VOL. 42—No. 38, Om" NEW YORK, JULY 23, 1887. een’ Venn yee Y Terms to Mail Subscribers: (POSTAGE FREE.) $months - - - - - 4months - --- - $1. 4 copies 10.00 SCA ee ie 8 8) 8 copies 20.00 Remit by express money order, draft, P. O. order, or registered letter. We employ no traveling agents. All letters shonld be addressed to ‘ STREET & SMITH, P. 0. Box 2734. 29 & 31 Rose St., N. Y. 75c. | 2 copies $5.00 00 00 STILL ANOTHER NEW STORY. Two weeks ago we began the publication of an exceedingly clever story of English Life, by DoRA LESTER, entitled “MAJOR JACK; OR, A LUCKLESS MARRIAGE.” This week our readers will have the pleasure of perusing the opening chapters of BURKE BRENTFORD’S realistic narrative of HomE.” To these two attractions we announce the addition, next week, of another captivating work, entitled SAILOR BEN: OR, The Romance of an Inheritance. A STORY OF LAND AND WAVE. “TORN FROM By J. ALEXANDER PATTEN, Author of “The Gamester’s Daughter,” ‘‘Foot- prints of Seventy-Six,” “City Scenes and Faces,” etc. The opening chapters of this sterling story indicate its vigor and dramatic intensity. On the bosom of the broad Atlantic, the ship Patrick Henry is head- ing toward the port of Boston. On board are TWO MYSTERIOUS PASSENGERS, whose strange conduct arouses the curiosity of the erew. While the sailors are wondering at the inex- plicable behavior of the two reserved passengers, one of them, against the pitiful pleadings of the other, plots A HEARTLESS CRIME, to plunder an innocent child and crush the heart of an affectionate mother. The numerous deeply inter- esting incidents which follow this opening act of A ROMANCE OF THE DEEP, are pictured with graphic fidelity, and form a story which is sure to enchain the attention to the closing line. Next week “SAILOR BEN” will make his bow to our readers. LETTER FROM A TRAMP, ADDRESSED TO KATE THORN, Mrs. THORN:—I am a regular reader of your articles in the NEW YORK WEEKLY, and I am pleased to see that you give heed to other people’s troubles. Therefore I hope you will pay a little attention to mine. I am a tramp, by profession. I used to be a lawyer, and sometimes a minister, but neither profession paid me. A man can’t be ex- pected to devote his time to a business which leaves him out of pocket. My parents were poor but respectable." So was my wife, and likewise my mother-in-law. Some people are down on mothers-in-law, but I stand up forthem. Mine is a jewel of the first water. She always kept my buttons on, and my stockings well mended. But, alas! she was inveigled into a second marriage by old Deacon Lowe, and now she has young children to occupy her time. But enough of my family history. What I want to talk about is the way some people live, and the way they treat a respectable gentleman that is traveling round the country on pleasure, business, and the pursuit of happiness. I have been tramping it two years. I did a good business in New Hampshire till they went and passed the tramplaw. That put a stop to it. If a fellow asks for a cold potato there, and doesn’t offer to pay forit, anybody can give him in charge. The people there will have to suffer before they die, and I trust I shall live to see it. Their con- duct is too mean for anything. In some places where I goI got treated first-rate. They put on a table-cloth for me, and the silver knives and forks, and the napkins, and make things comfortable. - I generally give them my blessing when Igoaway. Butin many places I am expected to eat cold pork, and stale bread, and be thankful! As if any respectable tramp could be expected to re- turn thanks for cold pork! LIdetest pork, especially cold pork. And you need not set stale bread before me, for Ido not eatit. Lama judge of bread, and I never eat any that is notsweetand light. I would not risk my digestion with it. A manmust take care of his liver, ete., if he wants to enjoy good health. It is a duty that he owes to himself. Then there are napkins. Some people are low enough to expect me to eat without a napkin—just like a hog, or a savage! It shows their bringing up. I should be ashamed to ask any guest in my house to eat without the proper conveniences. Why, one would have to use one’s coat-tail, if his handkerchief was not suitable. LI want to be treated decently. I want to be shown some respect. Because some tramps have descended to the impertinence of killing their entertainers is no reason why a respectable member of the pro- fession should not be treated with politeness. I do a not carry revolvers}; I do not ill-treat women, or shoot people who snub me. I always take off my hat when I enter a house; and generally I wipe my feet if there is a rug handy. And yet I meet with rough usage. Only last week a lady set the dog on me, and the animal was ~hungry—famished, I should say—and he bit a piece - out of the calf of my leg as large as a dollar, and still hung on. I ran; the dog ran, too. We went through a lane, three door-yards, a hen-pen, two sta- bles, and into the kitchen of a house where there were two women and three cats. The women screamed murder, as women generally do on all oc- - easions, and the three cats plunged onto that dog, and Igotfree. How the furflew! The manof the house rushed in from somewhere, and laid about him with a will, and by and by, when we got time to look - around ourselves, the house was cleared, but there was loose hair enough lying on the floor to stuff a pillow. ~ Lasked one of the ladies if she payhoien to have / any wine in the house. I told her I felt faint, and _ that I hoped it was old port, tolerably sweet, for sour - wine did not agree with my stomach. I told her I had to be particular what I drank. _ And for this piece of politeness the man of the house ordered me off the premises, and he did it with the toe of his boot, and it was a thick boot, too; cowhide, I should judge. It is strange to me that people will be so low as to wear cowhide boots! It . ' is something I have never yet descended to do, thank Heaven! I have never yet sunk so far! Ileft the premises, but I took down the address, and I have sent every able-bodied tramp I know of to the house, and still there’s more to follow. Yes, ma’am I called at a place this week, and asked for some dinner. I told them, that I would not be particular— almost anything they happened to have, if it was sweet and wholesome, would suit me; and the wo- man pointed to the wood-pile, and told me if I would wield the ax and saw for a couple of hours, I should have some bread and milk. IT looked at the saw and examined the ax, but they were not thenewest pattern—rather old-styled—and I never use anything so antiquated. I believe in being adage gad tip keeping up with the times. Lasked 1er if that was the best she could do, and she said it was, and she showed me the mop-handle, just as if I never saw one, and told me to leave! So I left. Now, I submit to you, if this is the proper sort of treatment for a poor man who is seeking an honest living? Ihave conscientious scruples against work, not thatit isn’t eminently respectable, but because it is not suited to my constitution. I have no taste for it, and itis no use to put a man at what he has no taste for. Mere waste of time. I want pleasant treatment. Nocold victuals. No bones and crusts, as if I were a vagrant dog. No dirty table-cloths. Napkins always. And silver knives. I don’t relish food cut up with steel knives. Notatall. I want a good bed where I stay all night. Feathers preferred. I walk a good deal, and when night comes I am tired. Mattresses, unless there be extra springs under them, make my bones ache. I prefer screens to the windows. I generally sleep late, and flies are so annoying when one is trying to get a morning nap. And if, at farm-houses, the peo- ple could contrive to muzzle their roosters and turkey-gobblers, I should be thankful, for they are worse than an alarm clock, and the noise of them jars on my nerves. And I should be obliged to them if they would keep their babies quiet in the night. I do not rest well when there is a baby near by crying. I would advise the use of some reliable kind of soothing sirup. It costs but a trifle, and it secures peace and rest. I want waterinmyroom. Itis very annoying for a man of refined feelings to wash at a kitchen sink, half full of dirty dishes and potato parings, with a troop of open-mouthed children looking on, and the servant girl making remarks about the soap used. And then a family towel to wipe on is dreadful! No reputable person wants to wipe where Tom, Dick and Harry have wiped! Of course not. You wouldn’t want to yourself. I have been in good society, and I know what is what; and I shall speak well of those who treat me becomingly. As for police officers, I despise tho whole lot. I consider them beneath my notice, and give them a wide berth. And I would like you to have my complaint printed, for every man is entitled toa hearing from the public, and I should like to educate people up to the idea that a tramp is a lawful member of society, and that his stomach is just as valuable to him as the stomach of Queen Victoria is to her, in this jubilee year of her reign. And if I could impress this idea on the public, it would do away with giving cold food to tramps. I especially protest against cold food. Yours, very truly, LEMUEL GRANTHAM, Tramp. DECEIT NEVER SUCCEEDS. BY HARKLEY HARKER. Deceit never succeeds—thatis,in the end. Deceit is the short-cut of weak men, who dare not meet life’s battle in the open field. It promises success; but, though for a time it may win, in the long run it must fail, as God is true. No strong man ever uses deception, except when he is confronted by more than his match. You may ex- cept the essential villain, who delights in evil be- cause he is evil; if he be strong, yet he may deceive because it is his nature. But a true-hearted and strong man delights in his vigor; he would far rather display his strength than to conceal it; he would in- finitely rather win an open battle than succeed by ambuscade. Soldiers always glory more in an open field, with even numbers, where courage and endur- ance alone triumph, than in surprises, stratagems, and treasons. There were few battles ever fought in modern times of this character. But those few are the most famous. Gettysburg is our glory, North and South. Not so is the blind Wilderness, or Dutch Gap efforts too numerous to mention. The generals seem to like the stratagems of war. The brave sol- diery exult in Waterloos, where manly strength alone ‘an grapple. Let every reader ask himself how little satisfaction he ever got from an achievement wrought by smartness rather than strength of char- acter. hy, itis in vain to dispute it; boys on the playground, and true men in the arena of life—all strong ones take the keenest pleasure in the exhibi- tion of their strength. In time ambition or avarice debauches us. We think more of the prize itself than the delight of gaining it. Itis a changeless truth that the getting of anything is sweeter than the possession of it. But money-love, and power-love, and pleasure-love do debase us. “Give us the money, the power, the evn !’ wecry. Thenitis that we begin to care ittle how we get it. Then deceit seems to offer us a ready implement. We stoop to deceive. Perhaps, if we are dealing with honest and unsuspecting men we succeed by the falsehood—to call it by a name rarely used, but correct. Still we are defeated. The above mentioned law, of the prized gained the prize con- temned, comes in to cool our satisfaction; then the loss of self-respect by the deceitful means completes our disgust. “It wasn’t worth the lie!” snarles many and many aman at himself. Deceitis its own punishment. Deceit is one of the cruelist sorrows that ever wrings our hearts. It is a maddening pain. It is generally, nay almost necessarily, the stab of a trusted friend’s hand. And yet it thrusts the false man more than his victim. He who is capable of taking an unrighteous advantage of a trustful old friend, has stabbed his own self-respect with its death-blow. His success is dearly bought. He could kick himself as often as he thinks of it. He hates the money he made by it, and generally gives it away in charity, with a futile effort to expiate his own fault. Often a deceiver, having gained his point, creeps back on hands and knees to make resti- tution. If he does not, he is a moral wreck; no man ever bitterly deceived his friend, and confessed not his fault, but his own honor was debauched for all future life. And yet, talk of reparation! What reparation can dire deceit ever make? It may give back gold; but it can never win back confidence—never, never! The utmost failure of deceit is that it is like ink on white velvet; it can never be obliterated. ‘“‘Once a de- ceiver, always a deceiver,’ is the verdict of all hearts. “Ifaman deceives me once, he will never have a second chance,” is the commonest of sayings among high-toned men. Deceit is silly, because it is conceited. It proceeds upon the supposition that one is brighter than other men. Yetthere never was a fraud who was not in the end defrauded; he meets his match. Like gé¢ -. blers who get a reputation, and so attract all the best players to contend with them, you never knew aman with a reputation for being ‘too smart’ but he was continually struggling to keep the belt. Men come from far and near to ‘whip out” such a sharper. The dishonest horse dealer attracts others of his kind asalamp attracts gnats on a summer’s night, and he gets bitten atlast. The king of speculators is fair game for all the street; men never tire of seeking his overthrow; men never give up the effort till he is overthrown. There are men whom all the commercial world regard as common enemies; every man’s hand is against them. After they are dead the deceivers’ children are hated for their fathers’ sakes. I honestly believe that there is nothing that the world follows with such sieuth-hound and relent- less vengeance as successful deceit. It is a standing insult to commercial industry. Itis a temptation to boys which the fathers must abolish. It is a furious anger to all its suffering victims. The world is in arms against it till it bites the dust. Then the world laughs—and probably itself goes on deceiving all whom it can. But my proposition is true that deceit is silly, because itis a course of action which incurs universal enmity. Itis hard enough to pursue busi- ness with all men’s good wishes; but with all men’s rage, business is hard indeed to the simple scamp. Deceit must make the overarching heavens smile— the heaven that sheds its light everywhere, and in whose pureray all the mean rogue’s doubling is plainly visible. No form of deceit escapes the eye of God, who is kind to all, and loves us with an equal love—the God who feels a tender pity for the inno- cent abused, and can surely avenge a lie—the God who shall judge us all at last, and magnify upon its face the smallest secret, till a universe may see it. God is honest, and has decreed that heaven is the home of the frank and true. Surely there is ene last success that all men dream of gaining—a success that transcends all others. which deceit can never achieve. A lie cannot be the key to a happy immor- tality. That is at least a part of every decent man’s creed. ; ee Oo WE are either raised or lowered by our associations. Manners, temper, intellect, and morals are all directly influenced by our surroundings; and those who choose for themselves friends of an inferior caste— whether of mind or of manners, of morals or of con- duct—fall to the level of their choice. CITY CHARACTERS, BY ELLIS LAWRENCE. No. 24.-THE PULLER-IN. REAT REDUCTION) 1) AS We | | I tH “Wf What man or woman is there who ever lived in country or village and does not remember the ways of the merchant whom they chanced to find standing in front of his own place of business ? He generally had his hands in his pockets; he looked as if his only care in life was to pass the time away. He would talk with you about the weather, the crops, politics, the spiritual condition of the community, the malaria in the next town—anything, in short, but the goods he had to sell. If you wanted to buy anything in his store, he would sell it to you, but generally with an air of being sorry to part with it, and of doing you a favor in letting you have it at all. There are New York stores and shops whose owners and clerks stand on the sidewalk; butif you imagine they are the country kind, you will change your mind as soon as you speak to them. Ask a country merchant as to where you will find a certain house, or street, or the post-office, and he will tell you as cheerfully as if you were doing him a favor by asking. Ask questions of a New York man on the sidewalk in front of his shop, and he will look disgusted, and tell you to ask a policeman; lucky are youif he doesn’t say something still more impolite. New Yorkers do not call these men merchants, or clerks, or salesmen; they call them ‘‘pullers-in ;” and when you see them at work you will admit that the title fits them exactly. It is their business to get you inside of the shop, so that you may be compelled to look at their goods—to coax you in, if words are sufficient—but in one way or other to get you in, even if they have to drag you by main force. . It seems improbable that this can really bein the crowded streets of alarge city, well supplied with policemen; butif you have any doubts on the sub- ject, just go in front of any of these stores and seem interested in the stock in trade; you will find it as hard to get away as if your sweetheart was inside. And the chance is that the policeman on the corner, instead of coming to your assistance, will stand off and enjoy the spectacle. The puller-in is not yiolent, for he is not a fool; violence would spoil his chance of making a sale. He doesn’t seize you by the throat and drag you within the shop, but he might as well, for after he has gently laid a forefinger on your arm, then patted you on the shoulder, talking earnestly all the while, and finally slipped his hand gently down your arm and got a firm grip on your sleeve at the elbow, you are about as powerless as if he had you in handcuffs and were swinging a club over your head. The puller-in is generally in the clothing business, though sometimes he deals in jewelry and cigars. He prefers to sell second-hand clothing, for there is a large margin on this. Maybe you cannot see why, but you will fully understand it by the time he is done with you. How he can persuade any sane man to buy some of the goods he sells is a mystery—to those who haven’t seen him at work; but if you will pay him a visit, just out of curiosity, you will find out. And you will buy whatever he wants to sell you, too, and pay sevy- eral times as much as it is worth. A fashionable young fellow from an up-town club bet some friends, not long ago, that he would go into four successive shops infested by pullers-in, and get away without buying anything. He got out of three by leaving hush-money behind; out of the fourth he emerged in aspring overcoat that cost him $15, but which he would not dare offer as a gift to his own stable-boy. Clothes sometimes look different inside a store to what they do in the full light of the sun; so do watches, chains, diamonds, and cigars; it may be only an accident that the shop of the puller-in always has a big wooden awning that shuts out as much daylight as possible. ; How does he persuade men to buy what they really don’t want? Well, he has about as many ways as he has customers. His only idea in life is to sell some- thing for a good deal more than it is worth, and the man of one idea, even if heisn’t a puller-in, gen- erally succeeds in what he undertakes. ; One smart and well-dressed broker's clerk once bet with another that he would spend half an hour in the clothing store of a puller-in, and not buy a thing. He got along nicely for about twenty minutes, when the proprietor suddenly offered him twenty-five dollars for the suit he wore. As the suit only cost twenty a week before, the young man chuckled to himself, and took the money. Then the buyer demanded the clothes. The young man promised to send them. The buyer grew furious, charged an attempt to swindle, and threatened to call a policeman. An offer to return the money was refused, and finally, to avoid a scene, the young man paid $22 for a suit to wear home—a suit which, when he saw it by day- light, compelled him to hide in the rear room of a beer shop until the shades of evening could cover him on his homeward way. That was one way to sell a suit, and get a new one for almost nothing. When business is dull, the pullers-in are said to practice on each other, just to sharpen their wits, like the Yankee peddlers are said to have done when they made five dollars a piece on a rainy day by swapping jackknives with each other. As the pul- lers-in do get the best of each other sometimes, it stands to reason that no one else who falls into their hands can stand a living chance. Sometimes, too, the pullers-in fight with each other, as “birds of a feather flock together.” Their shops are apt to be side by side, and a customer will waver between two until the dealer who finally gets him must fight to protect his prize. After seeing such a fight, the beholder is not likely to try his own fists upon a puller-in. The police call them ‘a tough crowd,” and the police are right. Contemplation of the success of the puller-in, in his favorite line, provokes wonder why he has not been employed in other ways. He would be worth a bun- dred dollars a day to a bar-room, and he could haul more sinners into a revival meeting in one single evening than Moody and Sankey could catch in a week. Perhaps there are not enough pullers-in to go round, but when the breed has had a fair chance to multiply, nobody else will be able to do any busi- ness. oo or FACE ANTIPATHIES. The ill-fated Louis II. of Bavaria was so nervous and impressionable when a boy that some faces not only repelled, but terrified him. There were two or three servants whose features he loathed; but King Maximilian, his father, wishing to cure the boy of this nonsense, as he called it, insisted that they should vait on the prince. The father was an honest and enlightened king, but he was not a wise nor a genial educator. His remedy for the boy’s nervousness only intensified the disorder. For when Prince Louis met these servants he would tremble, shut his eyes, and turn his face to the wall until they had passed out of sight. He had several uncongenial tutors, and in their presence this lad would sit dumb and stupid. They could teach him nothing, for he would not learn any- thing from them. Atlast his mother, who had not shared her husband’s opinion as to the best method of curing the boy, prevailed upon the king to humor the lad’s antipathies within reason. The obnoxious servants and tutors were removed, and attendants and teachers with whom he could be sympathetic were chosen in their stead. The indul- gence produced good results. The prince studied, be- came less nervous, and gradually learned to control his emotions at the sight of disagreeable faces. worthiness of the revelations made by physiognomy. He once told this anecdote, to illustrate the fact that one might trust a man’s face to indicate his char- acter. Lavater, who tried to make physiognomy a science, was once lecturing at Zurich. In the midst of the discourse, astranger, who had listened attentively, rose and left the room. ; “Gentlemen,” said Lavater, breaking off ‘in his lecture, ‘‘my theories are of course fallible; but judg- ing by them, I should say that the person who has just left this room has upon his conscience some great crime, and from his features I should say that the this crime was murder. Lavater’s remarks prompted an investigation into the person’s former life. It was ascertained that he was living in Zurich under an assumed name, his real name being Lilliehorn, and that he was one of the officers who had conspired to assassinate Gustavus III. of Sweden. On pe Humor and Philosophy. BY GEORGE RUSSELL JACKSON, Why She Was Changed. I met her on the yellow sands When sunset flushed the western skies ; With joy I grasped her tiny hands And gazed into her azure eyes. “And do we meet again?’ I said; “How often have I thought of you!” She turned away and hung her head As she from mine her hands withdrew. A sudden pang shot through my heart; “What means this change?’ I wildly cried; “Have we but met again to part ?”’ She answered not, but softly sighed. “Have you forgot of what we talked, When strolling by the moonlit sea, That happy night when here we walked And you avowed your love for me? “And shall those hours return no more, When I was happiest of men? Oh! smile upon me as of yore, And let us be as we were then!”’ “Ah, no!” she sighed, and turned to go, While blushes flamed her cheeks and brow ; “Ah, no! it might cause talk, you know, Be-c-cause, you see, I’m married now.” James Knew the Sex. WIFE.—‘“‘Will you please hold the baby a moment till Irun to the back fence and ask Mrs. Jones how she enjoyed the party last night? Isee sheis hang- ing out her clothes.” ‘ HusBAND.—‘And have I got to hold the baby until you come back ?’ W.—“‘Certainly. I'll only be a moment.” H.—‘Are you going to talk to her across the back fence, Mary ?”’ W.—‘Of course, James. Only for a moment.” Then James went to the landing and shouted down stairs to the servant girl: “Bridget, Pll give you a dollar if you will come and take charge of this baby for four hours.” There is at present a dark cloud hanging over that household. Things We Learn Too Late. That she, for whom we did the joys of bachelorhood eschew, Can’t bake a cake, or cook as well as mother used to do. That he to whom, in confidence, a ten we gladly lent A year ago, to pay us back has not the least intent. That he to whom our mind and heart in faith we did unfold Was false, and to his other friends has all our secrets told. That she for whom we spent our cash (for caramels and cream), Was nightly with another ‘‘mash,” and dreaming ‘‘Love’s Young Dream.” That he for whom we “‘backed a note’”’—a simple “thirty Was “laughing in his sleeve” to think that note we’ll have to pay. These are some of the little things it seems that cruel ate Decrees that we shall never learn until it is too late! Aiding a Tramp. “Madam,” said the tramp, as he stood on the stoop, “T was once a respectable-looking gentleman.” “But that was a long time ago,” she said. “Yes, a long time ago,”’ was the reply. “Well,” said she, handing him out a cake of soap and a piece of pumice-stone, “if you use these, you may be arespectable-looking gentleman again. While there’s life there’s soap, you know.” And he went away with a heavy heart, for he had much possessions of the soil of his country upon his person. Kissing the Bride. To kiss the bride, I’m free to say, If she’s another’s property, Is throwing a salute away ; It is a mere formality. But sweet it is the bride to kiss— The sweetest thing in life ; It thrills the heart with new-born bliss, If you can call her “wife.” Not an Uncommon Circumstance. He (fondly).—‘‘Then we can consider it all settled, Jennie, darling. Oh, how delighted I am. Dearest, you will never have cause to regret the answer you lave given me to-night. The highest efforts of my life will be devoted to your happiness. I will shield you from every blast, protect you from every care. And shall I speak to your pa, darling ?”’ SHE (blushingly).—‘‘No, Henry; speak toma. She is the boss of this family.” A Fortunate Strike. The sailor fell from the giddy mast, And struck on a coil of rope; His arm he broke, but the captain spoke And said, ‘‘While there’s life there’s hope.” And if he gets over this fall, I’m sure, That very well off he’ll be, And sail no more, but remain on shore, For he’s just struck coil, you see. The Equilibrium Threatened. A society paper says that an unusually large num- ber of Harvard men will go to Europe this summer. The society papers have our thanks for this informa- tion. If the world should tip up, we will know to what cause to ascribe the disturbance of nature. The Book He Was Going to Take. ‘Have you ever read Charles O’Malley, George ?”’ “Yes, dear, I have.” “Ain’t it delightful! o next week I am going to take it with me. going to take a book with you?” “Yes, my dear, Iam going to take my pocket-book, and I expect I’ll need it too.” When we go to Long Branch Ain’t you Harmony of Color. A Boston girl, intent upon committing suicide, gave up the attempt upon discovering that she could procure nothing but Paris green with which to ac- complish her design, as green didn’t harmonize with her complexion. Candidates for Pitchers. A number of Japanese are coming to this country to learn base-ball. They have heard that large prices have been paid in the United States for Japanese vases, and they delude themselves with the idea that equally high prices will be paid for Japanese pitch- ers. JONES.—“I understood that musquitoes would not come near you when you were smoking.” Brown.—‘‘Well, they won’t.” J.—“But I smoked last night, and while in the act they stung me terribly.” B.—*What were you smoking ?”’ J.—“A cigarette.” B.—‘That’s where you made your mistake, my boy. If you want to keep the musquitoes away, you must smoke tobacco.” Cicero says, “There is nothing so beautiful, but that there is something still more beautiful ;” but you needn’t waste time by going out of your way to tell this to a young man who has just fallen in love with an angelina gipsy hat, navy-blue flannel dress, and bronzed tennis shoes. Beware of the man who tells you, under the seal of secrecy, of the weaknesses of his friends. To the next friend: he makes, he is going to particularize yours. About the first thing most people think of who acquire sudden wealth is how they can drop their poor acquaintances and relations without having the thing appear too abrupt. ‘What do men want to go into saloons for?” asks a prohibitionist. This is a question we have often asked ourselves, and the only answer that ever oc- curred to us was: ‘‘To get a drink.” “Tsn’t this a progressive age?” shrieks a reformer. Itis. Every young man knows more than his father. Latest Publications. FOR THE SINS OF HIS YOUTH.—This is the expressive title of a novel by Mrs. Jane Kavanagh, who has fre- quently contributed clever sketches and thoughtful poems to the NEW YORK WEEKLY. The work has just been issued by G. W. Dillingham, and is an earnestly told, life- like story, in which the tender passion is artistically interwoven with several unique and delicately drawn scenes. But he always remained a believer in the trust- Correspondence. GOSSIP WITH READERS AND CONTRIBUTORS, t= Communications addressed to this department will not be noticed unless the names of responsible parties are signed to them as evidence of the good faith of the writers. Caleb, Springfield, Ill—The Dead Sea (also called the Sea of Sodom) is a salt lake of Palestine, between the mountains of Moab on the east and those of Hebron on the west, about 18 miles from Jerusalem. It is 42 miles long and nearly ten miles in its greatest breadth. The water is dense and bitter with its heavy charge of salt, so that bodies float in it with much greater buoyancy than in other seas. It is said that in bathing, one experiences difficulty in keeping the feet down, and a man may float in it breast high without exertion. On anything being dipped into the sea and withdrawn, the water almost immediately evaporates, leaving & thin crust of salt. A few plants which furnish soda in their ashes are ocasionally found on the shore; but the few bushes to be seen often present their branches leafless and incrusted with salt, and the trunks of the dead trees scattered here and there make the surroundings very desolate. The want of vegetable matter for food must necessarily toa great extent exclude animal life, and this accounts for the absence of it in most samples of water brought from the sea. Wm. W., Bluffton, Ind.—1st. Acute rheumatism fre quently attacks the heart. The younger the patient, the more liable the heart is to be affected. The disease some- times disappears in ten or twelve days; but it sometimes lasts for months, and may lapse into a chronic state and continue indefinitely, Treatment by quinine has been pursued with success. 2d. Angina pectoris seldom af- fects young people. It occurs most frequently in the meridian of life or during its decline. The nature of the malady is involved in some obscurity, but it is generally regarded as an affection of the nerves, especially of those which supply the lungs and the heart. It is not unlike neuralgia—in fact it is sometimes called neuralgia of the heart. 3d. It begins with a sensation of pain and con- striction in the region of the heart, and a numbness in the left arm. It 1s caused, in nervous subjects, by over- excitement, running up stairs rapidly, walking against a strong wind, or violent action or emotion of any kind. When far advanced, paroxysms are easily brought on. A.M. B., Schenectady, N. Y.—The Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College was opened in Columbus in Sep- tember, 1873. The system of instruction embraces three schools: 1, exact science, including mathematics, civil engineering, physics and meehanics, and chemistry ; 2, natural history, comprising botany, zoology, geology, and agriculture; 3, letters, embracing the English, German, French, Latin, and Greek languages and literatures. So- cial science and political economy are also taught. The entire course of instruction occupies four years. The studies of the first two years are prescribed. During the remainder of the course the student has a liberty of choice from six courses of study. He is required to take atleast one from each of the schools above mentioned, and may take all of his remaining studies from one school. Instruction is free to pupils of both sexes. W. Lowndes, Nashville, Tenn.—ist. The date of the foundation of Stuttgart, Germany, is not actually known. Itis mentioned as early as 1229, and was selected as a residence by Count Eberhard in 1320. In 1482 Count Ulrie made it the capital of Wurtemberg, It stands in a very beautiful valley. The public garden is one of the finest in Germany. The old palace, finished in 1806, is now oc- cupied by officials connected with the government. 2d, Stuttgart is the central point of the Wurtemberg rail- ways, seven lines extending fromit Itsrailway station is thought to be the bestin Germany. Its manufactures includes woolen, silk, linen, and cotton goods, jewelry, musical and philosophical instruments, leather, and tin ware. 3d. The population of Stuttgart in 1885 was 125,906, Its properity has of late much increased. Mrs. J. M. M., Long Island.—To make “Aunt Lydia’s corn-cakes,” so called after a colored woman cook, sift into a large pan a quart of Indian meal. Add a saltspoon- ful of salt. Have ready a pint of boiling milk, sufficient to make a soft dough. Mix the milk hot with the meal, and add a quarter of a pound of fresh butter. Stir all very hard, and set ifto cool. Beat four eggs very light, and when the mixture is cool stir them gradually into it. Butter some square or oblong tins, and fill them with the mixture. Set them into a moderate oven, and bake them well. Serve them up hot, and eat them with butter or sirup, or both. Itis said that no Indian breakfast cakes are better than these. Anna L. B., Campbell, Tenn.—To pickle green tomatoes, puncture them with a fork, place them on adish, and sprinkle them with salt. Let them remain for two days; then rinse off the salt in clear water; put them in a pre- serving vessel, cover them with water, which keep scald- ing hot for one hour; then take them out, and let them drain. Then put them in jars. Boil the vinegar, with some cloves, allspice, and stick cinnamon. When cold, pour over sufficient of the vinegar to cover them. L. V. W.—To make Congress water, take common salt seven and three quarter ounces ; hydrate of soda, twenty- three grains; bicarbonate of soda, twenty grains; cal- cined magnesia, one ounce. Add the above ingredients to ten gallons of water, and charge with gas. Of course this is an imitation of the celebrated spring water, which has more or less medicinal properties, as found by chemical analysis. The quantity of carbonic acid gas introduced is usually about five times the volume of liquid. B. M. C., Newburgh, N. Y.—Munkacsy’s painting of “Christ Before Pilate’ was completed over four years ago. The size of the canvas is 24 by 17 feet, and the figures, of which there are thirty-six, are life-size. The artist was one year in executing the work, designing and sketching each figure separately before placing it on the main canvas. The original owner, Mr. Charles Sedel- meyer, had realized upon it a clear profit of $100,000 before selling it in this country for alike sum. Brunswicker.-Death-watch is a superstitious name given to the sound produced by several insects, but mostly by asmall beetle. The tick of the death-watch is made by striking their heads or mandibles against the wood in which they are concealed. These strong and repeated strokes, from seven to eleven, resemble the regular tick- ing of a watch, and are supposec to be the means by which the sexes calleach other. The wood louse makes a similar tick. R. L. R.—The Comanche Indians are a roving race, roaming when first known from the head waters of the Brazos and Colorado to those of the Arkansas and Mis- souri, and in some bands penetrating to Durango in Mexico and to Santa Fe in New Mexico. They are great hunters and warriors, and splendid horsemen. The United States Government has collected some of them on anew reservation in the western part of the Indian Ter- ritory. Rene, Paris, Ky.—The librarian of the State of Louisiana is Mrs. Laura Bayhi. Salary $900. Michigan, Harriet A. Tenney. Salary $1,000. Indiana, Lizzie O. Callis. Salary $1,200. Kentucky, Mrs. V. Hanson. Salary $1,000, Iowa, Mrs. 8. B. Maxwell. Salary $1,500. Mississippi, Mrs. M. Morancy. Salary $800.. Tennessee, Mrs. 8S. K. Hatton. Salary $1,000. Territory of Montana, Miss L. Guthrie, Salary $300. Washington, Eliza D. Newell. Salary $400. Leonard G., Poughkeepsie, N. Y.—The steamship Van- derbilt after the war was sold at auction, converted into a sailing vessel, and named the Three Brothers. In 1883 she was sold to a Liverpool firm, and has since become a coal hulk. She was built by Com. Vanderbilt at a cost of about $800,000. Grant K., Alexander, Kans.—ist. July 10, 1868, fell on Friday. 2d. The longest verse in the Bible is the ninth verse of the eighth chapter of Esther; the shortest is the thirty-fifth verse of the eleventh chaper of St. John. 3d. The distance from New York to Kansas City, Mo., is 1,348 miles. N. E. C., Portsmouth, Va.—ist. At the Presidential elec- tion of 1884, in this city, Cleveland recekyed 133,157 votes ; Blaine 90,093: Butler, 3,499; St. John, 1,031. 2d. At the last election for Mayor in this city Hewett received 90,552 votes ; George 68,110; Roosevelt 60,435. Alice Maud H., Poughkeepsie.—Letters addressed to the parties named will reach them through the general post-office in Brooklyn and Washington.