Drought. Why <lo ws pity those who weep ? Tho pain That finds a ready outlet in the flow Of null and hitter tears, is Moaned woo And does not need onr sympathies. The rain But Alls the thorn fifthl for nnw yield of graiu, While the rod, brazen skies, the sun's fierce glow, The dry, hot winds which from the tropics Mow, Do parch and wither the unsheltered plain. The anguish Mat tliro' long, rcuioraelaMa years Looks out upon tho world with no relief tit suddtn tempests or slow dripping tears, The still, unuttered, silent, smiling grief That ever more doth ache, and aclio, ami ache, ThiH is the sorrow wherewith hearts do hrtak. - Ktla WheeUr. VI'MiLNT PAItiHKAI'HS. Although the hand orgaus have re tired from business, there arc still lots of cranks turning up. Tho watchmaker can't afford to do a rush business, because he makes all his profits on time.— W< and Witdnm. La 1 1 words of the balloouist; "It's all up with me." Last words of tho gosling: "It's all down with me." An exchange wants to know " whether our colleges tarn out gentlemen." Cer tainly not; the gentlemen are allowed to go on and graduate. Customer—"You say that those fig ures ure life size? My dear sir, they seem very small." Artist—" Perfectly cor rect, sir; you know • life is short.' " "Live within your income," shouts the philanthropist. That's easy enough, old boy; it isn't living within one that bothers s fellow half as much as living without one. A plumber went forth to plumb To s kingly paUoo l.v the w*y. And when his bslf-dsy's work was doti Presented his bill without delzy. The king brought forth his bags of gold, H is diamonds and bis jeweled crown. The plumber gave credit for them, And took a mortgage on tho throne. The question is raised in the Paiis Figaro whether a roan 'should bow on entering a railroad carriage. If he wears a silk hat, and the car door is the regulation height, the probabilities aro that he would bo compelled to bow. No man who has over written a book can comprehend tho awful joy which tills the soul of tho author as ho dis covers the offspring of his brain sand wiched in among a number of other discarded volumes, and marked " Your choice for ten cents." " This buttor, Mr. Spicer," said the dealer, " carried off the prizo at the farmer's fair;" an 3 Soth spat out a tasto of the compound, and remarked; "Un less the prize was a ship's anchor and chain cable, I should think the butter could have carried it off easily." Arabella (on her toes in a chair, clutching convulsively at her Bkirt) "Oh, Bridget! A mouse ! A mouse I Come and catch it, quick !" Bridget " Shure, mum, there's no hurry. If this one gets away, I can get plenty more for ye, mum." H" was asking the conductor how ho managed to build a house and buy a fast horse out of his 850 s mouth. " You see," said this noble roan, "some times wo got away passenger who pays a quarter or a half dollar for his fare. Well, wo flipibe money up—heads for the conductor, tails for the company." " But," persisted this investigator after truth, "sometimes it most turn up tails. What do yon do then ?"' "Oh," replied the conductor, with an ineffable contempt, " then we flip it up again." So that p*senger went home and sold out his railroad shares. The >rcret Out. A reporter dropped into one of our largest retail establishments yesterday, and held a conversation with the pro prietor. " You havo a great rush," re marked the reporter. " Yes," replied tho proprietor, "a big rush—mainly on account of advertising." " How can you tell whether advertising pays and what papers are good medinmsf' "I can tell that advertising pays by stop ping my advertisements. I've tried it Trade drops, not at once, but the tide of purchasers flow some other way. The cash receipts tell the story." " Hnpposc yon should give up adver tising?" " You mnst koop the boilers heated if yon wantateam. If you bank yonr fires too long it takes time to stsrt up. Advertising is the steam which keeps business moving. I've studied the matter."—Boston Journal. How to bleep In a bleeping Car. 1. Get a berth in the fore part of the car. This is because the pure air comes Tn at the front end and windows and goes out at the rear end and windows. I always take the upper berth. My reason for taking the npper berth is, beoanae it is freely ventilated and away from the hot pipes. 2. Have yonr berth made up head toward the engine. This will keep all drafts of air from yonr hesd and prevent taking cold. If the car is very tight put a lead pencil under the window at yonr feet in case of a lower berth ; or, in oave of the upper berth, open the hind-sky window at your feet. 3, Fix your pillow in one corner of the berth, and yonr feet in the other By laying crosswise you will not roll in your berth.— A Traveler. A CITY WITHIN A (ITT. A ('•rrrapoutlrnt Kxplerc* Ihr Olntlal qunrlrr of Hon frnnrliro Hluki* nnd Hrensa of on Alton I'llr. A correspondent who bun visited tho "Chineso quarter" of Ban Francisco, describes tho strange SCOUOH BH wit nessed as follows: We see signs of civ ilization older than the Fharoahs; we hear tho twaug and squeak of a (lddlo of rude workmanship, whoso music was heard in tea gurdens two thousand years before tho three stringed rebec (sire of our violin) was heard in Italy; we bend at doorways that bar our path at sud den turns, peer into dark dens that line the way; hero is a shrine, with gold and saffron legends and scarlet stream ers round the door through which floats tho scent of burning sandal wood in the josg sticks, And we catch the gleam of tinsel, flare of a lamp before an ugly image; and this is what men are left to do I These garish figures are actually worshiped by human beings in their blind gropings for snperior prowess! We have meat shops whore everything is sold from pork to rata; restaurants or chop (stick) houses whore wc see companies feasting, possibly on shark's fin or bird's nest soup and tea; were tho royal Hamlet with us he would say, "And smells so I Pah 1" Hero is a group of fellows in a wash-house play ing fl-ti to see who shall pay for a treat of tea, a game I have seen before but power fails me to describe. Next is a barber shop, where many are undergo ing dainty cleaning of eyes, nostrils, trimming and penciling of eye brows and lashes. The streets are narrow, crooked alleys, whereon are crowded strange buildings, and crowd ed, quaint shadows. We see roofs towering in the air as if striving for spac<j to breathe; we meet women with broad fans, red silk handkerchiefs, and wide bacx sleeves waving like bat wings; their heads are adorned with stiff outworks of shining bair, bright with tinsel and paper flowers. The blnc-blonsed men swarm along the side walks with an easy, swinging swagger, bred of an independence unknown to them in the place of their birth, but arguing the appreciation of the advan tage they here enjoy. Wc enter stores and see huge jars the size of men, wrought silken screens, giant dragon kites, and baskets and gay china; there are qneer foreign scents lingering in every corner; from half open basements comes the rsttle of dice; among the curbstone dealers are pipe cleaners, cigarette rollers, cob blers, vegetable and sweetmeat venders. One of them accosts u portly gentleman of our party in a private and surrepti tious manner, with tho words: "You likee cigar? Me sell belly cheap." As curiosity tempted the one addressed to wink at this contraband business, the almond-eyed, blandly-smiling Chins man 'moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform," and in a manner worthy of the magirian Hart7. calls cigars from the vast depths of his loose sleeves, and sells five for ten cents. " Vile things," remarks the purchaser, as he pitches tbem into the reeking gutter, whence they are deftly rescued by the blandly smiling quondam seller. Inside the windows of tho dimly lighted shops are pasted strips of red paper bearing those remarkable regular hieroglyphics which are an open letter to four hundred millions of the human race, but look to the eyes of the an inisted balance like a series of photo graphs of dislocated skeletons on a jam boree. The name" of Hop Wo, Bhan Tong, Shun Wo, Wo Ki, Yen On, Cheng Lun, Wing on Tsiang are DODO of the moat familiar inscriptions over the store* of business houses. I have learned that these are not always the names of par ties engaged in business, nor do they indicate the trade pursued, nor the kind of goods to bo found within, but are mottoes of savings adopted by the firm. In the original they are sugges tive and poetical, however void of euphony in the English. When Shun Wo, the cigar maker, hangs out his sign, it does not follow that his name is Wo, and he ia impelled by conscientious motives to utter this warning against himself, bnt he merely proclaims that his shop is the seat of faith and charity. Here are a few free translations of some signs: Hip To over a wash-house signifies " Mutual help and concord." Here a doctor proclaims Chai Lang Bhung, which means "Abundant relief." Man Li, a synonym for " Ten thonaand prof its," ia suggestive both ways; exceed ingly so when surmounting tho door of a lawyer. Equally pertinent is Foo Ling, at the entrance to a gambling dec on the corner there. Restaurants proclaim themselves: Garden of the Golden Valley; chamber of the odors of distant lands. The butcher announces: "Wo re ceive tho golden hogs." The apothecary shop is • Hall of rc relief; promise of life palace. Dry goods and grocery atores mod estly aak: ''Let the East and West as sist our plans," or boast: "Customer* coming like cloud*; merchandise re voiving like the wheels," or give gentle warning and admonition to buy; "the pr ce in the morning may not be the price in the evening;" upon their scales is written: "Bo busy and bo prosper ous;" oil the safe: "Hoard up gold;" upon tbe goods, perhaps: "Once seeing and onoo speaking fixes *tt— not two prices." Over the doorway of dwellings: "Let tho live blossings como to this door ;" or "Old and gaining in health and peace." Above tho theaters is ascending lu minous dragon, and everywhere we 800 one or tho other of tho Six Companies into which the population is divided; Nino Yung, which owns tho most men in Han Francisco; Ham Yap, which scuds tho most men to tho Htates, Hong t how, etc. I am told of story under story bo neat h the sidewalks, damp, dirty cel lars whore tho coolies flit around like gnomes, where no window lots in light, no drain boars off bad air ; I am told of the pent, fnll workshops and board ing houses, each story rofloorod onco or twice between the first tloor and ceiling, and their lodgings where the inmates are shelved in tiers; of their courts of justice presided over by tbeir six-headed chief j>ower, the strong Six Companies; from whose joint decree there is no appeal; of the theater, grotesque in the extreme; of the gambling dens, with dice, dominocs ( dragon or demon-pictured cards, where Fan-Tan holds sway, of nndcrground depths like the abysses after death ; of long passages with a strange smell, a smell that makes one faint, a smell of death, where ghastly figures cursed with leprosy cross the slimy rotten floors ; of—bnt enough ; let us out from China and enter America, under a starry sky, and breathing an air fresh and free from beyond the Golden Gate. Harvest Time In Italy. At harvest time there is feasting and rejoicing. Ham, eggs and wine are consumed in great quantities. During " mietitnra " scarcely any one stays at home, and all other work is neglected. The harvest home is usually celebrated by a dauce, and it is at this time that marriages are chiefly arranged. The vintago is a quieter proceeding, for, although the soil is favorable to the vine, it is not so extensively cultivated as corn. For some time before the grape gathering peasants, chiefly women and girls, may be seen guarding their vines, and forming picturesque groups beneath the festooned tree*. Were it not for this precaution all those fine clusters of grapes would dis appear as if by magie, respoct for tbeir neighbors' property not being among the virtues of these Arcadians. After the gathering wagon loads of grapes, some ss line as any in hothouses, are to be met, drawn by the slow oxen along the road*, on their way to be deposited in a vat with a hole in tbe bottom. This is placed on the top of a cask, and on it m nuts a man or a boy, who begins treading the grapes, the juice of which falls into tbe receptacle beneath. This is hard and very unpleasant work, for a a warm of wasps follow tho grapes, and severely sting the naked feet which tread upon them. The sight of the muddy feet increased my distaste for tho wine of the country so much that, in deference to my prejudices, our wine-treaderv were made to wash their feet before hoginning their work— a ceremony they considered superfluous Cortihill M-igatiitr. What They Kat ia Africa. An African correspondent of t\od ami lhalfh, speaking of the people and incident*, says: Of course banter's food, anch as ele phant foot, buffalo hump, aea oow, giraffe, and the hundreds of different kinds of deer that abonnd in various parts of the country, are all more or less good citing, especially when you have a good supply of Dame Nature's sauce, hunger, on hand. I also found the coney or rock rabbit a fair dish, al though too much like a large rat to look pleasant on the table. The natives of tho country are not, aa a rule, great meat eaters, living generally on corn (called there meehea), milk, pumpkins, and a sort of sugar cane, now and then going in for a feast of meat. I have often considered whether to this way of living may be ascribed tho really won derful manner in which they recover from wound* In the Zulu war I saw four persons wounded in the legs with bullets, one of them especially having received a bullet joat below the knee, smashing all the bones, and leaving a bole that you could see through. The doctors said the only hopo for any of them was amputation. This they refused to allow, and they would do nothing but pour cold wfpir from time to time. When I laai saw Ibera all but the worst could walk alone, and fa a wound looked healthy, the bone having grown togeth er and knitted quite strongly. No white man could have lived without au operation. On the other hand, thca men soon succumb to illness or diaeato. How lo restore oil pair.ting*-Carry thorn back to the owner. Novelties of the Law. A Chicago boy only four years old, whose father had gone to his day's work, and whose mother was sick abed, slipped out of tho house and wandered along tho street, where he fell in company with older boys, who coaxed him to frolic with them on the "swing bridge,'' over the south branch of tho Chicago river. A swing bridge answers the pur jKJse of a drawbridge, but tnrns on a pivot instead of being hoisted. The men in charge of this one had just let a vessel through and were swinging the bridge back into place, when tbe chil dren begun jumping bock and forth, and the little fcur-year old fell over the narrow space between the bridge , and the abutment, and bis right arm, which hung down, was crushed. Thccity | was sued for damages. The judges said that they did not consider the fam ily to blame for tho child's being at | play in the street; working poople ran ! not always keep governesses. But | neither was the city to blame. A city I must keep a swing bridge in reason ably safe condition, and if a person crossing it properly is hurt by a defect l of the bridge he can recover. But per sons who use swing bridges must lie careful. The city is not bound to keep a gate or a watchman for preventing persons from stepping upon tho bridge at an improper time. Bridge* are not playgrounds for children, and if chil dren wander from home unattended ' and are hart while playing about a bridge this must be caile 1 a pure acci dent. A Mai viand girl wrote to the preai dent of the Illinois female college ap plying for a situation aa teacher, and was at length engaged at a salary of $3OO, besides "home and washing." The president's letters stated that each teacher would have a well-furnished sleeping room, but did not say on which floor it would be. The teacher wrote, j asking if she might have a room on the aecoud floor, and the president answered at first that it would )>e on the second floor. Subsequently he wrote again, 1 saying that he fonnd that he would have' to asaign her a room on the third floor. Bhe declined this, liecanse " her people were very much opposed to her sleeping on the third floor." Then the president engaged another teacher in her place, and lastly she sued him for her damages in losing tho year's employment. The decision was against her; the court said that as the letters forming the original contract did not express or stimulate for a second-floor room, the president was only bound to award a comfortable room. And he had the right, if needful, to move a teacher from one room to another; because he assigned her a second-floor room at first, it did not fol low that she was entitled to keep it the whole year. A street ear passenger asked the driver to let him off at the Palmer house, Chicago, which the driver prom ised to do; and when the ear drew near the spot the driver 1 reckoned to him and said: " Here is your place," and slowed up tbe car, as if to atop. The passen ger went to the rear platform, and, when the ear war moving very alowly, stepped off; but at that inatant the driver, who apparently thongbt the passenger had already alighted, whipped his horse, the car gave a jerk, and the passenger, who had not yet Jet go tho iron rail, was thrown violently to tho ground, crippling him for life. He re covered $5,000 damages from the com pany, and the court aaid this was not too much. As a general rule, the driver ia bonnd to atop the ear entirely, and if l*saengors jnmp off .while a car is moving, they take the risk of being hurt; but this does not apply where the driver slows tho car enough to render stepping off appareutly safe, and invites the paasenger to do ao, hut atarts tbe car forward without giving him time. The arrangements of a railroad termi nal iu Austin, Texas, are snch that the train makes a short stop in a freight depot first, and then rnns onward to tho passenger depot. One paasenger, not understanding this peculiarity, alighted from the cars while they wero in the freight depot, supposing that to be tbe proper place for him to get off. There were no lamps in or about the freight depot—none were probably needed for the work done there—and the passen ger, groping bis way along the platform as well as he oouid, had a fall of abont six feet, sustaining serious dislocations and bruises. The company said he waa not entitled to damages, for a railroad is not bonnd to light np its freight depot, nor ia it nnder any obligations to take care of a passenger after be has left the train at bis place of destina tion. But the court said it is bound to provide safe, convenient accommoda tions for jwvasengers to get fairly off from the platform and grounds of the station, and thst therefore the suit would hold. A man in 8t Louis aat watching stone masons laying a cellar wall, when be suddenly arose, approached one of them, aimed a pistol at him, and shot him deed. Pointing his pistol et the other workmen, he said: "If you do not stand still I will shoot yon, too." Ho then walked leisurely swsy, and was arrested a few blooks distant. The defense wu insanity. There ess no proof of hereditary insanity, nor much of prnvions mental disease, hut the lawyer for the accused argued that the lack of any motive for the shooting, the defiant publicity of the act, and the total heedlessness of consequences shown; also the fact that the aocused gave various contradictory and absurd accounts of his reasons for the deed, showed insanity. But the court held that these are not sufficient gronnds. 'I he law presumes every person to IMS sane; if any one is not so this must he proved. It cannot be inferred from the extraordinary malice, wickedness, recklessness or uselestm HB of the ret, nor from ahuormal insensibility to con sequences. To the Pole by Hal loon. • onimnnder Cheyne, who i* trying to interest prominent persons in the United Htates and Canada in bis scheme for reaching the North pole by a I*l loon expedition, says: The ship of the < xp dition is to bo called the Oritinell, after Mr. Orinnell's father, the celebrated patron of Arctic exploration. Lieuten ant Bchwatka has to accom pany the exjiedition, provided ho can obtain the consent of the government. The three balloons which will cost $20,- 000, will ha made in England and will be shipped in this country. New York will he the starting point of the expe dition, and we expect to leave in June next. We shall go to St Patrick's bay, where Captain Nares found an immense hod of fine coal lying on the surface. We shall build a house directly upon the coal. We shall put up apparatus and manufacture hydrogen gas for the balloons. The place is six miles from where Captain Nares' ship, the Discov ery, wintered in 1875-6, and is 496 miles from the pole. When we get the right wind, it will take us eighteen or twenty-four hours to reach the pole." Commander Cheyne says farther that the experience of the Jeannette is only another confirmation of the fact that it is impossible to reach' the pole by means of vessels. In his opinion the region of the jolo is sn archipelago bound in n solid ice pack, presenting no opening for navigation. Each bal loon will be provided with a sledge, boat and provisions for flfty-one days, and will reel out telegraph wire as it travels, keeping in communication with the maiu station. If during the stay of the party at the pole the gas shonid escape so ss seriously to impair the levity of the balloon, the gas of one can be need to in flate fully the two others. The balloons will be weighted so as to travel low, and Commander Cheyne is confi dent that he c<n land within ten miles of the pole. He anticipates no diffi culty from cold during the balloon voy age, which is to take place in June of the summer after the expedition sails. "The occupants of the cars," says Mr. Cheyne, '• will havo to work with their coats off to keep cool." The expedition will be composed of seventeen men, who will be joined by three Esquimaux at Greenland. Or J era have already been sent from Denmark to Oreenland directing the authorities there to aid the expedition in every way possible. Hunting Its Hunter. A lad named B.x, in Oliver township, Mich., bad an exciting encounter with a deer a abort time since. He fired at the deer, a larg buck, and was in the act of reloading when be noticed the deer coming toward him. His rifle waa a mnsxlc loader, and his patches were not cut any fast.r than he used them, so that lefore hi could reload the deer was close to him. He made lively time around a large tree, with the doer press ing him too closely for comfort, and seeing two trees at a short distance that stood qnite close together he struck out for them, which he barely reached when the bnck went rushing by. Here he could dodge between the trees, while the bnck would have to go around on account of his horns. Finally the baffled beast stopped to study the situ ation. when the lad, hastily ramming the liall home, fixed the rap with ner vous fingers and, placing the gun be tween the trees and close to the deer's head, he pulled the trigger, and—kerflop wont the beauty. Joined Hi* Wife and Child. Mr*. Melvin A. Major, wife of Thomas Major, of Ohioago, died shortly after having given birth to a child, vhoae deoeaae immediately followed. "I will be bnried with her," wan the comment of Thomaa Major. His brother lived in the name honae, kept oloae watch of him, bat the nest morning, after visit ing a prieat, the former managed to get away and eecnre a doee of poi.ion, which he took early in the evening. The mother and child were to have been buried Snnday. The next day and night the watchers aronnd the lied were s art led by the moana of some one in great agony, and harrying to Major'# room, he was fonnd writhing with (win A physician's efforts proved unavailing, and the anicide died about 6;do o'ciook Snnday morning. The three wi bnried togother. f'KARLM OP THOOCIBT. Mfii arft never killed by the auroral j ties they have, but by the impatience ' which tbey suffer. Our donbte are traitor*. and make a* lone the good we oft might win by fear ing to attempt. It many time* tall* oat that we deem onraelve* much deceived in other*, be cause wejfirst dooeived ourselves. A traly great and noble mind is al ways humble in it* feeling and 'modest in ite deportment We Hhould alwaya keep a corner of onr head* open and free, that we may make room for the opinion* of oar friend*. Life ia bat Might, and when tbey oemno 'tw over. The pnreHt'water run* from the hard est rock. No ache* are lighter than'iDeense, and few thing* barn oat noon or. Neither a man woman ia entire ly tafe until he or the can "end are blame and receive praise Without excitement. I am not among thoae that fear the poople; they, and not the rich, are onr dependence for continued freedom; and, to preserve onr independence, we must not let onr leaden load as with perpetual excitement. Do not ray: " I will help thee to morrow." Perchance the poor *oul may not need thee to-morrow; perehanee thou mayeet have nothing to give to morrow; perchance there may be no , anch day aa to-morrow. boarding the Treaaere. " It would not pay robben te make a raid on one of our par eel wagons," said the *aperintendent of a New Tork ex press company to a reporter. "The ag gregate value of all they eoold secure would not be enough for the risk. With rwapoct to the wagons for money de livery, however, the case ia very differ ent. There the driver and his assistant have in charge sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars—a rich haul for thieves if they oould get at it Ba that ia what tbey cannot do. In the flrat plaae, the region where thane money wagons are generally used is in the most crowded part of the city—the down-town part—where there are tbon ' sands about all the time, and it would be impossible for thieves to make an attempt on our drivers without snob a struggle as would call attention, and net only frastrate the* purposes of the | robbers, but ia all probability insure their arrest. There are'al ways two men in those wagons when tbey are out on i dutv, and care is taken in their selection that they shall be yonng, vigorous, quick-witted and csurageont fellows They are armed with revolvers, and they know how to use them, but my in structions arc that they shall put more confidence in their voices than their pistols. A pistol, even the best, might snsp, bnt s yell is bound to go off. 80, if attacked, tbey are expected to make all the nproar they can. Any body with any knowledge of New Tork street crowds an imagine what would be the consequence. " Beside, our wagons are arranged so ss to put the greatest obstacles in the way of unwarranted intrusion compati ble with convenience. Look at this one for illustration. It it a one-horse vehi cle with only two wheels, and the only way of getting into it is over the seat in front, where the driver or his part ner, or both, will be on guard. Exter nally it is a solid aurfaoe ef varnished wood on sides and back, exeept where that small window of thiek glass, high up in the rear, admits light. Internally it is lined with heavy wire netting. Inside, filling the space behind the seat and fastened there, is a heavy wooden box, with a safety lock. That box is never opened, except when the driver is taking out a money paokage. When he leaves the wagon to deliver a package he locks the box end carries the key with him. His partner, who ia left ia the wagon, has no means of opening the box, and it would take thieves, even with axes and a clear field of action, several minutes to get at its contents. When the driver takes a package out for delivery he i* instructed to either eerty it hidden or ia a bag along to his left wrist, while bis right hand ia freest© use his pistol. Where we have occasion to send money uptown, where there are comparatively few persona ia the streets, a wagon is sent with a single package, or perbeps two, and the mea are cautioned to extraordinary vigilance. The system is the same in all the eoa paniee. Wherever an improvement for greater security can be devised by one it ia immediately communicated to and adopted by all the others, aa all are equally interested in keeping up the common reputation for absolute safety. Then another feet may have some influence in our favor. The thieves know that our o impastes are very rich corporations, and that we srill prosecute to the utmost anybody who makes an attack on the good* under our care, regardless >f oe*4 sad trouble. \ prosecution by an xi>ns>s company would not be the per far ft-try eervioe t an ordinary prosecuting aitomay."
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers