Some Summer Selections Summarised, Summer timo will oouie again With its softly blowing zephyrs, 1 .owing kino are in tho Holds; Some are sows and somo nro heifers. Tennyson, when very young. 1 allien now have shod thoir fragrance; Snowballs, too, as round as bullets, Cackling towlsaro in tho barnyard; Seme arc hens and sumo are pullets, Yaxvcoh Stratus. Summer winds wait o'er tho meadow, Azure skies and perfumes erect ns; Come the songs ol winged birdlings; Some are flios and somo are 'shooters. —Boston Times. Fail will come with poaches luscious; Songsters sweet on all tho twigs, Through the Holds the swine are roaming; Some are hogs and some nro pigs. —Jlmeriea. Icy winter will appear, With its Hooey Hakes and mittens, Felines are there in tho house; Some arc cats and some are kittens. —Rome Sentinel. Seasons all have their attractions, Seasons' fruits all have their juices, All the seasons havo their poets; Rome are goeso, and somo are gooses. lVitl Lux. Winter with its bracing weather, Autumn makes all creatures glad; •Spring time bring. its would-be poets, Summer good and summer laid. —Boston Journal of Commerce. THE STORY OF A GRASSHOPPER Some where about the year 1701 one might have found half-hidden among trees in the magnificent park at Versailles, a tiny cottage of Swiss archi tecture. Had any French peasant been asked the question as to who owned this fanciful dwelling, the reply would have been given, " That is the dairy of Dame Capet!" And. as the reader may at once sur mise, this D.ime Capet was no less a personage than the lovely but unfortu nate queen, Marie Antoinette. Here, cnc summer afternoon long ago, was assembled a group of women, whom by their rustic attire you would have called peasant-girls, were it not for the indescribable high-bred air about their words and actions. The room in which they were gath ered was large and sunny, the floor was Ol black-wa.nut —highly polished—and here and there were tables covered with thin slabs of marble, upon which were placed silver and porcelain pans, con taining creamy white milk from the sleek cows browsing outside the dwell ing. One lieautiful young girl, whose fair complexion showed in line contrast to her blue dres-. was skimming the cream, while three other ladies—one. plump and rosy, the other, tall, thin and angu lar, and the third, petite and piquante— stood, with elbows resting on the mar ble slabs, watching her. These four were respectively, Eliza beth. the king's ambella. But in this little dairy cottage all titles were laid aside. Another group was gathered at the table by the window. Here the queen, a graceful woman, with merry face and rich brown hair, wearing a costume of blue and russet, was molding the golden butter into balls, each stamped with a rose, or some other design oi flower cr fruit. Scarcely had she finished the last yel low pat ere there was a noise of foot steps at the vincarehed doorway. The ladies glanced up and welcomed with silvery laughter and gay words the party of gentlemen, who now entered in rustic costume, bearing loose blouses, and with ru-tic ribbons upon their hats. "Welcome all!" cried tho queen, gayiy, brandishing her butter ladle. " All save Monsieur de she added, in an aside to a young girl who stoon near her. The person whom she addressed was, as we have said, young, and. besides this, she was extremely beautiful, with perfect features, delicate rink-Hnd-penrl oomp.exion. large, soft, Dlue eyes, and with masses of shining, bronze-brown hair, half concealed by a coquettish little iace-eap adorned with crimson ribbons. He dress was n black delaine ooped over a quilted, crimson petticoat so short that it displayed a pair of dainty feet encased in tiny slippers, with high heels and gay, crimson rosettes. Her bine eyes flashed, and she said, in low tones: " Yes. your majesty —I mean Dame Capet— Monsieur de I>nnier is never wel comed by me, Louis d'Argent." " You did right to reftise him, eherie. No one could endure such a bear for a husband," said the queen, glancing toward a tali, gaunt man, whose thin, fiercely compressed lips, thick, bristling eyebrows and fierce, deep set eyes made his fare a most unprepossing one. "But what strange creature has he with him?" exclaimed the queen, her bright eyes widening with astonish ment. And then, curiosity overcoming dislike, she call dout: " Pray, Monsieur de what rara avis brings you hither?" Advancing with a flourish and a smirk. De Lanier said: " This is ro bird, your high—Dame Capet; it is a grasshopper, Monsieur Santerelle," pointing with mock gravity toward a little creature, scarcely four feet in height, who. besides being so diminutive in stature, was also strangely deformed, having a large head set on humped shoulders, nnd with long, thin arms and legs. His face was small, wizen and yellow, with irregular fca. lures. The only thing not repulsive were his eyes; these were large, brown and mild, with that look of dumb en treaty aiiout them that one often sees in the eyes of animals. His costume consisted of waistcoat and knee-breeches of pale, pea-green velvet, long silk stockings, high-heeled slippers, together with a jaunty hat and light, airy cloak of mingled green and brown tissue, completed his attire. Truiy, from bis entire appearance, he well deserved the French name of grass hopper—thai is, " le snnterelle." During the time of Louis XIV., and even down to other reigns, there was a rage amongst the nobility for dwarfs. Tli" Ugliest and moat deformed creatures were eagcrlv sought after and retained as pages. • Le Santerelle is quite a juggler,' continued De Liolcr; " and If y our mn jcsty would desire it. I will order him to perform some of his feats." "Pray, do," said the queen "But let us go out and sit beneath the shade of the trees." Merrily chatting the party of ladies and gentlemen left lite neat tittle dairy. When ail were sealed on the violet dotted grass Monsieur do Lanier gavo- Le Snnterelle. a sign, whereupon the lat ter began a [series of most wonderful performances. He causedmysterious eggs to sudden ly appear in the grass; he swallowed poinard after poinard; he produced yards'of gayly-eolored ribbon trom his hat; he caused six white mice, with pink eyes, to jump out of the pocket of the Duchess do Pollgnae, so startling that haughty dame that she quite forgot her dignity, and acted like a scared schoolgirl. And, last of all, he nearly sent every one into convulsions by his gymnastic performances. Ho hopped, leaped, rolled, and distorted face and form into '.he most grotesque shape. Shrieks of laughter rang out at every new effort. "That is enough," said the queen, rising at last, while tears of merriment were rolling down her lovely face. "I can laugh no more. Monsieur do La nior, we are much indebted to you. Come, Louis, let us take a stroll among the trees before the sun sets and the dews fall;" and she and her husband sauntered away. Scarcely had the two royal person ages left the group ere De Lanier said: " Come Le Santerelle, show us some more. Give us something new. Prove your agility as a monkey by leaping over that aitch," pointing to a ravine some six or eight feet in width, at the bottom of which babbled a tiny stream with a pebbly bed. The dwarf hesitated. "Indeed, master," he said, slowly, "I would obey you if I could; but I fear that this is beyond my power. I cannot jump so far." " Indeed he cannot," spoke out Louise d'Argent. "It is asking too much of the obliging little man. Besides there are stores down there, and Monsieur le Santerelle might severely injure him self, to say nothing of soiling that pretty costume. So pray. Monsieur de Lanier, do not command him thus." " And why should Mademoiselle Ixiuise expect that I should heed any re quest < f hers ? She scorns mine," said Monsieur de Lanier, in a low, bitter voice, and witli a look in his eyes that made the young girl both frightened and nngry. " No, he continued : " I/; Santerelle must do as I command him," The poor little dwarf gave one look of entreaty at his inexorable master and then, smiling grarefully as ha saw theTsympathy on the faces near him, he threw aside his cloak, measured the distance with his eyes, and then took the leap. The result was what might have been expected- There was a fall, and a sight of a gruen body rolling down among the stones and briers, "Too bad," murmured the nobles. "Stupid!" muttered l)e Lanier. " Helas ! he's killed!" shrieked the ladies, while Louise d'Argent exclaim ed. with much indignation: " It was a cruel—nay, a dastardly act to compel the harnflcss little creature totakealeap which has, perhaps, re sulted fatally to him." Seeing that Do Lanier made no effort to ascertain the condition of the dwarf, she herself descended into the ravine, and raised the head of the poor little man upon her knee. He was not dead, but fainted from tiie pain and loss of blood from a deep gash in his forehead, where a jagged stone tiad cut him. At tiiis moment the king and queen, alaimcd by the shrieks, returned. "What is the matter?" inquired Marie Antoinette, anxiously. Some one explained to her in low tones, whereupon her majesty colored with indignation, and,' turning to Dc Izinirr, she said, in a voice of stern re proof : " Monsieur de I am sorry that any gentleman of my court should have acted so cowardly. The king also administered a severe rebuke, and then his majesty and the queen went down to the little group surrounding the dwnrf. De Lanier flushed purple-red, and then grew deadly pale, at the words of his royal master and mistress; and as they turned away his band rested on his sword, ami he said, in threatening tones, while a lurid light gleamed in his cruel eyes: " You have your day now —mine will come by-and-byc. I shall livo to see those haughty heads bow down to the dust. And Liuise d'Argent, too — COIM her bewitching beauty!" nnd so saying he strode awny, and was soon lost. in the shades of the forest. • •••••• Many events have taken place since the ones last recorded. The sunshin' of prosperity has changed to the storms of adversity. All France is shaken with the throes of a terrible agonv. Paris, the beautiful, has changed into a huge butcher shop—the streets ru i *d with the blood of human beings. Men have gone mad. Riot and rapine have reared n goddess and worshiped it under the nnmr of Reason. Who does not shudder when recalling that epoch known in history as the " reign of terror?" A Tew miles out of Paris there was. at that time, a large grnystone rhatc.au. the property of Monsieur de l^anier. Its former owner had fallen a victim to the guillotine, and the property of the deceased had been bestowed upon De Lanier as a gift from (lis friend, Robe spierre. One dark, rainy night there sat in nn apartment of the chateau a young cou ple whose faces were full of misery and despair. One, the lady, we have met before. It is Louise d'Argent. Her companion, a young man of noble presence, is Eu gene Bt. her betrothed. Mademoiselle d'Argent is ns beautiful as ever, although her face is pale and wan with suffering. Her long black mourning-robes shows that dentil has wrested dear ones from her. Her father and uncle have both perished in tho revolution. That morning, while she and her be trothed were just about starting for a place of safety, they were seised by the soldiers of De Isuifrre, and brought to tbe residence of ttie latter. For two hours tlmv have sat in this apartment, every minute expecting to be hurried away to Paris, there to meet a bloody fate. Only one alternative is given them; De l>snicr has promised that if Louise will wed him, he will let St. Leger go tree. Bat she prefers death to such n bridegroom, and her lover applauds her resolution. So the two sit there with all comfort gone save the deathless affection they have for each other. "This suspense is killing me," mur mured Louise, pressing her hand to her heart. "Be patient, love," says Eugene, striv ing to soothe her. " Ilark! What is that?" she suddenly cxcluimed, Theio was a slight noise in the Wall back of them. One of the beautifully carved panels was shoved aside, and the wizen face and grotesque form of a dwarf appeared. " La Santerelle!" Louise exclaimed, in astonishment. " Hist!—yes, lady, 'tis I," he replied, coming into the loom. "And what do you here?" inquired Ixmisc. after she had explained to Eu gene whom this strange visitor was. " I have come to aid you if 1 can, for I have not forgotten your kind pity when I was hurt at the Petite Trianon," and his eyes filled with tears of emo tion. "Grateful creature! And can you really help us?" inquired Louise, grasp ing his hand excitedly. " I trust so, lady." " But how can you get us out of this prison-like apartment? The door is locked, the windows barred. I see no way of escape, unless it is, indeed, by the passage through which you have just come. I never suspected that the panel could be moved." Nor docs Monsieur de Lanier," said the dwarf, with a comical grimace. " He has only very recently come in possession of this building, and knows very little about it. I discovered this secret passaage, and trust that it is the very thing to help us. We had better start at once, for Monsieur de lanier intends to visit you soon, and when he comes lie must find his prey missing." " But what is your plan, my friend?" inquired St. Jaeger. "It is thi3," replied the dwarf. " You and mademoiselle follow me through this passage until we reach the door which is in the wall of the wine-cellar, and is so covered by vines as to be en tirely concealed (font the outside. In side this door you will remain while I go back and assist Monsieur de lanicr with his toilet, so that he will not sus pect me. When dressed lie will repair to your room. Discovering your ab sence, he will at once cause a search to be made. When vou are not found on the grounds h i will conjecture that you have taken to the highway, and then, mounting horses, he and his servants will scour away on a wild-goose chase. After he is gone, 1 will repair to you, and we will hie away in another direc tion." " But suppose Monsieur de Lanier commands you to accompany him?" aid St. L"ger. "He will not do that —he will leave me in charge of the chateau; for his servants are new, and lie trusts none of them." " And the horses?" " There arc three which, with this ob ject in view.l told Monsieur de lanier this morning were disabled; so he will no ask for them. They are sound and swift, and will carry us to a place of safety." "I have a friend at II who will conceal us until wc have a chance to leave the country," said Louise. "Very well. But come; wo must he go'mg. Mademoiselle, will you be so kind as to give me your glove?' "Certainly." The dwarf took it with a smile. • • • • • A half-hour later all was hustle and confusion at the chatean. Monsieur de Lanier strode hither and thither, his dark, saturnine face full of wrath. He cursed the servants one and and declared that he would slay with his own hand the person who had aided in the escape of Mademoiselle d'Arsent nnd her lover; for, as mny le surmised, he had gone to the room in which they had been confined, and found it vacant. He ordered thebuildingtobesearched and the grounds surrounding it. This was done, hut with no success, except that just outside of one of tiie gates, and on tfie road leading to the northeast, a tiny gauntlet was found. It was embroidered with the I)' A rgent crest, and had doubtless been ■dropped by the lovely Ix)uise. "Ha! This is something indeed. It shows the way they have taken!" ex claimed l>e Lanier, smiling grimly; and he added : " Hurry, Batiste, with three horses—you and /ean will accompany me. Take your pistols, and if Mon sieur St. Leger resist*, shoot him." And, in a few minutes, three mounted men dashed out of the gate and along the rond. A little later, three other horses gal loped away in an opposite direction. They bore Louise, Eugene and La San terelle. For hours they dashed along in breath less suspense, and then, as the distance widened between them and the chateau, their fears were lenacned, and, allowing their horses' mad nil lop to subside into a gentle trot, they began to con verse. " How fortunate it was that Do Lanier chose the other road instead of this!" said Louise. la SanU relle chuckled. " He selected the other road, lady, be cause lie thought you had taken it. You remember my asking you for your glove? That was a ruse to deceive him. I purposely dropped it in the road so tiiat he would tuink you had paa ed over the spot. But let us muke haste, for the sky is becoming tinged with red, and we must reach your friend's bouse eve daybreak." An hour later they were in a place of safety. In a week they had set sail for America. Louise felt no regret at leaving her native land. The dcatli of her only relatives and the trials through which she had passed made Iter anxious to seek a new country in which to found a home with Eugene and la Santerclle. For the latter accompanied them and lived witli them unto a good old age, and after he died his memory was ever cher ished in the hearts of lauise and her descendants. The company that has been experi menting in Florida with palmetto for paper-making purposes has met with such gratifying success that they will erect about twenty paper mills In vari ous ports of the State where palmetto trees grow in abundance, and where the transportation facilities are good Borne English paper manufacturers in Canada have been so influenced by the favorable reports concerning palmetto that they have sent an agent to Florida to ascertain what may be its intrinsic merits. At Ortonville, Minn., a hailstone fell tlintjuat filled a pint bowl by itself. A girl thirteen years old died of fright in a thunder-storm there. FIRM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD. S'arm and Uardaa IVotaa. Keep fighting the insect enemies. Poor fences often make bad neigh bors. Exterminate weeds, briars and brnui blcs, everywhere. Alfalfa, or Lucerne, is California's greatest forage and fodder plant. Quicklime is destructive to worms, slugs and the larvae of injurious in sects. The Farmers' Alliance of England is credited with large influence in the late elections there. Now Orleans hits shipped to France and Italy within a ycar2,400,000 gallons of cotton-seed oil. The annual tribute paid as rent to the landed aristocracy of England by the farmers is estimated at $500,000,000. At a recent shearing at Caldwell Prairie, Racine county, Ind., the heav iest fleece shorn was twenty-seven pounds. Nathan Stoweil, the originator of the famous Evergreen sweet corn, is still living at Burlington, N. J., nnd is eighty-seven years of age. Farmers who keep sheep should not forget to dip the lnmbs in tobacco water about three weeks after shearing to kill the ticks. Fowls are very fond of milk and thrive well upon it. Sour milk will bring better returns in eggs than in any other way it can be fed. The wheat crop of the world for 1879 shows a deficiency of 375,00*1,000 bush els. Nearly 200,000,000 of this defi ciency was in Europe alone. The prospect is good for an unprece dented wheat crop in all sections of the republic where the grain is grown, in both quantity and quality. Three tablespoonluls of Ixmdon pur ple, well mixed in a peck of plaster of paris. will make a compound which is sure death to the Colorado beetle. During the past fiscal year, according to official information obtained at Washington, more settlers have occu pied homesteads on the public lands than in any former years. Clean farming is the best under all circumstances, and if adopted as a rule r. BHOII.KD 'BKEFSTF.AK. —lf possible have a nice icd of coals; put the steak on a hot-buttered gridiron, let it remain till nicely browned, turn, letting the other side browr., also remove to plate, taking care not tolosetliej uice; butter, sprinkle with salt, and cover tightly; serve hot. If the stenk is tough it may be made more tender by pounding with the edge of a plate. EON S POACHED.—Set a stewpan on top of stove, pour a pint or two of boil ing water in, add two tcaspoonfuls salt, drop eggs cart fully in ; when whites are firm, draw off water, dip up, put a little butter on each egg, and, if desired, sprinkle with pepper. F.FIFIS FRlED.—Break eggs into a dish, hu'.ter a warm pour care fully in. sprinkle with pepper and salt, cover; when whites are firm take up. or, if preferred, turn and fry the other side. OMF.I.ETS.—Beat six eggs, stir in one teacupful sweet milk and one-half tea spoonful salt; butter omelet pan freely, pour In, set over moderate fire, keen raising edges; when firm and a rich brown on the under side turn together and lay doubled on the plate. The pan should never be washed, but rubbed with a woolen cloth. Animal l'atlenre. We have a little dog, one of those beautiful creatures known as a King Ctiarlcs, on which it was found neces sary to perform a surgical operr* ! on. With a heavy heart wc took the animal, uuconscious of what was to ensue, to the Royal Veterinary college, and were fearful as to what might be the suffer ings and its consequences. The opera tion occupied a quarter of an hour, and, though no doubt painful, was borne with a wonderful degree of quietness and patience. For an hour or two afterward the patient was rather dull, but recovered iiis spirits and is as lively as ever. On the remarkable degree of equanimity often demonstrated by dogs under sur gical treatment, the Isinctl, in a recent number, makes the following remarks: " We have often been struck with as tonishment while witnessing the patient submission of animals, especially dogs and horses, to sutgical operations, and to the surgical operations necessitated. A case in point lias l>ecn brought under our notice. A fine pointer bitch had a large, hard, fibrous tumor on the breast, with deep and far-reaching roots. The operation for its removal was very skill fully and eflTeetualiy executed by Mr. George Fleming, veterinary surgeon of the Second Life Guards. During the operation the animal displayed an amount of patience that would have been creditable in a human hcir.g. Even during the most painful part of the pro ceeding. that of inserting sutures, she never flinched. The same resignation was displayed when the time for dress ing the wound came around. The pa tient received the surgeon with an air of preparation, and even put herself into position for being dressed. In the ease of a similar operation of another dog some years ago, strong re sistance was offered to tho attempt to give chloroform; hut the animal sub milted to the surgical procedure as we have described above. Such facts sub mit of a partial explanation in the men tal theory of pain, according to which suffering that is not anticipated and mentally apprehended Is not pain in the acutcr sense of the word. But we should be sorry to see this explanation carried so far as to deprive our dumb fellowr creatures of all credit for the submission they show under surgical treatment. We should go further, and say that they are vastly more sensible than many hunianfbeing.s in their estimate of the medical profession, and have instinct enough to see that even when pain is inflcted on them, it is lor a good and kind purpoas.— Ohambtrt' Journal. There are 885 boys actively employed as messengers by the twenty-four sta tion* whlcu the American District Tele graph company has in New York city. How He was Bubdued. It may be mat some of the married folks who read the Companion will find a lesson for a husband, and amusement for the wife, in the following humorous sketch: " My dear," said Mr. Bpoopendyke, feeling up tiie chimney, " have you seen my gold collar button?" " I saw it the day you bought it," an swered Mrs, Bpoopendyke, cheerily, " and I thought it very pretty. Why do you ask P" "'Cause I've lost the measly tiling," responded Mr. Spot-;—sdyke, running the broom handle up into the cornice and shaking it as if it were a carpet. " You don't suppose it is up there, do you?" asked Mrs. Bpoopendyke. " Where did you lsave it?" " Left it in my shirt. Where do you suppose I'd leave it—in the hash ?" and Mr. Bpoopendyke tossed over the things in his wife's writing-desk and looked out of the window after it. "Where did you leave your shirt? asked Mrs. Bpoopendyke. " Where did I leave my shirt? Where do you suppose I lett it? Where docs a man generally leave his shirt, Mrs Spoopendyke? Think I left it in the ferryboat" Got an idea I left it at prayer-meeting, haven't you? Wefl, I didn't. I left it off, Mrs. Spoopendyke that's where I left it. I left it off. Hear me?" And Mr. Bpoopendyke pulled the winter clothing out of the cedar chest that hadn't been unlocked for a month. "Where is the shirt now?" persisted Mrs. Bpoopendyke. " Where do you suppose it is? Wuere do you irnagins it is? I'il tell you where it is. Mrs. Spoopendyke; it's Sonc to Bridgeport as a witness in a tnd suit. Idea! Ask a man where his shirt is! You know 1 haven't been out of the room since I came home last night and took it off." And Mr. Spoopendyke sailed down stairs and raked the fire out of the kitchen range, but diu not find the button. " Maybe you lost iton the way home," suggested Mrs. Spoopendyke, as her husband eame up, hot and angry, and began to pull a stuffed canary to pieces, to see if the button had got in side. "Oh, yes! Very likely! I stood up against a tree and lost it. Then 1 hid behind a fence so I wouldn't see it. That's the way it was. If I only had your head, Mrs. Spoopendyke, I'd turn loose as a razor strop. I don't know anything sharper than you are." And Mr. Spoopendyke got up in a chair and clutched a handful of dust off the top of the wardrobe. "It must have fallen out," mused Mrs. Spoopendyke. " Oh, it must, eh! It must have fallen lout! Well. I declare, I never though of that. My impression was that it took a buggy and drove out, or a bal loon and hoisted out." and Mr. Spoopen dyke crawled behind the bureau and commenced tearing up the carpet. "And if it fell out it must be some where near where be lett bis shirt. Now he always throws his shirt on the lounge, and the button is under that." A moment's search established the infallibility of Mrs. Spoopcndyke's ogic. "Ob, yes! Found it, didn't you?" panted Mr. Spoopendyke, as be bumped bis bead against the bureau and finally climbed to a perpendicular. " Perhaps you'll fix my shirts so that it won't fall out any more, and maybe you'll have sense enough to mend that lounge, now it has made so much trouble. If you only tended to the bouse as I do to my business, there'd never DO any difficulty about losing a collar button." "It wasn't my fault," began Mrs. Spoonendvke. "Wasn't, eh? Have you found ttiat coal bill you've been looking for since March?" " Yes." " Have, eh! Now where did you put it? Where did you find it?" "In your overcoat pocket!" Fatherly Advice. l>on't buy what you don't want. Don't spend all your salary whatever it is. Don't scold children or servants if you want to get any good out of them. Don't think swearing will make the carpet fit the rooms in your new house. Don't imaifine the world wouldn't go on as usual if you slipped out of it to day. Don't cut up your heavy clothing for carpet rags; they may come handy next year. Don't leave business affairs altogether to clerks, or household affairs to ser vants. Don't expect other people to take a joke in good part if you flare up for nothing. Don't blati.e the maker if a number six glove goes to pieces on a number eight band. Don't run in debt. Don't try to suit all your relatives when you name the baby; suit yourself and stop there. Don't think the world will call you wise if you mnkc a tool of youself through the telephone. Don't imagine the harmony of the solar system will be upset if there's a wrinkle in the back of your new coat Don't commit suicide if the girl you want won't have you; she wouldn't care a tig and you might be sorry too late. Don't expect to do a thriving business if you don't tell people through the pa pers where you are nnd what you have to soil. _____ Band-Showers In China. Every year witnesses curious sand showers in China when there is neither cloud nor fog in the sky, but the sun is scarcely visible, looking very much as when seen through smoked glass. The air is filled with a fine dust, entering eyes, nostrils and mouth, and often causing serious diseases of the eye. This dust, or sand, as the people call it. pene trate houses, reaching even apartments which seem securely ciosed. It is sup posed to come from the great desert of (kibi, as the ssnd of the Sahara is taken up by whirlwinds and carried hundreds of miles away. The Chinese, while sensible to the personal discom fort arising from these showers, are re signed to them from a conviotion that they are a great help to agriculture. They say that a year of numerous sand showers la always a year ol great fer tili' y. The annri probably imparts so DM rnrioldng element* to the soil, and it nkso tends to loosen the compact allu vis 1 matter of the Chinese valleys. It is possible that these showers may be composed ot microscopic insects, like similar showers which have been noticed in the Atlantic ocean. TIMELY TOPICS. The king of dentists, as he calls him self, is a Philadelphia curiosity. lie wears a jeweled crown and gorgeous robes, rides in a resplendent chariot, and extracts teeth without charge. While a glib-tonirued attendant sounds his praises, the kin* takes out teeth for all who apply, sometimes pushing them out with the point of his sword. Then he sells an aehc-destroyer at fifty cents a bottle. The preliminary workings for the tunnel under the English channel, uniting England and France, have had the most satisfactory results. The pro moters have sunk their shaft to the stratum in which they propose to bore the tunnel, and are now going to sink another shaft, and lower all the ma chinery for the bore. In eighteen months they expect to have reached two kilometers (about two and a quarter miles) under the channel, and in three or lour years to have completed the task. Idaho Territory holds court at Boise. where is located all the government offices, and is the home of the United States marshal. He goes to Lewiston, 400 miles dit-lant, twice a year to attend district court, and also twice a year to Malad for the same purpose, traveling & distance of Wsmiles to reach there. To simply attend the court* in the three districts requires him to travel 3,700 miles. Hut to do all his official work last year caused Mr. Chase to travel by stages 9,000 miles. The slang phrase "queer fish" lias been realized in piscatorial form In California. At Monterey some fisher men nought it in a seine. It was a bout nine inches long. The first half of the fish was a mountain brook trout, hav ing the eye, head, scales, spots and shape of the fish. It had a pair of fins at tue usual place behind the gills; an inch or two back of this it suddenly changed into a silver eel, the shape, color and absence of scales being perfect. It will probably find a resting place on the shelves of the San Francisco Academy of Sciences. A German paper relates that at Bi berich, recently, quite a crowd gathered to witness the novel spectacle of a drunken driver being taken home by bis horse. The man was so intoxicated that lie could scarcely stand, but the faithful animal pushed him onward with its head. Now and then the driver attempted to turn into side streets, but the horse seized him by the coat with its teeth, and thus piloted him to the stable. The horse had a great deal of trouble with its master, but finally got him home safe It is said that this valuable animal has acted the good Sa maritan for his master repeatedly be fore. An excellent instance of the way in which the children in the average pub lic school learn without learning is re lated by liamtA i' Educational Monthly. A teacher in one of our public schools has been accustomed to require her pupils to say: "The equator is an imaginary line passing iaround the earth." etc. It never occurred to her that the boys and girls of tier school had no idea what an imaginary line meant, until one day a visitor asked them how wide they thought the equator is. Seme thought it was 5,000 miles wide, others 2,000 and others thought tbey could jump over it. The visitor then asked bow they thought ships got over it. One pupil said he thought they got out and drew them over, and another said he had read that a canal had been dug through it! "What is the name of this canal r" was asked. " The Suez canal!" was the answer. On the road from Albuquerque to> Silver City fNew Mexico) is Cook's canon. In which the Apache Indians of Victoria's band have been in the habit of waylaying and slaughtering white people attempting the passage. A pri vate letter of recent aate from Silver City says tl at 240 white settlers, miners and mail carriers hav been butchered and scalped in the canon by the Apaches. A fortnight before the letter was written the Indians killed a party of eighteen persons and burned their wagons. They also slew the driver and throe passengers on the mail coach and destroyed the vehicle. A detachment of soldiers surprised five Apaches in the canon a couple of days after that occur rence, killed and, it is said, scalped them. Among the Indians killed on that occasion was the fifteen-year-old son of the renowned chief Victoria. The lad fought desperately as long as be coul' if iand to strike. The people of Silver City are greatly exercised about the Apaches, who have made mining in that vicinity extremely haz ardous. A Teacher sf Packet-Picking. Twenty years ago Chester established a school in London, dedicated to the devotees of Bt. Nicholas, and he speed ily obtained many pupils. "Hie most well-known and skillful pickpockets, who iiave paid ths penalty of b-ing caught, and those who were clever enough to evade the clutches of the of the law. have all been molded according to the Chesterian method. And when it is stated that in twenty years Chester has been 'able to amass a fortune of 50,000 pounds sterling, the great importance and effi cacy of his lessons will be thoroughly appreciated.) His pupils, on leaving his institution, were formed into bands of ten. nnder the guidance of a "school master," and it was under the aegis of this cvor-watchful guardian that they overran the earth. Two thirds of the " profits" were faithfully and punctu ally paid to the illustrious professor. Chester demeaned himself but twice in his career by "working" personally: it wns at Paris, during the last two exhi bitions. In 1878 he was arrested and condemned to six months' imprison ment; and. he was moreover, prohibit ed from ever entering Prance again. He haa>tnce disposed of the good-wlllof his "business" to two of his nest purl Is and retired to Birmingham, where be has a great deal of property. Having some very urgent affairs to settle in Paris, be applied a few days ago, for permission to pass a week in the Capi tol, which baa been duly accorded him. Hut as it was deemed un advisable to al ■ low a man of his eaprcity to roam about the city without let orhindrance, two police agents have been told off to act as an escort of surveillance. Ches ter isAsyears old and la the father of ten children, whom he has educated In a princely m inner, and he himself is the master of se-cral languages.