Indiana State Sentinel, Volume 26, Number 40, Indianapolis, Marion County, 23 May 1877 — Page 1

YOL. XXVI, 40. IXDI AXAPOLIS, WEDNESDAY MOllNINGr, MAY 23, WHOLE NO. 1905.

CHI -FAITH.

BT MKS. 8. X. B. PLAIT. All beautiful tales, I trust, are true. . Rut. lMru in ft crave in the mow. And there Is the Rky. And the buds are blue, And a butterfly blows across. Tf, here it the grave and there Is the sky ; To the ne or tue other we go. ; '. Arid between them wavers the butterfly, Like a fcoul that does not know. Somewhere? Nowhere? Too-golden head. And Up that I miss and miss. You would tell me the secret of the dead Co Id I find you with a kiss! Come here, I say, little chlla of mine, (brae -with yonr bloom ana your Dream, (If he phould believe in the life divine, ' I will not believe In death !) .... Where Is your brother?" I question low, And wait for his wise reply. Does he say "Down there la tbe grave? Ah, no; ' He says with a laugh, "In the sky!" Scribner for Jone. . For the Sunday Sentlnel.1 Nina Crawford. BY MRS. BALUE A, RAM AGE. I can not, I will not marry Judward Vance, but I will work hard to make money for you. mother; I will teach or sew or any thing elje, but indeed I can not marry a man whom I hate, for he is cold and heartless as the gold he worships." O mother, do ' not urge me more; you know hira as well as I do and you must know that he cares lor a I wife only to be his housekeeper, his drudge, his slave. You know how lightly he holds a woman's work, how sneeringly he talks of those who, too brave to marry men they do not love, take care of themselves by honest labor. "Spare one the liying death I should begin if I was to marry, him. Let me bid him this nieht to eo away from our door and return no more.' "You are mad, Nina, to Ulk in this manner. You know our condition, our poverty, your sisters' de sire for society and dress, and yet you shrink from bei oing me as you could. "Why do you not like Edward Vance? Because he loves money? Not a whit more than I do. liecause he thinks the husband should be the head of the family and the wife an obedient worker? I have always been taught the same. Or is it because yoa know be is op posed to the life you would lead as a profes sional singer? . Ah! how I hate the thought of your willingness to go on the stage and sing for a crowd of people who w ill criticise and ridicule you. Abandon this idea, Nina; marry Judge Vance, and we will be so happy. You can then help your sisters to likewise win husbands of wealth and position, and I will have the proud satisfaction of knowing that all of my daugh. ters are well settled for life. It seems strange that he should prefer you, the youngest. when Addie and Clara are more stylish and fashionable, and I should think would have attracted him quicker than you with your qneer notions of dependence and liberty. You know it will make him very angry if you sing next week at that concert, so I beg you not to offend him, for you are not the only one who must suffer the consequences. Now, promise me you will . be his wife and I 'will be the happi est mother in the world." Mrs. Crawford put her arms around her daughter and drew her close as she made this request, knowing full well how hard it would be for Nina to say "no" to her pleadings. Poor girl, she was sorely troubled ; she 'did not love EJward Vance, and she did so want to be a singer; yes, a professional concert singer, or (and yet her hopes did scarcely go so far)i a nrima donna, singing the operas she had sung to herself, for years. Her father was dead, her mother proud and ambitious, and her two sisters craved a fashionable life and hated work, and there was no one to whom she could turn for advice and sympathy. She loved ' music as ehe did tbe free, open air, and to sing witli her was to live, for her voice was superbly strong and rich. Years ago, when her father was alive, be had begun the train . i . . . a i -1 i a a.: j ing mat ny nam wore sue nau wuwuueu,' until now her voice was well cultivated, üree irom natural or contracted faults, and good judges had given her the most favorable opinions of her future if -?he went on the stage, and yet her family was so opposed to this that she hardly dared make the venture She knew what her. life with Judge Vance would be a fine house, plenty of fashion able clothes, magnificent jewelry, bounding an existence that roust have no liberty or freedom. Nothing beyond the dull routine of dinners and balls, nothing tat fancy work and the household money; no growth, no mental work; simply to live and petrify.' - " : She had never as yet sung in public, exoepting at the church services, but even - there her voice had attracted attention and she had been engaged to si ag in a con cert that she knew, would decide her future. for among ber auditors was to be a promi nent manager who had said to some of his ' friends that if she fulfilled his hopes of her that he ahould at once engage her for a season at a fair pric a urn that to Nina -, was a. fortd.ie. Bhe practiced the songs selected agiin and again, they were airs that were familiar to every musician, bat they were scarcely her choice, and she hesitated before undertaking them: oct friendly advice over balanced her scruples, and faithfully she re peated the strains. ßhe had promised hr - mother that if she failed if abe was not engaged by the manager she would abandon all hopes of a professional life and marry ltward Vance, and to him she said : the i. , i . cm r-.i vs.

sit ion to a speedy marriage, so mat ner

mother and sister might enjoy the coming s?ason. lie laugnea at ner nope ui outucw, ridiculed the profession she desired to enter, and promised her his best wishes for a com plete failure at her debut - ...... Tbe night came, and the hall was crowded to its utmost capacity, not more to hear the well known musicians of the surrounding country than to see and hear Nina Crawford. Her name was on the programme for but two pieces; yet hoping for encores she had prac ticed others. ' In the very front seats were her family, divided between natural anxiety for the young girl and fear lest succeeding they would lose the prize or a ncn son and brother. Not a prayer, not a ' wish for her success was in a single heart. She was as much alone as though a stranger to the three women who bewailed the stubbornessof a girl in throwing away such a chance as her lover had offered her. Bat many of the audience had kind feelings for Nina Crawford. " They. remembered her father and her nable nature, and knowing how hard her mother had made life for the child they were anxious for a complete triumph. The first numbers had all been played and sung, and by the flutter 'and excitement of the crowd you would have known there was an unusual interest felt in the next per former and everv eve was fastened on the spot where she must enter. Dressed sira ply n white, a few natural rowers in her hair and at her throat, holding tigntiy the hand of her kind old teacher,she came to the front of the stage, and bowing low, awaited the first chords of the piano accom paniment. Tale as the folds of the muslin robe, trembling like an aspen leaf, she sang falteringly the few notes of the first strain. Stronger and clearer her voice swelled until it charmed the throng who listened breath lessly. Inspired by tins she began the last verse, when she saw before her the cold calm face of Judge Vance, his thin lips set in a sarcastic smile that made her forget the ap-pl-use of the people and humiliated her as if she had failed. She hesitated, paused,' tried to sing the next note, and with the triumph of that face before her, turned and left the stage. A few tenderhearted and kind frieads applauded faintly, a if to encourage the poor child, but it was useless. In the dressing room, her head buried in her hands, weeping bitterly, she sat alone. She had turned from all who tried to comfort her. and alone she was fighting the battle with self. No one but her family knew he fearful cost of that failure; no one imagined that this pale, trembling girl was singing for liberty, for freedom; that this night's work would decide the life of the singer. She could feel the stinging words of ridicule; the jeers of Judge Vance. She knew he would hold her to her promise; that her, mother, " for her good," would force her to marry this man whom Bhe did not and never could love! She started up as if mad. She would try again, and perhaps it would not be too late then to win the favor of the manager, who could secure her a position and salary. Drying her tears, brushing back her disotdere i hair, shewent out of the room, pray ing as the doomed must pray when the judge is pronouncing sentence. ."Please, sir, let me substitute another song for this Italian air," she said to the manager of the concert as he came to lead her on the stage. "As you like. I will notify the accompanist" With a tiny spot of red gle wing on either cheek, with a steady voice, she sang the first line of "The... Evening Hymn to the Virgin." bhe knew ; it . as she did her prayers. She had sung it night after night for her father, and . she knew her power. Hushed almost to a whisper, then pleading and gentle, she saDg it through, and then waited one instant the verdict It came a storm of applause such as in all her life she never beard again. Men and women Tied with each other in the en core, and the excitement was intensified as she began to sing her father's favorite song. "Auld Eobin Gray," and - aa ehe sang tbe quaint Scotch ballad, she knew by the face of Judge Vance that she had succeeded that she could never marry him. Her mother and sisters were angry and cold, and when she came to them after the concert there was no word of praise or congratulation.. They were as proud and 'repelling as possible, and while every one else In the room was anxi ous to compliment and talk to her, they swept on as if ignorant of her presence. The next day she had a stormy scene with her mother and a farewell letter from Edward Vance, and. with nothing to cheer ber but the promises of the future, she left home land started east with her employer. Her lecess henceforth was remarkable; her salary was munificent, but every cer t she could possibly spare she sent home. But not one scrap of the hundreds of commendatory notes ever was read by those who ought to have exulted in her triumph. She had many . would-be .suitors, . but to them all she returned the same a ia wer: "I am wedded to my pro fession." They sent ,her ' flowers . in abundance, but not one of them did she ever . wear on the stage, for Se accorded that honor only to thae given

her by a member of the troupe, a violinist, many years her senior, and who often did little acta of kindness for her. lie had been playing in public for twenty years, ever since he, a mere boy, was allowed to take part ia tbe choruses; now be was known for his exquisite rendering of the old masters, and beside for many beautiful original compositions. He pitied Nina Crawford, for ilo wis, i-ii;3 liz .'asiliaiity jith Da

stage, tiniKl and shrinking,, and , thouga strong and reliant when singing, she would

have fled from, the crowd who always awaited her with congratulations. . Sometimes she would afk ., hira to play while she . sang, and . with a tenderness and. beauty approached by none other, he wuld make the violin echo her flutelike notes, and to reward him for his kind ness she would sing for him alone the songs he loved. When at last she was engaged to sing in opera, his purpose unknown to her he left a good , situation to be near her, and though be was in the orchestra yet nightly he watched her and loved ber. He was getting old, people said the gray hairs were coming fast and the hand that held the bow often trembled, but only when Nina sang the love songs that he coveted to another and when her white hand rested for a mo ment in that, of the great burly basso, he would clinch his fingers until they snapped the strings of his violin. But the prima donna was growing rich and the gulf widened between them.. No more did' he offer her flowers: she could wear flashing jewels now. No more did she call him to play for her; she was occupied with her characters and her costumes. Once in awhile when , accidentally they met she would laughingly chide him for his neglect Poor Westell, if ever a heart was crushed with the weight of love surely his must break, for every word that she spoke or sang but made him worship her the more. . Her mother was deau, her sisters married. Addie captured, or rather Judge Vance captured Addleatid Nina was alone. Between the three sisters there had never been much affection, for the elder ones had - mways repulsed the youngeft, and she could not remember a moment when she had not been considered an interloper in the family circle. Her money had started the family up the road to prosperity, and she did not begrudge the means, provided they were happy. Addie had teased her until she had confided to Judge Vance all of ber money, and she held his notes for the amount He was getting along splendidly and had seemed to forget that he had ever tried to win her for a wife, and sh was glad this was so, for she loved his children, and went now and then for a day's visit to her sister's home. Addie professed to enjoy her society very much," accepting the pres ents given her, aad allowing her children to do the same. ' But Nina was not altogether deceived, yet tried to forget her past grievances. Judge Vance continued borrowing and using her money, always satisfying her of his safe financial condition and bewildering her with ' technicalities. When she was away Mr. Westell was moody and morose, but never approached her on her return unless sent for. He knew she regarded him as an elderly person, a fair violinist, and that was all. And he loved, worshipped her. One night, missing her carriage, she walked home through the snow; a sore throat annoyed her tbe next day.and though she was warned . of the consequences she filled that evening's engagement, and consequently was ill for a month. At , the end of . that time her physician pronounced her doom, "You will never sing again; your voice is hope lessly lost'.' It- was like blotting the sun out of the sky, like turning the fairest day into the darkest night, and' stunned and bewildered she received hjs words without a groan or tear. She sent the news to her sis ters and awaited theia reply. She was rich enough to take care of herself for her life time, but she hoped they would offer her a home with them. She was willing, yes anx ious, to pay liberally for all she received, but she craved a home, a place with her kinderd After a long delay the answer came. Clara's house was too small, her children too many and her husband unwilling, and she advised Nina to go to a good country boarding house . where she could live cheap. 1 hope you have saved something, but you were so foolishly extravagant I imagine you have not thought of a rainy day." Nina thought bitterly of her foolish generosity in spending hundreds of. dollars upon her and her many children and husband. Addie's letter did not . reach her for a nior-th, and then Judge Vance wrote all but a short post script ;lle told her that they could not find Domfor her; that she had forfeited all right to their care or love by entering her chosen profession, and intimated that the correspondence would close with that letter. Addie explained that her husband had been adjusting his financial relations with Nina, . and that counting board bills during ber visits, and legal ad vice from Judge ance, they were about square, enclosing a check for $25 as the balance. , The notes were worthless, and strip ped of every hope Nina faced the world with nothing but a brave heart between her and despair. Her fortune stolen, her voice ruined, her family turned enemies, she had no one upon whom to lean. She decided to go to a large city aad teach music, and though she had sold all her jewely her doc tor's and landlady's bills made havoc with the money gained by the wile. She bade good-by to all the acquaintances who had been kind to her during her illness, und was ready to leave the ecene of her misfortune. That fjternoon a card was brought to her bearing the name of Homer Westell. She thought him hundreds of miles away with the troupe, but, rejoiced to see a friend, sho nit for him to come to her immediately. He held her hand a moment as Bhe met him, and then -with a sign- greeted her calmly.' She told him of her plan, ' but before she til xitii ttaa t?5n h: rail, "Jht j-sur

fortune. I understood you were rich? Why do you work when you are , so weak and sick? I rry you rest and get strong and well." .. , . ' "I can not, Mr. Westell; I am poor. I have lost all I ever made by singing. I -have no home. no relatives, no , . money, nothing scarcely a friend," and she faltered. "Miss Crawford, Nina, you have a home; it is here in my heart You have a friend, a loving one, it you will only accept his love. You shall have money, rest, comfort, quiet if you will let me give them to you. I have saved something; let me give it to you. Oh, forgive me! you are angry; I spoke too hastily; I regret that I was so careless, and you so wak; but, Miss Crawford, please allow me to aid you, J. have no one but my . mother; aMow me to a?k you to go to her home for a few weeks. I shall be away, and you two can .have a quiet time. ! I can. not bear to -see you attempt to work in your present condition, ana, as a friend old enough to guide you in this matter, let me offer you a small present. You once did me the honor to accept my flowers; please take this in the same way. I shall expect you to do this, as I do that you will go to my mother, because it is right and best for you to do so. Do not refuse." Nina hesitated; then, with scarlet cheeks, said very quietly, "Mr. WestellHomer I will not go to your home. I will not accept anything irom you nnless" the could not say the words. Maidenly modesty checked the utterance, but only for - a 'moment "I can not accept your kindness un

less you love me." His arms were around her in a moment, and she was clasped to his breast. "IOve you, Nina! I have not dared to tell you before, because I feared you thought of me as only an old man who was necessarily in your presence. Love you, when night and day you are never out of my thoughts never even in dreams forgot ten. My precious darling, can yoa love me when I am so unworthy such a treasure?" "Ah, Homer, you are the only one of all the friends of my day& of sunshine who remem bered me in the storm. I bring nothing with me. My voice is gone, my fortune lost; but my heart is true and tender." "Nina, may I ask one favor? Will you kiss me of your own free will?" Proudly, tenderly, she pressed her lips to his, ' while ; joy and love ' blessed the heart that had been so lonely.- Five years were' passed by Mr. and Mrs. Westell in Italy,' and there Nina's voice, finer than before, recovered its strength and purity, and they returned to this country. She sang once or twice in concert, but reserved her triumph for her old home. Her sisters and their families hastened to her, for she was rich now, but she waved them all aside, noticing none but the little children. Judge Vance aveided her aa much as possible, but the night of the concert sat with the others awaiting the entrance of the famous prima donna. Her husband led her on the stage, and played the accompaniment while she sang the ballads of her native land. Never had she sung so well, never had she looked so beautiful, though she wore a dress exactly like the one Nina Crawford wore at her debut But no one thought of her dress her voice enraptured every hearer, and aught else was forgotten, She responded to every encore, but at the last said a few words to the audience instead of sineine. "My friends, years ago a poor. trembling girl sang before you on this stage rimid. shrinking, frightened, she failed at first and left your presence she attempted the task and weeping. Again ..i . -vsucceeded. You remember her eagerness, her anxiety to please but few of you knew that she sang for life or death, that her whole future hung upon the notes that her voice sounded, tht failure 'meant a living death,' a raar riage to r an unloved suitor who pressed his claim upon her by means of the importunities of her family. Success meant life and liberty. You know the rest, you know the trials and joys of her public life, you know she lost her voice and the money confided to another's keeping at the same time. You know she has regained the one, and, instead of the other, a precious oving heart and a strong arm to care for her and protect her for life. This is my last appearance on the stage. I go now to my far away home, but, by the memory of my own sorrows and struggles, let me beg you to be tender and merciful to the young girls who may sing for the first time in public before you. You can not tell their trials all that hangs on a single song but if they fail, encourage them to try again; if they succeed, be generous in your praise." The story went the rounds, and was denied and amrmed here and there by knowing ones, out I tell it as it was told me for charitable pur poses, for the orphan and the Buffering Nina, sometimes in public, but always with her husband, whom she laughingly says she asked to marry her. Grant tlsbtlna; for Ruaslav. A letter in the London Times contains tbe following: "If General Grant, ex-president of the United States, and formerly comman-deiMn-chief of the armies of the United States, who is expected to arrive in England within two or three weeks, and who will, it is reported, leave shortly after for Russia as the guest of the emperor, should undertake to direct tbe movements of the Kassian troops, as he did the 1,500,000 of men under his own command, tne united states govern ment would be powerless to prevent him, as General Grant is .simply now a private citizen. During the war in America several officers, who then held positions in her majesty's navy, served both in the confeder ate service in command of blockade runners and also in the United States navy, having. as they acknowledged, been tempted to en ter the latter service by the certainty of high

py and th9 nects or pnz mony."

wirii THRU.

BY W. W. ELLSWORTH, I'd rather wallt throiuh shower with thee, Than with another when the air I oft with summer, and as fair The heavens above us as a na Of dim. un fathomed sapphire, where. Slow drifting on a liquid hky. The white sailed ship of God float by. Sweeter In storm to be with thee, Drk waters 'round us, and the roar Of breakers on un unseen shore Resounding louder on the lee Than with another, sailing o'er . A rippling lake, where angry gale May never rend the silken sail. LITERART NOTES. Irish adventure in publishing, as in everything else, is amusing and amazing. An humble publisher in Cork announces "The Works of Alexander Pope, viewed as an exposition of ultramontanism." Tbe "Talks on Temperance" given by Mr. Moody in Boston will be printed in a volume by the National Temperance Society, with some interesting incidents of the woric at the Tabernacle compiled by the Rev. J. B. Dunn. Mr. Jenkins's new pamphlet, "Janus; or, The DoubleFaced Ministry," is described as a coarse and vulgar attack upon the British Ministry. Jenkins has done no good work since the publication of "Ginx's Baby;' he Is the Artemus Ward of England. In Turkey the government has promulgagated a new press law. Nobody is permitted to establish printing press without permission of the government, and any journal issued without permission incurs a penalty of from 10 to 15 for each month of its continuance. ... During the period that Miss Kate Field wrote London letters for the New York Herald she received $50 a column, and in one year earned $10,000. Miss Field's first essays in journalism were madtrin the Bos ton Courier in the form of letters from Florence. The highest Canadian court has decided against the Canadian publishers who under took to republish Knghsh books in disregard of the imperial copyright law. Mr. Smiles's "Thrift was the book in question, ana Messrs. Belford Brothers' appeal was dis missed with cost " ' ' It is a curious fact that Edgar Poe's poems have ba? to look to France for their best illustration. Three years ago a folio edition of the "leaven," with plates, appeared in Paris, and now we have "Les Cloches," poems d'Edgar Poe, production libre d'Emilt Blemond, with fine steel engravings by Ouerard.- , . . Thomas Carlyle follows the example of Harriet Martineau by making arrangements to have his life written while he is yet on hand to attend to it and answer any ques tions which Frederick Martin, the compiler of the "Statesman's Year Book," formerly his private secretary, and now his chosen biographer, may desire to ask. It is understood that Mr. Martin is paying special at 14? Li will U AJ tue wtrmi lyvixjiM ut jjchtivo nu cii, vironment8, and that many stories will be told of Carlyle'a father, from whom tbe son inherited his grim humor. M.. Thilarette Chasles left -behind him a work on Shakespeare's Sonnets, which his widow has translated and for which she hopes to find an English publisher. M. Chas les holds that the persons addressed in the Sonnets are five: 1. Henry . Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated his Venus and his Lucrece. 2. A first beauty, whose splendors tbe poet com pares to those of summer. 3. A second lady, younger than tbe poet who acknowl edges himself as in the autumn of his days. 4. A third lady, whose age is not mentioned, but whose eyes are black, complexion dark, and musical talent great the "dark mis tress" who alone is recognized by most crit ics. 5. William Herbert Earl of Pem broke, the first begetter of the Sonnets. Tbe Library Table begins its third volume with new plans and new aspirations. Por ter C. Bliss has become its editor and James Wood Davidson its associate editor, and henceforth the periodical will appear as "a weekly newspaper and review" instead of montn1Vf a cWge which has been made, tbe publishers assure us, only alter the suc cess of the undertaking has been secured. In its new form the Library Table will discuss general topics briefly, but its attention will be given chieny to literary matters, ana its editors have secured the co-operation of a law number of literary men, who will contribute reviews of important new books. The index to periodical literature and the lists of American and foreign books will be continued.. SCIENTIFIC NOTES. Some one has discovered that glycerine smeared liehtlv over the mirror of a laryn go scope will prevent tbe mirror irom being dimmed by the breath. It is suggested that .v. - ... . . . a similar application to spectacle glasses wil prevent their being dimmed when worn in cold or frost air. MM. Lechartier and Bellamy have discov ered that a mans liver weighing 1,780 erammes contains two centigrammes of oxide of zinc. The muscular tissue of an ox weighing 013 grammes contained three cen tigrammes. They have also found that zinc exists in grains of wheat, American maize, barley and white beans. Becent European experiments show that J the alkamity of magnesia and its insolubili ty in saccharine liquors, fit it for the defeca tion of lermentea cane juice. Witnadose of from three to five thousands the clarifica tion is complete, and tbe juice is easily fit tered. Any excess of magnesia remains in the scum. Laboratory ex perimenta show an increase of 6 to 7 per cent ' in the yield of white sugar, while the quality is not infe rior to tbe best commercial brands. Experiments have recently been success fully made in Italy on a method of burning petroleum under steam Doners, wnicn consists simply in pouring the oil over a thin layer of asbestos. The petroleum burns with Intense neat, wnne tne asoestos, oeing in combustible, is not affected, but serves as i means of retaining the oil and acting as a wick. During the experiments sheets of paper placed beneath the furnace were not injured, although the heat from the oi above was most intense. t People who take sulphur in spring weath er, after tbe time honored method pre scribed at Dotheboys hall, may be Interested in the fact that tbe purity of tbet r medicine is open to a doubt . Mr. lianas recently ex hibited to his fellow members of the 6an Francisco microscopical society specimens of the spurious and the genuine flowers of tulrhur fcr coepwison. The real article is

obtained by subliming sulphur and, except that there is with usually a little bulphurous acid, the product is almost chemically pure. But a great deal of what is sold as tne sublimate now turns out, ander the microscope, to be merely crude brimstone ground to a powder. Instead of "flowers" it should be called flour of sulphur. Of course the spurious article contains many impurities, which make the mess witb treacle slightly nastier. "Nothing pays like science," is beginning to he the despairing cry of writers in otber departments of literature, and the rapid publication of scientific works by D. Appleton k Co , and their apparently rapid purchase all over the country, show better than anything else the change which is coming over the thought of the day. As a further step in this direction this house has begun the issue of a monthly Supplement to their Popular Science Monthly, which is intended to do for general science what Littell's Living Age does for general literature. The first issue of this Supplement is mainly a republication of the best scientific papers in recent numbers of the Contemporary Review, the Mind, and the Nineteenth Century. Teople who have been annoyed by the changes of the weather, and have settled upon a belief that its vagaries are bevond all calculation, may have to revise their opinions. A Russian weather student, M. Koppen, in the Reportorium for Meteorologie, gives an account of an extended comparison of weather changes and their analysis by the law of chances. His deductions are that settled weather is the rule, change the exception. Thus if a five day cold period sets in after warm weather, the chances are two to one that the following period will also be cold. If a cold spell has lasted two months the chances are nearly eight to one that the first five days of-the month following will also be cold. In general, betting on the subject of the weather at some date a long distance ahead maybe conducted ontbeestw mate that there are two chances to one against the probability of a change in the weather on any particular day.

FASHION NOT ER. All bustles are small and unobtrusive. The greatest width of walking skirts is two and a half yards. Smoked pearl buttons are au fait on the diagonal polonaise-. Lace pookets to match lace necklaces are the latest importations. The backs of single breasted jackets are tight fittiDg and lie plainly over the tournure. Bonnets mfcde of the material of the dress with which they are worn are very stylish. Double-width stuffs cut best for the diago nal polonaise with princess back and walkng skirt Few imported skirts have placket-holes. The belts are made large enough to pass over the head. Muslin ties, with ends of duchesse and em press lace, are the newest and most dainty neck-gear. Striped stockings will be fashionable this year. Ihe stripes, uowever, are narrower than formerly. Piaked silk ruches of delicate colors are taking the place of lace ruches in the latest Normandy Don nets. Flat brod heels are made by the best shoemakers in preference to the high and uncomfortable trench heels. All of the latest imported dresses come with a cravat attached, either of the same material or color as the same material or some contrasting color. They are made of doable silk, often having a dinerent colored facing. For the present fashions it w necessary that the style of bonnet should often be al tered. There must also be many dinerent styles of trimming to suit the shape of theface. For rather long, ovai laces mere should be a side trimming of flowers and lace. A large face 'requires feathers and rather large ornaments: strings and menlonnieres are also calculated to lessen the natural fullness of the face. For small heads moderate sized hats and very little trimming are suitable. Far persons with a high color colors like green and blue are the best, and for pale faces such colors as crimson andi pink are-most appropriate. Perfect beauty can a'one dispense with an observance of these rules. MATTERS OF FACT. Two Beautiful Stories Knowing thAltitude of Canadiau Veraetty. A Massachusetts gentleman just returned from the Canadian border, tells ns these stories: He was in the hotel general accommodation room, when two veterans of the (hotel) bar, laying schemes for a drink, began to tell stories to each other for bis benefit. These are awful hard times," said one. "I never saw such times before, except when I was in Ohio, and then I was bard put to it to git along; nothin' to do. I had a yoke of steers, but they wan't a doin' nothin'. Bat I lived right on the road the western emigrants went over .every day. So I dug a bole In that road at the foot of the hill, near my house, turned a living spring of water into it, ana made a good mud hole. WV 11, when the emigrants came along, every day there would be one or more teams get stuck in the mud hole, and they would see my ateer standing out doing nothing, and they would send up and get me to come and help them out, and I always charged as much as $5 a lift. Well, I kept that mud hole right up in good repair till I made $25.000 out of it, and then I aold it out for $3,000, and moved np here." Story number two was the other Munchausen's companion piece for the yoke of steers. "When I was chopping I could chop some, you know folks used to ask me how much I could chop in a day. 'Have you ever tried ItV says they, 'No, never,' say I, 'but once, and that wasn't really a trv.r You see, just to show them what I could do, I got np one winter morning just before libt and ground up my ax sharp and went into the wood a And I chopped like sixty till about S o'clock in the afiernoon, when it was as much as I could pile before sundown, and I went to piling. Well, when I had it all piled np it measured 27 cords. And then I knew something was wrong, for I knew at tbe rate I had been chopping it ought to be more. So I went back and began looking around to see what the trouble was. And there, right at the first tree I cut in the morning, was my ax head. You se the thing was loose, and slipped off, and I had been chopping all day with the ha? Ltlvc."