Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 May 1892 — Page 4

Slje gemotratitgewtind RENSSELAER, INDIANA. J. W. McEWEN, - - - Publisher.

rWhen “the curtain takes a drop” ft reminds so many thirsty people of something. The Emperor William has fewer ihappy days than the man who blacks the Emperor’s shoes. How much more careful people are to make warehouses for the storage of goods fireproof than flats were human beings only are stored. Edward Everett Hale gives a series of rules to enable people to look young at 70 years. They will be eagerly followed by all the “boy preachers. ” New York shoe and leather dealers have met and resolved that the World’s Fair being almost on its cppers they will work for it with all their soles. Chicago University trustees want to raise another million dollars. How would it do for the clerical members of the faculty to pray that Mr. Rockefeller might be visited by a severe but not fatal disease. The story that comes up from Colorado about a man who was lost for six weeks in an alkali desert, during which time he lived' exclusively on hope and cactus plants, is perhaps the biggest alkali of the season. Ward McAllister's article on farming shows that he never had the most rudimentary knowledge of the j agriculturist's art. He never raised '■ a mortgage, bought any Bohemian oats, nor gave a promissory note for lightning rods.

Another legal heir to A. T. Stewart has appeared in New York. The merchant prince’s legal heirs are only exceeded in numbers bv the petty meannesses which enabled him to leave a few million for other people to wrangle over. Justice teeters on a fine point in Washington City. An ordinance forbids fast driving over a bridge, and a truck driver was arrested and fined for a too literal interpretation of the law. He walked his team so slowly that he delayed a street-car. ? ' | They must be terribly hard up for amusement in Roumania, where the cadets of a military school have formed an active “suicide club,” like the famous one described by Balzac. When a man’s name is drawn he kills himself. Great fun, isn’t it? The Supreme Court of Minnesota has decided that municipal corporations cannot grant exclusive franchises. office of Alderman in the twin cities will no longer be sought with toe eagerness which has heretofore characterized ambitious aspirants.

The sugar trust has adopted the plan which the whisky trust has found so effective, of giving heavy rebates to grocers who buy of it alone and observe the laws for the “regulation” of trade as laid down by it. The methods of monopoly have become an exact science. The Kansas City Judge who heard toe confessionsjof guilt of tlie man and woman who kidnaped Banker Beale’s child set a good example when be sentenced the woman to two years and the man to four years in the penitentiary. The penitentiaries ooold have no more appropriate inmates than the child-stealers.

Fixe public buildings are going up In various cities and towns over the United States, but the old rattle-trap •t Chicago, known as the Government Building, still stands, only when dices of it tumble into the cellar. Chicago Congressmen are, on the average, a brilliant set, but just what they have done for Chicago could be told in a primer. It is said that Paris receives with Jeers the announcement of Madame Bernhardt that she intends to pass the autumn of her life in a convent; bat they should remember over there that Bernhardt can never grow old, and that by the time she came to the autumn of her life there would be nothing else in the world that would be novel to her except the convent. In pronouncing against woman’s mffrage, Gladstone has given many former admirers cause to fear that he is losing his mental faculties. Beformers in this country have little need of mourning over the position of the English statesman. They have but to open the works of Wendell Phillips to find full answer to every •uggestion offered by Gladstone against the simple justice of equal rights. * India is a little late and behind the rest of the world, but she gives evidence of waking up from her long Bip Van Winkle sleep. Mr. H. H. Bemfrv, a Calcutta solicitor, publishes a sfcc.rt series of essays upon the needs of India, and concisely •tates the case. The resources of India are great, and it only needs an awakening of her people and Infusion of some of the Western spirit in her veins to make wonderful changes. fi The Southern States are having discouraglngly hard times. While thousands upon thousands of home •eafcets at® camping on the borders d Oklahoma, or bracing against the «oid tn Dakota, the millions of fertile mam of the South, with its “glorious ClimiU’' thrown in, go begging for

occupants. Why is It? The men Interested in Southern prosperity should find out. There are million* In it.

The Southern train brigand has got a new wrinkle in his arduous but remunerative profession. He waits until a train has moved out upon some trestle hanging high over a dizzy gulf, and then appears on the scene. With the train halted and his trusty guards placed at either end of the trestle, he has things his own way for a few minutes. During that time he gives passengers, express agents and others the choice of delivering up all their valuables or walk, ing the plank into the abyss. The neatness of these land pirates ha* rarely been exceeded by anything at sea.

French hatred to such cruelty and crimes as are perpetrated by King Behanzin seems suddenly quickened by the announcement that at the capital of Dahomey are buried the vast treasures accumulated by a sue. cession of absolute rulers. Cable ad. vices are that France is actively preparing for war against the brutal Behanzin, and that incidentally the hidden treasure will be seized upon as an acceptable addition to the national exchequer. This age may see the spectacle of Dahomey’s Amazons contending in the field with a soldiery representing the most polite people on earth.

What absurd little things people quarrel about! What trivial matters cause ill-feeling in families! The mutton being roasted too little or the beef too much, an opinion about the temperature of the house, or the style of curtains that ought to be bought for the front windows, the definition of a word or its .pronunciation, are not topics worth a quarrel when peace and good-will are of so much importance in the home. A little ill-feeling is like a little seed that may grow into a large tree which will shadow the whole house. Many a man and woman must look back with regret on the hasty word or the cold reproach which was the entering wedge that split a household in two; and yet how few make a point of uttering the soft word that turneth away wrath.

The modus vivendi with Great Britain, which has just been renewed, is substantially that which was agreed upon for last year. Under its provisions both governments will prohibit the killing of seals within the limits laid down in the treaty of 1867 with Russia, except 7,500 for the subsistence of the natives on the islands of St. Paul and St. George. The clause which has been added to the agreement provides for a settle ment of damages sustained by Canadian poachers in case the arbitration goes against this country. The naval vessels selected by this country for patrol duty are the Ranger, Yorktown, Mohican, and Adams, which will be reinforced by the revenue vessels Corwin, Rush, and Albatross. Several British warships of the Pacific station will also take part in this duty.

There Is a gentleman in America whose undoubted genius has fallen short of securing the appreciation that it should command. People have even gone so far as to make jokes about him. The person In question is General Garza ; who has by his good right arm and lead pencil achieved fame throughout the continent. He has fought scores _of battles without once being in range of so much as a blank cartridge. He has been lost and found more times than Jack the Ripper, and all the time was peacefully writing special dispatches about the probability of his capture in the .retirement of his private office. Like Caesar he undertook the task of embalming his deeds in literature. He outdoes Caesar, for where there were no deeds to record Mr. Garza invented them. There are a number of illuetrious historical figures whose careers were devoid of much of the able generalship that Garza’s has shown. Take Napoleon, for example. He got intc real battles, risked his life and endured all sorts of personal inconvenience only to end his life in banishment and humiliation. Garza avoided all these things. He kept the people interested in him and at the same time enjoyed the luxuries and associations that make existence endur able to a man of refined instincts. He did not allow circumstances to force him into indiscretions. When he found that dangers were thickening about him he took his eraser anc changed his base of operations. It is expected that he will settle down as an editor in Texas as soon as he gets a little experience as a genuine fighter.

Tea Trade Declining.

The prospects of the Chinese tea trade continue to grow more gloomy, says London Figaro. At a general meeting of teamen recently held in one of the Foochow districts, it was stated that during the last five years the hundred and eighty houses engaged in the business lost over $2,000,000. More than half of these decided not to go on risking their capital, and are therefore retiring. It is believed that the foreign merchants will benefit by the reduced competition.

Great Execution.

B. R. Young and his family were traveling in a prairie schooner near Palomas, Mexico, when a loaded gun in the wagon in front was discharged accidentally. The ball pierced Young’s shoulder, passed through his son’s hip, then through the baby’s head, and struck the shoulder of Mrs. Mary Roberts, a daughter of Mr. Young. Gather and son were seriously wounded, the baby was instantly killed, but Mrs. Roberts received only a slight wound.

HOW GOVERNORS LIVE

MANY HAVE POOR PROVISION FOR THEIR COMFORT. Boon* at Private Joe Filer and Hle Fam-ily-Peek Enjoy* Himself at Wisconsin** Capital—Executives of Some Other States Fare Badly. Filer and Hts Home. The mansion which the State of Illinois has provided for its chief executives

GOV. FIFKR.

successive terms), John M. Hamilton, and Richard J. Oglesby again. It was well planned, and although an old structure the building was so thoroughly overhauled, inside aDd out, about two years ago that it still makes a creditable and comfortable, if not an elegant, executive mansion. It is a plain brick structure, and is situated on the south end of an entire block of ground. The ground to the north slopes gently to the street, the lawn is thickly studded with fine shade trees, and a fountain plays In front of the house between the gracefully curved carriage drives. The present occupants of the mansion are Governor and Mrs. J. W. Filer, their

GOVERNOR'S MANSION. ILLINOIS.

daughter Florence, aged about fifteen years, and son Herman, who is perhaps seventeen years of age. The house is oomfortably and tastefully, though n-j* extravagently, furnished by the State, and the State also pays the expense of heating, lighting, and of caring for the grounds. The other household expenses are paid by the Governor out of his private purse. Governor Fifer and his family are what may be called plain livers, and yet they live in a manner befitting their station. Mrs. Fifer is an unaffected and refined lady—a splendid type of the American wife and mother—and Is very much in love with her husband and children. She is an excellent performer on the piano and entertains charmingly. Governor McKinley. Governor McKinley has his home at the Chittenden Hotel, as the state of health of his wife prevents keeping house. The Governor lives very quietly, and is not much given to society. He

OHIO'S EXECUTIVE BUILDING.

walks from the hotel to the State House fqr the sake of the fresh air and the exercise. He seldom goes out in the evening. Ever since he has been Governor he has been almost overwhelmed with demands upon his time. Ho really is not given sufficient time for his meals, and he finds It impossible to givo proper consideration to his mall. Gov.

and Mrs. McKinley have a pretty suite of rooms at the Chittenden. In addition to parlor and private rooms, the Major has a snuggery or library, and there is also a private diningroom, where MhifA SB

Gov. M'KINLEY.

all their meals. The great protection champion is a man of decided domestic habits. He spends every spare moment of his time in the company of his invalid wife, and his unfaltering devotion to her is shown by his every effort to provide for her comfort, and so far as possible make her life one of constant sunßhlne.

Governor Peck’s Home. Governor Peck occupies, perhaps, as handsome a home as any State Executive in the oountry, and it is, too, a home

rich in historic associations. As the illustration shows, the house is located among towering elm trees on the bank of a lake—Mendota, in the euphonious language of the Indians -.with whom its banks \ were in primitive times Sa favorite haunt. The location is charming in the extreme. The grounds surrounding

Gov. PECK.

the residence embrace more than an acre, and are always maintained in excellent order. The house is very roomy, and is furnished in handsome style. Governor Peck lives quietly, yet elegantly, and entertains but little. The absence of social entertainments is, however, due chiefly to the delicate health of thie mistress of the establishment, who twenty years ago was the wife of an impecunious printer, oocupying a humble home on a baok street of La Crosse. That printer, however, is the present Governor of the

GOVERNOR'S MANSION. MADISON, WIS.

commonwealth. The Governor is particularly at home at a dinner party or banquet, where the men have things all their own way. Then he overflows with fun and is a delightful neighbor. He tells a story in rattling fashion and has a big stock of good ones always on tap. Ho enjoys humor wherever it develops, and Is an admirable auditor to the droll narrations of others. The house in which the Governor lives was the same In which Ole Bull, the famous violinist, oourted Miss Thorpe, and it was there that he won and wedded that talented jroqpc ladv. Ole Bull died abroad

was first occupied by William H. Bissell, who was elected Governor of the State in 1856, and who died in office. Then followed John Wood, Richard Yates, Richard J. Oglesby, John M. Palmer, Richard J. Oglesby, John L. Beveridge, Shelby M. Cullom (two

about ten yean ago, and soon afterward the property waa sold to Governor Rusk, and by atm later to the State. Governor Peck Uvea eurrounded by distinguished people. Senator Vilas' handsome home Is but a block away, while judge*, university professors, State officials and capitalists are all about him. It is a congenial neighborhood, full of culture ana refinement. Intlus's Executive. It has long been a reproach to the State of Indiana that her chief magistrates have not been provided with a

residence suitable t o the dignity of the office to which the suffrages of her people have called them. But, while a mansion is not provided for the residence of its Governor, it 6 present executive, by! an odd coincidence, is domiciled more e 1 egantly than were any

of his predecessors. When tha new capitol was erected, at a eost of $2,000,000, apartments were arranged for the judges of the Supreme Court not resident In the city, and lor the Lieutenant Governor. The latter was supposed to be there only during the meetings of the Legislature, and he was provided with two rooms, one for his private office and the other for a sleeping apartment. As Lieutenant Governor, Chase took possession of these apartments, and when Governor Hovey died he also succeeded to the latter’s elegant parlore. He still continues to occupy the rooms alloted to him as Lieutenant Governor. The office is furnished with a desk, book-case and chairs, and a Brussels carpet covers the floor. Folding doors connect it with his sleeping apartment, which is similarly carpeted, and contains a folding bed, easy ohairs upholstered in damask and plush, marble top washstand and dresser, and a small writing table and wardrobe, the furniture being In oak to correspond with the finishing of the room. The windows are draped with damask, and altogether the Executive has apartments that are hardly surpassed In the city. The Governor’s family reside at DanviHe, Mrs. Chase had the small-pok some eighteen years ago, and when she recovered from the disease it was found that her sight had been very seriously impaired. She continued to grow worse, and some eight years ago became totally blind. The family is comfortably domiciled at Danville, and It is understood that Mrs. Chase is averse to taking up her residence in Indianapolis. Governor Boles. lowa as yet has no gubernatorial mansion, and Gov. Boles lives at the

Bavery Hotel in Des Moines. The Governor's home Is at Waterloo. For many years he lived In a modest one-story cottage, with broad verandas opening out on spacious and well-kept lawns, but during the last year he built a new home. He has been twice

GOV. BOIES.

married. His first wife, Adella King, died in Erie County before he came to Waterloo. A daughter survived her, who is now Mrs. J. W. Carson, living at Mount Vernon, lowa. His second wife was the daughter of Dr. Barber, formerly of Erie County, but who had located at Waterloo before his daughter’s marriage. He had come West for her health, and It was this circumstance that probably had much to do with the final location of Mr. Boies at Waterloo, Three children survived her—two sons and one daughter. E. L. and Herbert Boies are two bright young men who are carrying on with the help of ’ their father’s advice a large law practice which he had built up at Waterloo. Miss Jessica Boies presides over the Governor’s household, and is the only member of the Governor’s family who displays any interest in his official position. This young lady is about 26 years old, and spends considerable time with her father in Des Moines. She is a most Interesting young woman, very popular in society circles both at Waterloo, Des Moines, and throughout the State. She is known in the best society in all the different cities in lowa. Tall and stately, she Is a handsome brunette with an especially graceful carriage and pleasing manners. She Is an active member of the Congregational Church and takes an earnest Interest In the promotion of religious work. Governor Boles has two splendid farms In lowa, which he operates by means of tenants and by the cultivation of a great many acres himself. His whole landed possessions aggregate about 3,500 acres, most of which he acquired when lowa was a young State and lands were cheap. Governor Boies' tastes and habits are of the simplest

GOVERNOR BOIES’ WATERLOO HOME.

kind. He is a plain, every-day American citizen. Michigan’s Chief Magistrate. Michigan’s Governor, Edwin B. Wlnans, of Hamburg, has become one of the best known executives in the Union,

because Michigan, heretofore one of the stronges t Republican States, went Democratic while his name headed the State ticket. In appearance the Governor is a man of command-’ ing figure, tall, straight, and mil-itary-looking, with decided features that impress

one very favorably, and oan on occasion express the kindness and gentleness of a woman. His hair is iron-gray, and a mustache of like color adorns his face and sets off, very attractively, a pair of bright eyes that seem to inspire confidence in the man. When away from the capital city the Governor’s time is generally spent at his handsome country home, one mile out from Hamburg, Livingston County, and which comprises a farm of 400 aeres of the best of farming land, and is devoted almost entirely to diversified farming. Pestered by Crank?. Kansas boasts of one of the finest capitol buildings in the country. It is nearing completion and will cost $4,000,000. The first of the four wings was built twenty-three years ago and appropriations for continuing the work have been made at each session of the Legislature. At several sessions bills have been introduced providing for the purchase or the erection of an executive mansion, but they have invariably failed of passage, so that the Governor has been compelled to either rent and furnish his own home or take up his residence at

cm of the hotels. Got. Humphrey decided wpon the lettdf eouree, end •elected a suit of two pheasant rooms at the Copeland, the recognized Republican headquarters of the State. The Copeland stands directly in front of the main entrance to the State Capitol, one block distant. The Governor’s living room has a bay window overlooking the Capitol. It is cozily furnished, and heated by steam and an open fire. The vexations and annoyances which come to tie Governor are legion. The officer seeker and his backer are ever present, and their staying qualities would be worthy of emulation by the youth of the land if exerted in another direction. A day rarely passes when one of them is not on hand to offer his advice and good offices to the Governor as he struggles to arrive at a conclusion that will be for the best interests of the State and people. In Nebraska's Capital. Nebraska has no executive mansion, and Governor Boyd resides at the Lin-

GOV. CHARS.

best the market affords upon his table. He is not a rich man, but possesses enough of this world’s wealth to enable him to gratify his desires in this direction. He is not selfish, and likes to have his friends about him and to dispense hospitality with a liberal hand. As yet he is new to the capital, and his future mode of life is not yet known, even to himself. Circumstances will have to determine suoh questions. In the meantime he lives in modest and unassuming though comfortable quarters, entertaining as expediency may dictate or pleasure command. Those who know him best say that Governor Boyd will not be laoking in the social amenities of his position.

The London General Omnibus Company is about to make a thorough trial of an improved horseshoe, which is said to have been subjected to severe tests on the European Continent with very satisfactory results. The idea, which is the invention of a Frenchman named Pigot, is a very simple one, consisting merely of the affixing to t;he underpart of the shoe of two strips of cork, one on each side. “The cork strips, ” says a printed description, “are held in position by two very thin sheet-iron plates firmly fastened together by a rivet. The outer edges of these plates are slipped between the shoe and the hoof. The inner edges are turned upwards, forming flanges, between which and the inner edge of the shoe the cork blocks are tightly fixed. Betwen these flanges is fitted a screwed bolt, with nuts at either end, so that when the nuts are tightly screwed against the flanges the whole is perfectly immovable. In order to hold the cork still firmer in position the corners of the flanges are turned down over it, thus forming a couple of sockets, into which the cork, which at first sight slightly projects over the surface of the shoe, is Jammed and compressed more firmly every day by the weight of the horse.” These shoes are said to enable the horse to obtain such a grip upon .a slippeiy surface that slipping is almost impossible and straining is greatly diminished. The Brussels Tramway company, after trying them for six months, has adopted them for general use. The extra expense is estimated at $7.50 a year for each horse, against which must be put a saving on the wearing of the shoe and a prolongation of the life of the animal

A survivor of the Black Hawk war is still living in Freeport, 111., in the person of Mrs. William Lawhom. She is the widow of one of the band of settlers who helped to build the fort on Apple River, which was afterwards attacked by the Indians. It was constructed of split logs set on end and making a stockade twelve feet high. The wagons and goods of the settlers’ families were taken inside, and there gathered the men, women, and children when the news reached them of the advance of Black Hawk and.his bloodthirsty warriors. The whites did not have long to wfiit. Three hundred and fifty braves in full war-paint suddenly appeared on the crest of the prairie. After three hours of hard fighting the Indians were repulsed by the sharp and unerring fire from the settlers’ rifles, taking their dead with them. One of the whites, Haskel Rhodes, was killed, and two were wounded. During the seige Mrs. Lawhorp and other women molded bullets and helped the men to load their rifles. As the Indians drew oil the settlers sallied forth, only to fall into an ambuscade and lose several of their little force. Mrs. Lawhorn attends the reunions of the few Black Hawk veterans who survive. She is now nearly 90 years old, and was about 30 years of age at the time of the fight on Apple River.

The heaviest modern ordnance, the English 110-ton gun, has failed to fulfill its initial or experimental promises in more serious handling or application, for reasons now undergoing careful investigation. With a charge of nearly 1,000 pounds best prismatic gunpowder and a cylindrical steel shot of the enormous weight of 1,800 pounds, it was found at the final test that this prodigious shot penetrated entirely through compressed armor—steel-faced iron—of twenty inches thickness, then through an iron backing some five inches thick, after which it pierced wholly through twenty foot of oak, five feet of granite, eleven feet of hard concrete, and three feet into a brick wall. It was concluded, of course, that no existing fortress, much less armored vessel, could withstand such a shot, but the difficulty, of sea handling has proven so formidable a factor that the most sanguine expectations as to the efficiency of such vast ordnance in practical service seem doomed to disappointment. New York Sun. A bedcord that is said to be almost everlasting is in the possession of Mr. Moody, of Winterport, Me. It is made of the sinews of a whale, and has been in constant use since 1789. A minister in this State was, it is said, successively a barber, a bartender and a variety theater actor before he became converted.

GOV. WINANS.

coin Hotel, whioh is the most pretentious hostelry in the city, and here he can receive and entertain his friends (n a handsome manner. Governor Boyd is fond of good living, ‘though not given to extravaganoe, and always wants the

GOV. BOYD.

An Improved Horseshoe.

A Survivor of the Black Hawk War.

The Biggest Guns Hare Failed.

SHOULD BE ATTRACTIVE

SCHOOLROOMS OUGHT TO BE MADE INVIVING. L*t Parents and Teachers Unite Their Efforts In This IMreetton—That «« Hard School "—The Molding Board—What Is Good Order? The Schoolroom.

LITTLE children should be happy in school. An effort should be made by * ho teachers and to put them —J into this frame of mind. There are r scores of ways in whioh this may be done. The most suggestive, problies in making the surroundings

and physical conditions promote the comfort of body and mind. Early in ; the eighteenth century Bulwer wrote: .“Wherever you see a flower in a cottage garden, or a bird-cage at the cottage casement, you may feel sure that the inmates are better and wiser than their neighbors.” The observation has lost none of its force. Our environments .singularly shape and control, within certain limits, our thoughts and feelings, and not unfrequently our purposes ;and actions. We despise shabby and Ineglected surroundings, be they walls, I floors, furniture or premises, and storm and rush through them without feel'ing one Impulse of restraint or respect. Their language is in a strange tongue, and grates upon the nerves of sense. They seem to Shave nothing in common with the current of living events, but to belong to things that are useless and have lost their affinity with life. But we have a | keen sense of the ohqerful. At onoe wo are in touch with the noblest impulses of nature when brought in oontact with conditions that appeal to taste and refinement. Childhood moves along the same plane. Give the ohildren plenty to enjoy through the senses. Let them freely commune with objects in their surroundings that are suggestive of beauty and neatness. Enoourage them to take an interest in flowers, plants, pictures and oare of property. Have plants on every window, neat pictures on the walls, scrupulously clean furniture and floors, plenty of sweet, cheerful air and light, a cozy tone permeating every movement of the school. Seek to make the children happy. Multiply your efforts to endear school-life to them. Believe that you have not discharged your whole duty until you have done this. What teacher will stand up and say, “Impossible!”— School Forum.

“That Hard School."

Miss Grey was asked to take the school, but they told her that it had driven out four teachers in succession. She was not large, not muscular, just an ordinary-looking little woman with extraordinary will power. She was advised to “whip those pesky boys the first chance" she got. Everybody was ready with advice. It was really kind of them, she thought, and she told them so. They talked, and she listened. They went away just a little bit perplexed. They had told her what they should do, but she had not told them what she would do. It piques us to be treated courteously, not confidentially, by people to whom we condescend to give advice. She looked like a person who would be glad of advice, but when you grew better acquainted with her she really had a provoking, thoughtful, strange way of weighing your words and looking very much as if she were weighing you, too. Well, school began. The pupils looked for such a teacher as they were used to; instead they found Miss Grey. She rang the bell, read the Bible, and ordered them all about in a masterful way, which was a quiet way—a determined way—a watchful way—a thorough way. She specified how Bhe wanted the pupils to sit and insisted on their sitting just that way; and withal she was so ladylike and polite to them that they just let her have her way. Day after day, steadily, the school grew into order, and outside of school the pupils had no nicknames for Miss Grey. She was simply Miss Grey. The school had found its mistress.

What Is Good Order? The teacher*ls sometime? so anxious for a quiet school that he etherizes the intellect in order to paralyze the muscles, to the end that quiet may reign. He forgets that good order is only a means to an end; that it is in no sense an end; that it is at the best an unfortunate necessity, an unnatural condition that keeps coltish children physically inactive for five hours a day. The end is mental feeding and intellectual exercising for growth and development in this direction, and experience teaches that the greatest amount of the best results are economically attained by feeding and exercising several minds at once; and such is the freakishness of children in the mass that they can only be treated skillfully when theyare in such physical subjection as to be loyal to the commands'of a superior. Whoever has the tactto secure the highest intellectual activity of the right kind, without giving special attention to the Btillness of the school, has attained high art in school management. The old-fashioned committeeman, who went the rounds of the school once a term to see how the children sat, and wrote a report once a year to tell the taxpayers that Miss Z of district No. 5 did not keep as good order as Miss A of No. 1, whose children did not move a foot, slate, or book with the slightest noise, has found his occupation gone. Good order is now estimated by good work, not by stillness; by intellectual activity rather than by physical inactivity; by life rather than death. The Molding Board. Much of the molding done in sand is lacking in character and purpose; is less real and illustrative than the play in mud. We occasionally find'a firstclass use of the board, however. The accompanying view is of a molding

board in a kindergarten—Mrs. Carolyn M. N. Alden’s, Providence—taken literally from a photograph. The little ones make mountains that are genuinb in their eyes. There are rounded hills, lesser mountains, and a towering peak.

Why They Fail.

Strange as it may seem, there can be too much intellectuality in the schoolroom. Many a teacher of fine mental endowments has failed in her chosen laVdr, because unable to get down to the crude* untutored minds of her little oaes. Children do not take kindly to the abstract, and any knowledge or operation above their comprehension is an

abstraction to them. Dr. Boot, in hii “Story of a Musical Life,” tells of a criticism some of his friends made concerning his compositions. They were too simple: hi 6 talents were capable of higher flights. So he says, “At last I thought I would publish a song or two above the grade of the “People’s Song." This he did; and when the “old question” was put to him, “Why don’t you do something better?" he answered, “Have you ever seen or heard 4 Gently, Ah, Gently,’ or ‘Pictures of Memory?’ To which," he says, "they would have to answer, ’No,’ and I would say, ’That is why I do not write something better, as you call it.’ * And he adds, that he “should be wasting his time in supplying the wants of a few people when he had the multitude to feed.” It is just as true In the school-room, that the teacher who would succeed must adapt herself to the intellectual capacity of her children. It is the height of folly to shoot above their heads or to criticise and soold them because they are not mentally acufie or perfect in their manners. The teacher who gains the love of her pupils, and so succeeds, is one who always feeds the many and not the few.

Ruskin's Toys.

The mother of John Buskin was In every sense a remarkable woman. Her son, in summing up her character, speaks of her as “having great power with not a little pride,” and adds that she was “entirely conscientious, and a consummate housekeeper. ” The home rule of Buskin's mother was-well-nigh Puritanic in severity; his toys were few, and his sources ofamusement limited. He says: For toys, I had a bunch of keys to play with as long as I was capable of pleasure in what glittered and Jingled; as 1 grew older I had a cart and a ball, and when I was 6 years old, two boxes of well-cut wooden bricks. With these modest, but I still think entirely sufficient possessions, and being always summarily whipped if I cried, did not do as I was bid, or tumbled on the stairs, I soon attained serene and secure methods of life and motion, and could pass my days contentedly In tracing the squares and comparing the colors of my carpet, examining the knots In the wood of the floor, or counting the bricks in the opposite houses. There were also intervals of rapturous excitement during the filling of the water-cart through its leathern pipe from the dripping iron post at the pavement edge, or the still more admirable proceedings of the turncock, when he turned and turned until a fountain sprang up in the middle of the street. But the carpet, and what patterns I could find in bed-covers, dresses, or wall-papers were my chief resources.

Posy Rings and Their History.

The old-fashioued posy ring, which was once so much in vogue, has recently been made the subject of a learned discourse before an audience of scientific men and women. It is an extremely interesting bit of jewelry. It has a history, of course. Posy originally meant verses presented with a nosegay, then came to be applied to the flowers themselves, and finally became the brief poetical sentiment, motto, or legend inscribed upon a ring for the finger. The words marked upon these love-tokens were generally of a stereotyped kind, such as “You never knew A heart more true.” One which was presented by the bridegroom bore the suggestive couplet, “Love him who gives this ring of gold, 'Tis he must kiss thee when thou’rt old.” A Lady Cathcart, when about to take unto herself a fourth husband, inscribed upon her ring the hopeful aspiration, “If I survive I will have five.”

A Pretender.

During a sham fight Napoleon came unawares upon a soldier who was lying fast asleep in a field among the corn. “Is this your post?” exclaimed the Emperor, rousing him with the full intention of making an example of him. The soldier, thus suddenly startled out of his slumber, rubbed his eyes, and, on recognizing the Emperor, sprang to his feet, presented arms, and said: “I beg your majesty’s pardon, but we were going through a sham fight, and in order to make the illusion more complete I was pretending to be dead.” Napoleon could not suppress a smile, and forgave the witty lineman.

Standard Value of Horses.

Horses are not valued at higher rates now than in the earlier ages of the world, if we estimate prices paid for them according to the price of food, which seems to be a fair standard of comparison. In King Solomon’s time an Egyptian horse—the best horses were procured from Egypt —cost 150 shekels, about SBS. Six hundred years after Solomon, in the time of Xenophon, Seuthis, the Thracian, paid 50 drachma?, or about $135, for the steed on which he rode during the retreat of the Ten Thousand. ♦

In Empress Marta Theresa’s Room.

An interesting discovery has recently been made in connection with what has been generally known as the room of the Empress Maria Theresa at the Castle of Schonbrunn. Not long ago it was quite accidentally discovered that the walls were covered with cloth, and on the removal of this a fine old painting came to light, dating from the beginning of the eighteenth century, by an unknown master. Prince Hohenlohe, the chief court marshal, has given orders that the picture should be restored.

The First Lace.

The earliest authentic account of lace is about the sixth century, when high-born Italian nuns wrought it for the adornment of the sanctuary. Even before that the English nUns were famed for the very open English work, wonderfully lacey in effect. Monks as well as nuns gave their minds to it. St. Dunstan himself did not think it derogatory to make designs for the convent workers.

London’s Fad.

London’s latest fad, the green carnation, is said to be simply “a cross between a common carnation and a paint brush, ” a practical illustration of painting the lily, which is financially as profitable as the milk-fed squashes they sometimes raise up Id Dakota to startle the tenderfoot