Bits of Wisdom.
‘A wise woman will have her Lusband
#0 well trained that when she tells him
a thing ance it will be enough. Men
hate to bave a thing ‘‘dingdonged into
them,’’ as some of them clegantly ex-
press it. 1 am a very even tempered
man, but I think my self praise would
suffer a severe shock if my wi me
to order a barrel of flour wx 8 first
got up in the morning and the. 1 peat-
ed the command six times ut the Lreak-
fast table, tWice while I was putting on
my overcoat aud gloves and then tol-
lowed me to the gate to scream it out
after me as I turned the corner. Men
hate that sort of nagging.
A wise man will not tell his wife any
lies, not even little white ones. If he
must lie, he will be safer and wiser if
he lies to some one less likely to uncov-
er his duplicity. A wife is a regular
ferret in a matter of this kind. I never
told mine a harmless little fib in my
life that she didn’t expose me before the
sun went down. It is wonderful what
clever intuition women have in this di-
rection. It is dumfounding to men who
are not always absolutely truthful. The
best of husbands often feel that there
are things they won't ‘‘bother wife
with’’ — little complications in their
business affairs or little extravagant ex-
penditures in the way of a hotel dinner
or some other little harmless affair of
which “they would just a little rather
not speak or in regard to which they
may equivocate. But they'd better tell
the truth and hold to it. It is always
best in the end, as men find out the
older they grow. I have found it out
with, I trust, most of the years of my
life still before me. —Zenas Dane.
} Making Parchment Paper.
The operation of manufacturing parch-
ment papers such as are used for wrap-
ping butter and other similar objects
is a very interesting one. Parchment is
produced directly from the raw paper
web in practically one operation. The
sheet to be parchmentized is passed
through sulphuric acid and then through
rollers having a uniform action, which
discharge the surplus acid, the expressed
‘liquid being returned to the tank or
vessel. The paper is then carried and
passed through a washing apparatus as
a tank, and also through sprays of
water, being led and guided by rolls
over which it passes, so that the free
acid is washed off or removed as far as
possible by mechanical washing. The
sheet next passes through a bath of soda
solution or alkali and then through
nippers to express surplus alkali, which
is returned to the bath. Then the paper
is carried through an apparatus to be
further washed with water. Next it is
passed through a bath of bleaching ma-
terial, as ‘‘bleach’’ or the like, then
through further washing apparatus,
again passed between presses and
squeezed, and then finally it is passed
through a bath of glycerin, after the
passage through which the paper is
wound upon a roller or coiled up in a
completed state of parchmentization.—
Paper Mill.
Story of Landseer.
Landseer, whose fine stag hunts in
the highlands have been popularized by
engravings, represents one of the most
extraordinary examples of the irresisti-
bleness of the artistic vocation. I have
seen a most magnificent dog of his,
chained to his kennel and carried away
by floods. The day when, an absolutely
unknown artist, he exhibited this pic-
ture at the Royal academy it attracted
considerable attention, and a gentleman
hurried off to the painter’s to make an
offer to purchase it. He rang at the
door of the small garden, and, on the
wicket being opened, he saw a boy play-
ing with a hoop with some other little
fellows. He inquired of the children:
““Does Mr. Landseer live here?’
‘Yes,’ replied one of the youngsters.
‘‘When can I speak to him?"’
“Now, if you like. I'm Mr. Land-
seer.”
*“But,”’ exclaimed the amateur, ‘‘it is
your father I want to see. I have called
abqut a pieture of his at the academy. ”’
Well,” said the child, *‘it is I who
am exhibiting the picture, *’
He was then 1:14 years old.—Henri
Rochefort’s Memoir.
Gilded Yieauties.
The eastern women, especially those
in Turkey, paint ‘heir eyebrows with
gilt paint, and at night the effect is
very brilliant and oriental. When, by
_ chance, a Chinese girl has eyes that are
not quite so slanting as usual, she can
safely lay claim to special beauty.
Many Japanese women gild their teeth,
while the beauties of the Indies stain
theirs a brilliant red. Some of the Afri-
cans stain their teeth a jet black. Per-
sian women pencil the outer corners of
their eyes to make them look almond
shaped, which is considered an especial
mark of beauty. The women in many
oriental countries die their finger nails
with henna, others let them grow to an
enormous length,
Temper,
Temper itself is not a bad quality. It
is not to be destroyed, as we sometimes
say. Without temper a bar of steel be-
comes like lead. A man without temper
is weak and worthless. We are to learn
gelf control. A strong person is one who
has a strong temper under perfect mas-
tery. There is a deep truth here—that
our mistakes and our sins, if we repent
of them, will help in the growth and
upbuilding of our character.—House-
wife.
Bessarabia.
One of the most productive sections
of the world is the Russian province of
Bessarabia, taken from Turkey ‘in 1878.
Its vineyards often yield 800 gaNons of
wine per acre. The average yield of
wheat is 85 bushels, and of ‘maize 60
bushels.
A Fashion Note.
Doctor (to female patient)—You’ve
got a glight touch of fever. Your tongue
has a thick coat—
Patient (excitedly )—OQh, doctor, do
'Thp Oyster's Beard,
Old fashioned cookbooks invariably
order us to ‘‘beard the oyster.” ‘I
was quite an experienced housekeeper,'’
said a well known cooking authority,
“before I knew what the beard of an
oyster was. It is, I believe, the little
frill.
‘‘The question then occurred, Why
should this portion be removed? With
our American oyster there is no occa-
| sion to remove it, and we never do it.'’
No doubt many a new housekeeper
has felt guilty of omitting to do some-
i thing that should be done when she
served her husband oysters with their
‘‘beards’’ on. She felt doubly guilty
when he praised them and declared they
were the best oysters he had ever eaten.
Probably she kept the secret until she
consulted some old housekeeper, who
promptly told her she didn’t know what
the beard of an oyster was, and that cer-
tainly no one nowadays ever removes it.
This expression is generally found in
old English works of the order of the
Complete British Housewife. It is prab-
able that this portion of the oysters of
Great Britain is especially tinctured
with their coppery flavor and was tor-
merly removed. Certainly no one toduy
who eats his oysters at Delmonico’s cr
at agy famous restaurant finds the frill
or any portion of the mollusk, except
the shell, missing.
Adam Knew the Flood Was Coming.
An apocryphal book called the *‘Less-
er Genesis’ and well known to the
early Christian fathers tells a wonder-
ful incident in the life of Seth, the third
son of Adam and Eve. When the goodly
Seth was about 40 years of age; he was
‘“‘rapt™ up into heaven by a trio of an-
gels and there told and shown what was
in store for mankind. Among other
things, the coming of the great deluge
was ‘made known to him, as was also
the coming of the Saviour. When he re-
turned to earth, Seth told his parents
what had happened and of what he had
seen and heard concerning the future
of the human race. ‘‘And Adam was
much grieved when it was made known
to him that the world would be de-
stroyed by water on account of the
wickedness of his own children, but a
great peace and calmness came over him
when Seth told how the face of the
earth would again be repeopled. * * #
His joy was exceedingly great when
Seth related what was in store in the
coming ages, and he was particularly
glad to know that redemption should
finally come through Jesus, the Christ.’
. The Pompous Colonel.
The following incident occurred at a
ball in Berlin. A colonel advanced to-
ward a young lieutenant, who bore on
his breast assole decoration a large
badge richly set with diamonds. ‘Tell
me, young man,’’ he said, ‘‘what is
that thing you have got there?’ “‘It is
an order, my colonel, ’’ replied the lieu-
tenant. ‘‘Anorder!’’ exclaimed the colo-
nel. ‘‘Itisnot Prussian, then, for I don’t
know it.”” Itis an English order, my
colonel,” responded the juvenile officer.
‘“Ah, indeed,”’ said his superior, ‘‘who,
for goodness’ sake, could have given
you such an order?’’ ‘‘My grandmother,
my colonel,” was the reply. ‘‘Your
grandmother!’’ ejaculated the colonel,
bursting out laughing. ‘‘What is her
name?’ ‘Her majesty Queen Victoria,
queen of England, ’’ answered the young
lieutenant, who was none other than
Prince Albert of Sleswick-Holstein.
The colonel suddenly disappeared.
Where Hotel Men Draw a Line.
Among annoyances to which hotels
are subjected is one which means ma-
terial loss at busy times. This is when
a person telegraphs or writes for rooms
to be reserved and upon arriving in
town decides to. go to another hotel,
Very frequently rooms which could
have been given to guests are vacant
on account of this, and the careless ho-
tel patrons appear to be unaware that
they have inflicted any injury on the
house. Sometimes, however, when a
clerk calls upon them with a bill for
the rooms that they didn’t occupy they
are open to conviction of wrongdoing
and settle the bill. The matter has rare-
ly been one of litigation, but the hotel
man has the best end of it, and the pro-
prietors’ national association intends to
make it so understood whenever it is
necessary.—Hotel Gazette.
Making Love Up a Tree.
Billing and cooing among the Fijians
is a curious feature in their social cus-
toms. It is decidedly against the rule
to do any courting within doors. The
gardens or plantations are the spots held
sacred to Cupid, and the generally ap-
proved trysting place of lovers is high
up among the branches of a breadfruit
tree.
You may often walk around a planta-
tion on a moonlight night and see
couples perched 40 feet from the ground
in the breadfruit trees, one on each side
of the trunk, a position which comes
fairly within the limits of a Fijian
maiden’s ideas of modesty.
To Take a Man's Measure.
Tailors can take a customer’s measure
very quickly by a device which has
three graduated brackets sliding on each
other to fit on a man’s back and arm,
with tape measures attached to them at
the proper positions for taking all the
measures.
' Remedial Trips.
New Family Physician—And now,
my dear madam, will you briefly tell
me what you have already done for your
illness?
Madam—Europe and North Africa. —
Detroit Journal,
The cost of a well bred pack of fox-
hounds is about §5,000, and the annual
bill for keep about as much.
The speed of the fastest Atlant
steamer is now greater than that of ti
express trains on Italian railways.
The first patent was issued to Samuel
tell me how it fits!—Facts and Fiction.
Hopkins in 1790 for making ‘‘pot or
arl ashes.” .
ceeded there have been as many as 40
Diseases of Miners,
As to whether there are any diseales
peculiar to the miners’ calling there is
evidence that, with one, or perhaps two,
exceptions, there are none such. These
exceptions are an affection of the eye,
termed ‘‘nystagmus,’’ and, in a lesser
degree, that disease of the respiratory |
organs which usually goes by the name
of miners’ asthma, Nystagmus, al-!
though not a prevalent affect&n, is one
with well marked symptoms directly
traceable to the posture of the collier
while at work.
The symptoms are oscillation with
more or less of a rolling motion of the
syeballs, giddiness, with headache, and
the appearance of objects moving in a
circle, or lights dancing before the eyes.
In severe cases the person affected
may stumble and be so much incon-
venienced as to be obliged to stop work.
Dr. Simeon Snell of Sheffield has given
this disease special attention ‘for about
20 years and has published the results
of his investigations, which show be-
yond all reasonable doubt that nystag-
mus is confined almost entirely to those
underground workmen who are engaged
in holing or undercutting the coal, and
is due to the miners’ habit of looking
upward above the horizontal line of
vision, and more or less obliquely while
at work lying on his side. It has been
observed also in firemen and others who '
have occasion frequently to examine !
the roof, turning the eyes obliquely
while doing so. Any other occupation
in which the person may habitually
turn the eyes upward and sideways will |
induce nystagmus,—Coal Trade Jour-
nal,
Artists’ Failures.
‘Do not, let me beg of you, be afraid
of so called failures, ’’ said a well known
artist addressing his class. ‘‘They are
only stepping stones to success, the
premiums we all must pay for experi-
ence. I may say, without vanity, that I
have been fairly successful in my pro-
fession, and yet to one canvas that suc-
which I have scraped down with my
palette knife in disgust. Even if a stu-
dent never succeeds, his very failures
may be noble.’
It is not only to art that this exhorta-
tion might apply. In every career, in
every walk in life, the same point of
view should be taken. Failures are not
failures really—they are lessons; they
are stepping stones. They should not be
associated for a moment with despond-
ency or hopelessness. Just as a child
tumbles and picks himself up as a mat-
ter of course and runs gayly on, so
should we children of a larger growth
regard the ups and downs of life, never
losing courage, however often we tum-
ble. Young people especially should be
taught that it is not always success
to succeed and that disappointments
should be taken philosophically. The
idea of a booby prize in gamesis a good
one. There are many prizes in life for
those who apparently fail, and even in
worldly matters the last shall be first
and the first shall be last in nine cases
out of ten.—New York Tribune.
First Person Photographed.
It was in 1842 that John Draper, then
a professor in the University of New
York, made the first portrait photo-
graph. The subject was Elizabeth Dra-
per, his sister. Professor Draper had the
idea that in order to produce distinct
facial outlines in photography it would
be necessary to cover the countenance of
the person photographed with flour.
This seems a strange notion now, and it
proved not to be a good one then, for all
of Professor Draper’s early attempts
were failures. Finally he left off the
flour and then was quite successful.
This so delighted him that be sent the
picture to Sir William Herschel, the em-
inent English astronomer. Sir William
was in turn delighted and made known
Professor Draper’s success to the scien-
tific men of Europe. He also sent Pro-
fessor Draper a letter of acknowledg-
ment and congratulation, which has
been carefully preserved in the archives
of the Draper family,
Cruel, but Necessary.
The Eskimos dread the winter and
take early precautions to provide against
famine. As the season approaches the
great herds of reindeer migrate south-
ward, and the walrus or the seal are
all that remain for food.
When an in wind is blowing, the wal-
rus is easily found on the outer edge of
the ice packs. When it is blowing off
the shore, however, the ice packs sail
out to sea with the walruses on them.
The natives then class their numbers in
a list from the strongest to the weakest.
The food that is in store is divided up,
the weakest having the smallest quan-
tity, the strongest the largest. Thus the
mightiest hunters have strength to pro-
vide for the others.
It is a cruel system, but, nevertheless,
a necessary one. If all were weak, all
would die; if some are strong, they will
save many of the weak.
Anticipating the Obsequy.
A poor man lay dying, and his good
wife was tending him with homely but
affectionate carve. ‘‘Don’t you think
you could eat a bit of something, John?
Now what can I get for you?’
With a wan smile he answered fee-
bly: ‘““Well, I seem to smell a ham
a-cooking somewheres. I think I could
do with a little bit of that.’
“Oh, no, John, dear,’’ she answered
promptly, ‘‘you can’t have that. That’s
for the funeral.’’—London Telegraph.
German Forts,
The two principal German fortresses
on the Baltic sea are at Konigsburg and
Dantzic. Central Germany has three
first class fortresses, Spandau, Magde-
burg and Kustrin; on the French fron-
tier, Metz and Strasburg, and on the
Belgian frontier, Cologne and Coblenz.
The Serpent's Sight.
There is a tradition in many parts of |
Europe that when a serpent’s sight
grows dim with age he eats fennel and
thus regains his vision, \
Retrayed by a Flower.
To the menastery of the Grand Char-
treuse women, as a rule, are inexorably
refused admittance, only a very few
having had the privilege of seeing the
Carthusians (monks ef the order) at
home. A story is told of a French
daughter of Eve, blessed with even a
greater share of curiosity than that pos-
sessed by the generality of her rex,
who, having heard from her husband
and brother of their 2ate interesting
visit to the monastery, tried by every
means in her power to effect an entrance
there, but all to no avail. Determined,
however, by hook or crook, to succeed,
she at last hit upon the happy idea of
presenting herself there dressed as a
man, managing to persuade her husband
to allow her to.do so0,-and to take her
with him on his next visit.
On arriving at the gates of the mon-
astery she entered unchallenged with
the remainder of - the party, but while
in the garden the conducting monk,
leaving her side, gathered an exquiwite
rose, which he brought and presented
to her with a courtly bow, proving that
he at least was not deceived by her dis-
guise. She, too, foolishly betrayed her-
self by her ready grace and charm of
manner in accepting the rose, which she
did most willingly. Needless to say
that after this incident she never pene-
trated into the interior of the building
nor saw what she was dying to see, but
returned unsatisfied, a sadder and a
wiser woman, with a high appreciation,
however, of the keen discernment of the
cloistered ones.
Wrong Conclusion.
The Canadian Gazette tells an amus-
ing story of one who was too quick at
drawing an inference. It happened that
a Glasgow professor who was visiting
Canada with the British association in
1884 was desirous of seeing something
of northwestern life, and for this pur-
pose repaired to an Alberta ranch.
I fixed him up as well as I could, the
rancher says, but he complained that |
! he did not like sleeping with his clothes
‘on. So after the first night I stretched
a cowskin across the shack and told
him he might undress if he liked. He
took off most of his garments and put
on a lomg white nightdress. In the
morning my foreman came in while the
gentleman was still sleeping. Observ-
ing the white nightdress, he said in a
whisper:
‘‘Rather sudden, eh?”
“What ?’ I asked.
“The death of the old man.’’
‘‘He’s not dead; h2's asleep,’’ I ex-
plained.
“Then what’s he wearin them b’iled
clothes for?’ was the reply. ‘‘Never
saw a chap laid out in b’iled clothes
afore cept he were dead.”
The Search For Truth.
In the search for truth no aid is so
effective as the ever ready spirit of ac-
tivity. He who postpones putting what
he knows into practice until he knows
more will find his journey a long and
discouraging one. Carlyle well says:
“Conviction, were it never so excellent,
is worthless till it converts itself into
conduct. Nuy, properly conviction is
not pessible till then, inasmuch as all
speculaticn is by nature endless and
formless. Most true is it, as a wise man
teach s, that, * Doubt of any sort can-
not be removed except by action.” On
whieh ground, too, let him who gropes
painfully in darkness or uncertain light
and prays vehemently that the dawn
may ripen into day, lay this other pre-
cept well to heart, which to me was of
invaluable service, ‘Do the duty which
lies nearest to thee,’ which thou know-
est to be a duty. The second duty will
already have become clearer.’
Enormous Lifting Power.
The shelless limpet pulls 1,984 times
its own weight when in the air and
about double when measured in the wa-
ter. Fleas pull 1,493 times their own
dead weight. The Mediterranean cockle,
Venus verrucosa, can exert a pulling
power equal to 2,071 times the weight
of its own body. So great is the power
possessed by the oyster that to open it a
force equal to 1,319.5 times the weight
of its shelless body is required. If the
human being possessed strength as great
in proportion as that of these shellfish,
the average man would be able to lift
the enormous weight of 2,976,000
pounds, pulling in the same degree as
the limpet. And if the man pulled in
the same proportionate ‘degree as the
cockle he would sustain a weight of no
less than 8,106,500 pounds.—Worthing-
ton’s Magazine.
Seeing: Rome.
‘‘How long have you been in Rome?’’
said Pope Pius IX.
“Three weeks,”” was the ready an-
swer.
‘“Ah, then,” said his holiness, ‘‘you
have seen Rome. And how long have
you been here?’ asked he, turning to
the second visitor.
‘“Three months,’’ was the answer.
‘“You, then,” continued the pope,
‘‘have begun to see Rome. And you,
sir,’’ turning finally to the third of his
visitors, ‘‘how long have you been
here?”’
“Three years,’’ was the reply.
“Then you,” said the pope, ‘have
not begun to see Rome.’
-
Tobacco Smoke and Flowers.
A remarkable effect of tobacco smoke
on the color of flowers may be seen in
the case of the field scabia named
botanically Knavtia arvensis, so fre-
quently on the hills and commons from
August till October. If its purplish blue
blossoms, which form nearly globose
heads, are held in the smoke of tobacco,
their color will soon turn to a bright
green, about the same color as the
leaves.
A balloon was sent up from Berlin
in 1895 equipped with self registering
thermometers and barometers. It came
down in Bcsnia with the instruments
in good condition. The barometer regis-
tered an elevation of 53,872 feet, and
the ther:iometer a temperature of 52 de-
grees below zero KF.
Walked After His Head Was Off, .
Dr. Loge, the French physician, who
has greatly interested himself in the
question, ‘‘Whut passes in the head of
a decapitated human being?’ relates the
following remarkable story, which he
suys was taken from the archives of the
Vienna courts: It was in the year ———
that Schoenenburg, a well known bandit,
and four of his associates were caught
and condemned to death. They were
wlready on their kuces ready to pay the
penalty of their bloody devds by sub-
mitting to the awful fate of decapita-
tion when Schoenenbumyg addressed the
judge, asking that his four companions
might be purdoned on certain -condi-
tions, ‘‘If,’’ asked the bandit, “after I
am beheaded, I get up and walk to the
first of my comrades, will you pardon
him?’’ The judge thought that he was
pretty safe in complying with the re-
quest. ‘‘Then,’’ continued Schoenen-
burg, “if I walk to the second, the
third and the fourth, will you pardon
them also?’ The judge replied that if
such a miraculous feat could be per-
formed he w' uld obtain pardon for the
other three also. The bandit was now
satisfied, and, bending his head, he re-
ceived the fatal blow. Instantly the
head rolled down in the sand, but to
the surprise and horror of all present
the headless trunk arose and walked
alone. Aimlessly, it appeared, the body
walked around until it passed the first,
the second, the third and the fourth
condemned bandit, when it fell down
and became motionless. Query, How
could a headless body think?’
The Short Stops of the Train.
Bustained journey speed, from end to
end of a rum, -is not merely a matter of
high speed between stations. It involves
also making the station stops .short.
The more stops there are the more im-
portant is promptness at stations. The
observant man who travels much can-
not fail to notice the effect on trainmen,
on station men and even on passengers
of habitual fast ranning. All hands get
trained to alertness and precision of
movement. It is a fine thing to watch
the handling of a very fast train at a
station. It is invigorating to see the
speed without haste of the inspectors
and the baggagemen, the quick and
smooth change of engines and the cut-
ting off of the dining car. I have seen
the other extreme on a Southern rail-
road, where the easy going conductor
ran past a flag station and then backed
down a mile to let off one passenger.
His serene indifference to time did mot
make me feel any safer on his train. —
Engineering Magazine.
The Human Electric Battery.
The superstition that human beings
should sleep with their heads to the
north is believed by the French to have
for its foundation a scientific fact. They
affirm that each human system is in it-
self an electric battery, the head being
one of the electrodes, the feet the other.
Their proof was discovered from experi-
ments which the Academy of Sciences
was allowed to make on the body of a
man who was guillotined.
This was taken the instant it fell and
placed upon a pivot free to move as it
might. The head part, after a little
vacillation, turned to the north, and the
body then remained stationary. It was
turned half way round by one of the
professors, and again the head end of
the trunk moved slowly to the cardinal
point due north, the same results being
repeated until the final arrestation of
organic movement.
Peasant and King.
Henry IV, the idol of the French
people, was also a king of phrase mak-
ers. During one of his tours through
France he arrived at a small village
and ordered that the most intelligent
villager be sent to converse with him
while he dined. When the rustic ap-
peared, the king ordered him to take a
seat opposite to him at the table. ‘‘What
is your name?’ asked the monarch.
‘‘Sire, I am called Gaillard,’’ replied
the peasant. ‘‘What is the difference,”
said the king, ‘between gaillard’’ (i.e.,
a jolly fellow) ‘‘and paillard’’ (i. e., a
rake)? ‘‘Sire,”’ was the reply, ‘‘there is
but a table between the two.”’
White Slaves of Old England.
Eight hundred years ago all of the
large cities of England had regular
slave markets for the sale of white slaves
from all parts of the kingdom. In the
‘‘Life of Bishop Wulfstand’’ the writer
says: ‘‘It was a moving sight to see in
the public markets rows of young peo-
ple of both sexes tied together and sold
like cattle—men, unmindful of their
obligations, delivering into slavery
their relatives and even their own chil-
dren.” In another part of this work it
is noted that these slaves were ‘‘ partic-
ularly young woman of fine proportions
and of great beauty.’’
Rule the “Roost” or “Roast?”
Steuen Gardener, an under cooke in
the Cardinal Wolfe Wolsey hys house,
aid afterwardes allowed of kynge Hen-
ry the eyght to be a master cooke, and
hys principall cooke for a longe tyme,
ruled the roste in ye kynges house, as
boldly and as saucely, as hys maister
dyd before hym, as ye blowe upon his
cheke that my Lorde of Warwyke gave
him, may bare wytnes.—Spirituall
Physic, 1555.
The Sensitive Cheek.
Nine out of tem persons, if asked
what is the most sensitive part of the
body, will reply the tip of the tongue.
This is a mistake, Those engaged in
polishing billiard balls or any other
substances that require a very high de-
gree of smoothness invariably use the
cheek bone as their touchstone for de-
tecting any roughnes
The largest farm in the world is in
the southwestern part of Louisiana. It
extends 100 miles north and south and
256 miles east and west. It was bought
in 1883 by a syndicate of northern capi-
talists, by whom it is still operated. The
fencing is said to have cost $50,000.
Rice, sugar, corn and cotton are raised.
Hamerton’s Marriage.
Philip Gilbert Hamerton heartily dis-
approved marriage made in the French
manner. ‘'‘And yet one morning,’ he
says in his autobiography, ‘‘when I'was
writing on my desk (a tall oak desk
that I used to stand up to) the idea sud-
denly came, as if somebody had uttered
these words in my ear: ‘Why should
you remain lonely all your days? Eun-
genie Gindriez would be an affectionate
aud faith{ul wife to you. She is not
rich, but you would work and fight
your way.’
*‘I pushed aside the sheet of manu-
script and took a sheet of notepaper in-
stead. I then wrote in French a letter
to a lady in Paris who knew the Gin-
driez family and asked her if Mlle.
Eugenie was engaged to be married.
The answer came that she was well and
that there had been no engagement.
Soon afterward I was in Paris.
“I called on M. Gindriez, but his
daughter was not at home. 1asked per-
mission to call in the evening, and she
was out again. This was repeated two
or three times, and my wife told me
afterward that these absences were not:
accidental. At last we met, and there
was nothing in her manner but a cer-
tain gravity, as if serious resolutions:
were impending. Her sister showed no
such reserve, but greeted me gayly and
frankly. After a few days I was accept-
ed on the condition of an annual visit
to France.
‘‘From a worldly point of view this
engagement was what is called in
French une folie, on my part, and hard-
ly less so on the part of the young lady.
We had, however, a kind of inward as-
surance that in spite of the difference
of Qationality and other differences we
were, in truth, nearer to each other than
most people who contract matrimonial
engagements. The electric affinities act
in spite of all appearances and of many
realities. ”’
Food Peculiarities..
Dr. Sophie Lepper, the English food
specialist, says in speaking of the pecul-
iarities of various foods that blanched
almonds give the higher nerve or brain
and muscle food, no heat or waste.
Walnuts give nerve or brain food; mus-
cle, heat and waste. Pine kernels give
heat and stay. They serve as a substi-
tute for bread. Green water grapes are
blood purifying, but of little food value.
Blue grapes are feeding and blood puri-
fying, too rich for those who suffer
from the liver; tomatoes, higher nerve
or brain food and waste; no heat. They
are thinning and stimulating. Juicy
fruits give more or less the higher nerve
or brain, and some few, muscle food
and waste; no heat. Apples supply the
higher nerve and muscle food, but de
not give stay. Prunes afford the highest
nerve or brain food, supply heat and
waste, but are not muscle feeding.
Wages of European Policemen.
London police sergeants, or rounds-
men, are paid from §8.50 to $12 a week
and constables, or patrolmen, from $6 to
$8. In Dublin the wages ars half a dol-
lar less. In Glasgow the highest pay
for a constable is $6.75, for a sergeant
$8. An inspector gets $700 a year and
a superintendent from $1,200 to $1,500.
The St. Petersburg chief of police draws
$2,500 a year, a sergeant from $300 to
$400 and a patrolman from $150 to
$220 a year. Paris pays $5.25 to $6.50
to patrolmen (agents) and $7 to rounds-
men. Patrolmen get from $225 to $260
a year in Vienna, from $230 to $300 in
Amsterdam, and $200 to $320 at Brus-
sels, where detectives may rise to $480.
The Turkish policemen get $3 a week
and the native policemen of Calcutta
from $4 to $4.50 a month.
Where He Drew the Line.
Among the first stories recorded by
Mr. T. E. Pritt in his ‘“ Anglers’ Bas-
ket’’ is one about a Scottish laird who
was relating the story of a fine fish he
had caught one day to his friends at the
dinner table, ‘‘Donald,’’ said he to the
servant behind his chair—an old man,
but a new servant—*‘ how heavy was
the fish I took yesterday?’ Donald
neither spoke nor moved. The laird re-
peated the question. ‘‘Weel,' replied
Donald, ‘‘it was twal’ pund at break-
fast, it had gotten to achteen at dinner
time and it was sax and twenty when
ye sat down to supper wi’ the captain. ”’
Then, after a pause, he added, *“I’ve been
tellin lees a’ my life to please the shoat-
ers, but I'll be blowed if I’m geing to
tell lees noo, through my old age, to
please the fushers.’’ :
—eeee—————— t
Jumping a Straw. {
Some years ago the late Major Roddy
Owen was at Aldershot and offered to
back himself to make a horse he was
riding jump a straw. Every one laughed, ¢
and although his fondness for horses was |
well known none believed he could ac- |
complish the feat. A long straw was
procured and laid on the ground. Owen ,
proceeded to blindfold the horse and |
rode him at the mark, which the animal
cleared with a bound that would have
rettled a five bar gate. When he returned
to collect his bets, all the sportsmen had
vanished. —Army and Navy Journal.
He Cheapened Pens.
Sir Josiah Mason was, according to
his biography, walking in Bull street,
Birmingham, in the year 1828, when
he saw some steel pens, price three and
sixpence each. Josiah was a hard up
maker of split rings. No sooner had he
seen the pens than he went home, made
some better than those in the shop, sent
them up to London and got a large or-
der by return. At 30 years of age Ma-
son’s capital was 80 shillings. At 60 he
had given away £400,000. ’
Niagara Ran a Sawmill,
The first of Niagara's power was
made in 1725, a primitive sawmill be-
ing operated. Nothing more was done in
this line until 1842, when Augustus
Porter conceived the plan of hydraulic
canals, and in 1861 one was completed.
The Cataract Construction company,
from whose plant power has just been
delivered in Buffalo, was incorporated
in 1889,
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