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

h VftD tLYVE; Miter PvMleMr. ILLINOIS aCeBJEKBT, FAREWELL. OLD WINTER? ! poor oM Winter, come, tako off yo#t orown, fits time, now, I'm you wet® going; *«o needn't look cross, awl uut on a dark ... frown. And tell m« yon'fl Ml yonr winds blowing. j " 'Enough to able for myself,' I'm tired of you. sir! yon bave reigned long; Jiave **0 more ' enough, 1 than that our 80pack vour old clothes altogether; Ton are really too hard, too suirdy. and roup, j SO -begone, for 1 want oetter weather. I rupted me r.t a time when I did not like to be disturbed. 'What can I doforjou?* ,4 Oh, I do not come for profes­ sional assistance,' he hastened to say, evidently reading my thoughts. 'Mine <sr' is strictly a business call. Are you j at liberty for a few minutes?' I " * Yes," but the hour is late, so I trust you will be as brief as possible.' " 'Dr. Barlow, how much are you worth?' make life I replied. 'If you important question interview might as well come to an end at once.' Pardon me, I will come to busl- potassium. It needs not me to tell a man of your Information the result when this is brought into contact with oxygen. It ignites instantly. This pow.der here, the secret of whose compound is known only co me, cop- tains properties which instantly de­ compose the watery elements. The moment the oxygen is free the potas­ sium itnites it, and the work of fiery destruction is begun. " 'You betray a look of doubt. Per- comfort- fhaps you think that this action- will be merely local, that tt^e properties will quickly burn out, and in conse­ quence the Are die for want of sus­ tenance. If so you err. The prop­ erties 01 this powder arfe self gener yvn under-ground are impatient, know. JSor monthb the poor thing* have been sleep­ ing; Co now, sir, please take up yonr mantle of snow, And soon froui tiie earth t hey'll be peeping. tnte brook6 and streams have been mute--oil! so long! The meadows now seem bare and dreary ; I pine for tho streamlet'* t>olt murmuring song. Old Winter! of thoe do I weary. Uite forests where oft I have wandered in Are voiceless--no birin arc* now singing; Cut lot in tbe distance I fancv 1 see A host of ihem to the woods winging, - All hail. now! hail all! 'tis a chariot ol gold, * Borne hither by birds i» vast numbers. Up J up! little tlowerH, your leaves ndW nnfora; Awoke 1 brooks and streams, from yonr slum­ bers. iTarewell, poor old Winter, farewell! oh, faro- well ! Bright Spring is advancing in splendor; And hark! from the bell sounds a roqniem • knell-- ' Thy crown ho*ry monarch,now render. --New York Weekly. THE FINGER Imagine a mob of men as wild as a pack of hungry wolves whose frenzy has been tired by the-scent of blood, and in its midst a fellow being,bound bands and feet, with the noose of the lynch men around his neck. I came suddenly upon s-uch a scene in one of the settlements ou the liio Grande, whither I had journeyed from En gland, to lind a brother whom I had not seen for many years. . As I re i tied uo my horse near the crowd, and.glanced over the exciting spectacle, an involuntary cry left "my lips as I recognized in the victim him j whom 1 had come so far to see. He saw and knew me instantly: and, though no word came from him, bis pale, mute lips appealed to my heart- for help My appearance caused a hesitation ; 8howing his white teeth between his on the part of the lynch leaders. I quicklv learned that a stranger in ; those parts had been killed that j morning near a small body of water a ' short distance from tue settlement. 1 And that my brother had been caught' In the very act of striking the death : t>iow. Not one of *be spectators seemed to have any doubt of his guilt; j but who is so hardened as to condemn ! his own brother? I shuddered as I realized Almont's J peril, and in my own heart judged him innocent of any crime. j "He Is my brother," I cried ..nLi-"' S key lies in that small vial!' "Hark!" shouted one of the on- :„„„i lookers, "the brother of the murdered i man is here for justice, 'tip with him, boys." I "Hold!" 1 command, rising in my I stirrups as I spoke: "blood calls tor blood Let me have hold of that rope " The mistake in my identity had ^suggested a way in which I might en­ able my brother to escape, and I re­ solved to attempt it at whatever risk. Fortunately there was little family tesemblance between us. Crging my horse forward the crowd parted, allowing me to reach his side, when I dismounted, ostensibly to ex­ amine the noose. "It will do," I said loud enough to be heard by all. "Now help me to lift him on the back of my horse. We want to do this job in some shape." Willing ones sprang to my assist­ ance, but in the brief interval I cut the prisoner's bonds so that they held only by a thread, and arranged the noose so that it could te thrown off as soon as his arms were free. I knew few horses could match ness. As I told you, I am a professor rating, and as long as the water lasts must o£ necessity continue their worlc of decomposition, the oxygen eon tinualjy feeding the flames. " 'Get m« another basin of water; I want to demonstrate it more clearly to you.' "As he had done before, he turned the pota-sium into the basin, and then sifted in a certain amount of the powder. The hissing and fuininjj quickly began, followed by .i sharp report, when a collumn of Are agairt sprang up, which lasted until the wa­ ter was consumed. " 'You sec my tirst trial was no il­ lusion,' he said, turning to me. 'Wha| I have done once lean do every time * " It is a terrible thing,' I ex­ claimed with a shudder. 'But why have you come to me?' " 'Because the secret is worth much to m& But when I approach mei» they call me mad and will not listen; They will believe you, and when yoa have proved what I can do they will gladly pay my price. Then I will di? vide with you and we shall both be rich, you to live at your ease and I to continue my investigation. Will you help me?' and he caught me by the arm with a clutch I seemed to feel now. " TJelp you?' I asked in a husky voice. 'Would you jeopardize the lives of the whole human race for a few paltry thousands? A man *>f your great intellect and research should be above----' " 'You still doubt my ability to do what I claim?' he interrupted. 'Per­ haps in the ope* air you think I would fail? 1 saw to-day a grand sheet of water for a trial. Come with me and I will astonish even you. See, tbe storm has cleared away and the day is breaking.' - "1 was puzzled what to do. There was no one in the house upon whom I could call for assistance, but outdoors 1 might escape the man whom* I must confess, 1 feared. So I consented to accompany him. "The morning light was fast dis- peiling the shadows of night and storm, ard we had no difficulty in making our way to a little body of water quite hemmed in by the moun­ tains and the forest. My companion, as if fearing 1 would attempt to es­ cape, had not taken his gaze from me since we had left the house. " 'There is a good place to test our work,' he declared, pointing to asmall pool of water formed in a depression of tne earth by the late storm. "Without waiting for my reply he threw some of the potassium and powder into the water. The result was startling to me, though I had anticipated the consequence. "The report was deafening and the flames seemed to leap to the sky, illuminating the night scene with a { ghastly light; but startling as was the I light of the burning water, the ap- ; of science, and 1 have made a dis- j covery which is worth .millions--yes, J sir, millions. j " 'I need not tell you of tbe anx­ ious days and sleepless nights it has j cost me. No matter; I have sue- ! ceeded at last. And you are the tirst man whom I have ever approached with my secret. I dirt not do that until I was satisfied you were the safest one I could find.' "As he spoke he opened a small frag which he earned,' and took out three or four vials to place upon the table. "'Education based upon scientific research,' he remarked, 'has made.a. startling advance within the past few years. But no man has gone further into the unfathomable depths than myself. You have a basin of water here; pardon me if I appropri­ ate it to my own use." "I bowed in acquiescence, too much surprised to speak. "He quickly unsealed one of the vials and poured its contents into the basin of water. Then from another he sifted a bluish colored powder upon the surface of the liquid, which no sooner had it touched the other than it began to hiss, foam, and sparkle, until their came a report like a pistol shot, and a column of lurid flame leaped up to the ceiling. "I started back with a cry of terror. " 'Don't be alarmed.' he assured me with a smile; the water will soon i burn out.' The lire soon began to grow pale and to diminish in height, when it finally died out all together, and I saw that the basin was empty. " 'How much do you think that se­ cret is worth?' asked inv visitor, still parted lips. " 'What do you mean?' I cried. " 'Sit down and be composed, and I will quickly explain.' Then as 1 sank into the nearest seat at a loss what to do or to say, he continued: " -Seeing is believing, so I havo shown to you what 1 can do to im­ press upon you more deeply th* power that I possess. You have seen that basin of water burn like so much oil, and now you will believe me when I tell you that I have unlocked one of nature's great secrets, and that the spoke His demoniacal smile as he made me shudder. •' 'I do uot understand you, I fal­ tered. If you mean that you can burn water ' " 'Haven't I done it?' he cried. 'Why, man alive! don't you realize the importance of that secret? In those phials are held the component agents able to separate the constit­ uent parts of water, and, freeing the same, set them at war with each other, which must result in combus­ tion and annihilation. " 'Think of that, .and realize that , pearan^e of my companion, who had I hold in my hand the destiny of the i seemed to be suddenly transformed world. Let me throw ever so little , into a demon, was more terrible, of those wonderful properties into 44'See, see.' he cried, dancing to the Atlantic, and dare you contem- j and fro with fiendish glee, 'it burns, Diate the result? In one instant a | win burn till the pool is dry. What nucleus of fire would be formed to ' do you think of my secret now? Do grow swiftly in size, separating the ' gases of water and feeding upon them, until the shores of Europe and America would be wrapped in a sheet of flame. " 'No deluge that ever drowned the world could extinguish the con- mine in speeded once he hM cleared rather the throng my brother would be com-1 the torJ le8l0Ils 10 the very D,"ars ©aiatively safe. He understood my intentions, and Tttoe moment we lifted him upon the iborse he wrenched his arms free, threw off the noose, drupped into the saddle, and, giving the animal a smart blow, dashed through the crowd like a whirl-wind, and in a few mo­ ments was beyond pursuit. Of course there Was loud reviling over his escape, but I appeared so anxious for his recapture that no blame was attached to me. To carry out the deception I had the body of the stranger carefully buried, and re- the heavens. And it would spread "from shore to shore and from ocean to ocean, until it had enfolded the globe in its seething embrace. Every creature of the sea, the air and the land would perish, aye, the earth it­ self would melt into fervent heat.' "During his startling speech he had worked himself into a fearlul fienzy to fix his intense! gaze upon me as he concluded with a light that burned into my inmost being. I felt I was in the presence of a madman. "'Oh, well,' I said, with what calmness I could command, 'we won't anticipate so dreadful a catastrophe io»inea in the place until I deemed it • j, ^ •». , ^ , safe to depart. ll(, as you so vividly described; but it is lit Was neariv three months before I iriet my brother in London, whither he had tied, and then he thanked me with tears in his eyes tor my daring Assistance in his escape from, the flynchers. To my surprise, however, aie evaded the subject of the murder, .-saving simply that no crime had been *committed. I did not feel like press­ ing the matter, so the affair was not mentioned again, though it has lihauntcd my miud ever since. I J TLust week my brother died with no ! kindred near him, and to-day's Dost | has brought me a manuscript con- j tainingii startling revelation. J *!* In justice to my brother's name, as ! well as my own satisfaction, lam, | prompted to give to the public one of I ;ihe strongest confessions ever made. The following is his account as he i ; wrote it for me: jL "When this is read shall have fassed beyond the tribunal of man, ; \«o 1 wish to impress upon you that I < U. dun about to record faithfully an ex- r perienee which I sincerely hope will iV fall to the lot of no other person. ' "I was alone in my room late one •fi dark, stormy night, when I heard a fap on the door which I fancied at first was but the wind shaking it on its hinges. But it was repeated ' louder than before. I bade the ap- evident you have made a remarkable discovery. I am anxious to know just how you accomDlish it.' "'Which is my secret,' he said, with another smile, and I saw that my dispassionate speech' had had a soothing effect upon him. The man was evidently sane except upon that one subject. " 'You are the most sensible man I not hold the key to all life? Oh, I feel like a god, and all men are but worms crawling at my feet. See, the flames leap higher and higher. " 'Now let nie drop the same agents which set that pool on fire into this iake, and the result will be the same; aye. the same, only a million times j more grand, for the tire will follow j the river^to the gulf, and thence to the oceans, to envelop the entire world in its blazing sheets. What a sight for the gods to witness!' "He gesticulated fiercely, and reached one arm out over the water as if to drop the infernal powder upon its placid bosom, his wild looking figure lit by the transplendent glow of the burning pool. 1 gazed with awe upon him, realizing only too well tfee terrible earnestness of his tone. '• 'Wait!' I cried hoarsely; 'you forgot the money. Your secret is ! worth ' "'Bah! Who prates of money with I a cringing world at his feet?' he ] shrieked. They laughed at me; now j let their tears put out the flames my | hand has kindled. See. The po- | tassium, it fumes, hisses, dances upon | the water. Now the pow----' j "Imagine, who can, the horror ot j my situation. The blood seem to | freeze in my veins. My limbs seemed paralyzed. But I quickly overcame QUEER irfKES ©F BYGONEDAYS. Rome Bxtnordliurjr Method* Been 61 1'iMMt In Making Wheol* Mo KouuU. The bicycle passed through many curious stages before it reached it present stage of perfection, says the New York World. This machine is one that excites the inventive genius »f man, and the designs that have been made in years past, with the view of getting the greatest amount of speed with the least expenditure of energy, are wonderful to behold. One of the earliest forms of velocipede was that invented in the eighteenth century by one John Vevftrss master of a boarding school at Reigate, Sur­ rey, England. Mr. Vevers had a large number of wealthy young men in his school, and he conceived the bright notion of providing for them,a traveling chaise without horses. The rider was to be seated in the car­ riage, where he could manage the steering apparatus, while a servant, hanging on by a step behind, pro­ pelled the machine. The "bycicle" did not meet with qpuch favor, the chief objection being that it did not run fast enough. To such objections Mr. Vevers replied that t}ie fault was not with his machine, but with the propelling power of the servant. If, he argued, the servant were as strong as two ordinary men the machine could be made to go twice as fast, which shows that Mr. Vevers was as clever at repartee as at mechani­ cal invention. \ Another queer machine was in­ vented by a Frenchman about 1830. He went to a great deal of expense to have the bicycle constructed, but after it was finished found that he could not ride it. The reason is plain. The machine was driven by pressing the feet upon projections on the rim of tho forward wheel. There was no steering gear or brake. It would require a modern expert to ride such a machine. Some years be­ fore this a Scotchman had devised what he dubbed a self-moving car­ riage The adjective is misleading, for the carriage was designed to be moved by a man sitting behind. The machine never got anv farther than paper and it is doubtful whether it would have moved at all had it been built It was calculated to carry seven persons and was to be propelled by means of treadles. It remained for an American to de­ vise the most remarkable cycle on record. The name and address of the inventor have been lost, but there JS little doubt that he was a yankee. The contrivance consisted of a sort of miniature dog cart, on which was a box seat. This was connected by means of a pole with a large wheel in front, -so arranged that it could contain two dogs. The machine was guided by means of a steering rod, with a handle conveniently near the rider. The inventor reckoned that the dogs, in their natural desire to escape, would run forward, $hus re­ volving the wheel, somewhat after the manner of a prisoner on a tread­ mill. Even supposing that dogs could be procured which would per­ form this service, there remains the question of weight, which was the straw that broke the inventor's back. He found that, with the clumsy ma­ terials then in use, the carriage com­ plete would weigh about 200 pounds To this was to be added the weight of a 150-pound lady, for the machine was designed especially for woman's use. Considerable discussion arose as to how heavy the dogs would have to be in order to drive this weight, and a book written on this subject said that two forty-pound dogs would not suffice. The inventor, therefore, deciding that animals of greater weight could not be accommodated, abandoned the task. The first rear- driving safety was built by a Scotch blacksmith of the name of Gavin Dalziel in 1846. The footpower was applied to levers attached to cranks on the rear wheel. Ocean, fie never would have dared to venture out In craft so frail.--St Nicholaa. ^cVi < Bismarck's Narrow ttqnctk, t"' A little more than a quarter of % century ago a wooden leg and dog nearly changed the course of European history. - A year before the war be­ tween Prussia and Denmark Bismarck was stayinur at Biarritz. One morning, accompanied by a huge dog, he was walking along a road which runs along the base of a cliff, protected from the sea by a low wall, when he met an old French naval captain with a wooden leg, but. powerful built, and of a peppery temper. s The dog became unduly attentive to the c iptain's leg, and the French­ man struck at the animal with the butt of his fishing-rod. Bismarck swore, and the sailor <tfd the same. From words they came to blows, and in a few minutes, Bis­ marck found that, strong as he was, the Frenchman was lifting him bodily on to the top of the sea %all. An­ other moment and he would have been iu the sea below and the whole course of history* would have been changed. At the critical moment came help --by the irony of fate--in the shape of an equerry of Napoleon, who res­ cued the German from his terrible opponent. If that equerry could only have known for what ho had saved him! r.-' StiU a Gentleman. ---- •'It is not singular how the term gentleman' is misapplied?" said a young club man of this city recently. "Only the other night," he con­ tinued, "as I was walking down Fifth avenue,a very decently-dressed fello[w, whose face was quite familiar to me, touched me on the arm and, calling me by name, addressed a simple quesr tion to me. "After speaking for a moment or so he said: 'Y"ou don't remember me, do you, Mr. Blank?' "I replied that his face was cer­ tainly familiar, but that I could not recall his name or recollect where I bad met him. " 'My name is Jones,' he answered. •Don't? you remember ipe now? I'm the "gentleman" what you had sent up the island fdr one year. They let me out yesterday. Won't you give me a dollar?' "Then I recollected him dis­ tinctly," continued the speaker, "as a waiter in a boarding house who stole my clothes about a year before and was arrested and sent to Blackwell's Island on my complaint His un­ mitigated cheek in referring to him­ self as a 'gentleman' actually led me into giving him the dollar he asked for,"--New York Herald. . j I have met.' he soon resumed, *iind 11 the lethargy. The life or every being am going to impart enough ot my secret to you so you will act with good faith in assisting me in the di­ rection where I am powerless. in the world was in my hands. Nerv­ ing myself for the blow, I felled the mad scientist dead at my feet At that moment the fire behind me ex- " 'It needs not my words to tell 1 pired. The world was saved. plicant whoever he might be, to come in* without looking up from the tbook which held mv attention. •"A moment later the door was opened, and with the guest of wind, which sent every light object in the room Hying topsy-turvv a man entered ttoe apartment with quick, catlike steps. 'Pardon me for the unreasonable Jhour at which I call,' he said, in a Hear, crisp tone; 'but 1 suppose irs get used to all sorts of calls.' "Certainly,' 1 replied. I fear some- you that water is composed of two I gases, hydrogen and oxygen, in parts as one to eight. United in that pro­ portion these elements are impervious to tire. Every schoolboy knows that. But m x them in any other propor­ tion and heat, flame, combustion is the immediate consejuence. "'Now, I have discovered the key which unlocks the affinity holding the constituent parts of water. A gjjfew grains of this powder are suffl- ; cient to dismember its warlike ele­ ments, when the funeral pyre of the human race is kindled as far as this • planet is concerned. '• 'Impossible'.' I could not help ex- cla:ming. 'God in His infinite wis­ dom, never created a world so beau- "You kn»w the rest. 1 was dis­ covered in the act of dealing the fatal blow by men who could not un­ derstand the immeasurable deed I had done. You saved my life. In the sight of God I feel that I have committed no crime: but shall die easier knowing that when I am gone the truth will be known to the world. My conscience is clear, and yet the secret has pointed at my every action like a finger of flre."--London Tid Bits. tiful as this and then placed in the hands of its subjects tbe means of its destruction.' Poor fool,' he said, compassion­ ately, but a Csl|pd the Queen "A Good Old Soul. An English paper tells a story of a well-known bishop who suffers from impaired vision. He recently held a levee. At length a guest appioached and said, "How do you do, mylord,> My mother wishes to be kindly re­ membered to yoa" "Ah," said the i bishop, "that is very good of her. 'You forget that the moon is ! And how is the dear old soul. Noth flre-ext nguished world: that ing like a good old mother^ Be sure planets without number are the j to take care of your old mother, charred remains of what were once i Good morning." The bishop did not scenes of life and beauty; that the j in the least know who his vsitor was sun is a molten mass or heat; that He and said to his footman: "Who was has said in His own word, in the end ! that?" The servant replied: "The "the heavens shall be folded together j last gentleman who left your lord­ like a scroll, the elements to melt ship's reception is the Duke of Con- with fervent heat" ! naught" (one of Queen Victoria's Hm Three Caravel* of Columbus. In the days of Columbus vessels ttere generally called ' caravels," and if of considerable size for those times they were called by the Spaniards naos. When Queen Isabella determined to help Columbus to make his voyage, a royal order was sent to the city of Palos to fit out three caravels and to place them at the royal disposal. The city juade a pretense of comply­ ing, but it was so well known that the ships were for Columbus's hazard­ ous venture into the terrible western ocean that neither money nor force couid get them equipped and manned. Over and over again the people were assembled in the public square and the order read with great pomp, but all in vain. Columbus, in his de­ spair, begged that the prisons be opened and the convicts allowed to go With him.- Finally, a ship-ownerof Pal03, Martin Alonzo Pinzon, was induced, by an offer of a large share ot the rewards in ca^e of discoveries, to make an active effort to fit out the expedition. He was a popular sea captain and a vigorous man of business, and it was antirely due to him that Columbus was able to set sail from Palos on his ever-memora­ ble voyage. Pinzon 'condemned two of the caravels given by the town, and substituted two stanch vessels of his own. One was a decked .vessel of :*j0 tons, large enough to be called a nao. and the other wa» a little thing with lateen sails, which was chosen on account ot her light draught, in case rivers had to be ascended in the country they expected to discover. The nao was at first named the "Gallega," but they renamed her the "Santa Maria." Columbus took her for his flag-ship, for he held an ad­ miral's commission from Ferdinand and Isabella. The little lateen-rigged caravel was called the "Nina." Of the three caravels offered by the town of Palos, the only one which Pinzon considered seaworthy enough to ac­ cept was the "Pinta," a boat about half as large as the Santa Maria, and rigged like her. His shrewdness in rejecting the others was fully proved before the expedition reached the Canaries; for "it was discovered that the Pinta had been tampered with, and had been purposely .weakened. A long delay in the islands was ne­ cessary to repair her. Such were the vessels in which Co­ lumbus discovered America; one Where Wives Ate fawned. European nations, in one form or another, are pretty well acquainted with the uses of the pawnshop anc the benefit of being able, when oc­ casion needs, of placing all sorts of articles with their "uncle;" but the heathen Chinese appears to beat them hollow in this respeot, being able, according to a custom in that coun­ try, to pawn his wite. A case is reported from Wenchow where a man, having learnt from as­ trologers that his own wife would not live long, took another man's wife over in pawn, ready for appropriation when required. . It appeared, however, that this woman had already been pawned to a third party, who was too poor to sup­ port her comfortably, and that she herself, so it is alleged, procured her subsequent pawning fraudulently by representing that her mother wished it to be so. This curious custom of wife pawn­ ing is likely, therefore, to come be­ fore the tribunals, to decide as to the legal right of the various parties. Alphabetical. Authors have been known to say that it is easier to write a book than to find a title for it, and one man gees so far as to declare that a happy title is given only by inspiration. So it seems to have been in this case. A gentleman living near Plymouth had a valuable and handsome horse which he had named Ajax. Last season, by great good lnck, he came across an excellent mate for it and purchased it at once. Then the question arose what to call it. There was some delay about finding a name in every respect sat­ isfactory, till after a day or two, on going to the stable, the gentle­ man found that his groom had solved the difficulty. Over the stall of the old family favorite was printed his name Ajax; and over that of the newcomer the hostler had printed in big chalk let­ ters, "Bjax." •AVED BY A a tfn Story with Abunilunce Of Moon­ light and Bullets. "I was Ciieutenant-Colonel of a Kentucky cavalry regiment," said Colonel John C. Underwood of Ken­ tucky. "Our command was in East Tennessee, and one bright moonlight night I concluded to ride away from camp and take a look about tbe vicin­ ity I rode several miles, and, coming to a farm house, hitched my horse and knocked at the door. A young woman, the most beautiful I had ever seen, it seemed to me, appeared after awhile, and invited me in. She and her aged mother were the oniy occu­ pants of the house, the men of the family being in the Confederate Army. We chatted pleasantly for a few minutes, when my fair hostess arose and said: 'Colonel, you ran a great risk in leaving your horse in such an exposed position; the Yankee pickets are sill about us. I will go and put him in the tarn.' "She left the room, and after a few minutes returned, when we resumed our gonversation. Suddenly she started up and listened. 'Colonel, you must go now,' she exclaimed. 'I hear the sound of horses' hoofs; the Federals are coming!' Rushing out of the door, she led my horse to the back of the house, and I, following her, jumped on his back. Tne most natural thing for mo to have done would have been to set spurs to him and get away as soon as possible. But I could not I was young and impressionable, and the situation was entrancing. The moon shed a silver light upon the earth, a gentle breeze was stirring and tne rustle of the leaves in the grand old trees was like music to my soul. And amid these surroundings a beautiful face with tearful eyes looked up into mine, beseeching jqc to hasten. I could not resist the temptation, and, stooping down from my horse, put my arm around her, drew her closer to my side and kissed her. "As I did so a shower of bullets passed over my head. One of them passed thro.ugh the rim of my hat I was in full sight of a company of Federal horseman. No other warn­ ing was necessary. My horse realized the danger as well as I, and a race for life ensued. The enemv pressed hard upon me tor a time, and more than once their bullets grazed my head, but fortune favored me, and I at length reached the Confederate lines in safety. Do yoa wonder that I remember when a kiS3 saved my life?"--Boston Globe. --iP-- OUR FORESTS. Not a ••Reel mens." ' A party of young men who were off cn a fishing excursion on the Ohio lliver some years ago were joined by an eccentric man, skilled as a fisher­ man, known in that region as "Bare­ footed Sam." He was a good cook, and made himself useful in so many ways that his presence, though unin­ vited, was tolerated by the amateur sportsmen. One morning two members of the party returned to camp with their ap­ petites well shaipened for breakfast and were greeted enthusiastically by a third man, who said, "You just come along and see the finest baked perch you ever laid eyes on." They hurried to the table, but saw only a rick of bones, from which every fibre of meat had been taken Sam was nowhere to be seen. When he returned no comments were made upon the circumstance; but in the afternon, when the company were lounging on the bank, Sam drawled out: "I'd like to have all the fish 1 could eat jest onst. I ain't had a mess sence Pete Follet ketched that big catfish, three years back." "Sam," remarked one of the group, dryly, "I thought you had quite a fair mess this morning. That perch weighed about ten pounds, I've been informed" "Oh, yfcs," replied Sam, with no sign of embarrassment on his placid countenance, "I ate that; but what I mean is a reel, reg'lar mess!" The epmpany pondered on this re­ markable statement in absolute silence tor some moments, until at last the man who hatl caught the perch ejaculated, "WqII. I snum!" and nothing more was said. iilie Areo la Kcw England Not Deftiiuilitg. There is no diminution in the forest area of New England, as compared with 50 years ago. It is true there may not be so much full-grown tim­ ber as there was halt a century ag<v but there are a greater number of trees now growing in New England than there were in the early part of the century. This irises largely from the fact that very much of the pasture area and rough land formerly used in cultivation has been allowed to grow up, first to bushes, then to shrubs, and finally to trees. xnere never was a time in INew En­ gland for many years when firewood could be purchased ed cheap on tbe stump as at present < >ne concern in the vicinity of Boston which buys 15,- 000 cords per annum is paying be-- tween $3 and $4 per cord less for woOd to-day than the same parties paid in 1865. One reason of the diminution in the use of cord wood throughout New England is the fact that almost all the railways in early times burned cord wood for fuel, instead of the al­ most universal material of coal now used for the same purposed This per­ mits the growing up of vast areas of woodland throughout New England. Again, as the value of woodlandbe- comes better appreciated, and the holdings are concentrated into tl5b hands of those people to own and con­ trol who will cut judiciously and cut only the ripe trees, less of the growth will be wasted and frittered away. The salvation, of the forests in New England lies in the hope that they may be owned by those who appreci­ ate their worth, and who are able to secure a proper return for investment in this class of property. As to the forest area of the United States, io is computed to be about 24 percent of the entire area Germany, though more thickly populated than the United States, has a percentage of about 26 in wood, out of the total area of 100 per cent Switzerland has only 19 per cent of forest. France has but 17 per cent., Great Britian 3£ per cent, Sweden 39 per cent, of its area in wood, and Norway 21 per cent Nearly one-si *th of the area of the forests iri Sweden, or upward of 8,000 acres, is owned by the Swedish Gov­ ernment, which only permits cutting under a wise -and comprehensive plan of Government supervision. It is es­ timated that in Sweden the present supply may be kept up for many years under Government supervision. One thing, however, is certain^ even in that country, that the Supply of lum­ ber and wood for pulp cannot be "in­ creased beyond the present supply ex­ cept, by the partial destruction of the forests.--Manufacturers Gazette. ' impatiently, as he had i Iter- ! '• 'You see this phial; it contains ' soo*\ Peanuts as a iJalnty. "Peanuts unaristocratic!" exclaimed a fashionably ,dressed, bright-eyed young miss to her pretty companion on a Walnut street car recently. "WeJl, what if they are? "I'm go­ ing to have them served at our din­ ner party salted and they are per­ fectly lovely. Salted almonds aren't in it All you do is to buy the green or unparched peanuts, parboil them, rub off the red envelopes, spread the blanched nuts on a tin dish, treat them to butter, then brown them tor half an hour in a baking but not quick oven, and when they are a light, snuff color take them out at once and salt them while hot. Just try that recipe when you get home, and the'lowly peanut will become ex­ alted a hundred per cent in your eyes."--Philadelphia Record. Indians vrtth Queer Titles. How would you like to go to school where the roll-call is like this: "Sophia Little Bear, Annie Ked Crane, Lizzie Spider, Kistoc, Gray Cloud, Laughing Face, Delay Ankle, Joseph White Plume, Frank Yellow- bird, Porcupine Creek'?." All these are real names taken from the catalogue of a very famous school for Indiuhs at Hampton, Iowa. I am told that sometimes the little red- men become dissatisfied with their picturesque titles, and try to "Americanize" their names. And it is on record that one Shawnee lad, who entered the institute as Tommy Wild Cat, appeared afterward in the as ] catalogue as "Thomas W. Catt!"-- large as a small schooner, and the j Harpers Yonng People. other twoabout the size of lighters. 1 : :-- ' Had he suspected the length of his I Fuxny, isn't it, that no marriage journey, or known of the terrible I ceremony is a success unless there ia storms which can rape in the Atlantic 1 a bitch in it somewhere| Can Blilk be Mu le Richer by Feeding? This question has long been under discussion among dairymen. A re­ cent experiment ir. Denmark was con­ tinued for five years with 1152 cows divided into nine groups, fed upon different farms with various combi­ nations ot foods and careful tests made of the quality and quantity of the milk during this long period. The published result is "that change in character or composition of the food has not been tiaceabre in the chemi­ cal combination of the milk; that tlje quantity was affected was proven; certain foods and combinations did increase the flow, but the chemical combination of the milk was not af­ fected to an extent that any import­ ance could be attached to them." Mistake, Mistaken. The use of this w,:rd seems to be so anomalous as to need some inquiry and explanation. I may be mistaken, for I continually make mistakes. But when shown to have been mis­ taken, I own myself in error. Yet if. I am mistaken, is it not the error of him who 111 stakes me? But it may be that I am right, and that he is mistaken; though I suppo.-e that I ought to take him aright, and not mistake him. Nevertheless, I often have to say in argument, "You were quite right. I was mistaken." In a word, though he who mistakes must be in error, our c mimon use of language considers him who is mistaken to so.---London Notes and Queries. > lr l'uu Would Live. *>- If your name is to live at all, it is so much more to have it live in peo­ ple's hearts than only in their brains. I don't know that one's eves fill with tears when he thinks of the famous inventor of logarithms, but a sqng of Burns' or a hymn of Charles Wesley's goe- straight to your heart and you can't help loving both of them, sin­ ner as well as saint The works of other men live, but their ] ersoiiality dies out of their labors; the poet who reproduces himself in his creation as no other artist does or can goes down to posterity with all his personality bleuded with whatever is imperish­ able in his son®.--Oliver Wendell Holmes: iftfi .rrv^yv. • A New Version of an Old Story. Every one has heard that old and popular accepted story of Marie An­ toinette and the starving peasants, and it is always told as an illustration of the heartlessness and carelessness of royalty concerning the common people. It has served its purpose well, but unfortunately it is not quite true. Mr. Mattieu Williams gives the cor­ rect version. He says: "We are told that when Marie An­ toinette was informed or a famine in the neighborhood of the Tyrol and of the starving of some of the peasants there, she replied, 'I would rather eat pie crust than starve.' Some of the story tellers, by the way, have it pastry, others caiie. Thereupon the courtiers giggled at the ignorance of the pampered Princess, who could sup­ pose that starving peasants had such an alternative food as pie crust '•The ignorance, however, was all on the side of the courtiers and those who repeat the story ip its ordinary form. The Princess wa^s the only per­ son in the court who really under­ stood the habits of the peasants oi the particular districts in question. They cook their meat, chiefly young veal, by rolling it in a kind ot dough made of sawdust mixed with coarse flour to hold it together, then placing this in an oven or wood embers until the dough is hardened to a tough crust and the meat is roasted ̂ rough- out to the proper point of cooking. Marie Antoinette said she would rather eat pie crust than starve, know­ ing that those meat pie crusts are given to the pigs, and they are nour­ ished by them and digest them in spite of .the wood sawdust" ' " " A Queer People. Strange stoiies are told of the Dokos, who live aAong the moist warm bamboo woods to the south oi Kaffa and Susa, in Africa. Only four feet high, of a dark olive color, savage and naked, they have neither houses nor tjeinples, neither flre nor human food. They live only on ants, mice, and serpents, diversi­ fied by few roots and fruits. They let. their nails grow long, like talons, the better to dig for aunts, and the more easily to tear in pieces their favorite snakes. The Dokos used to be invaluable as slaves, and they were taken in large numbers. The slave hunters used to hold up bright colored clothes as they came to the moist, warm bamboo woods, where these human monkeys still liver and the poor Dokos could not resist the attractions offered by such superior people. They crowded round them, and were taken in thou­ sands. In slavery they were docile, with few wants and excellent health. These queer people have only one fault--a love for ants, mice, and ser­ pents, and a habit of speaking toyer with their heads op the ground and their heels in the air. Yer; .1$ th«fr idea of a superior power,, to whom they talk in this comical nature when they are dispirited or«apgry, or tired of ants and snaked, 'and longing for unknown food. s , •The Dokos seem to come nearest ol! all people yet discovered to that ter­ rible cousin to humanity, the ape. Klectric Lamps In the Sea. Experiments were recently taade at Toulon, France, for illuminating the bottom of the sea with electric lamps. The apparatus eipployed was, sunk on si:: fathoms and it iliumi-' • natea the bottom to a radius of 100' feet It is thought that the lamp will be of the greatest value for sur­ veying wrecks or for reconnoitering for concealed torpedoes. ~^If the Lord would change the name of Heaven to Society, He would have no further trouble in coaxing people to try to get icto it