OLD AND NEW,
As the old year sinks down in Time's oceah,
Btand ready to launch with thi new.
And waste no regrets no emotion
As its masts and it spars pass from view.
"Weep not if some treasures go under
And sink in th rotten ship's hold;
- That blithe bonny bark sailing yonder
May bring you more wealth than the old.
For tho world is forever improving;
All the pat is not worth one To-day;
And whatever deserves our true lovinj
Is stronger than death or decay.
Old love' was it wastjed devotion?
Old friends.' were tliey weak or untrue?
Well, the drown there in mid-ocean,
And proirli y sail on with the new.
Throw overboard toil mN-'lirectcd,
Throw overboard ill-advice 1 hopj, :
'"With aims which" your has dvt-:tel
Have B'-lf Tr their centre and scope;
Throw ovi'ilntard iiso'ess regretting
For deeds which you cannot undo.
And li:i! i) tic great art of forgetting
Old t:iiiiijs which embitter the new.
The ol 1 vi Hi s w.'! gi ant no concession
I .:!;! in;'s:-!s. t':i.'y what they hold;
Th'; n.-'v years march on to prores.siou
Mai . h v.it!i them, rnil liv iirn not the old.
hittg v. ho v, id of d--iid v i ai .s d 'parted,
I ri!ir..:.:i ili: i i and bid them adiru;
And to - s ii hut I sin;?,, courage-hearted,
Ik i-: (' ir Vn'i glorious new!
1 KUa M'hecUr W'ikos.
ijj,ii
DEIVEN FROM HOME.
''iU4iftWrri!i"Yy lf:r'.iends to the Xew York
. Pun from Droghcda, Ireland, a dramatic
. necount of the eviction of two Irish
tenants for non-payment of rent. The
vicling party consisted of a body of
10 militia, commanded by a Captain
hmylie, 100 stalwart policemen, and a
score of " emergency men." We quote
as follows from Mr. Hah's account:
1 followed the direction of Capt.
Smylie's big and tranquil blue eye as I
.flat on the car shivering violently in spite
.; of fur coats and rubbers, and saw a dra
matic and striking iiguic. It was that
f a girl, perhaps nineteen years of ago,
who stood apart from the others on tho
crown ol h little lull. Her bare feet
were sunk deep in the snow thai crowned
the lull, and her figure was sharply out
litud nc;;iiust the leaden sky. fshc was
tali ;;nd Hipcrbly formed, though the
lines of hci figure were wofully sharp
ened by st;u vation, ;uul her cheeks were
sunken and drawn. But they were
flaming red, nevertheless, and they lent
an added lustre to a pair of magnificent
gray eye- -typical Irish eyes -that fairly
blaed with indignation. Her hands
were clasped across her breast, and one
sleeve was almost torn off at the shoulder,
leaving the arm bare. The rain beat
down on her, and matted her ong,
, black hair over her forehead, while a
stray lock was swept across the face.
AVhat a face it was ! The brow was low,
broad and white, and the black eye
brows almost straight over the splendid
eyes. Ti e nose -was Grecian, as indeed
was the whole face in contour, and the
tightly-compressed lips and firm chin
gave it a look of force and dignity. She
seemed utterly unconscious of the bitter
cold, and all the power of her nature
seemed concentrated in the look of ab
horring hatred and terror with which she
stared at the Queen's troops her ene
mies. .
The word was given, aud the line
moved on. A. fussy Justice of the
Peace, a noisy little person known as
Captain Keogh, and the agent of the
estate joined the forces, and Captain
Keogh ordered the attack at once. The
Devine cottage was guarded by the three
1 - T il 11
tins up siairs ana uie oia man below.
The military drew up ia a hollow square
around the house, and the constables, to
.the tune ol a hundred strong, marchnd
into enclosure.
It was attrfngLthis imposing ceremony
that an old woman Crept around the
comer of the house out into the en
closure. ' 'Woman !" thundered Captain Keogh,
what are you doin' here?"
"Breathin'," said the woman, suavely.
"Take her outside the line with the
other rioters," commanded the Captain,
sternly. At the mention of the word
rioters," as anpl'cd to the poor wretches
without the lines, Captain Smylie
roared, with intense hilarity. Captain
Keogh stared hard at him, but it hadn't
flic faintest effect on the commandant
of the military.
A big and rather cocky-looking police
man stepped forward aud tapped the old
woman on' the shoulder. She looked
Up at him, and then, falling back a pace,
gasped for breath a moment, and then
cried ecstatically :
"Oh, my stars, phat a bootiful man !"
"Come, move on, now," said the police
man, swelling his chest out a little
more.
"Shure he's th' ugliest lookin' ting I
iver seen, so he is." ;
"Step along, now, my good womaiv'
Urged the policeman, as he gave au extra
twist to his long moustache.
,fYe're so bootiful. Oh, how'ansome
y' are "
Suddenly 'she drew her hand from un
der her shawl, and, before he could
dodge, she iluug a fistful of mud with
extraordinary force full into the police
man's face, and skurried through the
ranks of the delighted military, and out
of sight over the hill.
Upon this Capt. Keogh proceeded to
read the riot act. This absurd proceed
ing took up nearly an hour more, and it
. rained harder than ever. 1 he lorces had
now been within a hundred yards of the
house for nearly two hours without ac
complishing anything. A lot of talking
followed the reading, and finally the po
lice fell back ami the emergency men
went forward. About a do en of them,
with picks crowbars, and axes, rushed
at the trout door. 1 lie "iris threw the
boilir," waier out of the windows above,
but before i hey could do much damage
the emerircncv men forced their way iu
and overpowered Pevino, who was a very
old and sioklv looking man. There was
a tremendous uproar up-stairs a minute
later, but the police did nothinir. After
, a. discreet wait a dozen of them drew
lheir dubs, and charged the house amid
the jeers of the military, who, to do
them justice, displayed far less tom
foolery than the body of men they were
ailed upon to protect. There was an
other hum w;iiti aud then the twelve big
polio nun w.-.lucd bravely forth with
.thro-; dr-jVnee'c young girls held firmly
uni.Dg th. i;i. it was an edifying and
an inspiring spectacle. - A court was con-
vened, ami the ;ins were duljr arrested
and taken oil" :o ,;ti! under heavy es. ort,
though what -on earth there "was to fear
was a mystery.
Up to this time the spectators, besides
the neighbors, were the detective and
myself on the rival cars, but the news
had got abroad, and three other cars ar
rived, one occupied by the Countess
Tolstoi and the 'others by Sir "William
Weddeburn. M. P., and Mr, Patrick
Keliey, of the National f.caguc, respec
tively, fflr "William and the Countess
were both anxious-to see an eviction
one is writing a book, the other .a
.I'arli.niieatary "speech on home rule.
After the 300 waniors had triumph
antly subjugated the three young girls
the forces moved up the road to James
Finnegan's, on the hill.
Finnegan was in good spirits, and
bound to die hard. He had a stubby red
beard, a red nose, and a hat which he
wore over one eye, in a rakish, not tc
say defiant, manner.
"It's a pity," he roared hotly, to the
intense delight of the placid Captain
Sinyhe, who evinced a fondness for him
off hand, "that yez didn' brirg a few
more rigimints an' some cannons wid
yer."
Captain Keogh stalked ."majestically
around the fortified house, aud then
coming back to the starting point'iookeu i
up and yelled : j
"Is that you. Finneirani"
'It is." " j
"Finnegan?''
"Phatr" ;.. !
"Will ye cpme down out of that?"
"I won't."
""Why won't you?"
"Bekase," said Finnegan, with a barsli
of forensic 'and irrefutable logic, "I'm
gointcr stay where I vam." ..
"Then your blood be on your head.';
"Well, begob," remarked Finnegan,
to the intense delight of the mob, "if I
could get near ye there'd be blood on
yer own head, y' miserable old, lull
necked .blowhard."
"'Attack the house, attack the house,"
roared Capt. Keogh hotly. The order
was given with immense spirit and cour
age, but the forces did not display un
due zeal. Capt. Smylie yawned, lighted
another cigarette, and looked back to sec
if the Irish girl still stood in the snow on
the hill top while the chiefs of police
held a long and thoughtful consultation.
The Countess Tolstoi tried to make notes
on an ivory tablet, but, as the raiu washed
out the letters as fast as site wrote them,
she put up the tablet with a pretty little
grimace, and beat a tattoo with her boots
on the side of the car. Sir William was
gathering mud and facts from personal
contact with the peasantry, and the de
tective was so miserably wet, hungry
and fatigued that he gave up shamming,
and sat on the fence with me, shariu
my umbrella and cigars.
"This here little bit of a burlesque,'
he said scornfully, "costs the (loveru
incut in the neighborhood of a thousand
pounds."
"As much as that.'"
"Take the pay of the men, the heavy
cost of their transportation for three
days, an' the cost of the emergency
men " '
"Are those jail birds-expensive?"
"Very, 'cau:e they, takes their lives
in their ban's. They ain't got protec
tion liketh' police. They're marked
men once they enter th' business. Some
of them git ten pounds a week."
"Then the Government spends a
thousand pounds because Finnegan' and
Devine won't pay the full rent's" '
'Aye. They could both pay with ten
or twenty per cent, reduction, so the
amount involved is only about ten
pounds."
In the course of half an hour some one
discovered that it was nearly four o'clock,
and as an eviction after that hour is il
legal it 'was decided that something
ought to be done at once. It was done.
As usual, the emergency men were ordered
forward and the police fell back toward
the soldiers. The redoubtable Finnegan
had been addressing belligerent remarks
to the entire British Empire, and he was
ready to do battle for his life. In sober
truth he had lots of pluck, for he knew he
was fighting a losing battle from the
start. He whipped off his hat and coat
as the emergency men attacked the house
in two places, and divided his hot water
and rhetoric in equal measure between
the window and the door. lie kept
them at bay for a time and scalded some
of them badly, but his hot water was
soon exhausted, and then they battered
down his defences and drove him into a
corner, where he kicked and battered
away until overpowered and denocked
down.
Then and not till then the police
entered, and, dragging Finnegan out,
made charges against him' before the
Justice of the Peace.
'Have you
srot
anything t' tay?'
asked the magistrate before committing
him.
"Phat could I say ?" said Finnegar,
simply, as he straightened up and looked
around him. "I'm done fer,surc enough.
I'm goin' t' jail. At nearly fifty years &
age I'm turned off av th' place where m
f adder an' me gran'f adder was born, an
out av' th' house which I built wid mt
own money, saved after years av starvin'
an' privation, bekase why? Bekase J
can't do phat I can't do. God bless tht
Quoen. She's th' mudder av her people,
is she? She's a mudder, indadc, t'me,"
Then the procession moved proudlj
homeward, with the evicted farmer sur
rounded by his captors, and the sorrowful
neighbors trooping in the rear; last ol
all the big-eyed Irish girl who had stood
alone on the hill. She was Finnegan's
niece and pride. He had brought her
up. She, too, was homeless.
Dogs and Hydrophobia.
Dr. Stephen W. Roo f, one of the best
known of New York's medical practi
tioners, was talking the other day about
hydrophobia and similar disorders. Said
he : "There ought to be a general ordei
issued to prevent policemen from shoot
ing dogs that bite people about the
town. In the first place, the officer gen
erally misses the dog and sometimes hits
a passer-by. In the second, if the vio
lent quadruped is despatched, that fact
interferes vastly with the work of the
physician who happens to be called in tc
attend the wounded man. The dog
ought be caught and chained up for a
week, where lie could do no possible
harm aud where his demeanor might be
watched. By that time the condition of
the animal could be finally determined
upon, and the doctor would know what
to do with his patient. In connection
with a malady concerning which the
world is so much in the daric, as it is in
the case of hydrophobia, everything
possible should be done to help medical
men to help their patients and their sci
ence. By shooting dos which have
bitten people in the streets, the officers
make it necessary for the doctor to treat
his patient for rabies anyhow, or else sit
down and wait for symptoms." Sew
Ywb o-hl.
Tiie .Machete.
i The machete, a broad sword or knife.
about two to three feet long, and carried
'without u sheath, is the universal arm of
i cnexueia ana vcntrai America, in uie
i Southern States of this countrv the in in
cipal use for the machete is for cutting
sugarcane, but in South America it re
places the pocket knife, the axe, and the
sword, lhe llanero or hacicndero is
never seen without it. He cuts bread
with it, peels sugar cane, cuts bananas
and other fruit from the trees, chops
wood, cuts his way through the prime
val forests, slaughters hens or pigs, and
defends himself against the attacks of
wild beasts and serpents. There is no
better arm against the serpents than a
maencte, lor with a single stroke tho
native will cut them in two. N(u F?ri
Sun.
GINSENG.
WORTHLESS ROOT THAT 18
A CHINESE CURE-A!LIj
More. Than 400,000 Pounds (lath
ered Annually iu America For
SBtport Its High Price
Where It Is Found.
One of the mysteries in the world of
commerce' is ginseng. If you speak to an
ordinary man about ginseng, he will ask
you what you mean. If you tell him
ginseng is an article of commerce in
which a tragic of alxmt a million dollars
a year is done by Americans, he will stare
at y!m. If you tell him that it has been !
in certain plates of the world worth its i
weight in gold, . he will probably, staie
harder. If in addition to this you fell
him that it is avast humbug, and that il
is a very ordinary root of an Americau
shrub, almost without a particle of any
but imaginary value, he will concede that
it i9 a strange article for traffic. Finally,
when he learns that the populace of a
vast nation, high and low, consider it a
cure-all, and that it enters into every
medicine for every ailment in that nation,
he will only understand the matter when
he learns that it is the eccentric Chinese
to whom this in reality unimportant root
is valuable.
In China, if a man has a headache,
ginseng is the pres ript'oii. If his trou
ble is toothache, ginseng is the same
remedy aain. For all il's, from de
pression of spirits to a sore toe. ginseng
;s the universal remedy.
Physicians and authorities of the civil
ized world give the assurance that in
me licinal properties the root is almost
inert at the most, contains to a very
mild extent tonic properties. Xone but
the singular and rice-eating Celestial can
feeliiny effects from the use of it; but
among the Chinamen of this country
there is almost no consumption. The
root is bought hereby resident Chinamen
for home export. They do not use it
themselves, however, and inquiry from
these. Celestial worthies has seldom
brought out anv satisfactory statements
is to what
innsenyr
is ioocl lor.
The belief
among the home Chiuese is
mostly superstition. It is a sort of
fetich, its p-jwers are supposed to be oc
cult, of the nature of magic.
In China the belief isstill implicit, aud
ocsid'es the vast amount grown in that
country, it receives all that America can
supply, which is on the average-125,000
pounds a year.
The American wholesale price is now
1.25 a pound. The article is sent mostly
in a crude state, but carefully cleaned.
A process of heat clarifies it to a hard
substance, with a pithy-like, petrified
jelly. It is used there as a table delicacy
by the rich.
.Ginseng in China is a Government
monopoly, and Prof. Lockhart, of Lon
don, is the authority for the statement
that it is sold to privileged dea'ers by
the Imperial Government of China, at its
weight in gold. This is denied by some
American dealers. But the value is still
high. The root is very light and the
2.2oapound, its wholesale price here,
is enormous.
There are certain single roots, espe
cially oi certain snapes, very rare,
which bring from $25 to $400, and are
anly possessed by the wealthy class
mandarins and others.
And yet the wholesale price here is
ilowly but always steadily rising,andthe
ridiculous fact is before us that the price
of this futile drug, used by nobody in
this country, will in time become greater
than that of opium itself, as the gradual
but sure process of its extermination in
America continues. The amount is lim
ited by the fact that it can not be culti
vated only the wild kind is of commer
cial use, and this is becoming scarcer
every year.
What, thcn is ginseng? Ginseng is
the root of a shrub which has flourished
for ages in China. It is called in botany,
aralia quinquefolium, . quinquefolium
meaning five-leaved, and its five-leaved
twigs branch off,' to the number of three,
from a smooth, round stem about a foot
high.
It happened that in 109 a priest, one
Father F. Fastoux, was diligently em
ployed in making a map of Tartary.
During this labor he saw the plant grow
ing in this mystic land, four leagues
iway from the kingdom of Corea, in the
?pot where a Tartar village lay.
The Tartars were full of the praise of
the fabulous ginseng and its wonderful
powers, Father Fastoux becoming an
enthusiast also. He had missionary
friends on the other side of the world, in
Canada. To these the priest sent some
of the root and an extollment of its prop
erties as a cure for all human ills. Back
in due time came the reply that the same
root was well known to the Canada
priests and in full use by the Indians.
lhe American ginseng perhaps differs
slightly from the Chinese, for there are
five or six varieties of the root, but it
possesses all the external attributes of
the celestial variety. The ginseng was
sent at that time to Europe, and was then
nrst introduced to the civilized world.
Even at that date, in the last century.
European savans rudely shattered the illu
sion as to the root, and pronounced it
almost inert as a drug.
It groWS about the wild lands and
farms of the Northwest and Northeast.
As cultivation ruins its flavor, it cannot
be made a regular industry, either m
growth or collection. In 18G0 its price
was about 25 cents per pound. In 1865
it had risen to 0 cents a pound. Its
export now is 375,000 pounds. The big
ge t vield of all was in 1851, when the
export almost doubled; 180 had seen a
ginseng-collecting crazejikc a gold fever,
in the lake States, where the people left
their homes, camped for weeks in the
hills, raised the export of ginseng to
633,000 pounds, the highest export ever
made, and rooted out the plant so that
it has been scarce ever since. At present
the best regions for it are New York,
Pennsylvania and Ohio, the prime article
coming from Xew York, the poorest
from Minnesota, North and South Carc
lina. In short, all parts of the United
States where the sugar maple grows were
originally its habitat.
The root, the only valuable part of the
ginseng, is four or five inches long, and
forked. The Indian name for it, "garent
oguep," means legs apart. "Ginseng" j
means about the same.
Its flavor is bitter and slight, and!
neither unpleasant nor delectable.
Jinseng grows along the great wall in
Chinese Tartary and Corea. The Ameri
can is the only other supply, except
Japanese. The Chinese think this poor,
and will not receive it.
The Chinese ginseng mountains are
fenced in by Government, and patrolled
bv guards. Chkaq) Times.
Quill toothpicks came from France.
The largest factory in the world is near
Paris, where there is an annual product
of 20,000,000 quills. The factory was
started to make quill pens, but when
these went out of use it was turned into
a toothpick mill. Wooden toothpicks qucnt visit the gentleman carried a pail
i. re made principally iu Michigan, Wis- i of victuals with him from home. Lef
conin, Indiana and Ohio. i?to-i -MtrnoJ.
Arab Children aud Their Games.
If the little Arabs are heathen, says
writer in fit. Nicho'a, they are a
least picturesque. In their colored cloth
ing, with their dusky skins, their -black
eyes, and their lithe, active bodies, they
arc very picturesque. But, it must bt
confessed, they appear best at a distance:
j for soap is not so fashioiiaoic anion,'
J them as might justly be expected from
1 the people of a country which manu
! factures the most cleansiDg soap in tht
world. In watching th- children at play
one soon notices that the girls do nut
always have a good time. Arab boys
are not trained to be gentlemanly and
courteous to their sisters, aliuugh they
treat their elders with a delightful de
ference and rcsnect. Little girls in the
Fast are never welcome.
wncn a uaov
is bom, if It 1 c a girl -the threshold
mourns forty days.'' So, in taking a
glimpse tit the amusements of the Arab
children, we must be prepared to find
that they arc chiefly boys' games, in
which the girlsj-eldom participate.
A little boy in America asked a persor
who had lived iu Syria if the boys there
ever played base ball: and on learning
that they did not, he said: -'Will, they
can't base much fun there.'" It-is e.-j
natural for the children of any eountrj
to imagine that the children in othci
countries amuse themselves in the saint
ways. And the' number of games iba:
are in reality universal among cbildiei,
iu al couuli ic-s is really remarkable. Fob
example, the Arab childen often plaj
'blind-man's-buff (they call it ghum
maida) and biz zowaia or pu s
iu-the-corncr, and a g. me like "button,
button, who has got the button''' (v. hid:
they play with a pebble,) aud owal how ah
or leapfrog, and gilieh or marble-.
But there are other games of - which
you - probably have never heard such
as kurd murboor, shooha joora, ta;:i-ya-taia,
khatim, and the gr atest and
most exeitiug of all games the na
tional game, it might perhaps be called
jereed.
Finest Pisseeting-llriom in the World,
The College of Physicians and r.ur-
has the finest dissecting-room
i the country, if not in.tbc world,
a
I Xew York correspondent. It has forty
i. tables. These arc of modern design and
1 simple in construction, consisting of au
I iron frame supported by lour iron legs,
; upon which rests a slab of slat woigU
; ing two hundred pounds. Au it: eh from
: the margin of this slab is a gioove bail'
j an inch in depth, intended to convey the
j drippings into an iron receptacle fast
i ened to the head of the table. Five
students are assigned to each "cadaver, '
so that with the forty tables two hundred
men are enabled to work at once. Five
hours a day devoted to a subject will en
able a gioup of students to dissect it
completely wiihiu one week.
Each student is assigned to work on
a specified portion of the "cadaver' by a
demonstrator of anatomy, and is re
quired to dissect an entire body during
the first year of his couise. If he has
failed to pass a satisfactory examination
he is again subjected to a similar task,
until his knowledge of anatomy is
proved.
trane as it mav seem, some student
acquire a lanatuai lonaness ior inis
branch of their study, aud are never so
happy as when in the dissecting-room.
Clad in a loose gown of calico, scalpel
in hand, they seem to be in their element,
laughing and jesting merrily as they
divide tendon after tendon, and separate
muscle after muscle, in their investiga
tions of the deep and intricate structure
of the human frame.
The Talking Dog.
Credulity has not often been exempli
fied more funnily, a Paris correspondent
says, than in a case which has just come
off in a police court. The keeper ol a
public house told a long story of how a
customer came into his place one day
and asked for a bock, his dog taking a
seat beside his master and asking m a
strange voice for ' 'a piece of meat" for
himself. The other customer, astounded
at hearing a dog talk, recommended
bonif ace to buy the animal and to re-
christen his place "The Talking Dog."
The complainant took the advice, and
offered four hundred francs for the dog,
who, on hearing the bargain,Jcricd out to
his master: "So you sell me, do you?
Then I shall not talk any more!" The
animal kept his word, and bonif ace could
not get another syllable out of him. At
last it dawned upon him that he had
been made a fool of, and, happening to
meet the vender in the garb of an acro
bat at a fair, he gave him in custody.
When the "poor player" was brought up
he confessed that he was a ventriloquist,
but protested that he did not offer to
sell his dog. On the contrary, the land
lord insisted on buying it, and, without
any incitement io do so, went up quickly
in his bids from two hundred francs to
four hundred frances, throwing in the
refreshment which had been given to
man and beast. The case was dismissed.
Locomotion In Tok o
The significance of events depends
very much on the mood of their interpre
ters. A few years ago there were nearly
80,000 jinrikishas plying in the streets of
Tokio. Statisticians pointed to such a
state of affairs with uneasiness. They
concluded that the times must be very
bad indeed when so many persons de
voted themselves to such a low and pain
ful manner of earning a living. Now, the
total number of jinrikishas in the metropo
lis is only 30,744, of which 7,213 are
single, vehicles and 23,531 are double.
Aud what do the statisticians tell us?
Wh that this marked diminution is to
lie. attributed to trade depression; that
there are fewer people who can afford to
ride, and therefore fewer coolies Jo pull
j them about. Whichever view be cor-
rect, there is one thing that seems to
have been omitted from the calculation,
namely, the uft'e t of tram cars am: river
steamers. Both of these metho -s of
locomotion are largely patronized now
adays, and the same may be said or the
Procrustean vehicles euphemistically
termed carriages, that ply far more
briskly than they did half a dozen years
i ago. We hope the day is not far distant
i when jiurikishas will disappear alto-
J gcther, though they are certainly one of
i the most convenient machines for getting
; about
in mat
Mail
ever were invented.
Japan
The Miser and the Jtill.
un one oi tuc laiauus oi
of the islauds of the
Maine
a man
How-
coast there lived several years ago
noted for his miserly disposition,
ever that may be. he became
quite
wealthy. One winter, during the session
of the Legislature, this person had oc
casion to visit Augusta, lie stepped into
a restaurant for dinner and a waiter
spread bef oi e him the printed bill of
fare. The eyes of the novice opened
wide as he quickly added the figures at
the right of the page, indicating prices;
then, springing to : his feet, he indig
nantlv cried: "What Tall this to pav,and
I hain't eat a mouthful vet? ' The out
come we are not told, but on a subse
SHOPLIFTERS.
SHREWD THIEVES THAT INFEST
METROPOLITAN STOKES.
Catching the Moyement of tli
Shoplifters How Professional
Distinguished Amateurs
Who Pilfer A Mistake.
A New Yoik Cowmetdil Aihu'Ht r
reporter recently had an interesting con
versation with a policeman who had been
detailed to special duty in one of the big
Sixth avenue shops as. a detective. "I
suppose," said he, "that the cost to the
retail merchant in this city for protec
tion against shoplifting, by the employ
ment of floor walkers and special officers
amounts to fully $100,000 a year. It is
interesting to watch the iio; king of shop
lifters to new stores or to the older estab
lishments which open new departments.
The ground is usually studied by these
persons on opening day. They generally
come in pairs aud j ay particular atten
tion to the younger of the rhop people.
Most of them show an astonishing know 1
edge of fabrics aud in this way, as well
as in more obvious cases, become very
friendly with the girls whom they pro
pose to victimi e. A thorough-paced
shoplifter is never a stranger in a store, j
As a rule she makes frequent purchases j
as a cover for her thefts. I speak, as you
see, ouly of women shoplifters, but there
are, perhaps, a dozen men well known to
the police who make a good 'living at
this kind of larceny. They confine them
selves, however, to fields lying out of the
domain of retail dry goods stores.
"One can almost invariably distin
guish a professional shoplifter. i?he is
usually between thirty and forty years of
age, eminently respectable in appearance,
dressing quietiy aud. moving about in
such a manner as to attract the least at
tention to herself. She carries a loosely
w rapped paper parcel or a wide
mouthed handbag, and wears either a
shuwl or a dolman. The use of the wrap
is evident. The paper parcel comes in
handy in many ways. Into the folds of
the paper, while the parcel is resting upon
the counter, the shoplifter can tuck away
more things than an unskilled person can
get in. a cHadstone bag. Of course, ali
the articles so stolen nuist Le small.
When she desires to get away with a
nuantitv of silk, a bund e,j gloves or a
i . i -il l e i i i
box ol handkerehiets, she uses her con-
. ' . ..-,. ,i. 4 1
venient wrap, it is not oiten mat a
woman of this kind does not increase
enters tbentorc uutd .he leaves it, and an j
observation of this change ia her appear- ;
anr-A i giftov ft tho snrt way or (!;-
' The special officers who are
C -
detailed i
to these big stores make, as a matter of
course, a special study of these w omen.
I have often lost three days out of a week
by trotting around the Police Courts
getting acquainted with the faces of
shoplifters "who have been arrested.
Most of the large stores have rogues'
galleries of their own, the pictures in
which consist almost exclusively of shop
lifters. In a special division of the books
in which the names aud pedigrees of the
professional shoplifters are kept, appear
the names and addresses of , women who
are otherwise reputable, but who have
been detected at shoplifting. Upon the
return of or payment for the articles
stolen they have not been prosecuted.
Queer as it may seem, the shops suffer
more from this class of amateur thieves
than from even the professionals. Some
women are afflicted with such a lust for
possession of articles which they cannot
ifford to buy that they are willing to
sacrifice their own and their families'
reputations by a systematic course of
itealing. I know of one lady living in
West forty-third street, whose name was
on our books, and whose husband had
made an agreement with the firm to pay
for anything his wife nvght steal. In
one year his bill amounted to within a
few dollars of $7,000. This lady was a
patroness of several charitable institu
tions and a member of one of the most
prominent Presbyterian churches on
Murray Hill.
' "It is very rare that mistakes arc made
in arresting women for shoplifting who
are not actually guilty of it. It is al
together too dangerous. The most
notable case I remember occurred in
Brooklyn some years ago. The wife of
the District Attorney of Kings County
bought a quantity of goods in the store
of one of the leading dry-goods firms
across the river. An over-officious floor
walker thought that she had taken some
thing which she had not paid for, and
he directed her to go to the oflicej She
sndignantly refused. Thereupon the
man obtained assistance and carried her
there, where she was searched by three
female attendants. Nothing was found
upon her for which she had not a re
ceipted memorandum. Then she was
told that she could go. She positively
refused. But,' she said, 'I desire to
have my husband tent for, and
he will inquire more particularly
into this outrage.' She wrote a note
and directed it to her husband in his of
ficial capacity. A member of the firm,
who by this time had appreciated the
gravity of the mistake, begged that the
lady would say no more about the matter,
declaring that he would indemnify her
for the outrage which he acknowledged
had been perpetrated. This the lady also
refused to do. When her husband ar
rived the overtures for settlement were
renewed, but were again rejected. The
floor walker, the man who assisted him,
and the three women who made the
search, were arrested for assault. The
matter was given the widest publicity in
the newspapers, and the result of it all
was that so strong was feeling against
the firm because of the outrage that it
was obliged to retire from business.
This was a salutary warning which dry
goods men in general have not forgot
ten." Are Stones AliTeJ
We generally think of minerals as dead
lumps of inactive matter. But they may
be said to be alive, creatures of vital pul
sations, and separated into individuals
as distinct as the pines in a forest or the
tigers in a jungle. The disposition of
crystals are as diverse as those of aui
mals. They throb with unseen currents
of energv. They grow in size as long as
j the y have opportunity. They can be
! killed. too. thonorb not aa ;iilv ne
an oak or a dog. A strong electric
i ' a - v ,
shock discharged through a crystal will
decompyc.it, very rapidly if it is of soft i
structure, causing the particles to gradu-1
j ally di-intcgrate in the rcveise order from
113 lUIILU, UUII1 HUT fJWI LlllUJ it
dead, shapeless ruin. It is true the crys
tal's life is unlike that of higher
creatures. But the difference between
vegetable and animal life is no greater
than that between mineral and vegeta
ble life. Linnaus, the great Swedish
naturalist, defined the three kingdoms
by saying: " Stones grow; plants grow
and feel; animals rgrow . and feel and
nove." WtJe Arale.
The wise prove, and the foolish con
fess, by their conduct, that a life of em
ployment is the only life worth living.
Af es f CongressmtHn.
The oldest member of the House ia
Jndg William D. Keliey, of Pennsyl
vania. Although he is seventy-three, he
is not the oldest-looking man in the
House, or the least active. Hc, was
forty-seven when he entered Congress, -in
1861, aud he has been a member con-t-tantly
since theu, a period of twenty
six years. The youngest .member is
Benjamin Y. Shively. of the Thirteenth
Indiana District. Born in lS-i7. he is
only a trifle under thirty-one years of
age, but he is tall, strong and vigorous,
and has already served a part of a term
in Co"gres. Mr. 'Ralph Piumb. of the
Eighth Illinois District, is an old mem
ber. He was born in 1 1 6, the same year
in which Mr. Cay, of Louisiana, first,
saw light. There is quite a batch of
members too modest or too sensitive to
furnish their ages, the last including Mr.
iiiliken, of Maine; General Hooker, of
Mississippi, and Mr. neard and Mr.
Hutton, of Jlissouri; Mr. Sowden, of
Pennsylvania, and Mr. R. Q. Mills, of
Texas. Some of these gent lea: en are in
good preservation, and upon the edge of
that period when men are not inclined
to gratiously lead people to consider
them older than they really are. Mr.
Yaudever, of California, who was born
in 1817, was a member of Congress from
lb 50 until the breaking out of the civil
war. He and Mr. Holraan, of Indiana,
who was in the Thirty-sixth Congress in
1SC0-H1, saw service before Mr. Keliey,
but Mr. Yanderver has not returned
until now, and Mr. Holman's servhehas
not been continuous. Mr. Randall did
not make his first appearance as a mem
ber until 18G3, four years later than Mr.
llolman, but he has begun his thirteenth
consecutive term, standing next in length
of service to; 3Ir. Keliey. Pittdmrg
Cliion'de.
Where Files Go in Winter.
Some one has asked where do the flies
go in the winter. This is a question of
some interest, for lhe natural history of
a house fiy is not generally known. Few
persons know that a house fly if born
fully grown and of mature size, and that
there are no little flies of the same
same species, the small ones occasionally
observed being different in kind from the
large ones. 1 he house fly does not lay
eggs, but extrudes living larv.-e, which
go through the usual tiausfonnations in
their temporary abodes in heaps of de
cayed gan age,, and rubbish thrown out
u , .. t. .7 ,. i.:
imusts. it nun jiui one oi incit e
1 i t A t j i i
the skin, but gathers its food by a comb
or rake or brush like tongue, with which
it is able to scrape the varnish from cov-
v books Vv f J i
J UPOU hlch ltK hghtsto feed
1 . . ; . . :
ger, and is a vehicle by which contagious
il vdl cno urn ctwooH
cH'-"
diseases are spread. It poisons wounds,
and may carry deadly virus from decay
ing organic matter into our food. It re
tires from the sight at the beginning of
winter, but where it goes few persons?
know. If a search of the house is made
they will be found in great numbers se
creted in warm places in the roof or be
tween the partitions or floors. We re
cently had occasion to examine the roof.
and found around the chimney myriads
oi flies hibernating comfortably and suf
ficiently Jively to fly when disturbed in
overpowering clouds. No doubt thhis
a favorite winter resort for these creat
ures. 2rew York Times.
Remarkable Crystals.
Some remarkable crystals were found
a short time ago in a gravel bed near
Mokeumne Hill, Cal. They are of such
hardness that the hardest file doesn't
make the least impression, and they will
cut glass like a diamond. All the speci
mens are hexagonal cubes terminating in
pyramidal points, the sides being as
smooth and regular as the finest cut glass,
and of such clearness that objects can be
plainly discerned through pieces a foot in
thickness. They are of immense size,
the largest having thirteen points start
ing from a single base three feet in
length, two and a half feet in thickness,
and weighing 500 pounds; the next in
aide is two feet long, eighteen inches in
thickness and weighs about 160 pounds ;
the others, about two dozen in number,
range from one foot to one and a half
feet in thickness, and weigh from fifty to
seventy-five pounds.
A Yalnable down.
The old door-keeper of the Hotel
Milan at Florence, Italy, named Sal
vador Cecchini, died recently and left
his property to his nephew. The lattei
came and looked about in the dingj
porter's lodge and was much dis
satisfied at not finding anything worth
carrying away. The deceased had for
years worn an old gown made of coarse
cloth and had never changed his attire
in winter or in summer. The nephew
took up the. gown and threw it down
again in disgust. As it slipped from his
hand he felt some hard object striking
him, and, taking up the gown again, he
felt there was a thick paper parcel in it.
It was sewed under the lining. Cutting
the folds he found seventy-five Govern
ment bonds in it of the value of about
$30 each. That gown was
treated with disrespect.
no longer
Rattlesnake Neckties.
Mr. A. Judson Cole, who is the man
ager of one of the large Chicago whole
sale houses in the line of gentlemen's
furnishings, shows a novel necktie which
he has just received from Texas. It is a
a rattlesnake skin made up in the form
of a four-in-hand tie. The point-rattle
is set in the center of the outer fold
to serve the purpose of a tie-pin. - As it
glistens and shows all sorts of shifting
colors in the sunlight or gaslight, it
makes a very attractive, if not exactly
conventional, tie. Mr. Cole says that it
was sent to him as a sample, the sender
saying that, as the stock of rattlesnakes
in his country is inexhaustible, he can
supply as many of these strange ties as
the Chicargo house may want. Chicago
American Manhood.
The grand feature of American man
hood is that it is composite, made up of
the best characteristics of all nations.
Our forefathers were of foreign birth or
parentage, and yet, where in his.tory will
wc find more illustrious examples of up
right manhood? We do not care what
percentage of foreign blood is in our
population, provided it assimilates with
our own, and good results are attained.
, . .
i -''r ' ''jM'.r.
An Old Epitaph.
Here is an epitaph slill to be found in
in English churchyard :
; HERK MX THE BODV OF C
: LADY O ROONEY, :
: First Corsrx to Bcrke, ;
: Commonly Called "The Sublime," :
: Bland, passionate and deeply religions, ;
She.aLso painted in water color-- :
; '"Of such is the kingdom of heaven." '
His Majesty Dong Khan, of Annam,
has fifty cooks taking part in the prepa
ration of each royal repast, but each chej
is confined to the elaboration of a single
one of the fifty dishes of which lhe men
j is invariably composed.
HIS ANSWER,
What is my thought likef Lfte a stream.
Whose unseen course the eye may tsaoa
Through barren lands, by tender beam
Of leaf and buJ, and shining gteam
Of trees that fill the happy space. " -
What is my thought liker Like a rase;
Deep chalks vr'u-re the wild be sips;
Whose radiant heart doth spa.- enclose -iVhcre
waiting lOve may find repose,
With ki. of perfume ou iu lips.
'What is my thought liker Like a bird
That in t'-ie glooming soars and sings;
Whose voice, like some so"t spokuu'wonl
Through gloom of sin an I sorrow hear !,
Lifts up the soul upon its wings.
What is my thought Hk;" Like a fao
That symbols all things fair and true;
Whose lines both soul ami seii iio grace.
WhdfH VM iln rr'u.l 1 1. ..1
- r' 4 " 1 1 i . jiiuvc,
U hose hps bring life my swo-it, like yaa!
Mary E. htab?, in Brt'on Courier.
1MTH .NF POINT."
A Bad Sign An illegal signature.
Failure in the Yarn Ti ad e Writing
unsuccessful novels. Omaha lite.
"Wool men do not necessarily hive a
sheepish appearance. lHd bury CfWou
ic's. -
"Large bodies move slowly." Tjuy
bodies are not larg? bodies. Boita'.i. .....
Courier.
Nobody should be hungry on Christ
mas; it is not that kind of a hollow day.
Merchant-Traveler.
. A doctor who speaks only one lan
guage may yet understand a great many
tongues. Cfiristuai EegUfei:
Strawberries nc n mwrt Thfm
ought to bo gold in quartz of this kind
for the producer. liodm Bulletin.
"I'm getting in some fine work now,"
remarked the Judge, as he began to dis-
?ose of the criminal cases. Detroit lV,e " '
rcss.
Many a young man devotes more
thought to the choice of a .necktie than
the choice of a profession. Burl'uigio.'i
rreeirei.'. ..
De Smith -"Weil, Travis, how ar
vou i" Travis "Oh I'm -robust. IIov
are your' De Smith "Plain bust."
Burlington Free Press.
Out in Cincinnati they refuse abso-"
lutely to take any stock whatever in tht
faith cure,r because it won't work on
hams. Somertille Journal.
"How arc collections to-day?" a.ked & "
man of a bill collector, ",dow, very
slow; can't even collect my thoughts,"
was the reply. Pi'tslurg CIronid i
The average club man cares very little
about music. If he can only strike the
key of the doop- with reasonable accuracy
he is content. Burlington Free Prw. . ,
While man toils upward with his load
His speed is not increased. 1
But when he strides the downward road.
Then everything is greased.
Oil City Blizzurd. ;
The London Lancet tells "how to lie
when asleep," i If it will teach some peo
ple how to keep from lying when awake
it will do a public service. Detroit Free
Free. -
The young man who recites "Oh, the
Snow," should go out West and take a
look at a genuine blizzard. He will
probably know more and recite lew.
Merchant Traveler.
"What's bothering you, Smyth? You
look unusually gloomy. w "It's all a
bill, Robinson. What shall I do with
;: i ri 1. ui o j ; f
New Haven Neics.
Delinquent "I think, boy, that in
presenting this bill so often you are caus
ing me undue annoyance." Boy "Dat
ain't undue, sir. De boss says it's over-"
due." New York Sun.
Guest (suspiciously eyeing the flat
tened pillow and the crumpled sheets)
"Look here, landlord, this bed has been
slept in." Landlord (triumphantly)
"That's what it's fur." BurJstte.
"Shall I pass the butter, Mr. McChun
kerson?" inquired the new boarder
"Thanks," replied the experienced
boarder, "you may head it in this direc
tion, and let it come." Chicago Trilune.
The ways of the giddy young people
Extend to some things innate,
For the gravy is soft on the whiskers
And the miller dead gone on the grate,
While the fly gets stack on the butter,
And the potato mashed on the plate.
OU City Blizzard.
Mrs. Uumpsey "Our Bessie is the
brightest Jittlo child you ever saw. She
picks up everything she hears." Mrs.
I'opinjay 4 -Something like our Willie.
He picks up everything he sees." Bur
lington Fne Irea.
A portion of the City of Virginia,
Nev., is said to bo "an animated mass of
rising and falling earth." In most
Western cities land simply rUes;
it never falls, if wo may believe the
reports of land boomers, who pay $ 1,000
for a piece of land one day and raise it
x $5,000 the next. Norriatoien Ilerald.
THK IDEATj AS1KTHE RKAL.
That everything is seeming
The world Is but ideal -
And life is only dreaming.
But when a man falls down the stairway.
And tries to think naught has come o'er 'tru.
mat fellow's surely in a xatr way
To strain this thinkerorum.
Detroit Free Pres.
A New Invention In Calico Printing.
A correspondent writes: "The simul
taneous' process of color printing prom
ises to entirely revolutionize some classes
of calico, velvet and velveteen printing,
and also the printing of adrertWmcots
in colors. The novel character of the
simultaneous' process will be at once
understood when I mention that by it,
if required, 1,000 shades could be printed
off at one impression. Instead oi using
engraved rollers as in ordinary calico
printing, or stones as in the case of col
ored advertisements, the designs of pic
tures are 'built up' in a case of solid
colors specially prepared, somewhat after
the style of mosaic work. A portion ia
then cut or sliced off about an inch in
thickness, and this wrapped round a
cylinder, and the composition has only
to be kept moist and any number of im
pressions can be printed off on calico,
velvet or velveteen, the colors being
thoroughly 'fat.' " Mercantile Oazttte.
The Conjugal Thermometer.
v ben toe honeymoon is over ana a'p.iamt
anc molds tho lover to a sense of sober
i fitness and the seamy-si-ded real;
'hen the glow has left the fever aud he
turns an unbeliever, how he won Jers as
he ponders on the f rality of ideal :
he sees it i the fashion for the willing
heat of passion to benumb to temper
frigid in possesion's heedless sight. -i
his ardor terms a question of his
powers of digestion, or which of them
retiring Ehallput out the vexing light.
hen the Benedict lies thinking, with his
peepers slyly blinking at his better half,
who shivers with an unproductive ire.
iscems through coughs and sneezing,
with the mercury at freezing, that af
fection all depends on who construct
. the kitchen fire.
lolly Springs (Miis.) reporter.