lb if ? r HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. , NIL DESIERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum. VOL. VIII. RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, APRIL -18, 1878. NO i. ii .. -i - r. ., , - , ,,. , , , . . , ....... - ......... i. r ' - - i Country Life. Let tfao vain conrtier waste his days, Lnred by the charms that wealth displays The oonch of down, the board of costly fare; Be his to kiss the U'lgrarefnl hand, That wares the soepter of command, And rear fall many a palaoe in the air, Whilst I enjoy all naoon&ned, The glowing san, the genial wind, And tranquil hours, to rustic toil assigned; And prize far more, in peace and health, Contented indigence than Joyless wealth. Not mine in Fortune's f aoe to bend, At Grandeur's altar to attend, Reflect in his smile and tremble at bis frown ; Nor mine a fire-aspiring thought, A wish, a sigh, a vision fraught With Fame's bright phantom, Glory's death less crown! Hectareons draughts and viands pare Luxuriant nature will Insure; These the cWr fount and fertile field Still to the wtiried shepherd yield. And when repose and visions reign Then we are equals all, the monarch and the swain. Lope de Vega. Redolette's Escape. " It is farther than it looks," said Bcdolette. " Not too far for us to climb," answer ed the sunny-faced boy who' held Bedo lette's hand while he gazed resolutely up at the mountain's greenwood height. " We can be there by sundown, and run back before it is dark." " Well, then, I'll ask leave." " Ask leave ? Are you not your own mistress, Redelolte?" "No; I must obey my huBbnnd," gravely the little moid replied. " Tour husband I" cried Willie Locke. " Yes, he is hero, in the house. I always ask his leave when he is at home. I do it in the beginning, because it will be so all the rest of my life. I am learn ing, he soys, to be his wife." "What do you mean, Redolette?" asked the boy, dropping her hand and turning to her with great earnestness, his eyes ablaze, his cheeks flushed. " You do not you surely do not mean Judge Hunt wLen you say my hus band ?' Oh, you are not in earnest; you are teasing, you are joking; you are not in earnest, Bedolette ?" " In earnest, Willie," the girl replied. "Do not look so fierce. Are yon a wolf ? Are you going to eat me up ?" ' No, he is the wolf," said Willie, in dignantly. " I have always been his little wife," said Bedolette. I was born so. Ever since Bedolette was a baby,' he says, ' she has been mine. ' He is my guar dian. My dying father left me in bis hands, and he takes rare of me, and takes care of the money I am to have when I am of age; but before that, at least so Aunt Bhoda declares, although I don't say so quite before that we shall probably be married. There 1 Now, Willie, I'll go and ask leave." Without another word she ran up the path at whose outer terminus, the gar den gate, they had been standing while they talked, and disappeared in the house. She returned all smiles. "Judge Hunt has gone down to the village for the evening letters, and auntie says we may go to the Block Height,' if we will hurry home." She offered to take his hand again as they went through the catt, but Willie drew proudly back. She started inquiringly, but still smil ing. " Now, Willie," she said, " don't spoil our dear little time. Please don't be cros?,'' " I am not cross," said Willie; "I was never less so in my life. But I certainly shall not take the hand of another man's wife. Yon do not understand me, Bed olette," said this man of eighteen to the baby woman at his side, in a voioe thrilling with emotion and stinging with reproach. " Oh, I do," said Bedolette, deeply shocked at his vehemence. " Indeed I do, Willie. I understand you with all my heart." They had gone some paces down the maple-arched road before she spoke again, and during that ti I e Wil lie had taken the hand he had rejected, and not only that, but he had tr one; erred it from his right hand to his left, that lie might encircle witn bis firm ara- her little waist. She turned to him fully her innocent, sweet face was there ever a face more sweet and more innocent ? and said, " You are the only thing, Wil lie, in all the world that I do under stand." " Oh, Bedolette?" sighed Willie, and he kissed her cheek. Sho broke away from him then, and they had a raco. They raced down the road to the lane; raced up the lane to the posture fence; leaped over the fence, cud this without any appeal for assist ance from Bedolette, for she was a mountain maid, and free and agile as a bird; raoed across the upland meadow. and then Willie caught up. The ascent began; it became steeper and more steep; they went slowly and more slow. Bugged the way that looked so smooth, viewed from below. They climbed wea rily the steep stones, stopping occasion ally to take breath, and to look back with delicious little lingerings at the pictured field and wood stretched at their feet, and the zigzag village cling ing to the river's brink as for dear life. Before sundown they reached the height. They found a seat just wide enough for two in the crevice of the great square rock that gave to tins accessible hill-summit, perched amid prouder mountain heights, its familiar name, " Block Height." Flushed an! excited, and again cooled and calmed, they rested, while behind them the sun went down, its orb quite hidden by interlocking hills, and known only in its final departure by the uplifting from the valley of the skirt of sumptuous light. -" Now, Bedolette, we must have a solemn talk." " Generally," said Bedolette, th a demure yet coquettish accent, " I do not like solemn talks." " Never mind, Willie insisted, author itatively, "whether you like them or sot. Bedolette" He paused; he wea going to say, " Bedolette darling," but he restrained, for the sake of solemnity, bis boyish warmth. "Bedolette, how old are you " She folded her hands in her lap, and looked own Uk child at school called to the recitation bench. "I shall be sixteen the fifth of next month." " Sixteen I And what do you know ?" Bedolette laughed. " I know that" Willie knew that too. " Sweet sixteen sweetest sixteen I" he said in his heart. He asked her, gravely, "Where have you been at school ?" " I went for some time to Dr. K -'s class at Z , but I have not been the lost three terms. Jndge Hunt does not believe in schooling for girls. Just now I am taking lessons in housekeeping of my aunt. I stitch shirt bosoms every day four threads of linen forward and two threads back, the regular old-fashioned way. I sew and cook and bake. " " Bake I" repeated Willie, indignantly. " Or sometimes I fry. It depends upon whether 'tis doughnuts or bread. I would rather fry than bake; it is more exciting." I should think so, indeed. Why, Bedolette, these are the tortures of the Inquisition for yon. Fry and bakel They might as well roast you nt the stake. Of course these things have to be done. We must have shirt bosoms and bread, and it is right that you should learn how to do them, or how to have them done; but spend your life at such tasks ? The idea is absurd. We might as well harness doves to drays, or burn rose-buds in our grates. Every work has its own workers. My dear child, there ore two rules for practical life first tho greater must not be sacrificed to the less, and second " Here Willie was going to quote Carlyle at length, but he recollected that he was talking to a girl, aud he modified the grand sen tences of the philosopher ending in, " Know what thou canst work at," into, " And you should do, Bedolette, what you can do best. Now if you can really do nothing better than cook, then that is your work. But in this age of the world you are not forced; you can have choice; nud you must remember that we are liv ing in the time of sewing machines and scientific cooks. There is no need of immolation in those departments of la bor. We are living in a time " Willie hesitated in the midst of his eloquence, flurried by a little thing, a very little thing; just the touch -of his hand by Bedolette's an action softly, shyly one,, but causing him to descend from his speech to look into her face. He paused for a moment, enchanted by the serious sweet goze of her dark eyes fixed upon his. But he recovered him self and went on : " Do you know what age of the world you belong to, Bedo lette? You have no right to go back to an age that yon were not born in ; you have no right to marry a man who be longs exclusively to that age, and avail yourself of nothing that has occurred since in the great march of progress. You can go back if you desire it. You are free ; you live in a free land. But if you do not desire it, if you feel that there is something in you higher than a life of drudgery, unhghted by liberty that ' makes drudgery divine ' unlighted by love and oh I Bedolette, you do not know what you are relinquishing when you relinquish the possibility of ljve if you feel a stir in your pulse that beats with what is highest and nearest true in the time we live in, darling Bedolette " (this time the emphasis was laid with sufficient stress to compensate for the former restraint), " then I would die a thousand deaths rather than see you met in these woods by a selfish soul, like Bed Riding-hood by the wolf, and lured into a thatched hut, and eaten up,' with no ear to hear your poor inno cent cry of Oh, what big eyes you've got ! and, ' Oh, what sharp teeth you've got!'" Willie was excited now. He fright ened Bedolette. She sprang up before him with a low cry a genuine cry of pain, like a hnrt child. A sudden pallor swept her face; the paleness as of a woman's pang swept her childish face. Then Willie took her in his arms, and called her his precious love, and soothed her with his tenderness, as he had aroused her with his wrath. And then and there, in the mountain solitude, witnessed only by lonely height and lonely wood and lonely earth and sky, he made her make one solemn promise. Not the promise that his heart burned to have her make. For what he wished so ardently, that nothing " before 01 after " could compare In ardor with that hour's wish, was to make her promise to be his wife. He reminded himself that he had no right to do this. He was a young fellow not yet graduated from college; and after his senior year, just commenced, there lay before him a course of professional study, and then the establishing of his profession's prac tice, for his patrimony was by no means commensurate with his wante. He had no right to ask her yet. He only made her gTant a promiso formed disinterestedly and exclusively for her good. By this timo the sun had set. Shadows mingled with shadows. The air gathered that strange pure cool which seems to blend and at the same instant define the precious woodland scents. The soft rustle of leaves, the twitter of sleopy birds, the faint crashing sough of " the long rank bent" as they entered the fields, the infinitesimal fine yet clear sounds of tho summer night rasped not unmusically by the tiny sharp cries and beating hum of the insect world these were the vocal accompaniments of the homeward way, for Bedolette and Willie norujy spoke. Clasping each other a nanus they went down the rocky steeps, and across the meadows home. And at the garden gate he kissed her " good-night ana kissed her " aaoA- by," for on the morrow he was to leave the mountain farm, and she would not see mm again. Bedolette lingered in tho porch some time before she entered the house. She watched Willie's figure ross down the road, and disappear at the river turn; then the thought and thought. And when she went into the lighted room where Jndge Huut sat in his arm-chair reading the evening news. Aunt Bhoda. looking up from her needle-work to greet the child with some reproof for staying so late, let reproach die on her una. Such a strange new look was on Bedo lette a face I " She never was the same girl," her aunt said, long afterward, when ' this evening was remembered as part of the story of a mo, " never the same gri after that walk to Block Height. But I never see her " (Aunt Bhoda's gram mar had grown rusty with her drudging life) " I never see her look so beautiful and so proud-like as she did when the judge got np frcm the chair and was agoin to give her a kiss. She drew back her head like a queen, and just put ont her hand for his lips; and he stared at her. astonished, a moment, and then kissed her finger-tips. Bedolette,' said he, 'you've been imprudent; you've got chilled through; your hand is as cold as ice.' That was just all he thought about it, but women is more keen; and I says to myself, that very minnit, ' Yes, she's caught a chill, and she's caught a fever, the fever may last or it may not; but the chill she's caught '11 last her the rest of her life.'" There comes into almost every ex perience a night that, for its very dis tinction of darkness and gloom and blinding fright, is counted ever after ward as " the night" Such a night came to Bedolette. It was the hour that Willie had anticipated when he made her make a solemn prom ise "for her good." A night of storm, of wild wind and drenching rain. But wind and rain seemed feeble elements in comparison with the cruel anger, the passionate up braiding, and pitiless threats that formed the actual dark pre-eminence of the eventful night. One bright scene stood out m relief against the stormy background the opening of a door in answer to a faint, despairing knock ; a beaming home room, warm with fire-light and gay with cheerful lamps ; kind faces, kind voices, smypathy, encouragement, help. So every dark night even the darkest has its friend. Before morning dawned Bedolette, urged with all the gentle and firm aid of which she had need, was speeded forth on a journey that was to cast into a higher plane her whole future life. By the time night had glimmered into day Bedolette had made her escape. Examination week at the famous girls' school of N had reached its closing act. Compositions were to be read in the afternoon ; prizes were to be award ed ; and at evening a collation would be spread at half-past ten in the not spa cious but particularly attractive grounds of the N seminary, to end in garden. party style, with a band of music and a merry dance, the arduous exercises of the week. Intense interest gathered about this closing afternoon. Indeed, when one considers how small a part of the great world the female seminary of N , with all its frame, actually was, it was wonderful how intense this inter est became. One would say, who hap pened to peep into the greenroom of the composition-readers, waiting with cold fright or with hectic agitation, each for her turn to be called upon the stage, that the result of this evening would be something momentous enough to cause an aberration in the course of our planet, or, at the very least, a trembling in its onward step. This impression would not have been lessened by reading the titles of the compositions: "Women of our Cen tury ; " The Dead .Fast burying its Dead;" "The Future of the American Republic" a very fine thing, and winner of the first prize ; "spiritual Tendencies of Astronomical Besearch ;" Darwin s Development Theory con fronted with Argyle's Reign of Law;" " Is Genius Hereditary, and if so, from the Paternal or the Maternal Side ? with Statistics from Qalton, carefully com plied, ana so onana so lortu. Very simply, after this array, came the announcement given by the principal of the seminary, "A Mountain Brook," by Miss R. Kane. (Jlosing exercises naa been lengthened bevond their fixed time, and davlicht was departing as Miss Kane made her appearance from the greenroom, com. position in hand. A side window had to be opened to give sufficient light, and through this opening came a rosy glow that almost atoned for the lack of floral tributes such as had overwhelmed the entrance of every other reader. Not a single flower was thrown to welcome the coming of Miss B. Kane. "A friend less girl," many of the audience thought. But no one in the world is a friendless girl, so the suddenly opened window said ; for the sunset glow poured in and enshrined her feet, and illumined her garments, and crowned her young head wi th flowers of light. And in a timid, but clear voice tho composition was read. "A Mountain Brook, not scientific or erudite, but a theme of action, and taking as a simile of a useful life the trite figure of a river bearing from its rocky solitude, through wood and through field of grain, aud over mill-wheel and by the town, its ever-augmenting stream of refreshing and compelling force. The trite comparison was treated with a novel graoe. And one thing was quite remarkable about the composition a i . , . ii A. i i 1 1 aescnpiiua ui iuu oueuery 111 wuicn tne Mountain Brook was supposed to receive from high authority its mission through the thirsting earth. This description was so vividly accurate that any one familiar with a certain mountain locality would have recognized at once that the " Brook " sprang to light under the fern, fanned cavern of Block Height. No one among the andience, however, was familiar with that particular nook of upland scenery. No one, excepting a handsome young man who had drawn to himself during the afternoon the shyly admiring glances of very many of the girls. He had been restless, like the watcher who impatiently awaits the striking of the hour. When Miss Kane entered he became still and satisfied, like the watcher when the hour has struck. "Bedolette I She has fulfilled her promise." These two unspoken sentences ex- nrrwRed the mental impression, com plete. For to this young man, through the five years, including his senior year at college, his law study, his energetio PHtaViliHVimfint of law practice. Redo lette " had been the embodiment of all that is sweetest in a girl. And " she has fulfilled her promise," referred not an mnnh fn t.hft fact that this Sweetest girl had kept her word to him as that she had kept her word to Time kept the promise of the lovely child to be the loveliest woman. "ltedolet.to"8aidWilae, Thevihad entered one of the arbors that had been improvised of cedars to adorn the garden fete. They had been walking arm in arm through the grounds for a long time; for One of . the earliest guests of the evening had been 'Willie Locke, and he bad rushed immediately to Bedolette's side, and had kept her to himself all the evening. They chose to walk in the garden rather than join in the dance, for they had so much to say. And they hod talked . over their five years' separation and its leading events before they went into the arbor to rest. The la;t thing Bedolette had said in the walk was, "So now, Willie, thanks to the inspiring leader of my choice, I am reaay to tase some part in the movement of my time. My schooling here is ended. My little inheritance is made secure. I am my own mistress now. I should like, if possible, to do a little good in the world : and the only question with me now ie, How shall I do it best?'" And here it was that Willie with a sudden movement drew her into the arbor, and said, with such an electrio vibration in his voice as made her heart seem for an instant to stop to beat. "Bedolette-I" Something so far beyond tho simple name was implied by his vital utterance of it that she made no response. "Since I was happy," he said, "to guide you aright once, let me be your guide again. Let me tell you, Bedol ette, my angel, my queen, how you can do the most good in the world how I am sure you can do the most good " He paused, and Bedolette, whoBeeyes had been tremulously cast down, lifted her glance to his. I And before she had time to really look, to see all he meant before she had time to let the question, " How ?" pass her beautiful red lips, he had seized her in his strong arms, he had answered her once and forever: "As my wife." , Solid Rock ns a Conductor of Sound. The Virginia City(Nev.) Enterprise says: It now appears from an official statement made by Mr. Sutro, that the header of the Sutro tunnel was 1,193 feet distant from the point where it will strike the Savage incline. The state ment is undoubtedly correct, yet the workmen in the Savage, at the 2,000 level, are able to hear the steam drills used in the tunnel header so distinctly that all have heretofore believed the face of the tunnel to be no further away than three hundred feet. It was thought im possible that the drills could be heard to a greater distance through solid rock. At the combination shaft they now say that they were able to hear blasts fired in the header of the Sutro tunnel when it was 1,200 feet distant.' t Afterward, when the tunnel was opposite to the shaft, they heard nothing of the blasts, nor could the men at work in the tunnel hear those fired in the shaft, and Sutro finally sent to inquire if they had dis continued work. It is supposed that the stratification and hardness of the rock have much to do with the facility with which it is traversed by sound. Hard rock no doubt conveys sound to a greater distance than that which is decomposed and mixed with clay. Sound would also be likely to follow the stratification. Of late the header of the Sutro tunnel has been in much harder rock than that through which it passed when in the neighborhood of the combination shaft. At that point, indeed, the ground found. both in the shaft and tunnel, was of the kind called " heavy," being wet, spongy and much inclined to swell. Words of Wisdom. Those who never retract, love them selves better than the truth. Half the truth may be a lie. in the ab sence of the other half. It is doubtful if any man could by possibility do his noblest, or think his deepest, without a preparation of suffer ing. Advice which, like the snow, softly falls, dwells the longer upon, and sinks the deeper into the mind. Satin's promises are like the meat that fowlers set before birds, which 13 not meant to feed them, but to take them. If you begin by apologizing for what cannot be defended, you will end by de fending what cannot be apologized for. The mere lapse of years is not life. knowledge, truth, love, beanty. goodness and faith alone can give vitality to the mechanism of existence. Few men know the force of habit. A cobweb a thread a twine a rope a cable. Venture not upon the first; the last is nearly past human effort to sun aer. If you are a wise man you will treat the world as the moon treats it. Show it only one side of yourself, seldom show yourself too much at a time, and let what you show be- calm, cool and pol ished. But look at every side of the world. Singular Wagers. Whn Mr. Penn matohed himself against Hon. Danvers Butler, to walk from Hyde Park Corner to Hammer smith for a wager of 100 guineas, some body remarked to the Duchess of Gordon that it was a pity a young fellow like Penn should always be playing some absurd prank. "Yes," the old lady retorted, "it is a pity, but why don t you advise him better? Penn seems to be a pen that everybody cuts and no body mends." What would the free spoken damn huva said to a. tvirmle nf clergymen running a race on Sunday for a crown a side ? Such a thing has been done. Soon after Swift received his deanery, he dined on Sunday with Dr. Baymond, of Trim, whose house was about 200 yards from his church. The bell had nearly done ringing for evening service, when Bwilt exclaimed ; " Ray mony, I'll lav von a crown I beam nrav. ers before you." "Done I" said the doctor, and off they ran. Baymond reached the doors first, and, entering the church, made for the reading desk at as quick a warning pace as his sense of propriety permitted. Swift did not slacken speed in the least, but ran nn ii - i . i . y we aisie, passea ius opponent, and without stopping to put on a surplice or open the prayer book, began the Liturgy and went on with the service sufficiently long to win t&9 wager, All th Van -J HIO 4 CUT VWHtl FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD. flow to Urow Flower. Many persons think that a great deal of skill is necessary to grow flowers suc cessfully, but this is not the cose. All that is reqnired is a reasonable amount of care and patience, and choioe flowers con be as easily grown as choioe vegeta bles. In the first place, good seed should be obtained, or failure and disap pointment is almost certain. The prin cipal causes of failure to make seed germinate are covering too deep, allow ing the surface to become too dry, or an excess of moisture. To guard against these, a cold-frame is very nseful; and would recommend everybody who has half a dozen varieties to sow to try one. It is made by making a box-like frame of boards without a bottom, which should be twelve or fifteen inches high at the back, sloping to about six inches in front, so as to catch the direct rays, of the sun as much as possible. It can be made of any size desired and nailed at the corner, if small enough to be easily moved about, or if larger, fastened to gether with hooks and staples. Prepare a bed in a warm, sheltered spot in the garden; rake ont all the lumps aud stones and on this set the frame, and cover with ordinary hot-bed sash, or old window Bash, which will' do quite as well. Make the soil in the frame smooth and firm with a board, and sow the seeds thinly and evenly on the sur face in squares, and label each sort with short, pine stick. Have a pile of light. sandy soil, or leaf mold from the woods, which has been sifted through a fine sieve, near at hand, and if the seeds are very small carefully sift it oyer them. Probably more failure to make seeds germinate result from covering too deep than from any other cause. A good and safe rule is to cover to the depth of about twice the diameter of the seed. This would give a covering of about one- eighth of an inch to such seeds as aster, phlox and pansy; one-sixteenth of an inch to petunia, portulaca, and seeds of like size, while very fine seeds, like lobelia, should be scarcely covered at all, but merely pressed slightly into the soil. After the seeds are all covered make the soil firm again with the hands, and water with a pot having a fine rose, 0 as not to wash the soil from the seeds. Now put on the sash and keep it tightly closed nntil the plants begin to come up, watering often enough to keep the surface moist. Cover the frame with straw mats or boards at night to keep out the cold, and after the plants are np give plenty of air during warm, sunny day. Pull out the weeds as fast as they appear and keep the plants well thinned out, so as they will grow strong and stocky. The thinnings can be saved and transplated to another frame if de sired. After the plants have grown an inch or two and obtained their second pair of leaves, transplant them to the garden, first giving the seed-bed a good soaking with water. Transplanting should be done on a showery day, if possible; but it is better to transplant in a dry time than to wait too long for rain. Make holes where the plants are to be set, fill them with water, and then set the plant; water again and cover each plant with a piece of paper held down with clods of earth. Household Hints. Restoring Tainted Meats. Tainted meat or game may be restored bv wrap. ping it np closely in a fine linen cloth, then, after throwing a shovelful of livo wood-coals into a pail of water, put the meat or game in and let it remain under water five or ten minutes. This will re. move all offensive smell, but it should be cooked at once. To Clean Brass. If the brass is very much tarnished, use a little oxalic acid solution. If spots are imbedded. rub them out with a little powdered pumice-stone. Then wash with water and dry. Mix rotten-stone with sweet oil to a paste, and rub it over the whole surface of the brass with a smooth cork until it assumes a greenish-black color, Then wipe off completely with an old cloth. Next rub over with lampblack until thoroughly polished, using a soft. smooth cork. This gives an excellent result, and repays the extra trouble it causes. To Cleanse Water. Tf a lump of alum as large as the thumb-joint is thrown into four or five gallons of boil ing soap-suds, the scum runs over and leaves the water clean and soft and nse ful for washing. We have often, in an cient times, "settled "a glass of Missis sippi water, and made it look as " clear as a bell " in a few seconds by tving a bH of alum to a string and twirling it aronnd under the surface of the water in the glass. Jfalla Journal of Health, Testing Salt. A Pennsylvania but ter-maker tests his salt by dissolving a little in a glass tumbler: if the brine formed is clear and free from bitter taste, he pronounces the salt good; if, on the other hand, it presents a milky appearance, leaves any sediment or throws scum to the surface, he rejects it. House Plants. Attention should be given to airing and watering, as the weather will admit, and as the sun becomes warmer. Some plants may require shading at noonday Plants that are making new growth, and the roots being crowded into pots, should be repotted. Shrubs that have done flowering, should be trimmed. Dormant lemon verbenas, fuchsias, etc. may be brought from the cellar and started into growth by moderate watering and warmth. Look out for insects. Do not subject roses and other plants to strong drafts. The earth in pots should be kept mellow. The case of Miss Margaret Thomson. who had her pot horse shod with golden shoes and distributed showers of gold among the poor of various European towns, is in the Royal Lunatio Asylum. Oartnaval, near Glasgow, whither she was taken on her arrival in Scotland from Barcelona, Spain, having been taken charge of there by the British Consul. She is about forty years of age. On the testimony of Dr. Tannahill she was declared unable to manage her affairs. All kinds oi trimmings of the material are fashionable this season side pleat- ings, box pleatings. knife-blade pleaU ings, auirrings, puna, ruffles, flouncta, Queer People at the Gaming Table. A correspondent gives a description of the celebrated public gaming tables at Monte-Carlo, in Monaco. After refer ring to the surly manner in which the men controlling these demoralizing es tablishments carry on matters, and the thievish propensities of many of the players, the writer adds: There is a queer old character who haunts tne tables, and who, although homely to the last degree, is undoubtedly a lady of education and refinement. She has a Eassion for roulette, and it has been to er what gin is to some, and dress to others absolute ruin. Her appearance is marked, for she has an enormous fore head, which bulges out in an almost semicircular curve. Her nose is a bold snub, aud her chin is large and project ing. She is always olod in rusty block, dress, bonnet and shawl, and this brings out into stronger relief the sallow ness of her complexion, which indeed is the color of an old parchment. When she is in luck she stands up in her chair with a great roll of five-frano pieces balanced adroitly in her left hand, and with her right she proceeds with won derful rapidity to cover some five or six numbers with bets. Nobody touches her ijets, for I believe she would brain then with the rake with which she gathers in her winnings. When she is in bad luck, she desoends to subterfuges which must give her friends much an guish. She waits nntil some player comes with a system like her own, in which many pieces are staked over many numbers, and when he has covered a portion of the table with bets, she pokes in two or three five-frano pieces among his, and no matter what number wius, she insists that one of the pieces win ning is hers. What can be done by gal lant men under such circumstances? She has the money, and he can only submit. If he is an Englishman, he turns red in the face and says nothing. If he is a Frenchman, he shrugs his shoulders, extends his hands, palms up ward, deprecatingly, and looks round with a martyrical smile for sympathy. This he is sure to receive from the hangers-on. There is another strange prac titioner who is on speaking terms with this lady. I think they talk over combi nations. He has a piece of paper and a pencil, and he studies the numbers for hours before playing. Then he com mences to play single five-frano pieces on six numbers, and it is extraordinary how often at first he wins, ii a iriena drags him away after ten bets he is gen erally a heavy winner, comparatively speaking, but if he remains longer he is sure to lose all his original gains and his original piece. He has an exceedingly intelligent face, but people do not like him for a neighbor, lor he is mgntiuuy dirty, and perfumed with garlic to a de gree whioh is almost unbearable. I was told that he had been a professor of mathematics in an Italian university, and was living on a small annuity, five- sixths of which was absorbed by the tables. Women as Speculators, It would seem unnecessary to caution women against speculation, says a writer in Harper a isazar. ay speculating we mean an investment in things of nncer-' tain value on which large profits are hoped for. But since the boldest opera tors nt Baden-Baden are woman, and since they do personally, but oftener by proxy, rush into the arena or the Dims and bears of Wall street, caution on this subject will not bo ont of place. The folly of those who dabble in lotteries, who see the wheel of fortune revolving, aud imagine that it is loaded with bene fits for them, is not folly merely, but guilt. The rashness of those who hover around the voitex of stock speculation is not rashness merely, but probable per- ditiou. And if it is rashness for men, it is for women insanity. Though women may never seek speculation of any sort, it will pretty certainly seek them, often in very enticing forms. There are two good rules Vthich apply to speculation : 1. Never borrow money to speculate with. 2.' Never speculate so deeply but that, if you loose it all, you won't feel it. i if teen hundred dollars of manufac turing stock was offered to me at par, with an assurance that it would sell in a month for $3,000. I believed it. I had no surplus money at the moment, and I had adopted the rule above, not to borrow for speculation. In a month that stock sold for $3,000. Was I wise or foolish ! Had I bought it, I should have kept it through the intervening years until now. A few days ago that stock was sold at auction lor ten cents a share a total of one dollar. The time when speculation is most rife is when money is cheap and abund ant. And then the most dangerous form of speculation is in city and suburban lots. No oue thing has occasioned greater disaster to well-to-do families than this. It is so respectable to own land, it is so solid and sure, and it won't run away. "Would to Heaven it would," says one, " if it would only leave behind what I paid for it 1" The rule should be remembered: never speculate deeper than, if the loss be total, it will not be ieit. mil the better way is to avoid speculation altogether. Superstition South of the Equator, There are three great divisions of the Indian family residing in the parts of South America which lie south of the Equator; but though differing in lan guage, customs, and manners, they all belong to the Aryan branch, and most probably csme across in numerous migrations from Central Asia by the 8 traits of Bohring. With regard to religion, they believe in two gods. The first is called by some Fillau; by others, Cuobauciatru. or " the great god." He is supposed to bear the human form, but can make himself invisible. He is tho creator of the world and author of all that is good. The Indians never assemble to worship him; he is sup posed to be content with the respect given to him in the heart of every indi vidual. The other god is " the spirit of evil." known as Gualichu; to him every n ue..: s 3 a : i . Bacnuoe aim oueriug u ui&uo w yiupin- ote hu wioked designs. Not only do the Pampa Indians believe in the Immortal ity of the soul, but also in the doctrine of metempsychosis: hence when burying their dead, thoy always sacrifice over the grave the favorite horse of the dead man, i nd place beneath the tumulaa the war rjor'arms, - Items of Interest, A rolling mill a fight in the gutter. A New York company makes gas from water. They who " pine" in their youth can never look " spruce " in old age. The man who confines himself to the drink which is best for him is well' supplied. At a recent auction sale in Paris a S&adiyarius violin, 169 years old, old for $4,200. An advertisement travels and works while the merchant is asleep and his store is closed. One Bussian in every six was either killed or wounded during the recent war with Turkey. " I came off with flying colors," as the painter said when he foil from a laddi r with a palette on his tnump. A man in New York has a machine in operation with which he proposes to light streets and houses with electricity by means of wires. There was a clever boy who said that he liked a " good rainy day too rainy . to go to sohool, and just rainy enough to go a-flshing." .Tanan is starting national banks in every city and town, and the staid old Japs are struggling with such words as " protest " ana " discount. Beetles aud butterflies, and all sorts of flies of silver, gold, and steel filagree, and tipped with imitation jewels opals, diamonds, pearls, rubies and emeralds are seen nestled among the bonnet trimmings. The arms of the thirteen original states of the Union are represented on panels between windows on the front of the building which is to give a specimen of American architecture at the Pari show. " Oh ! tell tne, gentle seraph, With those ruddy lips of thine, Tell me fondly, tell me often, That you're mine, forever m'ne." Then sho gape a gape and nodded, Then another gape was born, And her very silence answered, " I am yawn, forever yawn." We find in Dr. E. B. Foole' Health Monthly an account of a man who, in oue year, reduced his weight from 304 pounds to 200 pounds. A regular diet, plenty of exercise and profuse perspira tion accomplished the diminution in avoirdupois. In the spring the husband yearneth For his other suit of olothos, And he searchetu through the garret, And he swears and bnmps his nose. In the spring the yonng wife's fancy Turneth back in wild despair, She remembers that she traded His old clotheB for china-ware. The mail carriers between Little Cur rent and Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, ' broke through the ice when about ten miles east of the Spanish river, in March, and men and dogs had a sharp struggle for life. The men, Joseph Denomie and Frank Mezai, after getting out of the water directed their attention toward rescuing the dogs, which were fastened by their harness to the tobog gan on which the mail bags were tied, and which was rapidly drowning them. Their efforts to save either dogs or mail would have been useless but for the sagacity of one dog, which, instead of wasting strength in trying to get upon the broken ice, seized the thongs by which they were bound to the toboggan iu his teeth, and deliberately gnawed them assuder. Both dogs, thus relieved, swam toward the men, who helped them out. A Lively Race After n Prisoner. While the Sheriff of Chicago was tak ing som prisoners to the jail at Joliet, the following exciting incident occurred : Thomas Deddy, twenty years old, under sentence of one year for burglary, sat only two seats from Sheriff Kern, shack led to another prisoner. Every one was laughing, talking, and enjoying himself or herself in the best possible fashion. Suddenly there was a noise. Kern looked up iu time to see a pair of lego vanishing tnrougu tne wmuow. xua . train was jogging along at the rate of twenty miles an hour, liern puuea tne bell rope. Currier aided him with such zeal that he broke tne astomsuea cora. Brakes were immediately applied, but before the momentum of the train had materially decreased. Mr. Kern hail leaped from the platform and was in hot pursuit of the flying criminal. Mr. Mills, A. S. Trude and others joined in the chase with a " hoop-ia, ana there was rare sport for a few moments. Deddy made for the canal and piungea in. .Before tne swimmer nau reucneu the middle of tho sluggish stream, Mr. Kern stood upon the recently-quitted bank. He whipped out his revolver. Kern is a remarkably accurate shot, and Deddy knew it " Stop 1" shouted Kern, " or I'll let drive a bullet 1" Up went Deddy's hand as he amused himself in the fashion of treading water. " Don't shoot, Mr. Kern, I think I'll come back." He did. He turned him about in the canal, and sheepishly struck out for the repugnant shore. He stepped out very wet and very depressed in pir ite. The fugitive was conducted back to the cor, securely manacled, snd was lost sight of no more nntil he stepped behiud the walls of JoU riBon. . Fashion Notes. Mitta, either block or white, are to be the rage this summer. "Oatmeal" is the latest grain in linen ; it has superseded flax. French lisle thread gloves are long, and have the stocking finish upon the arm, ' Strapped " shoes, with the Fn neb heel, are the favorite summit c.uns suro. The fashionable sacqir : us o I. ng waistcoat, cut square in the Louis a i , style, and a reverse collar. Fine Scotch ginghams, in r.ivUy checks, are " the thing " for summer washing dresses, and they are tnmmea with torchon lace. Hats and bonnets worn in city streets set very close to the head, the large hats a la Gainesborough are reserved for country wear. Lenten hats are of black straw trimmed with satin ribbon and flowers or folda of groa grain. iK and black feathers, gpl4 tipped ,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers