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PERSONAL AND UTEBABT.
' " Horrors oL Hotel Life' is the title
of & book recently issued.
Tea Garden is the name of ft strong
and substantial citizen of Austin, Tex.
Beecher's double, the man who
goes to theaters and gets the Brooklyn
pastor's name . in the papers, is John
Wyman. Their resemblance is very
striking. Brooklyn Eagle.
"Camp Meeting" John Allen, c
Wilton, Me., has read the Bible through
and the New Testament half way again
within four months, although he. ii
eighty-three years old. Boston Post.
Mrs. W. G. Noah, one of the great
actresses of fifty years ago, who played
rival engagements with Fanny Kemble,
and supported the elder Booth and For
rest, is still living in Rochester, N. Y.
Rochester Express.
Mississipplans feel very proud of
their State .library in the capitol at
Jackson. It core prises thirty-eight
thousand volumes, which include the
egal text-books ai.d reports from all
;he States in the Ur ion, making a col
lection which r.inks third in cohiplete
mess in the whole country. Chicago
Herald.
Charles Beach 6ays that ho once
searched the pockets of Horace Gree
ley's historic white coat, in which he
found more than two hundred business
cards, which had been given him from
time to time during the many years he
liad worn the coat He was not aware
ihat there was a card about his clothes.
Ar. Y. Herald.
Tho last signature of Peter Cooper
was on a postal card written by his
secretary. it was aaaressea to a
jrcntk-man in tho West, and stated that
Mr. Cooper took pleasure in sending
4iim a copy of his work on the protec
tive tariit. The card lay unnoticed on
Mr. Cooper's desk for several days aft
er his death, when it was mailed to the'
"jMjrson for whom it was intended. N.
Y. Mail.
A Boston correspondent of the
New York Graphic writes: "I doubt,
too, if there is' another city in which
avotnen have entered journalism in as
large numbers as they have here.
There is not a daily paper in Ihe city,
and not a weekly of any importance
that has not at least one woman, and,
in several cases, two or three women
on the staff as reporters, editorial
tfvriters, critics or special writers."
HUMOROUS.
Leap-year parties arc popular in
isonic sections. At theso gatherings tho
irlsyell "rnouscl" and the young men
jump on chairs and 6hriek. Detroit
Free Press.
A country girl, coming from the
field, being told by her poetic cousin
-that she looked as fresh as a daisy
ikissed wita clew, said: "Well 'it wasn't
ny fellow of that name; but it was
Steve Jones that kissed me. I told h:m
that every ono in town would find it
out." Chicago Tribune
A poet sings: "Let mo die when all
is cold and drear.' Now is an exeel
len season for the purpose, and the man
who would interpose a single objection
should bo severely talked to. If a poet
wants 10 die when all is cold-and drear
and we are not 'surprised that he
should feel that way he should be en
couraged in his laudable purpose. Ex
change. Quite unsympathetic: Birdie Mc-
il Icnnepin and her brother were at tiie
iseashore: "O, see that!' exclaimed
Birdie. "See what?" inquired the
'stoical John. "Why, see that little
sioudlct just above the wavelet like a
liny Jcaflct dancing o'er the scene."
O. come, you had better go out to the
-pumplet in the backyard let and soak
your little headlet. Boston Tran-
script.
A. servant girl in New Haven stole
'her mistress' false teeth. The woman
fold a policeman that "She sheesh cosh
tshwenshy shollarsh, nnsh she shwash
-vvosh sliusha wresh ashdo shtcesh fawshe
.-Abeeth " "Wait till I lind an in
terpreter," interrupted the policeman,
' thinking the woman was a newly ar
rived Hungarian; but she was an Amer
ican, and when her teeth were in she
could talk the bead off him. New Ha
ven Register.
"Pa," said tho daughter of the
house to the man of the house the other
evening, "What are wo going to have
for beakfast?" "I have ordered Lyon
naise'tripe, my child." was the father's
answer. "And where does that come
from, pa? Does it come from an ani
mal, or does it grow?" "It is taken
from an animal, my dear." "Oh, I
know, then" after a pause to think up
lier natural history "then it is taken
from lionesses, isn't it, pa?" Pa was
weak enough to say "Yes." Lowell
Citizen.
A great, big, burly fellow stepped
into the editorial rooms of one of our
morning contemporaries yesterday and
said: "I want to clean nut this olticc."
"Wha what's the trouble now?"
feebly asked the editor-in-chief, turn
ing ghastly pale. "Nothing's the
trouble. I will clean out the oitice and
crub down tho stairs for one dollar."
Then the editor's face resumed its
natural color, and spitting half way
across the room, he shouted: "Get out
of here, you tramp, or 1 will spill you
liead first into the waste basket"
Ptiilatlclphiu Call. f
m m
Wanted His License Back.
A gawky boy and a "gangling"
srirl
were roamed by an Arkansas masris-
trate the other day, and shortly after
wards the boy reappeared and said:
" Squire, gimme back them license."
-"I have cent them to the County Clerk's
office where they propeily belong," the
Justice replied. " I am mighty sorry,
ur I want 'em jack." "What's the
matter?" " Why. I don't intend to live
with that gal. I never seed sich a crce- Hanson quiet; a lawyer wauted one Some women take a fiendish de
tur, Jcdge. You see her daddy give hundred and fifty to see the thing light in placing a pieco of oil-cloth
her a cow, an' this raornin' when I went', through; in two weeks he was shorn 01 j where their husbands are sure to step
to milk the .blame th'ng, she kicke'd mo five hundred dollars when, recently, fhe on it in the morning, when they sprln
heels over head. I wouldn ter minded woman herself lit out .Mr. Rouso calls out of bed, when the thermometer is
ibis, but my wife stood thar an' upon the elements for justice, the law hovering about zero, and for a moment
laughed fit ter kill lierselt, I thought bein unable to help him. Chicago the marrow-chilled man thinks he ha
I was goin ter settle down in a li e oi
love an' 'lasses an' all that, but the kick
- 1: 1
o that cow opened my eyes. The Coun
ty Clerk ken keep the papers if he
wants to, but I wush you'd tell him the
next time yer see him t at I'll be dad
blamed if I'm goin' to live with thai
iL" Arkansas Traveller.
A Legend f Niagara.
A great want has just been filled. Le
gends about the Niagara Falls have
Been so scarce that it will be a great re
lief to many to know that a new one has
bcen discovered. Not exactly 'new,
either, for it is written on old parch
ment, and must have been lying where
it was found for many years; but, as it
has just recently been discovered, it is
to the present generation new. While
shoveling snow from the steps of the
Extortion Hotel just after the recent
heavy fall the above-referrcd-to parch
ment was found. The following is a
free translation of its contents: John
Jackson, a young man .of some pugil
istic attainments, who dearly loved a
handsome young lady in Buffalo, deter
mined to take his darling to the Falls
for a trip. Now, John, liko many
other Buffalo young men, didn't know
much about the outside world,
and had never bcon warned to
avoid the Niagara Falls trackmen.
It was with a light heart that
ho stepped from the train on that bright
May morning, and with Angel.na
Thompson hanging gracefully on his
arm, started gaily for the great catar
act little dreaming of the terrible fate
that awaited him and that was destined
to bring to so gloomy a close a day
which seemed to have dawned the
brightest of all the days of the year.
The couple had gone but a few steps
when they were accosted by a hack
man, who said:
"Have a hack, sir?"
"No!"
"Better take a hack. This is 4one ot
the finest' and I'll drive you to all the
points.of interest."
"No; we will walk!"
"What! Do you mean to say that
you're going to make that young lady
foot it over these rough streets? If I
had as handsome a lady as you have I
wouldn't be so penurious as to make
her tramp around here and have sore
feet for a week."
Now John, as was formerly hinted,
had some knowledge of the manly art.
and the remark about penuriousness
grated on his liner feelings. Angelina
said:
"Oh, nevermind him. John."
But John's blood was up. So he put
up his hands and gave the impudent
hackman one in the neck. In an in
stant they were surrounded. All the
hackmen came to the rescue of their co
laborer. Angelina screamed, and that
made John nervous, and he could not
attend to his counters and guards. The
only faint made wag by Angelina, and
the blows from wh-ps, fists and other
missiles that rained on John from all
sides made him retreat in dismay. And
this, the day that opened so brightly,
closed darkly, particularly in the re
gion of John Jackson's eyes. But as
he washed the blood from his face and
tied Angelina's handkerchief around his
throbbing temples, ho was heard to
mutter: "iwdl be revenged!"
Several weeks had passed. The cat
aract was still doing business at the old
stand, and waving on high its glorious
plume of white spray. The hackmen
were also at the old stand. The battle
with the young Buffalo man had ceased
to be a topic among them, and in the
wild rush for worldly gain they hail al
most forgotten the face of Jackson. A
wild shriek pierces the morning air, and
the train from Buffalo, with clanging
bell and hissing steam, brings up at the
depot John Jackson walks from the
train. At his s'de is a person in female
attire, but the person has not the hand
some form and smiling face of Angeli
na. The hackmen, in the aforesaid
rush for worldly gain, do not recognize
the man.
"Have a hack, sir?"
"No."
"Better take a hack. It's fifteen
miles to the Fails."
"No; we will walk."
"Oh, you're a pretty fellow to make
that young girl trudge arouud "
That was as far as ho got. Jack's
arm had straightened. His fist had
come in contact with the nose of the
speaker. The noble form of tho hack
man was groveling in the dust It was
at this period ttiat tho conduct of the
person in female attire became not ce
able. There was no scream, and no
body swooned, whilo the attitude as
sumed was not a usual one for a lady.
The hat dropped forward until it nearly
Couched the no e. whilo tho fsts-very
large ones for a lady were tightly
clenched and the cloows-were drawn
back in a Pat Rooney style, which
plainly showed that their owner
would put up with no nonsense.
The other hackmen rushed to the
rescue of their fallen companion,
but tho first to arrive received such
a sting'ng blow from John's com
panion that he retired in dismay. The
second was sim.larly dealt with, and
he also to.k a back seat. In the mean
time John was not idle. He kicked,
thumped and otherwise maltreated his
antagonist until he felt that the dishon
or heaped upon him during his previous
visit had been w.ped out. Then his
companion took h s arm, and, looking
up into his face with a sweet seaside
musing smile, said: "Did you see me
get away with that red-nosed coon what
tried to interfere?" The loving couple
went immed ately to a hotel, and shortly
after they had disappeared through the
doorway two young men came out. One
of tlicm was John, while the other was
a stranger, and carried a small bundle.
Tho woman has never sinco been seen
alive. Detroit Free Press.
Mr. Anthony Rouse, of Chicago,
advertised for a wifo, setting forth as
inducements, a manly form and good
bank account Mrs. "Hanson, a bloom
ing widow, claimed the prize and got it
Soon after marriage, Mrs. Ron-e said,
M,r. Hanson felt a little hurt at her
marriage to Mr. Rouse without being
divorced from him; so Mr. Rouse paid
one hundred dollars to get the divorce;
fifty dollars more jvent to keep Mr.
Hanson nuiet: a lawyer wauted one
... . -
Herald.
Dr. Edward H. Williams, of Phila
delphia, is having built ou tne site of
the old Williams mans'on at Wood
stock, Vt, a library building as a me-
, monal of
Wiliiams.-
his father, the late Norman .
-Philadelphia Record.
The Baths of Cauquodes
Here I am among the Andes. I could
not leave Santiago without visiting the
celebrated Baths of Cauquedcs, the first
lyllable of which word must be pro
nounced like our English word "cow."
At eight o'clock on a line morning
how often journes begin on tine morn
ings! I left by the railway, and at
11:15 we stopped to breakfast, ana very
badly, at Rancdgua. The Chilians
seemed to me to think more about
gourds and tunas than about good meat
In our two-hours-and-a-quarter journey
we passed through much cultivation by
irrigation, conducted from the many
mountain streams. There was much
cattle, and many horses were :;
be seen scattered over the coun
try, and some of these last were curi
ously occupied in wading up the shal
low courses of the water in search of
some plant growing at the bottom,
which they spied through the crystal
liquid from time to time and then
ducked, their heads to pick up great
mouthfuls of it. Dry mud walls and
houses appear on all sides, and the dust
was abundant indeed. The corn har
vest was going on, and the wheat was.
being thrashed out on the thrashing-
LJloor with horses. Round stones
abounded everywhere, showing how
the districts have been coursed by huge
waters. The people looked rude and
free: they wore ponchos, and goilerwas
visible on many throats, the result (as in
Switzerland) of drinking snow-water.
When we came to the station for Cau
quedcs, I took the ' coche' for the baths
a distanco of seven leagues, which oc
cupied us some two hours and a half,
with one change o( horses. The teams
consisted of four, and these were caught
out grazing on the spot and harnessed
before our eyes. They were excellent
animals, though rough, and were har
nessed abreast Our pace was excel
lent but there was much delay before
starting, and the same at the change.
The dust was frightful, as it is all over
such parts of Chili as I have visited:
the nuisance of it ma be compared
with that of the vile coal smoke on their
railways; this last being a perfect poison
in their magnificent air. At last we
came to the baths, finely situated on
the Cachapoal River, with dry mount
ains atid the cactus all round. Tho
spot is extremely rocky and pictur
esque, and from the garden of the estab
lishment the views are grand; one's im
pressions being enhanced by the sense
that it is the huge range of the Andes
and no mere holiday river-rocks that are
before you. The long backbone of the
stream, as it winds its long way
down from the Grand Cordillera,
is particularly imposing. The torrent-
rushes by the baths
through a deep mountain gorge: all is
on'a grand scale. The establishment is
built in two principal quadrangles, with
pleasant shady walks round. There
are three springs cold, tepid and hot;
and there are two properties in the
water sulphurous and chalybeate.
The baths are well frequented and well
conducted. The grand range is not
visible from the baths themselves, but
by mounting a rugged rock, after cross
ing a sufficiently impressive and danc
ing suspension bridge, the glorious as
piring peaks appear on the horizon.
The colors on them of the sunsets are
surpassing; and as you look upon the
west side of the range thee shine full
and uninterrupted, liven these districts
are not free from shocks of earth uakes.
I was startled at night by the shaking
of my bed. and on waking and in
stinctively calling out: "Quien es?' re
ce'ved no answer. Then the city clock
tolled two: and I knew that I had felt
an earthquake; and the next day's
paper gave the following short notice
in Spanish, which I translate: "La-t
night, shortly before two, a mild shock
of earthquake was felt" No harm to
any one this time and here I am again
at Santiago. Cor. London Graphic.
Better Beef and Mutton.
At last there seems to be reason for
hoping that breeders of beeves and sheep
will turn from the alms and ways of
brcedeis of porkers, and instead oi
striving to produce the greatest quan
tity of "tat, will aim to place before the
meat-eating public the greatest possible
amount of good, nutritious beef and
mutton for a given outlay of food and
time. Since the ' Tribune ca'.lcd at
tention to the gross wastefulness of the
old svstem a large number of newspa
pers have followed its example. The
Cleveland Herald says on this subject:
"If it ever comes down to a genuine
beef, not a carcass of fat, there is a
show that the Devons will work them
selves up to the point Those who saw
the beeves after dressing at Chicago
would hardly select a roast or round
from one of them; the fat was so great
tliat there was a great waste in the pur
chased beef. We need a beef animal
sonicth ng liko the hog of a few years
since, a streak of lean and a streak of
fat. The citizen does not want to buy
tallow he cannot eat, but to get a good
streak of lean he must buy the fat.'
The movement in the direction of the
production of mutton and beef, tender
and juicy, yet free from masses of tal
low, may' be hastened by offering
special premiums, valuable enough to
Le worth competing for, to breeders
who s;iall at the fat-stock shows ex
hibit those sheep and beeves which,
when stripped of all superfluous fat
shall show the greatest quantity and
most nutritious and pa'atable quality ol
flesh for the food and time given. It is
not altogether unlikely that this would
oring into greater prominence than
they have ever enjoyed breeds of stock
not now generally recognized as profit
able meat-producing an-mals. What
ever else might come from this, the
consumer of meat would be tickled in
taste and benefited in purse if not in
health Chicago Tribune.
.. . .. .1 ...I- X' -
d'scovered the North Pole. Norristoicn
Herald.
-Mrs. Gordon, residing near Bluff
ton, S. C, now 111 years of age. walks
fnnr m!l.- to Hnrtakc of the monthly
Lord's supper at the Baptist Church.
Detroit lost,
Abigail Adams.
Abigail Adams, tho President's wire,
jvas undoubtedly tiie most conspicuous
woman of her day, whether by position
or by character. When writing to her
husband she often signed herself
"Portia," in accordance with a stately,
and perhaps rather high-flown, habit of
the period, and she certainly showed
qualities which would have done honor
to either the Roman or Shakespearian
heroine of that name. In her letters we
sec her thoroughly revealed. While the
battle of Bunker Hill was in progress
sho wrote that it was "dreadful but
glorious;" and in tho depression of tho
battle of Long Island she said: "If all
America is to he ruined and undone by
a pack of cowards and knaves, I wish to
know it;" and added: "Don't you know
me better than to think me a coward?"
When, first among American women,
she represented her Nation at the court
of St. James, she met with equal pride
the contemptuous demeanor of Queen
Charlotte; and when her husband was
choseu President, she wrote to him:
My feelings are not those of pride or
ostentation upon the occasion; they are
solemnized by a sense of the obliga
tions, the important truths anil numer
ous duties, connected with it." When
finally, aft r four years, he failed of re
election, she wrote to her son: "The
consequence to us is personally that we
retire from public life. For myself and
family I have few regrets ...If I did
not rise with dignity, I can at least fail
with ease." Tiiis was Abigail Adams.
In person she was distinguished and no
ble rather than beautiful. y.t it is satis
factory to know that when she was first
presented at the British Court she woro
a white lutestring, trimmed .with white
crape, festoone'd with lilac ribbon and
mock point-Iaje over a hoop of enor
mous extent, with a narrow train three
yards lon, looped up by a ribbon. She
wore treble lace ruffles, a dress cap with
long lace lappets and two white
plumes, these last doubtless soaring
straight into the air above her head in
the extraordinary style familiar to us
In Gillray's caricatures of that period.
It was. in those davs. no verv asrrce-
I able task to bo the wife of the Presi
dent Mrs. Adams 'has left on record a
graphic sketch of the White House,
where she presided for three months.
The change in the seat of Government
had been decided upon for twelve years,
yet the building was still a vast un
finished barrack, with rooms plastered,
no main stairway, not a bell within, not
a fence without: it was distressingly
cold in winter, whilo the Chief Magis
trate of the United States could not ob
tain for love or money a man to cut
wood for him in the forests which then
surrounded Washington. From Wash
ington to Baltimore extended an almost
unbroken growth of timber, varied only
by some small and windowless huts.
There could as yet be in Washington no
such varied companionship as bad given
attraction to the seat of Government at
New York and then Philadelphia; yet
at Georgetown there was a society which
called itself eminently polite, and Mrs.
Adams records that she returned fifteen
sails in a single day- T. W. Higginson,
in Harper's Magazine.
Cat's Meat.
Correspondents of Knowledge, in
treating ot cats, do not seem to have
remarked sumo acts of -intelligence
which may be observed daily in the
streets of London. At the cry of the
cat's-meat man all the cats are in com
motion, but nil are not excited by the
sry of the same man. A dozen men
may walk up and down the same streets
with tempting morsels, crying "Meat,
meat!" but only at those houses they
arc accustomed to serve will the cats be
roused by the call. No sooner does the
proper man arrive in the street than ev
er cat he is accustomed to serve rushes
frantically to the door, or, if allowed,
into the street, running mewing toward
him, rubbing against his legs, or some
times sitting in a begging "attitude be
fore him. but never, as faras I have 00
served, attempting to steal, from the
open basket
One day I noticed a cat whose man
had either forgotten her portion or had
beoa nnable to make her mis ress hear,
and so had passed on. The eat, however,
insisted on being attended to; she ran
alter If in, mewing piteously, and when
at last she made him understand, she
ran back to tne House ueiove mm,
where, by this time, tho mistress was
ready to take the delicacy so much
pri.ed by all London cat-, however well
fed. I have often watched this act of
discrimination in our own cat. Tom
would sit quietly dozing while man aft
er man went by with the familiar cry of
Meat, meat!" but presently he would
jump, rush to the window, and remain
in a state of great excitement, and soon
after a distant cry of Meat!" m ght bo
heard, and we knew that Tom had rec
ognized his own man long before we had
heard him. As the cry drew nearer,
Tom's excitement increased, and he
would almost fly to the door. A singular
fact remains to be told. On Saturdays
the man would leave two portions, as ho
did not go his rounds on Sunday. These
were often thrown into the area, to
which Tom had access. He would al
ways greedily devour the one portion,
but never touch the other, although
they lay side by side. This cat would
also open the latch of the kitchen door,
as observed by several of your corre
spondents, and would also o,.en the
shutters in the drawing-room (rlosed.
but not fastened), in order to look out
of the window. 1 have, however, been
told of a c it who would open not only
a latch, but an ordinary dravving-room
door, rather loose, by taking the round
knob between her paws and twisting it
round till it opened.
The fact of cats distinguishing be
tween one meat man and another seems
to mo to disprove tho oft-repeated as
sertion that cats attach themselves only
to places and not to persons, for here
we tee them able to pick out a certain
man by his voico alone, even at a great
distance. Buckland.
Mrs. Catherine Dix, tho lately de
feased widow of ex-Governor Dix, waJ
oorn in lWi. At tiie age ot niteen su
was betrothed to the General, the mar
riage taking place three years later. O.
her four sons Rev. Morgan Dix. rectoi
of Trinity Church, New York, is the
sole survivor. N. Y. Tribune.
Husbands in Alabama can nolongei
carry ou business in the name of theij 1
witaa. jSJ. Louis Post,
Temperance Reading.
THE TEMPERANCE SHIP.
Take courase. Temperance workers!
You slmH not suffer wreck
While up to God tho people's prayers
Are risinjr from your elect.
Wait cheerily. Temperance workers.
For daylight and lor lund;
The breath of (Jml U in your sail.
Your rudder in His bund!
Sail on! yailon! deep f rcfcrlited
With Mes slnjrs and with hopes:
The jrood or old. with shadowy hands,
Are pullimr at your ropes.
Behind you. holy martyrs
I'plift the palm and crown:
Before you, unborn aares send
Their benedictions down.
Courage! your work is holv,
Go-l's errands never fall!
Sweep on through storm and darkness.
Tne thunder and the hall!
Work on! 8ailon! the morninjr comes.
The port you yet shall win:
And nil the bells of God shall rinir
The ship or Temperanco In.
J-Jm G. WhiUitT.
FEMALE IXEBKIATES.
The now common custom of resorting
to the use of spirits in times of pleasure,
as well as for the relief of pain and de
spondency; is fraught with dangers but
little appreciated by the average indi
vidual. That the custom of the free use
of stimulants is upon the increase
amongst women, especially in our lar
ger citie , is easily demonstrated. A
cursor visit to any popular restaurant
will result in the visitor's seeing ludies
both alone, in parties, and with and
without escorts, who ten years ago
would not have tasted an alcoholic bev
erage of any kind, even in their own
homes, taking beer, wine or spirits
with their meals, almost as a matter of
course, and apparently with no idea
that they are doing anything unlady
like or unusual.
Beer, and especially bottled beer, has
of late vears become immensely popular
with all elasses. Ladies stop ft restau
rants often with the solo purpose of hav
ing a bottle of beer to refresh and in
vigorate them after a long walk, or
when tired from shopping: lamiliestake
it regularly by the box; boarders have
it pnvatelv at table or in tiieir rooms:
and servants, pitcher or pail in hand.no
longer make a seeiet of their trips to
the corner groggery or the avenue beer
saloon. Grocers koep it, and sell it to
families by the- bottle or box. The wme
sentiment that has made the German
style of pen-air concert so popular in
tiiis country seems at the sinie time to
have brought with it a fore- for convivi
ality, and to have popularized the cus
tom of beer-d. inking.
Ucer has been the entering wedge,
and following close upon it has come
the more or" less free use- of spirits.
And this was natural and to be expect
ed. One thing almost unconsciously
leads to another in matters of this kind,
and beer has proved itself a stepping
stone to- the use. of strong liquors.
Women who formerly woold have used
spirits only under medical ail vice, and
even then reluctantly, now resort to
them without objection and; upon the
slightest grounds, simply because their
ircvious use of beer seems to have
iroken the ice. To many a poor
wreck, the first glass of beer has
proven a costly experiment and will be
looked back to as the first step in a
career the incidents of whick wake her
shudder.
It has been urged b some fihat the
Germans, than whom there is jiot a
more hard-working, frugal and studi
oua people, are a nation of beer-drinkers,
and that the introduction of their
amusements social customs and the
like, would prove not only not a mis
fortune, but a positive boon to Ameri
cans. The fact, however, that for
many reasons Americans differ from
Germans in point of nervous organiza
tion, or rather lack of nervous equili
bration, if we may be permitted to use
the term, makes that which would
prove of signal benefit to the latter ex
tremely dangerons for the former.
That American women are- placing
themselves in a position o peculiar
dauger by admitting beer,, and later
wine and spirits, to their homes and
tables, as well as indulging- in them
wh le away from home, is u faca beyond
que tion. Tiie peculiar satisfaction with
which a tired, exhausted or unstrung
nervous system receives the stimulation
thus derivable leads almost invariably
to a further resort to it. The fact tha't
a woman's bodily or mental condition
is such trial tne slightest eliors causes
exhaustion and calls for stimulation be
speaks, as forcibly as nature can possi-bly-
express it. a very unhealthy, not to
say dangerous, state of affairs, for
which a physician should be consulted
without delay. In such conditions the
chances are in favor of the woman's be
coming, after a time, wholly dependent
upon alcoholics. We have known Mich
women to become in tinie.thc veriest
sots through this same originally oc
casional resort to stimulants. Others
of the same class are known to us to
day who are fast traveling the danger
ous incline. To some the consequences
of the course they are pursuing are evi
dent; but the craving which has become
firmly established seems to be too great
for their unaided powers of resistance.
They cry, wring their hands in agony,
and bemoan their cruel fate in their in
tervals ot sobriety, make rash promises
to their husbands, and fondly caress
their little children that alcohol
is fast robbing of a mother's love and
care, and whom she is daily robbing of
their birthright of a good namo and
respectability. How many a poor
wretch of this class curses the first swal
low that ever passed her lips'. Confine
ment and close surveillance in some of
these cases seem to do good for a time,
but the old craving appears never to be
thoroughly crushed out for it keeps
cropping up ever little whi'e, some
times in its old fury, sometimes modi
fied. Not a few of these unfortunates
take to opium, or .chloral, or both, and
while using them manage to abstain
from liquor. They are content to do
this and their frends, hopeless of a
radical cure, are willing to allow them
the narcotics, on the ground that though
one form of inebriety is virtually as bad
as the other, still that from the habitual
uso of narcotics is less painful to the
vh-w, and not nearly so prone to result
in open disgrace as that from alcohoL
Some, however, after acquiring a crav
ing for narcotics, relapse into the old
habit of drunkenness from alcoholics,
and then their state becomes desperate
and disgracC'ul in the extreme. Be-
tween the class of occasional tipplers
and habitual users there is one that is
not, after all, so peculiar when itiider
stood. Women there are who, being in
a condition of "neurasthenia," cravo
some 'form of stimulation, and gratify
it on preparations containing a certain
percentage of alcohol. It is a fact not
generally known, but nevertheless true,
that thousands of bottles of essence of
g'ngerarc consumed by individuals of
this class. Others use some form of
popular "bitters; while still others,
under various pretenses, consumo
quantities of various "tinctures" and
the like on physicians' prescriptions.
Women who are perfectly healthy, or
as near so as it is possible to be in this
age. certainly do not need and should
not use stimulants at any time. " Lt
well enough alone" applies to such very
aptly. -And. indeed, in many of us, ap
parently healthy and robust, tjiere are
inherited tendencies and latent cravings
that only need for their development
some slight lntlulgencies. Any woman
who is at all couversaat with the sad
histories of so many of her fellow
women now swelling the ranks of
criminals, paupers and insane, or, what
is even worse," of those poor wretches
who haunt the by-ways and dark
streets, and form the scum and off
scouring of every large city, will cer
tainly hesitate before she either takes it
herself or allows her children to- do so.
It has often been said tliat the-father
who takes wine before his sons, or visits
his spirit closet in their presence, sets
them, although unintentionally. per
nicious example that may possibly bear
bitter fruit in tne years to come. " How
much worse, thenthe example of 3 tip
pling mother, even though tiie beverage
be the "harmless and popular" one of
beer! The result can not be other
than unfortunate. Children form their
characters on the models of their elders.
and are very ouick to observe ami
ready to imitate. Parents being tin? (
family arbiters of right and wrong, chil
dren naturally expect practice as well
as pie-aching, and are more prone U
follow tha former thau the latter.
Both the use and a .us-. of stimulant.
by women are largely upon the increase
in this country. The police returns of
this city are atone sullicient evidence of
this. No reasoning individual but must
set and appreciate the fact that if. un- ,
der the strict "old-f:ishIonr ideas re
garding the ue of liquors by women, a
thousand women, gathe:ei promis
cuously from all classes, yielded ten
inebriates, now, with the doing away
of those ideas largely, and the more
popular introduction of stimulants as
beverages, the same numberof women i
will yield twice as inanu hard drinkers
as the first thousand Aad the free
nse of stimulants is on tEe- increase.
Beer has been and still is the entering
wedge that is opening a frightful gap in
the happiness of our homes and the
purity and modestv of our women.
The prison, the almshouse, the police
court ay, even the scatlold -bear tes
timony to the dangers of this- deadly
stimulant- Wrveked homes, broken
hearts, blasted lives and hopesvgrow
rank upon this sil. The ghastly rl
ics of once pure and modest woman
hood leer at us from tho dark streets;
stagger, tattered and bedraggled
wrecks, into the grog-shop; gaeC pale
and wasted, from the hospital cot, with
large, hungry,, mournful eyes: staru
stonily at us from, the marble slab of
the morgue, or lloat aimlessly oofr to
sea with the changing tide.
It is a sad subject tro;n any and every
point of view, and the freer use of stim
ulants and narcotics by all classes is be
coming a problem of serious propor
tions. The question mcct- us in even
walk of life, whether as private citizens
or public officials and demands careful
consideration and pain-takiug investi
gation. Woman hereif. however, holds
the key to the whole matter, and de
cides for or against according as she in
dulges in or countenances the free use
of stimulants, of late become so popular.
Her duty tcWierself, her children and
her sex bid her use every effort to d s
countenance and check by every means
in her power this growing eviL Har
per's Bazar.
Temperance Items
Dr. "Howe, of Massachusetts, says
that half the idiots of England come
from drunken parnts.
If a young man begins at the ago ol
twenty years to drink but one glass ot
beer a day, at five conts a glass, by the
time lie is forty years of age he will
hae spent $I,"J:. 7.3.
A temperance party has been
formed in tho British l'nrl'rcnent At.
a recent conference of fi."t'-tive mem
bers, they appointed a committee to
keep watch upon all proposals which
promise in any way to ctfe-t the liquor
traffic.
We are continually making excuses
about the inheritance of vices. When
i the time to "right about face " ii
not the golden . now? li one has a
weedy garden, mourning over tho m
regenerato mother ear h won't mend
the matter. We must out with the
weeds!
Esther T. Uonsh.
Oui: boys and girls must be taught
that alcohol lessens the brain powers
weakens the muscular strength, dwan?
the growth, inilames the baser passions
blunts the sensibilities, debases the feel
ings and weakens the wilL Possessing
this knowledge our children will grow
up pure from the dangerous habit, and
will bring into mature life unpolsoned
bodies and brains with which to 'nieel
the problems of their existence. They
will know how to resist this evil ol
drink when it confronts them, and will
be able to legislate concerning .t with
intelligence.and power. Hannah Whit
hall Smith.
That the recognition of the degrada
tion which comes through drunkenness
is not a matter of the present only is
known to every reader of the Bible and
o ancient authors. One of tho earlst
references, however, is in an extant
fragment of the old Egyptian literature,
in which the drunkard is addressed iu
these words: "Thou art as a temp!c
without its god, as a houe without k
bread." Tho e who are familiar with V
the convivial scenes fre niently depicted
on the Egyptian monuments know that
total abstinence formed no part of thCw.
popular creed in ancient. Eg pt; hence
the comparison of the drunkard tQ.,aV
temple (compare 1 Cor. 3: 16, 17) lor?
sakenof its god 5s the more noteworthy.
The figure of "a house w thoid bread
is ono wh ch needs no explanation to a
drunkard's family. S. S. Times. ,. i
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