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Our Ilrcakfusls. The American’s breakfast bill of faro is varied but little: beefsteak, fried or halted potatoes, griddle cakes with Hyrup, or hot muffins and biscuit, are the arti cles lie sighs for and will have, dcHpitotlie threatenings of dyspepsia. Across the water, they shudder at the American breakfast, while they discuss their chocolate, dolieate rolls, soft-boiled eggs and fruit, with appetite. To those accustomed to more hearty food, itseemn at first sight as if it would ho impossible to accomplish the work or half tho day upon a break last of rolls, eggs, and chocolate; yet after ono has become ac customed to the habit, it is difficult to partake of a more substantial meal early 111 the day without discomfort. And surely a breakfast of chocolate, rolls— fresh baked, but not hot —oatmeal, eggs and fruit, is fit for a king. It is varied, nutritious, delicate, and easy to digest, and it contains nothing fried. If we could only banish the saucepan’s con tents from our breakfast-table, and tiring up our Children equally to dread Satan and slum fb'at which is fried! How many little ones in this free laud, after cheer fully munching their crisp, grqasy pota toes, and hot fried pork or beefsteak, enter the school-room to fall into all kinds of trouble. Their brains are disorgan ized by the indigestible food they have eaten. If wo should feed them upon milk, oatmeal, and such nourishing things in the morning, with plenty of rare, broiled beefsteak at noon, they might not develop immediate! yin to little angels, perhaps, but they certainly would have rosier cheeks and brighter minds. Tim question of wliat one shall eat is in exhaustible, however, and every ono has a different opinion concerning it. It is the business of the housewife to know something about the subject from a chemical standpoint, and to regulate the dinners of her family so that they may not only bo palatable but healthful. Pies, puddings, rich pastry of all kinds, in fact, should always be tabooed in a family where there are no children; but after these arc denied a diet may be pre scribed which is at once wholesome and apprizing. There is a great deal in the manner of preparing food to render it harmless. For instance, the oyster, either broiled, stewed, or raw, is the most easily digested of edibles; but fried, it stands revealed as the father of night mares. Yet, such is the contrariness of human nature, most people prefer it fried ! Few of us can resist a dish of crisp, smoking oysters thus prepared, even at breakfast time, though it be much more virtuous to eat a buttered roll. An unruly appetite leads us into all manner of troubles. The Champion Liar. The most abled-bodied liar on this continent is now on the staff of the San Francisco Chronicle, and that paper is justly proud of liis brilliant mendacity. Gifted as others have been in this line, the ’Frisco man discounts them all and gives them as many points as they wish at the beginning of the game. His gen ius in this respect is probably the result oi the “glorious climate of California,” ably, seconded by that training which only Chicago or Han Francisco can give. His most imposing and massive false hoods are always in the medical line. A while ago he gave an accout of a physi cian who removed a condemned criminal’s brain, piece by piece. The top of the unfortunate culprit’s head would lift off like a lid, so that any inquisitive person could gaze at the empty shell. To do the doctor justice it must be admitted llwt ho kept the scooped-out head tilled with cotton, so that the brainless man could not catch cold. No doubt Califor nia is so accustomed to see men without brains that this story passed current there. This man, wo presume, is now an estimable citizen of Han Francisco, going around with a lump of cotton in stead of brains. Again, tin's chronicler wrote of a physician who fixed up a bath that would froezo solid in *u instant, by touching an electric knot). By mistake {JIO physicifiii iiito tliG until, sorri© one touched ctie knob, and in a moment the do c^' 1 ' was ready to be loaded on an ice ” agon. The latest yarn appeared .list week. Barney McGee, probably a descendant of the “Bouncing Barney McGee” celebrated in an old Irish song, drove a street ear till he got a disease that softened all his bonos. Barney was about to collapse when Dr. Bishop took him in hand and ossified Mr. McGee on the outside. He procured bone material at the stock yards and covered Barney with a shell—in fact, made a human oys ter of him. Barney lias no bones inside, but bis outside shell prevents collapse and although lie is a little stiff in his manner he gets along all right. —Detroit Free Press. Aii Episcopalian Horse. The Rev. Dr. Broadus, an old Baptist parson famous in Virginia, once visited u plantation where the darky who met him at the gate asked him which barn he would have his horse put in. “Have you two barnsV” asked the doctor. “Yes, sah,” replied the darky; “dar’s do ole barn, and Mas’r Wales has jes build anew one.” “Where do you usually put the horses of clergymen who come to see your master ?” “Well, sah, if dey’s Methodis’s or Baptis's, we gen’ally put ’em in de ole barn, but if dey’s ’Piseopals wo puts 'em in de new one.” Well, Bob, you can put my horse in the new barn; I’m a Baptist, but my horse is an Episcopalian.” Another New Plant. A carious plant has been discovered in Wisconsin, which produces a kind of cotton and flax from the same stalk. An exchange says: It has already been woven into fabrics, and, as any article that will make as good cloth as can bo made from this plant will make good paper, it lias been called the paper plant. It can be planted in the spring and cut in the fall and winter. It bleaches itself white as it stands, and it will yield three or four tons to the acre. From a single root that was transplanted last spring grow twenty large stocks, with three hundred and sixty-live pods containing the cotton, at least sixty seeds in each. From this root were ob tained seven ounces of pure cotton, and over a pouud of flax. It is a very heavy plant, and grows from six to seven feet nigh. Smart Reckoning. “ Pa, will you get me a pair of skates if I prove that a dog has ten tails? “Yes, my son.” “ Well, one dog has one more tail than no dog, hasn’t he?” “Yes.” , , “Well, no dog has nine tails; and if one dog has one more tail than no dog, then one dog must have ten tails. Hand over tho skates, please. ” - The devastation caused by rabbits amounts in Australia to a serious calam ity. One large estate, which formerly supported 30,000 sheep, has been aban doned on ftooonnt of those pests, She 3 1 until Ifeta %t%rn. WILL W. SINGLETON, Editor dc Proprietor. VOL. VI. OX I’IBE EVE OF THE WEDDINC*. O, love, Wore wo part to-night, Before tho laet- “ I will ” In npokon Before tho ring ban touched my hand. Of pure, true, (mhlJchh love tho token— Before tho church with holy rlto Her blowing on our lovo ban given. Look atraight into my eyo with youra, Amt answer mo In Night of Heaven. J* thorn within your heart of hearts One lingering eh adow of regret— One thought that you have chosen ill ? Oh ! speak -’tin not too late oven yet. 1* there in all this world of ours One you have over known or seen, Whom, if you had earlier soon or known. You would have crowned your chosen quean? Is thorn ? I pray you toll me now, And I will hold you bound no mor#, I will not flinch to hoar tho truth. It could not In? so sad, so sore, To know it now, us it would bo If by and by a shadow fell Upon the sunshine of our homo; ho, if you ever loved mo—tell. I’d hold you pure from blame, dear lova; And I would leave you free h air, To woo and win that happier ouo; All this for your dear sake I’d boar. I will not say how I wouirt pray That God might have you In liis car®; That would be easy—when I think Of you, my heart is all one prayer. But cou and I join her name with youra, And cud down hlessiug from above On her who had robbed me of my all— My life—my light—my only love ? Yes! even that I’d try to do; Although my lonely heart should break, I’d try to say, “ God bless her! ” too, Through blinding tears for your sweet sat a. I’m looking up into your eyes; But, though my own with tears are dim, I read that in ther true, clear depths. Which tells me, “You may trust in him.” T will—l will!—lt needs no words, Though yours are flowing warm and fast, And eloquent with truth and love; Forgive my doubts—they are the last I Chambers' Journal. Found—A Diamond ring. I saw it kicked by the careless bal mo ral of a jaunty nurse. I saw a fat morsel of humanity make for it with a hey ! broken into diverse hey-es-eys by pudgy trotting, and I stopped and secured it, thereby causing the fat one to pull up abort, stare at me with two black cur rants set in a dreary expanse of dough, insert a dumpy thumb in an orifice of the same expanse, and trot back again with that stolid resignation under disap pointment which is tho peculiar attri bute of the London infantile population. Having ascertained the nature of my prize, I proceeded, to meditate on the proper course to pursue, which medi tation resulted in the following adver tisement : Found. —'Phis evening. Wednesday, in re gent's Park, nearly opposite the New College, a valuable diamond ring. The owner may i ~ cover it by calling at No. 10 Wiuton placed etc. Before noon, on the following -lay, I was making my most courteous bow to a venerable-looking old gentleman, whose white face and benevolent smile added a double charm to the grace with which ho stepped forward, and, waiving cere mony, extended his hand, saying : “ You have taken a great weight from my mind, mv young friend, and must allow mo to thank you.” The insinuating delicacy of the ad jective (I am not more than 45) was, perhaps, not without its effect. I ac cepted the proffered pledge of amity in respectful silence. “A young man,” continued the patri arch, “ may possibly find it difficult, to understand how the loss of a trinket can be the source of positive suffering to an old one ; but—l am alluding to my lost ring—-there are associations connected with it which—ahem ! This is childish ; you will excuse my emo tion.” I bowed profoundly in the presence of liis natural emotion. “ I have passed some hours of sleep lessness and distress, from which you have been the means of relieving me ; I feel deeply indebted to you. There re mains nothing now but to reimburse you for—” “Excuse me, sir,” I stammered, rath er hurriedly, “but, if the ring is yours, you can undoubtedly describe its armorial bearings.” “Armorial bearing*, sir I It was a diamond ring.” “Certainly.” “A plain diamond ring,” repeated the old gentleman, sternly. “Do not at tempt to play tricks on rue, young man. I will point out to you directly—” “Ibeg your pardon,” said I, drawing back from the outstretched hand, ‘ ‘ but, as the ring in my possession is surely engraved with a crest and motto, I con clude it cannot be the one you are in search of.” The old gentleman eyed me for a mo ment keenly. “I am afraid you are right,” he sighed, in a tone of deep dejection ; “I must seek further. Alas ! what a mel ancholy termination of my hopeful jour ney.” “Speed the parting, welcome the coming guest,” is a very good motto. 1 made no attempt to detain my vener able friend; but as be turned toward the door I am certain I saw, beneath the silver hairs, a lock of dark and shin ing brown. My next visitor was a lady, extensive ly got up, of imposing height and car riage, rouged, scented, spectacled. “We meet under singular circum stances,” began this lady, with a conde scending haughtiness; “I am iho prin cipal of a college for young ladies. ” With a deferential bow at the honor done me, I begged to know what had pro cured it. “In tho hours of recreation wo are accustomed to promenade in tho park— a delightful spot, so suggestive of tho blushing country. During our ramble yesterday a young lady under my charge was so unfortunate as to lose her ring. You, sir, are the fortunate finder.” “I certainly did, madam, pick up a ring, but—” “ All, how grateful my pupil will be at beholding it again! ” exclaimed the teacher of youth, clasping her hands ec statically. “ Describe it.” “Describe it! A diamond ring, hand some and massive, but plain.” “And the crest?” “The crest! Ah. that my young charge were with me! Stupid to have forgotten. The crest of the Daloraines. It is a lion, passant or— ? No, Tam wrong. Unfortunate that she should be too unwell to accompany me. But it is immaterial; I will take it for her inspec tion; she will roooguiao it immediately,” BUENA VISTA, MAIfION COUNTY. GA., SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1881. “I fenr, madam, that I should scarcely be justified— 1 " "Sir!” “I feel it my duty,” I said, firmly, “under tho circumstances, to take every precaution against mistakes, I trust the young lady is not too seriously in disposed to give you the necessary in formation.” “Very well, sir. Exceedingly well, sir. I fancied—yes, actually fancied— that I was speaking to a gentleman. You will find, sir, that the lady principal of a female college is not to he iusulted with impunity. Good morning ” Very harrowing this. I am scarcely recovered from my indy governess, when there is a dash of wheels to the door, and a young fellow, dinging the reins to a groom in livery, springs up the steps to the door-bell. “ Oh, dash it 1” he begins, breathing out a volumo of stale tobacco, “I beg your pardon, and that, but the old wom an—dash it! that’s my mother—told mo I should find my ring here ; so I ordered out the vessel and the cats, and spun along like ninepeuce for it.” “ I shall be very glad to restore tho ring I wag so unfortunate to find when I can discover its owner.” “ Discover ! dash it! didn’t I tell you it’s mine ? I say, I wish you wouldn’t lie so precious ilow—l don’t want the cats to catch cold—l’ve just had ’em ’shampooed, y’ know, napthsed, and that.” “ What soft of a ring w'as yours ?” “What sort? Oh, co we, as if you didn’t know—tint’s good.” I intimated flint 1 should be glad to find out if he Inow. “Not know my own ring, eh ! I know ft’s worth r. couple of ponies. Come, let’s hear the lamage and I’ll stump up.” “I cannot give up the ring unless you describe it.” “ O, dash if! don’t chaff a fellow now. I don’t care a hap about the thing, only it belonged to some defunct party, anil the governor would cut up so deuced rough. I’ve got heaps of ’em. Come, I’ll swap you any one of these because of governor.” I respectfully declined the proposal. “ Well, dash it,” explained the young fellow', as though struck with a sudden idea, “ what a couple of muffs we are ! I could tell you in a minute if it’s mine, dash it 1” I replied that I was verv sorry that I could not oblige him, raid, adding tl ait he had better obtain an exact descrip tion of the thing from his governor, I recommeuded him not to keep the cats longer in the cold. Mem. lam getting exceedingly tired of my treasure-trove. I retire to my room with a view of dressing to go out. I am informed that a lady wishes to see me, and I am afraid my mental calcula tion was not complimentary to the lady in question. A tali, graceful figure, draped in heavy mourning, rises at my entrance. She opens the negotiation in some confus ion, turning away her face. She has como to me in the hope of regaining a ring, carelessly lost, the parting gift of a fond father to her brother and herself. My eyes rested on the crape about her dress—on her pale, beautiful face, from which the blush of confusion and timid ity had faded. Deferentially I request her to describe it. “A large diamond, handsome,” she believed, “ but valuable to her for far other reasons.” “ But,” I said, gently, “chasedon the gold inside the ring there is—” “A crest; lam aware of it,” she an swered, sadly, “but I know' nothing of heraldry, and have never given it more than a second glance. My brother is dying, sir,” she said, lifting up her pale face to mine. “Only this morning lie missed the ring from my finger, uneas ily ; W'e were alone in the w orld ; it is the only relic left of one so lately taken from us ; liow can I tell him it is lost ?” “ I am sorry to pain you,” I said, try ing to be firm. “but it would be more satisfactory for all parties, and causa but little delay, if you could obtain tlie description from your brother.” Without a word she turned away; tho mournful resignation of her air and at titude touched me, and as she turned I saw a tear roll silently down and fall upon the hand stretched to the door handle. I couldn’t stand it. “ Stop,” I exclaimed, “one moment. lam sure—l feel certain—l may trust you. You will tell me—” I take the ring from its security; I hold it out timidly for the blue eyes to examine. I see yet the look of delight over spread her fine features —I see the ex pression of almost childish pleasure m her eyes as she looked up at me and clasped her hands and cried out: “ The ring, the ring I O, Alfred, my dear brotliei - ! ” Her hand was upon it; such a tremu lous, iiappy eagerness in her glance; such a caressing fondness in her way of lingering it. How pretty she was. “My dear child (I am 45), it gives me sincere pleasure—” Then I stam mered ; then I sprang after her. “At least you will leave your address with me.” “ Ah, sir,” she says, sadly, handing me the card on which she had been pen ciling, “some day you sill be sorry for this. You do not trust me.” Certainly lam a brute. The accent of reproach in her voice haunts me; the sorrowful glance of her eye—how pretty she is! I sit down to my breakfast in the morning, half inclined to call at the address given, and apologize for my heathenish distrust. How delightful to see her in her own peculiar atmosphere, ministering to the sick brother who is all she has in the world ; to look upon, if one cannot en joy, the beautiful tenderness of a gentle sister to an afflicted brother. Hut my letters wait, and I toy with them. This is a hand I know. What does Fred want, I winder? I tear it open ! I read : Peak Jack : What a queer chance if you have stumbled upon my ring. I was obliged to run down to Rumford late last evening, and never missed it till we slackened at Ilford. A pretty taking I’ve been in. If it’s mine, tho crest is inside. You know it—a mailed hand holding a lauce, and the motto : “ Armed at all points.” Verily, truth is stranger than fic tion. Keep it for me. Feed Fynixo. Idiot! Gull 1 It is quite useless to call myself names. It is almost super fluous to add that when I called at a cer tain address in Easton Hquavc, to in- Devoted to the Interests of Marion County and Adjoining Sections quiro for Miss Lucy Hamilton, tho lady was not to ho found. Probably tho “dear Alfred” hod required speedy change of air; probably brother and sis ter were even embracing in rapturous gratitude over the relic of one lost to them so lately. Was that dear one not lost, hut transformed? Had the silver haired patriarch of the first visit changed to tho dashing buck of the third ? And was the virtuous teacher of youth only tiio tender sister in masquer ade? On my word, I believe so ; I dare say they are enjoying the joke. Possi bly it is u dodge often repeated. lint what am I to Fred ? flow to Travel Like Lightning. An imaginative man proposes the fol lowing plan by w liieb he holds it possible to transport freight and passengers by rail from New - York to Han Francisco in ton hours. What the freight or passen gers would lie good for when delivored lie does not pretend to say. The plan is this: “A fair rate of speed for a railway train is forty miles an hour. The dis tance from New York to San Francisco is, roughly, three thousand miles. I would divide this distance into thirty parts, with stations at every 100 miles. First a track, not differing greatly from the ordinary railroad track, should be laid for a hundred miles, and it is only necessary to study rapid transit accord ing to my plan over this section of the road to understand liow the whole system would work. Over the first track of 1 fM) miles, and running over cannon balls upon the track, is another, say 90 miles long, on which, in turn, is another, 80 miles long, and so on till on the whole system the freight and passenger train runs, it being of any desired and practi cable strength. Suppose it is required to go from A to B, a distance of 100 miles, the stable track over which all the others run is, of course, 100 miles long, and tho first movable track upon it is 90 miles long. Let the first movable track be drawn by a stationary engine the 10 remaining 10 miles, whereby ono of its extremities-will reach B, and let us say that it takes fifteen minutes for it to move through the ten miles. In the meantime the track eighty miles long which runs on the track ninety miles long will have been advanced - ten miles by the motion of tho ninety mile track, anil will itself (either by - means of a stationary engine or a locomotive) have advanced ten miles on its own hook, so that in ail it will have gone twenty miles in the fifteen minutes, and its extremity will reach B at the same time that B is reached by the ninety mile track. So with the seventy, the sixty, the fifty tracks, .aid up to the passenger and freight trains, which will reach B as soon as the ninety mile track reaches B—that is to say, in fifteen min utes, at the end of wliiph.’ it will hava traveled about 100 miles. Perhaps the •f. Rowing .ita'-emeut avIR : I’.a thormat ter clearer. Let ns call,tlie ninety mile track A, the eiglity mile t ek B, and so on. Ais drawn ten miles, carrying with I it, B for the same distance. But B lias a motion of its own and travels over ten miles on its own account. It has there- ! fore gone 20 miles. C, with a ton mile ! motion of its own over B, which draws it along, lias gone 30 miles; 1), 40; E, 50; F, 60; G, 70; H, 80; I, 90; .T (which is the passenger and freight train), 100 miles, and all in fifteen minutes. The whole system of tracks need not be more than four or five feet in height. With sufficient power the scheme is practica ble, and wivh motors at present at our command it would work for short dis tances.— Scientific American. The Raid lieutenant. On a certain occasion, while the Duke of Clarence—afterwards William 1V.,- was Lord High Admiral of the Royal Navy, there was a poor lieutenant named Payson, whose nautical skill and daunt less courage gave bun plenty of work, without advancing him in rank. In fact, being poor, and without influential friends, he had been held as a convenient officer to send out in charge of those sprigs of nobility who were made post captains while ignorant of the simplest duties of office. A competent first-lieu tenant is a handy man under such cir cumstances. The occasion to which we have referred was a re-union of the officers of the Squadron which his royal highness of Clarence had commanded in the Medi terranean; and the Duke and Lieutenant Payson were both present—the latter being the older man by several years. In the course ef the evening some illu sion was made to Pay son’s baldness, whereupon the Lord High Admiral pleas antly asked him why he didn’t do some thing to make his hair grow. “It’s of no use, your Grace, while the cause of my baldness is still forced upon me,” replied Payson, with earnest sol emnity. “The cause forced upon yon!” re peated the Duke in surprise. “ What do you mean by that? What do you con sider to be the cause of your baldness?” “It is very plain, your highness: Look at my juniors in the service con (inutility xtcppinr/ over nity head! It has been so ever since you and 1 were on board the .Taxon frigate together.” The Duke laughed—not merrily, nor heartily—but thoughtfully; and on the very next day Diek Payson received his commission as Post-Captain in the Royal Navy. Blue Monday. A recognized institution in England is “blue Monday,” the direct fruit of the beer drinking which is there tolerated and allowed. The working Englishman is wedded to his beer. He feels that it is the great comfort, and one of the very few enjoyments of his life. And not oulv is tiie chocolate room or any like contrivance “ slow,” but there is about it an implication that he is taken in hand and managed by his betters, like a child, which he not unnaturally resents. Rightly or wrongly, he feels more ashamed at being treated in this way than lie does of being drunk once a week—once, however, being here a word of wide signification. For in these cases “ the same drunk ” often extends from Saturday night to Monday, and not in frequently into Tuesday. Many first clas= artisans, knowing their own pro pensity, absolutely refuse to work for any man more than four days a week. The social effect of this habit or tho community may be imagined) non t vs. nosr. *Y AUSTIN DOnBONT. “77u! case fs proceed in fj.” From tlo ti agio-oat novel* at Mudie’a— At leant, on a practical plan— To the tale* of n.ere Hodge* ami Judya, One love le enough for a man. But no cam* that I over yet met ia Like Inina; lam equally fond Of ltone, who a (‘banning Brunette iff, And Dora a blonde. Each rival* tho other In power#— Each wait zed, each warblnv, each paints—* Mia* Kobo, chiefly tumble-down towers; MUh Do., perpendicular saintn. In short to distinguish is folly; Twixt the pair I am come to tho pass Of Mae heath between Lucy and Polly— Or Burl dan’s a*a. If it happens that Rose I have singled For a soft celebration in rhyme. Then the ringlets of Dora got mingled Somehow with the tune and the time; Or I painfully pen me a sonnet To an eyebrow intended for Do.'s, And behold! I am writing upon it The legend, “To Bone.* 1 Or I try to draw Dora (my blotter fs all overdraw led with her head); If I fancy at last that I’ve got her, It turns to her rival instead ; Or I find myself placidly adding To the rapturous tresses of Rose Miss Dora's bud mouth, and her madding, Ineffable nose. Was there ever so mad a dilemma ? For Bose I would peri ah (pro teni.); For Dora I’d willingly stem a— (Whatever might offer to stem); But to make the invidious election— To declare that on either one’s side I’ve a scruple—a grain more affection, I cannot decide. And as e>*her so hopelessly nice is, My sole and my final resource Is to wait some indefinite crisis— Home feat of molecular force, To solve me this riddle, conducive By no means to peace or repose, Since the issue can scarce l>e inclusive Of Dora and Rose. (Afterthought.? But, perhaps, if a third (say a Nora), Not quite so delightful as Rose— Not wholly so charming as Dora— Should appear, is it wrong to suppose'”* As the claims of the others arc equal— And flight—iu the main—is the beat— That I might # * * But no matter—tho sequel Is easily guessed. Rais !n India. A captain in tho army, holding an ap pointment in the Bengal Staff Corps, was staying with his wife and young child iu the same station. The father—a right brave man lie was, who had been wound ed not a great while before by some bill savage—wanted to bring up bis son to be hardy and fearless, (like himself, I should add) so the parents put their lit tle one in a room to sleep by itself. But they soon noticed scratches and strange marks on the youngchild’s hands, which, getting worse, made them call in a doc tor. This gentleman’s advise was en couraging; lie said: “If you don’t want your child to lose his hands you had better keep him away from tin rats, for they have been biting him.” Traveling at one time in an out-of the-way district. T. hail put up for tl/e night >u \ 'dak bungalow," e., travel ers’ rest house. I asked the native in charge 'vhethev any sahibs had been there lately, and he said no, not for a long time. Before lying down to rest, I took oft" nay riding boots and flung them on one side. When I came to put them on in the morning I found I should travel with much less leather than I had the previous day, for the rats • had made a complete wreck of the upper parts of the hoots. I hadn’t another pair with me or I should certainly have worn them, for my appearance was somewhat novel, as I was wearing white trousers at the time, and the holes in the boot 'uppers were painfully manifest iii consequence. An old painter in India, whose word I readily believe, assured me that the zinc lining of some grain bins was eaten through and mended, and eaten through again several times by rats, and that the performance was quite skillful, in that the bins were built on brick pillars, aud great care was taken never to leave any- j thing beneath for the rats to stand upon. ■ But nevertheless they managed repeat edly in some way, and gnawed through the wood and then through the zinc un til the grain fell out. I was liviug for a few months in an is olated, swampy district, and, as a nat ural sequence, the place being excessively unhealthy, I was frequently attacked by the constant companions of Indian jungle life, fever and ague. The bun galow was a very rough building, and had been put up in a great liurry, and every time the wind blew with any vio lence I anticipated it coming down in a space of time even less than that in which it was put up. When laid up with fever, and unable to read, I use to watch the rats running about the beams and rafters of the roof. Their performances would have put Blondin altogether to shame, j I amused myself by waiting until the: rats got into difficult parts of the roof, f and then clapped my hands to startle them. But endeavoring to cause them to lose their balance was utterly futile. They always got out of sight in safety, i I sometimes had something eatable left on the fable, and thou watched the ma noeuvres of the rats to carry it away. I was sorry afterward, because they got impudent and coiuageous. and fre quently stole things intended for my own consumption. Busy Men. Busy men of affairs like Thiers have often surprised the world by the extent of their literary labors. Bossuet was a ' prolific writer, and the following pas- j sage from the newly published “Emits ! Inedits” of St. Simon explains how he reconciled his literary tastes with his ; absorbing duties of Bishop of Meaux: 1 “Ho know so much, and with so much , order and method, that he wrote with astonishing facility: He, like the poets, | had no fixed hours for work, though he ' worked a great deal daily. At night lie ! had a fire, a light, a pair of pantaloons ; and a dressing gown near his bed, and j nearly every night he rose and worked | alone several hours. People who were ignorant of this circumstance were often very much surprised that he was not out of his chamber at 11 a. m., and that soon after he rapilv dressed to say mass: He had worked until 6, 7 and 8 a. m., car ried away by his abundance and subject. The quantity of works he has left is prodigious, and with so many, spell con tinual and such varied labors, he none the less proved to be an excellent bishop, visiting and preaching himself to hi3 flock, and ho measured his teachings to their mind,” A VIOUNT OF SUBSCRIPTION, $1.25. Ye Olden Days. Thirty years ago Michigan people wer a frank and truthful set. Stranger* could come here and trade horses with their eyes shut, and breach of promise cases wore unknown. Folks meantwhai they said, and when they gave theii word, stuck to it. Thirty years ago a widower from New York State appealed in Lansing on busi ness. That, same business carried him over to DeWitt, eight miles away. While m route ho stopped at a log farm house to warm his cold fingers. Ho was warm ly welcomed by the pioneer and iiis wife, both'of whom were well along in years, and after some general talk, the womaD queried: " “Am I right in thinking you a wid ower?” “Yes." “Did you como out hero to find a wife?” “Partly." “Did anybody toll vou of our Susie?" “No.” “Well, we have got as bouncing a girl of twenty-two as you ever set eyes on. She’s good-looking, healthy and good tempered, and I think she'll like your looks.” “Where is she?” “Over in the woods, here, chopping down a coon tree. Shall I blow the horn for her ?” “No. If you’ll keep an eyo on my horse I'll find her.” “Well, there’s nothing stuck up or n fleeted about Susie. She'll sav yes or no as soon as she looks you over. II you want her, don’t be afraid to say so.” The stranger heard the sound of her ax and followed it. He found her just as the tree was ready to fall. She was a stout, good-looking girl, swinging the ax like a man, and in two mimites lie had decided to say: “Susie, I’m a widower from New York State; I’m thirty-nine years old, have one child, own a good farm, and 1 want a wife. Will you go back home with me?” She leaned on the ax and looked at him for half a minute, and then replied: “Can’t say for certain. Just wait till I get these coons off my mind.” She sent the tree crashing to the earth, and with his helpkilled five coons, which were stowed away in a hollow. “Well, what do you say?” he asked, as the last coon stopped kicking. “I’m your’n!” was the reply; “and by the time you get back from DeWitt I’ll have these pelts off and tacked up, and j he ready for the preacher !” He returned to the house, told the ! old folks that he should bring a preacher i hack with him, aud at dusk that evening the twain were married. Hardly an hour had been wasted in courting, and yet ha ] took homo rthe of the best girls in the 1 State of Michigan. —Detroit Free Press, i Actresses’ Arts. A great many tricks of stage costume spring from personal defects. In what ever cut of waist Modjeska appears, there is always a bunch of flowers or bow placed at the left of her open corsage. When this device is not resorted to, a little strap of silk will be trailed across diagonally, or a little fan of lace will sud denly spring from the left corner, in or der to hide a scar on the breast that looks as if it might bo the result of a wound from a poniard, “souvenir” of a romance. Poor Lucille Western was afflicted by a birth-mark. She was a regular female Esau. About her waist there was a thick growth of silky brown hair, which ran up to a point in front. Where it came above the tops of her dresses it was carefully shaved, but the skin always remained blue. So Lucille wore a huge cross dangling just above that portion of her anatomy. Parepa Rosa had a deep vaccination scar far down her robust arm, aud when lier sleeves were very short a knot of ribbon or a trail of flowers used to cover it. Before she grew so extremely stout, she wore a golden band above the elbow to hide it, but when her armlet got to be as big as a waistcoat she abandoned the oddity. One night, speaking of the scar to an American girl who sat in her dress ing-room, the Yankee offered Parepa an immediate and -effectual concealment of the offending spot. She took one of the candles off the toilet table, and holding it above the arm let one drop of the melted wax fall upon the place, and there was no further need of concealing devices. A dash of flesh-tinted powder completed the cure, aud Parepa’s make up-box forever after contained a bit of wax candle.— New York Mirror. Ihiith and Pluck. At a certain Sabbath-school, not long since, the old clergyman of the parish, in visiting the different classes, came to a class of four and five-year-olds before whom the question of faith had just come up, and lie thought to illustrate the sub ject to the little ones by telling to them the story of the child who was called to jump into the father’s arms, in tire dark. “The father was in a dark cellar, while his little daughter, only three years old, stood upon the edge of an open scuttle, or hatchway, in the floor. She could hear her father’s voice very plainly, but could not see him. “Come, my child,” the father called, “jump right down. I will catch you in my arms. Be not afraid. It is your fattier who calls. ” Now, the little child could see nothing below' but, utter darkness; nevertheless, she trusted her dear father’s voice, and jumped—jumped boldly down into the darkness, and was safely caught into her father's arms. “Now, think of it,” said the aged cler gyman. “Was it .not a beautiful illus tration of faith ?” Ho saw one little, bright-faced boy shake his head. “Well, Johnny, what do you thing of it? I)o you not think it required a great deal of faith on the part of that little girl to make that leap In the dark?” “Wgll—l dono; but she must a’ had lots o' pluck , anyhow.'” Evidently the old pastor had gained a new idea, and one which ha could not dispute,.— New York Ledger. A San Francisco merchant says that he picks up from six to a dozen bullets on his flat roof every year, a striking ill ustration of the number of chance shots tired in the oity. NO. 22. Wouldn’t tall Names. Bill Jones had been to sea, and, on liis return, he was relating to his uncle an adventure which lie met with on board a ship. “ I was one night leaning over the taffrnil, looking down into the mighty ocean,” said William, “ when my watch fell from my pocket, and im mediately smiic out of sight. The vessel was going ten knots an hour; but, noth ing daunted, I sprtuig over the rail, and, after a long search, found the watch, came up close under the stem, and climbed back to the deck without any one knowing I had been absent.” “William,” said his uncle, opening his eyes to their widest capacity, “how fast did you say the vessel was sailing?” “Ten knots an hour,” replied William. “ And you dived down into the sea, William, and came up with the watch, and climbed up the rudder chains ? ” “ Yes, uncle. ” “ And you expect me to believe your story ? ” “Of course, ” re plied William, “you wouldn’t dream of calling me aliar ? ” “William,” said his uncle, gravely, “you know I never call anybody names ; but if the Mayor were to come to me and say, ‘ Josiali, I want to find the biggest liar in town,’ I would come straight to you and say, ‘ William, the Mayor wants to see you.’ ” Mexican Balls. The Mexicans are notoriously fond of dancing, and will neglect almost any thing else to attend a baile or ball. Many American dances have been intro duced, but the amusement, instead of being indulged iu in a wild and unre strained manner, is conducted with great decorum. The ladies all sit on one side of the ball-room and the gentlemen on the other, and when the music be gins the young men walk out into the middle of the floor and beckon with their fingers to the young ladies whom they desire for partners. At the close of the dance the ladies return to their side of the room and the gentlemen to their own. The waltz of modern society and other fashionable dances in the East would be .considered immodest in a Santa Fe baile, and would not bo tolerated. A Great Day for Fisliiug. “ Did you have much luck, Uncle Muse?” asked a gentleman of an old Galveston fisherman. “ Nebber seed de like. It was all day long jerk ! up comes a five-pound red fish : jerk agin, up comes a six-pound trout; jerk agin, up comes a seben pound slieephead. It nebber stopped one second.” • “How did you catch fish that fast without stopping to bait your hook? Come now, More !” “ Bait de hook ? All deni fish was on de same hook. Dar was no chance to bait de hook. De six-pound redfisli swallowed de five-pound trout, and seb en-pound trout just jobbled de six pound redtish, and I jest kept on ontil day was about twenty fish on de hook, ail’d den I hauled ’em in and put on fresh bait. Has yer cotched my mean in’ ?” —Galveston News. Hairy .Taps. Miss Bird, an English lady, describes in a book on Japan, and especially on the Ainos, how slio was ferried across a river by one Aino, “completely cov ered by hair, which on his shoulder was wavy like that of a retriever, and ren dered clothing quite needless, either for covering or warmth and how in another place she met with a second old man, whom she emphatically describes as “the missing link.” His face was vacant and apathetic, his arms and legs unnaturally long and thin, he squatted with his knees tucked into his arm-pits, and his whole body was covered with black hair “more than an inch long,” and slightly curled on the shoulders. He had, however, a bare patch on each side, probably marking the parts on which lie rested when asleep, a pecul iarity found in the gorilla, who has a bare spot on his back where he letxhs against trees. A Remarkable Railway Accident. An almost incredible explanation was given of the cause of an accident to the Scotch express, near Leicester, England. It is said that the train was stopped a little beyond the town of Kibworth, the engineer thinking something was the matter with his engine. Examination showed the locomotive to Vie all right, and the engineer again applied steam, but iustead of running forward the train was backed, and the engineer did not notice the change of direction until the train had returned to Kibworth station, where it ran into a freight train, but not before the engineer had applied the Wostiughouse brake, and so prevented more damage than the smashing of two cars and the wounding of four or five passengers. The engineer was suspend ed; but it appeared from investigation that none of the train hands knew that they were going backward instead of for ward until it was too late to avert an ac cideut. It was stated by way of expla nation that the night of the accident was very dark. A colored railroad passenger in Ohio refused, for a long time, to give up his ticket to the conductor, protesting that he had paid his fare “at that other place down tlnir,” and that the ticket was ki3 receipt for the money. A painter who was well acquainted with the dire effects of the law had to represent two men—one who had gained a lawsuit and another who had lost one. He painted the former with a shirt on and the latter naked. The editor wrote “An evening with Saturn,” and it came out in the paper “An evening with Satan.” It was mighty rough, but the foreman said it was tiio work of the “devil,” Audit looked that way, A Laplander’* Homo. In a large, but rather low room, with walls and roof of rough-liewn plunks, and with beams stretching from wall to wall iu every direction, were assembled at least twenty-five persons of all ages and bolh sexes Most of them hud taken off their skin blouses and hung them on the rafters near the huge wood lire, fit to roast on ox at. The hall-stowed garments aud the steam from the dirty persons of those in front of the lire caused a most unsavory odor, which prompted us to make our stay ns short as possible. All around the apartment, except near the door, were ranged the sleeping-shelves, the major part of which were already oc cupied - men, women and children all in discriminately mingled together, not dis tinguishuliletotho unpractised eye the one from the other, and appearing like noth' ing else than mero animated bundles of fur. From the group congregated around the fire no cheerful laugh, no buzz of conversation, no noisy merriment email* a ted—all were silent and still; perhaps they did not wish to disturb the sleepers; but, judging from their solemn and lu gubrious countenances, their gloominess seemed lmt too natural aud very fur from assumed or constrained. Well, in the joyless and monotonous life these poor people lead, it is not surprising that nil innate merriment about them is soon stifled.