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hiaarch steel, ami it is chiefly imported . k , as metal from England, Franoe and Germany, though a small part is mads here from Spanish ore. We have fuel and labor enough to produce this al loy within our borders from the large manganese deposit in the Southern S ates which is now largely sent abroad and returned lo us as ferro manganese and spiegeleisen. Latest Modes. New French dresses are exceedingly *hortlr: the skirt. Muslin embroidery is seen upon new bonnets of Parisian make. Turkey-red calico dresses for chil dren, made in Mother Hubbard style, and trimmed with Medici lace, are very fashionably worn for morning 'dre'iSf-s at the seashore. White or sprigged muslin round hats, shirred into shape over fine mil liner's feeds, and trimmed with flots of satin ribbon and cascades of fancy lace, are worn with light summer toilets in town and country. Pointed shoes of velvet, matching in fchape the laced ones of kid now seen upon the promenade, have the toes covered with an embroidery of gold and silver beads. They are laced over the instep with gold or silver cords. Faille is very largely employed this season, and is usually combined with other materials in the construction in stylish costumes. Pompadour satin, shot silks, moire, silk gauze, or greua- dine being the fabrics usually selected. The coquille ruche is formed by sev eral pleats turned each way, so as to form a box-pleat in the centre. The upper and lower edges of this ruche are sewn together in the centre, caus ing the other pleats to set out in a fan or shell shape, as the name coquille denotes. Many summer bonnets, following the style of the “Langtry” bonnet, lave the crowns completely covtred with broad loops of satin ribbon. One pretty gypsy bonnet in this fashion is made of white cactus-lace straw, the brim being covered with a passemen terie of white pearl beads. The crown is covered with broad, flat loops of cream-white satin ribbon. Inside the bonnet is faced with pale lilac surah, and the strings, which tie at the left side, are of white satin lined with lilac. Many of the new gimps, olives, cor- delieres, and frogs, now stylishly worn in the place of buttons to close the dress in front, have chenille intro duced into them with pleasing effect. Some of these have oords of two or three contrasting shades of color, and thus furnish a very tasteful and ele gant accessory to a plain dress of neu tral tint, requiring no additional coloring to light it up. The latest hand-made fourrageres and passemen terie loops very much resemble rich -embroidery when laid over velvet, satin or cloth. Among tne innovations of modern fashion, one of the oldest is the wear ing of velvet throughout the summer. There is this season an infinite variety Mof velvets—plain, openwork, plaided, striped, beaded, moired, flowered and a number of novel devices in dark Oriental colorings. Tue plain black Lyons velvet is, however, the most favored. The new English brand of velveteen, known as the “Louis” silk face pile, is finding a very large sale in America, as it is much used for under skirts and for children’s dresses. For fashionable watering-place wear are very stylish and attractive dresses of French lawn in floral patterns of fade tints draped over skirts of watered silk of pronounced colors, such as laurel-green, Garou bier-red, mauve, sea-green and ciel-blue. For seaside wear Carou bier-red surah dresses, draped with paniers and tournure of Mack Spanish lace, are exceedingly fashionable. Sevres-blue is also very popular. The combination of lilac and pale rose is still fashionable, but one cf these two colors must be most carefully employed merely as a relief to the other in the trimmings and various adjuncts of the toilet. Canadian Stamps for Canada. And now comes the season for travel when ssores of American wives and daughters have carefully provided themselves with stamps and postal cards at New York, Boston and Phila delphia, drop a line to “dear papa” as they pass through Toronto, Montreal or other Canadian towns. And the letters go to the Dead Letter Office, -because American stamps don’t much nelp our postal revenue. vVhen they reach the Dead Letter Office they are neatly always found to be merely signed “Emmy” or “Maggie” or '“Seraphina,” and of course never reach their destination and “dear papa” is left to wonder at the heart less negligence of his patriotic be longings. The Church of Eugland schools educate at the present moment 1,600,- 000 children, while all the boa&i and denominational schools together have in them only about 1,857,000. Matters ot Interest. Sixteen hundred American revol vers were recenlly ordered for the South Australian police forces. All solid bodies become self-lumi nous at about the same temperature, beginning to show a dull light at about 1000°. The electrical resistance of pure water uniformly decreases as the tem perature rises ; at 19°-c. it is one-third of what it was at 20°. The English Naval and Submarine Engineering Exhibition has proved so great a success that it has been resolved to hold another of the same kind in 1884. Macaroni when colored with aniline yellow (chrysaniline) will not retain its tint if treated with dilute sulphuric acid. If the color Is due to saffron the acid will not affect it. The venom of the cobra of India is comparatively harmless when taken into the stomach, though when intro duced into the system it often caut-es death in two hours. To remove rust from saws, chisels, etc., first scour with emery moistened with sulphuric acid diluted with six volumes of water, rinse, dry, and fin ish with oil and emery flour. The amount of heat radiated from the sun is so great that if the earth were a mass of coal and could be sup plied by contract to the solar furnace men, the supply would last them just thirty-six hours. The coast of Louisiana abounds in oyster banks, and considerable oyster traoe has been developed at New Or leans, giving employment to about 2()0 luggers, each manned by from three to six men. The London Builder attributes the marvellous durability of mortar in Italy to the fact that the lime remains in a pit covered with water for two years before it is used, whereas in England lime is slaked and used the same day. Most building spsciflca- tions even require newly-slaked lime. Pepsine has proved quite successful in warding off sea-sickness. As much pepsine as will lie on the point of a knife is dissolved in a wineglasstul of water containing flve drops of hydro chloric acid. This dose is taken three times a day, and especially if feelings of sea-si ckness threaten. The latest reported improvement in telegraphy is a mechanical device whereby a type-writer at one point, connected by wire with a similar in strument at another point, writes out any message sent over it without the intervention of the usual telegraph operator. A person who can use a type-writer can send his own message. To prepare a reliable paste for use in prescription books and lables, dissolve half an ounce of alum in a pint of boiling wa’er; to this add an equal weight of flmr, made smooth in a little cold water, and a few drops of oil of cloves, letting the whole come to aboil. This paste will keep for months. Put it in glass or ordinary ointment jars. The Origin of the Sleeping Car. Mr. W. Barnet Le Van, M. E., of Philadelphia, says: “From all accounts, no doubt, Na poleon I. used, in 1815, the first 'sleep ing, dining-reom, and parlor car’ that ever was built. Thia car or chariot, was taken at Waterloo, and was pre sented to the Prince Regent of Eng land, by whom it was afterward sold to Mr. Bullock for 112,500. It eventu ally found its way to Madame Tus Baud’s wax work exhibition, London where it may still be seen. Thi3 very curious and convenient chariot of the First Emperor was built by Bymons, of Brussels, for the Russian campaign, and is adapted for the va rious purposes of a pantry and a kit chen, for it has plaoes for holding and preparing refreshments, which by the aid of a lamp, could be heated in the carriage. It served also for a bedroom, a dressing-room, office, etc. The seat is divided into two by a partition about six inches high. The exterior of this vehicle is in the form and dimensions of our large coaches, except that it has a projection in front of about two feet, the right-hand half of which is open to the inside to receive the feet, thus forming a bed, while the left-hand half contained a store of various useful things. “Beyond the projection in front,and neater to the horses, was the seat for the coachman, ingeniously oontrived so as to prevent the driver from view ing the interior of the carriage, and yet so plaoed as to afford those within a clear sightof the surrounding coun try. Beneath this seat is a reoeptacle for a box, about 2$ feet in length and I 4 inches deep, containing a bedstead of polished steel, which can be fitted up in a couple of minutes. Over the front windows is a roller blind of painted canvas, which, when pulled out, excluded rain, while it admitted air. (This might bean advantageous appendage to our present car windows as well as carriages.) On the ceiling of the carriage is a network for carry ing small traveling requisites, In a recess there was a secretaire, 10 by 18 inches, which contained nearly a hun dred articles presented to Napoleon I. by Marie Louise, under whose care it was fitted up with every luxury and convenience that could be imagined. It contained besides the usual requi sites for a dressing box, most of which were of solid gold, a magnificent breakfast service, with plates, candle sticks, knives, forks, spoons, a spiiit lamp for making breakfast in the car riage, gold case for Napoleon’s gold wash-hand basin, a number of essence butties, perfumes, and an almost in finite variety of minute articles, down to pins, needles, thread, aud silk. Each of these articles were fitted into recesses most ingeniously contrived, and made in the solid wood, in which many one within the other, in such a narrow space that, on seeing them ar ranged, it appeared impossible for them ever to be put into so small a compass. At the bottom of his toilet box, in divided recesses, were 2,000 gold Napoleons ($7,700); on the top of it were writing materials, a looking- glass, combs, etc., a liquor case which had two bottles, one of Malaga wine, theolher of rum; a silver sandwich box, containing a plate,knives, spoons pepper and salt boxes, mustard pot, decanter, glasses, etc.; a wardrobe, writing desk, maps, telescopes, arms, etc.; a large silver chronometer, by which the watenes of the army were regulated ; two merino mattresses, a green velvet traveling cap, also a dia mond head dress, (tiara), hat, sword, uniform, aud an imperial mantle, etc.” Dogs' Toilets ia Paris. There are 1869 workpeople, male and female, who subsist in Paris by making personal decorations and habiliments for pet dogs, or otherwise paying attention to the canine race. The trade done by them is estimated at a total of 5.000,000 to 6,000,000 of francs, or nearly a quarter of a mil lion sterling, so that it may be easily guessed how great a commotion is caused among this section of society as often as the dog-days come around and the ii flexible rules ot the French police as to muzzling these animals are again put in force against their owners. The rage for diessing up canine pets Mas long prevailed in France to a much greater extent than on this side of the Channel, and has assumed extrava gant proportions. The Figaro gives some examples < f the most notable (tushions now to be observed among the fair owners. Almost every variety of dog has its own proper toilet, besides its own special toilet case, can- taining the brushes, combs, sponges and other appliances for enabling it to be washed and dressed. The orna ments suitable for a “boule-dog” would be by no means fitting for a “lulu,” nor does it all follow that what would be admired on a “caniche” would be deemed in good taste fora “griffon.” The latter, which Isa long haired and curly-haired dog muoh prized by all French women, is pitied and despised at this time of year if he is not close shaven over the body, leav ing the lion like mane which looks so particularly ridiculous to the Euglish eye. Smooth terriers, who cannot be thus embellished or disfigured, are often adorned with a little plain gold bracelet soldered above the forefoot and surmounted with a monogram; but it is essential that the leg encircled with this metal should be the left and not the right. Rough terriers have, on the other hand, a collar of bright metal, having a medallion or clasp upon it, sometimes with the photo graph of the owner, or of some particu lar friend of hers, inclosed. The hi s' bred “bulls,” again, ought to wear the collar known as the “offleier,” with a colored ribbon—red or blue for outdoor show aud white for the drawing-room. Every dog having any claims to be well cared for must wear cothumea or tall boot when he goes out walking, and these should be of doeskin, fast ened with rings of india-rubber. The greatest benefactor to society *ls not he who serves it in single acts, but whose general character is the mani festation of a higher life and spirit than prevades the mass.—- Charming. The Jocose. At a dinner party, a clumsy footman spills the contents of a sauce-boat over the dress of one of the guests. “How clumsy ! What a pity ! ” says the lady of the house : “how could you di such a thing ? As likely as not there won’t be sauce enough to go round now!” The Prince of Wales lately received a diverting reply from the Mayoress of a midland county town, who<n he of fered to escort to the refreshment- room. “Thank your Highness,” said the lady, “but I am shampooing a couple of ladies, and I don’t like to leave them.” A poem written by a bluejacket on a British war ship ran in this fashion : “There was a bloddy sparrow lived in a bloody spout. Down came the bloody rain, and washed the bloody sparrow out. Then came the bloody sunshine, and dried up the bloody rain; and then the bloody sparrow got iuto the bloody spout again.” [ am dying, Egypt, dying; or at least I ought to be. I wish your biggest pyramid would settle down on me. I’m all broke ui —Indeed I am. This business doesn’t p y; And now I’m off—I'm going West. Yours, Ara.bi, ii Bkv. We can generally trust our fair girl graduates on any given year to furnish us with a number of original thoughts in their commencement essays, but it is a long time since we have heard of anything better than the metaphor originated by a young woman who has just finished a cour-e at a deservedly popular seminary, and who spoke in her “theme” of “the arteries of wealth which skirt the shores of our great Republic. “I’ve got such an appetite!” ex claimed Mrs. Brown, at the end of her first week at the shore. “I feel as though I could eat all before me.” * Yes, so I perceive,” replied the land lady. The landlady bad reason to be sad. Hire was Mrs. Brown fairly eating her out of house and home, and growing leaner every day. As the landlady confidently remarked to the cook that evening : “What is the use of feeding her the way I’ve been feed ing her this whole week, and have her go away to bring discredit on my es tablishment? There is that Miss Squabbins, now, who doesn’t eat enough to keep arobiu alive, and she’s as fat as butter. She’s a boarder as is a boarder, and one that you can take some pride in.” Economies of Science. A foreign exchange states that a wealthy land owner in the Tyrol has made an application of the microphone to the detection of subterranean springs. He fixed the microphones at the spots where he supposed water might exist, each being connected with its telephone and battery. Then at night he put his ear to each of tbe instruments and listened for t.he mur muring of the waters, and in several cases heard it. Wooden bowls and other ware of this sort, as well as all cross-sections from tree trunks and short logs cut for various purposes, are very apt to crack and split while seasoning. To prevent this completely the pores of the wood .should be well filled with linseed or some other vegetable oxidizing oil, while it is yet green and be ore it oegins to show any signs of cracking or checking. This will completely obvi- a.!© this inconvenience. The failure of the Wells comet to develop the tail expected by astrono mers is accounted for by the absence of hydro-carbons from its composition. According to spectroscopic observa tions made at the observatory of Lord Crawford, in Scotland, the nucleus of the comet is unlike that of any comet previously examined, its chief element being sodium, with indications of iron and chlorine. These elements are muoh less volatile than the hydro carbons found iu all other comets. M. Gardoin’s process for making carbons for electric lamps is as follows: Wooden sticks are placed in plumbago retorts and slowly heated to drive off the volatile matters. The sticks are then soaked in acid solutions to remove impurities, and the final dessication takes place in a very high temperature in a reducing atmosphere. The carbonized wood is then soaked In the oarbldes of hydrogen and the chlorides of carbon under pressure un til its pores are filled with a homoge neous deposit of nearly pure carbon. An exohange says that 150,000 tons of spiegeleisen and ferre-manganese are used each year in the Uuited Btates iu making Bessemer aud open- Fighting the Weak. Lord Granville’s expression of re gret in the House of Lords that Eng land should be compelled to “use force against the weak,” apropos of the bombardment of the Egyptian forts, is a curious illustration of the way in which a certain kind of cant survives for indefinite periods the facts to which it owed its origin. Reluctance to at tack the weak was a product ot medie val chivalry, and was cultivated in the days when fighting was considered a good thing in itself, and valued much for its spectacular effects. It lingers still iu the dueling and boxing rules, which place the combatants as fai as possible on terms or strict equal ity, and it every now and then comes up in attempts to justify misdirection of political sympathy, as when during our rebellion Euglish Tories used to pretend that they side with the South because it was the weaker party, and thought Capt. Winslow acted unfairly because in tbe fight with the Alabama he protected his engines and boilers by hanging his chain cables oyer the side. But it has no place whatever in modern political ethics. Nations do not now fight for fun or to show how brave they are. They fight to have their way about something. So far, too, from regretting that an enemy is weak when they attack him, they openly rejoice in it. In fact they try to weaken him, or wait till they think he is weak, before they attack him. Just as it is a fatal fault in a modern General not to he strongest at the point of collision with the enemy, it is a fatal fault in a modern statesman to go to war unless he has allies, or has some advantage over the enemy in numbers, or resources, or armament. Fiually, it is nearly always the weak whom modera Powers go to war with. They seldom attack their match, and always do so with great reluctance. Tn fact they consider it barbarous to do so. Their improved weapons are nearly always used against communi ties which do not possess th -m. All England’s wars since 1815 have been against the very weak. She keeps Ireland because Ireland is weak, and holds India because the Hindoos arc weak, and bullies Turkey because Turkey is weak. Weakness among nations has a touch of immor ality about it, because national strength comes from national virtue. It is the product of industry, order, forethought, love of country, deter mination, and persisten :e. It^s these things which make nations able to thrash the weak ; it is the absence of them which prepare the weak for the thrashing. The fittest survive, even more surely among nations than among individuals. It Will “Out.” In the reign of Louis XIV. a Certain yery brillianj. abbe was oue of a large party who were assembled round the royal supper-table. There were clever talkers, sharp dealers in epigram, skillful handlers of compliment and repartee. One lady, famous for her wit, being asked to name the three sights that gave her the greatest pleas ure, replied, “A great general on a war horse, a great preacher on a plat form, and a great thief on a gallows.” The abbe added to the mirth of the evening by telling of the adventures of a gay and memorable career. “I remember,” he said, “very well the first penitent who came to my confes sional. I was young then, and little accustomed to hear the secrets of court life. H was a murderer who told me the secret of his crime.” The abbe was pressed to tell the tali or give a olew to the culprit; but he kept a guarded and wary silence. Presently in came one of the king’s most trusty favorites. “Ah, M. l’Abbe,” he said, recognizing and old friend; “gentle men, I was the first penitent whom the able abbe ever shrived, and I promise you, when I told him my % story, he heard what astonished him I” That night the nobleman was carried to the Bastile, and the evidence of a crime, committed thirty years before, was eompiete, and the culprit detected.