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A MAN'S THOUGHTS.
tVcrk. there is work to be done,
A whole day’s work in n day :
From the rising sun to the setting sun
Work for nil who may.
And the prayer of the working hand
Is the prayer of the working head —
The clamorous prayer of a hungry land-*
" Give our daily bread ! ”
us
l’ame, there is fame to be won,
A name that stands for a name:
The prize when the race shall lie run ;
And the honors a victory may claim.
Gold, and better than gold.
Power, and tti** world’s good will
And better than all a thousandfold,
An honest eonseienee still.
To suffer, and know no shame,
To conquer, and leave no ban.
To live as giving, through praise and blame,
Assurance of a man.
—George CoWerell, in Good Words.
Living Beyond Their Means.
UY HKLEX rORHEST ORAVKB.
I\ , h pounds of
grapes ! said old
WA * . Ir ; . Mildmay, in
MM • astonishment,
“An- you quite
sure that you un*
derstoodyour mis
trcss’s order, lies
tor? Whito grapes
arc sixty cents a
' pound, and surely
■ - for so small a dm
lier party as this—”
“There’sno mistake, ma’am,” said
Hester, pertly, Servants will soon
learn the spirit of their superiors,
and Hester knew that young Mrs.
Mildmay was not particularly partial
toiler husband's stepmother. “I took
the order myself, and it ain’t likely I
should bo mistook.”
“Hester is quite right," said Mrs.
Rufus Mildmay, who came in at that
moment, a handsome brunette, in a
pink cashmere morning dress, trimmed
with black velvet rather a contrast to
Hie neat, calico gown whioli her
mother-in-law wa- iieoustomed to wear
about her morning avocations at
home, ‘And do i wish, mamma, yon
wouldn't interfere 1"
The old lady’s serene brow flushed.
“My dear," she remonstrated, “I
do not wish to meddle with your con¬
cerns, but I really fear that Rufus'siii
come—
“Rufus’s income is his own, to
spend as lie pleases!” interrupted the
young lady. “And you soma to for¬
get, mamma, that people don’t live
nowadays as they did when you wore a
girl." said nothing
Mrs. Mildmay more.
It was not the first time, nor yet the
second, that she had been given to un¬
derstand, by Mrs. Rufus, that her in¬
terposition iu household affairs was
unwelcome.
Tho stepson, whom she loved with
bh fond a devotion ns if he had been
her own child, had married a beauti¬
ful city girl, and settled iu New York.
So far all was well, although Mrs.
Mildmay had secretly hoped that he
would love sweet Alice Aotou, tho
clergyman's daughter, of Polo Hill,
Yet, if Rufus was happy, she also
would rejoice, sho assured herself,
oven although ho preferred Rosamond
Tbursby to Alice Acton, and a city’s
bustle to the sweet pence of the vales
aud glens.
Tf Rufus was happy 1 Y’es, there
was the question. And sometimes Mrs.
Mildmay feared that ho was not, in
spite of his smiles and assumed cheer¬
fulness.
It hud been liin fondest hope that
his mother might be one of his house¬
hold after his marriage. Mrs. Mild
may had hoped so, too; but after this,
her first visit, slu; felt that tho dream
was in vain.
“Oil and water will not mix," she
said to herself, with a sigh; “aud I he
long to a past generation."
As sho left the store closet, where
Rosamond and her cook were holding
counsel ns to a proposed dinnerparty,
sho went slowly and spiritlessly up the
breakfast room, where Rufus was read¬
ing the morning paper before the fire.
"Rufus,” she sai l, a little abruptly,
“1 think 1 had better go back to The
Hemlocks this week.”
"Mother!” he remonstrated.
* dcu t thmk that Rosamond wants
me liere. Rufus Mildmay reddoned.
J hope, mother, ho said, she has
not Sind anything to
it is not natural that she should
need ray presence, said tlio old lady,
gently. J might have known it;
now 1 am certain of it. Home is the
best place tor me. l nt remember one
thing, dear Rufua, Do not outspend
your income Rosamond is young
nnd thoughtless. You yourself are
1U !*L erie .“
Oh, it s all right, mother, said
the young man, carelessly. “But 1
did hope that youoould be happy here."
Mrs. Mildmav shook her head.
“I shall you sometimes, said
she. “If ever yon are in trouble,
Kufus—you or Rosamond, either-- you
will know where to come."
So the old lady went away from the
prtdly biiuu of a house in 1’arabole
Place, with its bay windows, RsTur
0OI11HU 1 >rtlores anti the boxes of
Mvcfs in all the casements.
“Rosamond,” said the young bus
band, as be studied over tlio list of
weekly bills a short time subsequently,
“I believe my mother vras right. YVe
are outrunning onr income."
“Pshaw said Rosamond, who was
sewing po ut moo ou n rose-colored
satin reception-dress; “what » put
that ridiculous idea into your hind.
Rufus?”
“Facts and f ure ” answered Rufus.
“Just look here, Rosie.
“But 1 don’t want to look!” said
RosAtnond, patiently turning her
head away, * ■ d 1 111 so there!
Of course, c 5 1 v« without
money, e; ne 3CS mt
society.
Rufus whistled under his lvj». ■at u.
“But, Rosaa hi', “if a
man s income is a hundred dollars a
month, and he spends two hundred,
how are the acconuts to balance at the
year s evdf
“I don’t know anything about bah
ances and accounts,'’ said Rosamond,
with a sweet, sportive laugh. *‘How
do you like this dress, Rutua F* hold*
ingup the gleaming folds of the pink 1
#Vfg!|iCr aatin. I \ UY it Thursday i
“Do von think, Rosie,” said wise the j
young man, gently, “that it is j
for us to go so much into society on
onr slender income?”
• • That arrow came from your moth
er’s quiver, Rufus!” said Rosamond,
with another laugh. “She wasalways
preaching about your ‘income.’”
“And, after all,” said Rufus, “what
do we care for the fashionable people
to whose houses we go, aud whom we ,
parties? They wouldn’t '
invite to onr
one of them regret if we were to go
to the Rocky Mountains to-morrow.”
“I would as soon die at once as live
without society!” said Rosamond,
“Do leave off lecturing me, Rufus?
Society is all that makes life worth
having for me.”
And, with a deep sigh, Rufus held
his peace.
That was a long, lonely winter for
Mrs. Mildmay, senior, at The Hem¬
locks.
Hnow set iu early ; the river froze
over, as if it were sheeted wufi iron,
except in the one dismal place down
in the ravine, where a restless pool of
ink-black water boiled and bubbled at
the foot of a perpendicular shadow of mass gloomy of
Krfty rock, under the
evergreens; the sunshine glittered
with frozen brightness over the hills,
and the old lady was often aecrectly
Bil( ] at heart as she sat all alone in the
crimson parlor, by the big
where the logs blazed in the twilight.
And as the New Year passed, and
the bitter cold of January took posses
H j,m 0 f the frozen world, a vague ap
pr , Pension crept into her heart.
“Something is going to happen,
she said. “I am not superstitions, but
there are times when the shadow of
coming events stretches darkly across
the heart. Something is going to hap
I’” 11 '
And afternoon, as the , amber ,
one
sunset blazed behind the leafless trees,
turning the snowy fields into masses
of molten pearl, sho put on her fur
lined hood and cloak.
“i will go and take a walk,” said
she. “I shall certainly become a
hypochondriac if I sit all the time by
the fire and nurse my morbid fancies
like tins.”
She took a long, brisk walk down by
tlio ruins of the old mill, through the
oedar woods, across tho frozen swamp,
aud then she paused. tho Black
“I will come back by
Pool,” sho thought, “It is a wild and
picturesque spot in winter, with
icioles hanging to the tree boughs,
and weird ion-effects over tho face of
tho old gray rook.”
It, was a dark and gloomy place,
funereally shaded by the hemlocks,
which grow there to a giant “size ; aud
when Mrs. Mildmay got beneath their
houghs, sho started back.
Was it the illusive glimmering of
the darkening twilight? or was it
really a man who stood close to the
edge of tho Black Pool?
“Rufus! oh, Rufus, my son 1”
Sho was barely in time to catch him
iu her arms and drag him back from
tho awful death to which he was hurl¬
ing himself.
When they reached the cedar wains
ooated parlor, where the blazing logs
cast a ruddy reflection on the rod
Moreen, curtains, Mrs fftC Mildmay wilt looked lovinjj
ini^fajr M ,
1 SnSl now. Rufus,” sRid she, “tell
me all about it. The Lord has
very good to you in mving you from
terrible crime.”
“Mother, why did you stop mo? ’
he said, recklessly. 's am a ruined
man. 1 shall be dishonored in the
sight of the world 1 Death would bo
preferable, a thousand times, to dis
grace!”
“Rufus, said the oi l lady, tender
ly, “do you remember when you used
to get into boyish scrapes at school?
Do you remember how you used to
confide your troubles to mo? Let us
forget all the years that have passed,
Let us be child and mother ouoo
again.
So lie told her all -of tho reckless
expenditure ou Rosamond’s part—his
own, also, lie confessed which had
woven itself like a fatal web about his
feet -of the unpaid bills, the clamor
ing tradesfolk, the threats of publio
exposure, which had driven him at
last to the forgery of his employer’s
signature, iu order to free himself
from one or two of the most pressing
of these demands.
“And if my investment in l.rio
bonds had proved a success, ho said,
eagerly, "1 could havo takeu up every
one of tho notes before they came due.
But there was a change iu tho market,
and now—now the bills will he pro
sen ted nextweek, and my villainy will
be patent to all the world! Ob,
mother, mother 1 why did you not let
me fling myself into the Black Pool?”
“Rufus," said his stepmother, “what
is tho amount, of these--these forged
bills?”
“Ten thousand dollars!" lie an
swered, staring gloomily into the tire,
“Exactly tho amount of the Govern
meut bonds which your father loft
me,” said Mrs. Mildmay. “They
would have been yours at my death,
They are yours now, Rufus!”
“Mother, you don't mean
“Take them," said Mrs. Mildmav,
tenderly pre-sing her lips to his fore
head. “Go to Now Y’ork the first
thing to-morrow morning aud wipe
this olam from your hfo ai you would,
wipe a few blurred tigures from a slate,
And thou begin tiio record of existence
anew.
And up in the littli room whioh h
had occupied us a child, Rufus Mild
mav slop the first peaceful slumbers
which bad descended upon his weary
eyelids for many aud many a night.
In the miduiuht train from Ne
Y ork came Rosamond Mildmay to i’i
Hemlocks, with a
and haggard eve-.
“Ob. mi her, mother!” sh sobbed ;
“where i is he—tuv husband* He
left me. and tho letter ou the dr >sm
table declar. that i never r. -
turn aliv, Oh, tn< - mv faut!
I have ru d him com*
for! i tx V. t 1
M \r , it
law s
little lsl lav
sweetly
sobbiu
n cl her ] lanvi
in praver at t
sight,
II„ _ _ dl»dv:“donot
wake him. wer: i o.it, both ui
mind and kfnl
that God 1
almost e srnr
in th* tv* It
by the blazzing logs in the crimson
parlor, Mrs. Mildmay tol l Rosamond
t ho whole story of the meeting at the
Black Pool.
“Mother, said Rosamond, , with ...
a
quivering lip, “it is my doing You
warned me of this long ago. Oil, why
did I give no heed to your words' 1
deserve it all!”
“You will do better for the future,
my dear,’’.said the old lady, kindly,
“Only be brave and steadfast,
Ho the young commenced people went the back world to
Sew Y’ork and
anew, withdrawing from the mat!
strom of “society, ” and living within
themselves. Mrs. Mildmay, senior,
came with them, and Rosamond is
learning the art of housekeeping un¬
der her direction.
“Mamma is an angel!” says the
young wife, enthusiastically. “And
if I could only be just like her, I
should have no higher ambition.”—
Bftturday Night.
Bruins and (fold Weather,
Extr( . ra0 cold, as is well known, ex
ertfj ft benumbing influence upon the
mnntal facu ]tj es . Almost every one
W , K) hM beeu expOBO d for a longer or
a Bhortcr perio d, to a very low tern
. )( , rft t ure has noted a diminution in
' ] often temporary
wiU an( a
weak( , ain „ of t)l0 memory. Perhaps
ingest scale upon which this
ftC ti 0 n has ever been studied was ilur
. th( , r ,, tn>at () f the French from
Moh( .„ w Tho troops suffered ex¬
trernely from hunger, fatigue and cold
from the latter perhaps most of all.
a German physician who accompanied
detachment of his countrymen has
Joft ftn j nt( . r0Ht ing account of thoiv
trja ] 8 during tliin retreat. From an
allHtract of this paper by Dr. Rose, iu
tho “Medicinisohe Monatsehrift,” we
find that of the earliest symptoms re¬
ferable to the cold was a loss of mem
ory. Tbis was noted in tho strong as
well as those who were already suffer¬
ing from the effects of the hardships
to which they had been exposed.
With the first appearance of a moder¬
ately low temperature (about five de¬
grees above zero Fahrenheit), many
of the soldiers were found to have for¬
gotten the names of the most ordinary
things about them, as well as those of
tho articles of food for which they
wero perishing. Many forgot their
own names, and those of their eorn
rades. Olliers show, pronounced
symptoms of mental disturban so, and
not a few became incurable insane,
tho type of their insanit resembling
very closely senile dementia, The
cold was probably not alone responsi
bio for them * (Toots, for a zero tem¬
perature is rath> stimulating than
paralyzing in it action upon tho well
fed and healthy. These men were
half starved, poorly clad, worn out
with long marching, many already
weakened by dysentery and other dis¬
oases, and nil mentally depressed, ns
an army ju defeat always is. It
needed, therefore, no very unusual
degree of oi Id to proiluco the psychic
effects observed under other circum¬
stances onl.' as a consequence of ex¬
posure to pu extreme low temperature.
—New York Advertiser.
An Indian Baby.
'“‘lifllu "■lUcfilffi AnienciflrlWffti 'r
carefully guards her baby against the
cold aud gives it a daily bath in per¬
fumed water, could follow a Mojave
Indian child through its infancy she
W ould moro than once ho horror¬
stricken at what sho saw. Occasionally
i n hot weather the mothers bathe their
children. Tho manner in which they
(lo it ; M most ftmH8 i n g. They go to a
body of water, strip tho child, and,
j j |,| a( .iiiq a strip of cloth under its arms,
hold tho ends iu hand and swing the
j j child over tho wntor, sousing it vigor
OU8 ] v for two or three minutes. Of
‘ strangles, coughs,
j ooar BO the child
j ] c 10 ] tM au d struggles to get its breath,
but it never ones. When tho mother
. ls satisfied that tho condition of the
child is sufficiently improved sho drops
q on the ground aud allows it to run
around in the siiu until its skin is drv.
pins treatment is given the child more
w ith the view of keeping it oomforta
ply cool than respectably olean. The
babies before they are able to walk are
,, arrit)( i aronn d iu their mother’s arms,
jyiu{g on boards, These boards are
a bout three feet long aud eighteen
inches wide at the broad end. They
tnper to a narrow width at tlio other
,, n q Over these boards are loops of
leather that are there for the purpose
of holding tho child ou the board
r i K j,Uy. Wrapped in thin cloth, the
,-hild is laid on its back aud thrust.un¬
, lor t b 0S( , j 00 ps. Another loop or
>tra p is fastened across its chest. Thus
strap ..Lst ped down it sloops, and lies for
, ho of the time when awake. It
nevor n n owo j to lie Hat on tho floor
or Kroun d when out of tho mother’s
r m 8 . Tho cradles are left standing
at a sUarp augle aga j ust tlio side of a
bouse or a rook or tree.—Kate Field’s
Washington
The Suiirksto'ttiuT.
One of the novel ideas for transpor¬
tation over snow and ice which is to
be introduced this year istticsparks
toetting or Norwegian sled The sled
consists of two ten-foot long runners
of seasoned pine, whioh are about an
inch thick aud four inches wide,
tui tied up at tho e'ud like an old fash
ioued pair of skates. Near ‘he center
of the runuer. a little to tee front of
the exact center, there are fixed two
light uprights, three feet high, fitted
in some cases with a light crossbar,
aud these uprights arc guyed to the
turned-up ends by light but strong
pieces of wood, so that they will re
ain ncid. the two runners are also
guyed across tho ends at the front to
keop them the right distance apart,
>l’tst behind each of the uprights there
3 a fix •thole made on each of the run-
5 rs by tiny blocks of wood, which
r •ep the foot from slipping off aud
s. vos it a front brace. f’.irrent I. tera
tar
Effect he Scheme tor Catching Rats.
O ae th lies! and, at the
most effective schemes for
: rats has been devised by J.
ne, of Garmon's. He has t *
tw usnet wash Dot which was half i
tilled with water and cotton seed A j
board was placed to Yun from the floor j
to the top of the pot for t M rats to |
walk up on and dive off. Ihe largest i
uuuiLx'r caught in one night was ton*- ,
eu AE
sale \v i
Wnr i
INSECT PESTS.
THEIR SPREAD «Y COMMERCE
INTO THE UNITED STATES.
Grain and Rice-Eating Weevils
Brought by Ships From Foreign
Shores — Distribution of
Other Injurious “Bugs.”
F UNNY how little it takes to
get up a scarp,” said United
States Entomologist L. O.
Howard to a Washington
Star writer. “Here is a great alarm
about the arrival at San Francisco of
a rice-laden vessel from Rangoon,
Burmah, with her hold swarming with
insects. It was stated that when the
hatches were removed the ‘bugs’ flew
out in such numbers that the sailors
could not descend for fear of suffoca
tion. Letters addressed to the De
partment of Agriculture express fears
lest these winged immigrants will
start a plague in the United States.
“The fact is that the insect in ques¬
tion, specimens of itfiich have reached
me, are grain-eating weevils, already
sufficiently commojj. in this country.
We have quite a number of species of
such feeders on s*pred grain, and
knowledge respecting them has been
small hitherto. Recently, nowever,
the Division of EntBnology j,f has been
given a good leal study to them,
and the results will|k e Bet fortu before
long -n a special ulletin. Every
housewife is interes M in this subject,
because her flour, rnmeal, etc., are
quickly attacked b these enemies if
kept unsealed.
“During |iar two little
beetles, popular^ ffvni as ‘flour
weevils,’ have occa pd a good deal
of alarm amonjk* grp, dealers in
feed, grocers tA >8ers in patent
foods. They afl ready to attack
such patented af diet as con
tain flour imU wraceous ftbi stuff,
The eggs the floor,
and those and tlaWsg HPlie are so
minute and pale iiU^ sealed not to be in
noticed. After bang up
boxes and barrels f i while the adult
in cts me deveh and the mer
chaudisit is soon® | * Aside from
the t’muble i manufacturer,
de-.Fi' and pun these beetles
ure highly objeM L l^jrive a few speci
mens boingwn a dis
agreeabl<K-®S^^® Jj ■aitc 1 uia
terial. “Ari'iH
* B is quite
miniito^ It llgt^Kinn color.
seemsm,^^ . any
other laud oatmeal, a, woking wheat,
flour, B Tyen peanuts,
it has been p feed upon
snuff, orris-roc (powder, rice
chaff, graham if red pepper,
During the Iasi lis beetle has
been very des fils in Massaohu
setts.
“Tho insect portantly rep*
resented in t of rice from
Rangoon was I' ;s the common
lioo weevil, been/ wlJp ’•atedjin India,
and has ' ;
>y commerce,
grain-gr until now J® a^nearly nt all in
occurs
every jj p? iu the
Union, i s Can
a da a iM kth or u
r this
weevil is ' iirives at
least equnll| Jul cultivated maize,
It also breeds, ee
varieties of si®, Md in barley,
rye, hulled iekwheat and
chickpeas. houses and sioM V£#ife|gjijdant Tie adult in beetles store
invadc boxes ot m :ers, cakes, yeast
oaken, barrels an as of flour and
meal, and can sv for months on
sugar. They a! ' ■' a known to bur
row into peachd s and mulber
Ties. hJpd
“Commerce ■ everywhere
S
the inseots whie! stored grain,
until nearly nlk features have
beeome praetiffl ^*6 ’ ;*opolitan. It
is the pier (instructive
‘bugs.’ | States we have
about onS Poies imber/probably ou scale in
sects, and
forty havo from other
countries. T! ’ in¬
os j moreover,
clude nearly all worst species.
Introduced sp- come far more
injurious liert ai . than in their
original homes, ’flu red scale of the
orange in Florida is an importation
from the West Indies or South Amer¬
ica ; tho red scale of the orange in
California was from the
scale l’acitio of islands^SHKOM: tho^^^^^^B^as ous imported ‘fluted’
which from Austriilit®J||Hp?n of late lilWPR making Jose scale, most
a
destructive onslaught on many Eastern
orchards, is also, probably, an Aus¬
tralian species.
“The codling na^i h is European,
and so is the pniow currant worm.
The grapeberry 'TpoTif originally in
habited the region of the Mediterran¬
ean. The European gipsy moth, one
of tho most ravenous defoliators of
fruit and shade trees known to ento¬
mologists, has for he last ten years
made itself so conspicuous in parts of !
Massachusetts that tho State Govern
meat has expoudedyiver §300,000 in
trying to stamp it out. The European
leopard moth, now confined to the
vicini.y of New ' ur 1 1 ^ v ’ au j n6,ect
which m the larval stage bore into the
twigs of many trees. It threatens to
spread and do great damage. A new j
pear borer, imported iu nursery stock i
from Europe, has begun to spread in
the State of New Jersey. It is capa¬
ble of killing a vigorous pear tree out¬
right in two seasons.
“I have recently made an effort to
learn something of the injurious in¬
sects of Mexico, anticipating building that the
new activity in railway from
the United States into that country
cannot but result in carrying danger¬
ous insects across onr bora.-rs. Al¬
ready a most serious enemy to the cot¬
ton crop has mossed from Mexico
into Texas and threatens great dam
age.
“Meanwhile tne harlequin cabbage
bug is steadily advancing from the
South; the potato tuber moth bids fair
to continue its eastward progress from
Colorado, into whitfh State it has been
brought from California, and the
sweet-potato root borer is working up
through oar Scuikera States from
Florida and Texas. The clover-root
borer and the clover-leaf weevil are
working westward through Indiana
Michigan, and the hop-plant louse
aad the pear-blister mite, well-known
Eastern insects, have recently made
t st appearance ou the Pacific
* The mt*4rd -ptxad of
Colorado CU otato bug from the plains
of the West, at first slow, and accom¬
plished only by the flight of the per¬
fect insect, but afterwards carried on
in great jumps assisted by the rail¬
roads, is a startling case within the
recollection of every one.”
The Present Czars Peril.
It will be remembered that the Czar
Nicholas II. has already had an at¬
tempt made on his life. The incident
occurred, however, not in Russia, but
in Japan, during the Czarevitch’s
tour round the world three years ago.
On that occasion ho was accompanied
by Prince George, of Greece. The
Princes reached Kioto on May 9,1891,
and a few days later they made an ex¬
enrsion to the classic Lake Biwa.
After seeing the lake they paid a short
visit to the Prefect of Shiga at Ossu,
and then prepared to see the outskirts
of the town in a jinrikisha. lined
The streets of Ossu were well
with police, and as the Princes were
being drawn along, one of the officers
drew his saber and directed a power¬
ful blow at the Czarewitch’s neck.
Fortunately, however, the danger was
averted by the presence of mind of
Prince George of Greece, who partly
warded off the blow with his cane, and
at once threw himself on the would
be murderer. With the aid of the
“jinrikisha” runners and the police,
the assailant of the Czarewitch was
finally secured. mysterious
Although the most regard
rumors gained currency with
to tho incident, there is little reason
to doubt that tho outrage was simply
the result of sectarian fanaticism with
regard to foreigners. Iu any ease,
the Grand Duke Nicholas very luckily
got off with only a couple of slight
cuts. The Mikado traveled over 203
miles to visit the wounded Prince.
The Czarewitch shortened his stay in
Japan and returned to St. Petersburg
by way of Siberia, and this portion of
his travels is believed to have had no
small influence on the construction of
the Trans-Siberian Railway.—West¬
minster Gazette.
The Telegraph Pole.
In the north Atlantic States just at
election time last year a bad ice storrn
sot in, with the result that at a criti¬
cal moment no returns were obtaina¬
ble by telegraph from large and im¬
portant sections of New England. Tho
damage was remarkably severe aud
extensive. For example, in a single
stretch of country between New Y’ork
and Boston no fewer than 8000 poles
were borno down by the winds and
the weight of ice and snow.
There has been muoh angry discus¬
sion about this, but the truth is that
tho poles instead of being rotten are
in reality overloaded with wires, and
hence become the victims of .every
unusual climatic disturbance in win¬
ter. In view of the facilities for bury¬
ing wires along railroad tracks and of
the large turns of money spent an¬
nually in wire repairs, it is extraor¬
dinary that tho bulk of the wires do
not And their way into trenches.
Indeed, one of the best experts in
the country expresses his growing
conviction that in the long run it
would be cheaper to put all the wires
■tuns' nn!iergroualiffiieivvee11 *iVciv 1
and Boston. If this is true of those
two cities, it is equally true and im¬
portant in regard to others, not for¬
getting the National Capital. One of
the first movements with the revival
of business will, it is said, be the
wholesale burial of wires which run
across country and now go down ai
most every year, hindering and par¬
alyzing business by the stoppage of
the means of immediate communica¬
tion. —Pittsburg Dispatch.
Telegraphy in the Mountains.
One of the most elevated telegraph
lines iu the world is that reported from
India. On the Gilgit line two passes
have to be crossed, one 11,600 feet
high and the other 13,500. The snow
often lies at a depth of from ten to
eighteen feet and the poles used nro
thirty feet long. Yet this necessary
length is a danger, as it means moro
leverage in a galo and if struts and
braces are put up they afford a chance
for the snow to accumulate and bring
greater pressure to boar. Strong
deodar poles are used and the tele¬
graph lines consist of a solid homo¬
geneous steel wire of the greatest
strength made. One break was, how¬
ever, caused by tho heavy suow made
wet by moisture from a lake not far
away, but in the other pass the snow
is dry and slips from the wires easily.
The poles are planted close together.
Offices of observation are close by, iu
each of which two Europeans are
stationed, leading a life in comparison
with which that spent at sub-marine
cable stations is riotous and crowded.
For many months the passes are cut
off from mankind by the snow block¬
ade, but the empire must be main¬
tained aud commerce go on. So the
exiles, with their suowshoes, rations,
nnd instruments, held the telegraph
fort.—Chicago Times,
A Great Aid to Digestion.
A Chicago paper says that a smooth
stranger t recentlv Lchines placed a number of
moke ia . th e- S lot in the town
of Evanston. The machines bore the
following inscription:
“The greatest known aid to diges¬
tion. Drop a nickel in the slot. Push,
then pull.”
At the top of the machine was a
handle to be pushed, theu pulled, and
many townspeople who conld not re¬
sist the temptation of trying some
new device, for the same reason that
Timothv took the wine—“for his
stomach’s sake”—dropped in their
nickels and took a push and a pull out
of the machine. But that was all. No
result followed and there was some
talk of blowing open the hoarded
treasure. At the end of the week the ;
a f eut reappeare ' i ’ unloc %, tj9 ma ’
chines, garnered the . wealth and ,
re
tlred > a ' tcr explaining tmit exercise
3 the S r ^«st dkmg for digestion m
* he 1 T orld * Toe crowd wa* so para
f tue * g€lit took trau *
-
wlt “° har m *
1-11
A Leaniea . t0U Ie
P *
At Berne recently a husband and
wife, both Russians, took their de
grees oi Joct r of philosophy at the
same time. They were examined in
adjoining rooms, the examining pro
feseorv Mi»tR» going 0oa*tituU*a, from one to the other,
**
BUDGET OF FUN.j
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
Attached—And gay Nothing—Proba¬
bly Doubly Touched—A Mystery
—Wayside Proof-Reading—
Unabashed, Etc.
He loved the ground she walked on,
Nor was content to let it
Go at that. The ground was hers
And he married her to get it.
—Detroit Tribune.
A MYSTERY.
Ada—“I can’t imagine how that
secret leaked out?”
Ida— “Nor I; I’m sure everyone {to
whom I told it promised to say noth¬
ing about it.”—Puck.
SORRY FOR BOBBY.
First Boy—“I feel sorry for Bobby
Blinkers. He’s got a stepmother.”
Second Boy—“Is she strict?”
First Boy—“Awful! She makes him
wear rubbers every time it rains.
Good News.
WAYSIDE PROOF-READING.
Frazzles—“This yere paper sez yer
ortn’t never eat w’en yer tired.”
Eagsy—“Oh, rats! Some fake uv a
printer stuck that back’ards; it
means, yer ortn’t never git tired w’en
yer a-eatin’. ” —Puck.
—AND SAY NOTHING.
Tramp-“Mad»m, will please ,
yer
S™ . a hungry man something to eat?
Madam-^Will vou 8aw wood?
Tramp-“Yes mum; non men
tion i to a living soul, ponme
bonor - -Brooklyn Life.
UNABASHED.
Barber—“Wouldn’t you like a bot¬
tle of our hair restorer?”
Customer—“No, thank you; I pre¬
fer to remain bald-headed.”
Barber—“Then our hair restorer is
just the thing you want, sir.”—South
Boston News.
HERESY.
Crosse—“I hear that Mrs. Frye’
great cook book, “Art in the Cuisine,
lias not been a success in her native
town, Boston.”
Blackwell—“Yes; she says that it is
not absolutely neoessary to serve brown
bread with baked beans.”
USURPED FASHIONS.
“If there’s any thing I dislike,” said
one citizen, “it’s to see a man effem¬
inate in his attire.”
“Itis unpleasant,” was the reply;
“and yet about the only way for him
to keop from being so these days is to
put on petticoats.’’—Life.
A COMPREHENSIVE CHARACTER.
Landlady—“You are an optimist,
Mr. Smith.”
Boarder—“Am I?”
Landlady—“Yes. You always ex¬
pect the best- in the house."
Boarder—“Well, I’m prepared for
the worst.”- Philadelphia Life.
_____
night?” I
Carrie—“Just horrid! feel real
blue.”
Mabel—“So do I. I do wish some¬
thing would happen that we could
have areal good cry over.”—Puck.
PROBABLY DOUBLY TOUCHED.
“Jabworth is most ridiculously sen
timental. When that fellow at the
minstrels sang ‘My Sweetheart of
Long Ago’ the other night, Jabworth
actually shed tears.”
“Yes, his breach of promise suit
comes to trial next week.”—Indianap¬
olis Journal.
MUST BE CONSISTENT.
Mother—“Johnny, go down to the
grocer’s and get a pound of black tea. ”
Johnny—“I heard pa say he didn’t
like black tea.”
Mother—“It makes no difference
what your father says, Johnny. This
family is in mourning just now. ”--
Berliner Tageblatt.
NEWS FROM ABROAD.
Mamma—“I received a letter from
Grace to-day.”
Fapa—“How is the Earl doing,
now?”
Mamma—“Nicely; he’s been sober
for two weeks, and Grace has prom¬
ised him a steam yacht if he behaves
himself until summer.”—Puck.
NO OBJECTION WHATEVER.
“Dear me,” said Mr. Meekins; “it
seems so absurd for men to be con¬
stantly talking about their wives hav¬
ing the last word. I never object to
my wife having the last word.”
“You don’t?”
“Not a bit. I always feel thankful
when she gets to it.”—Washington
Star.
THE FUNEBAL BAKED MEATS.
The proprietor of the only hotel in
the village was also the undertaker.
The guests were gathered around the
table one day, and the solemn man
looked up, sighed heavily, and then
let his gaze fall on his plate. 1
„ . he said, , in . measured , tones, .
see,
“that there has been another funeral.
Every one looked up inquiringly.
‘‘How d° yon know, asked the
orisk little widow
“Because, and me ^ so.emn malJ
signea again “there are flowers on
the table and ice on the butter.
Hotel Reporter.
KNEW TOO MUCH FOR HIS OWN GOOD.
“Mr. Sznarte,” said the head of the
firm, “I happened to overhear your
criticisms this morning of the manner
in which business is carried on here.
You appear to be laboring under a
m i 3 taken idea. As a matter of fact,
we are not running this house to make
m0 nev. Not at all. We carry on
this business simply as a school tor
the instruction of young men. But
J oa seem to know so much more
about business than we do, it would
be only wasting your time to keep yon
kere. The cashier will settle with you.
is our loss is your gain. Boc
t° a Transcript.
—
ratio op aiss to niKS
‘‘You floa t *sai ikei #'s8 fe»t,
Mary,” said Mr. Muggins, who was
with his wife in the milliner’s store.
"It’s too big, anyhow. Now, if the
milliner could only take off four or
five feathers it would be all right. ” j
“That’s easy,” interposed the mil¬
liner, sweetly, suiting the action to
the word. I take them off so—see?
And there you have a love of a little
bonnet.”
And then, as Mr. Muggins felt for
his pocketbook smilingly, thinking of
the economy he had effected, she
added: “Now it’s only §50.”—Chicago
Record.
HEK UNDERSTANDING OF IT.
A woman living in one of the fash¬
ionable avv^ues had a bit of statuary
bearing the 'nscription “Kismet.’
The housemaid was dusting the room
one day, when the mistress appeared.
“Shure, mam, “what’s the manin
of the ’ritin’ on the bottom of this?
asked the maid, referring to the in¬
scription on the statuary.
“ ‘Kismet’ means ‘Fate, J 5 J replied
the mistress.
Bridget was limping painfully when
she was walking with “Pat” not long
afterward, and he asked :
“Phwat’s the matter, Bridget?”
“Faith,” was her answer, “I have
the mostiirrible korns on my kismet!”
—New Y’ork Herald.
Japanese Athletics.
Athletics hold an important but
subordinate position in the schools of
Japan. Once a year there is a gather¬
ing of all the students in a district to
engage in athletic contests. In those
seen by Mr. Hearn, and described in
“Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan,” six
thousand boys and girls from all the
schools within a distance of twenty
five miles were entered to take part.
A circular race track, roomy enough
for an army, allowed four different
kinds of games to be performed at the
same time.
There were races between tho best
runners of different schools, and races
in which the runners were tied to¬
gether in pairs, the left leg of one to
the right leg of the other.
Little girls—as pretty a3 butterflies
in their sky blue kakama and many
colored robes—contested in races in
which eaoh one had to pick up as she
ran three balls out of a number scat¬
tered over the turf.
The most wonderful spectacle thousand; was
the dumb-bell exercise. Six
boys and girls, massed in ranks about
five hundred deep ; six thousand pairs
of arms rising and falling exactly to¬
gether ; six thousand pairs of sandaled
feet advancing or retreating together
at the signal of the masters of gym¬
nastics, directing all from the tops of
little wooden towers; six thousand
voices chanting at once the “One,
two, three,” at the dumb-bell drill:
“Iohi, ni—san, shi—go, roku—skichi,
hachi."
The games began at 8 o’clock in the
morning and ended at 5 iu the even¬
ing. Then, at a signal, fully six
thousand voices pealed out the Na¬
tional anthem, and concluded it with'
three cheers for the Emperor and Em¬
press of Japan. The Japanese, in¬
stead of shouting when they cheer,
chant with a long cry, “A-a-a-a-a-a 1”,
*
ican ’
The Fall ol Leaves.
According to Professor Trelease,
three more or less distinct periods are
observed in tho fall of leaves. The
first period, which precedes the prin¬
cipal tall by about a week, is marked
by the loss of the leaves of the small
branches; during the second, the
tree loses ths majority of its leaves
and preserves but a few isolated ones,
situated in most cases upon branches
that are protected during summer and
gradually disappear in the course of
the third period.
A writer in the Gardener’s Magazine
offers the following explanation as to
the fall of leaves:
It seems strange that the fall of
leaves sometimes occurs at the ap¬
proach of cold and sometimes at a rise
in temperature; but the heat and cold
are merely secondary causes—the
principal cause being the clanger that
the continuation of transpiration offers
the plant. In autumn, the absorbing
activity of the roots is so reduced by
the low temperature of the earth that
the water lost in consequence of the
transpiration is compensated for with
difficulty. leaves is
The fall of the prepared
for by the formation of a special
layer of what is called separating
cells, whioh consist of parencliymous
tissue, and the walls of which are so
constructed as to permit of being
easily destroyed under the influence
of chemical or mechanical agents. A3
soon ns the restriction of transpira¬
tion becomes necesary, these walls are
dissolved by organic acids, and the
continuity is destroyed ; so that the
least breath of air suffices to produce a
separation and cause the leaves to
fall.—Scientific American.
Gruesome Dinner Table Decoration.
The use of the human skeleton is
the latest development in the way of
dinner table decoration in England.
The Table, of London, gives, in a re¬
cent issue, two instances of the em
plovment of this grim device as an
adjunct to English gastronomic
hilarity. One was at a country house
a{ a dianer o{ thirty covers. The
centre of the t able for its entire length
wafi a of frozen snow, bordered
by lycopodium growing in tins, a belt
p f bright red blossoms separating the
gnow from tLe table cloth . Qa tlie
crisp white surface were many white
human skeletons in every attitude;
leafless trees covered with snow,
miniature fur trees, with an open um¬
brella beside them, while red gnomes
capered on the snow, a large red cap
0 f Follv lying on the ground, bon
bons pouring from it in lavish pro¬
fusion. The second occasion on which
this mortuary scheme of decoration
W2S emploved was a sapper. This
time it was the design of an artist of
distinction. It portrayed skeletons
skating on a pond, with a churchyard
and illuminated church at the side iu
a set sc €Il e for the centre of the table,
To have carried this weird decorative
sc heae to the full limit the guests, at
conclusion of the supper, should
have been induced to accept for the
balance of the night ths use of hare
jsoeks awuoa in a ffwtltfp •'At?