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MM • iliMHiiWuM Imam »HH t» -tpm, pM»i •;&*» MM «t tin a»'%n; m* wtinnllf im ,. jpjili ilfjlijln oatbapac* " - Wrttocr . «M«M>«kla of the pip«r. Bi In UM and <foto«.to h»T» «WMMM|jKaCf«™ plain utdtfMincl T •' " A,.. V/- slo ££?-» 'I* THK GOOD OIJD WAT. a wife who was kind and true--- . wd him w<»ll; . for kit how «nd their only child; ! the troth most tell, d and pined becsnse john »m poor, tautnem was slow to p»y; eoaljr Mid, when «he4alked of ch*a#e. ill stick to the good old way. her neighbor* were prrowinjf Actlf dweUtnfUi houses grand; lit waalmng wealth on < SPIL r in poverty, teveryhand; Ov } sr husband to speculate, v } tings at play; k > ' • Bathe only «ald "My dearcst wife, ̂1 I . Well stick to the stood old way." * -- * * Vor he knew that the money that's quickly got Jh the money that's quickly lost; A»d (he money that stays is the money flRosi r U honest endeavor's oost; l§41 Ho be plodded along in his honest style, ... ABd he bettered himself each day; .'.'*••* AtttlMeet* MM to Ms fretful wttfc "Well stick to the good old way. ;< And at last there came a terrible ccash, f®* J When bfiggary, want and shame fit I < . OMM down on the homee of their wealthy friends. White John's remained the same; yioir he had no debts and he gave no trust; "Ify motto is this," he'd Bay-- "*ItV a charm against panics of every kind*- , TPis, stick to the good old way." " And his wife looked 'round on the little mIm That was every nail their own, And she asked forgiveness of honeiit John* . Far the peevish mistrMt she had showm | : But he only said, as her tearful face , 1 Upon his shoulder Ifey, T,..: The good old way is the best way, wife-- ,4;"* ' V We'll stick to the good old way. "> - -- ..nsms % i - - LEFT BEHIHD HI RUSSIA, The afternoon's sun glimmered pale- ly cold and cheerless. It seemed shorn of all its golden glory of warmth and vivid color, yielding but its bare pres­ ence to this land, whose vast extent and almost fabulous wealth could insure the -weal or content of neither monarch nor people. The feeble rays fell upon guarded palace, gaudy temple and wretched Wei, finding everywhere the same dis- oo?tcnt and aimless striving. They | touched at last, "with a semblance of ©heerfrJncss, the narrow panes of a 5 railway car, from which the newly-em­ barked passengers journeying from one " of the old historic Bussian cities were £ idly gazing. Even here the chill beams lighted upon a face whose heavy eyes and droop­ ing mouth told the same story of un- | happiness. A young girl sat alternate- ly looking out upon the barren pine forests and glancing hurriedly and anx- £ iously where, a few seats in front of hen, a girl of her own age was chat- > ting, and claiming the absorbed atteo- | taon of the boy beside her, both of them | entirely oblivious of their oompagnons *; dn voyage. Across the car were two elderly : ladies, who, having arranged bag, shawl- strap and bundle to their satisfaction, were composing themselves for a com­ fortable nap. "Yes/* sighed the first girl, as she turned her eyes on the landscape again, "those old wise men were right, ' Wnen they said that happiness consisted more in the anticipation than in the re­ ality." Such had been the experience of her sixteen years in nurservdom and board­ ing school. How much she had longed a-\ " ' «i!'., k l ' . ' sfc' , Sfr'r A $ i '"'V *1 - - ; * washed for the day when she'should set ; forth ' ̂ - Strange countries for to see. And now it had come to this! She was thrust into the background and foijgot- ten! To be sure, in the first part of the trip, it had been quite 'different---alto­ gether different. In England and France she had ' been the important member of the party. Aunt Rose and Cousin Clement had vied with each other in their care of her, and her Trench vocabulary had been in requisi­ tion to her own satisfaction, and the ^thorough bewilderment of the natives. But Aunt Bose had insisted on com­ ing to Russia, and since their entrance info that bleak country, with its closed palaces, timid Emperor, mystic socie­ ties, and sullen, smileless peasants, things had ceased to look eouleur de rose. At St. Petersburg their little party had been joined by Mabel St. Clare a&d her mother, who was an old friend of her aunt and her cousin, and since then her path had indeed lain among thorns. Clement had deserted her for ICiBS Mabel's blonde beauty and timid little ways. Since then she had been obliged, in ramble or ride, to play gooseberry between the two older la­ dies, and listen to their hints and dark suggestions of old-home scandals, with the full accounts of which they would Ml sully her young ear#. Well, ah, well! She had heard that, as one grew older, life took on a deeper ahade--and she looked* soberly up at the sun riding cold and pale through the surrounding cloud-banks. Suddenly, vhen only three or four miles from their starting-point, the train slackened its speed and finally oame to a full stop. All around lay the dense pine woods," with their dark suggestions of lonely night rides and bungry, encircling wolves. . Agnes gazed out with eyes that Biatched the gloomy landscape. Just then she spied a gleam of bright color. .A gay little flower had thrust itself into sight against the somber background. Yielding to the impulse of the moment, the young girl walked to the end of the car, and stepped out upon the platform. Swinging herself forward, she saw the train officials collected into a group, gesticulating with vehemence. Tliey would be detained then. Well, she would get that flower as a memento «l this dreary land. She had nothing «iae. Aunt Bose had forbidden her buying any of the malachite with which the stores abounded and for which an exorbitant sum was demanded, and she had long been supplied with brushes, ' "boxes, knick-knacks and what-not,bound ,' imd backed in the odorous red leather. * She had seen Clement buying a mal? '« I*.-r *cWfce paper-weight, and had hoped to ^ wdd that to her trinkets picked up here #nd there as souvenirs of foreign lands; tut Mabel lied exhibited it with great #eligat as hern. •;f. She would, at least, get this flower to press for her herbarium. The others *irould not miss her, she thought, bitterly, as she peeped back into the '4a*- »* The two young people were as much Engrossed in themselves as before; the "two chaperones nodded and blinked at <acli other, only half-aroused from their '41A] 1: ! # • i e£/: J.. V""5 J i Turning away quickly, the voung girl leaped from the car and made her wav [>; 4,4 y . • toward the flower that shone out in the Ci . v' encircling gloom, like a sunbeam in a h ' "* y tokened room. . ? ; She had just reached it and was care- 3L *,"&* S'lfly breaking the tough stem, when, nnft yarning plutiff av aLrmlr >a3ewith dismay. For a few tnomattla she stood silent, numb with bemldacwentj then her firm conunan-foase assorted itself. She could not sfihy here. NMt was draw­ ing nigu. Sae ^uust foU<iw the l>ack to the town where they had been stopping. She could go to the same hotel; the landlady would remember her, and she would safe there until she could go to her relatives, or they return for her. As she stepped along from tie' to tie, she wondered,amusedly to herself, what Mal»el--timid, clinging Mabel--would have done in such a predicament. Then a vision of her Aunt Rose's horror and excitement, her nervous gestures and exclamations, crossed her miud; and Clement--perhaps he, in his dawning manhood, would deem it necessary to come to the rescue of this belated maiden. Her drooping spirits rose high as she walked along, keeping step to the mel­ ody of an old school songthfttshe hummed. This was a real adventure! As the evening shadows began to close darkly, she reached the town and made her way through the dim streets, thronging with grave men and women, and solemn, squalid children, munch­ ing their little portions of black bread and green cucumbers; past the stoxes with their signs, looking like alphabets gone mad, so twisted and inverted seemed the Russian letters; and at length, tired and jaded, she reached the hotel. She felt too strange and weary to note the suspicious looks cast at her, or the hesitation with which she was at length shown to a room; and she attrib­ uted the curious alertness of the serv ant who brought her supper to his eagerness to understand her not very legible gestures. •* Overcome by her long walk through tM chill evening air, Agnes fell asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow, and she was placidly dreaming of home ,and friends, when, with a great start, she awoke. For a moment she lay in the stupor that suoeeeds a stldden awakening; then she heard distinctly a great rap­ ping, a confused murmur of voices, and saw a stream of light that crept Under the badlv-hung door. For an instant she lay trembling and hesitating; then, upon the imperative summons being a third time repeated, she hastily threw her traveling mantle about her and opened the door. Without stood her landlord, his sul­ len countenance more forbidding than ever, as only half revealed by the dim light of the flickering candle, carried by some one who stood beside him, some one whose uniform bespoke him to be one of the sons of the Russian wars. At the same time the two men en­ deavored to explain matters to the frightened girl, but their language was to her as the chattering of some wild beast. "Oh, why did we ever come into this dreadful country ?" she thought, despe­ rately trying to catch some clew to the meaning of this ill-timed visit, as the men talked on more and more vehe­ mently, adding emphatic gestures to their words. "Why did I not study Russian in place of Latin, which I nev­ er can nse ?" jgettitjg mors and more confused as the torrent of words poured on. Leaving the gendarme to watch the girl the landlord at last went away, only to return with a hastily-awakened, sleepy-looking man, who winked and blinked as the feeble light of the candle fell upon his half-open eyes. . "Your passport^* |*e tq Agnes, in broken English. Her passport! Her purse she had attached to her chatelaine, but everything else she hn/j left in the car, and Clement had charge of all such matters as passports. "I haven't it," she replied, looking up at the last comer with appealing eyes. "You see, I got off the train to pick these flowers," motioning to the poor faded bunch that lay on a small table, "and was left behind." The interpreter only half-understood this explanation. He would have .doubted its truth could he have folly gathered the meaning. "Leaving a car for those weeds! Incredible!" As it was, he explained to the others that the young lady had no passport. Three pairs of eves cast suspicions looks at Agnes; tnree heads wagged sagely. But the landlord saw it when I wan here before," she gasped, reading trouble in their suspicious glances. More suspicious looks and head- shaking. Sha had teen there 1>Bitot* and gone away; for what had she returned ? In these days of social revolt and mysteri­ ous crime, everjr unusual circumstance might be of dire import; even her sex was against her, so many girls, and young women had been proven guilty of treason against the Government. Nothing could be done in the dead of night, however, and at last the three disappeared, leaving the girl in an agony of fear. Ah, how bright her life oeeaaad nowt how small and trivial all her discom­ fort! How willingly she would be with her friends, even listening to the two old ladies as they'gossiped of this one and that, blindly flattering themselves that their language was an unknown tongue to her, while Clement andMabel sat apart conversing in low tones. Her father away home appeared before her strained eyes surrounded by a halo of love and old affections. ,1tlnhat would all the dear ones do, could they but know of her plight? With the morning came brighter hopes. Surely there would be some one to whom she could explain all the unlucky circumstance. With a happier face, she dressed herself and opened her door to go to the breakfast-room. Almost upon the threshold a gendarme stood, guarding the exit. He mad* «o objection to her passing him, however, but followed close at her heels. At the table every guest turned to look at her; all eyes were fastened upon her as the soldier took his station be­ hind her chair. Agnes grew hysterical under their searching glances. She covered her face and laughed nervously "Would the girls believe all this?" she thought, her mind wandering from the room with its gaping, breakfast forgetting people and the immovable figure behind her, to her own cozy lit tie nest, and a group of open-mouthed, incredulous comrades to whom she might some day tell the adventure. The meal over, affairs took even a more serious turn. The dull mind of the landlord was really aroused, and, more than all, he was eager to attain the notoriety such a circumstance would give him. To arrest a Sihilist, a young gjfi v#ry vofttg what bwV •our visits m j?8oeial- allthese earn* oil his fitful So tlie worthy host talked away to all ho would listen, telling of the deeply- laid plot hidden under all thfa innocent seeming, while Agnes returned to her rr*nm wfiflo the hours that must elapse ere she confd leave the with its strange inhabitants. "I could explain it easily, if I only knew more French," she said to her­ self, afc she sat listening to the meas­ ured tread of the sentinel in the hall­ way ; "but what received French gram­ mar ever taught such sentences as ' I was left behind by the western-bound train, when I jumped off to gather some wild flowers, and so was obliged to re­ turn and wait for the next one She, could order a meal or inform you that the brother-in-law of the butcher was cousin to the wife of the shoe­ maker, but her vocabulary was not sufficiently extended to explain her presenoe there, sine friends and pass­ port. As she sat thus, she was again aroused by a rapp ng at the door, and, opening it-, beheld the group of the previous night, landlord, gendarme and interpreter, enlarged this time by the addition of the landlord's wife. With much pains and superfluous wording, the interpreter gave her to understand that, as a suspicious char­ acter, she must be searched "What!" exclaimed Agnes, as the woman advanced, her stolid features expressing neither pity nor interest of any kind, "I am an American girl!" preudly. "I will not submit to it!" forgetting that her language Vas Hebrew to them all. The backward movement, the proud expression of her face, they under­ stood. Again they paused, taking counsel of each other, when a light step came up the stairs, a new form ap­ peared in the group outside the young girl's door, and, with one glad cry of recognition, she had run to her cousin and stood clinging to him, weeping and laughing alternately. Send them away! Send them all away!" she gasped, as Clement looked in wonder from the gendarme to the landlord. "Show them my passport and send them all away." Mechanically he obeyed her. Then, as they passed down the stairway, leav­ ing the cousins together, Agnes told of all her night's terror, her words often choked by the tears that would flow, her arms still clinging to Clement, as though to assure herself of his real presence. He soothed and petted her, telling in his turn of the fear and dread of his mother and himself. After they had again left the inn--the landlord now all bows and obsequious­ ness--and gone but a few steps, the girl stopped, hesitated and then ran back, up to the room which had been the scene of short, ever-to-be-remem­ bered adventure. In a moment she had returned, and her Bussian host's dull eyes opened in languid surprise, for in one hand she held a little withered bunch of leaves and flowers. He shrugged his shoul­ ders as she passed out of sight, and the old, dull apathy returned to his countenance. Why try to solve it ? The whole af­ fair was to himan unfathomable mys­ tery.--a ry H. L,arge, in Yvpih'a Companion•. into the unirn twenty could and tired of pack of until KI gets luffled away »1U«3 by toeing i tamny you have sooted to of twenty heads or erhaps you think you ~ leve it between dark 1 When your arm take a weii-sh' cards and cut tve cut red twenty times w, or black, for that matter. When yoiar eards are worn out, take a pair of Msiaiors, cut a piece of paste­ board into t)its of the same size, num­ ber them from one to 100, pat them into a bag of bowl and draw at random until you have drawn twenty odd num­ bers or twenty even numbers in suc- cession. Xjife is short, but there are triumphs that are worth a considerable expenditure of time and trouble. Heads or tails, red or black, odd or even, it is all the same thing. Shall I confess that I have myself, with some little assistance, experimented in the probabilities of sequence to the modest extent of 1,000 trials ? I proceeded in this way: Two hundred and fifty of the 1,000 trials were made by tossing a coin, each trial lasting until heads fol­ lowed tails or tails heads; 250 more were made by cutting a constantly- shuffled pack of cards, the object being to score rues of red or black; the third 250 consisted of trials of odd and even by numbered tickets in a bowl, as described above, and the remaining trials were made with a dice-box and a single die. As there are six faces to the die, bearing respectively from one to six spots, the chances of throwing an even number of spots, i. e., two, four or six, is equal to the chance of throwing ^n odd number, i. e., one, three or five. To simplify matters I shall give the results in heads and tails, red and even )in the card and number experiments being considered as equivalent to heads, and black and odd to tails. Out of the thousand trials, 515, or a little more than one-half, resulted in a change at the second toss; that is to say, there was no run or succession, heads being immediately succeeded by tails, or tails by heads. The remaining 485 trials resulted in runs of from two to ten. The following table shows these in the column of totals. It also shows how many runs of each class were runs of heads, and how many were runs of tails: Heads. Nnmberrun 515 Runs of two. ....IW Runs of three 63 > Runs of four. 36 Runs of five 15 Runs of six 7 Runs of seVen....i... 8 Runs of eight 2 Runs of nine 1 ' Runs of ten 1 Total of trials Tails. 515 131 33 •I Total. 515 368 118 48 r • * 8 3 est run attained, and that it was attained twice. The mathematical chances against a run of either ten heads or ten tails are 1,024 against one. The result, there­ fore, corresponded almost exactly with the mathematical probabilities of the case. Inasmuch as in keeping the score I discriminated between the runs of heads and runs of tails, I am able to calculate how many tosses gave heads and how many gave tails. The 1,000 trials in­ cluded just 2,820 tosses; of these, 1,458 resulted in heads, and 1,462 in tails. In txicrcforc, the ence between the total of heads and the total of tails was only four. on aoquamtanoe, and finally bseotaM a real sottroe of pleasure.-- Forest and Stream* t. en Eggs. "l We are assured on high authoritt Wit a esrir should ten or hours A Shrewd Ambassador. certain occasion an Ambassador, whom the Emperor Charlamagne had sent to an Eastern monarch, while sit­ ting at the table of the latter, quite thoughtlessly moved a dish that was near him. It happened that the King had issued an edict that if a guest touched a dish before he himself was served, he should be put to death. Therefore, most nat­ urally, every eye was turned toward the enemy, and some of the courtiers pro­ claimed his offense and loudly de­ manded bis immediate punishment. The monarch was in a dilemma. On the one hand, he dreaded to excite the displeasure of so mighty a ruler as Charlemagne Dy putting his represent­ ative to death; on the other, he was unwilling that his subjects should find him remiss in the execution of any law which he had promulgated. Of the two, the latter seemed to him the worae; so he acquainted the Ambassador of the law, and told! him he must die.. I sinned ignorantly," said the- Frank, "but ignorance of law is no excuse for its violation. Your every decree must be carried out to* the very letter;, and I am the last wh»> would wish you to» re­ lax from your vigor in my behalft. I only implore yo.uar Highness to grant me a single favor before I die." "It is not my diesire, but the lat<„ that renders thy death necessary," replied the monarch, "and I promise to gvant whatsoever thou: asketh. My word is late." "I only ask," swnarked the Ambas­ sador, looking around with a g»«m smile, "that the- eyes of all who* saw me touch the dish be placed in my hand." Hearing this, the courtiers gazed irpcn one another with fear and trembling. Even the King himself was dismayed; but the promise had been given, and. the singular request must be complied.with. So he said: "It shall be done." On inquiry, however, not one' waa to be found among the courtiers* nor among the servants, who was willing to acknowledge that, he had witnessed the act; and the King confessed that ha had not seen it. "If no one saw me commit the deed, there is no evidence to prove meguilty," observed the Ambassador; "and cer­ tainly there can be no reaseu why I should suffer death." Thou sayest wisely," returned the monarch, wlto was so delighted at th$ Ambassador's cunning that he not only pardoned him, but bestowed upon him many presents of exceeding value. Some Wealthy Newsboys. "That big, tall newsboy over there at the postoflice steps is worth $20,000 in his own right." It was another newsboy who gave this rather startling bit of information to the reporter. "Yes, sir," continued the talking newsboy, "that's. Alf--Alf Shattler, and he does the biggest trade of any boy in this city. Why, maybe you don't be­ lieve it, but it's true, he makes more money in a day than any of the Fourth street clerks do. Alf averages $6 and $7 a day." "But he has to work for jt ?" "Well, I should say so. How long do you suppose he has sold papers- on that corner ? Nineteen years, sir. Alf began business abomfc war times, and he has never given it upw Now he has the boss business of all the boys." "A regular trade?" "That's it, sir. Yowrtl see gentlemen come across the street at all hours, get a paper from him without a word, and walk away, not offering to pay. Those- are his regular customers, and he has hundreds of them." Further inquiry disclosed the fact that Shattler is nearly 30 years old.. He is married, and lives on his owm property on Spring Gsvve avenue. Out at Milford he owns a/fiarm for which he- has refused $10,000. Beside this farms he owns other property, real and per­ sonal, of equal valuei. Down at the corner of Fourth and Walnut is another newsboy, whose fer miliar face has bees a landmark at that point for tent years past. His name is John Finn. Fourth and Wal­ nut is his particular field, and no other newsbo^ ever attempts to invade it. Thongh not so wealthy as Shattder Johnny can draw his check for $5,000 and have it honored).. He has had! his home at the Union Bethel for years, where he regularly pays a fixed, sum for board and bxiging.--CincintOMti Commercial Gazette. The Oldest Town In Calbeca deVaca, after serving with Navaez in Florida, went westward, and after thrilling adventures was the first European toset foot in New Mexico. This was in 1531. Ten years later an expedi­ tion under Coconado explored the country in search of treasure, and nine years afterward the town of Santa Fe was founded. This was only twenty- nine years after the conquest of Mexico by Cortez. Jamestown, Va., formerly had the honor of being the most an­ cient town in the United States. After Florida was annexed, St. Augustine held that distinction, but since the ac­ quisition of New Mexico St. Augustine has given place to the city of Santa Fe in that Territory. EVKBY man can boast of one admirer. The Horned Lark. Ordinarily the horned lark is strictly terrestrial. Whea alighted it is. most commonly seen vesting on the ground or walking--it is a great walker^, main­ taining its center of gravity by ai grace­ ful, .dove-like motion of the> head. Never is it see* in a tree, nor at any time when at rest does it aspire above the top rail of the fence. It has one trick, however, strangely m contrast with its ordinary lowliness* and which ever greatly perplexed me. It was one sunny afternoon late in May. Hearing its song, now quite familiar to me, ~ Strolled warily through th*> open field hoping to find its nest. But whence came the stong? It was as puzzling as. the voice of a ventriloquist. Now it seemed on the right, and now on the left, and now in some other direction Presently I caught the way of the sound, and lo! its author was soaring high in air, moving in short curves, up, up, singing for a few moments as he sailed with expanded wings before each flitting curve upward, till he became a mere speck in the ethereal Uue,«nd finally I could scarcely tell whether I saw him or not. But I still heard the song, one that can never be mistaken, so unlike is it to the voice of any other bird. At first you can scarcely consent to be pleased with it, and are tempted to compare it to the creaking of an un- greased wheelbarrow. "Quit, quit, qjiit your silly rig and get away," it to fl&Sa thd t flzai av fan* an egg should ten or after being laid before the white is properly set, and untfl .lliat time they do Mi tab on their delioate flavor. Eggs for boiling and for souffles should be very fresh, t>ut for other culinary purposes it is not so imperative. But they should no' be stale for any dish: whatever, for nothing is more disgust­ ing than an egg that has stood too long. Te all know how to boil an egg, but let me add a word of caution: Do not drop it into the teakettle, and do not take a teaspoon to put them into the boiling water. Take a small, flaring, granite kettle to boil them, and take a wire spoon that will hold half a dozen eggs, so that all may be put at once into the boiling water. An omelet is a simple tiling enough to make, and, as there are over 200 ways of making them, I will not particularize, as prob­ ably each one of us has a formula which she uses to her own satisfaction. Try the following way of cooking eggs: Heat a meat platter and make as many pieces of toast as you wish, and bfatter them slightly when putting them on the dish. Take a sauce-pan and put into it about two ounces pf sweet, fresh butter; break the eggs into a liowl and add salt and pepper to taste; turn the eggs into the hot butter and stir quickly with a wooden spoon till the mass has assumed the consistency of thick cream, then pour over the toast. Eggs pre­ pared as above with boiled dried her­ rings and haddock, or sardines placed upon the toast, and the eggs put over them, are liked very much by some peo­ ple for breakfast. Broil the herring, take out all the bones, and put it on the toast, etc. The sardines may be served cold as they come, or they may be set over the fire and heated. Garnish with a few sprigs of curled parsley. Baked eggs are very good. Take a fire-proof dish, put in it some very fresh butter, and let the butter get hot. Have your eggs broken in a bowl and turn into, the dish, placing a few small pieces of butter over the eggs. Set the dish in the oven to bake. Try and have tl^e yelks about even distances apart, and not broken. Golden eggs form a very pretty dish. Boil some eggs well, and, when they are cold, peel and cut them into halves^ and set them with the yelks downward in a deep glass dish, arranging them care­ fully in rows. Make a sauce by frying in butter an onion, putting in curry powder sufficient to color the milk, which you add at the last, thickening it with a little flour. Pour over the eggs and serve with a dish of rice. \ Snow eggs are formed by putting over the fire a quart of rich milk, sweetening it, ana flavoring it with orange flower water. Separate the whites and yolks of six fresh eggs, and beat up the whites to a stiff froth. Drop a spoonful at a time into the boiling milk, turning them as quickly as pos­ sible, and, lifting them out of the milk with a skimmer, place them on a sieve. Beat up the yelks and stir them into the milk; let them have one boil and put into a glass dish. Arrange the whites around the edges and serve either hot or cold; the last is preferable. There are eggs with tripe, eggs wijth cheese, spaaragus, peas, spring onions, and a great many other things.--Country Gentleman. • w-J?; •' • . • .LI One hundred and twenty-three years ago--in the year just before the first observed transit of Venus--there was a looking-glass maker in Yeddo, who was. made happy by the information, "It's a boy." Neighbors and friends rushed in to congratulate Mrs. Middle-island, the happy mother whose son North- house (Hokusai) was to become the most famous aitist in Japan. As the boy grew up he was fond of drawing, and always had a pencil or brash-pen in his hand. He made pict­ ures of babies on their mothers' backs, of chubby chiMrea play­ ing, of the ownerless wolfish dogs and bob-tailed cats of Yed- dot Nearly all the Japanese- artists be­ fore North-house had painted only lords and ladies of the court, nobles' cos- tomes and gorgeous silk dresses, and gold-lacquered vases and palanquins be­ longing to the Mikado. Many of their subjects were Chinese, but silken cur­ tains and red temples and pagodas, with abundance of gold clouds in tha picture to- cover up the plain or common parts, -were what one saw on most famous works> of art. But Hokusai was & man of the peo­ ple. He cared taext to nothing about Chinese-heroes, or high Lord* of the court--except to make fun. of them-- and so* he struck out in a new line. He pictured farmers and mechanics, thatched cottages and shops, aad mar­ kets, pack-horses and street dogs, and everything in humble life. He especi­ ally entered into the juvenile world-- which is only as high as a yard-stick-- and while his brother artists, soared in­ to the mountains and clouds Hokusai kept on the ground, with the- result that eVen the babies understood his draw­ ings, and dyers bought his books for their patterns. To study some of the dainty pictures dyed into a daimio* lady'si skirts, or to read. & Japanese fairy tale en a bride's robe, i» often to recog­ nize Hokusai's pictures! reproduced in color. Hokusai opened a studio in Yedo in 1810, and labored steadily with the brtish until 1849--abeM five years be­ fore Commodore Perry entered the Bay of Yedo. His chief books of pictures, are hii»nangua, or aAoaa of sketches. Occasionally he made journeys, and the fruits of his travel were his "Hun- dired Views of Fuji-Xama," beside many pictures of natural scenery. His draw­ ings are more simple and less finished than ours, but ate much clearer than thooe of most Japanese draughtsmen „ so that, of them all, Hokusai is best un~ derstood by foreigners. Hokusai is dewL but thousands of Japanese still chuckle over his carica­ tures ; and in American metal-work, silverware, wall-paper, silk, embroid­ ery and a hundred forms of decorative art, the strokes of his pencil are visible, with a character all their own.-- Wiliiam Elliot Griffin, in St. Nicholas. --•A dataolo is a Japanese Lord. (Be 1 CTalbot, la6toTeIae4Hsnad.] Speaking of weakness of the gentler sex, I rnet my ftrieiad, the doctor, and, as he and I stood and surveyed the pawing «how, a plump, fair woman passed bj, and I said to him: "What a charming complexionI* "Short-lived, though, my dear boy," quoth he. I ex­ pressed surprise, for my charmer was young. "Arsenic! Talbot, arsenic," said he, calmly. Then it dawned upon me what he meant. Resuming, he said: "Its use is increasing. Women eat it in two forms; the white powder, that caused pqor Jennie Cramer's death, or arsenious acid, as the drug dealers have it, and Fowler's solution, which the pharmacopia says is a mixture of arsenic with potash in a fluid form. Either way of taking arsenic produces the plumpness of face and beauty of complexion that you noticed in yon fair lady. Its influence is principally on the capillary surface of the skin, which produces the plumpness. In plain En­ glish, water is the influence at work, and in the end it shows itself. The skin assumes a watery transparency, , which in its turn gives way to ghastli- ness and whitening of the lips. That is the awakening from the blissful dream. Beauty vanishes and the end comes. Horrible ? Oh, no! I call it retribution. Cynical? Perhaps! but plain truth generally is, my dear boy, in these days of ours. Arsenic eating can be stopped at any time, without an effort, except that whioh vanity dreads. It has none of the soporific effects of opium or morphine. Used as a medi­ cine it is an excellent tonic, one of the best known." "How long can arsenio be used be­ fore it produces the ghastliness you speak of?" I asked my mentor. "Six weeks' unbroken dosing will do the work well and effectually," answered he, "but woman is skillful, and using it a week she pauses, and before the effect of the cessation comes she takes another interval of arsenic dosing. Thus fate is held off. The end must come, however, and it comes all too soon for the arsenic eaters. Some systems agree with the drug longer than others, but a few years of the periodical eating settles it. Verily was it said 'Vanity, thy name is wom­ an.' »' "It is an astonishing thing," went on Esculapius the Cynic, "that you cannot kill a pig with arsenic. I had a friend who was an enthusiastic chemist. He had preserved a lot of cherries in an arsenical solution, and having no further use for them threw them one morning from his laboratory window. A rambling porker, on the lookout for edible trifles, saw them drop, aiid looking them over and contrasting them with the usual expanse of tile, brickbat and old tin cans on which it had been his daily wont to brouse, eagerly swallowed them. My friend was alarmed and visions of a bill for the value of a dead and uneatable pig rose like a specter before his eyes. He chased the pig away and thought that perhaps its death might not be laid at his door if the pig was not there when it expired. The incident warned him, but on the following morning he was dumbfounded to see the pig waiting for more of the deadly fruit. Some were prepared, for my friend was an investigator, and doled out to his hogship. He devoured them, and grunted a muffled paen in their praise. Each morning that pig returned, and each morning the dose was increased until my friend was ruined and the pig's confidence in arsenical cherries stronger than ever." I left my mentor with the fear that he had not been abiding in the path of truth that his honored parents had pre­ scribed. THE brightest of stars appear the most unsteady and tremulous in their light; not from any quality inherent in themselves, but from the vapor that floats below, and from the imperfection of vision in the surveyor.--Plato. FORTY years ago a man worth $60,000 was accounted wealthy; now he must tip Ijflp |0 regarded -tm iforjf and pray. . On ti» 1st of October, several years ago, Chambers' Journal says thai two eminent surgeons were delivering the introductory address to the students at the opening of the medical schools at­ tached to their respective- hospitals jn London for the winter session. One advised his hearers to cultivate some mechanical art, such as wood earring or turning,, or to habituate themselves to the use of carpenters' tools a» much as possible, in order that they might acquire a digital 'dexterity and pliant readiness of hand--a tactual instinet, as he termed it--which should befit them to become skillful operators. The oth­ er bade them devote their leisure mo­ ments to the assiduous practice? o£ seme musical instrument with the- same ob­ ject. While, by a curious coincidence, a celebrated physician im Scotland was at the same moment counseling his youthful auditors to pursue the study of music, not only as a healthful change from their graver labors,, but in order that the ear might be ediiaated to the delicacy of perception which would be of great service to them im auscultation with the stethoscope. A renowned phi­ losopher not long dead! i» said to have delighted in conjuring: tricks, and to have declared that he could gauge a stranger's, character better by the man­ ner in wlkich he took or refused a *<force<r' card than by an hour's cxjnver- sation with him, and as & sort of corol­ lary, and at the same time a converse to this, it may be noted that prestidigi­ tators*---who are, of necessity, close ob­ servers' of human nature -- certainlv seenn invariably to select without hesi­ tation those who are- best fitted to serve their ends without suspicion, from among an audience* whom ^ey neiKttraeen before. * • , The Hallways of the Worlds The lines of railways in the five divi- siens of the earth sost, in round num- i bees, $16,000,000,000; and would, ac- i «eoarding to Baron Kolb, reach eight twaum round the globe, although it: is but little over half a ceatur r since tke first railway worked by steam was opened between Darlington and Stoek- ; ton, Sept. 27* 1825, and between Man­ chester and Liverpool, Sevt. 15, 1830. It is shown that in France, previous to the existence of railways, there was one passenger in every 385,000 killed, and one out of every 30,000 wounded; whereas between 1885 and 1875, there was but one in 5,178,890 killed, and one in 580,450 wounded; so that we may infer that the tendency to accidents is yearly diminishing. Railway traveling in England is attended with greater risk than in any other country in Europe. A French statistician observes that, if a person were to live continually in a railway carriage, and spend all his time in railway traveling, the chances of his dying from a railway accident would not occur till lie was 960 years old. A NEBRASKA Coroner held six different inquests on the shoulder-blade of an ox before he would give up that some Chicago athlete had not been foully dealtmtk A WOXAX has WW lilft Wmaran arei ad 43M: • . Jt . .. ?. j 'j at your W mtmo rich man to join, and then arrange* to have him "accidentally" ait down on 4a AH exchange has an article on "Young Women Who Die Early." This fre­ quently OOOUM; but oases of old women who die early are very few in­ deed. A FABHIOITABIJC lady who loet her pet poodle was asked if she didn't greatly miss the beast. "No," was the reply, "my husband sort of takes his place in my affections." AN article in anoarabanmi is headed: "Kissed by Her Husband." Such mistakes will occur, and there should be some remedy devised to prevent their recurrence. HEARD at the Conundrum Club: "What is the difference between a frigid undulation and a den in the forest!" The prize answer was: "One is a eold wave and the other is a wold cave." AN iowa Judge refnsed a woman a divorce which she wanted because her husband kissed her pretty servant. He said she ought to be thankful that her husband had found a way to keep a servant-girl. TYNDALL says that men and woinen existed on earth 50,000,000 years jie- fore the date of Adam and Eve, so prtroably we of to-day know nothing of some of the most charming scttnaala that ever occurred. MRS. BAY, the first woman that went to Leadville, dug in the mines, scoured the plains as scout, took in washing, and now has a fortune of $1,000,000, Her husband undoubtedly regards , her as "a bright ray." YEA, verily, deanly beloved brethren, our candor moveth us to acknowledge and confess that there are more dismal swamps on Wall street in one day than could be found in a hundred Virginias in a hundred years.--Puck. A CONVICT says he was sent to prison for being dishonest, and yet he is com­ pelled every day to cut out pieces of pasteboard which are put between the soles of the cheap shoes made there and fialmed off on the innocent public as eather. LOUISVILLE Courier-Journal: Noth­ ing is quite so sweet as liberty. When the American voter finds that he has voted for a bad citizen he patiently waits until the next election, and then, moving grandly up to the ballot-box, he votes for--another bad citizen. AFTER the party: "I say, have yon seen anything of my hat around here, anywhere?" asked a young swell in the coat room. "I donno, sah," replied the attendant. "Here am a hat which says 'light weight'inside of .it, sah. Mebbe that might be yours, san?" He didn't take the hat. "OH, I've just had such a scare!" ex­ claimed a prim and pale housewife; "! feel as if I should faint." "Why, what's the matter?" was asked. "Well," sho replied, "you may not believe it, but as sure as I live that girl deliberately opened the parlor shutters and the sun was shining right in." "So YOU have got twins house," said Mrs. jt^zumw to Tommy Samuelson. "Yts, mam, two of 'em." "What are you going to call them?" "Thunder and Lightning." "Why, those are strange names to call children." "Well, that's what pa called them as soon as he heard they were in the house."--Texas Si/tings. A GENTLEMAN, while bathing at sea, saw his lawyer rise up at his side, after a long drive. After exchanging saluta­ tions, says he: "By the way, how about Gunter?" "He is in jail," re­ plied the lawyer, and dived again. The gentleman thought no more of it, but on getting his account he found: "To consultation at sea about the incarcera­ tion of Gunter, $3." AMONG the professional reminiscences of Daniel O'Connell, when at the Irish bar, was the following unique instance of a client's gratitude. He had ob­ tained an acquittal, and the fellow, in the ecstasy of his joy, exclaimed, "Ooh, consider, I've no way to show your Honor my gratitude, but I wish I saw yon knocked down in my own parish, and maybe I wouldn't bring a faction to the rescuel" "Mr dear," said a Prairie avenue lady to her husband, "if you were to buy me the most inappropriate Christ­ mas present what do you think it would be?" "The most inappropriate." "Yes, spmetljiiig the most dissimilar to m* and my style which you could think of." "O, I reckon an umbrella would be the tiling--a real fine fimbrella with a gold handle--" "An umbrella! Gra­ cious! why an umbrella?" "Why, von know, love, yon can shut an umbrella.* --Cheek. Mms. BANDKLL WBAO is not the best- educated woman in Austin, but that does not in the least hinder her from expressing herself fully on any topic, no matter what it may be. She was having her head examined by a phre­ nologist. "You have pliiloprogemtive- ness strongly developed." "Yon bet I have. Nobody ever said anything mean about me but I was sure to getv even with them sooner or later. That's just the kind of a woman I am. You have hit it first pop. "--Texas Sifting*. The Popular Plan. One can not only buy everything from a cook-stove to a coffin, on the weekly or monthly payment plan, but a Detroiter has applied the principle to a still higher object. A certain young gentle­ man interviewed him in regard to the hand of his daughter, and the fathei heard him out and replied: "Well, if Mary is willing, I shall not object. I intend to give her $10,000 as a dowry." "What a noble and generous father 1** gasped the young man. "But I shall adopt the installment plan," continued the father; "insteadof giving her the sum in a lump I shall pay her $3 per week for sixty-four years. That will not only prevent her from, speculation and loss, but come much easier for me."--Detroit Free Press. IN the publio schools of Ohio, 98,691 scholars are taught the alphabet, 642,- 748 reading, 653,363 spelling, 528,417 arithmetic, 221,051 grammar, 133,664 drawing, 168,701 music, 6,708 physiolo­ gy, 5,121 natural philosophy, *83,978 German, 29,246 algebra, 1,005 trigo nometry, 1,557 chemistry, 4,098 bota­ ny, 788 natural history, 287 mental phi­ losophy, 1,664 rhetoric, 48 logic, 7,266 Latin, 255 Greek, and 34,376 litem*