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There are a great many lives, very pleas¬ 
ant lives to lead and not altogether useless 
to the world, in which a white frock like 
those worn at graduation exercises would 
be absolutely useless, and the custom which 
compels a girl to have such a costume is 
altogether to be condemned, but who is 
going to help the poor things ? Not their 
teachers, unless they wish to be over¬ 
whelmed by an outpouring of girlish logic 
and deafened with cries of “mean old 
thing!” Not the school committee, for the 
members of that body have tried to deal 
with the matter and have found themselves 
powerless. 
The only persons who can relieve girls of 
straightened means from the necessity of 
useless expenditure are those wealthy wom¬ 
en who have daughters about to graduate. 
Let them lay down the rule that their 
children shall receive their diplomas array¬ 
ed either in their ordinary school dress or 
in plain costumes suitable for every-day 
wear, and the way becomes easy for the 
poor girl who can clothe herself according 
to her means without seeing the difference 
between her appearance and that of her 
more favored schoolmates any greater than 
it usually is. If she have not sufficient 
strength of mind to bear that difference, 
it is of little consequence either to the city 
or to her parents whether she is graduated 
or not, but it is shameful to compel her to 
be extravagant or to seem singular .—The 
American Cultivator. 
Hints to Travellers. 
Always keep your head and arms inside 
the car window. 
Remember that it is not necessaay to be 
intrusive in order to be polite. 
Take your time in getting on or off the 
cars; nothing is gained by haste. 
Avoid being boisterous, and do not try to 
make yourself conspicuous. 
Never disclose your business to the stran¬ 
ger in whose company you may happen to 
be. 
Bear in mind that the comfort of others 
should be taken into consideration when 
you travel. 
Your open window may be a source of 
great annoyance and discomfort to your 
neighbors. 
Do not litter the seat you occupy with 
boxes and bundles, to exclude other passen¬ 
gers from sharing with you the accommo¬ 
dation it affords. 
Respectfully decline any and all invita¬ 
tions, extended by strangers with whom, 
you are brought in contact, to indulge in 
social games of cards. 
Do not ask the conductor foolish ques¬ 
tions about the route; remember that he is 
not familiar with the running time of all 
the roads in the United States. 
AFTER A WHILE, 
There is a strange, sweet solace in the thought 
That all the woes we suffer here below 
May, as a dark and hideous garment wrought 
For us to wear, whether we will or no, 
Be cast aside, with a relieving smile, 
After a little while. 
No mortal roaming but hath certain end; 
Though far unto the ocean-spaces gray 
We sail and sail, without a chart for friend,.. 
Above the sky-line, faint and far away, 
There looms at last the one enchanted isle 
After a little while. 
Oh, when our cares come thronging thick and fast. 
With more of anguish than the heart can bear, 
Thongh friends desert, and, as the heedless blast. 
Even love pass by us with a stony stare, 
Let us withdraw into some ruined pile, 
Or lonely forest aisle. 
And contemplate the never-ceastng change 
Whereby the processes of God are wrought. 
And from our petty lives our souls estrange, 
Till, bathed in currents of exalted thought, 
We feel the rest that must our cares beguile, 
After a little while. 
—Nathan D. Urner . 
——-- 
A Tested Bug Remedy. 
BY M. B. DUMBELL, 
Get a large dredging box one that will 
hold about a pint of powder, procure one 
or two ounces of finely ground red pepper, 
mix with a little wheat flower, about a 
teaspoonful of flonr to an ounce of pepper, 
then just as soon as the cucumber plants 
make their appearance dust them well 
with the mixture, giving the plants a look 
every day to see that the pepper is not 
blown away; going over the plants again 
immediately after a rain, and so forth, until 
the plants are out of danger. 
