Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1894 — Page 5

LONG STEP AHEAD.

FEATURES OF THE NEW TARIFF SCHEDULE With A* Valorem Doties, Free Wool, Free Lusker, Lower Kates, aw* the Income Tax. There Is U*ht Ahead for A*rtoo>taht sad Merchant. Tariff Reform Osina While it is too book to estimate all tjd the pi oapective gains of Uriff reform. it is not too soen to declare that the gains will, be gteater, rather than larS, than in the Senate bill which is bow in conference. What, then, are e ime of the distinct gains certain to follow the passage of the Wilson bill? 1. One of the greatest gains comes from the greater-use of ad valorem instead of sjecific-duties. It is not easy for those who have not given special at ent on to the subject to realize the great difference between toese two methods of collecting taae*. Specific duties ejlleot as much taxes from the cheap go;<ds of the poor as from toe costly goods of the rich. A tax of 91 a yard may double the cost of an inferior suitof clothing, while it adds but onetenth to the cost of a first-class suit If the first>class suit wears three times aa long as au inferior suit, the poor man wno wears the in'erior suit will pay three times as much taxes as the rich man wno wears the first-class suit. The injustice of specific duties is so great, that it would make them Intolerame if they were applied to direct taxes, where their effects would be seen by all. Thus, a tax of SSO a piece on dwelling houses, which would bear lightly ui an the palaces of our millionaires, would make rebels and anarchists out of our millions of day laborers who .live in houses tuat cost from SSO to SSOO each. It is not, however, because specific duties discriminate in favor of the rich that they-are the rule in the McKinley .bill. It is because they afford more certain and increasingly greater protection. Speaific duties take no account of the natural decline in prices ■of goods. As prices fall the rate of protection increases. A duty of SSO per ton when steel rails are selling for $lO J, gives only 50 per cent protection. The same duty gives a protection of 200 per cent, when the price has declined to $25. The tendency of “these duties to give increasing protection is demonstrated by the McKinley bill. In 1891 the average rate on dutiable imports was 46.28. In 1892 It had increased to 48.71, and In 1893, to 49.58. The tariff of 1883 behaved in the same way, though it contained fewer specific duties. With ad valorem duties the rate of protection is practically stationary. Under the ad valorem Walker bill the rate varied only about 1 per ■cent, during the seven years from 1848 to 11:51. 2. Free wool and greatly reduced duties on woolens will be a boon to the 99 out of every 100 persons who have to consider prices when making purchases. Nor Is it at all probable that free wool will injure the wool grower or the woolen manufacturer. It is quite certain to benefit the textile workers of this country by giving them steadier employment. Free wool will give new life to the woolen industry just as free hides, In 1873, gave new life to the leather dressing and leather -consuming industries. Under protection the price of wool has declined until under the McKinley bill we have reached a free trade basis and are selling our wools in Europe. The farme •, therefore,even if he be a wool grower, has nothing to fear from free wool. If he is not a wool grower he most certainly will lose nothing and will save perhaps 25 per cent, in what he pays for woolen goods. Our exports of woolen goods, which have already begun under taxed raw materials, may be expected toincrease manifold with free materials. The Wool and Cotton Reporter of July 5 tells us that during the first week in June and the last week in May we exported to Great Britain carpets valued at £2,610 (sl3,r 000). This is at the rate of over $303,000 a year. It says that our export trade in carpets has become firmly established and that one firm “of late has alone shipped more carpets to Great Britain than the English and Scotch manufacturers combined have sent to the United States.” With free wool the demand for carpet weavers will surely increase. 3. Free lumber will protect the home industry of building homos. While the benefits will bo but slight in many parts of the United States, in some parts they will be considerable. All kinds of sawed, planed or grooved boards, as well as shingles, laths, pickets, shooks, staves, etc., have been made free. The value of the dutiable imports of the wood schedule was over $13,000,010 in 1893. Under the proposed bill it will be less than $2,500,000. The saving of duties will benefit all, except the holders of timber lands, who are usually rich speculators often with dishonestly ae mired titles. If free lumber causes their land to decrease slightly in value it will still be worth, in many instances, several times what they paid for it. 4. Reduced duties on all manufactures and raw materials except sugar, will lower prices and stimulate industry. While these duties have not been reduced as much as was expected they will still be light as compared with the heavy McKinley duties. 5. The adoption of a tax on incomes will do much to equalize the burdens of taxation. This tax will never rest upon the poor, who pay 75 per cent, of our tariff and internal revenue tax. It has come to stay until supplanted by some better direct tax.—Byron W. Holt. Democratic Fortifications. The great battle of 1896 will, unless the Democrats are inconceivably stupid, be fought with the advantage strongly on their side. The passage of a tariff hill even far below the hopes and expectations of thorough-going reformers will be accepted by the people as a settlement of the question for the pre ent It will at least put the Republicans in the attitude of agitators and disturbers of business should they assail it. A campaign tor the increase of taxes and the unsettlement of industrial conditions, so - soon after a long period of uncertainty and depression, cannot he a popular one. The people will bo tired of the question. Capital and labor will unite in demanding a period of repose and of activity. In the nature of things the stagna- ' tion of business cannot continue much longer. Already there are signs that the passage of the tariff hill and the confirming of the fact that our currency is to suffer no serious disturbance will mark the beginning of a sure if slow revival of industry and trade. The party in power in 1896 will gain a 3 much from the prosperity of the country as it is now losing from its adversity.—New York World. Three Unprotected Industries. The only three articles largely produced in this country, and also largely imported into this country, upon which protective duties are not levied, are gold, siher and human beings. A proposition to put a duty on silver has me re than once been made in an informal way, and the Senate has voted

iowm propositions te levy an import duty of 950 and of $25 ca immigrants. But we have already excluded the Chinese, and immigrants of all sorts whoeome under contract, and Senator Chandler says that legislation still further restricting immigration is to be looked for before the end of this Oongress.—Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin. John Shermnn on Monopolies. The Republican Senator for Ohio, John Sherman, knows a monopoly whea i he sees It—sometimes. Sometimes he does not That depends on the political situation as John Sherman views it Last Thurday he introduced a re solution directing the Committee on Interstate Commerce to inquire into the advisability of regulating by law the use of sleeping and parlor cars. In an interview wh.ch was printed in the Herald he explains that be is after the Pullman monopoly with blood in his eve,and this little resolution as a spiked club in his red right hand. Among other things he says: “I regard the PuL man Company and sugar trust as the most outrageous monopo.ies of the day. They make enormous profits and give their patrons little or nothing in return in proportion." When the Ohio Senator couples the Pullman Ci mpan v with the sugar trust and proclaims them to be the two “most outrageous monopolies of the day” he invites particular attention to the sometimes peculiarity of his eyesight when monopolies are within the range of vision. Four years a«® and a little more he introduced and pushed to its passage aa anti-trust bill. With this club he was going to pound the life out of a great number iof monopoly combinations, among which he named, and with characteristic vehemence denounced, the sugar trust. A few months later, .as a member of the conference committee on the McKinley bill, he insisted on giving that same outrageous monopoly 6c cents per 100 pounds on refined sugar instead of the •iO cents voted by the McKinley House. He finally yielded o far as to make it 50 oents, with an additional 10 cents on sugar from bounty paying countries, meaning German sugar, which was practically ithe only kind competing with the trust product. What was an outrageous monopoly in June ceased to be an outrageous monopoly in the October following, in the view of John Sfierman. In September he secured for the trust a duty w-hioh, according to President Havemeyer, gave it an enormous profit of between $30,000,000 and $35,000,000 in three years. John Sherman saw no ■outrageous monopoly and no enormous profits in this in September, 1890, although he had denounced the trust as an outrageous monopjly four months before. Why? Well, John Sherman is a thrifty man, politically and otherwise. He can see a monopoly when he thinks it expedient to look that way; he can • see none when he thinks it expedient to look in some other direction. Just mow he sees aa outrageous monopoly in the Pullman Company. He thanks inexpedient to look that way. Why? Because some thousands of workmen are waging war on that company. An election is approaching and these men have votes, if he makes ligislative war on the Pullman Company and gets the credit of it, so much the better for John Sherman, and incidentally for his party. That is the Sherman style of statesmanship. When he thinks it will pay to see a monopoly Sherman sees it with tooth eyes; when he thinks it will not pay Sherman does not see it with either eye. He thinks he knows when to face monopoly, and when to turn his back with his hands behind.—Chicago Herald.

Their Only Hope. The people are clear-sighted and intelligent. They understand that Democracy cannot properly be held accountable for the imperfections or even the treachery of some of its trusted agents. They know that for present hard times the blame properly rests upon the unwise and unpatriotic Republican legislation which brought about this condition of things. They know that all that has been done or attempted for the relief of the country is the work of Democracy. If they think the results too small, they see clearly that they have h en made so only by betrayal of the Democratic purpose In the upper house of Congress, where the majority is so narrow that the surrender of even a few men to the trusts renders it impossible to enact such reforms as the Democratic party in the popular house seeks, or such as must f-urely come as a result of prolonged Democratic ascendency. The Democratic party is the party of the people. However imperfect an instrument it may now and then be, it is absolutely the only Instrument of reform there is. In its triumph, iu its lasting control of affairs alone is there hope of the accomplishment of that release of the people from injustice and oppression for which so overwhelming a majority voted in 1892. The vitality of Democracy lies not in leadership, and not in organization, but in its steadfast adherence to the cause of the people in opposition to the schemes of conspirators against, the popular welfare.—New York World. The Rich Man’s Tax. Under the methods pursued by tho protectionists in tho levying of customs duties the burden' of the poor man has been greater than that of the well-to-do, because the heaviest duties have teen laid on the article of more common and universal consumption. An incomo tax brings the rich man in and compels him to pay his share or something near it. Is there any injustice in that? Or is it any answer to the demand that he shall be required to pay his share that he will probably evade as much of it as he can? If that were an answer there would be the same argument against the imposition of any tax whatever, for it is notorious that under the best system which the wisdom of man has yet .been able to device there is a vast deal of evasion. —Detroit Free Press. Still Kicking Th m*elves. Concerning the future of the Republican party the Cincinnati Tribune (Rep.) says: “Is not the sentiment ot the people of the United States growing m re and more favorable to lower dut es? We think it is, and we know that opinion is held by many Republicans of national reputation. The people of this country expect the Republican party to reform the tariff and to make the duties as low as possible. Had the party done this after the election of 1888 the ground would have been out from beneath the feet of the Democrats and thev would have had no campaign ammunition for the election of 1892.” Will Line Up in 1896. Despondent Democrats should bear in mind that the party is simply revolting against the men who are betraying it. Democrats are neither going to jump from the Gorman frying pan to the McKinley fire, nor are they going over Into the Republican party. The Democracy in 1896 will line up in solid phalanx with grim determination to crush out tho traitors within its own ranks.—Oakland County Post

FANCIES OF FASHION.

GREAT VARIETY IN THE STYLES FOR THIS SEASON. The Overdrew Is la Hl«h Furor IV*ted Mnallo Is Mach Used, and Ribbon. Are Arreaged for Finishing, to Match the Silk Beneath. Gotham Fashion Goaalp. New York correspondence:

but frequently the latter make the best showing, so much depends upon the gown's design and so great is the opportunity for achieving tasteful display bv ingenuity without great outlay. The overdress is in high favor, and the great variety of forms of which it is capable makes it at once a good means of attaining the so much desired distinct character for the toilet of which it is a part, and, to the economical, a method for making use of odds and ends. Muslins over silks are seen more often than ever before, and as the latter may he a wash silk the whole dress is thus within the reach of a slender purse. Dotted muslin silk is much u-ea and ribbons are arianged for finishings to match the silk beneath. There is a great fancy for gowns made of any light 6hade of wash silk with an overdress to the knees of muslin, the bodice a combination of both fabrics. A very pretty type of this sort consists of a tight fitting bodioe of the silk, over which is worn a loose blouse waist of muslin. A sash of silk is included which has several rows of muslin frills. While white is naturally much favored bright colors are abundant, and when skillfully 'combined are preferable, for this season's modes tend liittle toward simplicity, except in tailor gowns. Armure silk and saffron satin are used in the dress of the initial picture, which is an excellent example

OF WHITE LAWN AND LAOE.

of the current elaborate designs. Its skirt has painted panels of the pink silk garnished with jet ornaments at either side of the front. The latter, as well as the side back breadths, is bordered with cascade drapery >of the satin, edged with jet, and the hack consists of fan gores. The fitted bodice has a point back.and front, and is bordered with jet. Its deep square yoke is made of finely pleated satin finished by twisted folds of black satin ribbon having bows on each shoulder. Below the yoke there is a garniture of cream guipure, and the cuffs of the satin sleeves are similarly trimmed, while the standing collar is made of Mack datin and ornamented with a big black bow behind. The tendency to have the hat in accord with the gown and to have all accessories entirely consistent is very marked. This makes the economical woman s task all the harder, but also makes of her toilet — all whose features are harmonious—a so much greater achievement. The hat of the toilet just described obeys this rule, being composed of anemones and trimmed with Baffron loops, held in place by paste buckles and backed up by aigrettes. Shade hats are considered by many to be the correct headwear to accompany the garden fete gown, and bo thought the girl of the second illustration. She has it of while mull showily adorned in front with huge bows and upright ends. Its brim, which may be bent in any desired shape, is formed by a frill of the mull edged with guipure to match the dress trimming. A fine white lawn i i the dress fabric, and the rounded yoke has a heading ot guipure lace inserion and two rows of the some above. Below the voke the waist is very full and is gathered top and bottom. As sketched the gown has a standing collar, but, if preferred, the neck may be low, the top row of insertion outlining it Huge drooping

IN RED AND BLACK.

puffs make the sleeves, and the waist is belted in with a surah sash tying behind in a butterfly bow with heavily fringed ends falling to the skirt's hem. A ruffle of lawn edged with guipure lace to match the bodice trimming is the skirt s only ornamentation. The rage for moire, which was so apparent last spring, is either dying I outer, else it is resting upon the laurels then won and awaiting cooler days for its renewal Satin is being much I used in p ace of it, and this is wise,

HEN the summer reason is well advanced. garden or lawn parties are the funotions for which new gowns are specially pre'pared, and these affairs gather together as varied a lot of dresses as could well be imagined. Women clad in the richest stuffs touch elbows with others whose attire is composed of common fabrics.

because moire did not wear very wel. Satin is put on wash dresses, and when this is managed with due regard for the%ash tub, it is all very well, but when the finish of the sat n appears to be there to stay, the combinaP.on does not seem senaio e. DainW rigs are gotten up for summer wear of pinchecked wash si k, trimmed with black velvet ribb n and thin black lace. There is something very fresh and cool in the combination of crisp silk and dainty lace, and the ve.vet insures beccmingness. A costume for a brunette is the artist's next offering: let others beware! Made of red ailk crepe, its waist is verv full and droops a little at the belt. It closes a little to the left of the front, the fastening beginning where the shoulder seam closes at the neck. The sleeves are tight at the wrist, are puffed above and are ornamented at the top by vandyked lace epaulettes. A large how of white mull comes at the

ROBIN'S EGG BLUE AND WHITE.

throat, its loops reaching up beside the dainty chin. Considerable stiffening is employed in the skirt, which is without trimming of any sort Red satin ribbon to match the dress stuff is used for the belt, and its ends reach nearly to the bottom of the skirt As the trimming is placed at neck and shoulders, it is fitting that the costume should be topped by a showy headgear, so above them is a hat of black lace straw, its brim bent picturesquely, and set off at the back by a bunch of bright red poppies and in front ornamented by noduing red ostrioh plumes. Black plumes may be substituted, if preferred, but whatever the color each plume must wave in its own place and seem independent. They may unite for a fourth or less of their length from the base of the quill, but no further. From that point each must striotly mind its own busine <B. Of the summer’s color combinations, blue and white has great vogue, and robin’s egg blue makes a very stylish choice. The simple gown of the next picture is of satin striped gingham displaying these shades, white being the color of the satin stripes. Its only novelty is the cut of its bodice, the skirt being entirely plain and the sleeves conventional. A ruffle of the gingham forms a point in the back, comes across the shoulders in epaulettes and outlines the pointed plastron. Here they cross and continue to the under arm seam at the waist line, when they are fastened with white satin bows witn the usual long ends. Not less handsome are the chambrays with which the stores are now supplied at surprisingly low prices. It may not be correct to style such simple textures as rich, but the temptation is great when they show the exact colors upon which fashion has Bet heir approval in costly stuffs, copying the hue 3 precisely and following all the lovely blends. So, too, is the opportunity for women who, like Jenny Wren, make the fashionable exquisites'’ “try on.” With rare in the use of these stuffs, gowns from them may he accorded all the elegant touches which characterize costumes which cost ten times as much. Truly, these are days when much care can come of little expenditure. The last

PINK AND WHITE.

dress pictured is made of a chambray of a pink so delicate as to hint of costliness, but these choice colors do not this summer seem to increase the stuff s price. It is trimmed in the manner indicated, with white wash lace, and the bows which confine the sleeve puffs are of white satin ribbon which exactly matches the dress goods. Two bands of narrow white ribbon, showing a line of pink between them, give the collar, end in bows behind and are ornamented with a big fancy buckle in front. A deep frill of lace trims the bottom of the full skirt. The dominant shade of pink appears in the large bows of satin ribbon on the hat, which is a white chip, further trimmed by a large blackbird. Very dainty are the muslin dresses made with ruffles to the knees, and having overdresses which fit closely at the hips and from the knees are cut in deep Vandykes. The bodice is made with a yoke cut in like Vandykes, which hang over the shoulders, and are lightly caught front and back. A triple row of little frills passes about the shoulders under l them. A folded belt completes the costume, which may be made of cotton muslin as well as of mousseline de soie. Skirt 3 f< r elderly ladies drag and train a little. For the young matron, they just esoape the ground. For the girl who is but newly “out, ” they clear the fltOr jauntily aDd give to the pretty foot a chance to see the world. For the fifteen-year-old girl, the skirts may be to the shoe t ps, and the younger girls wear dresses almo3t to the knees, as usual. Copyright, 1894. ‘ A circular issued by the United States Bureau of Education shows that in 1801 there were H,£ot libraries in the United States containing 1,000 volumes and upward. SwaLlows building on a house bring good luck, and to kill one is most no-

DOCTORING ANIMALS.

Wk*n Sick or Injured Ferocious Boosts Loss Courage. Hospitals for animals are novelties in their way, and scenes witnessed there frequently quicken our sympathy with the brute world as life in the wards of a human hospital brings us into closer touch with forlorn humanity, says a writer in Our Animal Friends. When a man is ill we get a different glimpse of his nature, and the same is true of suffering animals. We can study them to better advantage than when they are strong, frisky, and overflowing with spirits. Medicine and surgery have of late years alleviated much pain among animals, and veterinary science is broadening into new avenues every year. Formerly it was considered impossible to heal the fractured leg of an animal, or to administer medicine to it internally when suffering from disease. Now cats, dogs, horses, wild animals, and, in fact, all creatures that are useful and pleasurable to man, have surgeons and physicians who study their ailments as carefully as if they were human patients. Generally speaking an animal loses heart when it gets sick or breaks a bone, and one of the greatest things against which these animal physicians have to contend is the depressing influence of melancholy on their patients. Many thousands of dollars are lost annually by ostrichfarmers because the birds break their legs and pine away and die. Nothing seems to revive their courage, and they actually grow weak and sick from discouragement. A cat or dog 1 shows this same inclination to moan and pine away when injured severely, but in a much lesser degree than the ostrich. Sickness breaks the spirit of the proudest and most ferocious animal. In the wards of the hospital the sick lion or tiger will drop its head between its paws and scarcely notices intruders. It is quite safe then for almost any one to enter the cage, and sometimes it becomes necessary to prod the creatures in order to rouse them. To enrage them is frequently the best tonic that can be administered. They all naturally object to taking medicine, and many schemes are often resorted to before it can be introduced into their stomachs. Tempting morsels of food, with the medicine deftly concealed inside, are given to them, and after they have swallowed it there is a look of disgust in their eyes that makes one am. le. But when they get so Biok as to refuse all food, medicine has to be literally forced upon them. Their mouths are pried open, and held there until the medicine is poured down their throats.

For the larger animals, such as we find in our menageries, regular straitjackets and slings of great power are arranged, by means of which the heads of the creatures, when si«k, are thrown back, and their mouths are opened until the medicine is administered. When a lion breaks his leg, he has not sufficient intelligence to let the surgeons set it, and after it is set he will not keep quiet enough to let it heal. At such times the animals are bound in powerful slings so that they have to remain in an easy position; and the injured leg is kept quiet until the broken bone has knit together again. Elephants, bears, tigers, and other wild animals of our menageries, are treated in the same way. Monkeys will frequently tear the bandages from .a wound, and when sick they have to be confined in some gentle way. They seem to be unable to comprehend the meaning of the white bandages bound around them; but a little force and firmness often quiets them, and they gradually begin to understand that surgeons are t heir friends. The affection which these suffering creatures show toward their benefactors when they begin to Improve is sufficient reward for all the trouble. There is nothing more touching than the affectionate greeting which a well-bred dpg will give to a surgeon who comes daily to inspect his injuries. He will lick his kind friend’s hands and face and grow so wild with joy that the surgeon must use strong words to make him keep quiet. Even small, sick monkeys will stop their moaning and give squeaks of pleasure as their medical friends enter the cage. They will sometimes point in a most laughable way to their stomachs, as if to tell the doctor of the terrible feelings that they have down there. Sometimes it seems as if they were appealing for more of the medicine which relieved them before. Cats show their affection by purring loudly. When sick these domestic pets become very affectionate and love to curl up in the lap of their owner, moaning or whining piteously, as if asking for human relief. It is well known that dogs, when ill, will hurry to their masters and follow them closely, as if loath to be left alone to die. Birds are no less affectionate to those who help them. Wild birds that are picked up with broken legs or wings will resent any curtailment of their liberty, but if they are taken and cared for tenderly until the injured limb grows strong, they show their regard for their benefactor in many ways. They will grow tame and fond of their friend, and many instances are on record in which birds of passage have migrated annually to see their human physician. Birds are less demonstrative than animals, as a rule, when a limb is broken, and they will remain quiet enough until the bone is cured. It is not ■ necessary to place them in a swing, with the exception of a few species.

LAUNDRY LORE.

In Scotland Girls Still "Tread Out" Soiled Clothes. The economy of laundries is amazingly ancient; but, with the exception of the questionable boon of the introduction pf machinery, which in innumerable instances makes irreparable havoc with valuable linen, washing is in many parts of the world carried on in precisely the same manner as it was 2000 or 8000 years ago. Says the London Telegraph: The Romans knew nothing about washing clothes at home, and their ladies were far better off than Nausicaa, who, with her maidens, were not Uft proud to proceed to the

nearest stream and do the family washing The Romans wore their togas and tunics until those garments became intolerably grimy, and then they sent them to the fullers, who formed as important a corporation as many of our big laundries do at present. The remains of a “fullonia,” or laundry have been excavated at Pompeii, and the walls are decorated with paintings minutely illustrating the varioua operations of washing. Boys and men are seen standing in tubs placed in narrow niches like sentry-boxes, for the purpose of purifying by treading with their feet the clothes beneath. As the ancients were not acquainted with the use of regular soap, they employed an alkaline mixture with which the grease contained in the clothes was combined, and by these means became dissolved. When the garments had been washed they were manipulated with a “card” or stiff brush, for the purpose of being rubbed up and given a nap, and the clothes were then stretched on heavy circular structures resembling crinoline skirts, to be exposed to the fumes of brimstone. The carding out process is still practised in remote parts of the Scottish Highlands, where the well-soaped linen is placed in tubs in the open air and trodden “alternls pedibus” by long-limbed lasses. In Italy an<J in the south of France the women take the linen down to the bunks of the shallow and pebbly streams and beat it with a “battoir” on around stone until all the uncleanness has been expelled. In India a somewhat similur process is pursued, only the “dhobee,” or washerman, takes an indefinite number of shirts, towels and other articles, and twists them into a long, thick rope, which lie heats with all his might with a stone, the consequence being that the linen is generally reduced to a state of tatters. It is quite possible thut a similar system was adopted in England in Shukspeare’s time. It was in a buckbasket that Sir John Falstaff was conveyed to the Thames, and Mrs. Ford’s laundress, we know, lived at Datchet Mead, and in all probability took her customers’ clothes down to the river to beat before she washed them.

As to another old English custom connected with the laundry, it is not much more than a generation ago that it ceased in our midst. “Washing day,” and its concurrent discomfort, are frequently alluded to in Pepys’s “Diary,” and there must be many elderly persons who are able to recollect not only the wookly but the monthly wash. The smaller articles were wushed in the family washhonse once a week or once a fortnight, but the “grosser pieces,” sheets, tablecloths, etc., were reserved for the monthly sacrifice to th« goddess of cleanliness. In the meantime, however, another sacrifice hud been made to the genius of dirt, a vast accumulation of foul linen being stored up for weeks in some “glory hole” to Infect the entire promises. This feature of the wisdom of our ancestors has disappeared forever, but that which the public want at present is a little more conscientiousness and carefulness on the part, not only of the big laundries, but of the smaller ones. These people should remember that the cost to the customer of having his linen washed Is year by year Immense. A very serviceable shirt can be purchased for half a guinea, but, if a gentleman wears a clean shirt every day he will spend In washing that one article, at the rate of sixpenco per shirt per diem, a little more than £9 per annum.

“Uncle” Henry Harrison, of Union county, Tenn., tells the following snake story, which is vouched for by all his neighbors: “Several years ago an Italian, Joe Do Novo by name, bought a small tract of mountain land about thirty miles from Caryvllle. Without repairing the cabin lie and ids wife moved into it. They were childless and had little to do with their neighbors. The man went once a month to the country store that was near by to make necessary purchases. Things went on this way until some hunters overtaken by a storm late one afternoon, were forced to seek refuge in his cabin. The rain continuing unabated, they were forced to remain into the night. After supper the Italian got down his fiddle and began to play low and plaintively. In a short while a huge rattlesnake appeared upon the hearth, then another and another, until no less than seven wriggling serpents were in sight. The hunters were terribly alarmed, but De Novo bade them be quiet and watch. The snakes seemed filled with the wildest ectasy; if the music was low and soft they would move in graceful curves like the mazes of the waltz; if it was loud and quick their movements were quick; at all times they kept the most perfect time. If the music ceased they would rush from sight, but would return immediately upon its resumption. Numbers have visited the Italian to witness this sight. Last year De Novo died. After the buriul the woman sold out and returned to her native country, the cabin was torn down, and the rattlesnakes disappered forever.”

Artificial Sugar.

For many years the artificial production of sugar has been the occasion of many experiments. The hope of obtaining by the union of certain chemical elements this valuable substance has led to efforts that have resulted in producing glucose, what is called ‘‘invert sugar,” and many other exceedingly sweet elements, but in no case lias the pure, normal sugar been found as the consequence in this direction. But little reliance is placed on the claims of an Italian scientist who asserts that he has actually produced sugar from gases and vapor. The world will wait with no little interest for the still further development of the Italian’s ideas, for to have made a single ounce of sugar is an achievement that will win fame and fortune for the indefatigable toiler in the chemical fields of the world.—[New York Ledger. A. cheap table may be beautified by having the shelves covered with China silk, with yellow flowers. The legs are gilded or enamelled with white enamel.

THE GRAND CAJNAL.

A GLANCE AT CHINA’S GREAT WATERWAY. It Runs Through a Vast and Thlokfg Populated Country and Taps Soma of tho Biggest Cities in the World. I write this letter at Chinkiang. a walled city on the banks of the Yangtze River, says Frank G. Carpenter in a letter from China. It is just about 150 miles from the seacoast, and is at the point where the grand canal crosses the Yangtse. This canal is one of the great wonders of the world. It is now in bad repair, and a large part of it is going to ruln. But it has been one of the great, waterways of the world, and it extends from Peking south to Hang Chow, running through the great plain from north to middle China, a distance about as great as that between New York and Chicago. It cuts its way through a territory containing 170,000.000 people, or nearly three times as many as the whole United States, and it taps some of the biggest cities of the world. Peking, where it finishes its couree at the palace, not far from the American Legation, is a city of more than 1,000,000 people. Tientsin, below this about eighty miles, is still larger, and as it runs further south, the canal is dotted with walled cities and great towns all along its course to the Yangtse Rivor. Chinkiang is about as big as Minneapolis. Yangehow, the next big eiifljr on the canal south of herav contains, I am told, a half million of people, and Soochou and Hangchow each have something like threequarters of a million souls. At every thirty miles ulong the course of the canal there is a walled city, containing many times ten thousand people, and the country back of it is a garden, spotted with clumps o* trees, each clump shading a Chinese village. The canal at Chinkiang cuts right, around the city, forming the island upon which the main part of it is located. It runs from her# northward for !180 miles without a. lock, but above tills, I am told, thereare numerous sluices and locks, and In some places the water Is carried through the country on great stone embankments, twenty and more feet high, and the stream tit some of these places is fully ‘2OO fueV wide. It lias stone floodgates,, managed by soldiers, and It is liereand there fed by creeks and rivers. At one point a river was conducted; into it in times past, and the Chinese say that 800,000 men wero employed for seven months in turning the water of this stream. It cuts tlte Yellow River, and it is below thin that the stone embankments above spoken of are located. The parte which I have seen are those wliicU run near here, through the Yangtse Valley, and those about Tientsin and Peking. Here the canal fs more like a great ditch than anything else, amt there is now a little army of men employed in keeping It in repair. Us was in existence more than 1,0001 years ago, and Kublai Kuhn laid out. the line upon which it now runs. The chief use for the canal in time* past has been that of a trade artery from the north to the south. It tups* by its connecting canals and riveew. every part of the great plain, and it is used for tho transportation of the tribute rice to Peking. The government taxes of Chins ax® to a large extent collected In kind., and every year the farmers send, about 188,000,000 pounds of rice from* hero to Peking for the Einperor and his officials. At Nanking I saw acres, of groat barns which were filled wltli. this rice awaiting shipment, and. every town along the canal hse-ftte-government barns. Just now. therice is being taken to the uortti. Of.' late much of it goes by aea, but ai vast deal is still sent by the Grand Cunal, and ut every town there are hundreds of craft of eTery kind, and these government junks sometimes block the canal for days. Hundreds of men are employed in towing amA pulling the boats, and at place* they are dragged along by means of capstans. The canal winds about like ». river in places, and navigation, through it is so slow that some of these rice boats have started in April, during the past few years and have not arrived In Pekin until September. Parts of the canal are closed t«. traffic except during the carrying ot the tribute rice, and the condition off. it to-day is such that it will hardly be used again as the great waterway which it has been in the past. 1,5? Hung Chung has asked the Bmperow to allow him to build a railroad along it from Tientsin to Chinkiang, and this will eventually be done^

As the Japanese De It.

There is a Japanese cleaning cream which is said to be invaluable for sponging woollen garment®, cleaning, silks and ribbons, removing spots* from carpets, washing mirrors ands renovating paint. The ingredients are a quarter of a pound of white castile soap, grated fine, a half pint of spirits of ammonia, and one ounce each of spirits of wine, ether and. glycerine. Dissolve the soap in hot water, then add four quarts of eold! water and the other ingredients; bottle and cork tightly; always shake before using, Spread silks and ribbons on a board and sponge with the cream till clean, rinse thoroughly in clear water—cold or warm, not hot—and stretch on a board or table todry.

Youthful Criminals in Germany.

A German paper states that ire consequence of the considerable increase in the ntimber of youthful criminals in Germany between twelve and eighteen years of age, the imperial ministry of the interiorof Berlin is contemplating the reorganization, of the compulsory education system. The government has in view the imitation of English institutions. All the German laws have the great fault that the interference of the authorities is permitted only when s child* has committed some crime, but they give no handle against morally debased children who are still free from crime. The number of youthful criminals has risen from 42,>40 U 46,408—that is, ten per cent. — in one* year.— (London News