LADIES' DEPARTMENT. Element* of* Trna Marriage. Itev. Charles 11. Eaton, of New York, In the courso of a recent ser mon on the subject of "A True Mar riage," said that there wero three elements that combineed to make a true marriage; health, love anil sympathetic companionship. No man or woman physically weak should marry, and thus entail suffering on i others. Love does not mean passion; it is based on understanding. Men and women should know each other behind the curtain, as it were, before marriage. Unhappy lives often result from imperfect knowledge before mar riage of the characteristics of the partner in the contract. Love makes sacrifices; passion never. No husband or wife has ever known true happiness until after the birth of a child. Men and women on the piano of marriage stand equals. There should be sym pathetic companionship in the sense that an irreligious person should not marry one who is religiously indltmb or an unintelligent person one who is of opposite taste. There should be sympathy and fellowship between husband and wife in all the pursuits of life. Holognrie ( uKomi. In the Ilolognese territory some •curious customs prevail. A young man may have courted a young woman for several years, walking with her home from church,and assisting her in field labors; but he is never allowed to enter her house until he comes for be trothal before the priest. Even after tliis the girl's father is not supposed to be officially informed of the affair until, a week before the marriage is to take place, the bridegroom's father, or some one in his stead, goes to ask for the hand of the bride. Iler fattier "plays the Indian," is astonished and reluctant, but at length bestows iiis consent, and they all set out together to buy the marriage g. fts, which con sist of as much garnet jewelry as the bridegroom can afford, la-sides several rings. Tiie buying of these tilings is a fete to the family—the amount of bargaining for them and discussion afterward as to whether they could have been got better and cheaper else where, is something incredible to those who have not heard it. When the bride is dressed for the marriage ceremony, wearing her maiden neck lace of coral, the bridegroom is intro duced with the garnets in bis hand, and asks her whether she will ex change her coral for what he brings. * Iler new ornaments add the finishing strokes to her attire, which is usually a gay flowered dress and embroidered silk or muslin apron, tied with a broad sash, and a white veil. After the ceremony the husband takes her home, and at the door she finds a broom. Iler mother-in-law has designedly left the dust thick on a table or on the floor; if the bride does not notice it, it is a sign that she is a bad house keeper; but she is usually warned of this trap, and falls to sweeping with the convenient broom. It is very necessary that she should api>easo the presiding genius of the house, for no matter how old the sons may be when they marry, the parents still hold undisputed sway, and as they usually all live together under one roof and at one table, a daughter-in-law's position is by no means an easy one if she is disliked by the heads of the family. She is greatly separab-d from her own family, in a ceremonial jioint of view; eight days after marriage she pays them a visit; and then and hencefor ward she is addressed by them with the formal "you" instead of the tender "thou" to which she has l>een accustomed.— Npringfleld lt<"publican. VMHIOM .\otrs. Large bonnets have no strings. Satin has not gone out* of vogue. Chenille bonnets are much worn. Stringless bonnets are much worn. The tournure or bustle grows larger. Honnet strings must l<e very narrow and double. Alternate chene and plain stripes are io favor. Tailor-made cloth costumes are as popular as ever. A modified Marguerite dress is in favor for young girls. The new buttons are of metal, and re flat and of medium size. basques with battlement finish at the bottom grow in jtopularity. Chenille bonnets are trimmed with .• wers, birds, lace and ribbon. Fanchons and small capotes are the only bonnets that have strings. Dresses are now cut oval shape at the neck, in preference to V-shape. All short wraps are decidedly shorter this season than they were ast The shapes of new bonnets are not ' materially different from thoao of last teason. A favorite garniture for evening dresses is pearl unil crystal embrold eres and pearl and beaded net and lace. The pepper-pod designs on the new sateens come in all stages of coloring assumed by the fruit of this plant, from the green pepper to the full red. New parasols of black satin, having one or two black Spanish lace flounces, are varied with single or double fringes of gold bullion between the lace falls. Illack tulle and lace dresses elabor ately made, and without any white about the neck and arms, bring out the delicate tints of a fair complexion and light hair. Some very effective satteens have the plain colors combined with the same shade ornamented with large hoops. Hoops arc a favorite design in all sorts of wash-goods. The new silks and satins that come in broche patterns show a prevalence of oriental harmonies of color, bright ened with flame, orange, and mandarin yellow, in vanishing effects. Large plush balls suspended by silk cords fill up the spaces between tabs and points that edge overskirts. Hunches of pompons similar to the ball trim the dress in other places. Hands of green or red velvet are in terwoven with gold or silver braid in basket-plaiting to form small capote bonnets. A panache of marabout feathers tipped with silver or gold, and velvet ribbon strings are the trim mings. Among the practical and most at tractive new goods are smooth-finished wool stuffs like tainise cloth, in solid colors of every kind, in plaids, blocks, checks, and stripes to match the plain goods, and intended for combination costumes. The coverings of dress parasols are of the richest brocaded and foulard silks, with flounces of Spanish lace, white or black. A varicolored bow adorns one panel of the parasol. The sticks are of white ash or elionizisl wood, tastefully carved, with a loop handle. A very fashionable material for dressy home toilets is cream-white serged flannel, trimmed with long loops and end's of white moire or satin rib. Um. For young married ladies this fabric is made into tea-gowns and 'ire cian robes, with trimmings of lace and white silk embroidery or braiding. Norwegian Breakfasts and Dinners. The foreigner will be perplexed at first by the appearance of the break fast table, which is usually rove real from end to end, and from side to side, with an infinite variety of small dishes containing slices of tongue, sausage, ham, corned Is-ef, smoked salmon, boar's flesh and other dainties. There are also tins of caviare and of sardines, sprats and other kinds of preserved fish. There is usually a heap of r.id ishes piled around a glass of water, and whatever vacant spaces are left alout the table are tilled with huge pieces of cheese—Norwegian, Dutch, Swiss and English. In the middle of all there stands a bottle of aqua-vit, or brandi vin—the white wine of the country, which is a strong spirit flavored with caraway seeds, and distantly resembling kummcL The orthodox fashion is to Is-gin with a slice of bread and butter, covered with flakes of cheese, and with a nip of aqua-vit as apjw'ti/.er. Those, however, who do not care to breakfast on relishes and the mere ac cidents of the meal may take refuge in the hot dishes, which are usually served in the shape of flsli and meat. Salmon is the staple fare all over Nor way. You get it at morning, noon and night, and in all forms. It enables one to understand the stories that are told of the farm servants in Scotland long ago, who stipulated in their en. gagements that they should not have salmon for dinner oftener than three times a week. The supper table is like the breakfast table and quite as abundant. The beverages in common use at iMith meals are coffee, Norwegian beer and wine—generally claret. A Norwegian dinner is very like a dinner at home, but there are some pe culiarities on state occasions which aro worth noting. For example, the cus tom of drinking wine with the guests at table—a custom which Is almost ex ploded in this country—is still in full force in Norway. The initiative, how ever, rests with the host, who drinks wine with every one, but It would be a breach of etiquette for any one to offer to drink wine w Ith him. The guests, however, may drink with one another to their heart's content, clinking glusscs in the German fashion, and when in jovial mood vociferating the word "skaal" in token of good fellowship. It is also noticeable that the toasts are given not afteftho cloth is drawn, hut during dinner. The speeches are made between* the courses.— Low lon Timet. 0 SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS. The extreme life of the hippopota mus Is set at thirty years. Distilled water in the daylight is of a blue color. By gaslight the color is green. The Mexicans use a strong solution of iodine in potassium iodide for an untldoto for rattlesnake poison. An atmosphere containing fourteen per cent of carbolic acid has been found to be a reliable guard against explosions of fire damp. Hcrr Wagner lias found that the ap plication of phosphoric acid to soils al ready rich is not always desirable; and an excess of the acid may—especially in dry soil—prove actually injurious, probably by hastening the death of tho plants' organs of nutrition. A valuable deposit of the remains of mammals from the diluvial period has lately been discovered on the banks of the Wolga, between Zarizyn andSarep* ta, after a flood which cut away some of the land beside the great river. The variety of the specimens is notable. Tyndall has supposed the color of the sea to Iw due to a reflection by the water of the blue rays of sunlight, red rays being transmitted. Were this view correct the light which passes through the water must lie rut, but Mons. Spring, of the Belgian academy, finds that such is not tDo case, a dis tinctly blue color being seen through a long tube of pure water. It is a well-established theory that organs or functions of living creatures gradually disappear if unused. A fa miliar illustration is furnished by the blind fish of caves, whose eyes, through disuse, have Wen reduced to a rudi mentary ami sightless state. It ajr pears, however, that this view does not always hold good, if it lie true, as lately stated, that in some Kuropean instan ces mice have been raised in absolute darkness for many generations without appearing to have lost in the slightest degree the sensitiveness of the eye to light Salt In the Sea. In its deepest parts the sea is intense, !y blue, but where it is shallow it is a bright green color, which prevails until soundings cease to be struck! Some people ascribe the blue to the reflection of the sky, and say that if the green water which is found nearer land were piled up in a basin as deep as that which holds the blue, it would I*s the same color. But the true < ause of the difference lietween the tw o is the quan tity of salt which the water contains. Some parts of the sea arc much Salter than others, and it is tin -c which are the bluest. That the sea-water is denser in one part than another is the result of evap oration, loss rainfall and a smaller Im portation of fresh water by neons of rivers, etc. It is estimated that eight feet of water are annually withdrawn from the Red sea by evaporation only, and it is riot surprising that it is salt< r than the Baltic, where the evaporation is very small, and where, unlike it, there is an influx of water from various streams and heavy annual rainfalls. But why is the ocean salt at all? The streams which feed it bring with them the salts of the soil through which they pass. As evaporation is ever go ing on, one would think that sea water must ever grow more lime- like; but such is not the case. The heavy heated waters of the tropics carry saline mat ter to be al>sorlxil by the fresher wat ers, which in their turn rush forth to seek a home in more hospitable re gions; and hence It is that the seas from which there is no evaporation, and which receive abundant supplies from rivers, etc., keep up their character and do not become saltiest lakes. So the sea Is salt by reason of the earth washings whirh are poured into it; it has different densities because of evaporation, rainfalls and rivers, as it is prevented from stagnation by a universal system of ocean currents. Splayed Feet. A surgeon reports that the number of eases of splayed feet, or flat feet, without any instep, Is large and rapid ly increasing. "The arches of the in step are broken down by wearing high heeled shoes. Of course, I am speak ing of young girls And misses, and not of grown-up persons of either sex. Now, the misses and young ladies of France wear heels that are even high er than we are accustomed to see in this country. But the heel of the French shoe is placed well forward, almost under the middle of the foot, so that the arch or Instep Is supported just as the span of a bridge is sustain ed by a tower or hutment under the middle of the span. Our shoemakers place the heel further back. This lengthens the span and increases the strain. Splayed feet are almost exclu sively confined to females, and the weaker the genera' constitution the more likely is the foot to suffer," A Foot- Washing Ceremony. "You never saw a foob washing?" said the Rev. Joseph Bowen, a Baptist minister from Tennessee, to a St. Louis reporter. "Then you could not have traveled much in the hack woods sec tions of the South and West. I remem ber seeing one at Randolph, Tonn., in June, 1877. Randolph is in Tlppon county on the Mississippi bluffs. I had to stay there over Sunday, and learning that there was a meeting at Salem church, six miles away, I borrowed a horse and rode to the place. The church, built of logs, with the 'cracks' daubed, sat back about 100 yards from the road in the middle of a grove. In side, the seats were all pretty well fill ed, and every head In the church turn<il as I entered. 1 shrank into a corner and took a seat its quickly as possible- In front there were a few benches made of unvarnished poplar, hut the supply falling short tin- demand had been met by plunks laid on boxes. <)n one of these I sat down next to a port ly lady dressed in a cotton gown with broad yellow checks. The minister had well earned his reputation of being a 'powerful exhorter,' as I found | when he commenced his sermon. As 'he warmed to bis work he walked ' rapidly from side to side of the pulpit, | stopping occasionally, as in a thunder ! ing voice he warned his unconverted 1 hearers that they were 'hanging over i hell-fire by a single hair,'to deal re sounding blows to the Bible with his lists byway of emphasis. When he concluded lie took a long crash towel I and girded it around his waist. At | the side of the pulpit was a bucket of i water and a 'noggin.' If yon don't happen to know what a noggin is I j may explain that it is a small tub a ' sire larger than a plggin. This on" ha<l been constructed by sawing a i whisky keg in half. When the preach ior rommencisl pouring the water Into |it an old gentleman in the amen cor | ner eoinmeneisl pulling off his hrogans and rolling up the )>ttoms of ins trousers. "'Will some brother raise a hymn ?' askisl the minister, and the brother, who now bad bis shoes off and w as en gaged with his home-knit cotton socks, raisisl one: "I am a Soldier of the • "ross," ; and as the congregation j>iri'il he put 11mth fs-t in the noggin, which bad been set 1M fore him. The preacher squatted down In front of him. rublesl | his hands around over the feet and up and down his shins half way to the km-e. When the brother thought they Were washed enough, he held them up out of the water, and the par ion wiped them on the crash towei. Then the parson sat down, and, having (iiilbd off his di'M-H, had his f> ■* wash, j si by the brother to whom he had 'just ministered. All who w ishul to join in the ceremony h.vl taken posse sion of the front seats the mourners' iienrhos. Among those who had gone up hail Ix-en the jxirtly sister by whom t sat. The noggin came to her next tnd she washM the feet of the sister next to her, having her own washed n turn. When all the feet on the front seat hail been bathed, the water in the noggin was emptied out the | 'ack door and a fresh supply brought !,n from the well near the church. The noggin passed around from brother I > brother and from sister to sister for m hour, and in that time 1 saw more varieties of feet than I have ever seen I before or since." Wonders of the Ocean's Depths. As to the quantity of light at the iMittoin of the sea there has l>een much lispute. Animals dredgi-d from below 700 fathoms either have no eyes, or faint indications of them, or else their yes are very large and protruding. I Cralw'eyes are four or five times as large as those of a crab from surface water, which shows that that light is feeble, and that eyes to be of any use i must lie very large and sensitive. An other strange thing is that where the -features in those lower depths have any color it is of orange or red, or red lish orange. Sea anemones, corals_ ihriinp and crabs have this brilliant -olor. Sometimes It is pure red or scarlet, and in many specimens it in -lines toward purple. Not a green or blue fish is found. The orange red is Ihe fish's protection, for the bluish green light in the bottom of the ocean makes the orange or red fish appear of a neutral tint anil hides it from ene mies. Many animals are black, others neutral in color. Some fish are pro vided with lioring tails so that they tan burrow in the mud. Finally, the surface of the submarine mountain Is covered with shells, like an ordinary sea lieach, showing that it is the eat ing-house of vast schools of earn Ivor, ous animals. A codfish takes a whole oyster into its mouth, cracks the shells, digests the meat and spits out the rest. Cralw crack the shells and suck out the meat. 1 n this way come whole mounds of shells that are dredged up. i'ro- I fesior I'errill.. COAL MINERS. Ilow Thff ProYlrfe for the Wldtm Orphan*. Uarrrlai Out of UtnirHllr. A correspondent writing from Wilkesharre, J'a., says: Accidents in tin- collieries of the middle district of tile anthracite coal fields, of which this city is the center, made last year nearly one hundred w'idows and over five hundred orphans. Rut notwithstand ing the frequency of fatal accidents and the absence of any organized chart ty, the larders of the widowed familiei are never empty, none go naked, the household tires are not extinguished and the little home is never stripped by a landlord's warrant. Kind hands see that food is provided each day, and the men returning from their work in the mines do not forget to carry to the widow's home a lump of anthracite for the next day's use. Communism in a peculiar sense prevails among the coal miners of Pennsylvania. The lucky divide with the unlucky as readily and as cheerfully as if they belonged to one family. However much all may quarrel on abstract questions of poli tics or religion, all discussions are dropped at the appeal of charity. While, as has lieen said, no organ ized relief societies exist among the colliers, there is a general system in vogue which does its work well and promptly. Kvery printing office in this region is visited weekly by persons wanting raffle tickets. These tickets cost one dollar a bund nil, and are headed "Raffle for a cooking stove," or clock, bureau, quilt, table, or some other article of domestic use. It is an nounced that the raffle Is for the bene, fit of a widow or injured miner, and on the "night after pay day." The priee of the ticket is generally fifty cents. The raffle is in charge of a committee whose names appear on the ticket. Take the case of a wo man for instance, lately made a widow. She has l<e-n left jx-nriilcss, as miners' widows usually are. Lverybodv un derstands this, and the hundred tickets are promptly disposed of among the miners, who pay for them on pay day. On that night the widow getsf.7)rash. The night of the raffle comes, and, feis sit ly, onv-tifth of the ticket holders assemble. A fiddler, a keg of beer, anil a little "hard shtuff" form the ele. nu-nts of the entertainment. The young lads join in a dance with the the old men sup and smoke their pipes, ami the old women recount the virtues of the deceased miner. About midnight the raffle 1-cgins. The names of the ticket purchasers are put into a hat and well shaken. Whoever secures the prize at once turns it over to the Ix nefuiary. The company breaks up happy over the g"<i time they have had. and th" kind deed they have done. That $5O goes a long w ay in keeping the shadows from tie little house. It will sometimes pay aw hole year's rent, and it only re quires one or two more raffles to keep tlie victor's poor larder storked, for it must lie understo<*! that |otatixs, rale bages. and meal, form the staple arti cles of diet in tiii-se humble homes. A year is a b-ng time for a comely and thrifty wotnnn to remain a widow at the mines, no matter how many children she may have. Jim is kilhil to-day. and possibly lx-fore the summer ends. Jack, who was Jim's best friend insists upon marrying Jim's widow- Jim's baliies become his. And if you go below the surface TOH will find the foundation of Jack's action to be pure charity. It Is a matter of record that when the terrible Avondale disaster occurred so many widows and helpless iinn were left that the matter of caring for the former speedily was discussed- It was quickly settled by propositions of marriage, and within a very short time after the calamity the household of every victim was protected. This same spirit exists in every mining community to-day, and is a shield against much distress. Kfforts have li n made from time to time to induce the miners to abandon a custom that prevails among them. Whenever a man is killed in a mine while at work, every man In the col liery where the accident occurs stops work. Frequently 1500 employes turn out and remain out for txvo days. There appears to boa deep superstition that prompts that peculiar exhibition of respect for the dead. Mill Even. On Montcalm street recently a Inn was leading a goat around by a rope, when a pedestrian asked if he wanted to sell the animal. "Course not, we just got him," the reply. "What did you want of a goat?" "Nothing mueh. We bought him to get ahead of the Drowns, who have a fox, but they've gone and got even again." "Ilow?" "Why, three of the family have been mesmerized, and Johnny has had two teeth filled."— lktriot Free Puts. Mr Hhlp. Oi though my ship is ssiling tor out m tto wide, wide KM, Itia pro|,f> t ever dearest still is my WS borne U> me; An>l all the tune, by night, by day, before IM fvM dear Lotne smiling, greeting, cheering, as in fancy they a;i|iear. 0! Uiough my ship is Railing far in distant wa ters blue, My heart looks erer borne war) to my borne tie#, erer true; I mailt each day's departing, for I know it is one lees, before I clasp uiy loving ones, or feel their soft caress. O! though my ship is sailing far, In storm and tern pent off, I still can feel the pressure of warm bauds and fingers soft; I am looking. Clinking, longing for the time to come for rne, When I ball meet my children dear and take them on my knee. O! though my ship is sailing far, 'twill soon be "homeward hound;" On bind or sun was never heard, by man, a sweeter sound; With sail all set and liounding o'er the rolling, billowy era, I'iecb hour is bnxiging nearer all my darling ones to me. O! then swift winds, from oat the skins come blowing strong and free; blow lor rne homeward breeaes, hasten home my ship and me; All my roved or is there are waiting, wailing, looking o'er the sea; And in patience sweet are watching, 0! tny slop for thee and me. FUKUE.NT I'ABAUKAPHS. Medical query—Was the eye-lash designed fur brow-beating? Flattery is called "taffy" because it inukea a man feel awfully "stuck up." There is a marked difference bet ween getting up with the lark and Btaying tip to have one. When the hen with chickens at tacked the small boy in bis mother's yard, the ben informed him she had boon laying fur biin for some time. A note made on Sunday is void; which may account for men sleeping all through church service, and mak ing an note of w hat the preacher says. A young child in Oregon died from the effects of swallowing the leaves of an almanac. We always held that dates should Ire eat<-n in small quanti ties. When a certain bachelor was mar ried in Philadelphia, members of the IS.v liejor club broke biin up by sending hint as a wedding present a copy of "Paradise Lost." It is a glorious thing to have been I ls.rn a man. One doesn't have to liothcr himself for a month over the plans and specifications of a new spring bonnet. lie simply has to Tot the bill when the thing is bought. A little bright-eyed lw>y. upon bear ing his father read the story of Joan of Arc, was greatly moved by her sal trials; but when the part was reached where she wa aVmut to lie burned to death at the stake, the poor little fel low could not contain himself any longer, but sobbingly clutched his pa rent's arm. and, with big tears running down bis plump little cheeks, criwl, "llut,—papa wh--e—re were the po lic* ' Henry Flay quoting Shakespeare. Henry Hay, who left a seat in the Senate for one in the House, but after many years' service at the other end of the capitol returned to the Sanatc chamber, exercised a powerful controj over the politics of the republic. Idol ized by the Whig party, his wonderful powers of personal magnetism, and his rich, manly voice,would enable him to hold an audience for houra Ho male hut little preparation, and used hut few notes in sj>eaking; but when he wrote out his remarks for the press, his manuscript was remarkably neat, without interlineations or blots. He seldom indulged in classical allusions and his occasional attempts to make quotations of English poetry were generally failures, tin one occasion, he used the well-known phrase from Hamlet, "Let the galled jade wince, our withers are unwrung," but mis quoted the last syllable, calling it "un strung." The gentlemen who sat on either side of him noticed the and simultaneously whispered "un wrung." This double prompting con fused "Young Harry of the West,'* who straightened himself, and with stronger emphasis repeated "unhung.** This raised a general laugh, at the close of which Clay, who had mean while ascertained his mistake, shook his head, and said with one of his in imitahlo smiles; "Ah! murder w ill out! I'nwTung'a the word." The fascina tion which he exercised over all with whom he hat jersonal intercourse, even his political adversaries, was re markable; but he was imperious and domineering, exacting unconditional and unqualified support as the price of his friendship.— litn I'rrlry Poo re it) the C**tury.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers