Loading...
The East Huron Gazette, 1893-03-02, Page 3eiseemenniewinaj illy in such • manner as r to it, and, then, again, e other shore, it curves me nearly parallel to the then it is connected with his shore. : TILE PLANS, t From the North West- -- 1 est-1 enders Reports Wei Ike be Country—They lead! it ]-ear--The Cities and orvinz mail Everywhere 'vitt"; slgas of Pro,per- pening np pf the fertile and the North-west ter - ruction of the Canadian progress of the settlers )een watched with the oy the remainder of the cognized the great part Province and the great play in the development Ola, and all accordingly ie struggles and disap- ariier settlers, due large - and rejoiced as each suc- ;d that when scientific- htry wad one of the finest cts in the world. The oto Reporter met Rev. h of Brandon superin. st missions in Manitoba 'fit who is at present en - 'on mission work in the N Mr. Woodsworth in tties as superintendent, y all over Manitoba st from Port Arthur to ins, and has, consequent - unity of observing the entry and its people. Ha satisfactory -1E PROC-FESS MADE i,r. When asked about ition of Manitoba, Mr. that the country Was essing not only steadily, ear had been a good one, ing been large and the low price of wheat had, to a considerable extent , but still they could nob ad done fairly well. The ad been considerable,and e coming year were bet- itoba Government were ion to the immigration as probable that there flux of settlers from the ell as from other places. were signs of steady im- v in the condition of the the growth of the cities eg, he said, was improv- mpletely recovered from h so long hung over it. >d, and there was a fair tate. Brandon also had during the last year, not but in the number and Tidings. Over $500,000 s construction of these. was erected by the city Le assistance of private r $20,000 and was a mag - ng. Besides this there ne business blocks and idences erected. liein- ,lled the Syndicate block building, with 130 feet PAWA DISTRICT, and North-western line had been one of mark - country was beautiful- )eing almost unknown fertile. The town of ring rapidly and the improving every day. the conditions for grain , good, but tbose who tension to stock -raising table. spoke most enthnsiasti- lement about 50 miles of the line of railroad his, he said, was a large ement, composed prinoi- rS FROM DAKOTA, m were Canadians, who, ntario to Dakota years ,hankful to be back on They were settled on of country, and were Their prospects, though, returned much poorer sy went to the States. or the GIenboro district and though there were 1, the small ones were The Canadian Pacifio be praised too highly, )dsworth, for the part ,he development of the :h lines had done more o open up the splendid from the main track. ch runs from Brandon the Souris coal fields, id last year as far as of the mining district, -aonsiderable settlement far as it went. Esteven a divisional part of the prospects of immediate ighboring districts were During the year 50 forth -west Central rail - m Brandon in a north - rad been built and were nother extension which st benefit to the south- itoba, was the jnncticn aches of the Canadian ch terminate at Glen - with the Brandon and SORTS -As -EST. arritories, Mr. Woods - the whole they had had near. The population, large as in Manitoba, y indication that the up rapidly. Emigrants he tracts of land at the mountains and in the •, especially in the Al- districts. Calgary, he :adily, though not very neon was going steadily was improving and the had done very well in The Canadian Pacific long felt want by the nch line from Calgary Woodsworth said- that d the utmost confidence country. toes of raw cotton growls I Asia were recently to German ports. The ne that there will be a at of the cotton -growing the near frns.re. The n so far, toentver,: has 3t_ THE li YN COURT TRAGEDY. " Good-bye, Lay '.Lti';ytf sianfey." ,; Good-bye, eirePetei-aladf thank you." sir Peter Folee lianenj p sled sentence of death on the woman lying before him, but he made his old-world, courtly obeis- ance over the slender, out -stretched hand, and took himself out of the room with mach the same air as though he had conveyed the most amusing scrap of gossip to a lady at her Live -o'clock tea. •° Have you told her?" A short, anxious - looking man met Sir Peter Foley, the great- est physician of the day, in the long corri- dor that ran from east to west of Wyn Court. " Yes, I have told her." "All?'' "All and everything," " How did she take it ? Shall I go to her ?" And the little country doctor, who had been elevated by Lady Wenstanley's long and dangerous illness inte her constant attendant, half -turned from the London phy- sician in the direction of the room he had just quitted. But Sir Peter Foley laid a detaining hand on Dr. Wilson's arm. i on need not go to Lady Wynstanley. She bore the news wonderfully well. In fact, she was so calm as not sorry.' that I half -suspected she w ' Sir Peter looked sharply into his com- panion's face as he spoke again a happy woman. er-love her husband? Do q„ Dr. Wilson faced his interlocutor as he answered : " Sir Peter, love to describe the feelings with and Lady Wynstanley regar They adore one another passi common talk in these parts death will kill his lordship." " Humph ! And yet.she Book the. news so quietly," muttered Sir Pe Then he said aloud : ""I wan with me to the station ; there are a few directions I have still to give you-" The two doctors entered t that had brought 'Sir Peter from Wynford station two ho " Tell the coachman to driv to catch the 4.10 train to -to dine with Lord Rosemount t Then, with the air of a man who has done his duty, and who expects to a few hours later, the fashions luxuriously against -the well -stuffed broug- ham -back, and proceeded to give a few final hints to his country confrere. A quarter of an hour later in the London train, and Dr. over the door, bidding him go ""Then its no use sending fo " None whatever. I can Take care, doctor ; the train is moving." " And I'm to let her have wants ?" said Dr Willson, wit head from the carriage 'quickly, artd•aising his voice as the train glided a " Anything and everything no difference,'' was the shouted reply. As Dr. Wilson drove back his dull, professional mind was sorely exer- cised at the thought of the lay before him, and in w cast for a part. It was portant one, truly ; but it inv ence on the stage when the hero and heroine would act that agonising scen presage their eternal separatio love -dream of two lives would when one heart would die, a would break. The little doctor's own hear than usual; and his eyes were unaccustomed tears, as he a the brougham at the Cour rapidly down the long corridor towards the room that Sir Peter Foley ha short while back. "" m : " Is Lady ? Does she - they get on is not the word which Lord d each other. onately. It is that.his. wife's ter to himself: t you to drive he brougham to the Court urs ago. e fast. I want wn. I -have to o -night." find his reward ble doctor sank Sir Peter was Wilson leant od-bye. r you again ?" do no good, anything she h drawing his way. -it eau make to Wyn Court tragedy that hick , he was not an im olved his pres- e which would n ; when the be shattered ; nd the other t be at quicker dimmed with lighted from G and walked d left such a It was at the western corner of Wyn Court, and had been the favourite room of Lady Wynstanley ever since she came, a bride, to her husband's home, five years ago. This afternoon it was flooded by the golden light of the setting sun, which poured through the wide-open west window in a glorious tide. Coming from the cool shadows of the dimly-lit corridor, the blaze of clear light was perfectly blinding, and as he closed the door softly behind him Dr. Wilson stood and blinked at the glare, like an owl whose night -prowls had landed him too far from home in a bright summer dawn. A slight laugh, thin and clear, came from across the room, half - boudoir, half -studio, and guided the sun -blinded doctor's wavering footsteps to- wards a broad, low couch, placed in the fall stream of the radiant warmth. " Ah, doctor, take care of that chair ! Ha, hal you do look so funny, blinking and groping about. I suppose the light is strung; but -but "-and the voice, thin and clear, like the laugh, grew a little soft- er, a little lower-" it will be perpetual darkness for me soon -in about a week. That's what Sir Peter said -about a week." Dr. Wilson bowed assent. He could not speak, for pity, astonishment, and a vague sense of being shocked waged war within him, and strangled the voice in his throat. His commonplace, narrow imagination could not fathom the depth of the character of the frail, fading woman before him. He had come back to the Court fully prepared to cope with hysterics, syncope, mental fears, bodily agonies. His heart had been as full of soothing platitudes as his brain had been of sedative or stimulating prescriptions, and he now found that neither the one nor the other was required of him. - more strongly on purpose and resolve than He was well accustomed to the stolidity dfsseiatten- she T one, which he took awkwardly in his„ he forbore to comment en his wife's s square, strong palm. littiepiea for syinpathy. " Don't teetible about waiting toy see my h"-1 knocked over the chloroform bottle husband -VI speak to h tE n :Ire cbiiihes Hist new ; but neve: inwd, ere was only_ in. Oh ! don't look so frightened ;,•I prom -t alittle in it. See'11dry it with my hand- ise not to --excite or upset •myself..Bir kerchief." She passedher handkerchief Peter said that wide. are_ I -._might .eve- over a little pool ;thatrlay.op the tinned - another week. I -mean to • be -care -NA' daavn= sheet, anal then 41seentle began to Good evening." flick it in the air. "Come and sit down. Dr. Wilson had reached the door, when Close, Bertie-close-lay your face by mine. Lady Wynstanley'a voice once more stop- It's for the last time, dear. Ah ! don't start. ped him. Almost the -last time "Don't forget the morphia to -morrow. Not unwillingly he complied, and laid You know it is my only chance ot peace. I his sleepy head on her pillow. shall use what I still have during the night. With her mouth near his she murmered Good-bye." love -words of long ago till her voice drows- The door closed, and iii the fading glory ed in his ears like the purl of a distant of the se! ting inn Lady Wynstanley lay, stream. The nicked handkerchief diffused Her tall form, slender to,:. attenuation scarcely made an impress in Ihe huge pile , the heavy odour of chloroform through the warm air, the patch on the sheet glistened of down'pillows amidst which she nestled. wetly in the lamplight. Surely there must Her body, draped with a clinging, white have been more in the bottle than her lady - wool fabric, seemed -but an' indefinite ad- ship had thought. juuct to the beautiful'face.' . •Illness ' had "Was that your cousin who spoke out- side a faint blue' line ei e�yth the violet side my room during the evening?" eyes, and had pinched a little hollow in " Ay?-what?_3earion,f did you say ? either temple : but tor that, and a certain Yes ; she wanted to come in -hut -I say, rigid immovability of the body, it was im Olive, what nasty sleepy stuff that chloro - possible to believe that Lady Wynstanley form is, and how sickly it smells !" was doomed to almost immediate death. " Never, mind, darling." She curved. one She turned her head very slowly and arm about his throat, and drew his head painfully towards the sweeping park that down to hers. rolled from beneath her boudoir windows e * * * „ sea of. in a great undulating trodden, anndil tree -clothed, for three miles. With one last effort of her fading strep th deer - trodden, And as she looked at the familiar scene, the she filled -once, twice, - thrice -the tiny whole of her five years'married life came morphia -syringe, and once, twice, thrice, back to her, and with it the short, brilliant injected its contents into the sleeping man's London season that had preceded her en• arm. gagement to the best "catch" of the year. Then she filled the deadly toy once more, Her wedding, and the long, blissful honey- and as she pressed the needle to her own moon that followed, made sunlight in the white skin, she drew' the sheet from her husband's face and laid it over her own. pathway her memory retraced. There was a tiny cloud, cast by the shadow of her child's dean, arid then another blaze of sunshine, which - led on . and on, till it reached that hid'eous'-blackness of dispair which had fallen on her life a year ago, and which had killed her love for her husband and turned her heart to stone. A bitter smile curled the corners of hermouth as she recalled the day, the moment, and the manner of the discovery. "Herein this room, my room,where we had laughed and kissed,. end went for our dead baby. Here, where the air was heavy with our love, he brought that other woman. And I -I found out. A year ago, the word that sent me to my grave would have killed him too. But now -now he will be glad that I am going to die=glad that he can take her hand without fear of discovery from me -glad in the thoughts of his future children " A fierce passion shook her frail body, and her fingers plucked at the folds of her wool- len gown. The breath came quickly through her tightened lips, and she seemed for a moment as though on the verge of -some seizure: Suddenly, with a violent effort she regained her lost self-control, and the face she turned towards her husband as he entered her presence was as set and calm as .that of the marble Psyche that stood in a dim corner of the room. "How are you this evening, darling?" Lord Wynstanley bent over his wife as he spoke, andlaid. his. handsome mouth on her unresponsive lips. " You look brighter -though perhaps a little pale. What is Sir Peter Foley's re- port ? Good, I hope." Lady Wynstanley motioned her husband to a low stool at her side before she answer- ed him. " Some people would think it good, I daresay." - " Ah ! ah ! That's famous. And when will you be about again ?" Slowly and painfully, Lady Wynstanley put out her hand, and laid ler thin fingers across her husband's wrist, " He says that in about- a week -I- -" _ " Yes ; go on. You will be -- A quiver, born of intensest anxiety, an anxiety that might mean either hope or fair, shook his voice. " I shall be dead !" " Good God !" The sharp exclamation indicated horror and sorrow, but her eyes caught the flash that hope fulfilled struck from his, her sensitive fingers felt the pulse -leap of glad joy. "He is glad," she thought; while he almost cried aloud, " I shall be free to marry Marion Vane." "' * * • " Have Mrs. Vane and his lordship finish- ed dinner yet?" , " 1 think so, my lady, for I believe I saw themgoing down the rose -walk a few min- utes ago." " Ah !" " Are you in pain, my lady?" " A little,- nurse. Put the morphia and theth t ' 1 b and close e syringon ea e y me, the windows I'm cold." The nurse quietly obeyed. " When his lordship comes in tell him I wish to speak to him. Now lower that lamp, and -good -night,: nurse." - "You will call me if you want me, my lady?" . ' " Yes ; or I will ring the bell to his lord- ship's room." Five days of Olive'Wynstauley's allotted span of life were past, and she knew that now indeed her hours were numbered, and that they were few. Her face was very pale as she lay on her white pillows, but the lines about her mouth and eyes spoke of Hodge or the stoicism of Mary Ann. But " Always -with Mar-ionn Ir she bad not his simple, middle-class soul had never con- ceived that a fine lady "the daughter of a hundred earls," bred and born in a hot` house, could be aught but a bundle of bad- ly-controlled nerves, which must inevitably give way under the strain that had been pat upon them that day. Then, surely a woman who had every desire of the world gratified, who had money, beauty, love, all showered upon her, whose social position was unassailable, and whose youth alone might excuse a longing to live -surely such a one must cling to an existence so perfect, must dread the impending voyage into the awful unknown. - But the fine -strung nerves of the delicate- ly nurtured lady were as strong as tempered metal, that neither illness nor shock. could shatter. They might quiver and thrill ander a tender touch, as a great steel bridge throbs and sways at the caresses of a soft breeze ; but, like the bridge, the woman became rigid and braced when the storms and floods of life came sweeping over her. And so, in the short interview which Dr. Wilson had with Lady Wynstanley, it was the physician who was nervous, and the patient who was calm ; the man who was longing to escape a dreaded scene, and the woman who was determined that no scene should take place. Finally, it was she who gave him the welcome permission to go. " You must be busy, doctor, and I must not forget, even if you do, that I am not your only patient in Wynford. Thanks for bringing Sir Peter to see me. I'm glad he came --he has such a charming man- ner," She hsle out a white transparent hands a come here to see the end of my reign and .to inanguralte her own I might have for- given -fol, God knows, I shall forget in the grave. But she has driven me too far now, and she shall find that what she has sought to steal from me shall be buried at my side -almost in my arms. Her false sympathy for me, her ill -concealed love for him, have made me mad. If I sin now, on her head be it." The nurse spoke in the corridor, and her husband's tones in reply warned Lady Wynstanley of his approach. " Mayn't I say good -night to dear Olive," drawled the trainante voice of a woman. " No ? Then I'll wait for you in the smok- room. Don't be long." Whatever words Lady Wynstanley wish- ed to say to her husband were checked by that last sentence of Marion Vane's and when after a whispered reply to the imperi- ous oilier, Lord Wynstanley entered his wife's room, it was to find her languid, cold, and only wishing to bid him i good- night." But in the early morning hours the shrill tintinnabulation of the electric bell just above his bed -head roused him from his first deep slumber, and took him, half -blind with sleep, and yet throbbing with anxiety, to Olive's side. " Anything wrong ?" he asked, half disappointed to find that the nurse was not present. " No ; only I cannot sleep, and want someone to talk to. Nurse was so tired to- night I did not care to rouse her. " What a funny smell 1" With ill -con cealed impatience he sniffed the air, while , 9- " Forgive -forgive -for I have loved him so— * * 1 * * . Lord and Lady Wynstanley were buried side by side -she, as a victim to a fatal complaint ; and he as a monument of con- jugal affection that could not let its twin soul cross the dark river alone. KILLED HIM AT LA3T. • The Lunatic Who Swallowed the rude ry' is Dead. ' Three months ago one of the inmates of Toronto Asylum swallowed several articles of cutlery. On Friday the man died. His name was William Tucker, a son of. Rev. Mr. Tucker, a retired minister living on Henry street, Toronto. Up to Thursday the man suffered not the slightest inconveni- ence or pain, but on that day he was seized with inflammation of the lining of the bowels and he died next day. Dr. Caven and Drs. Weir and Robinson, resident physicians, performed a post mortem. Dr. Lynd, Dr. Young, of McCaul street, and Dr. Robinson were also present. The spoon and knife were almost entirely eaten away but the fork -also electroplate -was very little corroded. The knife and fork were still in tate stomach but had ulcerated the wall and broken through. The spoon bad taken the natural course towards the small intestine'. That he lived so long is one of the greatest marvels in medical history. The case will be reported all over the world in medical books, as nothing approaching it ever occurred before. The knife was 9 1-2 inches long,the spoon 6 inches and the fork 7 1-2 inches. The knife and fork went down handle first and kept that position. Tuck- er had also swallowed a three -cornered piece' of glass which stuck in his wind -pipe. He was 23 years old. Aluminum. As compared with most metals, pure alu- minum, according to a recent article by Mr• A. E. Hunt, of the Pittsburg Reduction Company, under ordinary circumstances, withstands the action of wind and weather exceedingly well, but the presence of sili- con greatly reduces its resistance to atmos- pheric influences. Metal with 4 per cent. or 5 per cent. of silieon very soon collects a thick coating of oxide upon it, if severely exposed. Aluminum can be rolled or ham- mered cold, but the metal is most malleable at, and should be heated to between 3500 and 400' Fah., for rolling or breaking down from the ingot to the best advantage. Like sil- ver and gold, aluminum has to be frequent- ly annealed, as it hardens up remarkably upon working. Due to this phenomenon of hardeniug daring rolling, forging, stamping, or drawing, the metal may be turned_ oat very rigid.in finished shape, so that it will answer excellently well for purposes where. the annealed metal would be entirely too soft or too weak, or lacking in rigidity, to answer. Especially is this true of aluminum alloyed with a small percentage of titanium, copper, or silicon. It can be safely stated asa general rule, that under similar conditions, the purer the aluminum, the softer and less rigid it is. Aluminum can be lannealed by heating and allowing it to coo gradually. The best temperature is just below the red heat. Thin sections can be annealed by heating in boiling water. Aluminum can be easily and rapidly welded by electrical apparatus, and a cheap and satisfactory. solder has been discovered. Sound castings of this m.tal can be made in dry sand moulds or metal chills. It requires, how ever,some experience to master its peculiari- ties -before sound castings can be uniformly made. The aluminum should not be heated very much beyond the melting point ; if too hot, it seems to absorb gases, which remain in the metal, preventing sound castings. Why 1- L[.: loan Girls Hate Housework, The great rea,son why housework is repue nant to self-respecting Airiericans is not so much on account of the work itself, for other kinds of labour are hard and monotonous, but on account of the conditions under which it is performed. The sirgle•domestle .lacks society sheds isolated from the family life and she can never call any time her own. Girls will work all; day amidthe-steam of a laundry; the fumes of a .factory, the bad air of a sewing room, because, theyhave companionss'i''iip, their hours are' defined; and they are their own mistresses when the day's work is done. 15 is impossible to have these conditions indomestic service except in very weatithy fauriliesi and there the workers must be branded as servants. As there is every probability that house - wages will go higher rather than lower, and as the girls will not come to the houses, the houses must go to the girls. Sootoh Music in South Afrioa. Sir Donald Currie, M.P.,.is evidently de- termined that pibrochs "savage and shrill" shall be heard in - South Africa. Hehas just presented the Caledonian company of the Natal Royal Rifles with a magnificent set of Highland bagpipes, made hg-- the royal bagpipe - maker. They are of fine ebony, elaborately monnteds m esilver and ivory, The silver rs beautifully chased and engraved with Scotch thistles ' and scroll- work. The pipes are dressed in Black Watch tartan, and bear a silver shield with an inscription stating the name of the donor. FG$TUNES Okr THEIR' FEET: 7,000,060 Pairs of Stockings Kept in Place By 800 Mlles of Garters. The woman, girls, and children of Lon- don wear ,close upon 7,000,000 pairs of stwiekings in a year, and that is putting the average only a trifle above three pairs for each. The difference in the price of stockings is so great, ranging from the unbleached cotton, which , you buy for about two- pence a pair, to the beautifully embroider- ed silk pair, made to match the costume, and costing about £2),that it seems absurd to try to name the average price. Bat let me get at thetotalsin another way. There are about 2,500,000 pairs of cotton, woolen, and . lisle -thread _ stockings and socks bought in the city every year, and averaging these at tenpence a pair, the lowest price being tenpence, and the high- est seven to ten shillings, the sum paid for them would be about £100,000. This, I am assured by large dealers in hosiery, is quite below the mark. But consider the 400,- 000 or 50C,000 pairs of mixed silk and pure silk stockings and socks worn by rich girls and women, actresses and others who like to make a display of costly 'hosiery; and the figures are almost incredible. Their chief wear is pure silk, and the stockings range from ten shillings in plain colour up to 24. Add to this list the fancy, all -silk arti- cles, those hand -embroidered with all kinds of artistically wrought figures produced in open work, and done to match the costume, and the prices range from £2 to £20. But put the average down to £12 a pair, and you can scarcely purchase an all -silk pair for less, and thebillfor the 400,000 pairs, is £240,000, which added to the £300,000 for the stockings worn by the poorer classes amounts to £340,000. It would be no ex- aggeration to say that it costs London every year for socks and stockings for her female population a round £400,000, or enough to maintain nearly 20,000 persons for a year in food. ' Just a few words about the stockings worn by the multitude and the fashions that prevail. The article of common commerce is the cotton stocking, and it is worn by children, schoolgirls, and women, Its price ranges from 2ed. a pair up to 4s. For less than 4s., indeed for is., there are now in the market several brands secured to the own- ers under patents of guaranteed " fast black," and the same colour up to the high- est price. Black is now the queen of fashion, and it is not so in cotton alone, but in lisle, wool, worated,goods and silk. Society girls and their mothers wear black silk, black lisle, or black fine merino, and other wools ; actresses and other women fond of display even wear them, and the yellows, pink, light blues, crimsons and other fancy colours are relegated to sec- ond-rate ballet dancers, and song and dame actresses of the variety stage. Black was long in disfavour because the dye came off upon the leg and foot, and was supposeld to be capable of blood poisoning. Girls who stood all day were apt to find their feet awoollen when the dye came out profusely, and the doctors have records of numerous deaths resulting from the dye. Dread, not fashion, turned women to light colours, but now that the other dye is fast they are back again to black, nearly three quarters of a million strong, in London alone. But the women -are being cheated every day by hundreds in buying for lisle thread stockings that have no lisle in them. You cannot buy the genuine article for less than 2s. a pair, and that is a very inferior quality and you must spend at least 4s. to get a good article. The imitations are so skil- fully made that it is easy to be deceived ; the best plan is to be guided by the price and character of the hosier's. No reputable dealer will sell the fictitious for the real to an intelligent customer. In woollens, so called, there is half the time not more than a fourth or a third of wool; and this, too, has largely to be determined by the price and reputability of the dealer. " Wool- len" stockings and socks sell at from 62dd. up to 12s., bat if you buy for much less than 4s. be sure you are getting some cotton. The genuine, serviceable and expensive kinds of woollen goods are made of fine cashmere, Iamb's wool, Saxony, German town zephyr, and Other kinds. A large quantity of honest, homely stock- ings, spun and knitted in farm -houses, come into the market and sell moderately. They really wear beat of all, and can be readily known. A score of thousand pairs of so-called silk stockings at about 3s. to 6s. are sold here every month, but they are only silk on the surface. They are the most flagrant sham of them all. Fashionable women sometimes got two or three dozen pairs of all -silk stockings each in a year, throwing a pair that costs 12s. to 30s. aside after they are worn a few times. The maids get these, or give them or sell them to their friends. Other women, and there a great many of these, cannot hear to throw away a high-priced pair of silk stock- ings after some holes appear ; instead, they take their needle and their silk bobbin and work into the whole a butterfly, a flower, a eaf, or some artistic design. After a few holes have been darned in this . way the stocking becomes a valuable piece of bric- a-brac. For those interested in curious results I may add that the stockings worn by the women 'in London, if fastened together, a row would make a row about 4,000 miles long, twice as long as the Atlantic cable. To keep these 4,000 miles of stockings in place it requires about 800 nines of gar- ters. The 2,000,000 women and girls of the Metropolis all wear garters, and it is not an over-estimate to allow two pairs each to them in the year. Scores of thousands of thernwear topsy garters, which are nothing more than a torn strip of cotton or flannel, and all those old ladies, with antique notions especially if they were born in the country, tear the pink selvedge off the flannel they buy for winter petticoats and other winter undergarments. A. great many of them do not think that it is either lucky or proper to wear any other kind of garters than those made from this selvedge. - - But this hardly affects the great garter trade now, which in the line of "notions" is one of the most important branches in Lon- don. Let me give what can be deduced from the actual commercial figures. Two pairs for each female, at the lowest price, which is about threepence a pair, reaches the sum of £50,000. Nearly every female, big and little, with any pretensions to "style," drops into the draper's and gets a pair of garters at from threepence upward. The cheapones are common cotton elastic, but shop girls, factory girls, and thousands of others fit up the plain band with dainty bowsand rosettes of blue, pink, crimson and other . ribbon. - While the general estimate holds good there ie to.be..meted at least 2,000 women, including all varieties of actresses; who pay from 10s. to L3 a pair for garters. Average these at 30s. each -and the bill becomes £6,000. But some of these are not satisfied scores of designs, and courtless monograms, nor with the oxidised silver clasps with diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and even pearls. I have seen half a dozen pairs belonging to favorite dancers and other actresses, the clasps and setting ranging from £30 to £100 a pair. Then a great many of these women get the bands to match the colors of their different suits of underwear. Some are primrose, pink, turquoise blue, robin egg blue, golden brown, seal brown, and on to ecru. All ex- pensive garters are made of silk elastic, having on satin flowers or other ornamenta- tions, applique or raised work. Moreover, the "fashion" in garters is as variable as in anything else. - Some are =named after the different college colors, and worn by actresses and boardiug-school :Hisses alike, according to their preferences for this or that college or this or that cricket club. Another class of women with whom ex- pensive and beautiful garters are a fad are the wives and daughters of some rich and showy folk, and even of those not very showy- Counting these thousands, a large garter dealer tells me that £6,000 is a low estimate to put to their account. In other words, the total cost of garters in London alone reaches little short of £70,000 a year. Tie them all together, the cotton and the flannel ones, the -plain elastic and the gor- geous bands, and we have a string about 800 miles long. Why, it would support 500 families of 2,500 souls for a year ! Many thousands of our women will not wear elastic garters ; it stops the circula tion, and makes the lower part of the leg unshapely. The same objection, though in a lesser degree, applies to elastic bands. Then the latter kind are constantly untying or slipping down, which is the chief mark of slovenliness. For this reason the sus- pender is largely used, and is made at all prices, from the simple cotton band and pendants to the elaborate silk, with satin applique and every ornamentation that the needle can devise. The structure of these conveniences is a belt passing around the waist to which is attached V-shaped or other kinds -of pendants, which grip the stocking and hold it snugly up in place. Suspenders for children without the belt are sold for about -60., but those with the belt may run from 2s. to £10. With gold and silver monogram clasps and adorned with jewels, they run up to prices almost fabu- lous. SEASONABLE FUN. Lecturer-" What is dearer to a man than his wife?" Bachelor-" Her jewelry." Maud-" That was a politic move of Lottie's." Leila-" Yes ; kind of a Char- lotte ruse." Whenever there is any doubt about a dog's sanity an ounce of lead is north a pound of cure. Young Mr. Dolley-" Miss Amy, what is the best way of killing time in the Win- ter 2" Amy-" Sleigh it." Sparks-" Why do troileymen on electric cars wear rubber gloves?" Flash-" Be- cause they're not conductors." Justice O'Halloran-" Have you any children, Mrs. Kelly?" Mrs. Kelly-" I hey two livin' and wan married." . "Doesn't it beat all how that woman, married four times, still attracts men?" " Oh, no. The widow's might, you know." " Say, Phalim, phwat's a ventriloquist?" "He's a lad phwat stands on one side av th' • room and talks to himself from th' other." Lawyer-" And your husband took ex- ception, did he ?" Divorce Applicant- " Sure and he did. He tuk ivrything wat wor in the house. Herbert-" If she loves him, wiry don't she marry him in spite of her father's ob- jection ?" Stella-" Mercy ! Isn't it a good deal easier to give him up. than to admit she is of age?" Snowballing is a jolly old sport On which many men agree ; It depends on whether one's the snowballez Or the hapless snowballee. Mrs. Blue -" Don't you think that Edgar Allen Poe had the most brilliant imagina- tion you know of?" Mrs. Green-" Oh, no ! I'm sure he couldn't compare with my hus- band when he comes home late." "If it wasn't for the envy which the noise of opening a bottle raises in the bos- oms of the poor fellows who can't afford to buy it there wouldn't be much fun in drink- ing champagne." " What do you mean sir," asked the irate bishop of the newly ordained Boston minis- ter " by ending your prayers eternally gyrated, amen?'' "" But, my dear bishop," expostulated the minister, " don't you think it sounds better than whirled with- out end 2" Mrs. Pinxley (to tramp who has just beat- en some carpets for her)-" You have done them very well, indeed. You mast have beaten carpets frequently to be such an ex- pert." Moldy Mike -"Never beaten a carpet before in my life, lady ;'but I've been a school teacher." Friend of the Family-" But I thought John had a situation. You told me only a day or two ago that he was driving a coal wag- on." John's Wife--" Yes ; but they have discharged him. He didn't weigh enough. They have a man now who is as good as 300 pounds of coal every time he drives on the scales. Words in The Telephone. Long-distance telephoning has become a little science on its own account, and has called into existence a class of operators who are valuable by reason of the clearness and sharpness with which they can pronounce words while speaking rapidly. It has also developed the fact that the French language •is better adapted to the purposes of the telephone than the English. The ordinary business of the long-distance telephone between Paris and London is car- ried on in the French language. It is stated that the considerable proportion of sibilant or hissing syllables in English renders it a less easy and accurate means of communi- cation. -Certain English words are especially difii cult of transmission by telephone. The word " soldier " is cited as one of these. Proper names frequently occur, in the midst of an otherwise perfectly audible and intel- ligible conversation, which the ear cannot possibly catch. These must be spelled out, involving delay. Expert telephone operators in the Reuter press -service between Paris and London have succeeded in transmitting messages in the French language at the rate ofone hun- dred and ninety words a minute. This is at a much swifter rate than ordinary speech. The speed at which these messages can be transmitted is limited, bowever, by the proficiency of the stenographers, who must take them down from the receiver's mouth; and the stenographers acting in concert have limited the number of words which may be be taken in three minutes to four hundred. The three-minute period is the one fixed upon m this case, as the telephone company makes a charge of ten francs, or two dol- lars, for the use of the wire for three min - with mere gold buckles, with their many utes or a less time. WILL THERE BE A WAR ? The European Powers. The Strength of the Great Powers—A Ae- auarkable Deenment—A Great Comnrer- elal Crash Impending. A remarkable pamphlet -said tobe official -has been published in Germany, which seta forth very clearly the present military strength of the five great powers. In 1870 when the war broke out, we are told that Germany had 104 battalions of infantry, 130 squadrons of cavalry, and 400 gone more than France. Now Franee has 70 battalions of infantry, and 276 guns more than Ger- many, the cavalry of both States being about equal. These figures show how ex- trao.dinary have been the efforts made by France to recover her old position in Europe ; and, if we are to believe that the organization and discipline of the French army are equal to those of the German, and that all the necessary atores and materials have been provided,- then unquestionably France at the present moment world be superior to Germany were war to break- out. Furthermore, the pamphlet goes os.' to say that were war to break out Russia and France can put into the field a million men and 1,700 guns more than Germany and her two allies, These figures are certainly remarkable, and cannot fail to have an influence upon public opinion in Germany. Whether they will break down thepposition to the new Army bills remaurs to be seen, but unques- tionably it will be difficult for the German Parliament to refuse the increase, if it be really true that the Triple Alliance is at so great a disadvantage, both as regards the NUMBERS OF MEN AND GUN,7, compared with France and Russia. Of course, it is to be borne in mind that Russia has to hold in check many neighbors. She is exposed to attack, not only in Europe, bu t in Asia ; her people are not homogeneous, and there may be at any moment a revolt, either in the Caucasus or in Poland, or else- where, if she should be unsuccessful in the field. It is also true that mobilization is - difficult, slow, and costly in Russia ; and, lastly, it is true that distances are great, and that armies cannot be thrown upon a given point rapidly, as in Germany and France. Still if the fact be that R,usaia and France to- gether can by mighty effort bring a million more men into the field than Germany, Aus- tria Hungary and Italy combined, the posi- tion is not an acceptable one to the Ger- man people, and it will be difficult for the German Parliament to refuse to grant what the Government requires. The Military Bills have excited fears that the German Government is looking for war in the early spring, and the excitement caused by the Panama scandals has added to the fear while the publication ID Austria- Hungary this week of a secret dispatch, ad- dressed in May, 1877, by Count Andrassy (then Minister for Foreign Affairs) to Count Beust (then Austrian ambassador in Lon- don), is certainly not calculated TO ALLAY TEE APPREHENs:Oee. In effect, the despatch,states that under no circumstances can Austria-Hungary allow Russia to occupy Constantinople, to domin- ate Bulgaria, to annex Roumania, or to hold Servia. Further, it goes on to say that the establishment of a great Slav State in the Balkan Peninsula at the expense of non - Slav elements could not be tolerated. Natur- ally, people think that a despatch of this kind would not be made public now if there were not a political motive. Ostensibly it is done to clear the memory of Count An - dressy ; but, really, people believe it is a warning to Russia and to those Balkan States that are likely to be united by Rus- sian influence. If the Auetro-Hungarian Foreign Minister thinks it necessary to give such a warning in such a manner, then unquestionably the situation is grave. Yet we cannot believe that war is likely to break out in the spring : firstly, because the Triple alliance will not begin the struggle, and,secondly, because Russia is notprepared for it. There is impending a great commer- cial crash. It will be odd, indeed, if the Russian Government chooses a time of famine, commercial crisis, and financial dis- credit abroad for beginning military opera- tions. IS FRANCE I'MPARED ? There is one other reason for hoping that the danger of war is exaggerated, and it is, that what is going on now in Paris is calcu- lated to remind the French people of what happened when the last war broke out. Every one will remember that the Minister of War of that day declared to the Emperor that France was prepared -even to the buttons on the soldiers' gaiters -and that when war came it was round that nothing had been prepared. The garrisons had not been pro- visioned, and military stores had been plun- dered. If it be really true that the public men of France are better than the crew that surrounded Napoleon III', still can there be any assurance that the money voted so plentifully for the army and navy has been more conscientiously spent than it was under the Empire. Of course, we are not assuming that the charges made against French public men, are true -we hope most sincerely that they will be disproved. What we are point- ing out is, that the mere fact that the Chambers have allowed five Senators and five Deputies to be charged with such grave offences, is in itself calculated to make Frenchmen pause and feel a doubt whether they are really as well prepared for war as hitherto had been supposed. ese- Attention, Canadian Farmers ! Attention is called by a London evening paper, and as well by the Metropolitan cor• respondent of the Yorkshire Post to the tricks ot the trade in the matter of Austral- ian butter. It is recorded that millions of pounds of Victorian butter alone are intro- duced yearly into England, and yet one never sees in the dairyman's or grocer's window the label " Australian butter." Why is this ?. A gentleman occupying a prominent position at one of the Australian agencies, who was interviewed on the sub- ject, supplies the explanation- The butter is bought up by the dairyman, mixed with a certain proportion of home -produced but- ter, and sold as " best Dorset." The Aus- tralian butter as a rale is excellent, and the fraud is never detected by eugtomers ; but, as Dorset butter is sold at as high a rate as Is. 6d. or ls. 8d. per lb., and the Australian article rarely fetches, wholesale, more than is. per ib„ the consumer is robbed to a considerable extent. McWatty at the breakfast table-" Mrs. Small, this egg has a chicken in iti" Mrs. Small-" That shows itis genuine. I never use artificial eggs." Queen Victoria has commanded the exe- cution of extensive repairs in Holyrood Palace. Queen Mary's audience -chamber and supper -room, with the adjoining Terri, dor, are to be thoroughly cleaned and re- stored, as well as the staircase and t1''e pior tare gallery. ers