1 Handle of Letters. Strange bow much •entiment Citing* like a frag re lit acent To the*© love letter*, sent in their pink covers: Day alter day they ratine. Feeding love'a tickle flame; Now, ibe has changed her name— Then, wo were lovers. Looaon the ailkon band Round the square bundle, and See what a dainty hand Scribbled to tin it Full of faceliona chat; Fancy how long alio aat Moulding the bullet* that Came with each billet Ah, I remember atill Time that I naod to kill Waiting the postman's shrill Heart-stirring wineries, Calling vague doubt* to mind. Whether or no I'd find One ho hud lclt behind, Of horepiatloa. Second* become an ego At thia exciting atagc; Two eager eye* tho page Scan lor a m.utile; 'llicn, with true lovor'a art, Study it part by pari, Until they know by heart Everything in it What ia it all about? Dnahea lor words left out— Pronouns beyond a doubt Very devoted. Howell* aho's joal begun ; Dob-on her heart baa won; Locker and Tennyson Frequently quoted. Ctiaa-eroas the reading goes, Rapturous rhyme and pro*©— Wi.nl* which 1 don't (uppoM laiok very large in Hooka on the ologita; Then there'a a tiny frieze Full of awecta in a squeeze, Worked on the margin. lautlr—don't panto to laugh!— That ia her autograph Signing thi* truce for half iler heart'* *urrender; Pnst-Hcriptutn, one and two — Dessert—the dinner's tbrm igb! Linking iho ' 1" and "You" In longings tender. Such is the type ot all Save 1 ne, and lei inn call Uriel notice to this small Note ma'ly written: Tia but a curd, you **c, Gently tnlorming me That it can never tie' This i* the mitten! Frank It Sherman, in the Century. AUNT PHILENA'S MONEY. There was by no mean* unity in the Jenkinson household. "Birds in their little nest* agree," a* we are told by the p was a large female, with a high color, snapping black eyes, and lip* which were halst ually Compressed until they were a mere thread. "Madam," said Mr. Jenkinson, a lit tle man with a head smooth and shin ing as .1 billiard-ball, a red none and a stiff moustache, "you will do as I or der you! Who is the master of this house you or mo?" The lady burst into tears. "Jenkinson," she sobbed, "you are a brute! To speak so to your w ~-w wife!" "Well, then, my dear," said Mr. Jen kinson, "do conduct yourself like a sen sible woman! Extend your hospitality In a gracious manner to my Aunt ITii lona." "ll—but," spattered Mrs. Jenkinson, "I don't want any Aunt I'hilenas here! I've only one spare chamlter. and that I need for Alexandra's school mate, Mi.* De Bourgoyne." "But what are we to do?" said Mr. Jenkinson. "She has written that she is coming. Can I turn my father's only sister out of my house?" "Can't we have her hoarded some where in the neighborhood ?" hazarded Mrs. Jenkinson. "She is a Jenkinson," said the gen tleman, loftily. "The Jenkinsons never endure slights." "Ma, don't be a fool!" said Miss Alex andra, drawing her mother cautiously aside. "You know perfectly well that pa always will have his own way. Let Aunt I'hilena come. You can easily manage matters so that she won't want to stay very long. I'ut the lumpy mat tress in the guest-chainlrer, and take down the paper curtain on the east side, so that the morning light will shine in; and chain up Bacchus under the window Bacchus how ls ail night; and don't have anything for dinner hut ■alt pork and potatoes the whole time she Is here." Mrs. Jenkinson smiled faintly, "But, Allie," said she, "If your pa "Ilush!" said Alexandra, imperious ly; "I'll manage it!" And so Aunt I'hilena arrived at the Jenkinson homestead -a little, with ered old woman, with a dried-up faro : likeun Egyptian mummy, a much worn silk dress, and a frilled cap. "IIo!" said Miss I'hilena ".So this' is my niece-by-marriage, is it? What's her name—Eliza? Well, Eliza, If you'll take an old woman's advice you won't wear such good gowns about the house every day. And this Is your darter eh? Alexander? Lund's sake alive! What did you want to give her a hoy's name for? She's a nice-looking gal enough, hut 1 don't think gals used to wear strings o' heads about their necks when / was young. And a store car pel, too, on the lloor! llain'tye never any rags that you could weave up? I could show Alexander how to manage a loom easy if—" The heiress of the Jenkinsons hither lip. "Alexandra, aunt, if you please!" she ventured to suggest. "It used to las Alexander when I was a gal," said this terrible old woman "and I'm too old it dog to learn new tricks. Where's llosea? I've come here especially to see llosea about the investing of my money." "Kh?" said Mrs. .lenkinson, her apa thetic face suddenly brightening into new interest. Aunt I'hilena chuckled. "So you thought I was poor," said she. Well, I ain't e no great inconve nience to you, Lb/a, I in/tihl prefer to sleep do\\ n stairs." Alexandra hastened t<> dr>~s the U*l with ruffled pillow-cases and the t>est linen sheets. Mrs. .lenkinson rushed out <>f the b.c k-dr to catch a chicken for dinner, and llosea sat amiably down to listen to Aunt I'hilena's finan cial perplexities. "ln\• sfinents. eh ?" said he, fis-ling his long moustache. "Why. Aunt I'hi lena. I didn't know you had property to in\est!" "Folks don't always know every thing," said the old lads oracularly. "Left to you. eh?" *aid her nephew. "Nome on it," said Miss I'hilena. "and some on it I've saved up here a penny and there a penny. And what little I've got, I mean to hold on to." "Where is it now?" Insinuatingly questioned Mr. .lenkinson. "Don't you wish you knew?" said Aunt I'hilena. closing one eye, and put ting her head on one side, like an eld erly magpie. "That's neither here nor there, llosea. What / want is an in vestment." "Government bonds'" suggested her nephew. "Don't pay interest enough." retort. <-d Miss I'hilena. with a grimace. "Nix |>er cent, bond and mortgage?' "Thire's always the possibility of foreclosing." said Miss I'hilena. "And I don't want no real estate on my hands." "t'he-apeake and Ohio I tail road?" "I haven't no faith in your railroad Iwnda," said Miss I'hilena, dubiously. "Adams' Express stock ?" "Ain't to le had." "Dank shares?" "The premiums is too high," shrewd, ly nodded the little old lady. "Well, 1 declare 1 don't know what to say!" said the pn/tied Mr. Jenkin son. "I'r'aps if you could wait a lit - tle—" "Oh, yes, I'll wait!" said Miss I'hile na; "and you can think it over. P'r'aps the president of the Mullein-stalk Dank, here, may know of some good investment. Hut it must l>e grxxl, mind you, llosea. or I'll have nothing to say to say to it. / ain't going to n.sk my money on none of your flash ! in-t.he-pan telegraph stocks or Western j mining shares." Ami HO Aunt I'hilena curled herself up on the l>cst coverlet, with Alexan dra's newest silk quilt spread over her, to take a before-dinner nap. "Hosoa," whispered Mrs. Jenkin son. "why didn't you tell me she had property ?" "Didn't know it myself," said Mr. Jenkinson. "How much is it?" • "Haven't an Idea." "It must le a deal, ma," said Alex andra, "or she wouldn't be so independ ent. Why, she actually told me iny Kensington work was hideous, and said she wouldn't givo iny wax house-room." "Only to think, my dear, of your be 'r,K •'"> heiress!" said Mrs. Jenkinson, ecstatically. "Do you suppose it's ten thousand dollars, pa?" said Alexandra, in ao. cents of suppressed emotion. "I wouldn't wonder if it was twen ty," said Mr. Jenkinson, with a little sound in his throat, as if he were swallowing something too big for him. "Or thirty—or even fifty!" said Mrs. Jenkinson. "There's alisolutely no j telling how inueh these eccentric old ! females may have hoarded up. How lucky it was that she came here! And you must write and put Miss De Hour goyne ofT, Alexandra. All our atten tion and time must lie devoted to Aunt I'hilena now." "Dear old lady!" said Miss Alexan dra. I love her already." Miss I'hilena Jenkinson spent the summer at the farm, and a hard sum mer it was for her nephew and his family. The chickens were all killed, because their matutinal crowing disturbed the old lady's slumbers; the barn was moved down into the meadow below the swamp, because the cows would persist in lowing at untimely hours, and seasons; the trees which shaded the house were mer< iiessly leveled by the gleaming axe, Ix-cause Miss i'hile na declared that they harbored mosqui toes and bred blue mould. The entire household was put on a vegetarian diet, and compelled to eat Graham bread, and drink cold water The president of the Mullein-stalk Hank was brought up in Hosea's bug gy-wagon on an averageof once a week to talk finance, and Miss I'hilena mailed mysterious letters at intervals to tiie secretary of the Treasury, the officials of most of the metropolitan trust companies, and ail the prominent bank-officer- whom she had ever heard of. I loses Jenkinson went about mus ing dei ply on percentages and proiit*. Mrs. Jenkinson's plump face assumed a troubled and careworn expression. Alexandra herself to wonder what she should ever do with so much money when she came into jx>s*essioti of it. And summer waned into autumn, and autumn froze and congeabsl itself into winter.and the Jenkinsons -ettbsl into a state of the most abject slavery and Is.ndage to the terrible old woman who talked and dreamed, night and day, of nothing but her money. I "ntil ■ ne day she died. .ill the neighleirs rallied to the funer al. Even tin- presi lent of the Mul lein-stalk lank drove througli the snowdrifts to la- present at the ( u seqnies. "And I" think." said he, "that she died without having found a suitable in\- vtinent for that money! I'rrhaps I can Is- useful to Mr. Jenkinson, for of course he will tie tlx legatee"" "Don't say a word." said old Deacon I-idgertleld. with a chuckle,. "The family are all up t.irs in a terrible pucker. They've had Law yer • "rocker read the will. And how much d'ye a'jHise the old woman lias left?" "I am sure I cannot guess." said the I .ink president ".left a hundr- 1 and fifty dollars." s.a'd Deri*hcd all the hopes which the Jenkinson family had so fondly entertained of in hcriting a fortune! What Mio Ought to Have Said, At a dinner party, a young and gab lant fellow .asked a Western girl to par take of some cake, and received the reply "So, I don't w ant no more. I have had a genteel sufficiency and my stom ach is diabolically full." "You shouldn't say that," remarked alb is ton girl. "You should ejaculate, 'By no means, sir; iny gastronomical satiety admonishes me that I have ar rive! at the ultimate of culinary deg lutition consistent with the hvgenic code of Esculapius.'"— Hoosier. An Incorrigible Hoy. The Philadelphia youth is growing more and more precocious. An up town I grammar school boy liecaine so olwtrep erous, that his teacher, new in her vo cation. young and pretty, determined to try the plan of keeping him In. After school, she sat with grim deter mination until it became dark, and then she let. hlin depart What was her astonishment at the gate to ond the youth awaiting her. He greeted her with : "It's too dark for a young lady to l alone on the streets. Will you allow me to see yon home ? " England's wheat crop grows smaller every year. A FIMH WITH A WEAI'OJI. on Vraifia Illustrated In Hntmm He lliarkable In IH7I the little yacht lied Hot, bf New lied ford, Mass., engaged In sword flailing, was struck by one of these fishes so effectually as to sink h<-r. She was ultimately hauled up and af terward used by Prof. Hairdin the ser vice of the Fish Commission. A Glou cester schooner, the Wyoming, on her way to George's Hunks, in IH7. r i, was struck at night by a sword-fish, the sword penetrating the hull to a dis tance of two feet. The shock was dis tinctly felt by the captain. The lisli finally broke away, leaving its weapon, that if it had pulled out would have undoubtedly gunk the vessel As it was, she leaked badly. J. F. Garwood, master of the HriU ish brigantine Fortunate, reported an in dance similar to this. While on bis passage from the Hio Grande, this ship was struck by a large lisii, which made the vessel shake very much. Think ing the ship had been merely struck by the tail of some sea monster, he took no further notice of the matter; but, alter discharging the cargo at Hun corn and coming into the Canada half tide-dock, he found one of the plank ends in tiie stern split, and, on closer examination, lie discovered that a sword-fish had driven iiis sword com pletely through the plank, four inches in thickness, leaving tiie point of the BWord nearly eight inches through the plank. The (ish in its struggle broke the sword off level with the outside of th" vessel, and by its attack upon Un ship lost nearly a foot length of the very dangerous weajsin with which it is armed. There is no doubt that this somewhat singular occurrem e took pla c when the vessel was struck, as Captain Garwood dc-c-rilied. A sword-fish weighing over four hun dred pounds struck th<• b-hing boat of < apt a o D. D. Tburlow, while In- was hauling a mackerel seine, off Fire Is land. and came near sinking her. The captain made several half-hitches around the weajion and Uie fish was secured, and M-nt to Fulton Market The sword was nearly four feet long. A few years ago the brig I'. M. Tinker was hauled up at the Norfolk ship yard for repairs, and uj>n examina tion it was found that the leak wac caused by a sword-fish, the sword being found broken off. forward the bands, alxiut si vteen feet al aft the fir< -f.it The fish, in striking tin m— el, must have come with great force, as the sword |H-nctrated the copjx-r sic .(thing, a four-inch birch plant, and through the tiuit-ers alsiut six inches m all ale.ui t-n im hi-s. It <•< urr-l in the morning when the ship .v < .ghtecn days out frcm Hio, and in the rough lorhood f Cape St. 11l j 111- --lie was pum|Mil alxiut four o'clock in the morning, and found free of w .it-r At six o'clock the same morning she was again pumped, when water was ob tained, are), on examination, it wa< found that she had made t< ri in- lies of water The men were kept steady a' the pump- until her arrival at Hirh tnond. and while there- and on her trip to Norfolk. Captain Dyer, of New Hedb-rd. had a curious experience some years ago. He struck a sword-fish from a thirty foot lxat forty miles smith-west of No man's Land, threw overlxiard the keg. tacked and stood by to the windward of it. When nearly abreast of it the man at the ma-d-hcad out two feet from the stern and just fielow the water-line. The sword went through the planking, which xvas of cedar an inch and three-quarters thick, into a lot of loose iron ballast, break ing off short at the llsh's h< ad. A numlier of lxiats, large and small. hax e been "stove" by sword-fish on our coast, but always after the fish hail been struck. The power of these fishes is incon ceivable. In the planking of the ship Leopard a sword was found that had pierced the sheathing one inch, then through a three-inch plank, and be yond that three and a half Inches into the hard oak timber. The men at work estimated that it would takcto drive an iron spike a similar distance nine heavy blows from a twenty-five pound ham mer. In an examination of the ship For tune, a sword was found that had lieen driven through the copper sheath ing. a IwiarJ under-sheathing, a three inch plank of hard wood, then through a solid white oak timlier twelve inches thick, then through another two and a half-inch hard oak ceiling, and finally through the head of an oil barrel, where it stop|ed, not allowing a drop of oil to escape. A solid shot could hardly have done much greater dam age. A good example of timber dam- aged In this way can be seen In th > museum of the J'liiladelphia Academy of Sciences. —■ - i TIIE Sqi'ATTEIt'M Itl.'SE. If* Mav** * S'ricnd Mr Ills Irrz Kvaitva A Hstters, Several weeks ago a party of revenue inen stopped at the rude house of an Arkansas "squatter." He saw at a glance who they wore, ami when they called to him, he Unified out to tiie lence. "How do you do, sir ?" said the com mander of the squail. "i'utty well, thank yer. Won't yer light an' hitch ?" "No, we are in something of a hurry. What is good land worth?" "I dunrio." "That's singular." "If mout bo te.- some folks, but It ain't ter me. Say thar, Jim" turning : to his son, "drive the sow outen the ! bouse, for she mout turn over the sugar trofl an' spill the young 'un." "Do you know a man in this* m-jgh j borhood named Hob Hlakemore?" "Is he got a sort o' moon eye on one side an' a sort o' rainy day eye on j tuther?" "That's the man, I believe." "Sorter walks like he didn't kere wiiar he was gwine, do he?" "Yes, from what I know of bitn he : does. "Sorter whines when be talks, like he was a longin' fur sutbin' be ant got?" "He's the man, 1 have no doubt." ' Wars a par o' shoes what was maiie bv Josh Simmons, with one In*. ] tinser way an' tutber thater way," making signs w itii Ids bands. "Thai's the individual. Where can I limi him?" "Well, ef ver kn >w bitn a well as I do yer ougbter know whar tolind him." "When did you see him last?" "Don't ric-oll<-'k the last time as well as Ido the fust. The fust time I ever seed hiin we fit. We fit till his wife she come, an' then till my wife she come, then we all fit Airier awhile we g.,t mixed up. an' rny wife she tit me an' his wife she fit him, an'—" "Well, we don't i an- anything about that. I'd like to know where we find Hob Hlaketnore." "I 11 tell you how ter find him ef that's whtit yer want .Sex- that hog path *" "Yes." "Wall, take that path till yer come ter ibo deer-lick. Bob's a mighty hunter an" yer air migtity likely s> r find him thar." "Suppose be isn't there?" "Then I ken tell yer 'ractly where he is." '•Where?" "summers else. Say, Jim, is tiie sow all right?" "Yes. pap " "Look here—" "Lix.kin' thar agin." "We want to go into the house." ••-artinly, come in," and the 4>arty dismounted and entered. After look ing around, and seeing nothing but a bed. a kettle, a sugar-trough < ralb- and a baby, they went away. After they had Ims-ii gone aw hile, a blanket in one corner of the room moved and Hob ltlakcmore's head ap|>oared. All the time the old "squatter" had lxeen en gaging the revenue men in conver sation. Hlakemore. who knew that tbgbt would Im- useless, was digging a hole in the dirt floor, and when lie bad crouched down and covered him self with the blanket, the boy, Jim, dis covered that the sow was "all right." .IrI'INMI TtlOPtl' r. A Trial of Horses at Heavy Pulling. In trials mad" not long ago at the Illinois industrial university it ss proven that a pair of more than or dinarily powerful farm horses, one weighing alxmt 1,250 pounds and the other over 1,400 pounds, at a 'Mead pull" drew 1,000 and 1,025 each. This was done when the Itand was tight ened so that the straightening of the traces gave the horses the benefit of their own weight With loose band, allow ing the trace* to rise naturally, each horse drew 300 pounds leas. These horses were loth well shod. Another horse of about the same ap parent strength as these, but unshod, could only draw 675 pounds with tight i . liand. In each case the horse was > hit lied to the end of a rope about 150 feet long, having the twneflt of the at retching of the rope as a relief from > . a "dead pulL" The maximum strength I seemed to lie exerted at each trial, all the horses being accustomed to heavy > | pulling. i The Kerentera-year Locusts Hue In 1884. The seventeen-year locust is not, as many suppose, several years late. He Is duo In 1884. Everybody knows the insect which buzzes and hums from the limbs of our trees. The veins in its wings mark a Won its back, and its note is ii< ard at intervals of about three minutes. This Is the common '■i'fuUi autumuallM. It is with us ev ery year. Its brother, the seventeen year visitor, has the W in red veins on its back and is a little smaller. It comes in great swarms, but does no great amount of damage. Popular prejudice is against the seventeen-year year locust It is firmly believed by some that great mortality prevails dur ing its stay, and that its hite is fatal. These ideas are erroneous as most pop ular entomological theories. The cto da Krj>(tm-d"nrn is a queer insect. The sexi-s only live long enough to mate. The male ds sin a day or two, and the female, with a spur, which is car - ried beneath the abdomen, punctures a small branch of a tree with little holes. An eg/is then deposited in each hole- The mother diet in eight or ten days, and the eggs bateh by themselves. The larva- fall to the ground and com ■ mence to dig. K entuslly these em - hryo insect* find their way to the ut termost roots of the tree. There they exist for sixteen years and a few months, undergoing development into the perfect lis ust. Their food is the sap of the tree. In seventeen years these return to the eartti and produce the young, which go through the same process. The locust eats nothing when above ground, le ing provided wotli no mouth. A sjx-cies of giant u .tsji, w in< ii < arris a jxiis .nous sting, is it- cneiny. among other lards and bca.sU. It stings tbeloeust and car ri<-s it underground to its nest. The belief that the locust's sting is fatal, arises from the fa-1 that j-ust that iias fallen from a branch ateive, and are stung by the wa-j. which is • linging toils victim uno*>s'-rved. The sting of this wasp is Siiriii-tuni-s fatal The 'in da tr'-il'ii-i,, or thirteen-year lo custs. an- smaller specimens of the red veined cicada, wli - h conn* lx-fore the main army; some "f them are with 11s now . The farmer might w ell rejoice securely in his growing crops if every irjse. t were as harmless as the so called locust, whose urn pie voire through the summer woods is only a part in the Oongloim-rati n <-f la.y summer sounds. • llaltimort .*. A Itamrnl Through the Head. A rather remarkable prophecy was l r ,ght prominently to light hv the late Tn hiorne - laimant Karly in the wvciiti-i nth century I.aly Tichborae 1 • gi;ed "f Iter husband to < reate a dole for the p- ->r; that he should set aside a portion of land, the pristurt of which should lx- givn them. Tin- lady at the time w.i- *:.k in Im.;. and not ex pected ti live long. Her husband, to avoid the gift if possible, l"ld her he would give all the ground she would walk over. In spite of her enfeebled condition and the 111 mediate danger of death, she left her l*sl and actually crawled over several acres of good ground, and was carried back to her b