v : ... VENICE. ;
&tUnM thoituntfttilit nf iiioru'veandnweatskr
Btrlkn dnmo nml taiuiniln, tdmrp and otaut,
JuiirUiiKSwotU IwliKim lliu NjiUcity'usar.
BtrMiHoiwentNuf iniittk und mynl Imver nigh.
1'h frail xii(imt)(it bltmwmiii, .iiuirIiik fatah
Abovv the dark ratu.1, iiruy Htmight d(1
iibMr.
Drift on, a urlniwm (lenit llieu dlHappear.
Blgb bwKKt wltb uu IttnMMl fruit the boat
go by
With uulumwl nitr to tins say market i-lw.
Where purple, lilw.raj' gruM, for very mrvm
Of awollen wwid)w, bum aod ipiil tlielr
wliie;
Where bronxed mttlotm he In shade aod vbtne,
And the City' dullultc Imprew
6 low iu swart iptendnr from each dtwky feet.
- Bemile Ury,
A MODERN ELIJAH.
. .
Be waa small and black a child of an
Inferior race. Then was nothing in his
appearance to suggest the hero, and if
yon had told him that be iu a hero be
would scarcely have known what yon
meant An unschooled, illiterate, ugly,
bullet headed negro, be had neverthe
lesa been baptised by the eame spirit
which had caused the face of St Stephen
to shine as the face of an angeL
One winter day almost a year before
the event which gave him a chance to
how the Muff that was in him he
eame into the hotel looking for a job.
The office was brilliantly lighted and
filled with a crowd of handsomely
dressed men. There were politicans,
dub men, men ahont town, reporters,
many members of the sporting frater
nity, the usual loungers and hangers
on, an occasional hayseed all forming
a very startling background for the
rags and tilth of the poor, shivering,
half starred little darkey. It was no
easy matter for him to steer his course
to the desk, and when be got there the
splendor of the man behind it dazed him
ao that his voice almost failed him. He
had, however, even at his early age,
reached the point where he had to work
or starve. Bo bis necessities made him
eloqneut His eloquence prevailed. He
was on the next day placed on the pay
toll or the great hotel.
As a bell boy he was not a success. 1
fear 1 must confess that he was busy.
People liked him 1 do not know why-
and for some reason or other he was a
favorite with his employers. If tie had
not been they would have dismissed him
before his first week was out' Instead
of doing that, they concluded to dud
more congenial work for him, so they
put him in charge of one of the eleva
tors.
- Among the passengers who nsed to
ride np and down with the boy was a
little five-year-old girl, the daughter of
a lamuy living in tue nocei. sue was as
perfect a type of her race as be was of
his. With her bit, white akin, golden
hair, deep blue eyes and pretty womanly
ways, the child was a general favorite.
Every one knew ber; every one loved
her.
Between her and the boy a great
friendship had sprung np. He was de
votion itself, and his attentions to the
little Caucasian were so grotesquely
chivalrous as to be almost pathetic. She
accepted them all with a diguityaod
grace that were charming. Her family
lived on the top floor of the house, and
as ahe always rode in his elevator when
she could manage to do so, the boy and
girl aaw much of each other. Once she
. was ill. The medicine that helped her
most was a wretched little bouquet sent
her by her dusky friend.
it was winter again. The evening of
which 1 write was very cold and clear.
The stars were dinmondlike in their
brilliancy. Everything was froien np-
the wheels creaked on the snow.
The hotel was crowded with guests.
Nnt itvim than twin n rl,M fit tl,c h,,
dreds of rooms were unoccupied. A be
lated traveler, who had been on a weath
er bound train, came in at 1 o'clock,
urea ana eoia. ne oraerva a nre in nia
room and then went to the bar for a
Into the boy's elevator and was carried
totbetopiloor.
The great bouse was quiet Most of
the lights in the office had been extin
guished. Two night owls were talking
in low tones on oue of the settees which
lined the walls of the lobby. The bell
boys were most of them asleep. The
clerk was drowsing.
Two o'clock! The night owls got np
and walked out into the cold air.
drunken man poked his nose in the door.
' The sleeping porter seemed to scent him,
lor he bustled the poor fellow out
The quiet deepeued till it became al
most oppressive. The air was heavy
withit
Bnddenly, without a note of warning,
the cry of "Fire!" rang through the
bouse. There was life enough now,
Scantily clad people - were scurrying
wildly through the smoke filled oorri
dors. They cuuie plunging down the
stairs to the office, and ao out into the
freezing night .Shrieks and curses and
groans and prayers it was Babel broken
loose. All the bells in the house were
ringing. The smoke grew denser. It
leaned tocoiue from every where above
and below. Ureut black volumes rolled
through the long halls. - Outside, the
streets were jammed with people. The
engines, with their clanging gongs, hur
ried to the scene, loaders were raised.
and the work of rescue began.
It was time, fur there was a white fig-
, nre at almost every one of the multitu
dinous window. The awful wall loom
ed np in the darkness, story on story.
. dimly seen as to its upper half, for that
part of it was wreathed in the blinding
moke. The smoke turned to flams
flame bnrsttng through scores of win
dows. The terror stricken creatures be
gan to jump. The people iu the street
below were frantic.
Back! back!" they shrieked. "Waitl
well save you! don't jump!''
Which is the pleasanter, 1 1 be roasted
alive or to be mashed out "f shape on
the tone pavement!1 If to.-re is to be
any saving done, it must be done quick
ly. Many petiple were busy saving
themselves. The sleeping clerk and
porter and bell boys had gotten out
But what of the little black fellow in
the elevator? He, too, had been asleep.
He had been awakened as the others had
been by the first cry or fire. Dnlike
them he bad that "two-o'clock-in-the
morning courage" which Napoleon said
was the rarest sort In an instant he de
cided that it was his duty to stick to hi;
post And t'.ick be did.
Up and down he went, and every time
hit oar touched the office floor it was
loaded with people. The journey was a
frightful one, but he did not shrink.
How long he could continue to make the
trip he oonld not tell Tbe elevator
might drop any minute. Very well, let
it drop. Some of the people in it might
survive the shock. It was sure to catch
Are sooner or later. Even then he would
be on the way to safety with his pas
sengers. And at any rate be knew that
he could bring some people out of the
Are burning above.
He bad not been good at going up
stairs, but he could run his elevator.
Trip after trip he made, each worse than
the butt The fireman at the bottom of
tbe shaft to whom he turned over his
living freight sought to stop him in his
dangerous work. The whole well was
full of smoke, and far np toward the
roof the fire could be seen.
SOU he kept on, and it did seem that
very time he started skyward be was
going to certain death. But he knew
that the rooms and halls were swarming
with people, and he would take any
chance to save a life. The firemen were
doing their best outside; death was busy
within; and he finally made np his mind
that it was no use to go back again, till
all at once he remembered that ha bad
en nothing of his little friend.
Could he weather the storm and flame
once more? He could try. He pulled
the rope, and the journey began. It was
alow, oh, how slow. The smoke was
terrible worae even than the fire but
he held his breath and fixed his mind
upon the business in hand.
The flame kindled the woodwork or
the car. He fell on his hands and knees.
but he kept his hold on the rope. At
last he reached her floor. He found ber
room, and found her. She was asleep
and alone.
Wrapping her in the blankets, and
throwing about ber a rug which he
snatched from the floor, he struggled
through the flame and smoke back to the
burning car. "Back from tbe jaws or
hell" it was that he brought her, fighting
the fire away from her every inch of the
way down. He had just strength enough
to stop the car.
Tbe children were taken out and car
ried to a drug store across the street
the girl alive and well and the boy seem
ingly dead.
He was horribly burned. Among toe
people who stood around were the pa
rente of the little girL They had been
out to an evening party, and returning
after a long cold drive found their borne
on fire. Every effort had been made, in
response to the agonizing appeals of the
father, to save the child and now here
she was, safe and sound, laughing in her
mother arms.
And the hero? He opened his eyes.
"Did I bring her froo all right?"
"Yea, yes," said the father, "and bow
Ban we ever thank yon for what you have
done?"
Nebber min' 'bout dat. boas. Ef she's
safe dat'a 'nuff for me" and he closed
us eyes.
Dead? Tee, dead and gone to heaven
la a chariot of fire. Richard Yorke: Ro-
manoe.
At a Wedding.
The wedding iu question was, in many
ways, the most brilliant event of the
season. Nothing which could serve to
heighten the grace and significance of
the affair had been spared. The church
fittingly decorated by a Boston artist,
i filled with interested guests. The
faint strains of Mendelssohn floated
through the still air, and the beautiful
bride stood before the altar with her
chosen one.
The pastor of thechurch,ritaal in hand,
read the solemn service until he came to
tbe critical moment when he said:
'Repeat after me, 'I, William, take
thee, Frances.' "
He did not proceed at once, for to every
ones astonishment, before the bride
groom could find bis voioe, the bride, in
dear, firm tones, repeated:
" 'I, William, take thee, Frances. "
There was a dead silence, till the sec
ond officiating clergyman, unable longei
to control himself, laughed outright
This was the signal for a contagious wave
of merriment
As soon as the pastor could compose his
features and resume his dignified voice,
be said:
"Repeat after me, -'L William, take
thee, France.
This time the bridegroom spoke np
bravely, and there was no more blunder
ing. Youth e Companion,
It la said that a number of fine hotels
have been erected daring the past year
that have omitted the number 18 in num
bering the room. Many hotels long in op
eration also have this peculiar omission,
A SOLDIER HERMIT.
PleaMmton't l.lfe of Dtter Seelv-
lon la a Washington Hotel.
"Alone in a great city; practically a
hermit amid the throngs of the nation's
capital; living a lifeof comfort and con
tentment but a life of seclusion and ex
clusive retirement."
Such was the answer given in reply to
an inquiry a tew days ago regarding the
welfare and whereabouts of Major Gen
eral Alfred Pleasontou, whose name and
fame a few years ago were on the lips
of nine-tenths of the American people,
and tbe records of whose exploits as one
of the greatest cavalry leaders of our
late Far would fill volumes of graphic
history.
Apparently in the full possession or all
his mental faculties, and with no serious
physical ailment, this man of genius, a
soldier of two great wars, and explorer
.rly fifty years ago of the then un
known domain of our great western ter
ritoryan Indian fighter of great re
nown, a traveler whose face and figure
at one time well known in every
court of all the great powers of the Old
World, a scholar, bou vivant, wit and
most companionable of all the agreeable
public men of hfs day voluntarily be
took himself to his private apartment m
a snug little hotel in the very heart of
Washington on May to, 18D0, and has
not since been seen or talked with by,
all told, more than a dozen of his fellow
beings. And, with two or three excep
tions, those who have seen or talked
with him sine that date have been of
those necessary to him in administering
to his personal wants.
There was a bill pending In congress
to retire him as a brigadier general He
felt that to much as that recognition
his due at the hands of the country
he had served so faithfully. He had
been a major general in command of the
cavalry corps of the Army of the Poto
mac; he bad fought the first real cavalry
fight of the war at Brandy Station, June
IS, 1868, and then and there proved his
superior abilities as a dashing and al
most invincible commander; bad met
and thwarted the advance of the enemy
upon Gettysburg, holding Lee's armies
in donbt and abeyance nntil Meade's in
fantry came up to tight the decisive bat
tle of the war, and bad never been found
wanting when duty and patriotism re
quired his presence cither in camp or in
the field.
Tbe canvasback, the terrapin and all
the dishes he relished so highly in days
of yore have been abandoned, but he has
everything his appetite niay crave, and
with good digestion waitiw upon it he
eata to live and contentedly remarks
that he no longer lives to eat In other
matters his habits are regular, for, like
clockwork, he gets all the daily papers.
keeping well justed regarding the affairs
of tbe world of which be is part and
parcel, but which he holds away off at
arm's length, and with which he asso
ciates as little as possible.
No one of the few who see him ever
thinks of asking him s reason for this
most marvelous change in bis manner
of living, for they know it would be
useless. In fact he has resented several
inquiries of that kind in such a manner
to show that they are extremely dis
tasteful to hiin. General JioBecranB
wrote to bim about a year and a half
ago asking about his health and other
questions that any old time friend wonld
be apt to ask. but he did not answer the
letter for months. Washington Star.
Character In the Walk.
To tbe attentive eye none of the ordi
nary gestures or movements betrays pe
culiarities of individual character more
plainly than the gait the sailor's roll
ing, the soldier's stiff, the countryman's
jolting gait are immediately recognized.
Slow steps, whether long or short, sng.
gest a gentle or reflective state of mind,
as tbe cane may be, while, on the con
trary, quick steps seem to speak of agi
tation and energy. Reflection is revealed
in frequent pauses and walking to and
fro, backward and forward. The direc
tion of the steps, wavering and follow
ing every changing impulse of the mind,
inevitably betrays uncertainty, hesita
tion and iudecision. .
Tbe proud step is slow and measured;
tbe toes are conspicuously turned out,
the leg is straightened. In vanity the
toes are rather more gracefully turned,
the strides a little shorter, and there is
very often an affectation of modesty.
Tiptoe walking symbolizes surprise,
curiosity, discretion or mystery. Pall
Mali Gazette.
Some curious pipes have been found
in the vast guano deposits of Peru, the
date of which is fixed by scientists, to
whom they have been submitted as co
equal with the famous Peruvian pot
tery, the Eleventh or Twelfth century.
If the sun gave forth sounds loud
enough to reach the earth, such sounds,
instead of reaching us in the space of
about eight minutes, as light does, would
only arrive after a period of nearly f our
teen years.
A New England college numbers
among its student scholars from Kioto,
Japan, Thessalouica, European Turkey
and Iceland.
: Henry of Navarre was saved from
death at the massacre of St Bartholo
mew by biding under bis wife's immense
nrdingale,
General George B. McClellan, who
was a prime favorite with bis men, be
came endeared to them as "Litue Mac"
MOURNERS BV .THE SEA. .
By the side or ibe sea three mourner pale
gat idly watoiimu ao Idle sail.
"Where tank your ship?" One turned tier heal
"By Ibe tweet Spice Islands It Htm." she said.
"And often I fancy on days like tbeee
Their breath fioale to me e'er southern mm." .
"Where sank yourshlpr" "By tempent lotted.
On a shore of amber and pearls 'twat toU ,
"Ob, often 1 dream of iu beautiful bed ,
And tbe rainbow gleams that are round It
bed!"
'Where tank your tblo?" Oh, wan, white face.
Does she know not, tbon, ber lost love's place?
"My ship tank not" she said, and east
A Uny shell on Ibe waters vaiL
No balmy odort nor gems of prloe
Ber dreamt to Ita retting place entloe.
Her abip lies froien In arctic fee.
J!iritian Regitter.
The Actio of a Spinet.
The spinet instrument was aaimprove
ment upon what was known as the clavi
chord, the tone of which, although weak,
was capable, unlike that of the harpsi
chord or spinet, of increase or decrease,
reflecting the finest gradations of the
touch of the player. In this power of
expression it was without a rival until
the piano was invented. The early his
tory of the clavichord previous to the
Fifteenth century rests in profound ob
scurity, but it is said that there is one
bearing the date 1520 having four oc
taves without the D sharp and G sharp
notes. The spinet waa the invention of
tiie Venetian Spinetta. ,
The action is unique. The instrument
la similar to a small harpsichord with
one string to each note. The stringsare
set in vibration by point of quills ele
vated on wooden uprights known as
jacks, and the depression of the keys
causes the point to pass upward, pro
ducing a tone similar to that of a. harp
Springs are used to draw the quills back
into position. The keyboard is arranged
in a manner after the present.modern
piano. Providence Journal.
' Similarity In the Names of Peer.
Several peers have names nearly alike.
There are Lord Amherst of Hackney.
and Earl Amherst There are two peers
with only the difference of a letter in
the spelling of their names the Earl of
Lindsay and the Earl of Lindsey, the
former being a Scotch representative
peer and the latter an English peer.
There is only the difference of a letter
also in the names of Viscount Mipletou
and Lord Middleton, but there is a dif
ference in rank which makes tbe dis
tinction easy.
There are several instances in which
the territorial title is necessary to distin
guish peers, the more notable being Lord
Stanley of .Alderley and Lord Stanley of
Preston, and Lord Howard de Waldeu
and Howard of Glosaop. Formerly Lord
Wulonghby de Broke and Lord Wil-
lougbby de Eresby sat in the house, bnt
tbe latter has been made an earl, and
will henceforth be known as the Earl of
Ancaster. Loudon Tit-Bits.
. The Titles of Books.
A book title, like a woman's face,
ought to be pretty. And if a bewitch
ing, diaphanous veil, in the shape of a
slight curiosity rousing cloudiness of
meaning can be thrown over it, so much
the better. Readers delight to be half
taken tn by books, jnst as men do by
women, so long and this is a most im
portant proviso so long as their vanity
is not piqued. The object of a title
should be to seem simple, artless, naive
and quite naturally charming, bnt thin
gs in the case of so many of its feminine
analogues is often to be attained only
by the most consummate art Black
wood s Magazine.
Two Greatest of Stamp Collectors,
The two greatest stamp collectors in
the world were M. Philippe Ferrari, eon
of the late Duchesse de Galliera, and the
czar, whose collection is said by experts
to be worth 3,000,000 francs. He began
to make it when he was czarowitz, and
has been adding to it ever since. M.
Ferrari, who cast away a fortune, or
rather several fortunes which he con
ceived to be ill gotten and said he had
no right to inherit, hoards stamps as
misers hoard money. He has quantities,
which he says will be valuable to his
heirs should he live to great age.
London Truth.
Tbe Valuo of a Rueilan Beard,
The Russians had an old law by which
any one who drew hair from another's
beard should be fined four times as much
as for cutting off a finger; and the im
portance and value of tbe appendage is
further illustrated by the fact that,
although the loss of a leg was estimated
at 12 shillings, the loss of the beard waa
estimated at 20. English Illustrated
Magazine.
A Ctrl Colonel.
Little Dot - You think girls isnt
brave. The queen of .Holland is a little
bit of a girl, and mamma read in the
paper that she was a colonel o there!
Little Dick Huh! The paper said
she was only a colonel of infantry. Mas
be a baby regiment Good News,
' Policemen's Lot Not Happy.
The Portland police are not allowed to
carry umbrellas. They have also been
ordered to report daily the electric lights
that do not burn. The result of this at
tempt to make the policeman useful as
well as ornamental will be carefully
watched by other cities not lees anxious
to experiment in the direction of reform.
Biddeford (Me.) Journal,
An Rmlneiit Politician.'
How any one should ever desire to be
come an eminent politician pusses one's
comprehension. . It is amazing. He is
everybody's sluve. He is the slave of
his party, he is the slave of the wire
pullers, he is the slave of the press, he is
the slave of the great British public. Let
him refuse obedience to any one of his
owners, and before he can say Jack Rob
inson he is out of the running, smashed,
done for. We are told from the house
tops that the great Mr. Blank 1b going
to make a declaration of his policy his
policy, mind.
I doubt if the great Mr. blank; nas
very much to do with the declaration
or the policy either. It is the party
which want the policy; it is tbe wire
pullers who inform him that the mo
ment is opportune for its declaration; it
is the press which has warned him of the
direction in which the wind is blowing;
it is the great British public from which
he receives the doctrine, hot pressed, cut
and dried, which he is to preach. One
may venture to donbt if he ever had a
policy which he could legitimately can
his own. , He would scarcely be the "
great Mr. Blank if he had.
It is the rank and hie of the party
who have policies, ideas, theories of
their own. The great Mr. Blanks are
like Bponges. They are sodden with
moisture which they receive from every
side. It is rained on them from a thou
sand waterspouts. This mixture of all
the rains of all the heavens, when
squeezed Out by their several proprie
tors, drop by drop, is called their policy.
Surely an eminent, a truly eminent,
politician is the most wonderful work of
man. All the Year Round.
.' The Hatter of Car Pares.
Speaking of embarrassment in the
matter of car fares when a male friend
going the same way as yourself is en-'
countered en route to bridge or ferry, a
woman says: "1 really wish there was
an inviolate rule, as there is among Eng
lishmen. I remember soon after my ar
rival in England happening to meet as
I was boarding an omnibus an English
friend, to whose house I was bound at
the moment by appointment with his
wife. He was a reserved and distant
man, though scrupulously courteous,
and I wondered whether I ought or
ought not offer to pay my fare through
the three changes of transportation we
must make to reach our destination, ' '
'All doubt, however, was quickly re
moved by the cause himself, who leaned
over, after finding his own coin, with
the inquiry, "Got your tuppence ready?
I found over there that even when a
man was taking yon about by invitation
car fares, etc., were to be individually
looked af ter. 1 wish the matter were so
absolutely fixed here."
It would seem as it the question is
readily settled in a doubtful case by
leaving it to the man. Part of the mat
ter is disposed of absolutely. No man
in America would think of asking to es
cort a woman on a trip about the city
without assuring all its expenses. In
the matter of a chance encounter there
can be no harm in making the effort to
pay one's fare, which, if the man pre
fers to do, may be permitted without
protest Her Point of View in New
York Times. .."'
The Heart of England. . y
In tbe midst of the old city of London,
where the heart of human life beau
fastest, stands the cbnrch of St. Swith
in's, an old edifice rebuilt by Wren upon
its ancient foundations, bnt recently re
duced by modern taste to a most com
monplace air of comfort and newness.
If the curious traveler will step out of
tbe passing throng and edge his way
tbrougb tbe hucksters of flowers and
stale fruit squatted around the church,
he will find imbedded in tbe bluish slabs
of its foundation a large oblong stone as
gray as the beard of Time bimself.
This is London stone, erected by the
Romans half a century before the birth
of the Saviour as the central milestone
or point of their positions in Britain.
From it all roads, divisions of property
and distances throughout the province
were measured.
It has been recognized as the heart of
England, from which all its articles
flowed, "by every historian, dramatist
or antiquary known to English litera
ture." -
A feeling has always existed among
Englishmen about this stone which was
not altogether superstition, that, as all
distances were reckoned from it, so it
was in a certain way the base of the
stability of England. Youth's Compan
ion. Oldett Houue In Wathlugtoa.
Down at the foot of Seventeenth street,
away from the usual route of the guide
book sightseers, stands the oldest house
in Washington. The moss had grown
thick around its humble roof long before
quarreling congresses wrangled and dis
puted over the location of the future
Federal Uty," and when at last the
dispute was ended and a definite site se
lected it was found that the unpreten
tious home and paternal acres of asturdy
old Scotchman, David Burns by name.
situation. Tbe bomeBtead itself was lo
cated almost upon the immediate bank
of the Potomac, here a mile or more in
width, and only a little distance away
from the beautiful hill upon which the
observatory now stands the hill upon
which, it is related, Braddock's forces
camped on their first night oat from
Alexandria, in that ill starred march
Into the wilderness. New England Mag
azine.