" Strike While the Iron's Hot."
Strike while the iron's hot!
Strike—and with a will;
lie is no skillful smith
Who lets the iron chill.
Ere the iron hardens, strike,
Shape it to what shape you liko,
To the soythe or knile or sword,
To slay or hoal or mow the sward.
Strike while the iron's hot,
Strike with baud and heart;
Quickly turn the bar,
And smite on every part.
Bring the sledge down with a swing
Tiy it makes the anvil ring.
So great master workmen wrought,
So struck the iron while 'twas hot.
So, when the time is ripe
To act, or think, or say,
The precious moment seize
Before it pass away.
Shapen the action to your ends,
As the smith the iron bends;
Let the word and let the thought
Promptly into deed be wrought.
Striko while the iron's hot,
Or do not strike at all;
Strokes the oold bar will break,
Not fashion, whon they fall.
If you're slow in arm and brain,
All your labor will be vain;
'The quick of head and quick oi hand
May rise from serving to command.
—John Franei* Walltt ■
THE TURN OF AN ACCIDENT
It was six o'clock of a crisp October
moining, and John Boyd, farmer, rous
ing from bis sound night's sleep, sprang
out of bed with the alert readiness of a
man who knows the value of the first
hours of the day. It was a tavern bed
from which he jumped; home and its
cares were many miles away; bula long
ride lay belore him, and he washed and
dressed briskly, as ono in haste, hum
ming a cheerful air meanwhile, as be
came a man who felt himself in good
spirits, and had ample reason for doing
so. For, be it known, this year had
proved the be st for farmers since John
had been his own master. Harvests
had been large, prices high, and John,
on his way back from the annual mar
ket, carried a sense of freedom and lib
eration at his heart front the final ex
tinguishment of a mortgage on his farm
his mortgage which had pressed as
heavily on his conscience as did the
burden of Christian on his shoulders.
The burden was lifted now; and, fur
ther, than John carried in his fat
rea wallet two hundred dollars, over
and above, toward the expenses of the
next year. He had never been so ' fore
handed ' before, and the sensation was
a joyful one. 'My neck is out of the
collar now.' he muttered to himself as
be brushed his thick brown hair. ' I
should be a tool indeed it I put it in
again. No more mortgages for me!'
Then, his toilet completed, he ran
downstairs, two steps at a time.
Farmer-like, his first visit was to his
horses. They were munching their
corn satisfactorily; and after a look or
two, and a pat, John returned to the
inn, where a jangling bell announced
breakfast. It was smoking on the table
—a substantial meal of the kind univer
sal in taverns thirty years ago; and
John Boyd, whose appetite was of the
kind proverbially said to accompany a
pood conscience, was doing it ample
justice, when a sudden instinct led him
to thrust his hand into the inner pocket
which held the two hundred dollars.
The wallet was gone!
In the suddenness of the shock. John
felt himself pale, and then flusu pain
fully, as he confusedly tried to remem
ber if he had taken out the wallet, and
when. Under his pillow—that was it.
He recollected distinctly, or so itteemed,
putting It there, for security's sake,
when he went to bed the night before.
With a muttered excuse, he left the
table and hurried upstairs. The door
of his room stood open, and a maid
servant was putting fresh sheets on the
bed, the soiled linen lying in a heap on
the floor.
Toward this heap John hurried and
liegan turning it over.
' Have you lost something, sir?' asked
the maid.
John straightened himself up to an
swer. He had not noticed the maid be
fore, though she had waited upon table
at supper. Now he observed that she
was young and rather pretty—fair, with
a trim, slmder figure, beautiful glossy
hair, neatly dressed and braided, and a
pair of sweet, apprehensive blue eyes.
He voice was soft, too; and she had a
shy, modest manner which suggested
an idea of refinement. All these facts
Farmer Boyd absorbed in a flash, and
instinctively noting, weighing, estimat
ing, by that wonderfully rapid process
of which the human mind is capnhle,
whi> yet his thoughts were full of his
money and bis loss.
'Yes. I am looking for my wallet,
which I left under my pillow. Did you
find it?*
The girl's face blanched to a deadly
whiteness, and her eyes dilated as with
sudden terror.
" No, sir,' she said, her voice trem
bling and sinking away as she spoke.
* I didn't sec any wallet.'
John looked at her distrustfully; but
there was something in the pale face
which disarmed suspicion.
'l'd like to search the bed,'he went
an. 'lt may have slipped under the
mattress.'
Together they turned the mattress,
but no wallet was visible. -
'That off horse of yourn has got his
shoe loose somehow,' announced Mr.
Nanb, the landlord, at the door. 'I
thought I'd belter tell you, so's you
could stop to the blacksmith's as you
pass, and get him to put in a couple of
nails. Why. what's the matter?'
John explained. .
The landlord looked very grave. He
whistled softly to himself for a minute,
with Ids cyrs fixed on the tumbled bed
di c; then he went to the stair head
and call'd his wife. Presently they
came in together, the I .ndlady's face
very red and troubled.
* Much a thing never happened in my
house before,' she protested. ' But
tlintv'a only one person been in your
room since you came besides yourself,
and she's ti.e person you must reckon
wiili.' {Miintii g to the maid, who, with
while cheeks and downcast eyes, leaned
against the wall tut if uwaiiing set -
ence.
"Oh, indeed, indeed 1 didn't lake itt
I never saw any wallet." she said; but
her voice was drowned in Mrs. Nash's
louder tones.
'And pray who else took it, do you
suppose? Who else had the chance?
Answer me that. It serves me just
right for taking in a girl with no recom
mend—a girl I didn't know nothing
about, not so much as her name, or
where she come from, or who her folks
aro. Five weeks to-morrow, that's all
the time she's been in the house, sir;
but this is the end of it. It's the last
time I'll ever have a help I don't know
all the long and short of, so you needn't
feel airaid to stop with us again—no. nor
none of your friends, either; and as for
her, out she packs this day.'
' Id better go for the constable, hadn't
I?—if you're sure it was under the
pillow you put it.' suggested the land
•Oh, don't, please; please don't,'
pleaded the girl, weeping violently.
' Give the gentleman his wallet bnck,
then, and perhaps he'll let you ofl'.'
• 1 can't. I haven't pot it. I never
saw it. Oh, please believe pie. Don't
send me to jail,' she urged.
The landlady only answered by a
ound expression of disgust. And
throwing ner apron over her head, the
poor girl wept in silence, saying no
more.
John had held his peace during this
altercation, sharply eyeing the parties
concerned in it meanwhile. The Nashes
he knew something about. They were
of good reputation as far as he was
aware. The maid was a stranger to
them, as to him; but spite oi the cir
cumstances, and her manner, which was
hardly less suspicious, he could not
bring himself to believe her guilty. He
was not a hasty man, and he was a just
one, with a kind lieait to back his tem
perate judgments; and altera few min
utes' reflection he made up his mind
what to do.
'I can't swear that I put the wallet
under the pillow or anywhere else,' he
said. ' I'm pretty sure that I did, but
my thoughts about it are confused
somehow, and it may be that I left it at
Bolton, where I slept on Tuesday. I
don't want no injustice done on my ac
count. So don'tcrv like that '—address
ing himself to the girl. ' I'll tell you
what I'll do. Get the bay shod during
the day, will you?'—to Mr. Nash —' and
if vou'll lend me a saddle I'll ride back
to Bolton and make inquiry there. If I
find the money, well and good: if I
don't, it'll be time enough to talk fur
ther about it to-morrow.
' I'm sure it is very good of you to take
so much trouble,'declared the landlady.
' But whether or no, the girl don't stay
here. I'll have no suspected thief in
mv house.'
' There'll be nothing to suspect her of
if I find the wallet,' rejoined John,
dryly. ' Don't give the poor tiling a
bad name till you know that she de
serves it.' Then he left the room, un
mindful of the look oi gratitude which
shone upon him lrom the blue eyes of
the girl, who had dropped her apron,
and gazed after him till he was out of
sight.
His reflections were not agreeable as
he retraced his footsteps over the dusty
highway traveled hut yesterday with so
light a heart. The loss ol his money
meant a great deal to John Boyd. The
pressure of anxiety seemed to settle
Again upon his shoulders, as he thought
over the probabilities of iis non-re
covery. 'But I won t give in without
a fight for it,' lie though), grimly, as he
urged on his horse. Miles seemed
doubly long when measured by a heavy
heait, and what with dust, heat and the
continual effort to clear his mental con
fusion as to where and when he last
had seen his wallet, the young farmer
was fagged and dispirited enough before
noon was fairly come.
He stopped to dine at a little tavern
attached to a toll-gate, and with some
vague hope that the money might have
been picked up on the rona by someone,
mentioned his loss. The toll-keeper
shook his head.
' Bolton's your only chance,' he said.
'lf 'twas on the road YOU dropped it,
there's no likelihood that yon'll ever
hear of it again. The dust's eight
inches deep, I should say. and there's
been three nig droves of sheep and one
of bullocks along since yesterday, so if
your wallet wns a-lying there, they roust
have trampled it under pretty thor
oughly. It is buried deep enough, you
may be sure, unless, which is just as
likely to happen, some one lias picked
it up and mane off with it. Your chance
is a slim one. I reckon.'
Cold comfort this; but John was
forced to agree with the opinion. I)e
--spondingly ne rode through the after
noon, scanning the way as he went; for,
despite the toll-keeper, a faint hope still
lingered in his heart, though the track,
deep in dust, and churned and trampled
by the crowding droves, presented a
sorry field for either hope or discovery.
He had gained the top of a long hill,
from which Bolton was dimly visible,
when a moving object far ahead caught
his eye, and he rose in his stirrups in
order to see more clearly. As lie did so
his horse made a false step, stumbled,
and threw him forward in the saddle,
so that his head grazed the horse's
neck. It was in this position that a
tiny object, a patch of red not over an
inch square, in the dust beneath, caught
his quick eye. His heart gave a little
leap; thennc called himself a fool; but
nil the same he dismounted to examine.
Already a random hoof-stroke had
buried the red natch from sight, but
John recollected the spot, and stooping,
dug and scooped till again it beenme
visible. His fingers recognized a solid
substance. Trembling with excitement,
he continued to dig; another second the
object was uncovered, lifted out, and
with a wild, incredulous whoop ofiny,
John Boyd field in his hand his wallet,
buried deep by the hurrying herds, and
uncovered for one passing momrnt that
his eye might detect it, and no other.
Except for that lucky stumble* he too
would have ridden over the lost treas
ure, and never dreamed what lay be
neath his horse's feet.
'And some folka say there ain't no
God!' was bis mental comment, spoken
half aloud. Then— for John Boyd's re
ligion, though a homely, was a true one
he bent his head and said a few words
of thanksgiving; after which, jumping
on his horse, he took the backward
route, eager to tell his good fortu ie and
exonerate the poor girl. who. as he now
remembered with self reproach, must
have passed a painful day under the
stigma of undeserved suspicion.
The heat was yielding to evening
freshness, and he urged his horse, im
patient to set mature straight; hut.
with his IN*l endeavor, it was after
eleven la-fore he at last drew rein in
front of Nash's hotel. He wns expected,
that was evident, for lights were burn
ing. and both Nash and Ins wile hur
ried out to meet him, wearing faces of
lugubrious length, which only iu part
changed to cheerfulness alien they
heard of the recovery of the waiiel.
'There, what did I tell you?' cried
the husband. ' llaven't I ben a-saytng
and a-saying all day that likely as not
this scare would turn out all for noth
ing? And you wouldn't listen to a
word, but fust kept on to that poor
tiling Inside there, and she's nothing to
hlamc all the time. I declare, it's too
bad the way women act to each oilier—
and folks calling them " the soltersex!"
A man would be ashamed to be so hard.
Well, do tell! and so the money was
a-lying there in the dust all the time!
Well. I'm mighty clad, for your sake
and ours too. Go right in, sir, and wife
'll give you some supper. I'll see to the
horse.'
Mrs. Nash waited on the meal hi
grim silence. She seemed only half re
joieed at the denouement.
' It's mighty queer,' she remarked, as
she set tho last dish on the table, 'I
don't feel as if we'd got to the bottom of
it yet. Why didn't Lucy deny more
positive?'
'But she did,' said John, between
two mouthfuls; 'she said she hadn't
got it.'
4 Whv, course she said as much as
that. You didn't SBpect her I o say that
she hod got it, did you?' rejoined the
landlady, with a fine scorn- 'But she
didn't speak up violent and bold, as
you'd expect an innocent girl would.'
' But she was innocent all the time,
you know.'
' I ain't so over sure about that,' re
plied Mrs. Nash, with a shake of her
head. ' It's a queer business.'
Hurrying out to tho barn next morn
ing in the best of spirits, a low sigliing
SOD called John's attention to a bench
outside the kitchen door, where sat a
figure crumpled up into a forlorn little
heap, in which lie recognized the pretty
maid of the day before. She wore her
bonnet, and a bundle lay beside her.
Her face was hidden on her arms,
which were crossed on the back of the
bench.
'Why, what's the matter?'said John,
turning back.
The girl looked up with a start. 'I
beg your pardon,' she faltered. 'l'm
just going. I didn't mean to stay so
leng.
'Going? Where?'
' I don't know where,' she said, de
jectedly. 'l'd try for another place,
only there doesn't seem much enanee
of getting one without any recom
mend.'
'Do you mean to say that they are
sending you away from here?'
'Yes.'
' But, in the name of goodness, why?'
'I don't know. Mrs. Nash says she
don't like to have servants about who
are suspected of stealing.' The blue
eyes filled again as sho spoke, and she
hid her face.
•By George! I never heard of such
injustice in my life,' shouted John.
' Now, Lucy, if that's your name, you
just sit still where you are. Don't stir
or move till I come back. I'll sec Mrs.
Nash. I'll put things right.'
To out tilings right seems easy enough
to a trong. hearty man, with justice
and argument on his side, but that is
because he do< s not calculate properly
on those queer hitches and crotchets of
human nature, especially woman nature,
which have no relation to justice and
fair dealing, and are unaffected by ar
gument Mrs. Naah proved impervious
to John's choicest appeals. Her mind
was made up; she ' didn't war tto bear
no more on the subject ;' finally, her
temper rising, what business was it of
his. she demanded, what help she kept,
or if she kept any help at all? He'd got
his pocketbook back; accounts were
squared between them; there was no
further call, so far as she could see,why
he should meddle with her concerns.
The upshot of the interview was that
John flew out of the kitchen with his
face as red as fire, tackled his horses,
threw valise and feed-bag into the
wagon, flung the amount of his reckon
ing on the table, and addressing Lucy,
who, pale and terrified, stood, bundle in
hand, prepared for flight, called out:
' Now, then, my good girl, you've lost
one place by my fault, and Ira blamed
if 1 don't offer you another. Will you
jump into my wagon and go home with
me? My old woman's been talking this
long piece back of getting a smart girl
to help along when she's laid up with
the rheumatics; r you're just the one
we want She'll trea* you fairly
enough, I'll he bound, and you shall
have whatever you were getting here.
And if you behave yourself you'll be
well used, not turned out of doors for
othing, I'll engage to that; it isn't the
way up in are parts,' with a vindictive
look nt the landlady, who stood rigidly
planted in tbe doorway. *We don t set
up to be extra Christians, but thorc'a a
little honesty and decency left among
us, which is more than can be said tor
all places. Well, what do you say ? Yes
or no. There's my hand on it if It's
yes.'
He held out his broad palm. Lucy
hesitated, hut for a moment only.
'Yes, I will.'she*aid. ' I've nowhere
"else to go, and you seem kind.'
Another moment and they were driv
ing off together down the maple-shaded
road, whose yellow and crimson houghs
danced overhead against ' October's
bright blue weather. There were psflhc
ano calming in the fresh stillness of Uie
early day. Gradually a little color stole
into Lucy's pale checks, nnd John's hot
mood gave place to wonted good humor
and chec-.
'You've had no breakfast, I'll bet,' lie
said, witli a smile. 'And no more have
I. I was so mad with that woman that
I couldn't swallow a mouthful, but now
I bCfein to feel sharp enough. We'll
stop at the next tavern, oouthwick,
isn t itP Five miles and a halt. Can
you hold out till then?'
*Oh. yea. indeed,' with a grateful look
out of the blue eyes.
•John's tone grew more and more
friendly.
' WeMi have something hot and hearty
there,' he said. 'You look pale. I
guess you didn't sleep any too much last
night/
•Oh. I couldn't sleep at all. Mrs.
Nash told me that I must ro the nrst
thing in the morning, and I felt so
badly'
' I shouldn't think you would want to
stay with a woman like that.'
'But it's so dreadful to have nowhere
to go to. And besides—* She stopped
abruptly, with a look like terror in lier
eyes.
'Have you no friends, then?' asked
John.
' No.' The tone was very reserved;
but reserve could hardly fail to melt
under so sunshiny a presence as John
Boyd's, and before the long day's ride
was done he had won from her the main
facts of her story.
Lucy Dill was her name. Her mother
had married for the second time when
I<uoy was twelve years old, and throe
years avo, when the girl was bandy
fifteen, had died, leaving her to the
protection of her stepfather.
' Sho didn't know what sort of man
ho WAS,' Mtiid Lucy. 'And ho wasn't
that kind of man when sh ) was alive.
I was too young to notice much, and
mother always put herself between him
and me when things went wrong.
After she died it wits dreadful. Elkins
—that's his son—came home to live.
He nevor lived there before, and—and
he-'
' Wanted to marry you?'
'Yes; and his lather said I must.
But I was afraid of him—of them both.
And people began to come to the house
—bad people, not good—and I began to
suspect things.'
' What kind of things?'
It was not easy to eet an answer to
this question. In fact, the terrified and
inexperienced girl had hardly dared to
formulate her own fears; but John
gathered the idea that coining or other
unlawful practices were going on, and
Lucy, only half comprehending, had un
derstood enough to startle and frighten
her into making her escape. She had
effected this by night six weeks before,
and her great dread was of being dis
covered and forced to go hack. John
reassured her as well as he could.
' You'll be just as safe at the farm as
if you ware in an iron safe,' he pro
tested.
But, spite of Ids assurances, the lurk
ing terror never left Lucy's eyes, though
weeks sped safely by and nothing oc
curred to alarm her. Every sudden
noise made her start; the sight of a
strange figure on the road blanched her
roses to paleness. Except for this Tear
fulness, Bhe proved an excellent 'help'
in all ways, ouick, neat-fingered, sweet
tempered. Old Barbara wondered bow
ever the farm had got on without her,
and John in ids secret heart wondered
also. It never should be without hei
again—on that he was firmly resolved.
' Lucy,' he said one day, three months
after she became his inmate, ' I'm tired
of seeing you jump and quiver and scut
tle upstairs whenever the peddler or the
ragman comes along. It's had for you,
and it worries me almost to death.
Now, there's just one way that'll make
all sate, and set your mind at ease, and
'.liat is, that you just marry me out of
hand, and give me the right to
protect you. Once my wife, I shouldn't
care if your stepfather and all the
gang came after you; let them lav a
finger on you at their peri', while I'm
alive and have the right to interfere.
Will you, Lucy? It's the best thing to
be done, trust my word for it. I don't
mean to pretend that I'm doing it for
your sake entirely," added John, with
a broad smile, " for I ain't. I want you
for my own sake the worst way, nut
both ways it will he a gain: so, unless
you have something'against me, say
" Yes," Lucy, and are'll have the parson
over to-morrow, and make all safe.
Will you, Lucy?'
'Oh, how could I have anything
against yon?' replied Lucy, with the
sweetest blush.
•Well,' declared John, n moment
after, as he raised his head from his
first long lover's kiss, ' now I forgive
Mrs. Nash!'— Harper"! Bazar.
■
A llooble Brain.
The human body is, in the main,
double. It has two eyes, two cars, two
nostrils, two lungs, two kidneys, two
arms, two legs. Two sets of the same
nerves issue from the two sides of the
spinal column. Indeed the spinal j
column is itself double throughout.
One advantage of this dual member
sbipof the body is. that if one organ or
member is destroyed, the other supplies
its place. It is also a familiar fact that j
we incline to use the right side more
than the left, and, as a consequence, the
members and organs of the right side
are more fu'ny Developed, and become
specially expert.
Now the brain belongs to the class of
double organs, and not to the small
class o. single ones. A deep furrow
cleaves tbe brain down to its point of
junction. As a consequence, it seems
probable that if one brain could be
safely removed, all mental acts could
be equally performed by the other;
and doubtless it is owing to this, that
large portions of the brain have been
destroyed without nn appreciable loss
of intellect.
To some extent, however, so far at
least as physical sensation and move
ment are concerned, the two brains
adopt tbc principle of division of labor,
oRb presiding over one side of the body;
but, singulsrly enough, each over its
opposite side.
This is due to the fact that the nerves j
of sensation and motion cross before
pacing out of the cranium. Hence,
when the left side of the body is para
lysed, we know that it is the right brain
which is injured, and viee versa.
Further, in using the right side of the
body most, it is not only more pener*
ousiy developed, but the left brain also
more fully developed, so that the diffi
culty of using tbe left hand in adult life
does not depend whol y on the less de
veloped hand, but also on the less de
veloped brain.
It is a mistake thus to develop one
hand at the expense of the other. We
might just as well d velop both alike.
We could thus often divide labor be
tween them; and, in many eases, both
might work equally well together,
where the work Is ordinarily wholly
done by oite.— YouOu? Oom)>anton,
Lawyers Under Peter.
Peter the Great, of Russia, was a 111 on
arch of large views but invincible preju
dices. He loved his country, and longed
to see it take a higher place in European
history. He saw clearly that, progress
could he made only by the introduction
of new industries and by skillful train
ing in mechanical labor.
To forward Ui's end lie visited in dis
guise the older nations of Europe, made
himself thoroughly acquainted with
their forms of industry, and worked as a
common mechanic at various trades.
He sent, also, numerous young men
of promise to great cities in other coun
tries, to acquire skill ia the mechanical
arts, and to become teachers of their
countrymtn.
But, while honoring all weil
trained mechanics, he had a rooted
contempt for lawyers. It pugaled
him to understand how they oc
cupied high positions in England and
France. They multiplied quarrels, he
said, and fattened on the life-blood of
others. Vexed at the high esteem in
which they were held elsewhere, he
vented his wrath in the memorable
threat:
"I in thankful I have only two
1 wyers in my empire. When I return
u ran to execute one of them
Governor Smith, ot Wisconsin, has
issued an order eftAliahing the uniform
of the Untied Slates army as that of the
national guard of Wisconsin.
TIMELY TUflcH.
A rich and eccentric Pari*!an ha* (in
cluded a search for some new pleasure
by establishing a private circus for the
amusement of himself and his friends
From a paltry m-venty-five cents'
worth of iron ore may be develop* d, it
is said, $5.50 worth of bar iron. $lO
worth of horse- shoes, SIBO worth of
table knives, $6,800 worth of fine
needles, $29,480 worth of ihirt buttons,
$200,000 worth of watch springs, $400.-
000 worth of hair springs, or $2,500,000
pallet arbors (used in watches.)
A statistician, c uriously and closely
inquiring, declares the result of his in
vestigation as to the products of the
United States to be that the agricul
tural products of one year amount to
nearly as much in value as the products
of the mines since 1849. In plain words,
or rather figures, he sums up $1,594,-
006,000 as the total value ot the agri
cultural production of leading staples in
1877, whereas, the estimated yield of all
the mines during twenty-seven years—
that is, 1849-75—was $1,617,000,000.
The entire length of the costly railway
line of which the St. Gothard tunnel
forms a part is 151 miles. The main
tunnel is about nfne and one-third miles
long, but there are twelve other long
tunnels which aggregate nearly ten
miles in length; live tunnels between
220 and 550 yards long, and twenty five
between 110 and 220 yards long. Then
are in all no less than fifty-two of these
subsidiary tunnels, having a total length
of sixteen miles. There are also on the
lineover sixty-four bridges and viaducts.
The Germantown Telegraph says thai
since the law to prevent the spread of
contagious diseases among the cattle of
New Jersey was passed by the legisla
ture of that State, little has been heard
of the pleuro-pneumonia which at one
time was quite prevalent there. The
report of the State treasurer states that
the gross sum paid last year in the
proper enforcement of the law was
$23,431.81, of which veterinary surgeons
received $14,624, and other sources of
expense the balance. Eighty head of
affected cattle were killed, for which
$954 were paid by the State.
A manuscript supposed to have been
written by St. Peter, lias lately been dis
covered among the property of a man
named Bore, who died last year at
Jerusalem, at the age of 109. The stjle
of the work has lea to the conclusion
that it is authentic, and it is stated that
the Ixindon Bible society, which has
dispatched a committee to the spot, lias
offered Bore's heirs the sum of SIOO,OOO
for its possession. Tiie heirs, however,
refuse to part with the manuscript,
though it st ems probable that they will
allow the society to reproduce and
translate it.
A great improvement has just been
announced in tlie audiphonc. After a
jong aeries of experiments, says the
English scientific journal, Xalurc, Mr.
Thomas Fletcher has found the best
material of which the audiphonc can
be made is birchwood veneer. Cut into
an oval disk, steamed and bent to a
curve, it can be conveniently held be
tween the teeth almost without con
sciousness of its presence. For some
persons any audiphonc is a more efficient
lieip than the trumpet, and this last
named modification of the instrument
promises to become a boom to thousands
of deaf persons.
The interesting old Flemish city of
Bruges, which in the height of its pros
perity had a population of some 800,000
souls, lias, since the sanguinary persecu
tions under Philip 11., been gradually
declining in wealth and number*, so that
at present it does not possess one-four.h
the population it had three centuries ago.
The population of the city, which in
1869 numbered 47,681, fell to 44.950 in
1877. The lethargy of the inhabitants is
attributed to the effect of the number
less convents and the richly endowed
benevolent institutions which, by per
petually supplying the wants of large
numbers of inhabitants without any
exertion on their part, have tended to
deprive them of that energy and spirit
of independence which are indispensa
ble to success in commercial life.
New Albany. Ind.. has a curious ease
in the person of a thirteen-year-old boy
whose heart is on the right and his
liver on the left side of his body. The
boy, when confined in the house, be
comes very nervous and restive, and
often falls as in a faint. On this ac
count he cannot be sent to school. Ap
plication to books at home produces
the same resulta, and any sudden ex
nitiraent, either from fright or labor,
will cause these fainting spells. The
boy spends most of his time out doors
hunting in the woods and fields for
squirrels and birds, and lias become
very expert in the use of the gun. He
is very cautious in his movements,
never suffering himself to become
wearied from hunting. but when feel
ing the least tired sitting down and
resting. The boy's general health is
very good, hut he has not the vitality
usually found in boys of his age.
Wabash, Indiana, lias walsed in ad
vnnoe of many larger and older towns
by introducing the e'ectric light in iU
streets. Four •let-trie lamps of 3.000
candle power etch went into commission
recently. The lamps, suspended mid
way of the iron flagstaff on the court
house, which towers two hundred feet
above the business part of the town,
were furnished witn electricity by a
No. 5 generator driven by a seven-horse
power engine. According to contract
the machinery was to Uglit one mile in
diameter from the court-house, and be
equal to a gas-burner 8.680 feet from
the light. The council placed men at
different part* of the city to observe,
and they reported satisfactorily. At
Arbana. five miles north, ths light was
said to be beautiful. The Detroit Free
Pre*• says the test has given general
satisfaction
According to the report of the hoard
of trustees of the ce'ebrated Greenwood
cemetery, Brooklyn, for 1879, there were
831 ion eold tat year, making a grand
total of 83,076. There were 5.139 burials,
making an aggregate of
groM receipt* amounted to $488,907.96.
The growi disbursements, including in
restmenU—which aggregated SB7IOOO
-amounted to $446,908 88. The general
fund for the improvement and permanent
cate of the cetneler* is now $666,901.31.
anincreaeedariagthe year of $13,479.16.
During the year 646 lota were enclosed,
and 196 monument* and 499 headstones
were erected. Tue report says: The
interment in Greenwood, in a private
lot, of a favorite dog, elicited
rnent and was rtie^fi' ™
monstrances addressed te tl,e r "I. .''
requesting them to prohibit su 1 Yi? '
menu in the future The Intel.-." 1
feeling exhibited could not but 7 "*
spected. and the aoSLfr T
SITISi? "Wrfntl-m prol.l bitln*T^^!£i
Some Italian physicians have been in
vestl gating the peculiar conditioner tee*
miners who worked in the St Gote.,2
tunnel They have dhavered thauh.
labor in remote galleries encend< a
tl, in,.,,1n,, of IK> SSrKtta,'"
culm rc I milling ti "'hir--ji "
ral appearance ol the St. Oottard
miners," says the London J\rae, , ar
ticularly those of them-and they ar.
n the majority—affected by the mala*!,
in question, is described as deplorj
hie in the extreme. Their faces are V H*
low, their features drawn, eyes half
closed .ips discolored, the skin
humid and the gait difficult. If tee,
eat with appetite they cannot dig.-st and
when wine is taken it is invarishlV re
jected. I>-t a man be as strong as he
may, three or four months' work in the
tunnel ser ously injures his health an d
at the end of a year, or a little more |-
is a confirmed invalid." The investi
gators have given the worm the name 0 f
anemi/i nnkylonUmia, and the malady
arising from its presence is said to b#
epidemic in Egypt and Brazil.
Moung Edwin, a Burmese, who has
been educated in America with the view
of sending him as a Baptist missionary
to Burmah, lectured recently in Baits
more. Speaking of the deplorable con
dition of women in the East, owing
mainly to peculiar religious teachings
he said: Girls in China are believed to
have no souls, and to kill them is not
murder, and ther< fore not to be pun
ished. Where parents are too poor to
support the girl children they are dis
posed of in the following manner: At TIB.
ular intervals an appointed officer
through and collecU from poor parents
all the girl children they cannot care for
when they are about eight dayswld. He
has two large baskeU attached to the
ends of a bamboo pole and slung
over his shoulder. Six infants are
placed in each basket, and he carries
them to some neighboring village and
exposes them for sale. Mothers who
desire to raise wives for their son- buy
such as they may select. Tfie others are
taken to the government asylum, of
which there are many all through the
country. If there is room they arc
taken in. if not they are di owned."
Home Interesting Fact-..
A peculiar substance has been found
by Professor A. Scaochi in th<- lava
which issued from Vesuvius during th
year 1631. He supposes it to be a new
metal, and gives it the name veebium.
In Prussia one person in every four
hundred and fifty is insane. A B<rlin
scientist attributes this Larg- proportion
to intemperance among the lower class,
and to educational cramming in early
years among others.
Some two years since, according to a
foreign medical report, a girl of seven
teen received a severe fright, whirh,
within a few days thereafter, resulted in
a total loss of her hair. None has grown
since, and she remains completely bald.
A small quantity of the essential oil
of aloes was recently exhibited in F.<lin
burg. It is believed to be the only
specimen in the world. The oil exists
only in very minute quantity in aloe*
but two fluid drachms having been
obtained from five hundred pounds of
aloes.
A process has been patented in Ger
many whereby a fur-like material is
produced from feathers in eombination
with other textile substances. The pro
duct can be used for a variety of- pur
poses. such as rugs, csrp>ets. and some
articles of clothing Feather*, other
wise valueless, can be utilized by this
means.
Tiie hats of natives of British Colum
bia arc adorned with figures resembling
tattooo marks. I)r. Dally has d scov
• red that these marks all haveadefinite
meaning, being, in fact, record? of
events whirh have taken place n the
lives of the wearers. Each individual
thus displnvs his history upon his head.
A remarkable discovery win lately
made in the region of the Pvrcne<-s. In
a cave of the pialeolithic or "old stone"
p riod there were found teeth of the
cave-hear adorned with drawings, some
of which represent human beings cov
ered with long hair. These rude pic
tures must date thousand of years before
the dawn of historic times.
A horse recently captured in the
wilda of Turkestan was found to be
exceedingly sensitive to cold, bavin*
no ordinary coat. This unique speci
men of the equine breed now figures at
the Zoological gardens at St. Peters
burg, where it is comfortably habited
in an otter-skin jacket.
Tnc pitcher plant of Borneo has been
found to tie a natural insect trap, in
curving ridges effectually prevent ire
the escape of any creeping inserts which
may enter. In order to safely rearii the
prisoners thus entrapped, a species of
olack ant ingeniously perforates the
stalk of the plant and tunnels upward
to the pitcher, providing in this man
ner a highway by mean* of which ready
access is had to a sumptuous fare of
dead and decaying insects.
Ilow Peter the Ureal tat Off Iliad*.
Some of the recent execution* is
Russia recall a very striking incident
of the reign of Peter the Great. Ihf
Nihilism ol that period was represented
by the revolt of the Sterlitz (Are.ier)
guard, which Peter quelled and pun
ished with merciless severity, behead
ing a,man for every turret on the Krem
lin wall, which overlooked the place of
execution. The headsman being fsligura
with the hutrhery, Peter himself took
Ids place and struck off twelve heads
with his own hand. The thirteenth was
a hand sum* young soldier, nicknamed
Orel (Eagle), who. pushing aside Ids
predecessor's headless corpse rried.
with a laugh: "Come, brother. u_
my turn for an audience with the cast
now!"' Pler, struck with tinsreckw*
gallantry, pardoned and promoted lurn
Some French writers toure endeavored
to throw a clothing of romance over
the incident hy making iU hew w
czar's unacknowledged son, but tl e*:
•pective ages of the two men rendered
this all hut Impossible.
In building or choosing • bouse to
live in, take cars that the k When. J
roomy, and has plenty ofeuallfm-*
dark kitchen is ac nbominat .
cram pel kitchen in
housekeeping one half. Ift the kttcn
be supplied with all 'Li
enors, even If the parlor suffers in con
sequence.