A Strange Love.
I clasped hor, straggling, to ray breast,
I whispered love unknown;
One kiss upon hor lipa 1 pressed—
And she was all ray own.
I loved her with a love prolound
K'en death eonld ne'er destroy—
Anil yot I must conies* I fonnd
My bliss had some alloy.
One ere I wiw her, unaware,
Upon a lellow'a lap,
Ha claiming kisses ripe and rare
I did not like the ohap.
She had some faults (as have we all)
Aud ona I hotted to throttle —
She had, alas, what IJmust call
A weakness lor the bottle.
One morn I mot her ore was made
Her toilette, and beneath
▲a old straw hat hor laugh betrayed
My darling had no teeth.
(Tnoonoious ol my presence she
With artless antics rare
Tore off her hat and—gracious mo
Her head was minus hair.
Bnt love is founded on a rock
And mighty in its might,
For I could learn, without a shock,
She could not read nor write.
She cimid not dunce nor siug a tone,
And scarcely could converse;
Hat what cored I—she was my own
For better or for worse.
Oh! how I loved her—l conlessod
Devotion and you, may bo.
Would do the some il yon |>ossessod
Another such a baby.
—H. C. Dodge, in Puck.
I" PESSONAL." IN) WHAT CAME OF IT.
*• I wonder why so much money is
wasted by people on matrimoni il ad
vertisements," said Will Fowler to me
one day. •
This was apropos of nothing in par
tinular, for not a word hnd been said for
ten minuteß; but then he was always
popping absurd questions at you.
" I can understand a man's going to
the theater," he continued, " or sub
scribing to a soup-kitchen, or even being
fool enough to send a bouquet to some
pretty girl, but why on earth he should
tumble any more coin into the hungry
pockets of these newspaper men is more
than I can understand. Where does the
fun come in ? Of course the i haps who
advertise haven't an idea of marrying
ousuch an introduction, and equally, of
course, no woman nowadays is goose
enough to answer such an 'ad '—that
is, no woman with whom it would be
any pleasure to correspond."
ft was a gloomy March day, and Will
and I were toasting our feet befote the
fire in his Chiiitgo office. He was a
married man, witli a pretty wife and
several children, a very clever writer,
and possessed of a private income more
than equal to his needs; I, a younger
class college friend of his, atul a pin
feathered lawyer with certain heart en
gagements which precluded all idea of
other love affairs. The topic broached
by him was argued pro and con, and
the result was that I bet him a dinner
that a carefully-worded matrimonial
advertisement would bring in at lenst
fifty answers, the loser to pay for the
publication. After long consideration,
iu which he good naturedly took part,
the following card was written and sub
sequently published in a Sunday paper
noU-d for its personals;
HAVING BEEN A WIDOWER FOR
two years, I wisn to marry again. I
am thirty-five years old, five feet ten inches
in hoight, thirty-nine inches atounil thechest
ami have excellent health, mental and physi
cal Being of a somewhat phlegmatic tem
perament, I neither ask nor proffer nrdent
love, hot simply desire that there shall be a
mutual respect, as my chict reason lor marry
ing is that during my lre<|iient business ab
sence* trom home my little six-year-old girl
may be left in chaige ol one who will guard
her with a mother's care. lam a commercial
traveler for a large Eastern house, own a
suburban cottage, which is comfortably lur
umbel and have 94,1)00 in V. S. bonds. Per
fect respect will be felt for any laily who may
answer this advertisement, and absolute se
crecy will be observed, whether the application
Ira tavorably received or not. Only those
need apply who will fairly answe •to the fol
lowing description: Age, between twenty and
thirty; education, good; disposition, not
given to bickering or fault-flnding; health,
good, nnd especially must Ira Iroe trom any
pulmonary complaint; appearance, rather
pleasant than handsome; reputation that will
liear the closest scrutiny. In return lor these
excellent qualities a modest home and gentle
UcaUuent are offered. Address EDWARD
CXARKK. Office.
Monday morning'* mail settled the
wager, for by that delivery more than
the requisite number of letters eanic to
band. By Monday evening the city cor
iiwpondenee was about exhausted, but
for days afterward notes nunc dropping
in from the country districts, the last
one coming all the way from Salt lokc
City, until the total number received
amounted to one hundred and twenty
si K. Of these a large moiety had been
ant on speculation by women of the
lowest nlaus. The next largest assort
ment came from the servant-girl class,
and a nice collection of pencil marks,
had Rnghsh and dirt they were. Some
had come from sewing-women, telling
pitifttl stories, many of which bore evi
dence of their troth in their incoher
ence. Others, again—and there were
a good many of these had been sent in
joke, as we oookl easily ae, while a
doscn. perhaps, were startling repel*
(sons of life and sorrow among edu
cated women, whose want struggled
with the feeling of shame. The last
mentioned letters made ns feel very un
comfortable and blackgnsrdish, for
their genuine grief, mortification and
self-abasement were s rebuke to our
thoughtless joke, the only excuse for
which was the fact that no such real
istic results had been expected. Will,
being a good-natured, generous fellow,
sal red his conscience by giving pecuni
ary aid in several instances where in
vestigation proved that aid was needed.
While glancing over the second hatch
of letters. Will suddenly cried ont:
"By (ieorge! here's a prise, and a
jolly one, too, after this alternate mass
of slosh and sorrow; just listen to it,
will yon. and benr in mind it's my
booty, as I made the Had."
Me then reads as follows.
MiLWAtma, Wis., March IS.
Ma. KDWASO CLAMS■ TT T T—l believe
joe*re a real hinabag, Bad, and that you're
M* (fed si all, nor s widower, nor anything
tin Waled in that personal. After caretully
atedylag jrowr little reissues, I have made up
tnr "in I that yon are owe at two evils;
oilher a designing wratdh ol A man, who
wishea to laugh nl and expose the tollies of
lilly womanhood, or else, and that's a great
leal worso, a scandal-loving leinale who would
tickle hor goasipy palato with tho discovered
weaknesses ol her own sex. II you am tho
litter, I doapiao you, lor I can't get any lun
out ola flirtation with a woman; but it you
am tho termor, I'll excuse your enormitioa it
you'll only make yourself amusing. What
you aro time may discover; what 1 am you
ahull now hear. In tho flrat place—you tnon
alwuya tuke that into flrat oonaideration —I'm
a decided brunette and batter looking than the
average woman, at least, ao my friends and
my glass tell me. I am iu my nineteenth
year; to be exact, was eighteen laat January,
ami am not the lenat bit aeatimentul, but lull
ol mischief as any poor cooped-mi girl you
over saw. Now isn't it a shame?—l'm not out
ol boarding-school yet—and that's tho rials on
you get this letter; lor I'm older than most of
the other girls, and leel liko doing something
that isn't real laid, you know, but that's |ust a
little restless, and they'll think it's awlully
wicked when they And out that I'm corre
sponding with n man I don't kuow.
It you are a woman—but I don't think any
woman could luivo published suoli a thing, so
we'll pretend you are not a woman—il you are
a man, then, and put that piece in tho |siper
just tor a lark—isn't tlrnt an awful word for
me to use?—why I will promise to answer your
letters so long as they are pleasant and polite;
lor you must not think I am not a lady be
cause I have written this letter. Ol course, I
have no idea ot marrying anybody, and espe
cially not you, for 1 am rather fond ol some
body else and he likes me, at least he sonds
me boxes ot candy and the sweetest flowers;
but I'm tired ol this poky lite and need some
soit ol it tonic. If you wish you can writ e to
Yours, suspiciously,
Josu: MASOM,
Box —-, Milwaukee, Wis.
P. S. —This isn't my real name, you see,
any more than yours is Kdwiird Clarke; hut it
is tho only name you must know mo by. And
if by nay chance your advertisement should Ist
in earnest, 1 should lie dreiidlully sorry to
, linvo written to you in this way, but I'm sure
that in that cnao you'll forgive a harmless joko
trom a young girl who has scarcely any amuse
ments.
"Tliat girl's a little trump," said
Will, when he had finished reading the
letter, " and I'm just the boy to help Iter
drive the hlues away. You can have all
the rest of the letters, but this one drops
to my ink."
It struck me that there might be more
fun in this correspondence than in any
of the others that offered, so I mildly
suggested the impropriety and possible
! risk of epistolary ventures on the ptu-t
of a married man. My friend detected
tiie motive, however, and laughingly
remarked that a man engaged would
run more danger than a man mnrried ;
so lie stuck to his prize, and then ar.d
there answered it in a bright and spark
ling letter, which overflowed with fun.
ana yet bore murks of prudence and of
! respect for the young lady. In it be
| acknowledged the falsity of that per
-1 annul, and declared that bis object was
J gained in securing so jovial, and proba-
I lily so pretty a correspondent, vowed
1 that he would write to none of the other
i damsels who hail answered the matri
monial card, and prorai ed, on ail the
! honor air unknown man eould possess,
i that he would make no attempt to riis
• cover the identity of "Josie Mason."
He took precious good pains, the scamp,
, not to say apythtng about bis ir.cura
| branees, and cheerfully avoided touch
ing upon his personal affairs
A voluminous correspondence ensued
between these two lunatics, to which I
was a party, In so far that Will always
1 read me the letters from both sides.
I After some months of this sort of thing
had passed, I noticed, and remarked the
tact to him, that Josie's style had
i greatly changed since her first letter:
she was less flippant, nnd Evidently
! strove to appear more womanly, ft
I could also be seen that she regretted her
mention of the young man of flowers and
1 candy boxes, for several times she
1 hinted that she invented that swoet
; gifted youth os a convincing argument
to the unknown correspondent tliat she
was in search of amusement, not of a
husband. Her photograph sent about
this time showed a very pretty and
rather intellectual face, and in return
Fowler enclosed the likeness of a good
looking Eastern friend of his. About
this time I again urged upon him the
propriety of stopping a correspondence
which afford him hut littio more pleas
i ure, nnd which might lead to
I able results, hinting, at the same lime.
my belie! that the fgirl was becoming too
I much interested in him* lie treated
j this advice cavalierly, and spoke in so
caustic a manner about the virtue of
non-interference that I neither asked to
i see, nor did he offer to show me, anj
' more of the letters; and although werc
j mnincd as good friends ns ever, tliat
I matrimonial card wns, by tacit consent,
dropped from our list of conversational
subjects. My correspondence with
; three of the unknown fair had ceased
: long since.
Some six weeks after our "Josie Ma
son" tiff. Will suddenly said to me:
" It was very considerate of you. old
j fellow, not to flare up when I got so
huffy the other day about your advice
;in that corresf>ondence matter. The
fact is, 1 was beginning to feel uncom
fortable aUiut it myself, and didn't find
' my temper improve at recalling of your
| forhodings, which hnve been flying
■ around me like evil •mens ever since I
' began this affair. It is coming too close
home now, however, and I must ae
! knowledge the fear that you are right,
I and that I have been wrong since the
! first "
" What s up now?" I asked.
"Well, nothing in particular, but
ust a sort of feeling that Tve been
making an ass of myself. I like that
little girl first-rate, but, confound it all,
she's coming in a wee bit too strong.
Not that she It as'writ ten anything very
Kinted, you know, but there's a simer
c air of spoons and danger about her
letters *f late. At all events I'm re
solved to pull out of it, so 1 have written
this letter to her on the subject."
" This letter" proved tm be a half
and-half sort of epistle, full of regrets
for what had been and of regrets for
what must no longer be, full of apolo
gies and praises, fuil of hopes that they
might never meet for fear of the possible
result yet hinting ata desire to see her.
if only for once. In faet, it was a bundle
of incoherent nonsense from beginning
to end, the only sensible thing in it be
ing the statement that he returned her
letters by tliat day's mail, and hoped
she would do as much witii ids.
"Well," said I, after reading this
Ercisus document, "you have proba
ly nhnwn me this with the idea that
I will advise you about it, but all 1 can
say is that it sounds more like a love
letter than any that I have yet seen of
yours."
"Tee, I know it does; but what would
von havef I cant throw her overboard
like an old handkerchief. If the poor
thing is in love with me. all I can do Is
to let her down as easily as possible,
and to accomplish that I must recipro
cate her affection, after a fashion."
Two days latter I found Will gloom*
ily pondering over the answer. He did I
not hand me the letter to read, but said, |
aa he folded it up
"By Jove! I feel like a thief. Not
one word of recrimination, not an ex
pression that is unladylike, and Htill a
mixture of semi-pleading and semi-con
tempt that make* 'mo feel like a cur.
Well, the affair is ended now, thank
heaven!"
"So much the bettor," I replied.
" But how al>ot your letters?"
"She says she will send them back
alter reading them over. By the way,
I for/rot to inclose her photograph, and
she old n't mention it, SJ I'll keep it as
a souvenir."
Saying this, he took the picture from
his pocketbook, and after looking at it
for a wldlc in a dreamy sort of way,
carefully replaced it, and then walked
out of the room without a word of part
ing; but the fag end of a sigh reached
me through the closing door.
About a week later Fowler came into
my room, saying:
" Here's a nice pieco of business. Just
read that, will you?"—handing mo a
letter.
It wns this:
MILWAUKLK, September Oth.
Siu: I ain a brother ol the young lady
whom you know as Joaio Mason. she IIHH
not been well lor some time, poor child, ami
has biul to keep her bed during the past week,
Thin morning including your correspondence,
1 also found the cause ol her ill spirits. I will
not waste time at present in discussing
your blank guard ly conduct—that can wait.
A lew letters |sissd between you byway ol
joke, would have mattered little; bat when
your words grew warmer in euch auoceaaive
letter, is it strange that an inexperienced
child fell into your snare? Now, sir, my busi
ness is to tlnd who you arc lor the purpose ol
getting sntistaction; and il I can t get it in
one way, why i am a Southerner, and 1 11 get
it in another. I write this that you may lee I
uncomlortahlo while 1 am 1 miking lor you, as
you certainly will when I have tounil you.
Oar. WHOM YOU WILL KNOW.
" Phew! This is :t nice Berapc. What
arc you going to do about it. Will?"
"What can I do about it except
await developments? I really wish it
j would turn out to be a blackmailing
j scheme; for thin, although I woulu
| perhaps feel more like a fool, there'd
j im less of the knave in it."
" I wouldn't worry about it any more
i than I could help, old fellow." said I,
| " for this may be only a first explosion
! on the part of the brother, which will
| amount to nothing. It sounds to me
j like a genuine letter; there's the true
: ring of indignation in it, and. therefore,
j there is the least to be feared. If the
i parties meant blackmailing it would
! pay them to employ detectives, but if it
is a true hill, why family pride ought to
act as a check upon publicity."
After thinking a bit. Fowler said :
"I'm going to writ* to him find ex
plain that no hartn WILH intended, and
that I am extremely sorry if any harm
has come of it. That's the way I feel,
find it will do no iiurt to send the letter,
you know."
" How will it reach him?"
" Hum-m-m, didn't think of that.
Yes ! I'll send it to her address and
write ' for her brother' on it."
The letter was forwarded that even
ing. nnd aeleverer bit of composition I
have rarely seen. The writer expressed
regret for what had happ'-ned, and
apologized for his share in it; nt the
same time he delicately insinuated that
it would be mortifying to expose a fam
ily secret, especially when no benrfit
could possibly accrue to tiny member in
terested. Five or six days Inter came
the following reply;
SIR : Curse your regie!* and a flg lor jronr
r logins. Those matter* should hare I wen
ight of eurlier in jroar correspondence
with my family. I al* dcrline your adtirc
a* to whnt are thr twst intcnwtsol thit family,
considering myself Inlly competent to bulge
upon that question. My detective think* he
him spotted you. ami if you are thr man hr
point* out, you nrr n wcirw scoundrel than
even I had nirrn you credit for bring. I' it
possible that you have a wilr and children,
Outrun are a man ot respectable poeition in
the community, and yet that merely for the
aakc ot a laugh, you ran trifle with the inno
cent affection o| a child. who know* nothing
ot the world * Yon will hear again noon Irom
OIA WHOM Yot" Wild. Ktnw.
"What the deuce shall I do?" naked
Will, after I littd read this cheerful
effusion. "Harl I better leave town
until it has blown over, if there is go
ing to be a scandal?"
"Certainly not " I ad vised; " there's
no clear proof that he litis found you,
and if tie has, what can you gain hy
leaving? The best way to get out of
a row is to face the music, and if you
do it now it may prove, after all. that
there is a bluff game being played. lam
partially to blame in this matter, and I
will certainly stand ly you to the best
of my ability."
It was so decider). Fowler bought a
revolver and a savage-looking club,
and spent most of his time with me;
this was the more easily done as our
offices adjoined each otlier, and his fam
ily were still absent at a watering
place. We did not talk much about
the affair as he evidently shrank from
any mention I made of it; hut it
left his mind, as could be seen by hi*
innttontion to business and his furtive
shoalder-wntching when lie was in the
street. At last, after a week of pro
longed suspense, the bolt fell.
We were sitting in Fowler's office one
day, when the door opened and a voice
said:
"This is Mr. Fowler, I believe."
"That is my name." said Will, as his
hand slid to his revolver, and he eyed
the speaker—a tall, well-built and
rather handsome-looking man, appar
ently under thirty.
"I should like to speak with you a
few moments in private," continued the
new-comer, with a bland, ambassa
dorial air, at the same time giving me a
get-out-of-the-room look.
"This gentleman is connected with
me," rpplied Fowler, "and anything
you may have to say may be said in his
presence."
"I am not here on a business errand,
Mr. Fowler, but to speak with you about
a purely personal matter. I reler to
certAin letters which you hr ve lately
written. You understand what I mean.
Would it not be better under the cir
cumstances to IM by ourselves?"
" Whatever question you have to dis
cuss with me. sir," answered Will,
" will bo none the worse for ventilation
before a witness."
" If that is your decision. I most, of
course, comply with it. To come to the
point then, sir, I am here to represent
my ft-iend, George Travers, of Milwau.
kee, who claims that you have grossly
insulted him by sending objectionable
letter* to a member of bis family. I)o
you admit the fact that yon wrote those
letters? and will yon grant Mr.
Travers the ratisfartiou which one gn
tlcman expects from another in snch
" I admit nothing and d*ny nothing,
but If by 'saUsfcoiioo' yon mean willl
give some unknown- 6r for that matter. '
well-known—man an opportunity to
murder me, I shall unquestionably an
swer. No!"
" Mr. Fowler, my friend and I w ire
officers in the same Confederate regi
ment, and from long acquaintance with
him I can nssuro you that he is a man
of his word. His directions and my in
clinations were to treat you as court
eously as possible, and I only employ
positive action il it became positively
necessary. Your reply forces that alter
native; so 1 must inform you that he
has absolute proof that you arc the man
whom he has been seeking, that lie is
determined to treat you as he believes
you deserve, and that no evasion or
quibble will turn him frm his purpose
—which purpose is explained in this
letter."
Will blanched a little on he read the
document, hut he handed it to m<' and
quietly said to the stranger:
"If you'll return in nnlf an hour I
will give you an answer, or, if you pre
fer it, I will send you one through a
friend."
The man of war accepted the first ar
ticle and retired. The letter read as
follows:
SIR: Keeling sure Hint, although you hold
the position ola gentleman, yon do not pos
t sens Ihe spirit ol one, and will not he willing,
I therefore, to offer the redress naturally ex
| peeled Irotn one, I send you the following hint
in writing, that my Irinml tnay he relieved
| Imm the disagreonhlu task ol delivering it
' personally. If you have n spark ol manhood
! you will accept the proposition whieb he ha*
| delivered to you verbally, and I will treat you
| us though 1 lielievcd you to lie a man of eour
iage; hut il you refuse 1 solemnly swear that 1
will horsewhip you in the public streets, and
brand you us a coward.
( The MM, Whom Yon Know)
UKOKUK TKAVKIIS.
We looked blankly at each other for a
few moments, and then Will said:
"(ircat heaven! This is the devil's
! own. What am I to do? The fellow
I seems to be in earnest, and his deputy
certainly doesn't look like a black
| mailer, and it's a nice pickle, anyhow.
1 If I accept the challenge I'm sure to be
; disgraced, for, of course, the whole
muddle will get out in the tinners, and
by the law in this State f will forfeit all
cfinnce of promotion, officially or'pro
fewionally. If. on the other hand, f re
fused to have anything to do wit It this
absurd business. I run the chance of be
\ ing attacked on the street, in which ease,
I as I have no great physical strength, I
shall certainly shoot the man. and
either he shot myself or lw hauled into
court dripping with scandal."
The situation certainly was not en
couraging. and I felt quite sorry for Will
as he raved along in an incoherent jura
, bin of " ifs " and " anils," until finally I
said:
"Brace up, old fellow! This sort of
thing won't do. The chief need now is
time for consideration; so why don't
you put a bold fronton the matter and
accept his challenge, referring him t<>
me lor the arrangements? Il there is
anything fisliv ir. the business this will
stop their little game, and il it prove to
be what it seems, a rcai ease, why a
compromise may be effected, and if that
should fail, you'll be no worse off than
you are now. and can tight or decline,
as you see fit."
Fowler adopted my suggestion, and
when Powder and-Balls returned. Will
said to him. in a <juietly fierce manner;
"You will be kind enough to inform
Mr. Travers that it will give me great
satisfaction to lodge a bullet in bis im-
f indent body. My friend, Mr. ,
ins kintlly undertaken the management
of the affair, so for further particulars
I must refer you to him."
The nmha*ador looked at me rather
curiously, nnd asked if I could call on
him at the aherman house in an hour.
Receiving an affirmative reply, lie de
part cn.
I did not find him at the Sherman
house, nor did we ever hear again iroin
either him or his principal, nor could
we find their names in the Milwaukee
directory. It was a decidedly curious
affair, ar.d Will puzzled over it im
mensely, even going so far ss to write
another letter to ".fosie Mason," asking
for an explanation; hut none came.
A montli later I went to lowa on a
long chicken hunt. From the first sta
tion I sent lawk a package by express to
Fowler. Among Its contents was this
letter:
Htm tVIIJ,: Yon hare played a practical
joke on ma, lor which I have long been vonr
debtor; now I lliink we can cry quit*. Here
with I inclnee the entire ftorrnvpnndcnee he
tween yourcell anil " Jneie Msson " and her
fiery brolber. Her lellers and his were the
' joint com|>o*ition of Mm* and myself,
anil much trouble it has given na to please
your critical literary lastc. It was good prao
-1 ticc, however, and not snch had Inn. so wedid
not grudge the labor. The challenge was
brought by a cousin ol her*. Allow ine to re
pent the ail vice which yon so enrt'y rejected
at the beginning ol litis little experience, via.:
the impropriety and possible risk of -oi'tolary
! venture* on the part ola inert ie I man
II you'll take the joke kindly we'll promise
' not to peach.
Your sincere friend ami old chnm,
• • e
Our handsomest wedding present
came from Will. It was a large secre
tary. beautifully inlaid, and fitted with
a gorgeous array of writing material.—
11. T. IsUhrop, tn Hcribncr's Monthly.
Historical Facts of Interest.
Cards were invented in France in
1390.
France abolished the slave trade, so
far as in iter power, in 1815.
Windmills were first known in Spain,
France and Germany in 1899.
Crucifixion, as a criminal punishment
was very common four or five hundred
years B. C.
The first building of the Kgyptitui
f yramidi is supposed to have been about
500 years before Christ.
Excess in dress was restrained by law
in England under Edward IV., 14A5. and
again in the reign of Elisabeth in 1574
No wine was produced in France in
the lime of the Roman occupancy. The
art of making wine was produced from
India.
Alabama was originally a portion of
Georgia. It was admitted into the
Union in 1890, with a population ot
198,000.
Sir John Chardin. in his "Travel* in
Persia," says that the Persian* smoked
tobacco long before the disoovery o
America.
The llatwas Corpus —the people's
writ of right- passed for the security of
individual right—was made a law May
97. t79.
Wheat sufficient lor the food of one
hundred men for one day, was worth
but one shilling in the year 1190, and a
| sheep coat but fourpeooe.
TIMELY TOPICS.
An American physician who has
? liven attention to the study of alcohol-
Bin, said in tlie course of nn address re
cently delivered before a learned HO
eiety: "There are constantly crowd
ing into our insane asylums person*
fifty to eighty yearn of age, who in early
life were addicted to the uhc of alcoholic
liquors, but who had reformed, and for
ten, twenty or thirty years have never
touched a drop. The injury which the
liouor did to their bodies seemed lo have
all disappeared, being triumphed over
by the full vigor of their manhood, hut
when their natural force begah to de
crease. then the concealed mischief
showed itself in insanity, clearly dem-n-
Htrating that the injury to their bodies
was of a permanent character."
(ien. Tom Harrison's Texas brigade,
composed of two Texas, one Tennessee
and one Arkansas regiment, was proba
bly the last brigade under fire during the
war, as it was engaged witli Northern
: troops between Raleigh and Salisbury.
| N. C.. just above Chapel Hill, on April
14, 1805. the day that the armistice was
! declared. The flag carried on that day
by one of the Texan regiments (the
Eleventh Texas volunteers) is now in
the possession of .John Halford.of Deni
| son, Texas, who was a member of that
regiment at t lie time, and who concealed
, it and brought it home with liim in the
' back of his Jacket This is probably the
last Southern flag fired at by United
States troopi. It is a small, silk Con
federate llag, and stiJl in good condition,
there being only one small tear in it, and
that was done the last day it was under
fire.
Wlien Mi Gladstone was making his
great speeches in the British parlia
ment on tic uaeign policy of the gov
j eminent, lie used fo furnish much inno
l ••eih merriment to the members aoout
him by the production of what looked
: like a pomatum-pot. the contents of
i whieli tie from time to time absorbed.
Night after night lie brought this
crockery with him. formally produced
it from his coat-tail pocket, and placed
it within reach on the tabic. Then
; everyone knew that he was going td
. make a great speech. After much dis
cussion and an agony of curiosity, one
of his parliamentry brothers ventured
to ask what the mysterious mixture
might lie. Mr. Gladstone very frankly
| told him lii.it it was simply an egg
beaten up in a glass of sherry, though
why it should have been carried about
in a pomatum-|M>t remains unexplained
to this day.
There has come up a discussion in tlie
press tiie world over, on the system of
bridging large space* of water in a simi
lar manner to the Frith of Tay. in Scot
land, tlie s-eneofthe dreadful railroad
disaster, and no doubt most learned
opinions will be expressed on the sub:
ject. Tlie bridge where the awful ac
cident happened is built on a precisely
analogous plan to the Victoria bridge
across the St. Lawrence and the bridge
across the Menai straits, running be
tween Wales and the Isle of Man.
These bridges have stood many years,
whereas the Tay bridge is only two
years old. But, says a New York paper,
we must not forget that the Sixth Ave
nue elevated road is merely an elongated
Tay bridge, built on tlie same plan and
made of iron as that was. if any part
of that structure gave way we should
have another just su' li an accident. Tlie
only difference is tint in place of falling
into the water tlie unfortunate victims
would fall on land. We cannot contem
plate witiiout a shudder the possibility
of such an accident at sucti a spot a*
110 th street and Eighth avenue, where
the road curves at the height of lOOfjet
from tlie ground, that is to say twenty
feet higher than the bridge over the
Tay We trust a calamity of this sort
may not happen, but the fenrful experi
ence in Scotland soould prove a lesson
to the directors of the Metropolitan
road. Not a day should be allowed to
pass without testing the entire track
from one end to the other.
Immensity ol the Stars.
It is known that the stars are true
suns, that some of them are larger than
our own sun. and that around these
enormous centers of heat and light re
volve planets on which life certainly
exists. Our sun is distant from us 3ft,-
000.00 ft leagues, but these star* are dis
tant at leat 500,000 times as far—a dis
tance that, in fact, is incommensurable
and unimaginable for us. Viewed with
the unaided eye. tliestarsand the planet*
look soke; that is, appear to have the
same diameter. But, viewed through a
telescope, while tlie planets are seen to
possess clearly appreciable diameters,
the stars are still only mere luminous
points The most poweifulof existing
telescopes, that of Melbourne, which
magnifies ft 000 times, gives us an image
of one of our planets possessing an ap
parent diameter of several degrees.
•Jupiter, Jor instance, which seen with
lbs naked eye, appears as a star of the
first I agnitude, with a diameter of
forty-five degrees at the will in
the telescope have its diameter multi
plied ft.ooo times, and will be seen a* if
it occupied in the heavens an angle of
100 degrees. Meanwhile a star along
side of Jupiter, and which to the eye
is n* bright as that planet, will still be a
simple dimensionless point. Neverthe
less, that star is thousands of times more
voluminous than the planet. Divide
tlie distance between us and that plnnet
by 8.000, and you have for result a dis
tance relatively very small; but divide
by 8.000 the enormous number of leagues
which represents the distance of a star,
and there remain a number of leagues
too great to permit of the stars being
seen by us in a perceptible form. In
considering Jupiter r any of the planets,
we are filled with wonder at the thought
that this little luminous point might
hide not ofih all the visible stars, but a
number 5,000 fold greater—for of stars
visible to our eyes there are only about
5,000. All tlie stars of these many con
stellations, as the Great Bear, Cassi
opeia, Orion. Andromeda, all the stars
or the aodiac, even all the stars which
are visible only from the earth's south
ern hemisphere, might be set in one
EK side by side, with no one over
tig another, even witiiout the
test contact between star and star,
and yet they would occupy so small a
space that, were it to be multiplied by
5.000 fold, that space would be entirely
covered by the disk of Jupiter, albeit
that disk to us seems to be an inappre
ciable point.—/W- J. Vinci.
A gypsy camp was recently found be
tween Loslan and Rybink, with all ita
inmates, numbering eleven persons,
frosen to death In n sitting posture
around nn szptring firs.
RKLieiOt'H SEWS AMI NOTES.
Spurgeon has not missed a SumUv
sermon in I .500 consecutive Sundays.
Mr. Moody, the evangelist, has rented
a house in St. I*>uig, Mo., for si*
months.
A Chinese boy in i'ekin hn* recited the
whole of tfie N w Testament in his na
tive language.
Four stuoejitsof the Richmond Jnsti.
tute in \ irginiadesir. to Jieeonie mi*
sionaries in Africa.
Revivals have occurred in Norti
Carolina in the c o operation rn<-Ai n ,
of Friends and Methodists.
The Hev Thorn.** ''nr.|<r <f j, ri
ind., has ac cepted a <-ailto a Co'ngrcga
tional c hurc h at Tiverton, England.
A Vermont church annually nuts ut
at auction the post of sexton. Tie „ m „
wiio offers to do the work for the
money is the successful bidder.
Miss Mary Travis, of Cottingham
Yorksliire, a Quakeress, three
after celebrating Iter hundredth birth
day, lias just been baptized (j ' f
the Episcopalian church.
The New York 06*crwr offer a pri//-
of sl'H for the best essay of from two to
three columns in length, designed to
counteract anyone of the many forms of
assault upon Christianity by modem in
fidelity.
A room under the <Eil de 80-uf, the
palace of Ixrtli* XIV . at V<-r-iiij.
used as a place of worship by I*rotet:int
until a church can he eiected. M
,Fuhis Favre, French minister of puloie
instruction, who has married a l'rotes
tuit wife, attends tlie services.
According to statistic*, up to .Ju ••
last, the Methodist Episcopal church
loid ninety-six annual conf-renee*. n .
453 itinerant preachers, and | -y
--mc-mbers anci nrobalioners. Since the
organization of the church 444 presiding
eiders and t(34,96? members lihv. died.
The Boston Y. M.C. Union ha- re
ceived from .Joseph B. Eaton, E-q., the
sum of 980,000, promised it by him if it
Would raise the $20,00(1 mor< which
was necessary to remove ali it - obliga
tions. and it now rejoices in entire Jn <.
doni from debt.
The Methodist church, of < anada. has
forty-four missions among tlie Indi.ins
of the Northwest Territory, with thirty
missionaries and bn assistants, and
3.115 members. There r<- a.-o six
Methodist missionaries tx-twe.-n i'ugct
sound and Alaska, and a number of
teachers among the Indians.
The missionary society of th< Protest
ant Epucopal church employs twelve
white Ltid eleven native missionaries
among the Indians, with twenty.seven
helpers and catec-hists. In the home
field it supports wholly or in part 330
workers, including ten bishops: abroad
it lias 230 workers, including live bish
ops.
A compilation of the number of < x ist
ing sects in England has Ixs-n made.
Tli correct number, it i stated, is 164,
from which deductions must further be
made for eight or nine foreign congre
gations and such duplications as 'Primi
tive M"lhoclisLs " and " Renters."' Tak
ing the Protestant churches, there are
declared to be 25,163 Episcopal ministers
in Great Britain (including the Mor
avians), s.246Congregational (including
Baptists). 4,051 Presbyterian and
Methodist.
Prof. .James Lcgge. Ciiinese professor
at Oxford, says in a late Ar/vUmy that
the number of Buddliists in China is
greatly over-estimated. Rhys Davids,
in his " Buddhism," etimnt<-s the num
ber at 445,000.000 in China and Japan.
Says l*rof. I>-gge: "If we lop off 400,-
ooo,noo from tins aggregate we slia no!
be doing injustice to Buddhism. <f ail
religious svstems, Goihciuiim, per
haps, lias tlie greatest following: then
Christianity, then Hinduism, then Mo
hammedanism. and we wnu'd platd
Buddhism in tlie fifth place."
Edison's Electric Eight.
1 The New York .San publishes tlie fol
lowing questions, the replies to which
were written by Mr. Edison himself:
" Tlien you consider your work on tlie
electric light finished?"'
i "Practically done, though lam thl
experimenting with a Mew of reducing
its cost."
" What does it cost now?"
" You wiil have to ask that question
of the officer* of the company in New
York."
" How many fights, each equal to
a gas jet, do you get to one-horse
power ?
"My lights are on a ratio of ten g.u
jets per horse power per hour."
" What is the power of y our engine'"'
" Eighty-horse power."
" What doesiteostto run your eighty
horse power engine one hour?"
"Seventy-five cents."
" How long do your fight* maintain
their power without injury!"
" Twenly-threc were burning continu
ously (him Friday last to Wednesday,
and thirty-three from Wednesday to t<n
o'clock on Thursday nigiit. Dunrgthis
time tlie engine w:ui stooped for an hour
to take water. Not a light was injured,
all were regulated at U.e central sta
tion "
"What was the distance of the tur
thost iigiit that was burning live days?"
"Three lights liave been burning tnat
time one-fifth of a mile away."
" Were tlie twenty-three all con
nected with one main wire?"
" Yes."
"And more oouid have been put on
the same main win* without increasing
the power of the engine or diminishtog
the fight oi ihese twenty-three?"
"Yes, five hundred."
Nothing Like Paper.
The old adage used to be, " nothing
like leather." It should now be, " noth
ing like paper." Paper is used for al
most everything. Among tlie things
made of wiper exiiltdted at the B*rhn
exliibition not long since, were paper
buckets. " bronses. ams. asphalt roof
ing. water cans, oarpcts. skirts,
suits of clothing, jewelry, material for
garden walks, window curtains, lan
terns and pocket-handkerchiefs. The
most striking of the many objects ex
hibited in this material was. perhaps, a
fire-stove, with a cheerful five burning
In it. There were newly-invented rail
way carriages and chimney pots, flour
barrels, cottage walls, roofing tiles, and
bricks and dies for stamping, all made
of paper. Attention has frequently been
oalleo to the value of ordinary sheet* of
paper as a substitute for bedclothes, or,
at least, an addition to bedclothes.
The idea seems to hart suggested the
fabrication of " blankets" from tlie
cheap material, and If all thai is said of
them is true, they ought to be extra •
Mvcly used,- Detroit Free /Vess.