Indiana State Sentinel, Volume 27, Number 43, Indianapolis, Marion County, 12 June 1878 — Page 1

INDIANAPOLIS, WEDNESDAY MORNING, .JUNE 12, 1878. VOL. XXVH. NO 43, WHOLE NO. 234.

CUPID AND DEATH.

Adapted from Emp'i Fables. BY LKE O. HARRIS. As Cupid strayed one sultry day. Oppressed with heat and short of breath, He wandered from the path, and lay Asleep within the cave of Death. The quiver at his side tipped o'er. And all his arrows tumbled out. And lay where Death upon the floor Had strewn hi glittering darts alwjut. At length he woke; but who can tell The mischief In that moment done? He grasped the arrows where they fell. And some were Death's, and some hU own. And now he speeds his mingled darts, But nnds them oft unfaithful prove, And carry death to youthful hearts That should have felt the shafts of love. And Death hlmselt oft sees with rage His arrows fail to stop the breath, And wound with love the heart of age, . That should have felt the shaft of Death. Lewlsville, June 10, 1878. HOW HE PROPOSED. EY EBEN E. REX FORD. 'Confound it." exclaimed Bachelor Craig, "I wish I wasn't such a fool." After which wise wish he elevated his feet on tbe table and thought desperately for some time. "Now I've seen as many as a dozen women I would like to marry, and who would have been willing to marry me, I'm safe in saying, and I never dartd asked one of them to have me. I don't see why I need be such a fool as to be afraid of a woman, but I am! I need a wife and I know it. Everything goes wrong. I don't live since Jane married and wentawav; I just drag out an existence. I wish I could muster up enough courage to propose to this widow, if I like her, and she likes me. Bat then! I know I couldn't!" "This widow" was a lady who was coming to viait her sister, who lived in the city. They had written to him about her, and invited him to come down and tt y a week or two. "If I only coald screw my courage to the sticking point and propose, 1 could get along after that. I guess,' he said, dolefully. "But it won't stick. Confound it! How could I manage a proposal, I'd like to know? I'd faint, I know I would!" The bare thought of asking the awful question give him queer sensitions. If he ever got fr enouah along to begin to ask it, he felt confident tbat it would stick In his throat and choke him to death. "I'll go down, anyway," he concluded. "Maybe" but the way in which he said the word had a very big doubt it "maybe I can mudter up courage, If I like her. But I may not tase a fancy to her when I come to see her," and the possibility of diBliking her really afforded him some relief. Accordingly, with valise in hand, Mr. Craig f. allied forth next morning en route for his sister's. When he got on board the train, he saw with dismay that there were no vacant seats. He finally found a seat which a lady had p:se-sion of, and, as he rather liked her looks, he wished she would let him sit there with her. but didn't dare propose any such thing. While he was castlDg about in his mind for some plan by whicu he could secure the place 'without asking for it in so many words, she looked up, and, seeing me prod eament he was in-, moved along and told him he was welcome to sit there. Mr. Craig bat down, looking somewhat pleased and vry bashful. He knew he ought to thank her, but tbe words stuck fast before thev got out. and he crew red in the face and aaid botbing. His companion, however, was inchnet to talf. acd hadn't any difficulty in -doirg it, and gradually he thawed out of his reserve and succeeded in overcoming his bashfulness to such a degree that in an hour or two he felt quite at ease. Suddenly there wai a crash, and tbe next thing Mr. Craig knew he was sitting serenely .in the mid He of a dirty little puddle of water, acd the companion of hU journey was pulling wetds and grass out of her hair clos" by. "I declare." ejaculated Mr. Craig. "It's a in e rev we ain't dead! Alvira'd be half Be ire l to death if she knew what had hap iened." 'Are you Alvira Bowen's brother?" asked the Jady, fi.iaiug up a fdlsacurl from some mysterious rectsi in the depths of the pond with one hand, aod pulling a long piece of weed from her mouth with the other, after tbe fashion of a conjurer diawing ribbons from his mouth. "I thought there was some thing fami'nr in your looks. "Ys. I'm her brother," answered Mr, Craig. "I wonder if you're the w-woman she wroie about!" "tjulte likejy," answered she. "My name's Stafford, Mr. Craig. It's a queer kind of a place for an introduction, isn't it' and then she laughed in a way that completely won Mr. Craig's heart. "Now, if you'll be so kind .as to help me out of this puddle, and fish out that traveling bag you see floating about over there, I'll be ever so much obliged to joa." All of which Mr. Craig proceeded to do. It was late at night before they reached Alvira's. Of course she was delighted to see them, and friga'ened almost out of her .senses to think how near they had come to being killed, and cried over her brother. who'd come within one of being an angel at tfcat identical moment. "A mus is a gxxl as a mile, Alvira," said Mr. Cri'g. tersely. "I don't know what I should have done if it hadn't been for your brother," said Mrs. Stafford, bestowing such a bewitching smile ou Mr. Crag that te felt warm all over in stantly. 'He was so kind and thoughtful." I in suind if you are," said Mr. Craig "I'm sure 1 didn't mind the bother any." After which clumsy attempt to be complimentary he blushed up to tbe roots of his hair, but wisely refrained from attempting to explain, a? in such a case be always made bad matter worse. A week went by, and Mr. Craig acknowl dged to himself that he had never begun to be so deeply in lo?e before. He began to cast about in his own mind for some new method of proposing which wouldn't require such an awful amount of courage as the old way demanded. He knew that cour age was the very thing he lacked. It wasn't Inclination by any means. But he felt that he couldn't ask her in so many words to marry him. It made bim turn pale to think Of it. At the end of a week she got a dispatch from her sister, asking her to come at once to attend to a matter of business. "You'll surely come back and finish your visit, won t you, now?" said Mr. Bowen. And Mrs. Stafford promised to come back in a few days and stay a week longer. Mr. Craig wanted to find out how he stood in ber estimation before she went away. He might not be there when she came back. It was with a vague idea of proposing to her that he volunteered to take her down to tbe depot, on the morning of ber departure Two or three times, before they reached the station, he tried to say what he wanted to. bat the words stack In his throat, as be had known they would, and choked him till be was purple in the lace, ana made mm reel

ure that be resembled nothing else in the

world quite as much as ne of Alvlraa purple cabbages.

3 Three times, while tney siooa on i form waiting for the train, he made esP" ate efforts to say what he wanted to, Pt" n culdn'to. At last the tram came in sight. "Mia. Stafford, I wish you'd tell me aomething before you go," he began, pale .is a ghost, and then stopped, with bis ton&ne cleaving to tbe roof ot nismouui. "Well, what is itr sue asKeu. "I I've been waiting to tell you for some tim " he stammered, blowing his nose and coughing terribly in a vain effort to bide his embarrassment. "Well, hurry, then," said the widow. "I'll be left If you don't" Poor Craig opened his moutn to speas: xne t;mble words. The bell rang, as he stooa with glaring eyes and finally burst out: "You'll be left If you don't hurry!" ' With a look of diseust. the widow gath ered her skirts about her and left him withbe told himself as put your foot in it this time!" He couldn t go home, ior an ue wm ashamed to face the widow. So he stayed. and she came back and bswitched him more than ever, and he vowed be would propose or die in the attempt. He felt quite sure it would be die. One niffht be was out Drettv late. hen he came home he didn't stop to get a light, but felt his way to what he supposed was his bed room. He sat down to pull off his boots, Sud denly his hand came In contact with a pair of ladies' gaiters on the floor. Goodness!" cried Mr. Craig; "wno a pui these here?" sound of life from the direction of the bed. Something white rose up and confronted him. "Who's there?" demanded he, half fright ened to dcith. v "Why, Mr. Crafg!" cried the voice of the widow. "How dare you come into my room at this time of night? I thought you were a gentleman. Dear! "dear!" and then the widow began to cry. Mr. Craig's hair rose up nae "quins upon the fretful porcupine." He could actually feel how pale be was. "Mercv on me. he managed to ejaculate "I I didn't know that I was in anybody's room but my own. I didn't! I declare, by all that's good and great, tbat I didn't!" "I don't know whether to believe that or not," answered the widow, with smothered sob. "Men don't often make such mistakes unintentionally. I thought I could trust you. and that you were too honorable to take advantage of my unprotectea fcituaiion Dear me! what would people say if they knew of this? I'm going to call yourtister! I'm going to let the world know what a wretch you are!" "O don't! cried Mr. Craig, witba world of entreaty in his tones. A desperate thought Hashed across bis brain. Before he stopped to consider what the consequences might be, he had given it utterance. It was his last resort his forlorn hope. "I I came to propose to you!" he de clared explosively. "I didn't dare to ask you by d daylight, and I took this way!" "I don't know whether to put any dependence In what you say or not." said the widow, pausing in her sobs. "You men deceive U3 so! I'm afraid you're taking this wav of eet-inir rid of be ng exposed, if I thought vou were " "I ain't!" stoutly asserted Mr. Craig, be ginning to feel a slight increase of courage. "I I've wanted to to ask you to h have me for some time, but I d dassen't. I I'll marry you any time you say, if you won't mention this. I will, really, if you w want me to." "If I could be sure you were in earnest," said the widow, waveringiy. "I am! I hope to die this blessed mlnu'e iflain t!" declared the poor man. "bay yes. Quick, if you're going to. I I want to eo and see a man." "Well, then yt s!" said the widow, and Mr. Craig bohed for the door, an engaged man. "There, you old fool," he apostrophized himself, as be rt ached his own room at last, "you've done it, haven t you? You ve put your foot in it this time, and I hope you re satisfied!" He didn t sleep any that night. He won dered if all men felt as he did when they were enessed. He was dreading the morn ing and the widow. He went down to breakfast with a quaking heart He saw the widow come into the room, all smiles and blushes, and looked about in a vain longing to hide. He felt an awful sinking at his heart when .she came and sat down beside him, and his sister rose up and came toward them. He felt what was coming. "I'm so glad," raid Alvira, kissing the widow. "When Is It to be. brother?" "W-what?" asked the poor man, beginning to realize how belple-s lie was to avert im pending doom "Why. the wedding, of course," said Alvira. "Of course you won't put it off longer than two weeks. We can have everything ready by that time." "T-' taint for me to say," he said, meekly "If it's got to be done, the Eooner the bet ter." and then be wined his face and won dered if be would be living two weeks honi that day. Two years have gone, and he still lives He is just forming the acquaintance of little Craig, and he congratulates himself daily on the niutike which made a married man o him. Dried Fruits. The demand for dried fruits has been so stimulated since the American plan of hot air drying has been perfected, that these products ar now transported over the civilized world, bat especially to those countries where fruit is cot generally raised, and to newly settled colonies, particularly mining ones. Dried fruits are cow largely used during all long sea voyages. Between October last and April 1 England took over 400.000 bushels, principally dried apples and peaches. In fact the indust rial population of England, Germany and Au-tralia are the chief buyers of thf si productions. The immense fruit crop of the United States is, much of it, left to go to waste for the want of drying. In view of the many simp! and cheap processes for drying, this should no longer be allowed. The fruit crop of the United States this year promises to be immense. Tbe surplus tbat can not bs used green should be provided for. It may be utilized with profit, but to do so, fruit growers should prepare in time to utilize it. Will they do so? Cieltlas; Dowa to It. Washington Post. Tbe New York Times already admits that John Sherman and Stanley iiatthews can not be defended by the republican party. We venture to predict tbat the Times, which, with all its partisanship, is too sensibly conducted to run its editorial head against any stone walls, will throw the whole fraud lent gang overboard in less than one month from date, and take the ground that the only salvation for the republican party is in re pudiating from beginning to end both the transactions that made Hayes da facto president and the author of the transactions.

out deigning to say good-by. "I declare, if you am'ta little the biggest fool. Joshua Craig, of any I ever heard of!"

he drove back. "You've

A GEH1XE WORD IS SEVER LOST.

"A gentle word is never lost, Oh, never then refuse one; It cheers the heart when tempest tossed, And lulls the cares that bruise one; It scatters sunshine o'er our way, And turns our thorns to roses; It changes weary night to day, And hope and love discloses. "A gentle word Is never lost Thy fallen brother needs it; How easy and how small the cost With peace and comfort speed it; Thea drive the shadow from thy cheek, A. ruiile (tan well replace It; Our voice Is inosic when we speak, With gentle words to grace it." A SMILE FOR HOME. Takff that home with vou. mv dear." said Mrs. Lewis, her manner half smiling, half serious. "Take what home, Caddy?" and Mr. Lewis turned towards his wife, curiously. Now, Mra. Lewis had spoken from the mo ment's impulse, and already partly regretted her remark. "Take what home?" repeated her husband. "I don't understand you." j "That smiling face you turned upon Mr. Edwards when you answered his question just now." Mr. Lewis slightly averted his bead, and walked on in silence. They had called in at tbe store of Mr. Edwards to purchase a few articles, and were now on their way borne. There was no smile on the face of Mr. Lewis now. but a very grave expression insteadgrave almost to sternness. The words of his wife bad taken him altogether by surprise, and, though spoken lightly, had jarred upon bis ears. Tbe truth was, Mr. Lewis, like a great manv other men who have their own busi ness cares and troubles, was in the habit of bringing home, and, too often, a cloudless face. It was vain tbat bis wife and children looked into that face for sunshine, or listened to his words for tones of cheerfulness. "Take tbat home with you, dear." Mrs. Lewis was already repenting this suggestion, made on tbe moment's impulse. Her hus band was sensitive tt a fault. He could not bear even an implied censure from his wife. And so she had learned to be very guarded in this particular. "Take that home with you, d?ar! Ah, me! I wish the words had not been taid. There will be darker clouda now, and gracious knows they were dark enough before. Why can't Mr. Lewis leave his cares and business behind him, and let us see the pleasant, smiling face again. 1 thought this morning he had forgotten how to smile; but I see that he can smile, if be tries. Ah! Why don't be try at heme?" So Mr-. .Lewis talked to herself as she moved along by tbe side of her husband, who bad not spoken a word since her replv to his query, "Take what home?" Block after block was passed and street after street crossed, and still there was silence between them. "Of course, said Mrs. Lewis, speaking in her own thoughts, "Of course bo is offended. He won't bear a word from me. I might have known beforehand that talking out this way would only make things wor.-e. Oh, dear! I'm getting out of all heart!' "Whit then, Caddy?" Mrs. Lewis almost startled at the sound of her husband's voice breaking unexpectedly upon her far in a foftene d tone. "What then?" he repeated turning toward her, and looking down into her shyly upturned face. "It would send warmth and radiance through the whole house," said Mrs. Lewis, her tones all a tremble with feeling. "You think so?" "I know so! Only try it, dear, for this one evening. "It isn't so easy a thing to put on a smil ii g face, Caddy, when thought is oppressed with care. "It didn't eem to require much effort just now," said Mrs. Lewis, glancing up at her husband with something of archness in her look. Again a shadow dropped down upon the face of Mrs. Lewis, which was again partly turned away; and again they walked on in silence. "He is so sensitive," Mrs. Lewis said to herself, the shadow on her husband s face darkening over her own. "I have to be as careful of my words as if talking to a spoiled cbnd." No, it did not require much effort on the part of Mr. Lewis as he passed a few words lightly with Mr. Elwards. The remark of his wife had cot really displeased him; it bad only set him to thinking. After re mainicg gravely silent, because he was undergoing a brief self-examination, Mr. Lewis said: "You thought the smile given to Mr. Ed wards came easily enough?" ' It did not seem to require an effort," re plied Mrs. 1A! wis. "No, not much effort was required," said Mr. Lewis. His tones were slightly depressed. "But this must ! taken into the account; my mind was in a certain state of excitement, or activity, that repressed eober feeling, aod made smiling an easy thing. So we smile and are gay in company, at cost o; little enort, because all are smiling and gay, and we feel tbe common sphere of ex citement. ' How different it often is when we are alone, I need not say. You, Caddy, are guilty of the sober face at home as well as your husband." Mr. Lewis spoke with a tender reproof in his voice. "But the siber face is caught from yours oftener than you Imagine, my husband. replied Mrs. .Lewi "Are you certain of that, Caddy?" "Very certain. You make the sunlight and the shadow of your home. Smile upon us, five us cheerful words; enter into our feelings and interests, and tut re will be no brighter borne In all the land. A shadow on your countenance Js a veil for my heart; and tbe same is true as respects our children Our pulses ttrike too nearly in union cot to t a a oe u'stumea wnen yours nas tost us even beat." Again Mr. Lewis walked on in silence, his face partly averted; and again his wife began to fear sbe had spoke too freely. But he soon dispelled this impression, for he said "I am elad, Caddy, that you have spoken thus plainly. I onry wished you had done so before, i see how it is. My smiles have been for the outside world the world that neither loved nor regarded me and my clouded brow for the dear ones at home, for whom thought and care are ever-living ac tivities." Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were now at their own door, where they caused a moment, and then went in. Instantly, on passing his threshold,' Mr. Lewis felt the pressure upon bim of his usual state. Tbe hue of his feeling began to change. The cheerful, inter ested exterior put on for those he met in business intercourse began rapidly to change, and a sober hue to succeed. Like rnoet business men, his desire for profitable results was even far in advance of the slow evolution of trade; and his daily history was a history of disappointments, in some meas ure dependent upon his restless anticipations. He was not as willing to work and to wait as he should be, and, like many of his class, neglected the pearls that lay here and there along his lifepaths, because they were inferior in value to those he hoped to find just a little way in advance. The consequence was that, when the day's business excitement was over, his mind fell into a brooding state, and lingered over bis disapE ointments, or looked forward with failing ope in the future for hope, in many

things, had been long deferred. And so he rarely bad smiles for his home.

"lake tbat home with you, dear," whispered Mrs. Lewis, as they moved along the passage, and before they had joined the family. Sbe had an instinctive consciouscess that her husband was in danger of relapsing into his usual state. Juie warning was just in time. "Thank you for the words!" said he. "I will not forget them." And be did not; but at once rallied him self, and to the glad surprise of Jenny, Will and Mary, met them with a new face, cover ed with fatherly smiles, and with pUasant questions, in pleasant tones of their day's employments. Tbe feelings of children move in quics transitions, iney caa cot expected a greeting like this: but the response was instant. Lit le Jennie climb id into her father's arms. Will came and stood by his chair, answering in lively tones his questions, while Mary, older by a few years than the rest, leaned aerainst her father's Bhouhler, and laid her white hand softly upon ma ceau, smooimng uacK trie uarc hair, lust showing a little frost, from his broad, manly temples. A pleasant group was this for the eyes of Mrs. Lewis, as she came forth from her chamber to the sitting room, where she bad gone to lay off her bonnet and shawl and change her dress. Well did her husband understand the meaning look she gave him; and warmly did her heart respond to the smile he threw back upon her. "Words fitly spoken are like apples of gold in pictures of silver," said Mr. Lewis, speaking to her as she came in. "What do you mean by that?" asked Mary, looking cunonsly into her father's face. "Mother understands." replied Mr. Lewis. smiling tenderly upon his wife. "Something pleasant must have happened," said Mary. 'Homething pleasant? Wbv do you say that?" asked Mr. Lewis. "You and mother look so hapnv." replied the child. And we have cause to be happy." an swered the father, as he drew his arm tightly around her, "in having three such good children." Mary laid her cheek to his and whispered: "If you are smiling and happy, dear father! home will be like heaven." Mr. Lewis kissed her: but did not reply. He feit a rebuke In her words. But tae rebuke did not throw a chill over his feel ngs; it only gave a new strength to his pur poses. Don't distribute all your smllps. Keep a few of the warmest and brightest for home." said Mrs. Lewis, as she parted with her hus band on the next morning. He kissed h-r, but did not promise. The smiles were kept, however, and evening saw them; though not for the outside world. Other and many evenings saw tbe same cheerful smiles and the same bappy home. And was not Mr. Lewis a better and a happier man? Of course he wa. And so would all men be if thev would take home with them the smiling aspect tbey eo often exhibit, as they meet their fellow men in business intercourse, or exchange words in passing compliments. Take your smiles and cheerful words home with you, husbsnd, fatters and brother.'. Y'our hearths are cold and damp without them. Dnll Everywhere. A irty of young men who went from Syracuse to Brazil to find employment find the times as dall in that country as in the United States. One of the party, who has the position of assistant station agent at Formosa, in tbe coffee growing country, on the line of the Dom Pedro railroad, writes to the Syracuse Couritr under date of April 1 that the party were driven inland after landing at Rio in consequence of the prevalence of yellow fever, lie says "the railroad is man aged by Messr . Ford and Hatirgs. two Americans, and its traffic consists almost eiitirely of ccfiee transportation. Every day sines I have cccupitd my present place lb.OOO pounds of coffee have been weighed Under my supervision. Formosa is populated with coffee planters and the soil is cultivated ft)? its growth. It arrives at the station in huge carts, drawn by four, six, eight, ten and 12 oxen, and on pan ie red mules. Large quantities of it are shipped to New Ycrk and other Amcican ports, as also to Liverpool. Formosa enjoys a delightful climate, acd its situation is in the midst of the grandest scenery I have ever beheld. The atmosphere ia silubrius and health-giving, i have a'.Kfadv been kindly invited to call upon sev ral planters, but owing to my limittd familiarity with their tongues have not availed giyself of the opportunities as yet I am Ipoked upon as a good deal of curiosity hereabouts, but am by degrees becoming acquainted with their customs. Horseback riding is not only the fashion here, but the ecessity, since the roads are as rough as those rocky ones to Dublin, which are sung about, and up and down the steepest of hills. 6neortwo thirgjanew comer to Brazil, cc this part of it, at least, is obliged to learn ire the hours of meals, acd to become reconciled to the dishes served and tbe mantier of their serving. I board with the station Igent, and have a slave to wait on me. His wife and otber members of the family never lopcar at table with the senhor and myself. I found it difficult to learn to replace potaoes, wbicu are seldom used, with rice, wbicb s alwaya brought in. Bean oup is another dish as staple here as bread at home. The beans are ks black as a stone, but after one earns to shut bis eyes to their color they are !ound very palatur.le. On arisinir In the iuornicg coffee is served; at 10 o'clock breakast is partaken of, and dicner is not set unit 4:30 o'clock. There is wine on the table f nothing else." A Milkman's .Haineruatlc. . (Detroit Free Press. When John drove up to the house on Elizabeth str;-et the other day, to deivtr the usual quantity of mixture. tbe gentleman of the house kindly inquired: "Thomas, how many quarts of milk do you deliver?" . "Ninety one, nsr." 4 And how many cows have you?" "Nine, sir." ' The gentleman made some remarks ' about the early spring, close of the eastern war and the state of the crops, and then asked: "Say, Thomas, bow much milk per day do your cowsaveragc?" "Seven quarts, sir." "Ah nni," aid the gentleman, as he moved off. Thomai looked after him, scratched his head, and at once grew pale as he pulled out a short ptncil and began to figuic on the wagon cover. "Nine cows is nine, and I set seven quarts down under the cows and multiply. That's sixty-three quarts of milk. I told him I sold ninety-one quarts per dsy. Sixty -three from ninety-one leaves twenty-eight, and none to carry. Now where do I get the rest of the milk? I'll be hanged if I haven't given myself away to one of my best custom ers by leaving a durned big cavity in these figures to be filled In with water!" Disposed to Iilrk Hlm Ledger-Htandard.l Stanley Matthews has not added to bis reputation as the chief engineer of the Hayes administration, and some of tbe organs of the party are disposed to give him a down ward kick, and among these may be noted . I - w 1 V , me xnuiana pons j ournau

PETS PINISIIMEST.

BY ASBV STERRY. O! if my love offended me, And we had words together, To show her I would master her, I'd whip her with a feather. If then she, like a naughty girl, Would tyranny declare it, I'd give my pet a cross of pearl. And make her alwaya bear it. If still she tried to sulk and sigh, And throw away my posies, I'd catch my aarling on the sly And smother her with roses. And if she dared her lips to pout, Like many pert young misses, I'd wind my arm her waist about And puntsh ber with kisses. MISCELLANEOUS POINTS. Waists were made to hug. Tongues were made to tune, Anns were made to circle the girls, And lovers weie made to spoon. Eye. ids were made to droop. Cheeks were made to blush. Hair wax made to ccrl and frize. And lip were made oh hush. Tbe mint is bilin' out the new dollars in a way that shows that Uncle Sam does nothing by halves. Suicides are more frequent in spring time, but true inwardness comes only with the green apple season. During the past year tbe United States sent 105,000,000 yards of cotton goods abroad, ten limes more than was exported tbe year before. Adehna Patti's sixty thousand dollar necklace was recently offered for sale in Paris, but the highest price bid was only sixteen thousand. Cunant worms will soon be making their appearance. Give them hellebore, but don't put all the accent on the first syllable when speaking about it. When'Wawkeen Miller first began writing poetry he made Goethe rhyme with "teeth," but be has been reading up since then, and now he makes it rhyme with "quotha." When the royal baby of Brazil cries his nurse remarks, in pure Castilian, "Now. you Louis Maria Phiilippe de Alcantara Gasto Miguel Raphael Gabriel Gonzaga, you just keep quiet" Edison has perfected a fog horn that can be heard ten miles, bat when it comes to an invention for getting his hired girl up in the morning, he smiles sadly and falls to musing on the lnnnite. A distinguished Japanese traveler in this country writes home: "The chief branch ot j . , - m. eaucauon ot young men xiere is rowing, ins people have large beat housr s called colleges,' and the principal of these are Yale and Harvard." He was fully six feet tall, yet he straight ened up and exclaimed: "Talking of short men, look at me!" And no one could tell what be meant until Le turned both pockets wrong side out and gasped: "Who is there in tbe crowd that'll lend me a quarter?" The annual report cf the British museum. just issued, stites tbat it was visited last year by (J90,51J people, of whom the readers were 113, SIM. Mr. Garnett, the superintendent of the reading room, reports that of the books consulted, only 2; pr cent, are ncr tion. A publishing firm at Milan is about to bring out, among other works of fiction, a romance by Yerga, which will be the first of a series treating of social subnets. The ex periment is spoken of as a novel one in Italy. Verga is a well known writer of some real istic roenis. What I s 1.1 fe? I Scientific American. The best our dictionaries can give in an swer to this question is the verbal definition of the French encyclopedia "Life Is tbe opposite of death" a form of words giving no clue to the nature ot the phenomena the ag gregate of which we call life. Language has many pairs of similarly contrasted words, such as up and down, high and low, hot and cold, heavy and light, and to say lhat any one of these is not its opposite adds nothing to its defin'teness of our conception of either. Are life and death, like the others we have cited, merely relative terms? Or is there such an entity m life, th6 addition of which to not living matter makes it living; the subtraction of which to not living mat ter makes it dead; Is life the result of or ganization, or is organization primarily the result of life? Whstislife? When primitive man in bis hut dreamed of war and tbe chase, of journeying to dis tant places, conversing with the dead, and the like, his natural inference was that there was in him a rpecial self which left the sleeping body at will, yet was forced to return on the waking of tbe body. And since be saw in dreamland the counterparts of everything he saw in waking life, he as naturally extended to all objects, dead as , 1? A J LI- f I 1 wen as living, me uouoie existence ne imag ined for himself. Accordingly from the very dawn of history the conception of life as something supernatural, socuethirg superior to the bodily or ganization, which left the body temporarily in sleep and trance and the stupor of drunkennf ss or diseafe.and permanently on dying. has been familiar to all thinkers. The idta of lift as the result or expression of material combination came much later. Later still came tbe compound theory of life held by Leibnitz and Descartes and their followers, who believed in a physical life for the body and a purely spiritual life for the mind. Front this point of view the body is a ma chine, made up of mechanical devices and operated by mechanical or purely physical powers, while it is inhabited by a tout which thinks, but tikes no part in the discharge of vital functions. In the words of Leibnitz. "Th6 body goes on in its development mechanically, and tbe laws of me cbanics are never transgre-sul in its natural motions; in the soul everything takes place as though there were no body, and in the body everything takes place as though there "were no soul."- This view makes life the product of expression of material c3mbinatio:is up t tbe point of consciousness; above tbat the soul is the life. Of the three theories, the purely spiritual istic that is, tbat lif is due to the indwell ing spirit is at once the oldest and still the most popular. This was the conception of Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle Mild Hippocrates. It has alwaya been the theory ol the Christian church; ani it underwent many vagaries at the hands of Christian mysteries, scholastics, alchemisti and otber speculative writers during tbe middle ages. At one time it was believed that each and every vital process was the work of a particular spirit, and a man's comfort and character depended on the kind of spirits that pervaded nod animated him. Such were the teachings of Basil, Valentin, Paracelsus, and Van Helroont. Stahl sum marily dismissed all this infinite host of immaterial intelligent governing spirits save one, the rational imriortai soul, ims soul, In his view, was tbe very principle of life. There had grown up in that day a school of chemist doctors who resolved all the phe

nomena of life into chemical action. In

opposition to those Stahl contended that the real life force was not only unlike the chemical force of ordinary matter, but tbat the two kinds of force were hostile to each other life persisting only so long as tbe vital or foul force was dominant, death being the uiuiuaie victory oi tne physical lorces. Stahl's immediate successors were tovr compelled to reject tbe idea that vital force was an intelligent force; intelligence was relegated to the soul; but they retained the notion of antagonism between vitality and the laws of mechanics, physics, and chemistry. From this point of view Bichat defined life as "The group of functions which resist death." This idea of absolute diversity between the laws of IJyine bodies and thosa whieh appear in "dead" matter is still a very prevalent one; but advancing science has shown it to be unfounded in reality. If it were true that in livinz bodies the dIivkiVa! and vital properties and processes are in constant and direct antagonism; or, as Bicbat has said, "the physical properties fettered by me vnai properties are perpetually checked in the phenomena ihey would tend to produce," then the intenser the life of anv or ganism the weaker and slower should be the purely physico-chemical operations going on within it But the exact contrary is the rule. Whatever restrains or lessens the organic processes directly diminishes vital activity; on the contrary, the more active the life the more rapid are the material changes in the organism. In the words of oioude Bernard, the alleged opposition, antagonism, or conflict between vital phenomena and physico-chemical phenomena is an error which tbe dl; coveries ot modern physics and chemistry have thoroughly exploded. Life works in harmonv with the other forces. Is it like them, or entirely umerenir Obviously the real nature of life must be sought for in the peculiar phenomena with l s- i r . . ... wnica me is associated. The essential characteristic of living bodies is nutrition, tbe product of two factors, one tending to build np the organization, the other to break it down counting as part of the organism the iooa supply at any moment in the blood. Every manifestation of life involves, in this sense, organic destruction. Hence arises Ie Blaln vine's definition: "Life is a two-fold internal movement of decomposition, general ami continuous at once. In other words, life is a continuous dying." But there is a period when the formative element of life is predominant. In the young or ganism me UE-Duiiding manifestly exceeds the breaking down of the organic structure. And at a still earlier period the phenomena of germinal evolution are the chief, if not the only, manifestations of life. These. however, do not differ in kind from the phenomena of nutrition: indeed, nutrition has been defined as continuous generation. Whence arises that impulse? Is it & special, extra material Impulse? or is it only a mode of action of the general force of nature? Are the mysterious properties of the germ the result of molcular combina tion, as the properties of water arisa from the combination of its constituent gases? nere tne nnai battle of b:o'ogy must be fought So long as life is surely known to froceed only from antecedent life, just so ong will it be impossible to give a decisive answer to the question, what is life? The mystery of life lies in tbe evolution of Eowerofthe germ. If life is a vital spark anded down from organism to organism from the beginning, then it transcends the ken of physical science, and must ever remain a mystery. If, on the other hand, life can be proved to b( gin de novo in suitable mixtures of demonstrably dead matter, as Bsstian and other observers assert, tbat momoment life ceasss to be the only unique phenomenon in nature, and takes rank among tbe powers and potencies of ordinary matter. No wondc r the controversy assumes at times a bitterness foreign to purely scientific discussions. The issues at stake are of traascendent importance, for upon the supernatural nature and origin of life hang tbe most revered beliefs, the most momentous theories, the mcst pretentious systems of the age. Life In Paris. Half the inhabitants in Paris avoid domestic life altogether, sleeping in lodgings and eating in restaurants, of which there are a great variety. The most common establishments in Paris are the eating houses, from the foup-house up to the "swell" restaurant. The former is nominally a lunch house, where beef brotn is the chief dish, and very capital broth it is too; but all of these broth houses furnish in addition a certain variety of fish meats and vegetables, with wine in addition, at a lower proportionats rate than at a regular restaurant. The grade cf there houses naturally depends upon the quarter of the city in which they are placed. The creameries are ostensibly cheap milk shops, where one may in the rooming get coffee, tea or chocolate, with a steak or an omelette. The customer, on entering, calls for thxes cents worth of coffee, for example, and an omelette, with three or four eggs, as he may prefer. The first class cafe offers its customers only coffee and rolls but adds the perusal of the daily papers. The restaurant differ?, in turn, from all these, because offering full meals at all hours, and, in addition, regular breakfast and dinner at 11 a. m. and at 6 p. m., respectively. The price of the regular meals is invariably posted in gilt letters on the street window pace, and a stranger with limited funds can walk down a street and find a restaurant suited to his mean, merely by s'udying the prices on tbe windows. Whatever the quality of the food, however, the cooking is always adaiirable avory and served hot The custom of feeiog the waiters is an intolerable nuisance; but as it is by the fees that hotel and restaurant waiters are paid, he who disregards this Medo Persian law of custom will be made to find out his mistake he is a marked man, and will wait long, on returning to a restaurant whose customs he has disregarded, be for s be receives attention, siul is then served with cold victuals and treated, with studied disrespect. We hope that this custom will never be followed in our own country. Anbamed to Tell Mother. "I would be ashamed to tell mother " was a little boy's reply to his comrades.who were trying to tempt bim to do wrong. "But you need not tell her; no one will know anything abcut it." "I would know all about myself, and I'd feel ruigbty mean if I couldn't tell uiother." "It's a pity you wasn't a girl. The idea of a bov running and telling his mother evenlittle thing!" "You may laugh if you want to," said the noble boy," but I've made up my mind never, as long as I live, to do anything I would be ashamed to tell my mother." Noble resolve, ana which will make almost any life true and useful. Let it be the rule ot every boy and girl to do nothingof which, tbey would be ashamed to tell their mother. What Hayes Should Say. Brooklyn Eagle.1 Mr. Hayes would show much better, if instead of saying what he will do to maintain himself, at all hazards, in the white house, he should say what an honest man would do, on finding himself in possession of stolen goods. Hayes seems to cave gone to the dogs about as rapidly as the reputation of the men who put him In, by fraud.