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uwntDlwk ride during the at ternoon. While the Chief Executive usually goes to his office Chrietmas morning to give attention to the more important affaire of state that may be pressing for attention the remainder of the day is given over to a holidaj Vacation and thus he is enabled to de vote more time than usual to his daily horseback ride. The President's Christmas excursion also differs from his ordinary daily outing In that in stead of being attended, as is usually the case, by the army sergeant, who acts as the President’s orderly, he is accompanied by Mrs. Roosevelt or by a party of personal friends* The dinner to which the President and his family and guests sit down about 7 o’clock In the evening served in the private dining room which is located in the northeast cor« ner of the White House. The state din ing room where are served all the great banquets given at the Presidential Man sion. Is spacious and imposing twit / lacking in that cozlness and cheer which is essential to a Christmas feast and so the Xmas dinner party, which numbers perhaps fourteen to sixteen persons is served with the traditional yule-tide delicacies In the family or private dining room. Colored Walters at the White House* The scene of the President's Christ- mas dinner is the smallest room on the main floor of the White House although it is fully twice as large as the dining room in the average private residence in the land. The room is THE DESERT GROUSE. KSOWS AS THE SAGE BEN AND COCK OF THE FLAISS, A TYP ICAL AMERICAS UIKJ). east. It has the dnst-green color of sage, smells like sage, tastes like sage, and animals that feed on its leaves and yellow flowers flavor their flesh with r.-iitp. Well, wherever this plant grows the desert grouse may be found The grouse Ueaa and fattens on sage. There is nothing he likes better. lie ls th« Largest of the Grouses and j musC have it Let the sage be de stroyed and the bird moves on. The Feeds Mostly on Sage—Has a Hand some Coat of Plumes and Makes a Savory Roast* The desert grouse Is a representa tive American bird. It is, of course, not as exalted and heroic as the eagle, and is not spreud over so wide an area as the common chicken, but for all that the desert grouse is typically American. The bird is more famil iarly known to travelers, dwellers in the arid and semi arid regions of the United States, and sportsmen, ns the ‘sage hen,” and, as a maticr of course, where there arc sage hens there are sage cocks. Often the bird is referred to ns the prairie Chicken, but the ref erence is inaccurate. It is a game bird of great beauty. It was named "Cock of the Plains” by I«ew1s and Clark who, though perhaps not the first whites to make the acquaintance of this bird, at least were the first white men to Identify it as a distinct ornithological species and to pause long enough in the ardous business of exploration to give it a name. Found Throughout the Arid Region. It Is seen in all the arid and semi- arid parts of the land where it has in tho Colonial style with white walls • and woodwork and la furnished with rare old pieces of mahogany furniture most of which were discovered by * Mrs. Roosevelt ip out-of-the-way local ities in Virginia and Maryland. The dinner is served by colored waiters and the table is laid with Mrs. Roose- vclt's new china—delicate waro taste fully ornamented with a Colonial pat tern In gold, each piece bearing a tiny representation of the seal of the United States in colors. The dinner ia. prepared In the re fitted White Houso kitchens, which aro located in the basement directly below the private dining room. There are two kitchens, one about 25 by 40 feet In size and, opening from it, a smaller kitchen of about onc-lmlf the size. Or- * dlnarily the equipment of the smaller or family kitchen Is sufficient for the preparation of the dinner for a select party at tha Executive -Mansion, but at Christmas tho great hooded range in the larger tiled kltchon Is brought Into use for tho roasting of the thirty- pound Christmas turkey, sent by Hor ace Voso, the Rhode Island farmer who fqr thirty-flye years past has sent each year a magnificent specimen of the king of fowls for the President’s Christmas dinner. ✓ Gobblers from Far and Wide. Indoed, the President’s Christmas dinner does not cost him very much, for Uncle Sara pays the wages of many of the White Houso employees who have & hand in preparing it and almost' all of the “goodies” which graco the fes tive board aro donated by admiring friends of the President. Not only does Horace Voso send a prize-winning turkey, but gobblers that rival It In size come from poultry raisers in other sec tions of the country, and there are donations of cranberries from Cape Cod. a parcel of the famous “Roosevelt potatoes” sent by the farm hands on the President’s estate at Oyster Bay and other delicacies sent by "neighbors" far and near. Such marketing as is necessary to fill out the menu for the President’s Christmas dinner Is done by Henry Pinckney, a colored man who holds the position of White House Steward and draws a salary of $1,800 a year from the government for managing the domestic affairs at the White House. A day or two before Christmas Steward Pinck ney sets out in the unpretentious vehicle which serves as the President’s private market wagon and makes the round of the markets—for tho White House patronage Is not confined to any one merchant In preparation for the Christmas dinner It la presumably not necessary to purchase any coffee, sugar, salt or other staples, for all such sup plies for the Presidential mansion are purchased ia quantity and kept in a storeroom adjoining the kitchen, which looks like a full-fledged grocery store. All In all, the White House Christ mas festival comes pretty near being a counterpart of the old-time, old* fashioned i»\stltution of our forifa* there. - j ■ . . „ It is well on toward 8.30 o clock *ere the last piece of mince pie has disap peared, and then tho entire party, from the President to Quentin, the youngest occupant of the White House, makes a bee line for the big East Room, where a roaring frolic winds up the holiday. not been exterminated, and is very common in those great'dry stretches of the continent whero man has not crowded It to death and where the sage brush grows. To say .that this bird has Its home in tho droughty re gions of the United States In to say ho^y extensively it ^distributed, for everybody who knows anything about tbe country, knows how vast Is that empire laid down on the early maps as “desert”’. The word desert ns ap plied to the unwatered reaches of the west is misleading. On those des erts there Is plenty of vegetation and animal life. Though in many places water Is scarce, life mny bo easily sus tained in these American deserts. Ir rigation shows liuw fertile these lands are when the wnter is poured on. All over dry lands grows that wild shrub, called by kotnnistf artemisin, but which everybody else calls bage brush. ' Feeds Mostly on Sage. No doubt It belongs to tho same family as does the.garden sage of the desert grouse is the largest grouse of the western world and it is exceeded In size only by the great grouse of Enropf^he capercailzie. It is very superior In size and strength to the common prairie hen or the pinnated grouse, usually weighing twice or thrice as much as that bird. It will measure two or three feet from tip of wing to tii). Living In a gray land, nature has provided for the protec tion of the bird by making it also gtay. It Is curious now nature looks after its creatures by making their color, as a rule, harmonize with the landscape. In ' grouse-land tuere is great deal of alkali In the soil am over that grows the gray-green shrub bery. Tl)e sage grouse seeks Its safe ty in concealment rather than flight. Handsome Though not Brilliant* Though the general color effect l the grouse is gray yet It has markings of white and black. A large black patch underneath the bird’s body Is a feat ure of the desert grouse. On his shoulders he wears ejyauletts of white The reason for these white slionl ders is that in browsing through tbe sage brush all his days the heavy gray feathers are worn off, exposing the line white nether feathers. The grouse, though not a high flyer and not so ugbe on the wing as his eastern cousin, possesses great leg power. He is active and speedy as a runner, rather quick to take fright and Is an expert in losing himself among tbe brusu. It should not be under stood that these blnls do not rise from cover. They often do. Hunters sees: so to frighten the birds that they will rise. It Is not difficult shooting then. The grouse- of the desert has that general grouse trait .the “whirr”. When ho rises it Is said that he whirrs louder than the eastern grouse. When thoroughly roused to his task he is a pretty strong flyer and can go a mile at a stretch, alternately sailing and flapping. The flesh of the desert grouse good when not too sagey. The young birds, when feeding on grass-hoppers, aro unsurpassed for tenderness and flavor. The older birds, as with all tho other feathered tribes, are not so tender ns the young. When feeding exclusively on sage their flesh ia Strongly impregnated with the flavor of shrub, somewhat unpleasantly so. Ono is X( minded of the taste of par- tridgo meat when that bird has been feeding on resinous buds in the au tumn. Be Trusted Rockefeller. Dr. Gustay C, E. Weber, of Cleve land, Ohio, recently consul at Nurem- burg h one of the pioneer doctors-of his city. Years ago he was visited by a ypnng man who required a surgical operation, but explained that he was only getting fifty dollars a month and would have to pay by Installment Wobcr said he wou,d risk It and it took the youth about a year to pay up Tho lad was John D. Rockefeller, and only a short time ago he sent for Weber, asking for medical advice, there having been a recurrent of tho trouble for which Weber had operated forty years ago. Weber made an examina tion and told Mr. Rockefeller that any medical student could do it and that he hiiiHolf was out of practice. Rocke feller opened a drawer, counted out $500, and handing tho roll to Weber remarked, “It does not tako so long to pay the bill this time.” Weber de clined the money, saying ho wished no fco for a friendly visit. “Tako it,” said Rockefeller, “and. give to some poor medical student, who Is struggling for his education.”. Weber remarked in telling tho story that he couldn’t think of any struggling medical student Ju3t then and , but what was the ail ment that required a surgical opera tion? VATICAN ANNULS MARRIAGES IN CERTAIN CASES.—ATTOR NEYS OF ST. PETER. Ambassador Whitelaw Reid appoints son of English Earl as Chief Lackey —The lipping Question.—Oi her for eign Gossip. '..^p It Is stated on authority that the Vatican will always x annul a marriage If It can be proved to Its entire satis faction that one or the other of the parties to the alliance was not a free agent in the matter. One of the most notable eased of annulment of a prince ly marriage, on grounds such as these, was the dissolution some years ago of the marriage bonds of the reigning Prince of Monaco and his first wife, Lady Mary Hamilton. At the same time the Vatican pronounced the mar riage null and void it also pronounced that her 6on was, in every sense of the word, legitimate. Princess Mary, whoso mother was a princess of the reigning honse of Baden and whose father was the English Duke of Hamilton, forced by her kinsman, and guardian, THE FIRST COMPLETED GOVERNMENT IRRIGATION CANAL. The extent of the government Irri gation problem Is Indicted by a rec ent schedule Issued by the Becls-ia- tlon Service of the Interior Depart ment, showing that the work of da Inline the desert is well under way. At this time the government plan In various stnees of pmevess requiring tbe expenditure of $32:870,000. which will supply water for tbe Irrigation of 1.830.000 seres of lend, the expense being $17.50 per acre. Other govern ment reports eBtlmnte that there are nbont 000,000.030 seres of so-called nrld land, whose chlet products «re sage brash snd esetus. This amounts to more than one-third of the Dotted State*, snd out of S 'eh might be carved four countries the Bine of France, four more its large as Ger many and two states as largo as New York. Private enterprise has reclaim ed nhoet 10.000.000 of this domain, which la to-ctey the backbone of the West. Tbe enormons possibilities of tbe government irrigation work Is shown by the varlon* expert estimates which place the additional nren which con be Irrigated at from 75,000,000 to 100,000,000 acres. Tho government plan as provided for In the Irrigation tew Is to store tho flood waters of the western rivers, reclaiming this land as fast ns posslbte; bnt tho settlers who take the-tend arc required to pay back to the government the cost of the construction of each project so that the actual expense to the gov ernment will all be paid. The final estimates of the possibilities of In creased population are one person to each Irrigated sere, so that there seems a future population for the West as great or greater than the to tal popnlntlon of the country to-dny. Ten or twenty neres, In the more high ly developed Irrigation sections ot tbe West is stated to be sufDdent for tbe support of , family, owing to the fact that under irrigation numerous and sure crops can he raised. In the Southwest, three or Poor crops are grown on tbe same land each year. POPE PIUS X. tho late Emperor Napoleon, to give her hand In marriage to Albert of Monaco. Tho latter showed himself a singularly neglectful and unkind husband, snd her life at Monte Carlo became so Intoler able that she took to flight, carrying her Infant child with her. She sought refuge at Florence, where the Italian police, acting on behalf ot the Prince, mads a sensational attempt to take the boy away from her. The plot was frus trated by tho Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, who took mother and infant under her protection and defied the Italian authorities to cross the thres hold of her residence. Princess Mary, after that, married Count Tassllo Fcs- tetlcs of Tolna, ono ot the magnates of tho Aiutrd-Hungarlan Empire, who occupied an excellent position at the Court of Vienna. Prince Albert of Monaco married again, the next Prin cess of Monaco being on American girl, B daughter of a New'Orleans banker, Michael Heine. His second matri monial venture, however, turned out r.a unfortunate la the first, a divorce breaking tho lies between them. One most Important factor In defend ing the rights of the Roman Catholic Church, and adding to the-perfection of Us wonderful and thorough-working machine. Is the order or society ot -The Attorneys ot St. Peter.” It Is safe to say that nine out of ten people In this country have never heard ot this order ot legal counsellors of the Vatican, which, la this country, is rep resented by some of the brightest legal minds. It Is composed of eminent Homan Catholic lawyers in different parts of the world, with branches In tho various great capitals. The order was founded by Plus IX, and the first of the statutes of tho order Indicates Its object, restricting, aa It does, tho membership to those members ot tho legal profession who have given ade quate proofs of their unselfish devotion to the Interests of the Church, espe cially In legal matters. Tho only In signia of the order Is a medallion show ing a violet croas ou a white enameled ground. I believe I am correot In say ing that Cardinal Itampolla has charge of tho order. Our Ambassador at the Court ot St James, Mr. Whitelaw Reid, has at last appointed his chief lackey. He Is the Hon. William Walsh. The post bestowed upon the Hon. Walsh Is that of controller of Mr. Reid's house hold. an office quite unknown In this democratic country of ours, bnt which exists lit many aristocratic families In England and in all royal establish- ments, from the. King's down. In reality, tho comptroller Is a species of upper servant, ranking several de grees higher than a chief butler, whoso business It Is to sco that all domestic matters run smoothly. Mr. Reid Is tbe first American, ambassa dor to employ snch a functionary, bnt no other American ambassador to tbe Court of St. James has UvM In so much style as Mr Reid maintains. As that Is what Americana seem to ex pect of their representatives abroad nowadays, when they pay for it out of their own pockets, Mr. Reid Is really to be congratulated on his suc cess In obtaining the services ot the son of a belted earl as his chief lackey. Tbe Hon. Walsh Is the third son of Lord Ormathwalte. Third sons ot peers aro usually no t well oft. The Hon. Walsh Is to be com- If the Duke of Devonshire's rule agalnBt-any of his servants accepting ■'tips” could be successfully Introduced In this country all would be well. There aro a few of the old nobility of Eng land who set a laudable example of prohibiting their servants accepting gratuities from visitors or guests. The Duke of Devonshire, for instance, makes It an Inflexible rule that no servant of his shall take a tip. When, however, a party ot Americans recent ly visited Chatsworth, the Duke's Der byshire seat, anil .were entertained to luncheon and shown over the beautiful grounds by the Duke’s steward, the leaders of the party thought the usual "shell out" must be the climax of the day’s enjoyment; The party consisted of four men and three women, and among them $33 was subscribed. With commendable discretion the money not offered to the steward, who, of course, la above accepting recognition of the kind, but to an underfootman, who saw the party to and from the railway station. But the footman pointed out that It was against the rules of tho Duko's establishment to accept gratuities "In money.” That seemed do suggest a way or getting around the rule. The next day various articles of Jewelry reached tho stew ard from London with the request that they be distributed among the staff at his discretion. Tho leaders of the party were Edmund H. Abbott, of New York, and Alexander Cattanach, of Salem, Mass,, and both had Introductions from Sir Thomas Llpton. The Duke and Duchess were not In residence at Chatsworth at the time of the visit, hut the latter sent one -of her maids specially up from London to look after the ladles. The beauties of Matlock, Buxton and Bakewell were folly ex plored before they returned'to town. Van Catevn. mended for doing something to earn an honest penny. If his pay is not much, his duties are not particularly onerous, and if ambitious he will have plenty of spare time in which to look around for a better Job. Meanwhile he Is comfortably domiciled at Dor chester House, the marble palace in I’ark Lane, which Ambassador Reid has taken as his London residence. The Hon. Walsh Is engaged to be married to Lady Norah-Spencer- Churchill, the youngest sister of the Duke of Marlborough. Though she can hardly be called youthful, she Is several years younger than her fiance. As far as pedigree counts for any thing, however, the Hon. Walsh is no bad match for her, for he can boast dneal blood, too. 770KL A Tension Indicator IS JUST \,005?S^\ WHAT THE WORD TIMPLIES. Ot It - indicates ;lfbe state of ttie tension at a glance. Its use means time saving and easier sewing. / It's our own invention and Is found only on the ■ White I Sewing Machine. We have other striking improvements that appeal to the careful Buyer. Send for our elegant H. T. catalog. Cleveland, Ohio. Humor of King Edward, Returned tourists who have been In touch with tho nobility In Europe, bring back a few good storie.l of King Edward. One tale tuna like tMi: The King was driving alone In a dog cart near one of bla country palaces one day and caught np with on old fish woman, who waa trudging to the Til- lags to sell her ware*. She did not recogntea the king and asked him for • Utt. He responded grsslowly and helped her Into the cart. As they drove along she begged him to boy her fish pleading poverty and a big family at home. The king said ho had >lenty of fish at home and would not buy any. However, ho would give her his portrait which he thought would be Just as good as buying her fish "Ye are a fine looking man, but yout portrait would not buy shoes for the children,” said the old woman. “Oh I think it wRl help yon," he ro3ponded, and handed her a sovereign which has on one side his profile. When sho saw that she was riding with the king and spilled her fish. The king handed her another coin and dropped her out at her destination. At another time when ho wne Prince and attending a theatre, a fire broke out near by and every one helped to quench the blue The Prince In evening dress, worked with the others In passing backets ot water. A big pompous nun was stand ing by doing nothing: "Why don’t you helpt” asked the Prince. The pompous man swelled up and remarked, “I am a gentleman, air, and do no snch menial reeks." "Don't let that hurt yon," responded tho Prince. “I am only the Prince of Wales." Coat of Discovering America, The great extent and valne of Qneen Isabel’s Jewel bag. tbe proceeds of which fitted ont Columbus, Is more or Icss-of a myth. Bnt In these days, when millionaire yachtsmen spend a hundred thousand dollars for a little racing yacht and think nothing of It, the ex pense of Columbus’s whole fleet seems entirely Insignificant Tbe sum ot $3,000 covered the whole outlay neces sary to secure and equip the three ves sels, while tbe Great Admiral’s salary was $300 per anmun. Tbe two other commanders were paid $200 each, and the wages of tho crew were $2.80 a month. Ot oonne, money In those days waa worth a great deal more than now, and there were not very many places In America at that time where the sailor* cared to ask for "shore leave," so that their wages were a clear oaring. Foster’s Ideal Cribs Accident Proof! IP YOU WANT A JACK Hydraulic Jacks our Specialty Wataon-StUlman Co.. 40 Der Bt., N. T. are. BOOKS—BOOKS We hare published some good ooee epeo Iftfly rotted for farmers. Book* thftt wffl help every farmer to make more out of his tea Write for our catalogue. WEBB PUBLISHING CO* - ,8t. Paul Hlim. PENSIONS. Over one Million Dollars allowed our clients during the last six years. Over one Thousand claims alio wed through us dur ing the last six months. Dis> ability, Age and In crease pensions, obtained in the shortest possible time. 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