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SODA WAITER.
INTERESTING FACTS CONCUR*
ING ITS MANUFACTURE.
Produced at a Cost of Less than
Two Cents a Glass—Machines
for Dispensing the Effer
vescing Fluid.
More than twenty thousand gallons of
Boda water are drunk in this city, .says
the New York Commercial Advertiser,
durii g a warm day in summer. This is
the estimate of a manufacturer who
turns out 8000 gallons a day.
In the manufacture of soda water as
in that of ice ( ream America is ahead of
Europe. Across the water they do not
use the dispensing apparatus which is
bo common in every drng store and con
fectionery store here; they serve it' only
in bottle and siphons. The business has
developed enormously within the last
half century. There are now about
twenty-five thousand of these “foun
tains,” as they are termed, gushing the
popular elfervescing drink into'glasses
and down the thirsty throats of people
in this country. This estimate is also
arrived at by the manufacturer upon the
basis that a trifle more than fifteen phr
cent, of the whole number of “fountains”
manufactured are now in use. The big
firm referr. d to has made more than
lOt',oo 1 of these fountains altogether.
A hundred different kinds of machines
are now in fashion and kept on hand,
costing from S7B to $4900 each. A good
many in unique designs are built to
order for customers. One sent to the
London Exhibition last year cost $lO,-
000 to make; this was the biggest thing
yet attempted, and rather astonished the
eyes of the Englishmen.
The name “soda” water, by the way,
as is generally known, is an entire mis
nomer for the effervescing drink. It was
possibly given to it oy some obscure
manufacturer, who wanted a name of his
own in the early h'story of the business
and stuck to it. The article as now used
is simply water impregnated with car
bonic acid gas—the same gas which op
erates in the “raising” of bread or any
thing of that sort. The ingredients used
in generating carbonic acid gas for soda
water are few and simple and have long
been standard articles in the market of
the world. The two necessary materials
are a carbonate of some kind and an acid,
by a union of which, with the carbonate,
the gas is chemically evolved. Experi
mentally, a great variety of acids and
carbonates have been employed. For
practical purposes sulphuric acid is now
admittedly superior to any other, but
as for the carbonate, pulverized mafble,
whiting and bicarbonate of Soda are still
competitors for favor. The gas is gen
erated according to the American sys
tem, in an apparatus for the purpose, the
gas after its evolition from the marble
being carried through three washers,
where any impurities are caught off by
additional chemical appliances. It is
then put into the steel fountains, ready
for transport, by a process especially de
vised to suit the exigency.
The regulation size fountain will hold
fifteen gallons. Ten gallons of Croton
water which has been filtered through
charcoal, sand and gravel, are first put
into it. Then the fountain is placed
upon a shaking machine and the gas
forced into it under pressure while the
shaking thoroughly impregnates the
water with the gas.- The fountains are
made to stand a pressure of 500 pounds
to the square inch, being of steel with
block tin seamless lining, but th.e pres
sure of the gas is but 150 pounds to the
inch. The marble u-ed in the manu
facture is the white snowflake, found up
the Hudson and said to be the best for
the purpose, containing ninety-nine per
cent, of the carbonate of lime and mag
nesia. When the water is filtered as
thoroughly as it is for this purpose, the
{rroduct in the fountain will keep for any
ength of time, and an export trade is
now being built up in the article.. fine
generator of the size ordinarily ilsed here
will make about 2175 gaffons of gas at a
charge, enough to supply 750 gallons of
water.
The largest firm of the kind in this city
controls now- about two hundred patents
in the various departments. It manu
factures not only “soda” water and all
the appliances of fountains and fixtures
for dispensing it, but also the fruit
syrups, boxes and other details re
quired, even shoeing their own horses.
“Soda” water is kept on tap in- the
factory for the refreshment of the hands,
the same as lager beer in breweries,
or ice water in ordinary establishments.
Between three and four hundred men
are employed during the busy season,
from January to July, chiefly making
dispensing apparatus and fixtures. After
the Fourth the demands of those going
into the business has been pretty well
supplied and the work of the factory il
cut down to the manufacture of supplies
lor the “plant.” • “Soda” -water is also
used about the factory premises as a
fire extinguisher.
The most popular flavoring for soda
is the same as for ice cream—vanilla—
about one person in every three calling
for it. Lenfon ranks next and sarsa
parilla next, after which the various
flavors are about on a par as to popular
ity.
The ordinary purchaser of five-cent
glasses of soda water does not realize
that he is giving about 25Q per cent,
profit to the dealer. But here is a
circular of the above-mentioned firm
says about it:
The profits which dealers in carbonated
beverages may reasonably hope to make can
be readily inferred from the following ac
curate estimate of the cost of manufacturing
each beverage:
One glass of plain soda costs one-tenth of a
cent.
One glass of soda water with syrup costs
one and a half cents.
One glass o' mineral water costs one cent.
One glass of root beer costs one cent.
One glass of ginger ale costs one and a
cents.
' One glass of fine draught champagne costs
four cents.
Owing to the destruction of the
cemetery of Waring, Germany, a removal
of Beethoven’s remains was neceslarv,
and the great composer’s skeleton was
exposed to view. It was found that the
cranium was unusually large, and that
the teeth were flue and strong. The
hands had quite crumbled into dust.
The increase of population in Australia
iast year was only three and one-half per
cent., which is by no means as large as
England would like to see it. The
total population is 3,546,725.
An Island in the Pacific Ocean Ruled
by a Jersey man.
Captain George Davies, of Vhe British
bark queen's Island, has written to a
resident of Wilmington, Del., an inter
esting story of a visit to a distaut and
lonely isle in the South Pacific Ocea*.
This isolated spot in the great waste of
waters is known as Palmerston Island,
and is situated in latitude 18.4 south
and longitude 163.10 east, being repre
sented cm the charts of the wor d as an
uuinhabibed coral reef, quite distant
fr6m navigation.
Upon this exclusive territory Captain
Davies says that one William Marston,
who claims to have formerly lived near
Salem, N. J., reigns like a veritable
Monte Cristo, lord and master of all he
surveys.
When . the bark was off Palmerston
Island Captain Davies was greatly sur
prised to see a boat’s crew put off from
the shore and signal that they wished to
be taken on board. It was at first
thought that the guests
were wrecked sailors, but when the
small boat pulled under the shadofv of
the bark the discovery was made that
the little craft was loaded to the gu'n
wale with cocoanuts and tropical fruits.
The islanders were out on a trading
expedition and apprised Captain Davies
of tTieir d'etre to exchange their cargo
for wearing apparel and other products
of civilization not to be obtained on
their lonely island.
ff’he crew of the bark welcomed the
strangers on board and sat around them
in wonderment, while William Marston,
fhe King of Palmerston Island, spun his
yarn. He spoke with feeling of his old
New Jersey home, and claimed that his
parents are still living in that State some
where.
Twenty-five yearl ago he shipped as a
seaman on the bark Rifleman, at San
Francisco, bound, to the Tahita, one of
the group of the Society Islands. He
deserted the vessel directly after she had
reached her destination and remained or>
the island for three years. At the end
that time lie migrated to Palmerstcn
Island, where for twenty-one years he
has been planting and growing cocoannt
trees and selling copra, or dried cocoa
nut, to traders who visit the island about
once a year in the interest of San Fran
cisco merchants.
The population of Palmerston Island
numbers about thirty-liye souls, all of
whom save himself are naives of
‘cent islands who have made their homes
on Palmerston and toil year after year in
the cocoanut groves that abound t^ore.
Captain Davies tookrthe boat-loa'd of
island treasuies. Chief Marston and his
crew rowed away in' the direction of
their lonely home, and when last seen
they were standing on the bank waving
their farewells to the fast-receding bark.
Thrilling Oriental Dental Operation.
According to the latest intelligence
from Teheran, there has been the great
est consternation prevailing at the Per
sian court because the Shah had been
suffering from the toothache. An east
ern potentate whose feelings are ruffled
by things going wrong, whether, -in the
harem or the treasury, or with the dinner
or his majesty’s instruments of mastica
tion, is only too apt to relieve his feel
ings by making au example of some great
functionary, and ordering .the instant
decapitation of the grand eunuch or the
Minister of Finance, or by having the
cook soundly bastinadoed.
In the present case, when the Shah had
made up his mind to have the tooth out,
and His Majesty’s dentist was sent for,
the members of the court assembled
round the throne in a state of fear and
trembling bordering on frenzy. What
the Consequence might be in the event
of the operator drawing the
tooth proving nervous o. unskil
ful, did not bear contemplation.
All present, however, had had the fore
sight to provide themselves with what
experience had shown to be the molt
effective means of appeasing his majesty’s
wrath; and wjien the Shah mounted the
throne* in order to undergo the opera
tion, the dignitaries one and all ap
proached his feet, and, with a deep
obeisance, each of theul deposited there
a bag of gold. The court dentist was
now commanded to approach the royal
presence and perform his task. With
astonishing rapidity and dexterity he
armed himself with a formidable-looking
instrument, and placing it between his
Majesty’s jaws, instantly produced the
unsound grinder from the royal mouth,
not without extracting from the same
source an involuntary shriek which
struck terror into every heart. An in
stant afterward, however, to the im
mense relief of the court, it was clear
that all was well. The operator was
rewarded with one of the bags of gold,
while his Majesty, who deigned to
accept the rest of the pile, couferieJ on
his principal favorite the unprecedented
distinction of making him or her the
envied possessor of the royal molar.—
London Standard.
* m •
Aztec Gold Traditions.
The lost races, who possessed some of
the arts of civilization at least; have left
their traces in this country, which show
that they kne.w of the wealth that lay in
the earth there. Down beneath the soil
and debris of ages which cover the hard
rocks with four to six feet of vegetable
deposit their prehistoric tracks are found.
Implements made of tempered copper,
hard as the best of stevl have been found
which indicate that they had worked for
gold apd silver and worked in shafts
which probably extended far out beneath
the great depths of the lake, and there
have been bits of gold and silver found
that have been refined by peculiar pro
cess: and in the traditions of the Aztec 3
are vague hints of a land where it is cold
far away toward the polar star, where
the earth glittered with gold. Perhaps
it was the Lake Superior country that
furnished the tradition.*
I i there be a gold fe\ er, and it brings
thousands of its victims into that coun
try, they had best cross, the great lake
and swing their pickaxes and build
sluices in that country which stretches
away from the shores of Superior to the
Arctic Circle. Gold and silver are there
like the great mines of the Indies the ex
perts firmly believe, and . there are no
title deeds to prevent prospectors from •
pre-empting as many claims as they see
tit.— Few York Sufi. v ».J
A 500-acre farm in Essex, England, is
bhid by the present owner at the nomi
nal reDt of $5. A few years ago the
same tenant paid $2500.
• BUDGET OF FUN.
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
A Russian Courtship—Keeping Him
Busy-*-Not. for llimsell—Her
.Mother had Been
There, Etc.,
11 Be mine!” said the ardent young Saw
milegoff, -
t In a voice with emotion quite husky.
‘Mv fondest devotion,oh, please do not sooff,
Katinka Pojakaroluskif”
* Techcrnyschevsky, my friend,” the shy
maiden replied,
“Your people are noble and rich.
Would a Qolgiisoff’s granddaughter be a
fit bride
For a nephew of Maximovitch?"
“ I care not a kopeck!” he said. "In my
droshky
I have you safe now, and I laugh
At the wealth of a Klitkin or Overhaul
osiiki,
Gojavnik, or Pullerzedoff.
“ You are worth more to me than the gold
of Slugmiski,
Brakemupski, or Sumarakoff!
Katinka Pojakaroluski, it’s rigky, \
But I’m going to carry you off I”
And this is the way the young Sawmilegoff
Put an end to all furtherfliseussion,
'Twas a simpler proceeding to carry her off,
Than to go on courting in Russian.
—Chicago Tribune.
Keeping Him Busy.
“James,” said the grocer to his new
boy, haven’t you got anything to do
now?”
“No. sir.”
“Well, ketch some flies an’ stick’em on
the fly paper in the window. "'—New
York Sun.
Not for Himself.
Snarley—“l see you’re spending a lot
money on that little place of yours in
Surrey.”
Snobley—“Yes' I wan’t to make the
place—a—thoroughly fit for a gentle
man, don’tcherknow?”
Snarley—“Oh, I suppose you mean to
let it?”— Punch.
Her Mother Had Been There.
Eight-o’clock a. m.—Mrs. Popinjay—
“ Where are you going, Angelina?”
0 Angelina—“ Only just around the
■ corner to match this piece of silk,
mamma.”
Mrs. Popinjay—“ All right. I’ll tell
Bridget not to have supper until 7
o’clock.” —Free Press.
Agreed With Her.
). Mrs. Yeast —“Do you buy your eggs
at Short counts’?”
F«Mrs. Bacon—“ Why, certainly; his
eggs can’t be beat.”
Mrs. Yeast—“l know it; that’- the
reason I don’t think they’re good.
Not Wholly Voluntary.
Mrs. Yan Prim—“l am astonished,
Clara, that you should voluntarily *aliow
Mr. Featherly to put his arms around
you.”
Clara—“lt wasn’t exactly voluntarily,
mother; at least, considerable pressure
was brought to bear upon me.”— San
Francisco Examiner.
A Practical View of the Situation.
Lady Blanch—“l’m so fond of riding,
I could almost live in the saddle! The
habit grows upon one so, you know.”
i ady Rose—“l wish mine had grown
on me! I had to have it moulded to my
shape, and I expect papa will grumble
frightfully -at the cost when he has to
pay the bill.”— Fun.
Hope Springs Eternal.
Mr. Tilbury Carter—“ That ship yonder
is the Pontiac, bound for the Land of
Orange Blossoms.”
Miss Marie Gold (twenty-nine, des
perate, and humming Mendelssohu’s
“Wedding March” under her breath—
“l should n’t mind being bound in the
same direction myself!”— Pack.
A Terrible Threat.
“Vat,” said the collector for a little
German band to a citizen who sat in his
front window. “You no gif noddings
for dot moosic?”
“Not a cent!” repliea the citizen, with
hopeless emphasis.
"Den ve biay some more, dat’s all!”
threatened the collector: so the citizen
hastily gave up a quarter.— Epoch.
A Singular Coincidence.
Benson (entering Newport Casino) —
“Where have you been, Ed?”
Cathcart—“Called on that rich and
hideous ‘heiress, Miss Smith. Thank
heavens she was out.” (Exeunt twenty
young men.)
Miss Smith (at home next day)—
“Strange that thirty-seven gentlemen
should have left their cards last night—
just the night when J was not at heme.”
Time.
Unlucky Fate of a Hotel Clerk.
Clerk—“ Will you register now?”
Lord Divvivian (taking pen)—“Aw,
aw, James!”
Enter James.
Lord Divvivian—“What is me full
name, Jeames?”
James—“ Cecil Fauntus Victor Albert
Quincy Burle gh Bacon \\ alvfcughan
Warwick Divvivian, sixth Earl of Gil
courtmage, me lud.”
Lord Divvivian—“Aw, thank you,
Jenmes.” —Mall and Express.
A Stray Lamb.
Village Parson (entering country
editor’s office)—“You promised to pub
lish that sermon I sent you on Monday,
but I do not find it in the latest issue of
your paper.”
Editor—“l sent it-up. It surely went
in. What wal the name of it?”
Parson—“ Feed my lambs.”
Editor (after searchihg through pap.er)
—Ah—yeS —urn— H6re it is, * You 'see
w*i’ve got a new foreman, and he put it
under tne head of “Agricultural Notes,”
as “Hints on the Care of Sheep.-*’
A Great Sale.
On a railway train. Two men dis
cussing a book that has just been handed
to them by the newsboy.
First Man —“That’s a great book, sir,
a masterpiece of work.”
%J Secpad Man—“l wonder how it is sell
ing?”
First Man—“ Selling likp whisky at a
Montana picnic. Never saw anything
like it. You see lam the publisher and
•ought to know.”
Second Man—“ Your information da
lights me. lam the author.”
First Man (with fallen countenance')—
“Well, that is, it hasn’t had much of a
sale yet, but I think it will have. Big
risk you know, getting out this sort of
book. "-—Arkanauw 'Traveler.
Slightly Misu ml era food.
“Yes,” said Miss Crushiugton, the
celebrated exponent of society and emo
tional drama, “I had a most successful
tour in England last summer.”
“Did you enjoy the trip, across the
ocean?”
“Very much coming back, but not so
much going over.”
“Were you sick?”
“N not so very, but I felt badly and
wished 1 hadn’t agreed to come. Wanted
to back out, you know.”
“I understand ; you felt like throwing
up the whole affajr. ”
“Oh, dear no! I wasn’t as sick as
that!”— Merchant Traveler.
Disproving Vital Statistics.
There was a cold, hard look in her
eyes and a baby on her arm as she came
into the Critic office and sat down in the
visitor’s chair, alongside of the editor’s
desk.
“You are the editor,” she asserted,
confidently.
The editor did not deny the charge.
“In your paper not long since,” she
continued, “1 read an article on the cen
sus returns made by the police, and in it
I noticed that the increase of population
in Georgetown from 1885’ to 1888 was
only twenty-three.”
“Yes, madame,”said the editor, be
cause he hadn’t anything else to say.
“Well, it’s a base slander on our town,
sir,” she exclaimed indignantly, and dis
turbed the baby till it grunted. “Why,
sir, on my block alone, the increase has
been twenty-four within a year, and this
one I’ve got is one of them.”
“Yes, madame,” repeated the editor
with striking originality, sticking -nis
pen in the paste pot.”
“Now, sir, 1 want to sue somebody
for libel. It’s either the police or the
newspapers.” J • -
“The police, of course, madame,’’said
the,editor, recovering his xvits.
“i’s all the same to me. so long as
somebody has to pay for it. Good
morn ng. If any other member of the
Georgetown Committee on Population
call, tell them, will you, that I’ve been
here?” and she went out haughtily with
the baby.— Washington Critic.
*
—
How Congressmen, Live.
* » x
Representative Long, of Massachusetts,
in a recent letter to an editorial friend,
corrects some mistaken notions as to the
manner in which Congressmen generally
live in Washington. He says: “There
are a few persons of great rich’eS who
now and then give entertainments, and
live in an extravagant and profuse way,
as some rich people do in every other
community. But the great bulk of Rep
resentatives, including noticeably nearly
all those of controlling iuliuence, are
men of limited means, who live -in a
modest and simple manner.
“On the whole, I should say that the
instance of Henry Wilson, which you
cite, is a type of the present majority of
members. Our Massachusetts Senators,
Dawes and Hoar, live quite as simply,
one in a little tenement not better than
bur' ordinaey New England parsonage,
and the other in a boarding house, which
you will not think extravagant When I
tell you that, with the exception of my-*
self, the rest of the boarders are
meat employes, whose annual salaries
range from #2,000 rapidly downward.
Walking out with Mrs. Longat sundown
last evening, we passed a modest door
step on which~Vith his young childrelS*
playing about min, sat a member who
pointed to a suite of rooms as his lodg
ings, and whose dress and manner of
living are as simple and unostentatious
as those of a Plymouth County farmer;
and yet he is a millionaire—the richest
man, I think, in the House; a Western
lumber man. wise and hard-headed, and
not ashamed, but proud, of the goad
stick which he wielded in his youth, and
with which he pricked his way to for
tune. ■
“Among the leaders, Reed lives in the
fifth story of a small hotel; Randall in
a house that would perhaps yield a rent
of s3o') or $100; McKinley, in two or
three chambers; .Mills, in a quiet board
ing-house; and so on through the list.
The House is full of poor men who
make no show; who are just such plain,
well-behaved, temperate, churchgoing
people as you and I meet at home; who
go' afoot and drive no line teams; who
ape no fashions; some of whom go to
the few public receptions that occur in
the winter, but few of whom are able
or care to hold receptions or give enter
tainments themselves.
“Fine raiment is so rare among them,
that an old suit which I am now wearing
for the third summer has actually been
exploited by the newspaper reporters, in
the absence of any other sensation, as
subjecting me to the charge of being
‘well-dressed;” and if Tom Heed should
cover his shining head with a silk hat,
he would lose r the Republican leader
ship. The member who lives luxuriously
is the exception, What is undoubtedly
true of a few officials, especially of. some
outside persons of great wealth, who re
side and entertain in Washington in the
winter and are advertised in the society
oolumns of the Press, it is not true of
the great .majority of the people’s
servants.”
Smallest Locomotive In the World.
Henry Case of Gloversville, N. Y., has
just completed what is said to be the
smallest locomotive in the world that
runs upon a rail or by steam. It is made
of solid gold, silver, steel, and brass, and
contains 283t> pieces. The weight of the
engine is. pounds; of the tender 2
pounds';' length, bf engine -MJ inches;
with tender, 12 inches; height,
inches; gauge of track, 1 i**inches; diam
eter of cylinder,.s-1(5 of an inch; stroke
of piston, —piston head fitted up
with sectional or ring packing; stroke of
valve, 1-16 of an inch; length of main
and parallel rods, 11 inches, connected
up with straps, bolts, keys, set screws
and boxes aronnd the pins; length of
links, 7-16 of an inch; width of link,
inch; diameter of [eccentrics, £ inch;
diameter of drive wheel, 14 inches;
diameter of truck wheel, 4 inch. It is
fitted up with reverse lever, with thumb
latch and, click-throttle lever, steam
gauge, etc.* Itcan beruma mile in 22
minutes, drawing a miniature coach.—
Nev Tori Sun.
MISSOURI'S MARBLE CAVE.
features that rival the
GREAT KENTUCKY CAVERN.
A Giant. Stalagmite Containing a
Chamber 30 by 40 Feet, in
Which is a Pool of Water.
That Southwest Missouri abounds in
caverns is well known, but comparatively
few people are aware of the existence of
such a mammoth system of subterranean
passages as are to be found in the Marble
Cave, the entrance to which is situated
on the summit of the Koark Mountain,in
Stone County, eighteen miles southeast
of Gafina, two miles from the Taney
County line, and three miles north of
White River. It is true, nevertheless,
that Southwest Missouri can boast of a
cave containing a chamber 150 feet
high, a stalagmite 300 feet in diameter
at the base, 130 feet high, inside of
which, sixty feet from the base, is a
chamber thirty by forty feet, a lake fif
teen feet in diameter, and a natural
petrophone (if a new word must be
coined), on which musical airs can be
played; a chamber filled with the re-
mains of animals, etc.
The entrance to the cave is at the bot
tom of a basin shaped like the crater of
a volcano. The remnants are visible of an
enterprise started some time ago for the
removal of bat guano, of which there
are thousands of tons, from the cave, but
which failed because the transportation
to market cost more than the fertilizer
was rvurth. From a windlass at the top
of the crater a rope flangs down. By
holding to the rope w e reached the bot
tom of the crater, Next, a twenty-foot
ladder, almost perpendicular, and not
fastened at the top, leads to a platform.
From this dizzy height a ladder sixty
five feet in length rests upon a nili in
the amphitheatre, as the first chamber of
the cave is called. The ladder is made
by splicing together four long pine trees,
and, although it is absolutely safe, one
cannot descend it without fear and trem
bling, especially if he allows his gaze to
rest upon the depths below. From the
bottom of the ladder a further descent of
one hundred and fifty feet is made, which
is so steep that the hands must aid the
feet in going down. About thirty feet
further to the southwest the bottom of
the amphitheatre’is reached, from which
the scenery is sublime and indescribable.
Two hundred feet above, the roof
spreads out like a dome, and 300 feet
aoove and to the northeast the'crevice in
the rocks, revealing the sky and admit
ting a flood of light, looks like a rift in
a dark, lowering cloud. The sixty-five
foot ladder is plainly visible, and the
visitor isthanklul that in descending he
was unconscious of the great depths be
low, but heucefo'rth he dreads the de
scent with an emotion akin to horror.
In portions of the amphitheatre the ef
fects of an 'echo are startling. The con
cave walls send back an echo many times
louder than the original sound. The
whole amphitheatre resembles a theatre
in its general shape, the resemblance
being heightened by a stalagmite called
the Great White Thrdiie, situated in the
centre of where the stage should be. . It
is 150 feet in circumference and
feet high. The top is shaped- like a
dome', and two-thirds up there is a fringe
of drapery extending around it, making
a beautiful scene. The throne inside
may be reached by a winding passage
among the formations. The ne.xt passage
to the right leads to a stream of water
forty degrees in temperature, and a blast
of wintry air. * This ice w r ater is pecu
liarly refreshing alter the violent exer
cise of a tour through the cave.
The next passage is a remarkable one.
It is 200 feet long* about tlie size of a
barrel and almost perfectly round at the
top. At no point of this passage is there
room to turn around, and on returning one
must crawl backward. ‘The passage is as
straight as an arrow. It leads into an
animal burying ground. The exit was
so choked up with the dust from decayed
animals that the chamber could not be
entered. The bottdrn of the entire pas
sage is filled with dust which, when
stirred up, is suffocating, and hence
great camion is required when exploring
th:s portion of the cave. The chamber
is filled with dried-up carcases of coons
of all kinds, ’possums, foxes, and various
other wild animals,some unknown to this
zone, but no stench arises therefrom, the
only inconvenience lifting the suffocation
caused by the dust when stirred. There
is a hole in a bluff down the mountain
side through which these animals are
supposed to have entered.
No idea of the distance traveled over
can be formed, but the proceedings
everywhere are fraught with labor aud
peril. Now we are crawling fiat in the
mud; next we are straddling with hands
and feet a chasm of unknown depth, and
then we are descending a slippery series
of stones. After two hours’wandering
our guide said we had traveled two miles,
but had not taken in half the explored
part of the cave. In one portion of the
cave is the registry room, the walls i? f
which are adapted to the carving of one s -
initials. A passage from this is called
Lost River Canyon, a mile up which may
be seen Springstead’s Throne, a forma
tion 33 by 35 feet at the base, and com
posed of beautiful statuary and drapery.
The most wonderful feature of the
ca- e, and probably the largest crystai
ized formation in the world, is Blonde's
Throne, so named from the discoverer.
It is reached after numerous aud peril
ous descents and ascents, terminating in
a flat crawl through mud a foot thick.
On account of the recent rains the floor
of the chamber containing this wonder
is covered with water shoe-mouth deep.
Blonde’s Throne reaches from the door
to the roof, a height of 150 feet. At the
base it is 300 feet in diameter, but it
grows smaller higher up, like a churn.
At a height ot 120 feet, a cupola
connects with the roof, being a stalactite
formation. Sixty .feet from the base
there is a chamber inside about thirty by
forty feet, and in the center a lake fif
teen feet in diameter, containing water
from two to four feet in depth. The
water is clear and cool, and is supplied
by drippings stalactites above.
The only inhabitants of the water are
white, eyele-s water dogs. The cham
ber and lake are reached by easy pass
ages. Around the chamber are numer
ous leaf-!ike formations hanging down
ward, which being struck give forth a
musical sound, loud, or soft, according
to size, and in a high or low pitch ac
cord ng to their length. By experiment
ing a few minutes an octave was ar
ranged on which various airs could be
beautifully executed, the music rivalling'
in sweetness the notes of the xylophona
or Swiss bells. No cave can produce a
greater curiosity than Blonde s Throne.
— S’, lyjxlii Globe Democrat.
NEWS AM) NDTIs FOR WO YEW
P"ace veils now drop below the chin.
Ail jackets have very short basques
now.
The draperies worn are airy and lightly
ornamented.
The women of Rhode Island pay taxes
on #70,000,000.
Percale and chillies in small patterns
are much worn.
With gowns of wash fabrics come.
parasols to match.
Blouse and pleated waists are in great
favor just at present.
A young lady of New York city keeps
humming birds for pets.
London and Paris costumes are re
markable for the prevalence of green.
The mother of General I’oulanger is a
Welch woman, and eighty-four years of
age.
Miss Etta Ingalls, the daughter of the
President of the Senate, has become a
journalist.
Very small black birds are seen among
the other trimmings of black lace hats
and bonnets.
This year the graduating class at the
Harvard “Annex” for women was larger
than ever before.
Several New York drugstores employ
young women as clerks, and are teaching
thenl the business.
Upper-ten young ladies in London
society have adopted photography as
their pet diversion.
Mrs. Julia Ward Howe has learned to
speak French, Italian and modern Greek
since her marriage.
The world of dressmakers and design
ers have become history crazed in tha
matter of new costumes. j
Kentucky was the first State in the
Union to give school suffrage to women.
The law was passed in 1852.
Ladies who find a veil trying to the
eyes are wearing a veil with a fine esprit
star on the very thinnest ground.
A new shade of tawny yellow is tiger
lily. It is seen in new tulles, gauzes,
and piece laces for evening gowns.
The latest fancy parasol has a handle
covered with leather —red, blue, or white
—and it is silver capped or mounted.
A pretty sleeve for a house frock is a
rather long single puff gathered into a
band of embroidery just below the el
bow.
A golden bronze straw hat trimmed
with hop blossoms, clove, and dandelion
flowers run to seed is a fall offering oi
millinery.
Mrs. Maria E. Beasley, of Philadel
phia, is a woman of extraordinary me
chanical genius, and has made a fortune
from her inventions.
Borne of the new imported gloves are
delicately perfumpd, and a London mil
liner has set the fashion of perfuming
choice hats and bonnets.
Tan colored shoes are the “fad” of the
fashionable on the other side, both men
and women wearing them on occasions
when they look out of place.
It is well to remember that blouses of
washing silk must be ironed alway on
the wrong side, and care taken that the
iron be warm rather than hot.
Steel lace, as fine as cobweb, and in
any color, collars and cuffs for
women that will not wilt in the warmest
weather, and are winning favor.
A late fancy in Paris is the w °aring in
the hair of tortoise shell combs aid pns
witli lie ids of faceted steel flowers that
look like diamonds by gas light.
Sleeves grow loose and looser and are
aften ornamented at top with a separate
braided bit, to match which there are
braided shoulder pieces and collar.
Flannel is still the favorite stuff for
tennis and yachting costumes, but serge
and Jersey cloth are preferred by the
best dresters, if expense is no object.
Woolen gowns are made of special
material which has a satin foundation
worked all over in gold and colored
silks. They are dressy but inexpensive.
The dresses called and worn as Empire
gowns look very little like those worn by
the Empress Josephine, for many of them
are parodies of that tasteful woman’s-at
tire.
Yokes of all kinds, square, round,
and pointed, smocked and tucked, plain
and braided, and half yokes, are all
fashionable on children’s dresses and
coats.
Pale-colored gloves of dressed kid are
the latest ianev. Goru-color, shrimp,
teal, and pearl are ornimente 1 with
stitching one shade darker than the kid
itself.
Amber is once more the rage, and a
napkin ring of mottled amber, or a cigar
ho der of the clear stuff, are among the
newest, attractions of good jewelers’
windows.
The word “obey” was left out of the
marriage service when that church rite
was performed, either by Dr. James
Freeman Clarke or his grandfather, Rev.
James Freeman. . •
U Beads on some fans are now arranged
so that when folded those beads on ttie
edges of the folds make the letters of a
name. When unfolded, the beads are
lost in the general pattern.
There are several women in New York
who make a living going from house to
ho ise, washing, combing and caring for
the hair of other women who like it, but
can’t afford a lady’s maid.
The order of “King's Daughters” i 3
not yet three years old, bat it has more
than twenty thousand members, aud has
commenced the publication of a maga
zine called The Silver Croat.
Mrs. Blatch, the daughter of Mrs,
Elizabeth Cadv Blanton, is making
speeches in England in favor of home
rule. She is an orator of unusual elo
quence. and a very pretty woman.
Bailor hats of white mull shirred on
reeds of cards arouml the brim and
crown are styli-h 1 . A bunch of some
white flowers, daisies, or lilies of the
valley, pla ed high up behind the crown,,
adds to the effect.
The average yearly income of the
working womau of Boston is #260.07, j
and her average expci a -s are reckoned j
at #2ii1.30. There is ie tainlv not very, j
much left over for incidental items, such, i
as doctor’s bills, amusements and bt-okaatJ