The Springdale news., 1889-08-30
PERSONAL AND LITERARY.

George Parsons Lathrop has writ ten story dealing with an imaginary time in the distant future when It wlil be as much of distinction to be poor as it is now to be enormously rich
 A volume of the poems Of MT. Frederick Tennyson, eldest brother ot the poet Laureate, is. among the re- ,ints in contemplation. They have become scarce and difficult to procure.
 Miss Anna W. Williams, who sat for the picture of liberty on the silver dollar, was recently appointed ln- structor in philosophy and kindergar- ten methods in the Philadelphia Girls Normal School.
 pr Joseph Taylor, of Kennett Square, Pittsburgh, lately finished the task, begun over seventeen years ago, of reading through Webster's Una bridged Dictionary, something which only one other man has done, and he a Georgian.
 Many are the detractors of Charles Dickens, but his amanuensis has given him the most bitter blow of all. In an interview published some time since he says: He (Dickens) was an in satiable cigarette smoker, and when dictating to me always had cigarette in his mouth.
 Here is picture of Tenny son by ! Edward Fitzgerald, the translator Of Omar Khayyam: We have had Alfred Tennyson here; droll and wayward; and much sitting up of nights till two and three in the morn ing with pipes in our mouth; at which good hour we would get Alfred to give us some of his magic music. which he does between growl- ing and smoking; and 50 to bed '"
 One of the first public libraries of New Jersey was founded in l196 in New Brunswick The librarian book has lately been examined, and it does not bear out the notion that in those days nothing but good solid literature was read. It is found that over third Of the reading done was of fiction, pure and simple, though only one-eighth of the books was devoted to that branch of literature, During the first two months The Fool of Destiny was drawn eighteen times and ''Desmond" eight. Independent
 The Prussian war minister rc- gently published in two volumes a history Of the colors of the Irussian army from 1907. It appears that in the campaign of 1861 and 1896, nine ty-nine standards were pierced by balls. In the campaign of 1870 the number of regimental colors pierced was 15l. The flag of the Se venth Regiment Of Infantry was hit by twonty-three balls in the single battle of Mars-la-Tour. In the entire Franco-Prussian war thirty-eight Prussian standard bearers were killed while holding their colors.
 John Ellington Bailey, of Stret- \ ford, Manche ter, who died last year, accumulated the best shorthand collec- ton in England, and it has been bought and presented to the Manchester Free Reference Library as the Bailey short hand Collection" Wherever q book pr MS. on in or about shorthand in any language was to be had Mr.. Bailey would secure it if he could. ln several instances every edition of the same work was bought, the entire list finally amounting to one thousand VOL umes. He was himself an expert stenographer. He possessed singu- lar insight into the most grabbed oI shorthands. He succeeded with ease in dcciphering some of tho most ap- parontly bewildering, including that used in Samuel Pepy's diary. Hio col lection began with "Bright's Charac- toricn of the time of Elizabeth.