AMBITION. Float upward on ambitions fire, To find the skies aflame With gilded creatures that aspire To pluck the gems of Fame; But, wearied with thy struggling flight, Thou drink’st from sorrow’s cup To find, upon that towering height, Are thousands further up. Cleveland Plaindealer. A WELL GROOMED WOMAN. “Hm 1"! Mr. Fenton put down his evening paper and regarded his wife with a | sigh. She sat on the other side of | the table, mending her way through | a pile of stockings mountain high: a plump, little woman of 40, none too trig in figure, decidedly ruffled as to | hair, but with a merry twinkle in her blue eyes and motherliness expressed in every line of her comfortable per- | son . “Well?"’ said she, looking up, feel- ing with sinking at the heart that some new complication had come up in the financial and that she was about to be treated to views of bimetallism, addling to the femin- ine mind. But no. Her lord and master had been led into a very dif- ferent train of thought. ‘It's nearly fifteen years that we have been married, Mary,” he mused, remembering as he spoke that in all that time he had hardly ever before scrutinized her with such a eritical gaze, **Tell it not in Gath!" she laughe« I'm growing old, but let us keep as long as we situation, YX. it ik ti a secret in the family can.” **Yes, you have changed—we have both changed. What a vain chatterbox you used to be?’ ** ‘Vox et praeterea nihil’ ne in those days. Now praeterea nihil’ would be it,’ cried Mrs flourish little expressed "™OCKSs et more lil Fenton, gayly, with a of her darnin work basket. * And Bless my heart! 1 know when I have vain!"’ “I am afraid you are getting tie my dear,’” her | observed, congratulating hi having so eg t sion he w struck tidy, : nO andl g needle i as ! Shou ] i ad ! CATO IeRs, ly led up to the discus- ante ‘Sometimes it | me that t's a sad mistake woman. If she has the air of well groomed great cha Mr. Fenton wore p ers, Jundreary like blush which ros that were amo 3 8118 DOSSesses "Ir rn. consciousness the newspaper literatim. jut protection her very bre is a cruel s but she res her call he was lips nly Wh larly well course, I suppos dred ar four bors? ings of that taint he ly free y POY rep solutely dark, he rej ‘Um—ah. sen, now. She what you wou a fine figure ¢ mighty well. “Mrs. Van Dusen spends $1,000 year for where I spend, p haps, #150. She buys her from an exy maker, bi it is nusele to 0.8 man. She has no ehi three servants, and nothing to think of but fixing herself up. I am not ecom- plaining, James, dear. You remem- ber you brought up the subject your- sell, but when you compare me with Rebert Van Dusen’s wife you should consider the difference in our cireums- stances. 1 have many, many cares and my days are full to the brim. The rough head bent over the hole which was being filled with a careful lattice work of black yarn, and the needle went in and out steadily. If the mender's eyes were dim nobody noticed it. “But it takes very little time to keep one’s sell in neatness and order. Just hear this, now, my dear. A very good article, very sensible, too.”’ The eloquence of Cicero, the rounded periods of a Junius would not have moved Mary Fenton at that moment. It took all her wits to keep down the bitterness in her heart. Without waiting for encouragement, her husband read on: ** “The woman who has an air of be- ing weli groomed has a very great charm for all men.’ [He skipped this sentence. Why expose the writer to a charge of plagiarism?] ‘Really, ladies, you should at least try the | experiment, and may well devote a | little time each day to the cultiva- | tion of exquisite personal detail at | the expense of some your more | frivolous amusements. First, do not | rise too early. Breakfast in bed on a cup of coffee, a roll, perhaps a little fruit, and plan your toilets for the day.’ " Up went Mary's eyebrows and a | sarcastic smile played about her | mouth. Three children to rend to | school at 9 o'clock and breakfast to | t before that! Glancing up Mr, | enton caught the smile. ** Naturally,”” he interrupted him- sell, '‘every woman cannot follow in Du- me Foomed ana dresses ) $183 dress fiotre HEE NSIVe corset ay enti : 3 irer I i line is good. You'll see. So ho traveled down the columns of directions, for the bath with bran pedicuring, the manicuring, the elaborate brushing of hair and teeth, the gymnastics for the developing of the figure, the careful examination of eneh article of clothing to see if a single stitch be wanting, the hun- dreds of little details which it takes 80 few minutes to write down, =o many to carry out As he went on, Mary's natural sense of fun came to her rescue, and, beginning to appre- ciate the absurdity of the situation, she held her peace, adding up as they were mentioned in turn the twenty minutes for this, the thirty minutes for that, and her husband drew a long breath at the end of the evolu- from top to toe “It seems to me,”’ observed she, demurely, ‘‘as if cleanliness were getting ahead of godliness nowadays. Well, it must be delightful to through such a thorough process, and yet four hours seems a long time to devote to dressing every morning. ”’ “Four hours!” eried Mr. Fenton, taken by surprise. ‘‘My dear, you must be mistaken. Why, the half hour for the bath is the longest item in the lot." “*Many a mickle makes a muckle, papa, dear,” rejoined Mary, earnest- ly. '‘Do you think there is ever a morning in the whole year's round when I could take four hours for the adorning of my own person? Where would your breakfast and the :hildren, and the orders to the matcher and the James what are you going to do to-morrow ?’’ suddenly asked, and adimple ap- her cheek which made her te young again repeated, n y go be. grooer? she peared in I IK gu J ‘To-morrow ?’’ chanically. **Yog: at the o Anything especial? “Why, no. 1 have a to collect for Mr. Snow: Why?" 163 16 fice, you know. x 1 dozen bills that's all. Omi ‘If it is ted Mr. Fe changed so much, a had outgrown her vivacity was still ’ Oh. S¢ me nO what I want 3 28 with me and collec I warrant that 1 ves. This is for ‘hange pla Let me go » seemed to f care. Was it en growing carcle earance? Like a ran mind about Irs. Van Dusen, and staring earnest- thrill of there words flash across he those ly at the glass sim pride in irance that, with such adorned that lady, they would be more on a par in good than a casual observer would imagine. Then she thought of her husband and the experiment that was to be tried and, laughing softly to herself, she turned out the gas and got into bed, hearing that unfortu- nate man in the cellar below, mut- tering like the ghost of Hamlet's father as he put the coal on the fur- nace fire. The memory of the following day is even now a hideous nightmare to James Fenton. Never had the office where he kept books for a peppery and unreasonable coal merchant in- volved him in 80 many trying situa- tions. His wife, true to the arrange- ment, had presented herself at break- fast arrayed in her walking dress, and offered to make suggestions about curling Mabel’s hair, tying on her pinafore and mending a mitten brought to her just as the one maid rang the bell for breakfast. Han- nah was in the secret, for she had siready been to ask his advice about the muffins with a giggle, and Tom nnd Harry had been told by mamma that her father would lay out their clean clothes and give them any help they needed in the toilet line. By 3 bid clothes as looks was a desperate man. His own minute to think. Mary, ir the gay- the washing the day for sweeping the to your back hair, James, dear.”’ The pen refuses to record what James replied under his breath to | | : this heartiess taunt, for when a man hard to be reminded of it. The day wore on. He hardly knew why he didn’t fling off the yoke and go down- town as usual, but some dogged per- versity in his nature kept him at his post, and to his own grim amuse- ment, Hannah's delight and the children’s astonishment he did his best to tuke upall his wife's forsaken duties. She had not exaggerated when said that her house was full, and that she had no time to think of herself. A thousand and one little tasks sprung up on every Housework seemed to him a many-headed hydra, and one being knocked off another instantly ap- peared in its place to distract and bewilder. Late in the afternoon, as he sat down for a moment to rest, seeing a spare quarter of an hour be- fore it was time to lay the table for supper, a loud outery rose below stairs, and the twins appeared, bear- ing poor little Mabel between them, a damp, doleful object, covered from head to foot with mud. The children taiked all together, and at the top of their lungs, trying to explain how Harry had playfully poked his sister, and how had lost her balance and had fallen headforemost into the gutter, “in the very gutterest mapa,’ and the poor ew remaining locks daughter off to complete ing the intricacies of bi she side, she place, man tore his as he bore his the bathroom for a change of involv- strings ciothes, ittons With u sigh, made out a check mind wrote to the fishing club that he could not take the trip with them after all, Then he went round to the office of the Evening Comet and stopped his subseription to that un- fortunate newspaper As They Will Reason It Out. ‘“This,”! sald the professor of ancient history to the class of '87 (forty-third century), ‘is a portion of a woman's gown preserved in the Metropolitan museum of antiquities since the nineteenth century. It is valuable both historically and for scientific research, showing as you and pins all over again At 5.80 Mrs. Fenton ret t principally | roved a veri day spen Y 8] had p was a 3 Lecom grated up prostrate after the exhausting prog hii it i: nusoand, ah not nt Over him th from be s0y St 1 JABINes il had nave from somo i sent Mrs. Van igen's own You shall never gion to compinin of me agnin, Jumes, i I than) g me that word.” As she went into the closet to put away her wraps she stole a glance at her husband. It found him in a state of collapse and in the remote depths of that closet she broke into a little | flurry of laughter only to be heard | by the moth balls among the furs. | Just then the supper bell tinkled. | ““Come!’’ called Mrs. Fenton, gay- ly, pulling her husband up from the They went and by tacit con- sent the day's doings dropped out of the conversation. James Fenton slept the sleep of a penitent sinner that night and the | morrow restored the old regime. But | the seed sown had dropped into good | ground and the next Sunday morning the head of the housekeeping de- partment was mysteriously long over her toilet When she emerged at length she was a vision of gored skirt; huge sleeves, smart cape, wide bowed bonnet, new boots and gloves. Her hair shone like satin, and as for her figure it was as trim and trig as a fashion plate. Mr. Fenton oponed his mouth and shut it again. He wasdumb. But the children shrieked with delight and pirouetted around the dazzling apparition and curi- osity. “I say, isn’t mamma a daisy?’ eried Tommy, tossing his hat into the air. Mabel crept up timidly, fingered the folds of the flaring skirt, and looking up into her mother's vivid face, sho said, hesitatingly : ‘Are you pretty, mamma?’ ‘No, dear,” answered Mary Fon- ton, demurely, ‘but I am well, groomed, and I possess a very great charm.” There was n small pile of bills on Mr, Fenton's desk the first of the woman. have occa~ | 1 gro Jim r .’ Mea for teachin sofa will see from c8e extensive that the w« of that peri i rmally developed muscles of 1 nmmen abn Mis nysicul prowess i howing that that Dolicate* Instruments. IANY vot iGNnYy you son Protty Pastime in italy. oll the custom "or cutting {ne pleas that pretry mob. she ironically deseribes pastime, practiced by t dren of all ranks ures of th as a chil- ' ' : $10 jittie snared, a custom in which they find great pleasure. A Novel Letter Box. In Vienna a novel letter box has been introduced, the main point of to unlock it. When the collecting bag is slid into the groove at the bot. tom of the box the latter opens and drops its contents into the bag. But one motion is required for the opera. tion instead of the usual cumbersome series of movements necessary to unlock an ordinary box and take out the letters by hand in bunches. No other instrument can open the box, as the groove is of a peculiar shape and will not admit of anything else. Combinations of locks may be ar ranged for certain routes or districts, and the system is said "to be looked upon with favor. Self Rocking Cradle. An English invention is a self rock- ‘ing eradle, warranted to go forty min. utes, with a motion easy, slow and pleasant In appearance the cradle is like the ordinary graceful bassinet of white iron and brass that is swung from a frame, with a hook for the canopy over the head. As the most progressive mothers do not rock their abies to sleep the invention seems month. He counted up the total to have come too late to fill a genera) | want. 0 a ISLANDS 6 FRANCE'S PENAL WHERE LIFE COLONY IS TORTURE. A Scorching Climate, Cxsassivaly Hard Labor and a Dissase Breed. ing Atmosphere Flendor Existence Hideous Graphically ings of they eannot bunislhiment where France anarchists and hardened is here that Captain Franchman convieted having to Gi the plans of French will be taken to spend the of his life. The fierce tropical sun humid atmosphere would selves kill any but the but when to these is added unremitting the portrayed as the suffer Biber have been horrors of de Litt send her felons Dreyfus f 01 ni exiles surpass the to the Isles has begun to Ni Fs ii the in 0 treason revenled rman officers fortifications remuinder and eve them- hardiest and iat of or ail i no wonder t IISCErai« hat the pecially pl and prisoners § 0 i h a ing which are barred hut In rows of ham- fetid atm vith the outer air and r present swarms of sti render any | sxhaustion impossible From the the conviet known only hammock hard. & le {1 YE ght the noisome vapors of the tha + ’ Lie evi 4 git or insects the sleep of ol 1 { his arrival has no He by the number of The work is excessively The new arrivals ars put at the most tasks—draining marshes and clearing ground—‘to break their spirits.”’ though it would seem they would have little inclina- tion to rebel after the sufferings of the voyage. ? They are conducted to their work by armed guards, who are ordered to fire at the least attempt a‘ flight. Few try to escape. for they know if they evade the bullets of the guards and their pursuit, which seems im- possible, it will by necessary to tra- verse the sea and the virgin forest. At every step will lie in wait for them death by hunger, hy fatigue, by dis- ease, or by the poisoned arrows of the natives, who receive a reward for every convict they bring back, dead or alive, Meanwhile, with bodies broken by their awful toil ina climate where a walk of a hundred yards is a formid- moment name is his severe sun with spades and picks, insects whose bites swell their faces and hands. Great onous serpents twist ankles and inflict mortal wounds They stand in trenches up to their knees in water and mire, und the putrid exhalations rising from the earth consume them with fever or set their teeth chattering with cold, while the swept rolls from their fore. heads. / { . Fe Values Brains in College Above Brawn. Prof. Burt G. Wilder, of Cornell university, Ithaca, N. Y., who re- cently exhibited a brainless frog, has become known ns of 1 skillful experts in brain anatomy in the United Btates, He spends all ' / thie comparative anatomy of brains one he most his spare time on important of 1 sights of the institution. who 1m find him a gen warm hearted encer To iti hus made and {ti ai ne many ies, hig collection Gli Those know |} well nimaost to help those ial overconscientious man tudents not Lie Ong painstaking students who are i$ known ns 5 % ClARges man in the acuity who has made Hinceast twenty years on “Very year + the athletes af y 3 shall sUCCHd tnessed an in mntributed a ce voted ce or any team nown. Dr. Wilder’ a great source stud been raided and ailowed to It us in orchard, now occupied by a handsome building, and there isa record of a of arson when it was burned night and the cals were sent scurrying over the campus to disap pear in the neighboring gorges Dr. Wilder and his cats have been cariea tured repeatedly in college annuals and their memory has been made se- cure in a college song. 3 ent nts more than the cats i to be s Ang MRR Ph t 4 . 1ittla escape, Out 8 11003 Caso one Buried in His Paper. Some New York undertakers, whose customers are poor people, are using coffing made of paper. The coffins are made in all styles of progsed paper pulp, just the same as the common paper buckets. When they are varnished and stained they re semble polished wood, and in point of durability they are much better than wooden ones, it is claimed. These coffins will do for the burial of the man who is always reading in a street car whenever a lady who needs a seat enters, He claims that he is buried in his paper and does not see the lady. The paper coffin “ns been made so that at the end of the road for him he can be buried in paper. Parfect, Except Me 1s Tongueloss John Fellows is the 19 year old tongueless son of a farmer near Louisa, Ky. He has not even a rud!- mentary organ. In all other respects the boy is perfect. Heo is bright, a splerdid athlete and a favorite with
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers