It is sai l that nations move by cy cles. A great many people movo bi cycles nowadays. Go rapid has been the change in the English language that the English to day bears no more resemblanoe to the English of 1030 years ago than it does to German. Instead of the old sign, "Five Dol- | lars fine for ri ling or driving across this bridge faster than a walk," will be one, at each end of the new Milan Bridge at Topeka, Kan., reading, "No restriction." One of the tests of the bridge was the running of teams across the same at full speed. Only another evidence of the advance of practical ideas in science. For the second time a woman has won a prize debate at Cornell Univers ity. the '9l .-memorial prize being awarded to Miss Abigail Laughlin,'9S. Another fair orator Won the Woodford medal several years ago. By holding their own in these mere conspicuous competitions, as well as by the rank they attain in examinations, the women students at Cornell continue to justify by their works the principle of 00-ed ucation of the sexes. It docs not speak well for the Paris police that fifty-three murders should have been committed along the Sein a within three months and yet the first arrests are now made. According to Gaborian and other romance writers, the French police track and overhaul criminals with the instinct of the bloodhound, but iu real life their work does not compare with the work of English or American detectives, who do not have the help of the admirable French registration system. General Boy Stone, Acting Presi dent of the National League for Good Uoads, believes that he has found a way to make postal savings banks and gqod roads promote each other. His plan, in brief, is that postal savings banks shall be established, and that the Postoffiee Department Bhall invest the deposits in county bonds for the building of good roads. The scheme is favored by the League of American Wheelmen, road improvement associa tions generally, and many educational institutions. C. W. Stone, a membel" of Congress from Pennsylvania, has embodied it in a proposed amendment to the Postal Savings Bill. The mineral production of the United States for 1897 is put by tho Engineering and Mining Journal at a total valuation of $7G2,061,106, of which $257,-151,172 is for metals and $501,009,931 for non-metallic sub stances. The gold production is esti mated at $55,498,950 aud the silver at DG,117,000 ounces, worth $33,558,900 against 58,488,810 ounces, worth $39,- 245,991, in 1896. The gold product is placed considerably under that of Mint Director Preston, who puts it at 601,500,000. With the exception of the Southern States, whose yield is Inconsiderable, every State aud terri tory in the Union that produces gold lias increased its output. Mr. Pres ton has shown himself a very con servative statistician, as he under estimated the 189G production by $lO,- 000,000. The difference between him and the Engineering Journal is quite considerable, but as both show a big gain over previous years and as bigger gains are in sight for 1898 aud an in definite term thereafter, the public can afford to rest easy until the full statis tics are obtainable. Whether on account of improved sanitary conditions or on account of the increased skill which physicians have developed in battling with dis ease, there is gratifying evidence of a marked decline in the death rates oi our leading American cities during the past year. As compiled by one ol the leading medjeal journals of the country, the death rates for the cities of New Y'ork, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Boston and St. Louis, as disclosed by the figures lor the past year, are as follows: Per 1,000 Inhabitants. Chicago 13.5 Philadelphia ISA New York M.B Ht. Louis 18.1 Boston. 15.1 Baltimore 21.5 Cincinnati 14.'. While there is quite a decided dif ference between the death rates ol some of the cities mentioned iu the foregoing table, the showing which the record in its entirety evinces is unusually gratifying. Although the exact figures for this immediate sec tiou of the country are not accessible, it may safely be affirmed that the south will compare favorably with any other section in point of healthfulness. As for Atlanta, there is no city in the United States which possesses supurior sanitary advantages. THE SONG OF SIGHS. There sits a maid Trhere the winds of the wilderadss Ang*.r her hair. And the fair stars mock and steal the lustre and light of her eyes, Wnerea terrible moan of silence and sadness sickens the air, * Where the shivering earth liesoold 'neath the sheeted mists that rise; Btill at her lattice she gits, and a heart-sad song she sings J (Song of sighs it is, has been, and shall -ver be),— ••Love is the King of all, a tyrant King of Kings, A cruel tyrant of Kings, and my Love he loves not me." —Aaron Mason, in Harper's Magazlnt. t LOST; A MILLIONNAIREi i fRS. COLLINS COX is in the waiting room and desires to see you immediately, sir," Baid one of the men entering the room where I was i n conversation with the Chief at Scotland Yard. Collins-Cox?" re peated the Chief. "Isn't that the great American millionaire who has recently settled in Loudon?" "Yes, sir." "Show her in at once. Wiseman, you remain for a time." A few seconds later Mrs. Collins- Cox came quickly into the office and the door closed after her. She was a pleasant looking lady of twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Clearly she was greatly excited about something. "Sir," she cried, coming forward suddenly, "I've lost my husband! He Las disappeared." "Since when?" asked the Chief, beckoning her to a cheir. "Since yesterday evening." "Oh!" hejsaid, smiling, "I should not worry about that, madam. No doubt he will como back safely. Did he not say he was going?" "Oh, it's not that, sir, that fright ens me. It is this, which I received a little while ago," and she drew from her hand-bag a small cardboard box and dropped it upon the desk. My chief took the box, opened it and abstracted its contents; a letter and a small packet. Leaning over his shoulder I read the words ofj the former: DEAB MADAM—Rest assured that your husband is right aud safe so long as you don't attempt to find him. If you do you will regret it. lie desired me to send you the enclosed check (£10,000), which you are to change aud convey In cash to us after our instructions. You will go to the hank, cash the check, put tho money in a handbag, and to-night, at ß sharp, when It fs dark, you will goto Cross street, Whitechapel, aud put the bag against the ratling of No. 17, exactly where you find a white cross on one of the flags. You will go alone, and act secretly all through. It is your husband's wish, for the successful issue of our plans means his life. If the money falls into wrong hands your husband will write us another check, which you will cash and bring to us. So you will save yourself trouble by seeing it doesn't, and following our instructions. When we have the money, your husband will return. Put the bag down on the white cross and walk away quickly. Yoh will be followed; and if you don't walk away, or if you look back or there is anyone spying about. you will bo a widow within two (hours. Re careful, therefore. To betray us is to be tray yourself and Mr. Collins-Cox. Mean time, wo enclose first installment ol your husband to show we mean business. CUAULKS KIDNAPPEH AXD Co., LTD. The Chief next took the small packet, undid the paper, and suddenly re coiled from it. It was a human finger, cut from the socket, aud wear jug a plain gold serpent ring. I took np the finger, and examined it very carefully. "Do you recognize this finger aud ring to be your husband's?" I asked. "The ring, certainly, but I can't be sure of the finger. Men's fingers are BO much alike." "Hum! Do your remember what— er—yes, what finger Mr. Cox wore this ring upon?" "The third finger of his left hand, always." "Then calm your fears, madam; a million chances to one this is not your husband's finger, since it is the sec ond of some hand. Of course, it may be genuine. But I don think so. Your husband has been kidnapped. "Do you wish me to take up this matter?" I asked, turning to my chief. He nodded, and I turned to Mrs. Cox. "Go to the bank, cash the check, and return home, where you will find me. You must do this, because you are probably being watched. Stop a bit, theugb, madam! Have yon the cheek?" "Yes, it's here in my purse." I took it from her, aud crossed to the window to examine it. It was made out, payable to Mrs. Cox, on a sheet of ordinary note-paper. The body was written out in one hand with a steel pen, and the signature was in another. "Are you sure tho signature is all right?" I asked of Mrs. Cox. "As far as I know, it is," she answered. "But I could not say for certain, though I attribute the dis similarity from his usual signature to his being nervous when he wrote it." "It is dissimilar?" "Yes, my husband wrote a very firm hand, and that is rather shaky." "Welk madam, please do what I tell you. Go to the bank, and meet me at your bouse. Let me lend you this black knndbag. It will suit your purpose." With that I took up my hat and went off. I walked down Carlton House terrace to the Coxes' house. To the footmau who answered my summons I said I wished to see Mr. Cox's valet, and in a few moments this lordly gentleman came to me with a mixed manner of cordiality and con descension. In a short time Mrs. Cox returned. "I guess I shall go mad before the day is cut," .aid she, as she came into the room, followed by a man carrying my handbag. "Oh, no," I said, cheerfully. "I want to see you alone." She dis missed the man, and then sank into a chair. "Yes, I've got the money, after the greatest difficulty," she said, answer ing my look. "But have you discov ered anything?" "Yes, two things," I replied. "I want these things: A piece of cream note paper—get it from your cook—a steel pen, ink and a specimen of your husband's signature. Please get these things yourself, and let no one know. Now, tell me—who is in this house?" "Myself—you meau usually? Well, Mr. Cox, myself, the secretary, three male and five female servants." "They all live here?" "Except the secretary—yes." "This gentleman, has he been in your employ long?" "Three years." "We might get some information from him, perhaps. However for tie present, I'll see no one. Will you please get me those things?" Mrs. Cox went out, and returned after a few minutes with what I had asked for. I smiled as I saw the note paper. Though it was not the same make it was very like what had been used for the check for £IO,OOO. "What are you going to do?" Mrs. Cox asked. "I can't do much until 8 o'clock, so I am going to try a little experiment." I took from her the specimen of her husband's signature and examined it. From my pocketbook I drew apiece of tracing paper, and this I laid upon Mr. Cox's signature, which I went over carefully some thirty or forty times. Then I took the sheet of note paper and calmly forged the million aire's name, making a queer little curl at the tail of the "x" similar to what I had noticed in the signature of the £IO,OOO check, which was not to be seen in the specimen signature before me. Mrs. Cox watched me with an air of profound mystification as I put the sheet of paper bearing only the name, "C. Collins-Cox," upon the table and covered it up in such away that no other part of the paper was visible. "Now," I said, "will you be good enough to summon every one in the house, and let them remain iu the room until I call them?" She went away and in a few minutes later returned, saying that every one was in the room adjoining the one iu which I sat. "Very well, then. I want them to come iu here ouo at a time. Begin with the secretary." "Ask Mr. Stainer to come here," said Mrs. Cox. Mr. Staiuer came. He was a tall, gentlemauly man of 30, wearing gold rimmed spectacles. "Of course," I said to Mrs. Cox in an undertone, but loud enough to be beard, as bo came forward, "if it's genuine you must change it, and do as instructed. It will cost you a cool £IO,OOO, but that can't be helped. "Mr. Stainer," and I turned to him quickly, "can you tell me if this is Mr. Cox's signature?" "Yes, it is." "Be sure, please. It's a highly im portant matter. Look at it closely." He leant over it and examined it like a near-sighted man, for some mo ments. I watched him, noticing his hands trembling and his lips twitch nervously. "Yes," he said, quietly. "I'll swear to that. "But I fancy he was unwell when he wrote it, for it is very shaky for Mr. Cox." All the others were brought in in turn, but no oue else was able to iden tify the signature. "I want a cab," I said, smiling. A cab was called and I went out, gave the driver a note, with instruc tions to take it to the Yard and await an answer. Then I returned to the room and drew Mrs. Cox aside. "Don't breathe a word to any one," I said; "but does it not strike you as strange that the man who best knows your husband's writing should be the one to say most emphatically that my forgery was written by your hus band?" "Yes," she said, in a whisper. Ten minutes later, the cab returned and landed oue of our men. He was shown in to me; and at my request, all the servants were recalled. When they were assembled, I turned to our man and said: "Chambers, you will remain in this house until 9 o'clock to-night. You will allow no one but Mrs. Cox to leave while you are here, and you will see that nothing whatever is passed out of the house by any one to any one, and that no communication whatever is held by the inmates with outsiders, not even with tradespeople. You will make it your duty, if anybody—l say anybody—attempts to break ihese rules to immediately arrest them. You understand?" "Yes." At this Stainer looked the picture of oonfusion and very pale. "I shall be here at 7 o'clock," I said in a whisper to Mrs. Cox. "Have an old dress, cloak and liat of yours ready for me, and a room at my disposal, if you please." Then to Chambers I said in the same tone, "Pay particular attention to Mr. Stainer. He inter ests me." And then I came sway. At abont 7.30 the same evening a woman, tall, agile and well but quiet ly dressed, with a rather thick veil that hid her face, which, for the first time in eighteen mouths had been de nuded of a brown silken beard and mustache, left Mr. Cox's house in Carlton House Terrace, and, walking to Waterloo place, got into a cab. She gave the driver an address, with instructions for it to be reached by a roundabout route, and placed beside her on the seat of the cab a black handbag. The cab eventually stopped in Oxford street. The woman sprang out, paid the driver and hurried eastward. Pres ently she encountered four or five cabs plying for hire at the curb. With a quick glance around her she sprang into once of these, gave the driver an address through the roof trap, and the cab rolled off at a quick rate. The cab rattled eastward past New gate, the Exchange, through Fen church street, and finally pulled up a few yards from a small beer shop in Whitechapel. The woman alighted, paid the cabman, and crossed to the other side of the road, where four la borers ivere standing talking together. She went up and held an animated conversation with them for a few min utes. Then the four men moved off in different directions, leaving the woman standing alone in the shadow of a doorway. Here she remained un til a neighboring clock struck 8, when she issued from her hiding place and turned down a by-street. The street in which she now found herself was narrow, dark and de serted. The light was barely suffi cient to enable the woman to see a white cross upon a flagstone in front of No. 17, and upon this she put the handbag she carried. The moment she had done so, she started to run down the street, but she did not run far, turning sharply into the deep shadow of a projecting wall. From here she could see up and down the street, the mysterious house and the handbag. The house was apparently empty. Not a light was there in any window. She was attentively watching the windows of No. 17 for an indication of life, when she heard a strange grind ing sound that made her start. No one was to be seen. Everything was exactly as it had been before, except that the bag had gonel Vanished! "Fool!" she cried, "I might have guessed it!" Running out of hiding she drew a a police whistle and blew it thrice, and then set about to examine the flag stone. Yes; the cement around it was in loose powder. Some one had shift ed the flag; some one in the cellar be low and the bag was gone and the flag pushed back. There was no area door, so the only way to gain admittance to the house was by the front door. She flung herself against it again and again. But it resisted all her efforts, and she stopped to consider. At that moment a laborer ran up. "It's all right," he said. "We've got him—bag in hand. He had laid his plans for quick escape at the back, but ran into my arms as we entered. The house is quite empty." "Oh, are yon sure?" I asked, for, of course, the agile female was myself. "Perfectly certain. The house is absolutely empty of everything and overy one." "Ah, then I think I can understand. Get me a cab and take the chap to the station in another." Two cabs were procured. In one we put our prisoner—a well-dressed man of a pronounced American type— between two of my Scotland Yard laborers and sent him to the local sta tion. The second cab I took myself, and in it I drove to Carlton House Terrace. WhenJl arrived at the Coxes IJfound the footman just paying off another cab. "Oh, then Mr. Cox has returned?" I said. "Yes, sir. Just this moment ar rived." "Where's Mr. Stainer?" "Your friend has him locked in the pantry. He arrested him by your in structions half an hour ago." Running up the steps I pounced right upon Mr. and Mrs. Cox locked in each other's arms. He wore an air of mystification, while she was simply bubbling over with delight. "What does all this mean?" asked Mr. Cox, turning upon me. "It's mystery upon mystery! Who is this woman?" "This woman," I replied, "is De tective Sergeant Wiseman, of New Scotland Yard, who has just discov ered one of the neatest little plots ever invented. Your secretary is a ge nins " "I don't understand," he said,'look ing at me as if he fancied I was play ing a joke at his expense. "You had a telegram yeßterday?" I asked. "Yes, which took me to Peris on a wild goose chase. Some one has been making a fool of me. The telegram punorted to come from an old friend in Varis, and requested me to go to him there withont a moment's delay or a word to any one. I went. His name was not known at the hotel. I cabled to New York and had an answer to say my friend was there and well, so I came back. What does it mean?" "It means this," I answered. "It means that your secretary and two men—one of whom is now in custody, the other probably in Paris—plotted to fleece you of £IO,OOO. Your secre tary forged your najne on a sheet of note paper which was made out as a check for £IO,OOO, payable to your wife. This is a large sum, aud the chances of getting such a check honored at short call was remote, un less the person offering it could satisfy the bankers it was all right. How to do this Bet the plotters wondering, un til they hit upon the grand soheme of getting your wife to change the check." And I then recounted to him our ad ventures and their result. "The kidnapping idea was intro duced in order to frighten yonr wife, aud the finger, which was that of some one else adorned(with one ofjyour rings, which your secretary found in your bedroom,was calculated to further un nerve her. "Madam," I concluded, turning to Mrs. Cox, with a slight evidence of justifiable pride. "I congratulated you upon coming to Scotland Yard. You have provided me with the only really interesting case I have had for years."—Tit-Bits. SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL. A naturalist recently asserted that man is descended from the angle worm. A German chemist has discovered that alcohol is among the by-products which can be obtained from coke-oven gases. A physician, who has given much thought to the subject, says that BO long as the cyclist can breathe with the mouth shut he is reasonably safe from heart strain. Last year 1308 persons bitten by mad dogs were treated at the Pasteur institute in Paris, of whom only four died. Since 1886 the number of cases treated is 18,642 and of deaths one hundred and forty. According to a dispatch from Mel bourne, in Australia, Professor David states that the results of coral borings in the atoll of Funafuti show the soundness of Darwin's theory of the formation of coral reefs. Hats and coats can be left on a new hook without danger of theft, a slid ing bolt being fitted with a lock and key, by which the garments are clamped tightly, and cannot be re leased until the owner inserts the key to draw the bolt. Checks can be indelibly marked to prevent raising, by a new protector which has number dies to mutilate or break the fiber of the paper, which at the same time forces ink into the mutilations so it cannot be erased without destroying the fiber. The Massilon (Ohio) Bridge Com pany has received an order for the construction of a cantilever bridge 562 feet long and eighteen feet wide, which is to be built by the New York Dredging Company at Honda, on the Magdalena River, in Colombia, South America. The Borcliardt automatic pistol is cited as an example of rapidity in com plicated mechanical movements. As eight shots have been fired in one third of a second, one-twenty-fourth of a second will suffice for advancing the firing bolt, exploding the charge, extracting the cartridge and reloading and cocking for the next shot. An inventor has hit upon a method of putting stone soles on boots and shoes. He mixes a waterproof glue with a suitable quantity of clean quartz sand, and spreads it over the leather sole used as a foundation. These quartz soles are said to be very flexi ble and proctically indestructible, aud to give the foot a firm hold even on the most slippery surface. No Patriotism In China. As for the patriotism of the Chinese, if it ever existed, it is unquestionably a thing of the past. At the time of the war with Japan, China had two squadrons, the main or northern squad ron, with headquarters at Port Arthur and Wei-Hai-Wei, aud the southern squadron, composed of fine Armstrong cruisers,of gunboats and torpedo boats. As it was clear that the Japanese would carry the war into Manchuria and to ward the Gulf of Petchili, the southern squadron was ordered to proceed north ward and to reinforce the northern fleet. Far from obeying, the com manding admiral and his officers de cided that, being a great deal safer in the south, they would quietly remain there, and go up a river, the entrance of which could be defended by torpedo mines, which they hurried to lay. Why, in the. name of Confucius, should they have exposed themselves for the sake of defending the northern provinces? About the same time, the Chinese government being in need of money to carry on the war, decided that a small j tax would be imposed upon the tea plantations, most of whose proprie tors are wealthy, or at least well-to-do people. But these patriotic citizens, in order to avoid paying that small tax, begged the foreign merchants to take the plantations in their names! — Illustrated American. A New Wrinkle For Fountlrymeu. One of the New York printing ma chine builders, says Engineering, has succeeded in producing extremely ac curate gear-wheel castings by the simple device of using a machine-cut metal pattern, and baking the mold in a core oven before the pattern is re moved. Under these conditions the metal mold expands - -le the clay tends to shrink, with result thai on cooling, the patter., t au be with drawn, leaving behind it a perfect mold. Wheels cast in this way show, it is stated, the tool marks on the original pattern, and customers have accepted them as machine-cut wheels. Electric Lamp Output. One of the largest domestic manu facturers of incandescent electric lamps has an output of over 6,500,000 a year. Lontent Canal. The longest artificial watercourse in the world is the Bengal Canal, 90( miles, the next is the ilria, 363. 1-iOUSEHCLD AFFAIRS. Cause of Soggy Potatoes. Strange as it may seem, baked pota toes are still occasionally seen on the table in a covered dish. Served this i tvay, they become soggy almost at oncc. After pricking them with a fork, as they are being taken from the oven, they should be laid on a folded napkin on a platter, the napkin folded so that one corner will cover the potatoes, in ; order to preserve their heat without j condensing the steam from them. Dome-Made Flavoring; Extracts, j A New Hampshire woman who had always made flavoring extracts for use in her own family began some thirteen years ago to manufacture the extracts for sale, using the same process, that of making them directly from the fruits themselves, instead of from oils, that she had uped when making the ex tracts on a small scale. The result has been that she had not only re gained vigorous health from the out of-door employment necessary in gath ering and overseeing her materials, but she is building up a constantly enlarging sale for her extracts through out New England.—Philadelphia Times. Sweeping ami Dusting. In the course of a series of papers on "Cookery For Girls," continued in the Woman's Home Companion, Sallie Joy White gives these simple rules for orderly housekeeping: "Begin at one side and sweep to ward one place. Hold luc broom close to the floor. Sweep with short strokes, and let the broom take tho dust along the floor instead of tossing it in the air. "I wish every girl would learn the rule for dusting by heart. I dare say you have all seen the aimless way in which the majority of girls—and wo men, too, for that matter—dust a room. They seem to think there is no such thing as a systematic way of doing it. Dust the room thoroughly. Begin at one corner and take each article in turn. Dust from the highest things to the lowest, taking up the dust iu the cloth, but not brushing it off on the floor. Shake the duster occasionally in a suitable place, and when through, wash and hang it to dry." Put Flowers on Your Table. Set flowers on your table—a wtiole nosegay if yon can get it, or but two or three, or a single flower, arose, a pink, a daisy. Bring a few daisies or but tercups from your last field—work, and keep tbem alive in a little watgr. Preserve but a bunch of clover, or a handful of flowering grass—one of the most elegant of nature's productions— and you have something on yonr table that reminds you of God's creation, and gives you a link with the poets that have done it most honor. Put a rose, a lily, or a violet on your table, and yon and Lord Bacon have a cus tom in common; for this great and wise man was in the habit of having flowers in season set upon his table, we be lieve, morning, noon and night—that is to say, at all meals, seeing that they were growing all day. Now here is a fashion that will last you forevor, il you please—never change with silks, and velvets, and silver forks, nor bo dependent on caprice, or some fine gentleman or lady, who have nothing but caprice and changes to give them importance and a sensation. Flowers on the morning table are especially suited to all. They look like the happy wakening of the creation; they bring the breath of nature into yonr room; they seem the very representa tive and embodiment of the smiles of your home.—Detroit Free Press. Yngetariau Kccipeg. Fried Cuoumber—Boil a good-sized encumber till nearly soft in milk and water flavored slightly with onions. Remove and drain dry, cut it up into slices when eold and brush each Blice, which should be about a third of an inch thick, with egg, and dip in bread crumbs, after which fry in butter till amber brown. To be served in the eenter of a hot dish with mashed potato round. Fricassee of Beans—Steep one pint of haricot beans for a night in cold water, then remove them, drain and put on tho fire with two quarts of soft water. When boiling allow the beans to simmer for another two hours. While they are cooking thus pnt on in another saucepan two ounces of butter, an ounce of parsley (chopped) and the juice of one lemon, nnd when the but ter has quite melted throw in the beans and stir them round for a few 1 minutes. To be served in a casserole I of rioe. Vegetable Aspic Molds—ln the bot tom of some very small molds lay al ternately small pieces of chill, chervil and hard-boiled white of egg. Covet those well with liquid aspic, then add a further layer of chopped parsley and finely chopped yolk of hard-boileo egg. Having mashed this also in as pic, put in another layer of Bmall squares of cheese and a few capers,ana so continue the operation till the molds are quite full. When set on ice turn out of the molds and serve on lettuce leaves with mustard and cress and chopped aspic jelly. Carrots a la Creme—Take a large bnnch of very small new carrots, scrape them, tie them loosely in e piece of coarse muslin and put into a saucepan almost full of boiling water, to which has been added a small lump of beef dripping and two ounces ol salt. In about twenty minutes they will be tender, when remove from the hot water and plunge for a moment in cold. Next melt an ounce of butter in a saucepan and stir into this a des sert spoonful of flour, a small quantity each of pepper, salt and cayenne, also a little nutmeg and half a teaoupful of cream. Remove the oarrots from the muslin, put them into the saucepan with the other ingredients and let them simmer in them for a few min utes, then serve vory quickly while hob THE QUIET HOUiiE. Oh, mothers, worn and weary With cares that never eeiise, "With never time for pleasure. With days that have no pence; With little hands that hinder. And feeLde steps to guard, With tasks that lie unilnislmd, Deem hot your lot too hard. I know a house where plaything. Are hidden out of signt; No sound of childisli footsteps Is heard from moru till nigut: No tiny hands to litter. _Tiiat pull things all awry; No baby hurts to pity As the quiet days go by. And she, the sad-eyed mother— What would blio give to-day To feel your cares aud burdeur. To will a your weary wav? Ahi happy she, yen. blessed, Could she again but see The rooms nil strewn with playthings, Aud the children round lier knee! —Mrs. M. E. Juliu, in Montreal Witness HUMOR OF THE DAY. Willie—"Say, pa, what's a floating debt?" Pa—"Our yacht, my son." C-ticago News. "I was in an elevator once that fell fifteen stories to the basement." "Dear me; how did it feel?" "X was never so taken down in my life." —Truth. "We are going to give np having | Tohuny get an education." "For what reason?" "We can't get him sterilized every morning in time to go to school." —Puck. "I believe they claim there is less sea-siekuess now than there used to be." "Then I must have had all of it," said the returned voyager.— Chicago Evening Post. Carrahnu—"Th' forman down at th' new place phere Oi'in wnrrkin' is puvty kind. He towld me tek me ch'iee av any tools t' wurrk wid an' Oi tuk me pick."—Judge. Too High.—Mrs. Poeticns—"Don't you think mv new hat is a poem?" Poeticus—"No." Mrs. Poeticus— "Why not?" Poeticus—"Oh, I'm merely judging by its price."—Truth. Stranger—"Where do the High minds reside? They are one of the Did families of this city, I believe." Mrs. Forundred—"They used to be, but Mr. Higbmind failed last year."— New York Weekly. She—"How would you punctuate the following: 'Bank of England notes of various values were blown along the street by the wind?' " He —"I think I would make a dash after the notes."—Tit-Bits. Billy Blink (boxing instructor) — "Great Scot! That was an 'outer' you gave me. But what's that in your glove, I say?" Amatonr (just learn ing) —"Oh, that's a horseshoe—l put it there for lnck."—Tit-Bits. DfcMr. Isaac—"l jse'.ls you dot coat at a gread sacrifice." Customer—"But you say that of all your goods. How do you make a living?" Mr. Isaacs— "Mein frient, I makes a schmall profit on de paper and string."—New York Weekly. Little Presbyterian, aged three, on his return from the Episcopal Church, where he had been for the first time: "Mamma, the minister came out with a night-dress on, and all the ladies were so 'shamed, they put their heads right down."—Truth. Literary Aspirant—"What steps are necessary when you want to get out a book?" Borus (who has had some experience)—" Several thousand steps will be necessary if it takes you as long to find a publisher as it generally takes me."—Chicago Tribune. Chollie—"Maud has to wear glasses; the oculist said she had beeu using her eyes too much." Charlie—"l should say so! You ought to have seen her at the dance the other night; she was just surrounded by men all the time."—Harper's Bazar. She—"Ah, Count, you don't know how my love for you distresses my parents. I heard my futher say this morning that he would give $50,000 if I could never see you again." The Count—"Ees your fazaire in hees offoes now, you sink?"— Chicago News. "You know," said tho Chinese Em peror, "possession is nine points of the law." "Yes," replied the Europe an diplomat, "but I must remind you that there are several hundred points in the game we are playing. Nine points represent a mere bagatelle in the score."—Washington Star. A lady who saw that her servant girl seemed to take a certain interest in the objects of art in her parlor, said to her:. "Which one of those figures do you like best, Mary?" "This one, mum," said Mary, pointing to the armless Venus of Milo. "And why do you like the Venus best?" "Sure, it's the aisiest to doost, mum," ans wered the girl.—Harlem Life. Shell Fisli Fear Thunder. Crawfish, crabs and lobsters are pe culiarly sensitive to loud noises, and it is a fact that a lond and sudden clap of thunder will cause them to ampu tate or drop their large claws and "pincers." The impulse which seizes them when suddenly alarmed is to throw off their heavy claws, so that they may quickly scurry off to a place of safety. Crabs and lobsters can in ten days or a fortnight grow new claws as large as the old ones. For several weeks, however, the patient who is growing on a new set of fighting wea pons, does not appear among the armed members of his family, because, his claws being soft, he conld not "take his own part" and would be eaten by bis cannibal brethren.—Gol den Days. A Herr Supply of Amber. News of another valuable discovery comes from British Columbia. This time it is no< gold, but amber. The banks of the Saykusp Creek, flowing into Jervis Inlet, on the eastern shores of the Straits of Georgia, are, it is claimed, able to snpply the world with amber for at least a century.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers