On the Channel-Boat. "What' Krod, you here? I didn't soe Ton come aboard at Dovor. I met the Drowns last week : they said t'hat you were coming over, But didn't say how soon." "Oh, yes, I saint- by the Britannic; And what a rush there were lor berths ' Twas almost like a panic. I'm mighty glad to meet you, Willi Where aro you going!" " Paris " " Good !soam t. I've got to moot My cousin, Charley Harris, To-morrow, lie and I have planned A little trip together Through wit norland on foot; I hope We'll have onto decent weather." Take caro there I hold your hat : It blows." " Ye*; hew this steamer tosses ' I'm never seasick: Charlie is, 1 hough, every time ho crosses. Who's with you, Will!" "I'm traveling with My sister ami my mother: They're both below. 1 camo on dock It's close enough to smother Down there. These chaps don't care a smtp For ventiliation, hang 'em ! Where did you stop in London! We Wore stopping at the Istngbatn." Yon were! Why, so was I. But tin* I only got there Sunday At break tost time, and went away The afternoon of Monday; And yet within that short sojourn I lost my heart completely: Brich style ! such eyes 1 such rosy cheeks ' Such lips that smiled so sweutly ' I only saw her twice, and then— Don't laugh—'twiui at a distance; But, Will, my hoy, t tell you what. In nil my blest ■ vistenco 1 ne'er before m.; . yes upon A girl so realty plendid. But. pshaw ! I < >.udn't stay, and so My short-lived visions ended. I don't sup|>oe<. she'll ever know How I, a stranger, love tier," "Who was she, Fred!" " Ah ! that's just it I couldn't e'en discover Her raitne, or anything at all About her, Broken-hearted, I saw it wasn't any use To try; so off I star tot, And here I am, disconsolate.' " Alt tor an unknown charmer ! Your're sott, my boy. Let's stroll ahalt The sea is growingcalmer; Or lorward, it you like. The view May make your leelings rally. We're drawing nesr to France, in hall An hour shall lie at Calais. See ! there's the town, and, just this side The port with shipping in it; And, there, liejrond, you sec the spires, And " " Here, Will, stop n minute. By Jove ! look there ' that girl in gray, With ro.l flowers in her bonnet ' I do declare—l—yea it a she: I'd take my oath upon it. What luck It I had only known ' How can it he I missed her! Look ' here she comes '" "Why, Krod, you tool ' That girl in gray's my sister !" Cto. L. Cailin, in i.ipptnrott. FOUND ON THE TRACK, Wet and dreary. It is midwinter: the scene is Kirklington. on the London and Northwestern; the time 10.45; just after the night mail has flashed through with out stopping, bound for Liverpool and the North. The railway officials— points men, signalmen, porters, platelayers are collecting preparatory to going off duty for the night. "Where's Dan?" asks one of the crowd upon the platform. " I saw him in the liut just after the 10.45 went through. Can't have come to any harm, surely." "No; he said he'd seen something drop from the train, and he went down the iine to pick it uj>." And Dan had picked up something. It was a basket a common white wicker basket—with a lid fastened down by a string. What did it contain? Refreshments.' Dirty clothe*? What? A baby! a child half a down weeks ld, no more; a pink and white niu-e of human china as fragile as Dresden and a* delicately fashioned and tinted as bis cuit or Hose I'ompadour. "Where did you come aeross it?" ask< d one. "Lying on the line, just where it fell. Perhaps it didn't fall; perliap* it was chucked out. What matter? I've got it and got to look after it; that's enough for me. Some day maybe I'll come Across them as owns it, and then tliev •hail pay me and take it back." "Is there nothing about him? Turn him over." The little mite's linen was white and of fine material, hut he lay upon an old ■bawl and a few hits of dirty flannel. Ail they found was a dilapidated purse —a common snaplock hag-purse of fluled brown leather. Inside was a brass thimble, a pawn ticket and the half of a Rank of England note for £IOO. "What good's half a hank note to you ?" "Half a loafs better than no bread." "Yes; Jiut you can eat one, but you can't pass the other. Won't you catch it from your wife! How'll you face her, Pan? What'll she say?" "She'll say I done quite right," replied Dan. stoutly. " She's a good Bort, God bless her'j "So are you, Dan ; that's a fact. God bless you, tot)," said more than one rough voice in softened accents. " Per haps the chlld'H bring you luck after all." • • • * ♦ Winter-tide again six years later, but this season is wet and slushy. Once more we are at Kirklington, a long strag gling village, which might have slum ered on in obscurity forever had not the Northwestern line been carried close hy it, to give it a place in Hradshaw and a certain importance as a junction and cen ter for goods traffic. Hut tiie activity wasftli about the station. All the per manent officials had bouses and cottages there; in the village lived only the field laliorerH who worked at the neighlior- Ing estate, or sometime* lent their hand for n jobof navvyingon the lin"- These poor folk had ii gruesomo life of it, a hard hand-to-mouth struggle for burn exis tence against perpetual privation, ac aompanlert by unremitting toil. A now parson—Harold Irwflry—had oomo lately to Kirklington. lie was an earnest, energetic young num. who had won bis spurs in the East End parish, and hint now accepted this country liv ing because it seemed to open up a new field of usefulness. He iiad plunged bravely into the midst of his worn; lie was forever going up and down among his parishioners, solacing and comfort ing, preaching manful endurance and trustfulness to all. lli is now paying a round of parochial visits, accompanied by an old college chum, who is spending some days with him. " Yonder," said TrefTry, pointing to a thin thread of smoke which rose from some gaunt trees into the sullen wintry air, "yonder is the house —if, indeed, it deserves so grand a I ame—the hovel, rather, of one who ■ ocii the hardest of all the hard one. in my unhappy euro. This man is a mere ledger and ditcher, one who works for any master, most often lor the railway, but who is never certain of a job nil the year round. He has a swarm of young children, and he lias just lost his wife. He i. absolutely prostrated-, aghast, probably, at the future before him. and his utter inca pacity to do his duty by his motherless little ones. .Jack!" said the parson, stopping short suddenly, and looking straight into his companions face, "I wonder whether you could rouse him? If you could only get him to make a sign; to ery or laugh or take the imalM in terest in common affairs. Jack, 1 be lieve you're the very man. You might get at him through the children?- that marvelous hanky-panky of yours, those surprising tricks; a child takes to you naturally at once. Try and make friends with these. IYrhnps, when the father sees them interested and amused, he may warm a little, speak, perhaps, approve, perhaps smile, and in the end give in. Jack, will you try P" Jack Newbiggtn was by prof* -ion a ei >nvev.uieer, but nature bad Intended him for a new lloudin, or a Wizard of the North He was nion than half a professional by the time he was fuil grown. in addition to tie qui -k eye and the facile wrist, he had the rarer gifts of suave manner and the five of brass. They entered the miserable dwelling together. The children—eight of them —were skirmishing all over the floor. They were quite unmanageable, and be yond the control of the eldest sister, who was busied in setting out the table fur the mid-day meal; one other child, of six or seven, a bright-eyed, exceedingly Is-auti ful hoy, the least —were not nature's va garies well known—likely to b> Imrn among and belong to such surroundings, stood between the legs of the man him self, who had bis back to the visitors and was crouching low over '.lie scanty lire. The man turned his head for a mo ment, gave a blank stare, than an imper ceptible nod, and onoe more he glowered down upon the tire. " Here, tittle ones, do you tee this It n tle.Tian? he's a conjuror. Know what a cotyuror is. Tommy?" i-ried the pars*in. catching up a mite of four or live ftoin the floor. " No, not you; nor you, Sarah ; nor you, Jacky "—and lie ran through ail their names. They had now iva-msi their gambols, and were staring hard at their visitors the moment was propitious; Jack New biggtn began. He hod fortunately filled bis pocket* with nuts, oranges, ami cat < ■> before leaving the parsonage, so lie had half his apparatus ready to hand. The pretty Ixiy had very soon left the father at the fire, and bad come over to join in the fun, going hark, however, to exhibit his share of trie spoil and des< riiie voluminously what had occurred. This and the repeated shouts of latigiiter seemed to produce some impression on him. Presently he looked over his shoulder, and said—but without Anima tion— "It be very Rfuxl cf you. hit. surely; very good for to take so kindly to tin' liltfo chicks. It does them good to laugh a bit, and it ain't much ax they've Lad to make 'em lately." It is good for all of us, now and again, I take it," said Jark, desisting, and going toward him—the children gradually collecting in a far-off corner ;u>ii comparing notes. " You can't laugh, sir, if your inait's heavy; if you do, it can ho only a sham." While he wa speaking lie had til i the Bible from the shell, and resuming his s'-at, liegnn to turn the leaves slowly over. " I'm an untaught, rough countryman, sir. hut I have heard tell that tlnne strange things.you do are only tri'ks; ain't It so?" Here was. indeed, a hopeful symptom! He was roused, then, to take some in terest in what had oecurred. "All tricks, of course; it all come* of long piai lire,"said .lack, as he proceeded to explain ome of tlie simple proc<*v s. hoping to encliain the man's attention. "Tliat's what I thought, sir. or I'd have given yoit a job to do. I've been in want of a real copiuror many a long day. and nothing iess II do. See liere, sir." he said, as he took a small, care fully-paper from Iw'tween the leaves of the Itible; "do you sec tills?" It was half a Bank of England note for £ino. " Xow, sir, could any copjuror help me to the other half?" "How did you come by it?" Jack asked at once. " I'll tell you, lir, short as I can make it. Copjuror or no c.'pjuror. you've got a kindly heart, and I'm main sure that you'll help me if you cnn." I)an then descril)cd how lie had picked up the basket from the 10.45 Liverpool express. "There was the linen: I've kept it. See here; ail marked quite pretty and proper, with lace around the edges, as though its mother loved to make the little one smart." Jack examined the linen; it horc a monogram anil crest. The first he made out to mean 11. L. M.; and the crest was plainly two hammers crossed, and the motto. " I strike"— not n common crest —and lie never remembered to have seen it Ix'fore. " And this was all?" "'Copt the banknote. That was in a poor old purse, with a pawn ticket and a thimble. I kept tliem all." Like a true detective, Jack examined every article minutely. The purse bore the nnme of Heater Gorrigwi. in luile letters inside, nnd the pawn ticket was made out in the same name. " I cannot give you much hope ttint I shall succeed, hnt I will do my best. Will you trust mc with the note for a time?" "Surely, sir, with the crcatcnt of pleasure. If you could hut find the other half, it would give Murry—t)Hit's what wc <'all him—such a grand *tsrt, in life; schooling and the pries of binding turn to some honest trade." .'nek shook (lie man's lianil and prom ised to do liiH licet, and left the cottage. When Jack Newblggin got hack to tlie parsonage lie found that his host had ac cepted an invitation for them both to dine at the "Big House," as it was called, the country seat of the squire of the parish. Tliey Wile cordially received at the " Big l!oue." Jnek was handed over forthwith to his old friends, who figura tively rushed into his arms. They were I/Omfon acquaintance*, no more; of the sort we meet hero and there and every - whert during the season, who care for us, and we for them, as much as for the South Sea Islanders, hut w horn we greet with rapturous effusion when we meet tlieni in n strange place. Jack knew the lady whom he escorted into dinner as a gossipy dame. who. when liis hack was turned, made as much sport of him as of h<-r other friends. " I have been fighting your battles all day," began Mi's. Sit well. •• \V: it ndcetiary t I should havt thought myself too insignificant." " 1 liey were talking at lunch of your wonderful knack in conjuring, andsonie one said that tic kill might prove in convenhnt —when you played cards, for instance." "A charitable imputation' With whom did it originate?" "Sir Is'wis Mullaby." " l'lease jwiint him out to me." He was shown a grave, scowling face ujion tlu'riglit of the hostess —a face iik<* a mack, its surface rough and wrinkled, through which the eye* shone out with baleful light, like corpse-candles in a sepulelu r. "Pleasant creature! I'd rather nit meet him alone on a dark night." " 11a has a terrible character, cer tainly. Turned his wife out of doors because she would not give him an loir. It is this want of children to inherit hi* title and estates which preys upon his mind, they say, and makes him so morose anil melancholy." Jack ht his companion chatter on. It was 11i4 habit to get all the information possible about any company in which lie found himself for his own purpose* a* a clairvoyant; and win n Mrs. Sitwel flagged, lie plied iter with questions, and led her on from one person to another, making mental nob's to *> rve him here after. It is thus by oareftil and labor I - ous preparation that many of the strange and seemingly mysterious feats of the clairvoyant conjurer are performed. Wlien tlie whole party was oss< milled in tlie drawing-room after dinner, a chorus of voices, headed by that of tlie hostess, summoned Jack to hi* Work. There appeared to lie only one dissenti ent. Sir I,' wis Mallahv. who not only did not trouble himself to lia< k up the invitation, liut when the performance was actually begun was nt no pains to conceal his contempt and disgust. The conjuror made the conventional plum-pudding in a hat, tired wedding rings into quartern love*, did all manner of card tricks, knife tricks, pistol tricks, add juggled on conscientiously right through hi* rc/~ rtotrc. There was never a smile on Sir I/wis' face; lie sneered unmistakably. Finally, with an ostentation that -avorVl of rq at gold r> - P' iter, looked at it. and unmistakably yawned. Jack hungered for tlint watch directly he saw it. Perhaps through it )■< might make it* owner uncomfortable, if only for a moment. Hut how to get it into hi* hands? lie o.sk d for a watch—a dOfB wett? offered. No; none of these would do. It imi*t lie a gold wat< h. a r> p< iti r Sir L wis Mailaliy's wn.* the only one in the room, and )<• at first dis tinctly refused to lend it. Hut *" many entreaties wire addr - lo him, the hosti s* 1< oding the attack, that lie couid not .n common courtesy continue to re fuse. With something like a growl h< took lii* wstcli off th idiain and hande ri*ked in any conjuring trick; an ordinary modern watch I might r-place, but not a work of aft like thi* " And be handed it back to Sir I/ wis, who received it with ill-con'-'-ali-d satis faction. He was a* much pin*ed, pro bahly, at Jack's expression of po*jii!e failure in lli< propoa.! tri k t- at tli<- re covery of hi* projMTty. Another watch, however.was pounded Up into a jelly, and brought out whole from a cabinet in nti adjoining room; and this tri> k successfully accomplisticd, Jn<-k Newliiggln, wlio wn* now mm- I'letcly on hi* metal. pMMd on to higher flights. He hnd spr nt the vacation of the year previous in France as the pupil of a wizard of F.uropcnn fame, and had mastered many of the strange feat* whh h arc usually attributed to clairvoyance. There is *onv-thing especially un> anny about lliese tri - ks, and Jack's reputation rapidly increased with thi* new exhibi tion of his powers. Thanks to liis cross examination of Mr*. Sit well *t dinner, lie was in possession of many facts con nected with the company, although most ly strangers to him; and some of his hits were so palpably Inyipy that lie raised shout* or surprise, fid lowed hy that terrified hush which not uncom monly succeeds tlie display of seemingly supernatural powers. " Oh. hut tliis is too preposterous," Kir I,owi* Mallahy wn* heard to say quite angrilv. The continued applause pro foundly disgusted liim. "This is the merest charlatanism. It must be put an end to. It is the commonest impos ture. These are tilings which lie lias coached up in advance. Let him be tried with something whi.h upon the face of it he cannot have lenrned before hand.by artificial means." "Try liim. Sir I/ewis, try him your self." cried several voices. " I scarcely like to lend myself to such folly, to encourage so pitiable an exhibi tion." But he seemed to I** conscious tliat furttier protest would tell in Jack's favor. " I will ndmit that you have consider able power in this strange branch of necromancy if you will answer a few questions of mine." "Proceed." said Jack, gravely, meet ing his eyes firmly and without flinching. "Tell me what is most on ray mind at this present moment." "The want of a male heir," Jack re piled, prompt.y, and thanked Mrs. Hit well in his heart. "Pshaw! You have learned from Kurke that I have no children." said Bir I/wis, boldly; iiut he was a little taken aback. " Anytliing else?" "Tlie ni"inory of a harsh deed you now strive in vain to redeem." "This borders upon impertinence," said Kir Lewis, with a hot flush on Ids cheek and passion in Ids eyes. "Hut let us leave abstractions and try tangi ble realities. Can you tell me what. I hare in this pocket?" Ho touched tho left breast of ids tail-coat. " A pocketbook." "Hah! Every one carries a pocket book in Ids pocket." " But do you?" asked several of the ' bystiuuh rs, all of whom were growing | deeply Interested in this strange duei. | Sir I/ wis Mallahy confessed that he did, and produced it—an ordinary mo- ■ roeeo leather purse and pocketbook all! in one. "Are you pr< pared to go on?" said 1 the haronct haughtily to Jack. " < ,'ertalnly." " What sorely, ana to weakly Ml. Hut I am on par"! to uiak' ail tic resti tution ami reparation in my power—un less. unhappily, unless It Ik already too late." Even whie lie was speaking hi- face turned ghastly pale, Ids lip- were cov ered w itli a fim white foam, he ruadc one or two convulsive attempts t* steady himself, tli'-n with a wild, terrified look around, he fell heavily to the floor." it was a | aralyti * ir.urc. Tie y t/s.k llim tip stairs anil h-nded Idm; t>ut tie •a i wm d'-sje rate from the first. Only iu*t 11 fore the end did he so far recover the power of speech as to Is- able to make full confes-ion if what had occurred. Sir I/ewi* iiad been a younger son;' the eldest Inherited tlie family tit!", but died ' arly. leaving his widow to give jiim a posthumous heir, the liticremain ing in abeyance until time showed whether the infant wa a boy or girl. It proved to t>e n boy, whereupon l/wi* Mallably, who had the earliest intima tion of tlie fart, put into execution n no- ; farious project whi"h he had carefully concocted in advance. A girl was oh- ! tain d from a foun ing hospital nnd [ substituted by l/uiy Mallahy'* nurse, who was in l/ wis'pay. for the newly-1 born son and le ir. This son and lo i.W was hanth-d over to another accomplice, ll'*ter (iorrigan. who was hrilsd with £l0, half down in the shape of a half note, tht> other half to be paid when she j announced her safe arrival in Texas with the stolen ehild. Mrs. (iorrigan had an unquenchable thirst, and in Tier transit between London and Liverpool allowed her precious charge to slip out of her hands, with the consequences we know. It was the watch borrowed from Sir ; I/ewis Mallably which first amued Jack's suspicions. It laire the strange crest—two hammers crossed, w'tli the motto "I Strike"—which was tanrked upon the linen of the ehild t! it Han Hloekit picked up at Kirklington -tntion. Tlie initial of tlie name Mnll.ahy coin cided with the monogram 11. L. M Jack drew his conclusions, and made a bold shot, which hit the mark, as we have seen. (/•wis Mallahy's eonfe- ion soon rein- . stated the rightful heir, anil Irin Hloekit. in after years, had no reason to regret lite generosity which prompted him to give tlie little'foundling the sheltirofhis rude home. The Sweet Hay of Moneton. (•rowing in tlie meadows here and thereon the marshes nt Moneton, Ont., there is a "sweet hay" tiint would, startle a western hayffeld. Tlie per fume it exhales is very sweet and very lasting. Little ornamental and work_ bosket* are woven from it. nnd it retains its sweet perfume for years. You can smrll tliis hay when you drive pasttlie meadows, and It is enough to make you wish you were a horse, to be fed on such ambrosial hay a tliis. It is a perfume not altogether unlike, al though much tweeter than sweet elox-er; I but grows in much sweeter nlaces. Sweet elover grows more thickly In Happy Hollow than in any placet know of. But sweet liar grows in the plena- I ant meadows on tlie sea marshes and by I the tidal creeks and rivers. It mingles with tlie home like odor of the new- i mown liav ; while you smell it you ran hear the cheery song of the mowers, nnd now and then the elink of the scythe stone ringing a pleasant accompaniment to t lie song. Tliere is a smell of brine too, In tlie breeze that steals in from tlie sea, and a scent of pine tlint it catches Irom the 111 ll. flurlinytOH liaukfyc Cbrrea potultnre. Mr. Barry Kulllran, the English actor, prides himself on having played Hamlet more than 9,800 times In all quarters of the globe. TIMELY TOPIt'H. ———— • Tlie product of oil from the menhaden fisheries exceeds that derived from the American catch of whales by about 200,000 gallons. Man lakes from the water very year nearly 000,000.000 of menhaden, weighing from 200,000 t/< 300,000 tons, valued at shout ♦ 1,600,000. They swim in enormous school*, packed as closely as sardines in a box, and sink ! at the slight alarm. They are caught all along t!: • New Jersey coast. (.'•or, a is nisitit to erect a monument ' to .h rgeiuit William Jasper, of South Carolina, who fell in the assault on Savannah, October it, 1770. This is tin liero who leaped from the parapet of Fort Moultrie olid rtgainea the flag which had le-'-n *hot away by a hail from tin Isriti®h fleet. On another <>• - elision, aided by n viugle eonipanion, he eaptureil ltritidi guard ot I' M soldi TS and rew ued twelve Aniciicnn captives. " Wild Hill," tlje fronti' raman, wlio in hi* day was a* notoriou . - Kit (.'arson, and who was killed three years ago, ha* turned to stone from scalp to toe'. Mis r< ii.ains, which were buried at Mead wood, in the Black Hills, were tas'-n from tin* grave for re interment at an other place, when they wei* found to have become petrified. The feat tins :U' its natural a- life, save that a whiteness overspreading all givi-s.lo tin fioethe appearance or chiseled marbh Oeorg*' Baxter has b< < n until rc -' nliy a sort of Jriphet in search of iii* grantl umlher. He is a middle-aged man of (Jrecnshurg, Inn.,and heard many y-ar* ago that his only living relative was Mrs. Margaret Baxter, liis dead father'* mother. ll' noildedaround tie country for a long while in search of Mrs. Mar- I garct hi I'-arn by some :e eidentalt*' ur -1 renec a few days ago that lie had lK* n serving her with milk for a decade. He had strayed off froin tie family wlien a mere lad. At tlie present time the United State* is making more than one-third of all th< paper made in the world. The product I* ali"Ut IJM t'.n* daily, amounting to jilsiut fttO.soo t#m* per vear. There are niw U27 mill*, r' prc- M-nting a < a pita! of at l<-a*t Tbaae mills employ 98,000 persons, who draw aisiut in salaries per year. It is estimated that the cntin paper interest, including manufiv turing. printing and publishing, furnishes em ployment to 7f,(Sio persons. Tie- following statistic* will prove in teresting to tho*e who rai*' ' ithn'*p kept in th< State. Muring tlie y73 shoep; and in IT*, th'T' were 10,000 dog* taxed, and *li*'p hill'-d by tip til to the value of 910.5 M 55. The cotton crop in tie- South hi* yeat will corrcMKind well with the n"rmou* crop* of wfp at and corn in the W< *t and N"i th wi *! "IT, r't*>rt of the < x<* uiiv committee of the National Cotton Ex change, just rec ived, say* tliat "dur ing the last five y or* cotton-culture in tlie United Stat'* has outstripped the most sanguine exp<* taUons; that tlie probi'm of fri-c lalsir .ho* tsce-n virtually solved, and that the Soutii niu*t he re garded a* the future reliance of the cotton manufacturers of Iwtli America and F7u ropie." It is net gen< rally known that Mere < xisi* in tlie nortliern part of Arizona I.'Xni Indian* who subsist entirely upon what they con pi< k up in tlie way of acorns, ts-rrie*. nut*, grass sc<*l and a little wild game. Still ru- Ii is the c ase. The WalLnpal Indians, including a small hand of some 150 A va-Su-I'ais, if any tliing. ex'vsal 1.000 in number, and for several year* have lived without aid from tlie government, preferring to suffer almost anytliing. even starvation, rather than give up their country in tlie North and go on to tlie reservation at San Carlos. Of medical novelties there is no end One Mr Christian, not satisfied "with any existing patliie*. ha* proposed in the principal Herman and Swiss jour nal* something which he regards as bet ter than water cure, miik cure, whey cure or grape cure, viz.. night-air cure. "O|K-n your windows," says Mr. Chris tian, "and allow tho'*>nl spirits of the night to enter your chamber ant sweeten and calm your dream*." Some time ago Mia* Nightingale advanced the theory that night nir was ni*"lut'iy harni.rs* to the sick; hut l>r Christian go< further, and declares that it will make them well. The plague of rat* in the Iteccan. Bombay, for the second season in suc cession. is occasioning serious alarm. Those animals overspread the i<.\intry like locust*, destroy the s almost as thoroughly, and arc even m>rc iliflicult to keep down. So grave lisd leconie the aspect of affairs that a" Itat Cotnmittc" was nppoint'*! to inquire into the liest means of disposing of these creature*. Tliey have ae offered for dead rats. and. in fact, the invasion is to lc treated a* a matter to lie dealt with rigorously by the whole community. In the meantime the question has arisen a* to how the rats liave multiplied. On the 31st of December. 1N77, there were 58.466 postofllees in Europe, with 223,517 persons employed, or ooc postal (*etalili*()ment for every 6.134 Inhabit ants. These postofllees are most thickly , planted in Switzerland, and after Swit zerland in (ireat Britain and Ireland. A striking contrast to these two coun tries is afforded hy Russia and Turkey, tliere being in the former only one post office to everv 5.70 H. and in the iatternne to every 1,105 sq uaro miles. Altogetlier, 5,6H9.(kirt.000 letters, papers, etc.. were sent hy post in Europe in 1877, 3.6U7,- 000.000 being letters or postcanls. 1.522,- 000.000 newspapers, and 563.000.000 pat terns and 111 1- like; and the griatest number of letters, papers, etc., w ere sent in (ireat Britain and Ireland, the total number dispatched being 1.403.075,000. or at the rate of 34 7 letters and 9.4 news papers for every inh ihitant. Lieut.-Heneral Maxwell writes to the Lifr float Journal, an English periodical, to give to the puhlie, or rather to swim mers. a valuable hint for use in case they are called on to save a drowning man. He picked up the idea while in service in India. A man had fallen into a large reservoir u*ed in *tor the rainfall, and a native, who hsppcnrd to be passing by with a long staff, jumped in, taking the Mt*ff with him and pushing it forward in I''ont ft" I)'' (twain. 'lre- drowning man eagerly clutched tli staff and w.ut thus towed slowly in hy the swimmer, who wiui obliged to keep hid ixxiy nearly up right, A person who is not used to tlis water lose* hid wits a A well na hi* breath 1 when he suddenly find* himself over board, and is apttosei ze upon tli<*wim mer wlio would rescue him in iu>ii • way u to earry both down together. Tin* lesson ( pound*. His hair and Ix-ard are Handy and ting'-d with gray. Ih- b:i* a pah: faoe, (due eye*, a high forehead, and an intelligent and pleasant appearance. At thirteen year* of age he began to raise a beard, and while yta yung; schoolboy wa* i*,*. messed of a liglit silk' n eovring to face and n< k, rivaling in 1< ngtli that of many of hi- senior*. Hut h< oeeaine tired <>f thift, and (haved almost daily for several year*, keeping hi* fat e smooth and 1* ardlcst. He eontinu'd to attend school in what used to lx- known a* tlie Bherman district, Huron county. Tha growth of lii* Ix and w;is not, however, sufficiently rapid to attract any pecial 'not!'". In fsje he came to Michigan, Wh'*.** he I allied. His ll'dtll frotn hoti.'xxlha I><>l txen of U, b t. bilious anil lung tro.iiile* Ix ing mo't common. In I*ol liis h'-aith failed, and he will to California in the hope of regaining it. Jt was tli' fashion among the miner* of those day* to allow their bearw from then on. The nature of the minkrs' work made it convenient to tie or fasten tie- board under the chin. In ihi* way Mr. Smith first became accustomed to wearing it long, with the superfluous length tied up out of the way. "And ' now," said lie, " you see- what it ha* grown to." And a* your correspondent jook' d from the smiling face of the man, and th'Ti turned to go on a search forth* nth' r ' nd of the beard, he thought of t lie story of the do pie which was so tall that you had to look t wiee to we the top "fit. There could ix* no mistake at* >ut It. Each individual hair stretched it* silken, wavy length from face to floor. ' Now I will show you how long it is." said .Mr. Smith, and he stepped upon a chair and sUxxl erect. Stii! it* length wax w i great that the foot could ix- piaccd on the ends, which touched the floor. Tli' beard has been carefully trimmed. <> that it is of even weight and size to the r< ry end. I'nrolling a little paper whi'h was laid away in a drawr, lie said, "That's itxlengtli Jast'winter," and unwound a wemingly cnilfo** hair. Winn measured it was found to t* seven feet four inches long. "Now we will measure the beard ax it i* to-day." said be, and looked for tli yard-stick Seven fcnn her and trid t" dissuade her from marriage Tin widow reftised to accept h