A LITTLE FURTHER OX The things we've sought for nil thoso years, The phantoms we have chased, the pow'rs That hidden lie, the glifring gold, The things we've sighed for shall be ours A little further on. The gods shall smile on us and come To lay their trophies at our feet, And after all our vain attempts, The joys we've sought so long we'll meet A little further on. The cherished hopes of by-gone years. The castles reared high in the air, The long-lost friends we too shall meet. And rest in peace from toil and care A little further on. -[Burt Fowles, in Texas Siftinge: MOMENTOUS MAGIC. BY WM. A. CALDWELL. Bloomingburg was all in a ferment. Charley Clyiner said it was a blooming burg of blooming idiots; but then he bad gone there to sell goods and wus wrathy because nobody would talk busi ness to him. It seems that a sleight-of hand performer hud struck the town and evorybody wns discussing his wonderful feats. As soou as Clymer appeared in a store with his sample-cases lie immedi ately became tho target for a running fire Of problems in the black art: bow could a man tear up your silk hat right in front of your eyes and then produce the same hat undamaged from a cask which he had just shown you was empty? how could he conjure a rabbit into a bottle? and so on. Clymer wus generally inter ested in such things and it was confi dently expected that he would throw some light on the subject, but he didn't. He only imparted his opinions of fakirs and jugglers in general in a vigorous style of English that grew steadily less end less placid as it became necessary for hlpi to repeat it wherever he went. Clymer left a knot of his formor pa trons solemnly discussing the cabinet ttick, and walked down tho street towards Halpert's store. "If I can't make a sale to Ilalpert,l may as well leave tho town, llalpert's got more sense than anybody else here any way, and if he's got the fever, then it must be epidemic, and I'd better clear out or I'll eateh it myself." This last remark was grim humor on Clymer's part—as if he could catch any thing that would divert his thoughts from a certain little note in his breast' pocket which had reached him a day or two before he had left the city, and which had been instrumental in keeping him awake o'nights and worried by day over since, lie stopped now in the shade of a tree, put down his sample cases, wiped his face, took out the note to pon der it again; here is what he read: Dear Charley—lt almost breaks my heart to write as I must. It is to tell you that our acquaintance must cense. I cannot give an y explanation, but believe me it has cost me a nurd struggle to write this. I can only sny forget me. J can never forget you. There was one place in the note where the words "Ed says" had been written and then erased, but Charley's jealous yyes had made them out at the first read ing. "Who in thunder's Ed, I wonder?" he jnuttored to himself now, and not for the first time. Miss Amy Layton had come some three months previously to Mrs. Walton's boarding-house where Clymer stopped while In the city. His voluble landlady had spoken in high praise of her new boarder to Clymer, and gave him to un derstand that sho had come from a very Aristocratic family which had been bro ken up by tho failure and death of the father. Clymer needed no praise of the young lady after he once met her. The heat trim figure and gontle manners played havoc with his heart at once. He had mado love desperately to Amy since she had been at Mrs. Walton's, and she had received his advances kindly, so he had been correspondingly depressed since the receipt of the above note, which he found an siting him on his return to! the city from his previous trip. Mrs. Walton sympathized heartily with the young lover, who couldn't dissemble in this matter so successfully as he could in business', in fact, he made no attempt to Conceal his distress. "All I know," said his landlady, "is that she settled with mo up to Saturday night, and said that she was going out of the city. Perhaps Mrs. Bolton could give you some intelligence of her; she brought Miss Layton here in the lirat place, you know." Clymer went to the elegant residence of Mrs. Bolton, but that lady had gone south, and the date of her return was un certain. He moped about the city for a aay or two and finally Btarted out on the road again with the hope of finding re lief by strict attention to business. Bloomingburg was one of the first towns he stopped at, and he was disgusted to find it in the demoralized state described Obove. When he entered the emporium of the amiable Halpert, he detected that worthy sitting on a chair with his chin in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees, and his eyes fixed upon the floor with a strong glare. "Got' em again, old man?" inquired Clymer, making a feeble effort to be Jovial. Halpert looked up. "Hello, Glytnor," ho replied. "Vy, I dell you; I vos yust dcukin' o' dot magic feller." "That'll dol That'll do!" said Clymer, wearily, as ho banged his cases down on the counter and perched himself 011 a Stool. "I haven't heard of anything ex cept that blamed mountebank since I got here. Can't you talk business a while, just for a change?" "Dot's all ride," responded the placid Halpert, "but yust vaita leetle. I didn't use to dake no shtock in dricks myßclf, boot last nlde some frients dook me ofer to dot show, uut I dell you it vas gread! Of course it was dricks; boot how docs he do 'em? liow does he do 'em?" "I don t know how he docs 'cm, and I don't care. I am disappointed in you, Halpert; I am, for a fact. 1 said on the way down here, if there's anybody in tho place that's got n grain of sense left Halpcrt's the man; and here you are, as looncy as the rest of 'em." "Now, dcrc's dot gnbinet," went on) the stolid Halpert. "He leds you oxatn ino it unt shuts it oop, and rido avay, shlam, bang, pop, goes dem bells uut dings. Of course, 1 know it vas dot seestcrof his vat makes dcr ragget—boot how docs she yet in dot gabineti How does Bhe got in? Now he says to-nidehe vood die a man in dot gabinct, unt shtiil dem berformanccs vood go on, yust <ler samo. Dcrc goes dot seester now; she ain't no pad-lookin' gal, is she?" Clymer Uirucd his eyes listlessly to ward the door. The next instant he nearly paralyzed the phlegmatic Halpert by tumbling off the stool and rushing to wards the door. When he reached the sidewalk, however, the object of his search had disappeared and ho came slowly back to his old perch. 4 'You said he would let a man be in that cabinet to-night, didn't yon ?" "Yass, dot's vot he said." "Guess I'll drop in and see it. You fellows can't talk about anything else, anyhow." "Yust vait dill you see him once," re torted the complacent Ilalpert, satisfied that it was his graphic description of the show that had won Clymer over. That night Bloomingburg'sGrand Opera House was pa ;ked to the walls. The performance was a good one, unquest ionably; most of the illusions were new even to Clymer, and the deftness of the young magician was really marvelous. If Clymer had been in his normal condition he would have taken a deep interest in the exhibition. Fin ally tne shifted scenes showed the stage set for the concluding part of the pro gramme—the cabinet act. When the professor requested the aid of some well known gentleman in the audience, Hal bert suggested the name of Clymer which was speedily caught up by others. He accordingly went forward and took his place on the stage. The professor then took the two doors of the front of the cabinet and leaned them against the wall. He then "called the gentlemen's particular attention" to the fact that there was no possible communication with the cabinet from below nor from the wall behind. For the edification of the audience he turned the cabinet round on its rollers, in order that they might see that there was no door in the back. After having returned it to its former position and replaced the doors, he put a chair, a tambourine and some bells in the cabinet. " It will be necessary to blindfold the gentleman and tic his hands," he ex plained, blandly. Clymer made no objection. Seating himself in the chair, he placed his hands in readiness for the cords, only taking care to close his fists tightly and thus swell his wrists as much as possible. A silk handkerchief was then tied over his eyes, and after a few remarks by the pro fessor the door was slammed shut. Cly mer immediately devoted himself to the task of slipping his hands out of the cords. This was no easy thing to do, and the bells and tambourine had been going for a minute or two before he fin ally got free and pushed the handker chief up from his eyes. One glance at the materialized spirit before him satisfied him, and stepping to her side he put his arm around her waist and said: "Amy, why did you leave me?" The being in his arms gave a slight scream and dropped the bells on the stage as she jerked her hands back into the | cabinet. If the audience hadn't been de ! voting themselves so vigorously to applause over the supposed discomfiture of Clymer, the professor might have gotten some inkling that his spirit was in trouble, but as it was he only knew that the dropping of those bolls was the sig nal for opening the doors of the cabinet, aud this he proceeded to do at once, swinging them back to their full width and stepping aside so that the view of all the auditorium might be unobstruct ed. The gaping spectators took one breathless look, and then broke into vociferous acclamation again. They thought they understood the situation. Clymer had found out how the trick was done, and was going to oxpose it. How ever, he did not appear to be altogether satisfied with the result. He relaxed his ' hold of Amy and she stepped from the cabinet and slipped out of sight among the scenes, whispering a word to the frowning professor on the way. Clymer went forward to the footlights and made his first effort at oration, amid an im pressive silence: "Ladies and gentlemen, I feel that I ought to offer a word or two of explana tion. The young lady who lias just left the stage is not a stranger to me. I had hoped, until recently, that she would some day consent to be my wife. I was very much surprised to find licr here. I did not intend—she wasn't—wouldn't--" The indulgent audience kindly helped the stammerer out by a brief burst of ap plause; as it subsided, the stentorian voice of Ilalpert was heard: I "Dot's all ride, Glymcr, boot how did I she get in dot gabiuet?" I "llow did she get in there?" repented Clymer, vaguely, as if that had nothing to do with it. "I don't know how she got in there." The audience made no attempt to con ceal its disgust. The professor was all smiles once more, and with a profound bow gave the signal for dropping the curtain. Clymer at once hunted up Amy, whom he found in tears, but not disposed to be at all frigid toward him. In reply to his questions she said: "It was all Ed's fault. His assistant lately met with an accident of so serious i a nature that it finally caused his death. Ed is so jealous of his tricks and myster ' ics that he was afraid to employ a new assistant, and he begged me to come and help him. lie saia it would not be necessary for me to appear before the audience at all, but simply to hand him apparatus from the scenes and see that things were in shape so that thero would be no hitch. You see there are two more of us besides Ed and me, and we are all dependent upon Ed. Mary and Ella are both at school, and, of course, the ex pense is considerable. Ed talked so dis mally about it thatl felt it would be mean of me to refuse to help him, especially as it seemed impossible for me to find anything else to do. I thought you would not care to continue our acquaint- ; ance after I turned out to be a sleight-of- i hand performer." [lnterval of a few moments, during which the reader will please kindly look through the advertisements while Clymer convinces Amy of her error.] "I suppose," continued Amy, arrang ing her hair, which was apparently on the point of coming down, "I suppose our old friends would be horrified to know that we are in such an occupation. They used to applaud Ed's cleverness at evening parties, when we were in more fortunate circumstances, but it's differ ent when he makes money out of it, you know." She was interrupted by the entrance of her brother. He had delayed coming in order to lock up the cabinet, and to place other apparatus beyond the reach of any too inuuisitive supernumerary. Clymers wonted self-possession hod re turned by this time, and he hardly wait | ed for the formality of an introduction before he plunged into the subject near est his heart. " Professor, I am sorry to interfere with your plans, but your able assistant here has a previous engagement to which she shall be rigorously held, no matter if it blocks the wheels of the national gov ernment!" The professor looked from the deter mined face of Clymer to the downcast eyes of Amy, and threw up the case. * * * * + 1 Amy," said Clymer, on returning from his next trip, " Halpert thinks he has solved the mystery. He says there must have been a double back to the cabinet, with a door opening inside, and that you were there. llow's that ?" Amy only smiled. [Detroit Free 1 Press. American Fables. TltE PEASANT AND THE CItOW. One in the Fall a Peasant who was laboridg in his Field discovered a Crow who was almost dead with Hunger, and who Piteously asked for Corn. "Ah! but I have nothing to give," re plied the Peasant, "and the Crows are to blame for it. Last Spring, when I Plant ed my corn you Persisted in digging up the seed. Each kernel you then ate would have given you a hundred this fall, but you refused to wait. You not only Robbed mo of my Crop, but cut off your own Food supply as well." Moral—Neighbors have to borrow now and then, but don't borrow the crow bar, piano, hired girl, horse and buggy, flat-irons, front-door bell, sugar-box, tea canister and sideboard all at once. THE CHAP WHO MISSED IT. A Beggar, who was making his way along a Lonely Highway in the Evening, wns stopped by a Foot-Pad, who De manded his Wealth. The Beggar soon gave him a true Understanding of how Matters stood, and the Foot-Pad cried out in his Sorrow: "Alas! but I have been Defrauded of my Rights!" "How so?" ' 'Why, the Traveler with a Fat Purse whom I expected to Pass this way must have taken Another lloute, and will now be Robbed by Someone else!" Moral—There's something funny in hearing the Coal Man cull tho Ice Man an Extortioner. THE TBAMP AND THE LADY. A Tramp having called at a house and stated the Fact of his Hunger and Dis tress, the good Lady prepared him a Noble Feast, and when he had Finished he Stole the Ax and Buck saw and was making off, when she cried out at his Ingratitude. "Ah! Madam, you do not know what you suy," he replied. "I did intend to steal the Piano, but, overcome with your kindness, I have contented myself with these poor Tools." Moral —She Apologized, of course. THE DOQ AND THE BAGE. A Dog was Barking at the Moon, when a Sage inquired why he did so, adding that lie could not Possibly affect the great Luminary one way or the other, and that it seemed a Useless Waste of Energy. "Oh, it isn't that it makes any difference with the Moon," replied the canine, "but I want the Other Dogs in this Neighborhood to Know that I'm not Dead." Moral—We never Know that some men have been Buried until after wo Miss their Bluster.—[Detroit Free Press. How to Count Bank Bills. "There arc two kinds of bank bills," said a man who has handled a good many of them. "There are the national bank bills and the Government notes. The former have vignettes on each end, the latter on the left-hand end only. The Treasury Department made a mistake in, putting the vignette on the left end of the Government note, for this reason: Take a bundle of these bills in a bank; the bank clerk in counting such a bun dle places his left hand on the left end of the bundle and counts the right end with his right thumb and finger. The vignette is the most difficult thing to counterfeit, and for that very reason it is counterfeited most. In counting such bills as I have been speaking about this vignette is not seen by the bauk clerk, aud ho is more liable to count in a spurious note than if he saw the vignette. The expert knows a bad vignette almost at a glance. I think if the Treasury Department had thought of this the vig ; nette would have beeu put on the right end of the bill." This was told to the cashier of a Dear born street bank. lie smiled when ho heard it. "In the first place," he said, "bank clerks do not count bills in the way you mention. If they do they vio late orders. Tho instructions are that they shall handle the bills so that each one will come entirely within the range of the eye. I presume there are viola tions of this rule in every bank. Even so, an expert has other means of detect ing a bad bill than looking at the vig nette. However, I nin of the opinion that the vignette would bean additional safeguard if it were on the right end of the note."—[Chicago Tribune. The Buffalo and the Great Western Plains. I When in his westward movement tho buffalo came to the semi-civilized inhab itants of the Mississippi system of val leys, he brought a great plenty of animal food to the people, who had long been in a good measure destitute of such re sources, for they had no other domcsti cuted animals save the dog. Not yet firmly fixed in the agricultural art, these tribes appear, after the coming of the buffalo, to have lapsed into the pure sav agery which hunting brings. To favor the pasturage of these wild herds the In dians adopted the habit of burning the prairies. These fires spread to the forests on the east, killing the young trees which afforded the succession of wood, gradu ally oxtending the pasturage area of the wild herds until the larger portions of the Western plains eastward to central Ohio and Kentucky, probably even into the Carolinas, and southward to the Ten nessee River, had been stripped of their original forests, making way for the vast throngs of these creatures which ranged the country at the time when we first knew it. With the rehabilitation of the hunter's habit, and with the nomadic conditions which this habit necessarily brings, came more frequent contests be tween tribes and the gradual decadence of the slight civilization which the peo ple had acquired.—[Scribner. Selfish People. The most disagreeable people in the world are selfish people. The most unhappy people are selfish people. The most unfortunate people are selfish people. The most unreasonable people are self ish people. The most dangerous people are selfish people. The most needy people arc selfish peo ple.—[The Ram's Horn. CHICAGO is likely soon to find a for midable rival in Nitsch, Servia. Every thing is being done by the Servian gov ernment to develop the pig trade. A contract has just been signed by which a well-known English firm is bound to slaughter 100,000 pigs at Nitsch during next year, aud 150,000 in 1892, and tho number is to go on increasing until 1895, when 300,000 arc to be killed there, t Servia already swarms with swine. THE JOKER'S BUDGET. JESTS AND YARNS BY FUNNY MEN OF THE PRESS. Perfectly Straight—Making Himself Solid—Missing Data—A Graceful Compliment, etc., etc. PERFECTLY STRAIGHT. "I heard some one say that Wall street was crooked." "Well, is it?" "Why, no; it runs in a straight line from Broadway to the river."—[Mun scy's Weekly. MAKING IIIMSEI.F SOLID. Miss—l used to play chess when I was a little girl, but I've forgotten all about the game now. He (gallantly)— What! Forgotten so soon? MISSING DATA. Though history much that's ancient brings, It nowhere gives the date of birth Of two most widely mentioned things— Old Father Time and Mother Earth. —[Chicago Herald. A GRACEFUL COMPLIMENT. Miss Robinson—How do you think this dress suits me ? Miss Tangle—First rate. You look charming in it. Why, I hardly knew you.—[West shore. MISUNDERSTOOD. She (as he places his arm around her waist) —Stop right where you are, sir! He ( taking a firmer hold) —Willingly, my dear. —[Epoch. AND THE MEN. She (indignantly)—l don't think you give the girls credit for thinking of any thing else but dress. He (suavely)—Oh, you wrong me! I do give you credit for thinking of more than dress. She—Of what else? He—Bonnets.—[Epoch. A POINT WHERE ALE AOREE, A mail may be a protectionist, And although he may earnestly insist He'd tax every article on the list And brag and blow and harp, it Is safe to say as he walks at night With a baby that's howling with all its might And steps on a point that is keen and bright, He's opposed to the tacks on the car pet. —[Chicago Post. HIS TRUTHFULNESS DISCREDITED. Lawyer—Well, sir, we won the ease, but it was a pretty narrow victory. Client—Yes, I thought the other side had us until you showed that their prin cipal witness was a fisherman.—[Munscy's Weekly. STILL IN THE RING. "So you were a soldier? Did you go clear through the rebellion?" "No. I married during the war and have not got through the rebellion yet." —[Detroit Free Press. HE WAS NOT LATE. Snagsley has some reputation as a wit. The other evening ho attended a private theatrical, to which he felt obliged to go, although he knew he would be dreadfully bored. As he entered the vestibule the hostess said to him reproachfully: "Oh, Mr. Snagsly, how late you are!" "Has Mile. Schreechirini sung yet?" "No, but she is just about to." "Then I am not late," said Snagsley, "I am premature." IN THE UMBRELLA SnOF. "I suppose you have a bigger trade when it rains than when it doesn't rain," he said to tho dealer in umbrellas. "No, I don't notice any difference," said the umbrella dealer. "But you get better prices when it rains, don't you." "Why should I?" "Why, umbrellas go up then, don't they?" He just got out of the store in time to escape being poked in tho eye by a ncw- I style ladies' sunshade.—[Boston Courier. A BRILLIANT SCHEME. Hostess—Dear mo, the conversation is flagging. What can wo do to amuse our guests? Host—l don't know, unless we leave the drawing-room for a few minutes and give them a chance to talk about us.— [New York Sun. MAKING HERSELF AGREEABLE. Little May—Little girls ought to try to make themselves agreeable to gentlemen, oughtn't they, Uncle George? Uncle George—Of course, my dear. Little May—Especially when they are very rich and very old, like you—at least that's what mamma told me.—[Munsey's Weekly. AN EXCELLENT REASON WHY. Miss Rose—llow dreadfully stuck up that Miss Paistie is. Jack Rounder—Well, she ought to be. Her father owns one of the largest glue factories in the country. NOT SO STUPID AS IIE I.OOKB. Jane—You seem to bo unhappy, Emma. Emma—Yes, I have been deceived in my liußband. When I married him I supposed that it wns not my money, but myself that he loved. "And now you have found out that it was not you at all, but only your money he was after." "Alas! that is what I know now to a certainty." "Well, there is one consolation for you, and that is that your husband is not as stupid as he looks."—[Texas Sittings. BALLED up. Seedy Individual—l have, sir, a joke on tho word ball. You see there are snow balls, baso balls, fancy dress balls, and baby bawls, and—you don't want it? Editor—No! 1 1 "All right! Then I must appeal to tliiee balls."—[Lawrence American. BENEATH HER. Mrs. Sharp—What is the matter with Mrs. Portley? She has always been aris tocratic and dignified, and they say she is getting very peculinr, Mrs. Keen—Yes, I hear she walks in her sleep. Mrs. Sharp—Walk in her sleep? Oh, no, my dear Mrs. Keen. She might drive in her sleep, but she has too much regard for appearances to walk.—[Ameri ca. BRIOnT BOY. Teacher —In what battle was Stonewall Jackson mortally wounded? Pupil—Dunno—l guess it was the last one he fought in.—[The Epoch. AN OBVIOUS CASE. Police Justice—What's the charge against this man? Officer Itafferty (who made the arrest) —Vagrancy. Police Justice—But why did you ar rest a man on such a charge when he carries on a business right here in the block? Officer RafTertv—l took him at his own word, your Honor. When I asked him to buy a ticket to our charity ball game, he said hehadn'ta cent.—[Puck. SHE OUGHT TO nAVE KNOWN. "O, Mabel, have you seen the latest thing in spoons?" "No, Amy; what is it?" "Ice cream."—[West Shore. WASTED. Stern Father—Son, I gave you three hundred dollars a month ago, and now it is gone; how did you spend it? Son (reflecting on his recent jilt by a summer girl)—l—l fear it has all been Miss-spent.—[Chatter. A TRIUMPH OF ART. "There is one very dramatic situation in my new play. It is where the mort gage on the old farm is foreclosed and the hero can't pay it off." "Does it affect the audience much?" "Oh, my! Why, last night a million aire in one of the boxes was so affected that he wrote out a check for SIO,OOO, and sent it up to pay off the mortgage anil get the hero out of difficulties."— [New York Sun. THE WAY THE WIND BLEW. Teacher (after explaining the points of the compass)— Johnny, step to the win dow and tell me if smoke is coming from any of the chimneys. Johnnie (at the window) —Yes, mnr'm. Teacher—Now, tell me which way the wind is blowing. Johnnie Perpendic'lar. [Boston Herald. A nEAVY WEIonT ON TOP. Mrs, Younghusband (putting the fash ionable stringless scrap on her head) — AVhy, really, I don't see what will keep this honnet on! Mr. Younghusband (shopping with her, glancing at the ticket) —The price, I think, darling.—[Harper's Bazar. A ROOF OVER HIM. "Johnny, you shouldn't run out in the rain without your hat on." 1 '.Mamma, my head can't got wet; I've had it shingled." JUMPERS ARE ATHLETES. "What makes you think that Miss Ophelia is an athlete?" added Mr. Keedick. "Why, I don't know that I ever said she was," replied Mrs. Keedick. "Well, you said she'd jump at a chance to get married."—[Chicago Inter- Ocean. ANTICIPATING A REQUEST. Borrowby—How are you feeling to day, financially? Cashby—Very poorly. Not able to stand a loan. now THEY GOT RICH. She—l could have married cither Whipper or Snapper if I'd wanted to, anil both of those men whom I refused have since got rich, while you are still as poor as a church mouse. He—Of course. I've been supporting you all these years. They haven't. TO SAY "NO" NOT TROPER. "Ah, my lady, if I were to ask you for your heart and band, do you think you would say 'no'?" "I'm sure I wouldn't, because even us a little girl I was taught that to answer Questions with a plain 'no' was very un mannerly indeed."—[From the German. THE CUSTOM OFFICIALS FIND THEM. Cholly—lt is impossible to smuggle English clothes. Chappie—l)cah me! How's that? Cholly—They're so loud a fellow enwut hide them.—[Munsey's Weekly. AMBIGUOUS. Young Whipper—l would like to have your daughter for my wife. Old Snapper—lndeed; and what does your wife want of her?—[Puck. A BAD PLACE TO SHOUT. Jack—What were you doing in Ken tucky? Tom—Hunting moonshiners. Jack—-I didn't see anything in the papers about you. Tom—l should hope not. A fellow must keep ipiieton a still hunt.—[Lowell Citizen. LABOR NOTE. Walking Delegate (fondly)—My dar ling, you know I love you—shall we make it a tie-up? Walking Delegate's LadyLovo (firmly) —Yes, Martin—but if you dou't come in early nights after we are married there will be a lock-out.—[Westborough Tribune. Terrible Grip of tho Abalone Shell. One of tho most remarkable shells which the National Museum exhibits is tlint of the nbalone of the Pacific coast. In that part of the world the abalone fishery is a business of importance, inas much as the Chinese are extravagantly fond of this interesting delicacy. Chinese fishermen are chiefly engaged in the in dustry, and their manner of prosecuting it is to go along tho shore in boats be tween the tides and keep a sharp eye open for the prey. The nbalone had but one shell, resembling somewhat a gigan tic clam shell, and is found nttacheu to the rock. In seeking its capture the ab alone fisherman steuls upon the game and thrusts a stick beneath the edge that it lifts to take in nourishment. The mo ment the abalone perceives the intrusion of the stick it shuts down tightly upon it, but is promptly pried oil the rock and deposited in the fisherman's boat. Now and then it happens that a Chinaman gets his hand in the clutch of an abalone shell, and in such a case, unless he has friends by—and these fishermen usually travel alone—he is lost. For the nbalone has a grip that nothing short of horse power can detach, and thus it happens that every now and then on the Pacific coast an unfortunate celestial is found drowned with one of his hnnds inextric ably clasped by a specimen of this re markable univalve.—[Washington Star. Amber. Amber is a fossilized resin. It is now supposed that the source of this resin was forests of coniferous trees like the pines and firs, these having been sub merged ages ago, the wood ia great part decayed, leaving the resin to become hardened or fossilized. The most exten sive amber mines in the world to-day are along the Baltic on the Prussian coast but it is found in many other localities and as far north as Siberia and Greenland and in several places in this country but not in large pieces or quantities. ' SOMEWHAT STRANGE. ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF EVERY-DAY LIFE, Queer Episodes and Thrilling Adven tures Which Show that Truth is Stranger than Fiction. Miss SAUNDERS, says the Cincinnati Enquirer, is n young lady of 21 years of age. She resides on Central avenue, be tween Fourth and Fifth. When she was a little girl 7 years of age, while playing with some children, she swallowed a piece of window-glass about half an inch long. It occasioned Miss Saunders no apnoyance until a week ago, when her right foot gave her considerable pain at the instep, between the foot proper and the ankle, A swelling followed, and the pain grew more intense. Dr. Maley was called, and at once decided that there was a foreign body of some sort in one of the large veins. Making an incision about au inch and a half long and half an inch deep, ho picked out with his forceps the identical piece of glass swal lowed when Miss Saunders was a girl. The glass must have entered the stomach, passed through the large intestines, and worked through some of the smaller ones out iuto a vein, and then, gradually working downward, after 14 years of travel at last makes its exit. A GOOD story is toid on Judge 11. G. Struve, one of the prominent citizens of Seattle. While the great fire was raging, he rushed up iuto his office to save some of his most valuable books. It is well known that he had accumulated a vast amount of material which he purposed working up iuto a history of Washing ton. This material and some of his books were very precious to him. So as the fire came sweeping down towards his office ho rushed upstairs and began to so lect the books most valuable. "Ah, this one I will save. No, I guess this one is more valuable." Thus Ee hesitated, aud among his many hooks, all of which were dear to him, he was unable to de cide which ones to save. Just then the cries of firemen were raised, and the Judge was urged to come down and save his life. Being thoroughly alarmed and still undecided he turned and grabbed the first book in reach aud rushed out of the building. Reaching the pavement he found he had saved—the city direc tory. THE ladies who propose to establish a home for vagabond cats on the banks of the Harlem river may find some hints for tffic post-morleni culture of the deceased Thomas and Maria of their happy family through an examination of the mummied cats in the Museum of Art in Central Park, says the New Y'ork Sun. There are two of these mummies, each carefully swathed in linen, presenting as to their heads all the characteristics of the cat, but lather human than otherwise as to [heir bodies. The specimens of mummied ibis, in their folds of herring-bone and Grccinn patterns, might be bodies of babes in the woods by their external ap pearance, but the cat is unmistakable. The two feline mummies are from Bu hastis, the sacred city of the cat-hcaded goddess, Bast, and this suggests the pro priety of borrowing the ancient name to designate the new sanctuary for stray cats which is to make music for sleepless Harlemites. I MADE some passing remarks the other day on the kola nut and other vegetables of magic, says a writer in the London Times. But, if possible, even more desirable and delightful is this "laughing plant." Not that the veget able itself laughs—it does not even smile—but its seeds, if eaten, incite to Immoderate mirthfulness. It is de scribed as bearing flowers of a bright yellow, and soft and woolly seed-pods, in which are inclosed Bmnll, black beans. The natives of "that part of Arabia in which the plant grow," dry and pulver ize these beans, aud if this powder is ad ministered "it makes the soberest person behave like a circus clown, for he will laugh, dance, sing and cut the most fan tastic capers. The effect lasts about an hour, at the end of which the 'patient' recovers his normal gravity, and is alto gether oblivious of liis extraordinary conduct when under the influence of the powder." FROM C'lignancourt, Paris, the famous ward which returned General Boulanger, there was reported the other day a ter rible case of cruelty to a boy of twelve. The parents of the child, it is said, had shut him up in a wardrobe for two years and a half and had starved him. The po lice, on going to the house, found the boy, who looked like a living skeleton. The parents were immediately arrested and were hooted vigorously by a large crowd as they were being conveyed to the station. The ill-fated child died on its way to the hospital. The parents arc well off, aud no explanation of their in human conduct has been forthcoming. The mother of the boy was sent back to her dwelling, where she tried to jump out of a window duriug the day, but was prevented from carrying out her suicidal intention. A RAT got caught by the leg in a store and squealed loudly for mercy, says a Maine exchange. The proprietor of the store watched the rat, which con tinued to squeal. Finally another rat crept cautiously out nud walked up to his unfortunate companion and evident ly took the situation in, for they seemed to tulk with each other and arrived at the conclusion that the captured rat's chances were desperate, for the second one began to gnaw the unfortunate rat's leg off, allowing it to escape, which it did, on three legs, the other leg remaining in the trap. It almost seemed as if they hud deliberated over the case, and had reached the only possible uicuns of escape. THE Rev. John A. Mulcahy, of Water bury, Conn., who is traveling abroad, in a recent letter home, says of the people of Munich that "they have a great fear of being buried alive, and for that reason when a person dies the body is placed in a receiving vault, where it is kept for four days, and, under the method now used, a sponge is placed in one of the dead person's hands, which is connected by a copper wire with a battery and alarm signal; the bund is fastened tightly around the sponge, and at the least sign of returning animation the alarm is sounded, and the sentries, some of whom are always on duty, respond at once. In the last fifty years there have been thirty-four persons resuscitated by means of precautions of this kind." IN the Berlin law courts a person who was "caught red-handed" has been pro ceeded against for stealing roses from a prettily decorated grave. The accused produced in court a copy of the inscrip tion on the tablet over the grave, which runs as follows: "Traveler, pause a mo ment at this spot and pluck a rose in re menfbrnnce of what 1 was." The de fendant, on the strength of this, con tended that he was acting simply in ac cordance with the expressed wishes of the deceased, but the judge thought otherwise. He said the inscription stated plainly that the traveler was to pluck a rose, and not a handful of roses, and he therefore pronounced the defendant guilty. A COUPLE of hoys captured a shask weighing 400 pounds off South Stamford, Conn., the other day. The boys were out with a boat and seine. Suddenly, well up in the coarse sedge, they saw a monster fish of some sort. They didn't try the seine business on him—that was useless. But they so managed with boat and bushes that the big fish seemed afraid to try to reach deeper wuter, and the falling tide finallY left him aground. Then the boys out with jack-knives and went at the fish in regular harpoon style, f and soon had him in such shape that he wouldn't kick. The fish was just thir teen feet long. TIIE Atlanta Constitution tells of & strictly temperate Georgia man who rec ently saw a large chicken snake enter his barn and swallow the only egg in a nest on the inside of the wall. The snake then sighted a nest on the outside, and to reach it put about half of its body through a space between the timbers. The snake in this position swallowed an egg from the nest on the outside. It then backed through the space until the e Kg in the part of the body next to the head came against the timber. It could go no further. After working hard for some time trying release itself, the reptile died. DURING a thunder storm in a Colorado lumber-camp a Mexican was struck on the head by lightning, which ran down one side of his fuce, over the shoulder, trans versely across the breast, down around one leg, and out through the shoe-top. His face wus badly burned, and the course of the current over him was marked by a red brand, llis clothes were torn from him, and the sole of his shoe completely torn off. He lny apparently dead, and was left at the place until the storm was over. After lying in the ruin for two hours he was resuscitated, and is now as well as ever except for the burn. A LABI in Calamus, a small town west i of Peoria, lowa, has been suffering for six months with a severe uttack of neur algia, being affected particularly in the upper part of the head. She had taken a regular course of medication without receiving any relief. A few days ago while combing her hair the comb met an obstruction, which caused her sharp pain and headache. An examination resulted in the discovery and extraction from the scalp of a common steel sewing needle. How it got there is not known, but it thought that the needle worked up from the lower part of the body. A CURIOUS case of death is that report ed from Toronto, where a woman is said to have died from seasickness. Such in stances are of very infrequent occurrence, although, of course, they are liable to happen at any time. But the general disturbance of the system that is common to unseasoned travelers on the ocean, al though sufficiently severe at the time, is not cf a fatal tendency. And in this case the victim of seasickness had never been at sea. She had traveled only on the lakes, and there the nausea that end ed her life was induced. THE queer-looking Tower building, although only twenty feet in width, is one of the tallest buildings in New York. The walls arc practically a framework of iron columns, fastened together top and bottom by beams of steel. Expansion joints of the metal work allow for the expansion and contraction produced by changes in the temperature of the weather. On the hottest day in August the build ing is 175 feet and 2 inches high. The coldest day in midwinter finds it just one inch shorter. E. A. GARLAND, a Wisconsin man, has invented a peculiar clock. It consists of three eggshells set on pivots, one to de note the hours, one the minutes and the other the seconds. The shells revolve on the pivots without apparent mechan ism to give them motion. Mr. Garland I intends making one with glass balls and hanging an incandescent lamp in each ball, so the clock can be made to serve as a lamp as well as a timepiece. MR. DARIUS L. GOFF, a mill-owner of Pawtucket, R. 1., has in the hall of his house a wonderful clock. It is wound by the opening nnd clising of the front door. It light the gas-jet in the hall in the evening una turns it out at bed-time. In the morning it wakes the servants, then arouses the family, and lastly rings the breakfast-bell. It strikes the hour in all the rooms of the house simultane ously. SWEATY horses are peculiarly obnox ious to bees. A Pennsylvania farmer, ignorant or careless of this fact, stopped near a dozen or more hives of the honey makers, which fiercely, and probably fatally, attacked the team, causing a runaway that injured his daughter ter ribly and covered his face and arms with so many stings that they had to be re moved with a fine-tooth come. A THIEF recently caught in New York City claims that his conscience would al low him to take but thirty-eight dollars out or sixty when he was toying with an old lady's roll of bills. But the judge declared that "a thief with half a con science was as bad as a thief with no con science at all,"and he proceeded to sen tence liim. A FAMILY in Parkersburg, W. Va., ha been losing meats so ofton from the wel where they had been put to keep cool and frcsli that they set a watch finally and discovered the thief to be a black snake seven feet long. HENRY FROZER, of Caernarvon, Pa., a tobacco grower, encountered a large cop perhead snake and killed it. The reptile , was cut open, when thirty-five young snakes uiude their debut, and were also speedily dispatched. Ben Franklin's Corn-stalk. Broom-corn is a native of India. Mr. R. A. Traver, a broom-corn broker of Mattoon, 111., says that Ben Franklin is the father of the broom-corn business in this country. Ben picked a seed from an imported broom once upon a time, planted it, and raised n stalk. This stalk was the futher of all the broom-corn in the country. It was first cultivated in large quantities in the Connecticut val ley, and the first brooms from native corn were made at Hadley, Mnss. The broom corn centre traveled west, along with .the , flight of empire. It came trom Connecti cut to the Mohawk valley, in New York, thence to central Ohio, and now central Illinois produces the finest brush.—[Chi cago News. A Farmer Who Knows Nature. Bill Moore, farmer, wanted to dig a well, so ho plowed a lot of land and planted it in oats, observing the spots that showed the greatest moisture. Finally he selected a spot and sank a well. At twenty-four feet he had a fine stream of water. It is said to be the best well in ' the county. Other fanners in the same i neighborhood failed to find water at 200 I feet.—[Atchison Globe.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers