LADIES' DEPARTMENT. Th Hlftrk-Farrd IVoninii of Alaska At Juncan, says a correspondent, the Women and children tripped down in their hare feet, and sat around on the dripping wharf with a recklessness that suggested pneumonia. eonsuni|>- tion, and all those kindred ills from which they suffer so severely. Nearly all of the women had their faces blacked, and no ono can imagine any thing more frightful and sinster on a melancholy day than to bo confronted by one of these silent, stealthy figures with the great circles of the whites of tlio eyes alone visible in the shadow of the blanket. A dozen tictitious reasons are given for this face blacking. One Indian says that the widows and those who have suffered great sorrow wear the black in token thereof. Another native authority makes it a sign of happiness, while occasionally a gig gling dame confesses that it is done to preserve the complexion. Ludicrous as this may scent to the bleached Cau casian and ladies of rice powdered and enameled countenances,the matrons of high fashion and the swell damsels of the Thlinket tribes never make a canoe voyage without smearing them selves well with the black dye that they get from a certain wild root of the woods, or with a paste of soot and seal oil. On sunny and windy days on shore they protect themselves from the tan and sun-burn by this same inky coating. On feast days and the great occasions, when they wash off the black, their complexions come out as j fair and creamy white as the palest of their Japanese cousins across the ; water, and the women aro then seen | to be some six shades lighter than the tan-colored and coffee-colored lords of their tribe. The specimen woman of Junean wore a thin calico dress and a ; thick, blue blanket. Her feet were bare, hut she was compensated for that loss of gear by the turkey-red parasol ! that she posed over her head with all the complacency of a Mount Desert la-lio. She had blacked her face to tho edgeof her eyelids and the roots of her hair; she wore the parure of silver 1 nose-ring, lip-ring and ear-rings, with five silver bracelets on each wrist, and fifteen rings ornamenting her bronze fingers, and a more thoroughly proud and self-satisfied creature never ar rayed herself according to the behests of high fashion. Hot* l.*lle* If* ml krrrh lr fa < aiur Info A wart on Anne Boh-yn's rusk made j a certain neck-lace fashionable; and now we are just told that Josephine's poor teeth introduced nice white hand kerchiefs to the ftrau moit'le: A correspondent of the Paris Am> ri- j can lity Liter writes: I have so often heard French persons criticise the un willingness of English and American ladies to name certain articles of the ' feminine toilet that I was delight"], a i few days ago, in pursuing some old chronicles, to find out that it w is pos sible for the French to lie quite as prudish as we. I'ntil the reign of the Empress Josephine a handkerchief was thought in France so shocking an ob ject that a lady would never have; dared to use it before any one. The word, even, was carefully avoided in refined conversation. I doubt if even to-day French elegantes would carry handkerchiefs if the wife of Xapolmn I had not gi\en the signal for adopt ing them. The Empress Josephine.al though really lovely, had ugly teeth. ' To conceal them she was in the habit ' of carrying small handkerchiefs a dorned with costly laces, which she continually raised gracefully to her lips. Of course all the ladies of the court followed her example, and hand kerchiefs have rapidly become an im portant and costly part of the feminine toilet; so much so that the price of a single handkerchief of the trosseau of the Duchess of Edinburgh would inako the fortune of a necessitous i family. / fMhlon Hole*. Charles IX ana Louis XI shoes art worn with dressy house toilets. ('report- veiling is a new crape-like wool fabric for evening wear. There is an effort on the other side to revive alpaca as a dress fabric, (Doves In shades of brown anil tan will lie worn with all sorts of dresses. Duckies are very much admired when ustsl with straps for fastenings. Cloth is combined with velvet ami velveteen for tailor-made walking suits. Black velvet is worn to excess for carriage and afternoon reception toi- I Icttes. The marriage I*ll is displaced for the floral umbrella at alshtonalile New York weddings. llriilemaids must for tbo present Iress till in one color, pale rose lieing She favorite hue. Brocaded velvets for children's spec- iai wear come In small figures and nar row stripes. ( bull and aigrette pompons of silk and clu-nille figure among the novelties , in millinery. \ cry elaborately trimmed skirts are most frequently worn with decidedly plain jackets, and for fine figures the effect is very good. Due attention must be given to the contrasting of colors for effective toil etes, and it is essential that each cos tume have a hat to correspond. in velvet costumes the skirt Is no longer of brocaded velvet, but the figured material is used to make Un iting basque or Louis (piinzo coat, and the skirt is plain. Straiglitcoats in old surtout style are shown, made of black satin sub lime lim-d with ruliy plush and trim med with chenille applique bands and brandobourgs. The Moliero waistcoat of soft silk, belted at the waist line with a velvet licit and pearl buckle, or a heavy cord and tassel, appears on many rich im ported cost unies. Tho lower skirt of all new street costumes is full. Such skirts have a slightly gored front breadth, two very narrow gored side breadths, and two or four lireadth.H.accordingto the width of the goods gatheri'l or pleated to form the back drapery. Trimmings for wraps are excelling ly varii-dand beautiful, including niag nillcent designs in applique, of velvet, j chenille, and plush, costly black laces .in Spanish, Flemish, guipure, and \ purely fanciful patterns, rich and | elaborate passementeries, silk cords, ! tassels, pendants, and buckles and i slides of innumerable sizes, qualities -1 shapes and prices, How She Ibd Him. A very amusing story is told in the | (I'aderliorn) (lermany papers. A ru ! ral couple in a village near that place had taken out their license f--r m.ir ; riage. Being well known to the ofii i cer who had to unite them in the holy 1 I Kinds of niatrim my, he, in order to facilitate matters, made the entry in the register ln-fore the knot had been tied. Very soon after the happy cou ple appeared on the scene. The otfi- I eial went to work with alacrity, lie put the w ell known question, "Hilt thou take so and so," and was dund founded to hear a "No" ringing from ; the lips of trie groom, who explained 1 this by saying that he hail heard s-une | thing about his bride. Demonstrating with the hard-hearted groom was of no avail, and the couple left. The official was in a quandary what to do with his register and how to get names erased therefrom without run j tilating his records. The girl, after leaving the official's presence, upbraid jis I the fellow soundly, and told him j that In- had acted mean, very mean, I toward tier; that it might Is- easy enough for him to get another wife, but that after what he had d-me would become public, it would Is- a hard matter for her to find another man who would lie willing to become her husband. And she followed up her | argument : "If you would go hack with me now and give me a chance to say no, also; then, of course, people j will nut think so hard of me, ami I j might find a husband afterwards, too." I The mean fellow Imcaino mollified and 1 assented to her proposition. Si they wended their way ba. k to the official. | The official was glad to see them, and said so, when he heard the groom say, "We have changed our mind." Si again the fatal words were put: "X. X., wilt thou," etc., etc., and "yes" came from her pretty lips. -No. no," said the groom, "that is against our understanding." Hut the oilii iul, haj>- py to kn--w that his record would not now lie mutilated, without paying any attention to the waitings of the groom, pronounced them man and wife. The sequel of this story has not yet lieen told. Ageit 12:! Years. In a hut on a narrow street in the French village of Aulierinc-cn-Royans lives a woman whose age is declared on evidence which the Lnd-n l.au"t ac ccpts as authentic to lie 12D years. Her marriage certificate shows that the was married one hundred years ago last January, .she lias no infirmi ties except slight deafness, and she Is comparatively erect. She was a "can tiniere" under the First Empire and lost two sons in the wars. She is sup. ported entirely on the alms of visitors who come from great distances to see her, anil in her household work she is assisted by her neighbors. She lives almost exclusively on soup made with bread .and containing a little wine or brandy. A Dr. Bonne, who practices in the neighborhood says that she is never ill. Moreover, she is not one of the prodigies who thrive in spile of dirt and neglect, hut is of scrupulously clean habits. i A NAVAME CORONATION. Ilorrlltle I'rartlr.a al (|l Installation of I an African Hln(. When a king of Dahomey dies the ! ' head of the deceased king la immodl i ately severed from tliohody and placed ■ in a vessel containing palm oil, .suit ; , and peppers, where it is retained, usually for years, until required for , ceremonial uses pertaining to future coronations. The tongue of the de ceased king is removed from his mouth j rf the same time and placed with the ad, where it is reserved for another purpose—namely, the form called "eat ing the king." Those preliminaries over, the num ber of slaves required for sacrifice, and j the amount of money for the rum, gin and tobacco to he consumed, are col- j lected. When all is thus ready, a deep grave is dug under a tree possessing a low branch overhanging the spot se lected for tin- grave. A slave is then brought forward and placed in a basket with a cover to it. In this cover is an aperture through which the head of the deceased victim appears when the top is d"sml down. The slave thus j enclosfsl is forced to sit in a cramped | position, his knees being for' ed up well 1 to his chest. At the bottom of the i | basket is a loop or hook. A signal is then given, and the has -1 ket is turned upside down, and a rope , having been attached to the hook or ' loop, it is hauled over the branch re ferred to above to such a height that j the executioner can sever the protrud ing head from the vh tim's Uidy. The hc;ul t fins falls into the grave beneath. I lie I asket remains suspended as long as blood Hows from the body, and eventually the dei upitaled contents are carried to a plio e in the forest close by, when they are thrown, to Is quickly torn to pieces by the- wild beasts and vultures. Miuilar sacrifices are repeated from | time to time until the Isittom of the ! grave is literally paved with heads and 'saturated with blots I. In this condi tion it forms the foundation on which to place the dead and le-a lies- body of the deceased king, wrapped in eight sheets of various lines. Ills predecos stir's liead is then brought from tin* vessel in w hich it was placed and put on tfit- headless trunk. Afterward the grave is illhsl up with the heads of more murdered slaves. Thus ends the lirst part •>( the coronation. The de ceased king being thus put under ground, his succc-sor has something more to do ere he can reign. The in stitution called "Je ttl.a" has tobej>er formed. ".Ic" meaning to eat. "Oba" the king. To pert -rill this, the Vessel of palm oil, salt and jiepjiers contain ing the tongue of the deceased king is brought to hi- successor, who tikes the tongue out of the Vessel and eats it in the presem c of a large assem blage. Having eaten his predecessor's tongue, he lias virtually "eaten the king," and has thereby completed the ceremonial n< i-s-ary to make himself kin_ f of I lahomey. other cruelties follow under the very eyes of the king, the form of tor ture and death lwing varbsl to please his savage taste. Thus a tree of great height and destitute of brandies with the exception of a few small ones at the top, is climbed Iv a man with a rope in line hand and a sword in the other. I'pon reaching tlis- f< phe ruts off the soft green top of tile tn-e. and I then cross-slits the stem longitudinally ' downwards to the extent of about one foot. s > that the stem Opens. He then : secures ttie rope to the top of the tree and descends. The rope is hauled at until the >q|i' is *<• bent downwards | that its top is close upon the ground. The victim's head is then placed in the slit in the stem, and securely fastened there with ro|w> ami string, and when the king is ready the rope which binds I the top e known for a thief, and at the next arrivals of the ship to any land be put forth of the eompany to seek his adventures, without all hope of return unto his fellows.* 1 PYRAMIDS AND OBELISKS. Arr (tar 4>rrnt Noiiuinotila r f Hlour 01 I uiif rrlr. It would lie u singular outcome if it i he eventually demonstrated that the pyramids and obelisks of Egypt are only masses of concrete. A writer in the Nflrntijlc A tii' iii int asserts that the olieli.sk in New Vork is composed of concrete, the course portions being pulverized granite. The idea that the mass might be concrete was first sug gested by a peculiarity of the hiero glyphics which have the appearance of being moulded instead of being cut. The column was then tested and found to he composed of hydraulic cement j and powdered granite. It is the I opinion of the correspondent, who has ! a practical knowledge of cements, that the obelisk was moulded in an upright position, the moulds producing the heiroglv phies being rut in wood and forming part of the retaining box, as the rom-rete was laid up layer after layer, as rapidly as it set. A recent writer claims that the vast I stones of tiie pyramid are blocks of concrete. If this is true it settles the vexed question In mechanics as to the i method of raising such enormous stones to the height of the great pyra i mid. A eompany of hod carriers by a single journey could carry to the sum mit suflleient to make one of the im mense blocks. Taking this view of the matter the v ast inclined planes which have been constructed in the imagina tion of engineers to carry aloft the huge stones would be unnecessary. It is a fa-'t that the ancient world made a building cement which was a hard and durable as stone. The cement in the structure of am nut Rome sulli ciently indicates the superior skill of tiie ancient masons. No cement equal to that of the ancient times has yet been man if act u red. The hydraulic cement of anrient times, stiffened with pounded and sift ed granite, would prove very durable under the r.ainles kiesof Egypt. In no other country have ancient monu ments such a lease of existence as in Egypt. Rain water is a corrosive force and it slowly disintegrates the i hardest rocks. When fro-t is added, the force of disintegration Iss'omes so potent that the destruction is very marked. In Egypt there is neither rain nor frost, andthe monuments are only worn away by storms of sand. The impart of sand will eventually level the monuments of Egypt, if they are not nrst burned by it. The pvra* inids show the waste of tiie ages, and whether they lm built up of concrete or fashioned from granite Lb* k*. they must eventually • rumble. 'slealintr a brave nie Washington correspondent of the Boston Trnrtllrr says Tiie regi ment of the army of the I'umlw-rlund, Known as the Indiana .lay hawk< rs. vv ,n about as pro} ejent as any vve had. but the Eighth Mis-oiiri. which was eonimamb-d bv tbncral Morgan L. Smith, certainly Is-at anything I ever met They would steal anything, and it did not make any difTen nee wheth er they had any use for it or not. Win n they were in front of Vicks hurg they actually stole a grave, and it hajquned in tins way. The Eighth Missouri was enraiii|>ed alongviue of my command. Due of our men died dur ing the night, and I gave orders that a detail be sent to dig a grave. The ground was of hard elav and it took the men some time t>> complete tlu-ir work. They returned to camp, and we took the ile, t! "obl.'-r to his last resting place. When vve arrived we found the grave tilled and a mound showing that somelssiy had evidently been there. I'pon investigation I af ! terwards ascertained that one of the Eighth Missouri had also died during the night and they had vvailisl until j ' my men had hnislu-d their work, when they- actually stole our grave. Why. those men would steal anything- even a march on the enemy, and candor com pels us to say that they were particu larly good at it. Thrilling. "Do you think that Prof. Buncombe j will have a large audi nee at his lecture this evening ?" inquired a gen man from San Antonio to his travel i ling companion. "Hardly think he will," answered the other, "for I see by this hill here I that it issta ed 'lie carries his audience with him.' Must Ist a boy who trims the lamps." "(), no, you are mistaken. That statement a!>out carrying his audience j with htm means that his lecture is so ! thrilling that his audience follows him j with the closest attention. Ever hear j him?" "Yea, I heard him once, and one part of it was exceedingly thrilling." "What was that?" "When I was obliged to yield up a half dollar at the door."— Styling*. Sketching With a Hot Poker. "In 1845," said a Fifth avenue, New Vork, art dealer to a Tribuni reporter, "there lived in the city of Boston a worthless vagalsmd named Halden, a man who had seen better days. He was an artist - had wonderful talent, and during his periodical sprees would devote himself assiduously to his pecu liar work, though lie was never known to do anything while sober. A wealthy banker, who had known him in his younger years and knew of ins genius, would Indulge him in the prosecution of his work and aided hiin in many other ways. He was also acquainted with Halden's peculiarities and knew the lit of application never came over him when sober. Indeed, on several occasions he had gone so far as to treat him to a drink in order to get him to vvurk. Halden's portraits were th* ; I Isist specimens of his art, and they i were marvels of correctness. They were generally burned on a thin board of bird's eye maple, with a red-hot of the ordinary shape, after > which they received two coats of var nish which was put on to preserve them, and .set in deep, heavy frames. Ho called them 'Poker sketches,' and on the back of each was burned this inscription: 'This sketch was burned with a poker -—Halden, seulpsit.' "His likenesses were striking, and tiie three of them now in ' although executed from memory, are perfect in every respect. He had seen , ; Webster only once .n his life, but the portrait vvhieh he burned with bis hot jsiker lias been pronounced one of the truest likenes-es ever -.-en of the great statesman. Webster's strong features and dark complexion admirably suited the character of the work, which lias a peculiar l-rown appearance when flnished. His picture of < lay is owned i by ins banker friend, who also once owned the other two, but presents! them to -oine southern friends. One of them. >hakepeare, i- in tiie pn-scs-ion of Francis Fontaine, commissioner of emigration of rgia. Webster was pre-ented to a humor .u- writer of tie same state, and now hangs in his par lor. an object of wonder and admiration to visitors, "I'oker sketr he> are durable, and will la-t for centuries. In doing them it is literally a > ase of 'burn while the iron i- hot' one mistoiich of the jM.ker ruin* the board; there is no era sure, no wiping out. A' • ard so spoil ed, the only remedy i- t<• begin on an other and the whole tiling ov-r again." A Mlnerul Cariosity. At the Herald office is . curious j specimen of ore that excites peculiar at tention. It i-a r< k strongly impregnat ed with |' Iroleuiu, ir- n, and gold. This mine i- in I.os Angeles county, aisiut eighty miles north of Los Angeles city, and is a most remarkable combination. The sample shows rub iron ore wit h fre. gold, and a strong smell of |etroleu!n. How tiie rock i- to l>e red need we are riot prepared to -tate. It is a question whether the ore, if put in an ordinary furna< e, with the preseiiee of petrole um in the rock, would not destroy tiie iron liefori reducing the ore. It mav is- that a moderate r--anting of the ore would exjiel the petroleum before plac ing the ore in the furnace. The com bination is so peculiar and unusual that the ordinary process will probably not apply, and some new method of treatment w ill have to be devised. From the character of the country,and the vast deposit of petroleum that exists beneath the mim ral rocks to the north of this city, it is evident that a large amount of the mineral-Waring rock is impr< gnatisl with oil, and experiments should lie made to ascertain how this re duction -hoiiid be carried on. In the nortb part of the county is a vast i amount of this kind of ore, rich in I gold, and it may be impregnated with pet roleum. /aw .1 tr/i /.1 1 '/.) Herald, Chances in the Earth's Snrfare. Attenti >n lias been railed by M. J. (Jirard totlu MipjH.-isl changesof level of the earth's surface in certain parts of Europe. Villages in the Jura which were hidden from each other no longer than forty years ago have gradually risen m sight, while in a village in Bohemia the inhabitants now see bnlf of a distant church spire of which only the top was visible thirty years ago. The apparent rising of these places must, it is thought, be a result of the warping of the solid crust of the earth. To detect further changes in the Bohemian locality a line of levels has lieen run. Slightly Sarcastic. Ilride*, as a rule, find it a new and rather unpleasant sensation to accept money from their husbands immediate ly after marriage. Hut an all-wise Providence provides for such matters, and In the course of time this feeling gradually wears away. Philadelphia Call. PEARLS OH THOUGHT. JTo who lives to no purpose live* to a ha It is not until we have passed through the furnace that we are made to know how much dr'ss there is in our cuiupi-siti'-n. A man never knows what a weak, fickle and uncertain master he has in himself until he is at liberty to govern his own life as he pleases. Some people carry their hearts in 1 their heads; very many carry their 1 heads in their hearts. The difficulty is to keep them apart, yet lioth actively ! working together. Tl truly great and good in afflic tion hear a countenance more princely than their wont; for it is the temper of the highest heart to st rive most upward when it i< most burdened. The Marbles of Ancient Rome. Profuse as were the ancient Romans in th< :r general oxjs-nditurc, upon no objects did they lav ish their wealth so extravagantly as upon their favorite marhhs and precious stones for the decoration of their public buildings and their private houses. No effort was spared that Rome might be adorned with the richest treasures of the mineral kingdom from all parts of the world, .•slaves and criminals were made to minister to this luxury in the various quarrm* of the Roman dominions, which were the penal settlements of ant. piitv. The antiquary l icoroni eount'sl the columns in Rome in the year 17<*'. and he found no less than MUSI existing entire, and yet these were lint a very small proportion of the nuinlier that must once have Ix-en there. The palaces and modern churches of Home owe all their orna ment- to this passion of the ancients. There is not a door step nor a guard stone at the corner of the meanest court in Rome which is not of marble, granite, or porphyry from some ancient building. The very streets in the newly laid parts of the city are ma cadamized with the fragments of cost ly baths and pillars. 1 took up one day. out of mere curiosity, some of the road metal near the church of >anta Maria Maggiore. and I identi fied in the handful no less than a dozen varieties of the most 1-eautiful marbles and |s>rphyries from