One of the most amusing accidents imaginable happened recently to an old gentleman in one of our large Eastern cities.  He was asked to buy a ticket to a fireman’s ball and good-naturedly complied.  The next question was what to do with it.  He had two servants, either one of whom would be glad to use it, but he did not wish to show favoritism.  Then it occurred to him that he might buy another ticket and give both his servants a pleasure.  Not knowing where the tickets were sold, he inquired of a policeman, and the officer suggested that he go to the engine house.  So the old gentleman went to the engine house that evening, but there was no one in sight.  He had never been in such a place before, and stood for a moment or so uncertain how to make his presence known.  Presently he saw an electric button on the side of the room, and he put his thumb on it.  The effect was electrical in every sense of the word.  Through the ceiling, down the stairs and from every other direction firemen came running and falling, the horses rushed out of their stalls, and, in short, all the machinery of a modern engine house was instantly in motion.  Amid all this uproar stood the innocent old gentleman, who did not suspect that he had touched the fire-alarm until the men clamored around him for information as to the locality of the fire.  Then he said, mildly, “I should like to buy another ticket for the ball, if you please.”  The situation was so ludicrous that there was a general shout of laughter, and the old gentleman bought his ticket and the engine house resumed its former state of quiet.

A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

by MARY ROWLES.

  A Happy New Year, and a new beginning
    For hands that have wavered and steps that fall;
  New time for toil and new space for winning
    The guerdon of happiness free to all.

  Now hope for the souls long clouded over
    With possible sorrows and actual pain;
  New joys for comrade, and friend and lover,
    The year is bringing them all again!

  New days and hours for the patient building
    Of noble character, pure and true;
  For faith and love, with their radiant gliding,
    To make the temple of life anew.

  A Happy New Year, and a truce to sadness,
    Its every moment by God is planned;
  Whatever may come, whether grief or gladness,
    Must come aright from a Father’s hand.

  He blessed the old in its dawning—­thenceforth
    His love was true to us all the way,
  And now in the hitherto shines the henceforth,
    And out of the yesterdays smiles to-day.

  We would have power In this year to brighten
    Each lot less blessed and fair than ours;
  The woe to heal, and the load to lighten,
    The waste soul-garden to plant with flowers.

May every day be a royal possession
To high-born purpose and steadfast aim,
And every hour in its swift progression
Make life more worthy than when it came.