Bloomington Telephone, Volume 13, Number 44, Bloomington, Monroe County, 17 May 1889 — Page 2

"aVSS whktcomb bxlxy. prlng whey the groen gits back In the trees. Ami the fiim con; oat and stays, And yer boots puUs on with u good tight squeeze. And you thin" of yer barefoot days ; When youort to work and you want to not. And you and yer wife agree It's time to spade tip the garden lot When the green gics back in the trees Well, work is the least of my idees When the green, you know gits back in the trees. When the green gits back in the trees, and bees Is a-buKzin' aronn' agin, In that kind of a lazy -go-as-you-please" Old gait they hum roun' in ; When the ground's all bald where the hay-rick stood. And the crick's riz, and the breeze Coaxes the bloom in th old dogwood. And the green gits btck in the trees I like, as I say. in rich scenes as these. The time when the green gits back in the trees. When the whole tail-feathers o' winter-time Is all pulled and gone. And the sap it thaws and begins to climb, And the sweat it starts out on A feller's forred, a-gittin' down At the old spring on his knees I kind o' like, jes a-loaferin' roun When the green gits back in the trees Jes' a-potterin' roun as I durn pleaseWhen the green, you know, git back in the trees.

BITTEN BY A SNAKE.

A Georgia Story of the Olden Days. BY MONTGOMERY Bf. FOLSOM. It makes my mouth water to think about that old sideboard. Still, Grandpa was a sober man, strictly teetotal. But that old sideboard that sat in the corner of the sitting room, tip next the big fireplace. A vision of tlat sideboard haunts me in my dreams. And still, Grandpa was strictly temperate and never touched a drop. On that sideboard were two or three cut glass decanters, with handles to

them. One held good old-fashioned ot. Croix rum I doubt if you pronounce the word correctly, you who were born since the war. Another held Cognac, pure and simple; and a third but these axe prohibition times and I will not tempt you further. Often when I am pirooting around and doing sorter as I dogoned please, the memory of that sideboard comes up before me. But Grandpa never drank, oh, no! buttermilk was good enough for him, and he drank it so persistently that his jaws hung down like wattles; and there was a sort of churn-dasher mellowness in his voice when he laughed. But oh, my crackey! didn't those Thomasville lawyers love to visit that sideboard? Grandpa would say : "Boys always bqys to him for he never grew old himself nor imagined that anyone else could be so silly Boy3 there's snmp'n to drink, there; jest he'p yourselves. You know I never drink, never liked the taste of it; but don't stand back on my account. Men were not drunkards then like they are now; bat twice a year those decanters had to be refilled, just after the spring term and just after the fall term of the big court, as we used to call it I suspect that the results of many a political issue have been dissolved and dissected by the aid of the impish spirits that danced around those decanters when the blaze crackled on the old brass fire dogs, and was reflected in the prismatic earrings of those old decanters. Grandpa kept the "sperits" for snake bites, colics, rheumatic pains, and such like. That was why Uncle Mose was always colicky, and Popper Joe had twinges of rheumatism, and Yaller Jim .was not a bit afraid of snakes. One time though, we all got into a rscrape. Old General DeLacy was very fond of grandpa, and every now and then he would come around to pay us a visit. No regular time, mind you, but in the course of every six or eight months, for the General was a little like a comet in his peregrinations. He was sure to come, but you could never calculate just -at what time. He differed from a comet from the fact that he carried his tail in advance that is, his firy red nose answered for the tail; audit always preceded Gen eral DeLacy. I have always had an intense antipathy for snakes. I was that way when a boy. By the way v I have discovered several new varieties my maturer years. One fine April day, who should ride up to the gate, but General DeLacy. "Good mornm," he yelled, as he dismounted. " 'Light and come in," said Grandpa. "How d'ye come on?" said the unceremonious visitor, as he pulled off the

saddle and threw it on the fence. "Jess toler'blo. Hitch yer critter and I'll have him pe t up." "Oh, he's all right," as he slipped off the bridle, gave the nag a cut with it, and, as the lata betook himself to the grassy fence jambs, his master sauntered up to the door. They shook hands and asked the news, and talked about half a dozen things in a breath, acting all the while in that agreeable, nonchalant, self-satisfied manner that betoken two gentlemen of immense knowledge and comprehensive information, to whom big topics were as trifles when they met on ?qual ground. I knew that the jig was up with me. For the balance of that day there would be nothing but "Yazoo Frauds," "Missouri Compromises, n "Whigs," "Democarts, and indignation bow-wows generally. Set these two cronies to talking, and Gabriel might toot that trumpet until

his heels flew up, and nothing short of catching each of them by the nape of the neck and bawling into their ears, "Come on, you're wanted!" would disturb their composure I knew what. I'd do. Pd go down about the fodder house and hunt hen's nests. And if I got a chance I'd slip up on Gen. De Lacy's old horse and scare him into the hiccups. I went sauiitering down toward the

lot. I took a lock oJ the fence on the old horse and crept up right close and skeeted my hat at him. I know you've seen horses act just as he did. He paid no earthly attention to the hat, but the next step of his left hind foot, he put it kerdab on my hat. Just then he fou id some excellent grass, and he stood there nipping, nipping, nipping; switching his tail from side to side and eveiy now and then a "phwoorff !" to blow the dust out oi: his nose. And first ne foot, then the other, up and down, stamp, ( tamp, stamp, and never moving from lis tracks. I clucked until r :iy tongue stuck in the roof of my mouth, and I said, "Get up, sirP till my back ached; and I finally had to get a stick and fetch him a cut to make him got off; which he did so reluctantly that he ground my hat deeper in the dirt an he moved his eld foot. I wished that horsfi was dead. I did wish he was dead. Oh, how I wished he was dead, and I ould see the carrion crows picking his bones. "BipP I had just reached the crib door when a big chicken snake ran by me and under the crib. Back to the house I flew crying: "Grandpa! Grandpa! There's a big rattlesnake under th? crib!" "Rattlesnake?" cried granpa. "Rattlesnake V ciied Gen. DoLacy. "Yes, and he is a whopper!" In a twinkling we were out there and scouting around among the weeds and shucks "Ough-o-o ! I'm bit P I yelled as I felt something liit my leg as I passed the crib door. They both ran to me, and sure enough there was a little s peck of blood and a black and blue mark on my ankle. "Got any lieker?" asked the General. "Yes, at the house. Let's carry him there, quick. Ough! I'm bit too," cried Grandpa, as he stepped a little too close to the door, and we heard the hiss of the reptile and the rustle of his coils as he gathered himself to strike again.

Oh, it was terrible! I had always heard that even if a person got well of a

snake bite he d have a snake hanging to his liver all his life. Horrible thought ! Uncle Mose was the only negro about the place and he and the General proceeded to doctor us. "It warn't a rattlesnake," said the General, "for he didn't sing; but hit moaght aben a pizea snake. Even if hit war only a chicke n snake hit mought make a bad sore. Gimme the licker." "I don't think I'm bit much," said Grandpa, as he look ed at his leg. "Looks like a sorter glancin9 lick."' "Here, take this," said the General, as he poured out a tumbler full of rum. "No, no," said graadpa. "I'd ruther be snake bit than to drink that." "All right, I'll lessen the dose," and the general drank about half of it and said, "here, now, this ain't agvvine to hurt you." "No, give the boy a little; I won't drink it. Bring me some tobacker, Moses; I'll fix ,t remedy." I drank the balancaof the liquor; and then they proceeded to moisten some broad pieces of tobacco and bind them to our wounds. I was whimpering, and the General asked me if it hurt. "Yes, it hurts bad.:

u Tears to be acrawlin' up your leg?" j

Ye-es, sir. fcI knowed it. A little more licker, Moses," and he poured out a brimming glass, by mistake, out of the brandy decanter. "Humph! I poured out too much, but 111 less'n it," said he as he drank about three-fourths of it, and gave me the balance. I began to feel better. "Moses, git & pole and go and see if you can stir up that snake. Call Jim to help you, he ain't ascared of snakes. I'll be out there in a minit." They made me go lie down, and . the General bandaged my Jeg pretty tightly, and then he said : "My stars! That wars worrisome job. I tell you, I've got nerves, or I couldn't astood what I did in the Injun war. I blieve I'll take a little toddy myself, now, to sorter, straighten me up," "All right, he'p yourself," said grandpa, as he walked out to the water shelf. The General poured out a tumbler full and drank it down, then he looked rather surprised and muttered. "Humph! I made a mistake, that's whisky and I wanted rum. I wonder which is the rum?" As he poured oat a glass from another decanter, and drank it "Why, that 'ere's brandy. Ding the luck. I will find it," and. he sampled the third glass, and smacked his lips and murmered with a grin, "I vi! That's the truck. Now lav still, my boy, and we'll percede to chase the sarpent." The General walked out in a maimer unnecessarily dignified, as I thought, and I lay right still, because my head felt funnier than my leg. Uncle Mose told me the sequel afterwards. "I tell vo, honey, de way I wus scaed

dat day wus a caution. I thought you an ol' Mar3, bofe g winter die. "Me an' Jim, we went out da', an' I tole Jim not ter go too closte ; but he sich a impydent nigger dat he say, "'Yo, hush, Unc Mose, I gwinter have some 'er dat dram ef I hatter git bit twicet.' "Sho nuff, des 'bout dat time he walk close ter de fodder house do', an' zip ! he jump up so high" measuring with his hand "an holler, "Tm bit! I'm' " 'Cack ! cack eack !' de ole speckle hen lip out er de shucks an des weT.t er flvin' to'ards de house.

'Bar's yo' snake,' I say.

No faint,' say Jim.

"Tfes it is say ol' Mars who walk up des den. "'Hooray fur Andy Jackson!' hollered de old Gin'l, es he come outen de lot. "De ol' hen be'n hid in da', in de curiuses place, an' ol' Mars he tuok'n tored off dem rags off'u 'is laig, an' he say: " 'Sicher pack er fool people I never seed in my bo'ned days.' "'Aire yo shore them aiu'fc snake aiggs?' de Gin'l say. "'Stake aiggs yo' fool 6ay ol' Mars as he went waik'n off.

"Da Gin'l look at me de funnier ay, an' he sav : "vpov "I say 'Suk! "He sajr 'Ketch my hoss. I gotter go twenty mile dis day.' "When I got the hoss ready de Gin'l git on the wrong side ter git up, an' I say: "'Dis side, boss.' wHe say 'Dat's all right. He's broka ter git on erry side.' "Ol' Mars' say, 'Why, ain't ye gwineter stay teH a'ter dinner?' "'Hain't got time, 'bleoged to you and he rid off in er weavin' way, sho nuff. "Little piece down the road he met Jim. "'Woa! Sar, hain't you two boys twins?' "Ain' no boy but des me, boss " 'I know better. I see you bofe. Tell your master I'll give $10,001) for you two boys. I jest bo darned if I haint been through two States, crossed six rivers, and fout in the Avar, but I never seed two bovs as much like as you aire. G'iang, Ball."' "The March or the Mongol." In view of the scorn with which the Chinese race has always been regarded in this country and the injustice with which it has been treated, it is interesting if not wholly pleasing to read W. B. Dunlop, who has the reputation of knowing very well the details of the subject, called "The March of the Mongol' and which since its publication in the Asiatic Review has attracted much attention both in this country and in Europe. The object of the article is to show the enormous progress of the Chinese race during the last quarter of a century. After the Taiping rebellion the Chinese Government was shrewd enough to perceive that it was a wise policy to dismiss native officials and appoint as collectors trustworthy foreigners. The result was an immediate and constantly increasing advauco in the revenues of the Government; and this surplus has been applied with much

-wisdom to public impro vents of greai

importance. The coast has been provided with light-houses until it is one of the best lighted in the world, the telegraph has been extended with great rapidity and to an enormous extent, and while from the peculiar prejudices of the country, railroads have not advanced with the same rapidity, they are spreading, and meanwhile the extensive system of internal water-ways serves here as it would nowhere elee in the world. The improvement in the national defences has been more striking still. China has availed herself of the best foreign skill in the development of her coast defences, and in the development of her army and navy. If she has not had the originality to originate, she has at least known enough to avail herself of the skill of the cleverest of occidental nations, so

that in the end she seems likely to be as well equipped as the best of them. Meanwhile, her sons have been overrunning the world. They are of such singular endurance, so capable of sus

taining hardship and of living under conditions which would kill any of the highly sensitized peoples, that they have made their way where all others have failed. Alike under the tropies and up where the Arctic Circle stretches its benumbing influence, they have swarmed, and the result everywhere has been that they have gathered money which represents, of course, so much power. Mr. Dunlop prophesies that in tSie near future the Celestial Empire i to become the dominating power in Asia; but there are not wanting those who believe that the dominion of this singular people will extend far beyond the limits of that continent, and at least reach to a considerable portion of Europe, if it dn-es not have a hand also in the destinies of America. Boston Courier, One of Washington's Sworilb. One of the most interesting relics-appertaining to tins early days of the nar tion is that of a sword presented by Gen. George Washington to Gen. Alexander Spbtswood, of Virginia, when on a visit to Gen. Washington at his resi dence in Mount Vernon in the year 1778. This historic relic is of French manufacture, hawing Washington's monogram and the jleur de lit on the side of the blade and finished with a beautiful agate handle It was originally a two-edged sword, one of which Washington had after the Revolutionary war, converted into a saw, which he used as a pruning hook in his garden at Mount Vernon thus literally fulfilling the scriptures: "They shall beat their swords into plow-shares and their spears into .pruning hooks." This highlyprized relic has descended from father to son, and i now in the possession of a grandson of Gen. Spotswood, Dr. W. A. W. Spotswood, formerly a commit sioned surgeon in the United States navy, a venerable gentleman in the 83d year of his ag$s who now resides with his respected son at Point Clear, Baldwin County, Ala. Chicago Herald He Was Adnitted. St Peter I'm afraid I can't let yon in. Applicant What have you got against me? I've been a good living man. St. P. In a general way yon have;

but I see by the record here that you j

have a dreadful character for profanity. A. But you must take into consideration the fact that I have been a photographer. St. P. What has that to do with it? Why should a photographer be profane a.nv more than anvbodv else? A. There is no reason why an ordinary photographer should be profane ; but you see I was in the baby department. I've photographed at least five hundred babies in my time, and . St. P, (commiseratingly) That's enough, that's enough, poor man. Come

right in. What a life yon must have led. Boston Courier. Bather Ambiguous. "Are you ill, Mr. Smith?" "How wid, Miss Flinders!" "Wat's the matter?" "Oh ! I've got a cold in my head, you know." "Better that than nothing, Mr Smith 1" --Chicago Ledger.

Peanuts for InsoimiUu The Rev. Dr. Theodore It. Lyman. Episcopal bishop of North Carolina, has ritten the following letter to "-he llaleigh Daily News and Courier: think I have made a very valuable discovery, and I am anxious that others should also enjoy the benefit of it. For? nearly two years I have been su Bering greatly from sleeplessness at night, and frequently have not been able to sleep more than one or two hours during the uight. I have tried n great number of proposed remedies, some of which have helped me a little, but not for any length of time, A little more than a fortnight ago, while staying at the house of a friend in the country, my good hostess brought into the parlor, quite late in the evening a bountiful supply of freshly roasted peanuts. As I am verv fond of them when they are not too much cooked I ato quite freely of them and soon alter retired to bed. I found the next morning that I had enjoyed the best sleep I had experienced for over a month. I attributed this at once to the peanuts and determined to try them again the following evening. I did so and also drank a glass of fresh sweet milk after I had finished the peanuts. That night I slept still better, and now for a fortnight have partaken of the peanuts and milk every night and have not only slept remarkably well, but have also fully recovered from a slight attack of indigestion that had troubled me before. I now find that peanuts, carefully roasted and not over-done, so as to be at all burnt, are surely a remedy for sleeplessness and also for that form of indigestion which produces sleeplessness. "There is a popular impression that peanuts are indigestible, but I have never found them so unless they were too much roasted or had been roasted many days before. When too muoli cooked or when stale they certainly are indigestible, but when carefully roasted and fresh they promote digestion. They should be eaten shortly before going to bed and not more than a half-pint should be taken. They should be roasted before thev are shelled and A shelled only as they are aten a halfpint of shelled nuts would be too many. I commend this remedy with great confidence to those who are afllicted with insomnia, particularly if indigestion is in part the cause of it The peanut is ;i very valuable article of food when carefully roasted and partaken of in moderation. I hope none'of my readers will imagine that I have started a peanut farm and am wishing to create a boom in that article, but J shall be rejoiced if what I have written should be the means of bestowing on any others the

great benefit which I have derived from I

mis simple agency The Proudest Moment of His Life. Parents often make a mistake in trying to force their children into occupations which are distasteful to them and for which they have no natural qualification, The long, long thoughts of vouth" are, in the majority of cases.

the safest indication of fitness, and the

deaire of the youthful mind is often a safer guide than the wisdom of a parent. The experience of the great naturalist Agassiz is an illustration of nhe fact in question. Agassiz received his early education from his mother, a woman of ivnusual intelligence. "When a- mere child he began to study planis and to collect iafc.eets. His father however, destined him for a commercial life, and was impatient at his devotion to frogs snakes, and fishes. The last, especially, were objctets of the boy's attention. His vacation he spent in making journeys on foot through Europe examining the different species of fresh-water fishes- He cane to London with letters of introduction to Sir Roderick Murchison. "You have been studying naiurev" said the great man bluntly. "What hav? you learned ?" The lad was timid not sure at that moment that he had learned anything. "I think9 he said, at last "I know little about fishes." "Very well. There will be a meeting of the Royal Society to-night; I will take you with me there." All of the great scientific men of England belong to this society. That evening toward its close, Sir" Roderick rose and said : "I have a young friend here froaca Switzerland, who thinks he- knows something about fishes; how much I have a fancy to try. There- is under this cloth a perfect skeleton of a fish which existed long before man." He then gave the precise locality iti which it had been found, with one or two other facts concerning it. The species to which the specimen belonged was of course extinct. "Can you sketch for me on the blackboard your idea, of this fish!" said Sir Roderick. Agassiz took up the chalk, hesitated a moment, and then rapidly sketched a skeleton fish. Sir Roderick held up the specimen; the portrait was correct in every bone and line. Tin grave old doctors burst into loudi applause. "Sir," Agassiz said, on telling the story, "that was the pjoudeet moment of my life, amd the happiest ; for I kne w now, my father would consent that I should givmy life to scieno?.w Not Above Showing Sympathy. The offer of friendship and sympathy is always pleasant to the recipient, but there are times when it becomes a real blessing and aid. One o f the leaders of the Boston bar tells a personal incident which g'ves an insight into the kindly nature of Rufus Choate, and explains his popularity with the members of the bar This lawyer had just begun practice, but being an emigrant to Boston from another State, had formed few acquaintances, and often felt like a stranger in the court-room. One day, as he was sitting alone, watching the trial of an important case, Mr. Choate unexpectedly took a seat at his side, called him by name, talked with him about his native St ate and its great men, about the college where he had studied and its good discipline, and congratulated him on his prospect of certain success at the bar if lie would be patient in waiting and labor industriously. The young man was magnetized by the eloquence and sympathy of . the

great advocate, and loved and revered him to the end oi his brilliant career. He subsequently learned that thin was a habit of Mr. Choate to inquire the name and previous history of young lawyers, and then to surprise them by his personal knowledge of their struggles and his warm sympathy. The habit is worthy oi? imitation by all who would lend a helping hand to young men struggling for recognition. Women Who Drive Heree?. A'iy man who knows horses knows that it :is a job foir a muscular and clear headed man to control a spirited animal in harness. Even a fair quality of liverv stable trotter will give his driver

i stout work in an afternoon drive, and

if ho gets scared and takes the bit between his teeth he will make ugly work of it. Yet in this city, and in the fashionable watering places, you will see women calmly perched on tint box seat and handling the ribbons over nnimah which they could no more direct or restrain, if the animals did not wish it, than thev could make the tides, halt or the sun stand still. Whenever old Commodore Vanderbilt, who could handle the wildest hordes with hands of steel, was out behind his cracks, and saw a woman driving towcrd him on the road, he used to draw out and give her plenty oi room. "There's not room for us two out here," he used to say, and most horsemen would have agreed with him. You can create a panic on the Harlem lane any day by sending a woman out to drive among the horsemen. I often stroll in the park, and it seems to me that I nevtr do so without witnessing some flurry in the drive a difference of opinion between a driving woman and her horse that results in either tin accident ox a narrow escape. There are plenty of horse? which woman ctn drive safely, but these no woman with any pret ensions to style wants to drive. The family horse has gone out of fashion

with the jog trot. Society now wants to travel at a high step and full speed. The girl fresh from school requires a Galway wall-topper harnessed to her phaeton, and her mother cannot enjoy her airing on wheels without having an iron -jawed, tiddilestring-nerved, thorough-bred, that it would be hard work for a life-guardsman to handle, w haul her, Even the fashionable child has outgrown the pony carriage nnd the Shetland, and goes in for mettle 1 horseflesh that would scarcelv be Fafj in the hands of hi) father. And still there are people, no doubt, who wonder wiien disaster waits vn follv, and ac:id9nt accepte the invitation so freely ofl'ered it. New Work News.

Transatlantic Telegraphy. The messages which are received from across the seas are not heard upon the loud-sounding tickers which make the tele graph offices of land lines a diminutive Babel, nor do they come in the printed Morse alphabet of decs and dashes, which every one has probably seen. The receivers for such ocean traveling currents of electricity :aausfc be of much more delicate fiber, nd, as might be said, have mora acute ears for messages made feint by oiist&nca. The instruments which cable- oporaxrs use are delicate fabrications,, whit h register the slightest variation m enrront, and are aifected by the slightest outward magn etic influences They express these variations bv means of a cibudle or lam plight, one single ray of which is allowed to pass through a lens upon a graduated screen. The len through which the rays pass i the delicately poised indicator of tlie passage of the current. .As it oscillates it causes the reflection of the flames' ray jo vibrate on the screen, where it ean ba noted by the observer. This-is the p rinciple of the galvanometer. A. similar instrument based upon the idba of tbet galvanometer, which has however, in place of the oscillating lens, a delicately poked, siphen pen which traces the variations of the current upon a hand of paper kept in motion by clack work like a stock "ticker' is the receiver of transatlantic messages.. It takes an experienced operator to sead these mysterious wavy lines which meant words, but there are operators with si ill keener evs who can read a niessagon from the vibrations of the candle lijfht on the screen. Boston Herald, Storing the Water of the Silc. Egypt is anxious at present over the vagaries of the Nile, which has never been so low at this time of yi ar since a record began to-be kept of the water supply. The Sile usually keeps falling till June, andt.if.it were possible for the process to continue at the present rate, the river wouhl become dry. The condition of the- Kile for tw successive seasons has been calculated tx bringinto favorable notice the great project of the American engineer, Mr. Cope Whitehouse for storing the sur plus war ter during the inundation in tlu- Baiyan basin, a little southwest oi Cairo, to be used during the low Nile period. He estimates that a reservoiu can be made at a cost of $2,500,000 that will suppiv the Nile at low water with 50,00.000 cubic meters of water a day. Etis plans have been approved by engineers and by the Egyptian Government, butt the money to carry them out is not yet forthcoming. It is a note worthy fact thiikfc his scheme contemplates little more- than a restoration of the reservoir, dikes, and canals that are believed to have been used for many centuries to equalise the Nile flood, and whose ruins con bd seen to this day. A Trick for a Tip. Women iu the West End of London go about armed with small squirt-guns tilled with dirty water, with which they slyly soil the coats or dresses oi? persona whom they pass. Then they meet the persons and with elaborate bows beg pardon for calling attention to the fact that the dress or coat is splashed and offer to wipe it oft with a clear, white apron. Nine times out of ten the trick biing;s a generous tip, A monkey show is to be held in London. Next thing we know some person will go a step lower j.n the social scale and get up a dude exhibition. Some one has asserted that merit is relative, but there are few who can see merit in their relatives

HISTORICAL

Samaria was built by Omra, 935 B. C. Pompky governed Spain half a decade from 60 to 50 B. O. It was in 1860 that the duty on imported rice was totally abolished. Ruffi.es became fashionable in 1520. and remained in style over two cen turies, going out about 1790. Regent street in London was designed and executed bj one John Nash, and was authorized by Act 53. George IIL, lis 13. An early instance of being roasted alive is that of Boccharis, King of Egypt, by order of Sabacon of Ethiopa. 737 13. C. Salads are said to have been in use in the middle ages, aud lettuce was introduced from the Low countries in England as early as 1520. Ruling maohines, which are now used for ruling paper with faint liars, vere invented by an ingenious DuW' man a resident in London in 1782. Suakspeare's Borneo was Borneo Monteccheo, and Juliet was Juliet Capello. Bandello gives the story as true, and, till lately, their tomb was shown at Verona. Church music was first systematized on the practices at Antioch, by St. Ambrose, and was afterwards improved by the chant of Pope Gregory the First, or Grate, about 690. Up to July 27, 1794, when Robespierre was deposed, the Revolutionary Tribunal, established at Paris in 1793, had put to death 2,774 persons, including Queen Marie Antoinette and the' Princess Elizabeth. , Spectacles, unknown to the ancients, are generally supposed to have been invented by Alexander de Spina, a monk of Florence, in Italy, about 11585. According to Dr. Plott, they were invented by Roger Bacon,' aboufc 1280. Manni attributes them to Salvinar who died 1317. On his tomb at Florence is the inscription, "Qui giace Salvino degli Armati, inventore degli oo chiali: Dio gli perdont le peccata'r (Here lies Salvzno degli Armati, inventor of spectacles; may God pardon hi sins). The "RyehoTOePlofc was a plot or intrigue to secure the succession of the Duke of Monmouth to the throne in preference to the Duke of York (afterwards James IL), a Roman Catholic. Some of the conspirators are said to

j have projected the assassination of the

King Charles and his brother. This design in said to have been f ustrated by the King's horoe at Newmarket acci (Lmtly taking &v which hastened the rctyai party away eight days before the plot was to take-effect, March 22, 1683. Time plot was discovered June 12, following. Lord William Ensel on July 2J,.Md Algernon Sidney on Dec. 7, following, suffered death for being concerned in this conspiracy. The name wae derived from the conspirators' place of meeting, the Rye-bouse at Broxbourn!, Hertfordshire Mirth fulness. The- power of discovering a point, of appreciating a humorosw hit, and en joying the fun of a droll position, is a gift not to be despised. It is not a vain, silly, er unbecoming tfaihg, as some mopingrowls and grave dullards suppose. It is, indeed, like all hmman faculties, liable to abuse- ad capable of being perverted1 to evil p but it is essentially: a good gift, fundi ought to be turned to the good account of which it is susceptible,. and manifests itself in the increase of the cheerfulness, and happiness, and the affection ii social and family life. We might g? farther; we might say, andl adduce inuch better evidence to support the- proposition, that, as humor is discerned'only by those who ctm, to seme extent, aatoh the feeling and spirit of the humorist, so the sense or the discernment ofi huinor is one phase or department of sympathy, and thus the spring of minthfulness and kindness is not far distant, and many a home, amid the alternations of joy and sorrow, that darken or brighten the course of life, has found ever fregh gladness in the oomic- vein and jocund humor of some mirthful! member of the family. Many of the best men we have ever knownrthe test in the highest sense of the term with, the best heads asad the best hearts, have been men who a ppreciate and highly enjoy true humor. North British Review. The Extent of Our Rainless Lands. The vast region of the United States where the rainfall is insufficient for successful agriculture comprises about; two-fifths of our entire" area (exclusive of t Alaska). It aggregates about 1,200,000-' square miles, and k about equal to the combined areas ofi Great Britain audi Ireland, Belgian, Denmark, Franco. Germany, Italy,. Sweden, Norway, Hoi land, and Austria-Hungary. This aritS region embraces nearly all the publitt domain, and is-capable of supporting population of at least 200,000,000. It is a third largoc than British India ft country having, many similar physical characteristics, and supporting over 200,000,000 inhabitants largely by irrigation. In solving the problem how to utilise this vast arid region so- to make hornet for the people we ham-th experience of thousands of years to guide us. The most populous nation of ancient times occupied the arid segiona of Asia, Africa, and Europe, an4 subsisted by agriculture prosecuted by irrigation. It is estimated that thare are $,500,000 acres of land now (Mo tivated bv irr igation in the United tttates vary

ing in value from $40 to $1,000 per

) acre, ana yieiaiog a nee income equal to

the interest on a much larger sum than this valuation. Senator Stewart of Nevada, in the Forum. A Northern Pasag&. It has been proved that a passage exists from Baffin's Bay to Behria$ straits, but ice prevents vessejjr from passing through it. In 1850 H M. S, Investigator entered the Arctic Ocean through Behring's St nut, and after ho ing fast in the ict thiee years was abandoned by her officers and erew, who returned to England by way of Baffin's Bay in Wte. President Hak'uson has shaken 42, 000 h&mla and oBice-seekera,