GOODY QRUXSKLL'S HOUSE. BY LCCT BOOM. eg A wear? old face, beneath clack mutch ; I,:ko "a flme in & cavern her eye, Be.wixt craggy forehead and cheek-bone high ; Her long, lean fingers hurried to clutch A something concealed in her rusty ckmk, A- a step on the turf the stillness broke ; While a nnnd was it curse or Bight Sin jte the ear of the passer-by. A dreary old house on a headland slope, Againnt the gray of the sea. Where garden and orchard used to be, Wit i-h-graas and nettle and rag-weed grope Paupers that eat the earth's riches out Nightshade and henbane are lurking about, lake demons that enter in When a soul has run waste to sin. The house looked wretched and woe-begcae ; Its desolate windows wept With a dew that forever dripped and crf-pt From the moss-grown eaves ; aud ever anon Some idle wind with a passing slap. Made rickety shutter of shiugle flap Ah who with a jeer should say, Why does the old crone stay ?' i sod; GnmcU'B house it was all her own ; There was no one living to chide, Th ago the tore every rib from its skeleton aide To kindle a tire when she sat alone With tb h'pts that had leave to go out and in. Through ere vice and rent, to theeudlt3 din jOf wmrea that wild ditties droned Of winds tkat muttered and inoaued. u this was the only booty she hid lUttcter her threadbare cloak A Ptrip of worn aud weather-stained oaJt ; Then into her lonesome hearth she slid : And, inch by inch, as the cold years sped. iue was burning the house over her head ; Wby nut when each separate room Held more than a lifetime's gloom ? Ooody Cii imariTa bouse not a memory Rlad - hare ceiling cr wall ; But cruel biiadoms would sometimes fall 'ii the floor ; and faces eerie and sad At dusk would peer in at the broken pane. While ghostly steps pattered through the rain. Bending the blood with a start To her empty, shriveled heart, i For she had not been a forbearing wife, Nor a loyal husband's mate ; The twain had been one but in fear aud hate. And the horror of that inverted life Had not spent itself on their souls alone ; 1'rom the bitter root evil buds had blown ; There were births that blighted grew, And died and uo gladness kuew. The house unto nobody home had been, But a lair of pain and shame ; Could any its withered mistress blame, v uo sought from its embers a spark to win, A warmth for the body, to soul refused ? fcuch cjuestioumg ran through her thoughts con- l used. As she slipped with her spoil from sight, C-uId the aeau assert tueir right ? The splint red board, like a dagger's ol&de, ooody G runnel I cowering un1. As if the house bad a voice that chid. When wound after wound in its side she made ; As if the wraiths of her children cried l"r m their graves, to denouuee her a homicide ; While the sea, up the weedy path. Groaned, spuming in wordless wrath. The house, with it? j itiful, haunted look j Old Goody, more piteous still, Anirry and ead. as the night fell chill They axe pictures of a long-lost book. liut the windows of many a human face Stiow tenant that burn their own d we' ling-place ; And specter and fiend will roam Throtich the heart which is not love's home. Atlantic Monthly. THE MIDNIGHT BURIAL. Near the Golden Gate of the High lands on the eastern bank of the noble Hudson stands the handsome and com manding residence of Judge Fassett. Terrace rises above terrace from the river, till the lawn, with its gentle as cent, is reached, which merges at length into a broad plateau. In the center the house is situated, with here and there a towering forest tree. From this position, for many miles, the prospect is unbroken and exhilarating to the student of nature, who, as he casts his eyes down along the valleys of quiet beauty and then up the rugged sides of huge Mount Taurus and Storm King, capped with snow-banks of cloud, feels a most exquisite sense of pleasure. In the distance is seen th nation's military academy at West Point, where beardless boys are taught tlie scientific method of killing men. Judge Fassett was known to be a man of great wealth, which he had ac quired by a life-long devotion to his profession in the city of New York, but in his later years had sought the retreat of a countrv home, and could be retained only in cases of great im portance. Me stood foremost among the men of this country in legal learn mg and acumen. He was very gener ous. His gifts for public and private purposes were munificent and frequent so much so, indeed, that the native citizens of the Highlands, who had worn their fingers smooth feeling of I the'r money, never thought of levying a tax for any improvement, but relied upon the generosity of the Judge I Even then it was quietly whispered by some that his motive was to increase tne value 01 nis esiaie. Judge Fassett had two daughters, who were noted for their fascinating beauty, each possessing an individual tvpe, but the elder, Dell Fassett, was the more general favorite among all classes. She won by her open, artless manners those who came into her soci- ' ety. She knew nothing of that hauteur which is so often considered essential in those whom some fatuitous circum stance has pushed above the ordinary stations of life. She was a romping, rollicking, witty, accomplished, fasci nating srirl, who knew how to conduct herself with becoming manners in the cabin of the poor as well as in the drawiner-room of the rich. Among those in the largo circle of the Judsre s friends, to wnom he ex tended a lavish and welcome hospitali tv was a gallant young soldier of the republic Colonel Fred Burleigh. His acquaintance with the family began wVifT he was a cadet, attending the mil- itary school, and had ripened into the warmest inenasnip. This recognition in the Fassett fami ly was not on the score of his parents' wealth or social standing, for they knew that they were quite humble peo ple, but because he was a cadet. Since the origin of the school, for some in comprehensible reason, the spirit of caste has been cultivated to perfection, and it is only necessary to utter its open-sesame to find entrance into the charmed in closure. Ridiculous and presumtuous as it may appear, it is yet true that a body of students, supported by the government, spend much of their time in studying polite etiquette and how to construct barriers against a too near approach of the people who support them. It was not surprising that Fred Bur leigh partook of this spirit, which he knew was largely reciprocated bj many of the upper-tendom, and that if he could not win his way up by his own intrinsic merits he could use the crutch of his school. But Fred was not the nest-egg of his class. He developed splended abilities, and on graduation day figured on the list No. 1. That was a triumphant day for Dell Fassett. She saw her lover, Fred, win in his class, as he had already won in Thfl cadet was transformed into an officer with a uniform and a badge of his rank on his shoulder. When he was assigned to active service in the field during the most trying days of our great war, the parting of the two lovers was sad, tender, yet hopeful. He passed through many battle, re ceived but one flesh wound, and re turned to the scenes of peace and to his Dell with the prefix of "Colonel." She welcomed him -with all the ardent warmth of her nature. They spoke of their betrothal, and wove bright vis sions of the dav when thev would Dub- licly offer their plighted vow of love and constancy. But, alas ! a great change was mani fest in Judge Fassett and his proud wife. They received the returned soldier with great coldness, a freezing recogni tion, that made him feel chilly himself, as if little agues were running up and down his back. His position was un comfortable very. To make a long story short, it ap pears that damaging rumors had been sent from the army against the charac ter of Col. Burleigh. He was " said to be very intemperate in his habits, and already a confirmed drunkard. This, with many other things, led the Fas setts the Judge and his wife to be lieve that he was an irredeemable scamp, and they resolved that their dttTirrhtpr's hand "should not be criven in c , - u marriage. The Colonel was not long in ascer taining that there was a rival in the held, who was the author of these cal umnies, and whose hope of acceptance was thought to rest on the complete demolition of the former. Notwithstanding all ' ' explanations and assertions of innocence on tne part of the Colonel, Mr. and Mrs. Fassett continued firm in their belief and in flexible in their purpose to oppose the marriage. Ou one occasion, Judge Fassett and the Colonel interchanged some very un pleasant words when both were in the heat of passion, when the former or dered the latter out of his house and told him that if he ever darkened his house door again he would shoot him. The Colonel arose to depart, his lips livid with rage, saying : " Jndge Fassett, vour daughter will be the wife of Fred Burleigh." The estrangement became the staple topic of town gossip, and some predict ed that this was but the beginning of the end. Let us see. One night, some weeks after the clos ing events recorded above, I was called into the country to attend a patient who was very low. After ordering my car riage, I went up to the room of a fellow physician who was visiting me for a few days, and invited lam to accompany me. About midnight we were returning, and to s'-.vo the distance of a mile, turned up the back road that cuts diag onally across Judge Fassett's estate. As we came opposite the rear of the mansion we heard three pistol shot? hred in rapid succession. Aly com panion and I were startled. What could those shots mean ? And it was midnight ; perhaps burglars had at tacked the inmates, who had detected them ! Would it not be cowardly not to hasten to their assistance ? Our horse was tied to a tree near by, and we hastened toward the mansion. Lights flashed hither and thither for a moment then all was darkness, and the house seemed vailed in a fune ral pall. Suddenly we heard a girnsh voice. " Oh, pa, pa, how could you be so cruel ? What a crime vou have commit ted ! And you will be found out, and then " " Come, come, daughter, don't be foolish. You know I would not cross your wishes if it were not for your in terest and safety. 1 believe that r red of yours was crazv I know he was. and therefore it is right he should die." "Oh, Fred, my dear, dear Fred! I cannot let him die. I loved him so this heart of mine will break I'm sure it will. I wish you would shoot me, too." "Dell, I must send you to vour room if you do not stop your nonsensical talk," said Judge Fassett, in a half-angry tone. In a moment s Hash the estrangement between Judge Fassett and Col. Fred Burleigh came to my mind, and I con cluded that the latter had unfortunately been caught violating the stern man date which forbade his entering the Judge's house. At all events a great crime had been committed, and the Judge was the murderer. What to do I did not know. At times I thought that if life was not extinct in the victim I might offer my prof essional services. Then the family would know that the secret of the murder was also in my possession, and my life might be endangered. There was a far safer course for me to pursue than that one consistent with my duties as a citizen and the claims of public justice to in form the authorities. For a short timo a mysterious, death like silence reigned, when the Judge returned to the Bpot where he was when we first drew near, followed by a man. " Mike, take this body to the tool house, put it into one of those boxes you will find there, and bury it deep down on the lower side of the swamp meadow. Do you understand ? If any one questions you about it, you know how to be silent." The Irishman, aroused from a sound sleep, had scarcely come to a full reali zation of the work before him. "Yer honor, 't will be done; but isn't this strange business for gintle- men to be a-dom r " Oh, pa, pa ! you do not intend that poor Fred's body shall buried to night !" "Yes, to-night, Dell ; and you must not oppose it." The sobbing girl saw that it was her father's purpose to secrete the crime and its guilt, if possible, from the pub lic. He continued expostulating : " As dreadful as it now seems to you, the time will come, Dell, when you will learn that this tragedy, sad as it is, was for your good. There are others beside him, and your love may soon be as strodg for another." " No, no, pa never ! I never can love another as I loved him. Oh, look at those eyes ! they are staring at you, and, glazed though they be, they seem to be rebuking you for your wicked deed. See those curls matted with blood flowing from that ugly wound in his head." " Now get up, my daughter take your arms aw6y. Why, see ! your dress is spotted with blood ! You must never wear that again." The distracted girl ran into the house: but soon emerged, bearing a pair of scissors in her hand, with which she clipped a large cluster of her dead love's curly hair. After . few vigorous pulls and grunts, Mike bore the body to the tool-house and inclosed it in a box ; tken hitching a horse to a small trunk wagon, he bore it away in the direction of the swamp meadow. After a brief consultation with lay comnanion we decided to follow and see where the remains were deposited, that we might be able to furnish evidence of the right kind, by directing the officers of the law to the spot. As we were moving along cautiously among the trees at the base of a cliff, just before striking out into the meadow, we saw the figure of a womau rapidly approaching. She called out, in subdued tones : " Mike, Mike, do stop !" She leaped into the seat beside him, sobbing : "Oh, I shall go I must go and see where my darling is to be buried." " I' faith, mi young woman, ye hadn't be afther makin' so much noise about it," Mike was looking furtively about to this and then to that side, like one who is in fear of detection. The wagon came to a halt, and the man began to dig the grave. The mountains frowned ; the winds sighed and moaned as if in anguish for this dark, mysterious crime. We were near enough to be certain that we could identify the spot. The "box was lowered in the grave, and soon the work was done. W ith difficulty Mike led the young girl away and assisted her into the wagon, which soon disappeared in the darkness, but we heard these lingering words : " That's a bad an' tiresome job done wid, so it is. Devil a one will ever know fhat became of him." 4 Next morning Judge Fassett was ar rested on the charge of murder. So sudden was the action of the civil au thorities that no time was allowed for explanation. The news sped throughout the village. The village was electrified. The knowing ones had their predictions ful filled. " I knew 'twould be so." A posse of officers, in whose wake were half the population of the village, were following the physician to the swamp meadow. Said one, as they were crossing Judge Fassett's grounds : "There is some great myBtery in this case. The Judge is the yery soul of truth and honor. You (addressing the physician) must be mistaken, and if so, there'll be something to pay for this arrest. Col. Burliegh was seen enter ing the Judge's gate last night, 'tis true ; but what does that prove?" After a short search, some freshly turned earth was discovered and the digging began. A wooden box was struck ! The populace became frantic. It was lifted out. The crowd was pushing, leaping upon each other, to get a view of the peaceful form of a dog ! "Fred" had shown signs of hydro phobia, and Judge Fassett shot him. P. S. Col. Fred Burleigh and Dell Fassett became husband and wile, and are now living in their luxurious home, surrounded by a coterie of little Bur leighs, who enjoy lots of fuu when they hear how their papa was shot. New York Weekly. European Navies. According to the last official reports given in the liorsenzcitung, of Berlin, the total number of iron-clads owned by the naval powers of Europe is 244. The total number of screw-ships, exclusive of coast-steamers and gunboats, is 431. Belgium, Switzerland and Servia have no navy ; and Roumania has only a few gunboats on the Danube. Holland, Sweden, Norway and Portugal have no iron-clads. Greece has 2 ; Germany, 3 ; Denmark, 3 ; Spain, 7 ; Austria, 11 ; Russia, 15 ; Turkey, 15 ; France, 28 ; and England, 28. Austria, Italy, Greece and Portugal haveno iron-clads for coast service. Holland, which has no iron-clads for war-service, has 18 iron clads for coast-service ; England has 23, and France 30. Germany has 2 turret ships ; Spain, Norway and Denmark, each 3 ; Turkey, 5 ; Sweden, 9 ; and Rus sia, 13. Of screw-ships, England has 132 ; France, 52 ; Russia, 48 ; Turkey, 44 ; Spain, 37 ; Holland, 25 ; Italy, 24 ; Germany and Denmark, each 16 ; Aus tria, 14 ; Portugal 8 ; Sweden and Nor way, 5 each ; and Greece, 2. In 1875, Germany will have six new iron-clads for war-service, which will rank among the most powerful ships on the seas, and, in points of thickness of their ar mor, strength of their engines, and number and quality of their guns, will far surpass those of Austria, Italy and France. The number of sailors, engin eers, stokers, etc., employed in the English navy, is 68,264 ; in the Russian, 36,000 ; the 'French, 35,570 ; the Turk ish, 21,000 ; Spanish, 14,000 ; German, 12,450 ; Austrian, 11,350 ; Italian, 11, 200 ; Dutch, 6,206 ; Danish, 4,800 ; Nor wegian, 3,500 ; Portuguese, 3,300. A Remarkable Parallel. A remarkable parallelism has been shown to exist between Melbourne, Australia, and San Francisco, Calforaia. They are nearly in corresponding lati tudes, San Francisco being in thirty seven degrees and forty-eight minutes north, while Melbourne is in thirty seven degrees and forty-seven minutes south, thus making one only one mile nearer the equator than the other. Both had their beginnings as towns in 1835 ; both remained insignificant places until the discovery of gold in the coun tries surrounding them ; both suddenly arose to great wealth ; both suffered from a decline of the gold yield, five years after mining began ; and both have risen to new and abiding prosperity, as the agricultural resources of the tribu tary country were developed. Here this remarkable parallelism ceases. The British colonies in Australia, of which Melbourne is the metropolis, contain a population nearly three times as great as the Pacific slope, but Melbourne it self does not greatly exceed San Fran cisco in size. A California paper con trasts the two cities, claims greater natural advantages, such as climate, geographical position, etc., for San H rancisco, but reluctantly admits that in public buildings, parks, etc., Mel- bourns is to be envied, even by the most loyal Calif ornians. Advice to Settlers. At a late celebration of Queen Vic toria's birthday in Virginia, Mr. St. Andrew is reported to have given his countrymen the following advice, which is equally applicable to Americans in tending to migrate. He said : 1. Oorne in colonies, or go in colonies. 2. Bring money in your purse. 3. Leave your prejudices behind. 4. Don't expect too much. 5. For land or business pay cash. 6. Keep two-thirds at least of your money for working capital. 7. Avoid land-sharks. You can easily find out the reliable land agents. 8. In buying land don't get too much of a good thing. 9. Adhere to the old-fashioned prin ciples of British honor. Don't attempt " smartness." Better-class Americans don't admire it ; but they can beat you at the game if you challenge them to it.' 10. Remember that success is more in the man than in the countiy. A hotel out West says, generously, of a competing establishment, that it stands without arrival. All Sorts. Paris has 68,000 dogs, which last year were taxed 8127,000. Iowa put up 1,200 school-houses within the past year. South Australia produced 7,250,000 gallons of wine last year. Forty-seven thousand Germans have gone back to Paris to live. Brooklyn has twenty beer breweries, making 60,000 kegs a week. Nine million horses in the United States ; value, $660,000,000. Massachusetts has furnished twenty five members of the Cabinet. Old Prob. hit it eight-eight times out of every hundred last month. A Nebraska paper tells of a flock of pigeons numbering 4,328,764. Close figures. Connecticut has twenty-five silk fac tories, whoso aggregate capital is 3, 450,000. A dealer in figures says that the reaping machines of the country net a leg a day. An Atlanta, Ga., policeman has been discharged for eating a box of sardines while on his beat. The "ordinary stock " of the railway companies of the United Kingdom amounts to nearly Jt Jou.uuu.uuu sterling. Mr. Kilkuff, chief engineer of the Pacific Mail Company, has sailed 1,786,000 miles in twenty-three years' service. The London Metropolitan railway, since its opening in 1863, has carried 305,000,000 persons without killing or injuring a single one of them. There are 10,500 miles of railway in Russia, of which 3,488 miles are owned by the state. There are beside 1,153 miles in progress of construction and 1,153 projected. Camel's hair brushes have been found to be capital substitutes for hos pital sponges. Now, let science dis cover some equally satisfactory way of doing away with newspaper sponges, and its triumphs will be complete. The city of Rome is said to be honey combed with about 900 miles of subter ranean passage ways cut through the solid rock, aud that these contain the bodies of from 6,000,000 to 7,000,000 of human beings entombed there since the city was built. Don Carlos has black hair, brown eyes, slightly aquiline nose, and black beard, covering the whole face. He is very handsome. He has an active, powerful frame, and stands six feet three in his boots. He is every inch the old-fashioned hero-king. The San Francisco Jiullelin, in a late issue, says : Small dealers are com plaining that enough of five cent pieces cannot be obtained for the transaction of business. So great is the demand for these coins that premiums varying from 2$ to 5 per cent, in gold are paid for them. The annual supply of copper from the whole of the civilized world is esti mated at between 127,000 and 130,000 tons. The annual tin supply is stated at from 25,000 to 28,000 tons. These estimates are made by a leading En glish house engaged in the tin and cap per trades. The total area of the 37 United States, without the Territories, is 1, 950,170 square miles ; the area of coal producing sections is 191,000 square miles, which is about one square mile in ten. The area of the ten Territories j is 995,032 square miles, making an ag giegate of 2,915,203 square miles. John Smith in Luck. A long article of great social interest might be written upon wholesale addi tions to the family ; but we promise to be short. First it was at Terre Haute. I The father, John Smith. Number of little Smiths, all in one day, born to John, four. Never was a family less needing increase than the Smith family, but this is the way that the odd old dame, Nature, freaks it. All boys, and each weighed 7J pounds. Thirty pounds of little strangers ! The cir cumstance was beautifully noticed the next morning in the Terre Haute Ga zette under the sensational heading of " Four Bouncing Baby Boys !" " Here after," says the Gazette, "let us cease to curl the contemptuous lip when the name of John Smith falls upun the ear. For one, we promise. Not a curl !" Then at Bethlehem, Pa , we observe additional phenomena. Mrs. Carol and Mrs. Ford are twin sisters. They were married on the same day. Their first children were born in the same month ; their second in the same week ; their third at the same hour or rather, we should say their third and fourth each, for on this interesting occasion there were twin Carols and twin Fords. All these darlings are alive and well. We have spent more than an hour in rub bing our head, and in thus trying to dsduce some heretofore undiscovered law of nature from these facts. It has been a failure. Ne'er a law ! New York Tribune. Western Union Telegraph. The New York Bureau of Corre spondence makes the following notice of the new office of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and oi the im mense business of this mammoth cor poration : One of the finest buildings to be found in New York is that in process of erection by the Western Union Tele graph Company, on the corner of Dey street and Broadway. This immense structure will be completed at a cost of 61,700,000, and will be read for occupancy about . the first of January. The building is nine stories high, and will be entirely occupied by the company, with the exception of two stories, which will be rented. The battery room alone will occupy nearly one story ; then the President's room and the rooms of the other officers will fill up the rest of the building. Few persons have any idea of the immensity of this corporation. It owns 173,517 miles of iron wire, 5,955 offices, and has 9,190 employes. Last year it transmitted 14,456,832 messages, at an average of fifty -four cents a mes sage. The company has been putting up new wire at the rate of 20,000 miles a year for the past three years. Said that Detroit Justice : " It is my solemn duty to warn you, Jane Welch, that you are on the high road to degra tion. This court is going to send you to the House of Correction for sixty days, but only with a feeling of kind ness. You will have time to reflect ; your nose will lose its rosy hue ; you'll have a chance to comb your hair and make yourself a bnstle, and I haven't a doubt that, before you come out, you will have such high aims that a police man can't get within ten rods of you." A FREE THINKER'S FANCY. Strange Inscriptions on a Gravestone at Buchanan, Alien. Never has anything created such uni- : versal excitement and aroused the in dignation of the citizens in the usually quiet village of Buchanan, Berrien county, as has the erection in our ceme tery of a monument on which are sev eral inscriptions, indicative of a great want of reverence for sacred things. The monument was erected by Joseph Coveny, a returned Californian, and wealthy farmer of this vicinity, who though of sound mind in other matters, seems to entertain peculiar views in re gard to religion. It is from the marble works of Sewersten & Schulte, of Niles, and is the most beautiful one in the cemetery when viewed at a distance and also the most expensive, having cost Coveny nearly 3,000. On the front side is engraved in large letters the following : "Joseph Coveny The More Peace The More Plenty A Free Thiuker's Monument." Below this, in smaller letters, can be seen the following : " The world i my country, to do good my religion. A word to the wise. God in the Constitution ia the end of liberty. Beware how you unite Church and State. Catholics will burn heretics and Protestants hang Quak j era aud witches. The Bible God is not all I powerful. He drove out tho inhabitants of the mountain, but could not drive out the ! inhabitants of the valley because they had j chariots of iron Judges i. 19." ! On the second side under the heading of "Free Press" is inserted this : "The More Saints Tho More Hypocrites." and below this under " Sunday Read ing" is a verse credited to Numbers, 31. It reads : "Thirty-two thousand virgins given by command of God to an army of twelve thou sand to debauch." "A poor consolation to mothers." " The "th chapter of Isaiah has no reference to futurity. It was a sign given to Ahaz of victory over his enemy, but the prediction was false. See 28th chapter of Second Chronicles. Don't forget Cotton Mather and his reverend associates. All Christian denominations preach damnation to the other." The third side begins : "Free Speech. Tho More Religion The More Lying." " Remember Mary Dyer hang ing on the big elm tree on the Boston Com mon, a victim to Christian superstition. Priestcraft and exemption is a source of danger to republican governments." The heathen's praver is "O, Lord, forgive my enemies and then me," but the Christian j cries amen to their damnation. " The Chris I tian religion begins with a dream and ends ; with a murder." The fourth and last side is headed : j "Free Religion The more Priost The j More Poverty. Naturo is the true God. : Science the True Religion. John Wesley said ! uniess you deny God and honor tho King George, you will be damned. I say let the arts and sciences supersede kingcraft, priest craft, superstition and bigotry. The holy I prophets said the tree that does not bear good j fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. (Science tells you graft it.) And well did the j holy inquisitor obey the order. Bat tho time is not far distant when tho old book of de bauchery will be burned in jlaco of men and : women." To persons who have not visited the i cemetery since the erection of this ! monument, the toregoing may seem ut i terly improbable, but the inscriptions i were copied verbatim by tho corre : pondent of the Free Press. Last Sun j day evening a sermon was preached in the Presbyterian church by Rev. Mr. j Wells, in "which the vile lot of blas- phemy just mentioned was denounced i in the strongest terms. Popular indig nation runs high, and should the monu ment be blown to pieces some night, the public here would not be surprised. Detroit Free Press. The Empress Josephine's Handkerchief. A correspondent of the Paris Ameri can Register writes : "I have so often heard French persons criticise the un willingness of English and American ladies to name certain articles of the the feminine toilet that I was quite delighted a few days ago, in perusing some old chronicles, to find out that it was possible for the French to be quite as prudish as we. Until the reign of the Empress Josephine a handkerchief was thought in France so shocking an object that a lady would never have dared to use it before any one. The-i word even was carefully avoided in re fined conversation. An actor who would have used a handkerchief on the stage, even in the most tearful moments of the play, would have been unmercifully hissed ; and it was only in the beginning of the present century that a celebrat ed actress, Mile. Ducnesnois, dared to appear with a handkerchief in her hand. Having to speak of this handkerchief in the course of the piece she never could summon enough courage to call it by its true name, but referred to it as a light tissue. A few years latter a translation of one of Shakspeare's plays by Alfred de Vigny having been acted, the word handkerchief was used for the first time on the stage amid cries of indignation from a great part of the house. I doubt if even to-day the French elegantes would carry handkerchiefs if the wife of Napoleon I. had not given the signal to adopt them. The Empress Jose phine, although really lovely, had very ugly teeth. To conceal them she was in the habit of carry small handker chiefs adorned with costly laces, which she continually raised gracefully to her lips. Of course all the ladies of the court followed her example, and hand kerchiefs have rapidly become an im portant and costly part of the feminine toilet ; so much so that the price of a single handkerchief of the trousseau of the Duchess of Minuurgn would male the fortune of a necessitous family The Cost of War. The Republic magazine presents some rather startling statistics concern ing the different wars in which the United state? has been en cd. In the war of the Revoluti (1775 to 1783) 278,021 soldiers were engaged ; in the war of 1812 to 1815, 527,654 ; in the Mexican war, 73,260 making a total of 878,935 while in the war of 1860 no less than 2,757,598 were engaged. Dur ing the rebellion 279,689 officers and men were killed or wounded, while 6,749 were missing in action. Since the commencement of the war the gov ernment has paid, up to June, 1874, in pensions, over $251,000,000. Deduct ing $5,000,000 for former pensioners, there is left $246,000,000 growing ;ont of the rebellion. Some idea of the number of pensions, and the amounts paid during these twelve years may be gathered from the following table : Army luvallila 99,804 Army widows and dependent relatives 112,088 Survivors of ths war of 1812 18.2 Widows of soldiers of tlie war of 1812 5,038 Navy invalids 1.430 Navy widows aud dependent relatives 1,770 Total 238,411 The rebellion entailed a debt of $2,500,000,000 upon. the government to be paid by the people, and, aside lrom the principal of the public debt, and pensions, there was paid during the fis cal year 1873 the sum of $127,992,989. 95, on account of expenses growing out of the late war. A Springfield gentleman concluded to have a bath the other evening, and in the dark got hold of a chunk of stove blacking by mistake for the soap. A more polished man than he was has never been seen in the whole State of Massachusetts. Two Rich Men. A New York correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette writes : " The chief holder of personal estate in this city is Commodore Vanderbilt, who is esti mated at $40,000,000, the largest part of which is in railway property. He owns enough in the Connecticut river and New Haven roads to be a director in each, and he also owns the control ling interest in the Central.'.Hudson and Lake Shore, besides his stock in Ohio and Mississippi and other important roads. It was said of George Peabody that he made almost the entire bulk of his enormous wealth after his fiftieth year. I think a stronger statement can be made of the Commodore, for he has made the largest part of his money since he was sixty that is, within the last score of years. I suppose that when the war broke out he was not worth five millions. The incessant and enormous increase of railroad values, and the colossal extent of his opera tions, have brought an increase so stu pendous as to remind us of the old sto ries of Oriental magic. The only in stance in which real and personal estate is combined almost equally in the vast possessions of one individual is found in A. T. Stewart. He owns enough in each of these shapes of wealth to make a dozen men rich. In point of real estate he has two great dry goods estab ishments on Broadway, also the Met ropolitan Hotel, and the former Uni tarian Church. Add to these the Bap tist Church in Amity street, now used as the stables of his business teams,' the Depeau row, in Bleecker street, and above all his Fifth avenue palace, which cost $1,000,000. In personal estate is his stock in trade, capital and bills re ceivable, which must be $10,000,000, and a large quantity of bank stock. In this manner Stewart wields both classes of property. He has differed entirely from Vanderbilt in tins point. The latter has invested almost solely in rail way stocks, while the former" has es chewed this form of property iu a very peculiar manner. He has a strong affinity for those things which pertain to trade and to this alone. It is said that his estates cannot be less than $30,- 000, 000. Mysteries of Vegetation. The Opelousas (La.) Journal gives au account of a white-oak tree, in the parish of Calcasieu, whicli has, in the course of its growth, accomplished a curious feat. The trunk of the tree is 2 feet in diameter, and rises to the height of about 25 or 30 feet without throwing out a single branch. About 12 or 16 feet above the base of the oak, the limb or stem of a pine tree, 0 or 8 inches in diameter and 12 to 16 feet long, passes directly through the center of ita shaft, projecting several feet be yond each side. The oak incloses the pine tightly, and is as perfectly solid at this point as at every other. The ques tion is, How did the pine and the oak get into so strange a position toward each other? The pine is dead, but the turpentine in its cells preserves it from decay, and conjecture helplessly won ders how it ever got through the oak, or the oak ever got around it. In Mallet woods there is another white-oak that presents a curious fea ture. The trunk is of considerable size, and divides into two prongs about 1 feet above the ground, which run up separately perhaps 15 feet, aud then unite again into a single, solid stem. The two prongs are each, say, 1 j feet in diameter ; but, when they become one again, the single stem is smaller in circumference than the two stems meas ure taken separately. A Queer Hen Story. From West Chester there comes to us the following sad story of a well-meaning hen : A man by the name of Lot Fithian, of that place, had been the owner of a hen that, to all appearance, was just like others of her tribe, except that she had ceased to perform the functions of a well-behaved maiden chicken she didn't lay any eggs. This was all the more singular'when it was observed that she did not show a dis position to " chuck. " The hen seemed to thrive and ate well, but it was evi dent she had something on her mind. She seemed weighed down with grief of some undischarged duty. A few days ago Mr. Fithian killed the chicken, and on dissecting her discovered twenty eight full-sized, well-shaped eggs, the only difference between them 8ud mar ketable eggs being that they were minus the hard sh 11. The cause of the poor hen's despondency was now explained. She had done her duty, had prepared her eggs for delivery, but owing to some obstruction nature refused to per form her share of the work. What would have been the ultimate conse quences of this had the hen been al lowed to live on we are not prepared to say ; but it certainly is a strange freak of nature, the similitude of which we Lhave never before heard of. I)oylc8- town Pa.) Democrat. Rachel's Avarice. Mile. Rachel, the late great French tragic actress, who, nineteen years ago, visited this country on an artistic tour, had a well-deserved reputation for shocking avarice ; in fact, she would have cut a cent into four pieces. As she at, s miner one nicht. in a reunion of artists and authors at Alexandre Dumas father's (whose prodigalities and superb disdain for money afforded a striking contrast with the celebrated Jewess' covetousness), the company indulged in playing cards, and Rachel, taking out of her pocketbook some money for the game, let a silver piece of 50 centimes (10 cents) fall on the floor. Much troubled by the incident, she immedi ately called for Dumas' servant to bring a candle and fetch the important trifle. "Let me do it," maliciously exclaimed Dumas, sending back his servant. "I'll find it for you, my love." And, taking out of his pocket a bank note of 100 francs ($20), he lighted it at the luster, picked up under the table the half franc piece, and most graciously ten dered it to Rachel, who carefully put il in her portmonnaie as she would have done with a relic coming from her an cestor Moses. The Men who Can Forgive. The brave only know how to forgive ; it is the most refined and generous pitch of virtue human nature can arrive at. Cowards have done good and kind ac tionscowards have even fought, nay, sometimrs even conquered, but a cow ard never forgave. It is not in his na ture ; the power of doing it flows only from a strength and greatness of soul, conscious of its own force and security, and above the little temptations of re senting every iruitiess attempt to inter rupt its happiness. Be Ckeebfcl. One cheerful faoe iv a household will keep everything bright and warm within. Envy, hatred, malice, selfishness, despondency, and r host of evil passions, may lurk around the door, they may even look within, but they can never enter and abide there ; tlie cheerful face will put them to shame and flight. A Crumby Convention. No fictitious characters impress us with a sense of reality like those of Shakespeare. When we read of a Con vention of the Fat Men of Ohio and Michigan, which was held at Put-in Bay on the 10th inst., we said to ourselves : " Ah ! if only Sir John Falstaff could have been there !" He is the ideal of adipose. He is the refinement of gross ness. His wit and his waggery ; his mendacity so enormous that it almost seems more respectable than truth ; his selfishness so absolute that it has an aspect of generosity ; his sensuality so little concealed that it, well nigh amounts to the spiritual all these are qualities which demand large quarters. We cannot picture him as spare ; we cannot think of his unctuous sentences coming from a hungry month. His great sides give to his cha2' and balder dash the gravity of a sermoE. Mauger many doubts, we respect h'ci as we re spect a mountain. Ho talks, it is true, almost always of himself, but then there is so much to talk about ! Hundreds of pounds go to hin composition, and! there is the wisdom whiefi makes tho best of every thiu;-; in every ounce of them. But we must not forget car fat friends at Put-in Bay while dwelling affection ately upon their swelling prototype. Such a meeting was of ponderous portent, and may be called the Apotheosis of Avoir dupois. There was, inueed, m the regulation of the convention, a slicht suspicion of personal pride and exclu- siveness. Tne standard of qualification was high, or at least broad and heavy. ir"erfect rotundity alone axgwered the- compieteness of the conception, and no ught weight could eater there. A con stitutional provision (Artii'ie I. ) rigor- -ously Bhut the gates of admission upon every candidate weighing less than 20C' pounds. Credentials were irj the cor- poration. Nobody eune-'r:ng whose specific gravity ther win the least, doubt could take his peet before going to scale, and the Ughtest monster of a member, John Dulco, Esq. , of Monroe, Mich., weighed 200 pounds ; the most ponderous being Mr. Jobs; Templeton, of Swanton, Ohio, who pulled down 428 pounds, and was accordingly made, honorary chairman. Ah ' but it must have been a sight to see them all seateel in long and billowy rows ranges oi sesquipedality, chains of abdominal' Alpsand pyramids of thepinguid Only, fancy the King of the Cannibal Island", looking in there with Lis mouth full oi water ! Why there were distinct and separate masses of meat, and the ag gregate weight thereof, if we have not blundered in additioc, was 13, 6191 pounds I Had they beer h -r ed up, it would have been Felice upon Ossa Woman, too, lovel7 aud large, wat there, viz. : Mrs. Walter Deform, Nor walk, Ohio (298 rounds?, and Mrs. Sullivan, North Bass Islncd, Ohio (298 pounds). Hail to yon, most equal anil most mighty mesdames ! Joans oi juiciness ! noble champions of the equality of the Bexes, at least in the matter of ponderous plurtij. aess. Our souls all love largeness, and the toui ensemble must havo been imposing in the extreme ! New York Tribune. A Ulass Eater. There is a chap in Staunton, Va., who eats glass. "I went out." says the physician who describes it, " and se cured a piece, about one-third of a broken pane, and brought in several friends to witness the siht. Ho took. the glass and deliberately bit out a piece about the size of a silver halt dollar, and chewed it, up with as mucb gusto as if it had been a piece of bread, swallowed it, taking afterward awwallow of water and bread, he said, to get the particles out of hi a teeth. He would have eaten the whole piece Lad I asked, as he has frequently eaten tumblers fox a drink of whisky. He said he wotilc: t eat any kind of glass except the colorei I bottle glass, which had poison in it. . He was first induced to try the experi ment about three years ago, at the Cape of Good Hope, by a surgeon in the British navy, who bet he could eat all ," the glasses (eighteen in number) at ? dinner party, which he did, and he saw no reason why he could not do as much, so he tried it by eating only three. Since that time he has eaten glass foi the amusement of others over a thou sand times, with no disagreeable effect. The only difference he sees is it give? him an appetite." An Industrious People. Every Swiss city and large town hap. its special industry. Some excel in one branch of manufactures and some in another ; but, taken in their entirety, they aggregate a very respectable pro duction for so small a nation. While the Swiss raise more than enough meat, butter and cheese for their own con sumption, they are obliged to import, about 1;500,000 barrels of flour per an num from Franco and Germany. Nor -do they grow nearly enough wool to clothe themselves ; but, from the pro ceeds of their sales of silk and cotton fabrics, of embroidery, watches, jewel ry, chemicals and wood carvings, they are abundantly enabled to supply all their wants in the shape of imported, goods and food. The Swiss are certain ly the most industrious peojjlo in tho world, as well as the most frugal. Ev erybody works men, women and chil dren. There is no leisure, idle, ox loafer class, and few drones, in this busy hive. -Joseph Media's Letter to Chicago Tribune. A Good Paper. We do not often give a voluntary pufl to any of the many professed family newspapers printed in the country. There is one, however, that possesses-; so many excellences as a family journal and news paper combined that we can not refrain from" saying a word in its praise. We allude to the Chicago Ledger. Each namber is tilled with the very choicest reading, including stories, anecdotes, sketches of advent ure and travel, poetry, domestio reci pes, and other useful information. It. is printed by the ledger Company, Chicago, at $1.50 a year, which is cheap when we consider that the paper con tains forty-eightclosely-printed columns of good reading. The Ledger is always a welcome visitor to our table. Iu tho language of Rip Van Winkle, " May it livelong and prosper." Western Boon omist. The Pacific Roads. Late agreements entered into be tween the Union Pacific and Kansas Pacific railways are of deep interest to all baanches of business in the country. All the former rivalries and jealousies existing between the roads have been done away with, and henceforth they will run m harmony, avoiding former delays in transportation, and adopting a more reasonable system of freightage. The transmission of California fruits, especially, will be affected for good. The Central Pacific officers have also united in the general hwrmony, thus placing these great thoroughfares upon a more perfect and sensible footing than has existed since their construction.