TOPICS OF TIIE DAT.
onaxe bites are mild to cause tho
death of twenty thousand people in
India during some years, so that in
half a century almost a million people
fierish from this one cause. Accord
ingly tho war against serpents is car
tied on with vigor, under tho stimulus
|J of rewards; and in 1880, according to
recent statistics, 212.776 of tho reptiles
I were destroyed.
It is marvelous how sheep and wool
growing have increased in this coun
try within the last fifteen or twenty
yeart. In 1860 there were only about
23,009,<X>0 sheep in the United States.
We now have nearly 50,000,000. In
1860 the wool clip amounted to only
60,000,<X>0 pounds; to-day it is nearly
>,OOO,<KX) pounds—an increase with
in this period of over two-fold of sheep
and five-fold in the production of wool,
giving unmistakable evidence of our
advance in this industry.
Scarcely any characteristic of the
lerman emperor is more innrkisl loan
ids aversion to capital punishment. In
the period from 1864 to 1878 only
Iwenty-six out of 218 capital sentences
>!rere carried out, and during the next
decade, of 426 criminals condemned to
death, 1 lode], the would-be assassin.
Wits the only one executed. During
tin years 1879 and 18*0 only one cap
ital sentence out of eighteen was exe
cuted, and there were only four execu
tions in ea<h of the years 1881 and
1882. The almost invariable commuta
tion of the death sentence has lcen to
penal servitude for life.
"I sympathize," says Mr. Labou
chien* in London Tmth, "with tho liir
tningham butcher who has been con
demned to one month's imprisonment
for selling donkey as human food, be
cause donkey is infinitely better eating
than either <>r mutton ; indeed, I
do not know any meat which is better
This was so soon perceived by the
French during the siege of I'aris that
donkey-meat was about live times the 1
price of horse-meat. At Voisin's there
was almost every day a joint of cold
donkey for breakfast, and it was great- ,
ly preferred to anything else. Let any
one who doubts the excellence of cold
donkey slay one of these weak-minded
animals, cook him and eat him."
The increase of the meat ami live
Rattle exportation from this country
to F.ngland, is illustrated by the state
ment of tin- London Truth that during .
one recent week seven steamers arrived
In Liverf 1 from America with ear
goes of fresh meat, consisting of '.<" i >
quarters of beef and 1608 carcasses of
mutton, while seven other vessels
brought to the same port 2655 cattle
and 2315 sheep, possibly some of
these fourteen vessels were from>outh
America ami Panada, but doubtless
most of them came froui the United
States. In the days when cotton was
king 'he American civil war produced
great distress in Lancashire, but F.ng
land now depends largely on America,
not only for cotton, but for food.
The Russian government has begun
to execute its scheme* for colonizing
the lower part of the A moor province,
adjoining the Chinese frontier, by dis
patching from Odessa 81" emigrants,
constituting 250 families, if the pro
ject, which contemplates the removal
of 100,000 persons to the new settle
ments, is carried out on the scalo on
f which it has begun, the expense wil'
be enormous—not much leas than IP),- j
000,000, in the opinion of the Moscow
Qaiftte. The colonists already dis
patched were supplied with flour, oats,
agricultural implements, forty mill- j
stones, 2000 wagon wheels, several |
thousand pairs of boots, and other artl
cles of clothing, nails, screws, axes,
saws and window glass, and each fam
ily received $5O with which to build a
hut.
A young lady in Chicago has some
very practical ideas altout missionary
work. She is a student in the female
Baptist missionary training school and
is not yet twenty years of age. It has
been her practice, for the past few
months, to visit the sick and destitute
in the lowest ami vilest slums of Chi
cago, entirely alone, at all hours of the
day. The little figure dressed modest
ly in black is known ami respected by
the criminal classes of the city, ami in
* all her errands of mercy she has never
once been molested or even insulted.
.She says that her object Is, first of all.
to do some practical good, and next, to
(it herself by actual experience for her
life-work as a missionary. Wiser p
pie than this young girl have gone
Pp through life without getting as near
the ideal of Christianity.
A new use has been discovered for
oyster shells. For years they have l>een
used for the irir.--f' '-nr? of lline as
k
manure, for decorative purposes, una
in the preparation of a cheap Imitation
of marble; but it is now found tha*
they cannot bo better utilized than by
being thrown in quantities into the
sea, where they make the best possible
foundation for new oyster beds. This
summer many ship-loads of these
empty shells will be sunk by English
ami French oyster farmers in various
places suitable for the purpose, anil a
few, healthy living oysters will then be
dropped upon the same spots. Experi
ments have proved that under such
conditions the bivalves will shortly
multiply to an almost incredible ex
tent; and in so brief a period as two
years each empty shell will have from
thirty to forty young oysters attached
to it. The new generation can then
be removed to make room for more,
and fattened for market in specially
constructed tanks.
In no other country are desertions
from the army so numerous in propor
tion to its size as in ours, and in none
is its cost per man so great. Accord
ing to the last annual rc|Krt issued by
the adjutant-general, there were 3741
desertions during the year. When we
remember that the maximum of the
army is only 25,000, the proportion aje
pears enormous. Five-sixths of the
desertions take place on the frontier,
and as cavalrymen almost invariably
take their horses with them, the g<>\-
ernment loses both. Taking into con
sideration the cost of keeping up re
cruiting stations, of enlisting men, of
furnishing them with their outfit and
transporting them to the posts t.> say
nothing of their rations—we can form
some idea of the large amount of
money that is wasted through deser
tion. It has been said that the custom
of making soldiers do the work of
day laborers with pick and shovel, in
stead of confining them to military
exercises, has much to do with their
desire to take French leave.
Speaxing of boarding-house dead,
beats, a New York correspondent adds
that "the usual number of frauds and
itnposters is now pervading the city.
Some of this class arc admirably skill.-.!
in the art of imi>osition, and attain
great success before detection. They
generally have fi.rgisl n-cotiimenda
ti'.ns, some of which arc close imita
tions of the signatures of our In-st
men. Kach .f this class has its pecu
liar role, and th.- fra id community may
Is- divided as follows: There is the
theological student, who need* aid t<>
complete his studies, and also the man
with the mission Minday-- h~> 1. There
is the woman who la. k* $5 of paying j
for a sewing machine, and also another ,
who is colla ting in behalf of a di>
tressed family, tine of these female
frauds has an imaginary benevolent so. 1
ciety uptown, and her method is to tike
money, food or clothing, all of which is
entered into a pass-lmok, '.is she must
give careful account.' This woman
has lived comfortably for many year
on this imaginary society, which, n.>
doubt, will continue to be a success,
sinee the crop of dupes is never ex
hausted."
As an instance of what the Federal :
officers have to contend with in per !
forming their duties, a little matt<- r
was developed in the United States
land office at >ant.i Fe, N\ M., re <-nt
ly. which conveys the Idea precisely.
Luis Martin railed at the office in com
pany with several witnesses and made
affidavit to the effect that since 1K42 lie
had occupied a plat of forty acres of
ground four miles from Santa Fe, ha 1
constructed various and sundry cor
rals. houses, stables and out-houses
thereon, and desired to take the neces
sary legal steps to secure the property
as his own under the homestead law.
The necessary documents were linme- |
dlately made out, Martin made oath to
them, and was about to make tinnl
proof of publication, when Joaquin
Mon toy a came along and swore that
Martin had never lived on the specified
property, had resided in Santa Fe all
his life, anil had not Improved the land,
and, in fact, had no claim U|on it what
ever. These statement.4 were substan
tiated by several trustworthy citizens,
and as a result Mr. Montoya located
the land as his own under the home
stead act, built a residence thereon,
and has now gone actively into the
poultry business.
Senor Felipe I'oey, a famous ichthy
ologist of Culm, has recently brought
out an exhaustive work upon the fishes
of Cuban waters, in which lie describes
and depicts no fewer than 782 distinct
varieties, although be admits some
doubts alsiut 105 kinds, concerning
which he lias yet to get more exact in
formation. There can lw no question,
however, he claims, almut the 677
species remaining, more than half of
which he first described in previous
works upon this subject, which has
been the study of his life.
I PEABLd OP THOUGHT.
i
The truly wise man should have no
, keeper of his secret hut himself,
s Tastes consist in the power of judg
i in#, genius in the power of executing
i A narrow-minded man ran never
possess real and true generosity, ho CUD
never go beyond mere benevolence.
1 There is no doubt that thinkers gov.
■ ern the world, and it is quite as cer
tain that the world governs potentates.
The way to avoid the imputation of
impudence is, not to bo ashamed of
what we do, but never to do what wo
ought to be ashamed of.
The persons most anxious to add to
their wealth are generally those who
don't know how to make any good use
of what they have already.
The best means to learn our faults is
to tell others of theirs; they will be too
proud to be alone in their defects, and
will seek them in us, and reveal them
to us.
These two things, contradictory az
they may seem, must go together, man
ly dependence and manly independ
once, manly reliance and manly self-re
liance.
Our best words will rule the world
some day. Their meaning \\ ill tlasb
out some time. Speak • ,-m boldly,
and trust the growing so,a ..| the race
for future compensation.
Anything that makes the heart
warmer, anything that makes the cur
rent of affection run fuller, anything
that makes gratitude and love and
honor and truth and reason stronger,
I m trices the man stronger.
A Chinese Cemetery.
The cemetery seemed to be the must
rurious of all the sights connected
with Chinadom in San Francisco. 1
came upon it in the course of a long
, stroll and was, as it happened, almost
' the only outside spectator to peculiar
ceremonial rit-s on theannual propitia
tion of the spirits of the dead. This
burial place is not grouped with the
others in the general <>->lgotha at Lone
mountain, but adjoins that devoted to
the city paupers, out among the melan
( holy sand-dunes by the ocean shore
i It is parceled off by white fences into
inclosures f->r a large number of sepa
rate burial guilds, or tongs, as the
Look Vain tong. the Tung Sen tong,
the e< >n tong. etc. <)ne has dithi'lll
ty to persuade himself that he can l-o
awake when witnessing the doings ac
tually here taking place in broad sun
light and in Yankecland. It is the
practice of this people to convey the
j tsines of their (b ad to China, hut pre
; liminary funerals take j lin regular
form. <>nc of the first-class often en
lists all the "hacks" in --.in Francises
[ The (Mine- are left in the ground a year
■■r more lief ore (icing in a fit condition
for removal, and over these the rites of
propitiation are jierforined. As I
j lingered in the vicinity toward d in
the afternoon, hr.st one, then another
"express wagon" of the usual pattern
drove up. They (tore freights of
chinamen anil Chinawomen, and curi
ously assorted provisions. The
"hoodlum" drivers, though conducting
themselves most peaceably, seemed t<,
wear a certain sardonic air at having
[ to draw their prollts from such a class
iof patronage. The provisions were
unloaded, anil taken up and laid on
small wooden altars, of which there is
one in tin- front of each plot. Most
conspicuous among them were numer
ous whole roast pigs decorated with
rihlions and colored papers. There
I were, lieeidcs, roast fowls, rice, salads,
i sweat meats, fruits, cigars anil rice
jbrandy. The participants set to work
at once to Are revolvers. Imhiilm and
i crackers, kindle fires of packages of
colored paper, make profound genu
| (lections tieforc the graves, and scatter
libations of the {msl and liquors.
Only the larger articles were reserved
to lie taken home again. The din and
smoke increased; the strangely garbed
figures pranced almut in the midst like
sorcerers. The goblin-like roast pigs
loomed ont of the semi-obscurity with
a portentious air. It might have lioen
some saturnalia at Kleusis, or a verita
ble witches' "sabbath. Ifarper't Mug
ntlnf.
Wellington's Monnment.
The monuments to Wellington have
been generally unfortunate and unsat
isfactory. tine just lowered from its
pedestal in London is pronounced a
wretched affair. Almost the only re
ally fine one that exists yet, is that
erected by the great duke's tenants
near the London ent ranee to his old
Hampshire home. On a rough gran
ite base rests a monolith of polished
granite thirty feet high; on this stands
the figure, nearly nine feet high, in
bitrtize, representing the hero in field
marshal's uniform. The entire hlght
of (ids monument is eighty-two feet
The designer was the late Baron Maro
chetti.
LABI Eg' DEPARTMENT.
\ IlMutlful Indian Women.
Many half-breed Cherokee women
In the Indian territory, writes a cor
respondent, are cultivated in mind,
beautiful In person, industrious In
habit, and will compare well with the
more favored woman in the North and
East. Tliey have magnificent heads of
hair, long and black, all their own, and
with jet-black eyes and pearly teeth,
dressed in that fashionable attire in
which they all love to appear, they
would not be recognized in Kastern
1 drawing-rooms as that part ol the orig
inal inhabitants of our country known
as squaws,a name long since repudiated.
Let it be known, then, that white men
i of worth and character are popular
among the beauties of the territory,
i and four out of live who come to make
a home among thein marry these dusky
maidens, get a citizenship, surround
themselves with ample acres and the
comforts of life, participate in the
affairs of government and become the
most active and wealthy citizens of the
territory. A chief trait In the char
acter of many white men Ixith in this
country ami out of It is to get posses
sion of its productive lands. By com
mitting matrimony, they can kill two
birds with one stone—get a wife anil
farm too.
Artificial Kychrowi
At a certain factory a number of
young women were working at small
tallies, each table covered with little
instruments and tilings, the like of
which 1 had never seen la-fore. At
one table two girls were threading
needles with fine, silky hair, and sew
ing them in little squares on a thin,
transparent gauze.
"Those girls." said the professor,
"are making some >d those beautiful
arched eyebrows you may sometimes
sec in bull-rooms. These sewed on the
net are the b-s expensive kind, and
and are only used on s|s* ial occasions.
The real brow is very expensive, and
ran only lie made by a person of great
skill."
I begged him to explain the opera
tion of giving a person eyebrows who
was born without them, and leading
me into a rreist elegantly furnished
parlor in which was a large dentist's
chair, he continued:
"The patient sits here. In this
cushion to my left are -tuck a score or
so of those H-iedlcs you saw Ling
threaded. Each stitch only leaving
two strands of hair, to fa ilitan- the
oj-erat ion a numlier of needles must
L- at ban I. A* •i li thread of hair i*
drawn through the skin over the eye,
it is cut so that when the (ir-t stage
of the operation is o\i-r it leaves the
hairs bristling out an inch or s<. pre
senting a ragg(*i. jmri upinc appear
ance. Now cornea the artistic work,
j The brow must l-e arched and cut
! down with the utmost dclica y, and a
j numlier of hours is required to do
it"
" It must IK- very painful and tedi
ous?"
"They don't say that it a picnic ex
cursion." laughid the professor; "but
eyebrows, small as they are, are very
ini|Mirtant in the make-up of the face.
You have no Idea how odd one looks
w hen utterly denudisl of hair over the
eyes. The process 1 have described is
painful, but it makes good eyebrows,
and adds one hundred |K-r cent. to the
looks of a person who was without
them. It is, too, much L-tter than
the blackening and cosmetics so many
people use, especially people who have
mere pretense of brows comprising
onlv a few hairs."
'
f Athlon
Daffodil and primrose brocades are
Import (si.
The shade of lilac known as "Ophe
lia" has been revived in veilings.
Leather buckles appear among new
ornaments for hats, Linnets and dres
ses.
Sleeves of street cost times remain
tight and plain, and are larger than
last season.
Narrow bands of bright yellow vel
vet arc now fashionable tied tightly
around the throat.
fligot sleeves and epaulettes of rib
(Mn or niching are considered good
form for indoor dresses.
Bed In moderate quantities gives a
fine dash ofbright color toblack, gray,
pale blue and ecru dresses.
The most fashionable parasols are
all covered with lace. Their handles
are in every conceivable shape.
Dark brown, green, black, or blue
velvet is the most elegant trimming
for light-colored cashmere dresses.
Colored silk mitts are embroidered
in self colors across the hand, and on
the top which reaches to the elliow.
Bed or green pompon trimmings are
fashionably worn on walking costumes
bf tweed or nuns' gray ladies' cloth.
The robe of black velvet does duty
for eJI occasions now in the same way
that tho black silk dress formerly did.
i Scotch plaids and Madras designs
appear in new ginghams and la flan
nels for skirts to be worn with jor
| soys.
! Sun umbrellas match tho color of
I the dress, and are mounted on thick
oaken sticks, with handles studded
I with gold.
The most fashionable travelling dres
ses are braided. They come in all the
dark blue, red, green and brown shades,
1 and although simple, are very elegant
Two aprons, one long and square,
the otlu-r short and much wrinkled,
and looped around tho hips, appear
on the latest importations of French
| dresses.
The new zephyr plaids make jaunty
lawn-tennis costumes, and the colors
I oftenest combined are olive, the new
shade of cranberry-red and pale prim
rose yellow.
Bonnets and hats of pure white are
not to be worn at all this summer*
. The nearest approach to these are
. the cream-yellow hats wreathed with
a profusion of gracefully drooping
white feathers.
Velvet damasks with grenadine
I grounds and beaded lace are made
into scarfs pelerines, and mantelets
for summer. Olive green with red flg
, ures, dark garnet, and orange with
black, are the rich colorings for these
little garments, that give tone to the
most quiet toilet.
Long, plain redingotes are made of
, cloth of light weight and light-brown
in color. They fall open in front and
back below the waist, and their only
trimming is in gimp ornaments of
passementerie cords in rings close
[ together. These cover the turned over
collar and sleeves, ami two separate
rings define the waist in the back. A
Spanish Ldero hat, with square up
turned brim, trimim-d with velvet and
humming birds, accompanies such red
,ngoL-s.
A Hundred Years Hence.
Some jKX'ple often wish that they
were dead, and if this involved theii
living by and-by instead of
now, how many will wish it. on read
ing the prophecy of theltev. Mr. Fincke
an English clergyman who travelled
much in America ten year* ago. He
now ventures to tell what he thinks is
the future of "Englishry," by which he
i means the- English-speaking peoples on
the plots-, a< - nttirv hence. He calcu
lates that bv that time there will l-e
one thousand millions of them living
under the same institutions and cher
ishing the same ideas,social and politi
cal, in the I'nited States, Canada, Aus.
tralia, s--uth Africa, and <,r-at Britian.
The siMt/MMMssi which he assigns to
the I'nitcd states will overflow into
Canada, into Mexico, Guatemala,
Colombia, Bolivia and I'eru, afterward*
into the valley of the Amazon, and
the whole range of the Andes, into the
islands of the F.vific, across which
they will join bands with their kin.
dred in New Zealand and Australia.
The English settlements In South
Africa, now essentially American, w ill
spread over Southern Africa, pushing
the natives to the equator. The Amer
ican farmer is to turnish the type o|
this new society. There will lie no
savages or serfs, few drones or men of
luxury; all will lie able to read and
to write and to use their acquirements
They will have homes of their own
and property enough of the very best
and most educative kind that is, in
j land—to yield to their intelligent in
dustry sufficient means of support
I They will have no social or politicaj
superiors, and will manage their own
j affairs. There will be few or none
looking forward to a pauper's fate
The lives of the majority will be spent
| in the cultivation of their own land on
the same terms which the American
farmer now cultivates his. Morality
will in this society have a tremendous
force, liecause as there will be only
one morality for all, and not, as now a
separate morality for each class, it will
j lie supported by the opinion of all-
Women will play a larger part in the
work of society than they have ever
done. No pursuits will lie favored by
endowments or Itounties. The com
petition between nations will be intel
lectual, not military competition.
Oratory, painting, sculpture and arch
itecture will grow under it as never
liefore. Money will lie in greater use
and the precious metals have a higher
value than ever. Beligion will have as
strong a hold as ever on the human
heart. At the head of this mighty
community the United Mates w ill stand
morally though not politically. The
President of the United Mates will lie
Its foremost man, and "the predomi
nant power" will be the proas.
Ungratefulness is o venr of
manhood.
CIIILDHFVH COLUHS.
Tta* frot tHor'l HnhWri,
"Tell us a story. Uncle Dmitri," cried
three tiny voices at onw, a* two little
Russian girls and a curly-headed Rus-
Hian boy clustered around their uncle'e
arm chair.
Knowing by experience that the re
quest would be granted, the rent of the
company drew closer, and General Ml-
J a tine began as follows :
"When I was about thirteen I used
t/> go to school at the St. Vladimir
jyceum. There were several of my
chums in tin- same class, and a wild
lot they were, always in some scrape
or other; but the wildest of all was a
lad from the Lower Volga We used
to r ail him 'Hrokaznik' (Mad-ap), and
a very good name it was, for he
couldn't is; happy without playing
some mad triek or other. One even
ing he ' aught the professor of history
a crabbed old fellow who was al
ways scolding asleep in his chair, and
rubbed his bald head with phosphorus
and when the poor old gentleman earn#
into the class-room, half an hour later,
he lighted uj the whole place like an
eastern illumination, and seared some
of the smaller boys so much that thqr
ran away s' reaming.
"On one occasion it was the old pro
fi-ssor (if mathematics at the lyceum
who became Madcap's victim. Among
the professor's queer ways—and tie
h;wl jdenty of them—was his custom
of going about, winter or summer,
wet or dry, in a pair of enormous rub
bers, whether to save his boots or from
mere force of habit I can't say. Re
gularly every afternoon he took off Ida
rubbers at the door of the etnas-room
before going in, and put them on again
when he came out, and all the boya
knew them as well as they knew the
dome of the Isaac cathedral.
"Well, our friend Mad'-ap took It
into his head to have some fun with
the professor's rubbers. One after
noon he contrived to come up just as
the professor had gone in. leaving bis
rubbers outside as usual Madcap
pounced ujton thorn at once, drove a
nail through each of the heels right
into the door, hid the hammer in a
corner, and walked into the class-room
i 1'- 'king as innocent as could )*•.
"You may farcy thej>oor professor's
dismay when, on slipping his feet into
the ruhirers and trying to shuffle away
as usual, he found himself rooted to
, tlie ground, and unable to stir an inch.
He struggled, t w istrsl. tugged, jumjied,
and at last, thinking he was bewitched
' or struck with paralysis, he began to
shout and if ream till the whole place
rang. Marl ap and his churn, who
w r>- looking on from the stairs al>ove,
got scar-si, and ran to help him; but
just then the professor gave a treinen
1-us tug. and tore one of his rubber*
almost in two,
"When the lwys saw the old man
! k troubled, they lx*gan to think
that he might n->t la- aide to afford a
new J air. and they at once repented
f their j-ke. (tut rushed Madcap to
a store round the corner, bought the
I rest pair of ruldx-rs in it, and put
them into the professor's hand as he
caine slowly and sally down the steps;
and there were tears in the jronr old
man's eyes as he took them. Hut it
didn't end there, for Mad'-ap had a
friend at the court in the shaj>e of his
godmother, the czar's own sister-in.
law. and through her influence the
professor got such a good ap]x>intnunt
that I don't think he'll ever have to
wear worn-out rubliers again."
"And what's become of him now?"
asked all the three children at once.
"His excellency the president of tba
Imperial university!" announced a ser
vant at that moment, throwing open
the drawing-room door.
In came a tall, fine-looking old man
io black, so erect in figure, so firm in
step, and with such a clear, bright eye
that required the evidence of his snow
white hair and wrinkled forehead to
make one believe that he had really
celebrated his eightieth birthday nran
ly six months l>efore.
"Ha. Stefan Yakowitch" (Stephen,
son of James, the usual form of ad-
Iress in Russia), cried General Milu
line, springing up and grasping the
new-comer's hand heartily, "you've
Ooine exactly at the right moment.
t> you know. I've just leen telling
:>ur friends here how you had your
rubWrs nailed to the floor by a miv
Jhievous young student at the St.
Yaldimir lyceum a good many years
tgo."
"What!" cried all the company, with
jne voice, "was the professor—"
"The professor was our good friend
President M-—answered the general,
laughing, "and I was the young Math
sap".— Uarper't Young People.
M. Fourmant haa proved that pork
wntaining trichinae may still be dan
gerous after having been kept in salt
'or fifteen month