North Carolina Newspapers

(ljc tfljatljam Record $l)t Chatham Btcori) t II. A- LONDON, EDITOR AND rilOPlUETOll. RATES OF ADVERTISING One square, one insertion- $ 1.00 One square, two insertions - - 1.50 One square, one month - - 350 For larger advertisements liberat con tracts will be made. it 8 TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION, - $ 2.00 .- $1.00 - - 00 One copy, one year -One copy, six months One copy, time months VOL. X. PITTSBORO', CHATHAM CO., N. C, OCTOBER 20, 1887. NO. 7. to o Fxpcrience. p n't lo. your teriijK'r or j our time, Or fret your soul a minute. Ph'iiim lliis good old roomy world Has fHilish teoj.le in it. 15 v not oi wholly useless weed The fertile earth is cutiuVred; Then - .ii tit not these ran do no pood, r ith them you'll lx numbered. If all I rnn ly lieing wi:e, Kaeh one his sphere adorning. From wisdom's way we yet might btray Fr lack of projter warning; Hui Nature kindly sets her signs .i l ui'i' -" c'iojcii dwelling; Without tin-in. what would eomo to us, There i-:it any telling. Ju-t reckon up yotir fflisli friends, Ki -h one's jceuliar failing, And "f f fiat Mly care yoiim-lf At whieli in them you're railing; While, if yo:i lied sviiw luckless one Th" :aii!.' ;ill through and over, Wi'd I'-.-M r I i' I' inlikeliiui Tii oi e I ;. I'fir l"aved clover. I lav no fl lint I :imv store Mi i?ii 1 - tit i knowledge, Lut t ii - I ve I.'ivifd Ity studies i:i That I test It!!" denv- college; Fi-rhai'-i you thi:ik thai school is meant For other people oaly ; i r. m aylie. your are wise in truth lint don't you find it lonely.' Miriam K. Davis, in Frank Leslie's. "NERVOUS DAY." Mrs. ;tanhope was one of those ner vous, irritable women tint a!ont half the time make tlu'tnsel ves ami every one around them micr.ihlf. She had bee a lining one of her regular nervous day s as she styled tlrm, and everything hid gO!f W 'Mlg. Little Freddy, only four years old and their only child, had bee a bani-hed from the Mtting-room, although he had p'.eade I Ii'inl to stay and "loot at his pitty pittcr ! k" S inta I'iaus hrought him. and had promised, with such a r'-oiutf air, that he would he "so stilU ;" hut no, his mainma wanted to lied.iwti e.i the lounge, and he mu4 go out to p! ay. Mr. and Mr Nanhope were not wi ili'iy, so Freddy dil not have a nurse to look alter lmn. no one hut old Tow fcer, the faithful Newfoumlland watch dog, who was yars older than his little master, and who had watched him faith fully e ver ii!cc he was a wee baity. Mis. Stanhope had just .settled herself on the lounge and taken up tin lat magazine, which she thought might quiet h- r nerves a little, when, bang! went tin' outside door, as only a healthy boy, full of spirits, could shut it, and the next instant Freddy bounded into the sitting-room, upsetting a chair and tumbling hea ll'tng over a footstool. A spasm, as of pain, crossed his mother's face, and sin raised her hand as though to ward off a blow, exclaim ing ly fretfully: "Oh, Freddy, what a naughty boy you are! why can't you stay out and play when mamma feels so? ' "Mamma ! mamma !'' exclaimed Freddy, who ha 1 by this time regained his equilibrium, and who did not in the hast miad the tumble or his mother's fretful speech; "me is havin' such fun ! 'et me telloo " "No, no, Freddy," interrupted his mother; "I don't want to hear; run out again and play. You may do anything you choose, only let me have a little quiet." Freddy looked disappointed and stood pouting his cherry lips, w ith one chubby linger stuck between them. "Did you hear, Freddy," reiterated his mother, rising her voice. "Ain't you going to mind? I told you to go out ; now start." The child walked slowly "out of the room. On the hall rug lay Towser, and Freddy impulsively threw his arms around his hairy friend's neck and burst into tears. "Me did out to tell cr Towder, me did," he sobbed; but his grief and dis .'ippointinent was of short duration, for in a few moments he sprang up and ran fut into the yard, followed by Towser. After Freddy went out, Mrs. Stanhope tried in vain to get interested in the magazine; at last she threw it petulantly from her and lying back upon the cush ions, closed her eyes. Soon a sweet, delirious languor stole over her; she was riding in Mrs. Oraham's exquisite brougham. Mrs. Oraham was a widow lady who lived just across the way, and who was uo,th over half a million, report said; and whose superb horses and elegant carriages little Mrs. Stanhope had often admired, and, if the truth must be told, hi vied. Then the scene' changed; she was ly i"g there on the lounge in her pleasant Mtting room, listening to the sweetest music shn ever heard. Suddenly there was a scream from Freddy, au energetic bow wow from Towser, and an exclama tion of fright from Kitty, the servant girl, as she ran hastily out into the yard. An undefined feeling of terror rilled the heart of Mrs. Stanhope; she tried to r,s'. '"'t found her strength had entirelv I descu.d her; and pale as death, with eyes closed, !.!,(. lay there longing, yet dreading, to hear what had happe ed. In a few moments-- it seemed hours to her- she heard Kitty come in. There was another step too. not Freddy's; she listened in vain for the natter of his lit. tie feet. The bteps paused at the sit- ! . ing-room door, which was ajar. She ! new intuitively they were lookingirt. "Hist! do not make a noise; she i ist asleep," she heard Kitty say in s : whisper. "It will be trouble enough t er to know- when she wakes, poo arvous crature." "One of his horns went clean through, lie heard the other voice say, and which die recognized as Mary Calhone's, Mrj. (Indiana's kitchen maid. What terrible accident had happened that they were not going to tell her un til she awoke. O, would she ever awak and come out of this stupor! She trie to move, to scream, but all to no pu: pose; a sudden, thick darkness sceme enveloping her, and ehe sank into u sensibility. iVhen she again opened her eyes i was night; the curtails were down, : lamp burned ou the table, but was turned low down, and the figure of a Strang woman was moving about the roon putting things to rights. "Who are you? What has happened?' asked 3Irs. Stanhope, in a scarcely audi b'e voice and with difficulty arising to : .sitting posture. "O, have you waked up!'' said th woman, coming over to the lounge when she sat. "And you don't know? clean me! how can I tell you! Your lit 1 1 boy, your little Freddy, you will nevci see him alive again!" "Never see -Freddy -alive ! What do you mean !" gasped Mrs. Stanhope, starting up and groping blindly aero-: the room to the door. As she opened it she met her husband, who took hei gently in his arms, soothed her tenderly, and in a broken voice told her that Mr. Alton's cross cow had by some means escaped from the yard into the road that afternoon, and that Freddy had teased her through the fence with his red scarf; that in her rage she had broken down the fence, and, before Towser and Kitty could rescue him, plunged one of hei horns through Freddy's body, killing him instantly. "O. why cannot I die too!'' she wailed, wringing her hands distractedly. "My Freddy! my precious boy! my darling baity! I have murdered you by my thoughtless selfishness! O, let mc die!" After a while she became more calm; a sort of numb despair seized her heart; she could not weep, and w hen they led her to look at the little waxen form ar rayed for 1 urial, she could only look at the white, set face of her darling as he lay there, with roses strewn about bin: anil snowdrops in his chubby hands, with a weary longing to lie down toe and be at rest. Tears seemed swelling up in scalding floods over her brain, burning deep, scathing blisters there, but she could not shed one. At length the day of the funeral came: how spectre-like it all seemed, every one moved about so quiet, .so death-like ; she could not even remember a word the minister said. The procession formed ; they placed a heavy black vail over hct face that seemed to increase the already midnight gloom of her heart. They reached the cemetery; the little casket was lowered into the grave and she heard the gravel rattle upon the lid; yes, they were burying her precious treasure, her all, forever from her sight and yet she could not weep, she had not dropped one tear on the loved face; the thought tore her heart with agony, and she felt her mind reel and totter on its throne. Again she was at home. How still and silent the rooms were and how el ark and gloomy; it seemed as though she was never again to see tha bright, glorious sunshine. So weeks passed. She caught a glimpse of her own face in the mirror once in a w hile, and she could see how thin and white it was growing. Then came whispers no one seemed to speak out loud now that a change of scene was necessary ; the. beach or the mountains. Mechanically she made preparations to leave home; it was tho night before her departure, and she stroclc out to the cemetery to visit Freddy's grave. "Oh, my poor murdered darling!" she moaned, sinking upon the grave in an abandon of tearless grief. "Lucy! Lucy! what is the matter? Ain't you never going to wake up?" said her husband's voice, close to her ear. With a start, she raised her head and lookeel about her. Yes, it was Waller that was bending over hei, and strange to tell, she was lying upon t he lounge in her little sitting- room, and the sun was just Hinging his parting rays iuto the west window. How cosy and cheerful everything looketl; and, glancing up into her husband's face, she saw he was laughing. 'What ! did you have the nightmare V ' he exclaimed. "Hush!" she answered in a whisper, "where is Freddy?' "Freddy?" echoed Mr. Stanhope; "why he is asleep. After teasing Af ton's cow until she tore the yard fence nearly all down, and getting Towser in to a fine scrape, for he bit the cow se verely, and she run one of her horns through his leg, and frightening Kitty nearly out of her scuses, he has concluded to go to sleep. " Yes, it was a cruel dream, and Lucy Stanhope wept tears of joy; but she could not feel sure until she had pressed her lips to Freddy's and felt his' soft breath upon her cheek, i It was a long time before she could tell her husband her terrible dream; and she never again sent Freddy away from her for the sake of quiet. New York News. "Mngjring" Criminals. In my business we learn to detect the foibles and weakness of men and wom en, says a police photographer in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, but in the jail you would not expect to finel any vanity in the matter - of personal appearance. Nevertheless there are many prisoners who take pride in securing a good neg ative. Ordinary prisoners never object to the process of "mugging," because they are too ignorant to understand the advantage of a picture in the hands of the police. High toned crooks from the East always object. Sophia Lyons, the famous New York shoplifter, cried and raved like a fury when brought be fore me, but finding the elctectives in exorable, she dried her eyes, primped her hair, aeljusted her bonnet, daubc I a ittle powder on her checks and told mc to go ahead; that, if she couldn't help it, she would have a good portrait, lane Cosley, another big shoplifter, sat smiling as sweet as ah angel, after hav ing made a desperate fight, clawing like a catamount, and her face is one of the prettiest in my collection. How to Hear II unions. Mental burdens will be far more easily borne if they are placed, as much as practicable, out of sight. When we gaze upon them they increase in size. When in our thoughts we emphasi.-) and dwell on them, they sometimes grow al most unbearable. It h well enough to face trouble when it comes to us, to measure it and know its weight, that we may summon up courage and strength sufficient to endun it; but, this done, let us place it where it may no longer be in constant sight drag it to tin light, to dwell upon its weight, and to claim sympathy for being obliged to bear it. When the emphasis of life is laid on the cheerful and attractive side, it real Lur elens will be borne lightly, happiness will abound and be diffused, and the value of life be multiplied ten-fold. -LBapt'st Weekly. A Horse's Costly Tombstone. Frank W. Harper, the well known turfman, has ordered at Versailles, Ky., the costliest monument probably ever placed over the grave of any being be low the estate of man. It is for Ten Broeck, the famous race horse, who re cently died at Mr. Harper's stock farm, near Midway. Ten Broeck was foaled on the farm, and belonged to Mr. Har per throughout his whole 1 ife, and was beloved by the Harpers as a member of the family. The monument is to be of white marble, seven feet two inches high, and surmounted by an urn. Upon its side will be inscribed the dates of the birth and death of Ten Broeck and his various .achievements. Baltimore Sun. A Happy Thought. "I don't see why your friend Miss Smith referred to my moustache as down,' Maude," said young Sissy to his pretty cousin. "There is nothing of the 'down' about it; it quite bristles. I have to shave twice a week, I assure you." "I know it bristles, Charley," re turned the girl, knitting her brows, "al though not very fiercely, anel I am as much perplexed as you are to understand why Clara should speak of it as down. (Sudden happy thought.) Perhaps, Charley, it's because it grows on a goose. New York Sun. Cwl. Many of my readers know that "cwt" stands for "hundredweight," for have they not used it themselves when doing theirsums? But I think few could tell how this strange sign came to be cm ployed. And yet when they learn its meaning they will finel it very simple. C stands for "hundred;" it is the first letter of the Latin word centum, hun dred. If you w ill loedv in your Bible you will notice that the hundredth psalm is marked "Psalm C." Then "wt." is merely short for "weight." Thus you have "hundredweight"(cwt.). Little Folks. The Passing Bell. In olden times they useel to ring the bell when the hour hael arriveel for the court to come in and hold its sessions, as they ought to do now for the court of common pleas. "Is that the Passing bell?" inquired a venerable stranger visiting the town. "Yes, sir. it is," replied a wag of a lawyer, "the Passing bell. It is the signal for you to come and pass your property into the hands of your law yers." New London Day. Proof of Devotion. "And do you really love me George?" she asked, "Love you!' repeated George fer vently. "Why, while I was bidding you good-bye on the porch last night, dear, the dog bit a large ediunk out of my leg, and I never noticed it till I got home. Love you!" Bazar. CHILDREN'S COLUMN. Joking Grandma. "May I go to Miss Lily white's party?" But grandmamma shook her head: 41 When the birds go to rest, I think it is best For mine to go, too," she said. "Can't I go to Miss Lily white's party?" Still grandmamma shook her head: "Dear child, tell me how, You're half asleep now; Don't ask such a thing," she said. Then that little one's laughter grew hearty, "Why, granny," she said, "Going to Miss Lily white's party Means going to bed !" The Story of a Pebble. Sir Francis Doyle tells an interesting story about a pebble, which I think you will like to hear. Mrs. Brooke, a rela tion of his, lived in a house on the banks of beautiful Loch Earn, in Perthshire. As pearls, more or less valuable, were often found there, Mrs. Brooke began collecting them, and the villagers' chil dren used to take to her those which they picked up, receiving a shilling or two in exchange. One day, a little girl, who had come from some considerable distance, called and offered her a peb ble, but as Mrs. Brooke thought it use less, she refused to buy it. Presently her brother as keel her to change her mind, for, he said, the lassie hael had "a very long walk, and was crying bit terly at having to go home empty haneleel." So Mrs. Brentke kindly told him to take the stone, anel give the bairn what she wanted for it. A few weeks later, a friend, wdio had travelled much, and knew South America well, viewed the pebble with great interest, and at length remarked that if he had been in Brazil and had seen the stone there he wouhl have felt sure that it was a diamond. The stone was at once sent to a skilled jeweller, and he reported that the trav eller's opinion was right, anel very soon the Loch Earn pebble was set in one of Mrs. Brooke's diamond rings. Unfor tunately, no trace could be founel of the little girl, anel so she was not able to share the further reward that would have been bestoweel upon her succcs.. Little Folks. The Whistler. Do you know why this dudc is ealleel the Whistler? It flies so fast that it makes its wings fairly whistle through the air! The gunner, waiting in ambush, can tell of its approach by the shrill sound and can get ready anel take his position before it comes within gunshot. This birel has many other names bc sieles the Whistler. Golden Eye, Great Heael anel Spirit Duck are some of them. The Indians gave it the last name, be cause it allows the hunter to come very near it, and then before he can twang his bow, the duck has vanished below the water. This frightens the superstitious InJ dian. He thinks that such rapidity of motion can only be due to magic, anel shudelers at the thought that he has trieel to shoot a spirit. This bird has another strange habit. It builds its nest in the top of a tall dead tree, so old and worn that the bark anel branches have fallen off, leaving only a slippery pole. Nobody knows how the fender young ducklings get from the nest to the water. Legend says that the mother bird car ries her babies herself, holding them by the bill, anel supporting them by her strong neck until she places them safely in the water. No wonder that the ig norant Indians think her an enchanted spirit. When these birds are alarmed, they make a strange note, which sounels like the constantly recurriug gooel note of an olel worn-out hurely-gurdy ; such a one as is playcel by old women at street cor ners, anel is so weak with long use that only the one good not j can be heard at any distance. The Whistler feeels oa all sorts of ma rine insects anel small shell-fish, and in some regions is so dainty as to prefer salmon spawn above all other fooel. St. Nicholas. In and Around Jerusalem. Outside the walls of Jerusalem a new town has sprung up, a building club having been established a few years ago, under the operation of which 130 houses were erected in four years by the Jews, while along the Jaffa road many country villas have been erected of late by Eu ropean residents as summer resorts. The latest development of the building of new houses without Jerusalem is to be found in the enterprise which has led to much buileling being done on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, the sum mit of which is crowned with the Church of the Ascension. Jewish Messenger. A Land of Onions. , It is to be noted that Egypt is again becoming a lanel of onion culture. Large quantities are yearly shipped to Europe from Alexandria and other ports. A few years ago the trade hardly existed, while in two months of last year alone 14,000 tons were shipped to Liverpool, New York Tribune. ARABIAN WOMEN. A Housewife's Duties in Modern Bible Land. Syrian Dames Work Hard While Their Husbands Loaf. There are granel women in Arabia; women of ability, keen in insight, anel wonderful capabilities, writes Florence M. Jones in the Swiss Cross. The duticr of the wife of a Syrian to-day are as fol lows: She brings all the water for family use frum a distant well. This is accomplished by filling immense jars, anel bringing them upon her head. She risers early, and goes to the handmill o'. the village, carrying corn, enough of which for the day's bread she grinds by a slow, laborious process. This she car ries home and cooks in an oven, which is made in the earth. It is a round hole, line'el with oval and flat stones, anel heated by a fire built in it. When the bread is mixed with water and a little salt, she removes the ashes, and plasters pats of dough against the hot stones to cook. Could anything be more crude? She cares for her" children, unusually a large family, anel eloesall the rough work at intervals, while the husband calmly smokes his 'argclie,' or sits cross legged upon his divan, or house-top, in converse with some equally harel-working member of Syrian society. The houses are made of a coarse stone, roughly hewn. The house tops are ol clay, covcrcel with coarse gravel. In hot weather the sun bakes this mud formed roof, and huge cracks appear. The rain comes, and, as a natural conse qu nee, the roetf leaks. This is 'some thing of which the fastidious inhabitant of the Bible Lanel does not approve. It does not add to his be)dily comfort. He remedies the difficulty, shall I tell you how? Not by any effort of his own; far from it; his wife comes, ascends to the hemse-top, and in the drenching rain, propels a roller of solid stone, backward anel forward, much as we use a lawn mower. This rolls the sun-dried cracks together, and prevents the entrance ol water. These are only a few of a Syrian housewife's duties. Her reward is not in this worlel surely. She cannot speak to her husband in public; she can receive no caress before his friends. She goes veiled, and scantily clad. She has no time to make her own habiliments, foi her hands must weave anel spin anel em broider artistically and abundantly for the husband anel male children. In winter her feet are protected only by open wooden sandals, aud drops of blood mark the way to the Syrian well.. Of course this is among the lower and miei dle classes of society in Syria, but those who belong to a higher class are very few. The wealth of a Syrian family is not in money, but is estimated according to the number of herds of camels, goats, sheep, and cattle it possesses. The women arc fond of ornament, but have little op portunity for it. They always wear the "round tire liko the moon," spoken of in the Bible. Even the children have these on. The form is a half-moon. A single row of silver coins overlapping one another, anel scweel upon a piece of coarse material through a sinjde hole bored in one side, is attached to a square of cloth, having long strings, which tie under the black hair. This allows the coins to rest in a curve about the fore head. One of these tires, which wtc had, wcigheel four pounds anel six ounces, anel was was worth $80. We now have a child's tire, which weighs two pounds. Over the round tire is worn the heavy, hand-woven, linen veil. The specimen we have is worth $50, anel is large enough for a piano-cover. All the silk for embroidery is gathered by women from the silk-worms, anel must be spun and dyed before they can use it. If a mother in Syria presents a daughter to her husbanel he is bitterly elisap pointed. When you ask a Syrian parent, "How many children have you?" if his family consists of five boys and six daughters, he Avill tell you, "I have five chilelrcn." They only count boys. This seems bitterly cruel when the workers of Syria are of the other sex. The girls arc dark-eyed, raven-haired, of olive complexion, and usually of meelium height, though some are extremely tall anel muscular. Politeness. It is saiel that Louis XIV., the most haughty anel magnificent monarch of modern times, used to lift his hat even to the female servants of his court. If so, no man neeel think that he derogates from his dignity by keeping his hat off in a respectable shop when he is served by a woman. Even in business inter course politeness need not be banished. In Englanel, ' for instance, checks are marked. "Pay to." In France they are worded, "Vcuillez payer" "Please to pay," "Kindly pay," etc. Chicago Tribune. IV hat Made Her Nerrons. Olel lady Conductor, I hope there isn't going to be a collision. Coneluctor I hope not. Old lady I want you to be very kecr ful. I've got two dozen eggs in this basket. A Spanish Bull-Ring. The bull-ring of Granada, like most of those in the larger cities of Spain, is i vast amphitheatre, built of wood, and capable of seating perhaps 20,000 per sons. By accident we came to this huge structure in the course of our meander ings,and we were conducted through it by an attendant. In the stables were a num ber of wretched-looking steeels, aged and raw-boned as Don Quixote's "Rosin uate," yet considercel gooel enough to be slain by doughty bulls for the amuse ment of the gentle dames and spirited young dons of Granada. On the stockade surrounding the area were great streaks and blotches of blood, which hael spurt eel from the wounded animals in various combats. At the same time that these were pointed out to us it was explained how, in the practice of the noble art of bull-fighting, a horse would often have his sides ripped open by an infuriated bull and the plucky steed would never theless go on sometimes with the fight, although his entrails would trail upon the grounel anel dangle about his feet. We were then conducted to the chambers where the mataelorcs elressed themselves anel where were kept the trappings for ornamenting the horses, and the apparatus for provoking the bullsr Among the articles of the latter sort were long poles with sharp spikes in the enel, masks, dummy horses anel va rious other devices and instruments of torture, cunningly aelapted to arouse the wrath of a peaceably elisposcd bull and convert him into an infuriated demon. In one of the rooms, improvised as a chapel, there were crucifixes anel other pious paraphernalia by which the last offices of the church might, in case of sudden emergency, be ad minist creel to a mortally wound eel bull-fighter, so that his gentle soul might not take its flight unshriven. There appcareel to be no similar provision for the bulls and horses, they being only brutes and "having no souls. American Magazine. The Most Famous Oysters. The Blue Points are the most famous in the worlel. They were first elis covcrcel a little over a hundred years ago in Long Island waters. The bottom of the Great South Bay, opposite Blue Point, was covered then with blue-mud anel up to the time the oysters were dis covered they were not supposcel to exist in the muddy ground. The discovery was accidentally made by au oysterman. The shells ef the oyster were a deep elark color, and the oyster itself was fat anel luscious. It was not long after the discovery before the baymen flocked to the grounds by hundreds, and it was not unusual for one man to take as high as 200 bushels in a single day. At that time there was a ready market for them at 50 cents per bushel. The beds could not stanel the elrain upoa them anel were finally exhausteel. The oysters now callcel Blue Points elo not resemble tin original any more than day eloes night, as they elo not grow wild, but arc culti vateel the same as a field of wheat or corn. The oysters grown in the waters around Patchogue (which is one of the greatest oyster growing localities in this state), are shipped all over the worlel as Shrewsburys, East Rivers, Blue Points and almost every other name given an ojrstcr. Over five bund reel men are em ployee! in the oyster industry in and about Patchogue. The oysters arc shipped by the barrel to Europe, are but little larger than a silver dollar, costing, reaely for shipment, alxmt $1 per barrel. They bring $5.50 and $7 per barrel in the European markets. Brooklyn Citi zen. The Ceylonese. The Ceylonese, or Singhalese, as they are ealleel, from the native name of their lovely island, are a mild and inof fensive race of people. They have the reputation, indeeel, of being rank cow ards, but this is rather the character of most Eastern folk. The men are, tall, not baelly maeie, anel have slender limbs. The women arc shetrter, anel are fonel of finery, such as gay-colorcel dresses, bangles, anel chains. They are partial to music anel elancing, but their tom-tom, as they call their drum-like instrument, gives out a dull and tiresome sound which soon gets monotonetus; anel their dancers arc not as a rule so agile, grace ful, anel clever as t he Hineleto dancers of India. A Magnificent Lemon. Our friend Thomas C. Dixon, showed us a magnificent lemon which he had gathered from a tree of his own raising. It was 7 inches long anel 111-8 inches in circumference and weighed over 14 ounces. We were astonished to find that it was possible to raise such fruit in Chatham county. It is of excellent quality, and Mr. Dixon's tree bears about two dozen a year Pittsboro (N. C.) Home. The Business for the Boy. Fond Mother Pa, what business do you think we ought to start Willard in? He's getting to be 18 years old and ought to get into something. Fond Father It's hard telling what he's fitted for. Fond Mother Yes, he's as proud as Lucifer, but he's as neat as wax. Fond Father Well, then, let's start him in the match business. Night on the Farm. Tis dewf all on the lonely farm, The flocks are gathered in the fold, The dusky air is soft as balm, The daisies hide their hearts of gold. Slow, drowsy, swinging bells are heard In pastures dewy, dark and dim, And in the door-yard trees, a bird Trills sleepily his evening hymn. The dark, blue deeps are full of stars; One lone lamp, in the hillside gloom A mile away is red as Mars; The night is faint with sweet perfumes. At bedtime in the quiet house, Up through the wide old rooms I go, Without a lamp and not a mouso Is stirring. Lemdly, to and fret, The etld clock ticks, and easterly The ancient windows open high ; Here the sun's kiss will waken me. With bird-songs welling up the sky." New England Farmer. HUMOROUS. Electricity is a very serious matter, and yet Edison makes light of it. A balel-headeel book-keeper should never try to wipe his pen on his hair. In the bright lexicon of speculation there is nothing so uncertain as a sure thing. Hardly .anybody would care to change places with the turtle, anel yet he has a great snap. English statesmen live longer than American statesmen, but they don't havo so much fun. "I aim to tell the truth." "Yes," in terrupted an acquaintance, "but you are a very bad shot." "Can you recommend for me a good home course of botany?" asks a corre sponelent. Yes, the flour barrel. Cally Miss Peterson has remarkably small eyes. Dally Yes, they look small, but she has hael a young man in 'cm for a long time. A girl who was told by an old boat man to be sure and have her boat well trimmed went to work anel sewed two silk flounces arounel the gunwale. "Ain't you in, Maria?" he queried, as he fumbled arounel with the latchkey. "No, I ain't. I'm out. Out of sugar, out of tea, out of flour, anel out of patience," snapped a female voice from an upper window. A doctor who had been attending a dairyman's hireel girl ealleel at the house the other elay. "How's your milkmaid?" he asked of the farmer when he came to the eloor. "It's none of your business how our milk is made," was the indig nant response, and the door slammed most emphatically'. Seals. Sealing a letter is nowadays the work of an instant, but how was it accom plished before the invention of gummed envelopes? A correspondent of Le Livre describes the methods of scaling which have been employed from the re motest antiquity. The first seals consisted of a ring affixed to clay, and later to chalk or a mixture of pitch, wax, and plaster. The use of wax diet not become general until the Middle Ages. Beeswax, yellowed by time, was the first variety of it used, and, after it, came sealing wax mixeel with a white substance. Reel and green wax came in during the twelfth century, and, a hunelred years later, the list of colors was supplemented by nearly all those now to be found in wax. In the times of the First Empire, un der Bonaparte, the French people began to use wafers which were brought from Italy by the soldiers of the French army. These wafers were cut with a punch from a thin leaf maele of flour. Finally gummeel envelopes began everywhere to replace the scaling wax and wafers. The fitst of these envelopes were made in Englanel about the year 1840. The seals chosen by different people arc often interesting, as indicating per sonal tastes. Goethe, after his return from Italy, sealcel his letters with an antique head, sue:h as that of Socrates, Minerva or Leela. The seal of the as tronomer Lalanele hael a ship engraveel upon it, anel that of Meyerbeer, the com poser, hael a lyre, with the legcnel, "al ways in tune." Victor Hugo's seal was very simple, merely the letters V. II. so arrangeel that when inverted they formeel the ci pher A. H. Youth's Companion. Left His Address at Home. An old farmer named Kent was a well known character some years ago in Mount Vernon and Vienna. He hael many peculiarities anel eccentricities which earneel for him a variety of nick names, at which, by the way, he never took any offence. In some way this olel fellow hael some claim to a pension. He went down to Augusta to be examined by the physician there for that purpose. He was found to have disabilities that warranted his obtaining a pension, but he was very much excited at the length of the examination and the variety of questions put to him. Finally he was asked his .address. "Oh, yes, of course," he replieel, "you'll want my aeldrcss, but bless me what did I do with it?" After fumbling in all his pockets, he lookeel up helplessly and said, "By gra cious, I must have left my address at Siome." Lewiston (Me.) Journal.