TUOLT TOPICS. New York oity is to have a " Ladles' Co-operative Dress Association," the object fit which is to establish a co operative store stocked with ladies' and children's dress goods, millinery, etc- The capital stock is fixed at $950,000, of which $lOO,OOO have already been subscrilied. There is a similar institu tion in En eland, which was incorpor ated in 1877. and has proved so great a success that, at the present time, it is impossible to purchase any of the stock. 11. M. Stanley brought home-from Africa the skulls of two animals called •• sokos," wbicii had been eaten by an affable chief with whom he hobnobbed one day, and Prof. Huxley at onee pronounced them to be human. Rut Central America has now come forward with tiie susmctu, and so far as sub scriptions eo at present this animal would arpear to come as near ourselves as the aoko. for the other natives of its forests whom we call men and women eali the susmctu human. A tax of five cents for every soldier at the post having been imposed by the council of idministration upon the post traders at Fort Dodge, Kansas, the ques tion of its legality was recently submit ted to the attorney-general, who de cides that it is in accordance witli law. as the act of 1870 makes post traders subject in all respects to army regula tions. The tax is levied to aid in sup porting "camp charities." He also de cides that post traders confining their business strictly within the limits of the army are not subject to taxation by State, Territorial or coun'.y authorities. The absence of C.iincso women in the East has compelled the males to inter marry with the whites. There are in New York city at the present time nearly three hundred Chinamen who have white wives. They are mainly Spanish and Irish women, the Mon golians preferring the latter on account of their skill in domestic labor. This intermarriage of races commenced about six years ago. Consequently a young China-Celtic generation is springing up, the oldest member of whom is about five years of age. It is stated on no less an authority than that of the lord chancellbr of Eng land that the total sura of money ex pended in the United Kingdom last year for intoxicating drinks was very nearly double the whole revenue of the coun try, or $700,000,000. At this rate, says the New York Cotuvicrcinl Advertiser, the national debt of Great Britain— $4,000,- 000,000—could be paid in less tiian six years with the money thrown away in a sea of ale, wine and brandy. It is rather a startling exhibit of the preva lent human drought, and suggests a col lation of similar data 'l this country, with an eye to helping Dr. Crosby's arguments by the logic of stern facts. The Hudson river tunnel has been 1 xcavated a distance of more than fifty feet. All that can be seen of the work is a small frame building at the foot of Fifteenth street, Jersey City,surrounded by piles of earth and bricks. This shed covers the shaft. The men are working at a depth of sixty feet under the river. There arc three shifts of ten men each, each shift working eight hours. The men are admitted io the tunnel through air locks. Thirty-five feet of the iron framework have been put in place, and the work of putting in the brick lining, which is to be three feet thick, was commenced recently. In May the shaft on the New York side wili be sunk near the foot of Leroy street. When Washington was on his way to Red Bank just 100 years iyto he slept or.e nizht at Chew's landing, a village which is also in New Jersey. Next morning he was surprised to find that half the inhabitants had formed them selves into a delegation to askofhim a contribution toward a new Episcopal church. He^ not only gave the contri bution but signed the church l>ook, and so did Carroll of Carrollton. The hook lias been religiously preserved in the vestry, and every governor of New Jer sey lias for many years given something to keep the building in order. Now, however, it is to he torn down and a commonplace brick church erected. A young man named E mer Sever ance, who was working at Smith & < arter's eamp, at Princeton, Minn., bet one of hit companions a quarter that he could place a dipper of cold water on the stove and hold his finger in the dip per until the water began to boil. The wager was accepted. Severance held his finger in the dipper quite a while, hut was obliged to withdraw it before the water had reached a boiling point, hence he lost his bet. On examination it was found that the finger was completely cooked; it pained Severance so that lie was obliged to quit work and eomc to town for medical treatment. The prob ability was that the finger would have to be amputated. Some rrmarkablc statements were made by a prominent physician before the class of the college of physicians and surgeons st Buffalo the other day. He announced that one-fifth of all man kind die of consumption alone, and one third of all from the ravages of tuber cles upon the bodily organs. Including the lungs. Comparing this mortality with that from vellow fever during the epidemic of 1878, be said that it "would rrouirr 450 years of such epidemics of yellow fever to equal the devastation wrought by consumption in a single -rjy ra, i°n ' n th'" country alone, and '5O yrars of such work to equal the mor ality caused by tubercles in one genera tion in this country." These state ments are appalling, but they are made by a man who has devoted the study of a ife-time to the subject. Dr.Willard Parker, an eminent physi cian and surgeon of New York, regards our system of caring /or the insane as radically wrong. The institutions are too large. Too much care and responsi hinty are placed upon one man. It is a physical impossibility for him to con- Milt the peculiarities of each of several hundred patient* whose canes differ entirely from one another. Each case mould >e distinctly studied. lie has, besides, to superintend and manage the institution and the grounds, to be linner, treasurer, etc. "As well ex pect the captain o' one of our iarge steamers to act also ae stoker and or ok." |he buildings are too magnificent, ihey should be inexpensive, so that when the wards become saturated with disease they may be destroyed and others erected. Home occupation should he provided adapted to the patients' o< nditions. Dr. Parker maintains that insanity is not diminishing in this country, as under proper treatment it ought to be. The discovery has recently been made in the southeastern districts of Russia th ' tigers, long unknown in those parw have found their way there. Some peasants of Golot-Übani, In the district of Tiflis. recently noticed quite unusual depredations among their flocks and herds, which they ascribed to the rav ages of wolv< s and bears. Finding a fresh track of a large animal quite un known to them in the snow only re cently fallen near the village, twelve of them pursued it into the mountains armed witli hatchets. On their march they were surprised by a terrible roar, anu at the same moment a huge tiger, measuring betwpen five and six feet in length, hounded out of a cave in the rock and struck down three men before they knew what they were about. The snow lying deep and soft, and therefore giving way under them, fortunately saved them. One other peasant rushed up just in time ar.d clove the. animal's skull in two. The tiger in his death struggle, however, gave his slayer a few ugly scratches. Minnie Karell's fight witli a burglar in her room deserves,to be immortalized. She is a slight girl only eighteen years of age, and tends het .athcr's bakery in New York. Site was awakened at an early hour in the morning by a man standing over bcr fed, and was tohl by the burglar that if she screamed he would kill her. Nothing daunted Min nie screamed and at once struck the burglar in the face with all her might. Qujte a tussle now ensued, the hurglar trying to escape from Minnie's grasp, and she trying to hold him until her father and the workmen from below could come to her assistance. Hut the robber broke away from her and made his exit from a window, not, however, until Minnie had recognized him as John Oates, a resident of the next block. When the police came they found Min nie's bureau ransacked and all her best clothes gone; but fortunately they met a man named Rogers in the street carry ing a bundle of female wearing apparel and arrested him. The clothing proved to be Alinnie's. They next went in search of Oates and found liini at a wake next door to the bakery, coolly smoking his pipe and condoling witli the be reaved family. Minnie gets her heroism from her mother, who is dead. She used to tell Minnie always to fight when she got in trouble; and the old lady acted upon this principle, for she her self used to lake a club to all who came to the bakery and didn't conduit them selves with propriety. Mrs. Gov. I-ew Wnllace finds in New Mexico what she calls a "subtle Spanish essence" pervading everything. Even the names of the commonest persons she meets are poetic. She says in the Inde pendent: "Perfectio (perfection), a worthless peon in Navaho blanket, sweeps the sidewalk; Benito (the good), a shambling Mexican boy, watching his chance for a spring at the spoons, brings the daily mail; Mariposa (butterfly), the siliest of Slowboys, pushes the baby wagon; while Angellus,an angel whose form has lost its original brightness, lazily watches her. Three old witches, whom we fnmiliarly cal! the Macheths, were baptized Feliciana, the happy; Rosita, little Rose; Hermosa, the beau tiful." Mrs. Wallace adds that most of the people she meets have Indian blood in their veins, and not afew arc a mix ture of Spanish, African and Indian. Here is a picture of a Santa Fe woman: "Quiet outofleach of the shady trees, in the fiercest blaze of the sun, sitting on a fragment of the Rocky mountains is a statuesnue figure, which might repre sent the oldest, the most furious of the Furies. It is Blandina. the fair one, the soft one, of Santa Fe. Her face, like one of her own foothills, is worn ifltogutters and seams. Not like them so molded by the action of water, but by exposure to sharp sunlight and withering wind, destructive to beauty, which make even young persons appear old. Her skin is a parchment, which looks as though it might date back to—l was about to say the flood, but that would imply that at some prehistoric era she had felt the sanitary influence of a shower bath." Curiosities of Yucatan. A correspondent writes as follows while in a vessel off Merida, Yucatan: The sailboats that came off for Lard and lager beer were an object of interest to travelers. On one of them, tied by a cord to the mast, was a queer little domestic animal that looked at first like an extraordinary cat. It proved to he a little antcater, and when brought on hoard the steamer liegan at once to search every nook and cranny witli its long, industrious nose for insects. We were told that these animals are domes ticated in Yucatan, being kept to cjear dwellings of the multitudinous insects that infest the country. The chief ob ect that attracted attention, however, was one of those great light brown beetles that are worn as jewelry. It was tethered to the left lapel of a Mexi can's cont by a little chain fastened to a gold hand. This is the kind of bug that caused such a sensation when it appeared as an ornament in a lady's hair at a reception in London. When the gold bands are set in diamonds the hug makes a very showy ornament, and lives about six months after being chained, luxuriating on a diet of water administered a drop at a time. It is perfectly harmless. The natives find them in the woods, and bring them to port to"sell to strangers. " Every visitor of Egypt," says the Alexandria correspondept of the Ixindon Times, " knows the Rouiak museum. It is the best history that exists of the Pharaohs, with their twenty five dynas ties, and the Persians and Greeks who followed them. Statues, pictures, orna ments and writings are all there to tell the story. But the tootle is small and damp, and changes were projected last summer which tequired the closing of the museum for a time, and the packing away of all the valuable in ca a until the alterations were completed. They were all completed. All the valuables wcte deposited in a nrigboring ware house under what seemed proper guar dianship; but fob Iters, the other day broke in through the roof, anJ they mutt have been robbers or a certain ra i k of intellect, for some eighty or one hundred tcarabees of great value pecu niarily. and impossible to replace, as they related to the early dynast Irs, were abstracted, although they wire things ot no apparent worth to an Ignorant person." FOR THE FAIR HEX. ■ i Kaalilon Hot**. Very dark colors continue styiish. The ulster is the leading spring wrap. New dress buttons all come in two I sizes. | Spanish lace is the fancy of the mo ' ment. j Diminutive patterns in brocaded ma- I terials are among recent importations. Mummy cloth, much improved, wifl he among the fashionable spring goods. pilt and silver balls, both plain and facetted, form the heads of fancy pins for the hair. i Yellow, red and brilliant dark colors are mingled witli the faint fade colors in I new goods. Small sunflowers, from one-third to , half the natural size, are popular as cor sage boquets. Beaded passementeries will be largely i used for trimming silks and satins used in costumes and wrapß for spring. Dragons, bees, butterflies and birds in indefinite forms appear iimong the palm leaves and other Eastern designs of lately imported spring goods. Violet is a fashionable color this spring, and that in all its shades, from I the color ofan iris to the soft hues of the j Parmese violet and the Persian lilac. The long overdress, which has rc i oently been revived, is nothing bet a gracefully draped princess polonaise, i which requires only a flounce to cotu , plete the costume. j Fashionable false fronts of waved or curled hair cover the whole crown ; of the head, coining low on the forehead and fastened beneath the knot with a small shell comb on each side. 1 Dresses are still made with scant skirts bridled across the front and draped up lichind. In the mnke of bodices there is more variety, but the basque waist prevails in the new spring costumes. The latest novelty in the way of mak ing up velvet is to nave the dress com posed of a perfectly plain corsage, plain coat sleeves and a plain ilemitrained skirt without flounces, tablier or over skirt. A clever new idea in kid gloves is the Foster glove, in which the fastening is by a cord laced around hooks, like those on a gentleman's laced shoe. The glove may lie laeed in a twinkling, and the fastening adapts itself to any sized wrist, while all annoyance from burst ing buttons or torn button-holes is ob viated. Krmlnlne Nupcratlt loin. White Bpecks on the nails are indica | live of good fortune. When a woman enters a room she should be obliged to sit down, if only for a moment, as she otherwise takes away the children's sleep with her. To rock the cradle when empty is in jurious to the child. To eat while a bell is tolling for a funeral causes toothache. The crowing of a hen indicates ap proaching disaster. Drawing on a stocking inside out, causes matters to go wrong during the (lav. By bending the bead to the hollow of the arm the initial letter of one's f'Hure spouse is represented. When children play soldier on the roadside it forhodes the approach ol war. A child grows proud if suffered to look into the mirror while less than twelve months old. Before moving into a new house first send in bread and a new broom. Whoever sneezes at an early hour either hears some news or receives some present the same day.— Cincmtiali En quirer. AeeomplUhrd UillrC Maldi, ladies' maids in society must be.ac complished to judge from an advertise ment in n Roman paper. A young lady is wanted for that island who must be from twenty tottiirty years of age; dis engaged, and of distinguished educa tion ; very ssillful with the needle and in making up fine things. She must be of sympathetic turn, of elegant figure and poses* linen and good clothes, good enough for going out with and intend ing her young mistress. She must send her photograph to a signor in Rome, who will personally inspect those young ladies who present themselves to com pete lor the situation. A young lady ol these accomplishment*, beauty and good clothes would not long keep a situation as ladies'maid in America. She would soon be asked by the impressible Ameri can youth to resign her position as lady's maid to become the mistress of his heapt and home. L'arlsa* Facts. In Imndon.on the Surrcyside, most of the " horse-cars " are drawn by mules, and these mules sll come from Ken tucky. Among the ancients a beverage was prepared for newly married people com posed of honey and water; htneo the saying—honeymoon. It was Buffon WHO prqved that burn ing-glasses were capable of consuming substances. This fict was considered fabulous previous to his day. The thirty thousand oesf mutes in the United States have for their accommo dation fifty places of wvorship, where services are conducted in the sign lan guage. In the Boston art museum is the body of an Egyptian lodv of high rank, which ies enclosed in a glass case. It is en veloped in the cartonage or inner case, elosely fitting the body, a false face cov ering her fare, which was gilded origin ally, some fragments of the gold leaf still remaining. Among the plants of Gninea Is the csnnon-iMll tree. It grows to the height of sixty feet, and hears a flower whTeh looks like a cannon ball and is very fra grant, whence its name. The pagodas of China are religious temples, and never used as domestic dwellings. They are frequently orna mented with bells at every corner of their numerous roofs, sometimes to the number of ISO, which sre kept perpet ually .ringing by every sweep of the wind. They are also decorated witli an equal number of the gayest lanterns, shedding a brilliant illumination in the night time. Between 17,000 and 90,000 alligator skins are tanned yearly, which are con sumed by boot and shoe manufacturers in every portion of the United fltates, as well as exported to and Ham burg. The alligators formerly came almost entirely fram Louisiana, ie 4 New Orleans was the great center of the business. The Florida swamps and morasses are now the harvest fields, and Jacksonville, in that State, the great depot. THE UNHAPPY GRAB. A Uraphlc P* and Ink ■ketch of Alex ander of Hunk. The feeling which comes uppermost in the mind of any one who sees the czar for the first time is one of sincere pity. He is a large, ox-eyed man, evidently of good intentions, but with a look of sad ness and perplexity in him. His voice, hnrsh as the grinding of a coffee-mill out of order, for an affection of the ! throat, under which he lias long suffered, renders speech painful to him- He would have niadc a very amiable private gentleman, and could have vol far more ease and nmusement out of life if he had handed all the botheration of govern ment over to his brother Constantine, i who has a taste for that sortof nonsense. He himself could hardly have wanted to reign. It was the Schouvaloffs. the Lamberts, the Bariatinskys, the Adler bergs, the Doigouroukys and some others who desired he should be a firm rulor of men. They were forever goad ing and coaxing him by turns, as beef is driven to market for those who wish to roast it. They must often had a diffi cult task, for his ponderous miyesty (good easy man) is slothful and hcavy witted by nature. He must have been frequently unable to understand even ! what was wanted of him. He is suh | ject to melancholy periods of hypoeon , driasis, during which existence seems but a dreary blank to liijn. He is ! haunted by fears of sudden death and by the dread of assassination. At these limes fie moons about on apparently solitary walks with a large dog, hut there is always a policeman handy to keep the sacrilegious from approaching him. When well he devotes much of his time to tailoring, changing his cos | lume with much stolid perseverance, | and lie likes to he attended by a burap ! backed privy councilor, who acts as foil to his fine figure and sets it off. for he is a well-built man, tall and straight, i though rather too German in the rotund ! itv of certain of his curves. His father, Nicholas, who was in many respects a notable sovereign, had him very carefully brought up, and foreseeing that he would want support, perhaps devotion, in after life, to coun teract his apathy, surrounded him with some select young men who could be relied upon. This little band of cronies I have hung together ever since. They have lived with and on the emperor without interruption from the time of his accession until now. He provides for their wants : they dip their fingers into his purse whenever they are so I minded. He is a looselv-hung emperor, more | like the good fellow of a free and-easy than the di-spotic master of millions, when in the midst of these his familiars. He has been known to sit in his shirt sleeve*, astraddle on a ehair. hob-a-nob , bhig with them. The late Count Stmgonoff. who was a prefix chevalier tinA a very high-pacing j person generally, once broke in upon the party thus emp.oyed. The em i peror looked at him with those unut- ] terahly mournful eyea of his and held | out a champagne-glass to be refilled from a bottle which stood by. The old soldier drew himself up and answered 1 sternly- " I