rf M. F. BOHWEIEM. THE OON8TITUTION-THE UNION AND THE ENFORCEMEKT OF THE LAWS. 1 U.I . r .! Proprietor. VOI XUY. MIFFLINTOWN. JUNIATA COUNTY. PENNA.. WEDNESDAY. SE PTE MIU-U 17. 181)0. s; V"" IT"IH4 I S . IrfarTeaa oiuaa. Although republican mulUrr tugs ire plainly audible ua every side. he nnouniTt her Intention to Issue another volume of extract from he private journal. Saiu a Chicago wifo: -It li real mean (or 'harlie u tw so good to mi ; I want to got a divorce and go on the Mac; tut ho id so kind I cannot help loving hiiu. aud that ia what niake tue hate him so." SlMMltwaro predicting that Spain would soon be a republic if the baby king would die. The people of that country scetn to stand in awe of one little sickly royal infant. It id hard to tret away from old traditional notions. I r is a matter of current belief in Brooklyn that hardly a public contract is awarded there upon which the con tractor must not divide hU profits with the rin-r which controls the entire gov ernment of Brooklyn and Kings county- Thk Indian who commits a tnurdet expe.-ta to die for it if he is caught, aud he takes his punishment stoically, lie has no exous. s to offer, no pleas for mercy to matce. and he knows nothing of the emotional insanity dodge. Some people, suggestively remarks a sharp critic, are so busy meddlinf with other people's business that it would not be surprising at the genera resurrection to raid some of these ever lasting snoops getting out of somebody else's grave. Thk Vale of Avoca has been bough by an English company, and tb woods will be swept away in order t make matches. There is great con Mentation in the district, where th memory of Tom Mooro is cherishet with forvenrv. Ir can scarcely Ins said to be credits bh to the literary taite or to the mora culture of the English speaking world that tho novelist O.iida has made a much money with her oil-colored pei u- l'a'.ti I. as made with her three thou sand dol!ar-a-night voice. An attempt has been made tlurinj the pa-t two years to acclimatise rein deer brought from Sweden on the es tates of fount Slolberg-Wernigerode which extends several miles over th Hal.' Mount . ins. but it has not succeed ed, most of tile- animals having diet duri-ig the hot summer weather. .MkI' n hotels are said to be verj poor, the lest of them not being equa to third -class houses in the Unite! States. Tourists, although delighte with the country, do not stay there an length of time because the comfort peculiar to American hotels are not obtainable anywhere in Mexico at an) price. fitixiF.s against commerce meri heavy punishment The time hai (,-one when they can be regardec lightly. Overissues of stock, conven ient failures, chicane of any kin2 ought to be drastically treated. Thi community will be the better for th experience. There will be fewer fail ures and more honesty in commerce Intercourse. A M-u stain of clam shells has beet discovered about three miles east o Mount Vernon. It is over 6X) fee high and has a surface of soil nearly a foot thick. Underneath this clam shells abound to the level depth. Thert are trees growing on the mountaii which show an age. judging by th rings about the heart, of from ljO ti IV ) years. fcoBoi'T who lives in the past fi worth h!s room in the social world and the rule applies U communities, states and nations, as well. Why is the savage and the barbarian super aeded in the race of h.'e? Ilecaus thev wtll not move forward, but cling to the ways of the past. So it is ii civilied communities they atagnat unless they move abreast with the pro Kress of the time. I'll K on fashionable terpsichoreao recreation the wait. Is on the de cline. It is doomed. It is bein is tabooed in the best society circles of the world. That which hastening its doom is the fact thl Herr Strauss, who may be regarded ai the creator of the modern fashionable wait, bus pronounced against It, and substituted in its stead wnat he call conversation dan"es." li is a fact not generally known thai It requires from ten to fifteen years for an orange tree to develop, J grove does not attain perfection in lest lime than that, the land spectators U the contrary notw ithstandlng. It it true that an orange tree will bear a few oranges within a few years aftei planting, but a tree has to bear no only a few. but a irre.it many o run go to make the industry pay. Thk project of a grand longitudinal railroad for the two American conti nents and the connecting isthmus L l-ginnitig to take definite shape. I has lieen the subject of more or lesi remark, often derisive, ever since i first emenated from the fertile brait of Hinton Rowan Helper. Mr. Helper' impending crisis" came, and his in tor-continental spinal-column railroa may yet emerge from dreamland lnt the world of realities. The officers of the New Hampshlrt militia complain of"the indiscriminate liestowal ot military titles by secre organisations." and they are going t Jake the matter before the legislature But ir military titles are a good thing how can there be too much of a goo. thtug? How are you going to p reveal any American citizen from giving him self any military rank he fancies' Give the Colonels who never colonel led a chance to enjoy themselves. Tfca man who dyes his whlikeri MTer foola bat on person. THE ALGERIAN LIOX. HIS MAUIM r.r RTKESUTH AM A Faithful Husband and Father. Fear ful Fight Between Lions. We knew little about the lion till M. Jules Gerard, au officer of the French army in Algeria, made that animal his study, ami enligh ened us. We hardly knew wliat the lion was like, to begiu with; for we judged of him by the specimens we we in menagerie cages animals, as Gerard says, taken from the mothers when they were puppies, and deprived of the liberty and free mountain air essential to them; iu fact, reared like rabbits iu a hutch. Hut wild, aud in Algeria, the lion at tains a size beyond our ideas, and, with his magnificent wane, has an ap pearance which would absolutely frighteu the mangy, poodle-like epvei niens of his kind that are found in zoological gardens. The strongest mail in the cavalry regiment to which Jules Gerard belonged was unable to lift the skin ami head of an Algerian li-D Gerard had kil ed. We have been equally mistaken as to the lion's character, ami our mistakes have ariseu becau-e naturalists and travellers have been content to ob-crve biin by day only, forgetting that he belongs to the feline race which as a rule is quite out of its element in the sunshine. I Jons usually mate aIout the end ot January; but so many lionesses are rut off iu infancy by teething that there are always many more males than females, ami so the lion has con siderable difficulty iu providing him self with a w ife. In fai t, it is not uncommon to meet a young houine lady aix-ompMtiied by three or four suitors, who quarrel among themselves as jealous young lions may le supposed to quarrel. Sometimes one of tliese lovers succeeds in driving oil' the rest, and marries the Ia.lv ; but if not, ma.l ame, tired of their qunrrels. and wishing, perhaps, for a little domestic peace, leads them into the presence of an old lion. The result ehe has calcu lated on. The young lions attack the stranger with all the rashness of youth; but the old fellow, taking it quietly, breaks the leg of one assailant, stran gles another, and the third has reason to consider himself happy if he es capes with only the loss of an eye. Having thus cleared the tie 1.1, the con queror roars, shakes his mane, and then couches down by the lady's side, who cares ingly licks the wounds he has received for her sake. But when two full-grown lions tight in such a cause, the encounter is not concluded so readily. Au Arab of the tribe of Kesenn.t told Jules Gerard the following story: He ( Mohammed) was spending a moonlight night iu a tree, when he espied a lioness, fol lowed by a full-grown tawny lion, coming down the path near by. The lioness, leaving the path, came and lay down under the tree in which Moham med was perched, but the lion re mained standing in the path, and seemed to listen. Presently the distant roar of another lion was heard, to which the lioness responded, at which her companion roared so furiously that the frightened Arab let his gun drop, and clung to the b-anches lest he should fall himself. Then were heard sounds as if the lion in the distance were approaching, ami as he drew neater the lioness roared still louder, when her enraged liu-band made to ward her as if to force her to keep silence. Same time after, a black lion made his appearance at the border of the plain. The lioness rose to go to him; buf. guessing her ititeution, her husband bounded toward his enemy. They crouched face to face, roaring, and then spraug at each other, rolling over the grass in deadly strife. Tlie battle was terrible. Their bones cracked be tween each other's jaws. They tore at each other's stomachs, and their cries, now fierce, now aifoniing, betrayed their mingled rsge and pain. The lioness, meanwhile, lay quietly looking on; ami as me ngni grew nem-r aim more deadly, her tail wagged w ith sat isfaction at the sectacle. At length, the battle ended, she walked leUurely up to the combatants, now stretched motionless, amelled at them, and, find ing them both dead, coolly walked off. Such, Gerard tells ns, is the heart less ron.Iuct of leonine w ives in gen eral; while they are always treated with faithfulness and affection by tlieir lords. The lion is, in fact, the slave of his wife. Sh always takes pre cedence : when she Mops, he stops. On arriving at the douar (a collection of Arab tents, which we would call a village), where they expect to find their supper, she lies dow n while he leaps into the inelosure anil brings to her the booty. He watches lier with satisfaction while she eats, taking care that no one shall disturb her reast; and not ut.til her appetite is satisfied does he begin his meal. Wlien the lioness has children, which usnaiiv happens about New Year, they seek a lonelv ravine, an.t tne puppies, mm are generally one male and one female In number, are most tenderly cared for. While voting, the mother never units them for an instant, and the father only quits them to bring home) suptier. V lien lliey are tnree mourns old their weaning commences. At the age of 4 or 5 mouths the voting ones follow their mother to the liorder of the forest, where their father brings them their supper. When 6 months old, they accompany lamer ana mother in all nocturnal expeditions. From 8 to 12 mouths, under their par ent's tuition, ttiey learn to auaca. sheep, goats, and even bul's, but they are so awkward that they usually wound ten for one they kill; and it is not till thev are two years old that they ran kill a liorse or a bull sc entitically that is to sav. with but a single gi ipe in the throat. Wtiilo tlieir education is thus in progress, they are dreadfully ruinous to the Arabs, since the family does not content itself w:th killing- the cattle required for its own consump tion, but kill that the children may learn how to kill. At S years old the young ones quit home and set up .or themselves, becoming fat he and mothers in their turn. JL'ons become ful' grown at 8 years jld;atthtag they mrri9 t their complete size mod strength, tad sot UN then does the iale (who ia a third larger than the f emale) acquire his full mane. A lion's life lasts from SO to 40 years. He annually consumes o. kills rattle to the value of $ll00. Au Arab w ill make nothing of going out to fight men, but lie never thinks of attacking a lion unless supported by at least 20 of his tribe armed with muskets; and even then, if the lion is killed, it is not until he has committed serious damage in their ranks. For a long while they sutler him to devastate tlieir dollars and carry off their cattle. It is not until tlieir losses have driven thein to desperation, that they resolve on attacking him in his lair, and theu they always choose the daytime. ftener, liowever, they make use of itralagem to destroy him. They ds-oy litn into a hole or pitfall, and, gather ing round the edge of the pit the nighty animal lying resignedly at t! bottom they kill him by repeated gu iu:s; the women aud children all the while burling uow a volley of stones, md u w a volley of abusive words at Jie head of their noble enemy. Ordinarily, it will take teu or a doz in balls to kill him. aud these he re vives without s.irring an inch or ittering a sound ; but at length, feel ing his death wound, majestically lifts ais head, throws a contemptuous glance at his enemies, and couches iowu to die. The roar of the lion, as Gerard fiist heard it, is worth description. After waiting for an hour, the first grum blings reached his ear-, as if tin; liou were talking to himself; and these grew louder and louder, till the very roof of the hunter's hiding place trembled at the sound. The roarings were not very frequent, sometimes a quarter of an hour or more elapsing between each. Thev began with a sor of sigh, deep and guttural, yet so prolonged that it mast have cost no effort; this sigh was succeeded by silen-e for a few seconds, and then came a growl from the chest which seemed to issue through closed lips and swollen cheeks. This growl, beginning In a vrry lac note, gradually rose higher aud louder till the roar burst forth in all its grandeur, and tinislied as it com menced. Thus the lion always roars. The Arabs call it rad (thunder), and certainly nothing earthly can compare with it. The Itellowing of a furious hull is no more like it than a pistol 'hot is like the sound of a 32-jiounder. Imagine w hat terror such a roar must iispire. heard in the lonely mountain passes arid under the silent stars. New York's Wretched Tiers. It would surprise most Xew Yorkers :o lie told that notwithstanding the trowth of commerce at this port the x harves and piers of this city are n t in much better condition than they sere before the warof 1812. We still maintain the unwieldy and unsavory Koodcu structures that were in vogue n colonial days, and because, of our latural advantages are too indolent to mprove them. If the city had to build reakwateis and couteud with the ides, the case would have been dill'er ;nt, but alon our thirty-two miles of water front the tide rises and falls only k few feet. There has been a little mprovement of late years, but it was n the old lines, and no new system tias found favor with the authorities. Why this was so is easily seen from ll.e developments made by the inve li gation into the doings of the dock de part niciit, an investigation which has lisclosed corruption as great as in the lays of Tweed, though caused by a otal neglect of duty rather than by in tentional fraud. At one time Xew York owned the whole shore of the city up to 4mj feet tteyoud low-water mark, but little 1 ' little it has parted with its possessions to private parties, allowed others to build private piers on its prop-rty, ami has permitted the legislature to close up many bulkheads ami wharves lie longing to tho people, for the lieuetit at corporations, firms and foreign hipping lines, until it has very little eft to call its own eicept in remote snd rather rural sections of the town. Now there has come a crisis which will cPl city to t.uy Lack a u.e private owners and con truct su b piers and bulkhead as are tleinan.leo by the needs of modern commerce. Tliis w ill mean not only equal freedom of the wharves to all water craft, but substantial s'.one piers, a street from l.r0 to '2l feet wide around the city such as has been ordered by the legis lature for two-mile sections of Ka-I and North Kivcrs and a freight rail way on this street connecting with all piers and all the railways that enter the metropolis, or will enter by the Hudson Itiver tunnel, that is to lie com pleted in 1891. lliiladelphia Kecord. 4a Important Sooth American Road. An important engineering work nowj in progress, which has attracted thi far very little attention, is the TransJ aniline 1 "ji.il road in Sulh America, which is an extension of the Argen tine l'acitic Line, and which will, wlien completed, connect the ort ot I Buenos Avres on the Atlantic wfh the Chilian port of Valparaiso ou the l'acitic coas-. The total lentil of the road when completed will lc 70 miles, and of Ibis 610 miles on llie eastern end and w miles on the west ern are now in o-rtion, leaving alniut IM miles iu construction. Tiiis sec tion, however, iucludes the most diffi cult work of all, the crossing of the Andes. This crossing is made at the Cumbrj l'ass, the summit level of which is about U.OOO ft. above the sea, but the railroad w ill find its highest level at 10,4"0 ft. aliove the sea, where it will penetra e the mountain by s tunnel S 1-4 miles in length. On thit tunnel work is now iu progress, while a considerable or.ion of the grauimi of the rest cf the mountain section i finished. The contractors for the mountaii section are au Kuglish fir n, and thev have a large force at present employed No date has yet been set for the com pletion of the line, but it is expectec that trains wiil run through from tin Atlantic to the Pacific some lime ii 1812. Duplex Telepone Lines. It has been dicovereal that telephon lines can be 'duplexed' the same a telegi aph, so that four persons can use Ji Vire at once nstecd of two. COACH RIDE IX ENGLAND LIKE A BIT OP LAST C'KSl I'ttV TKAKLLINi. cSnjins Papers Through Cot tags Dun and Into Inn Yards. "Quite a nice amusement Tor you, Mr. Saunders, fchviiig them news papers about!" remarks one of the passengers outside the coach. " Well," replies the cheerful coachman, a ruddy, thick-set man, with short, weather beaten beard and twinkling eyes, -'one must have some occupation for the Ut i.u in the winter when there are so few passengers; and so. without checking his foul horses, he, with a dexterous jerk, sends a Hying news pner across a trim little garden gay with veronica, laurutinus aud late chrysanthemums, and lands it just within the frout door. We are driving on the four-hor-e coach froui llart niou'.h to Kinsbridge, as varied and beautiful a fifteen miles drive as can be found hi Kngland, aud especially lovely on this bright Ilecember morn ing, with the sea dancing in the sun shine, and the ivy and ferns which richly clothe the steep lanes shining brilliantly after last night's rain. It is a cheerful, well-cuUivated, poj nlous tract of country, with f requeut villages, but quite tiff the track of rail roads, and dependent for contact with the outside world upon this passing coach. It is like a bit of last century traveling; we pick up farmers and drop parcels; we leave a wedding cake at au exectaiit village; and. above ail. we distribute news, and that with a thoroughness which would have as tonished the last century, and which vividly illustrates the ever-growing power of the press an I the facility with which the quietest corners of the country are now brought into touch with the centres of thought. I'udcr the box seat is stowed a great parcel of a local pajs-r, each sopy neatly fastened up a id addressed. Tho coachman places lM-side him on the box some twenty copies at a time, and as he drives quickly past the various tmbitatioiis t.uows a acr deftly over the hedge or through the oeii cottage dior; one is left l ing. a white patch, on the smooth lawn of a marine villa as the coach swings round a corner of the coast road, ano'her is dropped into the apron of a chubbv child wai ing for it at the corner of a by-lane, and ouu triumphant shot carries th? paper through au o; eu w indow iu the upper siory of a cottage, aud deposits it in the lap of an old woman. Iu some villages tho thirst foi knowledge is satisfied by a eo, y flying over the vicarage wall and another into the inn yar. , but in other villages a perfect volley of shots to right and left is required. The operation is ex citing, and, as the coachman has said, quite an occupation tor the mind. Ou the whole, his aim is accura:e, but of c mrse there are failures; one copy is left in the branches of a tree, another reposes in a big bush of lemon-thyme, nl one, thrown high over the ! edge, is caught bv the wind, and flutters bac . into tho road. 4Ah! there's noth ing so bail to shy n w-papers agmnst as a north win '," remarks the coach man, and thi next small boy we meet is desired to run a'.ong up to the vicar age and tell the gardener the aj-r is u the road. And so the coach rumbles along, rousii.g these peaceful villages with Glad-tone's speeches, tilling the ru-tic imagination with news of Stanley, tel. ing them, too, that the big Indou, to which so many of them look vaguely s the fountain of wealth and success, is but too full of sorrow and sulVcriiig; bi ingiug them, moreover, the interest ing annals of their own county and neighlMirhood. and, in short, placing sny cot taper in this secluded corner of South I evon iu the same iositiou iu regard lo any even which has recently stirred the world as he would lie if he lived in a IValtody building iu Idling ton or Westminster. Hy the time the coach rattles into Kingsbridge we must have dropped at Ica-t a hundred pa)M-rs. many of tlr ui st quite small cottages. Whether our ifenial coachman is conscious of the s sition he fills as an instrument for the diffusion of useful knowledge it is dif ficult to say. I can't help fancying he has an inkling of his civilizing mission from the readiness wi ll which he wizes upon the discarded pa;.cr of one f the passengers, and with the civil remark. "If you have quite done w ith it, ir!" drops it iufothe eager baud of s passing carter. A mkm1 Trick. Take a siiool of wnite basting cot ton. Drop it into your inside coat pocket, and threading a needle with it, pass it through the shoulder of your roat. Ieave the end an inch or so long on the out ide of vour coat and take ofl the needle. Four men out of five will try to pick that whole thread jff your shoulder, and will till on the 'pool until it actually does seem as though your clothes are all bastings, ind that they were not only unraveling vour clot lies, but unraveling yourself. 'I was in to see Wi.sou lSarrett, in Claudian in IJ ston, last week," said the travelling man. -It was the most interesting and pathc ic portion of the p ay. Kvcryhody was rapt. I was sitting bolt upright anil didn't know or didn't care to know a soul around me, when sudden'y I felt some one tugging at that basting c Hon that I myself had clean forgo ten. 1 didn't say a word and did not move. Foot by foot it unrolled. Half glancing around I saw a man a total stranger yanking at that thread. His face was scarlet. He had pulled about ten yards and was now hauling in handover hand. "He didn't dare to stop because he nad decorated my back and the whole aisle with basting cottou. He hardly dared to go ahead, for he didn't know what portion of my interior economy he was trifling with. 1'ip! rip! went the thread. Hard over hand he yank ed it in. The aisle was full of it. 'For heaven's sake will it never end!' said he, above his breath. I sat per fectly etill and ran the spool w hi e he pulled. How I wanted to yell. I never saw anything in my life half so funny. The whole section of the house got onto it. They didn't know whether to laugh at me or at him. and some looked on amazed at the spectacle. "4t lt the stranger behind me gT ! one f, antic rip and yanked out ab ut eleven yards in one bunch, aud as the sotton got twisted around his walch rhain, over his eye-glas-es. in his ver hair, and filled his lap, I turned around aud producing the shk.1 from mv pocket said: 1 am very much obliged for your interest, and very sorry tlutt I misled you. You see that I have about 124 yards left, but 1 presume that you don't care for any more at present. I am honestly sorry, but 1 can't help smiling. "The man was a modest sort of a gentleman in appearance. His face was as red as fire even to his ears. He looked me and theu at the spool. Ho ihanged color once cjt twice, aud ucc s the crowd caught on, a big laugn went up right in one of the paint ul passages of -Claudian,' and the genMe- mau who had intended to pull that thread ofl' joined iu the laugh and said, 1 will square that up on my wife when I get home, but, my friend, I swear to beaten that I did think at one time that I was going to undress you where you sat. "It catches every time, and my own wife has been fooled twice ou it." Ix'U irftou Journal. Xonstfr Ships and tinns a Failure; A despatch from Gibraltar, Jan 17, says, "Today, while firing the 110-ton guns aboard the ironclad lienbow, defects were developed that make it dangerous to use them further. Of the seven great 110-ton guns now in existence, four are brokeu down, although they have never lieeu subject ed to the strain of half an hour's firing." The crifte for eno- :.ou gnus and enormous ships has, we are happy to say, never received any en couragement in these columns. There is a limit to effectiveness in both. It has tx-eu reached and passed. If the deficiencies of the monster ironclads are not yet made so apparent as the weakness of the heavy guns, it is only because there is not the same opsir tunity for subjecting them to the con ditions of battle. They may serve to impress the im agination of the legislator who kuows "a big thing when he sees it," and to contribute to the glory of tlieir archi tects, but in the end their failure will be as dismal as that of the 1 10-tou gun. or the Armstrongs of an earlier day. If there is any precedent that we should studiously avoid iu this country it is of all others the Itritish. The conditions that prevail in Kngland are not at all favorable to freedom of action in naval and ordnance matters, and the history t of Itritish ex(erieiice iu this line needs only to lie written to serve as a periet I ual warning as to methods it is best to avoid. Army aud Navy Journal. To Literary Colonels. The two 'o.one s are very familiar figures in Washington. Col. Hay is rich because he married a rich man's daughter, and Col. Nicolay is poor because he did not. But Hay is not hurt by his weath, nor Nicolay by his poverty; both are charming and agreeable men. You see them every fair day walking around the West Ku.t, for ImiiIi are great walkers; Col. Hay accompanied by s tne of his pretty little children, and Col. Nicolay by his oldest daughter. Col. Hay is a liand s me man w ith an air of youihfulness still, iu spite of his gray baits. Col. Nicolay is older, and looks it. Csil. Hay devotes himself entirely to his literary work and the cultivation of his clever children. He lives iu a fine house ou Ijifayette Square, across from the F.xertitive Mansion, which Kichardson of Huston, designed, and which is the mode, for several smaller houses built here since. Col. Ni-o'ay is al-o devoting his time to literary work, which he found so exacting that he hail to give up his pla- e as Marshal of the Supreme Court of the I'nited States. He lives quietly and comfoi ta My not far from Col. Hay. Little Hob Burdette. Ilob Iturdette is a little man, physi cally, with small eyes under overhang ing brows. He talks iu a short, sharp, quick, curt way, and w hen he feels iu the mood is as humorous in his S-ei h as iu his writing. He has come to re gard funny writing as a grind an I I wants 1 1 get out of it. He is devoted j to be memory of his w ife, who died j several years ago. He is very religious ! ly inclined and frequently occupies the ' pulpit, but to bis credit it can be said lie has not tried to make a religious clown of himself, lie is called "1 tea con" l'.unlette at home, but it is pretty hard for th general public to think of him as '-Deacon." Thev prefer to look upon him as "ISob." He write a great deal of serious editorial writing for whie'.i lie never irefa sue cre.lit lie is. n.it a tn.le l.nf I.a .1. .. '-.. - l.;u moustache. He prefers the quiet of the country to the noise of the 'city. He ha'es lecturing worse than teetii pulliug, but the public is bound to hear him. and he goes n the platform to sa'i.-fy the popular clamor aud to get flW night. lo-i Tears Old. Captain Jack Ilayues, the engineer iu charge of the elevator engine at the Fagan building, is 102 years old. As he stood in front of the structure the other morning no one would have placed his age at over sixty-five years, and there would even have been some misgivings as to his being quite that venerable. Nevertheless, it was in 177 that the old engineer came into this world, his birthplace being in the then unsettled region of Tennessee. Like nearly all Teuuesseaiis, the cen tenarian is a six-footer, chews tobacco, and loves a go- d story. He is active, healthy, spare ill figure and onlv slightly bent with his wonderful weight of years, an 1 possesses the eye fight of a lroiitiersinan. St. Ixuis liepub io. One Way to Kill Time. A good plan is given in the Con tributors Club for February for "kill ing time" when one is unable to wo k or is travelling and cannot risk reading en route. "Name to yourself some ob ject, and letting your miud rest on it a while, see what it will bring up in the way of pleasant recollections. I say 'beech,' and I am walking, on a fresh May morning, in a wojd clothing a hill overhanging the Rhine, and tiie unshiue showers down softly through delicate young leatts." m:ki tirr Oh? tirKa l.mta - - miU fret -- brrbbl mm, m - - . Till bfe-ak IkrrMrr'i kuM. larVs V li U auft S r I a Its; : Thy mora mmt mM ah rxllsat promise 1 hi skies far bruM a Mfc gokWa flow ; But rrr ia day far g kr ba.f from us, Tfae world i lrusr4 ia Jrttu of wow kc litre aot. k tboub so hua an, lo tfa roquetiwa. avarl moods,- i kpriciouk a tar rrv-t oman, lu Uiy prrtcrae k lhuJca. And vet mr hail thy rude oncoi lug. Because tbou ckiM-st Winter's state uilad that thy days, (in bouest summing,) Cau only li umber twriity-eiulit ! Margaret J. Presto a. WARNED BY A GHOST. Such a glorious night! The snow sparkled like diamond dusr, and the sleigh runners squeaked as they passed over it, with frosty sound so dear to the heart of the true Canadian. The moon had risen, and it was as bright as day. The hole's breath seemed to till the air with clouds, a.id his coat already began to sparkle with frost. Oh, it was good to be home again' "Canada for the Canadians." Is it any wonder we love our beautiful country with such pussionate devotion? From these high aud patriotic thoughts I was aroused by coming to a turn iu the road, a fork. Now, there were two roads to the village from this point, one leading down a long, steep hill, at the bottom of which an aboideau, or primitive bridge, built of fir trees and brush, with alternate lay ers of earth and ttones a sort of earthwork, iu fact spanned a deep, treacherous little creek, in which the' ice pile 1 in huge blocks in winter, and is it was an estuary of the river, it was a dangerous spot when the tide was high. Taking this road would cut oil' more than half a mile of my jour ney, so 1 decided to try it, despite a surious reluctance ou the part of my horse. The road certainly did not look as if it was travelled much, but just at the turn the snow had drifted ofl', leav ing it nearly bare. So I forced the unwilling nag into the roadway and jogged on cautiously. The spot bore au un deasunt name, and a still more unplea-ant reputation. It was called "Ghost's Hollow.' Fifty years ago, iu the old days when the province was thiu'y settled aud a weekly stage coach was the only means, of communication bet ween the d fl'cr ent towns, the hoi 6cs of a heavily laden coach had taken fright at tho top of the hill, and da-hiug down at mad speed had gone over the aboideau. The tide was full in at the time and the creek filled with great blocks of ice. There were none to help in that lonely spot, so every one had been drown d, and th.: r uierstitious coun try eople insisted that on wild wiuter nights kuyo' e standing at the top of the hill and listening intently could hear the liiullled sound of sle.gh bells, the shouts and groar:s of the drowning people and tl.e splashing and sti ug gling of the horses. Certain it wss that, when the tide was very low and the wind high, the water rushing through the sluices under the aboideau made an weird, gurgling sound that was not by any means cheerful. I could hear it now with painful dis tinctness, though there was no wind. And my thoughts travelled buck to my boyhood and to old Angus McDonald, a queer old Scotch farmer, with whom 1 had been a great favorite, who had taught me how to make fox traps and to shoot rabbits, to believe iu omeu aud to be frightened iu diet ins. A superstitious old fellow, who de clared that he had the gift of second eight, and who had always insisted that to hear the sounds of the groans and struggles in "Ghost's Hollow," was a sure forerunner of coming mis frirtune to the one hearin them. I smiled to myself as I remembered it, and made a mental note that I would tell An rus the first time I saw him, and ask him what he made of the omen now. he horse stopped so suddenly that I nearly fell over the dashboaru ! And directly in front of the sleigh I saw a man plodding slowly a ong through the snow. I could have sworn that he was not there half a minute before, and yet he could not have come out of the woods without my seeing him. Holloa!" I called. He turned slowly, and I saw that it was old Angus himself. "Why, Angus, old fellow," I said, 'what in the world are you doing in this lonely spot? Jump in and 111 drive you home. I was just thinking about you." "Mauy thanks, Walter, for yer offer and yer thoughts, too ; but it's a cold night, and I'm not that wrapped up for driving; walking's warmer, he answeied. 'But what brings vou out here on such a night, Angus?" I persis ed. "Your rheumatism must be be'ter than it was, or you would not run such risks." 'Ay, the rheumatism's not that bad. I wa i seeiu' to the fox traps, au' theu I beard the bells an' knew some one was going down the hill, so I came out to waru them. The 'bito's' all down, Walter, an' you'd g' t an ugly fall amongst those ic cakes if ye went over; turn back, boy, and go the long way." But, Angus," I cried, "I din't like to leave you here." "I'll do well enough, lad ; I'm go ing home now ; good night." Good night," I answered reluc tantly, "I'll see you to-morrow." Hu uiade no answer, and I turned the trembling ho;se, who pranced aud suorte i and tried to bolt ui.til he real ized that he was going the other way. Whin I looked back Angus was gone. Once on the main road aga n we went li' e the wind, and loon the light i of home sho e out, aud in a few minutes more I was iu the hall being shaken hands with, and kissed, and questioned, passed around from one to the other like a sort of cordial, ex claimed over ai d commiserated be cau e I 'iad not had any tea, and read ing a welcome in Maggie's sweet eyes more "truly sustaining," as the old ladies 6ay, than all the teas in the world. 'Walter dear," said Maggie, "you have not been taking care of yourself. You look terribly worn and pale. Never :iiind, Maggie." I answered, "I am going to rest aud get strong again now. The boya were both home for the Jajr. Jack was la the civil senrica and. Will Waa ia a bank. UsU ..a-r 4 mm I. an i alieal m isa 1 1 i , 4 ia II- at .m M. I I le-i M i i. a . i. Tlie toother liur la to I... i... i, , Ml . per w a read . and tun . i.e illto the .lllllllk; l.a'IH to . II.! Ma. well taken cain f M.;.w --ur I out tlie ha-tily iua.U- (. e. and if I could only l.aie ak u oil a. im .u feeling of languor that would . over me, I should hate f. It as if I were iu l'aradi-e. after my long mouths of solitude. "By the way, Walter." kit id Jack, suddenly. "How did you haps-u to come the Marsh road, as of co.ir-e vou did, or you would not bo here you know you aivtu.t imk loe old coaching road Ikihiiw it was a little shorter. Was it bv chance, or did t!.ey tell you at tiie hotel that the aboid au was down?" "1 believe they did tell me," I an swered. "At least the hostler called after me, but I did not hear him. So 1 took the coach road, and if it had not been for poor old Angus Mconnl I 1 should be floundering among the ice cakes now instead of sitting here. I met him before I had more than started dow i the hill, and he told me about the bito,' as be called it." For a full minute after I sjwike there was a dead silence. Then Jack opened his mouth to speak, but was checked instantly by a look from father. Mag gie grew very pale, and then flushed uneasily, and mother said somethinji hurriedly about my having missed the train, and how disappointed the girls had been. Something had evidently happened, for every one seemed constrained, but made nervous cflorts to talk, so I was glad when th! meal, which had begun so merrily, came to a close. I went back to the parlor with the, girls and tried to feel as I did when I first came iu, but it w as of no use, and, hearing .lack's footstep cros ingthe hall, 1 slipped out and stopped him. Look, here, Jack," I began, "did I say anything out of the way at sup per?" "No! Oh, no," said .lack, un easily; he had evidently receit ed pri vate instructions to hold his tongue, aud he found 'he task a hard one. "Very well," I answered shortly; 'if you don't choose to tell me, I'll go out in the kitchen and ask the servants. They will tell me fast enough. Now what was there iu my saying I bad seen old Angus to startle any one so?" Well, if you will have it, there was a good deal. Aliens uied six weeks ago. I can't imagine bow we forgo to writs you about it Walter! ! !"' I can't ted much about w hat hap-p-ned after that, for the reason that I don't ki.ow. Jack says I just staggered and fell, as if 1 had received a Mow. And when next I was able to take an interest in what was passing around me it was nearly the last of January, aud I hal lost count of time for many weeks. Geoffrey Cuthbert Strange in St. John (N. It.) I'rogiess. Authors as Diplomats. We owe it to a happy usage of tho American government that our great commercial centres are favored with the presence of such gtuceful and cul tured literateurs as Ir. I'ndei wood. Landor once said that w hile republics produced genius it was left for mon archies to reward it; but this liko many another hasty verdict upon democracy, has lwe-i contradicted by the development of the L'uited States. Not since the great days of Augustan patronage iu Kngland, when Trior was an ambassador and Addison a secre tary of state, has there been such au encouragement of letters as is vouch safed by the cabinets of Washington. To dispatch literary men on consul ships aud ambassadorships has become almost a tradition of the American for eign ollice. Nathaniel I lavvthonic was a consul at LiverHol ; Mr. I. liovtells held a like post at Venice, Mr. Motley and Ixiwell were ambassadors to Tho Hague, and to St. James', whilo the predecessor of Ir. 1'nderwood at Glasgow was Mr. Bret Harte. There is a popular prejudice against the em ployment of authors iu politics, but we are not aware that the American government is any worse served than we art by the scions of nobility and gentility who waltz away their time at foreign courts. l'robably the least satisfactory point in the American practice is the brevity of the official te.in. the "qiiadrieunial guillotine," as Ir. t'udcrwood puts it, which shears clean hrougli the course jt business experience, and the pleas ant growth of personal friendships as well. Yet brief as is the term, it has been in many rases what lawyers might call a quadrieiiniuiii utile more than one American author has turned it to good account. L gave us the de lightful "Italias Journeys'' of Mr. Howells, anil the matchless pathos of the "Foregone Conclusion." It helped to the exhaustive research that issued in the "I hitch Republic" and tho I'nited Netherlands." And to the 'Marble Faun" and the "Scarlet Letter," it added the pleasant sketches af the "Old Home." Scottish Leader. TL- Hudson River Tiiu-tel. , Work Uoii the tunnel under the, Hudson Itiver, connecting Jersey City tin! New York City, has been slowly progressing, but in the course of a few week is to take a new phase. An ICngish syndicate have taken up the enterprise ami have contracted for tho completion of the enterprise. Tho north tunnel already extends toward the center of the river from the Jersey iiore, aud il is proposed to start a lat eral connection therefrom to the line if the south tunnel, in order to work both east and west from its center. This would give, in connection with he shore ends, four separate working faces. Po-taire Stamp F.xhlhitlon. The l'liilatelisten Club of Vienna Is arranging for au International Postage stamp F.xp isitioii there next spring. The year I HSU) was choii, because it ivill then be just .r0 years since postage itamps were introduced, 40 years since they came into use iu Austria, and 10 fears since he club was fojnded. The inhibition will take place iu the Aus trian Industrial Museum. A commit tee of five is organizing it. The Empress Eugenie still owns the chateau of Arenenberg, iu Switz erland, given her by the late Emper or of the French. Tbera she keeps many ralica of bei days of prosperity in i i.ii r. ..' ale Iras than 4 .! I I - I . a . v m V ai u ! i ten t ll King of I . i -K-a aud other fl., .l, pie,--,. W. 'ii l.uu.iied aii I laeiity waluut tie.- sl.,i,J..i.. n, u.,. !,( near IM-l-lo. Ind., weie sol I Uteiy for f lO.ftsJ. 1'iesi.len' Carnot of France Is gam in.; a leputal on ,.f i.eiiig the moat ilidusiiious 'aMi.etiiiaker lu Europe. The Vent ur.i county, California, paj-ts are laiu their readers to plant camphor trees. They are said to grow as rapidly as the eucalyptus. After f.n ty years or mormon rule all the city or a". t ake has to show is some sets of loo:s that the most expert liookkeeper iu the universe cannot ba! a nee. An instrument has beou invented in Berlin by means or which au exact differential diagnosis of diseases of the lungs will he pos,b:e. The inventor Is lr. Jaiuczcwski. Mrs. Frank Leslie Is going to take to the lecture si, me. She has CJliIrart ed for twenty lectuies to be delivered lu the principal cities of the country lie ginning in October. Oliver Daiiyiiiple, the bonanza farmer of Dakota. e.iecLs to raise this year .10,IH.K acies of wheat. Air. Dal lymple Is not an applicant for aced at the excuse of the State. Baron dei l., Grange, a French nobleman, now in B.Jtiinote, has or dered a lot of American corn-cob pU to be sent as a present to the t'oiiklo Jean de Kergoilay, No 17 Kue Matlg 'lon, 1'aris. A one-legged negro in Egl-ert County, Geoigia, has produced the first bale f cotton eveiy season i that county for se el al years, lie Is pros perous and is acciiuiulal Ing a haiiilsouie independence. Lady Colin 'auipb. ll has written a play iu which sl.e w.U take a leading part. If she acts as l.adly on the stage as sir-did in piivalc- life h.-r profes sional career vvid 13 as shoit as her moral repertoiie. The Eiupiess Frederick has be come an enthusiastic archaeological student at At In ns. 1 1 r. Schlieuianu Buis riiileuds her studies, and with hiiu she has Visited both i.ytupus and the ancient ruins of Mycenae. Ex-riineuts have U-eii made in Gr-" many with torpedoes ma le of paper, lo tiled with a charge .f "J" pounds of dynamite and tired by electricity. Very sat islactot y lesu'.l.-t aio said to have been obtained. Aunt Matilda KuLv of Kentucky has just died at tlie age of Bio. She chewed and smoked for a cent ury and 4 qua Iter. But for her wicked and dcbilit.itil.g t..l..:cc.) haL.il she might have lived to quile- a respectable ol age. Mr. S. I.'. i 1 1 --on of Salt Lake re ports on good authority that the Stand ard t .l Cotnp ii.v has recently com pleted the pun tiasei ot t.iMio l acies of oil teriit .iy In Wyoming, and will proceed to develop tho same luiuie dialc'y. William Lloyd Gairisou Is tall, and and siiiii, und giay, and bald. He has aiu.ti.st d a considerable eompetei.ee out of Wool, and Is ol a decidedly liteiaty turn of miii 1. lie has a weak voice, which mars the eilect of his public spt -cches. All English piiyscian recommends the use it n !l ro-glvcerine instead of alcohol as a stimulant in case of physi cal cxhaUsl ion. The widows of many a torpedo shooter in the oil regions cau vouch lor the ellicacy of ii.tio-glycerine as an aniiihiiator. Broiisoii llovvai.1, writing from Europe to a li end in this country, and speaking not of poker, but of politics, expie.SM s the opinion that 'io day ol Kings ami tjueens has pa-ed. The Fieucli army authoriti. are couriering the adoption of a helmet of one design for the entire army except the cavalry , and models have been in vited from the leading hat makers. The be lie at a lccent dog feast on an Indian reservation in Dakota woiea jacket trimmed w.th teeth from 1"0 elks, w hich she la r-elf had slain. She is tliu granddaughter of the chief of ' le tribe. A ict lires.p e character who re cently died in Washington o .nty, Georgia, was noted for tradii g jack knives. On tlie handle of eveiy knife he ever oii;-d he made a little private mark, by which ho could recognize it I' it ever came into his hands again. Mwanga, King of I'ganda, who has accepted Christianity, is the man who used to have a few wives slaught ered before break last now ami then. He has also k 1 ed a number of mission aries. His MToiinati in gives civiliza Hon a great boost in Africa. Mine. Eiiitna Nevada, with bet husband and littlu daughter, has re turned to Paris 1 loin Madrid to try what, change of air will do to remove tiie last traces of the violent and reiU crated attacks of mil icn.a which have kept her prostrated throughout the en tire winter. The Loud hi papers piint the opin ion of "a distinguish Egyptologist" that the Vatican eo. ledum of Egyptian antiquities I an Ueu gie.itly dauntge.J and its usefulness hugely destroyed, by the manner in which the broken pi.-ces were "rest.'ie.l" ami repaired by iguo rant guardians. A private letter from England says: "It has been stated that the 1 hichess of Marlborough is not noticed by the nobility. This is Hot the fact, as she is most popular, and is doing much good iu the Village of Wood Stock, but is-ople st 11 look coldly on the Duke, and hope that she may bo able to reclaim him. " Insert I'owtler Vs. linking Ponder. According to an Ea-t Indian paper, the otlieers of au Eiiuli-h regiment re cently I ad nn i x pei ienee that demon strated how much stronger they wei e than insects. The native cook was given several cans of baking powder and some boxes of in-c.-r powder. The ofliccrs for some time enjoyed lea cakes of very p casing ta-te and of a peculiar sathiou hue. I bis went on until the native cook reported that he was cut of baking powder, and as proof tendered to the inspection of the horriti-d steward a ran which had once contained in-ect powdr. Nobody died, and every b'dy laughed. Tlu Ai'ciiit are now made with baking powder, and are voted not to ta-la nearly as good aa li"dr reJecekoOi s. . V lf?y,r', r-i"T.s.. T75;MS3tv:rf'w''rf::lt .fXKr.i'.) ,1
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers