TOPICS OF THE DAT. Miss Jennie Corson went to Mon tana about .1 year ago and established a sheep ranch near Oka at an ex pense of sf 10, (MM) cash. She has man aged tier business herself, and her sheep and ranch are said to he worth |7too more than they cost her. She Is known ;is "the Montana shepherd ess. There is a grim humor about some of the advertisements in the daily pa pers. A Philadelphia journal contains the notice that an undertaker will give a gentleman with a full black beard of Impressive proportions, permanent em ployment at visiting families, which death has invaded, and taking instruc tions regarding the funeral. The full black beard is strictly a business re quirement, the theory being that a black beard has a tendency to inspire Confidence and respect. Since the large capitalists came into the business of cattle-raising in Texas, great bodies of land have been l>ought up for ranges, and soon desirable free pastures will be a thing of the past. Having the money to fence as well as buy the land, most of the large ranges are being inclosed with wire. More than* 100,1 kshmm) would be required to purchase the cattle now roaming over the state. Half of this value, accord ing to the best testimony, is the in crease of cattle within two years. In Great Britain and Ireland, with a population approximating 37,(KH>,fK)0. there are between 11, otto and 12,000 lawyers. In the United States, with a population larger by only 15,000, OX), there are 05,(MX) lawyers; and in New York state, with a tenth of the coun try's population, abide a sixth of its entire body of lawyers. There is a lawyer to every people in Great Britain, while in America there is a lawyer to every 800 people. If this I does not show an advanced stage of Civilization, it certainly shows a decid- l edly litigious spirit. According to a Montreal paper the engineer of the Saskatchewan mining company, while examining the com pany's coal areas recently discovered the remains of an ancient forest at a depth of over 2"M) feet from the top of ravine. The stumps are plainly visible, and are about two feet in bight, and look very much as though the forest had been laid low by the woodman In addition, the fossil remains of a gigantic reptile were found under the Coal in a stratum of light sandstone. The leviathan steamship Great East- ! tern is a veritable white elephant on ' the hands of her stockholders. At a 1 general meeting of the directors and proprietors in London, it was stated that the efforts to sell or charter the ship had been unceasing, ami the di rectors regretted that, although they were frequently receiving applications in respect to the steamer, nothing had resulted. The income for the year was made up as follows: Transfer fees, £1; interest, £140; visitors' fees to ship, £l3. The expenditures for the year in connection with the ship had been 14.4""J Is Id. It does not r- ! quire much arithmetic to figure out ! where this sort of business is to end. There is a fire department In Jeru salem which is very different from what is understood by that term in this country. On the comparatively rare occurrence of a fire, the news is leisurely conveyed to a small detach ment of soldiers, who with great dig nity march to the scene of the fire, carrying their guns on their shoulders | In front of them march four inen with broad-axes. As there is no water sup ply in the city, a fire engine wouhj 1- useless, and certainly would be opposed to the traditions of the people. In stead of wasting their time in such unhallowed efforts, these soldier-fire men strike picturesque attitudes around the lire, murmuring, "Allah is good !" And when it has spent itself they go back to their quarters con scious of having done their duty. We read in a London paper: "We are, so to say, in a state of siege, cer tainly under the very strictest military and police military and police surveil lance. As night conies on we see all the public buildings delivered over to soldiers, gates are closed, sentinels with rifles loaded with ball cartriges pace rapidly to and fro, and some large apartment Is for the m>nre turned into a guard-room. This has a truly mar tial aspect, absolutely quite pictur esque, and worthy of tieing commem orated by some enterprising R. A.; soldiers are gathered round the blazing fire, nnns are glistening In the light, the toy drummer-lsiy Is wnltlng to Iteat to arms, and all are on the alert, ready to rush Into the streets and do some bloody business there. This, ho It re membered, in the heart of London In 1883!" It Is approaching two years since bieutenant Greely sailed upon his Arc tic expedition and was put ashore at a point further north than men have ever attempted to live, at Fort Conger or Grinnell Land, within less than nine degrees of the pole. Grinnell is opposite Greenland on the west side of Smith Sound, which is simply the narrowing of Hall'm's hay. Lieutenant Garllngton of the seventh cavalry will command the expedition to go to Gree ley s relief, sailing this summer ami going to Smith's Sound. Greely will start down the co;ist next fall, if not before, and will liml three caches or dc-ots <>f provisions stored along at I intervals of lifty miles, containing ' 1-tMi rations. The Arcticians consider his chances of return good, but everv- i thing depends on the health of his 1 •neti, and traveling for -' s miles along i a precipitous coast where there may | he neither ice nor land that is passu- ! hie. It will he nearly another year i probably, before anything will be ; known about them. The sandstone quarry at Carson, Ne vada is proving a rich lleld for archae ologists. In addition to the giant hu- 1 man footprints, I*J inches in length i and of corresponding width, there have been found the teeth of the saber toothed tiger, the horse, the tusk and 1 jaw of the mastodon and a horse's j jaw. Hut the most interesting find lately made was a tomb near the ! needles, on the line of the Atlantic j A Pacific road, at a depth of 17.1 feet from the surface. In it was found a huge skeleton in a sitting position, with its knees drawn up to its h< ad and clasped in u bony embrace with its fleshless arms. At its feet were several Is 1 wis, originally male of red dish clay, but hardened by the lapse if ages into a substance resembling flint. A tablet was insert.si in the wall at ' its head, bearing a long Inscription in hieroglyphics and coverisi with rude imitations of some extin<-t species of creature, half animal, half reptile. A ! number of implements of warfare were also found. Among them a stone ax. the handle and head being of stone, while the edge was formed of iron of great hardness, morti-ed into flint. The remains of a petrified forest were passed through before the tomb was reachisL The largest prison in Europe is the 1 house of detention, which has recent ly l*->n completed at Berlin. This I enormous •sliflee comprises six separ j ate buildings, to which has Ixsm trans -1 f.-rred all the prisoners awaiting trial 1 who have hitherto been conflmsl in the various prisons of Berlin. Tin prison for men consists of a ground floor and four other stories, with 732 separate cells, dormitories for 195 pris- j oners, liesides forty rooms for turnkeys and -deeping accomodations for I H * at tendants. Each of the 732 cells has a window ten feet high. There are six cells in the basement for prisoners who are refactory to discipline, and in the basement arc also t<> l>c found the kitchens, the bath-romns, and the heat -1 ing apparatus of the prison. The In -1 ternal part of the prison is const ructed of iron, and is so built that all the cor ridors look out ii|M>n a central hall, which commands a view of every cell. The prison for men, which is separated from the rest of the building by a wall sixteen feet high, also contains a chapel and four large exercise grounds. The prison for women contains only lib | cells and fifteen large dormitories, the latter of which are divided intosections. j each containing a lied, which can be locked up every after its occupant has retired to rest. The Homan S< >rx thus denrrihes a forty-four-ton statue for the city of New York : " Probably the most colos sal statue yet ordered for the states has just leen finished in plaster form by an American sculptor at Florence, I.arkin G. Meal. There are but two in America that can even lie compared with it, Greenough's 'Washington' and his group of 'Civilization,' which adorn the capital at Washington. Some idea of it may lie obtained by a short de cription. The subject is the -Missis sippi lUver.'a large, recumbent statue not unlike in treatment the 'Nile' group at Home. The figure is represented leaning against a cluster of risks whence springs the source of the Father of Waters, while as a sup. port to the other arm Is a broken paddle - wh.-el caught in a snag, a not uncommon sight on that mighty river. At the base are represented In 1 bas-relief the various objects character istic of the stream during its long , course, stern-wheeler and side-wheeler, j sugar-cane and crocodile, and its min eral wealth In the representation of n lead mine, while negroes arc seen load ing and unloading baled of cotton and tobacco and the sugar cane; crystals, ' too, arc not forgotten, while the giant right foot rests on a lodge of limestone, j and in the right hand stalks of that great product of the Mississippi valley, Indian corn, are held, one mature, the other in the shock. A wreath coin- j posed of tohaeeo and cotton crowns the ; head of the colossus, while a fishing net is carelessly thrown across the base. The plinth or pedestal is twelve feet in length, and the weight of the marble no less than forty-live tons. This is to he presented to the city of New York by KUiott F, Sliepard, a New York law yer, a son-in-law of \V 11. Vanderbilt. Catching Sharks. Those old piscatorial pirates, the sharks, often invade the Arctic, no douht tempted by the carcasses of the whales or seals or walruses left to rot by white men engaged in their pursuit. Natives angling from their skin canoes in deep water iM-e.-isioiially eateh a slug gish shark who has engulfed the bait, but there is no use pulling against such a mountain of flesh, and relying upon 1 sheer strength to bring him up; and this the Innuit I/aak Walton fully knows, and overcomes his streng'.h by sagacity. At every brisk pull Mr. Shark, show- • ing him to be irritated, the line is low ered to appease him, but cautiously hauled In again almost Immediately, ♦ the shark slowly rising to this strategic manipulation, until "like a finny fool" he rests upon the surface of the water merely by the aid of the weakest fish ing line, when with a long knife the fisherman dexterously* dispatches him by the aid of a well-directed thrust through the spinal cord. From their well-known voracity in warmer climes it seems singular indeed that they do not attack the native fish" ermen in their little skin canoes, but there is not a record or known Instance of such attacks even on the west shore of (ireenland, where they are most numerous, and where the natives catch large numbers of them from 10,1 hi to 'JO.Ooh a year, according to 1 >r. limk. Ifanish inspector of this< oast for a number of y .-ar-. The most usual method of catching these lish i in hardly be said to lie fish ing at all. Near a hole in the ice a lighted torch is plac<-d t and two natives stand on op|M.xite sides of the h b'with two sharp hand-hooks, like disk-hands of a steamer at the end of a chute wait ing for merchandise, until the shark sticks his ti"sc out, when he is treated in alMi.jt the same business like manner as he is hauled on the ice, where their carcasses often accumulate by hun ilreils as this shark fishery when once commenced is gi nerally carries! on throughout the whole winter. The cartilaginous tmnes are the f.tvorite parts for food, as the raw frozen fish s's ins to have a depressing effect when long continued, and to it is attributed the dog disease of the north when fed to them, and which every few years carries off vt many of these useful ani" mala— Forest awl Stream. A Russian Legend. The Russians in the I'kraine tell a queer story almut a whistling rohberof olden times, who evidently was a jkw* S"n of gigantic proportions, for he was in the habit of sitting on nine oak trees at once. One of the nickname* given to him was "Nightingale," on account of his extraordinary whistling powers. Should an unwary traveller come across his path, be would whistle so melodiously that his victim would quickly faint away, whereujion he forward and kilbd him out r'ght. At last, however, a well-known hero, by name Ilja Marometz, deter mined to SUIMIUC the robber, and, having shot him with an arrow, took him pris oner, carrying him off to the court of firand I'rinoe Vladimir. Even there he proved dangerous, for when the grand prince, merely from curiosity, commanded him to whistle, the grand princess and all the royal children, being present, the man commenced whistling in such an overpowering manner that soon Vladimir with his j whole family would inevitably have 1 been dead had not one of his hrave courtiers, perceiving the danger, got up end shut the whistler's mouth. -(3 c ntlt mn n'n Magazlne. A Font backing. "I have brought In a little poem," re. marked a long-haired individual, "that I would like to have published. The sentiment is very fine; hut, tell you ; the truth, I'm not so certain almut the j rhythm. There may be a foot want- | ing here and there." "Oh, that's noth ing," replies! the poetry editor, raising his number eleven hv way of punctua tion; "will you have it supplied now?" The long-haired inan probably had an appointment that could not lie delayed; at all events, he didn't wait for the ap plication. liAIIIKK* DEPARTMENT. i'lv I'olaat* of ftrftitfyt One of the largest fortunes ever > ifializod in America, says the New- York WarM, was made by the owner of an old fashion" d crimping plri, which a lady had patented in Washington. ! The woman who can Invent a material which will closely resemble the skin of the head, will find millions awaiting her! Nature generally understands what is best when she gives a brunette j black hair, and enlivens a very white ' skin with red locks, hut in foreheads she really does seem to make mistakes, and by the judicious arrangement of hair a homely face ran often lie made pretty. The French speak of the " five . points of beauty." When the hair is combed hack straight from the face and grows in a point on the forehead they draw it. to I wo other points in the cen ter of the temples, ami to still t wo others ► close to the ears, and contend that so emhcllishtx! no woman, no matter how j homely her features may he, can fail to he attractive, lie this its it may, many a woman owes her reputation as tu beauty to her coiffure. A young lady in Washington, who was by means a remarkable beauty, came out of a fever with a perfectly bald head. Her hair did not and would not •grow. So finally she ordered froin I'aris three or four wigs of a beautiful red gold, and these actually transforin- her from a fright Into a belle. The same thing may he observed on the stage, where an ordinary woman eaj>- tures a whole parquette with a blonde wig. How Ihe "Jrrac) " IVai Invented A London letter says: One of the | the umst charming and admir -d ac tresses in London helped invent the ; "Jersey." Her couipani ui in inven- | tlon is the wife of an Irish peer. One j day the actress. Miss lb, with her j maid called upon inv lady (they are great friends) and carried with her a pair of tights she had ju-t ught to wear as " Rosalind " in "As You Like It." Miss H. pulled ] art of the elastic : lilk goods across I.adv l'.'s lx-autiful arm and said: "Oh, if one could get a corsage to fit like that!" "Let me have them one moment," exclaimed Lady 11. She drew the tights amund her thoubbrs. Miss 11. pinned them to her dn-ss, and ttiere at that moment was t>rn the inspiration of the jersey w- all w ear and never tire of. Lady 11.'s brougham was ealle I. v he and Miss 11. drove hastily to the theatrical cos iurm r's. ordered another pair of tight* is the material could not i>e bought. Fhe -.kirt and train from Paris was Used; not s< the corsage. I.ady 11.'s j maid run it together it was lit'rail} j town on. and never did costume excite i lo much admiration and curiosity ns ! this symphony in gray velvet and : latin, with the lnarvelously fitting rur i.ge. No woman knew how the rnr lage was gotten into. There was no j light or even hint of f.i-teiiing. No >ne thought of the elastic silk material. Little by little Lady It. and Miss 11 perfected the jersey, and wore it quite j three months licfore any one caught the idea Then a prominent Bond itreet milliner discovered it and charg- Ed from thirty to fifty guine Ihem. Mrs. Langtry was amoi irst customers, hut she did no (he Jersey until long after L ind Miss 11. I'aahinM Lace upon day dresses is verj lar this season. Braiding appears on costume ►ts and wraps. White lawn hustle skirts arc ted to stiff crinolets. Tucks and pare Is are the f in dress-making th:s year. (•old braid is much used, e 1 .rimming morning dresses. Cupper in various shades is tt of tobacco or cigar color. I'ercales. batistes, and zepby selling rapidly at the moment, I>ress skirts may Ih very bouffant or ! clinging, whichever is preferred. Silk-worm grceti Is soberly announ ced as the latest tint in that shade. Velvet gauges and brocaded gauges arc handsome additions todresd fabrics. Children wear hats and Is i all the new shap-a just lil j ciders. I lain jerseys of red or 1 | much worn with lawn-ter turns*. ; Valenciennes lace trims ' the handsomest embroldere ' dresses. Sleeves of dreaaes ami wraps are worn exceedingly high. and full on the shoulder. There is a greater variety in the styles of bathing suits than was ever before displayed. The flower of the moment is the violet, anil cliintern are used <m bate, Ismncts and evening dresses. I lie Chinese driving dunk with sabot sleeve* linn taken the place thin season of Ihe French rod in goto. Kern and hrown brocaded velvet grenadine wraps are trimmed with jm-seiiientcrle of the same color. I ark brown Ottoman silk mantle* are elaborately trimmed with browri Hu -ian lace and chenille fringe. I'l aids in subdued colors are made for traveling suits, morning drosses, j for shopping and for the street. I'on gee dresses will be popular again j next summer and will be trimmeil with corn lace or embroidery. '"oral jiink is a new shade wbieb • eomes only in Ottoman rep, and soft | heavy materials for evening dresses. For evening dr> < the basques with long ba< k and point's] front or ' the round Jersey has pie are pr< ferns!. Tinted linen lawns in gray and ecru grounds with figures In white are among the novelti'-s for summer wear. Silk jerseys, gloves in strawberry red, pale yellow, nun's gray, and black will be more in vogue this summer than kid gloves of any sort. In French im|ortations of costumes the jiolonaise reappears once and again in varied forms, and with endless styles of drapery and garniture. I'ale yellow and bright geld are the colors triumphant even in Moral garni ture. The gaudy sunflower has sunk into oblivion, but is replaced by prim roses, cowslips, marigolds, kingcups. Narcissus, and marshmallows. Furnished gold, mandarin yellow, j and the creamy shade of raw silk are the tints in yellow more favored this si ason than that of old g' Id or copper color, so fashionable last year; while j -age green has given way to a peculiar h-aden-green known .as porphyry; and cadet blue is replac<l by nemophilao— , the color of that flower. Some Pet Superstitions. "I think there are more idle, silly superstition* in the popular mind on the subjectof physiology than any sub | J' y 't I know of." s.tid an eminent phy i sician. "Why do you say that? Tell about ' some of them." "Take the popular notion in regard to hydrophobia If a healthy dog bite a child and years afterward go inad. the child will go mad, too. You'll find that sentiment almost ineradicable. < nriit to the nineteenth century, isn't it? So Is the corollary from the prop osition, that when a child in bitten by a dog the l>cast must be kilh-d to keep the- child from going mad. Then | there is that time-worn but ever new i scare that cats suck babies' breath*. • What a cat would do with a baby's ; breath in a deep and unfathomable mystery to me, 1 suppose they get into i rallies where there are children 1 ause of the warmth, and supersti tious people are not in love with cats, j and especially black ones. They twist I the vampire story around till they get the breath-sucking story. "Another tnodbeval anatomical ro mance is that a man has twelve ribs and the woman thirteen, because God -took a rib from man and made woman I toad a* a rattlesnake. Million# of j toad* are killed annually on this ao | count, when they are really the farmers' anil frardeners' last friend, as they teed upon the luigs and worms that destroy their plants, i "The most of these suj>erstitions are ! harmless; but one of these wart myths causa. I coulil (jo tn for hours at a time on these medical superstitions, if I hail time to relate them or you hail to listen to me," It is estimated that there are over i one thousand pearl divers on the coast j of Lower California. Forgot a Parcel. Of all the ills to which flesh Is hellV forgetfulriesH is the one that furnish* the greatest number of Laughable epi sodes; and while many of them are annoying, the- mirthful feature that la their almost invariable companion affords a c. rt.un degree of corrijieris tlon. Near one of our Atlantic sea-port* i there resides an old whaling captain commonly known as t'ncle Gordon. To keep from getting rusty, la: made hi home on the river-hank, where he could keep a bat. and li.sh or paddle about as he liked. The place wae about five miles from the city, and, a* ii" asion required, I'mle Gordon arid hi- wife would journey townward for the pur|scve of shopping. Reaching the city, the horse and wagon would be left at tie- water-trough on the parade, an I each would go in different directions, carrying tlu-ir bundles to this common receptacle, the first through waiting fur the- other. On one- at these shopping excursion* Un<le Gordon made several trips to the i w agon, finding ea< h time that addi tions had tic-en made to the; store of bundles—a sign that his wife was busy, 'fuyirigcompleted his purchases. In- unhitched bis horse, and the ferry boat bni..g arrived, climbed into the wagon and drove e.u board. While crossing the river one of his acquaint ances Ktepjic-1 up and asked how he w as getting on. "Well, I'ni getting on nicely, but I'm bothered just now." "Why, is anything going wrong?" "So, nothing special; but I came down to do some shopping, and I've forgotten a parcel 1 was to get," and the old gentleman scratched fits head In a perplexed manner. "Well, 1 wouldn't worry. You will think of it next time," said the neigh- Imr; and the b.at having reached the landing, Uncle Gordon drove ashore and went on toward borne. When nearly half-way there he was met by another friend, who stopped to have a chat. "How do you do to-day, Uncle Gur don V" he- asked "Oh, nicely, nicely; though I'm a bit worried just now." "Worries!? Almut what?" "Well, you sis-, I've been to town chopping, and there's a parcel of some kind that I've forgotten. I can't think what it is, and it bothers me," '•< )h, never mind it' You will recol lect what it Is tiefore you go again. Hy-the-way, Uncle Gordon, how is your wife?" "Jerusalem!" cried Uncle Gurdon dapping his knee with great • nergy # "It's my wife that I've forgotten! the went to town with me to do tome shopping, and I was to wait for her." And Uncle Gurdon turned around* and went back to the ferry for the parcel that he had left liehind.—l/ar p>r't J/oyi uiti'. i—i Chinese Poison*. The commonest poison* are said to be opium, arsenic, and certain noxiou* es sences derived from berts. But t<esides those other things are taken by suicides and given by murderers to cause death. In some of the southern provinces there exists a particular kind of silk, worm, known as the Golden Silkworm which is reared by miscreants to serve either purpose as ocraion may requir® (juicksilver, which is also used with fatal effect, is either sw allowed, or. like the "juice of cursed hebenon" which sent Hamlet's father to his account, is poured into the ear. The torture nec. essarily consequent on this lad method of using it must be so excessive that it may safely l>e assumed that it finds favor only with murderers. Sw allow ing gold, on the other hand, seems to be the favorite way of seeking death with wealthy suicides. It has tieea held by some writers that the expres sion "swallowing gold" is but a meta phorical phrase meaning "swallowing poison" just as when a notable culprit is ordered to st rangle himselt he is said to have hail "a silken cord" sent to him. Hut the "Coroners" Manual" puts it be yond question that gold Is actually •wallowed, and it prescribes the rente, dies which should lie adopted to effect a cure. Gobi not l>eing a poison, death is the result either of suffocation or laceration of the intestines. When suf" location is imminent draughts of strain, ed rice-water, we are told, should 1* given to wa*h the gold downward, and when this object has been obtained, the ilesh of partridges, among other things, should be eaten by the patient to "soften the gold" and thus prevent ita doing injury. Silver is also taken in the same way. But though wealthy Chinamen thus find a pleasure In seek ing extinction by means of theprecious metals, they have never gone the length of pounding diamonds to get rid of either themselves or their enemies after the manner of Indian potentates.—A'aturv. .. - idea, ly de e jier ld out lion is N-nsi tlo ail warts. 0 buy cut a* ' have hope > will rhann -1 toad [line at , that I I one in hi n g a Ii super it if a kll dis ), usual rhich is More by thL* r other
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers