Recent statistics show that there are in the United States 79,800 divorced persons, of whom 41,582 are mon and 35,218 are women. In Massachusetts nearly two hun dred miles of State roads have been built under the direction of the State highway commissioners. A wealthy and blue-blooded Eng lishman has just married a poor American girl. "It's a long lane that has no turning," comments the St. Louis Republic. Says the Raleigh (X. C.) News and Observer: In the past twenty years it lias cost the State to transport the convicts to and from the penitentiary the sum of SIBO,OOO. How much bet ter it would be if all the counties would follow the example of Mecklenburg and Wake and use the convicts on the public roads. "In France, Spain, Italy, Austria and the South American States having pure food laws the sale of salicylic acid has been forbidden. And in Pennsylvania its use in food has been prohibited by Mr. Wells, the Dairy and Food Commissioner. This acid," according to the Agricultural Epito mist, "hinders fermentation and is contained in many of the food preserv atives sold as being entirely harmless, although its action is directly opposed to the process of digestion. For this reason its use is being quite generally condemned. Sound fruits, carefully prepared and properly heated and sealed, arc O. IC. without resorting to the use of preserving compounds." The rupee is coined as freely in In dia to-day as it was before the Govern ment closed the mints. When the mints were open, more rupees were coined by private coiners than by the Government. The savings of the natives are made in silver braoelets, rings and other ornaments. When it became necessary for them to turn a part of their resources info money they did it by employing a native coiner to turn the metal into rupees. Tt is a country of vast distances, and the natives could not send their orna ments to a Government mint perhaps 1000 miles away. The native coiner traveled from place to place and hut to hut, just like a country tinker. He was glad to work nil day turning sil ver bangles into rupees, weight for weight, for perhaps one rupee as his reward. And very good rupees they turned out, too. They are current everywhere, and nobody questions them. Of course, the practice is ille gitimate, and when the mints were first closed the Government tried to put a stop to it, but not with much success. Now it is winked at by the authorities, for the situation in India to-day is too threatening for any in terference which is not absolutely ne cessary. It is probably the first case on record where counterfeiting lias been tacitly sanctioned by a Govern ment. The Atlanta Journal says : "The pub tic schools of Kansas City, Mo., are among the most progressive iu the country. The enterprising superin tendent of public education iu that rity has made an innovation by intro ducing newspaper text books. For several years past many of the teachers of the advanced grades of the Wash ington, D. C., public schools have en couraged their pupils to discuss topics of the day which are touched on by the newspapers, but Kaunas City, we believe, is the first city in this coun try to adopt newspapers as regular text books. The experiment is the subject of much discussion and a very decided difference of opinion as to its advisability has developed in Kansas City. We should say that nearly everything depends upon the sort of newspapers that are used. There are many newspapers in the United States, some of them very rich and very widely circulated, which not only should never be introduced into a school-room, but which should lie excluded from every decent home. It is probable that the leading local newspapers of Kansas City will be used in the local schools. These are clean and welt conducted journals, but it is questionable if even such newspapers should lie used ns school text books. Certainly such use should be restricted to the older and most advanced pupils. The modern newspaper is a very lively thing, and there is danger that the study of news papers would direct the attention of the average public school pupil from the regular lines of scholastic educa tion. The Kansas City experiment will be watched with interest, and we may expect from the able school super intendent of that city a full and fair account of the results of his innova tion as soon ns he is able to form a definite opinion thereon." THE KLONDIKE. I. Wrapped in n robe of everlasting snow, Whore icy blasts eternal revel hold, Where gaunt pines shiver in the piercing cold. ! Where mellow summer noontides never glow. And sleety crags no spring-time ever know— Thus, like a miser, in liis freezing fold, j The Arctic King has gathered hoapsofgold ; To lead deluded wanderers unto woe. 1 So in his radiant diamond palace there, Amid white splendors of his thousand j thrones. Where keen auroras glitter, blaze,and glare. And like a Wandering Jew the wild wind I Tie smiles at wretches In their Inst despair, i Who dig for gold among their comrades' bones. 11. About my home I see the spring-time bloom, The sheaves of summer or the autumn \ fruit; , To make mo glad, the robin lends its lute, The lilies blossom, lilacs breathe perfume, The red leaves flutter, goldeu asters loom Around me; tones of loved ones, never mute. Are sweeter than the viol or the flute Through June-time gladness or December gloom. ' The daffodils their golden treasures pour By lapfuls io my children as they play: The vines, with clustered rubies at my door, i Gladden my good wife through tlio live- I long day: So in this humble nest, my wealth is more ! Than ail the gold and silver dug from clay. —Walter Malono, in Harper's Weekly. I HOW SHE WAS R | REVENGED. § o o Q BV HELEN* FORI:EST GRAVES. 0 o ODOOOOOOaOOOOOOOOOOOOODOOO ATE MURRAY was | °"ly a teacher—only | " teaelier Madame Morelii's French and r\V°\*- English Day an d NL \ S\ Boarding School, at V 9 a salary so meagre that she sometimes wondered how she managed to live upon it at all, Bnt ! nevertheless, live she did, and kept np n pretty decent appearance, too, by dint of freshened ribbons, turned silks, and bonnets skillfully trimmed after the fashion of those she saw in the Broadway milliners' windows,and, as was natural enough in a woman, i Miss Murray looked forward to mar j riage ns the only escape from this life j of drudgery. "For I'm tired of it all," Miss Mur ray said to herself. "French verbs, I Thursday compositions, German ex | areises and drawings in crayon aud i water colors. I don't think it was j ever my vocation to teach the yonng I idea how to shoot. I'd a great deal rather go out to housework, if it was only genteel." Miss Murray was what the world calls "a very fine girl." Tall and rosy with deep wine-brown eyes, chestnut hair, slightly rippled, as if stirred by j some invisible breeze, and a healthy I English complexion, like a rose in full bloom. She had a sort of stately grace in her movements, that made even her turned dresses and dyed gloves look stylish; and altogether, Katherine Murray was the prettiest girl in Mrs. Leatherwing's boarding-house. "I really think you've made a oon i quest of him, my dear," said Mrs. j Leatherwing, a lady who had been very pretty once, and still kept up the illusion with pearl powder, false curls and a touch of rouge, j "Nonsense!" said Kate, with her eyes shining aud her cheeks very pink. ] "But just look at the common sense j of the thing," persisted the landlady. ] "Bouquets every day; invitations to the opera, whenever there's nuythiug worth hearing; new kid gloves; all the latest novels. Of course, he means I something serious, Miss Kathoriue aud I'm glad of it, for he's got a nice I income, aud isn't innch over forty, j and it's really time he thought of set | fling himself. I hope, Mjss Kather j ine, when you're married to him, yon 1 won't be too proud to notice your old [ friends!" j "I shall always he grateful to you I for your kindness, Mrs. Leatherwing, J whatever lot in life may await me," I said Kate, Hinging both arms around I the good-natured landlady's waist and I kissing her heartily, j In fact it had become, so far as ap j pearnuce went, quite a foregone con ! elusion. Kate was a sensible girl, not ! apt to fly off at a tangent, nor to be 1 misled by a mere chance concatena lion of circumstances; and Kate really j believed that Mr. Appleton Arkwriglit j "meant something." "But I wonder why he doesn't pro pose?" Kate asked herself, one night, | us she was musing, in her little, lire j less room, after an evening among the | Italian lakes and Swiss sunsets of the | Academy of Design. She was kneel j iug at the window, looking at the three j ehevaux de frise of chimney-pots, with her pretty pink nostrils buried in a bouquet of cream-colored roses, edged i with white carnations. "I thought j surely he was going to, when he - squeezed my hand so, in the carriage, j coming home. Oh, how happy I shall j be when—" And then, blushing and dimpling all over, Kate extinguished her larnn, t aud went to lied. And all through her j dreams went one refrain— "He loves me! He loves me!" For it is only once in a lifetime that ! one can be eighteen and in love! "Mrs. Hayes, who would have , thought of meeting you?" ** I "Kate Murray, is this yourself, or a j pink-cheeked vision of May? Well, I declare I ani delighted to meet you! Where are you staying now? lam only iu town for a few days, but I must see something of you." Kate gave her address, with a beam ing face. It was seldom she encoun tered au old school-friend like Nina Haves. ' Seventeen Domino Placel VWI, was there ever such a curious coinci dence!" cried Mrs. Hayes. "Then, of course, you know Appleton Ark wright?" "Know him?"— Kate colored like a whole cluster of apple-blossoms. "I —yes —that is, I sit opposite him at a table." "Isn't he a fine fellow?" cried out Mrs. Hayes, effusively. "It's he that has brought me to town, partly. He is engaged to be married to a dear friend of mine—Patience Eldridge— and I have some to New York to select her trousseau. The wedding is to be next month." The deep crimson surged over Kate Murray's neck, cheeks and brow. "Engaged! Appleton Arkwriglit! It can't be possible!" she spoke, al most before she knew that she was uttering a sound. "Oh, but it is," nodded Mrs. ! Hayes. "It's quite a long-standing affair. Patience is an heiress, and her uncle wished her to be quite sure of her own mind before anything was irrevocably settled. She's a dear love of a creature—not pretty, perhaps, but the sweetest, most sensible girl I ever knew. We are staying at the Moreland House. Mr. Arkwriglit is to spend this evening with us. Won't | you come, too? It will be so pleas ■ ant, as you are acquaintances." Kate hesitated an instant. I "Yes," she said, at last; "I will I come." But a strange, curious glitter had ; come into the brown liquid depths of I her eyes—an unwonted hardness | around the exquisite curves of her j deep red mouth, as she turned away, j "So that is the end of it all !" she j said to herself, with a short, hard laugh. Miss Murray was none of your senti mental heroines who dissolve int6 sudden grief. There was plenty of heartbreak in the recesses of her inner being, but you saw no foutward traces of it. She went through her school duties just as usual, although her heart felt cold and dead within her, like u lump of ice, and the whole world seemed changed. Rut when she got home, she went straight to her desk, took out a certain little journal, gilt-edged, and tied with ribbon, in whose pages she had written out her heart. Deliberately she inscribed the one word, "Finis," underneath the last entry, and tearing it into a score of pieces, opened the window and flung it out to the keen February air, like a flock of fluttering doves. "And now for my revenge," said Kate, quietly to herself. "Mr. Apple ton Arkwriglit shall discern that I have not forgotten all the delicate lit tle attentions he lias shown me of late. He shall learn, also, the truth of the i good old rhymes: "It is well to bo merry and wise; It is well to be honest and true; It is well to be off with the old lovo, Before you are on with the new!" Mrs. Hayes had spoken the truth when saying tlmt Patience Eldridge was not pretty. ' She was dark, with black tresses and great wistful eyes— a girl with a face that interested, but had none of the Hebe bloom and freshness which attracts the masculine mind as a general thing. She sat by the table in her prettily furnished private parlor, at the Moreland House, looking at some rare cauieos which j had been sent in for inspection by a famous jewelry house, while Mrs. Hayes eagerly expressed opinions, and Mr. Arkwriglit, bending in a true lover-like attitude over the little bride elect, awaited her decision. "For I know, love," he said, "that your artistic taste is simply perfect." i Patience smiled and colored, and her dark eyes Hashed into positive beauty for the moment. It is passing sweet to hear flattering words from one we love. At this instant there was a tap at the door. "Oh," said Mrs. Hayes, with a knowing little nod, "it's my other guest! An old school friend of mine, Patience, dear—a friend and acquaint ance of yours, Mr. Arkwriglit. Come 1 fn, Kate! Miss Eldridge"—as the door slowly opened aud a superb girl, in black silk aud rose-colored ribbons, sailed in like a queen—"allow me to present Miss Murray. Mr. Arkwriglit, I don't think you need an introduction. My dear"—to Kate, as Patience rose with a welcoming smile, and Mr. Ark wriglit turned red and pale in a breath "who is this servant with a basket? It is some mistake, I think." "No mistake at all, Mrs. Hayes. Pray allow the man to enter," said Kate, regally, motioning for the basket to be set down at the heiress' feet, aud then dismissed the porter with a sec ond imperious gesture. "Miss El dridge, 1 believe you are to be married to this gentleman. As his wife-ex pectant, I make over to you all the presents he has bestowed upon me in the course of the last six months. There are eighteen faded bouquets, a pearl opera glass, a glove box, three rings, a Russia leather fan, a photo graph album, a silver card case, six volumes of poetry, a gold bouquet holder, a bracelet and a point-lace handkerchief. Of course, they are of no further use to me. I am only sorry that I cannot return to you the tender hand-pressures, the expressive glances and one kiss bestowed during a nioon l light walk in the park about six weeks ago." Mr. Appleton Arkwriglit waR a tall, muscular fellow, lacking not much of | the regulation six feet in height, but j lie seemed to shrivel and grow small I and contemptible, as he stood there, i under the scorching lire of Kate Mur i ray's grand eyes. A cold sweat broke out in beads on his brow. He pulled uneasily at his waxed moustache. Patience Eldridge turned to him, "Is this true?" she asked. He cleared bis throat with an effort. "I—that is—a young lady has no right to suppose that because—" "Did you give her these things? Ia it true what she says?" reiterated Patience. "Y-yes; but—" Quick as lighlniug, Miss Eldridge pulled the diamond cluster from the fair finger of her left liamd, as if it stung her. "Take this to bear them company!" she said. "I accept no divided hom age! As for you, Miss Murray"— turning to Kate—"you have acted like a woman of spirit, aud I honor and respect you for it." The male coquet sneaked out of the Moreland House, feeling excessively cheap and small, while Kate and Pa tience cried in each other's arms—for they both liked him far better than he deserved. "Never mind, 3ear," said Kate; "it's like having a tooth out—hard, but wholesome!" "We shall get over it in time," sob bed Patience; "for of course one caU never marry a man whom one des pises." Mr. Appleton Arkwright secured A new boarding-house at once. He did not care again to meet the pretty school-teacher who had turned so un expectedly upon him. But he had lost his heiress; aud Miss Murray has the satisfaction of feeling that in this particular instance she lias vindicated her sex. DEADLY RUNNINC FIGHT. Eagle Killed by a Locomotive Knglneer's l'et Cat. That famous cat which has been the constant companion of an engineer on the Delaware and Hudson road for some years narrowly escaped an in glorious death. For a week past the engineer and fireman had noticed a large eagle sit ting in a hemlock tree near the tracks at South Windsor, N. Y. Whenever it saw the cat it would flap its wings aud show signs of anger. The cat would sit upon the running board of the locomotive, paying no attention to the huge bird. On Saturday morning when the train left Lanesboro the cat crawled out upon the pilot of the locomotive and prepared for an enjoyable sun bath. Rounding a curve near South Windsor the engineer noticed the eagle sitting in his accustomed nook in the old hem lock tree. When the locomotive was just opposite the tree the eagle, with a low scream, dashed down upon the locomotive and fiercely attacked the cat, which at once put up u good fight. For several there was a bat tle royal. The eagle made half a dozen attempts to carry away the cat bodily, but each time the cat would make a savage onslaught on the bird with teeth and claws, and the air was full of feathers. As the train dashed ahead the two men in the cab looked upon the strange battle with much appre hension, fearing the result. The whistle was blown, but neither com butant noticed the sound in the least. The engineer armed himself with a bar of iron and started out upon the running board to aid his pet, but be fore he reached the scene of action tho cat had torn a great hole in the eagle's throat, and the bird was in its death struggles. It was carried into the lo comotive tender, where it died in a few minutes. The cat crawled into the cab, considerably the worse for wear, but still in the ring. The cat no longer ventures outside the cab, — New York Press. Hoiv Worry AflcctH the Brain. Modern science has brought to light nothing more curiously interesting than the fact that worry will kill. More remarkable still, it has been able to determine, from recent discoveries, just how worry does kill. It is believed by many scientists who have followed most carefully the growth of the science of brain diseases, that scores of the deaths set down to other causes are due to worry, aud that alone. The theory is a simple one—so simple that any one can readily understand it. Briefly put, it amounts to this: Worry injures beyond repair certain cells of the brain; and the brain being the nutritive centre of the body, other organs become gradually injured, aud when some disease of these organs, or a combination of them, arises, death finally ensues. Thus does worry kill. Insidiously, like many another disaster, it creeps upon the brain in the form of a single, constant, never-lost idea; and as the dropping of water over a period of years will wear a groove in a stone, so does worry gradually, imperceptibly, but no lesß surely, destroy tho brain cells that lead all the rest—th(2 are, so to speak, the commanding officers of mental power, health and motion. Worry, to make the theory still stronger, is an irritaut at certain points, which produces little harm if it comes at intervals or irregularly. Occasional worrying of the system the brain can cope with, but the iteration and reiteration of one idea of a dis quieting sort the cells of the brain are not proof against. It is as if the skull were laid bare and the surface of the brain struck lightly with a hammer every few seconds, with mechanical precision, with never a sign of a letnp or the failure of a stroke. Just in this way does the auuoying idea, the maddening thought that will not be done away with, strike or fall upon certain nerve cells, never ceas ing, and week by week diminishing the vitality of these delicate organisms that are so minute that they can only be seen under the microscope.—Phar- maceutical Products. A Stamp That ItepreHents 85000. Of the 250 United States stamps which have been issued, the values have ranged from one cent to 85000. Five dollars is the highest value among postage stamps, but newspaper stamps reach the hundred dollar mark, while a revenue stamp mgy reprssent 85000. Berlin Battles Use Canes. j Tho latest freak among the Berlin elegantes is to use canes. One can notice scores of fashionably dressed women strolling down Unter den Linden any fine day with gold-headed or jewel-mounted or silver-incrusted canes, many of them entwined with 1 fluttering silk or satin ribbons. AVar on Feathers. Stirred by the sight of thousands of aigrette plumes aud dead birds shown by the milliners for fall and winter bonnet decorations, the Illinois Au dubon Society is to call a mass meet ing of women to protest against the wearing of the feather ornaments. I Every one of the big millinery open ings has been attended by a member of the organization, and the magnitude |of the trade in birds and the revival i of the feather fashion have been noted. The constitution provides for a fall meeting of the members, but it is in tended, in view of the manifest in crease in the number of birds slain for fashion's sake, to hold an open meeting aud to get speakers of note to appeal to Chicago women to leave every bonnet which bears any feather Bave an ostrich plume or a cockerel's tail on the shelves of the shops where they are shown.—San Francisco Ex aminer. "Mrs. Green, Captain." Many a grand old man and weather beaten marine has commanded the lino steamers of the Louisville and i the Cincinnati Mail Line Company , during its long and successful exist ence, and none of them in their day and generation ever dreamed that the time would come when a woman would walk the roof of a steamer in the same line, a "monarch of all she surveyed." But the time did come, and it came yesterday. The H. K. Bedford ar rived from Cin cannati last evening in the service of the company, under charter, and returned again, and it was a novel sight to see a woman on the roof in command of the boat. Bhe was Mrs. Mary B. Green, who, with herhusband, Capt. Gordon Green, owns the steamers Bedford and Ar gand—slie in command of one and he in command of the other, and both ex perienced boatsmen, commanders and pilots. Mrs. Green is a regularly licensed master and pilot and her experience, fine judgment and business ability place her among the successful people of the marine fraternity. Mrs. Cap tain Green met with a cordial recep tion here upon the occasion of her first visit and trip in the Mail Line service, and Commodore Laidley cer tainly appreciates her services and abilities or she had not pulled the biggest string on a steamboat in his famous line.—Louisville Courier- Journal. 'Two New Women. Two of the very latest types of the new woman were discovered by a Pittsburg Dispatch reporter in the woods back of Wall's station, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, last week. These two women—or rather girls, as tho oldest does not appear to be over twenty years of age—have broken in on the occupation immortalized by Abraham Lincoln. They split rails and make pit posts and caps for the Spring Hill Coal Company, whose works are between Wilmerding and Wall's. Annie and Mary Wilson are the names of these two new women. They are sisters. When the reporter made their acquaintance they were swing ing an eight-foot cross-cut saw through an oak tree with apparently as much ease as some women run a typewriter. They do all the work of felling the trees, sawing them into proper lengths, and finally with their axes splitting them into pit posts. They are assist ed to some extent by their younger brother. They came from Indiana, where it is a common thing for women to work in the timber. "The work is not hard when you get used to it," one said, "and then we can make more split ting rails aud making pit posts in one day than we could in a week working in a kitchen. What's the difference, so long as the work is honest, how one earns a living? "Although I work hard every day, rain or shine, I never get sick. I was never sick in my life. The people around here all talk about us, but we don't care for that. We are earning a 'good living and don't owe any one a cent." By this time the tree was sawed through and ready to split into posts. One of the girls set an iron wedge into one end of the log and with a large maul weighing about twenty pounds drove it in, splitting the log from end to end. The operation was repeated j until the log was split into sizes for posts. Then the axes were brought into play and the posts trimmed up and shaped. The Australian federation conven tion has rejected a proviso favoring female suffrage. The Montana State Land Depart ment femploys two women to draw township plots in different land offices. Miss Susan Randall, daughter of the late Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsyl vania, is a clerk in the Friends' Library in Germantown, Penn. Carmen Sylva, Doctor of Philosophy, it will be hereafter, Emperor Francis Joseph having authorized the Buda pest University to confer that degree on the Queen of Roumania. A mouse which ran down the aisle of the Castle Square Theatre, Boston, caused a panio among the women, whose screams frightened the rest of the audiv%ice in other parts of the house. Fourteen of the prettiest girls in La Grange, Ga., were put up at auction and sold, the receipts going to the con struction of a woman's library. It is said that several marriages may grow out of the affair. The Hon. Elia Scarlett, the oldest daughter of Baroness Abinger, widow of third Baron Abinger and daughter of the late Commodore Magruder, U. S. N., is completing u course of medi cal studies at Dublin. The will of Mrs. Sarah Russell, of Boston, widow of Charles Theodore Russell, and mother of the late Gov ernor Russell, bequeaths a sum of money for the endowment of a free bed in the Cambridge (Mass.) Hospital, to be known as the "Russell bed." Miss Leila McKee, President of the Western College for Women at Oxford, Ohio, is a native of the blue grass region of Kentucky. She is a tall, handsome woman, with dark eyes, an expressive face and graceful carriage. She talks like a typical Southerner. At a ladies' night at the London Microscopical Society recently 104 ladies sat about high-powered instru ments and listened to a lecturer. All were expert microscopists, and sev eral were possessors of titles and prom inent ligures in the social life of the British capital. Mrs. Stevenson, widow of the novel ist, brings the news from Samoa that the estate of Vailima, on the improve ment of which much money was spent, is offered for sale for SIIO,OOO. That Stevenson loved his island home his Vailima letters amply prove. It was a place of pilgrimage while he but since then it has reverted to much of its former loneliness. Fashion Notes. Pompadour scrolls appear on satins, and trellis patterns on silks. Garniture of old black Mechlin lace is exquisite on gowns of white chiffon, Rows of velvet ribbon, also tucks, are edged with narrow silk novelty fringes. A sash and ends and tucked yoke of sky-blue glace taffeta trim a gown of mauve cashmere. The gilt buckle, very long and nar row*, seems to be the favorite pattern for belts and for hats. A tiny silk fringe edges cross tucks or bauds of velvet ribbou trimming the front of skirts and waists. The new mode of shaking hands is merely a meeting of palms and a gen tle swing from right to left, for an in stant. Black velvet ribbon rosettes cen tered with cut-steel buckles are used to head a lace bertha ruffle around a low neck. Foulards are being made with plaited skirts, and white satin squares are ap pliqued upon the bodices aud bordered with guipure. Currnnt red of a purplish cast ap pears in taffeta for linings and petti coats; red silk petticoats are quite a fad nowadays. Epaulets or sleeve caps and the top of collars are often edged on a velvet trimmed gown with velvet ribbon loops, like a fringe. A belt of black velvet will be worn with many a light-colored even ing dress, fastening it in front with a gold or rhinestone buckle. Neck fancifuls combine everything possible in deoorative fixings, fur, chiffon, jet and ribbon frequently being employed in one Frenoh conceit- Small buckles are used on collars of silk or velvet folds, one back aud front, with the laoe ruff appearing only at the sides, or in the back as well if becoming. Neat black gowns are relieved by collar and belt of black satin fastened with gilt buckles, a row of small gilt buttons down the side opening and a scroll braiding over the waist front of black satin ribbon edged with gilt soutache. An exquisitely pretty hat is made of velvet. The brim is moderately wide, rolled up at one side and completely covered on the upper side with thick ostrich plumes. Ends of the plumes fall over each side of the brim at the back, and upright feathers are sup ported again st one side of the crown. The new poke bonnet is a dream when it frames a pretty face. It is a rare specimen just at present, but it is here, made of velvet, both shirred and plain, with a medium high crown and a medium wide brim, which dis appears entirely at the back, and trimmed with feathers and a rose or two tucked inside next the hair. A bewutiful dress for a bridesmaid is of net lace. Through the meshes o{ the lace are run daisy ribbons, forming diamond-shaped figures about ten inches long from point to point. Three vt four rows of the ribbons are put ia, crossing at the points in basket fashiofl. At the lower edge of the skirt, where the last row of diamonds finish, are clustors of loops of the rib bon, which may be further embellished with jewels or fancy beads. AGRICULTURAL TOPICS. llirtlH an Insect Destroyers. ; The wanton destruction of our most beautiful native song birds to orna ment ladies' liats is doubtless respon sible for much of the great increase in the most pestiferous insects. If birds had been protected by law, as they uow are in this State, their increase | would have kept pace with that of i insects, aud would prove their most efficient check. TliroKliing Smutted Grain. Those who neglected to treat their j seed wheat, and as a result have a Bmutted crop on huud, should bo very | careful to thresh it only when i thoroughly dry, for then the smut | will be blown away as dust, whereas if the crop is damp when threshed the smut balls will be broken aud the smut will adhere to the grain, dis coloring it aud rendering it impossible I to get the wheat in good milling con dition, and this means a greatly re duced price. We must not think of sowing smutted grain without first j treating it thoroughly with approved i fuugicides.—The Epitomist. Cribbing Corn. This should not begin too soon in any year, and particularly not this I year, on account of the lateness of the i crop in many sections. We have seen j large cribs badly damaged in the centre as a result of cribbing too soon, although by scattering the corn as much as possible aud piling it up at the ends of the cribs first, it may be : safely bulked 6omewhat sooner than j where it has to be thrown iu a single ! pile. On the other hand the husking should not be allowed to drag into the slushy, stormy weather of early winter. Some farmers never push their work i until pushed into it by force of cir ! cumstanoes, then it is always a hard ship. Corn-liusking is one of the jobs requiring considerable push in order to .have it progress in a satisfactory manner.—The Epitomist. Marketing Turnips. To get the best prices for turnips the grower must calculate to sell a large part of his crop from house to house. It is a vegetable that almost every householder will buy one or two bushels of and not like the potato, which must be secured in sufficient quantities to supply the table twice a day through the winter. It is best always to grow both the white for early nse and either a late yellow \ turnip or rutabaga for use iu spring. If brought to their houses the turnips can always be sold at about the prices | charged by the grocers per bushel. ; If the difference between the turnips for early and late use is explained most households will take a bushel of each. It makes extra work for the farmer to peddle his turnips, but the double price he gets over what the grower would pay make it worth his while. It is for the consumer's interest also to buy turnips fresh from the field, rather than the grocery stock that for days, or perhaps weeks, have been exposed to the air.—Boston ! Cultivator. Oil Your Harness With Coal Oil. I have for years been using the clear, refined coal oil to oil my work harness with, and find it cheaper and better than any other harness grease I ever used. I need not wash the harness when I grease it. lam not compelled to put it on the barn floor, unbuckle, get it all mixed up in hang ing it around on poles or anything that comes handy when I grease it. This extra work is avoiding by using coal oil. I have a galvanized tub or barrel which holds twenty or twenty five gallons; (use 110 wooden vessel i for your oil—you lose too much-—I tried it. In this I put ten or fifteen gallons of coal oil, into which I dip the harness, about two minutes, clear under the oil and let the leather soak \ full. Then I rinse it out, let the oil I drip off into the tank and hang it back in its place. All harnesses can be handled in this way, except collars and cushions, which will take up too j much oil and consequently take the hair from the horse's shoulder in the ■ course of time. To these the oil should be applied with a rag. In fifteen minutes one man can thoroughly oil four set of harness—they should be oiled at least once a month.—Fruit and Farm. Manure for Orchard 4. The following mixture, containing nitrogen, phosphoric acid and sods, has proved destructive to all grubs and worms that either live in the ground or go into it in order to pass through the pupa state, and come out as, full fledged flies to work their j devastation on fruit and foliage, and to ; lay J their eggs for the perpe tuation of their kind: 500 lbs. quick lime. 300 " common salt. 300 " pow'd phosphate lime. 100 " nitrate of soda. ; The quick lime should be slacked, 1 the salt then mixed with it aud al -1 lowed to remain for twenty days for 1 chemical changes and combinations to take place, in the meantime shovelled over three or four times to have it in timately mixed. Then mix with it I the powdered phosphate of lime and nitrate of soda. The mass is then I ready for use and will cost about SB.OO. ■ Use one thousand pounds of this mixture per acre, spread broadcast on orchard; it can also be used on lawn, 1 meadow or pasture in the same quanti ty- ... The use of this mixture not only in creases the quality of fruit, but also gives the fruit a better flavor, a higher quality and larger size, aud puts the trees in vigorous condition for future yields. The ingredients can all be easily procured in any quantity at market prices, and the mixing can be done on the farm. It does not deteriorate in quality by keeping.—Andrew H. Ward,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers