Russian farmers hold an average of
twenty-seven acres to each family.
The annual average of criminals
tried in Germany for all offenses is j
222,694; in Italy, 127,372 ; in Great |
Britain, 7M36.
In a German university a student s
matriculation car.l shields him from
arrest, admits him at half price to the
theatres, and takes him free to the art
naileries.
The son of it real marquis is work
ing on the streets of Taeuma. Wash.
His father has disowned him, hut the
bov, more forgiving and less proud,
still acknowledges his father.
The United States steamer I'i.ilailel
phia has the honor of being the fast- j
est warship ail oat. On one day, dur
ing her recent trip from New York to |
Honolulu, -i-iO knots were made, which,
in the opinion of the HartfGib Jour
nal, is a remarkable record.
It is worth while now and then to
pause and consider, soliloquizes F\>s- J
ter Coates in Frank Leslie's. New
York contains within its borders more
Hebrews than there are in Jerusalem,
more Irishmen than there are in Dub
lin, more Hermans than there are in
Hamburg, and more Italians than thero
are in Rome.
Ainongtho multifariousduties which >
demand the attention of the Calcutta
policp, the capture of sharks in the
Hooghly finds a place. During the
past twenty years rewards have been
paid for the destruction of these ma
rine man-eaters, and recently the Ben
gal Government laid down a scale for
these payments.
Doubtless three-fourths of the j
Americans who visit the Bermudas, re- ;
marks the New York Sun. pronounce j
the second syllable of the name as if
it wore spelled "mew,'' although ,
Shakespeare in the "Tempest" has
indicated for all tune the original pro- 1
nunciation of that syllable by calling
the islands "the still vexed Ber
moothes."
Says the New Orleans Picayune:
The Government of Italy has deterrn*
ined to effectually suppress Hie brig
andage which has long terrorized the
Island of Sicily. It proposes to de- I
clare martial law in the island and to
send thither 12,000 troops, who will i
have the assistance of tho local police, :
and will push a vigorous compaign, |
especially through the mountainous
districts. The courts where the brig
ands are tried will have special meas- I
ures taken for their protection. The !
Sicilian Mafia in this country will |
doubtless soon have large accessions to i
its ranks.
Do you ever notice how few patches
people arc wearing? asks the N'ew York
Sun. It is because clothing is so !
much cheaper now than it used to be, j
that it is not worth while pulling old
garments together. When they are
worn out, they go iuto the rag bag or '
arc given to tramps and new ones are
ordered o! the custom tailors, or more
often are bought outright at the near
est hand-me-down shop. A pair of
colonial boots, recently shown in a
shoo maker s window, was almost cov
ered with home-made patches. Such
exhaustive eking out of old boots is
not in vogue nowadays; it is cheaper
and better to get uew goods.
Tho red deer is still huuted in Eng
land, but in away that the Han Fran
cisco Chronicle thinks must make the
gorge of triit.- sportsmen rise. A recent
English paper describes the method.
It says; "The red deer which are an- ]
tally required for sport with the j
Queen's buckhounds were selected yes
tor-lay from the famous herds in Wind
sor Great Vurk. After one or two un
successful raids among the favorite
haunts of the wild red deer about sixty
fine stags and hinds were pursued
across the royal demesne and driven
into Cranbourne paddock, near the
Flemish farm, where some of them were
speedily caught in the nets stretched
across the iuclosnrc and secured by the
huntsmen and park laborers. The
strongest animals on being released
from the toils were carefully placed in
■wooden crates and conveyed in the
royal van and carts to Siviuloy pad
docks, where they await the opening
of tho hunting season." After leading
this description wo no louger wonder
that there is a society in England which
devotes itself to creating sentiment
against hunting with tho buckhounds,
but wo do wonder that the English are
so slow to apprehend how utterly in
human and farcical it is to call a round
up of tame deer hunting. If anv one
attempted to harry the deer in our
park with dogs and called the thing
hunting, he would in all probability
be treated to a coat of tar and feathers.
CHRISTMAS CAROL*
•Sleep ! snow-white world, uuder the slurs,
Sleep ! Sleep!
While eborul angels frora on high,
Floating across the midnight sky.
Lean down with wnviug lily-wands.
To bless the earth with gracious hands.
And hark ! the golden chord !
"Praise be to Christ our Lord.
The Son of Man in lowly manger born,
Be'ore whose face the strength of Sin is
shorn."
Then, till the holy morn.
Sleep ! Sleep !
Wake ! bright world, under the bright sun.
Wake! Wake '
Murk ' how t lie Christmas angels sing :
Vll hail! to Christ our Lord and King !
All hail ! good will and peace to nien I
All hail! to God on high ! Anien!"
Join ye the joyful song :
The reign of ancient wrong
Is o'er this hour ; for Christ the Child is born !
Oh. happy world ! thy bonds of sin are torn.
This holy Christmas mom.
Wake! Wake!
Charles L. Hiidretii, in bomorest's.
LOU'S CLARIONET.
A CHRISTMAS STORY.
TU Elt E was a
Christmas eve ser
vice in th' Second
Westcock Church.
The church at
*'Second Westcock
" old fashioned,
like the village over which it presided.
Its shingles were gray with the beating
of many winters ; its little suuure tower
was surmounted by four spindling
posts, like the legs of a table turned
htavenward; its staring windows were
adorned with curtains of yellow cot
ton ; ils uneven and desolate church
yard, strewn with graves and snow
drifts, occupied a bleak hillside look
ing out across the bay to the lonely
height of Shepodv Mountain.
Down the long slope below the
church straggled the village, half-lost
in the snow, and whi.-fic.l over by the
winds of the Bay of Finely.
Second Westcock was an outlying
corner of the rector's expansive par
ish. and a Christmas eve service there
was an event almost unparalleled. To
give Second Westcock this service, the
rector had forsaken his prosperous
congregations at Westcock, Saekville
and Dorchester, driving some eight or
ten miles through the snows anil soli
tude of the deep Dorchester woods.
And because tho choir at Second ;
Westcock was not remarkable even for j
willingness, much less for strength or j
skill, he had brought with him his
fifteen-year-old niece, Lou Allison, to j
swell the Christmas praises with the
notes of her clarionet.
The little church was lighted with
oil lamps ranged along the white wall j
between the windows. The poor, bare '
chancel—a red-cloth covered kitchen !
table in a semi-circle of paintless rail- j
ing—was flanked by two towering pul- I
pits of white pine. On either side the j
narrow, carpetless aisle were rows of j
unpaintcd benches.
On the left were gathered solemnly
the men of the congregation, each
looking straight ahead. On the right
were the women, whispering and
scanning each others' bonnets, till the
appearance of the rector from the
little vestry-room by the door ahould
I ring silence and reverent attention.
In front of the women's row stood
the melodeon, and the two benches
behind it were occupied by the choir,
the male members of which sat blush
inglv self-conscious, proud of their
office, but deeply abashed at the ne
cessity of sitting among the women.
There was no attempt at Christinas
j decoration, for Second Westcock had
j never been awakened to the delicious
j excitements of the church greening.
At last the rector appeared in his
! voluminous white surplice. He moved
i slowly up t.lie aisle, and mounted tho
I winding steps of the right-hand pulpit,
and as he did so his five-year-old sou,
i forsaking his place by Lou's side,
marched forward and seated himself
resolutely on the pulpit stops. He did
[ not feci quite at home in Second West
cock Church.
The sweet old carol, "While shop-
herds watched their flocks ly night,"
rose lather doubtfully from the little
choir, who looked and listened askance
at the glittering clarionet, into which
l.ou WHS now blowing softly. I.ou
was afraid tM make herself distiuetlv
heard at first, lest she should startle
the singers ; hut in tin seeoud verse
the pure vibrant notes eaine out with
confidence, and then for two lines the
song was little more than H duet be
tween Lou and the rector * vigorous
baritone. In the third verse, how
ever, it all came right. The choir
felt and responded to the strong sup
port and thrilling stimulus of the in
strument, and at length ceased to
dread their own voices. The naked
uttle church was glorified with the
sweep of triumphal song pulsating
| wirough it.
: iw. tuv ' Uu, l SUL 'h music been
: V Men, women and oliil
uron sung from tii.u, i *
a • luN, > souls, and
when tl,, bym nh , h i
eon B r.-Knti.... m0.,:l s ,j
ne m a ilrcum. witli .miv. r lUK ti,roat.
till the rector s cahn voi. i . *•
the opening wnr.U of th, ' u't,"'"?
| brought back their selr-i-onlv,.i u,
measure.
Thereafter every hymn and Ghaut
; and carol was like an inspiration,
Lou's eyes sparkled with exultation.
When the service was over the people
gathered round the stove by the door,
praising Lou's clarionet and petting
i little Ted, who had by this time come
! down from the pulpit steps. One old
I lady gave the child two or three brown
1 sugar-biscuits which she had brought
in her pocket, and a pair of red mit
tens which she had knitted for him as
a Christmas present.
I Turning to Lou, the old lady said.
"I never heerd uothiug like that truin- j
pet of your n, Mies. I feit like it jest
drawed down the angels from heaven
to aiug with uh to-night. Thcr voices
was all swimming in a smoke, like,
right up in the hollow of the ceiling."
"'Taint a trumpet!*' interrupted
Teddy, shyly. "It's elar'onet. I
got a trumpet home !"
i "To he sure!' replied the old lady,
' indulgently. "But iniss, as I was a
' saying, that music of yourn would jest
I soften the hardest heart as ever was."
j The rector had just come from the
vestry room, well wrapped up in his
furs, uud was shaking hands and wish
ing every one a Merry Christmas,
while the sexton brought the horse to
the door. He overheard the old la
dy H last remark, as she was bundling
Teddy up in a huge woollen muffler.
"It certainly did." said he, "make
the singing go magnificently to-night,
didn't it. Mrs. Tait? But I wonder,
now, what sort of an effect it would
produce on a hard-hearted bear, if
such a creature should come out at us
; while we are going through Dorelies
i ter woods?"
j This mild pleasantry was very deli
cately adapted to the rector's audi
j euce, and tin* group about the stove j
j smiled with a reverent air befitting
the place they were in ; but the old
lady exclaimed in haste:
"My, land sakes, parson, a bear'd J
be jest scared to death 1"
"I wonder if it would frighten a
bear?" thought Lou to herself, as they
were getting snugly bundled into the
warm, deep "ptiug," as the low-box
sleigh with movable seats is called.
Soon the crest of the hill was passed,
and the four-poster on the top of j
Second Westcock Church sank out of
sight. For a mile or more the road j
led through half-cleared pasture lauds, I
where the black stumps stuck up so
strangely through the drifts that
Teddy discovered bears on every hand.
SANTA CLAUS OX HIS ROUND.
Look at him there on the chimney top But once lie sees that all is right
Just ready to descend— He'll go down with his toys,
There never lived in this whole wide world And fill up all the stockings
Such a dear good-hearted friend ! Of his little girls and boys.
But see, he has stopped to listen Then with a hound he'll be oft again
If the children are asleep Up through the chimney and over the roofs.
For he'd never go down if they stayed awake And the frozen ground will again resound
Or tried to take one peep ! With the patter of reindeer's hoofs.
He was not at all alarmed, however,
for lie was sure liis father was a match
for a thousand hears.
By and by the road entered the curi
ous inverted dark of Dorchester woods,
where all the light seemed to come
from the white snow under the trees
rather than from the dark sky above
them. At this stage of the journey
Teddy retired under the buffalo-robes,
and went to sleep in the bottom of the
pang.
The horse jogged slowly along the
somewhat heavy road. The bells
jingled drowsily amid the soft, push
ing whisper of the runners. Lou and
the rector talked in quiet voices, at
tuned to the solemn hush of the great
forest.
"What's thai?"
Lovi shivered up closer to the rector
as she spoke, and glanced nervously
into the dark woods whence a sound
had come. The rector did not answer
at once, but instinctively seized the
whip, ami tightened the reins as a sig
nal to Old Jerry to move on faster.
The horse needed no signal, but
awoke into an eager trot which would
have become a gallop had the rector '
permitted.
Again came the sound, this time a '
little nearer, and still apparently just
abreast of the puiig, but deep in tin
woods. It was a bitter, long, wailing j
cry, blended with a harshly grating
undertone, like the rasping of a saw.
'"What is it?" again asked Lou, her
teeth chattering.
The rector let Old Jerry out, into a 1
gallop, as he answered, "I'm afraid
it's a panther what they call around
here an 'lndian Devil.' But I don't
think there is any real danger. It is a
ferocious beast, but will probably give
us a wide berth."
Why won't it attack us?" asked
Lou.
"tlh, it prefers solitary victims,'"
replied the rector. 'lt is ordinarily
a cautious beast, ami does uot under -
stand the combination of man and
I horse and vehicle. Only 011 rare
I occasions has it been known to attack
I people driving, and this one will
i probably keep well out of our eight.
I However, it's just as well to get be-
I yond its neighborhood as quickly as
possible. Steady, Jerry, old boy!
Steady—don't use yourself up too
fast!"
I The rector kept the horse well in
baud ; but in a short time it was plain
* that the panther was not avoiding the
! party. The cries came nearer and
' nearer, and Lou's breath came quicker
I and quicker, and the rector's teeth be
gan to set themselves grimly, while
| his brows gathered in anxious
thought.
If it should come to a struggle, what
was there in the sleigh, he was wonder
ing, that could serve as a weapon?
Nothing, absolutely nothing but his
heavy poeket-kuife.
"A poor weapou, ' thought he, rue
fully, "with which to tight a panther."
But he felt in his pocket with one
! hand, and opened the knife, and
slipped it uu ler the edge of the
cushion beside him.
At this instant lie caught sight of
the panther, bounding along through
the low underbrush, keeping parallel
with the road, and not forty yards
1 away.
I "There it is!" came in a terrified
j whisper from Lou's lips; and just then
Teddy lifted his head from under the
robes. Frightened at the speed and
at the set look on his father's face he
began to cry. The pauther heard him
and turned at once toward the sleigh.
Old Jerrv stretched himself out in a
burst of speed, while the rector
grasped his poor knife fiercely; and
the .panther came with a long leap
right into the road not ten paces be
hind- the flying sleigh.
Teddy stared in amazement, and
then cowered down in fresh terror as
there came an ear-splitting screech,
wild and high and long, from Lou's
clarionet. Lou had turned, and over
the back of the neat was blowing thin
peal of desperate defiance in the
brute's very face. The astonished ani
mal shrank back in his tracks and
sprang again into the underbrush.
Lou turned to the rector with a
Hushed face of triumph ; and the rector
exclaimed in a husky voice, "Thank
God!" But Teddy, between his sobs,
complained, "What did you do that
for, Lou?"
Lou jumped to the conclusion that
her victory was complete and final;
but the rector kept .Ferry at his top
speed and scrutinized the underwood
apprehensively.
The panther appeared again in four
or five minutes, returning to the road,
and leaping along some forty or fifty
feet behind the sleigh. His pace was
a very curious disjointed, india rub
bery spring, which rapidly closed up
on the fugitives.
Then round swung Lou s long in
strument again, aud at its piercing
cry the animal again shrank back. This
time, however, he kept to thi road,
aud the moment Lou paused for
breath he resumed the chase.
"Save your breath, child, cx
i claimed the rector, as Lou again put
1 the slender tube to her lips. "Save
! your breath, and let hini have it fe
rociously when he begins to get too
The animal came within twenty or j
thirty feet agsiu, and then Lou greeted I
him with an oar-splitting blast, and he i
fell back. Again and again the tactics j
were repeated. Lou tried a thrilling
cadenza; it was too much for the |
brute's nerves. He could not conipre- ;
heud a girl with such a penetrating
I voice, and he could not screw up his
courage to a closer investigation of!
the marvel.
At last the animal seemed to resolve |
on a change of procedure. Plunging j
iuto the woods he made an effort to !
get ahead of the sleigh. Old Jerry '
was showing signs of exhaustion, but
the rector roused him to an extra i
spurt -aud there, just ahead, was the j
opeuiug of Fillmore's settlement.
"Blow, Lou, blow!" shouted the
rector; and as the panther made f
dash to intercept the sleigh, it found
itself in too close proximity to the
strunge-voiced phenomenon in the
i pung, and sprang backward with an
! angry snarl.
As Lou's breath failed from her dry
I lips, the sleigh dashed out into the
open. A dog bayed angrily from the
| nearest farm-house, and the panther
| stopped short ou the edge of the wood.
The rector drove in t the farm-yard,
and Old Jerry stopped, shivering as if
he would fall bid ween the shafts.
After the story had been told, and
Jerry had been stabled and rubbed
down, the rector resumed his jouruey
with a fresh horse, haviug no foar that
the panther would venture across the
cleared lands. Three of the settlers
started out forthwith, and following
the tracks in the, new snow, succeeded
ill shooting the wild beast after a chase
of two or three hours.
The adventure supplied the country
side all that winter with a theme for
conversation, and about Lou's clarionet
there gathered a halo of romance
that drew rousing congregations
to the parish church, where its
music was to lie heard every alternate
Sunday evening. Youth'sConipaiiiou.
Antiquity of Christinas Toys.
The doll is thousands o years old ;
it has been found inside the graves of
little Roman children,ami will be found
again by the nrelueologists of a future
date among the remains of our own
culture. The children of Poinpeii and
Hereulaneum trundled hoops just as
you and I did, and who knows whether
the rocking horse on which we rode in
our young days is not a lineal descen
dant of that proud charger into whose
flanks the children of Francis I's time
dug their spurs.
The drum is also indestructible, and
setting time at naught across the cen
turies, it beats the Christmas-tide and
New Year summons that bids the tin
soldier prepare himself for war, and
shall continue to beat as long as there
exist boyish arms to wield drumsticks,
and grown-up people's ears to be deaf
ened by the sound thereof. The tiu
soldier views the future with calm ; he
will not lay down his arms until the
day of general disarmament, and there
is, as yet, no prospect of a universal
j peace.
The toy sword alo stands its ground ;
it is the nursery symbol of the inera
dicable vice of our race- the lust for
battle. Harlequins, fool's-cap-crown
ed and bell ringing, are also likely to
endure; they are sure to be found
among the members of the toy world
as loug as there are fools to be found
among the inhabitants of our own.
Gold-laceil knights, their swords at
their sides, curly-locked and satin
shod princesses, stalwart musketeers,
mustuched and top-booted, are all types
which still hold their own. The
Chinese doll is young as yet, but she
has a brilliant future before her.
The Yule Log Custom.
The yule log or yulo block is proba
bly another form of that which has
been preserved in the Christmas tree.
A huge log of wood placed iu the fire
place is kept burning all the evening
in many places in England, and even
in the United States the custom is not
unknown. It is called Buche de Noel
! in France.
i The yule candle is lighted the even
; ing of December 24, midwinter-night,
! and kept burning all night if possible.
; If it goes out during the night it is
! looked upon as a sign that some one
I will die in the house soon. On the
; other hand, the stumps of these can
dles are considered a powerful remedy
1 for diseased or injured hands or feet.
Song of Kriss KringleN Tree.
; Kriss Kringle's bells are jingling,
The frosty air is tingling.
AM silvery sounds nre mingling.
This merry, merry day.
With many a fleecy feather
The snow-flakes dan"e together .
Here eotnes Kriss Kringle's weather,
In good Kriss Kringle's way.
j Kriss Kringle's inoasure's tripping,
Kriss Kringle's sweetness sipping,
j The while his gifts we're 'dipping,
From brave Kriss Kringle's tree.
We set the enndles burning.
Like slurs an 1 planets turning,
And every dream and yearning
There satisfied we see—
i
I
Aloii" an 1 solitary,
Aloof from elf and fairy,
It grew iu forests airy
Through many a season dim—
To reach its day of glory,
j When winter woods were hoary.
To hear Kriss Kringle's story.
An I dear Kriss Kringle's hyinu.
> jo tro" tlm! wearies never !
Otreeth.at c'lrir.ns us overt
; ' O tree that livjs forever!
i ; Tne Messed Christmas ire.''.
F ! Wuere 'ove an 1 kindness blending
lloun I up the year's air ending.
> I There heaven a own beauty lending,
f | Behold Kriss Kringle's tree.
> Margaret E. H.ingster. in Young Peoplo
The little red house at Lenox, Mass.,
in which Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote
"Tuuglewood Tales," "The House of
Seven Gables," and other stories, is to
be restored.
HANDLING FOREIGN MAILS, j
HOW IT IS DONE IN THE 810 NEW j
YORK POSTOFFICE.
Accuracy and Rapidity of the System
- -Sorting Mall at Sea— lntricacies ,
of the Work.
WALKING along the gallery .
that overlooks the city |
department of the New
York Postoffice where,
even in broad daylight there twinkle
thousands of electric lights, you will
come to a stairway which leads you
into the northern end of the building,
and there, in cramped, insufficient
quarters, a corps of sixty men receive
and distribute each week from Europe
alon9 an average of one huudred thous
and foreign letters to residents of this
city, ami three hundred and fifty
thousand additional letters addressed
to out of town people by each of the
incoming mail carriers.
Just how long it takes a letter
dropped by a friend in London to
reach a resident of this city depends
largely upon the speed made by the
ocean greyhound which happens to car
ry the mail bag. But within twenty
five minutes after the black hull of the
steamer has been made fast at the
dock the ten wagons employed for the
purpose have hauled to their destina
tion the entire mail, and in one hour
and a half from its arrival two hun
dred and fifty pairs of hands have
sorted and prepared the city letters
and carriers are on their pay to de
liver them. The regular force espe
cially designated to take charge of
this department is composed of its
sixty regular men, and their hours of
duty, or "tours," as they are called,
are from 12 m. "to 9 a. m., and from 8
in the morning till 5 in the afternoon,
ardfrom 5 in the evening till 2 the
next morning. The overlapping of
hours is designed to provide against
the possibility of being shorthanded
on the unexpected arrival of a large
mail.
Besides this regular force there are
twelve additional employes, "float
era," ao called, because their hours of
occupation depend upon the tides and
wind* They may report at eight and
work until five, or they may be called
upon at midnight to work until the
distribution is completed. Opposite
their names on the attendance book,
which contains a complete record of
every man employed in the depart
ment, is a cross, and if they were not
known as "floaters" they would be
known as "emergency men."
The number of ports from which the
mail is received in this city is 100 and
the number of languages represented
in the addresses is 100 multiplied by
the various dialects spoken or written
by people the round world over, and in
the decipherment of this multiplicity
of tongues there is rarely a serious
mistake, although there is no one per
son specially commissioned to attend
to this branch of the department.
The "hards," as the illegible or out
landish addresses are called in the
slang of the office, are sent to the
"blind reader" (which seems a mis
nomer) and his assistants, and by
means of directories and the forty
years of experience of the head of this
department the most ill addressed let
ter seldom fails to find its proper
owner. Of all the foreign countries it
seems singular that India should fur
nish the best addressed letters anil
Russia and Italy the worst. With ref
erence to the latter country it is a
curious fact that correspondents writ
ing to their friends on this side almost
invariably neglect to prepay the post
age, and the carrier who delivers the
mail in the Italian quarter always car
ries a small hand satchel to briug back
to the office the money due for the
"collect letters." In adopting this
course the writers take advantage of
the law, which enables any one to send
a letter to any point comprised within
the postal union.
In connection with the arrival of the
boats carrying the mails to any part
of the world the Government issues its
weekly bulletin, in which each ship re
ceives an initial letter, beginning with
A and continuing through the alpha
bet. This letter is used to designate
the mail that came by that particular
boat. The same table contains in an
other colnmu the exact time of the ar
rival of the mail at Quarantine and at
New York, and the initial letter is
used to trace any bit of matter that is
either delayed or lost. The bulletin
is, as a rule, dry reading, but a recent
issue contained the interesting state
ment that live bees might Vie shipped
to the Philippine Islands under the
classification of "samples."
The outgoing mails from this city
aro uuder two classifications—"close"
aud "opeu"—a "close" mail being one
that is made up for direct transporta
tion to some particular point, as, for
example, from here to Bombay, while
the "open" mail is via London or
some other point. In the preparation
of the bags for shipmeut the letters
are assorted with reference to this dis
tinction. Every business man in New
York is aware of the fact that any let
ter intended for a foreign port must
be placed in the postoffice thirty min
utes before the closing of the mail,and
tlie average number of letters received
►in the last moments is from Hix to eight
thousAud. This apparently unman
ageable mass of mail is handled by eight
people. Passing from the drop where
it iH rsceived, the letter goes to the
cancelling machine, which can by the
aid of a siugle man cancel, stamp and
stack 35,000 letters an hour. From
this machiue the letters are given to
the separators, who distributes them
first with reference to the country to
which they are addressed and, second,
according as they are for open or close
mail. At the last moment the way
bill must be made out and iu dupli
cate. This way hill contains an accu
rate and detailed statement of the
number of letters, points of destine-
J tion find the central offices in this
I country from which they come and
I the weight of the eutire mail, and when
i it is verified and properly checked on
j the European side it is the only re
i ceipt which the office has for the mail
that had passed through the depart-
I ment. The length of time allotted for
this important is, at the outside, fif
teen minutes.
i The letters from this country to Eu
rope are of course carried to other
| countries under contracts made by the
; Government, and the report of the of
[ j fice at New York is the basis upon
i which payment is made. This is true
jof all mail handled at this port with
■ the exception of the mail from Can
, ada, which merely passes through the
: office in transit.
In all calculations the Foreign De
partment uses the gramme as the
standard of weight and the centime as
the standard of value, and the con
venience of this system, especially
where w eight is concerned, may readily
be seen from the fact that each letter
is supposed to weigh ten grammes, so
if the amount of weekly mail was, as
it happened to be one week during
this month, 6.237,170 grammes, the
number of letters would be 623,717.
This thumb rule is used only for rough
estimates, for the United States mail
is as accurately accounted for as though
each letter were a fortune in itself, and
the letter bill which accompanies the
mail of tho outgoing steamer is let
tered, numbered and marked in such a
way as to indicate the exact number of
bags, newspapers, letters and regis
tered letters. Tho latter are inscribed
"red bags," and before any part of
' this mail can be removed from the of
ficial who has charge its exact detail
must be verified and approved.
To facilitate the immediate delivery
of mails to important European oitios
such as Naples, which is en route to
the general delivery of Modena-Turin,
the Naples mail is placed in a sack
within a Hack and at the proper station
is thrown on the platform while the
main mail goes to the central point of
j the distribution.
To prevent the loss of the mail bag
every possible precaution is taken and
each tag that bears the address is in
duplicate. These tags are printed on
the stoutest linen and are so tied that
if the outer address becomes torn off
or lost there will still be on the inside
hag its counterpart giving the neces
sary information. The corps of the
foreign department is more stable and
changes less frequently than any other
of the postal service, and this is largely
due to the fact that without experience
it would be utterly impossible to
master the intricacies of a business
which presents as difficulties not only
an infinite amount of technical detail
and the reading of foreign tongues,
but a knowledge of exigencies which
may arise at any moment and are de
termined solely by the condition of
winds and waves.
A vast number of letters is distri
buted on the steamers themselves by
employes who are known as "sea P.
O.'s." This experiment has proved a
complete success, and on each of the
boats there are two clerks and an as
sistant. How large an amount of
matter is thus made ready for imme
diate transition may he inferred from
the fact that they frequently work dur
ing the entire passage from sixteen '.<
eighteeu hours per day.—New York
Herald.
Horrors of a Convict Colony.
The Vladivostook, a nowspaper pub
lished in Eastern Siberia, gives a ter
rible account of the sufferings of the
Russian convicts of the penal settle
ments on the island of Saghalien. It
says: "A warder named Khanoff and
some of his assistants, who at one time
were convicts themselves and had been
| raised to the rank of jailers, have been
removed from their posts. Khanoff's
treatment of the prisoners was so
abominable that a number of them
j crippled themselves, cutting off fingers
1 and toes, in order to be treated ns in
valids and to be freed from his terri
| hie cruelties. Others fled to the im
penetrable forest, where they suffered
all the horrors of hunger. In a sat
chel belonging to a fugitive convict,
who bad been hunted down, were
; fouud some pieces of human flesh. In
' vestigatiou revealed that this innu had
] been one of a party of four, and that
j only one of them now remained. The
: others had been killed and devoured
by their comrades. Similar cases of
cannibalism are, according to the Si
berian journal, not infrequent."
Tears anl Nerves.
I My medical friend explains: As the
I muscular power that extends or flexes
a finger is at a distance from the part
moved, so the excitement to tears is
I from an irritation in a distant nervous
center, and is removed when the nerv
ous center is either soothed or ex
i hausted. The relief comes, not. from
the mere escape of tears, which is only
a symptom, but from the cessation of
the storm in the nervous chain. If
the Htorin be calmed by soothing
measures —as when we soothe a child
that is weeping from fear, annoyance
or injury--we quiet the uervous cen
ters, upon which the effect ceases. In
children the soothing method suc
-1 eeeds, and sometimes it succeeds iu
adults, although in adults the cessa
; tion of tears is more commonly due to
actual exhaustion following a period
of nervous activity.—Boston Globe.
Cleaning Buildings by Sandblast.
The exterior of huildiugs are now
cleaned by the sandblast instead of the
! hose. The front is covered with stag
iug, and the blast is applied by a sys
tem of pines and nozzles carried by
the workmen. The stream of fine sand
issuing from a nozzle removes a layer
1 -84 inches thick from the surface of th;
stone, and a square foot of surface can
Ibe cleaned in ten minutes. The sand
can he employed ever again. —Ntf.
York Dispatch.