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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1892-9-22, Page 2DIE HEAT Fall -CHESS TBAGEBY, Of all unaccountable thinge it ought to be the most unaccountable that so studious, nay, learned a young man.as Guido Florian', clever, ernbitious, a poet and a doctor of laws, should have set all his hopes of hap- piness. upon nobody better than the daugh- ter of the SALVAlellerx Fabiq Vahueof—a Wirf • WitIMES 4 dowry, and unable to read evert a love -letter. Nay, more: though he was dead in love with Irene when he lett his aod.ber eative Bari to, piastre his studies at Naples, and though he WAS& handsome aud amiable young man with no diataste for pletsure, he came back from, Naples to Bari deader in love with her than ever 1 Well, love has been enewerable for more unaccoantable things even than that; and it certainly never oecurred to the yoang ad- vocate that there was even a certain leek of prudence for a lawyer without clients to want to nianw a portionless girl when that girl's name was Irene Vanucci. And, be it saii at once, thereweremitigatingoirotunstauees; as he, being a doctor of laws, would have put the matter in another case than his own. She was very pretty; she WAS very good; 1;Er was very gentle; and 5h3 worshipped t am to an extent that would have satisfied he most exacting demands of a vainer mam finally, they were in love with one another recall:re—inshore, because they were. It had been good th see her face again, titer the long purgatory of absence, tem- eered indeed by 4 letter uow and thee, but written, as he knew, not by the hated he wanted to kiss sixty times azi hour, and not in her own simple words, but by the ' crabbed fingers aaid in the high-flown style of old Ulisse, who had probably composed arid written indentically the same teeters for her mother ; perhe,ps even or her grand- fnother, and for Guido's grandmother—who could tell? Not 1.11iste, for he never told; he lied written so many love -letters that meant no more to him than his fee. The real Ietter had been the flowers, one of which Irene had uever failed to put inside —flowers which had inspired a string of etornelli nearly long enough to reach from Naples to Bari; a stornetto for every one, with a few epics thrown in. But there is nothing perfect. That road from Naples to Bari had really seemed strewn with flowers, as, all the way book, Guirld's fancy painted for him the first meet. itig.atUr so long %parting ina hundred diff- erent ways, and eaeli way more charming itt turn than all the others. So of course it was in the one way of whieh his romanee had scorned, to dream. Not only, when he • had flown up the tairs to the high story where he hoped to have Irene —forhe knew the household arrangements —all to him- eelf, did he find her father with her at an usmecustomed hour, and a stranger with her father, but he found something else certain ehill which he could not altogether refer to Inc disappointment at the failure of his carefully laid out plan for a joyful and unrestrained meeting. Voluted had certainly changed somehow, and not—so Guido felt—for the better; and to the stranger the young man felt one of those antipathies at that sight which some peo- ple believe to be infallible warnings. The stranger was pale, emaciated, cada- verous to the poiut of ghastliness ; he look- ed as if he were just about to step into, or had just stepped out of, his grave. And this appeerance was the more inteneified by his contrast with Guido's healthy youth, the enameller's only two stout and too florid vigor, and Irene's fresh grace and, charm, Such was the manh appearance, that it ought, of right, to have inspired only pity, not aversion. His pointed shoulders seem- ed almost to meet over his narrow chest; the sockets of his eyes were like caverns; his thin lips were drawn away from his darkened teeth and gums ; and the complex- ion of his cheeks resembled some gray parohment on which a death -warrant had bee u plainly inscribed, the signature being only too legibly represented by a hectic ring round each hollow. Then his hands, limp, waxen and weak, with long fingers and discolored nails, were alone enough to tell a phyaician tales. Items not, however, bodily disease that, to Gail:net least, seem- ed to forbid sympathy. The mart looked— though the idea might not have occurred to one who was not a poet—as if he were be- ing consumed by his own wickedness, and yet wickedness of so weak a aortas to make one wonder that it should be able to con. sume anything. This unwelcome intruder, when Guido entered the room, was just coming to from a fit of feeble yet exhausting coughing, which made the lover's appearance idl the more distressingly unseasonable. The glow came into Irene's cheeks and the light into her eyes when she saw who had come again; but that coughing wretch kept the lovers farther apart than the whole breadth of It- aly, which haa been between them till to- day. "Hold up, sienor, " seed Vanucci, rough- ly but cheerfully. "Love, smoke and a eough are hard to hide. Irene, give Signor 1VIerrick a dose of wine, and me another; it's empty casks that make a noise. ie hat! Guido Floriani—backagain? Take a dose yourself. And to whose health shall I drink? To Captain Floriani ? or toFloriani, print() tenon of San Carlo? or th the great poet Floriani? It'll be something great, to be sure, "he said, with what seemed rather an overdone affectation of blunt raillery )han the real thiug. "3: have come back a doctor," said Guido with modest pride, glancing at Irene, and suddenly aware that her quick-, ened color was caused not by his swift glance but by the strangerhun bridled stare. But at the word "doctor" the latter turn- ed to Guido. "A doctor ! Ah! And a young doctor! Then maybe you have heard something i new," he said n the ghost of a voice which • nobody could interpret without the fear of breaking it to pieces altogether. "I am an Englishman ; my name is Merrick — Albert elerrick. I am a rich man. I have seven thousand pounds a hundred and seventy thousand francs, a year. l'm rich. talented, amiable, not ill -looking, and. yet I'M a mis- erable man. And why? All because of an obstinate cold. Yes, you may well look at me. Though I say it that shouldn't, I don't believe there ever was a case like mine, I've baffled your wbole faculty for years. I've consulted every doctor, famous or not • famous, in Loudon, Paris, Vienna, New York—everywhere. And they're humbugs, one and alleirlorisumptiow indeed ! I've tried Algid's, Madeira, South Africa, Davos —places that cure consumption. So mine can't be consumption, or else it would have been cured long and long ago. I've been advised to try the air of the Adriatic, and upon my soul I believe I am, better," he gasped, with a sort of leer at Irene. 'Better — but you see I want to get ar,eW. It's really important that I should get well. You look too young to be " rich, so you don't know what it means to have a lot of poor relations, a lot of wretch- es, waiting for your hoes, It's important I should live to disappoint 'em, every one. 1 WAIlt to merry and have a family of my owe. I don't went to feel, 141.1AM. I'M COMMa here to look at Signor Vanucei's mosaics, that every step would. be the death of me. Look here 1 I tell you what I tell every • dootor I see I'll give twenty-five thoetsand trews tie the man who will rid me of this '—cold. 1 expect there isn't a doctor in Europe, Africa, Australia, or America who isn't after that money. They say it's con- stunptiou, and that's where they go wrong. telt you my symptoms. In the first place—" "Signor," said Guido, with hicreased disgust, and takingetdvantage of the other's •suddeu exhaustion, "3: fear there is a mis- understanding. I aro not a doctor of medi- cine. I aut an advcentte—a doutorof laws." "Oh—that all 1" said the Englishman. as if Guido were no tenger worth notice and settling down itto another stare at Irene, Yenned began to fidget a little; for all his geniality, he was evideutly anxious and ill at ease. "An advocate, eh 1 ah— lawyers' houses are balk of fools' skulls. Faith, you'll. fand building materials for a whole street of such houses in Bari. By the way, Signor Merrick, will you grant me ten thousand pardons—or even one will do _if I leave you? roe got to see somebody about something, and—" "I shall be delighted; that is to say, don't mind me,',seed. Signor Merriok. "Though. I haven't got to work for my • living, I can make every allowance for yon poor fellows that have to—I can indeed. The signorina will do to show me those mimics just as well." "Then come along, doctor;" said Vantieci. "Come along, You're going my way, and —yes, yes; Irene knows all about every- thing, You've come just in the nick of time, Doctor Floriani, to advise me about a point of law. We can -talk it over as We go. And cheer up, signor! 'TM of the rick- uess a man fears that he dies." There was no help for it, Guido rather plumed himself upon beteg a man of :e - source; and indeed it is wonderful how full of resource we all are, mope just ae the -moment when it is wanted. T.liduckity nothing occurred to him just then beyond taking the stranger by the coat -collar and dropping, hirct from the open window into the street; and before he had time to get beyond his first thought he was himself in the street, his arm affectionately hut tightly imprisoned by Venuceih. "What's the meaning of all this ?" he asked hotly. "Who is that eiteremouch up there?" "Gently!, Business -first andpleasure after- wards, youug emu. My business in break- fasts and you sball be my guest. Seam- moucte' ! Why, didtetyott hear him say that he has a hundred and seventy thousand lire a year? And it's true. My skull isn't a brick for lawyers' houses, rye inquired 1. One of the clerks at Dionisi's tells me they're in a.panie at the length of his credit ; why, he drew for twenty thou- sand lire, hard cash, in a single hour. But here's our place. Waiter, a ragout, and the best bottle you have. The very best, mind; my friend is from Naples, where they know. And one can't have less than a regent when one thinks of a hundred and seventy thous, and lire—a bemired tine seventy thousand lire a year 1 'Tis true they're another man's, tie yet ; but what will be, will be—and who knows ?" The close, ill-favored air of the inner room iof the trattoria was not in itself pro- vocative of appetite; but eveu had Guido brought any hunger with him, it would have vanished before words which had al- ready conveyed a dreadful thought into his mind. Why should Signor Vanucei be tak- ing so intense an interest in another man's money? Why had that other man—if S11011 4 creature could be called a man—been so ostentatiously left alone with Irene? It was surely not to examine mosaics that so feeble a wretch had climbed so many stairs, and not, as was pretty evident, for the first time. Evidently, if he wished to make sure of things, he had no time to lose. "Sir, "said he, "I do not yet possess a hundred and severity thousand lire a year, which, indeed, is a great deal too much for anybody. I3ut I have an honora.ble profeie sion, which may lead a men anywhere. I have a tau -measure of talene ; I have not the worst characters; I have youth, strength ambition; and I love Irene more deeply and faithfully thau ever was woman loved be- fore. I want nothing with her but herself, and that sbe, God bless her, is willing to give me; and so--" " Eh ? what?" asked Vanuccit holding a huge lump of ragout suspended in mid-air, with surprise. " You're after Irene too? Alt! I remember now. Yes, of course, you used to write her sonnets when she was a little girl. I know; I used to feel just like that often and often, when I wee your age. But it doesn't last, more's the pity. How many pretty girls have you said the same things to in Naples, eh? No need to blush; if you do that, you'll never make a lawyer. I'm glad you've a kindness for my girl; yors'll help us with a better will. You see, things stand thuswise. Badness is bad, very bad. I don't know how it is; but though I take more time over my work than any other artist, in the trade, and never set to work without long- er thought than anybody else would want to turn out a. bushel of rubbish, the pervert- ed taste of the day is such that here sit I, Fabio Vanucce starving on turnip -tops and vinegar, while even a dolt like Ruggieri, who'll think nothing of scrambling through in a week what would take me a. year to put my mind upon, is feasting on ortolans and champagne. As if genius, which has to wait for inspiration, could be expected to (some at a tete like Beppo there—no, Beppo ; it wasn't you I called, it was in- spiration; but, as you've come instead, you may bring another flask; and better than your last, this time. So, thus it stands. How can things be settled so that, if a man marries and dies, his widow may be his heir ?" "No 1" exclaimed Guido, starting from his chair. "It is impossible—it is horrible Irene—the wife of--" "Ah ! you're sharp, you lawyers. Yes; I trust that bY the time this bottle is through, things will be ripe for my bless- " Why, the man is at death's door---" "And so things must be done quickly. One may wait for an inspiration, but not for a son-in-law with a hundred and seventy thousand lire per annum. Congratulate me, my dear Guido. In a very, very short time, with your legal help, Irene Merrick, born Vannes:I, will be the richest widow in Italy —still beautiful, still young. Why 1 she will become countess, duchess, princess— even—who knows?" 11. "Per 33acco 1 if it isn't Guido Floriani 1" Guido stetted at a smartnIap upon the shoulder, as if he were suddenly roused from a nightmare. And, iocleed, it was really little less. For he had been. sitting in a daze, blind to the bustling departure of Vanucci, arid to all eave the ghastly vision of his Irene standing before the altar with such a bridegroom. Fool that he had been, to think that is woman could be won by faith and constancy,—that the love of a life • yeoei,aorol outweigh a solid bump of lire every, However, the rough salutation, brought hen back to the life that had to be lived with or without Irene; and he found, him- self alone in the trattoria. but for one men apparently a few years his senior, with whose face'though he could not recall it, he did notfeel wholly unfamiliar. It was not, however, a face that was easily forgot7 ten—not hiadsome, by tiny mans, ebut, while grave and thoughtful, amazingly keen, with brilliant black eyes which seemed to be everywhere at °rice, in an, anything but comfortable manner for any dusty corner or for anybody who had anything to hide. And there was this peculiarity about the whole face that these same eyes, though so full of light and movement, had not the sign, of a smile in there, even though the lips and the voice expressed easy good na- ture; their touch of wildness, in conjunc- tion with otherwise homely and common- place features, gave them the odd effect of belonging to some other man. “W,hat ?" he went on, with alight laugh at Guido's evident want of recognition. "Don't you remember Sa.vericiCalo?," "Capped 1" exclaimed Guido. "Why, to think that you should remember me after an these years! Bali thought rioted left Bari for good---" "For everybody's good, I hope. And how have things been going oa without me ? Not very well, I should say, if you are a sped - men. You look as if there'd been a dozen iudigestious he that ragout," " I have not been lit Bari three hours, after being away three years," said Guido bitterly_in anything but the tone in which one greets an old friend. If that isn't a coincidence! why, I've been away six years and be* six Ileum 1 And whet have you been doing all this while? Yes I've been faithful to ray first love, who'll be my last—science 1 Here's her health, in what's left in your bottle, 1 fell in love with her, if yon remetafoor, that day when, not as bigh as this table, we saw that Deicatriars, fellow at the fair. Do you remember how I used to operate upon every, creature that came in my way, eveit down to an amputation of the hind leg of my grandfather's favorite areachnir ? Well, I've gone through the whole thing since then; I've walked the hospitals in Paris, and ain now full-blown into d.octor of medicine. No; I don't think of praotising in Bari. A rival - ciao with a French degree rauetn't waste f 'AMOR on the Adriatic. Perhaps Naples, perhaps Florence, perhaps Rome. I'm em- bitious—I must have a large field. I have I ideas; I must try them on all sorts and ,s kinds of men. Imay even go back teParis— mot much chance, perhaps, whote rod phy- sicians areas common as black -berries; but think of the cases manes and studies—the number, the variety 1 If Iliad but ten thou- sand francs I'd go back to Paris, and never leave the disseecting-room. That's the beau- , ty of science nty dear Floriani. When you fairly know irer, you'll marry her without a s dowry ; and you'll never tire of her, because the mare you know of her, the more there's. loft to know." Tens he rattled on, without giving Guido a. °hence of speaking, in a light, quick voice and easy manner; while, and especially r when he paused at last, his eyes took A glow, as if it was the nonciadance that was skin-deep, and possibly affected, while the enthusiasm, even though expressed half in r mockery, was real. "Then there is another coincidence,"said Guido, forcing lamseIf to make some Bort of t response to his old comrade. "We are doc- tor t iav.ttn, d doctor—you of medicine, and I of "Excellent And have you yet had. youe first client ?" No." "Nor I my first patient 1 Now this is t getting really interesting. We wore evi. dainty made for one another. Let's make a o bargain. We'll el imbone another's shoulders. ; I'll physio you for poen- first illness, and 1 you shall defend inc le my first action -at- f tem. And we will dose and defend eaoh g other so well, that there will be no lawyer g in. the Two Sicilies but Dr. Floriana, and no. physician but Dr. Colo, rye a great mind to begin your treatmentfor indigestion or love, or vsbatever's the matter with you, e from this very hour." "Have you ever studied consumption ?" asked Guido, rather grimly, for he was in iS no humor for badinage, and all the less for feeling as if those uncomfortable eyes of Dr. Cabs were reading him through a...d through. " Studied consurnytion—phthisis! have I not indeed I exclaimed the young physician, his whole face lighting up with excitement. " Why, ph thirds is my passion; it is a mystery—the moss; fascinating of mysteries. It is the purpose of my life to discover its cause, its course, its cure. Why do you ask—" " Because, if you want a patient, I've got a better than myself for you,—a pa- tient who is offering twenty-five thousand lire to anybody who will save him from death's door--" "A case of .phthisis? And twenty-fiye thousand lire? I'm your. man. If be is curable, consider him mired. Where can. I see your friend? when?" "He is not my friend," said Guido. "I want him cured fora better reason than his being my friend." "And what is that?" "Because he is my enemy. Because I want him to be well and strong enough for me to cross swords with him—that is why. Because I don't want the disgrace of having for a rival a lot of bones held together by a scrap of skin. Beeause—in short—because ---" " Ali," said Sae-erio, I knew- as soon as I set my eyes on you that you were in some sort of a Lever; and that it must be either dyspepsia or love, I was as certain as that there's no dish worth a fit of tbe first and no women worth 4 touch of the second. I'll pull you round—never fear. But that other case! Embrace me, mydear Guido 1 This is more than coincidence ; it shallnot be my fault if your enemy does not live to put you past even my mending. Twenty-five thou- sand lire 1 Why, with good luck I shall be ebbe to work at phthisis for another ten years te come." ,(eo nn CONTINUED'', NOT GENERALLY KNOWN. this is the country in which we are told auicide is less prevalent than in any other, lilts of Infallnation 'Which NaarlY All or which speaks vaiumee for pat's light, us IWO Forgotten. heartedness. It has been noticed how Each time we reach the end of December women ruostlY commit eilieidehY &Owning says Cliambers's ..Tournal, we should think and men by shooting. By the way, suicide with satisfaction thee we have got over the is less common amongst miners then au' most dangerousenonth, since in this eouu. other class of people; and selhdestruction, try raore deaths are said to occur in Deeem. strangely enough, is said to be most ber than at any other time of the year. A prevalent amongst soldiers. Speaking of the subject for seriousreflection is it that thirty- luflitarYi it may be mentioned that there five millions of people die every year—few are eight soldiers located in Ireland to one of these from old age. In a doctor's °pluton, inESca Scotland, and that over twenty boys •nearly as many people shorten their career under eighteen years of age have won the by over -eating, as from excessive drinking; Victoria Cross, while in England alone three hundred per. person in this country sends on an sons are annuelly out off through acciden- average forty-four letters yearly through tal poisoning. the post, which only lets twenty go astrey b uttdareeedmasnat hsaetv ewnetyhave religionst e eht:itcheell°fnittwerl° aut ef every znillion through it. It may not be uninteresting to letters welch go Kingdom ; and our taste for sensational mention that one person in every nine is novels is shown vvhen thirty per cent. of left -banded, or that clergymen come riext books published belong to that class. Some in number to mechanics under the head Ql of the busiest steel pens ot the three and a inventors. Edison states that very few half millions said to be daily used all over people know the sound of their own veicee. the world are \yielded by the fictionists. Sad is the thought that an average of E a this country, it appears, we have one three British seamen lose their lives every horse for every twelve persons, and only an day by drowniug, and that three hundred average of four hours of daily seeshine in British -steamers and sailing -vessels are lost whieh to ride or walk. A celebrated aeron- at sea Yearly- It is a subject for emtgratu" that lotion to think that of the total numeer of aut asserts, after patient investigation, the ninth day of the moon is the most ships which annually pass through the Suez rainy of the whole twenty-eight, and four Canal, nearly eighty per cent, fly the o elects in the afternonnthe ratnzest hoer of &aisle flag, The speed of our fastest ocean thIebdiaLy not be generally known that four express trams on Italian, railways. Express steamers re now greater than that of the men le every see use to' mew yet emedieea trams in Russi& rarely teavel faster than month Viennaessertsthatcliphtheriais thrice twenty-two miles au hour. These are very as prevalent amongst smokera as those who slow expresses, indeed, to ours, yet a rail. deny themselves the luxury of the weed. way guard assures us that the fastest tretue are always the safest. It is satisfactory to We are told that children's hair grows learn that during last year only one person more quickly than that of adults. Some in forty-five million peseengers Was killed say that light.haired people are longer lived by a railway aocidena than them brethren. with dark locks, whieli is not so consoling to the letter, since more then half of the inhabitants of this eramtry have dark -brown hair. As a rule women require one hour of see lIad with Jealousy. Franca], a man from Marseilles, who has moreadaythao men, Fevverofthelatterreac made a determined attempt to murder his the age of fifty than the, former, but after- wife in Paris,enjoys a transtentnotoriety by wards the sterner sex has the best of it. reason of the extraordinary trouble which he It bas also been found that single women live took for the purpose of putting his criminal longer than single men, while married project tate execution, wifeis hard. women on an average live two years longer working person,who left 1. b tt wo than slug's ones. A WOMAD's chance of years ago and took a situation es domestic getting niarried is calcalatod to be only two seirvant e. family atBeis-Coloinhes,ontside and a. half per cent, when she reaches her Paris. Franca" repeatedly wrote to the wo- ortieth year As there are still more men •mien asking her to return to him, but she than women in the United States, more of turned a deaf ear to his entreaties. IIer the fair sex &meld emigrate; as it is, four energetic refusals inflamed the hotSoutbern men emigrate to three women. There is blood ofher husband, who resolved. to kill aid to be lolly one sudden death amongst her. Armed with a knife and a revolver, women to eight amongst rneu. .A medic:4,11e accordingly set nut about a fortnight man tells us that the habit among women since from Marseillea and walked to Paris. of biting off the thread when sawing is the On arriving in the cepital his couditee was chief cense of blood -poisoning. It seenug worthy of his clime. Unlike a cool -brained hat twenty-five per cent of the IVOUNEI Of criminal of the North, he did not lie in wait this country earn their own ; but met for his wife, but burst in on Monday at noon \multi scarcely believe that there are near-, to the house where she was employed. y three 'hundred and fifty female blackspladame Francal was serving the family at mithe in England, which, however, SMIMIS Iable at the time cf the irruption, aud was no stranger than the statement that women horrified at seeing a haggard, travel -stain. - may now be seen driving cabs in Now, ed man advanoing towards her with a re - York. •ivolver in his hand. She had hardly time Few blue-eyed people are said to be col- to recognise her husband in the stranger our -blind, and wo are told that women as a:when he fired five shots at her. The we - ale have better eyesight then men ; but, man received one of the bullets in the on the other hand, three women have false breast, but had strength and courage enough eeth to every two men that wear them. to hustle her terrible httsband out of the This, we teke ib, is owing to their greater room, and bolt the door against him. °gam' for personal appearance, than that Franca' went way from the house, and it he fair sex is more dontally deficient than was thought that he lud left the town, heir admirers, It is not without interest Some moments afterwards, as two yonng o note that not a few people living have men—friends of the family in which Ma. louble rows of natural teeth; white we aro dame Franca aoted as servant—were tisk- assured, by an artiet that only one person in ing the wounded woman to the shop of a our thousend eight hundred has a perfect neighbouring ohemist, the blood -thirsty ncjs°1 tramp from m the South emerged froa hid- T1;ougli. we are told that blindness is on ing-place at the corner of a street, and made he decrease, it is sad to reflect that three e. determined attack an the party with his hundred thousand people in Europe suffer kuife. He succeeded in again wounding from this dreadful affliction. Spain. ap- his ‚wilelo the breast and stabbed ono ot ears to be the greatest sufferer In this whe young men in the hand. Before he espect. An oculist tells us that scarce- , could effect any more mischief he was ever- y one in twenty of wetelemakers suffer powered and carried—kieking, struggling, ram weak oyes; and we learn from a and, swearing—before the District Police actor that stammering is almost unknown Commissary. When examined by this dd.- mong savages. Is this infirmity, then, 000 alai the violent Southerner expressed disap- the penalties we pay tor nivilisation It pointrnent et his failare in not despatch- vould teem that nearly a quarter of all cases ing his wife, and announced his determin- insa,nity ere hereditary, and animals are" alien to make another murderous assault on ot free from this visitation. pier when free. He wilt not, however, be We hoar, en the authority of a recruiting able for a considerable length of time to ergeant, that few men have legs of equal; carry out his sinister design, as he is safely ength, andthat in every thousand men in under lock and key, without the least pros- pect of an Immediate release. Madame Franca], although attacked with fury, will eventually recover from her wounds. Ve are told that,the English of our clay is considered by a high authority almost perfect, alike for thepurpose of the orator, the philosopher, the lecturer, and the poet, The purest English is said to be spoken in Lincolnshire. There are four times as many words in our language a3 there are in the French, yet a philologist estimates that the coinage of new words in our tongue goes on at the rate of one hendred annually. A growing demand for Canadian cheese in Britain is a good sign. From edoutreal the shipments up to date aggregate 640,000 boxes compared with 524,000 boxes during the same period last year, an increase of 116,000 boxes. WI o one doubts that we keep our held upon the English market by reason of the excellent quality of the cheese. Why should it not be the same with egg!? Com- plaints come that some egg shippers are not as careful as they should be, a very short- sighted poliey which l.M11 only result in injury. the British army only eighteen are over six feet in height, which our national vanity prompts us to remark seems a small number. The conclusion is arrived at, that a man's full mental power is not reached before the age of twenty-five, and the development of Our Flour Interests, talent is most marked between the ages of In view of the fact that Wiere appears to thirby and forty-five years. be a movement among certain farmers to Those who notice the rapid growth of establish niulIs, Mr. Meldrum, Peterboro', ahlest weekh meeting in Toronto of the Do - their firgeromils should be happy, for ibis melon Millers' Association, said he thought considered to indicate good health. York - that the cost of producing a barrel of flour shire is said to be the most healthy couuty in England e, but it is a reflection when we should hebetter understood. Itt the old days when tne -flour was made by stones a large proportion of the shorts was placed in the flour. Four bushels and one-third would then produce a barrel of flour. The cost of production then was from 20 to 25 cents per barrel, because it required much less ma- chinery and much less flour. ft was proved, however, by actual figures, that in a roller mill which turned out 50,000 barrels during the past year the cost of manufacture was 36 cents per barrel, not including the package. He moved a resolution setting forth that aecording to the roller system, it requires four and two-thirds bushels of wheat to make a barrel of flour, and that the average cost of production,exclusive of the package, was 35 cents. The resolution was adopt- ed. During the disoussions at the meeting on other restitutions that were offered, it transpired that farmers in a great many instances were cutting green wheat in order that better feeding straw might be obtained The result was that such wheat was useless for seeding. It was proposed. that bulletins should be issued to the farmers showing the evil results of mama- green wheat The reports of the delegateefrom the var- ious sections showei that the wheat of the country, as a whole, was exceptionally good and of a better milling quality than that of last year.. With few exceptions, the crops are fully equal to those of last year, and in some districts there isethreci times the acre- age of fall wheat this year that there was last." In the province of Quebec this year the yield is extremely. large, even larger than last year, Which was°the greatest since eonfederation. are reminded thattn Great Britain the year- ly loss in wages through ill -health is about eleven millions sterling, and it is estimated that forty per cent. of those who start in business fail, March being considered the slackest month for business. Yee, as a set-off to this discomforting intelli- gence, it is affirmed that the average duration of life is considerably longer in this coentry than in France, for example. Is this bedtime nearly three times as much meat is eaten by us as by the French? No wonder the a rerage Britisher is as strong as two Hindus. Quakers are said, we know nob with what truth, to be un- usually long-lived. It is also asserted that the proportionate number of births in Russia is nearly double that of France ; while the German population increases faster than that of any other country. France ha,s the cheapest rate of postage, but possesses a capital in which it is said more murders take place in six months than occur in London, Berlin, and Vienna together, in twice that length of time; but altogether more murders te,ke place in the United States than in any other country. The Americans must not be very fond of tea, when they drink eight times as much coffee as the beverage fleet does not inebriate. A yearly outlay of five millions shows their enterprise in adverti It may be interesting to note that Bel- gium is declared to be the most intemperate country in Europe; that Italy iencla Rim million eggs to England every week ; that Spain hoe fewer daily papers than any other European coentry ; and that most German papers are owned and edited by Jews. In termany, married men wear wedding rings, a custom which many writers have advocat- ed in this country. Only ten per cent. of German school -boys are said to go in for athletics. We aremssured by an employer of German clerks that they work twenty per cent. slower than English ones. • Consumption is believed to be more prey- alene in Ireland than in either England or Wales. " Four times more Irishmen reeide in the United States than English- men. It is more difficult to believe the statement that sixty thousand peo- ple in the Emerald Isle speak Irish only; or another, that there are forty thou. sana mud cabins in that country con- sistiog of ln. & ingle porn. Yet *JILL. The Cause of it. "George !" she screameci. "My neck 1" "What's the matter 2" "There's a pillacatter---" "A what ?', "A tappekiller--" "What in the world do you mean ?" "Oh, dear," she moaned as she clutched him frantically, "A kitterpaller 1 You know, George A patterkiller !" "Oh 1" said George, with evident relief, and he proceeded to brush the future butter- fly away. Georgia took in $500,000 on watermelons this season. MMUS ram THE CAPTAIN'S WIFE The Story of a Plat% y Woman and Maw She Ise veil the Ship. A veteran sailor, Captain Eastvvick, de- clares that of all the women with whom he was ever at sea, he never met more than one who could re3tain front asking questions in moments of extreme peril and urgency. That one was his wife, and elsewhere in his autobiography he pays another Whet° to her courageous disposition, lie had just ridden out a gale with muoh, daculty in. 'the Indian theme when he was sighted by two Dutch brigs of war, which immediately gave chase. He ordered all sail spread, but his ship was insufficiently manned and meoli precious titre was lost. It was morning, and my wife had come on deck, and stood with my glass in her hand looking at the two brigs, while I had myself taken the wheel, so as to spare every man for the urgent work aloft. They had every stitch of canvass spread, and. were sailing three feet for our two, A great feeling of despondenektke m over e as I saw this and. thongh nt'e young wife standing there in front of me, and of the fete that might be in store for her. And then to increase the danger, the brigs opened fire, and a shot came skipping after us, but tell short. ' ' In a few minutes more they fired again, and now it was evident that we thould soon be in range, and I Galled to my wife te go below. Ilut she refused to do so, Aeother shot came closer to usi than any previous .11114. one, and I allottedm to y crew' aloft to redouble their exertions; but 94 unable to cope with the work in hand,' answered that they wanted help, There was only myself left who could aid them, and I dared pot leave the wheel We were sailing close to the wind, and any deviation from ear course might throw all mile aback, and be our ruin. • My wife peroeived my extremity. Dur- ing the voyage she had throe or four times, by way of amusement, taken a short trick at the wheel. This gave her confidence for the occasion, and without a moment's heel- tation she ran to my aide. " Give me the wheel Robert," she cried, "and you go and help 1 I will do my best to keep her head up,' There WAS no time Co remonstrate, and indeed her assistanee °slue like aid from heaven, With a blessing for her pluck I hmadea the helm aver to her, end darted up the shrouds. As soon as the cre‘v seer what had occur. red, the noble example seemed to animate them with new vigor, aria when I joined them, and was able toasost as well as to direct, we menages" to complete the bend- ing on of the foresail, The shots from the Dutchmen were cam- ing feat end thie.k now, but hope was in our !warts. Sail by sail we got a splendid spread of eanvas on the Endeavor, and as each fresh one began to draw, we first held our own, and thee gradually left our enemy behind; and when after an hour's hard work, I returned to deek, WO were practi- cally out of danger. Then ono of the meo took off hisicap ancl called for three cheers for the captain's wife, and twee, I think, did any lady at sea receive such a compliment as burst from the throats of those rough men, whose hest, instincts had been appealed to by the brew deed they thus spontaneously apteauded, t 'What a Friend Is, The 'London Tit-B'ts recently offered prize for the best definition of " What I Friend Is." This is the prize definition ••• .......... ******** . *********** +•••••,.•••• ** • ** : The iirt person who conies in when the.. whole world has g one out •," The following are some of the best defini- tions submitted: A bank of credit on which we eau draw supplies of confidence, commel, sympathy, help, and love. Oae who considers my need before my de' Servings. The triple alliance of the three great powers, love, sympathy and help. One who understn.nds our silence. A jewel, whose lustre the strong acids of poverty and misfortune cannot dim. One who smiles ou our fortunes, frowns no our /melts, sympathizes with our sorrows, weeps at our bereavements, and is a safe fortress at all times of trouble. One who, gaining the top of the ladder, won't forget you if you remain at bottom. One who in prosperity does not toady you, in adversity assists you, in sickness nurses you, and alter your death marries your widow and provide e for your children. The holly of life, whose qualities are ovetshadowed in the summer of prosperity, but blossom forth in the winter ot adversity. He who does not adhere to the saying that No. 1 should come first. A watch which beats true for all time, and never "runs down." All insurance against misanthrophy. Atoearthly minister of heavenly happi- ness. A friend is like ivy—the greater the ruin, the closer he clings. One who to himself is true, and therefore must be so to you. The same toelay, the same to -morrow, either in prosperity, adversity or sorrow. One who combines for you alike the pleas. urea and benefits of society and solitude. One who is a balance in the see saw of life. One who guards another's interest as his own and neither flatters nor deceives. A nineteenth century, rarity. One who will tell you of your faults and follies in prosperity and assist you with his hand and heart in adversiiy. One truer to me than I an, myself. The Woman of These Times. Woman—with a capital letter—should by now have cease i to be a specialty. There should be eo mo e need of "movements" In her behalf and agitations for her advance- ment 8,nd development considered apart 'ram the general good of mankind, than for the abo ition of negro slavery in the United States. "For what a man"—and presuma. bly a woman•—" hath, doth he yet seek after?" With the world of knowledge and opportunity thrown open to her, it arguer little for her ambition and less for her ability to gr sp cardinal principles that she elects to build fancies about her reservation, and expends time and forces in patrolling precincts nobody cares to attack. "1 am glad the question for disc ssion to -day does not contain the word woman," said a member of a celebrated literary eleb. "1 am aweary of the pretentious dissyllable, and satiated with incessant twaddle of woman's progress,' woman's •work for woman,' and the ninety and nine variations upon the one string. By this time we ought to be there if we are ever to afrive. I am half -sick of e °manhood I I want to be a human being."—[Marion Harland. Artesien wells spouted in Thebes 2,000 I years before the Christian era.