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1 Tmmmj riiikeu. A party of men assembled at Tommy Oeot ■ bar-room, and after com paring notes and telling aoms big • tones, the •onrermtion gradually drifted to the comparative sixes of the cheats of the parties present Finally someone pro- V- ed that they measure chests. A, tape line was accordingly procured and the measuring commenced. Each party ■welled his chest to its greatest capacity, end the measuring continued with an abundance of mirth and good humor. At last Qent took the line, and passed it around the chest erf H Qoinn, and was apparently greatly pleased with the re sult To express bis satisfaction, he placed his hands on either side erf Quinn's head and commenced nibbing his ears. He had drawn, his hands across the ears only twice, when he was frightened nearly out of his wits by seeing a bright flame shoot quickly upward, reaching nearly to the ceiling. The friction caused by rubbing the ears seemed to have caused the spark, which ignited the hair aqd the blaze sprang up almost in stantly. To say that Qent was horrified is put ting it mild. He thought he had been the involuntary tool used to bring about Quinn’s destruction by fire. The reader can imagine what his feelings would be were he to simply place his hand on a friend’s ear and instantly he should find the friend’s head in flames. Gent sprang back, threw up his hands, and ejaculated: “ My God! what is it?” And still the flamemrfolle&pfc. Gent's face turned*pale and tbs ftfher gentlemen in . the party hastily made room for the “human flambeau, who, as he hastily paced the room, reminded one forcibly of the Circassian beauty with the red porcupine hair, only he had fire instead of hair. Some of the inmates of the room yelled “fire, Are,” and others of a more religious turn of mind commenced praying. Gent’s knees were beating the devil's tattoo on each other, as he ner vously clung to the counter. He subse <jufcnfcly said he thought the master me chanic from Hades had surely come to see him. Finally, after some lively work, fee man whose head was being cremated succeeded in extinguishing fee confla gration without calling out the fire de partment. As soon as he had the fire un der control his companions regained their senses and gradually approached him. “Sure an’ I didn’t know you was loaded,” said Gent. * “Do you have such Bpells often?” asked another. ** I know you were gassing fearfully,” chimed in a third; “but I didn’t think you would go off in that way.” And so they continued, while the man who was indulging in the torchlight pro cession proceeded to explain. It seems feat Quinnisa baker of bread, and while at work frequently has occa sion to look in the ovens, which are dark. When doing so he merely strikes a match. In order to have the matches handy, he has acquired a habit of carry ing a handful back of his ears. Using ears for a match-safe is anew idea, and should be patented. However the matches being stored away in the suburbs of Quinn’s ears, they were ignited by coming in contact with Gent’s hand.!}, which are made rough by honest toil, The hair was oily, aud what followed was nothing more nor less than an oil lire.— -Oil Citu Derrick. Playing-Cards. "Not many French cards were ever sold in the American markets, comparatively speaking, although these jrmnnfaotnr. were exceedingly fine—a linen card/thin, strong and delicate, and nioe to handle. The great bulk of imported cards were from English manufacturers, as they are to-day. The English cards excel in the beauty of their finished geometrical de- • signs for their backs being ornamented with fine colors and gildidg to an extent never attempted with the American article. This elegance 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 the price asked for them—about double that of American cards, the latter being even a better article. But, as has been hinted, of late years great progress has been made in the manufacture of playing cards in this country, until at present no better goods can be found in any market than are af forded by United States makers. Tire 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 the at tributes considered desirable by card players. The English manufacturers have been trying to copy the results at tained in American round-cornered cards by ‘ ‘dicing out” the stock; but in this effort they failed signally, since the card cannot be cut in that way without fatally injuring its edges and quality. Conse quently a couple of card-cutting machines have been sent to England from this country, and, by the use of Yankee (or Jewish) methods, no doubt our cousins will achieve better success. —Boston Herald. The Planet Mars. Professor Lockyer is of the opinion that human life on the planet Mars may he very much like human life on the earth; the light cannot be so bright, but the organs of sight may be so much more susceptible as to make the vision quite as good. The heat is probably less, as the polar snows certainly extend further, but by no means less in propor tion to the lessened power of the solar rays. The professor agrees with others, that several remarkable seas—including inland seas, some of them connected and some not connected by straits with still larger seas—are now definable in the southern hemisphere, in which, as is the case also with the earth, water seems to be much more widely spread than in the northern hemisphere. There is, for ex ample, a southern sea,, exceedingly like the Baltic in shape ; and there is another and still more remarkable sea, now de fined by the observations of many as tronomers—one near the equator, a long straggling arm, twisting almost in the shape of an S laid on its back, from east to west, at least 1,000 miles in length and 400 in breadth. Gras-dma 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. Toils. If yon want knowledge, you must toil for it; if food, yon must toil for it; and if pleasure, you must toil for it. Toil is the law. Pleasure comes through toil, and not by aelf-indulgenoe and in dolenoe. When one gets to love work, bis life is a happy one.— Butkin. ELLIJAY 981 COURIER. I W. V. OOMBSI Editor and Fobli.h.r J OUR YOUNG FOLKS. DOS. Thta la Don, th dot of dof*. dr, Jmt aa ttooo ootrank frog*, wtr. Just as eagles an superior To buzzards and that tribe Inferior. He’s a shepherd, lad—a' *r — And to poize him seems a duty. Bat it puts nr pen to ziizise. W, When hia virtues I would nMOO. dr . “ Don! come heie, aud bend your head now, I*t us see your best well-breed hew I" Wee there ever ‘uch a croaturef Common sense In evrrr feature) ** Don! rise up and look sroe ad you!” Blessings on the day we found you. Sell him) well, upon ray weed, atr, That’s a notion too absurd, itr, Would I sell our little Ally, Barter Tom dispose of Sally, Think you I'd negotiate .. Sell oar Poo t you’re surely joking, And ’tie fun at o? you’rqtooting! Twenty voytgos We’ve tried, air. Sleeping, waking, side bt side, dr. And Don I will not divide, air; He’s my friend, that’s why I lore him— And no mortal dog’s above him? He prefers a life aquatic, But never dog was leaa dogmatic. Years ago, when I was master Of a tignt brig called the Castor, Don and I were bound for Cadis, With the loveliest of the ladies And her hoy—a stalwart, hearty, Crowing, one-year infant party. Full of childhood’s myrtadgracea, Bubbling sunshine in our faces As we bowled along so steady, Half way home, or more already. How the Sailors loved our darling! No more swearing, no more suarling; On their hacks, when not on duty, Round they bore the blue-eyed beauty singing, shouting, leaping, prancing, >ll the crew took turua in aancing: Every tar played Punchinello With the pretty laughing fellow; Even the second-mate gave sly winks At the noisy midnlay high jinks. Never was acrevreo nappy With a curly-headed chappy, Never were such sport* gigantic. Never dog with joy more antic. While thus jolly, all together, There blew up a change of weather. Nothing stormy, but quite breezy, Aud the wind grew damp and wheezv, Lite 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, lire a rifle w hen ’tie slightly overloaded. But by no means nigh exploded. ’Twas the coming on of twilight* > s we stood abaft the skylight Scampering round to please the baby, fOld Bill Benson held birr, maybe), When the youngster Mtched his fingers Toward the spot where sunset Ungers, And with strong and sudden motion Leaped into the weltering ocean I " What did Don do?” Ga ’t you guess, sir? He sprang also—by express—air; Seised the infant’s little dress, sir, Held the baby's head up boldly From the waves that rushed sd coldly; And In juat about a minute Our boat had them safe within it. Sell him I Would you sell your brother? Don and I love one another. •.a **** As MILLY’S RUNAWAY. “Oh! Aunt Milly. Tell us something that happened when you were a little girl,” said Jamie Williams, as he threw himnelf down on the carpet, before the glowing coals, which both warmed and lighted the pleasant sitting-room. “Yes,” said Mabel, “something that happened ever and ever so long ago, when yon 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 the traces of scliool-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 the sup per, and made preparations for break fast. “Well,” . said Anntie, musingly, “did lever tell you, about the time 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 bar treasure house of facts and fanoiei. “Well,” sho 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 me 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 irom fee 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 wife 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 the patch of burdocks, where I had fallen, and took another ride, burdocks and aIL” “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 anntie, “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 the top of the leanto 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.” Anntie stroked fee brown hair as she continued: “The school-house was clear across fee play-ground, which was fenced in. This particular afterroon fee 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, tiio l toys all at once commenced to yell, more like wild Indians than civilized white boys,” and she smiled roguishly at Jimie. ELLIJAY, GA., FRIDAY, FEBRUARY.2S, IBSI. Recollections erf a certain noisy game of the forenoon, made Jamie blush, bnt he laughed, too, and said: “Well, auntie, what is a fellow to do ? The noise just hollered itself. ” Auntie drew the plnmp fingers into her own, and petting them affectionately, went on: “At fee first scream, fee horse pricked np her ears, and at the second started for the gate on a run. The little hands holding the bridle were powerleaa to hold fee fright ened creature. On, on—faster snd fast er, she sped with her frail burden, rftill clinging to the reins. “After running in this way sbont a mile, I thought of the lane winch led to the honse, and felt certain in. tumincr fee chare comer at snoh a pace, I could doa bold on, and then looking up, I saw fee house of Mr. Shaw neat by. This was fee home of my dearest-ttend, and a place familiar also to fe4 rnftaway horse. It was fee work erf an instant to turn the horse’s head towards fee gate, and the horse when she found herself to fee old hitching-poet—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 fee horse stopped and I realized feat I waa saved, I began to tremble ■ little. In a few min tea the young man, Henry Ad ams, rode up. He had started as soon as he found my horse was running away with me, bnt oould not catoh me. Hia pony oould not run as fast as mine. I won that race fairly," and anntie smiled on the 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 we met father coming on old Nellie. Bome one 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 oftny passion for horseback riding. Since then I have had many horseback rides, but never a runaway. ” The mother coming in wife fee lamp, anntie lookup 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. Sam Houston’s Romance. Bom in Virginia in 1793, left an or phan in boyhood, Sam- Houston* went with his mother to Tennessee, where ho supported her with his cvn industry, fens calif frurffftaftßyt fu 1813, at the age of 20, he enlisted under Gen. Jackson in the Creek war, and for his repeated deeds of gallantry he 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, and late in 1828 the marriage ceremony was performed with unusual pomp. The next day Houston resigned hiß office, crossed fee 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 Gtov. 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 ner appli cation for a divorce on the plea of deser tion, and his bride was married to the man 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 charge of domestic infidelity could be true in a man who denied it to the estimable lady who afterward became hia 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, bnt 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 yon get many orders ?” “ Yes, father,” answered the new-fledged drummer; “ I got quite a number.” “Good!” ex claimed the delighted father. “I knew yon would succeed. The yqung man grinned and answered: “ Well, the first order I got was in Squashbog. I went into a man’s store there and he said ‘ git ont 1’ In Bungyille I got my second order. This time it was ‘ skip 1' My third order was ‘chase yourself ’round. ’ My next order wss ‘scoot,’ and—” Bnt the old gentleman hastily arose and, kicking hisHopeful's sample case across the office, sternly command ed the young man to go ont and help Jim load the truck. To be effectively honest a man must be honest at Heart. Honesty that comes through a bell punch is full of hole*. Cruelty and Cirittiation. The mutilations of pnponers exhib ited on Assyrian sculptural are not Bur passed in cruelty by any tre find among fee most blood-thirsty cjl wild races ; and Rameees H.. who delghted in hav ing himself sculptured on temple walls throughout Egypt as holding a dozen captives by thehair and staking off their head* at a blow, slaughtered during his conquests mare human beings than a thousand chiefs of savage tribes put to gether. The tortures inflated on captured enemies by Bed Indiana are not greater than write those inflicted <rf old on fel ons by crutpßxkm, at cm inspected reb els by sewing them up ta tiw hides of slaughtered animals, or tj, Jieretios by smearing them over with cifuibnstibb a and setting fire to then- iTh* described as ao utterlyjleart. •U* they laugh on seeing one rf then her killed by a wild are not than were fee Romans, rfeo made snob elaborate provisions for gratifying them selves by watching wholesale slaughters in their arenas. If fee numbers de stroyed byfee hordes of Attila were not equaled by the numbers .which fee Ro man unm d—liuyud at tge conquest of Selucia, and by the numbirs of the Jews massatoed under Hadrian, it was simply because fee occasion did] not _ jrmit. Hie cruelties of Nero, tiallienns, and the rest may compare -with those of Zingis and Timour ; and wh.’Jn we read erf Caracalla, feat after bh pad 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 leas than that which deifies the most sanguinary chiefs among the worst of savages. Nor did Christianity greatly change matters. Throughout medimval Europe politioal offenses Tmd religious dissent Drought on men carefully de vised agonies, equaling* if not exceed ing. any inflicted by the most brutal of barbarians.— Herbert Spencer, in Fort nightlj/ Review. Stenographic Blonder*. From a paper on blunders, by F. J. Morgan, of Syracuse, we ektract the fol lowing as ludicrous instances of steno graphic interpretation aftd transcrip tion : Gross receipts—Grocery seats. Tam arack knees—Dorn riokety knees. The mother’s prayer The qfttters prior. He was a little fellow—HJ was “a little full. They capturod two JParrott, guns —They captured two piraV guns. The woman was baking bread—Thfe woman was begging bread. I found fee horse in feat pasture—l found )1m horse in that posture—Counsel pffiuMV paper in ( evidence—Counsel .braMt ] pauper in , .evidence. JUfeujv Jfoi&C ti*i ck;dk talk evangelist Arthur ” Waite, the j Choctaw evangelist The showers were | not sufficient to meet the wants of mill- j men—wants of milkmen. In the inter- j vening time he said nothing—ln the entire evening time he said nothing. I came with my brothers, Horace and Henry—l come with my brother’s horse and Henry. A medical witness, speak ing of the illness of a lady patient, said : “ Sho appeared to be somewhat un- i strung and nervous.” Tlie transcriber made him say “Sho appeared to be 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 fee 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 liow she came to be employed by plaintiff, ' and she answered: “I saw a sign in fee window, ‘Female clerks wanted here.’” The blundering reporter rendered it: “Family colo. warranted here.” An orator referred to the different religiona sects or denominations “going for one another” throughout the country, and said: “ Here we have one sect persecut ing and was so reported, but the transcriber rendered it: “Here we have one sick person feeding another,” and so it appeared in fee next-morning papers. ( Several years ago an eminent lawyer hired a stenographer to take testimony in an important case. Tile transcrilied minutes astonished him. A “patent,” upon which much depended in the suit, was converted into a “potentate;” a “solid frame” was turned into an “iso lated farm;” the “furnaces of this coun try” were set down as “Fenians of this country;” “ clerks and bartenders” wero made “clocks and barometers;” and the question, “Were you in the habit of visiting the house?” was written, “Were you in fee habit of fastening the hose ?” , A A French Woman’s Yalor. Visitors to Paris oannot fail to have seen in the great 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 the Rhine. She was pres- | ent at the taking of Magenta, and during ! that melee saw a couple of Austrian sol- j 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 the Thirty second Regiment of the Line as canti niere. One day after the armistice had been proclaimed, she was insulted by a Bavarian soldier, near the gates of Thion ville. The plucky cantiniere drew out her revolver and stretched the aggressor 1 dead on the ground. For this she was arrested, tried by a court martial sitting ! at Metz, and condemned to death. On the day she was to he executed Prinbe j Frederick Charles hap|>er id to lie passing 1 through Metz. Having learned that a woman was to be shot, ha inquired into j 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 by a pension allowed her ' by the State, manages to live, aa she is ' proud of saying, independently. The London Cabby. The London cabby is at ones a phil osopher sud a wit, a sort of English Diogenes ou his tub iustead of in it. He bas triumphed over every obstruction, even over the Loudon fog. Weather is nothing to him as long as he can raise a fare. When he can't raise a fare he chaffs at the passing world. His bed, as a rule, is his box, and he hat been known to take a nap there occasionally. He is a much-abused porson, but, on the whole, he is a civil, cheery, well-conducted per son, particularly gallant to nervous old ladies and almost a rival of fee guards or of the “bobbies” with the nursery maids, for he has inherited the Brink of Sam Weller, and nothing could possibly re sist that Hia tribe is very numerous, there being fourteen thousand of him, notwithstanding nnderground and over ground railroads and 'busses innumera ble. A mission has been started in Lon don for his special spiritual and moral improvement, but he doesn’t seem to take kindly to the movement; in fact, it is hard to see how he can find time to attend a mission. Of the 14,000 cabbies, 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 exoused for taking an occasional nip, it would snrely be London cabmen, who are con stantly exposed to every kind of ths worst weather feat over was invented. Sir E. Henderson, chief of the London police, stated at a recent meeting that he discovered a gradual improvement in ths cabby. There has been a considerable diminution during ths post year in the number of cabmen brought 'before the authorities for drunkenness, but in this respect they had as yet by no means reuohod the point of moral elevation at tained by omnibus men and stage-drivers. Out of 4,400 omDitms men there was only 11 oonvictions for drunkenness during the year, and of .3,200 stage-drivers only 26. In 11,000 cabmen there had been 1,100 convictions, a reduction of 260 on the previous year. They were also rather addicted to furious driving, a fault that probably bears a corresponding ratio to gin. Origin of Cyclone*. For too purpose of discovering the causes which determine the progressive movement of storms, I have made on 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 the West India Islands, and whoa* jiatha have been carefully investigated, mud also all the storm tracks delineate* , on the maps of fee montlilyjNreatherjjfc view. have tkwwiso* ed|gHWitMP those hurricanes in Souther)! Asia and its vicinity whose paths have been beat determined, and all the storm tracks de lineated on the majia of the international series of observations. Tho following summary presents some of fee resnlta 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) Tlie ordinary course of tropical hur ricanes is toward tlie northwestward. In a few cases they sown to have advanced toward a point a little south of west, and in a few cases their course has been al most exactly toward the north. (3) Tropical hurricanes are invariably ac companied by a violent fall of rain. Tlie rainfall is never less than five inches in twenty-four hours for a portion of tho track and frequently it exceeds ten inches in twenty-four hours. (4) Tropical storms aro generally preceded by a northerly wind, and after the passage of the low center tho wind generally veers to the southeast at stations near the center, and too southerly wind which follows tho low center, is generally stronger than the northerly wind which preceded it. This fact appears to suggest toe ex planation of the origin of the cyclone and the direction of its progressive move ment. Tho prevalent direction of fee wind in the neighborhood of the West India Islands is from the noitheast. 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 ram sometimes results. When the rain com mences tlie latent heat whioh 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 oontiUfees. 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 tho normal from the northeast the center of low pressure is usually carried in a direction between the north and west.— Prof. Elias Loomis. Negri 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 yon will agree with me, though precious, is obviously a fragment only.’’ The fact is that all negro songs are in some sense “fragments, foi the} arc never exactly complete—that is, there is no regular beginning nor end to them, but, with the perpetually recuri iQg re frain of the choius, the solo lines can be, and are, stretched out to suit the fancy of the singer. The music of ‘ Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” is given in several publications of the “jubilee” ordei, but the words are never twice alike. There is a scrap of nogro ditty, probably more thasouglily Ethiopian than anything now to Ik; heard in the United States, quoted in Michael Scott's story of ‘Tom Cringle's Log,” as follows: * Fader wm * Corram.nlee, Moddei tui Mingo; JBleck pukanlny burr* wants*, St den srll-a me Peter, bn Jingo, Jlggery, jlkgerjr, 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. STJBSCKirTIOX - I VI .AIM rV • i.ftO per Annum VUI /. Vl. JN U, O, POPULAR SCIENCR. Fon articles of rubber which hare be come hard and brittle Dr. Pol recom mends the following treatment: Im merse tbe articles in a mixture of water of ammonia one part and water two parts, tor a time varying from a few minntes to an hour, according to the circumstances of tho case: When the mixture has act ed enough on the rubber itwill be found to have recovered all its elasticity, smoothness and softness. Thb royal engineers have tried the ef fect of gun-cotton In bringing down two old chimneys at the dock-yard extension works, Chatham, England. Tbe first was demolished by placing a necklace of gun-cotton inside the chimney, the total charge consistingof about four and a half pounds. The second was de stroyed by placing six charges of the ex plosive in the center of the base of the chimney, the total charge weighing .twenty-eight ounces. Hie 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 biograpLy of the subject, Dr. Otto Kuutze maintai s, but on ground not (juite satisfactory, shat the guff 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 reproduction. There does not appear to be any good reason for assigning a definite and con stant area to the Sargasso sea. Patches of weed occur more frequently in the re gion of oalms, but sometimes there is very little of the weed there. Winds also affect the distribution of the patohes with regard to each other and tne posi tion of the whole mass of weed. Attention has been directed by M. Morirte 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 gonized 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 Wten albumxkdtstb, oc gummed water is add ed powder solid cakes or cubes maydiobroken up, as occasion may re quire, for soups or sauces. This nutri ome is admirably qualified to sustain physioal vigor, and it can be preserved for any length of time if it is kept from the deteriorating influenoe of an atmos phere chuqgrfwith moifture and from the action at heat. WWiWMiis-wf uittksm, ■ ——% A writer in the Atlantic. Monthly aays: 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 hair—aD innocent-looking oreature, with feline manners, pattc do 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 looks ? Two of the worst and most brilliant woman I ever knew had this style of complexion, and the lovely 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 os a deep spring, her rosebud lips soft and fresh as a baby’s, and her taper white fingers crossed in her lap, was a virago, a drunk ard, a woman without a symptom of 1 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 iieing coaxed into or out of anything. Weak ns to their affections, snappy as to their tem per; warm of heart and hot of head, they are never very had 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. Man’s Self-Importance. Mrs. Jameson, fn 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 whioh 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 delicaoy 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 oonceived: “Great men direct the 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 persons of mediocrity of intellect a clever man will appeal to have less spirit than those around him who possess the least, because he is dis placed in their oompauy.” ENTERTAINING PARAGRAPHS. Wnout-aoum—-the Chicago girL Frrb of charge—an empty gun. Tux funniest part of a dog’s toil is tbs It's the Gentile thing in M-srmandom to have only one wife. Noodle—a person who hasn't suftlcient back-bone to be e fool. Vessels are always called the, and yet we hear of mail steamers. There is more fashion in the city, bat there's more Rtilee in the oountry. Dnxo in poverty is not as hard ss living in poverty, after all the novelists say. “Hair switches,” so reads a sign. So it does, on the south end of a hone in flv-time. from an old aphorism—“ Where single ness is bliss ’tia folly to be wives." When one sees a man thrown from his saddle over the head of a horse, he must recognize the power behind the thrown. It was a young housekeeper who set the cake she had baked for a surprise party out-of-doors, one cold night, to be frosted. A prisoner at the grate. Turnkey— “ Are you in for contempt?” Prisoner (with indignation)—“No, sir, 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 thing? • “What does ‘eficore'.iian?” asks an exchange. It is only one phase of a universal desire among the sons of men to get something for nothing, and get it right off. Beaconsfteld 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. Thb funniest patent medicine is the “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 the Syracuse Standard heads a marriage notice. How forcibly this reminds us of Byron’s beau tiful lines, “I sa* two sausages in ths hues of youth.” “Come right into thelionse, children,” shouted Mrs. Shuttle. “Yon ore making more noise and uproar than a session of Congress. What do you suppose the neighbors think?” A Calipopria 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. “Youb opponent was a bright speak er,” the citizen said to the candidate who had not been elected by 2,000 ma jority. “Yes,” was the sad reply, “very bright He cast reflections upon me all through the oampaign.” A lady was praising the amiability of her friend’s husband, aiul asked how in tho world Blie had over brought him to such perfection, whereupon the friend sweetly answered that Bhe did it chiefly with a croquet-mallet. Therb was a fight imminent between two boys. One of them darkly intima ted that he was bigger than the other. The smaller, who is the son of a deacon, defiantly retorted, “I don’t care if you’re as big as a church debt; yop can’t scare me. Danbury News. JOSH BILLINGS’ WISDOM. ... fCnrrectly Spl!ed From Hl* Now “Cook Book. 1 ’! The man who gets bit twice by tha same dog is 1 letter 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 tho moment of immediate dsfi ger and then half the time put on hind side before. Experience is a school where a man learns what a big fool ho has been. The man who doesn’t believe in any hereafter lias 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 fools—mankind read too much and learn too little. Every man has his follies and often times they are Uie most interesting things lie has got. The Dine Doctor. One of the curiosities of Paris is Dr. Cnirou, 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, no for medicaments, but for an upholster er, and ordered thir tradesman at one* to refurnish the whole of the 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. Chiron 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 method^” 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 The Difference. “The difference," said Augustus Mill whiffies, sauntering into the library the other day—“the difference between the works of Captain Cook and the works of Beaumont and Fletcher is, I presume, that the former are 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 ha shut the door. Secretary Evabts says there are mow Bostonians in Brooklyn than there are in Boston. Joseph H. Choate, the Secre tary’s law partner, says he has lived in Brooklyn a good many years, and out of 60,000 Brooklyn people he has never been able to find a single one who was born within the oity limits. —Botton Pott.