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311
HOIOEHOLD.
• The Bohn Easter Song.
-Welsch my t bin r Sinal of the spring !
kith ihebreast red brown, and the satin
fellewne
Pilling with the glory of tarn limpid song,
Wood and mount and meadow—clear and full
and strong.
Such an ardent wooing, tender, .brade and
sweet.
Ci ndiitmayed by changing skies, never met de-
feat!
And the earth, replying with the spring's soft
breath,
Speaks the Resurrection—Life —that follows
death!
Bravo,robin redbreast ! with the shining wing,
Let tee note exulant, load and louder ring !
Till the woodlands echo with the glad refrain,
And the soft wind murmur, spring has come
again !
Leafy buds are swelling, with the swelling
song;
Unbound brooks are laughing, as they dance
along;
fender blossoms springing from the brown
earth bare—
Life and joy and gladness waking everywhere!
Ever new the glory that the years repeat,
eature's great heart throbbing, all about 7inr
feet!
silt and valley springing. into tender green,
Pouched with life and beauty by the Power
Unseen:
Eiope of joy eternal singing in each breast,
&li the pain and passion lulled to quiet rest!
Everywhere here the promise, speaking clear to
men,
)eath is life immortaL We shall live again!
Sing on, robin redbreast, with the shining
wing,
end tee air triumphant, that befits a king!
rrom the topmost branches, free the glad,
proud song,
eife, and joy, and gladness, to the spring be-
long!
The Domestic Tyrant.
The normal idea of a domestic tyrant is of
:ourse some coarse -minded, brutally dispos-
ei husband who scattered his household be -
'ore him as chaff is scattered by the wind.
Oppressive as a husband, he is also jealous.
Before such a man as this the children are
oroken-spirited and cowed ; the servants
ay to obey his smallest wish ; the dogs rush
from him; their tails between their legs ; to.
the very cabman he is a "harbitary gent ;"
to his tenants he is the Black Death in
Gerson. His speech in society is like the
wring offof minute guns, sharp, peremptory,
=graced by preamble or code. Or it may
De, when he is a hypocrite as well as a
tyrant, his " company manners " are grace.
7u1, soft, gentle, and his flattery is as thick
ind slab as butter and honey mixed together.
Women are seldom of the latter type.
They rarely disguise themselves so well.
When a wife has the box seat and holds
the reins, the world knows pretty well
what the condition of things really is.
Despising the man whose place she has
usurped, she is at no pains to conceal her
contempt. She opposes him sharply ; con-
tradicts him flatly ; looks him down at his
own table ; and lets both him and the world
see that she regards him as a fool not worth -
the trouble of conciliating, or the effort in-
volved in reasoning with. She interferes
with his every action ; forbids him to
smoke ; allowances his wine : sends him
out or keeps him at home, as she
thinks best ; despises his pursuits, and,
when she can, takes them from him as she
would take their toys from her children.
His pet dog she banishes ; his favourite
books she puts away ; if he is fond of gar-
dening, she digs up and turns over his
flower -beds for a tennis ground ; if he is an
adept at tennis, she breaks up the court to
make a rose -garden. Her tyranny is like a
Nasmyth hammer, and finds nothing too
Iarge or too small for its manipulation.
The whole family suffers equally with the
unfortunate husband. Wherever she ap-
pears she brings with her both tyranny and
interference. Her children are trained and
managed till they have not a spark of natur-
alness or spontaneity left in them. In
whatever they are doing, she must interfere
and ordain. At croquet she tells them
where I o send the ball ; at tennis she makes
them nervous by shouting out unfriendly
commentaries on their play ; at the piano
she objects to their fingering, and wishes to
alter their light and shade ; at the easel she
bids them scumble up the whole picture as
it stands and begin it anew on her lines.
She is always changing her servants, with
whose work and methods she interferes till
they lose their patience—when either they
arc impertinent and so discharged on the
spot, or disheartened and discharge them-
selves. She is the scourge of the fainily
quite as much as that more brutal natured
man. He is the hornet and she the wasp—
he is the bluebottle and she is the housefly ;
and there is not a pin's point to choose be-
tween them. Each is detestibls after the
law of his or her kind, and the tyranny of a
woman is to the full as ill to bear as the
tyranny of a man, and perhaps it is more
annoying because more incessant.
Besides these twe tyrannies of authority
are others which rule the family and make
every member impartially miserable. Look
at the tyranny of children—haw they take
the very life out of a gentle mother? Their
tempers, their demands, their wishes, their
dislikes, all rule the order, the common life
of the house, and everything and every per-
son must give way to them. Sometimes one
sees this kind of thing with a widowed
mother, over whom her children attempt to
exert supreme authority. So ceaseless their
demands, and so unsleeping their jealous
activities, she leads among them the life of
the traditional toad under the harrow ; and
she has been known to marry the man who
loved her—but she not loving him—to es-
cape from the bondage of her eldestds.ughter.
Tyranny is hateful at all times and in all
circumstances ; but the tyranny of the
young brings with it a bitter taste of mock-
ery and unfitness ; and the sense of more
than ordinary topsyturveydom associated
with it gives it a grim grotesqueness that
is half its unpleasantness.—
Easter Costumes.
Fawn -coloured wool dresses with black
.And yellow acsessories are newer and more
stylish than the gray and tan wools so long
in favour, Navy blue is also revived, and
' is as often heightened by yellow combina-
tions as by the use of bright red. Exclusive
modistes have imported street dresses of
fawn wool dotted with black, mrde with a
jacket corsage that has three Norfolk box
pleats down the back, belted there by ,lack
satin ribbon tied in the middle with up-
right loops and long sash ends. The open
fronts are straight, and do not quite meet,
yet here large buttons and button -holes.
A deep round collar is bound with black
ribbon, and the mutton -leg sleeves are
similarly edged. The very wide bell skirt
has a narrow gored front breadth, with two
tiny black satin piping cords down each
seam. Two small yet-distinet box pleats
hold the -slight fulness in the back, and the
skirt is attached to a black satin corselet
which is whaleboned to a point half -way up
the back, then tapered along the sides to a Friend--" What queerlanguage your
small chow in front, leaving the waist per- husband uses. He ',pronounces every word
fectly round. Two • yellow China . silk , half a dozen different ways.
blouses accompany this jacket end skirt Wjf " Yes, he has half a dozen differ -
ode Q.01/ speckled with black, the other elle diel -emanate
reln
with pencilled stripes of black more than an
inch apart. They are shirred to the neck in
front and back, and have a drawing -string
around the waist. A pointed shield -shaped
piece on the front is shirred down through
the middle, and is needle -worked in black
silk in scallops on each edge The turned -
down collar and cafe are also scalloped
with black.
Navy blue crepon with snow -flake. of
white, and ribbed crosswise, is one of the
novelties for spring dresses. It is made to
give a prineesse effect, yet the waist is full,
and is girdled with black satin ribbon to
hide"the joining of the skirt. This girdle is
in wide folds even around the lower edge,
and pointed up in Swiss fashion in the back,
the fulness of the bell skirt being gathered
each side of the sloped back seam and
strapped on to the satin. White chiffon is
accordion -pleated as a long plastron, and
hooked to the left under the girdle. A col-
lar of white Irish point curves low like a
yoke. The immense sleeves droop at the
top, and are simply turned back an inch
from the wrist and faced with black satin.
A navy blue serge dress has the popular yel-
low shade for a Mikado blouse of India silk
with Iarge blue designs on the pale yellow
ground, the whole in accordion pleats that
begin at the _back of the neck, then are
drawn forward under the arms, and cross
the fronts below a square yoke of navy blue
satin. A jabot of the broadest sash ribbon
of the same blue shade is pleated in three
clusters at the top, then the ribbon passes.
plainly to the waist line and ends in two
choux. Over this is worn a serge jacket,
as short as an Eton jacket, fitted by a seam
down the back, and trimmed on the front
edges with three -cornered revers of the
serge corded with the yellow silk, and also
with the deep blue satin. The sleeves are
gigot -shaped, and the bell skirt has a wide
border of blue satin ribbon piped with yel-
low and blue cords. A fawn vigogne dress
with Eton jacket fronts has the coat back
belted with black Satin ribbons with sash
ends. Great variety of color is given to the
front of this dress, as the jacket has revers
of violet velvet opening on a gathered vest
of green velvet widely girdled with black
satin ribbon, while a cravat of ecru Mechlin
]ace falls from the black ribbon collar.
Remember the Family Anniversaries.
As a people we pay far too little atten-
tion to birthdays and other tamily anniver-
saries. Too much cannot be done to make
home attractive, so that our boys and girls
will prefer it to all other places.
"This has been the nicest day I ever
knew," said 3 boy to his mother one even-
ing. "The birds have all been singing, and
the sun has shone every minute, and every-
thing laaff
very-thinghas been so lovely, just for your birth-
day, mamma, and I am so glad!" and he em-
phasized his gladness with a hearty hug and
kiss. For weeks the boy had been looking
forward to this day, planning and making a
little birthday gift as a surprise, and when
the time came his whole mind. was given to
making his mother happy.
"But its so much trouble to celebrate
birthdays," complain some mothers, "and
in large families they come so often."
Yes, it is some trouble, but how can we
keep our children contented and happy at
home without taking trouble ? And no
mother regrets the trouble when she sees
her children regarding their home as the
very best place in the whole world. Try to
celebrate the birthdays one year, and see if
it does not "pay" in the enjoyment of the
whole family. Let no one be forgotten from
father to baby, and try to have each one in-
terested in all the others, planning, if pos-
sible, some little birthday gift. Nomatter
how simple or trifling it may be the love and
thoughtfulness whichgo with it will make
it precious.
A Physician's Opinion About Corsets.
A physician said : " With some women I
am told the main object of wearing a corset
is that they shall have fine busts, but as a
matter of fact corset wearing is accountable
for the lack of development that one sees in
many young women of the day. Were they
to throw away their corsets they would find
that in a short time the longed for develop-
ment would come, and unless they were un-
commonly lean or in poor health they would
not have so very long to wait either. In all
the photographs of wild women that one
sees, whether they are Sioux, Sumatrans or
South Sea Islanders, one observesathat a
lack of bast development is the exception
and not the rule. Nature is nature every
time, and natural woman is healthy woman
ander ordinary circumstances and condi-
tions. I may state that it is not always
well to be too precipitate in this matter of
throwing aside the corset.
" The best way for a woman to ridherself
of corsets is to first loosen them up and wear
them that way for afew weeks. This will
in itself give her great freedom and will pre-
pare her for the greater comfort which she
r8 sure to enjoy later when she shall have
finally cast off her tightly buckled shield
and made of herself a wholly free woman.
.Then let the strings be let out still further
and further, until the ribs of the corsets give
actually no support to the back, when they
may be discarded. Iu this particular, you
will see, there is tic exception to the rule
that radical and extreme measures suddenly
applied often result disastrously. It is bet-
ter to take the reform in hand with a deter-
mination not to pursue it too hastily.
" Yes, I have no objection to what are
known as `waists.' They are all well
enugh, if the women must wear something
to keep them in shape, as they call it. There
is a great deal of difference between the
reeds and bamboos in the ' waists' and the
steel and whalebone of the corsets. Compar-
ed with the corsets they are, indeed, quite
harmless."
Three Doves.
-Seaward, at morn, my doves flew free;
At eve they circled back to me,
The first was Faith ; the second Hope ;
The third—the whitest—Charity.
Above the plunging surge's play
Dream-like they hovered, day by day,
At Iase-they turned, and bore to me
Green signs of peace through nightfall gray,
No shore forlorn, no loveliest land
Their gefitle eyes had left unscanned,
'Mid hues of twilight heliotrope
Or daybreak fires by heaven -breath fanned.
Quick visions of celestial grace
Hither they waft, from earth's broad space,
Sind thoughts for all humanity.
They shine with radiance from God's face.
Ah, since my heart they choose for home,
Why loose them—forth again to roam ?
Yet look ; they rise! With loftier scope
They wheel in flight towards heavens pure
done. --
Fly, messengers that find norest
•
Save in uch toil as makes man blest!
Your home is God's immensity;
We hold yon but at his behest.
—{George ParsonsLathrop.
The Dictionary Habit.
O1=1IEi INLAND ON A WAVE -
A Steamer that Stands High and Dry Over
Two Miles From the Coast.
Tourists that visit Batavia nowadays aie
quite out of the fashion if they fail to make
the passarge through Sunda Strait and see all
that is left of Krakatau and the vestiges of
the ruin wrought by the terrible eruption
ot 1883. If they push up the Bey of Lain-
pong, on the Snrrabra side of the channel,
they are likely to land: on the low shores oc-
cupied by the village of Telokh=Betong, and
hire carts for a short jaunt into the inter-
ior ; and when they have gone about two
miles they will pause to take he the curious
scene presented in this picture ; for here is
seen, one of the most interesting results of
the great wave of Kr akata•r.
There was just one man amid. all that wild
scene of death and devastation who was not
overwhelmed in the common ruin. He es-
caped while 40,000 perished. He was the
lighthouse keeper,who lived alone on an iso-
lated
solated rock in the strait. It was broad day-
light when 11 rakataa burst asunder, but in
a few moments the heavens were so densely
shrouded by dust, mud, and smoke that the
darkness of midnight covered all the chan-
nel. The guardian of the lighthouse was in
the lantern 130 feet above the sea levet.
Here he remained safe and sound in the
midst of the terrible commotion. .
He felt the trembling of his lighthouse,
but it was so dark that he could not see the
threatened danger. He did not know that
a tremendous wave hadalmostoverwhelmed
the lighthouse, and that its crest had near-
ly touched the base of the lantern. He did
not hear it because he was deafened by the
awful detonation of Krakatau.
In a few moments the wave, over a hun-
dred feet in height, had swept along a coast
line of 100 miles on both sides of the chan-
nel.
Scores of populous villages were buried
deep beneath the avalanche of water. Great
groves of cocoanut palms were levelled to
the ground. Promontories were carried
away. New bays were dug out of ,the
yielding littoral. Every work of human
hands except that lighthouse was destroyed
and 40,000 persons perished in the deluge
that mounted from the` sea or beneath the
rain of mud that filled theheavens.
This is a picture of a little sidewheel
steam -boat that was borne on the top of that
wave through forests and jungle, over two
miles into the country, and was left as the
wa ee receded in the position here shown. It
will be remembered that for weeks before
the final cataclysm at Krakatau, the vol-
cano was in a state of eruption. Pleasure
parties were made up at Batavia to visit
the volcano. Not a few people landed on
the island,little dreaming that in the twink-
ling of an eye two-thirds of it was to be
blown into the air as though shot from a
gun. They wished to get as near tie they
thought they might safely venture to the
growling crater. This little steamboat, on
the day before the explosion, carried one of
these parties to the island. There were
only twenty on board besides the crew. They
spent a couple of hours around the island,and
then steamed up the deep and narrow bay
of Lampong, and it is supposed they anchor-
ed for the night in front of the big town of
Telokh-Betong,which was one of the largest
settlements on the south coast of Sumatra.
The ill-fated pleasure party was never
heard of again. It is supposed that the boat
was turned over and over like an egg shell
in the surf. It had every appearance of
such rough usage when it was found some
months later. The machinery and furni-
ture were badly broken, and were strewn
about in the greatest confusion. But the
vessel held together, and was finally set
down in good shape, erect on her keel, as
she is seen in the picture, which was made
from a drawing by Mr. Korthals, a member
of the Dutch scientific party sent out to
study the effect of the Krakatau eruption.
Only two bodies were found in the vessel.
They were, of course, below deck. As it
was morning when she was picked' up by
the wave, it is supposed that nearly every-
body was on shore. Not a vestige remains
of the villages that lined the water edge.
But the hulk of this little boat still stands,
battered and broken, though as erect as
when she ploughed the channel, and she is
the most curious and interesting eerie of
the greatest volcanic eruption of modern
tunes, -
New Pin -Cushions.
The pretty pin -cushions bearing the name
"These are the Mice that Eat the Malt,"
consist of a plush tray with a couple of sacks
made of plush and tied with ribbon; stand-
ing upright and ready for pins. The mice
are to be seen on the plush tray. The "pigs
in clover" take the form of a plush sham -
reek. the centre petal hooded so that the
pigs find a sty. A couple of sacks occupy
other spaces. The small bamboo huts used
for table decoration are made into pin -cush-
ions, being- stuffed and covered with plush
mid ribbons. Another kind is a chiffonier's
basket on a wicker easel, and another is set
in a basket placed on a lyre.
Out of Repair,
Mr. Peterby—I'II have to send Molly's
shoes to the shoemaker.
Mrs. Feterby-Are they very much out
of repair ? It seems to me she is getting new
shoes every week.
" I should say they were out of repair.
There is such a big hole in the sole of one
of her shoes that she loses her stocking
through it."
Money Saved.
Little Wife--" I saved thirty dollars to-
day."
Loving Husband —" You're an angel.
How ?"
Little Wife—" I saw a perfectly lovely
easy -chair that I know you'd like, and I
didn't buy it"
A writer in an English paper has written
of racing bicycling men on a last lap riding
at a pace of 30 miles an hour. The first
impulse of many readers, doubtless, was to
express astonishment anti doubt, and yet
records prove beyond question that at
times: men ride at an even greater rate of
speed. Four times, in 1891, a quarter was
ridden in 29 4-5 seconds, or at the rate of
about 30 miles 360 yards an hour. It is fair
to presume that'll' neither case was the entire
quarter ridden at top speed, and it there-
fore %comes evident that at some point of
the journey the riders must have consider-
ably exceeded the speed mentioned.
Discarded Responsibility. ,
Magistrate—" What, you here again,
Slattery? This must be the twentieth time
fou''ve been up before me."
Slattery—" Well F yer worship, 'tis no
fault of mine that ye don't get promotion."
Colors cannot be sensible to heat and cold
and yet we sometimes'see"lavender pants'
in the papers. - -
A NIGHT OF HORROR.
The Young Man gad Seventeesip Snakes for
Bedfellows.
-"It was a rather gruesome experience
which caused my hair to whiten in this man-
ner,"eatd a rather youthful traveller to the
group who sat about him in the smoking -
car, and who had noticed his young face and
snowy locks.
"Two years ago," he continued, "my eld-
est brother, who had been on a tour around
the world, came home. Ever since his fif-
teenth year he has beenabsolutely crazy on
the subject of botanical" and chemical pur-
suits. In spite of all that my father could
say to the contrary, he made a special study
of toxicology, diving into volumes of old
manuscripts relating to the time of the Bor-
gias, and snaking all sorts of experiments re-
lative to the poison's which can be extracted
from the vegetable and animal worlds. His
long travels had, in fact, no other purpose
that to enlarge his knowledge in this branch
of science. Much to our disgust he brought
back with him from the island of Sumatra a
large glass case containing some remarkably
poisonous specimens of snakes, for the pur-
pose of studying and analyzing their venom
when once more in the leboratory which he
had caused to be built next to his room.
" I have always had a horror of snakes
and although I do not think that I am a
coward, I felt an absolute dread of the
writhing coil of reptiles which Yves insisted
on keeping in his dressing -room, inclosed in
their prison of glass. On the second night
after my brother's return I went to bed very
late. It was a cold November night and the
wind swept in icy gusts around the old
place. Everybody was asleep, and when I.
lay down there was not a sound save the
crackling of the logs on the broad hearth.
Thoroughly exhausted, and lulled -by the
low moaning of the sea at the foot of the
cliffs far below my windows, I dropped to
sleep at once. _
" I must have slept about an hour when
I was awakened by an incomprehensible
feeling of anguish. Cold perspiration stood
on my face and I experienced great diffi
euity in breathing. Dazed and surprised, I
looked around me, but the fire had- almost
completely died out, and the dim, rosy light
from the smouldering embers was not
strong enough to allow me to dis-
tinguish anything clearly. In my hurry
to get to bed I had forgotten to place
matches within niy reach, so that I
was unable co light .iny little night -lamp. I
was just trying to reason myself into going
to sleep again when a very slight rustle at-
tracted my attention and made me shudder
from head to foot.
"It was so slight that none but ears
sharpened by fear could have perceived it,
and yet there was a soft, silky, gliding, un-
dulating motion of something invisible gra-
dually and steadily approaching my bed.
I lay there incapable of moving, straining
every nerve in my effort to realize what that
sound could be, but the beating of my pulses
was so loud that I could less and less distin-
guish whence it carne. Suddenly my heart
died within me, for a cold, clammy, wrig-
gling object had touched my hand, where it
lay on the outside of the coverlet. In that
truly awful minute the full horror of the
situation flashed upon me— the box contain-
ing my brother's snakes had been left open !
Attracted by the,warmth, the monsters had
glided in through the dressing room door
and were taking refuge from the cold in my
bed. In spite of my well-nigh crazed state
of mind I thoroughly realized that my only
chance of escape from immediate death lay
in absolute stillness. One motion of hand
or foot and the startled reptiles would make
an end of me.
" Can you imagine, gentlemen, what it is
to be morbidly afraid of snakes anal to have
to lie there motionless while seventeen—
yes, seventeen—hideous, writhing, nauseous
serpents creep one after another into your
bed and nestle against you in their search
for warmth and comfort ? Great heavens !
when I think of it I once more experience
the feeling of frenzied terror and appalling
loathing which came sd near killing me that
night. And still I dared not so mach as
breathe, for I well knew that one bite of
the poisonous fangs which surrounded me
on all sides now would be immediate de-
struction. My brother had told me only
that evening that these were the rrostdead-
ly kind of snakes known to the natives of
Sumatra. I would have braved all this,
however, so intolerable was my anguish, to
escape from the diabolical contact of those
long, ropelike coils which came closer and
closer to me,° But I was conscious that even
had they been removed I would have been
incapable of stirring. I was paralyzed
by some magnetic power, or perhaps by fear
alone.
"I heard the clock ticking monotonously
on my desk, I Iistened to every sob of the
waves against the rocky beach and: to the
fast rising wind as it shook the windows.
But all these sounds were dull in my ear,
as if heard from a far -away grave where I
was entombed alive. The minutes dragged
along like hours, and the hours like days.
Several times I clenched my teeth convul-
sively to smother a cry of agony which was
almost wrung from pie by a motion of one
of my awful bedfellows , there would have
been as much danger in screaming as in
moving ever so slightly. What hopes had I,
anyhow, of making myself heard ? My own
and my brother's apartments were secluded
from the rest of the house "+y a long picture
gallery, and between his and my rooms were
two immense dressing -rooms opening into
one another. Moreot'Er, Yves, who had suf-
fered from marsh fevers during his visit to
the tropics, was in the habit of taking
chloral every night to combat the terrible
headaches and sleeplessness which were the
outcome of his illness. He was no doubt
then under the effect of the opiate and
`would not have heard the booming of a
cannon.
" Slowly, miserably slowly, the time
dragged on its weary course. Towards day-
break I think I must have swooned away,
for I certainly lost all consciousness of my
frightful situation. When I once more
awoke to the sense thereof I could see that
the sun had risen. The room seemed ghast-
ly to me in the dim light. I glanced on the
bed, but no, there was no snake to be seen.
They had all crept under the coverings,
where they lay coiled against my body, pro-
bably enjoying their comfortable nest.
"Again minutes grew into hours of inde-
scribable slowness and suffering. I could
now hear the servants moving about and the
horses being Ied out for exercise in the pad-
docks. The dressing bell sounded and then
I grew desperate. Was T going to be left
to die here, within'a hundred yards of my
family ? It seemed to me as if I were dead
already. A feeling of complete numbness
pervaded my whole body and an icy grasp
was about my brain and heart. I felt my-
self fainting again.
"Suddenly the door was pushed open
and my brother walked up to my bedside.
W ith a hoarse, terrified cry he recoiled a few
steps. Collecting all my remaining reason,
I whispered one word, ' Milk.' For a sec-
ond hegazed distraughtly at me ; then com-
prehending what had happened, he rushed
frantically from the room. When he re -
turned he was carrying a wide bowl full of
milk, which he placed on the carpet beside
my bed. I cannot describe in detail how,
one by one, the snakes turned and twisted
and glided out of my bed to the flogo%� where
their favorite food was tempting Mem. I
counted them, and when the seventeenth
had left my side, as if released from a spell,
I uttered a loud, ringing cry, which ended in
a fit of violent hysterics.
" For weeks afterwards I raved and strug-
gled in the throes of brain fever. As
for my brother, he very nearly went insane,
and to this day he cannot bear to talk of
that morning when, on entering my room,
he found me lying on myy bad like a corpse,
with a face transfixed by an expression of
unearthly horror, and with my hair turned
in one night as white as the driven snow.' i
1,500 SLAVES RELEASED.
Two Portuguese Travellers Happen Along
in Tinte to Spoil a Maxie Raid.
Two Portuguese travellers, Messrs. Car-
niago and Elbo, have recently brought a
large force of slave hunters to grief near the
north -end of Lake Tanganyika. These trav-
ellers arrived on the northeast shore ot the
lake early this year. The Sun has already
told how this region was being depopulated
by the raids of powerful slave hunters. The
Portuguese visitors learned on their arrival
that the notorious slaver, Makutuba, ted
gone with a large number of boats to Mugo,
where, on the following day, the weekly
market was to be held. It was expected
that many hundreds of people would gather
from all the country round for the exchange
of their products, and the purpose of the
slave raider was to attack the market when
at its height and capture a great number of
the people.
The Portuguese at once decided to follow
with their caravan. They happened to have
plenty of ammunition and a fine lot of guns.
They had no sooner arrived in the neighbor-
hood of Mugo than they had heard that the
village had been attacked, that many people
had been killed, and that Makutuba was
-embarking his captured victims, numbering
1,500, mostly women into canoes for the
purpose of carrying them south along the
lake.
The Portuguese advanced after preparing
their canoes for a fight. The slave hunters
at first offered resistance, but a grenade that
was fired over theirheads produced such a
panic among Makutuba's men that they
took to their heels and rushed to their boats
without troubling themselves about their
Ieader. or the booty they had secured. The
Portuguese fired several volleys into the
crowded boats. Many of the slave raiders
tried to save themselves by leaping into the
Jake and swimming to the shore. The peo-
ple of the town, however, had gained cour-
age by the arrival of their white allies.
They gave the slave raiders a warm recep-
tion, and scarcely any of them escaped alive.
The Portuguese released the captives, who
returned in great joy to their homes.
Sharks in a Ladies' Swimming Bath.
Australian mail news brings intelligence
from Melbourne of a thrilling adventure be-
tween two large sharks and some ladies and
children bathers at the Men tone ladies' baths
there. There were a number of ladies and
children in the baths, among them being Mrs.
Percy Macmeikan, Mrs. Ffrench, and their
two little girls. Mrs. Percy Macmeikan
was the first to vent -ire into the water, tak-
ing her her little girl Roy and Mrs. Ffrench's
daughter. The bathers went out as far as
the rope which stretches across the open
area. There they dived and swam, and the
children frolicked in glee. Mrs. Macmeikan
saw the little girls safely swimming upon
the rope in three feet of water, and then
went into deeper par ts° At this stage Mrs.
Ffrench's little boy, who was not bathing,
noticed a large shark rapidly approaching
the party, and immediately told Mrs. Dur-
rant. The boy then called out to Mrs.
Macmeikan that there was a shark in the
water. She glanced around and with horror
saw a shark turning over within a foot of
her. She kicked and splashed and nearly
fainted away. The shark made for the
children, going between the rope and the
shore. Mrs. Macmeikan speedily recovered
her presence of mind, and darted to the res-
cue of the children. tQuickly securing Roy,
this brave lady placed the child in
about one foot of water. Then she turned
to secure Mrs. Ffrench's child. She was
just in time to effect the rescue. As she
grasped the little one, and was making for
the shore, the shark, with a big companion,
Made a dash. The undaunted woman suc-
ceeded in frightening the monsters away,
and safely bore the children from all danger.
Mrs. Macmeikan was much exhausted after
her terrible adventure. The battle between
life and death was most exciting, and the
two ladies fainted. The sharks were fine
specimens, the largest one being 12 feet in
length and the other about 6 feet. The pair
had effected an entrance into the baths
through some broken pickets. Some men
were subse t:ueu:ly called in and succeeded
in killing the smaller shark. The big one
managed to get away into the open sea. The
men stuck a boat hook into him six times.
The shark darted through the hole and near-
ly smashed the hook, the jerk precipitating
one of the harpooners into the water.
Which Should He Marry ?
Said the youthful Fred to his Uncle Harry,
"I've really made .p my mind to marry,
But cannot decide if it is better
That love or lucre shall forget the fetter."
" Ah ! wedlock bringeth us joy and sorrow:
We smile to -day and we weep to morrow;
And, Fred, there'll always be stormy weather
Where two are unequally yoked together."
" Well, here's the case,' said Fred, with
emotion
" I'� e given to Clara my heart's devotion ;
But se'
he has no -
money, and, Uncle Harry,
You know 't would-be folly for us to marry ?"
" Well—I—don't know," said the other
turning,
His gaze toward the youth, "since the fire is
burning,
I've a word of the
to give you, which is,
Marry for love and work for riches."
" Bu t Grace, you see," said the anxious
Freddy
" Has a nice litt'.e housekeeping fundalready,
And will help along with a contribution
To steer from the straits of destitution.
When money is scarce. and the wife is ailing,
I tellnd to youbear, uncleup, its under not plaintimesailing;'schanges and
A
chances
Is easy, if easy our circumstances,"
"Stop! stop!" with -a frown. said Uncle Harry
" The girl that you love is the girl to marry !
And if she's true, shell not think it cruel
To live for a while on water gruel.
Shell comfort you in the time of trial;
She'll whisper naught of her self-denial ;
And cheerfully take the needed stitches—
Who marries for love, and not for riches !"
Do tthink for a moment, Fred, 'tis better
To bind the heart with a golden fetter;
Though many do it, yet many rue it,
And love is a tearful witness to it !
There isn't a chance for pleasant weather
Where two are unequally yokedtogether;
So turn your back when money bewitches
Marry for love and work for riches.
There is only a, distinction without a dif-
ference between an auburn -haired sweet-
heart and a red -beaded wife. /
SIMITLATING D,EATR.
Remarkable Phenomena Seen i& Seine
Animals.
The remarkable condition, involving a
suspension of all the faculties, which it
sometimes induced Ware= by inhalation of
poisonous gases, a blow en the head, a stroke
of lightning, etc., is a normal condition gf
periodic occurrence among many of the
lower animals. In fact, this suspension of
organic activity enables inauy creatures to
tide over conditions which would otherwise
be fatal to them.
For every class of living creature there
a t:pecific temperature best suited to i
well-being, and a minimum and Maximo
temperature to either of which it saccumbs
but if the temperature only approach th
extremes, its activities are arrested, and
sinks into a state of twiner simulat°
death.
Every year, on the advent of winter, w
the food supply is inadequate to the main
tenance of the necessary warmth, those ani
mats which do not migrate, or put on
warmer coat, or whose food supply is ins
ficient, seek some suitable retreat whe
they roll themselves as nearly as possibi
into a ball, and resign themselves to a sus
pension of all their faculties. They lie in
sort of deep sleep, perfectly motionless, an
breathing, almost imperceptibly, at long in
ter vale, until the warmth of returnin
spring rouses them from their long sleep
How does this save them from death? Th
answer is not far to seek. Respiration is a
essential condition of the life of all ani
mals. We can live only so long
we are in a condition to inhale th
indispensible oxygen. It is the function
the oxygen inhaled into the system to en
ter into unstable combinations with th
waste products of combustion, to conver
the°chyle into blood, and to cause com
bustion of the carbohydrates of th
food for the generation of the neves
nary animal warmth. When no food
is taken, the oxygen attacks the accumulat-
ed fat and muscular tissue in the system,
producing a measure of heat by its combus-
tion, and maintaining the process of respir-
ation—(that is, the inhalation of fresh oxy-
gen, and th e exhalation of carbonic acid},
and consequently of life. An animal expos-
ed to hunger and cold while his faculties
are in full activity would perish in a few
days. But the condition of hybernation
the functions of its organs being reduced to
a minimum, the slow combustion of its ac-
cumulated store of fat and muscle, with a
greatly reduced rate of respiration, serves
to keep the animal alive until the return of
pring renews the conditions of vital activ-
ty,
This hybernating habit is common to the
ear, and to squirrels and numerous small
mammals; nearly all reptiles and batrachians
indulge in it, retreating into hollow trees,
nto holes in the earth, into mud, etc., and
ailing into a state of torpor which lasts for
onths. The great majority of insects
grist during winter ; but some of them,
nd especially the females, conceal them -
elves under moss -bark, in the earth, etc.,
nd survive. Leeches and rainworms also
leep through the winter.
If this winter sleep endures too long, as
occurs sometimes in long, Severe winters,
or if the previous summer was unfavorable,
and the animals went into winter quarters
in poor condition, the sleepers awake no
more, but pass from a state of torpor to cne
of actual death.
It is, perhaps, not so well known that
animals indulge in summer sleep also.
Great heat induces weariness, followed by
a suspension of the life activities. This
state of summer dormancy is as regular in
hot countries as the winter sleep in cold
countries. When the streanis cease to flow,
and the pools dry up one after the other,
the animals retreat into their holes and
sleep torpidly until the rainy season. It
must not be supposed either that summer
sleep is indulged in in the tropics only. I
have many times observed, in this country,
that when small pools dry up in summer,
the water lizards, frogs, toads, etc°, bury
themselves in the mud, and sleep until the
nett rain wakes them to fresh life. Among
mammalia, the tanrek of Madagascar in-
dulges in summer sleep.
This arrest of the vital functions, this
simulation of death, is most remarkably
illustrated on the lowest planes of life—the
tardigrades or water bears, for example,
and some thread -worms, will remain dor-
mant for want of moisture, for months or
even years. Who would believe that water
animalcules exist in dry dust ! Yet so it is.
Their functions are suspended, but with
the first rainfall they awaken to new life.
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The Black Death.
The beginnings of the black death arose
in China about the year 1333 with drought
and famine in the creat river plains, whict
were followed by floods so violent that 400,-
000 people perished. Great telluric con-
vulsions occurred over the same tracts. The
mountain Tsincheoufell in and vast clefts
were formed, from which it is said that
noxious vapors ascended. .Anyhow, flood
and famine were followed next year by a
terrible plague, which carried off 5,000,000
of the wretched Chinese, while in 1337 a
still more dreadful famine destroyed another
4,000,000.
The destructive march of the pestilence
can not now be accurately traced ; but it
swept along from east to west, slowly
enough, but withinexorable wing. Ru-
mors of trou'•le and disaster heralded its
approach. A thick, sinking mist was re-
ported to herald or accompany the march
of the fell destroyer. Nor were there want-
ing signs and wonders in the sky, and a
grand conjunction of the three superior
planets, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, in the
sign of Aquarius, 24th March, 1345, might
have been read by those acquainted with the
secrets of the stars as portentous of un-
heard-of disasters.
That the infection was conveyed in the
air and spread -itself with the varied tides
and currents of the aerial ocean seems evi-
dent, for it fell upon ships at sea and ravag-
ed the most secluded places, but it was also
extremely contagious and followed the
lines of trade routes, and seized upon every
artery of traffic. In England the black
death made its first appearance in Dorset -
shire, and, quickly spreading over the Westt
it reached London by way of Oxford, Ieav<
ing death and desolation behind every
where. It was as fatal in the country as in
the town. Whole villages were depopulat-
ed and small towns almost wiped out of ex-
istence. The dead lay unburied as they had
died, for priests had been swept away with
their flocks, and in nxi,uy parishes there was
o one left to celebrate masa while every
trade and craft was suspandea in the uni-
versal terror and suspense. To add to the
horror of the times ba -i of murderers
roamed about unmolested, robbing alike
the dead and the living; and dogs, depriv-
ed of their masters by t'eatli, lame together
in peeks, made ferocleus by .lunger, and.
scoured the country WO- so noway bands oft
wofve9.
1
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