Edwina's Letter.
My dear. doar Mr. Weather man,
Oh won't vou please turn off the rain?
We've ivi so much, the whole world’s tired
Or else 1 shouldn't now complain,
1 can’t wo out from morn "till night,
And win so cross (Hin I stay,
Sly mamma save, “children and pigs
Are dreadful on a rainy day!”
I should think your wa'l wou'd be dry,
Don't vou think "twould be as much fun,
Mo just burn off this rain some d 1y
And fi BER stead tire on the sun?
And Aunut Janet says, if the sun
You turn on, why just keep it it
For she s an artist and can’ paint,
On these dark days one & bit
1 of
We all ike you. but we're |
andinaming
This cain, still my de I
says bo find faults n its
fo Seis’ these Lines from Edwina,
Marviorie Muchmore.
CAN'T AFFORD IT.
HY GERTRUDE LENNON.
i.
Can’t afford it Mary!
But you might if you would only
think so; pleaded the young wife.
Can't do it returned the hus-
band emphatically, It would cost at
least ten or twelve dollars to put up
such a gate; the old bars will do very
well.
No they won't Walter, the neigh-
bor’s children very often leave the
bars down, and then stray cattle come
into the garden. We may lose more
than the price of the gate in one hour,
if a cow should get in while 1 am
away.
1 should like to know who leaves the
bars down said Walter threateningly:
Dut we could
shut of 1ts own accord with weights, or
a spring, suggested his wife. John
Niles has got a gate put up in
yard,
I am not Nil
wish you to remember.
is us large as yours and his wages are
not so high.
open,
John es my dear, 1
afford it, at rate not at present.
Aud with this Walter started off to hls
work.
Walter Gray was a young
about thirty, an industrious mechanic,
any
and had an interesting family. He
meant to provide well for those
he did so.
comforts of which he felt obliged to de-
prive them, comforts which at
they really needed and which in the end
might prove a saving.
nes: had he feltable to grant these lit-
thought so with sound judgment the
sequel will prove,
The gate which his wife had been
the entrance of the garden circle of the
house where there was only a pair of
short bars. The children often
through there and sometimes left the
way open behind them. In
, Were many ways in which
wers apt to be left down and Mary
Gray had very often to leave her work
to drive cut the cows, It was only by
the garden was saved from utter ruin.
She bad spoken to her husband several
times about it, but he always made the
same answer “‘he could not afford it,”
she must Keep her eyes upon the spo!
and see that the Lars were kept in their
« place,
Only a tew days after this Mr,
irray asked hier husband it he would
uot take a pew in the church for the
following year and he toid her that he
did pot think he would,
But yon can aflord to take half a
one; we can get half of Mr. Niles for
three dollars, I can't afford it was
Walter's reply ‘and it would do us no
good, Dou t say that Walter, Suppose
everybody should feel like that you
surely wouldn't wish to bring up your
children, where there was no religious
instructions. And if you reap the
LeneBts of good Christian inst tutions
you certainly ought to help to support
them,
So I would be willing too, if I could
afford it, but I can’,
Mra, Gray looked very serious and
seemed to hesitate, as If thers was a
subject on lwir mind which she felt
delicate avout broaching, but it had
occupied her mind too long and she
determined to let it out,
Waller she said, a litt"> tremalously,
but still resolutely, you have $15 a
week.
Yes.
And how much of thas does it take
to keep us,
1 don'ts know, Lam sure, I only know
it takes it all to feed and clothe us and
pay the interest on the house,
1 have put had a new dress since this
summer, and I was reckouing vp jes
terday how much we had spent for the
children and found it was only ten
dollars for the last six months, I have
worked over some of cousin Charle’s
clothes for Johnnie, and Jennie takes
Mary's dresses as soon as she outgrows
them, That's all very well replies!
Walter, a little testily. 1 know my
business best and I know what I can
afford and what I cannot, while I have
the paymen's to make on my house, |
must . Ek :
And I would have you economize re
tured his wife, but do not forget that
all is not economy that many cull so, 1
think to rent the half of Mr. Nile’s new
would be a great source of comfort and
lasting good. It would be a few dol-
lars laid out to good advantage, sure to
return to ourselves and children at
heavy interest. Stop, said Walter, you
have said enough, [ know my duty.
Let me say one word urgel Mary,
There was an earnestness in her tone
which caused her husband to stop and
listen, If you will give me (ive dollars
a week, I will agree to furnsh all pro-
visions for the household and clothe
myself and the children. 1 will do this
for the year. This will leave you ten
dollars to clothe yourself and make
your payments on the house,
You cannot furnish food and clothe
yourself and the children for the sum
you have named, he said,
Maury sat down and made known to
him what had been hidden in the mys-
teries of her housekeeping, She was
not long in proving to him that during
the past year the items were within said
mits ¢f expenditure. Walter said,
pooh, then added nonsense, and then he
left the house,
There must be some mistake he sald
to himself after he had got away from
the house and he really believed there
was a mistake,
Have a glass of something Bill? come
Tom have something. Don’t care if I
do said Tom and Bill,
Ned, and Ned says yes, so the clerk
prepared four glasses and Walter paid
for them.
Let us have a game of poo! for oys-
ters says Bill after the day's work was
over.
The game was played dnd Walter
they did not need it, so i
more harm than good,
Have a cigar Walter? asked
| Walter said yes, and in return pald for
ia gla s of ale,
One evening they
met after
! who should pay for the beer,
Come John,
| UY.
| Nol think not sald John.
You'd better, it’s only for
| five if you come in.
I can't, *'it is no use asking him
i sald Walter in a rather sarcastic tone.”
{ He
beer for
does not spend his money that
way.
Johr’'s face flushed and his lips trem-
| bled, but he restrained the bitter words
his tongue,
Tom loud
hear. Tight
that were struggling
He is a mean fellow said
enongh for him to
bark on a tree sald Walter In an
equally loud tone. John heard the re
marks, but did not come back.
on
as
The four men remaining tossed up |
i and the lot fell on Walter and Tom.
{| Then they tossed it off and it fell upon |
i Walter who paid for the beer,
i
:
Waiter started for home about nine
and on his way Was over-
| taken by Niles
Walter, said the
| o'clock he
latter, In a kind,
but earnest tone, I want to speak to
you, you have wronged me this ¢vening
and I want you to understand me. For |
{ the opinion of the others I care little, |
i but I do not wish you to misapprehend
ime, We live so near together and 1
ion,
was sensible of the fact that his com- |
panion was one of the bey’ neighbors in
the worl i,
Yousaid I was mean.
No no, it was not I, that sald that,
bark on the tree,
Walter could not deny that, so Nies
proceeded,
I refus d to join your little party for
hree reasons, either of which should
have been suaflicient to deter
First, 1 had resolved
in any such games, Soacoad, I do not
drink beer, ard third I could not afford
to pay for your extra supper if the lot
had fallen on me,
a slight tings of disbelief In his tones,
No, returned the other, I could not.
I used to be ready for any such game
and I thought it would be mean to re-
fuse, but I have learned better, Let
me tell you how TI first came to see the
folly of being afraid to spend my
money for nothing. Shall I tell
you?
Certainly, returned Walter who
already began to see something. “Well
sald Niles,” one morning as I was
going away from home, my wife asked
me for a few dollars, She wanted Lo
by some clothes with it, I asked if
she could not do without It, I had only
five dollars with me and I hated to let
ong of them go. She sald she needed
the eloth but f 1 had not got the
money she could walt, 1 knew she
was disappointed but I thought she
could get along and I went away, Thal
evening | went into the saloon and we
had a five social time It cost me just
three dollars. I paid the mousy wil.
lingly withou! even a thought of objec
tion, and then I went home, When I
entgred the hall I heard my wife trying
to pacify our oldest child, The little
thing had expected a new dress, which
had been promised to her, and she felt
bad because she bad not got it, Walt
urged my wife, papa has not got the
money now, but he will have it by and
by and then you shall have a pretly new
dress, Poor papa bas to work hard,
The words smote me to the heart, |
could not afford two dollars to dress |
child, but I could afford any amount
for thie useless entertainment of others,
The money that my ueedy wife could
not get when she asked for it 1 had pala
away for nothing, Bat 1t taught we a
lesson. 1 opened my eyes, and I have
kept them open ever since. On the
very next morning I gave my wife the
money she wanted, but I did not give
any for beer that day, I had pot
dreamed how I was wasting
money when |
allowed my funds to
proper channel, 1 soon fount
afford every comfort that mv wife und
children needed, So 1 stick to the
princinle whizh has proved so bene-
ficial to myself and family, All
what's that? There is an animal in
your garden Walter!
They had reached the garden fence
and by the dim starlight Walter could
see a cow trumpling among his sweet
corn. The bars had been elther let
down or left down and a stray cow had
got in, They drove her out. The
beast had done considerable harm but
Walter was not angry for he had
something of more Importance to think
of. He went asd sat down beneath
the apple tree and pondered. Bless
me if he has not put the case down
abont square, he said to himself, at the
ead of a few minutes meditation, Is it
possible that I have beea spending over
$20) a year for beer and other nonsense
| wud yei I cannot afford to get a new
| gate nor take a pew in a church where
my family could receive religious in-
structions. Walter Gray I
had better turn over a new And
leaf,
that astonished two parties. He had a
and be refused to toss
and thereby
| thirsty ones,
Course
up
astonished a crowd
this and by the expiretion of
| new blessings that were dawning upon
him. He discovered
| his family demanded and arriving at
tiose things he coull not
| ford,
easily
{ have been so foollsli: a
i he had something left,
{ first It must be a mistake, bul when
{ his wife went with him over the hous: -
hold expenditures and all
that was peeded had ght and
{ paid for he saw just how It was, that
for years he had been wasting his sub.
stance
showe | that
been bou
and depriving himself and
loved ones of the comforts they needed,
not intentionally but through
mistake that
Fane couse,
Nomel mes, even
can't afford
phatically too, Lut
the
he did =0 no more,
now, Walter Gray
leads thousands
Lesh
»Us
in
it, and then he says it em-
not when his
comforts and
is
for
Joy nor when the poor and needy ask
for Lielp, for he can well afford all
that. It his wild reckless com
panions ask him to join them and by
50 doing rob his family of their sub-
tance, Then he says, *‘I can't
$s
Ye
t is when
--—-
A Bower of Flowars.
Pots
intervals bunches of chrysanthemums
fastened with ribbons.
of the parlors were arched wity ferns
| and white chrysanthemum, garlands of
the samo were festooned about the walls,
white roses, white geraniums and chry-
The door ways
canopied the mantels. A gigantic hors
| shoe of ferns and white flowers marked
ont the floor space where the bride and
| groom took their positions, and a floral
| bell of the samo
| their heads.
Louis XIV, period lay on every table,
| aad ware presented to his gnests in at-
| tendance. The bride earried white
| orch.ds and the bride's maids white
| FORGS,
—————————. ws
The Court's Fool.
John Heywood was fool to Henry
VIII, having been introdaced to the
king by Sir Thomas Moore. Mary
Tudor had a great regard for Heywood,
who indalged in much audacious talk.
Bold as were his sayings, few of them
appear witty. A landlord asked him:
“How do you like my beer? Is it not
well hopped?” “So well,” replied Hey-
wood, “‘that had it hopped a little fur.
ther it would have hopped into water.”
Dr. Doran, in his “History of Court
fool,” gives several specimen’s of Hey-
wood's rymed epigrams. One of them
is perhaps worth transcribing.
os A AIS A
There 18 no reason wliy a good cow
should not be kept in as clean condition
as a good hore, even Ly the application
of the curry comb and brush,
The color of milk does not indicate
its yuali y any more then ths color of
the shell indicates the quality of the egg.
So says Professor Alvord,
There Is no good reason but lack of
knowledge anu skill why every pound
of butter made in the country might
not be prime, if not fancy.
A.~1 sent you a bottle of wine, Did
BO, 1 got it.
Alt Loy od,
B.—Weil, 1 should say it was mow.
You sent it by a messenger boy, |
LIFE OF SHOOTING STARS.
Myriacs of Little Meteors that May
Have Wandered for Agas.
A small body, perhaps as large as a
paving stone or larger, more often per-
| haps ot as large as a marble, 1s moving
| round the sun, Just asa mighty planet
i revolves in an this small
object will move round and yound in an
eclipse, with the sun in the focus,
There are at the present moment, we
find in “The Story of the Heavens,”
| inconceivable myriads of such mete ry
moving mn this manner.
They are too small and too distant for
our telescopes, and we can never see
them except under extraordinary cir
cumstances, At the time we see the
meteor ic is usually moving with enor-
mous velocity, so that it often traverses
a distance of more than twenty miles
in a second of a time. bduch a velocity
is almost Impossible near the earth sur-
face; the resistance or the air would
prevent it. Aloft, in the emptiness of
space, Lthele Is no air to resist the me-
teors. It may have been moving round
and round the sun for thousand, perhaps
for millions of years, without let or
hindrance; but the supreme moment
eclipse, 80
streak of splendor,
In the course of its wanderings the
body comes nearer the earth, and within
course begins to encounter the
| surface of the atmosphere with
| the earth Is mclosed,
with the appalling velocity of a
| meteor, a plunge into the
8 usually Even
| upper layers of air
{lug
fatal, though the
are excessively
1dend clieck the
y, almost as a rifle bullet
i be when fired into the water.
tenuated, yet they su
t would
As th
He
veloc
meteor rushes through the atmospher
i the friction of the air warms its sur-
| white hot, and is fina'ly driven off int
Yichit %
Light,
or two hund
“Oh, lvok!
vapor with a brilliant
{ on the earth, one
exclaim:
star.”
below,
suouting
-_—
Exposition Finances,
The
mde
been
the
statements which have
time to U about
of the Pi
somewhat masles
from me
financial success
§ fier
tion are ding
are to understand by financial
that the outlay was directly relmbursed
| with a profit, It evident
long review of the exposition and its
| results by M. Yriarte in Le Figaro,
A summary which was printed in the
is
The financial
to the na-
attained or anticipated.
benefits direct indirect
tion and to the city of Paris are
evident but there was
turn to the subscribers of
contributed, except
| Guarantee Association.
| fifths of the total funds
{ uted by the Government
the city of Paris without expectation
{ intention of reimbursement, That fac
{ will have to be kept mn mind here In
and
nage
w No ee
f+]
case of ithe
Nearly
enough,
the cap
in the {
three.
y
of France and
0
¥
i
4
»
comparison with the Paris
| Lion,
| Apparently the financial scheme of
Paris Exposition has not
{clearly apprehended in this country,
| and it may be interesting to restate it
{ briefly. The entire fund for expenses
was raised in advance, the estimated
requirement being 43 000,003, The
| whole affair was under Government
{ direction, anll the Minister of Com-
| merce and Agriculture was the Com-
{ ms<doner General of the exposition.
| Of the fund above named the National
| Government contributed 17,000,0007,
wd the city of Paris 8.000.000f, The
i remaining 18,900,007, raised in
| the first instance by the Asfociation da»
| Guarantie, which was constituted by
the leading railroad companies, bank-
| ing houses, credit associations, &-., of
Paris, lis subs-riptions were very
| prompily made to an amount 4,000,
VO, in excess of its contributiongas
its agreewnent with the Government
gave it a lien on the receip's of the
Exp sition for the repayment of its
share In the general fund, As related
in our summary of the Figrro article,
this association was displaced by the
Credit Foncier scheme of lottery bonds,
in order to enable the Government to
issue tickets on its own account, mainly
for the purpose providing for free ad.
missions,
The Crelit Foncier undertook to
furnish the Government with 21,500,«
U00f, in place of the 18,U00,000f, of
the Guarantee Association, in retarn
for the privilege of Issuing 1,20),000
lottery bonds of 25f. each. Ot the
8,000,000f, over the Government re.
quirement 5,600.00 1. was set apart as
a fund for the redemption of the bonds,
extending over a period of seventy-five
years, and 3,000, 000f, was pocketed by
the corporation as its profit, Each
twenty-five franc bond hada 25 coupons
attached, which were equivalent to ad
miss'on tickels to the exposition,
These furnished 30,000,000 tickets,
which the holders were at Iberty to
dispose of as they pleased, and they
were sold all over Paris, but how
many of them were turned in, how
many tickets issued direcily by the
the been
Was
i
practically absorbed by the scheine
under which 18,000,00 f, of the total
working capital of 43,000,000, was
rai ed,
The Paris Expostion involved no
outlay for site, all the expenses of
laying out, draining and embellishing
the grounts, providing the buildings
and of administration and
ment from first to lust were defrayed
from the fund of 43,000,0001., of which
.
i
tingeucies remaioed
end,
ODIL., or about $8,000.00), Of
for its 8,000,000f, the city of Paris has
only the indirect benefits,
many times greater than its contribu-
FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
Trade follows the march of tise drum-
mer,
Better lose an an hor ian the whole
ship,
To spoil a wife, sub ber
pany.
A pet lamb always makes a cross
Tam,
Pra'se undeserved is salhe in dis
gi 86,
Adversity
truth,
He that has no shame has
science,
Be kind and gentle to the
destitute,
Value character above aft other pos-
in com-
is the te
first path
no con
poor and
the 3,000,000f,
rived from privileges, / whatever
ceipts there may have been from tick
els, estimated at not more than 3,000,-
i
sale of material, &e., in the removal of
The
to
estimate, benefits to
reckoned in
material
Paris are
in money there will be a deficit of no
possibly §£
for
prob-
the
here Lhe financial
Equ
In considering scheme a
irely faced. The site
item wii
than
1
xed
outside of that
doubtless be much greater
Panis, If a limit were to be
the whole fund required, it could not
placed much, If any, below
The cily cannot contrib
’ but
15,00 0,000 by completing
her museurn bulldingsand placing them
L the service of the Commission, aud
iving other aid throug) permanent pub-
t No direct
ilnprovements,
isd
t
10
might possibly
uisaing
cont ibu-
ion Lo the fund can be expected fromthe
Slate, and 18 is what par:
“4 question
aid of
lat
money to
tf hin
Li
{
0
be
the lLinances of
the full return
be expended can
in)
The
Ui.
peraranent
0. ght not to be held
APAIT 48 an Insurance against the risks
of ihe undertaking
-——
The Best Gifts,
Carnegie, the milli
The result of my own study
} best gift
unity?
rst
will
Onaire
n,
h ean x given
is that a free library occupies the fi
the
accept and maintain
place, provided community
tas n pu slice
a part of the eity prop-
and, inde d,
e. It is,
my own px reonal exper-
insta.
hools,
no doubt,
1
i
¢ may have led me to value a free
A coward never forgave. tis not
ature,
He that liveth wickedly eau pot die
honestly,
Great inlquities
hemsel ves,
Many an old flame has caused a run-
seen to baptize
He is the wisest
think himself so,
The worst resolution one ean take is
not to conse to any.
man who does not
Good words cost nothing, but they
Hypocrites are beings of darkness
The weakest «pot in man is where he
thinks himself the wisest,
It is no sin to be tempted, the wicked -
ness lies in being overcome.
hope,
skatlers
Rememberance 1s the only paradise
out of which we cannot be dr. ven.
Dispiir iz the ashes ov
the wind ov tribalashun
which
There is nothing so baad that will not
admit of something Ww be said in its de
fense,
He who puts a bad conStruetion on a
good act, reveals his own wickelnpess of
heart,
keeps persons in faver with
who are out of favor with
Vanity
themselves,
ail olhiers,
The trouble with a man eovering up
his tracks is that he makes new ones in
:
aang it,
Prid + ive on itself. It iz like a rac-
its claws,
Weshould axl aim at perfeckshun,
but no one but a phool will expekt tew
reach it.
lie §z good for a short race, but it
takes truth tew run the heats— “blood
will tell,’
Hear both and all shall be
clear; bear one and you may still be in
the dark.
Do not persecute the unfortunate, as
it is like throwing stones on ane fallen
into a well
A man is f mous when he Is listened
sides,
conse. When I was a boy in Pittsbure,
A NAT
[ without fechngs
OPH nt d his lit-
I can never speak ©
of devotional gratitude
ks to boys, “Every
was in attend-
auce himself at his Louse to exchange
books. No one but he who has felt it
know longing with
the of Saturday
awaited, that a new book might be had.
My brother and Mr. Phipps, who have
business partners
with me Colonel
can the Intense
which arrival WAS
through life, shared
Anderson's precious generosity, aod it
was when reveling in these treasures
that I resolved, if ever wealth came to
that it should be used to establish
that other
me,
poor bovs
we were indebted
those for which to
A ————s 35
First Issue of “Uncle Tom's
Cabin.”
The crowning glory «f The National
Eva was that most famous novels,
“Uncle Tom's Cabin,” by Mra. Harriet
Beecher Stowe, which, began in
oO
1, 1852. Before it was half finished it
had created such a sensation that the
Jewells, of Boston, bad it stereotyped,
and immediately after it wis completed
in the paper it was published in book
form. In Its earlier stages of publica-
tion in the newspaper, it seemed to fall
flat. The circulation of The National
Era was 13,000 when ‘Uncle Tom"
was begun. On the Ist of August,
1852, shortly after the great romance
wus completed, the circulation had gone
upto 19/00. On Dec. 30, 1852 it
reached 27,000.
An
A correspondent of The London
Globe gawes a wost interesting account
of Norodom, king of Cambodia, one of
the kingdoms of Indo-China, [is
majesty, it seems, has adopted a style
of dress in vogue in Europe seveuty
years ago, Tie wearsa blue tail coat
with gold buttons, satin knee} breeches
and pumps, No traveler who has bad
an audience of Lis majesty in his paluce
of I'uon-Peuh has been able to Suppress
o smile at the sight ol the Asiatic poten
tate in the evening atiire worn in the
reign of George 1V.
Pleasures are not of such a solid
pnb Bi kg they re.
ale those lands over w
to
Eccentric King.
"
ed in eilher.
All happiness iz like gold quartz
thare iz four quarts ov stone to one
ounce ov gold,
The hatnt of
of things
thousand a year,
looking at the bright
is worth mors than a
side
nit
is
A big opportunity and a little act
are as lll-mated as an elephant yoked
up with a toad.
If you pass for more than your value
sav litte, itis much easier to look
wise than to talk wise,
Reformers hod first need te practice
on their own hearls that which they
purpose to try on others,
Resignation is an invalualide treasure,
which cannot, by the most vielent
evils, be taken from us
The talent of success is nolhing more
than doing what you can do well; and
doing well whatever you de.
He » ho laughs last may langh best,
but he is in daoger of bring aecused of
being very s.ow to ses the joke,
We are so avaricious that even when
we trade with ourselves we go for get.
tiny the best end of the bargain,
Genius scews to be the faculty of
i
}
i
i
body supposed could be done at all.
There Is no man whose kindness we
may not sometime want, or by whose
walice we may not sometime suffer.
Virtue wants more admirers, wisdom
more supplicanis, truth more real
friends, and honesty more pracfitioners,
It isn’t wise to say always all that
you think, but it is wise always wo
over every thing you
Say.
There is sometimes a period of wait
ing and perplexity before prosperity,
like the de.se d.rkness that precedes
tue dawn,
The sympathies of people are always
with the unfortunate, because the
people kno v they are so liable to be un-
fortunate themselves,
There iz lots of folks whe are in sich
a great hurry tew git religion that they
confess sins they ain’t guilty ov, and
overlook those that they are
There 1z a huge number of souls per.
ambulating around the world who hav
bin sttairving for years after a camel.
and tinadly had to swallow a nat
What a comfort a dull bub kindly
person is, to be sure, at Limes!
ground-glass shade over a gas lswp
does not bring more soiase to our
minds,
We should manage our fortune like
onr const. tution —enjoy it when good,
have patience when bad, and never
apply violent remedies except iD cases
of necessity.
Give a smart child