Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 January 1876 — Page 3

ftHNBBKLAER WION; lIOICACK K. JAXKK, rro|irirtor. RENSSELAER, - INDIANA.

PHILOSOPHY. So Hoon the end must come. Why waste In sighs our breath? So soon our iips are dumb, So swift comes death. iso brief the time to smile. Why darken we the air With frowns and tears, the while We nurse despair? Hold firm the suffering will And bravely thrust it back; Fight with the powers of ill. The legions black. Stand in the sunshine sweet And treasure every ray. Nor seek with stnboom feet The darksome way. Have courage! Keep good cheer! Our longest time is brief. To those who hold you dear Bring no more grief. But cherish blisses small, , Grateful for least deli.ht That to your lot doth’ fall, However slight. . Audio! all hearts will bring Love to make glad your days; Blessings untold will spring" About your ways. So shall life bloom and shine, Lifted its pain above. Crowned with this gift divine, The gift of love. —Celia Thaxter, ta A T . Y. Independent.

MY EXPERIENCE.

A Story for Young men. I am a middle-aged man now, and I have always lived single. I had a good bringing up, but my lather being only a hard-working mechanic, with a large family, could give me nothing except good advice and a common-school education. I was the eldest born, and as I spent my childhood under the shadow of a great city I contemplated making my fortune there, and would then make the old age of my parents rich and happy. So my freedom suit was installed behind a counter, and my good habits and wishes to please were the best recommends I had to bring to the firm of Hunt i«fc Ketchum. I received three dollars a week besides my board, which a score and a half of years ago was considered big pay. My clothes being new, 1 should need no new additions "lor a long time. My mother, dear, good soul, washed and kept my clothing in repair, and I had only .to pay the express charges to and from my old home. My employes seemed to be partial to me, and often ftsked me to stay and assist them in extra'jobs, and never forgot to give extra money's for the servjces done. So I was in a taiiVway to become rich. I loved my father and., mother, and looked forward to the day when I could repair the old house and add something to the interior as well. I wanted it said of me: “See how well Tim has done; he was a poor boy when lie commenced.” I soon learned the different grades of society, and also found out that those who were most thought of did very differently from the way I . was doing, tone of the other clerks said if he was in my place he would not have my mother do my washing. It was asking too much of one’s ’own mother; besides, he could tell a bosom done up by the Stiffs a mile off. I could see the force of this reasoning, and felt ashamed of myself for putting so much on my mother for the sake of saving money. I had been obliged to pay the express to and from my old home, anyway, and the Stiffs would deliver their work free, and it was not likely the cost would be a great deal more; and if my city friends should ask me what laundry I employed, I could hold up my head and answer them, and these things do have a bearing on one’s demeanor; besides, if there is one thing you are a “ leetle” ashamed of, that one thing comes uppermost the oftenest. I attended a little church and went- regularly to Sabbathschool. I gave sparingly, hut, somehow, when my first quarter’s bills were settled I had but two dollars left.

The first year was passed and I had saved nothing. But then, everything was new to me, and the Stitt's were very hard on my linen, and 1 was forced to buy new. I sent my old clothes home, and mother told me afterward' that they lasted over a year for my younger brothers. I was glad it helped them, although it was something of a loss to me. But i had one comforting thought: I was always well dressed. My salary was raised the second year, and I was considered a favorite. The older ones suggested that it would be expected of me to go to I)r. Grand’s church now. They did not take up Contributions in Dr. Grand’s church,'and I thought that would beasaving. I hired a single sitting at the cost ot silty dollars a year, because that included all expenses, and it would turther my interests to sit among the rising men. Of course one must look to his .surroundings if he expects to be a rich man. At tue end of the second year I studied book-keeping, so that I could get a higher salary, and that used up my extra change; and it was therefore impossible to save anylhintr that year. The fourth year i bought a watch, and as it was only a silver one and cost forty dollars I thought I could attord a tliirtydollar chain to go with it. 1 kept my old place the fourth year at an advanced salary; out where I attended church they called a new minister, and concJ uded to keep the old one on retired pay. They felt like doing this because there were so many younig men in the congregation who would be glad to help to maintain a servant who had been of such great service in the world. The rest of those in my set subscribed liberally, and as 1 never could bear stinginess in such matters I gave all 1 eould spare out of my fourth year’s labor. The next year our new minister thought we ought to build g church, and as such a call might mot come again in a lifetime I pledged S2OO for five years, believing that bread cast on the waters would return some day. If you don’t do some good in the world what will the same world think of you V The next year, which was the sixth, I became dissatisfied w ith my employers, for every other man who had abilities Hke mine commanded better wages. %ou remember we are commanded not to hide our talents, and if we man get better pay it means about tbe saint thing. Finally I left and went Ho Sharp & Lookout's on two hundred a' year more than Hunt A Ketchum gave me. 1 had .always dressed in a uusiness-suit for church, but I was getting older and it would look better to have a real black suit, something that would not show the work and wear of the week. It would not make any difference in the end, as I could wear it in the store after I left off wearing it Sundays. , 1 went out considerably, evenings to church, societies, concerts, etc., and one feels better to have clothes on that he

yifwJfa'politS S'ans'Sf befell to the biggest party, and every one knows there are times in a man’s life that political influence may be" of use to him, I wanted to keep all I cohid If I didn’t help, wouldn’t lijbe considered lukewarm? <T , r . All of this timo I met my church obligations, and the eighth year our minister wanted a change. It had been very hard for him, and as I was Chairman of the committee to raise funds to pay his expenses for a foreign trip I could do no less than put my name down for enough to nay the voyage over. The ninth year my influence was snoli among men that I was ashamed of my silver watch; for any observing person well knows that a watch is an index to a man’s standing in society. I could not F;t half the value for my old one, and as had not given my parents anything but my cast-off clothes I gave my father the silver pne. The old neighbors and our folks thought I was getting rich to be able to do this. „ The next year, which was the tenth, was the last that the pledges of the church were due, and as I had never* had a vacation I thought it no more than right that I should take a rest.' This was urged by my mates, and pur friends cau tell what is best for us sometimes. Sharp & Lookout objected a little, but I had been a faithful hand, and I was allowed to go if I did not “ expect pay” in my absence. I stayed longer than I expected, and they found’a man for a less salary; of course they had .a good excuse for dismissing me under the circumstances, or one that suited their pockets, rather. I was out of employment two months, but during the time I learned telegraphing; it helps a man to know more than one or two things, and the little expenses I was to in the way of board I coulu pay when I found work. The eleventh and twelfth years I spent as an agent. Agents do make fabulous wages sometimes, and expenses are not high in the country. It rained a great deal the first season, and I could not sell all the time, but no one was to blame for that, and, unfortunately, the next year the firm broke down. People shook their heads and thought I liad better have stayed at Hunt & Ivetclium’s, as the man that took my place had married old Ketchum’s youugest daughter, and herlather was not long for this but who can foresee the future? So I cannot see as I was any to blame for not laying up this time. The thirteenth year I went back to the city, and luckily found a situation at almost my old price. I was determined to put by a set sum every quarter, but it was really necessary to give myself care first. It is a little humiliating to go back among your friends in a cbmedown state; besides, one lias some duties toward society, and I had been deprived i*of it for two years. It took this year and >tlie next- to get back into my former clothes and position; and when the fifteenth year of my business life came I was really prepared to lay up money. - Now my best fellow got married, and the rest of us thought we could not afford the luxury ol a wile, but we would show our friend that we could have a good time after all. Most of the fellows in our set furnished a room, kept a library of books, and had a real snuggery. Bopks are never considered extravagant, you know, and one can never spend his money foolishly if he expends it in books. So I bought a hundred volumes at the start, and a book-case, which I never imagined cost so much, and felt happy. I remembered the first watch, and profited by it in buying the book-case—it was the best. I went into society the next year more than ever. I attended lectures and all the firstclass concerts. I always took a lady, as people of my age (i was thirty-seven) grow narrow-minded find lose that grace of manners if they do not mingle with the gentler sex. It costs a great deal to hire a livery every time one wants to ride; besides, a person is never sure of a safe horse, and ladies are timid, arid want a driver to know his horse. A good horse will bring the cash any day, and so I resolved to buy one.

Somehow I did not get out of debt until my fortieth, birthday, a®d Iliad been nineteen years in the wide world. So I resolved to curtail my expenses and start anew. I am sure anyone can see how difficult it has been for me thus far, but to persons situated differently the case would be altogether different. I am sure I do not see the reason why I never saved anything up to this point. I am not a spendthrift, have no bad habits, do not drink, smoke or play cards —but there must be a leak somewhere. But how am I to save ? If a man goes into cheaper lodgings people will think he is getting loose in his habits, and, moreover, he must be running down in business as well. Ido mean to give to none but the worthiest of objects after this. The new church was finished, and, as I was a single man, and commanded a large salary, of course I could take more than a single sitting, for wasn’t I expected to help the young men now ? To be sure, no one ever did it for me, but things wern’t-so when I was young; people that live long know that our posterity expect things different from what we had. So I invited two younger fellows behind the counter to sit with me.

Tlie twenty-first year I sold my liorse and rig, ftnd actually put the money in the bank. It was not much, but then it had always been my principle to make a beginning. I think, as I did at my twen-ty-first birthday, that a man who is well and has good pay can lay up money, and it is a mystery to me why ipore don’t. People tbund out I had money somehow —may be I Was so proud that I let it out —and you have no iuea how much I was consulted In all financial matters. I was President of the Society of Industrious Young Men and belonged to sundry other ones for the advancement of young men. People said, behind my back: “ He’s got money, has a large salary, no family and goes into the best society.” One is forced to keep the good opinion of others and do accordingly. Things went on in this way until my business career reached Its twenty-third year. Then, within a few weeks ot each other, my parents died. My sister Minnie was the youngest, and unmarried. They came to see if I could not do something about helping her into a place. She could have gone into a store or taught school, but it would not look well for one in my situation to let a sister do that, so I boarded her in the city, and when I got too “hard up” let her ruu in the country to visit. She married well after a year, so I could not complain of the expense I had been to. -1 wanted to do something handsome in the way of presents, especially as she was going to have so many from other sources. This compelled me to take tiie money from the bank to have (he whole affair go off right. Certainly, I said, I can make it up very soon, as 1 have nobody but myself to care for. The next year, which was the twentyfifth, and the last which I shall chronicle,

was spent in traveling. tlw*» malif ml naa never taken a trip hut once in n»y life, and a person should see something of the world. , I feel so refreshed that I think. I shall be able to lay by a. handsome sura bv the tifije lam sixty. I cannot see why 1 have not been able to do it, but if—well, I do think generally a man can lay up something if he has a mind to. And I will stick to it, that a man with fair health and good wages can make money and have something in twenty-five years after he begins life for himself. They can do it in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, but you see how it was with me, and so I must be the hundredth case.—Phrenological Journal.

BREVITIES.

Leaf-tear. Select yonr victims, ladies. Coal it being discovered in about er-' ery county of Kansas. “Mv bark is on tho polar wave,” saM the maiden with a cold. The yield of the Ohio coal mines last year exceeded 5,000,000 tons. Charles O’ Conor says that one more doctor would have finished him. Pie and! cake have sent many a strong man to his grave,” says Hall's Journal. Ip Tweed has not evaporated, he seems effectually to have resolved himself into adieu. They are easing roasting-ears freshly plucked from the green-growing stalks in Oakville, Tex. The hosiery mill at Ashland, N. H., was sold by auction, recently, for 10 per cent of its cost. The total value of the buildings erected in Hartford during the past year aggregates $1,880,850. A New York Coroner’s Jury has actually censured a street-car company for running over a man. The San Francisco Bulletin savs seals are as intelligent as dogs and may be-made to perform as many tricks. The Cincinnati Commercial sayswe enter upon a year of patriotic processions, parades, pomp, puff and powder. Highway robbers in Oregon give a victim back his watch if it is out of repair, with money enough to have it fixed. A Boston merchant says that if everybody will let business alone business will revive. Now mind your business and see.

The Cincinnati Commercial has come to the conclusion that the only cure for intemperance is more -water and less whisky. “ I want you either to hit me or stop making such a blamed racket,” said a thief at whom a Detroit policeman was shooting. In its list of import ant events for the year 1875 the New York Evening > Post mentions for July Ist that it occupied its new building. Ip coheSpondents do not lie worse than ever the early birds already on the lookout for next fall’s Presidential worm are not less than fifty. Bangor (Me.) lumbermen are paying from eight to sixteen dollars per month for workmen, and get more help at those figures than they can use. Quite a number of hogs have died in anil around Wallingford, Conn., in the last few weeks, from a disease which the farmers call “black tush.” Another man, says the Denver News, with a three-dollar nugget has arrived at Cheyenne from the Black Hills. The trip cost him $200; clear loss $197. A Philadelphia body-snatcher defends his busine»ss on the ground that the dead are clay, and so long as the spirit is in heaven it matters not what becomes of the mortal shell. A Philadelphian advertises for a girl who is a sincere Christian and won’t burn the meat all up. This is centennial year, and now, if ever, we must look for s.uch a paragon of a girl. New York points proudly to .the fact that her Police Court cases for the past year foot up 84,399, or one to every twelve of her population. This is doing very well for the close of a century. The trial of the mowing and reaping machines at the Centennial will require fifty acres of grass and standing grain, and the agricultural bureau of the commission lias put the land in the best possible conditkm. A Chicago man got a pair of ear-muffs for a Christmas present, and thus was afforded one of the strongest examples of wifely devotion on record. There wasn’t a scrap left of his wife’s seal-skin cloak. — St. Louis Republican.

The .printers of the Philadelphia Inrpiirer set up “The Night before Christmas” twenty-seven years ago, and the poem has been kept standing ever since, and was printed in that paper from the original types first used in 1848. There has been a sad loss of life and property in the fishing business of Gloucester, Mass., the past year—l 6 vessels and 123 men, against 10 vessels and 68 lives in 1874, and 31 vessels and 174 men in 1873; which latter record was unprecedented. The right tof the Legislature to enact laws for the observance of the Sabbath has been affirmed by the Court of Common Pleas at New York in the case of Sir. Ncuendorff, whose Sunday night concerts at the Terrace Garden had been stopped by the police. “My son,” said a dying grocer to his probable successor to the business, “ never put sand in your sugar. Cherish a reputation for fair and impartial dealings with your fellow-men, and use terra alba instead; it’s quite as heavy, and don’t grit on the teeth!” The number of degrees conferred iu the United States last year proclaims us tbe most fearfully and wonderfully educated people in the world. There w:ere 3,520 degrees in course; 441 honorary; 362 agriculture; 563, female and 630 divinity—--8,859 degrees in all. The latest fraud in Georgia is a man who makes a regular business of deserting his wife and children among strangers. The latter usually give them money and needed articles, after receiving which the family joins the husband, and they repeat the game in some other place. A young lady of Rutland, Vt., not liking the idea of her father’s spending all his own and her money for drink, tied his hands and feet together with a bedcord, and, having considerable muscle, transported him into an upper chamber, where he had twenty-four hours to meditate. A musk-rat worked a hole through the dam of A. B. Farrar’s Merrimack fishponds at Nashua, *N. H., recently, and the fish in nine ponds, covering sixteen acres, were pretty generally lost. He had spent five years in breeding and preparing fer market, and the pecuniary loss is conI siderable.

Ed ucating Chinamen.

** John” Chinaman has come to California to make a foftune. Bis idea of a fortune »# that of a few thousand dollars •aved on which he can go back to China and live m his native vjllage without work. To make money he wishes to speak like “Mclican man.” “John” can’t pronounce,our “r,” so he gives it the sound of “1.” Some pious people, taking advantage of the desire of the California Chinese to learn English, have gathered them into] Sunday-schools. “John” readily goes, not that he cares for the religious instruction, but that it is a good place wherein to learn to read: and speak the language in which lie must tracle and bargain. He is taught something about Christianity, but his religious education is a slow process until he and -the teacher can use a common language; A newspaper-published at Vallejo, Cal.,, thus describes how “ John” is educated: The method of instruction adopted is not the teaching of pupils to translate from one language into the other, as languages are usually taught in the publicschools, but, beginning with the alphabet, the written language is taught in the same way as to young children in the primary schools. Most of the Chinese display great, not to-say wonderful, aptitude for learning the alphabet and the first reading lessons and acquiring correct prounciation. It is pretty well known that an educated China, mao will pronounce English better than almost any other foreigner, which is the result of certain similarities' in sound of English and Chinese. In. learning lessons which must be committed to memory the Chinese display the greatest quickness, which, however, is not so surprising when it is known that the acquirement of a Chinese education, according to the native method of teaching, is a mere exertion of the memory. Thousands and perhaps tens of thousands of words are memorized before the student is informed what they signify. Colloquial and written Chinese are two entirely different languages, and after learning either one it is a work of full as much difficulty to learn the other. For persons who have had such a discipline as these Chinamen have, it is not a performance that need create surprise to learn their a-b-c’s and a-b ab's in two or three lessons of an hour’s duration. Neither is it surprising that their after progress, when mastering difficulties which require an exercise of judgment, is slower. But if learning to read and speak English is an object of earnest desire with the Chinese, learning music is none the less so. They learn to sing by ear with precision after a short practice, and evidently take great pleasure in exercising their musical powers. A short time since a part of the Chinese who had attended the Presbyterian Sunday-school left it for the Baptist school, amt upon inquiry it was found that their principal reason for doing so was that in the latter the teachers sang several pieces every Sunday, while in the former they were accustomed to sing only a few stanzas. But the Sunday-schools are not the only places to which- our Vallejo Chinamen, who seem to have been inoculated Just now with a mania to learn English, are resorting. There are a number of persons in town, who are mostly young ladies, teaching Chinese classes.

Stop a Minute.

Stop a minute. Don’t hurrv so. Move glower, it may be you will go surer. Grind, grind, grind—one everlasting grind fmm five in the morning till ten at night, chasing the bubble of human riches. What is the need, pray tell me? You already have enough,-and even more than you can use. You are heaping up wealth for others to waste or quarrel over when you are dead. And half your heirs, instead of recollecting you gratefully, will contemplate your departure from this hurrying scene with infinite satisfaction. Do rest, awhile! You are wearing out the vital forces faster than there is need, and in this way subtracting years from the sum total of your life. This rush and worry, day after day, this restless anxiety after something you have not got, is like pebblestones in machinery, they grate and grind the life out of you. \ou have useless burdens; throw them oft’. You have a great deal of needless care; dump it. Pull in the strings. Compact your business. Take time for thought of better things. Go out into the air and let God’s sun shine down on your head. Stop thinking of business and profit. Stop grumbling at adverse providences. You will probably never see much better times than these in this doomed world. Your most opportune season is now; your happiest day is to-day. Calmly do your duty, and let God take care of His own world. He is still alive, and is the King. Do not imagine that things will all go to everlasting smash when you disappear from this mortal stage. Don’t fancy that the curse of Heaven in the shape of the vain task of righting up a disjointed earth is imposed upon you. Cease to fret and fume; cease to jump and worry early and late. The good time is coming, but you can never bring it; God can, and will. Take breath, sir. bit down and rest, and draw a long breath. Then go calmly at the task of life and do your work well. — Exchange.

Tiie Albany (N. Y.) Argun relates the following: “ Last spring a certain housebuilder left his home in West Troy without announcing his intention to his family or friends. On Tuesday last his wife found the first clew to his movements she has been able to obtain. The following singular story is told in this connection: The deserted wife, while in conversation with an Albany ladyf- spoke _ol_the lost husband, and expressed surprise that she had been unable to glean any tidings of his whereabouts. The Albany lady observed that she was in a singular quandary as to the abiding place of a sister, a widow', who left her home some months ago with ‘an old bachelor’ (as she put it), from some place north of Albany. After considerable conversation the Albany lady exhibited a photograph of the * old bachelor.’ The deserted w ile recognized the picture as that of her lost husband. The ‘old bachelor’ and the Albany widow are supposed to be living in Milwaukee.” “ ’Pears to me you’ve got & putty slim fire, Mirandy,” said a spindling youth the other night, as he sat in front of the fireplace by the side of a buxom young lady, who had no earthly use for him. “Yes,” she said, as she wickedly looked at the floor behind him; “it’s about all you and the fire can do between you to get up a respectable shadow.” How much nicer it i 3, if a man wants a cane, to furnish the money and have friends buy it, and present it to him, than to sneak arotind to the store and beat the clerk down to hard-pan prices.— Detroit Fret Preu.

Our Young Folks.

GETTING UP IN THE WORLD. “ Mother, do butterflies remember when the}' were worms and caterpillars?” inquired Natty. “What puzzling questions you children do ask!” said liis mother. “ The idea never entered my head. You most ask your Uncle Joe.” “Uncle Joe,” asked Natty, again, “ do butterflies remember when they were worms and caterpillars?” “ Why, no,” said UncTe Joe. “ I should say nmt, if all stories are true.” “ What stories ?” “Ihappened to he reading one the other day which—hut stay, just hand me that book, please ; the thin, square, pret-tfly-bound one. That’s it. Now we’ll look fbr the story. I forget the name. Ah, her.i we have it. It’s not a long story. Reading it will hardly take ten minutes-. Listen:” A poor little worm was one' day crawling slowly along the ground, seeking for food, while above her happy insects darted through the air, their bright wings flashing in the sunlight. “Alas!” sighed the little worm. “What a toilsome lifts is ours! We move only by great labor, and even with that can never travel far. Kept near the damp ground, liable at any moment to be crushed, toiling up and' down rough stalks, eating tough leaves—for it is only now and then we find a flower. Oh, it is truly a-weari-some life. “Yet none seem to pity our sorrows. Those proud insects flitting over' head, the miller, the butterfly, the dragon-fly, the golden bumble-bee, they never notice us! Oh, but life goes well with them! Flying is so easy! Even easier than rest. Wherever they wish to be, tliev have only to. spread their wings and the summer wind bears them on. Dressed out so gayly, at home with all the flowers, living on sweets, seeing fine sights, hearing all that is to be heard, what care they for us poor plodders? Selfish creatures! They think only of themselves. Now, for my part, if 1 had wings and could move alxiut so easily, I would think, sometimes, of the poor worms down below, who could not fly. I would bring them, now and then, a sip of honey, or a taste of something nice from the flower gardens, far away. I would come down and speak a kind word, tell them something good to hear—in short, be friendly. Oh, if one only had wings, how much good one might do. But these selfish creatures never think of that !”

Not long afterward this complaining worm was changed into a butterfly. Spreading her light wings, she passed the happy hours in flitting from field to field, rocking in the flower-cups, idling about where the sunshine was brightest, sipping where the honey was sweetest. Oh, a right gay butterfly was she, and no summer day ever seemed too long! One morning, while resting upon an opening rosebud, she saw below her a couple of worms, making their slow way over the ground. “Poor creatures!” she said. “Life goes hard with them. Dull things, liow little they know! It must lie stupid down there. No doubt their lives could be brightened up a trifle. Some few pleasures or comforts might be given them, and I hope this will be done. If 1 were not so busy—but really I haven’t a moment to spare. To-day there is a rose party, and all the butterflies are going there. To-morrow the sweet-pea party comes off, and all the butterflies are going there. Next day the grasshoppers give a grand hop, and at sundown there will be a serenade by the crickets. Every hour is occupied. The bumble-bees and hornets are getting up a concert. Then there is a new flower blossoming in a garden far away, and all are flying to see it. The two rich butterflies, Lady Golden Spot and Mine. Royal Purple have arrived lin great state, and expect great attentions. The bees have had a lucky summer, and, iu honor of these new- arrivals, are to give a grand honey festival, at which the Queen herself will preside. The wasps are on the police, and will, I trust, keep out the vulgar. The gnats and mosquitoes have formed a military company called the flying militia, anil will serve if needed. It is to be hoped that no low creatures, like the two creeping along below, will intrude themselves. Poor things! If I had the time 1 really would try to do something for them, but ever}- sunny day is taken up, and stirring out in the wet is not to be thought of. “Besides, ope meets with so much that is not pleasant in mixing with low people! Their homes are not always cleanly. I might soil my wings. And if once taken notice ot, they will always expect it. Why make them dissatisfied ? They are well enough off as they are. Perhaps, after all, it is my duty not to meddle with them. In fact, I have no doubt of it. “ Here comes Miss Gossamer! Welcome, Miss Gossamer! All ready for the rose party? How sweetly you look! Wait one moment till I have washed my face in this dew-drop. The sun has nearly dried it up while I have been pitying those mean worms below there. Folly, I know, to thus wpste the time. But my feelings are so tender! I actually thought of calling! What would Lady Golden Spot think, or Mine. Royal’ Purple! Have you seen them pass ? They are sure to be there. Do you suppose they will take notice of us ? If they don’t I shall be perfectly wretched. Come, dear Miss Gossamer, one more sip, and. then away!” —Abby Morton Diaz, in St. Nicholas.

Don’t Care.

“I don’t care to go to school to-day,” says James; ‘ ‘ it’s so Very cold?’!’ “ O Jem, do have a little more pluck,” replies John, cheerfully. “You and I can keep ourselves warm by a brisk walk much better than by creeping up to the fire and sitting still. Why, if I were to do so, I’d give the fellows leave to call me Spoonie, and put a bib around me, and feed me with a teaspoon.” “ O hush, John, and I’ll go, too,” exclaimed James, a little ashamed; then, rising slowly, he began to put on his overcoat “very much after the manner of an infirm old man. “That’s right, James; I thought you’d go,” said John, taking no notice of the snail-like motions of his companion, for he wanted to encourage him as far as possible; then ho added: “ You don’t want to be an igtwra/uut any more than I do.” “But school is such a dull place, and learning comes so hard to me. I don’t care about books at all,” replied James. “Now, see here, Jamie—jump up!" said John, playfully laying his hand upon the shoulder ot his friend; “ let’s fight old giant Don’t Care, as my father says. Why, he’d take all the life out of a fellow, and make a poor, miserable drone of him, and a dunce, too, if you’d let him. It may not be quite so bad not to know much while we’re boys; but an ignorant man—bah! who’d want to grow up and

not know a»ytlriß#exeaeU^ write, and hardly OuA? Not I! and I’m sure you’ll say. “I—-I mean to leary— by and by," replied James, hesitatingly, with bill heads in his pockets and his shoulders shrugged up. “Why, you look half-frozen,” i said John. VY ou don’t walk fast enough. If I had been alone I’d have gone nitich quicker;' Come, let’s have a tun at snowballing; that will freshen, us and make us all the brighter for study. There’s plenty of time fora lrttlb fun.” “Agreed!” said James; and the two went at snowballing in lsne style, and enjbyed the sport for about twenty minutes. “ Bravo, JamieP’ - cried John. “ You’re a 1 match for me at that sort o'f'work. 4 I tell you what, my man—a chap that can go it like that at snowballing ought to beat the rest of u» at lessons out-and-out.” “Oh, I never could',”'said James. “ But you? 11 try, won’t you?” “ Maybe,” said James’. “Don’t say ‘maybe’ and ‘byandbv.’ fchall I tell you what it made me think’of when you said you meant to learn by and by?” J “ Oh,,certainly, ’’ replied James. “It was of something ray father tells me when 1 say ‘by ana by,’' He" always says:: ‘ No time like the present, Johnnie.’ He was overseer of the poor once, in a great city, and he has seen Ibis of fellows who got’into tne poor-house just because they ‘ dldh’t care’ tb learn when young. They gave up to every little difflctilty or haruship; and that prevented'their learning a trade or getting an education or in any way fitting themselves to- become Independent. Don't care was their ruin.”— S. S. Visitor.

An Essay on Fish.

Fish may be divided into- classes — codfish and fresh fish. The propriety of dividing them into classes will' be at opce apparent when we reflect' that they Are usually found in schools. The mackerel is not exactly a- eodlish'; but he comes so much nearer being a godfish than a>fresh fish that he- is for the present classed with the former. Fish exist in sizes to .suit the purchaser, from minnows to whalest-which are not fish, strictly speaking. Neither is the alligator a fish; but if we attempt to tell what are not fish this article, will far exceed its intended limits. 'The herring is not absolutely a fish; he is a suggestion of departed fish. But the strongest suggestions of departed fish ire smelt. The herring sustains' the same relation to the finny tribe as the Egyptian mummy to the human race. Fish are-caught by measure and sold by weight—that is, they are caught by the gill and sold by the pound. But tßey are some timescaught by weight—wait till you get a bite. Contentment is the chief respite to the successful fishermen; Surveyors are-apt tq be good fisherman, because their lines and angles are apt to be all right. The mermaid and fishwoman may also be mentioned in this connection. The former is a. good illustration of what-is meant by the ideal, and the latter as fitly represents the real. Many land animals are reprodhoed in the sea. Thus we have the dogfish, the catfish, sea-lions and sea-horses-;. but no sea-mules. None of the above have hind legs, and any manner of mule without hind legs would be a conspicuous failure. It may not be out of place to mention Jonah in this connection. He wa§ not a fish, but Was once included among the inhabitants of the deep. Jonah was the first man who retired from the Department of the Interior, and Delano was the last one. But we digress. Let us return- to our fish.

The saline qualities of the codfish permeate and percolate the vasty deep and make the ocean as salt as himself. Weighed in his own scales he Is-found wanting—wanting considerable freshening. He is by nature quite social, his principal recreation being bails—fishballs. The codfish was worshiped' by the Greeks; but he is only half as well'treated by tbe inhabitants of Gape Cod—beds simply shipped. Hence the difference between the Greeks and the inhabitants of Cape Cod. Small fish are usually harmless, but parents can’t be too careful about permitting their children to play where large fish abound, as it is an established fact that the big fish frequently' eat up their little ones. The jelly fish is perhaps the best understood of all the finny tribe, because, being translucent, it is easy to see-through him. The greatest number of fish is-eaten on Friday, and the next greatest number bn Saturday, because those that are left over are warmed up for Saturday’* breakfast. Argumentative persons are food of stating that it is grammatical to say that the five loaves and three fishes were ate, since five and three were always- eight. They should be treated with silent contempt. Fish are provided with air-bladders, so that they can rise from the depths of the sea by simply filling these bladders with air. If anyone is disposed to ask where they get the air for such inflation let him understand in advance that this article is not intended for the solution of petty conundrums. There are many interesting rumors about fish which might be mentioned, but the foregoing facts may be considered as of-tish-al. —Detroit Free Press.

The Liverpool Steam Packet Company, w ishing to extend, its premikes, decided to purchase adjoining land which was owned by a maiden lady of uncertain age. The lady sold the land cheap, but caused to be inserted in the agreement an article to this effect: that during her lifetime she and a lady companion should have the privilege of traveling free in any of the company’s vessels. The day after the agreement was signed the sold her house and furniture, and, having found a companion, went on board of one of the company’s steamers, just about to sail for South America, and from that time to this she has Jived at sea and at the company’s expense. She advertises for some lady who w ishes to make the voyage as her companion, and who pays her fare, and in this way, it is said, has already accumulated about SIO,OOO. The company have offered her more than tills to cancel the agreement, but this she refuses to do, and, as the life at sea suits her health remarkably, there is no present prospect that her voyage will soon come to an end.

—Meat lias been sent from Buenos Ayres to France in a perfect state of preservation in, a pickle composeJ of two purts of bi-tiorate of soda, two of boric acid, three of saltpeter and one of muriate of soda to 1(K) parts water. ♦ m. * ■■ —The Mexican border-ruffian, Gen. Cortina, has been released ftrom ajrrest at the City of Mexico, on his promise hot to be Cortina ’nother scrape.