Strange Monopoly

Considering the present deluge of almanacs, how strangeitseemsthat thin production ehould ever have been a monopoly! Such, however, was the case in England from the days of James I. to the opening of the American revolution - a period of one hundred and seventy-five years - and toeffect its abolition required all the eloquence of Erskine. Benjamin Franklin began his Poor Richard Almanac in 1732, and continued it for twentv-six years. The sale was enormous, and yet. at the lapse of a century, it was found Impossible to obtain a complete set. The late John Dogorett, of this city who wished to republish the work, succeeded after five years of seareh in gettingeightcen numbers, and after his death thev were sold for twelve dollars apiece It said that Franklin deeply regretted the necessity of discontinuing a work in which he took such deep interest, but public duty required it. He is said to have been the first American to make use of a "nom de plumc," and in issuing his almanac he preferred the ideal characterof Richard Saunders to plain Ben Franklin. "Poor Richard" was certainly a happy thouHit, and it provedtlie most popular hit o? that age. It uay be added that the New England Almanac issued bv Lsaac Thomas, of Worcester, was a worthy suecessor of Poor Richard. 1 was begun in 1775 and continucd for forty-two yi:uN, being in ita day one of the most popular issues of the press.but a still more remarkable nstance is iound in the ''New England Almanac and Farmer' s Friend," issued by V. M. Uaboll, of Groton, Connacticul. This publication has been continued in tho family for one hundred and twelve years, and is cow in the hands of the third generation. It retains the old fashionof weather predictions andmight have been good authority for Bottom and his dramatic associations.- S. TCor. Utica Berald. - Sealing wax is fastgrowing in favor among those who send out dainty sooial MM