TOPICS OF THE DAY. It is reckoned that tho daily sale of flowers in I'uris realizes about f20,000. The flowers mast in fashion at present are the gardenia, which sells at #1 each flower; the lily of the valley, worth $2 the pot; the queen rose and the purple rose, the Spanish carnation and the violet. Of the latter a large number come from Nico; but they have not the perfume of those grown around Paris. Tho camelia, at one time so much prized, is now quite out of fashion. When it comes to an international eating match the American champion, if he has the choice of weapons, will doubtless be required to choose pies by his confident but wily fellow-country men. It is certain, however, that the American champion will not bo Louis Heinmitz, of St. Louis, for he failed in attempt to eat fifteen pies within an hour, on aw ager of $5 and the costs. He began well, but became much dis tressed at the tenth pie, and at twelve pies and a half lost all control of his stomach and retired. T)iil any one of our readers ever think how many steps the farmer takes in a year? Take the simple planting of a field of corn. Take a five-acre field. To break it up would require walking some forty miles; harrowing it, ten miles; furrowing it, twenty miles; planting, eleven miles if with a planter, and if dropped by hand and then covered, twenty miles. Thus it will be seen that it takes 100 miles of travel to put in a five-acre field of corn, to say nothing of cultivating and har vesting, and the going to aud from the field while planting. Mr. Gladstone at seventy-three is the oldest of the liritish ministers, and Sir Charles W. Dike at thirty-nine the youngest; Mr. Ilenley at eighty-nine is the oldest privy councillor, and Prince Leopold at twenty-nine the youngest; Mr. llass at eighty-three is the oldest M. P.. and Mr. Ken soy of Ennis, at twenty-two the youngest; "Vice-Chancellor Bacon at eighty-four is the oldest, and Judge Jlrown at for ty-six is the youngest of the judges; the Itishopof Chichester at eighty is the oldest, and the bishop of Sod or and Man the youngest of the bi-hops; Sir Moses Montefiore at ninety-eight is the oldest, and Sir Thomas Xeaveat eighty the youngest of the liritish baronets. An interesting decision was made recently by the attorney general of M innesota. The son of Judge Farmer. I of the si\th judicial district, was as signed the task of delivering, on a cer tain Friday.a declamation in the Spring Valley high school. He comment el an extract from one of Ingersoll's speeches, and was told he must select something else. Declining to do so lie was expelled by the teaeher. The af fair created a great deal of talk on ac count of the standing of the boy's family. The matter was referred to the state superintendent, and he in turn railed for a decision from the at torney general. The derision was that the expulsion was illegal. The first American adhesive stamps were issued by the United States in 1851 in denominations of 5 and 10 cents. Shortly afterward a second serii-s was issued in 1. 3, 5. 10 and 12 cents. In 1857 this series was Increased by the addition of a 24, a 30 and a De cent stamp. A third issue appeared In 1801, and in 1803 the first 2-eent stamp made its apjiearanee—black, with a head of Jackson. In 1800 the 15-eent stamp was introduced for for eign postage. In IH7O a series of |cn i square stamps of various devices ap peared, but they were unpopular, and a month later the present stamps were brought out. The head of Washing ton has always been upon the most used denomination. It is now on the 3-eent stamp, and when that denomina tion, as will soon be the case, shall pass almost entirely out of use, the image of Washington will supplant that of Jackson on the universally used 2-cent ■tamp. Bankrupts have a hard time in Chi, na. The North China Herald says that the broker of the silk firm of the Red Peacock chop of Shanghai, which has suspended payment, was walking on the street when ho was set upon by a crowd of hankers, creditors of the firm, who carried him off to a house where they hung him up by the queue 8o that hi feet were off the ground, and otherwise maltreated him. A for eigner heard the disturbance, and in. formed the police, some of whom w ere sent to the house, where they found the tnan still hanging, lie was taken to the police station for protection, af ter which a number of hankers repaired there and clamored for him to Is- given up to them. As appears to lie usual in such cases, the hankers stated their intention, if the man came into their power, of biting him to death and eat ing him afterward, and there is no doubt they would have bitten their debtor's servant severely had lie been given into their hands. The opponents of capital punish, ment in France liavo been furnished with a new weapon. The last time that the guillotine was set up in I'uris the criminal upon whom it was em ployed was a youth named Menesclou who murdered a little girl under cir cumstances of appalling atrocity about two years since. His conduct was so abominable that even a Paris jury could find no extenuating circumstance for him, although it was admitted that his intelligence was of tho lowest order. When, however, he was dis sected certain cerebral lesions were brought to light, and those who wage war against the guillotine declared that he was not responsible for his actions. This view has been greatly strengthened by the fact that the con vict's mother has become a lunatic. It appears, moreover, that her sister is also insane, and that her father com mitted suicide. These revelations have given a new impetus in France to the endless controversy waged there respecting mental unsoundness in re lation to criminal impulse. W. Sunday,M. A., D. D., professor of the exegesis of the Holy Scriptures at Oxford, is graciously pleased to speak well of certain American accomplish ments. "Clearness and exactitude," he says, "are qualities that seem t<> he fast becoming national characteristics in America, as our burly English stock is toned down and refined by other climatic and social influences. The line precision of American mechanism lias long been acknowledged. Scientific transactions and observations (those in astronomy, for instance) are pul lishcd not only at lavish expense—that may be taken as a matter of course but with a delicate accuracy which surpasses the best European workmanship. Again, in classical philology it appears that we arc going to America for our best grammars and dictionaries. And I can appeal to even a wilier circle to eorrolmrate me when 1 r<-fer to the finish and delicacy of American engraving. American th<- i'l'igy is a rising si h ►•!. ami it is 1 icing conducted, as I O,OOO and 11 .• *>, of*> gallons. In France it was noticed that the i xjmrtation of champagne from that country to tin- United States is seriously failing oil. It was 123,571 dozen Imttles during the fir-t six months of I s-1, and only 104,755 dozen during the corresponding six months of 1 -22. This is attrihiitisl to the substitution of California wines for French wines, the California wines b ing. according to an admission con tained in a communication from the French minister of commerce to the president of the Khcims rhnmlx r of e imrnerce, "not inurli poorer" than s imp inijiortisl articles, and very much cheaper. California red and ahite still wines are passing in the name way for wines imported from France or Germany. The California winegrow er, or the merchant who buys from him. gives the ulifomia wine a foreign name for the purpose of finding a mar ket for it. The story of a wedding cake is thus told by the Fornl du Lac < Wis.) Jour nal. The joke is a sorry one, and if the young couple are at all supcrsti lions it may cloud with apprehension the dream of their youthful lives: "Alwuit twenty years ago occurred a wedding in this city iijs.n a grand scale. In the course of the evening a guest suggested that one of the wed ding cakes he sealisl in a tin box and Kept until the marriage of the bride and groom's first Isirn. One of the most delicious cakes was selected and sent to a tin shop, with the proper in structions. As may tie supposes), the tinners yearned for that cake, and soon it was divided. The tin Imx, which iiad been prepared for its reception was then filled with water-soaked ash es, carefully seated and sent to Un blushing young couple, who, remem bering what w as expected of them and their prospective offspring, took it ten. derly in charge, and have since guard ed it well In course of time a son was horn to them, who is now nineteen years old, and, it is said, will ere long lie married. It w ill lc an amusing sight w hen that Ik>x is solemnly brought before the guests, its little romance re lated and the seal of yrars broken in the pn-seiiceof the company." Rbstofi Is liecoming quite enthusias tic over the foreign exhjKftWVri la- held in that city next fall, opening on September 1. The enterprise is unique in some respects. It will consist of a display of arts, products and manufac tures. Commissioners have been at work for many months past in almost every foreign country, and with the most encouraging results. A very full exhibit of British, Irish, French, Hus sion, (lerman, Italian and Spanish products, both mechanical and artistic is already assured. Japanese arts and industries will also be very fully rep resented, and so also w ill those of Per sia, and tho Traneller asserts "it is cer tain that tho exhibition will present features both from tho orient and tho Occident of an unique character, such as never before have been scon in this country, not even in the great centen nial exhibition, vast and comprehen sive as that was supposed to be. Per sia had no exhibit, it will bo recalled, at Philadelphia in 1870." Among tho many novel attractions will be a col lection of some ir.,000 newspapers, representing tho journalism of over 100 different peoples and languages, not a single American paper being in cluded therein. Tho scheme is hacked by an association of capitalists, and no pains or expense will be spared in ef forts to make it a grand success. Statesmen in Bed. A Spanish minister signalized bis ac cession to power bv going straightway to bed and staying there, Jest he should be expected to do something. No Fnglish minister ever adopted that ig noble expedient to escape performing his (lution, but Walpole relates that William Pitt and the Duke of New castle once held counsel together in bed. Pitt had the gout, and, as was his custom when so afflicted, lay under a pile of hoi clothes in a lireless room. Tho duke, who was terribly afraid ot catching cold, first sat down upon another bed, as the warmest place available, drew bis legs into it as lie grew colder, and at length fairly lodged himself under the |M-I| clothes. S< meliody coming in suddenly beheld "the two ministers in bod at the two ends of the room, while Pitt's long nose and black beard, unshuved for some time, added to the grotesque nature of the scene." The Great Commoner was abed and asleep w hen Wyndham and others of his colleagues bnr-t into his rootn and shook their chief out of his slumbers to tell him there was mutiny in the fleet, that tho admiral was a prisoner on l*>ard his own ship and in danger of death, .sitting up in bed Pitt asked for pen ink, and paper, and wrote: "If the ad miral is not released, fire ujsin the ship from the batteries," turned over on bis pillow, and w as asleep again before bis disturl>ers were well out of the room. The ahmlow of death was upon Fox when George Jackson came for in structions before setting out for Ger many, and followed so quickly on tho heels of the servant announcing him that Mrs. Fox had only time to slip from her husband's side and take refuge in a closet. The interview proved longer than she expected or do sirisl; and finding her signals of dis tri-ss, in the shape of sundry little coughs, all unheedisl, the imprisoned ladv had no resource but to tap on the closet panels and ask if the young gen tleman was going, as she was perish ing with cold. Looking at him with a smile. Fox bale Jackson farewell for ever, and released his shivering- wife from her unpleasant situation.— : chamber'* Journal. The Cashier Ahead. A new bank which had been estale lished in a town in Indiana had engaged the services of a watchman who came well recommended, but who did not seem over-experienced. The president therefore sent for him to post him up a hit, and liegan: ".lames, this is your first job of this kind, isn't it?" "Yes, sir?" "Your first duty must l>e to exerciso vigilance." "Ys, sir." "He careful how strangers approach you." "I will, sir." "No stranger must be permitted to enter the hank at night under any pre text whatever." "No. sir." "And our cashier he is a good man, honest, reliable and thoroughly trust worthy, but it will be jour duty to keep an eye on him." "But it will lie hard to watch two men and the hank at the same time, sir." "Two men—how?" "Why, air, it was only yesterday that the cashier called ine In for a talk, and he said yon were the squarest man in Indiana, but that ft would be just aa well to keep both eves on you, and let the directors know if you hung around after hours.— Wall HI rut Srtci TIIH FAMILY DOCTOR. Aid For tli Injured. How would you treat a person taken out of the water apparently drowned? Clear out the mouth and stomach, loosen the clothing iiml cause artificial respiration by pressing at intervals on the back. llow would you treat a case of apo plexy ? Elevate the head and keep tin person quiet. How would you treat sunstroke? Use ice on the head and cold water on the extremities. llow would you treat a burn? Apply equal parts of lime water and linseed oil. What would you do if a person were bitten by a rabid dog? Tie a cord tightly about the wound, apply warm water to encourage bleeding, suck Un wound and apply caustics. These In structions are only meant to be used pending the arrival of a surgeon or physician, I or Diphtheria. The editor of the Dos Moines I{>(/in ter publishes the following letter, signed, W. A. Scott, M. !>.: In long years gone by you published my cure for diphtheria. It attracted wide spread attention, and became known as tho "Uujishr diphtheria cure," and saved hundreds of lives, as thankful letters received by me show. Tin years of progress and thought have brought better treatment, because not so slow in action. I have lately re ceived several letters asking for tin treatment as published in the llrjtxUr, their much treasured copies containing the satin- hat ing been loaned, mislaid or lost. I now give my improved treatment, which can be bad at any drug-store, and used by an) person without danger. Take ten grains of permanganate of potassium and mix it Svith one ounce of cold water. A soon as dissolved it must t- applied with a rag or sponge iimp or swab t-i the whitish places in the tonsils, and other parts that have the diphtheria membrane on. l>o tli s very gently, but thoroughly, every three hours until better; then every MX hours until well It does not give pain, but is rather nauseous to the taste. If the tongue is eoatonful every one to throe hours as needed, when awake. If the tongue is not ro.itM white I mix | twenty drops of tincture of phyto- 1 ].!• i a in four ounces of cold water, and give a U-a-sjHHiriful every one to three ' hours a- needed, when awake. The | Phytolacca is the < -mmon poke r•>t of ' the South, and as it loses its strength by drying and age, the tincture should 1M- from the fri-h root or it is worth less. It is well to apply a little swi-et 1 oil, or cosmoline, to the outside of the throat to protect it from the action of j the air, as the patient must be pro tccti from all danger of getting chilled. In the Ix-ginning of the disease in inild canes, the al>ve solu tion of permanganate of potassium is all I use, and all that is needed, as the disease is lorat"d at first, but rapidly affects the whole system when seated. In the stinking form of diphtheria this solution soon destroys all smell, and in every case it destroys the diph- , theria membrane w ithout leaving any I hail effect In-hind. A Scene In the I'nlted States Senate. Inferior in Intellectual ability to Wclwter, Clay, or Calhoun, Thomas Hart Benton had no superior as a man •f iron will and haughty disposition, | during the twenty-nine years and i seven months that he served rontinu : ousljr in the United States Senate. ; Aggressive. Isold and defiant, he would ; occasionally strike out recklessly at i everything and evorylwidy al-otit him, j like the huge wild buffaloes of the I Missouri prairies, treading his oppo nents lx-neath his feet in his angry i rush. His greatest display of ungover- I nable rage in the Senate rhamlwr, was w hen, in an angry debate, he advanced with threatening gestures toward Senator Foote, of Mississippi, who, fearing that he was to bo attacked, drew a small pocket-pistol. The sight of this weapon made Benton uncon trollable, and, endeavoring to shake off the grasp of friends who seized him he shouted: "Tho cowardly assassin, let him shoot me if he dares. I never carry arms, ami he knows it. Let the assassin fire." After quiet was some what restored, Clay suggested that both senators should enter into lond* to keep the peace, upon whirh Benton rose and exclaimed: "I will rot in jail, air, liefore I will do It! No sir! I will rot in jail first!" and he proceeded to pour forth a torrent of bitter invective on Foote before he could l>o quieted- Even when he was defeated In seeking a re-election for the sixth time in the fcenate, and was forced to accept a seat In the House of Representatives, Hen ton failed to display a chastened ainhL lion or softened heart.— lien l'crley I'oort in the Century. t False Perceptions. The simplest forms of Insanity are those which consist merely ot false perceptions, and tlu-y are not of such a charm-tor as to lessen the responsibili ty of the individual. There an- two forms of false perceptions illusions and hallucinations. Uncomplicated illusions are rare; still there Is no doubt that there are illusions not the results of disease In the organs of sense or of circumstances unfavorable to ex act perception, hut which arc due to a morbid condition of the. perceptional ganglia, and the unreal nature of which is clearly recognized by the in dividual. Illusions of sight often relate merely to the size of objects. Thus, a young lady who had overtasked herself at school saw everything of enormous size at which she looked. The head of a person seemed to be several feet in diameter, and little children looked like giants. So far as her own ja-rson was concerned there were no illusions. Her hands appeared of the natural size, but those of other people seemed to be of enormous proportions. Hauv ages refers to a case in which a young woman, suffering from epilepsy, ha/1 the illusion <-f seeing objects greatly magnified. A fly seemed to her to bi as large as a chicken. In tin- case which came under my observation, the unreal character of the perception was fully recognized, and li -m-e the in tellect was not involved. Morbid illusions of hearing, unac companied by other evidences of men tal derangement, are not very common. One class only has come under mv ob servation. It was that of a gentleman to whom the ticking of a clock was r<- si-1 vei| into articulate words. Gen/ r ally the expressions were in the form of commands. For instance, if at dinner, they would he. "Eat y be influenced by them to the extent of regarding tluin as guides. Eventually he put I clocks in evi-rv room in bis house, and pr-ifi-w-d to be governed altogether by i the directions they gave him. I'r. Hamnviiul in Popular Hcit n'i Monthly. Getting In and (tut of the Arm;. Mothers and fathers are constantly applying to the secretary ot war f- r the discharge of their sons fr m the army, says a Wa-hingt m < -irrc-qmnd* ent. Secretary Lincoln has absolute ; JHIWIT in this matter. As a result be ! has to talk to a ilor.cn or two agonized parents every day. As a general rule ■ they represent that their sons were nn- I der the lawful age when they enlisted. S If they ran prove tins their sons are j discharged. When tbev can't they complain that it is unjust to bold a | young man to a contract which he j concluded impulsively in a moment of desperation. Sometimes it was the re- I suit of money troubles, sometimes of love troubles, and sometimes of family I troubles. You would imagine, if you heard all these tales, that this was the i popular method of committing suicide. Most of our j-nung soldiers ap|>ear to have taken up arms because of a sea of troubles. In almost every case the voung man is just alout to desert. He sees nothing Ix-fore him in the army but the slavish, monotonous life of a soldier without a cent and without a future. He sees al>out him—if be is in the West, as lie usually i splendid possibiliths for a young man. They | want to get out of the army. They i want to get at the possibilities. So ! they write to their people in 'he East , that they will desert unless they are honorably discharged from the army by a eertain day. Thereupon thebalf i frantic mothers and fathers and uncles | and aunts flock to the war department, j The war department holds on like grim ! death to the few soldiers it has. The i army grows smaller day by day. A ! year's desertions decimate it asabattle ! would. There are only 20,000 men in all. They are dropping out by twos, j threes, dozens every day. The fasci nating recruiting agents do not charm enough recruits to make up for the losses. So the war department fights for its soldiers as Its soldiers ought to fight for It. When they desert they are chased, if enough soldiers remain in the garrison. If the deserters are caught they are tried by court-martial and sentenced to two years' imprison ment at hard lalmr in the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. At the expiration of his term of imprisonment he is dishonorably discharged from the service of the United States. I would advise young men to keep out of the army until at least the army grows letter. Perhaps it will never grow Itetter unfas* they grow liettcr, and unless more of them go into it. CLIPPINGS FOB THE CURIOUS. It is estimated that 32,000,000 hu man being* die every year. < Jeneral pardons were first prrxdalmed it coronations liy Edward 111 in 1327. I'arafline wax first obtained from oal in 1830, and from mineral oil in 1848, At a stenographic exhibition at Paris i postal card wax exhibited which con win cd 44,J words. Emperor Louis Napoleon served as ipecial constable in London during the chartist riots in 1818. Farnuel S. Tilden's house at Grain merry park, New York, is now said to he the richest and most ornate in America. In Churchville county, Nev., isahill ! of moving sand four miles long, a rnile wide, and from 100 to 400 feet high. Within a few years the hill has trav eled a mile. In a Bethlehem, I'enn. shop window are a pair of spun silk gloves made in 1783, and they are almost a far-simile of another pair lying alongside and made in 1883. There is an Indian woman 120 years old living in Fitzpatrlck, Ala, who was once a cook on Andrew Jackson's t-tafT when he was cutting a road from Alabama to Florida. Frederick N. Crouch, the composer of " Kathleen Mavourneen," is a grav haire some of the cold out. He is now out of em ployment and too old to help himself. The virtues of Peruvian hark were discovered by a Jesuit in 1535, and it w as used bv members of the Society of Jesus from that time. In 1049 it was introduced into France, and Sir Hans Sloane carried it t<> England in 1700. A lady in Brunswick, Me., lately called in physician to presenile for her si'k eat. In a short time the eat died, and a coffin was purchased cost ing f 12.50. Finally a cable despatch was >ct t< the lady's absent husbamb announcing pussy's decease. An Indianapolis taxidermist has completed the mounting of a most curious and wonderful monstrosity. It is a lamb, which was l>orn alive, but only lived a short time. It has seven legs, two tails and a double mouth. From the load to six inch** back ol the run k it is perfectly natural (except the double mouth), but from that joint the body divides, each half forming a complete body, with two legs and a tail. In all Great Britain and Ireland, with a jopulation approximating 37,000,000. there ar<- Ix-tween 11,000 and 12,000 lawyers. In the I'nited Slates, with a population larger by only 15,000,000, there are lawyers; and in New York, with a tenth of the country's population, abide a sixth of its entire body of lawyers. There is a lawyer to every 3000 jieople in Great Britain, while in America there is a lawyer to every 800 people. The field of Glory. flamWrlng over the rude bank of logs and earth that formed the defen sive line of our antagonist.*. I found myself at last on the well-remembered ground. But what a sight met my eye! In the bright moonlight lay nearly :t txvdies of my comrade*, their picturesque zouave uniforms now blackened by contact with corruji tion. In row* and in group*, just as they had fallen on that fatal day, these unhtiried corpses had liecome wind ami sun-dried skeletons. The facos that were upturned to the silvery rays of the moon had lost all siwiblance to humanity and were now simply hide ous masks, the eyeless sockets of which seemed to mock me a* I stood among them. But I was not done, for at my feet writhed countless swarms of the repulsive Virginia tumble-bug. all struggling for a share fn the awful banquet the gol of war had provided for them. Horror stricken and heart sick I gazed over the field and along the line xve had held, seeing Indies in every direction and in every possible attitude. Here one poor fellow had craw led to the foot of a tree ahd died as he sat. The fez was still on his heal, the gibltering skull lieneath it seeming to laugh at me, as the jaws ha one level. Near these men was the ! body of a man lying apart from his fellow*. Falling on his back, the dead man had flung his arms wide ajrnrt, and one leg was drawn up as if in agony. Now the hands w ere hare of flesh ami |>eeped hideously out of tho sleeves, while the elevated knee had become shrunken, aw hie rent in the Cloth permitting the skin covered l>ooe to protrude. Everywhere about me these ghastly spectres met my gaze. iiuUtt ami Shtil,