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A social philosopher foresees the day
when the primary school desks will be
supplied with type writers instead of
writing books.
Ex-Secretary Holcomb, of the Ameri¬
can Legation at Pekin, says that put of
the 400,000,000 inhabitants of tbe
Chinese Empire, fully 800,000,000 spend
less than $1.50 a month for food.
Theie is an interesting freak of nature
at Marysville, Cal., in the shape of a
double-headed calf, two heads being set
on one neck. But Byron, a rival Cali¬
fornia town, now looks down on Marys
ville because of its wonderful pig, which
has two bodies and one head.
A large vault with walls of stone and
filled with skeletons of human beings
has been discovered in an Indian mound
which overlooks the Missouri river from
a hill near Jefferson City, Mo. The
skeletons arc thought to be the remains
of the mound-builders, although the re¬
markable state of preservation in which
hey are found would indicate that they
are of more recent date.
Over 1,000,000,000 cans are used annu¬
ally by the canuers of this country. A box
of tin plates, which weighs from 103 to
112 pounds, will make between seven and
eight cases of cans. A case contains a
dozed three-pound cans, the general size,
or two dozen one-pound cans. Taking
the average, a box of tin will make about
one hundred cans. Thus, about 10,000,
000 boxes of tin plates are necessary every
year to make the cans to hold the goods
packed in this country. The weight of
the metal alone is something like 110,
000,000 pounds, and the cost about
$45,000,000.
The New York Tribune says that:
“Attention is being called to the fact
that most of the promiucnl men in this
eitv, in every walk in life, were born and
bred in the country. Indeed, New York
city might almost be defined as a huge
caravansary in which innumeraale coun¬
try boys abide while they are making
their fortunes. The same is true of other
cities. It is said, for instance, that nine
tenths of the clergymen of Louisville,
Ky., came from rural homes. All the
judges; all the leading lawyers; all the
well-known journalists, nearly all the
bank presidents, physicians and promi¬
nent merchants and manufacturers of
that city were country bovs.”^
The man who wrote a letter in the New
York Sun a few days ago, asking every¬
body in the country to send him one
cent in order that he may thus acquire a
fortune of half a million dollars, recalls
to that paper an incident in the life of
the original John Jacob As tor, millionaire.
A ragged beggar called upon Mr. Astor
one day at his office in Prince street and
asked for alms. Mr. Astor re'used to
give him anything. The beggar per¬
sisted in his appeal; the millionaire was
firm in his refusal. The beggar became
pertinacious, and spoke of his hunger as
he stood in his l ags. Mr. Astor appeared
to be unmoved. Finally the beggar, in
turning to leave the office, put iu what
he regarded as a clincher by saying:
‘ ‘Remember, Mr. Astor, that though you
are a millionaire and I am a beggar, you
are driving out a brother, for we are
brothers all the same, as children of
Adam and the Almighty.” “Ay! ay!
Hold a minute,” cried Mr. Astor, as he
pricked up his ears, put his hand in his
pocket, and took out a cent. “That is
so; we are all brothers. Now, my
brother, I give you this cent, and if you
get all your other brothers and sisters to
give you as much you will be a richer
man than I am.” The beggar slowly de¬
parted with the money in his palm and a
thought in his head. Mr. Astor had
told the truth, though his millions num¬
bered over twelve at the time.
A celebrated physician has rcmaikeil
that every house ought to be pul led down
at the end of tho sixtieth year, as it has
by that time absorbed all the diseases of
those who have lived in if, believing that
wood and plaster absorb gases, foul air
and feverish exhalations as readily as
milk or water does. But as it is not
practicable to. tear down houses every
half century or so, it is to be considered
if all the wood used in their interior con¬
struction and all the plain surfaces of
plaster should not be so thoroughly
oiled or varnished that the power of ab¬
sorption should be almost entirely de¬
stroyed, and tbe character thus so
changed that destruction would no
longer be desirable.
George S. Rogers is one of tVie oldest
pensioners in the United States, and is
also one of the oldest Methodist minis¬
ters. He was born in Farquar County,
Virginia, in 1793, and while very young
went with his relatives to Kentucky,
where he lived when the war of 1812
broke out. lie at once volunteered and
went into the ranks of Captain V. S.
Grayson’s company in a Kentucky regi¬
ment. He served through the war with,
out being wounded, and then returned
to Kentucky, where he has since lived.
Mote than a half century ago he- was or¬
dained a minister of the Methodist
Church, and until a few years since he
preached to the people of his congrega¬
tions in several small towns of the State.
Of late he hud spent most of his time in
Shelbyville and Brooks Station, Bullitt
County. He has been on the pension
roll for a long time, having been allowed
the service pension allowed to old sold¬
iers of the second war with Great Bri¬
tain, and until recently went in person
to draw his pay from the Louisville office.
He still reads and writes without the aid
of spectacles, though he is compelled to
wear them when walking.’
A Wonderful Horned Hen.
Walter Lewellin, of Durham, N. C.,
has the greatest curiosity of tbe couuty
in the shape of a Dominique side head lien, which horn,
possesses on each of the a
curled up like a ram’s. A few days ago
the hen, which weighs 230 pounds, at¬
tacked a valuable horse and gored it so
terribly that the animal had to be killed.
It has also caused the death of a number
of? calves aud pigs in the same manner.
It laughs very naturally and merrily when
it gets a pig into it, a but tight is kind place and children com¬
mences to maul to
and school delights its back. in trotting Tbs information them off to
on we
get principally from a Philadelphia
paper, whieh makes mention of the hen
and her horns. We have taken the lib¬
erty, however, to interpolate a statement
or two which the paper either accident¬
ally overlooked or for some other reason
neglected to it mention. always In best referring the to
such matters is to let
reading public.have brief and the whole truth and
not simply a garbled misleading statement,
which may be productive of
inferences .—Oil City BlizirJ.
A Determined Suicide.
Some Wallachian peasants were one
day working in the field near the banks
of the Maros. Suddenly they saw a
stranger rush frantically headlong into through river. the
field,and plunge the
They pursued, departed,and and dragged they him returned out,
dripping;he their Shortly afterward he
to work.
again appeared, and for the second time
took a suicidal “header.” Again the
peasants snatched him from the raging
torrent, and returned to their work. Yet
a third time they saw him enter the field;
but on this occasion lie did not make for
the river, but, climbing up a tree, delib¬
erately proceeded to hang himself from
one of the branches. This time his for¬
mer preservers did not interfere, and he
drained the cup of Iris fate to the last
drop. Presently a crowd of the relatives
and friends of the deceased, from whose
custody he had escaped, arrived, headed
by the parish priest, permitting and roundly abused
the peasants for tho late la
mented to kill himself, Tho peasants
naively replied that they had pulled him
out of the river twice, and as he was
dripping wet, dry.— they thought Argonaut. he had hung
himself up to
ill lx.Hi OF FUN-.
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
He Had Changed His Mind—Nego¬
tiating for a Dog—A Change
of Fortune—The Un¬
making of Hint.
Esmeralda Longcoffin to Hostetter Mc¬
Ginnis—“Are you still mad at me, Mr
McGinnis ?”
McGinnis—“ W r hat about ?”
Esmeralda—“ You know on Christmas
you pnposed and I cruelly rejected your
offer. I have—I have thought better of
it since.”
Siftings. McGinnis—Humph! So have I.”—
Negotiating for a Dog.
■Robinson—“ That’s a fine dog you
have, him Dumley. Do you want to sell
?”
Dumley—“ I’ll sell him for $50.”
Robinson—“ Is he intelligent ?”
Dumley (with dog emphasis)—“Intelli¬
gent ! Why that knows as much as
I do.”
Robinson—“ You don’t say so! Well,
I’ll give you twenty-five cents for him,
Dumley.”— New York Sun.
A. Change of Fortune.
“Do you see that man sawing wood
over there ?”
“Yes. What about him ?”
“He that.” wasn’t always doing such work
as
formerly “Has a history, eh? What did he
do ?” •
“ Why, when I saw him last he was
splitting wood.”— Nelrtskn State Journal,
-
Tho Unmaking of Him.
Omaha Man (ou railroad train)—No, I
am not travelling on business exactly. I
am going there East and alter my hurt son. He is in a
college football. was shall recently in a
game of I take him out.
I don’t believe in these Eastern colleges
anyhow—all play tend no work.
Stranger—Well, I do. I am a college
graduale and I owe my present success
to my football collegiate toughens training. I just wonder- tell
you, a man up
fully. The knocking around I got in
college ‘ Humph! was the What making business of mo.
‘ are you in ?”
“I am a book agent .”—Omaha World.
No Time for an Argument.
It was on a Central Hudson train,
bound north, and he had been delivering
a learned disquisition upon the political
and financial outlook to a passenger
in the seat ahead.
“My opinion friend,” he concluded, “what is
your of Government bonds?’*
Just then the whistle sounded for Sing
Sing, and His friend replied:
“I don’t think much of ’em,” display
ing a pair of handcuffed wrists, “but I’ll
have to say good-by, sir. This is my
station .”—New York Sun.
How Katie's Father Said Grace.
A South End little girl was taking
supper with a playmate a few evenings
ago. After the pater-familias had “said
grace” with due solemnity, the little
hostess turned to her guest, and asked:
“Does your papa say grace at supper,
Katie?”
candor, “No,” replied he Katie with a charming
“but says something else.”
This answer of course aroused the in¬
terest of the elder persons. “What does
he say?” was asked the little visitor.”
“Good heavens, what a supper?” was
the sweetly calm response .—Boston Com¬
monwealth.
Excusing a Juror.
The following was perpetrated by a
judge of one the bench, of our higher but whose local identity courts,
now off
will be instantly discovered by many
lawyers without Monday mentioning his name.
On the first of a term many
jurors were as usual in line before him
to present reasons for being excused from
service. Among them was a very dirty,
unkempt, despite the shaggy-bearded of the attendants man. who,
efforts to
restrain him insisted on advancing to the
judge’s desk and speaking privately with
him. Tho judge, noticing his impor¬
the tunity, talesman signified approach his willingness and then to allow
to said
to him somewhat, sternly: leaned “Well, sir;
what is it?” The man over the
bench until his lips almost touched the
judge’s ear and then whispered:
“I’ve got the itch.”
The crowded court-room was watch -
nig tile result with curiosity. “Mr.
Clerk,” said the judge instantly, without
the slightest change of expression, and
in a voice painfully loud and distinct:
•‘Hr. Clerk, he’s got tho itch. Swatch
him .”—New York TrVnine.
So Sudden,
It is said that a genius has invented
what is called an electrical lounge. The
lounge is connected by wire with the
parental bedroom. At ten fifteen,
prompt, the cruel father touches a knob
in his room and the seat of the lounge
flies up and spills its occupants upon the
floor. We can imagine a youth In the
act of proposing when the knob is
touched. lie is saying:
“Oh, Jennie I love you more than
tongue can tell. Will you be mine?
My own, my very own' Will you-”
Just then, presto! change! up flies the
seat of the lounge and the pair are sent
spinning it across the floor. How natural
would be for the young lady to say
then:
‘Oh, George, this is so sudden.’’—
Boston Courier.
John Tarbox’s Teeth.
Look at the Maine individual over
there in the red flannel shirt whieh is not
even might on speaking think terms from with soap. You
not casual observa¬
tion that he had any peculiarity what¬
ever, but the other day he came down
with a terrible toothache—an ache that
reared, and kicked, and “bucked,” all
within thirty seconds, till the world
ceased to have any attraction for the
man who was entertaiuing it. Well, he
couldn’t stand it any longer, and started
post haste for a dentist in a neighbor
ing The town. proprietor
of a hardware store in
close proximity to this dentist was stand
ing in the door of his store that after
noon, when he heard the most car
splitting shriek proceeding from the
office of the man of teeth. He had be¬
come accustomed to moans and subdued
exclamations from that quarter, but
never had lieard such bellowings as now
pierced the aroused air. His curiosity was so
thoroughly that a little later on
he walked into the dentist’s office, and
said: “Whom have you been buteher
ing over in here? life.” I never heard such a
yell my replied the
“Oh,” extractor from'T---. of mol&rs,
“that was old John Tarbox,
He had a tooth out. ”
“Had a tooth out!” replied and the visitor,
have “well, I should think so, it must
come mighty hard to fetch such
a roar as that.”
“Oh, dear no,” said . the dentist; “he
d i dn>t make that noise when I pulled
^ ie tooth. It was afterward.”
•Afterward?”
“Why, __ yes,’ the “The
was
tooth came easily enough. The time
when he fetched that cry of agony was
Y hen 1 char S ud lura hft / cents for
doln g the job.”- Lewiston Journal.
An Odd Bird.
Another curious wader is the thick
knee or Norfolk plover, a bird of the
wilds and downs. The two stone-col¬
ored eggs are laid on the waste, in the
midst of which they so exactly resemb’e
actual stones it would be almost impossi¬
ble to detect them from a little distance.
The only way to find the eggs is to watch
the movements of the old birds from
some distance with a field-glass, as the
hen-birrl, on leaving the eggs, runs for
some distance before rising, thus luring
the intruder into the belief that the spot
from which she rises is the position of
the eggs, unless with his trusty binocu¬
lars he has watched the progress of the
manoeuvre. Another curious habit of
the thick-knee is to crouch along the
ground. bird imagines Perhaps, like the ostrich, the
that it is not seen. — Eng¬
lish Illustrated Magazine.
Keclaiming the Desert of Sahara.
Part of the Desert of Sahara is likely
to become transformed into a fertile and
populous region. Artesian wells have
been bored in great numbers throughout
tho southern section, from which a
plentiful supply of water is derived.
These that the cases heretofore are becoming continual so numeroi'* drought 1
4
has been broken, and rain has fallen in
small quantities before. where In addition it was never
known many ,<
thousand trees have been planted, and
these will in time help to change the
character of the region.— Cultivator.
What men want is not talent, it is pur¬
pose; not the p >wer to achieve, but the
will to labor.
