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THE BUBBLES OF LIFE. A boy and girl upon the yellow beach “Blew shining bubbles in the summer air, And as they floated off they named them, each Choosing what seemed to him or her most fair. “Inamo mine ‘Wealth, 9 99 exclaimed the care , les3 boy; , “So may I never have to count the cost, But ships and houses own, as now a toy.” But Wealth wa3 driven far out to sea and lost. *‘I name mine ‘Beauty,’ ” said the pretty girl; shall fair face, “So women all envy my And men shall kneel and beg me for a curl.’’ But Beauty vanished quickly into space. “I name this ‘Fame,’ ” essayed the boy again; hour “So may I hear my praises men.” every As orator or soldier sung by bea¬ But Fame was wrecked against the con tower. •‘This is ‘Long Life, 9 99 returned the little maid; “So may I happy be for many a year, Nor be tilt late oUugly death afraid.’’ But Long Life broke within a graveyard near. At last twin globules they together blew, And named them “Love,” as slow they rose on high. The sua shone through them with prisma¬ tic hue, Till Love was lost within the glowing sky. —Irving Browne, in Troy Press. © OOGGGOOOOOQGOOQQGGOOGOGGGG G THE PEARLS o G OF PANAMA. § G - By Charles Adams. 8 © O OOOOODOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSOCO M EOPLE with mem¬ ories will recall that after the fail¬ ure of M. Ferdin¬ and de Lesseps’s first grand effort to W 1 excavate the Pan¬ ama Canal, there ensued a depress¬ ing period, when ‘ for several years nothing whatever was done, and millions of dollars’ ivorth of expensive machinery lay exposed to wind and weather, aud to thieves who carried off immense quantities of plun¬ der. At length an attempt was made to stay these losses. Paintere were em¬ ployed to coat the excavators, dredges, cranes, dragues, locomotives and other machines with waterproof paints, and guards were sent to patrol the line of works. Among the guards were a young American whose name is given as Ed¬ mond Harris, a Hollander named Van vieok, from. ^is3ift?a*i)oohey, an Irishman. Their '•"misiness was to care for the marine dredges in the “Boca,” or xvesternend of the canal trench, near the harbor of Panama. A small steam-lauuch was provided in which they made their rounds, and on holidays they some¬ times used this boat for excursions to other points on the bay. The most in¬ teresting of these jaunts, and one at¬ tended by a curious adventure, was to the ruins of Panama Viejo (Old Pan¬ ama), six or eight miles south of the modern city. Old Panama, the city first built by the Spaniards when at tho zenith of their New World prosperity, was taken, plundered aud burned by the buccaneer Morgan in 1671. For a cen¬ tury it had been the richest city of the Western Hemisphere, containing at one time fully seventy thousand in habitants, and being called from its position, “The Gate of the New World.” Hither were brought the spoils of Peru, by Pizarro, and gold aud silver in vast quantities from the newly opened mines. A well-paved highway connected it with Puerto Bello, on the Atlantic side of the isthmus. Of Old Panama nothing now remains except the crumbling walls of the churches and palaces, overgrown by vines, in the midst of a dense tropical forest. One lofty tower alone rises above the tree-tops, that of the Church of St. Amastasius. Steaming in here at high tide, our three adventurers entered a bayou, or creek mouth, leading beneath a stone bridge, the ai-ch of which is still stand¬ ing, to a laud-locked lagoon which once formed the city’s haven for small craft. Here they left the launch, and first crossing the old stone bridge, visited the church-tower. Then they wan¬ dered curiously about the site of the old town. The place is now wholly overgrown with jungle, and to move about or to follow the lines of the old streets it is necessary that a mache tero, or man Avorking with a machete, should go iu advance and literally cleave out a path. Pablo, the half breed fireman of the launch, under¬ took this task, but was soon covered by garrapatus, or wood-ticks. While he was clearing himself of them, Mike Doohey took up the machete and cut a path for several hundred yards, over old walls and vine-grown masonry, when to his discomfiture he suddenly discovered a large hooded viper cling¬ ing to his boot. The reptile had stuck its faugs into the leather, but fortu¬ nately had not been able to bite through it. This was too much for the Irish¬ man. “I wish yez joy of your walk,gentle¬ men,” said he. “For mesilf, I shall lave ye the snakes and the bugs, and go back to the launch and shmoke me pipe! ’ S.9 left them abruptly, and Pablo resumed the machete, all keeping a sharp eye out for snakes. They had gone on but a few yards when a tre¬ mendous yell from Mike caused them to turn. “Veil, I vonder what next shall be de matter vid de Irishmans!” exclaimed Van Vleck. Harris went hastily back. Mike! Mike!” he shouted. “What’s the mat¬ ter? Where are you?” At first he got no reply, but heard a strauge gurgling, swashing sound, as of water, that seemed to come from the earth near-by. Then came a muffled cry of “Help! Help!” Harris then caught sight of a hole iu the thiak verdure and vines of the path over which they had just come, and approaching, found that Mike had fallen down the deep shaft of an old Spanish well. With Van Vleck’s aid, Harris quickly pulled away the viues and gained a better idea of the dimensions of the hole. It was six or seven feet across; they had walked unsuspectingly along the very brink of it. “Is the water deep, Mike? Can you get a foothold, to keep your head out?” Harris shouted down to him. “Little enough!” cried Mike. “Sure it’s deep as the say and cowld as the grave!”„ Harris had a surveyor’s tapeline in his pocket. He threw the reel end down, holding fast to the other. “Catch hold of that,” he cried. “Easy! Don’t break it. It will help you to keep your head above water till we can get a line from the launch.” He sent Pablo off at a run to fetch the line. Some minutes elapsed before it could be brought, and meantime Mike had to support as little of his weight as possible by the tape which Harris held, and barely kept his head aud neck above the cold well "water, like a bullfrog at the margin of a tank. Van Vleck then tied a loop in the end of the launch-line and lowered it. “Now get your foot in that loop, Mike, and then seize hold above, and ■we will pull you out!” Harris called down to him. The combined strength of the three barely sufficed to haul the Irishman up. Foot by foot they hoisted him, dripping and trying to aid them by catchingjtoe-hold and finger-hold here and there in chinks of the old ma¬ sonry. The well had been lined up with stone blocks, iu cement. They had him within a few feet of the top when his toe dislodged one of the stone blocks and it fell down with a splasTiT Tlut 'tiie'iiexTmoYneht'Tuike got his arms out and was dragged forth, a very wet and slimy object. “Bad ’cess to the haythen that leaves their wells uncovered,” w r ere his first words. But something about the hole in the wall from which the stone block had slipped appeared to interest him, for all dripping as he was, he got down on his knees and looked at it. “I’m thinkin’ that was a very quare hole,” he said to Harris. “D’ye know, I fancied I caught the glint of a bottle as I passed that hole, sor.” Harris and Van Vleck laughed, thinking this a hint that Mike desired something to warm him up. But he was not joking. “Sure, I can see the nose av it now!” he exclaimed. “Wait a bit, while I put me fut in the noose av the rope again, aud thin hould on tight while I take a peep down.” They lett him down a few feet, when he drew out from the hole in the well wall a large, square-shouldered bottle of very elumay shape. “I have it!” cried Mike, and they pulled him out again. “And now did yez ever see the likes of that for a bottle!” he exclaiued. “Bedad but the ould stopper is no better than punk. What do ye make of it, sor?” he asked, and handed it to Harris. The bottle was a lopsided affair of impure green glass, aud contained what looked through the glass like small bullets. Harris picked out the stopper, which was of wood, wrapped in crumbling leather. Some moments were required to extract it. To their great surprise, the round, bullet-like objects proved to be large pearls, some of them very beautiful. There were a hundred aud forty-nine of them. Van Vleck, who had seen jewels and pearls in Holland, was of the opinion that they were of great value. Their first thought, after looking at the contents of the bottle, was to search the hole in the wall for further treasure. They found nothing except a small, raoidering box with silver crockets at the corners. This being opened, was found to contain discol¬ ored parchments, evidently of the na¬ ture of royal letters, or deeds of gift or conveyance, aud also exactly a hundred Spanish, gold coins of appar¬ ently about the weight and value of a doubloon. “Well, Mike, this is your find,” Harris said to bins. “I congratulate you.” “Faith, then, how wud I have found it if yez hadn’t pulled me out of the ould well? Tell me that, sor!” ex¬ claimed Mike. “What is your idea, then?” asked Harris. “Share and share alike, sor. There wuxjbe no other fair way.” ‘'Including Didn’t Pablo?” “Sure! the haythen help pull me out?” They steamed back to the city and showed the pearls to a dealer there. The man was astonished at the size and beauty of many of them, and would not say -what he thought they were worth. An English dealer at length rated the market value at three thousand three hundred and ten pounds, or not far from sixteen thousand five hundred and fifty dol¬ lars. They had little doubt that this bot¬ tle of pearls and the box had been con cealed in the. well at the time when the city was taken by the pirates, more than two centuries ago, aud that the person who had secreted them had perished in the sack of the town. There could be no hope, therefore, of finding the rightful possessors. that It will not be thought strange the three canal guards went again aud again to the ruins of Panama Viejo, searching for other old wells, aud sounding tliein with grapple hooks in the hope of finding other similar caches of old-time wealth; but they found nothing more.—Youth’s Companion. NEW SETTLEMENT IN THE OCEAN, Forty Men Living on Christmas Island, Which Was Said to Be Worthless. There is no speck in the ocean big enough to S8t foot on where men are not settling down nowadays, if they think there is a shanee of making a little money. This is how it happens that about forty men are living to-day on Christmas Island, one of the lone¬ ly spots in the Indian Ocean, about 200 miles south of Java. The island is shaped something like a dumbbell, is about ten miles long and iu its widest part has a width of about live miles. In 1887 the British surveying ves¬ sel Flying Fish was ordered to make an examination of the island. It found an anchorage place in one of the little bays and a humber of men were landed. They reported that the island was of little value, and no seri¬ ous attempt at exploitation was made. A few years later it was discovered that rich beds of phosphate of lime are on the island, and iu 1896 Mr. Andrew Ross, brother of the man who owns the Cocos Keeling Islands, made tho journey to Christmas Island and decided that money was to be made by settling there. He went back for h s family aud a few men from Cocos aud theu returned to the island. Near the shores of Fiying Fish Cove a number of substantial houses have beeu erected. Wells have been sunk aud-fruit trees and cocoauut palms planted, and a small experimental plantation of coffee has also been made. Tiie results thus far leave no doubt that the island is well suited for coffee growing. In May, last year, Mr. Ross had just imported a number of coolies from Java to make the nes essary preparations for working the valuable deposits of phosphate of lime. The population theu numbered about forty. Most of the island is covered with forest. Its climate is delightful, aud during the greater part of the year resembles a hot summer tempered by sea breezes. In the rich phosphatic soil the trees grow to great height. Animal life is seldom abundant on oceanic islands, and Christmas Island is no exception. There are only five species of animals, two kinds of rats, a shrewmouse aud two bats,. The presence of the rats and the mouse must be accounted for by supposing that they drifted to the island on float¬ ing wood, while the bats reached it by flight. Owing to the abundance of food and the absence of enemies, the rats swarm everywhere. Birds of passage appear iu the rainy season, and include many varieties.—New York Sun. Some Historical Rings. The British Museum contains several historical rings. One belonged to Mary, Queen of Scotland. It con¬ tains the initial letters of Mary and Darnley, and may be seen at South Kensington. Another ring is inti¬ mately connected with the last moments of Charles I.; it was ex hibited several years ago, at the time of the exhibition of the Stuart treas¬ ures. It contaiu3 a portrait of the King, aud is said to have been given shortly before his execution to the Bishop of London, Jnxon, who accom¬ panied the King to the scaffold. Had a Presentiment of Death. Owen Gray, who recently died in Evansville, Ind., while on his way homo from work, had a premonition of death. Leaving liis boarding house in tho morning to go to his work, he said to his friends with whom he boarded: “I am going to die to-dav’. I dreamed it, and constantly something is saying to me my dream will come true.” He then shood hands with them, saying he might not see them again. In six hours he was dead.—Cincinnati En¬ quirer. There Are Others. Sir William Long tells a story of an old Scotch lady who could not abide long sermons.. She was hobbling out of kiik one Sunday, when a coachman, who was waiting for his people, asked her: “Is the minister dune wi’ his mon?” “He was dune laug syne,” said the old lady, impatiently, “but he winua atop!”—New Brunswick Advertiser. ! THE MERRY SIDE OF LIFE, STORIES 1H XT ARE TOLD BY THE FUNNY MEN OF THE PRESS. me Dream—An Important Condition—A Cause and Its Results — A Limited . Privilege—A Protracted Gift—A Heady Explanation—Untimely Nap, Etc. 1 had a dream which was not all a dream; I saw tho moon slip down the western sky. full-orbed peeping And then the sun came up, splashed the east with red and And mounted high; o’erslept—that it 9 I dreamed that I’d was o’clock, should have been downtown While I, who at 8, torture-racked, , , T 1 Still kept my bed and, tossed, dread of being lute— For I’d a mortal Then I awoke, and lo! The whole sad thing was so! A Cause and Us Results. Jack—“Why, she’s so homely her face would stop a clock. ’ Charles—“That’s odd; seems tome an ugly face should make one run!”—■ Jewelers’ Weekly. An Important Condition. The Grand Vizier—“The powers intimate that they won’t do a thing to us.” The Sultan—“Do they intimate in French or English?”—Detroit Jour¬ nal. A Protracted Gift. A child wdio was delighted with tho gift of a candy cat said to her mother at the end of tho holidays: “I saved it aud saved it aud saved it, till it got so dirty I had to eat it.” —Life. A Limited Privilege. “Do you allow your errand boy to sleep in your office?” was asked of a broker iu the Chamber of Commerce building. “Only during Ihe day lime.’’--De¬ troit Free Press. A Ready Explanation. Customer—“My dear sir, your marbles, bisques and bronzes are pot well selected. You have only stand¬ ing postures.” Jeweler—“Certainly, sir; my fig¬ ures never lie.”—Jewelers’Weekly. A Pleasant Day. “When I get a good breakfast I feel well started for the day.” “Yes?” “Then if I have a nice luncheon down town and a good dinner at lfight I go to bed cheerfully.”—Chicago Record. Tile Letter of the Law. J m 4 mm J ? A 13 The Parson—“Don’t you know, lit¬ tle boy, that you should love your en¬ emies?” The Scrapper—“Dat’s all right. Dis is a friend of mine.”—New York Jour ual. The' Woman of It. Postal Clerk—“This letter is over¬ weight, ma’am. You’ll have to* put another stamp on it.” Woman—“I think the government is to mean for anything. I know I’ve mailed hundreds of letters that weren’t anywhere near full-weight, so I think the least you can do is to let this one go through.”—Judge. His Convincing Weigh. (’ought McLubberty—“Wull, Ox wull! Oi was a trut’ful mou, but Shannihan convinced me thot Oi am not!” O’Hoggerty—“How McLubberty—“He did he do ut?” called me a loiur, an’ as he weighs fifty pounds more than Oi do, begorra, Oi was foorced to belavo him!”—Puck. Cold Sympathy. the Friend—“Hullo, old man! what’s matter?” Gilded Youth—“Just proposed to a girl—been refused, Think I shall blow my brains out.” Friend — “Congratulate you, old thap.” Gilded Youth-“What do you mean?” Friend “Didn’t know you had any.”—Punch. When He Was Too Sudden. Mr. Peck “The only time I ever acted hastily iu my life I made a mis¬ take.” Mrs. Peck—“Ha, ha! I repeat it with emphasis-ha, ha! I don’t be¬ lieve you ever made a hasty move smee the day you were born.” Mr. Peck—“Well, you aud I were engaged less than three months you know.” He reached tho ground by way of the fire-escape. -Chicago News. An Explanation. Windsplit Adolphus Wierry, the re¬ nowned tragedian, paused in his lines, and advanced to the ceuter of the stag£. Then, lifting his voice, he spoke: third ! “The gentleman on the tier," he said, “who just earnestly and forci¬ bly exclaimed ‘Rotten!’ has my sym pathy. I agree with him. Much that this fellow Shakespeare wrote is un doubtedy rotten. But, my friends, we must follow the lines. With this explanation, let us proceed, and if yon will bear with me I’ll promise to get. through as soon as possible.” Then the play went on. Those Annoying Clocks. First Cook (reading)—Wanted, to go to Connecticut, a first-class cook. Good wages. Second Cook—Niver on yer loife. Sure, isn’t that where they make alarum clocks?—Jewelers’ Weekly. America and Germany. So soon as America showed- her character¬ istic firmness the German cruiser left Manila Bay, and we now protect tlie German inter¬ ests. In a like manner all stomach Ills fly before the wonderful power of Hcstettnr’s Stomach Bitters. It strikes at tho root of all diseases—the stomach, and not only cures i n _ digestion, constipation, biliousness, liver and kidney troubles, but cures them quickly and permanently. It makes a hearty appetite and fills the bicod with rich red corpuscles. The names of the United States transports Scandia and Arizona have been changed Warren and Hancock. 44 Trust Not to Appearances.” That which seems hard to bear may be a great blessing, Lei us take a lesson from the rough weather of Spring., It is doing good despite appear ances. Cleanse the system thoroughly; rout out all impurities from the blood with that greatest specific, Hood's Sarsaparilla. Instead of sleepless nights, with conse quent Irritableness and an undone, tired feeling, you will have a toue aud a bracing air that will enable you to enter into every day’s work with pleasure, ltetnoinher, Hood’s never disappoints. Coitre—“Uoitrc was so expensive in rned- . ical attendance that I let mine go. It made S saparilla, me a perfect which wreck, entirely until I cured took Hood’s Sar-| me.” Mrs. Thomas Jones, 12j South St., Utica, N. Y. affliction Running came, »' running “I-". v-o ojaro AU.J Hood’sSarsapar- uur« * causing me great anguish. which ilia healed the sore, has never re- f 1 turned.” Mrs. A. W. Barrett, 38 Powell Street, Lowell, Mass. <7 {oedA a \i(fa Never — d EE fitiFTfi HW Hoo d’ s Pill s cure liver Ili a, t h e non-i rritating and , th e only cath artic to take with Ho od'a Sa rsaparilla. S BAD “ I have been using; CASPAR F.TS and a* a derful. mild and My effective laxative the} are bothered simply won¬ with sick daughter aud I were After stomach and our breath was.very had. taking a few doses of Cascarets we have improved family." wonderfully. They WlLHELMlNA are a great help In the NAGEL. 1137 KlttenUouse St., Cincinnati. Ohio. CATHARTIC . TRADE MARK A Good, Pleasant., Palatable. Potent, Taste Good. 50c- Do Never Sicken. Weaken, or Gripe. 10c, 25c. ... CURE CONSTIPATION. ... Sterling Remedy Cnmpnny, t lilr.ro, Honlrrnl, Nut Turk. NO-TO-BAC gists Sold and to C guaranteed MURE Tobacco by all Habit. drug THEDIFFERENCE Between a NEW FLORENCE AND ANY OTHEft WAGON. THE I NEW FLORENCE has and Springs pe under Sard Bolster in front tween the Bolster aud Axle behind whirl createsalive weight,rnakestlie Draft 11)1“ * er, saves the Team and prevents .5 percent, of tho usual breakages. handle .. this'* If your dealerdoes not write direct to WORKS, FLORENCE WAGON FLORENCE, ALA,, with Gins. and receive full information Prices and Testimonials. Saw Mills $129 TO $929.00 Food With Improved Rope ami Belt SAWS, FILES ami TEETH in Stock. Engines, Boilers and Machinery All Kinds nnd Repairs for same. Shafting,Pulleys, Belting. Injector*. P*l u " Valves ami WORKSSJUPPLYCO. Fittings. LOMBARD IRON AUGUSTA, GA. ELF REFRIGERANT lul I A over 20 degrees colder than I 1 A w used Is refrigerators just like « perfect substitute Inr WANTKU SEND FOR CIRCULARS. AGENTS •• * 5*’y »i>2 UNIVERSAL REFRIGERATING BKOOKMN j'L-l F lus hing Avenue, ’ MENTION THIS PflPERK“K’«”l