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LOSS OF VISUAL ACUTENESS. It Is interesting to compare the visual acuteness of the normal eye before and after the effect of some purely physical cause that may be within the realm of either potato or civilization. Taking a few instances of each for illustration, I will cite from nature first. It is well known that severe illness greatly impairs the acuteness of vision of an otherwise strong eye. Almost the first thing a con valescent will do is to call for a book or newspaper to while away the tedium of the sickroom. Unless warned not to try his eyes too much, he is apt, through for getfulness, to overtask Ms accommodative powers or injure the already weakened ciliary muscle. When the rest of Ms body recovers its normal Strength, the eye con tinues weak. After straining the eyes more in the vain hope that his sight will improve the person, If he Is wise, will con sult experienced help. If otherwise, he will pick up the first pair of spectacles available, regardless of whether they should be- too strong or too weak for his eyes. Should he finally go to an optician, the latt 3r will often find it difficult. to fit glasses satisfactorily. Other natural causes that affect eyes are wind, dust, light and heat when excessive. Eyes otherwise good enough become weak under such conditions. The weakness may be due to an error of refraction, and under most conditions the accommodative power of the eye is strong enough to over come the error. But under such atmos pheric or climatic conditions as I have . mentioned the accommodation is lessefied, and the eye cannot find relief except by the use of glasses. They should generally be convex. Having mentioned those losses of visual acuteness due to natural causes, next in order are causes produced by civilization. At the outset I will say that if the patient were to change his occupation and take plenty of fresh air and exercise the opti cian’s service might never be needed, but these “ifit” are in the way and are not to be got rid of by the average individual. Take a boy from the country, bring him to town and place him at clerical work, writingperhaps all day and into the night; put him behind a counter and let him stand all day with one,hour free out of 12 or more, or let him sit at a workbench, following a trade that keeps his eyes fixed steadily hour after hour IS or 18 Inches in front of him. Take this same youth with hitherto good eyes and bid him use them dajr in and day out reading for a profes sion, or let him occupy his time in a dim ly lighted room or bend over a desk be neath artificial light all the time. I might go on giving instance after Instance with out particularizing any calling'as more harmful than others to the eyes. Is it a wonder that the children of this generation are wearing glasses along with their grandsires? Old age is no longer the reason for wearing glasses. In nine cases out of ten the young man needs a convex glass to assist his overtaxed eyes in fulfill &|their duties. i ’ In addition to these causes of weakened vision it is hardly necessary to mention the common evils of tobacco and alcoholic stimulants. Again, if the strong consti tution of a boy cannot save his eyes from their thousand and one uses, how can frail women escape? The ever increasing army of women workers in shopsand offices and the new avenues of employment opening to them swell the number of spectacle wearers. It has been my purpose to point out that it is not the serious and very plain errors of refraction that cause the most of an optician’s patronage, and he must often attribute the loss of visual acuteness to other causes. —Jewelers’ Weekly. Louisiana's Tiger Zouaves. There were occasions during the civil war when some of the Cons ederate soldiers were anything but apostles of sweetness and light. Early in th&trouble the notorious Louis iana Tiger zouaves came through Atlanta on their way to Virginia. For hours be fore their arrival telegrams kept the wires hot advising our citizens to keep out of the way. Rumors reached here of the murderous assaults made by the zouaves upon people en route, and just before ths train was due in the afternoon the women, children and timid citizens were in a Mate bordering on hysterics. When the train rolled in, the Tigers be gan jumping off before it stopped under the car shed, and they at once scattered In every direction looking for liquor. The sight of their bronzed, foreign looking faces and their bizarre uniforms scared the spectators into fits, and most of the non combatants made a rush for their homesT where they bolted their doors and did not again venture out until the next day. The zouaves had a few fights among themselves, but they did not bother the inhabitants as much as had been expected. They were so noisy and threatening, how ever, that the provost guard rounded them up at night and penned them up in the old courthouse yard, where Dr. d’Alvigney made a speech to them in French, which had the effect of putting them in a good humor.—Atlanta Constitution. A Gambol of the lAmba. A man who attended several of the re hearsals of the Lambs’ club great star min strel show tells me of a bit of dialogue he overheard the other day—a bit of dialogue which he thinks the' public will not have a chance to hear. Big De Wolf Hopper was acting as interlocutor, and Bones Mar tinotti interrupted him constantly in the familiar minstrel show manner. At length Hopper ceased to frown upon him, and in the familiar minstrel show manner again roared out: “Now, Martlnetti, whit is it?" “Veil, Meester Hopper," said Martinet fl, “I want to ask you Just one question. What does your wife say when you told her you has been to the club?” The first tambourine, Jeff De Angelis, interrupted. “Which one?" he asked. “Whtekpne what?" roared Hopper. “Wh* Which dub,” anawcrod De An gelis Innocently. “Oh!” said Mr. Hopper. ‘What did you think he meant, Mr. Hopper?” asked Martinotti. Hopper struck the Casey at the bat at titude. "I refuse to think," said he.—Washing xm Post. Barred From the Beer. A man in Munich the other day was rash enough to permit himself to make derogatory remarks about the beer at the Hofbrauhaus. He was cited to the man ager’s room, and there a paper was pre sented to him to sign, declaring that he would retract his shameful remarks about Jlofbrau beer. The guilty man said be could not conscientiously sign It The re sult has been an'ordef that he shall never again be admitted to the sacred precincts of the court brewery of Bavaria’s capital CITIZEN SOLDIERS. ——— , ■ SomstimM Hard For Them to Undewtoad th* Importance at Dlwlpline. That the soldiers of the Continental army—yesterday farmers and artisans— could fight history tells, but in the transition stage the idea of subordina tion that marks the difference between an Army and an armed mob was diffi cult to grasp by men in whom the idea of personal independence was so. strong. The captain was-no better than the private in the villsgte from which both hailed, and it was not stMnge that the private, when ordered by his superior officer to fetch a bucket of water from the spring, should retort: “Set it your self. I got it yesterday. It's your turn today.” This was not insubordination in the view of the rank and file, but merely the assertion of a proper spirit of manliness. It happened not infrequently during the civil war that the private was a richer man than the officer, as in the case of Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine, who on several occa sions presented a fine horse to some ma jor or colonel too poor to purchase such • mount himself. . There was another soldier of this stamp, Koch by name, who was well known in Philadelphia. He left a for tune of over <1,000,000. It fell to his lot one night to be stationed sentinel over a baggage wagon. The weather was cold and wet. This set the sentinel musing. After remaining on post for half an hour he called lustily: - “Corporal of the guard!” The corporal oame and inquired what was wanting. Koch wished to be reliev ed for a few minutes, having something to say to the officer in command of the post. His wish was gratified, and in a few minutes be stood in the presence of General Macpherson. “General,” said be,' "what is the value of that wagon over which lam sentinel?” “How should I know? Was that all you wanted?” responded the general im patiently. “Something approximate,” insisted the soldier. “Oh, well, SI,OOO perhaps.” “Very well, General Macpherson,” responded the private. . “I will write a check for that amount, and then Lwill go to bed. ” —Youth’s Companion. WHAT THE. BAND PLAYED. An Exciting Dinner Table Episode on an Atlantic Liner. An instance of what it calls “trans atlantic courtesy” is related by Le Gau lois of Paris. One of the greatest singers of France, a woman whom it says every body will at once identify on a mo ment’s consideration, was returuihg from Ne,w York on one of the German liners. One evening, glancing at the programme of the concert that was to be played at dinner, she saw the an nouncement of a triumphal march cele brating the German victory of 1871. “I am sure, ” she said to a fellow countryman sitting near, “that this is not intended as a discourtesy to us, but I don’t care! I’m too much of a patriot not to express my disapproval of it in my *wn way when they begin to play this piece. Wait and see. ” The captain, having caught the gist of these remarks and noticing the great artist’s agitation, glanced at the pro gramme to see what caused it; then, without showing any surprise, he spoke to one of the waiters in a low tone. At the moment when the German tri umphal march was due to begin the French singer, who could hardly con trol her agitation, prepared to leave the table. The first chord was played, the artist arose and stood, pale, agitated, amazed, while the officers and other passengers also got up and smiled sym pathetically at her. And the band play ed "The Marseillaise!” How Senator Vest obtained HU Desk. Many good stories could be told of the alertness which senators display in securing well placed desks, but the ex "patience of Mr. Vest is especially worth relating. When in 1888 the civil service law was being discussed, Mr. Pendle ton; an Ohio Democrat, and Mr. Dawes had presented bills. By a shrewd bit of politics the Republicans abandoned their support of the Dawes bill and voted for Mr. Pendleton’s measure, their votes, together with the votes ‘of the Demo crate favorable to the measure, being sufficient to pass it. As the bill was about to be voted on Mr. Cockrell mov ed that its title be changed so Os to read, "A bill to retain Republicans in office. ” As soon as it passed, Mr. Vest filed a claim for Mr. Pendleton’s seat "The author of such a bill,” said be, “will never come back to the senate. ” Mr. Vest was right end at the begin ning of the next congress he moved into Mr. Pendleton’s vacant chair.-—Wash ington Post the Curtain Was Dow*. ▲ party of countrymen were in town enjoying the sights. At last they oame by one of the theaters in the Strand. “Suppose we go in,” said one. ■ “Better see how much it is first” said another. After inquiring the price of admission they decided to send one of the party in side to see whether it K°°d enough or not After remaining for some time the delegate returned. “How is it?” asked erne. "No good. A lot of fellers flddlin in front of a big pictur’. Come on.”— Strand Magazine. . Ivrsvstably. * The man who barrows trouble gener ally % gives his happiness as security.— Richmond Dispatoh. The Roman catacombs are 580 miles in extent and it is estimated that from 6,000,000 to 15,000,000 dead are there interred. The mean summer temperature of New York city is about 74 degrees, that of Liverpool about 59 degrees. HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW. ” —r- ' 1 ■er Attitadu Hade Him Querttaa tSta Joke Maautacturrnf Veracity. x ‘‘Sometime,” said the young man, “when business is light I am going to take a day off, and when I do some of the comic papers will do well to engage a largo assortment of guards.” “Going to trlfn in some comic vers* •re you?” inquired the older man face tiously. "No, I’m not,.” answered the young man, with emphasis, “but I’ll bet when I get through with them they vtiil know a few things about their business that they never knew before. ” “Oh, they’ve been having fun with you, have they?” exclaimed the older man. “Bg|you mustn’t mind that It’s all in goodafttnre, you know. ” “They haven’t mentioned mo,” as sorted the young man, “but they have led me astray by a long series of inane jests, and I intend to show them the error of their way& I suppose you know that I’ve been married just about a year?” “Yea, I heard of your wedding. ” “-Well, just about two months after we were married my wife informed me one morning that her mother was com ing to visit us. I immediately thought of the comic papers. Before she became my mother-in-law I rather liked the old lady; but of course things were different after the wedding. Consequently I stamped around and swore a bit and de clared that I wanted it understood that no relative to either party to the cen tract could step in there and run that house. Then my wife came back at me with the statement that if her mother wasn’t welcome we might as well come to an understanding at once and arrange for a separation; I replied that she was welcome so long as she was willing to mind her own business, but that it was a well known fact that no mother-in law ever had succeeded in dojng that yet Naturally the result was that when her mother arrived my wife and I were’ not on the best of terms, and it didn’t take long for the old lady to see it. When she did see it, she acted. ” “Roasted you, I suppose?” said the older man. “Roasted me, nothing!” returned the young man. “She roasted her daughter. I happened to overhear it, and when she laid down the law as to the duties of a wife my heart went out to her, and I felt meaner than a bobtail flush for all I’d said of her. And she’s been the same ever since. She doesn’t mix in much if any when there’s a ’tiff, * but I can easi ly seejihat she takes my end of it when I’m not there. Andgood natured! Say! She’s the best natured woman you ever heard of. Talk about mothers-in-law! I wish you’d point out one of those hu morous writers to me for a minute. I’m feeling pretty strong today.”—Chicago Record. Purists and Pedants. Many purists condemn such a phrase as "no sort or kind” on the ground of tautology. I should be sorry, however, to see it disappear, because it is a land mark in English philology. It is a relic of the fusion of Saxon and Norman- French. At that period many phrases of a bilingual character crept into use, and this is one of them. "Truthand honor” is another, truth being “troth,” or hon or, as in "by my troth.” “Voice” as a verb is much objected to, coming to us moderns as it does from American sources—e. g., to “voice” the public sentiment I don’t like it and never use it, but it occurs in Shakespeare. Notoriously many so called Ameri canisms are old English provincialisms. The puriste threaten, indeed, to become insufferable pedanta It is now the cus tom of the printer’s reader—our great authority—to treat “none” as invari ably singular, a contraction for no one. But it is useful as at plural and is so used in Shakespeare—e. g., “Speak daggers, but use none. ” Why may we not continue to say, “I spoke to no wo men at the meeting because there were none present?”—Academy. The Middle Aged Man. “I wonder,” said the middle aged man, "why we take life so hgrd. At the very best we have only 75 or 100 years of it, and yet we fume and fuss and worry all through it I think of it sometimes. Here I am—well, say, 50, with maybe 20 years ahead. The cold chances are agaiast my getting so many, but take a hopeful view and say I’ve got 20. But that’s a mighty short time, heh? But just think of frittering away that time in worry! " When I think of there things, I make up my mind that, by cracky, I will not worry any more, and, oh, I think I take things more philosophical ly than I used to I But let some little thing come up! I don’t fly all to pieced over it maybe, but it drags and grinds. And only 20 years to live! "What a waste of time! What poor, miserable critters we are!”—New York Sun. The Supreme Court. Justice Brewer has noted some curi ous coincidences in regard to the mem bers of the supreme court. The judges are seated on the bench on either side .of the chief justice in the order of the date of their appointments, the senior at the right, the second at the left, and so on.. Before the retirement of Justice Field on the right of the chief justice were seated the three colors, Justices Gray, Brown and White. None of tho associates who sat on the right of th* chief justice had children. Every asso ciate who sat on the left had a large family, and all but Judge Peckham had grandchildren.—New York Tribune. Too Much For Him. "I will give SIOO to any one who can iqual my tricks!" shouted the professor as legerdemain, who had the stage. "I accept your offer,” answered a nan as be poshed through the crowd. "Do you belong to the perfesh?” "Naw; I manufacture gasjueters. ” “Then I withdraw the proposition.” -Detroit Free Press. - ' SPRUNG TWO ACES OF DIAMONDS ON J CONKUHO IN A JACK POT. Very Hack Entamwed Whw His At tonttoa Was Called to th. Error Tho Little General VTsatod *IM» Story K»pt Quiet, but It Was Too Good. “I was in a poker game,” writes a correspondent cf the Washington Star, “in the winter of 1879, when Sehstor Conkling and General Phil Sheridan were players. It was a four handed game, and John Chamberlin was tho other player. Tills guno at Chamber tin’s was always for a <& limit at first, with the understanding that along to ward morning, after v couple of hour of warming up, anybody could suggest the removal of the If .nit if he wanted to. The way Cockling and Sheridan bluffed each other that night was a cau tion. Both men seemed to strike out hick altogether as an element in their good natured play against each other, and as both cf them caught fine hands occasionally when engaged in this tag of war of bluffing neither of them couljj get an exact line on the other, and it was better than a play to study their faces at the show downs. Conkling was having all the success during the latter part of the night, and it was fun to hear Little Phil softly utter dark and woolly things under his breath when, time after time, Conkling would show a hand consisting of nothing at all after having scared Sheridan out or produce a gorgeous set of fours or a full band at such times as Sheridan, deciding that the senator was bluffing, would call him. “‘Bite him, Sheridan, * Chamberlin wopld say amusedly oh these occasions, and Sheridan would tell Chamberlin to go to the dickenssgnd call for another deck of cards. "We started the last round of jack pots with a new deck. Sheridan dealt the first mess himself, and after it had gone around and none of the three of us could open it Sheridan opened it him self. Neither Chamberlin nor I had any right to stay on our hands, so it was left between Sheridan and Conk ling, who staid. Conkling took three cards and turned his little pair into threes. >Sheridan dished himself out three cards and bit his cigar hard when he saw his hand. He made a<s bet to draw Conkling out, and the senator raised him <25. It passed between them with these $25 bets until there was nearly S3OO in the pot, both men scru tinizing each other pretty carefully at each bet “ ‘I don’t know, so much about you this time,* said Conkling finally, ‘and I think I’ll just call you for safety.’ "Both laid their hands down at the same time. Conkling had three nines, find he looked at Sheridan strangely when he saw the color of Sheridan’s three aces. Both Chamberlin and my self also saw what was wrong at the same instant, but we only smiled and let.tfle tw.o men have it out Sheridan had a broad grin on his face and was just about to rake in the pot Conkling was gazing at the little man of iron with a puzzled look in his eyes. " ‘Oh, I say, there, Phil, just wait a minute, ’.said he. ‘Do you really think that pot belongs to you?’ “ ‘Belongs to me?’ said Sheridan. ’Well, it does if the. nose on my face belongs to me. ’ And again he reached over to hoe in the pot “Conkling ran his hand through his hair and again stopped Sheridan with a gesture. " ‘I don’t remember ever having seen that sort of thing before, *he said. ‘Did jou, Phil?’ “ ‘See what sort of thing before?’ said Sheridan. * What in blazes are yon talk ing about, Conkling?’ “For reply Conkling put one finger upon one of Sheridan’s aces and then pointed to another one of the aces. " ‘I never saw a jack pot won with three aces, two of which happened to be aoes of diamonds, * said Conkligg, smiling. “Sheridan looked at his hand, lying face up on the table before him, and his face became fiery red. The conster nation on his countenance was really funny. “‘Why,’ said he after a minute, ‘blamed if I don’t believe I’m nothing better than an involuntary swindler. That other ace, you see, is a club I opened the pot on a pair of red aoes, and they were, of course, these aces of diamonds. Chamberlin, ’ turning to the amused- boniface, ‘turn me out of doors as a fraud and a short card player, will you?’ “ ‘And have the army fire a volley over the ruins of my house?’ replied Chamberlin. ‘Hardly. Anyhow, I’d rather see you and Conkling engage in a rough and tumble fight over the thing. Go ahead, the pair of you. We’ll see fair play, ’ turning to me. “Os course the' extra ace of diamonds had slipped into the deck accidentally before it left the manufacturer’s hands, but Sheridan, when he bad in a measure recovered from his surprise of the reve lation, made a humorous pretension that he had known the whole thing all along and convulsed the three of us.by feelingly appealing to Conkling to re frain from exposing him to the world for the sake of his family and all that sort of thing. The hand being foul, the pot was of course divided. ” The wild young man decides to settle down and become serious. To begin his reform he has counted up his’debts and found the total 146,017 francs 85 cen- “ What are you going to doabout it?" asked his friend. "Pay the 17 francs and 85 centimes at once and make arrangements for the rest. -Gaulota If* ths Maw Broom That Sweep* Clean. The one thing in which we don’t value experience is a broom. —Boston Transcript. ram* Hare garai ra a ■ Mana ■■■■■ %I*;M I ■ Ml I ■ I O IVIW I nEiRO. EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE WORD “ C ASTORIA,” AND S - “ PITCHER’S CASTORIA,” AS OUR TRADE MARK. I, DR. SAMUEL PITCHER, qf Hyannis, Massachusetts, 3|| was the originator of “ PITCHER’S CASTORIA,” the same that has borne and does now on bear the facsimile signature of wrapper. This is the original - PITCHER’S CASTORIA,’’ which has been used in the homes of the Mothers of America for over thirty years. LOOK CAREFULLY at the wrapper and see that it is the hind you have always bought Gn and has the signature of wrap- per. No one has authority from me to 11:2 ray name ex cept The Centaur Company of which Chas. H. Fletcher ift President. > /i , j March Do Not Be Deceived. 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