The Husking Bee. The rooster stalk* on tho manger's ledge, He has a tail tike a scimitar's edge, A marshal's plume on his Alghan neck, An admiral's stride on his quarter deck; ne rules tho roost and walks the bay Willi a dreadiul cool and Turkish way. Two broadsides Arcs with his tapid wings This sultan proud, of a line ol kings— One guttural laugh, four blasts ot horn, Kivo lusty syllables rouso the moru — Tho Saxon lambs in their woolen tabs Are playing school with tho a, b, alia; . A e! i, o! All tho cattle spell Till they make the blatant vowels tell. And a halt-laugh whinny fills tho stalls When down in the rack tho clover falls. A dove iH waltzing around his mate, Two chorions black on bis wings ot slice, And showing off with a wooing note The satin shine ot his golden throat— lib Ovid's "Art ol Love" retold In a binding line of blue nud gold' Ah, the buxotn girls that helped tho boys, Tho noble Helens of humble Troys— As they stripped husks wit It rustling told From eight-rowed com as yellow as gold, Hy the candle-light in pumpkin bowls, And the git am that showed fantastic holes In the quaint old livntory's tattued tin. From tho hermit glira set up within; lly the rarer light in girlish eyes As dark as wells or as bine as skies. I hour tho laugh when the car is red, I see the blush with the lorieit paid. The cedar cakes with the ancient twist, Tho cider cups that the girls have kissed. And I see the fiddler through the dusk As he twangs the ghost ol " Money Musk' ' The boys and girls in n double row Wait hue to face till the magic bow Sludt whip the tune front tho violin, And the merry pulse ol tho feet begin. —B. F. Taylor. QUIZ. TAUT I. That's what Fred called her when she first came and the name has clung to Iter ever since, although site has really earned a more musical appellation. One day when Fred and all of us were at home, a strange woman, with ■ qtHW little girl at>out five years old, canto to the ooor and asked if site might come in and get warm. It was the afternoon of a oold windy day in March, and as Bridget had gone out and tiie kitchen tire was down, mamma let her come into the sit ting-room where we all were,; Fred read ing, Nell and I sewing, and Willie and baby Belle playing with the blocks. Mamma placed a chair by the fire for the strange woman and pushed up a low stool for tiie little girl, who seated herself denyirelyupon it,and tlten began looking at F red, who sat next to iter. l'retty soon the woman arose, said she had a long walk to take, and as she was soon to return, asked if site might leave tiie tittle girl, who was tired, witlt us until she came hack. We lived in a small country town, you see. where tramps were few and far be tween, and mamma,suspecting nothing, consented, and the woman went away. The little girl sat still for along time and then suddenly startled us all hy ask ing in a clear, childish voice. " Wliatdathe ?" She was looking at Fred, and nodded comically at the hook heboid in his hand. "That's a hook." said Fred. " What be you do it with?" " I'm reading it." " What dat is?" Here Fred's gravity gave way and he burst into a hearty laugh. The child only looked at him wonderfully and re peated her question with grave earnest ness. " What dat is voq do?" " Iok here, little Quiz," said Fred, " yon must be a savage if you never saw a book before;" and no tried to explain to Iter what he was doing, hut at every step site stopped Itim with a question, always, as Wtllie said, putting the cart before tiie horse. " Well, Quiz." said Fred at last, " you display a marvelous desire for informa tion if you don'l know much now. I'ray tell us what your name is?" But for all we could learn front tiie little stranger, who could ask questions far easier than site eould answer them. ; she had no name; so Fred said lie should call her Qui* as long as she stayed witlt us. The afternoon wore slowly away, and still the stranger woman did not eonte back. Little Quiz stayed with us all night, and the next morning papa made inquiries and learned that she had taken tiie train for Chicago, and was by this time beyond the possibility of tracing. 1 We were all very indignant when papa told us next day at dinner. Quiz aroused as with her odd ways and droll questions, and we thought it very cruel for her mother, as we sup posed the woman to be, to desert her in that manner. And what was to become of poor Quiz now was the question we all asked of papa. "B'yose we'il have to send Iter to the county house," said papa. " I guess you'll tind out what the rest of the little paupers know in just no : time, won't you. Quiz?" said Fred. Quiz looked at him a moment witlt ! hfT great, serious, gray eyes; then iter lips quivered, and two big tears rolled , slowly down her cheeks. " Where be I sleep?" she said, with a little, sharp sob. Fred hesitated a moment between a desire to laugh and a temptation to catch her in his arms and kiss awav her tears. Finally he asked her In a softened tone : "Don't you want to go. Quiz?" " I like to 'tay wl* you," answered Quiz, witlt another sob. leaning hr head on Iter hand and iter clltow on the table, looking the very picture of sadness. "Couldn't we keep her?" asked Fred suddenly of papa. "I don't know; what does mother •ay?" "Oh, mamma, do?" said Nell, whose heart was even softer than Fred's. "Oh. Y, mamma, ylo?" urged little Willie. Mamma thus appealed to lroked per ? plexed. Her motherly heart hud gone out toward tiie lonely little stranger, hut site had many cares and quite children f enough to occupy both heart and hands. " IMI help take care of her,' pleaded Fred. " We miffht keep her awhile, "mamma [ said, and so we did. Willie clapped his hands and cried •'Hurrah!" Nell said. "Oh, goody!" i Fred said, "That'sjolly!" butQuizaaiJ nothing, onlv took np her fork and went ! on with her dinner In time we all became vcrv much at- Itachcd to her. Her demure, funny ways were s constant source of amusement. and she was gentle, affectionate and generous. Hut it wns Fred who held complete pos session of her heart. For him the saved half of lier candy, apples and other good ies; for him she learned to sew, draw pictures ami write letters, and when she eaiue to go to school it was to him site confided all troubles and triumphs and to him she went for aid and assistance in mastering hard sums, and s we called iter Fred's protege. When she lirst w< nt to school Fred gave her the name of Orphnnia, and the children en)led Iter "Orphic," hut she retained her habit of asking questions about everything, and so, partly for fun and partly because the name suited her, we continued to call her Quiz, and thus things went on until site was twelve years old and Fred was twenty. One day Fred went to the city on busi ness for papa, and we did not expect him home until the eight o'clock express entue in the evening. Toward night, there canto* up a furious storm; it thundered anil lightened, the wind blew and rattled tlic window casements,while at times the rain fell in torrents. As wo were all seated around the evening lamp with our work and studies, main inn shivered and wondered if Fred had an overcoat with him. and if papa, who had not come up from the oftice, would think to take i>ne over to the station. A few mifiutes afterward Quiz arose and slipped quietly out of the room, hut .we thought nothing of it. for she was in the habit of slipping away without s.tqing anything, and we concluded that she had either gone to the kitchen to Biddy, or else had gone to hcrownrootn. Site had done neither, however. Step ping quietly into the hall, site had lirst nut on her thick water-proof and rub iwrs, then lighted Fred's lanU m, taking his overcoat from the nail, went softly out of the front door into the driving storm. The wind almost blew her over, and the rain bent hard on her faic; but she only tossed her bend defiantly, and whispered: "The elements cannot heat me; I know them; they obeyed my voice once." Just then Uie wind caught up her ••ape and blew it over her head in such a manner that sin* could not sec where to step, and stumbled against the fence and fell down. The saucy wind twisted and nulled at her clothing, the rain beat into Iht face, and the thunder rumbled and roared on every hand. But Quiz didn't care- she straggled bravely on until she reached an old dis used shod near the bridge which she would have to e rose on lira way to the depot. Here she paused a moment, par tially shelter d from the storm, to re gain her breath before attempting the highly-exposed bridge. '1 he village streets were deserted, for no one would venture out in such a storm unless urgent business en Hod them, yet Quiz heard voices quite near her. She was frightened at tirst, hut listen ing a moment and finding that they came from the shod against which she was leaning, she was about to hurry on when a sentence attracted her attention and she stood still and listened. "But. Jim, tho hull train'll go to smash." "Ifon't kere! guess it'll teach Vmnot tu discharge a feller like me fur nothin'. Ye see Johnson, the enjineer, and Ilink loy, the conductor, are the onesthet re ported me The bridge is turned now anyhow, Corey an' Kemph, the bridge tenders, are dead drunk, and ther's noth in' fur ynu an' I hut tu skuik, and see 'em all go to Satan." Tho bridge turned I Quiz's heart gave a great iunip, and then sank like lead: Iter head grew dizzy, ami she was obliged to lean hard'again it theshed to keep from falling. Then She stepped cautiously around the corner of the shed, and. with beating lp-art. looked down the river. A flash of lightning showed her the railroad bridge turned, and the dark river rolling tet wren it and thebank where therxpress train would soon nppear. In imagina tion she saw the locomotive plunge down the hank, followed one after another by the cars loaded with passen ger* unaware of apnroa< iiing death. She heard tiie shrieks of the poor victims as they were buried in the crash, nnd the groans of the dying a* they struggled with the wares, or lay gasping math the ruins. Turn she covered her face with her liand to shut out the vision and thought could site save them? But how? What should she do? Flo back home? There were none but helpless women there. Hurry on to tell papa? It would then he too late. " I must save them myself," she whis pered, and shutting her lips tight, grasp ing tier lantern firmiv she flashed down a cross street in the direction of the rail road track. Tlten she rememifcred that Fred, one day in explaining to her alw.ut momen tum, had told her tiiat the engine could not easily to, on the down grade on this side of the river, but that it was neces sary, in order to do so. to go hack from the river about a mile and a half to where the descent first iegan, near the curve. To save time she decided to go cross lots. Tiie storm increased, hut Qui* never pnned a moment; over fences through briars, across ditches, into mud ami mire ankle deep, she staggered along, holding close to the lantern upon whiidi her hopes depended. Once she fell down and hurt her side, hut she Hcrntnhlid up and hurried on. never heeding the pain. At last she ncared the track ami saw the headlight of the locomotive just rounding the curve. Mite tossed off her eloak, which im peded her progress, ami with redoubled energy pushed on. N'enrer and nearer came the locomotive —fainter and fainter came her breath—she was growing weak —she stumbled over a stone—when she arose the locomoth e was almost opposite to Iter—she gathered all her strength and reached tho side of tiie track on time with the engine, she swung her lantern sltove her In ad and shotted with all her might: "The bridge Is turned!" The train whizzed past her and she fell fainting to the ground. I'AKT 11. When she came to herself she was ly ing on the dump ground with a scat ettshion under her head and a number of gentlemen stnmHng around her. " IP' they ail killed?"asked Quiz, with a shudder. " No; thanks to you, my brnve girl, we are all saved," answered a ktnd faeed gentleman, who wn bending over her: "are you better now?" "Yes, thank you; hut where's Fred? Wasn't Fred oh the train?" " Anvbody here by the name of Fred?" asked the conductor, who stood near. 'Hire* or four gentlemen stepped for ward, among them our Fre.i, who no sooner looked at jwior Quia than he ex claimed : " Why, bless you, It's my sister! Dear Qui/., how did you come hero?" and 1m- caught her u* in lii* arms and kissed her before tlicm all. Her story was soon told, nnd several of the gentlemen started oil' after the villians, who were found in the very shed where ( j ii/. had left them, and the rest assisted the conductor getting the l bridge in place. Qui/, was taken on j board with Fred, and wln-n the bridge bad been fixed, the train moved down to the station, where a crowd of anxious citizens, who had received a premonition I that some tiling was wrong, had gatli j ered. Of course papa was with the rest, and I when he heard what a little heroine Qui/, had become, ho kissed her very tenderly and was very th.-mklul thai he had kept and eared for the homeless little girl whom the strange woman leg! thrust so unceremoniously upon him. But the strangest jiart of tho story is yet to come. Among the gentlemen who came forward to thank Quiz and con j grnlulate pa|>a on having sin-h a brave little daughter, was the kind-faced man wlio had first spoken to Quiz when she hail found lu-rs-lf lying on the ground after the train had passed her. No sooner did he sjieak than papa reeog nized him as his old friend and school mate, Arthur Wilburton, whom lie had not •■■en for nearly twenty years. IK invited him to accompany httti to our home, and he did so. We, at home, were -till sitting around the lire, wondering anxiously why jmpa and Fixxl did not come and tec ling thankful that the storm had at last abated, when we heard papa's night-key in the door and in a minute more they came into the room, papa carrying Quiz, who was weak and pah', while 10-r clothing was disordered and covered with mud. Fred and Mr. WUburton followed close behind him Nell tittered a little scream as she saw Quiz, and the rest of us stared in amaze ment. for we su|i|M>st'd Quiz was safe in her own room, ami we could not account for her disordered appearance. I'apa soon told us the story, and then we all cried and kissed her and called her our little heroine, and a hen mamma insisted ujion putting her to bed, fearing the e\- jx'snre might make her ill, we alt wanted to sit uj> and help take care f her. The next morning, while we were all in tlu* breakfast-room visiting with Mr. Wilburton, and almost s iioiliering Quiz with tend' r solicitude, the former suddenly turned toward papa and said : "You don't know. Frederic, how much your little daughter, Orphic, re minds tnc of my lost wife. Sh< has the same soft eye* and quiet ways, and the same tones in her voice." "Why, Arthur." said papa; "I did not know you had ever been married!" " Ye," answered Mr. Wilburton sadly ; " hut I did not long enjoy domes tie happiness. But a few year* after Nettie and I were iiiarri< d, 1 liecaiue un fortunate in business spceulation* and went to California in s< arch of luck. "I had !*-• there two years and was Is-ginning to look anxiously forward to the time when 1 could have Nettie with me, when I received a letter informing ■i- of her death. "In those days it wa* somctini'-s months after a letter was *• nt before we received it. I nrranged my business a* soon as I could, nnd returned to tny old home in o-aroh of our child, and found that a strange family who had Ic-cn liv ing in the house with Nettie had taken her with them. Whither this family had gone I could not learn. They were a strange wandering family, and had left for part unknown in the night. 1 have traveled far and wide, and liave spent a good-sized fortune >mrching tor my little one, but I ft-ar I shall never sec my little .Mamie again. Fortune ha* been kind tome; I am ri'li now, hut I'd give my whole fortune for my rhild if ( could but find her." There were tear* in lii* eyes a* he ceased speaking, and we all felt sad, for we were beginning to love the man of whom papa had so often told u*. But Qui* was very mU'-h -x< ited, her cheeks were red, her eyes ft|,l of tears, while her breast heaved with every hr'-ath as she icaned forward with clasjs-d hand*. "Did you lenrn the name of the family who took the rhild?" asked papa, after a pause. . " Ye*, they were called Ham and I,ue Brown." At this Quix uttered a cry and sprang forwaro, "I kn*w it now, I'm Mamie, I'm Mamie, I'm Mamie!" she exclaimed, passioiffttely, falling at Mr. Wilburton'* feet, and sobbing a* ban! as "heeouln. " What doe* this mean?" faltered Mr. Wilburton. " Frederic, is not this your child?'' In as few word* as possible papa told him the story of how Qui* name to he a member of our family. " But have you nothing, nothing, my child, which voii brought with you Irani your old home?" asked Mr. Wilburton, trembling between hope and fear. "Only this," nohlied Quiz, taking a locket from her neck; " the sick woman who called me Mamie gave it to me to keen always. With trembling hands Mr. Wilburton took the trinket and opened it, then pressed it to lii* lips a* he exclaimed, " It's Nettie herself, her own face! 1 remember the locket now!" We young people slipped out of the room then, and when we returned Qui* was leaning against Mr. Wilburton'* < hair with her hand in his, looking brighter and happier than we hail ever si-en her before. It wa* very hard for us to give tier up just a* she had become the dearest sister in nil the worid. but Mr. Wilburton did not take her far away. He bought a beautiful house not far from us. over wliieh Qui* presided in her sweet womanly way. When she was eighteen Fred per suaded her to become our sister-in-law, and now she is the mother of his baby, Nettie, but we still call her Qui* some lime*. and her father agrees with lis that the name is quite appropriate, for she never seem* tired of asking ques tions about "her mother Nettie, whom -lie can hardly remember. Vaccination appeals to have untold terror* for the country folk of (iermany. A woman of Mpllrnbcrge. who wns re peatedly notified to submit her child of eftrlit months to the operation, and wns threatened with nrrningnmenl in court (she did not comply, jumped with th oahy into the Fuhla. Both were drowned " Whafla your name?" asked a teacher of a boy. "My name 1* Jul*," wa* the reply; whereupon the teacher impres sively said. " You should have said '.fuiin*. sir.'" "And now, my lad," turning to another hoy, " what ia your name?" " Bilious, air. A Hint Knee. A French writer says: I remember particularly a certain stilt race, one of the oddest races that I ever saw. Si* men and four women were " entered,' as the horsey men would say. At Al - the women share the exercises of the men. There were then on the bench of Kyrae t n tclmtikti*. In the patois of the Kandcs, which one might he tempted to confound with tlx- .Japan ese or Chinese idioms, a tchnnka is a person mounted on stilts, ami see tchnnka means to no.union stilts. These ten tchnnka* had all tho same traditional costume, without distinction of t-ex, that is to nay, a beret on the head, a mantle of wool over the shoulders, u buttoned doublet, hare feet, and the legs enveloped in a eamano or fleece, fixed by red gar ters. Their stilts raised th'-ni live or six feet from the ground. A |>ole served them as a third point of support. Kern from a distance tlu-y looked like gigantic grasshopper*. The tchnnka. hswever, is seen to perfee'ion on the hare lands, motionless and fixed like a solitary tri angle at sunset, or else when lie leans against a pine trc, silently knitting stockings and guarding a black and lean flock. Btorn and uiuto In tho midst of the crowd, which was examining them xritli curiosity, their thoughts xverc con centrated solely on the race that they were about to dispute. The price was not much. The victor won twenty franc*. Rut twenty franc* in the eyes of the tchnnka represents a fortune. So abate a signal given by the president of the fete, they all ten spread over the notch, howling ami yelling. If it had not been for their immense strides, which jia-s imagination, you might have thought that you were present at an Arabian fantasia. Their evolution* were the same, accomplished with tie same rapidity, in conditions which touched upon the impossible, nn-1 on ground where the stilt stink in a loot at each step. Tle-ir mantles streaming in the fvind, like those of Arabian cava liers. they ran and pivoted round as deftly as if they hod been on foot. The woim-n were by no means inf< rioi to the men; one of them, in fact, came in second, and they were only to he dis tinguished by tlc ir more piercing cries. This ra'-e was followed by some private exercises performed by the tchnnka* in order to provoke the generosity of tie -'pertator*. They junnn-d, they s.t down and rose up again, and they picked uj> as they ran pieces of money that were thrown to tliem. The -i" etacle was not the least extraordinary. Bouncing for ward at full speed, the man was sud ih nly seen to Stop, the stilts bent, fell, as it were, to jslecc*. tip n something was seen moving Iwtwccn three piece* of wood, lik<- Uie fxwly of a j>id< r in ths middle of its long h-g. The whole per formance was done with lightning rapidity, the stilt* rose again, and the man r< appeared on the top of them and r> suined hi* course. A Fireman's Itrsir Deed. I.ate at night a lire broke out in the basement of a three-story lri< k une ment on President streit, Brooklyn, ir the apartment* of Andrew IK nor. and rapidly filled the hott*e with --tifling smoke. T|p-r* were three fnmiii'-* in the houe .lolin M t'snn. hi* wife and •even children occupied the third story. XI OSt of the inmate* of the house wits in bed when the fire broke out. There wn* much exeiteinent, nnd the tenants flcl down the stairway partly dressed, and carrying in their hands su< h articles as they could hastily collect. The fallli li<-s in the first and second *tori->. <■- coped easily. hut Mrs. McCaon was de layed in waking up lp-r seven children and getting tie in started into the street. Clasping an infant in li-r arms she group-,! live of the others together and guided them down the stairs through the dense smoke. She met a police ser geant on the second tory on hi* wnv to I fp-ip rescue the children, and told him all of them, wee with her. hut wh< n *h reached the sidewalk he missed lea five-year old daughter Kmtna. Mr* Me. Cann uttered n slirii k anil made a dash for the entrance of the house, which by this time had le-gun to lr light'd by the fire below, while dense smoke filled the j upper apartment*. She wa* restrained, nnd a I ashler was nut up against the side of the building. Fireman Samuel Duff, foreman of No. 1 3. mounted the ladder, and for< ing open the shutters of the window of tip- third story, climbed in. The room was ai- i rendy full of Smoke, wliieh was almost suffocati -g. and Duff was tempted tore, j turn, thinking that the child must have ; ln-en smoth'-red. but just then heard the ! cries of the child, and. falling upon Id* kne. *, he groped his way along the floor until lie reached the !>od. He culled at the top of his voice for the child to come toward him. and felt over the brd with out reaching Iter. Hearing the cry again *e follow d it* direction, and found the frightened child curled un against the wall, lie grasped her hy the arm. and, almost over'onie bv the mok*. started for the window. He could not see, and the first window he nwho I was rinsed, but pdging his way along the wnl. to the open window he reached the lodder, whr-n 1 the police sergeant met him and took the child. Duff was much ex hausted by his effort*, and waited at the top of the ladder for some minutes to re eover himself. Mrs. Mefann was over joyed to receive her child safe in her arms. Rum* neutiurl Itrextltes. " Fortune taps at every man's do tr," hut it is the misfortune ot many men never to tw at home to receive the calls. It is agaliiHl l lie law to carry coiH-t-airU arms, yet it is nothing uncommon nn moonlight evening* to sec young Indie* with half concealed arms around thcii waist*. The schooHioy will gloat for half a day on the enigma* in a pur.xlo column I Hit when lie comes to g tting his regular arithmetic lesson lie considers it the greatest bore on earth. The Iknnntic Monthly desires to be told " How to stuff egg plant." The lest way is to have the egg plant sliced thin, fried in egg and butter until it is done brown, then stuff it Into the orifice between the nose and the chin. Sir Henry Thoinjrson is arguing stren uously against big Knglisli dinner* witli their unreason able superabundance of viand* nnd their tediously protracted scries ot courses. Ig*t him encourage more of the English to go into tin? news paper business if lie desires to make effective inroads upon the bail ked open in large ||*sui<* with tie intense heat, and scorch'-* the h-et even through thick soled boots. Ihe misera ble trees look unhappy and hang their i poor wilted leaflet*. There i- not a i spear of grass viib!c. Folks out-doorc drag their weary J ngth* along.as though each were carrying a hall and chain. They seem tci have no ambition on earth hut to drop down ami die quietly in some shady nook. The roads are some Inches deep in dust and the air i-> tilled with it, so that br'Jitliing is difficult and pain ful. There are no vegetables nor any fruits. Wells and tanks and cisterns sr> law and the water muddy and unhealthy. Indoors the furniture hums the body through the clothing. The -un glares into every er.u k arid crevice so persist ently that blinds and shades and thick curtains <■ in hardly darken a room suffi ciently. Kvery ciutsidv cioor is closed tightly, from <-arly morning until after sundown, to k> vp out the Ileal. The air become* stagnant and suffocating. A little relief is obtainable from the pun kah. a large fan suspended from the ceiling and worked by a servant from the outside. The punkah swings day and night. 'lii'- man whose business it is to keep it swinging sometimes fails asleep, ami then the air seeins to press upon one at the rate of a thousand pounds to the *c. cutting, lusteT anel color it may be pronounc-d fault less, we re it not f'er a small and almost imperceptible sjiot. which is visible to the eye of an expert when the stone-is taken from its setting. The history of the Regent shows through what varied adventures the his toric ge in ef the world lnvc generally passed. Found in the mines of -nga!? Stolen mysteriously by some unkneiwn acivc-ntnre r. it passed from hand to hand until it became the pi-ojx-rty of Thomas I'ilt, the grandfather of the great Karl of t hatharo, that gentleman havirg pur chased it from a jewel nn reliant while in India for the sum of $rleans, when Regi-nt of France, Uiuglit for >C.OOO. l/ouis XV. and Izauis XVI wore it in their hat*. Na poleon 1. caused it to be set in the hilt of hl sword. For a long time, during the consulate and first e-mpire. this precious diamond was held in pledge by the state- lnkT. XI. Vanicrieerghc. Willis* it was in his possession lie adopted a novel no t led of keeping it safny. His wife u-ci to wear it con stantly sewed uji iii a hell. while the wary hanker exhibited to the eyes of the curious a tine far-smile in paste of the celebrated gun During tlie second empire it formed the crowning jewel ol a sj.lendid diadem of antique form en tirely composed of diamonds, which the beautiful empress wore on all gram! occasions of public fe-sjivity. Those who have ever beheld this peerless Stone biasing like a star alcove that fair brow have never forgotten the sight. A full inventory of the crownoel jewels of France was taken in ITui by order of the National Assembly. Therein the He ?;ent is newribed as "a superb white irilliant of a square form, with round'-d comers, weighing i-arats. and valued at twelve mil lions of francs (f'J.fcsi.ouo)." The great diamonds of the world are generally ugly and luster less, as witness the Koh-i-noor. It is on.y tho great French diamond that shows as regal in its beauty as in it* siae and value. Phenomenal Wells. A letter from Meadville, Pa., to the Raitimore Anuriran says: Four miles from Clintonville, Venango county, a well was sunk three month* ago to the depth of woo feet. No oil hut a heavy vein of gas was found. The owner of the well attempted to remove the easing. It was raised a foot The fresh water at the top of the hole rushed into the bottom. It was caught by the great rush of gas and thrown a hundred feet in the air. This natural fountain has Iwen gushing at the rate ol 3.000 barrels of ire cold water a day ever since, with no in dieation that it will ever eense. Rome months ago a party of oil opcr atorsfrom Titusville and St. Petersburg began operation* in Uie newly diseov erad oil r.-gion ot Trumbull county, Ohio. They have struck a vein ol pe troleum of a character hrretolorr un known in the nil business. It is lubri cating oil of the flncst quality, and It eomea from the earth refined and ready for use on the finest mac liinery. This well is flowing five Itarrels of this oil a day. for which the operators hare a rendy i ale at tlfl a barrel. Ordinary oil, in the Pennsylvania regions, is now sell ing nt sixty-tluee cents a barrel. The tract in which this phenomenal well is located is near West Mecca Two thou sand acres has been leased at enormous prices by other speculators. Ths dis coverers ol litis refined lubricating oil are putting down other wells on their Isnd. Among the sand rock taken from Tew A Thurston's new oil well near State I.lne, at a depth of over I,(loofeet, was a niece thickly studded with sea shells and bear ing the impressions of curious fishes. Katllr*nakr* to kr*rrk Suti correspondent, I aaw a Me*jean of thirty year*' residence in Arizona. My notice WM attracted to him liy a large lump or hag of flenh hanging from hi* faee. | inguinal about it. lie had I teen captured by a lot ol Apache ludialis 1 when a ehild. Tin y fancied him for hi* U-autyand hi* w ii knit frame, and de -ired toki'p 11itit in the triiie, having previously put it out ol hi* pow< r to r - turn liotne by massacring hi* parent* and burning tin- house; *o they titok him into the mountains, WIIf San Fram iiM-o, who erected senral quartz mill* in Arizona, wa* driving along one day when hp progress wa* hHrred at an abrupt turn liy a monster rattlesnake. lli hore he< amr panic stricken, and a* he was unarm l d he was forred to turn around and *e k a**i-taa< < at tie* n ar-st station. Seviral tnear ame that an Indian boy in Marks" em ploy had gone to the upper end of a small vegetable garden to do some neces sary chore*. He had been there tiut a moment wlo-n he cried out in alarm in the Indian tongue, •' A snake! a snake!" and jumped upon a shelving rock hard by. Marksgrahlsed hi* shotgun and tan through the garden ju-t in time to sw an immense rattlesnake preparing to strike the boy. Hejumpea to one side an