How the King Lost Ills Crown.
Tho kins'* mon, wlnn ho hml slain tho b<>*r,
Strung him aloft on tho lishor'a oar,
And, two behind and two before,
In trinmi>h boro him atong tho ahoro.
An oar I save the king; 'tin a triflo !—why
Did tho fisher frown and tlio good wifo aigti ?
A triflo, airo I was tho fool'a reply;
Ttien (rown or langti who will; for I,
W ho tailgti at all ami am only a (down,
Will never moro laugh at trifloal
A rtuinor next day leaped down tho aand,
And launched a akilT from tho tiaher'a otrand;
For ho cried—An army invadoa tho land I
The paaaoa aro seized on either hand I
And I must carry my message straight,
Across tho lake to tho castle gate t * •
Tho caatlo ho uearoJ, but tho waves wore
groat,
Tho fanged rooks foamed like tho jaws of
Fate;
Ami lacking an oar tho lmat wont down.
Tho Furies laugli at triilos I
The swimmer against tho waves began
To strive as a valiant swimmer can.
Methinks, said the fool, 'twere no had plan
If suecor wero sent tho drowning man !
To sncoor a periled pawn instead,
The monarch, moving his rook ahead,
ltowed over the chessmen, white and rod,
Have chock!—then looked on tho lake and
said,
Tho boat is lost, tho man wilt drown I • * *
Ob, king ! be ware of trifles !
To tho lords, tho mirthful dames, the bard
Was trolling his lxh st song: the guard
Were casting dice in tho castlo yard;
And tho captains all wore drinking hard.
Then came tho chief of tho halberdiers,
And tol l to the king's astounded ears;
An army on every side appears !
An army with banners, and bows and spears I
They liavo gained tho wall and surprised the
town I • * •
Our fates are woven of trifles I
The risl usurper rraehol tho throne;
Tho tidings over tho realm were Mown;
And flying to alien lands alono
With a trusty f- w, tho king rnvlo moan. ♦ • *
But long and loudly laughed tho clown;
We broke tho oar and the lioat went down;
And so the messenger chanced to drown;
The messenger lost, we lost tho town;
And the loss of tho town has coat a crown;
Ar.d ail these things are trifles !
Our Continent.
A SUNFLOWER.
" I shall wear a sunflower in ray
hair, I tell you."
" How queer you will look."
" I shall look well."
"I beg your pardon, but it is impos
sible." '
"Impossible for me to look well?"
" Heavens! no, Impossible* to look
well with a great horrid weed on your
head."
" We shall see."
" I shall not I am ffoing out of
town."
"Cannot you get back?"
•' I am afraid'not."
"Very well. You will hear, then."
There was a silence. "Eva, dear,"
said tho young man at last, lon't
make a guy of yourself."
" I am sorry if my taste doesn't
please you," the girl replied. "Othors
may be less difficult. Wo can easily
find peoplo to go with us."
" Doubtless. And yon will give them
the sunflower irom your hair in recom
pense. Well—enjoy yourself. Good-by."
They parted in anger, the youug man
shutting tho street-door hastily behind
him and walking oil without a single
backward glance, though Eva stood in
tho window watching under her long
lashes for some such sign of repent
ance. The wicked little creature knew
well enough why Phil was so angry.
When ho was out of sight she left the
parlor and went slowly upstairs to her
sister's apartment. Mrs. Kent was in
dulging in a headache, which meant a
wrapper, a shawl and seclusion with a
novel and the morning papers.
"Mr. Egerton did not stay long,"
she remarked, languidly, as Eva en
tered.
" No. lam afraid he has a shocking
temper. It is all for the liest, no
doubt," said Eva, mysteriously.
"Child, what has happened?" ox
claimed Mrs. Kent, dropping her book
into her lap. "You have quaiTcled
with Philip 1 Ob, yon foolish Eval"
" I don't agree with yon. It is quite
too soon to begin to dictate about my
dress. I shall never be willing to.'givo
in to thit extent."
" About your dress! How could that
be, my dear 1"
" Well, Helen —I suppose I must tell
you. Of course I don't care about sun
flowers, lilies or dandelions especially,
but I consider that I have a right to
like them if I want to like them, and
Phil objecta to them and ridicules them
and sneers at certain colors—for reasons
of his own—which I like. Now that ia
going too far, as yon must acknowledge,
Helen, and it makes me a little indig
nant. Finally I happened to say that I
wonld wear an olive-green dress at the
St. Valentine's ball and a sunflower in
my hair. Of course I was only joking,
but be took it up seriously and assured
me I should look horrid, and—jast
fancy I—declined to go with ua on the
transparent pretense that be was going
out of town. He oonld not enduro the
sight of me with a horrid sunflower in
my hair. Goose I, where did he suppose
1 was going to get a sunflower in Feb
ruary P
"Oh, I see. He thought it was for.
Mr. Maynard, Poor Phil, he is jealous.
How can you trifle ao, Evaf
" Trifle, Helen ? It is no trifle now,
I promise you. If there is a sunflower
to be got bofore the I tth, I will wear
tho sunflower in my hair at tho boll."
Mrs. Kent began to laugh, but look
ing at her sister's faeo sbo suddenly re
fruiuod, not without some effort, and
said mildly. " Yon will think hotter of
it by that time, my child."
Poor Phil Egorton, walking swiftly
down the street, sotting <1 own each foot
with a flery and determined stamp, mot
a tall, paleyonng man who nodded and
then stopped to speak. " I know you
oome from Mrs. Kent's," ho said, slow
ly and softly. 'Do tell me if the
ladies are at homo. It is so chilling to
stand and ring and meet a blank de
nial."
"Miss Wilmarth is at homo—Mrs.
Kent is ill," Egorton answered, briefly.
"All, thanks—then I will go on,"
murmured the other, but Phil had hur
ried past.
" Maynard has gone o rra 1 poetry
ou sunflowers to her," so he thought,
and despaired, reflecting ou his own
lately expressed animosities to that
harmless vegetable, " All girls wero
alike," muttered tho unhappy young
man, " wild after whatever idiocy is tho
newest, whether it is in dress or poetry
or people. My Eva prefers this May
nard to me, and trios to becomo as ab
surd as he is by the grace of nature.
Weil, I can boar the parting if it
comes to that; better than that the
other alternative." And ho strode
proudly on to his office, where ho made
life miserable to liis subordinates all
that day.
" Eva Wilmarth," said Mrs. Kent,
when they were putting on their bon
nets to go shopping, with a view to
their dresses for the ball. "You don't
really mean to stick to your sunflower?"
"Yes, I do mean it," replied tho
young lady, trying a very dotormined
bow nndcr her chin as she spoke.
" Never, Helen, never will 1 give op
on sneh a subject as that to the best
man that lives. ,Wc have a few rights,
and I meau to defend them," she con
tinued, absently, "to tho end of my
bonnet strings. Helen, do yon thiuk
they ar.-becoming, tied in this way?'
Her eyes in tho glass looked expectant
ly at her sister, and her beautiful head
leaned forward sideways on tho pause
of ilonbt.
"Yes, loecoming enough. I know
you can wear almost anything but,
Eva, yon are only Ave feet one."
"So much the better," said Eva, or
acularly, and tho sisters departed on
their mission. Eva was grave and pre
occupied all tho morning, but Mrs.
Kent diil not wonder, being well aware
that her sister objected more strongly
to looking like a fright than to almost
anything else; and not herself seeing a
way ont of the dilemma. In vain she
endeavored to persnade her to change
her miml. Miss Wilmarth was Arm as
a rock, and went on haying tho differ
ent articles for her proposed toilet in
tho most business like manner.
Tho expedition was long anil fatigu
ing " I have a good mind not to go to
the ball," said Eva, wearily, when they
returned. " I am tired. 1 hate the
whole thing."
" And your sunflower? ' said her sis
ter, wickedly.
" Ob, yes, my sunflower! 1 must go
to wear it. It is a great pity that people
cannot understand each other; though
you cannot be always explaining your
self, yon know, Helen, because people
choose to imagine things."
Fbii E Jgerton went ont of town cross
and sail, dispatched his business while
his thoughts were full of Era, and re
turned before the festival of the patron
saint of lovers. It was weak, but he
could not help it He never cared for
any other girl in hi* life. ,Era Wil
marth represented ths whole sex to
him. Ho felt himself capable of giving
np everything tor her, and yet ho be
lieved her ready to forsake him for that
miserable idiot, Maynard. The moro
he thought of it the more impossible
it seemed to believe in snch a decelera
tion. Time after time he went over the
history of tho last few weeks, seeking
to trace the progress of her alienation
and to ascertain whether by doing any
thing that ho hail not done or leaving
anything that bo had done this terrible
eatastrope might have been averted
but be got no light. He passed a
dreamfnl week, and in the long nighta,
unable to sleep, he meditated on what
he could make of his future when Eva
was lost to him irrevocably. There
were moments when he feared that in
losing hor he should also lose himself,
and aink into evil excitements to drown
the pain that would scathe his life as
by fire; but generally his mind settled
upon Lesdvillo, or some beneficent
polar expedition, as affording a calm
rotreat where ho might drag on a
maimed and crushed existence till
death came to bis rolief. Ho got home
then before St. Valentine's, and on the
afternoon of tht day be wee sitting in
bis oflloe listlessly looking through a
pilo of letters that had accumulated
during his absenoe. Taking up one of
these he suddenly recognized the
hand writing, and with a great throb he
tore it open. It was a vales tine, a sua
flower of goodly proportions, with this
motto:
" Tho roDHtant flower follows its love, the sun ;
My constant heart turneth to thee alimo."
Phil wuh thunderstruck und puzzlod.
He put his head in his hands und
thought it all over again, harder than
over before. Ah a result of these re
flections ho determined to go to tho
ball by himself, in tho character of a
spectator. If Mayuard was one of Mrs.
Kent's party he would observe them.
At least Eva was no flirt; that ho know.
Gould it bo that ho nnjust to her,
that ho might bo mistaken? Blissful
thought 1 if that could by any possibil
ity bo true.
Ho went early to tho bull and from a
quiet lurking-place watched tho ar
rivals. At lost they came, Mr. Kent
with his wife, Eva escorted by an old
bachelor cousin who was considered an
almost fatal bore by most people. In
the crowd ho could only see the top of
Eva's small head, but sho was not
accompanied by the odious Maynard,
that was sure. Hero was tho odious May
nard arriving all by himself, with a se
reno air and a lily in his coat. Egerton
ccuhl have wept in tho sense of relief.
Still he waited, ho had gone through too
many phasos of suffering to regain his
equilibrium lightly. He paused a quiet
hour in his corner before summoning
courago to approach Eva. At last he
advanced, skillfully concealing his
trepidation—at least ho thought ro
under u mask of indifference. Bhewas
surrounded by admirers and had never
looked more lovely to poor Phil's eyes-
He raw that her dress was of some
darky, rich substance, and that the ar
rar-gement of her hair was unlike other
people's hair, which gave her, ho
thought, a distinguished and peculiar
grac \ In reality her gown was olive
green velvet, rich white lace at the neck
and sleeves, tho only relief to its somber
color. Her red-gold hair was dreased
high, and on the top of her head a
veritable sunflower apparently reposed
on its edge in full-blown magnificence
like a star, or rather a sun. liow tho
thing was fastened only she and her
hair-dresser knew, but there it was
among the brighter lings and curls that
shone tho brighter from contrast with
its dingy yellow and brown.
Mi i Wilmarth was small and dainty
in figure, she had large blue eyes and
a charming complexion, her childish
lilies and roses w. re as well Fet off by
her grave dress as her curls and dainti
ness by the cumbrous head ornament;
ht was a fairy, a dryad, a beautiful
masquerading child. it was highly
probable that sunflowers in the hair
would be do rigueur tho rest of the
season.
Egerton made his bow and receivxl
a sweet, confiding, self-pa'.hetic smile.
"Good-evening," she said, softly, "I
am glal you got back. I thought per
haps you would. Is not evcrbody
looking nice to-night ? Yes, my sister
is bore; do you not see her in the
second set ? I havo been dancing; I
am a little ti red."
Tojtidgofrom her fanner nothing
hal happened. Egerton gasped and
accepted the situation.
"I found I could come back," be
M il, hypocritically, "and of conrso I
did my best, though I am rather late
in finding my way to you. It struck
him that lie was on dangerous ground
here, and he hastened off it. "now
beautifnlly you look, dearest," the poor
fellow said, rapturously, "I never saw
yon dressed so perfectly."
Eva's month quivered, and the long
lashes fell over hercyes to conceal their
laughter. When she cauld trnst her
voice she said simply, " I am pleased
that you like my dross, for it is a fancy
of my own."
" I am sure no one elso could design
anything so effective," answered the
euamorod Phil.
" But you remember you did not
think it would be pretty when I spoke
of wearing olive green and a sun
flower."
" That was—some time ago. And I
was a fool to suppose 1 knew anything
about a woman's dress. Darling Eva,
did yon send me a valentine f
" Yes, Phil," said Eva, •• I did."
Out of this turmoil there emerged
peace for Egerton. He need no longer
yearn for the miuo or the pole. He
thought of himself as a vandal of the
deepest dye while he looked at the
lieantifnl creature wearing her sun
flower with the serene, unconscious
grace of a child princess. What was he
then to dictate in snob ineffable mat
ters ? Did he know anything lmyond
cropped hair and a stovepipe hat ?
Mrs. Kent came np radiant. " How
senslblo of yon to come bade in time
for the ball 1" said she. " How many
valentines bavo yon ha 1 this year 7'
And they all laughed.
A little Hooteh terrier, ab.nt ten years
of age, belonging to G. D. Daggett of
Boston, suddenly disappeared, and was
Anally found in the homceopathio hos
pital In West Concord street. It had
presented itself at the dispensary with
a broken leg, and barked at the door
until admitted. Proper surgioal atten
tion was (iren it, the dog quietly sub
mitting.
TOPICS OP THE BAY.
Btatiaticians estimate that tho popu
lation of this country Las increased
over 1,000,000 sinco the taking of the
eonHUH in 1880, making our population
upward of 52,000,000. It is believed
that in IHOO it will approximate 00,-
000,000.
Tho Nashville (Tennessee) American
makes the curious statement that there
seems to bo a pretty general belief in
that Htate that tho extraordinary rains
of tho past season havo prepared a
drought for Tonnof-seo and failuro of
crops next summer.
A society has boon organized in Can
ada for the purpose of encouraging tho
establishment of a teetotal colony. One
thousand acres of luml havo been se
cured of the government, and are of
fered to strictly tcinpcrato persons at
les than tho established rate.
Notwithstanding tho American corn
petition, which caused Kwiss watch
makers great anxiety not long ago, their
trado has been prosperoUH of lato, and
wages havo been largo for Bwilzerland.
But tho financial crush in Paris and
heavy losses in Vienna havo affected the
industry, and largo orders for tho
French and Austrian markets havo been
countermanded.
Professor Goexsman, of tho Massa
chusetts Agricultural college, has con
firmed by reoont investigation his be
lief that ho Los found a cure for tho
"yellows," that arch enemy of peaches
and of tlioso who eat them. Now if
tho learned professor will turn his at
tention to the mysturious complaint
which distorts the vision of the peach
while tho crop is maturing, he will de
servo still better of his country.
Mary tun Hermann, th poor lunatic
of Cbarlestown, Ind., who beat Tanner
at liis own gamo and died uftcr a hixty
three dnr' fad, uttered only one cry of
suffering during her long period of tor
ittro, and that wav shortly before her
dcatb, when, singulnrly enough, a se
vere attack of mumps was added to her
miseries. During the last twelve days
of her lifo alio lo*t t* nty pounds in
weight, and at the time of her death
weighed pcircely tn re than seventy
five pounds, having lod 105 pounds in
all during the fast.
A young man in Denver, Col., while
engaged in repairing an electric lamp,
; moan tod a high rtep ladder, and, with
a wire in each hand, was about to con
l neet the circuit when the current wa
1 turned on. The shock completely par
alysed Lira, and he fell backward off
the ladder. 110 has brought a unit for
damages against the company, and the
trial will be an interesting one. He
claims that the current was turned on
| before the mitral tunc, which the com
pany denies. One sido of his fa-w is
still paralyzed, and the doctors thinPi l
will remain so the rest of hi* life.
A aciontifie feat never before at
tempted with success ha* l>eon accom
pli-bed in Cleveland, Ohio, whpre Bich
ard Jahr, a German student In
| photography, has photographed Pres
ident Garfield's tomb by moon
light. Jahr ha<i labored for some
| time, and Upended eonsiderable money
in an attempt to secure a negative, with
no other light than that of the moon,
and it was not nntil one night recently
that his efforts were crowned with
success. The amcra was loft in posi
tion seven hours before the negative
was perfected. The value of the dis
covery to science, and the place where
it was made, surrounds it with peculiar
in ten-st to the world at large.
The Am-riatn Ctdiintlor remarks that
"American cheese is taking high rank
'n the markets of Great Britain," and
then add*: "And yet, as a people, wo
consnme but a small quantity of cheese
per capita aa compared with the con
sumption by tho English. Taking milk
as tho highest typo of food (and in
making cheese wo simply coagulate the
nutritions part of milk), we shall find
that choose is most valuable as food for
man. A celebrated English physician
says a pint of milk is equivalent in nu
tritive power to an ordinary mutton
chop, and aa a pint of milk will yield
only an ounce or so of ehoexe, we m rut
have in the latter a cheap and highly
concentrated food. The English eat
doable the oheoso in proportion to the
population that is oonsnmed by Amer
icans. The Italians live to a great ex
tent on cbeeso and Indian oorn, and in
Greece tho common people eat largely
of cheese made of the milk of goats."
flu ruing uf Theaters,
It is on record in O.wmany than in
the past 372 years no fewer than 833
theaters have been burned down in
various parts of the world. This is an
average of nearly two per year. Daring
the last century there was a large in
crease in the peroentage over the pre
ceding time. For the hundred years
the total nnmber was 430, or more than
four fifths of the the total for the 273
years. For the period included between
1771 and 1828 the avenge wee thirteen
per annum. _
■ ORAL AM) KELIGIOBff.
"I Am Com 113 {2
A little girl who was playing near
the edge of a precipice suddenly felt
the ground give w tt y beneath her foot
und before oho had time to Rpring back
to a place of safety had clipped over
the brow of the terrible abyss. With
the inntinct of dospmr'and that of love
of life implanted in us all,(she(matched
at the grass and tall weed* within her
roach. Her little fingers dug deep into
th ground and stayed her downward
< 'ourm). There she hung suspended in
the air. Moment t seemed ages, until
she heard a voice which sounded very
far oft, saying in a firm, encouragin g
tono, "I am coming; keep looking up !"
Instinctively she obeyed; she never
~lanced downward, but clung faster to
her only chance of safety. Again the
voice—this limo nearer—spoke hope
fnlly.
" I am coming; keep looking up!"
fn another moment two strong hands
had seized her own in a firm clasp, and
she felt herself drawn gently and cau
tiously upward. Then she was lifted
into two great loving arms, and closed
her eyes npon lier father's breast
It was his turn now to look up. He
did so in thankfulness to the great (iod
in heaven who had preserved his
child.
Dear reader, where are you standing?
Is it upon the sandy foundation which
may give way at any time, or are your
feet upon the Honk? If not yet safe,
oh, let me urge you to look up to the
great Deliverer who has come, anil
whoso arms are outstretched in love,
anxious to save, and able to Have to the
uttermost all who coma unto Him.—
/.'.rcA • nee.
Itcllkious Nrwe and >!*••.
There are 1,143 Presbyterians ir
Texas, with forty churches.
The Methodist church extension
board aided 410 churches the past year.
Tho annual Htato convention of the
j Y nng Men's Christian association will
• next year bo held at Newburg on the
1 Hudson.
A third Presbyterian church has been
| organised in Cxaton, China with
, twenty-eight members. Two native
elders wore chosen.
The Methc <lit presiding elders of the
j North wot are shortly to hold a con
vention in Chicago to discuss tho du
j tics and opportunities of thllr office.
Tho Dev. George W. Lehmann. one
< I the oldi • t and most esteemed bap
tist missionaries in Germany, is <!< ad.
He was pastor of a largo church in
Berlin.
The Presbyterian synods now con
i form to Htato lines. That of Pennsyl
vania head* the liat with 131,054
communications; that of New York has
130,374; Ohio bos <>8,320; New Jersey,
13, Illinois,
lows, 20,812.
Tho Balvation army recently had a
" demonstration " of" reclaimed drunk
ards " in City hall, Glasgow. Addresses
wero made by tho reformed, and the
hall rang with cheers, *ongs of rejoicing
and hallelujahs. "Major" Edmonds
said the army bad 30,000 souls in the
United Kingdom who wero teetotalers.
He Never I.xld it Down.
Years ago into a wholesale grocery
in an Eastern city walked a tall, mus
cular man evidently a fresh comer from
some Itackwoods town. Accosting the
first person he met, who happened to
be the merchant himself, he asked:
" You don't want to hire a man in
your store, do yon ? *
"Well," said the merchant, " I don't
know. What can yon do
" I)o f said tho man, " I rather guess
I can turn my hand to almost anything
What do yon want done f
" Well, if I was to hire a man, it
would be oue that could lift well, a
strong, wiry fellow; one, for instance,
that could lift a sack of coffee like that
yonder and carry it across the store and
never lay it down."
" There, now, cap'n," said the
countryman, "that's just me. c.u
lift anything I can hitch to. Yon can't
suit me better. What will yon give a
man that suits yon T'
"1 11 tell you," said tho merchant,
" if you shoulder that sack of coffee and
carry it across the store twice and never
isy it down, I will hire you for one
year at one hundred dollars a month."
" Done," said the stranger.
By this lime every clerk in the storo
bad gathered around and was waiting
to joiu in the laugh against the ma
who threw the sack across hi* shoulder
with perfect ease, end carrying it twie
across the floor, went to a large hook
which was fastened to the wall and hang
it ap, then tamed to the merchant and
said:
" There, now, it may hang there til
doomsday. I shall never lay it down.
What shall Igo about, mutter T Just
give me plenty to do and one bandied
dollars a month and it's all right,"
The clerks broke into a lausrh, and
the merchant discomfited yet satisfied
kept bis agreement, and to-day the
gren countryman is the senior partner
in the firm and worth n million dollar*
Tea-Tasting.
A New York paper thus describes the
operation of tea listing an performed
in a tea broker 1 * office by profeMionaJ
tea-tasters: Drawing near to the table,
wbero the attendant is engaged in pre
paring a set of sample* for the tea
taster, a clear insight tnav he gained aa
to the manner in which the operation
of tea-tasting is conducted. The at
tendant takes a small quantity of tea
from the canister, and 'place* as much
of it in the diminutive scales jn the
center of the table as will balance a
silver half dime. He then drops the
tea into ono of the caps, which are
made of fino porcelain and hold abont
half a gill. The samples to Ire tasted
having been disposed of in the various
cups, he fills the latter with boiling
water from the nrn. The toa-taster
then holds each of the enp* in turn be
neath liis nostrils to catch the aroma
exhaled, which is of great aasistance in
enabling him to determine the quality.
When the tea has sufficiently cooled to
bo not mach more than lukewarm, he
proceed* to test it try tasting it. This
operation is conducted with much
solemnity and deliberation, the toa
taster closing his eye* as if to shut
himself out from the world, and insist
ing on the strictest silence being main
tained by those around him as long as
the test is in progression. He only
takes a few sips from each cap, but
sometimes he applies himself a second,
a third, and even a fourth time to the
same sample. The tests having been
made, the tea-taster renders a decision
as to the quality of the dif
ferent teas he has sampled, and
the values at which they should
be rated in the market. By many it
may be thought that tho matter of de-
J riding as to the quality of different
kind* of tea must depend largely upon
individual ideas an 1 taste. As far as
tb" professional tea taster is concerned,
this is a popular delusion. Tea-tasting,
in a professional sense, is very decided
ly a trade in itself, and like most other
trades has to be learnol by dint of ap
i plication and experience. That it ianot
merely a question of individual twte is
demonstrated by the fact that when, as
is often tho case, a certain set of sam
ples is submitted to several tea-tasters,
acting independently of each oilier, tho
various opinions rendered as to quality
an 1 value are almost invariably identi
; eal. fij delicate arc t'uo perceptions of
| the tea-taster that ho quickly and ae
j curately grades the different samples
! submitted to him, rocoguizing the most
minute gradations, and in many in
stances pronouncing the part of the
country in which a certain tea was
I grown. In the same way the judgment
of the tea-taster* purchasing tea in
I China for the importers, as a general
rule, coincides with thsi of the tea
tasters hero.
Tho tea trade is divided into four dis-
I tinct branches—the importer, tho bro
ker, tho jobber and the retailer. The
wholesale price of tea ranges from ten
to seventy cents per pound. The im
porter's pmflt is a moderate but re
munerate Ano, the largest percentage
' of profit, from forty to sixty per cent.,
falling to the retailer. When a con
signment of tea is received by the im
j porter samples of the consignment,
I which often consists of different kind*
of tea, are sent to the broker, who dis
posal of it to tho largo retailers or to
the jobbers, who in tarn sell in leaser
quantities to tho smaller retailors. The
broker reoeives one per cent, commis
sion on mil sales effected by him. The
tea taster act* in the interests of the
broker, to whose advantage it is to
have a correct estimate of the quality
and value of the tea he is handling, in
order to satisfy and retain his custom
ers. There are but a few professional
tea-tasters in New York. Altogether
they do not number more than thirty or
thirty-five at most. They are generally
men of long experience in the tea
trade, and many of them havo acted as
buyers in China for large importers in
New York. The occupation of a tea-taster
can scarcely be termed a healthful one.
The constant absorption of tea super
induces a nervous, excitable condition
and occasionally leads to nervous dis
eases and attacks of insomnia. The in
jury sustained by constant tea-sampling
differs in individuals, bat is more or
less marked in aIL The calling is pe
cuniarily a very profitable one.
Polygamy in cub.
" Cpnn the question of suppressing
polygamy in Utah," uji Our Continent.,
" there seems to be a substantial unity
among the churches. Almost every
pulpit sounds the trumpet of alarm to a
congregation in thorough sympathy
with the sentiment expressed, Hardly
a town or village of the Northern States
having in it a single hoevenwarJ-point
ing spire has failed to make it* voice
brand in denunciation of this far-away
evil of Me Western plains. Perhaps
the hast that they were firing at long
range has not tended to make the bom
bardment of the • Prophet's' stronghold
any less futons."
Hay not a }arr be eaid to be aalflah
[ when they have a greed.