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PERE LEMONNIER’S Gillâ€"Ii.“ W “In the midst of fruitful vales and wooded hillsu little Norman village lay. lilach gen- eration had brought its wars and strife and revelations, but their hot breath had [)assv-(l over the face of the land, leavin r this green spot in peace, until the ” term to year” of the German invasion, when the enemy had come there, killing. burning, and pillaging all before them, and leaving in their wake a memory of terror and desolation. It was all so very terrible to these quiet, thrifty peasant proprietors, who dwelt in their thatched cottages and farmhouses down yonder in the valley, where the parish church, with its slated roof, green and moss-grown through age, used to peal forth the call to vespcrs o a summer evening With it sweet, ((301) tone that seemed the very soul of old-world rest and peace. A poet, it was said, had once hyiniicd those venerable oak trees, which had seen many centuries come and go ; but now alas ! they had been out down in order that men might the better see to slay each other. , Old l’cre Lomouuier sat in the kitchen of his farmhouse, which was situated in a se- questered spot, and hitherto been respected by the foe. _ He was over eighty now and had fought in the great Napoleon’s wars, but ever since that time he had tilled those lands which Were his very ownâ€"albeit a small holding -â€"-aiid, living a healthy, frugal country life, He had come to this ripe old age a hard, honest manâ€"the very soul of uncomprom- lsnig honour. His only son, Antoine, was away with his regiment, and no new: had becuheard of him for a long time past. so Pcrc Lomouuier was quite alone now, save {pr his niece Melanie, who kept house for iin. He could neither road nor write. \Vhat good would it it do him? he would say ; he could earn his living from the 5011 without these accomplishments. He, therefore, could not read the lichpapers; but even had he been able to do so he would only have swallowed a mass of official lies in which the-French journals of 1870 mainly dealt. But the news that passed from mouth to mouth-the news he heard when he went with his cattle to the inarket-townâ€"had, alas ! more truth in it; and he could hardly believe or understand the fearful disaster to his glorious patrie which came on every hand; they seemed to crush him, and to break down his proud old spirit. Now they were forced to realise all the shame and the horrors that were brought upon them by a corrupt and decaying dynasty. The hated Prussians were even now in their very midst, and Pere Lemonnier knew not at what moment he might be driven from that home which had been his father’s before him in the dead and gone days when the seigneur ruled over the land. “ Ah, well,” he sighed now, as he looked up at. his ancient rifle which he kept loaded, hanging from a. black oak beam above the ample chimney-piece ; “ thou hast seen good serVice, my stout companion, but I am too old to raise thee now for my country. That 18 Antoine’s duty, and please the good God he may do it bravely ! But still, who knows? Perhaps I may yet have to take thee down to defend my life, or my hon- our !” ' He raised his eyes towards the window, I utter surprise. mean. “I do not know what you I am hiding no one ; but if I were THE LOSS OF THE BIRKBHHBAD- ai ' ' ' ' id he wore the unifoim of the French A Tam “Bruin. “um, m me "we 0",”. army, you may rest assured that you might uevor take him by my consent." “That is as good as to confess that you are hiding our prisoner." “ No, it is not. him. 1 would not sully my honour by ly- from Bowler's ing to such dogs as you l” “ That is idle talk. you would be the dogs, with us. better take care what you do and say. Some of your people have had their heines burnt down for less. in beating about the bush. If we were beaten, ‘_‘Compreheiisive You had which describe the sp lulu Death. In alettcr to the \Veckly Scotsman of March 4 M r. James Murc Forbes, of Cape I know nothing about Town, gives some interesting quotations “Kaffir Wars and British Africa” and Thomson‘s History of England,” at and tell the story Bowler says: dreadful ‘Cape of Settlers in South of the disaster. “Cape Point the But there is no good Storins,’isascenc of wild and desolate It is your son grandeur. The African continent property you are hiding, and we mean to have him.” terminates in a 10W, Bulldy hen-0h know“ "'3 o 1 ' ' These last words so greatly astonished the ‘Cape blats,’ which have during long the old farmer, that he made no resistance ages been thrown up by the two contrary when two of the Prussian soldiers held him prevailing Winds and tides, and Bll'Ct‘v'h 0m! forcibly down in his chair, filed out of the room to search the house. “ My son is not here, I tell you. far away, fighting with the army of Loire. I wish he were close at band. would never allow this indignity to be put unlike a: huge piclmxe, whilst the rest; into the sea, connecting what was evident- ly once an island with the mainland. This He is island is nothing more than a long, narrow the strip of mountainous coast, stretching right He across and beyond the Flats, in form not the one arm of upon us while a single drop of blood rcmain- WhiCh consisting of the DeVll’S Peak, Til-1’10 ed in his body. fly, if ordered by his officers ; butI tell you he would never hide from his enemy l” My son would retreat and Mountain, and the Lion’s Rump, incloscs Table Bay, while the other arm, stretching far out into the sea. and terminating in the “ Nevertheless,” the sergeant answered hOld, preCipltOUS promontory 0; 081119 170ml}, brutally, “ you shall presently see him forms the one side of the wide inViting, but shot down before your very eyes as a, fugi- dangerousfFalse Bay. Cape Point though not tivc prisoner of war.” “ That Ishall never see i” Lomouuier cx~ claimed. possessed by a sullen rage. Now he could hear the soldiers tramping about upstairs, searching and turning over the most southerly is generally regarded as the extreme end of the continent. On the summit of the outermost crag, overhanging the sea, a very fine lighthouse, with very powerful revolving reflectors, has been all his secret and sacred hiding-places; el‘OCted. breaking. pillaging everything before them. Ah, of course ! He had heard these dogs of the lantern, the awed spectator “ Leaning out of one of the windows of gazes Prussians were nothing but thieves. This, “might; down into an abyss of dark rocks then, was only an excuse for robbery. 0h. and tumbling waters, and sees the flash of why “Ml he 1101‘» the strength 0f forty YOU-1‘9: the wings and hears the screams of the sea 1180, 01‘ why was “ObAlllOIDG here to prevent fowl, wheeling in the horrid gloom a thou- this insult being put upon him ? sand feet below. During a strong south- The sergeant Crossed the room, and Shout:- caster the surf breaks and boils and - roars ed upstairs in German : “ Millie haSte ! If for a mile out to sea, as it dashes with mod 37011 cannot find him. we must? go on. “70 fury over the Bellows and other remarkable have other work to do.” But they answered back : him, Sergeant. bed l” and then there was anoisc of scuflling and a strange scream. ' ‘ ‘ ch have He was hiding under 21. soldiers on their way rocks. “The Birkenhead, freighted with 500 to the Kaflir war, steamed past Cape Point in a few hours be- fore she struck on Point Danger. The mem- “It is Melanie l” cried the old farmer, ory of the fearful ship-wreck, on the 26th struggling to be free. They make war on women now !” But it was a. French soldier who was be- age. and devotion- ing dragged, pale and trembling, down the gloomy staircase. “Donnerwetter, you “ Ah the brigands ! of February, lb.32,is still fresh in the minds of all who treasure deeds of daring, cour- It is afitting tribute to the gallantry of the British Army to picture fools!” swore the ever fought, _against a worse enemy than sergeant, as the prisoner was brought for- III-m.” ward into the lamplight ; “ who have you got here ? This is a girl 1” Thomson says : “ This vessel was convey- herc the scene of a brave a. battle as was] ing detachments from several of our regi- “ Melanie l” exclaimed Lomouuier, this ments to the seat of war under Lieut. Col. time wrenching himself free; indeed his Alexander Seton, Seventy-fourth High- captors were too much astonished to detain finders, (Who had Succoeded t0 the com- him. less masquerading?” “ Oh, forgive me, my uncle; I (lid it to Bay, save Antoine l” “ To save Antoine !" The words came like a. dagger-thrust. At this moment the outer door was flung Wily. the cabin was quickly open, and two more Germans entered the WMOI‘, “ What is the meaning of this sense- mand on the death of Col. Fordyce), and had proceeded on her voyage from Simon’s ' when she suddenly struck upon a sunken rock near the shore, off Point Dan- 1 ger. The shock was so tremendous that: the iron plates of the ship's bottom gavel filled With and it was evident that in a few kitchen with 'a man of about five-and. 'minutes more the ship would be engulfed thirty, attired in the cap and blouse of 3. among the breakers. Norman peasant, who walked sulleiily be- tween them.” “ It was yet only ‘2 o’clock in the morn~ ing, with no light but that of the stars; but - A FIRE HORROR. Loss of [Are in in Cleveland Apartment House. A despatch from Cleveland, Ohio, says: â€"A fire horror unprecedented in the history of Cleveland, happened shortly after noon to-day, when four women and a child were burned to death in an a srtment house on one of the leading rcsi encc streets. The fire broke out at the Morgan, a fashionable boarding place, at No. 508 Prospect street; The building was a three-storey and base- ment brick structure, containing fortycfive rooms, and it had nearly forty inmates. Just at the hour for luncheon, Mrs. J. H. Miller, one of the boarders. discovered flames in the hall on the second floor. Escape by the stairway was cut ofl', so Mrs. Miller jumped from a second- storcy window to the ground and gave the alarm. The fire spread rapidly through the halls, and hundreds of people who con- gregated on the scene at once attempted to rescue those who were in the building. No- body thought, however, to turn in a fire alarm, and at least half an hour elapsed before a steamer arrived or a police- man had been sent to the place. The utmost excitement prevailed, and it was not until the flmcs had been subdued that the extent of the catastrophe was learn- ed. The names of the dead are :~â€"Mrs. Mary E. Abbey, widow of Judge Abbey, aged 78; Mrs. Emma Somers, a blind woman, agod‘ffi; Mrs. Jessie Hunt, wife of A. 0. Hunt, aged 21, who was visit- ing her mother, Mrs. Seniors; Percy Hunt, daughter of Mrs. Hunt, aged one year; Mrs. P. G. Semers, 70 years, mother-in-law of Mrs. Anna Somers. Mrs. J. H. Miller was badly bruised oy jumping from a second- storey window. The fire started in the basement, just how is not known, and it swept up through the halls, cutting off all means of escape. The women who perish- ed ran to the windows, but before anything could be done to assist them they were driven back by the smoke and flames. Those on the lower floors rushed to the street, and one ~woman beside Mrs. Miller jumped frein a second storey window. She was Mrs. E. T. (iigord, and she was caught in a rubber coat held by two spectators, escaping with- out injury. The dead bodies were found on 1 the third floor. The corpses were burned' to a crisp. The two upper floors of the building are gutted and the contents of the house are ruined. PNEUMATIC TUBES ABROAD. ’I‘lieir Extensive Ilse in London, Paris Vienna, and Berlin. Pneumatic tubes for local transmission of telegrams are now used'in all the princi- pal cities in Great Britain. At present about 50 miles of such tubes are in operation, requiring an aggregate of 40 horse-power, and transmitting a daily average of over 105,000 messages (or 30,000,000 annually), more than half of these in London. The length of tubes varies greatly ; the average length is 631) yards; the greatest single length in London is 3,092 yards. The tubes are of lead, laid in eastironl pipes for protection, and are usually of 2.1: . inches inner diameter; some tubes of la],- , “ We have of; our man ser cant ” s id ‘ - ‘ ~ . . ' . . . 9: y g , a in an instant the deck “as ctowded With and some of 311101183 “mar (hammer arel 0119 Of the 110W comet‘s- “You hm'e been the alarmed passengers, and while deathlused and there out in the basse-cour, by the I played a fine trick, it seems_ He was try. was imminent, only two of the Ship:s boats fading. evening light, he could just decry Melanie 1n apparently earnest converse With a. man in the uniform ofa French lines- man. The old man called to his niece, whereupon Melanie hastily ran into the house, and the soldier disappeared. “ Who was that thou wert speaking to 1'" Leinonnier asked. “ I thought all our men had been driven away from these parts 11” " It is a poor fellow who fled from Buehy, where there has been a terriblebattle.” “ A thousand thunders I” cried the farmer, striking the table with his fist. W’hy didst than not makehim come in ‘2” “ Iâ€"â€"â€"I did not like to do that,” the girl answered hesitatingly. “ Why not? I am hard enough, God knowsâ€"perhaps a. miser, as they say-â€"-but my door shall never be closed against those brave lads who have been facing the cursed Prussians in defence of their country. Go ! bid him come in and rest himself, and have a glass of cider.” "I. cannot, my uncle,” Melanie replied, seeming strangely embarrassed. “Heâ€"lie would not come in, I am sure. He is afraid --I mean he has already gone away.” “ Well, go; call him back if thou canst still find him.” Leinonnier’s niece left the room, as though glad to be released from further questions ; but she did not return, and the old farmer, sitting sad and lonely by the side of the great open heart-h, forgot all about the matter again. Old age, having no future, lives in the past, and oftentimes“ the events of the present come and go, making no more impression on the mind then so many fleeting dreams. The hours passed slowly on. Darkness began to fall around, and the fire cast huge shadows on the ancient, carved.oak cup. boards, black with age, which give that quaint, old-world air to Norman farm. houses. Then l’ere Leiuonnier, who had been fighting the battle of Jena. over again in imagination, and wishing those times under the Little Corporal might come back, returning to everyday affairs,bethought him it was nearly time for his evenincr {/ozmse, and began to wonder where that good-for- nothing Melanie could have got to. He rose up and lit the little lamp of calm oil, which he set upon the table, muttering something about the fliglitiness of youth. Then he determined to go out and look for her, when he was suddenly arrested by the sound of voices speaking in an unknown tongue, and the regular military tramp of many feet, which halted right outside his door. There was a loud knock, and he called out : “ Who is there ?” The intruders did not trouble them- selves to answer, but forced the door open, and the next moment the kitchen was full of German soldiers. “ \Vhat do you want?” cried the old man, with wonderful courage for his years. “I am past the age for fighting, as you see. If it were not so it would be the worse for some of you. As it is, go, and leave me in secs 5” “ We will do) that,” replied the sergeant cormnandiug the party in excellent French â€"â€"their linguistic accomplishment was one of the weapons with which. his countrymen fought and Wonâ€"u“ we Will leave you in peace if you “ill give up our prisoner whom on are hiding. l l ing to escape from/ knew his uglyâ€"mug directly I set eyes upon the boats, at the risk of swamping them, As a general rule, with the same air pressure and diameter of tube, the speed “3 ill dlsguise; 13111? I were available for service. To rush intolvmies inversely as the léngm of the tube. ...._â€"..._ [Death or the Most Brilliant Business Man in the Congo Valley. The career of Camille Delcommune, who died on the Upper Congo in December last, illustrates the fact that some white men are able to make splendid opportunities for themselves even in tropical Africa. Ten years ago he went to the Congo at a small salary to be the agent of a trading company at one of their stations. Nine years later he was the director of the Society of the Upper Congo, had more than forty trading stations under his direction, and, from a commercial point of view, was the most important whiteman on the river. Fourteen steamboats are engaged exclusively in the transportation service of this company, whose stations are scatterd along the Congo and its tributaries for thousands of miles. Delcominune established all of these stations on the upper river. Delcommune went to the Congo when he was 2'2 years old on a salary of only about $700 and his rations. He died when he was only 33 years old, and the salary he then commanded would be considered as representing brilliant success in any com- mercial centre of the world. One reason for his success was his un- bounded enthusiasm and his faith in the future of the much-decried Congo country. In one of his letters he wrote : “ The trade that can be developed in the Upper Congo Valley is almost incalculable.” In another letter he said : “ Any degree of success may be attained here by men of enterprising character and of dauntless determination to achieve their purposes.” . Dclcommunc was that sort of amen. Had he lived he would have become wealthy. He had already won a fair competency when he died. Men like him cannot besupprcss- ed. Put them in the desert of Sahara and they Would find some way to make money. He was the first European to buy ivory on the Upper Congo. Somehow or other, not even physical obstacles could defeat him. Explorers had tried in vain to take their steamers through the Zongo rapids of the Mohangi River. He was thefirst to make the passage when he planted his stations on the Mobangi in 1801. The missionaries say no other man of such activity, push,and vigilance has ever been seen on the Congo. He had great tact in dealing with the oath es, and they all liked him. He was a. strict disciplinarian, and held his white subordinates to a. rigid accountability. They had to make money for the company or get out. He launched most of the fleet of steamers that he controlled. He did not hesitate, however, to push inland, away from the rivers, when he believed there was a. good prospect of opening a profitable ivory and rubber trade. In two months, a. while ago, he travelled 000 miles along tortuous and narrow native paths, studying the prospects of commercial development, at a distance from the rivers. During his ten years’ service he visited Europe only once, and was away from his field of work but a. few months. His vigor and energy never became impaired, and he knew how to keep well in u. trying climate, and yet his death seems to have been due to an indiscrction. \Vhile standing by the grave of one of his subordinates, he remov- ed his hat to make a few remarks. He re- ceived a sunstrokc, fever followed, and he it. for 1 had marked ill myself. Wth the would have been the impulse of the selfish ; butt-end'of my gill} When he tried to give to fling themselves into the sea in the hope 7 us the slip before. of reaching the shore, but only to sink each In tubes not over a mile long, the usual ' (“9d “1 a- few days, lamented by all the average speed is 25 to 30 miles an hour. lWhlte men 0“ “1300111930 “3 the mo“ bmu‘ The carriers are of gumwpemha‘ covered‘lfltn‘d man of business whose talents had with felt, with a buffer at the front end, i been devaloped "1 that reglon- H13 brow“ The 100k 0f Shame Mid agony WhiCh was other by their overcrowding and perish in - ' ' ‘ Al ' d ' ' ll-k ' C ' _ , . d t d t t} e b k I. ,1 c1 cxan ei is a we noun ongo ex- imprinted on the aged farmer spalc features the breakers and by the sharks that were on 2': 113:1 ($31111: Eggsaaée$ 1 A20 Olfaiggf; 2,11,“ plorer. nized here before him his own son, Antoine tempt; even of the bravest, rier Weighing 23} ounces holds a dozen mes- sages. “ \Vhat !” he moaned, bitterly, “ You !. , Is it you who disgrace our honor by cost- ing off your uniform at thebidding ofa girl, and sneak and hide away frein your enemy, instead of facing them like a manâ€"and worse than all, let a. woman inect danger for " But nothing of the kind in either way was done, and never was the power of The marked success of the British nneu- mili- matic service led to the adoption of similar DESERVE) A BETTER FATE. tary disipline, or the worth of fearless, un- systcms in Paris, Vienna, and Berlin. The .1 lIei-oiclniglncer Dependent on Charity flinc‘hing courage, or the moral grandeur of pneumatic system of Paris was put into self-sacrificing dcvotedness more ccnspicu- operation in 1866, and has grown steadily, ously displayed than in the moment of ter- so that to-day in Paris tubes are used almost gm your sake! But stay, thou shalt escape rible ma, these cursed Prussians yet, where they can not touch thee 1” And as he spoke t hese words, before they knew what he was about, or could stir a.- step to prevent him, old Lemonnier had usual movements of the drill exclusively for transmission of local tele- “ At the word of, Col. Seton the SOlllieI‘S grams and letters demanding quick delivery. drew up upon therceling and loosening deck, A small stamped envelope, the petit bleu, as if they had been on parade; they obeyed I costing 50 ccntimes, or 10 cents, is used his orders as if they had been executing the for the message, which, dropped into a. The brave, special post box, is delivered anywhere in snatched down Ins gun and fired It f0” the humane heart of the Colonel was first direct- Paris within an hour, often within 25 min- first time since the day of Waterloo. There was a. tremendous report which echoed through the room, a. cloud of smoke rolled ed to the safety of those who could least utes. . help themselvesâ€"and whose fate would otherwise have been certainâ€"to the women, lished in March, 1875. In Vienna the “ tube post ” was estab The nine districts up to the blaCk oak beams’ and his son An. the Children, Md the Sick on board, and of the city are connected witha central sta- toinc lay dead upon the floor ! tragic sceneâ€"the old man sunk upon his knees, his white head bowed down : the girl in her strange garb sobbing outabreak~ ing heart over her lover‘s corpse. “Forward?” he said very softly to his- men ; “ we can do no good here. oner has escaped us after all 2" ...__..â€"_â€"â€"â€"0.â€" Gibraltar and Spain. ‘ The Gibraltar of to-day tualed by the good-will of Spain. W8- indeCd Plhcous ‘30 hehOld, 8-5 he I‘eCOg- the alert, would have been the headlong at- If we sired to victual the place, we should first have to silence the Spanish batteries round the bay, and it these were constructed as , , they were carefully conveyed into the boats, (ion. Even the hard German sergeants hm”) which, in the first instance, were giv was touched with pity as he looked upon for th out a single exception. ted themselves to a piece of floating timber, the vessel parted amidships and went down with the greater part of the officers and began, in 1862 discussion of measures of re- . soldiers, with whom self-preservation had lief for the overcrowded local telegraph can only be “'3‘ been only the latest subject of anxiety. - _ .1 . , . “In this fatal catastrophe 357 officers in 1865 between the central Telegraph sta- w‘ne’ unhappl 3" at War W‘t’h 59”“ and (16' and soldiers and 60 seamen perished, while tion and the Exchange building. The be- ncarly 200 lives were saved, and this, too, ginning of the present extensive “tube in a crisis where,but for these arrangements post” of Berlin dates from 1876,since which and the fidelity with which they were cxe~ ' modern science enables tliemto be construct- cubed, nearly all might have been lost- ed: We Cerbmnly could “Ol’mlence them “'1' These soldiers also, be it observed, were with 38 stations. less we landed, and, by slow and laborious not, veterans, hm for the most Part young methods, captured them. tically involve an invasion of Spain on a comparatively large scale, for until we had fully effected our object, Gibraltar would have to remain unrelicved. In the last cen- tury relief from seaward could only be pre- vented by way of the sea ; in the present, it can also be prevented by way of the land. Thus have the modern developments of gun- nery altered the situation to our prejudice. ' It may, perhaps, be objected that al- though Gibraltar might be useless to us as against Spain, it would still, in war time, be useful to us as against any other power. , . - , come? "They are beginning to call each other It certainly might be useful to a very modi- itigfkgélglgfljgag’ When than ‘08581 tied extent. It is, nevertheless, a matter of the 26m Febtum notoriety than Spain ardcntly desires to re- gain possession of the fortress, and it is scarcely conceivable that, unless we were actually fighting for the protection of Span- ish interests, Spain would remain rigidly neutral while another power was attempting to expel us from the Rock. In order to secure the more or less active co-operation of Spain, the power would merely have to give some secret pledge that, having once gained possession of Gibraltar, she would hand it over, without charge, to its ancient owners. France, there is no doubt, would, with things standing as they do at present, he very glad to see Spain take our place there, and, though Italy might not like it, she would not spend a single cents-lino to U What prisoner i" asked lycinonnier, in] prevent"- it.-_â€"[Thc Fortnightly Review. Thls would Prac' recruits who had never been under fire, and liii more quickly than telegrams, at a cost yet they calmly stood in a breach more equivalent to 7; cents, and “ tube post- dismaying than Badajoz or San Sebastian cards” at (i,L cents. The tubes in Berlin are and saw the boats, their lasthope of safety, of wrought iron, and have an inner diam- depart from them without a murmur.“ A mural tablet was erected by Govern- by eight steaLm engines, aggregating only ment at Chelsea Hospital bearing the fol- 1‘28 horse power. lowing inscription : “ This monument is erected by command of her Majesty Queen Victoria to record the heroic constancy and unbroken discipline shown by Lieut. Col. -_ Seton, Seventy-fourth Highlanders, and the troops embarked under his command on ape of Good Hope on y, 185:3, and to preserve the memory of the ofliccrs, non-commission- ed officers, and men who perished on that occasion.” Electric Weaving- A story is going the rounds of a wonderful electric loom which will weave the coarsest carpet or finest linen. operating, as each shuttle and movingpart works independently. The present power looms run .140 to 130 picks per minute, but, slikull is, phwhy the folks on the unthcr thisco’iitrivance easily picks 250 toflOO a. min. ute. Altogether it is very wonderful, but no details of its construction or data of practical tests of its workings have yet been made public, It makes no nmse in wor-r-rld is as round as that ‘2” The “tube mail ” is dropped into . ‘ ‘ en up Special post boxes, collected every half air spccml benefit; and by this ar- hour, forwarded to the central station and rangement all the helpless were saved with- distributed. Pneumatic envelopes cost 15 And now only were kreuzers (about 6 cents), ordinary letters 3 the strong and vigorous to look to their own kreuzers. safety, after they had so nobly discharged within one hour after mailing. The Vienna. on IS their duty to others, and while several bc- system consists of a main circuit of 5.3L 0 P” took themselves to swrmming, or cominit- miles, with three branch lines ; total length “Tube letters” are delivered .. .32 miles. .lii Berlin the Prussian postal authorities system, and a pneumatic line was opened time it has been enlarged until there are now over :28 miles of tube line in the city, Tube letters are to-day delivered in Ber- cter of 9.55 inches. The system is operated -â€"-¢â€"â€"â€"â€"-â€"â€"-â€" They Ought to Know- “ Don’t you think we ought to separate our husbands ‘3” said a lady to her friend. “ Do you not see how excited they have be- and H ‘ox ’ ‘ass’ and all sorts of nasty things. “ Oh, no t” was the calm reply. “. Let them go on. They have been acquainted with each other for more than twenty years and probably know what they are talking about.” The Selencé of it- “Arrali, thin, Pat, do you rallythink the “ Av ceorsc I do.” " Thin pliwat I can’t get t’rough my soide don’t fallinto slipacc l” “ Yez make me toired t” ” Well, but phwhy is it, I ax ycz '1” I. “God has given them common sense, man aloive, an’ they simply howld on t" a.“ M£Wj;mgfl&wmmvmfi, , . . .V â€"l)rovc the First Locomotive. The pioneer engine driver of the United tcs, Christopher Benson, now 86 years of age, is an inin do of the Philadelphia. Hos- pital. After a remarkable career of fifty- ninc years of serum on the railroads of this continent he is at last dependent on the charity of the city of Philadelphia. Although the old man is past the four- scorc in years, yet he is still hearty and in possession of good health. A remarkable accident, in which he saved the lives of 672 passengers, nine years ago on the Mohawk railway bridge of the New York Central &. Hudson River railroad, has deprived him of his teeth and all the hair on his head. Benson is the famous engineer who drove the engine safely over the bridge at Mohawk, - accomplishing one of the 1m st astonishing feats of railroad adventure. The news- papers at that time lauded him to the skies for his .hcroism. It was a horribly literal truth that the passengers escaped by the skin of their teeth, but it was at the loss of, the teeth and hair of the dauntless engineer. The passengers came off with a few scratches, and as the last car cleared the bridge it fellâ€"â€"a mass of flames. icnson had all his hair burned off and teeth so injured by the shock and fire that they were loosened and lost. . " Benson held the throttle of the first on gine ever brought into the United Statesâ€"« the John Bull. 'This was on May 27, 1829, and over the Albany 85 Schenectady Rail~ way. This engine was a cumbersome piece of mechanism, with wooden wheels. It was laid aside a year later for the first on- gine manufactured in Americaâ€"the De Witt (’Ilintonmwhich was driven over the same railroad for the first time by Benson, on August 30, 1830. This engine was spe- cially built here by Englishmen brought ovel for that purpose. - Bridgct’s Rebuff- A lady had been ill and under rredical treatment for a long time. As she grew no better all the while, she became distrustful of her physician’s skill and did not wish to see him, and yet was not hold enough to tell him so. She communicated her state of mind to her maid. “ Lave ’im to me, ll]llll‘l,,l0.\'c ’im to me?” said the girl. By and by the doctor came to the door and Bridget opened it about an inch. “ Sorry, sir,” said she, “ but ye can‘t come in the day, docthor l” “ Can’t come in ‘3 How’s that 2’” “ The mistliress do be too ill for to see ye the day, sir I” â€"â€"._â€"... ’ Claram“ And so you have atlast brought Hurry Goodcatch to your feet?" Maude-â€" “ Yes : but I’m afraid its for the last time. I accentrd him 1”