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VOL. I. UNDER THE STARS AND STRIPES- High on the world did our fathers ot old, Under the Stars and Stripes, Blazon the name that wo now must uphold, Under the Stars and Stripes. Vast in the past they have builded an arch. Over which freedom has lighted her torch— Follow it! Follow it! Come, let us march Under the Stars and Stripes. We in whose bodies the biood of them runs, Under the Stars and Stripes, We will acquit us as sons of their sons, Under the Stars and Stripes. Ever for justice, our heel upon wrong, We in the right of our vengeance thrice strong ! Rally together ! Come tramping along Under the Stars and Stripes. Out of our strength and a nation’s great need. Under the Stars and Stripes, Heroes again ns of old we shall breed, Under the Stars und Stripes. Broad to the winds bo our banner unfurled, Straight in Spain's face let deliauce bo hurled! God on our side, we’ll battle the world Under the Stars and Stripes ! —Madison Cawein in Louisville Courier- Journal. Lucy’s Lesson. “I think I can trust you, Lucy,” said Mrs. Evelyn. “I hope so,ma’am,” said Lucy Lee, coloring and playing nervously with the string of her apron. Lucy Lee was the daughter of Mrs. Evelyn’s housekeeper,the girl who as¬ pired to the coveted position of “own maid” to that lady, when the present incumbent had married the ex-coach- man—an event in “high life below stairs” which was soon about to tran- spire. And Mrs. Evelyn, called sud¬ denly away to Boston for a few days, had decided to leave Lucy in charge of the hotise on Madison avenue. And a proud little lassie Lucy was, as she fluttered about the house, in the first days of Mrs. Evelyn’s absence. Mrs. Evelyn bad trusted her,and Mrs. Evelyn should see that she was worthy of the confidence reposed in her. But the third evening Norali, the cook, who took charge of the lower regions of the house, called to her up the back stairs: t * Lucy, there’s two girls here to see you!” i t OliF’said Lucy, “I think likely it’s Maria Hart and Nelly Peabody. Please ask them up into the sewing-room, Norali. ” Maria Hart was a waitress in a ladies’ restaurant. Nelly Peabody worked in a hoop-skirt factory; but to judge by their cheap finery, plumes and jet chains, one would liaveimagined them to be independently well off. Lucy welcomed them with a smile. They had all three been at the ward school together,and in her unsojiliisti- cated little heart Lucy thought their raiment splendid. “So you’re all alone, Lucy?” said Miss Hart. “Yes,” said Lucy smiling; “all alone.” “Beau comes to see you often?” giggled Nelly. “Oh, I haven’t any beau,’’answered innocent Lucy. “Maria lias, though,” said Nelly Peabody. “Got engaged last week. He drives a baker’s wagon and wears the sweetest mustache.” “Is it really true?” said Lucy, look¬ ing admiringly at Maria. “Yes,” simpered Maria; it’s true. He’s asked me to go to the Seven Maskers’ ball tomorrow night.” “Are you going?”asked Lucy, think¬ ing Maria Hart must be the happiest girl in the world. “Yes, I’m going,” said Miss Hart, “and that’s why I’ve come here. I must have a decent dress to wear,and I’ve spent my wages, every cent.” “But I can’t lend you anything,” said Lucy Lee in a flurry. “I haven’t a dollar!” “Oh, pshaw!” said Maria; “I don’t want you to leud me any money, you poor little chick! Only Helen Kay- mond wore the sweetest canary-colored silk, trimmed with real black lace, at the Antelope ball last month, and she said that Narcissa Hill got it for her out.of her lady’s wardrobe. Narcissa keeps all the keys, and her mistress never suspected that, the dress was for anight,/ Wasn’tjhat sharp of Narcissa?” “I don't "know,”' said Lucy, some- what bewildered. ‘.‘And I thought,” added Maria, speaking smoothly and plausibly, ‘.‘that as j\Irs. Evelyn was gone, and jon r wouidn^t'inind were left ip. charge doing of everything pittcl? aTid ; me a good turn at a getting the loan of one of her fine evening dresses for c V. s & H c z “Don’t Give TJip tlxo Ship.” BUCHANAN. GA„ FB I DAY, MAY G. 1898. me! It’s only for one night,you know, and I would be very careful of it.” “Oh, I couldn’t,” said Lucy, color¬ ing scarlet. Maria burst into tears behind a flimsy lace pocket handkerchief. “Then, of course, I can’t go,” said she. “And he’s to be there—and— and-” Here her voice died away into a half-suppressed series of gurgling sobs. i . Ob,Lucy Lee,I think you might,” said Nelly Peabody, reproachfully. “I didn’t believe you were so selfish and cowardly. Only for one night, you know. No harm done. And dear Maria made so happy. ” “But I don’t think it’s right,” said Lucy piteously. “Aiid why not?” demanded Maria, behind the pocket handkerchief. “If it was any way wrong, of course, I wouldn’t ask it of von. B—b—hut -” And away went the jerky little sobs again. And Lucy yielded. Miss Maria Hart was quite in her element looking over the contents of Mrs. Evelyn’s mirror-fronted ward- robes. “I guess I’ll wear this,” said she, selecting at last a superb glace silk of the softest sunset shade of pink. “It’ll be becoming to my brunette complex- ion, though, for that matter, so would this cream yellow, but piuk is the most distaugy. Oh, you dear, sweet little Lucy, you shall certainly be my bridesmaid.” “But you’ll be Very careful of it?” said Lucy, whose heart was beginning to sink within her. “Of course I will,” said Maria Hart- And they took their leave, and with them went outpoor little Lucy’s peace of mind, The next day but one a parcel was left at the door for Mrs. Evelyn by a disreputable-looking little boy. Novak carried it up and laid it ou Lucy’s bed. The poor girl could hardly wait to open it until she was alone. It was the pink silk dress, creased and crumpled, with a note pinned to it in Maria Hart’s coarse handwriting: Dear Lucy: I Kettnrn the Dres. Had the Misfortune to spil a little ize-creme on the side-bredth, but have took it out with Ben- zeen. so Noe one would Know. I am mutch obliged, and Bemane Your afeetionate Mahia. With a fainting heart Lucy unrolled the parcel and saw the dress was ruined; what the oleaginous stream of ice cream had commenced the daubs of benzine had finished most effec¬ tually. Lucy burst into tears, and, sinking down in a chair, hid her face in her hands. “I kneiv it was wrong,’’she sobbed. “Oh, why, why did I allow myself to be over persuaded? I have been false to my charge. I have proved myself unworthy to Vie trusted. I shall be dismissed without a reference, and mother’s heart will be broken!” Mrs. Evelyn came back the next day. Lucy Lee met her with a face like a ghost. .. Why, child, what is the matter?” said Mrs. Evelyn kindly. And Lucy, with a faltering voice, told the whole trlith, exculpating her¬ self in no one particular. “Ot course you’ll discharge me, ma’ma,” said Lucy, “but if you’ll be so good as to -wait I know mother’ll pay the value of the dress in install¬ ments out of her wages, and I’ll make it good to her when I get another place—if ever I do!” And venturing to glance through her tears into Mrs. Evelyn’s face she saw that it had not hardened into the stony anger she had expected to be¬ hold. Mrs. Evelyn laid her hand kindly on the shrinking shoulder. “Lucy,” said she, “you have had a lesson. Seo that you profit by it in the future.” “Then —then you will not discharge me?” fluttered Lucy, scarcely able to believe in her own good fortune. .. No,” said Mrs. Evelyn, kindly, “not this time. For your mother’s sake, Lucy—and also for your own—I will give you another trial.” So poor Luey Lee kept her place, after all, and Mrs. Evelyn had no cause to regret her leniency. For Lucy needed no more than that one lesson to teach her that “the way of the transgressor is hard.” A Klondike in Our Moutlis. About 4,000,000 false teeth are manufactured annually in the United States, while one ton of gold and three tons of silver and platinum, to the value of $100,000, are used in filling teeth. VESUVIUS, DYNAMITER. All About a Unique Fighter Possessed by the United States Navy. Whatever may have been the opin- j ions of naval officers regarding the use of the Vesuvius and her guns, and notwithstanding that they have ob- ! jected to the use of the pneumatic guns in sea fights owing to their high angle fire, there has never been any i difference of opinion as to the great value of these weapons in bombarding and in countermining. In the bombnrdment of Alexandria by the English fieet years ago it was demonstrated that the effect of high | powered guns against forts and for- tifications of all kinds was far less de- structive than had been anticipated. Foreign naval officers who examined the forts after the bombardment were astonished, and it was said that the forts could have been put in a defeu- sive condition again in a very short time and that the English fleet would have suffered severely had the forts and guns been properly manned by expert gunners. Goodrich United Captain of the States navy made a careful examina- tiou of the Alexandria defences after the bombardment, and declared that mortar fire would have been far more effective in reducing the forts and in driving out the enemy. High powered projectiles traveling iu a fiat trajectory may pass com¬ pletely over and far beyond a fort before striking. Their mine affect is comparatively small, and the damage is not widespread. But large charges of high explosives landed inside a fort would do terrible execution. The guns of the Vesuvius can fire three different shells. The hundred pound charge of guncotton, equivalent to about four hundred pounds of powder, can be thrown two and one-haif miles; the two hundred pound charge, equiv- aleut to eight bundled pounds of powder, can be thrown a mile and a half, and the five hundred pound charge, equal in charge to two thou- sand pounds of powder,can be thrown about a mile. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that the gun is remarkably accurate and effective if the range is known, In a bombardment the range can easily be found, and in that case shells could be landed inside a tort Avitli perfect ease. Four or five of them Lave, in practice, been landed Avithin a rectangle of fifty feet. The effect of such shells exploding inside a fort can be easily imagined. In countermining the gun has equally important uses. The shells may be throAvn into a harbor and along a ship channel, at different distances, and being fitted with a delayed action fuze, which allows the shell to sink some distance before exploding, the shock Avill tend to destroy the enemy’s mines and all the electrical connec- tions used to fire them. Naval officers have admitted that a channel could be opened for a fleet in this manner at a point defended by mines Avliick could not be removed or put out of action in any other manner. The guns of the Vesuvius use gun¬ cotton.— NeAV York Herald. Queerest Town in England. The most curious town iu England is Noi'Avich. There is not a straight street, nor, in fact, a straight house in the place; every part of it has the ap¬ pearance of having suffered from the visitation of an earthquake. Norwich is the centre of the salt industry in Cheshire, England, on nearly all sides of the town are big salt xvorks, with their engines pumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of brine every Aveek. At a depth of some 200 to 300 feet are immense subterannean lakes of brine, and as the contents of these are pumped and pumped aAvay, the upper crust of earth is correspondingly Aveakened and the result is an occa¬ sional subsidence. These siibsidenees have a “pulling” effect on the nearest buildings,and they are drawn all Avays and give the toAvn an extremely dis- sipated appearance. Fish Wintering in Mud. The superintendent of the Missouri State Fish Hatchery Avas recently surprised, on draining off a pool con¬ taining bass, to find veryfeAv fish in it. At first theft was suspected, but closer investigation revealed the missing fish in a condition of hibernation, or Avin- ter sleep, in the mud covering the bottom of the pond. For a fee of from tivo to eight cents message, one may talk to even the naliest of Saviss toAvns over a long- MARKING THE COAST LICHTS. The Endless Task of Perfecting the Hy¬ drographic Office Charts. Miss Eliza Scott, cousin of Admiral Scott, is a little woman who sits hour after hour, day after day in the by- drographic ollice, Washington, and puts little dabs of yellow paint hero and there over the thousands of maps issued by this department. Each of these yellow splashes covers, but does not conceal, a tiny black dot which marks one or anothhr of the hundreds of lighthouses scattered along our coast lines, for the guidance of those who go down to the sea in ships. Al- though the same yellow dot marks them all, there is a variety of lights, They are fixed ones, intermittent lights, revolving ones, and red and white flashlights, with occasionally a red sector, which indicates shoal wa- ter and danger, and tells the mariner to keep his ship well outside the space covered by the light. For twenty years has Miss Scott sat thus jabbing yellow dots, apparently in the most haphazard manner, over the maps after they have come from the press. A few moments’ watching will convince one that there is method in her manner. She knows the situa- tion of every one so well that she could almost perform her work in the dark, It is very trying on the eyes, and only one thoroughly acquainted with the situation could do it in a satisfactory manner, The object of the color over the dots is that they may be more readily perceived by those using the maps. Formerly a tiny drop of red was put in the centre of the yellow splash, but as the black dot under- neath shows through the yellow per- fectly, the use of the red has been dis¬ continued, which lessens the labor by half. There are 535 lights on the Atlantic coast, beginning tocountat thenorth- ern part of Newfoundland, and con- tinning to the south shore of Vene- zuela. This includes those on the Gulf of Mexico, and along the coast of the West Indies, On the Pacific coast there are only 33 lights. Thus it will be seen that Miss Scott puts on hundreds of thousands of her little yellow dabs in a year’s time, although she works but from 9 a. m. to 4 p. xn, —New York Sun. a Drouth-Resisting riant. The chief reason ivliy alfalfa hay will grow in the short-grass country is that it has long roots. They have been kuoAvn to strike twenty-live feet deep for moisture. The plant Avill not thrive, therefore, in soil that is not open and deep. An ideal place for its growth is along the river bottoms in the western pact of Kansas—land un- der which great lakes of “sheet Avater,” miles upon miles in extent, are found from ten to twenty-live feet beloAv the surface. The roots of alfalfa readily push down to the Avater and drink when they need moisture, and the result is that Hie plant blossoms and prospers, and becomes a never-failing source of revenue to the man avIio cul- tivates it. On the rolling uplands, where there is scarcely an average rainfall of tAventy-five inches a year, the plant Avill live and produce hay nearly always. It makes good pastur- age under ordinary conditions there, and is almost certain every year to produce a fine crop of seed. All the uplands are fertile enough, the only trouble about making use of that fer- tility being the lack of moisture. Irri¬ gation has not yet succeeded in bring¬ ing Avater in abundance to the assist¬ ance of the tiller of the soil in this region, and therefore only such a plant can live as has deep roots, and a per¬ tinacity that even the hot Avinds of Kansas cannot shake.—Franklin Mat¬ thews, iu Harper’s Weekly. Music and the Hair. Physicians appear tohold the record for baldness, which is thirty per cent. Baldness is frequent among musical composers. The cornet-a-piston and the French horn act Avith surprising surety and rapidty; but the trombone is the depilatory instrument par excel¬ lence. It Avill clear the hair from one’s head in five years. This is Avhat the author calls “baldness of the fan¬ fares,” Avhich rages Avith special voiletice among regimental bauds. The Insult of the Age. Examining Surgeon— I am sorry, sir, but you have failed to pass the necessary physical examination. You are not up to the requirements of the navy Applicant—What! Not a good enough man to fight Spaniards! (Doubles up his fists and sails into the examining surgeon.) NO. ‘2 2. RATS ENDED THE STRIKE. A Combination Against .Striking Minors Which They Could Not Itetdst. “Not one of the biggest but one of the most stubborn strikes that ever occurred in the Pennsylvania coal region,” said a former mining engineer,” was ended by rats. The rats that infest coal mines ore of enormous size and as ravenous as they are big. The miners not only tolerate them, but stand in awe of them, for it is a firm belief with the coal miner that these rats can foretell disaster and give warning to the miners of their danger by scurrying out of the threatened mine in droves iu ample time to euable the miners to make their escape also. So careful are the workmen of these great, hungry rats that it is not an uncommon sight to see a miner feeding half a dozen or more from his dinner pail. They some- times become so tame that they will climb on a miner’s lap as he sits at his underground meal and crowd around him to receive such portions of his meal as he cares to toss to them. “These rats never leave the mines so long as work is going ou. The food of the mine mules is kept in the mines, and ou this the rats largely subsist. They eating, swarm and about when the mules are some- times the mules have to fight the rats to save their meal. Often scores of dead rats will be found in a mule’s stall in the mines, when they have been trampled to death in efforts to secure of portion of the mule’s feed. When a mine lies idle any length of time, and the mules are taken out, the rats abandon it and become a great pest in the mining villages. “The strike I refer to was caused by the refusal of a mine boss to rein¬ state a miner lie had discharged. The men quit work. The mine owners de¬ clared they would let grass grow and choke the mouth of the slope before they would give in to the men, and the men swore that they would cut the grass and eat it, if necessary, be¬ fore they would yield their point. The mules were taken from tiie mine and turned out to pasture. The rats, being thus deprived of their sustenance, abandoned the mine and took up their quarters about the miners’ shanties, where they soon became a tcror t<_> the families. The strike continued* and the supplies of the men became exhausted. Miners at neighboring collieries avIio AA'ere at work responded to the requests of their striking brother's for aid and sent two wagon loads of provisions and supplies of various kinds. These Avere taken in charge by a committee appointed for purpose and Avere stored in a building, from Avhich they were to be distributed to the neediest of the miners. The very first night the sup- plies Avere in the building it Avas raided L.v a horde of rats and everything was devoured ’ or carried aAvay. Four dif- ferent loads of provisions were con- tributed by the sympathetic Avorking miners, but it A\as impossible to saAe more than one-third of them from the rats. Home of the miners kept coavs a t time, there beingplenty of free pasturage, but soon after the strike began the coavs began to fall short in their yield of milk. This Avas a mys- tery until one morning a miuer dis¬ covered half a dozen big rats sucking the milk from his coav as she lay on the ground complacently chewing her cud. These combinations against them at last forced the miners to Aveaken, and they Avere compelled by and by to resume work on such terms as they could obtain, absolutely beaten by the devouring horde of rats.”— NeAv York Hun. Pearls. As yet the origin of pearls is a mat¬ ter of mere speculation. The old theory that they Avere “congealed deAvdrops pierced by sunbeams” Avas supported by - naturalists as late as 1844, and is evidenced in a Venetian medal bearing an open oyster shell re¬ ceiving drops of rain, Ayith the motto, “By the divine deAV. ” Later con- chologists, hoAvevor, contend that the pearl nucleus may be some minute particle, as a grain of sand, or the frustule of a diatom,or a tiny parasite, or perhaps one of the ova of. the pearl oyster itself. This particle or foreign body is gradually surrounded by thin layers of nacre until it is completley eucysted and the pearl formed. The conseeutiA'e layers may vary in bright¬ ness and color, and a defect may be caused by contact Avitli another foreign substance, thus changing the value Avith each neAv layer, and sometimes causing a “lively kernel” or “seed” ta be inclosed in an apparently poor pearl. —Lippincott’s.