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A PERFECT rA T.
M hit* roses are spraying
And meekly displaying
Their shell-fash>oed
So fragile and cold.
"B hi!s bluebirds are flywqg
W here aiders are Mffctng.
The wind* on tbe war'a&ku
The lilies unfold.
O'er meadows ute
Drift csoodlete the atiiMi,
Down softest isi Wtewn
Of soaswwry stoss.
The apple tree twinUes.
And in the atr re .nfcie.
Its Wossi-iists that f)iac
like wiot* btira.irft**-.
The <*yst*3 pitHh**-*,
TH* wiJMi tmw IrtutiitfeK
tmixu£ ft7’hur.iih
l* pusl cm iil ninjy>
The viflm 4-
That Bieri ffißxrhlf
Are ronav aa>i
With fcri—i c 4 hcfm.
Ob, hours sere®eT..
The rosiest, grtma**t„
Gold-vestured and gr*rful
As twain on a stivam *
Our souls keep repeating,
“Oh wherefore so fleeting,
Like faces we only
Can see in a dream**’
—fi. h. Munkittrick, in Youth's Compfimio'A
THE WEDDING GIFT.
“A package for you,” said the dearest
g.rl in the world, as she ran Jorward and
brought me a a long, narrow bos. “An
other wedding gift, lam sure. I won
der what it is and from whom it c be.” ,
Angelica clasped her hands, and
looked so unutterably happy that my cup
of joy was full to the brim. Who would
be more exultant than we two? It was
the first week after our wedding, and we
had just returned to our cozy nest at ,
1139 North Three Hundred and Seventy
third street, in the. famous city of Cos
mopolis.
Another wedding gift! My ardent
fancy rapidly evolved its hidden
possibilities, from a dainty fruit-knife to j
a chaste spoon, from an elaborate can- !
delabrum to an old-fashioned pair of
tongs. What could it be?
“It may be a parasol for me,” said
Angelica, eying the package affection
ateiy.
“Or an umbrella for me,” I rejoined,
with a quizzical look.
“Or a roll of silk, my dear,” she haz
arded.
“Or a bootjack, my love,” I replied,
seizing iny knife and preparing to cut
the string.
“It has taken a long time to come,any
way,” she added. “A whole week."
“You forget, sweetheart, that it came
by a district messenger boy;’’ and with a
laugh I opened the package, when an
other box and a letter were disclosed to
view.
We both grasped the letter, and al
lowed the package to glide to the floor.
“Angelica!” I exclaimed, in my most
positive tones, “I recognize the hand
writing. It is—it is Uncle John’s!”
“Oh, how nice! the dear, sweet old
man. So gentle, is he not, John? I al
ways said I w’ould love him for your
sake.” And she gave me one of her
brightest glances.
“Well, my love, he is a gentle creat
ure, to be rare; but-—but he is decidedly
eccentric. Any way, lam glad that he
has thought of us, even at this late date.
I was always led to believe that 1 was his
favorite nephew.”
“Of course he couldn’t help loving
you best of all; I couldn’t, could 1,
John?”
“No,indeed,little minx. You couldn’t,
you wouldn’t and you shouldn’t,” 1 re
sponded with fervor, and then read aloud
his letter:
"Dear Old Boy — lam overjoyed to hear
of your marriage, and regret that, a villain
ous attack of gout prevented my attendance
at the ceremouy. 1 hear that your wife is
ail that is gentle and good. Happy fellow!
I have known you so loug and intimately
that I heartily rejoice at your good fortune.
Do come up with her to see me when th
first glow of the honeymoon is over. Mean
while X beg of you to accept the accompany
ing as the most fitting gift I could think of
presenting to you both. It has virtues more
valuable than fine gold, and its powers, pre
served and strengthened througli the ages,
have an etHeaey little dreamed of by mortal
man. Guard it. and it will guard you. Treas
ure it as your home's holiest phylactery. It
will be an infallible record of your affection;
a dial of love, which never nests regulation;
for it runs by occult attachment and psychic
force.
"In the fond hone that you will prize it- for
my sake and your own, Affectionately,
"John Crump."
“Goodness!” I cried, as soon as I re
covered breath. ‘‘This is a pretty letter!
But what does the old fellow mean by
dial and attachment and psychic force?
Is he demented?”
“Oh, dearest!” Augelica exclaimed,
edging away from the package, still on
the floor. “1 atj| so frightened. Shall 1
send for mother; ’
“No,” I rejoined, with rather pre
cipitate haste, “you need not send for
your mother.” And then I added, in my
most heroic tones: “There is no occa
sion for alarm. The package surely is
harmless. It can't be a Florida alligator
or a dynamite cartridge. Come, love, we
shall open it together. One heart, one
fate!” 1 exclaimed, melodramatically;
and soon before our astonished gaze was
presented the tiniest little thermometer
in the world.
“A thermometer!" was our first ex
clamation. “The brute!" was the next.
“Does he want to insult me?” 1 cried
in a rage.
“Let us send it back—the odious
•wretch I” was Angelica's observation, the
heroism of which can be gathered from
the fact that my uncle was a millionaire,
and I was supposed to be his favorite and
his heir.
A silence deep, profound, immeasur
able, fell upon us—our hearts alone were
audible. A sudden inexplicable mystery
seemed to surround us both. The air be
ivime oppressive. What hidden agency
was at work? What subtle powers were
inspiring us with apprehension? We
could not speak, we could hardly breathe,
so intense was our agitation. I glanced
•ones *s tiw tSwrasssaetw. My eyw were
rimed vyw* tumt# lettering, and we both
Dead (uMi!tueeK]i ; “Love’s Thertnom
rtw. pateasesl by the bvtMt for Psychic
Ssmaiei And straying downward our
osavsroshod cue these hoes from
Rrewwasc
** O eirti as i*t has A ’ AH n beau
tor
Aat tnwwNac thus l> and lor* B
Atfte
What tusUsc mT be eewgbt Aw or de
nlaiW!*'
M'hy. I cried, “this is n
arrange, I might almost cay, a wondrous
fhanriomcrm " eying it more rr|wetful
h and with less wrath toward my phil
f nsiifibif tmcle
1* *Oh, John, look look!’’ she exclaimed,
pointing to some wonts on the other side
of the pbftc
Sms'mi bli-* hate
Doth oscillate
Y oar a oral fate.”
“Oh darting," and the poor girl w’as
1 iihoot to j-ofe is her fear. “Shall we not
? od for mother!”
■ Send for your mother?" I repeated.
Send for fiddlesticks, said I, with reck
less irreverence. "Why, see there!
Look!” and along the side of the instru
ment were the words: “Bliss heat, 120
degrees; affection, 100 degrees; friend-
I ship, 80 degrees; indifference, 60 de
! gives; coldness, 40 degrees; aversion, 20
degrees; hatred, 0 degrees.”
“Oh, John,” was my wife’s appeal,
■ “don’t keep the horrid thing in the
house. lam sure it is something dread
ful;” and a few tears did gather in her
eye*.
“Have no fear, Angelica,” I cried,
kissing away her tears. “Have no fear.
See, the thermometer stands at 120 de
grees: bliss heat, dearest. Hurrah for
psychic force!” And the dear girl actu
ally laughed in the swift transition of
feeling, nud joined in the rapturous
} hurrah. “Hurrah for Uncle John!” we
then both exclaimed together, and An.
gelica kissed the thermometer in her en
thusiasm. The warm-hearted girl! Bliss
| heat, now and forever! How kiud, how
I noble of dear uncle, to send us what
would be a perpetual photograph, as it
were, of love's young dream! And that
evening I prayed—Angelica joining in
the aspiration—that uncle’s gout would
| soon forever disappear, and we resolved
ito invite him for a lengthy visit. Then,
j toward midnight, we stole down cauti
ously to the dining-room, where we had
! arranged a lovely niche for the thermome
; ter, and with what rapture did we note
I how the psychic force still stood at bliss
; heat—l2o degrees.
“So shall it ever be!” was my pious
exclamation, and Angelica responded
with it fervent hand-clasp.
I wish to relate faithfully and soberly
the history of that wedding gift, and its
influence on our lives and characters. If
I relied on my memory alone 1 might
perhaps exaggerate, or appear to do so. i
Happily there is another resource, and
one whose exactness and fidelity cau be
depended upon. It is ray diary, wherein
I am accustomed to chronicle the throb- j
bings of my inner life and the record of
each passing day. A few pages will tell
the whole eventful story.
July 10th—Angelica was a charming
vision at breakfast. She is bewitching
in every mood, and how ardently I love I
her. The mutfius were exquisite. Dear,
noble little woman, so tender and so af
fectionate 1 How beautiful she bakes!
It will be rapture to teach her German,
which is my passion. Shull instruct her
according to the natural method, and then
read Don Carlos to her. Its ideal senti
ments, its glowing imaginary, its magnifi
cent style, will inspire her with enthu
siasm ... .The thermometer at bliss heat
is our daily benediction. We. gaze at it
at all hours, and then at each other. Both
tell the same story. How sweet is exist
ence—surely life is worth living. It is
two weeks since our wedding.
June 12th—A very curious occurrence
happened this evening at dinner. 1 was
just enjoying the roast lamb, when an
organ grinder appeared, aud his monkey
hegan to rub its nose against the window
bars. “Get off!” I cried, “you wretch!”
“Ah, John, do let it play. I love mon
keys." “But, Angelica, that music dis
turbs my appetite. Begone!” 1 cried
again to the man. Angelica pressed her
handkerchief to her eyes. My angel
weeping! 1 gazed at the thermometer.
It marked 100 degrees, and the psychic
force was rapidly falling. “Here!” I
I shouted to the man, “here is a dollar,
j and come every evening at this hour. ’’
The man grinned, the monkey took off
its cap, my angel smiled, and I was
saved. Again the thermometer stood at
120 degrees. It was a narrow escape,
i Life, life, thou art a precipice—one false
step, one heedless act, and the abyss re
! ecives us. To think that our bliss was
almost wrecked by a monkey!
June 14th—1 gave my darling her first
lesson in German by the natural method.
,It went off beautifully. Bhe has a lovely
Aussprache; the words roll like velvet
from her lips. To hear her sav das
Thermometer is an education in itself.
On comiug home to dinner I found An
gelica very much flurried. She explained
that the cook was ill, and she herself had
to prepare the repast. I congratulated
her a thousand times until her eyes
; sparkled like an electric light. I told
her afterward, in a casual way, that the
soup would have tasted better with mint
instead of mace, at:d she burst at once
into tears, while to my horror the ther
mometer began rapidly falling until sixty
degrees was reached. “Angelica!” I
cried, “I was only jesting.” And,
soothed by my endearments, her tears
vanished, and she actually asked me to
give her a second lesson in German;
j while the thermometer just as rapidly
rose to bliss heat. It was again a nar
row escape. And when I told her of it
she murmured : “Dear John, forgive me!
jlam so impatient! ’ Was ever mortal so
happy?
June 15th—Happines is a sportive god.
It is never an abiding possession. So
! happy yesterday, and to-niglit, as I write
these lines, how wretched! And from
such a trifle, too. My darling asked me
why I did not como home earlier to din
ner. I laughed at her remark, and gave
a bantering reply. “lam not jesting.”
she refined. “Yoirtised to spring. u{
the sfAirs, and now you saunter slowly.’
“But, my love, I am tired when I corm
home." “If ,ou really loved me,” shi
responded,“you would never be fatigued,
But you are tired of me, I suppose,” and
she burst into tears. I felt really vexed
st her want of sense, and such a cold,
dull pain, lorn of disappointment and
despair, seized me that I answered harsh
?y. Bhe looked at the thermometer, anc
my paralyzed gaze noted it swiftly fall
i-’.g. despite my imploring gestures.
Down, down, sank the psychic force un
til it reached twenty degrees (aversion),
and with a shudder she left the room, re
marking stingingly: “This is your work,
sir.” My work! My work! And 1
adore her, despit •my harsh reply. Oh,
life, life, thou art a mystery! And
woman, thou art doubly a mystery. And
j Angelica, thou art trebly a mystery.
There was no German lesson to-day....
To think that she cherishes aversion—
she of all beings. And I thought it
would be “bliss heat” forever. . ..
1 lmve not the heart to continue these
extracts from my diary. Their general
tenor can be very well gathered; they re
; corded such changes in temperature that
we were both in despair. Each mood on
! our parts was faithfully, too faithfully,
recorded. Each transcient impulse was
unerringly transcribed. Each trilling
word, each wandering frown, influenced
the thermometer, and we were both so
alarmed bv its indications that we be
came positively unhappy. We wished it
always to be bliss heat, and were not
prepared for the variations.
One evening—it was hardly a month
after the wedding—-we were seated
i quietly in the parlor, when the bell rang
and in walked Uncle John.
“I never felt so w’ell in my life, chil
dren,” he exclaimed in his heartiest
toues. “Gout allgonc”—aud heslapped
his leg to prove the fact—“so I thought
I would come to the city and see you.”
And he kissed Angelica aud pulled my
whiskers. Then he burst into a merry
laugh, which was so catching that my
wife and I laughed too, the first time in
two hours, for at dinner that wretched
thermometer had fallen to sixty degrees
(indifference), and we were in despair.
“Come, come, kitten,” said he to
Angelica, caressing her forehead; “tell
me all about it. What is the mystery?
Has that fellow been vexing you? Come,
let your old uncle be your father con
fessor. Now, then, out with it.”
Angelica’s response was to cling to the
old gentleman and sink her head upon
his shoulder. 1 am sure the dear girl
was weeping.
“John, John, you wretch!” he ex
claimed. “What have you been doing
to her? What makes my child so wor
ried?” And the old fellow began to pet
her furionsly.
My courage gave way. At the sight
of her weeping all self-control was gone.
I made a clean confession, aud blamed
the thermometer for tho change in our
home.
“Come, children,” said he in his
blandest way. “Here, John, you take
! one knee, and Angelica, my love, rest
on the other. Now I have you both, and
I wish you to answer me truly’. Do you
love each other?”
“Yes, yes!" was our reply.
“Then what- is the trouble?”
“The trouble is just here. We wish
it always to be bliss heat, but that ther
mometer, sir, marks every variation, and
|it makes us both unhappy.” And I took
out my handkerchief and preseed it to
j my eyes.
“Ah,” was his comment; “just as I
supposed. Come, now, I am going to
I lecture you both. You demand a miracle.
| It is impossible to maintain bliss heat
for all time. Life most have its t ransitions
and variations—you might find it pretty
monotonous otherwise. Do not heed the
\ fluctuations if love is the central purpose,
and that is strong and abiding. But
have patience and mutual consideration,
; and be quick to forget and forgive.
Steer clear of all extremes and super
j latives. Prefer the temperate zone, and
! year by year your happiness will bo
j reared on a foundation that shall never
be moved. Let your own hearts be
love’s thermometer; you will care less
I for the other one, whose efficacy—l
might ns well tell you now—is purely im
aginary. It reflected only your own
moods, and your imaginations endowed
it with subtle powers. But enough.
I must be off before it is too late. Good
night, children. Another kiss, Augelica.
' Good-night, John.”
The thermometer still hangs in its
niche, but is has lost for us its charm,
although its lesson was salutary. We
have learned the truth aud beauty of
Uncle John’s little sermon. We are not
disturbed at any transient gust, for wo
know our hearts are true to each other.
We do not pine for bliss heat, and never
have allowed our affection to sink to zero.
We find blessedness enough in each day’s
record, and, lookiugat the bright side of
every annoyance and sorrow, have secured
abundant compensation. —Frank J^eslie's.
Flavors In Eggs.
“Nearly everybody thinks that all
fresh eggs are alike in flavor, ’ said an
old Long Island poultry dealer. “That
is a mistake. There is as marked a dis
: tinction between the eggs of a hen fed
' on clean, wholesome food, and those laid
j by one that has been badly nourished
and forced to scratch on poor ground for
her own living, as there is between the
i butter made from the milk of a cow that
has been eating the exhausted grain of a
brewery jind that of one that has fattened
on tender grass Vhen you mean to kill a
fowl always lock it up for about ten days
before the date set for its death, and
feed it on clean and nourishing food.
You wil find its flesh as far superior in
flavor to that of the ordinary market fowl
as a mountain stream trout is superior to
one fed on liver in a trout pond.”—Acts
York Sun.
Miss Mica Williams was a pupil in
Florence of Timothy Cole, the celebrated
engraver. She is now manager of the
plate-printing department of the Western
Methodist Book Concern at Cincinnati.
THE GOLD COAST.
A PART OF AFRICA KNOWN AS
“THE WHITE MAX’S GRAVE.”
The Lay of the Land—Customs and
Superstitions of the Natives—
Tattooed Tribes Red Pep
pers as an Article of Diet.
The West Coast of Africa has the un
enviable title of “the white man’s grave,”
at least that part of it that stretches from
Scnegambia to St. Paul de Loando, After
leaving Sierra Leone, n really beautiful j
spot to look at, the steamer hugs the
shore for the rest of its voyage. It is a
monotonous view, for there is nothing but
a long fringe of sand, booked by dense
bush, broken here and there by a Clump
of cocoanut palms that denote* a negro
settlement. Further inland one eafi make
out the giant forest trees, chiefly the
ceiba or silk-cotton tree, The Gold
(.’oast Colony has for its western
boundary the Assinne Kivcr, and from
here the land changes. Small rounded
hills give some variety to the scene,
but still there is the same inter
minable line of sand, on which the surf
is forever beating. This surf is one of
the many drawbacks of this part of
Africa. With the full sweep of the At
lantic the waves dash in with fearful
force. A peculiar surfboat is used. It j
is very broad in the centre, tapering to a
fine point at each end, the ends being
built higher than the rest of the boat.
Eight to ten men, seated on the gunwale,
with one nmn at the stern, who for a
rudder uses a strong oar, form the crew.
The men use paddles. They are a fine
set of men, these boatmen; somewhat
scantily dressed, you can see every muscle
working as they plunge their paddles
into the water. They keep time by sing
ing some doggerel song, which generally
ends up with: “Marma, accomagin, ae
comagin.” (Mother, I'm hungry, I'm
hungry.)
The scenery becomes more uninteresting
than ever after passing Quitta. From
here the coast is simply a thin belt of
sand, behind which stretch miles of
lagoon, a part of the delta of the Niger.
A little w’est of Whydah, that is, at Bagi
dah, the English territory ceases, and for
a few miles the shore line belongs to
Dahomey. Nowhere is the surf worse
than here, and another terrible danger is
the sharks. From Whydah a path just
broad enough to allow a puncheon of
palm oil to be rolled down to the seaport
has been cut through the forest to
Abomey, the capital of the kingdom,,
about sixty miles up country. The town
would he by no means easy to capture, as
it is surrounded by a thick belt of cactus,
which here grows to the height of twenty
and thirty teet. At Kotonon, where the
French have been occupied in beating
back the Dahomians, there was a few’
years ago an English factory, but it was
abandoned owing to the ferocity of the
sharks, that would attack the men when
launching a boat. A man only up to his
knees in water would be grabbed and
carried off by these tigers of the sea.
Close by is Porto Novo, a town built on
the inner bank of the lagoon. This 1 1-
goon formerly opened out into the sea,
and the small French man-of-war La
Seine entered and went up to Porto Novo.
While there, however, the sand silted up
and cut off the Frenchman’s only retreat.
A little further to the eastward is Lagos,
which is an island in the next lagoon, a
very large one, which is, however, open
to the sea, and fair sized vessels can cross
the bar and go up to this small but busy
colony of the British.
Lagos taps a large proportion of the.
Niger trade, and in and about its streets
are to be seen natives from all the sur
rounding countries, Mandingoes, and
men from Saccatoo, Yorubas, Oyos,
Houssas, Ilorins and the sturdy little na
tives of the Congo.
All these tribes have some peculiar
mark tattooed on their faces to distin
guish them, generally gashes on the cheek
or forehead. The Kroo-raen, the sailors
of West Africa, are distinguished by a
dark line extending from the top of the
forehead to the tip of the nose. A Daho
inian is never seen in Lagos. First of all,
they are the Ishmaels of this part of the
world, and would get scant grace from
any Yoruba; and secondly, they would
have to cross water, which is against
their “fetish.” Most of these tribes are
now Mohammedans, a religion that makes
more converts in one week in Africa
than the whole of the Christian religions
in a year. But notwithstanding their
new faith they still cling to their old
superstitions.
Beyond a submerged forest in the Oyo
Kingdom, the country is more open, and
this may be said of the lands from theXiger
westward to Bontooko. On every side
were groves of the Sagus vinifera, from
which the native gets his palm-wine and
the palm-oil that is the chief source of his
wealth. The nuts grow in clusters and
are covered over with a thick butter mat
ter. The bunches are put in boiling
water and the oil skimmed off. It is the
chief ingredient in railway grease, but
when fresh is a capital addition to the
kitchen. Formerly the nuts, little, hard
black things, were thrown away, but now
they are exported in large quantities to
Europe, where they are crushed and the
oil extracted.
Each important town has its market,
generally every fifth day, and to it flock
all the neighborhood. The men come
armed, for at any time a war may begin,
and there is no knowing when some
treachery is brewing. The general cause
is trespass, or the “panyarring” (forcible
abduction) of some woman by a man of
another tribe. It is these perpetual in
ternecine wars that make the Yorubas so
easy a prey to the Dahomians. These
savages every year swoop suddenly down
on some town, and its inhabitants are
left to their tender mercies. No neigh
tanring tribe sends them any aid. Once
the Dahomians attacked their western
seighbors, the Juabins and Ashantees,
but instead of coming back with captives
for their fetish worship, thpy returned
decimated in numbers.
Owing to the climate it is hardly likely
that this part, of the world will ever be
much colonizer! by Europeans. Nobsdy
ever escapes the fever, which, if it doe*
not kill, gets into the system and fol
years afterward, though the individual
may live in a temperate climate, he is al
ways liable to a return of it. To a large
extent the mortality among Europeans if
owing to their own imprudences. They
eat as they ate at home, and generally
drink a great deal more. The natives
live chiefly on vegetables, such as yams,
cassava, plantains, sweet ]x>tatoes and
corn, ground and made up into a paste
called “fou-fou.” Fish is much prized,
but very little meat is eaten. Whatever
may he the meal provided, the hottest
capsicums or peppers always form part of
the feast, A double-handful is not an
excessive number to eat at one Sitting,
and they are demolished, seeds and all.
One wonders what the native’s throat is
paved with. —Ntw York Tribune.
Entertaining Chat About Tea anil Coffee
Some weeks ago I dropped in at Black -
all's and drank a cup of his famous cof
fee. He took a seat beside me and told
me things of coffee and tea which are as
interesting as they will be new to con
sumers of these two necessaries of life.
“Do you know,” he said, “that within a
few years you will drink the last cup of
Java coffee? The public does not gener
ally know that the coffee plantations in
Ceylon have been stricken with a blight
tnc last three—four—years, which has
been progressing through the East, ex
tending through the islands of Java, Su
matra and others, to the extent that it
threatens the total extinction of coffee
culture, specially in Java. The estimated
crop in Java last year was 190,000 piculs.
A picul weighs 133 pounds. Five years
ago this crop yielded 1,200,000 piculs,
so you can imagine that if no material
change for the better sets in it will be but
a short time when the world will find
‘Java’ coffee but a reminiscence. We get
the other best coffees from the East India
Islands and Arabia, and, of course, in
them we shall find to a certain extent a
substitute for the Java. There are also
some very fine coffee grown throughout
Mexico, Guatemala, San Salvador, Costa
Rico, Bogotan, Maracaibo, Porto Rico
and Venezuela. The bulk of the entire
coffee product, however, comes from Bra
zil, which has a peculiarity of its own.
These coffees are harsh and rank, ns com
pared with the milder kinds. It was
estimated that Brazil once furnished six
ty-five per cent, of the entire product of
the world. There have also been of late
years one or two partial failures of the
crop in Brazil, which account for the
high price of coffee here. You will
probably remember,” he continued,
“that coffee was very low from ’B4 to
’B7; in fact the prices were so very low
that Brazilian planters did not have the
berries picked, it bringing them in debt.
In consequence they allowed their planta
tions to run down, which also in part
accounts for the present shortage.”—
Chicago Herald.
Slaking an Ice Passage by Dynamite.
H. A. 11. Dunsford, a prominent Eng
lish Civil Engineer, in a pamphlet pro
poses to use dynamite in the northwest
passage through the Arctic. He says:
“As for the proposition that we can
open a sea, we must remember that the
ice is not of great thickness; that we
have powerful explosives that are per
fectly effective when frozen, and that
every mass of ice detached in the course
of a stream flowing southward will float
away of itself. I don’t, of course, mean
to imply that it will be easy, but that it
is within our power to make a channel
wide enough for a part of the warm
stream to pass without losing all its heat
on the way. The main barrier with
which wc will have to deal will be the
belt of ice north and northwest of Green
land. Of course, until it is completed
the channel will freeze over every winter,
but I do not think that the removal of
the ice thus formed will be so serious a
difficulty as might be expected. The ice
being caused merely by the freezing of
the channel will be smooth, not hum
mocky, and after the first snowfall, can
be traversed easily by sledges or dog
trains, so that surface or submerged
mines can be laid, enabling the ice over
any desired length of section to be broken
up instantaneously.
“The advantages to be gained by the
opening of the sea and the amelioration
of a climate can scarcely be overesti
mated, rendering habitable the shores of
the Arctic, and the growth there of civil
ized communities, a direct route to the
Pacific, and the immense increase in
trade with the Pacific coasts of America
and Asia. Thus would be opened lands
suitable for colonization within easy
reach of Great Britain, and which, in
great part, belong to the British Empire,
valuable fisheries and considerable and
increasing trade in the Arctic.” —San
Francisco Chronicle.
An Extraordinary Blind Man.
“You talk about your extraordinary,
cases of blind men,” said a prominent
oculist to me yesterday, “I have discov
ered one who surpasses all hitherto men
tioned in medical works. He is Julius
Stern, who runs a billiard saloon and to
bacco store on Third avenue. Twelve
years ago he was a well-known athlete
and carried off many prizes in the cham
pionship field. During a race one day he
met with a serious accident, was carried
to a hospital, and left it when totally
blind. He had artificial eyes inserted,
and to look at him no one in the world
would know of his affliction. He attends
to four billiard tables, tips all the cues,
sells cigars and tobacco, and can tell all
the different brands and makes change as
quickly as one possessing sight. He has
never yet been known to make a mistake.
Stranger than all, he can play billiards;
not, of course, a regular game, but, by
placing balls at either end of the table,
he can play many difficult shots. He
made a bet, one day last week, that he
would walk from his store to the City
Hall, dine in a restaurant and board an
uptown “L” road train without using a
stick or even pausing a moment. He
won the bet, and although he met hun
dreds of people,not one could tell that he
was blind.”— Few York Star.
HUGE APPETITES.
FEATS OF EATING WHICH ARE
UNMATCHED IN HISTORY.
How Kings and Dukes Have Gorged,
and Commoners Have Rivaled
Haughtiest Nobles—A Doc
tor’s Daily Meal.
It is not difficult to make a long list of
the people both of the past and present
time who had huge appetites, and were
at the same time good companions and
Without physical ailments.
All the Bourbon Kings of France were
gourmands. Louis XIV. would eat for a
meal four platefuls of soup, a whole
pheasant, a- partridge, a plateful of salad,
mutton hashed with garlic, two good
sized slices of ham, a dish of pastry, and
plenty of fruit and sweetmeats.
His unfortunate descendant, Louis
XVI., had a large appetite, but no gas
tronomical genius. This is said to have
caused much of his unpopularity with the
French, who love a gastronome. His
favorite meat was pork, and Parisians be
lieve that he would have escaped from
B'rance had he not tarried to eat pigs’
feet.
M. de Semblacay, Bishop of Bourges,
who ate six heavy meals a day and never
rose satisfied, attributed his magnificent
appetite to the fact that he said grace not
only before and after each meal but at the
removal of each service.
Modern Paris has been prolific of eccen
trie or enormous eaters. A man used to
go every Thursday for years to the famous
restaurant kept by Philippe, no longer in
existence, and eat, one after the other,
the forty odd soups on the menu. After
that he had a meringue glacee au citron,
and went away without having drunk a
drop of wine.
Another individual went for a long
time on the fifteenth of each month to the
Cafe Very and ate sixty little pots of va
nilla ice cream without a spoon, in the
way that hokey-pokey is ordinarily eaten
here. He was the man who carried the
head of the murdered Princess de Lam
balle about the streets of Paris on a pike
during the Revolution,
At the Cafe Hardy, now the Maison
d’Or, a man was observed to eat the meat
of thirty-two cutlets, swallowing a large
pickle after each. He had a high pile of
saucers at his elbow, and kept one of
them on the nape of his neck throughout
the repast. As each became warm he re
placed it by a cool one. In this way,he said,
he avoided cerebral congestion, With
which he was threatened. His precaution
was to some extent successful, for he did
not die of cerebral congestion, but was
crushed to death by an omnibus.
An amateur gourmand wished to enter
into an eating match with Lemardelay,
proprietor of the Rocher de Cancale.
“Shall we settle the menu at once?” he
asked of Lemardelay. ,‘Of what use?”
replied the latter. “We will eat what
ever there is, according to the morning’s
market. Wc shall commence with twelve
dozen oysters, twenty-four cutlets, three
capons—” “Each?” asked the chal
lenger. “Of course,” said Lemardelay.
“And for the rest we will take w hate vet
there is.” The rash man went away and
did not come back.
The well-known restaurateur, Brebant,
had a customer who was ashamed of the
immense appetite with which nature had
gifted him. He would go to Brebant
and order a dinner for himself and eight
friends. He told the restaurant keeper
that he went in for military punctuality.
When his guests did not arrive at the ap
pointed hour he ordered the waiters to
serve, and ate all the nine dinners him
self, grumbling audibly all the while
about the impoliteness of his friends. He
carried out this farce habitually.
Sarvarin says that he paid a visit one
flay to his friend, the Cure of Bregnier, a
man of large stature. He found him at
table before noon and watched him eat
soup and bouilli, a leg of mutton a
la royale, a fine capon, a large bowl of
salad and the fourth part of a cheese. He
washed down this little repast with a bot
tle of wine and a decanter of water.
General Bisson, also a friend of Sav
irin, drank eight bottles of wine every
morning at breakfast without seeming to
feel any effects from it.
Englishmen of the last century habit
ually ate and drank to excess. At Dol
ly's Chop House in Queen's Head Pas
sage, near Ludgate Ilill, in London, the
ingenious anatomist and chemist. Doc
tor George Fordyce, dined every day for
more than twenty years. He believed
that, since many animals thrived on one
mcaj a day, so could men. He entered
the chop house at 4 o’clock in the after
noon. A silver tankard of strong ale, a
bottle of port and a measure containing
a quarter of a pint of brandy were im
mediately placed before him, and a piece
of steak weighing a pound and a half
was put on the grill. While the steak
was preparing he ate a grilled chicken or
other similar morsel. Then he drank a
glass of brandy and started in to eat his
steak, during the consumption of which
he drank his ale and port. When he had
finished the steak he drank the rest of
the brandy. This meal occupied him
just one hour and a half, and then he
hurried away to his professional engage
ments. He took no other food during
the day.— New Ycrk Sun.
A Big Snake Skin.
The skin shed by a rattlesnake which
was found on the bank of the Illinois
River, and is no.v preserved at the boy’s
reminary at Tahlequah, in the Indian
Territory, measured thirteen feet long,
is fourteen and seven-eighths in circum
ference, and has fifteen buttons. The
person who has examined, measured, aijd
reports upon it, says that it is a very dry
skin, and therefore assumes that it prob
ably shrunk considerable in drying, but
this is not so, as the skin of a snake is
thoroughly dry when shed, and conse
quently represents the full size of the
snake.— Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Two hundred young Hindoo women
are studying medicine in the medical
schools in India, and some of them excel
the male students in application and
skill.
KETCHIN’ ON BEHIND.
I tell you, boys, it ain’t no us®
A-ketchin’ on behind;
The steps you save by that 'ere ruii
Are steps you needn’t mind.
The man who walks with steady stride.
Ambition’s swinging gait;
Will reach the goal, while woe betide
The laggard who is late.
Fear not the lash of keen satire
That drives the ear of fate;
He shall not slip who shuns the mire;'
Forge on, nor pause to prate.
X tell you, boys, jump off the cart
And put on extra speed;
Let perseverance guide your heart
And honor be your creed.
—Pearl Eytinge, in Judge.
PITH ANT) POINT.
Taking things easy—Pickpockets.
Half a loaf is better than the dyspep
sia.
“Shadows of a great city”—Detec
tives.
“You make me tired,” said the wagon
wheel to the blacksmith.
“Confidence is a plant of slow growth;"
but the bunco-man forces it. Puck.
Necessity is the mother of invention;
and likewise the father of lies.— Puck,
There is probably sand enough In the
Sugar Trust to keep it up.— Picayune.
“That's the end of my tale,” as the
tadpole said when he turned into a bull
frog,
“We say mouse, and we say mice.
Now, why isn’t the plural of spouse
spice!”— Mercury-.
No matter how plaindooking a drug
clerk may be, in warm weather his flz ia
always attractive to the girls.
The man Who depends upon wages wilt
get rich sooner than one who depends
upon wagers,— New York News:
The eat has nine lives, which shows
that nature had a pretty fair idea of what
the cat would have to go through.
The gentleman who owns a dog would
probably feel rather hurt if tdld that he
was a bark keeper.— Washington Star.
“All gone,” murmured Consonby, sad
ly, as he surveyed his bald head in tbS
mirror, “Not even a part lemains;”—
Life.
Coming events cast their shadows be
fore ; but that is no renson for thinking
that the future always looks dark.—-
Puck:
A will 5000 years old was recently
found in Egypt. Up to the hour of goirtg
to press it had not been contested.—Nor
ristown Herald.
The 820,000 expended by the Duke Of
Bedford to popularize cremaliou may be
considered a sort of burnt offering.—
Courier-Journal:
“Do your boarders loaf around yoUr
parlor in the evening?” “No; my
daughter is learning to play on the piano,”
—Boston Courier.
Professor of Mineralogy (at the exami
nation) —“Where are the most diamonds
found?” Candidate—“At the pawnbrok
ers.”—Sontags-Post.
Sofths—“Do you think Missß. would
marry me if I should ask her ?” Van Ripet
—“Well, she looks like a 9tnart sort of a
girl—still, she might.”— Life.
The Pessimist cries: “Come, be gay,
Things can’t be worse—away with sorrow, ”
The Optimist: “Rejoice to-day,
Because of what will be tomorrow!"
Puck.
“Does your Webster contaib all tha
latest additions to the English language?”
“No, old fellow, I will ask my wife. 8h
always has the last word!”— Times-Demo
crat.
She—“l hear that Mr. Smoothbore it
a great mimic. They say he can take off
anything.” He—“ That explains it. I
wondered where my .umbrella had gone.’*
Clothier and Furnisher.
Cobwigger—“Quack should be prose
cuted for obtaining money under false
pretenses. That nostrum of his is no
good.” Brown—“ Pshaw! Didn’t he
sell it to you as a skin cure?”— Life.
A man may fish and fish and fish,
And not get a bite al) day;
But he’ll buy a mess and lie like sin,
Because lie is built that way.
Washington Star.
“Shall wc marry, darling; or shall we
knot?” was the short and witty line an
ardent lover dispatched to the idol of
his heart. But, where the strangeness
of the matter comes in, the girl replied:
“I shall not! Y’ou cau do as you please.”
— Life.
Tailor (measuring little Blobbs)—
“Very singular, this, sir.” Blobbs—•
“What’s that?” Tailor—“ All your
measurements are exactly the same a#
the Apollo Belvidere statue.” (Blobbs
orders two suits instead of one.) —The
Jester.
Norwegians First Sailed Hither.
Antiquarians, historians and scholars
now generally agree that Icelandic records
and persistent researches for many years
have established the fact that Norwegian
navigators discovered the North American
continent at the beginning of the 11th
century, or about 500 years before the
first voyage made by Columbus in search
of it. The fact is also established that
attempts were made by adventurers from
Greenland to found a colony on the shores
of New Euglaud. Where Therwald was
buried, or where Thorfin and Gudrida
landed and lived nobody knows. It is
evident that the locality is not far from
the latitude of Boston. The best in
formed students of the subject believe it
was on Rhode Island, and that the mys
terious old stone tower at Newport, of
massive masonry, resting od seven col
umns, the foundation stones of which
are hewn spheres, was built by the Nor
wegian colonists, as a sacred structure.
It was there when the English colonists
first came and the Indians then residing
there had no knowledge of its origin. If
the Northmen did not build it. who did?
Echo answers “who did?” The whole
records of Rhode Island make no mention
of such a structure being erected there.
—New York Yoicc.
Eighteen persons out of every thou
sand die each year in this country.