ike people o. the United Statea
rea i and support as many newspaper ß
us England, France and Germany
combined.
A prophet is not without honor save
in his own country. The Guihlhall
Library in London has refused to ac
cept a but of the late Joseph Whita
ker, whoso "Almanac" is one of the
most useful books ever devised.
Daily newspapers are now published
by students in ten colleges and uni
versities in the United States—Yale,
Harvard, Cornell, Princetou, Brown,
•Stanford, Tulane, University of Penn
sylvania, University of Wisconsin and
University of Michigan.
The German agricultural papers say
that the imports of Americau apples
into the German Empire last year
were more than twenty times as large
as iu any previous season, the ship
ments in 1890 having amounted to no
less than 0,000,009 double centners—
the centuer being equal to a hundred
weight
A sensation has been created in Vi
enna by a young Bohemian physician,
Dr. Eukulu, who cures short-sighted
ness by means of a simple operation.
The University authorities approve ot
bis methods, but refused his applica
tion for a professorship, on the ground
that he is not properly qualified theo
retically.
Professor Munli, of the University
of Berlin, famous for his discoveries
in the physiology of the brain, says it
is n great mistake to suppose that
gymnastic exercises sandwiched in be
tween school hours rest the pupils.
On the contrary, he says, they still
more fatigue the brain, which ought
to have absolute rest. If both studies
and gymnastics are to be indulged in
on tbe same day, he says, they should
be separated by intervals of rest.
The movement for the industrial
education of the Southern colored
people is about to be advanced, an
nounces the Atlanta Constitution, by
the building of a cotton mill at Con
cord, N. C., for the special employ
ment and instruction of colored per
sons in this line of work. It is being
built by \V. C. Colemau, a wealthy
colored man, and will be the first cot
ton mill in the country to employ
colored operatives, although there ii
a spinning mill at Columbia, S. C.,
where they are employed.
Trustworthy advices indicnte tha
Peru is soon to become an active com
petitor in the petroleum trade of the
wor.d. The Peruvian oil fields are
enormous in area, occupying Fomt
<2OO square miles, and aro almost a*
rich in their doposits as those ol
Pennsylvania, which oonsist of only
350 square miles. The territory ii
being developed rapidly; crude petro
leuui is now used exclusively on the
locomotives of all Peruvian railways,
and with the introduction of North
American processes of refining and
transportation, the Peruvian product
will speedily become a powerful factor
in tbe trade throughout the world.
Says the Baltimore Herald: The
result of girls and women taking the
places of men in occupations that do
not call for physical strength mnst be
a coustunt lowering of the 'average,
and probably serves to prevent ad
vances when the trade conditions
enable employers to raise wages.
What helps to keep down remunera
tion are the thousands of females out
of employment. The fierce competi
tion created by a surplus of this kind
ol labor prevents tboso who have work
from receiving sufficient compensation
to maintain them. The lot of this
class is deplorable, and what to do for
them constitutes one of the most diffi
cnlt problems to the solution of which
economists can apply themselves.
Wood pulp as the basis of paper for
the present suffices, but it would bo a
nice thiug to imitate the papyrus of
the Egyptians aud adapt it to modern
usages. The question, however, is,
Would papyrus stand presswork? We
might call on the skillful writer and
reconstruct the missal of the past. In
England there was grown in the Vic
toria lily tank a great Egyptian papy
ins, the foot of which was seven feet
in diameter, and there were stems over
fourteen feet long. The pith was
taken, sliced, rolled into long strips,
and these adhered when submitted to
pressure. When a comparison was
made between an Egyptian inscribed
papyrus, which Dr. Birch said was
:;(.0U years old, anil the one just made,
the two were found to bo identical in
texture and appearance, save that,
through age, the Egyptian was darker.
When New York has its botanical gar
den, suggests the Times, we may grow
the Egyptian water plant and produce
our own papyrus.
Bourgueil, rising
H with violence and
, - throwing hie nap
>?£§! kin on the table.
I "Never ! Do you
JAirioS. § me ? Never 1"
R||Has rSi "fd the old mas
' ter mason paced
up and down the
cozy dining room, turning on his heel
furiously, like a bear in a cage; while
poor mother Bourgueil, her tearful
eyes lowered ou her plate, was discon
solately nibbling almonds.
For two years the same dispute had
been springing up between the old
couple—just as now at the end of their
evening meal. For it was two years
since they had fallen out with their son,
Edward, who, in spite of their oppo
sition, had married a woman picked up
somewhere in the Latin quarter—just
when he was about to take his degree
as a lawyer, too. How they had loved
him and petted him, this Edward—
this long wished for child, who had
come after ten long years of married
life, when they had almost given up
hoping for a son. The happy Bour
gueil, then only a simple builder, had
rubbed his hands, saying to his wife :
"You know, Clemence, that smart fel
low Haussmann is improving and
changing the whole of Paris, from one
end to another. Here is a good chance
for me. If things go on this way, I
can make a fortune in twelve or fifteen
years. And I know one thing, the lit
tle rascal of ours won't need to climb
up into scaffoldings, like his father,
nor come home every night with spots
of plaster all over his gray vest, aud
fit to drop with fatigue. We will make
a real gentleman of him, won't we,
Clemence?"
All Bourgueil's ambitions had been
realized. At college Edward was a
brilliant pupil, aud the old peasant
who had come to Palis many years
ago, carrying his shoes on his back
and a little silver tied up inn corner
of his handkerchief, had the satisfac
tion of seeing his son congratulated
and loaded with prizes by the Minister
of Instruction himself. What a future
the boy had before him 1 He would
pass the most difficult examinations
without any trouble—they would be a
mere joke for him—and then choose
any career he had a fancy for. "We
will leave the boy a good2s,ooofrancs
income," father Bourgueil would say,
cheerfully, slapping hiß wife's shoulder
with his strong, broad hand. "And,
saperlotte! we will make liim marry
"YOU NEED XOT EXPECT A sou FROM
EITHER OF US."
right soon. It will he easy to find
some pretty girl, with a good educa
tion like liis, who will make him
happy,and of whom we can feel protid !"
Ah, those lovely plans ! where had
they gone? Tbe kind old parents had
been foolish enough to furnish a room
in town for their boy, that he might
be more independent, Then he met
that woman, and immediately his
studies were dropped. At twenty-five
he had not oven taken his licentiate's
degree. They were dreadfully disap
pointed, after having built such fine
castles; still they did not give up all
hope. They consoled themselves,
saying: "He is so vonng! It will
pass. Let him alone awhile."
But one day the imbecile liad tbe
audacity to inform them that he had
adored this girl, and was determined
to make her his wife. This was too
much. If Bourgueil did not fall with
a stroke of apoplexy it was a miracle
indeed; the veins in liis neck were
swollen like cords. He ordered his
son out of the house and cut off his
income.
"If yon dare to give your name to
that woman,'' the old man roared,
crimson with wrath, "you need not
expect a son from either of us as long
as we live."
But the stubborn, ungrateful boy
bad outraged them to the end, and
now he was married to this doll of his,
and living on a wretohed clerk's sal
ary, in the Hiihnrb of the city—like
tome vagabond! Poor old couple!
How their urn's conduct had made
them suffer for these two horrible
years! Life was a pleasure no longer,
and lately the situatiou was getting
worse every day. It was the mother's
fault—she was too wretched and she
had relented at last. Her sorrow liad
got the better of her reseutmen - , and
now she was actually inclined to for
give. One day she mustered up suf
ficient courage to mention the sub
ject to her husband. But he fell into
a irenzy of passion, crying, "Never!"
with a l'oree that shook the doors and
windows, forbidding the poor womnn
to say another word about it. She
had not the heart to obey him, and
pleaded the cause of the Ruilty sun
again and again. And at every new
attempt Bourgueil was furious and
made a terrible scene. Their homo
became a purgatory. These two old
people, who had nothing to reproach
themselves with, who h3d loved each
other faithfully, who had lived and
toiled 6ide by side for more than thirty
years, became almost hostile. Every
night at the dinner table the quarrel
broke out unew, and it always ended
with some of those stinging thrusts
that wound the heart.
"Do you want me to tell you what
I think, Bourgueil?" the old woman
would say. "You are without pity!"
"And you are a coward to want to
give in," the mason replied, leaving
the room with a stamp of his heavy
loot.
Left alone in the soft light of the
lamp in the comfortable parlor, the
poor mother, who was still true to her
white linen caps, would quietly drop
burning tears on her knitting and pray
for her boy. Bourgueil bad lost all
hive for his home, now that he had
continually a sad face to look upon.
He had got into the habit of joining
some friends in a cafe close by whero
they waited for him for a game of
mauilla. In dealing out the cards the
irritated mason made long and violent
speeches against the present state of
morals, where paternal authority was
defied by children. But he swore
that he, at least, would set a good ex
ample; he would be stern to the end.
He could speak of nothing else, and ,
his partners proclaimed him "a tire- '
some old fellow," as soon as his back
was turned. In bis presence, however,
they deplored bis ill luck in having
such a scamp of a son, and highly
praised his firmness. One man in the
group, especially, invariably bailed
the mason's imprecations with an ap
proving word or two: "Bravo! Father
Bourgueil, you are a Roman !"
Bourgueil was from the province of
Marche, and possessed very indistinct
notions on antiquity. Still, lie had
some inkliug of the story of old Brutus,
and felt highly flattered to bo com
pared to such a personage. Yet when
he left the cafe aud found himself in
the cold dark night, he would say to
himself—oh! very softly—that Brutus
mast have had a cruel, hard heart,
and that it was a horrible thing to con
demn a son to death.
Enster Sunday has come—a joyous,
bright, happy day, merry with the
chimes of bells aud the promise of
warm spring days. The city itself
looks guy and coquettish. Women are
coming home from cburcb, and all are
carrying a bunch of box plant that
fills the air with sweet, fresh odor.
Even the old cab horses have a bit of
it stuck behind their ears !
Bourguei), who eat up last evening
nt the cafe till midnight, wakes up
very late. He is in a horrible mood ;
and what man would not be, 1 should
like to know? Last, night, at the usual
hour, he had again to listen to his
wile's absurdities. She ngain men
tioned Edward, and tried to soften
him, Bourgueil! She had made in
quiries, she said, and learned that
tbeir daughter-in-law, for she was that
in spito of all his anger, was not the
bad woman they had first thought. A
poor girl? Yes; sho had worked in a
store. But what of that? What were
they themselves but simple working
people, even if they had become well
off? Could they expect their son to
marry some rich marquis' daughter?
| And ever since Angelina—an ugly
name, but it wasn't tho girl's fault
after all—ever since Angelina had been
his wife, no one could breathe a word
against her. She was a model little
wife. "Can it be that you will not
have pity on these poor children?"
the old mother had naked him tearful
ly. "They are poor, very poor. What
do you think Edward earns in that in
surance company where he has found
a placo? It breaks my heart to think
of it; only 200 francs a month ! As
much as you spend on your cafe nud
your cigars. I don't ask you to see
them; but won't you help them, just
a little? We are living in plenty,
while they—" and receiviug no answer
from Bourgueil, who was pensively
turning the glass he had just emptied
between his fingers, tho old womau
I had rissu from her soat and come up
j to him putting a trembling hand on
I his shoulder, silently pleading. Vain
effort! Bourgueil, suddenly reraem
| bering that ho was a Komau, had
again poured forth maledictions and
his formidable "never.,*
Aud on this lovely Easter morning
ho is more than usually sad nud ill
tempered this strong minded old
mason. He lcels very nervous; He
has cut his chin twice while shaving.
Ob, no; he will not be weak enough
to pay an income to his undutiful son.
Would old Brutus have relented? Of
course not. And last night he was on
the point of yielding ! That is what
comes of listening to women. They
haven't energy for two sous, the
women haven't. Bourgueil is firmer
than ever in his resolutions as he puts
on a whito shirt and his gray holiday
suit. He goes into the parlor, that
cozy, pretty parlor he was so proud
of when things had still some interest
for him, and looks at the clock. It is
only 11 o'clock, and Bourgueil, who
j lias a fine appetite this morning, feels
! cross at the thought of eating only at
12. Soon Mother Bourgueil returns
from church with a large bunch of box
plant. She places it on a little side
table, and suddenly the whole room is
filled with the strong, fresh odor.
Bourgueil is no poet ; he has not a
very refined nature. Yet he is im
pressionable for all that—like you or
me—and the sight of the green
branches recalls far off memories.
While the old woman is busy taking
apart the twigs to decorate the rooms
with them, the penetrating perfume
affects his old heart. He remembers
a certain Easter morning—ah,so loug,
long ago—when he was still a work
man, and his young wife a dress
maker's apprentice. It was their
honeymoon, for they had married a
few days before Lent. Then, too, she
had returned from church with a fra
grant burden and made their only
room bright and festive. How pretty
she looked, and how he loved her 1
And by a rapid effort of imagination
he recalls in an instaut their long
years of married life; she has ever
been so industrious, so thrifty, so de
voted. And now he tortures her —
this good, brave woman—he makes
her suffer on account of his wicked
son.
But is Edward really so wicked as
all that? Of course a fellow ought to
honor his father and mother, and
obey them; but theo, are not youth
and love sufficient excuses for mauy a
fault? He watches Mother Bourgueil
with moist eyes, as she goes to place
a spray of box above Edward's pic
ture on the wall—ar picture of their
boy in his college suit, when they felt
so proud of him and of his studies.
"What is the matter? The old
mason hardly knows what he is about.
His head swims ; it is that strong odor
of the plant, doubtles. But his heart
fills with something that seems very
much like mercy and pardon. lie
goes up to his wife, takes her hands,
and, looking at the picture, mutters,
his rough voice grown strangely soft:
4 'Say, Clemence, sball we—forgive
him?" Ah ; the cry of joy that bursts
from the mother's lips! And he has
called her 44 Clemence," ju6t as in their
young days. He has not given her
that name for more than fifteen years.
And she understands that he loves her
still—her husband, her old com
panion.
She throws herself in his arms and
kisses him frantically, all over his
face, takes his head in both of her
hands, and whispers in his ear. The
other day—she couldn't help it,
really—she went to see their boy. He
is so unhappy to have offended them.
And if he has not come a hundred
times to beg their forgiveness, it is
simply because he did not dare. 44 You
know," 6he adds—and her voice be
comes soft and caressing— 44 you
know I have seen his wife, and you
really cannot blame him for loving
her, she is so sweet, and as fresh us n
rase. She just worships our Edward
—one can see that at once; and she
keeps their little homo in such applc
pie order."
Bourgueil feels oppressed—he is
choking. Putting a trembling finger
on his wife's lips: "That will do !" ho
says. "Send for a cab. Let us take
some of these sprays to them iu sign
of peace, and bung them homo with
us!"
And while the old mother, stunned
with joy, falls sobbing on her hus
band's shoulder, Bourgueil—the Ro
man, the old Brutus—begins to cry
solt'y, like a child.
Easier Thoughts.
It seems clear that a pure spirit will
arise from the seed of a pure body,
and a loving spirit from the seed of a
loving body. If tho body we sorrow
fully put aside has been one full of
charity, helpful, kindly, and eager to
speak tender, pitying words—one that
has thought no evil, and has believed
all things, and hoped all things, aud
endured all things—can any one doubt
what should come of such a seed plant
ing? The natural comes first, aud
after that tho spiritual. But "as i 6
the natural, so is the spiritual." It is
far more glorious, but after all—the
same!
So we may bring Easter, with its
wonderful deep mer.ning, into the life
of every day. How? By teaching
ourselves to comprehend the truth
that while we live this human life* and
develop this natural body, it is not
alone the natural body we are creat
ing, but the seed of the spiritual body
which is to como after.
This is not a mystical doctrine. All
those who in this life have attained
some knowledge of their spiritual nu
tures will testify to its truth. The
change from a natural to a spiritual
living is like the growing of a plant
whose seed wo have sown. The right
plant surely grows in a man who has
sown the right seed.
As the spiritual nature of such a
man begins to develop, tho purer,
higher elements in him grow stronger,
and one by one tho baser sort die.
Hate dies, aud revenge, aud aneer.
Cruelty dies, and all unkindness. Nar
rowness of mind dies, and contempt
lor the frailties of others.
The part that lives and grows stronger
is love. Parity and truth aud courage
are but parts of leve, and, as it grows
greater, by and by comes tho Rareness
of knowledge, and faith itself is swal
lowed up in fruition.
This is tho daily burial of the old
man, who was "earthy," and the daily
rising of the new, who is the "Lord
from Heaven." To such a heart Easter
comes every day. —Harper's Bazar.
Easter Pleasantries.
Like all other holy days, Easter
soon became a holiday. In some
countries the people dance about a
heap ot flowers at E ister ; in others
they distribute colored eggs aud have
great "egg-tights," in yfhicli the own
er of the hardest egg wins and tho
other egg is eaten by the victor, so a
man or boy with a very hard egg is
able to accumulate the basis of an
Easter Monday headache.
HIDING EASTER EGGS.
Climbing o'or the great straw stack,
And hunting thro' tho hay.
Finding all tho new-laid *ggs,
Then hiding them away
In the queerest kind of places-
Boxes, baskets, holes and kegs;
Stealthily they come and go,
Hiding Easter eggs.
From the eldest, twelvo years old,
Down to the youngest born;
Striving whose the greatest store,
t Laid by for Easter morn!
Drinking youthful happiness
To the very dregs,
In the early, chill spring days
Hiding Easter eggs.
lie who finds another's store,
He may add it to his own,
So, throughout the lengthening days,
The secret fun goes on.
Old Speckle, and the top-knots, proud.
White Leghorns brought from Cieggs
Cackle most exultantly
Laying Easter eggs.
9
They never, do their very best,
Can fill a nest a day;
Some dimpled hand or dirty fist
Purloins them right away.
No matter where they hide themselves,
In haymow, boxes, kegs,
Sharp eyes will find, as soon as laid,
And hide again their eggs.
Hugh, the younger, five years old,
Fill 9 gran'ma's mending bug;
Joe and Sam have au old box,
Together 'neath the drag.
In the old, abandoned stable,
High on the harness pegs.
Hangs "Ole Charlie's nose baskot
With Jenuie's Easter eggs.
Down on the sloping hillside,
Way out behind the barn,
Where, underueath a patch of sod,
Bnug nud safe from harm,
Ile'd hollowed out the sandy soil,
.\ud hid some old paint kegs;
John slyly goes from day to day
Hiding Eister eggs.
Fair aud bright dawns Easter morn,
Aud ends the secret strife.
Each one brings out his hidden si ore—
Old emblems of new life.
A corn baskot full to the brim!
No.longer mother begs
Foreggs. All have their fill
Eating Easter eggs.
—Nettie Overlon
EASTEit-EUU LOBE.
Curious Customs the Origin of Which
is Lost in Antiquity.
The distribution of eggs at Easter
has descended to us from the greatest
of the Chinese Spring festivals, inau
gurated more than seven hundred
years before the Christian era.
The custom was particularly popular
during the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries in England. Tho Pope sent
Henry VIII. an Easter egg in a silver
case.
In Ptussia it is common to exchango
visits aud eggs on Easter day.
In Italy dishes of eggs are seDt to
the priests to be blessed, after which
they are carried home and placed in
the center of the table.
In Spain an I Germany the eggs arc
not blessed, but they are highly col
ored and are distributed among callers
to bo eaten or taken away according
to the taste of the individual.
The custom, in one form or another,
cxietß among the Jews, Greeks, Turks
! and Persians.
"Pans" was the ancient name for
Easter, and the eggs were often called
"pace," "pach" or "paas" eggs.
In Scotland eggs are taken to church
to be bloseed. They are afterwards
distributed among the members of the
household and are either oaten or saved
as keepsakes.
The decoration of ordinary eggs
originated iu England. Gilding tho
shells was the first step. This was fol
lowed by the addition of ribbons, pic
tures and various other devices to
please the littlo folk.
These eggs were given and received
with the familiar Easter greeting,
"Christ is risen!" and tho answer,
"fie is rueu, indeed !"
Germans first introduced games into
the Easter celebration. Eggs were
hidden about the lawn or grounds or
in tho house. Then the children
hunted for them, the tinder of tho
greatest number receiving a prize.
Sometimes the eggs were all put in
one nest over which a rabbit was
placed on guard. How this animal
becamo identified with Easter is not
known, but in time the young children
began to believe that the colored eggs
were laid by tho rabbit.
Egg racing is a favorite amusement
of Russiau, German and French chil
dren. Tho eggs are rolled down hill,
and the prize goes to the boy \vho6o
egg rolls the greatest number of races
without damage to its shell.
This game is played by Washington
children iu front of the White House
on Easter Monday.
In Germany there are tracks made
of twig 3 down which each egg may
roll without interference from any
other one. The boy whose egg arrives
unbroken at the foot of the hill col
lects "toll" of his opponent wboae
egg is cracked.
Another game is plnved by two boys
who stand, each holding an egg, and
suddenly strike them together. The
owner of a heavy-shelled egg can, if
ho possesses skill, break tho eggs of
several players before his own ie in
jured. Then he is a "cock of one,
two, three or four eggs," as the case
may be.
Eggs are colored by means of ani
line dyes. By the addition of horns,
ears, tails, legs or fins eggs may be
transformed into many grotesque
ligures.
J. E. Morse, an American, has the
contract for tho first railway in Korea.
It will connect the port ot Chemulpo
with Seoul, the capital, a distance ol
twenty five miles,'and will costsl,Bso,
000.
MUC i'AHMINU WOULD PAY
NOT MUCH WOUK. VERY LITTLE
I ROUBLE AND GOOD P.ETUKN3.
Uncle Sam's Fisli Commission Has
Jlecn Investigating the Project-
Not a Farm In the United States.
THE United States Fish Com
mission just now is investiga
ting the subject of frog farm
ing. It is believed that there
ought to be money in the business,con
sidering the large demand for the hind
legs at high prices. The principal
market for them is in New York City,
where they are gathered from all parts
of the country, Fulton Market alone
selling from 75,000 to 100,000 pounds
anuually. To furnish such enormous
quantities of legs must require several
millious of frogs having an average
weight of half a pound. Only a small
outlay of cash and labor should be re
quired for establishing a frog farm,
and, once started,the enterprise would
run itself, the batrachians feeding
themselves and attending to their own
propagation. But, notwithstanding
frequent stories about successful frog
farms printed in the newspapers, the
Fish Commission has not been able to
discover the existence of a single sucu
plant in this country, though there is
one in operation at Benslord, Canada,
owned by a mau named Wedlock.
So hero is a promising industry as
yet unborn iu the United States. The
frog crop at present is wholly wild,
and the bulk of it is marketed in New
York. Missouri is the greatest frog
producing State ; the town of Kennett
alone ships GO,OOO pounds of dressed
frog legs annually, and New Madrid is
second with 25,000 pounds. The swamp
lauds of Missouri and Arkansas are the
finest frog growing areas in the world,
the frogs found there being of the real
bull species. They are caught in all
sorts of ways, some with a hook aud
bit of red flannel, und others by speur
ing and shooting. The lrog season
begins about the middle of Marsh and
lasts three months. At night men go
out in 6mall boats which are provided
with lamps and big reflectors. The
light so blinds the frogs that the boat
can be paddled right up to them, and
they are readily speared. Exceptional
specimens weigh as much as two
pounds apiece.
The experts of the Fish Commission
say that the plant required for a frog
farm is exceedingly simple and cheap.
Shallow ponds may he found almost
auywhere, and they need no prepara
tion unless the planting of bushes
around the edges. These serve as a
protection against euemics to some ex
tent, and have the further advantage
of attracting insects. Frogs feed
mainly on insects; the reason why
they bite at a bit of red flannel is that
they mistake it for a gaudy bug. It is
a good idea to build a low hoard fence
around the pond in order to keep out
snakes and small mammals that are
fond of frogs. The fence should bo
close to the water, so that birds can
not stand on the inside of it and pick
up the polliwogs.
Naturally, the first thing to do is to
secure some frogs for breeding. Any
old lrogs will not do. Some people
imagine that a frog is a frog, aud that
that is ull there is to bo said. But
there are in fact a good many species
of frogs, and the real bullfrog is the
kind whose large and muscular hind
legs are so esteemed as a delicacy. The
pond once stocked, the frogs will take
care of themselves and multiply rapid
ly if they get enough to eat. But it
should bo remembered that no insect
is ot any use from their point of view
unless it is alive, aud meat of any kind
has no attraction for them. They
want live bugs. Another point well
worth mentioning is that the bottom
of the pond must be of soft mud, be
cause when winter comes the frogs go
to sleep until spring. They burrow
into the mud aud there remuin in a
torpid state as long as cold weather
lasts.
When the last of the ice has gone,
the frogs come out oi' the mud and
again take an active interest iu life.
Spring is the season when Mr. Frog
goes a wooing. He is monogamous in
habit, and he employs the allurement
of song to excite the tender emotions
of his lady love. He has a tine bass
voice, by means of which he entices
the coy Miss Frog. A lady frog does
not sing. In the course of time the
female frog deposits in the water a
email glutinous mass of spawn; it
looks like so much jelly, with black
spots in it. The spawn may be hatched
artificially in a suitable hatching box,
but this is hardly worth while, inas
much as it will hatch itself just as well.
If gathered for transfer to another
pond, care should be taken to break
it as little as possible. It will hatch
in a week or so.
Mr. Lucas, the osteologist of the
National Museum, says that the frog
is just about the mo9t wonderful ani
mal in the world. It sturt9 in life as
a vegetable-eating fish, with gills and
a tail, and turns into au air-breathing
land animal, developing teeth, and be
coming a carnivorous quadruped. The
toad is a higher animal than the frog,
because it gives birth directly to little
air-breathing toads, whereas the frog
lays eggs that produce fish-like tad
poles. Mr. Frog has a skull of enor
mous size, and with a very small brain
cavity. He has only nine vertebral in
his backbone —fewer than any other
animal—and possesses no ribs at all.
Thus he is obliged literally to swallow
by gulps the air he breathes, instead
of projecting his chest like a human
being and creating a vacuum for the
atmosphere to pour into. He has a
joint in the middle of each foot, and
also a joint in the middle of his back.
These extra hinges help him immense
ly in jumping. If a man could jump
as well as a frog, in proportion to his
size, he would be able to leap at least
I 300 yards at a bound.
| Forty species of frogs are known in
the world. The largest is the gigantic
"bellower" of the Louisiana swamps,
which is said to attain a weight of
four pounds; the smallest is the treo
lrog. Ordinarily only the hind legs,
of the bull frog are eaten, but in New
Orlcaus and also in Fiance and Ger
many the animal is served whole quite
commonly. Anybody who has eaten
i frogs' legs will testify tu their deli
cibus flavor, which is somowhat like
that of very tender spring chicken,
only more delicate. The legs; after
being skinned, should be placed in
fresh, cold water. Next they should
be drained, dried and put to soak for
a while in the white of eggs, well
beaten up. Finally they must be
powdered over with flour and fried in
plenty of olive oil until they are crisp
and brown. Frogs' legs fetch ordin
arily about twenty cents a pound, but
extra biff legs are worth from thirty
to forty-five cents a pouud. They are
considered best in the autumn, just
before the frogs go into the mud, and
after they have spent a long season in
fattening themselves.—New York Sun.
WISE WORDS.
Love is a disease, and marriage is
generally its best anti-toxin.
Somehow the wittiest girl isn't the
one a man picks out to marry.
A man never knows surely that he
is in love till he thinks that she isn't.
Give until you feel it, and you will
feel more like living than you did be
fore.
It is hard to believe that there is
death in the sin that wears a mask of
gold.
Some men would rather win a dollar
on a wager than earn live at honest
labor.
The man who is too poor to lend his
friends money will never have mauy
enemies.
Most men view all public questions
through spectacles colored by party
prejudice.
The happiest man is he who adds to
the happiness of the largest number of
other men.
When doctors disagree it helps to
swell the population of one of the
other places.
The man who goes about wishing ho
was never born is not the only man
who regrets it.
Silence may be golden, but plenty
of silver will shut a man's mouth just
as effectively.
It is curious that a thing which will
lose a man a womau's friendship won't
lose him her love.
A man's enemies never kick him
when he is down ; they stand aside and
let his friends do it.
Ah soon as a man shows that he
knows much About women' a girl be
gins to thiuk he has a past. —The
South-West.
Military Carrier Pigeon*.
Following in the footsteps of all the
other European Governments, England
has arranged lor the use of carrier
pigeons in the army. In the time of
war it is urged that these swift cour
iers of the air can be used when rail
way, telegraph, messengers and other
usual means are cut oil, and pigeon
lofts will bo established at suitable
places where they will prove most ef
fective. In the begiuuing England
will have lint few birds, but more will
be added as time uud money will per
mit.
Germany lias the most complete car
rier pigeon service of any eouutry in
the world. There is hardly a town of
any importance in the German Empire
| that hasn't a pigeon loft, and the Gcr
| man Emperor annually distributes nu
j inerous prizes for long an i rapid
flights. The annual appropriation for
the pigeons in the army budget is
about S(SUOU. Frauce has more birds
than Germany and spends $20,000 a
year in maintaining them, but they are
not to well distributed. There are
scores of private lofts iu Germany that
will be at the service of the Govern
ment in time of need. Frauce learned
the value or pigeons during the siege
of Paris, when they were used to cou
vey messages to the seat of govern
ment at Tour--. Nearly fifty messages
were successfully despatched during
the siege, and since then the value of
the pigeons has not been questioned.
.It seems that carrier pigeons are
not able to make the speed that is
popularly supposed. German experts
say that the average pigeon can fly
thirty-five miles an hour and not more. ,
Snake in a Lump of Co.il.
An Oakland (Cal.) dispatch to the St..
Paul Globe says: Peter Zabella, fire
mau at the waterworks at Livennore,
while trying to shovel a l imp of coal
into the furnace ma le au astonishing
discovery. The piece he desired to
place in the furnace was by the side of
a larger piece. He tried to pick up
the smaller lump on his shovel. He
succeeded in getting the lump on liis
shovel several time.-', but every time ho
endeavored to toss the lump toward
tlie furnace door it would roll oIT the
shovel and back TO its original position,
just as if there was a string tied to it.
Zabella made several ineffectual
efforts to get the coal into the iurnace,
but each time it seemed to snap back
to its original position. At last the
man became frightened and came to
the conclusion the coal was bewitched.
Then he cooled down and began a
systematic and eminently practical
investigation.
lie began working at the lump of
coal with a crowbar. The crowbar
settled the lump o* coal and the crea
ture that inhabited it in a very short
time.
There was found imbedded in the
larger lump of coal u snake. The reptile
had coiled its tail around the smaller
lump, and that is what had prevented
Zabella from getting the smaller lump
away from the larger one.
The snake was alive when taken out,
but lived only a short time after being
exposed to the air.