2 V'HROER THE SNOW. ff. L ne Realty and noiselessly falling, Like down Irom an angel's vine The snowflakes are innocently kissing, The yet nuborn lowers of spring, 1 stood and watehed by the window, The ermine too dear for an earl, As it folded the grave of my sister, Inch deep with its ridges of pearl, I remember her orphaned babe, As Le lsughed at the beautiful snow, As the flakes in silence were hid ne, The scar of our deep plunged wos, Poor bay he knew not the trials A motherleys ehild must endurs, Nor whose was the hand that robbed him Of a love so good and pure. y eyes I kissed him, And he k ssing back, did not know That our first and life-long 2orrow Lay under the deepening snow, With tears in my THE MARTINS’ JOLLIEST ST. VALENTINES, BY A MINISTER'S DAUGHTER. The parson had difficulty in turning the corner of the Old Year's Bills, but final y he managed to round it safe on the side of the New Year with an empty purse and his small brood of Martins. After much deliberation Parson Mar- tin and his wife decided that expenses must be reduced. There were so many pressing demans on the first quarterly stipend—uoew cloaks were peeded to | cover a multitude of sins of omission in the dress of the children expected to flock 1n the ministerial front pew every blessed Sunday; the furnace dragon was roaring for coal; the parson’s life insurance premium was due; so was his i { | | | missionary subscription. In face of these facts 1t was easily settled that | economy must be enforced; just how, was quite another affair. There was one small item of expenditure that could be curtailed, the panny post. It | was an institution of the parsonage | that, as an inducement to the young Martins to fly to the distant village office in quest of mail, levied a tax on} the heads of certain letters arriving. A missive containing a long expected check from the publishers for whom the Rev. Mr. Martin wrote was worth | three cents, one with money for ths church, two cents, the acceptance of an | article, one cent, and so on down the scale. It was a poor rule that didn't | work both ways. The parson said he should charge the unlucky postman bringing home an article returned “*without thanks” the sum cents, two cents for a refusal f Oi help | to Mr. Martin might | was never known to | and the « i one of } us out of nfident that circular. Though charge this tax, he present this bill, deeming this was of which all parse are fond, were o« post would suppl; y | and pickles and slate pencils, and vari- | ous sorts of kick-shaws, i This reducing of expenses blasted the | hopes of the Martins, St Valentine's Day was at hand, and they had depend- ed on the penny post money for pur- | chasing the dainty mussives of the sea- son, i “When my ship comes in I'll sett] for all your favors, children,” said th parson, having screwed his courage to | Hild rer dagen, | no t the t JUKCS | pulpit | penny ‘3 iv them with iy Y the sticking point of announcing that | for the present he could offer no pe- | cuniary reward for delivering the mail i Alas for the parson’s ship! Ithad been | coming in these twenty vears or more. really don't believe there ever were ny ships for mini tera, or if re | were that they ever reached port in | safety. i The Martin cl h ful assent to their fat propositi n. “Poor they cried. Whenever their symp | thies were aronsed I, it was always a *‘poor little” some body or other whom they patied. “Poor little fa rushing up to hold a ¢ anceil of war in! sister Gertrude’'s room; *‘poor little | father. Wish we bad a million dol. | lars for him!" Sister Gertrude was Chief Sachem. | It was sbe who adjourned the meeting | till after tea. Then the desks were | cleared for action, by which we only | mean to state, that the dining table; | { | | +3 th ldren chirped a cheer- er's reluctant | little father,” | ther!” so they cried | stripped of cloth and china, stood gaunt and bare, showing the boards that propped its leaves up to the re quired level. About it, the Martins gathered, with the stores for which they Lad ransacked the parsonage, — bits of colored paper shaped industri- | ously into hearis and rounds, tin-foil | from yeast cake wrappings, bright tint- ed doves and roses culled from scat- | tered pictures and worn-out books in | the play thing drawers. The scheme | was divulged the next morning. ‘We are gong to make our valen- tines this year,” proudly announced one of the twins to his school-chum, as if scorning the idea of boughten mis- sives, that anybody's pennies conld | pusechase at the stationer’s store for the ‘ourteenth of February. { “We're voing to make our valen- | tines this year,” said the other twin to i lis particular comrade, echoing the | tone ard sentiments of thal sweet Carol ; Bird who said it showed ever so munch | more love to make your Christmas | presents than to buy them. Every evening these Knights of the | Round Table worked upon their St, Valentine offerings till the nine o'clock | bell rang and sent them gcampering off | to bed to dream of a land where the clouds were pink tissne and the snow silvery paper, and tiny blue hearts grow on all the rose bushes. Mamma artin gave the children the lace pa- per from the box of thanksgiving rai- sins, and big sister Gertrude donated to the cause, to be made over, the stock of valentines she had treasured for so many long years that she had quite forgotten of whom they were touching mementos. Dear father Martin was touched by the children’s uncomplaining struggles. In slippered feet he made a raid on the k case, ste. thily cut the gorgeous fly-leaves from the back of various ornamental works of art, Christmas gifts from ad. miring parishioners, and laid h's eon- tribution on the altar of St. Valentine. Fiom these materials, such glory wis evolved! There were enough to 0 the rounds of everybedy, from Amy, be put of the parish, and lame Mr mer _ I Towser and all the Milly, the youn est of labored long over the 1 Martins, p rish’s valentine, a dainty aflair of « with scent, After much thought she wrote victoriounsly: ‘1 love little Amy lecause she is tame-y 1” And the thing was done, and I'm sure it was a much prettier token than a rea a pea-green youth and an pink Dresden shepherdess, striking original sentiment: impossible and the “1H yon love me as | love you, No kuife can eut our love in two," and which can be bought at any shop in the country for a few coppery In- dian heads. St. Valentine's night how the Mar- tin's bell did ring! The parson was kept busy trotting in his slippers from study to the front door, for all the children, under the angel guardianship of their big sister, were out delivering at the village houses their tokens of af- fection, and Mrs. Martin was up in the “Prophet's Chamber” waiting upon the unfortunate Miss Lewis, an unexpected old parishioner who had arrived, alas! with one of her sick headaches. The duty of door-tender kept the parson busy. His sermon progressed slowly that Saturday night. He al- most resolved to preach without notes, or turn the sermon-barrel upside down and begin anew on its contents. Some folks regard sermon barrels as myths, yet such things do exist. “‘Feunengh!” exclaimed Rev. Mr Martin in a whistle after he had gcam- pered to the door half a dozen times after a species of those presumably his stif} other times to pick up chalked envelopes from the front steps, only to hear a smothered laugh from the neighbor's children be- hind the Japonica hedge. ‘“‘Feueugh! this game isn’t worth the candle, But the next half-dozen times the bell comic valentines, or had bent valentines left for his small Martins ing wind, Virtone did not its prove + (11804 wered sa number of packages ad- “Mra. Rev.” They were opened in glee and d artistically parson pri himself on his artistic eye,—on the parlor mantel Mrs, Martin down stairs, as poor hi Lewis was more comfortal s¢ of hot-water bag and e fun 1 1 Martin unwrapped } » till he arrived great the plece, y le arough the manie roses, and eon was inscribed in ti certain cairography the twins nu one of ess of perfume drop- long drawn rendering the It was Mr, Mar swootn il linkad ’ Evidently the n been ont by the sid of water, a milky hue, wone the less priz« d by I Most | ov. leverends are f ne, and par was n excep . He immedi itely gave hs hand- shief a prodigal sprinkling of the ent. “Bless tha ‘eo iv. On 1 Or cherub,” he said fervid- By “cherub” he evid young M tiy resembled tl in | ently referred { ster Mart'n, who not ex ] sterooty ped notion mittens and 8 is red ns h m with Martins to the parlor window to enj 3 the fun of Mr. and Mrs. Bev. over their valentines A tiny envelope with the motto “The pen is mightier than the sword.” and “0 for a forty parson power,” all in- terwined with aporopriate decorations contained five stub pens, beloved by the parson, with the inscription: Cot 16 other “The Stub! The Stub! Gives other pens the rab i tub 40 I thee dud, ‘“Hol Ho! Ho!” langhed the skipping along the hall pull at the bell parson, y 88 a powerful seemed almost to jerk ‘“*No, no, Kilhern!” exclaimed Mra Martin from her post on the siairway, “let me have the fun of going just this once, then 1 must return to poor Miss So she opened the door, and bore back a thin flat package addressed to herself. It was the triamph of small Milly Martin, She had seen daintily bers, at church fairs, of reach of her purse. She possessad no satin, and even if she had, she couldn't have painted upon it even a daisy, which everyone knows is easy for an amateur's brush to trace, if all the success of St. Valentine's Day de- ended on her efforts. Nothing dannt- ed she took from her pet herbarium a spray of poppies, and fastened the scar. let tissne-like flowers to a sqnare of thick doubled white paper, on which she o~iined in odd characters: temptingly out “Sleep well Within this quiet room O thou, Whoe's: thou art, And may no mournful yesterda, Disturb thy quiet heart, nd, Forget thyself and all the w Put out each feverish light, The stars are wateliog overhead, Sloop sweet, Good night! Good night!” “Dear child!” and there were toars in mother Martin's eye as she recog- nized in the dainty bow of ribbon on the banner the best white sash of Mil. ly's very favorite doll, the creases hay- ing been subdned by a ponderous heated iron. “Dear child! I'll hang this on the bed-post in the Prophet's Chamber. May it bring comfort to poor Miss Lewis and all forlorn souls that find a shelter under our roof!” “Poor little Miss Lewis,” sighed the parson, using the children'sexpression, Jingle! jinge! jangl The parson dashed to the door to ecateh sight of what scomed to be a rubber-booted centipode vanishing around the eorner. le longed to give chase, but repragsod | desire and re a Con i trary to his economical eustom of | winding all bits of cord about rolls of! newspaper aguinst the day of need and | Christmas presents, Rev. Mr. Mar in | recklessly ‘“tkitched” the wrapping twine, much to the amusement of row of Martins on tiptoe outside the | window. He unwounl the papers as carefully as if he had beea unfol ling | the coverings of a mummy. Inside lay i an Egyptian-hned ginzer-bread heart, | ornate in its frosting—ministo:ial frosting, boiled sugar and water, with | a suspicion of vanilla, cheap and good, but tough on the muscles of the one who ha: to beat it into the required | whiteness, To the heart was attached | the “Of all the cakes My mother bakes Give me the little Ginger cakes This gift we make For st, Val's sake To the father who always Takes the cabs’ Mrs. Martin looked somewhat dabi- | ous at this last line. After her two | months’ endeavor of a No-Slang-So. | ciety it was rather hard, Mr. Martin | laughed in a pleased way. He was] proud of the inference, though it had al setting in slang. He had on his pleas. | antest, proudest air when the Martin children flocked into the room a few | minutes later, “It’s been just the jolliest Mt. entine's!” eried the twins, “even hadn't any money to rely upon.” “That's just where the fun came | in,” said Milly, dragging around trailing rubber boots that med termined to stick by her, **You've been the best of children. | helpful to your father, and brave and | uncomplaining about the loss of your penny post. I know how disappointed | you must have been just at St. | ‘alentine season. I sha'n't forget it, my dears, when my ship comes in!’ exclaimed the Rev. Mr, Martin, bear ing his valentine trophies in tender | hands to his study, It was passing strange, but the par-| son’s ship did come in. Val- | we if ini de “6 this n { tt igs Hear Ea. —-—— Birthday. A Traveller's Tale. p— As wei travell that i rado the size « rd a tal 1g from a | er s imagination is tol iH a sl 80 Lhat his effort Wantad Crandpa Talked t« Pipa A threo year-old ACC her father, not long az 3 pon to ber grandparents in tl con where a blessing is invoked by t white-haired patriarch before each m Fhe custom was or with eh our little friend Mad not been familinr home,and of course on the first oooa. sion she was silent with interest and curions watchfalness But when the family gathere! around the board the sccond time, she was prepared fi preliminary religions ceremony, and observing that her father did not seem Aa V a intry, @ 0 wi at yw 1 i by emnity, she called him to order saying with stern gravit **Be still, papa, grandpa’s talk to his plate pretty soon.” A -— _— He Graspoad the Situation. to going One littl y» Ind in b Y who atten la school at Inlian Island, Old Tow n, takes an intelligent interest in hia sous and does not simply learn 1 by rote. The teacher had been giving insiraction in punctuation and elose by saying emphatically, “Now, when you come to a period yon must stop.” A little black-eyed gil then commenced to read and went on in a reckless man- ner, regardless of the period in ques tion, whereupon the fat and bright lit- tie Indian boy poked her in the ribs and electrified the school by yelling lustily, “Whoa!” -{ Bangor Commer. cial, The Largest Tree In the World, The largest tree in the world, socord- ing to statistics lately published by the Italian government, is a monster chestnut standing at the foot of Mount Hina. The ciroumference of the main trunk at sixty feet from the ground is 212 feet. Ir 1s wo crime to bo poor, but in the eyes of many people it 1s rank felony to be rich, Dearn stills detractors, convictions, Severna women, twenty-six miles into Chovenne, Wyom- ing, to vote at the last election. Ax illuminated vellum fan will last for centuries. Illuminated paints fre body water colors that pi discovky of ofl paints the tongues of a man's but it seldom changes thoir it is said, rode ABOUT SHAWLS. | BY MARION LEWIS, Just at present the feminine heart is | set on a seal- kin saeque; but there was | a time, and not long avo either, when! nn elegant shawl w» cashmere was the coveted article, As these shawls pos- sess intrinsic velae, they will always! though the owner may not be one who can wear a shawl becomingly. It is about one hundred years gince | these shawls were appreciated in Eu-! rope. Many years before, some em- few specimens in Paris. They were re- After Napoleon's expedition to! Egypt they became the fashion, and one good resulting from the campaign was the introduction of a fabric which became the model of one of the most Madame Guodain, a reigning beauty at this time, is said to have been the first to wear a cashmere shawl in Paris, but she was closely followed by the | Empress Josephine, and the India shawls at once became the rage. So great was the do mand that fifteen hun- dred dollars would be paid for a much. soiled specimen, that had probably | been worn ss a turban or sash by some Indian chief. ut so durable were the could be effectu- ally cle ined, as the increased new | yronght | an enormous price. These shawls were finest wool in the worl bh the Thibet goat, and only the this is used, that a fall roat will not yield more than the finer quality al which produces this be most primitive » being supported ! he wool is worked » machinery can nestness of finish, t this “craft” for and fam- carefull iy Jat demand 0 wn in year, wonder imaginable by two stick iy } ia Dy ald 1 f hand it n rival the ex Whole Any jnisite C8 WOrk a Ive generations, | ret are handed down and jealously guarded. | Fhe shawls woven in separate eces, bat skilfully put together not be found, From lwo years were re- a shawl farmili {f the trade vere BO accord s carefully dyes, and an experi. t a shaw! of from the es by 3 Cher sh a deseriy thread is pre- some of these fared I nrest o1 nagazine contains } 1.3 * Way the : shawls at ! ham poo into ze Er. beater a the = sheathed by this mi- nute wire in aningenions manner, which | is another secret of the trade. The foundation of the milk shawls known as China erape 18 made at Nan | kin, and then sent to Canton to | broidered. he pattern 18 formed by two workers, the one passing the sik! { down, the other from beneath passing {it up, while a third hand changes the silk for them. Thus the pattern is { equally perfect on both sides, and the | | fastening on and off defies detection. { It is not easy to successfully imitate | one of theso shawls, and the woman ho possesses the genuine artiele should | prize it highly. — Household Monthly. be em. en IC SERVICE, DOMEST BY OLIVE THORNS MILLER } l tion ased often to say that one could | no expect all the virtoos for eight ! Although the dollars the difficulty | dollars a month, have increased in number, still exists, Much has boen said about “woman's mission ** but I long ago settled it in my own mind, that the ‘“‘mission” of | American women of the nineteeth cen-! tary is to eivilize and reflne the work. | ing women of Ireland, Germany and Scandinavia, tonch them the language, and in doe time send them ont to found homes and train the noxtgenera- | tion of American citizens, Nor is it an | unworthy mission—if only the Ameri. | ean woman survives the process, | Notice the next generation from the Irish or German emigrant who learned | in American homes the language, aivi- | lized ways, and even some refinements of life. Neo what a lon dren are in advance o© Let us take heart, ny sisters! 1t in pioneer work among the future mothers | of our country that we are doing. If it! were not for this great training school, through which pass the crowds of ig norant emigrants flung every year npon onr shores, what would be future | of our country? How long would it be | before the peasant races of Europe! would outnumber and overpower us? Al h the result is great, it most be adi that the process is wearing, sud many a del cate woman has been crushed by it. The o step the ohils] the ronted | indeed to grow harder from day to ~co-operative housekeeping, This subject is deep and wide, but if thoughtful women will take home the i oO hope it seriously consider-—something will come of it. And something must come to our re. lief; our burdens sre growing heavier than we can bear, Meanwhile, until we have mustered courage for the nnavoidable next step, and can be suggested? In selecting a serv- are obliged to make Shall we put up with we choice of evils, position, or shall we insist upon a ility, and dispense with sunshine be- Shall we set our hearts or shall we be thankful for a well-served table, and never dare to investigate the methods? Each mistress must decide the ques- tion for herself, and since the best thought one can offer, indeed the only thought of practical value, must be I will briefly tell how my problems have been solved, and preface it by saying that I have always been, what in house- First, in selecting, 1 have two or three notions which govern me. I never hire a girl whose appearance does not pleasantly impress me, though matter how well can do her work, if I do not like least 1 must not dislile—he r, have her in my house, feeling of antagoni upon the nerves. look twice at a r” or any sm is too Wearing ' Secondly, Pe rson sistent, I never take a servant hr iyy or ning J portance, but it is a esl If 1 like ber appearance, plai: iv, and © i tly, be { the he about well as ges" and t her feel t # tal taal Ke LU that gen- y her fan in the back- way, she will ful and purr; if 1 rub her wrong way, she will spit and scratch. This is trne of people ss well as of The Cha dlauguan, nm whe vO - How to See the Wind. feet or more, with a straight edge: a Take a windy day for the ex) erimoent, whether hot only let it not be in mnrky, ramy weather. Hold your metallic surface wind. If the wind is north, bold your it 3 re ng at a sharply defined object and you will see the wind pouring over the edge in graceful curves, Make your observa re- The soured. A Handsome Blue Flower. A beautifal annual is the Toresis Fourn eri, it has large sky blue flowers, dark pur. plish vine, and is yellow in the center, roscmbiing somewhat a pansy blossom. Sow in the house, in a warm room, in the spring, transplanting to the open air when it is warm enough. The plants will bloom constantly all sum- mer until frost, withstanding the sun well; they are well adapted to our hot summers, Give them plenty of moist ure, Counrerrrrr notes wre very rarel taken 1 the banks of Russia. The tell. ers are hold responsible and therefore exercise keen vigilance. Smoxer Axx Winnres, of Sedalia, Mona oo hugdred aud six ars oid, we an was a slave Boone, a brother of Daniel Boone. go the sea boiled, where could one go to find water to cool it? Wo ono of | the world in which native pipe wo ve smokers FOOD FOR THOUGHT, ——— Not to sow means not to reap, Labor 8 a great producer of wealth, When fres from folly, we to wisdom rive, They that govern most make the least noise, Without Jat no rest, or there would ! e no ease, A bad egg a good ons, takes up as much room a8 The youth of friendship is better than 118 old age, Constancy in labor will control all difficulties, Get each man right, and the nation will be right. It is beter to fall in trying to do £004 than never to try, The more money a man has the m he needs religion, ore Wrong doing people are the most ex- cting of all people, Heart work is something that can not be puid for in m ney, The man who loves others will try to make himself lovable, You can tell what a man belicves by finding out what he does. No man ever hears birls sir goes lato a cave r Lo look for them, You can’t tell how much milk will give by the way her bell rings, 18 not only the mother of {n- § the father of lies also, cow Necessity vetion, but The great essential in saving men is to convince the ’ in that you love them. 'ha 5 lwave thinkine ril Ihe ) i8 wiways thinking ev ousand ways Lo speak it man wh The man who 1s always looking for an race will have a hard of it Every man on earth needs more cours does more money, from experience one muss the mistakes, time Iu learning § I'he wealth of society its stock of a3 produ The h the dalutier sense, etive labor, and of jit 2 i ’ iit litle employment hath ¥ (renius bor, Labor is the r despise la aw ol enemy * wild hind words are f) withiou one land, il anv pWers 1d I it of the ntrol wer, curmstan f man; but his conduct is in his p than in rks to conuvie SCUSSIONn 18 very litle, but what { is immense, tL Lwanty 16 wil, a There are some panple who, song, are in vogus ouly for a time often boast of nd have descend. 1% $0 be feared that they who mars the, d w love Lhd To rej a8 10 mak {0 make i It is thought i ly occupied with the ideas of ot it our own; to produce : 1 3 i All Our OWN, £ it 8 Lm betier to have a few feeble # of one’s own than to be entire. hers, Progress In evil is so rapid and inevite able that long after one has entered upon crime be believes himself only mn a It is at our own will whether we see in the despised stream the refuse of the For a steady thing, the light of a tale low candie is belter than that of a sky rocket. The preacher fails who tries to preach own heart, If you want to have plenty of oppor tunities for doing good, be sure that you Is life long enough for quarreling? A bel is a fool’s argument, bul you can’t make the man who has won bedeve that his is not wise i Lis genera tion. There Is no house so small that is 80 large that it cannot be filled with it, Labor, therefore is a duty from forfeiting his right to his dally bread. Labor Inall its variety, corporeal and mental, is the instituted me ns for the methodical develoment of all our powers, Labor has an agreeable end in the re sult we gain; but the means are also agreeable, for there are ple sures In the work its It, There is an unforianate disposition in & man 10 attend moie to the faults of his companions which offened him than to thelr pecfections which please him, Those who dischar promptly and faithfully all their ot oh to lw who “still live” in the y tan have but little time for poking and peering into the life beyond the grave. Better to ate tend to each world in its proper order, Prudence in a woman should be an instinct, not a virtue, What I have been taught I have fore gotten; what I know I have guessed The love of glory can only create a te phi Aged]
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers