The following rather curious piece of composition was placed upon the blackboard at a teacher's institute, and a prize of a Webster's dictionary offered to any person who could read and pronounce every word correctly. The book was not carried off, however, as twelve was the lowest number of mistakes in pronunciation made:

"A sacrilegious son of Belial, who suffered from bronchitis, having exhausted his finances, in order to make good the deficit, resolved to ally himself to a comely, lenient and docile young lady of the Malay or Caucasian race. He accordingly purchased a calliope and a coral necklace of a chameleon hue, and securing a suite of rooms at a principal hotel, he engaged the head waiter as his conjutor. He then dispatched a letter of the most unexceptional caligraphy extant, inviting her to a matinee. She revolted at the idea, refused to consider herself sacrificable to his desires, and sent a polite note of refusal. On receiving which he procured a carbine and bowie knife, said that he would not now forge fetters hymeneal with the queen, went to an isolated spot, severed his jugular vein and discharged the contents of his carbine into his abdomen. The debris was removed by the coroner."