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VOL. 1. HAPPY DAYS AMONG THE HILLS. Every quaint, expectant quiver Of the willows in the vale, Every curve along the river, Every note borne on the gale. Every glimpse of flashing fountains, Every wild rose on the hill, Every sunset on the mountains, I recall and love them still. Oft I tread those ploasant places, Dwell upon those tender themes, See again those smiling faces Welcoming me in mv dreams; An t those blissful memories haunt mo When with disappointment crossed, And mv toils an 1 troubles taunt me V With the joys that I have lost! The Five Chapters. by FRANCIS E. HAMILTON. gj ™ H E Englishman turned to bis American friend, . and calling his at h V tention to a guinea 3® m / that hung from bis watch chain, said: M .Mpf find “What on that?” <lo you - The other ex amined the coin closely, and upon one side of the medallion saw en graved in exceedingly small but dis tiuct letters this inscription, “Write V*»»>• . “wtiat nected with it?” The Englishman laughed. here 1 ; ” S and‘ho V ! Id “the° wayten to °h is .incing five envelopes, each containing a letter ; “and I am going to ask you to read thorn, for 1 am sure they will interest you. Before you begin, however, 1 will give you the preface to the tale, or otherwise you would not uuderstand it, Ju 1878, when I \yas but a boy, I was sent to Australia to look after my father’s sbeep busi ness. Mucli of the time t was obliged to be in the bush, and when there the hours oiten hung heavily upon my hands. One frightfully hot Sunday I lay gasping for air under a thorn tree near my cabin when I noticed some¬ thing glittering in the dust of tho roadway not twenty yards distant. After speculating upon what it might be ior perhaps an hour, I mustered sufficient energy to rise from my ham¬ mock and investigate. It was this coin, but without tbe inscription you have noted. Returning to my siesta I began to wonder how it came there, for not a soul had passed that way lor more than a month, except ray own men ; and neither they nor I had any gold. My wonder grew upon itself until at last it occurred to me how strange a story such a piece of money could tell if it could relate its adven¬ tures, and from that idea it was but a Btcp lo tbe inscription and a trial of mv fantastic notion. 'The first timo I visited Sydney, I took the coin to a jeweler and had him engrave it as you have seen. I put the London P. O. box on, for London is known the world around, and 1001 is and always has been my box, whether in Australia or at home. No sooner was the gold prepared than I started it on its journeyings; for I paid it to the very jeweler who marked it. Now you may read the letters.” “But,” said his triend, “how does it come that you have the guinea now, if yon parted with it twenty years ago in Australia?” “Ah,” replied the other, with a emile, “that may he termed the sequel to the story of the letters. Read those and then 1 will add that also.” The first was written upon heavy paper, in Spanish with the following translation attached: H. S. M. Sloop of War, Mob. Infanta. 9th, 1889. Melbourne, received Respected Sir:—I have recently an English gold piece which beirs the lol lowing words: “Write P. O. Box 1001, Lon¬ don.” The same was paid to me some days since bv a Malay fruit trader while we were at Batavia, Java. Not observing the engrav¬ ing until the Malay had l"ft the ship I am unable to state where he obtained the money. We are about to leave for Barcelona, and should I have opportunity (o visit Imndon during my stay ashore I shall do myself the honor to personally exhibit the wandering guinea to Box 1001. With great respect, I am, Sir, Xavios Cardenza, Lieut. H. S. M. N. “This comes next,” said the Eng¬ lishman ; “you may wonder at its date, and yet yon can probably imagine the tragedy that intervenes;” and he handed a rather dingy sheet to the American. The writing was coarse and un¬ formed but evidently in a man’s hand, in the German language translated as follows: S. A, Pretoria, Transvaal, JUDC litb, 1882. I have in my possession a guinea, attache! a to a piece ot gold chain, which I thi nk was a watch chain. It is marked Write P. O. Box 1001, London, and so I do. I have had the coin some three months and received it from a Namaqua native with whom I was trading for ivory on the Molopo River. He was a chief aud wore the thing around his neck. We were together several days, and when I saw the gold piece was a guinea I was curious enough to ask him where be got It He said one of his men look it in war U on an Angra, or We3t Coast man. X pre- Murray News 8PK1NG PLACE, GA., FRIDAY. MAY 7. 1897. Often when X think of all those Scenes my heart with sadness fl’-ls. And regretful I recall those Happy days among the hills; Inspirations fair unnumbered Smiled upon those hills seren e, Many a dream of pleasure slumbered In those peaceful valleys green. What are fame and proud position When the heart is ill at ease? Where the good of high ambition When compared to such as these? Ever I recall in vain those Rambles by the laughing rills, And in my dreams I live again those Happy days among the hills! —M. M. Folsom, in Atlanta Constitution, sumo that fellow got it from some wreck or even from some (lead or dying sailor on the shore. If the piece is of any particular value as a keepsake I will send it to London upon request. W rlt e me here. Stein Hufeland, The American . ... looked up. “Poor Cardenza! Evidently htsship was ant ^ the savages robbed his body.” The Englishman bowed, “Whon I received this letter I made search through the marine records, for I was then a home, aud found that n May, 1880, the Spanish s.oop.of war « tou “ d wh ' eh rolls coasfc , lu ll ?°, guinea J2 the will ever out of curtesy, thanking him and telling him where the com had Blurted and how it had probaby reached him and asking him not to return it, but to set it on its travels aguin in the regular course of business. I had no reply to my letter aud doubt whether the Boer ever received it. Something more than a year later this third chapter arrived.” He hand-id the American a large, square envelope of rough paper, bear¬ ing the strange postmark, “Irkutc,” Mucker Sunt,” aud tho sheet within was headed “Yakutsk.” The letter was in English. To the Unknown: Except to drink vodka, attend Greek church aud gamble there re¬ mains nothing for a Ohrisiiun (?) to do in this “heel of the world” but write. Two days since, whi-n paying for some furs which I had bought from Tunguse Indians, one of them gave me in change an F.ngdsh guinea, Happening to examine It later X discovered engraved in small letters near tile head, “Write P. O. Box 1001, London.” As an American I have all a Yankee’s curiosity, and therefore tun writing. X must insist, however, upon a reply. My personal knowledge of t ins coin begins only as stated; but when I saw tho inscription X hunted up the native and dragged from him by bribe and irrigation all (list ne knew of the s.ime. Ho had received it months boforo from a Rus¬ sian official, recently arrived from St. Peters¬ burg, whom he met on the Lena River. Where that man got it is only to be con¬ jectured. I shall probably spend I would it, set be it in motion again soon; but pleased to hear why it bears this strange re¬ quest. 1 am a United States naval officer sent to this far land by my Government to aid in iho search for the crew of the lost Jeanetie. Very John respectfully, M. Harlow. The American laughed. “Quite a characteristic letter. You surely wrote Mr. Harlow?” “Oh, yes,” replied tho other, “and have still an epistolary acquaintance with him, maintained in a desultory manner ever since. He is now in Washington, in your country, I think. He has promised to visit me should he ever get to England on leave. Of course how the guiuea reached Russia from South Africa I shall never know. Here is tho fourth letter.” “Lobeto, Lower Cal., Dec. 25, 1889. “For a month I have anticipated the time wh'-n X should be strong enough to write P. O. Box 1001, London. Dear old, smoky, foggy London! it you only knew how strong is tbe love that wraps an Englisli man’s heart about for his Gieat City, birth, espe¬ cially when far from the place of his you will he able to estimate how such love aud longing is increased when the English :i ■■in lies for weeks on his back in a cot bed, with a forty-caliber bole through one lung. Ned— that’s my chum—says I have slept with the ‘home guinea’ clasped in my hand night after night. Well, I may have done so. it is the first thing that has come direct from dear oid England to me in three long years and I doubt if ever X see anything so of near the my beloved home again. I am one ne’er-do-wells who has drifted up and down the earth, never content, never at rest, until, perchance, nut to rest as I have been, by au enemy’s shot from behind a mesquite bush. This little coin was paid me for gold dust one wild night across the Gtllf in Guayamas, Mexico, three months ago, and although guineas don’t grow on trees in this blazing desert, I have clung to it. “Write me. Box 1001—write me for hu¬ manity’s sake! They tell me I’m going to get well, but I know better. The catch at my heart and the hole in my lung don’t mean life, but something else. And perhaps it is just as well. The world has not been the better for me; it will not be much the worse without me; but my sou! is hungry for a let¬ ter. A big yellow envelope, with my name in round hand on the outside. My friends do not know where I am, and if I am to die it is better so. Even my dearest sister, who never gave me up, ha3 lost me; for I have been ashamed to tell her how low I ha l fallen. But, Box 1001, you only know that I nave your guinea, and you don’t know all ray foolish and my evil deeds. Write me, here; for I shall never go away. ‘Arthur Jameson.” “Yea see how long a time had passed since the third letter,” said the lishman; “six years. I had all but forgotton my golden wanderer when this came; but you may know that I wrote at onoo and at length to poor Jameson, dying amid the horrible wastes of Lower California. 1 even wrote twice; but no answer came, and I concluded that his course was run. Sometimes I remembered the fellow, pitying his loneliness if living; but as time passed the recollection slowly faded from my mind, when, two years ago, the fifth and last of the series came to hand. ” The American took the letter. It was written in a lady’s hand, post¬ marked “Cranbrook, Kent, England,” dated May 10th, 1802, and ran as fol¬ lows : “Dear Sir: Almost ten years ago ray brother Arthur, then a boy of only seven¬ teen, ran away from home. For a time ha used to write mo and I most gladly replied, for he was my only brother, tour years older than myself, and greatly loved. He was never quite successful, but always hopeful; and finally reached tho State ot California, where I beard from him in the summer of 188". I wrote him as usual; but his replies were few and far between, and after some months ceased altogether. In 1888 our fath¬ er died, and I begged ray brother to come home. I do not know il ho had my letter, but, like all the rest, this sad one also re¬ mained unanswered. Sometimes I asked upon the wrapper that the letter should be returned if not delivered. A few came back, while others did not appear, so that I was therefore left in doubt and could not toll whether mv dear one lived or not; nor, if he lived, where. I writing, but not “Alter 1889 gave up hope; but until three days ago I have never had word of Arthur nor known of his fate. Only day before yesterday I received a box from China addressed to me, containing all my letters and some little keepsakes of my dear brother. There was also a note from a friend anti companion of his, Ned Bacon, whioh told mo of my boy’s death in Lower Cali¬ fornia more than two years ago. reading tho “X have been looking over and old letters, nttd.dear Sir, I found two writien bv von to Arthur when he was so ill, alter he had told you that ho hail the marked guinea. The coin itself was in tho chest, and l now have it and would like much to Keep it as a sacred memento of my poor brother. X have written you all this be muse of your kind, kind letters to the wanderer, and to thank you from the bottom of my heart, both for my mother aud myself, for your great sym¬ pathy and more than friendly words to our boy. Even when you wrote him he was dy¬ ing, alone in a strange land. “Tiie guinea is now at vest with me, un¬ less you desire it. Should you ever be in gout my mother would be greatly pleased to see you. warmest thanks “Again, expressing our beloved I for your kindness to our one, am, very sincerely yours. Jessie Jameson, The American returned the letter to his friend. “How strange it all. ie, or was,” said he, in a thoughtful tone; “starting from Australia the little coin was in Africa, Siberia, North America, and, finally, Eugland, within the twenty years of its journoyiugs. But,” con¬ tinued he, with interest, “this lady, Miss Jameson, desired to keep the gold. Did she afterward give it to you ?” “Ah.” replied the host, smiling; “that is the sequel to the story of the letters, and, like many sequels, the best part of it—Jessie is now iny wife.”—New York Independent. Dogs for Alaska. Some time ago an Alaska trader visited tbe city looking for dogs. He spent several days hero, and left with six lusty canines, which ho had pur¬ chased at very reasonable rates. He said he wanted the dogs to take to Alaska and make common carriers of them, dogs being the only animals that can stand the grief of a trip up the Yukon, and be good for anything when they get there. Eskimo dogs are, of course, preferable for this purpose, being intended by nature for such use, but Eskimo dogs are scarce and expen¬ sive, so ordinary dogs are used to take their places and answer very well. All that is required is a long-haired dog, big enough to haul his share of a sledge and sufficiently young and in¬ telligent to be capable of learning the business. Such dogs command a good price, a fact which many men who are now working extra hours for money to feed household pets will be glad to learn. There has been more or less inquiry for dogs in Portland and the cities of the Sound every spring. This year, however, tbe development of the miDes on the Yukon has taken so many miners into the mining districts that the demand for pack-animals is is greater likely than ever, and the dog market St. to be very brisk before long. Ber¬ nards and Newfoundlands are next to Eskimo dogs probably best adapted to use on sledges, being more intelligent and better protected from cold than other breeds. But setters and the great variety of animals that are “just dogs” will do very well if they are large enough.—Portland Oregonian. 8’aug Out of Tune. The new English primate, Dr. Tem¬ ple, once entered an East End church while a mission service was being held, and, standing iu a back pew, joined in the singing of a Moody and Sankey hymn. Next to him stood a working man, wbo was singing lastly in tune. The workingman stood the dissonance long as he could, and then, nudg¬ ing the bishop, said, in a whisper: “Here, dry up, mister; you’re spoil¬ ing the show 1”—San Francisco Wave. Inconsistencies of Peace. A Caribou (Me.) man who passed through the Civil War without receiv¬ ing a scratch lost an eye recently while working in the woods from the J snapping of a twig, and naturally con sidered it hard luck.—Pittsburg Dis patch. POPULAR SCIEiXCK. Each salmon produces about 20,» 000,000 eggs. It is said that the Greenland whale sometimes attains the age of 403 years. The horse, when browsing, is guid¬ ed entirely by tbe nostrils in the choice of proper food, mid blind horses are never known to make mistakes in their diet. The cries of sea birds, especially sea guils, are very valuable as fog signals. The birds cluster on the cliffs and coast, and their cries warn boatmen that tboy are near the land. Plants that grow near the sea have thicker 'leaves than those growing in¬ land. Apparently the sea salt is the cause of this phenomenon, as plants cultivated in artificially salted soil yield thicker leaves. For use as a fire extinguisher and alarm a quick fuse runs around the room and ends in the bottom of a water tank, where a quantity of explo¬ sives are stored, the explosion giving the alarm and breaking the tank so the water flows out. Statistics of life insurance com¬ panies show that in the last twenty five years the average woman’s lit'o has increased from about forty-two to fifty-six years, or more than eight per cent. In tho same period man’s life on the average has increased in length five petf cent. It ha3 been pointed out by a natur¬ alist that the irregular shapes of trees, their “anyhowness,”if we may use the word, fulfils a most important purpose. When a gale is blowing the branches will be seen to sway in all directions, and their movements tend to balance each other. Did they all swing to¬ gether, the oscillations would,either uproot the tree or despoil it of its brunches. The rapid rise of the land about Hudson Hay is said to be tho most re¬ markable gradual upheaval of an ex lensive region ever known. Driftwood covered beaches are now twenty or sixty or seventy feet above the water, new islands have appeared, and many chanels and all the old harbors have become too shallow for ships. At the present rate this shallow bay will dis¬ appear in a few centuries, adding a vast area of dry land or salt marsh to British territory in America. % * — Lighthouse Improvements. An article about lighthouses, enti¬ tled “The Lights that Guide in the Night,” is contributed by Lieutenant John M. Ellieott to St. Nicholas. After telling of the growth in the number of lighthouses, Lieutenant Ellieott of lighting says : Meanwhile the means was being steadily improved. The open fire gavo place to the oil lamp; then a curved mirror, called a para¬ bolic mirror, was plated behind tbe lamp to bring the rays together ; next, many lamps with mirrors were grouped about a central spindle and some such lights are still in operation. The greatest stride came when an arrange¬ ment of lenses, known as tho Eresnel lens, in front of a lamp replaced the mirror behind it. This lens was rapidly improved for lighthouse purposes, until now a cylindrical glass house surrounds the lamp flame. The house has lens shaped walls whioh bend all the rays to form a horizontal zone of strong” light which pierces the darkness to a great distance. The rapid increase in the number of lighthouses has made it necessary to have some means of telling one from another, or, as it is termed, of giving to each light its “characteristic.” Coloring the glass made the light dim¬ mer, but as red comes most nearly to white in brightness, some lights have red lenses. The latest and best plan, however, is to set upright prisms at intervals m a circular framework around the lens, and to revolve this frame by clockwork. Thus the light iB made to flash every time a prism passes between it and an observer. By changing the number and places of the prisms, or the speed of the clock¬ work, the flashes for any one light can be made to occur at intervals of so many seconds for that light. Putting in red prisms gives still other changes. Thus each light has its ‘ ‘characteristic, ” and this is written down in signs on the charts, and fully stated in the light lists carried by vessels. Thus, on a chart you may note that the light you want to sight is marked “F. W., v. YV. FI., 10 sec.,” which means that it is “fixed white varied by white flashes every ten seconds.” When a light is sighted you see if those are its charac¬ teristics ; and, if so, you have found the right one. Thrifty to the Last. An old Lancashire miller, noted for his keenness in mutters financial, was once in a boat trying his best to get across tbe stream which drove his mill. The stream was flooded, and he was taken past the point at which he wanted to land; while, farther od, misfortune still further overtook him, to the extent that the boat got upset. His wife, realizing tbe danger he was in, ran frantically along the side of the stream, crying for help in a piti¬ ful voice; when, to her sheer amaze¬ ment, she was suddenly brought to a standstill by her husband yelling out: “If I’m drowned, Molly, dunnot for¬ get that flour’s gone up two shillin’ a sackTit-Bits. WORDS OF WISDOM. A friend is most a friend of whom the beat remains to learn. “The foolish and the dead alofie never change their opinion,” once said Abraham Lincoln. There is hope for the man who doesn’t have to fall down more than ouce to learn how to stand up. Everywhere and always a man’s worth must be gauged to some extent, though only in part by his domes¬ ticity. The most exquisite times in most people’s lives are those when they are (perhaps unconsciously) expecting something. The intellectual worker should have at least two seasons of complete rest every year. The freshness of his work will soon show the advantage of fol¬ lowing such a course. The love of God does not consist in shodding tears, nor in experiencing sweetness and tenderness of heart, but in truly serving God in justice, strength and humility. It is interesting to notice how often a man becomes that which his friends or society expects him to be. He will rarely disappoint us when we show him that we have faith in him, and anticipate good results; and this fact is full of suggestion to those who seek opportunities for doing good. A golden rule which will often save u« from petty worries is to strive reso¬ lutely to allow only our own conduct to affect our mental condition, to rest satisfied with doing our very best, and, having (tone this, to disregard as fftr as possible the failure of others to attain our own particular standard. If you wish to be miserable, you must think about yourself, about what you want., what you like, what respect people ought to pay you, and then to you nothing will be pure. You will spoil everything you touch, you will make sin and misery for yourself out of everything which God sends you ; you will be as wretched as you choose. Accepting gratefully the many ben¬ efits it freely gives, an honorable man will feel himself bound to do what he can for the world’s welfare, to leave it better off in some respect, at least, for his having lived in it. The whole past progress of mankind has been thus brought about, and future prog¬ ress must depend upon the same moans; Regarding a “Close” Shave. “What makes my face so dry and dusty?” asked a man in one of the chairs at the hotel barber shop. “You shave too close,” replied the barber. “You get down under the skin and irritate it.” “Well, I have to shave close. I don’t want to bother with shaving every day, so I get a shave every other day, and then get a good, close one.” “There’s no need of that,” replied the barber. “There isn’t so much dif¬ ference between a single going-over and a very close shave. After the razor has been over your face once you can still feel a fine stubble. By a sec¬ ond or third scraping you can get the face feeling perfectly smooth, but in three hours’ time the beard has grown out to where it was after the first go¬ ing-over. What I mean is that you save only about three hours by getting what we call a “close” shave, aud for a man who shaves every other day, that isn’t much of an advantage. Be¬ sides, it irritates tho face and is liable to make the skin hard and scaly. A man who shaves himself simply goes over his face once, but in a barber shop the customer thinks he is not getting the worth of his money unless the barber scrapes for about ten min¬ utes to get rid of that extra three hours’ growth of beard.”—Chicago Tribune. Hardships of African Travel. “NewConditions in Central Africa,” is the title of a paper in the Century, made up from the journals of the late E. J. Glave, who crossed Africa to in¬ vestigate the slave trade in the inter¬ ests of that magazine. At one place on Lake Tanganyika Glave writes: “My men are tired, footsore and hungry, and some sick, and I myself have a very sore heel; a day’s rest is desira¬ ble for everybody. My sick men are suffering from sore heads and maimed feet. They got their stomachs full of mtama flour and fish to-day, and have been standing on their heads and dancing. There is no better remedy for African ailments than a full belly. African travelers nearly always have crow’s feet sprawling from the outside corners of the eyes, which should be credited to the constant blinking caused by the sun’s rays, and by the long grass drooping over trails in the wet season, the sharp-pointed blades cutting, spatting and flicking one’s face.” Population of the Globe. The latest estimate of the popula¬ tion of the globe is that made by M. D’Amfreville, who places it at 1,479,- 729,000. The number of inhabitants per square mile in Asia is forty-eight; in Africa, fifteen; in America, eight; ia Oceanica and the polar regions, three, and in Australia, one. The yearly in¬ crease of the population of the earth is about five to every 1000. At this rate the population of the globe will double every 138 years. NO. 37. LIFE IS WORTH LIVING. Is life worth living? Yes, so long As spring revives the year, And hails us with the cuckoo song, To show that she is here; So long as May of April takes, In smiles and tears, farewell, And wildflowers dapple all the brakes, And primroses the dell; While ohildren in the woodlands yet Adorn their little laps With ladysmock and violet, And daisy-chain their caps; While over orchard daffodils Cloud-shadows float and fleet, And ousel pipes and laverock trills, And young lambs buck and bleat; So long as that which bursts the bud And swells and tUDes the rill Makes springtime in the maiden’s blood Life is worth living still. InD —Alfred Austin. PITH POINT. “Why were yer fired?” “Loaded.” —Life. We all have our trials and some of ns insist ou reporting them in fall.— Puok. The man who rides a hobby, thinks nobody else is making any headway. —Ram’s Horn. “By the Powers!” is the favorite objurgation in the Island of Crete just now.—Boston Transcript. A man is happiest when he is giving a woman advice on a subject of which he knows nothing.—Life. ’T is frequent that the crew of a bi¬ cycle built for two does not get along well together.—Adams Freeman. Amy—“Mabel, do you ever think about marriage?” Mabel—“Think is no name for it. I worry. ’’--Harlem Life. The world is full of people Whose chief delight seems to be in giving de¬ tailed explanations of things about which they know nothing.—Puck. Jasper—“Oratory is a lost art.” Jumpuppe—“Almost. A man can't roll out the world in the old way.now¬ adays without endangering his false teeth.”—Truth. “What became of that Samuels girl that Pottersby was flirting with last summer?” “Yon mean the girl that Pottersby thought he was flirting with. She married him.”—Tit-Bits. Grummer—“I broke a, mirror the other day.” Gilleland—“Do you con¬ sider that an omen of bad luck?” Crummer-—“I do. It cost me twenty five dollars to replace it.”—Truth. Crummer—“Do you think there is any danger of a revolution in France?” Gilleland—“Well, I shouldn’t be snr prised if those bloodless duels disgusted the people into having one. ”—Truth. Archibald—*‘3ome astronomers say that Mars is signalling some other planet.” Mary—“Maybe that is show why Saturn has her ring of light—to that she’s engaged.”—Harper’s Bazar. Weary Waller—“Do you believe in working *for a meal when yon are starving?” Ragged KafHes—“When a man is in extremities he may do any¬ thing without being blamed.”— Truth. A Western rural paper, giving a list of the presents received by the newly married couple, states that “from Aunt Jane” was received a card-board and crewel motto, “Eight on, fight ever.”—Harper’s Bazar. Miss Towney (in search of the idyl¬ lic, at last meets a real live shepherd)— “Pray, tell me, gentle shepherd,where Shepherd— is thy pipe?” The Gentle “I left it ot oome, mum, ’cause I ain't got no ’baeoy. ”—Tid-Bits. “If I’m not home by 11, Bessie,” said a husband to his better and big¬ ger half, “don’t wait for me.” •That I won’t,” said Bessie, significantly. “But I’ll come for you.” Household He was punctual, as usual. — Words, Dr. Eade—“There’s nothing serious the matter with Patsy, Mrs. Mulcahey. 1 think a little soap and water will do him as much good as anything.” Mrs. Mulcahey—“Yis, docther; an’will Oi give it t’ him befoor or afther his males?”—Judge, The Japanese Spaniel, The most valuable of small dogs is the Japanese spaniel. A dog a worth year old, weighing 3} pounds, is $200. The dogs seldom weigh less than 3i pounds, but as they decrease in weight they increase in value, A three-pound spaniel is worth much more than one weighing 3J pounds, and one weighing 24 or 2£ pounds very much more. Japanese spaniels have been sold for as much as $500. There are larger Japanese spaniels that are not imported and have no special value; the small dogs are very rare and their rarity doubtless adds considerably to their value, but they are highly prized otherwise. They are good-natured and lively little creatures. Their markings are black and white, and white and yellow, and some dogs are marked with all three colors. The Japanese spaniel lives about three years.—New York Sun. A Forest on Ice. One of the largest forests in the world stands on ice. It is situate be¬ tween Ural and tbe Okhotsk sea. A well was recently dug in this region, when it was found that a depth of 340 feet the ground wee still frozen.