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The Weekly Expositor J. A. Menzies, Editor and Trop BROCKWAY CENTRE, MICH. Wit. Eimsos, the. inventor. K.1.V8 1.0 - would give? all his fame to recover his hearing. Jft tIouL of it. The trumpet of Fame has no music, for dead cars. FnoBABI.Y the wningust hank Fre'si dent in thu world id J. M. Haily. jr., who, at tho ue o( twenty-threo years, has been placed at tho head of tho Minnehaha National liuuk of Sioux City. A ieed for a piece of land n Wind, sor. Conn., has recently como to light, which is made valuable and interesting by the fact that it beats the name of Matthew Grant, tho lirst American an cestor of Gen. Grant. Its date is April 9, 1CC1. The length to which soiuo men will go to avoid labor is almost beyond com prehension. Thomas Cosgrove, a prisoner is Santa Clara, Cal., rather than work, has lived on bread and water and in solitary conlinenio nt for two weeks. "No sweat-of-tho-brow racket for we," he says. George Mullkk, celebrated through, out tho world as a worker for thu good of his fellow-men, is now eighty-two rears old and as full of zeal and activ ity a over. lie has just returned to England, utter a preaching tour of S7, 000 tulles through Australia, China, Japan and other countries. Two thou sand children greeted him at Bristol upon his return, the little ones being inmates of his orphanage in that city. The efcjior of tho Abbyvillo (S. C) Medium has challenged cither Presi dent McBride, Prof Davis or Prof. Pat ton of the South Carolina Col logo of Agriculture, to nieot him in a plough ing match, to como off in November next on tho fair grounds at Columbia. It is understood that one of the three college men will pick up tho gauntlet. The contest is to bo a public one and a vast multitude is expected to bepresent to see the contestants turn somersaults over the hidden roots and hear them swear at the mules. Cuboage Williams and scvera others cut a boo tree near Troupvillc, Ga. Tho hollow, which was tolerably large, was found to be filled with honey and comb for tho distance of fifteen feet. After scouring tho honey ouo of the boys cut into tho trco above tho portion used by tho bees and found a rattlesnake three feet long. As thero was no hole n tho troo except the ono which contained tho honey tho sup position is that tho suako crawled up the hollow beforo the bees began to hive, and Uie honey comb had effect ually blocked his exit. Faiu ;vavf.n, Conn., is In a quect predicament, if a story on tho rounds is true. It recits that there is a lot of land there for which no ono has over been taxed and to which tho city has no title. Tho assessors and oflicials have spent much timo and money in efforts to find tho owner, and now havo begun to unwind a ball of red tape to gain possession. Tho city has ordered sidewalk built opposite the land, and will then advertise for the owner to come on and pay for it A lien can then be placed on the property, which in due course of time will como into tho city's possession. In Australia and tho neighboring islands aro seen many largo mounds of earth which were formerly supposed to bo the tombs of departed natives. Theso remarkable tumuli, reaching as much as fifteen feet in perpendicular height and sixty feet in circuniferenco nt tho base, are not the work of man, however, but aro now known to be tho incubators built by the jungle fowl and other species of the small family of mcgapodidaj, or great-footed birds. Each of these great piles consists of fallen leaves, grasses, &c, which tho birds deposit in place by "throwing backward with ono foot. Though the mounds aro usually in donso shade, tho decaying vegetable matter has been found to rniso tho temperature at the center as high as 05. Tho eggs are carefully placed with the larger end up, about twclvo inches apart, and aro all covered to a depth of at least two or three feet. Vim rrcont marriago in Philado?phla of Mr. George II. Foulke to Miss Joan Kano gives occasion for tho mention of many prominent people. Miss Kane, says tho Ledger, is a daughter of the lato Dr. John Kane, whose father. Judge Kano, was long a leading citizen of this ' State, an active politician in the best sense, and at the time of his death United States Judge hero, pre ceding Judgo Cadwalader. One of his sons. Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, was famous for his Arctio discoveries, and his books had a salo that was quilo unprecedented in their day. His brother. Gen. Thomas I Kano, was a gallant officer in the Union volunteer sorvico in the war of the rcbelliou, and a pioneer in settling the great track on tho lino of tho Philadelphia and Erie Railroad belonging to tho McKean and Elk County Land Com pany. -Tho surviving brother. Mr. Patterson Kane, is a learned lawyer and literary man. Miss Kane's moth er was Miss Bayard, sister of tho pres ent Secretary of State, Thomas F. The Homo .Market. llfiiry J. rhllro'.C, of ! Molnut, in Chicago ITeritM. There can be no longer any lingering d-'iibt in the mind of the honest inquirer l hut the dependence of tho American tanner, and especially the Northwestern fiirmcr, n foreign markets has prodi giously increased during the present high laiilf peiiod. And this in spite of the fact that tho country has been growing older, its populatnn Increasing by tho natural process and by immigration, and its soil gradually growing poorer by natural exhaustion. It is true that within very recent years the tide has turned, and our farmers are not exporting so much as before. But aside from thu fact that ttic decline is still far from independence of that market, its causes are nothing to exult over, but rather bode ill to the farmers. It is not because we are genius independent of the foreigners, but becau-e they are get ting independent of u. I hey hive found other sources of supply. Hearing us boast of our success in protecting our manufactures, they have concluded to try the plan of protecting our farmers. In one way and another they aro giving us the shake. And ho, after suffering one evil added to another, this last punishment has been visited upon our farmers for their folly in supporting h tariff which robbed them and their children to build up the in dustries of other people. Is it unmerited? At this point comes forward the mo nopolist. with his pocket full of tribute wrung from the farmer, and says: "We haven't robbed you. You arc getting your manufactured goods cheaper than you did before you gave us this protec tion." "But not as much cheaper as you arc getting mine," the farmer might retort. "You promised that if I would vote for your scheme you would give me your products cheaper and give mo higher prices for mioe. That was a safe prom ise, because one of the very earliest dis coveries in the science of political ecouo my WR9 that the strong natural tendency j of mill products is to decline and of fnrra jiiuuuiis i'' rise in (Mite us iiyiuuwi'u advances and the world fills uo with peo ple. Instead of that my selling prices have declined faster than yours in many cases. And now you won't give me a cent more for my stuff than the foreigner will, both of vou paying the freight, and you won't tell me your goods nearly as cheap as he will." The claim of the tariff monopolist that his policy is what ha cheapened goods is the crowning impudence of grasping hu manity. It is not exactly a theft, but it is a bold rape of credit that belongs to other people and to other factors of civil ization. The farmer himself, by furnish ing cheap raw matetial, htu contributed a good deal toward it. Still more has been done by the railroad-1, which carry these materials to the factory for less than a twelfth part of what it would cost by team nnd wagon. Another part is due to the inventors, who have usually been rather poorly paid oy the monopolists who have leaped the ! rewards of their brain labor. These ; causes account for nearly all the cheap ening of tho fac'.ory prices of things, and the wonder to me is that they haven't cheapened them still nvrc. We all know they have cheapened them more in Eng land than here, and the protectionist who denies it is the t'rst to prove it by tilling his trunk with ciieap English goods when he crosses the ocean, and the most cun ning in smuggling them through, the cus tom house when he gets back. " A large part of the reduction in retail rrices is due ngain to tho railroads; to the natural growth of capital, which has to put up witli smaller profits; to the enter prise and improved methods of the job bers and retailors; to tho bankers, who have facilitated exchanges and helped mightily to systematise trade; to a stead ier money system, free from wildcat issues, nnd to the increased general intel ligence of buyers, who know a good thing when they sec it. Now, with all these causes operating, and the railroads alone employing nearly three times as much capital as all the protected and unprotected manufacturing and mechanical pursuits put together, I cannot conceive of auythiag more mon strously absurd, or requiring more un blushing assurance on the part of him who utters it, than the assertion that the tariff has cheapened manufactures in this country. Tho fact on which this cheeky claim is based is that the tariff has not quite robbed us of all the benefits of thirty years of a civilization which is ri' in Europe as here, and is spreading a . over the world. In every department of industry the civilized world over labor saving devices have cheapened the good things of life. Is any American crazy enough to say that this printed copy of The lie-raid is a protected product? And yet what an incredible miracle of cheap ness it is as compared with similar pro ducts thirty or forty years ago. And think how long this cheapening process has been going on; hundreds and hundreds of years; anil yet because they didn't stop it and keep it stopped for nearly a whole generation the protected monopolists claim that they organized it Was there ever a bolder appropriation, for a wickeder purpose, of credit due to other men? Why, they would by this time have quite fleeced us into bankruptcy but for their foreign competitors, who, in spite of the tariff, have crowded them all the time in their own markets. Those wick ed foreigners, who are not only wicked but poor and ignorant, saved our country from universal bankruptcy in 1873-83 by increasing their purchases of our farm stuff to the extent of a couple of billion dollar or so, paying us the top of the market for them, and by selling us their own warci cheaply they have kept our monopolists down to the limit of the tariff, and kept them howling around Congress for more protection, at the very same time when those monopolists were ending agents up and down the country proclaiming that it owes all its prosperity, all its good markets for bread, meat and cotton, and all its cheapening of manu factures to them, and them alone. It would make the steam man tired. Here is a little tablo of our leading im ports, showing their increase in twenty years: 1W. 1SST. Cottons f2:t,S72,474 r,l.V),0.Vi Woolen and Wool fl,i:i,70 M),&Srt,013 Iron and uteri 25,000,000 fiO,fil$,ttV Flax and manufactures.. m.tl,.W 8H,807,'iHJ ISIIk and manufactures.. 1 tf,s77 81,'JiV4,'J7(J Uluss and glassware... 3,744,557 7,301,339 An increase in everyone of these great classes of goods. Neither in our sales nor in our purchases has the tariff made us independent of foreigners. It has simply robbed us both in selling and in buying. All our farm products are cheaper at the Hcaboard than crer before. Hence if they are not cheaper in the interior the fact is due entirely to thn cheapening of trans portation. So that both in selling and in baying the farmer has been robbed of a large part, even if not quito robbed of all, of the results of the last thirty years of industrial progress. Both his American market and ids foreign market havo been impaired. The American factory is not near his home. Ho is its 6crf, and its pre-cnt nud past owners are absentee landlords, one living by the spoliation of to-day and the -other by interest on the spoliation of the past The Lumber Trust Mr. Anderson, of Iowa, the successor of MuJ. Hepburn in the House, who was elected as un indepenpent Republican, has given the G. O. P., a great deal ot trouble in the House for tho past week, lit has rend the riot act. so to speak, to Mr. Head and tho other Republican lead ers, for not carrying out the pledges the party has made to he people in the re duction of taxation. Mr. Anderson, in speaking of the manner in which the He publicans met the proposition, jumped onto Mr. Reed and raid that it would not do for gentlemen to ask question- with a sneer, a leer or a jeer, into which the gentlemen unwittingly drift in their ques tions, and which compose at least three fourths of their arguments. Laughter and applause. Continuing he said: "I have stated that there was a lumber trust in Iowa, and you ask me to prove it. Were there no proof of a trust, you would all deny jts existence, until it be comes as patent and as open to every body as the existence of the Standard Oil company. Yon denied the existence of tho Standard Oil trust, and vou a-ked who composed it. and you would not ac knowledge that any such trust existed, until its existence was known to every body. Until the existence of the Stand ard Oil trvst became palpable to all. you continued to deny, in the face of the country, that there was any such trust, just as you deny the existence of a lumber trust in the State of Iowa. I have said that there was such a lumber trust in the State of Iowa. If you want to learn all the facts, why do you not go before your congressional committees and make an investigation? The committee on manu factures has been holding an investiga tion during this scssson on these matters; why do you not go before that committee and find out whether there i a lumber trust in Iowa or not? In view of the record which our protection friends have made what answer can they make to the people of this country who 6uspcct that they have not been dealing wiih them in good faith. First the plea was infancy: but at the time that plea was made they believed that when they had arrived at the state of manhood they would be able to open tho gates and go out and meet all competitors upon the field. Yet now they seek to take refuge behind the other picas which I have mentioned. Y.m have learned something, nnd you need not criticise those who suspect the cause of the great conversion (to which I want to allude if I have time) that has taken place in this country, which is at tributed simply to an enlightened states manship and a greater scope of view. They passed the stage of 'infant indus tries,' they came to the stage of 'war necessities,' they pleaded the misfortune of the country and took a new position before the American people, and took it in order to go back on it directly and to prove as recreant to it as they had proved to the pledges which they gave the coun try when, in consideration of 'infant in dustries,' the lirst protective duties wore imposed. Under these circumstances I ask my friends on this side, Republicans with whom I have trained all my lite, in the face of the distinct pledges that have marked the history of this business from its beginning I a-k how do they ac count for the wonderful stride they have made with reference to this question? 1 am a Republican and alwavs have been. I learned all my political knowledge, ill. -ugh it may be little, in the Republi can household; and while there are those who will criticise me with reference to my party fealty, it does not alter the fact that I am familiar with the history of the Republican party of this country. I know its record, not only in my State, but iu this Union, with reference" to this great economic question." During the course of the Iowan's speech the Republicans made many at tempts to throw bin off his guard, but it was futile. He held his own well and it could plainly' lie s-en that his side of the house was feeling keenly the blows their own colleague whs dealing them. The Democrats flocked about and at the con elusion of his speech he was given a glorious ovation. He is a very favorable speaker and was accorded good attention, aside from the interruptions made by those on his own side of the house. This is Too Thin. HTU1e (ind.) Ti ibure. Were it posible for every voter of the republic to see for himself "the condition and recompense f labor in Europe, the party of free trade in the United States would not receive the supportof one wage w. truer between the two oceans. It may ut be directly in our power B3 philan thropists to cleyate the European laborer but it will be a lasting -tigtna on our statesmanship, if we permit American laborers to bo forced down to the Euro pean level. Elaine's Last Letter. Just what the significance of the above is we are at a loss to know. As every country ho has visited in Europe has a monumental tariff wall around it, we must neccuarily conclude that this con dition which "may not be in our power as philanthropists to elevate" is the out come of it; tuit of course Mr. Hhdno does not mean this. Connecting this condition with free trade is therefore the Hat test contradiction wo have ever seen. Does Mr. Elaine think the voters of the repub lic aro natural born idiots, that they can't sec through such a transparent statement as tho above? Time Will Vindicate Mm. Dill di'lphi Rsrord. Mr. Ashbcl F. Fitch, a Republican rep resentative in Congress from New Yrk. has been burnt in effigy for his supp it of tho Mills tariff bill. "Uut let not Mr. Fitch be disturbed by this temporary x hibition of party resentment over a brave and independent position. He has many an example for his encouragement. David Wilmot was burnt in effigy at many s rolling mill and furnace in Fennsylvania for his vote for the tariff of 1840. Rut so rapidly did the industrial and business interests of the country adjust themselves to that wise measure that tho Whigs did not dare to make it an issue in the elec tion of 1848, and David Wilmot was re turned to Congress by a larger majority than beforo. In 185? this same David Wilmot was made the F. publican candi date for Governor of Pennsylvania and his Republican supporters never men tioned his vote for the iHriff of 1810. When the Ann rial revulsion took plact in the midst of general prosperity in the year of Wilmot's . indidncy for (Jovernoi no one pretended that tho crisis bad been caused by tbt tariff. A LAY OF LABOR. I gtvn to conir, with willing heart, A theme lht spans the ages, Tliat stands abreast of all Time's act On wttla historic puge I.Knr. tlia King, the royal King, lu honor crowned, of hi in I sing, 11sIh the banner to bis namu Master of all endeavor Foremost on the trroll of fame, 'lbe arm that moves tuu levr. The noblest engine mankind wields The press at his cominaudlrig. Touches the earth's remotest tields And keeps the old word standing, Fcletiev, hohold us at thv shrine; But there's grander name than thlne fpeuk III Fear not, lor the end, 'Tls writ to stutid forever Nature's truest, closest friend The arm that mores (he lever. Tli forc. the loom, the catle high, The field with rl ie gra u waviujr, With living voices teMlry Whut Labor's mini keeps braving. Stamiwd upon all lu royal seal Stands signet for the races' eJ. Strike the cymbal! Jlei.r. rreat Sing, mountain, wind t.d river To the chief In mini's estate The arm that moves the lever Will inn l.y'.fy J'hi wUl h a lu I. , HOW 1 BECAME AN AUTHOR. The Story of that rive-IIuudred Dollnr J'rlzo. BT BELLE V. CHISIIOLM. Do not put a heapin ppoonful of Biigar in your tea, Elsie. Mind, sugar has riz half a cent on the pound," said my Aunt Fhillls, sharply, as she mov ed the, yellow, cracked sugar-bowl out of my reach. Growln' girls do eat an aruazin' sight," joined in Undo Reuben, from tho other side of tho table. "It was mighty inconsiderate for Robert to drop off so euddon-like and leave you unprovided lor. With his five hundred a year he ought to havo laid away a sight o' money. Rut he was no mana ger, never was. It was not in him to say no when pcoplo camo a beggin', nnd ho religiously laid by his tenth for tho Lord, no matter how poor tho harvest. Now. my doctriuo is, if tho Almighty stints tho crops, it's his own lookout if he has to tako short tolL I reckon I will bo obieeged to givo yoa a Lome, but you must jump round spry and try to pay your keepin'. Now, if Frovidenoo could only have seen far enough forward to havo mado you a boy, it would havo been more to my likm. Then you could have built fence, lixod tho cellar wall am! sieh. which I've got to pay for, seein' you are a girl If you could have taken hold of the plow-handles and followed the furrows 1 needn't havo hired Jacob to help with clearin' or grubbji' but. pshawl what does u girl's work amount to, anyhow? What signities rubbin' out a fow cloths. tweepin' tho house over onco a day. or washin' a dozen dishes now and then? Cryiu'l It is auuoyin' how easy women do cry. Sakes alive, they laugh and cry in ono breath. No power on earth can control 'cm when taoy want to be contrary." "And that reminds nie, Elsie, that your umcIo has took the schoolmaster to boiiid, and it is ligh time his room was put to rig Ills. 1 am sure I don't know what o..cscd you. Reuben, for them book-la rued people are all a wool gHtheriu' set. Of course, four dollars a week is a c rcumtaneo not to b over looked, but if ho has not an appetito like a saw-mill I miss my guess. Auut Fhiliis' steel gray eyes were btill upon iuo, though her closing wordjj were addrossed to undo, who was too intent upon the business before him to grant hcr nn auswer. Though trembling violently, I ventured to in quire : Can't I go to school, Aunt Fhil iis?" She turned upon mo savagely, fairly screaming : "Go to school. Elsie ! Do you reckon that me and your uncle aro a goin' to keep you up a lady, atul git nothin' for our pains? You'ro a better scholar now than even our John, bolter than any mau or woman in tho neighbor hood, unlo-s it might bo the minister himself. You'll uot sit here mopin' like vou did at homo when your father was livin', I assure you." "You koh what book larnia' did for your father," put in Undo Reuben, lie was n sight bettor off than I was when we started in life, for Undo llobcrt Chorry left him live hundred dollars for his nam a If he had in vested that moner in land, instead of puttin' it in his hoad. you would not bo on my hands a pauper, to-day. Too much edicatlon is not good for men, and it ruins women." Hero unolo gave emphasis to his words by a decided nod; a habit he had when peculiarly well pleased with himself. As wo nroso from tho table, aunt re turned to tho subject uppermost in her mind, by hurrying mo oil to arrange tho masters room. "Tuck 'cm big pillows into the chost that stands in tho corner. Goodness knows, thoso college chaps carry their heads high enough without poppin' 'oni 'up with four pillows, and mind, Elsie, to tako off that new blanket. You can slip on that old comfort in tho chest. He'll never know tho dif ference," I was glad to escape from the sound of her harsh voice, but a more formid able foo awaited mo in tho passage. No sooner had I closed the door than cousin John, a great, burly lad of six teen, called out tauntingly: , "Ho, my fino lady. So you expoct to put on grand airs, and lord it over us in finished style. Fretty cheeky for a poor-houso kid, I should say." "You aro a bad. cruel boy, and I lialeyou," I cried, indignantly. Tako that, and that, for your snss," lie retorted, striking mo with a whip ho held in his hand. "Fll teach you to talk back to me, you beggar." You aro a wicked, unprincipled boy," I returned deliantly, springing behind the door to avoid the second attack. In his fury to got ahead of me, he jerked tho door with such forco as to iniow nimseii against a laoie mm stbod near. His howl of pain brought his mother to tho scono of conflict. "That young tiger flew at mo like a mad-man, and hammered my face into a jelly," he screamed, wiping the blood from tho slight wound. Aunt Fhdl s would not l sten to my explanation, but, grasping my arm. hobook inn roughly, and then, after box ng my oars, shoved mo towards the utaircase, declaring, that as a punishment for my ungrateful conduct, I would not bo per mitted to speak for a month except when tinswering questions. I crept up stairs its fast as my Minded tours would Iwniit, and throwing myself upon my od, gave way to a violent outburst of grief. Onlv n fortnight beforo, I had. in dumb agony, listened to tho cWls rattling upon tho coilin-iid of my dear father, who nil my life, lead shielded mo from hardship. Tho dear old pur son ago, with its vinu-i lad porch, roso up beforo me, and in its shadow I be held my silver-haired father doz ng in Ids chair. Hie golden la m of n mihi inei 'SUiiset touching bis sainted faro as with the pene'l of an angel. Again, his gentle voice thrdlod ray soul us in tho days nnd )eats gone bv.nnd iu fan cv tho magic touch of his trembl ng lingers cooled lh fever of my ach ng brow. No doubt niv father intended to prepare me for thu shock that had shattered my life, but the summons came suddenly, and while I slept tho angels carried him into tho great He yond. How long I would havo wept over my crushed hopes I cannot tell, had not Aunt Fhill s' shrill voice- called mo back to duty. "Tuko 'oni white dimity curtains down from the w ndow, Elsie. Like mm not the master will sputtrr 'em with terbneker ju.ee," she said. "Then come down and wash the dishes." 1 obeyed her, promptly, but my heart ached for Master Neville, who expect ed to find tho comforts of his relinod home iu tins diminutive apartment, stripped alike of ornament and con venience What a different welcome was my dear old father won't to give to the stranger within his gate! That same evening, as I was gather ing chip for the morn ng tire. John camo unexpectedly upon in. and re newed his attack of tho morning. "So, Miss Stuck-up, you are to bo the lady, and I the svrvauL'' he began. "Ileally I feel proud of my smart cousin. How fortunate to have your highness counted ono of the family. "Shame on ou, boy, to torment a girl younger than yourself." It was Master Neville's voice that started tho young coward, causing him to sneak mound thu kitchen out of sight. After speaking u few kind words to me, my champion went into tho house, and up the crooked stairs to his cheerless room. John's taunt concerning iu kinship nerved mo to action, and from that moment I set niv face lixedly towards gain ng h place from wh eh ho would feel honor ed in claiming me ti one ot the: fani ilv. This resolution accounted for the tallow-dip burning in my baro room long after even Master Neville had extinguished his light and sought t ex pose. Heforo I closed niv eyes on that lirst night I had mrked out a regular course of study which wns to occupy every spare moment. It seem od to mo that 1 had grown old in tho last two weeks. I could not realize that I was thu saino happy child who had danced so mcrrih ui and out of the parsonage door so short a timo be fore If I could only have staid with Margaret, dear Margaret, who had taken mo when an infant from my dy ing mother's arms and cared for mo during all the iiftoeu years of niv life. Slio would havo clung to mo faithfully bad not tho death of my father left her in her old age as helpless and de pendent as myself. Dear Margaret 1 will yet make a home for you, ami together wo will eat tho bread of indo. pendenco," I cried, b tterly. Strong in niv determination to succeed, I gathered my school-books from the bottom of the old chest, and took up tho uulinished lessons that my father had marked out the day before ho died. Thanks to his thorough method of instruction, and tho interesting rpanucr in which ho strove to present the great truths ho taught I whs not only well advanced for a girl of fifteen, but I possessed that inordinate love for books that makes study a pleasure instead of a task. Much as I shall always despise John for his cowardly treatment of a friend less orphan, I cannot but feel grateful to him for uttering the stinging words that aroused mo from rar stony grief, and opened up a now sourco of enjoy ment to my starving soul. Every mo ment I could steal from aunt's watch ful oyo was devoted to my books. Ono evening she happened to como into tho pantry when I was replen ishing my light Taking the old sau cer from "my hand, she said sharply: "Seonos to mo, Elsie, you uso a mighty sight of tallow. Mind, it costs like sixty. Miss Jones got seven cents a pound for horn. Thoro is no sense iu a great girl like you havin' to carry a light upstairs everv night. Hetty ltobbius told me that she had seen n light in your window all hours of tho night and that folks sa. you set up to study. If I catch you stealln' your time to pour over books Fll bum 'cm every one." She sol tho old cracked dish on the upper shelf, and crawled up stairs, dis couraged but not conquered. Just at this timo I was wholly absorbed In Geometry. 1 mado it a point to learn ono now theorem every day, which I mentally worked out at night. In this way I mastered tho whole book, re viewing until I could havo demonstrat ed every theorem it contained without making a single mistake. In a similar manner I becamo proficient in many other branches. Usually I attempted but ono study at a time. At a very early age my father had insisted on ray writing a verso, story or little sketch at least onco a week. Tbis practioe 1 managed to keep up. nnd after my composition book was written through I had rocourse to an old timo-worn ledger of my grandfather's. One day it was ray sixteenth birth day, too I gained courago to send my poems to a paper my uncle had boon indueod to take. I watched its col umns oagorly every woek. until my prldo was fully gratifiod by seeing tar own production in print Again and again my vanity prompted mo to write a fow rerses, which invariably niad their appearance In th course of a few weeks. Ono evening my aunt sent mo on an errand to the minister's wife. She was engaged when 1 made iu buaiiies- known, and gave mu a new uiugtismo to look over until she could wait upon me. Among thti lirst articles to at tract my attention was aue of my own little poems, clipped from tho paper for which it had Ixsen written. My heart throbbed joyfully at this token of up preciat on. For a few minutes I was HiipreiueU happy, and then an over whelming sense of my ulter loneliness cuiiai over me, and witli thu b Iter thought that 1 had not a single friend to icjoico with mo over my sucmiss, I turned rupidly through tins remaining pages, until the words, "F-'Ve-hundred dollar prize," attracted attention. I lirst ran niv eye over it hastily, thou re-read it carefully, alter wh di 1 took paper nnd pencil from my pocket, and copied the address. Tho pr ZJ was offer ed by the editor of tho magaziuo for tho "best serial utory for girls. All competing manuscripts wero to bo iu thu hands of the editor by January 1st. and the prize was awarded curly in April. It was now the middle of Octo ber, liefore I slept 1 had written for particulars, and it neighbor's lad, pass lug by at dav-break the noxt morn ng, carried tbs letter to tho office for me. As soon ns I reco.ved instructions, I went to uork Witli u w.ll, and I havo no doubt but that my aunt had just cati $r her fault-liud ng during the next thrt' months, for my mind was more upon ti'id anractcrs that my im agination had brought into being, than upon my work. Auut had persistent ly denied me n light in my room dur ing the whole year, but kind Margaret remembered me on m. b rthday by writing mo a good long letter, in whieh she enclosed a crisp, new dollar bill. Fart of thh I iho I for paper and o 1, and the balance was hoarded for postage. A week before tho time npccilied had expired, my precious package was coniinitod to the care of Undo Sam, and the two next mouth-s I waited and hoped, yet dreadud to hear tho decision that the spring might havo in store for for me. Three days later my weary watching was changed into a glad soug ot thanksgiving, for a business-looking letter which uncle put into my hands brought me thu five hundred dollars I had been dreaming about for six months. I had won tho prize: how, I scarcely know, unless my desperate -tio had nerved mo for tho conflict. It may be that lm aching head mado uself folt through my fingers-tips. At uny rate, I had won the pr.zo, ami the money, ind.sputable, was ninio. Five hundred dollars may seem a very insignilicant sum to those who count their possessions by tho thou sands, but to mo it meant a peaceful home witli my dear old Margaret and escape from the b.ttcr bread of depend ence. "Well, it does seem as if book-larnin' amounted to something after all," ad mitted Aunt Fhiliis when she learned of niv success. "Just us I told you exactly," said Uncle He u ben, rubbing his hands to gether, "tho gal shows her bringing up. She ort to bo thankful for the hotna I oneiied up to her when a penniless child." John lookod more sullen than ever, though when ho took mo to tho station a few duys later, 1 overheard him ex plaining my success to a young lady acqua ntunce, and, if I mistake not, he proudly owned mu as ono of the fami ly. Yankee Made, Honrs of Farm Labor It is a difficult matter to franio a law regulating hours of labor that can bo satisfactorily applied to all classes of laborers. This is clearly shown in tho following remarks of tho American Cultivator on tho hours of labor for farm hands. In onr Northern latitudes the ten hour, or any other fixed limit of the hours of labor, can not well bo applied to work on tho farm. As an employe, who had years of ex perience in farm work, well remarked: "If tho ten-hour rule is strictly enforc ed, it will bo at the disadvantage of tho workingman." That this is strictly true is evident to any one who, in theso short winter days, looks in any country neighborhood to sco how long work lasts, how early it is begun, and how early it closes at night. In this season it is doubtful whether active out-of-door work averages much more than nine hours and often less. To do this tho noon meal must bo hurriedly eaten, and the breakfast and supper taken by lamplight Not long ago wo heard of n farmer who regularly', every year, when hiring his help, gave them their choice to work so long as possible in emergencies during the busy season, or to tako the ten hour plan and con tinue it through tho ontire year, losing timo when over they did not make thu full ten hours. Nearly all tho men took tho employer's advice to adopt the flexible standard adapted to the farm. Those who stuck lor the teu hour system soon ropeuted of their bar gain. There is a comparatively short sea son when farm work is excessively hur rying, as in seeding and harvesting, while these jobs are suffering for atten tions men and teams may for a little time work much more than ten hours per day, without any injury, But oven then there are rainy days when littlo work can be done excepting chores, and theso afford timo for rest so that even in the summer the farm laborer does not average much if any more hours of work per day than does tho employ in the city work shop. And thero is in farm labor a much greater variaty of occupation and of thought thati is common, where tho working's duties are mainly running machinery. It is this variety that makes farm lifo more attractive. Na ture is never monotonous. Each suc cessive season brings new duties, and calls forth a different class of faculties In thought as well as In muscle. Even the tension of the busy season has its advantages. It is better that men oc casion tost their powers of endurance for a short time, than to plod on in a monotonous round of labor that only partially develops their ability. The best thing to do when you catch a coU In to let go of U.JiUr.