Tourists returning from abroad report a new fad which has, for the moment at least, superseded the erstwhile popular craze for souvenir spoons; instead, milady now collects dainty handkerchiefs. From the days of Josephine to the present the handkerchief has been an important item in the expenditure of a fastidious woman; a good dresser considers her toilet incomplete without a bit of snowy lawn or linen, which, though scarcely ever seen, and it may be severely plain, must yet be above reproach with regard to fineness of texture. An inveterate globe trotter, who has just returned from the other side, rejoices in an exquisite collection of these cobwebby nothings. At every city or town where she stopped, no matter how short her stay or how insignificant the village, another square of linen as faithfully added to her spoils, and, curiously enough, she readily recalls where each was purchased. So that her handkerchiefs, in a measure, serve her as a sort of note book.

London Tid-Bits: One of the most valuable flocks of Southdown sheep in the United States is the property of Mr. Mansan Migg, the beet-root sugar magnate. A peculiar fact in connection with the flock is that it is looked after, not by sheep dogs, but by six trained Spanish game cocks. They are armed each morning with spurs, and have so fierce a way of attacking any sheep that tries to run away or will not be driven that the animals are now thoroughly afraid of the birds and obey their directions perfectly. Mr. Migg’s daughter brought the birds from the Canary Islands.

We have been quite oppressed by men who would cut off the floating tresses of young girls; we also have suffered from a maniac who could not resist squirting ink on the gowns of the passing women, and last year a man with a sharp pair of scissors used to slash pieces out of anyone’s coat or skirt that came within his radius. This last person was sent to a madhouse, whence he ought ought not have been released; but, being pronounced cured, he was launched upon an unsuspecting community again and profited by his liberty to use his scissors once more. He accosted a lad in a deserted street, asked him to write down an address, and profited by his occupation to neatly slice off the lobes of both the poor boy’s ears, and then ran away. This interesting lunatic, whose name is Maire, will now go into permanent confinement; but the youth’s ears are permanently disfigured, to his great anguish of mind.

The Mississippi valley, from the headwaters to the gulf, was roughly shaken up by an earthquake shock, which, while it did no serious damage, was quite severe in many places. At New Albany, Ind., a church wall fell in and crushed in an organ causing a loss of $2,000. In the vicinity of Gadsden, Ala., several persons were bruised by being thrown from their beds and several houses were partially wrecked. Near Charlestown, Mo., hundreds of chimneys were toppled down and windows in store fronts broken. The brick Methodist church there was also badly shattered and the plastering knocked from the walls of many dwellings. At Louisville, Ky., three severe shocks were felt and all the tall buildings are reported to have swayed like reeds. In Cincinnati the buildings shook as from a great explosion, and many people were flung from their beds. St. Louis, Mo., people were so badly scared that they left their homes and remained in the open air until numbed with cold. The public library building in Cairo, Ill., was badly damaged, and many chimneys were shaken down. A swaying of buildings and a loud rumbling noise were perceived in Cleveland. Cracks a foot wide were made in the walls of the capitol building in Jackson, Miss. Noises resembling thunder were heard in Nashville, Tenn., when the vibrations ceased. Michigan felt only a brief rocking with an almost imperceptible rumble, but not damage was done beyond the breaking of a few dishes. Reports show that the seismic disturbance was manifest in various other parts of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia.

Though “missing word” contests were declared illegal six months or a year ago in England and were supposed to have been definitely stopped, they are still being carried on. Unfortunately it is only the fraudulent ones that are now in existence. The “missing word contest” was so popular for many months after it was introduced that it has been kept up even against the law. It never attained any great popularity in this country. A sentence was printed with one word left blank, and the first person who supplied the missing word by mail got the chief prize, other awards being made up to a considerable sum. Each competitor sent in something like a shilling as entrance fee, and the total amount received in this way, generally an enormous sum, was distributed among the winners. That was the way the competition went when it was managed fairly. But the most of the the missing word games, if not all of them, are now running, are managed on no such principle. The periodicals now conducting them are generally printed somewhere on the continent, and are scattered broadcast on British soil. In many cases they are not periodicals at all, but merely circulars sealed up as letters giving the terms of the competition and the sentence to be completed. An instance of how one of these swindles works is that of a working man who sent three shillings abroad to a contest. A few days later he received in reply a letter marked “Private,” ostensibly from an employe of the foreign concern which offered in “revenge” to supply the missing word secretly for twenty shillings, or about $5. The deluded mechanic sent on the money and received the word. Shortly afterwards he got a letter from the company, saying that he had won, and that there were several hundred dollars standing to his credit. The only trouble was, so the letter ran, that another competitor had lodged a complaint and claimed two pounds. If he was willing to buy the man out, sending two pounds by postal, the prize money would be forwarded to him in full.

The working man started to pawn clothing in order to raise the money, when a friend suggested to him to have the company send the prize money minus the two pounds. He wrote to that effect. In answer came a letter stating that he need not send the money, as it had all been settled. But they had a charge on their books against him for “notarial and other costs of currency,” amounting to five shillings. Would he send that over immediately for expenses. Confidingly he did so, and never heard from the company afterwards.

The management of the Grand Opera House announces the engagement for three nights only. Nov. 11, 12 and 13, of Santanelle, the master of hypnotism, and the most talked about man of the day. His long successful series of entertainments in Detroit, covering 28 performances, caused the liveliest commotion rmoung men of learning, the newpapers particularly, and medical profession generally. Santanelli’s endorsement signed by 75 of 26 medical students from the Detroit College of Medicine and the Michigan College, pronounce him a man of honesty of purpose and thoroughness in all his claims. He is a mystifier of the deepest skill; many physicians and scientific men and women attend his interesting exhibitions, soley for what they may be able to gain in the study of hypnotism.

On the broad, brown salt meadows that skirt the Housatonic river just above its mouth is a vast colony of marsh wrens. In the acres of tangled tules and cat-tails they have built nests innumerable, prettily woven affairs of reed and cat-tail leaves. The nests, which are as large as one’s head, are so compactly constructed and so thoroughly thatched as to be entirely weather-tight. As a rule, the thrifty little chattering wrens prefer not to occupy a last year’s nest, so there are eery season hundreds of empty ones. They are not allowed to remain vacant long, however, for there are too many creatures seeking just such snug shelters.

One species of field or meadow mice, take possession of a great many of them, and the old mice can be seen at all times of the day nimbly running up and down the reeds, coming to an going from their cosy homes. Like most squatters, they are not the most desirable settlers, and, sad to say, frequently repay their open-hearted landlords by eating all the pink eggs in the near-by wrens’ nests. If caught in the act, a dozen of the excited birds will organize a vigilance committee, trail the thief to his home and drive him and his family from the nest, tearing it to pieces to prevent any return.

Big spiders, too, love to nest in the abandoned basket-like abodes, and live for many seasons in them.

The most desirable tenants of all are the big black and white hornets. By fare the greater number of the old nests are inhabited by these fiery fellows, and, odd to relate, they are best of friends with the landlords. As if by agreement with the wrens, they keep a perpetual guard over the new nests, as well as those where they live. Let a dog, an unconscious rail or snipe shooter, a bird’s-egging boy, or any creature whatever approach the nests within a few yards, and, suddenly, without warning, a cohort of winged warriors will fall on the intruder, and flight is the only safe course. To fight would mean death, for the hornets would soon be reinforced by other nestfuls until they would cover the victim and sting him to death.

The wrens seem fully conscious of the value of such sentinels, for they take care to build their new nests always very near the old. The birds are themselves very defenseless, and, their nests being easily located on account of size and the noise made by the wrens, they have been in some localities entirely wiped out by egg-collectors. The boys have learned to give this colony a wide berth, however, and the Housatonic marsh-wrens are fast increasing in numbers, and, unless the hornets shift their quarters, are likely to sing happily there in the reeds and raise many a brood of young in years to come.

Information: In Turkestan, on the right bank of the Amou Diara, in a chain of rocky hills, near the Bokharan town of Karaki, are a number of large caves which, upon examination, were found to lead to an underground city, built apparently long before the Christian era. According to effigies, inscriptions and designs upon the gold and sliver money unearthed from among the ruins, the existence of the town dates back to some two centuries before the birth of Christ.

The underground Bokharan city is about two versts long and is composed of an enormous labyrinth of corridors, streets and squares, surrounded by houses and other buildings two or three stories high. The edifices contain all kinds of domestic utensils, pots, urns, vases and so forth. In some of the streets falls of earth and rock have obstructed the passages, but generally the visitor can walk about freely without lowering his head. The high degree of civilization attained by the inhabitants of the city is shown by the fact that they built in several stories, by the symmetry of the streets and square, and by the beauty of the clay and metal utensils and of the ornaments and coins.