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t h . 4.45351}. ens-.1- non] a o4»...l,o.a.- .. p a a L IIQW - ~S' low a Rejected butter Controlled In: le- mus “launder. Judge Ha er, of “'ashington, the other day made a ccree annulling the marri of Charles E. Reed and ' ' Stewart Kinney, contracted November 19, 1890, Miss McKinney, the complainant, alleging that she had been forced to the marriage by threats. Thestory told in the papers filed in court, is a very irregular one. Reed is about twenty-five years old and Miss Me- Kinney about a year younver. They were both clerks in the census ofiice in that city, and it appears that Reed had proposed mar- riage to Miss McKinney and been rejected. It appears from the testimony parties were both clerks in the pension ojfice, and that Read fell in love with Miss Me- Kinnley and believed that “ she loved him, but did not know it,” and, as he afterward told one of her friends, that shewdid love him, but she said she did not, and that ‘he knew her better than she did herself. He pressed his suit urgently and constantly with protestations, promises and threats, and, itis asserted, declared she should marry no one else, or that if she did not marry him he would kill her. He would take no refusal came home with her from the office, met her in the street, waylaid her behind tree boxes and came out to surprise her at inter- sections and reservations. This persecution, she savs,” destroyed my health, both of mind and body. I was not able to eat or sleep or todo on work at the omce. I did not care to go out o my house at nightor even to walk along the streets in daytime. " Oneafter~ noon as they came from the pension office he made her promise to meet him : she did so, and they went to the house of Rev. Asbu ' S. Reiley of the M. E. church on 9th and streets. She says that “on the way up I plead with him again not to force me to marry him, but he said that was his deter- mination, he would not be stopped then, and that if I showed signs of distress or agitation through the ceremony I must. suffer the conser uences.” They went to- gether into the house of the minister and were married, J ustice L. I, O’Neal beingonc of the Witnesses. Neither the minister nor any one else saw anything strange in the marriagebutthehusbandaudwifepartedwith the un tar-standing that [there was to be no consummation and the matter was to be kept secret, but the license got into the paper and the marriage becamepublic. Then, at his request, she methim atthe office of Mr- David hlanight. Mr. McK. says: “She agreed to meet him on the day appointed and I notified him. He came to my office immediately after 4 o’clock and so did she. I ate ped into an adjoining room, where I hear the conversation. She asked him why he wanted to see her and he replied that he thought that, as the marriage had been made public, they should both recognise it and .live together. That proposition she declined. She burst into tears and began to plead with him to spare her further harm, saying that he had wrecked her life already and was now breaking his promise to her She made such an appeal to him as actually to move me to tears. I could see him from where I was and he sat there like a stone, utterly unmoved, seeming to be determined to conquer her and make her live with him. He had previously told me ‘ I have great control over Mary and when we come together I will take care of the result.’ His manner and words to her were polite enough, but quite determined and cold, and the! result was that she fell into a fit of hysterics, weeping, and finally she jumped up and ran out of the room, leaving him there. When I re-entercd the room he said. ‘ Well, this rs a singular way for a girl to act,’ and he displayed so little feeling that I was quitel disgusted with him.” \ â€"â€"â€"n.â€"- To Search for the North Pole. Notwithstanding that the word “ failure is written on all the expeditions that have hitherto started out in search of the north pole, Dr. Nansen, the Norwegian, who en- joys the distinction of being the first Arctic explorer to cross Greenland, which journey he accomplished on foot, and who 18 soon to start on another polar expedition, still en- tertains the hope of reaching that spot on the surface of the earth when its axial mo- tion is practiqally nil. His plan, the details of which are foo long to be inserted here, is to take advantage of the polar currents, of whose existence he thinks there can no long- er be any reasonable doubt, and when fur- ther navigation becomes impossible on ac- count of the presence of ice in those frozen regions, to commit himself to these currents, which he believes will bring him out a ain not far from the east coast of Greenland or west coast of Spitzbergen. He also believes that in his course he will pass over, or near to, the object of his search. \Vith a ship a ecially constructed to resist the pressure 0 the ice flees, with n. picked crew of ten or twelve men, four or five of whom will be Qualified to make scientific observa- tions and investigations, with food sup- plies and coal sufficient to last for five years, and with boats and othcr provisions to meet the contingencies of shipwreck, this enthusiastic explorer proposes to start on the expedition as soon as the-necessary pre- parations can be completed. Entering the lar waters through Behring straits he ropes to emerge by way of the Greenland current in the course of two or three years. Concerning this ex edition Dr. Nanzeu him- self as 's : “ It wil be no holiday trip, this driftt rough regions where the days last six months, and the nights are no shorter ; but it is not to seek pleasure that we go. Peopleperhaps still exist who believe that it is of no interest or importance to explore the unknown polar regions. This, of course shows ignorance. It is hardl ' necessary to mention here of what scienti c importance it is that these regions should be thoroughly explored. The history of the human race is a continual struggle from darkness toward light. It is therefore of no purpose to dis- ’ cuss the use of knowledge; man wants to know, and when he ceases to do so, he is no longer man." And this witness is true. Man is not here simply to exist and vs e- tate. He has aspirations after knowl .. which cannot be satisfied with sum tnoust rovided tables, rich rairnent an downy He wants to know and in order to know he scales mountains, crosses seas, traverses continents, dives into the depths ) of the ocean, delves into the heart of the earth: in a word, he submits to all toils, braves all dangers, endures all sacrifices. Thousands therefore. will wish the daring voyager sum in his hazardous undertak- iu , and will pray that he may be spared to tel a waitin world the story of his ex_ riesces and iscoveries. macro Ionian surf-l 1 #mv Rom-nae situation orthe City of Alba; querqlu, Near nexlro. The new town is built: afterthe i c. fashion, its main and Gold Avenuesâ€"with theif" shbethntlsl business blocks, presenting the usual appearance of a thriving young Western city. Allgzthe principal streets are graded and provided with sidewalks. Many impogtantzaddthmns and improvements have ‘ shade. (lan the past year, including the expendrtnrp 0 $50,000 by the city government in ning a complete sewer system for the town, In Albuquerque are helfl the srtt s pf mm, the the District Court of the Second Ju icial District and the United States Court. The court-house in the old town, a modern and handsome building, contrasts oddly with the vista and antique portal: which front the street, with a wind-mill in the back- ground. The scenery about Albuquerque is strmge and picturesque. Eastward a mesa ten miles in width extends southerly, paralled with the river, between the valley and the mountain bases. In the northeast the lofty oblong summits of the Saudis. (Watermelon) Mountains rise above this table -land, their rocky, partly timbered sides‘revealin in the afternoon sun varied hues of blue, rown, red, and gray. ‘- South of the Sandias lies a lower range of mountains, through which Tijeras, Coyote and Hell Canons afford passage from the eastern plains down to the valley and its city among the sands, and to the southeast of these mountains rise the far-off crests of the Manzana range. The western bank of the long southward stretch of river is mark- ed by low rolling bluffs, back of which rise from the plain the peaks of the detached mountain group, the Ladrones, a rendez- vous in former times for robbers. “’est- ward a chain of brown hills breaks the view, and in the northwest are seen, blue‘in. the distance, the San Mateo and J emez moun- tains. ' Rising among the mountains of Colorado, at an altitude of 11,920 feet, the Rio Grande, on its way to the gulf of Mexico, flows through New Mexico from North to South â€"a distance of about 360 miles measured on the meridian, with a fall of 2200 feet in that extent. Much of its volume oozes under ground, percolating the sand, so that water can be found anywhere in the valley by dig ing to the depth of the river’s sur- face. n the Spring and Summer overflows its muddy current deposits in the valley a sediment of volcanic, granitic, silicious‘soil, forming alluvial bottom-lands of great depth and inexhaustible fertility. . The Rio Grande in its landscape setting has a rare picturesqueness as unusual and individual as that associated with the scen- ery of the Nile Valley. Along its waters, deriving their sustenance from fields, en- riched by its overflow, are Spanish Ameri- can, and indian villages of low rectangular, adobe houses about the quaint massive church standing against a background of mesas, mountains, and sand hills. The stretch of thick muddy water, with its dis~ taut sheen of blue and silver, winds its long way amid prevailing gray and red landscape tints interspersed with the dee green of cottonwood groves and low thick- ets which fringe its banks, and the lighter verdure of growing crops. Mud-walled fields and gardens, irrigated by means of rude gitches which con not the water from the acequfa madre, or main ditch, leading from the river, surrounded the adobe houses scattered along the valley. The vine and fruit lands along the river begin at a short distance above the town of Bernalillo, seventeen miles north of Albu- querque, and from that point southward are many orchards and vineyards new and old. Apples, pears, quinces, apricots, peaches, and plums have been abundantly raised here, with little care, by the native inhabitants since :1 the first settlement of the country by Europeans, and now all the small fruits are ‘successfully cultivated. Especially is this part of New Mexico favorable to vineyard culture, and the grape of the Rio Grande Valley will compare favorable in juiciness, sweetness, and flavor with the product of any other locality in the world. The variety most generally cultivated is the Mission grape, introduced at an early period by Franciscan friars, but the Muscatel and other kinds of recent introduction are also found. By the aid of irrigation every plant. of the temperate zone may be successfully raised in the Rio Grande Valley. Corn and wheat yield abundantly, and oats, barley, beans, and alfalfa are staple crops. Vegetables of all kinds grow to great size, and are excel- lent of quality. All the New Mexican fruits are of fine flavor, and they bring a much higher price in, market than the similar California productions. At various estates up and down the river the business of wine- making is conducted on a considerable scale, and with the due improvement of its advan- tages, the valley of the Rio Grande will take a high place among the .wine and brandy producing districts of the world. The old method of treading out the grape by the feet- of men and women has been mainl suc- ceeded by the use of wine-presses aml’other labor-saving and more efficient process.â€" [Harper‘s Weekly. Where Peoole Live The Longest. If the Chilian census returns of 1885 are reliable, that country may safely claim to be the one in which people live the longest. In the above 'ear there were nearly 500 persons, out o a total population of 2,500,- 000, upwards of a 100 years old. One man put his age down as 150. After him came a w ian,a ed 138; while tWO women and one man fo lowed, each credited with 135 years. Representatives were found for the figures 132, 130, and 127, and there were seven 125 years old, eight 1‘27, twenty-seven 115, and no fewer than ninety-one aged 110. Russia, too, has supplied the statist with a great number of extraordinary instances of prolonged human life. Amongst others, there was a woman living in 1848, at Moscow aged 168, and many between 100 and 120 still exist. The longevity in Norway is also remarkable, the official statistics showing that the average duration of life or expeco. atinn of life at birth, is equal to 48.33 'ears for males, 51.30 for fenisles, and 49.77 for both sexes. The English life tables give a mean duration of life in this cozntry of 41.35 for males, and 44.62 for females. Thus the expectation of life at birth of a male infant born in Norway is greater by 6.98 yea born in England. P glo-Saxon the whole number during “Austral. swu. ’ » ; .g « ». u i r on“. ortallia'eeila'o “man the Story or his Terrible Tor-(urea , A recent number of'lll Indpstriel ofAnto- fagasta; Chili,_ mammoth. narrative of a gentleman named Barahona, who was sub- jected tohorrible tortures under Balmaceda's gov'ém’rii‘ent to force to'a confession of com licity with the revolutionary party. ‘1' esgCalderon, the officer who inflicted the torture, put Barahona in from and took 'him toagdungeon, where he insisted upon a confession, Bauhaus says: “I. protested my innocence. Then he handcuffed me with my crossed upon my back and my e1 ows tied to etheravith ropes. He put a stick throng the ropes and began twist. ing it around, causing the most horrible ins. After every question and my denial e gave a turn of the stick, crushing my chest and arms. In despair, I begged for death, diaélaring that'I. would rather die” than make such a statement as they were trying to force from me. ' Valdes Calderon replied that he did not care a straw for my life, but that he wished to get at the names of thosewho had commissioned me, and who he believed were the committee. He declared that I should be tortured until I had con- fessed or until I should die. He continued to twist the stick until the ropes broke, leaving my body in an indescribable con- dition. He left the dungeon, but returned in almost immediame with his agent, Garrido, and notified me that I should receive 500 lashes. Half an hour later Valdes Calderon'entered the dungeon again, accompanied by Garrirlo and four other men“ They stripped me and stretched me on the floor, and the scourging was perform- ed by a tall powerful man." _____â€"°â€"â€"-â€"â€" The Anglo-Saxon in the United states- It is an offence to the spirit of John C. Fleming that writers and public speakers should so generally assume or assert that. the people of the United States are Anglo- Saxon. And so to set the world right upon the matter Mr. Fleming, in the August number of the North American Review, un- dertakes to prove that of sixty-three mil- lions now living under the Stars and Stripes not more than eighteen millions are of Anglo ,Saxon blood. Beginning with the first cen- sus in 1790 he assumes that of the 3,172,006 not more than two millions were of Anglo~ Saxon origin. These two millions (suppos- ing their natural rate of increase to be equal to that of the colored in America. which during‘the 90 years from 1790 to 1880 in- creased 770 per cent) would at the last men- tioned date have swelled to 15,400,000, that is, taking no account of those who had im- migrated meanwhile, the number of Anglo- Saxons in the United States in 1880 was 15,400,000. The immi ration re- turns for that country whicr date back as far as 1820 show that during the 60 years, from 1820 to 1879 inclusive, the number of immigrants from Euro 6 and British America. that settled in the nited States was, 9,908,709.' Of these only 894,- 444 were English or Anglo-Saxon. Allowing, however, that one-half of the British Amer- lean and Scotch contingents were also Anâ€" these sixty years amounts to only 1,115,450, which added to the 15,400,000 above would make a total of a little over sixteen and a. half millions in 1880, plus the natural increase of the immigrant, 'which, if set down at half a million would allow the people of An- glo-Saxon blood in that year to be 17,000,- 000 or about seventeen forty-fourths of the white population. As to the 7,000,000 immigrants from Europe and British America. that have entered the United States since 1880 Mr. Fleming 'does not think that they have materially increased the number of Anglo-Saxons, since they were chiefly from Germany, Scandinavia, Ireland and Italy and relatively few from England. But allowing one million for the natural increase of the 17,000,000 since 1880 and for the few Anglo-Saxons that hav’e come in since that date there would at the present moment on the most liberal estimate be not more than 18,000,000 of Anglo-Saxon blood in that country. Concerning Canada, Mr. Fleming points out that one-third of the population of the Dominion is French -â€"that is to say, Celto-Latin, one third Irish and Highland Scottishâ€"that is Celt, and the remaining third of English and German descent. That these figures will come as a surprise to many there can be no doubt. The people both of Canada and of the Unit- ed States have become so accustomed to hear themselves spoken of as Anglo-Saxon that without thinking they have come to ac- cept the characterization as a. matter of fact. It is, however, the loosest use of lan- uage to say of either nation that it’s Anglo- Saxon. In the case of the United States, according to Mr. Fleming's estimate, only eighteen sixty-thirds, considerably less than one-third can trace their descent along said line ; while as to Canadians the one-third is a: divided between the Anglo-Saxon and the j Teuton. These are facts which those who advocate the political union of Canada and the United States would do well to bear in mind, and not to assume, as so many do, that already the nations are one in race, and that nature intends that. they shall be one in national sentiment and endeavor as well. There may be reasonsmthough as yet they have not been discoveredâ€"why the two nations should become one, but that they are both Anglo-Saxon IS certainly not among ' the number. .â€"-â€"â€"-â€"â€"â€"0â€"â€"â€"_ It would seem as if much of the talk about England, and especially London, being over- flowed with pauper immigrants is withou. warrantor justification. No doubt poorJew- greater number than during former seasons. I'his is evident from the answer of Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, presi nt of the Board of Trade, when questioned the other day in the House of Commons as to whether the government intended to adopt more stringent measures to prevent the immigra- tion of indigent foreigners. Sir Michael denied that there was any necessity for ial measures as the total number of a'ens arrivingln England ianne,‘ 1891, was 200 under the number which arrived in June 1890. It is. to be hoped that this information will have the efi'ect of calming the fears’of the English ple, who. it is stat- era and others have been coming, though not inJ merit. 1 ed, have become consi 1y alarmed about the matter. One half of the world doesn't know how maud ofaNorwexiap the other half lives. n is just as well, . “Mlle lufmtigm‘fl' by 553 Yum film“ perhaps. It saves thousands of divorces that the sorrowful tale of his . and cyclones of family troubles generally. 0P assammvnsssr. In twenty years there has been no coun- terfeiting of American postage stainps. Pittsburg claims to have more millionaires ,in proportion to her population than any other city in the world. I The 124; miles between Newcastle and Edinburgh, which is done without a stop, is at present the longest run in Britain. In France a little moré‘ theirs hundred years ago it was impossible for anybody to work unless he joined the. of his par- ticular trade and submitted to“ its rules. The social magnificence of a State ball at St. Petersburg is such thaton one occasion the guests numbered 3,000, yet there was no crowding and every arrangement was perfect. ' Kaiser Wilhelm is a heavy cater, with a pireference for homely dishes. According to r. Frederic, he smokes a great number of light Dutch cigars, which cost about three- halfpence each. A noted smoker of his day was, the late Lord Clarendon, whoregularlysmoked when attending to his official business, his des- patches being generally permeated with a strong aroma o cigars. In one business establishment in London up fewer than 400 Cornishmen are employ- e . 1 California’s crop of peaches this will probably amount to three and a half million elf-bushel baskets.» The national debt of Germany, which is much smaller than that of any other great country in the world, is, in round figures £39,000,000. ' ‘ It is estimated that in the year 2000 no less than 1,700,000,000 will be speaking the the English language, while only 500,000,~ 000 will be speaking other European tongues. The first Mohammedan marriage in Eng- land was celebrated a few weeks ago, when a Moslem lawyer was wedded according to the rites of his religion to _the daughter of a magistrate. ’ ' The total number of Buddhists in the world is estimated to be 75,000,000. The highest altitude ever reached by a balloon was seven miles. Cleopatra’s Needle is said to be decaying and, it 15 declared, will soon be nothing but a shapeless stone. ' One of the peculiar customs of the East Indian coolies called Lascars is the putting of a ring on the great toe. when they marry. Queen Margherita. of. Italy is a most ao' complished woman; not only does she speak numerous languages, including the various dialects of Northern Italy, but she is unusu- ally well read. Sixty years ago only one public banking company exists in London, and at the bank of England private accounts were at that time opened rarely and with the greatest difficulty. . ' ' A stern father in Kansas, with a. large family of girls, has passed the cold edict that each beau who frequents his domicile through the winter must contribute a load of sawed stove-wood. Scotland contains thirty towns of more than 10,000 inhabitants. Seven of these number more than 30,000 inhabitants, nine have between 20,000 and 30,000, and the remaining fourteen have from 10,600 to 20,000. A handsome Burmese bell from Mandalay has been placed upon the North Terrace, in the vicinity of the Winchester Tower at Windsor Castle. 'There are native char- acters upon the upper part of the trophy, which is supported by three cannon shot, and mounted upon a stone pedestal. The latter bears the inscription "Mandalay, 1887.” . There is at present discharging the humble duties of assistant baker at the ’enitentiary of L’Ile Nou, New Caledonia, a Polish cou- vict named Berezowsky. This man was tried before the Court of AssiZes of the Seine, in 1867, for an attempt to assassinate the Czdr Alexander II., who had come to Paris to enjoy the magnificent hospitality of the Emporia Napoleon the Third. A The German Kaiser rides like an English- man, fences admirably, is a skilful'boatmau, an accomplished yachtsmau, V swims and bowls well and with zest, and ‘ delights in mountain climbing. ' - _ | The gross aggregate income of the Church of England amounts to £5,753,557, of which £5,469,171 is deprived from ancient en- dowments, and £284,386 from private benefactions since 1703. About 1840, when ships at Middlcsbrough . were loaded at. the 'straiths in the ‘ Tees, a ‘ shi ’s boat-sail was frequently used on a coalwaggon, when the wind was favorable, and by this aid ran up to Stockton. ‘ Further discoveries have been made in the excavations under Messrs. Dimsdale, Fowler, and Co.’s bank in Cornhill, result- ing in a skull and two Roman medals being found. Everything tends to give authority to the claim of St. l’eter’s, Cornhill, that it stands on the site of the oldest Christian ' Church in England. ~ l A woman fell overboard indapauese waters 5 and was eaten by a shark. For three years i her husband has done nothing but hunt sharks, and up to date has landed about 300 I of them and is still fishing. The princi l relic belonging to the church of Sainte Gu ule, in Brussels, consists of a thorn which is said to have formed a part of the Saviour’s croivn. It was brought to the . Netherlands in the time of the'Crusades. l The Duke of Cambridge, since the age of ‘ nineteen, has been in the Queen’s‘ employ- The following are the rough esti- mates nf the amount of money he has receiv- ed :â€"“Grant of £12,000 for thirty-nine years, £468,000; Army 8 olaments from 1837 to 1861, £16,000; Colonel ofGrenadier Guards, 1861 to 1869, £45,000; Comman- der-in-Cbief, 1862 to 1889, £125,000; Ran- gership of Parks, £17,000; total, 11671,. 000. : . While Mr. Irving was in Ease. last year he had'a‘n opportunity of performrng one of ' those unostentatious sets ofguerosity with which his name is so often grappled. fo the village in which he was staying came a land of strolling players with a booth. :qDoiag badly, an hearing that the “ head 'of the profession " was in the neighborhood, they senta de utation to him to beg the loan of l £5, whic they promised to repay as soon as their luck changed. Mr. Irving inquiro ed into the circumstances of the case, found petitioners was true, and sent them £103: a a gift. h.‘ if ‘. it No reason or smart son. Between Paris and Berlin. Returning pleasure seekers from Euro report that the conductors on the ‘ between Paris and Berlin are the curiosities of Continental travel this year. They are a fine-looking lot of men, who have evidentâ€" 1y gone through military training. They all speak "most excellent Frenph while trave ling through France, and their polite- ness impressed all travellers. The sur- rise comes the moment the trains cross the ob frontier and lids upon German territory. Then they gin to talk Ger- man and refuse bluntly to speak a word of French. A gentleman who went abroad recently made the trip between Paris and Berlin a few weeks ago with a friend who had but a very slight knowledge of German. The lat- ter was completely upset b the sudden taci- turnity of the~conductor o the through pal- ace car, who talked French all the way un- til the frontier was passed. The passen er asked some questions in French, but t o conductor merelyshrugged his shoulders and pretended not to understand. He jabbered in German, but- none of the angers could induce him to speak a war of French. It was the same way on other trains and with other conductors. “ \Ve couldn’t find out the exact reason» for this,” he said. “ The conductor was a German, but he seemed to act under orders in for etting- his French so suddenly. It seem that there was some political reason for the action. \Ve understood the railroad officials had issued instructions that French was not to be spoken on German soil by any of the railroad employees." .â€".___.___.â€"â€"â€"_ A Prison Chaplain's Story. The Rev. G. P. Merrick, chaplain of Her Majesty’s Prison, Millbank, has recent. 1y been telling the world of what he has learned conerning that unfortunate class, known as “ abandoned women." During the years he has been engaged in his melan- choly work more than one hundred thou- sand ‘persons belonging to this 'class have passe through this single prison. It has been Mr. Merrick’s custom to make short- hand notes of such facts as his charge might be disposed to narrate concerning herself and her circumstances. Of more than one hundred thousand biographical records thus obtained, sixteen thousand, taken con- secutively are considered in the pamphlet. Of these 13,915 led an immoral life : 12000 and upwards were sent to prison, directly or indirectly, through drink; 3,106 had been married ; 3,237 could neither read nor write while the attainments of 5,397 others were of the most elementary character. Of 14,790 whose trade or occupation is given 8,000 came from the ranks of domestic ser- vants ; 1,050 were barmaids; 183, gover- nesses ; 2,667 needlewomen; 1,617 trade girls; 166, street vendors; 228, theatre and music hall attachees ; and 838 deposed that they had no calling. Contrar to the popular view that the East End of ondon is the cradle, and school, and home of the majority of thieves, drunk- ards and fallen women, Mr. Merrick states that “ in spiteof its poverty, its destitution, its misery and squalor, it. hasasmaller crim- inal and dissolute population, not in comparison, but in fact, than any other large area in London.” Moreover instead of the majority of the outcasts being the vic- tims of men’s brutal lust and heartless abandonment as some have supposed or as others claim that it is usually a choice between starvation and the streets, our author shows that of 16,022 cases, 1,636 were betrayed under a promise of marria e, while u wards of 11,000 were led away Iby such a lurements as : nothing to do : ” “ plenty of mono ;" “your own mistress :" “ perfect libert , ’ and as they say “being a lady. ” Mr. ll errick testifies that the rate of mortality among these poor creatures is terribly high, the average duration of a “life on the streets” being about three years and six months. That the book constitutes apathetic tale, and draws agloomy picture few will dispute. The gloom is somewhat relieved, however,by the fact that, contrary to the prevalent view, many of these poor creatures are reclaimed and restored ton. decent and orderly life. Says Mr. Merrick : “ Altogether, I must have in my possession thousands of letters of a pleasant character, from those who were once in a prison cell, but who are now in various walks of life, earning for themselves a good report.” nâ€"â€"â€"â€"â€"-.â€"â€"â€" Anoient Books of Clay. Far away beyond the plains of Mesopo tarnin, on the banks of the river Tigris lie the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh Not long since huge mounds of earth and stone marked the place : here the palaces and walls of the proud ca ital of the great Assy- rian empire stood. he spade and scraper, first of the French and then of the English. have cleared all the earth away and laid bare till that remains of the old streets and palaces where the proud princes of Assyria walked and lived. The gods they worship- ed aud the books they read have all been revealed to the sight of a wondering world. The most curious of all the things reserv- cdfn this wonderful manner are t e clay books of Ninemh. The chief library of the city was contained in the Palace of Kanyun- jik. The clay books which composed its contents were sets of tablets covered with very small letters. The tablets are all oblong in shape, and when several of them are used for one book the first line of the tablet following was written at the end of the one preceding it. The writing was done when the clay of the tablet was soft : it was then baked to harden it. Each tablet was numbered just as libsarians of to-day num- ber the books of which they have charge. Taming the Tables on the Church. One of the earlier yeomen of Bridth was a pump maker, a good citizen, but with “ no religious preferences,” One day he was waited u n bv one of the church assessors, _who han ed him a bill for the support of preaching. ' " I hain’t heard no preaching," said the old man, somewhat snr rised. “ Well, brother, its your own fault, then,” replied the churchmen. “Its been accessible to all, every Sabbath for a car." “The old entleman acknowled the corn and psi Not long after 51in the parish received from him a bill for a pump. “ We have bought no pump of you," was the answer. “ Well, then." replied the old gentleman, with a twinkle in his eye, “its your own fault, for I have been making them for years-l, , If, very Curious Proceedings s. the Intro-da- _ M... "a. ascnwmmr. ,.