A PAH ABLE OF THE GATES. "How shall man surely save his soul?" 'Twos sunset by tlie Jorduu. (lutes Of light were closing, and the whole Vast heaven hung darkened as the futes. 'How shull uuin surely uave his soul?" he said, As fell the kingly day, discrowned and dead. Then Christ said, Hear this Parable: Two men set forth to journey fust And reach a place ere durknesa fell And closed the gates ere they had passed Two worthy men, each free alike of sin, But one did seek most sure to enter in. And so when in their path did lay A cripple with n broken staff, This one did pass straight on his way, While one did stoop and give the half His strength, and all his bread did nobly share Till they at sunset saw their city fair. Then he who would make sure ran fast To reach the golden sunset gate, Where captains und proud chariots passed, But lo! this proud man came too late! The gate was closed, aud all night long he cried; He cried and cried, but never watch replied. Meanwhile the mun who cared to save Another, as he would be saved, Came slowly on; gave bread, and gave Cool waters; and he stooped and laved The wounds. At lust, bent double with his weight He passed, unchid, the Porter's private gate- Hear then this lesson; hear aud learn; He who would save his soul, 1 say, Must lose his soul; must dare to turn And lift the fallen by the way; Must make his soul worth saving by some deed That grows aud grows, as grows a fruitful seed. -[Joaquin Miller, in the Independent' POOR THING! liY EMMA C. HEWITT. I was tired, oh, so tired and cross; oh, so very cross! 1 leave it to you if I had not good reason 1 It wasn't poor dear 1 Charlie's fault, oh, deur no! and I didn't blame him one mite, but I leave it to you, if the circumstances were not very irri tating. You sec I was a young wife then, a very young wife, little more than a bride, in fact, having been married only six months. We were not poor exactly, but we had to be economical, and I had such struggling to make things "go just i right," so that accounts might not worry I us. And this month 1 had come out a 1 little ahead aud was rejoicing in the fact! that I had in hand the money for that particular sofa for which I had been waiting ever since I was married. Aud then what do you think! Charlie came j home the afternoon before, aud told me | in a great hurry that there was at the j hotel some old friend of his to whom he owed so much (not money, you know, I but those kiudncsses which money can never repay), aud common decency de manded that we should give him and his wife some kind of entertainment. I said "O Charlie!" in despair, but it didn't do one bit of good. Charlie showed me very kindly (Charlie always does things in the loveliest kind of way) that the party was not a matter of choice, it was a necessity; and further, that it must be given the next evening, as the bride and groom would leave tlie day j after. Of course I saw the philosophy and succumbed to Charlie's judgment i (I always make a point of succombing to j Charlie's judgment, albeit I don't always ! see the philosophy, though I do honestly ' try my best) and flew around accord- j ingly. But I looked sadly at my little j pile of bills which I knew would be so awfully diminished by that time two j days later. I put on my best bib and tucker, and | called on the bride, then returned to the j house, wrote my invitations, hunted up a ' small boy to deliver them, then sat down ; to think. In this I was not unaided by my maid I of all work, Betty Dcenan; indeed if it 1 had not been for the wise counsels of j thai prime minister the royal household 1 would have gone to pieces long ago and j the queen have retired in ignominious ; disgrace. Well we planned and talked and! settled till we were dizzy, but we " got | things fixed," so that there was nothing to do the next day but get ready. Now if there was one tiling in which I Betty Dcenan excelled, it was in chicken- I salad. No caterer could ever hope to make it better, nor wring from her, her recipe. I had tried all the arts and ! blandishments known to womankind, j Love me she did and faithfully, did i Betty Dcenan; go through fire and water | to serve me would she, but tell me j the secret of her chicken-salad she wouldn't. Make it she would, any time j and every time; but let me make it she i wouldn't. I might cut the chicken for j her and wait on her, etc., but that was ! all. When it came to dressing she re tired by herself and concocted it, as I al ways strongly suspected, with some magic incantation. Suddenly I dropped my knife and fork, with which I was inducing the anatomy of a chicken to shreds. "Betty!" I said in a solemn tone, "the silver!" "'The silver, 'mem! Shure and what ever do yez mean ? " "The silver isn't cleaned, Betty," I exclaimed in a sepulchral whisper. It was Betty's turn to look aghast and drop the knife and fork. "Sure an' it's a disgrace to look at, 'mem!" she said, with despair in her i tone. "Don't I know that, Betty Dcenan? And don t 1 know we were going to clean it all up to-morrow ? But that doesn't make it tit to use to-night, "replied I fiercely. AN ell, here was a pretty go! I hated, yes just hated to clean silver, but I couldn't make snlad and 1 could clean the silver. If there was one thing in which we were not poor, it was silver. Charlie, 1 by being the last of his race, had man- j eged to inherit a quantity of t.ilver, so ; old and so hands.,me, that it was "worth j its weight in gold," and of course it must be on dress parade to-night. Well. i there was no help for it. Ugh! how ll did hate the idea of touching that pow der. I knew I should feel for days as if! 1 had been groping in the ashes, but 1 there was no use fighting, my own phil-1 osophy showed me that. When we came into this house Charlie had built into the wall a kino of safe. It was a closet, way up over the pan try dcor. r l his was ingeniously sur rounded with moldings, so that no one would suspect its being thereat nil. There was likewise, as a double safe guard, no keyhole. We opened the closet by pressing a spring. " Well, Betty," I said dolefully, "if you'll get me the stcp-luddcr, I'll clean the silver!" The desired article was brought. "Shall I help you get it down, mem?" "O 110, I'll push the dining table close up here, and I can reach them down, one by one. llow I hate the nasty job!" I added irritably. So I mounted the ladder, and travelled ;i step up and a step down, until I had it all down but two pieces. They certainly were black beyond description, and bade fair to be cleaned by 1&e "sweat of my brow, " as well as the hated powder before mentioned. Just then the door-bell rang. "I'll go, Betty," exclaimed I, glad of a chance of relief from the monotonous up and down, up and down, of that step-ladder. My irritation was in no wise reduced by seeing at the front door the conven tional yellow bag which bespeaks the travelling agent. "I don't want any thing, "I was beginning to say crossly, preparing to shut the door in her face in the most unceremonious manner, but 1 while I spoke, rny eye caught 4 'silver- < soap," ou some packages ill the satchel i which she had deftly opened. "I think," she replied, smiling, "that 1 you do want what I have here to-day," and she glanced back at the silver, which j showed through the open dining-room door. 1 "Please let me show you this. I am < very tired, and it is so hot. I really think < if you will let 111 c show you how this } works, you will never regret having tried it. It docs away with all the disagreeable 1 effects of the powders ordinarily used, 1 being used just like a common soap. 1 Think, madam, of the advantage, when one has the quantity of silver that you have. Think of the advantage of being able to just wash it. and find it bright and shining," aud she glanced again into the diniug-rooui. I wavered. If she could prove this to be the fact,*l certainly would buy the article. So I went back for something to try upon. It worked like a charm, and have it I would. As I was paying her the pitiful sum de manded for the three packages, I noted ( how very pale she looked. "Won't you step inside and rest a little? Perhaps you would like a glass of water?" I asked gently of the sister-woman whom I had been willing to send from my door a few moments before. "Thank you," said she gratefully, "I will be glad to do so." "Perhaps she is hungry," I reflected, "she can't make much out of such work, poor thing! I hardly like to offer her anything to eat. She seems too much of a lady. She might feel it an insult. But I don't believe she has had a square meal to-day. O, I know! I'll make some raspberry vinegar and give her some crackers, and I'll eat some myself at the same time, so that she may feel all right about it, poor thing!" a resolution which , I carried into effect, after having seated her comfortably in the hall. Finally, she departed, much refreshed, I and thauked me profusely, (rather too ! profuse for s lid comfort,) for all that I j had done for her; all of which I depre- I cated, of course, and went back to my 1 work refreshed and brightened. I made the lather and started in, and cleaned and brightened and polished, while I chatted to Betty in the high tones necessary between two people oc cupying different apartments, of the poor thing who had her living to make in that abominable way. Betty preserved an ominous silence. 44 D0 you hear, Betty?" 4 'l hear you, 111 cm," called back Betty, in what seemed to me a rather uncom- : promising tone. "Well?" "Well?" returned Betty. "Why don't you say something?" "What do you want me to say, mem?" 1 "O, I don't know, anything." 4 'Well, mem, if I must say something, I'll say the silver's not mine, but yours." j "I'm aware of that already," I replied, j 1 taking a position of freezing dignity ; ! from which I knew I should be routed j ! shortly. I always was, when I attempt-1 ' ed to battle with Betty. "Well, mem, as I was sayin', the sil ver's yours, and if 3*ou want to he ruina- | tin' it with all sorts of nasty things that folks leaves at the door, I've no call to say anything. An' I won't, so there! but ye'll be sorry for this day's work, see if ye ain't." But the silver looked too nice and ! shiny for me to leel that there was any ! truth in Betty's predictions, so setting I her down as a cross, old frump, I finished my work in dignified silence—a silence ! which Betty did not make the slightest I attempt to break. The party was a grand success, and thr whole evening, among the causes of congratulation, was the one that my hands did not feel as if I had been grop- I iug in ashes. | We all slept the "Sleep of the Just" that evening, as well as the sleep of the very tired. So that it was nine o'clock before Charlie and I were seated at the break fast-table the next morning. "One minute, Charlie, I want to get something from the silver closet that was put up there by accident last night." Betty brought the step ladder, and 1 mounted on the ton. With a terrified shriek I almost dropped from my perch. "() Charlie!" I gasped, in answer to his anxious inquires. "O Charlie, the silver's all gone!" "Cone! Nonsense! Gone where?" "How do I know?" I questioned, sitting down on the step-ladder, while I giggled hysterically. Charlie sat down, bewildered and help- ! less. "Who on earth but our three selvesl would think of looking there for it, orl know anything about the closet? Non-1 sense, Olive. You didn't put it there, last night," he ejaculated, with sudden inspiration. "1 know I didn't, but you did. Per haps you don't recollect standing on this step-ladder while Betty and I handed it to you?" He (lid remember it distinctly. "What 1 want to know is, how on earth any one could know that there was a closet way up there, full of silver?" As this was a question that none of us was prepared to answer, we kept a discreet silence. Charlie was quiet est of all. You see the idea of the closet had been his entirely, and he had always maintained that we were ab solutely safe in putting our silver there. Well, there was nothing to do but de | vote our energies to hunting for it. ; Betty carried out the breakfast, cold but j untnstcd. (>f course there was nothing to do now but inform the police. First, however, Charlie went all over I the house, aud made au examination of the premises. Wo discovered that the burglars had entered by means of the lit tle shed roof, cutting out a window-pane in the little sitting-room over the kitchen, so as to enable them to undo the window catch. To cut a long story short we were soon the recipients of two telegrams from a distant city, the first one to Charlie. > "Silver found. Thief captured. Come identify. Blankenburg." i The next one came to me from Charlie, at the same place, whither he had gone at once. 44 Never saw woman before. Obstinately silent. Come identify if you can. C.' When I entered the court-room, tlio prisoner gave a nervous start, but as her back was turned I could not recognize her. I could see she was dressed in widow's garb, and among all my ac quaintances, high or low, I knew 110 widows. 44 I)o you know the prisoner?" "Not as I see her now. If she will turn I will tell you," was my reply. Bhe made no move. 4 'Officer, see that the prisoner faces the witness." Before the officer could touch her, she rose, suddenly wheeled and faced me defiantly. It was my turn to give a nervous start. There sat the "poor thing" whom I had taken in and done for on the mem orable day of the party. It was all clear to mc now. I had stepped from the step-ladder to the front door, leaving the closet open, and the silver on the table all exposed to view. I was about to speak when she inter rupted. 44 'Tain't no use! Game's up. I'll tell all about it." Then came her story. She made some very unflattering comments on my inno cence, only she didn't call it that. She called it "greenuess" in the most offen sive way. She did not hesitate to disclose in the most reckless manner, that she took up the silver soap agency, because it gave her a chance 111 houses and among young housekeepers that were as big "grceuica" (yes, she did, she actually called me a "greeny") "as that one there." Of course she was not one by herself, that goes without saying, but they never captured the rest, but we had our sil ver. The circumstances have always re mained very vividly in my memory, and I have wondered a hundred times what ever became of that woman (she was so young!) when she had served her term out, poor thing!—[Yankee Blade. Black Friday. The stock panic was September 22, 1809. On the 23d gold was sent up to 144. Commodore James Fisk, Jr., and the Hon. John Morrissey were leading operators. On Friday, the 24th, the day opened in the gold room quietly, the metal being at 150. It was not until 11 a. m. that the monotony was broken; 150 1-2 was bid. A hundred fists were shaken at each other over the little foun tain, and yells filled the room. The bulls had begun their grand charge. From 150 1-2 the metal suddenly jumped to j 155 1-2. This was unprecedented. Men began to rave and shriek. They rushed I about the little fouutaiu in paroxysms of ifury. Within fifteen minutes the price hud been forced up to 162 1-2. At this point, Albert Speyers, a leader among the oulls, threw among the raving mob an offer of 160. Such a bid from a respon sible source startled the room into mom entary silence. James Brown took the offer for live millions. Ilallgartens, who was in possession of a private despatch from an employe in the Treasury Depart ment, sold one million more. This para lyzed the bulls. In fact, the Secretary's order to sell four millions was already in town. Away went the market to 133, and the bulls were ruined. i Speyers went crazy. His eyes were fixed, his voice husky; he rushed about j the little fountain in terror. At length he raised his hand and shouted hoarsely. | The crowd paused to hear. "lie is after I me now with a big knife," shrieked I Speyers; "look! look! don't you sec the knife? " He was got into a carriage and I sent home. Another broker told a Sun i reporter lie felt his head going, and took j a stage up Broadway as far as Canal street to pull himself together. The failures reported were Smith, Gould & Martin, Heath, Speyers, Bclnen and a half score others. Tho firm first named was first to "lie down," and stop paying out money. General business throughout the city was nearly suspended. The militia were under aims in Brooklyn.—[New York Sun. The Mammoths. 1 The great Siberian mammoth, a species I of elephant of this period, was from six ! teen to eighteen feet high and twice as 1 heavy as any elephant existing to day. j Its tusks were from ten to fifteen feet long and curved upward with a great i sweep. We know all about this animal, j for at least two specimens retaining the | skin and the hair have been found pres ! erved in the ice in such perfect condition I that dogs and wolves have fed on the | meat wheu it had been dug out of the ' ice. Its body was covered with lones black hair and red wool. Its trunk wne like tho elephant's, but its legs wore shorter. The further north naturalists go, the more remains of this animal arc found in the ice. There must have been a temperate climate in the places over which they roamed; for the hair, while it shows the animal could resist some cold, is not heavy enough to ward off the cold that exists at present in Arctic regions. Nor if the present low temper ature had prevailed there, would there have been food for these vast herds. It is inferred that the cold came suddenly, and killed them; if they had been dead any length of time before the ice envel oped them there would have been some decay.—[St. Nicholas. Ships of Aluminum. The report that aluminum, the new metal, can be produced for one-third the existing cost, is welcome news. Emin ent scientists and engineers declare that nothing but the cost of reducing the metal has prevented it from superseding copper, iron and steel. When the properties of this zephyr weight earth crust metal were first dis covered the cost of refining it amounted to S2O per pound, a prohibitive price, so far as general use was concerned. News now comes from Cleveland to the metal men in New York that a process has been discovered whereby the cost of reliuiug has been reduced to one dollar a pound. At that rate aluminum hulled ships, with the sheen of nickel reflected from their sides, are among the probabilities.— [New York Telegram. Umbrellas Fashionable at Congo. No article sent out to the Congo State, where there are 40,000 of people and any number of small potentates, is so popu lar and sells so readily for a large sum as the huge, gay umbrellas of which Brussels now produces tons every year. These umbrellas are, in a certain way, the insignia of royalty—that is, they are much prized by the black king lets who sit beneath their grateful shade. What the canopy used to be to the travel ing monurchs in the time of the Crusades, tho umbrella is to the innumerable feu | dul chieftains of the Congo to-day.— j [Loudon Standard THE JOKER'S BUDGET. TESTS AND YARNS BY FUNNY MEN OF THE PRESS. \ Possible Substitute —Very Prom ising A Powerful Man Her Groundless Fears—On the Watch, Etc., Etc., Etc. A POSSIBLE SUBSTITUTE. Wife (to her husbaud) —When you are down town, John, step into the store and buy me some scouring soap; there isn't a bit in the house. Little Johnny (looking up from a news pupcr lie is reading)— Wouldn't posse be good in place of soap? "Posse! What do you mean?" "Why, the paper tells about a train robbery, and says a posse is scouring the woods for robbers."—[Texas Siftiugs. VERY PROMISING. "I hear," said his rich uncle to Detter, "that you are a very promising young man." And Dcttcr would have been highly pleased if his uuclc had not gone on to say that Better's tailor had told him so. —[Judge. HER GROUNDLESS FEARS. Clara (with emotion) —George, arc you sure you will always love me? George (fervently)— While life lasts, my own. Clara (suppressing a tear) —George, if trials and tribulutions should come? George [amazed)—My heart is yours alone, my love, and always will be. Clara (sobbing)— George, arc you sure, perfectly sure that nothiug—nothing at all, could cool your affection? George (thoroughly alarmed) —My , gracious! What's happened? Has your father failed? Clara (hysterically)— Worse. Far worse. George (much relieved) —Tell me all, my angel; I can bear it. Clara (with a heroic effort) —George, I've—l've got a—a boil coming on my nose.—[New York Weekly. A POWERFUL MAN. "The blacksmith is the only artisan who can create an animate being," re marked Mr. Sliattuck. "What can he create, I'd like to know," asked Mrs. Shattuck. "lie can make the fire lly."—[Chicago Inter-Ocean. PARRIED. Wife—Did you notice Mrs. Stunner's bonnet in church this morning? Husband—No, indeed. I was lost in admiration of your own.—[New York Sun. BETTER SUSPEND THE GIRL. Briggs—l want some soiled neckties. Astonished Clerk—Soiled neckties, air? Soiled, did you say? Briggs—That's what. When you call on a girl four times a week and she's making a crazy quilt, you will understand that a man has got to buy neckties at job-lot prices or suspend payment.— [Clothier and Furnisher. A BRILLIANT SCHEME. Hostess—Dear me, the conversation is flagging. What can we do to amuse our guests? Host—l don't know, unless wc leave the drawing-room for a few minutes and give them a chance to talk about us.— [New York Sun. PUNISHED BY PUNNING. "This man stole an upright piano, Judge." "Well, certainly that is not grand larceny, nor is it a very petit bit of lar ceny. Indeed, the man seems to be an upright thief—" "Let up, Judge," said the prisoner, "That's punishment enough."—[Bazar. THE REAL SUFFERER. Boy (who is about to be punished by his teacher) —If you whip me, sir, it's you who will be the sufferer and not i Teacher—llow so? Boy—Because you are not a strong man, and if you exert yourself whipping me you'll get as weak as a cat.—[Flic gende Blatter. WHERE LARDERS ARE FULL. Young Tramp—Let's break iuto the kitchen of that big house to-night, aud get something to cat. Old Tramp—We wouldn't find much there. Them folks put on too much style. Get into the kitchen o' steady-goin', old ! fashioned folks ef yer want ter strike a banquet.—[Good News. A LONG-LIVED RACE. Humuose —Who says beer ain't healthy ? Look at the Germans? Mrs. It.—l was not aware that they were exceptionally long-lived. It.—That's 'cause you never read the papers. Look at this, "A German rifle company is soon to celebrate its 700 th anniversary."—[New York Weekly. A DECISION REACHED. 'Tis true she is rather antique, And the bloom is all blown from her chiquc, But she's rich, so I'll wed her, For any thing's better Than working for fourteen a wique. Her father may write me his cheque For gold or of silver a pequc. Jlow gladly I'd use it, But should he refuse it, My hopes he will terribly wrequc. —[Chicago Post. NOT "SELECT" ENOUGH. "Are you going to the Van Twillcr's tea on the 10th?" "Oh, no; that's one of their general affairs to square accounts. They give a select dinner on the 10th." "Going?" "No; I wasn't invited." PERSIFLAGE IN THE VOID, i "I'm no coward," said the Earth. "No; but you have two great fears," observed the Sun, hotly. " And they?" " The hemispheres." " You've forgotten the atmosphere," put in the Moon. Aud the Comet wagged his tail with joy.—[New York Herald. MIGHT NOW, IN THE CEMETERY. ! County Treasurer (to tourist) —No, sii! j We do not have cyclones in this part of ! Kansas. Sometimes the wind is a trifle | brisk, but | Hip! Slam! Crash! Smash! Thud! ; Treasurer (emerging from the big safe, j ten miles away and ten minutes later)— | Yes, as I was saying, sometimes the wind j I blows pretty brisk. It— Why, hello!: 1 Thai's that stranger impaled on that j I broken sycamore limb up thar! That's I too bad! Kinder reckoned on selling I him a couple o' lots.—[New York | 1 Herald, A LONG-FELT WANT. Store clerk—Books of travel? Yes, sir. Here is something just out. "llow to See Europe on Fifty Cents a Day." Customer—Hem! Have you any book on "How to Stay at Home on Fifty Cents a Day?"—[Good News. ON THE WATCII. A man about 54 years old, accompanied by his son, a boy of 14, was waiting foi a train in the Grand Central depot the other day, when a man on the same bench, who had been reading a paper, folded it up and asked: "Has the McKinley bill affected youi neighborhood any?" "The what?" "The McKinley bill. How doc 9it strike you!" The old man didn't know anything about the bill, and he was fishing arounc for a reply, when the boy called out: "Father, you keep still! he wants yoi to say that it strikes you good or bad and then he'll call you a liar, and offer t< fight the both of us!" YE PAHADOXICAL MISS. A lovely creature, faith, is she— A blonde of type most rare, Yet when she takes a hand at cards She's never, never fair. AN UNKIND GIRL. Ethel—l have a piece of news for you [ am going to marry Jack Richleigh. Ed.tli—Dear me! Don't tell any on ffse. Jack may hear of it and run away POrULAR WOMEN. . I Miss Longpurse—Why, of course, ' Helen of Troy was beautiful. Do you suppose there would have been a twenty year war over her if she hadn't been i beautiful? Mr. Shortcash (forgetting himself) — 'Oh, I don't know. Maybe she was rich,—[Good News. KEEPING UP APPEARANCES. Husbaud (suddenly waking up at dead of night)— What in the world was that noise? Wife (calmly)—lt's all right, dear. The guests of the Astor ball are just coming home, and I slipped down and gave our front door a slam, so the neigh bors would think we were there.—[New York Weekly. VERY ANNOYINO. Fastleigh—l am nearly worried to death by my creditors. Goodman—Ah, you see your sins arc beginning to find you out. Fastleigh—l wish tlicy would, but the trouble is they always find me in.—[New York Herald. A SUCCESS. Doctor—Did the poultice I put on that boil draw well? Patient—l should say so. Sec what a picture it has made of my face. IN THE EXCITEMENT. Miss Gotham—Why did you reject him? Miss Beaconhill (of Boston) —He made a grammatical error when proposing to me. GREATER TIIAN A BOON. "You are very proud of yourself, I think, chappie." 1 "Yes, I consider myself aboontoman ' kind." "Greater than a boon, chappie —say a 5 baboon." I A FAINT HOPE. Miss Artiste—l am so fond of paint ing! Indeed, I may say that I am weeded to my art. Jack (her admirer) —Would it be any use to inquire whether you have any con l scicntious scruples against bigamy? TWO POINTS OF VIEW. Single Man—Poor George! He fell in love with a beautiful girl who cared nothing for him, and he has finally gone crazy. Married Man—The fool! —[New York Weekly. A DULL TIME. Dock Lounger—What makes the captain o' that steamboat so glum? Deck Hand—He ain't been able t' smash a yacht for three days.—[Good News. A SUCCESSFUL AUTHORESS. Bcturncd Tourist—By the way, Mrs. , De Bcauti, I have not seen your charm [ ing daughter since my return. When I left she had determined to submit hei first novel to the Ileighton Magazine. Has she been successful in her literary 1 aspirations? Mrs. Dc Bcauti—Perfectly. She mar ried the editor.—[New York Weekly. A Terrapin Farm. f A terrapin farm is described by the Fernandiua (Fla.) News. It is an inclo e sure about twenty feet square, one-half e of it filled with loose sand and a tank x occupying the rest of the space. The tank is below the tide level, and at high tide the salt water runs in from the marsh to a depth of four feet. The sand was all perforated with holes, and the owner, digging down with his fingers, r unearthed some baby terrapins an inch or two long. They were lively little fellows and were restless in the daylight. The earth was full of them only a few days old, The mud at the bot tom of the tank was also full of them. After they are a few days old they seek the water, aud, burying themselves in the mad, re main there until spring, when they come out to make a start in the world. All this period spent in the mud they live by suction. They sell for $lB a dozen in New York when fully grown. The a little fellows are from the eggs deposited by the old females. The terrapin lay I four or live times in a season, beginning i with about nine eggs at the lirst laying and winding up the season with a lay of about three. Instruction in Road Making. The Executive Committee of the Massa ' chusetts Institute of Technology has ac cepted an offer of General Albert A. Hope of this city to contribute such sums of money as the institution may need during the next five years, up to the amount of SO,OOO, for the promotion of an option in highway engineering con nected with the course in civil engin eering or mechanical engineering. This sum is to he used by the institute in pre \ paring some competent graduate, by studies at home and abroad, for a nomi- i 1 mil instructorship on this subject in the institute, the instructor gathering mater ial and facts on the subject for the ben- j elit of the institute, delivering a course : of locturcs tliercon yearly, and standing i I ready for consultation by the officials of' towns aud cities not employing pernm- 1 j nent city engineers. It is expected that | the option will eventually lead to the cs ! tablishmcnt of a department on highway j engineering, a most important but sndty [ neglected science.—[Boston Journal. j A. NATION OF ATHLETES ! EXTEAOKDINABY MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT OF JAPANESE. j The Whole Country Run by Hu man Muscle anil Man Ihe Beasf | of Burden —The Use of Mas- I sage. I The physical development of the Jap | anese is, perhaps, as remarkable as tliat of nny people in the world. Within the past few years Americans have been sur prised at the wonderful feats displayed by the almond-eyed athletes from Japan who have starred America, under various managers, and two of the great attrac tions of Burnum's circus this year are i Japanese rope-walkers and turners. A j year or so ago London went wild over ! the wrestlers at the Japanese village at j Hyde Park, and every visitor to Japan , comes away admiring the magnificent calves and sturdy frames of the laborers he meets with there, according to a writer in the Ledger. Probably no better leg development is shown among any people in the world than that of th Japanese jinrikisha men. Thejinrikisha j is a mammoth two-wheeled baby carriage with a pair of shafts fastened to it. It has a cover, aud the passenger leans back at his ease, while the jinrikisha man pulls him at the rate of five to eight miles an hour through the city or across the country. These men are paid 10 cents an hour, or 50 cents a day, and they can make long distances at a speed equal to that of the average horse. They run all day without tiring, and instances have been known of their making seventy miles in twelve hours. There are eighty thousand of them in Tokio alone, and there are, perhaps, half a million in Japan. During the summer, they wear little else than the breechclout when running along the country roads, and the hot sun of Japan turns their Jer sey cream skius to a rich mahogany, and brings out the perspiration in drops of diamond sweat upon their backs. Their arms arc also well developed, aud they are, as a rule, a profession of athletes. The few clothes worn by the Japanese in the summer gives the traveller a fine •opportunity to observe their magnificent frames. The travelling in the mountain districts is done iu kayos, or box-like chairs, swung upon a long pole which is carried on the shoulders of two men, one of whom marches in front of you and the j other behind. Those kayo- bcurcrs have the arms of Apollos, and their legs are as symmetrically cut us those of Michael Aneelo's statue of David. Equally well-developed limbs may be found among the ordinary labor ers of Japan; audi have never seen such beautiful physiques as those of the boat men at the Japanese ports. Every muscle of their frames seems to be per fectly developed, and their endurance surpasses belief. It is no wonder, however, that the Japanese have a good physical develop ment, for the whole country is run by human muscle. Man is the beast of bur den. He plows the ground, carries the , freight, and does the thousand and one thiugs which are here relegated to horses or to steam. There arc but few horses or I cattle in the empire, and even in Tokio, a city of a million people, the drays are, in almost all cases, pushed aud hauled by men. All this work is done on a diet of rice aud tea, and the results seem to sur pass those of beefsteak and wheat. The Japanese bring into use a greater num ber of muscles than we do in their work and their exercise. The athlete and the laborer use their toes and their feet as we do our hands; and the cooper holds his tub with his toes while he hoops it. The carpenter uses his toes in the manip ulation of some of his tools, and the gymnast can walk up a slanting wire or slide down it holding on by his toes. In the ordinary method of sitting the Jap anese call a set of muscles into play which we seldom use. The favorite loafing po sition is squatting on your heels so that, the whole weight of your body rests upon your feet and so that no poition of your anatomy except your feet touches the ground. The Japanese will sit in this way on his heels for hours at a time and and enjoy himself as lie chats or smokes. If you will try the experiment you will find yourself tired out in two minutes, and an experience of half an hour in this position will give you acliiug joints for j days. One of the secrets of the fine physiques of the people of Japan lies in the uni versal use of the massage treatment. The blind men are the masseurs of Japan. They are known as the shampoocrs, and the trade of shampooing is given entirely over to them. They arc organized into a great trade guild, have their offices, their fixed prices and their rules of labor, and they ply their trade in every city and village of the country. Every night you will hear the shrill whistle which forms their street cry outside your door, and if you are of the taste of the ordinary Japanese you will call one of them in and give your tired body into his hands. From long training, they understand the location of every muscle and every nerve, and with deft fingers they will go over your body as it lies semi-naked on the floor and press each atom until you feel as though you were being mashed to a pulp, but endure the sensation knowing that you will awake a new man, with every force revivified and ev ery muscle renewed. Every Japanese goes through this process every day, and in the cases of the poorer people, the shampooing is often done by a daughter or a wife. Some of the most touching pictures to the Jnpanesc in their litera ture are those which paint the filial piety of the young girl who, instead of running out to flirt with the young men, stays at home to shampoo her half-blind grand father, and the ideal poor man's wife is she who goes over her husband's frame every evening, after his hard day's work, and shampoos his wenriness into rest. This exercise brings about a uniformity of muscular development, and in addition to it comes the daily hot b itli, which keeps the skin in perfect condition. We have the idea that the hot bath is weak ening. It does not seem to be so for the Japanese, for every man, woman and child of the 38,000,000 people in the kingdom is thus parboiled every day, and the average strength is greater than that possessed by the cold bathers in the United States. Alii3kan Volcanoes. Tin fishing steamer Albatross brings further intelligence of the Alaskan vol canoes. It appears that the famous vol canoe Bogoslav continues in an active state and, if anything, its eruptions are becoming larger and more frequent of occurrence. Bogoslav occupies a posi tion 011 an island. To the mariner on sea the loffg-tongued llanic and lurid flashes of phosphorescent light arc plain ly visible for miles. Latterly the vol cano has been more active than ever. So brilliant are the flames which burst forth at intervals from the dual craters that the whole island is lighted up and at night is thrown out in impressive relief. In the vicinity there are several islands having unpronounceable names aud pro nounccd volcanoes. Among them are Makushian and Shisilden auu also Aku tan. On Ship island thousands of birds brood and roost, and at night when the Bogoslav crater is belching forth flame and fire they may be seen flying scream ing from their nests aud circling hundreds of feet over the topmost reach of fire. The craters of Makushian and Shisil den arc of recent development and* have not yet commenced to throw out flame or lava. The Albatross reports codfish to be plentiful but seals scarce. —[San Fran- £ cisco Chronicle. EXECUTED BY POISON. Several Drugs That Do Their Work : Expeditiously and Without Pain. "In case I had to be executed," said the senior resident physician of the Pennsylvania Hospital to a Philadelphia Press reporter, "I would prefer to be sent to my last long sleep by poison than by either electrotnany or hanging. I think it a less barbarous and less painful way. There are a number of poisons that might be used for such a purpose, though I doubt very much if such away of executing criminals would ever be adopted in this or any other civilized country. Nearly all of them act more rapidly when given hypodermically and that, 1 think, would be the best way of administering them. "The poison above all others that I think would give the best results as a means of execution is morphia. If one grain of morphia is injected into the aim of any ordinary man, the dose repeated an hour afterwards, the man would pass away in a quiet sleep. He would drop oil into a delicious slumber, and from this painless sleep there would be no waking. Of course, if the man was addicted to the use of morphine, such a course could not be pursued, or the dose would have to be enlarged. "Hydrocyanic acid, better known to the general public in the form of prussic acid, is another poison that might be utilized this way. It is probably the most rapid of poisons. It is so deadly that when inhaled it causes death. Smelling aud tasting it is very danger ous. It should not be experimented with save in a draught, and it should not be handled in summer. It is supposed that Scheele, who discovered prussic acid, died from inhaling the fumes, as he was was found dead iu his laboratory. A person taking it in one corner of the room would, I have beeu informed, die before he could take two jumps to another corner. The man would have convulsions, but he would fall uncon scious as he was seized with them. "Aconite is also very rapid. Admin istered hypodermically it would cause death iu less than a minute. A well known doctor was taken sick in the night and told his wife to get him a bottle of medicine. She handed him in mistake a bottle of aconite. He took a big dose, and recognized instantly from the ting ling sensation about his lips what he had swallowed, 'My dear,' he said, 'you have given me aconite.' The next min ute he was unconscious and soon he was dead." Their Cheap Little Luncb. Jones and Smith happened to meet at the same table in a restaurant. "Do you dine at this place often?" asked Jones. "Quite often," said Smith. "It is moderate in price, at least for the com mon dishes, ihe cooking is excellent, the service good and ever} thing is clean." "It is pretty well patronized, too," ob served Jones. "A good many merchants and board of trade men come here for their meals." "Yes. What are you going to order?" "I think I'll take a porterhouse steak, a glass of claret aud a pudding or some thing of that kind. A man on salary can't afford a swell dinner." "That's a fact. We've got to curb our appetites. I'm going to try veal cutlets breaded, a few vegetables, au omelet souffle and a pint of porter. I can't go over seventy-live cents or $1 for a mere lunch." "That's about the figure forme. Now, if I could afford such a meal asTubbles over there at that table in the corner is about to order, I'd have something worth talking about." "You bet! What do you suppose 1 Tubbles is worth?" "He's worth a million r.nd a half." Jones and Smith looked enviously at the table in the corner, where the million aire, with the bill of fare before him, was knitting his brows and pursing up ■ his mouth in the effort to decide what was wanted. After studying the print ed slip from top to bottom several times he seemed to have come to a conclusion. "Waiter," he said to the white-aproned oflicial standing respectfully by, "bring me sonic doughnuts aud a cup of coffee." —[Chicago Herald. Maimed Lawmakers. Three United States Senators lack o limb apiece. Butler and Wade Hampton, both of South Carolina, have but two legs betweeu them to represent the un derstanding of the delegation from that State. Both wear wooden limbs, though in Butler's case you would never suspect it. He lost his on the field of battle, while Hampton, who fought all through the war without receiving a wound, sus tained amputation on account of a kick by a mule. Berry, of Arkansas, lost a leg in lighting for the Confederacy at the battle of Corinth. A few members of the Home have tc get along without a leg or an arm. Gen eral Henderson, of lowa, Boothman, ol Ohio, and Laws, of Nebraska, arc each minus a leg on the Republican side. They, together with Lynn, of Minnesota, who has only one arm left, are entitled to an artificial limb every five years from the government. On the Democratic side General Hooker, of Mississippi, and Oates, of Alabama, have each lost an arm aud Stone, of Kentucky, a leg; but Uncle Sam does not provide them with any substitutes.—[Washington Star. The Biggest Check. The controversy as to the largest check ever drawn has broken out again in the English newspapers. The Bullionist says that it was a check for £3,250,000, drawn to pay an arbitration award, and other checks for £2,000,000, £1,750,000, £1,250,000 and £700,000 are mentioned as iu it, all being English checks, except ! one drawn here by a Yandcrbilt. A 1 larger check, however, than any of these, except the first, was drawn in 1881 bj President Roberts of the Pennsylvania Railroad in payment of SBO a share foi nearly 200,000 shares of Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad stock, when Mr. Thayer of Boston sold the controlling interest "short" to th( | Baltimore and Ohio, and Bob Garretl "leaked."—[New York Press. Miss Florence Nightingale, who by thewaj ; is nearly seventy years old, is a coniirmet I invalid.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers