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Pome men don’t know when thes arv
wr|| off No anelent fable * >er polot«d
• morel with greater effect than the
■tarry of two murderere in Missouri.
They hed been eenuoced to pri« >n for
life, but, being dimtiefied, obtained a
■ew trial. They will now be hanged on
the lath of March, unless the governor
interfere!
The relative efficiency of labor in the
cotton mills throughout the world can
be seen by reference to the amount of
cotton which different workmen will
consume per year. In India the average
is 3,451 pounds per operative, in Eng
land 2,914 pounds, in Germany 1,200 to
1,500 pounds, and tn the I sited Staten
4,350 pounds. The cost of gathering
and planting the cotton crop is computed
to bo 1113,480,000, or thirty-six per
cent, of its gross value at nine cents per
pound.
A representative of the New 5 ork
Tribune has made public the fact that
some of the liquor saloons of that city
sell quinine pills to their patrons. A
bartender who was interrogated by him
on the subject said “We sell lots of
quinine. If we didn’t keep it our cus
tomers would go to the drugstore for
their liquor as wi ll as their quinine. It
would do no good to kick, so we set up
tbe pills. Quinine to a certain extent
acts on the system like liquor. Men who
drink much or go in for any excitement,
until the ordinary stimulants fail to
operate on their nervous system, often
take to quinine, opium or its compounds,
chloral, absinthe, and so on.”
According to the Hong Kong daily
Press, the empress of < hina has caused a
great commotion among her counselors
by her liberal ideaa and her conduct.
She has abated the rigor of court eti
quette, has transferred her residence
from the winter palace to the castle in
Imperial park, t ikes boxing lessons, and
does not conceal her opinion that reform
in social and religious matters are
needed, anil that China no longer can
keep up her isolation from the rest of the
world. The conservatives complain
that her conduct is weakening the popu
lar belief in the divine power of the im
perial house, and arc confirmed in thoi r
belief that a woman is untlt to rule a
country.
A singular sort ot fertilizer for potato
fields has been introduced on a Pomera
nian model farm. Hitherto herringsand
potatoes have been known as a palatable
dish in family households. The man
agrr of the farm in question has hit upon
the idea of blending them from the start,
by planting his seed potatoes with a her
ring placed in every heap, and with so
decided a success as to cause him to in
crease the area thus planted from twenty
■cres last year to sixty in the present
one. The expense he calculates at about
nine marks per acre, which is cheaper
than the cost of any other kind of
manure, and amply repays the outlay.’
Os course it can only be employed near
the sea coast.
Iho King of Bavaria keeps carefully
out of sight, but contrives to provide
matter tor more stories about his private
doings than any of the vi-ible monarchs
of Europe. King Ludwig's latest ec
centricity is remarkable even for him;
he has been photographed. During one
•f his solitary walks in the Bavarian
Alps ho encountered an amiable ox,
wbieh barred tho way and refused to
■How his majesty to pass, Eor a bovine
subject to make himself so unpleasantly
conspicuous was not to bo endured;
w herefore the king seize I a p'nnk
whieh happened to be at hand, and.
placing himself in a position of attack,
as with a bayonet,he prepared to charge.
Then, ot course, the surly ox sheered
off and allowed the King to pass, and he
was so pleased with his own exploit that
he had himself photographed in the at
titude of charging.
General Brisbin recently visited the
Rosebud Indian agency to witness an is
sue of Uncle Sam's beef to the red chil
dren of tho prairie lie found that the
beef was issued on the hoof, and tho
braves were armed with rejieating titles
and revolvers to do the butchering.
First one young warrior would shoot a
born off, then another would break a
leg. and so on The peer animal would
be tortured by slow degrees, his death
being put off as long as possible s > the
sport might lut longer. "And this was
the government of the I'nited States
met ho-1 of issuing beef to its Indians,
encourag ng them to lie barbarous and
cruel, making a gala dar of its meat is
sue. and giving tbe young warriors a
.•Lance t > learn toehoot w, and ride
well, s> that they can kill my soldiers
more readily and kill citizen- better if
•uiey should go to war.”
I'avxr rails are made in Russia. Th< v
are longer than ordinary rails, and said
to have a greater adbesivensw- ui contact
with locomotive wheels.
' The little country of Belgium has <BO
persons to tbe square mile, or three to
every lour acres. That is, four acres are
made to support three persons. If the
I nited States were equally crowded the
population wou d be 1,050,000,000, or
more than the popti ation of the whole
world. One acre perfectly well culti
vated can easily support one person. It
is pos-ible to produce sixty bushels of
wheat on one acre, and this is equivalent
to the whole support of at least two
persons. It is simply a matter of calcu
lation and management. Belgium shows
what can lie done And it is well done,
for we do not hear of distress in that
busv country, nor of paupers, nor of a
rush of dissatisfied Belgians crowding
away to better theii condition. It .-hows
that high farming and excellent cultiva
tion of the soil are profitable, and may
be taken as one of the facts that proved
this to be a settled principle of agricul
tural economy.
Doctor Sutro, of London, celebrated
for his knowledge of nervous diseases,
said to a Herald correspondent, while
talking of the treatment of hydrophobia
“I have never known a case cured where
symptoms of hydrophobia had appeared,
however slight or intermittent. lam
inclined to believe that M. Pasteur is
right and hope England and America
will send doctors to study his method.
The reported death of a little girl after
inoculation under him proves nothing
adverse to M. Pasteur, it thirty six days
had elapsed before his treatment began.
People can't do better than try M. Pas
tuer. Ills inoculation is harmless and
it may do good. Cauterization will best
prevent hydrophobia, but it must be
thorough, so that the part bitten may be
absolutely destroyed. This is best done,
I have found, with fuming nitric acid.
A hot iron might only destroy the sur
face. Nitrate of silver, in my opinion,
is utterly useless.
Commenting upon the vast fortune
left by the late V. . 11. Vanderbilt, the
Chicago Herald says: "Two hundred
millions! What are they? Who can
compute their power for good or evil?
Who can imagine them in a single pile
or grasp the responsibilities involved in
their possession? Two hundred millions
are one tenth of the national debt at its
greatest figure. They are more by $20,-
000 than the entire customs revenues of
tho United States, and they are con
siderably in excess of one-half of the cn
I tire revenue of tho republic from all
I sources. They would support the United
States army of 25,000 men for five years,
pay tho 250,000 pensioners for three
years, run the naval establish
ment for ten years, build a double
track from New York to San Francisco,
and give every man, woman and child
,in the Unite 1 States fl. Five per cent
interest on them would yield an income
of $10,000,000 per annum, enough to
support every charitable institution in
America not of a public nature, to build
asylums and hospitals for the world in
fifty years, to educate, feed and c.lothe
the deserving poor forever, and to make
| such a thing as a slum unknown in any
city of the republic. Tho man who con
trols a fortune like that is not to be en
vied unless he does some good with it.”
Pasteur's method of preventing hydro
phobia is by inoculation, not by vaccina
tion. The former process produces the
genuine malady in a mild and innocuous
form , the latter employs one malady to
antagonize and ba'lle a more serious one.
Thus cow pox is employed to ward oil
small pox. In a recent chat with a cor
respondent M. Pasteur described his ex
periments and their results as follows.
"1 began my experiments in 1382 in this
way I took a portion of the spinal cord
i of a dog which had died of hydrophobia
and with that 1 inoculated a rabbit in
tho first membrane of the brain. It went
mad in fifteen days. Then with a por
tion of the spinal cord of this rabbit I
inoculated another rabbit in the same
way, and it went mad in thirteen days,
and soon. 1 continued inoculations from
,abbit to rabbit, finding the strength of
the virus increase each time until the
ninetieth time produced hydrophybia in
only seven days. 1 then took very small
portions of the spina! cord of this nine
tieth rabbit, and which contained the
greatest virulence yet obtained, and I
suspended these bits of virus in empty
bottles, in which the air was kept very
dry by means of potash on the bottom of
the bottle. After several days’ exposure
in a dry, cold temperature the virus
loses all its strength. The time required
for this loss depends on the size of tho
piece aid the dryness and coldness of
i the sir. Th nos this virus which has
lost its strength I take a small portion
dissolved in sterile bouillon, and with a
prava-syringe I innoculate the animal.
Each day I innoculate it again with
virus, jus; a little stronger each titn®
until at last the system ins become so
accustomed to the poison that I can use
the virus which had not been dried at all
and which wcuhl produce hydrophobia
ir ven days if th system had not been
so tn-a.ed to it by degrees. I have
treated one hundred degs in this way,
and not one has become mad.”
Epaphnis Hinsdale was the first manu
facturer of jewelry in the United States.
He commenced b ■■ at Newark N
( J., about 1708.
SMALLPOX
A lliatorv •! tbe Dread Dlueaae Pre
▼ration by V aeclnatiun
The srna lpox is believed to have pre
vai ed more or lesa in Eastern rountrict
from the earliest ages, but its early his
tory is shrouded in obscurity. Some
have thought that "the plague of boils
and blains" recorded in the Bible had
reference to thia disease. Certain men
tion of epidemics in the Greek writings
may, >t is thought, refer to the small
pox ; and the deadly plague in France in
the sixth century, described by Gregory
de Tours, is believed by some writers to
have been this disease. But though the
small-pox was known long before in the
Orient, there is no unmistakable record
of its appearance in Europe until it was
brought thither by the Saracens about
the year 710. And it is the more prob
able that this was the first appearance of
the disease because it has never been
wholly absent from European countries
since. From Spain it went all over Eu
rope, sparing for a time certain isolated
countries, such as Denmark, where it
first appeared in 1527. It was
carried to the West Indies in 1517
by the adventurers seeking to profit by
the discovery of the New World. It
reached Mexico in 1520. and Brazil in
1583. Farther north it first appeared in
.Maryland, having been brought there by
an English ship in the early part of tne
seventeenth century. Thence it made
its way through the other colonies.
From the time of its first appearance un
til its ravages began to be checked, first
by inoculation and then by the milder
and safer process of vaccination, it con
tinued its course as a deadly pestilence,
nearly always and everywhere present,
though not continuously active and
sparing neither age, sex, condition, nor
nationality, no one being safe from it
except by having previously passed
through its perils. From very early
times the Chinese followed the practice
of procuring this exemption by inocu
lating with the disease, that is, convey
ing it intentionally by introduction of
the contagious material into tbe sys
tem of persons in health. The inocu
lated disease was found to have a milder
and shorter course than the natural con
tagious small pox. and showing a mor
tality of less than one per cent, while
the other ranged from ten per cent, in
its mildest to 60 per cent, and higher in
its malignant form. The inoculation
process found its way from the Orient
into Europe byway of Constantinople,
where it was openly introduced in the
year 1701. The first inoculation in Eng
land was performed in 1722, on the
daughter of Lady Mary Wortley Mon
tague, wife of the British embassador to
Constantinople. It was violently op
posed at first, but gradually
came into extensive practice and
was also adopted in Conti-
nental countries. In America it was first
practiced in 1621 by Dr. Boylston, of
Boston. Inoculation, however, though
it served as a protection against the more
fatal form of the disease, yet was an ob
jectional pro ess, as the contagion of the
disease was in no way lessened, and it
thus became more widely spread. But
in the year 1798 the process of vaccina
tion, or inoculating with the cow-pox,
was shown by Dr. Jenner to be a thor
ough protection against smallpox, and
this method has since been used. It has
proved an incalculable benefit to the hu
man race. Smallpox, unchecked by
vaccination, was tho most fatal of the
zymotic diseases. With the aid of this
practice, however, not only has its mor- i
tality been greatly lessened, but the dis
ease can now be to a great extent con
trolled and even prevented. It is diffi
cult to describe the symptoms of this
disease so that an inexperienced person
can recognize them. One who has seen
one case, however, cannot fail to know
another instantly. Whenever there is
the least suspicion that there has been
exposure to infection, a physician should
be consulted. The initial stage of the
disease is usually ushered in by a violent
chill, followed by a high fever, attended
with vomiting and severe pains in the
head and back. With a child, convul
sions usually attend this stage. The
eruptive stage is marked by the appear
ance of little red elevations of the skin,
which come first upon the head and face,
and alter a few hours begin to appear on
the body and limbs, These feel at first
like little hard seeds under the skin, and
by this characteristic may be known
from eruptions of any other kind.—
Chicago Inter-Ocean.
Fat Men.
To the student of ethnology few things
are more interesting than the different
views held by the eastern and the west
ern worlds 011 the subject of corpulence.
In China corpulence is considered to be
one of the most important qualifications
for the bolding of any public office. It
is regarded as a physical virtue, which
imparts dignity to the appearance, weight
tothe judgment and solidity to the mind.
In China the thin man is always moody
and disappointed ; he sees himself easily
outstripped in the race of life by his
stouter contemporaries, and, enraged at
the unjust distribution of nature's gifts,
he retires usually into obscurity and
shuns the gaze of his fellow-citizens.
Banting, except as a punishment for
grea criminals, is unknown in China.
The most popular gods in the Chinese
Pantheon are those remarkable for their
obesity. With us in Europe how dif
ferent it is! Daniel Lambert, whom the
Chinese would have sent to a province
as a mandarin, we sent to a museum as a
monstrosity. Byron’s tendency to grow
fat was one of the secrets of his melan
choly, and the declining years of tbe
first gentleman in Europe were rendered
miserable by that stoutness which even
stays could not conceal. It is true that
Shakespeare intended Hamlet to be fat,
feeling probably that it would be charac’.
teristic of such a lethargic nature, but
modern audiences are not ready to ac
cept fat Hamlets; they prefer thin Ham
lets. and even lean hamlets, and seem to
be of opinion that there is an artistic
discord between romance and rotundity.
And indeed it cannot be doubted that
this opinion is very widespread. The
only in-lance to the contrary that we
know of is in the case of a ladv who, on
being shown the Apollo Belvidere, re
marked that she preferred “stouter
lUtues,” but this lady w a s from Chicago,
ind the idea of making bulk the test of
beauty is one purely American and is not
as yet accepted in European wsthetics.
Pali Mail if alette.
Signal icexenge.
Thirty-six years ago occurred the bat
tle of (. hillianwallah. at which the Eng
lish ran an appallingly narrow chance of
| being defeated by the courageous
I Sikhs opposed to them. Though Eng
! land did gain the day, it was only by an
enormous expenditure of brave men a
lives. A commemoration pillar is erected
Ito their memory, in the garden of the
: Chelsea hospital.
This battle, however, one of the se
verest ever fought by the British on the
soil of India, is also noteworthy because
of the shadow of misfortune and dis
i grace overhanging it. The fourteenth
regiment of dragoons, in the midst of
( the engagement, suddenly turned in re
treat, and nearly caused a panic in the
army. Its commander. Captain King,
overc 'me by shame, aftei ward committed
suicide.
Previous to his death he repeatedly de
dared that he gave no order for retreat,
and knew no reason why his troops
should have fled. But the order was
heard by many officers and men. and the
captain’s word was not believed. Public
opinion gave a verdict of cowardice
against him.
The circumstances of the battle have,
however, been recently revived,and new
evidence has come in, which, if true,
frees both officer and men from the worst
charge which can be preferred against
j soldiers. In the regiment, says this ex
onerating voice, was a private who, for
some reason, bore a grudge against his
colonel. Though he had sought for an
opportunity of taking revenge, none had
presented itself. But tbe man was a
ventriloquist; and at last his chance
came. On the day of the battle, at the
critical moment, when it was infamy to
take one backward step, the ventrilo
quist threw his voice close to the colonel
’ and cal ed :
“Threes about!”
It was the signal for retreat. The
regiment was a model of discipline, and
had always obeyed as one man. It did
Iso now with fatal promptitude, and, in
the melee of the battlefield, its retreat
was soon converted into helter-skilter
flight. The soldier had avenged his
wrong at the expense of his comrade's
honor, and at the risk of defeat to his
country’s flag.— Youth's Companion.
A D.me Museum Curiosity.
If the reader is more than forty years
old, and as a youth used to hear the
popular lectures of that period, writes a
New York correspondent of tbe Cincin
nati Enquirer, he may be able to recall Pro
fessor Herschell Leander Corwin, whose
themes and forehead were so high that ue
impressed his younger auditors stupen
dously, and was in great favor with the
ministers and others who desired the in
tellectual culture of their communities.
Well, I recognized him on sight in the
Bowery this week, although his hair was
white and his step uneiastic. His dig
nity was all there, snugly buttoned into
a coat less tine than of yore, and his big
head was up. On his arm hung a small
woman, who hobbled along laboriously,
with the support of him and a cane.
The couple entered a dime musem, and I
curiously followed. But inside I lost
them, and was about to depart when the
ringing of a gong announced that the
afternoon's half hourly lectures on the
curiosities was to begin. The orator was
none other than the venerabie Professor
Herschell Leander Corwin, and the first
subject of his deep bass, solemn lying
was the woman who had come in with
him, and who was his wife, as I subse
quently learned. She was deformed by
an absence of knee pans, and therefore
her legs could be flexed forward as well
as backward. That enabled her to as
sume the position and nearly the gait of
a four-footed brute. Costumed in shaggy
cloth, with her lang hair disheveled,
muttering a jargon and walking on her
hands and feet, she quite satisfied the
spectators, who was assured by the pro
fessor that she was a wild what is it,
caught in the marshes of Florida.
“This is something of a departure
from the old subjects,” I said to him af
terward,
“No, no, sir,” he replied, with dignity
unabated; “natural science has ever
been mv study, and I am still in the
field.” '
A Curious Phase of City Life.
“I fancy we loose five pounds of tea
and coffee every day by people who are
passing by dipping their hands into tho
open boxes at the doors and taking out
what they cal' ‘samples’’ ” said a Vesey
street grocer. "Os course, the boxes are
put there for that purpose, and we cannot
very well complain, and most of the
persons who take the goods, no doubt,
merely want to test their quality, but
you would ;te surprised to learn how
many mothers of families keep their
households supplied with tea, coffee and
sugar, too, just in that economical way.
They take a little out of every box thev
pass, pretend to taste it, shake their
heads and slip it into their pockets.
Now, watch this old woman. I know
her face well. She lays in her stores
about twice a week,” The old woman
in question tested the grocer’s tea, and
acted afterward exactly as he described.
Then she went to another grocery store a
little further down the street and re
peated the performance. “It is not so
easy to take sugar, as only a little can
be grasped at once, and more stores are
to be visited, but they manage to do it,’ 1
the grocer added.— New York Sun.
Don’t Kick.
Here's a piece of advice I'll give to ■ yc
bub,
Old man, old woman or chick.
No matter what comes, no matter wha?
goes,
Don't permit yourself ever to kick.
If the world, as it gravely goes jogging
along.
Throws tho thorns in your path, fast and
thick,
Dodge all that yeu can, and step on the
rest,
Bat ot all things, I pray you, don’t kick.
If you throw yourself into political strife,
And get hit with a political brick,
You will show your good sense bv holding
your jaw,
And" never once making a kick.
If you play for a winning and draw out a
blank.
And some other chap makes the thing
stick. 6
Just swa’low the dose like a good little man.
And, for heaven's sake, don’t make a kick
Take things as they come, they’ll be right in
the end,
If you're hungry, rich, beggar, or sick.
You'll only be wasting vour valuable time
if y®ti use it in making a kick.
I Bort Wood, in Sin Francisco Post
fISE WORM:
The man who never excites eavy n vei
nW!?:®*®
but to his behavior in them.
Three are three things in speech that
ou ’ht to be considered before they are
spokem—-the manner, the place and the
'"we should not too much rejoice in
hone if we would enjoy in reality, for
the m”st agreeable pleasures in general
are those that we have least expected.
Aversion from reproof is not wise; it
i. th,- mark of a little tnind. A great
man can affordto lose; a little insignifi
cant fellow is afraid of being snuffed
° U iiere thou art but a stranger traveling
to thy country ; it is therefore a huge
folly to be afflicted because thou hast a
less convenient inn to lodge in y
Character is made up of little things,
and it is only through constant watch
fulness over the details of right and
wrong that we can hope to build .t into
fair or enduring proportions.
An unchanging state of joy is not
possible on earth as it now is, tecame
evil and error are here. The soul must
have its midnight hour as well as its
sunlit seasons of joy and gladness.
Strive, well improving your own talent,
to enrich your whole capital as a man.
It is in this way that you escape from
the wretched narrow mindedness which
is the characteristic of every one who
cultivates his specialties alone.
A Petite Woman’s “Nice Little Lunch.”
She was a rather petite and attractive
woman, with an air that indicated
French descent, fashionably dressed,and
the picture of periect health. It was
about 1 o clock, and the restaurant was
fairlv well crowded. It was at one of
“Jimmy’s” tables, opposite the narrator,
that she found a vacant chair. H-iving
disposed of her wrap, she removed her
gloves and displayed a collection of
diamond rings, that, at least, gave evi
dence of poor taste. Turning toward
the diminutive Jimmy she chirped
sweetly:
“I want a real nice little lunch. Can
you give me one?”
Jimmy’s only reply was to hand her a
bill of fare, bhe studied it a moment
and said:
“First, you may bring me some clam
chowder.”
She didn’t look like a clam chowder
woman, but rather resembled one who
would toy with a small portion of Ju
lienne. Appearances are sometimes de
ceitful. When the clam chowder came
she prepared for business, however and
added, tc complete her “nice little
lunch:”
“You may bring me some rare roast
beef, boiled potatoes, and some sliced
tomatoes.” She had laid aside the bill
of fare. The waiter started to give her
order. “Oh, waiter,” she then added,
“you may bring me some chicken pie
too, on a side dish you know.”
It was strange how that woman seemed
to grow while she ate the chowder and
to evolve from a sort of French chrysal
lis into a grub ot the English matron
order. When the waiter appeared with
a loaded tray the chowder had entirely
disappeared. Iler “nice little lunch”
made up a formidable sort of dinner for
an average man . To her it was a trifle.
She smiled as sweetly is such a woman
could, and said:
"1 see you have partridge. You may
give me half of one broiled, on toast,
and a dish of green peas.”
Great Scott! That woman had grown
absolutely formidable. It was notice
able, too, that she had rings on but three
fingers of that flashing left hand. The
thumb and that little finger seemed to
need some. The beef and chicken pie,
and partridge and vegitables disposed of
she calmly remarked:
“Now, what can you recommend for a
nice dessert?” But before the waiter
could reply she said: “Baked apple
dumpling; ah! that will do nicely.”
The apple dumpling was brought, cut
open by the seeker for a “nice tittle
lunch,” buttered and sugared, and sent
back to the kitchen to be brought back
steaming hot, with “a large cup of black
coffee.” And the woman actually ate
the dumpling and drank the coffee, and
then complacently remarked:
“That was a very nice lunch. Please
give me my bill.”
“That “lunch” had actually seemed
to make the petite and spirituellc woman
who came into the restaurant developed
into a sort of combination of the giantess
Anna Swan an I the fat woman Hannah
Battersby. As she moved away from
the table it didn’t seem as if she could
ever leave the place byway of the small
door by which she had entered. Per
haps it was only imagination about her
having grown so rapidly while eating
that “nice little lunch.” She certainly
left the place bv the same door at which
she had entered it. New York Times.
Dynamite in a Watch.
Herr Hager, the wealthy German
banker, is the most punctual 'man in the
world, and always carries a couple of
chronometers about with him. Thanks
to this habit he is a frequent victim to
pickpockets, as not a week passes with
out his losing one of his watches. At
first he had recourse to all kinds of
safety chains; then one fine morning he
took no precaution whatever, and quietly
allowed himself to be robbed. At night,
m returning from business, he took up
the evening paper, when he uttered an
exclamation of delight, and at once
started off to the police station. This is
what he had read: “To-day, about 2
p. m. , a violent explosion took place in a
house on B street, occupied by Mr.
8 , a wealthy townsman. The hands
of the victim are shattered and the left
eye gone.” The crafty banker had filled
the watchcase with' dynamite, which
exploded during the operation of wind
ing. Since that time no more watches
have been stolen from tbe person of
Herr Hager.
Easiness.
There was a man once on a time who thought
him wondrous wise, °
He swore by all tbe fabled gods he’d never
advertise;
But the goods were advertised ere long, and
thereby hangs the tale—
‘SWffrTsaie.. nonparei1 ’ and headed
—Salam GareUo.
SELECT SIFTINGS
The petrified skeleton of a ~I
over thirty feet long has been discover? I
by an officer of the coast survey 0/ fl
range of mountains in Monterey count;' I
Cal., over 3,300 feet above sea level. '' ■
There seems to have been a preji 1( p..8
from time immemorial against 'im.bu'B
in March, and according to a Ge r!lla ’B
saying, it were better to be bitten l>- .B
an’akc than to feel the sun in March B
In Whitney’s creek. Inyo county, p a | I
are found the celebrated golden’ tro';-' I
They average twelve inches in | ea l
and are of slenderer make than comni,, l
brook trout. Down each side arc tw,B
bright golden bands, each a little
than an inch wide.
The Indians of Mexico illumine ffi,>: r B
path by night with a pliosphorescw B
insect which is f-.; more brilliant th;;- B
our fire fly. They feed their lights,-. I
sugar-cane instead of from the kens.'njß
oilcan, and increase their bril i mey ]„ I
dipping them in water. These ir,,- ( . c: , ■
are said to afford light enough to re a ,j I
by.
The state coaches of the lord mayor «(B
London and of Queen \ ictoria are aearlt »
coeval. The latter dates from 1762, ;h'j fl
third year of George 111. It wasaboatß
1712 that the lord mayor first used a k
state coach, on November!). The first fl
coach lasted till 1757, when the one now fl
in i:se was built by sul scriptiou and pre fl
sented to him. It is very similar to tlefl
queen’s.
“The Tineida epigraph,” writes Al.■
phonse Karr, “is the smallest of al! ■
moths, being two lines wide when its ■
wings are outspread; but how mag ■
nificently it is attired! It is robed it ■
gold and silver, and on the silvery gauze I
of its upper wings is traced, in letters 0! ■
gold, an inscription which no one has I
vet succeeded in deciphering, though !■
fancy I can read it thus: Maximus in ■
minimis Deus (God is geatest in His I
smallest works.)”
In ancient times cobblers made shoes ■
out of hides, flax, silk, cloth, wood, iron, ■
silver and gold ; and in great variety of I
shapes, plain and ornamental. In the «
eleventh century the upper part of the B
shoe was made of leather, and the sole of 3
wood. The Saxons wore shoes with
thongs. In the year 1090, in the reign I
of William Rufus, the great dandy Rob- i
ert was called “the horned,” because he <
wore shoes with long points, stuffed, 5
turned up, and twisted like horns. The
clergy waged war upon this fashion until
it was discontinued.
The superstitions about numbers have
x quaint interest. Ten is the luck,
number of the East. Solyman the Mag
nificent was called the “perfecter of the
perfect number,” because he was the
tenth sultan, and he lived in the tenth
century after the prophet. He captured
Belgrade in 1521, Rhodes in 1522, de
seated the Hungarians at Mohacsin 1526,
snd captured Buda in 1529. Under bis
reign the Turkish empire reached its
greatest expansion and its highest pitch !
of prosperity. The most popular num
ber among Aryan nations is seven. Sin- .
gularly enough it is also the lucky num
ber of the Japanese. The most import- 1
ant day of the calendar of old Japan is '
the seventh day of the seventh month
(July.) It is the day for the children's
merrymaking, like our Christmas. The
Japanese have also seven patrons of hap
piness—long life, riches, daily food,con
tentment, talents, glory and love.
Five Millions in a Bag.
John I. Blair, of Blairstown N. J .
is a man of very large wealth and of
very original methods. Many years ago,
it is told of him, he was a partner of
John B. Alley, another millionaire.
They disagreed and separated. Some
time afterward Alley sued him for some
thing like two and a half millions.
When the trial day came Mr. Blair was
not ready for some reason and he wanted
a postponment. There was a battalion
of lawyers in the case and a great deal of
quibbling ensued. The court finally
decided to grant the motion, but stipu
lated that a bond of double the am ' mt
of the alleged claim should be filed.
“The bond required will be $5,000,000,
understand?” said Mr. Blair, when that
point had been reached.
The opposing counsel were quick to
assure him that he had not overstated
the amount.
“I expected there would be something
of the kind necessary,” said Mr. Blair
quietly, “and so I brought this along.
"This” proved to be a black bag.
which he had laid down on the floor
near his chair when he came into court
He opened it, and stepping up to the
bench took from it and spread before
the judge $5,000,000 in government
bonds.
“These will answer, I suppose?” he
inquired.
After the judge recovered from his
amazement he said he believed they
would. “But,” he continued, “I
make you custodian of them with the
distinct understanding that none of them
shall be used while it is' a part of the
bond.”
“Your honor need have nn fear on
that score.” Mr. Blair responded, reas
suringly. “I only brought in a few this
morning for this purpose. These are
some that I will have no use for while
this matter is pending.”
It was some time after the miliionatr
had left the court room before tbe
nesses of the scene recovered from the
stupor produced by the display of s i:'■
princely wealth in such a mattcr-of-fac'
fashion. Chicago Netcs.
That Great Chinese City.
There is an air of decay about Pekin
which extends even to its temples. Tae
number of its population is not accu
rately known, but according to a Chinese
estimate, which is probably in excess, it
i 51,300,000, cf whom 900,000 reside in
the Tartar and 400,000 in the Chinese
city. There is no direct foreign trade
with Pekin, and the small foreign pop
ulation is made up of the members of
the various legations, the maritime cus
tomers, the professors at the college and
the missionary body. In August, 1881.
it was brought in direct communication
with the rest of the world by a telegraph
overland to Tien Tain. The estimated
population of China is 405,213,152, or
263 souls per square mile throughout
China proper.— Baltimore American.
Red lamps in the Scotch cities indi
cate at night that drop letter boxes ar®
attached to the posts.