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WORK OF AMERICA’S HEN HER VALUE IS NOT LESS THAN $290,000,000 A YEAR. IVortli More Than tlio Entire Wheat Crop of the Country—Not So Far Behind the Earninga of the Railroad*—Could Ensily lluy Several States of the Union. H. W. ' Collingwood, of the Rural New Yorker, says in tho New York World: Mrs. American Business Hen is one of our most useful citizens. 'She is a shrinking, unassuming creature, too modest at times even to cackle over the birth of her own egg, leaving that celebration to her husband; and yet Mrs. American Hen has been quietly paying off mortgages, driving wolves from the door and hatching out nest eggs for thousands of featherless bi peds. In 1890 there were in this country SUPREMACY OF THE AMERICAN HEN OVER COMMERCE AND AGRICULTURE PICTORIALLY SHOWN. 258,871,125 chickens and 26,738,315 other fowls. In that year the Ameri can hens laid 9,836,674,992 eggß. There are now 350,000,000 chickens, which will lay this year 13,750,000,- 000 eggs. These eggs are worth $165,000,000, and the poultry meat sold during the year will bring $125,000,000, which gives $290,000,000 as a very low estimate of the earnings of Mrs. American Hen for one year of the great depression. The 350,000,000 hens are worth $105,000,000 of any man’s money, but we will not consider that, but take simply the earnings of the hen. The average length of an egg is two and one-half inches. The 13,750,000,000 eggs will, therefore, make a chain 642,218 miles long, while the total weight of this production of hen fruit is at least 853,125 tons. Does any reader of the World real ize what this immense production of eggs and meat means to the country? Here are a few figures for comparison: Value of silver production $72,510,000 Value of wool clip 38,146,459 Value of all sheep 65,167.725 Value of all swine 186,529.745 Value of mules 103,204,457 Value of horses 500,140,186 Value of petroleum products... 62,383,403 Value of potato crop 78,984,901 Value of tobacco crop 35,574,220 Value of cotton crop 259,164,640 Value of oat crop / .^163,655,068 Value of wheat crop 1. .237,938,998 Imports of coffee one year 81,793,124 Imports of tea one year 12,704,410 Total of pensions 139,280,078 Total of school expenditures 178,215,556 Total interest on mortgages.. 76,728,077 Cost of Postofiice Department... 90.626,290 Net earnings of railroads 323,196,454 Dividends on railroad stocks... 81,375,774 The value of all gold produced in American mines in 1895 was $46,610,- 000, and all silver $72,051,000. The value of all minerals, including iron, gold and silver, taken out of Ameri- ntH\V'V rMABRLtA FOB THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. can mines in 1894 was $208,168,768. Americans are given to bragging about our' immense mineral resources, anil yet you will notice that the hens paid for it all one year and had enough left to just' about pay the interest on all mortgages! Mrs. Hen will earn enough this year to pay the entire State and coun ty tax (which in 1890 was $143,186,- 007), and have enough left for every cent of pensions that are paid to old soldiers. The average cow weighs 130 times as much as the average hen, and yet all the milch cows in the country have a total value of but $263,955,545. Mrs. Hen in one year will earn enough to buy every cow, and put the entire tobacco crop in her pocket as well. She could pay out of her year’s earn ings for all the tea and coffee import ed in one year and all the petroleum products, and have enough left to buy all the tobacco grown in 1896. The total assessed valuation of the follow ing States fall below the hen’s yearly earnings; New Hampshire, Nebraska, Vermont, Alabama, Delaware, Mississippi, Arizona, Idaho, West Virginia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Arkansas, South Carolina, Montana, Utah, Oregon, Florida, Wyoming, North Dakota, Colorado, South Dakota, New Mexico. Nevada, In other words, Mrs. American Hen oould buy any of these States from one year’s egg and chicken money. She could buy in this way New Mexi co, Arizona, Wyoming, North Dakota, Idaho and Montana all put together. The total cost of conducting the Postofßce Department last year was $90,626,296.84. We can pick out 50,000,000 of our best hens that will cover every dollar of this outlay in one year. The net earnings of the railroads in 1895 were $323,106,454. The railroad dividends paid amounted to $81,375,- 774. The American Hen paid nearly twice tiie profits earned by American railroads. The total earnings from passenger traffic amounted to $261,640,598, or less than that of the heDS. It cost in 1895 slightly over two cents to carry one passenger one mile, .0184 ofacent to carry one ton of freight one mile, and ninety-one cents to run the aver age train one mile. One single hen, laying 150 eggs per year, could have 215 days of vacation, and would still be able to pay for carrying one passen ger 100 miles, or for hauling ten tons of freight 10,000 miles, or for running an ordinary train two miles. One hun dred and forty such hens would pay the salary of the average teacher em ployed in the public schools, while seventy-five hens would pay the aver age pension to old soldiers. OMAHA’S IMMENSE UMBRELLA. When liaised It Will Be 250 Feet Above the Earth. The last Paris exposition had its Eif fel tower, Chicago had its Ferris wheel, Nashville has its giant see-saw. The department of concessions of the Oma ha traus-Mississippi exposition of 1898 has also received an application for space for the erection of a novel me chanical device. It resembles the framework of a gigantic umbrella more than auything else which might be mentioned.- The part corresponding to the stick of the umbrella is an im mense cylinder, thirty feet in diameter, constructed of steel plates firmly riveted, making a standpipe which rears its head 250 feet above the level of the ground. At the extreme top of this cylinder are fastened twelve long arms, resembling the ribs of an um brella. These are steel trusses, reach ing almostto the ground. At the lower end of each of these ribs is suspended a car for carrying passengers, each car having a capacity for twenty persons. These monster ribs are raised by hy draulic power, acting by means of steel cables operating through the cylinder, aided by a mechanism greatly resem bling that portion of an umbrella which comes into action when the umbrella is opened. By means of this mechan ism the gigantic arms are raised until they are horizontal, the cars in the meantime being carried outward and upward until they reach a point 250 feet above the ground, the diameter of the huge circle formed by the sus pended cars being also 250 feet. When the highest point has been reached an other mechanism comes into play and the suspended cars are swung slowly around in a circle, after which they are lowered to the ground." The sides of the oars are of glass, so that the passengers may secure an extensive view of the surrounding country. The University of Palermo ha>3 about 1110 students, REMARKABLE PEAR TREE. Trained to Grow at the Side of a House in a Wonderful Way. One of the most remarkable of old trained pear trees that we are ac quainted with is the splendid speci men of Uvedale’s St. Germain at Wes ton House, Shipston-on-Stour, the residence of the Countess of Camper down. The accompanying illustration is published in the Gardener’s Maga zine. Mr. Masterson, the gardener at Weston House, writes that “the tree is admired at all times of the year, hut more especially when covered with large handsome clusters of flowers. In autumn, when laden with quanti ties of big fruits, it also presents an attractive appearance, and there are many wlio also admire the tree when the stems are hare, and certainly at this season it is interesting, as the training is very remarkable. The tree seldom fails to ripen a heavy crop of fruits, cropping right down to the ground. It has never been fed or root pruned, and its roots are in the bed of the carriage drive, gravel also encir cling the stem at the base, where it measures six feet in circumference. It is, however, very probable that the roots have penetrated a considerable distance and come into contact with the stable drains, thus deriving the nourishment required by so large a tree. The fruits are seldom thinned, WINTER VIEW OF THE PEAR TREE. as the tree is so vigorous as to be capa ble of carrying very large crops, and yet the fruits weigh from half a pound to one and a half pounds each. The total weight of the crop last year was two hundredweight. Many first prizes have been won from this tree, includ ing firsts at the Crystal Palace in 1894 and 1895. ” Queer Fish This. There is anew kind of fish on view in the Aquarium. It comes from Ber muda aud is called the “trunk fish.” Three specimens are on view. With a little stretch of the imagina tion the fish looks somewhat like a Saratoga trunk. It has a triangular cross section, its belly being flat and its sides rising from a sharp angle to a sharper edge along the back. Along these edges, are queer flaps that re semble the ruffles on a sofa cushion. The scales are thick and hard. When viewed head on it looks remarkably like a pig without legs. Its tail does not seem to fit at all. The body seems to cut off abruptly some distance from where the tail should be aud the caudal appendage stuck on wherever it would go.—New York Herald. Precious Manuscripts. Sir Walter Scott’s manuscript of “The Lady of the Lake” has just been sold in London for $6450; thirty years ago it brought SIOOO. The manuscript of “Old .Mortality” sold for SBOOO. Nelson’s autograph memoir of Lis own life, with some autograph let ters, was sold for $5000; twenty-three other letters of his to Trowbridge fetched SI4OO. Robert Burns’s pri vate journal, begun in 1787, “The Edinburgh Commonplace Book,” brought slßls. Eight manuscripts of A. C. Swinburne, poems published in his first volume, sold for $l9B. Garden In an Old Umbrella. Last summer au ingenious woman found an ornamental use for an old umbrella frame. A large nail was driven in the end of the wooden han dle, so it would press into the ground with more ease, the frame was opened and the handle planted in the middle of a round flower bed. A pretty trail ing vine that had a w hite blossom was placed where each wire rib of the um brella came and twined around. Low flowering plants were placed around the remaining portion of the bed to keep it in good form. —New York Journal. The First Prepaid Post. According to M. Piron the idea of a postpaid envelope originated early in the reign of Louis XIV. M. De Velayer in 1663 established a private post, planing boxes at the corners of the streets for the reception of letters wrapped in envelopes, which were to be bought nt offices established for the purpose. And it is said that a Swedish artillery officer, in 1823, petitioned the Chamber of Nobles to propose to the Government to issue stamped envelopes for prepaid letter#. WAIST FOR EARLY FALL. A NEW AND ATTRACTIVE DESICN FOR HOME WEAR. Tlif* Material Ia of Foulanl Silk, Showing Leaf Fnltern, an<l tlie Decoration a Are of Lace and Narrow PaMAonicnterle —A Waist In French Blue Taffeta. With the established popularity of the stylish little Etons, blazers and top coats, writes May Manton, there is a constant demand for now designs WAIST OF FRENCH-BLUE TAFFETA. in separate waists that can be made of silk or wash fabrics. A stylish ex ample is here given, developed in French blue taffeta. It is made over a g e-fit- attr active waist for early morning wear. ting lining that is trimly adjusted to the figure by means of the usual seams aud darts, and closes as does the waist, invisibly at the centre-front. The full frouts have clusters of tucks that are laid at yoke depth, separated by bands of insertion that have mitred points. The back fits smoothly across the shoulders with a slight fulness at the waist line. The two-seamed sleeves fit comfortably close with a fulness <it the top, caught through the centre by bauds of insertion that can be omitted in favor of a small puff, as shown in back view of engraving. The neck band is concealed by a stock of satin relieved by the inevitable touch of white lace or chiffon above. The belt that enciroles the waist is of silk with handsome metal buckle. Light inexpensive silks can be pur chased at a trifling cost, so that every w-oman can number among her outfit several dainty waists. The ready made garments are invariably high priced, but with these reliable pat terns, a few- yards of material and a little ingenuity, satisfactory results may be obtained. To make this waist for a lady in the medium size will require five yards of twenty-two-inch material.. " A Waist for Early Autumn Wear. The attractive model shown in the large illustration is well adapted, ac cording to May Manton, for early autumn wear. As illustrated, the ma terial is of foulard silk, showing a leaf pattern. The decorations consist of lace and narrow passementerie that de fines the edges of the rever and the wrists of the sleeves. The waist is supported by a glove fitted lining having the customary seams, double bust-darts and smooth under-arm gores, and closing invisibly at the centre-front. The hack is wide aud seamless, fitting smoothly across the shoulders, with a slight fulness at the waist line. The right-front shows fulness at the shoulder edge, with for ward-turning pleats at the neck edge, while at the waist line the material is drawn well to the centre-front by over lapping pleats. The left-front lies smoothly at the shoulder and neck, with the additional material at the waist laid in forward-turning pleats. On the edge of the left-front is a full rever that falls in jabot effect from the shoulders to the waist. The neck is completed by a smooth band over which is a stock of ribbon. A soft frill of lace rises above the eollar, af fording a stylish finish. The sleeves are mousquetaire, fol lowing the arm closely from the wrist to well above the elbow, where they are finished by a puff of moderate di mensions. The waist is encircled by a wide ribbon girdle that finishes with a bow and ends. All varieties of silk, including taffeta, foulard, India,' etc., are adapted to the style, while soft wool textures, or silk and wool, will develop equally well, lace, ribbon, passementerie or insertion forming suitable decoration. To make this waist for a woman of medium size will require two and a quarter yards of 44-inch material. Organdie Gown*. Organdie gowns are exceedinglj smart this season. One charming de sign is a white ground with sprays of pink flowers and heavy white stripes. The skirt has a graduated full flounce, with an entre deux of wide white lace. Three bands of entre deux are placed above the flounce, and the waist is heavily trimmed with the laee. A collar, belt and sash of old rose pink taffeta give a smart look to the gown. The hat is of cream-white straw, trimmed with taffeta ribbon and pink roses. The parasol is of taffeta and chiffon. Jaunty Suit For a Little Itoy. The jaunty suit here represented is made of dark blue serge, w ith a wide sailor oollar of white. It is neatly fin ished with machine stitching and deco rated with narrow braid. The coat, of becoming length, is simply shaped by shoulder and under-arm seams; the hack is wide and seamless, and has a slight fulness at the waist. The clos ing is effected in the centre-front, with button and buttonholes. Above the closing the fronts open upon a shield shaped portion, the neck finishing with a narrow braid. On the left front a useful pocket is inserted. An at tractive feature is the w ide sailor col lar, falling deeply across the back and shoulders. The sleeves are provided with inside seams only, and are ar ranged at the wrists in small box pleats stitched to position, while the fulness at the top is collected in gathers. The short trousers, extend- ing to the knee, have inside and out side leg seams, and close at the side, where pockets are inserted iu the out side seam. Inside bauds are provid ed at the top, having buttonholes to attach to buttons on the shirt waist. The trousers display a fulness at the knee in knickerbocker style, whioh is regulated by an elastic run through a casing. Useful and becoming suits for small boys can be fashioned iu this style in tweed, cheviot, serge or light-weight BOX’S RUSSIAN SUIT. ! cloth in shades of blue, tan, gray or | cardinal. To make this suit for a boy of four ! years will require one aud five-eighths yards of iifty-four-incli material or three yards of twenty-seveu-inch ma terial, with five-eighths of a yard of contrasting material for collar. The Keefer Jacket. The latest reefer jacket has a short basque, a high standing collar in the back and wide revers, and is slashed on either side of the front where the belt passes through and fastens over the remaining portion. A simple coat sleeve with wide puffs completes this stylish, trim little jacket, which re quires a very fluffy, much befrilled vest to give it the desired effect. In most parts of Asia where coffee is used, the “grounds” are drunk with the infusion. COLONEL TOM OCHILTREE. The National Charm-tor tVIm Jested Hll (till. Through CongrrflH. Colonel Tom Ochiltree became a national character a few years ago when he cameto Congress as a Repre- TOM OCHILTREE. sentative from Texas. He was con spicuous to look upon, and he rarely said anything that was not conspic uous. He made friends and he was sc good-natured to his enemies and sc quick with his wit that the men who were opposed to him were anxious to get over their tilts. He was pointed out on the floor of the House as the first native Congressman from liis State. It was also related that his district was wider and longer than many of the States of Europe, reach - ing over a territory of twenty-seven counties, and running from the gulf to Eagle Pass, on the Bio Grande. This area comprised 37,600 square miles. Ochiltree was practically the king of it. He was the only man in the dis trict when power was in consideration. Ochiltree went to the top of capital favoritism at a single bound. He was n prince of story-tellers. The beauty of his humor was that it hit no one so hard as it hit,himself. He was a joke to himself. He rarely appeared upon the floor of the Forty-eighth Congress that he did not put the House into a furore of laughter. The country mem bers used to declare that he was more fun than the minstrels. His bills and appropriations were jested through— the jest always bearing a strong argu ment why Texas and Texas harbors should be the especial care of the country. He called himself the “Red headed Ranger from Texas,” and the title was enough to get him a hearing before the business committee. It was his custom to send in word to an im portant session of a close-mouthed and dignified committee that the “Red-headed Rangerfrom Texas” had a few remarks he would like to make covering a few- points in a measure the august body had in its pigeon-holes. The admission of Ochiltree meant a good laugh—a long series of good laughs—and it is a part of Legislative tradition that the Colonel’s stories have done for him what plain, unvarnished and prosaic logic failed to do for others. —Chicago Times-Herald. The Mystery of Heredity. Out of 222 pupils in the grammar schools of Chicago who attained a cer tain percentage of efficiency only twenty-five were boys. This would indicate that girls are about four times as bright as boys. It is hard to un stand these things and to straighten up the rules of heredity. It is, we believe, au accepted rule that boys “take aftet” their mothers and the girls after their fathers. If, then, the women are the smartest, the boys, “taking after” the mother, should also lie SA-iartest. If the men are the smartest, then the girls," “taking after” the father, should be smartest. It is a difficult riddle to-unriddle.— Baltimore Sun. Moving Staircase for Passengers. A moving staircase for passengers, iu the shape of an endless leather belt transferring them from one story to another, is now in use in some of the great department-stores of Paris. It is called a transporting carpet. End less belts of canvas have been used for some time to convey packages from place to place within the stores. WORLD’S BICCEST JUC. Nearly as Tall as a Man and Will Hold 175 Gallons. Asa curiosity there may be some in terest in “the largest jug in the world,” there is little use for such a recepta cle. An Illinois pottery firm has con structed an immense jug of the shape and appearance of the familiar little brown jug of history. It is so heavy that several men would be required to lift it high enough for one man to drink out of it. It is almost as tall as a man, being sixty-one inches high. It is thirty-six inches in diameter and holds 175 gallons. The jug is per fect in every respect, aud expert pot ters have declared it the finest piece of workmanship ever seen. The owners have been offered hand some sums for the jug by firms de siring to use it for advertising pur poses. It is no small task to finish a BIGGEST JUG EVER MADE. vessel of this size; and the greatest care must be taken, for if a single flaw creeps into the clay it is liable to burst when being turned nnd create great havoc in the workshop. An octogenarian vagrant was lodged at a St. Joseph (Mo.) police station one night. WOMAN’S WORLD. The Millinery World. Crinoline is much used for shaping hats, and,it can he twisted, tucked, doubled and waved to suit any style of face. For large faces, hats should have much ribbon and floral decora tion, and if the ribbon be fancy ami gauzy it should be put on in big bunches. In fact, a profusion of trim ming, especially flowers, is to lie ob served in nearly all the season’s mil linery. The fashionable hats anil bonnets, particularly those from Paris, have somewhat harsh color combinations, which only a Parisian milliner cat: inske effective. A hat of black straw may he ornamented with dark red and orange yellow, or with “fresh-leaf green, violet and black. Canvas sailors are’now as much w on as straw ones; hut they should be trimmed with ample bows of ribbon, and some fine flowers to cover the crown of the head when the hair is worn low. Many charming toques have i foundation of pleated net, gauze, chif fon or silk muslin, trimmed AitL medium-sized flowers and feathers, often of two or three colors, or bird-of i paradise plumes. Toques are alwayi ■ becoming to young people, but foi summer wear they are ruinous to the | complexion. Wide, floppy hats give a rural air which can be affected at nc j other season. Leghorns are very enchanting on youthful heads; but the very coarse straws now in vogue are a godsend to the middle-aged woman, because their ruggedness coincides agreeably with even a wrinkle or two. Bonnets are much appreciated for dressy wear. The latest caprice goes up to a point in the middle. Theater bonnets are made of gold plait, or spangled and embroidered lace, and are trimmed with quanties of violets. The hair is much waved beneath them. The bonnet itself goes flat on the hair in front, and a bird-of-paradise aigrette, held by a jeweled buckle, stands up from the side, or from the centre of the crown. * Relented an Act of Politeness. If she had been a plain-looking, mid dle-aged woman I don’t think she would have resented it, but as she was an uncommonly handsome girl of twenty or thereabouts, and wore a stunning tailor-made suit of dark green, with a white vest, and a bunch of white cock plumes in her hat, she mistook an act of politeness for imper tinence aud “trim him down,” asChim mie Fadden would say, with great vio lence. She was going from the ferry to the railway station, and carrying a dress suit case in one hand and a natty um brella in the other. He looked like a gentleman, and I am sure he was one, if physiognomy is any key to charac ter, but Miss Disdain evidently mis took him for a “masher,” and when, as the boat reached the landing, he stepped up and asked permission to carry her dress-suit case, she gave him a look that was loaded with dynamite, and said: “It is not at all necessary, sir.” His cheeks colored crimson. He stepped back as if he had been stung, and lifting his hat again, begged her pardon and tried to hide himself in the throng. I thought she might have thanked him, and her neglect to-do so showed that she was not a well-bred girl. Fifty years ago—yes, ten years ago, a woman would have expected such au attention, and a dozen men would have offered to carry her lug gage between the railway train and the boat, but nowadays a gentleman dare not offer to do an act of politeness without being slapped in the face. I said something to that, effect to Mrs. W orldwise, who also had witnessed the incident, when she flared up, as women will when their sex is criticised, aud said: “Girls are compelled to protect themselves from unwelcome attention. ” “But if she had been a plain girl she would have accepted his offer,” I sug gested. “If she had been a plain girl there would have been uo offer to accept,” replied the fountain of wisdom.—Will iam E. Curtis, in Chicago Record. Wonderful Helen Keller. The marvel of the modern world, Helen Keller, the blind girl of Ala bama, whose wonderful progress in her studies for admission to Radcliffe College have attracted the the atten tion and aroused the admiration of the wise men of the world, has just cele brated her seventeenth birthday by beginning her preliminary examina tion. She was seventeen years >l<l last Sunday, and she stood her first examination Friday. Miss Keller has been studying iu a preparatory school at Cambridge since last fall. Her instruction in Latin, frermau, French, history and geogra phy has not been specially difficult since the great improvement in books for the blind. Her text books look like the big office books in use in counting rooms. The raised letters she can read as rapidly as if she could see, and the Brayl system, where a cipher consisting of dots and dashes takes the place of letters can be read even more rapidly, because the matter is more condensed. Books that have never been trans lated for the blind, Miss Keller still reads—not by sight as do the deaf mutes, nor by listening to others, as do the blind who can hear. She sim ply places her hand over the fingers of one who is reading by using the sign language for the deaf, and catches every word. Iu this way she has covered the whole range of her pre paratory studies. For her arithmetic a special slate was invented, and she has become an accurate and rendy worker in mathematics. Miss Keller has been provided with a planetarium, upon' which she can feel the positions of the heavenly bodies, and has gained a clear idea of their relations to each other. The whole world will watch the progress of this wonderful girl’s ex amination for entrance to Radclifi'e College, on which the hope of her life is staked. In studying these examin ations the papers are read te her and she writes the answers on a type writer. Her intelligence is preter naturally keen, her enthusiasm in domitable and her ambition boundless. Many thousands who do not know her will pray that she may succeed.—At lanta Journal.