SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY
-Drugs and other agents acting
chemically, if used in amounts which
are commonly safe, do not sterilize
water.
During tho last ten years an oclu
list of Cronstadt is said to have treated
thirty cases of photo-olcotrio ophthal
mia, a new disoaso duo to tho action ol
tho electric light on tho eyes.
A now lacquer named "ardenhrito"
ha.Vjust boon brought out in London
hngland. It is said to bo proof against
water, steam smoke, sea air, and sea
water.
Carriage manufacturers are pre
dieting that in the not distant future
wooden wheels will bo done away with.
and stool wheels substituted on account
of tho increasing scarcity of lumber
lor wheels.
The yellow cedar of Alaska is said
to furnish timber of great value, hav
ing a close, lino grain, and being re
markable for its strength and dura
bilily. It is also very fragrant, and,
taking readily a lino polish, becomes a
most desirable cabinet wood.
Where filtering is really necessary
it is in general beat for tho community
that it bo dono carefully on a largo
scale through sandbeds upon which a
line layer of organic and inorganic mat
tor is expressly produced by sediment
ation, because of its valuable action in
holding back tho great majority of the
bacteria.
Dr. Peyrand. a consulting physi
cian at Vichy, claims to havo dis
covered an olliciont method of treating
rabies. By injecting into rabbits th-
essence of tho familiar horb called
"tansy, ' he produced what he calls
hydrophobic intoxication, or something
very similar, and witli virus thus ob
taiued ho mingled ten per cent, of
chloral. He lnjeotel sovoral animals
which had rabies with this prophylac
tic. and lie professes to have cured four
out of six.
Another unbreakable substitute for
glass, a French invention, consists it
immersing wire in a heated state, in n
thin paste formed of soluble glass, gel
atine, and glycerine, or glucose, in pro
portions varying according to tho usi
for which tho material is designed.
When nearly dry, the sheets are dipped
in a concentrated solution of chrome
alum or bichromate of potash. Any de
sired coloring matter may bo incorpo
rated with tiio gelatine, and copal or
other protective varnish applied to the
surface.
- A scientist has discovered the ad
vantage of a dark skin as a veil against
tho heat in hot climates. The carbon
layer in tho skin of tho negro, being
opaque, like other forms of carbon,
.must form an eHeotuiil veil, and thus
protect that most important organ be
low tho true skin, a bodily envelopoor
tissue presenting a vast surface of cir
culating blood, which is certainly sub
ject to brilliant illumination when only
protected from sunlight by tho thin
translucent cuticle.
The riveting of stovepipe is a new
departure. Formerly each of the six
or nine rivets in a pieco of pipe was
drawn and driven separately, but by
the use of a newly contrived riveting
.machine all the rivets are drawn by
-one drop of the hammer, and all ol
them i.re set in tho same manner, one
operative with a machine turning out
from fiOO to 1.000 joints of pipe per day.
The pipe is formed on a cylinder con
nected with tho riveting machine, an
.arrangement which makes it uniform
in size and leaves tho lap smooth and
free from buckles. Kasy of operation,
tho apparatus is said to do tho work
perfectly.
So indestructible by wear or decay
is the African teakwood that vessels
built of it havo lasted fully 100 years,
to le then broken up only on account
of their poor sailing qualities on ac
count of faulty models. The wood, in
fact, is one of the most remarkable em
ployed in human industries on the
score of its great weight, hardness and
durability, its weight varying from
.some forty-two to lifty-two pounds per
cubic foot. It works ensily, but be
cause of the largo quantity of silex con
tained in it the tools employed in it?
manipulation are in a short time worn
away. It. however, possesses tho ad
vantage 01 containing an on winch
provents the spikes and othor iron
work with which it may come in con
tact from rusting.
A Substitute for Glass.
Wo read in our Kngllsh exchanges
that a new translucent substance in
tended as a substitute for glass hut
l)eon satisfactorily adopted in some of
the public buildings of London. It
possesses such a degreo of pUnncy
that it may bo bent backward and for
ward like leather anil bo subjected to
very considerablo stensllo stralu vith
impunity; it is also almost as transient
glass and gf a pleiiiing amber color,
varying in shade from a very light
golden to a palo brown. Tho busis ol
i the material is a web of lino ini'i wire
Vvith warp and weft threads abo it one
twelfth iin ii apart, this being inclosed
like a lly in amber in a sheet of trans
lucent varnish of which tho uao in
linseed oil. There is no resir or gum
in tho varnish, and onco having bo
come dry it i capable of standing heal
and dump without undergoing any
change, neither hardening nor becom
ing sticky. Brielly, tho manufacture
is ccomplishcd by dipping tho sheott
edgewise into deep tanks of vaminh
and then allowing tho coating which
they thus receive to dr In a warm
atmosphere. It requires somewhat
raoro than n dozen of those dips tc
bring thehcot to tho required degree
.-of thickness, and when this has been
accomplished tho material Is stored for
Vovoral weeks to thoroughly
Science.
REFORM OF CRIMINALS.
The Subject l)lsctil tjr the District At
torney for Kin County, N. Y.
From my oxperienco I should say
that many criminals havo been re
formed, and for this reason: If you
convict a thousand people in a year, in
ten years tho convictions would aggre
gate ten thousand; you will not have
ten per cent, of those people corao back
to you, so that they either cease to
commit crimes or they go to some
other part of the country. I think a
great many people who aro arrested,
and justly convicted of crime feel, af
ter they get to prison, that they have
done wrong, that there is something
else to live for and to work for, and
they become better men when they
come out.
Society does not always treat tho
criminal right. When a man comes
out of prison and shows a disposition
to do right, if society would take hold
of him. try and do something for him,
encourage him and not constantly show
that it is suspicious of him because he
once went wrong, there would be more
criminals reformed than thero are at
present. When a man comes from
prison and is constantly reminded of
tho fact that ho was once convicted of a
crime and served a term in prison, he
becomes discouraged and thero is noth
ing left for him to do but to find consti
tution in tho society of tho law-breaking
classes.
1 approve of long tonus of imprison
ment for incorrigible offenders; I do
not think long sentences reform tho
men, but society can only protect itself
tgninstsuch offenders by locking them
up.
Many criminals can bo reformed; but
the reformation depends on the man
himself. A great many people can not
make any distinction between right
uid wrong: when they do wrong they
lo not feel that they aro breaking a
moral law; they feel that there is some
punishment, but they (to not think that
they have dono wrong. You can never
lo any tiling toward reforming such a
person. Take a man whoso early
.cachings and surroundings havo been
Tjood; ho yields to temptation and does
wrong; any punishment, no matter
how small, is severe to him and the
lisgraco he feels is poignant. Such a
man, I think, can bo reformed.
I do not believe very much in the
"conversions" made inprison. When
in otTonder leaves prison after having
jxperieuced religion in prison, gets a
moll of the fresh air, takes a few
Irinks and meets some of his old
ironies, tho reaction is too much for
him. The efforts of religious and
philanthropic persons in and out of
prison certainly do uo harm, and they
may do some good.
Tho question as to how tho criminal
:iki bo reformed is a very difficult one
to answer. A man may come out of
prison who might, by acts of kindness
md the assistance of honest people be
kept straight. But tho troublo is. so
ciety doesn't like to take hold of crimi
nals; a man doesn't want to invite
them to his residence, and a merchant
doesn't feel like employing an ex-convict
in his counting-house, because the
lerks thero would not fcol like asso
ciating with him. 1 believe that so
ciety ought to be more lenient and
liberal toward the criminal; that is the
only way of accomplishing any thing
for him. James W. Hidgeway, in N.
Y. Independent.
mi 1 1
THE GREAT PROCESSION.
Mow the I. one 1. 1st of Humanity I Kvrl
ShkIMiii; mill Swelling.
These life insurance tables that show
the expectation, tho average, tho prob
ability of life aro very curious and in
teresting. In a million births the males
outnumber the females L'2.000, but the
girls don't dio so fast, and by tho time
they reach oO years the females begin
to outnumber tho mon and outlive
them. Nino thousand moro womon
live to see 70 years than men, taking a
million as tho basis. Two thousand
more women than men live to see 'JO.
At 100 years there aro 7'J men to 141
womon. The male start out most nu
merous, and this is right, for it gives
every girl a fair chance for a lover and
husband and it certainly was in
tended bv a kind Providence that she
should havo one. Sho is entitled to
one, and if I had my way I would make
every old bachelor marry or support
one.
If he wouldn't marry according to
nature, I would make him work for
one. In youth and middle age the
males outnumber tho females, because
it takes a good number to dofeud the
country and do tho lighting. But tho
ild women outlive tho old men because
they aro needed to nurse us and raise
the grandchildren. Thoy havo no bad
habits that shorten life. Thoy do not
drink nor chow tobacco, nor smoke,
nor expose themselves, nor eat in a
hurry. Thoy take lifo calm and se
rene. One hundred and twenty-live
thousand children aro born ovory dny.
What a squalling and rejoicing if wo
'.'ould hear It all at once! Just think
.if it 15,000,0 K) oi brand new human
baings in a year. But tliay don't stay
long not many of them. One-fourth of
them die before they aro six years oil.
While 'Jt,0W aro born in a day, there
uro 100.000 funerals going on at tho
same time.
What weeping and walling, what
grief and sorrow, if wo could hear and
ico it all! Verily tho incroaso of tho
human family is mixed with great trib
ulations. Births and deaths, birth
and deaths with tho births only a little
ahead, and sometimes when war and
pestllonco and famine come, tho death
rate is ahead. Bill Arp, in Atlanta
Constitution.
Tho scissors grinder is tho only
man who invariably finds things dull.
Burlington Free Pro.
ABOUT FINGER NAILS.
Some Useful Information Concerning Thell
Trenttuent and Nisturr.
Tho average rate of growth of tho
finger nails has been ostimated at ono
millimetre, or two-llfths of a lino per
week; a rate quadruple that of tho toe
nails, which require four weeks to grow
tho same length. This groVth continue
with littlo variation, oven during dis
ease, but the portion of the nail then
formed is thinner, and deficient in
strength. In sudden and acute diseases,
and in those accompanied with extreme
debility, this attenuation is sufficient
to mark the nails with deep transverse
grooves, the upper surface of which ii
abrupt nnd clearly marked. In scrofu
lous subjects, theso marks, together
with peculiar variegations, aro very
commonly observable. Extreme anxl
ty and mental depression have the
same effect on the nails as physical dis
ease.
It is interesting to watch the history
of a case of disease as recorded upon
tho finger-nails. When wo look at tho
patient's nails wo see on each of thorn
a distinct ridge, showing that tho por
tion of the nail which has grown since
tho acute attack is much thinned out.
Take, for instance, a man in whom an
ncuto double pneumonia occurred a few
weeks ago. You will see on his finger
nails the ridgo showing the acutenoss
of tho attack. This is quite distinct,
and is seen on all of tho nails. Theso
marks aro very interesting, and toll us ;
a perfectly straight story. Thoy will j
remain for at least two years. I
If a person tells you that ho has
broken his arm within eighteen months,
you will see the ridges on the nails o!
tho hand of the affected side, while
they will be absent on those of tho other
side. If you aro told that a patient has
had typhoid fevor. look at his nails,
and if tho statement is correct, you
will find tho ridges. Tho more acute
tho Illness the sharper will be the ridge.
When tho illness comes on, tho nutri
tion of tho body, including that of tho
nail, ceases. Wo all know about tho
hair falling out after a diseaso like ty
phoid fever. It only begins to fall
after tho growth lias recommenced and
tho hair is coming out of tho follicle.
Tho nail is much moro enduring evi
dence of disease. If there has been an
acute rheumatism coming on within a
few hours, with a temperature of 101
or lOo , tho nail will bo cut down
sharply. The nail looks as though
they had been cut across. In typhoid
fevor, where the diseaso comes on grad
ually, thero is not such a sharp cutting
out of the nail. Thero will rather bo
an area of thinning, which will not bo
seen until the nail grows boyond tho
white mark at its baso.
Biting the nails should bo avoided as
a dirty and disagreeable habit, and ono
utterly destructive to their beauty,
strength and usefulness. This habit is
indicative of an irritable or nervous
tomperament, of mental anxiety, de
spondency, thoughtfulness, audi know
not what else. At all events, it is eas
ily acquired, rapidly grows on ono,
and is extremely difficult to leavo off.
Nothing but it strong will and perso
veranco will enable those addicted to
it to do tho last, ltubbing tho tips of
the fingers with aloes, extract of quas
sia, assafu'tida. or somo other disa
greeable substance. is commonly i
adopted to remove tho habit in chil
dren. The finger nails of Americans aro
likely to bo dry, and to break easily.
Vnseline rubbed on the nail after wash
ing tho hands will do a world of good
to dry nails Manicures first bathe
the hand a loug time in hot water, thon
with scissors end knives clean and cut
tho nails, and remove tho superfluous
skin about Uia onyx, next thoy polish
the nails with buckskin and fine pow
der, and linally wash tho hand again
in hot waUir with soap. After
drying, tho .".ails are polished with a
lino brush, nnd aro rubbed with a rosy
unguont to give to them a sholl pink.
Medical Classics.
Laughter as a Health Promoter.
In his "Problem of Health." Dr.
Greono says that thoro is not tho ro
inotost corner or littlo inlet of tho mi
nute blood vessels of tho human body
that does not feel somo wavelet from
the convulsions occasioned by good J
hearty laughter. The lifo principle or,
thocentrnl man, is shaken to its innor-
most depths, sending new tides of life
and strongth to tho surface, thus mate-'
rially tending to insure good health to
tho persons who indulgo thoreln. Tho
blood moves moro rapidly and conveys
a different impression to all tho organs
of tho body, as it visits them on that
particular mystic journey when the j
man is laughing, from what it does ut
other times. For thisj. reason ovory I
good hearty laugh in which a person
indulges tends to lengthen hislifo. con- j
voying. as it does, now and distinct
stimulus to tho vital forces. London '
Standard. '
He Strung the Doughnuts. j
A waiter at tho Metropolitan Hotel
on Washington street says thero Isaj
rat of unusual Intelligence which haunts
tho hotel kitchen, and, when occasion
offers, steals food from tho conk. He !
says this rat ought to bo caught and
exhibited as a marvel at the dime mu
seums. Several storios of precocity
aro told about this rodont, of which the i
following is ono: "A fow evenings!
ago," hiuu tno waiter, "I had occasion
to go down into tho kitchen. It wua
dusky when I arrived, and as soon no
my eyes would permit mo to got used
to tho light 1 saw u largo rat walk de
liberately up to a dish of doughnuts
and begin to tijjfo thorn out ono by one I
unu siring litem on 10 ins inn, us you ;
would string beads. When ho had put
on five and loaded his tail all up, he
turned around, took tho end of hU tail '
between his teeth and walked off a i( !
ho were going to muster. Boston
U lobe-
WOMAN'S WORK.
With manv a turn my stops I take.
In mnny n crook and crevice;
And many a biscuit must I bako
Tor Maud and mo and Lev s.
I sweep, I dust, I cook, I riso
Up In the morning early;
I wash tho breakfast dishes, and
I churn, then dress tho baby,
t make tho dust and dry loaves fly
Against my new broom fairly;
I chatter, chatter us I gox
Hecause I rest o rarely;
"For men may coma and mon may goy
Hut ( go on forever, over, .
I go on forevir.
I move about unit in and out.
While here tho chickens feeding.
And here nnd thero at hawk to shout.
Hut little they aro heeding.
I walk, t run, I skip. 1 hop
From ono thing to another;
I stop to dress a bruise cvr cut.
For the children run to mother.
Then to the gurden I must go
To see what work Is needed,
For plants must be set out, you know,
And then thoy must bo weeded.
For men can't stop, for they must gc
Hut we work on forever, ever,
Wo work on forever.
I clear tho trny and "put to r.'ghts"
Tho dining-room and kitchen;
I then go In my room to sew,
And try and do some stitching.
I wonder If thoro is on oarth
No respite from our labors.
No time to go and gossip some
With pleasant, friendly neighbors?
Hoforo I end this piece of work
And try to thin , a little,
I throw it down nnd run and mako
A tiro and place the kottle.
Tor men must cut nnd go, you know,
Hut women can go nevor.
Yes, men w 11 come and men will go,
Hut wo work on forever, over,
Wo work on forever.
Mrs. T. O. Holt, In Tho Freeman.
ifron V i mi i xt irnrm rn
Sho Makoa a Succosa of Minding
Hor Own Euslnosa
"Mo and Squire Bagshot, wo'ro
goin' into partnership together," said
Miss Naomi Nutting.
"Kb? What?" cried the Widow
Scars by, hastily adjusting her eur
truinpot. "You n-thinkin' o' gottin'
untried at this time o' day?"
Miss Naomi gave a sniff of exceed
ing groat derision.
"Who's talkin' o' gottin' married?"
said she. "Not I. Nor, I guess, the
squire. e'ro outen our llrst child
hood, atiu wo ain't got to our second.
I calculate. Not yet."
Tho Widow Seipsby looked disap
pointed. "Then," said she, "what do yen
mean?"
"Why," explained Miss Naomi,
"tho squlro ho's leased tho old farm.
I'd got to lot it to somobody. What
between tho taxes and tho interosl
and the repairs and all. it was too
much for a woman to look after. But
tho cows and the poultry and all is to
remain, and I'm to run tho dairy and
tho egg business. Ton per cent, com
mission I'm to have, and tho uso ol
tho old houso. And I'vo sot out a lot
of now strawberry roots, and some ol
tho offshoots of Hester Brine's sweot
smollin' F.nglish violets, and I'm go
in' to earn my own livin', if 1 bo u
woman."
"Vi-lots!" repeated Mrs. Scarsby,
"and strawberries! John hain't no
faitli in that sort of thing."
"It don't matter to mo whothor ho
has or not," curtly obsorved Miss
Nutting.
"A womun never yet mado farmin'
pay."
"Anyhow." said Miss Nutting, "1
mean to havo a try at it. My ex
penses won't bo much, that's onoj
comfort. "
Better glvo
up the
slowly
notion," said !
shaking her'
Mrs.
head
Scarsby,
"Not if I know it," said Naomi.
"I'm protty cortaln I can mako good
butter, and I always took natural to
hens and chickens. And I know I can
market them strawberries at tho Bum
mor hotels on Cherry brook, and Kn
gllsh violots bring lifty cents a dozen
at tho Now York fh.rists in January
and February."
"You're runnin' a groat risk!"
sighed Mrs. Scarsby, in genuine Job's
comforter accents.
"There's alway tho poor-houso loft
If I don't succeed," sarcastically re
marked Naomi.
And Mrs. Scarsby wont away to toll
her news throughout tho whole neigh
borhood. "Upon my word," said Mrs. Dr.
Plumb, "tho woman has pluck! But
of course sho won't sfcewoed; women
nevor do."
"I never was so flat in all my lifo,"
said Mrs. Scarsby. "as when 1 heard
Naomi say shb was goin' into purtnur
ship with Squlro Bagshot. I w'ptsod,
of course, who was goin' ta Barry
him."'
"Well, I don't know why sho
shouldn't," said Mrs. Plumb. "The
squiro ain't young, but ho's a likely
man enough. 'V
"Ho marry Naomi Nutting!" said
Mrs. Scarsby. "A poverty-stricken
old maid, with ono foot in tho poor
house!" "Fools used to say your John was
parthil to her," shrewdly observed
Mis. Plumb.
"That's all a mistake," said Mrs.
Scarsby.
And she took herself and hor car
trumpet off to tho next house, while
Klllo Price, Mrs. Plumb's bound girl,
uho had been listening through the
dumUwuitor, breathlessly scampered
to tho grocery for tho ounco of pow
dered cinnamon, which sho had been
told half an hour ngu to bring, and
thoro informed Mrs, Popporsauco us a
profound secret thut Miss Naomi Nut.
ting and Squire Bagshot were abot.t to
bo married.
"1 don't beliovo it," said Mrs. Pep.
pcrsnuco.
I hourd it with my own ,nrs!" Hald
Kllle, glowing all over with the typoi
Unco of bur now.
1 "An" old maid llko that!" said Mrs.
, Popporsauco. scornfully,
j "Sho ain't thirty yet," said Kllic,
I "I heard missis toll Mrs. Scarsby so."
1 III nows, they say, spronds fast; so
( does good nous. Which of those
l heads Squire Bagshot's engagement
:nmo under is hard to spceily, but
certain it is that the morsel of gossip
' spread like wildfire through Cherry
, Hlluso,
I "Mo engaged to Naomi Nutting,"
! jaid tho squire. "Well, it's tho llrst
' I've heordof it,"
1 "Naomi Nutting going to marry
i that old widower!" said John Scarsby.
"What nonsense! You told mo your-
self, mother, that sho denied it up and
i down."
"Yes." said Mr?. Scarsby. a littlo
1 doubtfully, "but that's what they a!
1 ways do. It would be a groatthing for
Naomi Nutting."
"I'll never believe it," said John.
The old love affair between him and
Naomi Nutting was dead and gone
t long ago, but something in tho pieva
. lent atmosphere seemed to fan the
i faint spark of its ashes into new life.
1 John Scarsby remembered how black
I and bright her eyes onco wore, and
I what a trim littlo figure sho had.
i While tho squire, meditating on the
! perfect, dazzling cleanliness of Naomi's
dairy, and the elllelency with which
I sho had sot out tho violet roots and
tho strawberrv creepers, said to him
! self:
i "I don't know but that I might do
worse. lo be sure, sho s a poor, soli
tary, friendless oreotur, without any
property, except that old mortgage
ridden farm. But 1 can't get no hired
girl short of eleven dollars a month,
and It Is sort o' loncsoino sot tin' on
tho stoop of ovonin's all alono. She's
boon brought up economical, too, and
won't want to spend any moro money
than she can help. That's a great
thing."
And tho squiro brushed his lank
hair more carefully than over ovor the
glossy dome of his bald cranium, and
consldored seriously tho propriety of
dying his grizzy beard.
"Mothor," said John Scarsby, that
day, "it isn't right for you to do all
tho housework by yourself. It's too
much for you."
"La, John, I do hopo you ain't
thinkln' of liirin' a help!" oxclalmod
Mrs. Scarsby, in dismay. "Of all tho
shiftless, id'.e, wasteful things"
"Wo'vo got to do something, moth
er," said John. "I can't lot jvu work
yoursolf out."
It was all true. John Scarsby had
said tho same tiling timo and again to
his mothor; but ho said it now with
gonuino earnestness, looking at bet
as ho did so, and socrotly wondorlng
how ho should break to hor tho tid
ings of an impending daughter-in-law.
And Naomi Nutting, of all persons,
tl woman whom Mrs. Scarsby al
ways designated as "that poor forloiv
old maid."
John wns a bravo man, but. thoro
aro moro kinds of courage than ono.
Mrs. Scnrsby cried over tho buttor
beans sho was cutting up for dinner.
"I won't havo a liolp in tho house,"
thought she. "If John really wants
n woman around, why can't he got
married? And 1 don't know, no smart
er girl than Naomi Nutting. I'vo a
groat mind to go ovor and soo if sho
can't brouk that 'ero contract with
Squiro Bngshot. I wish 1 dured to
speak right out to John about It Ho
used to liko Naomi, but men uro
queer."
Naomi lrtd just come in from weed
ing her late-onion patch tho noxt even
ing, when the squire arrived, all in
his best.
"Good ovcnlng. squiro," dnld Miss
Nutting. "Sit down till I light the
lamp."
"Don't light it." said tho squiro,
sheepishly. "I'm partial to tho twi
light." "1 ain't," said Naomi. "I mostly
liko to soo what I'm doing. You've
conio about business, I Biipposo?"
"Ahem yes," admitted tho squlro.
Although ho had told hlmsolf all day
long that Naomi Nutting would
certainly jump at his offer, ho could
not subdue a certain nervousness at
tho last moment. "Very important
buslnosfi!"
Bat-tat-lat-t-t-t! camo a knock on
the panels of the lilac-shaped front
door.
John Scarsby, arriving closo on tho
heels of the squire, had porcoived tho
necessity for immediate action.
Ho was Hushed, and breathed hard
with rapid walking, but he hit J
3crowed his courage up.
"Naomi," said he, "can I speak to
you for ono minute?"
Naomi, holding tho lamp in ono
hand, stared hard at him.
"I'm engaged just now," said sho.
"Engaged?"
"Squiro Bagshot is hero."
"I won't keep you long," said
John. "I only want ono word."
"Any thing happened?" questioned
Naomi.
"No, but" John drew a quick
breath of vexation
inent. "Will you
and embarrass-
hear mo out,
Naomi?"
Tho hqulro, in tho front room,
cleared his throat loudly as Naomi
conducted John into tho back kitchen
"Now, thon," bald she, "What It,
it?"
Did ovor lover woo maiden before
under such dlitcoumglngolrouiiiNtnncos
us these?
John fixed his eyes on tho copper
boiler, and blurted out his tender
confcuslon at once.
ft was an awkward proceeding, but
it was Inevitable.
"Naomi." said ho, "I want a wife.
(Y in you nave mor
John,"
said Miss
Nutting.
John stared nt hor, and
uttered a
pas p.
"What dtd you say?" stammered ho.
"I said not"
"I'm too late, am 1?" ho utbired,
despairingly.
"Well, yes, you aro."
"Hadn't you bettor think it ovor?"
"Well. It wouldn't bo no use."
John went away complctoly dum
founded, and Naomi wont back to tho
squlro.
"What business could that younf?
man possible have with you, Naomi?"
asked tho squire, a littlo fretfully.
"It was private," said Naomi, com
posedly. "Naomi," said Mr. Bagshot, plung
ing headlong into tho subject, "I'm
thinking of getting married."
"Aro you?" said Naomi, somowhal
amazed.
"I'm tired of llvln' solitary and
alone, and I don't know of nobody I
liko better than you," added Squiro
Bagshot.
"Much obliged to you, I'm suro,"
said Naomi.
"Do you think you could learn to
lovo me?" said the squire, his hard
features galvanized into unwonted
tenderness.
"I dunno whothor 1 could or not."
said Naomi, "but 1 don't mean to try."
"Kh?" jerked out tho squlro.
"I'm engaged already," explained
Naomi.
"To that shiftless young Scarsby?"
"Ho ain't particularly shiftless us I
know of," observod Naomi. "But it
ain't to him, as it happens."
"If you're really engaged," said tho
squire, of whoso character delicacy
was by no means a prominent trait,
"what on earth aro you running tho
dairy business for?"
"To earn money, to bo suro," said.
Naomi. "I'm to marry a rich man,
nnd I don't choose to go tohlmompty
handed, or without adoccut wardrobo,
such as othor women havo."
"Who Is It?" still furthor demandod
the squlro.
"Well, I don't mind tolling you,
slnco you ask mo up and down," said
Naomi. "Him that owns tho now
Mountain iron works, Joseph Aldon."
Tho squlro mado n littlo gurgling
sound, as If ho woro ineffectually
trying to swallow something. Josoph
Aldon, tho handsomo, middle-aged
Englishman, tho best match in
Chorry County, engaged to Naomi
Nutting, whom ho Squlro Bagshot
had montally characterized as "a
poor, solitary, frlondloss crootur!"
"Well," said ho. heavily rising, "I
s'poso I'd bettor go."
"1 don't know ns you'll gain any
lilnrr In- utiivlncr ." Nnnml nnnllv 'rrw
marked. y-,s
Tho squlro was drlvon to hlro a
stout Vormont woman at olovon dol
lars a month. Mrs. Scarsby still con
tinned to do hor own housowork, in
splto of tho rotnonstrancos of hor son
John. Naomi Nutting docs as she
did boforo minds hor own buslnoss.
And the vlolot and strawborry busi
ness has proved a success, and tha
wedding-day is flxod. Saturday
Night.
m
CAROLINA'S FAT BOY.
In the Niiniinnr He Is Skoloton, lit Win.
tor a Monster.
Thero woro several sido shows con
nected with tho North Carolina Stnta
fair, and I was much takon with a sign
rogarding a fat boy. It was stated
that ho was only fourteen years old,
and weighed about four hundred
pounds. I paid my nlckol to go In,
and found a lud of that ago, but hla
wolght was not over ono hundred
pounds, lie was dressed in costume,
and sat on a platform, whllo tho show,
man delivered a Bhort lecturo at In
tervals. "See horo." I said to him after look
ing tho boy ovor, "aro you dollboratoly
swindling tho public?"
"How?"
"By passing that kid off as a fat
boy."
"No, sir."
"You advertise that ho weighs about
four hundred pounds?"
"Yes."
"That's ufalsohood. Ho won't weigh
ono hundrod."
"When?"
"To-day; now; this minute."
"Oh, I see. An explanation is du
you. 1 run a musourn in Now Orleans.
That boy is ono of my freaks. In the
summor ho is my skoloton and In th
winter my fat boy. It takos him about
six weeks to muko tho change, and he
just bogan to pick up flosh last week.
Ho was the most beautiful skoloton you
ovor saw, and if you can only boo hla
two months lator you'll bo delighted id
his rotundity. Ho' 11 wolgh all of four
hundred In two months from this."
"Yes, but I camo In horo to soo afrit
boy."
"Well, there ho is."
tlltut tw-k'u nn fiitti-ii Hum nnv rttltn
boy of his age. It looks to mo liko. a
fraud."
"Good heavens, man, but do you
want all tho oarth at once!" ho gasped.
"Glvo him time to change, won't youf
Hero, look at this look of haircut from
tho head of George Washington. It's
my own proporty, and not on exhibi
tion, but I want to satisfy you that I
am square. ' A Bkoloton wolghlug
forty-two pounds can't cluiugo to a
four-hundrod-pound fat boy In an hour
or a day. Wo expect tho publlo to lw
lonlent with us. Going? Well, good
bye. Come In with your family and
I'll mako reduced rates." N. Y. Sun.
Besslo- "What'a tho mattor In the
Bltting-room, Tommy?" Tommy
"Oh, the usual contest between p
and ma ovor the spoukorahlp of th
house. " Burllngtoa Frea I'reis.
"No, thankeo,