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' i* \ti n i re< considered highly unlock; /or a fa^nly to take with them a cat hen they are moving, more especially, too, when they have to cross a river. Mr. Gregor a’so tells us that, in the northeast of Scotlaud, if a coy or other domestic animal was siezed with disease, one mode of cure was 1 o twist a rope of straw the con trary way, join the two ends, and put the diseased animal through the loop along with a cat. By this means the disease was supposed to be transferred to the cat, and the animal's life was so saved by the cat dying. This, of course, was only one of the extensive charms of which the leading idea was that cf substitution. A remedy for erysipelas, lately practiced in the par ish of Locharron, in the Northwest Highlands, consisted in cutting . off one-half of the ear of a cat, and letting the blood drop on the part affected. Alluding, moreover, to the numerous other items of folk-lore in connection with the cit, there is a popular notion that a May cat—a cat born in the month of May—is of no use for catch ing rats and mice, but exerts an irju- ious influence on the house, through png into it disagreeable reptiles of rous kinds. Mrs Latham, in her v West Sussex Superstitions," says that a May cat is supposed "to he in clined to melancholy, and to he much addicted tocatchiDg snakes and bring ing them into the house." I had heard that this West-country belief existed in our village; and, very lately, observ ing a most dejected looking cat by the fire In a cottage, said, in jest, "1 should think that cat was horn in May." "Oh, yes," said the owner of it, "that she was, and so was her mother; and she was just as tad-looking, and was always bringing snakes and vipers within doors." In Huntingdonshire there Is a common saying that "a May kitten makes a dirty cat." This sup posed ill-luck attaching to a cat born in the month of May is no doubt founded on the old notion that May was an unfortunate season far births of any kind, in allusion to which there is an old proverb, which says— May cbets Bad-luck begets. According to a curious notion, etill ex tensively credited by out North-coun try peasantry, blaok cats are supposed to bring not only good luck, but also lovers—in illustration of which we may quote a well known rhyme on the subject: Whenever the cat o’ the house Is Hack, The Jasses o’ lovers will have no lack. Mr. Henderson, speaking of this superstition, tells us that an old North country woman on one occasion said to a lady, "It's na wonder Jock—'s lasses marry off so-fast, ye ken what a cat they’ve got/' It is considered unlucky To dream of TtrCm,* a piece of fblk-kxre prevalent In Ger many, where If one dreams of a black cat at Christmas, it is an omen of some alarming illness during the following year. Equally unfortunate, too, is it for a cat to sneeze, this act being sup posed to indicate that the family will have colds. Thus, we are informed by Mrs. Latham, that in Sussex, "even the most favored eat, if heard to sneeze, is instantly shut out of doors; for should she stay to repeat the sneizs three times indoors, the whole family will have colds and coughs. Lastly, there are many quaint tra ditions in which the cat holds a prom inent place ; and an amusing one, cur rent in the north of Engaud, we may quote in conclusion: A gentleman was one eveuing sitting cosily in his parlor, reading or meditating, wheu he was interrupted by the appearance of a cat, which came down the chim- mey and erird out, "Tell Dlldrnm D&l- drum’s dead!" He was not unnat urally startled by this strange occur rence ; and when shortly after his wile entered, and he related to her what had happened, her own cat, which accompanied hor, exclaimed, "Is Dol- drum dead ?" and immediately rushed up the chimney, and was heard of no more. Of the numberless conjectures stated to account for this extraordi nary event, the most reasonable one appears to be that Dildium bad been king of C&tland, and that Dildrum was the next heir. It is estimated that the government f Mexico has granted enough railroad uhsides to American companies to completely eat up a half dozen states. ■When the taxes to pay the debt are levied, bloody revolutions will follow each other with the rapidity of a buzz - The Latest Fashions. The latest fichus are long and nar row. Parasols of watered silk for full dress. Bayadere stripes appear on many new parasol covers. Elder, sycamore and lichen green are stylish spring shades. The present rage is for dark hose, dark hats and dark gloves. Hat, gloves and stockings match. Bouquets of roses and other large flowers aud large bows of ribbon adorn the tops cf handsome parasols. New parasols and umbrellas have handles of the wood of the natural stick, knobbed, crutched and hooked. V-shaped waistcoats, the V termi nating at the w r aist line, Is a feature in handsome spring walking jackets. Cashmere serges in broad stripes, and with raw silk broche effect in bor ders and designs, are late novelties. Stylish contrasts for bonnels are Ilolbtin green with pale blue, celadon with rose, opal with olive, and salmon- pink with gray-blue. Spring fans are in various designs. Some are of lace and flowers, others are hand-painted on satin, while others are made entirely of feathers. Dress skirts are viler this season. They measure two and a-half yards around the bottom. The diaperies are more bouffant an:l elaborate than last season. A masculine caprice m handker chiefs is for white hemstitched bor ders decorated with printed figures, Arabs on h ^rseback in rapid motion, •dogs phasing hares and similar devices in color artistically executed. New designs in very rich silks show marvellous -effects of shading flowers and foliage upon tinted grounds. Eg lantine and honeysuckle are produced with wondeiful fidelity, and even in the minutest details, with all the skill of hand painting. Sootch zephyr ginghams are less showy than last year. The majority of the patterns are small, cool-looking cheeks. There are some that are larger, but none that at all reach the dimen sions of the high coloring of last sea son. There is no washing material so durable and useful as this. Silk grenadines are very handsome aud showy ^ the patterns are large, and -consist of spots,leaves and flowers of immense size, with plush centres and satin edge and veiuing upon a fine washed ground. There are also quite new grenadines, with embroidered dots in the form of clover leaf or sham- re ck, or smaller polka dots of plush or satin. An e-nticejLy. Jubw- ’^eelr "jp* vAJ «»ced in white and black, repro duces all the popular designs in Span ish laee, and is used for over-dresses iu place of real Spanish lace, which is double the price aud less durable. This pretty woolen fabric will be much used for drapery for polonaises, for over-dresses consisting of skirt and basque, with silk skirts, and for all the purposes to which flue bunting and wool grenadine may oe put. Groaning and Worrying. A not very poetical person, desiring to leave behind him something which would serve either as an inscription for his tombstone or a condensed his tory of his experience while an in valid, wrote something on this wise: "Pain w T as my portion ; physic was my food ; groans were my devotion ; drugs did me no good." To the cheer ful soul who will iu the light of this composition study the mental make up of the sufferer who indited it, it is easy to see why "drugs did him no good." Pain is discouraging ; physic is indigestible; but a devotional dint of groans is as unsatisfactory spiritual refreshment as can be devised. The state into which a man can by this process worry hinself is one not to be ulmed at by any reasonable human being. And possibly those who give up to a habit of groaning aud com plaining are a little wrong-minded. Unhappily there are many people whose experience takes this turn. They are not always invalids, but are often those who are blessed with a fair share of health and other good things and might be happy If they would. The habit o’f groaning and lament ing is an evil one. It lightens no burden, cheers uo sorrow, helps no task. It shuts out the sunshine and deepens the gloom. It chills thank fulness and promotes a spirit of sour asperity. It ruins tire disposition of children who come within its influ ence. It makes those who indulge in in it bhnd to everything that produces happiness and keenly alive to all that promotes misery. By long experience in complaining and bewailing people can reach a deptn of woe they never contemplated when they first set out. To meet such people is to come under an unpleasant influence. No matter bow bright the day or how cheery the circumstances to those who have heart and eye far the bright and delightful, these groaners are always plaintively finding something which is not ex actly the way they would have it and wnich they fear will be worse to-mor row than it is to-day. Every mortal has his burdens and discomforts. By picking the burden up fifty times a day aud weighing it it becomes no lighter, but rather pro duces an increased sense of heaviness. By worrying over the discomforts they become none the more comfortable, but are harder to endure and give cause for more and more worry and complaint. To ignore them may be impossible. We are not called upon to do that. But by turning the sun light on them and greeting them with the merriest laugh we can raise we can lighten them and melt them as cakes of ice are melted in I he noonday sun, so that when we look for them we find they are gone and wonder who lias carried them away. Blessed be the sunshine that comes with its benediction to the weary and lightens the burden of the heavy heart. Arctic Explorations. The Euglish Government have re solved to cooperate with the other na tions in establishing a chain of circum polar moguetiaal and meteorological observatories. The locality selected for a British station is Fort Rae, in the north of Canada, and the general superintendence cf the work will be intrusted to acommittee of the R03T1I Society, the Royal Geographical Society being asked to cooper ate so far as regards the promo tion of their special studies. The per sonnel of the expedition has not yet been teloct-ed. The Swedes have cnosen Wyde Bay in West Spitzber- gen for the site of their station, which will be manned by thirteen attendants and is established at the cost of Mr. L. O. Smith, a merchant, who has placed 6G.00G crowns at the disposal of the Academy of Science for the pur pose. The Danish station has been changed fromUpernavik, as first proposed, to a mere southerly point at Godshaab, on the west coast of Greenland, so as to be flit a greater distance from the American station at Lady Franklin Bay and the Austrian at Jan Mayen. The expedition, which is well fitted outat Gevorxaent expense, wag to sail from Copenhagen about May 20tli,and is expected>to reach Godshaab at the end of June. It is to remain there until September, 1883. The Dutch propose to establish their station kt Dicksonsbavn, at the mouth the river Yenisei, unless the ice prevents their rfaching it, in which case they will go to the northeast point of Novaya Zemlya. Funds have been supplied for this purpose partly by the Glovern- mentaud partly by public subscrip tions. The party will be about twelve ■in number, aud will take with them all the instruments and apparatus specified by the International Polar Conference, besides other instruments and a wooden bouse. It is hoped that an ascent of the Yenisei can be made iu a steam launch. Boys and Thimbles. No man can, like the writer, Live sixty years without often wishing he had learned to use a sewing thimble well iu his eaily boyhood, especially if he lias gone about the world much. Buttons will come off, stitches will break, aud bow bandy it is for boys at school—often at home—to be able to whip on a button, stop a starting rend and do many other little sewings,with out calling on a woman, or perchance seuding for a tailor. One seldom, if ever, learns to UBe a thimble, if this part of his education has been ne glected in small boyhood. The writer has traveled a good deal, and at a rough guess he has broken threads at least five hundred times in attempting to work a needle through a button or garment without a thimble. Boys, take dtr advice, and every one of you learn to use a thimble well before you grow up. Burglars may be kept out of the house at night by leaving the valuables outside on the doorstep. AGITATION. Wareiiam, Mass.—The naileis em ployed by the South Wareham Nail Company stopped work. They de mand higher wages. Cincinnati, O.— The action of the iron-workers having amounted to a declaration for a general strike, on the ground that the committee which made the agreement last fall with the mill-owners had exceeded its consti tutional power, there is a shutting down of all the mills. The plasterers’ stride has been suc cessful in obtaining the wages asked, $3 50 per day. Chicago.—The journeymen horse- shoers to the number of 350 have gone on a peaceable strike, the bosses hav ing refused to abandon the use of machine-made horse-shoes. Inciden tally, the union men demand an in crease of 25 cents per day iu their wages, which would be acceded to if not coupled with the other demand. The strikers say they are certain to win, and will go to work in a few days. Springfield, 111. — The strikers have been very quiet and nothing new, apparently, has devtloped. It is stated on good authority that the pros pect of an early adjustment is encour aging. Cleveland, O. — The Cleveland rolling mill, atNewburg, began work, about 500 employes being engaged. Cleveland, O. — The situation among the strikers at Newburg knot changed. Only about 300 being at work, the strikers having dissuaded the others from working again. The company is determined to continue running, even at a large loss, before it will give iu to the union men. Chicago.—The brickmakers have accepted the off er of compromise made by-the employers, and resumed work at wages ranging from $2.62J to $3 12$ The workmen agree not to strik again this year, and to work with noi union men. They also consent to > plating without extra pay. The ad vance is 12} cents, or just half the rate wuieh the strikers demanded. New York.—-About 1,500 of the g/riking boiler-makers returned to worK at the increase of ten per cent, fin their wages. The only shops hold ing out against the demand are those of John Roach and theDelamater Iron Works, It is believed that these also will yield, Cumberland.—About 160 tons of coal were mined by the Consolidation Company’s imported miners, and reg ular canal shipments from this city were resumed. Four of the new miners deserted the company’s Eck- liart Camp, expressing themselves dissatisfied. It is rumored here that the Knights of Labor have influenced them, aud that more are expected to lea**® shortly. It is said the situation at Eckhart is growing very com plica - ted on aoeolint-ef the new men being refused leave to .attend leligious serv ices, etc. OoMOE-i, N. Y.—The seventh week of the ^tjtay-o>y," at the Harmony Mills begins. In anticipation t-f at least 300 weavers returning to work at the ten per cent, reduction, the man agers furnished a police guard at the entrance to each of their seven mills, but not on© employe appeared. The operatives held a picnic at Young’s Grove in Lansiugburg. Their relief committee publishes a statement that from daily contributions received from all sources it will be able to meet all demands made for assistance. The Harmony Mills are now forcing evic tions from their tenements among the recognized leaders iu the strike. What effect this will have rt mains to be proven. There are no visible signs of weakening on either side. BOTH sfl)ES STANDING FIRM AT PITTSBURG. Views of a Prominent Manufacturer as to the Prolongation of the Stiuggle Against Advanced Wages. Pittsburg.—The situation bus un dergone no material change since the great strike of ironworkers was inau gurated on the 1st instant, and there is no indication of what the outcome will be. All the mills in the district, with the exception of the Union, which sigued the scale, are idle, aud their managers insist that they will remain idle all summer unless the Amalgamated Association withdraws its demands. A prominent manufacturer said: "The faot that the operators have countermanded orders for the usual summer repairs is sufficient proof of their intention to hold out for an in definite period: for they don’t to put a lot of money into-repairs and then permit tluir n ills to stand for the nixt six months. Tne Amalgama ted Association may think this a sign that it is soon to be victorious, but it will likely see that it is simply an in dication that tiie mill owners uie pre« paring for an extended fight. More* over, it is nonsense to suppose that the present condition of the nail trade will soon break the lockout. Had it not been for this strike the Nail Associa tion meeting of last Wednesday would have lessened the production of nails. It may be true that the stock of nails is none the largest at present,but it is larger than it was two mouths ago. Before the beginning of the struggle it was known to the manufacturers that a number of mills would si^n the scale. There may possibly be one more firm in this district who will yet sign, but the remainder wilt stand, as they consider that a stop of three months will do the trade good." In answer to the foregoing, a mem ber of the Amalgamated Association said: "It is only a question of a few weeks for repairs. There are a num ber of mills around town that will have to start within a few d iys. The demand lor nails will scon make a big break in the manufacturers’ line, and the other establishments will soon follow. Oae nail mill, on the Siuth side, has already been compelled to buy nails to fill its ciders. The men generally have no idea of leaving town, as they are closely watching the ‘straws,’ and have a pretty good idea how the wind is blowing." The Amalgamated Assoc ation of Iron and Steel Workers Confident of Snoot ss. Pittsburo.—Nothing new trans pired to change the compl xion of the iron situation. Both sides continue firm. The reported signing of the scale by the Elba Iron Works and Zug & Or., is without foundation, aud the manufacturers deny that there is w ny prospect of its being signed. A report was received at the headquarters ©f the Amalgamated Association that the Akron (O.) Iron Works and the mill at Canal Dover, O., had signed the scale, which has given the strikers additional hope, and many of them have expressed themselves as confident of ultimate success. A tour of the twenty-odd mills in this dis trict showed that there was very little doing in the way of repairs, and the proprietor aud managers spoken to evinced no disposition to sign the scale. Some of them were most em phatic in their expressions of disap proval of the demands of the strikers, and of their determination to bold out if it takes all summer. There is a report current that the Superior Iron Mills, iu Alleghany, have employed one hundred non union men, whom they will put to work tc-morrow. Sculptors’ Stories. Sculptors who execute busts often hear droll things said. Here are two anecdotes (aken from a French news paper. A sculptor had produced the likeness of a celebrated ptraoLage, in whose biography it was mentioned that he regarded architecture as a very secondary ait. The son of this personage visited the artist’s studio for the purpose of examining the bust, wheu, after considering it with the air of a connoisseur, be said : "Could you not express more clearly his con- tempt for architecture?" Another time it was the husband of a beloved deceased wife wbo came to see her bust. "Pray, study it well,’ > said the artist. "Itisonlyin theclay, and I can alter it " The widower looked at it with the most, tender in terest. "It is her very self!" he ex claimed ; "her large nose—the sign of goodness! Then bursting into tears, bo exclaimed: "She was so good! Make the nose a little larger! ’ T1 e above seems capped by the per sonal recollection of a correspondent, who writes as follows: "Q ffte fifty years ago—for It wus at the time that the < xuibition of the Royal Academy was held iu Somerset II >use—[ was paying a visit to the room devoted to sculpture. There was but three or four persons in the room, and the si lence was complete, until it was bro ken by the exclamation of a girl of fourteen, who was evidently under the eare of a motherly sort of a woman of about fifty years of age. ,Oh, there’s Lord B—!’ cried the young girl, ‘how like!, pointing to the bust, whioh was in truth au excellent representation of a well kacupn statesman. 'Like? re torted the elder personage in a tone ineffable scorn. ‘Like! Why don’ know his face as well as I know