Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 April 1886 — Page 2

rax BMOKKRS. flmrit I, do yon ? Well, th«n. »ir, nw know Bow fast *nd firm th«»e habit* grow; Yoxt've often donbtles* «wt>rn to quit, And th< n forgot it till vooM lit C A frenh cigar, and caught the tinoll Of that which please"* you to well. ..... You’ve doubtless looked into your rune And counted coat with many a curse. And read of dreai disease* caught By smoking oftrner than you ought ; And vowed at least that you'd curtail The coal and danger, but to fail. You buy two where *twas ail before—f But RT> more often to i he store ; You storm and reason with yourself, Andpnt your box back on the ebelt, But, in whatever place you are. Yovr thoughts are with the shelved cigar. How weak this proves strong men to bo! ij * Free, yet in helpless slavery! The thought is madness to the mind : Well hurst these galling chains that bind I But ere, my friend, we go too far, TH thank you for afresh cigar. —Cblnmbus Dupateh. f J LOVIC AT FIRST SIGHT. n was not a word. It was only a look From your eyes, true and clear As the wild mountain brook I A look of such love. Of snch ownership, too. I forgot there was any one living but yoa, »■' r ; None eaw it but me. But It beamed from your eyes, Swift, sweet into mine. Like an Alpine sunrise. With strange, trembling joy Was my heart thrilled all through. As ft struggled in vain 'gainst the rapture so new. j- It was not a word, . It was only a look I But easy to read As a printed book; So tender, so mastering. | Without touch or tone, It eaught me, it held me, and made me your own. —New York Tribune.

PERCY ST. JHON'S MARRIAGE

BY STANLEY VERNET,

. In a highly respectable though by no "means pretentious boarding honse.on the West Side lived n pretty little nrasic teacher named Elsie Walton. She was a distant relative of the landlady. Mrs. Brooks, who assisted her in getting pupils and introduced her to the pit bo inter of the house. Mr. Percy St. John, a dry goods clerk of handsome appearance and genteel manners. The young people were seated together at the table, and as both were sociably inclined a friendship soon sprang up between them. Percy had a tenor voice that he was fond of exercising and it was seldom he met anyone who could play his accompaniments as nicely and good-naturedly as Elsie did Upon the thin-toned piano in Mrs. Brooks’ ‘drawing-room,’ 1 which, by the way, was a aheerless room for such an ambitious name. As frequently as the young man’s finances would permit he repaid Elsie's kindness by inviting her to attend the theater or drive on the boulevard. When these expensive pleasures codld not be afforded a walk in the park or a visit to.an ice cream restaurant were enjoyed as substitute delights. It'was soon whispered and generally understood among the boarders that this prepossessing though impecunious couple were engaged. The course of their love ran very smoothly until midsummer, when Percy’s employer gave him a two weeks vacation. A few days previous Elsie had been called "out of the city by the illness of a school friend, who lived in one of the suburban towns. Percy was so dull without his sweetheart that he determined to spend his holiday at a small Wisconsin summer resort. There he met Mrs. Estelle Donnavan, a stylish widojv who looked about 25 in a subdued light, but ten years older in a glare of sunshine. She was • vivacious, agreeable talker and seemed to be by far the most important personage at the Lake House. Percyfelt flattered when she favored him with a marked preference, and without any intentional faithlessness to his absent affianeed he allowed himself to drift into what he considered a harmless flirtation with the widow. At the end of ten days he began to experience a few twinges of conscience,and an Uncomfortable idea forced itself upon bis \ mind that Mrs. Donnavan evidently considered his attentions in a serious light. Swas no summer idyl to her. but a matter- - fact courtship. Already she occasionally called him “My dear Percy,” and now and then threw out a hint regarding their future happiness that struck a chill to Perley’s heart. r— - He was getting tired of her gush and affectation. and thought regretfully of modest little Elsie. “I believe I’ll have to take refuge in flight,” mused Percy one evening as he sat upon the veranda of the hotel smoking a cigar after the widow had bid him good night in a manner more possessively affectionate than usual. '* W'-W The next morning he rose early with the fixed purpose of taking the, first train for Chicago. As he sauntered into the office after breakfast he met Robert West, a Chicago acquaintance, who was a salesman in the •tore from which, Percy bought his tightfitting, pointed-toed shoes. ’ The young men exchanged greetings and arm in arm strolled down to the beach. “I hear you are in luck, Perce," said Mr. West, jocosely. “What do you mean?” asked Percy. “Oh, you’re a sly dog,” continued Mr. West. “It was a sharp little game for you to come down here, pass yourself off fora gentleman of leisure and means, and thus gain the affections of a rich widow.” Percy colored and replied, a little testily, liad two weeks leisure square enough •nd a right to spend it as I pleased. As for means, I have enough to pay for all I had here and it's nobody's business if my salary is only six hundred a year. If anybody has a mind io suppose it’s more. I can't help ft. You don’t think I am called upon to go around and correct such a report, I hope?” “By no means, my dear boy,” laughed Mr. West," “and I advise you to make haste and tie to the widow beforethe decept—delusion. I mean—is dispelled.” “What have you heard about the widow that you have so much so say about her?" asked Percy, with an assumed air of indifference. “Nothing, only that it was a case of lore •tfirst sight—disinterested love, of course—that your engagement is an understood thing, and at the rate the affair has progressed everyone expects a marriage will tale place soon. Honestly though, Old chap, / think your head is level after all. You have a pretty little girl in Chicago that you’re sweet on, but there is no earthly chance for fellows like us to get anything •head to marry a girl whose 'face is her - fortune ’ It is all we can barely do to support ourselves and keep out of debt. You are awfully lucky to be able to marry fifty thousand dollars, even if your bride is. no spring chicken.” “Is Mrs. Donnavan worth fifty thousand dollars?” asked Percy, with a start of surthey say. You can cut a swell with • bank account like Ihat, but dppt.fOrget your old friends when you become a bloated bondholder.” / ..• “By the way, I expected when I came down here to be the bearer of bad news for you, but to! I find you so far above such

trifles (hat my words will have no stiug," said Mr. West with a playful nudge;in 'l’erejrirrtde. . / sw—-- ——• —-—■ ’ “What bate you to tsdl me.?. I wish you wouldn't l>e s<> funny/' said Percy. Mr. West pulled down his face until it; wore an expression of great solemnity, and gYhvely remarked: “I ovex- ! heard niv boss tell a friend of his that the firm who receive your valuable services is likely.tofail within*a-month.” “1 Can hardly believe it," said Percy, thoughtfully. “Still it may be so.” All the rest of that day his face wore an anxious look. He changed his mind about returning to Chicago Indore his vacation expired. Mr. West’s words haunted him. Surely there was A poor prospect of his ever being able to many th” girl of bis choice, less than ever jf it was trite that he was soon to lose his situation. Insignificant as it was, be knew that another as good would be hard to find. He was not a man of versatile talents. A clerkship was the only position he knew how to .fifi. Elsie was a sweet little girl, he thought, and he cared more for her thaii anyone else, but really, now he came to* look at it in the right light, it was scarcelv-fair to bind her to a foolish engagement for years, and then be no nearer marriage than they were then. West was right; there was no chance for fellows like them to marry gills without money. It would seem like flying in the face of Providence to refuse fifty thousand dollars which plainly might lie his. with only the widow ns~ an incumbrance,— I’excy banished all thoughts of Elsie from his mind and devoted himself to Mrs. Donnavan with business-like zest. There was a little impromptu dance at the hotel that evening. Mrs. Donnavan was radiant in old gold satin and the most dazzling of imitation "diamonds, and Percy was all that a lover should be.

Before the party broke tip. one .of the widow's lady friends proposed having.a wedding,. “It would be such fun and a good ending to a merry party,” she said. Everybody looked at the only sentimental couple present. Mr. St. John and Mrs. Donnavan. Th? latter luidher hand upon her companion's arm and said, in a way that was meant to Ins arch but was simply sillyL. “Shad we oblige our dear friends, Percy love?” ", I “Peicy love" turned very white for a moment, but seeijF, the expcctnnt-faceH around him he summoned a weak smile and assented. The landlord, being a justice of the peace, was immediately called into the ball-room, and before Percy had time to realize the importance of the step he was taking, he found himself married to Mrs. Estelle. Donnavan. * • ■ • , ♦ * * * On the evening following this unceremonious wadding. Elsie Walton returned to Chicago, and was disappointed in not finding Perev waiting at the depot to meet her. She had not received a letter from him in several days and her mind was filled witlf anxious feiSrs lest he might be ill. When she rang the bell nt her boardinghouse. Mrs. Brooks came to the door with a severe look upon her ruddy face. “Is anything the matter?" asked Elsie, anxiously. “Matter enough,” replied Mrs. Brooks, as she led the way to Elsie’s little room' on the third floor, and dropped upon a chair, very much out of breath. As soon as the dooririts closed she exclaimed tragically: “Elsie Walton, you are my second cousin's child, and when you came here I meant to be a mother to you.” “I am sure you hate teen, very kind,” said Elsie. Mrs. Brooks waved her hand to indicate that she did not wish to be interrupted, and continued:.— . “When I intro luce.l you to Percy St. John, and encouraged your friendship and engagement, I thought he was a gentleman.” ... “Why certainly, Mrs. Brooks,” Elsie wonderingly interposed, "and you were, perfectly correct. Percy m a gentleman and the dearest fellow in the world.” “He is a villain and a fool,” said Mrs. Brooks with emphasis. Elsie's blue eyes flashed, and she made the most of her five feet one inch stature as she inquired with dignity: “What right have you to make such a surprising and unjust assertion, Mrs. Brooks?" “His outrageous behavior toward you gives me a right to call him the worst names I can think of.” replied Mrs. Brooks. “Two weeks ago he left here engaged to you, nndl am sure I never saw a man pretend to be deeper in love. This afternoon I received a letter from him stating that he has married a rich widow, and impudently asking, me to ‘break the news gently’ to you. He gees on in a maudlin way about your being the sweetest angel living, but shys you are both so poor that marriage was impossible, and he felt it his duty to improve, his prospects by making an eligible match.” Elsie's face grew white as death, and she caught and held Mrs. Brooks'arm so tightly that the good lady winced. ' ‘ "Is it really true?” she' said. “Are you sure it is not a bad joke that some one of the boarders has perpetrated?” “Hera is the letter,” said Mrs. Brooks; “you can judge foxxonrself. ” Elsie instantly recognized her whilom lover’s writing. She read the weak, unmanly missive through with - compressed lips and a sharp pain tugging at her heart, then crumpled it slowly in her hand and threw it into the waste-basket by the side of her little writing table. “Really, Mrs. Brooks, I think I am fortunate in losing a lever who has so little honor. He shamelessly confesses that he has married for money, and insults me with protestations of his continued love.” “Hie wife must be very rich,” said Mrs. Brooks, thoughtfully.“or perhaps he did not know of the snug little fortune yo.u will come into next year." “No; I thought I would keep that as a pleasant surprise. It is well that I did so, else he might have married me for money.” “You are a sensible girl,” said Mrs. Brooks as the left Elsie's room and descended the stairs in quite- a composed frame of mind. Elsie went her usual rounds among her pupils. If her heart" sometimes ached while she counted the time for new beginners and drilled them in the never-end-ing five finger exercises and scales, ho one knew it but herself. To all outward appearances, she was the same, bright, cheerful Tittle girl that she was before Percy St. John’s desertion. One day as she was waiting for a street car on the corner of Madison and Clark streets, she found, herself face to face with ■ ter recreant lover. Her heart thumped un--1 pleasantly, but of the two she seemed much the less disconcerted. Seeing the car that she wished to take. Elsie was turning hurriedly when a high feminine voice cried eut, “Goodness gracious! if there ain’t Elsie." The young lady mentioned naturally looked to see who the speaker wag, and -an expression of intense astonishment overspread her face as 'her eyes fell upon the showily-dressed lady who was rushing toward her. “Why. mamma, how surprised lam to meet you. I thought you miles away.” The lady clutched Percy’s arm and made an effort to blash as she coyly said: “I supnpse that you have not heard that I have been getting married. Let me in-

i tngluee you to my husband. Mr. fjt. , John. U|y «t< p-daughter, Elsie Wal.um. 1 I am sure I" Irope you will dike each other very niuch»” . - Percy's face was a picture of agonised ■ sunuisc wheti El«i« congratulated him with a wicked little gleam of mischief in her I eyes and ati atuuKed.smile upon- her 'lips; “I believe I have the honor- of Mr. nt. John’s acquaintance,” she said,"but Lnevet expected he would turn out to ;be my steppapa,” P,erey would have welcomed an earthquake that would nt that moment have I swallowed his simpering bride and himself. And his feelings were not at all soothed when he became aware of the fact that he and his wife were living upon the interest of Elsie Walton's property. Elsie’s mother died whefi she was an infant and she was adopted by her grandparents, who preferred to have her, called by their name. Mr. Donnavan. Elsie's father, married Estelle Pardue for his second wife and did long survive the Union. His estate was estimated at #30,000. A third of this was left to his widovi - , als<: the interest of the whole until Elsie should come of age. Mrs. Donnavan managed to soon spent her portion and since then her only hop« was to get a husband'before Elsie’s 21st birthday.; She had scarcely a year yet of grace when she succeeded in captivating Percy St. John, who had never-once suspecte<l Elsie of being nn hciress: She had received a good musical education and when her grandparents died, leaving onlv a little money, she very practically decided to support herself by teaching until she became of age. Percy was angry with her sot not being more confidential with him regarding her family history, -and-doul»ly angry with himself for nibbling so quickly at the golden bait thrown out by the widow;. Two years later Elsie married a rising lawyer and has a haitdsotue Ttoni" on Prairie Avenue, where she lives verv happily. „ Percy still fills a clerk’s position*, and his w ife has lately esttiblished herself proprietor of a small shop which bears a sjgfi over the door, “ H air work done eheapt’’ They are a disappointed, discontented pair and make no longer any pretentions to being fashionable.

Facts not Generally Known.

Spinach is a Persian plant. Horse-radish is a native of England. Melons were found originally in Asia. Filberts originallycame from Greece. Quinces originally came from Corinth. The turnip originally came from Rome. Tlte peach originally came from Persia. Sage is a native of the south of Europe. Sweet marjoram is a native of Portugal. Damsons originally came from Damascus. The nasturtium came originally from Pern. The pea is a native of the south of Europe. Ginger is a native of the East and West Indies. Coriander seed came originally from the East. The cucumber was originally a tropical vegetable. Tlte Greeks called butter bonturbs—“cow cheese.” The gooseberry is indigenous t« Great Britain. Apricots are indigenous to the plains of Armenia. Pears were originally brought from the East by the Romans, Capers originally grew wild in Greece and Northern Africa. The walnut is a native of Persia, the Caucasus and China. The clove is a native of the Malacca Island, as also is the nutmeg. Cherries were known in Asia as far back as the seventeenth century. Garlic came to us first from Sicily and the shores of the Mediterranean.

Asparagus was originally a wild seacoast plant, and is a native of Great Britain. i - " *7~* —~ Necatine received its name from nectar. the principal drink of the gods. 1 The tomato is a native of South America, and it takes its name front a Portugese word. Greengage is called after the Gage family, who first took it into England from a monastery in Paris. Parsley is said to have come from Egypt, and mythology tells us it was Used to adorn the head of Hercules. Apples xvere originally brought front the East by the Romans. The crab-ap-ple is indigenous to Great Britain. When James Buchanan xyas Minister to England he had ears of corn, hermetically sealed, sent to him from this country. The onion was almost san object of worship with the Egyptians 2,00 Q years before the Christian era. It first came from India. The cantaloupe is a native of America, and so called from the name of a place near Rome, where it was first cultivated in Europe. Before the middle of the seventeenth century tea was not used in England, and was entirely unknown to tha Greeks and Romans. The xvord biscuit is French for “twice baked.” because, originally, that was the mode of entirely depriving it of moiature to insure its keeping. Cloves come to us from the Indies, and take their name from the' Latin claurus or French ekim, both meaning a nail, to which they have a resemblance. ■ - Lemons were used by the Romans to keep moths from their garments, and in the time of Pliny they were considered an excellent poison. They are natives of Asia. ~

The Ladder Broke.

A private bank, having a capital of $20,000, closed itadoors ip an Indiana town the other day, and when the people asked for information as to the collapse the banker replied: “Several Causes operated to bring about this failure, but the reason was the breaking of a ladder in Cincinnati. ” “How could that have affected you?” “My brother was on the ladder. He fell twenty-eight feet and broke his back. He was to have lent me SB,OOO to tide me over.” i The public should understand that it doesn’t take much to burst a Ixmk when all conditions are favorable. Wall Street Neics.

The Last Rally.

I “Hu will j>asH away before morning.” S<> said the doctor to the nurse as he I passed out of the fobnTtiown the stairs,' | piThnps! having n bit of sadness jn his i heart —perhaps dismissing the mutter front his mind as if; the death of a human being was of ho eonsequence to him or the wqrld at layge. Perhaps it was not. Why'khoiihT one be startled when an old soldier—a man of toilsome marches and many battles nTaltotit to pass away? lie must die, like the rest of us. The nurse was an old comrade. While the dying man beat the rally on his drum as Casey was hurled back at Fair Oaks, the nurse .swung his hat and shouted to the men hurrying to the rear: * “Come back, Comrades —come back ! Let us form a line here and beat them back!” When the drummer beat the advance on the fight at Antietam, and Joe Hooker's front pushed boldly-in to meet Stonewall Jackson’s men, the nurse Was in the foremost rank, his teeth hard shut and his eyes blaming fire. “H-r-r-r-a-t—tat!.tat!" sounded the drum in the streets of quaint old Fredericksburg, and the nurse was there to face the terrible Stonewall and to be driven back the murderous fire. “Tat! tatl Tat! tat! R-r-r—tat! tat!” sounded the drum at Gettysburg, as Pickett's Virginians massed on Hancock’s front; the nurse was there to help stem that mad torrent of war and hurl the shattered legions back to the cover of ridge and wood. Shell and shot and bullet had passed

them by, but now there was to be a battle with a grim and silent enemy. His forces were hidden in the darkness. There was no rattle of small arms—no roar of artillery*—no shouts from lines of infantry or ch<>ers from charging cavalry.—/ ' ■ • - - ■ The drummer awoke from his stupor and gazed around him. Something had warned him that a battle was imminent. He looked into the eyes of liis comrade and there was the same fire he had seen on a dozen battlefields. He felt the old excitement in his soul—the wild enthusiasm that comes from waving flags, tramping columns and crash of arms. He made a sign which was -understood. The nurse took down front the shelf the same old drum, scarred by half a dozen bullets, and from the hooks the uniform which had not been worn for twenty long years% “Ajt! comrade,” whispered the drum-, mer, as strength came back to his limbs, ;‘we may Mkve been driven, but we never surrendered. We will not now! Let us form the lines as of old. ”

“Aye! We will battle again!” cried the nurse, and he placed a faded blue cap on bis head, brought out the old musket from a corner, and continued: “Attention! Right dress! Steady, now, men! There’s the battery before you! We will take it or leave our bodies in the I meadow. Forward-double-quick—hurrah!” "R-r-r-r-rat! tat! tat! went the drum, and the - old gray-headed drummer straightened himself up and made the sticks fly. “Forward, men—forward!” shouted the nurse as he waved his cap on higln “Tat! tat! R-r-r-r-i-tat! tat! tat!” sounded the drum, and the veteran who handled the sticks breathed as if the old enthusiasm of battle was upon him again. 1 “Here we are—at them, men—the guns are ours!” shouted the nurse. “Hurrah! Hip, hip—r-r-r—tat! tat! R-r-r-r ——!” The drum fell to the floor, and the fingers loosened their clutch on the sticks. Then the old man’s hand crept up to remove his cap, a cheer died away in his throat, and he sank to the floor a corpse. , - “We hav-e been defeated!” whispered the nurse as he looked down upon the dead, “but it was by the army of Death!” —Jf. Quad.

Easy Legends for New Beginners.

There was once a'Tdng. He believed himself some pumpkins. When he was home he bossed the hired help around in the most despotic manner, and when he went out he bluffed everybody he met" One day, as this king was walking in a country lane, he met a peasant. The peasant was named John L. Sullivan. The king ordered him out of the path, and when the peasant .didn’t seem to tumble, his royal highness took him by the neck. It was a bad ’ take—for the king. He was carried to his palace on a stretcher, surrounded by weeping courtiers. Everyone expected fliat an order would be ’ issued to put the peasant to death, but instead of that the king said: “Let him be rewarded with a bag of gold and six slaves. Any man who has the bravery to maintain his „ rights against the king shall be the king’s friend. ” Now', wasn’t that nice! Once upon a time there was a princess. She was one of seven children, and all the other children hated her becauseshe had such a sweet face and such a good temper. They called her many hard names, but she never gave them any chin-music in return. While the rest of them went to the roller rink and the circus and to surprise, par ties, this poor little princess was kept at home to pare potatoes and do the family mopping. The name of this princess was Susan B. Anthony. Many times she wept until her eyes were sore, but it didn’t do any good. One-night, when the children had, been particularly unkind to her before going off to hear Bob Ingersoll pitch into religion, the princess decided that she would poison herself. She hunted up a box of “Bough on Rats, ” and was about to swallow box and all when a gallant cavalier entered the room through the sky-light. He had on pink tights, and hejwore a toad-sticker, and the feather in his hat never cost less than $3. He was a great man. His name_was David Davis. He had heard all about the ornery way the princess was used, and had come as a committee of investigation. He sat down on the edge of the wood-box and Susan B. sat down on the kitchen floor, and they had a Ibng talk about matters in general. By and by David asked her to skip with him. She hung off just long enough to prove her modesty, and then

-y T — - _.a,. .., y. ", I took his arm and cheesed the racket. Search was nuule for her under the lied, behind the-pigpen and down cellar, but she could not be found, and everybody fried and cne<l and wished ijrej Kndn’t bebn so one-h’orfle mean toward heir.' i At the end of a year a grand caval-, cadi approached tiie palaet*. There ’were eighty white horses, and eighty knights with swords, and everybody pranced and kicked up and seemetl to be on a huckleberry picnic. It was the prujeess coming home t" see the folks. She their forgiveness, and they Wgged her pardon, and they had a regular old-fashioned Fourth of July around there for a week, with all loss fully covered by insurance. Wasn't that- just too sweet for anything Free Prenx.

The Two Religions of Japan.

Shintoism, a religion of nature, was for of years the only religion of the Japanese. Its temples, as seen in pictures, were but shinties covered with grass. They had no stone or w«pden idols. The mirror was an object of great reverence, because, I suppose, they could see themselves in it, and they thought as much of themselves as of anything else in the world. SuCh jiersons still live and are confined to no special country. They deified the forces of nature. Raiden, the god of thunder, lived in the clouds, and beat his string of drums. Fnten, the god of winds, is pictured with a large inflated bag on the back of his neck, both ends of which he firmly grasps. When he relaxes his graps, the wind escapes, and there is a storm; and when he tightens his hold, a calm follows.

The Seven Happy Gods in the pictures are interesting company. Fukoruku Jin, the god of long life, has a forehead so high that a barber to shave the top of his head must "climb up bn a ladder. It takes a good deal of brains to counteract diseases and keep people in health, so as to insure long life. Diakoku, the rice god, sits oil a throne, of rice bags and pets the ratj the very animal that destroys his riee; so like some men who’lbve the sins which wreck their fortunes and souls. Hotei, the god of contentment, is very fat, and so slovenly that he is always unfit for company—a proof that the Japanese had a low idea of happiness. Bishamon is the patron of fame and’ glory, and his pet animal is the tiger. Men tvho seek military fame and glory must cultivate a tiger-like ferocity. Ebisu is the patron of daily food, and spends much of his tilpe fishing, which he, like some terrestials, greatly enjoys. He is noted for his patience, , is proved by the fact that he canWaibl knee-deep in water for two hours waiting for a nibble. The only one of the seven who never lays aside his dignity is Toshitoku, the patron of talents. His pet animal is a spotted fawn, and he travels around a good deal for the purpose of rewarding boys anti girls who study their lessons. He knows that talent cannot afford to dispense with work. Among them is one woman, Betten by name. She is queen of the world under the sea, and lives in ocean caverns, and spends her time playing the flute and guitar. The snake, strange to say, is her pet animal, and the dragonsuare her servant!."" . / " ' 3“ 7

These seven jolly god's meet once a year to hold a feast and arrange the marriages for the coming year. They have a great many skeins of red and white silk, which are ’ the threads of fate of those who are to be married. The white threads are the men, the red the women. At first they select the threads very carefully, so that good matches are made. By and by they get tired and lazy, huddle up their work and jumble the threads together carelessly. This is the reason there are so many unhappy marriages. A - visit to some of our divorce courts would Convince a Japanese that these gods are a lazy, careless set in this climate.—Exchange.

Rapid Growth of Spiritualism.

A St. Louis clergyman says: Don’t put my in the paper, but you may say that a clergyman who has been twenty years in the pulpit is greatly astonished at the growth of modern Spiritualism, not only in this country, but throughout the world at, the present time. It is spreading in the churches as well as outside of them. Its converts used to be entirely from the infidel and atheist classes—so much so that Spiritualism itself was ranked—and rightly so—as a species of infidelity. But now vast numbers of people who 1 commune With Catholic and Protestant churches are believers in spiritual,manifestations, and would rather give up their Christianity than abandon their “Spiritualism. The Catholic Church made a strong fight against Spiritualism, but it is unable to beat it down. Some of the more intelligent Catholics here and elsewhere are among the most ardent Spiritualists. I cannot say how they reconcile the one belief with the other, but they manage to do it—at least they hold to their Catholic faith openly and to their Spiritualistic faith secretly. And with Methodists, Pfesbyterians, Baptists. and Episcopalians. There is no Christian denomination to-day a part of whose membership is not tinged with Spiritualism.

An Infant’s Definition.

Teacher —Mary, give me an example of an object of the masculine gender. Mary—Mr. Jones, the grocer. Teacher—Now give me an object of the feminine gender. Mafy—You, Miss Smith. Teacher—And now of the neuter gender. Mary—Mr. Robinson. Teacher—Mr. Robinson? Mary—Yes; he is neither man nor woman, but an old bachelor!:— Neic York Commercial Advertiser. —*—

A Question of Arms.

Under ail ordinary circumstances the gentleman offers his left arm, ladies being presumably right-handed, and - if the lady needs support she avails herself of his assistance. But for a gentleman to'grasp the arm of the lady with whom he is walking, as if he were a policeman escorting het to the calaboose, is a social atrocity, and a lady would be justified in declining to be again escorted by a man so unfamiliar with the customs of elegant society. T”’ ' ' —’ » - . ' - r - .

In Constantinople.

Some one has said that to Constantinople is to see the entire East ? and, judging from the ditiferent cost lumes and peoples one "meets on the streets and in the bazaars, the saying is certainly not far amiss. From its geographical situation, as well as firbin its history, Constantinople naturally takes the front rank among the cosmopolitan cities of the world, and the crowds thronging its busy thoroughfares embrace every condition of .man between the kid-gloved, without a wrinkle in his clothes, and the representative of halfsavage Central Asian States, encased in , sheep-skin garments of rudest pattern. The great fast of Ramadan is under full headway, and all true Mussulmans neither cat nor drink a particle of anything throughout the day, until the booming of cannon at eight in the evening announces that the fast is ended, when the scene quickly changes into a general rush for eatables and drink. Between eight and nine o’clock in the evening, during Ramadan, certain streets and bazaars present their liveliest appearance, and from the highestclassed restaurant patronized by bey and pasha, to the venders of eatables on the streets, all do a rushing business; even the sujees (water venders), who, with leather water-bottles and a couple of tumblers, wait on thirsty pedestrians with pure drinking-water at five paras a glass, dodge about among the crowds, announcing themselves with lusty lung, fully alive to the opportunities of the moment. A few of the coffee houses provide music of an inferior quality, Constantinople not being a very musical place. A forenoon hour spent in a neighborhood of private residences will repay a stranger for his trouble, since he will during that time see a bewildering assortment of street-venders, from a peregrinating meat-market, with a complete stock dangling from a wooden frame-work attached to a horse’s back, to a grimy individual worrying along beneath a small mountain of charcoal, and each with cries more or less musical. The sidewalks of Constantinople'are ridiculously narrow, their only practical use being to keep vehicles from running: into the merchandise of the shop-keepers, and to give pedestrians . plenty of exercise in jostling each other, and hopping on and off, the curbstone to avoid inconveniencing the ladies, who of course are not to be jostled either off the sidewalk or into a sidewalk stock of miscellaneous merchandise. The Constantinople sidewalk is anybody’s territory; the merchant encumbers it with his wares, and the coffee-houses with chairs for customers to sit on, the rights of pedestrians being altogether ignored; the natural consequence is that these latter fill the streets, and the Constantinople Jehu not only has to keep his wits about him to avoid running over men and dogsbut has to use has lungs continually,’ shouting at them to clear the way. If a seat is taken in one of the coffee-hone** chairs, a watchful waiter instantly makes his appearance with a taining small chunks of a pasty sweetmeat, that the English call 1 “Turkish Delight,” one of which you are expected to take and pay half a piastre for, this being a-polite way of obtaining -paymeiiLfor the privilege_of -using the chair. The coffee is served steaming hot in tiny cups holding about two tablespoonsful, , the price varying from ten paras upxvards, according to the grade of the establishment. A favorite xvay of passing the evening is to sit-in front of one of these establishments, watching the passing throngs, and smoke a narghileh, this latter requiring a good half-hour to do it properly. I undertook to investigate the amount of enjoyment contained in a narghileh one evening, and before smoking it half through concluded that the taste has to be cultivated.—Outing. “

Some Curiosities About Books.

“More celebrity,” says Mr. Tredwell, in his “Plea for Bibliomania,” “has attached to the finder of a literary nugget entombed amid the accumulated dust and filth of ages than the quiet enjoyment of all that is purchasable with the wealth of Crcesus could confer.” It is " notorious that the works of Aristotle, which have had more dnfluence oh the human mind than any other writings except the Holy Scriptures, were lost for 200 years, and then discovered by an old bo-k collector named Apellicon. The credit of unearthing. Quintilian’s “Institutes of the Orator” belongs to" Bracciolini Poggio, one of the revivers of learning who flourished at Florence in the fifteenth century, while Cicero’s “Commentaries” were found under similar circumstances in the sixteenth. These and many other similar discoveries had reference, however, to works in manuscript, which were first given to the world by their indefatigable exhumer. Since the introduction 5f printing, the researches of such collectors as David Wilson, commonly jailed “Snuffy Davy,” have been confined to books of- which whole editions liave passed away, without the possibility of recovering a single copy. Every bibliophile is acquainted with the story of “Snuffy Davy’s” good luck tn finding William Caxton’s “Game of Chesse,” the first book printed in England, upon a bookstall in Holland, and buying it for twopence. This identical copy he sold to Osborne, the London bookseller who advised Dr. Johnson to buy a porter’s knot and eschew literature, for £2O. Osborne, in his turn, sold it to Dr. Anthony Askew for £65, and upon the latter’s .death it was bought for £370 for the Royal Library at Windsor, where it will no doubt remam forever, or at least until one of “The Enemies of Books,” enumerated by Mr. William Blades* in his volume ’ of that name, shall queilch its existence. —London Telegraph.

A Hard Question.

“Mamma,said Johnny, “can anybody hear with their mouth?*’ - “No, child, I don’t think they can,” replied the ungrammatical mother. “Then, mamma, what made Mr. Jones tell sister he wanted to teH her something, and put his lips to her mouth, instead of her ears?” The mother didn’t question Johnny, but turned her attention te Mr. Jones and that worthy made it all right by the proper explanations. Merchant Traveler.