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4k jX T - . . . . . A „ detective runs across a lot of Z\ queer things iu his life, and somehow the queerest never find their way into the newspapers. It la difficult to say why; perhaps it IS be­ cause they are too queer. For Instance, Idaubt if you have ever heard of a cer­ tain strange incident that happened only a season or two ago in that select section Of the fashionable world known . as "society." * v" A leader of fashion, Mrs. Register, re­ quested me to call on her one morning when the season was at its height. "I want your help, Mr. Lowe," she began, and then stopped awkwardly. "Perhaps you are not aware that at sev­ eral balls ;ind dinner parties this season there have been jewels and ornaments * stolen. It has, of course, caused a great deal of unpleasantness. In several cases trinkets have even been actually taken . from the wearers, without their know- v < ing how it was done or who did lLrt I had heard several wild tales of arti­ cles having been missed at fashionable gatherings, and there was moeh specu­ lation as to who was the'culprit. The 'articled were not, as a rule, of immense value, and they always disappeared Singly, consequently no public notice .* hadbeen directed to the matter. In one <>r ;fwo eases the police had been con­ sulted, but^t was impossible for them tOj*help. There could be no doubt that the thief was a person who mixed in society as an equal\ probably a woman, who had allowed her love of jewelry to tempt her to dishonesty. "I presume, then, that the--er--thief is a guest--a person in society 7" I said, inquiringly. "I aln afraid so. Two or three things were missed at a dance which I gave last week. Now, I am giving another dance next Thursday, and I am, of counse, most anxious it should not oc­ cur again, at any rate in my honse. I thought 1 would engage your services for the evening, to see if you detect any­ thing suspicious. Of course, you would be treated as a guest." We made arrangements about terms, and it was agreed that I should be in­ troduced as an Englishman, by name Captain Burke. "I suppose, Mrs. Register," I said, carelessly, "you don't suspect anybody f- t in particular?" "Oh. no," she said, but T noticed what I thought was a look of anxiety on her face, and made a mental note of it. As I was leaving, Mrs. Register said: "Of course, Mr. Lowe, you quite under­ stand. there must be no expose. If you make any discoveries, they must be treated as secrets. I can't have a scene of any kind. It must be hushed up." I returned to the office impressed with two ideas. First, that my task was one of those delicate cases that re­ quire all your tact an<J yield very little credit; secondly, that Mrs. Register knew more, or, at any rate, guessed more, than she cared to telL Thursday evening arrived, and I went to the Register mansion. Practically, my duty was to mingle with the guests, enjoy myself, and keep my eyes wide * open. Nothing seemed to me more im­ probable than that there should be a, thief among the brilliant throng that crowded the rooms. Everything . v was conducted .in the most luxurious style, a Hungarian band discoursed the sweetest of dance music, and the . guests were among the highest in the land, /h > •-•/.. ' For a while nothing occurred of the Smallest signiflcance. But at about two mm M jggl Smallest significance. o!clock in the morning, while I was sit­ ting in a snug corner of the conserva- -Jttry, where cigarette smoking was per- Wilted, I noticed a couple take up a po- f ""eition in the opposite corner. They ' were both young, and evidently very much in love With one another. Hie "glr^vas handsomely dressed, and wore somfyaluable jewels. In particular 1 noti whi •J&C- Y ' 'S • v- a pair of diamond eardrops, ad just come into fashion again, .^ithpift being a connoisseur of jwe- cious stoves. I understand them wen enough *o know that these were very valualH#tpdeed, and likely to be worth •several hundred dollars. • These two young people were sitting out during a dance, and they flirted all through a set of lancers, without any impatience at their length. At last they got up and went into the ball-room again. On the chair, where the girl had been sitting, lay something • shtaing.'I strolled across and examined it. 3t was her vinaigrette, which she had probably left there by accident. I replaced it, thinking it might serve as a trap tor our fashionable thief, if he were in the neighborhood, and with­ drew to my corner, where I was almost invisible. Presently an old gentleman strolled out to smoke a cigarette. He was a tall, handsome, intellectual-looking man, with the air of the true aristocrat His name I didn't know, but I had noticed him chatting with the guests. He was evidently km <»vn to everyone, and was a man of social importance. 'j Presently his eye caught the little •Jeweled vinaigrette. He looked care­ lessly round the conservatory, to see if he was observed, and picked it up. He x^ow had his back to me. I was on the point of stepping up to him, when he ttfy*ned round, and replaced the vinai­ grette and walked quietly away. It was lucky I had not moved, should have looked rather foolish. Some curious instinct bade me cross the con- n .. ,. v i- • • • servatpry, and look at the vinaigrette again. Without thinking about it, I put it to my nose. \ The next thing I remember is, that T found myself sitting in a chair. Grad- uslly, things became clearer. The .vinaigrette lay by my side. It was drugged. For a few mimstes I had lost eonscioui-ness. I still felt dizzy and sick, but knowing that everything de­ pended en my being prompt and acute, I managed with, an effort to pull myself together. Then arose the question, What should I do next? Should I go straight to the man who had tampered with the vinai­ grette? A moment's thought showed me that that would be worse than use­ less. I had no proof of anything. The situation must be allowed to develop itself before I interfered. v After some little reflection, I decided to go back to the drawing-room, where I could see what was going on. Under any circamstances I must not lose sight of the girl to whom the vinaigrette be­ longed. For nearly half an hour I waited In rain. She danced with two or three Afferent men, but did not seem to have missed it At last, after one of the dances, she appeared to be looking for something. With what was, I presume, an Apology to her partner, she skipped across the room to a group of girls. Evidently she was asking if any of them had seen her vinaigrette. For some time she got no information, but presently a girl who was passing, leaning on a man's arm, turned round and made some remark, pointing with her fan to the conserva­ tory door. The owner of the vinaigrette gave a fittle nod of thanks, and hurried across the room. All this time I observed that the man who had drugged the scent bottle, and who was chatting with some of the people standing about watched the girl closely. , As soon as she had left the drawing- room he broke off his conversation, and strolled quietly toward the conserva­ tory. As he passed through the cur­ tains 1 noticed that he glanced around to see if he were being followed. That settled it; I had found my man, and must act promptly. Mrs. Register was standing near the piano. Remem­ bering her injunction that there was not, under any circumstances, to be an expose or a scene, it was necessary to proceed with caution. I caught her eye without much difficulty. She under­ stood at once that I had something to say, and disengaged herself from her friends. •/ i ' "WiH you come with me to the con­ servatory T I said, <jmietly. • "I believe I have solved the mystery." <; She turned pale.- ".Very well," she said. "Give me yotti?arm. Be careful what you do, Mr. Lowe," she added,"in a troubled voice;, ,','it must be 'hushed up. - '.u ; When we reaei&£l; tl^ conservatory we found, just as .1 expected, the young lady lying back in a chair unconscious. Her ear drops were musing. "Miss Benton has fainted," said Mrs. Register. "One moment," I said; "there is no cause for alarm. Do you see what has happened? Herdiamond ear-drops have disappeared." Do you know who it is?" she whis­ pered. "Yes. Her vinaigrette has been drug­ ged--not sufficiently to do her any harm. 1 saw it done." "What shall I do? Fetch General Register, will you? He must advise me." "Which Is General Register?" She came to the curtains and pointed him out to me. ,! • "Very well," 1 said. "Chafe Miss Benton's hands, and try to bring her round, but don't send for. any help at present." 1 don't think 1 ever felt so reluctant tp proceed with a case as I did at that minute The man whom Mrs. Register had pointed out as her husband was the man who had: drugged the vinaigrette --who had followed Miss Benton into the conservatory. In a word, General Register was a kleptomaniac. "Win you come with me into the con­ servatory, General?" I said. As I spoke I looked him sternly in the face. He turned deadly white, and his eyes shift­ ed nervously about the room. - What's the matter?" he said, husk- Hy. "Is anything wrong?" "Miss Benton has fainted." "Oh." he murmured with relief. "And her ear-drops have disappear­ ed," I added. For a moment I thought he was going to drop down. I put my arm through his, and led him toward ter, with an^wful look of terror In her eyes. „ "General Register is nbt well," I rer plied. "Here are the ear-drops." The poor woman went scarlet. She k^ew what I meant, and I was deeply grieved for her. From the first She must have had a faint suspicion of the truth, and was anxious to save him from pub­ lic disgrace and scandal. She. was thoroughly unnerved. Bliss Benton showed signs of 'returning con­ sciousness. "Now," -1 said; "put the ear-ilrops back into her ears. She won't know what has hifepened." Mrs./ Register replaced them with trembling fingers. "Send someone tolook after this girl; I'll stop with her till help comeBl Biit you must go and find your husband. Make haste," I added, significantly, 'or you will be too late," My work was not quite over. When Mrs. Register found her husband in his dressing-room he was, as I feared, on the'point of committing suicide. She saved him. A number of trinkets, some, of grerft vahfe, were found In his safe. There Is, of course, only one explana­ tion. On that "point the General was mad- There was no object in his steal­ ing ladles' ornaments, as he is a very wealthy man, and had not put them to any uSe: 'r'" -V " - _ There was not much difficulty in find­ ing their respective owners. I returned them myself, asking each one as a mat­ ter of courtesy to make no, inquiries as to how they fell Into my possession. BuffaldTipies,,^,,) TRAPPING THE CUNNING RAT A Novel Plan for Slaking Them De­ stroy One Another, The foUowing novel plan of trapping rats was described by a writer in Corn- hill (June, 1890): - "The cunning of rata makes attempts to catch them in traps almost futile, their keen scent recogniz­ ing the places where a hand has been, and warning them to avoid so danger­ ous a locality. The use of gloves smeared with aniseed may lull the sus­ picions of the animal; but traps will never be the means of greatly diminish­ ing its numbers where it has fairly es­ tablished itself. The best course to take where the extermination -of a colony ofTrats-Jbecomes a. necessity is to make thew^helpto destroy one another in the following manner: A number of tubs, proportionate to the number qf rats in the place from which lOs de­ sired to . rid ~1hem> /should be placed about, the middle of each occupied by a brick standing on end. The bottom of these tubs should be covered with water to such a depth that about an inch of brick projects above it. The top of the tub should be covered with stout brown paper, upon which a dainty meal of bacon rind and other scraps dear to the rat palace figures, a sloping board giving the rodent facilities for partaking of it. The feast should be renewed for several nights, so that all the rats in the neighborhood may get to know of the good food which is placed within such easy reach. When it is judged that this policy has been pur- sued long enough, the center of the brown paper should be cut in such a manner that any rat venturing on it will be precipitated into the cold water below. It might be thought that the re­ sult of this would be the capture of a rat, or at the most two, for each tub prepared, but no such meager result for the trouble that has been taken need be feared. The rat, finding his trust abused and himself struggling in the water at the bottom of the tub, soon re­ covers sufficiently from the shock to discover that there is an island of ref­ uge, on to which he clambers, and squeals his loudest for help. Now the squeal of a rat in trouble attracts ev­ ery one of his kind within hearing, and very few moments will elapse before the victim of misplaced confidence is joined by one of his friends. The new­ comer is as quick to discover the chance of escape from a watery grave as was the original victim, but when he attempts to avail himself of its pres­ ence, it becomes apparent that there is not room for more than one upon it. The first comer resists with tooth and nail the efforts of his companion in trouble to disposses him of his coign of vantage, and the squeals which form an accom­ paniment to the fight for a footing upon the brick, attract more rats to the scene of the tragedy. The conflict waxes more and more furious a§ rat after rat topples into the water, and by morning bedraggled corpses in plenty will glad­ den the eyes of the man whose losses at the teeth of the rats have induced him to adopt this means of thinning their numbers. Some years ago the plan de­ scribed above was tried in a city ware­ house, with the result that 3,000 rats were destroyed in a single night. Hoard's Dairyman. AGRICULTURAL NEWS "'i'- 4^ '4. • THINGS PERTAINING TO FARM AND HOME. THE 'Ci awfas Growing Strawberries for Home or Market--The Quality of Potatoes-- How to Have Healthful Pork--The Orchard Should Be Fertilized. ' '{H*/ ; '.ISR" Strawberries. There is practically no difference in. growing strawberries for market or for home^ use except in the amount planted and. possibly in the quality- of th<| varieties. Generally the most pro­ ductive varieties are satisfactory for home use. Sod plowed under should not be planted to strawberries, as grubs generally destroy plants. Land culti­ vated the previous sfeason in any hoed crop will be in the best condition for strawberries. Coarse manure should be plowed under, fine manure, unleash­ ed wood ashes or bone meal should be applied as a top dressing and cultivated in, either before the plants are set or after. Plant id rows four feet apart and eighteen inches in the row. Set the new plants not less than ten inches apart until the row is as wide as you want it and remove the rest. E^^ry third or fourth row. should be staininate. Few persons once interested in straw­ berry culture are satisfied without test­ ing some of the novelties. The product­ iveness of new varieties every grower must test for himself. Set a dozen plants of a variety and grow them un­ til you are satisfied they are productive enough to be planted with your stand­ ard varieties. It may worry your pa­ tience to wait a year or two to find out the value of a variety, but it will tire your patience a good deal more to plant a thousand or two at a fancy price and get no returns.--Strawberry Culture. Quality of Potatoes. It is evident that the potato crop of 1S96 is far below that of 1895, both in quantity and quality. So far as the quantity is concerned there are few complaints. We had far too many po­ tatoes in 1895rand there arc plenty this jeaft But the quality of niucu of this year's ..iv,p is not satisfactory lo cither producer or consumer. The wet sea­ son made the potatoes watery, leaving many of them of inferior table quality, and unusually liable to rot. Many de­ cayed in the ground, and reports indi­ cate that many are being lost in the bin- This is having quite an unfavora­ ble influence on the market just now- These potatoes must be marketed, and the result is a liberal supply, while dealers are loath to buy them freely for fear of loss. This, however, is expect­ ed to bring about a more satisfactory market later on. Commission men are advising those who have good sound potatoes, and are in position to hold them safely, to market them later, when competition with the others 13 past.--National Stockman. Growlnir Healthful Pork. A meat diet is not necessarily inju­ rious to health. It may be so when the animal that produces it has been fed wrongly, or has been subjected to un­ sanitary conditions. The meat most widely used in this country is pork. This is the kind of meat more likely than any other to be unhealthful. The old-fashioned swill barrel, in which milk, grease and refuse of all kinds are deposited, often goes for weeks; with­ out the thorough cleaning which such a receptacle should have evCry twenty- four hours. It is better to feed the skim-milk by itself, and throw most of the dish washings which are dosed heavily with salt on the manure heap, where, it will do more good than in the pig's stomach. But the worst injury to the pig and the one that causes the worst injury to poflji, is due to over­ feeding with corn. We have often seen hogs fattened until their eyes were closed with fat and the animal could hardly be made to cat more than enough to sustain life. The body was kept in feverish condition for days and even weeks, and the animal was only butchered, when, if the experiment had continued a little longer, its excess of fat would have killed it. There is, we are glad to say, little demand for such pork now. But pig pork fed with milk and wheat middlings, making a pork with large proportions of lean meat, is both palatable and healthy.-- American Cultivator. and if the cream is held at 60 to 65 degrees for twelve to fourteen hours, it wUl be found sufficiently rlpened.r» Hoard's Dairyman. ^ * .j". Horses in Norway. It is said that in Norway a bucket of water is always placed within reach of a horse when he is taking his allow­ ance of hay. "It is interesting," says the writer of /• be incident, 'tj see with what relish they take a sip out of one and a mouthful of the other alternate­ ly, sometimes only moistening their mouths, as any rational beli^g would do while eating a dinner of such dry food. A broken-winded horse is scarce­ ly ever seen In Norway, and the ques­ tion is whether this mode of feeding has not a beneficial effect in preserving the animal's respiratory organs." q Farm Notes. A good wagonload of cinders dumped at the end of a bridge will prevent the wheels from cutting deep holes into the grade. & A. large share of the food in the corn­ stalk is in that portion most easily de­ stroyed by exposure in the fields. In some sections the top is removed from the stalk while it is growing by "top­ ping/' and stored in the barn. When ah animal does not thrive It is not always necessary to resort to medi­ cines. It may happen that salt Is need­ ed. Or that linseed meal will prove a remedy^ The cause should be first con­ sidered before attempting a cure for an ailment. Some men shelter their stock In sheds sided up with barb wire and roofed with blue canopy, but it doesn't pay. By setting posts In the ground and siding up with cheap lumber, roofing with slough grass or boards and battening the cracks a warm shed may be con­ structed at small cost. It is estimated that when a hog Is kept until It attains the weight of 200 pounds it should produce two two-horse loads of manure from the time it was eight weeks old. The estimate of ma­ nure is perhaps too high, but if a hog produces one-half that quantity of manure of excellent quality it will be quite an item in the receipts. Soiling gives good results and saves the land for crops. In tests made with cows soiled on peas and green Clover at the barnyard, and with others that were kept on a good pasture, the cows on the soiling food made more gain in live weight than the others, and were less annoyed by files, exceeding the pasture-fed cows also in the production of milk. Those who have not made such ex­ periments will no doubt be surprised to know that a small plot, about 50 by 100 feet, will provide a family with as many as 500 quarts of strawberries, and with extra care and cultivation even twice that quantity. There are many plots near cities or towns which can be utilized for providing small fruits or vegetables in a fresh condition for use. A Canadian farmer reports that he experimented and found that salt is a complete remedy for wire worms. On a patch of spring grain he plowed up and resowed all but one acre, which he left for trial. He sowed 300 pounds of salt on this acre and forty-eight hours afterwards he sowed 300 pounds more. The result was the wire worms com­ pletely disappeared, and the grain look ed well. Wgsjf!, ; the conservatory. He was trembling Uke a leaf. , When we got well into theishadow of the curtains I stopped. "General Regis- ter," I said, quietly, "take my advice, and give them up to me at o^ce." "What do you mean?"; ,he said, hoarsely. • ;V } m,.V p I -The ear^ips^Jt^wiir prevent a scene." ••• pftsifjgj' He put a > trembling hand Into the breast pocket orhls dr^ss coat and gave me tbecartftfift. He did;}t(Uke a man in a dreaaa, and I really believe that for the time being he was unconscious. be turned away ang left the draying-room hurriedly. "Will he not ea>>»r said &tr*. Regis- The Mail and His House. The; ordinary polite inquiry, "How do you do?" calls for nothing but a con­ ventionally polite response; but if a man is past "the allotted age," and a philosopher besides, it may elicit a re­ ply full of meaning and worthy of record. When John Quincy Adams was eighty years old he met in the streets of Boston an old friend who shook his trembling hand and said: Good morning! And how is John Quincy Adams to-day?" r- "Thank you£ was the ef-President's answer, "John Quincy Adams himself is well, sir; quite well, I thank you. But the house In which, he liives at present is becoming dilapidated. It is tottering upon its foundation. Time and seasons have nearly destroyed it: Its roof is pretty well worn out. Its walls are much shattered, and it trem­ bles with every wind. The old tene ment is becoming almost uninhabitable, and I think John Quincy Adams will have to move out of it soon; but he himself is quite well, sir, quite well. With that the venerable sixth Presi­ dent of the United States moved on, with the aid of his staff. * It was not long afterward that he had his second and Tatal«troke of paralysis, in the Capitol at Washington. "This is the last of earth," he said, "I am content." '• P ? \ ' • yy Two-Cent Pieces. "The bronze 2-cent pleCe was first coin­ ed in 1864, being authorized by act of Congress in the same year. The Issu­ ance of this coin was discontinued Feb. 12, 1873. J- • •_ ••• • >• J' ' ^ No one works hard enough if he has. any time left to talk. • w.' < fir. , *('. Fertilize the Orchard. The apple trees have borne an im­ mense crop of fruit the last season. It takes not only vitality in the trees themselves, but also fertility in the soil, to bring forth and ripen off such a bur­ den of fruit. As a result, the trees are in a measure weakened, and the soil is exhausted of its material out of which the growth of the year has been sustained just in .proportion to the year's effort of the trees. If, therefore, the thrift of the trees and their power of fruitage are to be kept up, they call for special and unusual attention In the way of manuring and of culture, to make good or replace the draft that has been made upon them. The trees, therefore, should be fertil­ ized. Barn manure is always good for this purpose, and always will give in its testimony, applied in any way that leaves it in the vicinity of the trees. It never fails to assert itself. Applied as a top-dressing, It, of course, must divide Its effects .with the grass, the; growth of which it so vigorously sustains; hence its full value, when so used, is not real­ ized in fruit production. The quantity needed, therefore, under this practice, Is greater than would be necessary If the tree and its fruit got its full bene­ fit.--Maine Farmer. . < $ . Ripening Cre^m, A good way is to hold the cream at a temperature of 60 degrees for twelve to fourteen hours after the first taste of acid is apparent, and then judgment, formed from experience, will do the rest. - The method for warming the cream for ripening Is all right, but it will be necessary to keep the tempera­ ture of the room at about the tempera­ ture It Is desired to keep the cream. For a starter some ripened cream or buttermilk from the previous churning is often°\vsed to "start" the ripening. A better starter is made by taking some skim milk from a healthy, fresh milk­ ing cow, warm it up to 85 or 90 degrees, • and hold It at that temperature till it becomes ffoick. Put into the cream from 8 tov 5 per cent, of this starter, First Forefathers' Day. In "Recollections of the Pilgrims" there is an account of the first celebra­ tion of Forefathers' Day, or "Old CoK ony Day," as it was then termed, on Dec. 22, 1769. The celebration was un­ der the auspices of the Old Colony Club, a society formed by the leading men of Plymouth for the purpose of promoting social converse and pleasure without mixing with the promiscuous gatherings at the taverns. On the morning of the said day, after discharging a cannon, was hoisted up­ on the hall an elegant silk flag, with the following Inscription, "Old Colony, 1620." At 11 o'clock a. m., the mem­ bers of the club appeared at the hall, and from thence proceeded to the house of Mr. Howland, innholder, which is erected upon the spot where the first licensed house in the Old Colony for­ merly stood; at half-past 2 a decent re­ past was served, which consisted of the following dishes, viz: 1, a large baked Indian whortleberry pudding; 2, a dish of sauquetach( suc- catash, coru and beans boiled together); 3, a dish of clams; 4, a dish of oysters and a dish of codfish; 5, a haunch of venison, roasted by the first jack brought to the colony; 6, a dish of sea- fowl; 7, a dish of frost fish and eels; 8, an apple pie; 9, a course of cran berry tarts, and# cheese made in the Old Colony. These articles were dressed in th^ plainest manner /"all appearance of luxury and extravagance being avoid­ ed, in imitation of our ancestors, whose memory we shall ever respect"). At 4 o'clock p. m. the members of the club, headed by the steward, carrying a folio volume of the laws of the Old Colony, hand in hand marched in pro­ cession to the hall. Upon the appear ance of the procession in front of the hall a" number of descendants from the first settlers in the Old Colony drew up in regular file and discharged a volley of small arms, succeeded by three cheers, which were returned by the club, and the gentlemen generously treated. Singing, speech-making, cannon-fir­ ing and cheering closed the day's exer­ cises. Where Sleep Is a Disease. On the western coast of Africa the natives suffer from a fatal malady known as the sleeping disease. The person attacked by It is seized with a sensation of drowsiness, which contin­ ues to increase in spite of the efforts made to throw it off. Finally the na- tient sinks into a profound sleep, which continues until death ensues. The most curious feature of the disease is-that apart from the drowsiness the patient seems much as usual. PICTURESQUE ATHENS. _.T The Streets Are Made Brilliant by Marble Houses. - Of the three mountains Inclosing the plain of Athens, Mount Faroes Is the highest (4,640 feet); Mouut Pentillcus (3,641 feet), with Its regular triangular shape suggesting the pediment \>f a temple, is tlie^most Imposing; but the thyme-covered, honey-producing Hy- mettus (3,368 feet) has always been most intimately, associated with Athens. It lies nearer to the city, and from almost all the streets^and all the windows looking eastward can be seen its curved line- marking tlie blue sky above, except on tlie rare gray days, when clouds resting on Its top are an infallible sign of rain., The various hues of the mountains and the smaller hills forming an inner circle around Athens, combined with the view of the sea, lend an additional effect of airiness and buoyancy to the aspect. In the long, straight streets of the new town from end to end, nothing impedes the view on either side.- . In praising Athens, We must not draw a veil over lier defects. Such Improve­ ments as are indispensable to a modern city have not kept pace with her growth in extent and affluence. The stages of this progress can bp seen in the struc­ tural inequalities even of continuous dwellings. These dwellings may be Chronologically divided into three cate­ gories: those of the first settlers, when all were poor, and the niain necessity was at any rate to be housed; those of the thrifty citizens, who felt the want of more space and greater convenience, but had little regard for external ap­ pearance or interior comfort, and con­ sidered carpets and plate-glass a lux­ ury, and even chimneys of small conse­ quence; and those of the wealthy im­ migrants, who gave an Impulse to the building of elegant houses among all who," thanks to increasing prosperity, could afford to imitate them. The proximity of the quarries of Hy- mettus and Pentelicus enables Athens to supply herself with a building ma­ terial which no other city could have at equal cost. Marble, in itself an embel­ lishment, is profusely used, and loses none of its brilliancy in the dry atmos­ phere, whose transparency makes pleasant to the eye even the light col­ ors spread on the stone walls, which In other latitudes would hardly be bear­ able. The agreeable effect thus obtain­ ed is increased by the trees in some of the streets and squares, as well as in the gardens of the better class of houses. But Athens might and would be more verdant still were it not for the lack of abundant water. This want was felt in antiquity as well; to it may partly be ascribed the epidemics re­ corded by ancient historians in times of war, when the number of inhabit­ ants was increased by; those of the sur­ rounding country seeking refuge within the walls. Antoninus Pius endowed Athens with a perfect system of water works. They consisted of subterranean galleries col­ lecting the waters of the neighboring mountains. To these old Roman aque­ ducts, successively discovered, repair­ ed, and utilized, Athens still owes her scanty supply of water. Projects for increasing the supply are ever talked of, but will be deferred so long as the municipal finances remain no better than the national. MeAnwhile, the macadamized roads between the fine sidewalks are hardly watered. This fact and the nature of the soil, noto­ rious for its thinness since the days of, Thucydides, account for the dust, which is the greatest blemish of Athens. An English, lady was heard to admire the picturesqueness of its whirling clouds; but even were that single representative of an optimistic minority on a fine day, succeeding one of rain, to see the town and the clear outline of the distant mountains through a dustless atmosphere, she could not help regretting that the same effects are not artificially attainable. On the whole, Athens will show to best advantage if visited after Con­ stantinople and other towns in Turkey, as the standard of comparisons will be fairer than that afforded by the great capitals of the West. It must not be forgotten that, if one of the most an­ cient, she is at the same time one of the newest among European towns; nor ought the long period of her decline ever to be lost sight of when compar­ ing her with other towns. The traveler who, remembering that long period of Turkish sway, counts on receiving an Oriental impression from the aspect of Athens Is doomed to disappointment. Even the national garb is fast disap­ pearing. It may still be worn by a few elderly Athenians. These, and a peas­ ant here and there selling milk or cheese, recall the day when their dress was the national one. It is, however, the uniform of certain soldiers of light Infantry, who may be seen parading the streets or mounting guard at the palace, in all the white splendor of the fustanelle. The wide blue trousers of the Aegean islanders are not less rare, nor is there much chance of seeing them at the Piraeus, among the craft from the various islands moored along the quays. Tlie uglier and cheaper product of the slop-shop has replaced the picturesque drapery of the olden time." The monotony of the modern costupie is broken only by the priests with their long black "robes and their peculiar hats.--"Public Spirit in Mod- ern Athens," by D. Bikelas, In Cen­ tury, v- " * '•••*:• ,.*• r" rj -• Second Fiddle. Stylish maid, Many charms. Puppy dog In her arms. ., Youth drops In, 7;, Cool recept-- Darling pug Still is kept. Lover sighs, Looks at her; - Wishes he Was a cur. Ten o'clock, y. Time expired; "Tom, good night, Fido's tired." -New York World. •v.._ :j firry Of Course Not. Aunt Maria--But why didn't you sing ou.t when he attempted to kiss y*>u? "Why, you know, auntie, I never can sing without my notes."--Boston Tran­ script. „ , As soon as a man takes a job away from town, he~take8 advantage Of the- opportunity to lie about his salar|;. ii £ George W. Cable expects to sail for England In a few weeks. He has made arrangements to give public readings from his works,Ui London and the provinces. V- Dean Farrar quotes Tennyson arf hav­ ing related to him the remark of a far­ mer who, after hearing a flre-and-brim- stonc sermon from an old style preach­ er, consoled his wife by saying: "Never mind, Sally; that must be wrong.; No constltooshun couldn't stapd it." Mrs. Ernest Hart, who will be-re­ membered by many Chlcagoans as a visitor, to the World'is Fair, lias written a book entitled "Picturesque Burmah, Past and Present," which she has also Illustrated. She writes in a chatty way of the far-off country-$s she saw it. A movement has been started to rec­ ognize publicly Herbert Spencer's ser­ vices to philosophy and science, upon the completion of his system of syn­ thetic philosophy. A committee has been formed at the Athenaeuni Club, London, to decide on the form of this recognition. Though a site has been chosen for the bust of Sir Walter Scott, there will yet be a little delay before It is finally set up in Westminster abbey. This , is due to several causes, one, though certainly ; • not the most important, being that the • money has not yet been fully subscrib­ ed. ' _ . ' / ' ' Says the London Daily News: "A new volume of the poet laureate?" One forgets for the moment that Tennyson is dead. Then one yawns at the recol­ lection of Mr. Austin's name and the announcement that his new book is to be entitled 'The Conversion of Winckle- man and Other Poems.' " There is to be published in Liverpool early in the new year "A History of . > the Liverpool Privateers and Letters of Marque," by Gomer Williams. The greatness of the city, says the publish­ er in announcing the character .pf. the forthcoming work, was suckled on the twin iniquities of slave trading and » privateering, and the book is to consist of an account of both. - In some remarks on the • promised Byron revival W. E. Henley says That the public "has had enough of fluent minor lyrists and hidebound (if su­ perior) sonneteers, and is disposed in the natural course of things to renew its contact with a great English poet who was also a principal'element In the aesthetic evolution of that modern Eu­ rope which wc know." People who have seen manuscripts of W. D. Howell's writing have been sur­ prised that the work of a man who is such a prolific writer should show so many changes. "One little sketch of his that I happened to see," says an ad­ mirer of the author, "was crossed out and rewritten many times. And it was a simple sketch, not a Story--on.i that I should have thopght he would bp.ve written at a sittipg wrthout ichatigfug a word." --•-- - Only Their Fancy, "It is astonishing to find what queer delusions sometimes take possession of people," says a certain physician, <~ "In the course of my practice I have often come across persons who held long conversations with perfectly imag­ inary individuals. "I have seen persons manifest the greatest alarm at animals of Whose presence and voices near them they as­ sured me they were as positive as of my own, absolutely refusing to believe that the creatures were not really there. e 'One young lady, who was frightened by the sudden presentation to her of a white mouse, has been troubled for years by seeing this mouse running about her, upon her clothing, upon any­ thing she is handling, and even upon her food; and, in consequence, she is in a state of constant agitation, though it times she is convinced that the ani- nal is merely imaginary. "She often washes her hands and slothes because she is sure that the animal lias dirtied them, and she can­ not divest herself of the belief that it is -eai. . "I have been sometimes able to con­ duce persons that such fancied figures were not real by asking them to.push me eyeball up a little with the finger. "This niakes all real objects in their neighborhood appear double, as anyone can prove to himself, but it does not double the false image. "The young lady I have just men­ tioned derived much comfort by the adoption of this simple device." * -- --' What is a "Chinook?" " A pioneer citizen, long a resident of Clatsop County, objects to the warm south wind, which takes off the snow, being called a "chlnook." He Insists that the chlnook is the northwest wind which blows in the summer, and that-- the name is only local, and belongs to Clatsop County. This may have been so when he lived there, but the use of the term "(»hinook" for the warm win­ ter wind which takes the snow off the range? has become general throughout the Northwest, and will doubtless re­ main general.. #e«plte all that may be said against it. For years a battle-roy­ al raged in this region as • to whether the name of the river which flows through this city was Willamette or Wallamet. People Insisted on calling it Willamette, and the name so re­ mains. It took an act of the Leglslar lure to put a stop to the argument.-- I'ortland Oregohlan. A Hint for Professionals. ' Photographer--That is certainly a sood picture for an amateur; very -ood. How did you manage to get such i pleasant expression* on the gentle­ man's face? Amateur--I told him I wasn't going to charge anything.^--Tit-Bits. 1 What it Means, A primary teacher In a Watervliet Sunday school took for a subject, "The Lord loveth a cheerful giver." She in­ quired if any one knew what it meant, when a little 4-year-old boy said: "Miss L----, I know what that means." "Well, George Edwin,, what is it?" "It means glvig a whole lot and don't cry over ft."--Troy Times. Osculation. "What would you call the sound pro­ duced when two bodies come together?" asked the teacher, who was trying to explain what a noise is to her pupils. "Oh, a kiss, ma'am," replied, the little/ girl, who evidently had older sisters^-- Yonkers Statesman. Men have better .health than the wo­ men, because they sigh less when things go wrong, and kick mora. V7