North Carolina Newspapers

f4 -7 f i ? THE STANDARD. r U1MSKST PAPER , t r.ijsiir.D IN CONCORD ,T.1NS MOKK HEADING ; v I t?:k than any other p- im-m; in this section. WE DO ALL KINDS OF job "woirik: IN THE JrEA TES T MA NNER "VOL. II. NO. '27. CONCOlll), N. C, FRIDAY, JULY 15), 1SS). WHOLE NO. 79. AND AT THE LOWEST RATES. Standard. EE TO K T II Y. joll'erMon 1mvIm. vtwboily iii North Carolina will , ;iy. tteville next November if , . th df Hou. Jefferson Davis ,,, i niit bis attending the Cousti- ,1K,1 Centennial. A late Fay- .; ,. O'oMiver contained the fol k" ii l-.. i.:- acrostic sujiKesteu uy u to come if health will per l...t. for the grand old soldier, .......I l. i us ever suoiu. - J 1 tho air from tower and bowl- t'ho bells iuside out, ' ''",,riH-him both far and near, : nvi W. old "Jeff" is coming here. r ;,.f Vt us pray BO leeP a,K ru' ! i!orJ wilt thou his strength t.;.v on Clod to help us through. I t iVvon D:ivis, the true the brave, 'i-vt rtotlieeis honor due, i the field our land to save, i1t in the "gray" to oppose the "blue," y ither in war or ever in peace, ' ,bel Tveat of our Southern land, sVoii amy our pride of home m- ( wtMire proud to think our hand, mv soon thine own will clasp in humble grace. n avis the h.-ro whom wo love, V l-,i"htv bless hiiu fiom above, V be thy fortune here below, I u ilow cry beds thy pathway flow. S wet t be thy sleep when called to die no more. Evangelise Ushers. A Nejfle-teI FMnlly. ori'kuW Vrioml. Th re is not one faculty so well urih cultivating, yet one so fre- ::uiit itlv inflected and aouseu, as if likinoiy. The practice be witli the infant's first lesson the habit grows upon him as advances. A child goes to .1 to acquire knowledge; in a ritv of cases he prepares him- .1 likTelV lor tile nnmeuiiue or at Lest, for examination, . h is near at hand. This ordeal he iinds himself in the eondi-i-f the Irishman, who having up lor a rainv ua, wucu a.' list inclement spell to rid his j.,.vi-:s of the troublesome hoard Knowledge i;; a weight, to carry it requires exertion, and persons of irav tenip.-rs and luxury-loving na tures are slow to cumber themselves with such burdens. The boy who wrestles with his t dates and the prosy record of .viical incident feels upon his vertebra the pressure of au vt.tiar. pyramid. He longs to from under it, to soar like a 1 in the fresh free air of specul.v , and invention. " I cannot tax : rain with such rubbish," he ! will develop my reasoning hi V r !:' in . v. power: He takes to .t; ;w philosophy, and in t.. :.t.im of these more con- .-udi's, cares little as to the v. in which America was discovered ! the nature o; events which led V) llie peaceful era which he is per mitted to enjoy. He is no sooner beyond the college wails than he f.els the need of the rubbish" he has left in the library; but instead r,i s.-tthiT to work to redeem lost opportunities, he too often lets us.-d to know " serve for the infor niatiou not at hand, and consoles himself with the belief that this is a legitimate and acceptable substi tute. Forcing knowledge upon an tm trained mind is like pouring water upon a seive, and the vague impres sioiis that remain are m the same proportion as the moisture that adheres to the polished wire. It is not w hat a man acquires, but what lie saves that makes him wealthy; so it is not what Ave learn but what we Main that makes us wise and . holurly. Many personsof splendid iiortnnities aud unquestionable lit v, who live to be old, are thrown with the world and see life in all its phases, owing to this habit of forget fulness, never put on the swaddling clothes of iudffment or advance beyond tire alphabet cf experience, Epicureans tell us that it i3 better to forget whatever is painful or nn pleasant and only record upon the mental register such circumstances and events as are happy to recall This is a mistake. The world could better dispense with diamonds than charcoal, and it is from the sadder t-Mifricnces of life that we derive Jim ,-t profit. The touch of a fire brand leaves a more lasting impres sl.m than the cares3 of a tender hand, and some intellects are so hopelessly torpid that they can only be aroused by sorrow. In our intercourse with men '.'thing helps one through the world like a well stored mind. Next to a full purse it is a man's best friend, ami if properly used, its fortunate possessor neod never fall a victim to financial necessities. The memory is a mental banking bou.-e, and the larger the number and variety of the coins, the greater the facility for traveling in all land J and meeting the demands of all customers. Men in public life, politicians, especially, know the value of this faculty nnd make a study of re memberiDg names and faces. It is the most subtle tvnd effective of all flattery, and places them where merit and argument never could. Nothing injures the memory like the cursory reading of a mass of light literature. The mind is like the stomach, if given more than it can digest it refuses to retain any thing. The greatest writers, scholars and philosophers have been the readers of a few well selected volumes, realizing that there was more real information to be gained by the study of one good book than the superficial reading of a thousand. The improved facilities for printing cyclopaedias and the daily press are the greatest foes to the cultiva tion of meinory. These reference books of epitomized knowledge are so convenient and easy of access that we are tempted to depend too much upon them, and outside of our own libraries are like a lawyer without his precedents or a musi cian without his notes. In olden times, when the art of letters was unknown and the record of events was kept by tradition only, the memory of the average man was stronger and more highly valued than at present There were com paratively few things worthy to be handed down, each patriarch living within his own little world and his observation and experience extending no futher than his own tribe. But in this fast age of electricity and printing presses, when the whole world is united as one great family, and the present and the past is spread before us as the happenings of a single day, the student turn from the endless chronicle with a feeling of despair, since in trying to take in so much he gets a clear idea of nothing and has only a confused picture of the whole. Let the children of the present generation reason, speculate and invent as much as is wholesome or profitable, but let them not under value or neglect this great and im portant faculty, the cultivation of which is the very foundation stone of true education and mental de velopment Lord Macaulay, who possessed the most retentive memory known to modern history, says: " When a boy I began to read very earnestly, but at the foot of every page I read I stopped and obliged myself to give an account of what I had read on that page. At first I had to read it two or three times before I got my mind firmly fixed. But I compelled myself to comply with the plan, until now, after I have read a book through once I can almost recite it from the beginning to the end." In such perfect training did he have his mental powers and this wonderfully retentive memory of his that it is said, with perfect truth, that if Milton's works could have been entirely lost, Macaulay could have restored every line with com plete exactness. He was equally at home with Homer, and ut the age of eight could repeat the whole of Scott's poem, "Marion," by heart He could repeat the greater part of the "Lay of the Last Minstrel" after reading it the first time, and made himself master ef the fourth act of the "Merchant of Venice" in two hours. He knew by heart the whole of Richardson's "Sir Charles Grandison," a work of prodigious size, and so well stored was his won derful mind with the odds and ends of multifarious knowledge, that Sydney Smith said of him: "He ia like & book in breeches. His indefatigable industry and painstak ing methods caused Thackeray to remark that he read twenty books to write a sentence and traveled a hundred miles to make a line of description. Sir Walter Scott had a remarkably retentive memory, two striking illus trations of which are his repeat ing of the whole of Campbell's "Pleasures of Hope" after only twice perusing it, and another of his going through an entire ballad three years after first hearing it Byron, also, had a tine memory and often surprised his friends by the versatility of his knowledge. Andrew Fuller, after hearing fiye hundred lines twice, could re peat them without a mistake, and it is said of PorBon that so marvel ous was his memory that there were few subjects concerning which he was not able to illustrate his knowledge by quotations from the writings of his own and other coun tries. With most authors it is easier to commit to memory any one else's productions than their own. It is told of Bret Harte that when Charles G. Leland first met him at a London table, he (Bret Harte) was called upon to recite "The Heathen Chinee!" When he replied that he couldn't (a fact) Leland rose and said that anybody could write a poem but it required genius to remember and recite it, which he illustrated by fgiving the piece called for in his happiest style. Old Hymns. Youth's Companion. Complaint is sometimes made that some of the hymns and Gospel songs 1 of to-day lack the spirituality and deep religious sentiment that should characterize songs of worship, and that did mark many of the old hymns written by Doctor Watts and others. While it is true that some of the most tender and beautiful hymns in all our hymnody were written by these old writers, others are subject to the objections made to many of our modern songs. A contributor to the Christiau Union, writing on this subject, quotes some of the quaint old hymns which, to the present generation at all events, are not calculated to arouse religious feelings. Among them is one beginning, "Ye monsters of the bubbling deep, Your Maker's praises shout; Up from the sands, ye codliucs,pecp, And wag your tails about!" It would be difficult for a congre gation of to-day to sing this without smiling, and the one that follows is almost as amusing: " The race is not forever got, By him who fastest runs, Nor the battle by the people Wbo shoot the longest guns." A Northern clergyman, during the Civil War, used to say that never until then had he found occasion or justification for his personal employ ment of David's imprecatory psalms; ix sentiment which was no uouot reciprocated on the other side. The fathers, however, sang without de mur: Why dost Thou hold Thiue hand aback, And hide it in Thy lap? O pluck it out and be not slack Til give thy foes a rap: There seemed to be little provoca tive io devoutness, even though in form Scriptural, in the paraphrase of the one-hundred-and-thirty-third Psalm: Tis like the precious oitmeut Down Aaron's beard did go; Down Aaron's beard it downward we)ot His gaiment skirts unto." But who is there who has not at some time nau nis nearc roucneu and been thrilled by such old hymns as "When I can Ttead my Title Clear," -"Am I a Soldier of the Cross?" "'Come, Holy Spirit, Heav enly Dove," or "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross ?" AalOld PuBlibmtot for DrunkeunekM. Drunkards, a metropolitan periodi cal has just been pointing out, are more me rcifully dealt within the present than in past days. In classic Greece such offenders were subjected to the severest penalties. In Athens Solon punished them with death ; Lycurgus, in Sparta, destroyed the vineyardfc in his territory and took every precaution to prevent the transm ission of a habit of inebriety from father to child. In Locris wine 'tfas permitted only to invalids, and at Mitylene Pittacus doubled the j.unishmient of any crime if it had been committed under the in flnence of wine. In republican Born e the citizens, both men and wom en, were forbidden to partake of wino before they had attained the asre of 30. Iu mediaeval times the sam.13 severity obtained, and Francis I., t hough himself no model king, published in 153G an edict to the ef fect, that every one found drunk should be imprisoncd,with brcadjand- wat er diet, for the first offense, beaten wit h rods for the second, for the third publicly whipped, and, if he then proved incorrigible, punished by having an ear cut off, marked as nf amous, and banished. It might be added that iu much more recent time topers had anything bat pleasant treatment in our own district About the middle of the seventeenth century the common dru nkard was led through the streets of this town as a spectacle of con tempt, covered with a large barrel called the " JSewcastie cioak, one end of which being removed served to fnvelop the body of the unlucky Bacchanal, while the other end, a Circular aperture being formed, ad mit ted the head of the offender, by which means the vessle rested upon his shoulders. Much as the sup pression of drunkenness is to be wished, recourse to the methods of the past seems scarcely calculated to promote that desirable consumina tin. Prim-CNN Violorin of Prussia. The engagement of Prince Albert Victor of Wales, eldest son of the rnnce oi Wales, t Jus cousin, Princess Victoria of Prussia, daugh ter of Empress Frederick of (Jer many, and sister of the reigning Emperor of Germany, has just been announced. Princess Victoria was born in 1SGG, and is therefore now twenty-three years old, and is said to be a charming, sympathetic girl, who has always been very fond of England. Few Princesses have been so much talked of as she, owing to her former engagement to the ex Prince of Bulgaria. It will be re membered that Prince Bismarck was bitterly oppose to this match on ac count of the offence which the mar riage would "ive Pussia, and the consequences of which would most likely have led to war. A bitter struggle took place between the Prince, who was supported by all Germany, and the Empress, and poor Emperor Frederick's short reign was very much embittered by all this. The engagement was post poned, but not given up, and it was well understood that the marriage was to have taken place this year. Great was, therefore, the astonish ment when in February last Prince Alexander suddenly married an opera j singer. There can be little doulu ! that Princess Victoria's engagement j to Prince Albert Victor i.s the direct j work of the Queen herself, who had always favored Prince Alexander of Bulgaria's suit, and who has thus procured Princess Victoria a com pensation for having been jilted. Wlinl TJioy Make. Ellen Terry is paid $000 a week. Fred Leslie receives $500 a week. Charle3 Coghlan is paid $:r0 a week. George Alexander is paid ij'Oo a week. John Ilabbertou makes 10,000 a year. Mark Twain's income is 0,000 a year. Joseph Pulitzer's income for 18S8 was 1 ,000,oi";o. It W. Gilder receives .iO,C00 a year from the Century. Mrs. Chanler (Amelie Pives) makes about $10,000 a year. W. D. Ilowells receives from the Harpers $10,000 a year. Mayo W. Hazelti'ie reccivs $175 a week from the New York Sun. Colonel John Cockerill is paid $20,000 a year by the' Ntw ork World. Up to recently Francis Wilson was paid a salary of $525 a week. Edgar W. Fawcett receives about $4,000 a year for all his writings. The late E. P. Poe found no dif Gculty in writing $50,000 worth a ear. Brander Matthews averages an annual income from literature ot about $3,000. The Brlrtjfe. LOXO WAY AFTEli LOXOFELLOW. I stood on the bridge at midnight, -i t r i as urunK as a son-oi-a-gun, two moons rose o'er the city, when there ought to have been but one. I could see their bright reflection in the water under me, and I experienced a feeling of wonder and great curiosity. If only one had been there I would not have been in doubt, but what two moons were doing, I could not well make out. The tide was slowly ebbing, I could hear tho waters roll, as I stood in the wavering shadows to hide from the night patrol. How often, oh! how often, in days of auld lang syne, I have tried to cross at midnight, and got left every time. But to-night I was hot and restless, my mind was full of care, and the walk that lay before me was more than I could bear. I had no latch key with me, and locked would be the door, and I would have to sit in the door-way in agony and fear, till a voice said from the window : "Did, the lodge hold late, my dear ?" So to-night I stood there dreaming and watched the restless tide, till a cop came along with a wagon, and invited me to rule. A Uhinaman . cannot become a citizen of the United States. The Ar ol' Jiurvo!. Philadelphia Enquirer. In view of the almost incredible progress of the last two generations it is not the best judgment which pronounces the post electric system of transportation the dream of an inventive maniac. There is a fresh ness about the proposi'ion that we shall yet send letters across the con tinent between the dawns of succes sive days that takes the average breath away, and the suggestion that passengers are to be rushed through space at the rate of 200 niils per hour is apt to alarm the apprehen sive. But the proposition is not be yond the limits of possibility for all that, A few days ago au experimental traiu upon a railroad iu this State made -a ruu of uiuct.y odd miles in about sixty minutes, some portion of the journey being at the rate of nearly two miles per minute. If steam can accomplish such marvel ous results as this, why not that greater power, electricity, eclipse this stupendous record? The truth is that avc live in a phenomenal age. All the ancient faiths concerning the development of material things are being rudely jostled by the push ing shoulders of science. It is no longer the dream of a visionary that we shall . converse with persons a thousand miles away. Marked progress has been made toward the problem of a-rial naviga tion, aud although it is as yet im possible to predict the ultimate out come, it is not insanity to believe that air ships may yet be run coun ter to the winds, llie turning or a key illuminates a populous city and new explosives shatter in an instant objects which were deemed innnova Ule. 1 liere are improvements to the telegraph which world have is! ied Morse had he lived them. Itwr or Whisky ?" aston to see New York Siiii. At the Princeton reunion last week one of the eighty-six men told a story of his success in getting a commission of attorney at law in Virginia, where three judges of the Supreme Court must sign the paper before the applicant can become a member of the bar. The three judges examine the candidates sepa rately, and affix their names to his paper. lie said that he got two of the necessary signatures after un dergoing a pretty stiff examination by each of the magistrates. Then he sought the third judge. lie went to his country town in search of him, and there learned that he was on a fishing trip at a lake live miles away, in the mountains. It was impossible to get a conveyance in the town, and the young man con cluded to walk out to the lake. On the way he was overtaken by a party of men who had a keg of beer in their wagon, and were going to join the judge and his friends. They made room for him, and when they arrived at the cottage they found that the iudge had iust returned from a trip on the lake. The young man told the judge why he had sought him. "Well, said the judge, "you must want to be a lawyer if that is all that brought you out here. Come up stairs, and I will examine you." The young man went to the judge's room and was asked one or two ques tions which were so simple that he could hardly refrain from laughing as he answered them. Then the judge gravely remarked: "Young man, I am about to ask you a ques tion upon which your future rests; one which will test your capabilities as a lawyer in Virginia, one which I hesitate, to ask you because I feel an interest in you." " Please propound it," said the confident-youth. "I will. On this shelf over my head is a bottle of whiskey. Downstairs they are tapping a keg of beer. The question is, which will you take?" Then the young man said promptly: "If You don't mind, I will take a little of both." "Mr. Gaines," said the judge im pressively, " I will sign your paper, and let me assure you that 1 am confident that you will succeed in the practice of law in this State." A philosopher who has kept hi eyes open says: "One me no more taffy while I am with you, and less epitaphy when I am gone." It is said in England that Col Goring, the hero of Mr. Fronde's novel, "The Two Chiefs of Donboy,' was meant in some sort to represent Gen. Gordon. The liussian army will soon be provided with breech loading riiles which will carry a distance of G,000 feet. Noiseless powder will also be used in future by the army. A Snake Yam. II. I. Hedden, who resides south west of Dcnnison, Texas, brought to this city a few days ago his little child Sal lie, to be treated for snake bite. About 0 o'clock in the morning the girl left the house with a pail to ather blackberries near Stone spring. Mie was absent a long time, and when Mrs Hedden went in search of her she found the child seated on a rock and in her lap was i large rattlesnake. The snake's head was slightly raised and moving to and fro. Sometimes it would almost touch the lips of the childy who pushed it away without appear ing to anger the snake. The child was so completely under the spell of the serpent that it paid no attention to the mother, who screamed so loudly that her husband neard her a quarter of a mile distant aud hurried to the scene. When Hedden appeared the snake placed itself in an attitude oi battle and the air vibrated with the noise of the rat ties. Hedden advanced upon the snake, the child fell back as if in a swoon, and the snake struck it on the thumb of the right hand and then sprang at Hedden, who killed it with a stone. Hedden sucked the wound, which he is confident saved the life of the little girl. Saleratus was also applied to the wound. The hand and arm of the little girl were only slightly swollen when she was brought to the city for treatment. The child says she was sitting on the rock picking berries when the snake appeared, and that she was unable to move when she looked at it; that she was not afraid of it, when it waved its head to and fro before her face she felt like going to sleep. KiSH I lie Fool and Home," Let Him Go Exchange- The story goes that a certain so citty young man, noted for his hand- ome bearing and winning voice, iccompanied a vounff lady to her ionic and, as all true lovers do, lin gered yet a little while at the gate to have a lover's tete-a-tete with his fair companion. The nisht was beautiful, no one wa3 near to in trude, and above all he loved her ! Why shouldn't she kiss him ? With rue maidenly modesty she refused. He implored. She still withheld from him that which would fill his cup of happiness. The request was repeated several times, and so en grossed did the young man become n wooing he failed to notice the ipproach of the paternal step. The old gentleman had been there him self and did not care to intrude upon the happiness of the young couple, o quietly stepping behind a con venient rose bush, waited, thinking the young man would soon leave. In this he was mistaken. The lover tarried over the request until the patience of the old gentleman was exhausted. A voice the couple well knew aroused them from their hap piness, in a tone of impatient anger, by saying: "Daughter, kiss that fool and let him go home !" It is reported that the young man only hit the ground in high places in his endeavor to comply with the old gentleman's command. Gihl's Birthdays. Au old as trological prediction gives the char acter of a girl according to the month she is born in, as follows: If a girl is born in January, she will be a prudent housewife, given to melancholy, but good-tempered, aud fond of fine clothes. If iu February, an affectionate wife and tender mother, and devoted to dress. If in March, a frivolous chatter box, somewhat given to quarrelling, and a connoisseur in gowns and bon nets. If in April, inconstant, not very intelligent, but likely to be good looking and studious of fashion plates. If in May, handsome, amiable, and given to style and dress. If in June, impetuous, will marry early, be frivolous, and like dressy clothes. If in July, possibly handsome, but with a sulky temper and a pen chant for gay attire. If in August, amiable and practi cal, likely to marry rich and dress strikingly. If in September, discreet, affable, much liked, and a fashionable dres ser. If in October, pretty and coquet tish, and devoted to attractive garni ture. If in November, liberal, kind, of a mild disposition, and an admirer of stylish dress. If in December, well proportioned, fond of novelty, and extravagant, aud a student of dressy effects. The Choi M Dlfleall. Wilmington Star. Here is a story that General Price Young tells : Away up in the Geor gia mountains lies Catoosa Springs, a favorite summer resort of Savan nah and Atlanta society people. One day Gen. Young saw an old fellow come np with a basket of eggs and bunch of chickens for the hotel peo ple, and recognized an old trooper of of his command. "Jake," he cried out, "Jake Dor- ridge, how are you ?" Why, laws a massy, Ginral, how- de-do? I havent seen ye since the war." They chatted for a few minutes. "Do you come up here often, Jake?" Pooty nigh every day. The folks want my chickens V aigs. I like to rest my eyes a-looken' at some o' these yere pooty gals." . " They are handsome, arn't they, Jake?" "Deed they air. " "Now, Jake," said Gen. Young, waving his hand toward a group of three young ladies with whom he had been chatting, "tell me which of those three young ladies is the prettiest" "Aw, General Young, they'i all pooty. 'Twouldn't be good manners for me to say ary one was pootier'n t'other." " But, Jake, it will give them great deal of pleasure to learn your opinion. They are great friend and will not feel at all hurt at your decision. Now walk right up and pick out the best looking." Alter much solicitation Jake un dertook the task. He walked up and peered closely at the laughing girls. About one hundrel guests had gath ered by this time to see the trial. Finally Jake turned, scratching his head. All three of the young ladies wore broad sashes around their waists. "Gineral Young, they's all three so pooty it is hard to make a choice, but still I am forced to say that the one with the yaller belly-band is a leetle the trimest" There was a scream, a flutter of white dresses, and three blushing young ladies, with various colored sashes, dashed into the hotel and out of sight. Ilia Example. Youth's Companion. Among the anecdotes relating to the revolutionary campaigns within the limits of New Jersey which are sacredly preserved in that State, one of the pleasantest is a- little story which illustrates the kindness and courtesy of Gen. Washington. After the battle of Monmouth the American army was encamped on the farm of a certain John Vanoe. Washington, with his staff, was quartered in the farm house. daughter of the farmer was seriously ill in an upper room. As soon as Washington heard this he gate orders that no guns should be fired or drums beat near the house. During supper he set the example of caution to his officers by convers ing in an undertone, retiring as soon a3 the meal was finished to his own chamber, which adjoined the dining room. After he had gone, however, the spirits of the young men rose, and forgetting their orders, they began to sing and laugh uproaringly. In the midst of the fan the General's door opened softly, and Washington en tered the room and walked noiselessly on tiptoe. He crossed to the fireplace, took a book from the mantel shelf, and as silently returned without a word,nod ding a small good night as he closed the door behind him. The officers stood ashamed and re buked, not only by his consideration for the sick girl, but by his gentle courtesy of silence towards them. selves. It was the age of fine and stately manners, and the bearing of this, the noblest of gentleman in that age, is worthy of study now, when careful and fine courtesy of manner is no longer so striking a characteristic of the time. A Windsor, Me., philosopher says a man can live forever on a diet limited to parched peas and spring water. He knows, because he's tried it The first thing George Sheldon of Indiana did when he got a legacy of $20,000 was to buy 118,000 worth diamonds and a thousand dollar team. The roadway of the recently com pleted Washington bricge over Har lem river, New York city, is 151 feet above the river level. The total length of the bridge and its ap proaches is 2,380 feet ODDS AND ENDS. Bees never store up honey in the light The dying breath of flowers is their sweetest perfume. Leaves will attract dew when wood and stone M ill not A horse gets up on his fore feet, and a cow on her hind feet A squirrel comes down a tree bead first and a cat tail first The total Indian population of the United States is 247,761. Corn on the ear is never found with an uneven number of rows. A child born of Chinese parents in this country can become a citizen. Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy. The cinchona tree loses its " malarial " properties in a healthy soil. Wiggins predicts that Philadelphia will have a severe earthquake in 1904. American yellow pine is a great favorite for wooden pavements in Berlin. In England check reins are now entirely out of use, being forbiddon by law. i Number of Indians in the United States who can read English is but W,95. Quinine is estimated to have ad ded two years at least to the life of civilized man. Bats and mice have as great an aversion to the odor of chloride of lime as humans. The Government conscience fund has just been increased by fourteen two-cent stamps. Heart failure is said to be a dis ease which is encroaching upon American colleges. The word "vinegar" is derived from two French words, vin aigre, meaning sour wine. Nine petrified frogs were found in a solid rock at High Springs, Fla., during a recent day. It is said a salve of equal parts of tar, tallow and salt will cure the worst case of felon. Small farmers in France make from $1,000 to $2,000 a year fatten ing snails for market The Mormons of Utah and Idaho are emigrating in large numbers to British North America. John L. Sullivan in ten yean has boxed before audiences that paid nearly $600,000 to see him. The deepest coal pit in the world is said to be the St. Andre, in the Charleroi, Belgium, district Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, hut to do what lies clearly at hand. The English Bparrow, undisguised, is said to take the place of the reed bird on Chicago bills of fare. J. A. Schuyler, of Pattstown, Penn., has a piece of amber from the Baltic Sea inclosing a petrified beetle. A Miss Patten, at Boston, was three times pronounced dead by the doctors, and she is now in fair health. Jefferson Davis has received an offer from a Northern publisher to write a history of the Confederate States. With strange inconsistency New York farmers never turned their at tention to raising hemp until hanging was abolished by law in that State. Thb Ki8siNa Habit. A writer in uooci Housekeeping rigorously condemns the kissing habit and calls for its abandomentin this wise: "The kissing habit has been carried to ita greatest extreme among Eng. lish-speaking people, and the people of other bleed are often amazed and amused by the unversality and cheap ness of the kiss among the English nations. It is not necessarily an argument in its favor, however, that it is thus found to be an accomplish- ment of the highest civilization, for it may be promptly retorted that vice and crime also increase with civiliza tion, and refined peoples keep alive barbarous practices inherited from savage ancestry. The kiss, in its proper functions, has a fine signifi cance, and may be made the vehicle of the purest emotions, the honest expression of legitimate feeling, a greeting full of genuine, voluntary sympathy and love. The kissing habit is an abuse and a misuse. It has brought the kiss into disgrace and made it vulgar, cheap and hypo critical. Be it the province of this generation of refinement and educa tion to rescue it from its degraded estate and restore it to its natural elected and elevating place and use in the social economy."