Evening Star Newspaper, December 12, 1896, Page 20

18 —_—_——— tse) sete) se hse) ae Lee kee kee ks! pee haa DN ONOWONE i iS The Evening Star. are true lovers run into strange s ali is mortal in nature, so {s capers: all nature in love, mortal in folly.”—Touch- stone, The last miles y and Dalton had wondered, rather wearily, how much farther was his inn, when suddenly he saw the Hercules of Shinnecock, and knew that ached the goal of that day's spin. ules looking down from his repose cled—if that carved wood in- god's heart—that t was more of the modern Centaurs and hoofs evolution had made whee { in very truth the Her cock holds some of the personality hero, became a god In the true days of fable. You know had whose to legs how this Hercules fac- . over against the meadow and t jay and all night All da inhty summer ing he looks downs days of sketching artists who dream of canvases at the next exhibition which shall of the changing colors of the lit- tle sketch of hill c ry of Shinnecock; autumn days of golfers, and less athletic folk; winter days and nights, when rage possesses the sea, and this image dreams perhaps of time n it stood, buffeting the wave: ing them—bearing its fh things, of the reput then, sometimes eed, som e creature the So this great sculptor, into s he was con- Hercules—was rem- but of ail i did. e at some A perfect rural Dalton in his un- ere on the inn step: decried thi ad 1 proudi » Ohio a He. Do inanimate fall ream times hold the nature artist has striven t bieck, the that Hercules kK tree over the dyir Howishness. lasi guest at there; and it 1 Andover reading he were Mr. Bohr 1 to English students of the Greek poets. It was to him as if the might appear suddenly out of the half moonlit spaces the pi 3 and the maid- if a prayer might go up to the god, many a twilight Hercules was besought the old days on an isle of Greece. ed $500 for it.” said the host. on, taking a meditative of his b ndy, weren't the: said You'd had to gone to South- empton before you found another tavern ke to know was an inn in on the king’ But Dalton w listening. He had and had strolled and on under the shadow where he paused for a , and then on toward the 1 it all was, after the town! world seemed to be in retro mythology again true. the course of che cy- and the ever a r of us, and our come back to the . that Feopled the the st 23 of that were not on, by this and the hill tops rang- inst a darkish blue which the moon t ul star to pierce. menial fellow paced up and . and then toward the n would suddenly wakeful he on go tripping. Again he of the vanished Greeks, his mem those of between s out sod «tui old Gree this invin- an pught of the good ship of ere was that note uman reposeful strengt = 5 1 yet human, which t nayful cry, and drew the wooden block (yet is it not i eried out: “Don't hurt me, lac said our young certainly have no such thousand pardons.” sured her, for the moonshine—a a costume th Sappho nor her Peric! ever would have dreamed of, thougn eed might approve of it, could they i eart and if they know out ns of Hades. oy I beg you a e ay bh *lewsure’s own dear self. of the roads! ight girl, with tinction, even in appearance as a matier of she nie lared fared, ad gaining skirmi: “Hercules ard lared. dismay, “there they beyond "tt a vehi heard ope 1 dragged into the sha agen, ever nearer, now then crunched reules. apostrophiz' Dalton, emed to Thank you. two Back to the inn stout cobs and the da graff voice cried: uckboard Have Are you addressing me, str?” our ad- Venturer demanded. T peaker was now down by the buck- owed by a thin young man in a sir: on a wheel? said Dalton. fou don't I do mean alone,” ed as frascible as the father Mr Drew faces in Rosemary—fat, red- a, ven im that light; a man of seventy, who 4 denied few of his whims and never his omach. This is dreadful,” the clercial young man ©cclared, in a precise, clerical tone. The other said: “It's ble,” and to ton, here's Morse?’ Jon't know him." “The landlord, you ninny,”* the other cried ‘n the tone of a most exasperated man. “I think he's gone to bed. Who, sir, ts the young lady?” Dalton queried, wonder- ing at the part so suddenly thrust on him. “My daughter, sir.” sald the pers Ase) 22. cules of } Dw WOWOWOWOW OW Qor Keekse Leese) esos | drag; CWO WNOWON THE HERCULES OF SHINNECOCK, BY CLINTON ROSS. (Copyright, 1896, by Clinton Ross) (ty “I thought so. And she has run away?” You said so.” to take the train. American service. coat Hercules, who knew, much bad been said. He Mr. Fennell Not a soul, sii “I'm going down Ground stat shat, Mor: “But it’s chilly ed, and yondered behind the He the Hercule aid a duet. The b reom. Fost The 1 HIS vuIce “Did I? I'll catch her. om anyway. She watched ay, saw Dalton standing by himself, and | the young man in the clerical coat address- ing him, possibly with a sense that too “It's very aggravating of my Amelia.” “Oh, Amelia,” quoth Dalton. “I trust, sir—you'll say noth beg your pardon, I know you won't.” e the host's hearty voice rose above "s whispers. I know Miss Fennell.” the road—to Good Keep yt w don’t you need—” best mye and water, to the clerical person—“‘have some ou know, sir, I don’t—” Dalton tipped his chair back, and wait- how cules; but neither she nor Amelia word. He prised at himself, at his very extraordinary came out fa iow did you kuow, sir?” cried the other. didn’t dare That was watched—at Shinnecock, at Southampton, at Easthamp- ton. She must have come on her wheel.”” “My dear uncle, I beg pardon,” put in the clerical young man. “Beg pardon, sir, the ‘osses hought to be watered,” declared a voice with the su- pericrity of a groom who condescends in The master said Several things—at cobs who don’t endure—at the inn and its land- lord, while the young man in the Ulerical timidly put in deprecatory clauses. But the master’s rage was not to be as- suaged even by the complacent host, who suddenly appeared, lantern in hand. getting the dripping cobs, the angered fa- ther—as if Le had stepped out of a play— buttonholed the newcomer, whispering—as if he had not told Dalton at all—while the For- across the cousin, ing. Oh, I our mouth eh? Come, felt there was sur- and talked gentiema MAY HAVE REASSURED Hx; INTO THE MOON THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1896-24 PAGES. “I do several thirgs wel. I ride a horse or a wheel. I don’t golf so badly, Phil he, Phil. Is he worth. while?” “I don’t know,” sald she. “He's very handsome.” “He ought to be.” “Why?” “To deserve—" ou needn't go further.” said Amelia. “Your father, and your cousin—” “Oh, Paul, isn’t he horrid?" “He impressed me as a very good young man.” ‘Too good.” “But Philip, I take it, isn't.” “How do you know? No, ne’s deliciously bad. That's why I like him, and papa doesn’t.” “They don’t generally approve of deli- ciously bad young men for their daugh- ters," quoth Dalton. “I think I know Philip—" “Do you?” “His like, I mean. He has a very good tailor; he knows the celebrities—the lady celebrities—at the concert halls.” “Yes, he does.” “He's an utterly unprincipled young Scamp.” “So papa says.” “And he isn’t worth your little finger— not Philip. But you are one of those dear, imaginative little girls—” “T’'m not little.” “Who have to be watched.” “Do you think it would be better for me to be watched?” “If I were the watcher—" “Isa’t the moonlight beautiful?” gered over the adjective. “What the moon shows is more s “Oh, you say those things better than Philip.” be | Should hope I did—the cub.” “It's very strange—our being together— over these hills,” Amelia said inconsequent- “Tt wasn’t nearly so much fun before. She lin- “T have lived nineteen years, I told you. ‘And I forty; we're just of an age, I lieve. Pane made no answer to this; and now rather silently they wheeled on and on, and out of the hill country, and over the level to Scuthampton, and through that sleeping village, and beyond, and at last through a lodge gate leading to a far put red house with a glimmer of the sea be- yond. They said some things I can wager you; but Dalton never repeated them to me “This is the place,” said she, “I can get in. I have a latch key. They never will know. It’s been awfully good of you,— Mr. . ‘John—Jack—Dalton, Amelia.” “You call me Amelia.” “So your cousin Paul had the privilege.”” “And he never did so much for me as you: E vey wish I might do !t again, Amelia,” said he then. Se She gave him her hand, which he pressed, T fear, for she pulled it away. . KOR SHE NOW SHINE. s' PED OUT the chase began agai: course, light,” said Dalton, ris: his guest. ed. host, with penetrat out his wheel, jatched,”” said th Kuest disappear to reflecting on the pec sioi lay still, was a footf: returned. T while the i se many eyes why was our € ced toward the fii he coast s no answe the statue, and Amelia } i 1 down t Hercu! a, which si How could she hav afier a jy the figure laughter, in the had before surp it was ve stepping about. lizing you. ame “* “Was it hi great face. the bridg Where is he?" “In New_York.” “Oh, and—" ‘enne] has been on a I belie’ ‘A_ zoose.”” Well, perhaps,” hands, [ intend to are I like that, as get scrape. would obey sd easily. $ ing novels.” she said, yours,”” en it. You must Heve—" “What?” “That I could be better be wheeling. ing. istl gone? at he had done? seemed to give out real ry good of you, coul It was childish of m on her wheel now, and Dz “IL was going to him. “You are going back. enraged gentleman——" said ike your impertinene ou—but, not your escapade.” she said, putting a hand on his * cried Dalton. quietly. ture is so much fun. f I were not a sort of in. “Well, quoth the landlord loquaciously. There, of Was a man in the case, and the Fennells were very rich, an “I am going to take a whe el in ing. “I expect anything of an artist,” said the host, wondering at the lack of curiosity in “I am not an artist,” Dalton expostulat- “A poet, maybe,"” observed the host. “I have never written,” said Dalton. “The best ones never do,” ion, nil d the bri liarities of people who | have enough money for wheels and exeur- he went in sleepil, and ave for the Hercules. road, a emed reniric ret ; and then he looked behind tarted, rubbing his eyes. ! for so he i and lo: ned to smi feminine | d and attracted him. | she it?” Not so much as vour‘appearance here,” quoth Dalton. “Tam going to escort you | back. We can't wait here. The inn has | eyes, and the Hercules can’t protect you. she said, looking up at the But you are right.” She was ton following to where he had left his own. “Of cou * said he, “there is a man in the case. “Th usually is,” said she. “¥ don't think it a be obeyed. too littie a girl—not over six- sir. I'm nineteen.” ‘we must be —to show papa that he he interrupted, “I like the id was wrong. Fancy him retu inding me— er words now led to actioi Dalton, who suddenly had gained of responsibility. this entrancing little girl out of her He had not expected He fel Again an leoked at her trudging up the first slope. “We will meet here,” he said. “Well?” “You “] can't care so much for him.” tired of monotony. “You “B bear tempted.” “Sir,” she said, “you wouldn't dare. Wi observed the Ii leavi host, watching his | = stood irresponsiv inn windows which might have to watch and And was this | resist tanta- laughing matter. Dalton, “But row that you have put the and his paler nephew followed, and, then, I_never,” the moon- le =Dalton © the door dge. Then | the But at las nd Dalton | urned. He here had begun /| joked up to le derision. Then suc notes that said, now wasn't When Mr. —, the When Mr. Fennell returns, he will find | Frm the Detroit Free ress. ild goose chase.” said she. firmly. atter in rning, and m; for she It bound to that she dd again, he “But— Life is so | the mood to have been ut I don’t Now it's * said he, enviously. she retorted. “You have the resgonsi- guardian I be- | g, “fo avoid temptation,” he said, mount- Up and down those slopes they went, fleeting figures In the moonshine, that | From the New York Ierald. showed now a gabled roof, and always the far tery stretch. up the next. “I was thinking, ‘The descent Shinnecock hill carries your wheel half way | ™Orning on an 8th street. said she, haven't been introduced.” of one “that we ed t dg y ventriloquists “I wish,” said he, “that I were fasci- natingly wicked, like Philip.” “You needn't,” said Amelia. “I like you better,—than Philip.” “Amelia,” he said, retreating. “Pay us a visit, I'll say I met you,— at the Leightons.” ‘May I tomorrow? f you don’t object to tie ride?” “It's that Philip,” said he. “Don’t mind. I detest him. Don't come nearer. There, go0d night.” And she was running up the drive. For a moment he hesitated; and then he heard a door open- ing, shutting. ‘Turning, he melancholy wheeled back. Near the Shinneecck reservation, he pass- <d the buckboard. He made sure of that if he were not noticed. He fancied the surprise when they had returned to find Amelia was there. The moon sent a last fading glow over the darkening iandscape. Several times he dismounted, and sat on a height, and his pipe, and dreamed; and fincily the sun sent its first ghostly warn- ing of the daybreak, which spread over ite hill and sea, the promise of God and love. "Twas a lcrg time for a chap to sit, sen- timentally, alone in the dark, you'll say, but, then, mighty Shakespeare--wnom no- body but the clever Mr. Berrnard Shaw dares to question—said that madmen and poets and lovers were ali the same. At some time we are all mad, or rhyming, or loving; at some time we, too, have been in sit ali night on a moor, await- ing the sen. Dalton came over the bridge, and under the sunlight Hercules, The host said: uu made a night of it, ep?sAn artist—” m not an artist; I'm theoretically a broker on Wall street, and practicall, a oRed at the Hercules, who knew, “a poet. “They came back from Good Ground without finding her.” “Of course, she was at Southampton.” “How do you know?” asked the host, suddeniy suspicious. “Hum—I know Miss Amelia Fennell well; yes, very well,” said Dalton. The Hercules—there against the meadow and bay, now sparkling under the sun— knew how well; for Great Hercules is a god, who, Paganism teaches, possesses his images; and a god, of course, knows a man’s mind, and, what's more, his heart. (The End.) The Lady Was Innocent. Passengers on a Woodward avenue car were treated the other day to a rather unique form of amusement, which at the same time caused them much mystification. A woman was present who carried a small hand basket which was carefully strapped and looked as if it might be rather heavy. Tt would not have attracted the attention of the passengers, however, if it had not been for a long-drawn, melancholy meow, which every time the car stopped proceeded from the depths of the basket. “That animal needs air,” said a pompous- looking individual who sat n to her. “Before I'd travel with a remarked @ severe woman in an audi tone. “There should be a special van for mov- ing cats,” sald another passenger satirical- y. as a-louder wail than usual pierced the a ‘Oh, you all think you're smart,” satd the woman with the basket, defiantly, “but that basket hasn't any cat inside, ‘as I'll show you.” She began to unfasten the straps, but such a horrid eldritch yell came from with- in that she dropped the whole thing, amid a heartrending discord set up by the im- prisoned cat. “If that basket isn’t bewitched I’; ing to open it,” said tne owner resolutely, and she tugged at the straps until the lid was free, and with a smile she offered the contents for inspection. There was an as- sortment of domestie articles, but nothing that in the least resembled a ‘cat. But a light had gawned on the Ppassen- ers, and they smiled as they looked at Professor B., who was innocently reading @ paper, for the professor is one of the in the country, and very amusing enter- ee Surprising, if True. m go- had given them a tainment. “Judkins had a ghastly surprise this Smoking car.” “What was it?” " “Not a solitary woman tried to force her- self into it” Written for The Evening Star. The universality of bacteria is at the pres- ent time so generally recognized, and the significant part which they play in the economy of nature so well understood, that, despite their lowly organization and exceedingly minute form, they are con- sidered to rank as among the most import- ant members of the organic chain. Follow- ing the law of nature, that the simplest organisms gre, as a gule, those which have had the longest existence in time, it is but natural to assume that the bacteria are among the most ancient of the earth's in- habitants; that such ts the case, has, how- ever, only recently been demonstrated. Dr, Bernard Renault announces the very in- teresting discoveries: 1. That the bones, shells and teeth of animals in primary times—te., millions of years ago, even according to a most cen- servative estimate of time—were infected and destroyed by bacteria, analogous ir. their form and size to those which, at the present time, produce caries. 2. That formerly, as today, the remains of plants were invaded by hosts of bacteria, some of them attacking the membranous cedular tissues, and others the wood and generally thicker portions. 3. That unless arrested in their progress, the bacteria would successfully cause the disappearance of every part of every plant. 4. That coal contains considerable quan- Utles of bacteria. In the course of his in- teresting researches Dr. Renault actually determined the ‘presence of bacteria in French and Belgian coals, in the coal of Transylvania, and in various other carbon rocks. The determination in coal of organ- isms of so low a grade of organization was hardly to be expected, and is testimony to the highly advanced condition of micro- scopic technology of today. England Sanctions “Peary Land.” Under this name of Peary Land the geo- graphical societies of Europe and America have determined shall in future be known the most northerly tracts of Greenland, which have been so completely associated with the explorations of Civil Engineer Robert E. Peary, U.S. N. The suggestion of the name Peary Land originated with the Geographical Club of Philadelphia, the youngest of the Active geographical societies of the world, and its recommendation was almost immediately seconded and adopted by the presidents of the American Geographical and national societies of this country, the president of the Royal Geographical Society of London, and the editors of Petermann's Mitteilun- ger of Gotha, Germany. Erratic Geography. Among the anomalous results that geo- graphical exploratjon is constantly calling to the front is the annihilation of “land- marks,” which have been considered to be firmly established.’ Less than three years ago it was discovered that Mount Iseran, a@ peak of the Gracian Alps, which figured on all detailed maps of the Alpine regions with the very respectable elevation of up- ward of 13,000 feet, bad no existence in fact, and the assymed,mountain has since been consigned to oblivion. A somewhat less complete effacement was announced in the early part of ‘the past year in the re- moval of 7,000 feet from the height of Mt.- Brown, in British America--generaily cred- ited with an altitude of 16,000 feet in place of the 9,009 feet which is now given to it by Professor Coleman—a condition somewhat similar to the experience of Mount Hood, in Oregon, which, when‘being xraduaily re- duced from its avsumed height of 16,000 feet to 11,000 feet, brought out the fade- tious remark that! with a few years more of grace the mountain would be a nole in the ground. It is not alone the minor ex- plorer, however, who is responsible for the | berpetuation of great errors of observation. Sir Samuel Baker, the discoverer of the Albert Nyanza, the second great basin of the Nile, stated that from ists position on the lake no boundaries to it couid be traced southward to the limits of visfon; whereas Stanley and others have since shown that not only did the lake ierminate within a few miles of where Baker stood, but that its southern shore was actually bounded by high mountains. Mr. G. Scott Elliot in his reeon:ly pub- lished work, ‘*A Naturaiist in Mid-Atrica,” in turn corrects Stanley’s errors w no insignificant state: Gordon Bennett, Macxinnow k, and Mount Lamson are not mountains, but quite insignificant hills y ex- at all.” He also uch time and trouble in Y sea, di 5 dra Nyanza by Mr. Stanley, cou! be. This, of course, it is now ¢! existence whatever.” And, finally latest negative contributton to fecpraph- ical knowledge, we have in the Jack flarmsworth reports from Francis Land (recently brought to London t vessel of the expedition, the * Windwari”) the assurance that not a trace of the so- called Petermann Land of Lieut. Bayer could be discovered, and that even Lichy Land was merely a disjointed archipelagic mass of entirely inconsideradie extent. A Fine New Fabric, The government of India an: mces the Positive success of the new Gomess process for the extraction of a textile fiber from the celebrated Rhea piant, which marks the commercial beginning of a valuable and likely to be very extensive industry. The Rhea plant Is a species of ihe nettle family, which grows with almost the same luxurt- ance in India as does the Canada thistle in this country, and from its bark has come a fiber better known perhaps to the ancient than to the modern world. lis use in Egypt, India and China antedates history. Rhea cloth has been unrolled from the mummies of the Nile and unearthed from the burial grounds of Assam. In some por-- tions of the old world whore lahor is ex- ceedingly cheap it has been manufactured for nets and lines chiefly, and is probably better known under the name of “China grass.” Its peculiarity is its exceeding lightness and strength. But che difficulty heretofore has been io separate the strong silky fiber of the bark from the outer cu- Ucle and tenacious gums in which they He imbedded. Nearly thirty years ugo the India gov- ernment offered a prize of $25,:.” for the invention of a machine or process which would do this work, hitherto cone by hand. English, French and German expcriment- ers have tried various processes, and pro- duced a fabric which was worked up into a variety of forms, all the way fram ropes and sail canvas to plushes and dress goods. They failed, however, to produce a clear, cheap fiber, and this is just what the Eng- lishman, Gomess, has succeeded in doing. The combined lightness and toughness of the fiber render it peculiarly suitable for tents and ship canvas. Ten “yards of Rhea canvas welghs only as much as six of linen, while its durability and resisting power to strain is very much greater. The final success of the Indian govern- ment in securing, & cothmercially profitable process offers an»insiructive lesson. If that faraway coufitry can find means to utilize the Rhea plant it would seem as if an equal degree of enterprise and per- sistence would find a way for the utiiiza- tion of the Canad thistle in this country. The latter, which‘is Now the arch enemy of the agriculturiét, might, with a little careful study and investigation, be con- verted into a valuable and remunerative staple. A New Market for Amertcan Grat: In consequence of the failure of the Australian, Indian and Russfan grain crops A the Al sortments of machinery and manufactured goods for the South African market. Other ships will foliow and the coming year promises to be notable for the devel- opment of American trade in that section of the globe. So active hag this trade sud- denly become that New ‘York shipping houses are unable to charter enough ves- sels to carry the cargoes consigned to South African ports, and those that are sent are loaded to their fullest capacity. Among those now on their way to South Africa are several that have been regu- jJarly employed in the South American trade. The only vessels that ply between New York and South Africa are English beats operated by American agents of En- slish companies, and they do not run reg- ularly. The few American firms doing business with South Africa have no ves- sels of their own, but charter them as they require them, but if the greater demand in South Africa for American goods con- tinues and grows at the rate anticipated it may result in the establishing of one reg- ular American steamship line between New York and South African ports. Electric Current From the A: Over a hundred years ago Benjamin Franklin drew the lightning from the clouds during a thunder storm, but it was left to the present day and to Mr. William A. Eddy, the kite-fiying expert, to prove that an electric current can be drawn from the atmosphere at any time and under any conditions whatever. Mr. Eddy has succeeded in converting this electric energy into mechanical motion and he has also been able to measure the relation between humidity and electricity in the atmos- phere. Mr, Eddy attracts the electricity, which is, of course, greatly diffused in the air, by means of what he calls an electric collec- tor. This is.simply a piece of mosquito netting, some three feet by five, mounted cn @ light wooden fsame, and covered with tinfoil. The collector is attached to a kite string, and by means of the kites is sus- pended at any desired heigont. From it a very light copper wire is looped along the kite string to the ground, where it termi- nates In an electric box. Mr. Eddy uses the principle of attraction and repulsion in taking off the electric spark. The box con- tains a magnet and a pair of rubber ecvered with tinfoil, and pivotel so they can move backward and forward. t Th electric current, collected in mid-air, travels dcwn the copper wire to the electric box, where the magnet draws ‘t off in the form of a spark, and enother wire, running into the earth, grounds It. It did not take Mr. Eddy long after begin- ning his experimeais to find that he could gbtain an electric spark in this manrer in clear weather as well as when clouds charged with electricity were hovering about. The only difference was that in a dry atmosphere the collector had to be sent to a greater height befor2 the rst spark was obtained. In cloudy weather and when there was considerable humidity, the spark flashed off the wire when the collecter was only 125 or 150 feet in the air,while in clear, ary air it was sometimes necessary to £9 to a height of seven or eight hundred feet to obtain a similar manipulation. This satistied Mr. Eddy of two thiags: First, that electricity is present at all times, in’ con- siderable quantities, though in a diffused form, in the upper air; second, that hu- midity acts as an absorbent or holder of this electric force. By making numerous observations and plotting the results he found that he could measure the humidity by the length of the clectric spark. The result of this particular ltne of experiments has been embodied In a report prepared by Mr. Eddy for the weather bureau, Some Interesting Facts. Mr. Edjy has discoverzd many !nterest- ing facts and some that are valuable as well as interesting, by means of his elec- trical contrivance. One is that he can de- teet the approach of a cloud by the increas- ing length of the spark, so that a blind nan or a man sitting in a closed observa- tory could know of the approach of a local cloud, although he cSuld not see it. Anoth- er fact that may make the electric col- lector an important assistant in the work of the weather bureau is that the gathering of a storm, especially, of course, an elec- trical storm, can be made known to an ob- server by the increased electrical disturi- of the upper atmosphere before it ‘ests itself in any other way. A point of curious rather than practicad interest is the fact that the metal roofs of our very high buildings act as electric collectors. This electricity is absorbed by the bricks or carried off by the iron work beneath the roof, so thet it seldom manifests itself. Given a wooden building of sufficient height, however, with a tin or mecal roof, and no gutter pipes or other conductors ex- cept a copper wire leading to the ground, and Mr. Eddy is perfectly certain that he can draw off electric sparks from that wire at the earth's surface. Perhaps the most interesting of all Mr. Eddy’s experiments in this peculiar field ts that of converting the vleccrie current drawn from the upper air into mecaanical motion. This has been done in a primitive manner by using a light pasteboard wheel set on a pivot so as to revolve very easily. A number of small metal pins are set along the rim of the wheel and the spark is at- tracted directly to these pins by the mag- net. The resulting motion has been slight as might be expected from sucn an ar- rangement and from the small siz2 of the collector, but it opens an attractive field for experiment, and points to the line when houses and small business establishments may have their electric plants in the sky instead of in the cellar, as is usually the case at present. ——-_->—__ Foster. From Waist. Who tausht me how to krow the leads, So easy one must learn who reads? Why Foster. Who tanght me when to choose the King, Aud when the Jack's the proper thing? Why Foster. Who taught me by the "leven rule ‘To figure out the suits in full? Why Foster. Who told me when T knew it all, ‘Thut long suits were no good at ail? Why Foster. Who told me tenace was the play, And short sults Were the only way? Why Foster. Who said supporting cards were strong, But number-showing leads were wrong? Why Foster. And who will tell me what to do, If others play the short suits, too? © Why Foster. And if this short-snit I choose, Who is to blame if I should lose? Why I am. (Why not Foster?—Ed.) —_———_+e+_____ Courtesy. From Harper's Bazar, Somebody says that although courtesy is .not Christianity, !t is a very good imita- tion of it, indorsed by good breeding. Christianity commands us to love our reighbor as ourselves. Courtesy commands us to treat our neighbor as ourselves. Whether We love him or not, courtesy does 1ot inquire. We are to seem to do so, and act as if we did. There are people who consider this de, ceit. “If I don’t care a snap for Jones, why should I express pleasure at the sight of him and sorrow when he leaves me? If I never saw his wife and children, is it not hypocrisy for me to show interest in Mrs. Jones' rheumatism or regret the broken arm of the small Jones?” It may be so. Perhaps it is a debatable maatter. Yet life holds so much sorrow and so many mistakes and regrets for most of us, that ft is a primary duty to humanity to force ourselves to feel and to express all the sympathy, kindness and cordiality we can, even if we have to manufacture them “out of the whole cloth.” raise if.” Mr. Cook—You'd better go and see, dear; Derhaps she's. put.on it the appte dumplings @ very striking result. We can show that when a meteor dashes into our atmosphere the heat generated it pierces its way through by friction will be suffictent, not alone to warm the object, but to make it red hot, and even white heat. Nay, fu ther, the heat that can be produced by the friction of a cold body striking into our cold atmosphere may become higher than that which is generated in a blast furnace. it may be higher than the temperature in the flame of an oxyhydrogen blow pipe. The effect upon the meteor is of a most astonishing description, Be the materials of this body what they may; whether they aré such as will yield easily to fire or whether they are the most intractable bodies which caa be found, they will be unable to withstand the intensity of the fervor pro- duced by this atmospheric friction. The little object not only grows red and whi hot, but it is fused into Nquid. Nay, fur- ther, the abundance of the heat is’ such that the liquid may be boiled off inte vapor, sc that within a very few seconds « the meteor has precipitated ftvelf ty atmosphere its dissolution is comple has perished as an individual ob its remains le strewn in impalpable dust along a track perhaps ten, twenty or fifty miles In length. Before the Dust Period. WAYS OF METEORS Screened by Our Atmosphere From ‘These Bullets of the Sky. DERELICT MATTER THROUGH SPACE —>—___ Description of a Meteoric Shower __ by Sir Robert Ball. Se ON FIRE BY FRICTION et ee Written for The Evening Star. STRONOMY I8S generally concerned abouts objects of | Our only knowledge of the existence of huge dimensions. For meteor is acquired during the very though many of the { space while its annthilation is in celestial bodies may | progress. fore that time we could not appear to us to be ee it, for it was too small and too far small on account of | away and moving too rapidly. After that the vast distance by | time it could hardly be known to us, for which we are sepa- | how could we gather up the dust Into which rated from them, yet | it had been converted along Its track. But © supreme moment of its dissolu- it develops a streak of light so brig © be apt to create an impression alto- her oat of proportion to the minutey they are in ma cases mighty globes comparable with our | earth in bulk, or, | P object to which the Nght owes its B ie | origin. SED eo remained td alltel cored [ES hen pane g | veey Nene Meg pet PH times greater. There ts however, one | nee ooscrver “union ending) cena ciass of objects, strictly belonging to the | stances sees cnly a few shooting stars on province of astronomy, which have no} any particular night that therefore the umber of these objects appropriated by ve earth every twenty-four hours are not ery humerous. It has been estimated that j the number of shooting stars which daily | plunge into our atmosphere ts to be reckon- ed by pretensicrs to consideration on the gronnd of their bulk. The objects of which I speak | are, in fact, rot as large as even the sma’ est of moons or the most telescopic of plan- ets. They are not even so big as the moun- | tains on the earth; the majority of them | ate : “easfors Beto, So : cio larger | ates nal matter to globe eee i ene Paes, | been im progress for illimitable ages, It than the peBbles on a garden walk. I dare | coms quite possible that a considerable {say that many of them are not greater | part of our earth may actually have een than the gains of sand on the seashore. | deriv from the daily raining down of We denote then by the srord enbtebre: these Mitle cclestial wanderers upon {ts These little objects must, however, Sr is dockets regarded as bodies which come within the | arch thar we nee province of the astronomer, for they have] pacre from the an existence quite independent of our earth, | even though these objects be no larger thy and move freely through space, in so far | peed regroey ———— —_ Sen at least as that part of their career is con- | STDS (hat Mey are animated with veloci: cerned which precedes the supreme occa-| Pin. puttet, It te obvious thar thee Tee ee ee a tesidence on the earth hig On the moon, for instan The most remarkable feaiffre of the m ae ae if not, indeed, by scores of considering that this millions, has be uw the for s on sere by our atmos- > bullets of the sky. teor is the speed at which it travels. the: sulastios tp iresks sor’ ascaites Though often not so large as a riste bu opek: aed: CUES eke, acres neleor urges its Way,at a pace far in excess of that with whifh any rifle bullet has ever been driven, or, we may indeed say, far in excess of that with which any lows must be terrific. Showers of Met rn, 3 It had long been noticed that there were SS Raa Teer earn ante arany gia. | oettaln ight dn EbS'yoer th which metes mated with speeds far in excess of those | displays were specially manifested possessed by any rifle bullet. For our pres- ; MOSt notable dates in this connection ent purpose there is no occasion to inquire | the lth of August and the 13th ¢ as to the manner in which such terrific} vember. On either these n. in velocities have been originally imparted. | ™ost every year the diligent watchers All that we have now to consider is the fact these little objects when moving in free space are certainly hurrying along with velocities ten times, twenty times, fifty times, or sometimes even 100 times as swift as the swiftest rifle bullet that ever was fired. Round the Globe tn Ten Minutes. If a meteor were to fly round the equa- tor while preserving all the time its char- acteristic speed, it would take no more than two or three minutes to cross each of the continents and each of the oceans which lay in its way; ard, in fact, the whole journey round the globe would be accomplished within ten minutes. Animat- ed by such a speed a body would pass from Liverpool to New York in a minute, or it the skies will be rewarded with an unusual number of thi Even on those days, howev< is not, generally speaking, suffi ing to e e sight fiery dar ntly stri cite universal astonishment. does, however, sometimes happen that November shower becomes a sp Which can only be described as si Many of our readers will doubtless lect the superb display of shooting which took place on the 13th of No I shall always treasure the recollection of that phenomenon as perhaps the most in- teresting astronomical sight that I have ever witnessed. I was at that time tronomer to the late Earl of Rosse at Par- sonstown in the center of Ireland. It was then my duty to observe nebulae with th famous reflecting telescope of six f t would travel all the way from the earth to | 4perture. I was engaged on the nignt in the moon in less than an hour and a half, | Question in conjunction with the present A meteor urging its course with this stu- | Earl of R in examining a nebula when pendous rapidity may pass near the earth, | the exclamation of an attendant by my Say at a distanc2 of @ tho.sand miles or | Side made me look up in time to see a so. It then pursues its way and entirely | Splendid shooting star which, like a great rocket, streamed across the sk “Presently similar objects appeared in scores and hundreds, and for some nours we witnessed one of the most glorious ce- lestial spectacles that the eye of man could ever behold. It was to be noticed that the shooting stars did not appear Promiscuously from various parts of the sky. The directions in which they moved seemed to radiate from a point in the con- escapes our attention. No doubt the at- traction of the great mass of the earth will, to a certain extent, pull the object and cornpel it to swerve from the direction it has been following, but provided it gets clear of the atmosphere which so complete- ly invests the earth, the meteor will be un- injured and will not lose its velocity. Doubtless every day, nay, every hour and every minute, unseen meteors are passing by the earth. narrowly escaping a fali|stellation of Leo. This appearance of di- which would forever terminate their wan-| vergence from a point is easily shown t derings. be an effect of perspective; the meteors ar Suppose, however, the direction of the|in fact all darting toward the earth fron motion of a meteor be such that it enters | one direction, namely, parallel to the Ii our carth’s atmosphere. Immediately its | from the eye to the center of the sickle: terrific motion is checked. It might almost | shaped pari of Leo. be said to be checked with nearly the same | Those particular meteors which happen emphasis as the speed of an ordinary rifle 1 ight toward the observ bullet would be checked if it were fired into | seemed so much fore-shortened that they a hay stack. The speed which the meteor | locked Lke stars which suddenl possesses before ft has struck r at- | into brightness and as sudd>) mosphere cannot possibly be m. isappeared, with but little or no chane afterward. The resistance of the the apparent position which they oc particuta ehind them not permit it. But the effort tial wanderer to continue its astonishing movements after ft has taken the plunge lead to consequences which, though fatal to the meteor, are of the highest inter | Result of Friction, | | four pied. Some three or cks } | bright meteors left long t which lasted for ly sank into i y —— Victim of a New Fad. Every one knows that the friction of two bodies rubbing against each other is fre- quently accompanied by the production of heat. A neglected axle-box in a carriage in rapid motion has occasionally krown to sei a ratlw train on fire. From the New York Herald, woman leaned wearily back 1 the nest of cushions and yawned languic¢ are tired, Claris: inquired her looking up from the pages of his The societs you been | husband In this case the axle, from not being properly | ciy so,” sald the woman, as she supphed with grease, has become hot from sed a yawn. “I've just come from friction, and as the friction sti in which the countess and I the heat gradually r ure | ted and I found the buttercakes until a tempe sufficient to produce ignition had been gen- | ana the ‘beof and’ exceedingly wnsatisfae- erated. As the flying me! ashes | tory. you know, I'm a partner in through the air, the air rubs on the surfa ‘esia lightning lunch piace, the of the little missile. It can be shown by Pie Foundry, the Newport experiment that the friction of the air ooner Resort, the Social Leaders’ Cob- egainst a body hurrying produces heat. It is true that we are not actually able to try this experiment with a body moving sc quickly as a meteor, but we can experiment up to a certain point, and then calculation will take up the reasoning, and conduct to bling Parlors and the Cotillon Quick Den- tal Bureau. Sometimes I almost wish, Reg- inald, that it was not the for society women to go into trade matters. | She touc the bell and with a sleepy pidly through it | goodnight departed for her boudoir leaning upon the shoulders of her maid.