.

Bodices are now worn very tight-fitting, and the French stretch the
material well on the cross before beginning to cut out, and in cutting
allow the lining to be slightly pulled, so that when on, the outside
stretches to it and insures a better fit. An experienced eye can tell
a French-cut bodice at once, the front side pieces being always on the
cross. In dress cutting and fitting, as in everything else, there
are failures and discouragements, but practice overrules these little
matters, and "trying again" brings a sure reward in success.

A sensible suggestion is made in regard to the finish in necks of
dresses for morning wear. Plain colors have rather a stiff appearance,
tulle or crepe lisse frilling are expensive and frail, so it is a good
idea to purchase a few yards of really good washing lace, about an
inch and a half in depth; quill or plait and cut into suitable lengths
to tack around the necks of dresses. This can be easily removed
and cleaned when soiled. A piece of soft black Spanish lace, folded
loosely around the throat close to the frillings, but below it, looks
very pretty; or you may get three yards of scarf lace, trim the ends
with frillings, place it around the neck, leaving nearly all the
length in the right hand, the end lying upon the left shoulder being
about half a yard long. Wind the larger piece twice around the throat,
in loose, soft folds, and festoon the other yard and a half, and
fasten with brooch or flower at the side.--_Philadelphia Times._

DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA.

It was on the 19th day of January, 1848, that James W. Marshall, while
engaged in digging a race for a saw-mill at Coloma, about thirty-five
miles eastward from Sutter's Fort, found some pieces of yellow metal,
which he and the half-dozen men working with him at the mill supposed to
be gold. He felt confident that he had made a discovery of great
importance, but he knew nothing of either chemistry or gold-mining, so
he could not prove the nature of the metal nor tell how to obtain it in
paying quantities. Every morning he went down to the race to look for
the bits of metal; but the other men at the mill thought Marshall was
very wild in his ideas, and they continued their labors in building the
mill, and in sowing wheat and planting vegetables. The swift current of
the mill-race washed away a considerable body of earthy matter, leaving
the coarse particles of gold behind; so Marshall's collection of
specime