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I'Vltxmp*!!#:: ' ' . , * X < W :»-#Si timtm mmimmmdm r%:Tj&wriZ \̂r<iq. . Hf 1 % * >,*, | t$* „•?* 2 s"'* Miili ifl itiST.;';Hftei&W a? by MM.aMMK -llw Miiniiinewtillir fat y*Mi««ltaa.tataBMi««MiiM»«f IwmI Mtfeoo ths put •^IWIwIWB. Wi«l«*M|MMio( tte p*pm. £# *° i.-. / '-. #. A DREAM OP THE FIELDS. fba f«Usrft from tht conn try--yon koep away ^ from town, . H 7011 rtou't want tOnniettl$ things and (it u ^ ujmMo down; j 'Pb~ you always leave a memory of 41M VMOWI 1 and Um streams, [ .' Jto' 1 straightway get to wishin' and to flahin' la my dream* I • , ;^hm fellerH from tb« country--when you iWttM j •ILS me at my dosk ,tV •;..4»1>,' _ I 'fRta room begins to blossom an thenrnt looas j picturesqxio! I And the roarin of tbe city with Its engine* ^21i«H^irtgSiM , 4ktaW\#frtli&, ticket With |t» for his tbrced prodigality, when one money 1 bought.me some good rar- morning, In the barber's shop where , lined slippers, which I was sure would he went from time to time to read | do me good. Yes, indeed."--From gratia the Gazette, a terrible emotion ! the French, by Bally Blake, in Amer- shoog^£im. He read the result of, lean Cultivator. V.'VI 'i .JK ' "I -ri :, •• ••• T3 Weighing coin. Sixteen one-hundredth of a grain in weight is enough to make trouble and work for mint officials. , The-case in question, the New The old gentleman gave such a sud- • Orleans Mint Supervisor said, is not tt»o»Ji$tery drawing, and at the head thfcse words, like lines of flre, flashed before the da?iled spectacles of the good man: 4 The number thirty four has won the great prize of 100,000 francs." an' itR bells, * to melt into the music of the mountain* { j and the dell*! * "Stoti taller* from the country-- yon get so much of life-- flft little of its sorrow, ot it* tear*, and of it* strife, 5ShatI want to get oj with you and just Hot in , '"f" "'Jied wade in^ymit eool bmaehu. UlU It- m* wbru a boy 1 • ** --Atlanta Constitution. - i;--",;' •J ' • •*fv den cry that the startled barber in turning toward him, almost clipped a corner from the ear of the school-' master whom he was shaving. i ,.i* Writ's the matter. Father Lan- j dry," he asked. f*"Oh nothing, nothing;" ^answered the farmer, who qnickiy recovered his calmness. ' •> j Rearranging his spectacles, he read ' again slowly, snelling each syllable to | "make assurance doubly sure." i There was no mistake; the number 34, Brigitte's ticket, had won. He dropped the journal and started off I in great agitation towards bis house. { Brigitte had prepared her master's frugal breakfast of nuts and cheese, j lie placed himself at tbe table, but he icould not eat, for his emotion | BKIGITTE'S FOKTL'NE. " A 1 1 , ^Short thin, dry and wrinkled as an e that lay withered during a long seemed to clinch his throat and pre* vent him from swallowing. "What is tbe matter, Master?" anxiously asked Brigitte. •'Nothing at all." - •'You are not ill?" "No, I tell you," he answered angrily. During several days he secretly ob­ served the poor woman. Did she know that she had won 100,000 francs? No indeed? Entirely ignor­ ant tbat she was the object of such close scrutiny, she performed her daily tasks with her usual good hnmor, while her master was in a fever of unrest. One day he dared to ask her, trembling whi.e doing so: "Is there any news, my good girl?" "Nothing, Master, except that one of the hens has the pip. " Very good! She knew nothing about her good fortune As for an­ nouncing it to her--that was entirely too much for his nature and long life habit It seemed to him monstrous winter, such was the good man, Farmer Landry. Indeed, he was one of those close-fisted old peasants of whom it is graphically said that they can shave something from an egg ihell. Since the death of his wife he had ! retired from agriculture and lived! alone in a little house at the end of j the village. j And yet, not entirely alone, for he j had with him his old servant Brigitta j But the poor woman counted for so , little in the household, a little above j the UGKI but not so much as the j donkey, tbat cost 120 francs. She : entered bis family at the age of 12 to guard the cows, and had been there ever since. She knew no other family life than this one, and the exceeding parsimony of tbe master seemed to toer entirely natural. She was now a tall, hale woman of fifty, red-faced, square-shouldered, with feet and hands that might have been the pride of a pugilistic trainer. While exact­ ing very little in the way of compen- i that another should profit by this sation. she drudged like a pack horse; for, indeed, she cou'd not do other­ wise in Farmer Landry's house Be­ sides, in her simple mind existed a .canine attachment and real admira­ tion for her master, who was not ashamed to take advantage of her good nature. Of course, in the service of this ttiser Brigitte had not earned a fort­ une. But the honest creature was amply satisfied wben the old peasant, in a patronizing tone, praised her marvellous windfall of 100,000 francs, produced by his piece of twenty sous--his own bright, silver bit! Time was lengthened from days to weeks. A notice in tbe journal (he really bought a copy of the one containing the announcement) form­ ally stated that after a delay of three months the unclaimed prizes would be employed tor a new capital. The poor man bad no more appetite for eating or drinking, or power to sleep; he was dying of uneasiness. seal: "What a good, simple creature j Twenty times he was on the point of you are, Brigitte, are you not? Then the good woman's mouth llould open into a loud laugh. "He! he! he! master! You have always your little manner of joking; he! he! he." One day while Farmer Landry was falmselt replastering his garden wall, so as not to pay the mason, he made a false step and fell into the pool just of any importance, but serves as an instance of an almost every day oc­ currence in the United States mints. After the silver pieces are coined a small number are examined and we ghed by the supervisor's office be­ fore the lot is received. Then two pieces are sent on to the director at Washington, by whom they are weighed. Out of a lot of 5,000 ten-cent silver pieces recqptly coined in this city Supervisor Smyth failed to draw from the lot any tbat was not to the re­ quirements in every way, and accord­ ingly drew out of the lot two more dimes, and then sent them to Wash­ ington. There one of them was found to be sixteen one-hundredths of a grain light, of which fact Dr. Smyth was accordingly notified. This necessitated the reweighing of the whole lot, in which only a dozen or so were found not to be in compliance with the weight regulations. The weighing of the coins resulted, of course, in a great deal ol labor and required a great deal of time. From the fact, however, that the short weight of a few of the pieces was thus discovered, it does not fol­ low that lots received as standard are always perfectly correct. It may frequently happen that only the ab-, solutely correct coins fall into the hands of the examiners, and many or few of the rest mav be either a trifle over or under weight. The matter is not regarded as one of any moment by mint officials, as whatever the error in the individual piece a given amount of alloy make; a given num­ ber of coins, and the bulk value of the lot is what it ought to be, wbile the difference between the actual and the face value of the separate coins, especially those of small de­ nomination, is too small to be ap­ preciable--New Orleans Times-Dem­ ocrat ' speaking of the ticket to Brigitte; and twenty times he bit the tip of his tongue One word only might put his servant in the way to learn her good fortune One morning, after an unusually street by sleepless night passed in turning and returning in his bed, he arose with a i smile on his thin lips. He had found | the key to the problem. He com- over the point where the deepest hole j menced by ordering Brigitta to kill S- was. He splashed wildly about for a few moments, calling vainly for helD with all the power of his lungs At last, worn out by his efforts, he was* about to sink from sight when Brig­ itte at last heard him. The devoted creature courageously jumped into tbe water, at the risk of drowning herself. She succeeded in pulling him to the bank; he was entirely un­ conscious, but she raised him in her strong arms, as she would a child, put him to l>ed, and with rubbing and remedies recalled him to life. On see­ ing him open his eyes, the good Brig- itte shed tears of joy. . . "Ah, good master, how glad I am tbat you are not drowned and buried Ja that hole!" The old peasant was glad of it too, flithough he had one lively regret-- tbe loss of his trowel, which fell into the water at the same time with him­ self. However, he had the decency not to express tbe wish that Brigitte •hould return and jump in after that the plumpest chicken, and to cook it in the oven with a good piece of pork. In the meanwhile, he brought from the cellar, where it was hid behind tbe fagots, a bottle of old wine And finally, he gave his servant money to buy coffee, sugar, and brandy. Brigitte asked herself if her master bad gone mad? "Surely some demon has taken po- session of his mind!" she thought with a thrill of fear. It seemed a fearful increase of the malady when the old gentleman, after having ordered her to lay the table for two, asked her to take her place as his vis-a-vis. "Oh, Master, 1 should never, never dare to do that!" "Sit down there, I tell you, you foolish woman! Brigitte had heard that one must not oppose the wishes of maniacs. So, withcut answering, she seated herself in great emharrassmenton the chair. 'Come, eat and drink, Brigitte, Oiling her plate The Confederate Whlto House. "The Confederate White House"" has been doing duty as a public school for many years. It would be pronounced queer looking anywhere save in Kichmond. The front on the street is like that of any ordinary square mansion, with the hall in the center and a flat roof. But passing directly through the hall to what should be the rear, one comes out upon a wide gallery, having a lofty roof level with the floor of the third story, supported by massive pillars. From the gallery you look out upon a great yard, shut off from the side a high brick wall. The mansion faces in. It is imposing when seen from the yard. The ground floor is a better arrangement, than that of the other White House at Washington. Keception rocms open into each other and into the central hall, which alone is large enough for any ordinary gathering, while the hall and the surrounding rooms af­ ford a complete circuit for a moving throng. Different apartments are still known as "the cabinet room," "the reception parlor." "the State dining- room, " and so on. as in the years of^ 1861-65. But all of them, to intents and purposes, are still schoolrooms. The walls are blackboards on which is set the copy of "Dare to Be Right" and various problems in fractions going to prove that the part cannot be greather than the whole are ex­ hibited. The transformation of the "White House" into a museum has. not yet commenced. There is no doubt however, that the money will be raised, and the museum ' will be | added to Richmond.'* historical col­ lection.--St Louis Globe-Democrat also. Indeed, in the first impulse of y gratitude, he said to his servant with j my girl." he said. A touch of emotion: i generously. : j : ̂ , "It is you who pulled me out of the j However, this was not the last sur- J ; hole; I shall never torget it my good j price for Brigitte. When the coffee | . i , firl, you may be assured of that I was served the old gentleman sud- s ._am going to make you a present" i denly said: ^ J By "Oh, master, indeed there is no j "You see, my good Brigitte, this need of that!" ' j means that 1 am going to \get mar- ^ "But I tell you I will give you some- • ried!" £ ; ifhing; don't doubt it!" j "Indeed, master, it is not yet too And really, the same evening, after , late; if you are old, you are still hale INDEPENDENCE DAY. MEMORIES OF THE GLORIOUS PAST RECALLED. iKl ntton Doeument Which Nation Free--How. When and Vkenll Wa* Promulgated--Story of the Deelara- .ttea ot Independence. ' fh« Day We Celebrat*. ' *rae Fourth of July is a goo# to look back "into the days so long gone by, the days when Washington led the armies of the £rue and the brave to the greatest victory the world has ever seen. What a magnificent .page in the world's history! The Greeks, the Rus­ sians, and the Saxons gained their in­ dependence only to be fettered by other chains and so they fell, one after alh- other. After over a hundred years of life the republic whose birth we cele­ brate, stands a colossal monument among nations, to government by the people. In a single century we nave made more progress in science, art, and manufacture than did Greece and Rome in any five hundred years of their ascendency. The light that was flamed in the Declaration of Independence a ANNOUNCING TBI R1V& hundred vears ago has ever continued to give - forth a large blaze, until now the American republic is lighting the peoples of the earth on to a higher civilization. Despotic governments have fallen before its majestic glare. The nations of the whole earth trem­ ble before its researches. When the Congress of 1776 convened in Independence Hall war with the mother country was in active progress; the colonies had been proscribed as rebels; further submission and hesita­ tion were useless. The issue was square­ ly met in Congress June 7, when Rich­ ard Henry Lee, of Virginia, introduced these resolutions: Resolved, That these United States Colonies are, and ought be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allepianoe to the British Crown, and that all political con­ nection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to bo. totally dissolved. wlndow o* the room and a erowd about them, are published in'some histories.! As a matter of ffcet, writes Edward B. Phelps, tha oommittee, doubtless, met alone and quietly and deliberately at- attended to the grave task imposed upon them. Though the deliberations of Congress upon the subject had been secret, the public was well aware of what was going on, and as the day for a vote upon the resolutions of Mr. Lee approached the greatest interest in the result was manifested. It was, of course, known that a bare majority of the States had instructed their dele­ gates to vote for independence, and the mere passage of the resolutions was assured. But nothing short of abso­ lute unanimity on so important a measure would suffice. The step had! been thoroughly canvassed in the interim between the appointment of the committee to draft the Declara­ tion and the announcement of its re­ port. The committee first reported to Congress as a committee x>n the whole on June 28. Mr. Harrison, of Virginia, the great-grandfather of ex-President Harrison, occupied the chair. Adams and Franklin suggested certain changes, and the draft waa*thoi«oughly disoussed and somewhat amended by the Con­ gress. On July 1'the vote on Mr. Lee's resolution--which was practically the Declaration of Independence--was to have been taken. The question went over until the following day, however, and all the colonies but New York voted for the adoption of the resolu­ tions. At first Pennsylvania and Dela­ ware were divided on the issue, but afterward cast their unanimous votes in its favor. On the 4th of July the Declaration, having been canvassed section by section and clause by clause, was ratified by Congress as amended. Some say that President Hancock alone signed the original draft; others, that all the fifty-eight delegates except John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, ap­ pended their names. Jefferson is cred­ ited with the statement that, after it had been adopted by the unanimous •vote of all the States, John Hancock, as President, signed it, and the following morning it was shown to each member of Congress as he entered the hall, and then and thus received his signature without formal order of Congress. Be that as it may, an engrossed copy was prepared, ana by August 2 every mem­ ber of Congress, except Dickinson, who had been retired, had signed it. There is no little conflict among his­ torians regarding the method of the announcement to the people of the adoption of the * Declaration. One time-honored old story tells us that as soon as the draft was' adopted the old bell in the tower of Independence Hall was joyfully rung for some'little time and that the bell thus fulfilled the com­ mand of its motto upon its cracked sur­ face: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof." This story is pronounced a sheer fable, pleasant though it is. Again, it is said that Colonel John Nix­ on read the contents of the Declara­ tion to the waiting throng in Chestnut street from the window of Indepen­ dence Hall. The authenticity of this assertion is questioned, too. That its HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SHOT, INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA. iA • a thousand hesitations, he drew forth f- liis long leather purse and called -r'^:<':v;'3r'gitte to him. While making a " grimace like one having a tooth V fdrawn, he selected a silver piece of V;/' twenty-five cents. •f}-- Here, Brigitte, is your present It jshall not be counted in your wages, you know. Oh, no, this is extra out- ,/ side of your wage9. Do not be ex- |= : itravaganfc with it; that would be a I W'c sin. •foFor the service rendered it was not l i , j u n b r i d i e d g e n e r o s i t y o n , t h e p a r t o f M -the giver, and the former had some |§i ^ : dim intimation of the fact for he and well," answered the simple ser­ vant approvingly. "Since that is your view, if you like, we will marry each Other." After the roast chicken and pork, the coffee and wine, Brigitte ex­ pected to hear almost any strange thing on the part of her master. But that! Oh, not that! "You are joking me, master!" "Not at all," answered the old peasant. He explained that be was growing old, was without children or family, and did not wish to die alone like a dog. Besides, he was grate­ ful! He could not forget that Brig- i itte had saved his life--his faithful be forgetful ?w .added (as if to enhance its value): i rr'M "It is just the price of a lottery I Brigitte. One must not > § tifeket Buy one, my girl, and you j of such a service. ' may win $20,000." | It was the first time in his life { P j . t h a t t h e p o o r m a n a l l o w e d h i m s e l f t o j be so liberal, so the thought of it i haunted him for a long time; he con- •1-.L-'jr.5 stagtly wondered about tbe fate of bis bright silver piece. He often asked the servant if she had yet bought her lottery ticket "Not yet Master," Was her un­ varying answer. , But at length she decided to end - J ' t h i s constant questioning by pacify- ' ing him. So one day she replied: " • i !> Finally, the worthy woman, whose head was turned by this stroke of good fortune, believed in his sincerity. She, a humble servant, marry her master? Think of it! It was, indeed, some­ thing to turn one's brain. The bans were published, and the marriage followed. The couple were greeted at tbe church by the good- natured smiles of the whole village. After the ceremony the new hus­ band hurriedly conducted his wife home. Why Jews Do Mot Farm. The history of the Jews shows why they stopped farming and lost their agricultural instinct to become trades­ men. Thus having been by nature and education a race of farmers, per­ secuted for centuries, excluded from agrictltural as well as from all in- " j dustrial pursuits,plundered,ravished, murdered, and exbiled whenever a needy Kingor a bankrupt noble needed money, or an ignorant populace was excited into frenzy by all insensate and fanatic clergy, aud deprived of the right to possess land, their activ­ ity was compressed into the narrow channel, traffic, and the old Innate, inherited trait of husbandry was rooted out in the Jews' composition as completely as If it had never ex­ isted there, and that of commerce was developed, until now the nation of farmers and herders of cattle has changed into a nation of merchants and financiers. Even if permitted, as occasionally they were, to own land, what Jew--proverbially known to have been more intelligent than his burbarous oppressor--would invest in land or property not easily convert­ ible, when it was liable to be taken 1 from him at any moment, or at best i be sacrificed and he driven out of the j country? A contemporary writer of , the Spanish expulsion relates that he j saw a Jew sell a house for an ass and I a vineyard for a few yards of eloth.-- Southern Magazine. §is': Having crossed the threshold, he ••Yes, Master, I have bought one" ; hastily demanded in a joyful voice, ••Indeed! What number?" j while energetically rubbing his hands. •Oh, the number is | "Brigitte, my girl, where have you "Very good!" said her master, re-put your ticket?" "What ticket?" re­ peating the number to impress it on j his mind. "Be careful not to lose it'." , "Never fear, master." "Because If you do fear sometime to lose it--n ••Eh, master?" "Well, you need only to give it to •»e and I will hide it in my bureau." *<>h, 1 shall certainly not lose it!" 'The habit* of daily life in the lit­ tle household," disturbed by these events, soon settled into their regular course; eating sparely, very temperate 4rInking, few hoiirfi fnr &leeplng and araajrfor work. "Your lottery ticket Na 34?" 1 •'What lottery?" "You know very well," he Cried, impatiently. •The one you bought with my twenty-sou piece, that I gave you!" The bride began to langb stupidly. "Ah! the twenty sous! Listen, Master." "One seldom wins in those lot­ teries. It was very cold last winter, verycoM." "Well, well?" interrogated Landry, who began to grow very yellow. "Qh. indeed," she concluded^ "1 Damages for LOM of Sleep. A Washington, D. C., jury has awarded damages against the Balti- ! more & Potomac liailroad Company I on a very novel plea. If the decision stands, it will give a world of trouble i to the railroads. The plaintiff al- ; leges that bis health was damaged ; by the noise made by the defendant's j trains, wbich passed the house, and t tnat he had not had a good night's ! sleep for months. He also said that ; the noxious smells caused by the com- ; panv were intolerable to him. The ! defendant's attorney thought that a | young roan ought to get used to these things in time, but tbe plaintiff's law- I yer said that his client certainly had 1 a right to his comforts of home, if he were young. The jury thought so too, and gave a verdict of $500 for the plaintiff. If one can recover damages from a, railroad for ! a noise, there are thousands I pie who have a good case them. Resolved. That It 1b expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming forelffn aytvaces. Retailed. That & plan ot confederation be prepared and traaamUced to the respective colonies foe their consideration and approba­ tion. There was no uncertainty about these resolutions} they went straight to the mark. ' The most ^conservative dele­ gates hesitated at voting for so revolu­ tionary a measure; »to favor its passage meant to art-ay one's self in open and' individual rebellion against the Crown. In factt so well was this fact known, that the names of the mover and sec­ onder of the resolution were omitted from the t journal of Congress. The leaders who had only ^dmtyted the ne­ cessity for a separation, aiter careful deliberation, eloquently defended Mr. Lee's declaration. It was finally re­ solved to defer action until July, but. that no time might be lost in case oi their adoption, it was decided to ap­ point a committee to frame a declara­ tion of independence on the basis of the first resolution. On the 11th this committee was appointed, its members being Thomas Jefferson, of Vir­ ginia; John Adams, of Massa­ chusetts; Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania; Roger Sherman, of Con­ necticut; and Robert R. Livingston, of New York. Just how, when and where the committee prepared its draft of the Declaration will probably never be known. The honor of being the birth- Elace of the charter of American liberty as been assigned at least to three or four houses in Philadelphia, and au­ thorities have never fully determined which was the proper claimant. For many years it was supposed that Jef­ ferson prepared .the draft in the four- story brick house at the southwest cor­ ner of Market and Seventh streets, where he boarded with a Mrs. Clymer On the other hand, good authorities relate that Jefferson told Daniel Webster and George Ticknor, while they were visiting him at Mon- ticello,toin 1824, that he drew up the Declaration in a house on the north side of Chestnut street, between Third and Fourth streets. This would ex­ clude Mrs. Clymer's .house, as well as the Indian Queen Inn, on the corner of South Fourth and Market streets, often pointed out as the place. Heis- kell's Tavern was for a time supposed to have been the right house, but that, too, has been since excluded. And so the'question of the place is an open one, though Watscm, in his Annals, asserts that the general opinion was that th& Declaration was drawn by Jefferson In the front room of the second story at the south end of the Indian Queen Inn. As regards the author of the docu­ ment, there^is no dispute. It is unl- versally admitted that this honor be- even longs to Jefferson. The desk on which he Is supposed to have done the work is preserved in the State Department building at Washington, as is the orig­ inal draft with its occasional correc­ tions and interlineations. Ludicrous illustrations "representing the commit­ tee at work upon the Declaration, with i, then unknown America^ flag at the making of peo- ag-imsfc contents were widely circulated in some way or dfcho?, and that very soon after its adoption, there is no doubt, for widespread rejoicing promptly followed. The Declaration was formally, pro­ claimed to the Continental army July 9, so that, certainly, no later than this its tenor was publicly knowa. The best authorities declare that itftwas aot printed, though, until January, 1777, Congress was then in session at Baltimore, and one Mary Katherrine Goddard, who managed her brother's business for him; had the en­ terprise to publish the document. Since then it has probably been republished in more languages and has had a wider reading than any State document in the world's history. Of the sixty or more names which were written on, it, not more than ten can now be read, and they have faded to a pale, sickly color. During recent years the priceless docu­ ment has been jealously garded in the library of the Department of State, and precautions taken to prevent any further injury. It is now between two large plates of French glass, inclosed in hardwood case, all of which is her­ metically sealed so as to keep out air aid dust. . National Holidays. The institution of national holidays, in commemoration of great events in which the whole,people have figured, is, almost without exception, a thing of quite recent times, and belongs in peculiar sense to republican, or at least, to popular governments. Formerly, though holidays might be numerous, they had almost invariably a religious significance. They were saints' days, or churoh celebrations' of some kind. This is still true in most of the mon­ archical countries of the old world. Even in England almost the only holi­ day having a national, as distinguished from an ecclesiastical, significance, is tho birthday of the Queen. The'United States was one of the first nations to set the example of cre­ ating public h'olidays which had a di­ rect reference to the people's achieve­ ments in their own Dehalf. The ob­ servance of the Fourth of July <|ates from its first anniversary, and has never been interrupted since the estab­ lishment of the Republic. SEVERAL persons arriving at Bos­ ton from England attempted in 1043 to establish Presbyterian government there under the authority of the As sembly of Divines at Westminster. They failed, meeting with strenuous opposition from ministers and magis­ trates. ' OLDHAM, Eng., has a furnace for the destruction of the town's refuse, which burns at such a high temperature that its heat, applied to raising steam, fur­ nishes sufficient power to more than cover the cost of the collection and burning of tho nefuse. Fa* Bo Mpmg PttoaM tho. Crowd. He sat in the lobby of one or our prominent hotels. His hair was as white as snow and matted in thin and scraggy locks over a high apd creased forehead. Lines of sofrow marked bis face and ran through his features as numerous as the rivers in Central Africa. In his eyes there was sad­ ness, which bespoke a weight of sor­ row on the mind and seemed to sug­ gest that grief had greatly assisted time in turning the hair white and furrowing the face A number of men were siting around him, and they had been telling stories of the "pistol which is not loaded" and its fatality. The white-haired man said in a plaintive voice: "1 have a story to tell, ireturned home one day from my place of busi­ ness. Everything had gone my way that day. among the things a goed many dollars, and 1 felt unusually gay and skittish. I told my wife of my good fortune, ^ and asked her to get me a match. We were standing by a dressing case, and when she re­ fused 1 opened a drawer and drew forth a pistol, which I lenew was not loaded, as I had examined it the nigh to before. Levelling the pistol straight at her heart poor woman, she's dyad now, I playfully threatened to shoot her. There was a look of trusting, confident love in her eyes-- shall I forget that!--as she dared me. 1 placed my hand on the trigger and pulled it I closed my eyes, afraid to open them. Oh! it was awful. •After a time, it seemed hours, I opened my eyes and put the pistol back." 'But your wife--was sharfcilTed in­ stantly?" eagerly asked thfee listen­ ers. "No-o-a" "A lingering, painful death?" sym­ pathetically they asked. "No; as I said, tbe pistol was not loaded. My wife was unhurt of coura." •But you said she was dead?" "Yes, she died two years aro of old age." l,'And why did you tell this story?" "'lo show you there are times when the pistol is really not loaded. ^There are exceptions to all rules, you know. This is the one exception to the seven instances .you gentlemen^ have recited." " r Snako and Mongoos. The mongoos is a deadly pnemy to snakes, and although a little creat­ ure, not in the least formidable in appearance, it has no hesitation in attacking the largest serpents. The author of "Sport in Southern India" thus describes the animal's method of warfare. •One of our officers," says tbe writer, "had a tame mongoos, a farming little pet Whenever we could procure a cobra, We used to turn it into an empty store-room, wbich had a.?*indow high up .from the ground, so that it was perfectly safe to stand there and look on. "The oobrjfe when dropped from the bag or basket would wriggle into one of 'the corners of the room', and there coil himself upi The mongoos showed the greatest excitement when he was brought to the window, and would eagerly jump down . into the room the moment he was let loose; and there his behavior became very cjirious and interesting. * He would instantly round his back, making every bair stand out at right angles, and approach the cobra on tiptoe, with a peculiar huthmta? kind of noise. The snake, in the meantime, would show signs of great anxiety, erecting its head and hood in order to be ready to strike when its enemy should come near enough. "Then the. mongoos would run backward and forward in front of the snake, getting within what appeared to us striking distance. The snake would thrust*at him repeatedly, and appear to hit him, but the mongoos, oulte unconcerned, would continue his comical dance. "Suddenly, and with a movement so rapid that the eye could not follow it he would pin the cobra by the back of the head. One ooyld hear the sharp teeth crunch into the snake's skull, and in a seeond ail was over. After tbe battle, the mongoos would eat the snake's head and a part of Its body, with great gusto. "Its own safety lies in its perfect judgment of the distance the snake can strike The increase of its ap­ parent size, from its hair standing out at right angles, deceive the snake, so that its fangs never really touch the body of the mongoos at all. They only graze the tips of its hair."-- Youth's Companion. CtHUI#' AM* LilWHiiG* About Wedding Rings. There is less change in wedding rings than in anything else in the jewelrv line The wedding ring is about the same to-day as it . was a century ago. The marriage token can hardly be improved upon. It is a ring of pure gold. It is softly rounded, and if you hang it upon a piece ot string and strike it gently it will ring out an indescribably soft and sweet sound. Ladies often wear numerous rings which carry no significance, except perhaps, in some instances a hint of the possession of wealth. -r Twenty-five years ago it was un­ usual to see a woman wearing more than one ring on either hand, but now the more one can crowd on lier dainty digits the better she appears to be pleased. While women are most mindful of the harmony of their dress, they jum­ ble diamonds, rubies, pearls, garnots and other precious stones together in ridiculous confusion. Bodk Xamwe la -tho 1mA a*MK - tlqntd Sound* tmiHe Sooth. In looking over the aboriginal names upon a map' of the United., States it is curious and interesting^ to note tbat consonants predominates:;# : in the higher and V0Wel» ih th& ., lower latitudes. In Maine, fori§|if example, are found such harsh sound­ ing names as Pamedmucook, Aodro--1* scoggin, Mattawamkeag, Pongokwa-r. ken, while in Florida are Tallahas­ see, Suwanee, Kissimee, and Appal-i achee, with vowels and liquid sounds in a majority. The same peculiarity! may be noted on scanning a map of? ' Europe. Gutterals predominate initt,,^ Norway and ilussia, whereas far to ^ the southwa*', in sunny Italy, theret J v is a profusion of sucn euphonious f : names as Palermo, Verona, bello, etc. Even in the British':' islands, covering so few degrees oC#H' latitude, there is a marked difference between what the Philadelphia Re­ cord calls tbe "burr" of the High- " lander and the soft speech of the native of Southern England. A close observer may detect a similar differ-,;. r : ence between the speech of tbe< dwellers in the upper region of the • , f Susquehanna, in New York State, and that of the inhabitants of thek Eastern shore of Maryland. The in* ! fiuence of climate on language is par- ticularly noticeable in the speech of those who have lived but a compara­ tively short Ume in the Southern States of the Union. The tendency to introduce a vowel sound to round out a word is noted in the Southern pronunciation ot such words as "elec- torial" and "Texian." Thackeray ' was amused at the insistence of ser­ vants in Southern hotels in address­ ing him as Mr. "Thackuary." . A theory which may partly'ac­ count for these climatic effects is based upon the contrast of the still­ ness which usually pervades Southern lands with the stormy inquietude of Northern countries. Cloudless skies, for months at a time, characterize the climates of Italy and Texas, while a firmament entirely free from slouds is rare in Maine or in Norway^ It requires, of course, greater effoi^ to be heard in regions .which ate swept by winds and storms than in quiet Southern latitudes, and to be heard distinctly amid the noise and confusion of the elements words must be used which contain many consonants. Among the inhabitants of more tropical climes the tendency . is toward soft and musical cadences, and travelers relate that iu regions of South America, such as Peru and Venezuela, where atmospheric dis­ turbances are rare, the natives, al­ most chant the phrases of salutation. WHALITH IB not his that has it hat hie that enjoyrit--Fr&nfclhk Tried to Repress Lowell'i Genius. A new story concerning Lowell says tbat his father disapproved of James' devotion to poetry. When in Florence with his wife he was in­ formed by a friend that Lowell had written the class poem for commence­ ment at Harvard, which he was not allowed to deliver. But some ex­ tracts had been sent in a letter, which it was thought would please the doc­ tor. Quite otherwise. He said sadly: "I am very sorry and disappointed. James promised me when 1 left home that he would, give up poetry and and stick to his books I hoped he had become less flighty." This had reference to the fact that while his brothel iiufus stood near the head of I hi! class, Jaaer stood near the African Puff Atldors. South Africa is what herpetologists call 4trich in snakes," and especially in puff adders, which, on aqoount of their size, are among the most dan­ gerous. During the warm months scarcely a day passes without a puff adder incident being recorded. And, in consequence of the towns spread­ ing sparsely over wild districts, with detached residences and extensive gardens, it is no uncommon occur­ rence to see a puff adder meandering down the "street" Happily, in the majority of cases, tbe people know how to avoid them or deal with them; but, notwithstand­ ing presence of mind and good cour* age, fatalities do occur. The reptile even gets into houses sometimes, as do tbe cobras of India. A gentleman was walking across his dining-room, when he felt some­ thing knocking against him; and look­ ing down he found a putt adder hang­ ing on bis trousers. It bad struck at him, but most providentially the fangs had only caught the garment The astonished wearer, to shake oil the reptile, performed, as he after­ ward declared, '•the most vigorous ^ hornpipe that ever was danced," until he got tree of the snake, which was then quickly dispatched. Dogs become frequent victims through their keen sense of smell and their determination to investigate. One splendid large dog and two foi terriers met with their death last sum­ mer near Port Elizabeth through the bite of puff adders. Though there are other highly venomous and equally abundant snakes at the Cape, they are more ot the active cobra; while the puff adders are extremly sluggish and in­ active r eptiles, which do not get out of the way, but lie half hidden among the herbage, or among roots and stonesi with which they assimilate in color. By their hiss they betray them­ selves when danger threatens, and that is all. Happily these great deadly serpants are not aggressive, and do not attack unless provoked. Tho World's Food tor Ono Day. The average healthy man eats nearly two and a half pounds otsolid food in a day. Some races eat much more than others, but against this we can set the smaller consumption of children and the delicate members of civilized communities. Now, as there are, according to computations,, 1,497,000,000 human beings on the earth, we may conclude that 3,742,- | 500,000 pounds, or about 1,670,758 | tons of solid food are eaten every day | the world over. With regard to the | drinking capacitv of the human race, as the proper individual allowance is nearly two and three-quarter pints a day, we may take it that the above named quantity of food is accom­ panied with about 4,116,750,000 pints of liquid in some form or other--that is to say, enough to fill a reservoir of considerable length, breadth, and depth. Canal System or Franco. , In France railways have never been w| permitted to purchase and throw ouit of use or otherwise to break down ^ competing canals. More than $300,- 000,000 has been expended by tbe State for the enlargement and im­ provement of its inland waterwava . within the present century. Theper» fecting of the vast network of canal* ">* and^Tivers made navigable has, how­ ever, been the work of the present Republic, which has spent $200,000,- 000 in facilitating by these means the transport of heavy goods throughout ; ^ the interior ot the country.--Phi delphia Record.' D VN'T get married this summer un- ^ less you can afford to pay the ex- pecses of two people at the World% " Fair. . ** :: w' ssl-..it.....: kA'. •m. - ^ . j- •, .. • *41 / ; .