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vr THE HESS TABLE. UT OEOBUK T. LANIOAN. At thf i.nm* tabic t>rooA*d tlhnoo. And the flr* flickered low, And tii* gu*Mut nces.cd thinking aadiy Of home and Jong ago; And the Genera, bad*' tU* Oantain, Bearded and bronied and fiale, ** Com*, give ue oaie of your atorloa, - ' And toe Captain told thiatal*: “Tli* PHANTOM OF TIU: TTCOH. * l It wu a mltry unimer, aom* twenty yar ago, When the emigrant train left Texae, bound for New MexJoo. Btroag men and gentla women tlireaecoro were m the baud, And ulgb ae many children left weefoot-prialßlntUo sand. •* Northward they traveled elowly, and bitter waatlio road. The run. a hall of Are, in tho bnwon hcavan glowed; Tli bmioh were like rod plowaharet bonetth a mar tyr a feol; And the thorny aplkee of cactua drooped, phrivelea In Urn heat, “ There waa no wind till evening, and then Ita fevered breath Like that waa of the angel that hear* the brand of death; And the moon, a Aery droeoant, ewooned In the aky afar, A* it had I wan tha raddaned blado of hla balefnl darn tar. “ And a* a they traveled northward, within ita noudy bed. The river alirauk away from them as If with guilty dread, And narrower grow tho water, and shallower, until 'ilit* river had dwindled to a creek, tho crock to „! muddy nil. “ 7 hen her* and there a languid ]>ool in cursed lands, Aad theft tlwuivor-brtd was naught but rocks and arid lands, And the little water that they found by drggiug long and deep /UK Waa bitter as that on sea-side rocks tide la at the neap. Aa*d a* Into the flinty earth the trnecberoua river sank, Fewer the following foot-prints upon tu bnrolug Imnk i Twenty beheld the n*d sun rise, flftotti flagged faint at noou, And only ten went into camp under tho lurid moon. u And twice again the red moon sank, twice rose th* copper Kin, And tb* ten that staggered on were eight, wore five, w ere three, were one. On® mail waa left of the emigrant train that twoshort eeka agu Had loft tho Texan valley bound for New Mexico. “And as he tottered northward acron the endless sands, ilia blood-ahot ejes still shading with thin and blistered hands, fcr tl.Un from out tbs desert, up to the cloudless akb-t*, A Mist and awful figure the traveler saw aria®. “It was tho watery mirage. There ahlmmcr to Ills view Fleecy oaaeados dowu falling ami lakes <*f deqxsit blur. But though he strains to reach them, and drspera:* Htaggnra on, Ever a step beyond him the vision is withdrawn. “ Ever before him hovers, and senna to bar tho way, The Phantom cf the Pecoi. a cloud of dusty gray; It* mocking eyei glara on atm, and through the fer vid air Its voice of doom makes answer to Ida question of despair. “The dying wanderer listens the Phantom apeak Ida game, And moves Ida crackling lips in vain one piteous prayer to frahie; And the awful vision mutter! on the salt sand as ho ninka, 1 Don’t you think that It’s a long time—s long time between drink*?’ ” The General started from Ida chair As lie had felt a wound. “Captain,” ha said, *• you're right, I swear— Send tho decanter round.” t- Hu rjM-t'a Mapminr. A THRILLING INCIDENT. Tn the winter of 1870 I hud oooiwtion tn go from Green Bay to Chicago on tlio W. railway. At Oshkosh \v> were joined by a delegation of lawyers on tlieir way to Madison, the capital, to at tend the Legislature, then m session. They woro ail men of more than usual intellect, ami of exceptional character. Two were ex-Judges of tho Circuit Court, and one I had seen Chairman of tlio Young Men’s Christian Association. The party found Heats near together, and after the salutations were over and *:!> n .ivK July discussed they began to look about Hu uv, u# to while away the tune. After awhile provosod a frame of eiirtls. No sooner stun u.n doue. Two seats were turned apart so as to faeo each other, a cushion improv ised for a table, and three of our law yers, including Hie Chairman of the Young Men’s Christian Association, and a Chicago runner, on good terms with them, were soon deep in the mysteries of a game of ouclier. I was surprised to see Christian gen tlemen and Judges of law and equity, leaders of society, makers of public sen timent, lawgivers for a great State, di rectors of public morals, supposed to bo public exemplars of all that is good und guides to the young, thus setting pub liuly tlieir seal of approval to a most dangerous ami evil practice. To be sure they played for stakes no higher than the cigars for the party. But it seems to me that, in the eyes of all dis creet persons, this dot's not change the act nor lessen tlio danger of its example, but rather heightens it; ns from the less to tlio greater is the invariable counts of crime. But I did not intend to moralize on paper, but was about to ray that while I was filled with such thoughts an these one of tlio party grew tired of tlie game, and our remaining Judge wns invited to take his place. I saw the blood mount in an honest, blush of disapproval to his manly face, and ho iwsiiaied and drow book. But the game had liocome interesting and his oxoitbd companions urged him. “Come,Judge, take a hand,” they cried, “we can’t go on without yos.” So the Judge slowly rose from his seat, inwardly condemning tlio sot as X evidently saw, aud stepping forward took a sent among the players and the game wont on. I hod noticed an old lady in a sent to the rear of the players, who hail got on board at Meuaana, I believe. Gray and bent with age, she hail sat abashed, and, with SJres closed, secured asleep most of the’ lime, until the train, stopping at Oshkosh, took on board the company of lawyers. She then underwent a change, aud became greatly interested in the company, looking from one to tiro other, as if she recognized them all, or was trying to rteall their faces. When the game of cards was started she Lo carno very restless, would hitch uneas ily about in har seat, take up the hern of her tod&d npron and npi'vousiy bite the threads. Onoe or twice 1 thought she wiped her eyes under her * * Shaker bon net,” but oould nut tell. She acted ao strangely, I became more inter ested in her than in the plnyors, and watched her closely. She got up after a time and tottered forward, holding on to the seats MS. she posted. She Igushed against Judge in passing, but ho had become interested in the game and did not noLce her. tUnftung tins yktor tank at last, she drunk a oup <1 water, and tool a seat near the door, with her back to the players. But . she did apt. long rerpahs there; rising again with difficulty, sne tottered back toward her formej, seat, but reaching the players she paused directly in front of them, and, now greatly excited, threw back her bonnet fjom her te-e and looked around the company. Her action at once ar robtel their attention, aud pausing in their play they all looked up inquir ingly. Gating directly is the lace of Judge I , site snid in a tremulous voice, "Do ' you knew me, Judge —— ?" i ’ “ No, mother, I don’t rememlier yon,” ' said tho Judge, pleasantly. “ Where ; have we met?" “My name is Smith," said she ; " 1 waa with my poor three days, off | and on, in the court-room in Oahkosli, ! when ho was tried for—for—for robbing 1 somebody, and you are the same man that sent him to prison for ten years, ; and he died tliero Ust .Tune.’’ All faces were now sobered, and the passengers begun to gather around and i stand up, all over the car, to listen and ‘ soo what was going on. She did not j give the Judge time to answer her, but, till he took to going to town and got to playing keard.s and drinking, and then, j somehow, ho didn’t like to work after j that, but used to stay out often till moruin’, and hr’dT>lecp so late, and I couldn’t wiikethim when I knowed he'd 1 been out so late; the night afore. And ! then tho lann kinder run down, and ! then we lost tho team; one of them I becoming more and more excited, she j went on : 11 Ho was a good lx>y, if you dill send him to jau. Ho helped us j clear the farm, and when father was took sick and died he done all the work, ! and we was getting along right smart, got killed when he’d bin to town 1 one awful cold night. He staved late, and I supiiose they had got cold stnndin’ out, and got skeered and broke loose, ' and run most home, hut run agin the fence and a stake run into one of ’em, j and when we found it the next moruin’ I it was dead, and the other was stnndin’ ! under tho shed. An’ so after awhile he I coaxed mo to let him sell the farm and buy a house and kit in the village, and j he’d work at carpenter work. And so I diil, ns we couldn’t do nothin’ on the farm. But lie grow worse than ever, and after awhile he couldn’t get any work, and wouldn’t do anything hut gamblo and drink all the time. I used to do everything I could to get him to quit and be a good, industrious boy ugain, but he used to get mad after awhile, anil once he struck me, and tlion in the morning I fonnd that lie had tn , ken wliat little money there was left of j the farm, and hud run off. After that I J got along as well as I could, cleanin’ house for folks, and washin’, but I didn’t hear nothing of him for four or live years; but when lie got arrested and wns took up to Oshkosh for trial, he writ to me.” By thin timo there was not a dry eye in tlio ear, aud tlio cards had disap peared. The old lady herself was weep ing silently anil speaking in snatches. But, recovering herself, she went on : “But wliat could I do? I sold the house and lot to get money to litro a lawyer, aud I believe he is here some where," looking around. “Oh, yes, there lie is, Mr. ,” pointing to Law yer , who had not taken part iu tlio play. “And this is the man, lam sure, who argued ngiu him,” pointing to Mr. —, the District Attorney. “And you, Judge *—-, Sent him to prison for ten years ; s’pose it wtffc right, for the poor hoy told me that he really did rob the hank, but he must have boon drunk, for they had all been playing keards most all night and drinking. But., oli I denr, it seems to lie kinder as though if lie hadn’t got to playing koards lie might a been ulive yet. But when I used to toll him it was wrong and bad | to play, he used to any, “Why, : mother, everybody plays now. I never ; bet only for the candy, or the cigars, or something like that.’ And when we heard that the young folks played keards down to Mr. Culver's donation party, und Hguire Bing Was goin' to get a billiard, table for his young folks to play on ut homo, I couldn’t do nothing at all with him. Wo used to think it awful to do that way wlien Iwas young, hut it jist seems tu mo as if everybody nowadays was goin’ wrong into some thing or other. But maybe it isn't right loi ..... talk to you. Judge, ill this way, but H ji. i .....mod to me as if the very sight of those keards would kill me, Judge ; I thought if yon only knew how 1 felt, you would not play on so ; mid then to tliink, right here before all these Voting folks 1 Maybe, Judge, you don’t know how younger folks, especially hoys, look up to sneli as you ; aud then 1 can’t help thinking that, maybe that if them that ought to know better than to do so, and i hem us art' higher lurnt, and all that wouldn’t set sioh examples, my poor Tom would lie alive and earing fol ios poor old mother; but now there ain’t any of my family loft but mo aud my poor little grau’chile, my dead darter's littlo girl, and we are going to stop with my brother in Illinoy." Tongue of man or angel never preached a more eloquent sermon than that gray, withurodold lady, trembling with old ago, excitement and tear that she was doing wrong. I can’t recall half she said, as she, jxxir, lone, beggared widow, stood before those noble-looking moil, and pleaded the cause of the rising generation. The look they boro as she poured forth her sorrowful tale was iudosoribu ble. To sav that lliev looked like crimi nals at the Imr, would be a faint descrip tion. 1 can imagine liow thev felt. The old liulv tottered to her seal, iuid, taking her littlo grand child in her lap, hid her face on tier neck. The little one stroked her gray liair with one hand nd said : “ Don't cry, ganniu, don’t cry, grnniua.” Eyes unused to weepiug wore ro<l for many a mile ou that jour ney. And I can hardly believe that one who witnessed that scene ever touched a card again. It is but just to say that when the passengers came to themselves they generously responded to the Judge, who, hst in hand, silently passed through her littlg audience.— PnsMf- Irritm Slimier. * Adelina Patti. Adelina Patti was Ixonj at Madrid, April 9, 1843. Her full name is Adelina Mari* Cloriuda Pntti-Nicolini She was educated at New York, and on Nov. 24, 1859, she made her debut as a singer in Donizetti's Lucia di Bammennoor. She made her first appearance at Lon don, May 14, 1861, in La Ftmnam bula, and Nov, 16, 1862, appeared at Paris in the same role. Patti afterward sang at Paris, London, St. Petersburg, and in some of the leading cities of Europe with great suoceas. She was married at London, July 29, 1868, to the Marquis de Caux, but the union was an unhappy one, and the parties separated. The Marquia, although a titled indi vidual, was not all that was to be ex pected, and was long virtually supported by his wife. Not long since Patti was married to Nicolini, who is singing with her. • Tilt Chicago Hotel World says, “There is still too much of the a la business in bills of fare.” There is in deed, and not enough of it in the little sample dishes that the waiter brings. Pomme de Terre ala jardemere and pork and beans ala New Englandienne may bo ever so fine, but if there is only a te&spoonfnl of them dabbed onto a lit tle elate it is a vexation of spirit. No one likes to open his mouth for 4 camel and swallow % gnat. It is wrenching a$ Ui Old awry, A Relic. Running our hands into the pockets of an old spike-iaii coat tho other day, pre paratory to turning over the venerable garment to a poor man who needed a ■pike-tai! coat to herd sheep in, we fonnd a relio of bygone days that took ua buck over tho rugged path on which we had journeyed for the past teu years ; hack through sun-painted valleys and through the sloughs of despond till we stood again where we did before the past de cade with its burden of sorrows and its seldom joys hail made ita impress or. oar brow. It was only a soiled and worn ball pro gramme. Looking upon it, the mist of gather ing years lifted from the still features of the post like the pall that hides the calm lineaments of tho dead, and out from the silent tomb of buried memories came back that regal night w<: spent in the heart of the forest, with the wealth and beauty of nature’s children gathered about the cam)) fire, while the seductive strains of the Htrauss waltz, played on a camp kettle and a Ute base drum, filled the air. The programme reads on the outside as follows: GRAND DRESS BALI,. Hr.i.Her Wau Inset ; and ; '. Raw Doo Heei'r.u. : ,ni , : . July 15, 1(f72. War Whoop Job Print. Opening the programme, we find in addition to several tiand painted grease spots and the oilor of smoked bacon, the following list of dances" with our part ners: Grand March around tho Firewater Barrel Maiden with the Till Ear, Scalp Waltz Cleopatra Colorow Flying Trapeze l/uarili ille ......Veni Vidi Vici Colorow. Hoopla Hchottische Tay-To-Ila-Smith (34 brood belle). Dancers (free for a11).'... Honi-Boit-Qui-Mal-y Prune Bbavano. Tomahawk* Waltz Daugliter-of-the- Coo ii.g-Hlixsanl. SUPPER. (Guests are requested not to throw discarded bourn at the musicians or change their clothing in tho ball room. They might take cold.) Quadrille deMexicans.. . .Ma-wah-tan-nf-hau ska continued on fourth page. Maniac Polka Daughtor of-Anonymous pale face. Firewater Reel .Daughter in- law-of the - Full Moon. Waltz (half mile dash) (Omitted on account of fatigue.) Scalp Qtiadriile (scalp to be furnished by visit lug paleface)... .(Omitted on account of nn avoidable absence. Grand - Knock -Down - and—Drag-Out - Waltz Quadrille with Butcher Knives (Omitted. Didn’t have any butcher knife.) — Boomerang. The Inroads of Civilization. Avery graphic and pathetic descrip tion of the inroads soon to be made by civilisation is given by an old man iu Tennessee! “But this liyur country’s all a goin’ to change. It's a goin’ to be most everlastui’ly improved , you see. I shan’t never be improved; I’m too old. But the old ways is coming to an end. Thev’g men bayin’ up thousan’s of acres of this land. They’ll bo rail roads built directly, hither an’ yan, moro’n’U do anybody any good. They’ll cut off the woods for fuel mi’ lumber, an’ they’ll bo mines an’ quarries up liyur, they say. An’ they’ll bo mean, dirty littlo towns laid out, all about. Then, instid o’ people drinkin’ a little healthy whisky, us we’ve always done, they’ll lo forty times ns much niiser’- ble pison stuff sold an’ drunk, an’ who ever drinks it’ll begin to steal an’ lie. I reckon they’ll he some mighty fine houses built som’eres along this river, nil’ they'll put big scientific locks on to their doors, an’ thieves ’ll come up from Cinciunater and Ohat’noog’, an’ break into ’em. They aint never been a lock 'i to a door in these mountains, llut thoy s goin’ to he the ull-flrodest im provement* ..‘miit hytir, an’ I s’pose our people’ll Torn to sir.j too; lmf to .to keen up an’ live. An’ they'll lv. B oine o’ them city women liyur, I reckon, from them big places, with their flue feathers, uu’ their dresses a druggiu’ on to the ground, an' thoy’ll be tlie devil to pay among our young mon. That’s what they call civ’lf/zation, ain’t it, strnpger ? I tell ye this country ’ll soon he improvin' like hell, but T shan't live to see much of it, I reckon.” Natural Foes Living in Harmony. Among other animal stories, Kingston relates the case of a parish or outcast dog that was thrown us fooil to a caged tiger in India. The dog stood on the de fensive in a corner of the cage, ntnl ns often as tlie tiger attempted to molest him, seized it by the lip Or neck. The tiger was hungry, but eventually, find ing tlie dog so tough a customer to tackle, it relinquished its onslaughts, and came to on understanding with the foe. When n mess of rice and milk was put into his cage, the larger bruto will ingly shared it with its courageous op ponent; mid henceforth they became staunch friends; the dog would run iu and out tlie cage, evidently looking upon it ns his home, mid indeed, making it such, until tlie tiger’s death left it oiice more homeless and friendless. Good Humor. Surely nothing can bo more unreason able than to lose the wilt to please, when we ore conscious of tlio power, or show more cruelty than to choose any kind of influence before that of kindness and good humor. He that regards the welfare of others should make his virtue approachable, that tt tnay be loved and cripied; and he that considers the wants which every man feel*., qr will feci, ot external as sistance,- sniiht rather wish to be sur rounded by those flint love him. than those that admire his excellencies or solicit his favors ; for admiration ceases with novelty, and interest gains its end and retiree. A man whose great qualities want tlve ornament of superficial attractions, is like a naked mountain with mines of gold, which will be frequented only till the treasure is exhausted. Samticl Johnson. A husband living in one of the suburbs of New York brought home one after noon three red wagons and a rocking horse for the children. His wife wel comed him with delight, kissed him, and putting her face confidingly to his, whispered, “Darling, you have been flirting on the tTain a long while. Now that the girls have seen you with tlio horse and wagons they know that yon are a married man!” Smiling lovingly upon her, be replied, “I bought a ticket to the .strawberry festival of old Mr. Jones, the Sunday School Superintend ent, and he brought them along in the tr-in with him.” Dxar girls, whenever a young man gets so soft that he can be dipped up with a spoon, the best thing for you to do is to dip him up and pour him out over the baok fence, —Bampton. A Pew Parlor Games. The games that follow are not all of them particularly new, but they are very pleasant, and are quite worth trying: One player says: “Have you seen my cat?’’ The next replies: “Yes, I’ve seen your oat. “Do you knew what my ent is do ing ?" “ Yes, I know what your eat is do ing." "Doit." Aad then if the player neglects to purr or scratch she pays a forfeit. Of course, that game may be varied considerably by choosing any other animal. The Interrupted. Reply. —The com pany are seated in 'a circle, when one whispers to her right hand neighbor. Say that she asks : "Of wliat use is a book?" The nnsvojr would naturally be: “To read.” But Instead, she asks another question of her right hand friend, and when the questions hare gone around the last answer is given aloud—of course producing much laughter among the party. Puzzle Muni/:, —One player leaves the room, and the rest determine on some thing he must do on his return. Say he lias to ounce around the room to dis cover a hidden person, or to touch a particular object. When be enters he is informed by song or piano when he is near or far from his object; the singing or playing becoming louder or softer as Ire approaches or recedes from the solu tion. With little trouble this may be made a most amusing game. It is, in fact, but a moderation of the old nur sery frolic, “ Hot Boiled Beans and Bacon." The Traveler. —The traveler leaves the room, and then the company deter mine on the country he is to visit, and prepare accordingly. Hay he is to guess Germany, you have a Btmlent with a long pipe, a book anil spectacles ; Turkey, a lady in a turban, reclining on a sofa cushion ; Lapland! a tent with natives sitting round a fire. This may lie made by a few chairs turned upside down and a table-cloth thrown over them, the na tives wrapped in shawls, etc. The trav eler comes in at a given signal, and must guess the country show or pay a forfeit. The Key of the King's Garden. — The plan is for one to give a sentence : “ I givo you the key of the King’s gar den.’’ The next person repeats the works with an addition i “ I five yon the string that holds the key of the King’s garden.” Then the third adds : “ I give you tlio scissors to cut the string that holds the key of the King’s garden." A fourth : “I give you a patent file to sharpen the scissors to cut the string that holds the key of the King’s gar den.” A fifth : “I give you a box to hold the patent file to sharpen the scis sors to cut the string that holds the key of the King’s garden,” and so on till one player fails and pays forfeit. The Secret that Travels. —A game of the simplest character, hut which among young people will often be found to af ford genuine amusement. It has its ad vantage—that any child can join iu it without having previously possessed a knowledge of the pastime. The players sit around a table ; or at least, dispose themselves in a circle. One player starts the game by whispering a sentence iu the ear of the player on the right hand. This sentence is tkesecret. The player, to whom the socretlias been con fided, tells it to his right-hand neighbor, anil so on, all around the table circle. The last player repeats aloud the sen tence as he understand it, and then the first player gives out the sentence in its original form. Asa general rule, it will be found that in passing from one to another, the words have been so altered as to be almost uureoognieable. A 4 ‘ Postil ” of Martin Luther’s Time. We accidentally discovqjfed in this city, not hing since, n “postil” of Martin Luther—that is, a series of sermons written by him to he rend to congrega tions by ministers who were not com petent to prepare sermons for them selves. It was published iu 1532 by Louis Lufft, of Wittenberg, who, by the way, was the printer of all Luther’s works during the lifetime of that re former. The hook is composed of three volumes bound in one, tlio binding being full calf with fancy brass corners and brass clasps. Tlie binding, either from age or stain, has u very dark brown ma hogany color; and, although 351) years old, carries its age lightly, being well preserved through all its changes and mishaps. It is printed from old German text in wooden type, and profusely illus trated with highly illuminated woodcuts, the illumination Whig done by hand with very bright colors and gold and sil ver leaf. To us the most astonishing feature about the hook is the fact that these colors seem to huve retaiued all the brightness which they had when put on —not faded in the least. The same is true, too, of the large fancy initial let ters at the beginning of each sermon. The gold loaf was used principally iu forming the halo about the head of the Savior, or on the urns and other vessels used aliout the temple. It was also em ployed in decorating the garnieuts of the high priests and of the wealthier classes represented. These garments are said to tie of styles worn by Germans in Luther’s time, and make a very curious display. Viewing the eugruving as a work oi art, simply, it is amusing to note how , literal the artist has lieen in his interpre tation and illustration of passages of scriptures. For instance, the illustra tion of the passage which sjieaks of cast ing tbo beam oatTif our own eye before attempting to pluck the mote from our brother’s. Tlie Savior is represented as directing the attention of his disciples to a mun at some distance who is about to pick from the eye of another something which looks like a very small pin; while from his own eye a great stick of timber projected diagonally toward heaven. The devil, when cast out in one in stance, is shown as a sort of flying non descript with bat’s wings, a vulture’s beak, and mammoth claws, these last two appendages being painted black, while the body of flie tiling is green. This ‘ ‘postil” came into the hands oi John Hartman, an old German who lives in Amelitli, this county. He purchased it in Bavaria, Germany, of a Tyrolese family for the insignificant sum of ten cents iu 1850. He himself is a perfect book-worm, sud we are told that ip his log cabin at Amelitli he hsis old books oi great value, they all being of a religious and moral character. —Bay City Press- Voltaire was once affected with some thing which he. called decay of the stomach but which would probably be better termed debility of the atomaah. or paralysis of the digestive function. For nearly a year he took no other nourishment than yolks of eggs, beaten up with flour and water, and thus was cured. This diet is thus prepared: Beat up an egg in a bowl, add six table spoonfuls of cold water, mixing well together. Then add two tablespoonfuls of farina of potatoes, mix again thoroughly, and add as much boding water as is necessary to convert the whole into a jelly. It can be taken alone or with the addition of a little milk.— lh. Facte' t Health Monthly, ii ni rlplnl i WC Bed Wash fob Bricks.—To remove the green that gathers on bricks pour over them boiling water in which any vegetables not greasy have been 1 shied. Repeat for a few days, and greell will disappear, for the red wasli melt one ounce of glue in one gallon water J while hot add alum size of egg, one-lialf pound Venetian red, one pound Spaaish brown. Try it; if too light, add more red and brown. If too dark, water it. To Paint ax Old House.— Take three gallons water and one pint flax seed ; boil half an hour ; take it off and add water enough to make four gallons ; let it stand to settle; pour off the water in a pail, and put in enough of Spanish white to make it as thick as whitewash ; then add one-half pint linseed oil; stir it well and apply with a brush. If the whiting does not mix readily add more water. Flaxseed, having the nature of oil, is better than glue, and will not wash off as readily. To Soften The Hands. —One can have the hands in soapsuds with soft soap without injury to the skin, if the hands are dipped in Vinegar or lemon juice im mediately after, The acids destroy the corrosive effects of the alkali, and make the hands soft and white. Indian meal anil vinegar or lemon juice used on hands when roughened by cold or labor will heal and soften them. Rub the hands in this; then wash off thoroughly and rub in glycerine. Those who suffer from chapped hands will find this com forting. Staini.no Wood.— Apple, pear, and walnut wood, if fine-grained, may bo stained black by the following process. Boil in n glazed or enamelled iron vessel with water four ounces of gronnd gall nuts, one ounce of logwood chips, and half an ounce each of green vitriol and crystals of verdigris. Filter while warm, and brash the wood over with this rapidly. Dry and brush over with strong cold solution of acetate of iron, and dry, Repeat this several times, and finally dry in an oven at a moder ate temperature, and oil or varnish. To Wash White Lace Edging.— Have a quart bottle covered with linen, stitched sinoathly to fit the shape. Be gin at the bottom and wind the lace about it, basting fast at both edges, even the minutest point, to the linen. Wash on the bottle, soaping It well, rinse by plunging in a pail of clear Water, and boil as you would a white handkerchief, bottle and all. Set in the hot sun to dry. When quite dry, clip the basting-threads and use the lace without ironing. If neatly basted on, it will look nearly as well as new— if not quite. Washing Made Easy.—l soak my clothes over night; in the morning I fill my wasliboiler half full of water, and place it on the stove to heat, throwing in a handful of soft soap, or abont two ounces of hard ; I then wring out the soaked clothes, soap the dirty parts, and by this time the water is hot j put them in and let them boil fifteen minutes, stirring often; I now take out anil put them in cold water, wash ouf the suds; if any dirt remains, give it a few rubs and it is gone; I rinse them good in plenty of water, and my clothes are as white and clean as those that have gone through a long process of rubbing. I have washed my clothes this way for ten years, and they have never turned yellow. _____________ facts,fob the curious. The tarnishing of silver when exposed to tlie air is due to sulphuretted hydro gen, the metal having a strong attraction for sulphur, Oysters can live twenty four hours in an exhausted receiver. Tlie flame of a candle goes out in one minute, chnrcoal in live minutes, The horns of the water-snail are hol low tubes, and when it draws in its horns the eyes disappear down tlie tabes. When the “optics” are needed again it is only necessary for the muscles round the tube to contract, and so to squeeze the tip gradually out. Strutt, an English authority on games aud amusements, speaks of a Yorkshire jumper, named Ireland, whose i lowers were marvelous. He was six feet high, and at the age of 18 leaped, without the aid of a spring board, over nine horses ranged side by side. Examine the thread-slime how we will we can find in it no mouth, no stomach, no muscles, no nerves, no parts of any kind. Yet it eats and breathes and grows. When it is too largo to be comfortable it splits in two, and each half goes its way as a living animal. Topham, an Englishman, born in 1710, was possessed ot astonishing strength. His armpits, hollow in the case at ordin ary mon, were with him ful} of at uncles ■nd tendons. He would take s bar o, iron, with its two ends held in liis hand, place the middle of the bar behind his neck, and bend the extremities by main force until they met together. One of the most curious railroads in the world is a ten-inch gauge road run ning from North Billerica, Mass., to Bedford. It was first hooted at by the people, but was completed, making a length of about eight and a half miles. There are eleven bridges. The rails weigh twenty-five pounds to the yard. One grade is 155 feet. The cars and en gines are constructed so as to be very near the ground, giving them greater safety. The cars have an aisle with one seat on each side, in the same manner as ordinary cars have two seats. The cars weigh but four aud a half tons, t>r diuary cars weighing on an average eighteen tons. Trains run at the rate of twenty miles an hour with perfect safety. The engine is placed behind the tender, giving it greater adhesion to tlie track. They weigh eight tons, and draw two passenger and two freight cars. The cost of the road was about $4,500 per mile. In Colorado is a ten-acre field, which is no more nor less than a subterranean lake covered with soil about eighteen inches deep. On the soil is cultivated a field of corn, which produces thirty bushels to the acre. If any one will take the trouble te dig a hole the depth of a spade handle, he will find it to fill with water, aud by using a hook and line fish four or five inches long may be caught. The fish have neither scales nor eyes,and are perch-like in shape. The ground is a black marl in nature, and in all proba bility was at one time an open body of water, on which accumulated vegetable matter, which has been increased from time to time, until now it has a crust sufficiently strong aud rich to produce fine corn, although it has to be cul tivated by band, as it is not strong enough to bear the weight of a horse. Wliile harvesting, the hands catch greai strings of tiah by making a hole through the earth. A person rising on liis heel aud coming down suddenly, cau s-e the growing com shake all around hue. Any one having sufficient strength to drive a rail through the crust w{Lf find, on re leasing it, that it will disappear alto gether. t A Queer Ornament. ! A Washington' lette? says ; “At a recent reception my attention waa called to an ornament unique in the way of i oddities and worn by a lady, the wif e of | a naval officer. It was a long brooch or : lace pin consisting of the rattles and button ot an unusually large snake, set i in a knife edge setting of pollened gold. There was a loveiyAace above it, and : the grisly jewel caught together the edges of an exquisite lace scarf, out the rattlesnake trophy was rather discouoeri iug to some delicate ladies who withdrew from the wearer with fanciful shivers, when they saw what the thing really was, In explanation of such a strange orna ment, it is said that while standing with her husband at some station on the Florida coast, the lady’s only child, a little daughter,, was saved from the deadly snake when all coiled and ready to spring upon her. The man who killed the snake and saved the girl s life was handsomely rewarded, and the mother having obtained the rattles sent them on to Tiffany for mounting. This pin is always worn by her in grateful remem brance of the event, and at the largest balls, the great receptions, and the swell germaus, the rattlesnake trophy appears, resting its gray and ugly joints against the fair, white skin of the lady’s throat, and clasping the folds of her finest laces. There is an Indian belief that if a set of rattles are worn oil the head blindness will always be prevented, and there is a trapper’s belief that the dust from a snake’s rattles will cause blindness and terrible ills, and much other rattlesnake lore that is called up by the well-versed whenever this famous breastpin puts in an appearance. It is noticeable then that the young ladies who wear the most life-like and expensive of the enameled snake-bracelets coiled around their wrists, or gold adders, with diamond eyes, aronnd their throats, are the very ones to shrug their shoulders and call it " queer ” for any one to wear a part of a genuine snake as an ornament. Lemon Culture in Florida. Florida lemons have not generally found favor in Eastern markets, owing to their large, thick skins and inferior flavor. A few individuals, however, who believed the soil of Florida adapted for the culture of that fruit as well as oranges, have been experimenting with lemon seedlings imported from Sicily and Messina, and planted them, it is claimed, with perfect success. A writer from Lake Poinsett says : ‘‘The lemon produced had much of the size! of the old Florida fruit, but was thin-skinned, of bright golden color, and juicy beyond comparison. They at once took rank in market as the best lemons that were offered, and commanded a premium, Hales are reported for cer tain months of last season at #12.25 a box of 160 lemons. A peculiar fact of lemon culture is that the imported lemon can not be raised in Florida from the seed. Any seed will do for the stump, but to produce the perfect fruit the stump must be budded from the im ported tree. The advantages of lemons over oranges are that the trees bear sooner l , they bear larger crops, the fruit ripening continually for eight months, instead of a few months as is the case with the orange. Another advan tage is that the season is longer than the mange, and the opportunity for market ing at good figures better. “Since the culture of the lemon has become general the Floridians have learned the method of preparing the fruit for the market. The evenness of size so notable iu a box of foreign lemons is secured by the use of a ring or ‘ sizer. ’ On the Mediterranean lemons are never left on the tree until they get their color. Au attendant goes to each tree, passes a ring over each lemon, and when it fits the ring it is clipped anil put in a packinghouse, wliere the bright yellow color is given them by subjecting them to fumes of sulphur, A packing house of this sort has been established by a Mr. Bean, at Jacksonville. He buys the lemons when green at about a cent anil a half each, gives them the artificial coloring, and sells them for a handsome advance. Honor. Trustee Fullback arose to secure in* formation. He wanted to know if honor compelled a colored man to nccept a challenge to fight a duel. If not, what would honor compel him to do in case an enemy halted at his gate and dared him to come out of his house and get mashed. “ Honor am cams thing, Brudder Pullback,” replied President Gardner. “ In case you are a Letter: shot dan your inemy it am honerable to meet on de field an’ kill him. If you think it will sartin to kill you it am honorable to excuse yourself on de ground. of havin’ a game leg. If I made an inemy an’ he cums along to my cabin ah’ spits on his hands an’ hops up an’ dowr. an’ calls fur me to come out to be pulverized, Ize gwine to consider befo’ I go out. if lam party sartiu dut I kin wollop him, Ize gwiue to feel honor hound to rush out an’ break his nose. If he looms up like a sidehill, an’ if he ’pears to hev lots of science, Ize gwiue to send my ole women out dar to tell him dat if lie doan’ fly outer dat she’ll call de hull perleeee force • an’ put him whar de calves can’t bite him.”— Detroit Free Press. Density of the Earth. Herr von Jolly, of Munich, has been applying the balance to ascertain the density of the earth. The balance used was placed in the upper part of a tower, aud from each of the scales depended a wire, through a zinc tube, having a sec ond scale at the lower end, 21,005 metres below. These lower scales were 1 -02 in. from the ground, so that a lead ball one metre in diameter might be brought nn der one of them. A bodv.brought from an upper scale iuto a lower one has an increase of weight corresponding to its degree of approach to the earth’s fcenter and to the increase of acceleration. When the lead ball is brought under the same lower scale its pull is added. The differ ence of the implements of weight, with and Without the lead ball, indicates the amount, of pull of the latter, and the quotient of this pull and that of the earth alone furnishes a means (with the law of gravitation) of comjiaring the density of the earth with that of the lead, and, the latter being known, of de termining the mean density of the eartiL The author finds the mean density to be 5‘692, with a probable error of not moro than o'o6B either way. This agrees more oar lesa with other determinations; but from the mean of those with the torsion balance it diverges about ten per cent A new electric lamp has appeared in j Paris, which ia called “sunlight, ” on ac count of its mellow lustre. The light is formed by inserting two carbons in holes lored into a block of marble in such a manner that the points of the carbons are separated by a thin partition of the . marble. An electric current is passed ■ t hxough the carbons, and in traversing the shell of marble causes it to become white hot, emitting a most agreeable light, | ITEMS OT CoFTF j MbAriX Thf. word alderniau is derived fron, the Saxon ‘ ‘oaldorman," BcTTEß.waa used by tho early Romans as medicine, never as food. Tit/ daebafcff, or While,- kfc n lscuoMßQßs IxiaAaod.rw.saiawiiM aiaail, After roan, the whale’s worst enemy is the grampus, whioh attacks it sav agely. Twelve million five hundred thousand acres are devoted to cotton in the South ern States. Some five billion feet of lumber are annually taken away from the pine region of Michigan. The brain cavity of the elephant is very small in proportion to the size ot the skull itself. The value of waste paper collected from various offices in, England and sold for the public benefit averages $50,000 a year. An old Saxon catechism explains the fact of the sun turning so red just ns it sets by saving that it is then looking into hell. According to Darwin, there is a species of monkey which can sing a complete and correct octave of musical notes. In Siam there is a race of cats with tails only half the ordinary length ami often contorted into a kind of knot which cannot be straightened. One tribe of Indians never will cut a stick that lias been on fire. They say that the fire has a spirit which has en tered the wood aud will get cut. Anaxagoras, the Rhodian, held that earthquakes were nothing but a sort of cosmic tlatuleuce winds which had strayed into caverns where they could not find an outlet. Two large war-vessels, with their guns, powder and shot and $150,000 in „.oney, were once refused for the largest known diamond belonging to tho Rajah of Barued. No fewer than seven different lan guages are spoken on one side of Lake Nyassa iu Africa, which is only 350 miles in length, and natives from the Southern end cannot understand those at the Northern. A serious plague among ostriches has been spreading over South Africa for the past few years. A post mortem examin ation disclosed the fact that the disease was caused by myriads of minute worms adhering to the coat of the stomach. Tho importance of the discovery may be es timated by considering the fact that ostriches are worth from $75 D to S9OO a pair. lx a Southern seaboard district of China, wild silk worms are found, which feed on the camphor tree, and their silk is utilized in a singular manner. When the caterpillar has attained its full size and is abont to enter the pupa state, it is cut open and the silk extracted in a form much resembling catgut. This substance, having undergone a process hardening, makes excellent fish line and is generally used for that purpose in the Paklioi District. ________ HISTORICAL. Algebra is said to have been invented about 170, A. D. The punishment of the galloys origi nated under the Greek Empire. A Quaker affirmation was first ac cepted as a legal oath in England iu 1696. One hundred and ten whalers were sent out from the port of New Bedford in 1876. Count Philip, of Nassau, was trepan ned twenty-seven times as a euro for lieidaclie. The English law condemning suicides to burial by the highway, and mutilation by a stake, was abolished under George IV. In tile fourteenth centmy, to maintain a lion in the Tower of Loudon cost six pence a day; while human prisoners were supported for one penny. The Christian custom of legacies for the relief of tlie indigent und suffering replaced the Pagan custom of bequeath ing sums of money for games in honor cf the dead. For nearly two hundred years after its .establishment in Europe, tlie Chris tian community exhibited a moraljwirity, which, if it has been equalled, lias never, for any long period, lieen surpassed. In 711 the Mohammedans, sailing from Africa, landed in Southern Spain, and, in the space of three years, conquered the country, with tlie exception of a few inaccessible regions in the Northwest. The Canadian House of Commons passed a resolution in 1881, to exempt beet sugar from excise duty for eight years. This was for the purpose of en couraging the manufacture of beet sugar in Canada. In the long period between the irrup tion of the barbarians and the revival of learning in the fifteenth century, three liersons are to be remembered for their efforts to keep learning alive—Albertus Magnus, tlie Abbess Hildegard, and the German student Rabanus. Hansom Cook, the inventor of an auger for boring at an angle of the wood without starting with a gouge, hit upon the idea of examining the lips of the worm, called the wood-borei', with a microscope, and from this model made the anger, which was very successful. In’ the fourth century tlie pTaefeof Syunaaehns, one of the most estimablo Pagans ot his age, collected some Saxon prisoners to fight iu honor of his son. They strangled themselves in prison, and Symmaehus lamented the misfor tune that had befallen him from their “impious hands,” but endeavored to calm his feelings by recalling the pre cepts of philosophy. Composition ou an Egg. In the hen’s egg the composition of tlie albumen (the white of the egg) is : Water, 88 part; pure albumen, 12; mucus, 2.7, and salixe mi. ter, 0.3, in cluding soda with traces of sulphur ; or, according to Dr. Thomson, water, 80; albumen, 15.5; mucus, 4.5; ash, 0.475. The yolk consists of a variety of con stituents : Water, 41. 486 : a form of al bumen called vitelline, 15.76; margarines and oleine, 21.304; cholesteriue, 0.438; oleic and margerie acids, 7.226 ; phoe phogiyceric acid, 1.2; muriate of am monia, 0.034; chlorides of sodium and potassium and sulphate of potassp, 0.277; phosphates of lime and magnesia, 1.022 ; animal extracts, 0.4 : and" 0.553 of coloring matter, traces of iron, lactre acid, etc. . . A dealer in was invited by a friend into a New York restaurant, where liver and bacon were served to them. After chewing on it for a while the rubber merchant said, “How curi ous it is that, although I live out of town, these restaurant people know me. aud know that I deal ia these goods, too.”