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J I, BUCIUMS, Jtsnsger and Proprietor. GRENADA,' - the sentinel. - - MISSISSIPPI A MOTHER'S GRIEF. _«ill that Is left of my darling I« hid in this little space." And the mother drew with trembling hands The d J»cr from its resting place, And I sitw u bnby's garments, - Fashiared with dainty grace ijLw of *** finest fabric, Edged with tho richest lace. ji.And t! > And r And b jdiEteht-hued stockings, jjesnoes, foalf-worn, ;cn toys, and picture books Ry hands hn«l torn. «bo toocned them with trembling finders, Her Mis *ero tilled with tears, ft i^TiH s-XJurt* all." sbe said, "that is left to me | Thrffifh all life's weary years. & jBphosoand a little mound ot earth, 0, God, how can it be 1 That of all the treasures my baby bad Only these are left to me. For hushed Is the merry laughter, Folded her dimpled arms, And hidden beneath the eoffiiwld Are all her countless oharuis. 'a i could got comfort; ray Ups wore dumb; I i could only her sorrow share. Why should I whisper of Heaven above, Sue knew that her child was there. She know it was "well with her little one," but she longed to see its face, And to fold once more its precious form In a mother's fond embrace. And her heart will never be satisfied Till the River of Doath is crossed, And she finds aj?ain in the other world The child that in this sho lost. —Mrs. E.V. Wilson, in Chicago Inter Ocean. Tfaa DEAD LETTEKS. (-queer Freaks of the Writer*—The "Openers" at Work—An Hour with the Exporta—The Returning Depart ment—Some Odd Notions. In my last letter we stood for half an hour at the sorting table of tho Deaii Le'lcr Office and listened to our guide . as he told 11s of the different classes of letters that are sent here from all the post-offices in the country. Wo will continue our stroll and noto what is dono with these fugitive letters. TIIE "OfENERS." "Here is where the opening is done," says our courteous attendant as we ap proach a long table around which are seated eight men. "Each has a pile of letters before him and is armed with a thin, sharp knife. With a rapidity ac quired by long practice, he slips his knife through the fold of tho envelope and takes out the letter. A glance shows whether it coutains an inclosure • of any kind. If it has money or any thing of value it is laid aside and passed into the hands of a clerk whose duty it is to take charge of suok letters. Those ■which contain nothing, or only photo graphs—as 60,000 every year do—locks of hair and such articles, are carried, each with its own envelope, to the 're ; turn department,' which wo will visit before we get through. "It keeps the boys pretty busy," says tho guide, "to open letters as fast as they are carried in. In fact we are running behind in spite of all we can Each man opens from 1,500 to 1,800 letters a day. That man"— pointing to one who seemed to handle ■ knife and letters with a singular ailroit "has opened 3,000 in a day, but ■ there are not many who can do that. A VETERAN. • do. ness— "You see that old gentleman at the ■hand of the table? His name is F. S. Evans, lle'is nearly eighty-three years -old, but he is just as spry as any of -them in opening letters. lie was ap pointed to the Post-office Department bv Andrew Jackson in 1829, and with the exception of two or throe years that he published tho Baltimore Patriot, he has been here ever since. He has served this department for more than fifty years. Ho was editor of the Patriot when the war broke out. He was strongly ■ opposed to slavery, and during tho ex. cftsment, early in 1861, a mob com pletely destroyed his press, typos, etc., and he very narrowly escaped with his life. Mr. Evans has seen some changes . since ho first came into the post-office.' "Yes," remarks the pleasant-faced patriarch, laying down his knife for moment, "I was here when two men - din all tho business that now keeps two hundred busy." I may remark in passing ployes are not permitted with visitors. One of tho clerks did speak to me and I replied briefly, or rather started to Mo so, when the at tendant gently took mo by the ear, fig uratively speaking, and politely in formed me of the existent* of this rule. •I begged ids pardon, remarking that I was but answering a question by the -■clerk to me. "Of course it's all right as far as you arc concerned,'' said lie, "but that clerk knows what the rules -are." a that tho em to converse AT THE DESK OF A "OT7ESSER. "All the letters opened at this table, he resumes, "aro dead. They havo been advertised according to law at the various offices where received and re turned here as uncalled for. Now 1 '■will introduce you to one of our ex perts, who I am sure will be able to interest you. She is tho most skillful ••of those who correct, as far as it is pos sible to do it, the misdirected letters, and deciphers the awful penmanship that has floored the postmasters from Maine to Texas. 1 will leave you with her lor a little time. Ah! I sec what you aro going to ask. You may talk with her as much as you please; wc make an exception to the rule iu such a • case '' The sacrcdness of the mails is duly regarded in the highest degree possible, in all departments of the Dead Letter Office. No letter is opened if it can be ► delivered without it, to either the writer or the person addressed. In tho case • of dead letters there is no alternative; they can only be opened and returned to the senders. But those bearing in • complete or erroneous addresses, or so badfy written as to almost sot human skill at defiance, call for different treat ment. Many of the errors are easily • corrected and the letters immediately forwarded to their destination. Others tax to tho utmost the ingenuity of the ^experts. Sometimes a "gticss ' is made and the letter is sent off to try that ad dress. If this fails it comes back and another is tried. There have been/jases of letters sent out four or five times, • the result of as many different guesses, and finally, after months of wandering about the country, being delivered to Clerks are forbid °4Ue right persons. den, on pain of instant Aismiswl, to divulge the material eontents- of any letter opened and examined. • llut the lady to whom we have been introduced invites us to a seat beside ( her. We are soon convinced that she is most truly an "expert." Her pleas ant face betokens thequiek intelligence necessary to success in such perplexing employment. She retains in her mind the names of post-offices, tho counties and States in which they are situated, and streets in tho various cities to an extent that is almost marvelous. Thousands of these are at instant com mand, while for reference when neces sary, she has a library of directories. Before her is a pile of letters gone astray for lack of legible or sufficient address. "They call us the 'gticssers,' ') she says, "but it isn't all guess wprk. Every day a thousand of these letters come in for us to correct or decipher the address. Let us look at some of those that have just been laid on my table." A FF.W KIDDLES. Hero is one directed to "Mount Tsel la." She glances at it for an instant, licks up her pen and writes iu red nk, "Monticello." "There can't be much question about that," she says, as she tosses it into the box ready for re mailing. "This is a harder one. what can be doue with it.' 1 office is written "Frank coalyoun." She looks intently for a moment or two, refers to a directory and writes "Franconia." "That corresponds with the State and county and I think it will go." "Now here is one that should not have been sent here at all. Any post master ought to be able to read that." It is addressed "Tnppke, Kance." I venture the suggestion that the design of the writer would bo carried out by sending it to Topeka, Kansas, is undoubtedly right," says the lady, and the letter properly addressed is tossed into tho box. "This one is directed to the ' Wood County Sentinel, O.' That paper is published, I believe, at Bowling Green. That is easily fixed. "Here is one of a kind that some times trouble us. It has tho street and number, but no city or State is given. This is directed to '2518 St. Mary's Avenue, corner Twenty-sixth Street,' and that is all. I look at the directories and I find that several cities have streets so designated; but these streets cross each other in Omaha. So St. Mary'lJ Avenue, corner of Twenty-sixth Street: must be there. It is strange how thoughtless many people are in address ing letters, and then they blame the Post-office Department because they do not go. There is moreexcusc for those who make mistakes through ignorance. We get a good many so badly written that we are utterly battled; wo can't make anything at all of them. Such letters have to be opened, and if we get clew by that means they are de stroyed." _ , I Let s sec I The post "That no "This letteris addressed '496Tclioupi toulas Street,' and no city, county or State is given. But we know that street is in New Orleans and we send it there. Here is another with nothing but '210 Woodward Avenue;' that goes to Detroit. If in an address of this kind the name is a common one such as 'Washington,' or 'Jackson,' we are at sea, for it may go to any one of twenty cities. By opening such letters we often iiud the full address, or some thing that enables us to complete it. "This is a comical oue. It was evi dently written by an Englishman. 'Eycwood, Hillinoie,' but 'Highwood, 111./ will do better and we'll send it there. "Look at this: Ho wants it sent t.-* 'Norage, Conicut.' We will mail that to 'Norwich, Conn.' The writer hit very closely to the way they pronounce it. "Here is a letter addressed, as you see, in a verv plain business hand, to 'Crotty, La'Salle County, III' The nearest I can come to that in La Salle that County is 'Ottawa,' and I presume was what he intended. We 11 try it. with this: That will "We can't do anything 'Mrs. Rose Story, Montana, have to go to tho openers. This is pretty good: 'l'at O'Donnell, State of West SconseiL Oircntown, Sea Oo.' I think if 1 change that to 'Iron ton, Sauk Co., Wis.,' Patrick will get his letter. . THE IIAltD ONES. "In many eases it is not nearly as dif ficultto solve these riddles ns might at first appear. If we can decipher the writing we can almost always make out in some wav what the addresses are in tended to lie. Illiterate persons, who have not mastered the intricacy of our post-office orthography, can only write from tho sound as they hear the names pronounced. It is painful to think of tho struggles such persons have with many of our post-offices, that often bother the best of us. It is not strange that people make a mess of such bar barous words as Ypsilanti, Kalamazoo, Oshkosh, Skowhcgan, Waukesha and hundreds moro that might bo men tioned. "Now let me show you how compara tively easy it is, sometimes, to correct an address that at first sight seems ut terly unreadable. Here is one I came across a little while ago. If you can tell at a glance what that was intended f or "_covering tho corrected address— "I will pronounce you a first-class ex pert." the "fif And it seem as teen puzzle." It is written "Ocreg, Alla.' Without hazarding a guess we turn an inquiring eye to the lady. "Yon givo it up? Well, I don't won der at it. Wc take a word like that and pronounce it in every possible way until hit upon something that suggests the right ono. It is evident that tliis word has two syllables. If we sound tho 'O' short and the 'g' hard, wc can make nothing of it. We will try it an other way. We will divide tho word on the first two letters. Now we will sound the 'O' long, the 'o' hard and 'g soft. We pronounce it slowly and we have something that sounds very much like 'Oak Bidge.' Tho State is plain enough, if it has an an extra T.' There is such a post-oftico in Alabama, qml 1 have no doubt that is where tho writer wants tho letter to go. Tliis example will illustrate our plan of 'guessing out these misspBllod words. Last year 85,000 of these misdirected letters were corrected and dolivweil to the right we persons. "You can readily understand that wo fhave much difficulty with letters from liorcign countries. They conic ad [wressed in alllanguagos, andtho writers Jpake sad work with pur town and county names. Blit you will learn more of this class of letters if you will visit the forcigu department." HCKJNOS FK 05 I TIIE ALBUM. Postmasters at tho offices where these corrected or "guessed at" letters are sept are instructed, if the right per sons are found, to return the empty en velopt!* to the Dead Letter Office, bear ing the indorsement that the letters were delivered. I was shown a largo album in whioh are preserved tho more eurious ones. I give below a few of them. Tho types cannot convey the faintest impression of the monstrosities in the way of penmanship: WRITTEN. Ipschlanty, Mltchen. Ypsikinti, Mich. Osta Louce. Oskaloosa. Ulngtoun. Ewing ton. Jew Cittv, Co N N. Jewett City, Conn., Murfur llurty ten see. Murfreesboro, Teun. braclll inda brazil, Ind. Siimsou. Btowartstown. Newpar. Newport. StTullia, 11. Contralto, Til. bugnor st, Lulca co. Buckner Station, Loui * sa Co. lto Warty Dunwitty Itowanta, Dinwiddle Co. County. Cobby surell beltiinofe Coekeysvillo, B a 11 i mere County. Indianapolis, Ind, Ravenna. Rural Hill. Albany. Cerro Gordo, Jewell Co. Aurora. Vallejo. Arcadia, Hamilton Co, Great Crossings. Lawronceburg. Guilford. Pine Creek. Long branch. Jloutzdale. Muskegon. Fairfield, Iowa. Fairfield, Texas Ncwburg, Ind. Indianapolis. Chicago. Haverstraw. Pltchiebek. Cnnsesfl. Pittsburg, Kansas. bricnfiold, Ala. COnilECTED. i ... Indiana PolUind. I Rohaner, p. o., ofoat. I Rouloun lim. At Ran in. Sarotfoidy, Jole Co. Ilmira. Walesa. Otcaty, Hatndon Co. Gt. Orosnen. Lanoebcrg. Gwill'ort. Finicreak. Langbrnch. Iioudgol. Muatwiggon. Fairfold, hi way. Farcfcll, Texas. Know Dirge, I. N. D. Ind dlt oples. Oigako. A vostro. BryToll, Allbimor. TIIB FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. Thanking the lady for her kindness in so agreeably entertaining us, we pass for a few minutes into the department foreign lettors. We are pleasantly d by a lady of German birth, who is in charge of this room. We learn that two classes of letters are re ceived here — misdirected and dead. Mails from foreign countries are sent to tho United States chiefly "in bulk," and distributed to our numerous post offices at the various seaport cities. these large packages of illegible and misdirected letters are sent here for the experts to work upon, essential that those employed in this department be versed in foreign lan guages as well as in tho post-ortioo no menclature of our own country. Very many lettors from Germany, Franco, Spain, Italy and other countrios in which the English language is not spoken are utterly beyond tho p of human skill to decipher. T with all dead letters mailed in foreign of receive ■ ro a It, is ower hese. countries, are returned unopenod to those countries. Letters from Italy are said to be more difficult to correct than any others, owing to the illiteracy of the people, and a greater portion havo to be returned as illegible. More are also received the pooches of letters mailed in the United to foreign countries, undelivered, and returned here as dead. These are treated the same way as other dead letters—opened and returned, as far as possible, to the writers. It is a fact wliich might at lirstexcite surprise that more than three times as many dead letters are returned from the United States to other countries as aro received from them. This is due to tho moving of emigrants from place to place before they get finally settled. The same dis parity exists in the number misdirected and illegibly addressed. Tho superior intelligence of our people will, In a great measure explain tliis. Dead let ters are returned to and received from With Slnvi THE "returning BOARD.'" One other department will entertain ami amuse us.Lt our stay must be brief. Ascending to a sort of gallery that extends entirely around the mam office, we sec sixty ladies at their desks. Their part in this wonderful machine is <0 examine the opened letters and to remail them to the writers, as far as possible. Nineteen-twentieths of them 'are so returned. The remaining twen tieth—amounting to about 306,000 per year-are destroyed. Tho "openers" make no examination of letters, *xcept to see at a glance whether they contain satejyjftts SS seventy six different countries, the fifteen principal countries these ex changes are made weekly, and with the others once a month. Upori tho iloor of tho rdora are a largo number of pouches that have arrived bv recent mails, and many of them have made long journeys. We notice sacks from Chili, Persia, China, Java and New Zealand, There i« a grim humor in tho fact that the pouches used for dead letters in *11 countries under the British Government arc black—the color that is always associated with death. Each month about 12,600 letters are re ceived from and 38,000 returned to for eign countries. Wc will pause just for a moment the lady clips the string around a pack age of misdirected foreign letters just arrived from New York. The first one is addressed only "923 Charlotte Street, The next one is but little 1 as America. less vague, "Conn. Box 140, U. S. A. Another, marked "urgent," is addressed "Trumbull County, O.," and nothing more. Here is one with a heavy mourn ing border, mailed at Bristol, Eng., ad dressed, "Mr. Luke Tucker, between Burwell Street and King, on York, After consulting the directory tho lady thinks this should land, arid so marks it. The experts here employed work in heretofore de 844. bo Cleve the samo nanner as scribed, with the addod perplexity of the mixing of languages equal to tho "con fusion of tongues" at Babel. As may he imagined, their skill is more often batlled. day name by wliich the neighborhood is commonlv called, or some romautic name winch ho chooses to apply to his farm or residence. In such casos the lack is frequently supplied by the post mark on the envelop. In thousands of cases when the letters are between rela tives and friends the signatures are of the familiar and affectionate sort, such as "Dick,""$*Uie»" Mother,""Sister," or "Ducky"—all proper enough in their way,but quito tooinueliuiteto bo of any service to the examiner. Such letters are generally of no real value, and arc of necessity consigned to the flames. When the heading and sig nature are sufficient the letter is not read, but the class mentioned are ox araiued, as the body of the letter some times supplies the missing link. If found to be only a letter of friendship, and containing nothing of importance, it is quickly cast aside to mefctits doom. If it relates to business affairs, or con tains information of important social and domestic affairs, such as deaths, marriages, etc., all reasonable effort is made to discover either the writer or the person addressed. Frequently let ters of inquiry are written by the clerks, and information thus gained may be the means of tho letter reaching its des tination. But in case tho letter fur nishes the writer's name and address no distinction is made as to whether n letter is important or not, all are re turned. It is considered that if a person writes to his friend and gets no answer it will be a satisfaction to him to know that h'B friend did not receive it. In deed the administration of the Post-ot lice Department in every branch is gov erned by tho idea, to its fullest extent, that it is wholly for the benefit and con venience of tho neoplo. QUIPS AND CRANKS. "Yes," says a lady with whom we are permitted to converse, "we sec many very touching letters that make us re gret the impossibility of sendiug them to either party. Letters between par ents and children, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, often appeal to our sympathies. We are really sorry to see them destroyed, and the words of af fection, maternal love, admonition, sympathy or gentle reproof lost forever. VVe see many things also that are very droll and amusing. "Not long ago I had a letter, tho only address upon which was this: 'To the Widder of Patrick Murphy, who Died sometime In Tho War.' 'Ou my son in the West, lie drives a pair of red oxen and the railroad runs through his laud.' And the poor woman, I suppose, will always wonder why her boy did not receive her letter. "Another simple-hearted old mother mailed a letter aireetad simply to 'Mis ter Dave O'Donnell.' Inside, at the foot of the letter, I fount! this; Dave don't call for this, will the post master of New York City hand it to him at the first opportunity and oblige his old mother.' "Similar to this was one written to a "This was another: *H roan in London, England. On the en velope was nothing but the name, and at the head of the letter was: 'A prayer to the postmaster of the city of London. Will you be kind enough to look in the directory and find where Mr. George Wilson lives, and send this letter to him?' It is by'no means rare to find a request of soino kind to the post master within the envelope. It seems a3 though some people must have an idea that the postmasters open and read all the letters. "Yesterday I had one addressed to 'Miss Martha Paten, Steamer Bothnia, Ocean,' and, as unique specimens of orthography, ono to 'Josey Phino duf fey,' and one to 'Sharloot White.' man could "Could you suppose a write a letter and at,dress tho letter to himself? I have seen three or four cases of that kind. A day of two ago I unfolded one containing a large do-e of lino red pepper. It filled tho air and set several of us to sneezing. The letter was a mean, spiteful ono ( tho writer saying that lie put in the pepper as an expression of his feelings toward the person addressed. — Washington Cor. Cleveland Herald. America's First Traitor. - Were a child, and possibly a well educated adult, asked wbo'was tho first j traitor to tho republican causo in America in the war of tho revolution, he would answer Benedict Arnold, Such was not the case, howover. Ar nold was, perhaps, the most conspieu 011s of the traitors, but the first man detected in an attempt to betray his country was Dr. Benjamin Church, of Uaynb'am. Mass. lie was a graduate, studied medicine iu London, and be came eminent as a surgeon. Ho lived a bachelor, extravagantly and been tiously, in a tine mansion, iu 17G8. lor several years preceding tho revolution he was conspicuous among the leading Whigs. Of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress he was an active member. At the same time, while he was trusted as an ardent patriot. Church was evidently the secret enemy of the Republicans. So early as 17741m wrote parodies of his own popular songs in favor of liberty for the Torn- newspapers; and, in bep tember, 1775, an intercepted letter, written by him in cipher to MaJorCaln, in Boston, which had passed through the hands of the mistress of Church, was deciphered, and the woman con fessed that lie was tho author. The cose was laid before the Continental Con pes*. and be was dismissed from the general directorship of the hospital He was arrejled and tried by a court ma rtial at Cambridge on a charge "of holding a criminal correspondence with the enemy." He was convicted October 3. and imprisoned at Cambridge. On the 7th of November the Congress ordered him lobe "close confined, with out the uso of pen, ink, or paper; and that no person be allowed to converse with him. except in the presence and hearing of a magistrate of the town or 55 SSST-" Temperance Beading. THE TEMPERANCE SHIP. Tate courage. Temperance workers! You shall not sutler wreck While up to God tho poopto's prayer* Are rising from your deck. Walt ct'oerlly, Temperance workers. For daylight and for land; The breath of God Is In your sail. Your raider In Uls hand! Ballon! sail on! deep freighted With blessings and with hopes: The good of old, with shadowy hand*, . Are pulling at your rope*. Behind you, noiy martyrs Uplift the palm aad crown: Before you. unborn ages send Tlieir benedictions dowu. Courage 1 your work is holy, God's errands never fail 1 Bweop on through storm and darkness* The thunder and the hail! Work on l sail on 1 the morning comes, Tho port you yet shall win; And all the bells of God shall ring The ship of Temporanco in. —John Q. VThittier. FEMALE INEBRIATES. Tho now common oustomof resorting; to the use of spirits in times of pleasure, well as for the relief of paiu and de spondency, is fraught with dangers but little appreciated by the average indi vidual. That the custom of the free use ns of stimulants is upon the increase amongst women, especially in our lar gor cities is easily demonstrated. A cursory visit to any popular restaurant will result in the visitor's seeing ladies both alone, in parties, and with and without eseorts, who ten years ago would not have tasted an alcoholic bev erage of any kind, even in their own homes, taking beer, wine or spirits with their meals, almost as a matter of course, and apparently with no idea that they are doing anything unlady like or unusual. Beer, and especially bottled beer, has of late years become immensely popular with nil classes. Ladies stop at restau rants often with tho sole purpose of hav ing a bbttlo of beer to refresh and in vigorate them after a long walk, or when tired from shopping; families take it reo-ularly by tbc box; boarders have it privately at table or in their rooms; and servants, pitcher or pail in hand, no longer make a secret of their trips to the corner groggery or the avenue beer saloon. Grocers koep it. and sell it to families by the bottle or box. The same sentiment that has made tho German stylo of open-air concert so popular in this country seems at the same time to have brought with it a love for convivi ality, and to have popularized the cus tom of beer-diinking. Boor has been the entering wedge, and following close upon it has come the more or less free use of spirits. And tiffs was natural and to be expect ed. One thing almost unconsciously leads to another in matters of this kind, and beer has proved itself a stepping stone to the' use of strong liquors. Women who formerly would have used spirits only under medical advice, and even then reluctantly, now resort to them without objection and upon tho slightest grounds, simply because their previous use of beer seems to have broken the ice. To many a poor wreck, tho tirst glass of beer has proven a costly experiment, and will be looked back to as the first step in a the incidents of which make her career shudder. shudder. It has been urged by some that the Germans, than "whom there is not a more hard-working, frugal and studi a le, aro a nation of beer-drink that the introduction of tlieir amusements, social customs anil the like, would prove not only Hot a mis fortune, but a positive boon to Amcri The fact, however, that for reasons Americans differ from Otis cans, many Germans in point of nervous organiza tion, or rather lack of nervous equili bration, if wc may be permitted to use the term, makes that which would prove of signal benefit to tho latter ex tremely dangerous for tho former. That American women are placing themselves in a position of peculiar danger by admitting beet, and later wine and spirits, to tlieir homes and tables, as well as indulging in them wh le awav from home, is a fact beyond nuotion. The peculiar satisfaction with which a tired, exhausted or unstrung nervous system rocoives the stimulation thus derivable leads'almost invariably to a further resort to it. Tho fact that a woman's bodily or mental condition j 9 suc h that tho slightest effort causes exhaustion and calls for stimulation be speaks, as forcibly as nature can possi bly cypress it. a veiy unhealthy, not to Bil y dangerous, state of affairs, for which a physician should bo consulted without delay. In such conditions the chances aro in favor of tho woman s bo coming, after a time, wholly dependent upon alcoholics. We have known such women to becomo in time tho veriest sots through this same originally 00 cas ional resort to stimulants. Uthers of the same class are known to us to ,i a y who are fast traveling tho danger 011s incline. To some the consequences of tho course thov are pursuing are ovi dent; but the craving which has become firmly established seems to be too great for tlieir unaided pawn,rso_ resistance, Th «J'"?•'.f l*te thirm and bemoan the r cruel late n their in tervals of sobriety, make rwh promises to their husbands, and fondly cares* their little ehihlren that ale .M is fast robbing of a care, and whom she is da 1> rob f their birthright of a good name and respectability. How . y P wretch of this class curses the fi ^swal low that ever passed her lips. - ment and cloto ^'^llance n tome of theseicaws *eem to do good for a tune, ^t the old craving aptmais never to be thoroughly crushed out, for it k^ep. cropping up every little while, some times in its old fu^-omemosmodt. tied. Not a few of these unfortunates take to opium, or cliloral„or both, and while using them manage to abstain from liquor. They arojeontt n this and their friends, hopetes. of a radical cure, aro willing to allow them the narcotic* on the ground ttatthough SEr_ s not, after all, bo peonliar when undor-t stood. Women there are who, being tat condition of "neurasthenia," crava seme form of stimulation, and gratify' on preparations containing a certain percentage of alcohol. It is generally known, but nevertheless true, that thousands of bottles of essence of ginger are consumed by individuals of this class. Others use some form of popular "bitters;" while still others, under various pretenses, consume* uantitles of various "tinctures" an* le like on physicians' prescriptions. Women who are perfectly healthy, or as near so as it is possible to be in tbta age, certainly do not need and should not use stimulants at any time. " Let well enough alone" applies to such very aptly. And, indeed, m many of us, ap parently healthy and robust, there are inherited tendencies and latent cravings that only need for their development some slight mdulgencies. Any woman who is at all conversant With the sad histories of so many of her follow swelling the ranks of d insane, or, what r fact not women now criminals, paupers an is even worse, of those poor wretches who haunt the by-ways and dark streets, and form the scum and. off scouring of every large city, will cer tainly hesitate before she either takes ifc herself or allows her children to do so. It has often been said that the father who takes wine before his sons, or visits his spirit closet in their presonue, sots them, although unintentionally, a per nicious example that may possibly bear bitter fruit in tne years to come. How much worse, then, the example of a tip pling mother, even though the beverage be the "harmless and popular" one of beer! The result can not be other than unfortunate. Children form their characters on the models of their elders, and are very quick to observe and ready to imitate. Parents being the family arbiters of right and wrong, chil dren naturally expect practioe as well preaching, and are more prone to follow tho former than the latter. Both the use and abuse of stimulants by women are largely upon the increase in this country. The police returns of this city are alone sufficient evidence of this. No reasoning individual but must see and appreciate the fact that if, un der the strict "old-fashioned" ideas re garding the use of liquors by women, s thousand women, gathered promis cuously from all classes, yielded inebriates, now, with the doing away of tlxose ideas largely, and the popular introduction of stimulants a* t beverages, the saihe number of women will yield twice as many hard drinkers the tirst thousand. And the free of stimulants is on the increase. Beer has been and still is the entering wedgo that is opening a frightful gap in the happiness of our homes and the purity and modesty of our women. ***** * * The prison, the almshouse, the police court—ay, even the scaffold-bear tes timony to the dangers of this deadly stimulant. Wrecked homos, broken hearts, blasted lives and hopes, grow rank upon this soil. Tho ghastly rel ics of once pure and modest woman hood leer at us from tho dark streets; staggor, tattered and bedraggled wrecks, into tho grog-shop; gaze, pale and wasted, from the hospital cot, with, , mournful eyes; stare marble slab of as ten more I use large, hungry stonily at us from the the morgue, or float aimlessly out to sea with the changing tide. i It is a sad subject from any and every point of view, and the freer use of stim ulants and narcotics by all classes is be coming a problem of serious propor tions. The question meots us in evory walk of life, whether as private citizens public officials, and demands careful consideration and painstaking investi gation. Woman herself, however, holds the key to the whole matter, and de-/ cities for or against according as she in dulges in or countenances tne free us» of stimulants, of lato become so popular. Her duty to herself, hor children and her sex bid her use every effort to dis countenance and chock by every means tier power this growing oviL— Hop per's Razor. or , „ , ... „„ I)n. Howe, of Massachusetts, sires that half the idiots of England como fiom drunken parents. If a young man begins at tho age ol twenty years to drink but one glass of beer a day, at live cents a glass, by the time he is forty years of age he wilt have spent $1,222.75. A TK mpeuance party has been f 0V med in tho British Parliament. At recent conference of fifty-five mera bcr3i th ey appointed a committco to keep watch upon all proposals which pl . ora i s0 ; n an y way to effect the liquor lrft q} Ci ar(J continually making excuse* tt bout the inheritance of vices. When j g the time to "right about face ^ie golden nowl If one has * weo( j y gulden, mourning over the un r ,,, rcacrilto mo ther earth won't mend tJ) | lnatter , \v e must out with tha needs'.-Esther T. Nonsh. b(j . tauf , bt ^"^l lessens the brain power, weakens the muscular strength, dwarf* th(J 2rowth , jnfiamos the baser passiona, tfcc sensibmtiegi debases the feel Rn( j weakens the will. Possessing ^ knowledge our children wiU grow up pure f rom the dangerous habit, and P mature life unpoisoned ^ J d biain8 wit h which to meet the problems of their existence. I hey JJ!jJ p know how to resist this evil of . confronts them, and will , egillat0 concerning it with, e ^ r . -HannaA Whit ^ recognition of the derrad* , r.rmJfVlmrncdi drunkenness ^ author* One of the earliest of the old FWntinn literature ^ addressod n vhtch the drunkat.4 1 auuu 'hMejords Thoa tempo £HSr.SSa 5 fe~ Temperance Items. if In