King Menelek, of Abyssinia, has
ordered a battle picture from a Rus
sian artist, to commemorate the
thrashing he gave the Italians.
Only six of the forty-live States of
the Union indulge in the extravagance
of anuual sessions of the Legislature,
to wit: Georgia, Massachusetts, New
York, Rhode Island and South Caro
lina, all belonging to the original
thirteen.
A number of liberal citizens of De
troit, Mich., are about to present to
the Salvation Army of their city a
building valued at §74,000 in appre.
ciation of the army's work for the re
lief of the poor and distressed during
the past winter. It is said the whole
amount needed has been pledged, Mr.
Carlton A. BearJsly starting the sub
scriptions with §15,000. Secretary
Alger is credited with giving §IO,OOO.
The long-talked-of project of a rail
road connecting North and South
America is being revived. The nego
tiations between Mexico and Guate
mala, which were interrupted two
years ago by the strained diplomatic
relations of the two countries, have
been resumed, and Mexico has just
appointed a commission to act with a
similar commission to be appointed
by Guatemala. It will be the duty of
the joint commission to select a feasible
route for the proposed road.
An abstract of some statistics com
piled in Franoe on lightning accidents
shows that during the past sixty-seven
years for every one person killed
three or four are wounded. In the
month of March the average deaths
amount to 1 per cent. ; in April, 3; in
May, 7; in June and on September,
30, 20, 31 and 15 respectively; in
October, 12. Most of the eases occur
in fields and roads, but particularly
under trees. In a period of thirty
years 1700 persons wore killed under
trees, who probably would not have
been injured if they had not taken
refuge there; and one out of every
four has been killed while sheltering
under branches. In France there
have been eight deaths per 100,000
inhabitants, and in Great Britain two.
Thirteen American cities have now
experimented with the system of va
cant lot farming which Mayor Pingree
of Detroit (now Governor of Michigan)
invented three years ago as a means of
helping destitute citizens to help
themselves. The cities are, beside
Detroit, New York, Buffalo, Seattle,
St. Louis, Toledo, Boston, Brooklyn,
Cincinnati, Duluth, East Orange, St.
Paul, and Minneapolis, and in every
one of them enough of benefit has
been derived from the innovation to
warrant a continuation of it. Next
summer it is believed that the plan
will be adopted in many other places.
Us chief advantages are that it gives a
r eady means of distinguishing tho
worthy poor who are willing to work
'rom those to whom any form of in
lustry is distasteful, and that it is a
form of charity which tends little or
not at all toward pauperizing those to
whom it is extended.
An effort will be made during this
Congress to have tho number of Cab
inet officers increased to nine. The
pioposition being agitated is to create
Cabinet Department of Commerce and
Industry, says tho Washington Star.
The first Cabinet, that of Washington,
consisted of five members. Tho Sec
retary of State was paid §3500 a year,
and the others §3OOO each. War and
Navy formed one department, and
there was no Department of the In
terior or of Agriculture. The first
increase in the number of Cabinet
officers was under President Jefferson,
who had a Secretary of the Navy and
a Secretary of War, instead of the two
offices being in ore. Tho number re"
mained at six until President Taylor's
term, when a Secretary of the Inter
ior was aided. Just before the closo
of President Cleveland's first term the
Department of Agriculture was estab
lished and u Secretary of Agriculture
was created. Prior to that there had
been a Commissioner of Agriculture.
The salaries of the Cabinet officers
have been increased from time to time,
until now they are §BOOO each per
year. During the first throe or four
administrations of tho United States
tho Cabiuets were not composed ex
clusively of men who agreed in pol
itics. Washington's administration
was kept in a state of turmoil by the
disagreements between Hamilton and
Jefferson, until finally tho Cabinet
was broken up. Madison, John Adams
un<l Jackson had much trouble with
their Cabinets. Madison had seven
teen men in his Cabinet during two
terms; Jackson had nineteen and
Grant had twenty-one. It has been
a rare thing for a Cabinet to remain
without change throughout an entire
administration.
REMEMBERIWO.
It may be years sinue one much loved
Was locked in death's mysterious sleep;
It may be that the flowers we kee**
Because of them, I
Are no more wet with tears.
Our Jives go on without them;
The aching void that Death has le."
1b filled by other loves, ;
And we are less bereft 1
Thau when we heard tho dull thud-thud
That crazed us with its utter hopelessness;
But when we see a certain hiuie of hair.
Or t&ne of voice, or eveu but the lifting of a
hand,
It all comes back
As something we have known before,
And we, remembering, understand.
—Edna Heald, in Womunkind.
ON A JAUNTING CAR.
BY ANNIE F. JOHNSTON.
. |LjJ p was ft J une
I morning in
l&S ■ Cork. Mi s s
■ sjgc.' Briggs and her
niece had left
H the rest of their
I party at the ho "
2_i|| H ,l)W tel, to recover
JJ .SO * rom the effects
of a rough p*B
. sage, and had
"'o ° started out to
explore the
quaint old towD.
The jaunting car rattled along
through the crooked streets, and
turned into a wide, smooth avenue,
whose hawthorn hedges were white
with blossoms, and whose wayside
trees covered it with a cool, deep
shade; then back again into the
crooked streets, where a detachment
of soldiers passed them. "Look!"
cried Emily with girlish enthusiasm,
"there are some Highlanders!"
A band came next, followed by sev
eral carriages, while a noisy rabble of
hooting, barefoot children and bois
terous men and women straggled after.
"What is the matter?" she asked of
the driver, who had siopped his horse
to let the procession pass.
"It's O'Brien, miss," he explained.
"He'll be after spakin' in the park, the
day, and they're fearful av a riot,
miss."
The procession was a long one, and
they waited several minutes for it to
pass. Just as they sturted on again,
Emily, happening to look across the
street, saw a man, evidently a tourist,
hastily shutting up a small camera.
"Auntie," she almost gasped, "I
actually believe that man has been
taking a photograph of us !"
Miss Briggs looked quickly, but they
had turned a corner, and he was out of
sight. "Well, it can't be helped," she
said laughingly, but with an indignant
pink flushing up into her cheeks. "It
serves us right for making a spectacle
of ourselves by getting on to such an
outlandish conveyance."
On tho following day, while Miss
Briggs sat alone in the parlor of the
Imperial Hotel, busily engaged with
her journal, Emily entered, her hat
awry and her face glowing.
"Look!" sho cried breathlessly.
"Here is a sketch I made this ufter- i
noon, auntie. I did it in sepia. And
oh, I've had such an interesting ex
perience I We all went up to Shan
don churchyard, and old Mr. Lumb
took me up in the tower to read the
inscription on the bells. When we
came down again, you couldn't guess
who was standing in the churchyard,
by Father Prout's tomb."
Miss Briggs held the sketch off at
arm's length, surveying it critically,
and shook her head.
"Well, it was that man who took
our picture yesterday. As soon as he
saw me, ho came directly towards me.
Ho took off his hot with as friendly a
smile as if we had always known each
other, and said, 'Pardon me, miss, are
you not the young lady whom I saw
yesterday on a jaunting car while the
procession was crossing the bridge?'
I was so amazed I did not know what
to say, and he began nt once to apolo
gize and explain. He said ho was out
with his camera, taking pictures of
interesting types of Irish character,
and was attracted by our coachman's
face. He paid no attention to us un
til we were driving away. Then he
eaw me, but did not notice you par
ticularly. While he was developing
the picture, that afternoon, he was al
most startled, he told me, as your fea
tures gradually appeared on the plate.
He said : 'They beai such a striking re
semblance to one ) knew years ago.
Will you allow me to ack if the lady
with you was a Miss Briggs? Miss
Caroline Briggs?'"
Emily paused to note the effect of
her words, and Miss Briggs looked up
with lively interest depicted on every
feature.
"Go on !" she demanded.
"Just then Mr. Lumb came hurry
ing up and 6lapped him on tho back,
and said, 'Hullo, Fritzie, old boy ! Is
it really you ?' It must have been
•Friczie, old boy,'for they began talk
ing about old times, and forgot my
existence ever so long. Then Mr.
Lumb introduced liim—Howe, or
Power, or some such name. He's
stopping at our hotel, and iA going to
join our party till we reach Belfast."
. Emily paused to observe the effect.
Miss Briggs opened her mouth as if to
say something, gave a little gasp and
closed it again.
"It's Frederick Powell!" she de
clared with an air of conviction. "I
know it! Yes, I knew liim fifteen
years ago." She looked out of the
window a moment as if considering,
and then went on in her concise, mat
ter-of-fact way, "We were to have
been married then, but we had a quar
rel and the engagement was broken off.
It was a good thing. We were both
high strung and obstinate, and never
could have learned to agree."
Miss Briggs gave this little bit of
personal history as unconcernedly as if
she were speaking of the ancient
'creeks, and began to gather up her
writing material. Emily looked at her
curiously, wondering if there*'could
have been a spark of sentiment in such
a severely practical nature.
"He showed me the photograph,"
said Emily, as they climbed the stairs
together. "It was bad, even for an
amateur. Only the back of my head
was taken, but you were in a strong
light that made you squint and wrinkle
up your face, and your leet looked im
mense."
When Miss Briggs went down stairs
to dinner that evening, she had laid
aside her customary gray serge dress,
ae homely as it was serviceable, and
wore a dark blue, tailor-made suit.
Remembering that Emily had said her
feet looked immense in the photo
graph, she had carefully changed her
heavy, broad-soled boots for dainty,
low-cut shoes. She stopped a moment
in the hall, hearing a familiar laugh.
She remembered that the last time she
had heard that voice it had bidden her
good-by in hot anger. Then she
pushed the door ajar and entered the
parlor, where the party had congre
gated to wait for dinner.
Dr. Frederick Powell was standing
by a window in animated conversation
with Emily. He scarcely noticed her
aunt's entrance, so engrossed was ho
with the fair niece. Miss Briggs had
been a pretty girl in her day, but the
photograph he had taken, and which
was still fresh in his mind, was that
of a wrinkled, faded woman, careless
of her attire. Ho looked up with sur
prise as she advanced toward them.
The brusk independence of manner he
had expected to see had given place to
a stately dignity. She was one of those
women for whom a becoming dress
does wonders.
"I'm glad to see yon!" they both
said in the same breath, and shook
hands as if the most platonic of friend
ships had always existed between
them.
Mi6B Briggs was not so well pleased
with her survey. "He's getting stout,"
she thought critically, "and a trilie
bald. He's not the handsome man he
used to be."
Emily was charmed with Dr. Powell.
She found him entertaining and agree
able. He praised her sketches. He
told her interesting incidents of his
travels in many lands, and amusing
aneodoteß of his professional life.
When the party went sight-seeing, he
was her tete-a-tete if they rode. When
they walked, he was always at her side
to hold her umbrella.
Seeing this, Miss Briggs calmly re- j
volved in her solitary orbit—a trifle
more independent in manner, perhaps,
and if possible more outspoken in her
radical opinions. Emily tried in vain
to persuade her aunt that the old serge
was too unbecoming for further use
fulness. Every morning she put it on
with the grim satisfaction of carrying
her point, and looking her worst.
The days went by too fast in the old
town. Night and morning and noon,
they listened to the chiming of the
bells in the ivy grown Shandon tower,
and then it was night and morning and
noon again. Still the little party lin
gered.
One day, after lunch, they started
out to make a farewell visit to Blarney
Castle. Dr. Powell and Emily gaily
led tho way on a jaunting car. Sev
eral of the party followed on horse
back, and the rear was brought up by
a light wagonette. Miss Briggs rode
in this, net being an excellent horse
woman, and having a mortal antipathy
to jaunting cars.
It was a drive none of them could
ever forget. But by the time they had
reached the castle, the sunshine had
faded out, the landscape was gray and
blurred, and the rain began to pour
in torrents. There was nothing to do
but sit down and wait for it to stop,
but they had grown accustomed to
this peculiarity of the weather in Ire
land.
An old woman came to the door,
begging. They tolled her in with a
shilling, and she entertained them
with gruesome tales of the banshees
and witches that inhabit the bat
haunted ruins of Blarney at night.
The doctor handed Emily a pencil and
a leaf torn from his memorandum book,
and she began to sketch the old peas
ant, with quick, effective strokes. Miss
Briggs sat back in a dim corner, listen
ing carefully, for the woman's brogue
was almost unintelligible to her. Twice
she glanced up, to find Dr. Powell
looking at her.
Presently in a pause of the story
telling, he walked over and stood be
side her. "What does this remind you
of, Caroline?" he'asked abruptly.
"Nothing," she answered. "Why?"
"It reminds mo of a gypsy camp wo
visitod one time. You have not for
gotten it, I hope. It was the last day
of August, sixteen yeurs ago. The
scene comes back to me very plainly.
An old hag told our fortunes. Some
how, you look just as you did then."
He walked over to Emily again.
Miss Briggs drew back a little farther
into tho dim corner, and listened no
more to tho legends of Blarney. She
heard, instead, the crackling of a
camp fire, the stamping of horses tied
in the background, the whining tones
of the old gypsy who pretended to
look into the future, when in reality
she had only to look into the faces be
fore her to guess their fate. Then
she heard the laughter of the young
folks rambling slowly along in the
moonlight behind them. Then the
low, earnest voice of tho one beside
her—no, she would not listen 1 Sho
would not recall a single word. The
old love hail lain buried deeply too
long for its ghost to trouble her now.
She turned resolutely to the old wom
an, although she couldn't help remem
bering, now and then,that he tad said
she looked just as she did that night—
and that night ho had called her
beautiful.
••I know that isn't so!" sho kept
telling herself, to quiet the little thrill
of pleased vanity. "He's got an axe
to grind. He wants me to use my in
fluence with Emily."
It was nearly dark when the raiu
finally stopped, and they started back
to the hotel. There was a shifting of
seats. The wagonette led the way,
followed by those on horses, and when
Miss Briggs came through the gate,
Dr. Powell was waiting to help her on
to the jaunting car.
They drove along in silence some
time, before the doctor remarked un
easily, "The drivers have been drink
ing. I hope they'll not get us into
trouble."
"I have never been in any kind of
an accident," answered Miss Briggs.
"I have always thought I should like
to be, just for the sensation."
For a short distance they enter
tained each other by recounting the
most dreadful accidents of which they
had ever heard both on land and sea.
They reached the climax at last. They
could recall no supremer horror than
had already been related.
Just then the half intoxicated driver,
having fallen behind the others, took
up his whip and lashed the horse furi
ously. The frightened animal reared
and broke into a run. Now was Miss
Briggs' opportunity for a sensation.
They were running uwuy. She gripped
the seat firmly and held on with
all her She would have stuck
on vai - to the i-nd, had not the
horse . i suddenly to one side, and
then on more madly than be
fore. Both she and the doctor were
thrown violently out.
When the-doctor picked himself up
and looked around in a dazed way, she
was standing oxect as ever, vigorously
brushing the mud from her drese.
She had experienced an accident and
had come out of it, as she had come
out of everything else, unscathed.
The party on ahead, alarmed at the
sight of the runaway horse dashing
past, despatched Mr. Lumb, who was
on horseback, to investigate. As they
were near town, it was not long be
fore he had sent a cab to their assist
ance.
"Caroline," said the doctor, as they
drove back in the twilight, "I have
always been impressed with the rapid
ity with which the brain acts. Man
thinks at lightning speed."
"That depends on the man," Miss
Briggs interposed laconically.
"When we went flying through the
air," he went on, without noticing the
interruption, "it flashed across my
mind that I should find you lying
stunned and insensible—that I would
pick you up tenderly in my arms, and
kiss you, as I did long ago—that I
would claim you for my own again."
"Well," she answered provokingly,
"I suppose the shock of such a fall,
to a man of your weight, would natu
rally bring him to his senses."
"It was not that," he said, a little
confused and nettled by her cool re
ply, "but the situation was not as ro
mantic as I had imagined—as I hoped
it would be."
"You had hoped, then, that I should
be stunned?"
"Oh, Caroline," he remonstrated,
"is there never to bo anything but
misunderstandings between us? You
must listen to me, for it is fate that
has brought us across the sea to find
each other at last. I was sure of it
when 1 first met you, although you
seemed 60 stolid and indifferent.
Think of the time when we were all in
all to each other."
"I thought Emily—" began Miss
Briggs.
The doctor laughed happily. "No!
No I Emily is not as blind as her aunt.
She has known what I wanted from
the first. You have not said no," he
added presently, as they rode on
through the darkness, "and I shall not
let you say it now. You are mine—
and a thousand times deaTer than
when you were the sweetheart of my
boyhood."
He slipped his arm around her, and
felt her shaking with suppressed sobs.
"Why, what's the matter?" he asked.
; "1 don't know," she answered. For
j Miss Briggs had met with an experi
| ence she could not fathom. The ton-
I der undercurrents of her nature, frozen
so long that she doubted their exist
i ences, melted as in a February thaw,
and found vent in tears,
j At the hotel entrance they found
the drunken driver awaiting them, hat
in hand, "I'm sorry to be troublin'
yez, torr, but ther's" the two shillin'
sixpence for the journey out, and two
shillin' sixpence for the journey back.
An' the same ahud be more, for it
i broke me vehicle an' lamed mo baste."
j The doctor smiled down into the
I face beside him, where his fond eyes
j saw blooming again the beauty of girl
j hood, and said, "The rascal knows the
i accident was all bis own fault, but if
| it bad not been for him, I might never
i have found you as I did, on a jaunting
car."
He dropped a shower of silver pieces
into the outstretched hand.
"Shure un* ye're fit for a prince,
sorr !" cried the man, delighted at the
unexpected generosity, and shrewdly
guessing its cause. "Good luck to ye
an' the swate leddy!"
And as they walked on down the
corridor, his voice followed them, in
voking the blessing of all the saints in
his calendar.—The Puritan.
Age of the Premiers.
Care and worry do not seem tq
shorten the lives of the British Pre
miers. Gladstone by completing his
87th year has broken the record
which was held by Lord Sidinouth,
who died past BG. Earl Russell died
at the same age; the Duke of Wel
lington at 82, Lord Palmerston and
Earl Grey at 81, Earl of lieacoustield
77, Earl of Aberdeen 76, Earl of
Derby 80, Sir Robert Peel 62. Glad
stone and Sir Robert are the only two
Premiers who were not peers and did
not accept a peerage from the Queen.
Expert Thieves.
Thieves ihrew a hook and line
through an open window of a house at
Monterey, Mexico, and stole the bed
clothes, under which the owner of the
• house was sleeping.
THE MERRY SIDE OF LIFE.
STORIES THAT ARE TOLD BT THE
FUNNY MEN OF THE PRESS.
Inducements—She Knew Best—in the
Bestauriint— A Safe Location—An
Alternative, Etc., Etc.
••Whistle, daughter, whistle,
And vou shall have a beau.'*
•'I never whistled in my life—
My whistle will not go."
•'Whistle, daughter, whistle.
'Twill bring you cash per week.**
•'Oh, goodness! come and teach me
How to make a tuneful squeak."
—Chicago Record®
AN ALTERNATIVE.
"May I kiss your hand?" he asked.
She removed her veil.
"No," she replied. "I have iny
gloves on."—Life.
A SAFE LOCATION.
Jimmy—"Say, fellers, if youse wants
to play ball, come around my way."
Tommy—"What for?"
Jimmy—"Dere's a fat cop 011 dat
beat dat can't run."
IN THE RESTAURANT.
Brown—"Was that beef a la mode
you asked for?"
Smith—"lt was a la mode when I
asked for it. The fashions may have
changed since."—Puck.
NOT A YEARLING.
Bridges—"Why, sure, with such a
past she must succeed on the stage !"
Brooks—"And yet I'm fearful. The
quality of her pust is all right, but
think of the quantity."
SHE KNEW BEST.
Prima Donna—"Those flowers arc
not for me."
Conductor—"Yes, they are."
Prima Donna—"Well, they're not
the ones I paid lor."—Pick-Me-Up.
A FORCED CHANGE.
Mr. Prospect Heights "Before I
was married 1 always said I would
never wheel a baby carriage."
Mr. Papleigh Push—"You changed
your mind, eh?"
Mr. Prospect Heights—"No; my
wife did."—Puck.
nis OFFENCE
•'The New Woman's Club will never
hire Tenoi, the singer, again."
"Why so?"
"He wa9 billed to sing four times
at their annual dinner and each time
he warbled 'What is Home Without a
Mother!' " —Truth.
GREAT PROSPECT.
Blanche—"You don't tell me that
you are engaged to a hotel waiter?"
Cora—"Yes; but he'll be rich some
day."
"Nonsense!"
"Certainly he will. Don't you know
that all things come to him who waits?"
FIRST, LAST AND ONLY.
Mrs. Jones—"Do you remember
that night in June, Henry, when you
first asked me to marry you?"
Mr. Jones—"lf you reier to that
first, last, single, solitary and only
occasion upon which I ever asked you
to marry me, I do—and you never
gave me another chance, remember."
BETWEEN TWO FIRES.
The Fianoee —"I'm very much dis
pleased with Jack, and I'm half in
clined to break off the engagement."
The Confidante—"You won't do
that, will you?"
The Fiancee—"Well, I dislike to do
it, because, yon kuow, mamma has
been so violently opposed to our mar
riage."—Puck.
UNUSUAL FEE.
Mrs. A. Quitt — "So you cleared that
poor Mr. Liftem from the charge of
stealing that turkey? Well, I'm glad
of it, but he's such a worthless charac
ter that I don't believe you will ever
get a cent for your pay."
A. Quitt (the famous criminal law
yer)— "I may not, but I've got a
blamed good turkey out in the wood
shed."—Truth.
TLED DEGENERACY.
"You admit you are an impostor?"
said the judge.
"No, 1 didn't, your honor."
"You claimed to be blind, and yet
you have an unimpaired eyesight."
"That's true, your honor; but I'm
morally blind, sir, and not being able
eeo the harm in my innocent decep
tion —"
"3ix months," ejaculated the judge.
—Harper's Bazar.
CURE FOR TIIE CLUB HABIT.
Mrs. Yeast —"I wish I could think
of something to keep my husband at
home at nights."
Mrs. Puncheon—"Get him a bi
cycle. "
Mrs. Yeaßt "That would take him
out more than ever."
Mrs. Puncheon—"Oh, no. it
wouldn't! My husband got one the
day before yesterday, and the doctor
say he won't be out for a month." —
Household Words.
THERE •DANGER.
"It seems odd," remarked Mrs. Ten
spot, "that with all the words in the
English langnago an ordinary person's
vocabulary is only about two thousand
live hundred words."
"It is odd, my dear," replied her
husband, "and it behooves you to be
careful."
"Me careful? Why?"
"You go through your vocabulary
so many times a day there is danger
that you will wear it out."—Judge.
People who sell newspapers in the
streets of Moscow, Buesi* are com
pelled to appear in uniform.
The Midiug of Bogs.
Recently disaster overtook a small
locality in Ireland by the sliding of a
bog. Many lives were lost in the vast
mass of miry peat. This bog was about
forty feet deep in the centre ard in a
liquid, half-swampy condition caused
by a downpour of water, forming a
stream from half a mile to a mile
broad, which overflowed the land,
ruining crops and stored fuel, cattle
aud provisions.
This nnusual catastrophe is not
without precedent. The "flowing moss
of the Solway" was on a larger scale.
Bo long as the moderately hard crust
ou the surface of the bog was not dis
turbed the mud did not flow over, but
some peat diggers impudently tam
pered with thie and the mud broke
bounds. One night a farmer who lived
with the moss was startled by an un
usual sound and making a light he
caught sight of a small dark stream
which was the herald of a deluge. No
less than 304 acres of bog overflowed
4000 acres of land, burying farms
overturning buildings, suffocating
cattle, and filling sfnall cottages to the
roofs. Many persons were only rescued
by beiDg got through the roofs, the
black night and their terror at the ca
lamity, which they did not understand,
adding to the difficulty of the situa
tion.
The stuff flowed a!:ng like thick,
black paint, studded with chunks of
peat and tilled every nook and crevice
in its way. The odor was something
frightful. In some cases this over
flowing of a bog is heralded by a noise
like thunder—the bursting of a bog.
The last occurence before the reoent
one in Ireland happened in 1853 in the
wild region called Enagh Monmore.
The moss was a mile in circumference
and many feet thick and moved on for
twenty-four hours.
The best known quaking bog in
Great Britain is Chat Moss, of whose
breaking out the historians of the time
of Henry VIII. tell us. Though slid
ing and moving bogs have been intro
duced into stories only once—in a
book called "For Dear Life"—quick
muds are a common end for a bad
character in a story. Carver Doone,
it will be remembered, was thus dis
posed of. But to be engulfed in flow
ing mud is not pretty, and if Hercn
laneum had been buried in this way
instead of by lava it would lose its
romance.
The Care of Shoes.
The expensive russet shoes will last
for two or three seasons, but they
cost at least twice as much as tho shoes
that look well through one season and
then become shabby and suddenly
break down all around. Footwear is
cheaper than it was a year ago, so far
as the use of superior qualities of
leather in the general manufacture of
goods is concerned, and yet the prices
are tho same. Tho rr.sset shoe is es
sentially an article of summer wear;
still, expensive makes have been sold
for winter as well. is surprising,
however, what a difference there is in
tho quality sometimes of two pairs of
cheap shoes manufactured by the same
house. Shoes that sell for $3 aud
53.50 sometimes go to pieces in a
few weeks, while others last for
months. The fact of the matter is that
all che stitching is done by machinery,
and such shoes are weak or strong ac
cording as the girl or man who runs
the machine has been careful or care
less.
When tho boot is muddy let it dry
before trying to knock the mud oft.
Then lightly rub, being careful not to
rub it into the leather. Take a soft
cloth, dusting carefully, when it will
clean with very little stain. Take a
damp woolen cloth, which will remove
all the stain. Warm water is best to
use. This simple process will keep the
shoes in nice order, while if the shoes
are blackened each time, the grain
soon becomes so tilled with it it will
stiffen and crack. If you should in a
fitorm get them very wot, wipe them
dry as possible with a soft cloth, fill
them with paper to shape them and
put them in a warm place to dry. J f
this is carefully carried out your boots
will be stiff, but with an old loose
glove on the baud work some vaseline,
a little at a time, all over the shoe.
After standing a few hours the leather
will absorb it, and any good blacking
will give it a nice polish, being also
pliable and soft.—Chicago Dry Goods
Reporter.
A Rats' Nest Worth SIOOO.
While workmen were engaged last
week in demolishing a barn ou tho
Thompson property in Dobbs Ferry,
N. Y., they found under the floor a
rats' nest which was made of green
backs. The money had been badly
torn and chewed, but most of it, if.not
all, is redeemable.
Professor Thomas F. Thompson,
who now owns the property, says tho
money was probably bidden under
the barn floor some years ago by
bis father, Robert Thompson, who
began to act qaeerly in 1889, and
became possessed of a fear of banks,
lawyers and coi porations. After that
he carried his money about him. He
seldom, if ever, allowed anyone but
himself to visit the barn. Mr. Thomp
son, Sr., died September 18, 1893,
and Professor Thompson's mother
lived until December last.
By her will the estate, which
consisted of S3OOO and tho house and
land, was to be divided equally between
Professor Thompson aud his brother.
The Professor took tho house and his
brother the money. In equity the
money found in the rats' nest belongs
to Professor Thompson. The professor
is a blind musician and haß composed
a number of pieces.
The total amount of money in the
Tats' nest is thought to bo about
SIOOO. It is in 83, $lO and S2O bills.
New York Commercial Advertiser.
Lightning in a Kentucky tov?n
knocked a stave out of a rain barrel
and deprived a family of its water
supply for wash day.
HOUSEHOLD AFFAIRS.
TO POLISH BRASS KETTLES.
To polish brass kettles or anything
brass that is very much tarnished, first
rub it with a solution of oxalic acid
and then dry and polish with rotten
stone or very fine emery dust.
BATH BAGS.
A bran bag is one of the most grate
ful of all toilet accessories. It is more
cleansing to the skin, and much more
refreshing. It is made by filling a
muslin bag with two quarts of bran,
one ounce of orris root, one ounce
almond meal and one small cake of
castile soap cut in small pieces.
THE CORN BEEP NOT TO BUY.
It is a good thing to know that
brisket is one of the cheaper cuts of
beef and that it comes from that part
of tho animal just above the front
legs, but it is better to know that
butchers never corn meat that can be
kept any longer and that the corned
beef already cut and rolled is the
corned beef not to buy.—New York
World.
TO FRESHEN WINDOW SCREENS.
Window and door screens may be
made more durable and to look better
by an occasional coat of varnish or
paint. If the wire netting is not faded
or rusty it is better to give it a coat of
good coach varnish, but if faded or
rusty apply a coat of paint. Use a
good quality, and thin with turpentine
until it will run, or it will till the
meshes of the netting. Black is a good
color, as it makes the netting almost
invisible from a distance. Paint the
frames tho same color as outside of
window sash.
USES FOR CHEESECLOTH.
The following is a list of some of the
household purposes for which cheese
cloth may be used.
For polishing windows and mirrors.
For washing windows.
For cleaning silver.
For cleaning brass ware.
For drying and polishing glassware
of all kinds.
For dust-cloths.
For shining bronzes.
For stainers in cooking.
For dish-towels. For scrub-cloths.
For bread-cloths.
CLEANING HINTS.
To remove ink stains, cover them
with a solution of starch; when dry
rub off the hardened starch, and
repeat the process until the ink has
entirely disappeared. If the stain
is not too old, ink may be re
moved from paper as follows: Take
a teaspoonful of chlorinated lime and
pour over it just enough water to
cover it. Take a piece of old linen
and moisten it with this mixture, and
do not rub but pat the stain, when it
will gradually disappear. If one
application does not remove the stain,
let tho paper dry, and repeat the pro
cess.
Limp, forlorn and rusty black lace
can be renovated by a simple method.
Wash it gently in soft, soapy water,
rinse in clear water, and squeeze in
stead of ringing it. Dip it in cold
coffee into which a little gam arabio
has been dissolved, and then smooth
it with a hot iron, taking care to press
it while damp and cover it with a clean
cloth. The coffee darkens it, the
gum arabio stiffens it, the ironing
smooths it, and If it is slightly pulled
with the lingers after the ironing it is
made flexible and lace-like.
RECIPES.
Broiled Potatoes, Farsley Sauce—
Slice five large, cold boiled potatoes
lengthwise in rather thick pieces and
broil brown on a buttered gridiron,
beat up a tablespoonful of butter into
a cieam with as much minced parsley,
and after dusting each slice of potato
lightly with salt and pepper rub u
little of this sauce on*each slice.
Chipped Beef andTomatoos, French
Style—Cut a slico from the stem end
of five good, solid canned tomatoos,
then with your finger take out tho
seeds; put seeds and slices in a sauce
pan, boil and strain. Put into a bowl
one cupful bread crumbs, add quarter
pound dried beef, picked in small
pieces; a quarter-teaspoonful pepper
and one tubfespoonful melted butter.
Mix, add strained tomato juice aud
1111 into tomatoes. Stand them in n
baking pan and bake slowly fifteen
minutes, basting once or twice.
Cracked Wheat, Lemon Sauce—
Prepare the cracked wheat as usual,
care being taken that it is thoroughly
cooked. To prepare tho sauce, rub a
desertspoonfjil of cornstarch smooth
with a little cold water ; stir it care
fully into a pint of boiling water and
cook until it thickens. Score a large
lemon with the tines of a silver fork
and when the oil is exuding rub a
small quantity of sugar over the sur
face to flavor it. Cut the lemon and
squeeze the juice from it. Add the
juice and one-half cup of tho flavored
sugar to the hot cornstarch mixture;
allow tho whole to boil up once, stir
ring constantly. Germ wheat is de
licious when served with the lemor
sauce.
Bun Loaf—One quart of sifted
flour, three eggs, one tableHpoonful
of butter, rubbed, light with two of
of powered sugar, half an yeast cake
dissolved in a large cupful of luke
warm water, a cupful of currants
(washed, dried and picked over), half
teaspoonful of salt, quarter-teaspoon
ful of soda; mix all the ingredients
together in a soft dough, except the
currants; if stiff, add a little warm
water ; when yon have an elastic mass
on the board, set to rise until very
light; knead again; mold into a loaf
when you have worked in the currants;
dredge with dry flour and leave to rise
for an hoar; bake in a steady oven,
covering with paper as it rises. Fat
fresh, but not warm.