TIMELY TOPICS. The muntache is again the subject of legislation in Franoe. Clerks in the national bank are not permitted to wear it! At Berne, Switzerland, recently, an Amerioan and Austrian girl passed hh doctors of medioine, and Mile. Lina Berger, a young Swiss, tooz tho decree of doctor of philosophy after a brilliant examination. A Glasgow paper gives a list of up ward of 150 failures in Glasgow and the west of Scotland directly and in directly traceable to tho stoppage of the City of Glasgow bank. The total lia bilities of the Scotch firms who have been dragged down are $125,000,000. To beautify the coats of eight horses, valne $B,OOO, ami also fonr oxen, a Cambridgeshire (England) laborer pat so much arsenia iu their food that they all died. Sentence: a month's hard labor. This treatment of horses is com mon at Vienna. It makes them foam at the mouth, too, or it is supposed to do so. The latest robber triok in New York is to don the clothing of a porter or market carrier, lounge ronnd a stall till some one is observed to make a pur chase, then, having ascertained the par chaser's name, to return at a busy time and glibly demand snob and such meat for him, the triok usually proving suc cessful. Mr. E. KiDgsley, the engraver who has achieved much success, some of his t>est work appearing in Scribnrr'n Monthly, waa formerly a compositor in a news paper office in Massachusetts. At one time he gained a precarious living by designing fantastic cigur-box labels and engraving illustrations of local manu factories. When Professor Chamnney, the artist, went to Northampton, Mass., Mr. Kingsley took drawing lessons of him, and then visited New York to study anatomy. His snocess in a short time became so marked that he retained to his work as an engraver. A woman's hair has suddenly turned white in Milan. Bhe was s mother, and was going from chnrch with two chil dren, one of whom oonld walk, while the other was held in her arms. The one who oonld walk ran down the chnrch steps into the street where a carriage was passing. As the child disappeared between the wheels, tbe woman uttered a loud cry and fell ipsensible, with tho other child in her arms, on the ground. The child under the carriage was picked up unhnrt. The mother, when she was restored to her senses, found bar hair had turned perfectly white. In sugar refineries large iron cylinders called boneblack filters are used. They are usually about twenty feet high and five feet in diameter. Two men went into one of these vessels in a Bt. Louis refinery to coat the surface with tar, as a Sreventive of rust during a season of isnse. They sat on a suspended board and pat the tar on with brashes by the light of a lantern. Tbe lantern fell to the bottom and broke. Instantly the cylinder was oonverted iato a fiery fur naoe, the tar on its aides blazing furious ly and a hole at the bottom providing a draft Tbe men were completely charred. The government of Honduras is mak ing greet efforts to develop the agricultur al resources of the oonutry. Coffee plant ing has been vigorously carried on, and the government makes, free grants of land to all persons desirous of under taking the cultivation of coffee, or sugar, or of cocoa, and gives free trans port of the neoessary material and labor to tbe site of the grant. Besides these advantages, planters are exempt from military service, and ail implements and material necessary for the use or formation of plantations are admitted into the country free of duty. Btrangcrs are admitted to the same privileges as citizens of the republic. While the English steamer Warrior waa off an island in the West Indies, but out of sight of land, a human cry was heard, and the carpenter said he had seen a man struggling in the water. The engines were at onoe stopped and a boat put off. After a long pull iu the direction noted the cry was again heard, and half an hour later a man was dis covered and picked np. He proved to be a native of Jamaica named Alexander Hnghes, and said he had been three days in the water clinging to a clothes cheat. He waa one of the crew and pas sengers of the schooner Tbe Little Min nie, which capsized at sea and sank while on her paasage to Colon. The accident occurred sixty miles from where the man was picked np. He was the only survivor. A writer in tbe Atlanta (Ga.) Oonati tutUm says that Hen a tor Gordon waa wounded five times while fighting aa a colonel in the battle of Bharpsburg. The fifth ball entered hia cheek and brought him to the ground. As be be gan to recover hia senses he says his thoughts ran as follo'vi: "I have been struck Iu the bead with a six-pound solid shot. It has carried away my head. On the left aide there is a little piece of ahull left. But tbe brain ia K entirely. Therefore, I am dead, yet I am thinking. How can a man think with his head shot off ? And if I am thinking I cannot be dead. And vet no man can live after his head ia shot off. I may have consciousness while dead, but not motion. If I can lift my leg, then lam alive. I will try that. Can I? Yea, there it ia, lifted op. I'm all right 1 The Senator says that every stage of this soliloquy ia indelibly stamped on hia mind, and that in hia ex hausted state the reasoning wee serried on as logically aa ever a man reasoned at hia desk. If you want to know whdther your canary bird ia a male or female just put aome angle worms in tbe cage. Then, if the bird eats only the male worms, SI may be sure your bird is a male. If bird eats the female worms and leaves the male worms, then the bird ia a female, Sure every time.— Bmton, I PoM. j ' DIAMOND ROBBERIES. Manx f Ik* PwtlUr ('•■lrlvaarra Kraarl ri ia k> Tbsss la Panali al Other P*a !'■ Ilaaa-Natraral Haaarltakla Cam. A Bt. Louis Globe-Democrat reporter spent sn entire afternoon in tho office of B. Spy or, a well-known diamond dealer, and listened with rapt attention to reminiscence* and traditions of dia mond robberies, successful and attempt ed. One day a respeotable-looking gen tleman with a young lady, to all appear ance his wife, oamo into Bpvcr s nnd spent several hours looking at diamonds. One cross and ear rings, valued at $5,000 seemed to strike the young wife's eye. The husband demurred at the price. The wife pi lyfully coaxed him to buy. " Well, well, I will think about it," said be, as they departed without buying. The next day the young woman drove np in n coupe, ami said : "My hus band desires to see those again. I think he will buy. He is sick in lied, and will you go to the Southern with me, or send a clerk ?" Warned by a previous bitter experi ence, involving a loss of $l,OOO, Bpyer did uot send a clerk, but went himself. The couple had a suite of parlors on the secoud floor. The young lady was quite engaging. Her husband was sleeping. Would the gentleman wait a few moments? He would. The lady was nnnsnally interesting ; and, always susceptible to the charming woman, the time passed agreeably to the diamond dealer. The young lady got np and en tered the inner apartment, but returned immediately with the announcement that her husband was awake. With tho sweetest affectation of enthusiasm, she picked up the case containing the jewola, and, with " Let me show them to my husband," disappeared within. The door seemed accidentally to blow shut. Bpyer jumped np; and as he did so , be beard a key tarn in the lock. He at once recognized what was np, and sprang to the door opening to tho hall. Ho found it locked. He was a prisoner. The solid door mocked him. lie was desperate. In an instant he drew bis revolver, placed it to tho lock, fired ; it j was shattered, and the door swung open to his tonch. Like s madman, be tore along the halls, down the stairs, thmngh the rotunda, and around to the ladiee' entrsnoe, jnst as a lady in a carriage gave tho order, " Relay depot, East Bt. Louis." He leaned into the window of the car riage, and said, " Will your husband j take the diamonds, madam ?" Bhc gave him one long, searching look, quietly said "the price is too! large, anil then they are such hard things to keep ;" produced the case ; from the recesses of her muff ami hand- i ed it to him, saying, "I should have | been quicker." Bpyer looked at the ; diamonds, saw that they were all right, ' and bade the young woman good day. i Within the hour she and her confederate had left the hotel. Bince then Bpyer has never let a diamond leave his hand for more than two seconds. The Gall house at Louisville is now ; defendant in a suit for $40,000 dama- ; ges. It is the custom of traveling dia moral merchants to depoeit their stock in the safe of the hoteL A New York traveler had been at the hotel for sev- , era] days. He came down from his j room at about supper time one evening, and handing over a little sachet to the young clerk in charge with " put that | in the safe;" the smart young clerk took j the aaehel, gave a cheek for it;the drummer walked away; tho dark was; called by a guest who wanted ice water j in 1878, put the sacbel under the ooun- ' ter ; another man came up and loudly complained that hia baggage had not been sent to bis room ; the clerk took to explain, and the man who, perhaps, bail followed the drummer thousands of, miles, and for months, reached over and under the counter and secured the valuable package, and has thus far ee- ' caped detection. About as interesting a case as there is on record created a profound sensation among the diamond dealers of Maiden lane. New York, several years ago. The street is s narrow, dingy'little thorough fare, and on it are located the establish- ! ments of twenty-five or thirty wholesale diamond dealers. They import direct, and supply the trade. The jowela are , wrapped np in little paper parcels, flat- ; iy folded, and are, of course, not mount- ; el. A man of solid and respectable ap- | pes ranee became gradually known as a I bnyer of small diamonds, such as are i used for clusters and settings for iadies' i jewelry. The test of the purity of a diamond is found in holding them cloee to the month and breathing upon them. Flaws ; will show up as little blank spots under i this process. This solid ami respects- ! ble gentleman was always particular as to the purity of the diamonds he , wanted, and when aatiafled generally i made a purchase of from two to five car ats, the gems being sold, of course, by j weight. It was customary to note on ' tho outside of the package the amount sold. One day one of the dealers walked | into the store of another and found him ! in a state of perplexity. He had just; weighed what remained in the paper and added to the aggregate sold, and found that this package was about five carats abort. Diamonds are worth $llO per carat. The visitor, in aome sur prise, elated that he was troubled by I exactly tbe name thing, and he could not for his life account for it Their discoveries spread. The other dealers were at once exercised, and on examina tion it was fonnd that there waa not one of their number but had this mysterious shortage to account for. A close watch waa then aet by each individual upon all of their employees and upon all their customers. It was left a few days later for one of the number, an old man sixty years of age, who suspected the solid and respectable buyet, to detect the tongue of tbe solid and reepectable buyer shoot suddenly out aa be leaned over a paper of jewels to breathe upon them, and return with foe* carats of di amond* upon its end. The old man seised the adept thief by the throat and found the sparklers stuck to hia tongue. The thief compromised with the old man for $B,OOO. There was no arrest in this caws. It is estimated oup- the three years that this mag pateoarfsed the diamond dealers of Maiden lane that he realised fuUy $50,000 fr.mt his adroit diffhonefitT Ih the Eastern cities thadisorgaiiiaed .timed that followed the ck^ofthe wa?, ' * . * a . ''4 when crime took its most violent form, were attended by nuoh cams OH the smashing in of Tiffany's show window in broad daylight and the escape of the gang with $40,000 worth of diamond jewelry. A mode of robl>ery that ob tained for several years was the throw ing of snnff or pepper into the eyes of the salesmen, and an immediate and wholesale theft of all the goods in sight. A Broadway (New York) jeweler, with a very valnable stock of diamonds, had an sntoroatio connection between the door and the enrtains of his show win dows, so arranged that npen opening the door after it had been locked for the night, the curtains would roll up and leave the interior of the afore exposed to the pasaers by. A gang of English burglars came to New York city in 1871 aud selected this establishment to commence upon. By the use of forged letters they succeeded in introducing ono of their number into the establishment as porter. He was unusually faithful and well liked by his employer, lie found time daring his labors to tske an impression in wax of the lock to the front door. The secret >f the window curtains rested nlone with the proprietor. One night four of the gang entered the nlaoe by means of the false kev made from the impression. They did not notice the curtain roll si lently np. The private watchman on the beat saw them at work on the safe, summoned aid, and after a desperate re sistance, succeeded in arrentiug the four men. They were all sent to Sing Hing for long terma. After this attempt, the old gcntloman who owned the place, grew very nervous on the subject of burglars, aud formed the habit of leav ing his house at all hours of the night, visiting his establishment, entering to assure himself that everything was all right, and then retnrniug Lome. One : night the old gentleman came along j alxuit 1.30 o'clock, spoke pleasantly to the private watchman, quietly entered the store, milled down the blinds, and after a half hour emerged, bade the watchman good-night. The next day it was learned that the old gentleman ba 1 been found lying nnconscioua in the : street. Home of the English gang had waylaid him, and procured his keys. One of their number,made np to person ate iho old man,had walked down to the store, and with the aid of the combina tion to the safe found on his person, opened it, and quietly walked away with a stock of diamonds valued at $75,000. The perpetrators of this singularly bold tobbery were never apprehended, "Reported I'nder Fear of Libel." A lawyer of Fall River, Mass., sued Uie Hrralri, of that place, for libel, an 1 claimed $15,000 damages because the Eaper published a three-line item almut im. The suit brought ont considerable editorial irony, of which the following, taken from the //Ta/uln throw sewing women ont of work. i ?e> * 5 AS ENUINEEK'M ADVENTURE. Treed fcv a Wild llmr sad Nave* from Death • a 111 ark Hear. > A letter from Honesdalo, Pa., says I Aleck Frobes and Charley Hulsizer, of ■ Port Jarvis, are two well-known Erie ■ railway engineers, They have lately returned from a two weeks limit in the wilderness of Canada, 150 miles north ' of Ht. Thomas. [ "Lost year Charley and I went out l the same wooda," Aleck said. "Then I got treed by a wild boar, aud I tiionght that was worse than going down the I bank at tho rate of forty miles sn hoar. | You aee, some old fellow out there turned some hogs in the woods three or 1 four years ago, and they wont wild. 1 started one of 'em one day, and thought ' I'd have a littlo fnn with him. I sent a J bullet after him. He changed bis ' course, sud made plumb for me. I 1 skinned np a hooch tree. I thought tho ' blamed animal'd goawuy when he fonrid 1 I was ont of his reach. But he wasn't ' that kind of a hog. It was colder thau J Greenland, and ulxint two o'clock in the afternoon. Charley and the rest of the party we-o scattered about in the woods, out of hearing. The boar—for he was a 1 boar, ami a big one at that—waltxcd 1 around that tree, spitting out froth as if he'u chewed a barrel of shaving soup, , and showing np a pair of tusks like a young rhinoceros. He tried to gnaw the tree down, and worked nay for an hour with hia teeth. 1 thought certain 1 he iuteuded to keep right on till he brought me down. But by and by he gave that plan np. The tree wasn't more r i than eight inches through, and I think j the hog made a mistake in quitting, for | there ain't any doubt but that he'd a j fetched it by early lied time. But he | stopped gnawing." "Then he went off ton or a dozen feet ' and sat down on his haunch, s. He | gHinted and frothed for at least, ton 1 j minutes. Then a now idea seemed to ! strike htm. Ho jnm|>ed back to the j foot of the tree and commenced to | shovel the dirt sway from it with his snout, as if he had a contract to build a cellar. I aw what he was at in a j minute. Ho was going to dig up the ' tree by the roots. * Blame the hog |' I I said. •If some of the boys don't come j along pretty soon I might a well have ! lieen born a beech-nut, for he's bound I to have a meal on me if it's in the book.' ; Then I yelled, ' B'boy, there, a'boy!' j But that Log'd been too loug in the ! woods to s'boy worth a cent. Then I whistled for so imaginary dog, and cdl- ! od, ' n'ver, Towaer! b'ycr, h'yer, j h'yer !' I remembered that when I was a boy, and the bogs got into the garden, they alwavß made for tho bole in the . fence ,,u von whistled for the dog. I But this oIJ fellow only frothed the : more, and snorted tho louder and work- I od the faster. " I was blame near frozen by the time it grew dark. The san went down ■ an ! the moon came up, and still that b<>g >fng away at tho roots of that tree. I could aee that he hod a hole around it j hip < noogb to bury an ox in, and I hop® j to fly if I didn't think the tree began to I totter. It got colder and colder, and 1 j the lx>ar kept right on rooting. I be gan to wonder who they'd pat on my engine in my place, and whether the | hog would leave my bones so the boys i , might find 'ecu, and take 'em home to I nT folk*. Once, at about eight o'clock, j I thought I'd abin down the tree ami j try a race with the boar, as I might as well lie killed in trying to get away as to die like a sheep in a pen. Ho I lie- I gin to let myself quietly down. 1 had j my hands on tho lower branches with j toy legs hanging dnwu the trunk, when i | the hog smelt the rat. He gave s snort I that mode the very tree shake, and j raised np ou his hind feet to meet me j half way. I was hack to within two j feet of the top of the tree in leas time j than it would take a red squirrel to j jump a rail fence. " It's no use," I saul. " Unless some o' the boyt come along inside of sn hour, I'm a goner." About ton minute* - after that the hog suddenly stopped dig giug. He seemed to liaten for a minute ; i then, with a string of Ihe ro<*l unearth ly snort*. he started ou a dead run off toward Wolf swamp. "What's up," 1 said. In less than five seconds I knew what was np. Out of the brush to the right came, tearing j and growling, one of the biggest beers j I ever saw. He never stopped, lint let ; himself ont the lies! he knew how after the boar. Fork is one of the choice j ; delicacies in the provender of a bear, i The hog had considerable start of Uie bear, bat at the rate the bear was going, as I saw him by tho light of the moon disappear over the brow of the ridge, I think ho must hsve come np with tbe hog and had his coveted lunch. I didn't wait for any news from the seat of war, bnt got oat of that tree about as lively as I had got into it, picked np my gun and made for camp. I got in about twelve o'eloek. The boys bad been ont looking for me, ami had given me ,ap for lost. They -felt good when I j showed np. '■ Idttle Johnny on tnc PI gees. Mr sister nays no man wieh shoots pidgin matches alial marry her, bnt no man vode want to marry her, I guess, as long as the pidgin sbootin held ont, ooa that wad lie fun ennff. Wen she aald it her yung man got red like a beat, bat didn't say nnthin. Net day he oat my Uncle Neil did be koo enbady wieh wad like to bi a jam up good shot-gun. Uncle Ned, be said: " I'd like to bi it my own self if it was a good pidgin gun. bnt I goes itaint, cue it boa come mitv ni spilin a match." Some pidgins eai rys letters, same as the postoffioo, and one time wen mysister Vynng man wen! away he cot one of onr pidgins and took it a long for to fetch back a letter to her, jest for a flier, Nex day weoaver thai girl herd the dore be) ring aha was jest wild, cos she thot it was her letter come, for her idee was Ihst tbe pidgin wade leave it at the poatofllce, for to lie delivered b tho letter csnryera, Bnt wen my mother tele ber the pidgin most come thru tbe winder, she west and thru np evry winder in the boas, ancUit was a cole day, and Frnnky, that's the baby, took sole and come mlty near po terin ont. A man in Lexington, Vt, mailed a latter to a fictitious name in Japan, with a request that it be returned if not call ad for, and started it byway of the At lantic. His object waa to see how long it would be in going around the world. It came back by the way of San Francis oo in just 100 days, llew a Mas Dicks the Iteor*. , i There is something curious abont me ! way a man closes np the house for tbe ■ night. A woman will secure all the f doors in the bonne in tort minutes and spend twenty minutes Liking down her ' back hair sud getting ber frizzes r ady i for morning. The man of the house, i having uo buck hair to take down and no frizzes to put up, spends his time in > closing np the house. Ho begins at the bock door, and locks and bolts all Iho doors from that to the front door. Then ho takes off his coat and collar. By that time one of the children wants a drink of water, and he has to unlock one jof the doors to get it. Then he locks i the door carefully, goes buck aud takes off his vost and winds tip hia watch or | clock, as tho case may bo. Hia wife suddenly calls out from among the bed j clothes—it being the winter season— | and asks her liege lord to make another ' i exjiedition to the kitchen aud see if the j pancake batter ia liable to rise in if a ' might and overflow tho dish. He un- ' locks two more doors and makes a tour i of inspection. All is well. He removes his stockings, warms his feet anil pro poses to retire. Hnddenly be is over oome with the conviction that the reor i door is not looked, and away bo goes \ barefooted over tbe oold floor of the j kitchen aud woodshed. By the time he : reaches the woodshed door he is nnoer- i tain whether any of the doors are lock ed, and he makes the grand round again. All is secure. Ho removes bis pantaloons, blows out the light and ia just about to lie down, when his wife suddenly bethinks herself that the girl probably forgot to put the milk pail out, and away lie goes again in a huff and j white flowing garment. Before he gets ' back to lied again he steps on two mar bles and a sharp piece of tin which tho i | children have left on tho floor. At last he gets between the sheets and lays him j down to pleasant or horrible dreams— j he is never sure which it will be. As Morpheas gobbles liim up and is about to take him to the land of Nod, the bril- j liant thought that the hired girl is out flashes athwart bis brain, and he gets np and unlocks the kitchen door. In ex actly one hour and eleven minutes from ; the time ho licgins preparations to re tire lie is in bed for good, anil one of the door* is still unlocked He says softly but solemnly to himself that' he'll be blowed if he'll undertake to lock the j doors again if robbers surround the house four deep. Pa' the next night be repeat* the performance, by special re ' | quci't, Borne (S. Y.) Sen/in* t. The Filth el Memphis. Memphis is situated njxin the east 1 bunk of the Mississippi, upon a blnfl i 'siyifg from fifteen to fifty feet in j height. Upon the crest of this bluff ; runs Front street; from this street the ; ; ground slope* eastwardly away from j the river, to that all rain, surface gutter washings, slop and whatever of floatable filth there may bo, is drained into the bayou, which winds through the heart | lof the city. Across the river the Ar- ' kansaa sboro stretches low and flat, a 1 vast marsh, notorious for its malaria; l ' north and cast of Memphia upon tbe : Tennessee side, tbe land ia low and swampy; tho soil in and about tbe city, j ! of clay. Tbe bayou ran* through the mast thickly populated parts of Msm phis. Into the elongated cesspool is col- j leetod all the floating filth of a city of \ j 55,000 inhabitants; garbage, the drain- i age from privy vaults, gutter and street washings, dead animal matter, all and | everything ia poured or thrown into j | this receptacle, there to decay and fester ! : nnder the broiling aan of that southern , climate. Consider it, if poaaihle—ten mile* of rocking rottenness; Dot a yard ' 1 of it covered except where crossed by j the bridges of the various streets. Dur- j | ing a rise of Uie Missisaiy pi tbe back water fills this bayou bank full, its ac cumulated filth then soaking into the i the clay of its banks. Wb>-n the river j falls, toe current of tbe bayon is not erf sufficient strength to empty its contents into tho river. The street* ol the city of Memphis are beyond description ' filthy, and completely out of repsir. 1 The wooden pavement is only one ' in use, or rather wo* the pavement j I originally pat down. The streets and j : yard* are heavily shaded, the magnolia I j being the tree mostly used. leanert j | and Cfinic, An Original Letter of Daniel Recur-. An original letter of Daniel Boone is ou exhibition in Cincinnati. The letter is toe property of Colonel John Taylor, I of Newport, Ry , and was addressed: "To John Overton, of Lincoln county; ' to lie left -at Elijah Hmitb'a, Lexington." The letter reads: July the 20th, 178(5. 1 Bik—The I .and has Been Long Hnr- j 1 vayd and Not Knowing When the i 1 Money would ba Hade* Was the Reason , of my not Returning the works however I the may be Returned when yon pleas, j' Hut I must first have a Nother Copy of j the Entry as I have Loot that I had when { 1 I loot my plating Instruments and only ; have the Short field Notes Just the I Corse D'stane ami Corner trees pray j send me Nother Copy that I may Know bow to give it tbe proper Bonoderry agreeable to Uie Ixieation and I Will send the plat to the ofls a medetly if yon ( Oh use it the Expenses is as follows, vis.: , i ftarvaysrs fora ft S • , IgpeiTi fees 7 14 0] , Otaemso nod Milker 11 Days .. • 0 0 1 porvtstkm* for the towr X $ It (provision* for Uie tear). - - ] xa n e . Ton Will also Send a Copy of the ( agreement tietwixt Mr. Wnlas Overton j and mv Self Where I red tbe warrant*. ( 1 am sir your omble servant, Damn. Boone. ; Tbe above ia a liters! copy, Tbe % letter is written on unruled paper, in a i c.ler, round bond, very legible and i characteristic. Tbe profuse employment i cf capital letters and the total absence i of pnnotaaticn marks are notable in tbe i manuscript. He Had Forgaltea, j A professor in Leipato university 1 asked a student whst tbe sarin I I-ores lis wa*. Putting bis finger to tbe 1 side of bis bead aud looking wise, the < student aal-l t \ " I know very wall, bat I forgot jnst I no*' - hat it is. i "There," said ihe professor, "we i arc u * fix. Tbe only man in the world I who over knew what the aurora is boa 1 forgotten." 1 Rsmaare of SB Apple Klui " Jennie June," writing from New York to the Baltimore American, tells tbia romantic little story of one ot the innumerable fruit-sUmls sprinkled all over