Toe Cobra.
Wo have in India," said a gentle
pan, much of whose life was passed
in Hiodostoo, "snakes more veno
mous than are to be lound in the
western' hemisphere, or even in
Africa. Tbe most deadly sorpent in
this country is. I suppose, the rattle
enako, but hundrods of porsons havo
been bitten by it and have resovcred.
For the bite of the cobra in full
Tiffor. however, there is no known
cure. Immediately after tbe rainy
season the cobra is in his worst
form. lie lies dormant, while tor.
rents of rain that seem like the re
newal of the flood are deluging the
earth, rarely coming out of the deep
hole in which he finds shelter, and
all that time poison is accumulating,
until the bag at the root of the hol
low fung is nllod to bursting. The
cobra has but ono poisonous fung,
and when he is undisturbed and not
angry this lios flat on the jaw. But
the moment an enemy appears the
aspect of the cobra changes. lie as
sumes an almost porpendicular posi
tion, which is the only one from
which he can strike. His tail is
thrown into the form of a ring, and
on this he stands erect. His head is
bent forward, and ho makes a figure
like that of an old-fasioned walking
stick with a crook for a handle. A
fleshy hood rises along the back of
the neck and ezpans into a lan like
shake behind the head, while around
his flashing little eyes are bright yel
low rings, looking like spectacles
Seen thus, his tongue darting out and
in, he is as repugnant a creature as
exists. When in position for striking
he can spring probably ten lect, but
be is easily killed, lie never runs
ff, and though he will not move
toward an enemy to get within
striking distance, if the intruder ap
proaches him he does not retreat,
and it is only necessary to stand
about twenty feet off and hurl
stick at him. A slight blow will
break his back, and he is then pow
erioss.
Probably the greatest expert
mentor upon snakes that ever lived
was Dr. Fayrer, of Calcutta. He
was particularly interested in the
discovery of a euro for the bite of
the cobra, for the number of lives
lost by this cause every year in
India is incredible. After years of
careful study, and after he had ex
hausted recipes sent to him from all
parts of the world, he declared that
thoro was no known remedy for the
bite, and that a man impregnated
with the poison of a vigorous cobra
must die. In the course of his ex
periments he made a singular dis
covery, that the poison of one cobra
could not kill another. A large
cobra would destroy a smaller one,
but only by lacerating it with his
toeth, not by means of its venom.
Once I stood with Dr. Fayrer in
his studio when he was about to
make an .experiment to determine
the rapidity with which a cobra's
poison would do its work. In the
middle of the room was a wooden
box containing a four-foot cobra,
which had boon confiened thore with
out food for three days, and was in a
horrible state of rage and stocked
with venom. Not far from the door
of the box was a large dog of greater
strength arid vitality than an aver
age man. He was chainod, and
nearly all the hair had been shaved
off from one of his hind legs. At a
signal from the doctor an assistant
pulled a string, the door of the box
rose, and tho cobra, with a cord tied
around bis tail, glided out hko a
streak of light. The unfortunate
dog had been anxiously watching
the box for some minutes, and giv
ing vent to his unoasiness by a low,
whining noise. The moment he saw
tho snake coming out he was thrown
into an agony of terror, as is nearly
every animal when he sees a cobra,
albeit he has never sot eyes on ono bo
fore. Everybody in the room stood as
fur awav from the snake as possible,
the assistant holding the string that
was attached to the reptile s tail. In
a second the cobra hud fastened its
rns noon the dog. which was tbe
object nearest to it, and rising upon
its tail it assumed its horrible posi
tion of attack. Then, launching its
body like lightning through tbe in
tervening space, it fastened its fangs
fairly in tho center of the bare, con-
SpiCUOUS SpOl OU WO uvg o uauii.
Instantly the assistant pulled the
string and dragged the writhing
reptile from its hold, and Dr. Fayrer
soized tho injured part of the dog's
leg between the thumb and first fin
ger of his left hand, and with a clean
ewift sweep of bis scapel cut it down
to tbe bone. Remedies were at
once applied to stop the bleeding
and stimulants were given, but in a
few miuutes the dog began to ex
hibit those symptoms of drowsiness
that always precedes death from the
bito of a cobra. Every effort was
made to arouse him, but within a
little more than twenty minutes from
tho time the snake bit him the dog
lay dead on the floor. In this in
stance I do not think more than two
seconds elapsed after the bite was
given before the injured flesh was
wept out. Tbe result conveys some
idea of the rapidity with which the
poison acts. The dog exhibited no
indication of suffering. And in this
respect tho poison of the cobra is
different from that of all other ven
omous reptile, and especially that
of the rattlesnake. The bite of the
latter serpent convulses the victim
with pain, bat the wound inflicted
by the cobra causes a perfectly pain
less death. Tbe doomed person
sinks gradually into a calm, doe
sleep, against which no resistance
can be mado, and from which there
ib no awakening.
The chief food of tho cobra is th
frog. After the rainy season these
creatures fill the air with
loud, steady croaking all night.
Occasionally, however, a shn
shroak is hoard above the
ordinary noise, and tho practised
ear discerns tbe cry of tbe untortu
nate frog when a snake has seized it
Early one morning, by the roadside.
I found a cobra in the act of making
his meal. He was slowly sucking
the irog down his throat, tail first.
I killed tbe snake and released the
frog, but for a long lime the latter
lay unablo to move. Its eyes were
bright, and its head was lively
enough, but the rear part of its body
seemed to be paralysed. The hind
legs, which had been down tbe
snako's throat, were helpless. Finally
it contrived to drag ltselt away in
tbe long grass.
Formerly tho government gavo
rupee for every doad cobra delivered
to its agonts, but I think this custom
ban been abandoned, for it was dis
covered that breeding yurds had bcon
established in various parts of the
country, and numerous natives were
making a comfortable living by rear
ing young snakes.
Tbe snake charmers bave a won
dorful influence over snakes. They
tame them to an amazing oxtont, and
very often come to a European's
bungalow and offer to clear all tho
serpents out of tho compound or en
closed ground for a small considera
tion. If the proposition is accepted
they squat down upon tho ground
and play a quick, horrible, jangling
tune on a reed or flute. Very soon
the owner of the compound is as
tounded to see snakes of all kinds
and sizes coming out of holes which
he londly hoped wero tonanted only
by toads or rats. They move with a
soft, measured motion toward tho
musician, who quickly grasps them
and places them in his bag until 20
or more' are thore, then, having, uj
he says, cleared tho compound of
snakes, heireceives his money and
carries off his prey, to lot them loose
on another man's property and whis
tie tbem up again lor a new reward.
for they are all his own lame snakes
and come to him when ho blows his
flute. New York Sun.
Clock Making In the Black Fosest.
The peasantry of the southern part of
the Black Forest, of Alemannic race,
have, from time immemorial, been known
clever and ingenious hand-workers,
both in wood and metal ; but during the
past two hundred years they have origin
ated and developed an industry which
has become world-lamous. lo them oe
longs the honor, both of inventing and
to a great extent, of supplying the world
with clocks. Who the first clock-maker
of the Forrest was we de not know, nor
whether he has ever reaped the reward
of his ingenuity. His name has not come
down in story, but we can well imagine
him ; the square-built, dark-skinned
peasant, with long DiacK nair Hanging
over Ins shouiuers, ana aeep, solemn,
meditative eyes; seated in his little
wooden cabin beside the great earthen
ware stove, all through the long winter
davs, when the snow is piled many feet
high around his cottage-world: puzzling
out the great problem which through
such long hours of patient toil and ever
deferred hope he has almost but not
quite solved the problems of the weights
aud wheels. We cau well fancy that
earliest clock-maker to have had as ro-
mantic and thrilling a story as had
Palissy the enameler ; in truth the results
of the Black Forest genius have been fur
greater and of infinitely more importance
tollie worm in an mose ui me rreucu
notter have been. But the biography of
the clock maker is unwritten. One of
the verv earliest if not the first Black
Forest clock is exhibited in tbe British
Museum at Furtwangen. It is 211 years
old. It only shows the hours and has to
be wound twice in twenty-lour, it con
sists of three wheels, regulated by
balance, to which a string with a great
stone -a weight is attached. An improve
ment was very quickly made upon this
simple mechanism. The pendulum was
introduced about the year 17-10, the ap-
nlication of the pendulum to tbe move
raentofthe clock having, it is believed,
been first suggested by Galileo. Striking
clocks were invented also about the
middle of the eighteenth centnry. These
at first had to be wound every 24 hours.
Eight-day clocks were not manufactured
until some forty years later. In the year
1850 a great spur was given to the indus
try, which it was iounu naa ueguu mj ue
nilnp bv the establishment of a clock
making school at Furtwaogen. Formerly,
and until the last 15 years, every portion
of the works of these Black Forest clocks
were made by hand, ana eacn workman
began and finished his own clock in his
own cottage, being assisted In his labor
by the different members of the family.
Now, this hand and individual labor is, to
a great extent done away with, being
supplemented by large establishments,
where 100 or more men are engaged, in
which machinery is employed, and the
labor is subdivided into at least a dozen
processes. The men work twelve hours,
are paid Irora a shilling to a half a crown
a day, and women are employed as
polishers of the enses. The old hand
labor system U maintained only in a few
remote villages, and in tbe inferior kinds
of clocks. Since the introduction of
machinery tbe Black Forest clocks bave
been.it ia said, not only cheaper but
more accurate, although it is certain that
gome of the old wooden clocks made 100
years ago, are still in use, having with
stood the various changes of temperature
and tbe wear and tear of a century with
scarcely any diminution of their powers,
in the ninetv-two parishes which form
what is called the clock country, are oyer
1400 master clock-makers, who employ
some 0000 workmen. Altogether, aoout
14 000 people, including men, women and
children, are occupied by this one indus
try Th number of clocks manufactured
y ea'rlv in this district is calculated at two
millions, valued roughly at on million-
French Weddlnf Bells.
The grand marriage of the week has
oeen that of M. Gaston Menier and Mile.
Julie Kodier. It was the Menier family
which bore the expense of the wedding,
which they could better afford to pay
than the bride's. M. Emile Menior, the
bridegroom's father, pays in ostroi duties
alone on the raw materials which he
works into the chocolate bearing bis
mark $1,800,000 annually, on an average,
On the bridal day the Church of SU
Augustine, in which the nuptial benedic
tion was given, was redolent with flowers.
r lowers were wreatnea along me span
drills of tbe roof. Ihe altar was em
bosomed in blooming plants from the
Noisiel gardens and green houses. What
with the rich and elegant toilets, the dia
monds and the floral decorations, the sa-
cred edifice bore a very mundane aspect.
The general aspect was similar to that
which might be presented bv a fushiona-
ble morning reception in a pseudo-Gothic
hall. Mile. Kodier's toilet was original,
and to her becoming, for she is exquisite
ly pretty, and looks well in anything.
But, were she plainer, it would not have
uorne me criticism u seemeu io eouru
The new daughter-in-law of M. Einile
Menier is mignonne, a French term equiva
lent to "pocket Venus." bhe is or tne
Princess of Wales type, but more healthy,
spirited and happily organized. Her
skin is of alabastersmoothness, her brown
are penciled, and the eyelids, nostrels,
lips and chin are exquisitely finished.
The eyes are brown and well opened, and
express a soft, womanly nature, fraukness
and intelligence. Madame Gaston Me
nier is not a grande dame, nor never will
be one, but she is better. Dickens or
Hawthorne would have found in her the
realization of some of their roost winsome
feminine characters. The naturel of her
manners is almost Irish.
But to tbe bridal robe which I have so
long delayed to describe, and which the
ladies who read this letter will be impa
tient to hear about. Tbe skirt was short
and plain, and covered with short flounces
of old pointe a Faiguille. It was detached
from the train, which might have been
furnished by a London dressmaker to a
voting lady going to be presented to Her
Majesty Queen Victoria. The effect, ow
ing to the shortness of her skirt, was not,
when the train was allowed to fall, grace
ful : and in profile it would have looked
very bad were it not for the perfection of
the bride's feet and ankles. They were
so "thoroughbred" that one almost thank
ed the dressmaker for the imperfection of
her work. The corsage in white damask
and demi-montant, was garnished with
pointe cCAlencon, and formed at the hips
paniers ; and 1 may note the buttons were
of splendid Oriental pearls. A demi-long
sleeve displayed an arm of ivory smooth
ness, ui tne van i cannot speak, because
there was none. A cloud of tulle softens
the sharp light of a satin dress, and gives
to it the freshness of a dewy morning.
Concerning tbe coiffure, it was formed of
a lace kerchief, or fanchon, fulling on the
right side of the head, and helped upon
the other with a bunch of orange blossoms,
in which there was, 1 thought, too much
green foliage. However, in looking at tbe
blooming, smiling and thoroughly happy
little brunette who was thus arrayed, one
overlooked what was open to criticism in
the toilet.
The bridesmaids, of whom there were
two, were in pearly-grav and blue.
Madame Menier, the amiable and accom
plished mother of the bridegroom, was in
moss-green faille and satin, looped up iu
tbe skirt with pearl ornaments and trim
med with rich old lace. Her bonnet a
First Empire one was trimmed with
wreath of yellowish green leaves, ending
in a bow of antique point lace, the ends
ot winch were long enough to be tied un
der the chin. The knot they formed was
held in one place, on the chest, with
large brooch formed of a single diamond.
Happy was the newly married queen of
tne lesuvai io get Deneaui me wing oi a
mother-in-law so kind, right hearted and
maternal. Madame Kodier, the bride
mother, was in an ample pelisse robe and
petticoat of otter-brown - satin. The
pelisse formed a long train behind. The
front breadths were lined with pink satin
and turned hack on the hips in graceful
folds. Madame Kodier's bonnet, in
brown satin spangled with bronze d'art
beads, was in the iorm worn by yueen
Victoria in the early years or her reign
and trimmed with three flowing, pink
ostrich feathers. Madame Kodier is a fine
looking woman, and her coiffure and
robe, which wete rich, stately and dis
Untrue, suited her exactly.
The corbtule ae marnane was displayed
in one of the ground floor drawing-rooms
of M. Menier s palatial residence. It con
tains amongst other things a set of din-
mond ornaments of real splendor; laces
scarcely less valuable, artistic fans and
parasols with handles carved by Chinese
fingers, and another inlaid by Japanese; a
Dile of whole skins of silver fox: ditto
New Shetland seal, and another heap of
Siberian sable; toilet knick-knacks de
signed and executed by Fromet Meurice
and Tiffunv's most skilled silversmiths,
and Irish lawn enough to dress a whole
bench of Anglican bishops. I should
have liked to have seen more pearls.
There was a poor show of those gems
which are the most becoming of all to the
fresh young lady. The diamond is tho
jewel for a dusky Indian girl. Its bril
liancy is too strong not to be out oi Har
mony with the delicate skin and suave
loveliness of the handsome woman of the
Caucasian race. Soft lies tbe pearl on the
femenine neck. The diamond casts a
fierce light upon it and depoetizes the
wearer whom it was meant to adorn.
M. Menier asked to the wedding the
adult and juvenile members of his gutta
percha works at (crenelle, wnicn are man
aged by bis son, M. Gaston Menier. They
were placed on a footing of equality with
the greatest people, and their offerings, a
quantity of tbe most delicately-pink
roses, arranged in tne snape oi a wen-
stuffed pillow, was riven the place of
honor among the presents made to the
bride and bridegroom.
Among tbe notable guests who ottered
their congratulations at the nuptial recep
tion, there were M. and Mme. Wadding
ton, tbe Prefect of the Police, and Mme.
Andrieux, General oye, the United
States Minister, and General Billot and
into Seruo, the Portuguese rival of Stan
ley and Cameron, in the wide field of
African exploration.
I am told that that most refined type of
American womanhood, Mrs. Andrew
White, was also at tbe Menier wedding
with her daughter, the winsome Miss
Clara, but I did not see her. Mrs. and
Miss White have made a very favorable
impression in Europe. The former re
minds me of Mrs. G. P. Marsh, to whom
grace and lady-like benignity and delicate
tact come naturally. Parti Letter H. Y.
Tribune.
It is said that Mississippi farmers are
thinking of going into tbe corn and cattie
trade and leaving the cotton severely
alone.
A Murdered Nation.
in 181, when the Empress Catherine
stopped at Azov on a visit to the southern
part of her domains, she was struck by
tbe majestic aspect of the Daghostan
mountains which interpose thoir snow
capped ramparU between tbe Russian
steppes and the garden lands of Tiflis and
Georgia ; and on that day the conquest
no uiom-soiveu upon wnicu nas since
been accomplished at the cost of three
million human lives. As early as 1783.
General Lazareff made raid into the valley
of the Terek, but was driven back with
the loss of 6000 men, and hsd to recruit
his forces in the Ukraine till the spring
oi me louowing year, when he landed at
Anapa, and attempted the same region
from the south side. Ha was aciin re
pulsed, hut fortified the village oi Kedout
Kaleh on the sea-coast ; and thus estab
lished a base of operations, for all future
expeuuioiis. wnicn year alter year were
sent forth, and as often vanquished
though with greater and greater difficulty
oy mat Heroic resistence which more
butcher's arithmetic could foresee must
cease at last. Lazareff and his successor.
Goneral Godolitsch, gratified the Czarina
by a monthly bulletin of raids and mas
sacres; and thereia something
hich seems inexpressibly revolting in
their cynic admission of the superior
strategy and valor or an enemy whom
they hoped to subdue by starvation and
rute that is, treachory. and the mas
sacre of hostages and non-combatants,
me passes or Western Caucasus went
defended bv tbe Lesghians and Ossetes,
who, in 1795, could still muster a force of
60,000 warriors in the Spartan sense of
me word ; but with the return or ever
Spring a fresh swarm of Cossacks, Cal
mucks and Muscovite serf's full upon tlmt
devoted band standing at bay like a wild
animal against a pack of butcher dogs.
The valleys were devastated, domestic
animals were shun the an!, or mountain
villages of Western Lesghia, were burned
and their defenseless inhabitants butch
ered ; and in innumerable encounters
the passes were strewn with the bones.
and the roountuin streams of Circassia
dyed with the blood of her native sons,
who, though almost victorious, found no
time to repair their losses before an im-
fierial ukuse sent a new horde of blood
tounds against them. Yet in 1824, more
then forty years after the commencement
of hostilities which had already cost the
lives of nearly half a million of his sub
jects, the Czar could not yet call a square
yard or tbe Caucasus bs own, unless lie
kept within cannon range of his forts.
Shamyl lien lladdyn, a man whose
name is almost unknown to America and
Western Europe; has left a record in the
memory of his countrymen about which
coming generations may kindle into wor
ship. Unless ultimate success alone be a
criterion of merit, the exploits of Hauni
bal, of Cromwell, of Kosciesco and Gari
baldi appeal trifling in comparison with
the fonts of the Lesghian prophet-chief
tain. There is a somewhat doubtful
tradition about a Gothic knight, named
Pelugius or Pclayo, whose father had been
slain with King Koderic, in the battle of
Xeres de la Frontera, and who, when
Spain was overrun by the Saracens, en
listed a corns of volunteers from the
Christian fugitives with thoir aidjdefended
himself year after year in the fastnesses
of the Pyrenees, till tho power of the
Moors was broken in the seven days' fight
atlours, and the little band or patriots re
ceived succor from their brethren in
Southern France. If the story of Pelayo
should be authentic, the achievements of
Shamyl lien lladdin are hardly equalled ;
otherwise they stund altogether unap
proached bv anything the history of the
world could adduce from the records of
the last 4000 years. The Pass of Ther
mopyliu, though defended against greater
odds, was only dofended for twenty-four
hours, while the followers or bhamvi
maintained their ground for more than
twenty-four years. Mithridates, King of
Pontus and Asyna, resisted the powers of
Home ror even a longer period; minus
resources were almost as vast as those of
the Orbit liomamu, while the Circassian
patriot, with never more than 20,000
fighting men, defied the legions of the
Kussian Empire, which were increased
under Prince Baryantnski to ninety-five
of Regiments, forty of artillery, lOOO polks
of mounted Cossacks together almost a
third of a million. Frederic the Great, in
the Seven Years' War, showed the siime
manful self-reliance, fortitude and heroic
scorn of compromise ; but would he not
have surrendered Brandenburg and Ber
lin aa well br Silesia, if the four-fold nu
merical superiority of his enemies had
been increased forty-fold, the seven years
protracted to twenty-seven, and his regi
ment restricted to a diet of beechnuts and
water? Or, to take an illustration from
the history of our own country, would the
resistence of General Lee have been pro
longed for. we will not sav twenty-seven
years, but that number of weeks, if Vir
ginia had been attacked by a combina
tion or the "Solid houiii" wiiu we Honti
North, East and Wes ; if all the artillery,
all the horses, all the cooking stoves,
medicine chests, tents, shoes, blankets,
flous, sugar and coffee, as well as all, the
cash had been monopolized by General
Grant and Lee's own commissary supplies
reduced to hickorynuls and wild berries
of the Blue Kidee ? How few of our hardy
ancestors would have undertaken for any
for any temporal or eternal reward what
the Lesghian chieftain had done, and
done in vain. His followers diminished
from year to year and at last
succumed, worn out, in the most bruial
sense of the term, by an ungenerous
enemy, who increased the terror of his
superior force by atrocities which make
the conquest of Caucasus the blackest
page in the history of the world.
But to the Circassian themselves their
untimely grave has, perhaps, been a
refuge from worse evils, since the doom
of Poland would have been the penalty
of submission ; and in thus far, at least,
they have still been the arbiters of their
own destiny. Five successive generations
have been called upon to decide between
death and a Muscovite citizenship, and
they have deliberately chosen death as
the less horrible alternative. By a hun
dred years' war, and the sacrifice of a
million human lives the Russians have
thus become the undisputed master of a
graveyard, but they will hardly find it
renumerative acquisition. The tendency
of tbe cosmetic regulations ia adverse -io
cruelty, and we may trust that the s.niir
bv law ot nature whirh prevent the
hunter from digesting the flesh of a to'
tured animal will not permit the butcher
of the Circassian prtnots to utilize their
victory. For alimentary purposes vivi
section is an unprofitable business.
Country doctor to the bereaved widow
of a late member of the Georgia legisla
ture; "I cannot tell bow I wan pained to
hear that your husband had g"i e to
heaven. We were bosom f-iends, but now
we shall never meet again."
A Hew Custom,
" I care not who writes the history of
nation, if I can read its advertise-
nionts," remarked Sir Isaac Newton
There is no doubt that he was right
Historians cannot he trusted to write
the simple truth, for even if they are
wholly unprejudiced, they are neverthe
less constantly doeieved by tho authori
ties npon whom they rely. The student
of advertisements, on the other hand,
loams the wants and habits of a people
from tho most trustworthy source. Had
the old Romans advertised in a manner
worthy of an intelligent poople, we could
loam from the advertising columns of
the press of the period more of the real
daily life of Romo than any quantity
of ablo German historians could now
teach us.
It was through a brief advertisement
in an English newspaper that ono of the
most remarkable and peculiar of tho
domestic habits of English life was
made public. Perhaps it is hardly ac
curate to say that it was made public for
the first time, for the peculiar habit, or
custom or question must have been long
familiar to Englishmen living at home.
Still, no one outsido of England bus
pocted its existence nntil the advertise
ment to which reforence has boon made
appeared.
It sooms that a young English lady re
cently loft her home and disappeared
totally from the knowledge of her par
ents. Being intelligent people, they,
of courso, did not employ a detective
to find out the missing girl and to
compound with hor abductors for half
her valuo, but they insertod an adver
tisement in a daily paper, describing hor
appearance and offering a reasonable re
ward for her recovery. The peculiar
feature of the advertisement was tho fact
that, after sotting forth the height,
weight, age, dress, and color of the eyes
of the desirod young lady, it mcntionod
that alio was "tattooed on tho loft log."
From tho way in which this assertion
was made, it is clear that the fact of the
tattooing was not regarded by the adver
tiser as anything unusual. In fact, from
the comments since mado by tho English
press, it is very evident that in England
it is regarded as tho customary and
proper thing to tattoo tho youthful femi
nine log.
After recovering from the shock in
separable from suddenly learning the
existence of so extraordinary a custom in
England, tho thoughtful foreigner at
once begins to question its origin and
motive. The tattooing must obviously
bo done as a measure either of utility or
ornament, and it is by no moans easy to
decido which motive is tho true one. All
statisticians agree that thore are a groat
many girls in England, and certain Eng
lish weekly newspapers have during the
last few years dwelt with much empha
sis upon the tendency of the English
girl of the period to uoiy tne conven
tional restraints of former days. May
we not. thon. assuino that English girls
are prone to stray away from home, and
that boing bo very numerous, tney are
frequently misload and forgotten. We
have here a sulliuiunt explanation of the
tattooing problem. The careful British
parent dosires to mark his girls for
identification. If he pastes labels
on thoir backs or attaches tags
to their belts, tho tags and labels can
roadily be torn off or lost. To
brand a girl with a hot iron, or to slit
hor ear, practices which are in vogue
among cattle-drivers, would obviously
bo open to serious objections. 1 he care
ful parent, in these ciroumstanoos, falls
back upon tuttooing, and in order not to
disfigure his girls, he has them tattooed
whero the indeliblo mark is not, as a
rule, constantly forced upon the public
gaze.
The advantages or tho custom are un
deniable Let us suppose that the girls
of the Smith family, for example, are
marked "S" in a diamond. Now, if old
Mr. Smith, when taking his nino girls to
Brighton, mislays ono in the railway
station, or forgets another and leaves her
in a cab, ho has merely to advertise that
on such a dato a girl marked " 'H' in a
diamond," was lost or mislaid in Bitch a
place, and she will soon be restored to
Inm. Or suppose that the same Air,
Smith finds a girl in an omnibus whom
ho fancies belongs to him, but whom
Mr. Brown rightfully insists is his pri
vate girl. There need be no dispute
about tho matter. Mr. Smith has only
to sav to Mr. Brown. "How are your
cirla marked? ' Mr. Brown replies " 'J .
B.' with a Btur." An inspection of the
dismitod cirl shows that Mr. Brown is
ight, and there is at once an end oi tne
dispute. Thus, we soe that tattooing a
trirl as a means of identification might
be a vory useful practice, and if this is
the motive of the present custom of tat
tooing English girls, it commends itself
to onr approval.
But it is quite possible that English
girls are tattooed as a purely ornamental
process, it Bliouid ie noiiceu miu un
original advertisement which first called
attention to the matter moroly asserted
that the missing girl was tattooed on the
left leg. Tho pattern of the tattooing
was not described, and we have no
means of knowing its precise character.
A year or two ago an Arkansas young
lady, desirous of making a brilliant fig
ure at a ball, called a paint brush and a
quantity of red and white paint to Her
aid. and produced on those present at
the ball tho impression vnai sue waa
wearing a beautiful and costly pair of
striped stockings. What the Arkansas
young lady did in a rough and tempo
rary way, her British sister can do
neatly aud permanently, with the help
of a skillful artist in tattooing. Of
the colors employed would be
only tho light blue of the tattooing and
the pure white of the original ground,
but an lnuiiiie iicij u -
terns could be used, no iur as me
nnri lv mala mind can judge, this is the
only way in which tuttooing can be used
as an ornament in connection with the
W. and if the motive which influences
the young ladies of England is one of
economy, they are certainly deserving of
praise.
The weight of probability is, however,
in favor of tho hypothesis that British
girls are tattooed for identification, and
not for ornament. Whether tbe custom
will be introduced here remains to be
awn of course, by qualified and legiti
mate eyes. Probably it will gain ground
slowly among ns for the reason that girls
irt not so abundant here as in England.
and the danger of loning them ia, there
fore, comparatively slight.
Rescued by a Trout
Estimated by thoir game qualities and
the diflicnlty sometimes experienced in
safely landing them, tho larger speci
mens of our monntain tront weigh like
a sturgeon. This fact is established
whenever the tront, hooked in a pool
with sufficient depth and spread of
water, can bring to bear in his native
element the full resisting force of his
remarkably strong and active tail. Illus
trative of this, a Btory is told of the ex
perience of two professional fishers who
recently went out from Helena to the
Big Blackfoot, one a doctor and the
other a lawyer. In a very brief time
Uioy had a basket of beauties for their
pains, but the fascination of tho sport
kept them tossing their flics into the
clear waters of the magnificent stream.
Finally one man hooked a "bouncer,"
one on which lie had most yearned to try
his skill. Tho pool was deep and broad,
and, work and finesse as the doctor
might, the trout held to the water. The
lawyer, resting his companion, tried his
strength aud tact, but with no better
luck. The trout seemed to be master of
tho situation, nor could he be towed or
tuckered out. Tho contest finally cul
minated in a most exciting scene. De
termined to secure the prize, and for
gotting that he could not swim, the vali
ent doctor, threwing aside coat and
boots, jumjied into the depths of the
stream. It was a rash act, and to save
him the lawyor was forced to plunge in
after him. A fair swimmer, he reachod
his struggling companion, and holding
on to the pole aud tackle with one hand,
lifted with tho other hia companion's
head above water.
But tho lawyer found he could not
jl 4ii aaaa u in ui.u wi diiuicu nun vuij
su)erhuman effort could lie keep him
self and companion from sinking. On
the vory point of drowning the trout
came to tho rescuo, straightened out tho
lino, and after a few sportive pranks,
hauled the two men out of the pool to
shallow water. Grateful for the service
thus obligingly rendered, the fish was
permitted to disappear over the riffle
downstream. This story is confirmed by
the testimony of both the gentlemen con
cerned, and by the trout itsolf, which
has since boon towing the tackle up and
down the waters of the Blackfoot.
Helena (Montana) Herald,
Too Much Klcctrlclty.
8loux CUy Joaraal.l
A little story is told of a scientist from
the eastern part of this State who was
making a tour of Nebraska and finding
himself in the vicinity of the Winnebago
agency, thought ho would go thore and
take in an Indian Fourth of July cele
bration. There was bow-shooting and
rifle practice, pony and foot racing, a
war dance anil all that sort of thing.
Tho man of learning, who is a grave,
sad-faced individual, that would not
wittingly do a wrong, thought it but just
to add his mite in the fund of amuse
ment and so produced an eloctrio bat
tery, and the Bimple experiments of
Faraday's science. Thon he put on the
boards the common farco known as "Not
gotting the money." Everyone remem
bers ''ow this basin of water is
charged with electricity and a silver ooin
dropped in ; how gonerously the showman
offers the coin to anyone who will take
it out, and how as one after another tries
to take the money from tho water his
hand is erampod and paralyzed by the
electricity in the water. This little ei
perimont ploasod the bucks greatly.
As ono after another retired discomfited
he was greeted with five loud guffaws of
merriment and shouts of applause The
water was gotting charged with tho eloc
trio fluid to the point of saturation when
the last Winnebago presented himself to
try his luck. The water was so charged
that instead of acting in the usual way,
cramping the hand and causing an in
voluntary jork out of the water, the
shock went directly into his whole sys
tem and he was powerless to remove his
hand. The man ot science seeing him,
as he thought, grasping for tho Bilvor,
redoubled his efforts at the crank, and
ground so much concentrated lightning
into him that he all but diod. His head
dropped on his breast, his pulse was
weak and his breath nearly gone. Then
our traveler saw his mistako. To Bay
that he was frightened, but foebly con
veys the idea, lie ceused his labors at
the crank, and called for cold water to
dash in the face of his red brother, lie
walked said brother around, stood him
on his head and tortured him generally,
and at the end of noverul hours, had the
satisfaction of pronouncing the brave
out of danger. But the show was over.
Path Piiices. The thousand francs a
night that Adelfna Patti is to receive at
St. Petersburg is tbe theme of a good deal
of conversarion in art circles here. "My
face Is my fortune, sir," she said, is an old
quotation from an old ditty, but varying
the word "face" by voice, or "sinuous
ness," or "cheek," how especially true it
is in the present day. There are men
here, as there are in most capitals where
art in any form is at premium, who spend
their existence in scenting out likely tal
ent. When they do strike a vein.it is
wonderful what a paying propeity to all
parties it becomes. Talking of this re
minds nie of the first steps to fume of the
greut Rachel. Hers was not a type of
beauty to catch the eye of the art ex
phUeur. At the very beginning of her
career she ventured to ask the frank
opinion of Provost, then one of the first
in the ranks of the Theater-Francaise.
The great comedian surveyed the frail
creature from head to foot, and with a
mournful shuke of the head said: "My
good girl, you were never meant for the
stage. Take ray advice ; go and sell flow
ers on the boulevards." Any one but
Rachel in a similar position would no
doubt have done something more desper
ate than flower selling even. She, how
ever, continued ber course, and. a few
years after became a wciriaire of that very
Tbeater-Francais from whose chief actor
she had received such a terrible rebuff.
She avenged herself the first night of her
appearance on that historic stage. Bou
quets and wreaths, applause and felicita
tions were the order of the night. At the
end of the nlav the great actress selected
a dozen of the finest bouquets, and, put
ting them in her robe, held basket-wiee.
advanced modestly lows rus rrovwi. iuu
advised me to take lo flower selling, will
yau bny a bouquet, Monsieui ? "You
niiugiity gin, repneu me eietu ui ,
"forget the fulse prophecy and forgive the
false prophet" 1'arti Curr. Jlnltimure Sun.
An exchange says that one girl In the
kitchen is worth two at the front gate.
i