The sunny South. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1875-1907, January 20, 1877, Image 6

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NORTH AND SOUTH. Exchange of Sentiments Be tween tlie two Sections. Erroneous Impressions Corrected. LETTERS SOLICITED. We open here a department for inter-com- mnnication between the two sections of onr great country, which have bo long been in astonishing ignorance of each other. The thoughts, feelings, motives and actions of each have been misunderstood and wofully misrepre sented. This department is intended to circu late correct sentiments among them, and to rec tify the many erroneous impressions which ex ist in both sections. Nashua, N. H., January 3, 1877. G. W. II, Esq., Atlanta, Ga.: Dear Sir,—Knowing you to be a Northern man, and a former Union soldier, and knowing you to have spent many years in the South, 1 would like to have you answer the following questions for me: 1st. Is the condition of affairs in the South, at present, such as to render it unsafe for a respect able Northern man, with his family, to settle there ? 2d. If not unsafe, would his life, or that of his family, be rendered unpleasant by either business or social ostracism ? 3d. Would the treatment he received differ, in accordance with the knowledge of the community as to whether his political sentiments were Demo cratic or Republican ? 4th. What lines of business are most open in the South, or, in other words, what inducements Goes the South hold out for Northern men to emi grate there ? Yours, respectlully, John H. Stevens. Atlanta, Ga., January 10, 1877. John E Stevens, Esq., Nashua, N. 11. : My Dear Sir,—Yours of January 3d was re ceived some days since, and, but for a press of business, should have been attended to sooner. Taking your questions consecutively, my response to the first is, unhesitatingly, no. There is no portion of the South to-day where it is not per fectly safe for a respectable man from anywhere to settle. Not only that, but there is no place in the world where the respectable man, who will make a good citizen, is more heartily welcomed than in the South. Every Southern man recognizes the great need of his section to be an influx of earn est, enterprising, honest men to fill up the country and to develop its resources; and the stories of Southern outrage which you hear are falsehoods, every one, and are narrated by the partisan press of the North solely for political effect, it is true that crime exists here, and that horrible murders and daring robberies take place at times, but I think the statistics of crime will bear me out in the statement that this occurrence is not more fre quent proportionately in the sparsely-settled Southern States than in the more densely popu lated North. In reply to your second question, I assert (and I assert it from my experience as a Northern man) that no man suffers ostracism here who does not deserve it. Respectable people do not associate with rogues and scoundrels here any more than at the North, and when a man who ought to have been in the penitentiary, and who would shortly have been had he staid at home, comes here from the North, he is not received with open arms, if the community once learn his character. But the gentleman is invariably treated as such, and 1 think the Northern gentleman receives really a more cordial welcome than the native of a South ern State, on account of the prevalent feeling that the one possesses more energy and enterprise, and will make a more valuable citizen than the other. As an answer to your third query, I will give you a bit of personal experience. During my eight years of Southern life, 1 have always, until the recent election, voted and worked with the Republican party. I have spent long periods in Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia, and traveled somewhat in Alabama and Mississippi. I Ed. So. Plantaiion: Should I arrive in Alabama by February 1st, will I have time to prepare the lands and raise a crop? Also, whether clover, orchard grass or timothy has been tried in your State, and with what results ? Yours truly, M. E. B. Cass Co., Ind., December 26, 1876. Ed. So. Plantation: Will you please send me a copy of the Plantation ? I am now closing up my business with a view of coming South, and I desire all the information 1 can get. Will prob ably go to Alabama, if I can find a suitable place. I desire a small farm, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres in all, capable of producing grain and grasses. Yours, etc., Wm. T. Van Buren Co., Mich., Dec. 17, 1876. We clip the following from the Georgia, Wilkes county, Gazette: “ Ehitor Gazette,—As I know you feel a warm interest in seeing the waste places of our county and State built up by intelligent and enterprising citizens, will j T ou make it known that some gentle men from Quarryville, Lancaster county, Pa., have made inquiries in regard to our county, with a view of examining it, and if they are pleased with the country, the price of land, and our surround ings generally, they will very probably purchase lands and cast their lots and make their homes among us ? Now, should these gentlemen visit our county, it would be mutually advantageous if those who have land for sale in this and adjoining coun ties would send me a description of their lands, giving number of acres, how much in cultivation, how much in original forest, the buildings on the place, and everything else that could be of inter est to any one who may be desirous of purchasing, particularly the price per acre and the payments. If those of our citizens who have lands for sale will do this, and the gentlemen should visit our coun ty, I will take pleasure in acting as inter agent, without fee or reward, and may benefit both par ties. Any information I can give will be cheer fully imparted to any one who feels an interest in the matter. Respectfully, B. W. Heard. have hundreds of friends and thousands of ac quaintances throughout those States, all of whom honor me as a Northern man (for the Yankee will stick out some way), and many of whom knew that I differed with them politically. 1 have always been rather proud of the little army record 1 did make, and have told incidents of army life, and compared notes with former Confederate sol diers, hundreds of times. In all my travels, by river and by rail, by stage and on horseback, I have never carried a weapon, and have never re ceived a harsh or insulting word on account of birth-place, military experience, or political pro clivities. 1 will add that 1 can point to hundreds of Northern men living South whose experiences are the same. To your fourth question, my reply is, that to the active, industrious, energetic man, all lines of business are open. The man, the world over, makes the business. The idle, thriftless fellow is no more wanted here than at the North, and the South holds out no inducements for him. To the first character her inducements are legion. Do you dislike the severity of your climate? She offers you a climate most genial and de lightful, neither excessively cold in winter nor excessively hot in summer. The idea is a mistaken one, that because the Southern winter is mild, the summer must be intolerable. The mercury in New York and Philadelphia last summer ranged four degrees higher than at any point South, and the heat of a Southern sun is always tempered by a cool Southern breeze. Is the soil of your section sterile and unproductive ? The South can offer you the richest soil in the world, suited to every variety of agricultural production. Would you embark in manufactures of any kind ? The South offers you locations where the materials for whatever you desire to make can be found at your door. For iron-work or machinery, the ore and coal to smelt it are side by side; for wood-work, millions of acres of the choicest timber; for brick, for pottery, or for the choicest of porcelain, here are the requisite clays; for cotton goods, this is the home of the material, and for woolen goods, it could readily be made such. In a word, the South offers inducements to the emigrant superior to those of any place in the world; and so, in the words of the old song, slightly changed, “ [Come along, coine along, don’t be alarmed, For the South is big enough to give you all a farm.” 1 am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient A Cool Northern Sentiment from the “Chris tian Union.”—How thankful we should be for the following suggestions about “What the South Needs:” The Bible tells us that the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. The leaders of the Republican party must certainly be the children of light, else they would have been wise enough to have furnished the South long ago with what they so badly need, and that is, an army of Yankee school teachers. To be sure missionaries were sent to the freedraen ten years ago, but their unfortunate white brethren have been neglected. If there were free schools in every city, town and village, and one at every cross roads, and these schools presided over by faithful, energetic, educated Yankee teachers who would instill a little patriotism into the minds of their pupils along with their geography, and a little re spect for the rights of others along with their arith metic, the disgraceful scenes that are being en acted in the South would soon be at an end. There is no law to prevent Northern teachers from going there and opening as many schools as they please If they were free, many would gladly patronize them. Others would do so under protest, knowing them to be the best schools. The white population of the South ought not to be expected to send their children to the same schools with the blacks. They can hardly be ex pected to employ Northern teachers of their own accord. Here is a splendid opportunity for missionary work. Let the benevolent-minded of the Repub lican party furnish South Carolina and Louisiana with the means of finding out that they were not born to rule the world. Books and teachers cost less than bullets and soldiers. Mrs. Sadie J. Cannon. Did you ever? A good joke. Splendid. “An army of Yankee school teachers!” Great heavens ! Just see what they think of us ! Can’t we learn them something about the South ?” Travels in Europe. The Grand Old Alps. Notes by the Hon. Graham Wil liams, United States Minister to Turkey Under President Buchanan from 1858 to 1861. In 1861, Minister Williams delivered up his credentials to Mr. Lincoln and returned to his home in Nashville, Tenn., and raised a company for the army. In 1866, he applied for a pardon, but President Andrew Johnson was slow in giv ing it to him. After he had taken passage on a steamer for Europe, his pardon was handed to him, but it was then too late. He left his native land and returned to Europe, and in the little city of Gratz, in Austria, while apparently in perfect health, and surrounded by his happy family, he suddenly died, leaving a devoted wife and loving children. His remains now lie in the little Protestant cemetery in Gratz. These notes, furnished us by his amiable and accomplished widow in the original MSS., are exceedingly interesting, and we invite the atten tion of the reading world to them. He was often sent as Minister Extraordinary to Palestine to settle difficulties between the Turks, mission aries and Christians, and of course visited many sacred places, and had opportunities for seeing hundreds of things which only crowned heads usually see. We are delighted at the privilege of presenting his notes to our readers. RELIGIOUS INFORMATION. servant, G. W. H. We find the following in the Southern Plantation, published at Montgomery, Ala., which the editor gives as_ specimens of letters received at his office. We have not space for his excellent replies, but will try to give them next week : Ed. So. Plantation: There are many persons here who would like to know more about Ala bama, the government, people, lands, soils, cli mate, etc. You will oblige us very much by sending us a few copies of your paper and any thing that will give us information on these points. Yours truly, W. H. J. Redwood Co., Minn., December 23,1876. A true religious instinct never deprived man of one single joy; mournful faces and a sombre aspect are the' conventional affectations of the weak- minded. In the center of one of Gen. Magruder’s old forts at Bethel, Va., there now stands a new, neat and comfortable Baptist church, which is filled every Sunday with a happy congregation. We are sorry to learn that the Methodist pub lishing House at Nashville is in immediate danger of being lost to the Church for lack of funds. The Bishops and Publishing Committee held a meeting last week, and resolved to call on every pastor to take up a collection in every charge in the Church [South] in February next. Of course the Church will respond liberally, and save this valuable prop erty. It can not afford to do otherwise. In 1869 the Southern Presbyterian General As sembly, by way of experiment, authorized the Presbyteries to qualify laymen as preachers or rather as “lay-exhorters,” and the plan takes. In the Presbytery of Augusta, Ga., there are no less thad ten such preachers, and there are large num bers in many other Presbyteries in the South. A new mission has been undertaken by the Methodists of Australia. Under the lead of Rev. G. Brown, a party of about a dozen missionaries and teachers—natives of Fiji and Samoa—have gone out to the New Britain, New Ireland, and Duke of York Islands, and have entered upon their work. Several chapels have been erected, and the natives, although to a large extent cannibal, have so far been friendly. One of the Episcopal papers objects to the state ment that one hundred years ago the Episcopal Church in this country stood third on the list of denominations, and now stands last. It declares for an honest count, and maintains that the object of collecting denominational statistics is to let each denomination know how it stands and what it must do for itself in the way of work. The figures are not for display. The exchange adds, with some point: “There is a good deal of ‘paper counting’ which goes into the making up of ‘churches and pastors’ in some quarters. In fact, a ‘union chap el,’ with occasional services, sometimes gets on to the list of three or four denominations as a ‘Church’ of each one.” Summing up the results of the Moody and Sank- ey meeting in Chicago, Rev. Mr. Cree, who has been closely identified with the work, says that the churches have been revived, the ministry quickened, and many persons converted. All classes of the community have had the gospel preached to them, and for weeks all circles have been more or less interested in the meetings. Al though the services are closed, yet every day there is at the Tabernacle, the noon-day meeting, a meeting for men only, and for women only, three daily meetings for reformed men, a meeting each for young ladi68, boys, young converts and busi ness men, and from 9 to 10 o’clock each night a large meeting for young men. An inquiry meeting is held daily from 1 o’clock noon till 10 o’clock at night. The work outside of Chicago, carried on in connection with it, has been proportional as suc cessfully as that in Chicago. Peoria, Kalamazoo, Fort Wayne, Osh Kosh, Racine,Kenosh, Belvidere, Ottaway, and other points, have been visited by evangelists working under Mr. Moody’s direction, and much good has been done. I left Vienna by the early morning train for Gratz, to once more enjoy by the bright sun light the grand and picturesque spectacle of towering mountains, deep gorges, pleasing lit tle vales, gushing streams, and ^he frowning ruins of old feudal castles which mark the line of the railway across the simmering Alps into Styria upon its winding way to the Adriatic. The recent brief but disastrous war was over, and the startling results which followed its close were the theme of every tongue in the Capital. But the railways were once more free to all comers; military transports no longer monopo lized their entire carrying cajiacitj', and I seized upon the opportune occasion to devote a few weeks to rambling through the romantic scenery and charming summer resorts for which Austria is so famed. In traversing the lofty heights of the Semrner- ing Pass by the motive power of steam alone, the wonder of the traveler is momentarily ex cited that science, even with the aid of wealth and sustained by public spirit, could achieve such stupendous results. To the sagacity, en terprise and liberality of the great banker, Baron Sind, is Austria and the world in a great meas ure indebted for this crowning triumph of en gineering skill. When we remember that this work, though only completed in 1856, was con ceived and inaugurated nearly thirty-five years ago, when railway enterprises, by comparison with those of the present day, were in their in fancy, our surprise is increased that one who had acquired great wealth by his own labors should have had the temerity to expend money in such a hazardous, and, as was then thought, so chimerical an enterprise. Happily, the origi nators of the gigantic project had the persever ing faith to prosecute it until the government could be induced to complete what had been so gloriously begun. Honor, then, to Baron Sind, whose claim to nobility rests upon such a sub stantial foundation as this and other benefits he was instrumental in conferring upon his coun try. His son, the present baron, inheritor of his wealth, has increased the respect in which his name was previously held by a like display of discriminating liberality and public spirit. Although individual enterprise instituted the movement and laid, as it were, the superstruct ure of the work, the Austrian government came to their rescue, and their united labors achieved the grand and unique result of crossing the Alps by a railway which, in the altitude overcome, is as yet without a rival. The ascent of the mountain commences at Gloggnitz, and from thence the railway winds along the sides and upon the summits of these hills through a labyrinth of tunnels and over viaducts and around abrupt curves, which soon produced utter bewilderment in regard to the direction in which the train is moving. At length, after sweeping around the top of a hill and over a long-curved viaduct at the station Bayerbach, * the track makes one or two more rapid curves, rnd we find ourselves at an eleva tion of seven hundred feet, looking down again upon Gloggnitz and the romantic little river Schwarzeau, which dashes through a ravine opening into the valley below. The view from here is well worth a five days’ journey. Again the engine, after a brief pause, is put in motion and the train dashes forward, now along the brink of an overhanging precipice whence, far below and far above we see the track over which we have already passed or to which we have yet to ascend, when another plunge into a tunnel hides all from view. It is almost impossible to realize, as we catch these occasional glimpses of our line of travel that the same engine which drags our train along has already drawn its heavy burthen over that which we behold be neath, and will pass with its long train of car riages and their living freight over that which towers above us. Upon every side are to be seen the crumbling ruins of ancient feudal strongholds, frowning upon the valleys below from the tops of seem ingly unapproachable cliffs, whence in days past the robber chieftains swooped down upon the unwary traveler, or levied unrequited contri butions upon the defenceless, to return again, laden with spoils, to the secure retreat of their impregnable castles. A small number of these old fortress abodes are still kept in a semi-habi table condition; others, more easily accessible and having a certain breadth of tillable land around them, have been well preserved, and present, doubtless, the same appearance now, save in their aspect of hoary age, as when first inhabited by their feudal lords. But the greater number show but crumbling, roofless walls, with here and there a solitary tower, which, hav ing successfully withstood the ravages of time, looks down like a sentinel of the past upon the ruins by which it is enshrouded. It is difficult, even with a previous knowledge of the names and relative positions of these old castles, to identify them as th6 train bears us swiftly along, but they do not require _ such knowledge to give them interest. Their pictur esque effect is not less imposing, the impres sions they produce upon the mind and senses quite as vivid, and the train of reflections to which they lead not less startling than if we knew them all by name. They are historical memorials of the past which tell more impress ively than written records or human language of the great changes which has been wrought since the epoch of this creation. They are mementoes of a period which may be regarded as one of transition from barbarism to a dimly-dawning civilization. They are now nothing more than representatives of the past, and may no longer be adapted to the uses of mankind, save in so far as they may serve to point a moral or adorn a tale. They have succumbed before the march of civilization and the mechanical ingenuity by which it has been accompanied, and the strong est of these, even though restored to their origi nal strength and grandeur, could not more ef fectually resist the implements of modern war fare than could the card castle of the child the rude blast of the hurricane. Who can say that the nearly impregnable fortresses of the present day and the nearly irresistible powers now em ployed to reduce them may not be regarded by posterity, as we now look upon these old feudal strongholds, as inefficacious as card castles of children in resisting the more formidable im plements of destruction which expanding sci ence and mechanical skill may hereafter pro duce ? If knowledge is in fact as it is in theory, always progressive, posterity will indeed smile derisively at our greatest achievements, for there would be no limit to human discovery. When we reflect, however, upon the brief period of time through which our knowledge of the his tory of mankind runs, and of the few centuries which divide our epoch from the dark ages which preceded the erection of these castles, we are almost forced to the conclusion that by the power of some agency independent of and more potent than the will of man, the world in the lapse of time is again and again thrown back into chaos, the works of art destroyed, and with them all knowledge of the elaborate principles by which they were produced—lost, only to be painfully and laboriously re-discovered by the same tedious process and by the employment of the same natural elements from which they had been before evolved. In this view, the dawning civilization of an age yet unborn may rebuild these Alpine strongholds, and lordly tenants may once more find them complete de fenses against the most destructive appliances of dawning science, secure retreats from all pursu ers and strongholds from whence to assail the unwary and make spoil of the defenseless. After passing Eichberg, we look down into a deep, narrow valley, overlooked by the Gostritz mountains. In the gorge separating two tower ing hills may be seen the village of Schottwein, whose history recalls to mind the civil broils, religious feuds and fanaticism, and maybe of oppression for opinion’s sake in the now free land of the “ fast-anchored isle.” That village was once inhabited by a religious community composed of Scotch and Irish, who left their own country, perhaps, by compulsion, perhaps from religious fervor, to find an asylum or to propagate a creed in a distant land. (TO BE CONTINUED.) DOMESTIC. Farm, Garden, and Household Matters. Writes a wide-awake farmer: A few years since, I took a piece of wet, rocky pasture, that produed nothing but flags and rushes, cleared it from rocks and drained it with an open drain, then ploughed and thoroughly pulverized it and seeded it down. The first year there was from one to two tons of grass per acre. Maxim for Farmers.—So long as we go in debt for all we eat and wear, we can never become prosperous, but if we make all we can independent of credit, and make our homes self-sustaining and have no debts or mortgages to harass us at the end of the year, we will be a prosperous and happy people, and our homes will be a source of delight and comfort to us. How to Make Farming Pay.—Raise grain and grasses. Feed them to your own stock, save the manure for your own land, and thus you will make a handsome profit off your stock, at the same time add to the value of your lands. Fine pork, beef, mutton and wool, horses and mules, always com mand fair prices. Cotton does not pay except as a surplus crop, and than it must be growu at less expense than is usually put upon it. But with wheat, corn, oats, peas and hay, and stock to fat ten, there will be a sure road to independence. All over the South there are farmers who are pre paring to reconstruct their farming operations, and to grow less cotton and more stock, and we could hope that the number were daily increased. Farmers’ Clubs.—We believe in farmers’ clubs, not only because our reason tells us that the mutual interchange of experience is productive of more experience; not only because the experi ence of many is more reliable than the experience of one, and is useful to all; not only because an acquaintance with the practice of others adds power to ourselves to subjugate our farms to our needs; but because actual practice—the actual existence and living experience—has shown con clusively that an active, working, well-sustained farmer’s club has been, and is, of great value, not only to the participants therein, but also to the neighborhood wherein it is organized. Each member should be an active one, and should be willing to attend and take part in its deliberations. In order that this may be so, he must be put under an obligation to attend and do his part. Such an obligation may readily be formed by the pressure of the inherent force of courtesy and hospitable neighborhoodship. Let the membership of the club be limited by the num ber of meetings that it is desirable should be held during the winter, and then let each meeting be held at the house of one of the members, turn by turn. Have a regular hour for meeting, and let an entertainment be prepared by the host, from the productions of the farm, of a simple yet social character. Fruits and nuts would probably be all that would be desirable to be furnished. The offi cers should be a president for each meeting—the host—and a permanent secretary who should keep the records, and a finance committee who should arrange for and collect the simple dues, and take care of the expenditures which might seem to be necessary er of advantage. At each meeting let the subject for the next discussion be decided on, and one member assigned to open the discussion. The subject should be one in which all are inter ested—and preferably one which would be sug gested by the farm practice of the host of the evening. Thus, if the host be a butter-dairyman, let him bring before the meeting a sample of his butter, and explain his processes. If corn is a leading feature of the farm culture, then let a trace of corn be presented for inspection, and the discussion based on this. Other members could also bring of their butter or their corn, or of whatever production relating to the subject dis cussed, and the comparison of products and the bringing together of the diverse practices and ex periences would afford instruction and entertain ment for the evening. Table Manners.—A “young housekeeper” finds it difficult to understand all that is im plied by “table manners,” or the recognized laws of “ table etiquette,” particularly the “ lit tle things ” that come under those laws. Rules which belong to home manners—rules which reg ulate the minor proprieties of the table, which should be an established home custom, a “ sec ond nature”—are the ones about which our “young housekeeper” is the most perplexed, and fortunately they are similar in all places where good manners and true politeness are felt to be important elements in social or family life. Most of these small rules should be as strongly enforced at the home-table as at a fashionable party, and it is these things which we greatly desire to see recognized and carried out in every phase of society. There are some who insist that when a plate is sent to be replenished the knife and fork must be laid together on the plate. But we are happy to say that idea is being generally dis carded. If the plate is passed thus encumbered it would be a marvel, even with the best trained servants, if accidents did not often occur, and usually under the most mortifying circum stances. A quick movement of the arm which just touches the waiter’s as the plate is taken would most likely send a greasy knife or fork off the plate into a lady’s lap, or against a gen tleman’s coat. The knife and fork should be taken from the plate when it is passed, and either held in the hand or laid down with the tips resting on the solitaire, butter-plate, or a piece of bread. The last way is less awkward and much more con venient than holding them in the hand. When the plate is no longer needed, lay the knife and fork on it together, with the handles turned the same way, and the points of the fork laid down ward. Little mistakes, and occasionally a trouble some accident, may occur at the table, particu larly where there are guests, either through carelessness or diffidence on the part of the host or guest, and sometimes they are of the most embarrassing nature. But for the sake of all concerned, it is best to meet such infelici ties with quiet dignity and self-possession. The more awkward and mortifying the accident, the greater need of calmness, not indifference. Pass your own part of the trouble off’ with a smile, but let Jail the feeling which will find utterance be shown in the kindest manner to the one causing the accident, or the one who suffers the most by it, if other than yourself. If the accident occurred through the careless ness of host or hostess, or stupidity or igno rance of the waiter, continual reference to it and apologies only keep the matter before the mind and enhance the evil. If one of the guests is the sufferer, common kindness and sympathy for the culprit will lead him to pass the matter over lightly, or with but a few quiet words, sufficient to lessen the embarrassment the host and hostess must feel* We once saw a plate of soup poured across the sleeve and skirt of an elegant dress, as one next to the lady in- ad vertantly raised his arm just as the waiter was removing the plate. The hostess, for the moment, lost her self-possession, and, greatly disturbed, hastened, with many exclamations, to assist the waiter to remedy what, in a calmer moment, she would have seen was past help. But the owner of the dress, with a quiet smile, begged the hostess to be seated, gently request ing the waiter to resume his work, and taking her napkin, wiped off what she could without disturbing her neighbors; then, drawing a light shawl over the dress as if nothing had gone amiss, resumed the conversation which had been interrupted. Quiet self-possession under such circumstances is not hypocrisy, but a kind and proper regard for the comfort of others. Smacking the lips when eating, making need less and unpleasant sounds with the mouth at the table, is contrary to all rules, and exceed ingly ill-bred and disagreeable. It is ill-man nered anywhere, but at the table so offensive as to destroy all comfort. Reaching across the table, helping oneself with one’s own knife and fork, are among the improprieties that can hardly be excused in good society. Adjusting the hair, cleaning or cutting the nails, spitting, blowing the nose, are all very objectionable in company, but far more vulgar at the table than anywhere else. Whispering at the table is offensive—disre spectful alike to the host and hostess and their guests, if there are any. Let the conversation be general, and, as far as possible, of a nature to interest all. If from the forced seclusion in cident to ill health, or from natural diffidence, one is disinclined to bear a part in the conver sation, it is but showing suitable respect to those who are talking to be at least an attentive listener. It is rude to sit silent, if one does not by an attentive manner show that the conversa tion is followed and fully appreciated. Yawn ing and restlessness during the conversation are very disrespectful.—Mrs. Ilenry Ward Beecher. Fair Hair and Blue Eyes in Ger many. For a long time the idea of a German, more par ticularly a German lady, was that he or she had blue eyes and fair hair. The Germans themselves have protested against this sweeping assertion, and a careful examination of a German regi ment or German school would have sufficed to show the strong admixture of of black hair and brown eyes. But anthropologists went on assert ing their views, formed on what they called their own long experience, till at last the public insisted on having the matter settled by a regular census. Government assented; and on a certain day every school in Prussia had to make a return of the black and blue and brown color of the children’s eyes. Many of the pupils came home on that day telling their parents, with a mysterious air, their eyes and hair and skin had been examined at school. Some of the parenst thought it an undue interfer ence with their rights, but the thing was done, and angry protests against what the Government commands or allows to be done, are of little avail in Germany. After a short time the results of this anthropological mission have been published, and they are at all events curious, though perhaps not of much scientific value. The number of per sons examined in Prussia amounted to 4,127,766. Out of that number 4,070,923 were under fourteen years of age. With regard to the color of their eyes 42.07 per centum had blue, 34.31 per centum brown eyes. With regard to the color of the hair, 72 per centum had blonde, 26 per centum brown, and 1.21 per centum black hair. With regard to the color of the skin, Prussia has only 6.53 per centum of brunette complexion. In Bavaria the brunette complexion claims 15 per centum, the black hair 5 per centum, the brown hair 41 per centum, the fair hair 54 per centum; and it is ar gued from this that the darker complexion in Ger many came from the south—rather a bold general ization, if one considers the mixture of tribes in Germany-even at so late a time as the invasion of the barbarians into the Roman Empire. The re port contains a number of curious observations; for instance, that nearly one-third of the Jewish school children are fair, which would certainly not be the impression left upon a casual spectator by the ordinary run of the Jewish population.—Lon don Times. How to Begin the Day. Rise with the lark, but not for one. Be very careful to attire yourself neatly; ourselves, like our salads, are always the better for a good dres sing. Shave unmistakably before you descend from your room; chins, like oysters, should have their beards taken off before being permitted to go down. Start with a determination to be agreeable and good-tempered, and like an overflowing fire, noth ing shall put you out. Should the tea be hot, take it coolly; should the ham be salt, emulate the phil osophic Bacon, and having made a few pleasant ob servations about the milk of human kindness, the sugar of domestic felicity, the cup of happiness be ing full, and the butter resembling an actor in a fresh part, because it appears in a new roll, con clude with the appropriate ballad of “Let the toast pass, ” cracking fresh eggs and stale jokes simul-j taneously.