Resignation. Beneath the sheltering fern full long ago The violet lay faded, And by the lireok-mnrgo now the asters glow, By flaine-lenfed maples (haded ; Withered the grass and flowers, fruit fallen, branches bare— But who will care ? e' From theie dark clouds, this dreary woodland A scene, With heedless haste receding, Toward skies that ever einite, bowers ever green, The birds their flight are speeding; Only the rook's harsh cry sounds on Uio shivering air— J , But who wilt care ? Where joyous youth once loved and dreamed, nnd nyo Home high ambition cherished. There lie but sadness nnd despair to-day, And hopes forever perished; Fires now withiu the heart leave only ashes there— But who will cure ? Friends fail—a fieklo throng—and plutno their flight Toward fortune's happier greeting : Their flattering tones are still, a gruesome sprito Alone is aye repeating Despair, despair, despair! nnd yet again deapnir ! But who will care ? Who care ? Not I, forsooth'. Beside the brook A snowy shroud is falling; Cpon the leafless hough th' uncanny rook Censeth his dreary calling; And weary hearts oblivion's peace and rest shall share; Then who will care ? W. F. Jo'ixsoju HALF A LOAF. • I •"Half a loaf is better than no bread,' Charlie.'" Little Mabel Castleton said this' wistfully, her eyes, as she spoke, wan dering to the cradle, where two curly heads were lying. "But when one has had the whole loaf. May, one does not exactly relish the j half rations you mention," said Charlie 1 moodily. But his eyes followed his 1 wife's to the cosy nest of the twin 1 babies. "It is a bad time of year-to be out \ of a situation," said Mabel, after a long I silence, "and many of whom we know ' are idle. It would not be very easy to find employment now." "You think 1 had better remain with Mr. Milllin." "I do. Tell meexactly what he said to you." "The substance of what he said was simply this : Business is so very dull that he is obliged to curtail his ex penses, and he must discharge some of his clerks. 1 have been with him fur ten years, and he was pleased to say I am very useful to him, and he is very y.n willing topart with me. But heran give me but half my present salary, though he promises to raise it when business prospects brighten. I don't know what to do. AVe are none too rich at my present salary." "Yet we've saved something each month. Besides, dear, we have not tried to be economical There are many ways in which I could save." "And make a perfect slave of your self." # "Not a hit of it I have plenty of leisure time now that May and Bella •an arouse each other. Come, Charlie, accept Mr Mifflin's offer. You may hear of something better, even if you remain there; 1 ut don't throw your self out of a situation in the dead of winter, for my sak* and the children s." The last argument conquered Char lie knew too well that it would be al most useless tolook for a new situation for the whole town was echoing Mr Mifflin's cry of hard times. The small nest egg in the bank would soon melt away when it became the sole support of four, and so. kissing Maliel, he J) promised to follow her advice But it ™ cost his pride a sore wrench. He bad entered the service of his present employe' at seventeen, and slowly, steadily gaining favor by dint of fai til folly performing every duty, he had wirn his way to the desk of hpad clerk.' Not natil he had acquired this r' position and the handsome salary accompanying it would he ask Mabel to become his wife, furnishing a pretty cottage home from his savings, and giving her a thoroughly comfortable . income for housekeeping expenses. IB was not extravagant, but it pleased him to see his wife w ell dressed, to give her an efficient servant, to have his twin girls ever presentable, his table well appointed. All this had been easy enough upon his salary, and there had been something added for three years to the little bank fund. But to do all this upon half the pres ent income was simply Inipossil '*. 4 House rent must lie paid, and the sum remaining each month would have to be carefully calculated to meet all the expenses, leaving but little for pleasure or extravagance of dress. "Then what would Will say?" Will Castleton was Charlie's cousin, who had ls-en his life-long companion. Together they left the school room for a business jaisition, Will entering the grain store of Harvey A Russell at the same time Charlie hml takes the place in Mr. Mifflin's dry goods store. Shoulder to shoulder the young men had worked their way, till this financial crisis bad brought all business men into temporary difficulties of greater or less magnitude. Will had expressed the warmest In. dignation at the proposal made his cousin, strongly advising him to throw up his situation and "see how old Milllin would get along without him," and Charlie, before seeing Mabel, was quite ready to follow his advice. He knew Will would think him men spirited to remain upon half salary and yet Mabel was right. Half a loaf is better than no bread. And while Charlie Cast let on was thus weighing the pros and cons of his decision, Mr. Mitllin was listening to the counsel of his old friend and chum, the senior partner of the lirm that had been Gardner A. Milllin. and who, though he had retired years before, was still the friend and frequent adviser of his former partner. "It is a mistake, Milllin," he said. "You had better send young Castletor. about his business and engage an en tirely new book-keepes. You will find that half pay means half service, mark my word." "Hut I might search C froin^ end to end and not Und a clerk compe tent to take his plact." "Th'-a pay -.alary." "I cRT.n. t do it unless 1 reduce the in.i:.uv i ot salesmen, an 1 1 am short. Ihan.icd now. There is but one way to keep my head above water. You see Clark's failure involves me very heavily and—" And the worried man of busines. entered into explanations of his difli culties not necessary to repeat here. It toiielied Charlie Castleton deeply when entering the counting house to announce his determination to remain in his old position, to see the face of his employer brighten. Ami as Charlie spoke the large eyes grew brighter and he smiled pleasantly as he said : "Thank you. Cherlie. It would have caused me serious embarrassment to lose you, and I am heartily glad you will stay. 1 trust you will not longl>e obliged to take a small salary, but cir cumstances compel me to economize.'* "You have been a kind employer to me for ten y rs," replied Charlie, "and if 1 am really of any more value to you than another would be in my place, I will not desert you." And looking into the careworn face that trouble was marking more deeply than age. Charlie rcHovled to serve Mr. Milllin more faithfully in his perplexi ties than in his more prosperous days. It w as not long before the old gen tleman felt the sympathy of his young clerk, anil looked to him as he never did before for adv ire as well as service. He admitted hint to confidential rela tions, explained to him the d* Tu ulties caused by the failure of other firms, some heavily indebted to the firm c.f •loel Milllin, others upon whom he had depended for goods obtained mion credit. Day 1 y day, as the hard, trying win ter wore away, the two friends grew faster, and. so far from lessening his work, Charlie found himself willingly lifting some of his employer's burdens upo'i bis own shoulders. He gave more time to business, and he was gaining an insight into it of which an opportunity had never l*en given him. And Mabel at home was bravely taxing her share of the diminished loaf with a smiling face and a cheerful heart, as far ;v might Is* she kept from Charlie a knowhslge of her domes tic economies, hut some of them wire apparent. The woman whose competent aid de manded high wages was dismissed, and a half-grown girl engaged to mind the hahies while Mated cooked and washed and ironed and sewed, meeting difficul ties with a courageous heart. She had never been a drone in the world's hive, having lieen a busy little dressmaker tiefore Charlie C'astb t >n won her heart and took her to preside over his pretty home. But for three years of her married life she had been much petted, and there were many pleasures to put aside ( many dollars veil weighed before they were spent. It was with a heart full of pardon able triumph that the young couple, at the end of the year of reduced pay, found they were still out of debt and had not touched the nest egg in the bank. • You see, Charlie, we made the half loaf go round." said Mabel, as they went carefully over the year's expense book. "There are nocrumlis," he said, with j a weary fare. "Nevermind that; it was better than Idleness." "You are right: and there was more than that. Maliel. i have tieen able to help Mr. Milllin more than I could have j done in our old relations to each other. Hla complexitler made him long for some one to whom ho could speak con fldentiully, and when the lee was once broken he took me fully into his busi ness confidence. I eould often suggest away out of difficulty that had not occurred to him, and even when I .vas not of actual use to hiin it was a re lief to pour out his troubles to some one who was in full sympathy with him." "But you have worked very hard, Charlie. I never saw you-so tired as you often have been this year, ami your face is more careworn than it has ever been. "Well.it is somo comfort to know that business prospects are growing brighter. By closest economy Mr. Mitllin has managed to meet the obli gations lie was afraid would ruin him, and there is a good lookout for the coming year." "Will he give you a whole loaf yet, Charlie?" "Notyet, I think. Nevermind. We will not despond yet." "Despond ! I guess not. lam go trig to have some of those crumbs you were speaking of next year. 1 have learned some valuable lessons in sav ing." The second year was certainly not an c.uy one to Mai el. A wee baby, in :i in the three-year-old twins, fc-tpt the mother's hands busy, while thCTe ;e- no decrease jn the household work. Many articles of clothing and housekeeping, too, that lasted \vll one year, were past service in the second, and it was not so easy to replace then . Often Mabel fear* I that the saving for a "rainy day" must be broken in upon, but she kept ail such fears shut up in her own heart, and always had a bright word of clu-er for tired Charlie when be came home. She never told hm that the late breakfast that she ha t planned to let ihe liable.* sleep while he ate his early one, roinpri-cd none of the little tempt ing dishes of his own meal, hut was iitterally bread and milk six mornings out of the seven. She never let him know that the reason she suggested his lunch down town, to save the long walk home, was. really to save the price of that meal toward the dinner, the dainty little* parrel he carried never costing the price of a regular meal for them ull. She did not tell him that she was cutting up lor old dres.se s to clothe the twin girls, and sewing busily every leisure moment to keep all the little ones tidy. And yet there mine a day in June, when six months of the second year we re almost gone, when she j>cnt the last dollar of the week's money while the week as half gone. Charlie had given h* r. hng la'ore, some signed ehe. k* to meet sileh .111 emergency, but it was her pride to think that not one of them had lx-cn presented at the bank. she took one from the desk where they had lain so long and spread it out Ix'forc her. calculating, with puckers on her pretty face, how small a sum she could stretch over the nec - .try ex penses. "I hate to l>egin," she said half alond; "if once we break in ujMin that money it w ill inelt away like snow Ixtfore the sun." There was no alternative but debt, and Mabel knew that Charlie would never In* willing to owe any man a cent while he had a cent with which to pay hiin. .So, with a great -igh, she dipped the pen in the ink to fill out tin blank check, lb fore it tom bed the paper, however, sin- pati--d. listening. There was a step in the hall that was not that of the nurse or her charge*, a voice ringing out full and clear, calling: "Mabel! Where are you. May?" "Here in my room," she answered. "Oh, Charlie, what is it'?" For the face at the door was so radiant that nil care seemed to have slipped from it forever." "Good news, May! And vet—per haps I should feel sorrow, too, only I did not know him." "What areyou talking about?" "Did you read this morning's paper?" •Yes." "Did you notice the death of Amos Gardner?" "No. Is that the Mr. Gardner who used to lie Mr. Mifilin's partner before you went Into the store?" "Yes ; he has left his whole estate to Mr. Miifiin except a few legacies. The store will be closed till after the fu neral, so we have three days' holiday. May." "I am glad you will lie nble to rest!" "But that is not all. Do you guess the rest ?" "You are to have your old salary again!" "More than that, Mr. Mifflin took me to his house this morning and told me all his plans. He will enlarge his busi ness and take on all his old salesim-n who arc willing to come. He has given me permission to offer a position to Will Castleton, who has been nearly a year out of employment because lit would uot accept your theory of 'half a loaf batter than no bread.' " "1 know. Poor Will ! I am afraid thai Maria hail aw orse year than ours has been, Charlie." "Nor is it all, May." "More good news still?" "More still ! Mr. Gardner, Mr. Miffliri says, did mo some Injustice some time by supposing that I would proportion my work to the decrease in my salary. To atone for thiH he has left me 15.000." "Oh, Charlie!" "Hold on, liutc woman; he rdso ad vised Mr. Miffiln in their very Just interview to reward me for my faith ful, disinterested devotion to hiin in his lata difficulties by taking me as a partner in the business." "Charlie, oh, my Charlie ! I must either laugh or cry," said Mabel, almost hysterically. "Laugh, then, by all means. The new firm of Mifflin A Castleton must not lie christened by tears, even happy ones! Hurrah! who says after this that baifn loaf is no better than no bread?" llont-Top Life in New York. Wb.it do you think of the queer lives led iy janitors' families? 1 know a jariito: who has charge of a big btiild ingdown Broadway who has four little tots of children, and they don't get down into the street more- than once a veek or so. Two of them were born in th- seventh story of an immmsc iron building, just under the rrxif. One of them to my certain knowledge has never been down in the street at all. That's a fact. It will be down some day. It was born only last week. Where do you think the children's play ground ia? It is the roof, and a rare, good yard it is, too, with flowers grow ing on it, and everything just like a good, big, paved yard. There is a high ledge around the f->ur sides, so there is no d inger of the youngsters' falling <-ff. Ami there are < lothes-lim-s there, and tubs standing alxiut, and clothes-pins lying on the ground everything so natural you might ea- ily imagine yourself in sono-Lsly's 1 a< k yard. The children seldom see any thing of the world down below; and their mother hardly ever does, for she has her hands full taking rare of the youngster*. There i* a nice secluded life for you, with no danger of annoy ance from prying neighbor*. There is something attractive al*>nt it, too. Just think of the janitor at dark shut ting up the whole place and barring the big iron doors with himself inside. There he is, with lis* family alxiut him, and all the world securely locked out. It is,is g<>"d as fixing in a castle with the bridge drawn op and the m i' full of water. But even when the outer d'>rs are I.x i.e. 1 the janitor* arc not always shut in from the world. There is a block of buildings in one of the principal business centres of the city all alecut the- ime height Each build ing has its janitor, and ■ ach janitor has his family. When the out- r cheers arc shut and locked and no outsider can by any possibility make his way in, the janitor's families U-gin t > visit. The roof* form their avenue* and Ixuile vard*. their grand promenade. There Is something slightly curious alxaut that way cif fixing, isn't there; having your nc-ighlxcr dropping in through the r<>f instead cf entiling through the door? It is something like the way of living of the old cave-dweller* in the South west.—-.Yew York Timn*. Relative Longeritj in Various Occupa tions. An interesting exhibit of the mor tality in the-d tii-rent walks of life was furnished by the general rigitor in re port on the death-rate of the whole population of England in 1851. From this it appears that out of eve ry thous and persons Ix-t ween the- ages of twenty five and fifty-five. forty died on an average. Classified according to the most favorable mortality, and increas ing downward, we have the following tables; n*T/or TO* *****•■ uxor* TH maim 1. Merchants. 7. Miners. 2. Wearer*. 8, T. .lots. 3. Cobblers. 9. linkers. 4. Carpenters. 10. Botchers. 5. Blacksmiths. 11. Liquor Dealers. fi. Laborers. The mortality of the eleventh class is so great that in gcxxl companies they are only admitted with great caution, and on short endowment or term policies. Mariners, also, are considered poor risks, as thirty-five per rent, of the deaths among them nre attributable to accidents. Among miners twenty-five per cent, among machinists fifteen per cent., and among painters, well-diggers and glaziers ten per rent, die in conse quence of casualties. The callings of brewer, typesetter, tinsmith, litho grapher and stonecutter are also in a measure detrimental to a prolonged duration of life. TOPICS OF THE DAT. An important decision was rendered by the Supreme Court in Illinois re cently, to the effect that States have the right to regulate rates of freight on lines within their bounds. It Is asserted that the results ob tained at the French Palace of Indus try in the experiments with electric light in conservatories were not favor able. The naked rays were found, as discovered previously, to be injurious to plants, and when passed through glass globes did not appear to afToct theui. The abbe finds no proof that nocturnal illumination is beneficial to | plants. In reply to a suggestion that raw ! meat should be more generally eaten, a lea-ling English physician points out that at least seven diseases are known to ho communicable from the lower animals to man, and that eighty per i cent, of the animals eaten in London are said to Is* diseased. The unsound meat cannot he distingui hed hy in spection, ami cooking is the only safe guard against infection. The Marquis Tseng, the new Chinese minister accredited to France and Fug land is n-portid to have a fortune of $ 100,1 ma year, hut lie 1 i \.-h without ostentation, and his r- v.-nue* are devoted to the support of his clnn in the province of Hon-Naun. This obli gation is imposed on all gri.it families in China. His salary is regulated h\ the government upon the same scale as that of the French ambassador at I'ekin. !!•• has acquired great influence at the Chinese court f<>r having con ducted with so much skill the diplo matic negotiations with Ku ua on the subject of the territory of Hy. In Germany, in 1 - -1. a census was made of the condition of trade*. From an atcstract published recently cif the results of this statistical inquiry, it aj>- pc-ars that women arc- taking a inorc active part in trades and industries. Most of the- fcunah- jx-ople are engaged in the textile* (tranches, in virtual trades, and in leather and paper manufa' tures. 'l'hc age of those females is between twelve and twenty-seven year-. In all 345.753 female laborers are engaged in the 93,554 German man factories, which also give- employment to 1 .h.'jb/tW men; There is no manu factory in which female? w rkers ar not engaged. A foreign letter says that "thi* ■strange and horrible scenes enacted nightly in some of the ordinarily fre quented quarters of Paris would make one imagine that the most civilized people of the universe had suddenly become more savage and law less than the ku-klux klan of America. It is m-l an uncommon thing for a lot passen ger returning home from the theatre to Is- staid in his pr imena-le I y a human f-Tin thing fr in an upper wind w and falling lifeless at his feet. Nor is it rare to I>c accosted by a group of brig ands who pinn n tloir M tun behind, while the a< c umplice rill - his pockets. Kven in the aristocratic streets it is dang'-rou. to remain out late at night, and the police are lx coming less and less able to compete with the dangerous organization of thieves who usurp the pavement. A strange accident, arising out of a previous accident, happened m ently in the Alps of I "pper Savor. The road between Gicttar and I'lumet skirts a deep abyss, known in the nrighlcor hood a* the precipice of Bellavardaz. Early in the year a man named I.an sard, while walking along the road, made a false step, fell down the preci pice, and was killed. Thereupon, in accordance with local custom, a wooden cross was erected on the wayside, in memory of the defunct and as a warn ing to passers-by. On Octoler 4 a gentleman named Ilibollot. a native of Savoy, but a resident of Turin, was returning by the same road from Flu met to Gicttar. accompanied by two Jesuit school-teachers from Clusaz. Y\ uen they reached the cross, all stop pcsl to look at the place where Lansard lost hi* life, -I can not understand what Lansard was doing to lose his footing here/' said Monsieur Ilibollot, "and still less how he should have been killed. Why did he not see this point of rock w hich juts out at the foot of the cross?" As he spoke these words, Monsieur llilwllot stepped for ward, as if to examine the place more closely, and, lieforn his companions could raise a hand to help him, over lalanced himself, and fell headlong down the precipice. In a recent sermon the Rev. Dr. James.M. King, of New York city, preachel on the subject of "Harmful Literature." He alluded to a certain class of newspapers which gave promi nence to stories of crime and iinmortall ty, putting startling headlines to them to attract the attention of their readers. Then there was the class of vile litera tare intended especially for boys, book* which either contain Improbable storie* of Indian life, or make hero** of the worst and most depraved characters in cities. This was a matter which ought to las fully discussed by the press and pulpit. There was no t above the ground. The profits derived from one pair of birds— valued at #l,ooo— in four v ars The value of feathers in four wa- # 1 J.t*>e. Each bird lays from forty t > ninety eggs a year. Ostriches Iwgin to breed at the age of six years, and continue to the age of eighty. The young birds are Art pirn ked when i\ months of age. Feathers are worth from f'inO to |7<(o per jMiund. Six tin Hi ;i dollars' worth of ostrich feathers are imported from South Afn< a. Pontine. A tired hotisew ife complains that her work is never done; that her days are tilled with drudgery ; that even on Sun day she has no time to rest, for the children claim her attention ; and that she is tired and discouraged. Very likely ; but, my dear madaine, what is every I * sly *s life but a monotonous round of duties? Queen Victoria,ln tensely weary of court ceremonials, withdraws from the public eye, retires to Balmoral or Osl>rne to get awav from the dire drudgery of a queen's life. Officials of every grade groan under the irksome monotony of their duties and take vacations whenever they can. Employes who can't get away from their posts make that defect up by doing as little as possible, and have an easy time as they go. Such is life. What we haven't, we want; what we have, we find unsatisfactory and full of discounts. Now, what is the course of wisdom? Is it not to dwell on the sweet and ignore the hit ter; to l>e thankful for the good and resigned to the evil ? A keen observer of human nature, and one who had himself tried various forms of life, I w>th from observation and experience, said that he was satisfied that day lalKirers are the very happiest class of people. Why? Because they are not tormented l.y aspiration for things he yond their reach. L*Qtor gives them a sharp appetite for their simple fare, and their sleep is sweet. Content reigns in their hearts, and restless ambitions do not disturb their peace. They ac cept without question the lot assigned them in the universal frame of things, and are happy in it Somebody must do the drudgery of the world. Few can ait idle with folded hands. Life means work ; let us do it as bravely as we can. Six million yards of netting are an nually used against the raids of the lively mosquito.