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QUARREL OF THE WHEELS.
in ray wagou on a lieato 1 summer
itched my horse's flinging feet devour
e dusty vay;
suddenly a voice below shriekedout.lt
m°d to me:
h bigger, but you cannot go one-ha’f so
ist as we!”
ed around, but 10 one there my stri lu
ng vl ion caught;
ere alone upon the road—I must have
dreamed, I thought;
almost at my feet I heard, distinct, a
voice's ton ad :
’ll never overtake up, though you twice
go o’er the grouud 1”
rzzleJ me at first, hut soon the fact upon
me broke ;
fore-weeds of the wagon tad thus to the
hind-wheels spoke.
stencd to the answer, and it came in ac
cents low :
"ou’re no farther now before us than you
were an hour ago!”
waited the r< joinder, but no further an
swer came;
lore-wheels were too busy, and the hlnd-
rheels were the same;
hough I strained my tearing much, de-
resaing w ell my head,
e-wheels or by hind-wheels not another
word was said.
atter sot mo thinking how in life one
ften knows
er controversies with the words absurd
ose;
y claim as merit what is after all
late,
rccsss that others make for them ex-
ltingly elate.
lse and mighty statesman Just before
s fellow set,
, as foie-wheel in the wagon further
m the hind to got;
ug in hi^ c implaceace, as he thinks,
ime and tame,
o Jouruey ended, his position just
same.
t toiler struggles, but uo inch be-
s gained;
les that, despite him, one post
al ained.
hat the own=r,who can every-
ing control,
im ever as the hindmost, for a tftting
rpose roll.'
s along the wagon o’er the steady
way drawD,
s the weary journey, and the light of
day has gone;
all the rivalries of men, the quiet thinker
feels,
Are Idle as the quarrels of the fore and hinder
wheels.
egitimate Dealings in Futures.
Hat, really, are futures? How
aye they grown up, and what practi-
al effects, good or evil, have they pro-
uced or are likely to produce ? The
nterests they involve are so vital t©
the whole business of the community
that they ought to bo thoroughly un-
erstood by every one. Ytt a large
art of the testimony taken by our
Legislative Investigating Committee
puly serves to befuddle the suljeet.
he public liss, indeed, obtained rather'
kaleidoscopic view of the matter
the various witnesses examined,
ny of whom have been more con
cerned to guard their own private in
terests than to elucidate the questions
under investigation.
Here is an actual transaction which
ook place twenty-five years ago, long
efore the business of arrivals, as they
e called, or of futures, had been in
duced into the methods of com-
e. A Chinese merchant asked A.
., an American firm in Canton,
titract to deliver to him 300 bales
otton cloth per month, at a given
ce, for ten succeeding months. A.
o.’s Boston agent (ffered the con-
a Lowell cot on mill. The
‘is cotton buyer in
South to ccinWPIM^r the future
ery of the raw material, as want-
t a fixed price. The contract wa3
■ied out to the end, and yet when
greement was made not a yard of
h was in existence, and most of
aw cotton was still In the field,
m the Chinamen to the Southern
nter, however, every party to the
saction knew just wlmt would he
arolit, and was insured against
changes in value or price,
e gist of tho whole business of
es, legitimately used, was in that
action of a quarter of a century
°i before the time of ocean cables
When steam transportation, both
id and sea, was eiupl< yed to a
paratively moderate degree. Since
day the methods of cornmeroe
e beon developed by the use of
steam and electricity at a rapid rate,
but not fash r than the requirementa
of the world have demanded. Tno
selling of merchandise only on the
spot ceased to be the rule when same
pies and mail rd vices arrived days,
yWeeks or months perhaps, beforo the
itual consignment. Then It beoame
wonly desirable but often neoessary
in a business sense, to sell to ar-
to soil goods or orops_iu adyance
teir arrival. In thi^Hfcke riski
goods while awaiting a purchaser, bat
delivered them directly from the car
or vessel to the customer who had con
tracted to take them. The seller,
therefore, oould enter with safety into
new engagements, and the buyer,pur
chasing at favorable moments ahead
of his want? 1 , could yet so time the
arrivals as to meet hi? regular r.quire-
meats.
That is what “arrivals” are In the
phraseology of modern commerce.
They are still in use to a considerable
extent in all the principal markets.
The main portion of the business of
the world in the staples furnished by
this country is done under the con
tract system in one shape or another.
Italy, France, Austria and Spain, for
instance, for the past twenty-five
years at least, have contracted for their
tobacco in the United Spates months
before it came to market, and Spain
for even twe and three years supply
ahead. The whole tendency of trade
in these days is to distribute crops as
rapidly as possible and equalize prices
throughout the world.
The uncertainty as to the time the
buyer would receive his merchandise
and the circumstance that it often
arriveel in a damaged condition were,
however, continual sources of anxiety,
and made the opening for present
methods easy. The enormous increase
in tiie volume of trade and the neces
sity for a quick release from responsi
bility on any one transaction aided
the movement; and when commercial
correspondence came to be done al
most exclusively, in large affairs, by
telegraph, the Exchanges were forced
to adopt what is known as the future
contract system—that is, the futures,
so called, which are now under inves
tigation.
Daily and hourly reports from every
market in Europe and America are
posted in the Exchange rooms, so that
superior information is almost a thing
of the past, and the man of moderate
means has a chance with the capi
talist.
Now, the present dealing in futures
simply covers all the points of safety
made in the illustration we have given
of the contract of the Chinese mer
chant and the Southern planter
through its various stages. Toe fu
ture, in flue, is a contract on paper for
the future delivery and receipt,
within a specified time, of a specified
quantity of merchandise, at a specified
price. The actual merchandise may
not be delivered on that contract,
however, for futures are used as a
means of insuring actual transactions
as well as carrying them out. For
instance, the man who receives an
order to buy or sell may not be able
for various reasons to make the trans
action at the moment, though the
price may be at or below his limit.
The exact goods he wants, in the exact
quantity, mt<y not b8 available at the
moment. He therefore buys or sells a
future contract for a like amount. As
soon as he has afterward carried out
his order in the “spot” market—that
is, by buying or selling the actual
merchandise, he closes out his future
contract, and the transaction is com
pleted. He has,in hue, used the futur^
simply as an insurance against possible
or probable 11 actuations in the market
while he was executing his order.
There are other uses of futures as a
method of insurance against loss. For
instance, a commission merchant has
advanced on a quantity of wheat 90
per cent. its New York value. He
sees the market declining and his mar
gin disappearing. He must llieD, to
save himself, sell out the wheat at cur
rent prices, get more margin from the
consignor, or sell a future for the same
amount at the ruling price, He may
be unable to at once close out the
wheat, and the extra margin may
be forthcoming. If lie sells a future,
however, his advances are rendered
secure. He is insured. By that means,
too, the interests of the consignor are
protected. He may also thus gain
time to make up the extra margin,
and so be able to get the advantage of
a possible rise by carrying his wheat
as he originally Intended.
The farmer or {lanter may make
the profit on his crop certain before it
is harvested by selling a future con
tract which ills crop will meet. He
can thus sooure himself. For instance,
cotton planters this year have told
future on their crops at perhaps 11J
cents a pound, giving them nearly a
cent and a half above the present
prices. The same thing is etill more
true of our cereal crops, though small
farmers must sell their produot for
tat it wilLbring at the nearest mar-
for their pr.nJuc. wee';? anti mouths
ahead, for they know exactly the price
of their raw material. They can assure
themselves by buying futures.
The ssles of futures based on actual
transactions even may, however,
largely exceed the volume of a crop,
for the same commodit y is sold over
and over again. They may be said to
represent, not the v lame of the crop,
but the number of hands through
which tho crop has passed, that is to
say, the variou3 transactions in it.
Legitimately used as a means of in
surance, futures are, therefore, of un
questionable behefit all around. They
are simple means of eliminating every
possible speculative risk in carrying
out orders for the buying and selling
of our crops. Oar fathers were often
ruined through doing a spot business
on a comparatively moderate scale,
because they were utterly unable to
realize oa their merchandise until a
decline in price had used up their
capital and credit.—iV. Y. Sun.
a. he Dispensary.
Words of Wise Men.
A babe in a house is a well spring of
pleasure.—Tupper.
Whatever is worth doing at all is
worth doing well.—Disraeli,
Nothing great was ever achieved
without enthusiasm.—Emerson.
Who can all sense ol others’ ills escape,
Is but a brute, at best, In human shape.
-JUVENAL.
You may depend upon it; that he is
a good man w'hose intimate friends are
all good.—Lavater.
We should look at the lives of all as
at a mirror, and take from others an
example for ourselves.—Terence.
It is only necessary to grow old to
become more indulgent, I see no fault
committed that I have not committed
myself.—Goethe.
We should do by our cunning as we
do by our courage—always have it
ready to defend ourselves, never to
offend others.—Qreville.
Neither a borrower, nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend;
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
—SHAKESPEARE.
Life, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morolng rain
Fortolls a pleasant day.
—CHARLOTTE BRONTE.
A man should never be ashamed to
own he has been in the wrong, which
is but saving in other words, that
he is wiser to-day than he was yester
day.—Pope.
There are many men who appear to
be struggling against poverty, and yet
are happy; but yet more, who, al
though abounding in wealth, are mis
erable.—Tacitus.
Choose for your friend him that is
wise and good, and secret and just, in
genuous and honest, and in those
things which have a latitude, use your
own liberty.—Jeremy Taylor.
Men of great parts are often unfor
tunate in the management of public
business, because they are apt to go
out of the common road by the quick
ness of the imagination.—Swift.
Though a soldier, in time of peace, is
like a chimney in summer, yet what
wise man would pluck down his chim
ney because his almanac tells him ’tis
the middle of June. — Tom Brown.
Equality is one of the most consum
mate scoundrels that eytr crept from
the brain of a political juggler—a fel
low who thrusts his hand into tho
pocket of industry and enterprising
talent, and squanders their hard-
earned profits on profligate idleness
and indolent stupidity.—Langstaff'.
Every mind seems capable of enter-
taining a certain quantity of happi
ness, which no institutions can In
crease, no circumstances alter, and
entirely independent of fortune. L9t
any man compare his present fortune
with the past, and he will, probably',
find himself, upon the whole, neither
better nor worse than formerly.—Gold
smith.
Curried Chicken.—Cat a chicken
in pieces ; put the pieces in a stewpan
with one onien, In which you put a
clove. Add some white broth, suffl?
cient to cover the pieces. The chicken
being cooked, make your sauce with
the broth. Beat two pinches of cun y
with two yelks of eggs and a teblo
spoonful of cream, and thicken your
sauce. Arrango your chicken on a
plate with a border of rice. You can,
if you like, mix the rice wilh the
stew. Borne people prefer It,
A Vermonter has invented a water
felescope witli which lie claims he
can see a llve-cent piece in forty feet
of water. But the blasted telescope
does nto bring coin up ; so seeing it is
only jEn.^^ravation, and we don’t
umeut. Bostont
Biliousness. — Bad blood, too
much blood, giving headache, a bud
taste in the mouth in the mornings,
variable appetite, sickness at stomach,
chilliness, cold feet, and great suscep
tibility to taking cold. One i r more
of these symptoms is always present.
Bimetimes a bilious person has a
yellow tinge about the /ace and eyes,
because the bile, which is yellow, is
not withdrawn from the blood ; it is
the business of the liver to do that,
but when it does net do it, it Is said to
be lazy, does not work, and the phy
sician begins at once to use remedies
which are said to “promote the action
of the liver.”
It has been discovered within a few
years that acids “act on the liver,”
such as nitric acid, elixir of vitriol,
and vinegar ; but these are artificial
acids, and do not have the uniform
good effect of natural acids, which
are found in fruit and berries.
The Best Stimulant.—The best
possible thing for a man to do when
he feels too weak to carry anything
through, is to go to bed and sleep for
a week if he can. This is the only re
cuperation of the brain power, the
only actual recuperation of the brain
fores, because during sleep tlio brain
is in a state of rest, in a condition to
receive and appropriate particles of
nutriment from the blood, which
take the place of those which have
been consumed by or in previous
labor; since the very act of thinking
consumes or burns solid particles, just
as every turn of the screw of the
eplend id steamer is the result of the con
sumption by fire of the fuel in the fur
nace. Thesupply of the consumed brain
substance can only be had from tho
nutritive particles in the blood, which
were obtained from the food eaten
previously, and the brain is so consti
tuted that it can the best receive and
appropriate to itself those nutritive
pai tides during a state of rest, of the
quiet and stillness of sleep. Mere
stimulants supply nothing in them
selves, as they goad the brain, and
force it to a greater consumption of its
substance, until that substance has
been so exhausted that there is not
enough power left to receive a supply,
just as men are so near death by
thirst and starvation, that there is
not power enough left to swallow any
thing, and all is over.
Almost all persons become bilious as
the warm weather comes on; nine
times out of ten nature calls for her
own cure, as witness the almost uni
versal avidity for “ greens,” and for
“spinach,” an the early spring, these
being eaten with vinegar; and soon
after the delicious strawberry, comes
the raspberry, the blackberry, the
whortleberry; eveu the cherrks. the
peaches and apples, carrying us into
the fall of the vear. when the atmos
phere is so pure and bracing that there
is general good health everywhere.
The most beneficial anti-bilious
method of using fruit and berries as
health promoters, is to take them at
dessert, after breakfast in their natu
ral, raw, ripe, fresh state, without
cream or sugar, or anything else be?
sides the fruit itself.
Half a lemon eaten every morning
on rising, and on retiring, is often
efficacious in removing a bilious con
dition of the system, giving a good
appetite and greater general health.—
Home and Health.
Scientific Notes.
Japan is discussing a patent law
which proroses to give the introducer
of.any device new in Japan a patent,
in order to encourage the importation
of machines.
The Scientific American prints an
interesting article on old inventiors
in ordnance which should not b
missed by anyone interested in the
subject.
The Quincy Market Cold Btorage
Company, of Boston, are said to have
the largest refrigerating building in
the world. It. is of stone and brick,
100 by 80 feet in size, and 10 feet in
The world’s product of lead last
year is estimated by Herr Landsberg
at 444,000 tons. China and Japan are
not included as producers of this
metal, although the probability is that
their out-put of Dad is very large
every year.
Tho United Slates fish commission
have been distributing large numbers
of young’ carp for stocking ponds.
Over 40,000 were sent out during the
first ten days of November, and fiom
60,000 to 60,000 more were waiting diu|
tributton. Among the earlier shj
mstAWigM^lii^LFeiiuaylvanl^
KeTTlucliy, 1600 to
to Iowa and Minne.,
inquiries Professor
from 12,000 to 15,000
have been stocked si
began. New application;
s tan My received at the rat
100 a day, in addi’im to 10
height. The capacity is 8>
feet, the cost $200 000, an
chamber holis 600,000 tons o
will be used for storing dr
and mutton. The Chicago
tiug cars unload at the door.
The manufacture of curb
from ush cay be aouacaplls
ing to Jacquolain in Comp
(xciv. 837), by passing
gas over pulverized coal or
cd to a bright redness,
silica, alumina and magnesi
as alkalies and metallic oxides, wo
bo converted into volatile chlor'
and expelled; even the hydroge
driven off as hydrochloric acid.
M. Tissanier, the French seron
is prejacting the manufacture of
elliptical baloon, which is to
driven by a dynamo machine an
storage batteries. The baloon will b
131 feet long, and will have a capacity
of more than 100,000 cubic feet. It is
calculated to give a lifting power i
three and one-balf tons which wi
when the machinery is in place, all|
for a ton of passengers and ballast^
The hoard of commissioners ol
proposed national exposition of
way appliances have issued a cij
announcing that they have s^
for the purposes of the exhibity
Inter-State Exposition Buildil
Chicago; and that their inter
to hold the exhibition durinj
and the fore part of July, 1£
large guarantee fund has alreadj
raised in .Chicago. Apply
spaco should be mado es
secretary, Mr. E. H. Tali
Pacific Hotel., Chicago, 111.
A new test for gold leaf w!
dently discovered at the Farrelll
tian Art Glass Manufacturing
pany’s works in Brooklyn.,
Farrell process the leaf is pl_
the incandescent glass whicnl
blown. The expansion splits'
into beautiful abd fantastic fori
the object is then fired, coy^
glass with the vitreov
using a guaranteed .991]
leaf, the workmen for
pansion separated the
copper alloy, and thej
mented with golj
green, the la
oxidation of’
It is stated ti
eating oils is to’
the different kiny
line across the
glass about ti
one end beinj
higher than th<^
dined plane. TlJI
do wn this smooth pi
each other. The qi,
lubricating purpoj
distances traveler
by the drops,
sperm oi^jyiiJ
it
A gentleman wl
an Arkansaw justicl
obtaining money under’
He had entered a store, pi
be a customer, but proved toj
“Your name is Jim Licki
the justice. “Yes, sir.”
charged with a crime thal
long term in the penitentiarj
sir.” “And you are guilty
crime?” “Iam.” "And yo^
no mercy?” “No, sir.” "1
had a great deal of trouble witt
last two years?” “Yef, sir, I
“You have often wished thi!
were dead ?” “I have, please ’y
Honor.” “You wanted to steal moi
enough to take you away from Arb
saw?” “You are right, Judge.” “.
man had stepped up and shot you ,
as you entered the store you w(
h&vosaid: ‘Thank you, sir.’”
sir, I would. But, Judge, how
you find out so Audi about uoj
“Some time ago,’®iid the Judge®
a solemn air, “I Mas divorced f
my wife. Bhory^B^ r y° u
her. The resul
charge you.
You havj