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,