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Coral Fishing.
Coral fishers on the coast of Italy
aud Sicily begin about the middle of
February, and continue till the middle
of October. The value ot the coral
varies according to its color and size;
the pale pink is the most prized, espe
cially it it be of a uniform color
throughout, without stains. OfTTorre
del Greco, near Naples, a large quan
tity of coral is found every year ; from
400 to 6U0 boats are sent out in search
of it, each boat being of from six to ten
tons’ burden, with a crew of at least
twelve men, and costing from $2,500
to $3,000 a boat. The valuable pink
coral is found chiefly off the coast of
Sicily. In the year 1873 a bed was
ditcovered in the Straits of Messina
in which the coral, though found only
in small quantities and of a small size,
was of immense value, owing to its
beautiful pink,of a uniform color, and
without any of those stains which de
tract so much from its worth. Unfor
tunately, the supply of coral in this
bed seems to have run short, and for
the last few years coral-merchauts
have not found it worth their while to
send boats in search of it.
In 1875 a local bed was discovered
about twenty miles off the coast of
Sciacca in Sicily, which was invaded
for the next two years by 700 boats
This number,ail crowded together in
one spot, caused great confusion, and
the Italian Government senta man-of-
war to keep order among the fisher
men. Another similar bed was dis
covered in 1878, about tern miles fur
ther from the coast, and in 1880 yet
another still further. The coral found
off'the coast of Sciacca does not grow,
as at other places, attached to rocks,
but is found clinging to any small ob
ject it can lay bold of, such as a shell
or a fragment of coral. It is supposed
that its dark red or black color is
caused by the muddiness of the water
in which it lives, although the depth
of the sea at such sp )ts is from 300 to
450 feet. This coral is not much
esteemed in the English market, but
is prepared in large quantities for the
Indian maiket, at Calcutta, by being
exposed for months to the heat of the
sun, aud by being kept moist, when
in time the black color gradually disap
pears. A few years ago a large quan
tity of Japanese coral fouud its w r ay
into the market at Naples, and
fetched as much as $750 the kilo, in
raw branches, in spite of its being a
bad color and somewhat cloudy. This
high price was given on acoount of
its extraordinary size. It was the lar
gest real eoral ever known. Nothing
has been beard of it since, excepting
that the fishery was prohioited in
Japan.
regulation raiment. One of these
days, perhaps, reform will triumph
over the present Blue-coat uniform.
Yet who will not bewail the change
that robs us of the time-honored garb
of Camden and Coleridge, and sends
their successors out to roam the streets
arrayed in the monotonous propriety
of a chimney pot hat? Possibly the
Grecians may walk with increased
self-respect if divested of the stocking,
but as regards the mass of “ Blues”
the gown is probably regarded with a
mixture of pride merging into indif
ference. 11 Our dress,” says the inimi
table Elia, “was of the coarsest and
quaintest kind, but was respected out
of doors, anil is so still. It consisted
of a blue drugget gown, witli ample
skirts to it; a yellow vest qnderneath
in winter time ; small clothes of Rus
sian duck, worsted yellow stockings, a
leathern girdle, and a little black
worsted cap, usually carried in the
band. We used to flatter ourselves lhat
the dresi was taken from the monks,
and there went a monstrous tradition
tliat at one period it consisted of blue
velvet with silver buttons.” Yester
day’s procession to the Mansion
House, and afterward to church, was
noticeable, among other things, for the
badge carried by some of the scholars
on their breasts, with the words “ He
risen ” inscribed thereon, 'this is
in accordance with the injunctions of
an ancient legatee, whose last will and
testament directed that a certain
number of boys should wear gloves
bearing the device in question in
Easter week. Herein we have an in
stance of the way in which the
Christ’s Hospital of the present feels
the influence of the past, the “grasp
of the dead hand,” in all its ceremo
nials—but no unkindly or unbeneficial
grasp, after all.— [London Society.
THE RETURN.
Spring has comeback apain, divinely fair,
And trees are budding ’ueath t,he violet
skies,
a nd faint,a-veet odors t! roug t»e sunny air.
And yellow-winged, elusive butterflies
Flit here and there ;
nd nark ! the bluebirds, climbing heaven
ward, sing,
A ud it is spriug, spring, spring !
Walchltig the g.ass grow green, that show
dropa grew
ik no died iu other springs 1 half forget;
Vhe skies intc xlcute.; 1 live anew ;
And from my beating heart drops 8,11 re-
Whtlo llts pours through ;
For hark ! the bluebirds, climbing heaven-
v-erd, sing,
And li is spring, spring, spring 1
The Blue-Coat Boys.
Pity has been abundantly and grat
uitously lavished on the Blue coat
boys, who are compelled by the laws
of tbeir school to go about bareheaded
in most weathers. The actual sight
of the yellow stockings, the long cloak
buckled round Hie middle—looking
like something between an ulster and
a dressing-gown—and the head en
tirely destitute of any covering beyond
tha which nature has given it, has
often led to a notion that the Blue-coat
boys are brought up to endure the
most terrible hardships. However
Lexperience would probably soon con
"vince anybody who tried a short spell
of goiDg about hatless or bonnetless—
provided he did not catch cold—that
many much worse evils have to be
encountered in the course of a life’s
career than this particular infliction
The saving of time ana trouble In not
having to take off’ the hat in presence
of superiors, for instance, must in it
self be an appreciable benefit. Yet
Blue-coat boys are not so badly off”,
after all, for they may carry the useful
umbrella about with them in case of
rain. Consequently it may be asserted
fcwith some confidence that but little
riditional convenience would be ac
^rded to the Newgate-street scholars
fre they all at once to break out into
id-coverings, while we should
>rived of a picturesque aud original
^tiune in the metropolitan streets
[se boys took to the same outward
)iliment« as other lads.
vantage of the Blue
\ Uniform jjV* * u the ease with
[Cll if.
>t’s - eUHbl *‘
Bananas.
With every fragrant viol't that 1 see
I am a little child again, pierced through
Wish ’I o Millie 1 hr< bhu :oldeti ecstasy
ah when 1 saw therein lies mystery,
Only i he h l.u!
Oh, hark I the fcluebirdB, climbing heaven
ward, sing,
And it is spiing, spring, spring!
li. O. WH1TON.
An Educated Woman.
of
I All
,tL‘ Ch °o" e ;
the scholars
to be identified
;e, iu London or
more or
£f 1*»«o uJ
Where the Fruit is Raised and Faots
About the Trade.
A recent letter from Aspinwall says :
The most of the bananas that are used
in the United States are shipped from
this place. Until about two years ago
the whole of them came from here
but now they are beginning to ship
them from Jamaica. A monopoly of
the trade is had by two parties here,
they having formed a contract with
the Pacific Mail Steamship Company,
under which they agree to pay for a
certain number of tons of room on
each steamer that leaves here for New
York, the Pacific Mail Company
agreeing to carry bananas for no one
else except these parties.
In fact, they are so strict about it
tnat even the officers on board the
steamers aie not allowed to carry
bananas for their own private use.
Acres upon acres of land here are cul
tivated for the raising of bananas.
One of the men engaged in shipping
them has a perpetual lease of fifteen
thousand acres or one entire section of
railroad land. With the exception of
one or two plantations the bananas
are not raised by the parties shipping
them, but are bought up from the
natives for miles around tlie country.
The first thing to be done is to clear
out all the undergrowth, bushes,
twining vines, etc. These are gath
ered and burned. After this is cleared
away the large trees are cut down. It
sometimes take two or three men as
many days to cut down one tree.
After the land is cieared the bananas
are planted in rows about fifteen or
twenty feet apart On ground that is
usecl for the first time for bananas,
vegetables of various sorts are planted
between the rows. Yams, plantains,
and sometimes quite a crop of Indian
corn are raised in a 1 auana field.
Those things help to keep down the
grass, which is quite troublesome the
first year.
The best land for growing them is
on a side of a hill, where the sun lias
great force and more of a chance t^get
at the plants. Each 1 ree bears a single
bunch, which is ready to cut about
nine months after setting out the
plant. After removing the bananas
the trees are cut off close to the
ground, aud from the old stumps three
or four more trees will spring up, each
of which will in about nine months
yield a bunch. The trees grow about
fifteen feet high. In setting out a
new field, the roots of bid trees are
taken. These roots grow in clumps
and contain a number of eyes from
which new sprouts Jitfl'rt. The bunch
of roots is cut into a ttftmber of pieces,
each piece containing about one eye,
and frjm each onejpf 1 these pieces a
new tree starts.
first orop
ays
“And vou are really not ashamed of
me, father?”
“Never, my daughter.”
It was the tear-stained face that
Molly lifted, but all other signs of gr'ef
had disappeared, in the surprise with
which she heard this assertion.
“Well, I can’t understand it at all
father.”
“Then don’t try. Dinner is waiting
for us now ; we’ll talk more about it
another time.”
Molly Bennett, with a score of other
girls and half as many boys, made up
the senior class in the Wellfield high
school. After four years of school life
together, the time for graduation was
near. Mathematics, Greek and kin
dred subjects had faded into present
nothingness before the much discussed
questions of class name and badge and
colors. These were at last decided
upon and peace for a time anticipated,
when the class was one morning
thrown into a greater commotion than
ever before by the assignment of the
honors.”
There had been little doubt during
the last year as to who should have
the valedictory, but beyond that the
claimants for honors included nearly
every member of the class. As the
number of essays to be given out was
limited to six, there remained, as a
mathematical necessity, at least twen
ty-five disappointed boys and girls
to talk the matter over. Everybody
had beard such talk ; there was a great
deal of it, and some tears ; truth com
pels me to add tnat not a few ungra
cious remarks were made about all
parlies concerned. The teachers came
in for a portion ; they had marked by
favoritism and not justice; but that
was too old a topic to be long inter
esting, and Ihe school board was given
a turn.
“Minnie Janes, Principal’s pet! of
course she must have an essay ; and
Alice Smith, “because her father don’t
like the high school any too well, you
know.”
Fred Dashiell! good thing to live
in a fine house and come to school on
a bicycle!”
“Fred always makes a recitation,
though,” said Garry Long, one of the
younger girls.
“Because lie is a first class guesser,”
responded the first speaker.
“Guessing is knowing, if one guesses
right,” laughed Garry.
Each holder of a fortunate ticket in
these appointments was warmly dis
cussed, and the others who had failed
of honor were almost without exeption,
in somebody’s opinion, very badly
treated and ought to “make a fuss”
about it.
Molly Bennett had a kind heart, a
pleasant face and overflowiug good
spirits. Her ability as a scholar was
not remarkable, so that although she
studied more hours and with hearty
good will, she constantly failed t >
record as brilliant results as many less
diligent students. Molly knew per
fectly well that she was not a great
scholar, but somehow her sense of
merited reward, of honor really earned,
seemed to claim that reward for the
diligent workers, aud not for the
lucky holders of high numbers. So it
came to pass that all tlnough the latter
part of her course in the high school
Molly had cherished a fluttering little
hope that her name would receive
honorable mention, with the right to
be represented by an essay at gradua
tion. Iu girlhood’s dreamy fashion
idly home from school and into the
house. The sober flushed face told of
something unusual, and at her father’s
question. ‘Headache, Molly?” sh-
sank into a chair and cried heartily.
‘ Oh, no ! 1 am not sick at all; but I
have lost it and 1 studied so hard, aud
you b"th expected me to get it,” said
Molly.
Just wimt their daughter had lost
ami in what dear hope they were to
| be disappointed was not quite clear.
Boys are given to talking largely of
their plans, “when 1 graduate, you
know,” and “if I get the valedictory,”
but a healthy girl nature is less lavish
of its confidence. For thin reason
further explanation was necessary be
fore Molly’s distress was understood
by her parents.
their hearty assurance that they
were well please i with t:.e results of
her high school course, did much to
mitigate the sharpness of disappoint
ment, but the pain was too genuine
for an iustant cure.
“It seems to me I’m a failure,” in
sisted Molly.
And to me that you are a success,”
said her father, ‘you have been faithful
and persevering ; we have felt that
uniformly you have done your honest
best.”
Then you must think I am an
awful dunce,” said Molly, mournfully.
I can’t hear my daughter slandered
in my presence,” was the reply, “so I
shall run away to my work before you
shall call her any more names.”
The next morning the school discus
sion was vigorously renewed.
Maude Kirklaud had the floor: “My
father says it was a fraud, and he is
going to have something done about
it.”
A poorly concealed smile went
round, for Maude was noted as an
utter dunce.
“Going to secure the valedictory for
you M’-udie?” asked somebody.
“My father aud mother are perfectly
satisfied,” said Molly.
“Sour grapes,” said Laura Sherman.
“Of course they say so now,” sug
gested some one else. “Why haven’t
they told you before ?”
Molly hadn’t thought of that, why
not, indeed! She put the question to
her father the same evening. For an
swer he opened his desk and handed
her something which made her heart
beat and her eyes fill.
It was a case containing a pretty
watch and chain in fulfillment of
promise dependent upon her su cess-
ful completion of the high school
course.
“Notice the bill, Molly,” said her
father.
It was a month old, and pretty clear
proof that honors aud essays aud high
per cents had not betn her father’s
und rstanding of “successful.”
Graduation day came and went.
There was the usual round of exercise
and thirty-one boys and girls were
added to the ever-wideuing tide of
humanity which seeks success in the
world’s great ways.
Molly’s father thought a great deal
about his daughter and her future after
the affair of the class honors. He was
i^)t satisfied that she seemed to con
sider her education completed by the
framing and hanging of her diploma
on the wall of her room. Had he fol
lowed a very particular fashion, he
would have put all the blame on the
schools and berated the whole system
as barren of all good results. “Oh,
yes!” he would have said, “all very
fine these public schools ; great, costiy
buildings, crowds of teachers, courses
of study that sound well, but I’d like
to see some practical results.”
Something of this sort, Mr. Dauforth,
one of his neighbors, had often said to
him, and now that Molly was through
With the schools, the opportunity was
taken for another attack. Greatly to
Mr. Danforth’s surprise, he found Mr.
Bennett “of the same opinion still.”
“Wholly unreasonable,” he said, “to
expect a thorough knowledge of any
subject in a girl of eighteen. She has
learned a few fundamental principles
and memorized certain facts; these
will serve us an outline which she
must fill iu from the world of books
and nature aud society. I do not look
for anything more.”
“After twelve years at sch
groaned MADan forth.
Looking a%iis daughter’s educ|
the light of coi
A
in the school
sense, Mr B(
correct conci
iu the many
rJie had sometimes pictured this da>#tionhad been
m ft piece of
best. Tiie ba-
1 lie re are more
lly average
yield about
if her first triumph, her own success
id her father’s couseqv
jBut now 4 it was all oi
9ve thought that great j
Ifn upon $iolly as she]
irlde.
the merest
acquired.
He *iid not
ranca^induh
|tt arrived at ct
Is. Itwasimpoj
recta to which,
leu that any.tl^
ue could 1
lioule
Not although some chance question-'"
ings frequently revealed an utter in
ability to apply come very common
place attainment of the school-room.
To prove if this wore so, her father
never failed to bring up the same sub
ject a second time, and the interest
thus awakened often developed much
profitable thought on both sides.
About this time, Mr. Bennett bought
a tract of poor, unpromising laud.
“Bad investment,” said his croaking
neighbor.
‘ Ho you said of Molly’s schooling,”
was the good-natured reply.
A double development of resources
began. On the farm, one ragged stretch
of hilly pasture land proved the de
posit of a valuable building stone, and
ere many months went by, a produc
tive quarry was being worked. Molly
had always “stood well” in geology;
here was an object-lesson iu the grand
science which made her bring out her
text book and compare its pages with
the beautiful stone leaves upon which
God had written the earth’s story long
ago. In their rides and rambles about
the quarry, father aud daughter grew
well acquainted, and the next winter’s
evenings found them enjoying many
of the best books on geology and min
eralogy.
Railroads and lumber yards made
heavy demands upon another portion
of the land which was heavily wooded.
Mr. Bennett’s presence was required
almost every day, and Molly was fre
quently his companion. Such trea
sures of plant aud animal life as were
unlocked to her eager mind! The
variety and beauty of the trees, their
modes of growth and the delicate perfec
tion of their blossoms; that was a great
chapter in botany. Another scarcely
more exquisite was opened in the
multitudes of tender, beautiful things
which grow in the shaded woodpaths,
where the sunlight steals timidly and
the dreamy music of the wind Is the
only sound. The botanical soc’ ty in
the town received one very enthusias
tic new member, and the contents of
Molly’s specimen box always called
out (xclamations of delight. “Such
perfect beauties! Where do you Il (
everything ?”
Then the birds. It was an old sa;
ing with Molly that their noises al
sounded just alike to her; but a ye
after her graduation she would h
resented such a remark about
feathered friends with much the sa
wrath which a young mother displays
when all babies are said to “look just
alike.” She learned the aristocratic
hues of the black-bird family and
knew their rich, well assured-notes;
roystering old Bobolink was her
friend, and the swallows and sparrows
were too well learned to be mistaken.
In this delightful science her father
had bee a her constant companion,
reviving the knowledge and pleasures
of his own boyhood days
All this time it never occurred to
Molly to be surprised by her own de
light iu books which had before proved
dull and uninteresting. In th^wri
ings of the great thinkers who
been able to get behind n
interpret her secreti^^^^WTrners'
she found conato^K^onfirmation o
that which she could herself observe
with the added advantage of superior
thought aud wider reseaich.
Molly’s oft repeated request that she
might help her father some way,
really help,” was the more urgent as
he noted his increasing business and
consequent increasing care and weari
ness. There were family letters to
write, home%,ccounts to keep, bills
and receipts to look after. A discour
aging mistake now and then caused
some confusion, but a prudent father
did not say it was “just like an educa
ted woman,” It was more likely to be
something like this, “never mind,
Molly, I have yet to see your first mis
spelled word.”
To father and mother their daughter
was well nigh indispensable, and
every one who knew Molly Bennett
found In her an intelligent, capable
woman, whose hands were as r
with their service as her heart with
its sympathy.
The purchase of the unpromising
land^had proved a most paying enter
prise, t^^in view of these two facts,
Mr. Dan^^^ had lon^tago dropped
the suhject^knaying i^^ktments.”
Inclinatiol^^Bl^^^^^& moral
for the bene
mothers; my yo 1
never forgive mi
them.
Oh yes, most certainly, and
visited Molly (Bennett no m
her own. Her diploma, now sevi?
eight y^rs old, is matched by a si ml
ment bearing the seal of
jollege.
r saw a pleasanter home no
lUlren jfcau Molly Jr., Nelli
Ben.
i