as the
od the
3 class
ingre-
ined —
n with
‘ormer
Paris,
e and
en ex-
award-
high-
he ex-
owder,
chief
Jepart-
‘chem-
of the
de for
sining
eavan-
e 160
ounce
tartar
e next
tained
g gas.
rage of
s found
vening
etitor,
re the
Its
wever,
es as
esome-
oy fig-
wn and
» coun-
, have
Baking
to ex-
} powe
ly of
great
n the
n his
ought
same
hed a
amid
robert
f the
en his
a and
de by
vard for
ared by
do, O.
. J. Che-
im per-
sactions
obliga~-
Toledo,
holesale
lly, act
OUs SUTr=
le. Sold
1 “you
it of a
rtaker
d-line:
do the
ne this
Tes for
roubles.
ry Ward
inches
echa™'s
‘a box.
eggs in
costs no
renee.
d
y distin
I took
nd gave
0 give
la
ately re.
health.”
liou-ness
i
i
:
rE TA
ERR
4)
rE _— Ga .
WOMAN'S WORLD.
PLEASANT LITERATURE FOR
FEMININE READERS.
HAIR DRYING STOVES.
In the hair-dressing parlors of New
York where women pay fifty cents for
a shampoo and seventy-five rents for a
shampoo with whipped egg trimmings,
the tresses are dried over a small
sheet-iron stove. The attendant mops
the wig with a towel, and then wheels
the tabled-stove up to the customer’s
back, lets the hair hang down a tin
spout, turns on the gas, gives her a
fashion paper to read and goes off for
twenty or thirty minutes to shampoo
or curl another customer. —New York
World.
TELL-TALE CURTAINS,
An observant woman says that
people conspicuously advertise their
good or bad taste by the character of
the curtains with which they dress
their front windows. Having occasion
to look up a family whom she knew to
be dainty in house-furnishings, she de-
cided on reaching the street in which
they lived, that she conld identify the
house by the character of the curtains.
The house that she had supposed to be
the one she decided against solely be-
cause of its ugly curtains, and she con-
fidently rang the bell of another be-
cause it was tastefully curtained. It
proved to be the right house.— New
York Witness.
FASHION'S CONSTANT CHANGES.
The constant changes of fashion in
relation to out-of-door garments are
quite a serious consideration to those
who formerly made their handsome
coats last two or three seasons, and
even then did not find themselves very
much behind the time. Now, nearly
every year one is compelled to recog-
nize the fact that the fashions of a
typical yesterday are emphatically not
the fashions of to-day. Certain lead-
ing striking features are introduced
every season, even when the old lines
are to a great extent followed, but the
former serve to date the garment more
effectively. A fashionable gown, if
not too pronounced in style and fabric,
may be brought up to date by certain
additions and alterations, but it is
much more difficult, and often quite
impossible, to produce the same result
where out-of-door garments are con-
cerned. Cloth is more impracticable
to deal with than silk or stuff goods,
and there is not the same latitude. —
New York Post.
LO BENGULA AND THE PRINCESS.
Some three or four years ago the
dusky South African potentate, with
whom Great Britain is now at war,
sent his Indunas to England with a
message to Queen Victoria. They ful.
filled their mission and returned home.
It now transpires that in making their
report to Lo Bengula they descanted
in giowing terms upon the beauty and
virtues of Princess Beatrice, whose
portrait they carried back with them,
pointing out to him that as a stroke of
diplomacy he could not do better than
take her as one of his many wives and
thus secure for himself and his people
the everlasting good will and friend-
ship of the British nation. Struck
with the common sense view of this
suggestion the dusky monarch at once
communicated with the British Foreign
Office and offered to Queen Victoria's
pet daughter an unprecedented dowry
of 10,000 bullocks. The Princess and
her mother were much amused when
the offer was in due course officially
reported. Lo Bengula completely
ignored Prince Henry of Battenberg,
whose wife Beatrice is.
WOMEN IN MANY FIELDS.
It is stated that there is only one
woman journalist of reputation and
influence in France. This is Mme.
Severine, and it is alleged that she
makes from $12,000 to $15,000 a year
by her writings. The author of this
misinformation, now going the rounds
of the American press, should feel
ashamed of himself, or herself, as the
case may be. First of all there are a
good many women employed to do
odds and ends of work on the French
newspapers, and these might be called
journalists for the use of a better term
and also because the word journalist
rolls off the tongue in an easy and
graceful way. None of these women
make from $12,000 to $15,000 a year.
Neither does Mme. Severine make this
amount out of her newspaper writings.
She does make quite a comfortable in-
come from her feuilletons, her stories,
and her magazine work. But no
women engaged in journalism any-
where in the world are paid so well for
their labors as the American women.
And of all those engaged in journalism
* directly, I doubt if there is one whose
income from her newspaper writings
alone will average $5000 a year. Per-
haps I should except Mrs. Margaret J.
Sullivan from this list. There is hardly
a newspaper.of importance in America
that has not from one to five women
on its staff, but in no case that I know
of is their pay over $50 a week. Many
of these women are very talented and
readily earn a snug sum from magazine
“writing and other special work. But
the woman who earns $100 a week by
her pen, even in these golden days of
woman's usefulness, is very rare, in-
deed.—New York Advertiser.
THE STORY OF ‘‘THE LADIES.”
In Llangollen, Wales, the good folk
speak of ‘‘the Ladies,” and visitors by
the score make pilgrimage to the little
town to see the cottage where ‘‘the
Ladies” lived. They were a pair of
friends who forsook their {amilies and
forswore marriage, in order that their
days might be spent together.
Lady Eleanor Butler was the older
and the richer of the two who in 1778
lished themselves at Plas Newydd, and
Miss Ponsonby was the younger. With
them fled Lady Eleanor’s maid, Mary
Caryll, who lived with them until her
death. For fifty years they lived to-
‘| gether in the little house that stood
among the most peaceful and beauti-
ful surroundings. There were valleys
in sight and mountains with strange
Welsh names; there was a mountain
stream dashing down in miniature cas-
cades. Within the house were carved
oak panellings, window-doors and
crossbeams, and an ideal combination
of luxury and simplicity.
As the vears passed on and the peo-
ple began to see that it was no whim
or passing affection that had bound the
two together they became universally
respected and beloved. They were the
Ladies Bountiful of the town. Their
Hermitage, as they called it, was noted
for its hospitality, and great person-
ages were proud to be the Ladies’
guests. The Duke of Wellington
was one who came to see them.
Lord Edward Yitzgerald met his wife
there, and was afterwards kept in hid-
ing at the time of the famous riots.
The Ladies never altered their styles
from the time of their coming to Llan-
gollen. Their hair was worn shortand
unpowdered. They wore very full
gowns of cloth and white neckerchiefs.
In 1829 Lady Eleanor died at the
age of ninety and two years later Miss
Ponsonby died at the age of seventy-
six. The two faithful friends and their
loyal servant, Mary Caryll, all lie
buried in one grave.—New York
World.
FASHION NOTES.
Meany of the new costumes show ths
pointed apron overskirt.
~~ (lass cracker jars with waving rings
and silver covers are new.
The use of olivines in foliage
wreath brooches is very good.
Receptacles of silver, net-purse-
shaped, are made to carry the hand-
kerchief in.
Fancy woven moose cloth comes up
among the handsome novelties in win-
ter dress fabrics. :
The marquise rings are longer than
ever and so slender that they might be
used as weapons of offense.
Evening shades in faille, armure
silk, and fancy satins are sold at less
than half their former prices.
There is no end to the enameled
salt cellars in silver gilt and the tea
strainers with enameled borders.
The cape in plush velvet or fur is
again a favorite garment, not so much
for the street, but for the theatre.
There is no between this season.
Either one’s coat must be short to the
waist line like the zouave or long to
knee.
Many fancy pieces in capes and col-
lars are seen in the shops, and are sure
to be extremely popular with a plain
outdoor coat.
A new brooch of pink shell, convolv-
ulous-shaped, was wreathed in diamond
foliage with a tiny gold Cupid crawl-
ing from out it depths.
The newest bedroom silver candle-
sticks are low with square bases.
These are upturned at the edges and
have perforated diamond-shaped or-
naments at the angles.
Heavy woolen dress materials hav-
ing a chine or clouded ground with
bright dashes of color here and there,
aremade up with moire bodice trim-
mings the shade of the gay color.
A pretty Persian lamb neckpiece is
made with a pointed cape in the back,
coming over the shoulders and extend-
ing down into two long tabs, which
reach to the knees. Ithas a very high
Medici collar.
The newest floral jewelry has the
petals trimmed either with small dia-
monds or with gold or colored mark-
ings. This is much better. A new
mourning brooch has crumpled petals
as in a carnation.
Bear in boas and muffs is always
popular. A boa is the prettiest and
most graceful finish to a street toilet.
The mink tippet is also pretty, but a
long fur boa is apt to entwine a heart
in its graceful lines.
Among the pretty costumes for
slender youthful wearers are those
having skirts of either crimson benga-
line or richly plaided silk and satin
mixtures, with skirted Russian blouse
or black velvet trimmed with jetted
collar and girdle. The sleeves are ex-
tra full and the blouse and skirts
lined with shot silk. The skirt of
plain bengaline or plaid is made in
full circular form, with a velvet ruche
three inches wide as a finish.
The two-toned felt hats of the sea-
gon have found much favor, especially
in the plateau and sailor shapes, and
in the novelties narrow behind and
with raised sides. Good combinations
are tobacco and moss green, golden
brown and tan, blue and red, gray
and reseda. Black and white two-
toned felts in plateau shape are in
constant demand. These are trimmed
with ribbon loops, stiff wings, jet
aigrettes and buckles.
in
ied
Pens of All Ages.
The patent office at Washington has
a collection of pens that illustrates the
difficulties with which men had to con-
tend before they found a suitable in-
strument with which to write. There
are the styluses usad by the ancient;
the instruments for writing on wax
tablets, one end sharp like an awl, the
other flat like a paper cutter. There
are the brushes used by the Japanese
and Chinese of the present day, and
quills of every variety, together with
an infinite number of steel pens. But
the mosé curious are some quill pens
with steel points. They were madein
an effort to do away with the constant
necessity for the mending of the pen,
a process that few could perform
properly and that everybody hated.
The effort was very ingenious, but un-
successful, because the points could
fled from their Irish homes and es*zb- | pot be made to stay. —Chicago Herald.
POPULAR SCIENCE.
People in the United States consume
nearly 600 tons of nux vomica yearly.
The North and South Poles are
exactly 12,000 miles apart from each
other.
So minute are the pores of the skin
that a grain of fine sand will cover 308
of them.
Edison conceived his idea of the
phonograph from a close inspection of
indentations on the tape of a Morse re-
corder.
The Lighthouse Board has demon-
strated that telephone communication
may be established from the shore to
vessels near shore. The method will be
put into practical operation as soon as
funds are available for the purpose.
Taking the earth as the centre of the
universe and the polar star as the limit
of our vision, the visible universe em-
braces an aerial space with a diameter
of 420,000,000,000 miles, and a cir-
cumference of 1,329,742,000,000 miles.
The assayer who examined the sro-
lite that fell on the farm of Lawrence
Freeman, near Bath, South Dakota,
on the afternoon of August 29, 1892,
reports that the principal minerals it
contains are gold, silver, nickel and
cobalt.
The fastest mechaniem, artificial or
natural, made to penetrate water for
any considerable distance is, accord-
ing to Jeremiah Head, Thornycroft’s
torpedo boat Ariete, which, on trial,
made 30.16 miles per hour. Aerial
mechanisms are capable of very much
greater speed.
The prevalence of crimson colors in
cértain fishes on our New England
coast on portions of which scarlet and
crimson seaweeds abound is explained
by Professor J. Brown Goode by the
red pigment derived by the crustaceans
from the seaweeds they devour, and
which in turn form the food of the
fishes.
Explorers have recently visited the
wild Olympic mountains in Western
Washington. They report that the
timber line disappears at about six
thousand feet, and at the base of the
highest peak, on the 5000 and 6000-
foot level, is a system of meadows and
lakes, where grass and flowers grow in
great luxuriance.
Some writers think the process of
turning white among arctic animals is
in some way connected with a decrease
of vital energy; and in his notes on
recent science, in the Nineteenth Cen-
tury, Prince Krapotkin brings forward
as an example the alleged permanent
white colors 6f domesticated animals
in sub-arctic reglors, such as the
Yakutsk horse.
Scientists are exuberant at the dis-
covery of what is supposed to be a new
metal, or at least a new combination
of old metals. The scene of the de-
posit is in Albiquin, New Mexico. In
a large morass are several thousand
logs of timber petrified into copper
ore, averaging sixty per cent. of cop-
per and from thirty to forty ounces of
silver to the ton.
An experienced whaler is authority
for the statement that the Greenland
whale never has more than one set of
teeth. These teeth are milk teeth, and
when the young whale is weaned they
do not fall out likea baby’s milk teeth,
but disappear by absortion in the jaw,
and instead of being replaced by per-
manent teeth plates of baleen or whale-
bone are substituted for them.
i a
Preservation of Pictures,
The preservation of pictures has now
become in London, it would seem, as
the result of some very ingenious ex-
periments, aregular scientific proceed-
ing, if the accounts given are to be re-
lied upon. It is simply placing the
surface of the picture, be it of canvas
or paper, in a vacuum, thus protecting
it from the usual atmospheric action,
which is so deteriorating. In carrying
out this plan the picture is enclosed in
a metal frame or vase, covering the
back and sides, and projecting from
the sides like an ordinary frame. In
the edges of this case a plate of glass
is inserted, just as in an ordinary
frame, and hermetically sealed to the
metal. The air is then withdrawn
from between the surface of the pict-
ure and the glass, and thusthe picture
is in a vacuum. It is asserted that the
effect of this plan isto completely pro-
tect pictures from the action of damp-
ness, air, gases and other causes that
operate to destroy paintings exposed
or framed in the ordinary way.—Bos-
ton Cultivator.
On
A Story of the King of Spain.
The characteristic passion of the lit-
tle King of Spain is for soldiers.
Everything about the army interests
him, ‘and he will listen to stories
about battles for any length of time.
He was once taken by the Queen to
the Convent of the Assumption. About
sixty or seventy of the white-robed
pupils were sent into the gardens to
see the King and sisters, whereupon
His Majesty, seeing an unrivalled op-
portunity for exercising his favorite
talent, immediately organized the
grave but amused girls into companies.
He then appointed the Infanta second
in command, and giving the word
“march,” placed himself at the head
of his charming army. On meeting
the Queen, who was walking about
with several of the nuns and coumrt
ladies he ordered ‘‘halt” and ‘‘pre-
sented arms,” following up his com-
mand by a chanting of the ‘Marcha
Real,” which was at once taken up by
the girlish voices. —St. James Gazette,
os
A Pretty Big Eagle.
John Hazelton and Edward Me-
Queen, two fourteen-year-old boys,
while out hunting near Oakland, Ill,
killed and took into town an eagle
that measured seven feet from tip to
tip of its wings. The eagle had at-
tacked their dog and when they inter-
fered attacked them, and one of the
boys’ shoes was torn off in the encoun-
ter. — St. Louis Republic.
FAMOUS BULBS.
HYACINTHS AND TULIPS FROM
THE OLD TOWN OF HAARLEM.
How a Region of Sterile Sand Has
Been Converted Into a Vast
Flower Garden—Triumphs
of Dutch Industry.
F you happened to be down at the
docks in the fall of the year and
watched the unloading of a newly
arrived steamship your curiosity
might be aroused by the large number
of boxes of a certain size and shape
which were being hoisted from the hold
ofhe vessel.
pon inquiry you would find that
the boxes contained bulbs, and as each
box contains some thousands you
would probably wonder where they
were all going to be used.
The bulbs are the fruit of an indus-
try, the establishment of which is one
of the most remarkable instances of
perseverance in the history of mankind.
The old town of Haarlem, where these
bulbs come from, has seen many a
bloody combat waged betoreits ancient
walls, but it is doubtful if all those
warlike operations combined demand-
ed from the combatants such an ex-
penditure of energy and toil as did the
great struggle with the forces of na-
ture whick the men of Haarlem waged
for many a long year in the face of
difficulties which, perhaps, any other
people would have deemed insur-
mountable when they began to form
the gardens where these bulbs grow.
But the Dutchman is nothing if not
perservering, and truly these sweet
smelling gardens in the vicinity of the
old town are a standing monument to
his patience and sturdiness. They
have been actually wrested from a
desert as barren as the shores of the
Dead Sea. The original site was noth-
ing but sand, deposited during many
centuries by the wind blowing inland,
and not a solitary green thing would
grow on it. But the patient toiler dug
and drained and fertilized until he ob-
tained a soil which is absolutely per-
fect for the purpose for which it is
used—so perfect, indeed, that the
grower can defy competition and en-
joy practically a monopoly of the in-
dustry.
They have indeed ‘‘made the wil-
derness to blossom as a rose,” and the
beauty of these gardens in the spring
months is marvelous beyond descrip-
tion. Imagine miles of gorgeous
flowers, of every conceivable tint and
variety of form, grown in patches,
each sort by itself, and filling the air
with sweet perfume, and you can form
some idea of the splendid reality.
The gardens have small canals cut
through them, and at intervals hedges
are planted; indeed, these last are
very necessary, as without them the
sandy beds would be actually blown
away. The varieties of bulbs culti-
vated are very numerous, reaching in-
to the thousands, but the most im-
portant and the most cultivated are
hyacinths and tulips.
The propagation of the bulbs is a
slow and tedious process, and the
growers have need of a good deal of
the patience of their ancestors to suc-
cessfully prosecute the business. The
hyacinth bulb as we purchase it in the
stores is already from three to five
years old, and can be planted and will
bloom year after year for five or six
years; in the soil around Haarlem it
will bloom thirteen times. It then
generally decays.
The method of propagating the hya-
cinth will serve as an illustration for
all, although some of the others do
not take so long a time.
About the middle of July, when the
flowers and leaves are faded, the bulbs
are taken out of the ground, placed in
a sunny spot, covered slightly with
earth and left there for about three
weeks, when they become dry and
hard. The bulb is then cut under-
neath with three cross cuts, or is
scooped out to about half its thickness,
and in November following it is plant-
ed with the cut side downward. At
the end of that season they are lifted,
andit is found that from forty to fifty
infant bulbs have grown where the
cuts were made.
These are separated from the parent
bulb and planted out year after year,
becoming larger each year, for four or |
five years, before they are of a sufi- |
cient size for the market. All new
varieties have to be raised from seed, |
which is a longer and more tedious |
process still. The perfected bulb is |
then stored on shelves in warehouses |
to await shipment.
As Haarlem is the world’s prineipal
source of supply it may be imagined |
| that the business is enormous. The |
| greater portion of the bulbs produced |
are sold in Europe, but America has |
come to the front in recent years and |
| now purchases an enormous quantity
annually. The demand for them is
rapidly increasing as the beauty and
value of bulbous plants become more |
generally known and appreciated.— |
New York Herald.
Useless Q.
The letter Q is a superfluous alpha- |
betic character —a nondescript of the |
worst sort and of no more real value
in expressing or helping to expressour |
thoughts in writing than one of the |
Chinese word signs would be. It never
ends an English word and can not be-
gin one without the aid of the letter |
u, being invariably followed by the
last mentioned letter in all words be- |
longing to our language. The man |
doesn’t live that can tell the ‘‘why” of |
the peculiar relation of the letters q |
and u, or why the former was given |
its curious name. Some argue that its |
name was applied because of the tail
or cue at the bottom of the letter, but |
the original q, when sounded just as |
it is to-day, was made without the cue,
the character mich resembling the |
| English sign for pounds.—Boston
| Transcript.
|
i
Cheap Meals.
Mr. J. C. Monoghan, United States
Consul at Chemnitz, has made an in-
teresting report to the State Depart
ment on the subject of cheap eating
houses in German cities, from which
it appears that American cities have
much to learn in that respect. ‘Ta
| minimize begging and to remove the
shame that no man feels more than
the honest poor of accepting food in
charity,” says the Consul, ‘‘cities in
Germany have established eating
houses where substantial foods are
sold very cheaply.” He says he visited
one of these establishments in Chem-
nitz and found nothing to condemn
and very much to commend. He
adds: ‘The food is substantial. To
a hard working man, with an appetite
sharpened by exercise, the dinner ie
excellent. The meats, vegetables,
etc., are properly cleaned and pre-
pared before they are cooked. Every-
thing is kept clean and smells sweet
and wholesome. The people, who
look hearty and healthful, gather in
large rooms on benches placed by
long tables. Besides the dinner, or
midday meal, supperis served to those
who wish it. Inasmuch as the dinner
is for the most part enjoyed by those
men whose wives work, or by men and
women who are far from their homes
and by those who prepare their own
evening meal, the suppers of the city
eating house play a very small part in
the annual account. Af these suppers,
however, one can get pickled herrings
with potatoes for 31 centseach person;
salt herrings and potatoes, 3 cents;
potatoes with curds of buttermilk, 2}
cenis; warm beer, 2} cents per cup;
different kinds of soup, 2: cents for
three-quarters of a liter (very nearly
a quart); coffee, 1} cents per cup (a
little over half a pint) ; bread, of which
there are two kinds—the so-called
black or rye bread and wheat bread—
11 cents and three-fourths of a cent
for a portion.
There were sold last year 435,760
dinners. At 33,294 of these bread was
bought for 1 cents a portion. The
year’s expenditures were $15,557, the
income $17,501, leaving a balance in
favor of the city of $1944.
The Consul gives alist of thearticles
served, from which it appears that
beef, pork, saussge, potatoes, peas,
beans, lentils, bread, fruits and
vegetables of all kinds form the main
part of the meals. ‘‘These dinners,”
says the Consul, ‘never cost more
than 10 cents. They do away with
the death and dyspepsia dealing din-
ner pail. They blot out the shame of
begging. They are nutritious and
wholesome. Besides, they are self-
supporting.” —Washington Star.
LL Sag
Caring For the Hair.
As no one medicine has been found
which will benefit all persons, so no
remedy has yet come to light which
will make hair grow on bald heads, or
even prevent it from falling out. The
roots of the hair must be treated with
the same consideration we show the
roots of flowers. [Epithelial scales
grow in several layers upon the entire
body. Ome is always forming to re-
place the scuriskin which falls off
naturally or is washed off in the bath.
From the head, seldom subjected to
water, they do not fall so easily as
from other portions of the body, and
encircling the roots of the hair are
apt to remain until they fall naturally
or are violently dislodged by the
comb. If these scales of dandruff are
allowed to mature and fall away they
do little harm, but if they are scraped
off they quickly reform.
The hair should be washed twice a
month in warm water with some odor-
less soap, and occasionally a pinch of
salt may be added. The scalp should
be gently manipulated with
fingers until the dandruff is =all
loosened and can easily be washed
out, Into the rinsing water put a
little bay rum. Wipe the head and
hair as dry as possible, then sit in the
sun’s rays or glow of the fire until it
is quite dry. It should be the duty of
every mother to see that from infancy
her children’s hair is faithfully cared
for. The young hair should be
brushed several times a day with a
soft brush, and the scalp gently rubbed
all over with the fingers. This will
stimulate the roots. Hair dyes of all
kinds are objectionable, but if one
must be used, let it be the simplest
thing possible. A receipt which is
practically harmless is as follows:
To a pint of white vinegar add two
ounces of iron filling and one ounce of |
Boil until reduced |
bruised gall-nuts.
one-half, strain and bottle for use.
Brown hair may be made to take ona
sunny tinge by wetting it with saffron
steeped in tincture of rosemary.
handful of saffron to a pint of the |
tincture is the right proportion. This,
too, is said to be harmless, but, grant-
ing as much, it is far better taste for a
woman to retain the color nature de-
signed to match her eyes and com-
plexion. Oily hair on man or woman
1s an abomination. The natural gloss
is distinctive. Soap and water, sun
shine and care are the best hair tonies,
— Ladies’ Home Journal.
—
Varieties of Buck Boards.
The buck board as seen in north. |
eastern New York, where it is in gen.
eral use, is a vastly different vehicle
from the buck board of the suburban
region. The latter is a stanch-look-
ing, open vehicle, usually painted to
resemble polished oak, while
former is often an unpainted wagon,
|
the |
the |
with & perilous sag in the middle, sug- |
gestive to the stranger of the historic |
‘‘one-horse shay” and its sudden dis-
solution. —New York Sun.
ei
English is spoken by 90,000,000 of
people ; Russian, by 75,000.000; Ger-
man, 56,000,000; French, 49,000,000;
Spanish, 38,000,000; Italian, 20,000,-
000; Portuguese, 14,000,000,
Scandinavian, 9,000,000.
and |
SOLDIERS COLUMN
SOLDIERS’ LYRICS.
Extracts of Poetical Letters Sent Home
During 1861-85.
DURING the war
of 1861-435 ae
mails reaching
New York city
from the South
and the West
were unusually
heavy. The
soldiers who
comprised our
various armies
when not en-
gaged with the
E enemy or mak-
had many weary
ing long marches,
and lonely hours,
To pass this time pleasantly and
profitably, many of them devoted their
leisure moments to writing long letters
to their various relaticns and [riends
at home.
Very many of the soldiers’ letters
during this period bore rhymed ad-
dresses, some of which were quaint
and witty, while others were sentimen-
tal in character and expressed the
writer's feelings with a greater or less-
er degree of accuracy; and though
sometimes there was a struggle to
make the address “fit in’’ neverthelesa
it was seldom they failed to make it
clear enough to finally reach its dea-
tination.
The writer was connected with the
New York general post-office during
the above period, and at odd moments
collected a number of these poetical
addresses—good, bad and inditferent.
A selection of a few of these may re-
call “old times’ to the veterans and
afford entertainment to your younger
readers, giving them an 1dea of how
some of the soldiers amused themselves
and their friends at home,
In order that the younger readera
may more clearly understand some of
these “‘adaresses” it should be stated
that the soldiers were permitted to
send their letters without prepayment
of postage, and lack of funds often
compelled the acceptance of this priv-
ilege, However it was necessary that
the letter should bear the endorse-
ment of some regimental officer
and it was then duly for-
warded, double postage being collect-
ed from the receipent, who of course
cheerfully paid the “fine.”
It was a well known fact that the
soldicis did not receive their pay very
promptly, small as it was; consequent-
ly when they were paid the friendly
sutler claimed the “lion's share” to
cancel the uccount he hadso kindly (?)
permitted them to “hang up” and fre-
quently the insignificant balance wag
soon quandered in the same direction,
Theretore we need not wonder that the
boys were proverbially “dead broke”
and the following extracts will show
the almost chrcnie financial condition
in which many found themselves:
A soldier, down in I'lorida swamps,
Having spent all his money and used ail
his stamp,
Requesis that this letter may he
through,
While he tizhts for the honor of ‘Red.
‘nite and Blue.”
Soldier's letter. ‘‘Nary red,”
Hardtac« in-tead of bread;
Postmaster, put tuis through,
Mary stamp, but nine months duet
Uacie Sam's to me a debtor,
That'sthe reason [ “‘frank’’thisle!ter.
1t be would pay my lawful due
1 then world stamp this letier thro’.
To be “strapped” in camp or else-
vhere is a sufliciently disagreeable
condition ofaffairs, even when you
daily expect the paymaster; but when
all hope is goue, as in the case olthis
poor comrade, he surely merits our
sympathies. Listen to Dis lamenta-
tion:
“Now is the hour of our discontent”
The payvmaster's sloped,
A d we've got not accent!
It was often remarked, during thi
period, that the armies contained a
wonderful array of professional talent
and also all the trades were numerous-
ly represented. Small wonder, then,
that we find a “naturalist,” who ap-
pears to have been roving about, and,
attracted by some charming music,
tells the stury:
To Clara Redfield. Madison,
New Haven county, state of Conn.,
Who wien she pours her music forth
(The sweetest tones of all the earth),
The nightingale, that bird of fame,
Stops short its own,and sinks in shame
Again, we have a fair example of
the class of pnzzles called anagrams:
To Hiram Allen, Oswego.
Transpose l it readeth,, We-go so,
Transposed again, and you will see
That thus it runneth, So-zo-we.
Transposed once more, and it will show
A common adage—So-we-go!
Once more, in a similar vein,we find
an effort to puzzle mail clerks:
I wish Iwasa lU. T. K.,
Where once I used 2 B.,
For there resides Miss K. T. J.,
And her I wish 2 (.
Surely. it needs no demonstration to
show that the loved ones at home very
anxiously and unceasingly awaited
the arrival ofeletters from the dear ab-
sent ones, and this feeling is somewhat
graphically expressed in our closing
selection of verses, written by a sol-
dier who, for awhile, was stationed at
Fort Schuyler, New York. They are
entitled
put
THE MAIL.
Oh! what a world of destinies
Is compassed by thy hand,
Thou bearer of the tidings
From the loved of every land!
And vetthou hast no sympathies,
While speeding on the way.
For those who pine and long for thee,
With each returning day.
What care hast thou for those who stand
With half suspended breath,
To read the missives borne by three
Of love, of lite, or death?
Of those who watch and wait for thee,
Till minutes seem like years.
Till cheeks grow pale and eyes grow dim,
With bitter, heart sick tears
Who hear thy dismal signal notes,
Half wild with each delay,
Then meet the careless, rapid words,
“No mail for thee to-day.”
—I S. BROWNE
in Blue and Gray.