A TOi.
Hera ii Ilia fur of nijr lady,
tier tiu, wiib iu smile divine,
Iierere with their grave inU'otnrw,
, And their shy, proud look st mine,
O mouth, you are linn yet fonder,
Your tunes mar bo cold or mild,
Too, may keep book a derini lover,
Yet eomfort grieving child.
You r pur nd luir tithe liiiet,
You ere bright the July un;
V'ou are grave end guy by llmliw,
You ere women end mot la one.
Eecbengfl.
wir."
VHOH THE OEIlUAJt OF ALKYAKDED FBKI
HEBAS T. 1101IERTH.
Heturning from a business trip, I en
tard my wife's bondoir, and found hor
toweling before a low cuair, on wnicn
cat a, boy baby with large, round and
wondering eyes. She got tip and came
t uatling in her silken robe do chambre to
ect mo. Hue reached out bcr hand and
greeted me not more heartily nor yet
More formally than we wore accustomed
to greet each other in those days.
"There it is," said my wife, pointing
to the child.
"What?"askod I. But oho stooped
down before tho little strangor, held a
biscuit close to it5 little upturned face,
a4 half turning toward me, replied:
"Well, yon know did we not read of
it in tho newspaper ? Don't you remem
berthe day beforo yesterday? And is
it not beautiful?"
Now I did recollect that a few nights
Wore she had hold the Gazette undor
(be light of my student lamp, and point
tag with her finger to an advertisement,
ail to mo, 'Tlease read that." It was
the well known appeal, the cry of do
pair from a bleeding heart, addressed
to "good people." A child was offered
for adoption to persons well off. " What
would you think of our taking it?" my
wife had said ; and I hail returnod tho
paper to her with a shrug of my shoul
ders. "Bat, Martha, what have you done ?"
riod 1, in a tone vibrating with anger.
"You have really--"
"Certainly, as you see. , And thon it
Wongs to me; I myself have settled
everything with tho poor mother, who is
at reality to be pitied. I buve sworn to
sake good care of it; and so I will, in-
I at onco gave up all sorious objection.
Dad wo not been aooustomed for years
so act independently of each other? Our
marriage was not a happy one, although
w had not married for love. During
the noise and bustle of tho crowded ex
change, our fathers had contracted this
union. She had to tear her heart from a
toned ono, and in mine glowed a passion
Mat yet outspoken. But parontul wishes
MXKiacred. We chose to be obedient
children; and so it happened.
At the eommenoement we wore to each
other a silont roproaoh; after which fol
.Wed a declared war, until finally we
uuiie to a polite but gloomy peaco.
Well, this child belonged entiroly to
her! I beard later that she had given the
mother J 1000, the prioe of a Be ; of jewels
whwh she sold secrotly.
"Why did you not tell me of it?" said
I, bait angrily.
"Hecauso it would have been too lato,
it I had waited for your return to the
--ity; and besidos I wanted to have it en
tirely for myself; I want to call it my
own;" said she poutingly.
My horsos, my dogs; hor canaries,
hor gold-fishes that I could endure,
hat that she wanted to have her child
for herself alone, that was too much for
The thought of it tortured me one,
two days long. On the third day, my
wife having gone out in hor carriage,
tuoro came a veiled woman and do
rounded entrance. It was the mother.
Like a shadow she glided into the room,
ikl with a half suppressed sob, begged
to see her child once more. Bhe could
jtot part from him forevor without oue
more kiss upon his chocks. I opened
uiy safe quickly. "Here, my good wo
man," said I, "take that, they nave not
Kivcu you enough." Hot toars fell
tiown her wau cheeks; she begged me
Kt to judge her too harshly; she had an
other child, a cripple and helpless; she
herself was sick and would not live much J
longer, and what was to become of the
children? Thon she thought I myself
hud to finish the sontenco, which a vio
lent fit of coughing had interrupted.
"Ya," she had thought, "I will sell tho
healthy one, in order that the money
iav help the cripple when I am dead
d gone,"
No, she must not be judgod harshly;
w rich ones know but little of the trials
ixl temptations of the poor.
Whon my wife returned, I gave her
nu account of the call I had bad, adding
that I had given to the unfortunate one
-ttxaotly the same amount as she had.
"And now," said I, "you sec that
tho child belongs to both of us."
She bit her lip with her littlo white
twth.
"It is all the same to mo," aid alio
iter a moment's reflection; and with
that she pressed a tender kiss on the
littlo boy's mouth. It sounded almost
Uko a challenge.
"Our ohild." I soarooly ever saw it.
And the changes that were made iu our
household for his sake were made en
tirely without me. Sometime after the
moat important things were decided my
consent was thou askod. "We are
obliged to have a nurse, I hired ono An
eWw." I nodded silontly. "We must
At up a nursery; that room is too warm
the child." I nodded sileutly, but I
heard the sound of the workmen, who
wore already busr in the hall. What
oould I do better? Was it not all done
- for oar child?
My wife and I did not talk much about
tins child, and when we did mentieu it
w need only the name "It." Hut this
""It" could be hoard through the houso
at almost any time of the day.
"It must nave its own name, said i
day.
"I entirely forgot to ask the mother
s' mean the woman what its name is,"
oawored my wife. "She intended to
enene again. But she does not come, she
is certainly sick. Now, I call it Max.
, Uax is a pretty short name, is it not?"
"Hni," returned I between two
Imughta of my cigar, "Frits wonld
also be quite a pretty name" "One can
ot change the name now, on account of
-dumostice," answered she shortly, and
tkeo called out loudly, "Is Max tip
lredy!" Never mind, was it not our
ohild?
I, T tdaved mv iustifiable
part toward our child. At dinner it was
always served at a Uttio taDieinsnau
joining room. At such times we could
hear, between the scantily dropping
phrases of our conversation, its merry
prattling, accompanied by the clattering
of its spoon. My. wife hod no rest;
there was a continual coming and going
between us and bin; the soup might be
too hot; and be might eat too much,
wife " !! T nrf nuietlr but verv de
cidedly, "from to-morrow it shall eat
with us at our table, it is piu enougu
now, with its two years."
From that time on "It" ate with us.
He sat there in his high chair like a
prince, olose to mywiie; doiu opposite
to me like declared enemies, a it were.
Tim vnilnwmh ualonoss of poverty had
yielded to a fine aristocratic pink in bis
little cheeks, which, now becoming quite
chubby, sat oomfortablo on the stiff
folds of the napkin, it worxeu power
fully at its soup; and now that it had
finished, set up the spoon like a scepter
in its lit'Je round fist on the table. My
wife and I had exchanged a few words,
and now and again we sat silent, its
large eves began to open wider and
widor. They stared on me, stared at my
wife, with a surprised, almost quiet ex
pression, as if thoy had a presentiment
tljut was not all right between as. I
confess that these days embarrosed me,
and that I hod a fooling of reliof when
Frederick entered with a dish. And I
think that mv wife felt the same.
And the following days there were the
samo large, wondering eyes, like an ap
pealing question, staring into the pauses
of our conversation. It sounds ridicu
Inne hnt it is nevertheless true, we were
the culprits before the child, we two
grown persons! Ana oy degrees our con
venation became more animated. The
occasional prattlings of the little one
were noticed and spoken about, indeed,
somotimes there was mutual laughter at
his attempts to speak.
Ahl how light, how bell like pure
sounded her langhtor! Had I never
heard that before? And what was the
matter with me. that I sometimes bent
over my writingdesk, listening as though
I hoard from a distance tuese same silvery
tones?
With tlm first sunnv soring davs "It"
bogan to plav in the garden, which I
conld overlook from mv seat in my office.
Khe was Generally with him. I could
hear the sound of his little foot on the
nnbblcs. and then her footsteps. Now
she would playfully chase him and a cho
rus of twittering sparrows would join
their notes with tho merry laughter. Now
she would catch him and kiss his cheeks
over and over. Once I opened my win
dow; a warm, balsamlo air streamed
around me, and a butterfly fluttered in
and lit on my inkstand. Just then she
oarae out of the green, vine grown bower;
she was dressed in a dazzling white neg
ligee, trimmed with costly lace; all over
her streamed the golden sunshine, eioept
that hor face was overshadowed by the
pink of her parasol.
How slim she appeared! how graceful
in her movements! Had I been blind?
Truly, the aunts and cousins were right;
she was in reality beautiful! A sweot
smilo transformed her features. She was
happy certainly in this moment she was
and her happinoss came from her child.
Then a voice made itself heard in my
breast, which said very plainly, "you are
a monster!" I got up and walked to the
window. "It is a beautiful day," called
I. I know how oold and prosaio it must
have sounded to her. It came like a
heavy oloud shadow over a sunny land
scape. She answered something that I
did not understand; but the brightness
was gone from hor little face. Then she
took up the ohild who was stretching out
his arms to her, and kisssd and caressed
him before my eyes.
Thero it was when the first feeling of
natmw waa nrrt lift Ail in me; a iealonsv
truly, but what a strange jealousy which
could not make clear to liseu wuowasus
object? If "It" said "mamma" to her,
there oame a rain in my heart; and the
caresses with whioh she overwhelmed
him almost drove me wild. I "as joal
ousofboth! It pained me that I had no
part In this weaving of love; that 1 was
not the third in the union, I exorted
mysolf to gain a part of their love, i ant
it very clumsily. The child persevered
in a certain shyness, and she had I not
kept myself forcibly away from hor dur
ing these long, long years.
Ono day at the dinner table, after a
skirmish of words, came a great still
ness botwoon us, a Btillness more painful
thau it had ever beeu. I glanoed down
.i Hm dnu'nn nn mv nlate of Saxon Dor-
oelain. mv displeasure showing in my
face; but I lelt plainly mat -it uau us
eye fixed on mo, and also her eyos! It
was as if those four eyes burned on my
forohend. Then sounded suddenly iu
tho stillness: "Pa pa!" and again louder
and more courageous: "Papa!" I Blind
derod. "It" sat there and stared, now
very much frighteued, over at me, won
doriug perhaps whether a storm would
bo raised by its "Papa." Hut her faoe
was auffuaed with glowiug redness, and
her half opened lips trembled slightly.
Thero came a flood of gladness ovor
my heart. Certaiulv no one but her had
taught him this "Papa." Why did I
not spring up, bound toward her, and
ith one word, one embraeo, strike ont
the loneliness of those last six years?
One right word iu this moment and all
would nave boen well. It remained un
spoken ; I seemed to have lost all power
to act, but on a certain page of ray
ledger are still traces of the tears I shod
in angor at my own stupidity.
I folt myself always more and more
unhappy iu my loneliness. Jealousy
grew in me; it gave me all sorts o oot
ish thoughts. I wanted to rebel against
the little autocrat, that would be ridi
culous; I wanted to give hor the ehoieo
between him and me. I, audsoious one,
I knew very well which side her heart
wonld choose. At another time I was
ready to take steps in order to find the
nntiiAP an, I with the iower of sold.
force tor to tako bach her child -behind
mv wife's back? That would no cow
ardly.
I could no longer fix my mind on rmsi
noes. I mistrusted even myself. Peo
pie asked what was the matter with me.
I feigned illness.
The sunshine would not let itself be
banished, and the spirit of love was
stronger than 1. With his flaming sword
be drove me out. "I must take a long
journey, Martha." My voice trembled
as I said this. My wife must have no
ticed it; for something like moist, tinning
pity trembled in her beautiful eyes. At
my taking leave, she held the little one
toward me and asked in soft, caressing
tones, "Will you not say adieu to our
child?'' I took up the little one, perhaps
too roughly; at all events, he began to
ory and to resist my caresses. Then I
put him down and hastened away.
I have traveled in uncertainty through
the world, and behold! after the first few
days, in addition to my ordinary travel
ing companion, bad humor, there oame
another fellow who told me plainly I was
a fool. First, it sounded like a whisper,
then louder and loader and louder:"iou
are a downright fool." Finally, I read
it in tho newspaper before me; it was
traced on the blue mountains; the loco
motive shrieked it to me. Yes, I believed
it, why did I not then and there turn my
face homeward? Well, the fool must
first travel it all off before everything
would be right again.
At last, one day, with a violent beat
ing of tho heart, I again entered my
dwelling. What a solemn stillness
reigned thore! I oould now bear the
sound of whispering voices; my wife
came toward me. "It is siok, very sick,"
moaned she, "It will surely die!" I
tried to oomfort her. Only a short time,
however, proved that her fears were too
well grounded. During the last night
we sat by the little bed; she there and I
here. Each of us holding; one of his
little hands. Ah! those feverish pulse
beats! every stroke sounding like an
appeal: "Love eaoh other, love each
other; be good!" We felt eventually the
appeal. Our eyes met full and earnest
through the glittering tears, as if in a
first, holy vow. Words would have
seemed a sacriloge then.
Not long after, we laid our darling in
the warm spring earth. ,
When we again sat down at our table,
there was a stillness between us; it was
not the same stillness as that which the
little Btrangerbad broken upon with bis
parting "Papa." Even by the wall stood
Lis high arm chair, and on the little
board before it lay. his spoon scepter. My
wife reached her fine, white hand over
the table, and asked, "Did you love it?
at least a little?" Her voice trembled. I
fell at her feet and held her hands in
mine.
After tho first emotion had subsided,
I pointed to the armchair. "The littlo
one came to teach us love," whispered I,
"And when it bad finished its teachings
it went a?ain to the angels," added she,
through her tears.
. A Modern Arcadia.
The London News of recent date,
contains the following:
According to a paper lately communi
cated to the French Geographical Sooie
ty by Dr. Le Bon, there exists high up
smoug the Capathian Mountains of Oal
icia, in a district known as Tatras, one of
the most primitive and unsophisticated
communities in Europe. The popula
tion of this remote region numbers sev
eral thousand individuals. They use
noither strong drink or tea or eat animal
food. Riches havo no oharms for them.
Though poor they are content, and
though their diet is spare ana monoto
nons, they enjoy perfect health and live
long lives. The food of these Arcadians
is urineinallv oats, either simply boiled
or converted into cakes. During four or
fire months of the year those of them
who aocompany their flocks and herds to
the mountain pastures live exclusively
on goat milk whey, of which each man
oonsumes from three to four liters daily.
Practically, therefore, those goat feeders
live on the sugar and mineral salts con
tained in they whey. They do not con
sider this rogimen a privation, and, says
Dr. Le Bon, who has been among them,
when they return to the valley
at tne end of the season
they are. as strong and es vig
orous as when they sot out. The entire
race of PodhalianB (as tue people ot
Tatras call themselves) are remarkable
for their vigor and are lnoonteatuoiy
superior, physically and intellectually,
to the neighboring populations. The
lives of the Podhalians are easy and
tranquil, not because of the abundinoe
of their resources, for they are a poor
eople, inhabiting an arid region, but
eoauBe their needs are few, and they
are free from the oraving for stimulants,
which is the curse of working people in
other parts of Europe. Their physique
is ot a remarkable purity, iney are
quick of apprehension and fratik in man
ner. Though far from boing niguiy cui
turod, the Podhalians are poets and ar
tists by nature. They are fond of dano
iuit. and often when the labors of the
day are ovor, meet to iudulgo iu their
favorite diversion. They are born im
provisatores, too, and mauy of them can
eing their own songs sot to music of
their own composition. Thoir poetry,
Bays Dr. Le Bon, is tender and artless iu
sentiment, generous and elevated in stylo
qualities which he attributes to tue
"wealth of spontaneous resources" pos-
seBseascd by natures that know neither
violent passions uor unnatural excito
meats. Precautionary.
"What I want to inquire is," he said,
as he leaned over the desk, "if yon think
this war in Egypt will atloot the stock of
the Sue canal?"
"It may," replied the head clerk.
"To any serious extent?"
"Well, I can't say. Are jou a stock
holder?" "No."
"Did you think of investing?"
"No."
"Then how can' you be affected by any
ohanRc?"
"Well, I dunno. I'm a great hand to
trade horses, and if a feller should come
along and offer to give me $2o in Sues
Canal stock and a purty fair hosi for my
five year-old mare, I'd want to be posted.
I got stuuk onoe with $30 worth of stock
in a railroad which was to run from
Wisconsin to Africa, and the hull family
had to go without flannels for seventeen
months. So you think it would be safe
to take Sue at pr, oh?" Detroit Free
Press.
The Krasun rThy.
"PaUey, me darlint, where do ve wish
to be buried when yes are dead? asked
a sobbing wife of her dying husband.
"Down in the Jew's cemetery," came
the faint and strange answer.
wOhon!n'are yes gone crsxy en
toirelv, Tateey? An' why do you want
to beuried there?"
"Becanae, Biddy, the divil bad cess
to him wouldn't think of lookin' for an
Irishman in a Jews' buryin' ground."
Longevity s a Measure of llapptim.
During his last expedition to Central
Asia, Prof. Vambery managed to inter
view the Emir of Samarcsnd a sort of
Mohammedan prince-cardinal and pri
mate of the Eastern Sumnites. As
Iman of the local lyoeum the Emir ap
peared to take a natural interest in the
progress of European science, but, whon
his guest expatiated on the material
prosperity of the Western Giaours, be
interrupted him with a less expected
question.
"The happiest people on earth, you
call them? What age do they generally
attain to?" Vambery seems to have re
turned an evasive reply, though he ad
mits that the query was not altogether
irrelevant, at least from the stand-point
of an Oriental who values existence for
his own sake. But even in the less unpre
tending West, longevity is riot a
very bad criterion of happi
ness. Misfortune kills; Nature takes
care to shorten a lifo of misery for rea
sons of her own, too, for, in a somewhat
recondite (but here essential) sense, the
survival of the happiest is also the survi
val of the;tlttest. The progress of knowl
edge tends toircumsaribo the realnrof
accident, and' with it the belief in the
existence of unmerited evils. In spite of
prenatal influences and unpreculculable
mishaps, the management of the individ
al is the most important factor in the
sum total of weal or woe. If we could
see ourselves as Omniscience sees us, we
would probably recognise our worst
troubles as the work of our owu hands,
and we thus recognize them now with
sutlioient clearness to be half ashamed of
them. Most men nowadays dislike to
confess their bad luck. We havo ceased
to ascribe diseases to th3 malice of capri
cious deamons, and even in Spain
the commander of a beaten army
would hesitate to plead astrological
excuses. Polyoratcs held that a plucky
man can bias the stars, and the popular
worship of succeas may be founded on
an instinctive perception of a similar
truth. Sultan Achmed went too far in
his habit of strangling bis defeated
pashas, but the world in general agrees
with him that there must be something
wrong about a generally unsuccessful
man. After two or three decided dofoats
the partisans of a popular leader will
give him up for lost, and after a series
of disasters the damaged man bimsolf
generally begins to share their opinion
and loses heart, or, as the ancients ex
pressed it, admits the decree of fate
i. e., his own inability to prevail in the
Btrugglo for cxistenoe; and it is curious
how swiftly a physical collapse often fol
lows upon such a giving way of the
moral supports. The storms of every
political, social, and financial crisis
extinguish hundreds of life flames; lost
hope is fatal (though a silent and sorao-
timne nn niu'nnfARxad and unsUBDectedl
disease. Good luck, on the other hand,
tends to prolong nie; tue longevity oi
pensioners and sinecurists is almost pro-vAi-liiul
and thni-A ttrft men who continue
to live in defianoe of all biological proba
bilities, merely because existence some
how or other has become desirable, as a
liberal supply of external oxygen will
nourisba lamp in default of the inner oil.
At the begining of the Franco-Prussian
war Kintr William and his chancellor
and staff officers were already grey
i 3.1 i i il H rt ; . l .
neaueu veterans, auu iv id uu auumcui
that they are all alive yet; while nearly
nil tlm miniatfli-fl nnil marshals of the ex
ploded empire have followed their leader
" weary oi lue and urea oi outtoning
and unbuttoning," as the captain of H.
f ttrnloinAil Ilia all Ipiil A I T)l. FmliT
L. Oswald, in Popular Soience Monthly
lor September.
Diving Belts.
The first diving bell we read o was
nothing but a very large kettle supended
by ropes, with the mouth downward and
planks to sit upon fixed iu the middle
of its concavity. Two Greeks at Toledo
made an experiment witu it belore tue
Emperor Charles V. They dosoended in
it with a lighted candle to a considerable
depth. In 1G83 William Phipps, the son
of a blacksmith, formed a project for un
loading a Spanish ship sunk on coast oi
Hisoanolia. Charles II. gave him a
ship with everything necessary for the
undertaking, but being unsuccessful He
returned in great poverty. He then en
deavored to procure another vessol, but
failing, he got a subscription, to which
the Duke of Albermar'.e contributed. ' In
1633 Phipps Bet sail in a ship of two
huudred tons, having previously en
gaged to divide the profits according to
the twenty shares of which the subscrip
tion consisted. At first his labors proved
fruitless, but at last, when ho seemed to
despair, he was fortunate to bring up so
much treasure that he returned to Eng
land with the value or 500,000 sterling.
Of this sum he got about 20,000 and
the Duke 90,000. Phipps was knighted
by the' King and laid the foundations of
the fortunes of the present house of
Mulgrave. Since that time diving bells
have often been employed. On the oc
casion of the breaking of the water of
the Thames, during the progress of the
tunnel beneath it.Mr. Brunei frequently
descended in one to the bed ot the river.
Diving helmets, supplied with air by a
force-pump; aro of more recent date and
have proved of great use in submarine
explorations; but these bid fair to be at
Inst superseded, so far as tue supply of
pumped air is concerned, by the new
and remarkable system of Mr. Fleuss,
which requiies no supply of air from the
surface.
Fains from NcTered Limbs.
The feet of Josiah West, who met with
that terrible accident on the railroad a
few days ago, were yesterday taken by
his wife to Fremont, New Hampshire,
for burial. When the unfortunate mau
gained consciousness at the hospital, the
moruing following the loss of his limbs,
be complained that his toes pained him
a great deal, that they seemed badly
cramped, and be requested that some
one move them for him. At that time
the feet were tied in a bag, and the hos
pital people did not know where they
were to be found. It seems simply in
credulous that the position or condition
of a severed member of a person's body
should affect in the least the sensibilities
oftheoaner; but suffice it say that the
undertaker, with whom the writer con
versed, affirms that he personally knows
of numerous cases where persons who
have lost a limb declared that they felt
pain from from awkward positions in
whioh the member was iu.
He cited an instance of a man who lost
an arm in this city last Fall. After be
ing amputated it was sent to the under
taker's for burial. It was placed in a
box, the back of the hand beiag down,
remaining in this position for several
hours. The owner of the severed mem
ber, during that time, experionood pain
in the arm, which grew ao unbearable
that at lost be asked a friend to go lo the
undertaker's and seo about tho limb.
This was at 6:45 in the afternoon. The
friend was busy and did not start off for
half an hour, and during that time the
pain had ceased snd the wounded man
said he need not go. He went, however,
and found that the undertaker had just
finished caring for the arm; that it had
boen placed in an easy and natural posi
tion in the box. The time when the arm
was changed from the awkward position
to the latter ooinoided exactly with the
time when the owner had felt the pain
leave him. When the friond reported
to the unfortunate man, he (the latteV)
said he knew just how the arm was
placed; that he could foci its position,
and oorroctly doscribed the same.
Another case citod by tho undertaker
was about a man who lost an arm above,
the elbow. The member was given to
the undertaker and buru-d. The man
subsequently weut to Lawrence to live.
About a year after the acoidont he paid
the undertaker a visit and told him his
arm for a long time had pained him a
great deal; that the fingers seemed
cramped, and that be wanted to see the
bnried member. Accordingly, it was
dug op and examined, and strange to say,
found to have the fingers tightly turned
up toward the palm, as the man had said
they felt to him. The fingers were
straightened and the arm consigned
again to the ground, and no moro trouble
was experienced from it.
It cress. of lasakltj.
It case out at a recent convention of
delegates, representing charities and cor
rections, at the capital of Wisconsin,
that there ere now iu the United States
fully 100,000 insane people, of whom less
than one half can be accommodated in
the public and private asylums. It ap
pears, also, that insanity is increasing
more than three fold as fast as the popu
lation. The increase from 1870 to 1880
was 100,000 per cent, against 30 per cent,
of population. The asylums are costing
$12,000,000 a year, yet more are cared
for out of them than in them. The ratio
of cures to the total of the afflicted is
lower than it was ten years ago, and
asylum statistics show that it is only by
taking hold of the disease in its early
stages that cure ii st sll possible. "Alco
holism" is presented as one of the chief
causes of this increase of madness, and
the marriage of persons inheriting the
disease another.
Startling as the theory may seem at
first thoiiL'ht, it is probably Kiisceptible
of prooi that the' increase of insanity
keeps about even pace with the advances
of civilization. The States tint are most
enlightened are those which have the
highest per cent, of people in the asy
lums for the insane. Savages and bar
barians hnrdly ever become crazed. An
insane Imliiiu is as rare as a dwarf In
diau. The logic of it is that there must
be radical defects in the tfliug we call
civilization; und these are probably as
often traceable to the schools and col
leges as to the family and heredity. Cat
it be that the children are prostrated in
thoir brain force and nerve force by be
ing overtaxed at school? Certain it is
that the great majority of crazed people
in the asylums are of the educated class.
No doubt alcoholism is a prolific genera
tor of insanity. The records of the Cali
fornia asylums explain that. The his
tory of the growth of insanity in this
State shows that it has been about in
proportion with the excess of the
growth of the cities and towns
over the growth of the rural dis
tricts. It is in the town and city that al
coholism most prevails. Not only alco
holism, but other promoters of disease,
such as sudden revulsions of fortune and
vices peon liar to all cities. This asser
tion is fully sustained by comparison of
the statistics of iusanity in the states con
taining the large cities with those almost
exclusively rural. New York, Pennsyl
vania, Illinois and California rank high
est in the percentage of insanity; while
Iowa, Kansas, Texas and Arkansas, which
contain no cities over 30,000 or 40,000,
rank lowest. All remedial measures for
the prevention of disease are but per
functory; but temporance, moderation
in study by the young, and relaxation
from the cares and vexations of business
by those of maturer years, are the best
in results yet tried. Eras of high excite
ment and reckless speculation are 'pro
moters of insanity. The Comstock mines
have added five hundred victims to the
list in this State and Nevada, San
Francisco Chronicle.
. the Best Blackbird Story.
It is, perhaps, not generally known
that the city of Ionia has been invaded
by the army worm. Hearing that they
were at work on a prairie between De
troit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee road
and Grand rivor, we walked over there
this forenoon to see. The story pr jves
to be too true. Tho whole prairie looks
as if it hod been burned over. Millions
of worms are at work, and almost every
blade of grass has been attacked. They
appeared some time last week on the
piece of ground owned by the Hou. G.
W. Webber, and have been and appear
to be still traveling westward. They
bad not reached the high-water road this
morning, but were pushing vigorously
in that direction. Myriads of black
birds, yellow-birds und robins were
hovering over the place most infested,
evidently making a meal of the worms.
Just in front of the right fliuk of the
army worms is a corn-field,
and along the east fence, which
separates it from the meadow, a line of
blackbirds were stationed, in as good or
der as if they were marshaled for u fight
uuder a military leader. They would fly
iu a solid mass to the ground, as if attack
ing something, and then fall back to the
Surely enough, examination showed that
the pestiferous insects had come np to
the fence, but had not gone one inch
beyond, and noue could b seen on the
corn. But a large numberof dead worms
could be 'seen on the ground where the
birds had been east of the fence It is
certain that tbe birds had made havoc
with tho worms, and it really looked as
if they had a design in it to keep them
out ot the corn-field. Who will kill
birds after observing such things as
ths?
Polish Immigrants la Detroit.
They're a thrifty people, the Poland,
ers."
"Thrifty! Let a family consisting of
husband and wife, four children, and I
grandfather and granumothor, come t.
town with 8150 or 8200 in cash, and in
five years they will own 8.')000 worth of
proporty."
"llow in tho science of economy iln
they do it?" J ao
"By having juBt such womeu as yon
see ahead of you."
"They are used to such service from
childhood?" m
"Yes; the children are ntilized for the
gatheriLg of firewood and swill."
"Now, what do they do with that scrap
lumber? Firewood?
"Firewood! Not much. That is
building material."
Mr. Baxtor drove through the Polish
quarter of the city. The bouses are all
small, but they afford perfect shelter
from rain and cold, and in very many
cases are made of scrap lumber.
"You see," said Mr. Baxter, "they
'striko' the city, and until they get a
house of their own they are cared for by
their friends. (There are now from two
to four families in nearly every house.)
Tbey loase a lot for ten years at 810 per
year, agreeing to pay all taxes. They
then begin work. The men are, most of
them, ordinary laborers, earning from
ninety cents to 81.25 per day. By the
aid of choice bits seleoted from swill
gathered by the children, enough is
saved from the wages to pay ground rent
and.buy nails, bricks for chimneys, and
little odds and ends needed in house
building. Meanwhile the women patrol
the city for scrap lumber."
"What do they do for foundation tim
bers and framing?"
"Ocoasioually they buy thorn, hut
often they got the stuff for tho carrying
of it away, when, in the business portion
of the city, some old wooden building i
being torn down to make way for a new
structure."
"The women do not lug joists snd
scantling on their backs, do they?"
"No; they find out where such ma
terial is to be had, and then they get
some friond who is driving a team for
some merchant or manufacturer, and
when he is on bis way home at night
meet him at the place speoitled and load
up his wagon." '
"As a class, these Poles are very
healthy?"
"A physician told me onoe that ht
never saw a class so muscular, so free
from disease, and so free to pay for medi
cal attendance."
"How do you account for it?"
"I don't try to. . The other day I met
two Polanders whom I knew well, and
they each had four or five boef hoofs,
with perhaps two or three inches of
shank attachod to eaoh hoof. I asked
where they got them, and they told me
they got them at the Michigan Carbon
Works and thut they were taking them
home for food. Sounds disagreeable,
doesn't it?"
"It'e literally chewing glue."
"Still when you think of it it isn't so
bad. There's Iota of gluten in a shank,
and hoof, and I suppose they get the
material for nothing."
"No wonder they prosper." Detroit
Free Press. ,
A Won lerful (iutne of Pitt U.
Some further facts regarding tho pitch
penny game ou Third street have come
out. The names are carefully kept
secret from the general public, for
neither of the gentlemen engaged in the
game care for notoriety in this matter.
The game was not between brokers, as
reported. One of them was a broker and
the other was a gentleman well known
on Third street as a speculator and
genial frequenter of tho broker's parlors.
The game was played in the rear office
of the broker, and the two began with
pennies in the merest sport. Four or
five mutual friends were also present,
and they watched the game with mterest.
Their interest was soon exchanged for
excitement when the principals, rapidly
raising their stakes, were engaged in
matching for hundreds, and then thon-
amis of dollars. The broker was uni
formly successful, but the other gentle
man, with all the pertinacity of a gam
bler who is sure the next throw will
bring back everything, kept on reckless
ly doubling and losing. In this wy,
$18,000, aud not $12,000, as was mcor
rectly stated at first, were won by tbe
broker. At thut stage the loser began
to appreciate how largely uo was oat,
and to desire to retrive his ill-luck. This
the broker courteously concurred in, al
though more than once beforo he had
signified his willingness to stop at any
time. Three more trials were bad and
the amount was reduced to ju,"1
Then the friends of the two players de
livered an opinion, as it was getting late
that the brokor had given all the etiances
that could be well demanded of bim.aml
that he ought not be compelled to play
any longer. So the wonderful gun?9
came to an end, and the broker put w
his breast pocket a promissory note w'
612,000. Chicago Times.
Tf Iti ess My Hand anil S at."
" A thousand years ago the masses, the
nobility, the poor and the rich, were
wholly unocquainted with the mysteries
of the alphabet and the pen. A few men,
known as clerks, who generally belongea
to the priesthood, monopolized tbem
a special class of artists. They taugm
the business only to their apprentices,
and beyond themselves and tbeir lew
pupils, no one knew how to read ana
write, nor was it expected of the g
erality, any more than it would be now
adays that everybody should be a snoe
maker or a lawyer. Kings did not even
know how to sign their names, so iu
when the wanted to subscribe to a
ten contract, law or treaty, which so
clerk bad dtawn up for them, th?J.,,0U'j
smear their right hand with ink, n
ship it down upon the parchment saving
"Witness my hand." At a later da.
some genius devised the substitu te
seal, which was impressed instead oi w
hand, butoftener beside the hand. .. ,1
gentleman bad a seal with a peculiar ar
vice tb-reon. Hence tbe c,m!L "i
words" Witness my band and seal, am
to modern deeds, serve at lat tbe p
pose of reminding us of the ignorance
the Middle Ages.
A conspicuous increase is a0J
the importation of foreign wares,
entrienof dry goods alone i for Jiy
New York City foot up 111.370.040.