Ma; Basket*.
Open tho window, Margin,
And drow tho screen awn;;
M; lite Un dull December,
But iny heart's IUI young *H May.
listen ' The laugh of children '
Tin a foolish thought, 1 know,
But it tuimU tneol one May morning
Seventy ynnrn ago,
When a tnerry troop ol children
Wukcmsl the quiet street
Willi babble ol talk ami laughter,
And swinging, like censers sweet.
The dear old-time May-baskets,
ltihlouied, and pink and white
With the blessed bloom that gladdened
The gloom of the l'llgnma' night.
And I know by the robin'* carol,
Ami the tender green I see
In the top* of the dear old willowa,
That the May will come to me.
Margie, the went ol May-flowers '
1 anrely, Burely know
Thkt one *wect breath! Could lite south
wind
Bring It HO tar ? They grow
A mile away on the hillaide.
But thcre'a a knock at the door;
t>h lor an hour of quiet,
l'o live my May-dnya o'er '
What'* tlu* ? " From Karl and Carrie.
Oh, let my chair lie rolled
Just there—into the sunshine—
And give me them to hold '
I knew their breath, dear Margie ;
Forgive these foolish team,
But God lias ent these May-rtowef*
Across the seventy your* '
—Alary A. t.nthhury.
k Man Without Enthusiasms.
>.
I think that neither of us could have
■nalyand or aalisfaetorily explained our
mutual attraction, hut ft is certain that
my old claw-niate Man.son and I were
hist friends, lie was a most lovable
fellow, hut had begun, long before our
college course eatne to an end, to show
that apparent lack of interest in life that
distinguishes what we tall a hhuc man;
and this at times to a degree at once
amusing and exasperating.
Not long ago a party of us. in the
pleasant smoking-room of a Pacific
steamer, were talking aliout one of our
fellow-passenger*—rather a tmor speci
men of this class—then of the class it
self; and the oldi st member of the little
group, who had l>een lighting his cigar
very deliberately with the little wire
which one dips in spirits of wine, re
sumed his seat with the remark, delivered
with gfi-atemphasis:
" M ell, gentlemen. it's a dreadful thing
for a young man to have no enthusiasm.
'I ho expression brought Man son to my
mitul. Ido not know why I had not
thought ofhit. '- fore, hut retniniseenee*
■ow crowded in rapidly upon mo and 1
sat for some moments looking cut at the
blue waves of the Pacific, and oblivious
of the nice points of the discussion.
Finally it scented opportune to me to
narrate to the party some of the circum
stance* under which my friend and T had
bis'n thrown together.
He was, as our old schoolmaster once
said. " fortunate in his choice of a father,"
and 1 feared that the tendency which I
have mentioned would lie developed by
a life of virtual idleness; and when we
had parted, and I only knew of his do
ing* through his letters, and those of
mutual Acquaintances, tjiere was every
reason to believe that my foreboding*
wen' correct, lie made a short trip to
Europe, a region which he described as
"slow." and tlmn nominally entered on
a business life. Hi* abilities were ex
cellent. and his perceptions quick, but
after he had been for some time partner
in a firm, a friend wrote me that wlmn
he met him in the street, and asked him
where his office was. lie received the
reply;
" I don't know. They've moved since
I've heen there."
1 was traveling some years later from
India to Europe. We had a fine steamer
from Calcutta, and some most agreeable
people on lsmrd. It was just i.hout the
time that some of the offirent who had
served in the mutiny were getting their
furlough, and fine fellow* they were
My room-mate, a stout, jolly-looking
man with red side-whiskers, was in the
Residency at Eueknow, and was suffer
ing from a wasting disease, hut lie was a
good shot and tin y could not spare him ;
and lie used to tell me how, when tiiey
had loaded Ids rifle, they would prop
him up on his mattress until lie could
sight a sepoy and then sink back again.
All these men had Is-cn through terrible
CXperi enei-s, but they were delighted at
going home, and were generally- in the
highest spirits. I remember that they
would not " turn in" at all the night
that we ran up the Gulf of Sue/, and
they were eager to get ashore in the
morning. We went up to the hotel
built around a courtyard, and found a
French woman singing "II Baclo" in
the shrill'-st of voices to the aceompani
ment of sundry instruments played by
eompatriots in fez raps. Even the
aqunlid bazaar seemed preferable to this,
and we were turning to go thither, when
I saw, leaning against a pillar mv old
friend Minson; and hut that he had a
"puggery"on his hat, lie looked for all
the world just as lie had looked manv
times at a performance of "Trovatore"
or " Favorita" in the old days at Boston
when the supernumeraries were all from
•or class, i was delighted to meet him,
presented him at once to my party, and
insisted on his going to Cairo with us.
Fie assented with the remark that he
sou I<l not he more bored there than lie
had lieen at Sue*. My companions ap
preciated his fine qualities, and, as they
grew better acquainted, were disposed
to " chaff" him a little about his eccen
tricities. Some time before we renched
aur destination he had been telling us
experiences on arrival in Egypt. He
had intended to go to Bombay, hut had 1
changed his mind nt Suez the day before
we arrived.
"Fellows talked to me aliout grand i
Cairo." said he, "called it nn epitome of j
the "Arabian Nights," "I'ortal of the
Orient," and all that sort ol thing. I
kagan to think that 1 might nmusc my
self for a day there, Our steamer was '
ale; we were sent through by express. |
remaining ten minutes in the Cairo sta
tion ; and all that 1 saw of the " I'ortal of
the Orient." looking with sleepy eyes
througli the win<l>\T of the mil WHY
carriage, was an Englishman in a tweed
suit and a sun-hat, standing before a re
freshment bar and calling out; 'Two
ami sixpence for a bottle of soda water?
Gracious!'"
Soon nfter that lie went to sleep, and
just as we rolled info (he station I re
member that one of the party awakened
him by shouting ill his ear: " t'aasen
gcrs for Sodom and Gomorrah will
change ears!"
\\ e had hardly time to see the mosque
of Mclicmct All and buy some attar oft
roses, when we were hurried oil' to Alex
andria, so that our only sight of the
Pyramids was from the train. None of
us wen> " griffins," but those miriest ic
structures command Interest at all times,
and then we had borrowed that won
derful book, "Our Inheritance in the
Great Pyramid," front the captain of the
steamer, and read it carefully, so that we
were as eager as schoolboys. 1 shall never
forget the scene which ensued. We
were craning our necks to get the first
sight, and two or three of us cried out.
"There they are!" Mansoii had been
leaning back in his seat with an c\-
liression of weariness on his countenance,
le raised himself slightly with his
, hands, took one look, and sunk hack in
his old place with the remark: "One
more sensation gone!"
it.
The summer of fsft was an unusually
j hot one in China. Residents of Sliang
j lial passed their time in an artificial tem
perature produced by " punkahs" hung
j over desks, dining-taliles and beds—in
j deed, in every practical situation. The
! despotic, implacable sun rose each morn
| ing as if invigorated for a new career of
persecution, and mocked at bamboo
| shades, blinds and even filed roofs.
1 Crews of vessels coming up the river
! were driven from aloft, and strong men,
| like tliCSliunainiteboy in Scripture, cried
I out, "My head! my head!" In the lat
j t r part of September came the lir-t re.
lief—cool nights; t hen, at last, refreshing
days. I was dressing one morning, with
a serene satisfaction in the thought that
I might put on a flannel instead of a
linen coat, when my " boy" Announced,
I "One pieci-e gentleman hah got down
'side; wnntchiv *• you." Stretched out
on an cxtcnsion-chair on the veranda I
I found, on descending, my friend Mansoti.
Kcs(snoing tomv delighted and surprised
' greetings, lie told me that lie had sud
denly made up his mind to visit the far
• East, and had started without reflecting
that lie would reach India and Southern
■ China at just the wrong time. He bad
■ been nearly dead with heat, narrowly
• escapist a sunstroke at Canton, and wa
eaught in a typhoon between Manilla and
Hong Kong. 1 bad a room made ready
for him, found him a gi*nl Canton *>T
vant and introduced hint at the dub.
11" w jut unanimously voted a success.
• To people as busy AN we all were with
the new season's teas, a pi rfcctly lazy
■ man was a refreshing spvtaele; and his
languid indifference and dry conversa
tion were declared extremely "good
.form."
In a few week* I made up tin mind to
. take a two or three days' holiday and
carry out a cherished plan of a I mat-
I trip on tlie Vangtsze. anil Manson agr>s*d
to accompany me. We had a large
. " house-boat" of < liitlese model rig
' —a fair sailer and very comfortable; and
our boys—Ah Wing and Ah
I loW—ei mk were *urc to give
i u* good I was oliligisl. on lu -
! count of tldVlim** of my " luwdah." or
captain, to engage a new one at short
, notice. I did not know mueli about him,
anil did not iike his look*, but I never
,! dreamed of any trouble with him or Hie
crew which lie engaged. There wae a
I gun-rm k in tin- cnbiti. and 1 had put in
a couple of Enfield rifles Imlotiging to
the vnlttnt'-ers and two Sharp's rill'*
• from the hong, thinking that we might
compare Heir performance at a target.
Maiison, to my amusement, adtbsl to the
armory an elephant rifle, carrying a
heavy ball, wlth-h lie bad brought from
f Ceylon, and his own old Kentucky hunt
ing rifle, which lie had been "hacking."
! lie said. againt all others. I laughed at
, tin* battery (little thinking what I was
I to owe to it), and threw in a couple of
! j revolvers to complete our assortment.
1 shall never forget the sail down the
WOBgpOO, or Shanghai river, that pk a--
ant afternoon. To appns-inte the cool
; breeze from the southwest one must
J have endured the sufferings of the sum
mer, and it m-emed to blow rather from
sonic breezy upland "at home," than
j from the low-lying, damp paddy-fields.
As we left the settlement behind I felt
like a hoy having a first holiday, and
even fan-led that the ordinary sunset re.
milldisl me of some of the gorgeous ones
I had seen in more favonsl latitudes.
We passed Wiewung and the dilapidated
earth-works below, round is! I'aousltan
I'oint, and ran a long way before wcan
jchored for the night. In Hie morniug
we were under way in good season, amt
bore for the north shore. We ium otir
coffee and toast, and were sitting aft.
when Ah Wing, my favorite MT vant, as
clever and "plucky " a hoy as ever wore
a pigtail, came aft to speak to me.
" Master," said he, "jussee now ml see
two plereejunk come. Mi thinkec he no
good junk. Mi fear lich'long lal lee-loon
(they are indrones or pirates). Mi nskee
that lowdali—lie motif no spcakeeploppn
! (his mouth doe* not answer me prop
erly). He say junk b'long he lien (is his
; friend). Mi welly fear lie no good man."
I ran forward and looked at the two
junk*. We had changed our course and
were running west, with the wind on
our hentn. They were coming toward
us, hut iwitli considerably to the north,
and one more so tl:*n the other. Their
character was-unmistakable, as was the
expression on the lowdall's faee. Hespokc
a few words of pidgeon English, anil on
my telling him to turn, said with a grin;
" No wan. nee go Imek Shanghai."
There was not a moment to lose. I
had not even time to explain matters to
Man son. It anything can make one
i think and act quickly, it is the approach
of Chinese pirates, i jumped down the
companion-ladder, seized a large revol
ver, loaded and capped, concealed it un
| der my coat, and told Ah Wing to come
forward with me. A* I passed Msnson,
who ww molly smoking, and asked no
! questions, I whispered:
! " Stand by the helm, and wait for the
I word, in ease of pe-d."
I told Ah Wing. In as mild a tone as I
; could command, to tell the lowitah that 1
he had misunderstood me, and that I
wanted him to turn around. He was off
! his guard, and replied In a rapid Chinrac
] Sentence, and with a chuckle.
1 "He talkee no wantchee," said Ah
! Wing.
j The man was nothing to me at that
| moment but a mad dog. Why I did not
; blow hi* brains out I do not know. I had
j hacked up to flic rail and could put my ]
J hand on n sort of In-laying pift. I think J
J I even calculated the force of the blow
that laid him out on tin'deck, Ix-foro the
villainous grin was off liin face. Tbere
were five men in the crew. One was
steering, two 1 pitched down the little
hatch, which I secured. The others,
thoroughly frightened, did IIH Ah Wing,
not a had sailor himself, told them.
Mannon put the helm hard down, and in
a moment we liad come nhout, the sails
wore dtawing, sad we were well to wind
ward, and under full headway. 1 gave
my revolver to Ah Wing, directions
as to what he was to do; and no "Cau
casian " could haveobeyed more prompt
ly and intelligently. We dragged the
to wdah aft, and pinioned hands and feet,
l in anticipation of his coining to himself.
Manson liad the helm, and 1 asked him
to give it to one of the crow. All Wing
was then told (and to this day, I re
member how curiously the pidgeon Kng
lish contrasted with the grim Qatiire of
the eommuniention) to make it clear to
the helmsman, that if the boat went one
inch to leeward of Iter course, and to the
two sailors that if they moved, except
under orders, from the positions in which
! they were placed—covered by the revol
ver—they were dead men.
" You sain- due?" fyou perfectly under
stand) I asked Ah Wing.
lie was one of the few Chinamen who
have what the plainsmen happily call
land, or dogged grit, and I saw it in his
eye as he cocked tin* revolver and replied:
"Alia lightee (all right)! Mi can do."
"At your leisure," snid a caul voice,
"perhaps you will tell tne what tliis is
all ahout, :.nd Manson lighted a fresh
cheroot. I explained to him that we
had hareiy eseajHsl destruction by trench-
and were even then in a dire strait.
We could not expect to sail a.s fast as the
pirates, and our only hope was in their
being so far to leeward, and in range of
1 our rifles. 1 was perfectly sure of my
man, and there was positively none in
my whole acquaintance whom I would
so readily have with tic as my old friend,
the tilu.ii, indifferent, dilettante Manson
lie shook me by tic hand, and said in a
ehis-ry voice, wholly unlike his ordinary
one:
"All right, old fellow, we'll Is-nt
them."
A more impetuous though equally
brave mail Would have been far less ejlf
i lent. Indeed, nothing could have been
filer than his behavior. The rilh-s, six
in numlH'r, were brought up and laid side
by sideon the topof tic cabin. All How
told nc that Ic " sals* loailts* that gun,"
and to my great surprise, our old fat
eiMik ("Buddha," we used t (l rail him,
as his eountenatiee expressed tic idea oi
eternal rib-nee and P-M) volunt's-nri his
serviei-s in this line AS well. Tlcn we
settled down to our work.no old Paladin
or Viking cv< i more collected and delib
erate. and at the sane tine showing more
of the tftiuiliinn cr/unii'iiM than our old
used-up. I*red memltcr of the class of
186 . Could we keep those jnnlu oat of
jinga! range until we reeled a place of
safety? Tlcy had high stern-, and tie
steersman could he plainly seen. .Man
son took lii Kentin kv rille, knelt down
away aft and aiuxd slowly and careful
ly. Almost simultaneously I succeeded
in "drawing a I*-ad" on a large man in
the bow of tic junk nearer to us. .lust
as the rifles nuked sic fell off visibly
and bst way before the dead st., rxmaii
could he p-iilaccd. nor was the large Ulan
again visible.
" I am afraid I can't do as well with
tic elephant rifle," -.aid M uisoii, " hut I
can try. 1/t us l>oth tire eoutlnuallv at
tics*.. rsncn '' We did no. with vary
ing suet is*. Ah How and tic took
loaded rapidiy and well, hut tic rifle*
were soon somewhat lented, ami the
hreecji.loader* mlss'sl (Ire several tinx-
Ihe iunks were hcnvilv mane d and
I coiliii quickly fill the pliM< *of those
whom we shot. I Icy also arranged
some kind of protection for the helms
men. although we id'-reeil it mor. titan
once. I Ugan to p*l terribly wolliti,
and so tllbsl with rag-.' nt om antago
nists that 1 could only with difficulty
control myself sufficiently to aim delib
erately; litit my frien<l never slutw.d
signs ~f an acceleration of hi* jmise. A
r. gulnT as .-liK-k-w ork Ic took the gun
from tic Chinaucn. and never lip.l a
second before his aim was perfect.
We n-*t<*l n short tine at last to take a
survey of the situation, and could not
, disguise from ourselves that it was ser
ious, The junk* were nearer, and we
were still quite a l'ng vvav from I'aou
slian. Tlcre was nothing for it hut to
go to work again, and we did. For ten
minutisor more we k pt up an he *
sant lire, and. although vv<- evidently
did much damage, the <li-taice Ix-tw* n
u- and tlcm bsQ hern perceptibly im
seneil. We must oon exjeet t.i hear
the report of jinga}*. It enmr in a
moment more, and the clumsy hall fell
hut little short of u*. Manson turned to
me. still cheery and cool.
" I lieljeve tie re is a foreigner there,"
-a. i Ic, " who is directing and inspiring
tlcm. lie has escaped u* thus far. If
1 can get a sight < f him and can hit him.
I believe we shall get rid of this junk.
Since you picked that last steersman
of tic hindmost one she has fallen off
| decidedly. Well, that is not so liad,"
lie continued, a* a jingal hall struck the
ina.vt. lie asked Ah How to let him
load the Kentucky rifle hir self, and
mvasurcd out the powder, wrapped the
hall in a scrap of htiekskin and rammed
it rareftilly home. Tlcn lie knelt down
and watelcd his chance. All this time
All Wing had kept his eyes and the re
volver on tic steersman. and our Iw.at
had done her Ix-st. Tlcjingnl hails
were getting uneomfortahly frequent,
and it was only a small satisfaction to
me to have sent HII F.nfield bullet
through the head of one gunner, just a*
Ic wa* getting his sight. All at once 1
heard the report of Manson's rifle and
the quiet remark fn.in him -.
" Habet 1"
I saw the junk fall off. saw manifest
confusion on board, saw an owning for
two or three good sliot.s, and bail seised
a fn-sli gun, when I heard Ah How cry:
" Master, hah got steamer. welly
near,"
Hardly one ol us had glanced ahead
for half an hour. As for the si*Tsman
and tic crew, they had clearly hut one
thought, and thai was—to save their
heads. It was with a strange fcclingnf
relief and satisfaction that 1 saw ft.M.
gunboat Petulant putting along toward
us. In five minufi-x sic was alongside,
and I saw my friend l.ieutcnant (irn
ham's lolly face over her rail.
" What the deuce is the row, old fel- 1
low?" lie asked In a perplexed way. I
explained as briefly as possible, and told
him that I thought we had almost fin- ]
Ishrd the job, hut lie was welcome to
the rest of It. He could hardly wait
for me to finish my story.
"You won't MM with us, then? ,
Well, good-bye, old fellow. See you in
Shanghai. Full snuri abend! Beat to
quarters! Isxik rfHßp now, and clear
away the how-gun •
In leas than five minutes we heard its ;
report, and the shot cr.i-h Into the.
junk's side. We had had fighting
enough for that day and concluded to
push on forborne. The iunks had gone
about, hut we knew that they were
doomed, and the roar of the broadside
soon informed us that it would he quick
work. All Wing never moved, lie
would have kept that revolver pointed
at the ('bitumen until doomsday, had I
not told him that he might put it away.
Ah I low and " liundlia" took the
guns below, and made everything tidy,
and we had hardly rounded i'aouslian
Point when Ah Wing came up and said :
"That cook maker enquire what thing
you llkcc chow chow " (eat).
We had a jolly dinner tile next night.
Lieutenant < Iridium and a coutde otitis
officers eanie just in time. They had
handed the survivor of tic iunks'crews
over to the Chinese authorities, in whose
care our I'aseiilly lowdah also was. They
had made short work of their light, and
had no casualties. When the eloth was
removed, I tried to get Manson to make a
speech, hut the only thing I could get
him to say was that he was never less
bored in his life than during the skirm
ish.
I have not seen hill) for years, lie
drifts -between the Old aluf the N'cvv
World, and when I last wrote to him I
quoted Hawthorne's expression about
I the danger of doing so until the only in
heritance left him in either was the six
'feet for his final resting-place. But, as
I had Itefore insisted to my group in tic
j smoking-room, it is a great mistake to
! judge by appearances, and I am surer of
nothing than that I shall never see a
| liner fellow, on this side of Jordan, than
j my friend, tiie man without enthusiasms,
j — finrilmcr.
Hoses.
From time immemorial tic rose has
1 111-en esteemed a* tile pre-eminent flower.
Tic Creek- ilcilcntcd it to Aurora, the
goddess of Morning, a- an emblem of
i youth, from its freshness and fragrance,
aiiii to Cupid, a* an emblem of Aigaeity
and danger, from its transitoiiix anil
its thorns. It was given by the god of
1/ive to ilarp<M rates, the god of .silence,
| as a bribe, to prevent him from Is-tray
ing Venus. Alld because of this pretty
1 mythological fancy it was sometimes
sculptured on the ceiling* of hnnqtu ting
, rooms to remind the guests that what
was said in hour- of conviviality ought
not to he repented: and from tlii* cones
! the familiar "under the rose," or sttb
j mmt.
Cn-ian pel* -ay that the rose was
originally white, and was <-hang<d to
reil. eitlcr by the bliss! of Venus, who
| n • rated Icr f>*-t with its thorns wlcn
rustling to tin- nid of Adonis, who. in
I the prine of hi- famed beauty, was kiihsj
and mangled by a wild lxnr: or. accord
ing to -nme, by the hiood of Adoni
himself. TIM-SC 'poets say that the ex
quisite perfume of tic rose j. dcrivsl
from a cup of nis'tnr thrown over it by
, t upid. and that ' it- thorn- are tie
stings of the li* with whit it tin are of
hi- I tow was strung."
Tic Koiimn- a:-o r.ix *>r> si tic rose."
Hx ir lianqueting-rooni- wep tin nl
with it* li-nvos : tlcir <li-lcs garnished
w Itll it: they wore garlands 111 it at their
f< .'ist*. and tbeir ladles' favorite p< rfutne
wjis ro-e water.
The Persian* Ix-lieve tiiat in spring tie
nightingale flutter- and eomplnfns about
the ro-i till-hes. until Ic fall* to the
1 ground, charmed and narcotized. a* it
wTC, by the *u lit I l *, d< liciou- ~nd most
' powerful trior. This jirettx fable < f the
sweet bird singing and sighing for tie
Ix-aiitiful and ambrosial flower of it
o\ i- told hy t In- p<* t \ ttar. in a work
railed " Bulhul Nam- li." tlx lsik of tlx
nightingale, like this: "Tic world of
liird* ennc before King Solomon. charg
ing the nightingnlt with tli-'nrhing tlx-ir
rest hy 11. hi.... .1 j.rxi plaintive warb
ling that ail night long he trills in a sort
••f frenzy or intoxi<nlh>n. Tlx nmisil
liinl i* summon.*!, questioned. and ne
: quitted hy the wi*e man. and tlx night
ingale - defence i- that he cannot sup*
jir--- hi- | i--inn.il'- and pallet! laiixnl,
in* aue his intense IOVI for tliequis li of
flower* has distract'*! him "
In France, in the middle ages, the
knights at :i tournament wore emhmid
'•n-d on their *!•* ros<' as an • mhleni
that gentl' ii'--- should accompany cour
age, alxl that Ix.'llllV is the p-wanl of
valor. Alsiiit tlii- time, t.ni, in France
- the flower* W'T- esteemed so privioUs
that note hut tlx wealthy and influential
w.-re pcrmitlisl to cultivate them, ami
Safer tenant* were ta\<*l "so manv
hu-lie]* of row - that were used for rose
! water not only, hut for covering the
table* instead of napkin*."
There are jVw ja'rsons who have not
some *ad or pleasant memory conne<i*|
with tlii* interesting flower. There are
the ro*. * that grew in tlcir paje. wild
loveliness on the gn-'-n hillside, where
we played with the laughing, romping
triend* of our i-hildlinoii; there are the
ro*.-- that grew big and red and fragrant
beside the ga(<-. or the old shine wall o|
the dear old lmnie—or eliinhrsl to the
very riK<f. dangling, d w v and delii ions,
I * fore tic window if the little room in
which we s-it jn the silvery moonlight or
golden sunlight, years and years ago,
wlx-n the Ix-art was young and the brow
unwrinkUri, dreaming of splendid jw>s*i
l.iiities n-\er to t*> realised. Tliere i*
the dead rose, old and si* nth***, hidden
away in some dark, locked ris-eptaele, a
memento of an nftiH'tlon that has jierisli
ed—of v beloved one that has passed nut
of our live* forever. Then' are the white
nwc* worn by the joyous bride, or lying
on a coffin fid, or fdossoming on the
grave of tic dentrst, the ls-*t, anil tic
lost.
KviTy wliere. in mirth or mourning, in
sorrow or in gladness, in remembrance
or in hfipe, in seines of gayetv or in
haunt* of despair, the roe, tic flower of
flower*, bring* to u* its henutinu* pre*,
eicc or some inti-p-iting assoi-iation.
The Way to l)a It,
There i* nothing like t:ict to help one
over tlcnmgh |dai*'sof life. In asteam-
INIOI cabin the man who persistently
stands before the light is around. Party
•villi newspaper, after trying ionganit
usnuece**fully to read in the otter's
shade, finally gives his sorrow worrls:
hut he diM-s it in such a ooM-grnined
manner that lie gets "sasscd nai-k, lie
sides Icing lauglieil at hy all present.
Which is not pleasant. Now, mark the
man of tact. Sweetly smiling, he says,
with an alMi-quintis handing of the head:
" My dear sir, I leg your pardon for men
tioning it; but your silhouette as it falls
athwart my paper, though eminently
pleasing to contemplate, nevertheless In- :
terferes just a trine with my perusal ol
the content* of the sheet." Say some
thing like this, or refer jmlltely to the
absence of windows In Ids head, and not
only will Ic not lie offended, hut lie will
love you with a love surna-sing that of
woman.— tto*fo it Tranvrifd.
It Is the duty of gate pools to stand by
each othi r. I
TIM F.I. Y TOPICS.
'Hires years ago an Knglishnian named
Ilehron was eonvieted of murder, and
narrowly escaped Ihe scaffold The man
Place, who was hung recently, confessed
that he had committed the murder for
whii'h Hebron was undergoing punish
ment: and now the British government
Is taking step* to compensate Hebron for
the wrong done to him hy the law.
Facts about til" city of Ismdon are
always interesting, and we find a few in
the ' ornhUl Mtu/azinr■. Ismdon is sprejul
: over aliout 7.IKK) square miles. There is
i one death there every six minutes, and
j one birth i very four. The growth of
the population is at tlx rat" of 75,000 a
year, or 205 each day. The total lengtli
of streets in Ismdon is about 7,(XKI mifi - ;
there are built every year about tl.fiOO
new houses, by which tlx- length of the
streets is increased hy twenty-efglit
miles. 111 the jails there is an average
of 75.000 prisoners. The foreign-horn
residents of Ismdori nurniier ahout Ktft,-
<NK), hut thirty-seven per cent, of tlx
whole fiopulation were born out of the
, "ity-
11 is suggested in tlx- Washington /(> -
JMHHR that in the event of anntlcr mine
I disaster like that at Sugar Notch, Pa.,
where seven miners WEN imprison'*!
live days hya fallen roof, the microphone
could BR* used to :ul vantage, " Mr. K<ii-
Son'S niieiophorie causes tlx footsteps of
a fly or the growth of vegetation to
sound as loud as tlx* noise nt A horse's
IxMifs on the street pavi nx-nt. The idea
intended to he conveyed I- that the
mierophnne would discover the EXIST
ENCE of life within tin- mine should tlx
imprisoned miners resort to sound sig
nals. A very simple code consisting of
half a dozen signals might he generally
taught for us'' in such ea-o* of iu* iil'-nl
1 An instrument which " causes tlx
growth of vegetation to sound a: loud
as the I ois* of a horse's ixsif* on the
street pavement" must he something
t< rrili in it- way!
i _ _
Henry Smith did hi* California gold
mining in a peculiar way. lie WA> A
watchman in lie govrninent mint at
San Frani'iseo. At the close of INI'LI
day's work TLX employee- were thorough
ly _ SEARCH'*! in-fore going out <<F Un
building. and all of tlx- precious nx-tal
on the PREMISE* WA> EARC fully lis ke.L UP.
Then Smith went '>n guard for the
night. In one of tlx- rooms under his
charge was a strong iron tank, in which
gr.l*Mll< - of gold w ere placed to B wash
<*l. An iron cover was securely ]tek<*L
on, hut through SI small hole r.M a ruh-
LIER tube T<> carry a STREAM of wat'-r.
Smith UN**'P'WlX| the tuts- every night,
and. with a narrow S|>oon. removed a
small quantity of gold. The 10-s waa SO
small in each instance as to b* undis
covered, and it waa only when tlx'thh-L
WAS caught -■ iing tlx metal that LX was
IQMORTM. IL<- COOFOMM that lx- ha
niade F'JO.fxwi in two year* hy hi* op'-ra
tion*.
'I lie IH AH of Mine. IK MAP xrt< and th*
story of lx r marriagi that it naturally
p-I I I <-- bring- TO mitxl tlx- F REN' h m;ir
ri.tg- laws. It will )• r'inemlwp-d that
tlx- N'-ap-T -h could come PI getting IXT
SON legitimized waa the "fl'N ial d'VIANT
tion that he W.-I* " a legitimate son of
France." This was rather mop vague
than satisfin tory ; and the occasion I- a
fit one to I :ILI to mind the peril* of mar
rying a Frenchman. No Frenchman
can marry without tlx CONSENT of hi
paprnts, or, if T! \ an- d< a<l, of lii*
grandparents. IFLX i* over twenty-five,
and they p-fi:-/-, he may SEND tlxin.
through a public notary, thn* r- -pect
fully-writti-n REQTV'STA two week* apart,
aixl then tlx- mayor can authorizi liiin
to pro-sal. If, however. In i* a I-r*"n
"f POLITICAL prominence, this publhip of
family dill' N n< '•* i- LA i'lv forhidd- n hy
eii-tom. and tlx- SCANDAL of such pub
licity iuut 1' NI "id'-d hy the nlmndon
lix nt "I til" prop<"-cd marriage. That i*,
the great' R loan tlx SON is, tlx' GREATER
IS tlx- hold of his parent-* Tl|>on him .
In a memorial tot'ongp * n-lativ t<-
the coming een-u* "f the I'nitcd State*,
the superint' ndent of the i* n-u* of
Mr. K' nn> dv. gi\ <■* tlx- f dlowing statis
tic* a* an illustration of tlx- stupendous
P-suit* from a single hive of Is*-*, tnins
port'sl to til" r.aiille cojist |e*,s than
thirty yi-ar ago. Fmtn the single county
of San Hi-go. California, in IsTfi tlx-re
was shipped the astonishing figure of
1.250.000 pound*. In 1*77 tin re w IT" in
that county 23.U00 eoloi ic* if bees, anal
111 one day. September 0. I*7*. there w< P
sliip|M*l from that (mrt 7* barrels, 1.053
eac- and 1* tons; and that from and in
eluding July 17 to November 10. I*7*,
!<■** than four months, that one county
cxport'sl over 1,000 barrel*, 14.544 ca-M *s
and nearly 20 ton*. He wlm Wollld
strike out (from the census report) Un
it cm of honey, rould not have known,
o great has the interest in this product
lieeonie. that many i*ople in ('alifornia
have from .'*xi to l.taxi hive*, nixl that
over 100 people in one county have each
more than 100 colonies of bee*. Accord
ing to the Imnd<<n Sctrn of
there arrived in NovendxT at Livi-rj'ooi
*u ton* of honey, the product of the h'*-*
of one individual, ana that a Mr. llodgc.
iii the first W's-k of January ]a*t, laixhsj
ion ton* nt a I/"ndon wliarf, theprodu.'t
of California. The annual pnsiuit of
honey has gn>wii to 35,000,000 pound*
annually.
_ No city in the republic, net even New-
York, so swarms with ad ventures*'■* as
Washington, which ha* for years been
■4lie chosen field of the bold, dangerous,
wholly unprincipled tribe. They can lx
<xunt*l hy humlp*ls; they are of every
sort nnd ifegp*' They an- in t lie depart -
nx-nts. at til" hotel*, at the booralog
houses —every when-that a man can lx
found. IMIIU'-'HI or frighten'sl. Their
mission* an multifarious, and their
movement* mysterious. They are seek- |
ing positions; tliey are lobbyists: tiiey
have, or their friends have, claims. |
They need |>cr*onal, political, pcuniary
aasistanee —indeed, all kinds, except the
moral kind. Most of them are black
mailers, They an- so crafty and
treacherous that public men of reputa
tion or means are afraid of. and always
on the alert against, them. The late
Salmon I*. Chase, we n-nd, would never, j
during Id* ortVial life at the capital, we
a woman lie did not know intimately, 1
except in the prewnrc „f witnesses, j
Many Congressmen. Henatora and other :
officeholders have, also made it a rule to
receive no visits trow women alone. .
The experiences of others, if not their
own, ha* made them wary and appre
hensive. There are, doubtless, many
many men not afraid of any man. Wo '
question if there lie any man not afrahi
of women. If tliere lx\ he lia* surely
been in Washington.
The New York tribune pays tlii* '
tribute t/> tbe memory of the late Mm
Hale; " Mm. Surah J. Halo, who *1 i<-*t in
Philadelphia, preached a sermon with
every one of tier ninety-one y.-nrx to the
prwtil <f n( ration of women. This
good I-'mlv had, probably, no gr<*at
genius, nor either i rentlv.- or executive
ability as capital in life; *h<- never be
strode any gnat idea, and with it help.*l
to drag Jier age forward (or back ward).
and herself into notoriety. She never
fought for suflrap- or engineered any
nartj reform, or feminine *<Vt or clique.
Her literary work would nroimhly he
'•ailed mediocrehy more lirilliant wwn>n.
But it was alway*—what the work of
but few women I®—- thoroughly *w<-.-t
1 healthy. Jier public work was al
ways founded on (tome wholesome, clean,
womanly feeling; the completion of the
Bunker I (ill monument, the foundation
of the Society for the Aid of Seamen,
and above all the establishment of the
beautiful New Kn gland festival of
tbiuiksgiving a* a national holiday, are
all due to her quiet, persistent cfrorte.
More than this, left a widow and penni
less, eiie reared and educated Iter five
children and placed them honorably in
the world. Her work legal, when she
wae nixfi-n. and rhe only laid it down,
to take a little rest," two yearn ago. at
eighty-nine. How many eager, ambiti
on-. overworked women of the pr<-*<-rit
generation can offer a* fair a record?
'i'tc -cent lie. in tin- fact that .Mr-
Hale had a thoroughly healthy ieelv. n
strong will, firm control of temper, and
that her life wan always a quiet and
necludcd one."
Through Japan.
Our ne n -p. <1 on witfi their c.-wiex*
chant, steering carefully among the rut*
in the Handy trek, and when a plunge
wan made,, i<M.king round with a merry
amis-. \\ <■ rrnsxed wooden bridge*,
and passed Shinto shrine* with the
priest H Initio beside tliena like a man*. ;
we climb'-d low hillH, where the mos*<-x
and fenm were an vivid an at home; we
ran hy the bank of a rapid river, then
dkappeaied among narrow path*
through the wcedl*-** fields, wound in
and < in among tie walla and IIOUW-H of
a village aa if we pro|K*>-d ti. visit.-very
family in turn, and. without warning,
emerged on a country rosul aa w ide ;ut
one of our own. There were few bird*
and few flowi>. and of the latter iitlie
niop than some patches of chrysnnth' -
mums, the purple hell of the egg-plant,
and coxcomb* that Ht.iod six f.*l I,iij,
and were Jsotnetimc* broad in projK.r
lion. \\'.- m-t perambulator* packed
with v- get able* on t h-ir way to market,
and tm ii with the liamtioo should. r-i.lc
innumerable; one carried sixteen har
r<l*. Jirc-umahly empty, eight on <:v h
• ■rid; and another rose from a well with
-j• lit. ,ii -mall keg* of water; if on"
ba-ket w.i full, a liaby, an umbrella or
a hat wax slung into the other. M---
H'ngcp. in< t us. a sxvift ax
Mueury. and no better elotbixl: and
porter- pushed their load*; and farmer*
with lirmwl hats prrsmxl forward on
hu-iticHH to th< nearest town; hands of
pilgrim* clothed in white, long stuff in
hand, and wearing huge rosaries and
' wallop shell, witiiuxually one #i it lia.)
alo ll about liix neck to keep the rest
from starving, would stop a*w< went
j hy. I.very one wa* good humor.d. and
<\ <TV one said "Good morning"
("Ohaio"l. and the lsv* from school
courtenied low as tliey did this pretty
pie. C of uiann. r- ( nly the yellow role*!
priesu, with shaven crowns an<l slv
small . y es, looked at us askance, as it
some evil SJK-CCII was in their heads.
And aii tiie way it seemed as if every
one was Is-nt <>n doing tie- oppomte of
what xve do at home. The eow- had
I "'Us on tiiejr tails in-tend of their neck*;
the Imr*. * are cloth, dj n winter, them, n
naked ; the bullocks w. ar straw shoes,
carry an extra pair, and leave the worn
ones untidily aisuit tj. *tr< < ts; tin- iiorse
-land* in hi* -table with !ii head from
the stall, and when he i brought out the
rider mount* him from the right; when
a> luaintaneex meet e.v li)u-nd'Tly shake*
his own hand; jw>ple w rite down the
, page, and the* kneel at dinner; tiie
sailor Hi-w.x from hi in ;tlwarpent'T planes
I to hint; the teeth of the saw and the
thread of the screw run in tiie opposite
direction to ours, ami tlieir lock- turn to
the 1. ft; the hlack*mith pulls the bellows
wjtli his f. st; the C.KIJST holds the tub
xx 'th hi* t.H-s; house contractor* Is-gin
to build fnm the poof; gardens are
Watered from a little pail xvith • wooden
! s|Hain; it i* not the nightingale, but the
crow, and that is their bird of love; the
the lanthis an emblem of stupidity ; *ui
<Meis a pleasure which ha* to IK- pre
ven ted bv a royal decree; and it is a com -
pliiuent to IK- called a goose.—-<,VKS/
lior.fr.
A Hath in the Bead Sea.
\ correspondent. after bathing in the
H'-el S.-a, <]<-seril>es hi* exj-erien.-ein the
following words: The water, which is
quite clear, and nearly the color of the
Niagara river below the falls, seemed to
me a little more hitter and sally than that
of Salt lake, although brighter and mors
attractive to the eye when s en close at
hand. Its supporting power struck me aa
a little greater, also, than that of Salt
lake, as the body floated mop* easily, and
the difficulty of swimming was greater
on account of the inability to keep one's
ft* t under water. So large a quantity of
sal! i* held in solution that the w at. r ha*
what is called, I twlieve. a "ropy" ap
pearance. much like that of a plate of
well-made tapioca soup. 1 observed,
however, that when we came out of the
water there was not so large a deposit of
salt crystals on the body as after a bath
in Salt lake and the feeling of the skin,
int<-ad of being dry and prickly ax 1 ex
pected. was rather oily and sticky. Our
dinner that night was season.*] with salt
made from ICIM1 Sea water by solar
evaporation. It was a little lighter in
color than the leat article of brown sugar.
lls*crystals wore large and hard, and,
t hough foreign sulxstaneea were evident ly
present in considerable quantity. It wax
not unpleasant to tie taste. I was told
that two quarts of water will produce
one quart of salt, but this is probably an
exagpTation. To complete the statist it*
of tlii remarkable liody of water. 1 may
add. what many of my read.T* mav al
ready know —that then- is no living thing
of any kind in it; that even the drift
wood brought down hy Uie floods in the
Jordon is spoedly east ujKn its shores;
that its length is about forty-five and Its
greatest width about ten miles; that it is
over 1.300 fiet at its deepest pojnt .
that the immense quantity of fresh water
poured into it daily is uiidoubt.xUy taken
tip hv evaporation, as its great depth lxe
lowtlie basin of the Mediterranean must
preclude the Idea of a subterranean out
let.
The people of Petrolia.. Pa., recently
witnessed the unusual Spectacle of seeing
an oil train shoot through the town with
the rapidity of lightning and a number
of the ears on fire. With considerable
difficulty the balance of the train WM
saved jtm ttcyond the town.