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T : The Rise of American Shipping. Mr. John Roach, ha hie statement before the Tariff Commission at Phila delphia recently, ventured the opin ion that American whipping had its birth in protection, and that the protective policy, so far from injuring the shipping interest, had in reality fostered it. There appears to be some confusion here. Certainly those who represented the shipping interests of the country at the time of the'adop tion of the policy of protection diflered considerably from Mr. Roach in their views of the effect of that policy on our merchant marine. The tariff re ported by Secretary Dallas in 1816 is generally regarded as the beginning of the protective system. At that time .New England represented the bulk of the shipping interests of the country. It is on record that Mr. Webster and most of the members from the New England States took ground against the bill. In 1824 the navigating and Ashing States opposed Mr. Clay’s bill from an apprehension that is would injure commerce. One of the main objections considered by Mr. Clay in his celebrated speech upon his meas ure was that the tariff would diminish our navigation. As to this the father of the American system said that the shipping interest, though a great one and deserving encouragement, was not a paramount interest and should accommodate itself to the state of com merce and manufactures. Mr. Web ster, the spokesman of New England and of the shipping interests, in his reply to Mr. Clay, declared that the navigation of the United States with out Government protection challenged competition with the whole world. He regarded the bill of Mr. Clay as threatening to lay new and heavy burdens upon navigation, and eaid that nothing oould prevail upon him to give his support to t. bill which was so burdensome and so dangerous to that interest which had steadily en riched and gallantly defended us. Of the members from the three states then classed as navigating and fishing states—Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts—three are recorded as voting for and twenty-three as voting against a tariff for the protection o( domestic industry. English Trades Unions. Mr. George Howells has published in the Nineteenth Century an account the Trades unions of England, which indicates that their con dition is much better than has commonly been supposed. The mem bership in all of them he puts at more Jhan 1,100,000 men, and, by the regu lar monthly payments of these, the pions are in receipt of an aggregate icomeof about $10,000,000 per annum. ie common assumption is that these lions have no other purpose but to ^courage strikes ; and, though it is le that the protection of its mem* rs in the mattei of wages is the lief reason for the formation of a uiNpn, it lp also worth of note that only a small part of the money raised is used in sustaining conflicts between labor and capital. Thus, in the re turns for some years of a number of 4 ih<\ larger associations, it is found V fc iile about fifty per cent, of the ^ent to sustain members who lply out of work through the of trade, twenty-five per lelp those who were sick, and cent, each for funeral charges i a superannuation fund, only / cent, was paid out on account Aes. /r. Howells maintains that the {ioism made against these unions, the ground that they Insist upon prmity in wages, is deprived of a i deal of its force from the lact only really able workmen are wed to become members. He Bays ,t, in England, the reported tyran- of the chief secretary of a union xfks no foundation in fact; that criti- m of an exceeding acrid character 1 the time going on, and, in the l\]y publications, the secretary of 'on is compelled to print any iet- jryilutlon criticising or rebuking hioli any of the lodges xuay send. The office, according owells, is one which involves ous amount of hard work, e average Balary of the men om the doing of this work not over $1,000 per annum, e eutlct expense of the manage- ms of these great unions, ra tions and payings in is not over, on the aver- i«\v9hnd a half per cent of its Women’s Wrongs. There is one class of laborers, and that the worst paid of all, who never strike, or if they do so onjein a decade, it is not for higher wages, but only to resist a reduction of wages after they have already been forced down to starvation point, and when there is literallv nothing to risk. In Chicago it is simply incredible how the working women live on what they earn. One woman told me she made calico dresses for a rich firm here at $1.50 per dozen. Not plain wrappers, but ruffled, puffed, trimmed with bands and folds and tucks, with ornamental pockets, and a row of button-holes from top to bot tom. Two young girls made child ren’s suits, of fine material, elabor ately trimmed and of richest goods for fifty cents a suit With continu ous work for sixteen hours a day, they earned three dollars a week each. They clubbed together and nired a mean little room in a wretched attio and lived on half ra tions, as their appearance proved. And yet these girls were ladies in manners and education, and with legant clothes their presence would be an ornament to any drawing-room en the land. I asked a little cash girl the other day in a store, the owner of which had made his millions in Chicago, what wages she received, "$l 60, a week,” she said, “and worked from 7 o’clock a. m. t > 9. p. m.” Then, at that late hour, she paid her car fare home. She was about ten years old. There were other-}—many of them in the same store—some younger and a tew older. They were on their feet every moment, and had the fagged-out look of old women of sixty. There was no playfulness among them ; they literally died on their feet, and I know that no change of circumstances or fate will ever obliterate the traces of their past and present hard condition. If there is anyone who fails to see how money, that should befriend and bene fit the race, has become the cruel mon ster of its wretchedness and extermi nation, let him come to Chicago and see how the women and children are worked and starved [at its behest.— Chicago cor. N. Y. paper. Mother Love. We were at a railroad junction one night last week waiting a few hourj for a train, in the waiting-room, in the only rocking-chair, trying to talk a brown-eyed boy to sleep, who talks a great deal when he wants to keep awake. Presently a freight train arrived, and a beautiful little old woman came in, escorted by a great big German, and they talked in Ger man, he giving her ev identiy lots of information about the route she was going, and telling her about her tickets and her baggage check, and occasionally patting her on the arm. At first our United States baby, who did not understand German, was tickled to hear them talk, and he “snickered’’ at the peculiar sound of the language that was being spoken. The great big man put his hand up to the good old lady’s cheek, and said something encouraging, and a great big tear came to her eye, and she looked as happy as a queen. The little brown eyes of the boy opened pretty big, and his face sobered down from its laugh, and he said: “Papa, it is his mother!” We knew it was, but how should a four year-old sleepy baby that couldn’t understand Ger man, tell that the lady waB the big man’s mother, and we asked him how he knew, and he said: “O, the big man was so kind to her.” The big man bustled out, we gave the rocking chair to the littffe old mother, and presently the man oame in with a baggage man, and to him he spoke English. He said: “This is my mother, and she does not speak Eng lish. She is going to Iowa, and I have got to go back on the next train, but I want you to attend to her baggage, and see her on the right car, with a good seat near the centre, and tell the conductor she’s my mother. And here is a dollar for you, and I will do as much for your mother some time.” The baggage man grasped the dollar with one hand and grasped the big man’s hand with the other and looked at the little German with an expres sion that showed that he had a mother too, and we almost know the old lady was well treated. Then we put the sleeping mind-reader on a benoh and went out on the platform and got ac quainted with the big German, and he talked of hurse-trading, buying and selling and everything that showed he was a live business man, ready for auy speculation, from buying a year ling colt to a crop of bops or barley, and that his life was a busy one and at times full of hard work, disappoint ment, hard roads ; but with all of his hurry and excitement he was kind to his mother, and we loved him just a little, and when after a few miuutes t dk about business, he said : “You must excuse me ; I must go in the d .'pot and see if my mother wants any thing,” we felt like taking his fat red hand and kissing it, Oh 1 the love of the mother is the same in any lan guage, and it is good in all langu vgep. Stage Coaching Fun in Cali fornia. Stage coaching on the wild moun tain roads of California is described by some as great fun. Here is a sample of its delights. One night the only outside passenger on a Placerville stage was riding sleepily beside the driver when a lurch in the coach aroused him and, to his horror, he found the driver was missing. The big headlight and the two side lights showed that the road was a down grade with a rocky wall on one side and a precipice on the other. The team was going at a fast trot. The passenger reached down to see if he could find the reins, but soon realized that his search was hopeless for the reins had gone over board with the driver. What was to be done ? The inside passengers were all asleep. In a few minutes the coach without guidance would go over the precipice. Before he could think twice he heard a hoarse voice which seemed to come from the ground call out, “ Jam your foot on the brake and hoi ler whoa.” The passenger obeyed,the team slowed down, the people inside woke up and thrust out their heads. Then the voice was heard again say ing : “ You fellows get out and take them leaders by the head, and I’ll see if I kin crawl out of this.” It was the driver, who had clung to the reins when he fell, and, rolling himself into a ball, had been dragged along the road between front and hind wheels, holding on in spite of bruises, because he knew tnat it was death to his pas sengers if he left go. Yellowstone Park. The Yellowstone Park embraces about 8600 square miles, or rather more than the total areas of Ruode Island and Delaware together. It lies in three territories, the greater part being in Wyoming territory and the remainder partly in Montana and partly in Idaho. It is all reserved from settlement for the purpose of a National park. Ii is one of the most wonderful regions of the globe, full of magnificent mountain, valley and forest scenery. Mineral springs abound in every part of it, sonA of them in the form of geysers sprouting water into the air in columns of from 85 to 250 feet or more, and emitting gas and steam with strange noises that echo among the wonderfully col ored cliffs In all varieties of sound, from that of faint music to that of a cannon peal. It was feareil that it this region was left open to settlement under the same laws as the rest of )he public domain, its choicest portions would be selfishly appropriated by speculators, add these impressive ex hibitions of nature’s wonders would be shut in as private parks, accessible to the public only on payment of such fees as the owners might dictate. At the present rate of railroad construc tion this park will soon be accessible. Ie is now in charge of a superintend ent, and a telegram received from Washington since the above was written says the Secretary of the Inte rior is about t> sign a lease for ten years of a portion of this park to company which proposes to build hotels, supply guides, transportation and telegraph facilities, at rates to be approved by the Secretary. The Fire Underwriters’ Convention, In session in New York, adjourned after electiug the following officers: President, D. W. C. Skilton, of Hart ford ; Vice Presidents, H. E. Biwets and H. H. H ill, of New York, and W. R Lyman, of New Orleans; Cor responding Secretary, J. Montgom ery Hare, of Now York ; Recording Secretary, Charles H. Ford, aff New York ; Advisory Committee, Varnuel Appleton, Boston; J. W. Dtftuham, Springfield; W. T. Bartou, ■?rovl- deuce ; W. B. Bennett, Jr., Halford ; James M. Anderson, Baltniore; E. W. McAllister and II.] Sherwood, Philadelphia ; T. P. den, D. A. Heald, P. Notman, Miller, Thomas F. Jeremiah George T. Hope, New York ; ThoiVas S. Churoh, Chioago; and Hei\v Powlee, Newark, N, J. Scraps. When is a vegetable not a vegetable? When it is what you cauliflower. An old Japanese author says : All the soldiers of a great aimy can be captured, but the thoughts of the most vulgar person cannot be arrested.” It has been ungallantly said that the telephone does what society rulers have always been unequal to—compel women who use it to talk one at a time. One man can deceive anuder in de matter of friendship, but it ain’t dat way wid women. Among women dar’s a perfeck un’erstandin’ dat da doan put no confidence in each other. It was not in theboundlew’jWest.but in Connecticut, that a lawyer de scribed the mout of a wituess as “stretching across the wide desolation of his face, the sepulchre of rum and the geyser of falsehood.” “How far is it to Manayunk?” asked a weary Irshman, who was go ing there afoot. “ Seven miles,” was the reply. “Whom do you wish to see there?” “ Faith,” It’s myself I’d loike to see there,” was the reply. “ Breddren,” said a plantation preacher, “ I will now discourse to you out ob de “yistle ob Clover / “No Pomp,” cried one of his sable congre gation, “you means de epistle of limothy.” “No matter,” replied the preacher, “any kind ob grass will do, so dat it be good fodder.” “ Well. Andrew,” a gentleman re marked to a Scotchman who, with his brother, was the only remnant of a narrow sect. “I suppose you and Bandy are the only bodies who will get to Heaven now ?” “ Deed,sir,” replied Andrew, shaking his head, “an I’m no’ so shur j about Sandy.” A Townsontown young man was seen coming hurriedly out of a busi ness house in this city which he had entered to secure employment as a salesman. “Did the boss engage you as salesman ?” he was asked by an acquaintance. “ No, he wanted me to travel,” was the ambiguous reply. He was a young man for kn Arch deacon, relates a sporting contempo rary,and his wife was old enough to be his mother. They were the guests of the evening at a country house. The whole country was invited to meet them. An extra man was taken on for the occasion. He had to announce the guests. The master of the house coached the extra man up. “ When the Archdeacon arrives you are to say, “ The Venerable Archdeacon Blank.” The drawing room was full. The guests of the evening arrived. The ex tra man looked at the Archdeacon [and then at the lady, and he got mixed. At labt he got it right. He saw how he stood. Great was the consternation when he announced “ Archdeacon Blank and the Venerable Mrs. Blank.” “ No, sir,” said the shopkeeper. “I don’t think you will do. We want a man who understands the rules of orthography, and you have spelt “ sit uation” in seven different ways, at least in your application.” “ Well, whai,o’ that! Ain’t that a mark of genius? Doesn’t it show versatility? *1 want you to understand that I ain’t one o’ them fellers that has to spell a word the same way every time. No, sir! If that’s the kind of a man yer want, you’ll have to take somebody else. I ain’t the feller to pin himself down in tnat way. Good mornin’; e'l is truly king, in some respects. It o^sts more money and works a more wide-spread and impressive ruin than any of the others, Jt is imbibed in every form, from the fierce, fiery spirit itself, down t> the mildest beer. The following table, shows the per centage of alcohol in the drinks most commonly in use: Rum ...60 to 75 Whisuy 54 “ 60 Brandy 50 “ 60 Brandy (Fienoh) 50 “ 65 GiD 48 “ 68 Port Wine 14 “ 24 Bherry 14 “ 27 Claret 9 “ 14 Hungarian Wines 9“ 15 Rhine Wines 7 “ 15 Champagne 7 “ 18 Burgundy 8 “ 12 Cider 5 “ 9 Of the alcohol family, beer is the beverage more In request, and its pop ularity seems every year increasing. Last year Germany oonsumed eight hundred^^aod^fl^iion^Mmillionsofj^ah Ions. The consumption in the United Slates was nearly three hundred mil lions of gallons. In 1871 our people paid eight hun dred or nine hundred millions of dol lars for liquor. In 1874 the drinkers of Great Britain paid six hundred and fifty millions. These tremendous sums exhibit only a fraction of the tax which King Alcohol levies on Christendom. TOBACCO. Tobacco is perhaps the most univer sally diffused of the stimulants. In digenous to America, it is as widely known as the grape, and is chewed or smoked in every clime, by every na tion and tribe from Iceland to Hin- doostan—the civilized and savage, the Christian, Heathen and Mahomme- dan being all alike its votaries. The essential principle of tobacco is a vola tile oil called nicotine, which is a most active and deadly poison. The Cuban leaf contains about two per cent, of this oil, the Virginia weed about seven per cent. This plant which yields this soothing narcotic, is too well kuown to need description. Whatever the effects on the adult— and this is a swjtct of much heated controversy—there is one point upon which all are agreed : the use of to- bacoo by boys is certain to be followed by “stunted growth and premature decrepitude”. TEA. Tea is the dried leaves of a shrub of the same name, a native of China and Japan. It grows to the height of five or six feet, and dies usually at the age of about thirty years. The best leaves are gathered from the shoots or sprouts, which are caused to spring up by cutting down the main stock, when the same is seven yeari old. Tea was introduced into Europe by the Portuguese in the early part of the 17th century. During the first half of thf 17th century it was known in England as an aristocratic, rare, and very expensive refreshment. After 1767 its use began to become general. Tea is the favorite beverage of those who live in the higher, colder lati tudes, just as coffee is the prized drink of the dweller in the equatorial and tropical regions. Tea, like to bacco, is pronounced decidedly injuri ous to children. It is the stimulant most valued by aged people. CuFFEE. Coffee is the bean or seed of an ever- rreen tree or bush, which bears beau- iful white flower } of delicious odor. In its native state it will attain a height of twenty or even thirty feet; but when cultivated it is pruned down to from six to eight feet. It grows wild in Southern Abyssinia and Western Africa, whence it has been introduced into and culivated in most tropical countries—aspecially in Brazil, Java and Ceylon, more than half j entire product of the world ing raised in Brazil. The first coff house in England was established in 1651,and at the end of the cei^iry onT one hundred tons per annum were im ported. The United States, Great Britain, France and Germany are the great coffee consuming nations. Tea and coffee differ from opium, cohol and tobacco, in this: they ar stimulants without being narcotics. Bo from inducing sleep, they—especial ly coffjeare anti soporo/lcs. The in creased activity and pleasant exhilara tion they Impart, are not followed by any reaction or depression. Both aid digestion — parlioularly ooffhe. The tter also ip believed to contain nu tritious properties—in a large measure bsolutely supplying the place of food, ioth confer a more “sustained power f endurance” than other stimulants. [Both taken to excess, are inj irious to ertain temperaments, oftimes produc ing a most obstinate sleeplessness. The following figures will give some idea of the tremendous appetite for stimulants among the sons and daugh ters of men : The amount of opium consumed yearly is twenty-five millions of pounds in a population of seven hunderd mil lions; eight hum'red and sixty-five million pounds of tobacco per annum are distributed among eight hundred millions of people; three thousand million pounds of tea to six hundred million individuals, while two hund red and twenty million pounds of coffee and cocoa are required for two hundred millions of population. As for the consumption of alcohol it al most defies calculation. There is pro duced every year, “enough,if collected into one sea, to float the unittd navies of the world.” These statistics were for 1870. Biuce then the increase of all these stimulants has mor? tk doubled in every portion of the olvili ed world.—Planters Journal. Viols* burg, Miss.