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KNOXVILLE KNOXVILLE, GEORGIA. After a struggle of eighty years th« French law has sanctioned cremation. As an agent of destruction, the cloud¬ burst seems to, have usurped the place ol tho cyclone. It is estimated that the country’s total revenue for the next fiscal year will reach $440,000,000. Fishermen on the New England coas( state that the mackerel are not “school. ing” in those waters tMs year. Thereare45,000,000 people in Mexico* Central and South America representing a commerce of $1,000,"000,000. Russia, Germany and Austria have warned the Swiss Government to deal more harshly with Socialists and Anarch¬ ists. The return of land grants made in western Australia shows that one man owns and controls nearly 4,000,000 acres. Annexation to the United States has become so popular in Newfoundland, as ierts the Chicago Herald, as to cause anxiety in London. The wholesale merchants of Cincinnati have started a fund to supply their coun¬ try customers with railroad tickets. Ten merchants have subscribed $3000 each. Belgium, of all nations, has the great¬ est density of population, the largest di¬ versity of occupation, the most uniform distribution of wealth and the minimum of pauperism. The average annual death-rate in tMs country from cholera, yellow fever, small pox, typoid fever, diptheria, and scarlet fever, all combined, does not reach the enormous total of deaths from consump tion. Nearly all the suburban towns in Eng land and Ireland are becoming absorbed into the larger towns. One reason ad vanced for this is that working people of all kinds obtain higher wages in the large cities and are migrating to them in numbers. The sending of fresh troops to Egypt is not viewed with much pleasure by the English masses, who consider the-country as a mere trap for simpletons, where death and pestilence are forever-lying in wait, [f it comes to a large levy for an iEgyp. tian campaign there will be trouble. The New York Observer says that the number of murders committed in the United States during the first half of 1887 was 867; of 1888, 941, and of 1889, 1547. It is further stated that during the first week in July, ninety people»were stricken down by murderous hands. The City of Pisa, Italy, recently went into bankruptcy. Now it appears this is not the only Italian town similarly situa¬ ted. News comes from Rome that Lodi, Bosa, Descara, Sicato, Calsanisetta, Sum monte, Paola, Potenza, Teranio, Pescara et Caroto have also suspended payment. Most persons will be surprised when •they hear that the report of tne Railway Age concerning the amount of railroad track laying in the United States for the first six months of 1889 shows that of the total number of miles of track laid, namely, 1522, the South is to be credited with 909. The enterprising citizens who invaded Oklahoma before the time specified by law and squatted on choice pieces of land, now find that it is -often best to make haste slowly. The'Land-Commis¬ sioner got a list of these trespassers, known as “sooners,” and refused to issue patents to any of them. A case has just been decided in the New Jersey Court of Chancery, in which Vice Chancellor Van Fleet holds tbata woman’s marriage to her step-grandson is valid in spite of the fact that the Catholic priest who married the couple, on learning of their relationsMp, informed them that the narriage was void by the laws of the Dhurch. When George Muth, a Cincinnati con¬ lectioner, was brought before Judge Armsten, of the police court, for selling ice cream on a recent Sunday, he pleaded guilty. The prosecutor suggested that he regard that plea as a demurrer, and the court accepted the suggestion. The jus tice said the use of ice cream was no longer to be classed as a luxury and it a B ale on Sunday could easily be regarded as a necessity. * ‘No man was ever incited by eating of ice cream to go .home and beat his wife and break up the furniture, and I have no sympathy with the efforts of saloon men to make the law against them odious by pusMng the* enforcement of the common labor law." Mr. Muth was dismissed. SOMTE DAY. “They’ll all come back again,” she said, That by-gone summer day. The while we watched the goodly ships Upon the placid bay. “They sail so far, they sail so fast, upon their shining way. But they will come again, I know, some day —some other day.” Some day 1 So many a watcher sighs, When wind-swept waters moan, With, tears pressed back, still strives to dream Of the glad coming home. Good ships sail on o’er angry waves, ’neatb skies all tempest gray, For quivering lips so bravely tell: “They’ll come again—some day!” Some day! We say it o’er and o’er, , To cheat our hearts, the while We send our cherished ventures forth, Perchance with sob or smile; And tides run out, and time runs on, our life ebbs fast away, And yet with straining eyes we watch for that sweet myth—some day! Full many a true and heart-sped bark May harbor find no more, But Hope her beacon-light will trim For watchers on the shore; And those who bide at home and those upon the watery way, In toil or waiting, still repeat: “Some day —some blessed day!” —Lucy R. Fleming, in Harper’s Bazar. A FADING PICTURE, BY GEORGE HALE. It was a brilliant day in early summer, but the outer blinds on the windows of the waiting room of Henry Milford’s photographic establishment were closed so that the room seemed almost dark to one just come in from the sun-lit street. As the eye grew accustomed, however, to the semi-twilight, the relief from the outer glare was grateful. At one side through an opening partially closed by a heavy curtain a little glimpse could be had of the operating room, or studo, as Milford preferred to have it called. Mr. Milford was busily engaged in pre- ■ paring for the printing of some pictures which seemed to Mm to require more par¬ ticular care and attention than usual, and it did not please him to be interrupted. Such a day for work seldom came to him. It did not allay his irritation any to be asked abruptly, as he was, upou entering the waiting room. “Mr. Milford, can you take a picture forme?” The young lady who asked this turned her attention almost immediately to some examples of Mr. Milford’s work hanging on the walls. “It is almost impossible to see these, it is so dark,” she said, “but it is so pleas¬ ant to escape the horrid glare of the street.” Henry Millford was fond of his work, wMch he considered art, and he had car¬ ried it to a rare degree of perfection. He was very conscientious, too, and in pos¬ ing Ms sitters before thecamera he would take as much care and exercise as much intelligence as could any artist in arrang¬ ing his models or draperies. He was proud of Ms finished work, and always impatient of criticism. It was for this reason, perhaps, that he had made Mm¬ self somewhat exclusive. At all events, whatever the reason, he would discrimin¬ ate as he pleased among the many appli¬ cants for sittings. To those whose ap¬ pearance or manners did not please Mm, he would always say that he had too many engagements to take their pictures. In truth, he had obtained such a reputation and had so many applications that he was almost compelled to select from them. “I am very busy—I do not know,” he replied. Miss Mitchell, his present caller, was a little annoyed and perhaps a little sur¬ prised as well. “You see, Mr. Milford continued, “In this climate of ours one has so few days in wMch he can work. Unfortu nately, I am compelled to think very much about the weather.” On this particular day there seemed to be very little reason for tMs backward ness. Indeed, inasmuch as he had made up Ms mind that he would really like to take Miss Mitchell’s picture, this pretence of not wishing to do so was folly; but habit was much too strong for him. “Pardon me!” she said. “I did not know. I thought that this would be just the sort of day.” “Andso it really is,” he said quickly. “If you sit here a few minutes I will ar range the room and camera.” He answered with such alacrity and Ms manner had so changed that Julia Mitchell was surprised more than ever, She was not sure that she was not fright ened a little. He, however, had carefully studied her and had decided just the pose which he thought would suit her. He was now as enthusiastic as he had before beenotherwise. These perhaps will interest _ jou while you are waiting, he said, as he placed in her hand several photographs. “But,” she rephed, “I ought to make some preparations, too. Oh, your hat, he said, ‘ and your hair. But I wish you would let me take the first one of you just as you are ” It seemed to him that he could not quickly enough make the necessary ar rangements ; but at last everytMng was ready and Juba Mitchell s wish-was grati fied; at least, four negatives had been made and she hoped soon to receive a finished picture of herself which would please her. Time went on and Miss Mitchell did not receive her pictures as promptly as she had hoped she might. She called upon Mr. Milford to urge him to greater haste, but he met all her complaints with good humor, yet made very little effort to please her. In truth, he enjoyed her visits, and, perhaps, he purposely delayed the completion of her pictures in order that she might be led in as often as pos sible. Her impatience with the delay rather amused him, and their talk was in teresting to him. And so, indeed, itwas to her, although, it may be, she would not have so acknowledged, if she had srrStJ Sl&tSt time to time, as he finished them. There soon came a day, however, when he had to confess, that although her pio tures were not finished, the negatives promised well. have “I think,” said Mr. Milford, “weshall “Oh, some let very good things there." answered. me see them,” Miss Mitchell 4 ‘I want to know what I look like.” This was going ahead a little . too fast to please Milford. “I do not tMnk you can tell,” he said, “I would much rather have you wait till they are quite completed. There is so much m the printing, you know.” “Yes,” she replied dolefully, “I sup pose so, but do let me see the nega tivos. Then perhaps I shall know just how much there is in the printing.” Milford demurred, but finally yielded, She took the negatives and looked them over critically. When she handed them back she expressed her gratification with ^ em - Milford kept one of the completed pictures and guarded it with jealous care. He was, it must be confessed, sometimes tempted to exhibit it as an example of the perfection to wMch Ms art could be carried, but this temptation never lasted long. He kept it by Mm, however, as much as he safely could. At Ms break¬ fast, which he took in a lonely way in Ms apartments, he had it before Mm at the table; and, as often through the day as he could, he would hasten from Ms studio to steal a parting glance at it. • It seemed to him that it varied in ap¬ pearance from day to day. He thought that he could read in it of Miss Miteh el’s changing moods. If the eyes lost their sad expression, and were smiling, as they sometimes were, he felt that she was happy; if they were more sad than usual he wondered what had happened to distress her. And sometimes, too, he would discover it in other signs, and then he feared that she was ill. Alarmed at its growing power over Mm, and annoyed that he was so little able to resist its influence, he at last placed it in a seldom used portfolio. He was deter¬ mined not to look at it again. TMs de¬ termination he adhered to for some time, perhaps a week or longer. In the mean¬ time Miss Mitchell’s visits had entirely ceased. Milford knew that there was no reason why she should call, and he laughed somewhat sadly as he admitted to Mmself that he wished it had been otherwise. He now resolutely deter¬ mined that he would forget her, and that he would not again look upon the picture; but he found himself thinking much more of Miss Mitchell and of the picture than of matters needing Ms attention. One day he took the portrait from its Mding place and examined it carefully. He was startled. It seemed to Mm that the picture was less distinct than it had been. So much was he impressed that he looked at it frequently thereafter, and was soon convinced that he had been right, that it was growing less and less dis¬ tinct. Though interested more than ever, and puzzled as well, he again determined that he would think of it no longer, and replaced the picture in the port¬ folio. He busied Mmself so successfully that he was able to overcome, in some measure, Ms longing for the picture and original; but for a few days only. Then he hastened again to the portfolio. There could be no question about it; the picture had perceptibly faded since he had last looked at it. It was now barely dis¬ cernible. “It has almost gone,” he said to Mm¬ self sadly, “and she—can it be that she is going too?" This thought almost unmanned Mm. Now he realized for the first time what her loss would mean to him; now he knew how empty would be his life if she should be taken away. He was at this moment called upon by a gentleman who surprised him by ask¬ ing: “Will it be possible for me to procure some duplicates of the pictures you re C ently took to Miss Mitchell?” Milford’s annoyance was apparent, but he tried to say, politely: “I should be glad to oblige you, sir; but of course it would not be proper for me to do as you ask.” “Indeed! Why, may I ask?” * ‘You can readily see that I cannot dis pose of any duplicates except at the re quest of the sitters themselves. ” “Oh, certainly! But I come at the re quest of Miss Mitchell.” “Is she not well, then?” asked Milford in quick alarm. “No; indeed, she has been very ill.” “I will prepare them for you at once,” Milford said, anxious now to be rid of his visitor as quickly as possible, and hurriedly making a note of the ordei given “ Mm. “At least,” he said to himself, “at least, I shall know about her.” Yielding to Ms sudden panic, ha seized Ms hat and rushing from Ms studio, with little thought of the crowd ing carriages, he ran across Broadway, and then, almost disregarding the people against whom he jostled in his hurry, he hastened on to the street in wMch Miss Mitchell lived. As he ran he would not permit Mmself to tell what it was he feared; but as he neared the house there was the very s%ht he had most dreaded. That long line of carriages could have but one meaning; and now he hoped only to see her face once more. Eluding the grasp of the attendant al the door he entered the house, and the sound of music reached Mm, music that he knew to be full of joy and hope, to others, though to him it seemed a knell. As Milford turned to go sorrowfully away, realizing now the truth, Miss Mitchell, leaning on another’s arm, came out into the hall and bright and happy faces crowded about her, while laughing voices wished her happiness and*good fortune.— The Epoch, “ President Carnots „ Luxurious Train. President Carnot has a particularly luxurious train in wMch -he travels from one end of France to the other. It con sists of five carriages, all furnished with the greatest elegance and each costing on an average, $16,000. A kbinocekos of the sea. ■ CATCHIN G A GREAT SWORDFISH FF BLOCK ISLAND. Paraphernalia of a Fisherman—The , Death-Dealing Dart—An Ocean i Monster's Desperate Fight for Life. j Ex-Congressman Amos J. Cummings writes from Block Island to the New ! York Sun a breezy account of a trip after swordfish which he took in a small j J schooner. Island We quote as follows: the Block lies at entrance J of Long Island Sound, between Narra gansett Bay and Montauk. The island has about 1200inhabitants in winter and between 5000 and 6000 in summer. The natives are mostly hardy fishermen, The Napoleon of all the finny tribe is the swordfish. He is courageous and voracious. T,lkp. the rhinoceros, he tarries a deadly weapon upon his nose, a,ud is unscrupulous in its use. Indeed, he may be aptly termed the rhinoceros of the seas. The waters of Block Island are his summer home. Nowhere in American seas does he appear in greater numbers. His weight here runs from 150 to 600 pounds. His flesh sells in Eastern markets it from fifteen to twenty cents per pound. A. score or more of smacks are now en¬ gaged in the fishery. It is glorious sport. I shipped for a Say on the schoonor Mystery, a regular fishing boat. It was 6 a. m. when I boarded her. As we mounted the swells of the Atlantic I sat in an armchair and scanned the little craft with a critical eye. There was nothing ornamental about her. She was equipped for business alone. Four or five red kegs, rigged as floats, for use after the fish is struck, were upon end near the cabin. Two rusty lances shaped like sboeknives, gave a hint of the coming conflict. They were after¬ ward used in giving the death blow to a great fish. Away off on the tip of the bowsprit was a small pen made of iron bars and shaped like the lectern of an Episcopal church. It is called a pulpit. From Ibis pulpit the expert hurls a brass dart into the fish below Mm. The swaying vessel tosses him above the waves, as, harpoon in hand he awaits the coming of the monster. The little schooner was manned by three persons, including the skipper and steward. The former was Captain ¥m. F. Hooper, a well-knit young man, with blue eyes and more than ordinary intelli¬ gence. A bronzed sea-dog was the steward. He had short gray hair, a merry eye and paws like pine knots. The crew was a sawed-off little fellow about five feet two inches long. With all sail set we headed for Nan¬ tucket. The steward took the tiller, wMle the crew lighted a pipe and ciimbed the foremast to act as a lookout. Above the peak block there was a small plat¬ form, upon which he took his stand. After lasMng Mmself to the mast, he shaded his eyes with his hand and began to scan the ocean in search of a fish. Meantime the skipper rigged his dart and glided along the bobstay to the pul¬ pit. He lashed the haipoon across a stancMon and returned to the deck. Not long afterward he swung a little seat from the rear of the pulpit, and sat down therein while awaiting a call from the masthead. We were well out to sea, and nearing the feeding grounds of the swordfish. The sun was hot, but the breeze was cool and refresMng. Half an hour passed. A dozen schooners and sloops were within two miles of us. The little speck over their bowsprits told us that they were upon the same errand as ourselves. Sud¬ denly we saw a red keg shooting over the waves. At times it disappeared like the float of a rod and reel when a big fish has been struck. Anon it came to the surface and fairly sizzed over the water. A sloop not far away came about and picked it up, but she was so distant when she secured the fish that we could not see how large it was. WitMn twenty minutes I saw the skipper of a sloop on our left strike a fish. He was a tall, ath¬ letic man, with a long reach. As he stood upon the bowsprit silhouetted against the sky, harpoon aloft, he made a picture not easily forgotten. He struck the fish as it was disappearing under the bow of the sloop. Another monotonous hour passed. The steward held on to the tiller, and scanned the horizon for novelties. Montauk Point loomed up in the south like a low cloud. “Hold her up,” suddenly shouted the lookout. “There’s a big fish on the weather bow.” The skipper saw the monster, and be¬ gan to poise his iron. “Right your wheel,” he roared, “and haul her up on the wind!” Two great fins began to cut the water not forty feet away. I sprang upon the cabin. A monstrous fish was lumbering along in a heavy swell. He was evi¬ dently going to cross our bows if we held our course, “Steady—hold her hard!” cried the skipper, straightening himself on the tip of the “Steady’she sprit. i is, sir,” replied the stew ard , hold g the tiller up so hard that his face was purpled and the veins in Ms ae ck were distended, Closer came the leviathan. The little schooner pitched in the trough of the sea . Her mainsail began to flutter. As s he rose on a swell the fish lurched to ward the bow. He was a finny giant, As he rolled at the foot of the swell, the skipper hurled the iron into Mm. It struck him near the forefin, and he sank under the bow. “Slack the main sheet? Keep her off!” screamed the skipper, as he drew the stick from the dart, and shot away f r0 m the pulpit. The huge fish seemed loggy. The line Bpe d slowly from the tub, and the great red float was leisurely heaved overboard, Soon the floating keg showed signs of life. The breeze had grown stronger, ! ftnd the keg was spinningalong the waves 1 an eighth s of a mile away like a wounded j duc ^ “That fish is going like the deuce,” : Btdd steward, i “Stand by to take in the keg " re j' ’ plied the skipper, as he put the helm haxdi-adee. The steward seized a huge gaff hook'as* the little schooner came about. She was put upon a new course and gave chase to the keg. It was a stern chase, but a short one. The keg was hooked, and drawn abroad. The slack was taken in, and a pressure was put upon the fish. He made a slight resistance. The skipper lashed the tiller, and came to the assistance of the steward. Hand over hand they pulled in the monster. As he neared the vessel the skipper shouted: “Get the lance, and stand by to give it to him.” The steward seized the lance and made ready to plunge it into the fish as he broke water. The steward was standing near the foremast. “Get aft, get aft 1” roared the skipper, “so that you can give it to him good.” Aft went the steward. He stood with raised lance. The huge fish neared the boat. His great eye was upturned. He seemed to sense the gravity of the situa¬ tion in an instant. As the steward was about to hurl the lance, the immense tail lashed the water and filled his eyes with brine. In a jiffy the monster was off again. The skipper gave line slowly un¬ til at least two hundred feet were taken out. The fish went to the bottom and tried to sulk. The pressure, however, was too great. All this time the schooner was slowly holding her course with a lashed tiller. Both men went at the fish with renewed earnestness. They worked him from the bottom inch by inch, holding what they secured by pressure on the gunwale. Finally the monster gave way. He came toward the surface, appearing on each side of the ship, and darting under the dory trailing astern. Then he made a break for the bow, and for some minutes kept neck and neck with the bowsprit. Ho next stationed himself under the keel, and kept headway with the ship. Again he essayed to reach the bottom. The strain was too much. He took out not more than fifty feet of line and rested. His fighting spirit was gone. “Now, rush him, rush him up!” cried the snipper. Hand over hand the fish was once more drawn to the surface. As the living blue log rolled into sight beneath the waves the skipper seized the lance and made re¬ peated thrusts into its brain, TMs stunned the monster and made it sick. It vomited a bushel or more of small fish and rolled stomach upward. In a flash the lance sped into its vitals. The water was dyed with blood. Around the enor¬ mous tail went the bight of a rope, and by the aid of a tackle block the game was drawn on deck, its huge head rest¬ ing upon the bow bulwark. There was a slight spasm and the fish was dead. It was over sixteen feet long and weighed over 400 pounds. Its sword was nearly four feet long and over four inches wide. As the great fish died it took on all the eblors of the rainbow. Its back, head and sword were at first of a beautiful bronze, and its under side pearly silver in color. A dying dolphin alone could have shown more lovely tints. The eyes were exquisite. They were the size of ice cream plates. The pupils were as large as half dollars and as transluctant as moonstones. The tail was spread out like the wings of an eagle. The huge fish was rolled forward and covered with a tarpaulin. The decks were washed, the sails set anew, and the schooner Mystery sailed homeward, while the red lights of a setting sun illumined the ocean. Hints as to Shaving. Never fail to well wash your beard with soap and cold water, and then rub it dry, immediately before you apply the lather, of which the more you use and the thicker it is the easier you will shave. Never use warm water, which makes the face (of shavers) tender. In cold weather place your razor (closed of course) in your pocket or under your arm to warm it. The moment you leave your bed (or bath) is the best time to shave. Always wipe your razor clean, and strop it before putting it away; and al¬ ways put your shaving brush away with the lather on it. The razor, being only a fine saw, should be moved in a sloping or sawing direc¬ tion and held nearly flat to your face, care being taken to draw the skin as tight as possible with the left hand, so as to present an even surface and to throw out the beard. The practice of pressing on the edge of the razor in stropping it soon rounds it; the pressure should be directed to the back, which should never be raised from the strop. If you shave from heel to point of razor, strop it from point to heel, but if you begin with the point in shaving then strop it from heel to poiat. If you only once put away your razor without stropping it or otherwise perfect¬ ly cleaning the edge, you may no longer expect to shave well and easy, the soap and damp so soon rust the fine teeth and edge. A piece of soft plate leather should always be kept with razors to wipe them with .—Medical Classics. Americans Neglect the Mushroom. It is a curious thing that concerning the mushroom, which is to he found everywhere in such abundance, and wMch would make so valuable an article of food if properly used, Americans are generally so ignorant that as a rule that they can not tell it from a toadstool; and although nearly every Irishwoman can bring in * basket of mushrooms out of hand, eve* then many are afraid to eat them. Cer¬ tain people will claim that anything with side—is gills—parallel edges will lining all the under edible, but not eat it them¬ selves; others claim that the gill must be of a particular color. These will have only the mushroom grown in a cellar, those only the mushroom grown with nothing between it and the sky. The mushroom loved in Italy is rejected in England, and the best English mushroom of all is regarded in Italy as of the same nature as the evil-eye. It would be well worth while to have some instruction made common as to the general nature of this growth, deleterious the innocence quality of some specie* • and the of others.— Argonaut, THE TRYSTING PLACE. r* Westward over th*pa]e green sky The rosy pennons of sunset-fly; Westward slowly the great rooks hie, With cawlingaod laboredflapping; The bushes blend in a vagueness dark, And the further trees stand tall and- stalk; I hear the rushes wnisper and,shake, As a flutter of wind begins to wake, And louder grows In the quick repose The sound of the river’s lapping. Still half an hour, by the abbey chime! I come to the tryst before the time; I hearken the river’s rippled rhyme And the sedge’s rustled greeting; And I cheat my heart with feigned fears; And sigh as I wait (for nb one hears), To make the joy more rich and vast Whan I feel his lips on my own at last And hear no sound As the world goes round But the throb of our two hearts meeting HUMOR OF THE DAY. The rule of three—One too many. An I-glass—The mirror. A Glass In the mirror. The stepping-stones to success “rocks.”— Life. It is the bearded lady whose face is her fortune.— Life. First in war and first in peace—The letters “w" and “p.” The good die young. This is particu¬ larly true of cMckens. “Not in our set,” as the false tooth re¬ marked to the old grinder. A man experiences that 1 ‘sinking feel¬ ing” when he falls overboard. Two heads are better than one_On the shoulders of a museum freak. No wonder time.is so often killed; is struck every hour.—®. Louis Magazine. A youth—the subject of the rhyme— Spent all his strength in killing time. As years rolled on—the truth is grim— Time took his turn and slaughtered him. —Merchant Traveler. There is no reason in the world why a “baby show” shouldn’t be a howling suc cess. A real life-saving station is always managed —Picayune. by sailors, and not by doctors. TMs is the turning period in the life of the farmer’s boy if there is a on the place .—Binghamton Republican. When a washerwoman changes place of residence one may ask her * she hang3 out now" without using slang. When the maiden dons a muslin gown, And the dog has a muzzle on too, . ’Tis then we sigh to get out of town And down by the ocean blue. —Boston Courier. Mrs. Parvenu (to the maid)—“Now, Lucy, you may do up my hair.” Lucy —i “Yes, mum. Shall I doit up in paper or get a box?” A hard storm is often alluded to as rain of cats and dogs, but a biting storm is probably when the fall is confined canines exclusively.— Harper's Bazar. A man was arrested the other day stealing an umbrella and tried to get by saying that he was trying to lay some¬ thing by for a rainy day.—Boston Post. The sheriff’s notice thus supplies A moral and a tale; The man who failed to advertise, Is advertised to fail. —Philadelphia Press. “Post no bills!” ejaculated Fleecy, reading the well-known sign seen in many parts of the city. “Humph! I never do; I always prefer sending them by the collector.”—Judge. When it ain’t rainin’ it’s bakin’; When it ain’t bakin’ it blows. When it don’t blow it’s arhailin’. So get in your coal ’fore it snows. —Detroit Free Press. At the Jeweler’s—“But, Max, don’t you think it extravagant to give $300 fo* a diamond to wear on my hand?” “Not at all, my dear; you don’t consider how much I shall save ou your gloves.”—. Fliegende Blaetter. Here lies a man who laughed at death, For many years he mocked her Some say he died for lack of breath And some accuse the doctor. —New York Sun. “You must stop tMs smoking during business hours,” said the head clerk, “What’s the matter?” inquired one of thq boys. “The boss says he can’t appreci¬ ate his five cent cigar when you clerks "era puffing your Henry Clays.”— Epoch. Mr. Swallowtail—“Sir, I come to con¬ fess a great wrong I was about to da ta you and to beg your pardon. I about to elope with your eldest daughter.” Papa—“Come again; what was the culty, my dear fellow? Didn’t have enough money? Let me lend you a couple of hundred .”—Chicago Herald. A tenderfoot whittled beside a wood shed. When some cowboys of Sassafrass City Caused a shower of bullets to whiz round bis, And head; he looked on their efforts with pity. For he gazed from his dream with a beauti¬ ful smile On the demons of carnage and bloodshed, And murmured, “A miss is as good as a As he mile," carved the ■" ball out of the woodshed. — Harper's Bazar. • Voting by Electricity. The plan of voting in assemblies means of the electric current, and thus avoiding the time lost in making divi¬ sions, has been before the French Cham¬ ber of Deputies, and a report on the sub¬ ject was presented by M. Montant. la that report the advisability of employe ing a the macMne which would indicate not! only total votes “pour” or “contre” and! aj measure—that is to say the “ayes" “noes”—hut also the number of volun-i tary abstentions from voting, as distinct! from the number of absentees. Such an| apparatus has been devised by M. La, Goaziou. On every desk in front of a! member is placed a small box fitted with! two handles, wMch the member works' when handle registering Ms vote. The right! registers Ms “aye," the left his “no,” and both moved simultaneously indicate his abstention from voting. The results are printed by means of electro¬ magnets in a receiver, and are visible at a glance. Provision is made for a-membet to recall and-correct his vote during the time allowed for tfie purpose. -- r