Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 November 1874 — Page 3

lIENSSELA.EK UNION. JAMES A HEALEY, Proprietors. f RENSSELAER, - INDIANA.

OVJSfi THE RIVER. I had a glorious coronal—emeralds, sapphires and pearls; Brave was its glow on tho -frank young brow, mid the sheen of the clustering curls. But the purest gqm of the diadem was the first to drop away. There are few to be told, mid the tarnished gold, round the tresses scant and gray. Men ask for the jewels I wore erewhlle: “Over the river," I say, and smile. I had a wealth of beautiful buds, crimson and golden and blue; Through the April hours my fair, frail flowers nor change nor dropping knew; But some shrunk and died In the summer’s pride, some faded in autumn’s rain: The Wild winds moan where I stand alone, on the - arid, leafless plain. “Where are the rosesyou cherished of late?” “Over the river,” I say, and wait. I had a lute, whose music was the glory of life to me; Love gave to each string its happy ring, hope woke its melody. But the thrilling chords and the passionate words died into silence soon, And my faint cold touch canuot wake so much as the ghost of a vanished tune.. - ■ Where is -the measure ynu laveil JitfiJmsyil “ Over the river, with all the rest.” Fast as the fleeting moments, sure as the night to the day, ‘ ■ • Our hopes and pleasures, our joys and treasures, glide from our clasp away: .Sudden and swift the dark clouds iift, the lightning flashes down — Not au hour we know on our path below, if marked for the cross or the crown: Yet God guides all to the perfect day— Till we cross the river, love, trust and pray. —Harper's'Hazar.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE MOON.

There can be but few of the more elderly citizens of New York who do not remember the “ Moon Hoax” which was perpetrated some thirty years ago by an ingenious and impecunious journalist. He meant it as a joke, but the credulous public devoured it at once, and for a long time refused to be undeceived. At that time, as was then well known, Herschel, the great astronomer, was at the Cape of Good Hope, observing the moon. Upon this slender basis of fact the grim humorist founded his hyperbolical narration. It pretended to be an account of Herschel’a discoveries, and the smallest details were given with an accuracy and minuteness worthy of Balsac or Poe. The public were soberly told of the number and size of the instruments used, and of the extraordinary care used in the observations, the combination preventing, of course, the possibility of error. The resulting discoveries were sufficiently wonderful. Not only was the existence of animals and vegetables upon the moon abundantly proved, but men, undoubted lunarians, had been clearly seen coming and going about their business at the trilling distance from the observer of 233,756 miles. It’was too wonderful not to command instant belief. This English Columbus had not only discovered a new world, but be had also solved the secrets of illimitable space. The articles were copied far and wide; the ex--eitement spread to other countries, and, finally, the infatuation became so universal and complete that Arago felt himself obliged to go before the Academy and give the lie to the author of the hoax. Finally Herschel himself denied the whole story, and the world found itself as ignorant as before it had allowed itself to be humbugged. Since then sbience has made great -advances, and her discoveries about the earth’s satellite when stated in a popular form, as has been done by Amadee Guillemin, are a little less wonderful than the great feat of the imagination above spoken of, and the present time seems not inapt to mention a few of the more interesting things known to men of science about the moon. A beginning may be made by giving a few of the most generally known facts about the subject of this sKetch. Its distance from the earth has been already stated, but the mind refuses to grasp figures of such magnitude. A cannonball, traveling with its initial speed, would require about two weeks to complete the journey, and if the tangential and gravitating forces which keep the moon in its orbit were to be destroyed the earth and moon would not come together for over six days. The diameter of the moon is 2,159 miles. Its area is one-third and its volume one-forty-ninth that of the earth. Its density is 355 that is to say, the moon jveighs 3.55 as much as a globe of water of the same dimensions. Its gravity, compared with that of the earth, is very small, about one-fifth, so that if a man weighing 150 pounds were to be transported to the moon he would there weigh" about thirty pounds, and if he was moderately muscular he would lift 1,200 pounds with ease. The heat and light given by the moon have been measured with great accuracy. It would require 800,000 moons to equal the sun’s light. The moon radiates with the power of a body heated t</860 degrees, and it gives out warmth equal to that shed by a waxcandle at a distance of fifteen feet, which, according to Lord Rosse, is equal to a calorific effect of one-ninety-millionth of a degree, which speaks more for the delicacy of his thermometer than for the warmth of the moon. Still, inconsiderable as this amount of heat may appear, it is by it that is explained the wellknown facUthat the sky becomes clearer as the moon rises, for even this small amount of heat is sufficient to rarify the aqueous vapor of the clouds and thus dissipate them. The color of the moon is. hard to settle. Everybody knows that it is red when on the horizon, that it is yellow at night and that it is white by day. But which is its real color? Humboldt thinks it is yellow. Its red appearance when on the horizon he explains in the same manner as .the redness of the setting sun, viz.: by the refraction of the luminous rays by the atmosphere; and the whiteness of the moon by day would, of course, result if the moon were-really yellow, for that color is complementary to the blue of the atmosphere; that is, the two colors make white when mingled! Thus much may be learned about the moon without a telescope. But with thq aid of that instrument the hundreds of thousands of miles which separate the earth and moon may be reduced to about 180, so far as visual possibilities are concerned. That is to say, with a telescope magnifying 1,100 or 1,200 times an ok server on the earths can examine the moon as easily and accurately as though he were less than 200 miles distant from it. • At that distance objects 1,300 feet in diameter could be easily seen, but anything of smaller bulk than the Egyptian pyramids would eseape observation. These are the best results which, have been obtained. Telescopes have indeed bee* constructed admitting the use of

eye-pieces magnifying 6,000 times, and which would bring the observer within thirty-seven miles of the moonr-Bot their use is prevented by the diminution; of light which accompanies the observation of bodies not self-luminous by high magnifying powers. So that it can be readily seen that any minute description of the moon’s surface, its vegetation, of human and, animal inhabitants, is prima facie absurd and false. It is as if a painter should attempt to depict New York city on canvas without ever having been any nearer to it than Boston. Still 180 miles is not much in ijtself, and, it can be safely said that the whole of that part of the moon which is turned toward the earth is better known, and is mapped out with greater topographical precision, than are many parts of our own globe. When looked at with the naked eye the moon is _ seen to consist of roughnesses which bear a rude likeness to the human face, which, according to the French, who have a story for everything, is Judas buried in the moon for his sins. But when looked at with the telescope the moon appears the color of trodden snow or wet plaster, and the “ roughness” assumes at ouce the proportions of mountains. Mount Dorfel and Mount Leibnitz, for instance, are 2,500 feet high, and four others rise over 1,400 feet. Some of Tbpse mountains; as Copernicus aricl Kepler, are very bright, and others, like Plato and Endymion, are almost black, or dark, spots. Besides these mountains are seen “ cirques,” which are not unlike our volcanoes, and are some 15ft miles irr diameter, and “ rainures,” or grooves, as the term may be roughly translated. It is on these rainures that Schracter, the stoutest supporter of the hypothesis which peoples the moon, builds bis strongest argument. The rainures are about 100 in number, and are from 10 to 180 miles long, 1,500 to 10,000 feet broad, and 1,000 to 1,500 feet deep. Schracter contends that they are canals, and clearly of artificial construction —a supposition which their size conclusively negatives. Another hypothesis makes them rivers or river beds. But it would be a strange river which should begin and terminate abruptly, and run directly through or over mountains. Whatever else they may be, these rainures are not of artificial or aqueous formation.

It has been said that it would be impossible to discover with the telescope any signs of vegetation on the moon. That would be true of a detached tree, for instance, but if there were any extensive vegetable growths, such as an immense forest or a prairie, they could be clearly seen from their color. Thus tße Mare Crisium is of a dark green color and the Mare Grenitotis is a bright green; Monno Lichtenberg is a reddish, and Palus Lornnii is a yellow, approaching brown. But thaf these colors have any connection with a forest or prairie is very improbable, for this reason: The moon has no atmosphere, and without an atmosphere no form of organized life of which we have any conception could possibly exist. It may, indeed, be said that we are not acquainted with all the forms in which life manifests itself, and that would doubtless be true. Yet is it not equally clear that, if we are to conceive of other forms of life than those known to us, we must leave the realm of observed facts and enter those of pure imagination? Assuming, then, that if there is animal or vegetable life on the moon it must be similar to that on the earth, it is pretty safe to say that there is no life of either kind on the moon, because it has no atmosphere. And it is known that there is no atmosphere because there are no movable spots on the moon. If there were an atmosphere there would certainly be clouds in it, as there is in our atmosphere, and those clouds would certainly be movable and visible. But not the slightest spot on the face of the moon has ever changed its appearance from the time of the Chaldeans. Another reason is found in the manner of the occultation of stars by their passing behind the moon. If the lunar atmosphere were as dense as is ours, then a star would not be occulted at all, even though the moon passed so directly over the star’s true place on the heavens that a straight line joining the star and the observer’s eye passed through the moon’s center. This is easily seen. The refractive part of our atmosphere is 68 minutes, and the moon’s semi-diameter is only 16 minutes. Accordingly, since 16 minutes is less than a quarter of 68 minutes, if the moon’s atmosphere possessed only a fourth part of the refractive power of qur atmosphere, a star in reality behind the center of the moon’s disk would appear as a ring of light. It is on exactly the same principle that the sun appears to view when he is really below the horizon. The actual circumstances of the occulation of a star by the moon are markedly contrasted to those just mentioned. The star disappears instantly when the moon’s edge reaches the star’s place. There is no perceptible displacement of the star, no change of color, no effect whatever, such as a refractive atmosphere would produce. These and other similar considerations suggest, not indeed that the moon has absolutely no atmosphere, but that if it has any it can only be the half-thousandth part of the density of the atmosphere, or something more rare than the most complete vacuum that the best air-pump can produce. It is also certain that there can l)e no water On the moon, for water would certainly be accompanied by the aqueous vapors called clouds, and the moon has no clouds, but moves on its orbit with a sky ever serene. There is, then, on the moon no life, no air, no water, no winds, no currents, no sound except that transmitted by the vibration of solid molecule. The Queen of Night is indeed only a “ hushed and silent desert.”

That the moon has days and nights is shown by its phases. Ihe period of lunation is 709 hours, and this is divided equally into day and night. From sunrise to noon is about 177 hours, and until night is about 177 more. Then begins a night of 354) hours, or some thirty times as long as ours. But duration does not constitute the only difference between the moon’s day and night and ours. As the moon has fib atmosphere it can have no twilight. The lunarians, if there were any, could have no conception of the brilliant light fti the east, the vivid colors, and the charming shades with which our day gives place to night. Except that at the moon it takes ten hours for the sun to rise, the passage from day to night, and from night to day, is instantaneous. Even on the earth we cannot endure the brightness of the sun, tempered as it is by some thirty to 500 miles of atmosphere,' but on the ftioon the rays beat straight down with a dazzling and cruel brilliancy. And bn the other hand the lunar nights are dark with blackness of which the Egyptians had no conception, and whose gloom is only relieved by the beauty and the

glory of the stars, which shine with it power and clearness unknown to us. As 1 a place of residence, tfie moon, then, would be "rather more peculiar than salubrious. —New York Tribune.

The First Thousand Hollars.

The first thousand dollars that a young man after going out into the world for himself earns and saves will generally settle the question of business life with him. There may be exceptions to this statement; yet, for a rule, we think it will hold true. ———s=— The first condition is that the young man naturally earns the thousand dollars in question. He does not inherit this sum. It does not come to him by a*streak of good luck, as the result of a fortunate venture in the purchase and sale of a hundred shares of stock. It is the fruit of personai industry. He gives his time and labor for it. While he is thus earning and saving it, he lfiust earn two or three, or perhaps four, times as much to pay his current expenses. He is consequently held sternly to the task of industry for a considerable period. The direct consequence to him is steady, continuous and solid discipline in the habits of industry—in patient, persistent, forecasting and self-denying effort, breaking up- all the tendencies .to.-indolence and frivolity, and making him an earnest and watchful economist of time. He not only learns how to work, but he also acquires the love of work; and, moreover, he learns the value of the sum which lie has thus saved out of his earnings. He lias toiled for it ; he has observed its slow* increase from time to time; and in his estimate it represents so many years of practical labor. His ideas of life are shaped by his own experience. These natural effects of earning the first thousand dollars we hold to large benefits. They are just the qualities of mind and body which , are likely to secure business success in after years. They constitute the best practical education which man can have as a worker in this working world. They are gained in season lor life’s purposes, at the opening period, just when they are wanted, when foolish notions are most likely to mislead an inexperienced brain, and when, too, there is a full opportunity for ex* pansion and development in latter years. Men have but one life to live; and hence they start from opening manhood but once. And the manner in which theystart, the purpose which they have in view, and the habits they form will ordinarily determine the entire sequel of their career on earth. To succeed, men must have the elements of success within themselves. One great reason why there are so many useless, inefficient and poverty-stricken men on earth —or, rather, boys seeming to be men—consists in the simple fact that they did not start right. A prominent reason why the children of the rich so frequently amount to nothing may be found in luxury, ease and indolence which mark the commencement of their lives. It is the law of God that we should be workers on earth; and no one so well consults the best development of this being as when he confirms his practice to this law. The workers in some suitable sphere are the only really strong men in this world. — Exchange.

Victoria’s Gardens.

Col. Forney writes to the Philadelphia Press : “The royal gardens near Frogmore are thirty acres in extent, and inclosed with a wall- twolvC foot ia height. It is a magnificent spot with its grand collection of plants and flowers. There are two splendid apartments for the use of the Queen, out of which she proceeds to the conservatories, which cover a total range of glass of 920 feet. There is a vinery 102 feet long, two peach houses 56 feet long, and pits for forcing melons, cucumbers and asparagus, heated with hot water. These gardens are considered to be the completest of any on earth, and are surrounded with 1,800 acres of magnificent scenery, and stocked with several thousand fallow deer. ‘Yonder,’ said our guide, ‘is the Long Walk, nearly three piles in extent, shaded all the way by a double row of ancient elms, a delightful promenade. It was planted in the year 1860, and among its other advantages is a saline spring of great effect in chronic diseases. In the southeastern direction you will perceive a lodge, which was for a long time the residence of George IV. It was taken down by command of that King, with the exception of the gothic dining-hall, where at present occasional royal fetes are held. At the back of the lodge you will see a large building called Cumberland Lodge, formerly the seat of William, Duke of Cumberland, uncle to George IV. The Queen’s hunters are kept in the adjoining premises. - Near Cumberland Lodge are the schools, finished in 1845 by the Queen, for the education of the children of the employes on the royal domain. There, on the other side of Cumberland Lodge, is the broad approach to the celebrated lake called Virginia Water, of which you have heard so much, surrounded by a succession of delightful views, increased by artificial aid. It is about seven miles in circumference, one mile and a half in length, and in width one-third of a mile, and is one of the largest artificial sheets of water in England.’ ”

Performing Every Operation in Good Season.

There is a proper time to do almost everything. Yet many persons are a A. the very rear end of everything they attempt to perform. ■"They are always behind in seed time, and are at the rear in every respect during the period of haying and harvest. They rise early and retire late at night; yet they are forever behindhand. There seems to be a sorrowful lack of judicious planning and executive ability in all their operations. Hence they are always in a fretting sweat. Without proper planning one may rise at the dawn of day and work hard till the mystic revolutions of the earth darken his vision and shut off from him the light of heaven; he may sow with diligence and reap with care, but unless his work is done in proper time and iff a proper way, guided by the influence ot a well-trained, intelligent and disciplined mind, that work, will all be in vain. Now, then, if you have corn to husk, take your breakfast in the mornbig (not at midday), march lively to the field and apply yourself resolutely to husking until noon. Do one thing at a time, and perform the task thoroughly. Train yourself to engage resolutely in a job and stick to it until thetaslLis completed. Then take up something else. — If. Y. Herald. So far twenty-one foreign governments have accepted the invitation to participate in the Centennial Exposition.

Our Young Folks. A QUEER LITTLE WOMAN. A queer little woman I met one day. With a round little nose and two great bl<fb eyes, And she grappled my neck in so fierce a way I was nearly choked to death with surprise. “Where did you come from? What Is your uume?” I asked, as a shower of kisses felt.® “Does anyoue own you, my little dame?" ‘"l'm all yours. Auntie; but don't,you tell.’’ We kiss each other with fond embrace Upon the landing or «n the stair; Whatever the time or wherever the'place, The opportunity's then and there. 'Tis just for a minute; and then, perchance, Another may happen to pass that way Who claims a kiss or a loving glance And wins her heart with but slight delay. And, nestling close to her charioteer, Her coral lips like a fluted shell, She whispers, softly, and yet I hear: 'T’m all yours, Papa; but don't you tell.” You queer little woman! how can I trnst A love so flckle and false as this? Do you think that a heart so cruelly thrust Can meet you to-morrow with smile and kiss? Ah! yes, indeed, for I would not lose My hold on the heart I am proud to share; So love me a little to-day, if you choose. And grant me more witch you've more to spare. —Josephine Pollard, in X. Y. Independent.

TOO MUCH GOLD.

Now, papa, you must tell me an ambitious story to-night.” Minnie Percy had seated herself without . help in her papa’s lap. He was sitting in a large arm-chair pretending to be asleep. He haft his hand over his eyes, his elbow resting on the arm of his chair. Minnie knew well enough he was playing “possum,” so she had climbed up and curled herself down for a goodnight story. Her father laughed. “An ambitious story—l don’t understand,” he pinched her pink cheek and pulled a curl one side, then the other, and after two or three ““creepy mouses” Minnie recovered from her glee enough to say—- “ Why, you know, papa, "what that means; it’s a story that isn’t true—it’s all ’splained in one of the Kallo Books you read me.” “ Oh, you mean fictitious; you must be careful when you use long words, or you will trip, my puss.” “Yes, that’s it— fictitious. I mean something that didn’t happen, you .know.” , ——^ The little girl smoothed her little white apron, picked at the ruffles, put her hands in the cunning pockets, sat about five seconds, then asked, “Are you thinking, papa?” “ Yes r yes, let me see,” he replied, rubbing his forehead. The fact was, he had to tell stories so often that it kept him busy, though some stories Minnie liked to hear over and over. “ Didn’t I hear my little daughter, a while ago, at her play, saying, ‘ I wish I had a gold dress and gold doll, gold dishes, gold bed, gold room, and everything I had was gold. ” “I guess ” Minnie smiled and dropped her head so her papa couldn’t see her dimples. “ I guess 1 was telling Nellie Weeks that when we were playing visit.” Then her papa snatched a dozen kisses from her soft cheek and red lips before he proceeded. “ Does my little girl think she would be any happier if everything she had was gold?” “N—no; but it would be nice,” she faltered. “ Well, I think I will tell you not only an ambitious ” “ Fictitious, papa. I remember now,” said Minnie. “ Well, not only a fictitious story, but a classical one; you are so fond of long names.” V What’s classical?” “ I supposed you would ask, so I have my answer ready. It means the best writers. It used to apply only to the Greeks and Romans, who are considered the best models of fine writing; now it includes modern authors of the first rank, those well versed in ancient languages, those who write the most pure, correct and refined. Your brother’s Virgil and Sallust are Latin classical books and papa’s Plato and Demosthenes are Greek. Now, I am going to tell you a very old story, written by one of these classical authors. “There was once a great King in Phrygia named Midas. We know there was such a country, and ;t is described as being high table-land, abounding in corn and wine, and celebrated for its fine sheep and cattle. It is mentioned in the Bible, for St. Paul traveled over it twice, preaching the Gospel. But this King—we are not so sure about him, but the story has been handed down from generation to generation about him. He was very fond of show and power. To have these he must have gold. One time Bacchus, who was god of wine, was having a great jubilee with his followers, when they missed Silenus; he was Bacchus’ tutor, and was very old now, and feeble with dissipation. While under the influence of wine he lost his way and went into the Kingdom of Phrygia, and was taken to the King. He made a great feast and kept him ten days, then he took him back to Bacchus, who was so grateful for the return of his foster-father that.he told Midas he would grant him any wish he might request. Then what did the foolish King reply? “ ' Give me,’ sayts he—nor thought he asked too ° much, ' That with my body whatsoe'er I touch. Changed from the nature which it held of old, May be converted into yellow gold.’ “ He had his wish and started home. He broke a branch from a tree as he walked along; behold, it turned to gold; then he touched £ stone; it turned to gold. He grew more excited as well as delighted; he had only to lay a finger on any object and Returned to gold. When he went into his palace the pillars were shining gold where he carelessly touched. Then in his transport he ordered his slaves to prepare a feast of the daintiest dishes ; so they did, and set before their happy lord; but alas! now see him; he takes apiece of bread—it is gold; a "piece of meat—it is gold; lie begins to get alarmed and- snatches his wine-cup. “ ‘ Ah! no change,’ he said, ‘ tlfe charm is broken;’ he looked relieved. “ 4 The King’s cup was gold,’ said one of his guests. “ The King put it to his lips. Ah, the wine was fluid gold as it ran from his mouth. Now he grows sick of his wish, of his power. He is afraid of starving, so he confesses his folly to Bacchus, and begs him to take back his gift. Bacchus bade him wash in the river Paetolas; when he did, all the sand turned to gold; he hated the sight of it, so much so that he would not let his people gather it, so it was washed away. The gold had not made him happy but a very short time.” “Oh, papa,” exclaimed Minnie, “I’ll never, never wish for everything to be gold again; then I couldn’t eat grandma’s doughnuts, or mamma's orange cake, or Bridget’s cookies.” / “One would think you lived upon

cake. lam not sure but cake may be as fatal as gold, though it would take some longer to die from the effects of it than starvation.” . ■. —- “ Oh, 1 have to be stinted; I can have only just so much; but I have wished everything we ate was cakk, I like it so. I see I must not, that would be wrong.” “ Yes, my daughter; but to return to our story. I wish you to remember it was what you asked for, a fictitious story, though, like many of those old stories and legends, it contains a good moral. Be satisfied with what you have, and do not spend valuable time in vain wishes, for many times, if gratified, we should find them as hateful to us as the King Midas did his gold.”— lnterior.

A Little Talk to the Boys and Girls.

It is very hard for boys and girls between ten and twenty to believe what older people tell them concerning the selection of reading matter. If a book is interesting, exciting, thrilling, the young folks want to read it. They like to feel tlieir hair stand on end at the hairbreadth escapes of the hero, and their nerves tingle to the ends of their fingers at his exploits, and their faces burn with passionate sympathy in his tribulations—and what harm is there in it? Let us see what harm there may be. You know very well that a, child fed on candy and cake and. sweetmeats soon loses all healthy appetLe for nutritious food, his teeth grow black and crumble away, bis stomach becomes deranged, his breath offensive, and the whole physical and mental organization is dwarfed and injured. When he grows older he will crave spices and tobacco and alcohol to stimulate his abnormal appetite and give pungenewto tasteless though healthful food. No man who grows up from such childhood is going tohave the first positions of honor and trust and usefulness in the community where he lives. The men who hold those positions were fed with milk and bread and meat when they were young, and not with trash. Now, the mind like the body grows by what it feeds upon. The girl who fills her brain with silly, sentimental, lovesick stories grows up into a silly, sentimental, lackadaisical woman, useless for all the noble an"d substantial work of life. The boy who feeds on sensational newspapers and exciting novels has no intellectual muscle, no commanding .will to make his way in the world. Then, aside from the debilitating effect of such reading, the mind is poisoned by impure associations. These thrilling stories have always murder, or theft, or lying, or knavery as an integral part of their tissue, and boys while reading them live in the companionship of men and women, of boys and girls, with whom they would be ashamed to be seen conversing, whom they would never think of inviting to their houses and introducing to their friends, and whose very names they would not mention in polite society as associates and equals. Every book that one reads, no less than every dinner that one eats, becomes part and parcel of the individual, and we can no more read without injury an unwholesome book or periodical than we can eat tainted meat and not suffer thereby. Just as there are everywhere stores full of candy, and cake, and liquor, and tobacco, and spices, so there are everywhere books, newspapers and magazines full of the veriest trash, and abounding in everything boys and girls should not read. And just as the healthful stomach, passing all these pernicious baits, will choose sound aliment, so the healthful mind will reject the unwholesome literature current everywhere, and select such only as is intrinsically good. The other day we pi eked up a popular juvenile weekly, and presently found ourself knee-deep in slang, over our head in vulgar allusion, and in the midst of a low-lived metropolitan crowd, where cock-fights, dog-fights and man-fights were the condiments offered to whet the appetite for reading; and yet we know families where that paper is regularly taken. Do the parents read it? Do they know what company their children are keeping? But says the young inquirer, What shall we read, ana how shall we know "if books are suitable? Read such books as give you valuable information, histories, travels and those works of fiction that are approved by people of correct judgment. Our leading magazines contain a vast amount of reading, interesting alike to young and old. Do not read what renders distasteful the ordinary duties of life, or renders vice attractive, or makes you long for an impossible and romantic career. Scott, Cooper, Jules Verne, Washington Irving will never bring you into impure associations; and a correct taste, once formed and carefully consulted, will enable you to select the good and eschew the pernicious. “ Might I give counsel to any young hearer,” says Thackeray in hie lecture on Prior, Gay and Pope, “I would say to him, try to frequent the company of your betters. In books and life that is the most wholesome society; learn to admire rightly—the great pleasure of life is that. Note what the great men admired; they admired great things; narrow spirits admire basely and worship meanly.”— N. Y. Tribune.

How a Lad Wheeled Himself Into Fortune and Influence.

At a meeting of the stockholders of a prominent railroad corporation recently held in Boston there were present two gentlemen, both up in years, one, however, considerably the senior of the other. In talking of the old times gone by the younger gentleman called the attention of his friends and told a pleasant little story, which should be read with profit by every poor, industrious and striving lad. We use his own language: “Nearly half a century ago, gentlemen, I was put upon the world to make my living. I was stout, willing and able, considering my tender years, and secured a place in a hardware store to do all sorts of chores required. I was paid seventyfive dollars per year for my services. One day, after I had been at work three months or more, my friend there, Mr. 8., who hojds his age remarkably w T ell, came into the i-tore and boughtn large bill of shovels and tongs, sad-irons and pans, buckets, scrapers and kettles, for he was to be married next day and was supplying his household in advance, as was the eroom’s custom in those days. The articles were packed on a barrow and made a load sufficiently heavy for a young mule. But more willing than able I started off, proud that I could move such a mass on the wheelbarrow. I got on remarkably well till I struck the mud road, now Seventh avenue, leading to my friend B.’s house. There I toiled and tugged, and tugged and toiled and could not budge the load up the hill, the wheel going its full half diameter in the mud every time I would try to propel forward. Finally a good matured Irishman passing

by with a dray took my barrow, self and all on his vehicle, and in consideration of my promise to pay him a * bit’ landed me at my destination. - “ I counted the articles Carefully as I delivered them, and with my empty barrow trudged my way back, whistling with glee on my triumph over aifflculty. some weeks after I paid the Irishman the ‘ffiit,’ and never got it back from my 'employers. (Mr. a., lam sure, would have remunerated me, but he never before heard this story; so if he is inclined lie can compromise the debt by sending me a bushel of his rare, rine peaches next fall.) But to the moral. A merchant had witnessed my struggles, and how zealously I labored to deliver that load of hardware; he even watched me to the house and saw me count each piece as I landed it in the doorway. He sent for me the next day, asked my name, and told me he had a reward for my industry and cheerfulness under difficulty in the shape of a SSOO clerkship in his establishment. I accepted, and now, after nearly half a century has passed, I look back and say I wheeled myself into aW I own, for that reward of perseverance was my grand stepping stone to fortune.” The speaker was a very wealthy banker, a man of influence and position, and one universally respected for many good qualities of head and heart. Bovs, take a moral from this story, and be' willing and industrious. You do not know how many eyes are upon you to discover whether you are sluggish and careless or industrious and willing, or how.many there are who, if you are moral and worthy, will give you a stepping-stone to wealth and position.— Arthur's Home Magazine.

Popping Corn.

Isn’t it fun to pop corn ?—and when it is popped isn’t it good? Most boys in the country grow a few hills of pop corn to furnhh them amusement in the winter evenings. There is some skill to be used in so simple a thing as popping corn. In the first place, the corn should be well dried, for when too fresh and soft it d*oes not pop well at ay. Then a wire popper with a long handle is the best thing to pop it in. A very small handful of com, only about enough to cover the bottom, is put in the popper and the cover fastened down. Then we must heat the corn gradually, holding it at a distance from the coals, and when it is well heated through bring it nt arer the fire, when the popping will begin. You must shake all the time, and the more the corn pops the faster you must shake to prevent burning. If the corn is of a good kind a very little will fill the popper when finished. Pop! pop!—how the little grains bounce about as they jump up and put pn their snowy night-caps. Look at a popped grain. It does not seem at all like a kernel of corn; it is fairly turned inside out. What makes the corn pop and behave in this way? The chemist says that the corn contains an oil, and that the heat turns this, oil into gas, and when the pressure of this gas gets strong enough to burst the gram, pop it goes. That com contains oil may be new to you, but there is oil in it, and in some kinds of corn a great deal. Sixteen gallons of oil have been obtained from 100 bushels of grain, and very nice oil too. It has but one fault, and that is it costs too much to get it out of the corn ; while the mineral oil lasts—the petroleum from which they get kerosene —it is not likely that we shall feed our lamps with com oil. When you hear the grains go off with a “pop,” and a “ sput,” just remember it is the oil that affords you all the fun, and turns the hard and flinty grains into beautiful masses of corn-starch, not only pleasing to look at, but wholesome to eat. — American Agriculturist.

Cremation in Detail.

New York has a German Cremation Society which seems to be determined, to make a practical test of this mode of disposing of the dead, and has been arranging its plans. At a late meeting its President explained the method decided upon. The design is to build a hall with walls of iron sixty by forty-four feet, with a rotunda in the center supported by eight pillars. All light is to be admitted from the top. In the center will be erected an altar for religious ceremony, and upon a large plate in front of the altar the coffin containing the dead will be deposited. On this plate will be an iron coffin, in which the friends might place the body only, or their own coffin if desired. A light composition plate would be attached and screwed to the iron coffin, and every other service performed as in present burials. Especial care is to be taken to prevent manipulation of any kind, and therefore when the burial cefemoniefi are finished the coffin will be made to descend by simple machinery to a car placed on a lower level, while the opening in the floor is automatically closed. The car will be moved under the furnace and the coffin raised by Screws. It will then be subjected to the action of air at a temperature of 1,000 deg. Fahr. The ashes remaining in the coffin will be returned and collected. With these arrangements it is expected that cremation will be complete in an hour and a half; that 250 to 450 pounds of coal oil will be sufficient fuei; and that the expense will be SB. But to these anticipations there are two obstacles. One is the doubt whether a hot blast of 1,000 deg. Fahr. will be sufficient to do more than char a body in so short a time, and the other is the difficulty and cost of obtaining so hot a blast, iron blast furnaces require vast quantities of air, and many of them heat it up to more than 600 deg. Fahr. But 1,000 deg. Fahr. is a temperature that few of them reach, and to obtain it apparatus costing from $30,000 to $75,000 is necessary. This apparatus further requires an outlay of SSO to SIOO a day for heatiug and repairs. What the cost of a smaller amount of, ait at this high temperature may be is a very doubtful problem. Still the German Cremation Society of Neiv York, said to number 450 members, appears to be willing to ascertain it experimentally, and will ask the next Legislature for an act of incorporation. — Galary. She remained talking with a friend on the platform till the cars were well under way, and then made a crazy rush to get on; caught hold of the railing of one car and had to let go, not being able to make the requisite jump; clutched at the side of the car as it passed, and executed a medley of hornpipe and breakdown; caught the hind rail of the car; didn't like it and let go; caught the forward railing of the next car, and being aided by the bystanders, who applied their hands, shoulders, knees and canes to her back, finally landed on the car platform one of the hottest and worst-scared little fat women that ever journeyed.— Sacramento Union. . ‘