Begging.
Balding with hunger
How uiAiiy no meet,
Footsore and Iroacn,
Wand'ring the street;
Weary and dreary,
Pleading for bi-ead,
Houseless and starving—
No rest lor the head;
Cold—sold—nothing to eat,
Kaggcd and shivering,
Wand'ring the street.
Battling with hunger,
W purisonuv— sad,
Kroin morn until eve
Scarce *' a bite " to l>e had;
The outlook all gloom.
Trudging through snow,
In misery creeping,
Onward they go,
Cold—cold—nothing to eat;
Wretched and hungry,
Wand'ring tho street.
Battling with hunger,
Rattling tor bread,
Battling lor bare lite,
Wishing life sped;
Hearts sadly aching,
Hard in their pain,
Uroveling in gutter,
Begging again.
Cold - cold— wretched and sad;
All alone in the world.
Scarce " a bite ' to be had.
Battling with hunger,
Hard is their late,
Pleading and tramping
Early and late;
Oh, list the prayer
Ol tho wandering poor,
And don't thrust tho beggar
Away Irorn your door.
Cold—cold —out in the rain,
To eke out a living
Begging again.
OUR HAUNTED HOUSE.
" I)o buy the house, Charlie; lam not
at all alnud of ghosts!"
My husband leans against the worm
eaten fence and looks thoughtfully at
the dull, old-fashioned house, with its
shutters flapping from broken hinges, its
porches overgrown with vines, its par
den fall of rank weeds, and the river
singing beyond its garden gate.
"It is very cheap. Amy," he says, at
length. " They only charge me for the
land, and nominally nothing for the
house. But ean you endure living in
such a dest tied plaee, and I in the city
all day? Why, ail sorts of noises can
be heard here day and night, and I have
heard good, intelligent people, with con
sciences, say they had seen the spirit of
a woman, with a little child in her arms,
walking all about these grounds at
evening. Nobody else would dare buy
it. Why, it has had no tenants for a
year. I fear it will frighten away your
friends, and that you yourself will have
to succumb to the spirit-influence of the
place."
He stops, seeing the expression on my
face. I can hear anything better than
the allusion to spirit-influence, or to the
belief of the progressionists. Charlie is
a good business man; hut he lias read a
great many scientific works written by
men who ihought they were very wise
on the subject of spiritualism; and he
has investipnted, or. rathrr, invested a
great deal in the saire He has pro
gressed to such an cx ent that he can
sometimes hear raps on the headboard,
and feci cold shivers down iiis back,
and in mosquito-time he often feels
pinches from unseen spirit-fingers.
I do not like to real, scientific books'
and during the short time we have been
married, 1 have employed my time, in
stead, in practicing waltzes, making pies
and embroidering baby-clothes. Still.
Charlie worships me. I believe it is
God's unseen law of recompense that
there should always he some one to
adore, even a women with freckles, wide
mouth and a figure like a Dutch doll.
At all events, my will is nlways law;
so Charlie takes his knife and cuts away
the rose brambles that have thrown
their arms across the front door, and to
gether we enter the vacant echoing
rooms. The ceilings are dim with vails
of cobwebs, the spiders run up the walls
at our approach. The house has a ruin
ous, moldy smell, hut it docs not oppress
me ns it does Charlie. Already in my
mind's eye I see what it will be like,
cleaned and aired, with open windows
and cheerful furniture.
I ran through the house, exclaiming;
"What a beautiful wide hall!—this
room facing the south shall be our sit
ting room. I will rout ail the ghosts
witn sunshine. See those hollyhocks
smiling over that picket fence, ann those
summer pears all rotting on the ground
—what a shame!—and all those rose
bushes choked in the long grass!"
Charlie shakes his head.
"If you hod beard all T have about
this house, you would be in no haste to
live here. You know the Widow Wool
son's dauchter that has been missing
from town a venr, and supposed to be
murdered ? Well, Geoffry Clare wns
passing here one night, only last week—
and you know, whatever else he will do,
he won't lie —and he told roc he saw
Grace Woolson's face ns plain as day
over that garden fenee."
I checked him suddenly again. I have
never bad hut this one secret from my
husband, ttiat three years before J met
him I had fallen hopelessly in love with
handsome Geoffry Clare. He hnd soon
forgotten me for pretty Grace Wool son,
who had afterward disappeared so mys
teriously that no trace of-her could be
found, although 1 er mother and Geoffry
bod searched for her many months.
I think I loved him no longer, and
sometimes thanked God for taking my
feture out of my unskillful bonds, yet
the mention of his name always made
ase wince.
As Charlie's only objections were on
my account, and as we were not rl< b
enough to buy such a home as we tnig.
have chosen, within a week he hnd
paid the small sum required for the
haunted heme, and we hod moved into
it, bag and baggage. I liked the place,
which was neither town nor country,
hut was embowered among iU trees,
jaot at the terminus oi the pavements,
wilh such a grand old garden and such
glimpses of wood and waur. The first
! thing I did was to open all the windows
wide, and let in the summer's sun.
Martha Ann, my one servant, cleaned
away the mold and cobwelm, and fresh
paint and pap r changed the rooms as
if hv magic.
Charlie lelt his scientific researches
, after business hours and pruned tho
trees, cut the grass, trimmed the ragged
vines, rchung the shutters, and made a
email paradise out of the reclaimed
lawn.
When all was completed, there was
j noplace for ghosts in those wide, sunuy
! rooms. My bedroom was the pleasant
! est room of all, facing the east, and
| looking out upon the pear trees, the
| hollyhocks and the river. I'ink had
| been my color when a girl, so I took a
fancy my room should be all pink. The
dull drab paper, with green vines wan
diring about and clutching aimlessly at
nothing all over it, was changed for a
delicate pink and white. The carpet
was pink and white, the color under the
cheap muslin pillow shams was pink,
the lace curtains hung over pink shades,
and were looped hack with pink rib
bons, making as a whole too rose-hued
a bower for any specter to fancy.
1 believe I was as entirely happy,
after getting settled that first week, as
any one could be who had lived in
rented houses all her life, und owned
one ot her own for the first time.
I had but one distaste lor the place,
and that w s for the basement, which,
covered with clinging vines, was rotten
underneath. It had formerly been a
I cellar-kitchen, but was now fallen into
disuse, and ftillof refuse piles of lumber,
old cans and unused rubbish. The
heavy vim's grown over tho broken
bricks had made it a damp and noisome
place, and I never eared to explore It,
i or to put it to any use, except the por
tion directly under the trapdoor going
1 down from the kitchen. I hod Martha
I Ann clean away a space here, and fill n
i cupboard with canned fruit, vegetables,
etc.
I grew to have a dread of this dark
1 and cheerless cellar, and never came out
j of it without shivering, though I would
! not own it even to myself.
It had scarcely been ray receptacle for
fruit a day before I began to miss things
in a most mysterious manner. Before I
could realize it there would be a glass
of jelly, a pie, a loaf of cake, a melon,
or a plate of peaches gone. I could ac
cuse no one but the ghosts and Mnrtha
Ann, and she had always heretofore
been the soul of truth and honor.
t Twice I laneied, when in the cellar, I
had heard a sigh and a rustle of ghostly
garments, and I could have sworn I
heard the wailing of ay ung child
several times; but I would have died
t rather than own this to my husband.
" Martha Ann," said I, one day, corn
* ing up in great haste from the cellar,
1 "do ghosts like pickled figs?"
* " I am sure I don't know, ma'am!"
' Martha Ann's eyes are as wide, as ln
' noeent and unquailing as ever.
" "Well, you know that jar of pickled
figs my cousin sent me from California,
L that I was saying till mother c.ame to
' visit meP Well, they are two-thirds
? gone, ns well as that pie that was laid
1 away expressly for Charlie! What am
' Ito think."
[ lam suigry and excited. Martha
Ann says nothing, as usual, hut I see
, her tears arc quietly falling over the
dish-apron she is hemming, l am rather
relieved the day after when she asks me
; for a month's vacation to visit her sick
grandmother. Ido not like to accuse
; her of theft, and I would like to be
alone to ferret out this mystery. I have
fresh bolts put on the cellar-floors, and
the chinks in the bricks filled in. The
trap-door I keep fastened down with
heavy weights, still the depredntions
go on—pies, cakes, ice-cream left in the
freezers, cream off the milk, a portion
of cvt rv available thing is missing from
day to day.
1 am too proud to confide in Charlie,
hut my life is getting to he a burden.
One bright September day I sit down in
I the kitchen in tears, with my feet in the
oven, and would fain cover my head
with my apron, like Affery Flintwineh
i in " Little I>orrit," to shut out the faint
wnils ot some child that I am surf: are
coming from the cellar.
Martha Ann will not he home for two
weeks; I am tired out and discouraged;
Charlie will ho home in half an hour to
a five o'clock dinner, and the spirits
have eaten all the cold roast ami tarts
that I have laid away for tiiat especial
banquet.
I shall he forced to tell him that for
my hardihood in making him buy this
haunted house, lie is destined to go on
half-rations generally, I think with a
sob, when I hear a faint step below and
see the trap-door slowly rising, and the
blanched face and thin shoulders of a
i woman, with a ske'eton child in her
| arms, coming into view,
j Can I believe my eyes? Yf s, it is the
| shrunken, faded form of Grace Wool
; son. which I know in an instant, though
i the sunken eyes and claw-like hands and
| skeleton figure, make but a silhouette of
tho rosy, dimpled girl I remember.
1 am not a nervous woman, and I
have expected this ghost to appear so
long, that I do not scream or faint away
when she comes toward me, and the
Ktlirtie, drooping a.r with wnieh she
ilds out the visionary baby, and then
[ bursts into such a human agony of tears,
I would make oue feel tender and akin to
• even a hobgoblin.
"Oil, Amy," she gasped, "you are a
good woman, and will vou try and save
t my child's life? If it had not been dy
i ing I should have staid hidden always,
• but I knew you would lieip me if you
[ could. I was sorry to taxe your tigs
i and tilings, and would not if I could
i have k< pt from starving; but for
- mother* sake ) have hidden in your
, cellar three months, for I knew she and
r Groffrv C.are woud find me if they
I could."
I u i .is • did, then?" I asked, not
s v ; ;h -on i'i i curiosity, but much as
r one would frame a question ta fill a
t pause.
i " Yet>," she snid, simply,
i "Well, I have not u word ol blame
, foi'yoy. I nearly went <rnzy myself
in love with him once, and had not'Ood
! been vrry kind to me. I might have
- been as badly off as you We will save
the baby If we can."
I I have pnlled her into a chair while I
am talking, ar.d am holding the bthy's
. chilled feet to the fire, feeling its feeble
' pulse, and noticing bow faint and gasp
ing is its breath, and the clammy sweat
on its temples, while Grace is talking
with the zest of a man just out of prison,
and longing to hear the sound of his
voice again.
" When people missed me first, I hod
r>ne to the New York hosoilal, whtre
fan away with the baby as soon as (
could walk, for fear I should he traced
thre: and knowing this house was said
to lie haunted, and people were afraid to
oome hi re, I made a bed in some pack
ing-hoxes behind the lumber, and so
long as my money lasted, I used to go
out at nights In my waterproof and
buy tilings; hut after you came I dared
not leave, and the baby has boon grow
ing sick in the damp weather."
I pour her out a cup of strong tea,that
ia steeping on the range, but she sits
holding it in her hand, untastod, staring
nt me with iter mild, faded eyes.
" Olt, Amy, I am afraid to usk you,
but how is my mother?—hnvc you seen
iter?"
" Yes, I saw iter last week at prayer
meeting '" and site looks like one who
lias been struck with death," I was going
to say, but stopped, seeing Grace was
quivering all over with fear and expec
tancy. I dared not tell iter that her
mother was now sick in bed, and that
out of tier life all hope had gone, witli
the loss of her only child, or how my
heart had ached for the poor widow, out
of whose faded faee even expectancy had
vanished. •
" Come," said I. " the baby is warm
now, let us go and lay it in the bed; and
Charlie and I are all alone, and you may
rest assured no one shall know of your
being hero."
I carry it to nty own pink room as be
ing the most retired, and it is with joy I
hear Charlie's step on the stairs. He
takes in the situation at a glance, and
being a practical druggist, and a better
nurse and doctor than our little town
affords, begins instantly to mix some
medicine for the little sufferer.
lie is tenderer than any woman to
ward anything little or weak, or needing
care; so for two days lie does not go to
bis oflice, but watches witli Grace and
me beside thedyingchild; but what can
mustard-baths and drugs, and careful
nursinu avail where a damp basement
has undermined the constitution of so
frail a little blossom? On the third day
the little life goes out to complete its
being in another world. Ponr Grace
will not believe that tho little child she
has cherished through such awful days
ami nights of want and distress is really
dead. She holds it in her arms all
night, and in the mrirning we dress it in
the dainty lace and linen robe of a hap
pier baby yet to come, who, too. alas!
may never need the pretty finery. And
Charlie digs a little grave under the pear
tree, c lose to the sunny wall, when- the
catchfiy and sweet allyssum grow so
rank, and lays the little creature tend
erly under the September eavs at i
grasses.
Poor thing, it would have been so
pretty, had it bad proper nourishment,
and air to breathe, with its delicate
features and pretty ri igs of soft hair.
Graca follows us silently back to the
door, and pausing on the step, lavs her
hand upon my arm, looks into my face
beseechingly, saying:
" I must go to mother now, if you will
do me one Inst favor. Amy, and go witli
mc."
Charlie hurries off for a down-town
car to his office, and Grace and I walk
down the quiet street toward her
mother's little cottage. None of the
people who meet us recognize in the
slender figure, clad in my new drab
walking suit with my gypsy turban and
long veil, the Grace Wooison of a year
ago. 1 tremble cm ncaring the house,
for I see the windows are open wide,
and two or three an- watching by a bed
where Grace's mother lies breathing
faintly and moaning at intervals. I see
Grace- fly up the garden-walk and stop,
with clasped lianas and bent head on the
threshold, and I hear her mother's faint
voice saying to the woman who is fan
ning her:
"Do not trouble yourself about me; I
shall never be well again, and nothing
ran cure me now hut a sight of my
daughter's face."
I see Grace grope forward. I hear her
calling, " Mother, mother!" I see those
two poor women in each other's arms,
and I turn away blinded with tears.
And Grace's mother did not die, but
seems entirely happy with h-r lost dar
ling ail to herself again onoe more, the
color coming slowly hack into her
whitened checks, and life getting back
into its old grooves. Her return was a
nine days' wonder to our gossiping
town; but the little grave under the
pear-trees telle no tales, and though she
will never be exactly the same pretty,
blooming Grace Wooison again, vet
this aftermath of her life Is something
to he thnnkfu) for, in its great content
and peacefulness.— Kmnui S. Baylry.
Diseased Milk.
Several medical men of prominence,
both here and in England, have lately
maintained thai tuberculosis is often
imparted to human subjects by milk
from diseased cows, and Prof Otto
Bollinger, of the Munich university, one
of the highest authorities in German?,
has sustained their position in a paper
recently read in that city. He said that
repeated experiments show that the
milk of tuberculous beasts has a very
decided, contagious influence, and re
produces the disease in various animals,
and that its noxious properties can no
he expelled even by boiling. While the
tuberculosis of man is not completely
identical with that of the cow, it is ex
actly similar; hence, there is constant
danger to any community where milk
is freely used. The professor enjoins
upon farmers the necessity of taking the
strictest care of their stock, and upon
people generally the greatest care as to
the quality of milk they use. Rigid
measures should be adopted everywhere
to exclude distempered cattle from
dairies. This has been done in the as
sociated dairy established recently in
Munich, and will have, it ia believed,
excellent hygienic effect. All oows are
there kept under the closest medical
supervision, and at the slightest symp
tom of tuberculosis are immediately re
moved. It is estimated that nearly ten
per cent of the cows kept in towns are
more or less diseased—a proportion
which must be much increased in New
York, where, in all probability, metre
unwholesome milk is sold than in any
city on the globe. If the tuberculosis
theory be true, it is singular tliat one
half of our population has not unsound
lungs.
The uniform green color of the vege
table world is due to chlorophyll. This
substance, however, exists only in mi
nute quantity in plants, tho leavs of a
large tree containing perhaps not more
than 100 grains. It appears to be a di
rect product of the action of the sun
light upon vegetation, ns it does no
exist in slants kept in darkness. Tho
changes in the color of leaves in autumn
are surposed to be doe to the oxidation
or tbeh chlorophyll *
There are Ave Chinese students in the
Morgan school, at Clinton, Conn., and
one of these. Wing Ho. at the last ex
amination stood at the head of hie clms.
CAPITAL CLAIMANT*.
Nam* or tit* Odd Climartrr* Found In
WashlHKton.
Frequent visitors nttlie capitol cannot
have failed to notice tlie dally occupant
of the front scut of the left hand Senate
gallery. He in known as the "prayer
flend." In rain or shine he is punctu
ally on hand. At ten ininutea before
twelve o'clock he shambles in, takes Ids
scat and quietly awaits until the chap
lain begins liiH prayer. Then he rises,
throws his body back to an angle wliicii
may some day lose him his balance,
poises his head even to a more extreme
backward angle than his body, and
rocks on toe and heel until the amen is
uttered, to whir ii he responds. Th"n
lie resumes his seat and generally re-
I mains until the session closes, particu
| larly if therit is a debate. In appear
\ anee this character is striking. He is
| tall and thin ; more thnn six feet high.
! His frame is angular; face spare and
1 shrunken. He has little tufts of grav
I side whiskers, otherwise his face is af
i ways cleanly shaven. He draw as iii
plain black, wears a clonk and carries a
i cane. Ills eyes protrude well out of
' their socket# and have a restless look.
! If be happens to come hi late, no matter
i who may be in his seat, or how much
I difficulty he may encounter to reach it.
! he will crowd his way to the place and
oust any one who may be in it. He is
! well known to all Congressmen sis the
| one who keeps most zealous vigil over
! their proceedings. The name of this
I odd character is Powell Cuthbert. a
| Virginian by birth. Of lat< years he
| seems to have gone a " little off -1 on re
; ligion. Ho lies an income which cannot
! be alienated from him in bis lifetime
barely suflich nt to keep him. and finds
I peace in his latter days in the Congres
! sional gallery.
' Another conspicuous character is an
old iady named AlmiraThompson. She
I has a claim. Infect she has presented
! a claim 'to every Congress since the
i forty-third, and is daily in attendance
I both in the gallery n<f the committee
| room to see how it is "coming on."
j This claim is lor services alleged to have
been rendered as a hospital nurse. Al
mira lias a temper of her own, and woe
be it to the Congressional solon who re
fuses to treat her with consideration.
When the House- is in session she goes
to the gallery, and frequently manages
to get a seat next to the " prayer fiend."
The latter shuns her Ik cause, as she al
leges. she is crazy. It i amusing to ee
the old man try to. "cut" Almira dead
She will sometimes sit by him and talk
at him fifteen or twenty minutes with
| out be ing able to elicit a response. Then
, Almira wiii get mail and take hold of
; him witli both hands, turn him round
so as to faee her, whereat the old man,
powerless to re sent her muscular Icree.
will deign to make a reply, resume his
position in which he has been disturbed
and feign sleep to dodge her attentions.
Almira knows every member of Con
grefs; can give a good outline of their
fine points and sometimes proves realiy
an advantage in the gallery. If she
Itappens to be near any one who is will
i ing to listen to her she will point out
| the leading members, either praise
| thcra or abuse tiiem as site sees fit, and
recount many interesting episodes oi
Congressional debates. She has an es
' peclal liking for Fends Finch, the file
| clerk of the House.because, forsooth, he
' consigns her claim to the catacomb of
the flies with each recurring Congress
!The appearance of this character is
striking. Site is a tall, well-preserved
! old lady, of about sixty, straight as an
' arrow and as proud as Isicifer. Her
•>yc is coal black, dashing and cxpres-
I Hive. Her hair is gray, worn in a pro
j fusion of curls, which hang over her
forehead- She bears evidence that in
her youthful days site must have 'aid
: claims to superior beauty, for she even
' yet possesses more tlian ordinary good
| looks. She wears a faded gray dress
: and an old shawl. On her bond she
' wears a modest and matronly white cap.
! Nobody seems to know where she lives
or how she is supported, but from Iter
; appeals for aid her livelihood is sup
! posed to be precarious.
Another character who, ut> to a few
months ago. was a daily visitor to the
capitol, is Col. Maurice Pincbover. This
j man has a grievance. He s--ms to be
haunted with the phantom of Col. Tom
Scott, the railroad king. He declares
that Col. Tom Scott years ago robbed
him in a railroad transaction, stole his
money, and reduced him to penury. He
carries with him, usually, a tin case
nbout two feet long and six inches in
diameter, in which it adrawingof some
kind. Originally it might have been a
tracing of a plat of ground and the cross
sections, hut whatever it was in its
erimitive state it it unintelligible now,
y reason of all manner of additions
which have been added to the tracings
by the mischievous. One day last sum
mer, when the House was engaged in
an exciting political debate. Fjhohover
came to the capitol with a woolen shirt,
saturated in blood, and which he de
clared was the shirt worn by him when
lie was assaulted by Tom Scott on the
plains of Colorado. Pincbover also has
a chum. All Uiat he has rver yet suc
ceeded in explaining is that it is for
91,000,000, and is connected with a mine
of some kind, which Scott robbed hint
of. Since the present session begun he
has not put in an appearance, and it is
believed that he is over to the Eastern
branch. At times he ia dangerous.
Journal Clerk Smi b on one occasion
filled the tin case he carries with mucil
age. When Pincbover disx>vered it be
tiecame ungovernable and would have
done Smith bodily ininry had he not
fled incontinently out Wtnnge.
Another persistent claimant who
comes to Congress every year is John C.
MrConnel. His claim Is for $17,900.
and has made its appearance in every
Congress for years, it has for a basts
the alleged fact that the claimant rcn
dered service to the United Stated in re
cruiting 300 men in Maryland for a
Massachusetts regiment Last rummer
General Bragg, chairman of the war
claims committee, in reporting adversely
upon it said: "This claim lias been re
jeeted at the war department and the
treasury department when all the par
lies who knew ol the transaction were
living and the vouchers now alleged to
have been lost were in existence. It
has since been rejected bythe committee
on war claims, and now presents itself
to this committee having only one merit
in its favor—unblushing persistence. It
is time this raid on the treasury should
oease. The oommittee report adversely."
Wanhington SUtr.
North and South Carolina and Ten
nessee are preparing to celebrate the
centennial anniversary of the battle of
King's mountain, the turning point ia
the revolutionary war in the South,
which occurred October 7, 1780, and
legitimately led to the final victory at
York town.
RKLHHOUft HEW* AVB JIOrEH.
There are 100,000 church members in
the British army.
The Baptist missionaries jn Japan
have ordained their first preacher.
In the last twenty years the Methodist
missions have received upward of $lO.-
OuO.OOO.
Tliesixtii of next May is tlie date pro
posed for tlie great.council of the world's
80,000,000 Methodists.
The Methodist freedmcn's aid society
lias disbursed in twelve years $790,216.
It receipts last year were $71,093.
Ihe English Congregationalists have
170 churches and 160 ministers in active
work in the Australian colonies and
New Ze.11.11111.
The Lutherans arc displaying great
activity in church building. A denom
inational paper mentions trie dedication
of twelve German churches.
The Rev. Mr. Marshall, a Baptist mis
sionary in Origan, India, writes that
400 Hindus in that place have renounced
caste aril become Christians. Many of
them are men of wealth.
Four Chinese were admitted to the
Second Presbyterian church, of Indian
apolis, by Dr. William A. Burtlett at
the last comtiiunion. the first Celestials
to join a church in Indiana.
The death is announced of the Rev.
Thomas S. Berry, president of Simpson
centenary college, a Methodist institu
tion in lowa. Mr. Berry was delegate
elect to the general conference.
The daughter of Cli:in<flllor Haven, of
Syracuse university, formerly president
oi the Michigan university, is on the
Pacific ocean, journeying from Kan
Francisco to Japan to become a mis
sionary.
Principal Bancroft, of Phillips rwwl
cmy, Andover, says the truths of the
Bible engage the special attention of the
I Chinese youths wfioare industrioiSstu
; dents of that institution, often winning
their hearts.
There are now in the United States
s.6B9priest®, twenty-four Catholic sem
inaries. 663 colleges and acad< mK-s*, 8,846
parochial schools, containing 406,834
pupils. The estimated Catholic popula
tion is 0,143.8-88.
The freedmcn's aid society (Mctho
i dist). in its several schools and colleges,
i taught last year 8,610 pupils, of whom
453 were in the biblical, twenty in the
law, sixty in the medical, and 1.080 in
the normal classes.
The Rev. Alexander Keith, I). D„ r
Scottish divine of advanced age and
much celebrity, died recently. lie was
author of "Evidences of the Truth of
the Christian Religion,which was pub
lished in 16*83. and which for many
years was a text-book. Dr. Keith was
born in 1792.
The Rev. I>r. Eisner, of Samrodt,
Prussia, has celebrated a very uncom
mon anniversary, the sixtieth anniver
sary of his being made doctor of philos
ophy by the university of Breslau. He
lias been pastor in Samrodt fifty-five
years, and is eighty-five years of age.
I fThe thirty-one universities and col
leges under Baptist control contain 867
instructors and 4,6s9students. In their
libraries they have 190.490 volumes,
with property worth $7,336,01X1, and en
dowments amounting to $3.843 640.
Besides these universities and colleges,
there are fortv-nine aeadrmie*. female
colleges, etc.. 2,313 students.
The New York Methodist book con
cern has a net capital of $1,060,568. The
net profits lor the year were $71,155.
The sales of publications amounted to
$H25.634. against $912,726 the previous
vear. The Western book concern, at
Cincinnati, lias a net capital of $474,178,
the profits for the year being $27.H®7.
The sales fell off $65,673 from the pre
vious year.
The Lesson ef the Bath.
One of the most valuable discoveries
made by Archimedes, the famous scholar
of Syracuse. In Sicily, relates to the
weight of bodies immersed in water-
Hiero. King of Syracuse, had riven a
lamp of gold to be made into a crowt:.
and when it came back he suspected thai
the workmen had kept back some of the
gold, and had made up the weight by
adding more titan the right quantity of
silver; but he had no means of proving
this, because they had made it weigh
as much as the gold which had been
sent. Archimedes, puzzling over this
pioblem.wenttohisbath. As he stepped
in he saw the water, which his body dis
placed, rise to a higher level in the bath,
and to the astonishment of his s<-wants
he sprang out of the water, and ran
home through the streets of Svracuac
almost naked, crying. Kurtka!"
(" I have found ft! I have found it!")
What had he found? lie had discov
ered that any solid body put into a ves
sel of water displaces a quantity of
water equal to its own bulk, and there
fore that equal weights of two sub
stances, one light and bulky, and the
other heavy and small, will displace dif
ferent quantities of water. This discov
ery enabled him to solve hU problem.
He procured one lump of gold and
another of silver.each weighing exactly
the same as the crown. Of course th'c
lumps were not the same size, because
silver is lighter than gold, and so it
-akes more of it to make up the same
weight. He first put the gold into a
basin of water, ana marked on the side
of the vessel tlie height to which Jthe
water r^se.
Next, taking out the gold, he put in
the silver, which, though It weighed the
same, yet, being larger, made the water
rise higher; and this height he also
marked. Isutly, he took out the silver
and put in the crown. Now if the crown
had been pure gold, tlie water would
have risen only up to the mark of tlie
gold, but it rose higher, and stood be
tween the gold and silver marks, show
ing that silver had been mixed with ft,
making it more bulky; and by calcula
ting how much was displaced. Archi
medes could estimate roughly bow
much silver had been added. This was
the first attempt to measure tlie specific
gravity of different substances; that is.
the weight of any particular substance
oom pared to an equal bulk of some other
substance taken as a standard. In
weighing solids or liquids, water is the
usual standard.— Harper** Youtm Piopk
" What do you think of my new
shoes, dear?" said the the other even
ing aftsr tea. " Oh! immense, my dear,
perfectly immense," said lis, without
looking up from his paper. Then she
began to cry and said she thought If he
thought her teet were so drendftilly
Urge be needn't tell her of it.—Boston
Jefferson Davis's memoirs will be
published by the Appletoa's early In the
A Mining Expert'* Terrible Kxneri
ewe.
Nearly a week since Jxiuis Blandine
one of the best known miring expert*
on the coast, passed through ttiin city
on lii* way from San Francisco to ex
amine the Kantu Anita quartz mine
which is situated near Washington
♦ wenty-one miles above here. Day be!
fore yesterday he returned here, hav
ing accomplished his object. Hjs ex.
perience* on the trip were of an inter I
• stin* nature, and it 1m by mere eharif*
tliat he was enabled to live and relate
them. After a tedious journey through
the snow he reached the home of on
of the owners of the c laim, and togethe.
they forced their way for tliree mi lei.
futtli rto the mine. Lighting • and.'<.
they entered the tunnel, wti-h lias been
pushed toward the heart of the moun
tain a distance of 130 f<-et. Twenty- fiv<-
feet from the head of it they cum' to >.
winze fifty-six feet deep. Over thii
win//* is a windlass. Mr. Blanding <•*
nniined it c arefully, and observing re
weak spots in its construction, had l,i>
companion let him to the bottom. Ib
inspected the ledge, made measure,
rnents, secured a sack of specimens, and
putting one foot in the bight of tl,
rope, shouted to the man abov to how
away. Afur aseending thirty !<>• hi
censed to rise-.
" What's tlje matter?" he- a-kul
"The windlass is broken," wa-tf,
"?'ix it and hoist away."
"I can't. The support at one *!•;. ,
broken dean. One end of the
lias dropped to the ground. My siiou <•!'.
is under it. and if 1 stir toe who jo thin
will give way," was the startling repa
that comeback The candle at th<- u, :
had been extinguished. Mr. Blandinj;
recognized the urgency of having a e<y,
head in such an emergency, and told
the other party to take thing" easy. jj.
dropped the candlestick, sack of tpo .
mens and the hammer to the bottom o!
the winze. Then bracing >ne of hit
shoulder® against on<- side "of tin box
I and his feet against the other, u
! his way up inch by inch, the owner
1 taking In the slack of the rope witlj ot ,l
, hand. Thus he ascended f n feet. Tl.n
! the sides of the winze grew so fr spur,
j that this pian could no longer be purl
, sued. There was but one sulvatiot.
The remaining ten feet must lx- ciimh.
hand over hand." Releasing bis fa
from the knot, lie put the idea invl
practice. Exhausted by his preview
efforts in walking to tne mine and n
ploring it, it seemed to him he
climbed a mile, and stopping to rer
i found by the voice that he had yet fir>
I fe-et to go. With another Miper.'.umir
I effort, another start was made. After
j what seemed an age, one of Lis l Jirj o
I struck the edge of the covering on of
side of the mouth. His body and imb
were suffering the agonies oJ cram pi
and soreness, and his brain la gnu to
reel. All sorts of frightful phantonu
tilled his mind. With a firm, effort hf
reached up and found he could g'ttta
ends of one hand's fingers over the edp
of a hoard that answered for part of
the covering With the d'"pair of a not
who faces a fearful death and know
it, he let go the rope altogether, rutc
raising the other hand obtained a pre
carious hold. His body swung back and
forth over the dark abyss an instant
and as he felt that bis Lands were .us
ing their hold, he cried, "Save n
quick. I am going!"
Just then Itis companion, who is a
man of g;cat strength, dropped thing
of the drum, ana grasping his cos!
collar, drew him out on the floor of
the tunnel.
The mining expert was utterly pros
trated as his rescue was effected. H<
was carried out of Ihetannel.liisciotM
wet with perspiration, and laid in the
snow. When partially recovered b
was assisted to a house three ruim
away. His whole frtme was so rackw
with the Tphyeieal and mental torton
that for several hours he had no use of
some of his limbs. Two days after hf
returned to the mine and with an ins
nar broke the windlass into 1 000 pieces
then fished the sack of specimens out of
the winze. During a whole life time at
mining adventures in some of the dev
est claims of the world, he says lie Ist
never been so near the door of death a
he vm at the Santa Anita, and hebapo
never to pass through the like again -
Nivadu TYatwripl.
Frozen Seed.
Researches made by Messrs. Df Cm
dolle and Pictet. of Geneva, on the de
gree of cold to which seeds of piartf
can be subjected without impairitt
their vitality, present very rrmark*h<f
results. It is not the first time the
such experiments have been tried, hw
the means now available for mainlin
ing a low temperature for a long time
impart to present inve?tigations a de
gree of certainty never before possible
Seeds of cabbage, mustard, cress %'t
wheat were separately inclosed in git*
tubes, hermetically sealed, and
Uien exposed daring six hours to
course of refrigeration, in which Ux
temperature was reduced to fifty degre*
below zero of centigrade. No precau
tions were"ken to restore them grnds
ally to the ordinary temperature. Tlx!
were sown, and all except seven graiw
of wheat, which had been damns*'
germinated in the same time as seeds
which had not been refrigerated. Ai
oilier experiment was made with thir
teen different kinds of acids. It laste®
two hour*, and durirg half that period
the temperature n brought downW
eighty degrees below zero. They
germinated except three sorts, which
were proved to be lmd, by the fact UJ
non-cliilled seeds of the same kind d
not grow.
Chair Boarder*.
A reporter for one of the St. I.<osi*
papers called upon Mr. Griswold. of
of the proprietors *f the Lindeil bolo.
to get some facta and figures upon U>
Interesting ola* of people known *
" chair boarders." He discovered that
fifty per cent. of the people who gathc
in Uie rotunda oi a hotel never spend
cent, and are yet an aetnal expense to
proprietor. Tbs " wbv and wnerefore
was given witli much research. M *_
Oris wold, tlio proorictor. furlbernicn'
furnished the Information that S" 0 -®"
sheets of note paper and envelopes were
distributed annually to patron* arc
" chair boarders" and also some I 00.00
blotters; and although tte staUsaery
was bought In job lots, cheap, it a**™"
theiees amounted to $l,OOO
Mr. Griswold said that they wouldev
i have nerve enough to ask for powsp
stamps, but that they were .pot kept""
the oflice, but were on sale at the ner
stand, the reception ef mail at J*
Imuae for outsiders was also eons- 1 - *
I wonderful.