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" ONE WOMAN'S LOVE." IST T. O. LA MOILLE. It is a summer evening, And, as tin- .sunlitrlit (lies, 8a fades my Lady Lota, As on her couch she lie.*. With weeping friends around her, And death-mists dim her eyes. Beside her nit« a poet; He i-;:i-\>-< her clasping hands; Her smiles make bright his verses Ami throng!! all noble lands His love wins tame auil honor By beauty's sweet demands. He whispers now a message Of love, and faith, and tni^t; He passionately ki-M'.-- Her lips of chillies; dust. There i.-> a sudden tumult— A Btrangi renters, just When vanishes the sunlight; Au-.l : '•.■ my Lady sleeps. V. last, iv dreamless slumber; Another mourner weep*. Out sp-aks the i rtevinc ;*>■»;. "Ami who is this who beeps "His wo« c. ■'.■l..Vl'. so closely, I i ti! it is too late»" Outspeaks ti . scowling straiiger, "I reached the city '-'ate •Just now. imj found long journey Drought me, indeed, :■ o lata. •'I knew this wi-Hoim- L.:.i She "olVnmpromiiie, . ■ imise, When summer ean»o atrain, liiat we >:;.•>:!..: :.- i:!.;to! I • V* Tti.' i or tv ej es an 1 il i.-Uiß^, . He nays. " \\ ho doubts my Lady} Who .-:>> - thai she coul\j si li To m* cm! ;■■ another?— I liin:,' to him the Us." The strainer, coolly saymi, "Look in that locket! 1"— The poi t irii s. Tli i; picture i- mine :- The sjiriiig they try— And [••! ti:-.' priest »ho shrived her On I -.-.■.. 1-eart doth .... Chicago. 111. on: advexiuke. BY 7.ELL ATHENS. We left Azus lake in its happiest •JlKitJll — Tno tints of the > ;ir!Li and th'.hnes of the sky; The blue waves that had been playing coquettishly with the rays of the set ting sun and tho surrounding forests were beginning to yield to the stately moon's influence as she came sweeping majestically over the eastern hills — left it reluctantly. (razing backward, we seemed while drinking in the loveliness on the borders of two worlds, and the aura from the other shore fanning our brows. "Why go from home seeking for beauty, when it is all around us?" 'Twas Anna Ileagh, a thoughtful girl of 20, who broke the silence that prevailed since we started homeward bound. "I doubt if there is in all Europo a lovelier spot than that little lake with its surroundings." "If there were some romance about it," exclaimed Nettie Lyle, a lively young girl of 17 summers. "Convert that frame mansion over there on the hill into an old stono castle, and write up a few legends, then yon may com pare it to scenes on the other conti nent." "What a delightful afternoon we have spent," chimed Anna. "Too monotonous! We needed an adventure to arouse us. Indeed, I never attended a picnic where all were so provokingly lazy. I doubt if we could have managed the lunch had it not been so superb. Rowing was out of the question with most of th party ; even the boats hud a drowsy air, and I my self, a model of energy, was somewhat affected by tiie prevailing indolence; could think of little else, while on the waters, thau T. 15. Head's 'Drifting,' and Over the rail my heads I'd trail. Within the shadow of the sail/ "Yes, and you scared a fellow most into fits oil the other side." broke in Master Jim Nettie's brother, three years her junior. "1 tell you, Miss iSiii, I get disgusted at yonr non chalance, as lie called it. Expected every minute to see him have to swim across and save you from drowning. II" raved about your beauty, called yon •The Lady of the Lake,' ' Dndine,' and the dear knows what all. Now you don't live in Scotland, or you might bo another ' Ellen Douglas.' You remem ber poor ' Undine's' late when she saw herself in the fountain. How would yon have felt if the boat had upset when you leaned so far over on one side?" "No need of alarm, if yon and that 'scared fellow' had been near by." '•I hardly think we ought to risk our lives for one so foolish." Whoa!" Master Jim alighted from the vehicle, somewhat chagrined to think he had not "hitched up" all right. "Is that a gnome or a knight errant from the forest seeking an encounter? Probably our guardian angel sent to make us safe for the journey. I think it must be the last mentioned, as I saw not a shadow nor heard a leaf rattle to tell of his advent," whispered Nettie, as we watched ii handsome stranger in the twilight helping adjust the harness. "Thank you. Jim sprung into the teat, cracked his whip, and was oil in an instant. "Jupiter! if that wasn't the artist! Why didn't I ask him to ride? Wo had plenty of room. I'd forgotten Eenee Smith had gone in the other carriage." "Hallo there 'Twas too late; echo only answered to .Tim's call. "It's singular folks are so thoughtful in some respects and careless in others. But who is the artist, brother mine?" "He who was so exercised about a cer tain naughty girl a few short hours ago. Harry and I stumbled against him when ho was sketching. By the way,. he has a pretty good picture of you in the boat." " Shades of Venus ! Was ever such untoward impudence displayed by mor tal man? Cannot a few independent females roam in maiden meditation fancy free, or resort to a quiet retreat without some of the male persuasion — save two slender boys, yet in their teens — unless some argus-eyed indi vidual studies all their attitudes; or a green-eyed monster of an artist trans fers them to canvas? " "Harry Jones and I were tho first to welcome him to S . He hadn't forgotten it either. You see, Mrs. Stannton, the lady who purchased Elm Grove Hall in the spring, is his aunt. "He came iv June, a week earlier than expected, consequently there was no one at the depot to meet him. "We'd gone in the Jones carry for Bertha ( Harry's sister, who was coming home to spend vacation); as she failed to make her appearance on that train, and there being no public conveyance at hand, Harry kindly offered — which, of course, was gratefully accepted —to drive Mr. WillaFd Carrol over to the Hall. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" The frightened horses plunged along the harder Although the road was rugged and we were in great danger of being dashed to pieces at any mo ment, we knew it was better to remain seated and trust to Providence than at tempt to spring out of the carriage while going at that rate. What was *it that stopped the mad dened animals? "1 told you ho was our good angel," spoke Nettie, in low tones, when we heard Jim say, "Is that you, Mr. Carrol? Come, ride homo with us;' we were ashamed we didn't think of it before, in time." Wo soon reached our destination. Wo had gone over the early part of the road in a " snail's gallop," as Jim de clared, so as to view the scenery by moonlight, but the restless steeds would deign to no more slow paces that even ing. ***** We, with a few more friends added to our party, were celebrating the second anniversary of that " monotonous pic nic " on a similar sultry August after noon. Boat-riding was in order after our luscious repast spread upon the ground. But Borne preferred to remain on the beach and watch the others glide over the smooth waters. What was it; a hand reaching out from elysinm to draw that happy pair j over to those blissful fields? Too bad to remove them from their ! lovely grave. We knew their souls j would have lied ere their L odies could | bo gathered to the shore. Nettie's widowed mother, always del i icate, sat silent and trembling, looking I unto Him who has said, " When thou | passeth through the waters I will be ! with thee." When the lifeless forms of her chil- I dren were laid at her feet, with uplifted | hands and streaming eyes she ex- I claimed, "O, my Father, how can I j bear it ! " and fell dead by their sides. She had, indeed, found a son when her loving and beloved daughter be came Mrs. Willard Carrol on a bright June day only two short months be fore. The great ranchmen of the plains have to guess at the number of cattle ! they own. The stately Mrs. Staunton was the first to think of the almost- frantic Jim ; and as she, like the poor boy, had not a relation left on earth, she claimed him for her son. The clock was toiling the solemn midnight, hour when we entered the village following the corpses in silent tread. The news had preceded us, and the villagers were wild with excitement. The older men and women recollected how they loved Mrs.Lyle for her gentle, winning ways, when she, a little wee thing, first came among them, their pastor's only child. And they remembered, too, that in after years she filled her dead mother's place in the hearts of the parishioners, and comforted her bereaved father. Neither had they forgotten that her young life was blighted by a dissipated husband ; but by her patience, gentle ness and Christian charity she won him back into tho paths of rectitude, and saved him from a drunkard's grave. Nettie, though of a different tempera ment, was equally as well beloved as ; her mother. And Willard had won the esteem of all who knew him in the short time lie had been among them. How could the neighbors say 'twas the saddest funeral they ever attended, when 'twas stamped so indelibly on those placid brows that "He giveth His beloved sleep?" Dfxlefontalne, Ohio. Carious Facts About Memory. A French scientist has been studying the faculty of memory as exhibited by different races, and its relation to the other mental faculties as shown in indi viduals of the same race. His statements are interesting; The inferior races of mankind, such as uegroes. the Chinese, etc., have more memory than those of a high type of civilization. Primitive races which were unac quainted with the art of writing had a wonderful memory, and were for ages in the hauit of handing down, from one generation to another, hymns as volum inous as the Bible. Prompters and professors of declam ation know that women have more memory Wian men. French women will learn a foreign language quicker than their husbands. Youths have more memory than adults. It is well developed in children, attains its maximum about the fourteenth or fifteenth year, and then decreases. Feeble individuals of a lymphatic temperament have more memory than the strong. Students who obtain the prize for memory and recitation chiefly belong to the former class. Parisian students have also less mem ory than those who come from the prov inces. At the Ecole Normaleav.d other schools the pupils who have the best memory are not the most intelligent. The memory is more developed among the peasantry than among citizens, and among the clergy than among the laity. From a physiological point of view, memory is diminished by over-feeding, by physical exorcise, and by education, in this sense, that the illiterate have potentially more memory than those who know how to read and write. We remember, moreover, better in the morning than in the evening, in the summer than in the winter, and better in warm than in cold climates. «BU. A Wedding Incident. The pretty bride and manly bride groom had exchanged their vows. The organ was almost bursting with the melody of the" Wedding March;" the crowd in the church on Lexington avenue aDd Fifth street, New York, was slowly wending its way to the open air, when everybody present was startled by a woman's voice in the vesti bule, crying: "He's got my watch; that one there, going away : catch him, somebody, quick !" She moved toward him. pointing her finger at him, so that all might know him. A policeman came up and took him from the men who had already captured him. A little | girl saw him drop the watch on the | pavement, where it was found, slightly damaged. At the station-house he snatched a piece of paper oand on him by the officer, and tried to swallow it ; but he was choked to prevent that, his jaws forced open, and the paper drawn out. It was a memorandum of wed dings, funerals, consecrations, and other ceremonies for the week at various churches where crowds would assemble, anc 1 afford him opportunities for plying j his industry. USEFUL INFORMATION. 1 Sleep Up-Stairs. — If we had a house with a bedroom on the first floor, we would at once abolish tho use of that room as a sleeping apartment, because we are satisfied that it is a wrong cus tom, it being much healthier to sleep upstairs. Many a family, of which the members were suffering and weak in general, has been restored to a vigorous and healthy condition by following our advice, which was to remove their bod room ap-stairs; to have their beds, sum mer and winter, exposed the whole day to the fresh air from the open windows — except, of course, when there is rain or mist— and also have, during the whole night, one window partially open, even in winter, so as always to inhale the fresh cool air from the outside, but using at the same time precaution to have suf ficient bed-covering to secure warmth. Schooling That Does Not Educate. — The whole tendency of modern edu cation is to lift boys and girls to places they aro not fitted to till, to disgust them with work they are fitted to do, which must be done, and which can bo easily obtained. Our theory of educa tion is continually losing sight of a fact which never presents itself to be ig nored, and teaching the young to lose sight of it, that the mass of people in every generation and under whatever form of Government must be laborers. The old heresy that every boy has a chance to bo President of the United States has done more mischief in tlio small brains of boys who, when they at tain manhood's strength, are fitted to dig trenches and do nothing else, than it has even in larger brains of public nun who, once bitten with the per sonal application of the idea, are good for nothing afterward. The boy should have an education which, when com pleted, will make the subject better fitted to pursue well work for which he is adapted ; which makes him not ashamed to do it, and which thus dignifies labor. Muscular Development. — road is easy. He who wants but little strength need do but little work, but he who wants great strength must do great work. If he has not perseverance he will not get far. If he has, he can, es pecially with an eager cempanion, in an hour's work a day aimed especially at his weak spots, render himself a thor oughly well-built man in 1880. The rules are as simple as those of any me chanical art. No expensive tools are required. The methods are portable, as a man traveling, for instance, can work as well in a hotel room as at home, can find a floor and a couple of chairs, and in-doors he scarcely needs more, while out of doors there is always the read. Many moderate efforts at plain and simple work, instead of the often dan gerous and generally useless pranks of fancy gymnastics, or the risk of over doing in hard racing of any — these are all that is required. But a few minutes daily at any muscle is all one will want or at first should take. But he must be frank with himself, and res olutely attack the weaker muscles, let ting the others rest till they catch up. How to Deal with Rats.— A writer in the Scientific American says : "We clean our premises of these detestable vermin by making whitewash yellow with copperas and covering the stones and rafters in the cellar with it. In every crevice in which a rat may tread we put the crystals of the copperas, and scatter the same in the corners of the floor. The result was a perfect stam pede of rats and mice. Since that time not a footfall of either rats or mice has been heard about the house. Every spring a coat of the yellow wash is given the cellar, as a purifier, as a rat extermi nator, and no typhoid, dysentery or fever attacks the family. Many persons deliberately attract all the rats in the neighborhood by leaving fruits and vegetables uncovered in the cellar, and sometimes even the soap is left open for their regalement. Cover up everything eatable in the cellar and pantry, and you will soon starve them out. These precautions, joined to the service of a good cat, will prove &* good a rat ex terminator as the chemist can provide. We never allow rats to be poisoned in our dwelling, they aro so liable to die between the walls and produce much annoyance. Unanimously Elected. In Prussia the voters elect electors who elect the members of tho national parliament. In one electoral district only one voter put in an appearance on election day. "For whom do you vote?" said the returning oflicer. "For myself! " "If elected will you serve as an elec tor?" "No." "Then," said the returning officer, smiling at the strange simplicity of the man, "I must ask you the first question over again. Whom do you vote for?" "For myself." "Oh, then you have made up your mind to serve if you are elected?" "No." " In the name of Bismarck I adjure you, you chuckle-headed ass," yelled the returning officer at the top of his voice ; "tell me, for the third and last time, whom do you vote for, then?" The voter, with dignity: "Having been thrice honored by my fellow-citi zens with a unanimous election to this important trust, after I had twice de clined the honor they would thrust up on me, I feel that I can no longer resist their appeal, but must sacrifice my per sonal preferences to my anxiety for the public welfare. I vote for myself and will serve if elected 1" How She Met Her Beau- Lord Lytton defines a selfish man in one of his novels as one who would barn his neighbors house to boil his eggs for breakfast. Clemence Broissiea, a young peasant girl aged sixteen, serves to illus trate this stoiy. She fell in love with a peasant boy of her own age in a neighbor ing vil'age, and as the beanlifol hero lighted her torch on her watch-tower at Sestog to attract Leander, so did this damsel set fire to ricKS, barns, and cot tages to draw Rbmarn to her village, and then daring the confusion, she contrived to get stolen interviews with her lover. The tires became as fast and frexuent at Anvers as in the Chinese village when Hoti and 80-bo first accidentally burned down the cottage where the sow hail far rowed and first tasted crackling. Fires blazed whenever a sow farrowed in every pig-stye and cottage. Mile Brossier struck a lucifer in the thatch whenever she desired to ste her sweetheart. In quiries were instituted, and the damsel was sentenced to ten years' hard labor, but as the French laws do not permit the iufliction of this penalty on females, she will be shut up for a decade in the Central Prison for temoles at Clcrmont Ferrand. Mrs. Gruiidj. "What will Mrs. Grundy say?" has passed into an adage, and acts fre quently as a restraint upon those whose buoyancy and light-heartedness might lead them to forget or ignore the conventionalities of life. To Morton's clever comedy, " Speed the Plow," we are indebted for the saying. The first scene of the first act opens with a view of a farm-house, where Farmer Ashfield is discovered at a table with his jug and pipe, holding the following col loquy with his wife, who figures in a riding-dress, with a basket under her arm: Ashfield — Well, dame, welcome whoam. What news does thee bring from market? Dame — What news, husband ! What I always told you ; that Farmer Grun dy's wheat brought 5 shillings a quarter more that*, ours did. Ashfield — All the better for he. Dame — Ah ! the sun seems to shine on purpose for him. ,« Ashfield — Come, come*, missus, a thee has not the grace to thank God for prosperous times, don't thee grumble when they are unkindly a bit. Dame — And I assure you Dame Grundy's butter was quite the crack of the market. Ashfield ßo quiet, woolye? Always ding-dinging Dame Grundy into my ears. What will Mrs. Grundy say? What will Mrs. Grundy think Canst thou be quiet an' let ur alone, and be have thyself, pratty? — Olive King, in Baldwin's Monthly Those Who Died at Pompeii. Though the victims of the great erup tion of Vesuvius in A. D. 79 lived so long ago, they were our fellow-creat ures, and it is impossible to recall their fate — especially, one might think, to re call it on the — without a feeling of horror. Sir William Gell estimated the number of people who perished at 1,300; but during recent excavations so many bodies have been found that it seems to have been far greater; and when, we consider that, closely as the inhabitants were packed, Pompeii was still but a little place, the propor tion of deaths appears large. It is, of course, satisfactory to the antiquary to reflect that the misfortunes of Pompeii have been a great gain to modern knowledge. The manners of the ancient Romans are better known to us by what has been discovered here under the ashes than by all the pictures or statues or writings existing elsewhere. The town had been very recently rebuilt, and the remains are chiefly of one period; but the decorations are remark able for their rarity as well as for their freshness. In fact, the state of pictorial art in the first century would be almost unknown to us but for the frescoes from the house of the tragic poet and the beautiful wall-paintings now in the Naples Museum. — London Saturday Review. A Good but Expensive Joke. Some time ago a wealthy gentleman j of this city, says the Cleveland Press, perpetrated a good joke on his nephew, a young man named Lockwood, em ployed in the office of Division Super intendent Woodford, of the Canada Southern road, and located near Toledo. The young man received a telegram from the uncle telling him to come to Cleve land at once, but offering no explana tion. The young man responded. Ths uncle, looking stern and angry, met him at the depot, and said to him, ''Come to my office at once." The young man, trembling in his boots, and wondering what he had done to anger his relative, followed. At the office the uncle handed him a document, and in a fierce tone of voice said, "Head that!" It was a deed conveying a house and lot in one of tho most pleasant portions of the city to the astonished nephew. Then the old uncle sat down and laughed until his sides ached. It was a good joke, and cost the perpetrator $10,000. How Indians Get Their Gold. A Bodio (Cal.) News reporter no ticed several squaws panning out gold dust in small pools of water formed by the damming up of the flow from the Standard mine. Some of them were quito expert, handling the pan like an old gulch miner. One of the squaws finished washing out a pan of dirt while the reporter was pres ent. A small quantity of very fine gold, mixed with sand, remained in the pan after the dirt had been washed off. From some hiding-place in her tatters she took out a piece of buckskin with a small amount of gold and black sand tied up in it. This she untied, placed in it the dust she had just panned out, and returned it to its former hiding place among her rags. Looking around to see where tho dirt came from, sev eral Indian braves and boys were ob served digging and scratching in the old dumps lying near by. The braves get tho dirt and the squaws do the panning out. A Queer Posthumous Tribute. There was a nervous and nettlo&ome old lady passenger in a Pawtucket car Tuesday morning, and no amount of assurance that she should be noti fied when Cemetery street was reached would keep her quiet. She sab on air most of the time, and over and over again she interrogated every passenger as to the precise moment when the car would reach the cemetery. In due sea son the car did reach the cemetery, and the conductor and no less than six passengers informed her that she had reached her destination. "Lor' sakes she exclaimed, "I'm not a-going to get out. I heerd that poor old Jim Tripp, who married my husband's half-sister, and who is buried here, had got ahead stone sot up over him, and, as the poor, old, over-worked critter never had nothing while on airth but a pair of overalls and a bucK-saw, I kinder thought I'd like to look in on to his grave arter he had come into his prop —Providence Journal A Cruel Husband. "Did you wipe your feet on the mat, Fred, as you came in?" "Well, no, I didn't, deary. I thought " "That's just like you; coming right in on this brand-new carpet without once thinking of the labor it costs to — " "But I thought, my own one — " "Yes, I sup pose you did think, but not as you should have, or you wouldn t have come in on such a muddy day without wiping your feet." "But I thought— there, now, let me finish- I thought, you know, it would do if I wiped my shoes on the mat, and deferred wiping my feet until I'd shelled off the outside wrappers and there was a towel handy." Alas ! for the evasion ! She could for give him all bat that. WOMAN GOSSIP. My Lover. My lover In not young nor fair; No knightly armor does he wear, Nor title of degree; He hn.s no princely lands, nor gold- No jewels rare, no trra ures old — To brins; and oiler me.. lint, to me, Aim far than lands Hi* foil. l, true heart: li:h willing hands; ii is spirit firm and bold. More l I'.vious, though unknown to fume, Is 111- untarnished, lionet name, 1 Han mints of glHteriliK hold. KichcH take wings and By away: KjrtVh treasons tarnish and decay, And youth's fair features (ads; But love.snioolhe life's rough way*. And status of brighter, better (layn, Nor m-k* to be repaid. CHAMBKBKBDBa, la. E. A.. 0. Ail KuHtern Itrlde. A girl, after she is betrothed, is cooped up in a small room, with shackles of gold and silver upon her ankles and wri3t. If she is to bo married to a man who has discharged, dispatched or lost a former wife, the shackles which the former wife wore are put upon the new bride's limbs, and sho is fed till they are filled up to the proper thickness. The food used for this custom, worthy of barbarians, is a .seed called drough, which is of an extraordinary fattening quality. With this seed and their na tional dish, cuscusoo, the bride is liter ally crammed, and many die under the spoon. Round to Marry in That Family. After many devious windings through the troubled waters of the course of true love, a well- to-do farmer has finally drifted into the haven of wedlock. Ho courted a young lady for a year, be came her accepted lover, and then was jilted. He next made love to her sis ter, induced her to name the day, paid for the wedding cards, and then at the last moment was shown to the door. Another day was set, and again the maiden said, "We must part." In sheer desperation he reopened negotiations with his first sweetheart, and made such quick work of it that before the girl had time to change her mind he was her husband. Kissing. Girls take naturally to kissing — there's not the slightest doubt of it. A man slides as awkwardly into his first kiss as into his elder brother's tail coat, and his vanity is equally great on both occasions. He considers them as steps up the ladder of life, and would have his promotions proclaimed from from ihe housetops, and shouted from the church steeples, but such is his modesty in his family circle that when a younger brother quietly mentions them he looks red and feels nnfraternal. The female sex obtain their remarka ble proficiency in kissing by perpetual study and constant practice' They are early distinguished for their aptitude in the art, for what girl is not ready to kiss a baby at all hours and all seasons? This sort of kiss eventually develops into the genuine love-kiss — pleasant to experience and contemplate. Josh Billings en Marriage. Sum people marry bekase they think wimmin will be scarce next year, and live to wonder how the stock holds out. Sum marry to get rid of themselves, and discover that the game was one that two can play at and neither win. Sum marry for love without a cent in their pocket, nor a friend in the world, nor a drop of pedigree. This looks desperate but is the strength of the gamer Sum marry in haste, and then set down and think it carefully over. Sum think it carefully over fust, and then set down and marry. No man kan tell jist exactly what calico has made tip her mind tew do. Calico don't know herself. Dry goods of all kinds iz the child of circumstance. /lather Lose $20,000 Thau Remain Single. A Philadelphia widow has lost $20,000 by marrying a second time. One of the clauses of her first husband's will ran: "I give and bequeath to my wife the interest of tho sum of $20,000 of my estate, to be paid to her semi annually for and during all the term of all her natural life, if she shall so long remain my widow. In case of her mar riage the interest of the said sum shall cease. After her decease or marriage, as the case may be, I give and bequeath the said sum of $20,000, together with all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, to my father, Phineas Hough." Tho woman married again, and her father-in-law by tho first mar riage brought a suit for the money. Jnrlge Ashman has decided that the widow's claim ceased with her widow hood. A Woman's Glove. A woman's glove is to her what a vest pocket is to a man, but it is more capa cious, and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it is much better regulated. A man will carry $200 worth of small change, four matches, half-a-dozen toothpicks, a short pencil, and yet not be able to find a nickel, or a match, or a pencil, or a toothpick, or a card when he wants it. Not so with a woman. She has the least bit of a glove, and in that glove she carries tho tiniest hand, and a wad of bills and the mem oranda for her intended purchase of dry goods, and car-tickets and matinee chocks, and maybe a diminutive pow der-bag. We have no idea how she does it— how she manages to squeeze those thousand and one things into that wee space. But she does it every time, and the glove never looks the least dis composed, or plethoric, or ruffled. And when a woman wants any article concealed about that glove, she doesn't seem to have the least trouble in the world getting at it. All that is required is a simple turn of the wrist, tho dis appearance of two fairy fingers, and the desired article is brought to light It in a wonder no savant can explain. Those Wives. In San Francisco aim other large towns of California it is said that many of the married women past the middle age have been the wives of two, three and sometimes four or five different men, owing to the freedom of divorce which used to exist, and still exists in a modified form, in the State. Women were in plentiful lack in the days of the Argonauts, and for some time after; and when one appeared in the com munity with good looks, intelligence and magnetism to recommend her, she was well-nigh fought for. As a rule, the women who migrated to El Dorado were not of the finett. Many of them were more or less adventuresses, and, seeing their extreme marketableness, enhanced their, value by very broad coquetry, and disposed of themselves to the highest bidders. After securing one husband they entertained proposals for another, and not infrequently slipped away from No. 1 to No. 2, through some legal trick, before No. 1 had any idea that he had proved maritally unsatis factory. It is related that about 1853 three members of a San Francisco firm bad each in turn the same wife in the space of twenty-iOiir months. Some of the most matrimonially enterprising women in tho country journeyed thither taciity io twenty-live years ago, and made their marriages remunerative by getting settlement;', cash down before the tying of the nuptiul knot. The lives of not a few of them would, if faithftUly chronicled, read like the most sensation al of sensational novels. Colin Thaxter. A romantic story is connected with Appledore island, one of the Isles of Shoals, off the coast of New Hampshire. Years ago the island was purchased by Mr. Leighton, a lawyer and prominent local politician of Portsmouth, who bought it with a view to living on it permanently, on account of his dissat isfaction with his party. He took his wife and child- -a daughter — there, built a rudo house, and expressed hi 3 determination never to return to the main land. He adhered to his word inflexibly, for he had grown soured and misanthropical by liis political dis appointment. When his daughter ha-.l become 15 or 10 a young lawyer asked the privilege of boarding in Mr. Leigh ton's isolated family lor the benefit of his health. The privilege was reluc tantly granted, and the attorney, being thrown into the society of the daughter (described as a very pretty, bright and unconventional girl, as she would likely be with her peculiar surroundings), fell desperately in love with her. The cynictJ father was furious at the inter loping gallant ; but, as the latter could not be bullied or driven off, he was finally allowed to take the girl to wife, and the two went to the mainland and lived there. The lady is now known to the literary world as Mrs. Celia Thaxter, a favorite contributor to the Atlantic Monthly. She is very fond of Appledore, doubtless through early romantic associations, and spends most of her summers in a cottage near the Appledore House, kept by her brothers, who were born on the island, and have grown to be inn-keepers by a process of evolution gradual, but irresistible. A Woman's Evidence. "I want to know, Mrs. ," inter rupted Hubbard, "I want to know on which side of your house the L is — north, south, east, or west?" " It's on this side," replied the lady, motioning with her hand. "The east side!" "No." "The west side?" "No, it's straight acrons from Mrs. B.s parlor window, not twenty feet from it, you — " "Mrs. ," shouted the Captain, " will you tell me if that L is on the east, west, north, or south side of your house ?" "It ain't on any side of the house," replied the witness, compressing her lips; "it's at the end. You know as well as I do. You've seen it many a time, and there ain't no use— " "Come, come, Mrs. ," interrupted Judge Cromer, "tell the gentleman where the L of your house is situated." " Haven't I been telling him just as plain as I could?" "Where is the L situated?" said Hubbard, desperately. " Eight in the lot, back against the end of tho house." "Will you answer my question?" shouted the affable Captain, running up his hair in desperation. "What question?" "Is the L on the east, west, north, or south side of the house?" "Judge, I've told him just as plain as ever a woman could. I didn't come here to be sassed by no one-horse law yer. I know him and his father before him. He ain't got no business putting on airs. What kind of a family — " " Silence ! " thundered Cromer. "Now, Mrs. • , which sido of yonr house does the pun rise on ?" " That one," said the witness, indicat ing. "Is the L on that side?" " Yes, sir." " Then it's on the cast side?" "Yes." "Why didn't you say so, then?" asked the exasperated Capiain. " 'Cause yon never asked me, you bald-headed old snipe. I know a thing or — " "That will do," said Hubbard. " Take the witness," he added, turning to Tom Wren, the opposing counsel.— New York World. Icebergs. These hugo masses of ice are found away up in the Arctic region, 1,000 to 1,500 miles away, during tho winter. The following summer they become de tached from the mother pack, and como floating southward with the Arctic cur rent, which flows at the rate of about one-half to three-quarters of a mile an hour. It takes them all winter to reach the Newfoundland banks, where they ar rive about March, and from that time until the Ist of July they are frequently encountered. They sometimes strike shallow water, and are knocked about along the edge of the banks until they pass by and proceed on their journey south. They continue onward until they meet the Gulf stream, which will take them down to latitude 42 degrees and longitude 45 degrees to 50 degrees, where the warmer temperature of the water rots them, and they break to pieces, melt away and disappear. Some times they are kept playing about for several days between the Arctic current and the Guli stream, A "Woman's Constancy. A young physician in California was engaged to be married to a young lady in a Southern State, and as a keepsake sent her a small nugget of rold. He was prosperous, and the wedding was set for an early date, but a sudden fall in his circumstances reduced him to poverty. Too honorable to hold the young lady to her promise in his altered circumstances, he reluctantly and with many a heart-pang wrote releasing her from her engagement. But the young lirly had a brave heart, and resolved on keeping her promise, in spite of the change in her lover's position. She took the little nugget of gold and had it made into a ring, which she sent to the young physician. On the ring was the inscription : • " Entreat me not to leave thee ; for whither thou goest, I will go; and whither thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God ; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me." (Ruth ii., 16 .) STUNK JACKSON'S DEATH. 11"/ Pi 11. M. UUB.IELLI •'ln* !i/litiiiii(r flushed arroKS the heaven, the dis tant thunder rolled. And, dwayed t-ygnateof aDgry winds, the far-off rtiurch bull tolled : The billows crashed against the rooks that kiss the ocean's foam. And eager pilot* trimmed their sails and turned their hk.n .-. lor home. As dnrkiifKH fell across the earth, and we were gathered round Our blazing hearth, and listening to the storm terrific sound. We all looked up to Uncle Tom, who sat besido the lire, A-dreamiiig of the- by-gone days and of disaster dire; For ruem'ry brought him back again to times of darkest woe. When strong in hand and light in heart he fought the Northern foe. lie oftPii ap»ke of '41' — the fight on Slezic plain, liow Bui Vista heights were reached while bul lets fall like rain; How Shields had gained Chepoltepec, how Santa Anna lied. And how the Bisters labored even where the bullet! sued; And oft he spoke of later times, but always with a sit,'h, When Booth and North rose up en masse to fight for cause or die. And as beside the fire he sat and piped hi 3 meer schaum well, We ask'd.to pass the time away, that he a tale would tell. He paused a moment, then ha laid his good old pipe aside, And said, "I'll tell you, boys, to-night how Stone wall Jackson died. " We were retreating from the foe, for Fredcricks burpr was' lost, Ana on our ilauk, still threatening, appeared the Union host. Down by the KappahaDiiock, in our dismal tenta we lay. And tho lightest heart was heavy with our grave defeat that day; "For 'tis better for a soldier like Montgomery to die. Than iive to see his comrades from a hated focman fly. But reverses often come upon defender* of the right, And justice seldom conquers, boys, when nations go to fight. " With heavy hearts we laid us down, but, mind yon, not to sleep, Nor did wo turn aside to sigh, or turn aside to weep. But as we pondered o'er our griefs a sudden moan was heard. Far louder than the willow's moan, when by the wind 'tis stirred. "It woke the camp from reverie, it woke the gamp to fear; And louder,' louder grew the wall, most dreadful then to hear. And nearer came the weeping crowd, and something stiff and still Was borne, we knew not what it was, but followed with a will. •' At last within our General 'a tent the precious load was laid. And then a pallid soldier turned unto us all and said: -We thought it hard, my comrades brave, to lose the field to-day; But harder will our labor be to struggle in the fray; For he is gone, our call ant chief, who could our hopes restore, And rout and ruin is our fate, since Stonewall is no more.' "I cannot tell you how we felt or how we acted then, For words are weak to tell a tale when grief has mastered men; But this I know, I pulled the cloth from off brave Jackson's face, And almost jumped with joy to see him gaze around the place. "But, boys, it was a fleeting dream, a vacant stare he cast; If i- did not see the canvas shaken by the sudden blast: ■ He did not see us weeping as we stanched the flow ing b!ood, But. again in battle fighting, he was where the foe men stood. , " 'Order Gen'ral Hill to action,' loud he cried, as he was wont; And then he quickly added : 'Bring the infantry to front. A3 ho saw the corps pass by him — as it were— in duty's call, Suddenly he shouted : 'Drive them— upon them, one and all.' "Then he turned aside, and, smiling, said, with voice of one in ease: * 'Let us cross the foaming river; let us rest be neath the trees.' Then we waited, boys, and watched him. but no other word he said; For adown the foaming river had our leader's spirit sped." [•Jackson's last words were : "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees."] AmsiiTON, Mass. VALUE OF WORN GOLD COINS. Letter of Information From tlio Coiner at the Sew Orleans Mint. Inquiries are daily made at the mint as to the least current weight at which the Government will receive gold coins at their nominal value. Under the fourteenth section of the Coinage act of 1873 it is provided "that gold coins re duced in weight by natural abrasion not more than one-half of 1 per centum be low the standard weight, after a period of circulation of twenty years, and a proportionate rate for a less period, shall be received at their nominal value at the United States treasury and its offices." The following statement exhibits the standard weight and least current weight of gold coins after a circulation of twenty years, and at which least current weight they are receivable in payment of debts to the United States : Standard Leant Cur- Wriijhl rent Weight in Gmins. in Grains. Double eagle 516 >.« Eaclo 258 256.71 Half eagle 199 128.36 Thee dollar 17.-1 '-'>■<% Quarter eagle G4.5 f» 1.18 Dollar 93.X •-T>.t>7 The legal deviation from the stand ard weight of the gold dollar being one quarter of a grain, it will continue cur rent until reduced in weight below 25 65-100 grains. All double eagles w3iich have not been artificially re duced in weight will be found within the limit of natural abrasion allowed by law. The same rule will apply to eagles coined since 1845, half-eagles coined since 1855, and quarter-eagles coined since 1860. Tho double eagle should continue current for fifty years from the date of coinage ; the eagle for thirty-five years the half-eagle for twenty years and the three-dollar piece and quartcr-«agle at least fifteen years. " The deviation from standard weight of one-quarter of a grain allowed by law in the coinage of the gold dollar exceeds the legal limit of wear by nearly one-eighth of a grain. All pieces of this denomination coined since 1860 will be found within the legal tolerance, if not fraudulently re duced in weight. These periods are estimated for coins when they constitute a part of the cir culating medium, or are frequently transferred in treasury and customs transactions. In this country, as in England, there is no "least current weight " for silver coins fixed by law or treasury regulations. The natural abrasion of silver coins is not so great as generally supposed. It is expected that fully fifty years will elapse before the coins issued under laws passed within the last five years will need ren ovation. Careful observation and ex periments in this country show the average loss from natural abrasion of the whole body of silver currency, when in actual circulation, to be about 1 per cent, in twelve years, the smaller coins, quarter-dollars and dimes, showing a greater percentage of loss than half dollars or dollars. _ — It is only the female sex who can rip, darn and tear without being considered profane. (