ODDS AND ENDS. 



The following is from a medical journal; 

 no affidavit goes with it and the reader 

 can use his discretion as to believing it: 

 "A young man of Rahway, Pa., whose 

 weight had decreased from 140 to 90 

 pounds, and who was being treated for 

 consumption, coughed up a live frog three 

 inches long, which is in the possession of 

 the physician, who suspects the presence of 

 other batracians somewhere about the pa- 

 tient.'' We do not wish to draw odious 

 comparisons, but the above reminds us of 

 the man in the Klondike who cut a hole 

 in the ice to go fishing. He cast in his 

 line and drew up not a fish on his hook 

 but a gold nugget worth $35,000,000. 



General Crow, attorney-general of the 

 state of Missouri, gives it as his opinion 

 that the reading of the bible in school and 

 the repetition of the Lord's prayer is con- 

 trary to law. He claims that these exer- 

 cises are forms of religious worship, and 

 as such are forbidden to be done in a pub- 

 lic school house during school hours. 



FALSE PRETENSES. 

 Every now and then the heart of the 

 homely girl beats high with hope as she 

 catches sight of a big newspaper heading 

 "How to be beautiful'' or "How to Have a 

 Fine Complexion." At last she sees the 

 long-coveted prize of beauty, within her 

 reach. Beauty the potent power that 

 has cast its spell over men since the year 

 one. Beauty, what power it gives, to its 

 possessor. For beautiful women empires 

 have rose ai.d fell, battles have been 

 fought, men have become heroes or cow- 

 ards through her influence, kings or fools; 

 have sacrificed to the beauteous one posi- 

 tion, honor, wealth, fame. everything, 

 even life itself. 



And all this power is within the grasp 



of the homely girl! With a hand that 

 trembles with hope she clutches the pa- 

 per and her eager eyes devour the article 

 that is to change her from a round-shoul- 

 dered, pasty-faced, ungainly creature into 

 a "thing of beauty" that is "a joy forever. 1 

 And after reading that a graceful figure, 

 a fine complexion of the traditional 

 "peaches and cream" type, sparkling eyes 

 and other attributes of beauty may be 

 possessed by any one who desires them 

 and will take a little trouble, she further 

 learns that it all resolves itself into; "Good 

 health is of course requisite and is the 

 first thing to be considered. Out-door ex- 

 ercise (plenty of it, too) and a simple, 

 healthful diet is necessary." Cleanliness 

 is next mentioned, and then, after strug- 

 gling through the remainder of the article 

 she is met by the assertion, which in a 

 modified form is generally the closing par- 

 agraph of all articles of this nature. "I 

 think our hearts and actions have a great 

 deal to do with our good looks. A selfish, 

 irritable woman can not look beautiful." 

 or in the trite adage that regaled our 

 youthful ears "Pretty is as pretty does." 

 Cold comfort to the searcher after beauty. 

 The paper is thrown down in disgust and 

 the disappointed maiden thinks there 

 ought to be a law against such an impo- 

 sition being practiced upon the public. 

 And then she goes to sympathize with the 

 man who has just read a thrilling story of 

 love and adventure, only to learn at the 

 close that if the heroine had taken 

 Dr. Humbug's cure for consumption, she 

 would have lived to become the happy 

 wife of the hero, instead of finding an un- 

 timely jrrave. L. WING. 



According to Gardner's Magazine, there 

 are 28,000 schools in France with gardens 



