. Honesty, simplicity and exaciness are not qualities that are con- spicuous in the conversation of an ordinary American, or even in thst of a man of liberal education. The temptation io ex- travagance aod inmncerily, which. stnctly speaking, are forms of dishonesty, 18 | great, especially if one wishes 10 creale the impression that he is unusually clever; | and simplicity and exactness of slalement, | being oftentimes unatiainable, give way 10 { circumlocation and generalities. The { result is that one gives at best only imper. | fect expression to his ideas. ————— Arab Oadities, house hat. An Arab on entering his | moves his shoes, but his mounts his horse upon the right while his wife milks the cow on the’left gide. In writing a letter he puts near- | ly all his compliments on the outside. | With him the point of a pin is its head, whilst its head is made its heel, His head must be wrapped up warm even in Summer, while his feel may well enough go naked in Winter. Every article of merchandise which 1s liquid he weighs, but be measures wheat, barley, and a few other articles, He reads and | writes from right to left. He eats | scarcely anything for breakfast, about | as much for dinner ; but after the day's work is done, he sits down to a hot meal swimming in oil, or, betler yet, | boiled butter, His sons eat with him, but the females of his house wait till his lordship isdone. He rides a don- | key when travelling, his wife walking | behind, He laughs at the idea of walk- ing in the street with his wife, or of ever vacating his seat for a woman. He knows no use for chairs, tables, knives, forks, or even ons unless they are wooden ones, Bedsteads, bureaus, and fire may be placed in the same category. If he be an artisan he does his work sitting, perhaps using his foot to hold what his hands are engaged upon, He drinks cold water with a spoon, bat never bathes in it unless his home is on the seashore, He is rarely seen drunk, is deficient in affection for his kindred, has little curiosity and no imitation, no wish to improve his mind, no desire 32 Bulsrw und himself with the comforts of 11 Ie- He id Siae, not No editor has ever been elected President. This soccounts tor our enormous National debt, Tun presunt fashion of belt bouquets causes a» great many flowers to be waisted.