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A WINTER GARDEN.
All through the winter on her window-sill
I see a little garden smile and bloom,
As though a waif of summer in the room
Fin is refuge there safe front the bitter chill;
The sunbeams love to linger there and fill
The blos-om-urns with delicate perfume;
There, for a space, the sun forgets tho
gloom
Of barren field and snow-enshrouded hill.
And sh“ who tends it has a gracious mien,
Her hair is white as is the moonlit snow, —
A feeble woman, like the year, grown
old.
Ah, this is "Winter, in whose heart the green
Of springtime and the blossom's ruddy glow
Bleep warmly! Age wherein youth grows
not cold!
— F. D. Sherman, in American Majazine.
CHANCE OBSERVATION,
TV CTTABLES A. TLACF.
One clay, while studying sun
with my telescope, which was a fine and
powerful instrument, it occurred tome
to lit my terrestrial eye piece to the tube
and amuse myself looking around the
country.
I had frequently tested the power of
my glass by reading the time on a church
clociv in a neigh Soring town, and count
ing l ghtning rods on distant buildings
and in various other ways, and I never
tired of making fresh tests.
( nth s day I hid been through my
routine, and, while sweeping the glass
slowly around for fresh oojects of inter
est, I saw, through a vista in a distant
piece of woods, two men carrying a
■Small, but seemingly heavy trunk.
1 knew the woods perfectly, having
become familiar with every square yard
of it in my gunning expeditions.
The sight of two men carring a trunk
in the woods was singular enough to ex
cite my curiosity. 1 speculated on their
pioba' le errand, and, remembering that
there was a railroad station not far from
there, 1 decided that they were on their
way to intercept a train.
As I watched, the two men, putting
the trunk down and using it for a seat,
began an animated conve-sation, which,
I judged, was an argument. My opinion
was based on the r gestures and facial
expressions, which I could see plainly.
One of the men was much taller than
the other, much better dressed, and hid
much finer features. The other, who vas
of low stature, but very powerful look
ing, owing to a great breadth of shoul
■tiers and depth of chest, was dressed like
a laborer.
I could see these men so plainly that it
seemed strange that I could not hear
their voices; and I felt so much like an
eavesdropper, that when they started
simultaneously and looked in my direc
tion, I instinctively shrank back to avoid
observation.
They must have heard some noise
which startled them, lor they rose quick
ly, and stood in attitudes which be
tokened expectancy. They stood thus,
alert, watchful and apparently listening,
for a few instants, and then resumed
their seats, as if what had disturbed
them was no longer an object of anxiety.
The tall man soon io=e, in a decisive
sort of way, and the other, rather re
luctantly, as I thought, walked away.
I concluded that the tall man had sent
him back for some forgotten piece of
baggage. It seemed natural that the re
lations of the two men should be those
of master and servant; but I could not
understand the equality indicated by the
mutual labor of carrying the trunk, or
the apparently familiar air of discussion.
No; I was mistaken in my surmise;
the servant, if he were such, had not
gone more than a few steps; for here lie
was again, bearing a pickaxe and spade.
The tall man, in the meantime, had
been walking about as if selecting a spot
to bury the trunk, for he pointed to a
large hollow beside a granite boulder,
wheie the servant began digging, after
having cleared away the leaves which
had gathered there.
While the servant was digging, the
master sat on the boulder, wat hiug him
at work, and smoking a cigar which I
saw him take fiom a pocket cigarette
.case and light.
When the hole was ready, the two men
lifted the trunk into it, and the short one
covered it with the earth he had thrown
out. and then carefully covered the place
with leaves.
The spot selected was a good one for
ihe purpose, as the hollow merely looked
.a little shallower than before.
After the short man had carefully con
cealed the tools beneath a pro ect ng
part of the rock, and tilled the crevice
with leaves, the two held a short conver
sation and separated, goiDg in different
directions—the tall man toward the rail
road station, and the other in the direc
tion from whi h they had come with the
trunk Just as the men disappeared, I
heard steps coming up the observatory
stairs.
I drew a long breath (as one does after
having finished a chapter in an interest
ing book), and, turning from my glass,
saw a servant bringing me a telegram. It
Lore the announcement of a near re
lative’s death: and it drove fiom my
mind all thought of the occurrence which
had just engrossed my attention so
thoroughly.
As soon as I could get a train, I was
on my way to a distant city, ■where I had
to represent my family at the funeral of
my late relsUve.
Circumstances connected with busi
ness pertaining to my relative’s estate
detained me somewhat more than a
month.
Jroon after my return home, I heard of
a robbery which had been committed in
the neighboring town of , a month
or mot e before, .dr. Hammond, a wealthy
gentleman, who owned a tine place on
the bank of the river, had been
robbed of several thousand dollars’ worth
of jewelry, silverware and other things,
among which was a very fine collection
of precious stones, both cut and uncut.
No trace of the stolen articles had been
found: nor had any clew to the identity
of the burglars been discovered.
Finding, by comparing dates, that the
robbery was committed the night before
I left lit me. 1 jumped at a conclusion:
The men in the woods, whom I had seen
making the strange burial of a trunk,
were the jobbers,and were burying their
plunder on the day following the rob
bery.
Thinking it a duty to inform Mr. Ham
mond of what I had seen. I drove over
to the npxt day, and called at his
licuse; although personally we were un
known to each other. I was ushered into
the parlor by the servant, who took my
card to his master, and I waited some
time for his appearance. While think
ing over what I should say by way of in
troduction to the story I had come to tell,
I was startled by seeing before me,in the
doorway, one of the very men I had seen
bury the trunk! It was the tall, well
dressed one.
Before I had recovered from the shock
of surprise caused by the sight of him, j
he advanced with the ease of a well-bred
host and welcomsd me, calling me by
name, and putting the matter beyond a
doubt that this was Mr. Hammond him- i
self.
“I am very sorry to have kept you wait
ing so long Mr. Brainard,” said he, seat
ing himself near me, “but I have been
busy with some men who have been out
hunting for my missing gardener, who
disappeared so mysteriously the day I e
fore yesteiday. You may have heard
about it.'”
There was no doubt that this was Mr. 1
Hammond, the owner of the house; but
what should I say to him? Tell him
that I had seen him in the woods that
day helping to . bury the treasure of
which he had been robbed? No; that
was too absurd.”
Not being able now to speak of the
motive for my call, I decided to answer
his last words, and trust to the drift of
the conversation to help me. So I an
swered rather awkwardly
“No, I had not heard ot your gar
dener’s disappearance; but I heard last
night for the first time of the robbery
that occurred here about a mouth ago.”
“Yes; that was as mysterious and in
explicable as the disappearance of the
gardener: but the latter occurrence has
so engrossed my attention for the past
two days, as to put the former almost
out of my mind.”
“What sort of a looking man was your
gardener?” I asked, not knowing what
to say, but wishing to say something.
“A rather striking-lookiDg man on
account of his powerful physique. He
was not a tall man, being a trifie under
the average height, in fact; but from his
hips up, he was one of the strongest
looking men I ever saw. Here, 1 can
6tiow you, much better than 1 can de
scribe, how he looks.”
Rising, Mr. Hammond walked to the
corner of the room, and returned with a
photograph of his house. The gardener
had been taken in the view, and there
he stood—the very man whom I saw in
the woods, burying the trunk. I could
not mistake that figure and face. A
small head surmounted the shoulders.
The face was plainly distinguishable in
the picture and I could, without diffi
culty, identify it as tho one 1 had seen
through my telescope.
Mr. Hammond probably noticed my
critical examination of the picture, for
he broke the silence which lasted during
my long scrutiny, by asking:
“Bid you ever happen to see him, Mr,
Brainard?"
“Yes,” said T, “and under circum
stances so peculiar that to tell you about
it was the sole object of this call.”
“Indeed!”
“I did not know until now,” I con
tinued, “that he was your gardener, or
that he had disappeared; but the day
after the robbery at your house I saw
this man,” tapping the photograph with
my finger as I spoke, “with another
man, m apiece of woods not far from
here, (arring a trunk containing some
thing heavy, and I saw this man dig a
hole and bury the trunk.”
“Another man do you say? Whati
sort of a looking man?” asked Mr.
mond, quickly.
“By no means so striking in his indi
viduality.” I replied. “He was taller
than the gardener, I should say—”
“And his face; did you see that?
Could you recognize him?”
“No,” said I, answering the last ques
tion only, “I saw the whole affair with
my telescope, from my observatory in
by the merest chance, I was looking
round the country with my terrestial eye
piece, when I happened upon this scene
in the woods.”
It may have been my imagination
which made me think Sir. Hammond
breathed more easily.
“What you have told me does much
to clear up the mystery both of the rob
bery and the disappearance of the gar
dener. Strange, that we should not have
thought of the relations these two events
might bear to each other! But we had
never suspected John in the slightest
degree. To be sure, we have had him
only a few mouths; but he has been
sober, industrious and apparently trust-
worthy in every way. We were much
puzzled by the fact that the entry was
made without violence. After what you
have toldC'ie, it is very easy to see it
all.”
I did not know what to think of Mr.
Hammond’s coolness in the matter. Was
it all feigned; or was I dreaming that
day? I began to doubt that I had seen
the gardener, even; yet here was his
likeness in my hand and here was the
other man I had seen, sitting before me.
Perhaps there might be some reason why
Mr. Hammond wished these ewels to
disappear, and perhaps, after having
used his gardener to secrete them, he
had quietly sent him away, knowing
where to find him when he wished.
‘•By the way, Mr. Brainard, do you
think you could go to that spot in the
woods?”
“Yes. indeed; I am familiar with every
square foot of that ground, and have
been many times at that very place. If
you like, I will show you just where it
is.”
“The very thing I was about to re
quest. If not too great a tax on your
time and kindness. I would like to have
you go with me, and show me where the
rogues buried my jewels. Ah 1 Mr.
Brainard, you do not know how much I
feel the loss of those. No one but a col
lector can appreciate that part of it.”
His eye fairly sparkled with enthusi
asm as he spoke of his collection, and
tried to make me understand that the
beauty and rarity which his specimens
possessed were seldom equaled even in
public collections.
“Of course,” said he, “there will be
no chance of recovering anything; but
you know we might find some clew at
the spot where the things were buried,
which would lead to the>apprehension of
the robbers. Can we drive there?”
“No; the shortest and best way, as it
seems to me, is to take a boat and drop
do - , n the river to the nearest point and
vra k from there.”
We did so imme liately, and when we
i,rri\ed at the place where I intended to
! lea the Mr. Hammond ex
claimed :
“Why, this is the very spot where
the boat was found, when we were search
ing for the gardener! It was the finding
of the boat which led to the theory that
John had come down here to bathe, ha 1
been taken with cramps and drowned. I
have not favored that theory atall. John
was not the sort of man to be drowned
while swimming.”
I was almost persuaded by the man’s
manner and his evident willingness to
go to tho that he wtts innocent of
deceit
“I am afraid this means that you will
neverseeyour collection again. Mr. Ham
mond,” 1 said. “The disappearance of
the gardener, and the finding the boat
here, are proof enough, to my mind,
that he came here and dug up the
treasure and went off with it.”
“Of course, of course; I don’t expect
to find anything here; but we may find
a clew.”
When we arrived at the opening in
the woods and saw the bowlder on
which I had seen Mr. Hammond sitting
that day, the scene of a month ago came
back so vividly that again I felt sure
that this was the man whom I saw. I
could not understand his self possession.
Was he doing all this for a blind.
He looked with much interest when I
pointed out to him the top of my ob
servatory, just peeping out over the
trees, in the distance, and said:
“How fortunate that you were study
ing sun spots that day, Mr. Brain aril;
but for that, it would have all been a
mystery still.”
Then turning to the rock, he Con
tinued :
“Is this Vtie place?”
“Ye 3,” said I, somewhat surprised
that he should have asked; for 1 was
very sure that I had not told where the
trunk was buried.
Trying uot to show that I was sur
prised, 1 said;
“Let us look this place over carefully,
before disturbing any of the leaves or
earth.”
We did so, and found nothing.
“Now, we will see if the trunk has
been dug up. I think if it had been,the
place would not have been so carefully
re-covered.”
I then looked for the tools under the
rock,and found them without difficulty.
I went to work immediately, and began
to scratch away the leave*, prt paratory
to digging, when 1 saw something glitter
among the leaves.
“Ha! A clew.” I exclaimed, stooping
to pick it up.
It was an old-fashioned watch key—
a large, oval piece of chalcedony, set in
gold. Holding it up for Mr. Hammond
to see, I said:
“This rtiay lead to the discovery of
the robbers, and possibly to the recovery
of your property.
He was silent.
Looking up from the key in my hand
I saw that he was deathly pale, and
trembling violently.
“Bo,” I thought, “at last, your self
possession deserts you.”
Feeling sure that the key belonged to
him, and that he had dropped it there,
I said:
not belong to the gar
dener,
"So," he answered, altnost, a
whisper; “that belonged to my father,
and to my grandfather before h m.”
“Oh! Then it was among the stolen
jewelry? Jtoc rogues dropped it, when
*liey buiioßer dug up the trunk.”
At “No; it was not among the stolen
things,” Mr. Hammond replied, in a
measured sort of way. There was some
thing about the tone of his voice, which
had a sadness in it, I thought.
Not liking to watch his discomfort, I
began digging energetically. 1 had not
dug far, when the spade struck some
thing soft and yielding, yet with resist
ance enough to stop the spade. I struck
it again; and this time 1 uncovered
what appeared to be cloth. Yes, it was
cloth; and the next stroke showed it to
be the sleeve of a man's eout, with a
ghastly hand protruding from it.
I jumped back with a cry of horror.
At the same instant a similar exclama
tion escaped Mr. Hammond’s lips.
“This is work for the coroner,” said
I.
“And the hangman,” added Mr. Ham
mond, in a whisper.
My first thought was of the missing
gardener; and I believed I was in the
presence of the murderer as well as the
murdered. (_ ould it be possible? If so.
why had he come here and let the dis
covery be made? Moreover, what mo
tive could have induced him to kill the
gardener ? These thoughts flashed
through my mind, rapidly.
Second thought caused me to look
more clo-ely at the dead hand. Perhaps
this was not the gardener after ali.
No, it was not; most certainlvq this
hand never did any work; the fineness
of the skin and the appearance of the
nails plainly showed that the hand was
not that of a working man.
Without further thought of coroners,
I began to dig again, though very care
fully new, and finally using my hands.
Very soou I uncovered the unfortunate
man’s face.
Creat heavens! was I awake, or dream
ing some horrible dream?
Here, lying partly buried in the earth,
were the face and form of Mr. Ham
mond. Here was Mr. Hammond dead
and buried. Here was Mr. Hammond,
standing looking into his own grave,
and trembling like an aspen.
With an effort I convinced myself
that I was awake and not dreaming.
This wonderful likeness accounted for
my cruel misjudgment of Mr. Ham
mond.
Yes; I could see that this man was
older looking than Mr. Ilammond, now
that I examined his face. Death had
changed it somewhat, but I could swear
to the identity of this man, and tho man
who sat smoking a cigar on the rock.
“Who is he;” I asked, feeling sure Mr.
Hammond could answer me.
“My brother.”
“Killed by the gardener?” I said.
“Yes; I fear so, and all for those
miserable jewels. I must tell you a very
sad story. Mr. Brainard, in order to ex
plain this to you. My poor brother,
here, was even more fond of jewels than
I, and had a remarkable collection of his
own, although mine excelled his in many
particulars. Our mother, who, —yes, I
must tell you—died insane, had the same
passion for jewels, and I think trans
mitted it to us. I have no doubt that
my brother, in his mania to add my
specimens to his own, bribed my man—
whom he may have sent here months
ago, for this purpose—to assist him. I
feel sure that John killed him to get the
jewels, as well as the bribe.”
Mr. Hammond's unfortunate brother
was buried in the family lot, after a
coroner’s inquest, which found that he
j came to his death by the means of some
blunt instrument, in the hands of some
one unknown to the jury.
No one. save Mr. Hammond and my
self, ever knew the motive of the mur
derer.
Nothing was ever heard of the gardener
or the ewels.
Detectives, privately employed by Mr.
Hammond, reported that a man answer
ing to his description sailed for Eng
land, in an English barque which never
arrived. Probably she foundered at sea,
carring down with her the gardener and
Mr. Hammond’s jewels.— Yankee Blade.
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.
The only color that can be determined
by the sense of touch is blue.
Persons who have had smallpox are
peculiarly liable to tuberculosis.
During the last year the output of the
Walter A. Wood works, at lloosack
Falls, N. Y., was 55,0U0 complete har
vesting machines.
A single shad produces 10,000 eggs,
and only about 50u0 are hatched natur
ally. By the artificial method 0800 are
successfully hatched.
A single attack of yeilow fever, how
ever mild, mostly protects from future
attacks. There is reason to hope that
such protection might be gained by in
oculation.
Two hundred dollars per month is the
amount of royalty said to be received by
the inventor of the cement-like substance
with which manufacturers of corncob
pipes fill the interstices of the cobs.
White birch is the favored wood in the
manufacture of toothpicks, the wood be
ing delicately white as well as sweet tef
the taste,anti there is a constant demand
for the goods at a little less than $2 a
case of 150,000 picks.
The abutments of a bridge over a river
in Austria have settled twenty feet in
the river bed since 188(5. As the settle
ment progresses the masonry of the
bridge is built wp correspondingly so as
to maintain the same road level.
The heavy rain which generally ac
companies a thunderstorm has also the
effect of cleariug the air by dissolving
the noxious exhalations collected in it,
and by mixing the purer air of the upper
regions with that of the lower.
San Francisco tanneries now turn out
an annual product of over $1,000,000
value; there are twenty of them, using
4001) cords of wood in tanning vOO.OOO
hides. The value of trunks manufac
tured in that city is SBOO,OOO yearly,and
the value of the fourteen glove factories
per annum is $250,000.
Experiment in transplanting the beau
tiful Alpine flower, edelweiss, into the
other mountain ranges of Europe shows
that the tiower changes its character in
a new home. In the mountains of Bo
hemia it lias become a new species, bear
ing red blossoms instead of the beautiful
pure wnite blooms of wit/.erland.
Notwithstanding the immense growth
of the shoe business in the West, it is not
probable that eastern manufacturers will
suffer very much from competition.
Every year there has beeu a great in
crease in the number of cases sent out
by New York. Boston and Philadelphia
houses, and last year's business wa3 par
ticularly good.
Sulphate of copper is recommended
for keeping posts and timber from de
cay. Telegraph poles in Norway are
said to be preserved by boring inch-holes
about two feet from the ground, and fill
ing with the sulphate of cooper crystals,
afterward plugging the holes with wood.
T«he crystals generally dissolve and per
meate the wood, turning it a greenish
color.
A new Persian industry is the manu
facture of hoar frost glass, which is
covered with feathery patterns resemb
ling those naturally produced upon win
dow panes in cold weather. The glass
is first given a ground surface, either by
the sand-blast or the ordinary method,
and is then coated with soft varnish.
The varni-h contracts strongly in dry
ing, taking with it the particles of glass
to which it adheres, and this reproduces
very accurately the branching crystal of
frostwork A single coat gives a delicate
effect, and several coats yield a bold de
sign-
Why Prescriptions arc Mysterious.
“Why do you write prescriptions in
those hieroglyphics ” I asked a doctor.
“To save the patients a lot of worry.
If I were to write this in plain terms so
that you could read it, you’d be scared
to death. You don't know what it is
and you take it with a certain curiosity.
If you knew all about it you would per
haps throw it away or think it couldn’t
do you any good or something,”
“Or find out that I’m paying seventy
five cents for five cents worth of drugs.”
“Sometimes. But druggists have got
to keep these things; they cost a good
deal of money sometimes, and some of
the n don't keep long and have to be
thrown away. Some of them are very
rarely used, but they have to be kept in
stock. Besides if 1 wrote the prescrip
tion out in ordinary terms some people
would be afraid the drug store clerk
would know what’s the matter with
them, and they think the hieroglyphics
keep it secret. Y"es, there are many
reasons for not writing prescriptions
plain. — San Francisco Chronicle.
Bowie-Knives.
The “bowie-knife'’ was invented by
Rezim Bowie, who was bdrn in Tennes
see, but it was never intended by him to
be aught else but a hunting knife. Dur
ing a chase after wild cattle in the Atta
kapas, a cow, with which he was en
gaged in combat, caught his knife with
her horn, and, drawing it through his
hand, very nearly cut his thumb off. On
his return home he had made by his own
plantation blacksmith, a knife with a
piece placed across the hilt, so as to pre
vent a recurrence of the acident. His
friends saw and liked the knife, and he
had many made and presented to them.
It obtained its name from the fact that
James Bowie, a brother of the inventor,
very nearly met with a serious accident
on account of his gun failing to co off
during some hunting expedition. Rezim
then gave him his knife, remarking:
“Take old Bowie, Jim; she never
fire."
THE EMPRESS OF JAPAN.
APPEARANCE AND DAILY HABITS
OF THE EMPEROR S WIFE-
A Handsome Woman of Unusual
Intellectual Attainments How
She Occupies Her Time.
Frank G. Carpenter says in a Tokio
letter to the New York World that the
Empre-s of Japan is just about as old as
her husband (thirty-eight years). She is
a full head shorter than the average
American woman and has a slender
figure, very straight and very dignified.
Bhe appreciate) her position and walks
like an Empress. It is now more than
a year since she adopted foreign clothes,
and her jet-black hair is combed in for
eign style and a foreign waterfall sits
upon her shapely crown. Bhe has a fine
complexion, much lighter than the or
dinary Japanese, and she ha 3 that
drooping of the lower lip which
is a mark of Japanese beauty.
The only pictures that are now procur
able of her are those in her old court
dress, but these give a fair idea of her
features, and her face is decidedly
aristocratic. “She does not,” says the
Court Chamberlain, “paint her lower
lip nor blacken her teeth, as was the
former custom of Japanese wives, and
she wears now a stra ght bang of hair
across her forehead.” Her first European
costumes, so a society lady of Tokio
tells me, were ordered from Germany,
but the Germans d.d not feel competent
for the task and sent her measure to
Worth at Paris. The clothes were made
and shipped back to Berlin, and the
German dressmakers there exposed them
as their own and all of the capital of
Germany was called in to inspect the
clothes which the Empress of Japan was
about to wear. Such au action would
hardly be possible in the case of a
European queen, and I have heard it
condemned with much indignation here.
At present I am told that the Empress
buys her clothes, as far as possible, in
Japan. She is a thorough little Japanese
queen, and she is anxious to do every
thing to advance her own people.
“She is,” in the words of the Court
Chamberlain, “especially interested in
Japanese women, and she tries to pro
mote their advancement in every way.
She is very charitable, and she is espe
cially patron of the Red Cross Society
and of the Tokio Charity Hospital. She
often visits the hospital and her influ
ence is given for the good. At the late
eruption of Bandaisan she sent money
at ouce to relieve the sufferers from the
volcano, and she is especially interested
in the education of Japanese women.
There is a female school attended by the
girls of the nobles, which is known as
the Empress’s school. She watches very
closely over this, and one of the pict
ures upon its walls consists of some
poetry written by her. The Empress of
Japan is a fine Chinese scholar, and she
is one of the best poets in the Empire.
Many of her poems have been set to
music and have been used as national
songs, and quite a number of them have
been published in the Japanese news
papers.”
“Tell me something of the daily life
of the Empress,” said I.
“She has,” replied the Court Chamber
lain, “an establishment of her own, and
it is quite a large one. She has her
maids of honor, ner private secretaries
and the ladies of the court to deal with.
Her morning is occupied by the reading
and writing of lette.s. She attends to
the supervision of her various charities
through others chiefly, and in the after
noon she devotes herself to social duties.
She receives at this time the wives of
the Ministers and the Princesses who
may call upon her, and if they come at
the proper time these sometimes take
tea with her. She sometimes invites
these ladies to meetings to discuss mat
ters relating to the charity hospital, and
she has a Grand Marshal and a
Chamberlain. She is, you know, the
first Empress of the new order of
things, even as the Emperor is the
first Emperor. She wears but little
jewelry, though she has some diamond
rings and bracelets. She is a fine horse
back rider, and often takes a turn on one
ot the horses of the imperial stables. Sho
wears a European riding habit and sits
her horse well.”
The Emperor, the Empress and the
Crown Prince make up the royal family,
or at least the three most important mem
bers of it. Each of the-e three has, as I
said, an establishment of his own inside
of the palace grounds. The Crown
Prince is heir-apparent to the throne.
He is the son ot the Emperor by Mme.
Yanagiwara. and not by the Empress
Ilaruko. The Mikado of Japan has the
right to twelve wives in addition to the
Empress, and the children of these, in
case of the failure of issue by the Em
press, have the right to the throne.
They are all legitimate and noble, and it
is to these wives in times past that the
noblest of the court families of to day
date their origin, Very little is known
about them outside the royal pala e.
These wives do not appear at the Court
ceremonies, and I am told that each has
her little establishment inside of the
palace grounds. They are a part of the
constitution of the royal family, and in
the directory of Japan for this year
I find that the Emperor has had by
them nine children, though all with the
exception of three of these have died.
Children thus born have nothing to do
with their mothers, and the young
Prince was brought up apart. I asked
the Court Chamberlain about this de
partment of the palace. He would say
nothing, and said it was not proper for
him to discuss such a private wuifcoi of
the Emperor’s.
King of Forgers Now a Book Agfut.
One of Wall street’s most interesting
figures the other day was George Bid
well, whose forgeries for $5,000,000 and
upward on the Bank of England and
other English moneyed institutions gave
him the title of the “King of Forgers.”
Bidwell’s mission among the bankers and
bank officers now is as the advance agent
for his book, containing a confession
and history of the great London
Bidwell went among all the great firms
with a subscription paper and got the
signatures of some of the biggest bank
ing firms in the neighborhood. In the
majority of cases the firm’s signature is
the one that is attached to checks and
drafts, and the singular feature of thus
intrusting the ki ig of forgers with the
official signature of the firm was com
mented upon.
THE WAY OF THE WORLD.
There wro beautiful songs that we never sing
And names that arG never spoken,
There are treasures guarded with jealous care
And kept as a secret token,
There are faded flowers and letters dim
AVith the tears that have rained above them,
For the fickle words and faithless hearts
That taught us how to love them.
There are sighs that come in our joyous hours
To chasten our dreams of gladness,
And tears that spring to our aching eyes
In hours of thoughtful sadness.
For, the blithest birds that sing in spring
NVill flit the waning summer.
And lips that we k ssed in fondest love
AA’iil smile on the first new comer.
Over the breast where the lilies rest
Iu white hands still forever,
The roses of June will nod and blow,
Unheeding the hearts that sever,
And l ps that quiver in silent grief,
All words of hope refusing.
A\ T i!l lightly turn to the fleeting joy 3
That perish with the using.
Summer blossoms and winter snows,
Love and its sweet elysian,
Hope, like a siren dim and fair,
Quickening our fainting vision;
Drooping spirit and failing pulse,
Where untold memories hover,
Eyelids touched with the seal of death,
And the fitinl dream is over.
HUMOR OF THE DAY.
“Bound in calf”—Veal.
Caught on the lly—Trout.
Two physicians are a paradox.
The burning question—Smoke.
Fireside companion—The poker.
A loan fellow—The pawnbroker.
Uu popular preserves—Jim-jams.
A writ of attachment—A love letter.
(dd maids know what a mis-spent life
means.
The oldest and most inveterate smoker
in history is \ esuvius.
It is the astronomer who most fre
quently rises to observe.
When a man doubles his fists you can
hardly say he has four hands.
There is a resemblance between books
and real estate. Both have titles.
The man who lives from hand tc
mouth should not have far to go for his
dinner.
To make a Eussian name—imitate the
“tchug” of a bull frog, give one sneeze
and say “ski.”
Honor and respect the usy bee.
Once full, he makes straight for home.
—New York Newt.
A young New England baby was
named William after his father, w'lro was
bilious. —Harper's Bazar.
The manufacturers of perforated chair
seats have combiued. Their object can
be seen through, and will be sat upon.
A barking dog is the most courteous
of all animals. He makes liis bow to
every passer-by.— Bing/u.mton repub
lican.
.Money can slip through a pretty small
hole sometimes. A Brooklyn man lost a
considerable sum lately through a pew
rent.
All the street cars have a sign “no
smoking,” and yet any conductor will
help a womau to a light.— New York
World.
A good many of the cashiers who are
settling in Canada are those who have
neglected to do any settling over here.—
New York News.
Woman (to tramp)—“How’s the soup?”
Tramp—“’Tain’t quite strong enough,
ma’am. I wish you would wash a few
more dishes in it.”
Waiter—“ You want frogs, eh?”
Guest—“ Not zee whole animaile, I want
zee. vat you call him— zee drumsteeks.
—Philadelphia Record.
Brown—“ Did you dispose of that last
lyric you wrote?” Young Byrou—“O
yes, I got it off on the publishers for a
song.— " Yankee Blade.
Duluth people say that that city is
growing so rapidly that, sitting down in
.the suburbs, with the city against the
skyline, you can see it grow.
“It requires only two things to run a
successful campaign, ’ said the politi
cian. “And what are they?” asked a
bystander. “Dollars and sense.”
Tramp, picking up a five cent piece—
“A bloody nickel, hum! Wasn’t nothin’
but a Jonah all my life. Anybody else
but me ’a pick'd up that nickel and it ’a
been a quarter, sure.” (Sighs).
Shakespeare was slightly mixed in his
“seven ages.” It is the “whining
school boy” whom the maternal eye has
detected in some flagrant act of dis
obedience that “shifts into the slippered l
pantaloon.”
Leader of the Boggsville male quintet
to editor of the Boggsville lJerald—
“What can we do to interest the public
in our organization?” Editor (withoui
looking up)-—“Disband.” BurlingM
Free Press.
A baby girl in Missouri has been named
Rainbow. Sixteen years hence, when
she is caught in a summer shower, she
should feel very much at home, although
she would then be a little rain deer.—
Norristown Herald.
They say the German Emperor
Is spoiling to pitch in;
He sharpens up his spurs and longs
To make the sawdust spin.
“Who wants to pit a cock against
The Bantam of Berlin?' 1
—Burlington Free Press. 1
Lawyer—“So that is the entire list oil
your debts?” Insolvent Manager— “ Oil
no; there are mauy other little items.'!
Lawyer—“ Don’t you want me to ad®
them in detail?” Manager—“Ao; jui®
say, for further particulars see sms®
bills. ” — America.
An exchange wants the name of th!
man who invented the wheelbarrow®
but what many more persons crave is tb®
name of the man who lets his wheel*
barrow stand in.the middle of the sid«#
walk after dark. The latter is mow
deserving of death. —Norristown HeralM
“Did that lady buy anything?” askej
the jeweler of his new boy, as the la®
in question left the store, apparently *
a temper. “She did not. She ask#
me for an old gold breast pin, and®
asked her if she took this store for a jufv
shop. Then she went out.”— Jewel I ,SP
Weekly.
Mrs. Amelie Rives-Chanler is havic?
a SIOOO gown constructed by a fashiO 1
able Aew York dresunaker.
