Two Vision*. When- clone tho curving mountains > stronui In tlicir ombraoo, With every outline, curve and hue Reflected in it* placid face, The plowman stopps/. hi* team to watch The train, an swift it thuudarnd by; Dome distant glimpne of life to catch, He strains htn eager, wistful eye. The morning freshness Ilea on bint, Just wakened from hln balmy dreams: The travelers, begrimed and dim. Think longingly of mountain streams. Oh, for the joyous mountain sir, The fresh, delightful autumn day Among the hilla! Tho plowman there Must have perpetual holiday! And ho, as ail dayjlong ho guide* His steady plow, with patient hand. Thinks of the flying train that glides Into some now, cncliaiitod land. Whore, day by day, no plodding round Wearies the frame and dull* the mind Whi re life thrills kocn to sight aid sound. With plows ami furrow loft behind/ Even so, to each, the untrod ways Of life are touched by fancy's glow, Thst ever sheds its brightest rays Upm the path wo do not know! Aynr* M. Mnrhar. in the Omtury. The Old Arm-Chair. "Yes, there they go!" said Miss Pamela, lifting the corner of the win dow curtain to look down the long per spective of the winding road. " Four of 'em. In two cutters, with two wolf robes and two sets of sleigh bells. And it's the third time that Kuth and Bessie have been asked out sleigh-riding within the month, and nobody ever thinks of me I" And it was a little strange, too, when one came to think of it. Miss Pamela Pipely was a plump young woman of thrce-and-thirty, with rosy cheeks, snapping black eyes, and a figure as trim and straight as a sapling-pine. She had not Ruth's melting, almond shaped eyes perhaps, nor the peachy pink of Jessie's radiant complexion, bnt she was universally acknowledged to be the t>eat hand at pickling and preserving in all the country around. She couldn't quote Swinburne or Jean Ingelow, but she managed her widowed brother's household with a firm yet gentle hand, and had a chestful of patchwork, bedquilts and crocheted tidies, in the big old garret upstairs. In fact. Miss Pamela Pipely would have made a first-class wife to any man living— ii only the bachelors around Gray George could have been brought to perceive a fact which was so mani festly to their advantage. So Miss Pipely sat before the Are of blazing logs, all mossed over with silver gray fringe, and bubbling out their resinous hearts beneath the Aery ordeal of the Aames, and knitted away at *Bquire Sam's gray-mixed stockings, as if she were on a wager against old Time and was resolved to conquer at all haz ards. And the dragon's head thst was carved on the old mahogany chair op posite, and the clawlegs and the qneer little brass knobs scattered all over it, aecni"d to wink soberly at her, in th o pleasant light as she worked. It wss an heirloom in the family, that old chair, and the Pipelys were prond of it. Jnft then there came the merry jingle of aleigh-bells np the road, like a peal of miniature laughter. "Some one else out for a sleigh-ride," thought Miss Pamela, without turning her bead. | {But to her inAnite amazement the tiny pearls ceased to chime; the sleigh had stopped. " Good gracions I" said Miss Pamela, taking a hurried observation from be hind the netted fringe of the curtains, "ifs Mr. Hedger. And he's coming here, tool" Mr. Hedger came in—a atont, middle aged man, with light bine eyes shining behind his spectacles, brown hair just sprinkled with gray anl a seal muffler buttoned up to his very nose. " Good morning. Miss Psmela I" said he, pleasantly. " Good morning T said Miss Pamel* "I've called on business," said Mr. Hedger who was one of those nncanon iced social martyrs, a bashful old bach elor. Miss Pamela, to be sure, wss an old maid, but she wasn't in the least degree bashful, so, perhaps, the two were not evenly mated. "On businessV" repeated the lady. •Til call my brother at once." "Oh, don't do that, MiasPamela!" said Mr. Hedger, deprecatingly. "No 7" Miss Psmols raised her jet black eyes in tome surprise. " Because my business was with you especially," he explained. "Oh!" Miss Pamela sat down again, mechan -1 ally crimping the borders of her apron with the Anger and thumb of her left hand, while a very pretty blush crept over her face. " I've been thinking it over for some tim<\" said Mr.l Hedger, rather ah "Have you?" said Miss Pamela. Anil tho crimping operation wont on faster than ever. " Of coarse I know it is taking a groat lilMjrty," saiil tho gentleman, apologetic ally. Ob, don't speak of it," eaid tho lady. " And then, you kuow, wo aro almost strangers," he added. "Oh, that makes no difference 1" said Miss Pamela, hnrriedly. "I can hardly master courage to ask," said he. " Don't you l>e afraid," sweetly smiled the bright-eyed damsel, wondering what Bessie and Ituth would say if they were to come home and And her engaged. " You will forgive my audacity ?" he murmured, moving his chair a trifle nearer. "Of course!" responded Miss l'ipoly. " Well, then,"said Mr. Heilger, plung ing headlong into the subject, will you sell me that old mahogany dragon's head chair of yonrs for my collection of antiquities ? I am told it has a record for a century and a half, and I have long been anxious to possess it. Expense will be no object to me, as my pleasure lies in collecting those valuable articles of vertu." Miss Pamela turned red and white-- the folds of the apron fell from her hand. Figuratively speaking, she froze over at once. " I prefer to drive no bargains for any family relics," she said, stiffly. " But —" " I am sorry to disappoint you, but it is really quite out ot the question," said Pamela. "Might I continue to hope—" " Yon may continne to hope nothing!" severely spoke the lady. And Mr. Qedger, beginning vaguely to suspect that something was wrong, stumbled vaguely out of the room. While Pamela put her head down in her hands, and began to cry a little. " I thought he was going to propose," sho said. "And I did like him-and I was jast going to say yes! And to think he only wanted that horrid old dragon's chair, after all!" In the wood-yard outside Mr. Heilger encountered .Squire Harnuel Pipely, who was splitting wood like a good-natured Goliath. "Oh!" said the squire. "Pears to mo you made a very short stay, Hedger?" " I don't think your sitter was much pleased," said Mr. Hedger. The squire suspended his ax in mid air. "Not pleased V said he. "Why what on earth did you say to her ? r ' "I only asked if she would be willing to sell me tho old claw-legged mahog any chair for my collection of antiqui ties." '' And she said no V " She said no, most emphatically.'' The sqtiiro struck his ax into a log, scratched bis nose and chnckled. "Ah !" said he. "Well, it ain't her fault; she couldn't say yes." " Couldn't say yes V echoed Hedger. " My Grandfather Pipely was a queer old sonl," said Bam. "He left that chair to Pamola, you know." "Bo I have understood," said Mr. Hedger. "Bhe never was to part with it unless shemsrried," added the squire. " Unless she married?" repeated Mr. Hedger, vaguely. "But in that case," said Squire Bam, seizing bis ax again, " it was to become tho joint property of her and her hus band." " I never thought of thst," said Mr. Hedger. " Second thonghts are sometimes best thoughts," said the squire, splitting sway as for dear life. " I've always admired her," said Mr. Hedger, " and I believe I'll go back." "Just as you please," observed the squire. Mis* Pamela Pipely was sitting by the Are, with a little flush on her cheek and a little moisture of her eyelashes, while ber knitting lay unheeded in her lap. Bbe started at his entrance. " Miss Pipely—" said the liachelor. " Sir 1" she cried, brushing away the dew from the lashes, which curved so prettily at their end, and trying to look unconcerned. "If yon won't give me the old ohair," said Mr. Hedger, " will yon give me yonrself T " I don't know what yon mean," said Miss Pamela. ".Don't yon V said Mr. Hedger. And then he sat down beside Miss Pa mela and explained himself. " I never heard of such s thing in my life 1" cried she, hysterically. "But don't yen think It sronld be a capital idear urged Mr. Hedgtr. " No—yes—parhape I" said the lady. " You'll think of itr said he. " Yes, Til think of it," said she. And so they became engaged, and Mr. Hedger added to his social status and hie collection of antiques at the earns time. And they are) just as happy as if it had been a CMS of love at first sight. | Fifteen decent, of the persons is Boston w JPfr taxes of 81,000 a year and npwaiWims women. LAMES' DEPARTMENT. T.hlni-o N n )l*llh-Mlkrr, All tho nervousness, embarrassment and febrile excitement attendant upon "popping the question" in highly civi liaed conntrioH are avoided by young men of the Tchnlian Tartar variety desirous to marry, whose simple and discreet custom it is to ascertain their chances of success or failure in matri monial enterprise by tho following pro ceeding: ThoTchulian Curiuosin search of a wife, having tilled a brand new pipe with fragrant tobacco, stealthily enters tho dwelling of the fair one u|>on whom he has bestowed his affections, deposit* the pipe npon a conspicuous article of furniture, and retiree on tip-toe to some convenient hiding place in the noighiiorhood, local etiquette requiring that he should execute this strategic movement apparently undetected by the dam sel of his choice or any member of her family. Presently he retnrns with out farther affectation of secrecy, and looks into the apartment in a casual sort of way. A single glance at the pipe he left behind him enables him to learn the fate of his proposal, if it had l>een smoked, he goes forth an ac cepted and exultant bridegroom, if not the offer of his hand and heart has been irrevocably rejected, as not even worth a puff of tobacco. By'this ingenious expedient the pain and humiliation of verbal refusal and fruitless pleadings are spared to luckless wooers, and Tartar maidens are auvod from importunities justly regarded as peculiarly trying to female sensibility. Tho pipe, consid ered as a matrimonial omliassador, has at least this to recommend it—that it may be relied upon to commit no breach of confidence if its mission prove successful. London Telegraph. XrKad Nolra far Wamrn. Seventeen women received diploma* at the commencement exercise* of the Training School for Naraea in New York. The movement to provide neat* for aaleawomui lia* reached Melbourne, Australia, and baa been successful there. The fonr prizes offered for design* by a wall paper manufacturer in Now York wero taken bv women who. with a aingle exception, were amateur*. Mia* Mrra Kingbnry, who haa bad charge of a church in Vermont for the past year, haa been ordained a* a Uni veraalift minister at Hhesheqnin, Pa. Daring a wedding a'. Benton, Mon tana, a few week* ago, a rejected suitor scattered a ponnd or *o of cayenne pep per among the church pews. The stuff wi particularly troublesome around the altar. There was a general weeping, wailing and gnaahing of teeth. When at the critical moment the preacher aaked the bride whether ahe wonld have the groom, ahe replied: •' Ker clioo, Jrmtchoo 1" A propone to receive a limit M number of girl* from the public schools, who may deaire to become saleswomen, and educate them, a* boy* are educated for buainee*, giving them one hundred dollar* the first year and incraa*ing their pay aooording to their proficiency. They are to be allowed e vacation of two week* out of the time, and every mean* will be afforded for their advancement. At a wedding in New York one day recently the bride's yonngest sister, a tiny little girl, and the groom's little nieoe headed the bridal procession. The bride wore white satin, trimmed with point dncheare laoe. Her veil of tulle was long and full and fastened with bridal blossoms. Hhe wore solitaire diamond earrings, the groom's gift. The hridemaids, including the children, wore short white dresses and white satin poke bonnets. raahlsa KMC*. Belts are more stylish than ever. New goods bare touches of yellow through them. Feather turbans will be mnch worn by young ladies. Muffs of velvet and lacs wiU he much in rogue this winter. Feather head dretaes are adopted by fashionable matrons. Bridemaids wear white fielder roses and small tube rails. Long cloaks hare a tendency to make young women look old. Natural flowers whiob do not quickly fade are worn upon hats. Plush is imported for trimming hats, bonnets, dressss and wraps. Silver-gray and amber-tinted satin dresses are very fashionable, The camUard, or French refugee cloak, is considered very stylish. The big sunflower still holds its own in the ntbetie world of fashion. Myitis green will be the fashionable color for ladies' dresses this winter. Mourning beta era quite elaborate, especially those for half mourning. Immense white satin bows are worn at the belt with white evening dresses. Large Alsatian trows of moire silk are worn upon the bead both by young fzi eldorly ladies, the latter ehoosiug blaek alone. Roil plnsh bonnet* adorned with flaming red feathers, held by large old fashioned paste bucklers, are the choice of a few ecct utric ladies. Coronet wreaths of pnro white or gay colored flowers will be very fashionably worn with fall evening toilets, with tho hair arranged a la Josephine. Real silver and also fine steel buttons are displayed, out in facets which sparkle like diamonds and look exceedingly rich npon street jackets of embossed velvet. Pearl-gray silk stockings, either plain or delicately embroidered in fine pink flowers, are the rule of tho hour. They are worn with Mtopbanie sandals of plain black satin, fastened with tiny silver clasps. Hearts, sashes and revers are made of the new striped and plaided fabrics in silk and wool. In dresses of mono chrome color tho jianel facings, cami sole, pelerine and cuffs are frequently made of these bright materials. Gloves, no matter how long, that but ton up tho arm, are no longer consid ered in best style. Two or three buttons st the wrist only are allowable. The remainder of the glove is in a solid piece fitting loosely over the arm. A late French caprice is to wear ear rings made of real Brazilian beetles. Another style is that of a tiny bird abont an inch long made of fine, lieantiful feathers dyed crimson and green. The eyes of the bird are formed of dia monds. How a Play Was Produced. A New York correspondent tell* of the curiou* manner in which a play by Alexander Duma* the older wan recited before it wa* written. The corre*pond en t ray*: One day the opening acene flashed on him, and in a fortnight the play wa* planned and complete in hi* head. He walked into the committee-room of the Theater Prancai* to ask that me com mittee be called together that day week to hear a comedy of hi*. "So you have written a comedy?" aaked one of the actor*. "No," Mid Duma*, "I have com pletes! it—but there'* not a line written yet." "Thenyou cannot possibly be ready to road it in a week T Duma* was* little incensed at their doubting hi* facility, and he turned sharply and asked: "The committee meet* every Satur day. You are all here to-day. Would you like like me to read you the play now?" " Without the manuscript T aaked the puzzled actor*. " I will read it now without the man uncript," said the author, " but on one condition only. It nhall oonnt for a formal reading, and you will at once vote for or against it* acceptance." The committee of actor* agreed to this, and Alexander Daman, standing before the fire, began to recite to them " Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle," a comedy in five acts, of which he had not written one word, but which he carried complete in hi* bead, as Jove carried Minerva. Aa he finished each act there was applauae, and after the fifth a doable round. The ballot hoz sraa passed at once and the unwritten play sraa accepted unanimously. "If I had died on the way home,* re cord* Duma* solemnly, " the Theatre Francaia would never have had the play it had Just agreed to act," Itoudoller* of Vrnlcr. A Venetian gondolier deacend* gen erally from a long line of ancestors, who were for centuries boatmsa. A gondola costs about fiWO. The father lays by week after week a small sum in order to buy his son one, and thus start him in life. The gondola oog|s about WO per annum in repairs The owner pays a tai to the municipality, accord icg to the station to which lie is al lotted, and be is obliged to be there not'only every dsy, but every third night. Daring the summer months he gains a dollar per diem; in winter al most nothing. When the gondolier goes home he has to cook and engage in other domestic avocations for his family. Hu wife, dressed in rags, with her hair in disorder, and a pair of old slippers on her feet, sits on ber door step looking to her husband to find ber in polenta, and to cook it for her when earned. The food of the family, when they have food, consists of polents and a handful of small Sh, so smsll, in deed, thst nothing rnmatos of them ex cept bones and skin when dried. Ou feast day*, if the gondolier has been fortunate, they eat a little rice. This, however, is so exceptional luxury, for rice is dearer than polents. And yet these men ere able to row without any apparent effort for many boon every day. They are well set, strong, and ruoscular, and their unkempt wives ■eem to bs in the rudest of health Physical IT, intellectually, and morally, they oompare advantageously with the descendants of the Doges. • " Indeed, sir, I would box your ears" -{pausing, reflectively) but where could I find a bis large enough T | C 3 CLIPPINGS FOR TIIK CURIOU". Ihe bntcher bird is said to impale its victims on thorns and devonr tbeni at leisnre. In Rome bankrupts were condemned to wear in pnblic black bonnets of a sugar-loaf form. In Asia Minor the tomb of Alyaltes, the Lvdian king, had a circumference of neatly a mile. Many old Greek inscriptions were written alternately from right to left and from left to right. The latest use of paper is the ail op tion of paper plates ty some of the great restaurants at Berlin. Glass can lie drawn into threads so fine that 2.,000 would be required to make up the breadth of an inch. The arm of a man, fore leg of a qnadruped, wing of a bird and fin of a flsb, all present the same bones, varied and modified. Tho whalebone of commerce, is made, not from the skeleton of the fish, hut from small bones in its month, which act as strainers for its food. Wine and oil jars were rendered im pervious to moisture by the ancients, as they are at prevent by the people of Hpain and Italy, by robbing with wax. A peculiarity of the silver mines of the new world is that they are s.tasted in elevated and barren tracts, where, but for them, man wonld not willingly live. | The value of the ivory consumed at Sheffield, England, where it is mnch used in the handles of cutlery, is $140,- 000, and fifty people are engaged in working it. In a recently published list of Euro pean birds, fiftj-two species of birds of prey arc given as occurring more or less frequently within the limits of the continent. March was the first month of the year among the early Romans, and it con tinued to be so in several countries till a comparatively late period, the legal rear beginning, even in England, on the 2lth of March, until the change •f style in 1752. The origin of the celebrated order of Knights' Templars is due to the seal and piety of nine French knights, who, 11 If, followed Geoffrey de Bouil lon to the Crusades, and there dedi cated themselves to insure the safety of the roads against the attacks of the infidels who maltreated pilgrims to the Holy City. The amount of gold obtained from the surface and mines of the earth, from the earliest times to tho present time, is estimated to be $14,000,000,000, of which $8,100,000,000 have been ob tained within thirty-nine years ; of the latter amount $7,805,000,000 are still in existence, of which North America fur nished one-fifth. Whistling (Urdu. Dwilpw class whittling bird* as pro ficient or not proficient To the first class tielong those that whittle heroral tone*, or one tnne very well, and in the eeoond class are bird* that can whistle only a fraction of a tune. Oat of fifty birds, about forty are proficient sod abat two-thirds of these can whistle two melodies. These birds uxmnd in Hesse and Saxony, where they are taught by tailors, shoemakers and wearers, whose occujiation keep them indoors. The teaching begins from the time they are strong enough to be taken from the nest The tune they are to learn is whistled to them sereral times a day, particularly in the morning and erening—whistling is preferred, as in strument* are too shrill. The birds should always hear the tune in the same key, and no other tune should be played or whistled in their hearing as long as they are learning. The time in which they master a melody varies from four to six months. They will almost at all times pips their tune at tha com mand (a nod or a word) of the person who feeds them, and only for him, ao it is important that they should always be fed by the same person. When piping, they mots their heads, and sometimes sway the body to and fro and spread out the tail like a fan. Duelists Dinner. Dinner* are not often given on each t peculiar occasion M one given e short time ego in Peeth. A noted " Are enter" celebrated in this way his twenty-fifth duel. No man was invited who had not fought at least twelve duels. The only guest from Great Britain and Ireland was the O'Gorman Mehon. It was a scarred assemblage. The guests bore tokens of their favorite pastime in slit ears and noses, scarred cheeks, and hands short of the common number of fingers. The host eras espe cially distinguished by the number end variety of his permanent and insepara ble decorations. It would not be hard to find a similar dinner party among students in Germsny, where attend snog at dueling meetings is made more compulsory by the students than at tendance at lectures hi by the professor*. Prince HUmarck himself, when at col lege, earned the sobriquet of the fight ing fctndeat from his constancy and success in dueling. Falllrg Leave-. WtvM the lsva i 1 <:%.b to fU 1 tonrut our hearthstones, otie by "in fUpe with ngi', tlii-ir labor (loo* Itoar Orion we have lovel an long Thrilling messsge, lairne to all, *' Ye lira nerving with the throng." When the- cummer foliage fa/lea, Ab'l the year la gray and old; Forma of oth ends me t. The man "who was iteb ng for office wan elected, but it wan by a scratch. The bootblack ia an affectionate little fellow. Ho takes a shine to almost every body. Poles may not be prond at home, but they are getting "stuck up" all over this country. A good suggestion is like the crying baby at a public meeting; it ought to be carried out. Every man cannot be a florist, but last summer proved that every man may have a hot Louse. The acme of politeness was reached by the Nevada mining superintendent who posted a placard reading: " I'leaae do not tumble down the shaft." Somebody observes that when six young la lies sit down to talk about a new dress pattern a small boy with a tin horn is a refuge for the weary. " Ah, doctor, back from the Adiron dack*? Whit luck did you have?" "No luck," growled the doctor; "I was there for a week, sod I never killed a thing." dames Parton has named his son Vic tor Hugo. This will be a grand thing for the boy if be ahould Late literature and go into the lard and : allow business when be is a man. A Western preacher declined an ad dition of 8100 to bis (alary for the rea son, among others, that the hardest part of his labors heretofore had been the collection of bis salary, and it would kill him to try to collect 8100 mors. "Oh, that I were Wilkie Collins I" cried lazy Jim. " And what do you want to be Collins for?" chimed the other fellows. " Because," yawned dim, " his physicians have ordered him to abstain from all work for aix months." A little girl went timidly into a shop the other day, and aaked the shopman how many shoestrings she could get for a penny. " How long do you want them ?",be aaked. " I want them to keep,' was the answer in a t„ne of slight surprise. A New York man spent twenty-eight years trying to teach cats to talk, and four died under his treatment during that time. He was a heartless lunatic, and should have learned wisdom of the eat. It ia a very poor cat that can't teach a man to say things at IAO a. u. that he wonhl never think of daring basin roe hours. " There, I believe everything ia to my mind," said a housewife as she dusted the laat fleck of dust from the bric-a brac on the mantel. "Then you can think of absolutely nothing to add to the completeneaa of the household?" inquired her bnaband. " No-o-o. Noth ing. Except perhaps a wealthier hus band." And they hadn't bnt just begun housekeeping. Let the dear kitten out of the bag: Georgie, aged four yean, was playing with his toys when his oousin Mary, of sweet eighteen, seized him and gave him a kiaa. Georgie broke away, cry ing ont: '' Sauce-box 1" " Oh. fle," said his mother, "Georgie tnusta t say that." Georgie: "That's what Cousin Mary said herself to that Tillington man laat night when he kissed her." Two man disputed about their power* of endurance, and one aaid teatilj to the other: " I bet you that I can bold my lege in boiling water longer than yon can." " Done," eaid the other, and the at naming water was brought. In went the legs, No. I with an air of defi ance, No. 3 with an edifying serenity. No. 1 began to winoe, No. 3 called calmly for the newspaper. No. 1 began to find it intolerable. No. 3 smiled at the hnmor of the paper. "In heaven's name P at last exclaimed No. 1, ex asperated by the heat of the water and the ooolneas of hie antagonist, " what to your leg made of V " Wood," sen tentkmoly replied the other. Net That Kind of a Knot. At a eoetol gathering on Austin avenue the following proceedings were bad; "So your nephew to going to get married f "Tee, ma'am; next Saturday Um knot will be tied." Little Johnny, who has bra listen ing with open month, says: " I any, ma, on the last day they let the poor fellow eat anything he waste to, don't they F * JVrav Sifting *,