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pay tor the service. I made a. portion of my journey by Chinese cart, and rode mile after mile through a sea. of shallow water interspersed with ditches ; and as though the dangers of the road were not sufficient- ly great, the wretches who live in the region dug great pit~holes along where the track was supposed to be, and then offer- ed their scrvwes at high rates as guides. If we hired them they guided us around the holes they had dug ; if we didn’t they let us drive into them,_and plundered the let us drive Limo them: imd plundered th'l carts during the confusion which followed â€"[Misslona.ry Eemli » A man was arrested at Ballston on sna- picion of stealing a mule. It is alleged that he has one wife in Albany, one at Saratoga and three at Ballston. It is not strange that: any man who could put up with the rolling-pin exercise of five on- raged women would appreciate the tender touch of a mule. What is it that determinesa girl's pop- ularity in society 2 is a question of'en heard in these days of social strife and agmndizement, and a question that one is quite able to answer in a word. It is rot because she is well dressed, or even pretty ; it is not that her fairy godmother bestowed a witty tongue to amuse the dul- lards ; it is not because she is rarely intel- ligent or highly educated or “so amiable ;” no, none of these desirable qualities would render the popular girl more popular than she is. though perhaps she is fortunate enough to possess one or more of them for her stock-in-trade. The girl every- body likes need have neither money nor beauty, which, in the world's esti- mation, constitutes social power ; but she must have and does have a gracious manner, a certain graceful bearing, decided intelligence, instinctive generosity, and, above all, the greatest gift, ever awarded to womenâ€"personal magnetism. Beauty is called the fatal gift, but personal magnetism. which is independent of beauty, is; the gift of powerflandl though scarcely recognized at first. only relinquishes its hold with death itself. The popular girl always has this fascination in more or less degree, and, if with it go the other attractions of happy circumstances, she rules the indis- putable queen of her small sphere. Her friends do not analyze the effect she has on them ; they simply like her, and love her, and later on when the time comes, adore her. If we hired them they‘ the holes they had dug let us drive into them, Chinese Depravity. A missionary writes of his inconven- iences and sufferings in going from place to place during the recent Tsentain flood. The bad roads nflilcted him much, bub the bad traits of native character afflicted him more. One of the saddest results of these floods is the bringing out so plsinly as they do, the a! ful meanness and depravity of the people. It would be difficult to believe that any human being could become so callous to the suffering of others as is evident here. Let a man be in the veriest extremity of death, and not a hand will be reached out to help him until, alter long haggling, a sum is fixed upon as the pay for the service. I made a. portion of my journey by Chinese cart, and rode mile after mile through s sea. of shallow water interspersed with ditches ; and as though not freely éive ' The leni with all its fixtures. forabetter way to live? Don't think I'm blurringycu, Charlesâ€"you are not awhit to blame. I've pltied you lhese many years. to see you tirfd and lame. I‘m just the way we started out. our plans too far ahead ; We've worn the cream at life away, to leave too much when dead. ’Tls putting off enjoyment long after we en- JOY. And uf-er all. too much of wealth seems use 1955 as a toy. Although w e‘ve learned. elas too late l what all must learn at last, Our hvikhlest earthly .happlness is burledln the pint. That life is short and full of care. the end is al- ways high. We seldom halt begin to live before we're doom- ed to die WereIto start my life again, I‘d mark each separate day. . And nevu- let a. single one pass nuenJoyed away. It there were things to envy. I’d have them now and then. And haven home that was a home. and not a. cage or pm. I'd sell some land 1m were mine, and fit up well n a rest. I've always thought. and think soyetâ€"small farms well worked are best WIFE There is no use of amine, Charles-you buy 0! hi )1 , d drywall-16 land. as level as aflam' I Lhougnt I'd went and see yon first, as Lawyer Brady said To tel! how things will turn out best a woman is ahead. Ive times or m we. And wondereu it it really pald to always be Land Poor ; That had we built a cozy hause, took pleasure as it come. f Our children once so dear to us. had neverle t our home. Igrleve jo thin}: or wnqted weeks. 'and 7661' 5 and momma. and dava. While for i‘ all we never yet have had one word :1 praise. Men call us rich, but we are poorâ€"would we I'll ea} Anfl we 11 n acrim vim: all our livns. and al- Wn) s a Land oor‘ Fur th‘rt» yeam w5've (113ng and saved. deny- ing half our needs. . While ml we have to show for it is tax-receipts. and back. Just think how surgv we have lived. and how this old plscuouka That other 1’» rm you bought (f Wells. that took P0 many YCEI'B 0f clenan up. anfi fencing in. has cost me Ll um: up uuunc, And manage in the cou‘ae of time, to have a bet ter home. While What? have amusements, and luxury. that. tweut and node I many wars. when the lot 13 paid for. and we have got the deed, rY tiriat I am satisfied-it‘s all the land we use . Charles, I've thought at it a hundred , BY ROBERT COLLINS. 3 another offer. wife. a twenty note A Popular Girl. all no about the yard. and fix the Land Poor. and In New York I onoelhad aconversation with a very clever and attractive young lady. who among other misfortunes, was afflicted with two millions of dollars. She said she would never marry, because she would not believe even the man who wanted her for her own sake. that he took her for any other reason than for her gold. “And what,” I asked, “do you lose thereby ’I If a gentleman takes you be- cause you are so pretty, the small-pox, a fall from a. horse, any accident may destroy your beauty, and where will his love be if it is for that reason only he took you '1 If another one falls in love with you be- cause you are so fresh, so young, so lively, time is safe to destroy all that, and your hold on him is lost. But if he takes you for your money, you need only beware of dangerous speculations, and you will al- ways keep the charm that brought him to your feet. and have nothing to fear.” “That is one way of looking at it," she said, and so completely did she embrace my opinion that, barely a year after, I re- ceived an invitation to her wedding with an English nobleman, when sheseemed sudden 1y to have made up her mind that all merce- nary motives had flown from this frivo- ions world, and nothing but constancy re- mained. The majority of houses have a second story. at least a sort of attic, under the extinguisher roof of thatch, rimming a circular frame of dried mud or wood rest- ing on the angles of four walls of mud or stone. either in square. or the ground plan taking the lines of a Greek cross, and the interior face is surrounded by a circular outer wall of the same material. Within live the occupants, with their cattle, fowls, dogs, cats, and a Noah's ark of insects, which the natives foster with the greatest care by not touching soap and by using very little water. The excessive disregard to cleanliness is quite a mania with Abys- sinians. It is not from a want of water. There is plenty ; and the famous soap-tree, callei indeed. grows everywhere, the seeds of which, when carefully dried in the sun, may be worked into a good lather that is Very cleansing. An Ethiopian will tell you without a. blush that he is necessarily washed at birth, washes him- self on his marriage mom, and hopes to be washed after death; that once every year he dips himself in the river on the festival of St. John. and every morning he wets the end of his toga with the mois- ture from his mouth and freshens up his eyes. Whenever he feels hard and un- comfortable, he will anoint himself with mutton fat till his head and body glistens in the sun. and sell for no little, ind prefer solid old or silver, in which the valuoia pub to weight, not into workmanship. She tells us of Aspasla, who. between the ages of 30 and 50. was the strongest intellectual lurce in Athens ; of Cleopatra, whose golden decade for p0 'er and beauty was between 30 and 40; of Livia. who was not far from 30 when she gained the heart of Octavius; of Anne, of Russia. who, at 38, was thought to be the most beautiful Queen in Europe ; of Catharine II.. of Russia. who, even at the silver de- cade. was both beautiful and imposing ; of Mademolselle Mars, the actress, and whose beauty increased with years, culminated between 30 and 45; of Mad ame Encamler, who between 25 and 40‘ and even later. was tne reigning beauty in Europe; of Nlnon d’Enclos, whose own sonâ€"brought up without knowledge of his parentageâ€"fell I an o "latey in love with her when she was at the age of 37, and who even at her 60th birthday received an adglfer young enough to be her grandson. These fact; the representatives of many others. establish that the golden decade of fascination is the same as the golden de- cade of thought ; that woman is most at- tractive to and most influential over man at that period when both men and women are nearest the maximum of the cerebral force. The voice of our great prime. don- ne is at its best between 27 and 35 ; but still more retain in a degree its strength and sweetness even in the silver decade. The voice is an index of the body in all its functions. but the decay of other functions is not so readily noted. A pale, refined-looking girl. out of a situation, was taken into a family the other day. out of pity. till she cnuld “get a place,” writes Jennie June. The third day she disappeared with the eldest daughter's cherished bangles and a pair of $14 boots. made to order, and sent home for the mother. The theory was a too rapid development of taste. Had she been a practiced thief it was thought she would have carried 03 also some heavy and uglygold hand bracelets. which were equal- ly within her reach. But her tastes were aesthetic. and she took those things_ that appealed to them. It is said that male thief: complain that the “liking” of wo- men for special things that appeal to their sentiments, or their fancy, impairs their sfliciency as coadj ntors. In other words few women are found who really steal for its own sake, or with a single eye to what can be made by melt- ing down or “turning over" the property thus acquired. The are tempted by the “latest thing," whic is of ten worth little intrinsically, or by something of fine and elshorate workmanship, well enough as a possession but worth liitle to sell, and dangerous to sell or to keep. Experienc- ed thieves, it is said, avoid these highly individualized articles, which cost so much When Women are Most Attrac- tive. In an interesting paper, entitled “When Women Grow Old," Mrs. Blake ha:- broughb facts to show that the fascinating power of the sex la oftentimes retained much longer that} lg gengrallx assumed. Characteristic Female Thefts. Native Life in Abyssinla. Love and Money. E. M. Calklns, of Warnerville, N. Y., has just completed one of the most won- derfulpieces of mechanism ever produced. He has worked on it twenty years, and like Darius Greene’s flying machine, “ at last it is done.” On a large platform, 7320 feet, constructed so as to represent moun- tain scenery, rocks, trees, lawns, rivers, cascades, caves, and lakes, there are sev- eral hundred moving figuresof men, birds. and beasts. In the centre is a life like fac- simile of Washington’s residence at Mount Vernon. 0n the roof are two beautiful figures. carved and painted so as to repre- sent sculptured marble, guarding with drawn swords the historic mansion, while a gilt eagle perches upon the porch. In a room Washington is lying on his death- bed, surrounded by weeping friends. In the kitchen are colored servants at work. In the yard are men sharpening their scythes and chopping and sawing wood. Several incidents connected with Indian life are vividly pictured. Railway cars are running, and aship with sails unfurled and laden with passengers floats in a miniature river. Even N oah's ark is represented, with Noah at the head of the procession marching into It, while no on the hill tops surrounding are men and women awestruck at the rising waters. A perfect grist mill in operation is repre- sented; also a country home, with the fa- ther and mother sitting by the fireside, reading by the light of pine knots. The figures are all kept in motion by a small overshot wheel, less than ten inches in diameter. All of the figures were carved with jack knives, Mr. Calkins having worn out several knives since he began the work. It seems at first sight incredible that an occurrence of 215 years ago could be re- ported with but one link between the person who tells you and the actual wit‘ ness. Such, however, is the fact. The narrator in question was the venerable rector of Bushey (the Rev. Mr. Falconer), just deceased at the age of 84. He had heard his grandfather (the celebrated Dr. Falconer of Bath) say that he had been told by his grandmother that she could remember being held up to the window to see Halley’s comet. which appeared in 1669. She was then 6 years old. Dr. Falconer, the intervener, was born in 1744 and died 1824. Assuming him to have been at least 6 years of age when this story was told him, his grandmother must have been 90. But the wonder mlght be in- creased, for if Dr. Falconer told the story in the last year of his life (1824) to a child 6 years it might be passed on to the next century with only one link between the witness and the narrator. After all, we are not so dependent on writing as we sometimes assume ourselves to be. A Girl’s Fight with Mountain . Lions. One evening lately a. herd of Angora goats herded by Miss Teresa Tallert on Little Lost River, Idaho, came home early, rushed for the corral, a heavy log concern eight feet high, and were shut in. In the night Miss Tallert was aroused by her dog whining at her ear, and getting up found four mountain lions in the corral. With- out a. moment's hesitation she attacked them with an ax. Two of the lions jumpei the corral and fled. The other two rush- ed toward her, and she dealt one a blow with the In, .aying its rnmp open to the bone. Both of the beasts then fled. The next morning fifty of the valuable goats were found dead and thirty wounded. Fourteen of the latter have died. ‘Explorers tell us that not only does ani- mal life abound, but that man can live in some of the most desolate parts of the globe. It is a mlstake to suppose that the Sahara desert is merely a useless sandy waste. Much of it lacks not so much cul- tivable land as industrious hands to make the vast expanse of withered oases blos- som again. The Mussulman sect known as the Senousians has for years been dig- ging wells, irrigatlng the land, and turning many hundreds of barren acres into gar- dens. Twenty-four years ago it planted its headquarters in the desert near the western bordrr of Egypt, built reservoirs, began plantations, erected convents, and now a opulatlon of 8,000 people live at Jarabu , where the soil has been restor- ed to fertility by their labors. 'I here are large areas in the Sahara that need only rain or irrigi tiou to cover them with ver- dure. Through these regions pass the caravan routes, along which the 50,000 camles engaged in the Saharan commerce bear their burdens. Mr. Anderson, the civil engineer who last year completed years of explorations in South Africa betwaen the Orange and Zsmbesi R vers, says that the rain that falls for a. few weeks every year in the great region known as the Kalahara desert covers the blackened verdureless plain with splendid vegetation. Game is abun- dont there, especially lions, leopards, and ostriches, and he has counted in this desert twenty-two lions in a troop, and has seen 200 ostriohes in one flock. Beasts and birds find sustenance in this region where only a few Bushmen hunters live. Far northeast of them on the semi-arid step. es of Kordofan and Darfur millions of sheep and camels exist on the scanty pasturage of that desert region. A Wonderful Piece of Mechanism. as supported by bleak half sterile plains that form the hlghest plateau in the world some 13,000 feet. above the see. He sald the wild yaks there must number millions, and bhah a full grown yak weighs from 1 600 to 1,800 pounds Na'ure's chemistry evolves these great; masses if flesh from the poor herbage of a region so lofuy that. its lakes are froze Over until nearly June. though they are 600 miles nearer the equator than we are. The Russian explorer Plajevalsky said aft: r his recent journey innorbhern Thibet that an enormous amnunb of animal life Waste Places of the World. Saw Halley’s Comet. Forgot the Halfpenny. A certain gentleman was wont regular- ly every morning on his way to his place of business to give a halfpenny to a blind beggar stationed at a corner of the Paris Bourse. One day, whether in a fit of ab- traction or otherwise, he gave him a napoleon by mistake. Some hours later he discovered his error, and, not being a rich man, resolved to seek out the beggar, rexplain matters, and request that the twenty-franc might be returned. The beggar was gone when he aoain passed by the Bourse ; but a neighboring beggar was enabled to furnish his colleague’s address. Arrived at the address indicated, the en- teme had some hesitation about sp ing to the concierge, so respectable did the house look, but he was speedily reassured. The beggar did live thereâ€"not on the fifth floorâ€" no, the third. A tidylooking bomie opened the door of a comfortably-furnished suite of apartments. Monsieur was re- quested to take a seat; and in a minute or two the beggar made is appearance, neat- ly dressed, and with faultless shirtfront. The object of the stranger's visit was stat- ed. “ My clerk is just making upthe day’s accounts,"observed the beggar ; “ if a na- poleon has been found in the box, it shall be restored to you." The piece of gold was found, and the bog gar handed it back to his visitor. As the letter was retiring. the beggar called out to him, “I beg your pardon, mvfldear sir; but you have forgot- ten to give me my halfpenny out of i3." How Seine Letters are Lost. When letters are lost it by no means follows that the postal authorities are in- variably to blame. Sometimes it happens that, through culpable carelessness or sheer absence of mind on the. part of people who post them, important missives go astray, to the great annoyance of every- body concerned. A postman in a north- ern town has just given the public the benefit of his own recent experience in this direction. in one casea gentleman hastily jerked a letter addressed to a busi- ness firm in France into the aperture of a letter-box, and left it sticking there. Fortunately, the postman was approach- ing at the moment to clear the box, or the letter might have been stolen by an un- scrupulous passer-by, or lost in the street. On another occasion a gentleman, who was running to overtake a friend made a dash at the letter-box as he rushed past with two thin postcards, whieh caught the edge of the opening and sprang back upon the pavement The gentleman was quite oblivious of the accident, and, eager to overtake his friend, was quickly out of sight. In the third case a gentleman was walking down the street with a post-card in his hand, and as he drew near the letter-box a man at a shop-door gave him an advertisement card. Instead of putting the post-card inth the letter-box, he carefully posted the advertisement card, and then deliberately folded the post-card two or three times and threw it into the gutter i The vigilant post- man was passing along at the moment and saw the curious blunder, and the post-card was duly rescued from untimely oblivion. An agricultural exchange conbalna an article headed, "A Good Word for the Mule.” We always like to see a man up- hold his relations. When Gan. Hooker marched into Mary- land and Stahel was relieved, Miss Annie joined her fortunes with the young and gallant Custer, with whom she re- mained, retaining her rank and title, un- til 8 general order from army headquar- ters made it necessary for him to dispense with her valuable services, and the major was compelled to search for a field of usefulness elsewhere. For a few days she wandered about the camp, having no pur- tic:1larabiding-plsce or continuing city, until 001. Sharp, then acting provost mar- shal general, thought that the interests of the service required that she should be removed to Washington. Accordingly, a pass was granted he! to trawl as far as the military railroad would carry her, ands. sergeant 'cf the 936d New York was detailed to accompany her, to guard against any accident on_the way. Arriv- ing at Waahington, she stopped at the Kitkwood house. where she sometimes appeared in staff uniform, and then in fashionable female attire. In was believed that she was a confederate spy in the union secret service. A “She Major of Cavalry.” 0ne of thepersonagesabont Washington during the war was Annie Jones, who or- riglnally professed to have ran away from a boardi g-school in Boston to “ follow the drum," and who attached herself to the headquarters of Gen. Stahel, the com- mander ot a German brigade. A flippant talker, she mgratiated herself into the favor of the general, and received an honorary appointment as a member of his atafl" and as “Maj. Jones " became an institution in the army. She ate with the general, drank with the general, rode With the general on all his hazardous for- ays. chaited with the general, nursed the general when he was sick, fought the gen- eral’s battles when she heard him aspersed by jealous understrappers, and when night drew the starry flag over the heavens she slept with her beloved colored maid in the next little tent, which the general had assigned her. Her nrders were wont to be obeyed. because she was recognized as a staff officer. She always had the conncersign, and could pass the pickets at pleasure. She was said to be a girl of great dash and daring, and would fre quent- 1y venture out beyond the outposts and for days watch the movements of the en. emy, and bring in whole budgets of in- formation from the rebel camps, as proofs of her stewardship and shrewdness. Every one knew Maj. Jones; officers would dofl' their hats, and private! would stand at a full " present " as she rode in military feminine dignity. The visiting officers from other commands were introduced to Annie, and admired her, and she reigned supreme as the “ she-major of cavalry." "40>" Quaint Ancient Customs in Lon- don. Recently, after morning service in the Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great,Weet Smichfleld, an ancient be- quest was carried out 'under the super- vieion of the rector and the church ward- ens, by whom twenty-one new sixpenees were placed on a tombstone in the old churchyard, and were picked up by an equal number of poor widows belonging to the parish. This quaint custom has been maintained fora period long an- terior to the Protestant Reformation. The money gift has been preserved, Although the name of the benefcctors has been lost. Four miles from Aiken, S. C , at the home of Mr T. C. Harker, recently, a ma- tronly hen was cheerily elucking to her downy brood and industriously scratching for their matutinal meal, when there ap- peared in the sky overhead 9. huge hawk whirling in concentric circles. A sharp note of warning from the patriarchal cock hurried the feeding fo wls to places of con- cealment and followed by a sharp cluck of the old hen, sent the infant spring chickens scurrying beneath the prbtect- ing wings of their mother. And none too soon came the alarm. The next instant there was a whirring sound in the air, and, with wings close into his body, com- ing head foremost like a shot out of a can- non, the hawk landed among the panic- stricken brood. But he had reckoned without his host. The old hen had sand in her gizz ird and was true blue. With her wings extended and the feathers of her neck standing apart. she met the on- slaught of the bird of prey. No sooner had he touched the ground than she was upon him. The conflict, which was wit- nessed by several reliable parties, was as brief as it was brilliant, and before succor could reach the plucky little hen she had stretched the feathered pirate lifeless at her feet. The hawk measured just four feet from tip to tip, and was carried to Aiken and exhibited. A lucky blow from the beak of the hen entered his eye and penetrated his brain. flow to Mend a Broken Pipe. The greatest calamity that can befall a confirmed smokur is to have his cherished. meerschaum broken, as frequently hap- pens. by a fall or other accident. When this happens the frac‘ured idol is general- ly taken to a jeweler’s and the dismem- bered parts rejoined by means of silver hands. This, of course. is expensive ; but when was the time that a Yankee could not overcome diifimlties of this sort at trifling cost? The Blddeford Journal re- lates that a smoker of that place happened to drop a. handsome meerschaum pipe from his knees to the floor and the stem parted in the middle. His friends immediately expressed their sympathy with him, but the man was not in the least disturbed by the disaster. He pimply drew his knife from his pocket, extracted blood from his arm with one of the keen blades. and rub- hing the broken ends of the pipe in the fluid placed them together, and laid the article on the table to dry. It was a nov- el experiment, but it is said that it will work successfully every time, and that if a pipe is once broken and cemented with blood it will never again part in that place. Another ancient Good Friday custom was observed at Allhsllows Church. Lom- bard street, where in accordance with the will of Peter Symonds, which dates so far back as the year 1586, sixty of the younger boysoiChrist’s Hospital attand- ed divxne service in the morning, and after- ward received a new penny and a bag of raisins. It was stated that this was the 291st celebration of this quaint ceremony. As a supplement to this bequest, another citizen of London, William Petts, in the year 1692, directed that the minister who preached the sermon on Good Friday should have 203., the clerk 4s., and the sexton 3s. 6d., besides providing for the distribution of smaller sums of money among the children of the ward and Sun- day schools. A Hawk Done to Death by a lien. We believe that the poison of cancer is distinct from the poison of nicotine. There are. however. a few simple rules commending themselves to every physi- cian which will tend to make the use of the weed less injurious, and which it is well to inculcate at this particular time. In the first place. smoke light-colored cigars They are less strong than the darker shades. Select the boxes marked Clare and Colorado Clare, and avoid those marked Maduro or even Colorado Madnro. Secondly, never emnke on an empty stomach. Smoke after luncheon. or after dinner or supper. but d \ not smoke long after you have taken food, or early in the morning. A light: cigar after a. hearty meal frequently alds digestion, but if one smokes just before eating, the appetite will be lessened and food will loae its relish Advice to Smokers. The deadly illness of General Grant is ascribed to rancer, and it is said that the cancerous growth was caused by excessive smoking. The distinguished character of the patient has made the case conspicuous and many veteran smokers have already discarded the use of tobacco. Thirdly, do not. smoke the whole of the cigar. Sacrifice a fourth or fifth, because in the stump the poisonous oil or nicotine of tobacco becomes concentrated. Fourth]; , b\. not smoke more then three or four cigars a day. And in the last place. after mucking cleanse the teeth, and thus avoid their discoloration and impreg- nation with the fumes of tobacco. A mod- erate and careful use of tobacco does not harm the teeth, but when excessive it causes the gums to recede. and covers the teeth themrelvcs with the blackening oil of the leaf. These lules are few and simple. but if followed they cannot fail to be of lasting benefit: to every smoker. 9.94-»..1