HUMAN HAIR. From Which Varlouf Colore and qualltlca Arc Obtained. i In a tour of investigation a Phila delphia Times reporter dropped in at a iMrs. Buch's. That lady win deftly plaiting a wig on a wooden block or (dummy. She was a little alarmed at (first, but when the scribe explained the object of his visit proceeded to de scribe the manner of obtaining hair in Europe and America. "You see, In Germany," aaid the lady, "there aro men going around .Ml the time among tho country girls to buy up their hair. They pay a silk handkerchief, or apron, and sometimes a couple of dollars. As a rule a girl's hair grows again every three years, but that varies considerably much with the person. Now my brother-in law's mother, who died here aged nine ty years of age a couple of years ago, used to have her hair cut twice a year. It was silver-gray and very valuable." "What is done with the hair after the girls sell it?" "There aro big factories In the largo towns. Tho hair is cleaned and sorted and then sold at prices varying with its color and quality. A good deal of it comes to this country. The most valuable shades are gray, blonde, and white. Ashen blonde is very dear. The true shade will bring |2O an ounce. The most expensive of all is gray. It is worth $lO to s.">o an ounce, according to its length. A lady bought a gray switch in New York the other day and paid $BOO for it- Black hair is the cheapest. Any hair can be dyed black." "Don't some of the hair used in the business come from the dead?" "Very little of it. It can always be known by the touch. It seems to be dead and dry, just like straw." "Do American women sell their hair?" "No; the people aro not poor enough. Now and then you see a wo man with a superb head of hair, worth $5O or $lOO, but she will not part with it. The convents supply us with a good deal of hair. The sisters sell it twice a year. Occasionally a little girl comes and sells her hair, but a grown woman never." "What Is this beautiful blonde hair?" asked the reporter turning over some in a box." "Why, that's Chinese hair bleached. Some of it is imported from China, and j then the Chinamen here in tho city sell us their hair. Theatrical people use it. A Chinese hair switch can be bought j for |1 or .50. There is a Chinese | laundry a few doors from lu re. The i laundry men sell us their hair very cheaply—only seventy-two cents a pound. It is so short it isn't worth much. When they sell us long hair we pay |'l to $5 a pound. The blonde bleached Chinese hair goes through a refining process; it is soft as silk—just feel it" "llow about the hair of colored pe.v pie ?" "Their hair is too short. Can't do anything with it in our line, unless it be to make up wigs and beards for the negro minstrels. It would be useful then, because it always stays in curl. The hair of negro women doesn't grow long; ten inches would be quite out of the ordinary." "Where elso do you get hair from ; besides Germany?" "From Naples. This is the poorest hair in the trade. It is coarse and ha roots growing on it. It is dyed a dark brown, but fades to reddish gray or black in a short time. It is dirty and unpleasant to handle. I have been told that it is hair taken from belies that have lain in the ground many years. That accounts for the long roots. The Swedes send us beautiful long hair. We pay |3 to an oun< for It." "Where does the best hair come from?" "From Paris, prepared by a man named I'elleray. His hair is always live, healthy hair, and every lxx is marked with his name." . A Phenomenal Atmosphere, The strangest feature of Monterey to Northern eyes, says a correspondent in Mexico, is the clearness of the air. at ch as that which male me, as I Stood on the Mount of Olives, think the Dead Sea within an hour's walk though I found it a day's ride. Among the strange aerial phenomena here I class the foot hills standing out AO prominently that you think you can nee round their corners and into the p interspaces between them and the sec ondary ranges. The most distant peaks, too, seem pressing forward to peep over the shoulders of those near er. Everywhere the lights and shades contrast no less than those of electric illuminators. On a whole, the atmos •pheric brilliancy surpasses whatever is known in the North as much as our 'Northern sky surpasses the London fogs, where men are forever doubtful whether their celestial luminary is tho sun or the moon. SCIENTIFIC! SCRAPS. A Chinese lawyer has hung out his shingle in Colusa county, Cal. lie is the pioneer "John" in the law line. The oldest system of shorthand ex tant was written dbout 1412, but the art is said to have been practiced by tho Greeks, and by Ennius tho Latin poet. Tho Corcoran monument to John Howard Payne at Oak Hill cemetery in Washington will be a fifteen foot shaft of Carrara marble, surmounted with a bust of heroic size showing Payne as he appeared in middle life. Kecrnt experiments with stringed instruments have shown that a much more sonorous tone can bo obtained with metal strings than those now in use. although tho labor of playing upon them is corresjHindenly increas od. Steel wires plated with copper or silver gave the best results. M. C. Grand'eury has published a pa per on the formation of coal,the result of his own investigations. Ho refers tho formation of coal to the decompo sition of the woody matter of plants, forming an organic paste, which sub sided in deep water, and became grad ually consolidated under vast pressure- Colleges in Colonial Times. Prof. Moses Coit Tyler, of Cornell university, lectured lMi'ore the General theological seminary, in New York <>n "The American Colleges of the Coloni al Times." There were established in America, said the lecturer, before the Declara tion of Independence, nine colleges Harvard, William and Mary, Yale, Princeton. King's or Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown, Dartmouth and tjueen's or ltutgers. The church element entered largely in to them all. A wonderful fact was the establishment of Harvard when the wolf was still at the doors. The founders of those colonial colloge 9 were animated with the desire to pro vide learned ministers, learned laymen, and to educate the Indians, and with a love of higher education for its own sake. The methods attending their establishment were typified in the budding of Harvard, the patrons of which were not the wealthy few, but the mass of the poor. Gifts of money and of utensils even to a silver beer- D>wl and a jug tip pis 1 with silver— were contributed; and to these were added offerings of the peck <>f corn an nually, of meat and ewe lambs, and of everything that could Is- turned into money. Thus the colonial colleges grew up "out of the sacrificial generos ity of the heart of the per.pie." The colonial college, the lecturer continued, was a religious and educa tional garrison, founded ..n English nudes and governed bv right rules Punch and "flip" were forbidden, and any student out after p. m. was "ad judged guilty of whatsoever disorder might occur in the town that night." j At Harvard Mr-. Foster was made : stocking-mender at a salary of A'l2. Students were allowed a pound of meat and a pint of beer at dinner, and a half-pint of beer at night. F<>r 1 supper they could choose letween a half-pint of milk and a biscuit. They were given clean table-cloths twice a I week, and finally could indulge in the luxury of plates. Pudding was a deli cacy three times a week. Until 1731 corporal punishment was inflicted at Harvard. The president of tutors could administer public whipping in the hall, and overseers were called in on special occasions to witness the proceedings. This form of punishment degenerated into ear-liox ing in 1754, and then to a tariff of col lege sins, when profane swearing was valued at 2s. '*!.; sending for liquor, Gd., and fetching the same. Is. fkl. The marking system was introduced in 1761. The studies were largely in divinity, theology and the languages. I.atin was the speech of the recitation-roorn and the language of scholars. "Proba bly," saiil Prof. Tyler, "not a college president of to-day would have been capable of presiding at a college com mencement of colonial days." The results of these educational un dertakings. said the lecturer in conclu sion, were a class of superior men, whose influence was wholesome and conservative, and which especially was an education for political independence. Cornwallis said that the early estab lishment of Harvard college hastened American independence half a century, and Pitt gave testimony to "the solidi ty of reason, the force of argument am! the wisdom" displayed by AmerL can statesmen at the time, who were graduates of American colonial col. leges. Italy and China divide three-fourths of the silk production of the world* India and Japan divide one-seventh, Spain, Persia and the Levant have the rest. "TIIK MAGDALENA." A UomUrfnl Formallon Nature In Ww .tletleo A New Mexico correspondent writes: Di<l you over hear of tho "Sphynx" of i tho Hiorras, "Tho Magdalena." Ahnut flvo in ilea In-low here ono of the range; separates itself from the chain, and stands out boldly anil alone, rising from tho valley abruptly and grandly. On ono side, formed partly by the shape of tho rocky ledge and partly by lich ens and shrubs, is the most remarkable profile of a woman's head and bust that I over saw. Gigantic in size, per fect in outline, wonderful in expres sion, is "Tho Magdalena," tho eye, tho brow, oven tho eylashes, not a feature is lacking, oven to the arrangement of the hair and the turn of tho neck, as with head slightly inclined she gazes down into tho lovely valley below. Think of the ages that have passed and tho even-hanging panorama of human events gazed upon by this won derful face. Tho remarkable band of adventurers under Cortez passed in re view before her, followed in turn by the Jesuit priests, who took up the un finished work of tiieir predecessors and carried it to a conclusion by establish ing their mission through all this broad frontiers. Next came the valor ous band of American troops who made their way on foot fr-mi the Mis souri riner across mountain range and plain until they knocked at the gates of the Montezuma*. Then comes tho equally valiant prospector, who in spite of Apaches, in spite of all tho necessaries even, of life, which ho has had to leave behind him, with a pick in one hand and a Winchester rifle in tho other, searches for tho hidden wealth of the country; as a result come railroads, towns, schools, churches and a hast of people, who finally complete the task begun centuries ago, and the wilderness blossoms with all that makes life worth living. All these events has the "Magdalena" seen, and still looks down calmly and serene, waiting f--r the future. This is a wonderful country, the air is mild and balmy, like your best April weather the sky is blue overhead, and the grass under f-wit golden, sprinkled here and there with rlumps of the evergreen Spanish dagger, with its long, straight blades and sharp points, which the lmrscs won't touch with their feet if they can help it, as fhey know bv ex perience how keenly they penetrate. The Solitude is grand, but oppressive, and the valleys almo-t level, miles in breadth, but hemmed in by mountain peaks on every hand of enormous size and hight. If it were not for the treacherous Apaches it would be a paradise <-n earth. Scrcnaib-rs Sold Up Second avenue the other night five voting men softly entered a yard, arranged themselves in a semi-circle on the gr.L--. and suddenly began to sing, w hile a guitar and a banjo added their sugary not<* to the genera) sweetness. As the song was finished a saah went up and a masculine voice called out: ".splendid! beautiful! Gentlemen, please repeat!" The hand on the grass was only too happy to accommodate, and "Only a Pansy I!!----in" went floating again on 'kc night breeze. "Kntrancing! entrancing!" exclaim ed the voice at the window. "Gentle men. I don't want to put you to trouble, but if y-ui would only sing that over once more!" The song dragged a little this time, and the alto voice seemed to have swallowed a troehe down the wrong pije, but it ended at last, and the old man called out: ' That's what I call singing, that is!, Gentlemen. I'm no hog, but If 1 could prevail upon you to render that de lightful poem once more, it would IK- a kindness I never could forget'" There was a great deal of grow ling in undertones, hut the leader gave the key, and for the fourth time the neigh- j borhood was'filled with dreadfully faded pansy blossoms. When the last note died away the old man clapped his hands and exclaimed: "better and better! You have my heartfelt thanks. The old woman Is deaf, my darter is in Pontine, and thr hired gal quit yesterday, or I'd have them all stick their heads out to thank you in person! Good night, gentlemen —good night, and if you see fit to comr to-morrow evening I'll have the old woman sot up with a bed quilt wrapped around her."— Free f'rc*. • A r*e for nodes. "I suppose you have heard of our dudes. Miss Oarwa?" observed a New York swell to a Jacksonville girl. "Oh, yes," she answered, "they arc becoming very popular In Florida. We use them for alligator bait."— Brooklyn Eagle. LADIES' DEPARTMENT. i* or the Complexion. Whatever the internal application of hot water may effect, girls desirous of having a good complexion would do well to apply it to their faces. They should either dip their faces into a basin of very hot water or apply the water with a sponge. At first they are like lobsters, hut in a few moments this is replaced by the tints of peaches and lilies.— London Time at. Itii ii ii I itk to Ilnttona. The fashionable people are running to buttons. A New York correspond ent describes a dress finished for a Fifth avenue lady which carries 1800 buttons, and required the constant labor of a seamstress for ten days to sew them on. On each sleeve there arc 100 buttons, on the body, basque and collar 350, and on the skirt 1350. Those on tho skirt are arranged In triangles, squares, crosses, stars and other curious shapes on a foundation of black satin. The dress lias a satiny appearance, and Is very weighty—so much so that it will require a lady of considerable strength to wear it. IVerldlnif Present*. A young married couple went into raptures over a couple of superb cake baskets, one the gift of the bride groom's father and the other the gift of the bride's aunt. They finally con cluded it would be safe to keep only one of such superb articles In the house, and accordingly they took the other to a dealer in duplicate wedding gifts. Imagine their consternation when he told them it was plated ware and worth almut #l.'J5. They keep it to i-ut tacks in, but are awfully anxious to sesi how the other one wears. The worst of it i-. fhey don't know which is tin- aunt's basket. A rmtU llrntlxt'a C ard. A female cb-ntist in I'hilad-lphia, being annoyed by having her sign pulled clown, published a c ard, saying: I'm no woman's rights agitator, but I believe in the right of a woman to de fend herself. lam the pioneer among the female dentists, and the two-cent creatures, in the guise of men, who have crept into the profession, are eating their hearts out with envy I Iss aiisc I live in spite of them. They ran feast in that way as l--ng as tlu-v like, but if they don't leave my signs alone I'll make them think they're haunted. I'm on the lookout f--r them, and when I catch one, there will be j fun. rnahlnn >nln. All drc-v mantles are short. < -tt- ?i fabric - will Is- much won. lbs! in all shades will le much worn. >hoes to mat h dresses grow In favor. White ki are revives! for evening j dress. The simpler the hair-dressing the j 1-otter. When false hair is worn it must not 1-e perceptible. The ugly fashion of r-sl Mils ha* not yet g--n- by. Hangs and crimps are worn further f roin the eyebrows. Summer and washing silks will la in high vogue this year. I,art- and embroidery are equally fashionable f--r trimming. Gloves ami mitts contrast with, in *tc ad of mat- lung costumes. Facetted pearls are much used upon upright collars of silk evening toilets, j Heavy Spanish guipure in all the ; new colors come a* trimmings for the : ottoman silks. Flounces and riblzons with ragged j jagged edges called cock's-eonibs arc coming in vogue. New fancy grenadines are heavily brocaded, and closely resemble brocaded silks and satins. Jersey basques will be much worn with plaid skirts of wool, and wool and silk mixtures. Black silk stockings are more worn at present than they have been for thirty years or more. In straw hats and bonnets the color of crushed rasplcerry Is produced In delicate shades closely resembling peri winkle pink. Bultun is the name of a new dark red; pensee rogue an odd shade of purple; and vert elalr is another peculiar tint added to the long list of greens. The prettiest way of -using velvet rihlton is to arrange loops of it that lap in tho sha|>e of a pointed vest, and edge the basque, neck and sleeves with three rows of loops, or two rows of loops with an end of notched velvet ribbons. Charming ball dresses for young ladies are made of white India gauze fi lmmod with embroidery on gold cloth and- filigree of gold lace. There arc- also dresse* of brilliant red Surah with flounces of leather lace, with gold meshes holding the design of leather leaves anil flowers. Their Feet Hashed Uj a King. The Ilofburg, the chief palace of the Austrian sovereigns, has been, says the London Hlundurd, the scene of an cc c lesiastic-al ceremony or act of devotion which is a curious relic of inedbeval customs. In accordance with a usage; observed from time immemorial on Maundy-Thursday the ceremony of "Washing the Feet of the Poor" was performed its usual by their majesties at the imperial residence. In the Middle Ages the; custom prevailed at many other Catholic, courts, but in the present day to find a parallel would be impossible, except at the Vatican and the palace of the king of Spain. The proceedings opened at 9 o'clock, when twelve old men, of whom the- oldest is in his ninety-third year and the young est eighty-seven, and twelve old women, the oldest ninety-six, and the youngest ninety, dressed, as usual, in the old German costume, presented to them by the emperor and empress, entered the court chapel, in order to receive the sacrament, and were then brought into the hall of ceremonies at Hofhurg. On each side of the hall was a table with twelve covers, the one table for | the old men and the other for the old ! women. They arc all citizens of Vienna, and many among them show ed by their behavior that they have taken part in the ceremony more than once. With the appearance of the clergymen, at 11 a. m., the ceremony began. The emperor, who wits follow ed by all the arc hdukes In Vienna, s' rved tin- < Jcl men, and the empress, followed by all the archduchesses* and court ladies, serve d the old women at their respective tables. The corps diplomatique was, as usual, in attend ance-, but this year the British, French and Turkish embassadors did not :i{>- pc-ar. All the ministers were pre-ent, as well as court dignatarics and privy councillors, the chamberlains, the grand masters ami the highest repre sc-ntatives of the army. The table* being re-moved, the c iiipe-ror and em press knc-lt down in front c.f the old people, took off a shoe and staking from each, wa hod t fie f-t ith tow -Is moistened fr-uu a golden i we r, held by a chamberlain. After the feet ->f the old people had 1-c-c n w ipesl, the an h- Jukc-s and arc|.elu< he*-c* replace-d the shoe and stoc king, and tlu-ir majesties concluded the eerem--ny by hanging round tin- nci k c.f each of the old r p]e a purse with thirty silver florins. The -Id folks were then sent home in cabs, c.-uh with a well-filled l-- x of pro visions and wine. hillin? Tenderly. S- ience is ab. Nt ' - take some <-f the pain and te rr.-r of death away from animals which it i* necessary for man to slaughter. Mr. >t. Gc- Lane- Fox. a w--ll known l'.nglish electrician has devised an apparatus f r killing animals which la absolutely palnlc m Worn-out horse* which arc- to be do_ prive-d "f life under this pr--cc-s. have the :r heads and feet wetted with salt water; they are then b*l into a stall and made to stand on an ir--n plate connected with a negative p-do -J a condenser of a capacity if almut 1c m ♦ microfarads. The animal's head is then touched with the top of the pe-lc_ whereupon it fall* dead. There is no pain, for there is no sensation, or pos sibility of any. It requires nno-dflh of a second after the infliction of the in jury Is-fore pain can 1- felt; but in this case the animal is killed in about the thousandth part of a second. I'n* fortunately, animals slaughtered for food cannot Is- treated in this way, as the flesh is uneatable. This new pro cess, therefore, can only 1-e used for ! horses, dog*, and cats. not. intended for food supply. It is well-known that an imals killed hv lightning cannot be eaten , and must be burned or burled. Hut he-re again science has taken a step ' forward. An F.nglish society for pro j viding a sanitary and humane method of killing animals for food have raises! ! a fund for erecting a model abattoir in ! London. Everything that skill and i experience can suggest for minimizing the pain of the infliction will Ice em- | ployed. For sheep the arrangement includes a stupefying chamlier.through ( which each aniinal will pass on its way to the knife. The anesthetic j used can l>e produced for a trifling ccwit. The quality of the flesh is by no means deteriorated by these humane devices. In view of the revolting ! scones which take place at our public executions, why should not ca{dtal punishment lie inflicted by an dee-trie machine, such as that used by Mr. St George Lane-Fox for mak.ng away with useless and disabled animals?— Demorett. L'RILbJtKN'N COLUMN. The Fralhercd If or*. An interc iting ri*lic in preserved In H j.diuis <•;*• in the Etglish Coldil nam guard* orderly room at Whitehall. II ri.MMHtu of til*; tu-ad an'l m-ck of a goose, around which in a golden collar with the inscription, "Jacob 2d Bab talion Coldstream Guards." Jieri'-atb it arc the words, "fried on Duty." In 1838 a rebellion broke out In ( irent Britain's Canadian possessiona, and two battalion* of the guards were sent thither to assist in quelling it the battalion already mentioned being one of them. lioth corps oecupied the rdtadel of Quebec, and in their turn supplied the guards which were j ordered to be mounted in different parts of the town and neighborhood. Near one of these guards was a farm yard which had suffered much from ! the ravages of foxes animals that i were at that time a great jiest to ttie colonists; and as the farm in question hail been suspected of being the meet ing place of the rebels, a chain of I sentries was placed around It. One day the s'-ntry, whose duty it was to jw. it' ll tin- entrance to the farm, had his attention attracted to an unusual noise, and on looking toward the sjiot whence it proewded he beheld a fine goose (lci-ing toward him closely pur sued by a fox. Ilis first impulse was ; to bave at siiot at the latter; but tills would have alarmed the guard, and brought condign punishment <.n him self for giving a false alarm. lie was compelled, therefore, to remain a silent , spf tator to tiie scene,while every -tep brought the reynard nearer to his prey. In the liigiit of its despair the joof bird rati its head and n k betwe-n the legs of the soldier, in its frantic <n leavor t" reach tin- refuge which the sentry-box could afford, and at the -arne moment the wily fox made a b-sperate grab at the goose; hut t<>o late, for ere he could get a feather between his t'-cth, the ready bayonet , 'jf tiie sentinel pa v sel through his lidy. The jmor goose, byway of •bow ing its gratitude to its preserver, rublx-d its head against his legs, and made other equally curious demonstra '.ioris of jov; nor could it ever bo pre vailed uj<on to quit the post, but walked up and down day after day with each successive sentry that was placed there until tin* battalion left 'ana/la. when tiie g.K>se was lirought iway with it as a regimental pet to England. | The most remarkable thing in con ion with the story is that the goose in urn actually saved its preserver's life. ; Whether the former knew that tho | sentry was the same man or not must, if course, forever remain a problem mt it so happened that he was •n that j articular post about two months afterward, attended by tha joose, when a desperate attempt was nab to surprise and kill the unwary wntinel. In these moments of darkness sharp ot-erver might have noticed I ihe shadow sof several men, who ua bs< r\ 'si by the somew hat drowsy sen inii, were endeavoring stealthily to ippro.arii the jist where be stood. I<er and closer they stole up toward he post, the thick snow which lay on ,h" ground completely deadening the uiuii'l of their footsteps. Hut just as two of their number, one on each side f the smtry-lKix, were preparing with uplifted knives to spring upon the un usporting man, the goose made a grand effort, rose suddenly on it? wings, and swept around the sentry box with tremendous force, flapping its wings right in the fares of the would* Is- assassins. They were astounded, and rushed blindly forward; but the sentry, fully aroused to his danger, bayoneted one and shot at the other as he was running away. Meanwhile.the other conspirators approached quickly to the assistance of their colleagues; but the bird repeated its tactics, and enabled the sentry to keep them at bay until tbe guard— whom the tiring of his musket had alarmed—came upon the scene and made then. ih fo# their lives. When this incident became known, poor old Jacob was the hero of the garrison, and the officers subscrilied for and purchased the golden collar which the bird afterward wore until the day of its death. The feathered hero w as well fed and cared for, and a circular bath tilled with water was al ways at his dispoaal. For many years Jacob seemed to bear a charmed life; but he was at length run over by a van. Every effort which kindness and skill could suggest was made to save the extraordinary bird, but it was of no avail, and he died like a true sol dier, at the jxiot of duty, after a "sen try go" of no Ires than twelve years. The Minneapolis IVftua* says that goats are the best land cleaners known. It says that a herd of 1000 entirely cleared 500 acres of brush land in three year*. Not a vestige of under, growth was left.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers