fcf
,1
1
MONSIEUR'S LITTLE GAME.
Rowa'Prannh Matrimonii! Affant llooin4
t .-" II la HuiilnM.
' 7A. matrimonial agent at Levallols
Terrot, a suburb of Pari, who had a
special Una of business, has just de
eamped with the money of numerous
victims. Ho hud as bis clients noua
but plain op ugly damsels with dow
ries, who found a dlflloulty in "gettlnR
off" by reason of tholr lack of per
sonal attractions, for although tha
great bulk of Gauls have a strong' par
tlullty for dol, they do not oaro to be
tied for life to a lady who has nothing
to recommend hor but hor lucre. The
absconding undortaker of weddings
had a neat way of his own of reconcil
ing Intending bridegrooms to tho pros
peot of doublo-blossedness with damos
whose features wore the reverse of
fair, at the same time that bo enabled
Mm lady clients to change their iiaraos
and find apparently eligible partners,
lie simply had a solect stock of private
friends, or richer confederates, who
took ovor the ladles . and large
lumps of tholr dowries, and
thon, after a few weeks or
months, decamped most Ignf.mlnloiis
ly from the spouses whom they, bad
promise to love and ohorlsh. The
agout. of eourso, received large com
missions from the Indies, and more
over obtained sums of money from the
fugitive husband. The system worked
beautifully for a time so fur as the
agent and his confederates were con
cerned. Money rollod into his office,
until one duy lately be was suddenly
confronted by some of bis outraged
clients, who. after sad experience, had
soon through his "little game." Those
ladles told their stories, complained
that bad characters had been folded
upon thorn as husbands, and threat
ened to take legal proceedings against
tholr vicllmizor. The agent replied In
his blandest manner that be could not
guarantee exemplary husbands whose
conduct would be such us to keep the
course of married life forever smooth
and pleasant. When his clients, how
ever, went away, the matrimonial
opcrutor, remembering the threats
about legal proceedings, figuratively
speaking hauled down bis colors, or
rather bis siirn-board and brass plate,
shut up his shop and disappeared,
most probably to foreign parts.- Pari
Cor. London Telegraph.
LUTHER'S WEDDINQ RINQ.
A Curlnna Hello of Ilia Grunt Ituformer
Owned bv a Newark .Man.
Adolph feomnn, of Newark, N. J.t
lin a remarkable relic in his posses
eion. It Is nothing less than the ring
which Martin Luther, the founder of
Protestantism, placed on the Jinger of
his bride on his wedding day. The
ring is of pure gold, antique in design,
curiously wrought and fully 803 years
old. The claims in favor of the au
thenticity of the relio are certainly
strong.
Socman, who Is a professional con
jurer by occupation, is tho son of the
late Huron Harding Socman, of Sweden.
The Baron was a famous conjuror In
his duy und nation. As Socman tells
the story, an elderly noble woman
died thirty years ago in a castle in the
suburbs of Stockholm. As. there were
no claimants to her property the Stale
took charge of it and sold the castle
and its contents ut auction. A gentle
man named Hammer purchased . the
entire collectlou of Jewelry, among
which was the ring referred to.
Not boing familiar with the history
of the ring, he disposed of it to Baron
Socman for $5. A fow years later,
when tho Huron and his son wore visit
ing America, a copy of the Gorman
monthly Uaslenlaube, publlshod at
Dresden, came to them, coutalnlng ao
illustration of a ring for which the city
of Isleben, Germany, the great reform
er's birthplace, offered a reward of
$1,000. The illustration and accom
panying description talllod exactly
, with tho ring In the Baron's possession,
and tho latter at once started for Ger
many to lay claim to the reward.
There was no difficulty in establish
ing the fact that the ring was in reality
Luther's wedding ring, but upon sec
ond thought the Baron concluded not
to sell for the amount that had been
offered. Accordingly he returnod to
America with the remarkable rello
adorning bis finger, and throe years
ago, when his death took place, the
ring became the property of his son,
who to-day would scarcely part with it
for a mint of money.
As an illustration of the skill ex
blbiled by the artisaus of threo centu
ries ngo, Luther's wodding-rlng fur
nishes a markod example. Although
considerably worn by its long period of
existence, it Is in almost perfect con
dition. Upon one of tho .broad yet
delioatoly-constructod sides tho cruci
fixion of Christ is admirably dolln
eatod. ,
The figure is stretched on the cross,
with the nails in the feet and one lu
either hand, as familiarised by the old
masters. A apoar scourge, cap of a
Koman soldier, ftU.-iblematlc, and
even tho dice with Nbe garments
of tho avloll" .d for, are
all clearl.y't ( the opposite
siae tne puiiirof a wewisn tern pie is
presented wu.h the sword of Justice
overheard.
A ladder rope the latter winding
about the pillar a sponge and ham
mer, suggestive of every incidont in
the death scene, are clearly shown,
and on the cross-tree appears the let
ters, "I. N. It L" (Jesus flaiiarenus
Rex Judom). A powerful glass re
veals the initials "M. L," on the in
terior, while the whole is surmountod
by a small ruby, beautifully set, and
supposed to typify the blood that
flowed from tho Saviour's side. N. Y.
Mall and Kxprops. ' .
-
or
PE0N3
Man Win Work Hard for Kidlculonilr
Low W(M,
Spoaking of the peon, I think to
most travelers in Mexico one of the
most astonishing things must be ap
parent differences between accounts
read of his laziness and shlftlossnoas
and what ono really sees of him in the
city or country. I should say. from
soverul months' observation of them,
that the average peon far exoncds our
best negro workers of the South in in
dustry and energy. On the streets
you much oftoner see them on a brisk
walk, or, as in the case of the carga
dores, even on a trot, than on the
touching gait of most of our Southern
colored laborers. The peon is more ig
norant than the latter, duo to his iso
lation from higher civilization, but )
would unhesitatingly say that his nat
ural intelligence Is greater. He work
for smaller wages than the negro, get
ting on an average about eighteen
cents a day in the oountry. He it
frugal as a rule a little fonder of his
pulque or tequila than the negro is ol
his whlsky.but also, as a rule, faithful
and good-natured.
In tho couutry they will often be met
long before daylight driving their
burros or carrying on their own back
burdens into a market town twenty 01
thirty miles away. The load they
carry and distances they frequently
mako with them are almost incredible.
I have known one peon to carry on bis
back, by means of the peculiar pack of
the country, eighty good-sized water
jars a distance of fifteen miles in a
morning. In the city one is struck by
their alert, polite ways. Thoy are
very susceptible to kindness, and equal
ly quick to resent severity of language
from a stranger. Outside of the cities
I have found them noticeably honest,
and even in the cities they would rank
far above the Mexican (1 observe the
distinction made by Mr. Bishop, 1
think, of calling "Mexican1 the mixed
blood of the Spanish aud native, and
applying the term "Indian," or "peon,"
according to the class, to the pure
blooded native) in this respect- The
old hereditary traits of the Latin race
will crop o;'t, even mixed with other
blood and transplanted to other soli
ctor. Philadelphia Record.
A sngacions canine at Johnstown
Is not going to get caught in another
flood if it can help it Every time ii
rains the dog rushes to the fourth story
and remains there until the downpour
Is over.
Baltimore's Columbus Monument
Baltimore ! the possessor of the
only monument in this country to the
memory of the discoverer of America.
Strange to say, it was set up by a
foreigner, the first French Consul to the
port of Baltimore. He was an eccen
tric man, possessed of great wealth and
an ardent admiration of Columbus.
The existence of this monument is not
generally known, and it has particular
interest now in view of the accumulat
ing importance of the coming Exposi
tion of the threo Americas. It stands
upon un elevated plateau on the
lawn attached to the Samuel Ready
Foraale Orphan Asylum, at the inter
section of East North avenue and tho
Hartford road. It was erected nearly
a century ago, yet it is in a h;e state
of preservation after having withstood
tho storms of so many years. It Is the
design of the management of the
asylum to appropriately decorate tho
monument in October, 1892, the time
of the great Exposition of the three
Americas, us a help to emphasize the
circumstances under which it was
erected. The monument is built of
brick said to have been importod from
England or France. At first it was
covered with plaster, but it has since
received a coating of cement by the
Ready Asylum trustees. It is quad
rangular in form, and slopes from a
base of six and one-half foot in diameter
to two and a half feet at the top. and is
about fifty feet high. Baltimore
American.
The boll that colls the arithmetic
class is the school boys' dread sum
mons. Merchant Traveler.
'a Arc AU fonUKl. .
The last issuJ of The' Medical Review
promises n future article on "What to Do
When Stung by j, Hornet." We don't
believe any one rill wait with bated
breath for that artK'lu- We have aril
been there. The thi.i to do is to jump
two feet high aud ye'l for the police.
Detroit Free Press.
MISTAKES IN GRAMMAR.'
ninndnr That At Frqnntlv Mads
Thrnnffh lir 'rl-xnf(i.
Faults are pardonable in conversa
tion which are not pardonable in writ
ten compositions. But we must bo
careful not to take too much leeward
in this regard, and not to make' mis
takes in grammar and pronunciation.
Jome people are guilty of grammatical
blunders, through sheer carelessness.
Thus, a lady of my acquaintance, who
understands trigonometry, and can
translate Virgil, often says to me
"you was," and yet she knows per
fectly well that 'this is an inexcusable
3) Intake. , ; ' ' , j '
Other people, who ought to 'know
better, say "he don't" for "he doesn't,"
"I don't know as I da" instead of "I
don't kuow that I do.". "Aint" and
taint" are not often used now by ed-
oaw a people, unless in a jesting way.
It is no unwise thing, however, to be
careless or inaccurate in ones
pronunciation or use of language,
r-Inca tricks , of speech are easily
caught, and very hard to get rid of.
Thus, when one is talking to servants,
or other uneducated people, one is
often templed to adopt their phrase-'
ology, in order to be readily under
stood by them, but It is better to with
stand, the tomptatlon. even if one
should be obliged in consequence to
take more . trouble to express one's
meaning clearly.
What shall be taid of the woman
who says "I done it?" She has cer
tainly placed herself between the horns
cf dilemma. Her hearers will infer
either that her early education was
neglected, or that she -associated with
uneducated people during her child
hood. And yet this is a grammatical
fault, which seems hard to got rid of.
Persons who never say "I seen it," or
he has went'' or 'them things," will
occasionally betray themselves by let
ting slip the fatal "I done it"
It is qulto as incorrect to use "he"
and "I" for "him" and "me." or vice
versa, as it is to say "I done it," and
yet the first-named class of faults that
of using the wrong pronouns is some
times committed by educated people.
Indeod, I have heard the phrase "it
is roe" justified, on the ground that it
was a literal translation of the French
"c' est moi." But our English gram
mar does not, like its French name
sake, justify the employment of certain
pronouncial forms, merely for the value
of euphony. "He Is older than I" may
not sound so well as- "he is older than
me," yet the former is the correct form.
It is a very common mistake to say
"Between you and I," and yet a mo
ment's reflection should convince any
one: who has ever studied grammar
that he should say "Between you and
me." Florence Howe Hall, in Ladles'
Home Journal.
HOW TO SAVE TIME.
It Can II Ioim by Making Every Word
and Every Act 'lelL
Time is money, says the old adage.
Millions of people do not seem to think
so, or else are exceedingly profligate in
the use of money. The waste of the
precious moments is beyond computa
tion, and we do not mean to touch up
on the generally recognized methods
of wasting time which the idler and
drunkard, for instance, make use of.
We desire particularly to call atten
tion to the waste of time, of which so
many of us are guilty, in ordinary bus
iness affairs. We lack Btrict method
in many things that we do every day.
The man who builds an inconvenient
house or barn makes the waste of time
a necessity. Every unnecessary step
we take is a waste of time. Perhaps the
average man wastes a quarter of his
life by practicing poor methods or no
methods at all. Frequently old cus
toms are greatly to blame for the
profligacy. We too often insist in
keeping in old ruts although it re
quires much longer to arrive at a
certain point by the old rut than if we
go out and cut across lots. It is sold
that loavlng out the letter u in words
like honour is equivalent in saving to
the world the productive capacity of
five hundred men every year. That is
it took all the time of five hundred
men every year to make that letter in
such words as the one uamed. The
old system of teahing in our schools
was another illustration of the waste
of time through imperfect methods
and old austoms. It required weeks
and months for a child to learn the
alphabet It required other weeks
and mouths for it to learn the multi
plication table. Now many a child
is taught to read, who could not re
peat tho alphabet to save its life, and
is quite proficient in arithmetic with
out boing able to repeat the multipli
cation table. A child is taught to
read in a short time. His text book is
not u book at all. Perhaps a grass
hopper is put into the hand of the lit
tle six-year-old and he handles and
studies that grasshoppor for days and
weeks, and from it he loams to read,
learns the use of figures aud a good
deuii of natural history. Without go
ingliuto the details of the system, the
child Varus more from that system of
teaching in a fow days than he would
icarn in weeks from tha old system. It
Is a great saving of time.
Time is an Important element in all
that we undui'UvW' It is an Important
element in reform work, and to save
time in such work, we need to be practi
cal in all that we advocate. Impractical
theories will not be accepted by the
masses, To advocate them is time
thrown away. We should aim to make
every word and every act tell. West
ern ilural.
Tho grub makes the butterfly; the
blacksmith makes tho- fire fly. Yon
Jeers Gaze'ta.
At a la o gatnerifig in the Mildmay
Confcrenco Hall tho Church of England
Z mam. Missionary fcocioty bade "God
speed" to nineteen ladies who will
shortly be aiding in the noblo work of
the society among the women of India
and China.
HOARDING IN INDIA.
Tais Amount of Mnny Hidden Away By
Matlva Trine).
In the courts of the native princet
of India hoarding takes place on a vast
scale. Tho Maharajah of Burdwan
died lately and left a large hoard. It
proves that anterior to 1835 there wa
much hoarding when it is stated thai
tho Maharajah had withdrawn from his
store 230,000 of silver, which was It
the form of Sikka rupees, none ol
which have been coined since 1825. A
leiter was submitted to the royal com
mission on the subject of the Mahara
jah's hoard. A description was given
of the several treasure houses in the
estate, their dimensions and their con
tents: "One large room, measuring
about 48 feet in length, H feet.
inches in breadth, and 13 feet, 9 inchee
in height, where gold and silver orna
ments and ornaments set with precious
stones are kept. These articles are in
almirahs and boxes of all descrip
tions, and also some gold plates and
cups, thalees and katorahs, as well as
washing-bowls, jugs, etc." Two other
rooms contain silver domestic utensils,
forks, spoons, etc.. andr strange to
say. Engllith dinner and breakfast sets,
all of silver. Two of these rooms
were under lock and the doors bricked
up. There are four other rooms, one
containing ornsments of gold, silver
and precious stones, gold ornaments
and throne; two others containing the
reserve treasury, which included the
estate collections and Government se
curities and debentures, while
the other is thus dercribed:
"The fourth room measures about
22 feet 6 inches in length, 15 foot in
breadth, and 12 feet S inches in
height, where there are two large
sized vaults prepared for hoarding the
current silver coin, and since the year
12C7 B. C. some money was from time
to time put in and taken out by the
Maharajah MahUb Chund Bahadoor
for the expenses of an emergent and
extraordinary nature, such as the late
Maharajah Aftab Chund Bahadoor's
marriage, Lala Bun Bebarl Kspur's
marriage, and buying landed proper
ties. When he died one lac was left
In ono of the vaults." In another de
partment the ornaments belonging to
different gods of the family were kept,
and silver thalees, sapalas, etc., for
the religious purposes, the room being
locked and sealed. It was the custom
of the Burdwan Raj family to confide
the custody of these valuables to the
Maharanee for the timo being, but the
vaults were never Inspected save in the
presence of the Maharajah. When
sums were withdrawn only relations
and trustworthy servants were admit
ted into the room and vault. Treasur
ers and dewans used to be present out
side tho room or apartment, where the
sura drawn was sent out (female
guards being placed in the passage)
for the purpose of weighing, counting
and bagging it before it was sent tc
the mint.
Other instances of hoarding were
given by an officer of the Indian post
office in 1886, who stated that a native
prince was then hoarding gold at the
rate of 40.000 to 50.000 a year, and
on the death of two native princes re
cently it was believed that they had
left 4.000.000 each. One of these
princes look a loan of 300,000 from
the Government of India in 1887, when
he must have been in possession of a
large hoard himself; for it is a point of
honor with a family not to break in4.o
a hoard, which Is treated "with the
sacredness of a family picture. When
the prince in question had to make a
payment to the Government of India
for a purpose in which he was inter
ested, and wns asked when he could
make the payment a payment of
150.00) ho said: "At any moment."
Hoards are only drawn on in extreme
cases, and it is Buch calamities as war
or the groat famine in Madras or Bom
bay that will bring them out. During
these famines bullion or ornaments
were taken out of the hoards and sent
to the Bombay mint, to England, or
pledged with the native banker or
money-lender,- But, unless under
special cii-instances, the gold and
silver of f Vthe hoards are com
posed ar; n without any inten
tion of.'' Ndreulation again,
-Chi-
MMaaWaa '
A LEGEND OF CALLA0-'
HOW THE ISLAND MOUNTAIN OF
6AN LORENZA GOT ITS NAME.
Midnight Rlda Tafcan by a Peruvian rtah
crroati Much Agalmt III Will If Sailors
Am a Truthful Set Ona Nuit Wonder at :
tha I'ranka Flayed br tha Wave. . .
"Whenever seismic disturbances ara
mentioned In my bearinjr it always re-
niimis me of the desperately calamitous
affair that took place in Calbo, Peru, in
1710." said the cap'n breaking In on a
spirited discussion touching the best
quality of oil for binnacle lumps. It is
needless to say that earthquakes had not
been mentioned or even thought of by
any one present except the cap'n him
self. But if the cap'n said earthquakes
why earthquakes it was, and the sailors
at once placed themselves in convenient
listening attitudes.
TUB cap'n riled. r '',
"Was you there, cap'n?" asked the lub
ber. "Certainly I was; been thjre several
times. This seismic dis"
"How old a man are you, cap'n?"
"Foity-two on my last birthday," re
plied the cap'n. "Say," he continued,
as he divined the drift of the lubber's
question, "if it wasn't for the sailors
here I would pipe down on this story at
once. You measly, lop eared idiot, did
you 'spose I meant that 1 was in Callao
at tho time of the earthquake 143 years
ago? Couldn't the fact possibly be jam
med into your skull that I was there
since the upheaval? If I didn't have
sense enough to sit and listen to intelli
gent remarks I'd keep my figure head
closed," and the cap'n looked daggers at
the wretched lubber.
"Don't be too hard on the poor cuss,
cap." suggested one of the 6ailors. "He
ain't never been nowhere or don't know
nothing."
"That's a fact," said the captain, some
what mollified: "but I do get water
logged laying up alongside of such un
reasonable folks, but I reckon I'll have
to stand it. Now, if somebody will tell
me what 1 was talking about I'll get un
der way again.
"Earthquakes!" shouted the sailors.
"So it was." said the cap'n, again
resuming his reminiscent expression.
"The desperate disaster of which I spoke
took place at six bells on the night of
Oct. 28, 1740. The people were first
turned out by a tremendous shock and a
low rumbling noise like thunder. The
first seismic shake was followed by 200
lighter jerks lasting over a period of
twenty-four hours. Deep, booming noises
came from far out under the sea, and
the upheavals kept on until they pumpea
up a great tidal wave eighty feet high.
Callao was built on a rising coast, with
the lower portion of the town clustered
along the docks. Like all seaport towns
this was the most thickly populated
part. When the big wave rolled in on
shore it was accompanied by a powerful
shock which broke oil the lower edgoof
the city. A nd when the wave retreated
it carried the town and 18,000 people
with it down into the sea.
6A LOUENZA'8 BIDE.
"I'm now coming to tho most curious
Incident of that terrible night," con
tinued the cap'n. "Before the trouble
the harbor was clear, but now an island
mountain 400 feet high rears its head
near the northern shore of the harbor.
A lighthouse graces the top of the
Iclnml u-hir-h ia rinum nn tha mart nn
San Lorenza. and one of the prettiest,
and most romantic of the many Peru
vian legends is told in connection with
- m 1 T. a
tne naming ui uio isiuuu. 11 was nameu
after San Lorenza, the man who discov
ered the mountain, and is an intensely
interesting 6tory when told in Spanish.
I heard it in that language myself, but
as none of you fellows understand Span
ish Til tell it in English.
"Mr. Lorenza, or San, as they called
him for short, was a fisherman, and went
out to sea every night in his frail Peru
vian bark to fish for hake and haddock.
The native fisherman has a light skiff or
canoe in which he plies his calling and
one paddle. lie sits on his knees in the
stern of the boat and fishes with a lino
200 feet long, using his front finger for a
pole. Ou the fatal night of Oct. 23 San
had just got a bite when he heard the
ominous t umble. Before he could either
land the iisli or grab his paddle he felt
himself going up in the air. It was so
dark that San couldn't see anything, so
he clutched both gunwales of his boat
and hung ou. Presently there came an
other jerk, and the fisherman went up a
few more feet.
"The unhappy man was too frightened
to move, so he sat there, going up by
jerks, until daylight. , Then San peered
over tho edge of his boat and found him
self sticking on top of a mountain 400
feet in the air. The peak was so sharp
that it pierced the bottom of his boat and
stuck up four feet above San's head. He
still hung on to his fish line, which had
a horse mackerel dangling from the hook,
dead, halfway down the mountain. The
survivors discovered San in the morning
and that is the beautiful legend of how
San Lorenza got its name."
"How did they get Lorenza down off
the mountain?" asked the lubber.
"I was just going to that," said
the cap'n in an angry tone, "but as you
seem to be in such u duvilinh hurry I'll
let you wait awhile." Ami tfeusty
jbld sailor walked a way. - 3
. , i