4
LIFE OF OMILOREN BY THE gBA,
rm comforted of pilot stars they lie
charmed dreams, but not of world nor
Bop aship! her wide yards score the sky;
sails a steel-blus sea.
Ag turns the t amassment of the tide,
Drawn of sliver despot to her throne,
Bo turn the destined souls, so far and wide,
The strong deep claims its own.
Sull the old tale, these dreamy islanders,
Each with hot Sunderbunds a somewhat
owns,
That calls, the grandatre’s bloed within them
stirs
Dutch Java guards his bones.
And these were orphaned when a leak was
sprung
Far out from land when all the air was
balm;
The shipmen saw their faces as they bung,
And sank in the glassy calm.
These, in an orange-sloop their father plied,
Deck laden deep she sailed from Cadiz
side,
Drank water and went down.
They too shall sail. High names of alien
lands
Are in the dream, great names their fath-
ers knew;
the garden you know, and the cow; that
cao VILE oo
was a w al he r,
Isn't it a great deal cheaper to feed
women than men? She always said so.”
“I suppose it is. Men are carniverous.
A diet of tea and vega.ables don’t suit
thera very well; they are apt to grumble
for something more solid, Well, my
Even without the mort-
gage, you could’nt live on $50 a year.”
“No. And I've been thinking what
we could do. So has Cree, though we
haven’t spoken to each other about it,
I might teach a district school, perhaps.
And Cree—"’
‘I could take a place as plain cook.
There isn’t anything else I can do as
well. Plain cookipg, with dripping and
soapfat by way of perquisites; and I
gave a laugh which was meant to be
merry.
“It is hard” said John with a moody
look on his face which was foreign to
its usual frank brightness. ‘How much
can’t get it, and how little it is worth
to other people, who fling it away with-
out a thought of its valuel A thousand
dollars now! Any rich man would con -
sider it a mere bagateile in his expenses;
Madras, the white surf rearing on her sands,
E'en they shall breast it too
Bee threads of scarlet down fell Roa creep,
Wild moaning winds rend back her va- |
porous veil;
Wild Orinoco wedge-like split the deep, !
Raging forth passion pale; |
Or a biue berg at sunrise glittering, tall, i
Great as a town adrift. come shining on,
With sharp spires,gemlike as the mystical
Olear city of St John.
I ————— |
A NEWSPAPER FILE.
f
yi
It was two days after Aunt Priscilla’s |
funeral, and Sue and I were sitting to- |
gether by the kitchen fire, with that |
hush over our spirits still which follows |
a death and a burial. All the afternoon |
we had been busy in getting the house |
to rights, not meddling yet with the |
things which had been hers and were
now ours, but by dint of open windows, |
sunshine and furniture dusted and re. |
arranged, trying to restore to the rooms |
that familiar look which they had lost |
during those weeks of anxiety and trou-
ble. A few di more and we must |
face a future w. ci: was full of terrors.
Meanwkile, custom as well as inclina- |
tion accorded a brief respite in which to |
think of her who was gone and of each
other, with the clinging fondness of |
those whose lives, never before parted, |
were about to separate.
Sue sat on a low stool, her head
against the chimney jamb. It was the
chimney of Aunt Priseilla’s youth;
she would never alter it—one of the !
wide, old-fashioned kind, with pot hooks |
god blazing logs, and bake oven at ons
side, The soot blackened bricks and
faint red glow made a background for |
my sister’s head, with its great twist of
fair hair and lily like slender throat. |
Sue is very pretty, prettier than any- |
body I ever saw. I recollect a picture |
a8 1 looked at her—a picture of Cin-
derella sitting in just such an attitude |
by the chimney side. Sune was equally
icluresque at that moment; so far as |
00ks go, equally worthy of a prince; |
but alas! no fairy godmother was likely |
to emerge from the apple room for her |
benefit. Aunt Pris, who in a small
way, had enacted that part towards us, |
was gone, and her big rocking chair
which: we had no heart to sit in, swung
empty in its accustomed place, type of |
a hike emptiness which we were con-!
pcious of in other things, and would
feel for,a long time to come.
Neither of us spoke for a while. We |
were tired and spiritiess, and John
Slade was coming presently to talk over
things, so we saved our words.
Dr, Slade—John—was Sue's lover. |
The®r poor little engagement had been i
made two years ago. How many years |
f= was likely to last nobody could 03s, |
bat shey held on te it bravely, and were |
content to wait. Pretty soon, as we |
#al waiting, his step sounded without |
on the gravel, and with a little tap— |
courteous, but unnecessary, for thedoor |
was pever locked —he entered, gave Sue |
# gentle kiss, me another, and sat down |
between us in aunty’s rooking chair, |
was a comfort to have him de that, |
e house seemed less forlorn at once. |
“Well. children, how has the day |
gone?" he asked, i
“Pretty weil,” replied Sue. “We |
have been busy and are tired to-night, |
I think I'm glad you are come, John |
r. We are getting lonely and dis-
mal, Cree and J. i
Lucretia is my name, but Sue and |
Aunt Pricills always called me “Cree.”
John adjusted a stick on the embers, |
and with one daring poke sent a tongue |
of bright flame upward before he an- |
swered. Then he took Sue's hand in |
his broad palm, and patting it gently,
sald:
‘““Now let's taik over matters. We
pught to decide what we are to do, we
three,"
“That “three” was very comforting
to me, but John always is a comfort,
He was “made 30" Aunt Pris said.
And be certainly carries out the pur-
pose of his creation,
“Did your aunt leave any will?” he
went on.
“Only this; and I brought from be
taveen leaves of the big Bible, where
we had found it, a half sheet of note
poor, on which dear aunty had stated
her own simple fora, that she left
all she had to be equally divided be-
tween her nieces, Susan and Lucretia
Foudarier. Bquire Packard’s name and
Brackett's, our old washer-wo-
“yr well, said John ~ “Thats good
‘Very ohn,
in law, I fancy; or, if mot, you are the
nearest relatives, and it’s yours any-
way. What property did your aunt
own besides this pm
**She had an annuity of $250 a year,
and $50 more from some turnpike stock.
That's all, ex the house and furni-
and there is a
The
annuity stops now, doesn’t it?”
John looked as though he wanted to
whistle, but refrained.
‘Your aunt was a clever manager,’
he said—a capital manager. She made
very little go a great way, didn’t she?
don’t know any one else who could
on $300 a year, with in-
terest taken out. You have always
cozy and ; ”
© always have been. But we had
but if I couldeommand the sum, it would
make us three comfortable for life.”’
“How do you mean? What would
you do with a thousand dollars If you
had it, John?"
“I'll tell you. Langworthy ls going |
to sell his practice.”
“Ohl?
‘‘It is a large practice for the coun-
try, you know. It brings him six or |
He has a chance to go into partnership
and he’ll sell fora thousand.”
‘*But, John, some people like you
better than they do Dr, Langworthy.”
“Yes, some people do. But the
question is, will they like me better
than the other man who buys Dr.
If I were that man
[ should commas. both practices. It
man coxing in has his chance to cut me
out.”
“I see What can be done ?”
‘ Nething,”’ with rueful
glance,
“That's the worst of ii.
i can only |
Bnt it |
is hard, when with this miserable |
thousand dollars I could double my |
chances and make a nice home for you
two. Sue, darling, don’t cry.” |
She bad laid her cheek down on hs |
arm, but she wasn’t crying, only look- |
‘If wesold everything, all this which |
fing— |
I asked desperately.
John shook his head, “I couldnt let
You'll want |
go into buying a practice for me. But, |
now that this wouldn't realize much
forced sale. And the furniture though |
worth a good deal to keep would go for
nothing at an auction. That plan
wouldn’t do at all for any of us.”
‘Stull there’s no harm in thinking |
aboue it, and seeing what we have, and
what it’s worth,” 1 urged, loth to give
up any ghost of achance. “We may |
“Of course. That 15a thing you must |
do sooner or later. Look over the!
we'll consult and fix on approximate |
Den’t hurry about it, though.
you need rest.” |
‘“Rest is the very thing I don’t need |
and can’t take,” I cried impetuously. |
“Something to Gill up the long days and i
keep us from thinki 'g and getting blue !
is what we want. We'll make the list |
to-morrow, John.”
A little more talk and he rose to go,
“Did you stop at the post office |
John?”
‘*Yes, There was nothing for you.” |
“Not even the Intelligencer?” asked |
ue languidly. i
*I forgot to tell you there has been a |
great fire in New York, and the Intelli-
gencer is burned out, Abner brought |
the news over; it was telegraphed to the
Junction. They say the building is a |
total loss, so I suppose there won't be |
any publication for awhile—some days |
at least.” i
“Poor aunty! how sorry she would |
bel” sighed Sue. ‘*‘Aunty took the |
paper ever since it began-—forty-five |
years ago. She never missed a number, |
There 1t is all upstairs—stacks and
stacks of it, She was so proud of her
file, Is’s no use at all now, I sup-
pose, is it John?"
" ragman will give a penny a
pound for it,” 1 suggested; ‘‘that’s
something.”
“We'll weigh the lot one of these
5
John, *‘Good night, children,’
It was a ghostly task which we set
out to do next day. The past itself,
the faint, fragmentary past, seems to be
wrapped up and enclosed in those bun-
dles of time-worn articles with which
elderly people encumber their store-
rooms and closet shelves. Some alr of
antiquity exhales as you open them, and,
mingling with our modern alr, produ-
ces an impression half laughable, half
sad. Aunt Priscilla had been a born
collector. She loved old things because
they were old, apart from use or value,
instinct and principle combined had
kept her from ever throwing away any-
Shing in her life, Our list was a very
short one, A few chairs and tables, a
dozen thin spoons, and a small teapot in
silver, the hage newspaper heap which
I had appraised at a penny the pound
these seemed the only ble things,
and we looked comically and grimly
Into each other's faces as we set them
down,
“I wish it were possible to eat Intel-
ligencers,” sald I.
“They say newspapers make excellant
than blankets,”
John came as usual in the evening,
“Here's enterprise!” he called out as
he came in,
“What is enterprise?”
““The Intel cer! Behold 1 lage
as life, and loo] Just as ¥
forty-eight hours after the fire! 's
en PS nn, amin
, BS
sh dss the Papel from sts
and held it to blaze that she might
———————— ERIE,
see the familiar page. Meanwhile I
took frem my poc our meslahcholy
Nttle Hat,
“¥ou were sgt John. Sue and I
have searched ouse over to-day,
and this is all there is of any value—the
furniture, a lttle silver, and those
wretched Intelligencers,
I was Interrupted by a startling cry.
Sue was gazing at the newspaper in her
hand with large dilated eyes. Her
cheeks flushed pink,
“What 1s it? What is the matter?”
both of us ery in a breath,
“Just read this! Oh, John! I don’t
believe it! Read!”
She thrust the paper into his hand,
and he read:
THE PAPER FILE OF OUR PAPER
$1.000
3 Fowgirr, § been destroyed by fire on the
evening of the 15th inst., we offer the above price
for a fumplets and perfect set of the Intelligencer
from its first number, March 4, 1830, to present
date. Any person able to supply a set as stated
will please communicate with the publisher, P,
0. Box 2351, New York.
**A thousand dollars! Oh Sue! oh
John! what a good piece of good fort-
une! Dear aunt—think of her file turn-
ing out such a treasure! It is too won-
derful to be true. I feel as though it
were a dream;” and I danced up and
Jahn and Sue were eqnally excited,
“Only,” premised the former, ‘‘we
musn't forget that some one else may
have a file of the Intelligencer, and get
ahead of us.”
This wet blanket of a suggestion kept
posted over night for the early stage.
if it should be lest in the mails! When
fidgety to employ myself in any way,
But about noon John walked in, com-
fort in his eyes,
the letter is only half way there.”
egraphed, paid the answer, and here it
is, "0"
‘Send file at once,
aer.
How we cried and
kissed each other! How
PF. Haaarax ™
laughed and
much
gether, the fruition of deferred hopes;
home security, the shelter of my sister’s
much money can do sometimes! and at
shoulder, and shivered and sobbed now
and then, when I turned emotion into
a new channel by seizing a tumbler of
waler and Jroponng this toast: “To the
memory of the late Samuel F. B.
Morse”
nix from its ashes!"
drink this heartily.
Sr GS
The Martin Kossua Aflair,
Martin Koszia had been one of the
against Austria in 1840.
Turky for refuge. The Austrian goy-
though, after some correspondence on
permanently to some foreign land.
his stay.
In 1854 Koszia retu to Tarkey,
contrary to his promise to the Porte. At
Smyrna he received a passport from the
American consul and went ashore. The
Austrian consul at Smyrna, hear.
ing of the exile’s presence there, and
having no power to arrest him on shore,
hired some bandits to throw hum into
the bay, where a boat picked him up
and conveyed him on board an Austrian
frigate. Capt. Duncan Ingraham, Uni-
ted States navy was at anchor in the
loaded and pointed at the Austrian yes
sel, threatening to fire into her if Kosz-
into the charge of the French consul.
and gave up the prisoner.
The affair gave rise to a Jong discus.
sion between Baron Hulseman, the
Austrian minister at Washington, and
William L. Marcy, the American secre.
tary of Btate, Becretary Marcy got the
best of the argument and Koszta was
restored to the United States,
rel li cin:
Ou Her Mascle,
Dr. Mary Walker, of Washington re-
cently created a sensation at the Capi-
tol. She appeared in one of the corri-
dors of the lower floor of the House
wing, and going to the enclosure ocon-
pled by the janitor of the House obtain-
ed permission to depomt her tile on the
wood-box while she went into the room
of the Committes on Claims,
After the doctor had disappeared into
the committee room some wag bribed a
colored employe of the House with a
quarter to put the hat on his head, go
to the committee room and offer it to
the doctor. The colored man placed
the dector’s hat jauntily on his head,
and stepping into the committee room,
bowed to the doctor and was about to
offer her the hat when she to her
feet, screamed “You impudent scoun-
drel,” and dealt the colored man a blow
Colonel Mien's Leap,
Colonel Allen's boyhood was passed
in Nova Scotia, of which province he
was a citizen till about his twenty-first
year, though he received part of his
education in Boston. When the colo-
nies declared their independence and the
war of the Revolution &n, young
John Allan, who was an ardent Ameri-
can patriot, made a strong effort to
have Novia Scotia and New Brunswick
join with Maine and Massachusetts and
declare themselves free of England;and
if he had succeeded, thoss two provin-
ces would be free States of the Amer
can Union to-day instead of colony
possessions of England. But the Tory
influence there was too strong, for him,
since he was then only about twenty-one
or twenty-two years old, and he was
obliged to fly for hus life to escape hang-
ing.
$e came over the border into Ma‘ne
and settled at Machias; and from that
time forward through the whole war,
he was the mainstay of defence for the
people of the eastern frontier. For
though a quiet man, he was a very de-
termined one; and hie rule of always
doing exaotly as he engaged to do soon
made him loved by the Indians, over
whom he gained an almost complete
mastery and leadership, This was very
important: for the Indians of the Pen-
obscot and Passamaquaddy tribes were
then very numerous and very usetul in
| war,
Tne government at that time could
give Colonel Allan but little assistance,
| though he was well-known to Washing-
{ton and Knox, and acted in concert
with them. At one time, fearing that
| he should be unable to give certain sup-
{ plies to the Passamaquaddy Indians, he
| left his two sons, Willlam and Mark,
as hostages, in their hands, and pro-
ceeded to Boston, hoping to hasten the
tardy appropriations made for them.
i Delay followed delay, and the lads,
then aged thirteen and eleven, spent
| two years among the Indians, hunting
| porpoises and fishing with them, getting
| nothing better to eat all that time than
| parched corn, fish and occasionally a bit
| of moose-meat. Ah, how poor Mrs,
Allan worried about ber boys, whom
| she was unable to see during all that
| time! When at last they did return
home, they were dreadfully dirty, clad
in skins, and their hair hung in tangled
locks down their shoulders,
The British were greatly incensed
against Colonel Allan daring all this
time.
times sent from Nova Scotia to assagsi-
nate him. The friendly Indians were
| coming and going from the colonels
{ times a dozen times a day.
One afternoon as the colonel, who
was ill that day, was sitting in a chair,
| with 8 bedspread around him, talking
with his sons, John and Mark, one of
the Indians, named Sam Jack, came in
i and sat down without saying anything,
But as the colonel allowed them to
come and go a they liked, no questions
were asked him.
went on talking, Sam Jack got up and
got behind the door leading into the
colonel’s bedroom, which stood ajar,
just back of his chair. They were so
| busy talking that they did not notice it,
or forgot 1t io a few moments; and after
a time John and Mark both went out to
do some work, leaving the colonel alone
as he thought.
Some minutes passed, and he had
fallen into a drowse, when suddenly the
cum,’ from down Halifax wWay-—-not one
British had hired to kill the colonel—
| leaped into the room, frothing at the
{ himself up to a fearful pitch
i might bave courage to commit the deed.
around his head; and Colonel Allan,
| in the bedspread, could do nothing save
| fix his eyes sternly on those of the
| assassin,
| instant Sam Jack, who bad somehow
| heard of his coming, and who had been
| standing behind the bedroom door all
{ this time, bounded out, and with one
| blow of a club which he had concealed
| nnder his frock, laid the red miscreant
stiff on the floor!
Drawing his own knife, Bam Jack
might have had Seek-'um-O-cum’s scalp
off in short order. But the colonel for-
bade him; and when at length the
would-be murderer came to his senses,
the colonel merely pointed to the door,
and bade him ‘go home.”
At another time while alone on a trip,
during the early part of winter, to con-
fer with some Penobscot Indians, then
camped on the Schoodic lakes, he was
chased by a party of six hostile Indians
from across the border, who wished to
take him prisoner, in order to get the
large reward offered for his re,
dead or alive, by the British, These
savages had been dogging his steps for
two days, and finally came up with him
ako y was going down the lower lake on
Chancing to glance over his shoulder,
when about a half-mile out from the
shore, he saw all six of them dash out
upon the lake in full chase, They
were on skates, Col. Allen well knew
what his fate would be if taken. Like
HH
Ii:
fy
i
i
£
2
»
2
Li
f
i
I
Hs
within a hundred feet of the black
water. It now looked wider still,
“Heavens! it’s twenty fest!” mut
tered the colonel, “Can I? I can’t.
But I must]” and he collected all his
strength for the terrific jump.
The Indians now saw what he meant
to do. They were scarcely a hundred
yards behind him, and seeing his design,
they yelled hornbly—to fluster hm,
Two of them hurled their tomabawks,
ons of which whirled past the colonel’s
head, the other skipped along the we
between his feet; and both plumped into
the water ahead of bim, just as he
jumped! For collecting all of his
strength at the final forward lunge, he
sparng for the ice on the other side—
barely landed on the brink of it—fell
and slid far along on his hands and
knees! a third tomahawk whizzed by
him and cut into the ice; before he conld
regain his begs; and one of the Indians
who had halted a little way back to un-
sling his gun, fired at the same instant,
sending a ball skipping along the ice,
But the Indians stopped. Not ene
of the six dared take that perilous leap;
and as the colonel scrambled to his feet
again and dashed away, he heard one of
them exclaim:
“Ugh! big jump!”
Before they could go ashore and clam-
ber through the thick brush so as to
come out on the ice below, the colonel
had a mile the start of them again,
which so disheartened them that they
gave up the chase, For they knew
there was a block-house at the foot of
the lake,
An hour later Colonel Allen arnved
at the block-house somewhat fatigued
race and the big jump,
Hendricks and s Dummy.
An Eye on Mall Bags,
“Mail depredations’ is the
over one of the many doors in the poste
L office department building.
“Our work” said the head of this
bureau, *‘is to record the losses from
the , especiatly by depredations,
‘“Are the losses by this means
or numerous?’ ,
“No,” he answered; they are ve
small when compared with the amo
of business done by the department. The
postoffice system, you know, carries
immense sums of money-—millions u
on millions of dollars every year, f
course we do not know the number of
dollars transmitted in our registered
packages, but, when you recognize the
fact that there are between 11,000,000
and 12,000,000 of these packages trans
mitted every year, you will see that
the amount must be very great.”
“How do the losses come? Through
oe dishonesty of government employ-
es ”
“In some cases, yes, The largs pro-
portion, however, is from mail robberies
outside of government employ, and by
accidental losses; such as railroad acci-
dents, fires, etc. A very iarge propor-
tion of our losses by robbery are through
persons outside of the department ser-
vice, robberies of postoffices, train rob-
bers, highwaymen in the thinly settled
sections, and characters of this sort,
We have very few cases of depredations
by our own employes, although they
number many thousands.’
‘Are all government employes who
handle money required to give bond?"
“Not all of them. Of course the
large Postmasters give a heavy bond,
and they usually require their clerks to
give bond t> them for faithful services,
The jeiter-carriers give bond, also, but
those in the railway mail service who
handle the letters do not,”
i A tall man dressed in severe black,
| hat, entered the Eden Musee, N, Y.,
| recently. People who looked at his
| white necktie tied so simply under his
| collar, and the patriarchal way in which
| he walked about, said that he wasa
| church deacon. Other farseeing peo-
| ple, whose sensitive nerves had
istirred up by the
| lately made by Superintendent Murray,
{ advised their neighbors to be careful.
| No one thought for a moment that he
| was Vice President Hendricks, but it
i was, and he walked up and down and
| looked at himself in wax,
| There was a number of people around
pressed their opinions freely.
| said he was & smart man and
waxen imitation, The wax gegtieman
looked more comfortable than the flesh-
and blood gentleman,
The Vice President eventually went
up to a little man who sat behind a
chess-board, His kings and queens
were before him, and although he did
not speak he moved his bishops and
kmghts around so mtelligently that the
Vice President thought he would like
intelligent little wax gentieman,
So hesat down at the board and
pushed his very high silk hat far back
on his head
and they crowded very close up to him
and the wax player.
““T'wo to one on the wax man!” said
| & young man with a brown mustache.
“I'l take youl’ was the answer from
another man, and the money was put
up in a jiffy.
“He looks just like his picture,
doesn’t he?” another man asked,
“Yea' a friend replied, **if he had
those little side whiskers shaved off, 1
| don't think side whiskers are becoming
to a man who may be President.”
“He's mot a dandy suit,” was
| next remark heard.
“I'll bet he doesn’t get it made in In-
| diana,’ was heard a second later,
Meanwhile the Vice President play-
jed. It was remarkable how well his
| antagonist, considering that he was not
alive, moved the pieces. The Vice
President was apparently losing ground.
He got excited. Not so with the gen-
tieman in wax. His calm, quiet plaster
of Paris blue eye beamed upon the
crowd, and itis no extravagance of
speech to say that under the most try-
ing ordeals he remained the same calm,
imperturbable gentleman of the first
part of the game, He had such an in-
expressive face that he must have been
a master at face. His hands moved
quickly and without a bit of nervous-
ness, and it was noticeable that he did
not bite his lips the way Mr, Hendricks
did,
Some of the remarks that went
around at this stage of the game were
like these:
“Five to one on wax works,”
“There were no takers,
“Hendricks is a dandy player, but
the wax man can give him points *’
“1 always heard that the Vice Presi.
dent was calm. Why, he’s all ruffled.”
“That fellow in wax is a daisy.” «
The game finished ang the Vice Presi-
dent arose defeated. He put on his
high »ilk hat and moved out of the
crowd and left the building.
A spruce, dapper h tleman
came out of the wax man with the blue
eye, and said:
It’s hot in there! He's a
pretty good player—for an Indianian.’’
th
e
As & Princess Looked.
Princess Beatrice sad and
uncomfortable, while her eyes were
much Swoian. The Ques: jn. all her
magnificence, gave one pression
of pepe mother who was
sacrificing her only child, The Queen
riven Bony Bout et uct Fier Ae
one
health ud
ik
gs
FgEf
£
hit
I
“How do you insure their honesty?"
| “By getting good men and keeping
jout any bad ones that may appear
| among them. We have the record of
{ these men down pretty fine, Do you
| see that long line of books over there?
| They contain the record of every mail
| robber arrested in many yeurs past. By
| them we can tell the records of every
{ man who has made a record of crime in
connection with the mal service. In
this way we keep the losses down to a
| very small percentage, a percentage
| which is constantly growing less in pro-
portion to the business performed by
| the mall service.
——
Tongs Men and Women.
hey are muscular, cheerful looking,
| and well-fed; and thelr features are, I
think, much better than the English
average, being in many cases regular
and fine. The nose may be rather broad
at the base, but it is frequently well
cut; the mouth is large and the lips a
trifie full, but the teeth they disclose
are strong, and white, and even, and
their eyes are dark and lustrous, The
women of Tonga have, I verily believe,
the most beautiful eyes in the world,
and they know how to use them, too.
Liguid, soft and speaking, they glace
| through the fringe of their silken a8
in a manner that is indescribably sweet.
Their dress consists of a cloth, fastened
ound the walst, which bangs down
below the knees; the body has no cover-
ing, and they go bareheaded. The mis
sionaries with their usual idiotic inter
ference, have tried to alter this seneible
| dress, which 18 decent. even according
| to our artificial notions of modesty, and
mostjadmirably suited to the climate,
| They insist on the women wearing a
| sort of absurd pinafore, which is left off
on every possible occasion; and some
time ago a law was made that every
| man should wear a European dress or
{ghirt and trousers, and leave off the
| charming vala. To eaforce this iniqui-
| tous law, the manufacture of tappa, the
| native made cloth, was prohibited, so
| that perforce the natives had to pur-
| chase European fabrics—a thing very
| greatly to the advantage of the traders,
| through whose rdvaence with the min-
| ister this disg.aceful state of affairs was
| brought about, But even the worm
| will turn, and this was too much for the
| gentle Tongan, and the law has been
wisely repealed by the king.
To such an extreme was the enrorce-
ment of this act carried, that any men
seen without trousers or shirt on the turf
road in Nakualofa was liable to a fine
of many dollars, It seems a queer state
of affairs that a man cannot walk along
the very road his ancestors in the
dress of his country, but must don the
hideous garments of an intruding peo-
ple. In the church at Tongataba, where
the intelligent m\gsionary of course
rules supreme, Lhid ordinance, which
forbids any man to attend the service
An exhibition of American manufac
tures and natural productsis to be
opened mm Rome next November, under
*