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||gc!»rnrg|?laiHt!caIct J. VASJ tLYKE, Editor and Pufctisk*, ffOHBNRT, I - • U.LTUOIS m - •thinks*'#a<f evolved naught but do- j you knew her. sffeir. I slept on a seat there that' character?" Is she ,a lady of .good THE OLD STONE CHIMNEY. BY Jf&RT HKL.LF. POOCK. night, as did a number of others, ancl for four other nights following. For food--I bogged for it. The servant ! girls were kind to me. One of them was a cousin of Maggie," the m:iid of all work at my whilom hoarding I house. She recognized nie and asked I what had happened. I told her my story, and she said Maggie would pay ;mJSf,dBredbacktfa TiI,Bg* q^tet^di her a visit in the evening toappjr days I stwa "Where lp childhood'* played; Down the little-shady *treet, » WIH'IO the pfuktoppe* myrtles meet, v ' ̂*i1. ToCn<l tlie rainbow's end X oft l ave strayed; Vkw a bag of sold, thoy sulci would hang just o'er ••-. my bend. ' . ' And 1 might clnimtit, as my own. •*;. It 1 renct pel tlie bright l>ow'« end-- f Ah, I tried with many a fi iond, ' V' * But ere wc ranched .tlie hill the arch WUJOn®. 1 -S.J!' ' • 7.. £t to-oay Ilooked around. ard the brook's famlli ir gpnnd,' ' But i be little browu thatel ed oottagB SO0 « gone; T.' a;y oyos t'bsre TttFheJ such teftra ; . As 1 hn<inot >-hed foi vears, - W 'iVlira 1 i#w ilia old «stone chimney tMW alone! „ "ttfc, that ol'l utono chimney (here', how twjet * ' memories lomnl it ihrong; ~ * About its broad henrth idde* vr« used to Bit, Mother with her soft durk hair, Jluddy boy-find gir s »> ftiir, Au<i in the corner dear old grandma sat and . , , knit. our father, always kind, delved from out H' ; liis well-stored in nil ^ frecious jewels for his children's good or StMUI. Ve would fing some sweet old song, s. v jv As the hours wguld glide itlcne, , . t^Sours t hat brought awoet breaths of joy, noar ' : • vlifted ]>uiu ! lint to-d«y I looked around, Benrd the'hrook's familar sonnd, •> Hut the little brown thatched cottacenow la got: e; To my eves the-* rushed such tears As 1 had not fched for years, . When 1 saw the old elone chimney there ' oloce! ; ft&*. the cbimncy stand* alone guarding ten­ derly ttie spot ' Where once was laughter sweet and prayers «t:d home. And its i-badow seems to fall. Cicntly o'< r two gravestones tall. Of the fat her ami \ he mother •» Uo are gone; And the boys and girls are grown--some are treading life alone. Jtad eanoe have little children nt their knee, -iJut-'wDeuce come those blinding tear*? Oh, tho-e,changing. fleeting years,_ *®key huve scarred that old stone chimney gray --tuid me! •tat to-do y 1 looked around. Beard the brook's familiar sound. iJut the little brown tVmtci-ed cottage now is. gone. "May To my eves there rushed such tears As I. had not shed for years Wh-«i I saw the old stone., chimney alone! --New crleans Picayune. there A LEAF FROM MY LIFE. There is an old saying that "one- Ikalf of the world never knows how tlie other half lives" and. judging from my own experienco, I am satis- •ed^the saving is a true one. I was born and reared on a farm, growing tip tough and strong. But I did not like farm life, and often told my par- «Ht6 that I wanted to go to the city and try my fortune there. I Uild my lather that he had worked all his life and had lived close, and now he had just about what he started with in the way of wealth. He admitted the truth of the assertion, and said I could go. So at the age of 20 ye:irs he gave me ¥20 and his blessing, to­ gether with a suit of new clothes, ajid I started for New York City, full •f hope and pluck. * "Rememlier, Tom," he said to me is he wrung my hand at the little station up in Herkimer County, "you can always tind a welcome and a home f$hder the old roof." I landed in New York the same- *fey and afonce began a huril for a situation. I had to pay $f» a week for board, and I thought it an awful charge. At the end of two weeks my money was gone and no situation in sight. 1 was almost in despair, as I would not write home for help. I had too much pride for that. But what jshould I do at the end of the third "week if I got no work? I had met hundreds of tramps in my rambles give'you aline. About the city: I had seen scores^of ,We'll marry within a week. Here are toonest men like myself, looking for j na!nes ()f several people on whom some or them | yOU m;iy cajj an(j inqUire as ^ "sprawl's," i IIJV •'I want to see her," sail ft I call here this evening;?" . "Yes," she0 replied, anfl I, went away to wait for the going down of the sun. It went down at last, and I did, too, into the basement of the house where lived Maggie's cousin. "Why, Mr. Jones," cried Maggie on seeing me. "I am so glad to see you. I have a letter for you. It came three dav* ago, and I put it in my pocket. Mrs. Crano is tliiit moan she'd have opened it had she gotten hold of it. Here it is," and she gave me a letter addressed to nie at my late boarding-house in a dclieate female handwriting. "I am very jnueh obliged to you,,! Maggie," I said as I received it. "I expected a letter. If any more come for me please keep them for me." ~ I ^1 will." she said. "I am sorry] you have found no work yet. Times j are hard now and a good many people are looking for work. Take this and maybe your luck will change," and she. put a dollar into my hand as she spoke. » . • 'Ah!. I thank you, ever so much, Maggie,"I said." "My luck will change after awhile;" and I went away to read my letter under a gas lamp. I tore it open, and read: DEAR MR. JONES:--Your letter in reply to my advertisem»nt for a husband camo umonjr a score of others. I am tempted by ' the tenor of it to write and ask you" to come up and see me at tho number written on the enclosed slip. Ask for MART. That was all. A littte slip of white paper inclosed had the name and number of an up-town street and house--nothing more. It was still early in the evening, and I made up my mind to call at once. I went into a barber shop, had my hair combed, shoes blacked, clothes brushed, and then washed ray fac^T and hands thoroughly, paying the bill out of the dollar so kindly given me by Maggie. J reached, the house and found it to be a big brown stone residence. I rang the bell and the door was opened by a servant girl. ( ' "Is Miss Mary at home?" I asked. "She is," was the reply, and she held the door open for me to enter. I was shown into a hands:>me par­ lor the furnishings of which were quite old and quaint in style. I barely had time to glance around the room ere a tall, elderly, and very dignified lady entered. "Are you Mr. Thomas Jones?",she asked. "Yes, ma'am," I replied. "Take a seat please," and she mo­ tioned me to a seat near whj^re I was standing. I sat down, and she did likewise. "I am the old maid who advertised for a husband," she said, "and your reply was the only one that seemed to have the right ring about it. I am about 4.0U>Jle "your age, but healthy and strong. I am the youngest of four sisters, all of whom died old maids, leaving me their property. I am now the owner of two hundred thousand dollars' worth of property, besides a snug sum of money in the bank. You are poor, out of employment, and are willing to get a home and something to do. Is that the case?" "Yes, ma'am," I replied. "Would you marry me?" "Yes. ma'am." 'Then give me your relerences. I'll If we are both suited, *rork. and had heard tell of the hard beds at shd dreaded the time when 1 should also have to take lodgings there, "no work for you," and I wondered if men were allowed to starve when they! mere willing to work! j I arose every morning at daylight j tfc© look over the want columns of the ' attorning papers, hoping to find some- j thing that 1 could d x But the great bulk of the calls for help was for the trades. 1 had no trade, hut I had a -pair of strong arms, a pretty clear head and a willingness to work at Anything &bat was honest and honorable. At laat I made up my mind that I would iiiave to go out and ioin the great jparadc of the unemployed, and was sSteelini; myself to the inevitable •when I saw the following advcrtJsc- il»ent in a morning pawr, -- * --A husband, by a stout, middle- .•ged Kpiuhter of good character anil prop- -erty. A good man. however poor, wiii bo -•cceplable and a comfortable income al­ lowed him. Address Old Sluidf Lock-box 3No New \crk Postofflcc. "Well, that beats anything I ever Hieard of," I said to myself when I ihai ®aished reading it. "Some old maid wants to buy a husband, allow faim a 'comTo: table income' and all &rat sort "of thing. If she does that lie can take care of a wife, any man could. Hanged if I don't write to lier and see if she'll answer me.' I'd marry an old maid rather than be| may can ana inquire as character and financial stand­ ing; "and she gave me a slip of . paper, on which were written the names of a half dozen men, promi­ nent in the business and social world. One was the pastor of her church. I gave her the names of my par­ ents, the village doctor, the minister, and a justice of the peace in my coun­ try home. I also handed her four letters of/«*ii>eommendation which I! had brougHLJ^om home. She read j them qarefum', after which she said: j "This is enough. I do .not care to ask for any more. Let me know when you are satisfied and then we'll marry. I ^m determined not to die an old maid. No man has ever made lovp to nie or asked me to be his wife. Have you any money?" "Less than a dollar," I replied. She took $50 from a pocket-book and gave it to me. saying: . "Buy you a suit of clothes be^ire going to my references. I want them to have a good impression of you when you call on them." "I am sure I appreciate your kind­ ness, Miss Ainsley," 1 replied as I took the money. "You know what is best I suppose." "Yes, yes, of course. Wheii shall I sec you again?" "I shall call at any time you may suggest." "There Is no lady in New York who has a better character, and she has property too--is rich in fact. "That is enough, sir. I thank you for your information,"and I bowed myself out and returned to my hotel where I telegraphed her to the effect that I was hers to command. When I called in the evening 1 found her in a rich dress, and a ear- riasre was standing at the door. "I am ready," she said and we went out to the carriage. "Drive to No. West I6th street, John," she said to the coachman, and then I assisted her into the vehicle. 'Che number was the residence of a minister. She exhibited a- licence, and in less than ten minutes we were pronounced man and wife, his wife and two daughters being witnesses of the ceremony. We came out, re-entered the car­ riage and were driven back to the house. The servant who opened the j door for me on my first visit, greeted us as we came in. She was the. only I servant I had seen about the place; but I thought nothing of that at the time, as I knew my wife had been living the life of an old maid for a number of year§ and did not have any use for a number of ser­ vants. The next day I wrote home to my father that I had married a very rich lady in New York, and that we would pay a visit* to the home folks very soon. The same day my wife said to me,-- 1..... •• ,* ; "I would like to spend the honey­ moon in some quiet little place up in the mountains. We will leave here to-morrow morning." "Very well," I said. "I'll go any­ where you say." We left New York the next day, and went up into Sullivan County to a farm house, where boarders were taken every summer. All the way up she wore a thick veil over her face. I thought nothing of it at the time, save to give her credit for womanly reserve. We took board for a month* paid in advance, and settled down to the enjoyment of each other's society. She gave me $500 to keep, saying it was as much mine as hers. It was not long ere she became as gushing and sentimental as a silly young girl, and my knees became a favorite re­ ceptacle for her 230 pounds avoirdu­ pois. At times I felt that she was much heavier than her fortune, and that one would scarcely compensate for the other under the circumstan­ ces. But she was so amiable and sweet withal, that I bore up under the burthen like Atlas with the world on his shoulders. Four weeks passed, and she sug­ gested that we go somewhere else for a change. 1 agreed, and we began packing our trunks. We were taken to the little country station and were waiting for the train, when two men came up to me outside the station. One asked: . - ^ "Is your name Thomas Jones?" "Yes," I replied. "Did you marry a tall, stout wo­ man in New York last month?" "Yes, my wife is inside now." "Well, see here I am a detective, and this man is a keeper from the lunatic asylum. Your wife is not the Mary Ainsiey you thought she was, but a lunatic who escapes from the asjium now and then, as­ sumes some well-known woman's name and marries. You are the fourth victim. Here are the papers for her commitment, togetn^r with her picture. We'll have to take her back to the asylum." I was utterly paralyzed at what I heard. But I could say nothing, save to ask the keeper: "Does she know you?" "Yes. Come and see," and he led the way into the station where my wife sprang to Jier teet and fled through the door, shrieking as she went: "I won't go! I won't go!" They caught her and then she burst into tears, saying: "Oh, I was so happy with him! He was so good to me! Don't take me away from him!" They took her away and I came back to New York a sadder and wiser man. 1 have since made my fortune, but in quite a different way. I worked for it, and now have a wife who is not older than I am, but who is a fortune in herself.--Yankee Blade. „ ,, „ . T . t Can you see iny friends to-morrow Iw T e"tlorayUn you think?" she asked. Tit-o. t.hft lf»t.tpr 1 wjt ^it i , , ^ ,,, , ^ . _ •Oh, yes, One will he sufficient, I room to write the letter. I was an awkward letter-writer in those days, and it took me at least three hours to get up a letter that suited me. I finally indited one which read a& follows: I have seen your advertisement for a hus- l>aad. and thought that I might suit you. as would not go to all of them, there would be no nececessity for it." "Then come here to-morrow even­ ing and we'll go to the parsonage and be mafried. .. "Very well. I'll be on hand to- I have not beenliidc to suit any one «Ue Yn i morrow evening," said I, and then I Wonderful Work of Bees. Bees must,., in order to collect a pound of clover honey,, deprive 02,000 clover blossoms, of their nectar. To do this the 02,01)0 flowers must be visited by an aggregate of 3,750,000 bees. Or, in other words, to collect his pound of honey one bee must make 3,750,000 trips from and to the hive. The enormous amount of work here involved precludes the idea of any one bee ever living long enough to gather more than a fraction of a pound of nectarine sweet. As bees are known to fly lor miles in quest of suitable field:? of operation it is, clear that a single ounce of honey repre­ sents millions of miles of travel. It is no wcinder that these industrious little insects have earned the repu­ tation of being "busy" bees. <his city in IU v efforts to lind employment. I am a country boy. a plain farmer's SOB. and came to the city to make my fortune. I hav<* now b« en here tune weeks and tiavti aot been :ible to lind tiny work, «md so am not making a "fortune •ervfast. But I am willing to work, can Aive the best of references at home, in Xlcrkcuan County. If you think a husband M little -over twenty years old would suit you 1 am open for an engagement. Very respectfully. 'No. -- J'Tge Street. TOM JOKES. I mailed the letter and then re- shook hands with her and left the house. "Well, Tom, old boy," I said to myself as I walked down the street, "you .came to New York to make your fortune and you bane made it in a month's time. Married a fortune, eh! Well, that's better than working tor one," and I chuckled gleefully as I boarded a street car. . , . - That night I slept at a hotel, and k turned my hunt for work, hardly hop-! the next morning found me at a ing that any thing would come of it. i clothing store where I bought a American Women Famed a» Atliletdn. . As athletes, American women are | gaining even transatlantic fame for [ extraordinary pedestrian feats, polo i playing, cycling and a few have man­ aged even football. Nearly all the cycle cluhs have admitted women, and gymnasiums and special schools for women in boxing and fencing are increasing. Every fashionable school for girls has its physical culture class, arid the future women of society arc learning how to turn somersaults backward, as well as to leave a car riage with grace, and to play the mandol i n and harp. -- Domestic Monthly. Two days later my landlady asked tine for the pr.ee of one week's board, j X frankly told* her I had no money jmor work, but that I would She cut me shout, turned me out­ doors. kept my tRunk, and told me to ' bring her live dollars or she would .sell it. 1 was out at last, and I went to Washington Park to sit down under the shade of the trees and think. • There were otlieis .there doing the same thing. The.y had, some of them, im?J3 aclfeg'-K' tOi'.months, and their bought a suit of good clothes, hat, and shoes to match. Then I went to my relentless land­ lady, paid her my arrears for board, repaid Maggie Jthe dollar she had loaned me and had my trunk sent to the hotel. In another hour I had called on a well know merchant, whose name had been given me, and asked him if he knew Miss Mary Ainsley of No.-- on street. "Yes," he replied, "I kefifw her well. * Why do you ask?" "I've been asked to see her for a friend," I said, "and was told that A DIKFEKKNCE between happines:) and fame is that the happy man is greater in his home than out of it. Famous men are, as a rule, greater beyond their own door yards. THE women claim they don't eat much, hut the first thing they da after returning from a dinner party is to put on some loose old clothes. TIIEUE are some choir leaders wh« act as if they believe the music in heaven will not be worth hearing uiv til they get there to direct it. K* Taeklcd thc Stage Robber, tuft K® Help and Wan W<*r»led. ? In 1878 Milo Hoadley was a paSsen- ger on the Milton stage when it was held up by a lone Italian highway­ man. There were four or five passen­ gers beside Hoadley, all young, strong men, who would not like to see their names in print in connection, with this incident. The Italian, a tall, athletic fellow, stepped out from behind a rock at the foot of a steep hill, and leveling a shot gun at the drivec ordered him to throw out the box. Tne driver obeyed, and handed the box, which contained several thousand dollars, to the robber, who took it in his left hana and remarked that that was all he wanted. Hoadley looked at the robber and said: "Don't you think you've got a lot of cheek to hold up a stage with five men in it?" "It strikes me," replied the robber, "you've got a d--d sight more cheek to make any impromptu remarks on the subject when nobody has bothered yOu. Have you got any money, about you?" "Yes, I have," said Hoadley. "I've got $100: but what of it?" "Nothing particular, except I want it, and will blow the top of your head off if you don't hand it out lively," And so saying the robber sighted along his gun barrel at Mr. Hoadley's head. He looked as though • he meant business and Hoadley lei­ surely fished o'ut his purse and held it out to the robber. Hoadiev sat on the frontsdat between the driver and another man, and in handing the purse to the robber he had to lean forward and across the other .passen­ ger, while the robber had to lower his gun, step close to the sta^e, and reach up for the purse with his lelt hand. Just as the robber grasped 'the purse, Hoadley pitched forward and hurled himself upon the fellow,- land­ ing astride of him and bearing him to the ground with a crash. Hoadley weighed over 200 pounds, and the Italian had a hard job to shake hint off, but Hoadley was much the older man, and his winc/did not last long. The struggle on the ground lasted for a minute or more, and had the other passengers gone to Hoadley's assist­ ance they could have overpowered and bound the robber without any difli- culty. But not a man of them stir­ red hand or foot to help the old gen­ tleman, and in a few moments the Italian got out from under him and regained possession of his gun, which he had dropped when Hoadley fell upon him. "You are the cheekiest old man I ever saw," said the Italian, as Hoad­ iev, almost breathless and wholly dis­ gusted, scrambled to his feet and be­ gan brushing the dust from his clothes. "That's all right," panted the old gentleman, "but if those d--d cow­ ards on the stage had stood in we'd have had you tied up and the joke would have been on you." Now, it would have been a fine ending of this incident to relate how this road agent, admir­ ing the spirit aud courage of the old gentleman, returned to him his purse and punished the cowardice of the other passengers by compelling them to give up all their money and watches, but highwaymen of that type went out of fashion long ago, and the cold, unromantic truth Of the matter is that the Italian kept Hoadley's $100,didp't rob the others, and went into the brush with his gun and the express box. The sheriff took his trail that same day and arrested him in a wayside saloon, but forgot to search him, and when the robber was taken to jail he gave Hoadley's $100 to a lawyer to defend him. The Italian was prose­ cuted, convicted and sent to prison as John Doe, and he never was iden­ tified otherwise, and the express box that he stole was never found. Too IJrave to lie killed. The first white person who made a I permanent settlement in the County ! of Onondaga, New York, was Eph- I »;iam Webster. He traded with the ! Indians, became familiar with their j language and customs, and was for j years Indian Agent and interpreter j for the Onondagas., It sometimes • happened that the Indians, on ac­ count of fancied or real wrongs, be­ came offended with him. More than' once they threatened his life. Atone time the Indians tied him to a tree, and amused themselves by throwing tomahawks to see how near they could come to his head and not hit it. Sometimes the whistling missle grazed his hair. The sport was kept up for more than an hour, during which time Webster did not Hindi. His coolness excited the ad­ miration of his tormentors. On another occasion th<£ Indians f<cemcd so determined to kill him that he almost gave up hope. A grave was dug and his executioners, four in number, with glittering' tomahawks in hand, were chosen. AVfcbster stood with his arms outstretched, each hand flrmlv held by a sturdy brave. He was asked if he had any request to make before he died. ."No," replied Webster, "only I Should like a drink of water." "No, no; no!" cried several voices at once. The venerable war-chief. Oun-di- a-ga, was inclined to grant the re­ quest. "Hold!'^ he said to the In­ dians whose ready weapons were poised. "Stay your hands, offend not the (ireat Spirit. Let .hitn drink a cup of water for tho last time." The cup was given him, and one hand was released. Webster, with perfect composure and ajpparent good feeling, drank the "hh^tth' of the chiefs and brave warriors 'of the Onondaga nation." This exhibition of good nature and bravery produced a matked effect upon the Indians. From all sides came cries: ' "He is free!" "Let the white man go!" "He is good Indian, one of us!" Mr. Webster was released, and the Indians led him to their wigwams and smoked with him the pipe of peace. He had won the Indians re­ spect by his fortitude. The Old l^adjr. Threadneedle Street, so famous in connection with the Bank of England --"the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street"--is a corruption of Thryd- danen, or Thryddsnal Street, m«ai> ittg the third street from "Chepesyde" to the great thoroughfare from Lor- don Bridge to Bishopgate--thrydd"e, or thrydda, meaning third. Another derivation iji Thring-needle, meani ng "three needles," from the three rieedles which were exhibited in the arms of the Needlcmakers' Company ' i 11 --" * Why the Steps Halted Him. 1 Coming down the main walks from the Capitol to Pennsylvania avenue there are groups of three or four steps that are very confusing to... the aver­ age pedestrian, and there is a queer incident connected with their con­ struction. For years there was a man about the Capitol who made the study of steps.and persons going up and down stairs a fad and a science. In watchin'g crpwds walking down the long approaches to the Capitol he discovered that by far a greater num­ ber of persons stumbled on those groups of steps than the record ought to show. The attention of the present capitol architect was called to the matter, the Washington Post says, but he was incredulous at the idea. "Why," said he, "Frederick Olin­ stead, the architect took especial pains with these groups of steps I know." However, they watched the tricky groups of steps and discovered that it was really astonishing the number of persons who stumbled going up and seemed inclined to fall in descending, but they were utterly at sea for any explahation. Olmstead himself came here later. The subject was bi ought to his at­ tention, and he went down to watch the steps himself. He was simply amazed at the way people behaved when they reached these steps. He said: "I can't account for it. I spent weeks arranging the proportion of rise to tread for them. Wooden models of them were . put down for use at my own place, and I walked over them day after day till I felt sure they were perfect." "Olmstead, isn't one of your legs a trifle shorter than the other?" the step savant inquired. Olmstead was dumbfounded when it flashed on him that owing to the inequality in the length of his legs he had made steps to the capitol that were suited onlv for people similarly afflicted. . Jogjfed His Memory. The nine lives of a cat are often a difficult subject to deal with. Uncle John Townsend had a number of cats as his only companions in the little farm-house, and finally decided that one of them must be disposed of. His brother, who lived on an adjoin­ ing farm, offered to kill it for him. "Well, now, Abner, 1 calculate I'll have you kill that black cat. He ain't no good exccpt to eat. He won't hunt, and I won't have nothin"round that can't earn its own livin'; so you jest take him off." So said Uncle John on uhe morn­ ing that Abner came to fulfill his promise. "Kind of a likely-lookin' cat," ven­ tured Abner. "'Tain't any memory fer rats," re- pled Uncle John; "you jest take him o f f . " Abner departed with the cat and a shot-gun. At night he came over again. "Killed the old cat, did ye?" asked his brother. "1 reckon I did," replied Abner; "he won't be troubled about rat- huntin' after this." Uncle John made no reply, but pointed toward the hearthstone, where sat Old Blackie, as well, ap­ parently, as ever. « "Well!" ejaculated Abner in sur­ prise. Then after a moment's silence he turned toward his brother and said, "That's a likely cat. Kinder forgetful, maybe, but I reckon he'll hunt all right now. I didn't kill him, but I sort of jogged his inem- ory." Double Cousin*. The French-Canadian people are famous for the size of thqir families, and for the intricacy of their laiuily relations. Every one *n a given neighborhood is quite sure to be re­ lated in some way to every one else. A surprising illustration of these characteristics is found in the village of St. Marie de Beauce, in the Province of Quebec. There lived the two Ilheaume and Morinj and in each of these families there were weight chil­ dren--four boys and four girls in each case. As the young people grew up, every Rheaume boy married a Morin girl, and every Morin boy a Rheaume girl, until all were married in this way. Large families of children were born to all these unions; so that at last accounts, there were thirt3T-nine Rheaume children in the third gen­ eration, and thirty-five Morin chil­ dren. These sevfenty-four children, living in one village, are, therefore, of a de­ gree of relationship nearer than couslisiip; they are what is known as "double cousins." This relationship is not of unusual occurrence; but so great a number of "double cousins" living in a single village was probably never known before. They Are Kcally Not Cork at All. Cork is a very light substance, but it is so porous that water will pass through it easily. The reason a cork will prevent liquid running out of ; a bottle is the extreme pressure on the cork used, but if it were cut into I strips water would pass through any j one of them almost unhindered. Yet j people ask for corksolc shoes because j they think them water-proof, and the ! principal reason they find an improve- j ment on the simple leather article is I that cork insole is very seldom cork at all. In expensive shoes it is a species of twisted cloth with leather above and below, and but a shaving j of cork if any is used at all. Shoes ' made in this way certainly, protect ! the foot from uampness, partly be­ cause the extra sole is largely water­ proof in its nature and largely be­ cause the foot is raised higher from the ground and there is less danger of Wet reaching in between the uppers and the sole, where in nine cases out of ten there is a leaksige through which water can penetrate easily:-- Globe-Democrat. TOM--Say, Jack, where can I get a good two-foot rule? ^ Jack-- j Here. Tom--Thanks, hand it over. 1 Jack--Well, don't wear tight shoes. ly could wanted PACKAGES IN I LERIFS. V- How the Hatfon'a Le)(iilstwni Are R»- tlScted iroui the Dynamite Fiend. Yesterday 1 started for home with a minute parcel under my arm con­ taining a gossamer flannel shirt that I had just purchased wherewith to mitigate the fervors of summer time. At the Capitol I paused to see what was going on, and as I stepped, into the Senate gallery the doorkeeper said, "Here, put down that bundle!" "What for?" I asked. ."No bundles allowed in here," he said. I inquired by whose order such trifles as my gauzy environment were prohibited. "Sergeant-at-Arms Valentine," he answered. I went out of that door and into the next. "Stop there! Come out ot that," exclaimed the lively doorkeeper, sort­ ing me from a crowd making its way in. "You. too." he said to a youth, who had a small handbag. "No bags or bundles can go inside." "Why not?" 1 asked. "You might blow up wliiile Senate," he replied, with an expres­ sion of alarm on his face. "After that anarchist threw the dynanite at Russell Sage and old Vanderbilt an order was given that nothing that could i^old dynamite should be letJn here. You must lay it down in the hall." I expressed |«o the old soldier a doubt of the wisdom of such an or­ der. "Why, you see yourself." he urged, opening the door and waving his hand within, "that a dynamite fiend could fling a handbag or a bundle down there and kill half a dozen Senators. He couldn't fling it scarcely without killing a millionaire.' "But you don't examine sikirts or coat pockets," I suggested, 'j'or even cloaks or overcoats. Any carry dynamite in there if h to. And how about pistols? Then I walked over to tlie House gallery, and went in, "Can I carry in my parcel)?" I asked the doorkeeper. "Why, cert," he exclaimed in as­ tonishment, "why can't you?" So I took a front seat within easy reach of at least a hundred members. 1 could have flung my white gossamer hand'grenade and, struck Economical Holman right on the top of the head with it, and there are some cabinet officers in Washington who would have laughed hysterically at the san­ guinary deed. There vere half a dozen millionaires right under my hand, so near that I could have tossed a newspaper and hit them. And 1 wondered why the House needed protection so much less than the Senate. Are these less valuable than those? I thought of the old wo­ man at the apple stand. "Those is two cents a piece, but these ere uns you kin hev for two fer a cent".-- Washington letter in the Philadelphia Press. Tlie Ills of Type-Writer*. Some years ago, when type-writers came in use, an ingenious mechanic chanced to be out of work. While visiting the office of a manufacturer, in search of employment, he was asked to repair a machine that was out of order and he did it so well that several of the other tenants of the building engaged him to touch up their type-writers. He now has a visiting list of patients tha,t extend into the hundreds, and in the course of a week he goes entirely through it, The stereotyped question which he always asks. "Does your 'writer need doctorin'?" soon gained for him the title of doctor, and in a way he is proud of it. The greater part of his work is done on the spot with the tools that fill the "grimy black bag, but sometimes he finds a type-writer in such a bad way that he carries it off to be repafred at his home, and where that is nobody in . New York has ever succeeded in finding out, for "the doctor" 13 one of the eccentric folk always to be met with in large cities. Scorpions Have Sharp Kars, I have studied the habits of the scorpion for many years, and have often noticed how very sensitive scorpions are to the most delicate sounds, musical or otherwise. Under the thorax the scorpion has two comb-like appendages, which are the antenna,; (pectinatae). It is pretty well settled by physiologists and en­ tomologists that in insects theantcn- na> represent the organs of hearing. These delicate structures are easily affected by the vibrations of sound, and there can be no doubt whatever that the are also effected by sounds quite inaudible to the human ear. The slightest vibration of the atmos­ phere, from any cause whatever, at once puts in motion the delicate structures which compose the anten­ na •, to which organ insects owe the power of protecting themselves against danger, as well as the means of recognizing the approach ing of one another. --Spectator. Petroleum. Petroleum, says a correspondent, was known, and even refined, long before it was used in lamps. A Frenchman is said to have spent years in vain envcavorsto construct a lamp in which the new oil would burn without smoking. Accident helped him at last. Vexed by failure, he had drained his wine flask--a long- necked, thin bottle, like oil flasks-- and set it down on the table so hard as to Dreak the glass bottom. He then chanced to catch it up and hold it over the flameof his smoking lamp. The smoke ceased, and he saw that what he sought was found. Absent-Minded. One of the best stories told of Lord Lyttpn, a singularly absent-minded man, refers to his maid-servants. Buried one day in a dream, he en­ tered his carriage with Lady Lytton, when she asked, "Do you know what you did when we came out?" "1 have not the slightest idea," replied the ambassador, when Lady Lytton con­ tinued, "You kissed all the maid­ servants." The astonishing assertion T forget il you want a first class leer, to call on F. K. Granger ;y. Or if more convenient we can tfs for you at this office. a Wire is cheap this spring. Don't the fences but put them in order n II b or the S. barb wire bought right Cristy & Son. One of the most interesting things - r # that the naturalist finds to study is1 the effect of vrr >us colors and forms " ? in rendering animals visible or incon- spicuous. This means of concealment ' * -; is useful mainly in enabling the ani-r p|S mal possessing it to remain hidden . ^ from the searching eyes ot its ene- ^ mies. Some of the accounts given by ^ travelers and naturalists of the eclips- \ %§ tag effect of certain color combina- tions seem hardly credible. Among •„ ^ the most gorgeous of the inhabitants / ̂ ^ of tlie air are the sunbirds of Africa, 1 "<* and yet Mrs. Barker, the traveler, as- sures us that even the keen eye of a hawk will fail to., detect these birds ' when they are flitting in a field of J flowers. ]x • " • ' Most species ot tho East Indian . « sloth, which ' feeds upon trees, have an orange-colored spot on their backs, which renders th'cm.rory conspicuous when they are seen out of their ordi­ nary environment; but when they-are V,iJ clinging to the trees the color of their * j hair resembles withered'moss, while the orange spot on their backs so *1 closely imitates the scar made by the ~ breaking off of a branch that even : J hunters are deceived by it. , - 7^7.1 The color and stripes of the tiger - * sometimes render it invisible in i bright sunshine amid the dneu yellow ' grass of a jungle. Maj. Waizord, an • v English hunter, saj*s: ' "Once white following upa.wounded. tre$ '1^.grass:at a tiger I failed for at least a minute to see him under a distance of about twenty yards jungle open--but the: natives saw- him, and I eventually made him out well enough to shoot him; but even then I could not see at what part" ol him I was aiming." c . But perhaps the most wonderful effect of color and contrast in conceal­ ing large animals is in the case of the zebra and giraffe. Alfred Russell Wallace says of the giraffe that the large, blotch-like spots on the skin, and the strange shape of the head; and horns, like broken branches, so tend to its concealment that even the keen eyed natives have been known to mistake trees for giraffev or giraffes for trees. As to zebras, Professer Henry Drummond says in his bookoq "Trop­ ical Africa," after describing how the black and white stripes seem to take away the sense of a solid body alto­ gether, the two colors blending into an unconspicuousgray, ^hile at close quarters the effect is as of bars of light seen through the branches ol shrubs: "I have found myself in the forest ?azing at what I supposed to be a solitary zebra, its presence betrayed by some motion due to my approach, aud suddenly realized that I was sur­ rounded by asp entire herd, which were all invisible until they moved." A recent writer in Nature, after quoting this passage from Drum­ mond, together with a statement from Francis Galton that in clear moonlight a zebra may be, invisible although so near that its breathing can be heard, carries the idea of pro­ tection furnished bv the zebra's stripes a step further by suggesting that they conceal it from the eyes ot its enemies while it sleeps. - Who Owns a Malted Letter. ; A letter once mailed no longer be­ longs to the sender, but is the prop­ erty of the person to whom it is ad­ dressed. Such is the postal law, but it is a law often violated by post­ masters in small places, where corre­ spondents are likely to be personally known to the postoffice authorities, and sometimes leads to curious com- plications in large ones where this is not the case. Important business interests have been affected by the same law. A firm which had long been really in­ solvent had succeeded in keeping the knowledge froni jthe public, and con­ tinued to receive money from in­ vestors, which the partners employed dishonestly for their own advantage. It was their intention to raiseone more large sum of money, part of which was to be contributed by a business friend of one of them, and then to leave the country with their spoil, and let their creditors shift for them­ selves. But the wife of the business friend and the wife of the man who meant to victimize him frequently corresponded with each other, and the latter wrote a gay, gossiping letjter to the former in which she mentioned that her husband had been in poor health lately on account of business troubles, but that she trusted their approach­ ing trip to Canada would restore him. Remembering, too late, that her husband had asked her to mention neither of these facts, and fearing to vex him, she went to the post-office to recall the letter. The post-mas­ ter refused to give it up. She could give no reason for demanding it, and became petulant and irritated when he continued to refuse. He re­ mained firm and the letter was sent. The recipient showed it to her hus­ band whose suspicions it aroused. He made an investigation, arid as a con­ sequence the dishonest firm wa9 broken up, and both the partners ar­ rested and punished. Intercepted letters have long been a popular theme of drama and ro­ mance. A letter which could not be intercepted, but had to go in spite of the sender's express desire and en­ treaty,- might offer an interesting variety.--Youth's Comanion. ' Aniline Coloring. Aniline dyes arc noted for their go-cat color!mr power, one part of rosaniline salt in one million parts of water still possessing a,jicep crimson color and instantly dying a skein of silk moistened with vinegar. The dyes are used for many purposes-- coloringtoyai, sweetmeats, wincs,dress fabrics, and other articles. Tlie fugitive nature of some of 'them is rather a drawback. Germany is now the headquarters of the manufacture of these dyes. Large-quantities are produced and used in this country also. In China. Ifi visiting China you see men with their fingers nails growing to the '•?ngth of three or four inches. They >*e the scholars or mandarins, and R^ie nails are worn to distinguish them lom common men or laborers. And --_ i you should attempt to grasp them Jjl 0{' the hand to shake it they would pt respond, but simply clasp their n hands together and give you a laam," or bow. M'M