Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1886 — Page 2

PICK TAI». J6IW I"**# iwrtwr-ooot and mti Scvnted with row* from th* garden, I wait the ooming of her feet, ’ And mainly try my heart to hardaa. *B££s3ttissiSfci A dainty toy from far Japan— It rnuit be your*, fair, blue-eyed Mabel. Upon ft four old mandaflrn }' ■ Travel about at fearful angles, •* Cmbrellaa balanced.on their china. And 'round their necks great golden bahples. Their robes seem ruffled by a breeie H Their tints wdbld dr ire a Turner frantic. But then, "it is so Japanese," And that, of late, it quite romantic. Sere, Just beneath this purple cloud, la one blank space—ami shall 1 fill its j The thoughts I dare not speak aloud, • My pan may tell bar, if I will it. I shall I Though never good at verse. For tour short lines I'm surely able—eeee.eesse There I Certainly I hare seen worse. That's a neat line, "Coy, charming Mabel 1* <1 hear her step 1 And now the "swish* Of silken skirts the sta'rease trailing. When wllhtbe see It? Oh. 1 wish— My oourage all at once is failing. —rUb.atmJUiUU-Miss Clair. I found This ran and wrote some nonsense on it Perhaps you will read it I’ll l» bound Ten'll laugh at my poor, awkward aounat . But if yon knew-CouM 1 but show—(Can it be true that smiles she smothers?) *Oh thank vou. Shell be pleased, 1 know, For. Mr. Bond, that fan's my mother's I" ~ ■ ttmms Weekly. - THE MINIBTKCUNG HAND. BT JOEL JIKXTON. Across the fields I saw her go, A fair voung maid of motion fleet; The falling petals’ drifted snow From pais white blossoms grazed her feel The morning breeze was fresh and clear, The blue sky crowned a perfect day. While that fine chorus filled the ear. Which makes the orchestra of May. So rosy-cheeked, so young and fair. Her steps I noticed long and well. And found they took her quickly, where A suffering household chanced to d well. file bore within her basket's space., Dainties and food for those in need; And all the sweetnegs of her faoe, I saw reflected in her deed. She lifted up the hearts struck down By lifelong sorrow and despair. And by her presence, shed! around Their humble borne her love and care. She did not seem to make a task Of what befell so fair and free; But nsthing more could crushed hearts aak, Than her most weloome ministry. Oh, there is beauty in the spring. And strange delight in summer day*— But oh, what joy one band can bring Whan touched by Love's transcendent grace.

FOUND HER AFFINITY.

BY SABA B. ROSE.

There was a restless, uncertain light in Allies' big blue eyes that day that I had never seen there before, and I was at a loss to account for it. She has always appeared to enjoy our rides together so much, and always averred that my span of blood bays, Tom and Jerry, were the finest span in the city, and wondered how Jerry would look attached to a dashy dog-cart which had been on exhibition for some days at the most popular cap-iage shop in town. And now 1 had gratified this latest whim of hers—what would I not do to gratify the wishes of my promised wife?—and the remit was that she appeared totally indifferent. Jerry had not disappointed me as to his appearance. I felt assured that I had a most stylish turnout, his silken mane thick and glossy showed to greatest advantage beneath his silver buckled overcheck, and the silver and blue plush linings of the dog-cart were calculated to show off Allie’s fair beauty as the green leaves of the rose tree show off the half-opened flower. I had thought that Allie Would be delighted, but not so. She turped her lips aside when I would have kireed her, and said that she had rather be excused when I reminded her that she had promised to drive with me that morning. “What is the matter, Allie, are you ill?” I asked in astonishment. “Allie is very distraite this morning,” her mother, who was in the room answered for her. “but there is nothing which would be better for her than a ride. Go and get your hat and parasol. Allie, and not keep .Cyril waiting; you-.* will feel very muchbetter when you are in the open air,” Allie smiled up at me a little perplexing smile as she glided from the room, and when her auburn curls had vanished her mother said: “The rolling skating arid dancing of the past winter have had a very injurious effect upon A liie’s health. lam glad that the summer is here, and that picnicking and driving will take their places; they are far pleasanter amusements to my thinking.” Even as shdWas speaking Allie returned and held up her chubby little wrist for me to button her glove. I then helped her into ray new carriage, which she did not ap- ' Pear By word or ,look to notice, unfastened Jerry from the post, brushed off his bangs caressingly, and took my seat by her side, and instead of picking up the lines I waited for her to do so, for she was very fond of driving. I waited in vain; she did not notice them. Grasping them firmly, I touched Jerry with the whip, and we dashed along the avenue and out into the country before I trusted myself to speak. ■ “Allie. what do you think of my newsingle turnout,” I asked M last. out over the fields where the farmers were yist beginning their haying. “Allie, would you be any ■ better pleased with it if I were to present it to you, Jerry, dog-cart, and all?" “Mr. Milborne, Cy. I mean, please do not, I could not possibly accept it,” “Allie,” I cried, in desperation, “what is this which over yon all at once?” “Oh, I do not know myself,” she replied with attemp' od lightness, but I could see the tears starting in her bine eyes. „ “Perhaps I will tell yon some time. May I drive a little while now?”

I gave the reins into her keeping, sank back in my corner and was silent. In silence -we rode for an hour longer, but at length, when- we were en route for home, Allie gave me back the reins and nestled down by my side, saying: “Cy, do you believe in this much-talked-of personal magnetism?” “To some extent, Allie, I certainly do.” “That is what has been troubling me,” ■she said confidentially. “I have been thinking what a dreadful thing it would be as, after a time, one or the other of us two •ahonld meet with someone who could expert this power over us—” She paused, unable to find words to just express herself. “You mean.” I retorted jealously, “What if yon shonld find some man whom you liked better than you do me. Isn’t that it?” “Why, no, Cy, bnt it all seems so wtrange— * Again she hesitated, and I broke forth: “Allie, you have been reading some trashy article, or listening to some half•crazed lecturer upon this subject—that is, what has influenced you, and I believe you iatend'to throw me over.” : ; “Cyril, Ido not, bnt I thought perhaps if we should test our love before we took

Any Irrevocable step-—I don't believe in •agageiuents, anyway. Suppose we suspend Dur engagement for a while, say three months, and then next' fall if we are satisfied that we really love each other—” “Your wishes are my law in every thing,” I cried, angrily. "I see how it is, there ie some other man you wish to exert you* arts upon. You shall have vour three months’ freedom, and so will I, and if in that time you find someone in whose company you are happier than you are in mine, or 1f I Should do 80, why then our engagement shall l>e as if it had never been." “You are very kind, Cyril,” she said, looking at me doubtfully with her big blue eyes. “But dp you believe you will find anyone you will like better than you do sfUfSm. —— ■ i -i - i-f [ “I might,” I replied, secretly elated by the question. “For if there is any truth in this affinity question, there arc heights and depths to this passion of love which you and I have never reached. Fancy being conscions of tho presence of the being you love, although that being be hidden entirely from your sight, or even after death has occurred. Fancy, Allie, the strength of this feeling which we are to tost this summer.” I was inwardly laughing, but Allie persisted soberly: “But, Cyril, do you really believe yop will find anyone that you will like better than you do me?" “Yon-commenced the subject Allie. “Bo yon not really wish to follow ont your plan?” “Yes, I do Cyril, bat I did not suppose that yon—” “Yon did not think, Allie. that this is a game which two can play, did yon? You wish to indulge in some flirtation this summer, to go free while I am still bound. But I shall certainly flirt too, if I get an opportunity—perhaps I, too, shall find my affinity.” “ Yon have full liberty to do so,” she said, a little tremulously, I thought, and then, after assuring her that she must not look for me again until the three months were over, I parted from her at her mother’s door. r I had known Allifi Norton all my life, and the fondest hope of my heart was to some day make her my wife. We had been engaged for several months, nUd her other admirers, as was but natural, had since that time fallen away from her one by one, for our wedding day was weekly expected by our friends and acquaintances.There had been times before when I believed that she regretted her bondage, and secretly wished that she was free to once more accept the attentions of her old admirers, but this was her first spoken wish upon the subject, and I must own that, in spite of my aseomed nonchalence upon the day of our ride, that it troubled me very mnch more than a little. I should have been altogether an idiot had I not known that I was considered “a catch” in the matrimonial market. Had the mother influenced her daughter when she made her matrimonial choice?

It seemed more than likely. I must satisfy myself upon this point. I shut myself up in my library for three days, during which time I read up upon the subject of magnetism and thought out a plan, t It was not a very original one. I would leave town for a time, and cause a report to be circulated that I had invested my property in a shaky speculation and lost. I would return at the end of the three months, and Allie should decideovhat my future should be, for. although 1 had acceded to her wishes with such apparent readiness, my heart was very sore when I reflected on what the result of my test might be. 1 • My arrangements were soon made, and I started westward, nor did I 6top until I reached San Francisco, Once fairly settled there I began to prepare t the way for my little game by writing Allie the following somewhat unfeeling note: Miss Alice Norton. ; Mr Dear Friend : The past woek I have spent in getting accustomed to this lively seaport of the Pacific, but I find time this morning to inform yon of my whereabouts and assure you of my welfare. It is a very fascinating place here, with many tilings which are novelties to a stranger like myself. I have found several fair business openings and shall possibly settle down here as a permanent resident. There are many beautiful ladies upon the promenades here. Who knows but that among them may be found my affinity? I will now close, hoping that you will enjoy the summer as hugely as I am sure to do. —Very reapectfutiy-yours; Feeling somewhat relieved after penning this epistle, I posted it, and then wandered down to the shores of the bay where ships land crafts of all descriptions and sizes were at anchor, and where many grimy and seemingly quarrelsome little tugs plying back and forth emitting shrill shrieks and lugubrious noises in every key and of every kind. As I was standing there musing, the fortress at the opening of the Golden Gate came into my mind, and acting upon the impulse of the moment, I stepped into a boat-house near by, hired a small boat and began to row myself out in the direetfoiY of the fort. “Keep out of the way of the shippin’,” shouted the boatman as I made off. - I did not think this advice worth paying attention to, and proceeded on my way, indulging in reflections upon Allie’s conduct as I leisurely plied the oar. The sound of rattliDg chains, the hoarse shouting of strange voices, a great splashing of the waters, aroused me from my reverie, and wondering if Leviathan himself was upon me. 1 turned to behold the slimy prow of an ocean steamer within twenty feet of me, and the next instant the waters rushed over me. When I came to my full senses again I found myself on board a steamer bound for Yokohama, which was miles out at sea, and steering straight for the flowery land of the Celestials.

That I was vexed mat be readily imagined, but there was no help for it, I could not return to my native land until we touched at some port in Japan or India. The Captain and officers advised pe to make the trip with them, but this I would not listen to for a moment. I must return at the first opportunity. * And my rashness again led me into adventures far more unpleasant than an enforced ocean voyage could have been. When we were off the Japan Islands ~a violent storm arose, in which I became thoroughly frightened. The steamer seemed almost a wreck to me, and &6 we were in sight of land I begged my friends to allow me to go on shore. They endeavored to dissuade me from this, bnt I was firm, and at length the sailors, spiked together a small raft and set me adrift. They kept an eye on me, however, and when I really did reach shored I knew that they were aware of it, for not until then did they proceed on their way. ’ I found myself, as the sailors had told me I certainly would, in a land whose inhabitants had a shrewd eye to business—shrunken, yellow, miserable little J*ps they were, but they were too many for me. Undoubtedly thinking, from, my manner of coming among them, that I was a runaway sailor, ior perhaps a criminal, thev made no effort to understand my explanations, but immediately laid violent hands upon me and forced me at the point of a dozen knives into a be* of mortar-like con-

sistency, which I was obliged to mix with my bare feet, and the only remuneration I received for my treadmill labor was food enough to Snetain me—cakes made of corn, seemingly broken but once or twice, and sometimes a bowl of puppy soup. , This I was forced to swallow in ordfil to sustain life,) while my masters regaled themselves “Upon roast dog and goat and an occasional fricaseed rat. v 1 found after a time that I was one of the lowest laborers of a large porcelain factory—the articles were very beautiful' when finished, but not of absorbing interest to a man whose only thought was of escape and return to his native land. Under other circumstances, too, I plight have been interested in the heathen practices of Boodhism which were carried on all about me, but now it was impossible, for my mind was filled with apprehensions of a long life Of slavery here m this dreadful place. Two years went by. In this time it seemed as if I had lived a thousand years of misery, and I would gladly have embraced death in nny honorable manner. Escape seemed impossible—the undersized villainous inhabitants swarmed the island like innumerable vermin, and each individual manikin seemed to be the guard set to watch my every movement. But wheu I leaßt expected it I was freed. A wealthy Englishman, with a half dozen servants attending npon himself and family, had penetrated to this far-off place in search of pottery which he knew to be real, porcelains which were made and glazed by the Japanese themselves. From afar I saw him coming, and with straining eyes I watched him, as through his interpreter he bargained for Imari or Satsuma. Faience or Hirado poroelains. What being Upon earth shonld be more thankful for the porcelain craze than I? Every almond-shaped eye was turned upon the traveled foreigner, and gaining courage from their abstraction, I sprang from my accustomed place among the laborers, and, grasping his arm in a vicelike grip, I told h m my story before they could tear me from him.

Then arose a clamor of voices, but the interpreter, who was himself an Englishman, placed himself by my side, and replied to my captors in their own tongue, and ten minutes later I Saw the stranger—a stranger to me no longer—place a roll of bills in my master’s hand —the price which gave the slave his liberty 3 Closely I clung to my new friends after this, and in their company I found my way to Nagasaki, where, fortunately, I found a steamer ready to start for San Francisco. I expressed my gratitude to my rescuers in as forcible terms as my command of language would allow, and with my heart filled with conflicting emotions I started on my journey. When again I touched the soil of the United States I telegraphed and then wrote back to my old home. I became the hero of the city almost instantaneously, and for a week they feted me; at the end of that time I was surprised in my room at the hotel, where I had been interviewed by the reporters of every paper in the place, by the entrance of my half-brother, who had mourned me as dead. More than once the tears arose in his eyes as he listened to my story and gazed at my emaciated form, and eagerly, too, I listened as he told me of home and of my business, which I had left in his care, and which had nearly doubled during my sence. Before we set ont for home a check,fully discharging the cash debt—nothing/could repay the debt of gratitude—which 1 owed my generous benefactor across the sea, was sent by the mail steamer. Neither did I forget the interpreter without whose aid I should have undoubtedly ended my life as a slave. In all this time I had not once spoken of Allie, although I had not for one moment forgotten her. I was sure that the dreadful test to which we both had been subjected had separated us forever”, therefore I could not ask for her.

My romantic story had preceded me, and many of my old friends gathered at the depot to welcome me home, and among them I saw the genial face of Mrs. Norton, seemingly not a day older than when I parted from her. I made my way to her side, and gave her my hand, she pressed it warmly and said in a low tone. “We 6hall expect you soon; it has been a sorrowing time for us all.” Still 1 coilld not speak, but when at last I was free from my demonstrative friends I took the old familiar walk around to tho home of-the one who had otree been my sweetheart. Mrs. Norton opened - the door for me, walked along the hall with me for A few paces, and then left me. The drawing-room door opened softly. Surely this was no ball-room belle, no nymph of the skating-rink which greeted me, but a woman, with almost as much pqf sorrow imprinted upon her countenance as there was upon my own. “Allie,” I said, “then you are not married?" The dimples and the olden blush crossed the lovely face as. my arm .crept, around her. “Oh,.Cyril, no, no!” * • “Then vou have not met your affinity yet?” “I hare,” she returned, smiling up atme. “I never yet believed that you were dead or false to me. I knew that spme time you would return, the same as of old.”

River Experience.

The owner of aMissouri River steamboat line, who lives in a Dakota town on that river, was approached by a man who applied for the position of Captain on one of the boats. “What are your qualifications for the place?” asked the boat owner. “Well, I’ve run on the river for over thirty years.” “Is that so? Let me see; suppose you were trying to make a landing and saw that the boat wasn’t coming up to the shore just as it should, what would you do?" “I should lean over the rail and say: 'Here, you lazy roustabouts, bring ’er round _________ f> W ' ,■ . “That’s good. If you got aground on a bar, what then?” “I’d take my coat right off and stand in the middle of the hurricane deck and talk like this: * ; —tt “Yes, yes, that’s all right. Suppose your boat gets afire ?” “In that case I always head her for the nearest land and use this formula on the crew: ‘ ! ———ll _ : j j!’ » “Well, sir, you'te the man I want, just name your wages!” said the owner of the line, getting up excitedly. “What I’ve been,looking for all winter is a man who has had big experience on the Missouri, and I see you fill the bill exactly!" —Estettiiie Bell. A venerable old man says: “Let the slandered take comfort—it’s only at fruit trees that thieves throw stones.'

Taking an Eye to Be Pointed.

The young man whose statement that he had obtained a black eye by running against an open door in the dark was [ received with such incredulity and he I.tjtw obliged, to repeat , this stofy so . often that he decided to undergo an operation known as having the eye painted, in order' that he might not perjure himself beyond redemption. He had a vague recollection of having seen a sign, “Black Eyes Painted Here,” while riding on a Third ; Avenue street ear through the Bowery j and he° accordingly mounted the front platform of one of these cars and rode down to find the place. He found it without any. difficulty, in the vicinity of Chatham Square, a location where the trade in black eyes ought to flourish, by the wav. the first sign, “Black Eyes Painted Here,” pointed around a corner. Here another sign on a photographer’s case pointed to a hallway, amj on every landing and at the foot of every flight for four flights of stairs was the sign,. “Photograph Gallery. Black Eyes Painted,” indicating a surprising versatility on the part of the artist. Up these four flights of stairs the youth With the black eye toiled perspiringly, and finally found himself in the photographer’s reception room, where two or three young women and one embarrassed young man were waiting. It was totally unnecessary for the young man with the black eye to announce what he had come for. The eye saved him the trouble, and the young woman in charge of the gallery said: * “Gen’l’man to ’tend to you be out in a minute.” The other young women giggled, the embarrassed young man cheered up a trifle, and the young man with the black eye looked as dignified as possible under the circumstances. It was a very superior person who at the expiration of a few minutes, during which the patient held a newspaper before his face and affected to be interested in it, came out into the reception room. He did not need to be informed what the young man had called for, either, but bade him summarily: - “Come in here,” and led him into the photographing room under the skylight. “Take a seat,” he said, pointing to a chair before the camera. “I don’t want my picture taken, you know,” said the young man with the black eye, and added a feeble joke about looking better for a photograph when his eye got well. The black-eye artist ignored the joke, and said: “I know you don’t want no picture.” Then he proceeded to mix up a species of white paint upon a palette, an operation that required several minutes, during which time the man with the black eye engaged in a hopeless task to stare the photographer’s assistant —a dirty boy-—out of countenance. It was hopeless, because the boy only stared at the black eye and grinned. Finally the black-eye artist approached with the pallette, and the young man asked: “What is that stuff?” “That’s a secret,’’ responded the artist., “Well, is there any danger of its injuring my eye?” pursued the young man. “Naw,” said the artist briskly. “It’s both healing and concealing. Look up at the roof. ” The young man with the black eye gazed heavenward, and the artist applied the paint, whereupon the young man involuntarily closed his eye. “Open that eye!” said the artist sternly, with the "brush uplifted. The young man did as he was bidden, and the artist painted the face carefully close up to the lids and for half an inch below. When he got through the young man’s face, felt as if a heavy plaster was pasted over it. The blackeye artist brought him a mirror, and as the othergazediate itpiakk— ——— “Don’t get any soap on that, or rub it with a towel. Fifty cents. ” The young man found that the preparation was" sq nearly tho color of the skin that the fact that it was applied was only apparent on dose scrutiny. He ventured to ask the artist if he did much business. - “I paint about ten men every day,” the artist, who was a youth of few words, said. “There’s always two or 'three fights a night around 'here, and I can fix a man u.p so. that even his wife won’t know he’s been hurt. You see a black eye is always worse the second and third days, and I have to paint it at first so that the discoloration spreads underneath. Yes, it requires skill to paint a man’s eye. ” And the young man with the painted eye passed out into the street and was saluted by the young lady in the . reception room, with the remark: “Now you look like a whiteman agin. Next time you git into a fight you know where to come. ” — New York Sun.

Tobacco.

It is asserted that tobacco was in use in China from tin? earliest times, but we have, no certain knowledge that this was the case. If it was so, the knowledge of the plant and its use must have been carefully guarded by the Chinese, for it was not introduced, into any other Oriental nation until after its discovery in America. When Colnmbns first landed on the island of San Domingo, in the West Indies, he found tobacco in use among the natives there, who smoked it when made into small cylindrical rolls, and wrapped in "maize-leaf. The Indians on the continent smoked it in a pipe, among all the tribes, from Pern to Upper Canada, the first discoverers found the plant to be in use, and to have been known to them from so early a period that the time of its first discovery was unkown. The smoking of tobacco, with the Indians partook largely of the nature of a religious rite. The seeds of the tobacco plant were first brought to Europe by Gonzalo Hernandez de Oviedo, who introduced it into Spain, where it was first cultivated as an ornamental plant, till a traveler who had noted its use among the American Indians, called attention to its narcotic properties. The name is said to have been taken from Tabacco, a province of Yucatan, though others derive it from Tobago, an island iu the Caribbean Sea, and

yet others from Tobasco, in the Gulf of Florida. The practice of smoking the dried leaf of the plant became .general in Spain, and its manufacture into snuff followed soon after. It was introduced into Italy in 1560, and about the same time in France. - The first to bring the seeds of the plant into the latter eounjj try was Jean Nicot, the 'French Embassador to Portugal, in whose honor bacco received its botanical name, Nieotiana, whence the name nicotine, applied to a poisonous extract from the plant. Tobacco is said to have been first introduced into England by Sir Walter-Baleigh. From these beginnings the use of the weed spread over the entire Eastern continent. It did not become known in Asia until the seventeenth century, but was taken up by the oriental nationb with great eagerness, and they are now the greatest smokers in the world. —lnter Ocean.

Singular Nesting-Places.

As a rule, birds select sites for their nests with an eye mainly to security from enemies. And as these ehemies include flying, crawling, and walking creatures, the nests are very likely to be well hidden. Occasionally, however, the feathered builder treats us to a surprise by fixing upon the most singularly unexpected spot; as, for example, when a robin sets its heart on having the armhole of a farmer’s coat for its nest. The farmer had taken[off his coat one warm spring morning, and thrown it across the crotch of a low cedar tree. When noontime came an industrious pair of robins had collected in the exposed armhole the foundation of their nest. The coat was an old one, and the farmer tender-hearted, so the birds Avere not disturbed. In New York the iron pillars which support the elevated road have been pre-empted by the English sparrows, and there,yin the midst of an almost constant din, thousands of little sparrows have been hatched. In a Kentucky town stands a, statue of George Washington, who is represented holding his hat in his hand. A pair of woodpeckers discovered the hat one day, and forthwith set about making a nest in its crown. For several seasons the bronze hat, which was only a useless luxury to Washington, made a snug home for the birds. A pair of onr native sparrows, with still more enterprise, marched up to the very cannon’s mouth at Fort Willett, and built their little nest inside of it. The gun was loaded, and tho bold intruders might have fared badly had not their presence been discovered in time to prevent the discharge of the gun.

Another pair of native sparrows are said to have built their nest on the end of the walking beam of a Hudson River steamboat. The boat was fast at the wharf at the time, and the eggs were laid in the nest before she was ready to go. The old birds were in a pitiful flutter when the great beam began to move up and down, and for a time they seemed to question the advisability of trying to maintain a home in such an unsteady spot. Finally, however, they became reconciled, and went with the boat to New York and back on several trips before the little ones were hatched. Perhaps no odder place was ever se : lected than that hit upon by a pair bl wrens in England. A crow hdd been caught, and as is the custom in England, and in parts of this country, too, the black thief was nailed to a tree, as a sort of warning to his fellows. The body, of course, was soon devoured and carried away by ants,' leaving only the feather-clad skeleton on 0 tree. For some reason a pair of tiny wrens took a fancy to the dead crow, and began to utilize it. They brought the wings together and ingeniously fastened them. Then they built their nest between the wings, and made an entrance to it at the place where the crow’s breast had been. They may be said to have nestled in the bosom of the crow. Lord Suffolk, upon whose grounds this occurred, was so interested in this novel home that when the little birds were hatched he had the crow taken down, properly preserved, put in a glass case, and hung up in his Charlton Park picture gallery. ■ — ; — ■ The water ousel may, however, be credited with having selected the most picturesque spot yet recorded. The ousel is a member of the sweet-voiced thrush family, but is what may be called an amphibious bird, since it divides irfcfe time very impartially between the land and the water. It is a very nimble land bird, and a good flyer, too, while in the water it is as much at home almost as a fish. A pair of ousels once decided upon a spot just behind a waterfall. The only way to get at the ledge of rock was bv flying through the/waterftfll, and this they did, going back and forth with building materials like a couple of schoolboys on a frolic. The little birds were actually reared behind the transparent, ever-moving veil of water. — Golden Days.

Everything is Lovely, and the Goose Hangs High.

This expression is a corruption of an old-fashioned saying that originated in the early days of this country. As most of yon know, wild geese, when they migrate in autumn, form themselves into lines shaped like the letter V, the leader flying at the point, the two lines following; and as they sail away, far above the trees, and beyond all danger from guns—on those cold mornings when the air is clear, and the sky beautifully bine —they seem full of glee, and join in a—chorus, “Honk, lionk, honk!” , Any one who has heard thosecu riously sounding notes, never could mistake them. And the folks ofl the earth be-, low who heard the birds’ wild call in old times, realized the happiness of the winged creatures in being so high and safe. And so it became quite natural, when two persons met each other under peculiarly favorable circumstances for this or that enterprise, for them to say: “Everything is lovely when the goose honks high!”- —SL Nicholas. ■ - An English experimenter finds that, contrary to general opinion, a growth of ivy over a house renders the interior entirely free from moisture.

Marriages in Brazil.

Consanguineous marriages in Brazil are the rule and not the exoeption, there being really more® such than of those between parties trot related by blood. There are many, not oiily between the first cousins, but also between the double first-cousins, and there are probably more marriages between a man and his Dieee, or a woman and her nephew, than there are of first cousins in America, even without taking into consideration the fact that the population of the United States is four or five times as large as that of Brazil. It,seems most ludicrous to the stranger to hear a man and his wife address euch other as copsins, as they generally db when such was their relationship. In .many cases not only was the union of the parents consanguineous, but also that of the grandparents, and in some cases even further back. Surely this has its effect on the intellect of their offspring, though not so marked and invariable as one might naturally suppose. For some of the children are apparently as intelligent as those of people not related by blood. But this proves nothing unless it is their good fortune, and even these probably pay the penalty in some other way. The people of Brazil are by no means intelligent os a race generally, but this is chiefly due in part to the absence of educational facilities; for it is no easy matter for the poor people in any part of the country to acquire even the rudiments of an education, and for those outside of the towns it is virtually impossible. Probably to consanguineous marriages are due, not Only some loss of intellectual power, but also the facts that the people are, as a rule, homely, exceedingly nervous, and not vigorous, though these conclusions may be qualifialrle, for the lack of vigor may be due partly to the climate and their lazy, inactive lives, and their nervousness may* be attributable to the quantity of strong coffee they all drink from early childhood, and the habit of excessive smoking among men and boys. The features of the white people are, for the most part, irregular. Generally, they have coal-black hair and beautiful black eye; Sometimes the teeth are very fine, and the hands of those of the best families are beautifully soft and very flexible, a most natural sequence, as these people haring many slaves, never perform any work themselves, nor have their immediate ancestors before them, to impair their delicacy. But whatever beauty they do possess will frequently be marred by ugly skins, noses, mouths, or other features, whilst the face may lack a cultivated, refined expression, which gives place to the sensual. But this is no invariable rule, for some are handsome, intelligent, and refined lobbing. — Brooklyn, Magazine.

Egyptian Progress.

Egypt is not at a standstill at present; it is moving faster, for better or for worse, than it ever moved before. And this is true of its antiquities ag well as of other things; the ancient cities are being in the present day dug away and their earth spread on the ground as a fertilizer; and this is going on at such a rate that some have almost entirely disappeared already, and the fields of -corn have taken their place, others have diminished to half the size they were a generation or two back, and are still diminishing every day. And the time does not seem very far distant when scarcely a site of a city will be able to he identified. Certainly Egypt will have exhausted its antiquity fields before England exhausts its coal fields. And up the Nile tombs are opened every year, and fewer left to be discovered. In one sense we are only just beginning to explore Egypt, and the treasure seems to ns inexhaustible, but that is only because of the puny scale of our attack from the scientific side; in another and terribly true sense Egypt is exhausting itself, the natives are ceaselessly digging, and unless we look to it pretty quiokly, the history of tho country will have perished before our eyes, by the destructive activity of its inhabitants. Never before has land of monuments been so fiercely worked on; daily and hourly the spoils of ages past are ransacked, and if of marketable value are carried off; but whether preserved or not is a small matter compared with the entire loss of their connection and history which always results in. this way. If we are not to incur the curse of posterity for our vandalism, and inertness, we must be up and doing in the right way.

Howells and His Work.

“Are you engaged on a novel now?” “Yes, I have a novel under way. Whether I am writing or not, I am busy working out the story and the characters. ” “Do you work thirteen hours a day, as Balzac was reported to have done?” “No, I do about three hours’ mental labor each -day—actual writing. I begin writing at 9 o’clock in the morning and quit at noon? But after that Igo about thinking it all over, and when I ' cross the-street I keep one eye on my character and the other on the cabs. I once thought novel writing would come easy, that I could sit down and a beautiful book would just flow spontaneously from my pen. That was a foolish thought'and an egregious error. Of course I was a young man then and indulged in dreams and idle fancies. The first novel I wrote I worked. Ah! I flattered myself that I would not have to labor at fiction any more after the first—that was the arduous task, and all else would come naturally. I know now that novel-writing is always labor —hard, unremitting work. It seems that eaeh book I write I w ork as hard, jf not harder, than, oh my first. - Success, I think, depends on labor! Young writers beginning doubtless live on the flattering idea that at a certain time it will be simply play to put together a novel They soon discard that notion. Then, too r many imagine that a close reading of books will fit them for fic-tion-writing. That is a mistake."— New York Mail and Express. -V '■ A lot of horses at S<*n Francisco became frightened a few days ago and jumped into the bay. One of them landed on a beach five miles away, after swimming for twelve hours.