The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

ILLINOIS. Hi •naaiii • r> " < wwm TOUTS AMDA42K. , •diiiMt iua> thptViuaa. mdBttwir MriiMnd b«to» UHNM4 O( the door etlMda to Wwiuiu and to Fame, ••• llw wW« world b«yps ̂no mot» ^SiSs-jsas^ NLFKIRLM and Ma JOJ« shall MA. riidaaot mttun teu; L doitou victories; „ boundless prairie* at tba W««V .. Whereredm-- huntthebqflsflo; tWwww Micit glfti are beat 11M godi han tfvn to men below-- >,]MSRT<rf mine, UMM shall W»M« »brave days that art to be. . When I was young this narrow roctad Of hills a glorious worid did bound; Eere, on the quirt valley floor, I dreamed of Freedom and of Fame, """ Ere yet I learned ttiey were no more 'r. Than a vain dream, an empty name; U that glad, eaieleae long ago The happy hours seemed all too alow. [have been wrecked in stormy saw; ~ mine life's glorious victories; me the bright spell on boyhood cast; : v Mo mere along the primrose way ,if wander, for my paths have passed v. ; To this aad world of every day. Ah, heart of mine, M more we knf# The days and drama of long ago! the i --Vkamben' Journal. .**>< FAIR ROSAMONDS i fex rRASKXTN W. IJUt. & < • " B t A B e d f e n r . " jJ Mr. Richard Sedfen, leading man of h, the Sardon Dramatic Company, a tall, dark ; / man, with jet black hair and eyes, a face ' •**• full of character and good looks and a walk '•?,t . that was full of conscious dignity, yet free ; from stage self-importance. Mr. Richard Bedfern, palling on his gloves with a *£" f . pensive air, acting very much as if he were ' Still nnder the spell of the part he played £•'• -within canvas walls, was slowly crossing j* , the lobby of the theater, when this entirely r • - unexpected salutation startled him. Sur- , prised at being thus familiarly addressed &'•; by a strange voice, in a strange place, he • < looked around in the direction from whence the greeting came. His wondering glance f- rested upon a well-dressed young man who eteod near the box office, and who smiled yf. at his perplexity. "I beg pardon, sir, but you have the ad- vantage of me." Then, scrutinizing (he ?-£ ' stranger's face more closely, he gave vent to a cry of amazement, and hurriedforward. Is "Well, by all that's holy, if it isn't Hastings! Why, Ned, old boy, where have yon been k \ all these years; how are yon, ana what are P & yon doing here?" i < "I've been all over--at "home and abroad, ?•k. alwayB the picture of health," said the , other, cordially grasping the hand extended him. "I am just sojourning here, seeing r, v' the rowdy West. Saw your name on the >«*'* bUls--MIBR So and So, supported by Mr. Richard Eedfern, of Boston. Wasn't sure . that it was you, so I came to the play, '-*K' recognised my old stage-struck pjaym&te ,'Jr the moment he came on, and you find me ,* y - here, waiting to say hello." "As brief and as dry as ever," laughed - his friend, delightedly shaking his hand again and again. "You can't tell how glad h'J , I am to see you. Come to my room and we'll make a night of it. Where are you " stopping?" "At your hostelry--it is a wonder that we have not met before." "Miss Layton is worse," said the cleric as they entered the hotel and approached the . desk. "Indeed^" muttered Eedfern, much dis­ turbed. "That will play the deuce with us and make it hard for her--poor little girl. However, I suppose it cannot be helped. Corioie, Ned, let us visit our little invalid, * then for our chat over old times. By rou think of the play?" 1 the comedienne, who awkward and lacking * toUfZiraiitollsil* wmvn ISIBW|V| WIIB • JIMI) arose to retire. Bosebud did not improve much djtrinf the company's stay, and at the conclusion of their engagement they ..wire reluctantly m , with an approving a local amateur, taken on Layton's place, an4 if we keep her much longer the suffering public will enter a protest. You should see Bosebud in that part--she is absolutely irresistible. A figure sylph-like, a decidedly witching afar, a distractingly pretty face, and a voice like a diva." •The same old Dick, I see, always en­ thusiastic about the Bex," said Hastings, with a smile, as they passed down a corridor •nd paused before one of the numerous 'i m : "Come in," said a woman's voice, in answer to their knock, and opening the door, they entered the room. Ned at once recognized several ladies of the company, who Were seated on either side of the sick­ bed; but he immediately transferred his Pf* to the invalid. He saw a pale, sweet laee, almost beautiful, pure in outline, and •denied by a pair of expressive dark-blue «yes, lying amid a wealth of golden hair, that lay upon the pillow in pretty disorder, and formed a halo about the girlish, at- : tractive face. A picture such as a Raphael would have loved to paint, and yet would have hesitated because his brush could not <do the subject justice. Redfern introduced his friend with "a flourish, and coupled the introduction with a glowing eulogium. Ned bowed his ac-' knowledgements, assuring the ladies that his companion's judgment was most un­ reliable. The sick girl smiled fainty, and murmured: "Am I forgotten?" "Oh, Rosebud, who could forget you? Ned, this is Rosamond Layton, the most delightful of her sex," She smiled at Ktdfern, and extended a small, white hand to Hastings. There is always one hand clasped in a life­ time that bears with it an occult influence that permeates every part of the system until it reaches the heart, and unites with the magnetism that wanders from hand to hand in search of a familiar. Often a life is changed by the touch of a sensitive 'hand, and a stubborn nature turned aside from its peculiar course by a swift glance from a pair of eyes; but the cynicism of to-day ridicules that philosophy which accepts such a groundless solution of the problem of destiny. Perhaps it was a sudden twinge of pain thai caused her to start when their hands met, and strangely enough, a faint glow came into her cheeks; while Hasting was conscious of the strangest sensation he had ever ex­ perienced--a current passing up his arm, and a thrill bringing every fiber of his body into momentary action. *lou have had a second attack, Bose­ bud?" asked Redfern, with some concern. "Yes," she replied, wearily, "and I am weak and faint. Oh, I hope this will not Jkeep me here after you nave gone, for if it does, I don't know what I shall do." "So do we. We can ill afford to lose Bosebud, as a companion or a player. Your substitute is a wretched bore. Ned, ' here, ^noticed what a stick she was, and I told hkn that he should see you in that part." "I wish he could," she --M. wishfully. "It is so hard to be sick." "I can only hope, Miss Layton, that your wirt maybe fulfilled.*' Ned looked steadily at her. until she lifted the glance of those great blue eyes to his, and then averted his gaze, while a blush mantled her brow. t Making their excuses, they went to Bed- fern's room, where, amid the aroma of choice Havanas, they revived the memories 1 of old days, and chaffed as the night wore 6B. "Who would have thought, Dick, when we afcted plays in father's barn, and you spouted Shakespeare in the old school- ho«se, that future events would so exactly fit themselvesK to your inclinations nnd talents," said Hastings, reflectively. "Strange, isn't itf I was rather stage- struck, but you were no less dazzled by the footlights. You had as much, if not more talent than I, and I have oftened wondered why you did not keep it up. You would Itave made a name for yourself." *1 was too lazy and careless of my future, Or of fruit, books, and papers w*te evi dencesof his friendly regard that found their way to her room. His lady friends brightened the weary hours of convales­ cence with their pleasant ,/aces and con­ versation. He saw her but little, calling four or five times, and then in company ,with others, for he knew the way of the world's wagging tongue, which is ever ready to repeat and amplify, and place an actress under social ban. • "Have you followed the profession long? he asked, the day before she left to rejoin her company. He felt a deep interest in this winsome little fairy, whose lively sun­ lit nature, now unburdened by pain, shone forth in all its refreshing brightness, and who seemed a veritable sunbeam. For her sake he had remained in that tiresome town longer than he had cared to, and whatever discontent arose from the en­ forced stay, was speedily killed by a sight of her pretty face, and the sound of her musical voice. "Yes, ever since I was 7 years old, when I sang in juvenile opera." "And do you like the life?* v < "No, I can't say that I do. But I can do nothing else, and receive the same pay. Woman's work is poorly paid, and I don't care to struggle as others do. My mother was an invalid, and my father an actor of the old school. He was stricken with paralysis, and I, being the eldest, was com­ pelled to work for the rest. I bated to elerk or to sew, and when an engagement was offered me I gladly accepted it, and have followed the calling ever since. I am all alone now, and I follow the life be­ cause it pays." "And the end?" he asked, earnestly. "The fate of all players--a palace or a garret, I suppose," replied Rosebud, with a gay little laugh, as she watched him. She liked him, this quiet, sincere, and thorough gentleman; for he had treated her with a courtly defer­ ence, and a manly friendship, that she had seldom met with in her nomadic career. H e stroked his head thoughtfully, and his pleasant face was very earnest as he looked seriously at her for a|few moments; while his mind revolved a project that had just occurred to him. Then bidding her good- by he went to his room and wrote a long letter to Redfern. "I can't imagine," Redfern'p answer ran, "what has put this mad scheme into your usually level head, unless it be that the recent heavy eastern failures and a fall in pork have impaired your capital. But, as I told you that night, you always had a knack for that sort of thing, and will be successful. The position to which you re­ fer will be vacant November 1. Try to be in Louisville on that date. You can de­ pend upon my silence, but Bosebud is so sharp and inquisitive, that it will be hard to keep the matter quiet." * « » * • * « "Why so sad, Bosebud? Art thou mourn­ ing the sudden and cruel departure of thy Romeo?" "Bah!" Rosebud, perched upon a huge trunk near the wings, Bniffed contemptu­ ously, and blew a cloud of cigarette-smoke into Redfern's face. "Mourn after him? Why, he was no end of a 6tick, and always made me feel like a fool when we were on together." "Confound your cigarette-smoking," sputtered her companion, half choked by the perfumed vapor. "But how about the new one?" "Oh, he is better, mu£hr better. If he does as well when he goes on to-night, as he did at rehearsal, he will take the house by storm. There is some comfort in work­ ing with a man like him. Say, Dick, who is he?" "Ned Stanhope," said Redfern with an odd smile. "Yes, I know; but hie other name." "Don't know; guesB it is both." "Hardly; it is a stage name. He can't pull the wool over my eyes, with all his mysteriousness. I've seen him somewhere before, when his name wasn't Stanhope, but I can't think where or when," said Rosebud, with a wise shake of her pretty head; and throwing her cigarette away, she slid from the trunk, and ran to her dressing-room. She was correct in her surmise. The new i3an scored a decided hit, and Bose­ bud won added popularity. Their scenes were finally given; their lines natural and smooth; their stage courtship delicious; and their songs and waltzes marvels of pure harmony and rhythmic precision. The delighted andience, captured from the first, was generous with applause and en­ cores, and when the curtain descended upon the last act, Rosebud, in her un­ bounded delight, caught Stanhope and gave him a genuine hug; which he, it is almost needless to say, returned with, interest, amid the laughs of the members of the company. "Where have I seen yon before?" she asked, while they were walking to the hotel.; "Can't say," he replied, in his dry man-, ner. "I have traveled a great deal. "Have you ever seen me?" she persisted, with a sharp glance at his clean-shaven face. "Yes, at Denver and at Chicago." "Anywhere else?" she demanded. "Perhaps,'" and he left her at the ladies' entrance. 4 With a puzzled look upon her pretty face, she stood and watched him as he sauntered away, and then slowly, as­ cended the stairs, thinking deeply. "Never had such a glorious* time in my life," he murmured to Redfern, a moment later. "Guess I'll stick to the profession." "Do so," said Redfern, earnestly. "You have raised a breeze; and the 'old man' is in ecstacies." "Then tell him to raise my salary. Genius needs substantial recognition," said Stanhope, with a smile. From that night he was a success wher­ ever they went, and besides being well liked by the others of the company, gained Rosebud's warm friendship and cheerful society; enjoying both, until he found him­ self her escort and protector at all times. He was not presuming, but was her friend in a quiet, unobtrusive way, never thrusting himself upon her, always courteous, and 'above stage familiarity, perhaps somewhat distant, but always with » &eeu 6je to Ler comfort buu cujo«ui6ut. Books and magazines of interest short­ ened the monotonous hours of travel instead of cards, and a little supper after the play kept her from the cigarettes of the rest until it was time to retire. Rosebud was a rough diamond; at heart, a thorough wo­ man, but the tides of her life had given her no opportunities for the development of her higher nature. She was conscious of the change he had wrought in her, and was deeply grateful for the quiet mentorship. Added to all this, he made it a point to guard her against the inane persecutions of these empty-headed negatives who loiter about every stage door and annoy on act­ ress wherever she goes. One night while they were chatting and laughing over the inevitable oysters, sev­ eral fashionably-attired young men entered the cafe and took possession of a table just behind Bosebud. "How did yon like the play, Creque?" asked one of them, ogling the comely waitress. "First-rate," drawled Creque, a deficient and dissipated-appearing, bnt faultlessly- clad individual, with an ill-shaped head and weak face. "That g'yurl who did the comedy's deusedly pretty -- positively chahming. ' D'you know, fellows, I've half a mind to make an impression there. His companions laughed uproariously at the easy, confident manner of this so- called gent'eman, who was a type of those who in the past have brought actresses into disrepute, and have made it asocial offense for a woman to be a player, and wbo. to­ day, are a bane to the profession. He shrugged his shoulders carelessly at their derisive merriment, and continued in the same drawling tone: "Bet a supper for the party thit I bring her here to-morrow night." Rosebud's face flushed, and her little •WW. wy, and Stroked tUT dandy, **** he •fcfBce recop4sed as a. - • ~ * hadthrotttf Bosebttda b evening. She saw a dangerous light in fctir companion's dark eyes, and heara his teeth grate viciously. "I'll take the bet," cried one of the others, promptly, and as he and Rosebud left the cafe stanhope muttered, with a grim smile: "You'll win, my friend." She was very thoughtful as they walked along, and looked up at him curiously every now and then, carefully scanning his face. A bright light shone in her nine eyes, and a pleasant smile played abottt her lipB, until she reached the solitude of her room. Once alone, she gave her pent- up feelings full sway, and the room re­ echoed with the music of her merry laugh. The next night, as Bosebud, alone and unattended, left the theater, a hand was laid on her arm, and a voice said: "I beg pahdon, but is this Miss Layton?" "Yes, sir." "Delighted, I'm stire. . Will you permit one of your most devoted admirers to es­ cort you to your hotel?" "No, sir, decidedly not," said Bosebud, disdainfully, recognizing the person who had made the wager the night Defore, and moving away. "Wait a moment, my pretty one. You are very unkind and ungrateful, after ac­ cepting my flowers," he said, insinuatingly. "The mere acceptance of your flowers, sir, has no significance, and places me under no obligations to you. Knowing well from whom they came, to have kept them would have been as much of an insult to myself as their presentation, and BO I gave them to a laundry girl in the hotel." "Ah, one so lovely should not be so cruel," he drawled, seeking to detain her. But his hand was rudely drawn away, and as he was hurled to one side a voice rang out: "Oh, you dishonorable cur!" Becovering himself, the would-be escort, maddened by the strange turn of affairs, gave vent to a curse, and launched a blow at the interloper, which was deftly parried, and a crushing stroke from Stanhope's right hand sent him reeling against the building. He drew a revolver, one of those silver-plated toys affected by just such harmless characters; and with a cry of fear Rosebud threw herself between them, her arms clasping Stanhope; but she was gently thrust aside, while her champion, always as cool as an iceberg, knocked the pistol from his antagonist's white hand, wd with a terrible blow of his left hand. knocked him into the gutter. "The next time you make a wager, my inexperienced friend, give the matter a little more thought," said Stanhope, look­ ing down upon him, and then walking away with his fair charge, who clung to MB with all a woman's trustfulness. What was said as they walked BO slowly along has always been their secretj but when Rosamond lift him at the foot of the staircase, a ring sparkled on h?r finger that had never been seen there before. "Where on earth have you been so long?" growled Redfern, who was waiting for him to come and join him in a game of euchre. "I have been making arrangements whereby I can add a Bosebud to my num­ erous personal charms. We are to be mar­ ried in New Orleans," he said, dealing the cards and turning up the c[ueen of hearts, and indulging in a quiet laugh at his friend's unbounded amazement. * * * * * * • * « There was a quiet wedding in the Cres­ cent City,and Bedfern was best man. That afternoon, on the train, Stanhope drew a paper from his pocket and handed it to his golden-haired bride. It certified that Ed­ ward Stanhope Hastings and Rosamond Layton had been duly joined in the holy bonds of matrimony. He watched her narrowly as she read, and was consider­ ably taken aback to find no, traces of sur­ prise in her face. "So, you see, my dear, your new name is not Stanhope." "1 knew that it was not your real name," she said with an arch smile. "The deuce you did! How long ago?" "I recognized you that night in the cafe, when we overheard that wager. I could not place you before, try aB I might. But then I knew you to be Dick's oldfnend,Ned Hastings, who was so kind to a poor, friendless little soubrette in D . Who, unknown to her, bore all the expense of her illness and then disappeared before she could repay, or even thank him for his kindness," she said, her eyes growing luminous as they looked lovingly up at him. He arose, with an expression of mock de­ spair on his fine face, and was standing in the aisle, when she laid a hand on Ids arm, and asked: "What is the matter, Ned?" "I intend to throw myself under the wheels for being such a confounded fool as to try to deceive a woman" he replied, in a crestfallen manner. "Don't do that," she whispered, taking his hand; "we will be so happy, roaming together." "Agreed, but not as actors, Bosebud." "Why not? How will we live? I am heartily tired of the life, but how else can we get along?" "Ah, my flower, it seems that you do not know all yet," he said, handing her a clip­ ping from one of the papers. She read: "HASTINGS-LAYTON--Edward S. Hast­ ings and Rosamond Layton, two of the most talented members of the Sardon Company, now playing in this city, were married this morning by the Reverend Barr. The lucky groom is a wealthy resident of Boston, who, it appears, has been traveling incognito during the past season, and acting merely for amusement. To add spice to the affair, Mr. Iiichaid Redfern, of the same company, informed a reporter that Mr. Hastings became at­ tracted to Miss Layton during a visit to a northern city, and disguising himself by removing his beard and mustache, joined the company under an assumed name, with the fixed intention of winning her in truly romantic manner." "So, my darling, you have nearly reached the end, and it is a palace--not a%arret." "And you have married a beggar for her­ self alone," she said, the tears falling thick and fast upon the clipping. He took her hand and carried it to his lips. "No, not a beggar, but a princess-- Bosamond. \ Domestic Views. « , The gntftll boy was regaling a visitor with the family album. "Who is this one ?" asked the victim as ho began the* photographic volume. "Oh, that's gramp', an' here's gram' rite across the leaf." "And this pretty lady?" "That chromo's Aunt Soke; she's • terror. An' that fel that looks as ef he didn't know beans is nunkey." "Who are the two taken together?" "That's pop an' mam, only they ain't fightin' there." "And this sweet child?" "That's me when I was a kid. An' that's pop's first wife what died; .and that's another nunkey. Say, he don't look like a bird, does he ? Pop nkyg he's a real old gallus bird; an' this--" The entrance of the family prevented further disclosures. -- Detroit Fret Press. F "You can never come off victorious in a constroversv with little Snippit," ob­ served the Judge. "I don't see why," replied the Major, "especially if I should happen to have the logical side of the discussion." "No, even then you would lose." "How is that?" "On account of his diminutive size, and the fact that he is a newspaper man." MI don't see what that has to do with it." "No? Well, it is because however right you may be, Snippit is sure to be a little writer." The 11 Bite. Major fainted.--Tid- drag, not TALK about the "strong arm of the law;" why, it isn't anywhere alongside of the strong arm of the niother-m-law. Bvsvary WUek li at One* mm Amuseaaeat , ' MMt Means of Svftatetaaee. Charles Dickens, tastily compiling his "Italian Notes," baa given the palm to the town of Pisa.: Had he written more leisurely he would have done more justice--indeed, mere justice--to Naples. The Pisan beggars i are a tribe in themselves, curiously im­ portunate and impertinent, bnt the Neapolitans are nearly all beggars. No city in the kingdom is more populous or mpre poor. The mixture of the Moorish blood with the Italian has pro­ duced a race, among Europeans at all events, unexampled for beauty, cruelty, easy immorality, and intolerable lazi­ ness. As you wander along the streets you hear snatches of Moorish music mixed with the true Neapolitan refrains, and you see faces, especially among the children of 8* or 9, of quite incredible beauty. There are the familiar char­ acteristics of the beautifully set brow, the facile smile, and the eyes, some­ times brown, sometimes blue, always expressive, and everything set off by a rich varnish of dirt. One is reminded ot the old-fashioned nursery hymn*- My little body's full of sin And over all is placed a skin. But, with all this, there is a cowardly skulking and a brutality that is not Italian but Oriental. No sight is more common along that hilly road leading from the famous Santa Lucia to the hight of Posilipo than to see miserable little horses, all bleeding and lame, tottering under the shafts of a cart weighed down with eight or ten corpu­ lent Neapolitans, who flog it and kick it till it swerves and falls. At the corner of one well-known street there is a bird shop where you may buy nightingales, goldfinches, and robins. Sometimes a crowd of gamins is collected to witness a little surgical operation. Some char­ coal burns in a braisiero, and the oper­ ator thrusts into it a needle with a wooden handle. He then takes from a cage a recently-caught blaickbird, and with *the red-hot needle puts out his eye. It needs much skill--skill that only comes from practice--to do this successfully. An unsteady hand would prematurely kill the bird. In most instances, where the operation is suc­ cessful, the birds do die, but that is only after a couple of days of agony. You will see the patients in cages hang­ ing round the shop, with the sightless eyes swollen to the size of a pea, but in the rare cases of recovery the bird sings briskly through the twenty-four hours, day and night being the same to it. If a stranger approaches the chil­ dren leave the bird-torturer to beg for soldi The fat, round, cherub faces are thrust up into your own, the little hands point to the mouth, and you hear the familiar cry that is translated, "I am dying of hunger* give., me a half­ penny." The truth is the children live on the strangers. Sturdy well-to-do women, with bold, laughing faces, beg pence, and are im­ pertinent and shameless if they do not get them. In Italy no families are so large as the Neapolitan, and no people marry so freely and so young. A family of seven is usual; a family of ten is not unusual. "The prudential cheek" is unknown. The Neapolitan housewife of this poorer class has no care. She makes no attempt to "f aire le men­ age," She gives the little ragamuffin a soldo or two to get his dinner, and, like young Norval, his only care is to in­ crease his store, which he does by beg­ ging ; thus the parents directly encour­ age their children, and the police authorities--a most respectable body in cocked hats--look on and do not inter­ fere. The result is just what might be expected. Naples is one of the most populous cities in Europe and one of the loveliest. Its harbor gives it di­ rect trade with all quarters of the world. The country round about it has the richness of volcanic soil. And yet wander through its streets and poverty and squalor meet you at all directions. The death-rate is almost the highest in Europe. It has the dearest hotels-- and the worst. Even in the good hotels it may be said that at night the fleas dance to the music of the mosqui­ toes. Such trade as there is in its streets is largely in the hafds of for­ eigners. Frenchmen, ana Germans, Lombards, and English take the oppor­ tunities which the Neapolitans are too lazy to accept. The place has a bad name, and deserves it. In all countries there are thieves; but in few capitals north of Naples need the stranger bo in such constant fear of being robbed. It is said that things are improving. But so long as shameless, audacious, and insolent begging is permitted, so long as the children are allowed to swarm about the streets without the slightest attempt at their reclamation or their education, the degredation of the beau­ tiful city must remain a constant blot on the Italian Government. The course, sale of Adulterations. Now that the farmers of our country have succeeded in obtaining legislation restricting the manufacture and sale of bogus butter, they should turn their attention to other deceptions. Tem­ perance lecturers long ago demon­ strated that, instead of making beer out of malt, the brewers spend enormous sums of money in manufacturing that beverage out of costly poisons and rare pigments. So, too, we are told by per­ sons who regard coffee as a demoraliz­ ing and deadly drink that the grocers purchase beans, whieh they roast, grind up 'and mingle with a small proportion of the genuine Java berry. As for honey and spices, it is notorious that they are adulterated, and white clay is largely used in the manufacture of candy. Of course there are rash skeptics who affect to doubt the ex­ treme wickedness of some grocers and confectioners, but we hpve only to read any one of the numerous sanitary magazines devoted to the humane pur­ pose of disquieting the digestion to know that we are fed upon poisons and nourished by deadly beverages thinly disguised as beer, rum, and coffee. But the worst adulterators, if the published accounts are true, are the druggists, who dispense diluted and impure medicines. The fever-and-ague shaken SoutheAer, who in mid-winter wisely lays in a dozen pounds of quinine for summer use, cannot be sure that he is not buying a drug that is far too feeble to grapple efficiently with the "shakes." The thoughtful schoolboy, who purchases assafoetida with a view to quietly disinfecting his schoolroom, has no certainty that the drug is suffi­ ciently pure to overcome the teacher's obstinate reluctance to dismiss his class. Wives who provide themselves with arsenic in order to prevent possible rats from invading their premises, can­ not feel certain that their husbands will not entirely recover from any little temporary uneasiness resulting* from eating home-made bread; and the young woman whose life has been blighted by the fickleness of some heartless male being, whose vows are as false as his jewelry, may find that the druggist from whom she has purchased medicine must, of interfered with by d!Xtgs» When our druggist is trustworthy, there is some satisfaction in obtaining a medical pre­ scription and taking it to him to be made up. We are then reasonably sure that we shall prooure something that will taste nasty, and unpalatable, and that will create a wholesome sur­ prise in our vital organs. But how can a prescription give us any real comfort when we lack faith in the apothecary, and think it only too probable that he will give us chalk instead of and brickdust instead of rhubarb? Long experience has shown that it is possible to drink adulterated beer and coffee, and to consume sanded sugar and miscellaneous sausages, without im­ mediate peril of life. We cannot, how­ ever, afford to permit our drugs to be tampered with. JLet us insist upon be­ ing supplied with pure strychnine and arsenic, and with medicines that will not disappoint the just expectations of undertakers and create in their minds a prejudice against young physicians just beginning their career. We need less poison in our food and more poison in our drugs. The druggist must not fancy that the surreptitious medicine supplied to us by grocers can be made an excuse for the adulteration of drugs with harm­ less groceries. Let us have everything in its proper placed groceries at the grocer's, and poison at the druggist's. The efforts of druggists and grocers quietly to exchange their respective trades without permitting the public to be made aware of the fact, should be resolutely opposed.--American Culti- vaUor. __________ The Value of Food. It has come to this, that the simplest artides of-diet are the safest, and that is, in my opinion, another argument in favor of plain living. Yes, the simplest are the safest, and, lot me add, the best are the cheapest. The butcher, for ex­ ample, or the egg merchant cannot adulterate his wares, but he may have several qualities; and there is a stage at which all animal foods arrive, when kept in shops, which renders them to a large extent poisonous, and this is as bad if not worse than adulteration. We often hear it said that shop eggs, as they are called, are good enough for frying, with bacon for example. This is a positive mistake; an egg that has even a suspicion of staleness about it is deleterious to health, not to say danger­ ous, no matter whether it be fried or boiled. And the same may be said of flesh meats of all kinds and I will not except a hare or vension. I ana quite prepared to have this little sentence pooh-poohed by the robust and healthy. I only add that I adhere to it; that I have the courage of my convictions, and furthermore, that I have invalids and dyspeptics, and those with delicate di­ gestions, in my thoughts as I write. I grant you, my healthful athlete, who can tramp over the moors with gun and bag from morning dawn till dewy eve and never feel tired, that the eating of long-kept game may not seem to injure you, but the bare" fact that piquant sauces and stimulants are needed to aid its digestion is exceed­ ingly suspicious. There are two ani­ mals in particular that like their food high and tender; one is the crocodile, the other our friend, the dog. Both have wonderfully strong digestive pow­ ers; little inferior, in point of fact, to that of the ostrich, about which bird so many fanciful stories have been written and told. It may be said, without much fear of contradiction, that any kind of food or any mixed diet or meal which requires the aid of stimulant, either of the na­ ture of condiment of wines, is not salu­ tary. Such diet aS this is a tax upon the whole system, and causes heat and discomfort, and a feverish state of the blood, which can only end in debility of the nervous system and more or less of prostration. But those who would obtain the greatest amount of health and comfort from the food they eat must be most careful in its selection. Leaving idiosyncrasy out of count, for the pres­ ent, although every one ought to know what agrees with him and what does not, there are many things connected with the value and digestibility of food obtained from various sources "that I do well to remind the reader of.--Cas»ell'8 Magazine. The Formation of a Feather. In the skin of a fowl, where a feather is to appear, there is to be seen a little pit, and at the bottom of this rises a little mound or pyramid. Around this pyramid certain little - grooves extend, deeper at the base, and seeming to radiate from one large groove at one side, all growing shallower, and finally disappearing at the top. The whole pyramid is covered with a skin com­ posed of the same scales or flattened cells as those which cover the whole body. In the ordinary process of growth the new formations on the sur­ face of the body throw off as effete matter the older portions of the skin; but here they are retained, and become so closely united to each other that they form a sort of horny coat, more or less strong (according to its age), over the surface of the pyramid. As new cells grow at the base, they push up this little horny protuberance tHl it breaks at its thinnest point, which is opposite the large groove. Then, as new growths still push it forward and flatten it, it assumes the form of a feather, the ridge in the main furrow, or grooves, form the separate barbs of the vein. When all this web of the feather is completed the pyramid loses its grooves and be­ comes smooth. All parts are of equal thickness, and so hard as not to break easily, but remain tubular, and form a quill, which is attached to what remains of the pyramid. The finger nails, and even single hairs, are developed and formed in the same way, and every one who has injured a nail and lost it knows by how long a process, some three or four months, the missing finish to his digit is being reproduced.-- Agricultural. tiot 1U . Col. Minks called on his friend, the editor of the Trumpet "Mv dear Henry," said the Colonel, "I'm glad to see you doing so well. W'y your paper is better and better printed every week, and if the improvement continues, we can, after a while, read every word of your sheet. You deserve credit." The editor replied: "I get credit. Hence those bill collectors. Wish you'd bolt that door and remain per­ fectly quiet for about five minutes. 1 hear some one on the stairs. "--Arkan- saw Traveler. TWENTY thousand seals were captured last year by the natives of Vancouver, B. Cf. To be suspicious is to invite treach- r.--Voltaire^ were Jifir mer of 1864 oompfcaints lo our bureau that someone J' bogus shinplaster in the neighborhood of Green Bay. A good many hundred dollars worth of the currency was let loose all at once, and I was detailed to proceed to Wisconsin and work up the case. It was settled before I started that the "stuff" had been printed from plates made by an engraver known to us as "Slick Sam." His right name was, I believe, George Disston, and he was then in state prison on a long sentence. It was pretty oertain that the plates had fallen into the hands of some of his pals, and were being made use of in a lively manner. It was probable that the printing was being done in Chicago, and that an "agent" had struck Green Bay to unload. Upon reaching the place mentioned I found that almost every branch of trade had suffered, and pretty soon I was able to show that most of the bogus money had been passed upon them dur­ ing one week. Then they began to hunt up sales and remember buyers, and it was settled that the "shover" was an old gray-haired man named Newell, who lived on a farm a few miles away. He had purchased dry goods, notions, hardware, drugs, and almost every­ thing else, paying in shinplasfeers which appeared almost new. It was plain to me, after getting thus far, that he had bought his bogus money outright of some agent, or had sent to parties in some city for it. Had it been other­ wise he would have sought to turn it into good money. I swore out a warrant for him, took the cars to within four miles of hia house and accomplished the rest of the way on foot. He lived in the woods, in a log house, and had but a few acres cleared. Evidences of poverty and shiftlessness could be found on every hand. I was quite certain I saw liim about the door of the house while I was yet some way off, but when I reached it the door was shut and no one was in sight. However, after I had done some lively rapping a muscular woman about 30 years old opened the door and inquired my business. I re­ plied that I was an agent from Chicago and desired to see her husband. She invited me in, believing, as I meant her to believe, that I had come as the agent of the counterfeiters. She stated that her husband was off hunting, but would be home soon. ^ After we had talked for half an hour the woman's demeanor suddenly changed. What aroused her suspicions I can't say, but I saw that she looked at me with distrust. Thinking that the plain way was the best way I told her who I was and my errand. "So you are a detective, come to ar­ rest my husband!" she called in a loud voice. 1 sought to calm her, and had instant success. She settled down in her chair and said she had been expecting it for weeks, and that her husband must make the best of the situation. She shed tears and seemed much effected, and as time passed and I wanted to go out and hunt up Newell she excused his continued absence and kept me seated on the plea that he must soon show up. I had been there two hours when we heard a voice shouting for help. While ran out-doors she rushed into the other room. I passed half-way around the house to find the old man hanging head downward, hands on the ground and feet in a small window four or five feet up. After I had released him and taken him into custody I found that he had run into the room when he saw me approaching the house. When the wife raised her voice it was to warn him who I was and what brought me there. He climbed out of the window to escape, but in his descent his trowsers caught on a nail and held him fast. The wife was detaining me in order to give him a good start, but it turned out that she was only prolonging his sufferings. He stood it until he could bear no more, and then called out. The case against him was so strong that he made no de­ fense, and received a sentence of six years.--Detroit Free Press. The Increase of Bald Heads. To a person who has a moderately well-supplied pocket-book and a thoughtful turn of mind, there can be no more fruitful theme for meditation than to go into our large halls, theaters, churches, and other places of pxiblic resort, 'and securing a seat in the gallery or in the rear part of the room, look at the heads of the audience, for no other purpose than to ascertain by actual count how many show signs of baldness. Unless the experimenter has been in the habit of counting for this object, he will be surprised to learn that, in most of the eastern cities, fully 30 per cent, of the men over 30 years of age show unmistakable signs of baldness, while nearly 20 per cent, have spots on their heads that are not only bald, but actu­ ally polished with the gloss that is sup­ posed to belong to extreme old age alone. I have been in the majority of« the churches and theaters in all the large eastern cities, as well as in Chi­ cago, St. Louis, and other places of the West, and have verified my assertion by actual count. From my observation find that bald-headed men are most plentiful in New York and Boston. After these come Philadelphia, Wash­ ington, and the western towns. I say men," for two reasons; first, because women usually wear their hats or bon­ nets on such occasions, thus covering their crowns; second, in case their hats are removed, the hair is combed up so as to cover any possible bald spot, or else there is an artificial "switch" to hide the defects of nature. So, with­ out indulging in any speculations re­ garding what may be, I will confine myself to what is to be seen. Here are a few observations taken in Boston. Trinity Church--243 men; 71 actually bald, 46 indications of baldness. King's Chapel--86 men; 38 actually bald, 14 indications of baldness. Hollis Street Theater,orchestra at performance of the "Mikado"--63 men; 27 actually bald, 10 indications. Boston Theater, Judio--126 men; 51 actually bald, 43 indications. -- Popular Srienc* Monthly. Unique Weather Signals. In the Swiss village of Meyrin some disused wells have been hermetically sealed to serve as barometers. On a fall of atmospheric pressure, air escapes through a small hole in the well-cover, blowing a whistle, and thus giving warning of a coming storm, but when the outside pressure is increasing, the air being forced into the well causes a different sound, and announces the probability of fine weather. A MAN who takes one drink too many is often denounced as a fool, but noth­ ing is said of the woman who gets three sheets in the wind--on washday. JUST how many kinds of cottage pud­ ding there are can only be ascertained by traveling about the country from V ; j- ,idtis.,«... * t.. QUESTIO* : WHY is a crow? Caws. A HOUSING speech--"Get up--break- ¥ fast's ready!" - * IT may be remarked, fe passing tfe# gloves are handy thugs to have abon^ ^ I; : UNEESTBAINBD politeness; "Please ,, lend me a chew of tobaooo, I will r»* turn it to you as soon as I get through ?*; with it." ; YOUNG MAN (driving with young girl)-*" ' ^ \ I say, farmer, how can I get back toth* - < ^ village the quickest way ? Fanner-- j Well, you might run your horse. > ^ 4 WE have the Atlantic slope, the Pq» >' * - ciflo slope, the Gulf slope, but the Canada slope seems to be the moil ' prominent one before the public just at present. ! , "I WISH I was a girl, Imt I'd want tpt be a big one," said little Tommyi "What do you want to be a big girl fo*j^ '• Tommy?" asked a gentleman who wap. present. "If I was a big girl I could wear a bustle, and then when the teacher nut me over his knee I wouldn't J mind it hardly any."--Texas Siftmgs. BLIVINB--See here, Muggs, you said that this horse you sold me would hftTt good limbs on him before two weeks. Muggs--Yes, my friend, I said s^£ Blivins--Well, the only good limbs he has. had on him are hickory limbs I hav# to use on him to make him go. Muggi --Well, those are the limbs which * alluded to.--Detroit Free Press. "Is Miss BLINKINS at home?" asked Mr. Saunders of the Irish girl wh® answered his ring at the door. "Yes, | ^ blave Bhe is, sir." "Is she engaged?* "And it is engaged you say? Faix, axf - I can't tell you, sir, but she kissed Mrj Vincent last evening as if she had nevef* seen the like of Mm, and it's engaged I - blave they are, sir."--Buffalo Commer- ciaL V, "ON a strike again, eh, Dobbs ?" "Yes, sir." (Hie!) "Why don't you be ­ like the clock ? It strikes, but keep*' on working, all the same. Idleness means mischief, and you'll be in trouble^ before the week is out." "No, I won't* ' See this beard?" "Yes." "Well (hie" I leave that beard grow (hie t) just tft keep out of a scrape!" -- Chicago \ Ledger. W BKOWN--Deacon Smith is repo about town, Bobinson, that you we: out gunning last Sunday. Robinson-* Well, Deacon Smith will get himself into trouble if he doesn't look out. It'#,* a mistake. Brown--I'm glad to heat \ - ^ you say so, Bobinson. I didn't think * i you were a man to go gunning on Sun* ~ | day. ^ Bobinson--No, sir, I did not gflji V . gunning last Sunday, and, if necessary* " v I've got the fish to prove it--Harper*t Bazar. "I CALLED this morning to tell yoit. that I am going to form a stock com#,; pany of my steamboat property," h# said, as he entered the office of a capi*. talist in Cairo. "Let's see! You ownp the Jane Swift and the Bonny Dean!* . \ "Yes, sir." "And you will sell me--!*/'• "Ten thousand dollars worth of stock," sir, and guarantee a 9 per cent divi». dend." "Ah! Come back in half an, hour." The steamboat man was oi| time, and the other said: "Not to-day. Colonel; I've been telegraphing, and J find that one boat is at the bottom and the other ashore in the woods. Conuf% in some other day."--Wall Street Neu)8* < A TWILIGHT FANTASY. A woman stood at a garden gate. " * V • * - (Sing hey for the distant spreading MClitlt. / • Stna hey for the dog that hurried by ,1 '1 ' With a kettle tied to his tail. " " My good man akurrtod adown the road. • (Sing hey )or the joyous drinking And after the ochre cur he sped With many a grewsome shout. ' "Now, why this haste, good neighbor?" SKI;* cried; . ^ "Why after the dog of the timber tint?" ' But, -waking the echoes with a yell, he sped Through the twilight's gleam and glint. A smug-faced lad looked over the fence. (Sing hey where the birdlings sing and i "Why laugheat, good mother?" "£ laugi] she, "To see yon ecru purp." A smile then smiled the smtig-faoed lad. (Sing lack-a-day for the sunset red/) "Then laugh no more, good gossip, becauM The kettle is your'n," he said. M l! T-V- ' V-; JCv * 4 . [The poetry after Browning; the maa log; the woman after the boy.] --The Rambler. • V; The Boy's Bed-Room. Now, instead of turning our boys oft with the coldest, most inconvenient room in the house and make a sort of lumbeir bed-room of it for him to go into only7 when his bed time comes, and out of ill;? as soon as possible when his rising time comes; without one beloved cozy cor­ ner, or pretty picture, to rest his eyei|v „ upon while he lingers about his mornl^ ing Bible reading, or about the detail^!* of his toilet, (which, indeed he canno0 finish in his room because they are, very likely, no conveniences) let us in stitute a system of equality in planni: the bed-rooms of our children, makin it a point to always keep the boys' roo: as pretty and cozy as the girls' and scrupulously clean, rather than barel furnished with only the strictest neces saries, and in, to say the least, a stati of questionable order. Tn these dayi of cheap, bright pictures and fabric which latter are also durable, certainty most mothers may without stinting thej|j needs of the household, adorn anc|f i furnish her boy's bed-room if only it bet already supplied with a bed and toilet}* set. If means to buy the other articles^ • are lacking, some packing boxes and ; few yards of the inexpensive material^'. 1 above mentioned used to upholsteiK them will cost but little except the timet used in getting them into shape; andjf, the result of a few hours' labor and thepH expense (of perhaps $2) will be the con-» version o? the Sahsr® of A room into palace in which a boy will love to linger, feeling a pleasant sense of possesion, and to which he will bring with pride and delight his young friends when | they visit him, as he has seen his sister ^ do. Here, at least, he is safe from the hustling orders of any elder sisters ha 7,/s- - may chance to possess, who may have & - propensity to monopolize, as elder v. sisters often do, all the cozy nooks in/; ^ the house; this, at least, is outside their " dominions.--Good Housekeep ing. Something in Common* "Yon wouldn't think I had anything in particular in common with the .sun, would yoji, chappie ?" '& "Well, no; I can't say I would, chap-, pie. You don't imagino so yourself, do you?" - ^ "Oh, but I do. Fact, I assure you. "i. !, "X "Don't see how, old fellow, unless its ' - 4 because there's nothing new under you.'*'^; "Haw! Not bad, that., That,ain't though." . „ - "Then what is it?" • • * - "Well, you know, X had my blacked this morning." "Ya-as." ^ ^ "And then along comes this* beastly^ spell of weather and spoiled my shine?* "Well?" "Well, don't you see, it also spoiled the sunshine." « "Aw!" • ' ;J THE selfish man has the most pres­ ence of mind. He never forgets Hm- "V * "**•:. I. > \. * 4 " ~\;C t „ r * . -J Ja, *L,V