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IOWMAN IN THE WOODS
MEANS OF MfcKINC CREAT COL.
i LECTIONS OF UVING ANIMALS.
»h. Lion, Iho Kin* * of B«a.t«, That Moat
TonpU Ulc CnaalQ* Tr.pp.r-C.usUt
1 In Bnarno WUek MoanaMa Uia Mnm.
bln Bfoinw-t'r.p—tTIgrr. In Captivity.
' Some little wonder cnn linrdly full to
Han regarding tho mean* by which
ie great collection of living animal*
thla country and Europe have boon
uglit together. It 1* obvloua tho
dfle of olTlllUttoo of the JaVelln of
tvagea la not 'tho menu* by which
clr den* have beep atoeked.nnd tlioao
labeled case* marking their Inmntea
nn "born In the garden*" riiuat *1-
jwaya be In a minority. Hence the
Hnostlon arlae*,' how ore these r)ch
(stores-of for and feather obtained?
Und tho- anawcr la, In aome very In-
jgcnloua end little-known ways.
] The lion naturally atanda at the
(head of the ll*L and a more powerful
jand aangulnnry boaat doca not tempt
[he cunning trapper.
Ho la generally captured by mean*
>f what la called the allo-cage, and of
which the following la a abort descrip
tion:
The frame and" bars nre of Iron. It
la ten feet long, air feet alx Inchea
wide, and the anme In height. Mount
ed on three caat-lron wheel* of amall
diameter, It can bo moved even on
difficult ground. The upper part
open* with folding doora, like a ward
robe, nnd they cloae of tliemaelvea at
he allghtoat ghock given to aprlng*
if ateel. Catchca retain the llda na
they fall and Imprison tho animal aa
Boon aa be touche* the bottom of the
irap.
The plan la to placo thla trap, prop
erly baited, on the ground frequented
by the wild anlmnla, and then, when
the game la caught, to wheel the ma
chine away to aooie menagerie pro-
spared for the purpoae.
] The native* fhemaclvca have taken
ghe lion In pita covered with teeda
■luce tho dawn of hlatory. I’llny roc-
wrda thla device of thelra, though the
Etonian nnturnllata of hi* time were
gather ahnky na to tile specific differ
ence lietwcen bear and lion.
j ’The cuba found In cavern* ami caves
after tho parent* have died under fire
hi village matchlock* And a ready sale
among the coast agent* of aoologlcal
gardens, nnd hardly a caravan comcH
(flown from the Abyalnllln table-land*
r from I-’cz without a cub or two.
^a for the Ilona of I’craln nnd Syria,
the lino of Nimrod nml the himter
king* Is over, and It la very doubtful
whether Bedouin or subjects of the
phnh ever get nearer to the lord of
heaata than they can possibly help.
In the day* when their heart* were
|a little stouter, nnd the country was
brn- great, game preserve, they stocked
jflhclr "aooa" by the help of net* and
ben tern*
T The proviso locality of the llou’s
dwelling place having been discovered,
* circular wall of net* Is' arranged
ground It. Dogs are then sent Into
pie thicket, stones thrown, nud burn
ing sticks hurled of ter them; and at
last the lion bolt* like a rabbit Into
*hc net, and rolls over In Its entan
glements, a chaos of„duBt and hemp
jand tawny hide, the thunder of tho
Irautlc brute almost drowned In the
jtmbcl of a dozen villages of men nnd
b whole couutry-Bhlo of logs yelping
{together. This was sport which,while
It lasted, contrasted favorably with
grouse-shooting, for Instance.
| But to-day the lion and that other
great eat, the tiger, are rarely nollcd.
if they do enter Into bondage In their
(extreme youth, and Imbibe1 nourish
ment from a lemonade- bottle and u
•quill, they usually fall victims at a
more mature age to some sort of box-
trap, such ns that mentioned previ
ously, nml are almost identical in* de
sign .with the humble mouse-imp.
Needless to any, however, the proper
lions are very different.
Wnudcrlug one day through n trop
ical jungle, and pressing through the
thickets of great tree-ferns nnd shrub
beries of cinnamon that fringed the
banks of a hill Hver* l-came upon one
of these structures, and had for
moment some doubts, us to Its pur
pose
~ "ft ’was the royal "mouse-trap” ot'
• native rnjnli and perhaps, of un
usually large size. . It looked some
♦filng liko n Swiss mountain chalet.
Obling In shape, It was constructed
of heavy timbers of squared Iron-
wood,, with their ends dovetailed,
wide there were two apartments, di
vlded by n barrier and a doorway
the Inner for the unfortunate bait, a
goat or u young pig, of which latter
the tiger is Intensely fond, and na out
cr chamber.
The massive door of this was held
up by a rope which went over u wheel
to the great shed, nml when the beast
enters and approaches tho victim,
.whoso lamentations have attracted his
attention, he frees the catch, nud the
portcullis descends behind, cutting
lilm off forever from his native hills,
He is ns noisy nnd savage a quarry
when discovered next morning nu well
could be, but tames down under star
vation, nnd turns, In course of time,
Into tlmt comparatively tamo animal
[which Is all the ordinary Americans
jknow.of the royal beast.
Africnrf tribes occasionally kill
lion prowling about their encamp
meuts at night by means of n short
but’very powerful cross-bow, armed
[With a poisoned arrow and set In the
animal's path.. A /string Is attached
jto the trigger, and taken across the
frail to a peg, where Is Is made fast
<)n the lion moving the string with
his feet, the arrow is discharged Into
his side from u distance of a couple
•of yards, nnd causes his speedy death.
This, however, • though it may pro
vide a pelt or tVo for the skin mer
chants, will not stock our* menoger-
the lion's akin, with the lion alive In
It Is far more’valuable nml twice ne
difficult to obtain as the ownerless
hide which result* from such device*.
There Is a far greater-wall l» of fn-
(grnulty lavished, however, by (lie
showman sbroSd upon the capture
of the other varieties of his victims
than upon those savagely simple
beasts of clmso, the lion ond the tiger.
Ve«et*bU Fibre Fella.
Writing of Win manufacture of felt
A. Bnladu, of fHolla, Italy, says that
w proeexp has been discovered
which Ims for Its object the treatment
of vegetable fibres so ns to render
them capable of being employed for
the manufacture of felt The vegeta
ble fibres" more especially adapted for
the purposes of tills Invention are a
kind of silky down, known In trade
under the name of kapok, and tlio veg
etable fibres known as "cclba.” Tho
cgctnble fibres nre rendered capable
of felting by submitting them (after
first thoroughly dcAnslng them) to
hemlenl treatment having such an ac
tion upon them as to disintegrate or
roughen the oilier part thereof nnd ren
der them capable of felting. This ac
tion Is effected by means of baths, the
first of which contains mercury In so
lution. The second hath contains chro
mic acid, and Is made from substances
caiwble of developing such nclds, such,
for Instance, ns bichromate of potash,
from which chromic acid cnn be devel
oped by sulphuric acid. To this bath
inuy l>c added other substances pos
sessing proiierlles such as fit them to
•o-opernte to Improve the felting qual
ities of the fibre, such, for Instance,
as gallic nciil, nitric acid, chlorhydrlc
acid, nnd their compounds, or dertva
in conjunction with these acids
there may bo employed tnnnln or cnocl-
anlne (the coloring matter of wine) or
sulphate of copper or of Iron, or their
components or derlvatlves.-Textlle
Manufacturing Journal.
atvtataiata
THE REALM OF FASHION.
t*w Yyrk City.- }fo woman ever yet
had too muuy shirt waists. The com
fortable garnlcnts grow in favor ns the
materials for making them do in vn-
A lIorM'i Kllnders.
A horse’s blunders are usually con-
ivo on the Inside. True, tho surface
usually Is a dead black, but not ubso-
lately no, ho tlmt a glimmer of light
may be reflected frotn them. By con
stant cleansing this ctyad surface is
mndo more or less smooth, If not actu
ally glossy and shiny. Moreover, the
blinders are usually v«Qt at an aqgle,
so thut, as a result of tho luw of re
flection, rays of light concentrated by
tho convex surface nre reflected Into
the eyes—not directly In the axis of
islon, but more or less transversely
or obliquely, the result being even
re Injurious. As a result of this re
flection flic vision is weakened, If not
destroyed.
Moreover, the mlrrorllke blinder*
not only reflect sunlight, but they re
flect objects as well, so that a "blind
ed” horse set* not only objocta direct
ly ahead of lilm, but bus a more or
less blurred vlsjon of other objects,
Intermixing with nnd confusing the
Image of object* directly liefore him,
and ns it consequence ho Is rendered
:mc(*rtatn In Ills movements and It
ertsily seared. No further proof of
this Is needed than the fact thut n ner
vous horse, with a reputation for shy
ing and rtinnliig away, often become*
tractable If the blinders are removed,
because he (Tin then see distinctly
what before bo could only see Indis
tinctly and confusedly .—Our Animal
Friends.
AN ATTKACTIVK SHIRT WAIST.
rlety nml beauty. At the moment
striped nml figured French flannels,
Venetian waist cloth, embroidered
Henrietta and cashmere are all shown,
ns well ns the same materials in plain
colors and ull the range of taffeta nnd
soft silks. The May Mnutoii design Il
lustrated here includes nil the latest
features nnd Is made from Henrietta
lu pastel bine, with the figures and vel
vet of a darker shade. The deep, turn
over collar Is exceedingly smart, and
tho blfhop sleeves are a feature of the
newest waists shown.
The hack Is seamless, and meets the
full fronts, the flttlug being entirely
accomplished by shoulder and under
arm seams. The fronts are full, gath
ered at both neck and wulst, nnd
blouse very slightly for u short space
each side of the centre. The collar Is
cut In two sections and attached to the
ueck. Tho sleeves nre one-Hcnmed nnd
Individually full. They are gathered
at both the upper and lower edges, nnd
are attached to the cuffs at the wrists,
qud are finished at the wrists wJtb
straight ciiffs.
To make this blouse for a woiftnn of
medium size three and three-quarter
yards of inntcrlnl twenty-one Inches
wide, throe yards twenty-seven Inches
wide, or one nnd three-quarter yards
forty-four inches wide, will be re
quired,' with five-eighth yard fifty
Inches wide, or three-quarter yard
twenty-one inches wide, for vest and
stock collar.
*• New Style of Ilercru.
They do not turn over the new ro
vers, nor nre they worn flatly laid out
on the chest, ns formerly. In the pres
ent case, the "rovers” are* ornamental,
but only show when the Jacket fronts
arc not closed. They nre simply the
long strip of facing to tho jacket
fronts and could not possibly be visible
If the garment were worn closed. This
Is a true *T/Alglon” fnsldou nnd one
which Is extremely dressy.
HImivfi Milk. «r Crocheted silk.
A "cuffbutton” suggests a Ann, hard
knob of mctul; a pair of sleeve links
suggests semi-precious stones or gold
disks linked logether by n golden
chain. The newest fastening for the
cuffs of a shirt waist of line flannel or
cashmere has the top, which Is all that
Is visible, made of crocheted, heavy,
twisted silken cord. The same thing
does for sleeve links, but the single
button is the better design.
ft In Not TJ'ilt.
Those who try on the re\v garments
declare that the L'Aiglon collar Is not
so tight as to prove choking. It is
high, but broad, and a welcome change
from tiro strangling slock collars which
have gnrrotcd us Inst summer. These
last entirely earned the uniuo of "cho
ker,” which wiis sometimes applied to
tltcin by the shop girls who sold them
to customers.
<]olri-1 lirrntlcri Volin.
The new veils nre chiefly of a lace*
like pattern, a fact which Is to be de
plored on the score of hocomlngness.
Some nre even traced with gold or sil
ver thread or heads, while the , old
uontl (irMit nml Mm. Tom Thnmb.
t Aral meollng with General Grant
interests mo now, ki tho light of all
(hat has occurred, but ut tlmt time I
thought little of It. , While 1 was trav
eling on. the Mississippi our boat
stopped at Galena, nud Grant, recog
nized then only as a private citizen,
a mo down to tho museum t o see the
'little woman” of whom tho pnponi
had spoken. ITo was introduced to
mo, and stayed awhile, allowing in his
conversation at that ,11^6 little of the
reticence afterward pronounced one
of Ids leading characteristics. When
ho wciit away Iio said ho would bring
his family noxt day. This ho did, nnd
they, too, retnnined qulto awhile. I
found Mrs. Graut a most goul&l nnd
pleiiHnnt woman, with the sumo unaf
fected ktaduca* of mnuuer which so
graced the White House when she be
came tlio First Lady of the. Lund.
Mr. Graut -how .odd. It seems to say
"Mister” Xlrnnlt yet tlmt; Is \viint he
was then called—bought * my photo
graph and asked .me to put my nUv
togropli upon it.—Countess' Magrl
(kjrs. Toni Thumb), In the Woman’s
Home Companion.
Wmthliig Him Awnjt,
The other day nu amuteur nurse In
South Africa went up to a doctor and
asked him wimt she must do.
‘You should have learnt tlmt before
you i came here,” the doctor replied.
"Do anything that wants doing.”
The nurse wciit up to* a handsome
but wounded Highlander and said:
"Will yon let me wash your face!”
The soldier turned to iier nnd au-
swered: «■' ■■ ' '
"^cs, but hurry up. I’ve had my
face washed six times since break
fast, amt thcro’s tvrb more ladles I’ve
promised to wash me. But I hope to
get a . snooze before ton.”--Loudon
Sparc Moments.
• Tho Odluiiton Horror,
Hbro la ail extract from a letter
written to a frleml lu New York by a
Toxnn: ‘"There Is no' telling liow many
were killed along tho, coast. After
one day (he aim caused decomposition,
and It was not possible to tell a white
person from a negro except by the
liutr. Tho list ot known dead la now.
above D000, nnd probably there are
halt ns many unknown. It was a ter-
VSblo piece ot business.”—Now York
I’ress.
HfiOUBE WAIST.
Kansas la the only State hnvlug 100,-
000 acres or more planted lu rye re
porting n rendition of the crop exceed.
Iftt. Aud it gojo .without auytyg Unit j ins the ayeroeo for the I list ten year*.
where they lap over and doso Invisibly.
To cut till* wnlBt for a womnn of
medium alzo four yard, of material
twenty-one Inches wide, threo and
th'reo-quartcra' yards twenty.aoven
Inches wldo, two nnd throo-qnarter
yards tUlrty-two Inches wide, or two
yards forty-four Inches wide, wilt bo
required.
• IsMftlcS' UloUMS
The blouse that la slightly-more
formal than the shirt waist yet easy
and comfortable. Alls a place that no
Other does'and Is constantly growing
lu popularity. The amnrt May Manton
blouse Illustrated in tho large engrav-
iug belongs to Just that class and can
bo worn daring the morning with per
feet proprloty, while at tho same time
Id-will give no offense later in the day,
The model la made of Venetian flannel
In hunter's green, with vest nnd stock
of white sntln-faccd broadcloth, ma
chine stitched, nnd rovers of velvet
matching Jhe .fiunuel. Down each
front, below tho rovers, are small but
tonholes through which the gold clinln
links aVe slipped that hold the fronts
In placo nnd give a peculiarly chic ef
fect . Countless combinations nnd a vn-
rlety of materials can ho substituted,
however, and .liny silk cord nnd gold
buttons can tnke the place of the links
If ucelrcd, or tlicso cnn he entirely
omitted nnd the fronts hooked Invisi
bly lnto.plnOci Henrietta, plain nnd
embroidered cashmere, drap d’ote,
French flannel and taffeta arc all suit
able and the color ot both waist and
VcSt cap he changed 'to anything the
wcarer-may prefer. '
Tho foundation for the blouse Is
fitted lining with single darts, and
which closes at the centre front. On
it nre arranged the fronts, vest and
back. Tfio fronts arc smooth aud
without fulness at (ho shoulders, nnd
aro drawn In nt tho waist line. Tho
vest Is attached permanently to (he
right aide of the lining nud hooks over
onto the deft beneath the left front,
Tho stock collar Is joined to the Test
and closes Invisibly nt the centre back.
The bishop sleeves nre n9t ,rcr fall.
gauze veil in white, gray or neutral
tints Is resuscitated. ^
For Evening Wrap*.
Grecian Bnlln, a new wool innlorlnl
for evening wraps nnd ten gowns, bn*
a tiny diagonal stripe on tho surface.'
A Snug Fitting Umlei-bmly.
Pretty trifles have their place, hut
the domnnd. for tho useful -garment
never, falls. The smooth, Bnng tilting
underhody that covers the col-set with
out fuluess and that; when desired, cnn
he made of materia’, that means
warmth, la a comfort that every wom
an recognizes nt a glance.' Thu May
Manton model Illustrated Is fitted with
the same care given to gowns, nnd. as
indicated, can he made In various
shaped necks, with nny length sleeve
preferred. For cold weather. Canton
flannel nnd outing flannel, ns well ns
muslin, arc much liked, ns nil these
materials provide protection against
•Tack Frost, hut long cloth, cambric or
nainsook can he substituted by those
who prefer greater daintiness.
The backs include a centre seam and
the broad under-arm gores-that mean
a perfect tit nnd curved lines. Tho
fronts nre fitted with single darts nno
close nt the centre with buttons nnd
buttonholes. -The sleeves nre out In
one plnce, tho outer seam extending to
the elbow only, nml tit smoothly from
shoulders to wrists.
To out this underhody for a woman
COUDERSPORf ICE MINE.
remarkable souvenir of the
GLACIAL ACE IN PENNSYLVANIA.
tmpsRBODr.
of luedlnm size, two and three-eighth
yards or ma^rlnl twenty-seven Incheg
wide, or one and three-foiirth yard
thirty-six Inches wide, will be recti I red.
tli* Rrlrntlflr Explanation of tha Fhc-
nomcnon—It U VUIble* From May
L'mll October Every Year—Tea Thou*
nantl Years It ltaa Lasted.
Comlersport, Penn., dors not occupy
h vt»r.v conspicuous spot on tko map,
but to-day Coudersport is notowortliy.
“Greenland’s Icy mountains and In
dia’s coral strand” dn Juxtaposition,
nn lets cave under foot and tropic heat
over bond, arc Coudersport's twin ti
tles to fame. Iu Northern Pennsylva
nia, as well ns nearly everywhere else
In these United States, It was unusu
ally hot Inst summer, but In this ham
let, In Potter County, one lmd only to
descend a rude ladder, lending to a
small cavern under ground, to And
frost, icicles and December zephyrs.
Icy stalactites ranging from an Inch
to three feet In thickness hu^g from
the roof of the Coudersport "lee miuo”
during one of the hottest hot waves
of last August. According to the
statements of men of good repute lu
that neighborhood this phenomenon
is visible from May until October
every year, but tills numider additional
explorations of the ice mine have *c-
vcalod unwonted wonders.
The scientific explanation of the phe
nomenon is this: IOons ago Southern
New York, Northern and Northeastern
Pennsylvania were covered to a tre
mendous depth by glacial deposits.
Scientists have dug down nnd found
far below the ground, where the
earth's heat should have Increased
materially over the surface tempera
ture, streams of icy cold water. The
subterranean flows were the liquid re
mainders of the great glacier which
swept across Canada, by way of Lake
Erie, Pennsylvania, New York and
Long Island to the Atlantic.
In' the .Tournnl of the Franklin In
stitute of Philadelphia, issued In Jnn-
unry, 1883, Professor H. Colville Lewis
presented a map showing the bound
ary of (his glacial area In connection
with nn exhaustive lecture which lie
delivered before tho Instituto on
"Tlio Grent Terminal Moraine Across
Pennsylvania.”
In. the beginning of bis monograph
Professor Lewis says:
"When Agnssia, over forty years ago,
after a prolonged study of the Swiss
glaciers, announced the conclusion that
large portions of the continents of
North America nud Europe were once
covered by an Immense glacier thou
sands of miles In extent and several
thousands of feet In thickness, geolo
gists the world over were startled at
wimt then seemed au Impossible hy
pothesis.
"To-day there Is hardly a truth In
geology more widely accepted or capa
ble of more conclusive proof.”
Three phenomena plainly Indicate
tho progress ojf the great Northern
Drift: (1) tho mantel of "till” (a de
posit of stones nnd clay unstrntlficd by
water), willed Isa characteristic feature
of the Alleghany plateau, In Potter
County, Pennsylvania, (2) tho longitu
dinally scratched bowlders nowhere
found except In the vicinity of gla
ciers, and (3) the smoothed or striated
rock surfaces, another glacial remind
er. All these go to prove the correct
ness of Agassiz’s -hypothesis, for simi
lar phenomena aro found nt the foot
of many Swiss glaciers.' .Tust as the
ancient Swiss glacier carried bowlders
from Mont Blanc to the Juras, so this
great continental glacier carried thenr
Trom Canada across Lak& Erie Into
Pennsylvania.
Just as tlio Greenlnud glacier now
tills the valleys nnd overtops the
mountains, so this larger glacier ad
vanced over mountain nnd valley
nliko in n continuous sheet to Its ilnnl
halting place only sixty miles north
of Philadelphia. At Its edge, ns ob
served In Pennsylvania, this glacier
must have been 800 feet thick. A
hundred miles back from Its edge, 1
among the Catskills, It was nt least
.3100 fpet thick, while 200 miles fur
ther, In Northern Nejv England, it
was r»OtX> feet thick.
There _ are data, says Professor
Lewis; which Indicate that the glacier
did not Anally withdraw from the
United States until ns recently as
10,000 to 10,000 years ago. Professor
Wright finds from a study of glacial
"kettle holes’’ in -Massachusetts that
the accumulation of peaty matter in
It, whether caused by'growth of veg
etable matter or by winds and .rains,
is equal to a level deposit of eight feet
In thickness. At the rate of one inch
In a century, which Is probably less
than the true rate, according to Pro
fessor Lewis, this would place the
close of the glacial epoch nt less than
10,000 years ago.
In Kansas similar Ice eayerns, or
"kettle holes,” have been found. In
the Kansas.Journal of March, 1897,
Mr. J. Uitchlc describes In dctull these
Icc caverns and other glacial phenom
ena, and the Kansas Journal previous
ly printed a similar dissertation by
Professor N. M. Lowe, but none of
these "kettle holes” equal in interest
the Coudersport find.
Its precise location Is four miles
southeast of Coudersport. Four years
ago William O’Neill, a mineralogist of
no small knowledge nnd experience In
Potter County, Pennsylvania, felt
convinced that he could find a silver
lo'de on the farm of John B, Dodd, sit
uated In Swccdcn Valley, near Cou
dersport. Consulting with the owner,
who Is ft merchant and at present
Postmaster of Sweeden Valley, Mr.
O’Neill arranged to sink a shaft on an
uncultivated hill of Dodd’s twenty-
five acre farm. In case O’Neill dlscor-
cred any silver or other mineral* of
value Dodd was to have.a pro ratu
share pf the findings.
Naturally the matter was kept a pro-
Trsffl .***?*% arrt orv-*«! c^htO*
Hons very quietly. At first work was
carr’ .d on only at night. A couple of
years elapsed, and th\» country folk
thereabout were quite unaware of.
O’Neill’s secret belief and. persistent
search. An excavation sixteen feet
square was dug through broken rock
nnd priinevul debris on. the hillside,
anil then the work lapsed. Numerous
curiosities In the form of rock* nnd
bones were revealed In the 5000 square
feet of earth excavated, but no argen
tiferous matter was found.
Last summer digging was resumed
and smnll chunks of ice were found
ut a level a few feet lower than the
petrified bones. Imprinta of fern
leaves had been revealed. The furth
er Bio diggers proceeded, both later
ally nnd perpendicularly, the-more ieo
wns encountered under-mossy beds be
en rocks. The Icy belt was found
to extend for twenty rods one way
nud a couple of rods crossways. At
this time the thermometer nt the sur
face registered elghty-slr to ninety
degrees Fahrenheit In the shade. The
mine was then about thirty-five feet
deep, and the Atmosphere was so cold
it was difficult to make much progress.
O’Neill abandoned bis hunt for sliver,
nnd Mr. Dodd determined to exploit
his Ice mine In lieu of his silver shaft.
Repented anil thorough testa were
made to prove tlie frigidity of the Cou
dersport ice mine. It has been demon
strated to the satisfaction of all who
visited the spot that,such articles ns
potatoes, fruit nnd small animals
when left In the cave over night nfter
nn extremely hot summer day nre
frozen stiff and solid as rocks.
A platform has been constructed
over the lower seventeen fijct, access
which is had -throngh a trap door .unit
via a ladder. During tlie torrkl Au
gust days wiieq a visitor Btopped
through tho outer door and dcsccmliMl
to the platform a current of cold air
coming from the bottom of the shaft
would turn hla breath into dense mist,
just as when one leaves a hothouse on
n frosty January morning.
At the northeast corner of the bot
tom of the mine . there was discov
ered nn aperture about six Inches
square. From this point Issues tlu*
Icy blast iu u steady current. It Is
Impossible to hold n lighted match or
n candle near this opening withont
having tlie flame extinguished Imme
diately.
There nre other lesser fissures
throughout the, mine whence come
cold currents continuously. Efforts
have boon mndc to ascertain the depth
of the main aperture by throwing
weights attached to twine and arrows,
but bottom wns not reached.
The best local opinion Is that two
immense caverns underlie the mine at
a considerable depth, that subterran
ean rivers have been formed from
melting glacial Ice and that some cross
current cnuscs the draught of Icy air
In tho Coudersport mine.—New York
Herald.
A W«untied TJjrer.
Expecting to flrnl tlio corpse wo fol
lowed tho traohs quietly for about 3011
yards, nnd thou came upon a placo
where the tiger had evidently lain
down nnd lost much blood. They
cling to life with extraordinary tenac
ity. Agnln we followed the tracks,
nnd In the marshy ground the fresh
pugs (footmarks) bnd water still ooz
ing Into them. AVo stole In line
through the trees nnd grass up to
some tall reeds, when onr heart* stood
still.
There was a spring with an Infu
riated roar, nud hounding through the
cover with open mouth, his tall lnsh-
Ing Ills sides, Ids whole fur bristling,
the tiger charged straight at us. Hcnv- 1
ensl wimt nil unlooked for moment!
I could see licforc me nothing but a
shndowy form, owing to the lightning
speed of his movements—a shadowy, •
striped form, with two large lumps ef
Are fixed upon us with iin unmanning
stare—ns the Least rushed upon us.
Such wns tho vision of n moment.'
The trees were so thick that I dnred
not shoot till ho wns close, and I dim
ly recollect, even then, thinking that
everythlng'lilnged upon keeping cool
and killing him if possible. On he
came.. I Arc'd straight,nt his cheat nt
nbont fifteen ynrds distance, without
moving at all, and then Instinctively—
almost miraculously—I sprang to the
loft ns the tiger himself sprang past
ns, so close that I found his blood
■splashed over riiy gun barrels after
ward: — 1- rom "The Sportswoman in
India,!’ by Isabel Savory.
An Overwhelming Though,.
Our sun Is n third-rate sun, situ
ated In the milky waj\ one ot myrlnds
of stars, nnd the milky way Is Itself
one of myriads of sectional star ac
cumulations, for these seem to be
countless, and to be spread over in
finity. At some period of their exist
ence each of these suus had planets
circling nround it, wnlch, nfter untold
nges, nre lit for some sort of human
being to Inhabit them - for a compar
atively brief period, after which they
still continue for years to circle around
without atmosphere, vegetation or in
habitants, as the moon does nround
our planet. There is nothing no ..'cal
culated to take the conceit out of nu
Individual who thinks himself an Im
portant unit lu tho universe aa astron
omy. It teaches that we are less, com.
pared with the universe, than a col
ony of ants is to ns, nnd that the dif
ference between men Is less-than that
between one nnt and (mother,—London
Truth. 3SB
Th« Kmp.ror of China Oh Cfui
Hr. Bnchmnnn, of Shanghai, hi
eently stated In a letter to tho G
wart thnt Emperor Kwang-su ai
from cancer of the throat and la
ble to reign. Tho same view ts 1
by Dr. Dctboro, a French phy«
and by Dr. Shcng Iflan Feng, ho
whom have examined the Hmpe
Metfbml Di--«-il. - .