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BEFORE THE FROST. A little heaven below of bloom, This garden spot of ours. Its sweet-peas’ winged host; its pure, White-robed alyssuin flowers; Its shining host of marigolds, Each one with gleaming crown; Its purple cloud of heliotrope. Sweet incense shedding down: Bine, golden, crimson, not one hue Of rainbow glory lost, ’Twas never half so fair before, And now, to-night, the Frost! How loath the winter was to go! How laggard was the spring! How slow the seed from out the ground The first green leaf to bring! How long the folded buds delayed To show the hidden flowers! We’ve watched it with what patient care, This garden plot of ours! And now, when al! this wealth of bloom Repays the pains it cost — (’Tis Life’s old story told again)— To-night will come the Frost! —-Marian Douglas, in Bazar. DEE AND DEF BY ALICE BROWN, We were christened Beatrice and Dor othy, but with what great aunt calls the “horrible assertiveness of American chil dren,” we hastened to rename ourselves as soon as we could speak. Bee says one of us ought tell the story of the naughtiest time in our lives, or, as she puts it, being fond of long words, “its most ciitical period.” She adds that my pen is as ready as her tongue, and that where the one fails, the other shall dictate. So let us begin. One day, when we were about fourteen —Be# and I aie twins—we had a partic ularly hilarious time at school. As our dear mother had died when wo were babies, and papa was too much occupied in poring over bugs and butter flies to know what we were about, we did dozens of things which other more fortunate girls would never have dared attempt. Just at this time, we were quite wild with a desire to be thought, young ladies; go Bee, who is clever with had pieced down our dresses, under the overskirts, until they swept the floor. We had “done” our hair high, and tied on some old earrings, and when we ap peared at school the girls, awed and admiring, declared we looked “lovely— and twenty-five at least.” The teachers smiled in a way that made me a trille uncomfortable, and at recess 1 heard Miss Gaston say to Miss Pray: “boor things! they certainly do show the effect of their training- or rather of the lack of it. hhall you speak to them about this?” “No. You have heard the rumors about their father’s”—her voice fell, and I lost the following word. “Emily is a sweet little woman, and a very firm one. 1 think they can safelv be left to her.” “Who is Emily?” I asked Bee, as we walked home together, and I repeated the conversation to her. “Probably a governess, or a new housekeeper,” returned Bee, who, like Warren Hastings, had a “mind calm amid difficulties.” “Whoever it is, I shan’t mind her. O Bee, there’s great-aunt’s carriage at the door! How she will s:old about our our dresses! Take off your earrings,and put them in your pocket.” We walked boldly into the parlor, though our long dre-ses did twist most provokingly about our ankles, uud to my dismay, Bee relapsed into giggling when 1 stepped on mine and plunged forward, almost into the arms of great aunt herself. There she sat, eye-glasses In hand, in all her terrible dignity, and there also sat a strange lady, petite . flushed with youth and loveliness, and charmingly diessed. “Girls." said papa, coming forward and hesitating, as if he wished the cere mony were over, “this lady is your new mamma 1 hope you will love her for my sake.” The stranger rose a id put out a hand to ea h of us, while, by a common im pulse,—it was always said at School that the twins breathed in concert, —we stiffened up so thsft she should not kiss us, I think we all felt a little awkward, hut great-aunt created a diversion. “in the name of all that’s proper, girls,” said she, putting her glass on her nose, “what have you been doing to your clothes? Henry, is it possible you send those children to school tricked out in that fashion?” Papa iu turn held up lii3 glasses before his dear, near-sighted eyes, and peered forward to examine us. “Why, aunt, what’s tire matter with their clothes?” he asked. “They seem to be clean—and whole.” No one could help g ggling at such delicious innocence of our deftnquerciea, and as Bee and I yielded just for a moment to !>■ fo i rive I cauglrt an answering flash upon the face of our step mother. For an instant I came near liking her, but the impulse was promptly quenched. Had we nut always vowed we would not tolerate such an interloper? “Well, Henry,” said great aunt, “you are about as tit to bring up children a that sofa. I’m glad you have someone to help you now. Children, be obedient; Emily, be firm with them, ’ and she took her majestic leave, while we two clas) ed hands in a silent compact that we would not obey, and that, the person who aspired to be firm with us should repent her ambition. tt would be a long task to tell all we did to make that sweet lady's life a bur defi. To be sure, we weie not as heart less as we seemed, for we could not estimate then the greatness of the cross we lmd put upon her. We made a point of calling her “Step mother.” except when papa was by. if she offered to kiss u<, we gave a little peck at her check, like vicious canaries. If she took pains in selecting our rib bon-, we locked coolly on those particu lar colors; if she spent time and thought on our dresses, we wore ihem w ithout rewarding her with a word of apprecia tion. We lia V simply entered on a course of what lice called ‘ anti-step mother,” and, as great-aunt always said, we belonged to an obstinate race. Our chief griev ance lay in the fact that everybody per sisted in consider ing us children, while we thought ourselves young ladies. We wanted to wear our mother’s jewels; we loDged for party dresses with trains, and all the nothings that accompany young womanhood. One day Bee came rushing into our chamber with a newspaper. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks scarlet. “O Dee,’’she began, “,ust listen! I found this among the ‘personals’: “ ‘ A young man of high culture desires a correspondence with a young lady of the most elevated ideas, purely with a view to intellectual development. Address E. R., Plainfield.’ ” “Who is lie?” I asked, stupidly. “Who is he? lie’s a Great Unknown 1 He's a poor fellow who is just, as bored and unhappy as we are. We must an swer it.” I wish I could say I tried to dissuade her, but the truth is that I seized upon the idea as an excellent one. I had heard of the vulgarity of “personals,” but this was so elegantly worded! Bee caught that thought, as it was passing through iny mind. “You see he's a real gentleman,” she said wisely. “Nothing in it about ‘fun’ or ‘flirtation.’ All he wants is to be in tellectual.” “And we’ll answer it together, and make up a name of our initials. B. D. Bella 1 unn 1 But how shall we get the letters “Why, we can tell Kitty Fisher.” (She was the postmaster’s daughter.) “You know she often distributes the mail. So we concocted an answer, a very short and dignified one. In reply came a long epistle full of quotations fiom Emerson, and confidences irom “E. 11.” He was misunderstood by every one. he said, and no one could guess his joy at finding Miss Dunn willing to smooth his dark pathway by pouring upon it a flood of intellectual light. ,1 couldn’t help thinking Miss Gaston would havf called that a mixed metaphor. | He could see from her note that she was a person of the highest cultivation. Would she kindly tell him, in her next, if she enjoyed Milton, and what she thought of Wordsworth, and who was her iavorite novelist? “He mast be lovely!” said Bee. “I shouldn’t wonder if he turned out to be a college professor. But, Dee, d<es he get his captials right, and isn’t his punctuation queer:” “That makes no difference,” said I, with dignity. “They say geniuses never can spell, and certainly capitals and punctuation marks are quite unim portant — except to Miss Gaston. He probably has a soul above such things.” Time went on, and with it the corre spondence. As spring approached we began to think “F. R.” must be feeling the effects of overwork—he had told us that he was a brain-worker—for his let ters grew more careless and less intel lectual. He wanted to see Miss Dunn. Wouldn’t she send him her photograph, or just a bit of her hair? At this Bee looked grave; harum-scarum as she was. she still had a keen sense of personal dignity. . “I don’t believe I want to write any more,” she said. “Perhaps he isn’t as nice as we thought. Let’s drop it.” As usual, I agreed, and we did drop it; but we had yet to learn that a ball once set rolling does not stop at the word of the sender. We dropped the correspondence, but “E. 11.” had no thought of doing so. First came a pleading note, begging to know if “B. D.” were ill ; then an other, almost harsh, asking if she meant to throw him over. _ Presently arrived one which made us look at each other with frightened eyes, and wi-4?we never had departed from the beaten ways of decorum. “I am coming to Colville to see you,” it ran. “Of course, I know well enough Bella Dunn isn’t your real Cnie, but l shall find you out. If you want to make things smooth, just write and tell me where to meet you.” Bee says when we read that we ought to have fainted, for we certainly were miserable enough. Desperate as we were, there was still nothing for us to do but wait, and so we went about the house from day to day looking wretched, and feeling—oh, I cannot tell how we felt! Nobody but those who have li ed in momentary fear of disgrace can even imagine. At length, when we had grown so frightened that we trembled at the sound o an unfamiliar step, mamma came into our room one day, and seated herself, looking very sweet and determined. “Girls," she said, “won’t you tell me all about it? What is the matter?” “There isn’t—l began, and then I couldn’t go on., YVe had been bad enough, but neither Bee nor I had really lied yet. “j ear girls, you arc very unhappy,” said she. “I’m sure an older person could help you. Won’t you trust me?” Then, with one accord, the twins be gan to cry, and, also with one accord, they plunged forward, buried their faces in her lap, and kept on sobbing. I be lieve there never were such tears. Mamma has said since that her muslin pverskirt was soaked with them, and that the dress, as long as it lasted, showed the effects of the shower. When we could speak, she ! questioning us gently, at the same time stroking the naughty heads in which the mischief had been hatched. By degrees she got the whole story from us, and though sho did not utter one reproachful word, we knew well enough what she must think of us and what we had done. No wonder we could not meet her eyes! While we crouched there before her, a knock came at the door, and in rushed Kitty Fisher, our accomplice. “,) girls. I’m so frightened!” she cried, too much overcome to notice mamma. “He’s here!” YVe sat up and stared at her. YY’e even looked over her shoulder, half expecting to hear him coming up the stairs. “Tell me al! about it, Kitty,” said mamma, with decision. “I know the w’hole story.” “Yes, tell her 1” groaned Bee. “She knows it all.” “I was in the office,” began Kitty, her eyes almst starting from her head, “and a young man came up to the window, and asked -who had called for Bella Dunn’s letters. Papa said: ‘Nobody; there wasn't any such name in town.’ Then the man asked a lot more questions, and mailed another letter to her, and said he meant to know who got it. “As soon as papa had post marked it, I took it and ran, and here it is. And oh. papa ncver’U trust me again as long as I live!” Then it was Kitty’s.turn to burst into tears. “YY T hat sort of a young man was he?” asked mamma, “How did he look I” “He looked —ho.rid!” said Kitty. hesitating, as if the English language I had not words enough to describe him adequately. “He had on a bright blue | tie—and his hair was black with oil«- and he wasn’t quite clean!” Meanwhile mamma was quietly open ing the letter. “-Meet me at the upper end of the Common at five o’clock to-morrow,” she read, “or I’ll know the reason why.” Then she considered, and we cried. Finally she said, “I needn’t tell you what I think of your conduct; you probably estimate it correctly, now that you see its results. But if lam to help you out of vour trouble, you must do exactly as I tell you. “Kitty, 1 shall see your father, and explain your s deof the affair: being a cat’s-paw, you’re not quite as bad as Ihe others. Now don't leave this room till I cofce back.” “Oh, the miserable uiteruoon we spent there 1 But at six in came mamma, flushed but smiling. “There, girls,” she said, “he‘s going on the 80 train, and I don’t believe he’ll come back.” “Oh, what did you do?” we cried. “Well, I went first to Kitty s father, | to tell him she had been foolish but not j wicked, and he quite agreed with me that, I if you three girls value your good name, | the story must never be talked about. The young man was still lingering in the post-oflice, no doubt watching to hear his letter called for, and I invited him to get into the carriage, and drive home with me.” “Oh!” we cried, still in fear and hor ror: but mamma smiled. '“He was very embarrassed, but I suc ceeded in persuading him to make me a call. We had some cake and lemonade, and after a long talk, chiefly on my side, he agreed with me that he was never.to trouble you again.” “But how did yon persuade him?’* asked Bee. “1 1e! t it to his honor as agentleman,” said mamma, sweetly; and looking into her sincere and lovely face, I realized that it must be indeed a hard heart which cculd withstand her. “Hun home and confess, Kitty,” she added. “Your father is all ready to forgive you.” Next day came our letters, addressed, without a word, to Bella Dunn. Evi dently he intended to make us as com fortable as possible by assuming that he didn’t know our real names. When they lyid burned to ashes in the kitchen-stove, Bee, followed by her double, marched resolutely to her mamma’s room, and spoke. “Mamma,” said she, “we’re not going to talk much about it, because we’re too ashamed, but if we can show you how much we love you”—and we put our four arms around her, and inaugurated that moment the system which made papa say the other day, peering at us quizzically: % “Dear me 1 I never saw such a doting pair as you have grown to be. Why, you’re as much in.love with mamma as I atn ” “They’ve begun to show some proper feeling,"put in great aunt, with dignity. “No wonder they’re grateful to her foi changing them from hoydens into young ladies,”— Youth's Companion. The “Bogs of YY'ar.’’ M. Luce, a member of the French Academic des Inscriptions, read, at the last meeting of that body, a very curious royal decree, dated January 28, 1475, in which King Louis XI. gives some orders about a number of dogs which he wished to be provided for keeping watch over the Abbey of Mont St. Michel. M. Luce, premising that the question is one of special interest juat now, when are being made to utilize dogs for military purposes, re calls the fact that the early French kings placed almost-unlimited confi dence in the patronage of St. Michael, and endowed the a.ibey dedicated to him with a great many valuable lands and privileges. He says that King Louis XI. made two pilgrimages to the Mont St. Michel, the first in 14G2 and the second in 1478, and that during his second visit he allowed himself to be persuaded- by the commander of the fortress that it would be very de sirable to provide a number of watch dogs. The King issued an edict that a sum of twenty-four livres tournois should be paid out of the revenues of*the district of Avranchcs for the keep of “these dogs, which are to be chained up and kept under control by day, and set loose by night about the said fort ress, to protect and keep watch over it.” M. Luce adds that “the keeping watch over tho Mont St. Michel presented many difficulties, and there can be no doubt that if its defenders were able to pre vent any surprise on the part of the English for twenty-seven years, this was in a great measure due to the sharp look-out .kept by .these dogs.” He is also of opinion that the breed of dogs used for keeping watch over the Abbey St. Michel is one which may still be found in the neighboring district be tween Avranchcs and St. Malo. —London Times. His Moustache Was His Fortune. During the recent visit of the Vrince of YYales to Hungary he was much struck with the magnificent moustaches worn by the coachmen of that country. One man in particular roused the admiration of his royal highness by the fierceness and grace of his hirsute adornments. The Prince engaged him. On reaching Marlborough House the jehu saw that the coachmen, footmen and, in fact, all the servants wore faces devoid of hair. He at once sought a barber and had his face shaved clean. When the Prince saw him again he was horrified. “I engaged you for your moustache and for nothing else,” said his highness. That evening the Hungarian set out for his native land.- Oraph 'e. The Loan of Three Panthers. Herr Hagenbeck, of Hamburg, the leading German wild beast dealer, lately received a letter from Rosa Bonheur, the great animal painter, inquiring if she could come to his menagerie and select a couple of panthers which she was anxious to paint from life. In reply the wild beast dealer was gallant enough to say that there was no need of Mme. Bonheur exposing herself to a fatiguing journey, but that he would instead send her, in charge of a keeper, well packed and secured, three fine panthers which she could keep us long as she pleased and return by the keeper when she had quite done with them. Rosa Bonheur is painting those panthers now. I THE TOOTHSOME OYSTER. SOME CURIOtTS LORE ABOUT ITS CULTIVATION. Decrease in the Yield of Natural Beds Overcome hy Artificial Pro duction Oysters as Food. A reporter of the New Y r ork Press re cently perused the last annual report of Mr. Eugene G. Blackford of the oyster investigation of the Empire State, and gleaned some curious facts therefrom. One of the subjects investigated was the cause of the decrease in the supply of oysters. There are two ‘reasons at tributed therefor: first, the depiction of the natural growth oyster beds from overfishing, and second, the lack of a thorough and scientific culture ol planted beds. Some interesting data are tabu lated as regards the first cause contrib uted from European oyster beds. For example, from the beds of the districts of Rochefort, Marreuncs, and the island of Oleron on the west coast of France there were taken in the years 1858-54 1W,000,000 oysters and in 1854-5 15,- 000,000. By means of long continued and exhaustive fishing they were rendered so poor that in 18(58-4 only 400,000 oys sters were furnished for the market. The very celeb a ted rich oyster beds of the Bay of Cancale, o:i the coast of Nor mandy. produced in 1847. according to the official reports, 71,000,000, which gradually decreased until in 185!) only 0,009,000 were produced, and in 1860 only 1,000,000. English oyster beds re veal the same astonishing decrease in the supply. Prior to 1806, iOO men, work ing 800 boats, were profitably employed in oyster fishing in the neighborhood of Falmouth, but since then the beds have become so impoverished that in 1876 only about forty men, with less than forty boats, could End employment, and even with this greatly diminished num ber of boats no single boat took daily more than sixty to 100 oysters, while previously in the same time a boat could take from 10,000 to 12,0 0. The French were foremost in experi ments upon the production of oysters artificially, and their expectations were based upon theoritical calculations of what could be done, knowing that a good size spawner is capable of produc ing 50,000,000 young. These experi ments under the auspices of the French Government, revolutioni ed the system of oyster culture and brought about re sults that increased the supply many fold.- In the basin of the Arcaehon the increase in ten years by means of arti ficial production was astoundm. In 1871 the number of oysters imported was 4,897,500, valued at 218,882 francs, and in iB6O the number amounted to and the value to 4,254,465 francs, an increase of 1187 per cent, in ten years of the value of the oysters. Ttie French method consists substan tially in suspending tiles in the watei during the spawning season. They found that the young oysters ciung very closely to these tiles; so they take the trouble to coat each with plaster and after the young oysters have set upon it, take them up, separate the plaster from them with knives and use the tiles again the next spawning season. The plaster holding the set is then planted and the young oysters cultivated. The American system, as in use in Long Island Sound, is upon the same principle, only we are more fortunate, inasmuch as we do not have to resort to so troublesome and expensive a method of collecting the spat. Our refuse oyster shells, deckers, cinders, etc., serve as collectors and produce splendid results. In fact, our favorable conditions on this side have caused a deal of comment from foreign authors, and our yield appears to them to be something remarkable. Very little is popularly known with reference to the value of oysters as food. Speaking roughly, a quart of oysters contains on the average about the same quantity of actual nutritive substance as a quart of milk or a pound of very lean beef, or a pound and a half of fresh cod fish, or two thirds of a pound of bread. But while the weight of actual nutri ment in the different quantities of food materials named is very nearly the same,! the quality is widely different. That of very lean meat or codfish consists mostly of what are called in chemical language protein compounds, or flesh formers, the substances which make blood, muscle, tendon, bone, brain and other nitrogen ous tissues. That of the bread contains but little of those and consists chiefly of starch, with a little fat and other com pounds which serve the body as fuel and supply it with heat and muscular power. The nutritive substance of oysters contains considerable of both the “flesh forming” and more especially the heat and force giving ingredients. Oysters come nearer to milk than almost any other common food material as re gards both the amounts and the relative proportions of nutrients and the food values of equal weights o' milk and oysters; that is to say, their values for supplying the body with material to build up its parts, repair its wastes and furnish it with heat and energy would be pretty nearly the same. j It is a common practice of oyster dealers instead of selling the ojsters in the condition in which they are taken from the beds in salt water, to first place them for a time, forty-eight hours, more or less, in fresh or brackish water, in order, as the oystermen say. to “fat ten” them, the operation being called “floating” or “laying out.” By tliis process the body of the oyster acquires such a plumpness and rotundity and its bulk and weight are so increased as to materially increase its selling value. The most experienced oyster dealers say that the time for allowing the salt oysters taken from the sea coast to lie out varies, but s seldom over two or three days. At the end of this time the maxi mum plumpness is attained, and beyond this the oyster becomes lean agarn, be sides having lost in flavor. The Kicker and the Croaker. The New Orleans Picayune attempts to | draw a fine line between the kicker and croaker as follows: The kicker is a de | veloper; the croaker is an incubus. Th( | kicker incites to improvement; ths | croaker to indignation and resentment. I The kicker only is heard when he is given ?! accommodations at $8 rates; | the croaker would be just at noisy if hi was getting $8 accommodations and paying nothing. The kicker is a lively, jovial, progressive fellow; the croaker it a dismal nuisance, who lags superfluous I on the stage. SELECT SIFTINGS. I A contract made with a lunatic U roid. The entire Hebrew Bible was printed in 1488. A steal rail with average wear lasts about eighteen years. The average school life of the woman teacher in the West is about two years. No article less than 1000 years old is admitted to Japanese bric-a-brac shows. Lord Bacon graduated at Cambridge when sixteen, and was called to the bar at, twenty-one. Blankets are said to have been woven by Thomas Blanket, of Bristol, England, as early a 3 1840. Gladstone wa3 in Parliament at twenty-two, and at. twenty-four was Lord of the Treasury. A horned snake eighteen inches long, with a horn one and a quarter inches, was killed at Roekwood, Tenu. Devizes Castle,one of the most unique in England, representing an outlay of nearly ssoo,ooo,has been sold for SBOO9. At a country exhibition a small house made entirely of boxes of honey has the appropriate inscription of “Horn ', sweet home.” A general inundation by the failure of the dikes in Holland occasioned a loss of life, it is said,amounting to 400,000 per sons in 1580. A hawk carried off a bundle contain ing thirty-two pounds of leathers from the yard of a parson at Cartersville, Ga., the other day. The nobility of England date their creation from 1066, when William Fitz- Osborne is said to have been made Eari of Hereford by William I. > it has been discovered and authorita tively announced that the first man to turn the handle of an organ was a na tive of the province of Tende. The water that goes to the ocean will float back in clouds and fall in drops; but the substance carried from the man ure heap by the water will not come back. A dweller in the county has observed that a good file is now a part of the outfit of the professional tram|i. He finds it useful when there is a barbed wire fence between him and something desirable. A curiosity of patchwork recently re ceived in Richmond Ya , from Norfolk, is a mantel lambrequin made of sixty six badges collected at the Gettysburg reunion last July. The Rev. John Carroll, of St. Mary’s Church, Chicago, is ninety-one years old, and is believed to be the oldest priest in the country. He is of Irish parentage and wa3 ordained in 1820. It is a natural impossibility that two varieties of potatoes planted together can mix in the hill. Each kind will always remain true to its own character, unie-s changed by what is known as sporting. The quickest passage ever made from land to land across the Atlantic was made by the Allan steamer Parisian. From Tory Island, off Moville, to Belle Isle took four days seventeen hours and ten minutes. A Texas man was fired at and the bullet was turned aside by a pack of cards in his breast pocket. As it was a new pack, with the ace outward, it can be said that the ball came within an ace of killing him. In digging a well near Cherokee, Ga., the digger dropped on something about thirty feet below the surface that is white as chalk, free from grit and about the consistency of dough. It is thought to be a chewing gum vein. Sunflowers are used in Wyoming Ter ritory for fuel. The stalks when dry are hard and make a hot fire, and the seed heads with the seed in are said to burn better than coal. An acre of sunflowers is said to furnish fuel for one stove for a winter. A curious bird that looks like an owl, but has the face of a monkey, was caught near Richmond, Va., a few days ago. Scientists have examined it, but no one | appears to know to what species it be longs. It will probably be sent to the Smithsonian Institute at Washington. Prairie-chickeus, like other natives of the wilds, are opposed to civilization, and are being pushed ba k toward the frontier with the advance of the immi grant. During the last ten years they have been moving west so that they are ao longer seen in Illinois, lowa and Minnesota, and now flock in Western Nebraska or Dakota. Whistles Supplant the Engine Bells. The South Carolina Railway Company is gradually dispensing with bell and cord on its passenger engines and coaches, which custom has heretofore been so long in existence. Instead of the bell in the cab of the engine, connected with the p issenger coaches, serving as a means lor signaling the engineer by the conductor, a whistle is placed in the cab directly in front of the engineer’s seat, and this is operated on the same system that the air brakes are controlled. Thu whistle is con nected with the air reservoir, and when the conductor desires to signal the en gineer he simply presses a button, which is connected by the air-pipes with the whistle, and the signal is instantly given. The button and the whistle are very sensitive, so to speak, and the slightest touch of the button will dis charge the air into the whistle, instantly giving the desired signal. Major P. J. Cochran, the superintend ent of the South Carolina Kailway shops, kindly exhibited to a reporter for the News the system now being used by the “Old Reliable,” and also stated that four engines on this railway had been sup plied witli the new system, fast as possible all the passenger engines of the South Carolina Railway will be supplied with the system, and it is likely that the various railroad companies in the State will follow suit and adopt this plan of signals. The system is made by the We-tinghouse Air Brake Company of Pittsburg, Penn. Major Cochran is al ways on the outlook for some new con trivance for the rolling stock of the South Carolina Railway, and he is to be congratulated on the introduction of this new and useful system on h s road.— Charleston (S. C.) News. A lady ot Wrightsville, Ga., put up a lot of preserves and seasoned them w ith what she supposed to be ginger. What was her horror to find afterward that in stead of ginger she had used sni’ f. HOUSEHOLD AFFAIRS. Home Manufacture of ..Toilet Soap. Lather together all the pieces of white soap that you may have, castile, ivorv and any other that are known to be good Cut them into small pieces and dissolve in boiling water in the proportion of a teacup of water to half a cup 0 f scraps. As soon as the scraps have melted, and while the water is still hot stir in ground oatmeal to make a stiff batter. Grease some old cups and pou enough of this mixture in each for a small cake, and set it aside to harden and dry. . You have now a very nice soap that is excellent for daily use in the nursery ; or the mixture may be made just a little thinner and kept in a tin cun to be brought out as soft, white soap at tiie children’s baths. For the jovs and girls’ tri-daily hand-scrubbing, stir the batter very stiff with oatmeal bran or wheat middlings, and mold into flat cakes. These have a roughness that i« necessary to remove ink stains, pitch and the many defiling substances with which every healthy boy and girl seem-’ to come in contact. For fancy hand soap, melt alltogetliei the pieces of any colored toilet soaps provided, of course, that they are good] and do not contain injurious materials: stir in a few drops of perfumery and a very little Indian meal. Pour this into shallow dishes Gaaoy shaped it you wish), and when partly cold stamp on a pattern and mold the corners of the cake round, or cut into shapes with a cake-cutter. ’ Ihe scraps of yellow soap may be put into the soap-shaker—a wne receptacle for holding soap that is to be shaken in the dishwater, but for those who have no such implement, this is the waj ot disposing of them: Dissolve the pieces as before, using hot water, and when the mixture has partly cooled stir in a quan tity ias much as it will take nicely) of scouring sand*>r bath brick scraped fine; pour into a wooden box and stir often until cold. This is excellent for scour ing tins and cleaning unpainted shelves and floors, but will, of course, remove the paint from woodwork. Ye low soap may, like the white, be simple dissolved and left to stiffen a little to be used as soft soap. Hints About Quilta. In these days of art decoration and superior needlework, patchwork is looked upon with horror by a great many peefyle, but not so by all, for at all vil lage industrial exhibition, fancy bazaars and charity sales this branch of handi work is always- well displayed in many forms and varieties. It is a source of deep pleasure to many a sick person or crippled child, and though the J adv Bountiful may try to raise the standard she cannot eradicate the much-ad mi red, highly-prized patchwork. Since crazy patchwork came to us, in all its wild vagaries, from America, many have been the imitations of it, and some have been most ingenious. At a recent village show of work, a child's eot quilt was sent in for exhibition, composed of crazy patch work on one side, with every single ornamented with some device in colored silks, while the other side was of scraps of velvet of every imaginable color, arranged in the diamond star design. It was a wonderful specimen , of industry and perses erauce—Jhe work of a young milliner in her spare time. Another bed cover-lid, recently seen in the room of a young girl, was in crazy patchwork, but th t colors were restricted to gold, white and cream. All were worked with gold filoselle and joined together with a leather stitching of the same. The peculiarity consisted in the pieces being all worked by herself and her friends in half a yard square sec tions. Several friends worked one sec tion,inscribing their names on one scrap, their favorite flower or some device on others, adhering all the time to the gold filoselle. Every section was neatly joined, and when the quilt was complete a band of gold-colored plush, about a quarter of a yard wide, bordered it all round. The lining was of gold-colored sateen. 'I he e lect was extremely good and the study of it most amusing. This may be a hint to some patchwork. A ery many years ago it was ihe custom for a set of friends to work, in fine cioss stiteh, squares of canvas, which were afterward joined to form the border of a cloak or velvet tablecloth, owned by one of the number; and a bride used some times to get her friends to do this as a ■ memento of the years of past friendship. I Many old ladies have, doubtless, some I relic of their youth in this style, so that ■ tLe idea is not a novel one, it is but—as ■ so many things are now—a revival-' ■ London Queen. I Household Hints.' * To remove white spots from furniture, rub with spirits of camphor. Clean oil cloths with milk and water: a soap and brush will ruin them. Tumblers that have had milk in them should never be put into hot water. Nice housekeepers dust with a damp-, ened dust cloth, aud rinse it out after each dusting. Don’t allow your stairs or hallways to be blocked up or used for “storage,” oi rubbish, hay,'straw, etc., to accumulate or remain op your premises. Sunlight is one of the best disinfec tants. ' '£he microbes that cause disease, do not flourish in strong sunshine, u also has the advantage of being cheap. Mix a little carbonate of soda with the water in which flowers are immersed, and it will preserve them for a fort night. Common saltpetre is also a very good preservative. Don’t allow- any oily waste or rage to be thrown on the floor, but only to s metal can with cover, aud have them taken out of the building every night; they are self-igniting. When putting away the silver tea ot colj'ee pot which is not used every (lay lay a little stick across the top under the cover. This will allow the fresh air to get in, and prevent mustiness. Don’t allow stoves or heaters on youi premises which are not securely set oi stone, cemented brick, or metal, and M sure that all woodwork near the stoy«j or pipes is carefully protected wit% metal. Professor A. J. Cook, of Michigan, is reported as using only large, fine mar to do farm work. He finds that h 1", (rradc Pcrcherons are fine walkers, an , To break them it is only necessary hitch them in at three years of age am- ■ go to working them. The fall colts ■ valuable and tun i>e raised at a protit. ■