In Houth Africa tbero is great de mand for donkeys, as they arc proof against climate, plague and flies. It appears tbnt (let-many in not the wily bote nolr of industrial (treat Britain, though it is doubtless tlie chief. The "iiiado In Germany" rry is now supplemented by nnother "made in the Utiitn.t Htntes." In other words, American mnnufnetnrprs are invading KngliHh home and coloti ial market!). Home time sinee an Englishman in Ceylon announced hi con version to MohammeduniHin and immediately claimed the privilege of polygamy, taking nnto him a second wife in the person of an English girl of excellent family, who nlao anmmuoed her con version. The first wife sued for a divorce. The man protested that as a Moslem he hod a right to two or even four wives. The matter has come up in the courts, and it ha lieen decided that his status in Ceylon is that of an Knglishmnu upon whom the obliga tion of monogamy is binding whatever his religious belief, whether he be Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Mormon or Mohammedan. Hays the Han Francisco Argonaut: 'The daily papers are uot content with plastering pictures over their pages, most of which are superfluous and all of w hieh are bad. They have now devised all sorts of typographic freaks with which to disfigure the pages already defaced by poor pictures. It has become a matter of extreme difficulty to pursue the windings of an article in and out of the pictures and over to the inner pages, where its ramifications generally tor mi unto. For, according to the new 'journal ism, ' it is necessary to begin all the news features on the first page with a whoop and a howl, allowing thorn to trickle out like stale treaclo on the in side pages, lint this desire to get everything 'featured' on tho first page has brought about the condition which makes the daily papers look like pic ture puzzles. As if to add to the con fusion, some inspired editorial ediot lias now devised a plan of inclosing in borders all sorts of stories, scraps of interviews, sayings of individuals more or less obscure and the flotsam and jetsam generally of the news of the clay. There is thus made up a sort of journalistic remnant-counter or newspaper ragbag, which is surround ed with variegated black borders of varying degrees of hideousncss, and around which must coil and curl and convolute the genuine news of the day. The hapless purchaser of a news paper is now forced to pick out the news, not only from amid the pictures which deface the pages of the dailies, but from these typographical moo- stroBities as well." During her first term in the White House, relates W. E. Curtis, iu the Chicago Record, Mrs. Cleveland was always accessible to newspaper cor respondents and was the source of a great deal of valuable information concerning oflfloial and social affairs. The women correspondents were very fond of her and appreciated her sym pathy and assistance, but during the second term, after the children came. she became more secluded; she seldom saw any of her old friends of the news paper profession, except on the oc casion of official functions, aud eveu ' then she usually referred them to tho president's private secretary or to Colonel Wilson, the master of cere monies at the White Honse. It is said that this change in her disposi tion was caused by a little incident that was resented by the president and herself as an unwarranted intru sion into their private affairs, and caused them to take measures to pro tact their household against any fur ther attacks of that kind. At the same time the article they complained of was not only an interesting but truthful account of an event which occurs daily in every well-regulated household that is made happy by children. A newspaper correspondent of some fame happened to call just as Buth who was then a baby, waa having her morning bath, The operation was being observed with great pleasure by the president, who invited his friend to join him, The latter of course was immensely interested in studying the demeanor of the president of the United States, and particularly man of Mr. Cleve land's oharacter and disposition in the midjt of such pretty domestio soene, nd afterward took the liberty to write description of the affair for his paper. The publio was greatly amused, bat the president and Mrs. Cleveland were indignant. That particular cor respondent was never received at the White House again, and be effectually destroyed their confidence in his pro- fttsic. A SONG OF Them's a song of a bird la a blossoming trpo. And sonits In wind-trebles above i But tho song Uint Is ever the sweetest to inn Is a denr HtUn snug nt hnr love I Mko fairy Imlls rlnidmr Whoro ruses nrn snrlnirimr. Is the King of her love that my glad henrt Is liming l 0. tlm lilnl In tlie blossoms with melody And tho winds sing the bins fields above) But of rosy-red lips and two little white The ltev. Wetherby Hmilcs w as rec tor of HI. .fames' and occupied a rose embowered cottage not far from the church. The cottage, with its atten dant gnnlen, was a dainty, pretty spot, which looked as though a woman's hand had -ilaniieil and cared for it, lint no woman had anything to do with the rectory. The Hev. Mr. Hmiles only servant was a nod- dpring old man; the rector prepared his own meals, except when lie was invited to tea by some old lady who pitied his lonely, indigestion-breeding existence. Not that the Itev. Mr. Hmilcs was a woman hator, but Mr. Hmiles was very high church indeed. Unfortu nately, Ht. James' and the parish and the poople were .very poor. The good poople liked the Ilev. Mr. Smiles and tried to follow his suggestions upon high chnrch nsages. Jlut there are people, yon know, whom you couldn't make high church with a jackscrew. The communicants of Ht. James' were mostly farmers and small tradesmen. The rector felt that the clergy.to lie able to give thoir whole time and thought to their work, should live lives of celibacy. He had felt at times a strong drawing toward some ecclesi astical order in which such vows would be necessary. Then he would wear some outward sign of his vows, aud the young women of bis pnrish would not fall iu love with uiiu. lue rector was young and good lookiug; ho bad been in his present pastorate six mouths, and he had already had an experience. The young rector lived with Ins books, occasionally taking a littlo rec reation in the garden. The rosos dis appeared, the leaves fell and left the clinging vines baro.nnd the snow cov ered the prim little beds in tho rectory garden. Thus a year of his pastorate closed, and the spring drew near. The ltev. A otborby Hmilos, from his study window, could look across his garden plot and see the brown earth warming in the spring sunshine and the trees and bushes slowly burst ing into leaf. Nature is always most attractive in the spring, and nature in a thousand ways, with bud aud leaf and warming earth and white-necked sky and sweet air, wooed him from bis books. He looked across his garden, I say. And across the garden, beyond the low hedge, was another garden, which in summer was full of color. He bad noticed the brilliant-hued beds the year before, but now the only bit of color was a pale-blue morning robe that flitted about the inolosnre. To tell the truth, the rector bad seldom noticed that morning gown or the little woman inside it before. But it pleased his fancy now to look across the hedge and watch his neighbor. He recalled that bis old major-domo bad told bim the oottage next the par sonage was occupied by a widowed lady a lonely creature who had taken np her abode there but shortly before the Ilev. Mr. Smiles was settled over Ht. James'. He remembered the little figure in black in one of the side pews. pointed out to him by the clork as "Mrs. Boorritch, and probably had not given her a thought or a glance afterward. However, be saw so much of the pale-blue gown that first warm week iu spring that he looked for the littlo widow in her pew the next Habbath. She had laid aside her weeds aud was dressed in some soft, clinging, fnwn- oolored material that made her look like a very demure little moth. And she had the sweetest face in the world as least, the sweetest face in the Rev. Wetherby Hmiles' world. On Monday morning the clerical black appeared in the rectory garden almost as soon as the pretty morning robe appeared over the hedge. The demure little face dimpled and smiled under its garden hat at the rector's approach, and the widow nodded brightly. "l'ou are early at your gardening this spring, Mrs. Hoori-itcu, he said. "Yes; but it is so warm," she re plied, iu do fons o. ."Iain expecting my crocusen to appear any day now." "I'm afraid we shall see some frost yet, Mrs. Hcorritch," said the rector, "Now, don't talk that way, I beg!' cried the little woman, clasping her hands, inclosed in long-wristed aud particularly well-fitting gauntlets. "Just suppose my .crocuses should come np aud ba frost-bitten 1 Ob, the thought ia too awful." "I sincerely hope you will not be disappointed, but this climate is un certain." 'After that the young rector often fouud it quite necessary for his health to work in his garden while the blue gown (flitting like a buttorlly from rose tree to vine and from vine to hedgerow) was iu evidence iu the neighboring yard. F.eally, after por ing over musty theological tomes all winter a man must get some freshness in bis soul and now blood in his heart. The gardening went on apace.and the treacherous warm weather contiuned. Many were the conferences held aoroys tue liedge regarding the proper prun ing of rose trees, the planting of hardy P Creed and Crocuses. J HER LOVE. Is the dear Utile song of my love. Of red llns Hint kiss ma And tenderly bless me, Anil arms like a noeklnoe Hint clasp and (ta res me. King ever, ye birds, to the blossoming tree And. winds, ilin your mimic above i Her brown on lis are brighter than blossoms to me. And I'm sliiRlnit a sons; of her love I.Ike fulry bells ringing Where roses nrn scringing. Is the song of her love Unit my glnd hesrt Is sinning I F. I,. Htnnton, In Atlnntn Constitution. sends and tlie preparation of the beds of earth. The rector bad never sus pected there was so much detail to the business -of gardening. One morning, just nfter a warm night raiu, the ilev. Mr. Hmiles was called to tlie hedge by a litttle cry from his neighbor. "They are coining!" she cried, in delight. "Heel here is the dearest little blade, of green pushing up through the mold ond there is another and another! Just look at tbmn!" The rector found it necessary to leap the hedge (he had been some thing of an athlete at the university, and eortuinly this spring weather was sending the blood coursing through his veins quite like old times) and look at the crocus bed near to. "They are such lovely ones," she raid, earnestly. "I don't believe you noticed them nt all last spring" (he pronounced maledictions upon him self for having been so bliud an to miss so much beauty the previous sea son), "but they will be even better this year if we don't hnve that horrid frost you have been prophesying." Hhe looked at him roguishly, and it suddenly crossed the young rector's mind Hint several yollowiNh-greeu points of crocus blade, breaking the damp soil, made a far prettier picture than the linest rose bush in full bloom which he hnd ever seen. It was a strange fact and one he had never dis covered before. Hut when ho bad returned to bis own lonely domain and entered his study, he stopped mid thought seri ously for n minute. Then he enst his flut-crowncd tniiiiHterml hat upon the floor with gi-put emplinsis and ex claimed: "It's my creed, I tell you, that a man in orders should not marry." Now, there was no ono visible to nrgno the question, and yet there sonined to be argument in his own mind, for the Hev. Wetherby Hmiles smote his palm with his clenched fist angrily and kicked the flut-crowned hut to the other end of the room. For two days tho rector of Ht. James' rigidly stilled bis interest in crocuses; his interest in creeds, however, was not entirely satisfying. On Hunday, after vespers, ho overtook on his way home a littlo figure in a fawn-colored gown. "lou must see mv crocuses, Mr. Hmiles," she said. "The buds will be open before Hunday." Ilie rector glanced gloomily at the darkening sky and thought that prob ably there would be a frost that night. Hut he could not long think of front and other unpleasant possibilities under the skillful manipulation of bis charming little neighbor. He hesi tated at her gate, and again crocuses triumphed over creed. The crocuses were flourishing finely; tho creous took a back seat indeed, a very un obtrusive seat in the rector's mem ory. His interest in tho crocus continued that evening to so lute an hour that his old servitor really thought he waa not coming to supper aud cleared away the repast. "Nevermind," said the rector.kind ly, "I am not hungry, "and when the old mau had doddered off to bed he sat down before the open window of his chamber aud stared out into the still night. Ho sat there for an hour. A light burned behind the curtain of one of his neighbor's windows. That waa her light he knew. Finally it dis appeared, but he sat on, bis arms folded upon the sill, hia eyes glaring fixedly into the darkness. Creed was making a strong fight for life. It grew rapidly colder, and suddenly the Itev, ' Wetherby Hmiles awoke to the discomforts of the outer man. He shivered and drew away from the win dow. There was no breeze and no clouds, but an increasing chill made him close the easement. Then be slipped on a smoking jacket mid went to the door. There was a light hazo upon the river and a shim mer of frost iu the air. "A bad night for the farmers and fruit grower," he thought. Then his mind reverted to those crocuses. "They will be black by morning," be said. "Too bad! and tho little woman thinks so much of them." He hesitated a moment aud then went in again, reappearing shortly with an old mackintosh. ' "Just the thing to spread over the bed to defend them from the frost," he muttered and with long strides crossed the rectory garden and leaped tho hedge. Feeling a good deal like a night prowler who' had no business in the place, lie crept through his little neigh bor's garden and approached tho cro cus bed near the porch. He started at the slightest sound aud gluuoad about fearfully. Suppose anybody should see him one of his pu-itihiou-era even his inaior-domol Ho forgot the night was dark; it seemed to his excited imagination that anybody pass ing along the road could see him the rector of Ht, James' prowling about boneath a lady's window! Huddoul; -. juBt as be spread the cov ering oe us bed and waa turning hastily to flee, be heard sound on the porch. He started, and bis eyeO became fixed upon the vision before bim, A figure, all in white, and motionless, stood upon the lower step. The Key, Wetherby Hmiles waa startled, but he was not superstitious, For some seconds, however, be stared at the apparition before he recognized it. Then ho stepped ql tVkly forward and began to make excuses in a low voice. "Mrs. Hcorritch Lydia I beg your pardon, but I thought " He. got no further in his faltering remarks. With a shuddering little cry the figure tottered and would have fallen to the ground had be not sprung forward and caught her in. bis arms. "(tood gracious! 'muttered the ltev. Mr, Hmiles, the perspiration starting on hia lirrfw. "What a situation. Huppose anybody should see me now. lo think of me a clergyman in a woman's garden at night, holding that woman in my arms!" He was tempted to lay her down upon the porch and run. Jlut be looked down into the little white face, revealed by the faint starlight. The pale lids were drawn over the great eyes, which be thought so glorious. The pouting lips had not entirely lost their rodness, but the cheeks were without color. He looked upon her, and then did not lay her down and flee. Instead he stooped lower andlifted ber more closely against bis breast and carried bis burden into the honse. There was a couch in the reception room. He laid her down and lighted the gas. Hhe opened her eyes languidly and saw him. "I have frightened you, Lvdia," be said, stooping above her. "Iteally, I bad no intention, you know. I only remembered the crocuses " "I I thought you worn a burglar," she admitted. "And when I heard your voieo " "Didn t yon recognize it? ' he asked. "l'ou you had never spoken to me in just that way before, aud " He bent lower and took her hand. "I was only thinking of the crocuses. Lydia," be said, which was very true. lie had quite forgotton the "creed. Chicngo Itecord. QUAINT AND CURIOUS. , In Iudin the natives, when a bicycle comes along, full down and mention the nauio of the Deity. A lady iu Hiram, Mo., hns cucum ber pickles which have been in her possession for more than forty years. Whistling is practically unknown among tho ieelnndors who regard it as irreligious, aud a violation of the divine law. The first forger of a Hank ol England note was Richard William Vaughnu, a linen draper of HtntTord, hanged iu 1758. Miss Florence Hudson of Baltimore, Md., has a tooth of solid gold, with a diamond in the centre of it. The orna ment cost her over SI 50. The long tails of the Hhah of Tar sia's horses are dyed crimson for six inches at the tips ajoalously guarded privilege of the ruler and his sons. If Chinese children do not obey thoir parents, and the latter whip them to death, tho law has no punishment for them, as obedience to parents is the cardinal virtuo. W, T. Woodward, the Kentucky horse breedor, is going about telling his friends that he has beon cured of rheumatism by carrying old electric, light carbons in his pockets. Among the many devices to assist the blind one of the best is a type writer in which the keys have raised letters and which punctuates the paper with either letters or the dots con tained in one of the blind alphabets. Experiments testing the compara tive values of salt and fresh water in street-sprinkling are being made in Han Francisco. It is said that salt water does not dry so quickly as fresh, and that it binds the dirt together, so that there is less dust. The people of Hharpsbnrg, Ky., en gage in diverting contests on Saturday evenings. Forty men are each sup plied with a dozen eggs, and range themselves in two parties, twenty on each side. They then begin throwing the eggs at thoir opponents, and at its close they look like omelets from head to foot. The largest lobster that has been seen in New Haven, Conn., in years was.on exhibition at tho Tontine hotel. The big shellfish weighed twenty-eight pounds, and was very old. It re posed in a dish on the office counter, ami was kept cool by pieces of ice. The lobster was alive, and lazily moved its great claws. A Virginian has invented a tree pro tector which kills insects and worms which try to crawl up the trunk and eat the loaves, the new device con sisting of a pliable receptacle to sur round the tree and hold the insect killing liquid, with a felt pad at the bottom to prevent insects from crawl ing up between the tree and the pro tector. Beven Feet of Hair un Mr. Larow'e Chin. Mr. Legraud Lurow of Lamar, Mo.t has a beard which perhups is the long est worn by any mau iu the world. His beard is seven feet in length, aud has measured seven aud one-half feet. Mr. Larow was born in Tompkins couuty, N. Y., iu 1H5J, and his rela tives aro noted lor heavy beards, but not of extraordinary leugth. He is 0 fo.it in height, and weighs 175 pounds. Whim htaiiilin with his board down it extends two feet upon t-bo floor. He has not shaved for over 20 yoavs. Ho ears bin beard braided and wound around bis body, or e;o wrapped and lodged iuslde hia vi v tit. J "'"is Globe Democrat. A Lending Material. Crepe de chine 111 all the lovely tints is one of the season's leading materials for evening and honse dresses. A pretty costume is in a bright shade of pomegranate toned down by panels of black plaited chiflon, two on either side of the skirt over black, and one at the left side of the bodice where it opens, and is fastened with silk cord and small diamond buttons. Both the skirt and bodice are accordion-plaited and the belt and collar band are of black satin. New York Hun. Woman rhystclan in I.I Hung Chang. Miss Hn King Eng, M. P., the only female native of China who has ever graduated from an American medical college, has just received very high honors in her own country. Follow ing close upon ber appointment as sole delegate from China to tha Women's Medical convention, to be held in London next June, comes the announcement that Li Hung Chstig, China's grand viceroy, has appointed Iter first physician in his private house hold. Never before has this high of fice been given to a woman. A Fortune With Siring. Miss (trace Hartley, a Yassar col lege girl and member of a prominent family in Fall Itiver, Mass., has been bequeathed one of the most nniqne fortunes on record by her father, l)r. J. W. Hartley. The queer conditions of the will are as follows: First,that she never marry any one within the degree of kinship of son, grandson or great grandson of Cook Borden, late of Fall Itiver, de ceased. Second, that she shall at no time give, bestow, present, loan, en dow or furnish any part of the prin cipal or income of the estate to, for or upon, or for the benoflt of any person within the kinship of wife, son, daugh ter, grandson, granddaughter, great grandson or great granddaughter of said Cook Borden. Aimrrl for Working Women. Are you one of that bright fellow ship -r-the working women? Are you busy all day in factory, or store, or office? Are you, in short, one who is interested in the great problem: "What the working woman should wear at work?" If you are, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest thin advice. Miss Orace Dodge, who probably knows more about the needs of the working girl than any other woman in New York, does not believe in any thing approaching a uniform for downtown wear. Hhe thinks that Mollie of Tompkins street hns just an much right to the daintiness of dress as Marie of Madison avenue. Still, Miss Dodge believes iu appropriate ness and admits that some "pretties" must be discarded in the interest of the eternal fitness of things. For instance, the working woman will avoid, in her working garb, os trich feathers, big bats, luce jabots, silk and chiffon waists, silk dress skirts, bracelets, rings, earrings, chains and all sorts of jewelry. Hhe will forego the pleasure of donning a feather boa. Hhe will eschew bright colors, as being both too conspicuous and too easily soiled for downtown wear. For a gown whether she is a factory girl or a "lady lawyer," she may have a dark colored serge, cheviot or tweed. If she belongs to the better paid clans of workers it may be silk lined aud have in imposing gilt letters on its belt the name of a fashionable tailor. But whatever she is, it must be neatly hang, trig, trim, and bound and brnsbed religiously. If the one dress baa to do ranch duty, there should bela smooth fit ting bodice of itself, pei folk plaita laid, perhapj jacket opening over a uiapa with Nor- with an .Eton bilk vest, and two or three flannel shiitwaists. The ingenious damsel studies shirtwaists in the tailors' windowfi and models her own on them sn apped seams, frilled cuffs and all. Vith two shirt waists, one regular bodice aad a neatly made suit, the woiking woman ia equipped as to frocks. Naw York Journal. I Mrs. Fri.lUof Ixuhi. The wife of the worla famous Arctic explorer is a great favorite in Nor wegian society on her own account, beside being, of coursl, now a kind of queen as the wife of hVr husband. But before she was man-iedXshe was much sought after in Chrisyania, because, for one thing, she is ode of the finest musicians in Norway,Jthe possessor of an extraordinary and ligbly cultivated voice, and an nnuBual combination an accomplished pianist s well. When in England a yeir ago, Mrs. Nan sen played and sang before Queen Victoria at indaor, audi the queen was very gracious in ner expressions of pleasure in the occasion, and though ao much could hardly ud said in re gard to any other art, a compliment from the queen on things! musical is a genuine triumph, for she loves music deeply, aud really kuowa a great deal about it. Mrs. Nansen is considered decidedly Intellectual; her family has been dia i tintnUhed for generation for the number of professors It has contributed; to Norwegian institutions of learning, particularly to the university at Chris t innia. Such a family history confer distinction anywhere, but particularly' is this so in Norway, where there ia neither aristocracy nor plutocracy. Bnt perhaps Mrs. Nansen's good looks and love of outdoor simrtn are for her bus band as decided attractions as her musical or mental gifts. Hhe is lust the contrast in coloring to him thatf she should lie dark baired and dark eyed, and a contrast in size, too, for she is decidedly a little woman. Itunning over hill and dale on Nor wegian snowshoes is the great winter sport of Hcandinavia, and Mrs. Nansen is an expert at skilobning, as they call it; but once when she was skilob ning in the mountains with her hus band she did too much, and became exhausted; she was wearing a short dress and a long coat and high boots. ller husband picked ber np and sought help. At last be found a peasant's hut, and from it issued its owner before he reached the door, pro testing volubly: "Oh, sir, yon ought not to bring a little boy like that out so far. The country here is too rough for a child to skilobn in." It is a pet trick of Dr. Nansen to set her on his ontstretched arm and parade up aud down the room with ber; but that really to one that knows him does not indicate mnch about her size, for at a banquet given in Chris tiauia after bis retnrn from Green land he picked np Captain Luerdorf, who has since commanded the Frarn, and, holding bim by the arms high from the floor, cried: "There la the) man I place above ns all." Chicago Itecord. . Fnshlnn Notes. Jaciiieminot velvet hats are lunch favored by brunette beauties. Amethysts and emeralds seem to be favorite stones for gold hatpins. Very lovely tea gowns are of Roman striped silk, with lace garniture. For yokes and skirt borders there are beautiful lace appliqne insertions. Three kinds of fur ntilized in one garment is no unusual sight these days. Long black lace scarfs in the style of days gone by are now used aa sashes. The latent French skirt models grow narrower and closer on the front aud sides. Home French honse dresses are trimmed with two shades of ribbon of the same color, artistically arranged. Daggers for the hair are agaiu in fashion in gold, aluminum, filigree, silver and amber set with mock jewels of every color and device. There seems to be a veritable epi demic of tiuy waists. The athletio girl has broad shoulders, but she doenu't run mnch to waist to indulge at once in a pun aud an honest state ment. The fashionable photographer pos sesses such an assortment of laces, nock jewels and fancy headwear that the woman anxious to be posed artis tically haa a wide range of choice in the matter of her adornment. Very many of the new fur boas are long enough to reach the bottom of the skirt in front. Home are made en tirely of Kussian sable, Hudson's bay or stone marten tails. With these lace aud jewels are often introduced. When silks are packed away they are likely to become yellow nnlena care is used. To prevent this, break up a few cakes of white beeswax, fold them loosely in old handkerchiefs and place these among the folds of silk. White gloves atitched with black are only tie rigneur for day wear when accompanying a costume in black and white effects. The more fashionable shades are doe color, biscnit, mush room, almond, pale brown and tan. Fashionable dressmakers, both here and abroad, are making most liberal use of beautiful artificial flowers that look exactly like nature's own to deo orate evening toilets, and not a few fichus and bodices are actually smoth ered with roses. Fur is a very fashionable trimming, and ia combined with lace and em broidery withont any regard for tha expeuse involved; yet,without this ex cess of decoration the plainer gowns, when they have the indescribable touch which gives them style, are the most pleasing. Lace of all kinds is cheaper than ever, and real lace ia never out of date. It can be made into almost" every style of trimming, without be-' ing cut into bits. Most of the dressy neck garnitures are finished with Mechlin, Point de Veuise, or other rich lacea. Frills of lace in ivory white or an tique yellow or frills of chiffon are much used to line the high storm collars of fur garments. Sallow eomplexioned women do not look well in gray furs, and hence the chinchilla or gray fox collarette is trimmed with a lace ruff and knots of ribbon. .Both white ana! black lace ia used, the black as a re lief for light furs, tha white as a relief tor dark furs.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers