Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 June 1894 — Page 4

LITTLE MISS BRAG. Little Miss Brag has much to say To the rich little lady from over the way; And the rich little lady puts out a lip As she looks at her own white, dainty slip And wishes that *‘e could wear a gown As pretty as gingham of faded brown ! For little Miss Brag she lays much stress On the privileges of a gingham dress — “ Aha, Oho! ” The rich little lady from over the way Has beautiful dolls in vast array; Yet she envies the raggedy home-made doll She hears our little Miss Brag extol. For the raggedy doll can fear no hurt From wet, or heat, or tumble, er dirt! Her nose is inked, and her mouth is, too, And one eye’s black and the other’s blue—- “ Aha. Oho! ” The rich little lady goes out to ride With footmen standing up outside. Yet wishes that sometimes, after dark Her father would trundle her in the park:— That, sometimes, her mother would sing the things Little Miss Brag says her mother sings When through the attic window streams The moonlight full of golden dreams — “ Aha, Oho! ” Yes, little Miss Brag has much to say To the rich little lady from over the way; And yet who knows but from her heart Often the bitter sighs upstart— Uprise to lose their burn and sting In the grace of the tongue that loves to sing Praise of the treasures all its own ! So I’ve come to love that treble tone—- “ Aha, Oho!” . —[Eugene Field, in Chicago Record.

He Old Lady's Siory.

BY MARY KYLE DALLAS. “When I was a girl,” said the old lady—she was a very, very old lady, eighty-five or more,they said, “things were not as they are now, and the post office, here in America, was not managed as it is to-day. Getting a letter was a serious thing, and sending one more so. I’ve reason to know that. ‘ CtJd. lived in the country with my aunt and uncle-—not my real uncle, for he was my aunt’s second husband, and she only an aunt by marriage—but I had no other kin and was glad to have home folk. I had, beside, a cousin by courtesy. His name was Thomas, and that was about all I knew of him for years—he came in and went out without taking any notice of me. His father used to talk about him before me, finding fault with his idleness. Once I heard him say: “ ‘The boy has not the making of a man in him, Cynthia. You wait on him and spoil him, and one day you’ll regret it.’ “Then aunt asked uncle if he wished her to be hard on the only

son out of three. “‘Not hard,’ he answered; ‘only Tom ought to be taught that he will have to see to himself—we have nothing to leave him. If I should die before you, he ought to be able to support you—and he takes to nothing.’ “Tom, by thig time, was a young fellow of nineteen, and I was fifteen. Three years later he had no more idea of settling to any business than he had had before, and I had come into a fortune. It was not a large one, but it was enough to make me comfortable for -life, and I was glad to stop washing dishes and doing the ironing, and ask my aunt to make me a boarder, since I could pay her well. “She was pleased, and that day I left mj 7 little garret-room under the eaves, and had a large room on the second floor given me. “Besides paying my board, I hired a servant for the housework, and my aunt thought that very generous. Hitherto I had worn her made-over gowns. Now I sent for Miss Crabtree, the dressmaker, and had plenty of dresses made, giving Aunt Cynthia a rich black silk and a broche shawl. She made a great fuss over them, and I was not surprised that my cousin Tom should begin to be very pleasant to me, for the first time in my life. “I thought it was because he saw I had kind feelings and was grateful for what had been done for me when I was a little orphan. It was a new . thing to be made so much of as I was now, and I enjoyed it. Even when Cousin Tom began to make love to me I never guessed that it was be; cause I had money, as I know it was now. “ ‘Will you marry me, Cousin Belle?’ he said one day, and my answer was: ‘Tom, I feel as if I did not love you the right way, we are too much like brother and sister.’ “But he teased me and teased me, until I told him that he might ask me again at the end of the year. “ ‘But you must build no hope on that,’ I said, ‘for I think I shall feel just as I do now.’ “And now Aunt Cynthia began to praise her boy to me, and to, say how glad she should be if he had chosen some one she loved. “It might be that I would have yielded to this pressure, but that something shortly happened to turn the whole current of my life. It can be told in a few words. I met Ar-

thur Lorrimer at the house of a friend. He devoted himself, to me that evening, and he saw me home, and I understood from what he said that he was in love with me. Cousin Tom was furious that I had accepted other escort. We had a scene that very night. Tom was very rough and brutal. “ ‘You have no right to accept another man’s attentions,’ he said. ‘You are engaged to me.’ “Of course this was false, and I told my aunt what I had really said to him. She only cried, and told me that I had no feeling for her poor boy, who loved me so well. “I might have believed that he loved me, and felt myself guilty, but that a little later, coming down stairs to find my gloves, which I had dropped, and stepping softly, for I thought the whole house was asleep, I saw Aunt Cynthia and her son still sitting beside the grate. “ *1 don’t care a ran for the oirl

herseW,’ Tom was saying. ‘I know many a one I admire more, but I like her money, and it would slip into my pockets without any trouble. I hate work, And it seemed such a soft thing to get a rich wife.’ “ You shall have the child,’ said the mother. ‘I can keep that jackanapes away. Fine clothes and city ways have caught her fancy, that is all. Besides, how do you know the man means anything. “ ‘By his looks.’ said Tom, ‘I kept wondering what he saw in her pale little face to roll his eyes for. Why, I think she is very nearly plain.’ “ I went up stairs without my gloves, but my heart was very light. I could have no pity for a fortunehunter, and the words I had heard made me happy. “To cut a long story short, lest I bore you, it was not long before I was engaged to Mr. Lorrimer. My aunt had permitted his visits, and told me that she hoped I would not leave her until I was married. I knew that the money I contributed to the household was valuable, and agreed to stay. Tom I seldom saw nowadays; when I did, he was sulky. “I had known all along that my betrothed husband was going to Baltimore for a few months before our marriage, but when the time came, it was very hard to part, and when he was gone I was very sad and lonely. As I told you, in those days the mails were very slow there were no steam cars. “For a long time I was not alarmed, but at last a terror beyond words fell upon me, and I expected nothing but to receive tidings of illness or death. What came to me, however, was this: “A paper in which was marked in pencil a notice of the marriage of Arthur Lorrimer to Augusta, daughter of Everliegh Turner, Esq., and a note in an unknown hand. “ ‘Madam’—it read—‘As one of Mr. Lorrimer’s closest friends, I am charged with a message to you. You will see that he is married to his love with whom he quarreled two years ago. That love will have its way, is the only excuse he can offer. He prays that you may be happy, and begs you will forgive Ijim. “ ‘A. Appletow.’ ” “I did not faint, I did not weep, when I received this letter, but I felt the shock in every nerve. My cousin had brought the mail from the post office, and as I sat gazing into the fire he touched me on the arm.

“ ‘Cousin Belle,’ he said, ‘I read the paper on my way home. See now what a false heart you have been trusting in, and setting aside a love that would have lasted you for life.’ “ ‘Do not utter falsehood, Cousin Tom,’ I said. ‘You care nothing for me; you want my money, for I heard you tell your mother so. But I will marry you and show this deceiver that I am not pining for him. Only remember, I do not love you any more than you do me; and I will never give you even a kiss.’ “ ‘Oh, Belle, Ido love you! I said what I did out of pique 1’ cried Tom, ‘and lam sorry you heard me. We shall be a very happy couple yet.’ “ ‘Never!’ I said. “ ‘l’ll write to this fellow,’ said Tom. ‘Pretend we have not heard the news, and tell him you’ve found out you like me the best, and want to be off with me.’

“ ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘you may do that, I hate you both; but tell any lie you like.’ And he ran away. “Silting in the room where I stood was a looking-glass which reflected a portion of the kitchen. As I happened to turn my eyes that way, I saw my aunt standing near the open fire reading a letter. As she read, she seemed to watch and listen. “In those days we used both black ink and red for correspondence, and Arthur had a fancy for red. This letter was written in that color. The writing, too, looked at that distance like his, and the secrecy of Aunt Cynthia’s manner awakened my suspicions. I took a step forward, and she flung it into the fire, and I saw her run out at the garden door. The next instant I was in the kitchen. “The paper had not blazed up at once, f<JT it had fluttered behind the back log. I caught up the tong's and brought it safely out. It was scorched and yellow, but I knew I could read it; and running to my room, bolted myself in and examined the paper.

“It was a letter from Arthur, and from I learned that he had written many times, and having received no reply, had grown so anxious that he had resolved to come back again. “ I am greatly irritated to-day,’ he said. ‘Some rascal has thought it a good joke to publish a false marriage with an unknown, probably imaginary lady. It is unlikely that you will ever see a Baltimore paper, but I cannot help troubling about that, too. However, we shall meet in a few days. The stage should arrive at next Thursday.’ “I saw it all —my cousin had played a deep trick. The advertisement was his work, and he had forged the letter, but I was master at last. “As for my aunt, the cruel creature had destroyed the letters for which she knew I was longing—sht would willingly have broken my heart in order that her son might have my money. “I believe from what I saw that she had not been able to finish the letter, and was not aware how soon Arthur would arrive, for this day was Thursday, I remember, and night was coming on. “I went down to tea as though nothing had happened. My cousin took my hand and kissed it, my aunt advanced and kissed my cheek. “ ‘Here are true hearts,’ said she, ‘and we will compensate you for what false ones have made you suffer.’ “ ‘Marry me to-morrow, my darling,’ said Tom, ‘and I can write to that man, not that we are engaged, but that you are my wife.’ “‘A good idea,” said I; and just then I heard the rumbling of wheels. A vehicle stopped before the house, and some one rapped heavily with the knocker upon the outer door. “ ‘lt is he!’ I cried, and in a moment more I. was clasped in Arthur’s arms. “Ask me no questions,’ I cried, ‘but take me away from these terrible neonle who would stop at no

crime in order to win what litth wealth is mine.’ ‘ ‘That very night old Parson Partridge married us, and I left the town with my husband. At my prayer, he forbore to punish Tom, and we have never seen any of those people since, and have lived happily foi years amongst my husband’s kinsfolk here in Baltimore.”—[Family Story Paper.

THE SEA OTTER.

His Fur the Costliest in the WorldShot from Derricks. Just at the present the Sea Otter is the favorite of the millionairess, and his fur is the costliest in the world. I wonder if any of the wearers of this beautiful fur—so costly that the price of one set would feed a hungry family for two whole years—ever stop to find out how the first wearer was born on a bed of kelp, floating out in the open sea, on the icy cold waters of the Pacific, and literally “rocked in the cradle of the deep;” how he was brought up on the heaving billows, and, when bedtime came, found a soft resting place on his mother’s breast, while she floated upon her back and clasped him with her paws as he slept; how the only land he ever saw was the rugged, rock-bound shores of Alaska or Washington. Now and then,when the ocean was very rough, and before the hunters were so bad, he used to crawl out upon a rock and lie there, while the roar of the breakers boomed in his ears and the breakers dashed over him In torrents. But then, it is probable that not one woman out of every five hundred takes the trouble to learn the life history of the creature whose furry coat she wears. The Sea Otter is the largest of the Marten family, and is very unlike the family after which the family is named. It has a thick, clumsy body, which, with the round, blunt head, is from three and a half to four feet in length. Unlike those of all other otters, the tail is short and stumpy, being about one-fifth the length of the head and body. As if to increase its value, and hasten its destruction, the skin is much larger than the body, like a misfit coat, and lies loosely upon it in many folds. For this reason the stretched pelt is always mucfy and longer than the animal that wore it?"

The coat of the full-grown Sea Otter is very dense, very fine, and its color is shimmering, lustrous black. Ever since the earliest discovery of the Sea Otter by the Russians, its fur has been eagerly sought by them, and the cash prices of skins have always been so high that there is not, in the whole United States, a museum rich enough to afford a good series of specimens. Mr. Charles H. Townsend, the naturalist of the United States Fish Commission, writes me that in 1891 the price of the best skins had reached S4OO each, and their value has been since increasing, On the northwest coast of the Statte of Washington, where Sea Otters if re still found along a thirtymile s€rip of coast (from Gray’s Harbor, half-way to Cape Flattery), they are ?hot by hunters from tall “derrick’S’’ from thirty to forty feet high, erected in the surf half-way between high tide and low tide, and the hunter who kills four Otters in a year considers his work successful. Owing to the persistent hunting that has been going on ever since Alaska came into our possession,‘the Sea Otter is rapidly following the buffalo to the State of Extermination. The favorite food of the Sea Otter is not fish, as one might suppose from the habits of the common Otter, but clams, crabs/ mussels, and sea-urchins. Its molar teeth are of necessity very strong, for the grinding up of this rough fare, and the muscles of the jaws are proportionately powerful.—[St. Nicholas.

An Astonished Admiral.

“Sailors, like horsemen, have g tendency to become bow-legged,” said Captain S. Wooden, an ex-navy officer, who was at the Southern yesterday. “I once saw an old Admiral whose long sea service had given hia legs a decided outward curvature, have a singular adventure with a bull dog that was a pet aboard ship. The sailors had taken great pains with the dog’s education and taught him a number of tricks. One of his most frequent exploits was to jump through the aperture made by the man holding one of his feet against the other knee. It was a trick that the dog seemed to take great delight in performing. One day the Admiral came on board the ship on a visit of inspection, and while standing on deck conversing with some of the officers was spied by the dog. The Admiral’s bow legs seemed to strike the dog as affording the best chance fora running leap he had seen in many a day. Suddenly he made a rush and leapt like a whirlwind through the tempting gap. In astonishment at what had passed beneath him, the Admiral turned quickly around to see what was the cause. The dog took this action as a signal for an “encore,” and jumped again, barking furiously all the time as a means of showing how much he enjoyed the sport. The bewildered face of the Admiral was too much for the 'gravity of the spectators, and, forgetting the respect due to rank, they broke into a hearty roar, in which, after he understood the situation, they were joined by the Admiral himself.”—[St. Louis Globe-Dem-ocrat.

Egypt’s Smelling Festival.

On Monday next, when the annual custom termed “Shemm en Neseem” (or the Smelling of the Zephyr) will be observed, all Government offices will be closed and the day will be observed as a general holiday throughout the country. Onions will be in great demand, for early on Monday morning many persons, especially women, in accordance with an ancient Egyytian custom, dating from time immemorial,break an onion and smell it. There will also be a wholesale migration into the country for the purpose of “smelling the air,” which is believed by the natives of Egypt tc have a wonderfully beneficial effect on that day.—[Egyptian Gazette.

SOMEWHAT STRANGE.

ACCIDENTSAND INCIDENTS OF EVERYDAY LIFE. Queer Facts end Thrilling Adventures Which Show that Truth is Stranger Than Fiction R. G. Beveridge, a well-known local amateur photographer, of Oil City, Penn., has secured a snap-shot picture of a rattlesnake biting a man, and, so far as known, the picture is the only one of the kind in existence. It is hardly necessary to state that it was obtained by accident. Dr. C. J. Reynolds, formerly of Oil City, has been a few days in the woods in that vicinity assisting Rattlesnake Pete Gruber catch snakes for the latter’s museum, and to illustrate the process to his friends in Pittsburgh, he determined to take a series of photographs. The box of twenty-two snakes already captured, together with the photograph outfit, was taken to a ledge of rocks near Siverlyville by Dr. Reynolds, Pete and Beveridge. The snakes were then photographed in different postures, and as a climax it was decided to illustrate how the biggest snake of the lot was captured. It was placed on top of a huge mass of rock, and the doctor posed as if he had just caught sight of the reptile, and was motioning to Pete, who was climbing up the face of the rock. In his anxiety to get a good pose, Dr. Reynolds failed to notice that while he was getting into position the snake had worked his way to the edge of the rock. When Pete put his hand over the edge of the rock to steady himself, the snake, over five feet long, struck savagely at the moving finger. Its teeth grazed the ball of the thumb, cut the skin, but did not draw blood, and a quantity of venom spread itself over the thumb, but was washed off with the contents of a bottle of ammonia and did not do any damage. The photographer was so startled by the snake striking that he convulsively squeezed the bulb connecting the shutter of his camera, and secured what is probably the most unique photograph in the State.

On a recent morning when Ray McCollum, living three miles from Farmer’s Valley, Penn., went out to feed hi§ jovj he (qund her lying .in a pool of blood in the Darn yard. There were gashes in her flesh, on her lower left side, her legs were stripped of their flesh in many places, and her horns were covered with blood. She was still alive, but was shot to end her misery. As there was not a foot of ground in the barnyard that was not torn, and as the soil was drenched with blood, and the barn and fence were spotted with it, it was plain that a desperate conflict had occurred during the night between the cow and some fierce animal. There was a break in the barnyard fence, showing where the trespassing animal had entered. David Marcy, neighbor of McCollum’s, on going to feed his stock the same morning, discovered that a large and vicious Berkshire boar of his had broken from his enclosure. Marcy started to search for his missing boar, and heard of the plight in which McCollum had found his cow and barnyard. He was sure that the bloody duel that had taken place there the night before was between his boar and the cow, and this was made certain when he found the boar half buried in the soft mud on the edge of a swamp a quarter of a mile from McCollum’s. The mud was red with blood for several feet around the boar. This had flowed from eleven holes in the animal’s side where the cow had gored him. One of the boar’s eyes was out, one of his tusks broken off, and his flesh was frightfully ripped. He was nearly dead and was shot. ,

Harry Moore, who for years was an engineer in Mexico, states that there are queer laws down there. He gives the following as a fact: “I was walking along one of the thoroughfares of the City of Mexico,” remarked Mr. Moore, “when a man came along and tickled one of the hind legs' of a mule. The animal pricked up his ears and both hind legs shot out, the hoof of one of the legs landing squarely in the face of his tormentor. The man was picked up and carried unconscious into a house near by. The poor fellow breathed his last half an hour later. A policeman came riding up at full speed, asked the cause of the excitement, and on being informed,arrested the mule and took the animal off to jail. A trial was had and the judge, without jury, sentenced the mule to the penitentiary for life, assessing a fine of eighteen cents a day against the owner to keep the mule in feed.” Mr. Moore further stated that the Wells Fargo Express Company has a dog at their office in the City of Mexico which has been in jail several times for bit ing and snapping at Mexican pedestrians. Some twenty years ago a Klamath River Indian, had a difficulty with three other Indians, during which he was killed, and at the same time killed one of the other Indians. Several years later one of the surviving Indians died. The Indian killed by the other three in the trouble above referred to had a boy about one year old at the time. The boy being now twenty-one years old, and knowing from his mother the circumstance of his father’s death, watched a good opportunity to kill the only surviving murderer of his father. He pretended at all times to be very friendly with the surviving Indian of the difficulty, but a few days ago, while smiling pleasantly before his victim, suddenly pulled a sharp knife from beneath his coat and slashed him across the body, from the effects of which wound the murderer of his father died in a very short time, and the young assassin skipped to parts unknown. The honorary freedom confers a kissing privilege upon its possessor in the ancient borough of Rye, in Sussex, one of thv Cinque ports. By one of the early charters, which had long been overlooked, but which was brought to light again the other day by a searcher among its ancient records, the possessor of the honorary freedom of this small but distinguished borough secures the right and privllege-of kissing the Mayoress. At Hungerford, in connection

with the festivHies of Hocktide, there are two officials known as “tuth men,” who have the privilege of taking a kiss from each member of the fair sex. They are appointed annually by the chief constable, who is head man of all the commoners. The Emperor of China is not content with the respect shown him by his subjects, and recently issued the following peculiar order: “After bringing our sacrifices to the highest being, we heard upon our return to the palace, near the gate leading to the Imperial quarters, a rather loud noise caused by talking. This shows that the people have not the proper regard for the majesty of the ruler, and also that the officers of the bodyguard have failed to do their duty properly. The officers who were on post at the particular gate must be punished, therefore, by the Ministry of War. . In the future, however, all officers, however, high or low, must see that a noise so improper shall not occur in our presence.” George Fox, of Angels Camp, Calaveras County, Cal., has a two-year-old colt which is to a certain extent a natural curiosity. For some months past the colt has had a tender spot near its right ear, and recently it resulted in an open wound. After trying in vain to heal it its owner decided to take the animal to a doctor of Stockton to have the wound treated. The doctor after a careful examination made an incision with his scalpel, and, taking a pair of strong forceps in his hand, he drew from the place a well-formed molar tooth, in form, shape and color exactly like those in the colt’s mouth. The colt improved at once and the wound is healing. In one of the big down town buildings in New York there is a restaurant whose walls are composed entirely of mirrors. The effect is startling to the person who looks into the dining room from the street or hallways. The curtains prevent his seeing anything except the ceiling and upper walls. In these, however, he can see mirrored all that the room contains. Of course everything appears inverted, and it is astonishing to see a man eating his soup with his head down and his feet in the air. The sight is sufficiently novel to attract crowds at times.

An interesting story is told of a wealthy collector named James W. Ellsworth, who amuses himself by spending thousands of dollars every year in making additions to his various collections. Recently he came in possession of an 1804 dollar that has an interesting history, as its existence was not known. It appears that a colored man received the dollar from his dying father, who had kept it as a means of remembering the year he became a freedman. The negro kept the coin for forty years and finally sold it to a Mr. Driefus.

A Maine dog was presented by his Lubec owner to a man at Eastport. He was kept tied up for several days. When they released him he made for the water and tried to swim to the Lubec side, but the current was too strong. He came back crestfallen. He tried it again, with equally bad luck. But the third time he got to land, and ran four miles to the house of his old owner. He swam a mile and a half.

AT the marriage of the eldest son of Babu Raj Kama Roy, Zemnidarof Narail, India, recently, the procession was a most imposing one, the bridegroom party alone consisting of 1,200 to 1,500 men. A notable innovation in the shape of an Indian female string band, which drove with the procession in a wagonette, attracted a great deal of attention. Miss Emily T. Gerry, a daughter of Elbridge Gerry, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, has just passed her 90th birthday. She lives alone with her servants in her old-fashioned home in New Haven, and until five years ago,when she was paralyzed, retained complete possession of faculties of mind and body. The rare instance of the coming of age of a whole trio of triplets was celebrated recently at Whitenast, near Leamington, England. Generally in case of triplets, the children die soon after birth, but occasionally they survive and reach maturity. One case is on record of quadruplets, all of whom were reared. Capt. Cornelius Nye, a pensioner of the War of 1812, recently celebrated his ninety-eighth birthday at his home in Lynn, Mass. He was born in Fairfield, Me., and spent most of his life there until eighteen years ago. His first vote was cast for James Monroe. Twenty years ago W. A. Van Sickle, of New Brunswick, N. J., lost a watch in a field at that place, and recently a colored man unearthed it. After being soaked in oil the timepiece was found to be in fairly good condition.

Why Two People Look Alike.

The fact that two people who live long together tend to grow alike, is accounted for by unconscious mimicry reacting upon the muscles of expression in the same way that a ruling passion does. This tendency to facial imitation is very general—in fact, almost universal—and may be so marked as to be easily noticed; so that when two people are engaged in animated conversation, the expression of the listener may often be seen to echo that of the speaker. How “infectious” is a smile or a laugh, even when the idea which gave rise to it in the first case is not transferred ! [Blackwood’s Magazine.

A Mathlmatical Wonder.

Rube Field, the Warrensburg Penn., mathematical wonder, is an imbecile and does not know one figure fforn another. His pastime is to give off-handed answers to problems likes this: “What will 550 2-8 yards of calico amount to at 5 cents per yard with a discount of 5 and 2 1-2 per cent*.” It takes but a moment for him to answer such questions, and the reply is said to be invariably correct. [Detroit Free Press.

FOR THE LADIES.

A Con* Receiver--A Lac* Bertha--Fashion Not**. A CONE RECEIVER. A pretty and useful hair receiver may be made by following instructions here given. It is necessary to use some heavy, stiff material for the foundation, so as to retain the shape. This may be covered with lighter material, if desired. Take a piece of heavy canvas and roll it into the shape of a cone. Sew the seam joining the sides very securely, and make as small a seam as possible. Red plush and red ribbon may be used. When preparing your plush to cover the canvas, make it also into a cone shape, about one-eighth of an inch larger than the canvas cone. In making the seam, turn the goods so as to make the seam come on the outside. Press this down flat, turn the material out on the right side and draw the plush over the canvas, bringing the seam to the back. Finish off the top with silk cord or a binding of ribbon. Take a piece of ribbon one-half yard long and sew an end to each side of the receiver, finishing off the joinings with bows of the ribbon. A silk tassel to match the color of the material used should be placed on the pointed end of the cone. This looks very nice when hung up near the dressing case, and will be found extremely useful. A LACE BERTHA. Lace may be arranged after the accompanying pattern to form a waist

decoration that is transferable to a number of gowns. It may be belted at the waist-line. The shoulder flounce is after the prevailing mode. FASHION NOTES. Shepherd’s-check costumes are in high vogue both here and abroad. Light alligator belts are made to wear with tan and white check ginghams. Very dainty kerchiefs for the summer are of ecru and flax-blue linen, embroidered with tiny white dots, flowers, etc. Odd handkerchiefs have tinted borders and centers embroidered with a design of black dots, fleurs-de-lis or interlaced rings. Pink linen shirt waists with trimmings of white linen lace insertion on the collarette, sleeves and belt, are stylish and becoming. Black dotted gauze or silk crepon made up over watered silk forms a beautiful toilet for evening wear for young ladies in mourning. Shot fabrics still find favor and deserve to do so. Timid women who eschew bright colors, but like a little color-relief, find it to their great satisfaction among the shot materials of the season. A circular handkerchief of white cambric has, instead of a border, a Van Dyked edge festooned in black silk. So it seems that the black and white craze has extended even to the dainty mouchoir. Dotted Swiss muslin with laee and ribbon trimmings makes an ideal graduation dress. A more elaborate gown is one of white crepon or Fayette., with moire sash and bodice trimmings of moire. A pretty fancy for evening is the wearing with a checked silk toilet a wide sash bow and ends of black tulle with a spreading bow without ends, added to the bodice and put on a few inches below the throat where the V opening terminates.

The inevitable fleur-de-lis is seen either embroidered in white or printed in tints on white linen and cambric handkerchiefs. Butterflies, ferns and various floral patterns also give good effects. The tinted designs are outlined with very fine needlework. Many handsome tints in mousquetaire gloves are offered for dressy yrear this summer. Russets, pale browns and tans always look well in either suede or glace kid, four-button or mousquetaire length, and they are always in good taste whatever be the color of the costume they complete. The latest wedding invitations is a very large note sheet, the engravings in delicate script and in wMßi# termed “paragraph style,” wffich means written in full lines, as one would write a note without leaving spaces and putting the names by themselves, with the preposition before, as heretofore. Umbrellas are more needle-like and thin than ever. Changeable taffeta is most popular as covering, red, dark hlue, brown and tan being good colors. The casings of these umbrellas come in plain shades of red, blue and brown, and they make a neat and pretty effect when carried by a tailor-made girl. A pretty border decoration for walls represents a cornice or frieze upon which pigeons are sitting—as real pigeons do on such places. The birds may be in various position, and so colored and shaded as to look like bas-relief work. If you can draw a “little bit” you might paint them in water color on the white wall. A curious fashion in scarf and hat pins consists in having as the pin head a large pearl, either pink, gray, white or black, with a tihy diamond snake curled slantingly around it. The lilliputian serpent may be replaced by a fly resting on a miniature sprig of flowers. A turquoise may be used instead of a pearl. The chatelaine bags will be worn

mon this summer than ever before. They come fastened to bits to be worn with the blouse waists, and very handsome ones are in the shops, with thin, flat hooks, that will go under the tight waist and fasten on the skirt belt without making the belt bulge out through the waist. The importers and merahants are offering an unusually large assortment of fancy silks this season, and most of them attach the French title to the various patterns. The fa Conne variety in plain English means figured; carre signifies blocks; travers, crossed lines; quadrelle, checks; pointelie, tiny dots; cannelle, fluted; and petit pois (small pea) dots. Sailor hats with medium wide brims appear in all the fashionable shades of the season to match the summer Eton costumes, this shape being considered almost universally as part of the suit. They are made of chip, rice straw, Neapolitan braid and of coarse and fine braids of every description. They are now often trimmed on each side of the crown with a plain band front and back. Among the inexpensive novelties in summer textiles are the “swivel silks,” which show a mixture of silk and fine tinted or white cotton, the ground plainly woven and sprinkled with dots and dashes of Japanese silk. These fabrics are warranted to wash well, and to wear nearly as long as French gingham. They come in cream, pink, ecru, and all the delicate summer colorings, and are sold at about fifty cents a yard.

CARPENTRY FOR BOYS.

A Pair of Horses. Every boy who is interested in carpentry should have a pair of horses to work on. It is not a difficult matter to make a pair of horses, but it will require time and perseverance to construct a good pair. Get at a carpenter shop a piece of

A GOOD HORSE.

soft ash, 4 feet long, 1 1-2 inches thick and 8 inches wide. Saw this in half, making two pieces each 2 feet long for the heads of the horses. With saw and chisel cut in each side of a head, four inches from the ends, for the top of the legs will fit as shown in fig. 1. Then get eight pieces of pine, thirty inches long, one and a quarter inches thick and two inches wide for the legs, and level the top of

each as shown in fig. 2. Screw each leg securely to the head, and level the bottom of each as shown in fig. 3, so the horse will stand firmly on the floor. At either end of the

horse and just under the projecting end of the headpiece, fasten a board angle block, as shown in the illustration. This will help to strengthen the horse and prevent it from rocking. Take care to make the joints at the top of the legs with the head tight and secure, so the finished horses will bq solid and not wobbly.

Aerial Power of Birds.

It has been shown that the wing area of the different flying creatures varies from about forty-nine square feet per pound of weight in the gnat, ,and five square feet in the swallow, to 'half a square foot per pound of weight in the Australian crane. The frigate bird has the most wonderful wing power of any of the flying animals, being able to cut the air at the rate of 100 miles an hour, and live continually on the wing day and night for a week or ten days. Ornithologists of note even give it as their opinion that a healthy individual of this species would be equal to the task of making a trip around the world without once closing its wings in rest! It is also claimed that some species can remain motionless in the air for hours without flapping their wings; that they can exert three times the horse power per pound of weight that a man can, and about the same amount more than a horse. It is, without question, a fact that birds in general can exert physical energy that is without parallel in nature. It is generally supposed that birds are lighter, bulk for bulk,«than other animals, but repeated 'experiments have proven that • there are no grounds upon which to base such an opinion.—[St. Louis Republic.

The Formation of Clouds.

Clouds are simply a form of water made visible by the cooling of the air which previously held the water in the form of invisible vapor. Every cloud may be regarded as the top of an invisible warm column or current thrusting its way into a colder body of air. The comparative altitude of a cloud may be judged, when there is no time or opportunity to make exact measurements from its form and outline, its shape and shadow, its apparent size and. movement, its perspective effect, and the length of time it remains directly illuminated after sunset. By the last method Mr. Inwards states that some clouds have been estimated to have been at least ten miles above the surface of the earth. The cloud velocities at high altitudes have been carefully noted at the Blue Hill Observatory in Massachusetts, and show, practically, that about five miles in height the velocities are three times as fast in summer and six times in winter as the velocities of the currents on the earth’s surface.— [Knowledge. Of the population of India, 52,000,000 are engaged in agriculture.