' . IV . ' -i . .. - a ,. . ,
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL. DESPEKANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. XII. HIDGAVAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., ' THUHSDAY. APRIL 27. 1882 NO. '10.
.The little snowflnkcB come
When tho singing birds are dumb,
And fill the empty nest;
And tho frost upon the pane
Mimics ferns and boarded grain,
And tbo blossoms we love best.
The pretty wind-flowers rise
With an air of sweet surprise
When the laughing spring
Calls the crocus from its floep,
Bids the grass begin to creop,
And the sparrow sing.
Tho daisies' lint-white flocks
Tush and jostle: and the locks
Of the barberry Bliine,
When the mosses' fringes spread,
And tho daddor's jewo'ed tliread
Make the meadows fine.
When the autumn wallts abroad,
Torches of the golden-rod
Burn the livelong day;
And the birds aro flying far
When witch-hazel's yellow star
Loads its little r.iy.
3iry A. Proicolt.
STRATAGEM.
I am a spinster, pgril but no, I will
not tell you roy ago and I live in a lit
tle v.hv.o home cn t ho side of tho bill.
surrounded by fruit trees and lilac
bushes, while in tho front of the house
ia a littlo garden with hollyhocks, mari.
golds and a plentiful supply of spear
mint, which is so nice for soup, and a
sprig or wako-robin, winch w very
arood for weak eyes. I am plagued with
weaK eyes some.
Here I live alone by myself not
alone either, for haven't I Towzer, n
Dig uiacu doe1, with a face that is a mix
tare of gray and white, and great brown
eyes with a look almost human in them.
and a great deal more expression than
has that simpering Sarah Stay the. She
says i am a conceited old maul, only
waiting for a chance to g.-t married
me ninny i why shouldn 1 1, if I have
a good chance? It would be handy to
have a man bring water, chop kindling3
una sireicn ciotuesiiineH on waBhdajs
I may be out of the market cow before
she i?, the little gooe ; for when I turn
my cup over after drinking tea I al
ways do the grounds pay a Ions iour-
ney with three dots at the end, which
Btunds for a crown; and if that isn't
marriage I d like to know what is ?
If nothing happens to intercept for
tune i. euau nave mm call roe SilJie; it
is so much more loving an 1 affectionate
man jrriKciiia. JNow my name is oi.e
of those things that never can be ac
counted for; fur why thould they name
Mich a loving person rriscilla Nettle
ton? And to tell the truth the mat;
who gets Prifcilla might do worse. 1
don't want to brag, but the man or wo
man who finds any dirt in my hon
bas got to hunt for it; and I can muke
piecruht lhat would melt in yom
mouth, and rhubarb tarts and huckle
berry hollows that would do your soul
good. Iu my mind a man's love has &
great t'etl to do with the condition oi
bis stomach.
Then I am not very bad-looking; I
have a sweet disposition, dress young
and that makes me think of Saial:
Smythe again; that girl is a brier iu
my flesh. She says, coming home from
meeting the other Sunday so I could
hear her, too :
"If old Miss Nettleton hasn't got a
pink gingham just like mine, and made
just like it, with th:ee flounces!"
Savs I:
"You good-for-nothing little minx,
why shouldn't I hsive a pink ginphaa:
with three flounces if I pay for it ? Your
father ia ia debt to everybody in TLom
asville!" Don't you think she got mad just mv
saying that ff.ltis d,ii't get mad as
easy as that unless you bit them pretty
close and says she :
" You'ro a meddlesome, interfering
old maid 1''
Just think of calling me an interfer
ing old maid I Now that is a downright
fabrication. I don't want anybody to
ba wicked, but if they aro I 'want to
know all about it, and I won't uphold
anybody in their wicked ways by with
holding my opinion, and if Abbv
Nicholas is going to have a light in her
front room until half-past 10 Sunday
evenings, I have a right to call in there
about that time if I want to. And if
Sara Porkins and her husband don't get
along I want to know that, too. I knew
they wouldn't; why, Sara can't make
brown bread fit for my Towzer to eat;
and that so.cgy white bread is what has
given poor Perkins the dyspepsia, and
in my mind it Las something to do with
his rheumatism. You have to ,be very
careful about raising white bread, for if
it stands three minutes too long or too
little it is spoilt just spoilt.
There comes Mary Green's eassy bov.
I must go out and tell him to wipe his
feet before he comes iu and if he hasn't
got a letter! Now u letter always sets me
shivering like, for they ere almost al
ways trimmed with black; but this one
isn't. I most wish it was, though.
"Deab Miss Nettleton: -I wrote you
some time ago informing yon of tho
death of your kinsman, John Vance. I
now feel it incumbent on me as bis
friend and tho guardian of Lis onlj
child, Dolly, to say that, as she Las no
permanent homo, it might be pleasant
for you to have her come to you. If I
receive no answer by next week I ehnll
take silence as consent, and yon may
ixpect her the first of the week after.
" Very respeotfullv,
"W. Keller."
fen' t that cool, though? Why, she
will bo aa much trouble as was Towzer
in nia juvenile days, dancing in and out,
and I shall have the doors to shut after
her, and my kitchen will Lave to be
washed twice a day, and she'll want to
Bit in the front room and Lave the cur
tains up, and my rag carpet will be all
faded out; and I shall never know
where to find notLing. Now. if I lay a
thing down it stays there till I pick it
up again. Why, I could darn my stock
ings in the dark, and lay my hands on
the right number of cotton to darn them
with. Number sixteen is in the right
hand corner, number eight is wrapped
in paper, number twelve is in a rag.
Things will bo mixed in the family
circle. Now I have my corner, Towzer
has his and Nepenthe hers. Did I tell
you about Nepenthe ? Well, she's a re
markable cat of three colors, is double
pawed and has great yellow, moon"
liko eyes. But it is no reason because
thero are four comers in the room that
I want Dolly Vance set up in .the
fourth. I don't want her, but I sap
pose she will have to come. It's my
misfortune to have relations.
' She came. Now if I don't tell you
how she locks you will be wondering
what she is like, and think her eyes are
like snnshine and her hair like spun
silk. Thpy aren't neither one nor the
other. She has brown eyes that have
such a queer way of shutting together
whenever I say anything, and, then she
puts her handkerchief over her mouth.
I suppose she shuts her eyes to take in
better what I have to say, and puts her
hankerchief to her mouth to keep the
idea in; as if people heard with their
months I And then she has brown hair
just the color of her eyes, which she
wears braided down her ba:k with the
end curled; and the time she wastes
twisting thnt one curl would knit a pair
of shell stockings. But Dolly don't
liko to knit nor scour tin pan a. nor to
learn any accompliHhments. However,
6ho does well enough, and we get along
nicely; anybody could get along with
a3 amiable a person as I.
One day Dolly says:
" Cousin !"
Then she makes a long pause and
says I:
"Dolly, if you Lave got anything to
pay, say it, and don't wait till that dish
water gets cold and the grease settles
around the edges of them boilers."
"Well, cousin, I was going to say
t'nat if you had no objections, I have a
friend from Sweetwater. Mr. Howard.
that I would liko to have coma here
once in a while; it is so very lonely."
"Lonesome for them that's pot noth
ing to do," pays I. " Now, Dolly Vance,
after all the good advice I've given you!
Why, I've talked to you hours "and
hours about the frailties and disap
pointments of this world, and I've just
watted my breath. As if wo didn't
bavo work enough to do now I There's
more than forty chips about that chop
ping block to bo picked up, and there's
that rising sun bedquilt to be set to
gether, and squash pies to make, and
that old speckled hen's come oil with
sixteen chicks; of course she'd hatch
every one if she stole her nest. I
shouldn't think you'd have thought of
snch a thing as a beau. Wait until you
get a little older say my r.ge, now."
I think she will remember that, for
s'as clapped htr bunas right over her
aiuuth i.'o as not to forget it.
" Hut I know it would corne to this
told you so. If it was a deacon rr a
minister, or some kind of a religious
man, I wouldn't have minded bo
much."
But Mr. Howard is just aa good
ts "
"Don't tell me ! I know he ii just
Rood for nothing, or he would want
some girl that knew something
about work, and net oitfi that burns her
Lands every time sho turns a pie round
in tho oven."
After this thero was a cairn ia our
mill-pond of an existence I have rend
of liio's being like a river, and why not
like a mill-pond, which if much
smoother and more poetical ? and
nothing occurred to disturb mv bw et.
serene disposition, until I paw Tommy
Green coining over again with a letter.
1 declare it s;t me in a perspiration ell
over ! I bored no more cousins had
lied and left thoir orphans 03 legacies
to me.
Deab Miss Nettletox : I am a min
ister in somewhat poor health; have a
disease of the heart; and the doctor
says I must have quiot and rest for a
wuue. Hearing of your little UJeu of
a place, I hope and trust it may be my
good fortune to engage board there for
a few weeks. Will pay seven dollars
per week. Geo. Rushing."
Of course I would take Lim ! It
would be flying in the face of Provi
dence and fottune not to. Poor, fear
rr an ! be Lad tho heart disease, but I'd
cure Lim cf that- that is if he would
take the catnip tea and thor-ughwort.
Seven dollars a week, too 1 If he stayed
four weeks that would be twenty-eight
dollars; twenty-live to lay up in the old
tea pot, and three left to spend. I de
cided to buy me a red feather for my
bonnet with a dollar and a half, and
with the rest get Towzer a new brass
brass collar, with a littlo padlock and
key on it
" Dolly," saya I, as she camo in with
her cheeks as red ai one of them red
hollyhocks -I don't like red cheeks
myself " I've got a letter from Parson
Rubbing, and he wants to come here to
board a few weeks at $7 a week."
" Of course you won't take him," eayo
she.
"Of course I shall 1" says I.
The next week the same one-horse
chaise that brought Dolly fetched the
parson, and now he's quite at home.
He is real nice looking; his hair and
mustache is gray, but his eyos are
black and bright, and he is not tLe
least bit of trouble, and I think after a
while he will got over the dyspepsia
and that Lacking cough of his. It is
tome better now. He takes long walks
iu tho morning for his health and also
in the pursuit of science (he is very
learned), and brings home lots of bugs
and beetles ugh I tho nasty things!
Not that exactly, either, for Parson
Rushing Buys somo of them are very
carious and quite rare, so of course they
are.
After the snn has gone down they
take a row on the river; yes, they, for
Dolly doesn't steady herself down to
anything, and so she is always ready to
set out when the parson is, while I
never, or scarce ever, go with them, aa
I have the dishes to wash in the morn
ing and the pans to rcour and the floor
to 6crub; Parson Rushing does so like
to see a white floor I At night there is
the bread to toast, and he ia ao partic
ular about that
One night I did go rowing, and if it
wasn't a biefsing I got back again and
alive! Why, that boat pitched and
rocked and dove, till my head buzzed
and my stomach felt so queer, all be
cause I was physically bilious, and dis
inclined toward rowing.the parson said.
But he did his best to make it pleasant
and rowed until his face was red ; and
he would go from one side of the boat
to the other as quick as lightning to
see if there was a fish at my line, and
then the boat would give one of them
lurches, till I was afraid it would take
in water at the sides ; and I had to
pretend it was delightful, when it was
so horrid. It was like a nightmare
chasing yon over a stony pastnre.
It was the thankfullest moment in
my life when Towzer came down toward
us and I knew I was on Trilla Frilla
(that's French) onoe more. But my
troubles weren't but half over, for when
we got home Dolly had scorched the
toast and burnt the bread, and the tea
wasn't steeped, and the elder said if he
drank sucn weak tea as that he was
afraid it would set him in the dyspepsia
again, and looked reproachfully at
Dolly. But don't you think that instead
of looking meek and being sorry as sho
should, the heartless girl just laughed
and laughed until she jarred over the
tea in tho elder's cup. I always fill his
cup full. There are some people who
never do care about other people's
feelings t
Now I am not one of that kind, and I
felt very muoh for the parson; but at
the same time I thought it would do
him good, for he would now know bet
tor than ever how to appreciate ray good
cooking; not but what he did, dear
man! but now he would come to a fuller
knowledge of it by experience; and,
too, ho'd know I'd given Dolly a chance,
and not kept her in the background.
The other day he was saying that it
was a very excellent thing for young
ladies (that's me) to have a thorough
knowledge of housekeeping, and ho did
not see what some, people could bo
minKing 01 to Dnng tneir daughters up
in idleness now Dolly was brought up
when sho came here, so that isn't me
nor what mou could be thinking of to
take such girls 03 wives.
Parson Rushing had been here three
weeks to a day, and an awful hot day it
was, to my thinking, and I Lad just
made up my mind that when I finished
washing the floor I would refresh mv
mind with Dr. Watts' hymns for an
hour or so, and rest my weary brains.
Parson Rushing says tho mind must
have something to feed on as well as
the body. Well, I had just got com
fortably sottlod down in my corner,
with my feet placed carefully on a
cushion, but had not got down to the
bottom of the first page when in Towzsr
came ia with ob, horrors! He had
scalped Pavson Ru shing, for thero were
his lovely gray curls, aud tbo dog camo
and laid the trophy at my feet.
I took it up aud walked tip-toe to the
sitting-room, where Parson Rushing
and Dolly were taking notes of their
morning ramble. Having arrived at
tbo door I paused why or for what rea
son I cannot say; it must havo been a
presentment of the great sorrow that
was already over my Lead. Having, as
I said, come to the door, I paused. Now
elm door had a aperture a crack that
extended the whole length of it; unto
this aperturo I applied my eye, and
but words aro inadequate to express my
thoughts, letters are not black enough
to convey my feelings. There sat Par
son Rushing (for it was he) miuus the
gray curls, bereft of gray whiskers,
which were in a chair, Bud in their fcterul
were short black side whisK-rs a-id
mustacho and close cropped IS" jk curls;
his eyes and nose, which had a littlo
scratch on it from Nepenthe's claws I
wi&hed she scratched more affectionate
ly ! were the same.
Well, there ho sat, looking as coo!
and comfortable, and besido him that
little witch, Dolly I always knew there
was something deep about her and he
was talking away, and she a-chattering.
By-and-bye he took one of her hands,
and, bending over would youbolievo
it? I can, hardly kissed it !
At this sign of love, unreciprocated
affection burst in from the door.
" How dare you thus ttifle with a con
fiding maiden's love ? How dare yon"
"I am not trifling at all. I was never
more in earnest in my life. Allow me
to introduce you to my affianced wife."
Saying this he arose and took Dolly
by the Land; she began with :
" Cousin, this is the friend I spoke to
yon about when I first came, but you
would not allow him to visit me unless
he was a deacon or a minister. Accord
ingly he adopted the latter role. To
day the weather was so unbearably
warm that he was forced to take off his
whiskers and wig. I hope you will for
give us, cousin."
" That I never will I" said I. "A girl
who will deliberately steal the affec
tions of a man from such a loving, trust
ing woman as I "
" But, cousin," with a very peculiar
smile " I had his affections before he
ever came here. Had I not, George ?"
" That you had. my darlinir. nnd
always will have."
I hen he said a lot more of foolish
stuff that I don't remember. But the
short and the long of it was they went
to the city and were married and set
tled at housekeeping in no time at all.
I occasionally drop in and have a cup
of tea when I go to the city shopping.
jjat i never win lorgive them. Towzer
has his brass collar, padlock and all,
Our Agricultural Army.
Just now the farmers all over the land
are astir. Think of it ! during the cur
rent year in the United States as many
as 120,000,000 acres will be under grain !
So many acres to be plowed, to be har
rowed, to be aowed and planted, and
cultivated and reaped. How vast the
army of our American farmers; and no
standing army either. Does the heart
almost grow sick at the thought of such
an amount of plodding, plodding, plod
ding toil, toil, toil, involved in ail this?
But think, too, how all thia measure
lesa labor is by no means ft prosaic af
fair; it ia capable of being cheered by
all the hope that comes of nature's an
nual prophecy, and all the subtle glad
neaa that springs from the felt poetry
of earth and sky and the advancing
ever cLangefuI aeaaona. Exchange,
FOl)I FACTS.
Maize, or Indian corn, is one of the
most nutritious of the grains, and con
tains more of the fatty elements than
the others.
The substitution of from four to six
drams of glycerine for the amount of
sugar usually added to cream, milk or
water, is recommended in preparing
food for infants.
Tho better qualities of flaxseed con
tain about thirty per cent, of "oil, and
if well masticated may be eaten freely
by those whose system requires more
fat such people as are recommended
to use cod-liver oil.
Beans contain all the elements of
trno aliment excepting fat.- To obtain
this it is not necessary to bake beans
with pork. A fat piece of corned beef
is an excellent substitute and is ex
tensively used by those who entertain a
prejudice to pork.
During the first two months of an
infant's life it should not be fed of tener
than once in two hours. After this the
interval betweeu meals may be length,
encd with advantage, and at the end of
six months farinaceous or starchy food
may be allowed in small quantity.
A writer iu tho Laws of Life, speak
ing of pork parasites, tries to make the
swine-eaters flinch by stating that an
ounce of flesh may contain a quarter of
a million of the infinitesimal larvte of
the trichina), and that a pork eater may
with a few monthfuls 11 himself with
50,000,000 vermicularis.
One who has made the calculations
finds that as a flesh-producing food
eggs are equal to meat; that they sur
pass it in ability as a heat and force,
producing agent; and that a pound of
corn will be more than twice as valua
ble if transformed into eggs by means
of the hen, as when put into tho form
of meat by feeding to pigs. Dr. Foote's
Health Monthly,
The Use of Bank Checks.
In the reign of William old men were
still living who coull remomber tho
days when there v,-as not a single bank
ing house in tho city of London. So
late as the time of the Restoration every
trader had his own strong box in Lis
own Louse, and when on acceptance was
presented to him told down tho crowne
and caroluses on Lis own counter.
But the increase of wealth had pro
duced its natnral effect, tho subdivision
of labor. Before the end of tho reign
of Charles tho Second a now mode of
paying and receiving money had come
into fashion among the merchants of
the capital. A class of agents arose
whose office was to keep the cash of tho
commercial honses.
This new branch of business naturally
fell into the hands of the goldsmiths,
who woro accustomed to traffic largely
in precious metals, and who had vaults
ia which great masses of bullion coald
lie securo from fire and from robbers.
It was at tho shops of the goldsmiths
of Lombard street that all the payments
ia coin were made. Other traders gave
and received nothing but paper.
The great change did not take place
without much opposition and clamor.
Old-fashioned merchants complained
bitterly that a class of men who, thirty
years before, had confined themselves
to the proper functions and had made a
fair profit by embossing silver bowls
and chargers, by setting jowels for fine
ladies, and by soiling pistols and dol
lars to gentlemen setting out for tho
Continent, had become tho treasurers,
and were fast beooraing the masters of
tho whole city. These usurers, it was
said, played at hazard with what hud
been .earned by the industry and
hoarded by the thrift of other men. If
tho dice turned up well tho knave who
kept the cash becanio an alderman ; if
they turned up ill the dupe who fur
nished the cash became a bankrupt.
On the other side tho tonvenit nces
of the modern practice were set forth
in animated language. Tho new sys
torn, it was said, saved both labor and
money. Two clerfcs seated iu one
counting house, did what, under the old
system, must have been done by twenty
clerks in tweuty different establish
ments. A goldnmith's note might be
transferred ten times in a morning, and
thus a hundred guineas, locked in his
safe closo to the exchange, did what
would formerly have required a thou
sand guiueus, dispersed through many
tills, pome on Ludgate hill, "some in
Austin Friar and some in Tower
street. Currency Controller Knox.
Wit of tho Littlo Ones.
"What i3 that man yelling at?" in
quired Tommy of his younger brother.
"At the top of his voice," replied the
little on?,
A little girl read a composition before
the minister. Tho subject was "a cow."
She wove in this complimentary sen
tence: "A cow is the most useful ani
mal in tho world except religion."
"Ma, am I all made now ?" said a lit
tle miss of three and one-half years at
the breakfast table fyesterday morning.
"Why,-dear?" said the fond mother!
"Because I have had my ears pierced
and was vaccinated yesterday," said
little Tot. 3
Nellie has a four-year-old Bister Mary,
who complains to mamma that her
"button e&oes" wore "hurting." "Why,
Mattie, you've put them on the wrong
feet." Puzzled and ready to cry, she
made answer: "What'll I do, mamma?
They's all the foet I've got."
A lady was singinrc at a charity oon
cert in England and the audience in
sisted upon hearing her song a second
timo. Her daughter, a littlcTchild, was
present, and on being asked afterward
how her mamma had sung, replied:
"Very badly, for they mala her do it
all over again."
A young lady having get her cap"
for a rather large specimen of the op
posite sex, and having failed to win
him, was telling her sorrows to a cou
ple of her confidants, when one of
them confronted her with these words :
" Never mind, Mollie, there aa good
fish in the sea as ever was caught."
" Mollie knows that," replied her littlo
brother, " but she wants a whale."
Amsterdam, the chief commercial oity
of the Netherlands, is to have an inter
national exhibition froai May to October,
1883.
FOR THE LADIES,
I.nnaansc of a Fun.
Beaconsfleld writes: A Spanish lady
with her fun might shame the tactics of
a troop of horses. Now she unfurls it
with the slow pomp aud conscious ele
gance of the bird of Juno; now she
flutters it with the languor of a listless
beauty, now with all the liveliness of a
vivacions one. Then, in the midst of a
very tornado, she closes it with a whirr,
which makes you start. Magical weapon !
It ppeaks apartionlar language and gal
lantry requires no other mode to inter
pret a Spanish woman's most subtle con
ceits or her moot unreasonable demands,
l'erlla ol DrcDamnUlnir.
The occupation of dressmaking is by
no means so sa'e as is generally sup
posed. A dressmaker admitted into
the Leeds dispeusary, in England,
was found to have a distinct blue line
on her gums, with simultaneous symp
toms, such as furred tongue, inflamma
tion of the lips, and general debility
all signs pointing to the probability of
poisoning by leud. The doctor in at
tendance on her for some time failed to
discover the sonrcs, and was boginning
to think the blue line had boon caused
in some other way, when he accidentally
learned from a merchant that silken
thread being sold by weight and not by
length, is sometimes adulterated with
sugar of lead. Ho thou questioned the
patient, and she informed him that it
had been a common practice with her
at work to hold silk, as all other kinds
of thread, in her mouth, and, that she
had done this the moro readily with
silk, inasmuch as it had a sweet taste.
This characteristic is a sure indication
of the presence of lead, and all thread
possessing it should either be rejected or
used with caution. It will bo found
that the dlk thread of the best makers
is tasteless, whereas some inferior
threads are sweet.
Fnaulon I'aiKlcn.
Colored red-spreads aro fashionable.
Polka dots, specks and circles aro all
the rage.
Polka dotted neck wear is as fashion
able as ever.
feature of new walking ackot3
;re -shaped waistcoats.
Back draperies are not so elaborate
in tho looping as formerly.
There are beaded laoes worked in
dark rich colors on a black ground.
Gilded paragon frames are placed
over the linings of hand3ome parasols.
Chenille-spotted, silvered and shaded
tullc3 appear aiaon,; ball dress fabrics.
Navy blue asser's itst If in all the new
goods, silk, wo.jlen, cotton and
linen.
There is a revival of the tasle for ori
ental colors and designs in all kkds of
goods.
Opon work embroidery of black sill:
on not will be used as a trimming f 31
grenadines.
A large pouf bow, with wide ends,
trims tho backs of some of the now
mantles.
Maroon or Egyptian red iu combina
tion with porcelain blue is much ad mired
in lawn tennis good3.
A silver fly with wings o Rhine
crystals and rnby eyes, on a golden
leaf, is a late design in hairpins.
Among the model bonnets from Paris
are poke-fihaped Panamas, lined with
velvet aud trimmed with handsome
satin libbons, trails of tha most ex
quisite flower.?, and aigrettes and
pimpons in soft and beautiful tints.
Dresses of fino French lawn will this
summer be mado in short priucesse
style, tho nppef part formed of per
pendicular fchirrings and Lands of in
sertion, and the lower portion of
flounces embroidered , twelve inches
deep.
Bootd laced up the front are cominc
into fashion for the promenade. They
are in kid or moroeco, faced and finished
with patent leather. Tho Hoed Deux
shoo ia black satin nearly covers tho
instep and is embroidered in a fine
close pattern with jet bead?.
For spring and summer wear fancy
silks aro in great demaud. In taffetas,
Louisine, glace, cUeno and other light
silks, ore found some novel and attrac
tive patterns and combinations. These
fabrics make inexpensive and dressy
costumes which, with care, will last two
seasons, especially if a thin lining is
used in making them np.
Bustles aro worn qnito belo.7 the
waist line in the back, and do not reach
over tho hips as in the past, tho bouf
fant effect here being produced entirely
by the pannier-draperies, to which are
added huge sashes of moire, satin or
silk, which are draped and tied above
the low-set bustle, the end fulling very
often to the foot of the skirt in the
back,
Death from a Tower.
Four suicides during the present cen
tury have been committed at Bologna
Italy, by jumping from tho top of the
famous leaning tower, Asinelli, tbe
climbing of which involves a toilsome
journey up more than 400 worn and
dnstv stairs. Tim first pukk nnnnrraA in
1833, when a shoemaker, while sitting
astride one 01 the battlements, drank a
flask of wine as he was singing, and
then allowed himself tn fall tmntrwap
into space. The second was in 1874, a
young man, agea iwenty-tnree, allowed
himself to fall, with a handkerohief
ti 3d round Lis eyes, leaving hia coat,
hat. sleeve enffs. and Iwn 1 a Hern
hind him. The third happened two
years later: an old man wi,t. nn vith
hia boy nephew, and while the boy waa
vucjiug uib uucciiuus til write tue
word " infamy" on the wall, threw
himself over the battlement. The
fourth auioide has just taken place. A
joug man who had failed ia a certain
examination, ascended the tosver with
the keeper, lighted a cigarette, and
while the keeper waa allowing him the
bell, jumped off. Two ladies and gen
tlemen fume nn inut attar ha ko.l
- r 4 mw vnu
jumped, and found that the keeper had
juii-rcu irom irigQT,
Centre of gravity The letter V.
Saved from Cannibalism.
On Christmas day, in the Pacifio
ocean, three boat loads of people yut
off from the hopelessly burning Coal
ship Milton. Ijast evening, says the
San Francisco Call of recent date, the
survivors of the second boat load heard
from ariived in this city by the steamer
Newbern from Mazatlin. The survivors
were Captain McArthur, hia wifo, two
children and one sailor. They had been
taken from a Meximn coasting
schooner by the Newbern on
her down trip. Two days be
foro that the schooner had picked tbem
up, the captain and hia family looking
little better than bronzed skeleton, one
sailor a gibbering maniac, tho other
senseless. A two-year-old child of the
captain's was dead. All had been in an
open boat forty-MX days. For many
days they had subsisted npon a mouth
ful of food and a spoonful of freshened
ocean water. When the Mexicans
schooner took them on board one sailoi
overcome all restraint and drank him
self to death with the water furnished.
"For the love of God give me pass
age to some place where my wife and
ebild can have proper care," the wrecked
captain said to Captain Huntington, of
the Newbern, when the steamer waa ap
proached by a boat from the coasting
schooner.
The survivors were taken aboard.
"There is a white man among them
fcr I can tell by his voice," an English
lady on the Newbern said, " but how
dreadful that poor squaw looks." It was
the captain's wifo, her exposed flesh
burned t o a darker hue than an Indian's,
that the lady thought was a squaw.
The maniao tailor died from tho ef
fect of the water.wbich he hoped would
give him new life, soon after he was
liftod on board the steamer. The
others were tenderly cared for.
The captain's little boy, only four
years old, looked wildly strange and
nnnalnral. " But, bless you," an of
ficer of tho Newbern said to a Cull re
porter, " wo eould just see him grow
fat and natural-like from meal to meal."
The little fellow, who had stood what
killed three of the strong sail
ors, was soon a great favorite with
overy man on the steamer.
The captain's wifo, when Mazatlan
was reached, after being on the steamer
three days, gave birth to a son. It was
two weeks old when the steamer orrived
at the wharf, aud a lively, bright infant.
Snch is the story of their rescue.
Words cannot picture tho sufferings
thoy endured in tho forty-six days in
an open boat; daya when the mother
saw one babe waste away to deah
for the lack of even such scanty nourish
ment as had to bo dealt to all; days
when tho clear-headed captain had
to tie to tho thwarts two of the
crazy sailors to prevent them from
feasting in fact upon the weaker
ones, upon whom their delirum-lighted
eyes flashod hungrily, .longingly; daya
wren distant sails would loom up,
wildly revive sinking hope, disappear.
and drive hope into a greater, blacker
distance; days when the sufferings of
all wero nearly ended by drowning,
when the crazed man's wild plunging
nearly capsized the boat. It was a ter
rible picture, and one which the imag
ination alono can attempt feebly to
paint.
" Ahl" the wife and mother said one
lay on tho steamer, as tho passengers
wero at dinner, " if my dear baby boy
had had each day a mouthful of the
water so lavishly dealt out here."
Popular Usorls in a Spanls'i Town.
The people (of Toledo) generally
WOl'O very simnle and onnd nnt.nrarf.
and in particular a young commercial
traveler irom Htircnlnn.i wbnm wa mot
exerted himself to entertain us. The
el'.ief streot was lined with awnings
reachillf? to Hia nnrhct.nnn in fr.r.f
tho bhops, and every public doorway
was screened bv a striped enrtnin.
P-JGhinK aside one of these, our now
acquaintance introduced us to what
seemed a din?y bar, bat by a series of
turnings opened out into a spicious
concealed cafe that of tho Two Broth
erswhere we frequently repaired with
him, to sip chiecory and cognao or play
dominoes. On these occasions he kent
tho tally in pencil on tho marble table,
marking the i-idn nf liinw.-ir n?-.,1 n
friend with their initi tla, and heading
ours "i.ne otrangera. All travelers in
Spain aro described by natives as
"Strancrerii" or 'FrMieb' arwl thn
ntatiou for a pnre Parisian accent which
we acquired unuer tnese circumstances,
thouffh brief, was clnviniia. TnthoTmn
Brothers resorts mnnv Knlliora olmn.
: , j . UUVj,-
keepera and housewives during fixed
1 . -1 . 1 1 , 0
uuurs 01 me aiternoon ana evening,
but at other times it was as forsaken as
Don Roderick's tmliinn. Annthnr nlaAa
of amusement was the Grand Summer
theater, lodged within the ragged walls
of a large building which had been half
torn down. Here wo sat under the stairs,
luxuriating in the most expensive seats
(at eight cents per head), surrounded
by a lull audience of exoeedingly good
arpeet, including some Toledan
ladies of creat beauty, and lis
tened to a zarzuela, or popular comic
opera, in which tho prompter took an
almost too energetic" part. The tioket
collector camo ia among the chairs to
take np everybody's coupona, with very
much the air nf twine una nf tlio f.m.
ily; for while performing his stern duty
uo eiuosea a tnori oner pipe, giving to
the act an indescribable dignity, which
threw the whole bnsinoss of tho
tickets into a proper subordination
In returning to nnr inn inn(
midnight, we were attractnd liv t Via ca
cool sound of a guitar duette issuing
nom uaiK Btreei mat rambled oil
somewhere like a worm-track in old
wood, and, pursuing the sound, we
dibcovered, by the aid of a match
lighted for a cigarette, two men stand
ing in the obsoure alley, and serenading
a couple of ladica in a baloony, who
positively laughed with pride at tbe
attention. The men, it proved, had
been hired by some admirer, and bo our
friend engaged them to perform for na
at the hotel the following night
George P. Lnlkrop, in Harper.
Aa no road are so rough aa those
that have just been mended, bo no Bin
nera are bo intolerant aa those who have
just turned saint,
Hands.
A littlo band, ft fair, soft hand,"
Dimpled and eweet to kiss;
Nosculptor ever carved from stona
A lovelier band tlmn this.
A hand na idlo and white
As lilies on tbeir stems;
Dazzling with ro?y finger-tips,
Dazzling with crusted gems.
Another hand a tired old band,
Written with maHy linos;
A faithful, weary hand, whereon
The pearl of great price shines.
Tor folded as tbe winged fly
Bleeps In tbo chrysalis,
Within this little palm I see
That lovelier hand than this.
Harriet rrtteott Spofford.
HUMOR OF THE DAY.
Arabella No; powder will not make
your hair bang.
Circus jokes are generally served np
like boiled mutton with caper sauce.
Moonbeams are the strongest tim
bers used in building castles in the air,
Picayune,
The contribution plate passed about
in a fashionable ohnrch is apt to come
back nickel plated. Picayune.
Fashionablo Indies with short sleeves
wear their bracelets above the elbow.
Policemen continue to put theirs on the
wrists.
He who courts and goos away
May live to court another day;
lint be who weds and courts girls still,
May get in court against bis will.
Salem Sunbeam.
An Italian glass manufacturer ii mak
ing a great success with ladies' glass
bonnets end hats. Thank heaven I We
will now have something transparent.
Rome Sentinel.
Onr Continent says that marriage is
on the decline. That may be, bnt the
ladieawho are over fifteen and under
sixty years of age are not muoh on the
decline. exus Siftings.
A little boy who wouldn't run to the
store for his mother until he had a
drink of water, pleaded in extenua
tion of his disobedienco that " even a
river couldn't ran when it was dry."
A man does his 'courting in private
and seclusion. John Henry, aa a boy,
gbes behind the wood-shod to suck hia
orange. Not because ho is ashamed of
it, butbecaus3 ho f?.:rt,s ii all ii:tnself.
H'tickeye.
A scientist says that every adult per
son carrios enough phosphorus in his
body to make at least 4,000 of the or
dinary two-cent paokages of friction
matches. That ia a scientific fact that
is of very littlo valno to a man who
comes home in the night, smashes
everything on the bureau in searching
for a match, and realizes that all the
4,000 match-power phosphorus con
cealed inside of him will not light the
gas, Sifting.
A Sailor Coon.
A correspondent of the Forest and
Stream, who used to sail a fast yacht,
tho Decoy, describes one of his crew, a
pot coon, caught when yonng and
raised in tue uoat-nouse. xne yacht
never sailed without bim. He was
" forward man." Often when the sea
was heavy it would wash him from the
deck into the boiling foam, but in an
instant he was ngain at his post, and
gave us all to understand by a peculiar
guttural sound that ho meant business.
He delighted to sit on tho end of the
bowsprit, and when we would cross a
boat's bow, or take tho wind out of her
sail, he talked. Sometimes a
coming sea would chase him up
the jibstay a foot or two, bnt he never
failed to regain his old position.
In moderate weathor, and the water
smooth, ho would come aft, and looking
at me knowingly, would mount the
tiller; and with one paw placed affec
tionately on my arm, would sail the
boat for miles. Then he did talk. He
had been shot at several times from
rival boats, and ho knew them all as
well as we did. Once ho was badly
hurt, and fulling from the end of the
bowsprit into the water, I picked him
up as he drifted by. The ball had
passed through his intestines. He was
a sick coon, almost nnto death. We ran
into Gloucester, where a surgeon, ft
friend of ours, attended his wound.
How often he thanked that man for his
kindness the God that has given life to
all can only tell, for he was then to
weak to talk. Wo all loved him,
and it waa reciprocated. How
onr hearts warmed and throbbed
ia sympathy for that innocent, unof
fending atom of the great creation. He
got well, bat he never venturod out on
tho bowsprit any moro. Quiet after
noons in tbe boat-house he would climb
np gently into my hammock, and softly
comb down my beard with hia paws,
and brash the flies away until I anored;
then he knew I wa dead to all earthly
things, and in a minute he would have
my watch and money down to the last
cent, and, in fact, everything about my
clothes. Unlike, however, the genua
man with all his godlike gifts he
gave hia plunder baok, and told me
plainly he could have robbed me if he
lised.
Punctuation.
Punctuation ia an art, and one that
has been learned in comparatively
modern timea. The Greeks did not
know the meaning of it, nd left no
mmue ueiween tneir worda. T he Ro
mans put np a kind of division without
any apparent method. Up to the end
ol the fifteenth century only the colon
u " comma were introduced, and
the latter at tlmt. timo nnin , .
. vu.j no n yvi yaw
dicular figure. We are indebted to
oiuus luanuuuo, an eminent printer,
for tho comma aa we have it now, and
in 1790 he introduced the semi-colon
into printing, and published ft set of
rules for tbe guidance of writers.
It ia not known by whom notes
of interrogation or exclamation
were first used, but inverted commas
(") were brought into oommon use by
a Frenoh printer to supersede the use
of italics, bat the EnglkU adopted
them, to specify quotation.