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herself < insanity a the ill the 1. VAN tLYKE, Editor »«4 PtblhMr. flMteHKNET, ILLINOIS, .4 SUDDEN SHOWft. '£* m '< r*V : K- IT JAMES WHITCOMB KILKT. "BarefootptJ l>oya send tip tho street. Or (tknrry un.'pr sheltering shi-ds j 4 'Aad tsebool-girl faces pale anl sweet Okuun from (he Rh*wl-« about Ib<4r beafl>» Doors bmifi; ami mother's voices call 4$ From alien homes ; ami rusty gat(M ^r<> Hlntiiniod; and high above it all !, Th« thunder firim reverberates. 1 And then, abrupt. the rniu. the raisl' >, The earth lien gasping ; ami the ejtipjk:=vjVv:f Hoi)nid the Ktrenining window-pane. Senile at- the trouble of the skie-<. . ?4t; "Wie highwa* smokes, sharp echoes ring; v% TTOECF.ttle bawl and cow-l>ell9 clank; i'-jr And into town comes galloping ; .f Tb« farmer s l.orso, with streaming flank., ]r 'Hie swallow dips beneath t he ea en ?(J? And flirt s bin plumes and folds hi a vlngi; And under the cnta wba lea res Tho cnterpiller curls and clings. bumblo-bee is pelted down The wet stem of the hollyhock; And sulleuly in spattered brown The crickot leajts ill garden walk. Within, nhc t<abv ilups his hands And crows with rapture strange and Tag CUB; Without, beneath the rose-bush stands A t! ipping rooster 011 one leg. --{Hearth and H all. •*> .felt* ' k . X Sit4- MY GUARDIAN ANGEL When I state that my Guardian JLngel used to come in the1 evening and drop into a chair in the other corner before the fireplace, or in any •one of the ancient chairs of my bed­ room, up two flights, I want to be dis­ tinctly understood that to the eye he "was invisible. When, very often, I would surprise the stupid people of my l»oarding- house by some impatient exclamation -directed to himself, long since an old «tory to me, I knew that my Guardian «; Angel heard and understood For us two to talk before people was un^.a- visable. When in niv own room, or ? * seemingly alone on the street, I took my chance. • » "Good heavens!" I ejaculated one ^ day. when my room was dingier than V* usual. "If I was going to be a guar- % dian angel, I'd do one some good." " " I could picture his tall form, now, -stretched out on the narrow, hard ilittle bed he was free to Use, since I >j- •[ - -was in no humor for lying down. I -knew one knee was high over the ' »ther, and that his shapely arms were sarelessiy tossed above his handsome bead. "Very often I had seen him • / 'thus at picnics when, as thoughtless „ -jjirls, my set would gather about on f the grass or sea sand to chatter. I f v i knew that now he sighed a« my III- ' humor grew, and yet further berated him. I knew he sighed. I did not .care. "It's all just disgusting!" said I, K ^pitilessly. "Look at me, Rex." I felt bold to say his name. I knew he : 'took it up. * "Yes, my dear," I heard him say. ^-"Call me by name in death, though ' iin life you never did so." "Did so, indeed!" I rejoined. "How •could I? I'd like to know. Before I got rid of that creature to whom I 'j, became engaged through his lies and misrepresentations, and before I could indicate to you how I really felt, you 9tad to go and die--" "Co&ld I help that?" he sighed gently. I continued: "Died of a broken 'tiearfc, and left me to lire, you cow- «nl.m , "See here," he said. I could per- "Ceive he was speaking, and 1 talked 4 •<-. right along. A cold sensation over my face, or upon my hand always *old me when he was near. He was •as a familiar friend, an alter ego. ; Movelty of intercourse was gone, so fi&S » ; i§ &V* <£**• this conversation is no more surpris­ ing than the matutinal talk of many a couple ten years married. Now it was evening, not morning. JSee here," said he--of course not "in voice audible as a man would speak, but in a way that conveyed all lie would say to my faculties. "I whispered your name with my last 'breath. I have been by you ever since." "Why didn't you take me along?" Xsaid complainingly. couldn't. All the powers of the 'universe could not have cut short your life; your time had not come." "Well then," said I, "if I've got to live just so long anyway, what is the we of doing things for the health or for the complexion?" "Comfort," said Rex, tersely. *'Look at me," said I, tilting back tin the broken rocking chair. "Thirty jfears old. Hair ruined by that rteyer, now sparse and gray; .thin as a urail; all my bones emphatic in a pro­ siest against my life; com­ plexion like canvas: hands like an •old woman; feet literally worn out •standing as I do all day. I'm tooold t© be a 'shop girl,' so I'm a 'sales­ woman.' Hot a bit of additional re- vspect in the position from the educa­ tion that cost my father $1,500 a year to attach to my girlish pretti- . ness. To sink from a millionaire's ; daughter to this, is hard, you'll admit tit* Bex." •"Dearest, I do, "said he sadly. "I've no money. I cannot control any. I don't kpow any people here who can control any. What I can, I do for you. For a whole year I managed toe weather so you didn't get rained •upon onee--as you know." "Good, Rex. It was kind; my *«oak was thin." "Very often I tell you of what is , „ aEbout to happen." -y *'Yes." ' *'I enjoy with you a poem or a book, or stay by you at a matinee, ana urge you to keep out of low com­ pany and from vile theatrical per­ formances." "So you do, Rex. But this is so •gly, the bare, cold room and a present disappointment. 1 saw a way »to better my condition," I explained. had a new room with an open Are ;and one chair for you at the end of 'the rug opposite mine. Now we o^deiiss are cut down $2 a week. I stav Ha the hole." sHard times?" suggested he. Humph! | woman talking to • street is a proof of poor wretch. For a chance to talk with Rex I went out to Central Park. In some sequestered nook-we could talk with­ out feax. "Rex," said I groaning over my Sunday, "do you go to church?" \ "Had to too much when I was alive in the flesh. Sow l visit while you igo." "I suppose you are not tied here," ;I said. To which he replied, "you ialone keep me. I await you. I can wander at will through etherial space. iGod is through all ana in the love of Him we angels are happy. I can go Mliere I wish, my dear." "How about me?" I asked, reach­ ing over to feel a cold hand as it were Upon mine. "There is another thing," said he. "Aren't you tired, Rex?" ^ "No, when it's not convenient for you to see me I visit. Once I went to the sun, par example: A hot place." Obviously," said I. 'Still, my dear, life is relatively of Short duration. Do not look at events In ;v discouraged mind. You have health. When you had the fever you didn't suiTcr much. I could help you there." "It spoiled my hair and complex­ ion. though," I complained. I could feel that Iiex smiled. After a pause I was the first to speak. "Rex," said 1, breathing sweetly the deep air of spring," do husbands and wives pass eternity together?" "Surely not," said he. "I don't know of a case on record." "How odd," I said, .realizing, how­ ever, the reasonableness of this. "It is this way, my dear Charlotte," explained he. "Disembodied spirit^ are so different from what the life in the lxtdy would lead one to imagine. Fairly good men or women in society, after death may show souls so small and scarred and ugly that far from soaring away from the world of flesh and sense at their own volition, they sink straight down to the lowest depths of Tartarus, and having no in­ ward power to throw off t^e spiritual weights that clog them, there re­ main. " "Which have the best chance, men or women?" I asked, with strange awe. "Men, on the whole," was his sur­ prising answer. "Women," he con­ tinued unimpassionately, "are so un­ accountable. The 'ruthless sex' is narrow, literal, selfish, dogmatic, pragmatic. The growing belle very often has the coldest nature possible to created being. Picture the spiritual chances for such souls bereft of the dazzling glamor of earthly beauty and adornments." , I was full of remorse. "I was just so, Rex," I safel. "Do you remember the look you gave me one day at a church party when I vehemently flouted placing advantages of culture within the reach of what I termed the lower classes by paying them more for their work? It was shop girls we were speaking of." He would not reply to this, being, like the Lord, very good and gentle. "None of your old friends are left to you," he said. A coolness in the air by my face showed that in sym­ pathy he bad drawn near. "Not one," I replied, sobbing for a moment. "Do any of the happy and prosper­ ous seek you out, now that you are solitary, and think that your life is full of woe?" "Lots of men would be only too glad to do so," I said, bitterly. "Women are mean; men are bad," he said calmly. "It's rather hard to judge. Are there any good women in the world?" "No, sir." I said promptly. "Great Heaven! just stand in a store all day," I broke off, and tired of sitting, walked back and forth. "I believe I'll get married," said I then. "I would if it would better things." "Do you care?" "No. What is it to me now? I shall be with you just the same. I would be glad to see your life more joyous." "I've a man customer who buys many of my goods. He is a big, sun­ burned fellow. He says he wants a wife that will take care of the babies, that can wash and iron, scrub and bake, cook and sweep. He says I was shut up too much. He is a working- man, and tells me I look as if I'd be 'awful handy' about the house. He can 'earn a good 'livin',' and is urging me to 'take up' with him. Shall I?" "Tell him, Charlotte, that he had better find some neighbor's daughter that he has always known, for the endowments he demands in a wife. You are better off as you are. Go into the country for a while, find a farm house and board there. The change would be the best thing for you." "I draw a month's pay to-morrow," , said I, falling in at once with the idea. "I willl find a local habitation at some farmer's house." We wandered and talked until it grew dusky, when I hastened back to my boarding place and began to pick up preparatory to a change of scene. At random I journeyed as far into the country as I could afford a ticket to carry me. I found a farmer's wife who would take me in. A square house painted white, with green blinds, became my home for the time. The guest chamber was for me, the j only boarder. j At dawn the day of the 1st of June j I rose to have a walk and make ac­ quaintance with my new boarding place. It seems that the well-to-do pair who had taken me in had inher­ ited this farm of 400 acres, all in a fine state of cultivation, with grains, fruit, stock of the best, barns ready for plentiful harvest, with homestead generous to all who would come in. Most of the farm help lived in cot­ tages apart from the family. Thus it was that in the farm house were simply the family of my host, con- and a huge cistern on the same floor supplied the house with Wfrtfer.' From the first, the year old took to me, as night she would stay near me. Her loving coo and cunning baby laugh cheered the household, instead of a consta#t nervous, fretful crying that made all uncomfortable before I came. Relieved of her care the mother grew well and better able to attend to her work in a farmhouse where at this time she could find no servant for love or money. The two older little boys would spend all their time with me when out of school, while, indeed, they were such a nov­ elty to me that they were a continual delight. "You have so much sympathy," said their pretty mother, greatly pleased. "But, Miss Hawthorne, you will be tired out instead of rested In your vacation." 1 laughed and tossed up Baby Beauty. v One day I jogged the cradle as the little darling lay in it, fast asleep, and at the same time made her a dress on the sewing machine. Another day I placed her by the table leaf at a safe distance, and there she sat while I helj>ed her mother through with the ironing. The farmer. Jack Clarkston, was a practical, hard-working man, good and commonplace, and gener­ ally glad to favor his wife when he could. He was kind, and really no husband or fathercould have been bet­ ter. My month was over. . It was at the breakfast table the morning of the last day. "Jack," said the farmer's wife, "how can I let Charlotte go? She is just the element in my life I never felt I must have until it came." At this I made fitting reply. Jack Clarkston shen proceeded to remark: "Why not remain," said he. "You can't live without money. Stay here as you have been staying, but instead of paying us board we will pay you $10 a month. What do you say?" "You had better do so," said Rex at my ear. I could realize what was the coldness by my face, as I thought for a moment The children cried "stay;" Baby Beauty cooed. With smiles for all I said that we could try it for a while at least, but if I did remain with them they must allow me to work to my heart's content. "It's a comfort to work with you," said Mary Clarkston to me; "you do everything so easily." "That beau of mine was right," I said at this to them and to Rex. "He told me I looked as if I'd be awful handy about the house." The farmerfesumed his coffee after he laughed, with great good nature. "That beau knew what he was talk­ ing about," said he. Rex whispered that I was a home fairy. Now I could see my best gift. In the days which followed very pleasantly Mary and I worked to­ gether. Because Rex often com­ muned with me I was habitually silent and thoughtful, as it seemed to them. It was one of . my sweet ways, Mary Clarkston said. Each day brought its lesson. I learned that when the ministrations of home are undertaken in a spirit of pleasure in every duty, however practi­ cal it may be, work in the house is a well-spring of delight. Snowy linen flying high in the sunshine upon washing-day afternoon; the clean, fresh kitchen, with shadows in mosaic over the well-scrubbed floor; the pails of foaming milk in the dairy at sun­ rise, when all about in the air £eems to be a symphony of bird voices; the grateful creatures that gather about us for food, the little pet dog, the chinchilla kitten, the broods of chicks peeping out a happy note--all this, part of the working life on a farm, was as novel to me as it was delight­ ful. I found new strength with new ex­ ertion. I grew to be a different be­ ing, in body and mind. From the guest chamber I changed my quarters to "grandma's room," a long wing om the south side of the house. The rag carpet that the old ladv had made with her own hands, the brass and irons she had had when she was mar­ ried, bid much in giving to the cheer­ ful apartment its home look. A huge fireplace, dating from colonial times, was a crowning glory. Wood from the grove cost nothing, so when I would I had a blazing fire, with a back-log and a bed of coals. "From the start the children called me "Auntie." Mamma and auntie worked with enthusiasm. In our willing hands better wasalwaysmade best. Nothing tempted father or children away from home, the life here was so full of all they cared for. When, on occasions, we went in the carryall to pay a neighborly visit, when once again in the big kitchen a unanimous "How good it is to be hqpae again," came spontaneously. I could realize it. Life in acalm,quiet peaceableness goes on now as it has gone on all this time. "I don't know how it is," said Mary Clarkston one day, "but since you have been here everything runs along so easily. It seems as if home affairs grew of their own accord, and, my dear Lottie, all is so beautiful and perfect in this home life of ours, isn't it?"* "Yes." said I, with a happy smile, as we sewed and talked. "After all, it's having a heart in what we have to do, and a love for it. Again, you and I have an eye for the beautiful as we go, which is a great point." "It is so," said she. "Well, I must go and get supper. Pretty soon Jack will be in from the hay field. Oh, Lottie, how well the boys have done at college this year! Really, we have too much to be thankful for-- and the reading club instead of that tiresome sewing society i" She was eloquent. My Baby Beauty, by this time a dainty and beautilul girl, went with us to set the table. In a wide kitchen ream. All was done and then we - were •st, the year old In the swing, Mtary the saying is. Dayand| g$e hai»jBfgk and myself on a i fteat, wliejn jack came up from the field. He kissed his daughter, led away bis wife, and in a moment we were all about the tea-table. After sup­ per, when all was done and breakfast planned, Baby Beauty was singing in the parlor, and Jack and his wife were in the grove while he smoked his meerschaum pipe with the contented,? mind Solomon seems never to have? found. I sat down in my long room[ for a little rest before bed-time. The sun shone yellow upon the trees with­ out in the wood. I knew Rpx was by me on the settee. It's all your doing, Rex,"VI said. "To influence children and people whose hearts are pure and true, is easy," was his response to my remark. I knew he was smiling. "You never scold me any more, Charlotte," said he. "Why, Rex," I said, "I don't spend $15 a year for clothes, now."" "You are charming, though, was his reply to this. "You are so wo­ manly, so simple, so free from any taint of mammon. I can almost make you see a new world." , "Very often of late I see you,w J said, "as a mist, or a shadow, or presence between me and the light. A swelling oi the heart brought tears to my eyes, not sad tears, but the emotion that comes over all of us when at some "i-apt moment" we feel what a little span is life; What a" pain must come to us when its ties are severed; what a pang in parting from our own here; what a joy in meeting our own yet so near in the spirit world. Oh, Life! Oh! Death! --Life so short, so fleeting; Death, a narrow door, and beyond--realities, our own guerdon for defeat in the battle or victory! "As a personality your presence grows upon one, dear Rex," I said. "You were kingly in your general's uhiform before you died, now you are all this and more." ^ "That old time of glory seems taw-si dry to me now," said Rex. The fact! is, dearest Lottie, it is only how good you are that tells at all. Manyg spiritual gifts I can give you, but; when you used to deplore loss of your!j former splendor, and your lack of?: money, I couldn't help you. Now we both are very happy." "We are, dear Rex. How long or- short my time may be here, my spirit! is calm and full of a strange peace. It is vague and mournful very often, but it becomes more real, and I can say, 'This is happiness.'" ; After that we passed out through one of the old windows that opened!; like doors do, and, hand in hand, wei wandered beneath the wide elms in. the gathering shadows of the night.*; The plaintive evening song of many a wood bird was a melancholy music suited to the time and place. It ; seemed to me like the tears behind > the smiles of earthly happiness. "Ah, my love," said Rex, "life must have been strange and lonely to you, but I am glad you have loved me through all and have kept me in your heart." "Dear Rex," I murmured low, "I am content with my life as it is. Four score years, more or less, beloved one, and after, we may be bright and beautiful in a glorious immortality, in rest eternal, in light perpetual, dear Rex." The breeze from, the warm south blew among the trees, the new moon shone down through many a rustling leaf. "Le decet hymnus," Rex sang in my. ear. It was from the requiem I often had sung for him at eventide. And thus, working, waiting in pa­ tience and love, the days had passed. Now as we wandered in the wood we smiled that it was one day near the en^r-the end of my little time of pre­ paration for the paradise of my soul's best possibilities. f'Le decet hymnus," so Rex sang at eventide, and the south wind was sweet about us.--[Evening Wisconsin. COTTON CLUB Buita, \jjVlM American Petroleum Indntliy. Bulletin No. 76, on the production of petroleum, has been prepared by Jos. D. Weeks, special agent in charge of statistics relating to pe­ troleum and natural gas, under the supervision of Dr. David Day, special agent in charge of the divisions of mines and mining,: of the cepsus office. The statistics show that pe­ troleum was produced in eleven States in 1889. The total production is Shown to be 34,820,306 barrels, of forty-two gallons each, valued at $26,- 554,052, as follows: 1 Barrels. Pennsylvania and Xew York...........21,48;;,403 Ohio 12,471,9C5 West Virginia., Colorado California Indiana '.............;..............' Kentucky.: Illinois Kan Baa.........*> *. i t mi-U..... T « x a » . . . . < . ' 4 » i . 358,-209 31tV17r, H7(027 82,758 6,400 1,460 60) 48 BEAR TRAP GETS IN ITS^WICKED WORK. beside a south door stood the table sisting of himself, wife, three children, | Here was our dining and breakfasting " J " place, and the place for supper as' f f ' .„ ^ore i® packed from' servant and myself. Tiiorning till night. It's a pressure] There was a modern furnace, al- ii£ luxurious, fashionable society upon though fireplaces, a hundred years title domestic life of the firm." . old, often did duty in giving warmth . "I m sorry for you, said Rex, | and brightness in the quaint rooms, wnply. 1 The kitchen was wide and low, with , By this time I had to go to supper, doors opening to south, west, north, It was 6 o'clock, on a warm night and there was an east window. It toward the last of May. A dreary | was in the midst of a grove of great Sunday it had been. The next day j elm trees. In the basement was a I Member* Eleotwd «nd Candi­ da ten 8«jmt«d on Account of Little !*•- cull nr I tie*--A JUttnr from Bennington-- An Attempt to Mulct tlie Club by Judgt . CatttOjM Winter*. V: CLUB PW WHEN the janitor opened Water­ melon Hall Satur- day afternoon to make ready for the evening gathering he discovered that the big bear trap set under the mid­ dle alley window had been sprung. A further investi­ gation proved that the window-sash had been pried up from the outside with a chisel. The miscreant, who­ ever he was, doubtless intended to fire and destroy the hall, but his evil intentions were defeated by the presence of the trap. He was bare­ footed, and as he dropped a leg through the window his foot hit the trap. It was a close call for him--so close that the jaws shaved off a piece of his big toenail as they came to­ gether. This fragment, which is about the size of an old-fashioned 10- cent shin-plaster, is the only clue left behind, and unless the villian becomes conscience-stricken and reveals his identity he will probably escape de­ tection. To BE EXPECTED.--The matter created a great deal of excitement when the members began to gather in in the evening. Brother Gardner, Sir Isaac Walpole, Waydown Bebee and others carefully examined the fragment and gave it as their opinion that the former owner was a lop- shoul^cred colored man with very "About the fust of October look out fur a hurricane which will blow all de ole hats an' pillars out of de winders on Thompson street "Dar won't be no %jrthquakes in October. Dat is, I doan' dun see no signs of any, although it will be jist as well to be on de lookout. i -ar/Z/yp*/-* 5:;V V. • ' *4,82),306 Robert P. Sorter, Superintendent of Census, savs that the returns sftW that the total product of petroleum, 109,891 barrels were disposed of for lubricating, 12,330,813 .for fuel, and 22,379,602 for illuminating purposes. Nearly the entire amount produced in California, Indiana, and Ohio was used for fuel, while nearly the entire amount produced in Colorada, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Vir- i ginia was used for illuminating pur­ poses. ' Velocity and Mftat A subscriber of the Popular Science News, inquiring what is the velocity of light, that journal replies: "As determined by Foucault, it is 185,157 miles a second. This determination is undoubtedly very nearly exact, al­ though the mechanical difficulties in the way of measuring such an im­ mense velocity render it difficult to obtain perfectly accurate figures." "I predict an -airly winter, an' a hard one--not bekase I am workin' in a coal yard, but fer de reason dat de goose bone has already begun to turn dark, and bekase de co'n-husks am unusually thick." The report was accepted and placed on file, and Brother Gardner privately instructed Giveadam Jones to ascer­ tain whether the weather prophet got a commission on coal sold to colored people. TAKES NO RISKS.--Shindig Watkins then arose to ask for information. He was sometimes troubled with neuralgia in the chest. On such oc­ casions his wife prepared hot cider and cayenne pepper for him to drink. On two occasions at least, after drinking this compound and going out on the street, a policeman had regarded him in a peculiar manner and motioned for him to move on. He wanted to ask if, in case he was arrested, charged with having indulged in the flowing bowl, the Club would stand by him and help him prove his innocence. A HARD WINTER COMING.--"Brud- der Watkins," replied the President in a very solemn manner, "dis Club dqan' dun take no risks on any of its members. When yo' git dat pain in yo' chist it seems to me dat de best pain would be to put a hot brick on de spot an' stay at home till de pain goes away. If yo' stick to de cider an' pepper yo' must do so at yo' own risk. De Jedge will smell of yo' breaf, and if he am dun satisfied we shan't raise no fuss." ANOTHER POINT SETTLED.--Pickles Smith also wanted information. In case he traded a blind dog for a shot­ gun wjjfch a colored man in Weehawken and the man afterwards became a member of the Club, would he (Smith) be expected to say that he was sorry and make reparations? "Skassly, Brudder Smith--skassly," replied the President. "We expect ebery member of dis Club to feel a fraternal feelin' towards ebery odder member an' to use him a leetle better dan an outsider; but when it comes down to a trade ebery pusson mus' look out fur himself. If da«am a member who kin poke a blind dawg off on to me in a trade, or who kin sell me an ole mewl fur de price of a young one, he am at liberty to go ahead an' try it on. We will now abscond de meetin' an' go home."-- [New York World. v. f ] m, J ' : Born to Be a LawyoaM « ' : What is the chief characteristic of a "born lawyer?" Some people fancy that it is audacity; but audacity has, perhaps, spoiled a lawyer's success as often as it has made it. Craftiness, j another quality often attributed to i lawyers as a class, is as likely to get j them into trouble as it is to win them j cases. The real master-quality of a i good lawyer, according to many modern authorities, is a "genius for details"--an ability to see through a case to its uttermost particular, and keep everything in mind, ready for use at the right moment. The fol­ lowing story has probably been told PROBABLY THE HAN. i prominent ears and a cast in hif lett eye. When the meeting had been called to order the President said: 'We mus' expect sich things, an' I am in no way surprised. From de time Cain killed Abel de bad hez alius bin tryin' to make it onpleasant fur de good, an' no doubt dey will con- tiner to do so to de eand of time. I shall appint Giveadam Jones, Samuel Shin and Drawbar Johnson a commit­ tee to investigate an' report on de ad­ visability of purchasin' a burglar- alarm an' fo' spring-guns fur de fur- der purteckshun of dis hall. Let us now purceed to bizness." ELECTED AND REJECTED.--Sir Isaac Walpole passed the bean-box with a benign and dignified expres­ sion resting on his countenance, and the following candidates were de­ clared duly elected: Samuel Green, Moses Taylor, Henry Williams, Judge Haskins, Uncle Billy Jones, Elder Washington Stubbs and Judge Doo- little. The Committee on Applications re­ fused to indorse the petition of Snow­ ball Perkins, of Greenville, S C., for the reason that half a barre jf soft soap had been found on his premises which he claimed had walked there in its sleep. Neither the man who lost the soap nor tne Judge who tried j by more than one lawyer to illustrate the case could be made to see it that j this, fact: way, and Snowball was snowed under well. So it is in the country. "Auntie," she said, as she flew about like a bird, "it's white rasp­ berries, cream and angel food, you know." "Yes," I said, "after the tongue, potatoes, rolls and tea and substan- tials." Thus chatting we three arranged Wan a holiday,* or for some other cause | new fashioned laundry. In the! for supper. I boiled the kettle with * -the store. A nlalp j second story there was a bath iponh la fire of pine chips; her mother sent But Boein't follow Hli Own AdTlr*. Mrs. Brown--I can always tell when my husband has been drinking.' & Mrs. Black--How can you? "He comes home and preaches tem­ perance."--[Yankee Blade. * * i ' • c A JNotoia Fellow. "What sort of a fellow is Jorkins?" "Most considerate man in the world. Why he even laughs at the circus clown's jokes for fear of hurt- for thirty days. This happened two years ago, but he made application Under the belief that the world had forgotten all about the soft-soap busi­ ness. The same refusal was made in the case of Cape Horn Thompson, of Dela­ ware. He was found in a white man's barn with a bag of oats on his back. He claimed that an angel appeared to him in a dream and commanded him to get the oats, but it didn't! work on the jury and the prisoner j got three months. THEY ARE ALL RIGHT.--The Sec­ retary then read the following: LIHB KILN CL&B BOUSB, I BENNINGTOX, YT. Aug. 31.189L, { Brother Gardiner. DEAR BIB--While you wore National Presi­ dent of the L. K. C.. with headquarters at Paradise Hall, you granted a charter to thin Club. The hall wsis burned and you are now President of the Cotton Blossoms. Now. where are weV Are we orphans? Are we Cotton Blossoms, or are wo no­ where? An answer in the World will be spelled out by the Secretary. YAM YAM WILLIAMS. "De Secretary will answer dat de Bennington branch am all right," re­ plied the President. "All charters granted from Detroit hold good, an' all branches will be expected to re­ port at dese headquarters." WILL NOT BE LIABLE.--A com­ munication from Griffin, Ga., stated that Judge Caliope Winters, a prom­ inent colored man of that place, had shot one of his thumbs off while hunt­ ing rabbits. His object was to send a dozen rabbits' feet to the Club as a present, and he now proposed to hold the Club financially responsible for his disaster. If the sum of $20 was forwarded to him at once he would get along with one thumb as best he could; if not he would raise the big­ gest kind of a fuss. The Secretary was Instructed to answer the letter in red ink, and in a very firm hand, and to say that the Cotton Blossom Club would fight the case to the death. METEOROLOGICAL.--Humidity Jack­ son, Weather Prophet for the Club, being called on for his report, handed in the following predictions: "Along about de middle of dis month dar will be great atmosph'eric disturbances in de Rocky Mountains A lawyer advertised for a clerk. The next morning his office was crowded with applicants--all bright, and many suitable. He bade them wait until all should arrive, and then ranged them in a row and said he would tell them a story, note their comments, and so judge whom he would choose. "A certain farmer," began the lawyer, "was troubled with a red squirrel that got in through a hole in his barn and stole his seed-corn. He resolved to kill the squirrel at the j first opporl unity. "Seeing him go in at the hole one noon, he took his shot-gun and fired away. The first shot set the barn on fire." "Did the barn burn?" said one of the boys. The lawyer, without answer, con­ tinued, "And, seeing the barn on fire, the farmer seized a pail of water, and ran to put it out." "Did he put it out?" said another. "As he passed inside, the door shut to and the barn was soon in flames. When the hired girl rushed out with more water--" "Did they all burn up?" said an­ other boy. The lawyer went on without an­ swer, "Then the old lady came out, and all was noise and confusion, and j everybody was trying to put out the fire." "Did any one burn up?" said an­ other. The lawyer said, "There that will do: you have all shown great interest in the story." But observing one little bright-eyed fellow in deep silence, he said, "Now my little man, what have you to say?" The little fellow blushed, grew un­ easy, and stammered out, "I want tc know what became of that squirrel; that's what I want to know." "You'll do," said the lawyer; "you are my man. You have not been switched off by a confusion and a barn burning, and the hired girl and water-pails. You have kept your eye on the squirrel." A dispatch from St. Petersburg de­ scribing the situation in Russia aris­ ing from the failure of the crop, and detailing the harrowing, incidents of the famine now prevailing, part of which has already been cabled to the jUnited States, states that not for centuries has such widespread dis­ tress been recorded. It is nothing ijless than a national calamity. The correspondent says the trouble is chiefly due to the Government, which at the beginning of the year was well aware that a famine was imminent. The authorities delayed taking any ac­ tion to relieve the distress until it . was too late. What benefit would have been derived from the prohibi­ tion of the exportation of rye was nullified by the action of the Govern­ ment in extending the time for Use decree to go into effect. In addition to the scarcity of food, which has caused untold suffering, the distress has been intensified by the unusually disastrous fires that have occurred throughout the famine- stricken district. In many of the dis­ tricts entire villages have been de­ stroyed. The inhabitants of the burn­ ing villages, weak from the lack of food, and with no prospect of improv­ ing their condition, made no attempt to check the progress of the flames, but stood and watched their dwell­ ings burn. Some of them, more de­ vout than others, fell on their knees and prayed the Almighty to extin­ guish the fire. Added to these cruel strokes of torture came the cattle plague, which caused incredible havoc. Thousands of cattle took the disease and perished, and thus many families lost their only means of sub­ sistence. What little food it is possible for the peasants to obtain is of the vilest description, but so sharp are the pangs of hunger that they gladly take the food which at other times they could not eat. Bread made of finely chopped straw and bran mixed with a very small quantity of rj% is consid­ ered a godsend. In many districts the starving peasantry are not able to procure even these miserable substi­ tutes for nourishing food, and are re­ duced to the most dire straits to pro­ cure anvthing that will prolong life. In these districts the starving popu­ lace are keeping themselves alive by what they call "hunger bread." It is hardly to be believed thai hu­ man beings could be in such dire ne­ cessity and live upon such a com­ pound as this so-called "hunger bread," yet it is stated as a fact that the ingredients entering into the com­ position of thi« bread are the pow­ dered bark of trees and ground peas and goose-foot, a plant more common­ ly known as "pig-weed." This mess is greedily eaten by the famishing people. Heavy rains have fallen and the ground is so soaked with water that the potatoes are rotting. The price of potatoes has already doubled, and is still rising. The peasant boards have sent peti- , tions to the ministry praying that the taxes and arrears of taxes be wiped out. The petitioners declare that the Government will be obliged to main­ tain the impoverished people for four­ teen months, and that it will be ut­ terly impossible for them to pay the taxes. A circular has been issued by the ministers of the interior which enu­ merates thirteen governments in which the people are completely fam­ ine stricken, and eight in which a partial famine exists. Rights of Indian Parent*. The Commissioner of Indian Af- * fairs has received a copy of the recent opinion by Judge Green of the Dis­ trict Court of the Territory of Okla­ homa directing the restoration to his parents of an Indian boy placed in the Government Indian School at Chilocco by the Indian office officials. The father of the boy began habeas corpus proceedings to secure posses­ sion of his son, wtyo under an act passed at the last session of Congress had been compelled to attend school. Judge Green held that as the Indian office had not issued, as required by the act, rules and regulations to com­ pel the attendance of Indian children at schools provided for them, the re­ tention of the boy contrary to the will of his parents was illegal. The effect of this decision is regarded by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs as likely to prove prejudicial to the schools, and it is the intention to carry the case to a higher court. The Judge in his opinion took the ground that the right of a parent to the cus­ tody of his children belonged to the Indian as well as to a white man. . - > 'm m A "Do YOU know Mrs. Gossip is a very reliable woman?" "Indeed!" whatever she says goes." Trial o» the Pyx. . The trial of the pyx is an interwjf? ^' ing annual ceremony that in one form or another has occurred for centuries j, in England. The pyx is a box in which certain numbers of coins of every denomination are placed aftei each day's work in the British royal mint for a year. The Goldsmiths' company has afforded the jury since its institution several hundred years ago. When the jury open the pyx they weigh the coins in bulk and sev­ eral individually, testing them also with Are and chemicals, so that there can be left no trace of doubt of the true value of British and British- made coinage. The loss of weight q>r . | "remedy" allowed to the master ol^ • the mint for the loss is .2 of a grain, but none such has been recorded for 250 years. Pieces to the number of 75,894,045 in all were Coined last year for use at home and in the colonies; Tho World'# Oldest Koaebuah. * The oldest rosebush in the world ti* at Hildersheim, an old town in Han­ over, papital of a Prussian adminis­ trative district. It was planted more than 1,000 years ago by Charlemagne in commemoration of a visit made 'to him by the Ambassador of the Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid of "Arabian Nights" fame. After it had become a flourishing vine a cathedral was built over it, the date of building be­ ing doubtful. It is known, however, that a coffin-shaped vault was built around its sacred roots in the year 818, the vault and bush surviving a fire which destroyed the cathedral in 1146. The bush is now said to be twenty-six feet high and to cover thirty-two feet of the wall. The stem, after *1,000 years' grow&hr & only two inches in diameter. • \ ':- J >-< CM' ft- 4 K ' ; r. If"" &.• v • . ' ~ ^ -V .r I •* $**' ' 'i- >:••/.„ , • "V4 I i """