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<plircs a disagreeable
odor—not because of the gas, however,
but because of the organic impurities
exhaled from the lungs at the same time
and proportionate with the carhonio
acid gas. ' Fifty cubic feet of still air are
defiled hy one man in a minute. 1 None
of our ordinary house rooms are *<> 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
Es<iuimaux, Ainoaor some Hyperborean
race to exist upon an Arctic continent.
In Hearch of the North Pole.
During tlie pres. Nt generation most of
the great geographical points have been
solved. Tin- northwest passage was
completed more than a Quarter of a cen
tury ago. the Australian interior lias la-en
traversed and retravers*l within the past
few years, the sources of the Nile have
been traced, the northeast passage, lx-gun
more than a quarter of a million of years
since, has been made by Prof. Norilcns
kjoid. who lias shown that with a sub
side ship at tlie proper season tills long
sought passage is a Question of only a
few weeks, and now tlie only remaining
Arctic feat, the dash to the North Pole,
hns lx-cn undertaken by the Jeannette
ex|iedition. which started fromjSnn Fran
cisco. and whi -li, it is to l>c 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 op<n. A tiger <>r
• 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<l for notliing in
Canada. <*n liundn-d and twenty-tin
dollars will get you a polar lear. and f 0
a brown tie.ir;n brown fx ar is ju*t a*
satisfactory as the others and much ;
> 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<aUori in
vo ved w it* a* to the mental eondition
oi the testatrix. The witness under ex
amination, herself aM (J y. uy
'Milled to finding Mrs. Seaman failing,
> 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'*<! tli'- *;iw lilin com*
fi's* : '"d waited lor him, and the foiiow
iii : ' ofiv rHHtiffti <><•< 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 <U
j M'rF. which says: " Concerning pew*
ai d ci.airs, why is it that modern in
v ntlon fails to furnish even a comforta
ble pew or chair? The bench of the or
dinary church j<ew is fourteen inehe*
wide, whereas it should tie eighteen
inches; th<n it is plaivsl on a straight
I level, perpendicular to the bark; but
mankind are not i*>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.