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... ..... ,--.v ' •."••' • "' '•'." •-•'* C' •' " 'v ,...V ' ' « • « « - " a' * * \ & •«»•»• • • • " • * * - . > « • # - ' ««OD EKOVM . a*-. -t^ « m #>. •X' *> * .***'» J ' WTWMMJH* r. TlTWpm. ' (An (migrant ship recently foundered la • . «MM, MMI of the 220 who went down, only one -«4 Uftte child--drifted ashore. When the w*U %s«* Ud at rest from her troubled baptism, some- %«Mr Mfced the question. "What name?' and the " God knows." A gentleman present, fciBihinl by the words, caused a headstone to DO oxeeted bearing only this: " Ood Knows.' j < 1 < AaUstfbtruit ship with a world aboard ~ - Went down by the head on the Kentish OMft, So tetter of bunting at half-mast lowered, i Ho cannon to loll for the creatures lost,, ' 'Vmb hundred and twenty their souls let site, Tuo hundred and twenty with speechless lip Went staggering dewn in the foundered ship l ^aiolKHiv can tell it--nor you nor I, _ The frenev of fright when lightning thought Wove like a shuttle the far and the nigh, • •, flbot quivering gleams through the longtfocgot And lighted the years with a ghastly glart, £ g. ...» » vnnr. »ni) a soeoiiff to Knn.ro I .^•Qd surges of water and gasps of "prayer. iv heavens were doom and the Lord was dumb, The cloud and the breaker were blent in one, »o angel in sight-nor any to mine! ,. Ood jterdon their ems for the Christ HI* Bon I Hi tMz^Mst died down as the tempest will, Tfee «ea in a rivulet drowse lay stifl. Am touie as the moon on a window-sill, DK roses were red on the rugged hill-- Tfc# roees that blow in the early light, AM die into gray in the mists of night. •t »•: ' - •' TVeu drifted ashore in a night-gown dressed, • A wmif of a girl with her sanded hair, { iimt hands like a prayer on her cold blue breast, And a smile on her mouth that wag not despair. So stitch on tbe garment ever to tell Wko bore her, who lost her .who loved her well, ' ftanMMd m a rose--was it north or Nell? Xfce coasters and wreckers around her stood And gaeed on the treasure-trove upward cast, *« roand a dead robin the sturdy wood, 1 . ]fts plumage ail rent and the whirlwind past. *R»ey laid a white crops on her home-made vest; The coffin was rude a* a red-breast's nest, poqr was the shroud, but a perfect rest jMl down on the child like dew on the West. A ripple of sod just covered her over, Hobody to bid her " Good night, my bird 1" , (taring waited to weave a quilt of red clover, " Ttobodv alive had her pet name heard. •What- name ? asked the preacher. " God Knows!" they said, Vor waited nor wept as they made her bed, Bat sculptured " God Knows I" on the slate at her head. • |k legend be our* when the night runrwild, "tbe road out of sight and the stars gone home, bast hope or lost heart, lost Pleiad or child, Bemombar the words at the nameless tomb! Bewildered and blind the soul finds repose, Whether cypress or laurel blossoms and blows, Whatever betides, for the good " God knows!" " God knows" all the while, our blindness His sight, Qar ^arkpeM His day, our weakness Hia might 1 AN ILLUSION. t > IE Lefebvre's two sisters and his aunts bad not treated the whole thing so su­ perciliously, and his cousin Laura, in opite of her generous behavior, had not every now and then looked large-eyed disapproval, very likely it would have came to nothing long before. But of «oarge those women and a host of other female relations were not going to be qiisei than he, Lucian Lefebvre, Captain - of Engineers and Colonel by brevet, stationed at the capital, and guardian of tire nation's citadel--dancing duty, Bell •called it. ' " Introduced to that doll ?" said Bell, -When he came up to them, at the Secre- ' ^Ky'e proposing the introduction. Bell was the married sister; Helen was un- •Bianied, and a little passee, but a person Of dignity. "Why, does she talk?" 1 > «« Quite a pretty piece of mechanism," Mid his aunt. "Very well put to­ gether." . jbefebvre looked at them in amaze- • n»ent and indignation. " Really," said , fen^s ctit is wonderful what women are L made of." " Not this one," said Helen, deliber­ ately putting up her glass. " She is illse from the crown of her head to the • 4ole of hex foot How can you be so taken in? I don't know what you are r Made of, Lucian, to think of introducing - 4hcit a creature to your sisters, nor how .-•he made her way here." , He was just turning on his heel in 1 tfpeechiees anger, but, remembering that " ' "lie bad left the side of the lady in dis- , ante for the avowed purpose of bringing lis sisters to her, he exclaimed, " What- -ever she is, some of you must come with me and be presented to her, as I am here for that purpose, and I will not have her , .. . jjpBnlted." "Indeed !" said Helen, looking over .v-Kbe lop of her fan into infinite space, but ^ ,-mi- stea-cing. ,-A- i "I will go, Luoian," said Laura, who ' ;l»d not spoken. " Come, Bell, help me "Well, Laura, for a little goose! *•""Jlowever, I will never desert a compan- ' a ia arms. Do you suppose she has ^. 'OtHfewcd our council of war?" as they yawed off beside Lucian, with his chin .v "well in the air. " She is a fine picture. V A. person should go on the sta^e that oui make up as well as that. I should t like to see her in the privacy of her mid- night retirement. How old* should you 4hink ? Forty ?" "Forty!" cried Luoian. "I heard -Just myself arranging for a picnic on her • $8d birth-day." " How touching! In the life to oome. Her 23d! She'll never see her 43d again tiofethis life." * > "Bell 1" ynt'iXl Oh yes, Lucian; if you choose to -;'1 force unwelcome acquaintance on your 1'! Jumty, at least they must enjoy freedom opinion concerning it. The very set woman is with speaks for her. Good evening, General. What a crush! All because of this young Russian Jhero---a beauty, isn't he? Ah, you . , #oo axe making for the cynosure, I „ all the world is being presented. * It will never do not to follow the ^ iipshion." -'»•! And directly Luoian was presenting ' ** lue sister, Mrs. Gamier, and his cousin Hiss Laura Nelson; and Miss Nelson ' bad behaved exactly as Lucian wished; <tod, although he could never have said SJ, tthat was wanting in Mrs. Garnier's be- " , bavior, he knew that a challenge of de- # H&ace was in her very air, and that mere manner had told the other *' jromari what she thought of her. f»er- fcftp® Bell presumed that'that was the .i>.«ray to manage him. He would shortly iher know. v' Lefebvre came clattering down Hfcairo next morning, his horse waiting at • itUe door. "Whither bound, Lucian?" cried v Ulelenfrom the library. mt > •*' To ride with Mrs. De Berrian." " Ob, your new widow," she said, pay- "Have you called yet? No? How <wety acoomtnodating in her to ride with jfou first!" ^ " She is not a punctilious fool," he »f mattered, drawing on hin glove. "Certainpunctilios," put in AuntSu- V pan, "are only self-respect." "If you will go and call with me, said Lucian, " I've no doubt she Will postpone the ride " " Now, Lucian, dear, you know Ihato l • ®o*to«r"*tify you," naid Helen. "But really tlie last thing Bell said was that it would not do. She should not call, nor could I, if, for nothing else, for little Laura's sake, who is too young and in- nooent to have anything to do--" "Just as you please," he said, angrily, and had slammed the door behind him. Tou can imagine his surprise when, as he reined his horse up at the steps of tbe house where Mrs. De Berrian was visiting, he saw his cousin Laura coming down with Mrs. Vaughn, a leader of the fashions, with whom she sometimes went out; for Laura was an heiress, aad but little gainsaid in her wishes. " I thought you would like to have me," Laura said, timidly looking up with her broT?^ eyes, as h? <rh amounted. She never did have any spirit. "It is just like you, Laura," be said, fervently. : " I--I don't think you will admire her so much by daylight," she said again, timidly; and he haa laughed and handed her into the carriage and disappeared before she knew she had ventured to say so much. But a more judicious curtain had been dropped within the drawing-room; and as Mrs. De Berrian sat pensively leaning her head on her hand that bore a gloam­ ing sapphire, a dark curl straying over the contour of the white hand set in its l&oe ruff, and the damask shadow of a great vase of roses on the table, taller than herself, falling round her,. Col. Lefebvre thought he did admire Mrs. De Berrian quite as much by daylight --although it occurred to him later that Bell would have called it rose-light or curtain-light instead. He was confirmed in his admiration before he left her. He was not sure but that by the time he saw Mrs. De Berrian again he shoiild be really in love with her. And his little oousin Laura ? Well, thank Heaven, he oould afford to marry where he chose. She was rather an enchanting woman after her kind. " I will tell you about her," said Laura to her oousins, when she had endured their reproaches. " She makes it a vital point to please-- in her person, her manner, her voice. Her face can only afford smileB, so she never resent", not even such a look as Bell's. She was charmingly dressed. She is visiting people just on the verge of society, Mrs. Vaughn says, but she doesn't seem to belong t® them. It is my belief that she has had money, run through nearly all of it, and that this is her last throw for station and a hus­ band." Laura, where in the world," cried her displeased aunt, " did you pick up such"-- "French novels," said Bell, who had run over. " I must say, Laura, I think you took a great deal on yourself. Now she will return the call." 4 She--she would like to be respecta­ ble," stammered LaiAa. "And you know very well that if you want Lucian to go and marry such a woman out of hand, you have only to persecute her," Persecute her! You do use select terms. We let her alone, which you had better have done." " I--I didn't want Lucian to be mor­ tified." "So you mortify us." And by tbe time Lucian came home Laura was in a flood of tears, and sobbed out, in reply to his amazed inquiry, "Ohthey are abusing me so!" And then everyone laughed at the idea of their abusing little Laura, the darling of the house. "Well, well, Laura," said he. "I'll not abuse you. I invite you to our pic­ nic to-morrow to Great falls. Mrs. De Berrian will chaperon you." " Mrs. De Berrian !" rose the chorus. "Madame Arroyo, the Spanish Minis­ ter's wife, invites her." "Well, to be sure," said Bell, catch­ ing her suspended breath, 4'nobody knows anything about her either--an ad­ venturess, all the legation say." " The Count Zara escorts her. I sup­ pose nobody knows anything about him." The Austrian attache--yea, he hit Nell hard then, he thought. "And the young Russian Duke that enchanted you so " " Oh, men, all of them J" "Very fine men, and some of the finest ladies at the capital. I'll take care of you, Laura, if you'll go." "I'll go, Lucian." " Perhaps she'd best," said Bell to Helen, at the door. " I shouldn't lot him out of my eight, if I were she." It was a month later when Bell ran over one evening, as usual, now the gay- eties were so few, aad sat talking gloomily with Helen. " I never would have believed it of our Lucian," said she. "All but en­ gaged, as he was, to Laura, and with her fortune, that would have just doubled his own, and she so gentle--and now perfectly lost and infatuated over this French doll." "I can't imagine that it is the same brother who turned pale when we came down with carmine on our cheeks the day after we first saw the French play, and who expostulated with us so." " Our turn now." " He would have made Laura such a good husband," said one. "But now this demoralizing woman waves of shadowy hair "bpr IfoSb, And while they were bemoaning his decline and fall, the subject of their complaint was whirling away in a palace- ear, surrounded by wraps and rugs and lunch baskets and periodicals and French oandy and Mrs. De Berrian, the wax- lights shining softly down from above Oit the charming picture the lady made, as, having removed her hat. she leaned back among her cushions under the shelter of the rose-colored scarf passed over her dark curls. Mrs. De Berrian had been summoned to New York on important business ; Col. Lefebvre had suddenly found that he had business there too. Mrs. De Berrian perhaps meant to give him some business before he returned. Neither of them was aware that behind the curtains of a neighbor­ ing section, whose berths had been made up and occupied just as the train started, reposed one of his aunts.and hi* cousin Laura. If simply an infatuation over mere beauty were.in case, no one could mar­ vel at Col. Lefebvre's infatuation. By candle-light at night, behind a veil out­ doors, in the dim, deep-curtained draw­ ing-room, Mrs. De Berrian was worthy a painter's pencil -- delicate features, scarlet lips, deep dimples, penciled brows, the sparkle of teeth, the soft, dark glow of great eyes, the snowiness of the forehead under multitudinous uty oould hardly be better iipaged faftb, although possibly one faight tire of it, and of the set, unvarying smile, for a]| its sweet­ ness. Lucian had not tureA of i^ yet ; once or twice there had crossed his mind a suspicion that its owner was not alto­ gether a woman of high principle, but whether he had put die thought avray as treasonable, or had felt with a not un­ usual masculine vanity that he could change all that, or had not just then cured so much for high principle, it did not hinder his own color from mounting when he looked at hers, or his pulse from quickening when this woman touched his hand. As for Mrs. De Ber­ rian, she was beginning to feel a tolera­ ble assurance that at last her pendulous position on *' the verge of society " was to be exchanged for the fixed and solid station of a member of the Lefebvre family, with all their wealth and rank, their respectability, consideration and friends. And, when it should be--why, then she meant to show tbe women in that family who she was 1. It came'near being a settled fact that night as ihey rolled coiuforiably along, almost all the rest of the car behind their curtains, the soft light, half gloom, half light, falling softly on the lovely face, a setting moon traveling with them and looking in at the window at every turn. Col. Lefebvre had changed his seat for one at the lady's side, tnat the sleepers might not be troubled by their voices--his voice, rather, for it was he that talked; she listened, with the lovely smile, the musical word. His arm lay along the back of the seat, his face was bending over hers; her great eyes were cast up at him in the dim light; her lips seemed to tremble. He was noting the gentle rise and fall of her breath, the charm of every outline of the beautiful head resting OP that hand with its gleam­ ing sapphire, aware of a strange quick throb with the thought, half a certainty, half a fear, that all this was doubtless his should he choose to take posses­ sion-- "Tickets!" said some one at his el­ bow--the conductor, who had oome aboard at the last station, and who mis­ took them for a portion of the gay party that had been taken on with himself. It broke the spell for that night, CoL Lefebvre started to find how late it was, and went away to his berth, leaving Mrs. De Berrian, ill-pleased, to order the por­ ter about as he made up her own. CoL Lefebvre woke very early on the next morning from his fitful slumber, restless with feeling and with heat, and, looking from his window, saw that they were rolling along the green flats of New Jersey. Then he half parted his cur­ tains, and took an observation down the car. Some one was up before him-- some young girl; he could not see plain­ ly, with all the obstruction of drapery. Tbere was a familiar fling of a scarf. Good gracious S was that his cousin Laura ? The sight of her made him fall back on his pillow and begin to recall the events of the evening before. It was just then that some one came rustling by his closed curtains--a lady who wished to make her toilette before the rest of the car was astir. The sound stopped short; the person did not go on. In­ stinctively CoL . Lefebvre glanced through the crack of his curtains. A netting of the lady's fringe had caught on the hook of some projecting valise --the porter was disengaging it---an old­ ish, frowzy sort of woman. One uplifted hand grasped the curtain for Bttpport; upon it shone a gleaming sapphire. The drops started out on his forehead. Was it--impossible! He sat up and glared at her. She held a toilet case in her other hand. She was making for the little dressing-room. There was the same bronze green luster of silk, the same black lace about the throat* the lapel of the same rosy scarf of woolen gauze had been that instant thrown up from her face. But that face ! No; it was an absurdity. And yet-- It had been a horridly not night; the best of paint would run ; the best of powder would cake and roll off ;jtlie penciling of brows would rub all about; the pigment that so darkened and increased the eye would smear here and there raggedly. What has happened to that mouth ? Or was there no mouth there ? There were no teeth there; they were in her hand. Tho dimples--they were two long fur­ rows ; the scarlet of the mouth had some­ how streaked them. And as for the drop­ ping curls--they were dropping off. The beautiful Adelaide De Berrian had gone out like the blown flame of a candle, and left only the ashes--had left only a worn and withered woman with white lips, and a wrinkled pallor that was blotched and bleared, whose face had been a mask, " whose mother was her painting." " 4 False from the crown of her head to the sole of her foot,'" he repeated, in Helen's words, end shut his eyes; and there sat Laura, brown-eyed and fair, with her smooth hair, a little Madonna of a face, as he opened them again. An hour afterward, the other women of the ear having clamored in vain the last third of that time for admittance, an elegant lady issued from the dressing- room, crimped and curled and powdered, a blooming, smiling picture, seated her­ self in her rearranged section, and awaited her cavalier. She waited a long while. While she was in the dressing- room, that cavalier had stepped off the train at Elizabeth. As Col. Lefebvre s?.t in his aunt's room in the Brevoort that night, he re­ plied to her query concerning bis gloom, " Let it be. I have a right to be a little disturbed. I have lost a friend. I have escaped a terrible dan­ ger. I have found an invaluable posses­ sion that I had mislaid. What did you bring Laura here for? Her summer finery ? I am going to take her a long drive in the Park to-morrow morning,. Say, Aunt Maria, don't you make any purchases till we oome back. And, Aunt Maria, don't you think it would be stealing a fine march on them all at honre if Laura and I went back on one ticket--" " One ticket!" 44 Well, no, not exactly. Husbands and wives are not one financially, are they? Railways haven't any senti­ ment. "--Ilarpe -'* Bazar. A COBBESI ONI> ENT trom the seat of war on the Russian side, writes to a London paper; " Put a Turk in a ditch, give him a gun, a sackful of cartridges, a loaf of bread, and a jug of water, and he will remain tbere for a week or a month under the most dreadful artillery fire that can be directed against him, wiftwf flinching." if™-" FASHION NOTESI BOX-PTJAITED corsages are coming in vogue. Ptrrnr color is the newest shade tar kid gloves. MOONLIGHT beads is another name for olair de la bine jet. THS necks of all new droooca open en chale or Pompadour. JHWEKS take the place of spangles in the costly imported fans. THB new bonnets have coronet brims and elaborate puffed cap crowns. TURKISH blue, a mixture of purple and red, is the popular shade for ladies' um­ brellas. No htlk for morning toilets is the rule, which New York is borrowing from Paris just now. GBAYS, including four shades, and greens of every possible tint, are the popular colors. THE combination of black silk and velvet will be popular. Figured and embossed velvet will be used; the plain is not so stylish. PURE white linen collars and cuffs will be worn in street and house costumes; the cuffs under, and, in some instances, turned back all around. CASHMERE will be united with silk or velvet this season, and will be made up in handsome styles. The material prom­ ises to be very popular as heretofore. SACQUES are becoming longer, and basques also, originally designed for elderly ladies, are worn by young matrons over trimmed skirts, thus omitting the overekirt. MORNING caps are quite a necessity of fashion at present, and almost every lady is wearing them. In spite of their popu­ larity, they do not add to the youthful- ness of a face. < THE habit basque and plain overskirt, with what are called envelope pockets, oblong shapes, with a folded over-lap buttoning down, are leading modes for traveling dresses. ALTHOUGH rather early to touch upon the subject of furs, some sample articles having been prepared for exportation, show that linings and capes will be made of the handsomest and most expensive furs, and that borderings will be narrow. SILK, ribbon and velvet are all recom­ mended for combinations with straw this autumn, and all odd Bhapes, which are variations upon standard styles, will be favorite models. Very much crown trimming will be worn upon hats of suit­ able shape. VESTS and jackets a*e again to be rein­ stated. The new dark, as well as black materials are much to be desired, when made into an open jacket upon a fancy- colored vest. White and blue flannel vests will be very stylish with next win- tejr suits. RAZIMIS silk is something new in mourning dress materials; one side has a soft, cashmere finish; the other has a beautiful gros-grain effect; the former is the side intended for mourning. The quality is beautiful and serviceable, and it costs $3.50 a yard. POLONAISES of heavy fabrics, abso­ lutely without drapery, will be worn this fall. Some of the designs exhibit a com­ bination basque or extra upper portion. All polonaises are as long as possible, and draped across the front, according to the requirements of the figure. HAMBURG edgings are now cut out by machinery, with such accuracy as to have a perfect edge, and sold for the same price as uncut edgings. The cut-out edgings are not of the regulation four and a half yards, but are neatly sewed together, and sold in all lengths. poor people of the locality where the misnamed savings bank existed. To this legitimate loss may possibly be added 4 cash items' and other waste paper, which, in the reports to the bank department, have been described - other stocks and bonds.'" f i Debts of the States. The Bureau of Statistics at Washing­ ton has just compiled, from official docu­ ments, an approximate statement of the debts of the several States, with the fol­ lowing results, the computation being made to the close of 1876, except where otherwise stated in parentheses : Maine ( 5,120,1(17 New Hampshire 3,6'i9,538 Massachusetts i. 83,550,464 Rhode Island 2,182,754 New York...................!. Sa'sisJoHJ New Jersey. 3,396,300 Pennsylvania.,...,...,... S2,978,951 Delaware 1,201,000 Maryland. 6,270,155 Ohio 6,484,505 Indiana 1,097,755 Illinois v.,; i.. r.. 1,430,000 Michigan v 1,392,140 Wisconsin 2,252,057 Minnesota T 500,000 Iowa (18'<5) 548,024 Kansas 1,235,976 Nebraska 1,063.068 Virginia (1875) 27,514,426 North Carolina 28,747,946 South Carolina (1875) 7,674,7( 6 Georgia (1875) 22,345,«96 Alabama 12,574,379 Mississippi 743,004 Louisiana (1875). 21,668,432 Texas (Feb. 1,187«) 4,792,895 Arkansas 17,«20,362 Kentucky (1875) 1,823,669 Tennessee ...."i l:i,208,400 California (1876) 3,634,500 Oregon (1874) 290,477 Nevada 108,429 Colorado is reported without debt, and from West Virginia, Missouri and Flor­ ida, no recent reports have been re­ ceived. The debt of Georgia, after de­ ducting the amount recently repudiated, is placed at $8,005,500. In proportion to population, Illinois is in a better condition financially than any other State in the Union, except Iowa. The Bisks of Depositing in Small Sav­ ings Banks. An acoountant who has done the fig­ uring for a number of the receivers of broken savings banks in New York writes to the Sun that no savings bank can possibly exist which has deposits less than $1,000,000. On any smaller sum the margim between the rate of interest paid and that received is too small to pay running expenses. If 6 per cent., is paid depositors and 7 per cent received from the investments of depositors' money, the margin available, when the deposits are $1,000,000, for expenses is only $10,000. But, "if the deposits," explains the accountant, "are, say $100,000, the income of 1 per cent, net---$1,000--will not pay a clerk, night watchman, scrub woman and small boy, to say nothing of rent, sta­ tionery and sundries. If, by the rob­ bery of Peter's deposit of yesterday to pay Paul's draft of to-day, the bank kites through an existence of a few years, multiply the excess of tbe expenditures over its $1,000 income by the number of years of its existence, and it will need no bank examiner to determine what its deficiency is, and tbe consequent loss to THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION. Congressman Payne, of Ohio, on the Inner History of the Tribunal -- Democratic Hopes and Disappointments--'Why DM Judge Davis Decline to Serve? [Extract from • speech by Henry. B. Payne, of Cleveland, j ,m *- * * The proposition to raise a committee of conference originated notr in the Senate, but in the House, and with ° TR^publiean member. Each com­ mittee matured its plan and then sub­ mitted it to a joint meeting. That of the House committee, drafted by itfr. McCrary, the present Secretary of War, and unanimously approved, proposed a tribunal to consist of the five senior As­ sociate Justices of the Supreme Court, and to submit to it without reserve all the certificates, objections and all the papers and evidence in the possession of the President of the Senate or either of the two houses of Congress, with power to take such additional testimony as they should deem necessary. The plan of the Senate committee was a tribunal to consist of four Justices and nine mem­ bers of Congress, five to be chosen by each house, and one of them to be cast out by lot, and the submission of the papers and testimony, under severe re­ strictions. I need not detail the long struggle be­ tween the committees, the agreement to the ten members of Congress equally di­ vided between the houses and the two parties, their inability to agree upon the fifth Justice, we offering to aocept Mr. Davis, and their offering t<3 take Swayne and Miller and give us Clifford and Davis; our insisting upon Clifford and Field, and their finally assenting to that, but on condition that they might drop Swayne and take Miller and Strong; the completion of the bill; its report to and adoption by both houses, and the organ­ ization of the commission. The Democratic members of the com­ mittees assented to this measure with the full belief and expectation that Judge Davis would be appointed the fif­ teenth member as umpire. He was the senior of the remaining associates, was the only one qualified by freedom from partisan bias, which, together with his learning and unsullied integrity, finely fitted him for the place, and when, in addition to all this, two of the four as­ sociates were Democrats, it was not strange that we were confident that no one else than Judge Davis could, in any event, be placed on the commission, and I feel warranted in affirming that had it been probable that Judge Bradley, or either of the other Judges, would have been appointed to a seat on that tribu­ nal, that Electoral bill would never have been reported to the House or enacted into a law. The selection of Judge Davis was an­ ticipated and expected by both parties in Congress and by the country at large. It is but justice to Messrs. Clifford and Field to make publio the fact that at the first meeting of the four Justices they voted for Judge Davis and persisted in so doing, though Judge Strong assured them that Davis would not accept, and it was only at the meeting on the following day, when Mr. Strong presented a writ­ ten communication from Davis, per­ emptorily declining the position, they reluctantly voted for Judge Bradley. Various reasons have been assigned for Judge Davis'declination of this great public dutv. Senator Matthews attrib­ utes it to the influence of Providence in causing him in the meantime to be elect­ ed to the United States Senate. It is difficult to perceive how an election to an office the term of which would not commence until the labors of the com­ mission were closed could possibly con­ flict with his discharging bis duties as Commissioner. Possibly the persistent opposition of the Senate, implying dis­ trust or fear of his impartiality, may have influenced his decision. However that may be, his refusal to serve was the occasion of profound disappointment and deep and bitter regret. While no man, 30 far as I know, is authorized to say what his opinion .vould have been after bearing the cause, yet the Democratic party and the whole country would have accepted his decision as that of an upright, learned and fearless Judge, and would have respected it ac­ cordingly. Sand Showers. The singular phenomena of sand show­ ers occurs every year in China. During the showers there is neither cloud nor fog in the sky, but the sun is scarcely visible, looking very much as when seen through smoked glass. The air is filled with a fine dust, entering eyes, nostrils and mouth, and often causing serious diseases of the eye. This dust, or sand, a» the people call it, penetrates houses, reaching apartments which seem securely dosed. It is supposed to oome from the great desert of Gobi, as the sand of Sa­ hara is taken up by whirlwinds and car­ ried hundreds of miles away. The Chinese, while sensitive to the personal discomfort arising from these showers, are resigned to them from a con­ viction that they are a great help to agri­ culture. They say that a year of numerous sand showers is always a year of large fertility. The sand probably imparts some enriching elements to the soil, and it also tends to loosenthe compact alluvial matter of the Chinese valleys. A Bovine Wonder. Mr. O. S. Foster has the most pre­ cocious calf on record. But fifteen brief months have tumbled into eternity since its advent upon this mundane sphere ; and yet that calf knows a great deal more about some things than the aver­ age human adult. It answers to its name and knows its owner's dog and children across a ten-acre patch. The calf, from its birth until yesterday, had browsed at large some three miles from town, and had never mingled in the bustle and stir of city life. But, lo and behold ! early yesterday morning that calf stood at the gate of Mr. Foster's residence in the city, peering wistfully thruugh the pickets. Nobody had told it the number of the dwelling, and no­ body was aware of having guided it there. Its native genius seems to have been its only pilot.--Muscatine (Iowa) Journal. w A lrnfTAOK 80»0. . f ftmt •, ***•D- B:_!IANCIA*M- Onoe more the year Its fnlln To cheer the heart of toil; - „ ¥ And gfedMM breathe?! i ron-1 »**d« In this October weather. Ifcjrwtnter daw were toner and darkifJ The spring m slow to«onie And summer storms brought fear and To many a hnmble home. , But rain and sunshine had their will And wrought their work together,. : And see! we heap our baskets itilL V In this Octooer weather. My heart has had its winter, too. And lain full bare and gray: I did not think a spring would Com4t Much tea z s^zmzucz day. rj,,* How little did I dream that IBs Would bring us two together, •'<'•*» <n •»<» And I fhouid be a happy wife .the In this October weather ! Doubtless the frosts will come again. And some sweet hopes must die; • But we shall bear the passing pain, And smile as well as sigh-- Nor let us cloud with fears of ill This golden hour together; For Ood is in His garden stiu la Uiin October weather. --Gcribner for October, & / • l-x(siii)' PITH ALHH POINT* DOG days are almost over, bfrt cat nights last all the year round. A BUSINESS that couldn't succeed with­ out strikers--The match trade. i THAT awful lad* again: " Ma, pa has tbe best of you; you can't strike matches on your tronsers like he can." : THESE was an old Turk in " Bulgary" - Who said, " It is time to be waryT Said a Cossack, " I know it;" And he cut off tho throat ' Of this cautious old Turk of Bulgary. ' --Hawk-Bye. EVERY man likes to bit the nail upon the head. But let a man hit the nail upon the toe--his big toe, particularly-- against a huge rock, and it is a different matter entirely. " You are pretty as a picture," he mut­ tered, gazing into her upturned face, " and it would have been a great deal cheaper for me if I had taken your pict­ ure instead of yourself." MARK TWAIN thinks nothing seemi to please a fly So much cs to be mistaken for a huckleberry. If it can be baked in a cake and palmed off on the unwary as a currant, it invariably dies happy. "Do THESE bells sound an alarm of fire ?" said a stranger tbe other Sunday, as the church bells were calling together the worshipers. " Yes," was the reply, " but the fire is in the next world." Ssys Thomas, " Harry, can you tell How lawyers do, to dress so well ?" Says Harry, You may rely on't. To get a suit, they'll strip a client." SayB Edward, " No; they closer nip him--* They first obtain the suit--then strip him." --Hartford Time#. How MANY members of the American Scientific Society can tell how many spokes there are in a buggy wheel, or the best time to clean cellars, or can plug a leaking water pipe, or fix smoking chimneys?--Detroit Free Press. NATURE doesn't know much. If she had made a man's head out of cork, tee how nicely he could have floated about in water and kept himself from drowning in case of shipwreck.--Chicago Jour­ nal. " WHAT'S the use of all this sacrifice of human life, this bloody butchery of Turks and Russians ?" said a Philadel­ phia Quaker to a Cincinnati hog mer­ chant. " I don't know," replied the lat­ ter mournfully; " pork isn't riz any that I can see." Ax Iowa Justice refused to fine a tnnn charged with the offense of kissing a pretty girl without her consent. " Noth­ ing," he said, " but the dignity of its1of­ fice prevents the oourt from committing the same offense. The temptation to an ordinary person would be irresistible." AN agricultural correspondent writes to correct what he thought to be an er­ roneous statement that recently appeared in this column relative to rows giving buttermilk. We adhere to our original statement. We never saw a cow give anything else but her milk.--Exchange. SHE was a very modest girl, and when the observatory man said, "Take a glance through the telescope, miss, and you can see Venus in all her glory," she frigidly drew back, and replied, " No, thank you, sir; I have no desire to look at any member of my sex who dresses as she is represented to." A PARTY were crjoyinb tbe evening broeze on board a yacht. "The wind has made my mustache taste quite salt," remarked a young man who had been for some time occupied in biting tbe hair that fell over his upper lip. "I know it!" innocently said a pretty girl. And she wondered why all her friends laughed. " People are so childish," she remarked. THERE had been a heavy thunder­ storm, and the parched earth and wilted vegetation drank in the refreshing show­ ers. " I should think the plants would whisper to each other how delicious it was," he exclaimed, enthusiastically. "Yes," she said," all but the onions; they wouldn't be likely to whisper with sucn a breath." '4 ISH der brisoner guilty or not guilty ?" asked a beaming Teutonic Justioe the other day. " Not guilty, your Honor promptly responded the person a dressed. " Den you youst get ouet a go apout your peesiness, my vrend, a ' stop your fooling round here mit your Maying off," indignantly ordered the outraged arm of the law. i;, "ONE extreme leads to another." That is the reason a young mmi who be­ gins by treading on a young lady's fo6t often ends by kissing her lips. AIM), we may add, the same rule applies on the other side, when a girl, who lias wasted hours of time and skeins of chenille eni- broidering on a pair of slippers for Hen­ ry's exquisite feet, soon begins to claw the capillary vegetation out of the top of his head for coming home at 2 a. m. and trying to go to sleep in the coal-scuttle.-- Hawk-Eye. AT 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon a stranger made a purchase at a Woodward avenue drug store, and as soon as he could pocket his change he rushed out of doors, as if in a great hurry. Ten minutes later a man who knew him met him at the City Hall with a face so lonfc that he inquired : " Why, what has hap­ pened now ?" " Bought a cake of soap up here a ways--threw down 5 dollars thought the druggist gave me back seven --hurried out fast as I could--counted it over once more, and found it was 50 cents short of my right change ! Would you go back and tell him.--Free Press.