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ABOUT THE PHONOGRAPH. Amateur and Expert Record Takers— Some of the Phonograph’s Uses. “Of course, you can make a record ©of your own voice by talking into a machine,” said a phonograph dealer, “‘and a novice can take records of the voices of his friends in like manner, or of the barking of a dog or the mewing of a cat. “But while novices can take phono graph records experts are employed in the taking of records made for sale, and. some of them have interesting ex periences. Thus record takers may bhe sent to various foreign countries fo take records of the voices of the sing ers of those lands. “I have sometimes wondered that some manufacturer of phonographs and producers of records did ‘mot put on the market a handsome little phon ograph with which mothers could make records of babies’ voices. With such a phonograph a record could be taken of baby’s first goo-goos, phono graph and record then to be treasured with the baby’s first little shoes and stockings. With such a record the first sound of baby’s voice might be brought back, and for that matter records of its voice at later stages of its life might be taken as well. “The use of the phonograph for the dictation of letters, etc., is familiar. In some offices letters are dictated not to a stenographer or a typewriter, but into a phonograph, always at hand, the cylinder then being sent to the type writer to be transcribed from the rec ord of the spoken words. “And the phonographer is used to some extent for correspondence be tween friends, or it might be between those bound by closer ties. Thus one person may talk his letter into a phonograph, and so make a record of it, mailing the record. His correspond ent puts that record into a phonograph and starts the machine and hears whatever the letter contains. Some correspondents by phonograph shave the records and use the cylinders again, upon which to make records of return letters; some preserve these letter records, and between letters, or when a new one has not come to hand in due time, put an old record in their phonograph, and so are enabled to hear again a familiar or a friendly voice, or the voice of one perhaps more dearly prized. “Everything about the phonograph is wonderful and interesting, and not the least interesting thing about it is found in the making of its records.”— New York Sun. TORPEDOES AND BATTLESHIPS. ~in.-wesults of Recent British Experi ments at Portsmouth. The question of submarine mines or topedoes, their effect on warships, the chance of hitting, and their general ei ficacy in the defence of harbors has always been an interesting one be cause the history of recent wars has added very little to the literature of the subject. In order to obtain some reliable data for use in war, Great Britain recently subjected the Beilleisle (already fa mous for the trial of fire to which she was subjected a year or two ago) to still further experiments. A White head torpedo was exploded against the ship’s bottom, and as a result she heeled over and sunk in 20 minutes: There was a depth of water ten feet under the keel of the Belleisle, which had ben moored in Porchester creek, at Portsmouth, England. A compart ment, filled with corn pith cellulose, had been built outside the port bow below the water line, the torpedo was lashed by divers under the compart ment, and fired electrically from the Vernon. When the torpedo exploded a spray rose about 40 feet into the air, the ex plosion not only smashing the special compartment and blowing the cellu lose into the air, but also tearing open the side of the ship and leaving a hole eight feet by twelve. The experiment proved conclusive ly the destructive power of the torpedo and incidentally showed that the plug ging power of cellulose was not what theory had ascribed to it. It was alto gether one of the most important ex periments ever carried out with the Whitehesad torpedo since the ship had been sq strengthened below the belt that sha really was superior in resist ing power to any warship afloat. Admiral Fremantle, in commenting on the results of the experiment, says that if the damage done to the Belle isle was as great as he had been in formed {t was, the power of the torpe do had been uhdercstimated in the past. Of couyrse, there is alwayvs the diffi culty of torpedoing a ship when steam ing at high speed by means of a sub marine. The extreme raage of the torpedo is but 2000 yards, and its max imum speed thirty knots, so that it will be very difficult to strike a ship moving at 18 knots speed. Subma rines when submerged have a speed of only eight knots, and with that .fre quently have difficulty in getting with in range of ships in motion. Their men ace to vessels at anchor, however, does not admit of question. Moreover, the efficacy of submarine mines planted in channels is also un questioned, and in consequence the above experiment is a matter of great satisfaction to the coast artillery, which has charge of the submarine mine defence.—New York Sun. PEARLS OF THOUGHT. What makes life dreary is want of motive.—George Eiiot. A heart unspottei is not easily daunted.—Shakespeare. The highway of hcliness is along the commonest road of life.—Pearse. Wit is a desirable guest only when it does not crowa kindness out of the house. Gentleness is the modest diadem which nature designed for the brow of strength. A soul occupied with great ideas best performs small duties.—James Martincau. The best way for a man to get out of a lowly position is to be conspicuously effective in it.—Thomas Jefferson. It strikes me that, being a man of average compogition, I shouldn’t pray for justice, through fear that the pray er might be granted. We become heavenly-minded by liv. ing to make others happy. If it is the aim and work of your life to be a blesss ing to.others, you are living alrealdy the heavenly life.—E. H. Sears, Folly of Being Wise. Prof. Phelps used.to tell with glee of the-way he achieved a reputation for knowing a thing he hated. He took a walk with Prof. Newton, who lived in the world of mathematics, and start ed off at once to discuss an abstruse problem. Mr. Phelp’s mind could not follow, and wandered to other things. At last he was called back when the professor wound up with “which you see gives us X.” “Does it?” asked Mr. Phelps, politely. “Why, doesn’t it?” exclaimed the professor, excitedly, alarmed at the possibility of a flaw in his caluculations. Quickly his mind ran back and detected a mistake. “You are right, Mr. Phelps. You are right!” shouted the professor. “It doesn’t give us X; it gives us Y.” And from that time Prof. Phelps was looked upon as a mathematical pro digyv, the fir#t man who ever tripped the professor.—Christian Register. English Kissing Customs. At Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, at periodic intervals the mayor and cor poration assert their rights over the shores of their native river by pro ceeding in state to various points, where they proclaim their authority. Per’haps as an inducement for the mayor to undertake this particular duty, on landing on the green he ig permitted by ancient custom to kiss the prettiest girl present, conferring upon her a sovereign as compensa tion. At Bournemouth, where the kiss mayoral is also conferred, it is an ancient and loving custom for the retiring mayor to give his suceessor an osculatory salute. SCARCITY OF WHALEBONE. fonster & the Deep Which Furnished the Article Nearly Extinct. Experts say there is only about six tons of whalebone left in the world. That means that the Greenland whale that carries about half a ton of the “bone” in its cavern of a mouth, is well nigh extinet, says London Mod ern Society. Ten or 12 of these gigan tic whales vet roam the Arctic seas, and when these are killed there are none to take their place. There are other species of whales that yield ba leen, or whalebone, but it is <coarse and small, and in no way to be com pared to the great shining plates, eight or ten feet long, which are taken from the mouth of the Greenland whale. The cachelot, or sperm whale, is hunt ed for its oil and its spermaceti; it possesses no baleen, having instead a row of stout white teeth yielding ex cellent ivory. Whalebone is curious stuff, being light, fleflxible, tough, and elastic to a degree that renders it unique for many purposes. Steel has taken its place in the umbrella trade and in corset man ufacture, but whalebone holds its own in the best dressmaking establish ments. There are mechanical brush es, too, which must be made of whale bone until, indeed, some other sub stance ils invented or discovered equal ly durable and springy. An old iaw, never yet repealed, gives the whale bone of any derelict whale found on the coasts of Britain to the queen con sort “for her own use and behoof, and the busking of the bodices c¢f her dames and maids.” Queen Caroline, consort of George 11.,, claimed this perquisite when a Greenland whale came ashore on the Norfolk coast. It was the time of hooped petticoats and long stiff bod ices, and the queen’s delight in re celving such an unexpected sunply of stiffening is chronicled in a letter from pretty Mary Bellenden to lLady Suf folk: “And I, too, have my share,” the maid of honor finished triumphantly. FIT FOR A PRINCESS. How a Great Artist Decorated His Lit tle Dauahter’'s Room. Charles Francois Daubigny is the name of a famous artist. He was not, however, always famous, and once he was a little boy, playving around and having fun just as you do. Now in France some mothers do strange things. It is their custom to send their tiny baby children off into the country to be taken care of by a farm er's wife. When they are older and are less trouble to their parents, they are brought back to live at heme. This is what happened to the little Charles. N 6 -doubt he enjoyed it very much, however, for all children like the coun try.. When he giew -up to be a big man, his passionate love for the coun try continued, and he chose a home near the very place where he had been brought up. The name of this place is Auvers sur-Oise, and it is a little town not far from Paris. It is not at all like an American village, with its new houses and barns, but is merely a collection of old stucco houses, one church also old and picturesque, and a few strag gling shops. Here he made a home for himself and family, and it was here that some of his most famous pictures were painted. He had a queer boat built on which he lived for days at a time, moving about on the river at his will. Thus he was able to secure effects one could get in no other way. It is not of this, however, that I wish to tell you. When you grow up, you may read a great deal yourself about this famous painter of nature. What I wish to describe to you is the room which he decorated for his little daughter who liked fairy tales just as much as American children like them. When people go to Auvers to see the famous painter’s room, they are seldom shown this special room, which to young folks is certainly one of the most interesting in the whole house. No doubt Daubigny spent much of his valuable time in decorating this room for the amugement of his little girl. It may not be work which added to his fame, but the love which in spired it is more lasting than fame. The room is not large, but just large enough to be cozy and comfortable. The walls are all painted, and are di vided into panels, in each of which are painted characters or scenes from the tales the fortunate little maiden liked best. I wonder if you would have chosen the same ones? The Fox and the Grapes occupy an important place, Hop o my Thumb has a fine panel; and Red Riding Hood just as you knew her is there and the wolf is there, too, and ever so fierce. At one end of the room was the dainty bed, with its French hangings, and where the curtains part is painted an apple tree, right where the little girl could see it the first thing every morning. It may have brought to her mind the memory of many happy hours passed in the shade of such a tree. There were birds flying hither and thither, and a nest is tucked away safely in the forks of the branches. In the nest are little speckled eggs, so beautifully painted that Mademoiselle Daubigny might almost have expected each morning to see them hatched out and to find scrawny, yellow billed bird lets in their stead. Between the panels are painted toys strung together in the most tempting way, and above them all is a frleze of wild flowers—those who grow all around the town of Auvers—poppies, bluets and others. Can you imagine anything more charming to look at upon awaking in the morning? : Even the smallest works of this ar tist are worth many hundreds of dol lars, so you see this young lady was very much favored. But when her kind papa had done so much and worked so long for her, his little daughter’s delight in her room no doubt more than repaid him for all his trouble.—St. Nicholas. QUAINT AND CURIOUS. Forty-five only of the c¢rew of the liner Kaiser William. 11. are ordinary sailors, the remaining 555 being mechanics, etc. A man who lives at Belfast, Me., claims to have the record for railroad accidents, having recently been in six within forty-eight hog{rs. L -~ A ¢ . . § On the German Emperor’s birthday the inhabitants of Cologne are allowed to cross the Rhine bridge free, provid ed they go on foot. Carriages pay as usual. Penobscot county claims the.oldest horse in Maine, if not in the country. His name is Tommy Fostlett. He is forty-two years old, and there is no question about his age. Expert mountaineers who require three hours or more to ascend the snowy slope of thie Mexican volcano Popocatepetl can slide down the same slope safely in ten minutes. , Mr. H. C. Robinscn, who has spent two years in scienvific investigation in the Mallay peninsula, recently exhib ited to the zoological section of the British association a specimen of a fish know as the “mud hopper,” which by means of stroiig fins under its body is able to move about on land for dis tances of at least twenty yards from its watery nests 11 the swamps. The Sonartan Japanese Father. The Spartan character of the Jap anese father may be gathered from two facts mentioned by Consul Dalgoro Goh in the admirable address on fam ily relations in Japan which he deliv ered before the Japan society. The Jap anese child calls its father “Gampu” and its mother ‘“Jibo”—which mean “gtrict father” and benevolent mother” —and Mr. Goh quoted a Japanese boy who classified the Japanese father as opne of the “four fearful things of the world—earthquake, thunder, con flagration and father.”—London Truth,