Evening Star Newspaper, October 2, 1897, Page 16

16 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, OCTOBER COMEDIES OF LIFE Scenes and Incidents About a Big Railway Station. - SOMETIMES THEY HAVE A TRAGIC PHASE But Always Interesting to the Stu- dent of Human Nature. WELL WORTH THE STUDY HERE COULD BE worse employment for an occasional hour or so of spare time than a visit of observation from a shadowy corner at either one of Wash- ington's railway sta- tions. At the base of every arrival and de- parture there is probably at least a storiette, or at least the temporarily idle visitor, from his shadowy corner, is privi- leged to manufacture one after his own fancy. Even to listen to and study the man who calls the trains is worth whiJe—that walk- ing bureau of information with the sonor- cus voice, than whom no living human be- ing is more and yet seems by his calm in- scrutability to be less a part of the world he dwells in and pities. To see how he turns upon his heel with a sardonic smile when his weary eye catches heartbreaking parting scenes between mothers and sons, husbands and wives, lovers and sweet- hearts—scenes that make even the ordina- tily hardened man a little @jueer in the A Pretty Jaunty Lot. throat—is to long for his impassiveness of temperament, or at least his immensity of experience. As to the rest of the ever flitting uni- formed empioyes, perhaps the emulative spirit of the depot visitor is most aroused by the ponderous dignity of the conductor striding imperiously in the direction of the gate, with his tin box in hand, just about to depart on his out-journey—whither?— there is so much of the mystery of ealcu- lation in wondering where he is going. No one has-yet succeeded in explaining why most railway conductors carry their shoul- ders back in precisely the manner of re- tired sergeants of marines; nor why they are generally so much above the stature of average men; nor why their thick mus- taches are usuaily of the grizzledness of Richard the Lion Heart's; nor why they al- mcst invariably look you straight in the eye and think for thirty seconds before they reply to your question; nor why they always carry their heavy gold watches carefully concealed under their tightly buttoned frock uniform coats, which they must elaborately unbutton and rebutton every time they are inquired the hour of day or nighi—only a few of the points about conductors that have caused mil- tions to wonder. But the casual visitor at the railway sta- tion speculates more, and more at large, over the ceaseless ununiformed human pro- cession, coming and going, and the waiters in the seats. The waiters in the seats are the strong feature of Washington's railway Stations, for both of them are terminais, and therefore the seats do not often grow. cold. Among the waiters in the seats, high noon or micnight, is almost always the shabby, sad-eyed woman with the three children. The children are prettily dressed, Clasping Hands. happy as sunbeams, and of course know nothing of their mother’s anxiety as to whether her husband will meet her at the end of her journey. For the salvation of their lives the three children require con- stant nourishment of pickles and cake from the mother’s large lunch box, and at in- tervals of ten minutes she is compelled to wive each of them a large glass of ice water from the cooler. She alone, of the whole human tide, does the caller of trains deign to notice with a certain degree of condescending interest. He has even been known to cheer the sad-eyed mother, to chuck the little boy under the chin, and to buy him an appie, and, when the long-look- ed-for train finally arrived, to see the party to the gate. The saan and brother who waits four hours for his train for “Culpepah kaounty,” and who, during the entire period, munches sandwiches devised of thick slices of bread and thick ‘slices of bacon, is generally on hand. At his side, and watched with ex- treme jeafousy, is an ante-bellum carpet bag, with queer bulges in the sides. The man and brother labors under the appre- hension that the railroad and all of the em- ployes thereof have entered into a con- spiracy to make him lose his train. He leaps from his seat every time a train is announced, and approaches the unseeing caller of trains in bounds. “Dat my kyah, suh?” he inquires anx- iousiy. The caller of trains intently compares his split-second watch with the walting-roora cloc! “Dat train o° kyahs stahtin’ de one dis yere cahd’s fo’, suh?” presenting his ticket. The calier of trains winds his watch with the air of a man studying very profoundly. “Your train goes in two hours and thirty- five minutes,” he says finally, like a man talking to himself, and the man and brother bound for Culpeper county resumes his seat and his bacon sandwiches. The man always in a rush hurtles in about every half hour. H ion in @ cab, the horse hauling egmn-§ ‘and a says sul Fhurous tl over the the cal Sea He grabs his bag expressman seizing and fs off for the waiting lke a dart. Akead of him at the parlor car ticket window is a leisurely lady who ts engaging seats for a journey next week. The man always in a hurry stands behind her, chewing his mustache and clinching his hands and glowering around in mortal agony, as'who should say, “And this is the sex we are taught to reverence! ‘Two Minutes Ahead of Time. He gets his ticket finally, and makes a sprint of it for the gate. “All aboard” has been called out, and the gatekeeper is just closing the gate. “Hey, there!” yells the man always in a rush, and the gateman holds the gate half-way open. “Show your ticket, please’ mildly. ‘The man in a rush looks at the gate- keeper with unutterable hatred in his eyes, but drops his bag, digs into bis topcoat, draws out the ticket, has it punched, and makes the train now pulling out in record time. In contrast to this “queer bunch”—as the gatekeeper, looking after his flying figure, calls him—is the drummer who always ar- rives at the station two minutes ahead of time, and goes abcut his business of buy- ing tickets, newspapers and magazines w:th the comolaisance of a man making arrangements to go to bed. His forehead is unbedewed with the perspiration of anx- iety, and he strolls in the direction of the gaie, where the throng has always thinned out, like a man out for an evening walk. Oddly enough, he never seems to miss his train. The nervous woman causes some losses in the matter of spiritual strength when she turns up, which is quite Often. One of her commonest traits is to get at the nead of the line at the wrong gate with the wrong et. ‘This train is for Pittsburg and the west, ma'am, and you're gcing to New York,” suggests the gatekeeper. “Oh, dear me, then, I'm at the wrong gate, am I not?” says she, tremulovsly. “Yes'm,” says the gatekeeper, to the a>- companiment of the gnashing of teeth in the rear of the line. “Well, where is the right gate, pray?” haughtily. “Next gate, ma’am,” says the gatekeeper, and deep groans are heard in the rear. “Well, why can’t I go through this one, now I'm here? See all these folks be- hind, waiting?” “Against the rules’m,” and by this time the groans are reminiscent of the subdued mutterings of a stage Roman populace. ‘The nervous woman thereupen picks up her two grips, stuck through the straps of ene of which are a few umbrellas and parasols, which protrude quite a lot, and, all by herself, she makes a flying V wedge through the dense crowd. For courteous elderly gentlemen, with the gallantry of the old school a hasty “Beg pahdon!” may be seme alleviation for the pain of being jab- bed in the legs with pencil-pointed para- sels, but the modern world is brutal and critical. So that the nervous woman in her retreat does not make a very colossal hit, except physically, with the people she at- tempts to maim. The man who has come down to sce his wife off cn a journey seems always to ex- hibit a cheerful resignation that ‘trange. He is quite chatty with her, and is smok- ing, which he might not have been when with her a few years back. If there is to be any wait for the train, he has been known to deposit his spouse in the ladies’ waiting room. while he went to the room Where smoking is permitted. He is gener- ally so good-natured that his wife rather wonders at him, and just before she starts with him to the gate she shakes a warning ferefinger at him with a “Now, remember, be good! “Course I will,” says hi ‘And write every day?" “Course” ‘And not smoke too much?” “Course not.’ “And keep away from that horrid Jack—” ‘Course. Bye, Louise; take keer 0’ yer- self;"” and it is over, and he turns from the gate without, somehow, looking miserable er forlorn at all. But there are other couples. They remain together in a corner of the waiting room during the entire heart-breaking time of the wait, and they start shamefacedly when brutal people passing in and out catch them clasping hands. They hardly speak at all. They are young. They gaze straight before them, like people awaiting dcom. They start as at the approach of the high sheriff on the last mcrning when the caller of trains breaks in upon their reveries with the announcement of the train that is to take her or him away out into the wide world—for about three days, perhaps. And when he or she has at length gone, the other—but some things are too sacred for type. The difference between the unconscious pathos of youth and the pathos of middle age is as broad as the sea. The elderly woman who appears at a station every at the time of the arrival of a certain . to watch for the arrival of a son who was killed in an accident in the west long ago, and the account of whose death the old lady declines to believe, is a story of truth told here the other day. The old gen- tlewoman simply strains her gaze through the kars until the last passenger has left the train, and then turns away with a sigh. The train was two hours fate the other day, but the old, lady waited pa- tiently for its arrival. The boy that does turn up on time, how- ever, is always a pretty jaunty lot. It fs probably when he returns from college, and his mother and sisters are awaiting his arrival. When he walks down the sta- tion, in perhaps a fairly bizarre outfit of clothing, the excitement among the femule members of his family is something to see. The meeting is a study in the difference, wide and deep, between femininity and masculinity in the matter of demonsira- and the lack of it. Villie, my boy!” “How do, mom “Dear old Will!” “Hay-o, sis!” The other day there was a very large crowd at one of the stations, waiting for the Atlantic City train. The laughter and talking were incessant, and the spirit of holiday-making was all over the station. About five minutes before the gates were opened for the Atlantic City excursion party a train arrived at the station from he says, Above the Stature of Average Men. the west. After all the passengers had left this train from the west, and all of the train's baggage had been station employes quietly passed through the crowd surging nearest the exit gate and cleared a passage. Then OVER ICE AND SNOW All Sorts of Inventions to Make ~ ‘Traveling Easy. FOR USE IN THE KLONDIKE COUNTKY Some of Them Would Seem to Be Rather Impracticable. AN UP-TO-DATE EXPEDITION Written for The Evening Star. UNDREDS OF H unique ideas — just a: the thing for Klon- dikers — have been patented in this country recently. They can be best de- scribed in a word picture of a strictly up-to-date expedition supposed to start out for the frigid land of gold in defiance of the freezing winds, ice and snow. Professor Newfangle, director of the ex- pedition, has been searching the files of the patent office, and with a snug sum to back him wiil avail himself freely of the ad- vanced ideas of the progressive Yankee in- ventor. He has inspected various designs for ice looomotives recently patented. With one of these to command he hopes to carry out Secretary Alger’s idea of ascending the Yukon while it is frozen over. The most recent of these inventions, the con- ception of an Idaho man, is guaranteed to run over ali sorts and conditions of icy and snow surfaces, either as an independ- ent conveyance or as motive power for a train of sleds. The platform or base is coffin-shaped, the long end being in front. A cabin to contain the engine boiler, pas- sengers and crew is erected over the wid- est part. A pilot house stands at the ex- treme front: The base is supported by three runners, a large one on either side and a small steering runner in front. Through an opening in the floor of the cabin a large driving wheel, revolved by the engine. engages directly with the frozen running surface beneath. Over the broad tire of this great wheel are distribut- ed numerous long spikes. The wheel may be lowered, to thrust its spikes deeper, or raised, as the speed or surface may de- mand. The fuel may be carried on a tender in the rear or in one of the sleds. Traveling by Train. A Wisconsin man would build a simpler contrivance on a rectangular base with a pair of spiked driving wheels. Other ideas are to revolve the drivers by means of sprocket wheels and chains or to eliminate the driving wheels altogether and substi- tute on either side, close by the runners, a horizontal sprocket chain, with extending spikes or lugs to engage the ice or snow beneath. Professor Newfangle’s equipment, to be carried in the train which he ultimately selects, will be even more novel than his means of transportation. He has examined at least a hundred specifications for smart ideas in portable houses and finds that he can box up a whole hotel in a very little space and carry it to Klondike, if he chooses. As it is, he can select any style of house he desires and send his plans to one of several firms, who will have it put up in boxes and ship it to him with in- structions as to how it is to be fitted to- gether after having been brought to its destination. One man will make him a very neat house, good enough for Klon- dike, which may be unfolded and set up in a very few minutes. All that is necessary is to put similarly numbered parts to- gether and they will be held by bolts and catch No nails are necessary. One of the newest of these ideas is a portable > which may stand as an individual dwelling or may form the unit of a great blcck of such houses spread out on the ground, or as a single flat of a huge apart- ment building formed by piling one upon another. They may be turned out by hun- dreds in a factory. Each surface is made to engage and fasten itself to an adjoining front, back, top, bottom or side of a similar house above, below, or adjoining it. Thus several families going to Klondike might put up, in short order, all of their houses in a group, which would add to their warmth and strength. Stoves and Heaters, The professor intends above all things to baie Old Boreas. He has investigated seores of patents for new ideas in portable stoves and heaters. One of the most strik- ing of these is a cook stove which may be packed in the form and size of a full-dress suit case, and which is as conveniently carried. The greatest possible economy has been observed in packing the parts to- gether. The outside is an open stove and grating. Inside of this is the bake oven, fcrming the main body or carrying-kit, and heiding stovepipe, pots, pans, kettles and Kitchen utensils of all kinds’ made to fit, one in another, like the parts of a con. jurer’s box. Although such a stove will be lerge enough for the needs of the pro- fessor’s party, it 1s not a circumstance in cempactness to a larger stove patented lately in this country by a Prussian, The latter, a complete culinary outfit, including all which Is necessary to cook 125 meals at once, may be packed in a portable case smaller than an ordinary trunk. To carry with him while out prospecting, away from his portable house, the professor will have always in his pocket a portable cooking outfit contaizted in an unique case the shape of an egg. Inside are contained a spirit lamp, flask, knife, fork, spoon and several pans or dishes, of various. sizes, for containing the coffee, soup, or other focd to be cooked. When the lid is takea off, three legs unfoid and form a salaman- der. The lid is then inverted and placed under this. A spirit lamp, formed in a compartment of the top, is then lighted. This Ought to Be Warm. From a New Jersey inventor, ‘who pat- ented the scheme a few months ago, the professor has purchased an odd garment to protect him from the freezing Klondike weather. It is a long coat, extending from the tops of his ears to his heels. The outer facing is of a warm, water-proof cloth, and the inner lining of thick duck. Be- tween these two surfaces is a thickness of @ woven fabric of spiral wire, which read- ily bends when the body or limbs are moved. In the bottom part of the front of the garment is a large flap pocket, made fireproof, and containing a magazine for holding a fuel cartridge of slow-burning carbonaceous powder. The heat from this miniature furnace room rises and circulates through the wire openwork of the coat, which is virtually an air chamber, entirely surrounding the human form inside. For the pilot of his ice locomotive, who cannot connect his apartment with the engine room, as can the other passengers, the professor has purchased from an Omaha inventor a lately patented skeleton jacket, constructed of hollow metallic tubes fitted together with ball and socket joints. This, when fastened about the body, can be at- tached to the boiler of an engine or any steamsheating system, The professor has @lso ordered for his party a supply of self-heating shoes, each of which has a hollow cavity, inside a metallic sole and heel, for receiving slow- burning fuel. These, he thinks, will be convenient while walking or cycling up in Klondike. He has found scores of patents for snow and ice attachments for pleyeles, and knows just where to purchase the most improved of these. Some consist simply of extra tires of metal or rubber, or both, having spiked surfaces and adjustments wherewith they may be adapted tb either wheel. For soft, snowy su may be added attachments resembling small to- with slots in the center to admit these spiked tires. For travel upon smooth = a ane replaced, by jong skete in moved a run- ner, attached to the fork. An Automobile Sleigh. by_a Wisconsin man. This has three two people, who are kept electric sleigh-heaters beneath. A i forti of storage battery under the ies motive power to the spfited' dtiving wheel to the rear, be- seats, Gack for warm compa platform or Body supp! tween Besi Professér will take with him a sufficiency ‘runners. of the hew: smoldering powder now made yarious heating devices to be applied to the person. In either pocket he cafry a’ heater, about the as fuel for can a ‘small-sized size of & soda biscuit,-filled with this com- Position, . Ap jive expedition, directed by such & pro} ive mind, will never suffer from an cxhgusted larder. The party will be supplied with sufficient eatables in com- Pressed form to last them several years, if needs be, and it will require no more space during ‘tranSportation than the ordinary baggage of’a traveler who goes away for a month. Multum in Parvo. Each man will always carry with him an emergency ration of lean bacon, pea meal, compressed biscuit, salt, pepper and tea or coffee, done up in a little case capable of being attached to his belt, but sufficient to keep him alive for more than a week, should he get lost from his companions. Little capsules about the size and shape cf birds’ eggs when dissolved in boiling water make an excellent pot of coffee or tea and contain the sugar and milk already con- densed inside. Instead of sugar, however, the larder of the party is supplied with saccharin, which is 200 times sweeter than sugar, in proportion to weight, and there- fore occupies 1-200 the room which the for- mer would require. Soup of all kinds is compressed into small caramels, which'may be readily dissolved in boiling water. Be- sides an abundant supply of canned meats, vegetables and fruits of all kinds, the pro- fessor will take with him a goodly supply of a new kind of liquor, distilled from the kola nut, which has the valuable property of preventing hunger and at the same time the waste of the human tissues, for many days at a time, in case supplies should be cut off. The professor will transport his ice loco- motive, sleds and Same oo outfit to the Yukon in boxes. There the locomotive and sleds will be unpacked, the portable house and stove, food and other outtit be- ing placed in the sleds and hauled to the Klondike. Such an enterprise would appear to be purely visionary, but it might be realized were all devices, for which the government gives a patent, operative, and the policy of the patent office is that they must be. HN ELFRETH WATKINS. See The Gardens of Our Forefathers. From the London Ev2uing Standard. We are free to believe that those remote forefathers of ours, whom the majority persist in calling Anglo-Saxons, were fond of flowers. Perhaps the evidence only shows that they were fond of sweet smells, which is no national peculiarit; that sense they talk of roses and lilies pleasantly enough. The words are Latin. however, with no native equivalent—prov- ing that they found them in the country, a legacy from the Romans. We are not aware that any other cultivated flower is named in Anglo-Saxon writings; but the violet has a place (cloepe), and the per winkle, pimpernel, mouse ear and such wildlings. The learned assure us that “garden” is pure English; but that “proves very little. It is the same word as “yard,” and we have it in ‘“‘orchard’’—the ort-yard or “kitchen. garden.” So far as flowers went, there was not much progress for many centuries; but the garden, such as it Was, beeame a very “fashionable institu- tion” under ithe Plantagenets. Perhaps there is no romance of chivalry which does not make copious allusion to it. Ladies ccnstantly walk therein after dinner, and the hero, attends them. Chaucer lays a garden s¢ene gn several of his stories, and it is very elaborate, too. But when we in- quire what plants were cultivated there it would seem that the garden of the middle ages waw filled with fruit trees and herbs and vegetables, with shrubberies, no doubt, and abundaned of shade and arbors. Upon the other hand, pictures innumerable show a gardenimost refully laid out with beds. commonly bordered by a trellis, and flo ers conspicuous therein; but this is not dence. The list of herbs, however, is r ly astonishing. Mr. Wright found a manu- script ofthe fifteenth century in the Brit- ish Muséum, “which gives no less than fifty “for ‘pottage,” eight “for sauce,” eleven “for the coppe” (cup), twenty “for salade,”” thirteen “‘to stylle’ (distill), sf teen “for savor and beaute."” An anti quarian who was also an epicure—such abound—would not wholly waste his time in looking up these plants and trying them Most of the names are long since forgot- ten, but it would not be difficult to trace them. One must admit, however, that some of those we recognize are not prom- ising, as “hartestongue” for sauce, if the fern be intended, and rue for cup. But there is a large choice. Violet flowers and primrose buds for salad look Sybaritic. +o2_____ Advantages of Bare Feet. From the Pall Mall Gazette. Visitors to Scotland used to be horrified on seeing so many chi'dren running about barefooted. Bare feet are less common now than they were a generation ago, and per- haps the change, while showing a growing prosperity in the nation, is not altogether to be commended. Children’s feet grow so fast that to keep them always properly shod is a matter that requires considerable care and some expenditure. It matters very little to a child’s future well-being that at some period of its childhood the sleeves of a jacket have been too short or the skirt of a frock too scant; but the com- pression of feet in boots too tight, or, even worse, too short, may be a cause of tor- ment in future years. Infinitely better are bare feet than clumsy, heavy, ill-shapen boots. In the winter the feet may indeed want some protection from cold and wet; Lut during a great part of the year children may safely and healthfully go barefooted. Some n.others, by no means of the poor- est class, are convinced that the comfort and symmetry of the feet in maturer years are largely to be gained by giving them freedom during the time of growth. At a very fashionable marriage some time ago a child bridesmaid was seen silk-robed, but shoeless. Where shoes to fit every stage of growth can easily be obtained, it may seem an excess of care, almost an sffec- tation, to dispense with the conventional foot-covering; but if it makes it easier for the wife of a small tradesman—with whom the shoe problem is a difficult one, never solved in a comfortable or hygienic way— to let her children go barefooted if she sees the heir to a dukedom enjoying the full ease of his uncramped toes, we should, says The Hospital, beseech the duchess to take away his shoes. No doubt the young hope of the peerage would take his eman- cipation gladly. And if shoes are unde- sirable, how much more so are gloves. Except the thick woolen ones for winter warmth, gloves should be banished from a child’s wardrobe. How many youngsters “dressed to death,” or near it, would echo the complaint of a West India negro sol- dier when for the first time he donned fuli uniform: “Barracks for de feet bad nuff; barracks’ for de hands too bad—too bad!” ba a ee Sometimes a:Geod Thing to Love Your Job. From Hardware,.,, Many men Who have fair salaried posi- tions are contented to thus go through life having no higher hopes and aims than simply to‘do their work well, and never ex- pect to bé anfthing more than a clerk all their lives. They thus become dwarfed in their mental capabilities, and if they live to be old thelf services gradually become less and ‘less ‘valuable to their employes. Had somé. of this stamp lost their po- fe, the struggle that they gen forced to make would develop what was best in them, i Many of thé most successful business men of today would rot have achieved their present financial positions had they always remained clerks. Had they had their choice, perhaps, they would always have been clerks; a@ Sountiful supply of furs, the RH showing the positions of the 4 : 4 Plantsphere of the Heavens—showing the positions, of Principal Stars above the bort-on which the éarth’s axis is directed. It is a 0 votal point, and as the earth turns in one + A Practical Guide for the Use of Amateur Astronomers. TO LOCATE THE STARS AND PLANETS Reason for the Great Dipper’s Change of Position. FINE SHOWER OF METEORS BRIGHT STAR which may now be seen at 9 p.m. a little east of south, and at a rather low altitude, is Fomalhaut, in the Southern Fish. In the southeast, at about the same altitude, is Deneb Kaitos, a star of the second magni- tude, in the tall of Cetus, the Whale. At a somewhat greater altitude, and some- what farther from Fomalhaut, in the south- west, is a conspicuous pair of stars, one of the second and one of the third magnitude, which mark the head of Capricorn. The upper of these two stars is a wide double, easily separated with an opera glass and a very pretty object for that instrument. At about one-third of the distance from this pair of stars to Deneb Kaitos, and about equally distant from them and Fomalhaut is a second pair of nearly the same bright- ness, but farther apart, which marks the tail of Capricorn. This constellation, the Goat-Fish, can be located very readily by merns of these two pairs of stars, but it is of Lttle interest, except as one of the zodi- acal constellations, being very poor in stars. Between Capricorn and Cetus and above the Southern Fish, lies—or rather stands, in a most cramped position, as depicted on a chart—Aquarius, the Waterman, also a zodiacal constellation. The shoulders of the Waterman are marked by two stars of the second magnitude, about ten degrees apart—the distance across the bowl of the Great Dipper—which range very nearly with the pair in the head of Capricorn. About ten degrees above the star, in the right shoulder—Alpha Aquuzrii--is Epsilon Pegasi, a second-magnitude star in the nose of Pegasus. This and the two shoul- der stars form a right-angled triangle, with two equal sides, which is a useful land- mark in this region of the heavens. About five degrees to the left of Alpha Aquarti is a pretty little Y-shaped cluster of fourth- magnitude stars, which forms the Water- man’s ewer. From it is supposed to issue a stream of water, which curves down- wari, traceable by a stream of faint stars, to the mouth of the Southern Fish. The Great Whale or Sea Monster, Cetus, is now fairly above the horizon, covering a large area of the southeastern sky. Its tail has already been pointed out. Its head, marked by the star Menkar, is very nearly in the east. The constellation contains a number of conspicuous stars, notably a group of four in the head, and a large tra- Pezium of third-magnitude stars at two- thirds of the distance from these to the tail, but as a whole Cetus is not a striking constellation, and is remarkable chiefly for its vast size, being fifty degrees in length by twenty in breadth, In the East. In the east we shall find Aries, An- dromeda and Pegasus at a considerably greater altitude tonight than when we ex- amined them a month ago. Below Aries, Taurus, the great celestial Bull, is now ris- ing. The Pleiades, in his shoulder, are about ten degrees high, and Aldebaran and the Hyades are also above the horizon, though too low to be visible. In the southwest the Scorpion and Ophiu- chus have set, and Sagittarius will soon follow. The Eagle, containing the bright star Altair, is midway between the horizon and the zenith. Above and to the left of the Eagle is the Dolphin, better known as Job's Coffin, one of the prettiest of the small constellations. The Swan has now passed the zenith and is diving toward the western horizon, fol- lowing very nearly the course of the Milky Way, in which it lies. Below and a little to the right of the Swan is the Lyre, wnose splendid star, Vega, now shines with its full glory. Below the Lyre is Hercules, the Kneeler, and barely above the horizon, in the northwest, is the Northern Crown. Facing the north we shall find the Great Bear (Ursa Major) in its lowest position, wallowing in the horizon—directly beneath the Pole Star. In the northeast, only in part above the horizon, is Auriga, the Wagoner, in whose left shoulder stands Capella, the rival in splendor of Vega and Arcturus. Above Auriga stands Perseus, swinging in his left hand the frightful Gorgon’s head, marked by the variable star Algol, the “Blinking Demon.” Still higher in the northeast sits. Cassiopeia, the Lady in Her Chair. To the left of Cassiopela— the observer's left—and directly above the Pole Star, stands her consort, Cepheus, and still further to the left, between Cepheus and the northwestern horizon, are the Dragon and the Little Bear. “The most conspicuous part of the Great Bear is the familiar Great Dipper, or the Plow, as our English cousins prefer to call this striking group of seven stars. Every- one knows that the Dipper ts continually changing its position with respect to the Pole Star, being sometimes to the right of it, in the northeast; sometimes to the left, in the northwest; sometimes above it, and sometimes below it, as is the case tonight. This continual shifting of its position is well calculated to confuse the novice ‘in star- fi in fact, the writer fre- quently receives letters from persons seek> Pe direction we upon its surface, !-oking to- ward this point in the heavens, see the stars near it apparently moving around it in the contrary direction, though actually they are motionless. It will be seen that the circle referred to touches the northern horizon. It includes within it all of those stars which, in our latitude, because of their nearness to the pole, never set, but simply circle round and round the Pole Star, and are always somewhere above the Hold the chart first with the letter N lowermost, and note the stars and constel- lations which lie within this circle. You see them as you might see them in the ac- tval heavens at 9 o'clock tonight. Now rotate the chart slowly, in a direction con- trary to that in which a clock’s hands move, keeping your eyes fixed cn this cir- cle, and bearing in mind that at its lowest point it always touches the northern hori- zon, and you may see these stars swing- ing around the Pole Star as you might see them moving, apparently, in the actual heavens. If you will perform this experi- ment, watching the Dipper in particular, you need never again be mystified at find- ing it in any direction from the Pole Star. Note that its “pointers” always point faithfully to that star, no matter in what direction from it the Dipper may be seen. On three evenings of this month the vari- able star Algol will go through its changes at hours convenient for observation. On the 17th ft*will begin to ware at about 9 o'clock, and will reach its minimum an heur after midnight. The next minimum will occur on the 20th at 10 o'clock, an hour still more’ favorable, since the star’s re- covery of gut as well as its decline can be observed. Tne next will occur on the 2%d, at 6 p.m. When the star first becomes vis- ible on that evening it will be noticeably less brilliant than ordinarily; but by 10 o'clock It will have recovered its full light. he ps cullarity of this star was noted last month. The range of its variation is from ‘the_second to the fourth magnitude. Mira, the Wonderful. Another very interesting variable which is now in a good position for observing is Mira, the famous “wonderful” star in the Whale. Mira has a period of about elev- en months. When at its minimum it is of about the ninth magnitude, and ts, there- fore, away below the limit of naked-eye visibility. Having remained in this condi- ticn for some weeks, it begins slowly to brighten, and in about two months it be- ccmes visible to the naked eye. Continuing to prighten, by the end of another two months it reaches its maximum of bril- ifancy, which may be anywhere from the fourth to the second magnitude. For a couple of weeks it hovers about this point, scmetimes brightening up a little and some- times paling, and then begins steadily to decline in brightness, and in about three months it is again beyond the reach of the naked eye. The last maximum of Mira occurred in the early part of last January. The next is due in the coming December. The star is now visible through an opera glass, and before the close of the month it should ap- pear to the naked eye. é To find Mira, look first for Menkar, wita the aid of the planisphere. This star, the “snout” of the Whale, forms with the P'eiades and ‘the pair of stars in the Ram's horns a large equilateral triangle. It is of the second magnitude. At the right of Menkar are two stars—Gamma, of the third magnitude, and below this, Delta, of the fourth magnitude. Delta is directly in line with Menkar and Mira and about mid- way between them. Mira is a decidediy red star,-and this peculiar feature will aid in identifying it. At its last maximum it was a little less brilliant than Gamma Ceti. The cause of its variability is unknown. As it brightens bright lines appear in its spectrum, indicating that its increase of splendor is due to glowing gases, one of which is the universally present hydrogen. October Meteors. About the 19th of the month we may look for the Orionids, the meteors, so called be- cause their “radiant” is in the constella- tion Orion. This group of meteors often gives us a very fine display of this sort of celestial pyrotechnics, and they will repay watching for. The display is always the finest after midnight. Orion will rise on that date at about 10 o'clock. Meteors be- longing to this group, in whatever part of the heavens they may be seen, will move in tracks which, prolonged backward, will pass through or near a point just above the right shoulder of the constellation. The Planets. Mercury is now visible as a morning star. It will be at its greatest elongation west— 18 degrees 2 minutes—on the 7th of the mcnth. Look for it in the exact east. Venus is also a morning star, rising about two hours before the sun. She is waning in brightness and is less than half as bril- liant as she was in June last. Mars is an evening star, but is too near the-sun to be visible. Jupiter is a morning star, visible at day- break in the east. On the 5th it will be In conjunction with Mercury, only twelve minutes south of that planet—iess than one-third of the apparent diameter of the meoon—and on the 19th it will be in con- junction with Venus, twenty-eight minutes scuth of her. On both of these occasions the two planets, in conjunction, will be so near each other that they can be seen to- gether through a telescope, presenting very interesting spectacles. 5 Saturn and Uranus are both evening stars in close proximity to each other, near the western boundary of Scerpio. Both set be- fcre 9 p.m. Neptune, near the tip of the scuthern horn of Taurus, now rises shortly before 10 p.m. —___ Perfame From Living Plants. From the Pittsburg Dispatch. Capt. Smee has discovered a method of es @ glass funnel and heats the thin end over a spirit then draws out the stem to ‘This accomplished, THE OLD WAY Of Treating Dyspepsia a ston Indiges- Dieting a Barbarous md Unciess One. We say the old was, but really it is a very com- on ove At present the, and many dyspepiiex and phssiclans as well consider the first step to take iu attempting to cure indigestion ts to diet, «lther by selecting certain foods and rejecting to greatly diminixh the qua usually taken; in other words, the starvation plan is by many sup- posed to be the first cssential. ‘The almost certain fullure of the starvation cur for dyspepsia has been proven time and azuin, lut Still the snoment Dyspepsia makes its @ course of dicting is at once advised. AN this is radically wrong. It ts foolish and Urecientific to recommend dieting or starvation to & man suffering from Dyspepsia, because ‘ ‘Hon ttself sty: ery aerve and every ber fn the body What the is abundant nutrition, which means plenty of good, wholesome, wel cooked foot and something to assist the stomach to digest it. This is for which Stuart's Dyspepsia and” this is the method by wh Werst cases of Dyspepeta; In other words, th Hent eats plenty of wholesome food and Stua'!'s wk Dyspepsia Tablets digest it for him. In this w y the system is nourished and the overworked ior: ach rested, because the tablets will digest the food whether che stomach works or wot. One of these tablets will digest 3,000 grains of meat or eaes. Your Arnggist will tell you that Stuart's Dss- Pepsin Tablets is the purest and xafest remesty devery trial makes preparation Sold at 50 cents for full-sized package at all diog stores. A little book on stomach diseases mailed foe by addressing Stuart Co., Marshall, Mich. Be2&oc2 From Harper's Magazine. The ting of the leaf is not a suddiondé and quick response to any single change im environmental conditions, but is brouglt about with a complex interplay of pro- cesses begun days or perhaps weeks before any external changes are to be leaf Is rich in two classes of substances, one of which is of no further benetit to it and another which it has constructed great expe of energy, and whic a form of the highest possible usef to the plant. To this class belong the com- pounds in the protoplasm, the green c bodies, and whatever surplus food mi have t substan. y conveyed away. The * which the plant must r in the form of nearly insolubic and by remaining in position in drop with it to the ground, and pass into that great complex laboratory ot the soil where by slow methods of isi tegration useful elements are set free once again may be taken up by the tre travel their devious course through hairs along the sinuous roots, and up through million-celled columns of the trunk, out through the twigs to the leavis once more. The plastic substances within the leat, which w uld be a loss to the Plant if thrown y, undergo quite « different Series of changes. These substances are j the extremest parts of the leaf, into the plant body must pen: hundreds of membran: the long conducting c nerves, stems. The successful retreat of this mass of valuable matter is not a simple problem. These substances contain niiro- gen as a part of their compounds, and as a consequence are very readily broken down when exposed to the sunlizht. In the living normal leaf the green color forms a miost effectual shield from the action of the sur but when the retreat is begun, one of the first steps results in the disintegration of the chlorophyll. This would allow the fierce rays of the September sun to strike directly through the broad expanses of the leaf, destroying all within were not other means provided for protection. In the first place, when the chlorophyll breaks down. among the resulting substances formed 1s cyanophyil (blue), which absorbs the sun's rays in the same general manner as the chlorophyll. In addition, the outer layers of cells of the leaf contain other pigments, some of which have been masked by th chlorophyll, and others which are form as decomposition products, so that the ! exhibits outwardly a gorgeous pano, colors in reds, yellows and bronzes th make up the autumnal display. From the wild riot of tints shown by @ clump of . trees or shrubs, the erroneous impression might be gained that the colors are dental in thelr occurrence. This is far fro | the case, kowever. The keynote of col any speci¢s is constant, with mino: local variations. The birches are a yellow; oaks y through yellow orang to reddish bro: the red maple becomes dark red; the tulip tree a light yellow thorn and poison oak become violet; wi the sumacs and vin ona flam scarlet. These cole some varia tion in accord with<-ke character of the sci) on which the plants ad. — —— 00 Dangers of the Bicycle. Frankfort Special to the Indianapolis News To decide a wager made by an opponent of the bicycle that the wheel ca’ more casualties in one week than foot ball does the entire season, the stakeholder obtained the following surprising figures from indis- d putable authorities. Throughout the United States during the past month there w 818 accidents reported to wheelmen, thirty- ‘ three resulting fatally at the time and twenty-six finally causing death. Collis- tons with other riders caused accidents, five fatalities and three proba so. Oth i + dogs, 9; ho chickens, 1; cows, 2; thrown from wheels, 233; fell over embankments, 8; breakage of machine, 35. Over-exertion injured four and killed four. Three were disabled by holes in the ground, and five were hurt by slipping of wheel. Miscellaneous causes injured fourteen, while ten were hur: by unknown agencies. Alaska if Klondike! No need to go there for GOLD DUST | when you can get it at any grocer’s. 3 It Makes the Dirt Fly. ,