SOMETHING.
A something IIOVIT< in the ai",
Ami poises o'er the iiakeil tree.
And rides upon the ivnged loud,
Yet hath no I'o in the eye can see;
But to the deeper, in war I eight.
It in a presence • weet and true,
That fllln 1110 universe with Joy.
And wakes the earth with iinpul new!
A something in the forest word,
li K-iircely may be uuiued a voice,
Vet lettered captives hear i A call.
And ill their 1 iitfi-'g heart rejoice:—
A subtile whisper ill the breeze
Ho soft, it seeius a spirit's in eat h,
Yet le flees boughs grow tremulous
With ecstasy, at what it saith
A something uses with the mora,
And lingers with the sun's last ray,
Brings rapture to the silen' nig >t.
And lu-tre to the sh niug du.v;
With yearning, hair of b iss and pain,
It swells my heart, and, wondering,
I ask.—wha 1 "' can it be? A bird
rings at my window—''lt is spring! "
—[Zitella Cocke, in Youth's t'ompa iiou.
A PECULIAR GIRL
BY MRS. WILL.LAM WINTRR.
Rachel Landor began life by being
peculiar. Instead of the customary and
orthodox yell with which the youthful
inhabitants of this planet greet their ,
first sight of it, Rachel remained per- ;
feotly quiet, only looking up into the
nurse's face with a calm and questioning
guze, which greatly disconcerted that ox- .
perienced matron —or, to quote her own
words, causing her to be "so all struck,
of a heap, it was a blessed miracle she
hadn't dropped the uncannv little thing
then an' there, an' so stopped her from
uny chance of making any noise in the 1
world, either then or thereafter."
Rut the baby thrived, and as her
young life advanced from weeks to
months, nud from months to years, she
managed to keep up her reputation, so
early begun, of being unlike other chil
dren. Of course, she heard a great deal
of this "peculiar" way of hers, and she
liked being made the subject of wonder
ing remarks and admiration —though,
perhaps, that was not peculiar. Anyway,
she soon became imbued with the idea j
that everything that happened to her was ;
special and unusual; and though na.ur- I
ally warm-hearted, and not raoro selfish 1
than the gercrul run of her sex and age, ,
she certainly developed a remarkable
amount of egotism.
At eighteen she fell in love, quite con
vinced that, though other girls might
have imagined themselves in love before
her time, there hud never really been
any one who thoroughly understo d the
heights and depths of that passion till it
was exemplified in her. George Murray
encouruged her in that belief, and de- ,
clared that ho responded to it with fervor
and intensity which could only bo ex
perienced in the unknown recesses of
the male heart.
There was soon an almost bitter feel- |
ing of rivalry between the lovers as to
which of them loved the more, and while
this feeling was at the height, Amy Uiv- !
ers came home, from boarding-school. I
Amy was the kind of girl that men go ,
mad about. She was small and slender, i
with dainty hands, and feet of diminutive
size, and a heart of similar dimensions.
She bad a mass of fluffy blond hair, u
complexion of lilies and roses, and great
ohina-bloe eyes, very soft and dewy, and I
shaded by long, silky lashes, that gave '
them an expression of deep feeling, such
as their owner had never experienced in
all her shallow life. For the rest, she I
had great taste in the adornment of her
charming person, ami her maid faithfully
car'iod out hor host idous.
Miss Amy Rivers very speedily settled
the curious rivalry that had existed be- 1
tweon the lovors. She had not been
home a week when George Murry ceased
protesting the superior depth of his at
tachment to Rachel. Ry the end of the
second week he never spoke of his love
at all, uiul looked bored when his fiancee
spoke of hers. Ry the end of the third
week ho had almost ceased visiting Ra
chel, uud then only on compulsion; and
by the end of the fourth week the whole
town was talking of his elopement with
Amy Rivers, and wofidoring if Ruche I
Lundor —who had fallen like one dead
when alio learned of it—would ever rise
from the bod on which tlioy laid hor.
But Rachel didu't die. As she said, bit
terly, that would have been too simple;
and, being peculiar, she hud to live for j
something much harder to bear. Poor I
girl ! It was reully a groat grief, and
her suffering was acute; but, after her j
custom, she made it worse.
There had never been so greut a wrong
committed against any woman, and none
other had ever felt such so deeply.
Having said that, sho closed hor lips
on the subject.
Year utter year wont by, and many j
people had forgotten Rachel Landor;
uud those who knew her, sometimes
failed to recognize the worn, haggard ,
woman of twenty-five, who certainly
looked ten years older; and when people
spoke of her, it wus either with pity or I
contempt.
"Such a wasted life ! —an only child,
worshipedbyhor parents, whoweredying
of grief for her selfish grief—a rich j
woman, too, who might be doing so much
good with her hoarded wealth—and all
about a man who had jilted her! It was ;
wicked and shameful," said her critics;
und likely enough they were right.
Rut Rachel did not hear them; and if i
she had, she would not have cured, for j
in hor own way her life was ordered care
fully and methodically, and her money
was not hoarded nor wasted; but, being
peculiar, us usual she chose to live iu '
her own way, and to do that which she 1
felt she could o, in the manner that
best suited her.
The poor, the sick and the suffering
knew her well. They did not think her
life a wasted one. What this poor, em- 1
bittered, disappointed woman felt in the J
silent depths or her own reticent, intense
nature, she hardly knew herself; for she
shrank from formulating hor own
thoughts even to her own iniud, but oc
casionally something in the outside world ■
seemed to shape them for her. As, for '
instance, one morning when sho sudden- I
ly found herself gazing at an old woman J
whom she met in her morning walk—a
wretched woman, hor face seamed with
wrinkles, her hair an unkempt frowzo of
gray, straggling locks, her clothes tat
tered and torn, though well hidden by an
old black shawl that draped her head and
iell in folds about her a most painful
und unlovely sight in the morning of an
early, cold March day.
"Shall 1 over look liko that V" thought
Rachel. "Old, withered, broken-heartod
—poor old woman! Perhaps if 1 could
know her story 1 should learn that some
J man jilted her in the sweet springtime
A. of long ago. Being a poor, gentle fem
inine creature, she didn't die, though hor
iicart broke, aud as tho burden of life
grew too heavy to bear, she began to
drink—at first, to forget, and thou to
keep warm."
The tears that seldom rose to Rachel's
eyes for her own woes, overflowed for
tho imagined sorrow of this forlorn old
wreck J!' humanity. The woman was
quick lo see, and instantly stretched
forth an imploring hand, in which Rachel
placed a liberal donation.
It was this incident that paved the
way for an unexpected hut far more im
portant encounter. As Rachel, walking
quickly, and with eyes still wet with tours,
and a heart wildly throbbing with IU wly
quickened feeling, turned the corner of
the street, she rushed directly into the
urms of a young mm who was coming
toward her. lie was pule and wan, lie
stooped under tho weight of that experi
ence that is more aging than yours, but
Rachel knew him i an instant, and as
his arms involuntarily closed about her
and held her for one moment to his breast,
she cried out, as if he hud thrust a dag
ger in her:
"George—George Murray.'
14 Rachel," ho said, softly, "forgive
mo. 1 did not mean to touch you. It
was so sudden —"
44 Yes, yes, I know. It is my fault.
I didn't see you. "
And she wrenched herself from his
ho'd, it was. indeed, from his embrace,
to** he clung to her us if ho could not
again lot her go. Rut seeing her face,
\vhi','h grow like marble at sight of him,
his anus dropped away from her.
44 0h, can you forgive me?" he cried.
"It was all a wild delirium—a madnes!
I never loved but you ! Can you not j
forgive me—can you not even try to for- j
give me?"
"1 cannot even try," she said, and her
voice was liko tho knoll of hopo; and, !
with a gesture of unspeakable contempt, !
sho waved hiin aside, and passed on.
How she reached home Rachel Landor
never knew; but some hours later sho
wus aware that she was in hor own room,
the door locked, uud all the world shut
out.
How long she had been there she
didn't know, but she remembered thut
when she came in she hud sunk upon the
sofa half fainting; but now her heart was
beating wildly und every pulse thrilled
as if with some new life—a feverish, de
lirious ecstasy such in sho had never
known before. Sho gluncod up and saw
the reflection of herself in the long mir
ror opposite, und wondering, doubtiug
her own eyes, sho rose, wont over close
to the looking-gluss and 9tared.
Wus that Rachel Landor, that radiaut
vision of brilliant, gracious womanhood?
The years seemed to have rolled back, sho !
looked ten years younger than she had 1
looked when she went out that morning
A joyous excitement glowed in her great,
' deop, dark eyes, her cheeks und lips wore
flushed with the hue of the rose, the mass
of dark-brown hair, usually worn in a
tight knot at the back of her heud, had
slipped from its fastening and fell in a
disheveled, waving, glossy mass about
her neck and shoulders, reaching to hor
waist, uud her tall, slender figure in its
unconscious poise of triumph, had all tho
lissome grace of buoyant girlhood.
"Can it ho I?" she murmured, wondor
iugly. "Yes, it is, indeed 1, and I am
j beautiful. Ah! my day has come—tho
day i never even dared to hope for! He
loves me,and I am a thousand times more
beautiful thuu that pale doll that took
him from me! And be —he loves me!
,My hour bus come! It is just, and 1 will
use my power. 1 will be revenged—re
venged!"
And, liko poor old Lear, Rachel deter
mined that hor vengeance should be the
terrors of the earth —a revenge unique,
unusual, peculiar, like herself.
From that day Ruchol Landor returned
to society. .She soon learned what, had
she been accustomed to the gossip of the
town, she would huvo known months ago
j —that Murray hud returned a broken
hearted, ruined man, bitterly disappoint
ed in the wife who had squandered his
fortune in their brief married life, leav
ing him not oven the memory of hor love
when he laid her in hor grave, hor shal
low, frivolous heart forever stilled, and
his life enbittorod with tho mingled
poison of self-contempt and remorse.
It was very soon as plain to all who ,
saw him as it wus to Rachel, that his love |
had returuod to its first object with a
passionate intensity such as he had never
before known himself capable of; and,
indeed, he only seemed to In o in Ruchel's
presence,seeking her whenever she could
be found, follwing hor every movement
with adoring eyes, breathing, almost, to
the souud of her voice. Rut ho never
put his love into words, he scarcely dared
to speak to her at all, content if ho might
only gaze on hor when she moved.
! How Rachel felt about this silent wor
ship none could toll—in somo ways she
I was more peculiar thuu ever —but it
looked, at times, as if she chafed uudcr it.
1 One night Ruchol Landor missed tho
figure of George Murray from a largo
i party, at which she WAS, as usual, tho
brilliant and beautiful attraction. As
I hour after hour went by, and still he oatno
not, she was uneasy, the people soon
bored her. Presently sho coulu endure
the crowd no longer, and, with a strange,
uueusy tremor, she withdrew quietly,
I ordered her carriago, una was driven
home. The same thing liupponod tho
next night, und tho next. On the fourth
: night she hud grown almost haggard with
disappointment and—rage, she said to
i herself. Rut presently she overheard a
remark dropped iu a whisper:
"George Murray is ill—dying. The
; doctor gives no hope."
And at those words the very beating
of her heart seemed to stop.
1 " 4 111 !' 'Dying !' " she repeated, in
a sharp, agonized whisper, ' impossible!
;He inust not bo ill! He dare not die!"
i Her vengeance was not yet complete,
j that revenge for which she lived—on i
: which she lived, her very life itself!
! She fled from the plnoo, und hiding i
herself within her carriage, bade the
eouchman to drive to tho home of George j
I Murray. She soon found that his condi- 1
tion had not been exaggerated. A vio
lent and deadly form of typhoid bad
strickon him, und ho was already raving
in delirium. The physician made no
pretense of hope, lie told Rachel plain-
I ly thut in all human probability her
friend was doomed.
"There is but tho shadow of achuace
iu a hundred thut lie may live."
"Rut, doctor, we will tuke that oue
shadowy chance, and lot the other ninety
nine go," said Rachel,
i Doctor Frank looked at her, but said
nothing; ho didu't understand her.
Like everyone else in tho plucc, he know
Rachel's story, and he asked himself:
Could it be possible, after all, that she
loved this man who had jilted her and i
! broken her heart? Her face told him
nothing. She was very pale, and her
eyes glowed like live coals—but their
meaning wus u mystery to him.
On the following morning Rachel took
her place iu Murray's room. A capable
I nurse was already there, and being a
I woman, perhaps she understood Ruchol
better than tho doctor, anyway, she made j
i no objection to hor presence, and if she
had, it would not have made any differ- j
ence. Miss Landor was uccustoiued to
> having her own way.
, Tho days went by and grew into
, weeks, and they were slow and tedious
to uurso and physician, as such days
' were wont to bo, for they began now to
1 count tlie hours till George Murray's
breathing should cease —that breathing
that was often so faint that more than
1 once it stunned to have ceased entirely.
Hut Rachel kept no reckoning of time.
I (hie day in the early summer the win
i dows were open, for it was very warm,
and the odorous breath of roses and
honeysuckle and pirple clematis filled
I the room with pertnme. The sick man
lav asleep, white as the tall lilies in the
window.
"He will never come outof this sleep,
said the nurse in a hushed voice.
Rachel drew a long breath, and took
the wasted hand in both her own and
held it close, while her very soul soomed
to pass into that touch. She bent over
him. almost us pale as himself, only that
her cheeks burnod and her eyes were
fixed on his face with a look that seemed
to bathe him in the glow mid fervor of
their light. She did not speak, and her
gaze never left him. Hours passed.
The hand she held lost its deathly chill,
and grew warm and moist, a faint, dewy
moisture was oil the brow and temples,
and the broathing grew stronger, longer
and steadier It was evoning when the
sleeper stirred slightly, slowly unclosed
his eyes and smiled, as ho looked up and
recognizod Rachel. It was a weeklaler,
and she was again beside him, while
Doctor Frank and tho nurse spoke of
him in the next room, comparing notes at*
to his strange and unexpected recovery.
I "They say you have saved me, Ra
j ohel," ho said, in a voice still faint and
i low.
"Yes. I could not let you go, George."
"And what are you going to do with
I me?"
"I um going to be revenged on you."
"Ah! Hut how, dear?"
''l am going to marry you—"
"Rachel! Do you mean you have for
: given me?"
I "Yes, dear, 1 'lll afraid so," murmured
Kuchel. "You know, George, that I was
! always very peculiar."
She bent down and pressed a long,
lingering kiss upon his trembling lips.
—[New York Lodger.
A Country Without Fences.
South Carolina is a country without
fences, writes a correspondent, and it is
a vast improvement in the landscape, as
well as a great saving in money. It looks
odd ut first on the big, level plain on
i which Aiken stands to soe a great
stretch of country unbroken by a single
1 fence, and hero and there a bouse or
burn without .ny protecting walls '
or fences. The Legislature bus übol
* ished fences by declaring that every
1 man is entitled to enjoy bis own land,
f , without interference or dumage from his
' neighbors' cattle. T. at is, if I own two
* scrubby and hungry pigs and you have a
■ thousand-acre farm next door, i must
keep my pigs ut home and not compel
1 you to speu.l half yo jr substance in
' building u fence around your fann. Life,
! liberty, and the keeping of pigs and
' mules are all sacred under the South
1 Carolina Constitution, but the man who
5 owns the pigs or mules or any other ami
-1 mals must fence tliern in or otherwise
1 confine them. Jf they run looso or break
; loose and do any damage, their owner
must pay for it.
I | This is the most sensible solution of
" j fence problem that 1 ever seen or beard
j of. It is entirely new to me, so I enjoy
' it all the moro, and the more 1 think of
' it the moro sensible it seems. It goes
right down to the root of justice, llore
you huvo in New York State or in New
Jersey a thousand acres of laud or a
1 hundred acres, or any other quantity,
j and you are entitled to reap and enjoy
j the fruits of your labor on the capital
j invested in that land without lot or
hindranco. Hut ono of your neighbors
1 may wish to koep a dozen sheep,
and another cow, and a third a handful
' i of chickens that probably that will not
i ly eggs, (1 speak fiom experience
' hero,) aud for that reason you must put
a fonco of a certain loguli/.od height and
pattern around your wliolo place, or
I else you cannot inako your neighbors
pay for any damage their cattle may do
your crops. It would bo just as rea
sonable to say that no man shall
bo convicted of burglary unless the
house he breaks into has walls so many
! feet high and so many feet thick. South
i Carolina is fifty years in advance of the
' | North in the handling of this fenoo
J problem.—[New York Times.
t Hydraulic Clocks.
A system of hydruuliculiy controlled
> . clocks has recently been installed in the
t Berlin University by the Urania-Uhren
and Saulen Couiinanditgesellschaft(Hros
> Inner and l)r. Von Orth). The iustalla
-5 tion consists of ail ordinary clock, seven
' secondary clocks and four ringing ar
-1 j rangemeuts, all connected by u system
> j of water conduits to a centrul apparatus
1 | erected in the vestibule of tho building.
3 I At the end of each complete hour tho
I principal clock sends an electrical cur-
rent through the electromagnet of the
1 central apparatus, thereby disengaging
> an arrangement of wheels and opening u
1 water-cock. The water then Hows through
1 the water-jet pumps and absorbs the air
' ill a network of tubes to which all sec
- ondary clocks and ringing arrangements
are connected. Laeh of the secondary
! clocks is provided with a bruss casing,
which is closed by meuns of a loathor
;■ membrane.
As soon as the air in the casing be
i comes rarificd tho membrane lifts u bar,
! by means of which the hour finger is
made to act at the exact moment of com
pleting the hour, and the clock is wound
| up to the extent it has run down during
' the hour just completed. Tho ringing
arrungoments are also fitted with a sim
ilar casing and membrane, whioh, during
the rarefaction of the air, lifts the ham-
I mer and causes the hell to ring three
j times. When the necessary amount of
rarefaction of the air has been attained
and the work of the apparatus is com
pleted, the water-cock in the ceutial ap
paratus is automatically closed. Several
installations of clocks on this system
havo already been made, notably at the
Uerliu Exchange and tho Potsdam rail
way station. —[Industries.
How to Keep Hooks.
It is true that books aro better pre
seved by being shut up behind glass
doors, but they do not yield half their
benefits in this way. Even a single
shelf of books adds to tho coziness of a
room, and the home that is fully organ
ized will have such a shelf in the guest
chamber, us well as in other rooms A
hook is often a great boon to a visitor,
who may, perhaps, have risen too early
for breakfast, or enjoys a solitary hour
with some good reading before retiring
for the night, it there are a great num
ber of hooks in the house, and there is
no library, he sure and ha\o them ar
ranged in an open book-case in the
parlors. A book-case can he made of
pine hoards and stained. With a pretty,
straight cover across tho top and hanging
over the sides it will he tho most at-
, tractive objoct in the room.—[New York
* 1 Keoorder.
I THE JOKER'S BUDGET.
JESTS 1X1) YARNS IIY FUNNY MEN |
OF THE PRESS. ,
A Double Entendre—Very Fly In
deed—A Strained Joke—Spring,
Dentin Spring—Better Than Notli- i
tug, Etc., Etc.
A DOUBLE ENTENDRE.
"You don't know yet how she feels to- i
ward you ? "
"No, but I'm going to make her show 1
her hand."
"How ?" 1
"1 shall present her with a diamond
ring." |
VERY FLY INDEED.
Wool —Brousoii seems to be as fly as
ever he was.
Van Pelt—What has he been doing?
Wool—Whou I saw hiin last night ho
seemed to be trying to walk on tho eeil
mg.
A STRAINED JOKE.
First Anarchist —The members of our ,
club seem to be ufraid of susponsiou.
Second Anarchist—Why should they I
be afraid ?
First Anarchist—Because it always
ends futally.—[The Club.
SPRINO, GENTLE SPRING.
Come, put away the ulster big,
And the seulskin cap we wore,
For gentle spring is coming on,
We shall not need them more.
Pull down the camphorated truuk
Forth from the attic high,
And pack those winter clothes away,
For spring is drawing nigh.
Aud when we get them packed away,
Up out of sight. Why, then,
We'll shiver and we'll shake to find,
That cold snap's here again.
—[Clothier and Furnisher.
BETTER THAN NOTHING.
"Am I the man of your choioe ? " ho
whispered.
"Well, no," was her h.isitating reply,
"not exactly; hut 1 guess you'll do."
HIS REVENGE IN SIGHT.
Jack Hardup (with unwoutod enthusi
asm i— By Jove! I see that some fellow
is tulking about introducing a hill into
the House making it a misdemeanor to
send annoying letters to any oue. Very
clever idea that. I'll havo my tailor
locked up for six months, by Jove!—
[T id-Bits.
AN EASY ONE.
"What is the difference between a col
lege student and the man who has college
degrees conferred upon him for his eru
dition?"
"Ono gets his learning by degrees and
the other gets degrees by his learning." j
THE CONSOLATION OF THE SIX-FOOTER.
"Little maiden, tell ine true,
What s >rt of man most pleases you?"
She blushed and hung her pretty head.
" 'Tie Hymen 1 like best," she said.
—[Life.
NO FINANCIER WANTED.
Jess —And you want to bo closer to me
than a brother?
Dick—Yes, dear.
Joss—'Twon't do; he is altogether too
close.
COULD THERE BE ANY DOUBT OF IT.
Acquaintance—Going to be married
next Thursday? I congratulate you, old
boy! Who is to bo best muu?
Fweddy (highly indignant)— Best man?
Baw Jove! Me! —[Chicago Tribune.
lIALLB AND HAULS.
He—lt is so good of you, darling, to
accept me. But oven my great wealth, I
am afraid, cau't make you forget that
my grandfather was a common fisher
man.
She—Why need I forgot it? I will toll
everybody about your "ancestral hauls,"
and on your iuoomo of SIOO,OOO a year,
we will ho as happy as the day is long.—
[New York Tribune.
THE FAINTING RACKET.
First Tramp—"What's the matter wid
Mike? He looks as if life wasn't wort'
Uvin'."
Second Tramp—"That's jist how lie
feels. Ye mind two days ago a poor
man fainted in front o' that big house
over yonder, and the kind lady rushed
out wid a bottle o' brandy to rostoro 'iin?"
"I mind."
"Wull, Mike, ho tried th' faintin'
racket there this momin', an' th' 010 lady
rushed out th' same as before. But
when she seed Mike, she said, 'Poor fel
low, his pores is all stopped up so he
can't breathe,' says she, an' then slio
turned tho hose on 'im."—[Yew York
Weekly.
SCHEDULE TIME.
Hungry Traveler (ut railway dining
station) —How soon will tho train start,
conductor?
Conductor—l'll start on time to-day. I
ain't got rnuoh appetite.
DEATH AND THE CHICKENS.
The festive spring chicken,
With death, is alone
In rightfully claiming
All seasons its own.
HER ANSWER.
"I guessed you loved mo, sweet," said I,
And gazed within her eyes,
Like violets shyly raised to mine
In maiden's soft surprise.
"When first your little hand I hold
I guesßod you loved me then."
She raised her lovely eyes once more
And whispered, "Guess again!"
—[New York Herald.
TOO CONSCIENTIOUS.
First parishioner —I think wo ought to
raise Dr. Thirdly's salary.
Secoud purishioner f don't. He is
such a conscientious man that he would
feel bound to preach longer sormons.—•
[Kate Field's Washington.
ONLY GETTING READY TO GO.
"lias that lady who called on your
mother gone yet?"
"No, and she won't go for another
hour."
"llow do you know?"
"Because sho just got up from her
chair and said: 4 Well, I must go—good
by.'"
A MARKET IDYL.
It was her first essay at marketing,
but she tackled the work with tho beauti
ful huidihood of youth and inexperi
ence.
"Have you canvas-back ducks?" she
inquired of the man in the stall.
"Yes, miss, and they aro beauties, and
mighty scarce at this time of year. Au'
I've got mallards and red-heads, too."
"You may cut me off three-quarters of
a yard of the canvas back," she said, in
her clear, clussic tones; "and cut it
diagonally so that it will not ravll," and
sho looked about for the yardstick to see
that he did not edioat her in measurement.
—[Detroit Free Frees. #
SURE OP HER GROUND.
" I don't wish to influence you, Mabel,"
said the mother, "in any way that would
do violence to your own feelings or in
clinations, but does not young Bluuncr
maii appear to ho partial to your sooiety
of late?
Tho queenly young girl bowed.
"I thought I had observed an inclina
tion on his part," pursued her mother,
looking with pride und tenderness ut the
beautiful face and figure of her eldest
horn, "to pay rather oxclusivo attention
to you. lie is a man of excellent habits,
well connected, and of good prospects, is
he not?"
Again the young girl bowed her lovely
head.
"And ho seems to bo intelligent, well
educated aud unassuming, besides being
hnndsonio aud of good address."
"Yes."
"He is not personally objectionable to
you, is ho, Mabel?"
"110 is not."
"Do you think, my dear—you will
pardon the question, I am sure—that ho
sooks to win your love? Do you think
he intends to offer you the highest honor
that a high-minded man cantonder to tho
maiden who has won his heart's best
affections?"
"Yo-e-es, mamma," yawned the beauti
ful girl. "If I want him he's my pud
ding."—[Chicago Daily Tribune.
A VITAL DIFFERENCE.
Wickars—l don't believe there is
much difference between gonius and in
sanity.
Vickars Oh, yes there is a heap.
The lunatic is sure of his board aud
clothes.—[lndianapolis Journul.
AN HOUR AHEAD.
An oldish couplo who had come in by
the Erie ltoud were crossing on a Pavonia
ferryboat recently, when the wife asked
her husband about the time of day. It
was about 2 o'clock by the right time,
but ho looked at his big silver watch and
replied that it was 3.
"But they said we'd get here about 2,"
she protostcd.
"Train might have been late."
"It wasn't quite 2 by the clock in the
depot."
He took out his bull's oye again for
another look, held it up to his ear to see
if it wus going, und then suddenly ex
claimed:
"Oh, pshaw! I'm an hour ahead! I've
had her set for the hired man to g< t up
by, aud forgot to turn 'er hack."—[New
York Observer.
THE AMENDE HONORABLE.
She (with some severity)—l have been
told that you speak in very compliment
ary terms of ine to others. Ido not wish
you to do so, for people may got the idea
from your praise of mo that there is
something between us. That is an im
pression that I do not wish should get
a broad.
He—l'm sorry for what I said. It was
only in fun.
She—Fun?
He—Yes ; when I said you were beau
tiful and amiable and all that I did not
moun it, upon my word, so plouse for
give ino.—[New York Press.
A DESIRABLE FREAK.
Wiggs—l suppose you know "Fore
warned is forearmed?"
Futlites—Never heard of him; let's
offer him three hundred a week.
The First Paper Makers.
The wasps wore actual paper makers
long before inuu knew how, aud by very
much tho same process by which muu
manufactures it now. In fact, all the
while that people in the olden times were
using wood und stone and brass, the hark
of trees, und the skins of uuimals, this
little insect was making u far better
material.
Tho wool-fibers used by the wasp are
about a tenth of an inch long and finer
than a hair. They gather them into a
bundle, adding to them us they move from
place to place. You would find it very
unlike the wood gnawed by other insects.
They bruise these fibers into a sort of
lint, before using them, with their man
dibles or jaws, preferring old and dried
wood. After this bruising process they
use a sort of glue, which they eject from
' their mouths, to fasten them together;
then they kuoad it into a sort of paste,
| like pupier inuche, making it into a hull
, whioh afterwards they trample into a
leaf as thin as tissue paper with their
, feet. Tho first thing a wasp does after
the paper is ready is to lino the roof of
her house with it, using fifteen or sixteen
layers, or sheets, ono übovo the other,
making a wall often nearly two inches in
1 thickness. These layers aro left with
J spaces between, appearing, as you look
ut the nest, as if made of so many little
shells. After the ceiling is finished, the
wasp begins to build the rest of the nost,
t which is composed of an immense number
of paper shells, and wheudouo looks like
u honeycomb, only pehups moro light
and elegant, if this were possible. You
may think these cells are for honey, but
they are not, for the wasps never inako
it, but aro solely propured for roaring
their young.—[ Detroit Free Press.
Digging Powers of the Mole.
The Notoryctes burrows obliquely in
, the sand, going two or three inches under
the ground, und never betraying its
passage except by a slight undulation of
the soil. In digging it uses its conical
nose, which is protected by a horny
pluto, and the strong mattock-shaped
olaws of its fore feet. The hind feet,
which aro widor anil spado-Bhapod, throw
the sand back sothut no trace is loft of
the tunnel which it hollows. It conies
to the surfaoo a few yards farther on,
* and then buries itself again, all without
making any noise. It is prodigiously
• agilo and swift, a property on which Mr.
Heiihain, who lived for some time at
Idracowra, says: "Everybody here can
tell you how soon one of these aniuiuls
will get away by digging in the sand. I
. had brought a live one to the house and
we were tulking of its agility in digging.
. Mr. Stokes desired to see it at work.
After spading and turning over tho
ground near tho house, we set the nni
. inal down; I held it in my hands till it
was nearly hidden, and then tried to
overtuke it by scratching tho ground be
hind it, but without success. Another
man caino to my help witha-'econd shov
el, and also a native woman used to dig
ging in the ground with her hands. But
ail threo ot us could not find it."—
[Popular Science Monthly.
FOR thirty years, it is snid, the beard
and moustacho of James Hrown, of Ben
ningtou, VV. Va., have been untriinmed.
With his arms extended ho stretches
fully six feet from tip lo tip of his
fingers, yet tho ends of his moustache,
when held horizontal!v, extend beyond
his fingers. He braids his wonderful
beard and moustache and tucks them un
der his vest.
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF
EVERY-DAY LIFE.
Queer Episodes and Thrilling Adven
tures Which Show that Truth Is
Stranger than Fiction.
ONR of the spots which have been se
lected for public squaros in Philadelphia
is famous us tlio idonticul place where
William Ponn made his gruit treaty with
the Indians. But even before that time
it had u claim to historic attention us the
site of Gov. Fuirmun's mansion. Thomas
Fairman occupied the laud under the
authority of the Duke of York, filing
his patent us early as 1084. In the
house which ho erected Penn spent the j
first winter of his residence in Philadel- I
phia. Govs. Markham, llaize, Holme, j
Evans, and Palmer also lived in the
house. Gov. Pulmer used to keep a
ploasure-hargo in whioh ho made jour
ney 8 by water to the "city," or the dis
trict now included between Vine and
South Streets. In front of the mansion
rose that old elm under whose' branches
the memorable treaty was made. This
tree was blown down in 1810. Its girth
was 24 feet, and or.e of its branches
spread for 150 feet towards the river.
Prom the rings in the cut soction of its
trunk it was estimated to he 283 years
old. Where the tree had stood, a com
memorative monument was erected, and
a railing was put around it. Vandals
have chipped tho shaft and the railing
has been broken down, until now only a
seamed and broken fragment of inurble
remains as a testimony t3 Peun's league
of amity. The spot is at present almost
invisible amid piles of lumber. Now
that a public park is to be luid out, tho
monument will probably he restored.
The property has passed through many
hunds. Tho Fuirmuns owned it until
1715, when it passed into tho hands of
Joseph Redman. Redman sold it to
Robert Worthington, and the latter sold
it to Gov. Palmer in 1730, and Charles
Wert became owner in 1738 After
several other transfers, William Yard
became the owner in 1795, and in 1798
he sold it to Matthew Vunduseu.
THE captaiu of A coasting vessel, who
arrived atGuayamas, Mexico, a few days
ago, tells of a strange discovery made
by himself during his last trip. He
traded up and down the coast, doing
business among the inhabitants of the
islands und coast villages between there
and San Diego, Cal. A heavy wind drove
him far out of his way, und when the
storm abated, ho found that he was so
far out of his usual path that he hud
lost his reckoning. Ho was out of sight
of shore, and when he saw land, bore
down upon it, and found an island that
was not down 011 any of the charts. He
sent a boat ashore and the men returned,
suying that no one lived there, but thut
there were many houses and evidences
of the place having at one time been
inhabited. The captain then wont ashore
himself and found that the island had
undoubtedly been swept by a scourgo of
some kind. There were numorous huts,
but not a living thing was to bo found.
An examination revealed the fact that
the former residents had died in such
numbers that they had not been buried.
The skeletons were lying around the isl
and where the people were when death
overtook them, in one hut were found
the remains of seventeen people, whilo
in many others were the bones of great
numbers. They had been dead for such
a time that the bonos wero beginning to
decay. There was littlo to bo found to
show what kind of people they were, but
it is supposed that they belonged to onj
of the island tribes which were so abun
dant in this part of tho coast fifty years
ago. Of course there can only be con
jecture as to the probable cause of tho
wiping out of an entire tribo, but the
knowledge of the fearful sweep of
scourges on the island leads to the belief
that a pestilence swept oft' the inhabi
tants.
TUB Japanese Commissioners at Chic
ago have beeu fortunate in securing
extremely advantageous sites for their
country's exhibit. A certain island
which has long been coveted by rival
applicants is now definitely promised to
them, and this favored spot will probably
be occupied by a reproduction of the
fumous oditico known as llowo-do, one
of the finest and best-preserved ex
amples of uuciont architecture that the
empire contains. It stands in the village
of llji, a suburb of Kioto, and was built
when the Emperor's first fixed their resi
dence in that locality. Its name may be
translated "Phoenix Temple," the word
"howo" signifying an imaginary creature
of the air, credited with attributes akin
to those of our fabled cinblcm of immor
tality; and its shape is supposed to be
suggestive of a huge bird with out
stretched wing and spreading tail. The
original structure covers 150 tsubos of
ground, a tsubo being equal to six feet
souurc. It is expected that one result
of Japnn's possession of the island above
referred to will bo tho exhibition of
speoiinens of ship-building, representing
dift'eront periods of the nation's maritime
development. This feature, if fully
carried out, will be a surprise to those
who iinagino that the Jupaneso were al
ways a homckeeping and isolated people.
Three centuiies ago there was not any
where a more daring or enterprising race
of navigators, and their adventurous
expeditious, not only to vurious parts of
Asia, but even across tho Pacific Ocean
to Amorica, are matters of historical
record.
FOR genuine grit and presence of
mind, J. N. .Sacry, a brukcmun on the
Montana I'nion. is entitlod to wear the
belt. Sncry is on the run between Hutto
and Garrison. One evening recently be
loft on bis train for the terminal point,
but at Stuart some switching was neces
sary, and Sucry got oft' to assist in doing
the work. While walking along the
track, however, one of his feet became
fastened in a switch frog, leaving him
exposed to the mercy of the backing
train, which was only a few feet away.
Heiug unuble to extricute the foot, he
threw himsolf on the ground with force
enough to broak one of his thigh bones
and wrench the foot from the frog just as
the trucks of the first oar passed. The
unfortunuto man was brought to this
city and taken to Murray k Gillespie's
Hospital, where his injuries were at
tended to. '1 nkiug into consideration
that this class of accidents is quite nu
merous on railroads, and thut very few
persons so cuught escape more serious
injury, Saory considers himself quito
fortunate in escaping oven at the expense
of a broken limb.
AN IDOW ABIGAIL HOUGHTON, who lives
near Scranton, Penn., has 200 pet spar
rows and she has given up one of the
rooms in tbo house, where she lives alone
entirely to their use. One of NVidow
Houghton's geese got into the indiscreet
habit of laying in the weeds by the creek
on the place, and a crow of the lower
clusscs, possessed of a certain degreo of
low oanning, "caught on,' as they say iu
St. Louis. So he perched himself on a
1 100 near bv, and as soon as the goose
left hor nest ho dropped down and Hew
away with a fino largo egg. One day a
sparrow in citizen's clothing caught the
robber in the uct, and, summoning assis
tance, punished him so severely that he
dropped in the grass from sheer exhaus
tion and the Widow lioughton wrung his
head off. The sparrows have also de
j tailed a force to protect the widow's pond
I from the tish hawks, and the chicken
hawks now give hor poultry yard a wide
I birth.
THE New York Tribune tells a story
of old man lliruni Potter, of Scranton,
Penn., who, it says, has a poor memory.
Ten years ugo he lost his teeth, so he
wen' to Philadelphia and had the best
set that could be found fitted to his
mouth. In a little while ho had forgot
ten the incident and was wont to brag (
of his sound teeth and rebuke young
men for having the toothm ho. Recently ►
he was troubled with neuralgia of tho
face, and, after suffering sevorul days,
ho concluded that ho had the toothache
and wont to a dentist. The dentist as
sured him that there were a number of
his teeth that needed attention and went
to work accordingly. After six hours
Mr. Potter happened to remember his
visit to Philadelphia, and gettiug out of
the chair, took out bis teeth and laid
them on tho table. Au arg"mnt and a
scene followed, in consequence of which
Mr. Potter carried his arm in a sling and
th ) dentist was not üblo for a while to
leave his bed.
THE Boston Journal tells a story illus.
trating tho power of a strong will-
Some forty years ago a Massachusetts
good wifo lay in her bed apparently dy
ing with consumption. As the family
lived four miles from the undertaker and
pastor, and as tho roads were badly
blocked with snow, tho husband when
culled to the villago on business ou a k
Tuosday decided—thoughtful man!—
to save an extra journey in thut hitter
weather by engaging tho minister and
undertaker at once, and appointing the
funeral for the following Friday. In
some way, on Wednesday, the sick
woman heard of this, and arousing her
self from her supnosed dying condition,
declared: "There 11 be no funeral in this
house this week!" Tho funeral took
pluce on a recent Friday, forty years
after it was originally set. The husband
is still living at the age of eighty.
FOUR adventurous persons, three men
and ono woman are übout to leave
Scuttle, Washington, for New York,
with no other means of conveyance than
a wheelbarrow. They are J. F. Cheath
am, John Howard, F. W. Caston and
Miss Lou Howard. The men will tuko
turn übout at pushing the wheelbarrow,
and only when the woman gives out from
exhaustion will she be ullowed to ride.
Only in case of sickness will stops of a *
longer duration than twelvo hours h
made at any place until Chicago is
reached, where it is intended to remit in
three days, and then push on for Now
York, it is the intention of the quar
tet to cover the distance between Seattle
and New York in five months.
WHILE Frank Moffatt of Caluis, Me.,
was in tho woods after timber this win
ter, his wifo und their two small children
lived in one of his camps on the Maguerra
wock. While Mrs. Moffatt was outgather
ing firewood recently one of the children
set fire to tho bod. Tho mother hustened
back just in tiino to save the younger
child from being burned to death. The
cump and its contents wore destroyed, und
Mrs. Moffatt and her children had to
sturt ou u night journey through the
woods to Milltown. It was a terrible
journey, for a cold storm came up and
the show was knoo deep. Tho truvulers
wore obliged to s!on at a play camp, )
which some boys had built in the woods,
wht-re thoy remained two days and nights,
stormbound and starving. A hunter
hupponed along and rescued them.
CAPTAIN PITCHIER, of the United States
infantry, has been telling a reporter
Home curiouH things about a hot spring in
Wyoming, near Fort Wushakie. lio
said : " it is near our camp and about
ten yards in diameter. The perpetual
temperature is 110 degrees above zero.
Often in the winter 1 have coine home
from a cold ride when the thermometer
was 15 degrees below zero and taken a
swim in the springs. It is not inclosed,
and it is a funny sensution to go swim
ming in a temperature of 110 degrees
abovo, while your heed is exposed to a
temperature of 15 degrees below, zero.
I have often seen the soldiers take a swim
in the spring and follow it up with a roll
in the snow. It almost makes a Turkish
bath."
As example of the cunning of gulls
rus observed at Tucomu when several
alighted on u hunch of logsthut had been
in the water a long time, with tho sub
merged sides thick with barnacles. One
was a big gray follow, who seemed to
bo thecapiuin. lie walked to a particu
lar log, stood on oue side of it close to
the water, and then uttered poouliar
cries. The other gulls came and stood
on the same side of the log, whioh uuder
their combined weight rolled over several
inches. The gulls, step by step, kept
tho log rolling until the barnacles showed
above the wat r. Tho birds picked ea
gerly at this food, and the log was not
übaudoncd until every bamucle had
been picked.
SKVEN years ago Mr. W. E. Mason, of
Millsboro, W. Va., went out with $485
in greenbacks in his pocket to feed his
hags, lie did not mean to feed the hogs
on tho $485. Hut while ho was feeding
them sorry nubbin corn tho money fell
from his pocket and was promptly ap
propriated hy tho biggost financial hog
ofthedrovo. Mr. Mason made bis hog
ship disgorge, but the mail who printed
them wouldn't rocognize them. A bill
bus just been introduced in Congress
asking Uncle Sam to replace Mr. Mason's
money. Will ho do it? Mr. Mason is
waiting to see.
THRRF. is a man within one milo of Do
Kalb, Mo., Mr. Willium Jones, who is
24 years old, G feet high, 52 inches
aiound the waist, wears a GO-inch coat
(chest measure), wears a Xo. 12 shoe, a
No. 10 hat, and weighs 1115 poun Is. He
can hold out at arm's length with euse a
man weighing IGO pounds. He is a
farmer and can do as mncb work as two
common-sized men. Mr. Jones is mar
ried to a lady that weighs only 92
pounds.
IT is said that there is a horse in Chi
cago which is so strongly charged with
electricity that when warm with oxoroise
it will give a powerful shock to whoever
touches it, and even vield enough of a
spark to light gas. r i he fact was discov
ered by accident a few duys since, and
the electric horse will soon probably
figure as a dime museum curio. We
have seen a mule communicate a shook
powerful enough to knock out P man's
brains and he was not considered a ouri
osity, nor was his power attributed to
electricity.
Alexandria, Egypt, possesses the largest
artiticial harbor in the world.