Bloomington Telephone, Volume 11, Number 22, Bloomington, Monroe County, 27 September 1887 — Page 3

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IN EVEN HUNDRED.

Celebration of the Centennial of tike Birth of the American Republic.

President Cleveland Delivers Brief Address to Ten Thousand People.

a

-Jnstloe Miller, of the Supreme Court, Contributes a Menorial Oratien a tbe Occasion.

Ex-Minister Xassen Delivers a Speech and J. a Blaine Writes a Letter.

The great centennial celebration of tha signing of the National Constitution, lastJT ing three days, came to a successful termination at Philadelphia on Saturday, Sept. 17. A Philadelphia correspondent says of the closing day's exercises: J Shortly lxtfore 9 o'clock a. m. the President, accompanied by Secretaries Bayard and fairchild left the Lafayette Hotel and proceeded to the Commissioners' room in the east wing ot the City Hall, at Market and Broad streets. HU appearance ra the signal for an enthusiastic burst of applause from the enormous crowd in waiting. For an hour and a half tho President stood shaking hands with all who approached, young and old, rich and poor. Prom ptl y at 10 :30 the Pre sidential party started for Independence Square, where the memorial meeting was t y be held. Here a grand atand with a seating capacity of 10,000 had been erected. For half an hoar before the exercise u began the Marine Band, stationed on the east tide of the stand, had discoursed music, a chorus of 2,000 children, with 200 men as leaden, singing a patriotic air. At just 11 :46 tho appearance ot the President and his wile at tho Mad of the double column of distinguished visitors caused a perfect uproar of applause. A) they came down the center ai ile toward their places in front tbe President leaned on the arm

2MDXPXHDBKOK HAIX. frf ex-M mister Kaason, and directly behinl them came Mrs. Cleveland, leaning on the arm of Thomas M. Thompson, Chairman of the Committee on Reception of Distinguished Guestfi. Kext came Secretary Bayard, Daniel Lamed and wife, and Secretary Fairchild. After the President And Mrs. Cleveland had reached the atand a general hand-shaking with those whom they recognised or were recognized by took place, after which, in response to toe tumultuous applause of the multitude, they walked aide by side to the front railing of the fracture and bowed their acknowledgments of the compliments paid them. Among those present on the grand stand were representatives of every condition of life. Side by side were the Chief Magistrate, the highest ecclesiastical representatives, the Justices of The highest law tribunal, the ministers extraordinary of foreign powers, the nation's lawmakers, and representatives of the army and navy, and all other departments of civil, military, and religious life. At the front of the stand facing south an inclosure was railed off for the President, his party, the speakers, and others. At the front, and suspended so as to t e in full view, hung a photographic copy of tt e original Constitution, At the east of the stand stood the quaint old high-backed chair occupied by George Washington as the presidicg officer of the Congress which adopted that honored and venerated document. Suspended from the back of the chair was another copy of tlte nation's charter After all toe distinguished people had taken their seats and the cheering had subsided, Bishop Potter arose and, with uncovered heal, made the opening prayer. The Bishop read from manuscript. He invoked ?the divine blessing upon the day's proceedings and upon the President and other officials of the nation. The prayer mi quite lengthy. When the Bishop concluded, General Sheridan with his aids, followed closely by Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop Byan, and a number of Catholic clergymen, marched down the aisle and were heartily cheered. When they had been seated, John A. Kasson made the introductory address of the day. He referred briefly to the object of the celebration, and reviewed the progress of affairo from the time of the drafting of the Constitution up to the present. Cardinal Gibbons, clad In official vestments, sat at the side of the speaker, and was one of the most attentive listners. At the conclusion of Mr. Kasson'a address the chorus sang, "Appeal to Truth. The President then delivered a brief addresii. While he was speaking the old Liberty Bell rang out the midday hour, every stroke drawing forth a rousing hurrah from the multitude present. Mr. Cleveland paused in his remarks until the final cheer had been given and then continued. His address was as follows : "I deem tt a very great honor and pleasure to participate in these impressive exercises. Every American citizen should on this centennial day rejoice in his citizenship. He will not find the cause of his rejoicing In the antiquity of his country, for among the nations of the earth he stands with the youngest. He will not find it in the glitter and the pomp that bedeck a monarch and dazzle abject and servile subjects, for in his country the people themselvss are rulers. He will not And it in the story of bloody foreign conquests, for his Government

THB OLD HGH-BACKED CHATS. has been content to care for its own dome in and people. He should rejoice because the work cf framing our Constitution was completed cme hundred years ago to-day, and also oecauso, when completed, it established a free government. He should rejoice because tlds Constitution and Government have survived so long, ai:d 4lso because thay have survived with so many blessings, an ft have demonstrated so folly tie strength and value of popular rule. He should rejoice in the wondrous growth and achievcimtmts ot the past one hundred years, and also in the glorious promise of the Constitution through centuries to come. -We shall fail to be duly thankful for all 'hat was done for us one hundred years a,?o unless we realise the diffic ulties of the work then in hand snd the dangers avoided in the task of forming; 4 a more perfect union' between disjointed and inharmonfous States, witfc interests and opinions radically diverse and s-ubbunUy maintained. The perplexities of tha convention wliica undertook the labor of preparing our Constitution are apparent in these earnest words of one of the most illustrious of its members ; The email piogress we have made after four or ft vo weeks of close attendance and continued reasonings with each other, our different sentiments on almost every question several of the last producing as many nays as yea is, me hinks, a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the human understanding. We, indeed seem to feel our own want of political Wif on, since we have been running about in

of re. we nave gone back to anciont

history for models of government, and examined the different forms of thosa republics whicn, having been formed with the seed of their own dissolution, now no longer exiBt In this ai ;u at ion of this assembly, groping as it were in tbe dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish i when presented to us, ho ? has it happened, sir, that we have not hereti Tore onoe thought of humbly applying to the Father of Light to illuminate our understandi? gs "And this wise man. proposing to his follows that the aid ail I blessing of dotl should be invoked in their extremity, declared: I have lived, sir, a long time, nnd tho longor I live the more convincing proofs I see of tho truth that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his

"tDS

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ms oi,n tihe: t seii,. notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without h'3 aid? V have been assured, sir, in the sacred vritiniTH thnt "except nbe Lord build the house taey h.borjn vain that buil lit." I firmly believe this nnd I alao believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed iu this political brdldiug no bett r than the builders ot Babe, We shall be divided by our little partial local interests, our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a roproach and by-word down to fnt ire ages; and, what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, and conquest' "In the face of all discouragements tbe fathers of the republic labored on for four long, weary months, in alternate hope and fear, but always with rigged resolve, never faltering in a sturdy endeavor, sauetifled by a prophetic sense of the value to posterity of their success, and always with unflinching faith in the principles which malte the foundation of a government by tfc people. "At last tfceir task was done. It is related that upon the back of the chair occupied by Washinrtos as the President of the convention a sun was punted, and that us the delegates were signing the completed Constitution, one of them euiu : 'I have often and often iu the coarse of tbe session, and in the solicitudo of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now, at length, I know that it ifi a rising and not a setting sun.' 44 We stand to-day on the spot where this rising sun emerged from political night and darkness, and in its own bright meridian light we mark its glorious way. Clouds hrve sometimes obscured Its rays, and dreadful storms have made us fear; but God has held 11; in its course, and through its life-giving warmth has performed his latest miracle in the creation of this wondrous laud and people. As we look down tho past century to the origin ot our Constitution ; as we contemplate its trials and its triumphs ; as we realize how completely the principles upon which it is based have met every national peril and every rational need, how devoutly should wo confess with Franklin, God governs in the affairs of men and hew solemn should be the reflection that to our hands is committed this ark of the people's covenant, and that ours is the duty to shield it from impious hands. We receive it sealed with the tests of a century . It has been found sufficient in the past, and in all the future years it will be found sufficient, if the American people will be true to their trust "Another centennial day will come, and millions yet unlorn will inquire concerning our stewardship and the safety of their Constitution, God grant that they may find it unimpaired; and, as we rejoice at the potrictism and devotion of those who livad a hundred years ago, so may others who follow us rejoice in our fldelitv, and in our jealous love for constitutional lioerty." Tbe President concluded his remarks at 12 r05, and on taking his seat was greeted with a tremendous roar of anplause. In the middle of the cheers the chorus broke into a song, and for a few minutes the noise was simply deafening. When quiet had been restored United States Supreme Court Justice Miller stepped to the front of the stand, and, facing the assembled dignitaries, beenn the delivery cf his oration. He held his audience spellbound, and was followed with rapt attention. He described briefly the work of forming the Constitution and the objections made to the drawing up of tbe instrument He also touched on the mode of selecting United States Senators. He closed his address with the recitation of a quotation from Chancellor Kent During tbe oration Mrs. Cleveland ait beside Secretary Bayard, who protected ber from the sun's rays. Justice Miller's address occupied one hour in deli very. The new national hymn, which was contributed by F. Marion Harlana, was then recited by Prof. Murdoch with a chorus of two hundred men's voicen. At 1 :40 President Kasson, of the Commission, gently took the arm of Cardinal Gibbons, who.

with the glittering sun pouring down upon his Cardinal vestments, and the "red list" so lately placed uon his head by the venerable Leo XSXL, locked his best, and was the recipient of much attention. After walking to the front of the stand and paying his respects to the thousands of people who surged in and around

square, with a bow he turned and, facing

President, and within hearing of all who

INK-STAND TTSEI IS SIGNING T.3K CONSTITUTION.

the the

occupied s ats around the circle, offered a

prayer to tbe Almighty. He was listened to with the closest possible attention, and upon the conclusion of the prayer the sweet stratus of the patriotic "StarSpangled f anner" broke upon the crowd in volumes from the voices of the grand chorus, accompanied by the Marine Bond, An impreuslve benediction was then pronounced by Rev. Jere Witherspoon, of Nashville, Tenn. Just as he finished the benediction the leader of the Marine Band signaled his musicians to render a march specially prepared for the occasion. As the band iitruck up, the President and Mrs. Cleveland walked arm in arm to the fi-ont of the stand and bowed repeatedly to the nultitude in acknowledgment ot the thunders of applause that greeted them. When the ocoupai ts of the stand ncticed the pair standing a wild rush was made ever the chairs to the place where they stood, and the President held a short reception, shaking hands with all who succeeded in reaching him. The police soon cleared a passage, and in a few minutes the President and wife were in a carriage. They sat on the back seat of a handsome barouche, the President with uncovered head and both smiling. They were repeatedly cheered by the throng, and they were given a continuous ovation from the time the v left the stand until they disappeared within their hotel.

James G. Blaine's Letter of Regret The following letter was received by the Constitutional Centennial Commission from James 0. Blaine : "Hambtjeo, Germany, Sept. 2. Gentlemen: It is with sincere regret I find myself unable to accept your invitation to be present at the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the promulgation of the Constitution of the United States, Sept. 17. Kext to the Declaration of Independence, the ordaining of the Constitution is the great event to be celebrated for all time by the American people. As years roll by and the nation grows in numbers, in power, in prestige, our admiration and appreciation of the men who framed our organic law are steadily strengthened It was assuredly a work of genius to construct for thirteen feeble States, with an aggregate of 3,500,t03 people, a constitution which, Iik years later is found perfectly adapted to the needs and wishes f a powerful nation, expanded four-fold in its territorial area, with thirty-eight States and more than 60,000,000 people. Perhaps in no country and in no period of the world's history has the conception of fren government, firmly teoured by the checks arid balances of a permanent and conservative Constitution, been more profoundly studied and comprehended than by our forefathers. They effectually organ-bod a revolution against tbe foolish tyranny of au English King, and against the arrogant wrong of an English Parliament After victory in tho held they completed their work by laying, broad and deep, the foundations of a popular government, in vl ich the people are rulers and the officials are sen ants. The extraordinary proportion of men who in that patriotic generation were fitted by long Btudy and training to the highest duties cf statesmanship, is shown by the fact that of the fifty-five members of the Congress of 1776 who signed the Declaration of Independence, only six were inolurled in the thirty-nftn members of the convention of 1787 who Higned the Constitution. The reverence and the affection which we feel toward these great men will be best shown bv oherishing

their work, and assuring to our descendants as many an-d as grateful reasons for a, national celebration of tho establishment of our Constitution as those which influence ua to-day. With great respect, faithfully yours. "J. G. Blain s. KKT1108PKCTIV12. The Constitution-Makers and Their ?ak. As Independence Hall was the birthplace of tho liberties of the colonies, ho also was it the birth-chamber of tho nationality of the confederate 1 States. For it was hero, in the summer of 1787, that the convention met to devise a better form of government than the confederation, which was little more than a tl read holding together the conflicting interests of the different sections, Tho convention met in May, with delegates representing all tho htates oxoepb New Hampshire and Khtnio Island, George Washington, one of the delegates representing Virginia, was chosen President. It was a wonderful Wdv of men. chosen to grapple with questions which had never been solved, indeed, never bo ore been confronted by statesmen. Happily thny were the intellectual aristocracy of tho democratic colonies, with character au I mental qualities suited to their tusk. Among them were Hamilton, by light i.ho father of the Constitution, a man preeminently a statesman, broad-minded philosopher, and practical, high-rninded gentleman. Franklin, than whom no'io was more experienced in the affairs of state, Washington, Madison, liouerneur Morris, ltufus King, Jlohert Morris, IMnckuey, an. I Randolph. Activo work was begun by the convention on May 21, but little progress was made for some time. Tho convention whs from the eturt poiplcxed by doubts. Says a historian of. tho Constitution : fcTht framers of the Constitution assembled for their work amidst lii1icult:s and embarrassments of an extraordinary nature. No general concert of opinion had taken place as to what was possible to bo done. Whether it were wiso to hold a convention; whether it were even legal to hold it, and whetner, if held, it would be likely to result, in anything useful to tho country, were points upon Which the most opposite opinions prevailed in every fetate of the Union. " Tho convention had no precedents to guide Its action ; the diversity of opinions and interests of the colonies represented by tbe delegates made it seem probable that no agreement could be reached, and at last a final adjournment was proposed. Dr Franklin, then in his K2d year, arose, and, addressing the President, said : "How has it happened, sir, that while groping so long in the dark, divided iu our opinions, and now ready to separate without ncrowplibhing the great objects of our meeting, we have hitherto not onoo thought of applying to the Father of Light to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the centos'; with Great Britain, when we wore sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and graciously answered.1' The venerable philosopher then moved that the daily sessions of the convention be opened with prayer, but his motion does not appear to have prevailed A final adjournment was not taken, however, ond the convention pursued its work. In September all the provisions of the proposed constitution were referred to a committee for revision. This work was completed on Sept. 12 aud then ratified by the convention. Copies were sent to the several States for ratification, and iu tho spring of 1789 tho new republic was an accomplished fact.

A Century's Growth, A hundred years are gone since Washington promulgated the American Constitution, and the question arises, by what standards shall its wi6dom be measured? It was ordained at a time when the population of tbe country was less than 4,C0J, 000, aud thirteen States constituted the itepublic. It may be well for the reader to have before him the figures showing the growth of population, unprecedented i n the history of nations : Year, Population, 1790 . v.au 1800 5,308,483 1810 7,293,881 1820.. 9,663,82 1830 12,t6,030 1840 17,009, 453 1850. 23,191,876 1860. ai,43.32l 1870 33,fi58,371 1880 50,155,783 1887 (estimated). 60,CO0,o00 During this growth the Constitution, the organic law of the Bepublic, has been eq aal to every emergency. But this is not the only test of the apparently more than human wisdom of the American Constitution. With an -increase of lKpulation there caruo a demand for additional States. Kentucky and Vermont in 1791, Tennessee in 17iK, Ohio in isoi. Louisiana in 1812, Indiana in 1816, Mississippi ih 181V, Illinois in 1818, Alabama in lbi;, Main in. 18530, Missouri in 1821, Arkansas in 183$, Jfiehigan in 1837, Florida, Iowa, and Texas in 1841, Wisconsin in 1847, California in 1350, Minnesota in 1858, Oregon in 1H59, Konaas in 1871, West Virginia in j8 Nevada in 1864, Nebraska in 18ii7, and Colorado in 1975. These twenty-five empiro States took their places in the gre &t Bepublic and on the flag of the nation. The Republic had marched across the continent, bat the Constitution extended its mighty arms and held them all fast in protecting embrace. There it stands, the sublimest monument to human wisdom in the matter of government the world ever beheld, Original Iraft of the Constitution. In gathering the material for a life of Edmund Randolph Mr, Moncure D. Conway came upon what seems to have been tho original draft of the Constitution of the United States. It was found among the papers of Ids friend Georgo Mason, author of the Bill of Rights. The manuscript is liberally annotated by another member of the convention, James McClure. Scrilmer's for September contains sn article on the subject from the pen of Mr. Conway, also a fac aimlle of the manuscript. So far as Mr. Gladstone was right in calling the Constitution a birth from the brain of man the credit therefor seem b to belong more to Edmund Randolph than to any other man. Then and Now. When the Constitution was framed 100 years ago there were thirteen States in the Union Now there are thirty-eight, nd one vast Territory of 000,000 inhabitants. The population of the United States in 1790, whn the first census was taken, was 3,929,214. It is now nearly or quite GO.OOO.OJO. There were then about 1,500 Federal officeholders in the co intry. There are now more than 100,000. The total net ordinary receipts of the United States in 1792 were 53,061,000. In 1883 they were $136. 439,000. The total net ordinary expenditures in 1791S were $8,269,000. In 1886 they were $242,483,(100.

Quite a ChangeIn 1790 the receipts and expenditures of the Postoffice Department were only two or three millions of dollars, whereas Congress at its last session appropriat ed for 1687 the sum of $54.365,863, and the receipts aire within a few millions of enough to meet the vast outlay. Only thirty-five years ago it cost 25 cents to mail 4 half -ounce letter 500 miles or more. Now an ounce letter can be sent from one extreme of i:he republic tt) another for i cents.

All Sorts. The nicest young man at the 'w atering places this summer is tbe chap whose rich uncle has named him. He can wear a bang if he chooses. New York Journal. Every man who has decision of char acter will have enemies, and the man who has no decision and no character can have no good friends. New Orleans Puayune. Do not marry for riches, my son, but remember that the husband of an heiress is seldom obliged to get up at five o'clock in the morning and build the fire Texas Sitings. Summer resort flirtatipns are seldom dangerous, but they frequently would be if they were most lasting. Better short, sweet and soon forgotten, than long, sour and always regretted. Lowell Citizen. He IS'ever Staid Late. "Say, chum, how late do you usually stay when you make a call on your lady-love V asked a Harvard man of his room-mate. "I never remain late at all" returned his chum. "I should say notl" "Why, I always return early." "What do you call early?" ' "O, before breakfast-time when the old man goes out on the front steps to get the morning paper and wakes me up by banging me over the head with it, That's early, isn't it?

J

BKMIKISCENCES OF PUltLIC MES. BY BEN : I'KKLKY l'O OUE. Senator Joseph E. Urowu, when Governor of Georgia, in LSC0, was publicly censured by tho State Houso of Representatives. It appears that the Governor in vetoing the bank relief hill intimated that it had boon passed through corrupt influences used by the banks. The Legislature requested an explanation. The ( lovernor replied that "no charge of bribery was iutended ; that the language whs general, and wa iutended to be directed against what is usually known as lobby influence, when gentlemen leave their homes and spend money for traveling expenses, tavern expenses, etc., for the puopose of hanging around the general assembly to try to influeuco the minds of members so as to procure the passage of a particular bill." The reply closed with the hint that "conscious iu nocence" would not have appropriated to rtself language in which there was no imputation of criminality mail?. Tho House did not like the answer, and the following resolutions were passed, aye, 11; nays, 0: Be it resolved, That his excellency Gov. Brown has not only abused the privileges of this House, but has failed to maintain, in his official intercourse with this body, that dignity of deportment which becomes the chief magistrate of Georgia. llcsiolved further, That this resolution be spread upon the journal of this House. Tom Corwin used to tell a good story about a Cincinnati dealer in clocks, who sold to a widow woman residing in "Western Row," in the outskirts of the city. The clock was put up and "warranted," of course, to keep good time at least one year, if not forever. Some three or four days after this the clockseller was requested to call up, as the clock did not keep good time, and make repairs. He went, but found little out of thefway; two or three more days passed, and the widow was after the clock merchant again, alleging that her clock did not keep correct time, and it was again repaired, and that most thoroughly ; in fact, the merchant sat an hour, and made comparisons between the widow's timepiece and his watch, till he was satisfied all was right. Two more days had not rolled by before the widow again made her appearance, much to the annoyance of the clock merchant. Another tiresome trip to Western Row flashed through his mind, as well as a return of the clock to his shelves, a calamity in itself to any clock-seller. The widow soon made known her errand. It was the same old story, "My clock does not keep correct time!" The clockmaker hesitated. "A trick," thought he; "this widow is just making an excuse to entrap me to ruin ! Widows, I've heard, are sly ! I must be cautious ! " The clock merchant looked searchingly into the simple face of the widow, ami felt convinced that such a countenance was not the index of a bad heart. His suspicions of her flew away. He was about taking the tour to Western Row again; probably there might be a weak place in the works thai he did not discover on previous trips. Hat in hand, nd near the door, a thought struck him. "Perhaps, " said he, "madam, you do not compare your clock with a good timepiece; they may be regulating the town clock, or something. Pray, madam, what do you compare you;r clock with to know that it was too fasis or too slow?" "Oh, I compare it with the omnibuses; they generally pass, you know, about; such times of a day, and it's nevex right by them !" It was with some difficulty the clock merchant held his rage, and kept himself from insulting a widow lady of Western Row by a voluminous curse. Mr. Stansbury, the s tenographer, used to tell a story about the erection of a sawmill at Monticello, by President Jefferson, after he had retired from the presidential chair. He invented a windmill, and sent for an engineer, to whom he submitted his plans, showing him a hill exposed to currents: of air, on the top of which he proposed to build a sawmill, to be propelled by vertical sails. The man of professional, science examined the plan and listened with profound attention and deference to Mr. Jefferson's explanations of it, and to his eloquent illustration of the advantages it would secure. Having heard him through and being asked by the philosopher "What he thought of it," he replied, with great sincerity, that it was a most ingenious idea, and was decidedly the best plan for a sawmill he had ever seen. Jefferson was delighted, and forthwith entered into a written agreement for the erection of such a mill on the neighboring heights. The work went bravely on, the inventor very frequently mounting iris horse and riding over to see how ii proceeded. When the frame was up, and the building approached its completion, the engineer rode over to Monnicello, to obtain a supply of money and to get some directions about the saws. Jefferson kept him to dinner, and w hen the cloth was removed, and wina sat upon the table, he turned to his guest, and with an air of much satisfaction, exclaimed: "And so, Mr. , you like my mill." "I do, sir, indeed, very much ; it is certainly one of the greatest improvements in the construction of a sawmill I ever witnessed. " "You think the sails are so hung that it cannot fail to work well ?" "Certainty, it must work; it can't help it. " "And there's always a wind upon that hill; if it does not come up one valley, it is sure to come up the other ; and the hill is so high and steep that there is nothing to interrupt the full sweep of the wind, come which way it will. You think, then, on the whole, that the thing cannot fail of complete success !" "I should think so, sir, but for one thing." "Ah! what's that? "I have been wondering in my own mind how vou are o get up your sawlogs." Jefferson threw up his hands and eyes. "I never thought o:: that." The mill was abandoned, of course. About Smoking. The observations of Dr. Frantzel, of Berlin, ftUow that the effects of im

moderate Bmoking are seldom manifested before the smoker is thirty, bxA that the heart troubles most tften begin between the ages of 50 and 60. Finer flavored cigars bring about; such troubles more frequently and more speedily than common ones. It may be regarded as certain that the injurious action of smokinsr does not de-

j pend upon tho amount of nicotine, but

upon some as yet unknown cause. She Had Her Say a(T Last, A rather prepossessing young lady entered the office of a well-known lawver and inquired: "Is Mr. Brief in?" "Won't be in for two hours," replied the dapper young clerk whom she addressed, surveying her from head to foot with au approving glance. "Anything I can do for you?" "Yes," was the reply, and the lady produced from beneath her wrap a handsomely-bound volume. "I have here " "I thought so,"' interrupted the clerk, with a deprecating gesture. "I sized you up as soon as you came in. But it's no use. We never fool away money on subscription books in this office. Didn't vou see the sign outside, 'No Peddlers Allowed?'" "Sir," began the visitor, "this book " "Oh," laughed the flippant young clerk, "I've no doubt it's the biggest thing out, but we don't want it. History of the United States, isn't it, from tho Mound Builders up to the present day? Big thing, I've no doubt, but we've no uso for it" "If you will allow me " "Really," said the yoith, who was greatly amused, "I'd like to, but it's against the rules of the office to yield to the blandishments of book agents, no matter how young and good-looking they are. Couldn't think of looking at tho book, my dear. 'Life of Napoleon,' ain't it? That's a chestnut. One of our clerks bought one last month for $1, and yesterday he traded it off for a yaller dog and then killed the dog." fiI wish to say " "Or may be it's a humorous work, with wood cuts that look as if they'd been engraved with a meat ax. No, we don't want it. We keep a humorist here on salary to amuse us," "Say, you are awfully persistent, my dear, but it won't do any good. If old Brief were here you might talk him around, because he's a susceptible old duffer, and thinks every pretty young woi::an who looks at him is in love with him. But I am not that kind." "Sir, if you will " "Say, I hate to refuse you, 'pon my soul I do, but I'm broke, and that's the truth. Come around in about six months, after the old man has taken me into partnership. I'll be flush then,

and 111 take a book, just to reward you ,

for your stickativeness. I say you re a mighty pretty woman to be obliged to peddle books for a living. I " Just then the attention of the loquacious youth was attracted by the frantic gesticulations of a fellow-clerk in another part of the room, and he paused. "You are Mr. Pre shleigh, I presume?" said the lady. "I er yes, that is my name," was the reply. "I have heard my husband speak of you. I am Mrs. B:ri.ef. Will you please hand this book to Mr. Brief when he coraes in, and ask him to take it to the binder's? Good morning." The lady left the office; the meroury in the thermometer crept down out of sight; the office cat had a fit, and young Freshleigh fell in a faint The next day Lawyer Brief advertised for a new clerk. Tid-Bit$ Letter-writing in Olden Time. In nothing has our mode of life as a people changed more noticeably than in our letter-writing. Now we telegraph or write short notes if business is our theme, or take the railroad or steamboat if pleasurable converse with friends be our object. Felix Oldboy, in the Evening Post, discourses delightfully of the part the letter played in his boyhood : The art of writing a letter is unknown to the generation of to-day. Cheap postage killed it and the telegraph buried it. People have neither the time nor the patience to sit down and write a dozen pages ot gossip, giving delicious glimpses of life painted with the delicacy of a photograph and with its fidelity. Yet this was the epistolary style of our ancestors. I remember the advent of such letters in my boyhood. A great packet of creamy paper, carefully folded by the rule we were taught in boyhood, addressed with many a quaint but painstaking flourish, and made fast with a broad seal of red wax bearing the sender's coat-of-arms, was handed in by the postman and welcomed with a universal shout. What a revelation it was. There was the atmosphere of the Blue Bidge of Western Virginia in its folds, tho lapping of the shallow waters of the Shenandoah over their rocky bed, the rustling of the warty branches and waxy leaves of the persimmon tree, the lowing of great herds of cattle on the mountain side, the waving of meadowy miles of yellow wheat, the song of the slave at his toil, the prattle of the little ones from the cool depths of the verandas that surrounded the great house, aud the glint of the white hair of my mother's grandfather, who had fought at Yorktown, and in his quiet Southern home was nearing the century milestone. It was an event in my life when I was first permitted to send a letter in reply to a message in one of these epistles. A week's labor was put into it, and I know that it faithfully mirrored every phase of our city life, down to my surreptitious guine a-pigs in the baok yard. Here is a yellow, faded sheet which contains on its taree quarto pages in the cramped little school hand of the day, the story oi; a voyage from New York and Santa Cruz, in the brig Eliza, forty-four years ,go this month. It is only a child's letter, but it; tells of tho flying fish and the nautilus, of the hooks thrown overboard that came back laden with saaweed in which little crabs made their burrows, o:! sailors clambering aloft, and the block cook catching a sea that wrecked hi tray of dishes and his dignified self and in V aaa rrrnnmnn'a r.f th A ran if. in tViA rtais.

faction of a letter. 1

POPULAR SCIKXCE. A unit of heat is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature ot one pound of water one dogree, or from 32 degrees to 33 degrees 7 Polished granite is much more durable than hammered granite. Pol ishing the stone prevents the lodging of mbisture and foreign pallidas OQ its surface. What is termed flexible class is useful, product just introduced Paper of proper thickness is rendered transparent by soaking in pal varnish and when- dry, is - polished, rubbed with pumice stone, and a layer oi soluble glass is applied and rubbed with saJt. The surface is au perfect as glass. Vosmaer thinks that the sponges originated from a free swimnring form, which may have been like the larva of some silicious sponge. He also suggests that the first sponges were deep-sea forms, ultimately developing a stony silicious skeleton; and that this form degenerated when it entered shallower seas. As instance of the value oi! photography in detecting the relative motion of stars is given by M. de Gothard. Comparison of a recent photograph with measures recorded by Vogel in 1867-69 appears to t how that cluster 4,411 G. G. contains an eler enth magnitude star wliich has changed its position relatively to the other stars to the extent of 23 seconds a year. So various are the forms of plant life that it seems well-nigh impossible to find a spot where some kind of vegetation will not thrive. Mr. John. Ball, a naturalist, returned from South America, therefore congratoltfttea him self on having seen an absolutely plantless land at Tocopilla, about twenty-two degrees south of the equator on the rainless west const Not so much as a lichen could be discovered on the rocks, even with micro scopio aid. The temperature of space at the present day is generally assumed to be much less than the lowest tempera ture yet produced by artificial means. Some of the efforts to prcduce extreme cold are of peculiar chemical interest. Thus Dr. "Stewart gives an example in which a temperature of 220 degrees F, wae obtained ; but very recently, in an account published of experiments in solidifying oxygen, the remarkable fact is stated that a tesk perature of 230 degrees F. was producedy or only 1ST degrees F. above absolute zero. Bv observing bow far the sun has to sink beneath the horizon before the topmost summit of the air is out off from its rays, the conclusion has been arrived at that the greatest upward limit of twilight is some 378,000 feet, or nearly seventy-one miles above ther sea level. It is a well-known fact that, by observing the earth's shadow on the moon during the time ot eclipses, the inference came to be held by astronomers that the atmosphere must be sufficiently dense to produoo twilight for at least 240,000 ieet away from the earth's surface.

The Art of Selection in Fiction. Writing. The difference between reidism and idealism, looked at from one point of view, is merely that of selection. No novelist can set down everything whidv would occur in a given life; aud from all that .goes to make up mortal exist ence, what shall be chosen? The real ist would perhaps say, "The average; the ide;list certainly would answer, "The significant;" or if the former ae cepted lihe reply of the latter, tha application would in one case be to th& outer, and in the other to the inner, life the result in practice being that the realist, once more to appropriate a happy phrase from Mr. James, contents himself with "the mere dead rattle that rises forever from the surface of life.9 Realism, in a word, concerns itself with how human nature apiears; art, with what it is. It is the accidental versus the essential The novelist has seally little to da but to suppress those facts and details which do not directly bear upon tha point which he wishes to bring out; but this very suppression is regarded by the realist as an exaggeration, and aa such is hateful to him He strives for the confusion, the obscurity, the dull sense of baffled vision, which meet us in real life., and he ignores the fact that even in observing life we select and ex amine events and sequences of cause and effect by isolating them in tha mind. The realists seem to hare per suaded themselves that they are doing in fiction what the Dutch masters did in painting. It is as if one, peroeiving the great cleverness and fidelity with which details are rendered in the Dutch paintings, should ignore tho fact that it ia not for these things, but for the portrayal of liglrr. and oi? color, that the pictures exist When Teniers or Jan Steen paints the shop of a butcher, or a scene of vulgar debauch ery in a tavern where clrunken clowns assemble, he renders everything with a literalness which would be dry and brutal realism alone; but these masters never loet sight of tho fact that the in tricate delicacies of light and ot color were the language iu wliich they were speaking, and that their art was an ap peal to the imagination. The man who sees in the Dutch school, with its subtile and suggestive gradations of value and of tone, its delights of atmosphere, dusky or golden-tinted, of transparent mists, of lucent shadows, only tie force of outer veracity, had better go and join himself to Peter Bell, and the strong bonds of mutual sentiment ought closely to unite the two realists! Aria Bates, in Scrilmer's Mft-gazirw Fred'gi Version of a Bible Sbry. Fred undertook the other day to tell his aunt the Bible stoiry of Ruth and Boaz, which his mother had been reading to him. "Oh, Aunt Esther," he said, "mamma read Fanny and me a bully Bible story about a man that was weeding in his hay field, and his name was Bon ix. " What moral the little fellow attached to the tale was unfortunately not evident. m If some people would use a broom and wash -rag more and pray less, the would re aoh Heaven quicker.