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6 fEIMA'S FORTUNE! on,— The Stolen Heiress. A TALE OF NEW YORK IN 1835, BY PROF. WM. HENRY PECK, ACTHOB 07 * The Queen Secret “ The Toner of Go'J,’ * The llilf-li, - ed,” "Harold's llitef * The llride of Barcelona Etc. ( H AFTER XXVll.—Contintkd. “Well, what of that, Senora?” he asked, with a vain effort to appear at his ease. “I care nothing for that." Fame Grippard returned the letter to hei pocket, cackling horribly to herself, and said quietly: “This letter was written last night bj James Bratton, to be delivered to me this morning. That is what it means, Captain. Tie wrote it just before he was murdered and I repeat that he was murdered by you, or by your connivance.” The Captain, hot as fire and cold as ice in rapid alternation, stared at the dame in a helpless way, unable to utter a word. Had he be- n sure of escaping the con sequences of another murder, he would then and there have leaped upon her, and strangled her with his own hands. But at this instant both ho and the dame heard the sound of approaching footsteps on tho near stairway. The sound was made by the undertaker and his assistants, on their way to take charge of the body of James Bratton till the wishes of his widow should be fully ascertained in regard to its future disposal. Th v passed the open door of the room in which the Captain and the dame were seated. They were seen by the pair, and also thems lves saw tbe pair in the room. They passed on in silence, after bowing. The dime then continued to the Captain: “While I was just now in the room to which those men are going, and after I had gazed for a moment at the dead face on the bed, I chanced to wish to take a look at the contents of a waste-basket, which stood partially under the writing-table in the middle of the room. You are listening, Captain'” “Oh, yes, Senora —I am all attention,’ gasped the Captain, his heart in his throat. “Good, Captain. You will hear some thing which will surprise you and that fel. low below —your tfoir Secretary Bazilio The waste-basket was nearly full of shreds of letters and papers which Bratton nc doubt tore up last night. ” “But Bazilio swore to me this morning,’ thought the freshly terrified Captain, “that he burned to ashes every letter written last night by Bratton." “You are trembling. Captain, and well you may, " continued'tlie dame, exultantly. “I had already wondered that Bratton had left no scrap of writing for bis wife, tc whom lie was foolishly devoted. I won dered if he had written to her, and after ward torn the letter to bits. I have befoi'6 to-day found a clew to important secrets ir bits of paper in waste-baskets, Captain.” “May she be strangled some near day!’ he ejaculated in his heart. “I had hardly put my fingers into tht waste-basket, Captain, when they grasped the letter whose superscription 1 h ive just shown to you. There was a man iu the room—left there to guard the body—but he did iot look at me. He was looking out of the window. I broke the seal and read tho letter unseen by that man. Are you very attentive to all I am saying, my dear Cap tain?" ‘'Certainly, Sonora, though the affair does not touch me as you imagine.” “Perhaps not. Captain. Wait, Hear me to the end. The letter informed me that Bratton intended to vacate Old Anchors this very day. Also, that you paid to him at about sunset last afternoon live one thousand pound Bank of England notes.” Hero the astounded Captain nearly bounded from his scat. “Patience, my do ir Captain. .Tames Bratton set down the individual numbers of those five notes.” “Saint- ot Castile!” menta y ejaculated the terrified Captain. “Bratton a’so dates in this letter, Cap tain, that hr yesterday received by the English ntiil packet- which you may re number arrived at noon yesterday, Captain Bank of England notes to the amount of ox thousand four hundred pounds!” “Ho, that is news to me!” thought the Captain. “Bratton a’so sets down in this letter, t ap i:u. the individual numbers of these note--, as he had s i down the others. Ho states, aiso, tnat it was ms intention to pay me in full to-day, here at Old Anchors, if I came—every penny he owed me—and re quests me in this letter to meet him here to-day, to receive all he owed me. Now, Captain Alfonso Balbata —for the present— does this look as if James Bratton com mitted suicide last night? Eh? Now. my very dear Captain, who is the fortunate | holder of the five thousand pounds von t paid Bratton yesterday at above su- set. and ] ihe six thousand and odd pounds which he I received by yesterday’s arrival of the j English mail packet? Eh?” Balbata had now heard for the first time ! how great a booty Bazilio had obtained by j the murder and robbery of the unfortunate shipchaudh r. But Bazilio's treacherous concealment was a mere trifle in the Captain’s mind compared with what had become known to Daiue Grippard. CHAPTER XXYIIL THE CAPTAIN' CONFESSES. While the Captain was casting wildlv hbout in h,s terrified mind to find some convenient reply to Dame Grippard pointed question, she grasped iris arm, am said sharply: “Are you going to try to lie out of >bi niatter, Balbata? It will be useless. Yo aud your men— Bazilio and Urbandt—com mitted yonder deed. Listen, Captain. Yo will remember when we were above, wait ing for the scuttie to be removed by th Swede, and conversing of our intended contract, aud when I asked you if you had come prepared to pay down this diy, here in Old Anchors, the five thousand pounds sterling required by me. you said you wore ready, and took out your pocketbook and displayed to me >ev ml one-thou sand pound Bank of England notes and said, ;n your arrogant manner, .'■ee, Sonora! lam ready to pay cash for what pleases me. You remember all that. Captain?" “It was probably so, irenora," replied the Captain, much crest-fallen. “I am glad yon think so. Captain. I have a quick eye. and a keen mem ry. Especi- : ally for the numbers of banknotes. Tie number of the uppermost of the notes yon displayed to me was on e-hundred-thousu: and and one. That is easily remembered, is t not? Now. Bratton's letter states th ,t one of the Bank ot England notes paid by you to him yesp rday afternoon was one-hun dred-thousand and one. Now. my dv.ai Captain, pray teil me how that note found its way from Bratton’s pocketbook Ia k v yours. Y'ou state. What can yon do but stare r Let me com; are the numbers of the other notes now in your pock.'Book w :h numbers which are set down Bratter s lettet Ha, I see that you dare ik : -hew those notes to me now!” Dazed and abashed by thi- -t a -y am l >. •- sistless attack, the Captain h i no • t-fm -e to make, save to growi snpp.icn n.g’y “Senora, you have me on the h p my hands are not in the deed. Y\Y at :u,.. \ am I to expect from you. ” “This mercy, and no other, B It i ] am going to keep my h t-d on yur L:o , Captain, till you have paid me. or - ui and Speedy payment to me, of the fifty-five thousand dollars of which you robbed THE MONROE ADVERTISER: FORSYTH. GA„ TUESDAY. FEBRUARY U, 1888.—EIGHT PAGES. James Bratton iast night. I am going to force you. under peril of the ga lows, to givi me a y aid I may ask of you in the ie incval of this young officer, Edward Hawks worthy. in the abduction of \ erneena Bo land. and in the securing for myself the inh ritance which I alone can place within her grasp. And you shall begin the work this very day.” She seem- and to t.ixe huge delight in terri fving the burly Spa ish Captain with her terrific eyis. as she leaned forward in hei chair and glared into his face. Footsteps of someone coming up the stairway fe.l u-n their ears as they gazed ; nto i-a h other's eyes—his, a gaze of dis may; hers, a gaze of vindictive triumph. She hissed at him. venomously: “Baibuta, you at h ast aided in the mur der of James Bratton. Confess tho deed to me, or I will shout, ‘Murder!’ while this person coming up is passing this door. Confess, or I will denounce you as the as sassin and robber of James Bratton! List en! You hear approaching steps? If you do not admit the murder to me before that person ” “Hear, me, Senora! Bazilio did the deed! By my soul, and the soul of my mother, Senora, I did not kill the man, nor did I wish Bazilio to kill him. I ” “Enough!” commanded the dame. “The person will hear! Ho is alone. He is another of the undertaker's assistants. I know him. He is coming to us. ” A moment later the man who bad ascend ed the stairs paused at the threshold of the room, looked in, bowed to the dame, and said: “Please tell me where to find Mr. Crape field, Dame Grippard. ” “Keep straight on in the passage, Harly. You will soon hear him and others,” re plied the dame, and the man walked on. She then turned to the Captain and con tinued, sneeringlv: “I am glad you hid your face from that man, Captain. It is as pale as paper. Bah, what a coward you are, after all! But you did well to confess as soon as you did. Another instant’s delay would have heard me denouncing you to that man.” The Captain mopped his forehead hasti ly, growled a curse, took the five one-thou sand-pound Bank of England notes fr m his pocketbook, held them toward the dame, and said, gaspingly: “Senora, take these!” “Not yet, Captain. Wait a while. Go on with what you were about to sav. ” “I was about to repeat, Seuora, that I did not wish the m.tn to be killed. In fact, I told Bazilio not to kill him. Bazilio planned and executed the whole affair. But take these notes as an installment of the sum you demand from me. The saints alone know where I am to obtain the bal ance speedily! Here are five notes. Bazilio has the others. And by heaven, Senora, he robbed me in not letting me even sus pect that ho had obtained so great a sum by the deed! Why not take these five notes now', Sonora?” “Wait, Captain. Another man is coming up the steps. Ah, it is the Swede! Here, Jansen, here!” she added loudly, for the Swede was about to pass on to look again at his dead employer. “I have something important to say to you, Jansen. Come!” Jansen, despisingaud detesting the wom an, nevertheless concluded to comply with her request, and did so. “Th ink you, Jansen. I have an apology to make to you. and will do so presently,” said the da mo, affably, as Jansen baited within the room. “Now, Capta n Balbata,” she added, “will you be so kind as to pay it)b> Jansen’s bands the money of which you spoke just now to me? Do, my dear friend. ” The Captain knew very well that this “Do, my dear friend,” really meant—“if you refuse, I will put the hangman’s rope in the gras,) of this Swede who so devoted ly loved his master!” He at once placed the live notes in Jansen’s hands. The 'Swede accepted them with a stare of amaze ment. "Ho, ho!” cackled the dame. “We do not intend to make you a present of the notes, my good Jansen. You have a pencil and note-book, of course? Yes. Well, record in your note-book the numbers of those fivo notes, please. Then give the uotes aud a duplicate list of their numbers to me, and take c are to keep your list till I call for it, my good man. Captain Balbata pays them to me, you see. “Thank you, Jansen. And now' let me beg your pardon for having even intimated ihat you could have Harmed your late em ployer and for all the bitter and unjust ihings I have said to and of you this day. Oh, lam sure you will forgive a petulant md afflicted old woman like me, my good nan!” “I will bear you no ill-will, Dame Grip pard. I forgive you for all that you have raid of me, but I cannot forgive you for ivhat you have said of Mr. Bratton. He was a good and an honorable man, Dame Grippard.” “And do you still think he was murdered, Irmsen?” she asked. “Indeed, I do, Dame Grippard. Some lay it will all come out.” “Oh, I hope so, Jansen. And now, my good mail, will you do me the favor to go below to the counting-room and ask Mr. Pettis to come right up to this room with Lrs inventories, and to bring with him Mr. Bazi io Alfanti and—and what is the name of your first mate, vajta’u? 1 desire to speak to h m also. ” “His name is Herman Urbandt, Senora; but as ho is almost a fool in matters which do not pertain to ships and th > like, and knows not ing of my ai‘air3, it will be well if li lemains below while we converse with Bazilio.” Very well, Captain. You know best, of course, vausen, say to Mr. Bazilio Alfanti that Cai tain Balbata wishes to speak to him before me in lefeieuce to the cargo aud s pplies desired bv the Captain for the next voyage of his brig. I think that was what you said, Captain.” “Yes. Eenora. The man can say all that, if he pleases.” Jaus u d'parted. A moment later the Captain whisper -d to the t ame, with con centrated fierceness: “Do not drive affairs too far and fast, Senora Grip; nrd! 'lhe man Pettis is a constable. If Iso much as suspect, after he appears, that you intend to betray me to him. by the soul of my mother I will shoot you dead with this!” Here the C iptain threw aside the lapel of h;s coat and revea < and the butt of a pis tol. lie hid the weapon the next instant, saying sternly: I once shot a tigress through he - head whe :uv own Heal eras let ween the jaws of the beast!” -Be ca n:. Captain. It is not to my in terest to betray you n .w. AVhen the day comes—if i: ever dee—when I shall desire to play tigress u on your throat, any threat you may make wdl not cause me to hesi tate in my pur c*e. Take care now. sir. how you presume to play bully with me." ■‘By my soul, Senora, it doe- not please me to Lave a constable at my elbow under the present c rcumstances! He may be quick eno igh to have his sns_ -icion- aroused, despite all your or my cant;o :sn Th it is why I did not wish Urb mlt t ■ co: le up. For I again swear that 1 ibandt knows nothing of vital was done here last night. He is not a -a:‘e mm to have over iv. ■ in what you have discovered. 1 ran m-t him only so far an l no farther. “ * Peitis is drdl-w.tt .and fe low. Captain, i Never fear iu-al he will see or hear aught to arouse his suspicion. He is an ass! A | sleepy-beaded a<, or Biattou would not ! h ive been murdered last night Pettis : shall sus- ect nothing —provided yon and j Ba. Tio ob y my command.’’ i “Ah—and what are commands. Senora?” - First te 1 me a’l you know of the mur der. Captain. Take good care not to even try to conceal the slightest fact from me. You know my power to pum-h you. P,e member it, Captain! He swallowed a curse, and replied somewhat sullenly “By my soul, Senora. I am not likely to gain acl ance to forget it! But I know nolung of how th deed was done, rave as I!: V, been told by Ba- dio I row know that he deceived me iu r* g id to the ■ mount of money he obt n by the i-riiu*. It is posable that he m y have lied more or less about how it was com mitted. However, you 6hall hear all he told me.” He then rapidly narrated to Dame Grip yard all that had been told to him by Bazilio. It did not take him long to do this. The evil pair then began to discuss ether matters, and had been thus engaged several minutes when the dame whispered warningly: “Enough! I hear Pettis and Bazilio joining up. Be calm. ” [TO BE CONTINUED.] NEWS AND NOTES FOR WOMEN. New clover-leaf lace pins are encircled by the stem of the leaf. Tucks are likely to be revived as a garniture for dress skirts. The study of astronomy is becoming fashionable among French ladies., An odd baceiet is composed of twelve small gold enameled flags of as many nations. The newest departure in bangle rings is a tiny vinaigrette pendant, attached by a slender chain. When two fabrics are used on very rich princesse dresses the fronts of the corsage are different. The most popular black silk dress at the present time is a combination oi falle Francaise and watered silk. Some of the newest large hats on chil dren have the sides tied down over the ears by a ribbon which passes over the crown. Anew principle has been devised for cutting dresses of checked materials, thereby minimizing the number of seams. Wide flichu collars of plush, that cover the shoulders and are pointed in front, are used upon short cloth cloaks with pleasing effect. A joint stock company, composed en tirely of women, has been incorporated in Stockton, Cal., for the purpose of dealing in real estate. Some of the newest embroidered wool ens are wrought in self colors, the em broidery being edged with a sort of open-work woolen lace. When passementerie is used upon black dresses, apjrle green, cherry red or white silk is often inserted beneath the gimp, with excellent effect. Some new black jackets of English manufacture have heavy cord epaulettes, and show a narrow waistcoat of red cloth, bordered with small gold but tons. White cloth with Turkish embroidery of gold is a favorite material for dressy bonnets. It is generally used for the soft crown with dark velvet edging on the front. Anew braid is silk soutache, edged with gold or silver. A charming dress of gray striped woolen was decorated with gray braid edged with silver, laid upon gray poult de soie. Inexpensive combination dress pat terns are partly of plain wool and paitly of velvet, striped or barred, either match ing or contrasting with the wool, and come in all the fashionable dark shades. New clothshaving a border woven on one edge are used for long cloaks, the border being placed in two rows upon the front. These borders are of con trasting colors, sometimes showing cashmere designs. Dressy black costumes have the skirts composed of lenthwise rows of cord pas - sementerie and black velvet sash ribbon. The ribbon, which is seven or eight inches wide, has inch-wide stripes of velvet and repped silk. Overdresses of black ladies’ cloth or Henrietta cloth, above lower skirts of plush or cloth in tan color, green terra cotta or the lighter tints, chamois and pearl-gray, are favored by both young and middle aged ladies. A tailor-made costume of fine red serge had the entire bodice, from the throat to the edge of the basque, covered with inch-wide black braid, tapering at the waist, a very effective and becoming arrangement. A lady living in Rappahannock, coun ty, Va., had twelve stands of bees, which were very valuable until a distillery was in the neighborhood. Since it was started, however, the bees pay frequent visits to the still, get very drunk, and are of little profit. Braiding is, as everyone knows, very fashionable, in both wide and narrow braids, and in every conceivable design. A novelty in this line was worked in intricate patterns with smooth rat-tail chenilie, like that so popular in fringe two or three season’s ago. Garabaldi waists, with a pointed yoke and belt, are popular for house wear. Cashmere Jersey cloth, light-weight faced cloth aud line striped liannels are all utilized for these waists, and the yoke, collar, cuffs and belt are generally braided in black or a darker shade of the same color. A stylish costume of black and tan color was made with a polonaise of black cashmere, tan-colored silk being used for the lower skirt and vest. The skirt was edged with .slender leaf points, over fold of velvet, and the fronts of the black bodice were cut in similar points next the tan-colored vest. Now that plain skirts are preferred to •ill others, much depends upon the per fection with which they are hung and the arrangement of their draperies. The highest skill of the dressmaker is often taxed to make the skirt of a heavy cloth costume stand out stylishly at the back without visible support from beneath. Dresses of green wool, combined with green and red velvet, are in high favor With the young ladies. The skirts of these dresses are perfectly plain, and are nearly covered with a long, full overskirt. The velvet is set on the lower skirt as a wide border, either at the edge or three or four inches above it, aud is also used a vest, plas tTon or revers upon the basque. The Queen of Portugal wears the Paris life-savers' medals because, in 1874. while bathing at Cascase with her sons, Charles and Alfonso, eleven and nil e respectively, she swam out to save hei children from drowning. A large wave suddenly swept the children off theii feet, and their mother, in trying to rescue them, came near drowning also, but they were seen by the lighthouse keeper, who dashed in and succeeded in getting them safely to land. Circumstances Against Her Wife at breakfast table) —‘‘Oh dear, I have so much to do. and the children and servants try me sol” Husband—"And you don’t look well, either, my dear.” YVife—“No: but when there is noth ing but turmoil and confusion, and one is expected to look after everything, what possible pleasure is there in being sick?”— Hew York Sun. In All the Papers. Snob—“ What ! Y'ou say you never ieard of me? Why, sir, my name is in ill the papers.” Gentleman —“I’ve no doubt of it. but vou see I never read the criminal court proceedings. ” — Siftings. GINSENG. A WORTHLESS ROOT THAT IS A CHINESE CURE ALL More Than 400.000 Pounds Gath ered Annually in America For Ifexport—lts High Price — Where It Is Found. One of the mysteries in the world of commerce is ginseng. If you speak to an ordinary man about ginseng, he will ask yon what you mean. If you tell him ginseng is an article of commerce iu wh.ch a trafiic of about a million dollars a year is done by Americans, he will stare at you. If you tell him that it has been in certain place- of the world worth its weight in gold, he will probably staie ha.'dcr. If in addition to this you tell him that it is ajvast humbug, and that it is a very ordinary root of an American shrub, almost without a particle of any but imaginary value, he will concede that it is a strange article for traffic. Finally, when he learns that the populace of a vast nation, high and low, consider it a cure-all, and that it enters.into every medicine for every ailment in that nation, he will only understand the matter when he learns that it is the eccentric Chinese to whom this in reality unimportant root is valuable. In China, if a man lias a headache, ginseng is the prescription. If his trou ble is toothache, ginseng is the same remedy again. For all ills, from de pression of spirits to a sore toe, ginseng is the universal remedy. Physicians and authorities of the civil ized world give the assurance that in medicinal properties the root is almost inert—at the most, contains to a very mild extent tonic properties. None but the singular and rice-eating Celestial can feel any effects from the use of.it; but among the Chinamen of this country there is almost no consumption. The root is bought hereby resident Chinamen for home export. They do not use it themselves, however, and inquiry from these Celestial worthies has seldom brought out any satisfactory statements is to what ginseng is good for. The belief among the home Chinese is mostly superstition. It is a sort of fetich, its powers are supposed to be oc cult, of the nature of magic. Iu China the belief is still implicit, and besides the vast amount grown in that country, it receives all that America can supply, which is on the average 425,000 pounds a year. The American wholesale price is now $2.25 a pound. The article is sent mostly in a crude state, but carefully cleaned. A process of heat clarifies it to a hard substance, with a pithy-like, petrified jelly. It is used there as a table delicacy by the rich. Ginseng in China is a Government monopoly, and Prof. Lockhart, of Lon don, is the authority for the statement that it is sold to privileged dealers by the Imperial Government of China, at its weight in gold. This is denied by some American dealers. But the value is still high. The root is very light aud the f>2.25 a pound, its wholesale price here, is enormous. There are certain single roots, espe rially of certain shapies, very rare, which bring from $25 to S4OO, and are aniy possessed by the wealthypelass— mandarins anuT>Th?*s. And yet the wholesale price here is slowly but always steadily rising, and the ridiculous fact i- before us that the price of this futile drug, used by nobody in this country, will in time become greater ! than that of opium itself, as the gradual but sure process of its extermination in America continues. The amount is lim ited by the fact that it can not be culti vated—only the wild kind is of commer cial use, and this is becoming scarcer every year. What, then, is ginseng? Ginseng is the root of a shrub which has flourished for ages in China. It is called in botany, aralia quiriquefolium, quinquefolium meaning five-leaved, and its five-leaved twigs branch off, to the number of three, from a smooth, round stem about a foot high. It happened that in 1700 a priest, one Father P. Fastoux, was diligently em ployed in making a map of Tartarv. During this labor he saw the plant grow ing iu this mystic land, four leagues -lway from the kingdom of Corea, in the ■pot where a Tartar village lay. The Tartars were full of the praise of the fabulous ginseng and its wonderful powers, Father Fastoux becoming an enthusiast also. He had missionary friends on the oilier side of the world, in Canada To these the priest sent some of the root and an extoliment of its prop erties as a cure for ail human ills. Back in due time came the reply that the same root was -well known to the Canada piriests and in full use by the Indians. The American ginseng perhaps differs slightly from the Chinese, for there are five or six varieties of the root, but it possesses all the external attributes of the celestial variety. The ginseng was sent at that time to Europe, and was then first introduced to the civilized world. Even at that date, in the iast century, European savans rudely shattered the illu sion as to the root, and pronounced it almost inert as a drug. It grows about the wild lands and farms of the Northwest and Northeast. As cultivation ruins its flavor, it cannot be made a regular industry, either in growth or collection. In 1840 its price was about i cents per pound. In 1865 it had risen to b 0 cents a pound. Its export now is ;75,000 pounds. The big ge t yield o, all was in 1841, when the export almost do .bled: 1800 had seen a ginseng-collectingci ize.likeag >!d fever, in the rake :-tates where the i eople left their homes, camped for weeks in the hills, raised the export of ginseng to C -C0 ! 0 pounds, the highes export evc-r made, and roote l out the plant so that it has been s arce ever since. At present the best region- for it are New York, Pennsylvania aud hio, the primearticle coming from New Y'ork, the poorest from Miync-ofa. North and south bare lina. In =hort. all parts of the United States where the suuar maple grows were originally i: habitat. The root, the only valuable part of the ginseng, is four or five inches long, and forked. The India;: name for it, “garent oguen,” means leg- apart. “Ginseng” means about the same. Its flavor i- bitter and slight, and ne; her unpleasant nor delectable. Ginseng grow - along the great wall in C hinese Tartarv and Corea The Ameri can is the on'y other supply, except Japanese. The Chinese think this poor, and will not receive it. The Chinese gin-eng mountains are fenced i-. by Government, and patrolled by guards —C i at) • Tim Quill toothpicks came from France. The largest factory in the world is near Paris, where there is an annual product of 20,000,000 quills. The factory was started to make quill pen-, but when these went* out of use it was turned into a toothpick mill. Wooden toothpicks are made principally in Michigan, Wis- CMsin, Indiana and Ohio. Arab Children and Their Games. If the little Arabs are heathen, says ] writer in St. Nicholas, they are least picturesque. In their colored cloth ing, with their dusky skins, their black eyes, and their lithe, active bodies, they are very picturesque. But. it must be confessed, they appear best at a distance; for soap i- not so fashionable among them as might justly be expected from the people of a country which manu factures the most cleansing soap in the world. In watchingtlie children a’ play one soon notices that the girls do nut alwavs have a good time. Arab boys are not trained to be gentlemanly and courteous to their sisters, altougb they treat their elders with a delightful de ference and respect. Little girls in the East are never welcome. When a baby is born, if it be a girl ‘‘the threshold mourns forty days.” So, in taking a glimpse at the amusements of the Arab children, we must be prepared to find that they are chiefly boys’ games, in which the girls seldom participate. A little boy in America asked a person j who had lived in Syria if the boy- there ever played base ball; and on learning that they did not, he said: “Well, they can’t have much fun there.” It is xe;j natural for the children of any country to imagine that the children in othei countries amuse themselves in the same ways. And the number of games that are in reality universal among children in all countries is really remarkable. I - oi example, the Arab childen often play blind-man’s-buff (they call it ghmn maida) and biz zowaia or pus in-the-corner, and a g. me like “button, button, who has got the button?” (whirl: they play with a pebble,) and owal how ah or leapfrog, and giileh or marbles. But there are other games of whirl: you probably have never boat d—such as kurd murboot, shooha joora, taia ya-taia, khatim, and the greatest and most exciting of all games —the na tional game, it might perhaps be called —jereed. Finest Dissectinar-K mm in the World. The College of Physicians and bur geons has the finest dissecting-room in the country, if not in the world, says a New York correspondent. It lias forty tables. These are of modern design and simple in construction, consisting of an iron frame supported by four iron legs, upon which rests a slab of slate weigh ing two hundred pounds. An inch front the margin of this slab is a groove half an inch in depth, intended to convey the drippings into an iron receptacle fast ened to the head of the table, l ive students are assigned to each “cadaver,” so that with the forty tables two hundred men are enabled to work at once. Five hours a day devoted to a subject will en able a group of students to dissect it completely within one week. Each student is assigned to work on a specified portion of tire “cadaver” by a demonstrator of anatomy, and is re quired to dissect an entire body during the first year of his course. If he has failed to'pass a satisfactory examination he is again subjected to a similar task, until his knowledge of anatomy is proved. Strange as it may seem, some students acquire a fanatical fondness for this branch of their study, and are never so happy as when in the dissecting-room. Clad in a loose gown of calico, scalpel in hand, they seem to be in their element, laughing? and jesting merrily as they divide tendon after tendon, and separate muscle after muscle, in their investiga tions of the deep and intricate structure of the human frame. The Talking Dog. Credulity has not often been exempli fied more funnily, a Paris correspondent says, than in a case which has just come off in a police court. The keeper of a public house told a long story of how a customer came into his place one day and asked for a bock, his dog taking a seat beside his master and asking in a strange voice for “a piece of meat” for himself. The other customer, astounded at hearing a dog talk, recommended boniface to buy the animal aud to re christeu bis place “The Talking Dog.” The complainant took the advice, and offered four hundred francs for the dog, who, on hearing the bargain,[cried out to his master: “bo you sell me, do you? Then I shall not talk any more’.” The animal kept his word, and boniface could not get another syllable out of him. At last it dawned upon him that he had been made a fool of, and happening to meet the vender in the garb of an acro bat at a fair, he gave him in custody. When the “poor player” was brought up he confessed that he was a ventriloquist, but protested that he did not oiler to sell his dog. On the contrary, the land lord insisted on buying it, and, without any incitement to do so, went up quickly in his bids from two hundred francs to four hundred frances, throwing in the refreshment which had been given to man and beast. The case was dismissed. Locomotion n T k o The significance of e.euts depends V6ry much on the mood of their interpre ters. A few years ago there were nearly 80,000 jinrik’slias plying in the streets of Tokio. Siati-ticians pointed to such a state of affairs with uneasiness. They concluded that the times must be very bad indeed when so many person de voted themselves to such a lo v and p-.in ful manner of earning a li ing. Now, the total numberof jinrikishas in the metropo lis is only 30, .44, of which 7,213 are single vehicles and 23,541 are double. And what do the statisticians tell us? Why, that this marked diminution is to be attributed to trade depression: that there are fewer people who can afford to ride, and therefore fewer coolies to pull them about. Whichever view be cor rect, there is one thing that seem to have been omitted from the calculation, namely, the eTe tof tram cars and river steamers. Both of these methods of locomotion are largely patronized now adays and the same may be said of the Procrustean vehicles euphemistically termed carriages, that ply far more briskly than they did half a dozen years ago. We hope the day is iot far distant when jinrikishas will disappear alto gether, though they are certa nly one of the most convenient mac din - for g-eUing about in that ever were invented.— Japan Mail. The Miser and the 1J 1. On one of the island- of the Maine coast there lived several years ago a man noted for his miserly disposition. How ever that mav he. he became quite wealthy. One winter, during the session of the Legislature, this person had o - casion to vi-it Augusta. Hest<- : ped into a restaurant for dinner and a waiter spread before him the printed bill of fare. The eyes oLUhe novice opened j wide as he quickly added the figures at the right of the page, indicating prices; then, springing to his feet he indig nantly cried . “What! all this to pay,and I hain’t eat a mouthful yet ? ’ The out come we ar<- not told, but on a subse quent visit the gentleman c arried a pail of victuals with him from home.— Le r isten Journal, SHOPLIFTERS. SHKEWI) THIEVES TH A T INFEST METROPOLITAN STORES. "Watching the Movements of the Shoplifters—How Professionals Are Distinguished—Amateurs Who Pilfer —A Mistake. A New York Commercial Advertiser reporter recent ly had an interesting con versation with a policeman who had been detailed to special duty in one of the big Sixth avenue shops as a detective. ‘Y suppose,” said he, “that the cost to the retail merchants in this city for protec tion against shoplifting, by the employ ment of floor walkers and special officers amounts to fully isloo,ooo a year. It is interesting to watch the flocking of simp lifiers to new stores or to the older estab lishments which open new departments. The ground is usually studied by these persons on opening day. They generally come in pairs and pay particular atten tion to the younger of the shop people. Most of them show au astonishing knowl edge of fabrics, and in this w ay, as well as in more obvious cases, become very friendly with the girls whom they pro pose to victimize. A thorough paced shoplifter is never a stranger iu a store. Asa rule she makes frequent purchases as a cover for her thefts. 1 speak, as you see, only of women shoplifters, but there are, perhaps, a dozen men well known to the police who make a good living at this kind of larceny. They confine selves, however, to fields lying out of the domain of retail dry goods stores. “One can almost invariably distin guish a professional shoplifter. She is usually between thirty and forty years of age, eminently respectable in appearance, dressing quietly and moving about in such a manner as to attract the least at tention to herself. She carries a loosely wrapped paper parcel or a wide mouthed handbag, aud wears either a shawl or a dolman. The use of the wrap is evident. The paper parcel comes in handy in many ways. Into the folds of the paper, while the parcel is resting upon the counter, the shoplifter can tuck away more things than an unskilled person can get in a Gladstone bag. Of course, all the articles so stolen must be small. When she desires to get away with a quantity of silk, a bund gloves or a box of handkerchiefs, she uses her con venient wrap. It is not often that a woman of this kind does not increase considerably in size from the time she enters the store until she leaves it, and an observation of this change in her appear ance is, after all, the surest way of de tecting the ‘crooks.’ “ The special officers who are detail* <1 to these big stores make, as a matter of course, a special study of these women. I have often lost three days out of a week by trotting around the Police Courts getting acquainted with the faces of shoplifters x\ho have been arrested. Most of the large stores have rogues’ galleries of their own, the pictures in which consist almost exclusively of shop lifters. In a special division of the books in which the names and pedigrees of the professional shoplifters are ke.-t, appear the names and addresses of women who are otherwise reputable, but who have been detected at .shoplifting. 1 pon the return of or payment for the articles stolen they have not been prosecuted. Queer as it may seem, the shops suffer more from this class of amateur thieves than from even the professionals. Some women are a liicted with such a lust for possession of articles which they cannot afford to buy that they are willing to sacrifice their own and their families’ reputations by a systematic course of stealing. I know of one lady living in West forty-third street, whose name was on our books, and whose husband had made an* agreement with the firm to pay for anything his wife uYght steal. In one year his biil amounted to within a few dollars of •‘57,000. This lady x\a a a patroness of several charitable institu tions and a member of one of the most prominent Presbyterian churches on Murray Hill. "It is very rare that mistakes are made in arresting women for shoplifting who arc not actually guilty of it. It is al together too dangerous. The most notable case I remember occurred in Brooklyn some years ago. The wife of the District Attorney of Kings County bought a quantity of goods in the store of one of the leading dry-goods firms across the river. An over-officious floor walker thought that she had taken some thing which she had not paid for, and he directed her to go to the office. She indignantly refused. Thereupon the man obtained assistance and carried her there, where she was searched by three female attendants. Nothing was found upon her for which she had not a re ceipted memorandum. 'I hen she was told that she could go. She positively refused. ‘But.’ she said, ‘I desire to have my husband sent for, and he will inquire more particularly into this outrage.’ She wrote a note and directed it to her husband in his of ficial capacity. A member of the firm, who by this time had appreciated the gravity of tlie mistake, begged that the lady would say no more about the matter, declaring that he would indemnify her for the outrage which he acknowledged had been perpetrated. This the lady also refused to do. When her husband ar rived the overtures for settlement were renewed, but were again rejected. The floor walker, the man who assisted him. and the three women who made the search, were ariested for assault. The matter wa= given the widest publicity in the newspaper-, and die re uit of it all was that so strong was feeling against the firm became of the outrage that it was oblige i to retire from business. This was a salutary warning which dry goods men in genera! have not forgot ten.” Are Stones Alive? We generally think of minerals as dead lumps of inactive matter. But they may be -aid to be alive, creatures of vital pul -ations, and separated into individuals as distinct as the pines in a forest or the tigers in a jungle. The disposition of crystals are as diverse as those of ani mals. They throb with unseen currents o' energy. They "row in size as long as have opportunity. i hey can be killed, too, though not as easily as an oak or a dog. A strong electric shock discharged through a crystal wilf decompose it. very rapidly if it is of soft structure, causing the particles to gradu ally di-integrate in the reverse order from its growrih. until the poor thing lies a* dead, -hapeless ruin. It is true the crys tal’s life is unlike that of higher creatures. But the difference between vegetable and animal hfe is no greater than that between mineral and vegeta ble life. Linmeus, the great Swedish naturalist, defined the three kingdoms by saying: “ "tonesgrow: plants grow ad feel: animals grow and feel and ■neve.”— K It A ale. The wise prove, and the foolish con fess by their conduct, that a lift of em ployment is tho only lifo worth living. Ages of Congressmenn. The oldest member of the House is Jndge William D. Kelley, of Pennsyl vania. Although he is seventy-three, he is not the oldest-looking man in the House, or the least active. He was forty-seven when he entered Congress, in 1861, and he has been a member con stantly since then, a period of twenty six years. The youngest member is Benjamin F. Shively, of the Thirteenth Indiana District. Born in 1857. he is only a trifle under thirty-one years of age, but he is tall, strong and vigorous, and has already served a part of a term in Congress. Mr. Ralph Plumb, of the Eighth Illinois Pistrict, is an old men. her. He was born in 1816, the same year in which .Mr. Gay, of Louisiana, first saw light. There is quite a batch of members too modest or too sensitive to furnish their ages, the last including Mr. .Miliken, of Maine; General Hooker, of Mississippi, and Air. Heard and Air. Hutton, of Missouri; Air. Sowdcn, of Pennsylvania, aud Air. R. Q. Alills, of Texas. Some of these gentlemen are in good preservation, and upon the efige of that period when men are ndt inclined to gratiouslv lead people to consider them older than they really are. Air. \ audever, of California, who was born in 1817, was a member of Congress from 1859 until the breaking out of the civil war. lie and Air. llolman, of Indiana, who was in the Thirty-sixth Congress iu 1860-61, saw service before Mr. Kelley, but Air. Yanderver has not returned until now, and Mr. Holman’s service has not been continuous. Mr. Randall did not make his first appearance as a mem ber until ISO:’, four years later than Mr. Holman, but he has begun his thirteenth consecutive term, standing next in length of service to Air. Kelley. —Vitthunj Chronicle. Where Flies Go in Winter. Someone has asked where do the flies go in the winter. This is a question of some interest, for the natural history of a house fly is not generally known. Few persons know that a house fly is born fully grown and of mature s’z.e, and that there are no little flies of the same same species, the small ones occasionally observed being different in kind from the large ones. The house fly does not lay eggs, but extrudes living larva*, which go through the usual transformations in their temporary abodes iu heaps of de cayed gari age, and rubbish thrown out from houses. It does not bite or pierce the skin, but gathers its food by a comb or rake or brush like tongue, with which it is able to scrape the varnish from cov ers of books, and it thus tickles the skin of persons upon which it alights to feed upon the perspiration. A fly is a scaven ger, and is a vehicle by which contagious diseases arc spread. It poisons wounds, and may carry deadly virus from decay ing organic matter into our food. It re tires from the sight at tlic beginning of winter, but where it goes few pcisons know’. If a search of the house is made they will be found in great numbers se creted in warm places in the roof or be tween the partitions or floors. AYe te cently bad occasion to examine the roof, and found around the chimney myriads of flies hibernating comfortably aud suf ficiently lively to fly when disturbed in overpowering clouds. No doubt this is a favorite winter resort for these creat ures.—New York Timer,. Remarkable Crystals. Borne remarkable crystals were found a short time ago in a gravel bed near Mokeumne Ilill, Cal. 1 ney are of such hardness that the hardc-t file doesn’t make the least impression, and they will cut glass like a diamond. AH the .speci mens are hexagonal cubes terminating id pyramidal points, the sides being as smooth and regular as the finest cut and of such cleanic: that objects can be plainly discerned through pieces afoot iff thickness. They are of immense size, the largest having thirteen points start ing from a single base three feet in length, two and a half fe<-t in thickness] and weighing 500 pounds: the next in side is two feet long, eighteen inches in thickness and weighs about DO pounds j; the others, about two dozen in numlier, range from one foot to one and a halt feet in thickness,aud w eigh from fifty to seventy-five pounds. A Valuable Gown. The old door keeper of the Hotei Milan at Florence, Italy, named bap vador Cecchini. died recently and lefjl his property to his nephew. Tlielatteji came and looked about in the dingj porter’s lodge and was much dis satisfied at not finding anything worth carrying away. The deceased had fojr years worn an old gown made of coar.-o cloth and had never changed his atiirts in winter or in summer. The nephexjv took up the gown md threw it down again in disgust. As it slipped fioin his hand he felt some hard object striking him, and, taking up the gown again, lie felt there was a thick paper parcel in it. it was sewed under the lining. Gutting the folds lie found seventy-five Govern ment bonds in it of tlic value of about S4O each. That gown was no longqr treated with disrespe t. Rattlesnake Neckties. Mr. A. Judson Cole, who is the man ager of one of the large ( hicago sale houses in the line of gentlemen’s furnishings, shows a novel necktie which he lias just received from Texas. It is a a rattlesnake skin made up in the forin of a four-in-hand tie. Th point-rattle is set in the center of the outer fold-j— --to serve the purpose of a tie-pin. As it glistens and shows all sorts of shifting colors in the sunlight or gaslight, St makes a very attra<ti e, if not exactly conventional, tie. Mr. Cole says that it was sent to him as a sample, the sender saying that, as the stor k of rattle-nukes in his country is inexhaustible, be can supply as many of these strange ties ks the Chicargo house may want. —Chkatyo Notes. American Maniioof. The grand feature of American man hood is that it is composite, made up of the best characteristics of all nations. Our forefathers were of foreign birth br parentage, and yet, where in history will wc- find more illustrious examples of up right manhood? \Ye do not care what percentage of foreign blood is in our population, provided it assimilates with our own, and good results are attained.— New Haven Jleguter. An Old Epitaph. Here is an epitaph still to be found in an English churchyard: HERE LIES THE BODY OF : LADY O’ROONEY, : FrRST Cousin to Burke. : Commonly Called "The Sublime.” ; Bland, passionate and deeply religious, '. : She also painted in water color— ; “Of such is the kingdom of heaven.” ; His Majesty Dong Khan, of Annam, has fifty cooks taking part in the prej a ration of each royal repast, but each chef is confined to the elaboration of a single one of the fifty dishes of which the menu is invariably composed.