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 <f the tr*e to tli 1 gnu lid is cut
w ay, causing the tree to spring back
into the air to its original position '
carrying the unhappy victim with it,
who is suffered to perish up there by
the flow process of starvation.
All these barbarities are practiced in
a country in close proximity to the
llritish settlement of I.ago. vet nothing
is done to prevent such an awful con.
dltion of things.
Tar and Feather.
This phrase, which distinguishes
the most ignominious of punishment
for offenses usually against society, is j
of considerable antiquity, as is the in- :
vention itself. It had its origin in
Europe. One n f Richard Cceur de
I,ion's ordinances for seamen was, j
"that, if any man were taken with '
theft or pickery, and thereof convicted, '
he should have his head pulled, ami j
hot pitch poured over his pate, and \
upon that the feathers of some pillow j
or cushion shaken aloft, that, he might
thereby l>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 <b> 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<l purpose.
A man's ruling passion is the key
to iiis character.
To rule one's anger is well; to pro
| vent it is better.
Make your enemies transient, an'l
your friendships immortal.
Practice flows from principle, for as
a man thinks, so lie will act.
There is a certain dignity to be kept
up in pleasure as in business.
J .one not thy own for lack of asking
for it. it will bring thee no thanks.
The best education in the world,
is that got by struggling to get a
living.
Have the courage to wear your old
clothes until you can pay for your new
ones.
Let us have faith that right makes
might, ami in that faith let us to the
end dar.* to do our duly as we under
stand it.
> 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 <lrecce, Africa
and Asia. And when we remember
that all these foreign stones were
brought into Rome during the inter
val between the end of the republic
and the time of '< n*tantine—a period
of between 11"" and 400 years—we
i an form some idea of the extraordina
ry wealth and luxury of the Itnjicrial
t'itv when it was in its prime,. "Where
is there any nvstern city that can show
within it a hundreth part of th° satne
architectural splendor? Not withstand
ing its unparalleled wealth and luxury,
and its command of the commercial re
sources of the earth, were all the pub
lic buildings of London to le destroy
ed, they would not yield in their ruins
as many columns of marble and gran
ite. worthy of the name, as one ancient
Roman place has left liehind.
Women of China.
Of all women in the world the ladies
of China are probably kept In the
closest 1 sin dago, for, while they are
compelled to render to their parents
an oltedienoe more alwolute than is
practiced in any country, with the ac
quisition of husbands they find them
selves committed not only to a complete
acquiescence in the wills of the-ir lords,
but also to a veritable Uindage to their
fathers and mothers-in-law. This last
consideration, coupled with the inexi
table doubt whether each will be the
only star to shine in her new sphere,
deprives matrimony of that charm
which generally surrounds It in the
eyes of maidens. Nuch a rex ersal of
the common order of things could only
exist in a country where the needle
points to the south and where men
wear petticoats.