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The East Huron Gazette, 1892-03-17, Page 2URGENT PRIVATE AFFAIRS. CHAPTER II. THE FORTUNE AND THE WIFE. At the first sentence, Nellie had to exert all her strength to prevent herself springing up from her chair. She felt the words like tiar stinu of a lash. She -she, Nellie Mor - tole had been as good as accused of lying ! She ! She who had never in all her life been accused of the most trivial meral offence, was as good as charged with subterfuge. She, tbe integrity of whose honot had never been questioned, was charged, or as gored as charged, with the unforgivable baseness of want of candour! Bat as the old woman uttered the other sentenc..es, the flush of anger left the girl's heart; and when Mrs. Bathuist, in slow and impersonal accents, finished, Nellie felt as though she should sink through the floor with mingled shame and fear. She could not disclose the en- counter with young Chaytor, for she could not explain the circumstance of that meet- ing without mentioning the unflattering nickname; and although it seemed unlikely Mr. Bathurst's mother, so old a woman and a recluse, should have heard of the nick- name, that young man evidently thought she might. Fortunately for Nellie, the old woman's words did not require a reply. The girl could not deny she was concealing some- thing and could not tell what it was. Mrs. Bathurst seemed to know by occult means that her guest would make no re- sponse. As Nellie was about to rise, the old wo- man leaned her elbow on the table and her chin on her palm, and with eyes staring into vacancy said, as thoogh soliloquising: " My son is much immersed in business, and its no lady's man. He is not likely to help you nnich towards enjoying your visit to Garwood. 1 predicted to him that you would find this place distasteful; but he said no. You were, he said, his friends child, and you would be contented with this house as a home until your father's re- turn from Brazil." Were ever such words spoken by hostess to helpless guest? Nellie thought of rising and saying she would put an end to ears. Bathurst's uneasiness on her account by leaving at once. But there was something so impressive and sibylline in the manner of the old woman, that the girl could not do aught but sit and listen spellbound. Mrs. Bathurst went on after a pause: "My sea is forty-two years of age. He is not a marrying man. He will never marry. He has no small talk. He is a great busi- ness man. He makes thousands where other men starve. His whole soul is in his busi- ness. He is not popular in the City. His appearance is not progressing. He is call- ed the Crocodile." The girl fell back on her chair. Mrs. Bathurst went on "He suffers from a strange nervous affection. For a long time, for days and weeks, he can preserve an unbroken calm while going through intense mental excitement. Then suddenly, and always alose to mid- night, he is seized with paroxysoms of un- controllable laughter. Never do these paroxysms come on him until he has gone to his room or is about to go there"; never until he has dismissed all thought of busi- ness and taken off his mind the great strain under which his affairs in the City now and then place him. All who live under this rod must know of these paroxysms. The secret of them must b 3 kept. Hence We have no edsitors. Hence no one is allowed to camp on our grounds. Hence the solitude of this house. My son has been going to the City every day for twenty-five year& Re has never been ilL He has never taken a holiday. He is never a minute before or after time, in anything. He has never set off earlier or later than eight o'clock. Be is always in to the minute at six. He has never varied once for years. At five minutes past six this evening you will be introduced to him "- A loud, long knock sounded at the front door and rolled in clattering echoes through the house. With a start the old woman stopped and stared. arounde in horror, as though the ground were splitting and gaping at her feet, She grasped the table in front of her as if drawn towards some awful abyss. Nellie stood up, trembling, and looked round. The old woman raised one hand, as if in appeal for mercy to some unseen power, and pressed a finger of the other hand on her lip for silence. Nellie heard the front door slammed with bang that made the doers an windows rattle. Then the whole house shook above their heads with a terrible !shout of laughter _twice repeated; _ The dining -room door flew open. The figure.of a short, stout Man, Ibursta into the room, flung the door to be- lini him, fell with his broad back ageinst the door; opened an enormous mouth in his -parchment-colored face,and tittered a shout of laughter which tirade the glasses dance and seemed to threaten the very walls of the room. Nellie's heart stood still, and with a swimming feeling of faintness, she fell back on her chair. Although, when Nellie Morton felt on her chair, power of motion deserted her, she did not lose all consciousness. She leaned part- ly against the table, partly against the back of her chair. She was facing the door, against which the ungainly, monstrous figure of the man was Propped. She did not hear or see distinctly. All was dull and blurred as in an indistinct dream. " Williaan ! William ! what has done this ?" cried Mrs. Bathurst in a tone of surprise, reproach, alarm. She rose labori- ously and half crossed the floo?towards her sew Keeping her strange weird eyes fixed on him, she said impressively : We are not alone, William; Miss Morton has come." She supported herself by putting her hand on the table, turned to the girl saying: " Miss Morton, this is my son William: en-MraeliVilliam Bathurst, who invests your father's money to such excellent advant- age. The girl's appearance attracted her • attention. She cried in a tone of relief: "Williamahe has fainted !" Mrs. Bathurst a-- would noteurarnott help. She did not wish a servant to witness this_ scene. She could niot _render any aid herself, and "Until -theparexytui was over her 80n would be wOrtellianuseless. Ber son took his back from the door, thruathis bandadeep into his trouseradpock- . et,- and bending hie whole body double, - -lattghedat thelopof his terrific voice, un- ilthq gleaset on the table rang again, and 'Saba ritteshooke and the ceiling vibra- andlelong ilake of white fell on the id *let he plaster were coming le "What is the matter ?" said the old woman Moro sternly. "Can mina speak, William? What has done -this?"' jinewetistia to laugh and dance, and flung himself :steers large easy -chair standing in :the darkest tart of the room, facing the k He th12.1W his head back, and gasped eferair. His mouth was of enormous size, and seemed, to open at the sides back to the angle of his distended jaw& The skin of his face hung thin and leathery and folded and creased in innumerable small wrinkles. The perplexity in the face and manner of e mother showed she was wholly unpret pared for an attack under existing circum- • He had never before come home from the City in the middle of the day. He had never before suffered a seizure until close to midnight Almost invariably the attack came on after retiring to his bed- room. It would have been impossible to drown his shouts or conceal the noise of his tramping. But the servants of that house- hold were all in bed at ten of nights ; and when a new servant was in the place and a paroxysm occiirred, Mrs. Bathurst said next day that the master had had one one of the seizures to which he had been liable all his life, that they were noisy, but not dangerous to himself or any eone elee, and that it was desired no one shOuld speak of the matter eithe " in the house or out of it. But here now, on the day this girl ar- rives, was her son back hours before his time, taken with one of his worst fits in day- light and in the presence of the stranger too ! "Can you not speak ? Can you say noth- ing to explain this extraordinary occurrence? Speak ! You need not mind her; she can- not hear us," The girl would have all the world to escape from this scene, to show by gesture or tell by word that she was aware of what was going on around her. But she was powerless as the chair upon which she sat, as the painted figures in the pictures on the walla. With a convulsive motion the man setup, seized his knees in the long lean hand, which seemed all strenuous fingers, closed his mouth, clenched his teeth, drew back his thin fleehle.ss lips, and rolled his eyes, at if trying to force speech from his labouring chest through his convulsed throat. . "What is it ? " cried the old woman in impressive resolute tones. "No one can hear you but me. Speak to me." Suddenly the teeth snapped open, and from the throat came, in a whispered gut- tural voice, the words; " Ruin ! 1 am ruined! I have lost all ! " As though the last word released some prodigious spring the Man flew up met of the chair, hert his head, and laughed with such overwhelming vigour that the old wo- man started back, raised her hands and ut- tered a wail. When the lungs of the man were empty he doubled up, glanced wildly right and left, spread out his arms level with his head, spun round on his heel for a moment, and a groan, fell to the floor. "My 'child I My son! My pride! Is this the end! Is he dead-?" moaned the mother, crying out this once from the secret core of her woman's heart. No paroxysm before had begun so or so ended. Through all the years of her life, even to her own voice had never so sounded. Hitherto, that woman's voice had been the voice of human wisdom ; now for the first time it was the voice of a mother's soul. The brain had spoken all along till now; at last the heart had speech. With amazing sveiftneas and__ agilityi she reached the prostrate form. He was lying on his "-face his arms spread wide. With incredible dexterity and strength she gathered in his out- stretched arms and turned him over on his back. -Her deft fingers loosed his collar and eased it round his short thick neck. She slipped her hand under his waistcoat and felt over his heart; and then, in a tone of rapturous gratitude that was a prayer, she raised her eyes upwards and whispered: "Not dead 1 -not dead! He lives !" She clasped her hands, and.letting them hang down in front of her, sat back on her heels, regarding the dun face of the uncon- 'scions man as if it were a beatific vision. Then ;geeing a hand on the floor at each side of the head, she bent slowly forward and kissed the forehead, whispering in the voice of one whose heart is heavy and rich with possession of a secure treasure: "My child.' She rose briaklert and pushed the thin strands of hair out of his eyes, and fetched a water -bottle from the table, and emptied it over the face and chest of the Mall. With a shudder he opened his eyes. He looked around vaguely and passed a feeble, wavering hand over his -face. "Mother," he said at length, seeing her standing over him, "what is it ?" "You have had an attack," „she said as she replaced the water -bottle on the table. He scrambled to rise. With nimble strength she helped him, as though she were once again the young matron, and he the blundering, ungainly, sole occupant of the nursery, She assisted hitn to a chain He sat facing the light, with his back to tbe drooping form of the girl "This wanmore thane paroxysm. How came I on the floor" "You fainted at the end of the attack." "Did I blab ?" "You said," she whispered, "that there was ruin in the City." He groaned. "Yea. Half -a -dozen great houses are gone, and I am pulled down, down, down, mother. You will spurn me. I did not keep to your advice. I speculated. I did not keep with solid things. I hoped to win a fortune in a year. South America has been the ruin of me, as you said it would be of fools who trusted it. I trusted it. All is gone. I am a beggar, and you will cast me off." "Who cares about the City, since you live? A minute ago I thought you dead." He took a napkin from the table and wiped his face. He stared at her in amaze- ment. Did his ears hear aright? or ,was she bereft of reason? "Drink this wine," she said, holding a glass towards him. He did as he was told, still keeping eyes of unspeakable wonder on her face. She went on as she took the empty glaps from him: "When you were in the paroxysm, 1 told you Miss Morton had come." "Oh ay," said he, passing hie hand across his forehead; "I had forgotten she was to be here to -day. When I found out how things were in the City, I flew home. All themcmey, mother, all your money, and all the money it and your advice helped me to make, are swallowed up. Gone -gone - gone! and I shall be posted as a defaulter !" "Hush 1`' said the old woman, laying her finger on her lip and pointing with her other hand at theigirL "We are not alone. She, too, fainted. ' He started, turned round, and rose. "She here all the time!" he whispered in dia. may. "Yes. Here unconscious all the tune. We must see to her now," whispered the old woman. "You and I can talk over af- fairs later. All brunt lost yet ; all may be still saved." e - "Nothing ctsn save me 1" " Who knower?" "What could have savedame?" Theold woman again placed a warning finger on her lip, and pointed at the figure of the girl. "She 1" cried he in a whisper. His Mother nodded, and whispered: and Ideristopher Morton's money. Mrs Bathurst poured water into a glass and sprinkled some over Nellie' The eyelids trembled slightly, closed for a moment, than opened, closed again,and with a nigh the girl slipped from the rug:pert of the chair and slid to the table. Mother and son bore the girl to a couch, dashed more water in her face, and chafed her hands. Once more the eyes opened, and a weak young voice fetid ":Such a dream ! Horrid dream! Did I taint? - Thank you ; I am better now." "You fainted, dear," said the old woman in atone so gentle and tender, that her son could not believe his ears, and made sure his wits were wandering. Sever before had he heard that voice but in cold approval, admonition, or command. "Mr. Bathurst was seized with one of the attacks I told you of, and the sight overcame you. The paroxysm IS -quite over now; my son 15 88 wall as ever; and in a little time you will be all right." "Have I been long unconscious?" asked the girl. "1 had a bad horrid dream, and it seemed days and days long" The old woman looked at the black merble clock on the mantle -piece. "It is only ten minute since my sou knocked at the door; but in dreams, a moment of real time may seem a day -a year. What did you dream of, deer? ' "Oh, it is too horrible to think of. Pray, do not ask," said the girl, to whom it began to seem that what she now took for a dream might be nothing but a distorted and exag- geratea memory of what had really occurred. She sat up and rose feebly. "1-1 think I will go to my room." "Let me help you," said Mrs. Bathurst, moving to the side of the couoh. i -- FOR TEIE LADIES. "She - • fmgert• - .Love's Pleasure HAUB°. ilsoo Love built ler himself a Pleasure House- " Oh, thank you -no," said Nellie in dis- tress • "you are not strong yourself." • " Not usually. Not at ordinary times but to -day. Now I feel young and strong." She put her arm round the young girlie waist, drew the slender drooping figure to- wards her own portly bulk, and led the way out of the room. William Bathurst for a moment glanced round him, as though expecting to find other marvels in keeping with this sight. Then he threw up his hands in despair of under- standing what he had seen, and muttering, "What has wrought this miracle ? ' drop. ed into a, chair. Crashed and doubled up, the small man sat in the great chair. Ever since he had be gun, as a lad of seventeen, to go to City of- fice in which the memory of his dead father had got him a clerk- ship, William Bathurst devoted him- self heart and soul to business under the ex- acting guidance of his mother. He had al- ways looked on her as the embodiment of worldly wisdom. She had been his guide through all these years. She had designed his future and nurtured his carreer. When he was old enough to start for himself, she had given him her money -he possessed none of his own -had mastered the business of the Stock Exchange more fully even than in her husband's days, as no womam had ever mastered it before, and while he acted upon her advice she had shown him the way to fortune: Of late he had strayed from her counsel, following great leaders in the world of finance, to the result of his present shipwreck. But though he knew she had no thought of any living soul but himself, a word of tenderness had never passed between them in all these years. To this mind she was a woman whose whole soul was absorbed in gold -seeking ; anti as she could not engage in the 'quest herself, she had delegated to him the activities and the profits of the pursuit. Within one hour, nay ten minutes, she had made light of money, thrown off the phy- sical ineptitude or lethargy of years employ- ed affectionate tones towards him, and spoken to this strange young girl, whom she had never seen before, words of endear- ment! Only one explanation was possible; the news that disaster had fallen upon him had overthrown her reason. " William ! " With a start, he looked up. He had not noticed her entrance. He saw standing over him the calm inscrutable mother of old. "Yes, mother." "You asty all is gone ? " "Everything -.every shilling. Black ruin 15 112 the City to -day. "Christopher Morton's money is safe?" "Every penny." "Then Christopher Morton's daughter must save you,- Morton's money would be enough tL„/ _ "It would be enough to tide me over; but, mother "--- " William, you took my advice most of your lifetime and you prospered. You took your. own advice, and see what it has brought yon. -The verylates are playing into our hands.. Thisemommega- this girl mimes to our door. She has no relative in Europe This day ruin faees you in the City. Poison and antidote. When I left you just now I knew this should be. I did not know how it was to be aceomplished." "But, mother, there are he and she." The mother held out a paper to her son. "1 told you the fates were on our side. When I left the room I knew what must be though I had no sure perception of how it was to be. You have full power to deal with Christopher Morton's property -have you not?" " Yes, full power; but he is coming home in autum." "He has gone home already. This has been sent out after you by special messen- ger from the office. I took it from the mes- senger in the hall as I passed through just now. Read!" He took tbe telegram from her hand. "Great powers above! Christopher Mor- ton dead! Oh mother, I am sorry. This is worse than the crash to -day. The honest - est gentleman that ever breathed ! He came nearer ta be a friend than any one else I know -than any one else I ever met." "Than your mother ?" she asked coldly, severely. no 1 Why such a question? You were and are my all, mother; you know you are my a "Listen," . 's she saidsternlyrundeviatingly. "Return to the City, and bring Cristopher Morton's money into instant use. Go at once, and arrange for your own extrication by,,tRhautt, nimoeatnher", they would call my using his money by the name of a criine." "Who dares to inquire into the business relations between man and wife?" "Man and wife Do you mean that girl and me ?" "Go!" "But mother"— " Go 1" she hissed. "Go and do what you can do, and I cannot. Go and realise; anticipate your wife's fortune. I cannot do that part of the work. Go you and do that; and when allis safe in town, come to me for your wife." cm RE coNTINuED.) "You won't snit me at all," as the man said to the tailor who refused him credit. mortals as something intrinsically low and ally and jltatiy A Pleasure House fair to see - The roof was gold, and the walls thereof Were delicate ivory. Violet crystal the windows were, All gleaming and fair to see - Pillars of rose -stained marble upbore The house where men longed to be. Violet, gold, and white and rose, The Pleasure House fair ;.',o see - Did show to all, and they gave Love thanks For work of such mastery. Love turned away from his Pleasure House And stood by the salt, deep sea-. He looked therein, and he flung therein Of his treasure the only key. Now never a man till time be done That Pleasure House fair to see Shall fill with music and merriment Or praise it on bended knee. PHILIP BouRKE MARSTON. .Eternal Vigilance in Mending. I once knew a large family of romping girls and boys who always looked neat and tidy, although, as I happened to know, they did not have half as many new clothes as a neighboring family who w,pre in rags half the time: I asked the mother of the tidy children's garments always neatly mended. She replied, that aside from her regular weekly mending she went every night after her children were in bed and looked their clothing over, and if there were any torn places in any garment it was mended then; if a button was off, it was replaced by an- other; if a stocking had begun to be " holy," it was immediately treated. It made me tired (I don't mean to be slangy) when I thought of that mother's nightly round among her children. Their clothes were common, sometimes almost mean, and with- out any frills or furbelows; for this sensible housewife preferred that they should be rpalgaigned.and mended rather than ruffled and The policy of this wise mother is appli- cable in other ways. How soon a building becomes dilapidated if one is not constantly on the lookout to make the needed repairs -a broken hinge here, a broken pane of glass there, door -knobs working loose, a vetch of falling plaster, paint worn off or grown gray, leaks started which will spoil the piaster and paper unless cinickly attended to. Neglect of all these little things soon gives a lionise a gone -to - ruin look. A few nails, hinges and screws, a lump of putty, a few cans of paint, some varnish and brushes kept on hand and used on the principle of a stitch in time " will keep Ole new look on buildings and their surroundings. If the housewife is supplied with paper, paint, varnish, white- wash and brushes, and has the strength to use them, she can keep the inside of the house fresh and new looking. Even if she has but little strength, she can paste some paper over a torn place on the wall, or a bit of cloth on the back of a torn curtain, tack the dropping fringe upon a chair or lounge, put a patch over a torn place in the carpet, and do a thousand other little thiegs toward mending the interior of the house. Our body, too, may be kept in repair by attention to little things -needed rest, re- creation, pure air and pleasant surroundings. Avoid overwork, stimulants and worry. No doubt many ot us might mend our ways with profit to ourselves and others; but on this point I do not feel competent to give advice. You may all go to the Divine Helper for strength and every other aid necessary to improve your hearts and lives. He will never refuse his assistance; He will never guide wrongly. Handy Working. Many a farmer's wife is always telling what her husband has and how she has to get along. Because she doesn't have all the modern conveniences, what is the use of dwelling upon it? Are not the women of to -day much better off than their grard- mothers were? Let alone the latest fad, isn't our latest furniture all lighter than sixty years ago? Our tubs may not be set with hot and cold water, but they are not the clumsy affairs I can remember seeing years ago, neither do we use the heavy iron pots or the brass kettles that needed con- stant polishing if in use. Our salt and spices are all ground and brought to us before we use them. We know nothing of the mortar and pestles or the coffee mill, which served to reduce the spice so it could be used. How our hands would fall, if not our spirits, if much of our needed clothing lay in a field of flax, to be pulled, pounded, hetchled, spun, woven and then whitened, before it wasreacty to be made into garments. What if your wool - garments were still on the sheep's.- back With pullingepicking, carding, sptnning and_ bigatilt to he gone through,- and then clothing to be made without the aid of a siveiregmnaaehilie. And tp*i-rnotit of the good" man's clothes - come t� uri ready made. Then how many more things. The tallow had to be melted and e.a,ndles run or dipped, while a snuffer had to be kept go- ing all the evening to keep the candle bright. How would one ever get a meal of victuals by a fireplace? Then the work of heating the oven, the long wood to be brought in and burned, the coals to be taken out and the oven swept with the oven broom, then the big baking to be put in. How much work we should find it compared with the present arrangements of the farmhouse. "Count the mercies." I find it a very good rule always to think of those who are not as well off and have not our comforts when am inclined to murmur, rather than grum- ble because fortune has not placed me in a better place. A contented mind is a con- tinual feast -[C. T. D. H. • In The Drawing -Room. It has ccme VI be more and more a maxim of good manners, not to mentioli good morals, that scandal is never to be talked in the drawing -room. So thoroughly is this recognized that if a woman is heard in good society talking of unpleasant personalities, she is at once set down as an accident of the place, and not as one either to the man- ner born or who has been long enough with people of good breeding to acquire their repose and taste. Very likely many of the,se high -bred people in question, who are to the manner born, hear aossip and scandal, and perhaps lend to them a too willing ear; but it is in privacy, in the depths of boudoir or chamber, vice paying its well-known tribute there to virtue an the hypocrisy that whispers it in the dark, as it were, and will not listen to it more publicly. And it is to be confessed that of the two evils, the indiscriminate encourage - merit of evil -speaking is the greater, for the hypocrisy injures one's self, bat the opposite courselnjures one'a self and znany others be- sides. The forbidding of the enjoyment of scan- dal in public is, at any rate, an acknowledg- ment of its vulga,rity if not of its wicked- ness. It proclaims, too, the fact that society thinks well of itself and its intentions, and has a standard of some loftiness up to which it endeavours to live, and that it recognizes an interest in the possible ill -doings of falle coarse and calculated to hurt its own struc- ture, an intereet in such facts anyway as m- dicative of an order of taste not to be desir- ed, and its possessor a person not to be asso- ciated with.. It may be simply as a sybari- tic precaution, ease and pleasure being. ao much surer when no uncomfortable sugges- tion thrusts in an ugly head, that unpleasant topics of an unwholesome nature are taboo- ed in the conversation of the finest drawing - rooms. But whether this is so or not, it is plain that good society would like. to be op- timistic, it would believe in no evil and would speak no evil ; it has "found =that" tbe essence of good manners is also the essence of the golden rule, and as.the voice of scan- dal violates all its notions, it has laid upon such utterance within its borders the penal- ty of ostraeism. _ Why not a Provident Dress Society? To girls with slender allowances any sud- den emergency in dressoccurring just when they have supplied themselves with a jock of garments for the corning season is often extremely embarrassing, and I wonder that no one starts a provident dress society, to which members would subscribe a small sum annually, and which would make grants out of its funds on such occasions as having to go into mourning; to go unexpectedly into a climate requiring quite different 'sort of clothing ; to a,ct as bridemaid ; and in some cases of marriage, when the relations are unable to provide any outfit; also in the event of a member being suddenly called to enter any new position requiring an imme- diate outlay ou dress. Such a society, well and honorably conducted, would be a help to numbers of people, and would encourage thrift in girls and often prevent them begin- ing the dangerous habit of running into debt. Utilize the Waste. Not every one realizes the value of kitchen waste in fertilizing the garden. Eastern Connecticut, where farmers w once compelled to raise crops on a ha stony soil, and it was necessary to util every species of fertilizer, every leaf of t garden, all the kitchen garbage, were ma into a vast compost heap, covered up, wi a few inches of soil at a time, and allow to become thoroughly decayed. It is e enough to dispose of the, kitchen garbage burying it when the ground is soft, allowi it to remain for a number of months, wh it may be dug up, mixed with soil and us as a fertilizer; it will be found far less d agreeable than most fertilizers, having be purified by the best of all purifiers, t earth itself, If one part of carbonate soda -the simple sal -soda of the drug stor --be mixed with one part of quicklime a five parts of old bones, horn, old leathe woollens or any material of an animal nat and sufficient water be poured on to cov the whole, in a few hours' boiling it w become a valuable fertilizer. The is a very slight odor to the boilin nothing in comparison to that of barnin leather. This fertilizer would be altogeth too strong used as it is, and should be mixe with five parts earth when used. "An material that gives out the odor of bur feathers," says an authority on this subjec contains nitrogen, the most costly of a manural agencies, aud should be given to th fields rather than the fire." Dishwater, an above all the soapsuds of the laundry, applied around the roots of flowers in th garden will produce miracles of bloom. Th suds must be put on cold. In a great man houses the first soapsuds of the washing i always used for this purpose. It should course be applied after sundown or early the morning at the proper hour for waterin the plants, and on no account should it be allowed to touch the leaves or green par of the plant. This may seem to be an unpleasant sub ject to discuss, but a method of dispensin of the kitchen waste and the laundry sud in such a manner as will create beauty an fragrance in the garden is certainly worthy of every good housewife's consideration There is no real waste in nature, nothing to be destroyed, which will not, if put to it proper use, serve some good and wholesom purpose. The very materials which, if lef neglected, are sources of foul disease and death, when put to theic proper use become sources of health and beauty. One of the worst eases of black diphtheria was traced by a physician to a pool where the suds from the household wash and dishwater were regularly thrown, keeping a spot moist with this foul water till the microbes of disease were fostered. The fetidly had no idea that they were disposing of this water in an un- wholesome manner. Had it been scattered over thegarden and mixed with the earth no danger could have arisen. the In ere rd, ize he de th ed asy by ng en ed is - en he of es nd r, (118re er ill re g, er nt t, 11 if V in ts e Domestic Hints. Cloths dipped in hot potato water and applied to rheumatic joints will ease the pain. If nuts are eaten by a sufferer from dys- pepsia, let him salt them, and the evil -effects" disappear. The best way to pelish eyeglasses is to moisten them, and dry them with a bit of tissue or newspaper. Bent whalebones can be restored and used again by soaking them for a few hours in water, and then drying them. The kitchen table should be high enough that no back aches or stooping shoulders will result from work done there. It should have a drawer for keeping the cooking knives and forks and spoons. Since the propagation of influenza is known to be promoted by the assemblage of large numbers of persons in a confined at- mosphere, it is advisable that when an epidemic threatens or is present unnecessary assemblies should be studiously avoided. The fashion of seating dinner parties at small tables, introduced in Paris one or two , seasons ago is finding favor in Britain. Hostesses who entertain from 20 to 30 guests at a dinner have discovered that much better social results are secured by this ar- rangement, and a prettier effect given to the MOM. Flow On, Swift Stream. Flow on, swift stream, amid the flowers, Flow on and dance with joy, And tell me of the happy hours When I Was yet a boy. I watched thee with the loved ones then, Now all alone I come again To wander by the river; And I am old and they are gone. But it unchanged is gliding on As young and bright as ever. Unchanged it seems, yet who can stay The water's ceaseless motion? The little waves of ye.terday To -day have reached the ocean: Unmarked, unmissed, they s friftly fly, Unmarked, unmissed, we, too, moist die, And leave the mighty river, Where youth, and joy, and love, and strife, And allthe_varions modes of life, Ploy, on unchanged forever. W. E. II. LEcKv: • Prince Victor Emanuel, heir to the Italian crown, is one of the handsomest and most accomplished men of his station in life. Al- though near 30 years of age and widely traveled, he is yet unmarried. He is liberal in his political views, versed in several lan- guagesjamiabl and intellectual and gener- PractioarDlificulties Of Great Trt „ , 'First of allnive -bust know ho receiving warning of .danger, a train o p tons,- running.a mile in 36 seconds, can be stopped.. It is' estimated that if running at 60 riffles feer liefir, :With the full raking weight of the -train utilized, and the rails in tee most favorable condition, this train could be brought to a full stop in 900 feet; at- 80 miles pet hour, in 1,600 feet ; at 90 miles per hour, in 2,025 feet ; and, finally, at 100 miles per hour, in 2,500 feet. These figures -at once establishthe fact that under the best possible conditions the trek must be kept clear of all obstruction for at least 2,500 feet in advance of a train running at the highest limit ; but we must estimate the clearance for the worst conditions, such as slippery rails, foggy weather, and un- favorable grades; the personal equation of the engineman must also be considered in a train Covering 145 feet each second. Would it bp too much to ask that the en- .giaerrian receive his warning three -quartet - 'of a mile befOre he am:10 hale? The-'difficurties of arranging for the pas- sage Of trains of this character are manifest; we are not speaking of special trains, but rather of regular trains, running as frequent. ly as may be desired. It should be rernem- bered that, in a two-hour run, the faeteet trains of to -day would require a leeway of an hour, and slower ones would have to start proportionately earlier, or be passed onthe m he way. The T improved forms of signalling and interlacking, be they mechanical, pneu- matic' electric, automatic, or other% ise, whichare so necessary to the safe movement of passenger trains, may be introduced, but cannot be placed nearer together than three quarters of a mile. . The very presence of these signals, while giving the maximum safety, has in practice made prompt move- ment more difficult. This state of affairs would point to the necessity for an increase in the number of tracks so that passenger trains could be grouped on the basis of speed just an- it has been found already ne- cessary, on crowded lines, to separate the freight traffic from the passenger. ----[From "Speed in Locomotives." Under the Earth. The workman in the deepest mines of Europe swelter iu almost intolerable heat, and yet they never penetrate over one 7-1000 part of the distance from the surface to the centre of the earth. In the lower levels of some of the Comstock mines the men fought scalding water, and could labour only three or four honrs at a time lentil the Sutro tmre nel pierced the mines and drew off some of the terrible heat, which had stood at 120 °. The deepest boring ever made, that at Sperenberg, near Berlin, penetrates only 4,172 feet, about 1,000 feet deeper than the famous artesian well at St. Louis. While borings and mines reveal to us only a few secrets relating solely to the temperature and constitution of the earth for a few thous- and feet below the surface, we are able by means of volcanoes to form some notion of what is going on at a greater depth. There have been many theories about the causes of volcanoes, but it is now generally held that, though they are produced by the intense heat of the interior of the earth, they are not directly connected with the molten masa that lies many miles below the immediate sources of volcanic energy. Everybody knows that many rocks are formed on the floor of the ocean, and it has been found that a twentieth to a seventieth of their weight is made up of imprisoned water. Now, these rocks are buried in time under overlaying strata, which serve as a blanket to keep the enormous heat of the interior. This heat turns the water into superheated steam, which melts the hardest rock, and when the steam finds a fissure in the strata above it it breaks through to the surface with terrific energy, and we have a volcano. We find that these outpourings that have lain for countless ages many thousands of feet below the surface are well adapted to serve the purposes of man. Many a vine- yard flourishes on the volcanic ashes from Vesuvius, and volcanic mud has clothed the hills of New Zealand with fine forests and its plains with luxuriant verdure. The most wonderful display of the results of volcanic energy is seen in the north-western corffer of our own land, a region of lofty . forests and of great fertility. Hungarian Women. The Hungarian women are,among the most beautiful in the world. They are not lan- guishing, diaphanous creatures, composed of cobwebs and the odor of -musk, with a sickly pallor or a: hectic flush in their cheeks. No; erect and straight as a candle hearty and vigorous to the core, they are pictures of good health and abounding vitality. They are gifted with small feet, full arms, plump hands with tapering fingers and wear long braids. The sue has spread a reddish -gold- en tint or a darker tone over the complexion. The Hungarian woman is not a beauty of classical contour, nor does she, perhaps, fre- quently present a riddle to the psycholo- gist, and ethereal poets will scarcely fled a theme in her for hypersentimental reveries. She is rather the vigorous embodiment of primeval womanhood. As her exterior, 60 her whole character ie enchantingly fresh and positive. She likes to eatavell, is fond of a drop of wine, takes naturally to swim- ming, dancing, gymnastics, and has not the least objection to being admired. Grace and beauty know no difference between high and low, and often bestow upon a poor, barefooted, short -skirted peasant -girl, (wi th her face framed in a kerchief tied under the chin) the same enchanang form, the same graceful walk, the same magically attractive glance, as upon her more favored sister. - [Home JournaL The Most Frequently Used Bibhoal Quota- tions. Undoubtedly the favorite Biblical quota- tion that everybody most frequently uses -being a ready excuse for the indolence of human nature generally -is, that ambigu- ous say ing of Carist ; "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" Running this very closely are the words of Peal, now be- ing oldeestablished proverbs, often express- ed, viz. "Evil communications corrupt good manners," and "Love of money is the root of aU evil" ; while the wisdom of Peter is often aided in the repetitions of that everyday truth, specially appropriate to modern times and fashions-" Charity covereth a multitude of sins." A very com- monly -used expression is, "To escape with the skin of my teeth," first uttered by Job, while of the wisdom of Solomon, familiarly know are, "A soft answer turneth away wrath," " A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance ;"and what more common than the saying, "To heap coals of fire upon his head,' originally bus? " Sowing the wind -and, reaping the whirlwind" is a popular Scriptual quotation; while, " Tell it not in Gath," is being regularly used as a caution when a secret is required to be kept. Other frequently -used quotations include, "In the twinkling of an eye" -1 Cor. xv. 52. "Train up a child in the way he ahead go" -Prov. xxii. 6; and "There is ao new thing under the sun"-Ec. i.ic T GRAND A raneiyric ef t-be_IR Y EwartG: BSinED Mr. Gl&dstone was ei on the 29th of Decemb almost rather to say. i Oliver Holmes, " eight for he has just repaired health and spirits to tit he has passed the w charms dear to hi soul superior to that of Lor although not always id truth be cold enough very capricious, thougi shore ; so that I wis Man" could have gone at Christmas time in ( the rivethe weather and one may sit out at the moonlit palms. B Nile at this momen politically unsatisfact( traveler, who wants ing Egypt, although the bombardment of commenced the existi of tbe land. In this I endeavor to avoid as claewerous region of I It is of the singulat tlity of Mr. Gladston laracteristics, as the selves to my notice aa exclusively and very On such ground ever' honorable gentleman ought to be, for ma reasons, his admirer On the male and fe Scotland that boasts statesman to his cour a Clydesdale family ' lairds bolding large e century. From thes ous maleters, father Lanark, and had an corn merchants that of whom, John, be portant and marr Dingwall, in Orkney traced in our peeral Bannockburn, so th I say, both channel blood. John G lad s I of the famous Ge Mr. Gladstone mi his father's table. and under Canning that he imbibed tl ples-never really rt ture-which made h his career the glor3 church and Consery , he got his Greek ato • thoroughly, with tip years following at 0 once or twice dared capping Greek and I the Iliad and Odysse perfectly abashed superior range and memory. At the ur degree and ofttimes maiden eloquence in ciety. Thence also h those high church ways draped themes alb and chasuble ov( of his later opinions so strongly a bent had seriously design for tile church and come archbishop of had not put him int Newark. Nothing can furn with the later caree, al leader than his years. He showed tories. Macaulay, on "Church and S that early date as "True Blue " part in the house of coml ered against the pri, cipation of the aim, ence upon compensS of the West Indies. now to recall, was was the son of a and sugar estates in far to account for t which he assumedl costly war broke on souIesth. n tell a curio from my personal hesitate to tell it doands to Mr. Gla tical credit and m plain his action ir errors of his career days of your subli unien Mr. Gladsu and delivered a me be declared that made a nation and my humble way wrote to him, poin ing me that this v phecy as well as o illustrious orator weight of his clog the scale against g reatest condescen me, then but a nol come and see him . parrying a formic and for the first ti rare (delight of co that fascinating st, always have found ism as in agreemer attempt, at least, arguments ten,lin north would never Mississippi to be c that the south did sources or resolves and that the confi chastisement of th cipation cf the sia look back so far, a he listened to me, up from his chair a .iteinclibei to think shall -have to retra even deeply to reg spo!le the day bef< the truth, I have ror of war that WI - or any other count volved in one, the afraid, is rather tc of it than the best ThatWiallvoiase le, npon,r light upon many passage of Mr. GI In point of fact t mingles very litt blood and he has , „mach as to compr 'which filled the br - and of Palmerstim tima ent ). t es ment of Lord Bea Mr. Gladstone was discaursing ti ifs call t on.