HALLIDAY AND SON. Tn tho cozy little private offlm ap pertaining to their business house sat Ilalliday and son. llallidny was a bluff, heavy old fellow of fifty or thereabouts, with a pair of keen, bright eyes, which twinkled incessantly, and was seated in his chair with heels upon his desk. Son was a young man of twenty-five, tall, dark and handsome, clad in a suit of navy blue flannel, and was seated on a corner of the desk look ing down upon his father. "Who is tho object of your all-de vouring passion, eh, Dick, my boy?" The old gentleman asked. "Some chit of a school girl ?" "Her name is Wilkins," replied the young man. "She is aw idow a double widow, I will say -for she had been married twice,and is—come don't let your chin drop to such an alarming extent, for outside of all she is worth $50,1)00, although that, in my ease, is a feather's weight in the scales. She is actually thirty-six, but looks ten years young 'r, and is pretty as a picture. She has one child, a daughter who is at school in Paris, but as she is heiress t< a cool $100,1)00, she is not an incum brance by any means." "Dick Ilalliday, you're a C>ol!" ex claimed the old gentleman. "The woman Is almost old enough to las your mother." ••Not quite as bad as that." "1 say sir. she's almost old enough to be your mother! Have you com mitted yourself has she ensnared you ?" "Don't you remember the old agree ment, father, that when 1 thought of marrying 1 would eonsult with you beforo taking the step? 1 will there fore introduce yon to Mrs. Wilkins. let you study her character, and then abide by your decision; for 1 have no doubt as to what it will le." "Ah!" saiil the old gentleman,"that's better. That's decidedly better. You may introduce me, Dick, and I will promise you my unbiasing opinion of the bewitching creature." "All right. When will you go!" "To-night, to-morrow, anytime you please; but see here, Dick, to change the subject, how alxmt this London business? It's going to ruin." "Weil suppose we will have to send a man to look after it." "Send 1" cried the old man, "that won't doat all;onnor the other of us must go. We've trusted entirely tin) much of late, and home interests are almost as bad as our foreign. Now. Dick, I'll tell you what I'll do. If you sill goto London and straighten things up, I'll give you my answer concerning your (lame the moment you return. I'velwen over so often that the very thought of going makes me sick. Come, what do you say. Dick?" "If you desire it, father, I'll go, cer tainly." "Then that's settled. Where are you off to now ?" "I was going up to the .Vstor, but I'll wait until evening, and then you ran accompany me." "All right. Dirk, all right; only don't commit yourself. Heware of widows, you know." That evening Ilalliday and son re paired to the Astor House and were ' conducted to one of the private parlors. In a few minutes Mrs. Wilkins entered, and it was plain to l>e seen that the old gentleman was amazed. He did not wonder at his son's infatuation, and afterward acknowledged h< r to be the most beautiful woman ho had ever seeori. When at length they took their departure after spending a delightful , evening, the son said : "What do you say, father?" "Hive me time, my hoy, give me time," was the reply. The next day at 1 o'clock Dirk started for London. The weather wax fair the passage a" prosperous one, and he reached his destination safe and sound. He found the business in a terrible state and had his hands and mind fully occupied, ami a week slip|>ed by. One morning he received a letter from his father, a portion of which ran as fol lows : "Concerning the widow, I am well pleased with your choice she is a good woman -.as good nalicautifiil. A trifle too old for you is my only objec tion." Another week went by and another letter came, in whioh, speaking of the widow, the old man said: "I ain astonished at your extraordi nary good judgment tn such a matter. The more I seo the lady the lietter I am pleased. She ia a most excellent lady In every respect. A trifle too old for you is my only objection." "Good!" said Dick to himself. "I guess I will stay a week on my own account, now that the business is cleared up, and go to London. The edd gentleman seems to l>e well pleased, and guess by tho time I get home his only objections will have been over come. Not that I care a straw for his opinion one way or tho other, but peace is preferable to war at. any time." And taking a picture of the widow from bis pocket bo embraced it most affectionately. So Dick remained another week and did London thoroughly. On the day beforo he was to have sailed for home ho received another letter from his father, saying: "My Pear Hoy:- I never was inorc pleased with a woman in all my life. I She is an angel. I don't wonder at 1 you loving her. She is pure, honest, everything you imagine her to be, but she can never marry you. It is impos sible. I don't like to be severe, but it can never be. The truth is, Dick, she has become my wife. Don't be a fool, now, but come home at once. A trills too old was my only objection. Your affectionate father, Hn ii.vicn llai.i.ihav." io say that Dick was enraged would but faintly describe his findings; he fairly boiled, lie wrote immediately lo his father, telling him: "In the future your foreign business I may go to the deuce, and your home , interests, too." Then, after drawing a good sum of money, he started for the continent. For two years he wandered from place to place, and at the end of that j time found himself in I'aris. Here he ! fortunately fell in with an acquaint' 1 mice he had made while in London: and | who had since married, and w:vs then 1 doing business in I'aris. At his friend's house, one evening he was introduced to an American young lady of whom he became enam- | oreil at tir-1 sight. The young lady. Miss Julia Kent ridgc by name, was to start f>r New York in a few days, and, on hearing this, Dirk engaged passage on the steamer. The voyage was a pleasant, one, and before they reached Sandy Ibsik, Miss Julia promisisl that, with her mother's consent,she would la-come Dick's wife. When thev readied the city the young lady found a carriage in wailing f.>r her, and Dick, having Uc l t •rin in is 1 not to enter his father's house, for the present at least, went direct to an obscure hotel. The next day he mountisl the stepsof the Madison avenue mansion and rang the hell. A servant ushered him into tin parlor, and shortly afterward en tered Mi-s Kent ridge. When they Ice! greeted each other after the usual manner of lovers. Julia j said: I f you w ill excuse me for a moment, Diehard, I w ill go and inform my , mother that you have come." Dick was seated under a window j looking out, and did not notice her rc. turn till she said: "Mr. Ilalliday, allow me to " I lick had turned at the sound of her voice, ready to appear at his l-st. but ' he stagger's) back fairly thunderstruck. I 1 for there behind him stood the late j widow his father's wife. "I really "he gasjxsl, "I that is, 1 | did not—" "Of course you did not," said the 1 lady, helping him out. "How could you? Ilut here is your father." i "Yes, here I am, Dick, my Iwy," cried the old gentleman, rushing in. i "How* are you, lad, how are you?" They shook hands cordially, and the 1 ' obi man said : "Dick, my lad, you're trapped -you're 1 ensnared. My wife and 1 were in I'aris to bring Julia home, and when she told us of her meeting with you we just put our heads together to make a match of it. We ratne over with you on the same steamer." ! "Iteally, though," said Dirk, address ing his step-mother, "w hen 1 heard you speaking of your daughter U-ing at school, I imagined her to !>e a little* girl, not ayoung lady !" "Oh, no! 1 was married to Mr Kent ridge when quiteyoung. and Julia is now nineteen." "I've no objection this time, lad, none at all. A trifle too old was mv objection Ix-fore. you know ; ha ! ha !" and be went off In a fit of laughter that i ncarlr choked hiin." After dinner the old gentleman said *. "Well, Dick, our foreign business is going to the bad, sure enough, and I think the Ix-st thing you can do L* to marry at once and take your bride abroad and look after it. I did not sell the old house when I liought this one and ujkiii your return 1 will have it ready for you to occupy," And thus it was arranged. The house of Ilalliday St Son still flourish's, and the children, grand-chil dren and what-not tearing that name, for their relationship is rather mixed, are numerous. ____ In Australia and New Zealand 4.000,. 000 people have already 00,000,000 sheep, and have an area sufficient for the easy pasture of 200,000,000 Rharp at the least. With one-twelfth of our population, they have twice our aggre gate stock of sheep. TOI'IL'M OF TilE DAY. >bo condition of Hussin, according to a St. Petersburg correspondent is chatoic. lie thinks that the empire is rapidly going to pieces. Three of the Swiss canton wft<Cli abolished capital punishment several years ago have restored it. They think that there is no other way of prevent ing crime. The United States post office depart ment wants the name and address of those who send transient newspapers by mail written on the wrappers. While in most kinds of business capitalists, or large firms or corjtora tious ure swallowing smaller ones, it is gratifying to learn from census reports that the number of farms is multiply ing, and the soil is not becoming pos sessed by large landholders. since the close of the war the Amer ican people have paid out #530,000,(MHi in pensions. At the end of the present fiscal year there were N5,(!'J7 names on the roll, representing an annual outgo of sM,2'.H>,2*", and in the last year '27.1-11 new pensions and 16.231 in creased pensions have been granted, ami there are yet l2"- , .,(i7~- applications. The world's stock of locomotive* consists of •;;.( n K: of passenger cars, there are 12",06°; and of freight cars l,. r >(Jo,(!ini. The capital investi-d in railways, which are in all2'hmhhimiles long, isf2iHHHi.tSHi,(HNi. The commerce of the sens is carried by 12,"' hi steamers ami Itt","6" sailing \essels, whose ton nage amounts to <>\er 2",th h i,(HHi tons. Heavers are building aero s Feather river, in t alifornia, a dam, by which they are using larg-- cottonwood trees. All the dams that the miners have built for pr >t<s ti"ii against spring freshets have Is-en washed away, ami as it is said that beaver dams are never thus destroyed, the miners are watch • tig with deep interest the result -of tin little animal'* < ngim eritig. What is called the biggest copper mine in tlo- world bus ls-- n discovered in Nevada, I<hi miles northeast of 11-slie. Nearly J,'*"! feet up the mountain alsive Soda Springs Valley the ore bed shows aw idth of 1 feet, and in many shafts the ore assay* eighteen per rent. < upper. The or-- m-w uncovereil is estimated at 45,'hhi tons, \alu-sl at over #2,""0,U00, An obi Mormon tenqde near Kirt lan-l, (ihi-i, has la-en ojiened after a niiin!>er of years ->f disuse. It origi nally <-> st #l".'H*t. There are forty Morim-n families in the new congrega tion. They do not practice polygamy, their rn-ed declaring that the law of (,-k| forbids more than one companion in wedlock. They hold that the doc trine of the plurality of wives was a heresy intr-sluctsl by Joe Smith. Since the steam-heating men 1-cgati to get in their work, an -x< hang face tiously remarks: "New Yorker* ran smg with new fervor the word* of the old hymn: 'llern-ath otir feet ntul o'er or fiends Are i-vjual warning* given.' When they take their walks abroad of a morning it is with a pl- asing un certainty as to whether an elevated railroad locomotive will tumble on them, <-r an underground pipe explo sion send them kiting skyward in an environment of paving stones, apple stands, curbstone verniers, and other wreck and rubbish." Although Secretary Teller was una ble to grant the request which the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Indians brought to Washington not l->ng ago. he was compellM to pay a tribute to the antiquity of the band. He told them that their claim to the Turtle Mountain country had leen traced back two hundred years, but that they had no Is-ttcr claim to this tract than the other Chippewa*, la-cause they could base their claim only on the tribal title of immemorial occupancy. There are ten thousand white set tiers on the tract claimed by the Turtle Mountain t'hip jiewas, which embrace* nine million acres ,d desirable land in Northern Da kota. M. Hauteur, a French scientist, for tho last ten years lias la-en spending much of his time in the company of mad d->gs, in order to test the value of his inoculation theory. He has just communicated the most recent n-sult* of his investigations to the French Academy of Sciences. He states that all the flogs which ho had inoculated with the virus, and whirh hail la-en cured of the disease thus communi cated, enjoyed perfect immunity from a second attack. llence he argues that dogs, l*>ing the originator* of hydropho bia, should l*> roin|a-lled to pass through the ordehl of Inoeulation in order, that they might thenceforth be powerless to drive men mad. Those people w ho have suffered from I having their trunk* smashed while traveling will lie gratified to learn that redress has been obtained by at least 1 one virtirn. Josejih Mitache, of San Frum-isco, sued the Union Paeifio Hail- , road Company for damages inflicted on tils trunks while in rare of that corn* pany, A verdiet was given in his favor, and damages assessed ul 1123.73. The court charg-sl that, when a rail way company assumes charge of a pas senger's trunk by giving him a check lor it, it becomes responsible for its re- i to him in good condition. This ruling, with a statement of the dama ges awarded Mr. Mitache, should be posted in large type in every baggage room in the country. (iver 4,606,660 ounces of quinine are consumed annually throughout the world, and it has become the universal medicine sinoc its discovery in 1610, when it was introdueed into Kurope by the Countess Cinchori, after whom the liark was named. Its abundance or scarcity may be said to be a matter of international concern. Wars and epi demics operate to advance its price. It occupies about the same place in ma teria medic,i that brcadstufTs do among articles of f.Msl. Vet it is said the nat ural supply of the cinchona bark is failing, and that resort must be made to cultivation in order to supply the world's demand. Cultivation has al ready begun in the Kast ludies, but must be extendixl to ••very country pro ducing this indispensable bark. At the crematory in (iotha. which is located in the new cemetery, and is the only one in Germany, erected at a cost of |22,inmi, the incineration is started with the Imhlv incased in metal, usually tine. The zinc case rapidly melts, then the garments are consumed and the body burns for a peri "1 lasting from one hour and three-quarters to two hours. The ashes fall into a receiver, wbe li, afti r tbe burning, is draw n out from Is-low. They arc then placisl in an urn and stationed in the column barium, or in a tin cylinder prepared for the purpose, and taken away by the friends of the deceases!. It takes a day and night to heat the apparatus thoroughly, so that Isslies that re.eh (lotha one day cannot lie cremated till thonext. Those who d'-sire cremating generally belongrotlie wealthier - l.i ■ of society. The charge for < rematmg is 137.50, paid in advance. \ New York man has invented a machine for playing the piano. It is not an organette or an orchestrion, but a case placet| over the ki-vls-ard with strikes that lut toe keys, which are turnisi bv a crank that is moved by jiedals. The etirres|Minilent >f ttie I'hi laibdpiiia ml. who lias heard it. savs that all the time he was listening he felt as though he was at a Imartl ing-schiMil "commencement," and the crat k pianist of the school was playing her crack piece. There was a lataired attempt at expression and a girlish dis regard for time; but, aside from that, the touch was powerful and thccxccu tion brilliant. Mr. (ially. the inventor, says that he ran imitate the playing of any pianist in the world, and he war rants to give his patent all the tire ami passion of Liszt if any one orders it. When this is jMTfis ted, with an electric motor to turn the crank, a man who is able to own a piano w ill not have to spend the ri -t of his fortune islucating his daughter to plav it. Since the astronomers who originally prislictisl terrible things from tin- fall ing of the great comet into the sun a few months hence have found out that the comet is not coming bark in nearly H(*i years, popular interest in the celes tial visitor has rapidly waned. The comet, however, says the New York .S'uri, continues to l-o a puzzle to the men of science, who do not ap|>ear to ' l>e much nearer the solution of the' question what comets are rom|H>scd of than they were years ago. The world was formerly scared by stories of comets that were almut to strike it, and of comets whose tails, sweeping the earth, would produce pestilence and death. The latest scarecrow of this kind a comet which was going to burn the surface of the earth by falling into the sun and st irring up his , fires has turned out to be as harmless j, as the old stories. When astronomers have found out what comets really are, it will la* time enough to predict what harm they arc going to do to the earth. (leneral Sheridan's explorations in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana last Au gust and September, of which he has recently sent a report to the adjutant general, suggested to his minil a new- Indian policy. The Crow nation num bers 3,470 souls, and its reservation, on which a few cattle graze and a few ber ries grow, contains 6,000,000 acres of valuable land. "1 would recommend,'' : writes General Sheridan, "that the gov ernment give eighty acres to the head of each family, hoy the balance from the Indians, paying them, say, half a j ! dollar per ucre, if thought proper, then purchase government bonds with the ' money, and each year use for their sup port, through the commissioner of In i dian affairs and their agent, the inter est upon the bonds, without touching the principal. This interest would I* very much more than is now approp riated yearly, and tin- Indians by these ( means would have a perpetual fund, the principal of which should never be touched except by acts of Congress. In fact, if all Indians ami their reserva tions were treated In this way a better system of government for the Indians could be obtained, it would also be a good bargain for tbe government, as • the purehasi-d land could be sold to actual settlers for an advance, and be occupied by people paying taxes, to say nothing of the opening up of tie country." That the country is healthier than the city is generally umb i lood, but tbe mortality statistics of tic- census furnish data upon which to base an opinion as to the difference in their sanitary advantages. The death-rate in the census of 1860 was 12.5 per thousand of the population, 12 8 in the census of 1870, and 15.1 in the census of I*Bo. The increase is attributed to the greater accuracy in the work of the enumerator* for each suc< essivecensus rather than to any increase in tht actual mortality. It i* believed that the enumerators have yet failed to ob tain the full mortality statistics, for a canvass in two States has shown that about thirty per per cent, of the deaths are not included hi the census statis tics. It is therefore supposnl that, the true death-rate is not far from eighteen [M-r thousand of the population. As the death rate for our cities averages about twenty-live per thousand, the ebam es of long life .ire va-tly greatei in the country than in the town. Skoheleff. Skols-lefT has b< • ti - ailed the poet of war. lYrhap* it would l>c inori accur ate t<> define him as the military llvnin of Hussia. A more daring, a more in sulMirdinate. am! a more original mind it has not la-en the f.t<- of Kurojw to see for many a long day. If we want to find bis < qual it is almost n*ce,sary to go back to the times of Charles ML. for we shall let fin 1 him withm the limits of our conventional nine teenth century. 11 < -delighted in 1 attic, yet confessed frequently that it was ii"t the bubble reputation, but a sol dier's grave, which he nought at the cannon's mouth. 11• went forth la battle in his newest and hrightc t uni form. mounted on his famous white charger, and waving his white rap in the air. Skols-leff was a wonderful military artist. He must have studied the soldier closely t*i have acquired so accurate a knowbslge of his heart, (in one occasion, at the third battle of Plevna, he met his troops flying panic stricken back to the ramp. On M-eing him they drew up and saluted. "Ah, my line fellows," he exclaimed, "you have fought like lions!" The troops recov erisl their M-lf-r"-|-rt. Seeing the cffe< t his words hail produced upon them, Skols-lefT pretended only t<> have discovered that they were without their muskets. "Where are your mus ket*?" he shouted. No one dares] answer. "Coward*! Ido not want to command such dogs as you. Come, pick up your musket* and follow me at once!" and. pr< idling in the direc tion where the Turkish tire was thick est. lie put them through tin ir facings as though they were raw recruits drilling in the quiet back yard of a provincial barrack. When they had gone through their evolutions he hxl them against the enemy, and not one of them thought of running away.— Lomlon A thr tmrttm. A Remarkable FUh. During the recent scientific cruise of the Travailleur there waataken off the coasts of Morocco, and from a depth of alxitit 1.270 fathoms, a fish of very singular character. It is at tout afoot and a half long and of a deep black color. Its most distinguishing feature, however, is a huge mouth cavity, which is quite disproportionate to the small tapering body, and capable, through the arrangement of the jaws, presence of extensible membranes, etr,, of very wide enlargement of the cavity. It may be fitly compared to the well known pouch of the pelican, and M. Vaillant thinks it probable that food accumulates in the pouch and is there partly digested. The locomotive organs are of the most rudimentary nature. The paired fins are represent <<d merely by two very small ap|>cndiccs, which may Ih- considered pectoral fin*; therr are no ventral fins, hut a dorsal and anal are present. The respiratory ap paratus is of unique com|tositinn | There is no swimming bladder.— Lon ' <lnn Timet. A young lady at a ball called hei partner an Indian Itecauso he was o i her trail all the time. ACIKTRMC WRAPS. It in asserted by a lirazilian that coffee in a natural antidote to alcohol, and that tho consumption of alcoholic stimulant* is comparatively small where coffee in a popular drink, an in hi own country. What hiM Ijeen culled "Hewer pan" is composed of air, vapor and give-s in constantly varying jiroportions, Ur pettier with living germs vegetable and animal and minute particles of putrescent matter. The skeleton of a Dirioeaurin reptile thirty-five feet long, has lieen unearthed in the Had Lands of Dakota. The creature is supposed to have stood twenty-five feet high. The weight of the skull is 'IPJ pounds, and of Die whole skeleton 1,900 pounds. Logs, under favorable conditions, live to an age much beyond that which is usually assigned to them. Mr. If. ' ordiner, of Oxford, Dr.gland, knows a black ratriever aged thirty-one, and ! there is no doubt that others are ac quainted with like aged individuals of | the canine species. It is well known that minute metal , lie particles are often collected in places remote from tcrr<-strial sources j dust. Ifer ent iiivestigation shows that many of these particles must have undergone fusion, whi'h evidently proves that they have come from the smoke of factories, from volcanic fires jf that they had a meteoric origin. A mixture of twenty parts of hard soap, forty parts of kerosene, and one part of fir balsam had been found very effective in destroying the insects which damage the orange tree. Pro fessor V. Jtilev x the authority. Other valuable plants, notably the vine might l-e similarly protei ted by a -pr.iy from an application of the same rwi{e. It can be dilutod at will with w at-r so | as not to interfere with the constitu tion of the plant. The coal supplied to the Nagasaki market comes from a laid in Japan situated along the oast hne Utwo n < ape Momo aiei the mouth of Nagasa ki Ifarls.r and theme t marly the most northerly of the fioto Islands. It is referred to the tertiary period, and is highly bituminous, of irregular frac ture, but somewhat cubical. When fr- -hlv broken it has a lustrous black appearance, which changes 1 \ pro tracted exp.isure to the atmosphere to a dull, rusty bla< k. PEARLS < IIIOHWIT. On the day of vietorv no weariness Is felt, Aw ise man reflects b< fore he sjicak -, and reflects on what he ba> uttered. The lo ad, however strong it may be, can accomplish nothing against the heart. The most important part of every hasim-ss is to know w hat ought to 1* lone. It i 1 letter to lrf> reproachcsl by a friend than complimented by a flat terer. 'I he wiseman looks for happiness lieyond the narrow ken of personal interest. Infinite toil would not enable you to sweep aw ay a nest, hut by ascending a little you may often look over it altogether. Never leave what you undertake until you can reach your artns around d and clench your hands on the othef side. You can't judge of the value of a man by his talk any more than you can judge of the value of the tree by its bark. One should le careful not to carry any of his follies of youth into old age ; for old age has follies enough of its own. I>o not despise the opinion of the world ; you might as well say that you care not for light of the sun liecauso you can use a candle. Some minds an- so constructed as not to le amanalde to the ordinary rules of judgment; they deserve pity rather than censure. Sorrow itself is not so hard to I tear as the thought of sorrow coming. Airy ghosts that work no harm do terrify us more than men in steel with bloody purpose. An average day's work for a brick layer is 1,500 bricks on outside and inside waits ; on facing and angles and finishing around wood or stone work not more than half of this number can be laid. It is estimated that not less than 19,000,000 barrels of ale and beer will le brewed in the United States during the current year, an increase of abont 17 per cent, over the rear prevtoua Fortress Monroe, Virginia i the largest single fortification in the world. It has already cost the government over 13.000,000. The water battery is considered one of the finest military works in the world.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers