A KA3YLE MARRIAGE. _ t The Ceremony Ik « oinplieute.) andent. The wedding ceremony .timing tlie Kabyles is interesting bec*as6 of its comparative resemblance to cho cnstoius of the old Greeks and Romans and even to those which still prevail in seques tered parts of France. Hero it is the \ girl’s father who exacts a wedding por- j tion, a sum of abont £8, for which the bridegroom has generally to rely upon the advances of his friends. Often, too, the young man has not a house for his bride, in which case his friends set to work and bnild one, no very difficult matter. On the wedding day the bride is led through tho villages in the neighbor hood, mounted on a mule and escorted j by friends and relations, who shont and Are guns again and again. The various householders hasten forth to offer her a sieveful of beans, nuts or dried Ags. Of these she takes a handful, which she kisses and then replaces in tho sieve. All the offerings are collected in sacks by the old women of the procession as contributions to the young people’s lar der. At the bridegroom’s house the girl’s hands are washed with liquid butter. Then they give her some fresh eggs, which she breaks on the mule’s head and inRide the unhappy animal’s ears, thereby, it is believed, counteracting any evil designs agaiust her and her husband’s happiness. Before entering tho house she drinks milk, fresh and sour, and also water, and scatters over her shoulder a handful of barley, wheat and salt for the good of tho family. The husband then approaches her and fires a pistol above her head to signify that thenceforward ho has the power of life and death over her. Not infrequent ly ho makes the symbol even more em phatic by firing into her headdress and setting her aflame. This done, little re mains except for the youth to lift the lady in his arms and carry her bodily into his house.—All the Year Round. A Maid of All Work Adjective. I inquired of the head mistress of a gilds’ school why she 60 frequently made use of the adjective ‘ ‘nice. ’ ’ She replied, ‘ ‘Because it is such a useful maid of all work adjective and saves one the trou ble of thinking!” ‘ ‘Then you teach vour girls to be inaccurate?” “I don’t think it is being inaccurate. The word in most cases expresses my meaning better than any other.” A relative of mine reproved one of her nieces for her liberal nse of “awfully jolly.” The young lady re plied: “Oh aunt, do not deprive me of that awfully jolly expression If I were deprived of it, I shouldn’t know what to say. ” The frequent use of the expletive “you know” was justified to me on the ground that it keeps the listener’s at tention awake. The fashionable novel presses into its service these flowers of speech. In Mr. Norris’ “Countess Radna” a young gen tleman thus addresses a young lady, “I’m so awfully sorry that you are going to desert us. ” “I’m awfully sor ry to have to go, ” replied the girl com posedly, “and my parents will be aw fully sorry to see me. ” Of this young lady’s two lovers the anthor himself declares in. the same chapter (24) that one was much “nicer” than the other. In chapter 37 the nicer one, in declining an invitation, says, “Thanks awfully, but I’m afraid I can’t, ”—Notes and Queries. Killing: Crocodiles* “There are two ways of killing croc odiles,” writes an ex-resident of India. “One is by shooting with a rifle, but the most satisfactory way of dealing with them, besides being far the most sport ing, is to bait a good large hook with a bird or small animal and fasten it by a chain to a good long rope, the end of which is firmly picketed, the rope being coiled and the bait laid in shallow wa ter. There must be lots of slack line, as the crocodile does not swallow anything at once, but seizes it and takes it into deep water to gorge. A number of lines may he laid and looked up in the morn ing or cool of the evening. When hook ed, it will take a good many men to haul a crocodile out, and as he resents the operation and can nse his tail as well as his jaws one or two sportsmen will find considerable entertainment in dispatching him with spears. Some croc odiles grow to an enormous size, and their maws always contain round white stones, and often trinkets, the relics of inside passengers. The writer assisted at the death of a not extraordinarily large ‘snnbnoee’ which had six women’s rings in her. ”—Badminton Library. A Danger Signal. “I found a queer specimen today, ” said the policeman to the reporter. The interrogation points popped into toe reporter's eyes. “Old fellow drunk in the alley, ” con tinued the officer. ‘ ‘I noticed him go in and watched him. He found a comfort able place and laid down on it, then took a placard out from under his coat and hung it around his neck. ” “What was on the placard?” asked toe reporter as the officer stopped with toe evident intention of having him ask the question so he could spring the an swer on him. “ ‘Handle this with care. It is loaded. ’ ” And toe officer langhed as if a policeman’s lot were sometimes a happy one,—Detroit Free Press. Uglinesc. Many a man has risen to eminence under the powerful reaction of his mind against toe scorn of the unworthy, daily evoked by his personal defects, who, with a handsome person, would have sank into the luxury of a careless life under the tranquilizing smiles of con tinual admiration.—De Quincey. Harsh. Lovell—Ah, I should be delighted, dontcherknow, to—er—call upon you, Miss Ethel, but—er—you must say “may” flwt: Ethel- -Oh, do make it April first I— Truth. THE CROCUS. In sheltered corners and shady place* The wasting snows of the winter lie. But there is a token of coming roses In the tender pink of the sunset sky. Above the dusk of the windy forest The young March moon is silvery cold. Oome, love, and lean on the gate beside me. And 1 will tell you a legend old. A jealous wizard with whitened tresses Beheld a maiden with yellow hair. And seized her form in his frosty fingers. And bore her fur to his icy lair. Ho bound her fast in a sleep enchanted. And hid her deep in a grave of gloom. Till over the purple seas came sailing A slender prince, with a pale green plume. From the withered grass and earth abeve her He brushed the wreaths of the snow aside And slew the wizard, whose name was Win ter, And she rose from the tomb to be his bride. Look! There she stands by the broken trellis. Where budding sprays of the ivy cling. For the captive maid was the golden crocus: Her gallant lover, the prince, is Springl -Minna Irving in Worthington's Magazine. Venetian Mirrors. The beauty and almost absolute per fection characterizing the mirrors pro duced in the manufactories of Venice are mainly due, it is said, to the pecul iar solution applied to the surface. Pre liminary to this application the glass is thoroughly cleaned with wet whiting, then washed with distilled water and prepared for tho silver with a sensitiz ing solution of tin, which is well rinsed off immediately before its removal to tho silvering table, and the latter be ing raised to tho proper temperature the glass is laid and the silvering solu tion at once poured over it before the heat of the table has time to dry any part of tho surface of the glass. The so lution used is prepared as follows: In one-half liter of distilled water 100 grains of nitrate of silver are dissolved, to this being added 62 grains of liquid ammonia of 0.88 specific gravity. The mixture is filtered and made up to eight liters with distilled water, and 7 5-10 grams of tartaric acid dissolved in 30 grams of water are mixed with the so lution. About 2 5-10 liters are poured over the glass meter to bo silvered, the metal immediately commencing to de posit on the glass, which is maintained at about 104 degrees F., and in a little more than a half hour a continuous coat ing of silver is formed. After careful wiping with chamois the surface is treated a second time with a solution like the first, but containing a double quantity of tartaric acid.—New York Sun. The Oldest Grapevine. The oldest grapevine in the country was indeed interesting. One growing near this, which was known to be more than 80 years old, died finally of good old ago and was purchased and trans ported in its entirety to the Chicago fair. This one is 47 to 50 years of age and hale and hearty yet. At the base it is 52 inches in circumference. It grows straight up for about 3 feet, then di vides into six branches, and at this point is 5 feet in circumference. At a height of perhaps 7 feet it spreads itself in all directions over an immense arbor covering a space by actual measurement of 75 by 66 feet. It bears in one season 6,500 pounds of the purple mission grape, of which no use is made except as it is eaten and given away by its owner to any one who will take it.— Santa Barbara Cor. Troy Times. One of the Delights of life. When old Kaiser Wilhelm was still Prince of Prussia, he had one day at Babelsberg, near Potsdam, his beautiful and ever favorite residence, a visit from that prince among landscape gardeners, Furst Hermann von Puckler-Muskau, who somewhat bluntly expressed his disappointment at the slow rate of prog ress in certain improvements in the grounds—improvements which he had himself suggested on the occasion of a previous visit The future emperor plead ed his limited means. “But does your royal highness never borrow money?” queried Prince Puckler, evidently much amazed. “Never, my dear prince, ” was the smiling reply. “Then your royal highness has never tasted life’s greatest delight—to wit, the pleasure of finding yourself able to pay your debts, after all!”—Chicago Tribune. Cheap Locomotion. Dutoguurd has been informed that cabs are going to be fitted with automat ic distance counters, and that the fare for the first kilometer is to be 75 cents, and 25 cents for each succeeding kilo meter. “Capital!’' he said, tapping his fore head, as if inspired with a happy thought. “Next time I have to go any distance I shall walk the first kilometer and take a cab for the rest of the jour ney. ”—Journal de Vienne. A complaint comes from Russia of the scarcity of physicians throughout the empire. The number of medical men is only one in 6,000 of the entire population. These are mostly in the large cities. The village population has only one in 30,000, while the remote provinces have only one doctor to 120, 000 people. Handel and Bach were contempora ries. Bom about the same time, in houses almost in sight of each other, de voted to the same branch of the same art, and each famous stud justly so, in his profession, these two great men nev er met Frederick the Great was ambitions to be thought a composer of music. Over 120 of his pieces have been found and are now in the Imperial library of Ber lin. They are, if possible, worse than his poetry. During the most of the sixteenth cen tury the English people called the Bible the Bibliotheca, or the library, the ward being limited in its application to the Scriptural writings. There is a well at Scarpa, a village near Tivoli, Italy, which is 1,700 feet deep, all but 26 feet being cut in solid rock. SOWING AND REAPING. For bloom we bow one sort of seed. Another au«wer» hunger’s need. Weeds only propagate their kind. But leave abundant need behind. Which, if you scatter heedless, know, YouVe sure to reap just what you bow. A youth, industrious and pure. With noble aims, in promise sure Of proud achievement’s heritage. Of worth, manoood, honored age. And, doth the harvest ripen slow. You’re M’ :•*■ to reap just what you bow. Alas! youth often i» too blind To see the needs of heart or mind. A wilderness of tares appears— Sure fruitage of the wasted years. From evil seed good will not grow. You’re sure to reap just what you sow. —Helen A. Woods in Good Housekeeping. MY SUICIDE. Yes, I have wished to die. It was just after receiving the assur ance that Amelia was false to me. Was it indeed Amelie—this perfid ious coquette? Only think of it. She held my life in her little hand, and I am not now even sure of her name. Young :nen, this may astonish yon, but you will learn better in time. I was young then—quite young, and I no sooner learned of my misfortune than I determined to end my life. My first intention was to shoot myself on her stairway, but I bethought me of the crowds that would see me there and of how Henrietta—was not that her name? —would ridicule me, so my amour pro pro came to my rescue. “No,” I said to myself, “there must be no excitement, no noise. The wound ed bird conceals himself behind a tuft of grass. Thus I wish to dit—in some corner—isolated, lost, forgotten. ’ ’ In this elegiac frame of mind I took the 5:30 train for Melon. It deposited me at dusk, about 100 steps from the Golden Lion—a well kept hotel, with airy rooms, good beds and an excellent table. “What does monsieur wish?” asked a little waitress, whom I have since found to be very pretty. “Nothing. ” I was not hungry. I went to bed My sleep was fitful, and every instant I thought I saw Victorina—I believe her name was Victorine—pass by on the arm of my rival. Then I struck out with my fist against the wall, the iron bedstead or the mar ble top tala I was much bruised next morning, but what mattered it, since I was so soon to die? l went in quest ox a rope. X had be lieved formerly that, when one wished to hang oneself, nothing could be easier than to find a rope. A sad mistake. In my search I traversed the entire hotel to no purpose. The little waitress— the one whom I have since found is so pretty—demanded of me: “But what does monsieur wish to do with a rope?” At last, with a length of hemp in my pocket, I left the hotel and made my way to a spot in the woods where I had often been before. I found here, behind an inextricable tangle of foliage, the same inviting retreat where I had once lingered to dream. There could certain ly exist no more appropriate spot for the deed I now contemplated. While walking along I had thought of Berthe — possibly her name was Berthe—and I cursed her with all my soul. Then I looked at my rope. I meas ured it. I tested its strength. It was not the sort of a rope I wished. It appeared to be too short and too large around. I was vexed. You can scarcely imagine how an annoyance of this sort may in fluence one’s ideas. And here was another vexation. Upon reaching the chosen spot I was disagreea bly surprised to find it occupied by an other. A person, with his back turned to me, was engaged in fastening a rope to a branch above his head—the very branch which I had selected for my own. “What are you doing there?” I de manded of him. He faced me suddenly. “What concern of yours is it?” he asked. “You think perhaps that I do not di vine your intention,” I cried. “And if I wish to kill myself that is altogether my affair. ” “Kill yourself?” I looked at him. He seemed to be an amiable young fellow, with an open countenance, sympathetic eyes and an interesting pallor. “So yon wish to kill yourself ” And suspecting him to be the victim of an unhappy love affair, I added, ‘ ‘A bout some worthless woman?” “Sir!” he cried. * ‘Poor idiot!” I thought ‘ ‘Lovers are all alike—he defends her even yet ” The stranger was silent “Will yon permit me to give you a bit of advice?’ ’ I inquired. ‘ ‘Leave your rope where it is”—I had noticed that it was better than mine—“go home. Yon will thank me for this after awhile.” He shook his head. “I want to die,” “Don’t prepare any poignant regrets for the morrow,” I continued, with sweet insistence. “I repeat what I have said. After yon are buried yon will be moan your precipitancy, and then it will be too late. ” “You say this because you do not know what has happened to me. ” “But I suspect ” “No, you cannot have even a suspi cion. Oh, sir, a woman whom I adored, for whom” And he told me his story. Incredible coincidence! It was absolutely my own! This comparison set me thinking. “Your silence shows me your approval, ” said Charles. I had just learned his name to be Charles. “Not at all, ” I cried. I did not wish to appear like a weathercock. ‘ ‘There is nothing in your history which justi fies you in having recourse to the end of a rope.” Charles had begun to interest ma “Listen, my friend, you are out of your reason Why should you wish to be treated more kindly than other men whose sweethearts play them false ev ery day?” “But they are not as grossly deceived as I have been. ” “I beg your pardon. ” “No, no. ” ‘‘Oh, yea.” ‘‘No.” “I know whereof I speak. And now you are free to make another choice—.1 much better one. There are plenty oi them. ’ ’ “Better than she? That is not possi ble.” “Indeed.” “Her equal does not exist. ” “But she” "Oh, no. ” “Ah, well, in the first moments, one may have such ideas, but wait a month1 and you will see. ” My words sounded 60 replete with wisdom that, little by little, I began to find pleasure in listening to myself. I continued: “What good would it do you to die? I would like you to tell me how it could advance your interests? The woman who deserted you has or has not a heart. If she has one” “Oh, but she has not.” “Naturally she has not. Your death then would only flatter her. She will pose ever afterward as having been the cause of a suicide. Do you wish her to do so? And the world—what kind of funeral oration will it deliver over you? It will ask, ‘Was he such a fool as that?’ Yes, Charles, yon will be justly treated as an imbecile. ” I grew eloquent. It was because I had begun to feel that I was defending my own cause. All that I should have said to myself I said now to Charles— to my friend Charles, for I loved him already, with the same affection that he gave me in return. There was such con viction in my voice that Charles, yield ing, fell into my arms. “Do with me what you will,” he cried. “Very well, ” I said to him, with a sigh so profound as to reveal the empty void in my stomach, “let us go to break fast. ” I conducted him to the hotel. Our emotions increased, and our appetites were terrible. The table where we sat, with its snowy linen, its sparkling candles, its dainty viands, only added to our hun ger. w nen a truck steak witn potatoes nad enveloped ns in its savory odors; when, shared between us, its vermilion juice stained our knives; when, after the first mouthful, feverishly devoured, we had swallowed a cup of coffee, we looked silently at each other, while our eyes said for us: “Ah, life is sweet. ” “But suppose I had not met you!” sighed Charles, his heart filled with gratitude. And I thought on my own part, “The deuce! If I had not met him!” “Do you know, ” began the young man after another mouthful, ‘ ‘it was an unheard of piece of good luck that you should have gone to the very spot in the woods where I chanced to be. ” I said nothing. “Ah,” he exclaimed suddenly, “it must have been some good genius who led you there!” My face flushed in spite of me. “You will not believe me,” I told him, “but I went there as you did—to hang myself. ” “Ah, bah!” My companion burst out laughing. “That is too good, ” he cried. And we touched glasses. —Translated From the French For Romance Private Marks on Oar Silver Coin. The “mint mark” on our silver coin age is so well known that almost any school child can tell you where a piece was coined. The “s” means that it is from the San Francisco mint, “c. c. ” that it was made at Carson City, and “o” that it is the work of the New Or leans money makers. Besides the above you will find some very small letters oc casionally, especially on the standard dollar, the Columbian coins and the 1893 design of the quarters and half dollar pieces. On the standard dollar the letter is a microscopic “m” on the left loop of the ribbon which binds the wreath surrounding the eagle. Another “m” of larger dimensions may also be found on the same coin at the lower edge of the neck of “Liberty,” just in the edge of the hair. These miniature let ters are private marks of Mason, the man who made the dies. On the Columbian coin we find a clear cut “B, ” the initial of Barber, the die sinker.—St. Louis Republic. The Thirteen Snperstition. The inevitable 13 snperstition came up in a company of which I was one the other day. In my own experience that foolish superstition has been knocked out so often that I rather enjoy sitting down to dinner with 13. Once I sat at a table with Sir Arthur Sullivan, the composer, as host. There were 13 cov ers, it was the 13th of May, and the oc casion was the thirteenth performance of Sullivan and Gilbert’s “Iolanthe. ” Of course nothing came of it. Another time I dined with the Thursday club of Philadelphia at a roadside inn on the Wissahickon. It was discovered that there were 13 at table, and one of the party being superstitions the landlord was asked to come in and make the fourteenth. He did so, and the result was that he and not one of the 13 died before the year was out This is the nearest I ever came to having a verifica tion of the superstition within my ob servation.—Major Handy in Chicago Inter Ocean. Boots and Battles. Marshal Saxe has left it on record that there was no article of a soldier's dress more important than boots, and that, battles were won by legs. The Duke of Wellington, on being asked what was the best requisite for a soldier, replied, ' ‘A good pair of shoes. ” “ What next?” ‘‘A spare pair of good soles. ” • •AND YOU'LL REMEMBER ME." One evening as the *un went down Among the golden hills. And Mleut shadows. Bol t and brown. Crept over vales and rills, C watched the dusky bats a-wing Dip down the dusky ica. Hearkening, heard a maiden sing, “And you’ll remember me.” ‘When other lips and other hearts” Came drifting through the trees, “In language whose excess imparLb” Was borne upon the breeze. Ah, love is sweet, and hope is strong. And life’s a summer sea! A woman’s soul is in her song, “And you’ll remember me.” Still rippling from the throbbing throat. With joy akin to pain. There seemed a tear in every note, A sob in every strain. Soft as the twilight shadows creep Across the l.stless lea. The singer sang her love to sleep With, “You’ll remember me.” —Cy War man in New York Sun. AUNT HERISSON. Two young men, mounted ou valuable steeds, burst, into laughter as they left the Vichy road to take the one through tbo forest. They certainly lacked geuerosity, but CyTille, the maid of Mile, de Saiut Juirs, made an odd figure, mounted ou the stiff old mare Leda, riding behind her mistresa Her silhouette was that of a warlike woman. The youug men rode past her into the forest, laughiug and joking. Mile, de Saiut-Juirs overheard their silly banter. She turned her horse around and waited. She was handsome. The ride, the brisk air and also the in dignation had beautified her complexion and given brilliancy to her blue eyes. Her nostrils palpitated like the heart of a wounded bird. She bit her lip and stood up in her stirrnp, all trembling with anger. The young men approached her a lit tle abasheiL One of them opened his mouth, but had not time to speak before a young man rode up behind them and gave their horses two vigorous cuts with a whip. Being fine animals, they tore down the road ou a gallop, resisting the efforts of their chagrined riders to stop them. nuw, L’uuaui, k