New York’s system of public education has received severe, and unfortunately not unjust criticism, which has been called forth by defects in the common schools, and especially by their inadequate seating capacity. The advanced department of the system, however, is recognized as a model of efficiency. Its very completeness and success have often been used to emphasize by contrast the imperfections of the common schools, to whose pupils it offers gratuitously the benefits of a collegiate course and collegiate degrees. LOVE IS BLIND. I. From ancient Roma o’er the sea This ring, sweet maid, I bring to thee. Pray treasure it for friendship’s sake, And prize the symbol it doth make. A sweet suggestion would it lend, For like my love it has no end; These letters tell thee whence it came, And proud it is to bear the name— “ROMA.” II. She clasped it ’tween her fingers fair; In conscious pride it nestled there. Upon its jeweled plates her eyes Cast star-like beams in sweet surprise; Then turned she with a modest smile, And pointing at the ring meanwhile, “Love, thou art blind,” the dear one said, “Else wouldst thou read as I have read— AMOR!” _Jean La Rue Burnett._ [Illustration] [Illustration] THE JAPANESE NOVELTY STORE. I. Each morning, at nine, I pass under the sign— A fan with a stork flying o’er— And see, as I go, A remarkable show, At the Japanese Novelty Store. II. There’s an odd little man, From the booths of Japan, Who walks to and fro on the floor; His eyes are oblique, And he talks with a squeak, At the Japanese Novelty Store. III. There are teacups and trays, And boxes ablaze With lacquer and gilding galore; Individual “butters,” And bronze paper cutters, At the Japanese Novelty Store. IV. You ask the expense, It is twenty five cents For a lantern as big as a door; But a dollar won’t buy A vase an inch high At the Japanese Novelty Store. V. Cranes, fishes, and dragons, And Cloisonné flagons, No man can say what they are for; But—down to the stork— They’re all made in New York For the Japanese Novelty Store. _Allanson Goodwin._ HORSEMANSHIP—A POPULAR FAD. _By Frank A. Munsey._ [Illustration]