SUNSET CALM, The dying sunbeams softly play Un fields of tawny grain; The rabbit's housed beneath the bay That skirts the scented lauo. Np breeze the leaf to music wakes In bowers green and cool; No bwoHow'b wing in circles brenks The mirrors of the pool. No sheep-bell tinkles from the fold; And in the lilac glow That steals o'er nature's cloth of gold The shadows longer grow, And melt into the silence deep, Unbroken as a dream, That settles like a wreath of sleep On crimsoned mead and stream. —[H. K. Munkittrick, in Harper's Weekly. SAVED BY STRATEGY. BY IIOBEKT LINGLEY. pinner was over at last, and Mr. Wal ter Currcy, Euglish commissioner at the up-country station of Hutta-bagh, in Northern India had gone out upon the veranda with his wife and his two guests —Col. Ay res aud Major Armstrong of the —th infantry. While the party were quietly conversing, a sudden clam or of angry voices from the road below drew them all to the front of the veranda. The cause of the disturbance was visi ble at once. Two half-drunkcu English soldiers swaggering along the road had come into violeut contact with a native boy who was running past; one of them, enraged at the collision had felled the poor lad to the ground and was unclasp ing his own belt with the evident inten tion of beating him unmercifully. "Served the young whelp right," shouted the Colonel, rubbing his hands; "that's just what they all want." The other Major Armstrong—popular- I ly called Major Strongarm—was a huge, brawny silent man, whoso forte lay in acting rather than talking. To leap to the ground, twelve feet below, to dart across the garden, to vault over the high stockade beyond, was the work of a moment for the athletic major; and in another instant ho had raised the fallen boy tenderly from the ground, while sayiug to the foremost soldier in the low, compressed tone of a man who means what he says,— "Be off with you!" "And who are you, shovin' yer nose in where yer ain't wanted?" roared the in furiated rulfiau, to whose eyes the major's plain evening dress bore no token of his Deing an officer. 4 'Just you " The seutence was never finished. At the sound of the last insolent defiance Arm strong's patience gave way altogether, and the strong right hand, which had hewn its way through a whole squadron of Sikh cavalry, fell like a sledge-hammer upon his opponent's face, dashing him to the ground as if he had been blown from the mouth of a gun. "Well done, major!" shouted Mr. Curric, from above. "You deserve your name, no mistake." At the name of "major" the other soldier took to his heels, and Armstrong, without even looking at his prostrate antagonist, proceeded to examine the in juries of the boy. The latter was sorely bruised in many places, and the blood was trickling freely over bis swarthy face, but the little hero still did his best to stand erect and to kce down every signd ! of the pain he was enduring. "You're a brave lad, and you'll make a soldier some day," said the major to him, in Hindustance. "Come with me, I'll sec that no one molests you again." Six months have come and gone, and Mr. Currie's hospitable house presents a' very different spectacle. The pretty garden is trampled iuto dust and mire, and the bodies of men and horses are ly ing thick among the fragments of the half destroyed stockade. The windows of the house are blocked up, aud through the loopholed walls peer the muzzles of ready rifles, showing how steady the besieged garrison stands at bay against countless enemies, whose dark, fierce faces and glittering weapons are visible through the half-ruined build ing and matted thickets all around. The Sepoy mutiny of 1857 is blazing sky bigli over Northern India, and Col- | onel Ayres is blockaded in Ilutta-bagh, with a certainty of a hideous death for himself and every man of the few who are still true to him, unless help comes speedily. Day was just breaking when two men held whispered councils in one of the upper rooms. "No fear of the water running short," said Major Armstrong; "but even on half rations our food will be out in four days more." "And then we'll just go right at them, and cut our way through or die for it," growled the colonel, with a grim smile on his iron face, for with all his harsh ness and injustice, Colonel Ayres was "grit" to the backbone. "We mustn't say anything to them about it, though," added he, with a side glance at Mr. Cur rie, who, standing at the farther corner, was anxiously watching the thin, worn I face of his sleeping wife. At that moment a loud cheer from be low startled them both, and the next moment Ismail ( the major's boy, as every one now called him) burst into the room, with aglow of unwonted excitement on his dark face. "Sahib!" cried he, "there is hope for us yet! A detachment of English are coming up the other bank of the river ; if we can send word to them as they pass, we are saved." "llow do you know?" asked the major, eagerly. "I heard the Sepoys say so, while 1 was lying hid among the bushes yonder," answered the lad. "But if the troops arc beyond the river, how can we communicate with them?" asked Mrs. Currie, who, awuk* ened by the shouting, had arisen and joined the group. "They may not pJlss 1 near enough to hear the firing, and we have no means of sending them word." "Fear nothing for that, mem sahib" (madam), said the. Hindoo boy, quietly. "I will carry them word myself." " But how can you possibly do it?" cried Mr. Curric, thunderstruck by the confident tone in which this mere child spoke of a task from which the hardest i veteran might well have shrunk. "Listen, Sahib," answered Ismail. "1 will slip out of the house and make a dash into the enemy's lines, as if I was deserting from you to them; and you can tell your people to lire a shot or two after mo with a blank cartridge as I go. Then the Sepoys wi.l receive me kindly, and I'll tell them that you are all dying of thirst and that they need only wait a day more to be sure of you, so that they won't come to make another attack. Then, when they have no suspicion, and think I'm one of themselves, I'll steal away and slip across the river." "But are you quite sure the Sepoys will believe you?" asked Major Anil strong, doubtfully. "They'll believe this, anyhow," re plied the boy, deliberately making n deep gash in his bare shoulder, and staining his white frock with blood as ho glided from the room, followed by the major. The plan was soon explained to the men below, and a moment later Ismail's dark figure was seen darting like au ar row across the open space in front of the building, followed by a <juick discharge of blank cartridges from the marksmen at the loopholes. The sound of firing drew the attention of the Sepoys, several of whom ran forward to meet him. In another instant he was in the midst of I them. "I can scarcely sec for those bushes," said colonel Ay res, "but he seems to be showing them the wound on his shoulder and telling them it was our doing." At that moment au exultant yell from the enemy came pealing through the still air. "That's the story of our being short of water, for a guinea!" said the major; "it was a very good idea of his. If it only : delays (heirattack two days longer there may be time for help to arrive yet." Slowly and wearily tho long hours of that fearful day wore on. The heat was so terrific that eveu the native soldiers of the garrison could barely hold their own against it, aud the handful of English men were almost helpless. Had the Se poys attacked them then all would have been over at one blow, but hour passed after hour and there was no sign of an assault. At length, ns afternoon gave j place to evening, a movement began to j show itself in the enemy's lines. Their i curls of smoke, arising above the trees, , showed that the eveuiug meal was in preparation, and several figures with; pitchers in their hands wcio seen going i toward the river, among whom the colo nel's keen eye soon detected Ismail. "By George!" cried the old soldier, slapping his knee exultingly, "that lad's worth his weight in gold! There's his way down to the river open to him, with out the least chance of suspicion. Why, he's a born general—nothing less." Every eye within the wall was now turned anxiously upon the distant group, 1 fearing to see at any moment some move- ; ment which would show that the trick ; was detected. Suddenly, as Ismail i stooped to plunge his light wooden dip- J : per into the water, it slipped from his j t hands and went flouting away down the | > stream. A cry of dismay, a loud laugh i from the Sepoys, and then the boy was seen running frantically along the bunk j and trying in vain to clutch the vessel as it floHtod past. "What on earth's he up to?" grunted the colouel, completely mystified. "I sec!" said Major Armstrong, tri umphantly; "there'* a boat yonder among the reeds, and he's making right i for it. Well done, my brave boy." But at that momont a yell of rage from the Sepoys told that the trick was dis covered. Luckily those ou the bank had left their pieces behind, or poor Ismail would soon have been disposed of; but ■ the alarm instantly brought up a crowd of their armed comrades, whose bullets j fell like hail around the boat and its gal-1 lant little pilot. 4 'Let us lire a volley and make a show j of sallying out," said the colouel; "It'll i take their attention from him." But in this he was mistaken. The first | rattle of musketry did recall most of Is- j mail's assailants, but at least a dozen , were left, who kept up an increasing fire, i striking the boat again and again. All 1 at once the colonel dashed his glass to | the floor with a fierce imprecation. Be tween two gusts of smoke he had seen the boat turn suddenly over, and go whirling away down the dark river, keel upward. "There'san end of the poor lad,"mut tered the veteran brokenly. "God bless him for a brave little fellow. And now, old friends, we must die hard, for there's no hope left." The first few hours of the night passed quietly, and the exhausted defenders, utterly worn out, slept as if drugged with opium. But a little after midnight the quick ears of the two veteran officers —the only watchers in the whole garrison except the sentries themselves—caught a faint stirring in the surrounding thickets, which seemed to augur some movement on the part of the enemy. Listening in tently for a few moments, they felt cer tain that they were right, and lost 110 time in awakening their men. The I scanty stores of food were opened once more, and. crouching together in the 1 darkness, the doomed men took what 1 they fully believed to be their last meal on earth. '•They're coming," said Major Arm strong, straining his eyes into the gloom through a loophole/ "I hear them creeping forward, though I can't yet sec them." "What was that?" exclaimed the colonel suddenly. "It looked like a fiery arrow flying past." , "It's worse than that," said the major, |in a low voice. "The rascals are shoot | ing lighted chips of bamboo into the roof to set it 011 fire. Send the women up with buckets to flood the thatch—there's not a moment to Jose!" "I'll go and see to it myself," cried Mrs. Curric, hastening out of the room. But the power of this new weapon had already been fatally manifest. The house was an old one, dry as tinder from the prolonged heat, and as fast as the flames were quenched in one place thoy broke out in another. When day dawned, the lire had already got hold of one corner of the building, and a crushing discharge was poured upon all who attempted to extinguish it, whilst the triumphant yells of the human tigers below told that they felt sure of their prey. "It's all over with us, old fellow," said the colonel, giasping his companion's hand ; "at least we shall have done our duty." "(live me one of your pistols," whis pered Mrs. Currie to her husband, in a voice that was not her own. "I must not full into their hands alive." At that moment Major Armstrong was seen to start and bend forward as if lis- tening intently, for lie thought—although | ' he could scarcely believe his ears—tliut ' he had suddenly caught a faint sound of ' distant tiring. In another instant he heard it again, and this time there could 1 be 110 doubt, forseveralof the others had caught it likewise, and a gleam of hope once more lighted up their haggard faces and bloodshot eyes. Louder and nearer came the welcome while the sudden terror and con fusion visible among the enemy showed that they, too, were at 110 loss to gain its i meaning. Then high above the din I rose the well-known ' 4 Hurrah," ami! through the smoke clouds broke a charg- { ing line of glittering bayonets and ruddy English faces, sweeping away the cow- , ardly murderers as the sun chases the morning mist. "That boy is worth his weight in gold," said Colonel Ayres, as, a few hours later he listened to Ismail's account of how he had dived under the boat and kept it between him and the Sepoys, that thev might think him drowned.— I Yankee lllude. Tlio New \ oik electric light companies are (leinondiiiu fliich high ruti n for the coming j year that the gas CoininiHwioners say they will return to the use o< gas for street light | iug purposes unless the charge is reduced. ONYX. Something About its Working and its Use in House Decoration. Onyx is coming into general use for decorative purposes. With the forma tion of a syndicate to work the Mexican mines and with the discovery of onyx in other places, its use lias extended until |it is becoming one of the most fashiona | ble decorations in New York, says the Sun of that city. Onyx is a peculiar for mation caused by drippings mixed with mineral and earthy substances under heat and pressure. This is not an exact geological definition of it, but it tells what it is. Onyx is usually discovered in caves or other natural openings and in a mineral neighborhood. The most beautiful kind of onyx is formed by va rious kinds of minerals running through it in streaks and tints. Onyx is the same improvement over fine marble that marble is over ordinary stone. It also costs as much more. These are two reasons why people who aro putting up fine houses in this town are beginning to use it. It differs from marble in taking on a higher degree of polish, in being harder, with a greater reflection, a firmer grain, more refined and delicate tints and prettier streaks. Streaked marble is not popular because it is usually not streaked in a way to add to its decorative effect. in onyx the j delicate green fern, reddish and brown i streaks appear beautifully on au ivory background. Onyx is got out in as large blocks as it can be quarried. The quarrying has to be done with wedges and saws, as it cannot be blasted or dugout with safety. The grain and streaks are so delicate that a blast might spoil thousands of dollars' worth. One cave of onyx was ruined by the use of powder. The man who owned the cave started to get out the onyx by the slow process of saws and wedges. He got out several car loads, when the thought struck him that he j could take all the onyx out of the cave I at one blast. So he put his men to work and drilled around the cave, ar ranging his blast so that he would have 140,000 or worth of onyx to be shipped at once. The drill holes were charged and the blast was exploded. None of the onyx was fit for use except in mosaics and such work. There was not a sound bit four feet long in the I cave. This taught the other onyx miners a lesson, and no shocks and blasts or de- ' tonations are allowed in the cave or in the neighborhood for fear that the onyx may be cracked or that some small cracks may be enlarged. Onyx is worth in the rough from $3 to sls per cubic foot. The price is not steady, as it depends on the demand and the longth and shape of the block got out as well as the appearance of the onyx. The market for onyx is something j like the market for meerschaum, only less regular. A mau who buys a block of onyx takes it to some extent on spec ulation. He does not know how it will I saw and polish. There may be cracks inside of it which he does not see, and I the grain and streaks on the outside may not be carried through. | The onvx in its rough state looks like I other stalactites and stalagmites, though , it might be taken for marble by any one I not in the business. It is worked much 1 as marble is, by sawing and polishing, | except that more care has to be exercised j and that the polishiug is more difficult. When it is worked up it will sell for $1 I to $5 a square foot, according to its ap i pearance. Some dealers make onyx up in mantels, but even though an onyx mantel is cost ly, the dealers do not like to muke it up in that shape, as they say that it vulgar i i/.es the onyx and will end in cheapening it. Onyx is beautiful for tables, mirrors, and panels. There arc only four or five dealers in it now in New York, but when the new syndicate begins shipping here steadily onyx will be pushed. It is 110 more rare now than the finer marble used to be. A Child Victim, All incident reported by Missionary R. Darby, who is laboring on the Congo, shows how inhuman heathenism is, and how remorseless are its cruelties, lie says: "A man died near the station where I work. The people, as usual, concluded that some witch had caused his death by her spell, so they gathered together to try to find the witch. They came to the conclusion that the wife of the deceased was the guilty woman. They took her, cut her head off, threw her body into the river, buried the head in the ground until the flesh decayed, and stuck the skull on the roof of the house. Fathers, listen! mothers, listen! and then think of the darkness of Africa. That man and woman had a little baby that could scarcely walk. There was not a man or woman in all theso towns that would give the child a bit of bread or a drink of water; not a soul woidd allow it to come into their house. They left the poor little thing outside, and I saw it wasting away. I said to one of my boy 8, 4 Whose child is that?' 'lt is the child of a witch,' he said. I came , home. I thought to myself, 'Well, I I have keen a good many different things j in work, and I think I wiil just turn j nurse now.' I thought I could not see 1 that child starved to death. I went off j into the town to buy it. They told 111 c they had takeu the poor little innocent baby and flung it into the river to the crocodiles!" The Seal Skin Industry. The killing and skinning of the seals is altogether performed by native Aleuts, who are paid 40 cents a skin for their work. From the fat of the seal an oil is obtained which affords a most brilliant and beautiful light. The seal skins are taken to London in their salted state, and arc there delivered at an establishment which is one of the two great fur mar kets of the world, the other being at Leipsic. To these two emporiums all the j fur-? of the world are brought by the pro | ducers and sorted out by experts accord ing to quality and colors. Once a year each of tin* two great establishments has an auction sale to which fur buyers come from everywhere. All the furs are cata logued, so that a merchant can procure any number of any sort of skins, perfectly matched, without seeing them at all be fore he makes the purchase. All the seal skins of the world go to the London emporium, because nowhere else than in ; England is the art of preparing them understood. In the British metropolis there arc many big factories, employing thousands of workmen, devoted to this industry. -[ Washington Star. Title steamship Portia reports that while steaming slowly along the fishing banks, oil New Brunswick, she sighted a huge iceberg, .hist as the vessel was passing it the berg split i n three pieces, one of which sank and rose beneath the Portia's stern. The ship's stern was ' lifted high in the air, and her nose forced ' under water. The passengers and crew were badly scared, but the ship was only j slightly damaged. JOKER'S BUDGET. JESTS AND YARNS BY FUNNY MEN OF THE PRESS. A Reflection—There's a Reason for Everything—Cruel —Well Named, Etc., Etc. VIEWING THE CASE PROPERLY. Deaf Man (to musician) —No, I'll not give you anything. I'm deaf and can't hear your music. Friend (speaking into his trumpet- Well, give him a dime out of thankful ness because you can't hear him.— [Epoch. MAHIIIED MEN REALIZE THIS. Somebody says, "It is just as easy to tell a lie." Of course it is, but the results are not so immediately pleasant. — [Somervillc Journal. AMBITION DEFINED. "My son, define ambition." "Well, it's always feeling that you want to do something that you know you can't."—[Life. THE BOY AND TnE WATERMELON. A brief poem on a boy and a water melon : Morn: Rollicksoinc. Noon: Frolicsome. Night: Colicsome. —[Washington Post. THERE'S A REASON FOR EVERYTHING. "I sec the Reading Railroad Superin tendent has ordered the trainmen to shave oil their wkiskers." "Curious order. I suppose, though, it was necessary. The wind blowing through their whiskers probably delayed the train." A REFLECTION. Mr. Yumacraw—Miss Priscilla, you are a first-class mirror. Miss Priscilla Pulaski (blushing)—La! Mr. Yamacraw, why? Because I am so truthful? Mr. Yamacraw—No; because you are such a good looking lass. Miss Priscilla—Oh, Mr. Yamacraw! and am I then to regard you as an ad mirror? —[Savaunah News. HER IIEAD WOULD KEEP HER UP. Maiden Fair—Oh, it always makes my head swim to go 011 the water. Sailor Facetious—No danger of drown ing, then, mem, if you should fall over board. —[Bazar. WELL-NAMED. "I sec that button parties are being held in some parts of the West," re marked Mrs. Cumso. "I wonder why they are so named?" "Because they are bound to come oil," replied Cumso. CRUEL. Mrs. Cumso (at the breakfast table) — George, I wish you would remind me— Cumso (interrupting)—Ah, you begin to realize that your muid is about gone, do you? THE SAD PART. Fred—l wish my girl would hurry up and marry mo, if she is going to. Edwin—ls she keeping you in sus pense? Fred—No; expense.—[Detroit Free Press. CAUSTIC. "How is it possible to reach the people who never read a newspaper?" "Some could be got at in asylums for the blind, probably."—[Society. A REMARKABLE TENANT. "What sort of a tenant is Grabber?" "First rate. He's lived iu my house for two years and has never once asked for a new foundation for it.—[New York Sun. A CHRONIC SUMMER GIRL. "Yes," said she, dreamily, "I must confess to having seen twenty-three sum mers." "And the same number of winters, 1 suppose?" "Oh, the winters don't count. lam j never engaged in the winter."—[Terre ! llaute Express. 1118 LATEST TITLE. Wee Wife—Love you? Of course I do. You dear, blessed old peach crop. Big Husbaud 'loving but luckless) — Oicat Scott! Why this new title? W. W.—Because you arc such a pcr | petunl failure.—[Yenowinc's News. NO SIGN OK IT THERE. "Horses, I hold, have great intelli- I genec." "Some of them have. But there was i one horse down at the Branch that hadn't." ' "How did he show it?" "He ran away with Miss Patter."— [New York Herald. SEASIDE' AMENITIES. "I'll have a fit, I know I shall!" shrieked a woman who was refusing to be coaxed into the surf at Ocean Grove. "Notin that suit you have on," said another woman next to her in such a tone that she fell in a heap, and it was harder to get her out than it was to get her in.—| Washington Star. A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE. Cumso—l don't like the idea of send ing exploring expeditions to the North and South poles. Fangle—Why not? Cumso—Because I am opposed to going to extremes. LATE RETURN FROM EVENING CHURCH. "What kept you, my daughter, at service so late?" Sweet Imogene's father said. "Whenever you go with young Repro bate You never get back to our garden gate Till every one's gone to bed." "The sermon was tedious," his daughter replied; "The preacher was dull and grim. Till the end of the service we had to bide, But the longest wait"—and sweet Imo gene sighed "Was caused by the parting him." WOULD IT REPAY IIIM? j Bowles—Miss Alice, when I leave you' I in a few minutes, I may never see you I again, for I sail in an hour to Australia, j You know how I have loved you, and I though you have not reciprocated the feeling, I hope you will think of me ' sometimes when I am grinding out a 1 wearisome existence at the Antipodes, j Miss Alice (who has a penchant for ' jewelry)—l will endeavor to think of you sometimes; But, Mr. Bowles, if you will get me one of those pretty gold necklaces to which a lock is attached, 1 will give the key to your keeping. I will then be ' unable to take the necklace off, and it I will be a constant reminder of you.— • [Jewelers'Circular. A WELCOME BURGLAR. Buggs (proprietor of cross-roads jew elry store)— Hello there! Who's be low? A Voice Below—A burglar; lam look ing for your sterling silver. 6uggs—Hold on; I'll be up in a min ute and help you.—[Jewelers' Circular. IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE. First Burglar—Well, you're a bright 'un. Second Burglar--What's the matter? "The paper says there was SSOO in money in the drawer you got that gold watch from, an' you missed it." "That so? I'll go back after it to night."—[Epoch. GENEROSITY BEGINS AT HOME. Noyes E. Ilowells—Gweudolin reaches her nineteenth birthday on the 4th of next mouth. I intend to give her a diamond ring. Dashard Pooro—l wish I were rich enough to buy a diamond ring. Maud Linn—She'll take the will for the deed. Dashard Poore—Yes, if I were rich enough to buy a diamond ring for Gwcn dolin, I'd buy a pair of shoes for myself. —[Jewelers' Circular. ENLISTED. "I understand you are engagedto Miss Long?" "Yes; my first engagement." "Your first?" "Yes; I never smelled powder before." —[Binghamton Leader. HE SPOKE TOO LATE. He was a pastor of high repute; That she was a beauty none could dispute. He loved her denrjy, yet loved in vain, For lie dared not tell her his longing pain. But when, at the close of church one day, She asked his escort a part of the way, His heart beat high, and he almost thought He'd be able to plead for the love lie sought. "I've a favor to ask," the maiden said, As she blushed and drooped her lovely head; "I wish to know if you'll marry me In church next Tuesday at half-past three." "That's just what I wanted to ask," he said. "And now we'll hasten each other to wed " "Oh! no," she cried, "that was not my plan; You must marry mo to another man!" —[New York Ilerald. DISCOVERED. Burglar (soliloquizing)— Well, I guess that's all I can get here. Walter (talking in his sleep)— Haven't you forgotten something, sir? (Exit burglar—sash and all.) —[Life. THE LOVERS KNOW IT. The big girls who have little brothers Who alwuys run and tell their mothers Whate'er they hear and see, know well In life 'tis little things that tell. —[Chicago Post. TURNING THE TABLES. Poet—l don't see how you have the check to charge $75 for that suit. Tailor—My name is worth something, sir. Poet (drawing his check) —Well, I'll take it. Tailor—But this check is for SSO only. Poet—l know it—but my name is worth something.—[New York Sun. NOT TO BE BLAMED. "Let's cross over, here comes Bunker. He's the sleepiest man I ever met." "You can't blame him. Kemembcr that he is with himself all the time."— [Bazar. ADJUSTED. "Well, I'll compromise with you," said the iceman to Mr. Simple. "I won't raise the price of ice, but I'll make a new tonnage, say 1,000 pound s to the ton." "That's business," said Simple. "I'll go you."—[New York World. VERY LOFTY. "How high are the White Mountains?" "They vary. From five to fifteen dollars a day."—[New York Herald. Curious Race. An interesting paper was recently read at a meeting of the China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, at Shanghai, by Dr. Macgowan, the well-known scholar, on the aborigines whom the Chinese found on the Yellow River in arriving from Akkad. These people, unlike the Chinese, were destitute of civilization. The Chinese invaded their country before the invention of the cuneiform writing of Akkad, and used knotted cords or "quipos" in keeping records. These quipos, according to Dr. Macgowan, were the basis of the archaic annals, and from them the earliest form of Chinese written characters was developed. The prac-Chinese race had several curious customs and practices of deformation, such as drinking through the nostrils, and substituting dog's teeth for their own front teeth. They also flattened the head like the Chinook Indians of British Columbia, and they attempted to raise a polydactylous race by destroying all children born with the usual number of fingers and toes. The result was a tribe with twelve lingers and as many toes. Amazons also existed among them, and a "gynarchy," or political state, in which women were dominant over men. To this day among the original tribes the chieftaincy belongs to women.—[Lon don Globe. Plowing In Peru. The land in Peru is plowed in the follow ing manner: From six to a dozen teams of oxen are put to work on a single field of twentv or thirty acres. The oxen are "yoked" by tying a heavy beam across their foreheads. To this beam the plow is attached, all the force being applied by the head instead of the shoulders. The plow is a crooked stick or branch of a tree, the point faced with iron. The He brews, when they tilled the soil in the time of Moess, had a plow made in the same way. Intelligent Peruvians contend that they do not need to plow more than two or three inches deep—simply enough to loosen the soil so as to enable the seed to take root. The water used in irrigating is said to be rich in plant food, further obviating the necessity of deep plowing. It may also be added that improved plows, suitable for this country, are now manufactured in Europe and the United States, hut it goes without saying that they are very different from the plow used by the American farmer. They are light and small, having a close resemblance to the original crooked stick. Another pecu liarity of every Peruvian plow is that it has only one handle. The driver carries "n one hand a large goad, twelve or fifteen feet in length, with which to touch up his team, and he manages the plow with the other hand. SOMEWHAT STRANGE. ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OP EVERY DAY LIFE. Queer Episodes and Thrilling Adven tures Which Show that Truth is Stranger than Fiction. BROKEN necks are not altogether un common, but the spectacle of a man whose neck was badly broken walking into a hospital and asking for treatment is so unusual as to be worth recording. In the fall of 1889 a man rang the bell at the main entrance of the Long Island College Hospital and asked to see the house surgeon, saying that he had had a fall and feared that his neck was broken. The attendants laughingly assured him that his fears were groundless and the surgeon was summoned. An examina tion showed a severe dislocation in the upper cervical region of the spine and the consulting physicians were speedily sent for. Five responded and after a most careful examination they agreed that the spine was certainly dislocated. The ex planation of the man's still being able to walk and retaining the power of locomo tion was that the vertebra? had been struck i in such away as to dislocate it but not to injure the spinal cord running througli it. The bones were put back in place and the patient was put in a bed over which had been thrown a large rubber bag tilled with water, thus combining ease with a rigidity of position other wise unattainable. In six weeks the man was discharged and is at present in the employ of the Long Island railroad com pany as a flagman. Ilis mental faculties are as good as ever, and he seems o suf fer no inconvenience as a result of his un lucky fall. ONE of the most remarkable human curiosities ever seen has just been ex amined by M. de Quatrefages, the French naturalist. He is a Provincial, named Simeon Aiguier, and is thirty years old. Aiguier, tbanks to his peculiar system of muscles and nerves, can trans form himself in most wondrous fashion. At one moment assuming the rigidity of a statue, his body may be struck sharply, the blows falling as on a block of stone. At another he moves his intestines from above and below and right to left into the form of a large football, and projects it forward, which gives him the appear ance of a colossally stout personage. lie then withdraws it into the thorax, open ing like a cave, and the hollow look of his body immediately reminds one of a skeleton. Aiguier successfully imitates | a man subjected to the tortures of the , rack, as also a man hanging himself, and assumes a striking cadaverous look. What most astonished M. de Quatrefages was the stoppage of the circulation of the blood, now on the left and now on the right side, which was effected by muscular contraction. DARIUS L. GOFF of Pawtucket, R. 1., is one of the proprietors of the great braid works, but has a fancy for mccliau ical and electrical experiments. He has in his front hall a tall, old-fashioned clock, an heirloom, which, strange to say, never runs down. It stands near the front dcor, and is connected with it by a rod with gearing attachments. Whenever the door is opened or closed the winding arrangements are given a turn, so that the act of entering or leav ing the house keeps the clock constantly wound. But this is not all. By means of electrical appliances, operated by the clock in its movements, the gas jet in the hall is raised at dusk and lowered at bed time, and early rising bell is rung in the servants' hall, a later rising bell is rung to summon the family from their repose, and still an hour later the clock rings the breakfast bell. Whenever it strikes the hour softly musical cathedral chimes are struck simultaneously in the cham bers, and for a moment the house is filled with melody. IN the trial of a case at St. Louis there popped up, incidentally, one of the queerest characters of a century. Wil liam Green has a peculiar reputation of being the champion eater of the world, having defeated all comers in numerous matches, lie had a standing challenge, open to the world, and which was never taken. His ordinary appetite is normal, but when he tries to eat his capacity is apparently unlimited. One of his feats was to eat #18.75 worth of solid food one day in a contest with a tailor, a con stable and a marshal. Three eminent physicians went to his house, and were disappointed not to find him dead. All the lunch counters used to bar him. < )ne day he swallowed ten quarts of oysters in an hour against a Connecticut man's eight quarts. During the quail craze he ate a bird a day for fifty days, ami offered to oat two a day on a wager. He could get no answer to his challenges. He is middle-aged, of short build, weighs 250 pounds, and lias never been sick in his life. "IF people wore only taught half so much about the way to avoid mad dogs as they are about sunstroke," said Officer Mnlviliill the other day to a Pittsburg Dispatch reporter, "we would not often hear of a case of hydrophobia. A good thing to know is that a mad dog never turns osi(\e from the course he is running to bite any body. So if one is right in the path of a rabid animal he can get out of all danger by jumping to one side and out of the path of the dog. But if it is absolutely impossible to get out of the way, the man or woman should stand perfectly still and face the dog. He will turn aside then himself ami run in a different direction, while if the person in front of him screams and runs away, as tino out of ten will do, the dog will overtake and bite the victim. Of course it requires courage to stand still and face a rabid dog, terrible as this animal always looks, but the result shows that the real danger lies in taking flight." TRAVELERS who have penetrated into the easternmost parts of southern Russia find some strange beliefs as to the power of fish charms. Many fish found in those countries have two small, round bones on the sides of the head. They are be • lieved to have the power when worn by the owner to prevent colic, and they are termed colic stones. The more wealthy of the peasants have the colic stones moulded in gold, and they are worn upon the neck as a valuable addition to a neck lace. The bones of the common bull head are much used by the Russian peas ants as a charm against fever. Among European nations in the middle ages doctors of medicine had faith that two bones found in the head of the tench have medicinal virtues. The bones were applied to the skin in cases of fever. The tench is an European fish, and the United States Fish Commission arc en deavoring to introduce it to American waters. WILL a hair from a horse's mane or tail I develop into a snake if left in the water? i Scientific men say not, but J. 11. Pierce ! of Mount Pleasant, Conn., says that scien- I tific men don't know every thing. Mr. , Pierce claims that under certain condi tions, he can and has produced from horse hairs perfectly formed snakes the head being fully developed with eyes and mouth, the reptile having life, motion and growing in length and thickness. He has at present three in process of evo lution, with which he expects to silence all doubt as to the truth of his statements. A few days ago Mr. Pierce obtained two hair snakes as he called them, and ex hibited them to several persons here, whose opinions appear to be evenly divid ed as to whether they are a species of water snake or really produced by a horse hair. It requires about three months to develop the snakes, Mr. Pierce says. CHARLES E. HEKRINOTON went fishing in Barnegat Bay. He was using an eight-ounce split bamboo rod and a line rigged with two hooks. He had landed a number of fish, ranging from one to one and a half pounds in weight, and in at least one instance two at the same time. Suddenly his line went through the water with a startling swish, and in a trice the slender bamboo was buckled into a loop. After a good bit of master ful play, the catch was brought along side and lifted into the boat. Then, to the astonishment of everybody, it was discovered that the catch was not one fish but three—three fish on two hooks. One of the hooks had passed through the gill of one fish and been seized by a sec ond fish. Thus two were captured by one hook. All three were weakfish, and big fellows at that. A HEM ARK ABLE specimen, writes the London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian, lias recently been added to the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. It is that of a portion of a man's skull from the internal surface of which is pro jecting an inch of the blade of a pocket knife. There is some history of an injury having been received a year before the I man's death, but nothing more than this is known to account for the presence of the piece of metal. No symptoms were manifested during life pointing to the remarkable condition of things which was casually discovered after death, and for upward of twelve months the man was living with an inch of steel in his skull and in close contact with the brain. The knife blade had presumably been forcibly thrust through the boue and had broken oil short. The inau died of phthisis quite independently of the in jury he had received. TIIE schooner Mary E. Anderson has sailed from San Francisco for Crescent City on a treasure-hunting expedition to secure #2,000,000 that lies at the bottom of the Pacific in the wreck of the ill-fated Brother Jonathun, which was lost many years ago on the coast, somewhere in the vicinity of Crescent Cfty. The expedi tion has been up by Peter Gee, a well known capitalist of San Francisco. Two divers and a complete diving apparatus were engaged. The Brother Jonathan plied between San Francisco and the North until she was lost, about fourteen years ago. She was bound for Victoria, aud her commander and a large number of passengers perished with her. It was known that she had considerable treasure on board, and several expeditions similar to that of the Mary E. Anderson have been made, but the position of the wreck was never located. A DISPATCH to the Chicago Inter-Ocean from Melbourne, Fin., says: "Turtle hunting is now in order. The immense sea turtles come out during moonlight nights to deposit their eggs in the sand. While engaged in that duty they do not allow themselves to be at all disconcerted by spectators. They may make as many remarks as they choose, complLMitary or otherwise, one may climb onto her broad back, but the turtle keeps right at work until she has deposited from 100 to 150 round, soft-shell eggs, then she cov ers them up in the warm saud, and slowly and laboriously waddles back to the water. Two ladies climbed onto the back of one the other night, and rode down to the water's edge, when they very unceremoniously climbed off and left the turtle to pursue her way alone into the depths of the oceau. THERE exist in the Canton province of China different kinds of sisterhoods, such as "All Pure" sisterhoods, "Nevcr to-be-married" sisterhoods, etc. Each sisterhood consists of about ten young i maidens, who swear vows to heaven never to get married, as they regard marriages as something horrid, believing that their married lives would be miserable and unholy. A sad case lately happened. A baud of young maidens ended their ex istence in this world by drowning in the Dragon River becnuse one of them was to be forced by her parents to be mar ried. She was engaged in her childhood before slic joined this sisterhood. When | the preparations for the marriage were I completed she reported the matter to the sisterhood, and they all agreed to drown themselves, which they did. GEORGE BURDICK, of Churlcstown. Beach, is famous along the Rhode Island shore as a rough-and-ready marksman. Wild geese and ducks arc his game, and he bags great numbers of them each sea son. Strolling along the roaring beach a short time ago he espied a flock of ducks in one of the many little salt ponds, and crept through the tall bay berry bushes into range. He fired one barrel of his ten-bore into the flock on the wator and killed eight of them; then, when they got up, he knocked over eight more with the other barrel. Every one of the six teen ducks was killed almost instantly. A SINGULAR birthmark is to be seen on a colored woman employed near Ath ens, Ala., on the Darriugtou plantation. Her left ear is shaped like a bunch of grapes, and pendant from the side of her head by a filament of flesh, presenting a most remarkable appearance. Her hear ing on thnt side is, of course, very defect ive; but otherwise sin* suffers no incon venience from her peculiar mark, which she attributes to a witch's malice. When in health the oblong balls of flesh which represent the grapes are firm and plump, but arc shriveled by sickness. A PECULIARITY of Havana is the man ner of delivering milk to customers. Those who have been out driving in the suburbs have seen cows being driven by one or two natives. The first cow bore on her horns from two to three tin pint and quart cups. The first idea is that the people must be going to a picnic, and were taking the cows along as beasts of burden, but later one is informed that the cows are driven to the doors of the customers and milked in their presence, so they were perfectly certain that the milk was fresh. LITTLE Jimmy Edgecomb, almost a baby, had a terrible battle with a monster rat at Carthage, 111. The child was play ing in a room when the rodent attacked him, biting the child's head, severing an artery, and causing the blood to flow iq streams. The lad battled with the rat, finally killing it with a broomstick. PERHAPS the queerest club in America is the Mayors' Club of Boston. It iij certainly the most novel. Its mcmberj are the Mayors of the different cities oj Massachusetts and of a few other New England States. The club is organized for social intercourse. THE usher of the English Probat* Court, who has just died, loft a fortunl of #IOO,OOO, accumulated from ft salan of #750 a year for thirty-three years, aqs from the tips that flowed in upon him if a stream.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers