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u v v V ‘e . .s vr‘ l » vâ€"v/an‘-tv~r ._t_ lâ€"wt â€".,W..A..;:z‘,«.â€"e‘w~c~w e. . e i i it- .border embroidered with pinks _.___.~.._.â€".â€"â€"â€"â€"- RUSKIN LINEN. Mr. Ruskin's death has sent my thoughts back to a summer in Eng- land -a few years ago, during which I made a‘Ruskin pilgrimage, writes Maria L. Owens. In Oxford, Chelsea, and Sheffield I saw all that was ac- cessible of the great teacher‘s work in schools and museums, but there were other shrines in Lancashire and Westmorreland, and toward them I next turned my steps. In those counties the ancient cotâ€" tage industries of spinning and weav- ing flax by hand, had long passed away, when Mr. Ruskin conceived the idea of reviving them in his own neigh- borhood to give work and means of support to poor old .men and women who were sitting by their firesides in enforced idleness, their occupation taken from them by the mills. With the help of friends inspired by his seal, the enterprise was carried out no successfully that where only linen for underwear and household use had been planned the product turned out a treasure for artistic needlework, and was prized by royalty itself. In due time Ambleside was reached, and the region of the handqmade linen was close by, for the spinning school, I knew, was in a cottage named after St. Martin,. and dedicated to him, standing half way between Mr. Rus- kin’s home in Coniston, and \Vords- worth’s in Rydal. Now, if Mr. Rus- kin had taken such an interest and given so much personal attention to the scheme that the product of the cottage wheels and looms was called by his name, that was,sufficient in- ducement forms to determine to see the Langdale linen and to go home the proud possessor of some Ruskin sheets. . On an early day then, I made acall at the largest dry goods store, Anglice drapers, in the village and asked if they kept the Ruskin linen. Mr. Tol- son wished that he did have it; they llad promised it to him from St. Mar- tln‘s for two years, but they couldn't get enough ahead over there to supâ€" ply him. Had I engaged any? No. ‘Well, I-might'get a. yard or two for elmbroidering at the spinning school. But lwanted sheeting. Ad! did I know the price? Four or five pounds a pair. Surprise-d, but not quite stun- ned, I answered bravely. “But they are worth it, I suppose." “Oh, they’ll never wear out." If bent on having the linen I could write for samples, ., _.-... .L?:._:_‘Ji .tirely absorbed in the but as I wanted to see for myself, Mr; TolSon obligingly Laid out a way for me to get to Eltenwater without ak- ing a whole day for it. I was going the next morning on the tour of the Langdales, a coaching trip, and Mr. Tolson told me the par- ty would stop about three hours at Dungeon Gliyll, where Imust leaveit, walk over to Eltenwater, some five miles, see the linen and then "pick up the coach,” on its return, at some point on which I could arrange with the driver. \Ve did it all exactly, my companion and I._ The rapid walk in that invigorating air was apleasure in itself. What mountains we saw in the distance, and under our feet the grassy roadsides were dotted with sturdy mountain daisies and yellow tormentils, while the parsley fern. grew among the rocks in a profusion wonderful to our eyes. \Vhen Chapel Stile was reached We soon found St. Martin‘s just as it had been described, "a quaint place ex- actly fulfilling IIlorace’s injunction, ‘Near the house let there be a spring of water and a wood close by.’ " The date, .1692, was on the front of the cottage. We found that we had thir- ty-five minutes for our stay there. A-woman scrubbing the floor rose at once, pulled down her sleeves, and then looked the real lady that she was. She saw the urgency of our case and quick, gentle and obliging, lost not a moment in waiting on us. She showed the linen, seven or eight kinds, in the piece, and then the embroider- leeâ€"from small cushion covers and ta- ble, through tray cloths, covers for Bta‘nds, table's and bureaus, and dmp_ l than at St. Martin‘s, making cry for pictures, up to bedspreads and portieres. The prices of many were I l I l a | l green leaves. This was finished with a. silk fringe and the price was £8. Much of the wonk was done in the London schools of embroidery under the patronage of the Princess Louise, but the linen was the product of the cottage |wheels and looms, and was of different shades. of‘gray or corn, from the natural color of the flux through various degrees of bleaching down to almost white. ' ' Mrs. Pepper, with quiet rapidity, emptied for us the drawers of abeaul tifully carved old oak bureau,â€"â€"all the things different and each drawing from us admiring excl-emotions, but while my young comp-anions were enâ€" sight I .kept darting away to, the other things in that delightful little room. In the fireplace was a jar of wild flowers oak leaves, and red co'rnel berries, and on the walls a photograph of Mr. Rus- kin and a certificate from his~own bland .of the purity and honesty of the linen and his willingness to have it called the Ruskin linen. A framed au- tograph also of Mr. Ruskin, over the mantelpieceâ€"a large sheet of paper closely coveredwith writing, but in a hand so rapid and contracted that it would have taken long to puzzle it out, it was about the dignity and happiness coming from the venerable arts of spinning and weaving. The very photograph of Giotto’s " \Veaving," which had'been the only guide for repairing and putting to- gether the old loom brought out of its fifty years’ decay and oblivion in a Viendal cellar, was on the wall, and four pictures in a row of Penelope, and other spinners and weavers of history and poetryâ€"Longfellow’s Prisâ€" cilla, one of them: There was carved oak furniture, black with age and very precious, and samples of the work of the present time, for wood carving is another revived cottage art; and for a finishing enchantment, Mr. Rus- kin had often been ln that very room. I didn't forget the sheeting; Icould look and admire, though I couldn’t have any. I asked for itâ€"another drawer opened and a piece taken out -â€"about a dozen yards. It was very coarse, very, but after the instant’s shock I asked the price; 5-6, but it was single width, and Ihad had noth- ing but iwide linen in mind, though, as I reflected afterward, no hand loo-m was ever made that would weave wide sheeting. But I put the next question: Was it for sale? Oh, yes. Why didn’t I say instant- ly, “I will take so many yards,” and bring off my prize exultingly? Well, I couldn’t collect my thoughts, my good fortune was so unexpected; the price for two breadths was the same as 11 shillings a yard, $2.75, so far as I could reckon, but I couldn’t think how many yards I should need, nor how much it would costâ€"as for using the English currency quick, I can not do it. Besides, Ihad been fly- ing about that room, watch in hand. till now it was nearly time: to go out over an unknown road and meet the coach, which we must not keep wait- ing. I had boiled up with delight at finding that I could have the linen; still, its undeniable coarseness had cooled me off a little, and then, what time was there to have it measured off, and how could we get the great heavy bundle to the coach. Common sense said: Don’t do in haste what you may regret at leisure. When my comp-anion had a lone chance with me, she spoke of the fab- ric with irreverent scorn, wouldn’t have a bed of hers seen with such sheets, and couldn‘t sleep between them for their roughness. but that doesn’t turn meâ€"I banker for Ruskin sheets yet. In Kcswick the linen industry is an offâ€"shoot from Mr. Ruskin's, but has grown to greater proportions. They display in their szllesroom more variety than we see at St. Martin’s; thirtyseven kinds of cloth differing in width, fineness, degree of bleachâ€" ing and price, and then tbs some are dyed blue, orange, purple, and red, it brings the whole number of kinds up to fifty. _ The sheeting there was 500 higher two widths come to $3.75 a yard, but they would not sell me any for! that, and high up in the, pounds, but not too I six other kinds are made specially for high for the work upon them, and, I their own Keswick embroiderers there the main thing, they found ready sale’are seven other kinds which can be at these prices among the summer obtained only by entering an order visitors. , which will be filled in its regular There were Oriental borders copied turn; and there is one kind Of which on a larger scale from the little Orien- tal squares that we import; Persian patterns, Kensington patterns and stitches, Greek lace, etcâ€"all kinds of stitches, all patterns in white and in (-olors, in all threads, silk, linen, worsted and gold. I remember some large pansies outlined with gold, pur- pie and yellow alternately o'n acheckâ€" er-board ground. Another exquisite the Princess Louise takes all they make for her schools of embroidery! They have but one spinner who can drlalw. out a thread fine and even en- ough for this so the supply is, of neâ€" cessity, limited. This work is all well paid when done, and. in addition, at the end of the year profits from sales are divided among the workers. The cottagers all over the country side thing had the linen checked off with have been able from these earnings dmwn work, and the squares in the to repair their dwelllngs, and then in'they beautify them with their own Koneington stitch-White flowers and hand’WOYki high and low have been .;:...:2..h.....;4::_.>...-..si‘_-W" ' swanswainaaemwm i _ W .T ‘51:: J brought into earnest helpfulness and warm friendship, and life is bright- ened up for all. A beautiful and impressive incident connected with the funeral of Mr, Ruskin is the fact that the casket was covered with a chaste, simple linen pail woven by the women of the Ruskin linen school of Keswick. .â€"._._..______ - RANGE-FINDING SH RAPNEL. Capt. l’lorncc‘l's of line -Ilnllan Army Dc VIM'S 3 Shell lilnllllng :I Smoke Clolul. Smokeless powder, undoubtedly. has its advantages, but, for certain pur- poses, at Least, also its disadvantages. As a charge in the chamber of a gun for propelling the projectile, it has only advanltages; but as a hunting charge for shell or shrapnel it com- bines with the advantageous quality of projecting the‘fragments or bullets with high velocities, the disadvan- tageous quality of showing little smoke, and therefore preventing ob- serv'altion of the exact Location of the poiznit of burst so essential to correct nangingi Now, in an ordinary shell it would not be difficult to add a combustible which would give a good smoke cloud for facilitating observation; but in shrapnel, in which we desire to have as many fragments and bullets as possible throwin with sufficient velo- city, over a reasonably great dis- tance, the difficulty is to find the ne- cessary room without interfering with‘these desirable qualities. At the same time artillertsts are striving for a single projectile for field piecesâ€"the shrapnel. - The difficulty of determining the range, using only shrapnel with time fuses for firing, has induoed a num- ber of experiments by artil-lerists in various countries. One of the latest and most successful inventions along th'is'linle is the smoke shrapnel of Capt. Pierucoi of the Italian artillery. This shrapnel, on bursting, gives a. smoke cloud which is distinctly visible from the firing battery. and remains visible sufficiemtly long to enable the battery commander accurately to 10-- onto the point of burst horizontally with reference to the target, and thus enables him to determine the range of the target at any time. Capt. Pierucci’s projectile is con- structed Like an ordinary shrapnel. At the. point of the projectile is the time fvmse, in the forward portion the bul- lelt-s are packed, and a tube along the axis communicates the flame from the fuse to a bursting charge of bal- lisntite, the Italian smokeless. powder, in rear of the bullets. This bursting charge is placed in two equal portions tw-e'n-lzy-f'ive grammes each, in two chambers separaited by a partition, lbult communicating by an opening at the centre. :In rear of the bursting charge is a case containing the smoke-producing material, to which flame is communicated by a number of openings, sigh-t, from the bursting- charge chambers. The moment the fuse is fired ‘the ballisti’te in both chambers is ex- plode-d simultaneously, and the walls‘ being very thick, they resist the pres- ' sure, while the bullets in front are sent on with increased velocity; The partition between the two ballistites chambers retains its original velocity, that of the projectile, while the pres- sure to the rear forces lose the case conltaining the smokeâ€"producing ina- lt'erial and causes it to Lose the velo- city it had, due to the motion of the projectile, and to drop nearly. verti- ' oally from the point of burst down to the ground, leaving behind it as it fails a {trail of smoke of a deep gar- net color, lasting about thirty Sec- onds, sufficient time to locate the position of the target. If this projecltile is found to act in the field as it has acted on the firing ground, it has solved the great prob- lem for field artillery,'viz., The fur- nishing the means for the determin- ation of the range and the position of the point of burst at every shot. __o._.â€" BARELY REMEMBERED Hun. What has become, asked the occas- ional-guest, of the pretty black-eyed girl who used to wait at that table own in the corner? . What pretty . black-eyed frigidly inquired the 'young woman with the snub nose and" prominent chin. ‘ If I remember rightly she had a. little bit of a mole on one cheek. Oh, that girl with the blotch‘ ‘On her face! I think somebody married her. girl? N0 REFLECTION ON THE BOYS. Senator Croesus says he beganllfc as a newsboy. Oh, well, we ought not to bl‘tlnfl, the boys. Some black sheep get . . _ _ __ , , , ,,‘,_ .«mmw Law ~ Maine-igummmf " m .‘llublfifl >. .v-n: :m.mx&m¢!-s-Luu=urz 354.177.»: 17:51.1.7'1 'h';‘k?‘“>1!iL'-‘ ' «film A MATRIMONIAL MEDIUM. Many Married Couples Owe 'l‘llelr [lappi- ness to (he Turn oral Lottery “’hccl. However true or false may be the saying that"‘marriage is a lottery," it is undoubtedly true that many murâ€" ried couples owe their happiness or misery to the capricious turn of a lotteryâ€",wheel. Only last year a fair Hungarian, a lady of long lineage but abbreviated purse, made public offer of her hand and heart as a lottery prize. She secured the consent of the Finance Minister of Hungaryto' sanction the issue of a lottery loan of 700,000 florins; each ticket was to be of the value of aflorin, and the owner of the lucky ticket was to be rewarded with her hand and a. third of the spoil, an- other third Ishe was to‘ retain herself, and the balance was to be distributed among local charities. It says much for the courage of this enterprising lady that she was not de- terred by the experience of another lady, also a member of an impover- ished but high-born Spanish family, who, a few years earlier, had offered herself in a similar way. In this case the lady was neither very young nor very fair, and that the lottery might lack nothing of attractiveness on this account, the winner was to have the option of declining her hand whilst sharing the money prize, amounting to half a million florins, with her. The winner of the prize was, by a curious caprice of fortune, a coach man who, in more flourishing days, had been in the employment of the lady’s father; and to her dismay he insisted on marrying her. The mar.- riage was disastrous: the husband squandered every florin of her dowry in the coarsest dissipation, and ulti- lmately deserted her after treating lher with the greatest brutality. l At Smolensk, in Russia, the lottery is a recognised matrimonial medium and every three months a local beauty is offered as a prize. The tickets, of which there are 5,000, are of the value of a- rouble, and the winner thus secures a wife dowered with 5,000 roubles. It is, however, within the girl’s power to decline to marry him: and in this event she sharesthe lottery money equally with the disconsolate winner. A few years ago the great Christmas lottery, which is one of the chief annual excitements in Spain, was re- sponsible for a strangely romantic ,wedding. One day a weary and tatter- ied traveller called at a wayside inn on Ethe outskirts of Cuenca and begged {for a drink of wine, saying that he ihad nothing to offer in payment iexcept a torn and dirty lottery-ticket which he had picked up on the roada lfew miles away. The buxom, dark-eyed daughter of the innkeeper, who serve" him, goodâ€" humouredly offered to take the ticket as a "discharge in full ;" and when she discovered that it bore the num- ber 12,473, which represented not only the date of her birth, the 12th April, 1873, but, by adding the num- bers, her own age of seventeen, she declared confidently that it was "sure ito win a. prize." “If it wins the first prize I shall expect you to marry- me,” the refreshâ€" ed wayfarer said, with a laugh. “0h, certainly,” the girl answered. "I will promise that." The sequel of this strange and true story was that the ticket thus lightly exchanged for a drink did actually win the first prize, amounting to the English equivalent of £35,000; and when (he wayfarer again called at the inn and claimed his promisad reward he found the innkeeper's daughter as good as her word. _+-â€"-I .- GRAINS or GOLD. Joy is the best'wineâ€"George Eliot. They always talk who neverthink. -Prior. Evil communications corrupt good manners.â€"Menander. ' The luxury of doing good surpasses every other personal enjoyment.â€" Gay. g - ' 'Tis not what man does which exâ€" nlts him, but what man would do.â€" Browning. Loveliness needs not the aid of foreign ornament. but is, when un- adorned, adorned the most.-â€"-Thomp~ son. \Ve ought not to judge of men's ‘Wmerâ€"scizs-x-grni; a - _._._. Fioriculture. " HOME OF THE LILY. Three hundred and sixty-five little islands, over about three hundred of which the sea has a; fashion of sweep- ing in turbulent weather, constitute the Bermuda Islands, lying in the At- llantic about 500 miles off the coast of North- Carolxinu. In all the islands there are but about 12,000 acres of hand, about 4.000 of which are under cultivation. Onions, potatoes; lilies and arrowrool. are the chief products. The islands belong to Great Britain, and are strongly fortified, a moderate gar- rison being kept at the forts. A friend who spent two of the spring months in Bermuda, is most enthusiastic in its praiseâ€"â€"climate1 scenery, hotels, being included in her commendation. The whole islandâ€"islands, rather. the largest being 21 miles long, with a deep indentation or bay at either endâ€"dis of coral formation. A thin skin of soil overlies it, deeper in the valâ€" leys and ravines and there most fer- tile. The rock is so soft it can he out like wood, with a crossâ€"cut saw. but burdens on exposure to the air. Houses and fences, etc., are built of it, and are 'then whitewashed, roofs and all, making them positively dazâ€" zling. A man builds his house of the rock taken out of the cellar, The surface is high and undulating; roads, cut through the coral rock, are like asphalt for smoothness and hardness. Deep cuts are made in many parts to avoid high grads; sometimes these avoid high grades; sometimes these or forty feet, making very picturesque roadways. - ' “ Curiously, the natural vegetation is cedar, the hills and slopes being clothed with green, make a fine con- trast to the coral rock. There are a few royal palms, of which Bermud- ians are inordinately proud. "Walking is delightful as there is principal never any mud, and there is no end, apparently to the beautiful paths one may choose as a background. It is an unwritten law that one shall never return by the path -on which he went out. Often walking along the roads we would See rude steps cut in the rock by the roadside, and leading to the summit. Clambering up these we would find ourselves in the sweet ca dar forest, and before long‘come nip- on a little patch of potatoes or on- ions, with. a whitewashed cabin and a donkey and a goat ortwo, and a lot of dusky youngsters playing about. “The lily industry does not flourish us it did onceâ€"they v’told us. Some of the lilrgest lily farmers, have given up the culture and are growing arâ€" row-root. We visited one factory Where the natives were'scraping the roots, which were being manufactur- ed. The product all goes to Engladn; Bermuda arrow-root cannot be obtain-"l ed in America. It seems a worm prey- eld upon the lily bulbs and growers, instead of devising means to van- qluis-h the worm, submit to be van- uluished by it and try some other crop. “I never saw such exquisite colors as this water takes around Bermuda. Though the island has a splendid hzarbor, so deep that the largest was. sets can enter, it is girdled by coral reefs, at various depths some near the surface, so that the water frets over them continually, other furth- er below. It is these that give the wa- ter its peculiar and exquisite greens and blues and purples, even pink somev times. " Bermuda is a paradise. Ithought Honolulu the most beautiful spot 2 ever visited, but'Bermuda outvies it I hope I maly see) it again-l- eome day." FLORAL NOTES. Gardeners do strange things with flowers. For instance, thieygive us a blue hydrangea. To produce it they take a. ship of some shrong growing, white sort, root it well and stimulate it to the most vigorous growth. Then they mix iron filings in the earth of the pot, and water it with alum wa- ter, while the flower lheads are form-- ing. They come out in panicles, beau- ltifully blue, wonderfully handsome land striking for all their artifice. : Two handsome trOpical looking iplants which somewhat resemble ipulms in their adaptability to hone: 'i culture are Darcena indivisa and As. 'p'idistra lurida. This latter especially merits by their qualifications, but by endures neglect with the heroism o) the use they make of them.â€"â€"Char- ron. A God speaks softly in our breasts; softly, yet distinctly, shows us what to hold by and what to shun.â€"Goe- the. ‘ No human being can come into this world without increasing or (limin- ishing the sum total of human happi- into every line of business, you know. ness,â€"Elihu Burritt, 3n». . -..I, A- . -........~..__....-._........_M..... ....._......... a stoic. Fuchsias do well if the old plants are kept in from year to year: they get large and when in blossom an very handsome. But florists rely on young plants raised from cuttings ii the spring. ' Lilacs, either the common purple on the Perlsitlu, become white duringth process of forcing. (. .. .-n._'>;.,n.t. , ,..n. .; ,. - all .<“3.<râ€"v,owwâ€", .- ¢-,.~ 4“" thifEfiflmgdt' E. . " A; 1,‘ It: res. we: fit" 7’- .â€".,W m y 'y'SJ‘ ; $42.23 a .4’,r..