"ROME, 19, 5 D.--The Republic of Italy has sent a telegram of condolence upon the death of the French King." "MADRID, 19, 5 D.--The Republic of Granada [Spain and Portugal] has sent telegrams of sympathy to the new King of the French." "FROM ASIA. "PEKING, 18, 22 D.--By a royal edict, Li Hung Tsoi, the Emperor, has decreed that, 'in view of the fact that the good subjects of Tien-tze have for ages worn the emblem of a once distasteful slavery under the Hiong-un, it is now decreed that the ban-ma shall at once be cut from the head of every one of our male subjects, and the chang-mor no longer worn.' [Ban-ma is the long braided hair worn by all Chinese, and called by us 'the queue.' Chang-mor is long hair.--EDITOR.]" And then Cobb read on and pondered upon the changes which had taken place, and which he here saw recorded as newspaper items. England, once so proud as a kingdom, now a republic; Germany following in the wake; Spain and Portugal and Italy numbered in the fold. And France! alas! poor France! up and down, changeable as a weather-vane; who could expect a stable government? La belle France! to-day a republic; to-morrow a monarchy! Turning over the pages of the paper, his eyes lighted up with renewed interest. Though his interest was great as he read of kingdoms falling and new ones building up, here was the page that aroused his old-time enthusiasm. Yes; he was a crank--a crank of the veriest pronounced type, and he knew it as he folded out the paper in his eagerness to read: "BOSTON, 18, 18 D.--The game to-day was a fine exhibition of pitching and fielding. Neither side could score until in the last innings 'Michael,' that descendant of the only Mike of the nineteenth century, got his wagon-tongue square against the sphere, and sent it skyward outside of the field. "The score: "Innings--1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Boston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 New York 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 "Errors: none. 2 b. hits: none. 3 b. hits: none. Home run: Michael Kelley. Batteries: for Boston, Clarkson and 'Ginty' Carroll; for New York: Keefe and Ewing. Double plays: Boston, 5; New York, 4. Umpire: Sheridan. Time of game: 1:20." "The same grand game," he murmured, "is still the national sport. It could never die! No, never!" He read on and on. Everything was of interest to him in his new life. He read of himself, of his arrival in Washington, and of his every act during the previous day. Letting the paper fall from his hand, he aroused Hugh from the perusal of the society columns of the "Washington Reporter" by exclaiming: "This paper is a great affair, is it not?" nodding toward the paper which had fallen to the floor by his chair. "A very newsy paper indeed, Junius," Hugh answered; "in fact, it is the only paper of general news in the United States." "How is that? Are there not other newspapers besides this?"