OE ARR OE My Little Wife, 8be isn’t very pretty {So say her lady friends); She's peither wise nor witty, With verbal odds and ends. No fleeting freaks of fashion Across her fancy run; She's never in a passion Except a tender one, Her volce is Jow and coolng; She listens more than speaks; While others talk of doing, be duty near she seeks, it may be but to burnish The sideboard’'s scanty plate, Or but with bread to furnish The beggar at the gate. I, who see what graces She sheds on lowly life, fashion’s fairest faces "refer my little wife, Aud though at her with pity The silly dames may smile, Who deem her hardly pretty And sadly out of style. To me she seems a creature Su musically sweet, I would not change one [eature, Clue curve from crown to feet. 1 if I conld be never er lover and her mate, think I'd be forever the gate, 1 Che beggar at HE AUTOGRAPH ALBUM. be an eminent man, or peo- write me so many let- private affairs, large loans without security, to | faithfully repaid in a few weeks, | and beseech my interest for Charles and Mary, who are young and gifted, and need only an opportunity to aston- | » world, Above all, they would not flood me with autograph albums, in | am expected to write a quota- tion or a sentiment.”’ | When this popularity was fresh, I used ne pleasure in signing my | honeyed phrases from the | I besought Heaven to ran sweet odors on ladies I had never seen, and I assured gentlemen with whom I had not the slightest acquaintance that | y them in my heart of hearts. | ult was that the albums came in hy every post, Some of them rere small, and got mislaid. Others were large, and demanded an impossible physical effort to return them. Many were without the names and addresses | of tl owners, and these, of course, ompanied by wnotes, which 1 straightway lost, requesting the utmost mptitude of compliance. In a few | 8 Caine express surprise that any one calling him- f a gentleman could treat with silent t a volume which aphs of people s0 much more than himself. Then there was | of sorrowful remonstrances, sible that you retuse to grant ple a request from a delicate girl to spend the winter in Florida, far from her friends, and has nothing her but the signatures of the admires?’ y all their be ish t “ gy fie characteristic Ww take si game 0 DOES, were ac indignant missives » 11 114m $ 1 contained the le she and illegible hand to an in- n Florida I never could imagine, there was a pleasant intimation noted rival of mine had sent itograph with alaerity, thus show- Lis intellectual moral superiority to « Worse than this was an encount- t-car with a lady who said: are the celebrated Mr. sphorus.” “Madam.” 1 said, mistaken,’’ She gave me a and next day I had a let- that the writer knew at | iy her book had not been return- a man who could iy would probably steal, to this time I had borne these af- tions with exemplary weakness, | k it for granted that when a is the lawful prey o that as they have his reputation, the least he can to sit signing autograph ns all day. The popular formula, led at him like a pistol, seems to be thin *We buy your your pictures, we pay lo see hear you sing, or watch on the flying trapeze, ur eminences and your for-4 » due to us, and we demand that all chain yourself to the auto-| pen like the galley-slave to the | [here is nothing in your hand- | ¢ that is essentially beautiful or | rtuous, but it pleases us to have your | sign-manual in our books as a proof of | vour bondage to those who made you.” time I accepted this decree | as penalty of success, but the lady of the streetcar roused me to revolt. misfortune to be eminent.” OMe a stree Ux you yw ait ¥ ieeZing 100K, €r dadeCaring ast wl f s0 unbiush- Ha i » becomes f ng like this: Of mbols For along Lire “It is my [ said to myself, “but this persecution | must end.” At first I thought I would | point out to my tormentor that a fib in a Street-car is no worse than a tarra- | ddle on a doorstep, and that I was at east as justified in denying my identity to an autograph hunter as a footman is in blandly closing the door in an unwel- come caller's face, with the convention- | Q * al “not at home,” though his mistress is writing tracts for the young up-stairs. But I reflected that in such a case rea- | soning by analogy was waste of time, It was too late by several generations to appeal to the commonsense and fair play of the autograph tyrant. Not per- | suasion, but a blow, was needed; not reason, but retaliation, Then think of the inestimable boon I should confer on the whole race of distinguished people | by freeing them from the insufferable | Joke of the mediocre and obscure! It was a noble cause, and I fairly glowed | with the enthusiasm of the man who | has discovered an entirely new field for | the spirit of justice and self-sacrifice, | My resolution was taken, but how was it to be carried out? I debated various plans, I might make a prac- tice of returning the albums without the expected autograph. It was pleas- ant to picture the disappointment and disgust of the despot as he opened his book and found a blank page. But that was not enough, I yearned for a more intense form of irritation, It was not a bad idea to announce in the news- paper that 1 would not be responsible for the return of albums, and that I in. tended to devote the mps sent with them to a fund for the benetit of some asylum for idiots. On consid- eration I rejected this project because it was too general, I wanted to strike a Ulow that would be felt individually rather than collectively, to bring home — a to every autograph flend the sense of his special, personal inquity. At last | had the happiest thought of all. Why not write scathing and contemptuous quotations in every book? Nobody could accuse me of deliberate libel, for of my favorite passages. For instance, if 1 wrote: “Yours with all good wishes, Hubert Fitzhosphorus,’”’ and underneath: “‘A halter gratis,’’ the re- sponsibility would be quite as much Shakespeare’s as mine, Or if I address. ed a lady thus: “May bloom and beauty rest with youalways!’’ and add- ed this pleasant ambiguity: paint an Inch thick,” 1 should sting without exposing myself to the charge of open outrage. The more I consid- ered this idea, the more I chuckled: 1 was going to have a horrid revenge, and yet enjoy the security of inverted COIMIMAas, The great plan was put into execu- tion without delay. 1 attacked a mountain of albums, and poured into 3 invective, The ranks I felt I Shakespeare and dropped it in the book who said he had been collecting bl for many years. I fools,” able signatures spared neither age nor sex. thy name is woman,’ was ny contribu- tion to the album of a lady who, as | afterward learned, was the pious found- er of a church and two hospitals; and a friend described to me with much relish the sensation created in an ultrh-Pro- testant family when the daughter of the house received tion: ‘*‘Get thee to a nunnery.” I pur 1 tl SUe i ardor the campaign bated and ed the tables, some time at whose the house of a wealthy fortune had been either by his father or himself in a brewery, Mr. Tankerdale from business long before I knew him, and the origin of us wealth was never mentioned in his household, and whose at to wake me a frequent a fine girl, with rather a high color, which she subdued with those subtle artifices so dear to the hearts of women, Ah, Helen eminence, guest, * and not a malignant purpose, made me + before you as the your charms! had dined with the Tankerdales and the conversation turn- ed upon handwriting. “Yours must be a pretty stiff hand Fitsphoesphorus,’ r ir? GB tus’ dance. nd hand anybody can “ < Sp arr ¢ . As ind as your the 11 balance at said Mr. Cuadgell, who distant relative of the Tankerdales, not attracted Ly eminence as distinct {rom dollars, “AS roun brewery, ' , * DANK, barrels it not aloud, : uch about the " said Hel writes the dic I said, nfortunately the effect to heighten her color, Ju ‘That is because it her ear. 1 this speech was to which was already rather strong. But oh. Helena. I knew it was natural! “When I was young,”' piped an old lady at the other end of the “girls used to write a lady-like hand, ut now they try to scribble like ul it forward, I do, There's Hel- that whose writing is t men men, ena, always makes me blush, rybody laughed, and sAunnt June still w ine old g used modern rib 18 80 wks her,” “Do you find tiresome?’ said Helena to me. wey are pests,” 1 answered, had Tankerdale id pen she shi Very & “Th they have given in much sooner, or settled acre,” of a cheek!” murmured Cuadgell, in his coffes-cup, with his eye on the host, “When [I was young,” said Jane, *‘'l once bad a letter from Grim- aldi, the famous clown, you know, ong before your time,” added the old lady, looking at me, “Ay, ¢lownswere clowns in those days!” believe that I was Grimaldi’s suceessor, and a very poor substitute, said Helena, “But such a request from you, I should feel honored,” said I, *‘But the general nuisance is so great that I really think of them.” plained my glorious scheme for scar distress, “Excellent!” said Cudgell; “but were to meet some of them, say ata table like this?” “Mr. Fitzphosphorus knows fri 'nds too well,” said Helena. “Don’t be too sure of that,” laughed her father. *“If you had sent him an autograph album, you might have had a withering quotation like the rest,” At this a curious shiver of presenti- ment ran through me, and I looked in- quiringly at Helena, who had a queerly mysterious expression in her eyes, But his again, : “When I was young,” she quavered, My brother Charles picked up a piece of paper one morning, and sald it was dropped by the man who swept the chimney, I remember two lines very well indeed ‘Queen of Beauty, while yon sleep, Dream you of your chimney. sweep? ' “Don’t vou know that I sent you my on ps denly. My blood ran cold. celved it,” 1 gasped. “It was some time ago,’ she sald, had never asked for an aulograph before, and I thought I would try the effect of the request on the only emi- nent man I know, 1 scarcely knew you at all, though, when I sent the al- bum. And to make the onslaught all the more formidable, I sent a book for ps pa and another for Aunt Jane, But of course you have overlooked them,” I remember with horror that only that very morning I had cleared off some arrears of albums in a great hur- ry and a very bad temper, that I had not examined the names of the sender, and had left them to be addressed and posted by somebody else. Was it a fancy, or did I hear the postman’s knock? A few minutes later a servant entered with three books. “Why, Lere they are!” gleefully. “Now we shall phosphorus distinguishes his friends,” said Cuadgell, with a malicious smile, I never liked that man, “Take more claret and Lrace yourself up,” said Tankerdale, jut I was far beyond the fortifying aid of claret, I saw lHeleua of the Abd | “y cried Helena, sS010e one me, ush from the room. “Hallo!” said been pitching it Cuadgell, “yon his has given yourselve strong. “rod make is ena’s quotation: you Here's a crusher for you, Tan- ‘How like a fawning pul other,’ kerdale: he looks!” “By CRI Creorge, Sir 16d ing out of ns chair, my host “this a sweet thing for Aun Cudge, striking **Aroint the rump-fed 1 1 cries.’ old lady was purple with fury, “Calls me a witch and an onion, he?’ she screamed. ‘When I HIY Ol YW one broken his head. N« though a vag- abond out of a circus, a monster out of meénagerie—"’ Here she broke down and wept, My but 1 to convince them 1 was the victim Yan, mie, and to the many letters in which 1 the sacred symbols of na- ture that I knew her complexion to a8 real as the jewe's of her mind I have abandoned my I am asked for my I give it with all my weakness, If any who would like to have my signature, I shall be delighted to send it, and pay the myself, For somehow it seems to me that am not so eminent as | was, a circus or a menagerie, oincidence, but in to ses at plan, 2 4 autograph reads this postage - --— - — An Ingenious Mendicant's Tricks. blind mendi. year or 80 has There 18 a seemingly cant who for past gained a living in the Eastern district of Brooklyn. He is a strapping uly, of dark complexion, capable of any kind labor, The writer the Taw aoing met him a f + man whom be had frequently bestow- ed small change upon when he stood on street, New York cit Up to the time the last he did not have any doubts of the man’s affliction, but an incitlent occurred on last Monday night which will make the reporter man wide awake, On the 7.30 boat from Brooklyn the reporter on lookis suddenly served the man, but instead of working the blind dodge he had a new wrinkle of a one-armed veteran. In a satchel suspended around his neck he bad a number of silver and gold paper envelopes, in which were two or three kinds of court plaster, the of which he proclaimed loud tone of voice, He was not very successful in disposing of his wares, and when the boat reachex] the slip the reporter followed the man as he got off, He walked up East street to Broome, $ OL up small satchel to a dissipated looking mortal, piece of pasteboard. When he had out in a piteous tone of voice: *'Please help the blind,” The reporter watched to him and said: *h saw. I noticed you on the ferry bout, and now you suddenly become blind, What do you mean by it?" The mau opened his eyes, turned and Jowery. ~The importers’ boxes are packed with elegint rancies ————— and new snd rare devices in beading scription. Some of the open-work fabrics for dinner and carriage gowns are made to imitate elaborate Persian embroideries wrought of silk or silk canvas. Much of the handwork Is in sequins and pendants of various sorts, and numerous small wraps, fronts of bodices, side-panels and peplums are elegantly decorated with these garni- tures, most of them beiog wholly novel in paUarA. --In consequence of the change in Sha aanpie tournure, wraps that were ad to the former ungainly and uncomely excrescences, are greatly modified, nod bonnets whose grotesque heights wera in a way rendered neces- sary to establish harmony in the tout ensemble, are lowered considerably to conform to the strict law of propor- tion, which cannot be set at naught in one direction without exac a coun terpoise in another, Lost and Found, My name is Anthony Hunt, I ama drover, and live miles aud miles away upon the Western prairie. There wasn’t a house in sight when we first moved there, my wife and I, and now we haven't many neighbors, though those we have are good ones, One day, about ten years ago, I went away from home te sell some fifty head of cattle, 1 was to buy some groceries and dry goods before I came back; and, above all, a doll for our youngest, Dolly, of her own-——only rag babies her mother had made for her. Dolly could talk of nothing else, and went down to the gate to call after me to get a big one, Nobody but a parent can understand how full my mind was of that toy, and how, when the cattle were sold, the first thing to buy was Dolly's doll. large one, with eyes that would open ed it under my arm while I had the par- cels of calico and tea and sugar put up. Then, late as it was, I started for home, I might have been more prudent to stay until morning, but I felt anxious to get back, and eager to hear Dolly's praizes about her doll. I was mounted on a steady-going nse, and pretty well loaded, Ni in before I wasa mile from toy settled down as dark as , of road 1 know of, 1 e« felt ny way, though, I well, When the been brew } or } ng Lorrenis, may-be six miles, I rode as fast as 1 could, fre i HN Bone. but ad liter voice. | st piped short and 1 again. | swered me, 1 couldn't see at I got down and grass called swered, Then 'm not timid, a8 known to be a drover, ioney about to rob and murder me. stitious, not very, but how could a ehild on the prairie in a night, at such an hour? The yward that r ’ Vili called, again, I be- but 1 dt around in the id again was an me, Iai itself in-——————most { to me then, but of I heard the ery, and I said: “lf man’s child is lereal any ls, 1s die, I searched thought again, At last I fa clump of trees of about road, In night I prayed to the he might guide me to the lead me through the darkness of that stormy night Hie FL.ord that Was Iord heard up under one of a little dripping thing and sobbed as I took it in called my horse, y me, and 1 in sore need of help, Cuddied my arms. I beast came 4 tucked the little soaked this as well as 1 could, t home {0 mamma. soe med 30 tired, and pretty soon cried self Lo leep on my bosom, It had slept there over an hour | saw my windows, There were lights in them, and 1 supposed my wife had lit them for my sake, but when l got to the doorway I saw something was the matter, fear of heart five minutes before I could As last I did it, and saw the room full of ngighbors, and my wife amid them weeping. When she saw Moun ius } own “Oh, don’t tell him,” she will kill him." “What is it, neighbore?’’ I cried, and one of the neighbors inquired: “What's that have in arms?" “A poor lost child,” said 1; *‘1 found iton the road, Take it, will you? I've turned faint.'’ And I lifted the sleep- ing thing and saw the face o child, my Dolly. It was my own other, that 1 had ser you » i § . none the and up on i child wandered out to meet papa and the doll, while the mother was at work, and they were lamenting her as one dead, I thanked the Lord on my knees before them. It is net much of a story, neighbors, I think of it often in the nights, and wonder how I could bear to live now if I had not stopped when 1 heard the cry for help upon the road, hardly louder than a squirrel’s chirp. That's Dolly yonder with her mother in the meadow -—a girl worth saving, 1 think: the prettiest and sweetest thing this side of the Mississippi. LL ™ e Modern Newsboy. but a “I an’t sold all my papers,’ replied Jim--for that was his natoe—'and was the old man goin’ to jck me. And I'm so tired! for I bin for Thanksgivin'.” “You should say father, and not old wan,” answered Mr. Hunneman re- provingly; ‘and who is Joe?’ “My brother. His legs were run over by the horse-car, so he can't walk nor work no mare,” Mr. Hunneman thought of his own and ‘well-fed; and then he asked how many papers were left, “Five!” answered Jim, as he stood shivering. Thereupon Mr. Hunneman put a round, shining silver dollar into Jim's hand, ‘There, you oan. hoy Joe Sous rapes, Never mind change, an An your papers!” Then blowing his nose vigorously, he walked away very fast, and felp very warm and virtuous, But a smile came over Jim's FASHION NOTES, ~Lolored satin straws are in great favor, The feather trimmings are put on quite at the back, ~The new cotton materials are legion in color and make, but pale piuk and gray appear to be in the ascendant. | Stripes of all widths predominates, { Une pretty variety has alternate stripes of check cambrie, about two inches or £0 In width, in shades of gray. blue, red or brown, with stripes of open | work white canvas, For cool morn- ing or easy tenms wear these would look well, ~Striped moire and grenadine, in black or white for both day and even- ing gowns, are among the novelties, and also alternate stripes of moire and jetted lace. Gray woolen materials are particularly popular, and many of them are mixed with broken checks Some have waistcoats, cuffs, and side panels of white cloth, braided with gray and silver fancy braid; and in a few cases the braiding itself 1s carried cut on anotber shade of gray, or even on pale tan-colored cloth, ‘I'his is quite new, land gives an uncommon look. The color islald as a band on the white | cloth, and then braided. Dark green | with white eloth vest, tan eloth band t and oxidized silver braid, look well, { ——Heliotrope is still the fashionable color, a8 it is conzldered in better taste for the street than pink or blue, The | the costume, but i8 by no means an | exclusive model, The large Directoire { bonnet, with its protruding front, is quite as fashionable, As for balls, they are enormous and very heavily trimmed with feathers, But here, also, there is great varlely, and we see small shapes, which look more fit for a boy's than a lady’s head. : —The fashionable spring jacket | made tailor-fashion, tight-fitting at back, with loose fronts. It Is made of {cloth or fancy woolen, to sait dress, There 182 a small velvet collar, lie main open from the neck downward. The revers on the fronts and on the sleeves are of the woolen material, { neatly stitched. Enormously large { fapey metal buttons are placed in a row of three or five upon each side, but are not intended to be fastened, — Black toilets will continue to be fa- vored of fashion for all eccasionsand in all fabrics. Nothing will prevall against them, and for evening there are black toilets embroidered with gold, com- bined with gold-colored moire, panel of gold embrowdery, corsage demidecollette, embroidered plastron, laretis spreading to the with a gold a flaring shoulders, and the gold embroidery, —A stylish gown is of dove habit | cloth; the bodice, handsomely trimmed across the shoulders, has a i vest of Lincoln-green velvet, a simi- | larly shaped piece al Lhe back being continued below the waist, The | braided trimming is of blended red, green and gold, and is brought just to the figure in front, with back to cor- the shoulders. The skirt, gracefully idraped, is simply pointed with the trimmings. ~A checked tweed. is In two colors, fawn, with a line of heliotrope, and is made up blended with plain fawn ma- | terial. The bodice, of check, is cut almost on the bias, and has a waist- | coat of the plain, with narrow over- | vest of hellotrope velvet and sleeves of | plain tweed to correspond, The style ‘of this skirt is specially suited to | lighter materials, such as will be re- | quired with the advancing season. On {hangs in a deep founce, with sets of { front drapery of plain material Is tucked nnder at the foot, losing itself on the left side beneath a long coat drapery of check. - French milliners bave added to their dainty { vests, fichus and collars made entirely coming down to a point in front, where is set a graceful bell bouquet, from which fall trailing garlands of maidenbair fern, rose, sprays, arbutus vines in blossom, fern, fronds and other delicate greenary. For garden ! parties there is nothing more effective | and appropriate than these floral acces- quaint round bat wreathed with flow- ers and a lace parasol similarly | adorned, | =—=Nothing could be prettier than the litle frocks now on exhibition for wee | girlies. Quaint, unique, picturesque iand dainty--all these adjectives are quite appropriate in describing them. there are no very decided changes from last season, yet what | there are, are all in the way of im- | provement. Among the most import | ant of the changes we note the aband- { onment of coat sleeves, This is as it | should be, as the full sleeve gives the | ehiildren ® chance to use their arms | freely, a thing they could not do with | the coat sleeve, as their elders can all | vouch for. | «The inexhaustible fancy which has already designed so many different corsages is still at work preparing tty novelties of delicate and beauti. ul summer fabrics. No matter how plainly made and draped the skirt to be adorned. Plain corsages are become ing less and less numerous, Even for stout figures, the waist must have the uppearance of belng draped, If not ac- tually so, the modiste making use of ry Ce te ry a pl a revers of velvet, a fall of lace, or a Gobu of une HORSE NOTES. - Blue Rock, brother to Race and, is well thought of, —8, A. Tanner has moved his horses to Belmont Course, ~(iallifet continues to be the book favorite for the Kentucky Derby. ~—Erie, Pa., will hold a $5000 sum. wer meeting in June, —Jerome Whelpley willdrive Nathan Straus’ horses again this season, —8. 8. Brown's runners have been shipped from Mobile to Washington. ~*‘1ke” Fleming jogs Major Dicker son’s road team out to F.eetwood track every fine day. Gus Wilson, of Cleveland, bas the blk. m. Josephine, by Kentucky Prince, in his stable, ~—Peter Pollard, the well-known Bal. timnore horseman, spent most of the winter in New York. ~Mr. Ellis D. Yarnall recently pur- chased of George A. Bingerly a brown gelding that can trot in 2.40. — Bookmakers report that there never has been a spring when betting on the Kentucky was such a drug. —Robert Steel has purchased the bay mare Happy Maid, 2.80, by Happy Me- dium, dam Rosa Bonheur, from A. Oliver, —Bankrupt was invincible at the New Orleans meeting. He did 1 mils and 70 yards the other day within } ~ Edmund Dwyer Gray, founder of the Dublin 5; died on March 27. orl. -—The Dwyer contingent of 2 olds, which have been year wintering in Ben Starr, trotting record 2.21} has been sold to a Boston man for $3000 by A. T. Paige, of Akron, O. ~The 8 year old colt Comrade, by Gideon; dam by Norten’s Hambleto- nian, that made such a good showing in the 2 vear old stake at Mystic Park, last season, died the last week In March at C, Gilmore's stable, Water. ville, Me. -The blind stallion Scott’s Thomas, 2.21, by General George H. Thomas, Rice, by Whitehall, was kicked iu the stifle a few days ago while performing stud duty. The bone was broken and he Is not expected to recover, — An important change has been summer {rotting meeting, July 24 to 28. Purse $2000, for 2.19 class pacers, will be for 2.28 pacers instead. This is in deference to the wishes of owners of pacers eligible. ~The broodmare Rosa, by Roscoe, dam Vienna, by Vandal, died at the farm of Foster & Wright, Mercer, Pa. foaling a filly to Henry Wade, 8h was the dam of the well-known George Wilkes stallions, Barmie Wilkes and Wilkie Collins, ~The management at Clifton an. nounces that a prize of $1000 will be awarded to the jockey having the most wins at Clifton and Brighton Beach $500 to the jockey baving the second largest number of winning mounts. ~James McLaughlin was presented at the Star Theatre New York with several floral tributes and a gold and silver whip studded with precious stones, the gift of RK. K. Fox, asan the racing season of 1887, The “good luck’ which was prover. ial last season with D. A. Iionig, the St. Louis turfman, appears to be on the wane, First he Jost the sarvices of his very able trainer, BR. W, Thomas; then his promising filly Omaha diad, Nan Leland, and now a dispatch comes from St. Louis announcing the death from pneumonia, after a few days ill- ness, of Archie McDonald, his new -Some of Corrigan’s horses are equally at home on the flat or in going over the sticks. Insh "al is a stake animal, but for all that he is being schooled for cross-country work, and jumps as well as the best of them. Ten Times won a hurdle race 1n great style a couple of weeks ago, and the next week won just as easily on the flat, and in pretty good time at that. Winslow is also a jumper as well as a fair flat performer. ~The entries for the Clay stakes, Island Park’s great $8000 purse for the 3.00 class closed AprilOth, and received eleven nominations, as follows. A. P. McDonald, Albany, N. Y.; A. W. Huburger, New Haven, Conn.; J. J, Bowen, Boston, Mass; R. W, Hunt, Troy, N. Y.; J. E. Tumer, Philadel phia, Pa.; D. De Noyelles, New York city; A. J. Russell, Albany, N. Y.; John Trout, Boston, Mass; Roys Bros. , Columbus, Wis. ; M, PP. Longley, Lyun, Mass, ; Pleasanton Stock Farm Co.. San Francisco, Cal. The Clay stakes will be trotted the second day of the great Eastern circuit meeting, on Jane 13, «Breeders have asked frequently at what age the average brood-mare will stop breeding. The question is one that can hardly be answered when such a ago a oolt by Duquesne, 2.173. Mr. H. N. Smith told me a few