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^Vijl Independent
VOLUME III. ORANGEBURG, $Qt
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J 1 ' ? * jlAZEL BLOSSOMS.
T?'o aiiimuo'r waviulh haa left tlio aky,
Tho numiner songs liavo died away;
And, withered, in tho fcotpafhs lio
>Th? falleb leaves,-but yonlctday-r
r>.._ 1'_3. ..._1.^. il.? 1.1,1?. ' ?
' The gros? Iii brbwuing uu tho IUiIk;
No pale, bolatod flours recall
Th? ?stral frlngoa of tho riilB,
And drearily tho dead vines fall,
Frost-blackened from the roadsidb wall.
Yet,.through tho gray,and ?oinbor wood,
Injut the, dusk.of tit and pine.
Last of their floral slatorhood,
Tho har.ol'a yellow blosBoms suluo,
Tho tawuy gold of Afrlc'a mluo. j I
Small beauty hatb my unsung flower
For spring to own or Mmiruor ball;. -. t? . ..
But; In tlioueaGOii'a eailiVcit hour, * '
Td'akfea that woep and -.vtmln that wall
Ita glad aurprleals never fail.
p days grown cold! O lifo grown old I'
. " No rose at Juno may bloom again;
IJnt, like tho hazelV twisted gold,
Through early front and latter rain
Shall hints of mimmor-lime remain.
Ai.d an within tho hazel's bough
A gift of myMh; virtue dwolla,
That poiuts to goldon ores below,
And in dry deftert placet* tella,
Whero no'.v unaccn tho cool, awect wolla?
8o, in tho wise dlvinerV hand,
Bo miuo tho hazel'm aratnfnl pari
Tu Teol, bcuoatb n thirsty land,"
- The llviug watcta thrill and start,
Tho heat mi; of tbo rivulet's heart!
Sufllceth me the gift to light
Willi latent bloom tho dark, cold dayB;
To call some hidden spring to steht
That, in these dry and dusty ways,
Shall hing its plea*antcst song of jiralae.
? Lovol the hazel-wand mr.y fail,
But thou canst lend tho surer spell,
That, panning over BacVs vale,
Uopeatr, the nld-tline mtraele.
And makes tho desert laud a well.
JACQUES.
On the southern bank of the Sagucnay
where the precipitous oliffs give place
to rolling, rooky hills, lies the little
lumbering Tillage of Chiooutimi. Here
liesv Jacques?happy, frowsy little Jac
ques. He doeB not know but that it is
the nicest thing iu the world to live so
near the north pole that on the short
summer nights the beautiful aurora
can Bproad her cold ourtoin of shifting
silver over him; so near that iu winter
old North Bole himself can drop in in a
neighborly way and bury the house in
snow-drifts. Could anything bo moro
charming, except living hand in hand
with Jack Frost in his ice eave at the
top of tho world ? Jacques and I have
a tender pity for any one who does not
live in Chiooutimi, thongh Jacques be
gins to have misgivings that perhaps
Quebec,' whero the wonderful steamers
come from, may possess some points of
superiority.
Jacques lives iu a small square houi
perched on tho rooky riyer bank.. Why
the high winds that ohurn the Sagueuay
to a mass of whito froth do not blow it
away nobody knows. But, like a huge' |
bird's nest, there it clings to the top of
tho rock. It is built of rough, two-inch
planks piled ono on top of another, and
capped by asteep board roof. Altogether
it looks as if a giant had played at mak
ing a cob-house, and then clapped a
woodou tent on it. Though it only
boasts of ono story and ono room, this
fully satisfies Jacques, for he is a social
little fellow, and enjoys sleeping all in
one bed iu the corner of the kitchen.
Then, too, the room is magnificent in
his eyes, for its unblinded, wide-awake
windows are shaded with paper curtaius,
gay with blue castles and red cavaliers.
But his mother is ambitious, and
dreams of lifting tho bouse up bodily
and tucking n lower story under it, as
is tho universal custom in Chiooutimi
wheu ono growB well-to-do in tho world.
This gives all tho houses a jaunty, eu
terprisimg air, as if they had just got
upon their logs and wore about to start, j
off around the town for a dish of friend
ly gOBBip.
Jacques' father earns five dollars a
month by hooking in tho logs that float
away from the great saw-mill, a quarter
of a mile above. It is a mere pittance. 1
Any one but a Frenchman would starve
upon it, oven in Chicoutimi. But there
tho French live *;on nothing a week,
and that- uncurtain very." Fish and
onions form tho chi.'f of their diet, with
now and thou, by way of luxury, a Boup
made of a bit of gristle and a potato or
two. Tlio children grow round and
rosy, but the grown people have a lean
and huugay look. Of course thoy have
bread for a standby ; nud every other
morning I soo little Jacques go jumping,
rollicking, singing by, with an immense
loaf carefully poised on his towsly pate,
or tightly squeezod against his dirty
blouse.
If you should say to him, as I did :
** You love that bread, don't you?" he
would reply, \\i\b brown oyes all aglow :
"Mais, que ca pain est bou 1 Voua
n'avez jamals vu rien commo ca aux
Etats Unis 1 On no l'a nulle part ex
cepto a Chiooutimi. N'ost ce pas que les
petits garoons .chess vous monrent do
faim Hans ce pain ?" which is his wny of
flaying : "Isn't this broad good, though I
Yon won't fine such anywhoro in tho
world except in Chicoutimi. Don't the
little boys in the United States Btarvo
?without this bread?" If ho were a
Yankeo boy, wo should say this came a
little too near bragging. But tho inno
ceut ignorance turn anxiety of his last
question quite take away your breath.
And whon ho brings you a thiok chunk
of this remarkable brea I, in his little,
grimy fingers, you, woridor if it is really
made of musty sawdust, that it has Buch
a queer, oaken color and such a dry, un
polatabie taste.
One afternoon Jacques' father wont
away to stay all night. His last words
to Jacques woro : "Bo sure not to go
near tho mill." For the mill was a very
dangerous though very attractive place
to little folks. For awhile Jaoques
amused himself playbig on the logs that
were floating in tho water beside tbo
house. Lying in tho river, loading with
lumber, were three ships^-oUe from
Norway, ono from Preveace, and ono
from South .Amoriou. Jacques ployed
his log was eooh Bhip by turns, and
visited each oodntry with his. cargo of
chips. But playing alone grow rnonoto
noua. Ab dusk crept on,%tho caw-mill
on tho opposite aide-of tho cove lit up
its long rows' of windows, throwing
broad lines of tremulous light across
the black water. To Jacques it looked
like an enchanted palace, and it attract
ed his. idle} disobedient feet with irre
sistible force.
Perhaps he did not mean to go in.
As he explained aftorward, ho only
though he would seo if Guillaume were
?there, because ho bad something very
particular to toll him. Guillaumo's
father was one of the night-workers in
the mill; so Guillaume was often there
in the evening. Ho had repeatedly said
to Jacques: y Main quo o eat magnifl
quc.I. Vicna?onoafin.qmjc tc la fasse
voir." XVhioh is French for "How
splendid it is ! Do come and let me
sho.v you round." This invitation was
a continual spur to Jacques' curiosity.
Once he had been in the mill with his
father in the day-time ; but to go in
every evening, like Guillaume, was the
dream of his life. $
Now, as he drew near the forbidden
spot, the delioionB smell of the fresh
pino, the unceasing motion of the noisy
machinery, tho bits of wocd of all
shapes, calling for jack-knives to cut
them,.tolled bim on, and he entered,
remomboring no longer his father's com
mands. For . awhile he watched the
sharp paws as they out shingles and
laths and clapboards. He sat on the
curling, sweet-scented shavings, and
bnilt forts of the bits of wood thrown
aside aa useless. Notwithstanding his
disobedience, he had never been so
happy in his life.
Then Guillaume fonnd him; land in
sisted on taking him to tho other, mill
to see the huge round logs sawed into
planks. The dim light, the roar of the
machinery, and the novelty of every
thing made one place as fascinating as
another to Jacques. So he willingly
followed Guillaume. They entered a
long, low building, fnll of saws banded
in groups of four or five. These groups
wero placed all along at regular inter
vals, and were all sawing logs into
planks with fearful, steady swiftness.
Guillaume was go used to it that he had
up thought of fear, and Jacques was too
ignorant to have a tremor.
They stood and watched the men roll
new logs oh to the-tramways, with long
crowbars, and push tho planks already
made into deep black holes in the floor,
whore a raooway of tho stream i took
them and carried thorn to tho lower mill,
to be sawed into shingles and clapboards..
It required great caro to walk about;
for the floor was full of these pitfalls.
All of a sudden Jacques disappeared.
In the dim light, thinking' a mass of
pi auk's jammed into ono of these holes
was tho real floor, he stepped on it.
His weight started it. Above the thud
of tho machinery, Guillaume heard a
faint scream, and turned just in time to
see Jacques' head disappearing in the
pitchy blackness.
Guillaume knew all about tho mill,
and quick as thought he sprang down a
flight of stairs at tho side, just, in sea
son to catch back a Frenchman's hand
as he was going to turn a torrent of
water on tho raceway. It took but an
instant to explain. The next second tho
Frenchman had waded into the dark
water in search of Jacques. At last he
found him crushed among the heavy
planks, and brought him out in his
arms. The rough workmen wrapped
the dripping,-insensible boy tenderly in
their coats and bore him carefully homo.
The doctor came and examined him.
He said there were no bones broken
and that in a few days he would be as
supple and aotive as ever. But days
: passed on, and he woke from his inson
sibjlity only enough to have a fearful
dread of water, to jiibber a senseless
gibberish, and to fail to rccognizo his
dearest friends. Little by li'tie his
mother and father wero forced to admit
that their only child was a hopeless
idiot.
Two years dragged slowly by, when
one day Jacques looked up all of a sud
den and said, in his old natural voice,
though very slowly, as if ho could
hardly remember the word : '1Thinkest
thou?that.my.father?will boat me ?"
Tears came into the mothor's eyes to
hear sensible words from her boy s lips
onoo more. " Boat theo 1 Why ?" she
asked, in a tono as calm' and quiet as
she could make it in hor sudden joy,
for she did not dare show her surprise,
for fear of frightening away Jacques'
returning wits.
With groat difficulty Jacques got out
tho .one word " mill," and a violent
shudder shook him. His mother assured
him by word and tono and caress that
ho had nothing to fear.
The wholo two years were a total
blank to him. He took np tho thread
of his lifo just where he dropped it
when he fell. But ns his mind grew
strong and as his power of speech oamo
baok ho gradually lenrnod what had
happened, and now you will not find a
more obedient boy in all Ohiooutimi.
?An American writoH from London:
"I nevor, in tho whole course of my
lifo, met such a collection of idiots and
numbskulls as I did at the so-called
fashionable olubs. I asked Lord-at
dinner, one night, if he had ever been
to Amorica. ' Yeth, ah, yeth,' said ho.
'And did yon like the country and the
peopla?' 1 inquired. 'Yeth, ah, yoth.'
?The two countries,' fiaid I, 'have muoh
in common?we speak tho same .lan
guage, and many of our habits and cus
toms aro identical.' 'Yeth, ah, yeth,'
lisped 'ml lord' to the end of tho con
versation. And now I hear the words
?yeth, ah, yeth,' continually, in imagi
nation, ana I am almost crazy."
--?<} '?? ' B I j'fin *Tfj-piaij;-??
RECREATION FOR THE MOTHERS.
Auimoinonta anil Holidays for tho lUlil
dle>Aged.
-Npw that thq fires fixe beginning to
barn on library and parlor 'hearths in
the evenings, and -the curtains to be
drawn close, and the most devoat lover
of nature gives up the stroll in shady
lanes, or the row on tho moon-lit
river, and. cornea iu-tnorn lpx the winter,
it is worth while to ? consider what is
to be done in-doors. 'The work is
ready for everybody, who ohooses to do
it; but the relaxation, the rest, the
simulant, whioh is to fit us for the
work?what i? that to bo ?, For fashion
' able classes this matter of amusement
is ruled in almost'as inflexible grooves
as drudgery for the poor; for men or
young peoplor too, it adjusts itself
naturally. The father of a family has
his clubs, his shore in the political
or church meeting, or at least,
his quiet newspaper, cigar and
slippers, at home?precisely the drowsy
reaction ho needs alter the. friction of
the busy day. The boys and girl b have
their concerto, their lectures, the * ?ou
sand devices of Vsociables,"tho "acci
dentals,'* etc., by which they contrive
to flock together, to chirp like young
birds in May, and, perhaps, to mate
like them. - Bat the wives and the
mothers, the great aggregate of women,
no longer young?what is to be their
tonic? They certainly need a tonio.
The American mother of a family Ib the
real maid of all work in it, and the
more faithful and intelligent she is the
more she usually tries to deserve the
same. She may work with her hands
or not (in the large majority of eases
she does work with her hands), but it
is she who in any case oversees and
gives life to a dozen different interests.
Herfimsband's business, tho. boys' edu
cation, the girls' standing'in society,
the baby's teething, the sewing and
housework for them all, are all Tpro
eeeses whioh she urges on and whioh
rasp and fret daily and hourly on her
brain?a very dull unskilled % brain, too
often, but almost always quite willing
to wear itself out for those sho loves.
Whether it would be nobler or more
polite in her to shirk this work?hus
band, babes and home?and develop
her latent talents as physician, artist or
saleswoman, is not the question with us
just now.. A few women have done
this. In the cities, too, money can re
move mueh of the responsibility from
the mistress of a household; but the
aggregate of wives and mothers in this
onnntry, are domestic women -who. a.-.?r
nothing.bcttcr of fate than that what
ever strength they have of body and
mind shall bo drained for their hus
bands and children. Now this spirit of
martyrdom is a very good thing?when
it is necessary. For our part, we can
see no necessity for it here. We are
told that tho women's wards in the in
sane asylums iu New England are filled
with middle-aged wives, mothers driven
there by overwork and anxiety * through
tho rest of the country the" particular
type of tho woman of forty is neither
fat nor fair, but a sallow, anxious-eyed
creature, with teeth and hair furnished
by the shops, and a liver and nerves
whioh long ago,took her work, temper,
and, wo had almost said, religion out of
her oontrol. This rapid decay of our
women may be owing partly to climatic
influences, but it is much more duo to
the wear and tear of their motherhood,
and axiety to push their children for
ward, added to the incessant petty
rasping of inefficient doriestio servioe.
A man's work man be heavier, but it
is single, it wears on him on one side
only; he has his hours sacred to busi
ness, to give to his brief, his sermon,
Uis-shop; there iS no drain on the .rest
of his faculties or time. His wife has
no hour saored to this or to that; he
brings his trouble to her and it is her
duty to comprehend and aid him, while
her brain is devising how to koep her
boy Tom away from the companions
who brought him home drunk last night;
how to give Jonuie another year of
music lessons; how to contrive a cloak
for tho baby out of her old merino ; the
burning meat in the kitchen all the
while "sotting her nerves in a quiver."
She has not a power of mind, a skill of
body whioh her doily life does not draw
upon. Her husband ooraos and goes 'o
his office ; the out-door air, ihe stir, the
change of ideas, the pausing4 word for
this man or that, unconsciously refresh
arid lift him from the cankering care of
the work. She has tho parlor, the din
ing-room, the kitehon.i'to.shut her into
it, day after day, year after year. Wo
men, without n single actual grief in
tlio world, grow morbid and ill-tem
pered, simply from living in-doors, and
resort to prayer to conquer their cross
nes", when they only need a walk of a
couple of miles, or some wholesome
amusement. It is a natnral craving
for this neooBBity?amusement?whioh
driver thorn' to the tSA-partles and sew
ing-oiroles whioh men ridioule as absurd
and tedious.
There is no reason why our womon,
who aro notably rational and shrewd in
the conduct of the working part of life,
should out themselves off thus irration
ally from the necessary relaxation, or
make it either costly or tedious. Let
every mother of a family resolve not to
put off her holidays until old age, but
to take them all along tho way, and to
1 ?ring a good share of them into this
winter. Lot her give no ball, no musi
cal evenings, no hot, perspiring tea-par
ties, but manage to have her table al
ways prettily sorved and comfortably
provided, and her welcome ready for
any friend who may oomo to it; let her
sot apart an ovening, if possible, when
her rooms shall be open to any pleasant
friend who will visit her ; the refresh
ment to bo of tho simplest kind ; and,
above all, if tho table chance not to be
well served, or the friends are not
agroe?le.ilr tiller take (lid mishap , as a
jest, nvd mcot alb dinicultie.s with an
easy good humor. It is, hot j?oooMaxy
to taWeVety' btirPbT trmrVfty^
hcrna Jif t we woloom? ana: nod to; them,
08 %?fe5nl a'aquaintoiioos they^will?u*'
ally738 on % tuTother aide o^thfc
ro&t?jM * io Koiiio'j yjw new ? , ,v:
Let J- r tako.our prescription for ttho
wintef^fid^ur ^o^Jotl?Tme spring,
will fuKftesher Vosee* in^thr %fieekp ajid,
fewer f*rinklos -in' -her i ImBbaud's fpron
head.-r'5cH67|qr^ AanoaanJ ,b.-..i j ?fi
>?mgfaiof Moss-Agatea.^ J b?A
A ??fespondout of tho Chicago Intcv
OooanLwriting from;;the plains I soys'
that F/ofessor Madgo, of Kansas, has
found S'horo "moss-agates" come f/rorh,"
and Moth just UcnMougdk atlttiemJ^^u)
they s\v<) usually discovered in tho lboso
plaius^jravol, they Dliviq boch'supposed
toovJ?ieir preBeur deposit**? **?Kft,"
their i : iginal home having been in tho
north, ^ Professor Mudgo has found,
howovfc{ surprising as it seems; ?that
thoy wUjinated in therplidoehe deposits
of Kr?S?^. Iu Borao iocaiitioa this' pii
ooene JjonsiBtij of a' sedimontary 'siUci"
oua deposit for mod'of material varying
from eoarso flint quartz tp: chalcedony.
Oxide b? muganeso, nioro or.less' crys
talizodMh minute1 moss-like1 sprigs, ex
tonds through tho whole strata, which is
often dght foot thick. The. " agates "
aro mainly found in tho upper six
inches, and some of them are remarka
bly betatifnl. r The whole masses very
interesting to tho mineralogist, .na
showicfe the so-called - 4<m'0ss-agato"
through the whole ' pxobesa of its
formation. The. lower ?portion indi
cates-an imperfect' solution of the
silica-and "oxide of manganese, but
the up; ser few inches, where, the beet
specimens are found, evince the deposit
in a mgh state of chemical develop
ment. ;. The .^moss-agate" deposit
forms the cap-rook of.all the hills in
the vicinity of Sheridan, on the Kansas
Pacific railway,1 and :alsb about Fort
Wallace. In one instance Professor
Mudge found bones and portions of tho
tusk oT n mastodon, which in progress
of fos3ilisation had changed to nearly
pure silica, and in tho change j had be
come infused with flnoi sprig-like crys
tals of black oxide of manganese, thus
presenting the strange phenomenon of
ivory actually oonvorted into *' moss
agate.** 'Some of'the specimens cannot
be detected in appearance from the
real g-'iu. Professor Mudge thinks
that *he agenoie3 which, produce this;
"it^-Jfc^ ^rwik of nature must have
boon .Bi mil or to tljo actioia. bf'tho "ho*
springs" of Iceland and Yellowstone
Park, tho only known natural agenoy
that will make silica out of organio
substances. The fact is a curious one at
any rate; and while it may overstock
the " moss-agate " market, it furnishes
the scientist a revelation of rare inter
est and valne. Professor Marsh, of
Yale, is already giving it critical exam
ination, and specimens have boon fur
nished to other prominent gentlemen
in his line of business.
'Dutch Beauties.
A writer in the Jewish Messenger,
speaking of Leeuwarden, a town in
Holland, says : " The women of Leeu
warden deserve a paragraph to them
selves. There is a primitive air about
them whioh is refreshing after tho
starohed-up and made-up-to-order beau
ties that are elsewhere visible. They
are generally tall, with high forehead,
aquiline nose, lips closely set, and well
developed ohin. The skin is white, the
cheeks delicately tinted (with colors
from nature's atelier), the eyes are
large and piercing. - The young girls
have lost muoh of the Frisian bearing,
for their heads aro crazed, doubtless, by
the fnrbelows and fixings of the foreign
dressmaker and milliner. As among
the Qnakers, tho younger generation
are losing their revert neo for the dis
tinctive dress whioh should be every
fair Frisian's pride to waar. The mat
rons, however, adhere to tho fashions
of their ancestors. They have almost
a masculine face, but the sternness ia
rolieved by the beauty of the eyes and
the fair skin. In southern Holland a
distinctive costume is worn , by many,
but it is not so quaint as in northern
Holland, in which Friesland is situated.
Tako a woman's head-dress, for instance.
A broad band of gold, of horse-shoe
shape, spans the forehead, aiding to
keep the hair baok. Tho sides of the
band aro adorned with large oval gold
rosettes. Above the band is reared a
lace can, or veil, often of the best lace,
i with edges or complete wings, drooping
I to the neck. The ears glitter with j
rings of gold and gems. These orna
ments, whioh are oither of gold or silver
even among the poorer classes, are re
garded with great reverence, and trea
sured as saored heirlooms, pass from
mother to daughter for many genera
Hons. The bands give a soldierly
aspect to tho women, who' afe generally
full-faced, not sunken-cheeked, and
walk with a firm tread. Their stout,
large shoes aro in pleasing contrast to
the baby shoes whioh are considered
the style among our belles of the lan
guid and languishing type."
?It's of no use to try to get the cap
ital away from Washington if "Washing
ton ia the kind of a town " Olivia" says
it is. Hear her: "It ia the groat
throbbing heart of a republic whoso
right hand grasps the beard of the
stormy Atlantic, while tho loft is hold
out for the Paoifio to kiss."
?In Brussels thoy haye taken one
practical step in regard to cremation,
whioh seems to indicate an opinion that
it is likely to bo adopted instead of
burial. Thoy propose to have an ofiloial
medico-legal examination of ovory cor p.so
before it is burned.
J-.-t mittut BL&NQiaJ^mmbat^?.
of tlic American
? m oghu^ oi il^ra?3ei; elavii^ ^Ir*^
?^WOalWotnrs?lveB^o^saV ?f--tH*fcfi
man that ho Mb <gbt -^stamps;" of th?
drtinke? .^;:??t/hfe is. ^tig]4t["'or.
" boozv^".of anything t4ifit pleases .?b"
or ia,satisfactory that it is '"stunning;"
" awful" ia i considered a bettorTword
than' vor^y and wo aro awful coldj or
hot, or ^lckfdr Jolly, as thVcnse -may
be ^itfiaiflner to say;".y??. bet'-' than'to
ahswen a7rine6tion.;jbyjflaBiiirple! lyes,;
oy,ery thing:thttt annoySins. is J? infernal'.*'
or ,,-boa8tly;iM bank-bills -ar$ " green-'
backs. "'? ^neard.a lady in'good society
say. reoenilyy -th \t ' her: dressmaker
had disappointed her,- and that ;irHoonV
.seqd6lloe;?he was ?^egrtf?rly^np^ rerajH:
we ihreaten, not? to humiliate oi:fc4 mor
tify a man, but **. tojU&atim^Urrnh ont
n* Hr i'ViitiTWtonnr rn*1" to it vent
slancr words for , various dr nks,
and Dring1 b?t Such names ns " forty
rod," " tangie--foot," " rot-gut,1" "JbTOei
ruin" and ?* Jcreey- Bghtoingt*' words;
that Would morA ?l?*n nny.ilaa foroift/Twr;.
?m?nis-not orie&ted, xiut^oVori'o bro^wn."
or " bamboozled";" railroad conductors
do not steal (in fact wo are getting . a
littlo aonaitivo abont-- nrfihg: tho word),
but"knpokrdown ;": ban^caah*rars do
nbfc swindle and .steal,. bnt*''ebrhmit
?^irregularities';* vre1 Uear?f-tf fibtisp.biir
ing " burgled," ar>d that- two fobt-pado
went through" a belated traveler ;"a
fair dealer is: ijpbkon of aa 'a " square
man," a moat wonderful.f;ww. 7ui(i/r?:- ;
a substantial dinner . fs~ spoken'of l as'a'
'" square meal;" we * hear1 ;invt?,ions'
given, not to tnko a drink; but to "hoiat
in some poison ;" anything antiquated
or exhausted isN'played: out*" an in
significant excuse is, said, to be.-;" too
thin," or wo are told that it*' will not
wash;" we buy stocks dn^aV^rhhTgin,"
or aelUthem "short,!', ofc? "bull" the
market; or "take a flyer,"or "scoop
in a long lino of Gtookn.;" :w? do not
stako. a, sum of monoy, but i" bet our
pile?" after a convivial, ."party we next
morning ' find ; ourselves'preoioua
seedy ;" ?' our: railroad' (trains '"rteles
oopo," or a u- Pnrlman" breaks a wheel;
a party.bf rowdies **olaa? anilfa driiik
ing, saloon ; ?> a big man. ..threatens - Lo
" wipe but a little ono ; wo do' not out
wit 'or circumvent'1 another,* j bat
" euohre" bin*!; jye ft take the shine ont
of" a rival, and " fix his flint" for him;
a carpenter " runsHiifS*" tVcheap-house'ih
a.week ; an investigating committee ju
congress " whitewashes'*" the oharaoter
of some defaulter,' aud so on and so
forth in all tlxe dopar^mnntsor?brr*inn?s
and trade and social intercourse we per
mit ourselves to use words and phrases
whioh are of no authority, often vulgar
and always needless.
It may be objected to the pnrist that
the spoken language is of no conse
quence bo long as we write correctly and
with elegance. But alas 1 that evil com
munications corrupt good manners is no
more true than that slangy conversation
leads to Blip-shod, slangy writing; and
it often happens that some detestable
word of no authority, and having no
right in the language, slips from con
versation into print and usurps a place
for itself. Here, again, the modern
newspaper has much to answer for in
the deterioration of language. Slang
usurps tho pi nco of wit, and a cant phrase
is often made the poor substitute for the
witty repartee. It is untrue to say that
slang is only used by the low and illit
erate. On the other hand, its use per
vades all tho strata of society, from the
olerayman to the Street-beggar, each, of
course, using a slang of different order,
but both too often indulging in the uro
of words which no-dictionary explains.
And just here is something to be said.
We hoar every day, in all sooial circles,
a multitude of words and phrases that
have, so to speak, no real existence, and
which must sorely puzzle a foreigner, as
he turns in vain from one dictionary to
another. He has no authority but usage
?and UBOge is perpetually changing?
as to what is lawful English and what is
uot; what he can use in polite circles,
and what he must shun, and to this lack
of authority half his troubles in learning
to speak English are due. And the Eng
lishman himself, it has been well said,
has never done learning his. own lan
guage. He is overwhelmed by the mul
titude of now words, and he has no un
disputed authority to guide him iu the
use of old ones. "They manage those
things better'in France. ' Tho diction
ary of the French aoademy?supplanted
now, perhaps, by Iiittre's?has been hold
to bo a model of elegance and proprioty
in speaking and writing the Freuoh lan
guage. Every pretender to literary em
inence models his language upon the
academy's dictionary, and the language,
too, has become thte language of diplo
macy over all Europe and in Bosnia. A
Russian gentleman's ohildren learn to
speak Frenoh as an indispensable part
of their education, and tho acquisition
of such a knowledge as will enable them.
I to carry on an ordinary conversation is
j regarded as a matter of course. A trav
eler, if he can speak Frenoh, will be
tolerably at home at St. Petersburg,
Constantinople or Berlin in the upper
ranks of society. The Frenoh tongue
has gained that high position, not so
muoh by its own inherent merit as by
reason of its having a standard and a
court of l"st appeal. As a language it is
not so full or so"dignified as German or
English, but it is gopd eoih?so to speak
?it is fixed in its value and passes
everywhere. Accent, excepted, a for
eigner may speak as good French as a
native, for the simple reason that he
and the Frenchmen have a common and
undisputed authority to whioh they can
refer,_
?Now is the time when the flyorawls
about, chilled and dispirited, and one
is irresistibly impelled to pity him and
drop a paper-weight on his back.
bcCRUSO
?mak? a^poor-flsfc of it" dandling
baby.- Jlo ought to go ir his brother Al
bert to show him how. Al.'d an'export.
; --"J.uet keophig it'lighted for nn
"bther boy,!'-is the lateflC jrreoiiilo inven
#on'wlien a mother suddenly oomes up
on her littlo boy with a cigar jn hia
?Ifciasuggefltqu that wh?oiibjorrrninR
- rfaEBThove
o nation by
_j?hTnt*l,000
ryarusV or eveteh??d4 *forf oW
f j.,-^fl:-Mi|wejjkpo man says fae^gJUke to
be wreckedL as EnooV ArqenTw^ji and
come hom^ftwifn^^'wifefe^maTied.
. -r-A kind-hearted boy in. Philadelphia
stolo$700 arid ^resonWdit trfln^rpnau
asylum-while thousands of Fothaf? boys
Mnjuwl the oO?nkry.jjq joff a_iiahing and
nover oven think of an orphan asylum.
f : ?tt''|8''a'?ighf Bolemi, 'ftmos't-'awful
thought for every individuali -that his
earthly i n f 1 nonce/ which has bed a com
?eno^bnt^ hero, wHl trievpr,' through
Images, Were' the -very* meanest of
us" all, Uiavo an end.?Carh/lc.' .
> 1 ^AvOQrreeppndont want a to know how
to breaka cow thai is afraid of a wo
man. weTravetffc' thought sufficiently
on tluf subject to givo.au answer, but in
Jfe^WjJersey, when a cow^is'jJraid. of a
woman,' she quiets tho animal by 'simply
hiding her hack hair, undor- tho - milk
?For iirst-.cl ass forethought commend
u3 fo that pair of Daubufy. dpves'who,
w.'ien thoy started on- their J wedding
trip, took along with them a small-sized
two-year-old infant, hired for ^he pur
pose /of . deceiving' ^ho yulgaV jmblic
upon the matter of their nowTy-fbund
bliss. ? ???
Tnn twin or double hull steamship
CaBtalea, built to; dvereomO! tho effectB
of the rough sea of the -English^/chan
nel, and intended, to ply between Dover
and. OabiiB, liaslmadp a trial |rju>'from
Eanisgato to Paris; Sho 1 proved to bo
a most comfortable boat, neither/ roll
| /roflflftPitqhmg., ?*' ,
?Anew territbryvopmpbsOrl: of Col
'orado, south of the Divide;? afad ?frrt of
northern New Mexico, is talked of as
not improbable. Northern: Colorado
will then absorb Wyoming, and become
a'statp?JTijarthopsrbfc that the, people
of southern Colorado wculd generally
favor such a movement. :
?All the Christian sects together
comprise a membership*of about 330,
000,000, while heathen worshipers count
over 1,000,000,000. The Buddhists alone
have 310,000,000. The Boman Catholic
church embraces 105,000,000 followers,
while all the Protestant denominations
combined number only 68,139,000.
?A man in Parkersbnrg, Va., has
started a paper whioh he calls the Jim
ploeute, in imitation of a similar piece
of folly in Texas. But he can not es
cape. The same law whioh impels a
man to start a paper called tke.Jimplo
cute will, sooner or later, drive him to
blowing into the muzzle of hia gun to
see if it is loaded.
?"Mother," said .little Ned, one
morning, after having fallen out of bed,
"I think I know why I fell out of bod
last night; it was because I slept too
near where I got in." Musing a; littlo
while, as if in doubt whether ho had
given the right explanation, ho added,
" No, that wasn't the reason ; it was bo
causo I slept too near where I fell out."
?The Buffalo Express despairingly
asks: "Shall we have femalo hotel
clerks to rule over us ?" Why not ? A
woman who is born to command would
bo infinitely less dangerous to the hap
piness of man, jerking ink behind a
hotel counter, than in the role of the
" angel of the hearthstone," with a grid
iron in one hand and a rolling-pin in
the other.
?Twcnty-threo brigands, who in the
summer had committed a robbery at a
watering place on the Frenoh frontior,
were recently brought to tho scene of
their exploits to bo shot there by Spau
ish troops. The troops were at fifteen
vards distance. Ten men fell at tho
first fire. Eight fell at the second fire
and the other five ran away, the bullets
having out the cords that bound them.
One was last seen pursued by four sol
diora, who oontinned firing. How many
livos has a cat ?
?A Brooklyn bride's baok hair fell
down and fell off during the ceremony
in ohuroh the other evening. There
was an instant's pause, but nobody was
brave enough to stoop "down and nick
up the mass of blonde stuff and hair
pins. The bride left the ohuroh lean
ing heavily ou her husband's arm. Her
faoe was very red, a sprout of hair (pos
sibly eleven hairs in all) stuck out at
the back of her head, tied with a bit of
shoe-string. And now her pa is mean
enough to refuse to pay the poor hair
dresser's bill.
?Tho Bessemer steamer system has
been applied, by a Mr. Henry Giffard,
to a hanging railroad-oar, which has
been tested with success on the line of
tho Northern railway, in France. Seated
in this oar, whioh hangs on elastic
springs, tho traveler experiences the
sensation of reposing in a hammock,
free from tho vibrations and bumpings
of the ordinary oar. At times the oar
undulates as does a boat on a calm sea.
The movement is dr-soribed as a very
gentle one, and the traveler is enabled
to read without fatigue and write with
ease. The principle of this car, applied
to ambulances, doubtless would be a
groat boon to the wounded who may be
convoyed in them.
