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A good many people were soon got together, mostly our own hands, and I directed and encouraged them as well as I could to get the fire under. But they were a stolid, heavy set of fellows, thnse Russians, and the way in which they take care not to over-exert themselves at a fire is enongh to drive an Englishman wild. Yet there were some few worked well, and one fellow in particular, I noticed, a rugged fellow, a beggar I took hlm I never expected to see him again, nor Wished :9 do so ; and I was somewhat star- tled when a few weeks later, among a gang of convicts which were being marched by a guard of soldiexs out of the town on their way eastward, I recognized Stepanovitch. I was standing close by when he passed, and was so much surprised to see him, that I somewhat imprudently, perhaps, spoke to him by name: But, will you believe it '2.â€" the ungrateful dog stared me in the face, and marched sullenly by without word or sign of recognition. “So much,” thought I, “for gratitude !” " Some months later, when the next summer was getling well advanced, we had one night an alarm cf fire. Many of the newer mills at Ekaterinburg are of stone, but the main building of ours, being comparatively old, was of wood. It was a thing to blaze up like a. box of matches. It was not, however, in the main building that the fire had broken out, but in some sheds connected with the main building hyja. range of ehopping. This last was stone-built, but as ill luck would have lt, covered with wooden shingles. to_help him on hiéyvaiy, and _tq be rid _of bin; ing his way to Ivanovaâ€"a. distance of not less than twelve hundrrd versts from Ekat- erinburg, as the crow fles ; and advised him, as he was used to mill-work, to stay and find employment where he was. I was weak enough to offer to help him, and see What could be done in the way of getting a pass- port for him. But the fellow was bent on going forward. He was resolved, he said, to see his family again, and he was resolved to see Basil Makarofl'. This Makaroif was, I found, the omradnil; to whom Feodor at tributed his troubles, and it see mod to me that this particular hankering to see this per- son meant a craving to have his revenge. I confess that when I learned this much, I felt no desire to detain my friend Feodor longer than was necessary. I was glad to give him something more decent in the we of clothing than he‘had brought, and a tri e in money For a Russianz-he appeared to me to be a not unintelligent fellow, and I pointed out to him the difficulties he would find in mak- I kept him in that empty house for several days, in fact, till he had so far recovered his strength as to be fit to go on. Nobody knew about him, not even the members of my own family, for if I was doing a foolish thing, I had sense enough to run as little risk over it as possible. Feodor Stepenovitch, for that my convict told me was his name, enlighten- ed me on some few points of his personal his- tory. His native village w: 5, he said, in the government of Vladimer, and he had left it to get work in the town of Ivanova, where there are factories. Every man tries to make out a good case for himself, so I did not feel myself bound to place implicit reliance on Feodor’s statement that he had never com- mitted anything that could properly be called a crime. According to his showing, the sole source of his troubles had been a: diff- ro u o with an ouvadnikâ€" a police agent. I do not exactly remember the particulars, but, of course, there was a woman in the business ; blows had passed, and the ouvadnik had, by a false charge, procured Feodor’s condemna- tion to Siberia for life. This, I say, was his stem . Feodor told me that his place of exile had been somewhere far up the country ; and of the severities he had had to endure, and of the tyranny of officials, he spoke bitterly. After making his escape, the privations and dangers he had undergone before reaching Ekaterinburg we re such as I should not have believed from his words, had they not been verified by his appearance. So there I was, with an (shaped convict; on my hands. Had I been more prudent I should have reflected that the fellow was most likely a hardened scoundrel, quite un- deaerving of pity, and that his gratitude would probably be shown either by robbing me, or if he should happen to fall into the hands of the police, by getting me into trouble to save his own worthless neck. I ought to have thought of these things; but, as I said before, I ama soft-hearted old fool, and‘neglected to do so. The miserable wretch hardly believed that I really meant to feed him, and would have run away had he dared. I took him into the empty house, of which I had the key, and brought him as much food as I thought it safe for him to eat. (CONCLUDEII) That was about the substance of the fel- low’s answer. His appearance seemed to bear out his statements. and I was inclined to believe him. “It’s sheer nonsense,” I said "for you to talk of setting off for a walk of a. thousand versts, if I let you go. You might as well talk of flying. You have not the strength to walk ten. You would only full by the roadside, you miserable scare- crow, and die in 9. ditch. I should be doing the kinder thing by you if I handed you over to the authorities. If I do let you go, I must give you something to eat first. Come with The Last Stake. lmsunn non the anm n B. R. Anny, DURHAM, 0x12 Count Reinhmd takes the box, the dice he throws, Count Dasael inly laughs for ' ow he knows Reinhard has lost whate’avhe pledged,â€"his all, His lettilemeadows, his ancestral ha'l. And at last the Counts heart well nigh breaks. “ Now," mm“ say, “this throw vour fortune makes; You have my house and lands and all so fair, None can. Count DBREGI. now with you compare. I u en staked the cowry of my bride. Those noble fleldsthat long have bsen my pride: I pray thee let me saw 111: m ye: this 3831'. The harvest reaped, I yield the lands so dear." And still looks down upon the neighbouring ground The castle with Its grove o! oaks around. And still the tale is told th, o’er a name. The Counts firm friends and noble knizhta became. Count Hans von Dssaei strol es his beard and cries "You: wish is granted you in knightir wise, But Reinhard in a year mine are the flpids. Once only yours is all the harvest yields.” Count Reinhard then his people calls straightwey : " Come. hasten 8.11. am let us sow to-dny." Then he himself aiong the furrow- goes And low ! m is the Oak‘s brown fruit he sows, " En. ! roguery indeed I" Count Dassel cries, " Is’t. thus that Re'nhaxd to outwit me tries? Ere this era xipens ages will have llnwn. His heirs w ll hold the land e’en as their own. Reinhard I no more we’ll play such foolish games, Let us pursue together noble: sims 3" SENTENCED T0 SIBERIA. Microscopists have ascertained that flies are annoyed by minuta insects. Has the microscope ever discovereda. bald-headed fly ‘2 If so, we will call it even. A bear rarely exceeds 20 years: a dog lives 20 years; a fox, 14 or 15 ; lions are long~lived~Pompey lived to the age of 70 ; the average of cats is 14 years ; squirrels and hares 7 or 8 years ; rabbits 7. Ele- phants have been known to live to the great age of 400 years. When Alexander the Great had conquered Porus, King of India, he took a great elephant, which had fought very valiantly for the King, named himAjax, dedicated him to the sun, and let him go, with this inscription, “ Alexander. the son of Juniper, has dedicated Ajax to the sun.” This elephant was found 354 years after. Pigs have been known to live to the age of 30 years ; the rhinoceros to 20 ; a horse has been known to live to the age of 62, but averages from 20 to 25 years : camels some- times live to the age of 100 years ; stage are long-lived ; sheep seldom exceed the age of 10 ; cows live 15 years. Cuvier considers it probable that whales sometimes live to the age of 1000 years. Dolphins and porpoises attain the age of 30, An eagle died at Vienna at the age of 10%. Ravens have reached the age of 100. Swans have been known to liva 360 years. Pelicans are long- livcd. A tortoise has been known to live to the age of 107 years. That, air, is the end of my story of a. Sibe- riak. Do you happen to have a light handy: for, somehow, I have let my pipe out? And bless me, my pipe-bowl is quite wet. I be- lieve I’m crying. What an old ass I m X Alfd they did not; for he was dead with?n an hvur of that time. I told him that owing to his pluck it was. I was surprised to find that he recognized my voice, and still more when he named my name. “You do not know me,” he saidâ€" and, indeed, it was not likely that any one should know such a crushed and shapelese mass of cinder as he wasâ€"“You do not know meâ€"Feodor Stepanovitch. They caught me and took me back. I knew you when you spoke to me in the street, but durst not an- swer, lest they should suspect you of having befriended me. I have escaped from them again, and am going home to Ivanova. I must see my wife, and that vi] Han Makarofl‘. ” He lay avlittle, and then added: “ I am glad I was here to heip you to-night. I am glad they did not take me again before I got here. I do not think the politzia will take me aggig." After we had got the fire quite under, and made all safe about the mill, I limped to the side of the bed where they had laid the poor fellow. He had come round a. bit by that time. He tried to open his eyes, but it seem- ed to me that the fire and smoke had not left him much power of seeing with them. He spoke, however, more distinctly than might have been expected, and his first question was whether the mill was safe. I made the men below set the ladder as handin as they could for him to get down, 3113 he did his best to reach it, But he must have been quite used up, besides being pret- ty much blinded and suffocated with the smoke. Anyway, he lost his footing, and down he Went through the rafters, and crash- ed among the burning rubbish below. It was an ugly fall. We got him out as well as we could ; and such a scorched, smoke blackened, smashed- up copy of God’s imageI should never wish to see again. But he was atill al‘Tve, and to the proposal to carry him straight to the hos- pital I said, “No ; take him into the house.” So they took him in. But from where I propped myself against a wall, I could see that ragged fellow, who was up and doing enough for three or four ordinary men. You should have seen how he sent the shingles rattling down. Seen from below, he seemed at times to be work- ing with fire all round him, but he went on without minding it. I never saw an English manâ€"let alone a Russianâ€"go to it with a better will. I heard the people round me say that he worked more like a fiend than a mortal manâ€"and so he did. He handled the burning wood as though his fingers had been ironineteed offleah and bone, and scarce- ly seemed to shrink from the flames that blazed up round his face. He never appear- ed to rest or shy for breath till he had no ceeded in cutting off the communication be- tween the fire and the mill. I was following, too eagerly, perhaps, to be careful, and I am a. heavy man. A round brake, and down I came, with a. knee so much twisted that I could scarcely stand. It was no longer in my power to climb to the roof. :‘VVe can tafk of the reward afterwards,” he said, as he sprang past me and up the ladder like a cat. “If it is burned, I am a beggar. Evexy L‘opeck I am worth is in it A hundred roubles if ygg will help mg gave it I" He looked up to 1116 roof. The delay of those few minutes had given a fearful advan- tage to the fire. “There is death up there,” he said; "is sawing this mill so very import- ant to you ?” to be, who really worked splendidly, and in a way that ought to have made many of those whose daily bread depended on the ex- isterco of the mill ashamed of themselves. Just when 1 was about to mount alone, the ragged stranger-fellow, Whom I had be- fore observed working no vigorously, came rumring up. He had been too busy In an- other place to know what was going forward sooner. That was scarcely a time for tak- ing any particular notice of people’s looks, yet I had an impression that he was not 8.1- together a stranger to me. What between the apathy of those lazy scoundrels generally, and want of water, it was soon plain that the sheds which were on fire could not be saved, and that what we had to look to was the mill itself. The denger of the main building was increasing every moment, for the fire was beginning to make in! Way along the ahlngled roof of which I spoke. .. ...... 1 .1 ‘Icould see what had to be doneâ€"those shingles had to be stripped ofl’. I had a lad- der reared against the building, and called for volunteers to mount 11:. The height of that roof from the ground was considerable, and the fire every moment was getting more and more hold upon it. To strlp off the shingles would be a hard job, and a hot one, and it is not to be denied, a dangerous one. Not one of those coldblmded rascals who had eaten our bread for years would come forward. I stood at the foot of the ladder, and told them I was going up myseli Iof- feted twenty roublesâ€"fifty roublesâ€"to any man who would help me. But it was of no use. Age of Animals. “ Wéll, l héven’t got any money. I’ll give youâ€"I’ll give you half the value of the borne.” “ Unqmstionably. But, tell me, what did the horse die of T” “ You see, a rattlesnake bit him and he died.” “ Ahem !" “Can’t I sue the man for the value of the horse? He hadn’t any bizness to go and rent me a field with rattlesnakes in it, had he ‘3” “ Xou’re right. sir, perfectly right. Do you want me to take up the case T" “ Yes, of course.” “ Ahem I Whatâ€"what amountâ€"what fee do you propose_to ofl‘er ?" The storv is worth repeating, says the San Francisco Chronicle 2 He got on a “ bust” once, and when he came to the end of his tether he found himself sobering u in Car- son. Having but one suit of re ment, he hung up his shingle outside the door of his room in the hotel and went to bed while his costume was being renewed for Wear. He was in the depths of slumber when a knock aroused him. He requesfed the knocker to enter, and 22. Carson man, in somewhat rough aftire, walked in. “ Are you a lawyer ‘2” “ Yes,” he answered, from the pillow. “ I’ve got a case for you.” He sat up in bed, drew the bedolothes around him in an instant, and assumed an interested air. 1 “ State your case." i “ Well, you see I rented a field for graz-‘ ing from a man. I put a horse on it and the horse died." “ Indeed 1 Well ?" “ Well ! Hain't I got a case against that; man ?” ! “Very good. What, mav I askâ€"what do yop‘ gonsidgr is the value 0: tlfm {)gast 7’3 _ _ v “ It was’t very young. It had been kick- l ed by a. mule and the gopher: had nibbled at it. and it had fallen down a. shaft. and it had been fifteen or sixfeen years drawing ‘ quartz from a mill. Well, it wasn'tâ€"well, , I shpuld say it was; “forth ab9u§ 3g” _ I i Gen. Barnes told a story about a lawyer the other night which Is a legal lunch classic, but which derived a great deal of novelty from a singularly humorous description of the hero. He said this lawyer was rather given to the bottle, and, indeed. he was in the habit of going on retracted sprees. A great many lawyers . I know lawyers who go on a spree when they win a case, and they go on a spree when they lose a case : and Ihave known some to go on a spree every time they get a fee, never knowing how long it might be before he got another. But there is something rather novel and or- iginal about the proolivities of Gen. Burnes’ hero. He never knew when he started on a. spree whrre it would end. It always began in San Francisco. but he very often sobered up in Virginia, Nev., or Miltlpas, or New Mexico, or somewhere miles from home. He was always prepared for it, however, and whenever he sobered up he immediater hung out his shingle and started practicing for enough money to take him back to San Francisco, which he always reached ultim- ately. The irrigation works of Colorado are on a. great scale The "Grand River Ditch” in VVentern Colt redo, at the beginning is thir- tyrfive feet wide at bottom, fifty feet Wide at the top, five feet deep for the firit ten miles. then diminishing until the last two and a. half miles are sixteen feet wide at the bot- tom, with three feet depth of water. The grade is a. little over twenty-two inches to the mile, which gives a strong current. One compafl‘y engaged in the irrigating business has constructed over 100 miles of canals in the Rio Grande Valley at a. cost of $750,000. At the present moment the canal has been commenced along its whole length of 73 kilometres. Naturally the works are at some places more advanced than at others ; but increasing activity prevails everywhere Some idea of what is being'done may be form- ed from the fact that there are over 20.000 navvies at work on the Canal, and that on the 73 kilometres along which the works ex- tend there exist as many as 200 kilometres of rails and 6000 trucks of all sorts used in the excavation works. A Tennessee man finds that there are 300,- 000 worthless dogs in that State, which con- sume food enough, if fed to hogs, to make 30,000,000 pounds of bacon, which would be equal to feeding meat to 100,000 able-bodied men a. whole year. At ten cents per pound the bacon would be worth 553 000,000. and if in silver would load down ninety-four 2- horse waggons. and make a waggon train more than half a. mile long. He hes not figurtdon thecost of powder, strychnine, etc. necessary to remove said worthless dogs. The amount of common salt in ocean is es- timated at; 3,051,342 cubic geographical mile, or about five times more than the mass of the Alps. Were all the salts in the ocean precipitated and spread out equally over the land, they would, it has been oomfl puted,cover the ground one miles deep over an area of 7,000,000 square mile, or about; twice the area of Europe. England’s milk product is estimated at $15,000, 000 per annum. The Isle of Man was purchased by the British Government from the Duke of Athol in 1765. It had come to him in 1763 by in- heritance, and he received £70,000 for it. A further sum of £133,000 was paid to the Athol family in discharge of revenue in 1829. If the German Anthropological Society is correct, more than one-fourth of the school children of Central Europe are pure blondes, about one-sixth are brunettes, and the rt 81; of mixed typv a. To entertain the Emperors at their last meeting there were sent from Vienna 6500 sets of forks and spoons, 10 000 wine glasses, 300 coffee pots, 300 complete breakfast ser- vices, 150 clocks, all in going order, and the other articles in equal proportion. For a 30- hours’ visit the outlay was enormous. The population of London has almost ex- actly doubled itself in the course of forty- one years. The population of the rest of England has taken fifty-seven years to multiply in an equal degree. The oldest book in existence of American origin is the “Doctrina Christiana,” a man- ual of Catholicity. printed in Mexico in 1539 They were printing books in that; country over one hundred years before any printing was done in New England. The lawier gently lay (low in béd and pre- Stories of Lawyers. STATISTICS. “Now, my dear friend, I can stay with you I” The professor had walked home in a tremendous rainstorm for the purpose of fetching his night clothes. When a fly lights on a fly-paper he is not very fly any more. The celebrated Prof. Neander was spend- lng an evening out when rain began to fall, and the host begged his guest to put up with him for the night. The renowned the- ologist shook his head and said he would willingly remain, but at present it was out of the question, as he had not his night clothes with him. Suddenly it was discover- ed that the professor had disappeared. but a half hour later he rushed in as sudden- ly as he had left. He was wet through to the skin, but he pointed with satisfaction to a small packet in his hand. “My night clothes, ” he said naively. Strange to say, these sponges are oftenest found among those who could well afford to pay for what they want, and stranger still is the fact that they would resent with the greatest indignation a refusal to oblige them, or an intimation that they were taking advantage of another’s politeness, and thus getting for nothing that which the giver ha 3 a right to expect something more substan- tial for than mere thanks. No one expects a carpenter, blacksmith, jeweller, or any other who plies a trade, to do the smallest job for nothing, and yet those who willingly pay for such labor, seem to think that they have done nothing of which to be ashamed if they “ manage ’ to get legal or medical advice without pay- ing for it. And among women the fault is as great. Women who make their living by dress- m~king, millinery, teaching fancy work or painting, are daily imposed upon by friends and strangers who come to them for sugges- tions and advice about material, shades, de- signs, and patternsâ€"defrauding the workers of hours of valuable time, without a thought of paying for the advice given, and often do not thank the person for the suggestion, which she has spent time and money in acquiring. Editors could a tale unfold of the way some people get their advertising done for nothin . and lawyers could tell of tons of legal advice given by them without receiv- ing the slightest acknowledgment, pecun- iary or otherwise. Doctors, 8.13», are the victims of these questioners. Men old in the tricks of these friendly sponges manage to evade them, but the young editor, lawyer, or doctor, though he knows he is being de- frauded, has not the courage to cut short the confidential chat, by saying that he hopes to make his living by receiving pay for that which his friend expects to get for ass ing. I Alpine Guides. Once there were but few guides, but those few were good guide}. Now, apart from the good men, there his sprung up a dam of guides, so called, which is far from being " composed of the conscientious and com et- ent leaders who showed the 'way of 01 10 Victory. These new guides will undertake to conduct any nun, woman, or clrld up ‘ anything. The old guides would not work 1 with amen upon a dangerous peak unless . that they knew that the applicant for their services could go and climb, that he would not become dizzy, that he would not break down or slip. To-day a stranger may be waylaid by unskilled guides, who will try to induce him to attempt the most difficult things, the things of most renown. They can sling the stranger up bad places ; if they fail they fail, but then they try for the full fare, and not infrequently they expose their victim to an amount of danger which he is happily unable adequately to estimate. The great guides and true men of a noble craft hold these sham uides in great abhor- rence and contempt. g.l‘he really good guide is a really fine worthy. The best illustra- ‘tions of the giant race of great and noble guides are the men themselves, who are in themselves illustrations of all that a guide should be. I would cite as the two supreme" men Melchior Anderegg and Christian Al- mer. Both are now getting a little old. Younger men may he as good cragsmen, may go as well (though not better) on ice, on snow, (in rock, and may have as much enterprise and dash, but who ran compare with the two old heroes in judgment, in ex- perience, in knowledge of allthe ms untains, and of all those signs of nature which they can read like a map ‘! Again, neither of the two great guides, who are ideal types of all that a. highclass guide should be, would start upon an expedition when a mountain, or the snow on it, was in a dangerous condition. Either of them would Insist upon turning back if any passage on any mountain should be found to be too perilous. I have worked a good deal with Melchior Anderegg, and have known him to refuse positivrly to e on when he held it to be unwise to do so. in the case of both there men their fortunes are secured Plld their reputations can 11 >t be increased. Rising or low-class guides are t‘ mpted by the payment, and are desirous of winning renown. Hence they will rften start whtn it is imprudent to do so. With tne greatest guides conscience and character are (qual to enterprise and ability. When we charge old lamps for new lamps we may find that we have lost the one which pos- sessed a magic power. “ Good morning. I am engaged for the snake.” “ Look here, that fellow’a sued me again about that land.” “ On what grounds ‘2” " An alcalde grant or something ; I don’t know. I want you to defend me.” " All right." “ Yea, butI don't want to out up any money. How much will you take '3" “ One-third,” “ One-thlrd 1" yelled the client ; “ Gze miny ; another suit cleans me out.’ pared to go to sleep. He gave one last look at the client. A well known lawyer in town had once a. 03mm“ Porfidge’ although benefidal to case which divelored immense importance ; m0“ P901319: 19. ‘00 heating for Others- for 3 mm who is now a millionaire, but was ! When the latter is the case cracked wheat at that time poor. This was a suit brought "my be Bub‘tltumd: “3 13 “1 defiimble to Egghth him about a piece of land under the I have some wheat food for the morning meal. Van Ness ordinance. The defendant had i The inside doors in a flat should all be engaged to give the lav yvr one-third of the f taken down and stored in the cellar and property as a fee, 0 ntingent. In the Dis portieres on rods take their place. When trict Court the case W‘Dt for the plaintifi', one deor is draped at a time it costs but a but on appeal the decision was reversed and little, and a few months will complete the the defendant won. The lawyer took his entire work. An airy and graceful look is third. A few davs after the decision the thus given the rooms. Portiere poles for client came in, looking troubled. ordinary doors can be purchased with the “ Look here, that fellow’s sued me again fixings for a small sum. Madras muslin or about that land. ” India gauze in pretty Persian tints is as hand} “ On what grounds ‘2” some for the curtains as the more expensive " An alcalde grant or something ; I don’t Turkomans. Just Like a Scientist. Sponges. The carriages which are used by the Queen when travelling long distances are comfortable enough to satisfy the most ex- acting passenger, and the Imperial train of the late Emperor Nopoleon used to be con- siderd a. miracle of luxury; but the latter was not good enough for the late Czar, who purchased it, and it was improved and al- tered andrefurnished outof recognition before it was pronounced fit for use in Russia. The Ennlish saloons sink into utter cotempt when compared with it. This train, which is always used by the Emperor and Empress for long journeys, carried them to Kremsier and back. There are sixteen carriages, of which the first is a kitchen, and then Come one for police agents, one for the military suite, three for members of the household, and two for the Imperial Family, each Grand Duke having an entirely separate compart~ ment, which can be fitted for either day or night use. The carriage of the Empress has a spacious sleeping compartment. with a hammock-bed, furniture of ebony and uten- sils of silver, and an immenre looking-glass. There is a bathroom completely fitted, 3341‘ a compartment for the Iady-in-waiting. The Empress’s sitting-room contains a writing- table. a sofa, and easy chairs. The Em- peror‘s sleepingcarriage is fitted with olive- green leather, and only contains a. bed and a dressing‘table and bath. Then comes a sitting-room, fitted very simply; and lastly the diningvroom, which is furnished with carved oak, and merely contains tables, chairs, and a sideboard. There is commun ication throughout the train from one end to the other. Shall we denounce the rascals who mix milk with limewater, flour with gypsum, sugar with glucose, and poisons of all sorts with tea and coffee and mustard, who sell hog’s lard and oil for butter, and muriatie acid for vinegar, as wholesale murderers» and fit for the gallows, yet allow the agri~ cultural press to introduce this same dam- nable practice of food adulteration- even in its mildest formâ€"into the farmer’s house- hold? Great Caesar ! Is it necessary that we should torture our stomachs with alum solutions as a substitute for fruit, when the most favorable climate and the most liberal soil work harmoniously together to reward the least effort with an abundance of the genuine article 7 Far be it. Canada is large enough to give her people all the fruit they can possibly consume. Away with vile substitutes! A contemporary inflicts this race! t 15: readers I p upon J ELLIES WlTHOUT Emmaâ€"add to one pint of water ,} ounce of alum, boil 3 little, then add four pounds of White sugar; boil and strain. Flavor with any desired flavor. Lovely little waste-paper baskets am made out of old fishing-hats, stifl'med with a coat of copxl varnish, and held in the cen- tre by a twist and bow of yellow and garnet satin ribbon. The inside may be lined or not as fancy dictates. It is said that French women wash their faces in warm water every night before re» tiring and dab t}; em with a. little can-de- cologne in the morning and that this process prevents wrinkles. Hand-knit silk purses are the height of fashion. The plain knitting qtitch is used, and the beads that cévvr the purse’ are lint, strung on the silk. ' A rew pattern in silk quilts is taking the place of the crazy work so long popular. The pattern is called the “diamond half,” the pieces having that shape Four rows of diamonds are joined by a two-inch strip of plain silk, embroidered with floss silk. Eider-down is used for a, lining, with a flu)- ing of some bright color. Very dainty little tea or afternoon aprons are fashionable. They are made of cream- whitc batiste canvas, a yard long and the full width of the goods. The bottom has a deep hem and above it are run basket lines of quarter-inch gros grain ribbons in two shades, blue and buff and pink and blue be- ing favorite combin itions. The ribbons are wow en in and out of thecanvas and resemble basket braiding. A pocket and bib finished in the same Way and broad satin strings com~ plate these bits of fancy work. Cucumber pickles are put up at this sea- son of the year, and when done at home are vastly superior to those purchased at grocer- ies. The cucumbers should be selected of a similar size; small ones are best. After carefully looking them over to see that all are sound they are placed in a strong sole: tion of salt and water in an earthen jar and left forty-eight hours. After the brine is poured off they are placed in glass or smal- ler jars, and vinegar boiled with spice, c‘oves and cinnamon poured over them‘ For a. peek of cucumber! 5 half gallon of cider or white wine vinegar and an ounce of each spice are required. Many fine cakes are spoiled because they are looked at too often when first put in the oven. The heat. should be tested before the cake is put in. If somewhat too hot put a brown paper over the top of the pan and do not open 116 oven door for four or five mo- ments at lust. The cake should then be quickly exam nei and the door shut, or the co‘d air will couse it to “fall"â€":A calamity dreaded by even the best of cooks. A nice sponge cake for tea can be made quickly, as follovrs : Have the oven moder- ately hot, butter and heat the baking-pan before pouring in the mixture. Take three eggs, beat the yolk and Whites separately. Cream 5. cup of sugar with a. tablespoonful of butter. Mix the above ingredients to» gather well, then add a half cup of sour milk and flour enough to make a. rather stiff bat- ter. If the flour is unprepared add a tear spoonful of baking powder. OAtmeal porridge, although beneficial to most people, is too heating for others. When the latter is the one cracked wheat may be sub-tituted, as it; is desirable to The Czar's Railway Train. DOW'N WITH THE FRAUD. HOME. HINTS.