A BEDTIME SONG. Dh, sing a song for bedtime, when wee ones at my knee Thelr little prayers lisp over, and kiss goods night to me. Then mother takes her darlings and cuddles them away Sn soft, warmi beds to slumber and dream till peep 0’ day. Oh, take this kiss t» dream of With all things sweet and fair, May angels guard thy slumber— God have thee in His care. Oh, sing a song for bedtime. The nest upon the bough Is rocking in the night-wind, and little birdies now Are dreaming as they cuddle against their mother’s breast, Oh, go to sleep as they do, my nestlings, in thy nest. Ob, take this kiss to dream of With all things sweet and falr, May angels guard thy slumber God have thee in His care. Oh, sing a song for bedtime. I hear far off and sweet, Sounds of bells in Sleep-land, where dream elve's dainty feet Are marking off the measures of moments as they go. Oh, listen, darlings, listen—how sweet it is, and low. Oh, take this kiss to dream of With all things sweet and fair, May angels guard thy slumber— God have thee in His care. Oh, sing a song for bedtime. The wee ones are asleep. I bend above their slumber and pray that God will keep Thelr white souls stainless ever, and help me guide their feet Into the pleasant pathways where truth and honor meet. Take mother’s kiss to dream of, With all things sweet and fair, May angels guard thy slumber— God have thee in His care. THE DEADWOOD STAGE. The Wild West show have among their properties an old stage, an un- comforable looking vehicle, yet it was to just such stages that travelers a few years ago were obliged to trtist them- selves when moving from one point of the far western country to another, It was just such a stage that ran be- tween Denver and Deadwood City, and which Captain Jim Huxtable and his men were in the habit of halting and robbing whenever they felt the need of money. Even the hardy pros- pectors accustomed to taking big chances in their lives hesitated before undertaking the journey to Deadwood, was almost unheard of. a the time when Captain Jim Hux- table was at the very height of his evil reputation, when scarcely a stage got through the mountains without at least a desperate struggle with the road agents, an old lady presented her- self at the ofifce of the Deadwood Stage company, in Denver and desired to engage a seat for thenext day. The clerk opened his eyes with astonish. ment at the old lady's temerity, and ventured to ask if she knew what she was undertaking. Very well the old lady knew, and she had no idea of being pursuaded from her purpose. Her son, she said, was out there in Deadwood City. She had not seen him for ten years, and now that she had come all the way from Georgia to take him by surprise, nothing short of death should stop her on the road. The next day when the stage started for Deadwood the old lady was in her place. There were only three other passengers—two stalwart pioneers with all their worldly goods tied up in their blankets and a gentlemanly-look- ing man in black who sat directly op- posite the old lady. At first the three men looked on their fellow-passenger of the opposite sex with evident doubt. To travel over a rough country full of dangers with a timid woman who might throw herself on their protection at the first symprom of anything unus- asl was far from an alluring prospect. At the end of the first day's travel, however, all such fears were dispelled by the conduct of the old lady. Fully able to take care of herself, undaunted by the discomforts of stage travel, and willing to take an interest in everything, she soon proved herself a pleasant companion and anything but a burden, The two prospectors and the lady were on intimate terms of friendship by the middie of the second day. The gentlemanly looking man in black, on the other hand, maintained a stoical reserve. When questioned on any subject he answered but never joined in the conversation, and if he listened to what was said he had no appearance of doing so. Most of his time was passed sunk back in the corner of the stage, with his eyes closed, apparently asleep. When the foot hills were reached and the dangerous part of the journey was about to begin, the conversation naturally WERE ut northern part of @elorado, here for s time he was lost sight of, and then again had made his appearance on this occasion in the vicinity of Deadwood only more terrible than before, be- sanse he had with him a companion as reckless of all danger aud as willing to take human life as himself, They told of incidents when these two had halted a stage load of men, and while one of them kept the passengers and guards quiet at the point of his rifle the other had deliberately cut the mail bags, ex- tracted their contents and robbed the terrified passengers of everything val- uable they had about them. Gradu- ally other outlaws had gathered round their standard until they were the leaders of as dangerous a band as ever terrorized a country. The prospectors ner was only known as Captain Sid; ing his companions call him s0 when a robbery was in progress. tures of both men were unknown, they invariably wore handkerchiefs over their faces when ‘holding up” a stage. The man in black paid little attention to these stories, and, save for an impatient movement occasionally when some other anecdoy was told he appeared not to notice what was be- ing said. Once or twice he muttered something about the folly of frighten- ing an old woman to death without cause, but these were his only remarks. His solicitude for the old lady was quite unnecessary. No idea of danger seemed to disturb her placidity, and when told of the most blood curdling deeds perpetrated by the road agents, she invariably expressed her feelings by the pious wish that the Lord might forgive such wicked men. On other subjects, however, she was more talk- ative, and her well-beloved son was a topic she never wearied of. As the stage was crawling up the lofty moun- tain side she told her fellow travelers about her boy. He had been a little wild in the far-away home south she admitted, and when people began to look at him askance he had decided to go out west, where no nar- row prejudices would restrict him, and make a fortune for himself. For months indifferent success. His letters came more rarely and told of disappointed hopes. Then they ceased altogether. The lady told how her agony grew to be almost greater than she could bear. Then came a letter which changed every- thing. Her son had met 8 friend—the best man, the old lady asserted, that ever lived, and he had lent her boy a helping hand and since then he had been successful and every month he sent his old mother money, until she had been able to save enough to come and take him by surpise. It was to thank this machless friend that the old lady had come west, as well as to see her boy. Then she told of the two men’s meet- ing as it had been related to her in letters from her boy. Her son had been employed near Leadville in a mine. He was discharged, and deter- mined to go prospecting through the mountains by himself. His usual bad luck followed him. His providons gave out, and then for days he wan- dered about bruising his shoeless feet against the sharp rocks of the moun tains, and only kept alive by the few berries he found in his way ; finally he lay down to die—too weak to move further and utterly hopeless of any help reaching him. Gradually his senses left him and he became unoon- scious, When he came to himself the face of a stranger was leaning over him, a hand was holding a flask to his swollen lips and a friendly voice was telling him to drink. The letters spoke of the stranger as Jim, and it was on this Jim that the strongest feelings of gratitude were lavished by the mother miles away. He not only saved her boy’s life but he cared for him when he got well, took him into partnership and enabled him to satisfy his ambitions. The old lady had never even heard the man’s last name, but next to her boy she said she loved Jim best of all the world and was anx- jous to get to Deadwood to tell him 80. When this good mother had fin ished her story she found the eyes of the gentlemanly looking man fixed on her with an almost terrified expression, When he saw, however, that he was observed he restrained himself and sank back into his corner in the same old listless attitude, That night the stage with its fom passengers reached the very heart of the mountains, But a change had ap- parently come over the travelers. For the first time the old lady and the two prospectors slept peacefully, and the gentlemanly man in black gazed eager- ly into the dark night from the window st his side. Suddenly a number of figures sprang into the road, a voloe in he had met a § BAGBY the driver and through the windows of the stage. For a moment the traveler ing the door open by which he sat, he sprang into the road, and before a shot could be fired at him rang out every “Stop!” he cried, “its me! It's Cap- tain Jim!” Fora he by the side of the stage surveving the masked men who, at the first sound of his above other sound, moment stood his voice, had lowered their weapons. His finally taller than the rest, standing near the In words he ordered the two prospectors who had been his fellow travelers to alight. When they had obeyed, Cap- tain Jim strode to the figure he had singled out, and seizing him by the arm dragged him to the stage door. { Then he tore the handkerchief from his struggling companion’s face, lifted him bodily into the stage, saying as he did so: «Damn you, Sid, get in there and hug your old mother.” ! As Captain Jim led his men and the two prospectors away from the stage, the lady's voice from inside followed them, crying: “My boy! my boy! | thank God!” | i ————————— Heathen Gods in Her Ears. A physician of my acquaintance was called in recent! to see an old lady ‘who resides in her own house in the Third ward, says the Brooklyn Citizen. It was his first call, and he had never { seen the lady before. She lay on a | couch, neatly attired, with her gray hair in a cluster of small curls at each | gide of her head. “Doctor,” she said, «I have sent to | consult you on a very serious matter. | I have for a long time suffered from | pains in the head, and have consulted | many physicians without receiving any | benefit, Yesterday 1 | swallowed a fishbone, and while cough- eyes rested on a figure horses’ heads, 8 few peremptory accidentally | ing it up felt a singular sensation in {my left ear. I put up my hand and | drew this from my ear.” She extended toward the doctor a | small leaden statue of Napoleon, such | a8 used to be sold on the streets years | ago in a little glass bottle. “You drew this from your ear? | asked the doctor. | “Yes, doctor, I did,” was the reply, | “and I have been much easier ever since.” | The doctor examined her ear and found it perfectly natural. He didn't | know what to say, but he thought a | good deal. “] want you to do something for ! me,” she continued, “for I am satisfied | that there is another heathen god like | this in the other ear—for it is a heath. {en god, I have no doubt.” | “How do you suppose it got there | the doctor asked. “] think Ezekiel or one of the minn | prophets must have put two of these heathen gods in my ears when [ was a child. Now, doctor, I want you to { prescribe something to bring out the | heathen god from the right ear.” ‘‘Swallow another flshbone,” sala the doctor, as he left the room in high {udgeon. i ————— Using Heavier Ralls, Most railroads in this country wen renewing their rails order heavier ones than bave previously been used on their tracks. A better road bed and heavier rails are required for increas- |ing traffic, heavier locomotives snd | greap® speed. A short time ago the | standard weight of rails was fifty-six pounds per yard, requiring eighty- eight tons per mile of single track. As a sixty-five pond rail takes a little over one hundred tons per mile of single track, although only nine pounds per yard heavier than a fifty-six pound rail, it is easy to see that the tonnage of rails manufactured during the year is steadily increasing to an enormous axtent. AIA hsm, Those Good Old-Fashioned Folks, Mmahow thapeople of today Sins ws they Many Tate In pretty sure they're not the \od yh ervire many Just as good as those used to know Wo ushi 0 ~~ fake a man exactly as be Btn s safe to take him just the other T3dous my heart Just lots of good t meet once Some of those old-fashioned folks 80 near 7 hing faa 1 wouldn't say the world in honesty is slipping I christians hunting grace | ES Sa day ae Jo the to differ from the ones 1 me quite as well as these } honest and thelr people now, so nearly than we used to be, we may ~ 4 rp ™ Al “ DEATH AT NIAGARA. BOME SENSATIONAL SUICIDES OF FORMER DAYS RECALLED, | William Claridge and His Wife Leapod the Falls Together. SS —- One of the earliest of the many cascs of suicide at Niagara, and one of the most mysterious as well, says a Phila- delphia Times correspondent, was that of a handsome lady and gentleman who leaped together over the American Falls, from Prospect Point, in July, 1831. The facts are remembered by ' many of the old residents of the Falls | to-day. The man was a tall, handsome young fellow, about twenty-five years of age, elegantly dressed, and registered at one of the hotels near the falls as William Claridge. He told nothing of himself to those who met him, except that he came from St. Louis, his home, and expected to meet his wife, a Spanish lady, who had recently landed in New York en route from Cuba. One night the last passenger to alight from one of the coaches was a beanti- ful young woman whose complexion plainly betokened Spanish blood. Though plainly dressed, her faceand general appearance gave every evidence of culture and refinement. She no sooner caught sight of the gentleman than she rushed towards him and threw herself into his arms, regardless of the bystanders. BSBome who were present, noticed that handsome Mr. Claridge returned the beautiful lady's greeting rather coldly, and that his face wore a scowl, while the eyes of the dark Span- ish beauty suddenly became dimmed with tears, them after WAS What passed between the hotel A servant heard loud and an- mingled pleadings issuing from their apartment, but as they spoke in Spanish the listener was unable to recognize the purport of their they reached never known. gry words in a man’s voice, with feminine sobs and conversation. A short time afterwards they stroll. out of the hotel arm in arm, and Mr. Claridge informed the proprietor ed that they were going to obtain a view of the falls They never returned. by moonlight. About half an hour after, a pedes- trian on the figures of a man and woman leap over the falls from Prospect Point, the moon being at the full and rendering all objects plainly visible. The bodies were found two days after near the whiripool. Nothing further concern- ing them was ever learned, In the sutumn of 1843 a gentleman of commanding presence, handsomely dressed sand with costly diamonds, about forty-five years of age, came to Niagara and registered at the principal hotel. He wrote the name “Daniel Webster” on the register, but all knew that he wus not the illustrious states- man of that day. Two days after his arrival he crossed the river to the Canadian side, walked into the rapids above the Horse Shoe Falls and was instantly swept over the brink of the seething cataract. A few days later his mangled remains were found and an inquest held, which de- veloped the fact that his name was Vandegger, and that he was a resident of Newton Centre, the most beautiful of all the charming suburbs of Boston. Six years previously he had fallen in love with a very beautiful young lady, who was employed as a cashier in one of the aristocratic restaurants of the Hub. Completely captivated by her charming face and winning way, he had married her, though she was a number of years his junior. She was established as mistress of a palatial home at Newton. Her husband's wealth and social position immediately secured for her an entrance into the most select society of Boston. Five years passed, when disgrace overtook the young wife. She was arrested on a criminal charge, and a Boston detective, a member of the State Legislature and a clergyman tes- tified that she had been a girl of noto- riously bad character before her mare riage. The detective testified that he had arrested her for stealing a watch and that she had served ten months in the Canada side saw without one word he left the court room and no one in Boston ever saw —— of their lives?” That is a question that has been put to every horseman of note in the coun- try, but not one seems able to answer it. fancier and now and then a buver at the California in the come from | that region, went down to Palo Allo A gentleman, a horse eales, being much interested phenomenal trotters that to see the famous Stanford farm. Talk about princes and princesses of breeding | cffete monarchies belng reared in vel- vet and fed from gold spoons; the | nearest approach to that in this great republic is this equine principality at Palo Alto. forgotten their mothers comes the be- As soon as the babies have ing halter and a soft rubber bit kept in the mouth for half an hour in the day iis the A BC. Then comes the kinder- | garten track to discover if any of them have a natural gait. Half a dozen are put into the sawdust circle at once. A man stands in the middie with a long whip, which he waves furiously, but no little one is ever permitted to feel its sting. All start around the ring, first a coltish some little pupil more promising than others will strike a trot. Soon another will the same. An apple or a lump of sugar is the reward of merit. | Usually before the class has finished into canter, and then do all of them will be jogging about on a trot. and in a few weeks forty or fifty fillies, Then a new batch 1s taken, | and as many colts have gone through the kindergarten course. | every little one of either sex is handled | and fondled. The colts and fillies are relentlessly parted at weaning time, Meantime and never see each other again except the at a distance. | sexes fs frowned upon at of kittens. lot { low one around like a 5 PBR YN WR, we YE COLLEGE. GEADUATE. Te ean give the laws of Solon, He ean draw the flag of Colon, He can write a Babyloulan 10 U4 He can make a writ in G He ean draft a Turkish 6 Dut the English ~ommon law be sever knew Prinan, Fan Rpanishy ¥ i%5he Jie can write his thouzhis in He can make 8 speech in Dar And recite such Banserit as would turn your brain; The Muallakat Arable He can sean in feet syllable; Dut be couldn't tell old Bhakespeare from Mark Twain. He ean fathom all the mystery Of old Ethiopie history ; He can name one thousand more or less; He can mark the Roman bound’ries, Ad describe the Aztec foundries; Jut has never seep the “Statutes of U. 8.” Norse kings He can trace the radius vector, With a geometric sector, And can give the moon's diameter in feet; He can snalyze the arum, Classify the Coptic carum jut bie cannot tell 8 cabbage from sa beet, -W. A. Buxton, WIT AND HUMOR. Miss Belle (warningly)—Sally, they used to tell me when I was a little girl that if I didn’t let coffee alone it would (who owes didn’t make me foolish, Sally her one)—Well, why | Lafe. A Dartmouth graduate has written a you 7 work on «The Probable Cause of Gla-~ ciation.” We didn’t suppose that was If it wasn't cold it be?—Lowell 8 matter of dispute. weather, what could Courier. Charges of plagiarism still continue. It hinted that and hitherto unsuspected farmers crib the of their from nature's cereals. — Baltimore is now the successful stores corn magazines American, Charming widow—And what are ! If you stop in the paddock they in- | stantly surround you like a Jot of | chattering school girls, and begin to | search your pockets with their velvety Not one is ever scolded or permitted to be noses for a bit of fruit or sugar. frightened in any way, nor is the whip ever used exept as a badge of authority. When the infant aristocracy is bridle- trained and thoreughly tractable, at 8 or 10 months, and from that to a year old, comes the first It that by this time these youngsters are to the full grown horses. Their legs are strong, their bodies well filled out, their necks intelli like satin, All this is the result of the forcing pro- On the Stanford farm the 2- year-old colt looks like the well-ma- tured horse of § in Illinois. At 11-2 years old begins their hard work on the track. It is then that the most promising are selected for a yearling record. A building is set apart for the ‘“kin- dergarten,” a great canopy covering a sawdust ring an eighth of a mile long. This is when the little weanlings, six and eight months old, are brought to be taught their first paces. Trainer Gallagher gave me the his- tory of Sunol, and the life she led there for two years is the life of all of them. When Sunol was six months old she was brought in with twenty other fillies from the pastures in which their mothers roamed. The weaning process is quite easy. The youngsters are put on steamed grain food at once. In the morning a quart of steamed bar- ley mixed with bran. In the evening two quarts of ggound barley steamed and moistened with lime water, is about their daily diet. That is pretty high food for a weanling. When I was a boy on the old farm in Pennsyl. vania it was a pretty lucky colt or filly that ever saw anything but hay or grass until it was two years old. Bat at Palo Alto the babies are stuffed with grain from the start. I was there in July, and there was no green food to speak of, with the exception of green corn tops, of which the little ones had three diets a week. Even then it was chopped in asteam cutter and mixed with bran. IAI Two of the seven ladies in wai Margaret of are New York who was BAY introduction to harness, must be remembered non-critical eve almost plump, their eyes bright and gent, and their coats shine Cesa. yon doing nowadays?’ He—4Oh, out for Charming number {| amusing myself; looking And you?” for | number one. widow—+ Looking « ng rut two.” Life, Miss Minor “Fraulein Sprawler plays with a great (after the concert) deal of expression, but what do von think of her technique?” Miss Green- didn’t that she wore one." America. notice ing] New nurse, rocking the crib, sings: Voice from the crib: “Now, Panla, you might as at first that I don’t want to hear any of those old things.” - Fliegende Blatter. A Philadelphia base ball player has been given a gold watch for stealing bases, and another Philadelphian has been given two years for stealing seven dollars. Is justice a failure?— Norristown Herald. “Sleep, little one sleep.” well understand A Michigan fruit grower has a peach that measures eleven inches in circum- ference, but as he doesn’t show any disposition to pass it around, it isn’t likely to do the Somerville people any good.~Somerville Journal. Temperance Woman—<‘My friend, if you don’t want whisky to get the best of you, yon must get the best of whisky.” Promising subject—«I do, mum, when I can; but when a feller's only got a nickel —"—Puck. Masherby — “They tell me, Miss Lacey, that you will dance with noe body. Now, can’t I prevail upon you to take the next waltz with me?” Miss Lacey—<‘Why, certainly, I'm a woman of my word, you know.”—Grip. A Birmingham man has patented an umbrella that is transparent. What he needs to do now is patent a borrower of umbrellas whom the owner can see through before lending. This would save many an umbrella to the unsus- pecting lender.~New York Commer cial Advertiser. Family physician Nothing will de your daughter any good unless she controls her appetite for sweets and rich dishes. She must live on the plainest food, and very little of it, for months. Mother—~Very well, I'll send her to the boarding school I used to attend .—New York Weekly. “Why do you doubt my wora, Clara, when I tell you that I have eyes for no other woman but yourself! Why cannot you trust me? “George,” replied the damsel, and her voice was [
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers