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Caught in an Ice-Floe By WILLIAM A STIMPSON. ok ! The sun that winter afternoon was quite warm, but the north wind, blowing down the ice laden river, cut flike a knife. Philip Ross, captain of ihe barge Bessie, standing in the jbow of his clumsy craft directing a Bang of men unloading the stones ywhich comprised the cargo, shivered as the strong blasts rushed by, and drawing his heavy overcoat closer ;about him, took refuge behind the supporting mast of the derrick where lhis body was not so much exposed. | Quitting time arrived before all the stone had been raised and landed, and LCaptain Ross blew his whistle as a Figual that work was over for the day. The teamster unhooked the horses from the derrick tackle; the laborers gathered up coats and din- ADer pails, and in an incredibly short time they were lost to sight down one ©of the city’s streets. The two mem bers of the crew and the cook had been granted permission to spend the evening on shore and left at the same time. ! When all had gone, Philip walked to the stern of the barge and stood dooking out over the water. The tide jwas ebbing, and the blocks of ice in Ifl:he stream were being borne along toward the bay in heaving masses. yThe river, with its shipping, its mis- Scellaneous cargoes and the sugges ions of new and strange places the ;ight of incoming and outgoing ves- Sels were always bringing before his ‘l;nind, was dear to the young man, i nd he longed for the day when the ,:firm by whom he was employed would isend him to sea on one of their ocean lgoing steamers. ’ P One large cake of ice directly op- Mosite him attracted his attention. He folloWed it with his eyes as it jwent tumbling along on its way to jthe sea, and wondered how long a itime would elapse before the action ©of the salt water would melt it. ¢ All at once the entire flow seemed {fto pause in its onward progress. At &he same time the deck on which he tood began to rock like a vessel in otion. The sensation awoke him rom his reverie, and glancing hur iedly over his shoulder, Philip saw fthat the bow of the barge was swing an about, for the bowline, a thick, heavy hawser which held the for [:ward part of the craft to the dock, had parted, leaving only the lighter ine at the stern to keep the barge r;rom drifting away from her moor- Jlngs entirely. L , { Instantly Ross saw that another flgg would have to be @a&hore to tal'e the place of the broken hawser, nd at once, or the barge would be adrift. The distance between the barge and the dock was too great to leap, so throwing the loop in the end f a line over a bitt head he dropped the coil of rope into the bottom of the dory fastened to the river side f the larger craft, Cutting the boat loose he picked up the oars and be an to pull rapidly, following out a plan he had formulated almost as oon as he perceived that the bow ine had parted. This was to pass laround the bow of the barge, reach he dock, fasten the other end of the Tope to the snubbing post, and thus hold the unwieldly hulk until he lcould get a tug to tow the barge }'back_to her position. There were at his disposal only a fstew seconds for the accomplishment of hig object, and Philip bent to his ftask and sent the dory out in the river with strong, swift strokes. Then turning the boat’s head up stream and shoreward, he put forth all his strength and skill in his efforts to make the dock before the barge had floated the rope’s length down the stream, ! But, riverman though he was, Philip had failed to consider the dif ficulties of his task. No sooner was [rthe dory well out from under the lee ©f the barge than the floating ice‘ struck it, effectually stopping its pro igress, One huge cake caught the‘ :small boat in its embrace, and while IPhilip was working around the block ithe tide was carryinz the ice and /boat down the stream. By the time he had succeeded in 'getting cleat of the cake he was so 'far below the barge that it was use !‘less to try and gain the dock in time ito snub her, and Philip realized that lhis efforts were to end in failure. The unwieldly craft had swung iaround and floated down siream as far as the stern line would allow. i,This hawser held her, much to Phil ip’s surprise, but he felt certain the rope would not stand the strain long. + The captain swept the river with his eyes in search of a tug to tow the barge back, but while there was many vessels in sight, they were all &oo far away for him to signal. Then, too late, he thought of his plight and that he was being borne down the riv er toward the bay with a tide against which it was not easy to pull. How ever, he had no reason to doubt his ability to regain the bank, and bend ing to the oars again, pulled his best. { Blowly the boat began forging ahead against the tide, and pointing the bow toward the spot where he wished to land, Philip settled him self on his seat for some hard work. ' The warm sun earlier in the day had loosened great quantities of ice in the upper branches of the river, and it was being carried down the stream in mighty floes, some of which extended all thé way across and were particularly thick between the boat and the bank. Philip had not pulled two minutes before he found himself surrounded by masses of floating ice that offered such resistance that his strokes were of no avail. Provoked at his failure he turned the dory towards the middle of the stream where he thought the ice might not be so thick, but it was growing dark and he could not see ’ very well. Too late hg found that in ‘stead of bettering his position he had gotten into a floe of larger propor tions than the one which had first held him. Somewhat alarmed at this discovery he wheeled the dory about and sought to pull shoreward again, but the ice was getting thicker every minute and he could make no head way in that direction either. The masses of 'floating ice were larger and more formidable than they had seemed to Philip from the deck of the barge, and buffeted about by the wind and current, were thrown against the sides of the frail craft with dangerous force. While using the oars to ward off the larger cakes that came toward him, he tried at the same time to work the boat forward in first one direction, then another, but fifteen minutes of this course demonstrated its futility. Reluctant ly he gave up all hope of regaining the barge and directed his energies in efforts to steer clear of and push aside the largest of the tumbling cakes, husbanding his strength for a time of need. 2y The floe that held his boat swept along in about the centre of the channel and was avoided by the smaller craft plying up and down or across the river, while the pilots of ferryboats that came close enough for the young captain to hail did not seem to think his danger sufficiently great to warrant their stopping in midstream and taking him aboard. "~ The floe with which his boat was floating soon approached the lower end of the city where the water was more frequently churmed by vessels, A TOAST TO ARCHIBALD DERINGER. P —EOOD—O— : Here is a toast given by the toastmaster at a dinner in honor of Archibald Deringer, which is eminently suited for any other occasion in honor of a good fellow like Artie: “The spirit of Mirth presided at his birth. Wit was his godfather, Humor his godmother, and they christened him favorite son of Laughter. He is the hope of the optimist, the despair of the pessimist, the destroyer of woe, the purveyor of smiles, the custodian of cheerful ness. He fosters fun and promotes pleasure. He has a mortgage on amiability, he is the majority stockholder in the sunshine trust, his eye is a beacon of gaiety, his face is a map of drollery, his mind is a mirror of merri ment, his heart is the haunt of happiness. Here’s to our friend Artie Deringer.” and PLilip began to entertain hopes of speedy rescue. But he was doom ed to disappointment. Each vessel that came anywhere near his boat sent ugly weves toward him, and these threw the cakes of ice about so that several times he fully expected the planking of his frail craft to be crushed. All his attention was re quired to keep the dory from being struck a fatal blow, and he had little opportunity to signal his plight, Passed by again and again, Philip grew disheartened after two or three such experiences, and was about to sink down on a seat in sheer despair when ke saw right ahead of him the lights of a vessel anchored in the riv er. The ice was bearing down upon the stationary hulk, and hope rose high in his heart when a turn in the current caused the floe to veer, and he passed by so far away that his shouts were not heard by any one on board. Then a little further on a ferryboat, loaded with passengers bound for the suburbs on the opposite side of the river, plowed through the ice not fifty feet ahead of him, but the pilot’s at tention was on a tug and its tow crossing his quarter, and he did not see the small boat and its occupant frautically waving his overcozt. The passage of the big ferrybcat disturbed the water so much that the blocks of ice were thrown about more rough ly than ever. One huge cake fell di rectly across the bow of the small boat, and for a few seconds Philip thought the dory was going down then and there. But the block slid off into the water finally, and imme diate danger of sinking was past. On swirled the ice floe uninterrup tedly. It soon reached the point where the river widened into the bay. There were fewer vessels there, and Philip was forced to the conclusion that his chance of rescue was ex tremely slim. But he comforted him self with one thought. The wider expanse of water allowed the ice cakes to float further apart, and im minent danger of being sunk by con tact with a huge block was over. Encour-zed by this he placed the oars in the row-locks and tried again to row, but the floating igce was still too thick to admit of any progress that way. Glving way to his despair he crouched as far forward in the bottom of the dory as he could, draw ing his heavy coat about his form as a protection against the pjercing wind. But the keen blast penetrated beneath the thick garment and numbed his whole body. Then a change came over him. Tranquilly he viewed the situation and resigned himself to his fate. In 'a half stupor he sank further in the. stern as the blood began to move sluggishly through his veins. For fuly fifteen minutes he sat lthus, so oblivious to his surround ings that he failed to see a tug with a tow of three barges approaching in line that, if continue¥, would have ‘cut the dory in half, until the hoarse whistle, warning him to get out of the way, had sounded twice. The second blast aroused him. He looked up dully and saw the lights of the tug. In a second he was all animation. Leaping to his feet he pulled off his coat and began waving it around his head. | The pilot had comprehended the situation when Philip failed to heed the first warning, and as soon as the young man began waving his over coat, rang for the engineer to stop the | engine. Then opening the wheel house window he leaned out, the bet-{ ter to see through the deepening gloom. “I'm fast in this ice-floe and can't get out,” Philip shouted, but his lips were so cold that he did not speak very distinctly and the pilot had to guess his meaning. Philip's senses were sharp enough even if his body was numb, and he took in the significance of several sharp orders given by the command er of the tug during the next sixty seconds, in answer to which two men cast off the hawsers leading to the three barges. Then the man at the wheel rang for half speed ahead. Philip heard and understood the signal and was filled with a fear that the prow of the tug, forcing its way through the ice, would push the big cakes against his dory and sink it be fore he could be taken on board. Some such thought must have flashed through the pilot’s mind at the same time, for he suddenly left the wheel, and leaning out of the window again, scanned the floating ice that tum bled about so threateningly between the two crafts. “The ice cakes here are big ones, and you'll crush my boat if you’re not careful,” Philip called. The helmsman observed the mass of floating ice with a critical eye, then gave another order to the engineer through the speaking tube, in obedi ence to which the tug’s propeller re duced its revolutions until the vessel ‘had just headway enouga to keep sta ‘tionary in the current, Half a dozen imen—all of the crew except the engineer, who remained at his post, and the pilot, in the ‘wheelhouse—crowded to the how of the tug, ready to lend a hand if need ed, for the ice, impeded by the larger craft, was piling around the frail looking dory, now and then striking the gunwale with such force that only the stanchness of the little boat kept it from being demolished. With the oars, Philip tried to clear a passage ahead toward the tug, but in his eagerness he bore down too heavily on one of the blades and broke it off short. Throwing the use less piece of wood aside, he picked up the other aor and went to work with that, hut he was afraid to strain that one very hard for fear of snap ping it also, and slowly the ice hem med him in. Clearly he saw that it was only a question of time when the dory would go down and its sole occupant be precipitated into the secy water, All hands realized that this would occur before the boat could reach the tug, and at a suggestion from the pilot a sailor threw Philip a rope. “ “Tie that around your waist, and when I give the word, jump for the tug. 'We'll haul you aboard,” he cried cheeringly. Philip did as he was told, and, pre pared to leap at the sigunal, stood watching the distance between him and safety lessen. One moment it would seem to the anxious lad as though the space betwwea the two craft was not diminishcd an inch; then the heaving mass of floating ice would thin out a trifle and the cur rent would bear the dory forward perhaps six inches. With the line securely fastened about his waist, Philip felt a tem borary assurance of safety, followed immediately by an almost overpower ing desire to throw himself overboard and trust to the rope and the eager crew to haul him upon the deck of the tug. But he put the temptation aside, assured that the older man knew best, Slowly the seconds dragged along, and foot by foot the little boat and the tug drew together. The distance narrowed to twel e feet, and although the ice cakes were threatening every |instant to capsize the diminutive craft, the dory still held her own. Ten feet was the distance when the long looked for deathblow was re ceived. With a loud crash a huge block slipped over its fellows, and Snapping short the light »ar Philip interposed, hurled itself against the dory and struck it a glancing blow that stove in the gunwale. The boat began to sink slowly, but Philip, whose control over himself had grown more rigid as the danger in creased, heard no order to leap, and ‘held his position, although it seemed like courting death to do so. ' When eight feet away the gallant little craft was still above the water but struggling painfuly to keep afloat. Not until the distance to the tug had narrowed to six feet did the | pilot shout a loud, “Now then!” and Philip leaped, just as a big wave ‘washed entirely over the boat send-‘ ing it down instantly, The great ice cakes came tumbling together in the Spot where the dory had been. Philip | found an instant’s footing on one of | the largest of the blocks, and was | Just about to lay hold of the out ‘stretched hands, when a wave tossed |a big cake on top of the one giving him his temporary footing, knocking his feet out from under him. Had the man with the rope re téined his presence of mind and ‘hauled in on it when Philip leaped, the latter would have escaped an other harrowing experience. But the saflor was slow, and Philip went in the ice laden water, the huge blocks and smaller pieces jamming together over the spot wuere he had disap peared, and when he would have thrust arms and head above water, he found a barrier over him which he could not pierce. The strong current, pushing the ice-floe against the hull of the tug directly in its path, kept the cakes wedged together so tightly that to break through from beneath vas an impossibility. The sailor holding the rope.dared not pull for fear of injuring Philip in drawing his body through the ice. For a moment or two there was con sternation aboard the tug, but the pilot was equal! to the emergency. ‘L_ea.ping to the deck he seizc. a boat hook and began pushing aside the 'ca’kes directly over Philip’s head, shouting to one of his men to do the same. Quick and strong manipulation of the poles was all that saved the yeung barge captain, for when an opening large enough for him to force his head and shoulders through was made, and Philip’'s white face arose, he was gasping for breath, Leaning over the side of the tug the men seized him and drew him aboard. - Two hours later when he had had his bruises attended to, had been rubbed dry by the kind hearted cook on board the tug, warmed with hot coffee, and attired in a suit of the mate'’s clothes, Philip hurried ashore land uptown to where he had left the #arge, and found it tied snugly at bow and stern. : A passing tug captain, so he learn ed the next day, seeing the barge about to break her moorings, had towed her back ahd mended the broken hawser.—Young People. j WORDS OF WISDOM. \ o bipi— . There is at least one redeeming feature about air castles, and that is we do not have to pay taxes on them. ; The kindness of insincerity is like the beauty of artificial roses; we val ue it for what it is intended to repre sent, ‘When you are in error never be ashamed to acknowledge it. It gives the other fellow no escuse for keep ing up the argument. If you want to know how people speak of you behind your back, lis ten to the reckless manner in which they pitch into others. The man who is always proclaim ing that he is in the right is intoler able; the man who admits he has been in the wrong is charming. " A couple of interviewers spent the night in a cell with a man who was doomed to be hanged, and in the morning the prisoner was perfectly willing to die. Better be defeated in an honest ef fort than to be discouraged and cease to make that effort. Up and at it should ever be the watchword of the man who feels that he has right on his side. Militiamen, Real Soldiers. Many of the militiamen of Chelsea remained stoically at their posts of duty while they knew their homes were being burned and their families driven out. The houses of both Cap tain Renfrew and Lieutenant Grant, of the Fifth Company, Coast Artillery Corps, which was the first to be called out for patrol duty, were burned - to the ground during their absence. Mrs. Renfrew had only time to secure a hat before being obliged .to flee with her children and her mother, Mrs. C. B. Yeaton, who | owned the house. Both house and contents were uninsured, — Boston | Transcript. ! B R e il ( An Unapproachable Horse, An Erie young man cailed to take | his sweetheart out driving the other day, but when the stunningly attired | young lady caught gight of the tyrn- | out the young man had hired for the oc¢casion she feigned a headache and refused to accompany him. “Why, Violet?”’ asked the aston ished mother, “why didn’t vou go with him?”’ “Well, mamma,’’ was the indignant reply, “I%onsider that a very foclish question on your part. How could I g 0 when the horse he was driving didn’t matech a single thing 1 had to wear?”—Kansas City Journal, NATION OF MARKSMEN, The Swiss With Rifle, Through Regu larly Organized Clubs. At a time when the question of military training for civilians is De ing much discussed, a short account of the Swiss system, from the Man chester Guardian, may be of interest. Every man in the peaceful and demo cratic country of Switzerland is a soldier in a modest way, befitting a small nation. The able-bodied Swiss enters the army at twenty years of age and serves sixty-five days in his first year. For the next twelve yeurs he trains for threz weeks every alteraate year. At thicty-two he enters the Land wehr, and has eight to ten days under arms every fourth year until, at fifty, he retives, and is required to furnish no further service except in case of war, What the Swiss militiaman lacks in military orthodoxy he far more than makes up by skill with the rifle. It is not too much to call the Swiss a nation of marksmen. The training periods are occupied only with drill and tactics; the all-important matter of shooting is left to the individual soldier to carry out at other times, and he does it under the auspices of the shooting societies which are such a feature of Swiss life. These societies, under government control, are called Schutzengessell schaften in the German, and Societies de Tir in the French cantons. They are voluntary associations, varying in size and importance with the town or village they serve. Those in the larger towns possess completely fitted ranges and clubhouses; the small vil lages do their shooting in any field backed by a suitable hill. Every peasant and townsman has easy facil ities for shooting, and each man has his service rifle always in his posses sion. Every man between the age of twenty and thirty-two must fire thir ty-two shots in' four eompulsory exer cises every year, and the societies re ceive a grant of two francs for every soldier shooting this course on their ranges. The income derived from the grants generally suffices for the current expenses of the society, sup ply of targets and pay of marker. There is no entrance fee or subscrip tion as a rule, and heavy expenditure, such as that incurred by the con struction of new ranges, is met by a speciai grant from the government, Rules as to spectators, methods ot‘ loading and conduct on the ranges are stringent. Loss of grant is incurred by any breach or neglect of regulas tions. In addition to these exercises, many competitions are held between differ ent villages, towns and cantons. lln summer the trains and steamers are crowded with jovial bands of marks men going to and from their shooting festivals, The whole system of § iss shooting is a good example of co:ov eration between government and in dividual. Every Switzer has his army rifie; he can use it when and where he ‘will, provided he does not endan ger others lives; he is insured by government against all accidents on the ranges, and through his society he can secure the services of qualified military officers to organize and con trol his shooting. By treating rifle-shooting as a sport, and as it is as popular as foot ball is with us; and far more general ly practiced, the Swiss have removed it from its usual warlike associations; but should occasion arise that which has been learned in sport would hbe used in earnest. TS Childish Plants. The one special charge which Mrs. Locke gave her husband on the eve of her departure for a fortnight’s visit to a friend was her fern—her beautiful, wide-spreadingfern. “Don’t forget it while I'm away visiting, will you, Henry?"” ghe pleaded, and Mr, | Locke answered that the fern should be forever on his mind till she re turned. Therefore, when on the evening of her arrival she noticed with a start that the fern was not in its accus tomed place, gshe turned reproachful eyes on her husband, “Now, my dear, let me tell you,” said Mr. Locke, glibly, “if ever a man kept his word, I did. That—er—that fern was on my mind night and day, I scarcely ever forgot it. I watered it—oh, I must have watered it four or five times the first two days. I wanted to make sure it had enough, “Then the water bhegan to run out of the saucer, go I left it alone—en tirely untouched, my dear, for the next three or four days, just as you would treat a person who had over eaten, “Then when it hegan to look-a tri fle dry I watered it again, very faith fully, but it began to look curious, very curious, So I just took it round to the florist, and he gaid he'd better look after it for a week or go, “He told me that both Jennings and Wilkingson had brought their wives’ ferns to him the day before— same kind as yours, He says ferns are something like children — they miss the person they are used to, my dear.” E “I think very likely they do,” said his wife dryly.—Youth’s Companion, Indian Cure For Smallpox, We publish a simple cure for smalpox kindly sent by a correspon dent: “One ounce of cream of tartar, dis solved in water, drunk at intervals when cold,”” is the recipe, and in recommending it the correspondent says it “has cured thousands, nover leaves a mark, never causes blind ness, and bring®™speedy relief.” — Advacate of India, GBI ot ND R S USCTENCE | I 7 oo A scientist says the telephone does not transmit to the ear one-thou sand part of the energy which it re ceives from the line, e o As a result of a series of investiga tions on carbon at high pressure and temperatures C. A. Parsons asserts that in none of his experiments de signed to melt or vaporize carbon has more than a mere trace of black eor transparent diamond been found in the residue. According to authorities from eigh ty-five to ninety-five per cent. of the men in civilized lands are right-hand ed and have developed the low right shoulder. This, however, is no new phenomenon, for even the ancient Greek sculptors had noticed it and posed their subjects so as to make them appear more symmetrical, : There are plants so sensitive that if, when standing by them, one should suddenly put up an umbrella or sun shade it would cause them instantly to close together their leaflets and turn down their leaf stalks, just as if they were startled and alarmed by the movement. On a sunny day, when the temperature is sufficiently high, merely a shadow coming in con tact with their leaves will often cause them to fall slightly. The ‘‘axle-light” system {s in use on the trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad on an exten sive scale. Each car has its own stor age batteries supplied with electrlcitx generated by the axles of the wheels, and the locomotive headlights derive their illumination from the same source, It is estimated that each full train, exclusive of the locomotive, de velops mnearly 05000 candle power light. ; Dr. SBimon Flexner states that for ty-two years after an attack of ty phoid fever the typhoid bacilli were still being eliminated; plague bacilli have been present in the sputum sev enty-six days after recovery from plague pneumonia, and influenza ba cilli have been found in the sputum one year after an attack of influenza. The discovery suggests new views of immunity, as the phenomenon ap pears to be one of adaptive change on the part of the parasgite as well as on that of the host. Professor W, D. Scott sounds a hote of warning about the increasing use of the eyes for reading and the inspection of small near-by objects. This especially affects school children., Professor Scott says that the human. eye was evolved for vision, and in its structure is relatively poor~ 1y suited for near-by vision. The in crease of all sorts of printing aug ments the trouble every day, and “all things seem to be conspiring to make us use our eyes more and more for the very thing for which they are the most poorly adapted.” There is, no doubt, much reason in this, but could the world banish its printing presses and retain its civilization? T e————— MONSTER MAP OF BRAZIL. | To Be an Cutdoor Feature of the Nae tional Exhibition at Rio de Janeiro. A feature of the jubilee exhibition which Brazil has planned to open early this year, but which will prob ‘ably be postponed for some months or perhaps to next year, will be an out door map in relief of the republic sev eral thousand square yards in size, ‘The plans are now being prepared for the huge map in which every physical feature of the country is to be shown in miniature. The mountains are to be rocky, but with artificial caps of snow and ice. The rivers will run with real water and forests wiil hemarked with dwarf plants. . When the drawings and estimates are made the Government will urge the national Congress to make an ap propriation for executing the work. In connection with it it is proposed to have a botanical and zoological gar den in which eachof thetwenty States 'of Brazil will have sections in which to display their characteristic plant and animal life. It is also proposed to have within the same enclosure camps of all the different tribes of Indians inhabiting the country. The jubilee echibition is designed to commemorate the opening by the Portuguese Government in May, 1808, of Brazilian ports to the commerce of all nations, an event which took place thirteen years before the separation of Brazil from the mother country, but which is regarded as being really the starting point of Brazilian inde pendence,~—~New York Sun, Trees Immune to Lightning, According to Dr. A. W. Borthwick, quoted in Science, the popular notion that some species of trees are very frequently struck by lightning, and other species practically immune, is not justified by any obtainable gcientific facts, The lightning, he says, selects cne variety of tree as often as another, except that the higher ones are perhaps likely to suffer the most. One of the supposed immune trees is the beech, and oaks and pines have an exactly opposite reputation. They are, however, all equally subject to destruction, and if eone must stand under a tree dur ing a thunder storm, one species is as dangerous as another,