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The Virtues ot Coffee.
Its Exhilarating Effeots Upon the System
and Benefits In a Medicinal Way.
It is getting to be the fashion now
for people to aay that coffee is injurious
to the health and many persons are
giving it up regretfully. Perhaps
coffee is very injurious in some cases,
but of all beverages it is contended
that it is the least injurious. Coffee-
drinkers are generally cheerful, strong
persevering. The eminent Dr. Book,
of Leipsic, says: “The nervousness
and peevishness of the times are
chiefly attributable to tea and coffee.”
He says that “the digestive organs of
confirmed coffee-drinkers are in a state
of chronic derangement, which reacts
on the brain, produces fretful and
lachrymose moods.” “I cannot
agree,” says Dr Henry Segur of Paris,
‘that the nervousness and peevishness
of the present times are to be attribu
ted to the use of coffee. If people are
-ore nervous or in worse humor than
formerly, we may find other causes
rising from the customs and habits of
society much more likely to produce
such a state of things than the use of
this particular article of diet.”
Let us examine the effects of coffee
on the economy. Taken in modera
tion it is a mental and bodily stimulant
of a most agreeable nature, and fol-
owed by no harmful reaction, it pro
duces contentment of mind, allays
hunger and bodily weakness, increases
the incentive and capacity for work,
akes man forget his misfortunes,
and enables those who use it to remain
a long time without food or sleep, to
endure unusual fatigue and preserve
their cheerfulness and contentment.
Jomand says : “An Infusion made
with ten ounces of coffee enables me to
live without other food for five con-
ecutive days without lessening my
rdinary occupations and to use more
nd more prolonged muscular exercUte
han I was accustomed to without any
ther physical injury than a slight
degree of fatigue and a little loss of j
flesh.”
passing a chafing dish with burning
coffee grains through the room. It
may be urged that an article possess
ing such powers and capacity for
such energetic action must be injuri
ous as an article of diet of habitual
employment and not without delete
rious properties ; but no correspond
ing nervous derangements have been
observed after its effects had disap
peared, as are seen in narcotics and
other stimulants. The aotion impart
ed to the nerves is natural aud heal
thy. Habitual coffee drinkers gener
ally enjoy good health. Some of the
oldest people have used coffee from
earliest infancy without feeling any
depressing reaction, such as is pro
duced by alcoholic stimulants.
Gambling.
The mental exhilaration, physical
activity and wakefulness it causes ex-
lains the fondness for It which has
een shown by so many men of sci-
ce, poets, scholars and others de-
ted to thinking. It has, indeed,
Leafu
~n called the intellectual beverage.,
supported the old age of Voltaire
nd enabled Fontenella to pass his
undred years.
The action of coflee is directed chief-
to the nervous system. It produces
warming, cordial impression on the
stomach, quickly followed by a dif
fused agreeable and nervous excite
ment, which extends itself to the
‘erebral functions, giving rise to in-
leased vigor of imagination and
^tellect, without any subsequent con
fusion or stupor, such as are charac
teristic of narcotics. Coffee contains
asontiai principles of nutrition far
‘xceeding in importance its exhila
ating properties and is one of the
iroi
most desirous articles for sustaining
e system in certain prostrating dis
ies. As compared with the nutri-
Ion to be derived from the best of
soups, coffee has decidedly the advan
tage; and is to be preferred in many
nstances. The medicinal effects of
offee are very great. In intermittent
ever, it has been used by eminent
physicians, with the happiest effect,
in cutting short the attack, and if
properly managed is better in many
cases than the sulphate of quinine.
In that low state of inteisnittent as
found on the banks of the Mississippi
river and other malarial districts, ac
companied with enlarged spleen and
+ orpld liver, when judiciously admin
istered it is one of the surest remedies.
In yellow fever it has been used by
physicians, and with some It is their
main reliance after other necessary re
medies have been administered ; it re
tina tissue change, and thus ^becomes
a conservator of force in that state in
which the nervous system tends to
collapse, becauso the blood has become
impure; it sustains the nervous power
until the duration aud reorganization
of the blood are accomplished,and has
the advantage over other stimulants
in inducing no injurious secondary
effect*. In spasmodic asthma its util
ity is well established, as in whoop
ing oough, stupor, lethargy and such
troubles. In hysterical attacks, for
which in many caseB a physician can
form no diagnosis, coffee is a great
help.
Coffee is opposed to malaria, to all
noxious vapors. As a disinfectant it
has wonderful powers. As an Instau
taneous deodorizer It has no equal for
the siok room, a* all exhalations are
mediately neutralized by simply
Not half the gamblers in this world
ever play cards. There are so many
other modes of risking money that
curds seem superfluous. This, too, is
without considering the commonplace
methods of betting upon what are
known as sporting events. Anybody
can bet on the result of a horse-race or
« prize-fight or a walking-match, but
there are delicate and ie3thetlc ways
of risking money that, compared with
these every day methods, are as choice
pieces of Sevres china compared with
the th ck coffee-cup of the cheap res
taurant. Fly loo i perhaps one of
the most exciting of these modern in
ventions. Fly loo is now so old a
game that its novelty iB gone, but
there is still peculiar pleasure in hear
ing the captains of some of the big
ocean steamers describe nerve-racking
games of fly loo with saloon passen
gers.
A dozen or fifteen persons seat
themselves about a table and each
lays in front of him a lump of sugar
and a dime, or a quarter dollar, or
whatever the stakes are. The party
remain as quiet as possible till a fly
alights upon one of the lumps of
sugar. The proud owner of this lump
is the winner of the stakes. A newer
sport, equally exciting, is called
"trickelily.” Two gentlemen, deter
mined to risk their money on some
thing, watched a window pane on a
rainy day and bet upon the compara
tive speed of two drops of rain coursing
down the glass, each gentleman choos
ing a favorite drop. It has remained
for the French, however, to invent a
sport that is Baid to outstrip both of
these favorites in interest and excite
ment. This new delight, which has
to enliven French watering
through tire season, is crab
HE LEADETK US.
served
places
racing,
The
interesting animals are first
weighed and handicapped, and then
put in line. Each “ sportsman ” lays
his finger on the back of the crab
which carries his colors The starter
waves his handkerchief, the backers
lilt their fingers and the crabs are off.
Their instinct takes them invariably
toward the sea, and the crab races are
always on the beach. The sport has
become bo developed on the coast of
Normandy that the length of the
course has been definitely fixed at
twenty metres. There seems no doubt
that this diversion is even more ex
citing than the once popular sport of
betting whether a distinguished pas
senger on a steamer would step ashore
first with his right foot or his left.
An Insect Carpet-Bagger.
An experimenter in Southern agri
culture told the following lnstoriette
of Northern ^ees in the South. He
took a colony of the little gratuitous
honeymaktrs down to Florida. The
first year they reveled, throve and
stored honey nearly all the unvaried
summer time. But the second year a
few of the more reflective bees evi
dently turned the thing over in their
minds thus: “This country has no
winter to provide against; what is
the use of laying up horn y where the
flowers blossom all the year round?”
These bees exerted enough influence
among their friends to keep a good
many bees from laying by any sweet
merchandise the second year of their
exile. But the prudential instinct, so
strong in the little insect, prevailed
with the majority. They evidently
said to themselves: “Perhaps this has
been an exceptional year. Next sea
son may bring cold and snow and
dearth of flowers.” So there was
quite a stock of honey laid by on the
second year in spite of a few strikers.
But by the third year ( he convietlon
had evidently thoroughly penetrated
the bee mind that it was foolish to lay
up in a land of eternal blossom. They
made just enough to last from day to
day, abandoning themselves to living
from hand to mouth as recklessly as
oes any tropic-born butterfly.
AN UNPUBLISHED POEM, BY ALICE CARY.
“3hall I be Prophet, Human Heart ?
Shall I tell thee Sorrow stands
Ready, with cold and cruel hands,
Thee from thy ohletest loved to part?”
My soul was chilled with sudlen pain ;
Yet thus I made reply :
‘‘My chielest loved can never die !
Ahd even Earth’s friends shall live again.”
Old Time smiled sternly ; ‘‘Thou art young
And hopeful. What II sickness pale
Makes nerve to bend and heart to all,
Which now with buoyant life are strong?’<
“My strength lies not In hope or youth;
The childhood of Immortal years
Cannot te sliutk with mortal tears ;
Even Death but rends the veil of Truth.”
“‘Death,’ thou presumptuous one, perchance
Within those doors of gloom
He waits, dread shadow, till thou come;
Watches thy heedless steps advance,
Even to the open tomb 1”
“I will noc tremble ! will trust!
My days are thine, O Savior dear !
Thou seest all this coming year,
Thou lovest me, and thou art Just ;
Thy poor child will not fear.”
Time touched ; the massy gates swung wide;
I paused—a Voice not all unknown
Spoke to my heart in sweetest tone :
‘‘Culld, 1 will be thy guide ;
Fear not to travel ou.”
Marriage by Capture.
When an Eskimo youth has killed
a polar bear unaided, and so proved
himself capabie of providing for the
wants of a family, he is sent forth at
night to obtain a wife by seizing the
first girl he can surprise unawares,
She screams, of course, bringing out
the whole population, and an appre
ciative audience secured, sets upon her
captor with tooth and nail, releases
herself from his clutches, and darts
among the crowd. He follows, push
ing aside the old women who attempt
to bar his progress, heedless of the
seal-skin scourges they lay about his
shoulders. Should he catch the flying
lass, more scratching and biting en
sues, and perchance, a second escape.
The chase is then renewed as before,
only the wife-hunter is inspirited by
knowing that, a third capture effected,
there will be no more maidenly strug
gles ; the girl accepting her fate, and
allowing him to lead her away amid
the applauding shouts of the excited
spectators. The aboriginal Australian
adopts a more summary process when
tired of single blessedness. He looks
about for a likely helpmate, and find
ing one, waits bis opportunity, knocks
her down, and carries her home.
Marriage by capture, in this simple
form, is now unknown out of Swage-
dom, having elsewhere resolved itself
into bride-chases and sham bridal-
battles ; mere mockeries or mimicries
of the grim realities of those ancient
days wfien men literally took wives
unto themselves In practical assertion
that * none but the brave deserve the
fair.”
In Singapore the winning of a
bride depends upon the matrimonlaa
aspirant’s fleetness of loot or skill in
paddling his own canoe. In the first
case, a circular course is marked out,
half of which Is traversed by the
maiden — encumbered only with a
waistband—ere the word is given for
the would-be possessor to go in pur-
spit, in the hope of overtaking her be
fore she has thrice compassed the cir
cle; that achieved, she has no choice
but to take the victor for her lord. In
the water-chase, the damsel takes her
place in a canoe, and plies its double-
bladed paddle until she has obtained
a reasonable start, when her admirer
sets off after her. The contest is usu
ally but of short endurance, the pair
having come to a proper understand
ing beforehand ; but should the girl
have no fancy for the suitor, and pos
sess sufficient determination and
strength of arm to gain the goal first,
she is at liberty to laugh at the dis
consolate loser of the match, and re
serve herself for a claimanttmore to
her liking.
Bride-chasing is generally a trial o;
horsemanship. In this shape it is prac
ticed by most of the nomadic tribes of
Central Asia. Captain Burnaby tells
us that when it is to be decided how a
Turooman belle is to be settled in life
“the whole tribe turns out, and the
young lady, being allowed the choice
of horses, gallops away from her
suitors. They follow her. She avoids
those she dislikes, and seeks to throw
herself in the way of her affections.
The moment she is caught she be
comes the wife of the captor. Further
ceremonies are dispensed with, and
he takes her to his tent.” In some
tribal the girl Is burdened with the
carcass of a goat or lamb, which must
be snatched from her lap.
The Razarohs mark out a course
some twelve miles long and three
wide. As soon as the maiden has
far enough from the crowd to be able
to guide her steed with perfect free
dom she turns around, stretches out
her hands to the waiting horsemen,
and her father gives them the signal to
go in pursuit. The chase is sometimes
a loug-lasting one. A traveler records
one in which, after two hours’ gallop
ing, the field of nine bad dwindled to
four. Racing ueck and neck together
the riders gradually gained on the
quarry, each shouting in turn: “I
come, my Peri! I am your lover !”
One of the horses suddenly faltered in
his stride, and the dismayed girl saw
that the man of her heart was out of
the hunt. Making a quick turn, she
darted right across the path of the
exultant three and made at full spesd
for uer lover. The b» filed suitors
chocked their headlong career with
one accord, but coming into collision,
two of them rolled over on the plain,
and, eluding the remaining detri
mental’s grasp with a triumphant
laugh, the maiden reached her lover’s
side. In a moment his arm was
around her waist, and she was his
own.
Among the Kalmucks the bride-
race is reduced to a match, and Dr.
Clarke avers that the girls are such
good horsewomen that for one to be
caught against her will was a thing
unknown. Kalmucks of high degree,
howeyer, do not run their brides
down ; they bargain for them, and the
bargain concluded the bridegroom
and the chief men of his horde ride to
the camp of the bride’s people, who
feign opposition to the match, and
only surrender the lady after a mock
conflict. Sometimes, the conflict is
real enough. If a Kalmuck swain
cannot find the wherewithal to satisfy
the demands of his lady-love’s parents,
or is for any other reason obnoxious to
them, he enlists the aid of his kins
men, who at the earliest chance swoop
down on the adverse camp, and, pro
viding they do not get the worst of the
tight, carry the prize of their valor to
the expectant lover’s Arms.
In Circassia, the carrying off of the
bride is a pearranged affair, the bride
groom and his followers rushing into
the bride’s house while the wedding
revelries are at their height there, and
bearing the unreluctant damsel off
with them. Against such an irruption
the Iudian Mussulman provides by
closing the entrances to the lady’s
abode, and setting a guard before it to
receive the expected assailants. “Who
are you who dare to obstruct the king’s
cavalcade?” demands the leader of
tue wife-seeking band. “There are
thieves abroad at night; possibly we
behold them,” is the reply. A long
interchange of uncomplimentary badi
nage ensues, terminating in an at
tempt to break through the ranks of
the bride’s defenders. Failing in this,
the bridegroom pays down a certain
sum of money and the gates are flung
open. There is a second contest of
strength within the gates, ending as a
matter of course, in the giving up of
the maiden and her departure with
the victorious party.
The Khoids have turned marriage
by capture from comedy into farce.
Riding one night among the hills an
English officer heard loud cries, seem
ingly proceeding from a village hard
by. Making for the spot, he saw a
man carrying upon his neck some
thing enveloped in scarlet cloth. He
was surrounded by twenty or thirty
young fellows, who had all their
work to do to protect him from the
desperate assaults of anumber of girls.
The man had just been married, and
was conveying his blooming bride
home; and not until he was within
the boundaries of his own cottage did
his fair pursuers cease hurling stones
at him, as he and they ran their
hardest.
The mock-battle forms p art of the
marriage ceremonies of the Kookirs
dwelling on the northeast frontiers of
India; but with them the bride’s party
has the best of the bout. After the
purchase-money agreed upon has been
paid down the friends of the bride-
buyer essay to fetish his bargain, and
get well thrashed for their pains ; but
the hurly-burly over the woman is
brought out, conducted to the cottage-
gate aud then given up without any
more ado. Among the Garrows o
Bengal tue respective positions of the
parties to the marriage are reversed.
It is the gentleman’s part to affeot un
willingness to enter the bonds of mat
rimony ; it Is for the lady to do the
courting. When she has brought her
wooing to its hoped-for end she fixes
the day and bids her friends oorne and
make merry with her. The feast
finished, the guests bear the hostess to
the river and give her a bath. Then
a move is made for the happy man.
wing the advancing procession he
pretends to hide, but soon suffers h
self to be caught, carried to the wat
and well dipped therein. The parents
setting up a dismal bawling, rescue
him from his captors and loudly de
clare they will not part with their be
loved son. There is a scramble and
they are overcome ; a cock and hen
are sacrificed, and the pair are man
and wife.
So late as the seventeenth century it
was customary in some parts of Irelaud
for the bridegroom’s friends to receive
those of the bride with a shower of
darts, carefully directed so as to fall
harmless ; and Lord Kaimes, who
died in 1782,deposes that the marriage
observances of the Welsh of the day
were significantly symbolical of mar
riage by capture,the respective friends
of the bride and groom meeting ou
horseback, the former refusing to de
liver the lady on demand and bring
ing about a sham conflict, during
which the nearest kinsman of the
bride, behind whom she is mounted,
galloped away, to be pursued by the
opposite party until men and horses
had had enough of it, when the bride
groom was permitted to overtake the
pretended fugitive and bear her off in
triumph.
The Berricorsof France are the only
European people among whom the
form of capture still survives. Upon
the day of the wedding the doors of a
bride’s house are closed and barricaded,
the windows barred and her friends
mustered within. Presently the bride
groom’s party comes, asking admis
sion on one false pretence after an
other. Finding speech of no avail
they endeavor to force an entrance,
with no better fortune. Then comes a
parley; the besiegers proclaim that
they bring the lady a husband and are
admitted within doors, to fight for the
possession of the heart, win it and the
bride with it, the couple being forth
with united in the orthodox fashion.
Clips.
An Indian woman ia a squaw;
therefore an Indian baby is a squaw-
ling.
A German speaks of Washington
show ciety, and he isn’t yery wrong.
A backwoods shoemaker puts blue
glass windows in the box toes of his
client’s boots to cure corns.
Jones believes in policemen, and
thinks they are all square men. “At
any rate,” he says, “they are nev
’round.”
A Vermont debating society wi
tackle the question, “ Which is the
most fun—to see a man try to thr
a needle, or to see a woman try
drive a nail ?”
An old Dutchman froze his nos
While thawing the frost out he sai
“I haf carry dat nose forty year, u
he never lreeze hisself before. I
understan’ this ting.”
“Mary, go into the sitting-r
please, and tell me how the therm
eter stands.” Mary (after invest!
tion): “it stands on the first man
piece, ju it again’the wall, mum.”
Whoever denies that the newspape
has a mission should enter a car and
see how useful they are to the men
when a fat woman with a big basket
is looking around for a seat.
An Irish lad complained the othe~
day of the harsh treatment he had re
ceived from his father. “He trates
me,” said he mournfully, “as if I
was his son by another father and
mother.”
He was just from the West, and
very talkative until he turned to a
cold looking man on the train and
said: “I left heaps of snow out on the
plains.” “I am very glad of It,” sol
emnly replied the cold man, “for
we’ve had enough snow here this
winter.”
“Yes,” he said, “one of the very
nicest,best girls in the world is in love
with me, and folks know It, and It
just breaks my heart. Whyshouldit?
Why,don’t you know that nice fellows
always get some cheap creature for a
wife, and the nice girls always marry
worthless fellows ? Folks know she is a
thoroughly good girl and they’ll set m
down as a regular tough. My charac
ter is ruined.
Milk oonbains ail the elements of
food necessary for our support. Th
cream is rioh in carbon, both in the
shape of solid fat (stearine) and liquid
fat, while buttermilk oontalns casein
Skim milk has casein, potash, sod
lime, magnesia, iron, phosphoric acid,
sulphuric acid, silicic acid and chlo
rine. It is really superior to the cream
for bodily nourishment. The pecu
liar flavor of butter iz imparted
but^HHlnd it is also affe
othensubstances not familia
such as oaurlJ araebli