— in re m——— > Re ! THE KEY OF CHRISTMAS LAND, [Who has the key of the Christmas Land? b Where the bonfire shines, And the holly twines, Carnllers sing—a merry band— . And stars are bright o'er that fair strand i Who has the key of Christmas Land? Tight are the hearts in Christmas Land; { In each group you meet There are faces sweet, Bosoms young and guileless are there, ; Aud brows not yet wrinkled with care— ! Who has the key of Christmas Land? Dear baby hearts in Christmas Land, Wa want to be near, And join in your cheer ‘When the tree with its strange fruit bends, And you wait for what Santa sends—y Who bas the key of Christmas Land? Lovo has the key of Christmas Land, Oh? come, Cherub Love, With wings like the dove, Spread over hearts thy light of peace, Sow for a harvest full of increase— Open the gates of Christmas Land, Open the gates of Christmas Laud; There is much to do And the days are few, Bid all men set Charity free; By thy grace, let us see there be None of God's poor in Christmas Land. — William Lule. A MAD CHRISTMAS BY E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM. If there is ohe thing more than another when a bachelor commences to doubt whether his state of single blessedness is the most desirable form of existence itis at Christmas time. The joys of the sea. son are essentially domestic joys; and every one is either looking forward to convivial meetings with a circle of rela- tions and friends or a happy reunion with his own family. At such a time a middle-aged bachelor with no relations feels rather out of it. Now, although I must plead guilty to ten years of bachelorhood, I never was one of the misanthropical type. I was sirigle (observe the past tense) not from principle, but merely from force of cir- cumstances, and I was never addicted to shutting myself up with my books and a cat, and growling cynical remarks at the pleasure seeking world. Oa the con- trary, I am of a somewhat jovial disposi. tion, and was always fond of society. Christmas time I liked to spend at a jolly country house, and could turn my mind to charades, dancing, romping with the villagers or children, conjuring and many other accomplishments. In fact, I may say with fine modesty that I once heard myself described by a couatry hostess as an ‘“‘extremely useful sort of oan.” The idea of speading Christmas in any solitary rooms, with only my landlady and her domestic to talk to was a con- tingency which I had never contem- plated for a moment; but last year I wna very neatly brought face to face with it. I generally had at least two or three invitations to select from, and choee the one where I should be likely to meet the most interesting set of people; but on this occasion my usual invitations did not arrive. The Har- woods, with whom I had Jpeat the Christmas before, had lost a child, and were in mourning; the Houldens were wintering st Nice (Mrs. Houlden was delicate) and at Houghton Grange both the girls were married, and the Christ- mas house parties were things of the past. These were my stock invitation; and as I recollected others among my circle of acquaintances to whom some- thing or other had . happened since last year it slowly dawned upon me that if I desired to avoid a Christmas in Lon- don I had better make arsangements to remove myself either to a northern hy- dropathic establishment which I had occasionally honored with my presence, or to a Brighton hotel, where I was sure of falling in with some pleasaat com- pany. Just as I had arrived at this melancholy decision, however, a letter arrived which afforded me the greatest : > A “WITH MY BACK TOWARD THE ExoIse.’ satisfaction, It was an invitation to spend a week or two with my old friend, red Halleton, at his place in Leicester. shire; and with the vivid recollection before me of a pleasant Christmas speat at Gaulby Hall some three years ago, 1 lost no time in penning a cordial assent to the welcome invitation. A few days Igtor beheld me, followed by a porter carrying my various impediments, on the platform of St. Pancras, pre mpping leg round my knees aod unfoldiag to see me, however, and greeted me warmly. “I'M GOING TO CHUCK WER DOWN.” During our drive to Gaulby I hazarded a fow remarks, with a view to ascertain. ing what sort of a party there was col- lected at the Hall, but I got nothing de- finite out of him, He was quite unlike his old self, and I came to the conclusion that he must be ill. As we droveup the avenue I leaned out the window to gaze at the fine old mansion, and it struck me at once as looking cold and uninviting, while the grounds were certainly very much neglected. Something seemed wror g all round, and I began to feel al. most sorry I had come. We overtook Mrs. Haliston at the hall door, just re- turned from a walk. She was as gracious and as pleasant as she had ever been to me, but I farcied that I could detect in her manner and appearance something of the ill being which seemed to exist around her. We all three entered together, and the moment we passed through the door I felt convinced that my expectations of a jolly Christmas party were doomed to dis- appointment. There were no decorations | about, only one doleful looking servant | and apparently nothing stirring. I felt sure something was wrong, but at any rate 1 consoled myself with the reflection that I had lost little by coming, asit had been a choice between here and the | hotel. Bat, all the same, I did not fee! particularly cheerful as I followed the doleful looking servant upstairs, slong wide corridors, across passages, upstairs things to witness when they do come on. *‘I should imagine so,” I assented, de- voutly hoping a fit was not then pend. ing. Soon I wanaged to make my adieu, and with a sigh of relief found myself once more in the hall, I made my way to Eurdett's room, but he had gone to bed, and seeing it was nearly 11 o'clock, I decided to go to bed, and, preceded by a servant (I could never have found the way myself), I mounted again the wide stairs and threaded the numerous passages which led to my room. It was at the end of a wide cor- ridor, on either side of which were six doors, “Does any one sleep up herel” I asked the man as he bade me good night. He pointed to a door exactly opposite mine. “*That is the master's room, sir,” he replied; and the one at the bottom end ms Mrs. Hallaton's. No one else sleeps in this part of the house. The servants’ rooms age all in the north wing." I am generally able to sleep at what. ever hour I retire; but it was early, and the fire looked tempting; so, instead of immediately undressing, I changed my coat for a smoking jacket, and, lighting a pipe, made myself comfortable in an easy chair. Soon I heard Mrs. Hallaton's light footsteps ascend the stairs, and the door of her room open and close, and a little while afterward Fred halted out. side my door to bid me a cheery good- night, and thea entered the room oppo- site, How long I sat there I cannot tell, for I fell into a heavy doze, and when I woke up with a sudden start it was with the wneisy consciousness that something unusual had awakened mp. I sprang to my feet and looked fearfully around. The flickering flames of my fire, almost burned out, were still sufficient to show me that no one had entered the room; but while I stood there with strained senses 1 heard a sound which made my blood run cold within me; and, although I am po coward, I shivered with fear, It was the half-muffled shriek of a woman in agony, and it carne from Mrs. Hallaton's room. For a moment I was powerless to move; then I hastily unlocked my door, and, hurrying down the corridor, knocked at hers. There was no answer, I tried the handle; it was locked; but, listening for a moment, I could hear the sound of a woman gasping for breath, I rushed back along the corridor to Fred's room. The door was closed, but again, and then down a long corridor, until at last we reached my room in the ! west wing. My surmses were correct, When | lescended, after prolonged and careful toilette, my host was lounging about in a shooting jacket aud he and his wife were the only occupants of the room. I] was the oniy guest. ! “I've something very serious to say to you, Neillson,” he mid slowly (Neillson 18 my name). “I'm going to make a confidant of you, If [ may, old man.” Ibowed my head and listened. “You haven't rotivel saything par. ticular about my wife, I don't suppose, if youl” he asked, with a searching Aace. | I admitted I bad thought her strangely | silent, and apparently having some anxiety weighing upon her mind. He laughed, a short unpleasant laugh, | and leaned over to me confidentially. “I rely upon your discretion, you know, Nelllson. [ woulda't have it | known for the world; but my wife is mad." “Mad!” I stared at him incredulously. ‘“Yes, mad,” he repeated impatiently. “It was the sun in India last year that did the mischief. She would expose | herself to it. The doctor whom I have | consulted advised me to send her toa | private asylum, but [ haven't the heart to do it. She's perfectly harmless, you know; but, of course, it's an awful trial to me." I stammered out an expression of sym- pathy. To tell the troth I scascsly knew what to say. I was bewildered at this painful explanation of the gloom which reigned over the house, Presently Fred closed his eyes and left me to digest thus strange and unweleome piece of news. I am naturally somewhat selfish, and be- fore very long my sympathy was diverted in some measure from my host to my- self. It occurred to me that it was by no means a pleasant prospect to be a guest in a house the mistress of which | was mad, It was not altogether kind of | Fred to invite me, I thought, under the | circumstances, without some explana- | tion of his wife's state. 1 began to feel | quite ac injured man. I was quite tired of my own company, and Fred was fast asleep. Bo I opened the door softly and made my way , pan tothe hall, As I passed an open door Mrs. Hallaton ap- peared and beckoned me in. had no alternative but to obey her invitation, “Mr. Neillson,” she said, in an agi- tated tone, ‘ss you are going to stop here for a day or two, there is some- thing connected with this housshold which you ooght to know. Has my husband told you anything?" [ bowed and told her gravely that I knew all, snd that she had my profound. est sympathy. Bhe sighed, “Perhaps you are surprised that 1 should ask whether Fred had told you,” she said, turning a little away from me, “It seems ‘range, doesn’t it, that one should be mad and be conscious of it? It only comes on in fits, sod they are terrible. She shuddered, and so, to tell the truth, did I. “Such a p of madness is probably not incurable,” I ventured to suggest timidly, *‘Incurable! of course it is not incur. able,” she answered, vehemently. 1 edged a little toward the ld had no ex In talking with jonas. tion, and felt anything but comfortable position. Mm, Hallaton | there, nor had | corroidor, [seo a light at the other end, and know- ing it mat lead into Mrs. Hallaton's unlocked, and I threw it open. “Fred!” I cried; but Fred was not the bed been slept on. A candle was burning on the dressing { table, and in the right hand corner of [the room was what appeared to be a | hole in the wall, bat when I stood before it I saw at once that it was a secret passage running parallel with the looking down it, I could room, I canght up the candie and bend. ing almost double hall ran, half crept along it, until I reached its other extremity aod found myself in Mrs. Hal- Iaton's room. 1 stood upright and glanced half eagerly, half fearfully sround. The room was empty, but the window directly opposite to me was open, and as my eyes fell upon it I stood pet. rifled with a dull sickening horror, sed the candle dropped with a crash from my nerveless fingers. There was a miniature balcony outside the window, and on this stood Fred Hallaton, hold. ing in an embrace, which was certainly not of love, the fainting form of Ms wife. The moon was shining full on his face, ghostly and demoniscal, with the raging fire of the madman in hie eyes sud the imbecile grin of the lunatic on his thin lips. In a moment the truth flashed upon me, and as I stood there grpiog and horror struck he saw me aad burst into a fit of wild laughter. “Ha, ha, ha! You Neillson? Whata joke! Bee what a glorious wiew of the grounds! Come and bead over, man; don't be afraid. Does the height make you dizsy?! It's made her;” and he motioned to the insensible figure of his wife, whom he still held clasped in his arms. “Do you know what I am going to do with her! I'm going to chuck her down there,” and he pointed to the pune den below, “A mad woman is of no use to anyone. Come and lend me a hand." Mechanically I rushed to the balcony aod strove to wrench from his encircling gasp the fainting form of his wife. Like a flwh his imbecile grin vanished and his eyes filled with ao : i i - - HH ! i it — and then my struggling feet seemed to ig with the earth, as with a wild yell of: ‘Leicester | Leicester!” I opened my oycs and sat up with a start. The per had slipped from my fingers, and the train was slowly steaming into Lelcester station, and there, standing upon the platform, smiling and robust, looking the very picture of health, was Fred Hallaton. That Christmas party at Gaulby Hall was the most enjoyable I was ever nt, and the people (the house was crammed full of visitors) the most entertaining and agreeable I ever met, There was one young person especially—a Miss Alice Pratison she was then——with whom Igot on remarkably well. I never enjoyed a visit so much in my life as I did that one, nor a ride so much as one afternoon when Miss Pratison and I, after a capital run, rode home together with her little hand in mine and our horses very close together. Next Christmas, if Alice doesn’t object, I mean to have a jolly little house party of my own. a, — ———— Christmas Carols. Musical specialists divide carols into two classes, the sacred and the secular, although there is a third, the words of which are a curious admixture of both, as for example: If the sun shines through the apple tree on Cristmas Day there will be an abundant crop the following year, Now the time is come wherein Our Bavior Christ Is born; The larder’s full of beef and pork The garner's filled with corn, The music is often excellent, many ot the carols being composed during the best days of the ecclesiastical masters, appear fugue, counterpoint, and even canon of excellent composition sod har. mony. They were originally sung in all the churches at Christmas time, instead of the hymns for the day, and in the rural districts of England this custom is still observed. But more frequently at pres. ent they are heard from the lips of stroll- ing bands of singers, while a solitary warbler sometimes serves recall the varroller in Dickens's Christmas story, who begins outside the door with “God bless you, merry gentlemen, may nothing you dismay." when old Scrooge cuts the song short with a ruler. Many collections of carols have been made, and some of them are really re- to | markable compositions, being fugues in three to six parts, and the words of not a few convey ancient legends, occasion ally remarkably poetical, both in idea and language, such as “The Carol of the Holy Well :"” All ander the leaves, the leaves of life, I met with virgine seven; And one of them was Mary mild, Our Lord's mother of Heaven. Ob, what are you secking, you seven falr maida, All under the les ves of life? Come teil, cowe tell what seck you All under the loaves of life, We're sooking for no leaves, Thomas, But for a friend of thine; We're soaking for sweet Jesus Christ To be our guide and thine, Christmas Hints. Buy no more than you can afford, Give no gift where you do not de- light to. Shop no more than you have strength for. Eatertain only within you means, Keep your Chnstmas nerve and muscle and heart and hope snd cheer fit for your own home, your own fireside, your dearest, your closest, your sweetost—and then for the homeless, the fireless, the unloved, the ‘‘undeared,” and be true, true, true to the last Christmas card that goes to your postoffice, or the last “Merry Christmas” that crosses your lips! the Couldn't Fool Santa Claas. Santa Claus—*'One of the boys has been trying to ring in bis father's stook- ing on me, but he's going to get badly left.” i ————— Christmas Proverbs and Saws. A warm Christmas, a cold Easter, A #vemn Christanag makes on fat grave. yard, If ice will bear a man before Christ. mas it will not bear him afterward. If Christmas finds a bradge he'll break it; if he finds none he'll make one, The would rather see his wife enter the stables on Christmas Day than the wun, Ville lscoua, and Yelp bs 80 Jack mt bis And Jennie to her i { solid and liquid, | tons of a pretty good phosphate. | mines and in not a few of these compositions | | graphs of the sun shows a SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL. Aluminum makes the best artificial limbs, There are six thousand pieces to a locomotive engine. Sixteen million horse-power goes to waste every hour at Niagara Falls, Few persons are aware that carbolic acid is combustible; but it is, neverthe- less. If your shoes trouble you by squeaking, drive a peg in clear through both layers, and it will stop all the annoyance. A translucent mineral substance, the color of amber and with properties of asbestos, is reported to have been dis. covered in immense deposits in the United States of Columbia. According to Bwedish papers the ex. pedition of Dr. Nausen to the North Pole | has been postponed until 1893. The de- lay is caused by the impossibility of sooner finishing the ship to bn used. The attempt to establish an observa- tory for meteorological purposes on the summit of Moat Blanc, Switzerland, re- cently abandoned owing to the thick crust of snow and ice on the mountain, is to be renewed. It 1s said that 1000 sheep will fairly enrich an scre of ground in twenty-four hours. Estimating that each would drop eight pounds of manure, At the newly discovered metalliferous | struck a | “blanket lead” of silver ore almost at the | in Texas, the miners into which they The re isa cr ywd wad speculators surface of the mountain had begun tunneling. of laborers, st hand. promoters The most interesting of recent photo. | 2 I remarkable in which vapors as. This minutes and disturbance, a height of soar cend to NU OO af eruption lasted fully fifte a Was accompanieg Oy LSUCHIRS compass necale. A Canadian electrician states that ele ticles, and jemonstrales A company has many to erect works for of the new explosive dahmen especially adapted for mine use, having more power than dynamite, at the time being perfectly harmless dinary circumstances, Kame under or- Many curious and pretty devices are ased for softening the electric light and adapting it to household use. A library. table lamp consists of an adjustable shell supported upon a graceful shaft, Other shells of mother-of-pearl are used spira | to soften lights for the ceiling. Hammerfest, the most northern town in Europe, has a night lasting from No. vember 18 to January 23. Near the town are three streams with current so | strong as never to freeze, and these have been utilized for electric light, which has been introduced into every house, On the estate of the Marquis de Ia. guna, in Spain, a water wheel of twenty. horse power runs a dynamo. Plowing ! by electricity has been proposed, and the | transmitted to a field where a motor on a The cable at. oh a current is to be three miles distant, plow is to be operated. tached to the plow is to be wound reel and drawn over the field. - ————— The Boomerang. The boomerang is an instrument used both in war and in the chase by the | aborigines of Australia, | obtuse angle, flat on one side rounded on the other holding the bent side downegrd, aod | hurls it forward as if to hit some object | twenty to twenty-five yards in advance. | | Instead of continuing to go directly for. | ward in accordance with the Newtonian | law, it slowly ascends in the air, whirl. | | ing round and round, describing a beau. tiful and geometrical curved line ull it | | terrible chills and fever prevailed. | begins to retrograde, finally sweeping | over the head of the projector, striking | the object for which it was intended, | | Wy | reaches a considerable height, when it | which is always in the rear. This surprising motion is produced by | inesifor th " in] a orp dontl the reaction of the air upon the bends | BY 7 prompily and scents and curves of the oddly-shaped missile. Lieutenant Breton, in hi= book en- titled ** Excursions in New South Wales and Western Australia,” has this to say of that singular weapon: “The boom. erang is one of the most curious weapons of war ever invented, at least by a bar. barous people, nor is it easy to compre- bend by what law of projectiles it is made to take the singular directions that it frequently does. [have seen a nalive throw one so as to make it go forty or fifty yards horizontally, and not more than four feat from the ground. It would then suddenly dart into the air to the height of fifty or sixty yards, de- scribe a very considerable curve and finally fall at his feet. In all cases, no matter how thrown, the boomerang keeps turning with great rapidity, like as if on a pivot, making a loud, whizzing noise all the while."—Si. Louis Republic, Pnenmatie Tabes for Passengers. A Hamburg (Germany) company has fo view a curious project. A pneumatic railway—prebably underground to be constructed between Hamburg and Buchen, a distance of fifteen miles, and ar to be sent lixe parcels the tube, making the trip in oleven minutes. The passenger the middle of the sole, | animal | there would be four | A SUGGESTION " 1 out of place. i " | making soap. It is usually | shout two feet in length, made of hard | wood bent into a curve resembling an | and | The method of | | using this curious weapon is wery pe- ! | culinr, The thrower takes it by one end, | HOUSEHOLD AFFAIRS. CAUSE OF SOGGY PUDDINGS. An inexperienced housewife who mourned that her dumplings and other boiled puddings were always soggy learned the cause ai cooking-school the other day. She bad put the mould con- taining the pudding into a kettle full of boiling water. Now she only puts enough water in the kettle to keep up a good volume of steam, never enough even to boil over the mould, The vessel in which the puddings are cooked is kept tightly covered so as to cook the top as thoroughly as the bottom, — New York Post, HOUSE LINEN, Do not permit table or bed linen to lie from year to year without being used. washing. If it is already very yellow, | cut up a pound of white svap in four quarts of milk; put it over the stove in a wash-kettle, and when the soap has dissolved, put in the linen and boil fif- teen minutes; then wash in soap-suds | and rinse in two ~lean waters, bluing the | last water slightly. | grass plot can whiten her choice linen | by simply rinsing in soap-suds and laying The possessor of a it on the grass for two or three days. | Rinse in clear water and dry on the line, and it will be sweet and fresh and white, — Lads’ Home Companion. SHUT-UP ROOMS, Having planned to give the rooms the life-giving light, see to it that everyone which is to be occupied at night is opened so as to get an unobstructed flood of it during the sunniest part of the day. The murmur comes back: *‘It will fade Very likely, but carpets your carpets. y not people for were made for people and carpets, and any right-minded mother would prefer to see the roses on her chil dren's checks than on her carpets when it comes a choice between them. There are many houses, occupled by peo- £e) pie too busy to use a parlor, where the Oy an ua- which is is tibest occupled room,” sunniest corner unused survival opened. pen only of the compile e money on the carpet he services that no house § The interest o and fu of a stout maid verest week expression « ’ of far better leisure mes ; | 3 150 have the realily bold duties that are much all the newer and poorer sections of our 100 Heavy in sn , J— Farm and Fireside. ABOUT WASTE GREASE. A writer has defined dirt as *“‘matter This applies with double force to the grease of the kitchen, which is too often allowed to sccumulate on the sides of the sink and on dishes. Prop- erly used this grease in invaluable in By cutting the grease in the sink and on the dishes by the use of some very powerful alkili like potash or | sods, we make a substance, which, if not | a soap, contains the competent parts of | soap, and at once assists as a cleansing | agent. A keg of **washing soda” should always be on hand near the sink so that a little water with a lump of soda may be thrown in greasy spiders or griddies or in any other utensil that has become greasy from cooking. After a few min. utes’ boiling all the grease is eaten by the akili, and when the mixture is thrown down the sink, it actually acts as a means of cleansing instead ol chok- ing up the pipe with grease. Gridirons should be thoroughly scrubbed with a un | brush-—a common whisk does very well —in boiling hot soda and water. Grease spots on the stove should be washed off, when they occur, with a stove cloth dipped ia soda and water. — New York Tribune. M ; ; Ie helleved to he cgtsed by polacohous missms arising trom low marshy land, or from decaying vegetable matter, and which, breathed Into the Jungs, enter and poison the Blood, If a healthy condition of the biood Is maintained by taking Hood's Sarsaperiils, one I» much loss Hable to malaria, and Hood's Sarees parilia bas cured many severe cases of this distress Ing affection even In the advanced siages when the Try 8 Hood's Sarsaparilla #1; six for 5. Prepared only Apotheoaries, Lowell, Masa Bold by all draggists 1. HOOD & CO, Hood's Pilla, For the liver and bowels, act eas Priee, Be, Ely's Cream Balm WILL CURE Arp ham Into each nostril, FLY BIOs, 8 Warren 88. X.Y y'o PILLS The Great Liver end Stomach Remedy For the of all disorders of the Stomach, LI ours i ou drags. PERFECT DIGESTION JJ"ns niin war's Pills every morning about ten c'olook, as 8 dinner pil, Ry so dolng SICK HEADACHE
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