BILL'S IN TROUBLE. from my gnu I't got lt tfr. purxoii, a way mil Went, Ad' niy ul' heart In heavy an an nuvil iu my liri'iiNt To think tii Imy whose ftitur' I had once no proudly planned Should wii ihIit from I lie putli o' right an' come tu Nirli mi etui! I told liim ulii'ii lit- lift us only three iiliort years ago He'd I) ml liiniHi-lf n plowiii' lii a mighty crooked row He'd iiiIhh liix father's counsels, nil' his mother's prayers, too, Cut be nil id the farm wan hateful, nn' lie guessed lied lime to go. I know thur's big temptation for a yoiinjj sfer in the Went, But I believed our Itilly had the courage to resist, An' when lie left I warned him o' the ever-waitin' snares That lie like hidden sarplntB In life'i path' way cverywhcrei!. But Bill lie promised fuithful to be keer fill, nn' allowed He'd build a rcpiitution that'd make us mighty proud. But It seems us how my counsel sort o' faded from IiIh mind. An' now the hoy's iu trouble o' (be very wustest kind! Hi lettem eiinie no seldom that I some how Hint o' knowed That Billy wan a trumplu' on a mighty rocky roud, But never once imagined he would bow my head Iu shame, An' In the diiHt'd waller his ol' daddy's honored name. He writes from out In Denver, an' the story's mighty short; I just can't tell his mother; it'll crush her poor ifV heart! An' so I reckoned, parson, you might break the news to her Bill's In the Lcgislatur', but he doesn't suy what fur. Denver Post. THE POISONED SPEAR "It is rather a bad hole, boys, sure enough, n ml the Lord bleBS you, It was nip and tuck between tnc and tin devil for a little while, I tell you. I can't even think of the thing now wlrliout feeling my blood run cold. "Does It ever Lurt me? Well, 1 thould say It (Wa I can feel the blamed stuff ruukMiig In my bonus this very minute. "Bli; what muff? Why the poison, of course. "Well, If you must have the story, I'll tell It, seeing iih I'd have to anyhow; but ns It's getting lute and I'm as nleepy ns n il-weeks-old cub, I'll war runt It'll uot bo very long and strung out. "So you want to know how I come to have that big ugly hole In my arm there, do you? "All right, boys, all right; you shall know; you shall know, (lire me n match, somebody. This tobacco must be wet, or green, or something. It's forever mid eternally going out on a fellow. "Marly In the fall of the year 1808 or 18ii!), I'm not sure which, there were nonio ten or twelve of us hunting wild horses on the Upper Itio Grande, In the northern part of the Territory of New Mexico. The Indians were quiet enough at the time and game wasn't scarce, so what wllb pleiuy to eat, tobacco galore, i a cask of rum and pretty fair luck with the lnsso, we watched our corral getting full with contented hearts, "We had been some six or seven weeks iu ciiiup when one of the boys, nn Irishman named Mike Morlarily, came In from an antelope trail that he had been following two whole days, with the startling Intelligence that there were Indians on the creek about three miles nbuve camp. "He hnilu'l slopped to get close sight of them, bill from the fact that they wero mounted anil that 1 hey numbered "There was no time for hesitation. Wo were close under a row of small coltonwoods, which fringed tho creek, mid In a moment were out of our sail dies, for we wero mounted, peppering nway at our ussallauts for dear life, and making pretty much every shot tell, too, "The conflict was a brief but decis ive one. Within fifteen minutes It was ended by the complete rout of the Apaches. Or rather of ull but one. He was a heavily built fellow, radiant with warpaint, and bristling with tom n hawk, knife, arrows and a long spear. He was evidently the leader and op posed the flight of his followers with fiery vehemence. When he found him self alone, Instead of joining the stam pede, he turned on us fiercely once more. It seined' as If he single-handed ami alone proposed to assail us again. "As he whirled his mustang about I drew bead on liliti. He caught the flash of thc-sunlight on my rifle barrel, and raised his spear. Then came a report nnd u whiz in the air at the same time. J The Apache dropped backwards from his saddle, and I clapped my hand over a deep spear wound In my una. "The lance had struck me In the fleshy, part of the left forearm and dropped to the ground. Moriarity, who wus nn old Indian lighter, snatched It up and exa mined the head, which was a section of nu old kulfe-blade ground to n razor-like edge. He dropped It In a moment and turned to me with a very grave face. " 'I thought so,' he said anxiously. " 'Thought what?' I asked, endeavor. Ing to staunch the flow of blood that streamed over my hand. 'What do you mean?' 'I mean It's pizened, sir,' was the reply. "And so It was. Upon the polut of the spearhead were still some spots of thick green substance, a vegetuble poi son used by the savages to render their primitive weapons more deadly In ef fect. Within five minutes I fainted with the Inexpressible agony of the wound. "Boys, I've been partially scalped; I've been torn by the claws of savage beasts; I've been bored through and through with leaden bullets, and I've went for days at a time, under a hot broiling sun, without so much as a drop of water to drink, but uev'er be fore or since have I experienced the In tense suffering, the terrlblo misery which 1 endured during those few pre ceding minutes. "When I recovered consciousness. half a pound of flesh, more or less, hud been taken from my arm. The opera tion spoiled Its usefulness In a meas ure, but It saved my life. "The Indian? Oh! He turned out to be Hawkeye, one of the most famous chiefs of the Apaches. He and eleven of his followers reached the happy hunting grounds ot about the same time. My bullet had found bis heart." ORIGIN OF MAY DAY. FESTIVAL OF THE FLOWERS AND ITS ANTIQUITY. May Dny 4,000 Yenrs Ago-The Day In Kirypt, Clilnii, Mexico and Pern Old English Customs In Connection with the Floral Holiday. First Day of Mny. For the origin of May Day with Its Joyous associations, we are compelled to go back to a time when meu person I lied the powers of nature and called them gods and goddesses. How fur SlPlIilPl QUEEN OP MAY IU FRANCIS. back the goddess of the flowers was adored at the season when the earth put on her green mantle with Its floral spangles of every hue, we do not know, for the earliest records speak of a spring festival as nn Institution already I nnd was crowned with the spoils of the fields, a genuine Queen of the May. A cities grew, it became Inconvenient to go fur Int o the couutry, for the cxeur slou steamers and railroad trains pack' ed full of pleasure seekers were not, and a substitute was found by bringing a tree Into town, setting It lu the ground hi a public place, decorating It with flowers, which the country people. In the hope of gaining shekels, or oboll or denarii, or whatever other coin was legal tender for debts public and private In the neighborhood, were easily Indue ed to bring lu. Thus, Iu the May pole is seen the descendant of the green tree, and the dancing about it lu circles Is ex plained by the fact that the only way to dance round It at all Is In a circle, and also, perhaps, the circle has always had a mystic significance, being much used lu charms and Incantations. Having learned this much from the antlqua rlaus, these dlgnilled folk may be told to go about their business, for the rest of our knowledge of May Day and Its festivities may easily be had from other" sources than their ponderous and nl most unreadable tomes. From authors of our own tongue we may glean almost Innumerable refer ences mid allusions to the pretty custom of hallowing the May Day, and we also learn that 1ms than "OU years ago the May isde was as Indispensable In every English village as the stocks or the pil lory. When the rurltans, who were uot afraid either of the name of traitor. or of .deserving It. by beheading their King, came Into power, the Idea of any one presuming to enjoy himself while he groveled here upon the earth lu the humble capacity of a worm of the dust. was Intolerable to them; so, with bell lnglng and carol singing, nnd other iclous Indulgences, the May Day danc ing and flower gathering were tabooed nnd Mny poles were all cut dovyu. But after grim old Oliver passed nwny, the night of the storm that shook all Eu rope, the people began to amuse them selves again, erected taller May poles than were ever known before, and done- fflm 1 "l DHKW A BKAD OX IIIM." no women among them he was pretty certain that they were a band of Apaches on the war-path. "This news was somewhat alarming, to say the least, for we well knew what our fate would be If we fell Into the hands of the red devils, and a strict guard was set that night for, previous to that time, we had been living a hap py-go-lucky kind of a life, secure In our fancied Isolation, leaving the camp to take care of Itself, after we laid our pipes by and rolled ourselves In our blankets. No attack was mnde, how ever, and three days afterwards a reeonnolsanee of the creek nbove brought the welcome news that the red skins were gone. "Karly that afternoon some one sug gested that we should visit the aban doned camp, and five of us, Including myself and Moriarity, set out for that purpose. As had been reported, the savages were gone and all that re mained of the late cantonment was the ashes of the dead Area and the debris of some of their barbaric feasts. "We were still wandering over the apparently deserted plateau when a lmlr raising yell behind up brought us about with a start to see a score of mounted Ac!- urging their mus tangs at the top of their s;wd towards us. The Mosquito. The female mosquito, after she has filled herself with blood the male In sect Is not a blood sucker seeks out some dark and sheltered spot near stagnant water. At the end of about six duys she quits her shelter, and, alighting on the surface of the water, deposits her eggs thereon. She then dim, and, as a rule, fallslnto the water beside her eggs. The eggs float about for a time, and then In due course, give birth to tiny swim ining larvae. These larvae, lu virtue of a voracious appetite, grow apace. casting their skins several times to ad mlt of growth. Later, they pass Into the uyuiplm stage, during which, after a time, they float on the surface of the water. Final ly, the shell of the nymplia cracks along Its dorsal surface and a young most u i l o floats on the surface of the water while Its wings are drying and acquiring rigidity. W hen tins Is com plete it tiles away. The young mosquito larvae, to satis fy their prodigious appetites, devour everything eatable they come across; and one of tlie first things they eat. If they get the chance, is the dead body of their parent, now soft aud sodden from decomposition aud long Immersion. They even devour their own cast-off skins. In examining mosquito larvae one often comes across specimens whose alimentary canals are stuffed with the scales, fragments of limbs, and other remains of the maternal In-sect. Jobnl's Call. The daughter of Dr. Edward Hodges, the organist, says that her father had a delightful way of calling all the chil dren musically. One Sunday morning, when he was playing In St. John's Chapel, New York, he said to her: "I am going to call Jubal. Watch him." Jubal was sitting In his accustomed place near the middle aisle. Doctor Hodges' voluntary began thoughtfully and smoothly, but In the course of It, a significant phrase of two notes was twice repeated. It was distinct, and yet so truly a part of the Improvisa tion that no stranger would have no ticed It nt oil. The tlrst time, Jubal's attention was arrested; the second, he turned and looked up, but saw no sign. At the third call, he deliberately took up his hat, left the pew, walked straight up to his father, and said: "Do you want me, sir?" "Yes." said Doctor Hodges. "Go home ond get my gold snuffbox." The errand wus speedily executed. for the house stood near. Jubal band ed the snuffbox to bis father, and re turned to his seat Food to Injured Itallroad Men. In ten rears fl.OUO.OUO has been paid out by the casualty fuud of the British Benevolent Institution to injured rail way men and their families. MAY DAY IX THE TIME OF SKIN roo MUCH DOCTORING. A" -A- ,1,. CJESAR. well established and even then known more from ancient times. The Egyp tians made pictures of everything, so it Is not surprising that amoug the paintings on the walls of their cata combs there should be found some which, from the accompaniments of Rowel's, garlands and wreaths, are Judg ed by the antiquarians to be of a spring festival, a feast of flowers. May Day is therefore at least 4,500 years old, and It Is quite possible that Adam and Eve celebrated May Day In the garden of raradlse If they stayed there over one sea sou. When traces of May Day are discov ered lu the earliest ages of Egypt nnd at the dawn of history in Greece, among the Etruscans, among the Celts of the Rhone and the Germans of the Rhine, lu Scandinavia and Wales and Ireland, among the natives of the Indian Pe ninsula and among the Aborigines of America and Australia and New Gui nea, the conclusion is safe that such a custom Is of universal observance and remotest antiquity. So It may be that the Chinese are not as extravagant as they seem when they claim that May Day originated In the Celestial Empire 00,000 years before the flood, being la stltuted by the never-to-be-enough-praised Emperor Chi-Whee, who was fond of flowers and employed exactly 1,000,000 men to take care of bis garden, Leaving, however, the claims of the glorious Chl-Whce to be defended by bis own people. It Is worth remembering that a festival, In many particulars bearing a close resemblance to our May Day, was celebrated all over Italy and the south of Europe at the beginning of the Christian era, when every one who could spare the time went Into the woods and fields for a day's outing, ed about them harder than ever. But, as often happens In such coses, when nobody opposed the Moy Day and Its pole, both soon fell Into what Grover Cleveland would term "Innocuous des uetude," aud now there Is hardly a MAT DAT PAKCEOF LONDOX BOOTBLACKS There Is one thing about a crop of wild oats: It harvests lutelf. gathered flowers and retnrnlng laid them on the altars of Flora. It Is also Interesting to know that on these occa sions the goddens of flowers was per ousted by a young girl, the prettiest who could be found, who, during the day, paired the homage of her friends J 5. vm&t&& Mir SPECIALIST says too many omen do their complexions to death. At n recent lecture, one woman declared that she was do years ofage.and "I've been taking care of my complexion steadily for ten years, and I Just wish you'd notice what a fright It Is. I've tried tincture of benzoin, glycerin and rose water, a face iniisk. steaming and massage, and If there's a tougher, uglier, rougher, more sbrlvel-ed-looklng face on any woman of my age In this city, then she call have the blue ribbon for dowurlght homeliness. "You've doctored your complexion almost to death," answered her friend, quietly. "Many wo i do. They use preparations, excellent lu themselves often, but not suited to their require meuts. Tincture of benzoin Is very detrimental to oily skins. The familiar rose water and glycerin, In the major ity of Instances, makes the complexion dry, yellow and leathery. Face masks are dreadful In their effects on not only the skin, but the general health, partic ularly those made of rubber. They make the face perspire, and the Im purities which exude from the pores cling to the rubber for a while, and are eabsorbed. Steaming the face robs the skin of Its natural oil, causes wrlu kles to appear and makes one sensi tive to neuralgia. Under the delusive pretense of facial massage many hun dreds of women have had the delicate tissues of their faces pinched and slap ped aud rubbed and twisted without any regard whatever for the natural condition of the skin. Disappointment generally follows the use of all the things I have mentioned, and nlso of the methods employed. All of these remedies are enough to ruin a woman's face." The Slangy Girl. The use of slang Is the easiest of all habits to acquire, yet so hard to break. - It vitiates our speech, and es pecially marks a woman as ordinary, though she may be of eminently refilled birth and education. To converse well, even elegantly. Is only a matter of cul tivation. Study the selection of your words, and after a while It will be sec ond nature to use only such as are es sentially above criticism. All cannot be fluent conversationalists, but all can speak correctly, using only such lan guage as expresses what you wish to say, but not In the slangy fashion that too many young people think chic and convincing. It may sound smart and cute In some ears to be fluently familiar' I with all the up-to-date slang phrases, I but the best people, the refined nnd cul I tlvnted members of society, will never be able to discover any beauty In this knowledge. , Many girls use slang as they puff cigarettes, thinking to make an Impres sion upon men by their worldly ways, the little "fast" touch In Its dangerous proximity to the extreme edge of the border Hue of decorum possessing tlint strange fascination that has belonged to forbidden fruit since the days of Eve. The men whose good opinion Is worth having, however, do not cultivate the society of slangy girls. Its use may be only a habit, but slang will Impress the hearer with a feeling that the nature of the woman employing it Is lu touch with Its brusquerlo and Its unconveU' tioual idioms. od necessary. All of which Is Interest ing for two reasons, one as showing that the service question Is ns serious across the water as here, nnd anoth'-r that in the opinion of at least one ob server the hope of betterment lies In ability and practice of doing one's own work. To Make n Corurt Cover. A quickly made corset cover has only three senilis, one on each shoulder and one across the waist line. To cut u pattern, take your waist pattern and a newspaper. On the straight edge lay the middle of the buck, next to this lay the piece that comes next, lapping the pieces where they allow for seams; then hip onto this the next underarm piece, next Ihe front with the seam that Joins onto this, and fold over each dart. This will leave your shoulder seams quite away npurt. Measure ronsuT coveh pattern. across the bottom nnd be sure you havo It large enough around the waist, then cut your papers, allowing an Inch In front. The pattern will be straight lu the back and bias In front. Lay the pattern so the middle of the back will bo on a fold of the cloth, baste tho shoulder seams, aud try ou over your corset and draw the front together bo it will lit. Being bias. It wilt lit per fectly smooth. Mark where you need to trim the front edge, then see If you have the bottom just at the bottom of the waist, allowing the width of a scaui. If you have had to change any, put It back on your paper and trim It. then you will have a perfect fitting pat tern. For the lower part, cut a circular piece that will fit smoothly around your hips, six Inches deep. Exchange. An Ideal Hnaband. The Idenl husband Is thus described by a blight woman who keeps her eyes open and has a repreheuslve habit fher friends say) of "taking notes:" "A temperate, moral. Intelligent, en ergetic, affectionate, truthful, forgiv ing, Christian man, who chooses a wlfo for her mind and heart rather than her face, nnd waits until he finds the right one. "Who neither scolds nor laughs at his wife, and never contradicts her lu public. "Who loves home and children, ard has certain moans for making an hon est nnd comfortable living. "Who Is economlcnl, but not stingy; gives lils wife a personal allowance to do with as she chooses nnd. unless wealthy, keeps his life insured In '.:er favor. "Who understands that women hava nerves, enjoys pretty things, and are happier for being 'petted' once In a while nnd sometimes oftener." This observing woman is herself an energetic, happy, lovable old mnld. with unbounded faith In the possibili ties of man nature under proper condi tions, nnd says some wives of her ac quaintance have husbands who can be easily developed Into paragons if just "managed" properly. TUB JACK IS TBR BOX. May pole to be found In all England. The custom of remembering the day, however, still survives, and little girls wearing garlands, and carrying with them a doll decorated with flowers, termed the "Lady of the May," still go about the towns on this dny, presenting their doll to the passers-by as a modest hint for halfpence. In the quiet country districts of France, Germany and Italy there are still queens of May, young girls who are on this day crowned queens of the fes tivities. In many parts of Europe the May festival takes the form of games and athletic sports of various kinds. It Is a singular fact, as showing not only the universality of the custom, but also the fact that all the varieties probably had one origin, that many of the fea tures of the celebration In countries very widely separated, are almost Iden tical The Chinese, as well as the Eng lish, bad a queen of the May, while in Mexico and Peru, the crowning of a young girl with flowers at this season Is a bint of the same thing. While there seems nothing so tran sient as a jovial custom like this, noth ing Is, Id reality, more permanent, and the manner In which apparently frivol ous and meaningless celebrations are banded down from parents to children, from race to race, constitute one of the bonds which nnlte us to remote age and countries far distant from our owa Sle-p nnd Healthy Beauty. One should never allow one's self to ! be too busy or tired to neglect the nightly toilet. One should not simply drop one's clothes and tumble Into bed, else neither one's self nor the clothes will look attractive lu the morning. Have plenty of hot water and a dash of cologne and give your face a thor ough laving. The result will be as re freshing as an hour's sleep. Brush the hair for twenty minutes, It will be glossier and thicker for the trouble, nnd your nerves will be soothed by the process. Then, after the exercise, robe yourself In a warm gown and drink a glass of hot milk, weak cocoa or even hot water, entlng a wafer or bit of toast If you like. When the small sup per Is finished you will be rendy to go to sleep without insomnia cure, and in the morning you will waken refreshed nnd thoroughly In good humor with yourself and your world. Scarcity of Domestic Help. An Englishwoman who evidently has been over here studying us more or less thinks she has found a message of enlightenment to bring back to her sis ter housekeepers at home. In a long letter printed In one of the London weeklies she urges Englishwomen to assist in the solution of the domestic service problem by being more Inde pendent of servants. "Let each girl," she begs, "be taught on leaving school at least how to care for her own bed room." Then, realizing how radical are her views, she hastens to exclaim and explain. "Why not?" she snys. "Our American sisters except those of the extreme fashionable caste which has arisen of late years do this as a matter of course (as they also do many things about the house which we never dream of touching), and that they are one whit behind us In the niceties of life anyone who has bad the privilege of spending any time in the bosom of a typical American family will strenu ously deny." The paper goes on at considerable length to point out the value of fewer servants and of becom ing one's own housemaid In a limited degree, and explains In detail the metb- Spring Walking Suite. How to Cnrl Feathers. Feathers may easily be curled, If only a little time and care be devnre.1 to them. A simple process Is is fol lows: Have a large kettle with steam pouring out of the spout Hold the feathers In this steam for a few mo ments, and then with a blunt krlfe (preferably a metal paper cutter) curl each separate plume, and when com plete, hold the feather In front of the fire to keep the stiffness In. Profession al dressers do little else, but, of course, they are more expert than a mere ama teur. ' Chinese Gown a. The klnomo is the name of a band some new lounging robe, which may be made from a discarded opera cloak. Its long, loose folds crossed and con fined by. a broad sash at the waist, its queer, square-shaped sleeves, the ease with which It may be manufactured, all appeal to comfort loving women! If being made new, it should be of yel low satin, with trimmings of embroid ered peacock feathers. Large families are the rule rather than the exception among the Dutch, but a certain Susanna Joubert, of Klip fonteln. In the Free State, baa broken all records In that line. She has had four husbands, and her living descend ant number 327.