Newspaper Page Text
CASTLES.
I
lAb tottering walls, the crumbling arch,
The oolumns, the works of art.
Are mingled with briars and weeds and
grime--
A fitting counterpart,
fn telling the tales of the long ago.
Of the castles where lord and liogo
li'he legions defied, but that fell before
Old Time's relentless siege.
But the cornerstones were deeply laid,
■below the rage of the storm,
And mnrk the spot that will tell the talo
To the ages yet unborn.
But nothing remains of the loves and hopes
Of the princely dwellers there,
Ho pillars are left, no fragments are found,
Of their castles in the air.
Yet the castles of Love, and the temples of
Hope,
And Ambition's gorgeous goal.
Have aisles as broad and domes as high
As the concept of the Soul.
Delusions may come and illusions may go,
The mirage may bring despair,
Yet oheer to the soul, and joy to the heart,
Are castles in the air.
l_.
They take us away from the plod and the
grind,
Away from life's woarisome road,
And promise that somehow, in days to
come.
We shall bear us a lighter load.
Hope's anchor is fastened within the veil
Of the faith abiding there;
We smile at care and banish grief
From our castles In the air.
I ■r-.—rne*
Our castles may vanish, but never decay,
Like the castles we have seen,
’* With moss-covered ruin—the jeer of the
winds,
And the sport of the ivy green.
But grander and higher we build anew
80 high that we seem to be where
The songs of the angels till the dome
Of our castles in tho pi r.
—Wi 11 Oumbaok, in Indianapolis Journal.
teiei^aaßK^ssisieiaeisie(eie^e;eie(e|
REFORMATION
OF SHEPHERD. |
By R. CLYDE FORD. $
meieiQieieiei^eieieieieieieieiaeieieie^i
HEDGE No. 4 was
V stationed one
Pi summer on the
1] ran g e between
17 Bay Mills and
Y Point mix Pius,
f The quarter-boat
f° r the hands,
“Sibeery,” the
night men called it from the time it
had been so christened by Joe Shep
herd in a fit of melancholy and despair,
was anchored in a little sandy cove on
the Canadian side of the river near the
Point. The gouge in the shore line
here was due whilly to the removal of
sand by a “sand sucker,” a contrivance
fitted up by the Canadians to get sand
for their new locks at the Soo. How
ever much the night men said they
disliked the constant wheezing and
puffings of the sucker, and the un
couth machine itself, which they
claimed had set fire to their last year’s
quarter-boat and compelled them to
crawl out of a sound sleep in the mid
dle of the forenoon, leaving watches
and clothes behind, still, in reality,
they did not object very much to the
sucker after all. It was their only re
laxation, their only excitement in the
lonesome hours of their quarter-boat
life.
“Mighty hot Sibeery, ain’t it, boys?”
Joe would remark, when about 10
o’clock the men came down from their
hot rooms to sit in disconsolate groups
in the shade of the house on broken
anchor chains and dredge machinery.
“Mightjest aboutas well be a Canuck
and run a sand-sucker,” he would
grumble on, peering through clouds
of smoke from his corn-cob pipe out
into the clear water, where, forty or
fifty feet away, the long pipe of the
sucker was feeling about on the bot
tom and pulling a steady stream of
sand and water up into the big scow
which served as a sort of stomach for
it. A.nd then some late comer would
appear with suspenders dragging, and
after contemplating the progress of the
pumping, would call out to the imper
turbable saud-sueker men, “That’s
right, fellers, dig away; youneedsand,
you fellers do!” And, in spite of Joe’s
expostulating snort that the night crew
needed sand, too, this continued to be
the regular daily joke which the for
saken party on Sibeery hurled at her
majesty’s subjects on the sucker.
it was a strange sort of regimen
which prevailed on the dredge. When
there were places to be filled anybody
who offered himself was accepted. No
questions were asked. It was, how
ever, expected that no one would get
drunk while on duty. What one did
when off duty was of no consequence.
Tne great channel between Duluth
and buffalo was strictly international,
and anybody could help dig it, be he
Jew or Gentile, white or black. Per
sonal history counted for nothing, for
pedigree and past life were never made
subjects of study on the river. The
river is one place in this democratic
land, at any rate, where, as the poet
says, “There ain’t no ancient history
to bother yon nor me.”
The make-up of the night crew was
remarkable, and it had some striking
characters in it. But the most re
. markable man of all who sat down to
midnight dinner on No. 4 was Joe
Shepherd. He was tall and slim, al
most lathy indeed, and not very old.
He stooped slightly with the languor
ous stoop of a scholar, but was not
one. His face, turned a dusky brown
by the wind and weather of the chan
nel, was marked by a nose, large and
(dump, and burned a still fiercer red
than the rest of his face. Joe’s nose
was a flaming promontory in a parched
Sahara. Surmount his face by a soft
wool hat, and imagine him dressed in
fairly good clothes, and you have Joe
Shepherd, the person. But it would
take long acquaintance to know Joe
Shepherd, the man, the real personal
ity, which was at once the life and
soul—what little there was—of the
night crew
Joe was the boss at night, the “run
ner” in the vernacular of the dredge.
He presided over the machinery in the
engine room and regulated the great
crane and dipper. In the ghostly
electric light he presented a strange
appearance, as seen from a tug or
passing barge, his tall, gaunt figure
bending over the lever, which he
Sushed forward or backward at a mo
on horn the cranesman till the crane
groaned or creaked. Occasionally his
band would reach up to the whistle
Signal, and a hoarse, bellowing blast
Would warn some passing steamer
where it was to go. Sometimes, too,
he would sing at his work, for he had
a good voice. His favorite song was
a kind of river lyric:
•lAn’ the waters sweep on
As we dig away
At the bottom of the river bod;
An' the boats creep on
As we list away—
That's how we earn T bread.
“Battle an’ creak o’ the erane,
An’ up with ’e anchor post;
On with the work again,
’Tls a dreary life at most,
’Tls a dreary life at most.
An’ the days sweep on
As we work away
Wherever falls the lead;
An’ our lives creep on
Till our hearts gi’ way—
That’s how we earn ’r bread.
“Battle an’ creak o’ the crane,
An’ up with ’e anchor post;
On with tho work again,
’Tis a weary life at most,
’Tis a weary life at most.”
If the night crew had stopped to
think they could have seen that Joe
was their superior in everything but
morals. Morally dredge men are
pretty much alike. He swore like the
rest, he talked illiterately like the rest,
but now and then there would flash
into his conversation an expression
beautifully turned, some illusion foreign
to his surroundings, indicating a life
and history not quite covered up by
the ooze of the river. But whatever
he might have been, it was evident
that he had shaped himself so long to
his environment that the adaptation
had become real life with him.
Joe’s besetting sin was drink. In
this he did not differ any from the rest,
hut one noticed it more in him because
the gentleman was not quite rubbed
out of him. Whenever the tug went
to the Soo in the day time, Joe went
along if he could get passage from Si
berry, and he always came back with
gourd-like nose colored a more pro
nounced red. Joe had a wife, too, who
lived in a little house in the Soo, but
she did not see much of him. He went
to town over Sunday, but he spent
most of Saturday night with the bons
vivants of Water street, and he did
not rest Sundays. Of course he ought
not to have been able to find liquor on
a Sunday, but whoever knows the river
and the river world, will see nothing
remarkable in this.
The men said Joe’s wife took his
dissipation very much to heart for she
was young and an utter stranger in the
town. And of course a wife who looks
forward through a long week of lone
someness to seeing her husband Sat
urday night, is wretched and cries
from disappointment if he does not
come home till Sunday afternoon, and
drunk at that. Women are so peculiar
about such things.
The Fourth of July came that year
in the middle of the week, and at four
o’clock in the morning of the eventful
day Joe blew a long blast of the
whistle, and tho dredge stopped work.
As soon as the men could wash up the
tug took them down to Sibeery, where
a few hoarse shrieks brought out the
“exiles” who could sleep nights “as
white orter,” said Joe. Everybody
put on his best clothes and took all
the money he had. The term “best
clothes” among dredge men does’not
mean much; a $lO suit at most, a
white shirt with a few tobacco stains
on the bosom, a collar laundered once
or twice in the course of the summer,
and a necktie of glaring colors—such
it is to be well dressed on the river.
By six o’clock the tug was puffing
away toward the Soo with almost the
whole population of No. 4 aboard of
her.
There is no need to particularize
specially as to the adventures of the
day. Everybody celebrated with a
will; celebrated as only river men
whose minds are filled with the sig
nificance of the day can celebrate. The
night fireman of the dredge was drunk
by ten o’clock. Bill Sykes, the day
crauesman, was in the lock-up by
noon. Reddy, fireman of the tug,
took part iq three fights in the course
of the day and was worsted in all of
them. But Joe Shepherd was unusu
ally methodical and moderate in his
jollification. He drank copiously at
his own and other people’s expense;
but he combined exercise and pleasure
so carefully that he was “still on the
range” at noon. But his nose showed
certain telltale signs. Joe’s nose was
like the water gauge of a boiler. One
could tell about how he was filling up
by it. At four o’clock the day runner
went to the tug and blew a few short
whistles, the rallying whistle for the
men. And soon they came—those
that were coming at all—but with steps
very measured and slow. Now and
then some of them would he moved to
tears from patriotic fervor aud stop to
embrace one another and thank heaven
they were citizens of our great repub
lic—all of this within a step of the
canal.
Last of all came Joe, somewhat per
turbed in manner, but still enduring.
He was singing with all his might the
refrain of his favorite song, with some
variations:
“Rattle ’n’ creak o’ the crane,
An’ up with ’e anchor post;
On with the work again,
’Tis a blamed hard life at most—
’Tis a blamed hard life at most.”
He had just started on this for the
third or fourth time when a little wo
man turned the corner and came up
by the side of him. The song died on
his lips. “ ’Tis a blamed hard life,"
was the end of it.
“Joe,” said the woman, “yog
haven’t been home this week now
and—” “Mrs. Shepherd,” inter
rupted Joe oratorically, “this is the
day we celebrate. The nation’s wel
fare is—” Here he stumbled and did
not finish his sentence.
“But Joe, you didn’t come home
last Sunday, either, and I git so lone
some all alone,” and the woman began
to cry. By this time the two were up
1 near the tug.
“Ob, come, now, Mrs. Shepherd,
Julia dear, guess you’d better go back,
you’ll be hinderin’ proper navigation
on the canal here.”
“I don’t care, I won’t go back, not
now aryway. If you’re goin’ off I’m
goin’ to see you a minut,” and she
fastened resolutely to Joe’s arm with
one hand, and wiped her eyes with
the other. Joe was embarrassed and
conscience-smitten. And it was an
ordeal to appear like this before the
men, some of whom did not even
know he was married. While the pro
visions were being put aboard and the
last stragglers collected, Joe sat near
by on a stick of timber, with his wife
holding to his arm. When all was
really the captain .yelled “all aboard,”
and blew the whistle. Joe rose to go.
“Give me a kiss, Joe, please,” said
his wife, and he hesitatingly and awk
wardly kissed her. Then he stepped
on the tug and the woman was atom
by the canal.
Joe was sobering up fast, but he
talked with nobody and during the
run back to the dredge stood by him
self on the bow and let the cool breeze
clear the oohwebs from his brain.
That night the dredge started up again
with Joe running. For several hours
he searoely spoke, but toward
midnight he turned to the inspector,
who stood near. “Mr. Hunter, a man
who gets drunk is a fool, ain’t he?”
he asked, half in question, half in
meditation. “Yes,” answered the in
spector tersely. “Then I’ll quit it,”
said Joe, and he kept his word.
A Mercurial Monarch.
To those who are aocustomed to
look upon Oriental potentates and dig
nitaries as the impersonifioation of re
pose and decorous gravity; most of
them being so impassive that it is per
fectly impossible to interpret their
feelings, the King of Siam is a perfect
revelation, says a correspondent. He
is literally bubbling over with enthus
iasm, excitement, curiosity and de
light and impresses everybody that
has met him since his arrival in Eu
rope as being the jolliest little fellow
imaginable. He is always smiling
when he is not laughing outright,
never bows without a smile of such
broadness that it is almost a full
fledged grin, and dashes off his hat
with such a grand and vehement ges
ture that he almost knocks over the
people nearest him. He can do noth
ing calmly, and managed, by his an
tics, to keep the somber and unhappy
looking King Humbert in altogether
abnormally good spirits throughout his
entire stay at Borne, He made a per
fect show of himself at the capitol.
He ran from statue to statue, looking
at them all round, in front, at the back
and even underneath. When he saw
the capitol Venus his enthusiasm knew
no bounds, and he actually jumped,
shouted and slapped his thighs with
admiration. In fact, he is so lively
that the stately biased officials of the
various courts of Europe, where he is
visiting, are in a great state of pertur
bation. He has already been nick
named “King Quicksilver,” owing to
the rapidity with which he does every
thing, even his speaking of the Eng
lish language.
Desperate Hide of a Wheelman.
Only desperate necessity could urge
a wheelman to take such chances as
were faced one day recently by Joseph
E. Everett of Brick Church, N. J.
Mr. Everett is’ a lawyer, and having a
most important engagement in a neigh
boring town, determined to take the
morning train to the place in question.
He miscalculated the time, and did
not discover his error until warned by
the train whistle. He is elderly, but
is an expert wheelman, and, jumping
into the saddle, he dashed off to the
depot. Just as the train started per
sons on the platform saw him riding
with head down and feet moving like
piston rods down Harrison street to
the railroad. At the crossing the cy
clist turned on to the gravel track be
tween the rails and scorched down the
road after the fast-receding train. As
the last ear passed Evergreen place,
moving at a speed which would have
caused an experienced train jumper to
hesitate, the cyclist rode abreast of
the rear platform. Still pedaling with
one foot and grasping the bar with
one hand, the scorcher reached over
and clutched the railing on the plat
form. With a quick movement he
swung himself clear of the saddle,
drawing his wheel after him by twin
ing his other foot around the frame,
aud .lauded safely on the steps of the
car The feat was witnessed by at
least twenty persons, and nil agreed
that it had beat the record for any
trick riding any of them had ever
seen.—Washington Star.
History of Ivory.
The earliest recorded history—we
might say prehistoric, the hieroglyphi
cal—that has come down to us has
been in carvings on ivory and bone.
Long before metallurgy was known
among the prehistoric races, carvings
on reindeer horn and mammoth tusk,
evidence the antiquity of art. Frag
ments of horn and ivory, engraved
with excellent pictures of animals,
have been found in caves and beds of
of rivers and lakes. There are speci
mens in the British Museum, also in
the Louvre, of the Egyptian skill in
ivory carving, attributed to the age of
Moses. In the latter collection are
chairs or seats of the sixteenth cen
tury B. C. inlaid with ivory, and other
pieces of the eleventh century B. C.
We have already referred to the Nine
veh ivories. Carving of the “precious
substance” was extensively carried on
at Constantinople during the middle
ages. Combs, caskets, horns, boxes,
etc., of carved ivory and bone, often
set in precious stones, of the old
Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods, are
frequently found in tombs. Crucifixes
and images of the Virgin and saints
made in that age are often graceful and
beautiful. The Chinese and Japanese
are rival artists now in their peculiar
minutiae and detail.—Appletons’ .Pop
ular Science Monthly.
Wooing and Wedding in Alaska.
Wooing and wedding in Alaska
among the natives are interesting and
peculiar rites. When a young man is
of a suitable age to marry, his mother,
his aunt or his sister looks up a wife
for him. He seldom marries a woman
younger than himself; she is much old
er, and sometimes is double his age,
and even more. She is selected from
a family whose position equals his, or
is even higher. When a suitable wo
man is found the young man is asked
how many blankets and animal skins
he is willing to pay for her. When
that important question is settled, a
feast is arranged in the home of the
bride and the friends of both families
are invited. When the company is as
sembled the woman’s people extol the
greatness of their family. The young
man’s marriage gifts are spread out
where they will make a fine show, and
then his family sound their praises.
The ceremony lasts from one to two
days, and finally the young man takes
his wife to his own abode.
Iflltialna;.
What has become of the old-fash
ioned boy whose face was a mass of
freckles? The boys of to-day don’t use
lotions, but the boy whose faoe was so
covered with freckles that they ran in
to each other and hung over the edges,
is missing. He was the smartest boy
en earth.—Atchison Globe.
OUft BUDGET OF HIfMOR.
LAUCHTER-PROVOKING STORIES FOR
LOVERS OF FUN.
In Erroiw>A..umod a Disguise—’They Had
Been In Battle The Vernacular—
Dae.elng Him Down—Paradoxical — An
Advantage—A Burning question. Etc.
He could not soo the coming blight.
Knew not how soon he’d be bereft;
But said, “You love me; am I right?”
Low answered she, “No, sir; you’re left!”
—Judge.
He Wouldn't Do a Thing to It.
Josh—“ They say all kinds of dis
eases come from microbes nowadays.”
Hiram—“l wish I had a hold of
the microbe that started off my rheu
matiz.”
Assumed -a Disguise.
Reporter—“ You didn’t catch the
thief?”
Sheriff—“No; he changed his name
ten miles back and threw me off the
track.”—Judge.
The Vernacular.
“Don’t you think he puts on too
much side?”
“Yea, aud a good deal of front; but
I don’t think it has any backing.”—
Indianapolis Journal.
The Supply Exhausted.
The Old Fisherman —“Don't seem
to be any flsh around here.”
The Cynic “Shouldn’t suppose
there were; everybody in this region
has caught so many.”
The Orthodox Tiling.
Papa—-“And did you think for one
moment that that clerk of mine was in
a position to propose to you?”
Daughter—“ Why, certainly, Papa!
He was on his knees.”
They Had Been in Battle.
First Old Soldier —“There’s some
thing familiar about that woman’s
face.”
Second Old Soldier—“ That’s so. I
guess it’s the powder.”—Puck.
Their First Breakfast.
Mr. Youngwed—“Darling, this egg
seems to he pretty well cooked.”
Mrs. Youngwed (delighted) “I
thought so. Why, dearest, I boiled
it for over half an hour.”-—Judge.
Paradoxical.
Sudds—“The circus poster is a par
adoxical work of art.”
Spatts—“Well?”
Sudds —“It is decided in its views,
and yet you’ll find it on the fence. ”
Judge.
A Privileged Pair.
Ilojack—“Silence is golden, I be
lieve!”
Tomdik—“So they say.”
Hojack—“Then the nuptials of a
deaf mute couple might be called a
go .den wedding. ’’—Detroit Free Press.
Dressing Him Down.
“I believe you’d staud before a
mirror all day,” said Mr. Closely
snappishly, “doing nothing but change
your dresses.”
“Perhaps I would,” replied Mrs.
Closely, dreamily, “if I had the
dresses. ” —Judge.
He Interprets the Contract.
Customer “You remember you
sold me this coat yesterday? You said
you would return the money if it
wasn’t satisfactory.”
Clothing Merchant—“But, my dear
sir, it vos quvite satisfactory; I nefer
had petter money as dot in all my life.”
—Puck.
An Advantage.
“I envy her complexion,” said
Maud.
“But she freckles and tans so easi
ly!” replied Mamie.
“That’s just it. She can go to the
seashore for a few days, and at the
end of the season look exactly as if
she had been away all summer.”—
Washington Star.
A Burning Question.
“And what is to be the subject of
lecture to-morrow night, Professor?”
“Well, my dear young lady, I can
hardly hope it will have much interest
for you. I Shall lecture on ‘sun-spots. ’ ”
“Oh, but that’s of the greatest in
terest to me. I shall certainly come.
You’ve no idea how I suffer from
freckles. ” —Punch.
Economy and Morals.'
Wife—“ John, don’t you think you
better give up trying to shave your
self and go back to the barber?”
Husbaud—“Why, of course not.
See how much I save every month.”
Wife—“ Yes, I know that, but then
Willie is always around when you
shave, and he is learning so many bad
words.” —Ohio State Journal.
A Biased Honeymoon.
The Groom (as he recovers sensibil
ity)— “W-hei’e am I?”
The Bride—“ Hush, darling! you
met with an accident as we got in the
hack.”
The Groom—“ Horse kick me?”
The Bride—“ N-n-o, darling! Pa
threw an old boot after you, and in
his exeitement forgot his wooden leg
was in it.” —Judge.
The Coroner and the Expert.
A bridge had collapsed. The train
upon it had gone down into the chasm.
The Coroner’s jury was endeavoring to
fix the responsibility. A famous ex
pert was on the witness stand.
“Sir,” said the Coroner, with con
siderable deference, “to what do you
attribute the collapse of the struc
ture?”
The great expert deliberated.
“Wait,” he said.—Cleveland Plain
Dealer.
His Plan.
“How is it, Colonel,” asked the
hopeful young bunco-steerer, address
ing the hoary-headed master of the
craft, “that you have always been so
successful in picking out juicy suck
ers, aud never have to waste your time
on unprofitable subjects?”
“I simply wait till I hear a man say
that he is a pretty good judge of
human nature,” replied the veteran;
“and then I know he is just what Tam
looking for.” —Puck.
The State Railroad Commission of
North Carolina has increased the tax
valuation of the railroads in the State
by $3,000,600. The valuation of nearly
everything else remains the same or
has been lowered. The telegraph rate
was ordered reduced from twenty-five
cents for ten words to fifteen cents.
ELEPHANTS FIGHT A DUEL.
Bulls Make a Mighty Interesting Spectacle
For the Hunters.
Hearing sounds that indicated seri
ous trouble in a herd of wild elephnnts
on the Upper Congo River, a native
hunter named Keema and a sportsman
named Rolmrd fled precipitately to a
sturdy tree near by. What happened
after that is told in Outing:
“They had scarcely reached their
perches when a second division of the
herd came rushing down the path
which the men had just left, shrieking
and trumpeting in auger and fear.
The tree shook as the tornado of
brutes swept by. On the left the
shrieking was varied with cracking
and lashing as of ropes against a mast.
Keema climbed higher in his tree, and
through a break in the forest discov
ered the cause of the trouble. In an
open space two bull elephants were
fighting. One of them was a leader
of the herd, the other an old warrior
bull tramp who had lost a tusk.
“ ‘lt is the rogue Ilunga,’ whispered
Keema, ‘and he will kill the other
beauty —no use to try to stop him.’
“The hunters watched fora chance to
fire as the brutes drew back a little
and sprang together with lowered
heads and big ears outspread, the
skulls coming together with stunning
force. On recovering they caine to
gether again, rising on their hind
legs and striking down with their
tusks as with a sword, shrieking with
rage, and using their trunks like whip
lashes. The men came from the tree
and drew near to the fight through
the bushes.
“ ‘Shoot the leader,’ said Keema;
‘it is no use to try for tho other.’
“Then it dawned on Robard that the
savage deemed the wanderer an evil
spirit not to be tried for, since it pos
sessed magic power. The man came
into sight of the leader of the herd
behind Hunga, as the native called
him, and the beast drew back, startled
at the sight of a deadlier enemy than
the wandering bull. The shrinking of
the leader gave the tramp a chance,
and, like a fencer, he gave a sharp
thrust with his tusk. The leader
staggered, but a shot behind Ilunga’s
ear killed the other elephant. The
leader leaned forward as if to rush to
attack Robard, who had fired, but
Keema was just behind the elephant,
and with a keeD, heavy knife ham
strung the beast with a single blow,
disabling it. A bullet above tho eye
finished the creature.”
Caught the Entire Swann.
A queen bee Thursday led her swarm
of 7000 odd subjects right into the
heart of Rochester, N. Y., and a tele
graph pole was selected as the final
resting place of the swarm. Their
presence attracted a large throng, but
it made many of the pedestrians some
what nervous to have a swarm of bees
hovering about them, and, though tho
bees do not appear to have stung any
one, they were inclined to be altogether
too familiar for comfort.
Walter B. Bargv is a man who has
passed his life in the caro of bees, and,
as Ihe ill luck of the swarm would
have it, he happened to be passing
along while they were cutting up their
antics. He determined to attempt
their capture. Ho took an ordinary
soap box and climbed to tho top of the
pole. He was surrounded by the
insects, and they could have stung
him to deatli had they chosen to do so.
But they seemed to recognize hitn as a
friend, and none of them interfered
with him. He set the soap box on
top of the telegraph polo and awaited
developments. In about half an hour
about half the bees were swarming in
side the box.
He climbed up again, slipped a news
paper under the box, and took it down.
But he was not content with the cap
ture of only half of the tribe. He
took the box across the canal and set
it on the pile of logs just under the
canal foot bridge. On the top of the
box he set a keg, and this proved so
much more attractive that the bees be
gan to leave the box and crawl in
thousands into the keg. Tho bees
which still lingered about the pole on
the other side of the canal crossed
over, and by night Mr. Bargy took to
his home 7000 bees. They are worth
sls or S2O, so he had done a pretty
good day’s work.—Chicago Chronicle.
A Strange and Odd Plant.
One of the strangest and oddest ol
plants known to botanists is one dis
covered in the tropical parts of South
west Africa by Dr. Wolwitsch and
sent home to Europe 1 in 1863. A
writer says; “It is not easy to convey
an idea of such a plant; however, if
one will take an old saddle, cut the
flap into ribbons, set it on a sand
dune with the ribbons of leather
spread out around it, and stick some
thing, crimson-coned at intervals
around the seat to represent the fructi
fications, some idea of this queer an
omaly may be had, both as to its ap
pearance and the places it inhabits.”
The summit of the plant never reaches
far above the surface, and it bear two
huge leathery leaves which sprawl on
the sand on either hand. Actually
four leaves are produced—the two
cotyledons which fall away while the
plant is still young and an additional
pair placed at right angles to the coty
ledons and persisting through the life
of the plant. In time they grow to an
extraordinary size, attaining six feet
in length and two to three feet in
breadth; they are green, and are torn
by the wind into numerous segments,
which spread out over the earth. The
plant attains more than a century in
age, and is one of the most peculiar
among vegetable monstrosities. Its
appearance might easily give rise to
some of the strange legends that at
tach to some little known tropical
plants.—Detroit Free Press.
Hitting Force of Cjcllst3.
A cyclist of 150 pounds weight and
moving at the rate of ten feet per sec
ond (about seven miles an hour) has
a momentum of 1500 pounds, without
counting the weight of his wheel. A
collision between two 150-pound riders,
wheeling at the moderate pace of seven
miles an hour, would result in a
smash-up with a force of 3000’ pounds!
—Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Fall of Koine.
The extravagance of the Roman
ladies of high rank was one of the
prime causes of the fall of that mighty
empire. Folia Poppea, who cut a wide
swath in Nero’s time, was the happy
possessor of a gown said to have cost
nearly $1,000,000.
A NEW AND NOVEL GUN.
UNCLE SAM IS BUILDINC A WONDER.
FUL PIECE OF ORDNANCE.
Said to Be tbo Strongest War Implement
Ever Made—Will Be Used For Coast
Defenses Altogether Will Weigh
Thirty Tons—Terrific Striking Capacity.
Uncle Sam, says a New York letter
in the Detroit Free Press, is building
anew 10-inch wire gun of a brand new
pattern to astonish the world. When
Uncle Sam wants to do a thing he
generally does it, and consequently all
the governments on the surface of the
globe watch his movements with no
small degree of interest. Never be
fore in the history of the manufacture
of war implements has the world wit
nessed a fiercer struggle for superiority
between gun and armor plate in every
country of the globe than at tho
present time. Governments and
private concerns alike take part in
this race at breakneck speed. At this
time of the race, however, no one can
safely predict which of the two, gun
or armor, will be the victor. As far
as the navy is concerned the odds are
slightly in favor of the guns, for it
seems as if the thickness of armor
for men-of-war has been nearly
reaohed. Congress, taking this fact
into consideration, made an appro
priation last year for the construction
of a 10-inch wire gun according to a
new system invented by John Hamil
ton Brown, an American. This gun
is now being built at the plant of the
Reading Iron Company, by the in
ventor, under the supervision of one
or two inspectors from the Ordnance
Department of the United States
Army.
Nearly every power of Europe has
tried its hand at wire wound guns
before and since that period. It now
appears that only England and Rus
sia made any headway, while France
for the time being dropped the matter
entirely, confining herself to keeping
watch over the achievements of other
governments. At present England is
doing fairly well, but she will be left
far behind if the new Brown ten-incli
wire gun half way fulfills the expec
tations of government and inventor.
The gun will weigh thirty tons and
and is expected to hurl a 600-pound
shell with a muzzle velocity of 2988
feet per second. Such n velocity
would give the projectile, if the shell
weighs 600 pounds instead of the
regulation weight of 680, a striking
capacity of 38,410 foot-tons. In oth
er words, the striking capacity per
ton of weight of gun would be 1280
foot-tons at the muzzle—something
unequalled in gun construction in any
country.
This new 10-inch gun is and only
can be intended for const defense. Its
great length, thirty-seven and one
half feet, makes it at once unavaila
ble for use in the navy. The great
length may also cause fortification
engineers trouble with regard to con
struction of parapets when the gun is
mounted on disappearing carriages in
forts, as it must be.
The core of this new gun will con
sist of ninety longitudinal bars (seg
ments) of approximately a little less
than fire-eighths of an inch in thick
ness; three and three-eighths of an
inch in bight at the breach and then
tapering down to the muzzle to one
aud one-fifth of an inch in bight. The
length of the segments will be in the
neighborhood of thirty-seven feet.
The steel in the segments of the
new gun will have a tensile strength oi
120,000 pounds to the square inch.
The elastic limit will be 70,000 pounds
per square inch, aud the elongation
from twenty to twenty-four per cent.
There is no room for doubt that a bar
of steel 100 feet long which can be
stretched to a length of 124 feet be
fore rupture takes place must contain
a metal of excellent quality.
After the segments have been as
semble! and the breech and muzzle
nut screwed on to them, thus forming
the core of the gun, the winding of
the wire round and round the core be
gins. The wire used in the new gun
has an area of 1.49 of an inch, each
side measuring 1.7 of an inch. Asthe
wire is to be wound round the core
under a pressure of about 98,000
pouuds per square inch, and must re
tain an equal margin of strength in
order to permit the core of the gun to
expand safely in the firing and con
tract after the shot, it becomes at
once apparent that the wire must have
a very great elastic limit.
The weight of the seventy-five miles
of wire amounts to 30,948 pounds.
At the breech the gun will have from
thirty-three to thirty-four layers of
wire uniformily wound.
The winding, indeed, of each inch
of these seventy-five miles of wire,
with the uniform pressure of 98,000
pounds per square inch represents in
itself a problem which it will be diffi
cult to solve. It was clear from tho
start that the winding could not be
done from an ordinary machine. A
special one had to be constructed, and
is now finished.
The total cost of the new gun is
estimated at $30,000.
An Old Bit of Furniture.
There lias recently been deposited
in the British Museum what is prob
ably the most venerable piece of furni
ture in existence. It is the throne of
Queen Hatasu, who reigned in the
Nile Valley some 1000 years before
Christ, and twenty-nine years before
Moses. This now dilapidate object
seems to be of lignum vitse, the carv
ing of the legs being inlaid with gold,
and those of the back with silver.
Hnrtl to Pronounce.
Hottentot is hard to pronounce, ii
the graphic description of Dr. Aurel
Schulz does it no injustice: “I can
safely liken the language to the click
ing of a multitude of different rusty
old gun lock simultaneously set in
in motion. It is simply appalling
to hear the fatty click gut tkoot, tick,
lick, mktchnk gtkowktok gtu-gkti
gkkij, accompanied by many gur
glings.”
Eight Hundred Thousand Seeds From One.
One of the most wonderful exam
ples of vegetable growth, and fecun
dity is illustrated by the Asiatic pem
perion. A single seed planted on the
grounds of the Berlin Botanical Soci
ety propagated a vine which grew to
be as large as a man’s body in nine
weeks. It grew to a total length of
nearly nine hundred feet and ripened
over eight hundred thousand seeds.
HEARTS.
Man’s heart’s an inn;
Its guests are for a day.
Night falls, bugle calls,
Saddle and away.
Man’s heart’s an inn;
Its guests are for a night.
Eve sup, stirrup-cup,
Soon as morn is white.
But woman’s heart’s a home;
Its master sitteth by
Fire-light and hearth bright,
Forever and for aye.
—Post Wheeler, in New York Press.
PITH AND POINT.
She—“And when did you first see
the light of day?” He—“l beiieve it
was at night.”
Jack—“Oh, I suppose she has her
faults!” Tom—“l thought you were
in love with her?”—Puck.
“I can’t see] why you object to young
Softly: I’m sure he is constant.”
“Worse than that. He’s perpetual.”
—Truth.
“Berger seems to be spending his
vacation in town?” “Yes, he spent,
all his money on outing clothes.” —De-
troit News.
Count —“My love for you is as deep
—as deep as—” Constance —“Papa’s
poeketbook, dear count.”—Philadel
phia North American.
Jack Dashing—“ The entries are:
Slowcoach,los pounds—” Mis3 Askins
(her first experience)—“Goodness! Is
that all that horse weighs?”—Puck.
Jones—“l wish old Riehman would
give me a tip ou Stock's. ” Smith —
“If he did you’d be wishing you could
tell whether it was straight or not.” —
Puck.
Drummer: “By whom was the play
presented in the Town Hall last night?”
Sqnarn Corners Merchant —“It wasn’t
presented—it was perpetrated.”—
Puck.
First Dog—“ This hot weather makes
me nervous.” Second Dog—“Me, too.
Heat seems to drive some people crazy,
and they develop a mania for shooting
dogs.”-—Puck.
Mrs. Distrait —“Dear me, this
chicken salad seems very stringy!"
Miss Frankly—“ Goodness gracious, I
don’t wonder! You’re eating it through
your veil.” —Truth.
“What does that man Slickly do for
a living?” “For board and lodging he
does the hotels and for clothes he does
his tailors. Outside of that he does
the best he can.’’—Detroit Free Press.
“I think it’s absurd to say kissing
is dangerous,” gushed Mrs. Lillyton.
“What possible disease could be spread
by the simple act?” “Marriage,
madam,” grunted Grumpy.—Philadel
phia North American.
“To save me, I can’t tell which
Jones girl I want to marry.” “What
is the trouble?” “One makes such
delicious strawberry shortcake, but
the other one looks so lovely on her
wheel.”—Detroit Free Press.
Wallace—“So your partner fell in
the river and rose no more? Do you
think the shock of getting wet was too
much for him?” Perry Patettic—
“Naw. Guess the disgrace of it broke
his heart.”—Cincinnati Enquirer.
Mrs. Eastlake—“You visited Venioe
while yon were in Europe, I hear,
Mi’s. Trotter?” Mrs. Trotter —“Yes,
indeed, and we were rowed about by
one of the chandeliers for which that
city is noted.”—Harper’s Bazar.
Ethel—“ Well, Jimmy didn’t blow
his brains out, after all, because yon
refused him. He proposed to Miss
Goligktly yesterday.” Maud—“ Did
he? Then he must have got rid of
them in some other way!”—London
Punch.
“Am I to take this medicine inter
nally or apply it externally?” asked
the lady customer of the drug clerk
who was filling her prescription.
“Whichever pleases you, madam; tha
stuff is perfectly harmless.” —Detroit
Free Press.
“I have come to have a serious in
terview with you,” announced tha
would-be son-in-law. The old gentle
man fell right in with this idea, and
made things so serious that the young
man was glad to escape without his
hat.—Detroit Free Press.
A Suspension Bridge of Fence Wire.
A curious suspension bridge of fence
wire was recently constructed across
the Waukarusa River, in Douglass
County, Kansas. This stream, like so
many other Kansas rivers, swells to a
torrent at every large rainfall, so that
it was impossible for the children liv
ing across the. stream to go to the
sclroolkouse. The county engineer
was asked to provide a remedy. He
bought qualities of fence wire, boards
and timber. He used good sized oak
logs as piers. Strips of boards three
feet long were fastened together with
wire and over these strips was run a
plank walk two feet wide. Each end
of the superstructure was then anchored
to the piers; the sides, consisting of
a network of wire, were then put up.
The bridge is two hundred feet long
and is sixty feet above the water. It
is certainly a daring feat of homemade
bridge construction. —Scientific Amer
ican.
Can’t Chloroform Hornets.
William Harrold, a cigar dealer, has
just won a good hot fight. For months
liis country residence at Mill Valley
has been infested with hornets.
Whence they came was a mystery, but
every once in a while one would dart
out, stab someone and disappear as
mysteriously as it came. After months
of suffering Harrold discovered that
the hornets had taken up their abode
between the walls on the shady side of
bis house. He made a small aperture
and burned sulphur, but the disturb
ance was only temporary, and resulted
iu more annoyance to the owner of the
house than to its vicious little tenants.
Then Harrold tried chloroform, but
the hornets only slumbered for a while
and woke with renewed energy.
Finally he was compelled to tear out
the whole side of liis house, remove
the pests and their mud houses, and
board it up again.—San Francisco
Post,
Whence the Kxpression?
“To drink like a fish.” But alcohol
invariably causes him to float wrong
side up. One per cent, of most deli
cate amylic will kill a sporting gold
fish in one hour 'and thirty minutes.
Twenty per cent, will act like prussic
acid. It has been calculated by a
deep thinker that a pint of tanglefoot
will do a shark, and* a quart of forty
rod a whale.—Boston Journal, j