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ftfrtilfaltt SLYKE ILLINOIS. COLO every appeeranoe of a snow storm. Brt] ROW A REGllBNT WAS FORXm for my compass, wliich I always carried „ _ . -- whan in the woods, I would, without I ."r_0""..0p,*,n °'_ _H* wkl nU*T®* doubt, have gone astray.for I was not an BY KINOM 8. 8IRTS1 it*.* m A -- m I;'- • >;v 1'-' HtobMtttiscold. (ind hin. blood ii oouk Im,, ' $, - 1 And he speaks in an icy ton*. iJr~" And he in best contented . • u-.'« i When he sips his wine aionC v . * But -when he jtfves a party. si- *»' !»;«?« .Tost for the sake of show, ""'A-' • IRL'. '• Bi«gu«Rt8. ehillod by Manuull*^ •'||p "i~y • BeBerved and frigid grow, . jK^-.lpSCia Vb» g'lnt of liig cold, keen glatteo* 'W- fWu* '•« Freezes the air around. - * 1 V • J And the notes of his grand piano Sr i' 5>3' * Come forth with a freezing sound. Pl'Fv -j';T': ?? Evcn the steam from his viiinda , W' : - V Have A sort of arctic MueU. i®§r K>i;"4^And every guest seems 1- > A fever and ague spell. I %'/ \t , No heat in the glowing flro. f?f .J)* No warmth in the bright champagB^;1 i $$i . And the halting c^nromtion -%k £v \ h^enis bound by an icy elia n. , ff , And the host sit a grimly waitin' *J \' (ftvW* To see his guests depart, *•' , * ' ;x In his v< iee a freezing languoiy f S , In his bosom a frozen hearty, t \ '• ' " ' i'. York U\-!>kly. '{ ,,<• y * * 4^"':V'7 NARROW ESCAPE. Adventure with a Panther. BY NEWTON H. 1VESS. experienced woodsman at that time. As it was, I felt comparatively safe, even should it take me into the night to reach Jhtome. I was thus picking my way through the dense woods as expeditiously as was possible under the circumstanoes, when I was suddenly startled by that low, ominous growl, coming from the throat of a panther, which having smelt the venison I was carrying on my shoul­ ders, was following me with the hope of making his evening meal from the dainty morsel. At the moment I faced around the panther was crawling stealthily along, just ready lo spring; but my sudden turning delayed the action for a moment. It was well it so happened, for had he sprung at that instant I am doubtful whether I would have been spared to recite the event. For one brief moment I was para­ lyzed. My self-possession all deserted [ me, and for an instant I felt that my [ limbs would scarcely sustain my weight. ! Then swift thoughts of the loving wife and child at home, anxiously watching for my coming at this very moment, dashed all fear from my brain, aud I stood again a man, ready to defend my life to the last. I was just in the act of bringing my gun to my shoulder, when, with a short, sharp growl, the panther sprang for my throat. Had he struck me with that tremendous bound he would, with­ out doubt, have made short work with me; but before he was half way to me, I threw myself flat on the ground, and he passed entirely over me, and lahded some ten feet beyopd. When I became satisfied that lie had passed by and left me unharmed, I commenced crawling away on all fours, leaving my venison and gun where I had dropped them, in the vain hope that his anger would be appeased upon finding the deer-meat, and that while making hi3 I could make good my escape. But not so; the monster was blood­ thirsty and relentless. He wheeled around, and with two or three Bhort leaps, he was upon me. I quickly de­ cided upon my best course, and before he made his last sprintr, and stood squarely over me, I gave myself a sudden turn and rolled flat upon my back. As he pounced upon me one of his fore-paws struck my^ right shoulder, the other missing me entirely and coming down beside me upon the ground. With the desperation of a last hope I threw up my left arm, which the panther seized instantly. With my other hand I drew, my long hunting-knife from it3 sheath, and while he lay* crunching my left arm, I drove the keen blade to the hilt, again and again, just back of the fore- shoulder. Usually one such thrust would kill any animal except a panther, but so tenacious of life are this species of feline that they often live for some time after receiving a death wound. Although, as I afterwards found, I had pierced the heart .several times, this monster did not immediately succumb, but continued crunching my arm. The paiu caused by his sharp fangs piercing the flesh and grinding upon the bone had now become intense, and with the hope of terminating his life as soon as A low, whining giowl caused me to ' ^tftop short in my tracks, and, , turning quickly around, my blood became con­ gealed in my veins as 1 beheld aj huge panther, not ten paces behind me, with bristling back, slowly waving tail, *nd just arching his back ready to make a spring. This animal, though a bloodthirsty and ferocious beast, is ordinarily a great coward, and will flee from the presence of man, • nless it be in the darkness of night and his intended prey is entirel' •' supper upon that unsuspicious of danger and taken at * ' cruel disadvantage. There are otlie. causes which will excite him, and cause him to attack with daring and reckless courage, among which may be cited jeopardy of his mate or young, prolonged hunger, and the taste or scent of blood. The latter is the most potent cause of all, and this brings me to my story. ' It was in the early days of Wisconsin, about forty years ago, that I moved Into that country, which was then nearly a wilderness, no settlements having been made except in a few places along the borders of Lake Michigan. I moved in the spring ot the year, and commenced a clearing on the farm I now occujiy. By fall I had built a good log-house, and good stables for my cattle, had put in the ground ten acres of wheat, and looked forward to the year for the reward of my labors.. My family consisted of my wife and one child; neighbors, their were none nearer than four or five mile, so that visiting or amusements w^re entirely out of the question. You may there­ fore suppose that on the approach of «long winter I. had amply time to gratify my love for hunting, for which I had in those days a great fondness. Winter had set in early, all my cares •were confined to keeping a stock of fire­ wood on hand--which you may imagine j possible. I deliberatelv seiected a place not a difficult chore wheu the trees j on the side of the neck where I knew at my door--and _taking care of the jugular vein should be. and with all then tha my strength I drew the blade of ray I was tew cattle of which e day in the latter part of Decem- I took down my gun and told my wile that I would on my return please her with the sight of a deer. Deer are now very scarce in this part of the •country, but at that time they were so ^plentiful that there was little merit or difficulty in achieving what I had prom­ ised fev wife. I drew the blade knife across his throat.. In an instant a torrent of blood gusltted all over me; and, with a peculiar gargHng groan, the panther rolled off me to the/ground, and in a moment more was dead. Then came such a revulsion of feel­ ing that for a little while I was so weak I was unable to get upon my fe.et. However, I managed shortly to roll upon my side, and with > I took a coarse nearly northwest from ; some effort 1 gained Sn upright my hou-e, which led me directly into I posture. I then endeavored to ascer- the forest. The snow was nearly a foot tain the extent of iny injuries, deep, and the wind blowing hard from I found upon examination that, ex- the north, it drifted vfery badly in open ; cepting my left arm, I had sustained no places in the woods; yet this, I thought, ; injuries beyond a few scratches. The was in my favor, as the noise made • flesh of mv arm, from mv wrist to my among the trees by the wind prevented ! elbow, was so badlv lacerated that it toe game from hearing my approach, j was but a mass of jelly, but the bone Sut, in this I was mistaken, for | was not seriously injured, as I after- traveled five or six miles j ward found out. IM; I had from home and had not yet been able to get a single shot at a deer. Although I had seen a nurnber of them, they were always on the run, and at too great a distance, and all those which I saw •howed signs that they had scaicely walked duriDg the day. i was then a young hunter, and knew but little of the habits of this shy ani­ mal, but I have since learned that they •re nearly always on the move, and geneVally run throughout the winter days, probably from the apprehension of danger from wolves, which follow their scent through the snow. Leaving the panther's stark body lying as it was, I again gathered up my load and proceeded on my way home. It was now nearly dark and snowing quite hard, but after assuring myself that I was going in the right course, I lost no time, but pushed on as fast as my tired limbs would enable me to. In due time I sighted my little clear­ ing in the woods, and with a deep sense of relief I soon reached my cabin, where I found my wife anxiously await­ ing my return. She was greatly hor­ rified at my appearance, and came near fainting away at sight of me. Indeed, I trawled on aud on, and at length I! she was not to be blamed, for I was oecame weary of my long tramp thr.jugh i covered from head to foot with blood. the snow, and, leaning my gun against | I must have presented a horrible sight. l iking a scanty j 1 assured her, however, that I was ndt ra^1,lle had nmibled upon j seriously injured, and soon quieted her fears. I afterward, with the help of one of my neighbors,, eecpred the panther's skin, and I have it to this day as a my taking with me. All was still around me, and, as I silently devoured my repast, 1 fell to musing on the ill bef,-U a,ttem^ to : -- x nave it ims u secure a nice, fat venison, with which I • trophy of mv first ^aattier fight. had hoped to replenish my scanty larder I --' -------- *t home. And my wife, I thought What a Key Hoes. ' IuThtv^?nTffitd ^ me retUrU With" He comes out at the front door. - . -r ® „ . m-v Plormse. But j bright and liaj py. He comes out for " 1 no particular reason, says the Wasliing-auch, I now feared, would be the re­sult of the day's hunt, and I seemed doomed to make my wav home without me coveted prize. Suddenly a rustling in the under­ brush behind me startled me from my reverie. Turning, I beheld ton Capilol, save that he wantls to be moving about. He is full of physical action, and he must get some' of it out of him before bed-time or he won't be fit to sleep. He doesu't know this with for, coble buck bounding past me to the ! after^atl' ull {°ri right, not twenty yards distant. Seizing £8 own 2 ?? *°°? °! «ny gun, 1 hastily took aim and tired. I! what wa rail JL...!."^!,en« " Z_ j have never made a better shct what we call consciousness. He stands with all my practice, for he had not ] street f^-e (Dade a half-dozen bounds after the shot looking for IniW 1 ) °W Wf " struck him, wbeu be fell Wlo»g tato : ,„t anv,lling. He, J l" quiveung in the of undefined hope that he the snow, and lay agonies of death. I soon finished him with my hunting-knife, and with elated «pirits I commenced dressing him pre­ paratory to carrying him home. I soon •discovered that one-half the carcass would be as much as I could carry such •distance; so, carving it in such shape that I could take the b<&t portions of it home with me, I quickly arranged the balance so I cotdd hang it In the 1 branches of a tree, out of the reach of ^rolves. ' .Having satisfactorily accomplished . wis, I shouldered my burden and com­ menced picking my way home. i'i A considerable time was consumed in <$vessiDg the deer, as I was, 4, . . -- will see something suggestive to him of what to do. He jumps down the steps and goes to the gate, hangs on it a moment, makes a few sounds with his voice BUCII as nobody but a boy can make, and nnbodv else would make if he could. They don t mean anything. He makes them because--well, because he is a boy. As if lie had suddenly thought of something to do, he bangs the gate open and rushes down the middle of the street, yelling like a young Indian. But he has not suddenly thought of something to do. He has simply done that because he couldn't think of any- i must do something. * ~ f • • at that | Then he picks up a stone and fires it time, far from being aa adept at such ! at a dog, and cringes and feels sorrv if "work; the burden 1 essayed to carry i it hits the mark. He doesn't want to hurt the dog. He throws the stone because he and the dog and the stone are there, and it is handy to do sou For a few seconds he stands and looks up into a tree at--nothing. Then he breaks into a run again, and suddenly as if he had carry Tras heavy, and I was obliged to make frequent stops to rest, so that before I a had proceeded half the dist^nde home I % * that tlie short winter's day was ^ • t »early spent. - '. ?ut I, in tbe besfc of 8Pirits» and, mw „ i wu ai • 9°{n®v^iaf frtigued, 11 Sits down on the curbstone u ue ww _ sn^«Plainu1"f1T. The day | accomplished something and wae <£>n *;•» »avcloudy, and as night drew on it had j tent. ; T A Fancy Compwny Without Offlonra K«- craH* .v«ttrte«tt UumlitU Jlw la Two »*T«. On the MMtfcdeast cornor Of Fourth and Thompson streets, just below Washington Square, several buildings that have stood for generations have re­ cently beeu removed to make place for a church. At the western boundary on Fourth street the farthermost wall of an old residence is still standing, with the fire-places of the several stories ex­ posed to view, almost pathetic in their suggestions, solitary and on the yerge of final dissolution. "Let's walk over and take a look at that hole in the ground,1* said Major G. A. C. Barnett to the reporter as they were passing through Washington Square. _ "That corner has a personal historic interest to mo--as it would possess, a historic interest to all New Yorkers if they knew the faots," con­ tinued the Major. "In 1861," he explained, "the second floor of the old shop that occupied this corner, Fourth aud Thompson streets, was used by the New York Zouaves as a drill-room. We met regularly once a week, and hired a sergeant from Gov­ ernor's Island to drill us. We often met early in the morning besides, and used also to drill on the grass in Wash­ ington Square. We reached a very high degree of proficiency; whenever we paraded crowds tnrned out to see us. We were considered rivals to Ellsworth's Zlou- aves, and ours was a regular zouave uniform--blue, with red fez and red trimmings. Ours was a civic organi­ zation, independent in every way; we had no regular officers, each man in turn filling the different positions for a certain length of time, until he had acted as captain, then he would go to the foot again and do duty as high private in the rear rank. "April 17, 1861, President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers was issued. One company had then been in exist­ ence a year, or a year and a half, and had about sixty men. Bush C. Haw­ kins was president, and I was secretary of the company. At that time I was a clerk in a law office. I got the morn­ ing paper on that April 17th about 6 o'clock. As soon a-j possible I saw Hawkins and suggested that we recruit our company up to the maximum strength and volunteer.. ' " That's just exactly what I had been thinking, about myself,' said he. 'Go ahead and see what you can do.' "By 9 9'clock that same morning I was at our barracks, drill-rooru, armory --whatever you may choose to call it-- in full uniform, with a placard of my own lettering, 'BECKrfrs WANTED!' boldly displayed on the outside. When night came, I had enlisted several hundred men and had rejected as many more. That night I saw Hawkins, and 'reported progress.' " 'What's the matter with going ahead and making up a regiment, instead of a company, for the front?' I asked. " 'Go ahead,' he said, and I went ahead. The second day I enlisted as many men as ou the first, with an even larger proportion of rejections, and they were nearly all young men--th6 old men we didn't want-- the average age of the regiment subsequently mustered in being twenty-two years and three months. On the night of that second day Hawkins went to Albany and ten­ dered a regiment to Governor Morgan. The offer was promptly accepted. The next day he came home and we dis­ cussed the situation. Who would be the Colonel ? Who would be the offi­ cers? Several prominent names were suggested for the first position, includ­ ing Farnham, Shaler and Ellsworth. None of the gentlemen wonld or could „ accept, the latter for the reason that he was himself recruiting a regiment. " 'Why not take command yourself?' I asked Hawkins, 'and select the other officers from our company ?' ^"The idea struck him favorably. Hawkins became Colonel, and I got my commission as First Lieutenant of Com­ pany B--the position I asked for--of which my brother was Captain. "The regiment--the North New York "Volunteers, or 'Hawkins' Zouaves'-- was mustered into service April 19, 1861. By special arrangement the regiment was uniformed the same as our company had been. June 5th we started for the front, with a regiment very nearly of the maximum number of men, after medical examination and the usual causes had reduced the original record of enlistment. We went South on the transport steamers Marion and Peabody. "June 7 we reported to Gen. Butler at Fortress Monroe and Col. Phelps of Vermont, and subsequently at Newport News. When Colonel--afterwards General--Phelps first saw us, he queru­ lously demanded of Col. Hawkins, in his high, falsetto voice: " 'What in thunder do you expect me to do with these boys?' "He soon found out for himself-- what he could do with 'these boys,' and ever after he swore by--not at--them. 1'. Y. News. A Slip of Coleridge. ; Has any one ever called attention to the extraordinary blunder, in de­ scribing natural phenomena, which oc­ curs in the Ancient Mariner of Coler­ idge? At the moment of the terrific apparition of the phantom ship we read how "The western wave was all aflamo, . The dav was well-nigh done; Almost nixm the western wave Betsttu the broad bright sun." Then comes the awful game of dice, then the sunset, and then the instan­ taneous tropical night and the miserable efforts of the steersman, when "Clornb aliove the eastern bar The horned moon, with one bright •tar Within the nether tip." But if the moon rose in the east and gradually climbed the sky, she was at or near her full--opposite the sun. Hence she could not be horned, or have a star within either tip. The crescent moon, with her horns, is of course seen in the West, at or near snnset, and the crescent moon is steadily setting and getting lower in the sky from the in­ stant of its appearance. It may also be crescent in the East at sunrise, but this has no application here. The significance of this error is two­ fold. First, Coleridge is one of those authors whom his admirers generally will not allow to be criticised; he is supposed to be justified by a kind of inspiration in anything he ever wrote. In such circumstances, there is some satisfaction for those whose taste is for a wholly different style of composition, and who consider Coleridge a peculiar proper subject for criticism, to find the sort of mistake in him which, if made by Scott, Byron, or Moore, would have instantly brought down on the offender a swarm of harpies. But there is a much 4eePer signifi­ cance in this mistake. It shows that a j poet of undoubted genius and skill in composition, who has planned and com- profound thought tio*y in the course of forty lines admit an impossible incongruity, unnoticed by himself, and as time has shown, unnoticed by three generations of readers. Yet it is precisely such in­ congruities that cause the various Ger­ man critics to cut up the Iliad and Odyssey in into separate poems and de­ clare that no one man could have com­ posed either of them. Coleridge tells us himself that he is indebted to Words­ worth for two lines of the poem. Lach- mann would undoubtedly argue that one of these two poets must have stopped his hand soon after describing the snnset, and then the other have in­ serted the description of the moon.-- Atlantic. pip! Numerous Occnpatloog. ^ A Kansas gentleman sends to the Companion a report of a conversation recently overheard in a shop where several Western men were comparing notes on their different kinds of work. It soon came out that nearly every one present had been born in the State of Vermont and "raised" on a farm. But after going West they had %11 engaged in various occupations. One man said : "I went into real estate; then sold out and tried clerking on a Mississippi steamboat; then went into the cattle business, and tired of it; packed up my goods and settled on a claim in Nebraska; quit that, and went to Texas to do business in a feed store; from there I went on to the road for a boot and shoe firm, and just now I'm in the livery business." "That's nothing," said another. "I've been a school-teacher, a postmaster, a preacher, a lawyer, a blacksmith, a notary public, a store-keeper, a sheriff, a county superintendent of schools, a cigar manufacturer and a farmer." There was a silence till another man remarked that he had left the printed list of his accomplishments and occupa­ tions at home, because it was too bulky to carry around, but if he remembered right the list began with a oollege president and ended with member of the legislature. At this point two or three men re­ marked that it was getting rather close in the store; they guessed they would go home, and they went out. Another man edged up to the door and said in a lazy tone that he thought his experi­ ence would beat the lot for variety. Some one asked him to tell it, andr he said: "I began life as a baby. From that I grew into a boy. While I was a boy I went to school, clerked in a drug store, worked on a farm, had my arm broken in two places in a saw-mill, taught the district school one term, and sun<r in the village choir. "When I grew up I served as ap­ prentice to a tailor in Boston, but at the end of six months ran away to sea, and went around the world three times. At the end of my last voyage, I bought a ticket for Texas, and went onto a ranch, where I stayed two years. I then had an offer to edit the Weekly Blizzard, and held the position just one week, when the Government offered me a pl&ce as Indian agent. "After serving a year at that I went into the mining business in Colorado, and made two hundred thousand dol­ lars in six months. I went to San Francisco, and invested my fortune in real estate^ The investment was un­ fortunate, for in less than a month I lost every cent of it, and,was obliged to seek work as A day' ISb'pt-er on a rail­ road. "I worked up from braketnan to en­ gineer, and then ip. a collision broke my leg and liad to go to a hospital. While there I studied medicine, and when I got out I took to practicing, and was quite successful until I treated a small-pox patient for erysipelas. Then I decided to go to preaching, and got on well at it for several months. But the pay was not very regular, and I quit to go into a dentist's office and--" It was very quiet in the store, and the man who had had such a varied ex­ perience, said softly, "Good-night, gentlemen," and went out.. He was the wag of the town, though the strangers did not know it; but his story was a good comment on the number of occupations that some Western men try. One Kind of Human Nature. An Ohio man, the father of seven marriageable girls -- some of whom were in danger of getting somewhat too far along to be marriageable--has been practicing recently with a little ordi­ nary everyday human nature, such as may be found in the make-up of all of us. This Ohio man had put up patiently with all the young men of the county around for years. They came to see the girls every night, sometimes three or four a night, and on Sunday nights there was always as much as one young man for each of the seven girls. They just had their steady company, as they say in Ohio. All this was very pleasant to the girls and boys, but it was expensive for the old gentleman, and it ultimately bectAne very tiresome. As none of the boys showed a disposition lo take any of the girls oft' his hands by marrying them, he ordered them off. He felt that things were altogether too convenient, and that the girls were rated too cheaply. Some of the young men Rhowed their utter worthlessness by giving heed to these orders and treat­ ing them in good faith. Others con­ tinued their visits, but did their best to avoid the old gentleman, and always enjoyed themselves the more when they knew he wasn't around. He was not to be deceived, however, and saw that he had not much improved the chance of getting his girls married. He created more obstacles. He bought a number of usually ferocious dogs, and borrowed a shotgun of a neighbor, and gave notice that the first young man that came fooling arouod the house could have his choice of being shot at or eaten up by the dogs. This scheme worked admirably, and it had an almost immediate effect. Within three days two of the girls had run away and got married. This so encouraged the old gentleman that he bought an extra dog aud an increased supply of ammunition for the shotgun. The greater the difficulties, however, the more determined the young men were to have those girls, and the undeniably truthful statement is made that within a month not one of the young ladies remained unmarried. They had all got away in spite of the dogs and the shotgun, just as the old gentle­ man had doubtless foreseen would be the case--when they were made hard to get they were in demand. -That is merely a kind of human nature that paost people understand, but it isn't so effectively practiced by everybody. V. M • I - -i !. b* 1 ^ '1 * ENERGY will do anything that can be done, in this world, and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities will make a two-legged animal without it. "There have been a vast number of inventions of life saving apparatus to be used in time of shipwreofc," said Oapt. Faircliild, of the Steamboat Board to a New York Star reporter. "Many of them," he continued, "have proved practicable and Useful. When a vessel strikes a sandy bar off a main shore during a heavy gale prompt and immediate measures must be taken with a, view toward saving life and property. ^ Skyrockets are sent up and the attention of the life-saving agents an the shore is attracted. Invariably a high surf is to be encountered on a iangerous coast, and to launch a life­ boat is almost next to an impossibility. The only practicable method known of saving the lives thus imperiled aboard a wreck is to maketa connection between the land and the wreck by means of a hawser, and the shipwrecked persons are brought ashore singly. The great trouble, however; is in getting the line from the shore to the wreck. It is well known how difficult it is to get a line to the vessel from the shore in the. teeth of a gale, but the very difficulties in the way of such a task would be helps toward getting a line to the shore from the wreck. With this object in view, some genius has invented a perfect line-carrying rocket, which is designed to carry a line from vessel to shore, in case of wreck. The invention consists of a rocket carrying a tube containing a coiled line, which line is paid out of the tube as the rocket and' tube pass through the air on their flight from the vessel to the shore. In moot cases stranding occurs on a lee 3liore in a gale of wind. A projectile with a shot line attached to it, fired from the shore toward a vessel, is loaded J with the weight of a line, and in the second place impeded by the force of the wind, hence the range is greatly lessened. A vessel presents but a small mark, and if the wind be^quartering or gusty it is difficult to aim a shot so as to cause the line to fall on the vessel. On the other hand, a shot fired from the vessel toward the shore under such circumstances flies with the wind, and of course will carry a line a much greater.distance; besides, no accuracy of aim is required. The initial diffi­ culty of establishingj communication with the shore might thus be'overcome, and a line be got from the vessel to the life-saving crews, who could then at­ tach the hauling lines and speedily make the necessary connections for the use of the sling, the boatswain's chair or the life car. Guns or mortars, such as are used by the life-saving stations could not be used on a wreck. They require a horizontal foundation to rest on, whereas a wreck is ^of ten on beam ends. With a gale oi wind and waves washing the deck it would be well-nigh impossible to ar­ range a line so that it could be used. When the United States warships were wrecked at Samoa there were plenty of guns on the navel vessels, but the only projectile found practicable and used was a common skyrocket shot from the flagship into the rigging of the Vandalia a few yards away. Re­ peated attempts were made to get lines ashore in that dreadful emergency, but they all failed because the vessels had no suitable line-carrying apparatus." A Baby's Memory. A curious instance of dormant mem- pry in infancy took place in our family. My mother went on a visit to my grand­ father, who lived in London. She took with hdr a little brother of mine who was eleven months old, and his nurse, who waited on her as a maid. One day this nurse brought the baby into my mother's room and put him on the floor, which was. carpeted all over. There he crept about and amused him­ self according to his lights. When my mother was dressed, a certain ring that she wore was not to . be found. Great search was made, but it was never produced, and, the visit over, they all went awav, and it was almost forgotten. Exactly a year after they again went to visit the grandfather. This baby was now a year and eleven months old. The same nurse took him into the same room, and my mother saw him, after looking about him, deliberately walk up to a certain corner, turn a bit of the carpet back and produce the ring. He never gave any account of the matter, ior did he, so far as I know, remember t afterward. It seems most likely that he found the ring on the floor and hid it, as in a safe place, under a cornor of the Brussels carpet where it was not nailed. He probably forgot all about it till he saw the place again, and he was far too infantile at the time it was missed to understand what the talk that went on was about, or to know what the search, which perhaps he did not notice, was for. Why Won't Men Be Sincere with Themselves. It is the custom of many persona to purchase, at the end of each year, "diaries," in which they propose to set down their daily thoughts and acts-- to write, in fact, their own private his­ tories in a series of annual volumes. As these autobiographical memo­ randa are only intended for the .eyes of the parties who commit tliem to paper, it might be thought that tliev Wotild be candid and authentic. But this is sel­ dom the case. Few men are entirely sincere, even with themselves. Few are willing to paint themselves as they really are and know themselves to be, even though none but themselves can contemplate the picture. Unquestionably hnndreds of indi­ viduals who keep diaries, tell fibs, overreach their neighbors, are guilty of detraction, repay good with evil, put an anemy in their mouths to steal away their brains, use profane language, and in other ways transgress the moral law. Yet were all the diaries in existence published to-morrow, no such entries as "to-day I lied," "to-day I cheated in business," "to-day I slandered," "to­ day I was guilty of base ingratitude," "to-night I staggered home tipsy," "to­ day I blasphemed," would be found in any onfe of them. "It's a (Jlrl." A correspondent of the the Boston Transcript tells of a man who was a guest at an annual dinner of a woman's slub, to which men were invited. He said he sat dumb before the tide of aloquence about women and longed to make a speech himself. It was a wo­ man's programme, however, and the lien, the guests, had not been asked to contribute to the feast of reason. "I thought, as I sat and listened to the women praising all that women is ioing nowadays, of a little scene at my laughter's home yesterday," said this man. "My son-in-law came for me, md we went over to see my grandohild. [|found my wife and my daughter in tears. 'Why, what's the matter V* I isked, and they answered--those wo­ men's club women--they answered, lobbing: 'It's a girl!'" Kwral an Awful Utt of a l*«. don froak. * We can remember no invented tale that speaks so to the heart at once of the cruelty of life and the beauty of human compassion, as thd trne story closed by a sentence in the newspapers announcing that Josaph Merrick, the "Elephant Man," was dead. Imagine a human soul clothed in a body so un­ speakably frightful; who hardly dared venture abroad even by night; who, finding his fellow creatures ran from him, grew terrified by the terror he created and'shuddered in dark corners like a hunted beast. Imagine him driven by starvation to accept a show­ man's offer and be exhibited to the most brutal of andieaces. Early in 1886 Mr. Frederick Treves, one of the surgeons of the London hospital, found Merrick wi * Penny show, in a room off the Whitechapel road, crOuching behind an old curtain and trying to warm himself over a brick that was heated by a gas jet. Mr. Treves went up to him not only without fear or loathing, but with sympathy. For the first time in twen- ty-four years Merrick heard a kind word and was t-poken to like a man. The effect was curious. It made him afraid at first. He shrank as an ordi­ nary man would from " something un­ canny. Then, as he began to realize the truth, he broke into sobs of grati­ tude. Days and even weeks passed, however, before he recovered from the shock of hearing a compassionate word. The police prohibited his show on the ground of public decency. So he went to Belgium, where again the police ii\- terferred, and where an agent decamped with his money. Merrick was left des­ titute and starving in the streets of a strange town, where the ignorant mob thought him a fiend. He came back to London--how no one quite knows. At every station and landing place crowds dogged him. Steamers refused to have him on board. Buv he came back to London because in London lived the only man who ever gave him a kind word. He made his way to the London hospital, found Mr. Treves, who had him lodged for a time in an attic in the hospital, and determined to find a per­ manent shelter for him. But now it was found that no institution would re­ ceive him. The Royal hospital for in­ curables and the British home for in­ curables alike dec!ined, to take him in unless sufficient funds Were forthcom­ ing to pay for the maintenance for life. He himself begged that he might be placed in a blind hospital. It is hard to match the pathos of this plea. Then, iiu November, 1886, Mr. Car Gomm, the Chairman of the London hospital, wrote to the Times asking for help in this case, and the Brithish public re­ sponded. "A. room was built for Mer­ rick on the ground floor in a remote wing of the hospital, and there, sur­ rounded with books, flowers aud a hundred tokens of the kindness that is really quiok in the public heart, he has lived until the middle of April. He had found many friends--the Prince and Princess of Wales, Mr. Gladstone, Mrs. Kendall and others. To Mrs. Kendall is due the happy suggestion that Merrick should be taken to see the Christmas pantomime at Drury Lane. She engaged the royal box; she had him brought to the theater, and took every precaution that no strange eye should see him. Hidden from the house, behind the curtains of the box, the "Elephant Man" tasted an hour or two of intoxicating happiness. It was all real to him--the fairies, the splendor and the jewels. Merrick, in spite of his hideous exterior and terrible ex­ periences, was in his way a gentleman sentimentalist and gushed fort at times under the happy conditions of his life at the hospital in verse modeled on the hymns of Dr. Watts, in which he gave utterance to feelings of gratitude and sincerity of which none ever questioned. It was a tender heart that was beating beneath a mask more hideous than that of Orson. Above all it was a heart that was filled with love for the man who was literally.his savior, who first spoke kindly to him, who rescued him from a fate a thousand times worse than death and to the end was both his dpotor and his friend. Watching Buyers of Jewelry. "These pearls do not suit; can I tee some others? Don't take them away; however; I have not fully decided whether to purchase or not," says a fashionably attired lady, smiling en­ gagingly at the attendant behind the counter, who tells her to examine them at her leisure, then says in a distinct voice, "James, did Mr. Jones call for his watch this morning?" James bobs up from some other part of the store and replies, "Not yet, sir; but I am ex­ pecting him sooh." The jewelry sales­ man goes to the safe to secure a new tray of pearls for the inspection of his well dressed patron, and Jathes busies himself with various duties at the coun­ ter. The salesman comes back and re­ marks, "I think, James, you had better send those unset stones back,; it is not policy to wait any longer. Now, madam here are some very , clioice specimens that I think will suit you." She does not know it, but the woman, lias been under surveillance, and the order was given right before her face by the po­ lite and smiling attendant who so ob­ sequiously received her commands. When the salesman asked, "Did Mr. Jones call for his watch." the word "watch" was the only one in the sen­ tence of value or meaning to James. It was an order from one man to another to keep an eye on the customer. When the salesman returned and said, "it is not policy to wait any longer," he inti­ mated to his companion that he could proceed with-his other duties. Proba­ bly there is no large jewelry establish­ ment in the country where catch words of this nature are not employed, and where the visitor is not the object of close observation from the moment he enters until he departs. Calmness. It is well known that it is particularly desirable for the principals of female seminaries never to lose their self-com­ mand. Miss X----, the preceptress ol an establishment of this kind, is noted for her coolness. One day she heard a number of her pupils screaming vio­ lently in the class-room. "YounR ladies, young ladies!" she said, reprovingly, entering the room, "what can be the matter,that you shriek in such a way ?" "There's a mouse in the room!" "Indeed! But why should you be­ come excited over so small a matter?" Aud then, with a sharp eye on the floor, she turned to a subordinate, and remarked with great coolness: "Miss Janet, go and get a policeman just as quick as you can!" WHEN a man succeeds in saving $10,- 000 he regards himself as a rich man, but after that he gets poorer all the time.- -Atchison, Globe. ,"4 r! - * - J- » "'i IIS (Colled from Our Exchangvt.] ., •^1WK1'L*,PI8HKK--The traveler the desert. , _ "WHISKY » great, source of strength. I don't know about that. £ think it's your weakness." THE trouble* in having your latoh- stnng always hanging oat is that thy wrong people get hold of it. THE blacksmith is about the onlr workman who secures prosperity being always on the strike. " " 14 WHY are wagon wheels life* A. D. T. messengers?" "Don't knowV "Because they go round tired." WIBBLE--They are now making policemen's clubs out of papqr. Wab­ ble--Rapping paper, I presume. "I SHOULD think it is wrong for the newspapers to treat the new (?eath pen* alty with so much levity." "You do?* "Yes; electrocution is no choke." AN editor is trying to decide which is correct. "I saw an opera," or "I heard an opera." If he sat behind the regulation size bonnet the latter term is correct. ED---What do you understand by 9 paradox? Ned--Well, for instance, the more ice cream you give your girl the warmer; grows her affection for you. Understand? JUDGE--Do you know what a thor­ oughly depraved man you are? "No, your honor. How could I know it? Nobody else but you ever th« courage to tell me so." MB. SHORT--Mrs. Lucre is rich now and 1 does not recognize us. She passed without a glance. What a magnificent dress she has on. Mrs. Short--Yes, a sort of cut-by-us dress. "How is THE lawsuit with the fellow who swindled you out of four thousand going on?" 'TOh, that's all settled." "Ah, I see. So you got the moner back from him?" "No, not at all; bat he has married my daughter." MR. MAFFSQN (a wealthy widower)-- My little boy is very slow about learn­ ing to walk. I really don't know what to do about it. Miss Passay--Why don't you get him a stejjmother? * Mr. HAYSEED (stopping at door of statuary room. Museum of Art)--I wonder what's in here ? Mrs. Hayseed (hastily)--Hush! Come on! They ain't got them gals ready for exhibition yet. WIFE--Why are you rubbing your face so hard, John? Husband (before mirror)--I'm trying to remove that dirt spot from my face." "That dirt isn't on your face, stupid; it is on the mirror." Db. PILLE--You've been working like a hero, doctor, to save young Starveley's life. And he as poor as Job'a turkey, too L Dr. Hackem--That's just it. He owes me $75 already on my bill, and if he dies I won't get a cent. MISS MILLIE.-Oh, mother, ProfesaWr Science is to lecture to-night. Can't I go? Mother--Dear me! What's got into you? Miss Millie--Why, he's to lecture on '"Sun-Spots," and I'm just . i ̂ wild to get a good cure for lreckles.. J ' OLD Mr. Cnmso--(as the clock strikes 12)--Is that young man in the parlor with Mabel a minister? Mrs. Cumso--What makes you ask that? Old Mr. Cumso--I iuferred so from the fact that he is holding a pro­ tracted meeting. BOY (ipoking up from Sliakapeare and speaking to his father)--What did Falstaif mean by saying, "I could wish this tavern were my drum?" Father-- Oh, he simply wanted the tavern to be a drum. "But why did lie want it to be a drum?" "He wanted to beat It,' don't you see?" IT has remained for Jones to put % new string into an old joke. One of the vice presidents of the X. Y. & Z. road, had just refused him a pass. "Don't,** he hastened to add, as Jones prepared to speak, "now, don't get off that old gag about our beiug too slow; to pass anything--" "I won't," said Jones, peaceably, "I remem|^. jpL „ passed a dividend in April." w . - '• : , The Rush of Spinsters.' " GenuiUe literature, both as a voce* > tion and a product, never was in such danger of being smothered as at present by a new race of forrfale scribblers. ,The publishing syndicates, the Sunday newspapers, the story sheets, acknowl­ edge that the rush of young and charm­ ingly incompetent women to the back S doors of the theater bears no sort of comparison to the rush of womeu to the publication office. Every spinster who*: can hold a pen is trying to write--and write fiction. Every aotres^who knows how to make her verbs disagree with » her nominatives is scribbling with pro-: found purpose. They will starve, suf­ fer toil at $1 a week to get into print, and wouldn't fry ham or make beds at $20 a month. Every editor has to erect a mosquito net to protect himself fromi this new swarm. And the funny thing about it is that the spinster, who can't tell the difference between a metaphor: and a musk rat, wants to discuss the synthetic philosophy of Herbert Spencer and write reviews of "Robert Elsmere"' and Ibsen, aud every nymph whose fortune is' in her ankles lia3 got a plot on divorce and a metaphysical romance - on the relation of the sexes.--New York Truth. _______ Just a Trifle Too Late. ~ f ^ "Will you be my wife, Jennie®'1." queried the rustic lover. * "I am very sorry for you, James" re­ plied the blushing maiden, "butyou axe» just one day too late. I am eugaged to- your brother George." v "Engaged to my brother! Why,. haven't I courted you for seven long years ?" « "Yes, James. But in all that time you never asked me to be your wife be­ fore ! Your brother George was here; last evening and he said to me: 'Jennie/ it's none of my business, but has Jim; proposer! to you yet?' Of course I had' to say 'No!' Then he said: 'Well, Jennie, I have never courted you, but I! want a wife. Will you have me?" Then I said 'Yes!' and it was settled^* So you Fee, James, there's no use of! feeling disapi>ointed in regard to the- matter. It will do no good now. * You've no one to blame in this matte#* but just yourself!" f Then James crushed his hat down over his beetling brows and meandered: forth into the pale moonlight, a wiser if! not a sadder man. A Friend in Need a Friend Indeed. ' Miss Bountiful--How is poor John . day, Mrs. Simmer? Mrs. Simmer--He's powerful ba&i M miss. The doctor Bays he can't live! & more'n a day or two loncer. 1 "I am so very sorry! John was suohi ^ a faithful, good servant. What can Ij do to help you in your distress ?" "Well, miss, if you really would lifir;" to help, I'd be monstrous thankful if; you'd give me a little money to buy & new parlor carpet. This one is ao! shabby I'll be reely ashamed toast folks) here to his funeral." * =4^ 1 *' i '"'.'.I .-a Is? CM ill ... *L; > • • V