Lyra lira at* la.
Within n ouiUo haunted.
Ah enatlna were ol old.
There hung a harp enchanted.
And on ill rim ol gold
Thin legend wan e use rolled:
"Whatever ban! would wia me
To atrike and wake within bmi.
My one aupiemo endeavor,
A chord I lint aounda forever."
Three bnrda ol lyre and viol,
By mandate ol the king,
Were bidden to trial
To find the magic ati ing
(II thoro were auoh a thing),
Then, alter ranch essaying
Ol tuning, came the playing;
And lords ami lailiee splendid
Watched aa those harda contended.
The flint—a minstrel hoary,
Who many a rhyme had spun—
Sang loud of war and glory—
Ol battles lought and won;
But when his song waa done.
Although the bard waa lauded,
And clapping hamla applauded,
Yet, spite of the laudation,
, The harp ceased its vibration.
The second changed the measure
And turned from Are ami sword
To sing a song ol pleasure—
The wino-cup and the liosxd -
Till, nt the wit, all roared.
And the high hall resounded
• With merriment unbounded I
Thg harp—loud as the laughter-
Grew hushed at that, soon afrer.
The third, in lover's laahion,
And with hia soul on Are.
Then sang of love's pure passion
The heart and its desire !
And, us he smote the wire,
The listeners, gathering rouad him,
Caught up a wreath and crowned him.
The crown—bath faded never •
The harp—resounds forever I
T%todorn Tiiton.
Humors of the Telegraph.
The majority of the rending, nnd all
of the educated world are familiar with
the accepted theories regarding elec
tricity, anil with the application of thene
theories by which we have the tele
graph. Hut comparatively few have
lifted the veil of the temple and wit
nessed the peculiar results of its practi
cal working. And these are the em
ployees ol the companies whose business
it is to control and make use of the
mysterious agency and " wonder-work
ing wires" for the convenience and hap
piness of lite public.
In the historv of the Western Union
company I recall but two instances of
the Known betrayal by operators of the
contents of important messages among
the millions of opportunities and in
ducements offered.
In noother business are mistakes more
common, or for many reasons so excusa
ble. For instance, a compositor or a
copyist has his manuscript to easily con
sult, and, to a certain extent, is mas
ter of his own time; but an operator's
time, especially if receiving a message,
is governed by the one at the other end
of the line, and he must depend for ac
curacy upon the correctness of his ear
and memory. Nearly every one has
read of the indignation of that father
who received a message that his sickly
daughter, who was absent nt school,
" had a child this morning," and the
subsequent appeasal ol his wrath upon
finding o<'t that the original message
read "chill," not "child." Not long
ago a certain charitable institution was
considerably mystified by a message ask
ing for the whereabouts of "Monkey
Wrench." The inquiry was instantly
changed to " Mother French," how
ever, upon being returned to the tele
graph company for explanation, and
apology made for the unintentional
blunder. It was. I think, the same
operator who, in taking an Associated
Press article, innocently spoke of "Mrs.
Herman" as secretary of the treasury—
a sudden advance in woman's rights to
which the secretary, Mr. Sherman,
would doubtless object. And a peace
ful family circle ought not to he sur
prised, as it was, by receiving the fol
lowing; "John is dead beat. Depot
this evening.' when a correct transmis
sion of the dispatch would have rendered
it, " John Is dead. Be at depot this
evening." I recall another family
agitated by the telegraphic information
that " Brother lied last night," only to
ultimately find out that he had departeil
life instead of truth.
Some time since a message transmit
ting the intelligence that " the Presby
tery lacked a quorum to ordain," caused
a prodigious amount of nrclreiaslical
wonderment and dismay on reaching its
destination by announcing that "the
Presbytery tacked a wiirm on to Adam."
Comment is unnecessary.
The worthy and sedate Dr. Blank, of
one of our eastern colleges, once accepted
an invitation to lecture in a western
city. His letter of acceptance, appoint
ing in early date, omitted to state the
subject of (lis discourse, and, to adver.
tlso in advance, the raminiittee was
obliged to telegraph him. requesting his
subject. They were somewhat aston
ished at his icplv, but not thinking of
the possibility or a mistake, handed it
over to the only daily paper, which in a
highly eulogistic but misleading article
advised all its readers to bear Rev. Dr
Blank deliver his oelnhrated and ex
tremely humorous lecture—subject: "A
Flew for Activity." The Doctor arrived
too late to have the announcement
changed to what it shonld have been
"A Plea for Activity"- and the result
was a disappointed house and a grieved
lecturer.
The mistakes of tbc telegraph, often
provoking and sometimes amusing, nr.
occasionally in their results of great im
portance. It was not long ago that a
wheat speculator in Chicago made Sr/)
000 by a small order being accidentally
changed to nn immensely large one. 1
believe he lias made no complaint, find
the mark' t turned the otlier way though'
Some ypars ngothednngMirofn well
known ritixen of eentml New York,
named Jennie, had unfortunately,as tin
father tbett thought, formed aa attach
merit for a young man named John. To
separate them the father seat her to
spend the winter with a married sister,
Mary, who resided, in New York
Spring approached and -leanie was ex
pected home on a certain day, hut. in
stead, the father received a letter from
his son-in-law desiring that she might
remain a while longer so thai his wife
could accompany him on n short south
em trip, and requesting nn mwwerj by
telegraph; whereupon the father sent
the following dispatch:
"Jennie may stay and Mary go, if she
wishes to very much."
The message as delivered in New York
read: "Jennie may stay and marry
George if she wishes to very much."
'Hie fid her Immediately received this
from Jennie: " A thousand thanks for
your permission; John nnd I marry at
once. The telegraph stupidly made his
name (leorge, hut of course you meant
John."
How it happened that John wns so
wonderfully convenient is, probably,
not our concern, and we can only hope
that tlie father and Jennie have never re
gretted this mistake of the telegraph.
The hieroglyphlealVharaeters supposed
to be writing in some messages handed
in over the office counters is sometimes
fearful and wonderful to contemplate.
The telegraph is only used in cases of
importance or emergency, and the incor
rect reading of a single word in a con
densed telegram is apt to rentier it not
>oly valueless, but is liable to lead to a
serums misconstruction.
Business men especially should bear
in mind that a plain, clear chirngraphy
not only lessens the liability to error,
hut helps to hasten the forwarding of a
message.
To illustrate the carelessness ol some
men's writing is the story of that Eng
lish nobleman who wrote to n friend in
India to "please send at once two
monkeys;" hut he wrote the two with
out crossing the t. and otherwise so
blindly that Ids (Vicnd mistook it for
1.0(H), and on the first Isiat came thirty
five monkeys, with a note saying the
balance would follow as soon as so large
an order could be filled.
The members of the press are not ex
empt from this carelessness of untrans
latable handwriting. I remember a
special sent by a metropolitan reporter
from a small town, describing an execu
tion. Thesending operator complained
of the writing, and stumbled along
slowly nnd grumblingly, finally capping
the climax by saying tlie "doomed man
then arose, partook of a hearty break
fast. and Went out and buried himself
will) his fife." Tlie city operator re
quested a halt, and after a long silence
and evidently much study, was told by
the sender to change the last five words
to " busied himself with his pipe."
Mentioning newspapers, recalls a men
sage sent by an energetic Cincinnati edi
tor wiio h:ul heard a false rumor of a
heavy rain and tlood In the country edi.
tor's vicinity, to the editor of a country
weekly. It read:
" Send us particulars of the flood."
Tlie reply was quite prompt:
" Yon will find a lull account in
Genesis."
An operator gets accustomed to these
messages, and also to such as: "Send
tuo two daughters of an outcast:" or,
" We have no desperate menfor lie
rightly concludes that the last mention
ed are either to or from some book
dealer.
Why telegraphers, as a class, are so
seemingly card ess and mirthful need not
lie discussed here, perhaps the lively
character of the fluid with which they
are brought into constant contact (
transfused and causes this effcrveson'-c
of mental activity. < >neof their honored
customs in tlrr initiating of an operator,
frreh and verdant fnnu some small coun
try place into his new position in a city
office, with its babel of sounds and per
plexing rush and hurry, reminds one of
college hazing, or the sailor's baptize
tnent on his first crossing of the line.
The victim is requested to take a
"special." How timidly he sits down,
and how nervously he sharpens his pen
cil to take for the first time in his life
press for the papers. How the instru
no-nt buzzes when he says " go ahead."
and doses his key. He feels the watch
ful eye of the chief, and he must not, he
will not, fail in his first trial. And,
oh! what a dispatch for a newspaper!
It begins all right about i railroad acci
dent, but in some mysterious wny this
connects itself with n temperance con
vention. which branches into afirecalls>si
by a walking match, with Congress call
ing upon Mexu-o to prevent the duel lie
tween tlie polar expedition and the IV
cifie railroad which—
He stops matters for an investigation
and wonders if it's he or the correspon
dent t lat i entirely daft. Then lie rubs
his ama/.ed lead. and looks cautiously
around and discovers that lie seems
the sole object of interest to the others;
and if he takes good naturedly the roars
of laughter and the pointed questions
that greet him when lie also discovers
tlint liis wonderful dispatch originated
in the fertile hrnin.nnd by nelevcrswitch
ing of tie- wires, was sent bv the fash at
operator in the office from the other end
of the room to test him. he has taken
one long step toward fraternizing.
The all-night men while away the
tedious hours after the dropping or busi
ness withconveisatinn and stories; and
the belter the story-teller, and the
fresher his jokes, the "more popular lie
is. And how easy to dispose of a bore!
It is said that on one of the circuits I'fl
tween New York and Chicago and in
termediate cities, the nil-night men had
oniy to request one of their eo-laborers.
who lind no otbor fault than his long,
pointless stories, to relate something,
and then, unsnown to him for.
tlioy had no desire to offend him
—would ent him out of the circuit,
and have a social good time for an hour
or two. On readjusting the wires the
honest and solitary story-teller would
be ratt ling along, unconscious of his loss
of nuditors, and ierfectly happy in their
remarkable attention. Perhaps the !
reader has in his youth told with much
enthusiasm a capital story to a sleepy
bedfellow to find, on Hearing the end, j
that his companion was sound asleep, i
It's rather depressing.
A story, first told by a San Francisco
paper. I will venture to repent here for '
no better reason than heeause it is j
strictly true. It often liappens that tele- !
grnphers are tailed into service at tlje
representation of a stage play. In which
occurs what is known as a " telegraph <
seine." such ns the one shown in Byron's
"Across tlie Continent," cr Boucicnult's
"long Strike," and nt such times the
operator la-hind the scenes manages to
amuse himself by "talking" toAlie audi
ence, unknown of course to only those
of the fraternity who are present. The
drama of " Across the Continent" was
several years ago produced at n certain
hall, and for the manipulation of the
telegraph instrument which plays an im
portant part in tlie most exeitjng scene
of the play, nnopcrnt if, whom we will
call Frank, was engaged. His position
was sti< h that he eotiTd sen tlie audience
without being seen, and upon taking his
position lie direovered in the auditorium
a hrothrr operntor frnm out of town,
Hpieer by name, who had that day ar
rived. Frank Is fond of a joke, so when
the lime come for sending the first dis
pa*eh he loudly sounded on the machine,
"How are you, Hpieer?" The profor
slonal car of Spicer instantly caught
tlie words, and, wondering who it was,
straighten!*! uti and stared at tlie stage
as if lie would give two dollars and a
half to know something more.
"Spicer, how's your mniiuuu?"quickly
followed from the instrument, and the
mystified Kpiccr confidingly turned to
his lair partner to express his astonish
ment at the most singular circumstance.
As luck had it the auditorium held quite
i a delegation of operators, who knowing
Spicer ami hi* great characteristic of
bashfulnesH, with one accord began to
look around the theater for him.
Spierr lind hardly began telling the
young lady about it when there came
another message;
"Aha! old Spicer! Don't fool that
confiding creature with any of your non-
M DM."
| This aroused the telegraphers to a
1 pitch of curiosity, and many of them
i Hlood gazing about tlieni as if their only
I object in life was to discover Spicer.
I Ami lie felt that they saw him, and the
I confusion which had ln-cn gradually
; covering ids features grew into mortiti
! cation when lie saw so many eyes leveled
I at htm, and at last culminated in his
| hasty withdrawal from the theater.
But Frank sent a parting shot, fur a*
] lie faded from view he heard
"Good-bye, Spicer; hut don't forget
! her tendency for ice cream."
When it is considered that this ccne
forms the climax of an cxc e-dlngly
thrilling point of the play, and Mr.
Byron is dramatically explaining with
! wild gesticulations to the audience what
' the instrument is supposed to be saying,
, the modest Spicer's embarrassment can
I he understood.
Hastily as we have glanced at tlie
brighter and cheerful side, there is now
| room for tlie dark one. But messages
of sorrow and death burden the long
slender wgres and trip through tlie nick
ing instruments. Living dramas are
constantly wrought through tin ir mute
agency, and of this perhaps they are
speaking when at the quiet of midnight
we hear from them that strange .Eolian
music like voices from a spirit land, that
deep within us finds a responsive chord,
thrilling and saddening us.—(Vnciiinoli
; Kti'{uirj:r.
Words of Wisdom.
| The path of moderation is the safest
to tread.
It's poor foolishness to run down your
| enemies.
i The mother's heart is the child's
; school-room.
Make yourself necessary and your suc
• cess is certain.
Hide the faults of other* and irake
i known tlie virtU'*s.
K' fts<>n is tlie test of ridii ule—not rid
icule the test ol truth.
When reason is against man, a man
will be against reason.
Oar actions are our own; tlie com- •
quences licking to heaven.
The festival which Ix-ar* the grcates
fruit is the festival of duty.
Our acts make or mar us; we are the
children of our own deeds.
Every undertaking is involved in its
fault*, as tiie fire in its smoke.
Oft expectation fails, and in out oft
here where most it promises.
Age that lcs* n.* the ciuoyment of ife
inenas'-s our desire of living.
Watch your own speech and notice
how it is guided by your lea* conscious
purposes.
iKist thou love life* Then do not
squander lime, for that is the stuff life i
made of.
Commend a tool for hi* wit or a knave
for his homntynnd they will receive you
into llieir tiosom.
No triumph is so great as that of tlie
soul over tlie body. It is inspired by
the highest motive.
When gratitude ha* liecome a matter
• f reasoning there are many way* of
escaping from it* bonds.
Many a sweetly-formed mouth lias
been disfigured and made hideous by
the fiery tongue within it.
A clear conscience can rest easy on a
lied of granite, while nn evil one would
he uneasy on a bed of swansdown.
Uphold trutli when thou canst, and
for her sake he listed; tint know thv in
dividual cause is not tlie cause of truth,
and beware that they are not confounded.
It is easy to advise a person, hut how
difficult to receive, under similar eir
cumstanees, that same advice from
another, because wc are so prone to Im>-
lieve that what we accept i truth, and
that those who cannot see with out
eye* are all wrong.
The Hull and the Retil Fish.
The Teipcko f Japan) 7Yme* says tlie
story given below wa communicated
by a correspondent: Tlie author of
"Bchuyukidan " who lived some sixty
yearsago, was once traveling in Muttii,
one of tlie northern prox Incc*. Walking
one dny near tlie sea beach lie heard the
bellow of a hull, and went in the direc
tion of tlie noic. He war. then witness
of an extraordinary comlmt lietwcen
some cuttle fi*h and a hull. An enor
mous poulpe, with bright purple e-e*
and tentacles six feet long, had attacked
the qundruped. Throwing it* arms
around the lately, Hie monster tried to
make for the water witii it* captive.
Meanwhile other octopi, in large num
ber* ami of great size, swarmed on to
the shore, which seemed tobc alive with
their big round head*. Some of tliem
assisting their comrade, soem ike him
attacked tlie hull, dragging it down to
tli* sea. Their quarry, however, made
a brave resistance, and succeeded in gor
ing its flr*t foe in the head nnd belly and
shaking itself free from it* embrace.
Before it could escape, Iwiwever. it wss
firmly held by a still larger monster,
while other* Uiok solicitous care of tlie
wounded one. Tlie unfortunate beast's
bellowing attracted a crowd of fishermen
to tlie spot. One of these, stronger and
braver than hi* fellows, hi* limbs
swayed in straw bandage*, ami a sharp
knife in Ilia hand, boldly rushed to tlie
rescue of the hull, and cut through the
tentacle* wlii'M inclosed it. Other
poulpestiien attacked the Asher.to whose
aid his fellows hastened, and a fierce
fight ensued bet ween men and monster*
in which tlie former were victorious,
many of tlie squills being killed, while
thereat esenped into the water. Two
of the tentacle* wound round tlie hull
were so heavy that one man alone could
not carry tliem. One was tarrive and
the other six feet long; the largest of tlie
two was subsequently boiled in sections
at different times in a big kettle. Home
years previous to tills battle, cattle had
disappeared in a mysterious way from
the same shore. The fight between tlie
cephalopoda and the hull enlightened
Hie proprietors a* to their low.
London— ltd Greatness.
London in 11 viint world in itself. You
are- ImprOßHod, wlii-n you lind yourself
in it, witii ltn Immensity; a* one in ini
pre-ssee! iiy the vn*t reach ot tin* oe-can
WIIPH lie ste-am* over It dny after day
without n glimpse of land orthe-sight,
perhaps, of a single sail. You feel like
ii mere atom in thin vast billowy tide of
human life. Cut up into Rmnlipr e-om
niunitie-s Ixiodon would make a dozen
cltiCH equal in population to New York,
Brooklyn, Boston, Philadelphia, Haiti
more, Washington, Buffalo, Cincinnati.
Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans and
San Krunciseo! It contains more people
than our six populous New Knglnml
States, more than the whole kingdom of
Denmark, more Minn twice as many as
Norway, nearly as many as all Scot
land. It is Haul to contain more Jews
i than Palestine, more Catholics tliar.
j Koine, more Irishmen than Dublin,
| more Scotchmen than Edinburgh.
! Tliere are omnibuses running across the
; city, by as straight a route as the oow
i path streets allow, which start before
j live o'clock in the morning and bare-lp
make two runnel trios before midnight.
And yi ar by year the great city pushes
out its borders, encompassing village
j after village oi the outlying suburbs in
i its spider web of pavements, and witlei
mains, and oninihUM-*, and busy traffic.
I The villas around its fringes, as linre
says, seem to tie constantly making an
| eflort to get into the country and never
succeeding. Many m-ighimrhriods in
; tliesolinly built city still near the names
1 by wliicli they were Known wlicnthey
were only little hamlets in the fields
! miie* from the city gates—such as
Chelsea. Kensington.('amlierwell.Baya
water, St. John's Woid, etc. It is
' partly because of the absorption of so
many villages in the great mctropoit
; that it is afiticteel witii such confusion
in its street nomenclature. If you wish
| to visit King street it is possible for you
to explore ninety-four different stn-e-t*
of that name before you lind the right
|one, If it is Queen stre-et, your chance
of hitting the right one the first time is
just one in ninety-nine. I toes your
friend live on Church street—you are
| confronted by one hundred and fiftt
I streets of that name besides the one yot
I want! Even of John streets there are
one hundred and ninctee n, and of N< w
i street* —new a long while ngo in most
e.iiM-s—one hundred and sixty-six! It
become* A ncccMpy, in sueli ease*, to
give the street a surname, so to speak—
a* men iiegin to take surnames when
•lames and John and Mary became fie.
<iuent in the aame circle of acquaint
ance. Streets are often designated,
. therefore, by adding the name of some
! well-known thoroughfare into which
j they run, or the sps ial ncjghlsirhixx)
to whi< h they belong, as Queen Mr<-e-t.
i ('lienphide• King street, St. Jarnes
Square; Church str'st. Tooting; High
street. Maryleltone, etc. And in any
I <ase the initials of tlie g. neral division
I of the city are usually affixed to the ad-
Hr*s—" E. for East Center; " \V.
C.," West Center; "S. E.." Southeast;
I " N.," North, etc.— (/oat (Vmijsiay.
-i
A Oncer ling.
A curious bug was brought to the
('hronvlr oflie-c this niomilig hv
Henry Hunt, a resident of North
it sln-e t. Mr. Hunt found the
hug in his back yard It is alenut tlie
j si/c of a quarter of a dollar, and its pe
! • nliarity i. that wliiie it i liape*el much
like a turtle, it walks on only half t>| it
legs at alinie. It has six legs, throe on
; side. When it walks it balnnev-s itself
; on its edge and move* along at a good
I pace on three leg*. After walking in
thi way about a minute i- flop* over and
.walk* on tlie other three legs. Some
time* it walks on its two fore leg*, like
a man in a oircu* walking on hi* hands.
Mr. Hunt as*e-rt that the hug <an exe
cute a hand-spring, cither hack ward or
forward, but while it was in this office
|it did not emsay a feat so difficult. It*
back is a deep blue spotted with g*'ld,
ami it* belly is striped witii red. When
the bug waik* on its foreleg* it reminds
one ola circus acrobat in spangle# of
many color* While Mr Hunt was ex-
I hihiiing his bug. Captain Sam, the Piute
I chief, carae in with Charley, of Silver
, City Sam remarked with a smile of
superior knowledge: "Circus hug. you
bet!" The Piute st ret died a string l>e
; tween two tables, and tlie bug walked
j tlie tight-rope on edge and then hung
down from It by hi* hind feet The
j Piute* venerate "the insect, and ny that
when it appears in tlie fall with gold
mark* on it* hack it means plenty.
Black spots signify death and white
*pot* famine Aside from the absurd
superstition, tlie hug is certainly a
w< ndertul tiling and ft* antic* vaMjy
amusing Mr. Hunti-eftim-d ten dollars
j for it this morning, offered by Tom
Ruekner.— Eiryieiur Ctiy (Act.) f'Arow
- - -
Horning a Read Elephant.
Bomehodv asked a great Herman
chemist, " What is man P " A pinch of
i phosphorus and a bucketful of water."
was his answer. It recalls this con
t< mptuou* definition (made from a
i chemical stand-point), to read of a two
ton eli pliant mlue-cd to a wheel-barrow
load of chip*. The Ixmdein Tdmraph
, ehmcribes the disposal made of "Boy."
a dead elephant at tlie Zoological Gar*
ileus at Berlin: Tlie corpse of this co
lossal public favorite was found to
weigh considerably over two tons, ex
j elusive of the bones, and had to be
divided into several sections before it
could be conveyed away from the gar
den* to the furnace by wliirh it was
eventually consumed.
Eight strong nun failed to lilt the skin
alone into a cart. " Boy's" hide Weighed
twelve hundred weight, and was found
to be two inehem thick in some part*
and an inch and three-quarters thick
along tlie spine. It wa so much dam
aged, however, by the illness to which
"Boy "succumbed, that eminent taxi
dermists, to whose inspection it was
submitted, pronouniiMi it until for pres
ervation, and declined to attempt to
stuff it.
Accordingly, it was reduced by com
bustion to ashes, and yielded half a hun
dred weight ot manure, valued at £4s.
fld.
Tlie whole of ids carcass, witii the ex
ception of the bones, which have been
preserved for tlie purpose ol rcoonstiurg
ing Ids skeleton, was consumed by the
action of steam until all that was left of
it could lie carried away in a wheelbar
row, and sold to a gardener for IBs.
Hut fertile* are covered with feathers:
hairs are hollow tutu-*. Tlie surface ol
our bodies is covered with scale* like
those of a fish. A single grain of send
would cover a hundred of these scalna,
••at a scale covers hundred* of pore*.
Through these nvrow openings pcrspir*
I "lion forces itself out, like water t luougt
| sieve.
TIMBLI TOPIC*.
Eighteen of the State-* have civil dam
age liquor laws. Their provisions are
substantially the same, making de-ale-r*
responsible pecuniarily for all harm re
sulting from the sale of alcoholic bev
rragi-s. New York, Ma no Massachu
setts and Illinois have Minutes precisely
alike.
The Russian government is about to
introduce on<- more penally against
journal* published without preliminary
censorship. They are now prohibited
from publishing business advertise
ments. The Husskaia l\rnr<Ui savs that
I the measure will prove a punishment
i not only for tne editors, but also for
i the advertisers, who, )-elnif innocent,
j inay suffer more than tlie guilty editors
' themselves.
Charles Ar Hhowe, a Chinaman, lc-
I came a tea merchant in Boston thirty
I years ago. married an American wife,
I grew wealthy, and mixed in cultivated
| society, little I y he visited hi* native
j land, and, on returning, says to the Bos
ton Ihrnhl: " Every tiling in < Una
, seemed almost a* strange to me as it did
to rue when I.lirsi Tame to Boston." Il
found few soeiul changes, however,
; s ' Individual taste, if ii leads to a devia
tion from the set forms of society, is
frowned down, and. so long as this ft el
i ingis prevalent in China, its people are
i sliiv-s to custom, opinion and usage."
There is something strangely parallel
in the tragic fate* of Donaldson and
Wise. Tip se men were intimately asso
ciated in former years, Donaldson went
tip from Chicago, and Wise from it* rival
! < ity, St. Louis. Each had with him
i one companion. Neither of the balloon*
' were ever found, and the fate of each
• is a matter of conjecture, although it is
t bought that ixitli were engulfed in Lake
Michigan. Each of the companions
were fnund some time after the occo
j Hon, each on the shores of lake Michi
gan, one witii a copy of a Chicago paper
in hi* pis k< t, the other with a St. J>oui*
paper.
j The United State* consul at Tien Tsin,
China, in adispa'ch to tlm Department
1 of State, report* that two English physi
cian* have had remarkable success in
their practice in the royal family, lead
ing to an immense practice among the
i common |>con]e. The viceroy has es
tablished a free dispensary and placed
one of the doctors at it* la-ad. The
whole expense i* borne by the viceroy.
He ha* also noticed favorably Miss
Howard, M. I).. an American lady, who
hold* high rank among the physicians
of I'eking. This lih< ral and humane
course by tlie foremost man in the em
pire will do mueli to break down tlie
piejudiecs of the people.
The Nevada .Vim r saj mat wherever
in any part of tlm world silver mine*
have bis n worked tlmy nr<- work'-d now,
unless by war.the invasion of Indians,
J Me., the xvork has tss-n stopped. There
i i* no silver mining region in the world
] that lia* givin out. Mexican mines
J worked by the Aztec before the con
quest bv <\rt 7 are stiil as profitable as
ever. The old Spanish mine*, opened
long ix-fnre Hannibal'* time, are stiil
w.irkwl witii enormous profits. Tlie
South Anmri> on mines have constantly
yielded their wealth for more than 3ob
years, and are a* productive a ever,
i Mines in Hungary that were worked by
tlm Roman* before the time of Christ,
stiil yield an abundance of ore.
The Hungarians are exceedingly jeal
| ous of their identity a* a distinct and
I sovereign people, and carefully preserve
I their nalio al Usages and language.
With Urn later, however, tlmy have
milch trouble, the tendency being to ii*
gradual extirpation before that of She
more numerous and powerful Teutonic
race, witii which they are so joined that
| one or tlm oUmr must give way. Ger
man is the official and judicial language
of Hungary, and the srhoois
| are not on'y not conducted in llun
' garian, hut that language l is not taught
in them. An effort in tlm Hungarian
Parliament to mske instruction in the
! native tongue compulsory in the schools
was und'-r discussion some time ago.
and was linaiiy defeated because it was
feared that it might create trouble wilh
j the rest ol the empire.
Tlm annual report of Dr. W. W
Strew, the njedieal Miperint' ndent of the
' City Lunatic Asylum, at Blaekwell's
Island. New York, present* an interest
ing and valuable exposition of the work
of tiiis import.mt public charity Dur
j ing tlie last year tlie total number of
patient* undiT treatment in the asylum
was 1.7W7, of whom iWM were discharged
; eiiiier eniireiy or partially recovered.
, Tlie deatli rate among tlie inmate* was
extraordinarily low. and the sanitary
'•ondition of the institution appear* to
! have been admirable throughout. Dr.
' Strew, in iiis report, i-all* e-*peeial atten
tion to the fact that a tmnevolent laejy
of this city hit* intcre*ted herself in pre
euring employment for cured ami dis
charged patient* who, afW re-oovcry,
usually find it difficult to obtain situa
tions, anel expre-s*e>* the liepe that other
friemds of theme unfortunate people will
follow thi* laudable example.
A singular foot lia* been recently re
ported ed the pe-ople of the little visited
country ef Annum, an it depende-nt
though tributary state on the south of
China. Tlm native-* of the country ol
pure descent hare the great toes of each
loot separatee! from the other* like the
thumb on the hand, and can and do U*e
their toes in much the same manner • h it
the thumb* are used, though. ef cnuim,
to a much less extent, in the vie-inity
of tlie seaport of Sargoo, where foreign
intercourse ha* produced an admixture
of races, tills t ypieal characteristic of the
Annauicsc is graetually passing away;
hut in tlie northern sertk ns of the king
demi. wlmre the race lias remained dis
tinct, it is rarely the ease that a child is
beirn without flexible toe*. That thi*
Eeeuliarlty is of great antiquity is shown
y the fart that in the Chinese'- annals of
tlie year 23u0 B.C..there i* a de scription
Siven of the barbarian tribe* that were
ie-n to be found upon tlie borders of
the Clilne-se empire, and ameeng theme one
tribe or race is mentioned a* having thi*
peculiar formation of the big toe.
They hax-e no civil damage net in Ger
enany, hut even there the necessity of
some restriction upon the sale of aleo
ho!lc liouors'to such as have not suffi
cient disiTetlon to use them properly
appears to lie exjneeded. In vanous dis
trict*. by authority of general instruc
tion* proceeding fiom the government,
the police have prohibited tavern keep
ers mini selling or otherwise ftirnishing
to minora under the ag of sixtem, ap
prentices or persons mentally derang-d
or weak, any dialilled spirituous liqw •
of whatever description, and n similar
prohibition will apply to hui'-k to con
finned drunkards, whenever the name*
of thew* latter have• been giyen to the
ihiuor vender* with a proper caution.
l)ioWii'iiif of th<ne order* will be
punishable by fine and impri*onmrnt;
hut they are not intended to apply to th'*w
■•ale of beer, th" consumption of which
ha* never been found to ciuw injury to
anybody. The polity order* arc to be
poatcd in a prominent pbv : j n every
tavern. Thi new* rntut make (icrman
liquor *ell< m in America fee) Jem perse
euted and forlorn.
itoiiiantir Lpiwode in the Career of a
I nit ft! State* Senator.
A <orre*ponrlent write* a* follow*
: the Ifoulder (Col.j Si wt awl '"ourvcr:
! The Denver paper* publish tv;o dif
f< r< in statement* (Min'-cmlng due] that
| wo* to he fought in lireckenridgc in the
i*.y Hettlernentof thi* country, neither
I of which gives the true cau*e of the set
tlement of the difficulty, nor the reason
it did not terminate fatally to one or both
parties .
I In- principal- in the duel were (J. I'.tP
I fall, who i* now in Montana, and
Spencer, who i- now in tin- Black Hill*
mining, and was formerly United Stat/-*
Senator from Alabama.
I The difficulty occurred st a *oc|ai
I gathering, wher- llali, imagining Spen
eer had insulted him, wrote him a chiil
| Icnge to mortal combat, and placed it
j in tie- hand* of a friend to he delivered
ito Spencer, The latter at onoe weeptod
tjic challenge, naming hatchets a* the
weapons, and the early part of the fol
io wing day a* the time of meeting.
Tlie parties cwh Ixmglit hatch'-t*, iiut
they were not the *iz' and weight that
) could be thrown with accuracy.. Spcn
! cer liad had practice a* a hoy in throw
ing a particular-shaped hatch't of a
' < ertain weight, a id a blacksmith named
(ieorgc Bressler was employed to make
two of the kind wanted. This delayed
tlie time of m< ' ting until afternoon. and
the inP rvai vu employed without
avail by mutual friends in the endeavor
, to settle tlie difficulty.
Tin- parties met, and again friend* in
-1 terfored to stop tlie fight, but neither
would retract nor mate any apology,
though this delay probably saved the
life of Mali, for at this moment the
mail < arrier canm in sight, and tbcsoc
| ond* told the principals to wait, as tlie
, carrier might have a letter for one or
l both of them. Th<v waited, and the
i arri(r came up with a letter for Hall
from hi* mother, who wrote that she
had just visited Spencer's mother th<
day before writing, and how happy
I they both were to tliink of their two
Ikijs, who were together to take ohre of
i achother in case ofsickn*-** or troubh .
| if MOMMury.
llali. after reading the letter, passed
it to liia second, who also r< ail and
handed it to Sp< m . r' second, the Irtt'T
giving it to Sj* neer. A fur the i<'tt*r
had l>" n read ali around Isitli princi
pals blamed themselves a* being too
nasty aad apologised. Spaa oar alhHl
leaving for home, and during the war
joined the Union army. Hall start'-d for
' the Salmon river gold mines, hut find
' inp gold in Montana in the Slinking
WaU r mines, he went there and was
married.
This is th° true story ol the whole
nfTair.
Down a Chafe. 1
At huie is laid from the river's lwink
■ up tin- steep mountain to the railroad,
and while We ar<- telling it the monster
I log* arc rushing, thundering, flying,
leaping <lown the declivity. They come
with the spc.-d of a thunderbolt, and
somewhat of its roar. A track of fire ™
and smoke follows them—fin- struck by
their frietion with the chute log*. They
descend til* !." feet of the chute in
fourteen second* In doing *o they drop
Too fis't perpendicular. They strike tlie
deep water of the t>ond with a report
that '°an be beard a mile distant.
Logs fired from a cannon could scarcely
hare gr<nter velocity than they have at
the foot of the chute. The average
velocity is over loft feet in a second
throughout the entire distance,and at
the in*tanl they leap from the mouth
their speed must Is- fully 200 per second.
A sugar-nine log sometime* weigh* ten
ton*. What a mf*le! How the water
is das! el into the air! I>ike a grand
| plume of diamonds and rainhows. the
feathery spray is hurled into tlie air to
tli" li< iglit of a 100 feet. It form* the
grandest fountains ever beheid. How
the water* of the pond foam and seethe
and lash against tlie shore.
One log, having spnt its force hy it*
mad plunge into the deep waters, has
floated so"a to be at right angles with
the path of the descending monster.
The mouth of tlie chute is perhaps fif
i t'-en feet above the surfaceol the wati r.
A huge log hurled fnun the chute cleave*
tlie air and alight* on the floating log.
You know how a bullet glances, but can
; you imagine a saw-log g.snce? The
lend stiikcs with a heavy shock, but
glides quickly past for a sliort distance,
I then a crash like a rcverbemtioil of
artillcrv, the falling log springs 150 feet
; vertically into the air. ana with a curve
j like a rocket falls into the pond seventy
' yards from tlie log it struck.— 7YucAu
Set.) R'frtMican. w
Thirteen Days Without Food.
The steamship Kngland reached New
York front Liverpool after a rough pas
sage. When a 'longshoreman descended
into the fore hold, which was stowed
| full of harrrls. packed so closely as to
leave only a space of about three feet
; between them and the deck, he heard
talking.and suddenly touched something
that his lantern showed to be a human
body. Soon aUerward the sailors
dragged to the light aman.still alive and
conscious, hut so rcdu<-ed by starvation
that hewn* only a living sfceieton, with
skm.like sliriveledparehntent drawn over
liis Uines. The ship's pbvsirian trie Ito
force nmirishment clown the stowaway'*
throat; but be wn* 100 far gone, and
in hnlf an liour he died. It was evidc nt%
that he was a foreigner, and when be
1 wa* first taken on deck an Austrian girl
from among the steerage passengers suc
ceeded in undcrstanoing a few words
that he was able to murmur, lie begged
for watcr.saidthat he had lasted neither
food nor drink since the day the ship
sailed and that his name wa* " llanrv. '
That was sll lie ws* able to say. His
body was sent to the morgue. In the
narrow space Into which the stowaway
had sqneesed himself iust before the
steamship sailed, he could only lie down
or craw i around over tlie heads of lh*& ,
barrels; iut could not s'snd nor could*
he sit upright. His clot hint showed
lliat in his terrible hunger lie had
gnawed it, as he had also gnawed hits of
wood from the hands
The man who wrnis a wateh cbaia
should keep a wsteh on H.