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T * ' 5 ^ ; r ^ t • • tio •Ste¥ ^-'T"t^T"".'J?,r^<r^v,,\;«;^" ̂ 4- ~r\ *< ^#4»^'jf mESSS^ ifgrnrji |?lauulcaler I. VAN SLYKE. Editor art PiiMlahw. ? "MeHENEY, ILLINOia THH German Government has forbid­ den the transit through German terri- •tory of early fruits and vegetables from France, the reason assigned for this measure being the desire to prevent the importation of phylloxera. JOHATHA* WHEELOCK deposited In l^ew Hampshire Savings Bank, in Con­ cord, March 23, 1833, $100 bounty money which he had received A3 a rev­ olutionary soldier. Two other deposits •of $15 each were added to it--April 15, 1834, and April 9, 1835. The money «till remains in the bank, and amounted on the first day of January last> with accrued interest, to $2,055.44. A BALTIMORE man has been sentenced to three months' imprisonment and to pay a fine of $25 for lying in a horse "trade. Judge Stewart said it was the first time in all his experience that he •ever knew a man to be convicted of making false representations in a horse trade, but he expressed the hope that "others would take warning and be more truthful in their dealings." A NEWSPAPER in Berlin tells its read­ ers that a hotel is to be built in St. Augustine, Florida, this summer that will be three miles long, six miles deep and seventy-five stories. Guests will be taken to their rooms by 500 balloons; the tables in the dining-room will be four miles in length, and the waiters ~who serve the meals will be on horse­ back. Tbere will be a cupsidor in the -office 100 feet in circumference. The -German doesn't often try to be funny, but when he does he means business. SOMB years.ago Mr. Dana, of the New York Sun, took it into his head that he "would like to experiment with mush­ rooms. So, at a great cost, he built a great mushroom cave, got a French­ man, to whom he paid a large salary, and began his experiment The first year it cost him about $4,000, but to­ -day he is not only raising all of these delicious fungi that he wants for his own table, but his cave yields so many ^ mushrooms that the gardener has been able to sell enough to pay, with interest, for the expenditure. THE superstitions of "thirteen at ta­ ble" and "spilling the salt" both took their origin from the last supper. At that feast there were tliiteen, one of wlftim shortly afterward suffered, and there is a tradition that Judas Iscariot .spilled the salt in handing it to Jesus. The origin of Friday being an unlucky day may be traced to the fact that on -that day our Saviour is said to have been crucified, and until quite lately it Tised to be known as "hangman's day," -owing to malefactors being generally executed on Friday. A MEXICAN letter speaks of the love •of the people for flowers, which are grown in extraordinary abundance. In •every church are found flowers in pro­ fusion before every image of the Vir­ gin. Five button-hole bouquets of vio­ lets are sold at San Anita for a "tlaco" --two cents--and a gentleman who ^bought a huge bouquet there for twen­ ty-five cents took it to pieces and found it to consist of thirty red roses, fifty white ones, twenty-seven violets, thirty heliotropes and more than twenty white and thirty pink rosebuds. Love­ ly roses can be bought at the rate of ten for a cent. THE Kansas City Indicator says: "It -would surely result in no loss and pos. aibly millions of gain if Congress should at once prohibit the bringing within •borders of any cattle, sheep, or swine from abroad for a term of years. We need neither their foreign blood nor their competition, for our own breeders have an abundance of the former, and Trill promptly furnish the latter as oc­ casion may demand. Therefore we say leave the unhealthy herds of Europe •with their contagions on their native *hores to be cured or killed and until their condition is greatly bettered an­ nounce officially that their room is preferable to their company. Lock the lepers out! THB Bussian finance minister attri­ butes the gloomy condition of finance, trade, and industry in Russia to the •competition of the United States, Canada, and India as wheat-exporting •countries. This stagnation in the corn trade, it is added, affected landowners, Turlio consequently bought less of manu­ facturers. Manufactured goods also suffered from overproduction, chiefly as Tegards ootton goods and railway roll­ ing-stock. Mr. Kennedy, secretary of the British embassy at St. Petersburg, in referring te these circumstances observes thai the tone of the minister's statement oa the budget estimates for the current year is "despondentthat the report anticipates no improvement, •while it announces the necessity for in­ creased taxation as a means of raising the revenue, and of developing manu­ facturing industry. MR. CHARLBS READE did not leave a very large fortune. It does not amount to more than a $100,000, and it goes to bis brother, his nephews and his neioes. He is said to have lost much money in hi* theatrical speculations. He used invariably to go to the rehearsals of his plays, and was always the first, Mr. Xiaboochere says, to recognize humble merit. On one occasion the girl play­ ing a small servant's part had to be on the stage, whilst another was fondling • dell which represented her offspring. Charley Reade was narrowly watching the by-play, and the next day the girl received a little bracelet from him, accompanied by a note congratu­ lating her upon the affectionate man net in which she had glanced at the dol and telling her that if she only perse­ vered in playing the smallest parti with feeling she would live to be a great actress. "THE late Judge Black," says a writei in the Philadelphia Press, "was £ Shakspearean critic and authority, an* nothing grated on his ear more harshly than a misquotation. During the las Constitut onal Convention, of which h> was a member, the county delegatef could hardly make a speech withou- dragging in some poetical excerpt which they usually butchered, and tlw Judge, who never knew whether he waf in or out of order, would interrupt them with his corrections, or would" gc to the clerk's desk and see that tht lines were printed right. One day there had been an unusual number o mishaps of this kind, and the Judge had secured leave to go home. Just befcre leaving he walked over to Mr George W. Riddle's 'seat and said: 'Biddle, I am going away, and if, in mj absence, you allow any injustice to be done to the memory of William Shaks- peare, I will hold ycra personally re sponsible."* J . DR. HKSRY LEFFMAN, a chemical ex­ pert, lectured in Philadelphia recently to a semi-professional audience on what he called Euthanasia, or the propriety of putting certain useless individual.- comfortably out of the way. His idea was thus expressed: "The evolution of humanity to a higher form cannot be accomplished without some method of preserving and propagating the best oi the species. Had we, as human beings with all our present powers, been placed on this world in association with a race as much above us in capacitv and power as we are above the lower animals, a system of selection would have been applied which in a hundred generation would have produced a much better Immunity." Having laid these foundations, the lecturer asked to what extent the law might control lite "in cases where to the certainty of a fatal disease is added intense physical misery," and in the cases of the birth oi monstrosities and idiots. SOME very ardent believers in popu­ lar government have been considerably nonplussed by the bad results of the universal suffrage in largo cities like New York. It is a fact about which there is no dispnte that our Mayors and all who are elected on a general ticket are for the most part honest and able, but that single districts generally re­ turn very inferior representatives. A really honest Board of Aldermen have not been elected in New York for fifty years, yet during that time that city has not had more than three Mayors who were not a credit to it. The same remark is true of the Gov.mors and Legislators of the different States, The former is generally a man of char­ acter amenable to public opinion, but the Legislators being irresponsible, are often bribed to do things which are hurtful to the public and of value only to monopolists; hence it has been argued that the cure for our political woes is in adding power and responsi­ bility to executives officers, and in re­ ducing the authority of Legislators and boards of all kinds. In accordance with this theory Mr. Low was made Mayor of Brooklyn, with authority to make his own appointments of heads of department with reference to the Board of Aldermen. This has worked so well that the New York Legislature ha« given the same power to the Mayor oi New York. The object is to fix re. sponsibility. If things go wrong we know who to blame. This principle will, in time, be recognized in the Con­ stitutions of all our States and charters of our principal cities. "Wood Morning." It is astonishing how old this salu­ tation is, and how it differs amongst va­ rious races. The Greeks wished a man to be of "good cheer." The Romans trusted their friends might, that day, find themselves in a state of health and safety. But when the matter is looked into the reason explains itself. The Greek was a gay dog, and happiness at any cost wasr his ideal. Hence be of "good cheer"--make the most of the moment. The Romans, howrver, sur­ rounded by the cares of a vast empire, threatened now by one foe and again by another, used a more solemn greeting. "Health" was his first wih, because his idolized Rome was surrounded by foijs. "Safety" was his second wish, fer at any moment the fateful end of all things might come. In China "good morn­ ing" almost grows comic. It means there "Have you eaten your r es, and is your stomach working well?" Fancy putting these phrases to an English­ man. Yet, after all, the Chinaman shows a good deal of wisdom in his salu* tation. A good appetite for breakfast be it a bread-and-butter meal, or be it t repast on rice, means--as a rule--a goo<? day, and following a good day, a gf,oc night, and with a good night, pleas an sleep, and renewed strength for the morning again. A man whose stomach, too, is working well, is a man whose temper is equable, and who will, there­ fore, generally speaking. be happy and har»pY-miaded Upon thee" considera­ tions, therefore, it would almost teem that Pigtsiled John's "good morning" is the wisest of those named. Adaptabftty of the French Laagaag* "What kind of a looking man was it that called Jones a liar?" asked Mrs. Bangle of her husband. "Oh! he was short and stout, with blue eyes, light hair, and a nai re- ponme--" "Nez retrousse, my dear," corrected Mrs. B. " Kepousae means hammered or ponnded •" "Thank von, love," rejoined Bangle. "Then that is jnst the word o describe it whua J ants got dons with hi*-"-- AN -ESTHETIC FLOOR. ' Making Staining Mix (area and How to Ay- ply Tucin. The practice of staining board floors a darker tint than their original color, or to represent woods of greater cost, is now almost universal, and is the first step toward that thing of beauty, aliigh- art drawing-room. This room, with its Persian rugs and portieres, its books and bric-a-brac, its bits of old bine and gems in oil, with here a bit of gleaming l>ra-s, and there the mellow light from a cathedral window, may well be the pride and aim of frivolous woman. As a foundation for this aesthetic room, a floor stained to represent dark, old oak is preferred by many. The mixture for accomplishing this is sold at all paint shops, and oomes in grades 1, 2, ii, 4, varying light to dark. Light pol­ ished floors are now mnch preferred at piesent, altho*?h a great deal depends upon the condition of the boards. If the boards are smooth and fine-grained a satin wood or pitch pine Btuin and polish i 4 preferred, but if the floor is old or rough it is folly to attempt aiy stain except that of dark oak or dans mahogany. Some of the mixtures used for this can be put on with a rag, al thongh a brush is better. Pour the liquid into a saucer, dip the brush in, saturate thoroughly, rub evenly over the wood and dry instantly with a soft cloth. .To insure success this must be d ne qu ckly and, it is useless to add, evenly. For the ultra-fashionable floor, which is of a pale shade of oak, sized and varnished, buy the desired amount of raw senna powder, mix with water, and rub into the boards as di rected above. The effect at first is enough to strike terror into the heart of any mortal, it is so painfully, glar­ ingly yellow. But sizing tones down strong color surprisingly, and the pol isli brings it to ultimate perfection. For mahogany staining make a mixture containing half a pound of madder, two ounces of logwood chips, boiled in a gallon of water; brush this over the wood while hot. When dry go over this with a solution of pearlash, two drachms to one quart of water, size and polish. If a redder shade is required it can be produced by smearing the surface with a strong solution of permanganate of potash, which is left on for a longer or shorter time, accord.ng to the shade re­ quired; in most cases five minutes will )be enough. The wood is then carefully washed; dried and polished in the ordi­ nary way. A good, cheap oak stain is made ef equal parts of American potash and pearlash, two ounces of each to a quart of water. As American potash is a sol­ vent, care must be taken to keep it from the hands, and an old brush should be used, as it is of no good af­ terwards. This stain can be kept corked in a bottle, and is useful to have in the house in case the floors are scratched, when it may bo used to re­ pair them. If the color is too deep it may be weakened with water. Another stain of a simple character is made by diluting Brunswick black with turpentine until it becomes as light as the prevailing fashion demands: 1 his is a useful thing to have in the house, with wh ch to repair furniture when it is chipped or disfigured. Oak furniture which has suffered in the same way may be touched up with bi chroniate of potassium, which brings up the color to the necessary shade. In using any powders it is always advisa­ ble to blend them first with a small quantity of liquid, rubbing out every little lump and dissolving the powder as far as possible. Raw senna is fre­ quently mixed with beer. If the wood to be stained is an article of furniture or a floor that is to be seen in a strong light, it is a good plan to filter the staining before applying it; this strain­ ing can be done through an ordinary cloth, and then the liquid should be ap­ plied slowly and evenly, only a little on the surface being done at one time. The polishing of stained wood is a pro­ cess on which much depends. No mat­ ter what surface is given a coat of size must be laid over the staining. If the wood l»e old two coats would be desira­ ble. If the varnish be added it is liable to crack and to come off when walked upon. The floor soon becomes shabby. If the room is ever to be u*ed for danc­ ing the necessity for a polished surface which will grow bi tter rather than worse is apparent. The following is a good floor polish to follow the size: Castile soup one part, white wax four parts, yellow wax eight parts, turpen­ tine twenty parts, soft water twenty parts. The soap, finely scraped, is melted in the water, the wax dissolved in the turpentine. The whole mixed together is a creamy compound, of which very little needs to bo used at the time. Not only the floors, but the margins of the staircase, the sides of the corri­ dors and saddles of doors are now emancipated from the paint pot and stamed to nuit the taste, producing an effect delightful to the eye as well as beneficial to the purse.--Cincinnati Commercial Gazette. Koted Telegrapher*. The telegraph service in Washington is said to iiave no superior either in Eu­ rope or in this country. I had a brief chat with a gentleman who is a recog­ nized authority on all such matters, and he said: "The fastest sender in this country is Mr- P- V. De Graw. Some years ago a congressional com­ mittee went over to New York and ex­ amined the offices of the Western Un­ ion. 1 ha members were taken in charge by Mr. Walter P. Phillips, who is now General Manager of the United Press Association, and who is reco - nized as the fastest receiver in the business. Mr. Phiitips sat down at the 'clicker' and telegraphed Mr. De Graw to give an exhibition of his fast sendiug for ten minutes. Chronometers were taken out and Mr. De Graw began. At the expiration of tho ten minutes he had telegraphed four hundred and ninety words, an average of forty-nine words a minute. This is the best record yet made in this country. Mr. De Graw has charge of the work at the Capitol for the United Press Asso­ ciation, and occasionally goes to the wire and sends so fast that the receiver has no difficulty in knowing who it is in Washington that is rattling the sounds with su<*h rapidity. Some time ago Mr. Phillips ma e a bet with an operator in New York th..t he could telegraph an editorial at the rate of forty words a minute, for ten consecnt ve minutes Now Phillips is recognized as the fast­ est receiver in tLe United States, but eince h s attack of partial paralysis of the riffht arm, occasioned from over work h * is regarded as a slow 'sender.' The New York operator snapped up the bet in a hurry, but Mr. Phillips accom- p.ished tl e teat with ease The Be -ret leaked ont after a while that Phillips had written the editorial, and the pecu­ liarity- o it was that it did not cont.tiu a wo d of more than nine letters. Mr. J imes, of the Associated Press, sends th* most perfect Morse of an/ man in the country, and there are a number of others who are noted as telegraphers, but those I have mentioned are known all over the Union."--Washington Cor­ respondent Boston Traveler. ,t Walking Fishes. It is quite a common thing to say that a fish can't climb a tree, and in saying this people feel very sure that they will not be contradicted. The fisherman, too, who has waited for an hour or so without getting a bite is apt to think that if the provoking things would only come ashore he'd catch them fast enough. But he would as soon expect a cow to fly. ^ There are fishes, though, that do come ashore, and even climb trees, but they seem scarcely worth catching, as they are only six inches long, and full of bones. Yet they are quite an article of food in India, where they are found, and the sacred river Ganges contains a plentiful supply of them. They also inhabit other Indian streams and pools, which in that hot country often get dry. The little anabus always knows that when the water lowers it is time for them to take to the land. It is not their iutention to stay there, however, but only to look for adeeper pool or stream; and although apt to take the very early morning or late evening for this purpose, for the sake of the moisture as well as the coolness, they have sometimes been encountered on a hot, dusty road at mid-day. "Fish out of watpr" they certainly were; but though out of water in one way. they were not in another, as we shall see. Fishes do no break water, but air; but the gills must be kept wet to en­ able them to breathe it. It is not nec­ essary, however, that their bodies should be covered by water; and the an abas is prepared for life on dry land by a sing­ ular arrangement on each side of the mouth, which holds water enough to keep the gills moist for some time. Every time the fish opens its month the water enters these cavities, and if it is needed on land this water can be made to trickle slowly over the gills, and keep them in the right condition for breathing. The feet of anabas are spikes, or spines, which grow out from the fins aud tail, and help him over the ground, as well as in climbing trees. There seems to be no very good reason for their going up trees", as they live on water injects; but they are said to do it by first fastening the spines, nearest the head in the bark, next crooking the tail aud lastening the spines that grow from that, and then loosening the head and throwing the body forward. All this may be considered one step, as the whole performance has to be repeated until the ambitious fish has climbed as high as it chooses. A Danish gentleman, M. Dalford, who made a study of the ways and hab­ its of the anabas, states that he has seen it in the act of ascending tall palm trees, and that he has captured speci­ mens which have crawled to a height of five feet above the surface of the ground. w The natives of India, who often find these fishes some distance from any water, and bring them to market alive, believe that they fall from the sky, as some people in this country believe that the little toads found so plentifully after a summer shower come down from the clouds. It seems very convenient for any ani- imal to be able to live both in and out of water, and the pelicans .And other great birds with huge bills that are so plentiful in India probably think so. it is certainly convenient for them, as they are very fond of iish, and sometimes have to stand for a long time on the bank of a stream before they can catch enough to satisfy them. But the poor little anabas would tell a differont story. One of those greedy, gobbling birds must be made very hap­ py to see the fishes (such handy mouth- fuls!) thickly sp^nkled in the damp grass, like chestnuts after a hard frost; and how the queer travelers will dig away with tins and tail to get ont of their enemy's reach! Perhaps this is the time when they take to climbing trees.--Harper's Young People. Earth Tremors. Earth tremors, produced by artificial disturbances such as tlie pa-sing of car­ riages or trains, the movements of ma­ chinery or bodies of people, are at our disposal for daily observation. At Greenwich Observatory the tremulous motion in the soil, especially noticeable on bank holidays and all times when Greenwich Park was unusually crowd­ ed, resulted in the construction of an apparatus in which the dish of mercury used in the determination of the colli- ma'ion error of the transit circle was suspended by flaccid springs. By means of this contrivance the tremu­ lous motions of the ground were ab- sorl>ed before they reached the mercu­ ry, and the difficulty of observation was overcome. French engineers, working with delicate surveying instruments in crowded cities have similarly lieen com­ pelled to suspend a portion of their ap­ paratus so that a steady image could be obtained. Prof. H. M. Paul, seek ng for a site for the Naval Observatory at Washington, found that the image of a star reflected from a tray of mercury was disturbed by a train passing at the distance of a mile. Lieut. Col. Palmer, when engaged in observing the transit of Venus in Now Zealand, discovered that a ditch a few feet in depth was su - ficient to intrench his instruments against the disturbance created by trains passing at a distance of seven hundred feet. Capt. Denman fonnd the effect of a goods train to be transmitted 1,100 feet over marshy ground, but ver­ tically above the train, passing through a tunnel in sandstone, the disturbance only extended one hundred feet. One result obtained from these and numer­ ous other observations upon artificially produced tremors, indicates that theso disturbances are superficial, and al­ though they may creep up the surface of a gently-eloping hill, their spread is checked by a deep cutting.--Nature. Rooftter (lalinntrj. A lady in tliis city, hearing an unusua1 commotion in her poultry-yard one morning, ran out and saw three root-ters> making frantic eilorts to extricate a hen that had got her head fastened lietween the boards of a fen'-e in an attempt t< fly over it, whilo about twenty old ben' were walking and feeding about the yard as unconcernedly as if nothing un­ usual was going on. The action o* th< roosters may be explained by the pro verbial gallantry of the sex. while th hens were probably taking quite a de light in seeing the belle of the flock and a ha ed rival effectually strangled.-- Vallejo (C'al.) Times. DOI.LS are now made that cry and say prpa and mamma, and now all that is really needed to n.ake a childle-e home supremely ha^py is lo smear mo- Ius-es candy over the car i ets and furni­ ture.--Philadelphia Chronicle-Herald. CURIOUS AND SCIEimFiC. THE FAMILY DOCTOB. AMONG the sew applications of cotton is its use, in part, in the construction Ot bouses, the material employed for this purpose being the refuse, which, when gro.tng up with about an eiual a-nount of straw and asbestos, is converted into a paste, and this is formed into large bricks, which acquire, it is said, the hardness of stone, and furnish A really valuable building stock. ARTIFICIAL cork is among the recent German inventions. The method of production consists of mixing powdered cork with starch and water, and knead­ ing the mass while boiling hot until it is thoroughly mixed. The substance is then poured into molds for forming th« articles, and afterward dyed at a very high temperature. Tho material is de­ scribed as quite light, and possesses non-conducting properties. GOURDS are highly useful as well as ornamental. Gourd shells are largely used in the south for dipping water, and in place of drinking-cups. They may be raised in this latitude by plant­ ing the seed very early and training the vines on a trellis or on trees or bushes. The plants cao be started in a box in tho house during cold weather, and transferred to the open ground when the weather becomes warm. IN the island of San Domingo there is A remarkable salt mountain, A mass of crystalline salt nearly four miles long, estimated to contain 89,337,600 tons, und so clear that type can be read through a block a foot thick. The mountain, geologists say, was once a plain at the bottom of the sea, and, ka the island rose from the ocean, this plain formed the bottom of a shallow lagoon, where the salt was deposited. MANGANESE has been found near Batesville, Arkansas, in large quantities. A'belt of it, fifteen miles by six miles, has recently been diseoverod near the towu, and is one of the largest deposits known, the manganeeeat the same time, it is said, being the most valuable that has ever V>een found anywhere. The mines have been opened, and work has been going on for some time. The supply is Baid to bo inexhaustible and is being shipped daily to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and other manufacturing cities. GI.I-E is made of hides, horns, skins, hoofs, and ears of horses, oxen, calves, and sheep. These are first cleansed of grease and dirt in lime-water, then steeped in clean water and the water pressed out. They are then boiled in clean water and the skimmings taken off, after which they are strained. The liquid thus obtained is then boiled down nntil it is thick enough to be poured in­ to moulds, where it hardens and is cut into c.ikes. The cakes, while still soft, are cut into thin slices. The slices are dried, and are ready for sale-- Wood- Worker. I>R. POORE, of London, in contrasting coffee and tea, says the former contains more alkaloidal stimulant and the latter more tannin. Tea calls for less diges­ tive efforts than coffee, but the tannin of tea injures digestion after a time. Out of ninety samples of ground coffee purchased in London shops only five were found to l>e wholly genuine. It is often remarked that "two wrongs don't make a right." but here at least is an illustration showing how one evil, adul­ teration with harmless grains, may counteract another, an excessive use of coffee (or what is thought to be coffee) as a beverage.--Dr. Foote's Health Monthly. * A War Mory. At tho time of the outbreak of the re­ bellion, Major-General David E. Twiggs, a Louisiana man, was in charge of the Military Department of Toxas. A large portion of tho regular army was serv­ ing within that department, distribu­ ted in small bodies over an immense tract of country. The Government was persuaded that Twiggs secretly acted in concert with the Texas authorities, and suffered them to beleaguer the Union troops in every direction, so that no measures could be taken to prevent their surrender in detail to overwhelm­ ing numbers. Thus very nearlv all the officers and enlisted men were put under a strictly worded parole not to serve in any ca­ pacity during the whole war, unless ex­ changed. Some, but not all of the immediate staff serving under Twiggs, were staunch iu their loyalty to the Union, and they did what they could under the adverse circumstances which enveloped them. Among these was one of tho best of men, Major Wm. A. Nichols, Assistant Adjutant-General. As chief of the staff he could do much by foreseeing -and providing for emergencies before they occurre.l. It was through his con­ trivance that a valuable battery of ar­ tillery escaped from the State and was given to the Government. In a note to Major-General E. D. Townsend, dated March 7, 18G2 Major Nichols says: "I send you a spool of cotton to show what shifts we were put to. It contains an order to French (William H. French, who commanded the battery) to Yuidar' (take care) for his guns--lind it." The spool of cotton presented the appearance of any ordina­ ry one; but on removing the label pasted over the end and concealing the hole which passes through the Senter of the spool, I discovered a small roll of thin pnper. on whieh was written the follow­ ing order: HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF TEX­ AS, SAN ANTONIO, Feb. 10. 1861.--Tho Commanding Officer, Fort Duncan: Sir: M >ve instantly with the artillery com­ panies upon Brazos Santiago; take your arms, guns and necessary equipments and camp equipages; leave your horses on embarkation. Tho formal orders have been intercepted. Texas will de­ mand the guns of the batteries. A steamer will be ready to take you by sea. Not only were the movements of the army closely watched by the Texans, but some of Twiggs* staff took service against the Government and did all in ttieir power to wrest everything of value from the loyal officers and convey it to the Texan authorities. In order to evade such vigilance, the wife of Major Nichols managed to send the spool con­ taining the order to the wife of the Bri isli Consul at Eagle Pass, inclosing it in a letter, in which she asked that it lie conveyed to Major French. The la­ dy despatched it by a Mexican boy, who safely delivered it, and French's sagaci­ ty guided him to its real objects. He skillfully eluded the beleaguers and saved all their guns.--Philadelphia In­ quirer. DE. E. H. THPRSTOW thinks he has found a true antidote for the sting of bees. It is «-a bonafe of ammonia, powdered and' kept in a tightIy-o< rked ho tie. When a sting is received the urface over the woun 1 should be wet, and a small nmoun^ of tli€ powdert d carbona e applied. The pain is in­ stantly relieved, and the injured place never swells. TFB following cure for hiccoughs was devised several months ago, and since then has been successfully employed in numerous instances by several persons: Sit erect and inflate the lungs fully. Then, retaining the breath, bend for­ ward slowly until the chest meets the knees. After slowly rising again to the erect posture, exhale the breath. Re­ peat this process a second time, and the nerves will be found to have received an access of energy that will enable them to perform their natural functions. MALARIA.--Col. G. H. Mendell says: In the great valley of California, over the whole of it, malaria prevails, often in most violent forms. It exists in up­ lands, remote from marshy districts, and I have known limited district) of upland adjacent to each other, where malaria prevailed in one whi o absent in the other. Sjggne years ago, while engaged in a study of irrigation, then beginning to be applied on the dry plains of California, I was led to notice the level of standing water in wells, in reference to which there is a grO-it difference in our interior plains. 1 soon no iced that shallow wells and malaria were frequent companions. Where the wells were seventy feet (or thereabouts) deep, there was freedom from malaria. Having noticed these coincidences, I afterward investigated their occurrence in a great many cases by inquiries of farmers wtth \thom I had conversation. In one or two cases of exceptional ma­ larial districts in the foot-hills, which are generally free from this pest, I found the water in the wells near the surfa* e. I do not recall A single in­ stance of shallow wells where the family were 'free from fevers, always intermittent, I believe. I therefore connect the presence of water near the surface of the ground with the exist- ance of malaria. Whether it is due to the mere presence or to the fact that it is drank, or to both, I am unable to say. --Health and Home. ATONIC DYSPEPSIA.--Atonic means without, or diminished tone or vigor. As applied to dyspepsia, it denotes a form of it resulting from an enfeebled condition of the system. The tendency to it is quite often inherited. It is fre­ quently one of the characteristics of old age, the entire digestive tract sharing iu the general decrease of physical power. It may also have its origin in whatever lets down the normal vitality --sedentary occupations, bad hyg enic surroundings, protracted loss of sleep, especially if the hours due to it are spent in study or pleasure, over-brain work, habitual lack of mental employ­ ments. The following are some ot the prominent symptoms: A feeling of weight, or a distressing sense of unea^ iness in tho stomach after eating, aud generally lasting for hours; the "gulp­ ing" up of rancid and offensive acids, and flatulence in the stomach and bow­ els; little or no appeti'e, and often a positive disrelish for food; an almost entire absence of thirst; ati inflamed condition of the throat and back of the mouth (from the extension upward of the irritated membrane of the stomach), rendering the throat dry and the voice hu-dev; constipatioy, from the enfee­ bled action of the intestines, the llHi<t portion of their contents being unduly absorbed; in some cases palpitation of the heart and difficulty of breathing, causing the patient to fear that ho has some dangerous heart trouble; languor, and sometimes uncontrollable drowsi neas after meals. When the dyspepsia has continued long, the diges.ive tubules are liable to undergo fatty de­ generation and wasting, with loss of power to secrete the gastric juice. Prior to this change of structure the ailment is curable. If it is due to specific causes, these causes must be removed If it is part of an enfeebled physical state, this must be remedied. The fam­ ily physician alone can treat the case with any success. The medicines which tho patient, of himself or from the ad vice of\unwise friends, might be likely to take would in many cases only ag­ gravate the disease. Indeed, the phy­ sician himself will depend very little on medicine and mainly on a careful regu­ lation of the diet, personal habits, do mestic influences. Especially will he urge, where it is possible, travel and frequent changes from one's ordinary cares and surroundings.--Youth's Com­ panion. ILLINOIS STATE NEWS. --Nigger Lake, in Mison County, is ncrtr almost one of the' ai;i beens.. as th* has a'most disappeared from thit locality. ' --Elgin has a dog-pound, and, after capt­ uring one of the canines, they wait for a few days for the owner to reclaim, and then slaughter .the .brute.Tirf'nii-.-iZI..: --It has been determined by the Cook Connty Board to begin suit to i »st the right of the alleged owner? of tli» Evaaston pike-raid to collect tolls from citizens of C«jok County. --In order to impirt some dignity to ' town of M.iroa, forty of the merchants have < signed a pledge to wear high silk hats in­ stead of the witle-brimmed slouches that have been in fashion there. ,,t ^ At a picnic at Glasgow City, MonW# Counft, Harv Cavaua' gh threw a beer glass at Valentine Sieger, vh'ch, missing ita nvr'i, struck one McNabb on thj h «ad, is* tl c:ing a wound from the effects of which he died. --A license has been s?qured at Spring- fie'd to oiginize the People's Hr>rse Car Railway Company at Chicago, with a capi­ tal stock of $200,000, to lay trick to May- wood from the c ty limits, of Chicago on "Lake street. ^ --Gen. O. E. Bnb?oek yras appointed I#' < West Point by Mr. Sihin, then a Con­ gressman fiom Vermont, now a resident of Sycamore, and in his 91st year. For sev­ eral years the General his sent Mr. Sabtn li ' Christmas present of J10). J j --A disgraceful street fight occurred at Centrilia, when twelve tramps were jailed. The next morning the remains of James Welch, alias "Brocky Jim," one of the tramps, were found strewn along the Illi­ nois Centr.il Railroad track, having been cut to pieces by a wild train. He and his pals had been drinking freely. --Under the auspice? of the Chicago Re­ form Alliance a mass-meeting was held at the Union Park Congregational Church to protest against the introduction of Sunday races. The building was crowded. A series of resolutions protesting against the gen­ eral desecration of tho Sabbath were adopted. --At Nokomis, Montgomery County,, A team belonging to MV'.rtin Lir.gTe, after run­ ning across town and demolishing the wagon, took the railroad track, and kept on it a distance of two miles, crossing two cat- tle-gaards and a railroad bridge thirty feet long on the ties without falling through-or being injured. --From "Chicago aud Suburbs" we take the following figures of the area cf the dif­ ferent parks, according to their location in Chicago: West SMe. No. aces.' Smith Sit*?. No.sere*. Humboldt ..-3"> 8 ii h V®' >7;: The Cause of Earthquakes and Yolcanoes. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are closely related to each other, like ice and snow. Each may /-be the effect of a different cause or both may result from the same cause, as there is evi­ dently more than one cause at work to produce these effects. This statement will enable the general reader to form a tolerably clear idea of my meaning, and yet I am not satisfied with it my­ self. Therefore, I will vary it by say­ ing that a chain of causes seem to com­ bine, the different effects of which are earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The most general cause of earth­ quakes is the tension and pressure of the crust, by which tho oscillations and plications thereof have been produced. The tension and pressure have been caused by the shrinking and contract­ ing of the crust, consequent upon its cooling. Plications are caused by a lateral or side pressure, in con«equeuce of the contracting of the crust, whereby the strata, if of clay, loam, etc., are thrown into waves or ridges, giving an anpearance something like a fluted col­ umn. I will give a familiar example of the forces that produce Blight earth- qu ikes, in order that the young may have a clearer idea upon the subject. On building a fire iu A Stove, when the pipe begins to heat it will expand. At first there is a tension so slight that t be,iron of the pipe is able to resist it. but as the heat increases the strain, or tension, overcomes the resistance su 1- denly, AS a stick breaks when the strai-i is too great, and with a cracking sound. This is oau-ed by expansion; but simi­ lar phenomena will result from contrac­ tion when the heat is subsiding. Thus it is with the earth's crust. The strain­ ing. by either contraction or expansion, reuses some place to yield with a load report, instead of a "crooking," as in the case of A stove pipo. If this event oc­ curs near a volcano then an eruption ensues. Also, as there is a reflex action, terminating on the surface of the ocean of internal tire, an upheaval of the crust results, and if there is an ocean of water immediately aliove a tidal wave must be the oonsequence. Furthermore, should this slight shock of earthquake epen a ftesuro in the crust, from a foun­ tain of water being suddenly convert­ ed into ste iirv with not room enongh in which to expand, other shocks will foll«>w, attended by uphcarels. earth­ quake wave and volcanic disturbances. These will continue for a shorter or longer period, and be slight or heavy, according to the amount of water pre cipitated, the *i,:o of the t's>ure and o'her conditions. -- Poiiland (Ore­ gon) West Shore. Oa' Ti< 11 .Central).. l-'5 La l>i utrlas 180 El is I'nio l . 2:1 i Nor h Side. Jefferson..... Line In Wicker 5 jUa-hii.gtjn .. Verai n a I 40 310 a* --Mrs.,Frank, a benevolent Hebrew lady. of Chicago, has determined to donate $30;- 000, bequeathed to her by the late Michael Reese, of San Francisco, to tho establish­ ment in that city of a society for the educa­ tion and care of Jewish orphans. It is the intention to send destitute children into the private homes of Hebrew families, and,to, pay certain sums for their instruction and training. • --Paul Soboleski, an exiled Polish pat­ riot and author of "Poets and Poetry of Poland," died in poor apartments in Chicago last week. He was born in 1816, and received a liberal education. He took part in the Polish revolution of 1830, and afterward passed two years in Austrian prisons. Being then driven into exile, he came to America, becoming a newspaper editor in New Jersey. Ho afterward came to Illinois, and was a farmer near Belvidero for eighteen years. He went to Chicago fifteen years ago, and lost his valuable col­ lection of books, of which he was a close student, in the great lire. His work on the poets of his native land was published in 1881, and had a wide circulation. He also published other works of mi-or interest. He was greatly esteemed by his friends far his many virtues. --A m:in well dressed stood in front of the Sherman House, Chicago, the other evening. A boy--more properly sp aking, the tattered remnants of a boy--came ont of a nook in the dark--such children have no other homes except these nooks in the dark--and asked the man for enough change to get something to cat. The man shook his head. "But I have nothirg to weir," pleaded the boy. 'fcLookee here,'* and he pulled open his coat and showed his bare bosom. "And I've had nothing to eat all day," he added. I was standing by, and the contrast was BO marked between ap­ parent prosperity and abso ute squalor that I became interested. The bov moved along and was lost iu the crowd. The man stood there for some minutes and then walked away. I watched hftn speak to a policeman, and then noticed that th? policeman be­ came interested. The man walked on and he was lost in the crowd. I asked the policeman who ho was and this was the story: "I don't know. But he told me he was a stringer, that he didn't have a cent, that he had hail nothing to eat all day. and did not know where to lay his head."-- Chicago Herald. --While Officer Lorch, of the Chicago police, was walking along Penh street, in that city, his attention was attracted by the screams of a woman at No. 21. Running into the yard he saw the form of a woman suspended from" a window, to which she clung by a great effort. With the assistance of a neighbor she was released, and. totally exhausted, she fell to the ground. To Jus­ tice Kersten. the next morning, she told a story which enlisted for her the sympathy of the bystanders. Her husband came home drank, she said, and threatened to kill her. To escape his violence she crawled under the bed. and remained there uutil she thought he was asleep. When she emerged from her hiding-pUice the man awoke and began anew his abuse. In her excitement the woman raised a window in the second story, determined to jump, but when she discovered the distance between the wiudow- Bill and the ground her courage faile^L ' When the policeman entered the house hs found Engelman drunk on the bed, while two little childreu were crying piteou^y in another room for their iiv-ther. Their fa'her was sent to the bridewell for fifty- three days. i : - , . ' • y. , : • V • ' \ : '• v'i; b/ji . •:• ' of --Church-bui"ding fat th-"' principal * J? 4 V " J