A New Year Boon. ¥LLA WHEELER-WILCOX. —— % setting. 30 me, call forgel- Now while the old year's final sun 1 Thou dawning New Year listen ii Grant me the priceless boon men ting "Tis all 1 ask of thee. O cursed is he who sits by the dead Of fires whose cheerfulness and gone, Sits brooding by eold ashes, and remem hers While years roll on, and on. ho ean but sit and ponder sweelness or some old the embers {i warmth 1s God pity him W Q'ér some past sit Sweep up, New Year, the pile of ashes yonder And tet all seem as if no fires had been. Of what avail the New Old thoughts ¢ling 'round them ly vine? : God pity me! through all the future never shall I be freed from mine! St. Louls Magazine. Yeirs if forever like the dead NOT CREDIBLE BUT TRUE, W fiat fact. story —dled many I have to say 1s not fiction, but I'he heroine of my ‘‘strange and no less true than strange VOArs ago. There is no reason why I should not put into print what many of her contemporaries heard from her own hips, not only at the date of the mysterious occurrence that shad- owed her life, but when a half-century had softened the outlines of the horror i Hh 11d contemplate it in perspective, yst with calmness, al- though never out awe. I. Nancy Barksdale, who write this, a rirl of 18 when at the of a Mav day fifty years agone my father’s ! s set me down at the door of my dear friend Augusta 1 in ville. Virginia. Cartersville and may be now, an ing vil- fage, straggling leisurely along the banks of the James River, to which it owed its being and continued life. We had pitied Augusta Ellett, the belle of tw 1 easons, not she n Frank Deane, a promising voune lawyer, but for having to live in the muddy, tame I wedding had taken place and FUISiY and s close was CArTriage “ Jeane, Carters- was : $ . uninterest because in December, this was my first visit to her new white « vards when 1 d and hat did not abate me to her « {rst floor, pouring out lutations, queries and interjections in her old frank, impetuous way. ‘Yon must stay in here with me until Frank comes hon she said, helping me to lay aside my travelli «He went to Richmond day before yes- terday and may not back before Saturday.” ‘Your first separation, isn't it?” «1 I. struck with something not 1ite natural in her manner. Yes, He was obl i to go 0 * adding the last word as if it i n afterthought ke she was rearrang wing in a press to make | had laid off. Her } kept her face BHO { 4} si IR an y thinner but mate WH ha hie 8 1€, get 1864 Ig on | PORE rlook at heart for iid me the Lited at oy coming. absent | to be | tote-a-tete, and $1 sitime bedtime, throbl ing an breeze : bes n m infancy can talk | months’ separation. r part gallantly, and I passing cloud that had | eves and shaken her voice. realy for bed the and broke. I saw her # form trembling from head to | she was saying her prayers, heard a stifled sob. Arising with | averted face, she went to a buresn on the far side of the room, took a minia- | ture from a drawer, kissed it twice, and | furtively slipped it under her pillow. | When we had lain down, and the light was out, I knew, gentle and gradual as | was the movement, that she drew the | picture from its hiding-place and press- ed it to her bosom. Passing my hand | caressingly over her cheek, I felt that i it was wet, “Angusta!” I said softly, *‘cannot I comfort you? What is it, my poor dear? Surely yon are not grieving over a sorrow that will be eared so soon as will Mr. Deane's absence?” She clung to me in a wild storm of tears. She was but 20, and had not had a seeret from me in ten years; so I got this one. Law wpusiness, imperative, and not to be deferred, she said, had called Frank to Bachmond., With all her sweetness of temper, his wife hed been as spoiled ehild in her father's house, and her husbasd bad never crossed her. She especially desired that he should be at home while I was there, and and could not be convinced that the matter in hand could not be transacted as well by correspondence as in person. From pleading she passed to remon- strance, then to indignant protest The result was that reef of horrors to the newly-wedded, the first quarrel Frank told her that she was unreason- able and childish sod ssked her how she expected him to make a living for herself and him if she kept him tied to her apron string. “And I called him unfeeling and eruel and—brutal!” confessed the peni- tent, between her sobs. “I have oried who friend Neary Hi ier Lg were 1 returned ile and swor I deserved. How could I do it? How could I do it?” it did seem inexcusable to me—-but I lectured her mildly in consideration of her genuine distress, He has a generous hoart,” I con cluded. vHe will not bear a grudge, you may be sure, and his very soul is bound up in you." The neatly ent plaster did not dr the lips of the wound together, aw In- “He never said an unkind word to me in his life. And 1 wouldn't walk down to the boat with him, although I knew he was longing to ask me to do it. [ didn't even go with him to the door, and when he kissed me good-by, I just block while he walked out of the house—oh, Naney! so slowly and un- willingly! It wasn'ta bit like his step! [ didn't stir to go to the window, where [ had always stood every morning, kiss my hand to him when he down to the office.” But I watched him from away back in the room where he couldn't see me, and saw him go down the path and stop under the honeysuckle at the look up at the window. When he didn't seo me his face turned absolutely dark the most awful thing, and be rushed off down the street with never a glance behind him. That wasour first parting! We parted under a thundercloud, Naney! I have lived in the heart of it If you had not come I think I must have and living it all over! went ever since, somewhat, My sympathy quieted her I hope, but 1 afraid the y I 1 % 3 platitudes, of whieh, as 15 Lh wi hh Lnexp rience, battered Case an yunglings of I had wrought more soporifically. a reply, at ha was asleep. I laid her most y gre at store, for breath and [ discovered that i chagrined length Chal from n . o le and i arms myself to sleep for two nights over it. If I could but see him for one minute —Jjong enough to beg has pardon—I could let him $e agmn for six mouths, if necessary. If you had seen his face when 1 said that last wicked word! He turned as white as death, and bit his lips hard to keep back the bitter an- 1y upon my own pliow. A { It lass al i ill 1. was her husband's miniature, warmed by her [ thrust it impatiently ander The when Pp WWH10nat4 ut was not dangerous, t the patient conld Der unde r the sarge on's hands, the mornin my and « yi g£ DY a £8 Upon awakening rol & h, I dream: hi A Vista lumber b h and yout Ww vil ws EY Ri (ewily instant Frank Deane yard Have i snid th 3d he man? 1 had always never believed he coul beantiful e Was all him , led him, I sol upon the low flash of blonde he reverence i ore Then, a wild shriek of terrified anguish rang through every corner of the cottage. 1 reached Augusta as 8 recled back, finting. My arms her husband’s—received her. porch was vacant; xo were the path and the trellised gateway. The radiant presence that had glorified all ti instant before had passed imto thin air when the wifo sought to grasp it. Frank Deane, as a few old Virginians still living will remember, died sudden- jy-~it was said of heart disease-—in Richmond, at the very hour and minute in which we believed that we saw him come in at the wicket-gate. Perhaps the Society of Physical Re- y of the May sunshine u svered in is wife er 8s ep S| ul, not ree An define the operation of the law of men- tal influence which enabled the released spirit to project a gimulaerum of his physical presence upon the imagination of her who loved him passionately, and longed inexpressibly for the assurance of his forgiving love. “(30d let him come to lift the cloud,” the widow sard to her dying day. We dare not step, even with un- sandaled feet, upon the sacred awful ness of that ground. His love was so mighty that hr made her believe that she beheld him with her bodily eyes, say psychical savans, reverent in faith in what they cannot explain. But what, then, was it that I saw? New York Ledger. lini Maxy persons seem to think that speed in work 1s a higher accomplish. ment than quality of work. If speed is of the first importance, then it may be an apology for poor quality. If quality is of the first importance, then it may be an apology for want of speed. One says, “I want to learn to write fast.” Another says, “I write this very hur. riedly; please excuse erasures.” Would such writers—or workers—rather be thought quick than accurate? Do they Jace the writing above the written? foen a short-hand writer ought not to write faster than he oan write well Speed follows guality; quality never follows speed. It is a good thing to do good work fast. But it is a bad thing do fast work badly,~-and that 1s the is done when the fast ve the well-doing. Bad that way it generall doing is held a work had better be done so slow it never gets done at al’ WATER WORLD WONDER 3. Traene are wonders enough found in every group of animals, Every individual animal, indeed, 18 a living book of marvels, a volume in Nature's great |. ving or dead, has ever exhausted vet, for a great part of a long life-time in the study of the common cockehaler, | those years be devoted to the one thing i only, even then no investigator would live to complete his task, and survey undiscovered, few will be bold enough to contend that the field of enquiry is limited, or that, from lack of susten- ance, the first interest of the enquirer is likely to dwindle and disappear. point of view—the greatest wonders of all are to be found in those creatures inhabit the world of water, lowed her tmagination to run riot. The meet one at every turn. Forms of life the most bizarre and grotesque purest whim and ecaprice. One finds animals which shoot at their prey with a of natural blow-gun, o hit it: animals whos d their heads, or even nel through them; animals limbs behind the als which are perfectly o turned literally nside out; ani hich have the power of cutting entire digestive system, il out of order, And Aonln, with rod and lies contain a apable s 10 & dl ral feet away, and others whos 15 80 slight that they will i while being tl sort rare Iy fail t eyes fun whose fore hinder; an- LeIT case sot are hen happens to b r another in its place. } wiler annals, hich fish for ud other lectric their prey Wwiiosa battery, r its potent si of dis ng tance sense ol pain continue to feed devoured. There is one aguat wture with om most of us the por No one who A sean 14 can i to { A ginger wd of progress, or the clumsy leaps iu failed FOL wil forever in + 1 1% IS re are other } 5 AD tit iv is We ir Instance; mark. but a wa i ver shene remarkable, and ths winess for shat recalled singuls “flving victim out o ie water, neither it “double” and alter its conrse with quite the like se- tivity; but in point of actual speed it is far superior, aml it is 80 persevering in the chase, and so clever caleslating the exact distance to which its victim 1s 34 +4 is can in ih tain to with long Of course the flying fish does not fly. It merely leaps out of the water by come up it before very water, upborne by its wing-like fins, that impetus is exhausted. It than a very short distance; it cannot even change its course while in the air. It is like the flying lemur, and the fly- ing squirrel, and the flying dragon, in fact: able, by its peculiarity of struct ure, to take long leaps in the air, but yet without the slightest capability of true flight, Yet it is surely wonderful enough that a fish should thus be able incessantly 30 leave its own element for another, in which it eannot even world wonders. AI AAAS Savingsto be Avoided, Women, in the main, are not natural spendthrifts, and economy is a com- mendable thing, but there is a point at allude now to the practice of letting a superb toilette of steel plush trimmed with sable fur. The Duchess de Lauy- nes, who is still in mourning, that is to say half-mourning, wore a costume of violet velvet. Her charming daughter appeared in turquoise velvet. She was accompanied by the young Count de Crussol, brother of the bridegroom Mademoiselle Crussol, his costume of brocades The Duchess d° Uzes's sinter, old-rose costume Such articles become verit- able skeletons in the closets of many a Bonnets of a fashion of years fine, irridescent pearls and covered wit. crape. The richness of the trous- of the wedding gifts, called forth exc'anmations of admiration irom Words {ail to give a description of the jewels, old laces, furs, fans and articles of all sorts which composed the gifts. The trousseau is of itself marvel. ous, being composed of the most feels CAesii~ able feet a squirrel or a petaurist should be to skim for sixty or seventy through the air, tion 18 not impeded. water-world wonders are always the greatest wonders of all; to ourselves, that is, for we naturally measure all things by our own standard or our own ideal, Those creatures which I have mentioned-—the crocodile, the porpoise, the dol pliin, the coryphene, and the flying fisn—are all among the better known inhabitants of ocean. The na- turalist really fears to write much about some of its less familiar inmates, doubting whether he will meet with belief. For when one comes to study the animal kingdom of ithe water, ail rules soem to bo set aside, and kind of zoological anarchy reigns supreme. Not oven the fantastic creatures of a t's dream can equal in ness o wild creations which dwell in the depths of the sea. There is no limit to their weird aberrations of form, struc. ture, and habit. And if the three-score years and ten allotted to man could be doubled, and doubled, and doubled again, and every hour of every one of used. I'he rule, keep a thing seven years, and if no use be yet found for it, Keep it seven more, is one that 18 “more hon- the observs thie ance.” From it has com ing, so disease-engendering rubby no seeming earthly use, that n constituted gtinetively long for either What, 1 $ i wisdom oO tendencies 1 a bon-t should hke to is the Keeping parascl or umbrella long within a vear? Yetthe is often increased. Why sell the old iron ihe and break up the cracks od noseless tea-pot into eageriy ated bits (of for the Bury out of which th ing their wanted in tl flowerpot or in the fire t and the of properly a spade, the rev y : : : if not fixed 0 gravel) ht the old nt need Lr ip ere shonld I ature fo foot-stool, and | depths of the kitchen t. the wornout shoe, rimless hat, bag that was filled last vear clienpness any or friendly he rag i r whieh the rag-man neve nore than one Try #444 nspiratior -—— and Dislikes, Like A ffinitic 4 thing or explanation, but just don't. Our likes and dislikes do not appear to be under our control any more than that very powerful emotional im- pulse toward a 1 articular one which is called love Jas ard and Some t rep ae imes they all qu or ri JW ANALY an often they hat where there is esteem there cant with laces of all sorts, es | ir day Wear many embroidered for trim- seem, enriched hs fir are quite plain wit 12 vines and valeneiennes lace Others are plated, **e with Vi ry p } Biii jrain, hese yokes are a t be no attraction. yet, enriously enough, there may be love without esteem. Women have been known to love the most worthless characters, they could not possibly have any es fee. It is an enigma, after all of faith in one might seem to shatter affection in one, but it doesn’t. Affec- tion survives confidence. People are drawn together whose tastes and pur. suits widely differ by some strong trait which they bold in common, and per- 1 he loss night robes are coq with their culls « , sometimes in etimes in fine bat lashed points. 16 are trim { draws happi« r than ! humble birth and station —— —— Srroxo feelings find frequent Expr SRIONS of ] tience, or of longing, or of dislike, are often forced out from the lips of busy men while busiest at their daily work Yeoh be as ready at the lips of men of faith, moral difference yoint and kindred quali- } And so the queer qneerest friend. ties go for nothing. est marriages and the shi nisms kindled on the other hand. ——— a —— FASHION NOTES, Instead of our usual fashion letter interested in reading a slight descrip- tion of the trousean of the Duchess de Luynes, which by the ultra-fashionable is considered as the cream of all fashion. Without doubt, this marriage, that of Mademoiselle Simone 4’ Uzes, with the young Duke de Juysien has been con- sidered the event of the season. Youth, beanty, s title of nobility and immense fortune, what more could one demand in order to be assured of happiness. Enongh to say that the entire bridal rty was radiant with happiness. Mad. emoisello d’ Uzes was very graceful and charming in her toilette of white satin; which was quite plain with a ong: plaited train, complete y enveloped sign chosen was marvelous. The Duchess d’ Uzes wore of the profane or thoughtless? “Ejac- ulations take not up any room in the ey § 5 w soul,” says old Thomas Fuller. “They The husbandman may dart forth an ejaculation, and not make a balk the more. The seaman, [while ejaculating, | nevertheless, steers his ship right in the darkest night Ejaculations bind not men to any bod- ily observance; [but] only busy the them con other employment.” And so itis that any and all of us can “pray without weal in our daily tasks of life. Tur reformer becomes a fanatic when he begins to use his emotions as a sub= stitute for his reasoning facuity. We should do by time as we do by » torrent-—make use of it while we may have it, for it will not last always. Serrisnxess is that detestible vice which no one will forgive in others, and no one is without it himself. «To change the name of a horse having a record requires a fee of £50 to be paid to the American Trottiog ITorse Association, and when the same horse trots or under the National Association the owner again has to Jay a fee of $50, It Is fair and right that one $51 fee should be paid, but very st $0 have to pay the a rule sheuld HORSE NOTES, a—— EE —Jockey Bergen has gone to Hot Springs. —Ca'dwell will do all the starting at Clifton hereafter, ~ It is now said that will race again this year, —Jocky Hollis will come East with the Beroggan Dros.’ string. ~The winter meeting at leans will ¢lose on March 2, —H., A. Newton buys Belmont from D. A. Honig for $500 and Catspaw from D, D, Withers. —~Mneey Drothers, of Versailles, | Kv., have many sympathizers, because of thelr big loss by fire. Martin, of Philadelphia, the judges’ staud ab trotting meetings next season. { David Bonner says that while in California he yearling trotters that | would readily 8 for 3 or 4 year olds {in New York, 2 ~PBookmaker Walbaum ran Land- | seer up to $1,105 at Guttenburg when Preakness cast-off a selling a 1.'ttle Minch New Or- 1. Wood fw il oflic | several ale in % W i A par | Lhe won o The Ww Ti owned by od. {0 be Lhe 1nosi Nashyille. ~The Haray O’Fallen-Sue celding was christened Kosciusk | alter his maiden prevent his ; 1 he b ORT at the West Side last fall, cl for the p transaction, J 4 ay Will. iii ~Jolin that I. . WOLDY. ix LE any Caldwell’s ive red monia, and raey race ar 18 DEecCOlnIng ¥orld, and lity have 1 hind Mambrino Spark - The Shamrock the two anly pow has ear oq . George Washington and are the names of the stakes which the dson Jockey Club, of Gutte bx g or nominations for 2 ¥ John 8. Campbell, the trainer of Ped wyck stable, has added to his the bay colt Onc Onondaga, cai the Long the Dever Aoain 13% is {ean by ck Coit ow Dauce, ny 1 (nla . dam 14a Gag Bal ALLE, stallion 19. by War D atl the cer, foa ed in dl jallet, ete., d Pes § 1 x Plateau Ave Peance ek, Garfield county, ‘dney : 3 ri} 141 ; Talici Company, troubie. colts Narel Matt Daw have beer pstralian-bred 3 . now in Newmarket, * at 500 to SU 1: —The Indiana Trotting and Pacing Assoc ation, after taking Indianapolis 1 circuit, arranged the annual as follows: Edenburg, May ): Indianapolis, June 10 to 12; Rushville, 17 to 20; Cambridge City, June 27, and Columbus, June l ‘od —The bay Lemon Dlossom, aled 1896, by Luke Blackburn, dam Vanilla, by Jack Malone, the propertly iH. Timmons, after winning a race at Guttenberg, on January Daly for 50 over ithe en- e into meeling une June 24 to liv RidLy selling 21. was purchased by W. C, $1050, an advance of $A wrek (elling price. ~Mott's Incependent died at the farm of his owner, Morgan lL. Mott, in Dutchess county, N. Y., on Tuesday January 7. He was bred by Charles Backman, of Stony Ford, and was foaled in 1850, His sr: was Rysdyk’s Hambletonian, and his dam Emma Mills, by Secly’s American Star. —No ¢'ange will be made in the | standard rules relating to pacers unless | the suggestion of the Secretary of the Tennessee JFacmg Horse Breeders’ Association 1s adopted. He asks the | National Association to formulate a | pacing standard, take charge of the | registration of pacers, and issue a pac- | ing stud-book. — Many leading turfmen bave with- drawn from racing for the safer field | of brerding. Mr. Swigert did so long ago. Mr. Young, Clay & Woodford, | Captain Franklin, Mr, Harris, Major Thomas, Mr. J. 8. © ark, and, recently, Mr. Cassatt have all followed wit « large consignments to the bammer cach sea son, not to mention the dozens of smal- ler breeders, all eager to get a share of the good prices, —Hanover's name appears among the nominations to many of the stakes of the New York, Comey lsland and Biogklin Clubs, and the fact bas a great deal of conjecture as to whether he could be considored a dan.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers