TOPICS OF THE HAY.
A writer in the London Globe re
marks that the result of recent Irish
harvests have produced a general feel
ing of distrust in the potato, and the
question of the future food of the
Irish people has consequently hccoiue
m one of the utmost possible importance.
King Theebaw, of Hurmoh, has the
(reputation of being even a jollier
monach than old King Cole, but his
■humor is sometimes grim. He re
cently killed his mother-in-luw because
his wife bore him a daughter when
he longed for a son and heir, and then
celebrated tho child's birth by liberat
ing all the prisoners in the kingdom.
Drunkenness has been investigated
by Prof. Verga of Milan. lie claims
that men or women given to intox
ication, are, strange to say, seldom
given to kleptomania or suicide. A
woman is less apt to take to liquor
than a man, but when she does she
can hardly be reclaimed. She becomes
shameless and abominable, but seldom
dangerous. Cold weather seems to
cause men to take to strong drink, and
mild weather has tho same influence
upon women.
Gloversville, X. V., has a rival of
the Maine girl who can spell words
backward with such remarkable facil
ity. The Intelligencer says that she is
the daughter of the Kcv. 11. Graham
and is between six and seven years
of age. Any word which she can
spell in its proper form she can spell
with equal rapidity backward. With
out any previous notice she spelled
backward the words advocate, notwith
standing, February; Tuesday, satisfac
tion, synagogue, Constantinople and
temperance, calling the letters so
rapidly that the eye could scarcely
follow her. llow she does it she can
nut explain.
The star-fish likes the oysters that
grow in the Sound along the Connect
icut coast, and has eaten up several
valuable deposits. Ono firm lias lost
$lOO,OOO worth from the 1 eds at
Charles island; another lost $2i,000 this
year, aud the havoc in that vicinity is
terrible. The star-fish can be dredged
up if bis presence is known, and the
oystermen now watch for him so as to
receive him as soon as he puts in an
appearance. One planter raised seven
ty-five bushels of star-fish from his
beds in a single day. If he had not
detected and captured them, they
would have eaten $lO,OOO worth of
oysters during the next four weeks.
A few years ago, a csociatinns known
as "Hands of Mercy" were formed in
England, the object of which was t
inculcate and promote kindness to
animals. They have achieved great
success, especially in teaching thildr. n
to show kindness to the dumb
creation. The Earl of Shaftesbury is
at the head of the organization. M-.re
recently, organizations of the same
character have been formed in this
country, especially in M..-..i"huv tt<,
and some of the most prominent men
in the state are interested in the move
ment. The Kev. Thoin is Tirnmis.who
has been identified with the movement
in England, has come to this country,
where he will remain to kilnir in the
cause.
King Hurnliert, of Italy, drives him
self about in a T-eart, like any other
quiet gentleman in Rome. When his
carriage gets blocked, as it frequently
d-ies in the narrower streets, lie takes
it more patiently than the foreigners
do. who admire the way in which he
aits and nods and laughs to acquaint
ances in the crowd. Both the king
and queen of Italy are extremely
in their appearance in public.
/ the now czar of Russia and his
were last in Itome they were
surrounded by guards. Ilurn
b<l Marguerite went to call upon
royalties, driven in a
and such was the
their equipage that they
get through the guards.
illustration of the advance
; made In the healing
when barbers pulled
recently. A young lad
his mother in a close
the streets of New
an press wagon
Hiwii a cross street, and
could pull up his
struck through the
V". and by one of
f ■Kry accidents which
to verify the adage
than fiction,"
Bt two of the lioy's
doing him any
One tooth hung
kiiid; the other dis-
drove to the
nearest doctor's, who sent Its occu
pants to a dentist's; and ho put back
tho tooth in its place, fastened it in
with splints, nature received it, and it
is now in as sound and good a condi
tion as any other tooth in tho hoy's
head. A great search was mado for
the missing tooth, which the dentist
would have restored in like manner,
hut it was not to be found.
Leigh Hunt, superintendent of
schools in I)es Moines, lowa, has
adopted a plan of giving practical
instruction in earning and saving
money. In the first place he encour
aged all the children to open hank
accounts, and learn how to do business
at a bank. Hoys >\ itli rich fathers,
boys with poor fathers, and boys with
out fathers or mothers were inclined to
earn money in honest and manly ways.
They black boots, deliver papers,,
shovel snow from side-walks, and
carry in coal. Not a few are learning
trades during odd hours, and many
have tools which they work with at
home. Those who are doing mechani
cal work that requires considerable
skill, meet and compare the articles
they have made. There is a frieritlly
rivalry to see who will have tho largest
bank account and furnish tho best
specimens of handiwork. The work
out of school is said to have a good
effect on the work done in school. The
boys are getting a reputation fur thrift,
skill and economy as well as for
scholarship.
The London Tim <.*' I'arfs correspond
ent contributes some very interesting
information upon the subject of the
instruction of women in the indus
trial arts as it has been developed in
France. Tho !ir-.t school for such
instruction was started in a very small
way in Im>2, and now they are in
operation all over France, teaching
special trades to young women. It is
stated that in one of these which has
been in existence but eleven years no
h -s than 2'KK) women have received
thorough instruction in trades, such as
millinery, dress-making, needlework,
wood-engraving, porcelain painting,
designing, etc. There are four general
classes that the puj.il ran attend—the
first for a general education, the
second for commercial training, the
third for industrial art education, and
the fourth for teaching trades, arid
work-shops are attached to all the
schools in which the scholars may
learn many of the branches ofc indus
try hitherto pursued by men alone.
Notwithstanding her many political
and financial mistakes in some depart
ments of social economy, France is
making astonishing progress; in none
more so than in the technical instruc
ti n of women.
The Massachusetts reformatory
; ri- n for women is not sitnjdy a penal
titution f.r punishment, but b
meant to reclaim the women sent
there. The discipline is peculiar to
i" -elf. The prisoner is informed on
her entrance that upon her own be
havior de| .ends advancement. The
first four weeks she pav.es by herself,
• > ing only suc| ofib i m of the institu
tion as have occasion to visit her. At
the end of that time she is regularly
cntcr.-d as a first dinsion prisoner,
nub . she has b en in the j rison
i • fore, in which case h< r probationary
term is doubled. Mie is j.roniotcd
when she lias gained a certain nutnlsr
of credit marks. For each week of
perfect conduct in labor and study ten
marks are allowed, and for each
offense a mark is lost. As soon as she
is entered in this division she is set to
work in the laundry, the sewing-room,
the kitchen or at brush making, these
occupations being frequently changed,
so that they may not grow monoto
nous, and she is obliged to attend
school one hour each day. When the
requisite number of marks is gained
the prisoner is advanced to the second
division, where another record card is
given her, and she is informed thnt
upon gaining the requisite number of
credits she will be promoted to the
third divison. Her work and study
continue through all the divisions, but
she has a room that is u trifle larger,
and is allowed a short recreation daily,
unless by some misconduct she for
feits the right, Upon reaching the
third division her room is still larger,
and tho time for reaching the fourth
is less than that required for reaching
any of the others. When she is in
this final division she has a room a
little better furnished, with a few
ornamental trifles allowed. She eats
from a table on which is a cloth, and
is occasionally allowed something
besides t'. usual prison fare, a cup of
tea being considered the greatest
luxury.
Comets are not unfrequently credited
with the possession of Infinite capaci
ties for working good or evil to the
human race, and few men are prepared
to declare upon affidavit that a comet
is unable either to produce a fine
vintage or to consume a world, lint
in few instances only a celestial body
of this class has been known to bring
about the peremptory dismissal of a
couple of cabinet ministers, yet the
Shanghai CeltntUil Umpire gives pub
licity to the following strange story.
It would nppear that the first person
in I'ekin who caught sight of the
great comet that became visible in the
Chinese capital last October was the
minister of foreign affairs, 1.1-hong
tsang. As his excellency, towards
midnight, was strolling homeward
from tint palace, where he hod been re
ceived in late audience by his imperial
master, the comet suddenly met his
eye. He at once hurried back to in
form the emperor that a divine envoy,
the bearer of evil tidings, had just
appeared in the heavens. This alarm
ing announcement caused his majesty
to quiver visibly from head to foot .and
to'sund fur the court astologers without
an instant's loss of time. These saga
cious functionaries, upon being aski-d
bv tln ir sovereign, "What this lumi
nous apparition in the sky might
portend?" replied that it was unques
tionably intended to convey to bis
majesty a strong sense of the dis
approval with w hii'h the gods regarded
the ministers of justice and public
worship. This explanation of the
celestial phenomenon recommending
itself to the emperor, he forthwith
gave orders that two deens-s, sentenc
ing the obnoxious ministers to bo dis
missed from their offices and banished
to remote provinces, should be pre
pared for his signature. Hy dawn of
the day the comet's mission hail been
fulfilled, and the object of divine di>-
pleasure were on their way to exile,
little dreaming to whom, or rather to
what, thev were in.b htcd for • >sudden
a reverse of fortune.
A Man in Stays.
Mr. Richard A. l'roctcr, a well
known lecturer on astronomy, once
trie<l the experiment of wearing a
corset, and thus describes the results:
"When the subject of corset wearing
W.LS under discussion in the pages of
The Ewjlish Mertumv', I was struck,"
he says, "with the apj arent weight of
evidence in favor of tight lacing. I
was in particular struck by the evidence
of some as to its use in reducing
corpulence. I was corpulent I also
was disposed, as I am still, to take an
interest in scientific experiment 1
thought 1 would give it a fair trial 1
real all the instructions, carefully f'.|-
lowed them, and varied the time of
plying pressure with that 'jcrfectly
stiff busk' aNiut which correspondents
were so enthusiastic. 1 was foolish
enough to try the thing for a matter of
four weeks. Then I laughed at myself
as a hopeless idiot, and determined to
give up tho attempt to reduce by arti
lii i.al means that superabundance of fat
on which only starvation and much
exercise, or the air of America, has
ever had any real reducing influence.
Hut I was reckoning without rny host
As the Chinese lady suffers, 1 am told,
when her feet-bindings are taken off,
and as the flat-headed baby howls
when bis head hards are removed, so
for a little while was it with me. I
found myself manifestly better in stays.
I laughed at myself no longer. I was
too angry with myself to laugh. I
would as soon have condemned myself
to using crutches all the time, as to
w earing alw ays a busk. Hut for my one
nmnth of folly I had to endure three
months of discontent. At the end of
aliout that time I was my own man
again."
A Snhmnrine Army of Torpedoes.
A remarkable means of defense is
known as the "Graydon-Leach system,"
ami provides for tho maneuvering of
fleets or torpedoes under complete con
trol, lielow the surface of the water, and
admitting of entire or partial withdraw
al at pleasure, to permit the passing of
friendly vessels, or enticing hostile ves
sels within the limits and then sur
rounding theni with torpedoes that will
insure their destruction. The torpe
does can lie massed, mo veil In various
directions, and. In fact, maneuvered
similarly to bodies of troops, and, being
entirely submerged, give no signs of ap
proach to the enemy Tho system is
comparatively inexpensive.and the plan
simple. No hostile fleet could enter a
harbor defended by It, and therefore its
novelty, simplicity and practibility
render it very valuable. Though we
have at present no adequate means of
defense for onf coast and seaport cities,
yet byjthis system of torpedo defense a
hostile fleet could be kept beyond shell
ing distance of New York, llrooklvn,
San Francisco or any of our seaport
cities, and even the mouth of Chesa
peake llay can lie easily rendered im
passible.—Our Continent
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
French photographs of the transit
'.n Algeria and spectroscopic observa
tions indicate an atmosphere on the
planet.
An apparatus for recording the
exact speed of a train during its entire
run, including stoppages and sturtirigs,
has been invented by M. l'ouzct.
There is a tree in Arizona which,
when seasoned,is so hard as to turn the
edgo of an ax. It is known as the
desert-iron wood tree, and makes mag
nificent charcoal.
Milk has the power to absorb obnox
ious gases and effluvia from the air
around it, and it should not be forgot
ten that the purest butter ever made
may become tainted and poisoned in
one short hour by objectionable sur
roundings.
If M. Kliler made correct observa
tions, the wheat plant never grows
upon any day when the temperature
of the air does not for a period of
several hours at b ast rise above forty
three degrees Fahrenheit.
A visitor to the t. IJernard morgue
writes that in the Wondrous air of the
Alps, 8000 feet above the sea-level,
putrefaction is unknown, and the
bodies of those lust in the snow are
perfectly preserved from change.
A non-condiu tur of •l• r■ t rilly has
yet to lie found, fur all sub*tarices
hitherto discovered are eondneturs of
the force under certain known condi
tions; but thu.se which offer a great
resistance to it serve the purpose of
non-conductors in practice, although
they may be all rl.tsscd as g.x>d or
bad conductors. The best conductor
known at present is silver; the worst
conductor is solid paraffine.
Dr. Mi rki 1 states that the bight of
an individual after a night s r- -t.
measured before ri ing from the bed. i
two inches greater than it is in the
evening, measured standing. There is
a gradual diminution in hight, c aused
by the yielding of the plantar arches
and of the intervertebral disc.-; and a
sudden diminution, when the indi
vidual rises, occurring at the artieulu
tb ns of the luwir extremities. The
sinking at the ankle is one-thir i of an
inch; at the kins-, one-twelfth to one
eighth of an inch; at the hip two-fifths
of an inch. The shun ning at the
ankle is pru) ably due to the elasticity
• the cartilages. At the top there is.
in addition, a .sinking of the head of
the femur into the c itvl i 1 cavity.
For Lovers of I'lsli.
Away up in the waters of the North
ern Pacific there swims what might
be c.'Ulis] the olive of the seas. The
Indians call it the oolachan. It is the
fattest of all fish, and from it the oil
ah* lutcly drips, an oleaginous fluid a
swe- t and limpid as that which co:n*
fr in the fruit of those ugly, dwarfe i
and rusty I Hiking trees which give *■>
little shade < n the Mediterranean
coasts. I'crhnps some of these dav -
oolachan oil will go to France and
Italy and come back to u* a* the 1 •
salad-dressing. This flsh is so flat that
if a dried specimen is taken, as was
shown at the Tinted States national
museum, all that ha* to lie done is to
light the head of the oolachan, holding
the tail in the fingers, and it blazes
away like a spermaceti candle, giving
light without smoke or smell. Ilut
tho oolachan might lie cloying as a
constant food, though Ir. T. 11. Hcan
and other explorers of the northwest
coast declare that when fresh ft is the
sweetest of all morsels, being the or
tolan, tho rice or reed bird fish of the
sea Hut tho oolachan pales before
something called the "goodtick." This
name alone has an inviting sound.
You find the geoduck principally in
Puget sound and in San Diego bay.
though it is scattered all along the
coast from San Francisco to the north.
It might he a pity to call it a clam,
though it belongs to that humble fami
ly, and unpoctical naturalists call it
Glyc.imcras gcncrosa "I think,"
writes a careful observer, "that its
flesh is too rich to permit of regular
stuffing or gormandizing, although I
ate quite heartily of it for several suc
cessive meals, and experienced no bad
or disagreeable sensations afterward."
When the geoduck is served it delights
the eye, for one of those happy iclithy
ophagists who had the good luck to
eat one says it looked "like a particu
larly plump duck." Let us suppose n
htige soft clam minus the grit, nnd we
will have an idea of what the Glycim
eris gencrosa is. The method of c-xik
ing Is to cut off four pounds of the geo
duck In slices, to roll it in ineal, and to
fry it. Then, says a gustatory critic,
"You have something like scrambled
eggs, but with n flavor of Its own."
Why should not the geoduck lie sent
to us? If we havo given to the west
coast our shad they might return
favors by sending us the geoduck for
Cultivation. We ought to try and pro
pagate lids prince of clams.— New
York Time*.
UAMHLKJt'S PARADISE.
Mont* Carlo Anil Ifa l.amlillnc Helta.—
A. Vle-lil Itearrtpllon.
The Injury sustained by Marseilles,
Nice, Gem a and especially Mentono,
from the neighborhood of Monte Carlo
and its gaming tables, are the subject
of an earnest article by Kdinond
Plnnchet, in the Paris Kevue des deux
Mondes. These cities, he says, will
1 not cease their protests until France,
for the sake of moral cleanliness, and
Italy, for reputation's sake, exact that
the last public gambling house in Ku
ropo be abolished. Petitions signed by
I a great number of persona were sent
to the French Chambers last April
lie Freyciiiet would not entertain the
subject and the motion was laid on the
table. Jn spite of the minister's op
position the Senate sent him the peti
tions a month later. In that short
time th" relations between France and
Italy had changed.
"If it were true," Planehet goes on
to say, "that gambling establishments
have the power to enrich ape iple in
stead of making fortunes for indus
trial associations, tic principality of
Monaco would long ago have been
white with marble palivcs and have
distanced the rest of the coast in lux
ury and prosperity. Not so. bad
ness shows in th" faei-ji of the misera
ble inhabitants and more wntch*l sol
diery. Saddest of all is the contrast
bet wei n the of nature and the
ugliness of vice. The gambling fever
has extended from Monaco to the 'Mas
seiia' and '.Mediterranean' clubs at
Nice. All "lasses of Society are affect
• -•I by it. Small tr:ides:ii"n ruin them
selves at play and on gala day the
roulette flourishes in the open air.
S - ."ty is demoralized. Suicides are
numerous. At Mcntone the cottag"S
built to aecoinin -bit" the rich Lnglish
and Russian invalids are empty. The
Doctors caution Co-m against the ex
citenii nt of gambling an 1 the chill air
of the Mi-lit.-rrani in that jiii-r'"s tle ir
lungs when thi-y leave the overheated
rooms at night."
Of the many pictures that have
L'"i n drawn of the b'-autb-s and ICT
; rs of Monte Carlo, there is none
more t niching than is given in a let
ter from George San I. "strange con
trast," she writ"*. "We Imave the
magnificence >.f nature to flnd our
selves, of a sudden, ami 1 the filth of
ni'slem civilization, fr-un the pale
rays of the new in -m. the great rock
-h-ping in the shad >\v an Ith"' 1 r of
the orange groves to the fit. I •*! >r of
fever and the rattle of th" ruiMte.
Young married women gamble while
nursi-s look aft"r their children ■ n tie
*"fas. A pretty little girl of live drags
herself to < n" "f th"*" an 1 fall* a-b-"p.
overcome with fatigue, heat and
ennui. D-••-* her unnatural n it her Imp*
to win her a marriage j. .rti"n? An
' old fori gn la-ly it- at t,,e gamir g ta
ble with a little lal who calls In r
mother. She si-in- indifTen :.t about
losing or winning. The child plays,
too, with the manner of a grown per
son. He is use,l to it.
"lUwt.li *or frightened shadows wan
der round the cafe in the vast amphi
theater formed by the mountain's
st< "p sides. They look chilly ; per
hajis they only look and b-ng for the
slight refreshment they no longer have
the means to purchase. Some go ofl
with empty pockets. Others accost
you and aim -t 1* g f"r a seat in youi
carriage back to Nice. Suicides are
not rare. The waiters at the hot"!
I seem to have a profound c ntempt for
the unlucky. When one of the*" com
plains of Mng badly served the
waiter answers by shrugging his
shoulders and saying, "So it would not
work to-night
"We dine as best .as we can in a
room full of little tables, the people
scramble for, deafened by the chatter
ing of adventuresses on the lookout
for a dinner and a friend to pay fur it
We return to the rooms to watch for
something dramatic. The villainous
smell drives us away. We rush to the
lioarh and reach the town situated on
a little headland deliriously carved
amid the waters. The poor little place
seems to shrink, as we did. from the
bad air of the gambling-house, and to
S"ek refuge among the beautiful trees
that surround it.
••We climb the rock to the gloomy
and forbidding old castle. It looks
tragic in the moonlight The pnlaoe
of the prince is charming. It re
minds us of the fanciful home of the
governor at Majorca. At 9 o'clock in
the evening, flie town is silent and de
serted. We return hv the l*>nch where
only the plash of the waves breaks the
silence. The moon has sunk below
the horir.on. The gaslights enable us
to see the base of the great rock and
throw greenish streaks across the
white marble balusters. The roulette
is still going, the nightingale sings, a
child is weeping."
IVrnllarltle* of Mexicans.
Among all classes there is too much
of the Idle "rest and le thankful" spirit.
Nature hits been bountiful; the nec
essaries of life are easily secured; the
need of exertion Is minimized; a few
beans or a handful of corn, a little fat,
and some chillies will form the unvary
ing diet for weeks. Hut all are in
veterate gamblers. Although some
times too lazy or improvident to provide
even comfortable food, they will sit for
hours over cards or dice, and in their
infatuation pawn everything on which
they can raise money. In selling
their chillies, their eggs, poultry, or
other produce, they seldom have any
fixed price; their demands are mainly
graduated by the apparent capacity or
generosity of the purchaser. Contract
ing to supply milk, for example, to the
railroad construction gangs, after ar
ranging for a very ample remuneration,
arid going on for one, perhaps two,
Weeks, they will complain that their
rows are doing badly, get a few extra
rents per gallon, and perhaps a wci k
lat'-r make a similar stand for a further
advance. The mercantile chin-es in
tic towns, although they seldom have
much capital, are tolerably straitfor
ward, endeavoring to meet their en
gagements, and have a wholesome
horror of a protested bill. Kvery vil
lage celebrates, at least once a year, its
first,a, w here dancing, an extra amount
of gambling, cock fighting, and some
times hull-baiting are the entertain
ments, and where the liberal oonsump.
lion of cheap intoxicants bring business
into the Court of lib aldi or Justice of
Peace. The Mexicans are generally
more pusillanimous and superstitious
than the Indians. .Si-cret societies
exercise a good deal of authority.
P.oth in Old and New Mexico the
IVnitates count their numbers by
thousands, and enj> n among their
votaries fasting arid hum l.ation. from
which, however, exemption Is freely
a IT. nb-d on payment < f certain doles.
<in occasions, self-flagellation and
stripes inflicted by brother devotees
are proceeded with until the infatuat
ed victims are covered with tlo > L
For several hundred yards ab ng a
path thickly strewn with prickly
cactus, others g > on hand* and knees
to prostrate themselves before the
cross. Hearing a cross weighing
several hundred pounds, with arms
outstretches] and secured, others toil
for miles, usually to some sacred chapel
or almost inaccessible mountain top.
When the poor enthusiast, fainting
under his burden, is about to drop, at
tendants place their shoulders tinder
the arms of the cross, and afford a
bmporary support. These perform
ance* shatter yearly the health of
w • akly devotees, and kill some.—
I. ti'l'iii Tinas.
Disease* From Had Teeth.
It appears not to l>e generally under
stood even among the cultivated
people, although the fa t has been
dwelt uj-'n with emphasis by the best
modi' tl authorities, that the presence
of carious, crowded, or asymmetrical
teeth in the human mouth is tlie pr<>-
genitor of a long train of nervous dis
eases, comprising not only facial
neuralgia and its concomitant troubles,
but diseases of the ear, inflammatory aa
w<ll as functional, eventuating often
in partial 1 -*s of hearing, defects of
■vision, muso-pharyngeal catarrh, and
other tormenting maladies. One of
our acutest and most successful SJK>C
ialists in the treatment of nervous dis
eases has become so fully convince*! by
long experience of the part played by
defective teeth in the development, nt
of neuralgia only, but even of tho
more obscure neuroses, that he always
insists, as a condition precedent to tho
acceptance of the case, that a thorough
examination of the cavity of the month
shall Is- undertaken by a competent
dentist, for. he says, not only may a
single diseased tooth result in persist
ent nervous disturtianc**, but disease
of the brain, decay or j>erversiou of the
mental faculties, even epilepsy and
tetanic spasms often have their start
ing-point in dental i nutations; and ho
has observed cases in w hieh. while lay
ing the foundation for a long train of
nervous troubles, the irritated organ
itself gave no sign, either by local pain
or vague discontent, of the agency it
was constantly exerting to produce
serious disturbance at some distant
point In common with the most
aural surgeons, a distinguished special
ist. of this city, lias long since adopted
the practice of examining the teeth of
every patient brought to hini for treat
ment of ear trouble, particularly of
partial deafness and general irritation
of the organ; and, speaking the other
day of the large number of pupils from
tho public schools who attended the
public aural clinics at the hospital with
which he is eonnecte*l, "it is rare," he
said, "to find a single patient in whose
case dental irritation Is not to be con
sidered among the prominent causativ*
factor*."— Jimc York Tim.