Pike County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 33, Petersburg, Pike County, 30 December 1886 — Page 1

PIKE COUNTY DEMOCRAT TURLISHED EVERY THURSDAY tnm Or SUUuClUFTIUNl For one year. „ u For 81* mouths .. & or throe month!*'.! !!"!!!“*!.••>... R* INVARIABLY IN AOVANCNADVMVriSTNr, KATES* •* H.ie-ii. t n • mwrtlon t8#oh additional i 1 tsi'I" .1(1 " .« no so is «[“ .5™S" •*'•«**■*»' "«• l» Pike County Democrat. J* Li MOUNT, Proprietor. VOLUME XVII. “Our Motto is Honest Devotion to Principles of Right. OFFICE, over 0. E. MONTGOMERY'S Store, Main 8treet. PETERSBURG, INDIANA, THURSDAY. DECEMBER 30, 1886. NUMBER 33. PIKE COUNTY DEMOCRAT JOB WORE OF ALL KINDS Weatly Exc outed —AT— SEASONABLE BATES. NOTICE! Perrons rorelvlnir a copy of ills paper with this untie; erSNMrf in lead p~,,e|| notified tlial the time of their fttitwriu! ion ):&*<•?

^WsornssmNAt, CAnos> A. J HONKCOUl'S. ». n. pos^v, WSEY A HONEYCUTT, filt8RHEYS ST LAW P«t«ra'!>ui<s, XnH, Win practi e :n all thooourta. Al' WW* !ito •\£otflrv Pu,,|>« coiiSwXttk'IaVc^ °‘8oe 0VW*v#nk*

"• '• A. U. TATLOfc RICHARDSON & TAYLOR, Attorneys at Law PETERSBURG, IND. Piowipt attention given to nil business. A ^notary Publiccim-tmtly IU Iheoffioe. Oflloq In Carpenter Uuddlng, »Ut ami Main. tVit. |f TOWN SB Nil, MAKT Kt.V.KNKH. TOWNSEND & FLEKNER, Attorneys at Law, PETERSBURG, IND. "Wilt practice in all the courts, Offieo, over bus r rank's store. Special attention given ao tollections, Probate Uiisiiicss, liuyiiiand Selling jtamis, Examining 'l plea and Furnish«A* Abstracts. '■. A. £LV. J. W. WILSON. ELY & WILSON, Attorneys at Law, PETERSBURG,. IND. WOfllort in the Bnnlc IlaUding.-tt T. 'k & K. SMITH, (•uevsssors to Doyle & Thompson) Attorneys at Law, . KealEstate, Loan&Insnrancs Afls. . Offloo, second ftoi r Hun's building, Peters* burg, Uvl Tlie bppt Fi o and I be Insurance Oorapa* nies represented. Money to loan on first inorxsu-» s ut seven and eight por cent I rompt attention to colleotions, and at) business intrusted to us. R. R. K1ME, M. D., Physician end Surgeon PETERSBURG, IND. Office, over Darn tt & Sa.h’.-h s-toro; residence on>evouih Street, tnree squares south -or Wain, calls promptly attended to, day or night. . *. n. APA.ua. e. n. fult.inwidsb, ADAMS & FULLINWIDER, Phpisians & Surgeans PETERSBURG, IND. OWco ov r Adtms & Son's drug store, j Ofliee hours day and night.

J. B. DUNCAN, Physician jmd Surgeon PETERSBURG, . IND. Office cm first floor Carpenter Building. C. B. BLACKWELL, M. d7, * ECLECTIO 1 Physician and Surgeon, Office, Main street, between Oth ami 7th apposite Model Drug store, CETEUsaUIlG, : INDIANA. Will practice vedict 10, Surgery an 1 Obstetrics !mow:i and c matey, u ul wlh visit any part i f tu* e u nv in e >nsihtatiou. Chronic ateiwo; 8 iote stuliy treated. 0. K. Shaving Saloon, J. E. TURNER, Proprietor.' PETERSBURG, - IND. Paitica wishing work done at their r sidenote will leave order' at the shop, in Dr. Ada n-' near tu ld u.f, roar of Adams * t,ou » •drug sto.e. HOTR1.S. LINGO HOTEL, EETERSBURU, IND. THE ONLY FIRST-CLASS HOTEL IN TOWN. Now th oufirhout, nnd drst~el.Ua nccommo nat.ous in every i aspect. GEORGE QUIMI3Y, Proprietor ilYXTT -HOUSE, Washington. Ind, Centra'll* Lo.atd, nnd Accommodutlon. Flrttclass. HENRY HYATT. Proprietor.

CITY HOTEL, I'n 'er now mans; e non*-, JOSEPH LORY, Prop. tor. fctU and Main f ts , opp. Court-house. Petersburg, Imd. Tho City Hotel ts centrally looa'od, first Bias, tn a I its nppo ntm'nts und tie best and cheapest hotel in tho city. Sherwood House, • lludor New Managtuieut. BISSELL & TOWNSEND, Prop’re. First and Locust Streets, Evansville, j j Indiana. RATES, $2 PER DAY. Sample Rooms for Commercial Men. When at Washington Stop at thB MEREDITH HOUSE. First-Classi in All Respects, Hm. Laura Harris and Anuiotr Hoiiram. IVoprletora. Guo. K. Bo8SI5tbh, Jussi: J Morgan, Late of C n dniiatt. Late of Washington, Iml. MOTEL ENGLISH, ’ HOSSETEB & MORGAN, Lessees. Indianapolis*, Ind. i, „ lienee Elegant, Table, Service and Genera Keep Supm lor. Locution best In the citron *>• Circle. ' MISCELLANEOUS. ' pOTO OSCAR HAMMOND, Prop’r, Pictures Copied or Enlarged. 411 kinds of wark done promptly ar d at rttsionable ra ei Call and exa nine Ills w in. Cl re at Reduction ,n i he prise ct | SADDLES, HARNESS, ETC, ETC. lire publ'o It hereby in ormec that 1 will set, Iwi'larrfo .took of Saddles and tla1 uest, and OTbrTtUn'f kept by an lower titan ever sold la siii-s oiaoo before If you want an, (hi g u iiof line, <1 en't full o call en me ns am: I o. or life1 speomlbaftlui. FflBit) REUSS, UUJiti, ,

TOPICS OF THE DAY. News from Everywhere. Congressional proceedings. Thb Senate wag not tn session on the 18th.... In the Ilouae the Senate amendments to the House bill authorizing the employment of mail messengers In the postal service wore non-con-correct In, and a conference was ordered. The House refused unanimous consent to put upon its passage a bill appropriating taoo,aoo for a- public building at Charleston, S. C. The Oklahoma bill was considered in committee of the whole, but pending action the morning hour expired, Mr. Morrison (111.) moved that the House go into committee of the whole on the State of the Unioh and consider revenue bills. Defeated on a yea and nay Vote—yeas, 14»i nays 154. Pending an attempt to consider the Naval Reorganisation bill the House adjourned. IN the Senate on the 80th, among the resolutions presented was one by Mr. Vest, from the Merchants’ Exchange of St. Louis, asking legislation for the increase of trade with Central and South America! ono by Mr. George, instructing the judiciary committee to inquire into the power of federal courts over railroad receiverships. The Paciilo Railroad Funding bill was was postponed as a special order until the second Tuesday in January. A number of bills were passed, including ono for the examination of claims of the State of Missouri on account of payment to her militia for services in suppression of the rebellion—In the House a resolution was reboned calling on the Secretary of the Treasury for information regarding issuance of treasury notes. A resolution was offered regarding duty on sugar and molasses. The Sta.tos were called for the introduction of bills. A resolution was introduced calling for correspondence relative to the expulsion of American citizens from Russia. Mr. Hiscoek’s n o tion to suspend the rules and puss a bill relating to duties on tobacco was lost. The b U amending the statutes making annual -appropriation to provide arms and equipments tor the militia passed. A message was received from the President in relation to the Australian International exhibition. In the Senate on the Slst tne supervising Architeot of tho Treasury, asked for more vault room for storage of silver. The Union Puoitlo report was presented. A resolution was passed providing for a holiday recess from tho S8d until January 4. The Inter-State Commerce bill was considered.In the. House an error In a vote of tho previous Cay was mentioned. The recess adjournment resolution was agreed to. The Indian Apppopriation bill was reported and referred. A resolution was reported regarding tbe ventilation of the House. The Army Appropriation bill was oontiderod in committee of the whole and passed. Tho Invalid Appropriation hill was reported and referred. Tho Senate amendment to the Urgency Deficiency bill was concurred in. In the Senate on the 88d a number of bills were reported from committees. A resolution of Mr, Dawes regarding customs duties and internal taxes was adopted. Adjourned until January 4.In the House conferees were appointed on the bill increasing the militia appropriation. The bill passed granting tho St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railway right of way through tho Indian reservation in Dakota and Montana. Tho bill passed granting to San Antonio, Tex., n portion of the military reservation adjoining that city. The Oklahoma bill was taken up and debated. Adjourned until January 4. J

PERSONAL AND POLITICAL. Aldkn Goi.U8.mitu, tho famous horseman of Blooming Grove, N. Y., died on tho 80th. Representative Morrison proposes to introduce several tarilf roduotion bills just before the session of Congress closes. Father Faukt, who was imprisoned in Ireland last September for refusing to give bail for his good behavior, has been released unconditionally from Galway jail. It is thought that General Egbert L. Viele, a member of Congress from New York, will succeed S. 8. Cox as Minister to j^urkey. A fund is to bo raised for a woman’s and girls’ offering to Queen Victoria in houor of the fiftieth year of her reign. Mavrovkni Bbv has bean appointed Turkish Minister to Washingtbn. Ox tho 30th Judge Thomas M. Cooley qualified as receiver of the Chicago division of the Wabash railway, “by filing his bond for $100,080. In the Campbell divorce case at London the verdict of the jury was that Lord Campbell and Lady Campbell had neither of them been guilty of the naughty things charged. Ergo, no guilt, no divorce. Rev. Fatuf-u Henn, assistant pastor of St. I.eonard’s Catholic Church, Williamsburg, N. Y., has mysteriously disappeared and as a sister of the pastor, Rev. Father Raber, is also missing, there is much excitement among the German population, of which the parish is largely composed. John Dillon’s application for a stay of the order to give bond has been refused. Paknell’s friends say that, his illness has been very serious, and that he is in a dangerous condition. Tub corporation of Stratford-on-Avon has voted thanks to Geo. W. Childs, of Philadelphia, for his gift of a drinking fountain. Genekal Master Workman Powderlt has ordered district assemblies 34 und 37, Knights of Labor, Chicago, rmt to allow any monev to be collected for the condemned Anarchists, and to refund to contributors any such money that has been collected. .

ASSISTANT-ATTORNEY r RANK XT. DFWEES, of the Department t f Justice, and a resident of Pottsville, Pa., has received the unsolicited indorsement of his colleague and the other officers of the department, including Mr. Jenks and ex-Bolieitor-Gou-ornl Goode, for the position of United States Commissioner of Pennsylvania. The President has approved the aot to relinquish the intorestof the United States in certain lands to the city and county of San Francisco, tho act for the relief of certain soldiers of the Twelfth Michigan volunteer infantry, and the aot retiring Vice-Admiral Rowan and Rear Admiral Worden with the highest pay. of their grades. The jury in the Morris murder trial at Sheboygan, Wis., brought in a verdiot of not guilty on the 21st. Wm. Morris, the acquitted man, was accused of murdering Katherine Noviosky, a servant girl, at Manitowoc, about a year age, to escape exposure in a scandal. LIEUTENANT W. H. St'HUETZE, Of St. Louis, has been ordered to report for duty in the Bureau of Navigation oil January U. Mr. Charles H. J. Taylor, a colored assistant prosecuting attorney of Kansas City, Kas., has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court on the motion of Senator Blair. It is reported that; Gadbnn Effondi, special Turkish envoy to Bulgaria, ha3 fallen into disgrace with the Porte for sending false reports. Gadban has left Sofia for Constantinople. ColonelC. W. Bell, special attorney of the Interior Department on Indian depredation cases, received a telegram on the 31st from Missouri stating that his son died on the morning of that day. Justice Stanley Matthews has his married son, Mr. Mortimer Matthews, with his wife and two email children, with him in Washington fora family party during the holidays, Mir. Paul Matthews, a Princeton student, completing the circle. The Journal dr SI. Fetenbourg says Russia’s refusal to aoeopt the candidacy of Prince Ferdinand or Haxe-Cciburg-Gotha for tho Bulgarian throne, is not duo to personal objections. The attack of rheumatism whioh has confined Senator Logan to his house for some days is very slow in yielding to treatment, and has developed into a very painful ailment. Beginning i:n one of the Senator’s hands the rheumatism attacked other parts of his body, and in giving him groat trouble in his knees and legs. The President has granted a pardon in the case of Tampa, Lowioh and Hietltet, three Pima Indians, now undergoing a sentence of five years' imprisonment In the Arizona penitentiary for a murderous assault on twg white tueu in that Territory to 1888. t

M. i)B Lessbps says that it Win cost 137,300,000 francs to complete the Panama canal. Wii.liam P. Shinn was oloctcd vicepresident of the New York & New England railway. Jacques, the English faster, has givou up the attempt after on abstinence of twenty-one days. Mother Mary, of St. Bernard, one of the sisters of the Good Shopherd, and formerly of St. Louis, died at Milwaukee on tho aid. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs will only receive the Bulgarian deputation as private persons. It is now stated as a faot that the successor of District Attorney Bliss, for the Eastern district of Missouri w ill bo named soon, and that Bliss will not ba retained tp assist in prosecuting allegad election frauds in St. Louis. Gadhan Effrndi, special Turkish envoy to Soha, will remain in Bulgaria despite the efforts of somo of the Powers to have him banished. Jons T. Morris, a Baltimore newspaper reporter, has boen committed to jail until he shall have purged himself of contempt for refusing to divulge to tho grand jury tho sourco of certain information which he obtained. Parnell thinks it improbablo that tho plan of campaign has probured abatements in rents, where everything else failed, as has been assertod. Commissioner Atkins has decided not to removo the Indian Supply Bureau from New York. A branch office will be opened in St. Louis each year, and St. Louis merchants will be given an opportunity to place food supplies, if they bid low enough. Jake Schaefer says ho will challenge the world to a contest with tho cue at any kind of billiards.

CRIMES AND CASUALTIES. Richard Siiixxick is held at Cincinnati for removal to Richmond, Va., where he is charged with murder by his wife. Tuckek Agee, convicted of the murder of James Faulkner at Lexington, Ky., last summer, was sentenced on the 2lst to be hanged March 5, 1887. Mr. Agee is the first white man sentenced to death in that part of Kentucky since the war. Early on the morning of the 21st Mau< rice Nugoat, a candy-maker, was shot aud killed in a San Francisco saloon by Thomas Bailey, a well-known character. This made the fourth murder within a week, and the seventh within six weeks in that city. A dispatch from Virginia City, Nev., on the 21st announced that the Yellow Jacket miuo was on fire. There were no particulars. A house attached to a delivery wagon owned by Chas. Southard, of Brooklyn, N. Y., fell into a hole opened by the Steam Heating Company in front of the Potter building on Park Row, Now York, on the 21st, and was scaldod to death. Adam Dekxer, an aged inmate of the county alms-house at Lancaster, Pa., was struck by a freight train near that city'on the 21st. and received injuies from which ho will die. A noi.n robbery was committed at the First National Bank in Milwaukee, Wis., at noon on the 21st. F. U. Bigelow, the cashier, who was engagod in signing a new issue of flvo-dollar notes, when about half through with a $200,000 lot, went to dinner, leaving the notes on the desk. On Ms return he discovered the money had been stolen by some,, unknown person, who unlocked the door'of hi^ room. Six wooden store buildings were burned in Pittsford, Mich,, on the2ist. The losers are: Mrs. Parkins, bazaar; Miss Snauble, milliner; F. W. Weedon, harness shop; Bates Hotel and a furniture store. The plaeo is small and without fire apparatus. By a fall of rock in Connell’s mine, at Scranton, Pa., John Rogers, assistant foreman, was killed, and John O’Hara had his back and leg broken. John Nee and Anthony Dougherty sustained fatal injuries, and Michael Gallagher was slightly hurt. The officers having in custody Wm. Mussel, murdorer of old man Christman, arrived at Eaton, O., on the 21st, and the prisoner was safely landed in jail. A crowd of five hundred pooplo made a rush oir the party, but wore held at bay by the officers with drawn revolvers. An unsuccessful raid was made on the jail, and another was feared to bo imminent. Tub trial of Rev. Waldo Mesaros, charged with an attempt to criminally assault Mrs. Mary Coulston, was commenced at Philadelphia, on the 22d. The British steamer Cormorant, from New Orleans for Bremen, is ashore at the Islo of Wight,-and will probably bo a total wreck. The principals, seconds, referee and twenty-eight spectators of a prize-fight wore arrestod on Staten Island, N. Y., on the 22d and were committed for examination. The cases of Lloyd and Hamilton; charged with train wrecking at Kansas City, by request of defendants will go from Wyandotte to Miami County, Kas., for trial, and will eomo up in March next. Robert Desposito was shot and mortally wounded at New Orleans on the 22d by James Cook, a notorious hoodlum. Desposito, it is alleged, has killod two meu. Bruce, the burglar who sevoral weeks qgo broko into the Church of the Sacrod Heart at South Bend, Ind., and stole the famous golden crowns, has been given seven years in. the penitentiary. The City Hall and Opera-house at Cheboygan. Mich., were destroyed by fire on ths night of the 93d. Loss, 810,000; no insurance. The city jail, located under the City hall, contained two prisoners, one of them an idiot named Doggy Dumas. Both were burned to death.

MISCELLANEOUS. Spain has granted to Germany the same trade privileges in the West Indies us America enjoys under “favored nation” treatment. Agents of Russia are engaging gunmakers at Prague and other parts of Bohemia for Russian factories. Donations to the Irish National League in the two weeks ending the 81st were as follows: From Ireland, 88,700; America, 835,000. It is reported that the Swiss Government’s military steps are due to a note from Germany asking the Government whether Switzerland is in a better position to defend her frontiers than in 1870. Company F, Twenty-fourth United States infantry, at Fort Elliott, Tex., adopted resolutions denouncing Sergeant Connor and companions who wore robbed with the rost of the passengers on the Fort Worth ft Denver railroad recently. The Austrian W ar Department is rapidly increasing its orders for military stores, equipments, etc. Among tho large orders recently given is one for the delivery of 400,000 repeating rifles not later than March. Several railway linos in Central Germany were reported blockaded by snow on the 31st. An unusual number of business failures occurred throughout the country on tho 31st. Uneasiness is felt at Paris at the unusual military preparations by all the Powers. The Hovas have paid 400,000 francs war indemnity duo France under the terms of the treaty of peace, and the evacuation of Tamatavo, Madagascar, by tho French, is now eminent. A communication from the Secretary of the Treasury was laid before the House on the 31st, in which ho says the capacity of vaults ulready constructed for the storage ol silver dollars is now practically exhausted. There is, therefore, he says, a practical necessity that provision bo made for the storage of silver dollars at the earliest practioable aay.

a utsfATCH Jrom Youngstown, O., of the 31st said that a committee representing the 3,000 striking miners of the Mahoning valley met Robert MoCurdy, the arbitrator on behalf of the operators, and it was mutually agreed to commend the adoption of the Columbus scale, which has for a minimum base-price sixty cents per ton. Tub Pension Appropriation bill, which was reported to the House from the committee on appropriations on the 81st, provides for a total expenditure on account of pensions of $78,251,500, The estimates were 575,351.500, and the appropriation for last year *70 075,200. The Canadian papers prediot an enormous emigration of young men and tenant farmers from the old country to the Dominion next year. , Tubes farms belonging to Parnell’s brother John were sold at auction on the 21st at Armagh, Ireland, for fifty per cent, less than valued three months ago. Ri’Mohs arc current at Madrid that revolutionary agitators are projecting another revolt. The Senate has approvod a credit of *15,000,000 for naval armament. The young ladies of the cabinet families at Washiugtjn will be quite a feature in tho younger society this season, and it has been somo time since there were so many young daughters of that oircle in society at once.

The collections of internal revenue during the first five months of the present fiscal year amounted to *$4,800,588, being 8793,509 less than the collections during tho corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Estimates have been made of the cost of a storage vault of 8100,000,000 capacity within the court yard of tho treasury building at Washington. For a double steel-llnod vault the estimates are 8100,078, and for a simple vault without steel lining they are $27,8i>4. The private banklnghouse of V. G. Hush & Co., at Mi nneapolis, Minn., suspended payment on the 2lst. The liabilities are not yet known. The cause of. the failure is said to bo tho necessity of Hush to carry the paper of Jackson & Collins, owners of the Puritan Iron mine, on which he was indorser to the amount of 1800,000 or 8400,000. The Supremo Court of tho United States on the 31st granted a motion to advanco the important bank tax case of the Mercantile National Bank against the city of New York, involving the question of the legality of State taxation upon National bank shares. The flagship Tonnesseo has been in- ’ speoted and put out of commission forever. The anti-rent agitation is spreading in Ulster. Biu, Mvssep, who was lynched in Ohio, | on the 31st, formerly lived near Shelby- ; villo, 111. Heamxq on the motion for a stay of proceoilings in the McQ iado case at Now j York has been postponed until the 38th. A Bun.oix© is to be erected at Sioux City, la., in memory of Rev. Geo. C. Had- j dock, who was assassinated at that place. ' Many of the Gorman railway^ are still completely blockaded by the snow-storm ) which has been raging over a large part I of the empire. Gladstone and his colleagues have, it is reported, agreed to support tho Govern- , ment in all legal efforts to suppress tho ! anti-rent campaign. The President has approved the act • making appropriation to supply the defl- ; cieney in the appropriation for public ! printing for the fiscal year ended June , 80, 1887. Ax epidomic of the disease known as ! “pink-eye” prevails among tho horses in Buffalo, N. Y. The street railroad companies havo eighty-seven horses on tho sick list. Governor Hii.l of New York has issued an executive order postponing the execution of Mrs. Roxalana Druse, under sentence of doath for tho murder of her husband, from December 29, the date fixed in the sentence, till February 28,1887. Fohefathkhs’ day was celobratod in > Washington on tho 33d at All Soul’s church. Hon. George B. Boring presided and made tho opening address. Speeches were also made by Hon. Geo. S. Bjpitwell, Senator Sherman, Governor Loug and Lieutenant Greely. The Comptroller of the Currenoy has declared a fifth dividend, ton per cent., in favor of the creditors of tho Pacific National Bank of Boston, Mass. This makes in all thirty por cent, paid on claims proved, amounting to $2,299,140. The steamor Rliynland, from Antwerp, which arrived at New York on the 33d, reports that on the 31st, while abroast of Nantuoket, she passed the sea monster reported by the steamer Thingvalla. It proved to be a dead whale of gigantia size, floating about fifteen foet out of water. It had apparently been dead for a long- time.

CONDENSED TELEGRAMS. A general tio-uiTo'tTho Brooklyn street ears occurred on the 23d, and considerable inconvenienee resulted. Dillon and his associates appeared in court at Loughrea on the 23d, and were discharged. Wm. Warner, ofNewtown, Coiiu., killed Mrs. Mary Lynch on the 23d, and then shot himself. A vein of gold is said to have been discovered near Bpring Hill, Livingston County, Mo. Lord Salisbury, it is reported, has renewed his offer of tho British Premiership to Lord Hartington. Wm. Schultz, a farmer, who resided near Catawba, Mo., was kicked to death on the 28d by a vicious horse. Ex-Governor Pierce of Dakota has accepted the position of associate editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. At a meeting held reoently at Sydney, Now South Wales, $5,000 was subscribed for evicted tenants in Ireland. H. P. Fohwood, a former well-known cotton merchant, of Louisville, Ky., has been adjudged insane. Lord Randolph Churchill’s resignation as Chancellor of the Exchequer excites almost universal uufavorable comment in England. By the burning of their farmhouse, near Saybrook, O., on the 23d, Caleb Russell, his wife and a demented son lost their lives. A yacht race for 1,000 guineas is announced for the coming season to celebrate tho Queen of England’s jubilee. Twelve persons were injured in a railway accident on the Asheville & Spartanburg road, near Asheville, N. C., on the 23d. . ' Mrs. Jesse Johnson, wife of a young lawyer at Knoxvillo, la.,'"threw herself into tho lake at Chicago on the 23d, and was drowned. Queen Victoria, it is said, will use the utmost pressure to induce Lord Hartington to join tho ministry and become Conservative leader in the House OX Commons. The engineer of the British steamer Sues,, at New Orleans, and three Chinamen were fatally burned on the 23d by an explo*iqu of gas in the coal bunkers. There is no olaw to the thieves in the diamond robbery of Elliott’s jewelry store at Minneapolis, Minn. The loss will not exceed #2,500, the big diamond being worth $2,000, instead of $5,000, as at first reported. Some one entered the stables of W. H. Comter, proprietor of the American House, at Bloomfield, N. J , on the 2Sd, and cut a large piece of flesh, three inches in depth, from the right foreleg of the colt Prank C., valued at $000. Clara Quast, a little two-year-old child, living at No. 1850 Third avenue, New York, while playing on the floor of her mother’s apartments on the 23d, picked up a screw which she put in her lrfbuth to swallow. The screw lodge! in the little one’s larypj and obokod her to death.

THEN AND NOW. Portions ortho South as Seen by Hon. Win. ! 1>. Kelly—The Marvelous Strides Made In Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama In Enterprises Tending to Enhance the General Prosperity of the Sunny Land. Baltimore, Md., Deo. S3.—The United Press is indebted to the Miontfaeturtn? Jieeurd for a copy of a letter received from Hon. Wn*. D. Kelly, of Pennsylvania, in which he gives his observations of the resources, progress and prospects of the South,-during his recent visit to Tennessee, Alabama and other Southern States. Mr. Kelly savs:

I have points of comparison in vivid recollections of a visit to those States in 1887, of trips to Florida in tSTl, and to Macon and Atlanta in 187S. The progress in the wealth, in the means of individual comfort and in productive power made by these portions of the country with which I oan thus institute comparisons has been marvelous. In 1867 the South was a land of desolation; her fields were fenceless and uncultivated, and her people were without reproductive stock, or that with which to utilise agricultural implements had they been bestowed upon them gratuitously. They were, numerically speaking, without seed for feed crops, except what was bestowed upon them by personal friends or the Government, through the Freedman's Bureau and the rgmoios of the Agricultural Department. In view of the immense development of the coal and iron ore of theso States and the increase in number and extent of industrial centers, I saw in Tennessee and Alabama, the States in which I had most frequently spoken in 1867, the recollection of the remarks Just quoted made me feel that shrewd and well-in-structed men among my auditors must have felt t hat I was treating them as children, and giving them what might be regarded as a kin dergarton lesson in the elements of the civilisation of the latter half of the nineteenth century. Certain it is they have outgrown the need of such elementary suggestions. The change wrought from then till now has been marvelous, and may justly be regarded as the work of Titans. The various systems of railroads that now traverse the South are as perfeot in construction of roadbed track and bridges and in passenger cars and the means provided for thq transportation of freight as thoso of the North. Lateral roads branch from them into such valleys as are known to be specially rich, not in iron alone but in other minerals, some of which are found in such profusion and juxtapostion as to seem to dofy geological laws as elsotvhere illustrated.

x\asnviiie is spoicen or as a Deautmu city and a manufacturing and commercial center, and of his having visited a foundry which uses no iron not made in Tennessee or Alabama from the ores of these two States. Chattanooga is characterised as a citv whose industries are widely diversified. “It has a tannory, said to be the largest in the world,” says the writer, “and the labor it employs is colored, and it was in connection with the home of these.laborers that my attention was' first drown to tho striking contrast betweei the neat, commodious and well-painted home of the negro laborer in mining, smelting and mechanical pursuits, and the cabin in which the poor white growers of cotton live now, as they did beforo the war.” Birmingham, Mr. Kelly continues, lacks the advantage Chattanooga derives from its situation on a river. It is an interior town.- When the war closed Its site was a te#nntless wilderness, but it is now an industrial center, the energy of whose more than S.'S,000 inhabitants and the resources found chiefly within a few miles of the city limits which they have made tributary to their prosperity, would be a marvel In any country. About six miles out, upon the line of one of the railroads, are ranges of cokeovens which remind one of the Connellsvllle and Westmoreland ooko regions of Pennsylvania, and about the same distance on another road parallel to the former and but two or three miles from It, we saw large gangs of men quarrying iron ore by the use of the drill and explosives used by those in quarrying stono. In view of the fact that tho narrow strip of land which divides the coal and iron beds is n mass of limestone, it is not surprising that tho ever sanguine men of Birmingham really beliovo they will be able to make iron so cheaply as to soon close up the works of Pennsylvania and forco her iron masters and their employes to re-establish themselves at Birmingham.” Mr. Kelly was much impressed with the towns of Cowan, South Pittsburgh, Anniston and Ironatou. South Pittsburgh, ho says, is destined to grow rapidly and become a town of considerable size and importance. Ho has heard much of Sheffield, and read muoh of what is to be done there, but can not speak advisedly of its prospects. He continues i It is a noteworthy fact that Anniston has a direct trade with China, at least to the extent of a part of the productions of its cotton mill. It-was indeed a surprise to And bales of goods marked and branded for direot shipment from this interior town in Alabama to a commercial correspondent in China. The ores used In the furnaoes at Anniston and Ironaton are procured from mines near by, and the wood from which is made their only fuel used in furnaces and shops is derived from tho mountain spurs. Fifteen thousand hales of cotton will be handled this year, much of whioh will be received from poor whites in exchange for a very limited annual supply of store goods, Tho Woodstock Iron & Steel Company own over fifty thousand aores of land. In whioh are immense deposits of brown hematite fosslliferous, specular and magnetio ore, mountains of limestones and seemingly inexhausible supplies of woods and coking gas ooal. This company has determined to construct two furnaoes for the manufacture of coke iron as a preliminary step to tho establishment by the company or independent parties of foundries, and I venture the prediction that though An niston has never had a “boom,” and its planting and development have been managed so quietly that Its name Is hardly recognized by the popular ear, it will, before two decades shall have passed, be ono of the most remarkable centers of iron and steel and kindred Industries to be found in those wonderfully endowed States of Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. In 1867,1 saw the ruins of what had been the little city of Atlanta, whioh had prided Itself upon the amount of ootton its merchants handled annually. It was literally in ruins —I may say, in ashes—but us I looked at it Dow, I saw that I had then looked upon the ashes from whioh a phoenix was to rise. That they are prosperous people, is attested by every thing you behold m Atlanta. Into and onto! its Union depot pass the oars of eight through lines of railroads, to which three important and independent ones Sire now bolng added. As I left the city in the morning I discovered pregnant proof that Atlanta had outgrown the calculations of Its earliest settlers, for factories, warehouses, freight depots and other massive buildings are rapidly facing the beautiful cemetery, which, when laid out, was evidently believed to be too remote from town for tbo possible encroachment of its stirring life upon this quiet oity of the dead. I have givon but faint intimations of the resources or the mineral regions of the South; of the impulses that now animate her controlling people, and of the rapid strides with which the spirit of tho nineteenth century is changing not only the aspect of tho country hut the purpose and aspirations of the people of the new South. Yours, very truly, WM. I>. Kelly. An Efftect of the President’s Message. Boston, Deo. 39.—The fishing schooner Augusta E. Herrick, which was brought Into publio notice in file late fishery troubles by the action of her owner in arming her with heavy guns, as a moans of defense against the Dominion cruisers, has arrived here with a cargo from Charlottetown. Captain Herrick states a marked change has taken place in the treatment ol United States seamen since President Cleveland’s message was made public. Judging by present indications, he thinks it is only a question of a short time before the Canadian Government will be brought to terms, and American fishermen allowed full commercial privileges in the maritime provinces. Will Eat Christmas Dinner at Home. Chester, 111., Dec. 23.—News was received at the penitentiary here last evening of the pardon of Obey E. Owen, but tho document will not arrive until to-morrow. Owen is still at his desk performing tho olerioal duties assigned to him and in the performance of whioh he has proved himself so valuable. Ho is feeling happy over his pardon, but has no statement to make at present. He has made many firm friends among the prison officials and persons doing business at the office. The institution will miss his intelligent service. ’ His place is exceedingly har<fto itu, it requlf% mwe thw^ydljb

TtLETTINQ IN THE NEW YEAR. What wonder that, aa here I alt alone. Counting the steps of the departing year, Waiting the slow and solemn chime to hear, That tolls the requiem of the Old Year gone, A solemn awe should o'er my spirit spread, A strange, still sense of mystery and dread? What wonder—when I know that at my door, Unseen, unknown, the waiting New Year stands, Grasping a sealed scroll within his hands— With strange, dim characters inscribed o'er— Wherein lies hid in awful mystery All that this coming year shall bring to me? Perchance, that sealed scroll may hold withal Some sad death-warrant for the friends I prise; Or my own name amongst them haply lies; Or sorrows worse than death yet to befall; Or there be writ in characters of gold Some joy to crown my life with bliss untold. Iwatch the old moon in its slow decline; So pass, Old Year, beyond life’s stormy sea 1 Whato’er the waiting New Year bring to me I know ’tis ordered by a Hand Divine. So, fearloss, 'mid the wild bells' mingled din, I ope the door, and let the New Year in. —Susan Archer Weiss. in .V. Y. Independent.

CHRISTMAS HAS COME. Christmas time has come again 1 What a Joy tot girls and hoys, With its snow-balling and tun. With its sleighing and its noise 1 Santa Claus' bag is full Of the sweetest, loveliest things; Dolls, like babies, beautiful, Balls, and drums, and glittering ring* Haste and get the little stockings, Santa Claus you know don’t stay; Always he flies up the chimney Ere it’s light on Christmas Day. And at night sweet little eyes Shut as tight as tight can be. * Santa Claus don't like us looking— Leaves us nothing if we see. Oh, the candies! Oh, the apples! Peeping from the stocking-top; Nuts and raisins here in plenty, Gorgeous-looking lumps of rook. Oh, the dolls with golden tresses 1 Oh, the glorious big drum! Let us All the air with shouting, Dear old Christmas-time has come I Every faoe is wreathed with gladness. Oh, it Is a sight to see Such a set of lovely fairies Dancing 'round the Christmas-tree i Santa Claus has left his treasures For his darlings every one. Is not this a time of pleasures? Dear old Christmas-time has come I —Our Litth Ones. A RESIDUARY LEGATEE. A Cup of Cold Water and a New Year's Present.

iungin«u.j HE immense pile of bricks and mortar standing near the river side, in Caplaville, tells the most casual observer of accumu1 a te d wealth joining with muscle and endurance to supply hundreds of human beings with food, rai-* rnent and shelter; tells, also, of human need aiding wealth to increase its glittering heaps. The building is ugly enough in proportion and detail by daylight; but at the moment of which we would speak, five minutes before six o’clock p. m., November SO, 1SS0, it was transformed into a “thing of beauty” by the gas lights which shone through its numerous large rectangular windows. A steam whistle sounded from some subterranean depth. A bell clanged in a small belfry above the roof. The motion of whirring wheel and flying shuttle ceased, and almost as quickly the operatives wero rushing down stairs and out of the gate. A motley procession it was, of both sexes, various ages and different nationalities. By the dim light of the “four-foot-an-hour” gas burners, which the economical selectmen of Caplaville had distributed at respectful distances, no one would have singled out Julia Leighton from the throng; uuless the start, the involuntary shudder elicited, wheu profane or coarse words sullied the evening air, had been noticed. The worsted nubt, wound about her head and throat, was not snowy white. The dark plaid shawl that covered her shoulders was as coarse as those worn by many of her associates in labor. Her rusty black dress was made more rusty by the fine particles of cotton that adhered to it. Poor Julia! brought up in affluence and taught to be personally neat, almost to a fault, she had not discovered any miracu- • lous way of keeping herself in toilet, in spite of oily machinery, dust-laden atmos^ phero and scanty time and means. She walked rapidly on, taking deep inspirations, grateful that she oould, three times a day, All her half-famished lungs with pure air. “How different my life is from what I expected,” she reflected. “Only two years ago I hadn’t a thought of this. Father, dear generous father, was living and supplying our homo with every luxury._ Servants were ready to wait upon me at anv moment. It had always been so; vtaf should it not always be so? My fear was I should be selfish and forget that I ought to help God’s less favored children bear their burdens. And I do believe the thought that troubles me most now is that I am living only for myself. But what can I do? When father died, and we found the old home must be given up, I was full of hope that I oould take care of myself and more; but one thing after another failed, and I had come down to Work with my hands only, or consent to be a burden on my mother and sister Bertha. Now I am earning my living, to be sure, but thus far I have not been able to—I doubt if, in this factory, I ever oan—do more. I am working for self, living for self, and I seem to have neither time, strength or money for any thing else." No family’home shed its light on Julia’s dreary life. The village house-wives had

t \ \\ ' \ \ * A CUP or COLD WATER. scant respect for “ mill-hands," and the very qualities that would have been as a passport in an employment suited to her talents and eduoation made her, as a mere laborer, an object of suspicion. She entered the low doorway of one of a block of faotory boarding houses, passed on into the dining-room and to her place at the table; threw her shawl and nu6e over the back of the chair and sat down to take her tea, amid the sound of footsteps, coming and going, the scraping of chairs on the wooden floor, the din of voices, pitched to every note of the gamut and uttering uninteresting comments and roflgh jokes. The comfortless repast ended, she mounted to the crowded dormitory, where, in consideration of an extra allowance to the n board-ing-mistress," she had a right to call a small single bedstead her own, and thus gained the ill-will of her room-mates, who looked upon her as a would-be aristocrat As she ascended the stairs, a querulous, half-moaning sound fell upon her ear. When she reached the room the moaning became words.

-. >1. '■ “What* the matt her wid yet’1, cried Maggie O’Brien, coming in behind Julia* uid looking towards a bed, close under the ?aves, in the farther corner of the room. “ Isn’t it wather ye have, dost beside ye 1 Can’t ye be aisy now an’ lit the gurrls have i bit uve pace) It’s thired wo are. ” The moaning voice came again; “Tin so thirsty—that’s cistern water—I can’t drink it—in that rusty tin cup.” “It’s moighty foine we are,” exclaimed. Maggie. “Sure an’ we’ll sind fur yes silver* rap, wid the gould linin’ widin’ it.” * “Who is she)” asked Julia, in an under tone. “ Don’ ye know Nancy Bint) Its meself thort every sowi^i ther mills was acquainted ter Nancy Bint fur the mane, stingy Yankee she is. Sure, don’t she be savin’ ivvery ciut an’ niver goin ter a frolic in all her mane stingy life!” cried Maggie, whose fondness for frolics told sadly on her Dvery-day wardrobe and reduced her savings to zero. “ An’ what fur’s ther mipthroes sint her hero fur ter bo tarmentin ther likes ave us?” continued Maggie. “ It’s in a crass

I “ HE TELLS ME YOU ARE NANCY BEXT’S RESIDUARY LEGATEE.” ' consunipshin she is, an’ it’s in ther house furnidster this wan she’s been. Mebbe ther gurrls wouldn’t sthand ther likes ave her anny more.” Julia approached the bed, where lay the sufferer, a woman, whom time, hard work and selfish, miserly pinching had made thoroughly unattractive to all but those to whom nothing human is foreign. Julia shook up tho pillow, smoothed the wrinkled bedding as well as she could, and was about to raise the oup of water to the parched Ups, but the expression of disgust on tho sick woman’s face arrested her hand. An excursion into the kitchen and an encounter with the irrritable, over-wrought “ bounding mistress,” Mrs. Smithers, was not to bo thought of; therefore Julia turned reluctantly away. The unsympathetic, emphatic remonstrances of the other inmates of the room, after a time, silenced tho coraplainer, and when JuUawss ready to descend to her Sarly breairtas'. the slots' woman was slumbering uneasily. All the morning, above the ch;fTC¥-eL!^_ machinery, that moaning voice; ’ I’m so" thirsty—I’m so thirsty!” sounded in Julia’s ears. Her purse was so light that the taking from it of a single twenty-tive cent, piece would involvb self-denial. She could not ask Mrs. Smithers for a pitcher and tumbler, for the request, interpreted as a hint that she had hot discharged her whole duty, would bo resented. But the thirsty soul must not ask in vain for a cup of cold water. Julia filched from the short space given -for dinner time enough to buy a small; stone pitcher and a cheap tumbler. When the evening bell once more released her she carried her purchases to tho town pump, made them as bright as, with the help of cold water, she could, and, with full pitcher, was soon standing at tho weary one’s bedside. Day after day the cold water was placed beside the thirsty soul. Day after day the bedding was smoothed and the pillows shaken up, but not one word of thanks did the ministering factory girl receive. Let us not blame poor Nancy too much, she was slowly wasting away, not in “crass consumption," but with a disease that unstrung every nerve. November, with its biting winds and chilling storms, passed away, and Decern-, ber, with its bitter cold and blocking snows, speedihg towards its close, brought the day ivhieh reminds us of tho lowly born Babe who came to bring gifts unto men. On Christmas eve Julia laid beside the pitcher of fresh cold water a card bearing on it a cross and the inscription; “An heir of God through Christ,” and hastening to the depot was soon on tho way to her native city where the Christmas welcome of her mother and sister awaited her. “I don’t see,” said one of Julia’s roommates, as she seated herself at tho tea-table tho same evening, “I don’t see what my lady Leighton wants to fash herself with that ugly old thing up-stairs for! She don’t get a thank yer for it. Wonder if she thinks Nancy’s goin’ ter leave -her money to her. They say she’s got a pile stowed away somewheres." < “Much ye kuows about It,” said Maggie O’Brien. “Didn’t yez hear Mr. Smithers sayin’ lasth wake Naney’d spint mhost ahl her money fur shares in ther Gpdown mill! Niver a cint has it paid, it’s a year gone now an’ Mr. Smithers’ thinki'n’ it niver’ll pay fur a long day yit. Sure, ef Yez didn’t hear that same Miss Leighton was hearin’ it. It’s me own belafe it’s love ave the good Lord, niver mind if she do be goin’ ter a Yankee church ivory Shunday. It’slove'ave tho good Lord that’s makin’ Miss Leighton take pity on Nancy. Anny way, it’s meself’d be ashamed ter say a mane tiling concarnin’ ther likes ave her, this blessed Christmas time.” All things come to an end, human suffering, as well as human joy. The time came when Nancy needed not even “a cup of cold water.” When Julia entered her boardinghouse one New Year’s eve, Mrs. Smithers handed her a sealed note. The factory girl opened it, and to her surprise, found written, in a trembling hand, the following words: t.

I haven’t a blood relation living in the world. I haven’t but one friend in the world. Miss Julia Leighton. What has made her never miss' all these long weeks, bringing me that blessed cold water and turning my pillows, no matter how cold or stormy it was or how tired she was, yes, or how cross I was! I know not if it was not the love of the dear Lord in whom I have learned to trust since she began to minister unto me. Will she see that my poor body has decent burial and then take all of mine there is left tor her own. And may God bless her and hers, Nancy Be^t." , The signature was duly witnessed by one of the factory overseers, Mrs. Smithers and son. Julia stood beside Nancy Bent’s last rest-ing-place and wept tears of sincere sorrow, not for “one loved and lost,’’but because this sister had lived so loveless a life that there had been no one who, for real friendship’s sake, had ever wished her a Merry Christmas or a Happy New Year. The bills for the simple ceremonial and its concomitants being settled and the clergyman being paid a ‘moderate fee, there was left to the heir nothing but the TJpdowa stock. As she, in her turn, the next pay-day, making one in the long file that wound through the paymaster’s ofiioe, passed the desk, she was accosted by the agent of the faotory, Mr. Bulfinch. “ Miss Leighton, I believe," said the man of means. / Julia bowed deferentially and stepped aside, that she might not hinder the hundreds who were pressing on behind her to take the envelopes containing their month’s earnings. > Mr. Brightstein is overseer ln your ro&n, I think,” Mr. Bulfinch went on, “I wish he could speak as well of all his loom tenders as he does of you. He tells me you are Nanoy Bent’s residuary legatee. If 1 mistake not she left some Updown stock}’’ “ Yes, sir, a few shares.” “Well, that mill hasn't paid any thing recently, I suppose you know. In'

however, if I can do you a good turn, I am quite wilting to. You would like to turn it into money, no doubt. Just bring the certificates iuto the counting room to-mor-row. If I’m not theiv Mr. Stacy will pay you for it, at the rate of ren dollars a share. That’s more than it’s worth. You see the Updown is all run out; the machinery is behind the age and makes an antiquated style of goods.” This being said in an oft-haad way, with the air of a man to whom no one would dare to say nay, Mr. Bulfich turnod on his heel so quickly that he hardly heard Julia’s “thanks,” uttered in rather a low tone. As she passed out, she could not be deaf to the jokes that wore passing among the operatives; or help knowing that she, herself, was the object of their ridiculo. Though Mr. Bulflnch Inspired the toilei's under him with some awe, he was not popular, for the hands gave him the credit ot originating - Borne burdensome regulations, and any ono on whom he conferred the rare honor of his notice w.as sure to be made uncomfortably prominent. “ Some folks got a great present this Now Year. Wish I could have ono," said ono. “ ’F me an’ you’d only git tor bo residory leg’teoa, ntebbo ther big buys ’d convarse ’th us,” said adfcther. Maggie O'Brien, who had been directly behind Julia in the line, lingered at the gate. ... —1 “lt’sanauld rat, th’ agint 1st” she declared. “ He’s afthcr buyiu’ Nancy’s Updown. Threw for ye, now. He niver buys - that that’s wuth nothin’, an’ he’ll niver pay a pinny moro than the wuth ’ave that same,” and Maggie ran on, net caring to be too intimate with one who was, though unjustly, disliked. Julia walked on wondering where the “ wuth ave” property that was “ wuth nothing” at all could be. She could but think that Maggie’s comment on Mr. Bulflneh’s dealings was a shrewd one; moreover it soemed almost sa.'riloge to*;, The certificates wero not handed to Mr. Stacy; but the jokos about the “ rousin’ Now Year’s present ” wero kept up, and Julia was known all through the mills as the “ Residery Leg’tee.” This might have been hard to bear had she not remembered that, in refreshing a weary body with cold water, she had offered “ the water of eternal life ” to a fellow Immortal; she had' preached Christmas joys by deeds far moro effectually than sho could have by words; she had induced a darkened soul to recognize tho fact that the Virgin’s son “ God with us” is “ The true light which lighteth every one that comoth into the world.” Julia was several times approached by would-be buyers of tho Updown shares. Though ovon the smallest sum offered would have been of great value to hor in her straitened circumstances, her “good genius” prompted her to refuse. It was through Maggio O’Brien that she first learned that tho “patient waitor” had been “no loser.” Approaching tho dining-room after the close of one working day, she noticed that the tumult was evea greater than usual, but when she appeared in tho doorway all voices wore hushed t ut that of Maggio O’Brien, who was shouting: SiiWoil, she didn’t uow! I told her not” Tnen’TiWiiBng to J.t4 . “Did yes bo afther soilin’ NaucyTTuiT^millj*^ • Didn’t l bo tetlin ycz terhouid °nf” a-. * Julia, smiling at tho earnostnessl& i^,_ terlooutor. ^***< “Isn’t that what. I'm tollin’ ycz!” exclaimed Maggio, looking triumphantly around; then turning back to Julia, she added: “ Auld Biilfineh an’moro er them auld bys that’s made er gould’s lift hor sottin’ them mills agoiu, an’ folks is saym’ ther stock’s thravellin’ up ivvery day. Ain’t it glad ye are I tould yez not ter be soilin' iti” As mo one at the table secmetl disposed to contradict Maggie, Julia, though not fully believing in her good fortune, wrote that very evening to a broker whom sho knew to bo a former business agent of her father’s and inquired whether the time was favorable for selling Updown shares. The reply came promptly: •' There is no Updown on the market. Nearly all the stock has been quietly bough’ by capitalists who havo the abilit.yto make the mills a paying investment. VVe do npt hesitate to advise you, if you hold Updown, to offer it at auettou, with instructions not to sell for loss than cent, per cent, above par. Should be happy to attend to the business for you.” The advertisement of ten shares of Updown drew together a largo company; agents of some of tho principal holders of the property who tyere struggling for the balance of power in the corporation; former owners who considered thomsolvo3 victims and who wero determined to sec that thoso lost shares should not be bought for a song; thoso who meant to make the occasion an hilarious one, and some^real friends of the Leighton family. Tho auctioneer, recognizing his opportunity, offered tho shares on condition that the highest bidder should take ono or more, at his option0; the next highest, ono or more, and so on till the ten were taken. Excitemont ran high, the bidding was so rapid that only tho thoroughly initiated could follow it, and tho shares that had cost Nancy Bant loss than a hundred dollars each stood her residuary legatee iu fifteen times that for every share. -Julia Leighton no longer works in the Caplaville mills, but no summer passes that she does not visit the town to see that the turf grows groon around a marble cross beating the name Nancy Bent and the inscription: “An heir of God through * Christ.” And every Now Year she places on that eross a wreath of immortelles. part with Nancy’s life work for to ppltry a sum.

Christmas In the Fatherland. Christmas is far more sacred in tho Fatherland than tho Sabbath, and - tho succeeding days are scarcely less so. On tha Sabbath preceding the great festival tho shops are open and many a good housewife goes piously to church in tho morning, does Christmas shopping in the afternoon, and finishes her fancy-work in the evening while the young people are enjoying a social dauco. But on Christmas Day all work and business are put aside. The fatted calf has been killed, the festal garments made ready, and for once sweet leisure hovers over the German home. On New Year’s eve tho Christmas tree is lighted for the last time—then bids farewell to its glory. Wherever the child of Germany finds himself on Christmas eve, his thoughts turn fondly homeward. No glow of tropical lands, no glitter of Arctio seas, no dazzle of Western wealth, no dream of military fame then looks so bright as the firtree in the window far away, whose lights shine upon the faces he loves. “They are singing now tho Christmas songs at home,” he says, “and wishing for tho absent onos.” He listens for the echo of the blithe old bells, he sees the radiant windows, and hears tho , children’s shouts and tho mother’s gentle voice. The fountains of his) heart are broken up. All Christmas Day he is a child again. In fanoy to joins in the glad anthems that fill tho parish church or the old Cathedral aisles, Green with fresh holly, every pcvr a perch In which tho linnet or tho thrush might sing. —Ellen Soule Carhart, m Current. Beautiful Decorations. One of the prettiost decorations we ever saw was in one of our large Southern cities where cedar, holly and ground-pine were the greens employed; but trailing down from the galleries of the modest, unpretending church, over altar rail and choir stalls, fell lovely gray Florida moss, against which the bright glowing berries came out most vividly. There was such a feeling of purity and spotlessness about it all, th e reo ollection of which has revived atevery succeeding Christmas. One need not go so far from home to oarry out this idea, for at i fruit-dealer’s can be found