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fc± : ,fi> > Boxwood, (he wood of Burns sent pervlrehs, which is almost exclusively nspa ftHT-Uto best hinds of west! engrav ing, had been for some years becoming more and more scarce. Wood of tbe largest diameter is the produce of the forests of the countries bordering on the Black Sea. Large quantities are prodocedjn the neighborhood ofPoti, from Which port the wood ia shipped direct to England. The supply, how ever, from this port is, we learn, becom ing fast exhausted : and it is said, un less the forests of Abkhassit are opened to the trade, it must soon cease alto gether. The quantity exported from Poti, during the year 1873 amounted to 2,897 tons, of the value of £20,621; besides this, from 9,000 to 7,000 tons of the finest quality annually pass through Constantinople, being brought from Southern Russia and from some of the Turkish ports of the Black Sea for shipment, chiefly to Liverpool. An inferior and smal'er kind of wood sup plied from t&e neighborhood of > Sam- soon is also shipped at Constantinople to the extent of abont 1,500 tons annu ally, With regard to the boxwood forr ests of Turkey, the British consul at Constantinople reports that they are nearly exhausted ..and that very little really good wood can now be obtained from them; in Russia, however, where some little government care has been bestowed upon forestry, a considerable quantity of choioe wood still exists; bat ev c n there it can only be obtainod at an ever-increasing cost, aa the for ests near the sea have been denuded of their best trees. The trade is. now en tirely in Euglish bands, although for merly Greek merchants exclusively ex ported the wood. In the province of Trebizopde the wood is generally of an inferior quality; -nevertheless, from 25,000 to 80,000 ewts. are annually shipped, chiefly to the united kingdom. —Nature. Around the Dinner-Table# A merely bounteous table is not al ways welcome or appetizing. Two or three dishes, well prepared and daintily arranged, are superior to a dezen care lessly and inartistioallv put on. Hospi tality is often oonfounaed with prota sion, and some of us are apt to believe that we play the host ill unless we per- Buade our gue8ts into eating a great deal. This sort of entertainment is simply material, tkongh it is commoner than we think. The pleasures of the table should ap peal to the eye and mind as well as to tho palate. Form should be consulted; grace should be indispensable. The savor of food gains much from its set ting and its accompaniments. A few flowers, perfect order and neatness, with congeniality and sympathy about the board, will insure what an Apician feast might not. The dav of uniformity in table furni ture has-passed, the, present faney being for oddness and variety. This, apart for picture* quencss, is both.oonvenient and economical, since the breaking of pieces does not necessitate fhe ptii chase of an entirely new set. It tjjjtiBasl itew to see on elegant breakfast tables each coffee-cup differ- 6bt<ftpm hi*, neighbor, and no tub of the plates alike. Bnt it is at.tea—moat informal of mtals—that the greatest variety and the prettiest effects may be produced. . ' ' . ’ Flowers have come to be mdispensa- Ms fir aaanv table*, and thay will be, ere long, let * us- hope,* indispensable to ail - xney need not be raid or costly. Uftti, even the plainest tea, thaknoaing else ' ‘ x "A few green daisies, a bunch and awake in af trace in the battles of every-day lifr. We should reap act it, and, in its pret ence, commend ourselves toipeaee. The Luck of Storm Lake. The advent of Storm Lake Brolinaka into this world was attended by more auspicious circumstances than (he fates usually accord to humanity at the threshold of life. The western brand wHH wrtteral hundred puMtf#e, were snow-bound at Storm Lake, tow*, a village on the line of the Illinois Cen tral railroad, eighty miles east of Sioux Oity. Tho hotels of the place, as well as the private residences, were soon crowded by the beleagured passengers. Or Die train was a oar of Mennonites th ’r way to join their countrymen in Dakota. They refused to leave their oar,'£nd next morning it was ascertained lhat Mrs. Brolinaka had become a moth er. The report of the ooonrrence hav ing become generally known, steps were at once taken to welcome the little stranger. The mayor called a meeting of the council, whioh declared the day a public holiday ; and voted the hospi talities of the city to the baby and Its mother. A procession was soon parad ing the Btreets, and the mother and baby were carried in triumph to the city hall, where speeches Were made by the mayor. Judge Kidder, delegate to eon- gross from Dakota, and several promi nent citizens. The announcement was then made that aflve-aereplat of ground, was to be given to the baby, who was christened by a popular vote Storm Lake Brolinaka. The procession then reformed and escorted Master Brolinska to the station, and the train moved on amid fbe firing of cannon and the ring ing of bells. Hell. The word “hell,” a translation of the Greek word Gehenna, is a term used to designate the valley of Hinnom. This valley bounds Jerusalem on tho north, and lies below Mount Zion—a scene of sacred and imperishable assooiatione. In this valley Moloch, the national god of tho Amorites, was won biped with the horrid and inhuman rito of sacri ficing cliildren in the fire. When Josiali, in his conquests, overthrew this idolatry, he poured contempt upon the infernal practice by casting into the valley the bones 'of the departed. In the estimation of the old Hebrews the bones of the dead caused the greatest of oil pollutions. What ever person, plaoe, or thiogs they touched were forthwith considered “unclean.” Hence this ville/of Hin- nom, this “ hell,” having been the re ceptacle Of the human remains' which Josiah throw into it, was considered a place the most polluted and ac- cursed. From this circumstance it be came a common receptacle for all the refuse of tho city of Jerusalem. Here large quantities of decomposing veg etable and animal matter were con stantly tjhrown. This putrescent matter generated ah abundance of worms; the worms here never died. To prevent the noxious effluvia, springing from this mass of corruption, poisoning the atmosphere and breathing disease and death into the.heart .of the oity, fires were kept burntogday and night. This valley, therefore, was literally a place where “the worm never died, and where the fire wax never quenched. Rev. Phelps, ^ •*- - * * • •• A Lo»t Game. * ., The §oane occurred in a railroad oar, ou~the Union Paeifiq road, in Which two men were gambling while tbe tost of the passengers looked on, One of (be- gamester’s wail the type of the profes sionals who “wbrfc**the road-ra des perate trickster, sleek, and ugly ; the other was a rough griz^ed miner, tosh dance of mODey^ n %jte g*me^drawpo- Th« GANADIASPACIFtC.RAILROAD.— The preliminary surveys for the Cana dian Pacific railway are rspiply ap proaching completion; and the actual construction of various sections of it ll very shortly he in progress. In e government estimates for next year ere is an item of $6,250,000 under the head of “ PaoiftoRail way," aud on the occasion of its discussion in committee of-XuppIy. the premier Indicated what - •' * ‘ do in k*r^-vm\1ai large stole* and played th^BOtorinnent ^propos^ to d ». -zt'SSf- A it more, is thespmt be no;*•■**■- attempt is on the table it There can of the senses un- - . precursor of indi- are, invited tcfdin- >, Mid tabs fewtto anxft*yifi><flty content defraud the host of a pepper return /or his hospitality. No one has socially where he does some sort of oompensa- e right to go i tobkdoth should be the flag A contbst, novel in this; country, however common abroad, has just beta derided at Paterson, New Jersey. There a number of English mechanics out of employment have been amusing their leisure in roaring and training earner-pigeons, and the first match in this country was flown the other day. Seven birds were entered tp fly an average, distance of toree miles. The time made was not considered fast. The winner of the first prize made tho j navigation, distance in something over three min- ! ufces, and one bird was over eight min utes in reaching its oote.. The first prise, under an old English -custom, was a large oopper kettle of little value luniarily, but greatly esteemed — silently and watchfully. pot accumulated. Each man had evi dently a good hand and was resolved to stand by it. Each man raided the other until finally the miner “called.” The gambler showed his hand—three aoes and two queens—at the same time cov ering the money with his hand. The miner uttered not a /word-; he merely took two of his five oards and laid them down; they were aoes. This meant fire aces in the pack. The gambler had dealt. Th<n the miner reaehod back like lightning, drawing a hnge navy re volver. He cocked it and placed the muzzle between the eyes ot the gam bler. Not a word was spoken, but each of the two men looked steadily into the eyes of the other. Soon the gambler’s hand upon the money began to draw book, and the gambler’s form as well. The revolver followed. The gambler stepped into the aisle, and at this point passengers in the oar seemed to lose their interest in the game, most of them trying to get un.er the seats. The gambler backed down the aisle towards the door, anl as he passed out themuz- z'e of that huge revolver stared him in the face. Then the miner put up his pistol, pocketed tho money, lit his pipe, and was as other men. Not a word had been spoken from the time the “call” wa3 made. It was merely one of the rare occasions where a gambler on the U ion Pao fic mistakes his man. Some New French Aphorisms. It is right to despue fools; it is wrong not to fear them. Love descends to friendship ; friend ship never soars to love. People who injure us always say they do so for onr good. Women do not like to remember; men do not like to forsee. Nothing shows happiness more than tear?. Tears are the extreme smile. An honest man never abandons a woman, bnt he knows bow to make himself forsaken. By their fickleness women escape mnch misery. Birds save themselves only with their wings. A woman never is deceived by the love she inspires, but she deoeives her self through that which she experi ences. The Indian commissioner throws a the trouble about the Black Hills busi ness on Gen. Ouster’s expedition last fall, which he says was utterly uncalled for and unnecessary. He farther ac cuses the war department of having little or no respect for the rights of the Indian», affirming that nothing would have been done toward keeping intrud ers from the auriferous reservation, if the Indian bureau had cot made the most strenuous appeals for justice to its oharges, —M. ceguin is dead. He built tbe first railway in France (from Lyons to St Etienne); he invented iron wire sus pension bridges and the tubular boilers of locomotive engines, by which in vention railway trains have been able to attain their present great speed, for the tubular boiler generates steam rapidly enough to Bupply the vapor as fast as it is wanted. He lived to attain tbe age of eighty-nine years. His mind had decayed some years before his body. Hie was a pupil red a nephew of Montg lfier, the paper maker, so wril kuown by his connection with »ri*l the emblem of victory. The tori was grance of mimosa andorange blossoms. merely a prelude to a grand match m Chicago Jbtfrnal. whioh some two hundred pigeons will. be entered to fty too miles. Borne of the birds to be entered have a,record, having distinguished themselves in (ty ing between London and Paris, t Mm Twain denies that his Gilded Age wss s failure. He says it gate a poor, worthy bookbinder a job. one has^ttitten Coi. Forney, at Nice, asking if (Kb vile stories about his pocketing that $25,0C0 have any foundation ip fact, and the Colonel in a very gentlemanly manner, replies that “the very air is heavy with the fra- —— m-.marm *m4'Auansm ViiASSAtvis ” Ah rid Jarmar talks thus about his boys; From lfliej20 they know more thsnAedid ; st 25 they know as much; at 30 they were willing to hear what he hadtossy; at85 they ask his advioe; and when they get to be 40 they will aotually acknowledge that the old man does know something. telegfitph service ft to b6 established akmg.the entire rontoitt advance of the railiri&'snd $1,000,000 is asked for that purpose; The, contracts for this are alreadyriet. Two mfllfcnb of dollars is for the pavment'of the Itege purchase of steelVrils recently made- in England by the government; 50,000 tons of the best steel-rail were secured At the av erage rate'nf $49.30 .per >tOn, which is claiffied tobp a lower ratd fhan iron rails were sold fri during 1873, and a little more than,MU the price of steel rails during the same period. A Savage Headdress and Shield.— We were shown this morning, by Mr. Tom O'Brien, the paraphernalia of an Indian recently killed on Devil's river by a party of stock men, Mr. John Patterson being the man who assisted the Indian to shuffla off his mortal coil. The trappings consist of a head dress of feathers, beads, etc., to which a trail of red flannel was attached, adorned with eagle feathers, and long enough to have swept the ground. It is a gor geous piece of architecture. The shield has several buckskin coverings, very artistically arranged^ith plumes, staffed birds, and a liltle buckskin fig ure of a man, which is supposed to be an idol. In the middle of the shield dangles the flaxen scalp of a white girl, worked in with beads and tied up with blue ribbon, like the brai 1 o? a school girl.—»San Antonio {Texas) Herald. A grange in Virginia has just buried a lady member with original and pecu liar ceremonies. The ccffin was borne to the grave by members of the grange dressed in white baldrics, and the brethren of the order followed in pro cession; Each participant bore a Bou quet- of flowers, and these all, at the conclusion of the services, were thrown in the open grave. The words of the grange ritual spoken at the grave were touching and appropriate. The only incongruous element was the parting salute of the master, in these words: “In the name of Fisherville grange. I pronounce the words Sister Calbreatb, farewell.” Fisherville grange was not an absolutely awe-inspiring invocation. The bonds of the Suez canal com pany are on the London stook exchange, with a statement of the financial condi tion of the company. During 1873 the receipts were £1,000,000, and the ex pense s £225,000. The dividend of that year was three and three-quarters per cent. The cost of the canal was $95. 000,000, of whioh tbe Egyptian govern ment paid $32,000,000. The business of the oan&l is constantly increasing, and far-sighted people use its success as an argument for the building of a ship- canal across the isthmus of Panama. Kangaroo Lbathhb.—In Australia kangaroo skins bre becoming on import ant article of Iraffio, and experts deolare that they make tbe toughest and most pliable leather in tbe world. Boot up pers of this material ate said to be both oomfortable refi durable. It also makes the best of morocco whips, gloves, etc. Of these skinB some are exported in their raw state, and others after being manufactured. The kangaroo is widely distributed throughout the ooloniea.and great numbersare slaughtered, yearly, for their skins. ‘ **- - The Indianapolis Herald has been watohing iho t)hio 'fcempemio* mova. meat longer than any other paper, and it says: Jtn Washington, Ohio, where the whisky ernsade first took shape, there are now fifteen drinking houses— two more than when the movement was organized. The paroled barkeepers are all selling again except the famous Van Pelt, the noble proselyte, who knocked in lifs own keg&'pne evening, to ths ringing of bells ahd the praises of women; aadAhen took tbe field for tem perance. He is in jail for getting drank. A “ knocker-tip and window-tickler from three to seven ” advertises that he will wake London people cheap. *