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THE BIRTH OF SPRING.
11l night the sobbing wind kept pace
With the sad rain’s unmeasured tramp;
All night cm nature's patient face
Gleamed lightning's weird and fitful lamp.
But sunbeams rent the clouds in twain,
A soft breeae kissed the expectant morn;
A bluebird sang a witehisg strain
A crocus bloomed, —and spring was born.
—Emmn C. Dowd, in Youth * Companion.
JoseDh Kendall’s Brother.
BY ARTHUR MERRICK.
There was a snow st<>mi on the raorn
Ing of the clay fixed for the execution of
Jonas Toms, who had been convicted of
the murder oi the old farmer. Joseph
Kendall. The down train on the branch
from X to the county seat had come
through without great difficulty, and the
up-train—with a load of morbidlv-curi
ous men, who had taken passage for the
purpose of witnessing the hanging—was
at last reported as having reached the
county seat. So the road was o;>eii, and
If the snow did r.ot drift into the cuts,
there would be no need of sending out
thesuow plow.
Jonas Toms was looking through the
fera.ihg- of his celt when the whistle of ;
i he up-tmln reached him, and, for a half,
feour, he waited expectantly, hope Dot 1
• .-j, ing him untiMhe Sheriff came to the j
Ciil door and shook bands with him in
silence.
/‘She did not come?” the condemned
31, desparingly.
‘No. She was not on the train, hut
re arc two hours yet and I have put a
>uty at the telegraph office with orders
(to run here at once with any message.”
“You are very kind, Sheriff,” Jona
faltered and turned away from the grated
door.
“It wouldn’t be human not to try to
make an ugly job like this as easy as
possible,” muttered the Sheriff, “and I
neiver was sure Jonas was guilty, though
he 1 couldn’t prove he wasn’t.”
‘The Sheriff's opinion of the ease was
scared by a great many ci tiro us of the
ocunty of and they had signed a peti
tion to the Governor for a respite for the
prisoner, and a commutation of his sen
tence, if the Uovernor could not see his
clear to grant a pardon. With this
petition Mrs. Jonas Toms had gone to the
capital to make use of it in pleading for
her husband's life. That morning the
prisoner had looked for her return with
[definite information concerning him—
whether he was to die or not. As no
word had been received from her, lie
—• I
was not hopeful, and he had really ex
pected her to come back to him only for
a final leave-taking.
Y.<” the Sheriff spoke of the
% What w'e asserted itself again and
“Echo iuojed with imagining his
I Wl4 uo wr, 'f Lii Itiil the Governor
]} ar f<J sln ff to abandon the struggle for
c>ur' untilit waa ust^ess to plead
Ido of the condemned was thus
that w at a straw, and his heart was
that wmg with love and gratitudo to
Wo lji. tireless ife, the deputy left
the tgh’Pk °ffi ce ami hastened to the
havl* no’ Sheriff seeing him coming,
courl ,et l musp d abruptly
, see clearly his subordi-
SiJ™' l '
**‘The operator can’t git X ,” said
the deputy. “The wire must be down.”
The Sheriff groaned and trembled as if
shaken by a strong wind. “Go back,”
he said,back and wait, for if there’s
word to come it will get here.”
The Sheriff spoke as if he expected a
miracle to be wrought to deliver him
from the, awful legal duty of taking a
mans life to satisfy the vengeance of the
-Gw, but yet he, having once more oh
fTned control of his nerves, walked firin
to iail, where he proceeded at
.X icojiolude the preparations for the
' vl *TiYi act.
t. Meanwhile a crowd of men was surg
— g about the jail entrance, and some
tifUys had climbed a tree to look over the
I*ll at the scaffold. The deputy iu
A*- sarge of the door admitted those who
hl back the others,
who afiprlamored to be let in.
Those \i|ho were within the gates by per
mission trampled the snow in the yard
and impatiently wished the Sheriff would
“hurry up,” while the other prisoners in
their cells were silent and curious and
gld— not glad because one who had
been with them in compulsory associa
tion was to be hanged, but glad because
their crimes were not so heinous as his;
and they all vowed to reform lest they,
too, should end on the gallows.
at X the telegraph operator
was frantic. He had called the operator
at the couuty sisat and could not get a reply
fis in despair and he thumped the
I’here before him lay a message
jjgoveriior of the State.
jiM-ifiot County:
.te ol t*n days granted to Jonas
me telegram was signed t>y tne Uov
ernor’s Secretary, but apparently it was
as useless us if it had never been written.
The county seat was thirty miles distant,
and there was but an hour to get word
?f the respite to the Sheriff before it
woutd be forever too late.
A restless man stalked up and down
the long platform—-he seemed to be wait
ing for a train and impatient because it
was delayed. He noticed the telegraph
operator's agitation and made inquiry
concerning the cause. The operator
•bowed him a message and the man's
he demanded tremul
ously; *>' ? ,
“Why don’t you send it?”
“I can't, I say, for the wire is not
working.' 1
The man-paused a moment irresolutely
and then said: “Give the message to
tne, seal it in an envelope with wax. I
will take it to the bherilf.”
“How?”
“On that engine.” He pointed to a lo
comotive that was standing on a siding
with steam up, but was not manned—
the engineer being at his home, and the
fireman having made a trip to the round
house.
•Give me a switch key " the stranger
■aid, nervously,” and be ready with tne
telegram when I come past the plat
form.”
The operator gave the man the key, but
instantly reached for it again as he ex
claimed: “Thu gravel tram Jit is up the
road.” "
“Never mind. I’ll scare it on a siding.
You have the message ready.”
Quickly the stranger ran to the switch
and turned it for the siding. A yard man
noticed him, but at the distance thought
him the station agent, who, at the time,
was away from his office, fortunately for
the stranger's plan. The engine re
sponded to the throttle and came out on
the main track slowly—the yardman
looking after it in astonishment, then 1
starting on a run to see what mad man’s
impulse seemed to control the man at the
lever! Thx telegraph operator was rapid
in his movements, and when the engine
steamed past the platform on the track
that led to the county seat he delivered
to the man, whom he now regarded as a
hero, the message properly sealed and
authenticated.
“God bless you,” he called after the
unknown, “and save you from the gravel
train.”
The road to the county seat was a
tsagle track and the gravel train sent out
to keep the road-bed clear of drifts was
liable to be collided with upon any curve
by the engine running without schedule
or orders, but the stranger merely smiled
as he pulled the throttle lever further
i back. The engine dashed up the track,
| the engineer standing in the door-way of
; his home and looking at it aghast, while
| the sta:ion agent and train dispatcher
I hastened to the telegraph office to learn
die reason of the engine’s departure on a
“wild cat” trip.
The engineer rushed up to the platform
where stood the operator explaining to
j the dispatcher how it happened that the
| stranger took out the engine.
“But he will not get through,” said
the dispatcher, “for he lus no fireman.”
“Yes, he has,” exclaimed the engineer,
“lie's doin’ the firin’ too. He’s just lettin’
her run, he’ll just fire and whistle.”
And, as if to confirm the engineer's
statement, the Bcrcam of the steam
reached their ears—the whistle shrieking
a frantic demand for a clear track.
At the jail the Sheriff’s jury were
drawn up in the corridor, solemnly wait
ing for the conclusion of the last con
ference of the condemned with his spirit
ual adviser. The Sheriff restlessly paced
the flagging, while one of the deputies
nervously fingered a black cap and the
other toyed with the cords to be used
in pinioning the prisoner.
The Sheriff, who had repeatedly looked
at his watch in a way that seemed to
beg time to go more slowly, glanced at
it at last with a heavy sigh and went to
the jaU entrance for a final look toward
the telegraph' office. The deputy sta
tioned thorn was not in sight and the
executive official turned with a heavy
heart to the prisoner’s cell.
“Come,” he said, and the heavy foot
falls of the jury sounded dismally
through the corridor.
“It is time,” he said gently to the
prisoner, who courageously stepped into
the corridor and bravely faced the jury
while the deputies bound his arms and
slipped the cord of the cap over his head,
lie was ready, but just when the word to
move to the yard was given, he turned a
longing glance toward the main entrance,
as if he hoped to see his wife appear there
suddenly.
Slowly the procession moved, the
prisoner leaning on the arm of the clergy
man, his back toward the main entrance,
liis temples throbbing many beats be
tween tho footfalls of his executioners,
who stepped heavily and in time with
him, as if to deaden to him the sound of
his own feet, which shuffled in spite of
him, the nails in tho heels of his boots
rasping on the stone floor.
And then came shrieking through the
horrid or the whistle of a locomotive—
strident scream on scream rising higher
each second and indicating that the en
gine was approaching at terrible speed.
The heart of every man iu the jail leaped.
The prisoner stood still and his lips
moved as if in silent thanksgiving, for to
him the shrill sOunds were trumpeting
his freedom. The Sheriff rushed to the
jail entrance, a commotion rose among
the visitors who had grown cold in the
snow, and they began to crowd into the
jail. The deputies momentarily forgot
the prisoner, while they contended with
the impatient and excited spectators,
forcing them back to the yard.
The conductor of the gravel traiu was
startled when the whistle penetrated his
ears with its cry for a clear track, and ho
was glad that he had reached with his
train the safety of the siding at the
county seat when he saw the eugiue leap
ing toward the town on a steep down
I grade.
The deputy stationed at the telegraph
office ran out on the track to learn the
meaning of tho terrible shrieking. The
operator ran with him, and the crowd
around the jail stampeded toward the
station. The whistle ceased its screams
and a man was seen standing between
the cab and the tender, as the engine,
with unabated speed forged toward the
..station.
Tho crowd stood still in silence as the
man lowered himself on the step to the
cab.
i “Heavens! ho is going to jump,” said
the deputy, nd the crowd fell pell-mell
back out of the way, but every one
heard the man cry :
“Take this to the Sheriff.”
He waved his hand in which he
clutched something yellow.
“A man’s life depends on it,” he
shouted again.
Then he jumped and rolled to the feet
of the deputy, who wrenched an envel
ope from the grasp of his twitching fin
] gers. Without pausing to see whether
gn was alive or dead, the crowd ran
he deputy, amd no one looked
lis hen the eugine crashed into the
JJd was totally wrecked.
The SKixiff in trembling, eazer haste,
! opened the envelope and read aloud the
! telegram.
The crowd shouted and returned to the
station where a physician with the calm
ness due to bis profession was eqdoiiv’pr
ing to restore the senseless man to fife.
At last he succeeded. The stranger
opened his eyes and looked in a bewil
dered manner at the crowd of carious
men and boys. But presently his eyes
lighted with intelligence and he asked in
a whisper:
“Was I in time?”
“Yes,” said the surgeon.
“Thank God. I killed Joseph Kendall
and this is my expiation. I am Joseph
Kendall's brother.”
With great presence of mind the phy
sician wrote the confession in his note
book and then read it aloud.
“Is that correct?” he asked.
The stranger nodded and his lips
moved, but they uttered no sound. He
died while the doctor was having one or
two reliable witnesses sigu his confession.
The Ejtock.
The Human Hair.
In man, says Dr. Henry Gibbons, of
San Francisco, almost the whole of the
body is covered with hair. Hair is de
veloped in minute closed sacs before
birth. First hair is shed like first teeth.
The saying that “Fright made his hair
stand on end” is not founded on imagi
nation, but is a physiological fact. The
poets, as far back as the author of the
book of Job, are full of references to this
phenomenon. In the lower animals the
muscles that erect the hair are more
highly developed than in man. The
manufacture of the hair takes place in
the follicle. The hair has neither circu
lation nor blood vessels. The finest
pointed needle is dull compared with
the point of a hair. Hairs do not rise
perpendicularly from the crown of the
head, but at an acute angle. Blonde hair
is usually the finest, and black or red
the coarsest. A black-haired girl aver
ages 88,000 hairs and a blonde 110,000.
A Michigander is on record who had a
beard 7 feet inches long. When cut
frequently, hair grows at the rate of half
an inch a month. The statement that
hair grows after death has no.ieatific
foundation. A hair twenty inches long
can lio stretched to twenty-four or twen
ty-five inches. One of the dangerous
properties of the hair is that it encour
ages sparking—electrical and of other
kinds. Hair absorbs moisture, as mauy
a lady who goes to a party on a foggy
night’knows to her cost. A hair from the
beard will sustain a weight of six ounces.
A good head of hair, made into a rope,
will sustain a weight of nine or ten tons.
The hair can be preserved by a good
shampooing once iu ten days or twe
weeks; this should be followed by vig
( orous brushing, to restore the oil lost in
washing. The style of men's hats and
the constancy with which they weai
j thgm are responsible for much baldness,
llair, like everything else, flourishes best
when it Ims plenty of air and sunshine.
: Gray hair is often a hereditary peculiar
| ity, and is not necessarily a sign of old
age. Gray hair developing slowly is the
I result of the hair follicle failing to secure
; coloring pigments.
The chances of failure for a blonde in
the matrimonial market ureas three to
two in favor of her dark-haired sister,
The Teutonic races seem to be losing
their fair-haired characteristics. Perox
ide of hydrogen (nmeoline) is the most
receut preparation for producing beauti
ful blonde hair and is harmless. •
Wood as Human Food.
Probably no modern science presents s
wider field for speculation than that of
chemistry, and more especially, perhaps,
that branch of the science which treats
of organic compounds. Bince the day
when Wohler overthrevv for ever the no
tion that organic substances were exclu
sively the products of the operation of a
so-called vital force by his discovery of
the synthesis of urea, a great number of
bodies, hithe-rto only obtained in nature’s
laboratory, have been successfully built
up, as the result of a careful and most
minute study of their exact nature. The
discovery of the preparation of substances
by artifice, more particularly the dyes,
has, as a matter of course, influenced very
considerably homo and foreign indus
tries. What shall be said, then, when
chemistry promises to solve hard prob
lems of political and social economy? In
an address delivered at Heidelberg by
no less an authority than Victor Meyer it
is announced “that we may reasonably
hope that chemistry will teach us to make
the fibre of wood a source of human
food.” What an enormous stock of food,
then, will be found if this becomes pos
sible, in tho wood of Our forests or even
iu grass and straw. The fibre of wood
consists essentially of eellulin. Can this
be made to change into starch? Starch
has exactly the same percentage compo
sition, but, as every one knows, it differs
very much in its properties, and the na
ture of its molecule is probably much
more complex. Cellulin is of little or no
dietetic value, and it is not altered, like
starch, in boiling water. It readily
gives glucose when treated with strong
sulphuric acid, as is easily shown when
cotton wool, which is practically pure
cellulin, is merely immersed in it. Starch
gives the same product when boiled with
weak acid. The author further quotes
the researches of Hellrcigel, which go t<:
show beyond dispute that certain plants
transform atmospheric nitrogen into al
bumen, and that this process can be im
proved by suitable treatment. The pro
duction, therefore, of starch from cellu
lin, together with the enforced increase
of albumen in plants, would, he adds,in
reality siguify the abolishment of the
I bread question. It must be borne in
mind, however, that theory, fascinating
and promising though it may be, is not
always capable of being followed up by a
; practical result.— London Globe.
Not a Leap Tear.
Nineteen hundred will not be a leap
\ year, because the length of the year is not
; exactly days, it is really a little
j less (eleven minutes and fourteen sec
: ouds), and as tho difference keeps in
! creasing from year to year, it is necessary
i to drop out the extra day every hundred
years or so, so as to bring the calendar
right. Even this correction is not quite
exact, but it will serve for a great many
1 centuries, so there is no pressing -:ged of
reform. i
BUDGET OF FUN.
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
“Weep, and You Weep Alone”—The
Same Old Dun—lf He Only Had
Them Overestimated Its t
Value—Needed Rest, Etc.
If you are not in danger,
E’en the dog in the manger ’ s
May offer to lick your hand:
But if in adversity,
E> >ry man in the city
Will lick you if he can.
—Sew York Herald.
TIIK SAMK oI.D DUN.
’‘Did you tell the giocer that I am not
receiving calls of any kind to-day?”
“Yessir; but he said as how you ought
to appoint a receiver, then.”— Puck.
OVERESTIMATED ITS VALUE.
“I hear you struck a 2.40 gait when
you left Mias Bjones:? last.”
“Oh no; that gate cost more than that;
2.40 won't more than pay for the re
pairs.”—Lhuar.
couldn’t survive it.
Two young girls were discussing a re
cent execution the other day in a rail
way carriage on the Brighton Road:
“Fancy being hanged!" exclaimed one.
“Imagine the disgrace.”
“Oh, horrible!” coincided the ether.
“I am sure I should never survive it."—
Loudon Fun.
AN artist's sarcasm.
First Artist—“l have got an order
from Mrs. Portly to paint her portrait.”
Second Artist—“l suppose she wants
a good likeness—something that looks
lifelike and natural
Firs: Artist—“ No. on the contrary,
she sat* she wants a handsome picture.”
Tinas Sifting*.
IF HE ONLY HAD THEM.
“You must hare patience, niv young
man, if you expect to succeed,” expostu
lated a gentleman with a young physician,
who had just hung out his sign and was
getting restless, as no work came to him.
“I know that,” replied the young doc
tor, “but how on earth am I to get
them?”— Atlanta Constitution.
WHERE TO GET AIR.
Without consulting any of the other
passengers an old fellow in a railroad
car lets down both windows, and then
remarks (looking round complacently)
—“A cold morning this, but I must say
I like air!”
Fellow-Pasenger (gruffly)—“Why in
thuuder don't you get out on the roof?”
— Chatter.
. NEEDED REST.
Anxious Wife—“ Doctor, how is my
husband?”
Doctor—“Ho will coma around all
right. What he needs now is quiet. I
have here a couple of opiates.
“When shall I give them to him?”
“Give them to him? They are for
you, madam. Your husband needs rest.”
Texas Siftings.
HIGHLY PLAUSIBLE.
Jack Ripley (feeling in all his pockets)
—“Strange where the deuce it went to! I
can’t seem to— ”
Haberdasher—“ Lose anything, sir?”
Jack Ripley—“ Well, I want you to see
that all-wool undergarment you sold me
two weeks ago—but I guess it must have
slipped through a hole in my vest.”—
Dry Goods Chronicle.
A NICE DISCRIMINATION.
A railroad man tells this story:
“Out on the road all the hotel employes
knew me and catered to my appetite for
good edibles. At one time I ordered a
beefsteak, and a stranger next me at the
table said he would take the same, where
upon the rascally waiter called out:
“ ‘Two beefsteaks—one for a railroad
man and the other for a gentleman.’ ”
Chicago Times.
JOY UNSPEAKABLE.
“Wonder what’s the matter with Harry
and his wife? They don’t even speak to
each other now, I’m told.”
“So? Then Harry wasn’t disappointed
iuhis anticipations.”
“How’s that?”
“Why, he told me before he was mar
ried to Carrie that it would be a joy un
speakable to pass his life in her society.”
—Boston Transcript.
STRONG EVIDENCE.
“Young man,” said the boarding mis
tress, sternly, “your comments are out of
place. I made biscuit, sir, fifty years
ago.”
“Very likely,” was the sinner’s reply,
adding in an agitated undertone to his
side partner, “and if circumstantial evi
dence goes for anything, this specimena
I’m whetting myf-'eth on is one of ’em.”
—Philadelphia Times.
A DISTINCTION AND A DIFFERENCE.
“Mrs. Brindle—“l must have some
money to-day, William. I’m going
shopping.”
Mr. Brindle (in surprise)—“What do
you want with money?”
Mrs. Brindle (ditto) —“How can I buy
goods -without money?”
Mr. Brindle—“Oh! you're going to
buy something? I thought, you were
only going shopping.” Lippincott's
l/o, aline.
had been in the business.
A seedy-looking individual stepped
into the hotel and said to the clerk:
“I’ve been in the business myself, but
I’m broke; and can’t you help the pro
fession?”
He was given the best meal the house
afforded. As he sauntered back, com
placently picking his teeth, the clerk
queried:
“Bin in the his, hey?”
“its.”
“Hotel or boarding?”
“Boarding”—here they reached the
door.
“Boarding what?”
“Boarding freight trains!”
And a dull, dun streak sped around
the corner.— Light.
HAD HAD EXPERIENCE.
“Well, now, this is something like,”
exclaimed Mrs. Newwife, awakening her
husband suddenly from a stolen after
dinner nap. “It says here in the paper
that at the Hotel Bernina, in Samoden,
they are cooking beefsteak by electricity.
Wlmt a blessing that will be to the poor,
overworked women if it becomes gen
eral."
“What are they doing?” grunted the
husband, only half awake.
“Cooking beefsteak by electricity.”
“Where?"
“In a foreign hotel.”
“Umph! Nothing very new about
that. Never got a piece of hotel beef
steak yet that didn’t look as if it had
been struck by lightning.”— Detroit Fret
IYcju.
ONLY SURPRISED HIV.
“What a homely man,” said Prettitome
the stranger, as he strolled down the
village street with his friend.
“Yes,” said his friend, “that is Peter
Gray; he is very homely, but the pleas
antest tempered man in the world. You
can't make him mad; no matter what you
do you can’t anger him."
“Dollars to doughnuts,” said the
stranger, “I cau rile him all up.”
He walked up to Peter and caught
hold of his grey beard.
“You miserable old swindler,” he
said.
“You surprise me,” said Peter, with
an impatient gesture.
When Prettitom recovered conscious
ness he was lying on the drug store
counter, and they were bathing his face.
“What was thathe said?” he murmured
in broken tones.
“He said that you surprised him,” re
peated his friend.
“That’s what I thought he said,” mur
mured the stranger. “Let us return
thanks that I didn’t irritate him.”
CHICAGO VANQUISHED BY BOSTON.
Footpad (presenting pistol)—“Fori
over your rhino, and be quick about it!”
Near - sighted Bostonian “ Beg
pardon!”
(Sternly) “No monkeying! Unlimberl
Produce the scads!”
“Pardon me, but I do not apprehend
the drift of your ”
“Cease your patter! Don’t you see
I’ve got the drop? Unload your
boodle!”
“I am totally at a loss, my dear sir, to
perceive the relevancy of your observa
tions or to ”
“Clap a stopper on your gab and
whack up, or I’ll let ’er speak! Turn
out your bundle quick! Get a squirm
on you!
“Is there any peculiarity in the ex
ternal seeming of my apparel or de
meanor, sir, that impels you, a total
stranger, to ”
“Once more, you dash-bedashed bloke,
will you uncork that swag?”
(Hopelessly bewildered) “My friend, I
confess my utter inability to gather any
coherent idea from the fragmentary ob
servations you have imparted. There is
something radically irreconcilable and
incapable of correlation in the vocabu
laries with which we endeavor to make
the reciprocal or correspondential inter
change of our ideas intelligible. You
will pardon me if I suggest that syn
chronization of purpose is equally indis
pensable with homogeneity of cerebral
impression, as well as parallelism of idiom
and ”
But the highwayman had fled in dis
may.—Chicago Tribune.
A Turtle Hunter’s Method.
“I want a small shot-gun that don’t ust
up much ammunition,” said a middle
aged man to a San Francisco dealer in
firearms.
“Jaybirds bothering your orchard?”
inquired the dealer as he was displaying
his wares.
“No; lam a turtle hunter. Get
turtles and terrapin for the market, you
know.”
“Shoot turtles with a shot-gan!” ex
claimed the astonished dealer, dropping
a fowling piece on his pet corn, which
brought forth a howl of pain.
“No; not exactly,” answered the turtle
hunter. “It’s just this way: I’ve hunted
the shellbacks for many years and have
got a little wrinkle of my own that every
body don’t know of. I used to go for
’em with a scoop net, like city folks
catch butterflies with, but now I use a
set net. Of course I have to bait it. My
net is shaped like a wing-dam, on the
fly-trap principle, I bait it with jaybirds,
robins, sparrows and such small birds.
The turtles crawl up the wings of the net
to feed, and when they start to crawl out
they’re catched. See? The Frenchmen
in the restaurants in Sacramento, Stock
ton and this city pay me good prices for
the critters. I ship ’em—the turtles I
mean—in crates. I’ve caught turtles in
all the rivers in the country and traveled
some, too. I’ve fished for turtles in the
Yuba all the way from its mouth to Sis
kiyou country. I’ll take this gun. So
long.” —Sail Francisco Examiner.
Lineal Descendants of David.
Some remarkable statements have been
made public in connection with the pro
ceedings under the bankruptcy of the
Prince of Mantua and Montforrat, who
resides in London. Some time ago the
Prince published a work in which he em
bodied some extraordinary documents
One of these was a statement to which
the name of the late Sir George Jessel,
Master of the Rolls, was signed, affirm
ing that, upon examination of pedigrees
and old copies of the Pentateuch, the
Prince and his mother, the Duchess of
Mantua, were found to be lineally de
scended from David, and therefore en
titled to the appellation of Prince and
Princess of the House of David. —Jewish
Chronicle.
NATURE’S DRESS.
SOME ANIMALS’ COLORS BLEND
WITH SURROUNDING OBJECTS.
The Polar Bear is of the Same Hue
as the Landscape—The Lion’s
Sandy Skin Harmonizes
AVitJi the Desert.
In Arctic regions white is the color
which best protects, by making au an
imal of the same hue as the landscape.
Accordingly, we find the polar boat
white. The alpine hare, the ermine and
the Arctic fox turn white in the snowy
season. Among birds, the ptarmigan in
winter loses its summer plumage, which
harmonizes so well with the lichen-cov
ered stones among which it hides, and
turns white, so very white that one may
tramp through a flock lying on the snow
without perceiving a single bird. If the
common raven, which even in midwin
ter goes as far north as any known bird
or mammal, remains black, it is because
it feeds on carrion and has no need of
concealment to get near its prey. The
Siberian sable, like the raven, does not
change color in winter, because its
habits are* such that it does not need to
become white; it often lives on berries at
this season, and is so nimble on the trees
that it easily catches small birds. The
woodchuck of Canada also stays brown in
winter. But it then burrows in river
banks and subsists on fish. We know
that the lion, by its sandy color,
easily conceals itself by crouching
on the desert land; while the stripes of
the tiger assimilate well with the vertical
stems of the bamboo and tall, stiff grass
of the jungle. Almost all the other ani
mals of the cat tribe frequeut trees, and
these have often spotted skim, which
help to blend them with the background
of foliage. A marked exception is the
puma, whose ashy brown fur, the color of
bark, and its habit of clinging very closely
to a limb as it waits for its prey to pass
underneath, make it uncommonly bard tc
distinguish. It might be thought thal
the conspicuous stripes of the zebra, in a
country abounding with lions and leo
pards, would be a danger to it. But
zebras go in herds, and are so wary and
swift that in the day time they have little
to fear. It is at dusk, when they go tc
drink, that they are most exposed. But
Francis Galton, who has studied this ani
mal in its native haunts, declares that in
the twilight the zebra’s black and white
stripes blend so well into a grayish tint
that at this hour it is not easy to be seen
at a short distance. Even an animal as
big as a giraffe is said by travelers to be
admirably concealed by its form and color
when standing perfectly still among the
dead trees often found on the outskirts ol
the groves where it feeds. Its spots, its
long neck, the peculiar shape of its head
and horns appear altogether so like
broken branches that even the natives
have been known to mistake a tree for a
giraffe and a giraffe for a tree. In regard
to the coloring of birds, the better opin
ion is that the dull colors of the female
have been acquired for protection while
sitting on the nest. To this rule there
are exceptions, as the kingfishers, wood
peckers, toucans, parrots, starlings, and
honguests,iu wriiieh both sexes are equally
conspicuous. But these birds either nest
in holes, or build dome-shaped nests
which hide the sitting bird. In the very
few curious cases where the female is
actually more conspicuously colored than
the male, it is fouud that the relation of
the sexes in regard to nestling is re
versed—the male bird sitting on the
eggs, while the more attractive but pug
nacious female stands exposed to the ene
my’s eye. Such are the dotterel, an
Australian creeper, and one or two oth
ers. In the tropics, where leaves are
always green, we find whole, groups of
brids whose feathers are green; while
many tree-snakes in that part of the
world, comprising both harmless and
venomous genera, are usually of a beau
tiful green color, and so perfectly does it
conceal them that their prey comes with
in easy reach unconscious of danger.
The only true arboreal snake whose col
or is seldom green is the genus Dipsas,
which takes various shades, black,
brown, olive. But the snakes of this
genus are all nocturnal, and by day hide
in holes, so that a green disguise would
serve them no useful purpose. Among
the smaller marine animals, many are
protected by being so transparent as to
be almost invisible,those that are bright
ly colored generally having a special
protection, either in stinging tentaelesor
in a hard crust like the star-fish. In
some rare cases, as in the chameleon, a
lizard-like animal which turns from dull
white to a variety of tints in har
mony with surrounding objects, the
change of color is brought about
by a reflex action dependent on sensa
tion ; and it has been discovered that this
curious power is due to several layers of
movable pigment cells buried deep under
the skin, which, when the helpless
creature sees an enemy, are capable,
through the emotion of fear, of being
pushed up to the surface. There is a
shrimp called the chameleon shrimp
which has the same power of taking a
protective tint, seemingly at will. It is
of a sandy hue when swimming over a
sandy bottom, but as soon as it gets among
sea-weed it changes to green. And ex
periment shows that, if deprived of
sight, this shrimp, not knowing the color
of its surroundings, will not change
color. Sometimes a conspicuous color
adds to an animal's safety. Perhaps the
best example of this is the skunk. Its
bushy white tail, cirled well up over its
black and white body, is a signal to
attract attention. In the dusk this white
signal is pretty sure to be seen, and pre
vents the skunk, a bold, presuming crea
ture, from being pounced upon by any
of the night-prowling carnivora, who
turn away the moment they recognize it.
Catholic World.
The colored people of this country
now control about one hundred weekly
newspapers.
The rate of tasation in Mississippi for
the present year is four mills.
WE AND THE WORLD.""" ”
The world is the same the whole world over)
In every country and every clime. ",
Men love beauty and bees love clover, -
And will to the distant end of time. '
The world is the same old world forever,
There’s joy in truth and there’s pain in vice;
The fruit forbidden we taste and sever j
Our hold on the heart’s pure paradise.
The world’s to-day is the world’s to-morrow.
And both shall be its yesterday;
Our joy and grief, our love and sorrow,
Like our father’s thoughts shall pass away,
There's nothing new and there’s nothing olden
Each day is born on the dawn’s fresh wings.
3ur hearts have music sweet and golden,
Or discord, just as we touch life's strings.
Washington Star.
PITH AND_ POINT.
True as a dyen—ldigo.— St. Louii
Magazine.
The man who tore his coat knows that
rents are increasing.
Oh yes, Jasen, there is considerable
difference between current news and new
currants. — Dansville Breeze.
“Was that your uncle’s will read yes
terday?” “Yes.” “What did he leave
yon?” “He left me out.”— Munsey's
Weekly.
Blacksmith to Apprentice—“ Thu
nder, man, don’t beat that anvil so. Any
body would think it was a piano.”—Flie
gende Blaetter.
“I loved you once,” he said, in a re
proachful tone. “Well,” she re
sponded, “I don’t want the earth. Once
is enough,”— Washington Tost.
The constant drip does not always
wear the stone. It sometimes wear3 the
patience of the man who tries to keep
the faucet turned o ßlizzard.
It frequently occurs that the man who
is much imbued with the idea that he is
his brother’s keeper makes a very poor
bluff at keeping himself. — Blizzard.
Worth is always appreciated. A
woman uo sooner gets a girl in the house
who can cook than some man comes
dong and marries her.— Atchison Qlobe.
If you’re not pretty when you’re young,
This consolation hold:
That in some fifty years or so
You will be pretty old.
— Judge.
New Waitress—“ Really, madam, this
is too much. I cannot stand the ever
lasting fault-finding of the coachman.
He says I have a worse temper even than
you.”— Flicgende Blaetter.
Cumso—“What made Briggs & Cos.
fail?” Fjangler—“They bought too
many bananas and the price dropped on
them.” Cumso—“Bananas are bad
things to slip up on.”— Epoch.
Poet—“l have brought you a poem,
sir. It is rather long, but I suppose that
will make no difference.” Editor—“Oh,
no. Just as easy to reject long ones as
short ones.”— Munsey's Weekly.
Miss Gush—“And you were iu thal
awful railroad collision? I suppose the
scene beggared description!” Railroad
Officer—“ Not exactly; but a few mora
of them would beggar the company.”
If an errand-boy and a healthy snail
In a lively race for speed-points should t.i
gage,
By the time the former reached the goal how
long
Would the snail be dead of old age?
—Philadelphia Times.
“ I tell you,” said Cholly, who is a
“natural’' musician, “there is a lot oi
music in this piano.” “That may be
true,” said his long-suffering friend;
“but you have to work like the deuce to
get it out.”
“Yes, my Caro is a thoroughly sensible
creature. Every night he fetches me my
sausage from the pork butcher’s, and if
a strange dog offers to take it from him
what do you think he does? Why, he
gobbles it up himself I” Fliegcndt
Blaetter.
“Yes,” said Fogg, “I always allow
Mrs. F. to build the kitchen fire in the
morning. Of course I’d just as lief do
it myself, only it makes me feel so bad,'
you know. It makes me feel as though
I were helping to destroy our American
forests. A woman now doesn’t trouble
her head about such things.”
“Mr. Penny,” said the editor, gently
but firmly, “I fear the time has come
to sever the relations which have so long
existed between us. I have allowed you
to rhyme ‘pain’ with ‘again’ and ‘door’
with ‘moor,’ but when you go so far as to
try to make a rhyme of ‘peaches’ and ‘he
aches,’ you are several chips over the
limit. You will find your check in the
counting-room.” —Terre Haute Express,
Fuzzy Neckties.
Fred Hewen, who deals in gentlemen’s
furnishing goods in a wholesale way,was
in a party recently, when a member of
the group stepped to the adjacent mirror
and attempted to adjust his stubborn
necktie. “I can’t make it stay in place,”
he complained, “and I guess I’ll have to
throw it away. It’s about time, I think,
because it is worn and all covered with
fuzz.” Hewen stepped toward the young
man and regarded the four-in-hand scarf
with a critic's eye. “Take it off a
moment,” he said, “and I’ll fix it for
you.” The young man removed it and
handed it over. Hewen struck a match, 1
and, when it was burning well, he held
it near the necktie. The flame lapped
off the fuzz in an instant, and the tie was
returned looking as good as new, almost.
“Never throw away fuzzy tics,” said
Fred. “Burn off the fuzz in that way
and you’ll get twice the wear out of
them.” Here is a pointer for economical
young men who are careful of their per
sonal appearance. Chicago Herald.
Lays Tinted Eggs.
Hiram Hall, of Columbus, Ind., has a
freak of nature—a hen that lays Easter
eggs. It is a young pullet of the Ply
mouth liock variety, and since she be
gan layiqg, she has laid an egg that is a
deep pink all over, with a white spot on
the small end. No coloring is necessary
to prepare the eggs for Easter An In
dianapolis drummer has offered Mi. Hall
SSO for the pullet, but the offer was de
clined. Cinomnati Enquirer. .*