Five hundred and thirty million I bushels is the official estimate of the United States wheat crop for 1597. New York claims to bo growing healthier. Tho death rate has do- I creased six and 1 half per cent, since | 1891. The Pennsylvania Bankers' Associa- j tion Las voted to organize a chapter oj j the association, whoso purpose shall be the erection in Philadelphia of a bronze statue of Robert Morris, the patriotic financier of the Revolution, and the founder cf the first organized banks in the State of Pennsylvania and the United States. Mr. Peary, tho Arctic explorer, speaking of tho generous gift of the Windward made to him by Mr. j Harmsworfch, the London publisher 1 expresses great gratification over thh ' striking exhibition of English good feeling. Ho considers it another link in'the long chain of intcrnationa | courtesies exchanged in Arctic cxplor I •tion. It is thought that the influence ol the French language, with its unas pirated h, is the primary cause of thai letter being so much ignored by Eng lish peoplo. French having beer epoken so long in England and tht people near the coast having come iu contact continually with that lan guage, an indelible impression, it is said, is left upon it, increased now by usage. According to the Chief of the Penn sylvania State Bureau of Railroads, the bicycle is hurting tho business ol the railroads. He says: "In cities like Harrisburg and many others il cannot bo gainsaid that the bicycle has become a most serious competitor of the railway. To reinforce this view' of tho caso an observation was made on Third street in that city during the month of October, 1837. The observation covered two days, from seven in the morning to six in the evening. During that time 0078 per sons passed a given point, 1902 in the cars and 4110 on bicycles; 07 7-10 per cent, on bicycles and 32 3-10 per cent, on the cars, or more than two to one in favor of the wheel." Says tho Philadelphia Record Justice Patterson of Now York, in 0 speech before tho Law Club of thai city recently, deplored tho fact that tho law had become so largely a trade instead of a profession; and on the following day Dr. Edward Everett Halo, in an address boforo an educa tional body in tho same city on "Mor ality in the Public Schools," made the declaration: "There is danger of the managers of a great machine taking more pride in tho machine and it 3 workings than in tho results it turns out. This is the dauger in our public schools." These words will, of course, be resented as the views of pessimists; yet they come from men qualified to speak as public teachers, and com ing simultaneously Ihey gain an em phasis which must command atten tion. Wo arc accustomed to flatter ourselves with the idea that our devel opment along material lines neces- | sarily involves a corresponding de- i velopment along intellectual and | moral lines. However that may be, : the fact can no longer be denied that the ! commercial instinct is beginning tc J dominate almost every action of our 1 people. Anent the agitation in the South foi 1 more diversified farming as a partial ! remedy for the alleged over-produe. tiou of cotton, a correspondent of tlio | Charleston News and Courier directs j attention to the fact that many years ago South Carolina had a place in the records us an exporter of wheat floui and of corn. The Hour exports began about 17G0 and continued into the present century until cotton sup planted wheat. It is believed thai ' much more flour was mauufacted in the State one hundred years ago than : now, although population and re sources have multiplied many fold. A i century and a half ago corn was "an important article of export" from the 1 State, aud the trade continued foi j over fifty years, as there is a record ol about 100,009 bushels exported in j 1792. Not long tlinreaf- t corn became an article of im or, and some years 1 ago was report:- I as "the largest" article of that character. What v.m done with the soil of iho Stato 100 ! years ago, tho Courier says, can be j done again. In one country the grow- j ingand grinding of wheat for local con i sumption lias been undertaken, and other counties are advised to follow the example. "Wo have proved by 0 long and stumbling experience," the Courier says, "that cotton does not take the place of wheat as tho 'staff oi life,' and that no community can thrive whose only manufacturing industry is that of ffiuning the fibre for market." .THE SEASONS OF THE HEART. If tvo lto blithe and warm at lioart. If we be sound and pure within, No sorrow shall abide with us Longer than dwells the sin; Though autumn fois the landscape fold. Though autumn tempests roam, Our summer is not over yet— Wo keep the sun at homo. —Edward Wilbur Mason, in Youth's Companion, V 0 V •*' s 't'•*-V♦*V<V<* ♦h*-<* „ V< * * '■+ /VtAAtA/\A.</W | THE RIDDLE OF A LOCK. | Q O Q IJy WILt-IAM O. STODDAUr, fHERE was upon liis face an intense, and even a comba tive look, a3 he stood in the wind swept piazza, with his hand upon the boll-pull. He seemed about to ring again, when the door opened and he stepped quickly in, while a graceful form re ceded timidly before him. A pair of moist, dark eyes and a troubled face were averted from his, and there was a husky tremor in the voice which said to him: "You mustn't come in, Jeff." "Madeleine," he bluntly exclaimed, •'what does this mean?" "Mr. Lapham! Steve Lapham!" "Old Jacob Lapham's only your stopfather. He has no authority over you. His son is a fraud! Your mother " "Oh, Jeff, dear! that is the trouble! They have made her forbid mo to speak to you! I caunot disobey her! Sho is dying! They have almost made her make me promise. Oh, Jeff, dear, I'm almost crazy!" "I should say you were," he growled, with a fierce light dancing across his face. "It was time for mo to come. Is your mother really so low?" "She may last many days yet; per haps not twenty-four hours. Stephen Lapham isn't there, but his father doesn't leave her for a minute. I've no chance to see her alone. She com manded me not to speak to you." "No, she didn't," said Jeff. "She oniy repeated something after old Jake Lapham. What rdie was forced to say was 110 command of hers. Ho ho reasonable. She has no right to do it, anyhow; and she really didn't do it. Old Jake did. As for Steve, the young " "Hon't I know what ho is?" said Madeleine, hysterically. "Didn't I hear what his father said to him? They didn't know I heard " "What did they say?" demanded Jeff, as she hesitated, and he closed the door behind him and led her into the parlor as he added: "What did you hear? Tell mo the whole of it." "Oh, Jeff, dear," said Madeleine, "Mr. Lapliam said to Steve that as soon as mother died they would re cord all the deeds, before proving the will, and then they would own every dollar of the property. Ho said they could make mo do what they £)leascd then." "What deeds?" he asked, in a firm hut unexeited way, that seemed to help her. "Deeds that mother made," sho said. "Deeds and things that give them everything there is to give." "Did you ever sign any papers your self?" asked Jeff. "Sho couldn't do it alone." "I don't know what they were," re plied Madeleine. "I signed every paper they had 011 the table, tho night they said she would die before morn ing!" "When was that?" he asked. •'More than a month ago," she said; "anil they put them all into the safe | in the library." "I know wliero it is," said Jeff. | "It's your own safe now. It opens with a combination lock. You know tho numbers, of course, and how to ojjen it?" "No, I don't," she replied despair ingly. "I never knew how to open it, I don't know tho numbers, and I can't tell you. They've kept them a secret. Mother said once that it was the Dec laration of Independence and the days of the week." "Oh!" exclaimed Jeff, with almost a lftugh; "that's a riddle. Is anybody in tho library now?" "No," said Madeleine. "Nobody goes there." Jeff's face was angry and stormy, in spite of his calm, reassuring manner, as 110 strode to tho library-door and opened it. Tho room bad a chilly, deserted look, and its grate was empty. A lireproof safe, of medium size, stood in one corner, and in an in stant the young man was kneeling be fore it. "This is your safe, Madeleine Lane," 110 said. "May I open it?" "You may, but yon cau't," she re plied; but his baud was on tho knob of tho safe-lock, and her cheeks ! burned with feverish excitement as j sho watched the quick, though care ful, turns of his wrist. "Twice this way," she counted. "Three times that way. Onco around •gain -or was it twice?" Just then she heard a faint click, and she saw the door of tho safe swing wide open. It was as if a feat of necromancy had been performed be fore her eyes. Those of Jeff were uePK-hiug the interior of the safe. 'Hers they are!" he exclaimed, as h*\ pulled out. of a pigeon-hole a package of long-folded, legal-looking documents, ami rose to his feet. "Please examine them with me, Made leine." "This first lot," he said, turning 1 thei*\ over, "are all deeds, of one sort But If our heart bo veld and cold. Be sure 110 pood will live therein, But sorrow for the sorrow's sake, And sin becauso of sin: And aye the dropping of the leaf. Anil aye the falling of thosnow. And aye the barren, barren earth- Though summer winds do blow. or another, to your own father, two or three to your mother, by which they owned their entire property. All of thera are recorded. We have nothing to do with them. I'll put them back. There! Mow, Madeleine, just look at these! All of them new deeds. You and your mother to Jacob Lapham. You and sho did actually sign them all." "I didn't know whatl was signing," gasped Madeleine, "Hut there were witnesses and a notary." "Each deed acknowledges a large sum of money actually paid, and here are the mortgages, bonds, notes, that old Jake Lapham paid that money out for." "There never were any mortgages," said Madeleine, "but those are my own signatures—all of them." "They are dated as if they had been signed three years ago," he said; "as soon as you were old enough. It's a very completely finished piece of rob bery. Hellow! What's this?" "She signed her will that very day," replied Madeleine. "Aunt Wickham and Judge Wickham, and two other gentlemen, came here with Mr. Lap liam, and we were all in mother's room, but none of them knew what was in the will," "Exactly!" said Jeff. "How they did work the matter! Here are two wills, made the same day. How could they make those stupid witnesses sign twice?" "I heard Mr. Lapham say, 'Sign here, and sign here,' " said Madeleine. "Judge Wickham was leaning over mother and saying something to her." "He was unsuspecting," said Jeff. "This is really her will, giving all to yon and making Judge Wickham and Deacon Morris her executors. This other thing gives all to Jacob Lap ham aud makes him sole executor, giving you only a life estate. It says a great deal more, but it's a fraud." At that moment he was lighting a match and removing the blower from the library-grate. "Oh, Jeff, you dare not!" exclaimed Madeleine, "you must not! What are you going to do?" "Nothing at all, he said, calmly. "But fire is good for fraud. How well it all burns! There go the deeds, and the mortgages, aud the bonds, and all tho notes. Tho will went up like a flash." "Dear me!" she said; but Jeff was once more investigating the safe. "Madeleine," lie said, "here's a stack of greenbacks, aud it's your own money. It is right where he can get it. Don't you think it ought to be in a safer place?",' "It must be mine!" she exclaimed. "It can't be his! He hasn't anything. Ho meant to steal it, surely!" "Meant to?" replied Jeff. "Why, he has already stolen it aud hidden it here. This is your safe, to bo sure, but it isn't safe enough. You are going to put your money into the Uompton National Bauk. Fifteen thousand dollars and more. All that old Jacob Lapham lias stolen during several years, except what Steve has wasted; one way or another." "Tat it into the bank for me, Jeff," atd Madeleine. "I dare not, and I '•annot bear to leave the house." "I'll put the will right hack where I*found it," 110 said, as he did so. "They all saw it deposited here?" "Yes," replied Madeleine. "Uncle Wickham and the witnesses came down and saw it put away there." "That's where they will find it, then, when they come to look for it," said Jeff, and ho seemed to be worry ing in a very curious way around the lock of the safe. "There! That'll do, I guess. Now, Madeleine, I must go." Not many, not very many, seconds later Jeff walked unconcernedly out of the house, as if nothing extraordin ary had happened. Madeleine, on the other hand, after closing the door be hind him, went slowly aud thought fully upstairs. A door at her right opened at that moment, and a tall, grim-looking woman stood in it. "How is mother?" asked Madeleine. "Is Mr. Lapliam there?" "Ho is asleep just now," said tho nurse. "She has not stirred or spoken." Madeleine walked past her into the room, and bent above uu emaciated form lying upon the bed. The face was placid, but there could be 110 misunderstanding of tho mes sage it conveyed. "Oh, if I could but speak to her!" thought Madeleine, while her whole frame shook and her own face grew as white as was that upon which she was gazing, and then a faint whisper broke through her lips: "Mother!" A pair of blue eyes opened languid ly, aud the nurse now at the window, did not hear as acutely as did Made leine: "My daughter! Kiss me!" So quick, so passionate, so agoniz ingly intense was that meeting at tho lips; but Madeleine could now whis per: "Jeff has been here mother. He sent his love to you." "Give him my love, dear. My son! It is easier to leave you " with him " Just then the nurse turned sudden ly from the window, and a burly form which had lain upon a sofa near it sprang vigorously to itsfoet and strode to the bedside. "Madeleine Lane! how dare you? She must not talk! Have I not for bidden this sort of thing?" "She is my mother, Mr. Lapham, and yon are not my father," said Madeleine, resolutely. "But I think it best not to speak to her again, just now. H I did think best I should do so." There was a motion of a thin hand on the coverlet, and it was obeyed. Madeleine stooped aud kissed "her mother, and then glided out of the sick-room, closely followed by the wrathful face of old Jacob Lapham. As for Jefferson Meredith, liis walk to the village had been rapid, and his first visit was made at the bank. His next errand was to a dingily respect able law office. "Judge Wiekham," he snid to tho white-haired gentleman who wel comed him, "Miss Lane is somehow aware that you and Deacon Morris are executors of her mother's will "I had an idea, from herself, that I was to be one of them " "And she wishes you to bo ready to act at once. She is not upon good terms with old Jake and Steve." "Ugh!" exclaimed the old lawyer. "Tell her I'll be ready." Perhaps it was as well that Made leine watched at her window, looking toward tho village, and that Jeff was not again compelled to ring the door bell, for at the moment when she ad mitted him old Jacob Lapham was in the library > "Yon tape care of the bank-book," she said, when he had swiftly de tailed his business doings. "Don't stay." His face had darkened cloudily over what she had herself told him, but it cleared somewhat as ho turned away. Evon Madeleine did not hear him say to himself, aloud, as he was going down the steps: "Oh, but don't I wish I could see old Jake and Steve at work on ihat safe!" Madeleine reached her room again unobserved, all tho more safely be cause her stepfather was crouching before that obstinato fireproof safe, twisting the knob to numbers that he knew, but which the lock refused to know anything about. He muttered, too, fiercely, even explosively, and at last ho arose, exclaiming: "Well! If I can't open it, nobody else can. Sometimes those things wiil work so. I've known it happen be fore. At any rate, I've got all those things fixed so that the property can't get away from me. I'm sole executor, and the will just nails and clinches the deeds." Madeleine lingered in her room only for a long, deep, silent fit of thinking. At the end of it she arose from hor chair with a hard-drawn breath, and once more went over to the sick-room. A Tho form upon the bed lay very still, but the loving blue eyes opened as Madeleine again grasped the thin hand in hers. "I gave your message to Jeff, mother. He sent hi 3 love to you again." "I wish I could see him. My son!" she whispered. "Say good-by to him for me, dear. Kiss me, Madeleine. There—there—good-by." There was a heavy hand upon Mad eleine's shoulder, as she rose, but she did not turn her fixed gaze from her mother's face. "What does she mean?" ho harsh ly, hoarsely demanded. "Her son?" There was no answer in words, but even Jacob Lapham turned pale, and the advanciug nurse drew back again, while Madeleine sank upou her knees —for they were all suddenly aware that the last messenger had come. For Madeleine Lane all earthly things were veiled and put away. That hour of sobs and silence was no time to consider questions of property. There were others iu tho house, however, whose business activities were hindered, very apparently, less by the presence of death than by the strange perverseness of the look of the safe in the library. Tho knob of it was twisted and twisted in the most weari some way. ".Steve," remarkod an anxious voice, at last, "we must have that money out! The deeds and mortgages must be recorded! Only one will must be found there! This is awful!" "We've some days yet, father, and we can blow it open." "Wo must do it ourselves, then. It won't do to have anybody else open that safe. We must let Madeleine alone, too, until after the funeral." "I don't care," growled Steve, "so long as Jeff Meredith is leapt out of the house. Her Aunt Wieknam is up there with her now." Aunt Wickhatn remained with Mad eleine nil through tho long, dark night of the first mourning. Then followed tho strange days of interval between a death aud a burial. Old Jacob Lap ham had a great deal of walking up and down in the parlor to do, for he was a bereaved man, with more than one grief to carry. The look of tho safe had much twisting to endure, but it still refused to remember its num bers. Judge Wiekham came in, and Mr. .aphain began to say something to j kirn about the safe and its contents, I aud its conduct. "Pooh, pooh, Jacob!" responded the '.d lawyer; "you are in no condition >r business. It's no time for it, eith r. Wait till after lb• ianernl. I'llat eud to everything for you just now. fadeleinc, too—she's all broken <wn." Another night passed and another v came, and at the hour appointed there were carriages at the door. There was no occasion for remark, however, when the mourners cnine out of tho house, in the fact that Madeleine leaned on the arm of Judge Wiekham, and entered a carriage with him and t his wife, her mother's sister, and with her mother's friend, Mrs. Meredith. If her stepfather and stepbrother did not like it, that was not the time for them to say so, or to employ author ity. The house was regained aud was re entered by tho family party, and no body else seemed to notico that Judge Wiekham went iu last, and that, as he did so, he took the key out of the door and put it in his pocket. "Wiekham," said Mr. Lapham, as the old lawyer joined the rest in the parlor, "come in here a moment. I can't open the safe. Nobody else knows the combination, but it won't open. Her will is there " "Try it again, Jacob—try it ngain," said the judge, placidly. "You've been too agitated, too norvous " "We'll have to have it blown open," said Mr. Lapham; "but just to show how it is " And he did try it, with ostentations precision, in full confidence that the lock would continue its obstinacy, but when he remarked, "There!" and gave a hard pull, open flew the door of the safe and its contents were on publio exhibition. "I declare!" exclaimed Mr. Lap ham, springing to his feet. "Eemark able!" "There's the will," said Judge Wiek ham, calmly, as he sent a long arm in aud pulled out a paper lying in full view. The eyes of Jacob Lapham were frantically searching the interior of the big iron sa.'a for something which they did not seem to find. "That is all. All correct,"continued Judge Wiekham. "Deacon Morris and I are executors. Everything goes to Madeleine! I'll take possession at once. That is, I'll leave her in full possession." "Give me that paper!" roared Jacob Lapham. "It isn't the will!" "Yes, it is!" replied the j-tdge. "I know the signatures. I saw it put thore. I was here. It's all right, Jacob." "There's another will! I'he safe has been robbed! Money missing! Papers missing! I'm robbed!" "It isn't your safe, Jacob; it is Miss Lane's safe. If there is another will, produce it." "Leave the house! I'm in control here! Get out! I'm in possession! "I think not," answered Judge Wiekham. "Your authority has ceased. Miss Lane is '.in possession. She is absolute, unquestionable qjvner. You and Steve must go!" It was of little use to storm, but of course there was a storm, and it was all tho worse because of tho bewilder ing conduct of that safe. It con taiued no othor will, and when Judge Wiekham shut it up it almost seemed to wink at him. The Judge did not storm, but he was firm, and so was Madeleine, and she, too, wa3 calm, although she remarked: "If Stephen were a gentleman he would not wish to remain, knowing, as he does, how utterly I detest him. After what you have said and done, Mr. Lapham, you must go at once. All that belongs to you has been nut into your own room." "Gome upstairs," 3teve," sSfd his father; and as soon as they were in Steve's room, he added: "Wiekham is going out to fir.d Morris. As soon as he is gone we will search that safe." "We'll clean it out, too," said Steve. Hardly had they left the library, however, before Jefferson Meredith eamo in from the dining-room, where he hnd passed most of his time during the funeral services, and once more ho worried the lock of the safe a little. "Is it all right, Jeff?" asked Judge Wiekham. "Am not Ito know tho new combination? _ Can't you explain it to mo?" "Simplest thing in the world," said Jeff "Lots of people remember their safe combinations that way. The rid dle was no riddle at all." "Independence, Fourth of July, and the days of the week? How was it? I must say it's a riddle to me." "Why," snid Jeff, "don't yousee it? The year, 1776. The days, 7. Di vide 50—17—7—76.o —17—7—76. to get your three numbers. Twist tho knob tho usual way. That did it." "How is it now?" asked the lawyer. "All independence and freedom," said Jeff. "It is 17—21—76, aud that's what'll puzzle old Jacob when he comes down stairs. But it's a good thing io know how to sot and reset a lock." Jeff was in another part of the house when the Laphams were puzzled, but he knew how it was. Even the lock seemed to enjoy it as they tried to mako it once more remember its old numbers. "It's an awful riddle, Steve," groaned old Jacob; "but we can't get iu." That, alas for them, meant that their plot had failed, and that they must get out.. Only a few weeks later Jefferson Meredith was slowly, thoughtfully turning a plain gold ring upon one of Mrs. Madeleine Meredith's fingers. "I feel so safe now," she said; "arid it is what mother would have wished:' "Madeleine," he answered her,' "there aro some combinations of which only God knows the secret. This is one of them, and it is locked forever."—MeC.'s Monthly. A Pliyßlcian'B I'D nidi sc. A place for physicians to emigrate to is the oity of Hamah, south of Aleppo. Though it contains 60,000 in habitants, among whom diseases of the eye, in particular, are rainpam, j thore is not a single physician in the city. AGRICULTURAL TOPICS* A lion's Effff Production. About 150 egga per year la estimated aa the production of a hen, if tho flock ia amall and well cared for, bnt with large flocks an average of 100 eggs per hen for one year ia about correct, ua disease, lice and mismanagement cause loss. The fowls on farms give larger profits in proportion to capital represented than larger stock, but are more neglected, and, therefore, do not give as large profits as could bo derived from them. flCare or Farm Implements. Far more waste of farm implements (3 due to rust and disuse than is the wear of them while some one is work ing with them. They are too often left exposed for weeks and months during the worst weather in the year, and thus treated will not last one* third aa long, as they should not be tft to use any of the time. A con venient tool house near onough to the barns to bo always easily accessible, yet not near enough to be in danger from fires, will pay better than almost any other investment on most farms. —American Cultivator. Applo Poinuco ah Fo*d. There is considerable nutriment in pomace as it comes from the mill. Stock will eat it quite readily if fed before it begins to ferment. This, however, it does very soon if exposed to the air. Consequently it is best to place the pomace in air-tight barrels or hogsheads, so as to keep air from it, and cover the pomace with some thing that will hold down tho carbonio acid gas and prevent its escape as it forms. This is really ensilaging it. The pomace itself has not nutritive value to make this worth while. Its chief value is its succulency, and it should be fed with grain, hay or meal, so as to give the proper proportion of nutrition. When put up in air-tight barrels and kept slightly below freez ing temperature there will be no more fermentation in the pomace than there Is in the silo, and it can 'je usod til' late in tho winter. True I.lfe History of tho Codlln Moth. According to Professor M. V. Sling srland, of Cornell experiment station, the old story of tho entomologists about the codlin moth laying its eggs in the blossom end of the apple is a myth. The moth that lays the eggs does not sppear until a week after the blossoms (all, and then it deposits them upon tho sido of the npple. In about ten lays they hatch and tho little worms crawl around on the surface until they find tho calyx, then creep in L-stween the lobes which have by thiv time ;losod tightly. Up to this time the Insects have not eaten, but soon after entering the calyx they begin to gnaw their way into the apple. From this it can be seen that trees ihould be sprayed for this insoct as soon as tho blossoms fall, as the paris green can then be deposited in the calyx where it will be eaten by the conn, while if it is dolayod ten days r longer, the calyx will have closed ever the basin and the paris green will nly be deposited on tho outside of the (ruit, where it will in no way injuro the young worm. The closing of the calyx is in one way a good thing as it covers the poison and protects it from being washed out by rain. The oalyx cf the pear does not olose, and hence it will bo better to wait for ten days or two weeks alter the blossoms fall be fore spraying pear trees, as there will be less danger of tho poison being washed away.—New England Home stead. Klonrillcers "Have Troubles of Their Own" The real difficulty in connection with prospecting at Klondike, is not so much the trouble of staking out good paying claims, as it is to get into the country at all, or to keep from starv ing to death if you do get in. The narrow mountain passes loading into British Columbia aro so completely glutted with human traffic that ths overflow at the foot hills of hundreds and thousands of men, women, horsos, and dogs, and the melee of carts, sleds, and provisions in the utmost possible confusion, form a scene absolutely uniquo in the history of gold discov eries, a scene appalling in its combina tion of misery, pathos, of human am bition and consequent suffering.— From "Great Gold Discoveries,"* ia Demorest's. Variety in Kxploslves. Within tho past few years the num ber of explosives has inoreased with astonishing rapidity, as also tho de mand for and the trade in these arti cles. Twenty years ago there were uise factories turning out gun cotton and nitro compounds. There are now twenty-nine, and as those include al most all of the Bmokeless powder fac tories, the advance in this line is evi dent. In 1876 there was but one nitro-glycerine compound where now there are nine. Neither the demand for gun powder or tho factories show any marked increaso. Over ten thou sand persons are employed iu the manufacture of these explosives, and an enormous amount of capital is in vested in such works.—Tho Ledger. Good Temper and Health. One of the signs of mental health is equanimity of temper, and the ability to bear with indifference or even pleas ure the little trials of Jife, and espe cially those which come from scolding, petulant, cross, irritable persons. To this end the art of not hearing too much should bo learned. There are so many things which, it is so painful to hear, very many of which, if heard, will disturb tho temper, corrupt sim plicity and modesty, and detract from health and happiness. If a person falls into a violent passion and calls one all manner of names, and we can shut our cars and not hear it, or if we can laugh at the words instead of be coming excited, it is a sign of a healthy nervous syaWcu. —The Ledger. WINTER. ! Worry, though tho moon shines pola Anil tho wind-tossed branches wail; Purest crystals float and full; There they sparkle, , Here thoy darkle, On tho piao and lonely wall. Merry, though tho stream is still 'Neath tho cold and trackless hill; Tiiore tho realms of Hospor gloi*? Twilight lingers, Shining lingers Gild the sleeping Holds of snow. —Gouosse lUchardson, in Woman's Horn® ; Companion. HUMOR OF THE DAY. It is very seldom that wo seriously regret anything we didn't say.—Life. Whan a woman runs it is n mean ! man who will use his camera.—Somer | ville Journal. i J udgo— "Why did you steal tho com plainant's turkeys?" Prisoner—"He had no ohiokens, your Honor." —De- \ troit Journal. She—"Why is it called the 'silver moon?'" He—"Beeauso it comes in halves and quarters, I suppose."— i Chicago News. ! Baeon—"And he's kind-hearted, ia | ho?" Egbert—"Kind-hearted? Why, I I don't believe he ever said an unkind . word, even to an alarm clock!" ' "What would you do if you had only ! ten cents in the world, Kitty?" "I would buy caramels with it to raise my spirits."—Chicago Record. I Doubtful: Spoudley—"Well, if my J money should go, dearest, you'd still havo me!" Mrs. Spendley—"Don't ! you be too sure about that!"—Puok. Instruction: Johnny—-- "And does the gasmeter measuro the quantity ol gas you use?" Papa—"No, my son| the quantity you havo to pay for."- Puck. "Ma, is there any pie left in the pantry?" "There is one piece, but you can't have it." "You are mis taken, ma, I've had it."—Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Ho told me to get off the earth. What do yon suppose ho meant?' 1 ! "Ho seemod to think that you needed a bath, evidently." Louisville Courier-Journal. "Yon may fetter my body," he shouted, "but my mind will wear n* chain!" In other words, the wheel | in his head was of the '1)8 pattern.— Indianapolis Journal. ! Customer (in restaurant) "This boefsteak must bo at least three weeks ' old, isn't it?" Waiter—"Don't know, sail; I'se only been heah two weeks, eak."—Chicago News. I Raggs—"Say, do you believe that ; story of the goose laying the golden j egg?" Jaggs—"Well, it would be just like a goose to do such a foolish • thing."—Chicago News, i Sloper (as Miss Eastlake, his in tended, finishes a solo) —"What a voice!" Duncan (who has been re jected by Miss Eastlake) —"Yes, what u voice!" —Harlem Life. A North of England paper says: "We have adopted the eight-hour system in this offioo. We commence work at 8 o'clock in tho morning and close at 8 in the evening."—Tit-Bits. Matilda—"Have you spoken to ' papa?" Bertie—"Yes; I asked him through the telephone' and he an swered: 'I don't know who you are, i but it's all right.' " —Piok-Me-Up. j Not Necessarily: Walter "So Bilker rents that forty-dollar-a-month houso of youi-B, does he? He pays I too uracil rent." Landlord (sighing) | —"You don't know liim."—Puck. "Men's promises," tho young wife said between sobs, "aro like pie-crust ; " "Thnt's tough," said the young i husband, . and then she got angry enough to cry.—lndianapolis Journal. Tho Ivlondiker who returns with i §IOO'J in gold dust usually estimates the claim left behind at §500,000. It is well to keep these assets in a sep arate class.—St. Louis Globe-Demo orat. Bride—"Counting your change, Goorge? It has been an expensive trip, hasn't it?" George "That's i right. It looks as if this honeymoon would soon bo off its last quarter."— ( Puok. Rapturous Youth "Darling, my i salary is S2O a week. Do you think i you could live on that?" His Af fianced—"Why, yes, George, I can get along on that. But what'U you live on?" —Chicago Tribune. | Bingham—"Bonner is so aggravat ingly self-possessed." Rawlins— \ "Yos. Ho could wear a cheeked golf | suit at a wedding and carry himself as though the groom was a mere caddy." I Philadelphia North Amorioan. I "I have been complimented a great many times on my stage presence," said the amateur with a disposition to ; monopolizo things. "Yes," replied ■ the weary manager, "you're all right !on that point. What you want to oul ti Tttto now is an occasional Btogo ab sence."—Washington Star. | Robbins—"What in the world does j Hardy Upton mean by wearing a win ter overcoat and a summer suit?" j Dobbins—"Why, a report got around j that he had to soak his summer suit I before lie got his winter overcoat out. i Hardy is trying to prove that the l-e --j port is unfounded."—Puok. j "Colonel Blood," says the current issue of the Weekly Battle Ax, "has called at this office and demanded u retraction of our remark that he was n famous liar. Wo retract cheerfully and fully, and do so by hereby stating that tho esteemed colonel is an in famous liar."—lndianapolis Journal. Clarence—"Genovieve, why will you not hear me? Can't you see that lam dying for your love? Tell me, tell n_i that yon will—" Genevieve (interrupting)—"Oh, please go away and come some other timo when I'm not busy. Can't you see that I'm right in the middle of this murder cose?"— Cleveland Leader,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers