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5flM88rEK , rfefti?fttsii THOMAaVlLLE, NOTEMBER ii 19M;
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'CHAPTER IV.
Continued,
i ”IUta?” eald the invalid, a* he polled
- this weapon for the attach. "Yea—they
have Iiannted my bedside. I remember
ihcm even In those dark days of In-
'mnltjr.”
; t lie was talking to blmaeU, Mill not
- Loko Hammond was a man of ex
treme caution, and not content with
Titrs. Harter’s assertion, stole softly
from the room, saying, as be tvent:
“KeeR your eye on him, Daniel. If
hejWfces a rash, fell blm as gently as
possible."
l'he words were spoken In too sub-
< ...
doed a tone to reach the Invalid’s ear.
Oat in the hall again, ttdmmond
listened, scarcely drawing bis breath
for several moatehtn.
. “A false eputm,” he muttered, as he
returned tq the crimson chamber, find-
loir tta). parties ns he had left them.
"X«R tben,” he continued, as he raised
tt’Chair, and held It breast high, the
bets tacking the door after him, and
h{Cd t6 his library, muttering, with
pallid lips:
“The wUH The drawer was not
locked!”
•:***•’ :
,>'fito towards the Invalid, "be ready
io rash when I cry—chnrgel Daniel,
creep cantlottsly along the wan hi hb
rlRhi; yon, Kancy Barker, the Sadie on
his lert. Measure yonr advance with
•nine. He will strike at me". ‘When be
strikes, pin him to the corner, and
each setae an *rtn. Advance?
, llamniondti directions were unheard
V tbs Invalid; bat, as the three nssall-
r cnta^egan to approach
- iHklck man raised his
#
the corner,
batehet and
U- T ed lilt steady, fiery look upon Ham
mond:
They advanced more and more near
until less than lira feet separated them
awn their victim.
, U ’'Charger' cried Hammond, springing
lerwatd.
But the Invalid, strong and active
11 bis hour of peril, darted from his
turner at the same Inatant; and as
J>aslei's chair crashed against Nancy
Itorker’e, whore the invalid bad been,
the hatchet enmo down like n tbuttdcr-
.- l>olt,: shattering Hammond's chair to
rcngmvtits, and beating that villalu
Purkvurd to tbr earth.
, ‘The glittering weapon was rising
t-galm ami Hammond glared upward
la all the agony of fear, when a worn-
■' »A> voice, shrill, clear' and piercing,
t 3?** heard^nud Catharine Elgin sprang
Slto the crimson’ chamber, and Into
tig arm» of the Invalid, crying:
' ‘Anther! My father!'’
, Bln* swooned the Instant nfter, for
the shock of llndlng her father alive,
'Dhoin she hod for twelve mourning
ilouths thought dead and burled, was
*#» tnucb for her nature to sustain.
( -At him, Daniel!" cried Hammond,
“tigaii
Regaining Ills feet, and seeing that
siettry Elgin—for the Invalid waa nono
ether—was absorbed In a fond father's
tenderness,
i Daniel and Npncy Barker sprang
Vpou Henry- Elgin, farced him from
Jet* uuconecious daughter, and, elded
• iiy Hammond, bound him to bis bed.
The struggle had been too severe and
', nrctraded for the temporary strength
*C tbs sick man, and he bud fainted
ere bo was bound, baud and foot.
. “Wlint shall wo do,with her?" said
Nancy Barker, pointing to Kate’s pal
lid face and corpse-llkc form.
"Bear her to the white and gold
chamber," said I.uke Hammond. "She
will be our destruction If we let her
go free before.”
. He paused, ,
! "Before what, Luke Hammond,'
Cried Nancy.
"Before she Is the wife of my son,
Charles Hqmmoud," said lie. "Carry
her nway before she revives.”
'•Ah, that’s the gome, Is It. I sus
pected as much.” said Nancy Harkcr,
as she raised the unconscious girl hi
her powerful arms, as a nurse lifts a
sleeping child.
- “Take the lamp, Daniel, and go with
Mrs, llarker;" said Hammond, "Trouble
and danger! nil in a storm," be mut
tered, ns his accomplices bore poor
lento away to flic apartment so long
occupied by her father.
"She must have bcou on the watch,'
ruminated Hammond, picking up the
hatchet. “She must have taken the
iidit from that shrewd young csrpen.
t dames Urecur, and watched me,
ha- how did she llnd an entrance to
part of the house? The doors are
lort.rfi, barred and nailed on this aide,
Daniel Is loo .cautious not to have
fastened the trapdoor In’ the cellar
of the Umlii house—even If Catharine
Elgin could have found that entrance,
cpncealed its It Is. Strange, very
strange," he muttered, as ho paced
from wall to wall.
Suddenly imusiug and smiting his
forehead lu uuger with himself, he ex
claimed:
"Dolt! Idtot that I nini Fool that
I was' In my liasto I did not close
' either, the closet In iny library nor
the door In the partition! She may
, not have gnirmjsoly tracked me. Per-
CHAPTER V.
RATE ELSIE A PBISOEEB.
Luke Hammond rushed Into his li
brary with bis hair on end, and plunged
bis hands Into the drawer lb Which
the valuable document be sought had
been placed
It waa not therel
Great bend* 'of sweat rolled from
bis piUe face; bis Ups, purplish white
and quivering, muttered Incoherently.
In vain be drew out the drawer and
emptied the contents upon the-table,
and scattered the papers about The
package be sougbt-was not there.
"It Is gone?’ he finally exclaimed,
■hoveling the disordered mass of let
ters Into the drawer with trembling
bands. “She has 111 She Intimated her
suspicions of me this night Coming in
here, finding the- drawer open. She, ah
bnY . Woman would, especially One
Whose Interest prompted her, Exam
ined my papers and found the will.
But ahe may not have concealed It—
■be conld not have been certain what
It was—I bad enclnsed It In blank
paper. I must hasten to her and have
her searched by Nancy Harkcr."
He then locked the library door,
locked his desk, and entered the closet
which concealed the secret door. Com
ing back Immediately, be hastened to
the small closet be had opened once
before that night, and filled a goblet
half full of spirits.
“Brandy I 1 thirst for It as once
did for water," He swallowed it at a
gulp, "After water I Used wine. Wine
grew Insipid—then I longed for brandy,
and now even that cannot quench this
gbawlbg craving for stimulants when
I am excited 1 '
He replaced the goblet, and entered
the ball of the eastern wing; this time
be was careful' to leave no open doors
behind him.
He then hurried to the room to which
Catharine Elgin bad been carried by
Nancy Harker. There he found the
poor girl Just In possession of her con
sclousness, and sitting la a large arm
chair,
'Catharine Elgin,” said Hammond,
In a quick, harsh tone, totally unlike
nny In which 1m had ever addressed
her before, “It Is useless now to at
tempt to deceive you. Tour father
lives.”
"My eyes have told me that, Mr.
Hammond,” aald Kate, rising the In
stant he appeared. “My ears have
heard his voico calling me by name-
I have been pressed to his living bosom.
Traitorous vllllan! why have yon done
thla evil thing?''
“That Is my affair. Miss Elgin,” said
Hammond, "and of that wo shall speak
hereafter. At present my business Is
with yon. You have been In my li
brary—■”
"Your library!” exclaimed Kate.
“Have you the audacity, sir, to coll
anything In this house yours while
Henry Elgin lives?”
“Henry Elgin is dend to the world-
dead to you,” said Hammond. "But,
as I remarked, more of that hereafter.
Yon have been la my library within
the half hour. While there yon stole—
I shy stale, Catharine Elgin, that you
may know I am la earnest—you stole
a package enclosed In a blank envelope,
hut sealed with three seals. I demaud
Ita Instant restoration.”
'I have been In the library," said
Kate. IT did take a package from an
open drawer. I know not why I for
got or ratker trampled upon all scru
ples, unless It was because the band of
Providence moved me. The package
was before me. I took It In my hand,
and something whispered—‘Tear off the
envelope.' I had sought the library to
tell you that your stories of ghostR
were nonsense, for I beard the groans
of my father even In my room. Little
did I think, Luke Hammond, be was
alive! I tore off the envelope, for 1
believed my father hnd left a will:
and because I knew you kept your
most Important secrets in that drawer.
I read upon the package these words:
The last will and testament of
Henry Elgin. To he delivered to James
Greene.'
"Then, hearing a noise In this part
of the house, and seeing a closet open
In which the library lamp showed an
open door, 1 determined tp Investigate
thg affair. 1 arrived In time to save
your life."
Do you now bitterly regret having
arrived so soon, Miss Elgin?" said
Hammond, with n sneer.
“No,” replied the noble girl; "I do
not desire your death. You are too
wicked, and havo too many fearful
reason for this commendable amianifc .
Jty more than any other. Hiss Elgin, f
But DOW I demand the package,”
"I shall not restore to you What
rightfully belongs to James Greene,*
Mid Kate, firmly.
"Thct, though I dislike the alterna-
tlre, I mnet tnke It by foredi”
"Will jrttil litrlljUcf yduf bath)* nil
hit thjr person?" cried Kate, Indig
nantly.
“Hal yon admit yon bare the pack
age (bis moment I" said Hammond,
with sparkling eyes.
*'I have not said so," replied Kate:
“And if yob dldi t Would not bellevi
"Lying Is . hot one of my. faults,
though doubtless I have many. I hare i
not the package, Luke Hammond. So '
spare me the Indignity and yousself ,
the baseness of touching my person.” 1
T shall not lay s finger upon your
right royal highness,” sneered Ham
mond “Mrs. Harker, search Miss El
gin's person, for the package hi ques
tion ” '
T tell yon, scoundrel, 1 hare not the
Church Moved Forty Miles.
AND
A COURT HOUSE TAKEN ON
TRIP BY RAIL.
C —~.t , ' .■ - *•
Two Incidents of the Process 61 Readjustment Coins On Ir
the West- Fate of Deserted Towns--i.osS at a Whole
County — Some Great House Moving.'
■AOJit UK
(/■.L belt
HK spectacle of a church
being moved hvey the
prairies from to’vrn to towtf
has attracted mnch atten
tion In Kansas recently.
The Methodist Church of Andale has
just made the longest journey of any
church on record, forty miles,
went • overland to Peek, Kan., In the
woke of three traction engines hitched
tandem.
The town of Andale did not need the
church, and Peck did: so the official
package/' cried Kate, recoiling from hoards arranged for a transfer of title,
the talons Bf the harpy he addressed. | and the probidat of Moving the props
"Mrs. Harker, search. I dq not he: i erty was before them; The railfaad*
ilbve her,” said Hammond. j asked a large snm of money for freight;
I will not resist," said Kate, with and to ship the building lit that way
flashing eyes and blushing cheek.
Hammond tamed his eyes elsewhere,
for a lingering spark of manly deli
cacy stnng bis Ignoble nature.
meant to tear It down and rebuild It.
The proposition of taking It overland,
laughed atTn the beginning, was finally
accepted, and the movers secured three
She has spoken the truth.” said Mr*. ! of the largest threshing engines of the
Harker, after nn examination which /county for the purpose. The building
She made as tedious as possible. ! was placed on trucks with large
“Now I demand to know where you j wheels, and the long trip began,
have bidden It, Miss Elgin,” exclaimed I Owing to the smooth roads and the
Luke Hammond, ashy pale with rage. ; level lands of the Arkansas Valley,
“Ydtt) Luke Hammond, have not the > there Wus little trouble In moving the
power to force my lips to tell yon,” ! structure. Passing west Of Wichita,
■aid Kate, scornfully. - ! 11 arrived at Its new landing place
Foolish girl?’ exclaimed Hammond, i without a 'piece of plaster being dls-
"you do not know the man with whom
you dare to tamper.”
‘Ob, yes, I do,” seplled Kate,' with a
significant smile. “I know blm to be a
very bold and unscrupulous rascal.
But he is too weak to force the secret
from my lips.”
Luke Hammond strode the room with
quick, fierce steps, and Kate smiled as
she beard the grating of his teeth.
tnrbed and lu as good condition as
when it left. It Is In readiness for
worship, and the owners are proud of
their success in obtaining so easily a
new edifice.
This experience is but‘a part of the
readjustment of the towns of the
plains. Hnndreds of additions are
wiped out by every Legislature. The
Inst session In Kansas changed about
with the level roads of the prairie'
region.
, It Will b# many years before the
West ifringU Its possessions satis
factorily and decide* Where It wishes
to have Its buildings permanently Id
eated. The methods by Which If re
models and transfers its towns tffld
buildings will In the meantime prove
very Interesting.
Nowhere else la It considered a
trifling thing to transfer and relocate
a city or to change a court house's
situation. More than that, a dispatch
related the other day that a whole
CWuftty Was lost, the high winds hav
ing drifted the sand over the boundary
stakes and made' It Impossible to tell
where the limits Ltd been placed.
Some day the West will need a new'
map to describe it as It lua finally de
cided t6' stay.—Snn.
WOMEN AWAKEN EASIER
•iit trtmenidra/of <?*• Hotel Cloifc >•
Homing Men.
“It la ImmdlfstWably harder to awak
en men in the mOrtWB than it Is wo-
George W. OoUfns, hotel pro-
THE OLD BAMBOO ROD.
r the Old FleMog
U.P. she -went Into'my library to «eo
we, to get a hook—anything. There,
not finding me, she saw the secret
closet open, and reamed hither—for
she la a bald and fearless girl. Perish
■the-thought!” he cried! all aghast. -If
she should have opened that drawer of
my desk! The will! The g-walne will
Henry Elgin P'
“I could kill yonr* he cried. In a i forty paper cities into farm land.
tempest of fnry.
“I know It,” said Kate. “But yon
dare not. Abd now, let me pass front
tbls room.”
"Never! Not nntll you restore to me
that stolen package, Catharine Elgin I”
said Hammond, placing his tall figure
lu her path. “Daniel, take this key
and go td thB crimson Chamber. I drill
\bc with yon soon.”
“Dare you to keep me a prisoner
here?” exclaimed Kate.
"Very little daring In the matter,"
said Hammond, as Daniel departed
with the key.
“And yon, Mrs. Harker,” said Kate;
“will you lend yonrsclf to thla out
rage?"
“Mr. Hammond Is the master of this
bouse, Catharine Elgin, and I shall
do as he commands,” said Nancy.
“Do yon think such black villainy
will go long unpunished?” said Kale.
“You know I mast some day be at lib
erty again, unlesa-nnd I begin to think
It not Impossible—you murder me. Can
yon Imagine that Kate Elgin will bear
such treatment tamely?"
"I will place a bar la the way of
your puny resentment,” said Ham
mond. “Mrs. Harker, see that n bed
sad other room furniture is placed
here for Miss Elgin’s accommodation.
Your father. Catharine Elgin, lived
here for twelve months, while the
tvot-ld read bis epitaph an bis tomb-
stone In Greenwood. I think I can
safely say you shall remain here aa
many days.”
"Yon are a great vlllnlo,” said Knto.
“I begin to doubt whether my mother
could have been of kindred blood with
such a monster.”
Luke Hammoad started, and fixed
bis cold, keen eyes upon her.
She returned the scrutiny with a
glance of contempt.
Your mother recognized me as her
brother, did she not?” asked Hammond,
with triumphant calmness.
“She was on her deathbed wben you
first placed your foot In this house,”
said Kate. "True, she recognised you
as the brother abe had known In her
girlhood. But she said you had changed
much since she saw you ass hoy. Had
she known you aa I know you now,
she might well have said, as she did
say of you, ‘My brother Luke Is not
the man his boyhood promised.’ 8lio
saw enough of you to dislike where
Blie bad once loved.”
“She had not seen me for many
years, and my life of travel bad altered
me greatly,” said Hammond. Ami
then, to avoid the dangerous subject,
he continued:
“When you have made up your mind,
aa I hope you will, to restore tbo stolen
package to me. you shall be less re
strained. Until then, Catharine Elgin,
you are a prisoner. lu the meantime I
shall seek for the package myself.”
“And who will seek for Kate Elgin?”
Inquired Kate, with a meaning look.
"James Greene, the carpenter, per
haps,” said Uauimond, with a scoff.
Let him. I think Luke Hammond la
more than a match for James Greene."
James Greene will seek me, and be
will exact terrible reparation from
you,” said Kate, as she seated herself
Many of these municipalities, had a
score of buildings, and some aspired
lo be centres of business activity. Tliejr
Jssued maps showing dozens of rail
roads centering there, factories belch
ing smoke, and street cars rushing to
the far suburbs.
Eastern people bought lots on tile
strength of these mups, and then
waited for tile towns to grow. Instead,
they faded pwny until whole raunlcl
palltics had but one family left to
ench., Sclioolliouscs costing thousands
of dollars stood empty, cattle were
sheltered In the one-time emporiums of
trade. Out In Southwestern Kansas
a cattleman owns the entire town site
of what was to havo been a county
■eat.
Men were killed In the struggle to
make prosperous towns of paper cities
which havo at last gone back to the
open plain and havo been sold by the
acre Instead of by the lot.
A Boston woman owns a $10,000
schoolhouse In Western Kansas. A
homesteader has taken possesslpn of a
former eounty scat and Its court house.
The dreams of mnny an Investor In
Western Nebraska and the Dakotas
have been shattered by the events of
tho last few years, whllo population
has been readjusting Itself. They tell
you In North Dakota'of a town built
for a great cattle packing centre, on
the theory that the packing bouses
should be located near the range.
An Eastern syndicate put hundreds
of thousands of dollars Into the town.
It Is described as having brick blocks,
plate glass windows, dwellings enough
for 0000 persons, and a $200,000 steel
bridge—but with no inhabitants ex
cept the caretakers.
It never succeeded In even the be
ginnings of its vast undertakings. The
people for wham It was built never
came.
The West is adjusting these errors
of early judgment with characteristic
promptitude and directness. For In
stance, In Western Nebraska two
towns were rivals for the county seat.
One of them, Hemmlugford, bad se
cured the boner, but Alliance obtained
the railroad's favor, and it became evi
dent that tt would be the larger of
the two places. So the court house,
weighing seventy tons, forty feet high
and measuring thirty-six by forty-eight
feet, wns made rigid by trusses and
placed on four trucks of freight ears,
with diagonal guy ropes reaching to
coal cars carrying 60,000 pounds each,
and hauled by an engine at a rate of
ten miles an hour to Its new location,
where It now stands.
Out In Western Kansas, at Page
City, in Logan County, was a hotel
three stories high that became useless
because It was In a town with no In
habitants. It was placed on moving
trucks and five traction engines were
hitched to It such engines as nre used
In threshing the Western crops—the
automobiles of the plains. It was fifty
miles to Cove City, br.t the engines
had before them a track as sniocth as
the surface of a peaceful sen, and
they made the journey at a swift
walking pace, nothing la the vast
reach of level sod interfering with
you. sum ivaie. as sno seated nerseit —... . - ,
with calm dignity. "You do not know t l o ” ° '
him as I do " 1,8 0 “ nse building took Us way over
’ 1 the prairie and attracted many spccta-
i tors.
“He Is all perfection in your eyes, I
■Ins on your soul. However much l| know," said Hammond. “I’ll Introduce
msy loathe and despise yon, sir, 1! you to s handsomer and better man ere
should shndder to think that death' long. Mrs. Harkcr, see that this queen-
had claimed you unrcpcntcnt.” ; ly young dame has no lack of com-
‘Ah! you are very pious, very lm- j form."
mane. Miss Elgin.” sneered Ham : “Trust to me.” said Nancy Harker.
mond. ; “Rut I must have the help of the ser-
'Nelther could I wish,” continued, vunla to move furniture here.”
Kate, "that my dear father’! hand j "Daniel’s aid will be enough," said
should he stained with human blood:! Hammond. “As foi the other two. I ! ro ,rul: “ ul ‘ cn *> r mc ana toox it
nod that, the blood of my mother's shall tie their tongues with golden I t” nes ® TCr '“'U'B'roads to Its new
j 1)n)thcr ,. ; .. * * j location, where it was set down unia-
changlag fortunes of Western
towns induce the moving of houses
over long distances. M. Westhaver, of
Sterling, Ivan., decided to move to
Nickerson.
He did not find a sale for his bonse,
so he put It on trucks that weighed,
with the timbers, nine tons, bitched
it to a traction engine and took It
Ha sprang from tbs crimson cbsm-S *1 am Inclined to value you las:
Xe he continued.
. *ured. This woulu be possible only
About New York the old, one piece
bamboo fishing pole Is now nsed more
ashore than afloat. There Is still good
sport going on wherever Its supple end
waves aloft; hut It la a recreation of
IhndsiKeit and hot Of the dwellers by
■silt 6'r fresh water, Who Would go
a-0shlng.
This modern use it tie long canCft
Is to mark the blind bole* on golf
links. The cup of Iron or tih that
forms the hole Is changed about fre>
ouently on the patting green, to keep
the turn from being worn off too
much In one apot; and save when a
hole intervenes the disk or flag will be
In view all the way from the tec.
To know the exset location of the
hole Is an nld to the golfer on the
approach sbdtsj and When a hillock
or a bunker hides the signal, the hole
Is a blind one and the approach has td
be played In a state of doubt.
ftowj American Ingenuity has done
Much to relieve the blind holes of
their terrors by the substitution of
an old-f$lh!Oned bamboo fishpole on
aneb greens for the Shott Iron reds.
In Britain, doubtless, where the exist
ing condition, like the microbe-haunted
moss on the cottage thatch, Is often
preserved because It Is old, the blind
boles may still have to he approached
by blind reckoning. But on the golf
courses frequented by New .Yorkers,
unless the bill that guards the green
Is 'an exceptionally high one, the ex
act location of the hole Is apparent
by the sight of the flag fluttering on
the tall cans rod.—New York Sun.
Th« Dun or History,
So tar aa the question of time Is con
cerned, It deserves notice that not
merely geology, but almost every form
of Inquiry Into the past, throws further
hack the limits usually assigned.
Egypt, for instance, Is continually
furnishing fresh proofs of the an
tiquity of civilization. Profetzor Flln-
dors Petrie expounded at Owens Col
lege, Manchester, England, a few days
ago, the resnlts of recent explorations
at Abydos, in Upper Egypt, from
which It appears that the rntns at that
one spot tell a continuous story that
carries us back to ROOO B. C. Abydos
was the first capital of Egypt, and re
mained for forty-five centuries the re
ligions centre, the Canterbury of the
land, nnd there the Egyptian Explora
tion Fund has unearthed the remains
of “ten successive temples, one over
the other.” From the age of the first
temple a group of about 200 objects
has been fouud, which throw surpris
ing light on the civilization of the first
dynasty. A part of a large glazed
pottery vase of Mena, the first king
of the first dynasty, about 4700 B. C„
showed “that even then they were
making glaze on a considerable scale,
and also Inlaying It with a -second
color. The Ivory carving was aston
ishingly fine, n figure of a king showing
a subtlety and power of expression as
good as any work of later ages.”
At about 4000 B. C. an Ivory statuette
of Cleops,tbe builder of the great pryn-
mld. waa found, the only known por
trait of him. Making every possible
prletor, informs me. “A tap or two
at a woman's door in the morning la
sufficient. No matter how late she
may hart retired, no matter how ex
hausted she may have been, no matter
how faint the 'yes' Id stmwer to the
knock, that comes from rtfC bed, yon
MB bank on it that within it 6 ® nr
or sw that woman will walk Wto the
dWng room bright-eyed and cheerful;
but wttk a man—well, it’s different.
“A man tttsy leave a call for 7 o'clock
Jn the morning with the warning that
he mast be up at that hour. A few
minutes before 7 you detail a boy for
the purpose and tell him not to stop
{Wooding until the man awakes.
The wow may be on the top floor, but
you can hear the thump, thump,
thump on the door ’way down in tber
office. Does the man wake with a
faint ’yes’ *»nd scramble out of bed?
Not he. The boy knocks until his
knuckles are gore, and then suddenly
a stentorian voice roars from the
room, *Yes, yes, what in blazes is the
matter with you? Do you think I’m
dead?’ The boy retires, turns i» hi*
report at the office and goes to ease
his Ktffld So cold water.
“Three* hours later a swollen-eyed
Individual with wrinklea in his brow-
walk* PP to the desk. 4 I thought I
left a call here' for 7 o’clock in the
morning:*' ‘You did, and the bellboy
Wdfc# jozt jproniptly at 7.’ ‘That’s a
little tdd V v0*ong. f I» the answer, and
after - you've argued with him for
half an hour Jon haven’t convinced
him that he was Actually awakened
as he had ordered. if goes day
after day. The women £& U P prompt
ly in response to a call, wh.*!* *i ,e n,eu
invariably turn over to have another
nap/'—St. Louis Globe-Democrat y
rt rt* !*•■« !• ISnsj.”
The advent of tbo telephone into the*
rural districts might have been
expected to Introduce an element of
freshness and Variety into the monot
ony of farm life. Blit feme of the uses
to which thla instrument ha* been
adapted by ingenious farm women
surely go beyond the pleasantest antic
ipations of Its Inventor.
In many of the counties of the middle*
West the telephone has become so pop
ular that there i* one in almost every
farmhouse. Many Incident* attest the
adaptability of the instrument to the
varied needs of country Hfe v . One old
lady of well-known socfflWMly wa*
found by a • chance caller sitting:
pleasantly at her knitting, and .Wear
ing What at first appeared to be solm.'
curious itfndgear, but what, on a cwiser
view, was uetl to be the telephone re
ceiver fixed to fc«r bead by au old hat
band. All the telephone subscribers
on the road were on a single line, anif
the old lady’s ear was “hitched” to
all the private news of the countryside.
In another instance a young mother,
finding it necessary to go to a neighs
boring farm on household business,
took down the receiver and laid it near
her Sleeping infant, and requested
Central” to “Bing me up at Mrs.
HaU*s If you hear the baby cry.”
A physician, making a country call*
found himself in want bf something he
had left in town. He went to the
fanner's telephone to request that it
be sent to horn. As he did so the un
mistakable dick of receiver hook*
could be beard ail along the line. In
closing his conversation the doctor said:
Now you may all hang up your re
ceivers,” .
rrlcei la SfxtM>nth Century.
Farm wages aud the cost of living
In “Merrie Englaud” of 300 years ago
present an interesting nnd suggestive
subject for reflection. Dr. \V. J. Kolfe,
in an article in the April 7th Issue of
the Youth’s Companion, entitled "A
Warwickshire Farmer lu Shakespeare**
Day,” says: “In 15W a laborer got
fonrpcncc a day, ‘with meat and drink.*
or eightpcuce to tenpence, finding him
self. Mowers got elgbtpence with food
or fourteenpence without it; reaper*,
sixpence or twelvepcnce. Iu 1582 a
capon cost sixpence, a coif five shil
lings, a firkin of butter seven shillings
seven pence, a cock ifor fighting) four-
pence, a pullet* threepence. In 1583
n milch cow cost thirty shillings, a
bullock seven shillings, n calf five shil
lings, six horses seven pounds, a pork-
ling twenty-elghtpence. The prices of
other farm stock and produce were on
the came scale. If wages were low,
the cost of living was proportionately
low, nnd the fare <f the laboring
allowance for the marvellous rapidity ! classes was more plrrtiful than often
of art development, must not many
thousands of years have rolled over
between tbe pristine dwellers in the
Nile Valley and the men who carved
ivory statuettes and manufactured
glazed work inlaid with seccad colors?
It is a long, long march from flint im
plements to the solemn tcmnlc ivory
statuettes anil human portraits.—Loj*
don Telegraph.
Telephone Troubles in Abjrnlnla.-
Civilizatloa proceeds with speed in
Abyssinia. Nearly 800 miles cf tele
phone wire have already been put up
there, and 1000 miles are under con
struction. The contractor’s task, how
ever, is by no means au easy one. Tho
chief trouble is given by elephants,
who use the poles as scratching posts,
lrcccklug them down in this saln-
brlous exercise?, and monkeys who
swing on the wires.—London Tit-Bite.
South African Frogreu.
The Cape to Cairo railroad head la
»** .,4 \!t.»tri-ln 1/rtllo s
Qeun.'no Antiques.
The jealous clerk was trying to per
suade Mrs. Comstock to buy a pair of
antique trass candlesticks. “Madam,
these arc genuine oU candlesticks.”
“Well, hew am I to know they are?”
“Because you can buy the imitations
anywhere. And I advise you to snap
these up while you can get them.
There have been so many imitations
that the demand for the genuine arti
cle is falling off. and the manufact
urers will uot make any more antique
ones.”
“Is that so? Well, I certainly am
fortunate to have seen these before
you sold them. How much are they?"
now at Victoria Falls, more than 1G0O
miles from Cape Towu, on the Zam
besi. The Victoria Falls Hotel is iu
progress, and at last accounts bad al
ready accommodations for forty guests,
the accommodations including electric
lights.
nilic'i Romance.
Richard Sattler, the publisher of
Bilse’c notorious romance exposiug the
scandalous conditions in a small Ger
man garrison towu, said in a recent in
terview that about 150 imitators of
Bllse have been rushed Into print with
stories containing similar disclosures.
Most of these authors are retired and
embittered officers; many of them send
their manuscripts to him and all of
them expect to 4 get fabulously
