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I. VAN SLYKE. EMl yssiPuMMisr. McHENRY, ILLINOIS. MMK. ADAM, tlie well-known French journalist, writes from midnight until 4 a. m. Her dress in her study consists of a neglige costome of white silk, with pearls about her neck instead of a oollaret, - and with tiny red kid slippers On her feet. MOUNT VERNON does not pay. The g^oss receipts from all sources for last year were $8,035.18, and the expendi­ tures were over $10,000, leaving a de­ ficit of about $2,0C0. George W. Cliilda came to the rescue with a check for $500. There were 15,907 visitors to the mansion, tad these were taxed $681.65. _______ OLEOMARGARINE WAS the product of the siege of Paris. It was there made for the first time by a Frenchman, named Mege, from the fat of dead animals of all kinds, and sold to the starving populace. Yankee ingenuity has added to its composition other sub- trances and various poisons, and taken •out patents. A SMALL girl of Boston, in a compo­ sition describing different nationalities, wrote: "Chinaman--Color,yellow; hab­ its, eats rats and smokes opium; occupa­ tion, washing and ironing. Negro-- •Color, black; habits, likes liver; occu­ pation, beats carpets. American-- •Color, white; habits, eats beans and fishballs Sunday morning; occupation, builds churches and school-houses." V . IT is the opinion of Mr. Carnegie, Kith all his large experience as an em­ ployer, that "the workingmen of this •country can no more be induced to sanction riot and disorder than can any other class of the community. Isolated cases of violence under strong provoca­ tion may break out upon the surface, but the body underneath is sound to the core, and resolute for the maintainance of order." R IT is suggested by a well-known •culptor, who has the absent-minded­ ness to be always losing his umbrella, that this useful article should be pro­ vided by the city, just as pavements •and sewers are, in which case, he ob­ serves to his friends, the pedestrian on a rainy day would be able to seize an umbrella from a public rack in what­ ever street he might be, and to get rid of it by returning it to another rack as soon as the clouds rolled by. " 'L CAPTAIN JOSEPH BURY, who is now living quietly at Hailev, I. T., is to be ^remembered for his remarkable war record. "When the rebellion broke out lie spent $3,000 of his own money in organizing a regiment in Ohio. He went to the front, fought all through the war, and, when mustered out, had this indorsement placed on his dis­ charge by his commanding officer: "This officer has not been absent from Jhis command a day during the entire 5r„„ •. liar." •' THE curious question has been asked why oaks and elms are especially liable to be struck by lightning. It was declared in 1787 that the elm, chestnut, oak, and pine were the treeB most often struck in America, and in 1860 G. J. Symonds stated that the elm, •oak, ash, and poplar were the most frequently struck in England. A Magdeburg record, covering ten years, reports injuries to 265 trees, 165 being •oaks, 34 Scotch firs, 32 pines, and 20 beeches. It has been suggested that the frequency with which oaks are atruck is due to the presence of iron in the wood. . - THE royal tomb in the cave under | 'the Church of St. Michael, in Munich, in which the mortal remains of King Ludwig II. were deposited, contains at . present twenty-three coffins, including "those of two Bavarian Princesses--one, the daughter of Emperor Charles VIL, who died at 18 years; the other, a daughter of Duke Ferdinand Maria, Who died at 20 years of age. Thus far the body of tha late King is only incased in an oaken coffin, richly and artistically ornamented; in a short time the wooden receptacle will be inclosed in an elabor­ ately wrought metal one, bearing the , name and crown of the happy monarch. s»; , A DAKOTA editor made the following sment in his paper: "Times being ther hard, we are going to take our wife to the home of our mother-in-law next week for a short visit; and we will give our readers a little vacation by not issuing any paper. They won't lose much, for there is little news going just aowi and we print this week an editorial on the tariff which would have ^appeared next week. The only thing we have had to leave out on this ac­ count is Bill Jone's ad about a farm for sale, but that is of no consequence, as he hasn't paid us anything for it yet. Brethren, white paper is too blamed dear to fool it away when our mother- in-law will keep us a week for noth­ ing." THE British Medical Journal says that Prof. N. J. Bystroff has examined *7,578 boys and girls in the St. Peters­ burg schools during the last five years, and found headache in 868, that is, 11.6 per cent. He states that the percentage of headache increases almost in a direct progression with the age of the children, as well $3 with the number of hours Occupied by them for mental labor; thus, while headache occurred in only 4S per cent, of the children aged 8, it at­ tacked from 28 to 40 per cent of the pupils aged from 14 to 18. The author argues that an essential cause of obsti­ nate headache in school children is the excessive mental strain enforced by the present educational program, which leaves out of consideration the pecu­ liarities of the child's nature and the elementary principles of scientific hy­ giene. The overstrain brings about an Increased irritability of the brain, and consecutive disturbances in the cerebral circulation. Prof. Bystroff emphatically insists upon the imperative necessity of permanently admitting medical men to conferences of school boards. MILT TROTTTXAN, who had his hand crushed some time ago while coupling cars at Meadv^lle, Pa., soon after the accident, which necessitated the am­ putation of his hand, complained of his lost hand paining him, and seeming to be in a cramped condition. He said that his thumb was closed in the palm of his hand and his fingers were clutched tightly to it. L. M. Williams and others, prompted by curiosity, se­ cured the assistance of the German employed by Dr. Griswould, who had buried the hand, and disinterred it. They found it exactly in the condition described by Troutman, and what is more strange and marvelous, when they opened the fingers of the hand, Trout- man, who was not aware of their actions, experienced plainly the sensa­ tion, and was relieved of the pain he suffered.--Cleveland Plain Dealer. A CITIZEN of Valdosta, Ga., having read the current story of a recent cap­ ture of a deer by a hook and line, writes to an Atlanta paper of an ad­ venture with which he met several years ago. Ho was fishing in one of the mudholes near that place one after­ noon and had poor success. Finally, as he was about to go home in disgust, he was startled by the sudden appear­ ance of a three-foot snorting alligator, which swam rapidly in the fisherman's direction, and seemed bent on making a meal of him. The piscatorial artist soon regained his self-possession, and with an easy jerk of his fishing rod sent the hook with its dainty load within a few inches of the saurian's mouth. The reptile seized the hook and swal­ lowed it. The lone fisherman then gave a quick jerk with the rod and the alligator was fast. Thirty minutes after this the man returned home, with the three-foot alligator and an exultant smile. LORD SELBORKE, ex-Lord Chancellor of England, in a recent address "to the Wordsworth society in London, said that he spoke no more and no less than the truth when he said that acquain­ tance with the works of Wordsworth had been to him as great a power in the education of mind and character, beneath the Bible, as any works which he knew. The Bible first, certainly. He thought it would be so, probably, to all who gave it a chance. He put no book in competition with the Bible, but after the Bible he traced more dis­ tinctly, with less hesitation and doubt, to Wordsworth than to any other influ­ ence whatever he might recognize as good in the formation of liis own mind and character. He did not mean to say for that reason that Words­ worth' was necessarily the„ great­ est of all the writers whom he had known and from whom he had learned. He would hesitate to say that Wordsworth -was greater than Plato, and he should not hesitate to say if one must make comparisons, that he was not altogether so great as Shakespeare. Nevertheless, as an individual man, he had learned more from Wordsworth than even from those writers." BOBERT E. LEE, son of the famous Confederate General, still lives on a spacious farm, inherited, through his mother, from George Washington Parke Custis, to which ho retired im­ mediately after the surrender at Ap­ pomattox. It is at Kokonocke, five miles from West Point, in King William County, Virginia. His cottage home stands on a great bend of the Pamunky, about to join the York Biver; it is a snug bachelor retreat, and is furnished with many articles formerly at-Mount Vernon. Among these are some hand­ some old-fashioned chairs, curious can­ dlesticks. porcelain, and silverware. The cottage is five miles from any habitation. He began work on it with the assistance of only a negro servant who had been with him in the field. Bobert Lee was a lad when his father fought the battle of Gettysburg, being in the ranks of an artillery company. He has done much to improve the land, and is kept very busy looking after it. He has various mementos of his father in the house, which are preserved with filial care. A fine portrait of the Gen­ eral hangs in the dining-room, also the sword which was not surrendered to Grant when Lee gave up the contest. Young Bobert's tastes are entirely of a rural kind, and his world centers in the broad acres of his inheritance. v," -;v A Mean Trick. An Episcopalian minister in a Da­ kota town was speaking of a certain young man living in the place. "No," said the divine, "I don't like him; he is a low, worthless fellow, and I don't want anything to do with him under any cij'cunistanoes." "My dear," interposed his wife, "it isn't right to talk that way about any one. The boy is young yet and way reform." "No, he never will." "But you mustn't be so severe on him--if you would try you might possi­ bly help him to Le something better." "I shall never try. If he should come into my church I would consider it my duty to order him out." "Don't talk that way! What has he done to causo you to have such un­ christian feelings against him ?" "What lias he done? Well, he's done enough. He's got a trick of mak­ ing a noise like two dogs fighting, and for the last two Sabbaths he's got under one, of the church windows and stam­ peded the whole congregation. I tell you it would piake you have unchristian feelings to look up from a long prayer and see your congregation falling over one another in getting out the door, and hear the leading deacon shouting that he'll bet $2 on either dog!"-- teliine' Bell. 4 SOME Indians use scalping-knives of tortoise-shell, probably "on account of the old fable in wliich the tortoise was alleged to have got aw a}' with the hare. "THERE is no good substitute for wisdom," says Josh Billings, "bjit pp, lence is the best yet discovered." i . . . . <* £ f A ' • THE CrCLOfflE. Bqvtre ffefcbti XMacoumoth on the PtCnllur In»tltutioBH of the Wild Wast. ' {Squire Bcbba, la Chicago Ledger.] Now, I hope nono of my dearly- beloved and long-suffering readers will misconstrue the meaning of the above somewhat startling and airy subject. Do not picture me as reposing upon the downy lap of a meek and gentle cy­ clone, for I never so repose. Oh, no; I wouldn't think of doing such a thing. I always repose upon some other lap. Do not imagine that I have suc­ ceeded in lassoing a wild, frisky, howl­ ing cyclone, and broken it to work in harness, either single or double, or to ride bareback. A cowboy might do this, but I am not a cowboy. Not that I am cowardly, for I have a vague suspicion (I believe I have left it in my other vest-pocket, though) that there is a vast amount of bravery se­ creted somewhere kbout my physical being that only requires a suitable oc­ casion to call it forth in all its majestic dignity! but the suitable occasion has not yet made its appearance. I believe it is waiting to take root in the verdant Bod above my grave, where it will grow up, blossom, and send its fragrance galloping about upon the molecules of ether, heralding to the de­ lighted public what I might have been had the world's attention been directed to my most excellent characteristics and capabilities. No, I have never ridden a cyclone In fact, I have never had a desire to ride one. I am naturally timid about such matters. I have always been noted as a very careful man. It was that great and good man, Mark Twain, I believe, who said, "Discretion is the better part of valor." Now, I like that. Its inspiration prevents me from acting rashly on many occasions. This is one of them. I never expect to ride a cyclone. Iam constitutionally opposed to it. I wouldn't tide one; no, not even if my mother-in-law were to command me, and emphasize her remarks with a broom-handle. Very little is known about the cy­ clone. When making a neighborly call it never remains long enough to enable us to make its acquaintance. Its origin is enveloped in a black pall of mystery, too. Zoology gives it no place among its skeletons; we look for it in vain in the herbarium, and we know from experience that it is too in­ dustrious for a fossil. It is believed by many that it has no origin, but that it lurks in dark caves, gloomy hollows, dense forests, and other convenient hiding-places, whenoe it can pounce out unawares upon its un­ suspecting victim. There is a tradition that it is a unison of all the unsavory spirits cast out of those hogs, spoken of in some volume (I have forgotten the name of the book) on ancient history, bv a renowned con­ jurer (I can't recall his nanio just now) who performed many wondbrful tricks in days of old. I suppose the cyclone could relate a very interesting autobiography if properly interviewed; but no reporter lias ever yet been found who had the "gall" to stand up in the august pres­ ence of a cyclone and propound inter­ rogatories. The cyclone is very industrious. It never jjets tired. I don't remember that I ever saw one in the shade, calmly resting. It is very strong, and can perform some wonderful feats. I saw one throw a brick house through a high, stone wall without making a hole in the wall or dislocating a brick in the house. (Now, look here, if you call me liar again I'll stop right here and not tell you another word about the cyclone. Things have come to a pretty pass, in­ deed, when an honest man must call into requisition the services of a notary public whenever he wishes to make a statement.) On another occasion I saw a cyclone turn a well wrong side out as neatly as a miller would turn a meal-sack. This is a fact, because I Was there and wit­ nessed the feat. I remember that I was on the outside of that well when the operation began, but when it was finished I was on the inside. I knew of another well that a cyclone turned upside down without removing a stone in the wall, and left it stand liko a tower above the ground. It soon filled itself with water. A town has sprung up around it, and it is now used as the stand-pipe for the city water-works. I could tell you of many other true, incidents, but I am very proud of my veracity, and don't want it tainted by suspicion. The cyclone is a great dancer. In fact it is always dancing. Its favorite dance is the waltz. It is not particular about its partners for it will waltz with anything, from a white-oak to a speck­ led cow, or from a stone mansion to a pretty girl. It is not always as polite as the rules of etiquette demand, for it never waits for the consent of its part­ ner. I never saw any one that wanted to waltz a second time with a cyclone. The Horrors of Mormondom. Kate Field has shocked some of her eastern audiences with her plain talk on the Mormon question, and some have complained of her vulgarity. One of the most intelligent and refined ladies in Salt Lake spoke of this to me, and said the charges against Miss Field were no doubt true, but the fault was not with the lecturer. It was impossible to talk about the Mormon question with intelligence and at the same time use language common to polite society. It was not a nice subject when fully un­ derstood, and nice terms would never describe it. No one had ever given more careful study to the question than Miss Field, and no one outside of those living in Salt Lake was better able to speak with intelligence. Miss Field had -spent six months in the city, study­ ing the question in all its bearings. She had gained access to the homes of Mor­ mon women, and learned the truth, as only a woman of superior intelligence can learn from those of her sex who are greatly her inferiors. No Gentile in Utah will be found guilty of charging Miss Field with exaggeration in her reports of the immorality of the Mor­ mon church. They say this is impos­ sible, for they look upon Mormonism as simply a religion of lust, in which the women are held by superstition and the most binding oaths. It is the teaching of the church that woman's salvation depends upon her lord and master, her husband. The Mormon Heaven has no place, not even a dark corner, for spinsters, and only she who has been blessed by motherhood can enter into the full joys of that future state. In passing through the endow­ ment house, according to the exposures made by a Mormon woman, every con­ vert swears away her life a dozen times, and invites the most terrible of deaths if she ever proves unfaithful to these vows. Even the woman of intelligence would hesitate to break away from such * . bonds after once taken, if she be at the# same time possessed of • conscience. But there is yet a stronger bond, it is said, and that is the power of the church, and the knowledge that it will not be withheld in any kind of persecu­ tion against proselytes.--Chicagolnter- Ocean. A Mystery Which Excited a Households Viewed from a gastronomical stand­ point the Chinaman is most extraordi­ nary. When he is at home in the slums of Chinatown, he can subsist on the most common and cheapest of food and thrive upon it, but when he is working for whites and his employer's money pays for nutriment, he is an entirely changed individual. A gentleman re­ siding in the western part of the city had in his employ two Chinese servants, one. Jim, a middle-aged individual, who attended to the cooking for the family, while the other, Joe, attended to house­ hold duties generally. One day a young lady member of the household arose somewhat earlier than usual, and de­ scending from the upper part of the mansion had her nostrils regaled bv a most fragrant aroma coming from the kitchen. She slipped down-stairs, and opening the door of the kitchen oven, saw a pan of splendid biscuits. Return­ ing to her room she communicated to her sisters that Jim hail prepared a pan of nice biscuits for breakfast. When the bell summoned the inmates of the house to the morning meal the early riser was asked by her sister, "Why, where are those beautiful biscuits?" "I'm sure I don't know, bnt suppose Jim will bring them in presently," she replied. Jim came in shortly and laid on the table the bread-basket filled with slices of stale bread, and as he turned to go away he was asked, "Jim, where are the biscuits ?" "What you talkee biskey? No shabee biskev." "Why, Jim, how can you say that?" queried the young lady who had made the early morning discovery. "What have you done with those biscuits I saw in the oven a little while ago?" "You too muchee talkee. You no hap see biskey," said the domestic in a surly tone, as he moved away, but re­ turning in a moment said, "Biskey makee you heap welly sick. Blead heap more good for you." There was disappointment at the breakfast table and the meal was par­ taken of in silence and without hot, toothsome, savory biscuits. An investigation was afterward insti­ tuted by the head of the house for the purpose of ascertaining what had be­ come of the pan of biscuits, but all to no avail, as Jim denied all allegations, and it was not until several days had elapsed when little Joe explained the mystery. From him it was ascertained that Jim had been out, and on his re­ turn shortly after midnight, brought with him four friends and quartered them in the house until morning, when he arose, prepared them a breakfast of lamb chops, ham and eggs, biscuits and tea, and after they had partaken of this he provided them with whisky and cigars taken from his employer's private closet. Jim was notified that his serv­ ices were no longer required.--San Francisco Call. _ Club Life fer Women, - Across the water, especially in Lon­ don, clubs for women are more numer­ ous and flourishing than in this coun­ try. The first club exclusively for ladies in London was started in 1876. It was the work of a clergyman's widow, who perceived that women, like men, would be glad of a permanent address, an ac cessible stopping place where they could command refreshments and the advantages of a temporary dwelling in a central part of the town, when re­ quired by business or pleasure. Its members now number nearly two hun­ dred, including the Countesses Bective and Guilford and the Marchioness of Abergavenny. The entrance fee is two guineas, and the annual subscription the same, with the privilege of intro­ ducing lady members of the family at one guinea. The Somerville Club is more for working women. There is no entrance fee and the annual subscription is 5 shillings. Debates, lectures, and en­ tertainments are held once a week on all .subjects except theology, which is strictly forbidden. This club was opened in 1878, and has proved inno­ cently popular. The Alexandra is an exclusive club, started in 1885, from which men, even as guests, are rigorously excluded. The standard of eligibility is that which would secure admission to her Majesty's drawin-rooms. It started with 200 members and now numbers 500. An entrance fee of two guineas and an an­ nual subscription of the same for towns­ people and £1 10s. for country mem­ bers furnishes the fund on which it is kept up. The Alexandra and Victoria Clubs furnish bedroom accommodation for ladies who' wish to dress for the evening or make a longer stay. The Albermarle, which takes its name from the street on which it is situated, is limited to 600 members, one-half of each sex. Five guineas is the annual subscription. Gentlemen must be 21 years of age and ladies 18 before they can be admitted. It has been established about ten years on its present footing. Dogs and gratuitieo to servants are prohibited, and smoking privileges are confined strictly to cer­ tain specified rooms.--Boston Globe. Sciatica Cured by Massage. Prof. Max Schuler, of Berlin, is convinced of the superiority of mas­ sages over other measures employed in the treatment of sciatica, and relates his experience of fifteen cases--all in males, and except in one or two in­ stances (which were rheumatic) due to exposure to cold. Most of the cases were dealt with from the first by mas­ sage ; but in a few instances electricity, vapor baths, etc., had been fruitlessly employed prior to coining under liis care. v ; The modus operandi is as follows: The patient lies on the unaffected side, with knees and hips slightly flexed. The course of the sciatic nerve is rubbed from below upward, partly with both thumbs, partly with the ball of the little finger or thumb; sometimes struck with the closed fist, sometimes the muscular niass - over the nerve pressed and kneaded with both hands. The pain evoked by these manipula­ tions soon passes away, and after a short time becomes less and less at each sitting. The neuralgic pains very soon abate, diminishing after a severe and painful massage, then recurring with less severity, and gradually dis­ appearing entirely. The power of walk­ ing improves after each sitting.-r-T/ie Lancet. "YOUR intended is hideous," says a frank French friend. "True," savs the fiancee, "but if you only'knew how they notice me when he's with mel* A Woman's Views of Corsets. "Oh, dear! I don't know what is the matter with me. I am so tired all the time I can't stand anything; I can't walk three blocks. I have neuralgia every little while. I'm good for noth­ ing and yet there seems to be no dis­ ease about me. I wish you'd tell me what ails me." The speaker was a beautiful girl about 19 years old. Nature had in­ tended her for a magnificent specimen of womanhood. She was not less than five feet seven inches in height, but with shoulders and hips broad in pro­ portion ; she measured twenty - .two inches around the waist. Of course, she asserted that she did not dress tight; but when told that in order to have good health she must leave off her corset she rebelled. "Why, how would I look without a corset? she exclaimed. "I'd be a per­ fect fright." What reply was there to be made to sb convincing a statement? But to the light of science her whole body was illuminated, and to the un­ derstanding vision she was a perfect fright as it was. I never see such a figure that I am not reminded of Hiram Power's query in regard to a fashion- ablv-attired lady, "I wonder where she puts her liver?" It is easy enough to prove that the breathing capacity is actually lessened by the corset, even when not worn tight. Anyone who wishes to try the experiment can sit down and begin to draw in the deepest breath possible. When the limit of the corset is reached, unclasp it, and see how widely its clasps can be separated by the action of the lungs alone. Then if you bear in mind that these muscles have been weakened by non-use, and that with full liberty they would increase in strength, you will be able to imagine how much the corset has lessened the vital capacity. I saw a fine illustration of this a few days since. I called upon a lady whose literary labors are won­ derful. She received me in a neat but loose dress, in which every organ of the body had full play. She rejoiced in her perfect physical freedom., She ran up and down stairs with the lightness of a child, and felt no palpitation of the heart or oppression of lungs. Later in the day she dressed to go out upon the street with me and put on a corset, "I do it in deference to the opinions of my friends," she explained. "They .complain if I outrage their sense of propriety by appearing without one, but I do penance all the time I wear it." We started off at our usual brisk pace, but in a very little while she said to me, "I can't walk so fast When I have a corset on. I can't breathe, you see." And so, to accommodate her diminished powers of breathing, we slackened our pace, and soon she commenced* to look weary, her cheery laugh became less frequent, her face began > to wear an anxious look, her vital capacity was lessened, and her whole system felt the effects of it. "I could accomplish nothing at all," she said, "if I were compelled to wear a corset at my work." I asked a young lady to sing for me the other day. with some hesitation and blushes site excused herself, sav­ ing, "lleally I shall be obliged to de­ cline ; the fact is I'm just breaking in a new corset, and it hurts me so I can hardly live." Why do you wear it then?" Oh, I'd look so without a cor set." To me she would look far better, for I could see that her health was failing, her cheeks paling, her nerves starving for the vital breath of God's pure air, which the corset was shutting out of her lungs. "We girls are always glad to undo our corsets and draw a loug breath at night," said one frank girl to me. "We don't wear them tight, we can put our hands up under them always, but it does seem so good to get them off and breath just as big as you can."--Dr. Mary Allen. Recollections of Carlyle. One day the talk fell upon his books. "Poor old Sartor!" he said. "It's book in which I take little satisfaction; really a book worth very little as a work of art, a fragmentary, disjointed, vehement production. It was written when I was livin' at Craigenputtock, one o' the solitariest places on the face o' the earth; a wild moorland place where one might labor without inter­ ruption and be not altogether without peace such as London cannot give. We were quite alone and there is much that is beautiful and precious in them as 1 look back on those days." He went on to tell of the difficulties he had in get­ ting the book published, of which an account has since been given in his life, and which the lack of favor with whieli it was at first received, and then he said: "But it's been so with all my books. I've had little satisfaction or encouragement in the doin' of them, and the most satisfaction I can get out of them now is the sense of liavin' shouldered a heavy burden o' work, an' not flinched under it. I've had but one thing to say from beginnin' to end o' them, and that was, that there's no other reliance for this world or any other but just the truth, and that if men did not want to be damned to all eternity, they had best give up lyin' and all kinds o' falsehood; that tiie w orld was so far gone already through lyih' and that there's no hope for it save just so far as men find out and believe the truth and match their lives to it But on the w hole the world has gone on lvin'worse than ever! [A laugh J. It's not a very pleasing retrospect--these books o' mine--of a long life; a beg- gardly account of empty boxes." At the end of the note-book that con­ tains the greater part of the narrative entitled "Jane Welsh Carlyle" is a loose sheet originally wafered on to the last page of the book. The first paragraph on this sheet is the last in Mr. Froude's volumes--a most tender and affecting passage. Two unimportant paragraphs follow, and then comes these words, the motive for the omission of which is plain. No indication is given in the printed text of their omission: "I still mainly mean to burn this book before my own departure, but feel thsit I sliail always have a kind of grudgo to do it, and an indolent excuse, 'Not yet; wait, any day that, can be done!' and that it is possible the thing my be left behind'tne, legible to the in- ter(est)ed survivors--friends only, I w ill hope, and with worthy curiosity, not unworfliy! "In which event,, I solemnly forbid them, each and all, to pitbli-h this bit of writing as it stands here; and warn them that without fit editing no pwrt of it should be printed (nor so far as I cati order shall ever be); and that the 'fit editing* of perhaps nine-tenths of it will, after I am gone, have become impossi­ ble. T. C. (Sat'y, 28 July, 1885.)" It is difficult to conceive of a more sacred injunction than this. It has been violated in every detail.--Charles icit Korton, in Jh'ihceton Review. ITEMS OF MMTIAM A hah "born at sea belongs to the nation to which the ship on which he is born belongs. THE mignonette now commonly known as the "Frenchman's Darling" was first so called by Cowper, who uses the expression in Ids "Winter Evening." AT the breaking out of thp Revolu­ tion all of the thirteen colonies traf­ ficked in and held slaves, and it was not until the census of 1860 that it was found no Blaves whatever were held in the States North of Mason and Dixon's line. The first State to decree the abolition of slavery was Vermont in 1777, before the formation of the Union. Pennsylvania provided for the gradual emancipation of her slaves in 1780, New York in 1799, and New Jersey in 1804. THE common phrase, "There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip," had a mythical origin. The helmsman of the ship Argo, Aucieas, was told by a seer that he would never taste the wine of his own vineyards. A bottle of the wine being placed before him, a messenger was sent for the seer who was to per­ ceive the falsity of his prophecy. Be­ fore the messenger returned a wild boar entered the vineyard, and Aucjeas, while trying to drive him out, was mortally wounded and died soon after­ ward, without tasting his wine. THE term "dollar" from the German thaler" was applied to authorized money issued by the Government May 10, 1775. The coinage of the United States is Spanish in origin and Dutch in name. The paper issued in 1775, was to be redeemed in "Spanish milled dollars" which contained about 385.72 grains of fine silver and 31.75 grains of alloy. June 3, of the same year, Con­ gress tried to borrow an amount stated in "pounds." It would satisfy many if some one who has looked into the mat­ ter would tell us why the English coin­ age was dropped by the colonies, and how a Spanish coin came to be known by the Dutch form of a German name. The German "thaler" (the word is pro­ nounced "taaler" in that language) coined in 1500, was worth two-thirds of a Spanish dollar. The phrase, "The word's worth a dollar," has reference to the Spanish coin, according to Scott. THE Legion of Honor is an order of merit instituted by Napoleon in 1802, as a national reward for services of a distinguished character. It was given for military and civil services alike, those w ho were distinguished in litera­ ture, science, scientific discoveries, and commercial pursuits being equally eligible for the decoration with the soldier and sailor. The order consists of five classes--grand crosses, grand officers, commanders, officers, and chevaliers of whom there may be any number. Although established by Na poleon when he filled the office of First Consul, it was kept on the restoration of the monarhv, and had suffered little material change during the revolutions which called Louis Phillippe to power and drove him into exile and those which raised Napoleon III. to the sum­ mit of his greatness. The recipient of the cross of the Legion of Honor is en­ titled to a small annual pension, which is now fixed at 400 francs. The grand cross was sent by Napoleon ILL to the Prince of Wales on the occasion of his marriage. THE currency issued by national banks is sccured by registered bonds of the United States deposited with the Treasurer of the United States. Should the market value of these deposited bonds fall below the amount of circula­ tion issued for the same the Comp troller of Currency is authorized to de­ mand additional security in United States bonds or in money to the amount of such depreciation. Banks are furn­ ished with the amount of national bank notes they are authorized to circulate. These notes are printed by the Govern ment, and over issues are thus provided against. When a national bank fails to redeem its circulating notes, the holders may have them redeemed by presenta­ tion at the United States' Treasury. The full value of the depositor's claim is not always realized by the failure of national banks, but their loss is smaller than it would otherwise be. The loss of creditors of national banks from 1863 to 1882 amounted to about $400,000 per annum. The average capital for this time was $450,000,000 and the annual deposits amounted to $800,000,000. London a Sad City. To American eyes London is a very sad city; a far sadder city than Paris; and the struggle for existence among the poor seems harder and more des­ perate. But perhaps even more de­ plorable and painful than this physical poverty is the moral poverty which per­ mits the cringing servility to be seen among those who are poor but not re­ spectable. Below a certain level--and there are thousands and thousands be­ low this level--it is hard to detect any manly self-respect or any trace of shame at self-abasement. This servility is encouraged and rewarded by the pat­ ronizing air of many of those in a higher walk of life, most of whom ought to know better. An American in En­ gland is often shocked at the harsh tone in which servants are ordered about. Of course, this is not to be noticed often in households of those who are truly gentlemen; it is less in­ frequent from upstarts. Put a beggar on horseback, and he will swear at his groom. I heard of au old family butler complaining of the disadvantages of serving a "shoddy" millionaire. "Those sort of people," he said, "don't never treat their servants properly; they can't afford to do it; there ain't margin enough." The English gentleman is kindly and friendly, but he is born in his caste, and he is as conscious of it as any Brah­ min, and he acts according to its code; and he feels toward a servant not at all as a Frenchman or an American feels who has been brought up in a land of equality. I am not sure but that this caste is a strong factor in the keeping open of the breach between the Englishman and tho American--in BO far, at least, as it is open; and that the gnlf between the two nationalities is very deep and not wide would be denied by no one who had known them both. We Americans may say of the English what the Scotch engineer of the Cunarder said of the captain, "He's my friend, but I dinna like him."--Cor­ respondence Boston Advertiser. t FORUM says: "Human suffering is to a large extent a continuous chain through the hereditary transmission of qualities, Mid their perpetuation by education-- criminals bringing forth and educating young criminals, sick bringing forth other sick, worthless and demoralized bringing forth other worthless and de­ moralized, and teaching them vicious practices." THE man who fell out of his bunk on board ship explained that his black eye was a berth-mark. ILLINOIS STATE NEW&! --Tfce Jacksonville salt well is feet deep. * - A vein of coal seven feet (hick, of. quality, was struck at Mount Veraott, ; depth of 852 feet, -William Beed, a farmer near was thrown from his wagon and killed, his neck being broken. -The village of Carmi, the county I of White County, suffered greatly destructive conflagration last week. --Two men, named Thomas Stahl Carl D<Jpr, were fatally injured by falliij§ stone inthe coal mines near Centralis -On a farm near Moweaqua a was fatally injured by two young brought from the Rocky Mountains pets. --Edward Blake, the East St Loofa sa ,̂ loon-keeper who shot dead John Yarns- worth three weeks ago, took poisan and died. -For the eighteenth time in seventeen years, the planing-mill of J. K. Bussell Jk Co., Fulton street, Chicago, was gutted hjf ' flames. • --Mrs. John Hansen, seventeen years age and a bride four months ago, lriflri! herself at Kochelle with poison. Her Wed- ded life was nnhappy. --At Decatur, Miss Rosa Hankins, j§^ popular young woman, who is a fine mod' ~ cian and well educated, was declaredT in Judge Greer's court. --Rev. J. Janssen, for some years Ad­ minister of the Diocese of Alton, has been made Bishop of the new Reman Catholie Diocese of Belleville. --Mrs. Claude Grimes, of Pittsfleld, is likely to lose her reason from having acci­ dentally dropped her infant child into m deep well, where she had gone for a drink. --Miss Josie Losart, of Clinton, let » lighted lamp fall from her grasn, causing it to explode. The young lady's clothes caught fire and sie was fatally burned. --Surveyors, presumably in the employ of the Minnesota and Northwestern Road, are engaged in locating a line in Jo Daviess County, westward from a point near Hone- , ville. --Galva young people behave so badly in church that special police have been ap­ pointed by the authorities to preserve order there, one policeman being detailed ateaah church. --Arthur E. Kenny, Superintendent of the Decatur Street-car Company, died of acute neuralgia at the age of thirty-foer years. Mr. Kenny had $18,000 insuranoe on his life. --Frank Wilson and John Posten, two colored men, had a quarrel near Jackson­ ville. Wilson was pursued by his antago­ nist with a knife, when he turned and shot Posten dead. --Joseph Kerr, having closed his MQi term at the Joliet Penitentiary, was ooiasd at the door by a deputy sheriff from Peters­ burg. Kerr is wanted in eighteen countUa of Illinois for stealing horses. --Judge Anthony, of Chicago, has sen­ tenced to three years in the penitentiary a handsome young Scotchman, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, who has bti* robbing boarding houses ul Chicago. --A farmer near Quincy i telligent horse. For years j has been in tho habit of going to towhl on Saturdays, and this fact the nnimal seems to have learned, for as regular as that day comes around he pretends to be lame, and in that manner escapes the task of drawing the buggy to and from the city. On other days there is not a healthier ani­ mal. --Governor Oglesby has commissioned Major General John M. Palmer, ex-Gov­ ernor of Illinois, delegate to represent Il­ linois in the permanent organization for the promotion of a national celebration of the centennial anniversary of the framing of the Constitution of the United States, in pursuance of the resolution adopted by the Governors and representatives of the thirteen colonial States at Carpenter'# Hall, Philadelphia, on Sept 17, 1886. --Hon. James L. Dryden, of Monmouth*' was severely injured by the cars. He was attempting to cross the railroad track in front of a train. He was struck by the «»r- gine and thrown about twenty feet He received severe cuts in the head, back, sad abdomen. He was wounded at Chicamau- ga, losing the use of his left arm; was Cir­ cuit Clerk of Warren County twelve yeara; was Mayor of Monmouth twice; and was United States Attorney for Montana ha 1880, having been appointed by Hayes.. ' EchoM from th« Great StrtN. I From the Chicago Journal. | The concern which filled the relatives of many of the soldiers who performed ser­ vice at Packingtown was natural, and, at times, ludicrous. Many of the younger soldiers received the announcement to pre­ pare for the campaign after they bad re­ ported at their places of business, down­ town, and had no opportunity to see their friends before departing for the front. The reputation which the people of Pack­ ingtown bore in the popular mind did not serve to allay the natural fear of fathers and mothers that the troops might have bloody encounters. In the General's quarters was a telephone, which was in­ cessantly ringing. Private Blank or Cor­ poral Somebody was being inquired for solicitously. The officers of the General's staff could not possibly convey the messages to the 800 men on duty, bnt they main­ tained great patience in answering the sum­ mons. Private Henry Blank's father rang up the telephone about 10 o'clock in the forenoon. "I want to talk to Harry Blank?" "What company?" "Company B of the First Regiment." He is on duty," is the response of a staff officer at the 'phone. This was the almost invariable reply. "On duty! Where?" "Oh, a mile or a mile and a half from here." "Is there any trouble?" "Jio; everything quiet." ""Well, when can I speak to him?" "He will probably return at 7:30 to-night." Shortly after y o'clock the same inquiry of the morning is re­ peated. By this time "taps" have sounded, and the young soldier is somewhere aounv his comrades wrapped in his blanket. "I want to talk to Hairy Blank." "Can't. 'Taps' have sounded and the lights are all oat. "But where is Harry?" is the eager quety. "He's in bed," is the brief response. "Are you sure he is in bed?" "Why, certainly, or he would have been re­ ported as a deserter before now, at 4 tattoo* roll-call." "Well, if be is m bed, it is all right," was the satisfied reply irom the other end. of the 'phone as* the parent moved a/way in the knowledge that his key was under cover, and safe tor that night at least. All this not only illustrated iu it* way the natural and deep solicitude for those who may be earrviug arms for their ll State or country, but it also illustrated thai it will never do to have a* telephone to field which can be reached by the 'MaadiN^' at home who desi^;l^l^^v!thar |«te «t§0 ' those at the front.