TIMELY TOPICS. No less than seventeen wife heaters were convicted and sent to prison in one day at Rugby. England. '1 hree women were also charged with assaulting their w husbands. Two of these militant matrons were discharged, hut the third got her month snug, just as if she were a man. This lady had borrowed an antique hint from the lighting females of New Pallas, and polished off her liege lord with a loaded stocking. The Ogden (Utah) Freeman says that during Jay Gould's recent trip in the West a band of desperate train robbers posted themselves along the unguarded plains on the line of the Union Pacific W Railroad with the Idea of catching him a* lie passed through to Ogden. The robbers proposed to take him into the British possessions and there keep him until he should pay an immense ransom. Gould heard of the plot, liberally re warded his informant, and made bis escape. The frigate of war Constitution, now eighty-live years old, and lately en gaged m the peaceful occupation of re turning exhibits from the Paris ex hibition, lias been rebuilt so often that not a piece of the original wood re main*. So ay t lie naval officers. In this respect the ol.i craft resembles the constitution of man, who at the age of eighty-five is not supposed to retain a particle of the substance lie started out with, but in the latter the change is so gradual and continuous that it goes on without his laying up for repairs. On the whole the mechanism of a man is more perfect and wonderful than that of any known production. The heirs nnd attorneys representing nhoiH M 0 lineal descendants of Robert Edwards, who owned at one time pro oerty in New York city, now valued at $'•0,000,000, have been i.i conference in Akron, Ohio. John A. Edwards, of Seward, Neb., represented fifty of these heirs, and 11. W.* Ingersoll, of Akron, and C'apt. Henry Edwards, of Kawaka, Canada, the remaining ninety. After a full comparison of facts and views, a satisfactory conclusion was readied that the documentary ami other proofs at hand were sufficient to warrant lega proceedings whenever they choose to in stitute them. One of the heirs is a washerwoman, named Sherbandy, who lives in the suburbs of Akron. Complaint is often made that garden s< eds lo not sprout into plants with that certainty that tIK flori of the seedsman would lead us to expect. Peter Henderson, the veteran seedsman, think* he lias discovered (becauseand the remedy is certainly simple enough. Be fore the recent convention of nursery men and florists lie said that if seeds when planted in spring are pressed firmly with the foot after they are under the ground they will invariably grow, + drought or no drought. Peter say* that although lie ha* been m the husim-ss for over a ouarter of a e nturv lie only dis covered this simple truth a few years ago. This information may be rather late for this season, hut it is in first rate time for next spring. Five ancient cities—deserted and for gotten—have iieen discovered in the Great Desert, beyond the River Jordan. A report made to the Royal Asiatic Society, by Mr. Graham, an Englishman, lately returned from travels in the East, gives the particulars of the discovery: "They were as perfect ns if the inhabi tants had just left them—the houses rc- taining the massive stone doors which are :i characteristic of the architecture of that region. One of the cities is re markable for a large building like a •as tie. built of white stone beautifully cut. Further eastward other palaces were found, where every stone -had in scriptions in an unknown character, bearing some apparent likeness to the Greek alphabet formerly in use in South ern Arabia." In order to secure accurate vital statis tic* General Walker, Superintendent of the Census, to be taken next year, is tak ing measures to obtain returns from nil the practising physicians and -urg' on* in the United States numbering sixty thousand or seventy thousand, as to the deaths occurring in their practice during the year ending on the 3lst of May. I*"0. To each practitioner is sent a book con taining twenty blank forms aqd a pageof explanation. If mors than twenty-lour deaths occur within the year in any phy sician's practice one or more additional books can be had. The blank* call for the place and date of death, the name, sex. race or color, age, with date of birth, and occupation of the deceased, the cause or causes of death, or the symptoms wiiere causes cannot with certainty !■ given, and the fact that a ovjU-morkm examination was or was not field. Almost every day some stray ling is pick up by the New York notice and eon signed for temporary shelter to the motherly arms of Matron Webb, at po lice headquarters. And almost as often a* a waif i* rescued from the street it is reclaimed by a nan nt, brother, sisier, 0 relative or friend. So rare is it that a lost child i* f sought for that when it occurs the matron is at loss how to dis pose of the charge. Occasionally a child is found whose appearance indicates its descent from wealthy and refined people. In such instances, while it receives the same care and attention as other waifs, extra effort i* made to discover those to whom it belongs. Advertisements are put in the papers, and every conceivable method is taken advantage of to expose the fact tb !, t a child awaits its natural protectors, This failing, the lost one, like all others, goes to a charitable insti tution. A medicalpa per has these words to say about the ventilation of houses: " A medical officer in the navy lias been in t restigating the ventilation of ships, and finds that when the amount of earlmnic acid gas reaches seven parts per thou sand the air ae close as to permit the condition of'still air, 1 for tlic keyholes alone would afford some movement and circulation, hut a considerable amount of air circulation * is necessary to effect a change of fifty cubic feet each minute. Keyholes and door cracks are not sufficient for this. Each room should be provided with some efficient mean* of effecting a con stant change of air." Fires appear to be the order of thedaJC in Asiatic as well as European Russia, and the burning of Irkutsk, the second city of Siberia, and more important commercially than even the government capital, Omsk, is either a lamentable accident or a (rightful crime. A few years ago the ill-fated city suffered as sorely hy water as it has just done by tire. In the winter of 1870-1 the river which Hows through it suddenly hurst its banks and piled up so vast a quantity of floating ice in the narrow part of the channel just, below the town as to com pletely block its course and menace the whole town with inundation. A gallant attempt was made by the soldiers of the garrison, at the imminent risk of their own lives to cut a passage through t!.e ice dam and let oil' the water, but the time was too short. About three in tin' morning a deafening roar announced that the torrent had broken liaise. Two thirds of the town was submerged and many lives lost, while the damage done to property amounted to several mil lions of dollars. The Krupp gun works of Germany are of immense dimensions. One of the es tablishments employs 8,500 workmen, and contains BUB boilers and engines, which, combined, have llO.uou horse power, and operate seventy-seven trip hammers, varying in w< iglii from -on to 100,000 pounds each. Since 1*77, 15.00U cannon have lieen turned out: 'too are made on an average every month, Daily 18,000 tons of coal and coke are consumed, and 01.000 gas jets are in use. A railroad track, with twenty four locomotive* and 700 truck*, is in operation within the works and between them and the rail way station. The establishment lots wenty four telegraph statim. ~,.<1 eight ri engines for protection against con t. gration. In the mines connected with these works there are 5,1(00 workmen. Iron ore the company get* Iront i's own latnls in t In- north of Spain to tie extent of 900.000 tons annually, who !i live steamers that it owns convey to t lie fac tories. The company has built 3,97* tenements for its employees, in which 10,-00 persons live. I'he grain used in the bakeries that supply these people with bread is bought by agents of the company in large quantities, chiefly in Odessa, the Russian Four eoniinon schools and an indtistrin' school for girls and women provide the e'e- instruction needed hythiscity of factory hnnds. Coney Island. A New York paper diseussi • about the city's great watering place as fol lows: Coney Island has become, since its reliabilitation. not the seaside resort of ltrooklyn. New York ami adjacent towns ar.d cities mendy, but of the country at large, indeed of tli<- whole continent. At the khnhattin and Mrigbton licachcs, a*. they ii-.v now named, with a view of dissociating them from the rather unsavory reputationac uuircd by the island in years gone by. may lie seen, on any lint liay, people from nearly i very State in tin- en ion, from thv Territories also, and from Canada, Mexico and the IVest Indies. Hardly any great city on the globe i* so near ihe -< aa* New York. Ismdon is forty miles up the Thames; I'aris, 111 miles from the mouth of the Seine; Herlin, Vienna, Madrul, are near the center of the countries of which they are capitals. Hamburg is seventy mill - frmii these .a; Bremen is so inaccessible to large vessels on account of sand in the W", r that Bremcrhafen lias been built for tleir aeeom lie slat ion, and is really, a* its name indicates, the port o( the city. Rome and St. Petersburg are further from the Mediterranean anil Baltic than New York from the Atlan tic. Philadelphia and Baltimore are, strictly speaking, river towns; but this city is only eleven miles from the open ocean, ano offers such facilities for reach ing it that it may he said to IM> at our very door*. At no other seaside place on the gloltc an> there such crowd* a* there often are at Coney Island on Saturdays, Sundays and holiday*. Twenty or thirty thousand people make | no show, and 60.000 and 70,000 have Is'en reported there again and again, j On two or three days last summer the throng was estimated at from 80,000 to 100.000. Another resort so popular and populous can scarcely l>e mentioned. Perhaps Margate approaches nearest to it; but Margate is seventy miles from' Ixndon. nnd ran very rarely exhibit such a concourse n* (lots y Island can on a sw> Bering Sunday, 'flic crowd*.-it the leaches are curious and interesting as studies, much more so than the spot itself, or any of it- material adjunct*. They furnish endless sources of oi>*< rva tion and speculation to anybody con ; corned with or alsiut humanity. Th Island Itself i* but a Strip of harp n MM redeemed and glorified by the one far ' that the ocean break- bountifully on its southern shore. When the mercury mounts Into the nineties, Am'tirans will gd any when l for a promise of cool ness, especially to Coney Island, wide! seem* to be the most fmjucntcd wntci ing place in the world. Gotham's Growth. TJie new city directory contains sonre 8,000 more names than last year's. This Is supposed to represent ah increase of about 40,000 in the population. If we keep on at this rate, it won't take us long to catch up with Paris. In 1875 we had n total of nearly 1,100,000, Next year's census will probably give us fully 1,950,- 000. Counting Brooklyn and Jersey City as part of New York, as they really are. the total population now must Is l very close on to 8,000,000. Th" increase in the city proper was somewhat aug mented during the past year by the rapid transit roads. These brought hack a good many families who bad gone ' away on account of the difficulty of get- ; ting up town and down town. The roads have lone some good in bringing a few of the emigrants bnck. at all tVVMfc Tliey will also do good in keeping others from going away. But when this is said their praise* are pretty much exhausted. As neighlmrs, if 1 may so speak of them, they are downright nuisances. Now that warm weather obliges people to keep their windows open day and night, the horror of living near them is fully realized. I am a whole block away from one of them myself, yet the roar of the trains at night often keen me nwake fully an hour. It comes rolling over the roof* of other houses like the roar of the surf in a storm, and overcomes all the noises of the day or night. And as if it were not enough to have four of these nuisances in full blast all the time, we are threat ened with a flflh. Mr. Vanderbllt pro poses to build an elevated road down Fourth avenue from hi* hig depot at Forty-second street. The outcry against it is vigorous and angry, hut that won't prevent Vmderhilt from building the road if the Common Council gives him permission.— Sew York I.rtier. | Old Hickory. , The Americans are familiar with thin J of (Jencnil Andrew Jncktton; | yet very few know how It was eiirned by the old hero. The following cxplona tion may_ be regarded as authentic, as it wan derived originally from General Jackson himself, by one of bin messmates during the Creek war. During the campaign, which included the battle of EniuekOiu creek,the arnty was moving rapidly to surprise the In dians, and there were no tents. In the month of March a cold equinoctial rain began to fall, mingled with sleet, which lasted several days. The general was exposed to the weather, and was suffer ing severely with a bad cold and sore throat. At night lie and his staff , bivouacked in a muddy bottom, while I the rain poured down, and froze as it fell. Some of his escort, finding that he was very unwell, became uneasy about : hint, although lie did not complain, ami ; laid down upon his blanket by tbccamp lire'w'th his soldiers. Seeing him wet ; to tlie skin, stretched in the mud and water In his suffering condition, they cie. tcrmiiieii to try lIIMI make liitti moreci i fort able. They cut down a stout hickory c, in which the sap was rising, and icd the bark from it in large Hakes; cut two forks and a pole, laid down a floor of bark : and dead leaves, and roofed it, and closes) one side, or rather one end of tlie struc ture against the wind with bark, and left the other end open. They then dried their blankets, ami made him a pallet in the tent they hail constructed. They woke up the old general, and with some dillf ultv persuaded him to crawl in. With In- saddle for a pillow, w rappee I up in the dry blankets, and his feet to the lire, lie slept snugly and soundly all night, well cases 1 in hickory bark. The next morning an old man from the neighborhood cantc into camp with a jug ccf whisky, with which, alter imbib ing e|uite free ly himself, he ive tie military party "a treat "as far as t lie lie|Uor would go. lie scenic el to be a kind-iieart'sl,jovial ami patriotic old fel low—a sort of " privileged e harate r " in his county. While- staggering alxuit among the- camptires, full of fun and whisky, lie blundered upon the little hickory bark tent, which imi'-diatc|y arrcstcd liia attention. After eyeing it a moment, he exclaimed, " What sort <>f an outlandish Indian tixin' is this? - ' ami gave it a kick which tumbled down tie- J queer-looking structure, and completely buried the old hero in the hark. As he struggled out of the ruins ami lixik'-d lie re.lv arotiml f >r tic author of 1 he lui-- e hie t, tic old toper recognized him and exclaimed: "Hello! Old Hickory! come out of your bark and join u- in a drink." There was some-thing so ludie rolls in tile- whole se-cne- that respect fe>r Ilia presence and rank could not restrain tlie merriment of the sjx-ctiitor*. He very good-htimon-dly joined in laughing at tie mishaps. As le- rose- up ami *lux>k tie hark from him, le- looke-el so tough and -tern that they all gave hini a hearty " Hurrah for Old Hickory!" This was the first time lie ever heard these words, which were afte-rward shouted by tie millions of his countrynp n whenever lie appeared among them. Mail a Fighting Animal. Do what we will with him, man is naturally a fight in ' animal. There isn e-UI ieeUS autobiography to he fotinel it) Soutiie-rt) lsM>k-sho|e-. written by an obi hunter wlio was Ixini alsiut a cen tury fig". The most amusing example Is where the old man tells leow he anei his sons once trained sonic young (beg- to lmnt hears. " I put on the skin of an old hear," lie says, " anel crawled afx>ut (en all-fours, while Hii-ha fine! Job drove the pups on. They were seared at first, hut presently i the whole six nttacked me furiously, hit my calves. tore my hair, hung en my ' ears. " 1 begun to shout ' F.neeugh!' hut ' 'Lisha cried, ' Don't, dad. don't! It'the j life of the pups.'" He- acids. "Ofcourse ( stayed. I had consideration for tin- dogs. m . It takes a good deal f training to root i out this instinct from mem who inherit it. Everybody knows th- history of the I " fighting (juakcm " during the re volu tionary war. Many of th<- staid sons of staid sires of the same faith, slipped out of meeting during the last war, to shoulder a musket. One venerable oM Friend in (Jermtui town, !*.. found that three of his sons had gone t< this conflict against which hi- creed arrayed him. The youngest 1 felt that lie too must go, hut fi-areo to j tell his family. lie- took his*\m one day, and he .-an to clean it, placing him- 'fin his father's way. The old gentleman saw him, \nd , paced slowly up anel down, but said , nothing. I resently he npprondied the young man. "(jiarlea," he said, deliberately, "if the devil lias made tin e- feel that tine needs one of those worldly instruments, j spare not thy money, hut g<-l the lx -t." Alexander Campbell, most combative l of Scotch refeenne-rs anel tlieologians, once submitted iiis head to tlic fingers of a phrenologist, who had no knowledge jof Mr. Campbell's calling. The man tlnislied tlie examination with the i words, " From your executive ability and love of fighting, sir, you are or j ought to he a great soldier." The aged clergyman heaved a sigh. "No, sir, no. Circumstances were against me. Hut according to my op portunity. I've done what I could—l've i done what I could." Remembered Hut Twisted a Little. A letter from Newport, K. 1., tells this story: I know a lady who keeps a boarding-house— (harming woman, always solicitous of the comfort of her I household, but witli a peculiarity. .She " remembers faces hut not names." Now it never mattered to me dial with every run of coffee or tea she gave me I was reenristened. On the contrary, I found it very entertaining. Hut this did distress her daughter. All in vnin she laliored with her mother, who smilingly went on in Iter own way in spite of her. Hut there came a time and occasion when her daughter set her heart upon her mother's addressing a gentle mail stranger correctly. All through the day of the evening on which lie was expected the daughter eon Id l>e heard to say as she followed her mother from room to room, " Now, renn-mlter, his name is Mr. Ootr d-y'f to wli!eh the mother in every in stance would reoly. " Yes dear, l am sure-1 know it, I'W./ryThe stranger took Ids seat at the table. That blessed woman, with a smile like an angel's and a seif-possession I have never seen sur passed, looked sweetly across the hoard and inquired. "Mr. Pry-cow, do you take cream and sugar f" Loving Mothers and Brutal Hons. Touching instances of tho mother's love for a son, even in the face of base ingratitude, were shown recently in the New York Court of Special Sessions. A neat I v-dressed young fellow, named Charles Leonard, was nrralgned on a charge of brutally heating his mother. Some days before he calm- home from work, and, without the least provoca tion. struck her witli his clenched fist in the face, blackening both her eyes and badly bruising her face. His mother, Mrs. Agnes Iv-onard, who is a respect able old lady, iiad him arrc-ilcd, and made a complaint against him in the police court. She tottered to the witness stand in tin* court wifh unwilling feet, and draw her veil over her face to 008 coal her injuries. She was weeping, and she begged piteotisly of the justici s not to press her to make a complaint against ht-r boy. She knew he would never do the like again if released. lie had always been i good a.id industrious hoy, and must have been very angry at something when In-struck her. He had been punished enough already, she said. In tin- way she pleaded tenderly for the mercy of the .justices, and touched the lu-arts of all who heard her. Tin-mag istrates grew indignant at the prisoner when they heard her story, and asked In rto 1 ift lu-r veil and show her bruises. Sin* hesitated, and said in a faltering ton' that her -kin was very easily ili-- coloi d, and that the a--ult had not been so violent as it appeared to have been. Tin prisoner siid In- would lose his place if In- was impri-oii' il. a r> mark which aroused tin- wrath of Justin- Morgan. " Ixi-c your pla< ■ said lie, "yon don't descrvitio he allowed to re main in the conn .utility. Any Isiy who would Ix-at a kind mother a* you have done doesn't l' -erve to live even. You are Hi iitMieiil to tin- |s nit'-ntiary for three months." The prisoner was led away, and his poor mother, unable to re strain le-r emotion, staggered, weeping, from llie court-robin. Another prisoner, a little older than the one just sentenced, was next placed at the bar to an-wi r a similar charge. His name wa-William H. Hayes. lb had le ateii his mother often before, but not so badly as lie liad in the assault for which he wa arraigned. Mrs. Hayes, wlio-e looks indii-aleii le-r extreme suf fering, implored the court to let the prisoner go. Sic- said, in answer to a qui-tion, that sin- had twelve other sons "who were all in Heaven now." The prisoner looked sullenly on, and offered lio excu-e for his conduct. Ili was -(-nt to tie- penitentiary for six month t. Could We Live in the Polar Regions! At tie- reception given by the San Francisco Academy f Sciences to the in- ml" rs of the lb urn tt exploring • \pe ditiou ti tin- North Pole. Mr. ( hare - Wolcott Brooke dlamind the qimtlotii of tie i-xi-tenei of an Art i- (continent, and tie- probability of it-1-ing itil.ab it"!. If M carefully exainin- . said Mr. Itnsik-. tin* almo-t univer- %1 feature* of all land known to n-, we find a pr< vail ing form win rover we turn. Kadi t rri toriai area of magnitude seem* to have an appendage trending southward. If we apply this rule, by turning the Nort i Pole of a glide toward Us. we readily -••• at a glance that (in i nland, whi It i known to u-, may hear to .ui unknown Ar> t continent the tame relation that South Anierie-a dots to North America. •>r Afri< a to Europe. ll' nee it is p.-r -f" tly logical to infer, by the great anal ogy of n.atur-, that an Arctic continent xlsts beneath the North Pole, extend ing thn e and a half to fotird'-gn ■ soutli from tie- northern axis of the i arth. A previous Arctic expedition* have ad vanced to eighty-three degrees twenty six minute* north laLitud*—or within Hut'mile* of tlie Pole—tlie distance lie nee to stieli a continent would not exceed about MO to 180 miles. Thla intervening space, however, is difficult to traverse, as it presents a very rough surface. If the sea. during tlie height of a gali. when wav-s ntn mouatalaa iiigh. ware in-, stantly frozen, it would present much the appearance here encountered. For ethnologist* tlm nue*tion i* Can an Arctic continent lie inhabited, should OM exist' Thl> may h* mi t hv tie we 1 known fact that the latitude of seventy-eight degree* is ui*'Ut th'- point of lowest ni'-an temperature. Tin-, arth is alsait thirty-seven miles less in diam eter at the equator than from pole to pole, having enlarged at on one point and flattened at another because of its revolving motion. Now, it is well known that lower temperatures are en connten-d as we ascend high altitudes, and the depression at the poles may, by less, ning the distance of the surface fnm the earth's center,afforxl a warmer tcni pernture, which will enable the hardy Esc hoped, will sooner or later safely reach its destina tion. One of the marked features of the expedition is tlie scientific method in which it is to tx> carried out. All pre vious An tic explorers were guided by the best knowledge they could obtain. When we read of what may he regarded as the blind attempts ol such heroes as Cook, Clark, McClurc an 1 Franklin, we should rememher that their expeditions were prompted not by a wild love of ad venture, hut they wen- guided by the host knowledge attainable at tlie time. Had it not lieon for the success and fail ures of Willoughby and those who fol lowed him. Prof. Nordenskjold would not have met with tlie success he did, and lie was candid enough to acknowl edge his indebtedness to tlie F.nglisli, Dutch and Russian exmxlltionsthat pre ceded his. Efforts or this class should never he treated fmm a too narrow or utilitarian point of view, for even If they are not Immediately attended with any practical good to mankind, they may lead to results that are lastly gratifying to tiiehest aspirations ol the tree. —Sew York Star. Mountains never shako hands. Their root* may touch, they may keep together some way up. hut at length they pari company, and rise into individual, iso lated peaks. So it is with great men. Fainting Fits. Fainting is so common with some per sons. particularly women, and tlie cause of it is so little understood by non-pro fcaslonal people, that some knowledge on the suhjeetoften prove* valuable. Faint ness consist* In a temporary failure oj the activity of the heart, the blood not being proper! v circulated in consequent*. A It hough it docs not reach the head, the sufferer loses all clearness of vision, and if not prevented, may fall, the fall not infrequently restoring the normal con -1 (lition. There is no convulsion, and though lie—more probably she—can hardly he called conscious, he is riot so profoundly unconscious a* to IK- in capable of arousal, a* happen* in epi lepsy. There are all degressof faintm-**. from merely feeling faint and looking sonu-what pale to positive and complete swooning. In some cases one faint i < no s(Mnier cured than another ami an other "Ueceed. hour after hour, even day after day. It is senreely neee>*ary to say that such case* are serious and need prompt treatment. Tlie muses are vari ous. Some person - are so easily affected that they swoon if they cut their finger or •"> any one bleed. Their defectls over-sensitive nerves and weak mum-u -lar fibvr. lie- In-art is es*entifilly a UIUSI "-. whi> h i. f-1 lih in some, strong in others—-fw hie generally in women and strong in men. Whatever weaken flu- le art and muscle* commonly pro duces fklntaeas, close foul air Is-ing an aetiv' eatlM . Whatever gn-atly affect* the liervi *. *tj( h a* hail m-ws or tie -igfit of the di-agrei able or liorrihle, may prodao S swoon; and lOM of blood i* another and a *< riou im it< ni< nt. Sound health, naturally a "wwpuM t>-, linn neri' * ami museli *. i* the let pre ventive of fitintaeM. The nutiuritx of vigorous ne n go through all I.iicfs of wyi-re ami painful ex|M-rien<-es witliout fainting, wliile delieat'- men ami many wonu-n swiszn at trifle*. Ann-rieiiii wonn n, w ho useil to faint eotitiiiually — in crowds, at bad news, at -enc* of (lis ti( -- —now faint com pa rati i - ;y veldom; and the fart i. ii-erilx d t'i their relin quishment for the most part of the hahit of la ing, to thi-ir inenated i-xi-r -cise in the open air, and their better phy sieal conditions. Not one American woman fain'to day when* thirty \ < ars a; 'wnt,-live woiiii-n faint'-d. imd the diiuinuti' n of tlie disorder, alwnv* the rc *ult of direi! i ausi-s, is an unmistakable evidence, whi- h other thing* corrobor ate, of the marked amelioration of tie- Innltli of the liighly-organized. cx treinely sensitive, liut flexible and en-; during women if our complex race. How Much n Menagerie t'o*t*. It may le inter* -ting to a large el.-ws ! of r' adcrs to know ju*t what a menagerie would i-ost them. Theri are, no doubt, say- the IbiroU A v /'rc*, many de-. serving people in this country who would ilk' to aild a tiger or liven li to tin ir li -1 of boil--1 •.'! jx if they only kni w where tie •* die i.- rn-atures i-ouid l>e obtain- !, ami what tin- (*|xn*'- w"uit I* . Eng oni •!<•- a large trade in wild ni.im.ii* and tie v aie rattier ile aja-r tie i ih.m in tliis country. . Still, tie- unhanilin< -- of p-tting tie m here more th oi niak -up ■,he diffeii-n' i. Don't 'X|>i*t to g • and *iiak'*s su'-h 1 liings by tree!; Ik y dislike to In htanqs-d bv tie i tive clerk, r.nd the • li-rk g- ner.i .y f - < inharra---d when the package hr .ibs opr • lion cat) tii-limi for t* iisi each ♦ifStget* a very gi! aril leof leopard, H. though ♦ ltsiwlll buy -ui inferior kind; hl.uk p.-illtlicr* c -t •-"( (i;i- uudlii tigers (X'ttie :c liigh a* I..'S*l. and economy would suggest a sparing inv' -tm. Nt in animals of hi* class; a iynx in England rosp. $. O. hut th- y can I* ha lieaper; sloths e#t is.'io. but you can get - plenty of them in America, -itting ! around groceries and t ilking poiities : j .a-t* a very gixil wolf, although many per-ons can get them cheaper, in fact, they have hard work keeping the wolf from the door. Aard wolves cost a* niudi as no doubt fxicause they are so Aard to get. Monkeys • i.*t from !?.' up to#.'SSI. Of course for the latli-r piiis a regular Darwin can lie had. A zebra ' willeost vou f.'iOn. He sure and get one 1 of the riclit stripe. Kangaroos cost from IS.'MI to s3oo. Feed tie mon hops. Every family needs an elephant, and will ' •• lilci*- (I to one three *P>I . liigh '-an fx- for the trifle of 91,50n. A tw.'-story elephant eost*ft?io. a cottage elephant #. r ss>. while any j amount of shanty elephant*, for parlor pet*, can IK- lx>ugiit for F 300. Now we come to luxuries. A rliinocTos should ' not lx- indulged in unless the purchaser ha a good Wank account. A very ordi nary rhinix-eros cost* JfcJ.OtW. while a nntty desirable article comes to over ?.'i.noo. A person must have the rhino to indulge in a rhinoceros. Now go ale-ail and make your seelcctions. " You pays your money and takes your choice." The Jaj of Barren Sand. A correspondent of the St. l*>uis (Unhc- PcmocriU, writing from Coney Island, savs: As I stand on these and sands, with not a tree nor shrub, not a green thing in sight, and see the Atlantic stretching utnillesaly nway, and frel tin delicious lircexe in my face, invigorating my whole frame. I am it H> to confess that sterile Coney I viand ha* more to charm than would all the beauties of the most elalwirate garden in a region dis tant from tlie mountains or the sea. 1 know that it i insignificant; that it is only a mile and a half long and half a mile wide; that it seems little more than an italic mark uniNr Kings county ; that it possesses nothing save four or five Wixslen hotels with their usual accom paniments. and breakers rolling in boun teously from the south. Hut it is this last which is the controlling attraction. Rolling breakers at this time, and with this temperature—l hear that the mer cury is ninety-eight degrees in town arc worth everything else, I would not exchange them for palaces, for stAtuc bordered walks.Mor classic temples in land. (Jive me tlie sandy strin. and the glorious Atlantic tumbling at its fort, in preference to any annum*, of art, to any degree of decoration and sweltering de lights. My views are plainly shared by humanity at large; for there are tens of thousands of people here, not from New York and Brooklyn alone, hut trom every part of tho country, and they are all en* oyingtlie coolness and the marine land scape. as your correspondent Is, to the fullest degree. On a burning day like this one needs nothing more tor his su preme physical satisfaction than to stand or sit on the margin of tlie ocean and watch it tumbling and roaring at his ; feet. Coney Island i.eoils such a biasing day as the present to be completely ap- I predated. Joke* from Harper'* Drawer." >r, . J? I 1"" T l ww uken of Hby an in fant of Ht. Joseph, Missouri: Mule Freddie wit* undergoing the i !£.r Hi5 b f!. I,y hi* moUier, arid he tmid mamma, " you ought not to make * u < ha fuss. I don't fuss nnd j ry when my hair i* combed." , • Urn youthful party, headJ , "" r alnl bitched Ut your The bent lawyer* alway* tell the he*t | stoni**, anil with now tli#* ]#•** yjtt when at their own expense. \ ot Jo|1 „ J ouneilor C wa* before Surrogate , t-alvin in a wow where the >iu liinliNii, and that when she told her -Oll.ethllm she looked a* though she didn t understand. | ouneflor C . 'TO-.,, examining, tried t" get her ,o deie ri)*- thi* look. hut -he dldn t Mice, ,| very well jj, do- At last. getting a littlo iiiipn -1 , " 1 '" ,w "be look, did she look at you a* I am look at you now, for instance?" .. A'"i! W ' lf " v '. ry ''""urely. replied t \ eji, ye** knnl of va ant liite!" At the < ~se of a hot afternoon !a*t -uninier, wlen tin* theruiomep'r Mi**! .il-.ut one hundnd dcgn-* j n ltl< . shade. Judge Thompson wa* walking, in an evidently ,aded and wearied eondition. from the eourt hou, to his residence in the Tillage of Mayyi) • . Lawyer Smith. u Ij'mji-.ik'*<•< urn**!: " Vou look weary and tired, judge. U hat have you leu doing this hot after n< Km ? . ".'f"Y k , w, lir >' and tired, do I? Well, I think I shou d, for I am; and you would, too, if J'ou had h s- n shut up in that hot, stuffy little eourt-room from oli to h.'iif-pa*t five, lishtiing to a long dull argument?" "From one to half-past fire! That was n long tim<. \\ ho made the argu ment ? " Oli. old Jones." \i el), what wa* Jone* trying to prover " A* nearly a* I eould get at it, that I was an ignoramus, and didn't know anything about the law." " l>id you commit him?" i " No: eommit him for what?*' " For taring so long about it." Word* of Wisdom. A r* ii ati-faetion and worth having i is to do one'* duty. I'lenaant and good manner* must la made up of petty saeritiee*. tlrn iuiie for tie ,i\in_* is worth a dozen p*ars fur the dead. ll\p- rien.a* is toreh lighted in the i-h< - of our hope* and delusion*. \\ ork is tie- weapon of honor, and he who :aeks the weapon ail) never ( triumph. There is nothing tluit *o refine* the f " and niind a.- tie presence of good thoughts. It i* easy to piek hole* in other people'* work, hut far more profitable to do I* tuv work yourself. All tiseles* misery i* eertainly folljr. and he that feels evil* before they come may be deservedly censured, yet sun ly to dread the future 1* more reasonable than to lament the past. "I was once very shy " said Sydney Smith, "hut it wa* not long before I made two very useful discoveries: Fret, that all mankind were not solely employed In olswrving me (a belie that nil young people have); the next, that shamming wa* of no use; that j 'be World was very clear-sighted, and I soon estimate! a man at hi* just value. ! This eiired me. and I determined to Is natural rod let the world find me j out." The d: "mfort of church pew* i* is,mn nt ,1 U|Kn by the ('Apuritan nstrueted in thi* ; way, and pew*, to be comfortable, ! should conform to human anatomy. The si-nt should slope downward toward I the track, making a fall of full three | inches, while the hack should incline ( away from a vertical line fully four inches at the top. and the distance be tween the pews should never he li s* j than three feet." Waking up a Stranger. Vcstcrday forenoon a gigantic stranger, with fists rike foot-lialls and muscle of about four-horse power, cntemi the gentlemin's waiting-room at the Union depot, flung down his hat, and falling hai k on one of the benches, roared out: " I'm half-hyena and half-tiger, and I hanker tor blood! I'm going to sleep, and the man who even moves his toot to wake mctlp will fool with a cyclone!" There were ten or twelve mcti in there, and they sat very erect and hardly dared to breathe for the next ten minutoa. Then one of theni got a ehanee to whijM'r to a policeman through an open winnow. When the officer came in the crowd rushed out, believing that he would lie eaten up in two minutes. The officer didn't seem to have any fear, how ever. but his face wore a smile as he walked over to the sleeper, lapped him on the shoulder with his baton and said: " Come, captain, get up." The stranger opened one eye. but did notoiove. " Come, miyor." continued the officer. That man shut that eye and opened the other, hut yet did not arise. "Come, colonel, you'll be late for the train." said the officer. " Did any one call mo 1 * asked the man as he sat up and looked around. " Yes. general, I was saying that you had bet for wake up or some one might steal your valuables." " Yi**—an—that is—of course I'll wake up. You are a No. I policeman, sir— the finest officer I ever met. lot's shake! riljto right out with you—of course I'll And no Maryls little lamb could have looked more meek as he picked up hit satchci snd took a walk out on th* wlmrf,—iMroil FVre /Vast. " No postponement on account of th* ; wither, 1 Is the way agricultural fair* put it when the big sheep fall* to ba present at the appointed tisaa.