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,4 , ’Rlaying-Cards. Ndt many Fronoh cards were ever sold In the American markets, comparatively speaking, although these manufactures were exceedingly line—a linen card, thin, strong and delicate, and nice to handle. The great bulk of imported cards wore from Engl ikh manufacturers, as they aro to-day. The English cards excel m tho beauty of tlieir finished geometrical de signs for their backs being ornamented with flno colors and gildidg to an extent never attempted with the American article. This eleganco of ornamentation seems to have always been a specialty with the English makers, and alone, or in con nection with the heavy duties, appears to warrant, tho price gsfyed for them—about double that of American feards, the latter boing even a better article. But, as has been hinted, of late years groat progress has been mado in the manufacture of playing cards in this country, until at present no bettor goods can bo found in any market than are af forded by United States makers. The modern, round-cornered card of the pres ent makes is a vast improvement over the old style square-cornered affair; and the manipulation of stock in their make-up results in an article possessing all 4ho at tributes considered desirable by card players. The English" manufacturers have been trying to copy tho results at tained in American round-cornered cards by “dieing out” the stock; but in this effort they failed signally, since tho card cannot be cut in that way without fatally injuring its edges and quality. Conse quently n couple of card-cutting machines have been sent to England from this country, and, by tho use of Yankee (or Jewish) methods, no doubt our cousins will achieve bettor success.— Boston Herald. A French Woman’s Valor. Visitors to Paris cannot fail to have seen in the groat central market an old woman seated behind a goodly array of cabbages and cauliflowers, wearing the Order of the Legion of Honor on her breast. Her name is Annette Drevon, and her history is a remarkable one. In her younger days she was cantiniere in a regiment of Zouaves who served in Africa, in the Crimea, in Italy, and on the banks of tho Bliine. She was pres ent at the taking of Magenta, and during that mclcc saw a couple of Austrian sol diers lay hands ou the flag of the regi ment to which she belonged. Undeter red by the whistling of the bullets, the courageous Frenchwoman rushed forward to save the flag, killed one Austrian, wounded the other with her revolver, and returned triumphant with the standard she had saved from the enemy. For this act of courage she was decorated; but it is not her only one. During the Franco- Prussian war she followed tho Thirty second Begiment of the Line as eanti niere. One day after tho armistice had been proclaimed, she was iusulted by a Bavarian soldier, near the gates of Thion ville. The plucky eantimere drew out her revolver and stretched the aggressor dead on the ground. For this she was arrested, tried by a court martini sitting at Metz, and condemned to death. On the day sho was to be executed Prince Frederick Charles happened to be passing through Metz. Having learned that a woman was to be shot, he inqnired into the circumstances, granted her a respite, and four days later sent her back to France, pardoned. Since then Annette has established herself as a market wo man, and, aided bya pension allowed her by the State, manages to live, as she is proud of saying, independently. Man’s Self-Importance. Mrs. Jameson, in more instances than one, shows her belief in self-importance being man’s prime quality. Here is one thing that breathes a hard spirit. “Per sonal vanity in a man is sheer, unmiti gated egotism, and an unfailing subject of ridicule and contempt with ail women, be they wise or foolish. ” The Countess of Blessington, who was almost as wise as she was handsome, has left c few out spoken opinions, of which one is that “Self-possession and dignity ought to characterize a man of birth and genius, and a poet should neither be gay nor flippant.” Here is a stinger; “Men can pity the wrongs inflicted by other men on the gentler sex but never those which they themselves inflict on women.” Though the following would apply equally well to womer. it is woith re membering as showing that to a delicate minded woman the man who prides him self on being a bear, growling out un palatable truths at every breath, is not considered the pleasantest of compan ions: “Your plain-speaking men,’ says the Countess, “are usually either of ob tuse intellect or of ill-natured disposi tions, wounding the'feelings of others from want of delicacy of mind and sen sibility, or from intentional malice.” The Countess grows concise, and in say ing that a woman’s head is always influ enced by her heart, and a man’s heart is always influenced by his head,’ utters an epigram worthy of Pope. In the same epigrammatic mood must this have been conceived: “Great men direct tho events of their times, wise men take ad vantage of them; weak men are borne down by them.” Elsewhere she says: “In the society of pe sens of mediocrity of intellect a clever maa will appeal to have less spii'it than those around him who possess tho least, because he is dis placed in their company. ” The Blue Doctor. One of the curiosities of Paris is Dr. Chiron, called the “blue grass.” This name he obtained through being called in to see a lady who was at the point of death, as was supposed, from some mys terious weakness. He sent at once, not for medicaments, but for an upholster er, and ordered this tradesman at once to refurnish the whole of tho lady’s rooms with stuffs and carpets dyed with indigo. He clothed her with stuffs simi larly dyed, and ordered that none should approach her unless clad in indigo-dyed garments. The result was, so the story goes, that the lady recovered, and M. Chirou received the name of “le docteur bleu.” He is not liked by the regular practitioners, who do not scruple to call him a quack, but he has made some wonderful cures by wonderful methods. One of these cures occurred with the wife of an eminent English statesman. This lady had long suffered from an ap parently incurable cough of a very dis tressing nature. She went to the blue doctor, who for three months made her inhale daily a mixture of chloroform and the fumes of some strong acid. Every day she was chloroformed to insensi bility, and at the same time was acidu lated, with the result that she is now quite well. Toils. If you want knowledge, you must toil for it; if food, you must toil for it; and if pleasure, you must toil for it. Toil is the law. Pleasure comes through toil, and not by self-indulgence and in dolence. When one gets to love work, bis life is happy one,— limkin. STIC iwii fist* pps. WILL W. SINGLETON, Editor & Proprietor. VOL, VI. OUR TOUNO FOLKS. now. This is Don, Ih* do# of dogs, sir, Just as lions outrank frogs, sir. Just, as eagles are superior To blizzards and that tribo inferior. He’s a shepherd, latl—a beauty— And to praise him seems a duty, But it puts mv pen to shame, sir, When nis Tirt’uei I would name, sir, “Don! come hcie, and bend your head now, Let 11s see your best, well-broad bowl” Was there ever uch a creature? Common sense in errrt feature! “ Don! rise up and look around youl” Blessings on the day we found you. Sell him! well, upon my word, sir, That’s a notion too absurd, air. Would f sell our little Ally, Barter Tom. dispose of Sally, Think yon I’d negotiate For my wife, at any rate? 6pll our Don! you’re surely ioking, And ’tisfun at us you’re poking! Twenty voyngos we’ve tried, sir, Sleeping, waking, side by side, sir. And Don I will not divide, sir; He’s my friend, that's why I love him— And no mortal dog’s above him? He prefers a life aquatic, But never dog was less dogmatic. Years ago, when I was master Of a tight brig callod the Castor, Don and I were bound for Cadiz, With the loveliest of tho ladies And her boy—a stalwart, hearty, Crowing, one-year infant party, Full of childhood's myriad graces, Bubbling sunshine in our faces Ah we bowled along so steady, Half way home, or more already. How the sailors loved our darling! No more swearing, no more snarling; On their backs, when not on duty, Round they bore the blue-eyed beauty— Singing, shouting, leaping, prancing, AII the crew took turns in dancing; Every tar played Punchinello With the pretty laughing fellow; Even the second-mate gave sly winks At the noisy mid-day high jinks. Never was a crew so happy With a curly-headed chappy, Never were such sports gigantic, Never dog with joy more antic. While thus jolly, all together, There blew up a change of weather. Nothing stormy, hut quite breezy, And the wind grew damp and wheezy. Like a gale in too low spirits To put forth one-half its merits. But, perchance, a dry-land ranger Might suspect some kind of danger. Soon our stanch and gallant vessel With the waves began to wrestle. And to jump about a trifle, Sometimes kicking, like a rifle ** hen ’tis slightly overloaded. But by no means nigh exploded. ’Twas the coming on of twilight, As we stood abaft the skylight Scampering round to please the baby, (Old Bill Benson held hire, maybe), When the youngster stretched his fingers Toward the spot where sunset lingers, And with strong and sudden motion Leaped into the weltering ocean! “ What did Don do?” Can’t you guess, sir? He sprang also—by express—sir; Seized the infant’s little dress, sir, Held the baby's head up boldly From the waves that rushed so coldly; And in just about a minute Our boat had them safe within it. Sell him! Would you sell your brother? Don and I love one another. -J. T. Fields . in Youth's Companions MILLY’S RUNAWAY. “Oh! Aunt Milly. Tell us something that happened when you w r ere a little girl,” said Jamie Williams, as he threw himself down on the carpet, before tho glowing coals, which both warmed and lighted the pleasant sitting-room. “Yes,” said Mabel, “something that happened ever and ever so long ago, when you were about as big as I am,” and the blue eyes looked up lovingly. It was an evening in early fall, when careful mothers call their children in out of the damp, chilly twilight, and the restless feet and thoughtless heads find it hard work to fall into tho traces of school-life and the quiet evening games seem dull indeed, after the merry out-of door romps, of the long summer days On each evening, Aunt Milly volun teered to tell the children a story, while the little mother cleared away tho sup per, and made preparations for break fast. “Well,” said Auntie, musingly, “did I over tell you, about the tirno a great, big horse ran away with me?” “Oh, no, no;” exclaimed the children, “tell us about it, do, please.” The visit of this auntie was regarded as a great treat by the children; she had the knack of story-telling, and was always ready to bring forth stories, new or old, from her treasure house of facts and fancies. “Well,” she continued, “it was -when your grandpa was living at C -, and kept a pony which I was used to riding around the yard, though I was thought too young to be trusted in the street. “ Father had taken pains to teach mo at home, and almost my first experience at school was ‘upstairs’ with the old scholars. I was ten years old, but very small of my age and frail-looking. Two or three young ladies rode in from the country, a mile or two, every afternoon for a recitation in Latin. As I was an especial pet with them, I asked one of them one day if I might ride around the yard at recess. She answered, ‘Yes,’of course, without a thought of any dan ger.” “What, auntie,” asked Mabel with wide open eyes. “You ride a strange pony. Weren’t you afraid?” “Not a bit,” laughed auntie. “A few days before, when our old Nellie had be come frightened, and jumped so quickly as to throw me off, I picked myself up from the midst of tho patch of burdocks, where I had fallen, and took another ride, burdocks and all.” “ Hurrah for you, auntie,” said Jamie, “I wish I had you for a playmate. You could climb trees I’ll warrant, and wouldn’t have been so afraid as Mabel is, when I want her to romp in the barn with me.” “ Yes, I was a sad romp,” said auntie, “but as I was such a delicate child, mother allowed me to play as hard as I pleased, and to this freedom I owe my good health. My favorite play-house was under the shade of a tree, on tho top of the lean-to of the house, which was so nearly flat, there was little danger of my falling off.” “ Oh, Aunt Millie!” and Mabel drew a long breath, “how could you.” Auntie stroked the brown hair as sho continued: “ The school-house was clear across the play-ground, which was fenced in. This particular afternoon the gate had been left open. As I seated myself on the saddle for a ride around the yard, a large boy, almost a young man in fact, mounted the other pony. Seeing this, the boys all at once commenced to yell, more like wild Indians than civilized white boys,” and she smiled roguishly at Jimio, BUENA VISTA, MARION COUNTY, OA„ SATURDAY. FEBRUARY 26, 1881. Becollcetions of a certain noisy game of tho forenoon, made Jamie blush, but he laughed, too, and said: “Well, auntie, what is a fellow to do? The noise just hollered itself.” Auntie drew the plump fingers into her own, and petting them affectionately, wont on: “At tho first seream, the horse pricked up her ears, and at the second started for the gate on a run. Tho little hands holding the bridle were powerless to hold tho fright ened creature. On, on—faster and fast er, sho sped with her frail burden, still clinging to the reius. “After running in this wav about a mile, I thought of tho lane which led to the house, and felt certain in turniner the cliarp corner at such a pace, I could not hold on, and then looking up, I saw the house of Mr. Shaw near by. This was tho homo of my dearest frioud. and a place familiar also to the runaway horse. It was tho work of an instant to turn the horse’s head towards the gate, and the horse when she found herself to the old hitching-post—stopped!” Jamie’s grey eyes had been growing bigger and bigger, and now with a sigh of relief, he exclaimed, “What did you do next?” “Oh!” answered auntie, “when tho horse stopped and I realized that I was saved, I began to tremble a little. In a few mintes the young man, Henry Ad ams, rode up. He had started as soon as he found my horse was running away with me, but could not catch mo. His pony could not run as fast as mine. I won that race fairly,” and auntie smiled on tho two eager faces. “I began to feel weak and faint and rather afraid of the runaway, so Henry let me ride his horse home, and took the one I had him self. “When nearly home wo met father coming on old Nellie. Someone had told him of the runaway, and he was nearly as badly frightened as I.” “ You didn’t ride that horse again, did you,” asked Mabel. “No, I believe not,” said Aunt Milly. “I limped a little, for two or three months, but was not cured of my passion for horseback riding. Since then I have had many horseback rides, but never a runaway. ” The mother coming in with the lamp, auntie took up her sewing, and with a kiss of thanks, the little folks turned to their school-books for a little while, be fore seeking dreamland.— lnterior. Gen. Satji Houston’s Romance. Born in Virginia in 1793, left an or phan in boyhood, Sam Houston went with his mother to Tennessee, where he supported her with his own industry, thus early learning family loyalty. In 1813, at the age of 20, he enlisted under Gen. Jackson in the Creek war, and for his repeated deeds of gallantry lie so gained the esteem of Jackson that he urged him to remain permanently in the army. Resigning, however, and study ing law in Nashville, he rose from office to office, and in 1823, at the age of 30, he was elected to Congress, and then again in 1827 was elected Governor of Tennessee. Up to this time Houston was unmarried. Universally admired, and urged by associates to form an alli ance, which seemed essential to his sta tion, a young lady of beauty and accom plishments was commended to him by family influence. His proposal of mar riage was accepted, aud late in 1828 tho marriage ceremony was performed with unusual pomp. The next day Houston resigned his office, crossed the Missis sippi into Arkansas, and Dec. 11, 1828, wrote from the agency of his old Chero kee acquaintances the letter to Presi dent Jackson which called forth his let ter of Jan. 24, 1829. No one of Hous ton’s companions knew till his death the cause of his new course, which his best friends, like Jackson, regarded as par tial insanity; no one but his widow could reveal it, and she only through a sense of conjugal and Christian duty. That cause was the highest test of loyalty of which any man could be ca pable. On the eve of the marriage Gov. Houston observed a tremor in the voice and in the hand of his bride, when the vow of undivided attachment was pro nounced, which convinced him some secret had not been revealed to him. Before retiring he frankly told her of his suspicion, asked a frank confession and pledged her that it should not work to her injury. His frankness and firm ness led to the confession that her af fections had been given and pledged to another before their meeting, and that filial duty had prompted her acceptance of his proffer. Houston retired to his own cot, next day resigned his position, allowed the entire fault to appear to be his, permitted and encouraged her appli cation for a divorce on the plea of deser tion, and his bride was married to the mau of her former affection. Many ir regularities, rumor, of course, charged on the man who had really sacrificed everything to save one who had erred only in mistaken duty; but no chnrge of domestic infidelity could bo true in a man who denied it to tho estimable lady who afterward became his wife. A Drummer’s First Trip. A Cleveland merchant determined to send his son for a trip on the road in the interests of the house. The young man was rather averse to going, but his father’s persuasions were all-powerful, and he went. He was out some ten days, and on his return his father anx iously inquired, “Well, my boy, did you get many orders V” 11 Yes, father,” answered the new-fledged drummer ; “I got quite a number.” “Good!” ex claimed the delighted father. “I knew you would succeed. The young man grinned and answered: “Well, the first order I got was in Squaslibog. I went into a man’s store there and ho said * git out!’ In Bungville I got my second order. This time it was ‘ skip !’ My third order was ‘chase yourself ’round.’ My next order was ‘scoot,’ and—” But the old gentleman hastily arose and, kicking his hopeful’s sample case across the office, sternly command ed tho young man to go out and help Jim load the truck. When letters and papers come in late, as usual, people wonder how they ever did get along without the fast mail. Devoted to the Interests of Marion County and Adjoining Sections. Cruelty and Civilization. The mutilations of prisoners exhib ited on Assyrian scullwnfes ate not sur passed in cruelty by any wo find among the most, blood-thirsty of wild races ; and Raineses 11,. who delighted in hav ing himself sculptured on temple walls throughout Egypt as holding a dozen captives by the hair and striking off their heads at a blow, slaughtered during his conquests more human beings than a thousand ohiofs of savage tribes put to gether. The tortures inflicted oncapturod enemies by Red Indians aro not greater tluin were those inflicted, .if old on fel ons by crucifixion, or on suspected reb els by sewing them up in tho hides of slaughtered animals, or on heretics by smearing them over with combustibles and Betting tiro to them. The Danisms, described as so utterly heartless that they laugh on seeing one of their num ber killed by a wild boast, aro not worse than were the Romans, who made such elaborate provisions for gratifying them selves by watching wholesale slaughters in their arenas. If the numbers de stroyed by the hordes of Attila were not equaled by the nnmbers which the Ro man army destroyed at the conquest of Selucia, and by the numbers of tho Jews massacred under Hadrian, it was simply because the occasion did not permit. The cruelties of Nero, Gallienus, and the rest may compare with those of Zingis and Timour ; and when we read of Caracalla, that after he had murdered 20,000 friends of his murdered brother, his soldiers forced the Senate to place him among the gods, we are shown that in the Roman people there was a ferocity not less than that which deifies the most sanguinary chiefs among the worst of savages. Nor did Christianity greatly change matters. Throughout mediieval Europe political offenses and religious dissent brought on men carefully de vised agonies, equaling, if not exceed ing, any inflicted by the most brutal of barbarians.— Herbert Spencer , in Fort nightly Review. Stenographic Blunders. From a paper on blunders, by F. J. Morgan, of Syracuse, we extract the fol lowing as ludicrous instances of steno graphic interpretation and transcrip tion : Gross receipts—Grocery seats. Tam arack knees—Dum rickety knees. The mother’s prayer The matters prior. Ho was a little fellow—He was a little full. They captured two Parrott giuis —They captured two pirate guns. The woman was baking bread—The woman was begging bread. T found tire horse in that posture—l found the horse in that posture—Counsel offered paper in evidence—Counsel brought pauper in evidence. Arthur Waite, the chalk talk evangelist Arthur Waite, the Choctaw evangelist. The showers were not sufficient to meet the wants of mill men—wants of milkmen. In the inter vening time he said nothing—ln the entire evening time he said nothing. I came with my brothers, Horace and Henry—l came with ray brother’s horse and Henry. A medical witness, speak ing of the illness of a lady patient, said : “ Sho appeared to be somewhat un strung and nervous.” The transcriber made him say “She appeared to bo somewhat kneesprung and nerv ous.” A minister, preaching a ser mon on the death of a gentleman named Samuel, quoted: “And buds and blossoms in the dust.” He was delight ed to read in the next issue of the paper: “And buds and blows Sam in the dust.” An attorney asked a female witness how she came to be employed by plaintiff, and she answered: “I saw a sign in tho window, ‘ Female clerks wanted here. ’ ” The blundering reporter rendered it: “Family color warranted here.” An orator referred to the different religious sects or denominations “going for one another” throughout tho country, and said: “ Here wo have one sect persecut ing another,” and was so reported, but the transcriber rendered it: “Here wo have one sick person feeding another,” and so it appeared in the next-morning papers. Several years ago an eminent lawyer hired a stenographer to take testimony in an important case. Tho transcribed minutes astonished him. A “patent,” upon which much depended in tho suit, was converted into a “potentate;” a “solid frame” was turned into an “iso lated farm;” tho “furnaces of this coun try” were set down as “Fenians of this country;” “clerks and bartenders” were made “clocks and barometers;” and the question, “Were you in the habit of visiting the house?” was written, “Were you in the habit of fastening the hose ?” Negro Songs. Mr. Hughes, referring to the negro song of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, which he heard in Tennessee, and the words of the same, which he sent to the London Spectator, adds: “This, sir, I think you will agree with me, though precious, is obviously a fragment only. ’ The fact is that all negro songs are in some sense “fragments,” fot the} are never exactly complete—that is, there is no regular beginning nor end to them, but, with the perpetually recurring re frain of the choins, the solo lines can be, and are, stretched out to suit the fancy of tho singer. The mnsic of ‘ Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” is given in several publications of the “jubilee” order, but the words are never twice alike. There is a scrap of negro ditty, probably more thoroughly Ethiopian than anything now to be heard in the United States, quoted in Michael Scott’s story of ‘Tom CriDgle’s. Log,” as follows: ‘ Fader was a Corramantee, Moddal was a Mingo; Black pickaniny hurra wanlee, Sc deiu sell-a me Peter, hr Jingo, Jiggery, jiggery, jiggery.’ This has the true ring of heathenism, while most of the “songs of color” which we hear are intended as a religious ex ercises. — lnter- Ocean. When to Take a Bath. There is no practice mor6 objectiona ble than to go to bed closely wrapped up in the dust and dirt that accumulate on the surface of tho body during the day ; nor is there anything so conducive to sound sleep as a tepid douche just be fore getting into bed. Many bad sleep ers become the best of sleepers from the adoption of this simple rule, Tho London Cabby. Tho London cabby ii at once a phil osopher and a wit, a sort of English Diogenes on Ids tub instead of in it. He has triumphed over every obstruction, even over tho London fog. Weather is nothing to him as long as ho can raise a fare. When he can’t raise a fare ho chaffs at tho passing world. His bed, as a rule, iB his box, and he has been known to tako a nap there occasionally. He is a much-abused person, but, on the whole, ho is a civil, cheery, well-conducted per son, particularly gallant to nervous old ladiea and almost a rival of the guards or of the “bobbies” with tho nursery maids, for he has inherited the wink of Sam Weller, and nothing could possibly re sist that. His tribe is very numerous, there being fourteen thousand of him, notwithstanding underground and over ground railroads and ’busses innumera ble. A mission has been started in Lon don for his special spiritual and moral improvement, but ho doesn’t seem to take kindly to tho movement; in fact, it is hard to see how he can find time to attend amission. Of the 14,000cabbies, only 1,000 are set down as total abstain ers, and even these elite would probably resemble Rip’s drinks—they don’t count. If any class of persons might be excused for taking an occasional nip, it would surely be London cabmen, who are con stantly exposed to every kind of the worst weather that ever was invented. Sir E. Henderson, chief of the London police, stated at a recent meeting that he discovered a gradual improvement in the cabby. There lirb been a considerable diminution during the past year in the number of cabmen brought "before the authorities for drunkenness, but in this respect they had as yet by no means reached the point of moral elevation at tained by omnibus men and stage-drivers. Out of 4,400 omnibus men there was only 11 convictions for drunkenness during the year, and of 3,200 stage-drivers only 20. In 11,000 cabmen there had been 1,100 convictions, a reduction of 250 on the previous year. They were also rather addicted to furious driving, a fault that probably bears a corresponding ratio to gin. Origin of Cyclones. For the purpose of discovering the causes which determine the progressive movement of storms, I have made an extensive examination of the course and velocity of storm centers in tropical re gions, and also of abnormal paths in the middle latitudes of Eourope and Ameri ca. I have examined the course of all those hurricanes which have originated near tho West India Islands, and whose paths have been carefully investigated, and also all the storm tracks delineated on the maps of the monthly weather re view. I have likewise examined all those hurricanes in Southern Asia and its vicinity whose paths have been best determined, and all the storm tracks de lineated on the maps of ihe international series of observations. The following summary presents some of the results derived from this investigation: (1) The lowest latitude in which a cyclone center has been formed near the West India Islands is ten degrees, and the lowest lat itude in the neighborhood of Southern Asia is six degrees. Violent squalls and fresh gales of wind have, however, been encountered directly under the equator. (2) The ordinary course of tropical hur ricanes is toward the northwestward. In a few cases they seem to have advanoed toward a point a little south of west, and in a few cases tlieir course has been al most exactly toward tho north. (3) Tropical hurricanes are invariably ac companied by a violent fall of rain. The rainfall is never less than five inches in twenty-four hours for a portion of the track and frequently it exceeds ten inches in twenty-four hours. (4) Tropical storms are generally preceded by a northerly wind, and after the passage of the low center the wind generally veers to the southeast at stations near the center, and the southerly wind which follows the low center, is generally stronger than the northerly wind which preceded it. This fact appears to suggest the ex planation of the origin of the cyclone and the direction of its progressive move ment. The prevalent direction of the wind in the neighborhood of the West India Islands is from tho northeast. Occasionally a strong wind sets in from a southerly quarter. The interference of these winds with each other gives rise to a gyration and a fall of rain sometimes results. When the rain com mences the latent heat which is lib erated causes an inflow of wind from all quarters, by which the rainfall is in creased; and since the wind is deflected by the rotation of the earth an arch of low pressure is produced and the force of the winds will be maintained as long as the rainfall continues. The effect of this strong wind from the south is to transport the low center in a northerly direction, and by the combined action of the south wind and the normal from the northeast tho conter of low pressure is usually carried in a direction between the north and west .--Prof. Elias Loomis. The Difference. “The difference,” said Augustus Mill whiilies, sauntering into the library tho other day—“the difference between the works of Captain Cook and the works of Beaumont and Fletcher is, I presume, that the former aro by a tar and the lat ter by-tu-men. ” Before he could cackle, he was seized by the nape of the neck and thrust out of the building by an enraged professor, who said to him, as he struck the ground, “Do you know why you are like Noah’s Ark ?” “No,” said the bewildered Augustus. “Well, it’s because you’re pitched without,” said the professor, as he shut the door. Grandma Garfield, a correspondent says, is not a stately, impressive old lady, but a nice, plain, companionable mother of the every-day sort. You East ern people, both men and women, grow old more elegantly than those whose early lives were full of frontier hardships at the West. To see the General with his mother reminds one pleasantly of Lawyer Wemmick and his “ aged parent” in Dickens’ “ Great Expectations.” As the “Aged P.” of the administration, Grandma, Garfield will be by no means a lay figure in the social life of the White House. AVIOUNT OF SUBSCRIPTION, $1.25. POPULAR SCIENCE. For articles of rubber which have be come hard and brittle Dr. Pol recom mends the following treatment: Im merse tho articles in a mixture of water of ammonia one jiart and water two parts, for a time varying from a few minuteß to an hour, according to the circumstances of tho case: When the mixture has act ed enough on the rubber it will lie found to have recovered all its elasticity, smoothness and softness. The royal engineers have tried the ef fect of gun-cotton in bringing down two old chimneys at the dock-yard extension works, Chatham, England. The first was demolished by placing a necklace of gun-cotton inside the chimney, the total charge consisting of about four and a half pounds. The second was de stroyed by [dacing six charges of the ex plosive in the center of tho base of the chimney, the total charge weighing twenty-eight ounces. Tho experiment was very successful. At the instant the electric spark ignited the gun-cotton the chimneys became wrecks. After a tolerably exhaustive examina tion of the biography of the subject, Dr. Otto Knntze maintains, but on ground not quite satisfactory, that the gulf weed consists of many varieties or species of Sargassum vulgare, and that the plants so named in the lump are either dying or dead and incapable of rep 'eduction. There does not appear to be any good reason for assigning a definite and con stant area to the Sargasso sea. Patches I of weed occur more frequently in the re gion of calms, but sometimes there is very little of the weed there. Winds also affect the distribution of the patches with regard to each other and the posi tion of the whole mass of weed. Attention has been directed by M. Moricle to anew kind of food to which the name “ nutricine” has been given. Its preparation is thus described: Raw meat, from which bones and tendons have been carefully excised, is passed into suitable machines along with nitro genized alimentary substances, such as bread, to absorb the water of the meat, and, possibly, to form new combinations with it. After the mass thus prepared is dried in a stove under a mild heat it is pulverized and sifted. A powder of an agreeable taste, and varying from yel low to gray in color, is the result. When albumen, fats, or gummed water is add ed to this powder solid cakes or cubes may be broken up, as occasion may re quire, for soups or sauces. This nutri cine is admirably qualified to sustain physical vigor, and it can be preserved tor any length of time if it is kept from the deteriorating influence of an atmos phere charged with moisture and from the action of heat. Wickedness of Blondes. A writer in the Atlantic Monthly says: I have found the worst femi nine qualities almost invariably allied to the blonde style; not the green or gray eyed blondes, with straight, abundant hair and fresh coloring, but the swallow or pallid being, with light blue eyes, and limp or waving hah—an innocent-looking creature, with feline manners, patte dr, velours, and such claws! These are the women who delude and destroy men; who never forgive an injury or forget a slight; who smile and talk sweetly, and put on airs of meek piety or high art and refinement, but under all are scheming, unprincipled, false to the core. Did not Lucretia Bor gia have golden hair? Was not Lady Macbeth a Scottish woman, presumably with lint-white locks ? Two of the worst and most brilliant woman I ever knew had this style of complexion, and the lovelv being whose picture was my child ish adoration, who sat simpering over the library shelf in dear old Uncle W. 's house, robed in satin and sables, her gold hair curling like a child’s, her sap phire eyes as inscrutable as a deep spring, her rosebud lips soft and fresh as a baby’s, and her taper white lingers crossed in her lap, was a virago, a drunk ard, a woman without a symptom of principle—the mystery and the curse of the old and honorable family she mar ried into. Black-haired and dark-eyed women are quick-tempered, electric, generous, jealous probably, but full of relenting, and capable of being coaxed into or out of anything. Weak as to their affections, snappy as to their tem per; warm of heart and hot of head, they are never vpry bad or very good, and are the delightful torment of every man who loves them and whom they do not love too much; but love makes slaves and fools of them, and they are ridiculously constant. Incurables Not Taken. “Mrs. Topnoody,” said Mr. TANARUS., at breakfast, “if you don’t stop your ever lasting wrangle I’ll go to the lunatic asy lum.” “Oh, you will, will you?” replied Mrs. Topnoody “Yes, I will, and that gladly.” “But you won’t, all the same.” “Why won’t I?” “Why?” “Yes, I say why?” “Well, because they don’t take incura bles, that’s why.” Topnoody went down town without finishing his breakfast, and wrote a letter to the authorities for information re specting qualifications for admission to the asylum. A Colored Beau Brummel. There was a ball the other night that was attended by the elite of the colored aristocracy of Galveston. Jim Webster, who is of very light complexion, and rather proud of it, was there. He invit ed one of the colored ladies, who is blacker than the ace of spades, to dance, but she put on immense airs because lie didn’t wear gloves, fearing he might soil her dress with his hands. “Look iieah, Sukey,” said Jim, “ef yer didn’t wash yerself fore you corned here I don’t want to swing corners wid you, nohow. I don’t want- to hab ter use a scrubbin’ brush on my bans ebery time I slings one ob dese black heifers around. ’ ’ If you want to find out how little a man knows about himself aud family, give him an insurance “ application” to fill out. If you want to see how little he knows about anything, put him on the witneßS-staud. Hawk- Eye. ENTERTAINING PARAGRAPHS. Whole-soled—the Chicago girL Free of charge—an empty gun, The funniest part of a deg's toil ifl th wag. It's the Gentile tiling in Mermondom to have only one wife. Noodle— a person who hasn't sufficient hack-bono to l>o a fool. Vessels are always called she, and yet we hear of mail steamers. There is more fashion in the city, but there’s in-ore stilea in the oountry. Dying in poverty is not as hard m living in poverty, after all tlie novelists say. “Hair switches,” so reads a sign. Bo it does, on tho south end of a horse ia tty-time. Maiden lady's quotation slightly altered from an old aphorism—“ Where single ness is bliss ’tis folly to lie wives.” When one sees a man thrown from liia saddlo over tho head of a horse, he must recognize the [lower behind tho thrown. It was a young housekeeper who set the cuke she had baked for a surprise party out-of-doors, one cold night, to be frosted. A prisoner at the grate. Turnkey— “ Are yon in for contempt?” Prisoner (with indignation)—“No, Rir, I haven't fallen that low—it’s a simple drunk.” When a grocer advertises every variety of “raisins” for sale, does he include derricks, pulleys, jack serews, yeast, rope and tackle, and that sort of tiling? “What doos ‘encore’mean?” asks an exchange. It is only one phase of a universal desire among the sons of men to get something for nothing, aud get it right oft'. Beaconsfield ascribes all his great ness to woman. Adam laid all his trouble to the same source. Adam, we are ashamed of you. Beaconsfield, you are a gentleman. Thf, funniest patent medicine is tho “humor pad,” made expressly to tickle the ribs of the mournful. Paragraphers are manufacturing these pads in quan tities to suit. “Linked for life” is how tho Syracuse Standard heads a marriage notice. How forcibly this reminds ns of Byron’s beau tiful lines, “I saw two sausages in the hues of youth.” “Come right into the house, children,” shouted Mrs. Shuttle. “You are making more noise and uproar than a session of Congress. Wliat do you suppose the neighbors think?” A California heiress was left $50,000 worth of diamonds which she could take possession of on her wedding day, and it is not surprising that the first fellow who offered himself was accepted. “Your opponent was a bright speak er,” tho citizen said to tho candidate who had not been elected by 2,000 ma jority. “Yea,” was the sad reply, “very bright. He cast reflections upon me all through the campaign.” A lady was praising the amiability of her friend’s husband, and asked how in the world she had ever brought him to such perfection, whereupon the friend sweetly answered that she did it chiefly with a croquet-mallet. There was a fight imminent between two boys. One of them darkly intima ted that he was bigger than the otLo*. The smaller, who is the son of a deacon, defiantly retorted, “I don’t care if you’re as big as a church debt; you can’t scare me. ” — Danbury Mews. JOSH BILLINGS’ WISDOM. [Correctly Spelled From Hie New “Cook Rook.” j The man who gets bit twice by the same dog is better adapted for that kind of business than any other. There is a great deal of religion in this world that is like a life-preserver, only put on at the moment of immediate dan ger and then half tho time put on hind side before. Experience is a school where a man leams what a big 100 l he has been. The man who doesn’t believe in any hereafter has got a dreadfully mean opinion of himself and his chances. There are two kinds of fools in this world—those who can’t change their opinions and those who won’t. A good doctor is a gentleman to whom we pay three dollars a visit for advising us to eat less and exercise more. Out in the world men show us two sides to their characters; by the fireside only one. The world is filling up with educated f oO [ s —mankind read too much and learn too little. Every man has his follies and often times they are the most interesting things he has got. The Yard Measure. Every one is acquainted with the na ture and utility of the yard measure. It is the British standard of length, regulat ing all other measures, and consequently is the foundation of business transactions and professional operations of many dif ferent kinds. But its high utility is en tirely dependent upon its fixed and uniform dimensions. It would be in the greatest degree inconvenient and unsatis factory if a yard in one part of the kingdom meant something different to the measure which passed under the same name in another, or if the least variation were found in the yard measures of different parts. Hence it is necessary to have somo authoritative standard by which the dimensions of the yard shall be accurately adjusted, and according to which the iegality or otherwise of any measurement may be determined. Many curious particulars are connected with tlie formation of this authoritative standard of the country; and few persons unacquainted with the facts would have any idea of the interest which thus at taches to so common an object as the yard measure. In our early history dis putes often arose in the measurement of cloth, etc., and frauds were frequently committed. To check them Henry I. ordered a standard yard to be made and kept at Winchester, and decreed that it should be of the length of his own arm. This was a rough and ready mode of set tling the matter, which presents the greatest contrast to the formation of a standard measure to the present time. The disadvantage attending it was that, in the event of the standard being lost or destroyed, it would be next to impossible to construct another of precisely the the same dimensions. To avoid any such difficulty, a scientific basis has been taken in modem times for the formation of the standard yard measure. Plainly stated, this basis is the exact length of the clock pendulum which vibrates seconds of time in the latitudo of Lon don. This may appear to some to be a simple rule, by which the standard may be determined with comparative ease; but on the contrary, it is a matter requir ing the most minute and accurate re search, which only astronomers and mathematicians of the highest attain ments are competent to undertake. A man who has not apiece of property big enough to put a mortgage on is con sidered oor. NO. 25,