My Ships. If all the ships I have nt sea Should corns a-Miling home to me, Weighed down with jewel* and with gold— Ah, well! the harbor could not hold So many ships as there would IHI It all my ships came in from sen. It ball my ships enmo home from sea, And brought their precious freight to me— Ah, well' I should have wealth as great As any king who sits in state— So rich the treasures that would lie In half my sliijw now out nt sea. II j'lst one ship 1 have at sea Should come a-sailing home to mo— Ah, well! the storm-clouds thou might frown; For if tho others all went down. Still rich and proud and glad I'd bo, II that one ship came buck to mo. II that one ship went down at sen, And all the others came to me Weighed down with gems an 1 wealth untold, With glory, honor, riches, gold, The poorest soul on earth I'd bo, If that one ship camo not to mo. O skies, bo calm! O winds, blow Ircc! Blow all my ships safe home to me! But if thou sendest some a-wrack To never moro camo sailing liack, Send any, nil, that skim the set, But bring my love-ship home to me' —Kit* H'hftltr. DEADLY POLITENESS. A YOUNG PKEAl.'ll Kit's EX PEUIENCE ON THE MISSISSIPPI UlVf.lt. "Nearly every man who ever travel ed on the Mississippi river in the olil days can relate a. 'nteresting expe rience," said the Hev. Mr. Jackson, a j minister whose reputation its tin im- ( passioned orator has gone beyond the boundaries of Arkansas. "There was ! something aliout a Mississippi river experience that tended to aid in vivid reproduction. The grand lloating : drawing rooms, tho wealth displayed j at every turn, and the studied polite- ! ness and conventional ceremony of a supposed good breeding which you everywhere meet, till come up at once in reportrayal of a character which, thus surrounded, you have contem- ! plated. Hut all of this politeness and i exhibition of good breeding, I must lay, was but the white foam on a muddy water. It was the courtesy lhat could grasp the hand of a new acquaintance or shoot an old friend. "In the spring of 1850 I boarded a grand steamer at New Orleans Itound for up the river, I was a very young preac her at that time, and was under orders to repair to a small community and assist in conducting a revival. There was something of a war being waged between two churches, and it ttood our church in hand to concen trates forces or loose ascendency in the oeighliorhood. These were the days of political and religious vigor, and | avowed opposition in religious contests was regarded as being no more out of place and in ill-keeping with the faith than the fierce struggles engaged in by the Whigs and Democrats. I was told at head-quarters that another young preacher would be sent to assist me, and that if I needed more help to make my demands known at once- When I Is larded the lioat I bsiked around for my companion-in-arms, whose name even I had not learned. The closest search failed to discover my assistant, and concluding that he ; had either preceded or would come after me, I dismissed the matter and settled down to the quiet enjoyment of the occasion. "There was quite a number of gam- j biers—polished gentlemen—on board, and although I was opposed to gam- j bling, I could not refrain from looking on and contemplating with what seren ity of countenance the gamblers parted with thousands of dollars." "•Won't you take a hand?' asked one of the players one evening, ad dressing a young, pleaotnt-looking gentleman who stood near. " *1 never play,' he remarked. " 'Won't do you any harm.' " 'I know it won't for I don't intend to play.' " 'The gentleman Is a rare joker,' re plied a tall man, who handled cards with an ease and lost with a good-will that almost challenged respect. " 'Yes,' replied the young gentle man, 'a rare joker, because it is rare that I Joke.' •"Ah, and a punster,' said the tall man, relinquishing |IOW with a •mile. •• 'lt makes little difference to you what I am. 1 came here to quietly look on, not intending to engage in the game or the conversation; and, espec ially, not to be the butt of any Jokes that might arise from ill-luck or suc cess at the table. Regardless of the business you follow, 1 hope that you are well enough acquainted with the manners of gentlemen to treat an un obtrusive looker on with civility, if not with courtesy.' " 'You speak well,' exclaimed the tall man. *1 hope that lam a gentle man of good birth and education, and I hope that I have not Insulted you. If I have, I sincerely beg your pardon. Grant it willingly, and all will be well; ■ i / reluctantly, and, as n gentleman, which you undoubtedly profess to be, you know your recourse.' "Hut for your last remark, I would have heartily forgiven you of any in tention to insult me. As it is, Ido not grant pardon, realizing that a gen tleman is not expected to have deal ings with such a man as you. And, furthermore, let me say that I regard you as a cowardly villain.' "The tall man sprang to his feet and drew a bowie knife. The quiet man did not oven look at him. " 'Take that back, or I'll rub your heart over your face!' "F.very one arose, but no one felt disposed to prevent bloodshed. "'I said that I regarded you as a cowardly villain. Keep cool and I'll tell you why. While we were engaged in insinuating conversation I saw you steal a roll of bills from that man,' pointing to one of the players. 'l'iitil then, and but for the remark you made, trying to compel a cheerful granting of pardon, I w;i,s disposed to pay a little attention to anything you might say. Now, sir. 1 have made my statement, I have been led into this, and I may regret the consequences don't hold him but I shall make no concessions.' "The tali man's eyes actually glared. 'I have killed live men, and all for less than this,' he exclaimed, diet out j of tho way! I'll cut him in two!' "(Jet out of the way!' said the quiet i man. "It would greatly please me if he were to sit down and conduct him ' self less dangerously, but if lie is de termined upon a wicked action, let him be under no restraint.' " 'You are foolish!' exclaimed '>nr of | the gamblers, turning t > the quiet ! man. "You are not armed, and even if you were, Captain Aide would kill i you. lam the man from whom you say tie purloined the bills. I saw the action but did not dare to inter- 1 ' pose.' •• 'So this is Captain Aiele?' said tie young gentleman, 'I have hoard of him. He has a very unsavory reputa tion in New Orleans. If well-con structed reports he true, he is not only a thief, but a murderer.' "(Jet out of my way!' howled the ; captain, and. struggling, he threw his I conpanions aside and sprang forward. 1 Like a sudden revolution of a wheel —like an action whose quickness can not i>e contemplated—the young man drew a derringer and sent a bullet | through the captain's brain, killing him instantly. " •(Jentlemen,' said the quiet man. beginning to talk ere the smoke lifted. | 'I had more than one reason for com. mitting this deed; I was insulted as you saw, and was in danger, as you know; but, worst of all, that man murdered my father. I did not con template killing him. but, as 1 said. I would have granted pardon for his in sulting taunts. From the lirst,though. I contemplate 1 his arrest, which 1 should have accomplished, had he not attempted to take my life. I am sorry that I have caused such confu sion, and I hope that you all. as I know you will, forgive me." "He walked away, gracefully bow ingtosome one who hurried to the i scene of the tragedy. The boat was i soon landed. The captain's acquatnt i ance took charge of the body, and i went ashore. We were soon on our I way again, and but for certain little I influences that hung around, no one | would have known that a tragedy had ; been enacted. Our band of music, a | common steamboat feature in those days, struck up a lively air, and the ; only suggestive remembrance of the : captain's death, was the wet carpet j where a tniy had mopped away the | blood. •'lt was late at night when I reached !my landing. Alone I made iny way to tlie nearest house, where, after my business was known, I was kindly re ceived. Nevt oarded the boat I recognized f my father's murderer, and I thought that if I revealed my identity my plans R might tie frustrated. As I said, 1 only " intended to follow and arrest him 1 at the next town, but you see how it • resulted.' '• "Years have passed since then, years '• of intimate acquaintance between the quiet, young man arm ine. Home tlnu ago, after a successful life, 1 closed his eyes in death, lie smiled with stile lime willingness, and went without a groan. 1 never knew a truer oi kinder-hearted man."— ArkansasTraa clrr. A PRETTY PROPHETESS. The UUtory of fine of the Slew \Ol If fortune Teller*. Aiming these magicians in New York there is a pretty little woman who gets Into trunees and rails her self a clairvoyant, although she admits quite frankly that siie does not know who she is. Years ago, when a little child, she recollects clasping her arms eround a swing and looking dreamily into space until it seemed to her as if her soul was dissevered from her laxly and she had v isions. They were not of her own future, but of the future of others, and when she awakened from this dream or trance only the latter part of the closing chapter was remembered. Her father, a stern old puritan, was at a loss to know how t<. exorcise this devil, for whip|iings and punishments were of no avail. She seized every opportunity to test this power. As she grew older, however, and went to school, the girls rather shamed her out of what they railed "si.eh nonsense." At • ighteeii, having a heart like other women, she fell in love, married and became the mother of two children. With busy hands and a happy life the old pernicious tenden" ry towards dreams and visions was well nigh forgotten. No trance I warnrsl her of the approach of that j unrelenting visitor, death. He came as to the most ordinary mortals, uricx" i ported and unannounced. One morn- j ing while she stood on the porch of her little house, with her babe crowing in her arms, four men approached with a horrible burden, the inanimate form of her husband mangled by machinery. Then came sickness, poverty, debt and despair. Her children were looking at her with hungry eyes. Mie grew wild and unlike herself - and was beset anew by visions and dreams. She saw | visions of the future happiness until finally she told a credulous woman one •lay her fortune. Then another came and another, and presently the disc - j late widow liecame known as a clair voyant—a woman with power to di- j vine the future, she went to sleep with rigid muscles and staring eye* and saw people's lives unrolled before her as an immense panorama. >hc ! told her visitors, how friends, profess* ing to love them, really were implaca ble enemies, she told of coming sick ness, of g sxl fortune for those who tn vented money in such and such a man ner. And all this was given forth with such burning and rapid intensity that she never f.tihsl to convince. It is not t much to say that whole lives have been ordered and altered upon this woman's word. Friends have been *cp. araterl and brought together; wives and husbands have Wen rendered happy or miserable; money made or lost; resi dence* changed; business put aside journeys taken from one part of the country to another. The woman her. self, meanwhile, has made money, edu. catc-d her children, set up her son in a lucrative business, anil owns her first little happy home for the summer's rest and recreation. Hut while she has been busy averting the mlsfor turn* of others, has she kept her ow n sky free from clouds? Ah. no! The light of her life has gone out Her tieautiful, accomplished, cherished daughter is dejuL Neither trance, nor vision, nor spell, warned her, and yet it was no illness, but an accident which, could it have been foreseen, might easily have !>een prevented. The girl went to ride, the horse took fright, and she died of internal inju ries. If spirits come to her mother and tell her of the destiny of others, are they not cruel devils which hover around and leave her powerless to protect her own? Hi.t it is nothing, nothing at all. ex cept that she is a highly strung, over wrought, diseased woman, who needs treatment by a competent specialist in her own diseases. Hhe calls the peo pie who comes to her, appropriately enough, "her patients." One man has been to see her once a week for eleven years. She limits herself to three trances a day, and she charges $5 for each trance. Then she tells fortunes by cards, and, in one way and another makes, strange as it may seem, from $l5 to $2O regularly a day. Even her own sorrowful exjieriences, which she relates quite unreservedly and patheti cally, do not deter the people who con sult her from returning again and again. Reason is not the strong point with those who find it possible to be lieve in divinations. Nmd York World, Twenty-seven million barrels of pe troleum are pumped from the wells •very year. REMARKABLE KEMP.IHKN. Ilow ('urea arc Nomeflinea FfTrc frd,- Thr I'owcr €r llir linNtfliiMlloll. Fulth is a rur wonder-worker Strong In the belief that every I'rank is a doctor, an old A rah, who had been partially blind from birth, pestered an English traveller into giving him a seidlitz, powder and hoiiio pomatuiu. Next day the chief declared that he could see better than he had for twen ty years. A sea captain, when one of his crew craved something for his stomach's sake, on consulting his book, found "No. 1,1" was the thing for the occa sion. I'nfortunately there had been a run on that number, and the Imltle j was empty. Not caring to send the man away uncomforted, the skipper, remembering that eight and seven made liftecri, made up a dose from the bottles so numbered, which the seaman took with startling effects, never oon templatisl by himself or the captain. That worthy jumped too ha-tily at con clusions, like the Turkish physician of whom Mr. Oscanyan t< lis the follow, ing story: tailed in to a ease of typhus, the dot tor in question examined the patient (an upholsterer), prescribed, and departed. Massing the house the next day he inquired of a servant at the door if his master Was dead, and to his astonishment heard that he was ! much lx-tter. Indoors he went, to learn from the convah -cent that being consumed with thirst he had drunk a \ pailful of the juice of pickhsl cabbage Boon afterwards, a dealer in embroid ered handkerehii fs, *•' i/ I s• u.xssl unh-ss the patient be by j r.e fession an upholsterer." Lady Marker's New Zealand shep herd found a somewhat similar potion of infinite use. When his mistress ex pressed her surprise at his possesion •fa bottle of Worcestershire sauce. Salter-aid: "Vou see. mum, although we gets our health uncommon well in these salubrious mountings, still a drop j of physic is often handvlike, and in a j general way 1 always purchase my self a Ixix of pills of which you do get such a lot for your money—and nl \ so a Ixittle of painkiller. liut last shearing they was out o' painkiller, so they put me up a bottle n' cain pepper, and likewise that 'ere condiment, which was very efficacious, 'specially toward" the end "o the Ixittlc. It always xik j tny mind off the lonlinn them and lie come whole. Scott was not the man to hurt the honest fellow's fe lings by ridiculing the notion of such a remedy proving of v ail; so he caused ltrucc to Is- told that the recij>e was infallible, but that it was alisolutely necessary to success that the stones should lie wrapped in the petticoat of a widow who li.ul never wished to marry again, upon hearing which the Highlander lost all hojio of completing the charm. Lady Duff Gordon once gave an old Egyptian woman a powder in a frag. | inent of the Saturday H> riVrc. She ! came again to assure her lienefactn *s ! the charm was a wonderfully powerful one; for although she had not been able to wash off all the writing from the pajicr, even that little had done her a great deal of good. She would have made an excellent subject for a Llama doctor, w ho, if he does not haje pen to have any medicine handy, w rites the name of the remedy he would ad minister on a scrap of pa|ier, moistens it with his mouth, rolls it up in the form of a pill, which the patient tosses down his throat. In default of paper, the name of the drug is chalked on a lx>ard, and washed off again with wa ter, which serves as a healing draught* These easy-going practitioners might probably cite plenty of instances of the efficacy of their method. Dr. John Brown. of Edinburgh, once gave a lalxrer a prescription, saying: Take that and come lack in a fort night, when you will tie well." Olie dient to the injunction, the patient presented himself nt the fortnight's end, with a clean tongue and a happy face, l'roud of the fulfillment of his promise. Dr. Hrown said: "Let me tee what I gave you." "O," answered the man, "I took it, doctor." "Yes, 1 know you did; but w here is the pre scription Y' "I swallowed it," was the reply. The patient had made a pill of the paper, and faith in the physician's •kill had done the rest In some Lancashire districts the country people believe that to cure warts the same number of pebbles as warts should be placed In a bag, which is to lxs dropped where three or four roads converge, and that the person who picks It up will obtain the warts In addition. Warts are also said to disappear soon after they are rubtxsl with a black snail, hut that It Is essen tial that it must afterwards be impaled on a spike f the hawthorn or no ef fect will be pnxluced. Persons afflicted with tumors of any ! kind are advised to rub them with a dead man's hand. Whooping-cough Is supposed to be i cured by passing the patient nine time* around the Ikhlv of an ass. Those who suffer from rheumatic i pains ar<- advised to carry mall potatoes in their pockets,which are believed not only to cure, but to prevent a return of the disease. Fads Concernlnir Lightning Rods. There can be no doubt, says the f'ul tirutnr, that well constructed lightning rods arc a great protsx-tion. Light ning is the discharge or spark that passes between two highly-eb-etrifled clouds, or from a < loud to some other object in its vicinity. If, when one of these electrified clouds approaches an object, the electricity be drawn from it by any means, the lightning cannot take place. This should be the action of every lightning rod to silently i draw off the electri' lty from the clouds before the stroke would take place. If lightning strikes the rod, it is proof that the rod is a jioor one, A poor lightning rod is a constant source of danger. It may often serve to con duct the lightning into your building l * rather than away from them. The principles upon which commercial lightning rods are constructed are en tirely wrong, and fail to accomplish g'*d for the pun baser. In the first place your building's may not n draw off the electrici ty. buildings with columns of hot or iic ; t air escaping from th-m need <-v j><. ~U protection, 1 tec a use these col umns are conductors of electricity. Hence the kitchen chimney is most liable to le struck; also barns filled with freshly-cut hav or grain. Iron is preferable to copper for lightning roils < nlv because it is cheap er. To convey a certain amount of electricity an iron n*l should possess four times the bulk of a copjxT r.sl, but the large ir n rod would Is- chcajv er than the smaller copper one. one important principle in regard to the motion of electricity of high tension should l* constantly lx>me in mind— electri' ;ty passes through the whole mass of the risl and not over the sur face alone A blind rersnn's Sense of Tonrh. It is commonly supjxisM, says Dr. ("arjx-nter in the Journal, that the exaltation of one sense which occurs ( as in the ca*e of Laura H rid go man) when other sense* are wanting is due to an improvement in its organ. Hut I shall Is* able, I think, to show you that it is chiefly, if not solely, at tributable to the complete restriction of the attention ujn the one kind of xensi-|erreption which remains open. This you well know, in Laura Bridge inan's case, to Ik* the touch, as to which she ha* not only an extraordinary ai-u ten ess of discrimination, but an extraordinary recollection of differ ences so slight as not to lx even jer ceptible to ordinaay people. Thus, she can not only at once recognize by a slight touch of the hand all the per sons with whom she is intimate, but, when she lias once held the hand of a new visitor for a short time, she can recognize that visitor again after an interval of several months, just as any one of us would do by our sight. It was a visit which a brother of mine paid her some years ago that put me in l*>ssession of that fact, lie brought an introduction to tier; and, his relation ship to the writer of that introduction having Ixx-n explained to her. she tk his hand into hers. The largest milk pan on record, hold ing 000 gallons, has Just been made for an lowa creamery. PEARLS OK THOIHUT. Idleness is the door to all vim. Success is a fruit slow to rijsu. Egotism is the tongue of vanity. Many are esteemed only because thej are not known. Conscience warns us as a friend !>e fore it publishes us as a judge. • Hints are like thistledown. You cannot tell where they will light. Those who set up a standard must expect to be judged by that standard. Lose not thy own for want of .ask ing for it; it will get thee no thanks Thought is slow-pared imagina tlon often reaches the goal ahead of it. j A torn jacket is soon mended, but hard words bruise the heart of a child. You may depend upon it he is a good man whose intimate friends art all good. The light of friendship is trie ngnt 'if phosphorus seen plainest when all around is dark. We seldom find people ungrateful so long as we are In a condition to render them service. Knvy is a passion so full of coward ice and shame, that nobody ever had the confidence to own it. UNDER WATER. Other € rutiirti of flit Wit) |)rp. Harry 11. liallard, of New Orleans, one of the eighteen marine or salt water divers of the I "nit■! State*, was found confined to his room in the pay ward of the fin' innati hospital by an att.i k of inflammatory rheumatism, caused by exjseure a* a diver. "Hid you n't fear the shark- in your diving ex|.elitions 'f askel an Enyuir •r reporter. "That is a subject al-out which there is a great deal f humbug. Old sailor* with fit* of Idle time on their hands lose to spin yams a!out the fe ro ,tv of sharks. The shark is a < w ardly t>h. lie never atta k* you no. le*i you provoke the fjuar rel. I have met thousands of them and hal them swim all around me, with their horrid, glassy, deathlike eyes glaring at rue and their huge months under their l*lly snapping a though ready to swallow me. The noise tliat the air makes roaring into the shells frightens them and then they si*- that the man is moving about. At Calla<> harlior, which is a regular iharks' nest, I went down forty feet or more and met lots of the-e ocean dev ils, but none of them offered to mole*t me. l>ivers have various expedients for avoiding these animals, and one was told me on the Peruvian c<>ast. A di ver was at work on the wreck of a epanish man-of-war in West In lia waters. A safe containing gU.'Mi.OOO was the object of his search, and after hours of patient labor the treasure was found. While he was shackling heavy iron chains to the treasure box a dark shadow, long and motionless suddenly attracted his attention. Looking upward lie saw a huge spot ted shark, twenty feet long, juised alsive and watching every movement as a cat docs a mouse. The diver for got alsmt the t 1. 1 ► *and walking a shfcrt distance, was on the point of signaling to the tender to pull him up, when a glance convinced him that it would W sure death. The shark wabhod his every movement, and with a scarcely perceptible movement of his tail, overshadowed his victim with its huge proportions. Never he | fore hail the diver more need of cool ness and nerve, together with his wit* almut him. He spied a long layer of JA mud elose at hand, and he moved to*- ard it. The shark followed, gliding stealthily toward him. while a thril) of horror ran through his veins. With an iron bar he stirred the mud, which rose thick and fast altove him; the rlear, golden light of the water disap peared. and the diver escaped. "The only scare I ever had with a fish was when t first went down off the South American mast I had a great big erowlvar in my hand, which perhaps fell about a foot or eighteen Inches below my feet. Just leneath A me lay a huge cuttle-fish fast asleep. J Of course I did not see him. and the crowbar went clear through hiin. The cuttle-fish has a peculiar mode of at tack. lie discharges a black humor < which makes the water look like ink. The first thing 1 knew it was to black ' all around me I could not see my hand before my face. I couldn't imagina what had broken loose and I signaled to pull me up. The natives all laugh, ml and told me It was only a cuttle fish. Not long after the rutllefiah was worked ashore and there was my crow* I bar gone clear through him."—Ci'a rtnnati Enquirer.