SKATING.
Bright the silvery star rays glisten
O'er the meads , asleep in suow ,
And the pines , that leau and listen
To the river's rythinic flow ,
How our glad hearts leap and lighten
"When the winy air we feel ,
As upon the bank we tighten
To our feet the pleamhur steel !
Then , while song , in thrilling chorus ,
Wakes the forest arches gray ,
Down the shimmering stretch before us
We're away !
Clinging beech leaves , growing crlsper
With each clear-skied frosty night ,
Gossip now , in laughing whisper ,
Glory in ouc-suiluen iHgbt.
Do they dream in trust how tightly
As we speed our hands entwine f
Do they note In love how brightly
'When our eyes meet , here outshine !
Do they see the blushes stealing
O'er the softly rounded cheek *
Can they sound the depths of feellm *
When I speak ?
Backward Wow her tiny tippet's
Tassels as we dash along.
And her happy heai t lets slip its
Joy in oulcuec of song
How my longinjr brcasHs smitten
By her eyes that beam with will
Is it strange I aut the mitten
When her hand is in the mil ?
Lo ! the drowsy night ind , telling
Secrets witli'lts lover's art ,
Sets the tide of passion swelling
In my heart
With a look that makes me bolder , ;
Up she glances In my eyes ,
Nestles nearer to my shoulder
With the sweetest of replies.
Queenly Luna we discover
Rising o'er a { riant fir ,
( She has smiled on many a lover
Since Endymion smiled on her ! )
And she , looking through the boughs with
Mild astonishment at this ,
Sees us seal our lovers' vows with
Just a kiss !
-Outing.
HEAD OF OXEN EOT.
It was a day fitted by the gods for
an exploration. There was a sharp ,
wild tinge in the December wind ; there
was an alluring haze on the distant hill ,
and the great , fleecy clouds , rolling
from horizon to horizon , invited us on
ward. "Let us find the head of Oxen
Run , " ray friend hud said to me and I
had willingly agreed. We had tramp
ed to the place where it rippled merrily
along its fertile valley , and had seen it
lounge lazily , as if tired with its long
iournej' , into the Potomac. We knew
that at its mouth it was quite "a pre
sumptions stream , but its source was
. an unsolved mystery. The maps did
not aid us , for on the only map which
dignified it with a place , it began with a
few uncertain curves , as if the map
maker did not really know whether he
was right or wrong.
An hour's walk across the Anacostif
bridge , past the little village of Good
Hope , and thence along the Ridge road ,
brought us to a rough and rustic bridge.
Leaning on its unsteady rail , we looked
down into the clear waters of the run.
JEven here the stream wzvs quite wide ,
and hurried along with that air of in
dependence and self-asse'rtion , whichas
in a child , is only acquired some time
after birth. "I
do not think its source
is more than two miles from here , "
said my companion , whereupon the
stream with all its ears open , laughed
louder than ever.
It was perhaps a good omen that in a
few moments we found some persim
mons. If , as Thoreau says , raspber
ries arc the best food for ascending a
mountain , surely persimmons 'are the
proper sustenance on a winter's walk
when one ib exploring a stream. They
have such an out-door-flavor ; they are
wild , they are juicy , they are sweet.
They impart to one's blood a wintry
exhilaration , the combined essence of
sunshine and frost. When I tr.trnp in
the spring-time I find that I carry off
something from the sapplings against
which ! brush. I imbibe the inspira
tion of the new sap in their veins. I
catch something of their elasticity ,
their power to lift themselves back to
be once more tall and shapely , though
they were bent to the ground. A sub
tle spirit imparts a lithesomeness to my
step. But in winter the persimmon im
parts hardiness and endurance. I
wonder if it has the power to change a
heart , that like itself , was hard and
sour , into a sweeter morsel for the en-
Hoyment of the world.
There is considerable color to be noted
in the landscape as we follow the mean
dering of the stream. The hillsides are
warm and brown , the sumach is still
red and the smilax berries are blue ; the
tall sedge grass is as yellow as a field
in harvest time , arid there are bits of
green in the sheltered hollows of the
brook. The tints may not be prettily
blended , but they are well defined , and
yon feel that Nature , even in winter is
not wholly given over to monotony and
death. Beneath the warm covering of
dead leaves I found a clump of green
clover , doing its best to keep"up the
pulsations of its tiny heart until the
springtime. This life and this beauty
would have been hid from us foreve'r
but for our search ; but the death and
corruption in yonder field is advertised
to the whole country by the half-hun
dred buzzards who rise in alarm at our
approach.
A mile further on the stream is not
eo wide or deep. Here , for the first
time since we left the road , we meet a
human being a boy. He looks at us
in mute surprise. His hat is thrown
back from his.face , and he stands with
his hands thrust into the pockets of his
homespun suit.
"When , will we reach the head of this
stream ? " I ask.
"Never ! "
The reply was prompt and decisive.
To the boy the stream was a sealed book
beyond the hills that bounded his hori
zon. It began for him in the remote
Somewhere and ended in the more dis
tant Faraway. And yet , so far as it
related to his own environment the
stream had" peculiar interest for him.
In the hole in front of us he had caught
the largest iron-back mullet which that
part of the country had ever seen. It
was so large that he thought it was a .
snake , and he had to kill it with a stone. I
Then , had we noticed a broken dam '
below ? Yes. Well. th& boys had made
that dam for a swimming pool ; but
some negro girls had use J it one morn
ing for the same purpose , and on be
ing discovered had torn it down out of
pure vexatioa. Did we believe a rab
bit could be a ghost ? We did not Th <
boy was not so positive. Over in yonde :
field a rabbit was frequently started bi
the dogs. It ran for a certain distancl
and then disappeared , leaving no trace
There was no hole , it simply vanished
Even this lonely tract , therefore , was
on its way to civilization. It had it ;
tragedy , its social events , and its super
stitions.
What a chase that stream led us
Sometimes it would leave its narrow ,
gravelly bed and spread itself out ovei
several'square yards of swamp. Thei
would we think that we had pinned oiu
game and.congratulate ourselves , upor
the capture. But upon the other side
of the swamp , when we had made tht
circuit , we find a fresh trail , leading
heaven knew where. And so , alone
hillsides , and across fields ; by untravel
cd roads and a fresh looking grave
yard , we followed the stream , watching
it grow more sluggish every minute.
We rested far a while under some pines
but the pine aside from its poetic mur
muring , is not the warm resinous tree
that it is in summer. Besides , thcsi
were stunted , stubby prnes , not tall and
graceful. Through their silent aisle :
no bird flitted , and their everlasting
shade was only broken here and then
by uneven splashes of sunlight. Out ir
the open there were bluebirds , detach
ed pieces of the azure' sky above us
and chickadees and sparrows ; and onct
but only once a sparrow-hawk. Tin
crows , too , were to be heard eyery littU
while , uttering their loud "caw. " A
hardy typical bird is the crow.
Emerging at last from a clamp o
woods we came upon a clearing with s
settlement and : v road beyond. The
stream , now dwindled to a mere ditch ,
led us to the road and across into a hol
low , marshy and overgrown with thick
ets. Had we at hist reached the end ol
our search ? The answer would have
been easy had not a ditch or the bed 6 ,
a stream , leading further back into the
country , awakened some doubts. IL
our uncertainty we appealed to a native ,
a thrifty farmer with the air of a retiree
veteran. Yes , in the hollow by the
roadside was the head of Oxen Run
Holly spring , so-called because the
man who once owned it was namer'
Holly ; and the settlement was callec
Pumpkintown ; so that the end of Oxei
Run was. the beginning of Pumpkin-
town. The old man was garrulous ano
kind. Not content with guiding us to
the spring , now filled with leaves ano
fallen into disuse , he must needs tell us
all the ancient lore of the country and
his personal experiences. The fact that
his great grandfather was a king's sur-
ve\'or and was one of the very earliest
settlers in Maryland seemed to give hin1
a proprietary interest in the land. He
was one of the farmers who donated
laud for the Marlboro' pike and the roaa
was now , he told us with frank pleas
ure , paying eight wer cent.
But the little collection of houses had
for me an interest for me of which the
old man could know nothing. Oftcr
had I read in John Burroughs' "Wintci
Sunshine of a walk wherein Pumpkin
town largely figured. ' Often had I in
quired for it , but never before now hac
1 found it. The neat , white-washed
houses , with a suggestion of prosperity
about them ; the little tavern , where a
sign of crooked letters informed the
passing public that "we will dance the
Old Year out and the New Year in , "
and where "cheese" is spelled with four
"oV-and "which" was minus an "h"
all these , being part of Pumpkintowr
were indelibly photographed upon my
memory. Thus had I found more than
I searched for ; the gods had filled my
cup to overflowing. What more was
there to ask ? Absolutely nothing , and
turning our faces homeward , the dom
of the capitol was soon in sight. Henri
Litchjleld West , in the Current.
A Shoeless and Stocking-less People ,
The 10,000,000 inhabitants of Mexico
use almost entirely home made boots ,
shoes , gaiters , slippers and sandals so
far as they wear any foot-covering at
all.
Shoes in Mexico are a European in
troduction , and do not belong to the
national costume. A large proportion
of the population ( probably a majority )
do not wear shoe ; at all. The sandal ,
which is a sole oi leather , raw-hide , 01
woven maguey fiber , strapped to the
bottom of the foot with strings of the
same material , is the onhy foot covering
used by this class of "people , and as ev
ery man is his own shoemaker , and the
climate requires no protection for in
step or ankle , the national sandal is
iloubtlcss the most economical , comfort
able and healthy shoeing that can be
worn in this country.
In proof of this , the infantry regi
ments of the Mexican army , armed and
equipped otherwise without regard to
expense , still wear the leather sandal in
preference to shoes , not solely for the
sake of economy , but because it is con
sidered generally healthier , keeps the
feet in better condition , is more easily
repaired or replaced , and makes easier
marching.
The shoe-wearing population of the
republic is chiefly of European origin or
Descent and such of the Indian popula
tion as by education and association
liave learned to prefer European fash :
ions and modes of living. This class
has inherited from their Indian as well
as their Spanish ancestors remarkably
small , well-modeled feet and hands ,
upon which they pride themselves con
siderably ; consequently a handsome
and elegantly , shaped shoe is more es
teemed in ( Mexico than a sound and sub
stantial onejaf d commands a readici
sale. Honc rfiie cheaper shoes made
in the country , if not so strong and du
rable , are more carefully modeled ant ]
several sizes smaller than the average
trade shoe made in the United States.
Boston Commercial Bulletin.
Modern Yampires.
Vampires are not wholly fabulous- .
Modern society shelters malignant be
ings who live by sucking the blood of
the dead. During the past weekthejj
have even found sustenance in the dou
ble bereavement of an honored stales
man. They have opened a maiden' . '
coffin to feed their love of scandal , anc
have sought to tarnisli unspotted repu
tations with their lying tongues. I.
public opinion impotent to supprcs-
these noxious calumniators ? To-wi
Topics.
ENGLISH POLITICS.
Henry Gcorsro on tho Situation In Ire
land and tho Prospects Ills Be
lief In Gladstone's Sincerity.
Few men have given as much
thought to the Irish problem as Mr.
Henry George. He was asked what he
thought of the intimation that the land
question would be brought forward in
the hope that it would take the place of
the home rule agitation.
"I think the position of things is the
other way , " responded. Mr. George.
"The land question is more important
than the political question. The Eng
lish government in Ireland has from
the first had for its purpose tho main
tenance of the landlords. That has
been the reason of all its tyranny. The
Irish people have been disfranchised
and kept down , not because English
statesmen wished to do that out of mere
wantonness , but that it was necessary
to preserve the hold of an alien class up
on the lands that had been wrested from
the Irish' people , and to-day the real
obstacle to the granting of free control
of their own affairs to the Irish people
is that it would mean the dispossession
of the landlords. Irish landlordism is
not merely in large measure a British
interest , but it is part and parcel of the
same system which exists in Great
Britain , and as I say in a recent article
pn this subject. 'The dominant class I
in Great Britain have the same direct
concern in maintaining Irish landlord
ism as the slaveholders of South Caro
lina would have had in preserving a suc
cessful insurrection of slaves in North
Carolina. ' An Irish parliament to-day
tvould not , like the Irish parliament of
the last centu'y , be a parliament of the
landlords , but it would be a parliament
hi which the landless would be domi-
aant , and which would inevitably be
JOOH led by men bent on restoring the
land to the people without any compen
sation whatever to the landlords. This
' .s the real difficulty which besets Eng
lish statesmen in the settlement of the
Irish question.
"All hopes of the settlement of this
question at the present session of par
liament must prove futile. Although
prepared to make what they deem
large concessions , no English party is
vet prepared to go far enough for a
permanent settlement. I think the po
litical question can not be settled until
the laud question is settled , and that
the Irish land question can not be set
tled until the English land question is
settled. What may be done during
this parliament will only help to still
further radicalize opinion. The Irish
movement is , in reality , a great social
revolution , but it is only a part of a
revolution which has commenced in
England and Scotland. "
"You say the Irish political question
can not be settled until the British
land question is settled1
"What I mean is that until British
landlordism loses its power it will never
consent to concede to Ireland the politi
cal rights which will alone satisfy the
feeling that has been aroused in that
country , and that , therefore , the final
settlement of the Irish question must
mean the destruction of British land
lordism is now fighting for life , and will
fight de'speratcly , and while the land
movement in England and Scotland in
creases the anxiety of the dominant
class to settle the Irish question , it also
makes , anything like full concession
more dangerous to them. While they
might be willing to sacrifice the Irish
landlords complete ! } * , as they did prac
tically in the Irish land act , the danger
to them is that this would only hasten
their doom. "
"What about the land movement in
England and Scotland ? "
"It is already much stronger than
can be understood from the English
press , and is rapidly increasing every
day. Not only are Scottish crofters and
English agricultural laborers awakening
. .o the truth that God made the land for
the whole people and not for a few
landlords , but the masses of the cities
and towns arc also begiuing to realize
that the land question is at the bottom
of the social injustice from which they
suffer. The correspondent docs not ex
aggerate the want and misery that exist
in all the British cities. I do not think
that there is likely to be an } ' 'danger
ous uprising in many great cities before
the winter is over , as he says , for the
organization , by which such physical
manifestations of discontent can be re
pressed , is too strong. Not only is
ihere bitter suffering , however , but a
rapidly-growing feeling that this suffer
ing is tho result of social injustice , and
forces are gathering that before long
tvill completely overthrow tho reign of
: lass privilege in great Britain. "
"Do you join in the suspicion that is
ippareutly entertained by the Irish
nembers of parliament that Mr. Glad
stone is not sincere in his alleged desire
: o-give Ireland home rule , and do you
ihinfc his insincerity is evidenced by the
jabinet appointments he has made ? "
"I think Mr. Gladstone is entirely
sincere , though I think him the sort of
nan who can do the most contradictory
hing with equal sinccrityand I believe
t is not merely his wish" but his ambi-
; ion now , to give Ireland the home rule
vhich , in his opinion , ought to satisfy
ler , but whether he can go or will go
is far as the Irish people want is an
other question. As for his cabinet it
jrobably represents the best combina
tion he could make. No Englishman
aas gone further than John Mprley in
jxpressing his bjlief that the Irish peo
ple ought to have full liberty to nian-
ige their own affairs ; but even Mr.
Mbrley , I fear , is hampered with the
superstition tnat the Irish landlords '
aiust , in any event , be secured , and , as
[ said before , here is the real difficulty ,
fhat it is possible even for him to ad-
ministcrthe duties of his office to the
satisfaction of the people I do not be-
iievc. The difficulty is inherent in the
situation itself , in the fact that it is still
iield that an Englishman or a Scotch
man must be the virtual governor of
Ireland. "
"You think , then , that Mr. Gladstone
has a real ambition to settle the ques
tion ? "
"Ye = , I do. But although he is to-
Jaythe most powerful man in Great
Britain , and , with perhaps the excep
tion of Bismarck , the most powerful in-
T
dividual in the world , thiq is a task
that in my opinon transcends even his
great powers. Mr. Chamberlain rather
represents the element that must come
to the front before a final settlement is
possible. I think whatever Mr. Glad
stone can do will result as the land act.
What really began in the land league
movement'was a grpat revolution a
revolution more important and far
reaching , than the French revolution in
the last century and revolutions are
not to be stayed by half-measures. The
difficulty about compromises in such
times is'that they always come too late.
A few years before its passage such a
measure as the Irish land act would
have stayed the agrarian movement in
Ireland for some time. So , a little
while ago , such a measure as Mr. Gifl'en
now proposes would have had the same
effect. Now I think it is too late even
for that. Nor do I think it can bo seri
ously proposed to buy out tho Irish
landlords without bringing the question
of getting rid of the British landlords
as well into practical politics , and they-
will never be bought out. The propo
sition that a whole people should buy
from a few of their number the right to
live on their native soil raises too dis
tinctly the question of the origin of
properly rights in land to admit of be
ing carried out.
"But. " concluded Mr. George , "the
subject is too vast and important to bo
fully treated in an off-hand interview.
What I have said is fragmentary. "
New York Herald ,
How a' DogShould be Fed.
The puppy , when just weaned , should
be fed four , five , or even six times a day ,
and from two months to four months oi
age , four times ; after that three times ,
to the age of nine to twelve months , ac
"cording to the breed the smaller va
rieties reaching maturity soonest ; after
that twice a day is enough , a full nica1
being given each time , until maturity
is reached. Kcgularity as to time is
important in feeding , both because i *
assists health and is a considerable help
in inculcating orderly and cleanly hab
its. Minute calculations have been
made as to the amount of food required
by a dog , with the result of conflicting
statements of opinion , ranging from
one-twentieth to one-twelfth of his
own weight per day , and it is often
stated in this form one ounce of food
for every pound the dog weigh ? . Ex
perience convinces me that in the mat
ter of quantity of food the scales aro
better dispensed with , using instead the
dog's appetite as the correct measure ;
I therefore always advise that a dog
should have as much at a meal as he
will cat freely , and that when lie stops
to turn it over and pick out bits here
and there , the dish should be removed.
rjhe composition and quality of the
food is the next point claiming consid
eration. In reference to the first point ,
I think it necessary to refer to theories
propounded by Dr. Billings , V. S. , of
Boston , Massachusetts , in two lectures [
delivered in that city , and reproduced
with apparent approval by that section
of the American press which specially
deals with canine matters. I have not
the text before me. so cannot quote
with verbal accuracy ; but , , briefly stat
ed , Dr. Billings , founding his argument
on the admitted fact that the dog is a
carnivorous animal , declared he should
be fed entirely on flesh , and even went.
so far as to say that farinaceous food
ivas poison to The clog. The English
practice for centuries from the time of
that excellent huntsman and dtecoursor
an dogs and their treatment , Edmund :
le Langley , of the early part of the
fourteenth century , confirmed by such
practical writers" Turberville and
jervase Markham , of the sixteenth ,
LJox , Jacobs , and others , of the seven-1 j
; eenth , and all * he masters of hounds ,
luntsmen , gamekeepers , kennel men ,
ind every other person who has kept a
log since is deadagainstDr. Billings's ,
: heory , which , indeed , should rather be '
lamed a "crotchet. " For dogs there is
10 more wholesome food than the mix-1 a <
id scraps from the table , consisting of -1
neat , bones , bread , and vegetablesand '
vhen there are more dogs kept than
here are bonus and scraps for , the bro-
: cn victuals should be taken as tho
tandard of the component parts of that
vhich has to be further provided.
In regard to i > et dogs kept by ladies ,
he great mistake often made is to over-
cod and feed tot ) richly. It is a mis-
aken kindness to feed dogs on rich , fat-
iroducing diet ; and to give sugar and
weet cakes and puddings is to certainly
lestroy the powers of the digestive and
ssimilative organs ; and anything that i ,
iroduces excessive fatness will bring on . '
sthma , to which disease pugs and other '
hort-faced pets are especially prone.
) ccasionally we meet with , in all breeds , T ,
"
dog that"is a dainty feeder. These
ave to be coaxed to eat. a little at a
ime being given , and a tonic of iron l'
nd quinine with gentian given daily for l'a
week or two at a time. Hugh Dalziel , a
.Harper's Magazine. I
Snow-Bird and Mouse. te
tebi
A few days ago , says The Itocbland bial
al
Me. ) Opinion , Mr. A. L. Vaughan was tli
ratching a flock of small , dark-gray tliol
aow-birds. Those who h ave seen them olw
now how diminutive they are. The
ttle brood had lighted on the snow and th
ras flitting from one place to another ,
ecking at the stray seeds that lay scat-
jred about Their antics were watched
y Mr. Vaughan with much interest ,
'resently a nio.usu emerged from his w
rinter quarters "beneath the snow and bi
an along on the bank. Instantly one
ttle snow-bird , not heavier , perhaps , eiai
lan the mouse , but full of courage , ai
svooped down on the mouse and pitched hi
attle , "Then , ! ' said Mr. Vaughan , st
'there ensued one of the most interest- stw
ig encounters 1 ever beheld. The b rd w
lighted on the back of her adversary fuP
pitefully. The mouse defended hini- P !
3lf as best he could , and twice threw to
ff his winged foe. The bird renewed tc
lie attack savagely , and by a well-di-
ected blow destroyed the sight of one JH
f the mouse's e\'es , but the little four- re
reh
jotcd creature did not give up the bat- h :
le even then , 'and not until if had lost aibi
lie sight of both eyes did it succumb , bi
'he bird was victor , and , seizing hei tli
ictini by the extreme tip of the tail , tli
he arohe , not without much clif-
culty , and , holding fast to the mouse. ,
ew into the top of a tree some two hur >
red feet away. ' ' _ ,
\
NATURE'S BEST BEVERAGE ,
Flash orEloaucnce from a fanof Ge
nius A Gem from the Xiato
Emory A. Storrs.
Few men have had the wonderful ca
pacity to sway popular audiences with
their eloquence possessed by tho late
Emery Storrs. As a public speaker he
had few equals , and thousands have
been thrilled by his burning words. His
personal appearance was not prepossess
ing , oeing small in stature , but he was
a man of genius , and when ho was
aroused his imagery , his earnestness ,
and his remarkable command of lan
guage was irresistible. Those who
heard him can never forget his wonder
ful efforts.
In the celebrated whisky trials of
I87G he was chief counsel for Gen. Bab-
cock. He was thoroughly enlisted in
behalf of his client as he always was. He
had ( he faculty of impressing those
with ' vnom he came in contact with in
the courts with the enthusiasm he felt
for his clients. He made an earnest
and eloquent appeal to the jury , and
obtained the verdict of "not guilty"-
about which so much was said at the
time. In the evening , after the trial
wag over , Mr. Storrs and a number of
lawyers were gathered in social inter
course , probably feeling enthusiastic
over success in the case in which they
had engaged. It was doubtless a mer
ry party. One of the lawyers present |
fished out of his pocket a newspaper
clipping , a copy of John B. Gough's
celebrated apostrophe to water , and
read it aloud. When he had conclud
ed Mr. Storrs jocularly observed , in
substance , that that was nothing ,
that he could beat it himself.
Thereupon the lawyers began to
chatt'him , and called upon him to try
it. He sat quiet a few moments , when ,
responding to their calls , lie rose with
a glass in his hand ready to begin. A
stenographer who was present and
knew him well , believing that he
would say something good , took out
hio note-book and pencil , preparatory
t6 taking it down. He did so , and has
preserved his notes. They have never
before been published , and it is
through his kindness that we are able
to produce them. We are sure they
will bo read with interest by thousands.
Holding up the glass , Mr. Storrs be
gan :
"How do you expect to improve upon
the beverage furnished by nature ? Here
is is Adam's ale about the only gift
that has descended undelilled from the
( jar-den of Eden ! Nature's common
isarrier not created in the rottenness
tf fermentation nor distilled over guilty
llres ! Xot born among the hot and
IJOMOHS vapors and gases of worms and
retorts confined in reeking vats , placed
in clammy barrels and kegs , stored in
malarious cellars full of rats and cob-
ivebs ! 2sY > adulteration fills it with sul-
ihuric acid , spirits of niter , stramou-
um. other deadly drugs and poisons ,
.uitil it is called 'forty rod death' and
. ' 'fusel oil' and '
bug juice. 'Jersey liglit-
jing. ' It is not kept standing in the
'unies of sour beer and tobacco smoke
md saloon , exposed for weeks and
nonths before it is drank to the odor ,
> f old cigar stubs and huge spittoons.
v'irttifs and not vices are its compan- '
oils. Does it cause drunkenness , dis- (
jase , death , cruelty to women and child- 1
sn ? Will it place rags on the person ,
Mortgages on the stock , farm , furni-
ure ? Will it consume wages and in-
i > me in advance , and ruin men in busi-
; ess ? Xo ! But it floats in white gossa-
ucr clouds far up in the quiet summer
ky and hovers in dreamy mist over the
nerry faces of all our sparkling lakes.
t veils the woods and hills of earth's
andscapes in a purple haze , where
ilmy lights and shadows drift hour
f ter hour. IL piles itself in tumbled
nasses of cloud-domes and thunder-
icads , draws the electric flash from its
iiystcrious hiding-places , and spams
ml shocks the wide air with vivid linos of
re. It is carried by kind winds and falls .
i rustling curtains of liquid drapery
ver all the thirsty woods and fields and
\cs in God's mystic eastern heavem
[ is beautiful bow of promise , glorified
ith a radiance that seems reflected out
f heaven itself. It gleams in the frost
rystals of the mountain tops and the
ews of the valleys. It silently creeps
p to each leaf in the myriad forests of
ic world and feeds and tints each fruit
nd ilowcr. It is here in the grass
lades of the meadows , and there where
ic corn waves its tassels and wheat is
illowing ! It gems the depths of the
Bscrtwith its glad , green oasis , winds
self in ocoans round the whole earth ,
nd roars its hoarse , eternal anthems
i a hundred thousand miles of coast !
; claps its hands in the flashing wave-
rests of the sea. laughs in the little
ipids of the brooks , kisses the dripping , O
losscovered , old oaken well-buckets in s :
countless host of happy homes ! See o :
icse _ _ pieces of _ cracked ice , full of pris- ai
i ? 1 1 -1 ? 1-1 T-
iatic colors , clear as diamonds ? Lis- .
c.
m to their fairv tinkle against the
imming glass , fhat sweetest music in
I the world to one half fainting with C (
lirst. And , so in the language of poor E
d man Gough , I ask you , brothers all , sr
ould you exchange that sparkling srv <
ass of water for alcohol , the drink of
tc
ic very devil himself ? ' Knoxville
' . 'enn.J Journal. fc
Major Poore's Wedding. ei
eiSi
Maj. Ben : Perley Poore's wedding Si
as a part of a quadruple affair , his tr
idc's sister and both of her two broth
's were all married on the same da } ' ,
nd the Major's father-in-law thus had
is home depopulated at one hymeneal
roke. Poore says that in his own
ise he was never quite certain that he tlim
as married , there was so much con- m
ision during the ceremony. He had lit
issed the preceding night in Washing- th
m , and he and his friends had not ini i _ *
inded to retire at all ; ' 'and so , " the
"when I reached the on
fajor says , church
al stoo'd up to be married I hardly sum
: alized what was going on. 1 was m
mnted bv two awful thoughts : I was dr
'raid that where there were so many drwl
; ides I might somehow be married to
dr
le wrong woman ; and then f noticed
tat I was standing right over a big
pen register in the floor , and I was m
jsperately afraid that when I took out ki
LC ring I might lose my grip and drop ne
down that register. "
OTHERWISE AND PERSONAL.
COXGKESSMAN LITTLE , of OhtO , b
one of the biggest men in tho house.
PJIIVATE SECRETARY LAMONT has
been summoned to his home , i
York , by the senous illness
mother.
GEN . BINGHAM wanted to have the
honor of introducing the bill to pension
Mrs. Hancock , but New York was
reached before Pennsylvania in tho call-
of states , and Editor Pulitzer got ahead
of him.
Witsox BAKKETT , who is coming to
America next season , is gratified no
doubt to read in The St. James's Ga
zette that he "is sure to be the craze
there" that is , on this our Unclo
Sam's side of the sea next year.
IT is not generally known that
Wordsworth , tho poet , sat to Haydon
as a model for his great picture
"Christ's Entry Into Jerusalem. " But
he did ; and Haydon's original study of
the poet has just boon sold in London.
LEOPOLD FREDERICK , heir apparent
of the duchy of Anhalt , who died , after
a sudden illness at Cannes , on the 3d
inst. , leaves only a daughter ? , year old.
The ducal crown of Anhalfc accordingly
goes to his elder brother , Leopold Ed
ward , a lieutenant in the Prussian army.
LOUISE MICHEL is writing a new
book , "Les Microbes ; " a novel in which
the scientist , the revolutionist , and tho
capitalist of to-day are traduced. In
the plot of the story , "each one dies
for the idea for which he lived , "
except thecapitalist ; and ho
lives on in order to supply "the where
withal" to a coming and newvgenera-
tion.
MRS. JAY GOULD is rather short in
stature , though plump and comely. Her
face denotes intelligence , and was
doubtless very pretty 'when she was
young. She is thoroughly domestic in
her tastes , and has devoted her time to
her home and children. She spends
two hours a day with her three small
boys , and carefully inspects all tho
books they read.
Ix tho course of a conversation be
tween W. S. Gilbert and Frank Bur-
nand , editor of Punch , the former said :
"Burnand , I suppose you receive quan
tities of funny cop } ' from outside people ,
don't you ? " Burnand was off his
guard , and replied , "Lots. " Gilbert's
hard face relaxed a little as he added ,
"Why the deuce don't you put some of
it in Punch , then ? "
LOVALL FAIIRAGUT , a son of the lato
Admiral Farragut , has written to Capt.
James D. Johnson , offering to return
to him the sword he surrendered to his
father on the 5th of August , 18G4 , when
; he confederate ship , Tennessee , was
japtured in Mobile bay. The offer has
jcen thankfully accepted by Capt.
Fohnson. The weapon TVas made by a
; iti/en of Mobile , who inscribed the
japtain's name upon the blade.
Miss MARV THOMPSON , an English
mthoress , who came to America in De-
icmber. 1S84 > with letters from Earl
Jranville , John Bright , and others , to
Ibhn Sherman , Justice Field , ex-Secre-
ary Lincoln , and the British reprcsent-
itives , has begun suit for § 15,000
lamaegs against a Catskill hotel-keep- * V
r. Miss Thompson alleges forcible
jection from the hotel last summer ,
.nd defamatory talk by the defendant
fter she had gone.
THE recent visit to Connecticut of St.
'ohn , the temperance apostle,4has been
iroductivc of some ugly eruptions of
cpublican temper. When he visited
lartford the president of the senate
nubbed him , and the speaker of tho
ousc declared he much preferred , "to
ive a reception to Judas Iscariot or
atan. And now the dignified United
tates Senator Hawley writes a long
; tter to The Hartford Courant , in which
e denounces "Mr. St. John" as "not
nly a falsifier , but an ignoramus. "
HiRA3i ATKIXS , chairman of the dem-
cratic state committee in Vermont ,
rys that the fight against the re-election
f Senator Edmunds has already begun
nd that nearly all the leading rcpubli-
m "workers" are committed to the op-
osition. He predicts that most of the
ountics will send a majority of anti-
dmunds men to the legislature , and
lys that only one daily paper and but
2ry few weekly papers arc favorable
Edmunds. Edmunds' lukewannness
r Blaine is said to be the cause of tho
position , but it is understood to bo
igineered in the intctest of J. Gregory
nith , president of the Vermont Cen-
al railroad.
"Mr views regarding religion aro not
morally understood , " said Col.iwrer-
ill recently to a select circle of fritds
[ am credited with a good many ideas'
at I never entertained , r am very
uch like an old Indian of whom I have
: ard. An
enterprising
missionary to
e tribe was bcnfc upon the conversion ,
this particular savage. One dav clj
i the plains the good man plied tlM
hject vigorously , till finally the red
an , picking up a stick , bent down and
ew in the sand a small circle. That's
hat Indian know , ' he said. Then he
ew a large circle around the first , and
> mting to it ' '
, said : 'That's what white
an know ; but outside of that Indian
ow as much as white man-know
> thing. ' The Indian's doctrine ia my
ictnne , " ended the orator.
JL