w era in ocean warfare,
and that the _Monitor_ and _Merrimac_, which had waged so gallant and so
terrible a battle, were the first ships of the new era, and that as such
their names would be forever famous.

A HINT.

BY MARGARET E. SANGSTER.

If only you'll think of it, dearie,
When people are vexing and rude,
And be pleasant for two,
When one's scolding at you.
You will conquer the contrary mood.

If only you'll think of it, dearie,
When a certain troublesome elf,
With pease in his shoes,
And a look of the blues,
Comes calling upon you himself--

If _only_ you'll think of it, dearie,
And laugh, like the sun, in his face,
He will scamper away;
You'll be happy all day;
And _I'd_ like to be in your place.

A CHINESE ENTERPRISE.

We are all more or less interested nowadays in China and the Chinese.
They are a curious people, and their customs are so different from those
of other nations that to us, who are proud of being civilized, they
sometimes seem quite ridiculous. What civilized nation would provide a
regular home for beggars, for instance--not as a matter of charity, for
all civilized people do that, but purely in the line of business? Yet
the Chinese do this, if the following story told by a German newspaper
is true. According to this journal, the _Kleine Chronik_, a joint-stock
company in Peking erected some years ago a large building termed
Ki-mao-fan, or hen-feather-house. It is to be used as a night refuge for
the begging population of the Celestial city. A monster feather-bed
covers the whole floor of one of the largest rooms. Old and young, all
are admitted without distinction. Each settles down for the night as
comfortably as he can in this ocean of feathers. At first each sleeper
received a small blanket, but it was found, subsequently, that these
blankets very soon disappeared, being probably appropriated by the
servants of the establishment, so an enormous common blanket, full of
round holes through which the beggars at rest on the feathers can thrust
their heads for air, was made, large enough to cover the floor of the
whole room. In the day-time this general blanket is drawn up to the
ceiling by ropes and pulleys, and at night, when all the company are in
their places, it is let down, and then the beggars have to look sharp to
get their heads through one of the holes lest they run a good chance of
being suffocated. The same in the m