THIS HEART OF MINE.
BY ANIDA.
This heart of mine is sadly human,
And passion sweeps it oftentimes;
Bhall oat tlily pleasures never fill it?
Or do I loup for things sublimeV
It flutters restless in my bosom,
As ir r pined sad and alone.
Is it t! - p - t'b soul within me
That makes my spirit weep and moan?
My heart ie empty of all pleasure—
Such pleasure as the world can give;
My path is shrouded still in darkness,
I've lived—and still—oll hopo I live.
My heart is tired with Hope's beguiling,
And Faith droops low with weary wing;
How long can Patience bear her burdens?
When shall those lips in rapture sing?
Beirnk, Ark.
WHAT WORD?
BY KIL COURTLAND.
What was the word you said to me
In the gleam of the sunset glow?
When the moss-rose pressed her scarlet lips
On the lily's cheek of snow.
Ah ! poets and sages tlioir lives will spend
And the tides will ebb and flow,
But only the roses can tell, good friend,
And only the lilies know.
But what was the word I said to you,
In the btart of the ruby glare?
The passion flower swung high the cross,
The pan sies w ere all at prayer.
Ah! poets and sages their lives will spend
And the tides will ebb and flow,
But only the roses can tell, good friend.
And only the lilies know.
Pknuleton, 8. C.
LITTLE ROBBIE'S NERVE
BY DWIGHT BALDWIN.
V-W N the fall of 1878
\ f my business call
%: f .ed me into the
• ; ji Ijipine regions of
the State of
Micliigiin. I had
J a Patent of great
jmSßz value iti the fell
kßa °* t>aV ' V 1 '
troducing it
—r?' among the log
jfl„ Jd \ - ging camps and
saw mills.
In this I was meeting with decided
success, and was making money at a
rate I had not, in my wildest dreams,
anticipated.
I was a widower, and, as will readily
be believed, was devotedly attached to
my only child, an active und unusually
bright boy of eight years. A father—
particularly a doting one, as I admit
myself to have been—is apt to exag
gerate the abilities ami attainments of
his children, and I well know that the
first branch of my statement will be
giveu greater credence than the last.
I will not stop to argue the matter
with the incredulous reader, but pro
ceed to relate the story upon which I
have already made a beginning, confi
dent that it will convince the most
skeptical of the quick wit and nerve of
my little Robbie.
I bad brought him with me to Mich
igan, and left him at school in East
Saginaw while I conducted my profit
eble canvass among the pineries. Late
in November the friend with whom I
had left him wrote me that he had be
come exec eilinglv lonesome, and could
not apply himself to his studies.
It required no great evidence to con
vince me of the truth of the report,
for a month's separation from my boy
had brought me to a similar state of
mind. The letter decided me upon a
course that for some days I had been
considering —a foolish course any man
in full possession of his faculties would
have said. I directed that Robbie be
sent forward to me in the vast pine
woods.
Three days later he joined me, hav
ing been placed in charge of a kind
hearted lumberman, who delivered him
safe enough, though with but little ap
petite for the sweetmeats I had pro
vided in honor of his advent.
But the ripened harvest of dollars
awaited my sickle, and not even the
pleasure of playing with my boy could
detain me from business.
I had worked all the camps in that
section, and decided to start the next
morning for a point on the river, some
twenty miles away, where I was confi
dent of disposing of a number of ma
chines.
I was to make the journey 011 horse
back, Robbie riding behind me. We
had mounted, said good-by to our new
but none the less warm friends, when
an old skidder came running toward
us.
"Don't start to-day!" cried he, when
within speaking distance.
"Why not?" I asked.
" 'Cause we're goin' to have a storm,
an' it's a long an' lonely stretch you've
got before you."
"1 see no indications of it."
"You would, if you'd been waitin',
'JL
•another in-tant and the TREE was UVOs* US.*
as I have, a fortnight for snow to start
♦he sleds, -o that you could earn the
grub you was a-eatin'. We'll have a
storm, and a big 0110 at that, afore
dark."
"But I've lots of time. It's only a
few hours' ride."
"I hope so, for 1 sees you's hound to
go. A\ ell, hustle along, an' don't waste
time a-talkin' to me."
The old man had judged me rightly;
1 did design to go, seeing nothing por
tentous of evil. Accordingly, I acted
uuon his su a nr. I iion. aud rode awav
from the log buildings that consti
tilted the camp.
For some miles there was a fair In-idle- |
path through n wilderness of stumps
and underbrush, anil wo made Kr „„p
-progress. At length we reached a
point where wo were obliged to make
ft turn, and strike into the heavy tim
ber, through which the remainder of
our journey lay,
A railroad line had been projected
here some years before, and abandoned,
after the timber on the course hail
been felled, a telegraph line con
structed anil some little grading done.
I well knew that it was hut a poor
apology for a road, and had only
adopted it because It shortened the
distance bv more than one half, from
j that of the regular wagon road.
We were, as nearly as I could esti
| mate, within five or six miles of our
destination when, to my con sternation,
| I saw that the prognostication of the
old skidder was about to be verified,
j The sky had become overcast with
clouds, the tall pines were rocking in
BOBBIE CUTTING THE WIRFB.
the rising wind, and flakes of snow
were Beginning to flutter to tho
ground.
I tried to increase tho speed of tho
horse, but found it impossible by rea
son of the numerous obstructions iu j
the form of trunks of trees.
"Don't be afraid, Robbie," said I, in 1
as cheerful tones as I could command.
"Not a bit of it. I think it just I
jolly. I'll make the eyes of the boys j
at home open "
A snapping sound cut short the lad's
remark and caused his own eyes to j
open pretty wide, I fear.
An upward glance showed me the i
green top of a huge pine, describing in I
our direction an awful circle in the air. j
I dug my heels into the flanks of the '
horse and shouted at the top of my |
voice.
This seemed to increase the terror of
the animal, which stopped stock still.
Another instant and the tree was
upon us.
I felt a sharp twinge of pain and lost
consciousness.
My first thought was of Robbie, and
the groan I uttered was caused not so
much by pain as by the dreadful fear
that I had lost liim forever.
.fudge of my joy when I saw him not
1 only alive but actively engaged in
clearing away the branches which cov-
I ered me.
The horse had been killed outright,
and my right leg broken above the
knee.
With the assistance of the cool
headed boy I changed my position so
as to lean against the body of the dead
horse, which somewhat relieved my
pain.
Our situation was desperate in the
extreme, and Robbie realized it as soon
as myself.
"Brace up, father," said he, "I'll run
on, and be back before long with lots
of help!"
But I at once interdicted this plan.'
The storm had become furious by this
time, and I well knew that the boy
could never face it and live.
Toward evening, however, it abated
and finally ceased altogether. But tho
wind, howling through the only avenue
afforded it, had piled the snow into
enormous drifts, which precluded all
thought of the child's working his way
through them.
No words can describe my anguish.
My pain was forgotten in the awful
consciousness that my foolish fondness
for my boy had brought him to a terri
ble death in the wilderness.
"Where do the telegraph lines run,
father ?" asked Robbie suddenly.
"To some point on the lake," I re
plied.
"And are they used?"
"O, yes; I understand they are a
great convenience to the inland camps."
"Can't we use them, somehow?"
"No, my boy; wo have no instru
ment, and would not know how to use
one if we had it."
Then I spoke of other matters, not
wishing him to entertain hopes which
I saw had no foundation.
Suddenly I awoke from an uneasy
sleep and missed him from my side.
i In terror I called his name, and with
a sinking heart listened for the response
that did not come.
An awful fear took possession of me.
Knowing that he could never secure
my consent, the daring little fellow had
started off to meet his death while
trying to bring relief to me.
This terrible conclusion, coupled
with the pain of my broken limb,
caused me to lose consciousness.
When I revived, it was to find Rob
bie rubbing my hands and face,
j "Where have you been?" I asked, in
a tremor of joy at seeing him in the
starlight.
v "Looking into that telegraph mat
ter." he replied. I'm hoping "
"Hope 110 more for that Robbie, but
j sit down beside me. Help may come
Jin the morning," I added, not wishing
! to discourage him.
j Help did come in tho morning. I
t About nine o'clock Robbie set up a 1
; joyous shout, and a moment later 1 saw i
strong men approaching.
1 "How came you here?" I inquired,
as soon as my feelings permitted me to ,
sneak.
"I telegraphed for them," cried Rob
bie, as lie turned a cart-wheel in the
snow.
"That's about the size of it," said
one of the men. "The lines wouldn't
work this morning, and we were sent
OU JA° l° ( ' a t° and repair the breaks."
"That's just what I figured on," said
the delighted boy, "when I climbed a
polo last night and sawed the whole
six wires in two with my knife. I
had an instrument and knew how to
use it!"
Who will say that increasing years !
has added foolishness to my fondness, j
and that the handsome young man who
sits beside me and makes disparaging
remarks as I writo, was not a bright
and nervy boy ?
IN round' numbers 10,000 mission
aries are sent out by the various Chris
tian nations to preach the gospel to
1,000,00(1,000 heathen—one missionary
to every 100,000 of the heathen.
PHYSIOLOGISTS say that tho older a
man grows the smaller his brain (be
comes. This explains why the old man
knows nothing and t he young one every
thing.
AN ecclesiastical point—The church
steeple.
Tile Compass.
The compass needle points to the
north because practically the earth is a
magnet, not differing essentially in its
magnetic properties from a bar of mag
netized steel. It has two poles of
greatest intensity, and, like most large
steel magnets, there are several sup
plemental poles of lessor intensity.
Just as the pole of one bar magnet at
tracts the end of another, so the mag
netic poles of the earth behave toward
poles of the compass needle, unlike
poles attracting and like poles repelling
each other.
It is well to modify the statement
that the needle points north and south.
As a matter of fact, there are but few
localities oil the earth where it does
point due north and south, and these
are constantly changing. An irregular
line drawn from the mouth of the
Orinoco lliver, through the east coast
of Hayti, Charleston, 8. C., and De
troit, Mich., represents very nearly the
line in which there is no variation at
the present time. In all the places
east of this line the north end of the
needle swings slightly to the west
ward; in all places west of it, to the
eastward. At the north of the Colum
bia River the variation of the compass
is about twenty-two degrees east; in
Alaska it is from forty to sixty degrees
east; midway between New York and
Liverpool it is about thirty-five degrees
west.
The reason is that the compass
needle points, not to the geographical
hut to the magnetic poles, and these
do not coincide iu position. The mag
netic north pole is at present on or
near the southwestern shore of Rootliia
Peninsula,in the northern part of North
America.
Its position is constantly changing,
and in the last five hundred years it
has moved about half the distance
round the googrnphical polo. During
the three hundred yoars in which ob
servations have been carefully made
at the Magnetic Observatory in Paris,
the variations have changed from eleven
degrees twenty minutes east of north to
twenty-two degrees ten minutes west.
In tho United States the rate of the
change ill variation differs much in dif
ferent parts of tho country. In Wash
ington State it changes at the rate of
about seven minutes a year; in Arizona
anil New Mexico it is stationary; ill tho
Now England States it is from one to
three minutes per year.
The Ingenious Small liny.
AigST the close of a
peaceful Sunday,
* ' father laid
down his paper
| for the fifteenth
fjl/fltime to separate
I i hi* two cherubic
sons, and prevent
! *h { their tearing each
iIPSI f"J ether's eyes out.
j M (~j With an eloquence
Ml \ l Rn B u ftge and a
HI \M fervor of feeling
31 j_ i— [iJk'P s*' 5 *' l.hat would have
*' wrung repentant
tears from a Bowery tough, ho talked
j to them of their misdeeds, when ho
: was interrupted by each youthful
j scion declaring enthusiastically that
the other fellow struck tho first blow.
. Here was another iniquity, whose
enormity overshadowed the* first, for
one boy must be telling an untruth,
and another dissertation on lying fol
lowed that would have melted tho obe
lisk, despite its parafiine coating.
Then, thinking tie had deeply im
pressed them and wrought sufficiently
| upon their innocent, sensitive natures,
he appealed to them to tell him what
to do about it, whereupon tho younger,
aged 7, said cheerfully: "111 tell you
what to ilo, papa. You just take a
10-ccnt piece and shake it lip in your
hand this way, throw it down on the
table, anil if it comes heads I told the
lie. If it's tails the other fellow told
it, and, if you ain't satisfied with that,
why, you can just call that I told it
any way, and never mind." Anil tho
other boy nonchalantly remnrked, "I
told you it was him all the time," as
the lecture was brought to an abrupt
termination.
A Bet Declared Off.
A large yellow-nnd-white cat started
to cross Broadway, nearly opposite
l'ark row one afternoon recently when
traffic was at its greatest. Where she
came from was known only to herself,
but that sho was making for tho friend
ly shelter afforded by the rails of St.
Paul's churchyard was apparent to all.
Her chances of getting across the street
safely did not seem to ho good, as she
shrank hack terrified from a passenger
car, dodged under the wheels of an ex
press wagon,and escaped being run over
by one of Uncle Sam's small vans by
less than half the length of her tail.
Two well-dressed men from Phila
delphia stopped in tho middle of tho
thoroughfare to watch her.
"Bet you she is crushed," said ono.
"Take you," replied the other.
Just thou the polo of a double truck
struck the fifth rib of the man who
had offered the bet, knocked his hat
off, and nearly threw him down.
"Hi!" roared the driver. "Hain't you
got no eyes ?"
At the same moment the man who
had taken the bet received a blow on
tho back of the neck from the off horse's
head that nearly dislocated something
spinal.
"Ho!" roarod tho driver. "Are you
asleep ?"
The men escaped to tho sidewalk.
"Where's the cat?" asked one.
"How tho devil do I know ?" replied
the other.
And as the venturesome creature was
not visiblo, dead or alivo, tho hot was
ordered off.
An Unexpected Rebuke.
He was a deaf mute who had learned
to talk by imitation. His wife could
both hear and talk, but at tho theater
tlioy preferred to converse by means of
the sign manual. Tho couple that sat
behind tlioin, thinking that neither of
them coulil hear, took occasion to com
ment freely and speculate on their re
lations to each other ad libitum, great
ly to the discomfort of the lady, who,
of course, heard everything. She
communicated every word to her hus
band until ho could stand it no longer.
Then, turning to the gentleman, lie
mildly asked, "Will you allow me to
seo your programme?" The chagrin
and discomfort of tho pair wore ap
parent. Hastily handing over his pro
gramme, the two hustled out of the
theater just as tho curtain went up on
tho second act.— Chicago Tribune.
THE greatest TlepTh "known in the
Western Mediterranean—lo,6oo feot—
is between Sicily, Sardinia and Africa,
liecont soundings in the eastern basin
have yielded a maximum depth of 13,-
556 feet, between tho islands of Malta
and C'undia.
A STUDY IX CRADLES.
KIIDE CONTRIVANCES IN WHICH TO
ROCK THE BABY.
Comanche Mothers Make tho Simplest
Cradles, Those of the Sioux lleing Very
Elaborate Curious Affairs in Which
Children of the Semi-Civilized I'asa tlio
First Year of Life.
are al
f ways with us, and a
cradle of some sort
has from time imme
morial been consid
erod a necessary ad
junct to a child. It
may be a soap-box,
or it may he a gaud
ily decorated bag or
wooden frame car
ried by some Indian mother, or it may
rise to the height of patent springs and
dainty lace, but all nations and all
tribes have been obliged to recognize
the cradle.
The National Museum at Washing
ton has a large and growing exhibit of
the cradles used by the people of this
continent, and it is interesting to note
in this collection the points of similar
ity between the widely separated na
tions.
Many questions of scientific nnd gen
eral interest depend upon the knowl
edge of the manner in which a child
passes the first year of its life, and the
museum has gone extensively into the
subject tor this reason. Deformation
of the heads, in some of our modern
tribes, and in nearly all of the abo
riginal tribes, was brought about pur
posely or accidentally by means of the
cradle board or frame in which the
children were confined almost entirely
for the first period of their existence.
Cradles in this case serve many pur
poses. They are nests for the helpless
infants, serving as beds in which the
child sleeps in either vertical or hori
zontal positions, and as a vehicle in
which the child can he easily carried
from place to place. It is in every
sense a cradle to be hung on the limb
of a tree and be rocked by the breeze.
And still again it forms a play-house
TO *C.O*(H ITBtVMO.
for tho young Indian, many dangling
objects being hung upon it to amuse
tho youth or maid not yet graduated
to sliootiug blunt arrows or talking
scandal.
The study of cradles also answers
another purpose in marking the cli
mate of different countries. The Es
quimau mother carries her child in a
hood on her back, as the method prac
ticed by tho southern women of strap
j ping tho youngster to a board frame
would, in that severe climate, insure a
very sad Christmas for the youthful
| Esquimau.
Why any human being should livo iu
| as cold places as Greenland and Labra-
I dor is yet to be satisfactorily explained,
but the baby Esquimau is hardly re
sponsible for this vagary during his
first year or so of existence, and we
can examine into tho means provided
for his comfort with some degree of
patience. The mother in this paradise
for icemen lias the hood of her skin
robe made very large, so as to carry
therein the babe, which nestles around
I the mother's nock secure from tho cold.
Homo writers have also spoken of Es
quimau mothers carrying their children
in their wide hoots.
These, for northern people, are not
very migratory. In their benighted
way they know a good thing when they
see it, and are well content to stick
pretty close to their homes. Tho
hood, therefore, answers their purpose,
besides being warmer than any carrying
frame.
Coming furtlior south we find the
natives on the Upper YTtkon using a
very ingenious trough-shaped cradle
of birch bark, made from three pieces,
forming the bottom, the top and hood,
! and the awning. Rows of beads orna
ment the awning, which, in a country
the main inhabitants of which aro
mosquitoes, is found a very useful por
tion of tho outfit. Playthings of vari
ous kinds are also hung to this awning,
and the infant is at liberty to enjoy
himself as much as he sees fit.
On the eastern coast of Labrador
the infant, immediately after birth, is
laid naked on a layer of moss in a bag
made of leather and lined with hare
skins. This bag is securely laced,
leaving the child freedom to move the
head only. The youngster closely re
sembles an Egyptian mummy and is
kept in this state until about one year
ysai h
old. At Cape Breton the children are
tied up much after this manner, and
then hammocks are used, partaking
considerably of Southern methods.
West of the Rocky Mountains trough
shnped frames of cedar wood are goner
ally used. Angles and bends near tho
child's knees are effected by boiling
and bonding the wood into shape. The
characteristics of those cradles are tho
headboards, like a little gravestone,
and painted in red ar. 1 black with the
symbol of the owner. Strenks of red
paint skirt the margin, and the bed
consists of a moss aJ finely shredded
cedar hark.
The Indians, ancient and modern, oi
I Oregon have been accustomed to flat
ten tho heads of their children by ap
pliances attached to the cradle, which
' is usually made of cedar wood. These
cradles show considerable skill in work
manship nnd aro suspended by strings
to ]limit poles and aro swung by the
mother with her hand or great toe. The
Chinook cradle from the Columbia
River is of this class. Tho mother car
lies the cradle in an upright position
on her hack, often hnnging it to some
branch during n halt. If tho infant
dies the cradle also forms its coffin, be
ing put in some lake or pool and lelt to
float, the water, even, often being re
garded as sacred. The compress for
the head is of bark and is drawn down
tightly. The child is kept in this con
finement almost continuously until
about a year old.
The Flathead Indians, inhabiting
tho lower parts of the Columbia, carry
the fashion of flattening the skull to
still greater extremes. The process
with them consists in placing the in
fant on a board, to which it is so se
curely lashed that, being only a few
days old, it can only make known its
abjections vocally. An inclined board
rests on the forehead of the infant, be
ing every day drawn down a little by
means of cords which support it until
at length it touches the nose, thus
forming a straight line from the crown
af the head to the end of tho nose,
after which the young Adonis is re
leased to commence his career of break
ing hearts.
In California the Indians weave very
pretty and artistic slipper-shaped cra
dles of wicker-work, which they deco
rate elaborately with beads. The Mo
doe women make a very pretty baby
basket of fine willow work, cylinder
shapod. with one-half of it cut away
except a few inches at the ends. The
little fellow is placed in this and wrap
ped around like a mummy, with noth
ing visible but his head.
The cradle of the Pitt River Indians
is a transition type. A pole of wood
with the bark removed is bent in the
middle, the two ends crossed and
lashed together. Across this frame are
laid broad laths, perforated at the ends
and lashed to the poles with buckskin
strings. The foot-rest is a block of
wood, perforated, and through it are
passed the two ends of the pole. This
cradle passes from the stage of a mere
nest, in which the child is tied, to a
primitivo cradle, as wo know the arti
cle. Tho Mohave cradle is also of this
class, being a prettily made ladder or
trellis. A dainty quilt or counterpane
of braided bass is used with this.
The Montana infant has any amount
of pains spent on both himself and his
cradle-board. The board is covered
with a tanned elkskin or deerskin and
beads worked on it. The place where
the child reposes is loose and is laced
and tied up when the child is placed
in it.
Tho Ute Indians of Nevada use aflat
wicker cradle frame, kite-shaped or
roughly triangular. Over this is
stretched a covering of buckskin, and
the young Ute is also provided with a
sometimes elaborately decorated awn
ing.
The elements of the Mold cradle
frame are the floor and the awning.
As a foundation a stout stick is bent in
tho shape of tho ox-yoke bow. Rods
of the size of a lead pencil are attached
to the curve of this bow and stretched
parallel to the limbs. Twigs are close
ly woven on this warp by regular
basketry weaving. An awning is also
provided.
The Comanche cradle is the most
primitive cradle in tho National Mu
seum. It is a strip of black bearskin
thirty inches long and twenty wide,
doubled together in tho form of a cra
dle frame. Along the side edges loops
of buckskin are made to receive the
lacing.
The Sioux Indians are very particu
lar in their baby habitations. It is a
frame of two diverging slats, painted
yellow, held in place at tho head and
foot by cross slats. The tops of the
side pieces project above the cradle,
each at least eighteen inches, and are
studded with brass-lieaded nails in
straight lines. The case is shoe
shaped, and all over tho outside is or
namented with beadwork. If tho in
funt dies during the time allotted to it
for remaining in the cradle, it is buried,
and the mother fills the empty shell
with black quills and feathers, and car
ries it around with lior for months.
East of the Mississippi River, north
of the Tennessee, and south of the
Hudson Bay, the Indians used a sim
ple flat cradle board.
Farther south the Indians were ac
customed to use one of the forms al
ready described, with various adjuncts
for flattening the head. Homo nations
,in Louisiana used clay, which was
wrapped around the infant's head and
binds and compresses until the proper
shape is l oathed.
The Crucial Test.
Maino Lawyer—What is your opinion
of the character of Deacon Blank ?
Witness I cautiously ) —I never heard
nothin' agin him.
"Don't you know him to be an honest
man ?"
"Wall, he's been fair an'square in all
his dealin's with me, and with others so
far a-i I know."
"Isn't that sufficient to prove him a
man of sterling integrity ?"
"Wall, I dunno. I never traded bosses
with him."— New_ York Weekly.
(inllantly Rewarded.
He—What are you reading, Clara?
She —How to be beautiful.
He—You have no need to read such a
book as that.
She —Why not?
He Because you are boautiful al
ready.
She—l think you asked mo for a kiss
Inst night?
He—l did.
Klie—And I refused it?
He—You did.
She—Well, you may take it now.
NEVER"buy''milk from a "dairyman
whose wagon has a oreak in it-
TIIE FASHIONS OF '76.
NOT AS MODEST AND SENSIDLE AS
REPRESENTED.
How Ladles of To-day Would Appear ir
Rigged Out In Fashions of a Century Ago
—Many a Sense of Maidenly Modesty
Would He Shocked at the Great and Sud
den Change.
ftooken without her
wasn't nico f" said a
little maiden who
was gazing for the
first time upon the
portrait of her great
great- grandmamma
who in her day was
a beant.y of colonial
reputation, and who
was portrayed in a
Josephine gown of
that time.
Frivolous maidens are often remind
ed of the modesty, sense, and exquis
itely proper manners of their grand
mammas. But the reminders should
take a peep back into the history of the
fashions of a century ago and then get
down on both knees and adore the
modern girl.
Speaking of the stays worn a cen
tury ago, Bocial history tells us that
the beautiful Dolly Madit-on's waist
measured but seventeen inches, and
that Mrs. Alexander Hamilton's waist
was but an inch larger.
When Dolly Madison came as a bride
to Washington she wore at one of her
first receptions a costume which, with
a few modifications, might bo worn in
a modem drawing-room. It was a slip
of soft white silk, narrowed enough to
show the outline of the hips, and
reaching just to the instep. The waist
was cut extremely decollete, and gath
ered in a simple yoke, the sleeves were
little puffs, concealing tho upper part
of the arm, but not the line of the
shoulder, and just below the bust was
LADY CATHARINE DUER.
a sash of white China crepe, cmbroid-
I ered in white blossoms, with a "mou
| strous deep silken fringe."
She wore her hair in curls about her
j snowy neck and shoulders, curls glis
tening with perfumed pomade, and
! about her waist fell in careless grace
I a scarf of white gauze. Her slippers
j were white and silver; licr silken hose
showed the "pink flesh" through them.
This costume was among the first of
the Josephine gowns to be worn in
Washington society and came into
vogue after the great hoops and bro
cades which prevailed during the days
of Martha Washington.
"We have the latest fashions from
France here, and our profit is groat be
yond that of Washington and Philadel
phia," wroto Mrs. Alexander Hamilton,
who during the revolutionary days was
i tho leader of the world of fashion for
all Manhattan Island.
The best portrait of the lady shows
her in a brocaded skirt, pink flowers on
a cream ground, made in eight widths
over a potticoat of red quilted satin.
The waist is cut low, in what is now
known as the "English decollete," and
is pointed in front, lacing like tho mod
ern ball bodice in the back. Her hair
j is drawn straight up from the brow
over a great roll, and is made into com
pact puffs at tho back of the head.
Lady Catharine Duer, who was the
daughterof Lord Sterling, was a leader
of fashion for many years in New York
and Washington. Her gowns wore
brought over from France by special
packet steamers, and it is said that sho
wore tho finest gloves of two buttons
] and slippers of satin, with soles of "fine
thinness." Mrs. Duer of tho present
: day has part of a gown worn by her
ancestress. Tho little bodice, from the
MRS. JOHN JAY.
waist-lino up, moasures but six inches
in the center, so one cau imagine it a
rather too decollete for the present day;
and the circumforenee of tho waist is
but seventeen and a half inches. It is
all sewed by hand im the most exquis
ite of stitches, that would put to shame
the prize handiwork at the Woman's
Exchange, and across tho front aro
strung little inch-square silken bags,
which, in days gone by, were filled
with perfume.
Lady Catharine wore her dark hair
a la pompadour made over immense
rats, and on dress occasions it was
beautified by a string of pearls.
"Her shoulders were so exquisitely
drooping that it was with difficulty her
evening gowns were kept upon them,"
writes one of her admirers.
Where would our society beauties be
if drooping shoulders were in favor
nowadays?
Mrs. John Jay, whose husband was
Minister to Spain in the early days of
tho republic, was one of the exquisites
of her day. When she was 18, in 1774,
she was married, and a description of
her "wedding chests" is still cherished
by lior descendants. Her underwear
was of the finest white woven linen,
made by hand, of course, and beauti
fully trimmed with drawn work.
Some of it was trimmed with lace,'
which was raro in those days, as it was
all hand-wrought. She had "six cedar
chests of white linen petticoats and
underwear, and a double number filled
with house linen."
Women a century ago were not less
extravagant than nowadays. It was
necessary for them to have a new
gown for every ball. To be sure,
a gown in those days did not cost as
much as a Worth or a Pingat. Slip
pers, stockings, and gloves were, how
ever, more costly, and at least j£l was
needed to purchase any one of them.
SPLENDID CROWN JEWELS.
The Most Intensely Brilliant Diamonds
Worn ly the Ladles of the Court oI
Braail.
I wonder what has become of the
crown jewels of Brazil ? They were in
a large measure derived from Portugal,
of which for hundreds of years the
crown had the exclusive right to own
Brazilian diamonds.
Those which it did not wish to keep
were sold, and their proceeds were
paid into the treasury. A great quan
tity were given to the churches and
looted by tho French when they in
vaded Portugal.
I never saw more intensely brilliant
diamonds than those of the ex-
Empress Theresa Maria and the Prin
cess de Joinville, who is sister of tho
ox-Emperor, writes the Paris corres
pondent of London Truth. Marie
do Gloria was the eldest of the four
children of Pedro 1., and was given a
share of the regalia.
Pedro 11. is a great-uncle of the
present King of Portugal, and would be
monarch of the country if his father
had not made Brazil a separate empire
and settled it upon him. The first
Emperor was a clever man, but had the
manners of a buffoon.
He was fond all his life of playing
blindnian's buff. It was hard, he
thought, for a king hemmed in by eti
quette, to enjoy himself unless he broke
loose in a game of romps.
Miguel, his brother, had the advant
age of him in a handsome face, an ele
gant, slender figure and gentle plaus
ible manners. He had the grace, of a
feline.
I never saw a plainer set of women
than the ladies of the Empress of Brazil.
Her Majesty herself was far from pret
ty in youth. But she improved wonder
fully as sho advanced in years, when
her faco ceased to be tho shape of a long
wedge, and was set round with white
hair, which appeared to light it up,
It grew to be a kindly and rntlier in
telligent face. Tho eyes, perhaps, are
too searching. They visibly seek to
take the measure of those who are pre
sented to hor.
She has a fine Italian voice when she
speaks freely, which is not often, a
guard being placed by a diplomatic
Italian temper upon her lips. Mario
Amelie, her aunt, has this guardod re
serve in speech.
Tho plainness of the ladies was not
the only drawback to the court of Bra
zil. Tho courtiers being more or less
mulatto, they stood in need of scented
Baeliets in their coats and drosses, and
did not always wear them. Tho negro
skin, yon know, has not the perfume of
miUejieura.
Jem Browne's Stratagem.
For several years before his death
frequent draughts of sherry became a
necessity with Jem Browne. Owing to
poverty, however, he was ill able to
provide it. Attracted by the announce
ment "Funerals supplied." Browne one
day, when fatigued in his rambles,
waited upon an undertaker, his face
buried in a handkorchief, his voice in
audible from emotion. The man ran
for a decanter of wine; Browne drank
and was relieved. He asked several
questions about scarfs and hat bands,
coffins, hearses, mutes and coaches.
Tho undertaker assured him that he
would provide all. Browne at last
stood up to leave.
"But you have not told me whore I
am to find tho remains," remarked tho
undertaker.
"Yon said you would find everything
—find the body," exclaimed Browne,
ns he loft tho house and rapidly turned
the corner.
Cornfield Philosophy.
The burnt child fears the fire, and
so ho will try to find some method of
playing with it without getting
burned.
A drunkard can preach a good sermon
on the evils of intomperance. He
knows whereof he speaks.
Kindness is the grease that makes
the world run smoothly.
Tho faster a man runs tho farther ho
will go in a certain time and the sooner
he will be tired.
The poison yon put out for your
neighbor's dog w ill kill your own canine
if he eats it.
A sheep cannot climb a fence as
readily as a goat can, and ho is not so
self-conceited, but he produces more
wool.
A big head is no more a sign that its
possessor has lots of brains than a
large smokehouse indicates that its
owner has plenty of meat. Both may
bo empty.
Extinguished by Bees.
Two or three years ago, as Queen
Victoria was journeying from Balmoral
to Windsor, the royal train was stopped
by Bomothing, tho like of which had
never before happened in any railroad
man's experience.
The signalman at a certain junction
had lighted his lamps, and everything
apparently was safe for the passage of
the royal train. As the train ap
proached, however, the engineer
noticed that one of the signal lights
had been extinguished, and instantly
brought the engine and cars to a stand
still.
On inspecting the lamp it was found
to contain a swarm of bees, so numer
ous that they had put out the light, by
which they had evidently been at
tracted.
Fine Sage.
Motaphorical language is sometimes
misleading. When one begins to "call
names," oven in a complimentary fash
ion, thore is a chance that some literal
person will wonder what he means. A
gentloman visiting a little town "Down
East," says:
I called on business at the house of
an old lady, and entertained myself in
looking over her library.
We fell to disoussing books, and,
thinking of Emerson, I asked her if she
knew much about the "Sage of Con
cord."
"Concord, where?" sho asked.
"Concord, Massachusetts," I an
swered.
"Is it any better'n any other sage ?"
she innocently inquired.