There is nothing more insidious than the spirit of conformity, and nothing more quickly paralyzes the best parts of a man. A gleam of truth illuminates his mind, and forthwith he proceeds to compare it with the prevailing tone of his community or his set. If it agree not with that, he distrusts and perhaps disowns it; it is left to perish, and he to that extent perishes with it. By and by, when some one more independent, more truth-loving, more courageous than himself arises to proclaim and urge the same thing that he was half ashamed to acknowledge, he will regret his inglorious fear of being in the minority. We are accustomed to think that greatness always denotes exceptional powers, yet most of the world's great men have rather been distinguished by an invincible determination to work out the best that was within them. They have acted, spoken, or thought according to their own natures and judgment, without any wavering hesitation as to the probable verdict of the world. They were loyal to the truth that was in them, and had faith in its ultimate triumph; they had a mission to fulfill, and it did not occur to them to pause or to falter. How many more great men should we have were this spirit universal, and how much greater would each one of us be if, in a simple straightforward manner, we frankly said and did the best that we knew, without fear or favor? Soon would be found gifts that none had dreamed of, powers that none had imagined, and heroism that was thought impossible. As Emerson well says, "He who knows that power is inborn, that he is weak because he has looked for good out of him and elsewhere, and so perceiving throws himself unhesitatingly on his thought, instantly rights himself, stands in the erect position, commands his limbs, works miracles, just as a man who stands on his feet is stronger than a man who stands on his head."--_Phil. Ledger._ * * * * * A CIRCULAR BOWLING ALLEY. The arcades under the elevated railroad which runs transversely through Berlin are used as storehouses, stores, saloons, restaurants, etc., and are a source of considerable income to the railway company. The owner of one of the restaurants in the arcades decided to provide his place with a bowling alley, but found that he could not command the requisite length, 75 ft., and so he had to arrange it in some other way. A civil engineer named Kiebitz constructed a circular bowling alley for him, which is shown in the annexed cut taken from the _Illustrirte Zeitung_. The alley is built in the shape of a horse-shoe, and the bottom or bed on which the balls roll is hollowed out on a curved line, the outer edge of the bed being raised to prevent the balls from being thrown off the alley by centrifugal force. [Illustration: A CIRCULAR BOWLING ALLEY.]