Evening Star Newspaper, September 24, 1898, Page 14

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER. 24, 1898—24 PAGES. = pe are essentially a people,” remarked an educated a Star reporter, “and the that this nervous- the increase as the country sider. Where it will end is, of a matter of conjecture, for a reme- ries of remedies, may be discov me runs along. Certain it is that ryousness can be cured the American people is a very problem. Already it is a matter of in t medical journals, and dreds of books have been writ- and will yet be written on the subject is no great unanimity of opinion as “The American naman. to t of physicians agree of th ion hv to the remedy. Indeed, the cause has not yet been fully ascertained, though there are a number of causes. I have a theory as to a great deal of this American nervous- though many do not agree with k it is the right one. My idea is caused by the s the people hape of the shoe, for they but the way the shoe is All American shoes aaye hard, solid Those who wear slippers or felt find relief, simply because the soles There is no nerv- ncople of China, and for the past 1,000 s not as much activ- The n, say that eut of Chim there wear ot »ple » are numerous, a ven it. Every one who ¥ , carpet or leather, ap- P though maybe unconscious- 1y ows he fir a relief, but rar alizes that it is the softness or c « the se that gives it. Of it is a rge question, viewed stand It any int, but it is a very im- may be going backward, . for the average so-called rican to adopt an idea that er 1,00) years old in China, but I ve that the idea fs a very valu- past years the best writers that the national dis- ica is dyspepsia. I do not s in full, though I realize that dyspepsia. My experience, that there is as much nerv- spepsia, and that nervous- re damaging. The 5,000 years , OF want of civill- ve proven many n proven in other S a person under a is wearing, and the - is the} re nervous- My theor: fac but and the | in nearly all an- | Mr. green or Mise Fanny to think that the ad one | while the fact 1s | | is as much man was not The woman 7 2 and the an- t should be that Mr. So-and-So Ss So were married. R of artic! & series s years ago which were | y. He laid down the} marry th that he marri and married on other. He dis- of wedding | daughter was | i orm any marriag: such announce * * to be continual stem to a Star reporter, the to wear out ne hands to the pinion. | 9 the pinlun as be, and every setting | mewhat. There is a class | set their watches every | zive a attention to y find pte or r hours, wears out nent labor organizer to a Star re- All other kinds of workers man- upe tain lines, but: the 2 as organizers are not tn it Though their interests are . OF at least it is there does not seem to be pon which they can in factory towns makers 1 actually fight any nion ideas with aply made now, s to have much what there is we » Italian and Greek cobblers, the S-cent barbers, are out for rev- The cobblers do about th “ of work at all ki ir while you w with the sitting in while ou of an innova- t Is the repair bus He is me Greeks P off work s n less com- 7 the price a « juced to about r rmeriy charged. It is is cheap, and ches a Labor or- gar t et the cobbler: organize ‘ prefer ¢ ir work wi affiliated with them, Me i | per | have its anchov: enue, ant to grab all that is in sight, regardless of the consequences.” See “The war has been a wonderful producer for the various shooting galleries through- out the country,” volunteered the repre- entative of an arms manufacturing con- cern to a Star reporter, “and an enormous number of small rifles have been sold and are used constantly. The shooting galleries were about on their last legs last spring, when the war broke out. Instantly the thoughts of the young men, and old men, for that matter, were turned in the direc- tien of things warlike, and particularly to- ward rifles. The shooting galleries were not slow to encourage It, and scon they had a new supply of shooting irons and targets. The business Jumped up tremendously and has kept up ever since. The magazine tar- get rifles make fancy shooting a pleasure to what It was some years ago, when muz- zle loaders were used, and hundreds of shots can be fired now where one was fired then. There 1s considerable profit in the business, and it appears to be satisfactory all around.” —_.—__ MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD. Gallium Sells for $3,250 an Ounce— Other High-Priced Metals. “The majority of people when asked to name the most precious metals usually mention gold as first, platinum as second and siiver as third,” said the proprietor of a large assay and refining establishment in New York to the writer recently. “If sked to name others some might add nick- el and a few aluminum to the list. Now, let us see how near the truth they would be. Gold is worth about $250 per pound troy, platinum $130 and silver about $12. Nickel is worth about 60 cents and pure aluminum from 50 cents to $2 to the troy pound. “We will now compare these prices with thos: of the rarer and less well-known metals. To take them in alphabetical or- der, ium, the metal which Davy isolated from its ore, ba’ in 1808, sells for $950 is sold at all, and caleium n $1,500 a pound. Cirium is a shade : its cost is $160 an ounce, or $1,920 per pound. These begin to look like fabu- lous prices, but they do not reach t est point, chromium being falls to zbout half the pric didymium, the metal isolate: the same price as calcium by Masander, Then comes gallium, which is worth $3,250 an ounc With this metal the highest price is reached, and it may well be called the rarest and most precious of metals. Glucium is worth $250 per ounce, indium $150, iridium $58 a pound, janthanium $175. and lithium $160 per ounce. Nidium costs $128 per ounce, osmium, palladium, plati- num, potassium and rhodium bring, respect- ively, $640, $400, $130, $32 and $512 per pound. Strontium costs $128 an ounce, tantaum $144, tilurium $9, thorium $272, vanadium $520, yttorium $144 and zinconium $250 an ounce. “Thus we see that the commonly recetved opinion as to what are the most precious metals is quite erroneous. Barium is more than four times as valuable as gold, and galllum more than 162 times as costly, while many of the other metals mentioned are twice and thrice as valuable. Alumi- num, which cost $8 and $9 a pound in 1800, is now produced as cheaply as are iron, zine, lead and copper.” ———— ADULTERATION OF FOOD. English Are Adepts in the Business pecially of Sauces and Jams. From time to time one reads so much in pers concerning the adulteration an food,’’ said an eminent New York analytical chemist to the writer = rday, “that the average consumer might to believe that this is the only untry in which such fraud and dec ‘ption oractice But this ts far from being the truth, for during a recent visit to Eng I had occasion to test the quality of ous eatables there, and the result was that found they contained a much larger per- centage of de ous matter than our on nee, bottled fruits are in Eng- lored green by the addition of cop- in the form of the sulphate (‘blu stone’). A knife blade immersed In’ the Juice of the fruit will rapidly become coated with a bright deposit of metallic copp The English have not adopted the simp and harmless plan which the French ha: of giving an apparent green color to their preserved fruits and olives by the use of bottles made of green glass. Sauces, pot- ted meats and fish are constantly adul ated or colored by means of Armenian bile. This is done partly from custom, but chie ly to conceal the dirty appearance of the pastes and sauces. The British public will sauce red. The uncolored sauce is unsalable, though the superior to the red abomination, the filth being re- moved from the former, while in the latter it is merely concealed by the Armenian bile. Jams are adulterated by the mixture of inferior fruits. Marmalade frequently contains apple pulp or even turnips. Color- ing matter and artificial flavorings are free- ly used. “An ingenious industry goes on largely in London which is wholly unsuspected by the public. Raspberries, oranges and other fruits are purchased by the wholesale chemists and the juice extracted. Then the pulp is bought at a low price by the manu- facturers of cheap jams for flavoring and placed upon the market as ‘fine new season am’ or marmalade. Mustard is adul ted with flour and tumeric: pepper with husks of seeds and any kind of dust that comes handy to the dishonest vender. So that the business of the drug grinder offers just_as much temptation to the adulterator in England as it does in America.” ‘er insta land c pee eee Capt. Lamberton’s Joke. From the Chicago Record. Captain Lamberton of the Olympia Is re- sponsible for the latest joke in the fleet. ‘The other day he said to the admiral that he thought the two captured Spanish gun- boats should be given good American names. He noticed that in the Navy De- partment at Washington the very commend- able custom of naming ships after colleges and universities had been adopted. Two ships had already had their names changed to the Yale and the Harvard, and he thought the same custom should be follow- ed in rechristening the Callao and the Leyte. He suggested that the Callao be given the name Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Leyte the Pennsylva- nia College of Physicians and Surgeons. The admiral has the matter under consid- eration. Some day we probably will be writing a thrilling account of a naval en- @agement somewhat after this style: “The Pennsylvania College of Physicians and Surgeons then steamed rapidly to a point opposite the Pelayo and delivered a fearful broadside from her primary battery, or 3-inch guns. At the same time the Mas- sachusetts Institute of Technology, by a brilliant maneuver around the starboard quarter of the Pennsylvania College of Physicians and Surgeons, swept swiftly in and rammed the Spanish battle ship. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology then thdrew for breakfast, leaving the Penn- yivania College of Physicians and Sur- geons to complete the work of destruction, After this work was quickly accomplished the Pennsylvania College of Physicians and Surgeons cut a couple of cables and inter- cepted the Spanish admiral, who was changing his tlag to the various remaining ships of his fleet A CONSIDERATE MOTHER. Realized She Was in No Position to Give Advice Herself. I had taken a very toothsome® but not highly finished dinner at the mountain farm house, and when I started on my way at 1 o'clock in the afternoon the daughter, who had looked after my wants at the table, informed me that if I had no objec- tions she would “ride a piece’ with me. As she was a good-looking, ruddy \moun- tain maid, unlike the majority Of her kind, I gave an immediate and unanimous con- sent, and we were presently jogging along toward the Cumberland river, which we cculd see lying like a silver thread across the green valley far below us. “I presume,” I said, bowing with as much gallantry as the circumstances would per- mit, “that if any of your beaus should see us riding together my life would scarcely be safe from their jealous rage.” “Oh, I reckon 'tain’t so bad’s that, all to once,” she laughed in response. “I'm sure they are not so indifferent as you would lead me to think. Pretty girls are not so plenty in the mountains,” I smiled, and she blushed. “Well, I s'pose ef Jim wuz here,” she hesitated, “it mightn’t be sich a picnic as it looks, fer Jim’s mighty bad about me. That's why he ain’t here now.” Why?" I asked with considerably more Interest and not nearly so much bow and palavar. “He shot a hole through the last feller I rid with and had to take to the woods till he gits well.” This was not altogether as pleasing as it might have been, but I couldn’t run away from the lady, so I remained. “Well,” I said in a tone of strong disap- proval, “do you intend to marry a man like that? “"Tain't safe to marry any other—not fer him, ner me neither, even ef I wanted to, which I don’t. Jim’s plenty suitable fer me. “Does your mother approve of your marrying him?” I asked, hoping somebody might be found who would come to the rescue, “No,” she responded easily, “Maw ain't talkin’ one way ner t'other. She's been married four times and has made such a dratted muss uv it every time that she says she ain't a fittin’ person to give ad- vice on the marryin’ question, nohow, even ef I wuzn't old encugh to do my own pickin’ an’ choosin’,”” which scemed to be such an unanswerable argument that I retired from the field. ——— TREES WHICH DRAW LIGHTNING. Select Beeches for Shelter During a Storm and Avoid Oaks. ‘om the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Alex. McAdie has asked the weather bureau to investigate the question why some kinds of trees are more frequently struck by lightning than others. Apart from the importance of this subject from other points of view, it demands attention primarily as a matter of saving human life. As Mr. McAdie shows, many people, par- ticularly farmers and those who work in the flelds exposed to thunder storms, will work until the storm is almost upon them and then run to the nearest tree for shelter. If the tree is an oak, and the charged thunder clouds are moving toward it with high electric potential, the person or per- sons under the tree are in the line of strain and all unconsciously are contributing to the establishment of a path for the light- ning discharge through themselves. On the other hand, if the tree selected for shelter happens to be a beech tree, there is some reason to believe that it will afford safety as well as protection, though the reason why is not at present made clear. It 1s known that the oak is relatively the most frequently and the beech the least fre- quently Struck. ased on the somewhat loose collation of on the subject heretofore available, i that in the matter of rela- ction of lightning, if the beech 1, the pine stanc ; rank about 40 Tuck are not nece r the most prominent. struck twice in th on sue Trees have before in began and been struck during rain It is suggested t estry and the division of ve oxy shall combine with ustive Oak ‘tr same plac been ruck lit, and trees have a only scorched. the division of for- highest have be tender their experience as to the relative frequency of lightning strokes on diffe kinds of trees. But before is made as to the danger of s' certain trees during thunder storms, the more general questions of the effect of lightning upon trees will have to be gone into. Such a study will deserve the co-op- eration of statisticians, physicists and veg- etable pathologists. —-—-+ee Red River's Red Scenery. From the New Orleans Times-Democrat. Red river has certainly been sppro- priately named, for it may be doubted if another stream could be found in this country showing as bright a red in {ts cur- rent. When the morning sun is shining upon it Red river, at its normal stage. or especially just after a rise in {ts head- waters, looks a very deep, bright orange, which in shadow changes to a blood red. With the oblique rays of either morning or evening sun illuminating them, the banks of Red river display almost every imag- inable shade of green, and from the palest gold to the deepest orange; and these bril- liant variations barmonize with the red and burnished gold of the stream in an ef- fect that is indescribably beautiful. In the evening, as the declining sun nears the horizon, hanging over a glassy, ripless reach, it sinks a broad, blood-red, gleam- ing shaft of fire far down into the mirror- anding unde like flood, producing an effect of indescrib- able beavty and brilliancy. ‘The journey up Red river is ‘full of start- ling surprises. The wildest and most lone- some scenery seen on the way to Shreve- port is met within the first fifty miles from the mouth; but after that come successions of lonesome reaches and richly populated belts of magnificent cotton plantations, varied near the lower end of the river by small poultry and truck farms._ There are also scattering fishing boats, “cord wood eamps, photograph boats, and many cu- rious outfits belonging to enterprising fron- tiersmen; but in spite of all these scatter- ing evidences of humanity, there are still many shadowy reaches, where the pretty little white cranes and the big sulking alli- gators scattered over the sunlit sand bars divide the attention of the tourist. ae ee Baby Potentates. From the English Illustrated. Spain is always the land of the Infante. Today it is the kingdom of an infant, just as it was sixty-five years ago, when the king’s grandmother, Isabella II, ascended the throne at the age of three, assuming the actual government when she was thir- teen. If our own Prince Alfred had not de- clined the crown of Greece In favor of the Dane he would have been a king at nine- teen, and carried on the traditions of the many child-monarchs of Great Britain, in- cluding his mother, the queen, who was only eighteen when she was wakened on that historic night in June at Kensington palace to hear that her uncle, William IV, dead, and that she reigned in his stead. Henry Ill had become King of England at the age of ten; Edward III at the age of fifteen, Richard Il at the age of eleven; Henry VI at the age of elght; Edward IV when he was twenty, while his son, En- ward V, became king at the age of thir- teen, which again proved an unlucky num- ber, for he was murdered in the Tower with his only brother, the Duke of York, after he had reigned’ less than twelve weeks. Henry VIIT was only eighteen when he came to be king; his son, Edward VI, was just ten, and was dead before he was fit- teen, while his would-be successor, the hap- less Lady Jane Grey, was proclaimed queen before she was eighteen, and lost her pretty head before she Was nineteen, —_—___+e-+_____ Everybody Warned. Frem the Denver Times. An Arizona rancher has posted the fol- lowing notice on a cottonwood tree near his place: “My wife Sarrah has left my ranch when I didn’t Doo a Thing Too her and I want it distinkly understood that any Man as tdkes her in and Keers for her on my account will get himself Pumped so Full of Led that some tenderfoot will locate him for a mineral claim. A word to the wise is sufficient and orter work on @ols.” AN UNUSUAL MUSICALE “I have just got home after an absenc> of severdf week,” said a Washington sing- er, “and hearing ef the death of a certain resident 6f one!of our city’s fashionable suburbs, am reminded of an ev2ning that ‘I, with others, %épent at his home a little while baek, wHich for the uniqueness—I might alffost say mystery—of our recep- tion surpdssed @nything that I have heard of in thetsamd‘line in these days of in- flexible sdcial fw. “Our party was domiciled at the same cottage, and asfthere were several singers among us}! we Had many enjoyable seasons of song, Particularly in the evenings, when those of Us whe, toiled had returned to our abiding piace. One day, after we had been tcgether sfor a fortnight, a note was brought to ouricottage by a servant, who inquired for the:ladies who had been doing th> singing. We revealed our identity, and he handed us*the note, which stated that the writer was a neighbor, who was in- capacitated by illness, and whose weary hours had of late been comforted by so much of the singing we did as could be heard at th2 distance which separated his home from ours. He would make so bold as to hope, the note went on, that if we could appreciate the great pleasure we would give an old and sick man, we would accept the invitation which he here ex- tended for us to call upon him at any time that suited our convenience, bringing any friends we desired, and give him the op- portunity of hearing us to better advan- tage. “The note caused somewhat of a flutter, for the name signed was that of one who had some r2putation for oddness, but after discussion, we agreed to send a favorable response, which we did, fixing upon a night hear at hand. “At the time appointed, with our party augmented by several other members of tha musical fraternity, we repaired to the house designated. As the bution was about to be pushed the front door was noticed to be slightly ajar, and in sight through the opening was a piacard bearing the word ‘Enter.’ The door was pushed open and another placard was visibl2, contairi- ing an invitation to make ourselves at home, as the parlor was entirely at our disposal. It was eyident that we were to meet no representativ> of the family, but we entered into the spirit of the thing, and proceeded to take possession. The parlor Was beautifully furnish>d, and contained a fine piano, and for two hours we discoursed music, both vocal and instrumental, with never a sight of a human being ‘other than ourseives, nor a sound except our own mu- sic and voices. “The whole affair certainly se»med queer, but we enjoyed the novelty of it, and when we thought it about time to depart, a bell sounded, and immediately the larg> double doors which formed a part of one wall of the parlor were seen to be open- ing, and the heavy portierss in front of them were pushed aside, all by unseen hands. This done, our cyes were greeted by another large room, richly hung, in the center of which stood a table laden with the most tempting of viands and wines. A third placard reposing on the table invited the party to enter and enjoy themselves freely. This we did, waiting upon our- selves, using the heaviest of silver ware and the finest of cut glass and cutlery. It was charming, but we never saw a soul or heard a sound from the time we entered the house to our departure, three hours later, except, as I said, what we saw or heard of ourselves, even our parting call of good-night meeting with no response Altogether, it was one of the oddest an Poa enjoyable affairs I ever participated n. “We subs>quently received a note saying that the writer gould not express the hap- piness we had glven him. I hope he is at rest. 2 sete Occupations of Americans, From Mines,and Minerals. Interesting dats about the occupations of the Ameritan people is given in the bulle- tin of the;yeleventh census, recenUy made public. It shows that the total number of people engaged ih occupations of ali kinds in 189) was 29, Of the whol2 num- ber of wdiking: people the fomales form 17.22 per gent. Divided by classes, the working people @€ the country are as fol- low Agriculture, fisheries and mining, 9,- gies 333; domestic and ; trade and trans ‘acturing and me- Considerably portation, 2, chanical industr , n.ore than four-fiftfls of the illiterate male population of the country and over one- fourth of the literate femal population fre working. Over 59 per cent of the work- ingmen are tharried, over 27 per cent sin- gie, over 3 per cent widowed and one-quar- ter of 1 per cent divorced. In manufac- tures and mechanics the carpenters and joiners, numbering 611,482, make up the greatest zlement, w smakers and milliners following w There are a little over 1,000,000 bookkeepers, clerks and $ merchents and deal- oT farmers, planters and ov2r- and 3,004,061 agricultural laborers, 2 miners, and only a little over 60,000 fishermen and oystermen. Professors and teach2rs, aggregating $44, form the most numerous of the professional classes, clans and surgeons, come then lawyers, §), overnment officials, ete., 62,155; engineers and surveyors, 2; artists and art teachers, 22,496; journalists, 21,849, and actors, 9,728, a A Wart Wizard. From the Breckenridge (Ky.) News. Uncle John Pate, one of the last of the race of ante-bellum negroes left in this Vicinity, is dying. He belonged before the war to the Pate estate, and is now seventy- one years of age. Uncle Johnnie has al- ways been considered one of the characters of the town. He’ was a race-horse rider in Ms younger days, and in a moment of frankness told a white friend that he only “threw” one race in his life, and he was paid to do that. Uncle Johnnie has always been looked upon with awe by the other colored people of the city. This is because he bears a well-established reputation as 1 onjurer.” It is a matter of local tradi- tion that when Uncle Johnnie does a “wart talk” those unsightly protuberances fade away zs the morning dew before the sun. In fact, there are several white women, away up in local society, who confess that the Ethiopian wart wizard has rid them of warts and moles. Uncle Johnnie has al- ways kept his “wart talk” a secret. He says it was transmitted to him by an an- cestor, and that it has been in the family since Ham started in to colonize Africa. He will not accept money for his services as a wart conjurer, and says that even an expression of thanks will dispel the charm. He promised to impart the wart secret to some friend before he died and give the formula of “wart talk,” so that Cloverport should always have a real, live “conjurer’”’ to conjure away its warts in an hour of necessity, but, as Uncle Johnnie ia delirious and nigh unto death, the chances are that his secret will be buried with him, and that he will'be the last of the “con- jurers.” = Irate Old Gentleman—“Here, I say, your beast of a dog has bitten a piece out my leg!” ‘ Dog's Owner—Oh, hother! And I wanted. to bring him up a yegetarian!’’—Punch, A STATE HOTEL, An Alleged Proposed Improvement, With Many Good Points. “If there is anything more than anoth>r that appeals to the traveling man of these United States," remarked a New York drummer, who had been on the road for as many years as he had te2th in his mouth, “dt is the hotel he must put up at and put up with, for his home life is chiefly confined to hotels; which reminds me that the odd- est thing I have seen in that line I found not long ago in this very town of Washing- ton. A hustling Chicago f2llow showed me the plans of a new hotel he proposes to erect in the spring for the especial benetit of the cosmopolitan class of visitors the na- tional capital always attracts. The man kas the money subscribed, or told me h> had, and he will go to work on the building as soon next year as he has secured an eligible site. “The hotel will be known as The States, this title attaching to it intrinsically, b2- cause it is to be of the states. That is to say, it will be composed of forty-five apart- ments of five rooms each, though posstbly scme of the apartments will have ten rooms, and each apartment will he named for a state, and a guest from that state will be assigned to quarters under his own vine and fig tree, so to speak. Naturally there are more people in Washington from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Chicago than elsewhere, and apartmants for those states will probably contain ten rooms. Now, when a guest arrives and registers he will be sent to his own state room and instead of landing in the midst of strange sights, he will find pictures of familiar things from his state on th> walls; engravings of his state capital and other public buildings, portraits of well-known men of the state, and, when possible, various souvenirs in furniture and finishings, which will be pleasing to the traveler who finds his warmest welcome at an inn. “There will be other home attractions as well, such as familiar drinksat the bar—that is to say, drinks indigenous to the tastes of the natives of the various states—as weil as dishes on the table which will make a man hungry and homesick at the same time. That idea is a great one, I think, for it isn’t alweys a man takes an appetite to a hotel table with him. There are some o| details that I don’t recall naw, but you have enough to catch the idea and be abl> to realize that when The States is com- pleted and in running order Washington will have the most unique hostelry in the country.” —_+—__. HUNTING LOST COINS. Many Believe That to Find From the New York Herald. I was talking to a prominent Wall street man as we passed along Broadway, when suddenly he darted eagerly forward, stooped and picked up something from the sidewalk. “I'm glad I didn’t miss that thts morn- ing,” said he exultantly. What is it?” I inqured. He opened his hand and showed me a battered five-cent piece. ‘I’m not superstitious about many things,” explained he, as he fished a small and much-worn purse from an inner pocket and deposited the coin, “but you will find any number of men on the street who are just as glad as I am at finding stray coins. A great many are firm believers in the idea that good luck always follows such finds, and will no* hesitate to embark in com- mercial or financial ventures on the strength of adventitiously discovered cvin of the realm. 1 can’t say that I am abso- lutely dominated by such a superstition, but I do admit I always feel easier about ctions of a speculative character it first picked up In the streets a bit ional currency. is Good Luck em. “Picking up coins becomes a mania with ulators, tl many brokers and sp« a mania it not infreque sion. If you observe cle x from becomes a f y, you will de- tect a dozen wel et men the thoroughfares with their heads bowed. They are looking for si pieces of money which careless pe have dropped. Several m w am intimately acquainted haunt the ity of the big daily newspapers, there is always more or less small change in active circulation, and wh. sequence, many pennies, nic ; aS a Con 1s and dimes are lost on the street. These coins they treasure and preserve with the fondest care. They would not part with them for many thousand times their intrinsic value.” As a rule, coin-hunting brokers and specu- lators carry spectal purses tn which the finds are kept, and some have amassed as much as five or six dollars “Some Wall street men believe it is good luck to find a pin pointing toward them, but they are in a very insigvificant minor- ity In comparison with those who hold to the golden promises held out by picked-up coins.”” She Sat on the Wires, From the Kensas City Times. A little thirteen-year-old Pawnee county, Kan,. miss, Bertha Leonard, has lately given the telegraph companies an unlim- ited amount of trouble in a most unique and peculiar way. Bertha’s daily duty was to herd and watch a large drove of cattle, whose range was near the telegraph lines, For some time past at Irregular intervals during almost every day these lines abso- lutely failed to work, and ihe troubie seem- ed to be somewhere in the vicinity of where this gir! ranged her father’s cattle, but, try as the line repairers would, it could not be definitely located. Finally it was dis- covered that Bertha, in order to get a bet- ter view of the herd, had drivea railroad spikes into a telegraph poie, so that she could climb it, and that she would, when- ever she got weary watching the cattle from the ground, climb che pole, pull up a board by means of a cord, place it across the wires, seat herself on the board and spend an hour or two watching the herd from her uniquely improvised elevated sta- tion. Whenever the board nappened to be damp or wet, and the frequent rains this year have kept the board wet imost all the time, it destroyed the electric current and practically cut off all telegraph communi- cation between Denyer and Kansas City. When discovered and informed of the dam- age she was doing to the business of the telegraph lines Bertha was greatly sur- prised, and was apparently utterly ignorant of the fact that her seat on ths wires in- terfered in the slightest degree with the working of the lines. Best Dressed Man in Peking. From the Peking and Tien-Tsin Times. Jung Lu, the new viceroy of Chih-Li, is cne of the most popular generals in the im- perial army. He has always been a dandy in dress, and has the reputation of being the best dressed man in Peking, while the gilded youth among the Manchu nobility always copy his dress and swear by “Jung Lu's style.” His horses and mules also have ever been the finest in Peking, not even excepting the emperor’s stud, and he loves to mount the most fiery and restive cattle when riding out. This has led to several picked horses sent as tribute to the emperor from Kuldja and Mongolia, but which no one could ride owing to their un- tamed and restive spirit, being specially presented to Jung Lu by the emperor's command. This is the man who now holds the responsible post of guardian of the dragon throne at Tien-Tsin. —_-e+___ Army Hat to Be Worn, From the Chicago Chronicle. “The war will have one good effect,” said the dealer in headgear. “It will pop- ularize the army hat. Six months from now you will see any number of fellows who were not at the front and could not have been hired to go to the front, wearing the soft brown brigandish looking hats that have been the campaign covering of our soldiers for’'many moons. I said it would be a good thing, because these are good hats and sensible hats and are more- ov2r becoming to almost any style of mas- culine face. Indeed, they look well on either of the sexes. They are not exyen- sive when the amount of wear that may be got out of them is taken into considera- tion.” es Presence of Mind, From Puck. Getthar—“I called up the Van Kickers by "phone last evening, to find out if Van Kicker was there before calling on the daughter, and the old man answered it him- self.”” Goodun—“The deuce! What did you do?” Getthar—“Told him his office building downtown was on fire.”” BY PHILANDER By-Gonex, A song for the rose that has faded? Whose petals ali withered He On the sod that is sere and unshaded "Neath a sorrowing autumn sky? For the rose that has smiled through its little day; That has fragrantly breathed its last, And is only a far, faint memory? Nay! Let it rest in its perfumed past. Here's to the rugged winter When the world ‘gainst frost must strive, When the sunbeams like lances splinter In the ice that they fain would rive. For only strife taat is fierce and long Wins beauty and rest and cheer— Let the heart be strong as it sings a song Of the rose that will bloom next year. * * x The Stay at Homes. “Dat's a pow’ful smaht young man you's workin’ foh,” said Uncle Eben. “I reckons he is,” answered Mr. Erastus Pinkley, with great pride. “He's had a chance at all de learnin’ dar is an’ his 's plenty big enough ter hold it. “When dar’s uthuh ‘lection, I wish w’d do me de favor ob findin’ out which way he’s gwinter vote. Dar’s so much persuasion dis y an’ den agin dat way, dat I'd like ter git guidance f'um some- body who: smahtness I kin rely on.” “Gracious goodness! He doesn’ nebber | vote. Hi ys it ain’ no use ter vote, cas¢ de tough oi’ politicians whah he liv: is gwinter tak 1 an’ run fings anyhow, an’ he ain 'gwineter mess up wif ‘em. Me an’ him, we bof reckons we gwineter keep out'n de whole business.” “Sonn d you ebber hyah "bout de oys- ters an’ de shark?” “I spos'ns I has sometime or othuh,’ was the answer, with the air of a man who has forgotten many excellent things. “Well, I spos'ns yoh hasn’, ‘Case dis story sn’ nebber made up tell jes’ now. Dah $s some oysters ovuh by de eastern sho’ dat wus a good deal worried by a shark dat come along smashin’ de shells an’ de- vourin’ ob em.” “Huh!” commented his auditor, “I neb- ber knowed sharks et oysters.” “Sonny, dis ain’ no lesson in natchul his- tory. Dis is jes’ a story. Dis shark, he e’ oysters an’ he had de hull lot ob 'em skyaht mios’ to-death. An’ de bes’ part ob ‘em said dar ain’ no use o’ fightin’ dat 'ar shark, case he’s de bigges’ an’ he's got a lot o° yuthuh shark frien’s dat he kin call in ef dey raises a ‘sturbance. ‘So de bes’ we kin do,’ d2y says, ‘is ter crawl in our shells an’ jay low an’ be dignified. Don’ take no notice ob ‘im, case he’s low-down, anyhow.’ But one oyster, he was game, an’ waited his chance, wif his shell half open, an’ when dat shark come swoopin’ ‘long, he grabbed ’im by de fin an’ helt on foh doar life. An’ de shark, he shook hisse’f loose f'um de oyster an’ lit out.” “He wah back agin de nex’ day,” re- marked the young man. “Yes. De yuthuh oysters said he’d be. Dey "lowed it wouldn't do no lastin’ good, an’ dey p’inted out dat de shark wouldn’ show ‘im no mercy ef he ebber got another chance at ‘im. But de game oyster, he says h3 wasn’ lookin’ foh merey f'um sharks, nohow, an’ even ef it didn’t mount to nuffin’ mo’, dar was some satisfaction in habbin’ worried ‘em. I reckon de game oyster’s fightin’ it out alone to dis day, but he hab de comfort ob knowin’ dat he "mounts ter sumpin’. An’ mebbe some day de yutuhs'll sail in an’ help ‘im, but you can’t tall; oysters Is a good deal like human people in some respecks.” * * * An Exception, I don’t lean very herd on slang, cause talk that’s ready made Don’t seem to me the proper kind fur sim- ple folks and staid. But there’s one remark which strikes me So expressive-like an’ strong That I make it an exception. It’s "bout “jollyin’ folks along.” When discouragements are gatherin’ an’ your weary footsteps flag; When your heart is gettin’ heavy an’ your languid spirits sag, It’s a help that’s most amazin’; you feel young agin an’ strong, When some happier fellow-bein’ stops to “jolly you along.” It’s like a dash o’ rain across the field that’s hot an’ dry; It’s like a flash of sunshine through a dark an’ threatenin’ sky, Or a friendly voice from home that greets you "mid a stranger throng, When you're played out an’ some feller stops to ‘jolly you along.” Survival of the fittest—that’s the rule of every race, But good stock’ll sometimes falter in the fierceness of the chase, An’ mebbe honest merit has been kep’ from goin’ wrong By some gentle soul that stopped a bit to “Jolly folks along,” * OK Unimpressed. The elderly man with a silk hat and a black alpaca coat Gid not seem very much interested in the scientific speculations of the lady who walked beside him. “Just to think,” she exclaimed, looking up into the sky, “of all thém stars!” “Well.” he answered, “that’s about all we can do with "em; just think of ’em.” “Some of ‘em may be worlds, you know.” ‘No, I don’t know. An’ neither do you.” “Smarter folks than you'll ever be say that Mars is inhabited. And what’s more, the papers thought enough of what they sald to print it.” "Oh, I ain’t sayin’ it hasn’t got people on it. ‘All I'm sayin’ is that I don’t know.” “But think of having a great star hung there in the sky full of people, so near and yet so far. F-wonder-what they are like.” “Hannah, it seems to me you're simply wastin*= thoughts. There ain't no use o’ worryin’ about it. You can imagine it all, if you want to take the trouble. You've been around the country some. And you know that people are about the same wherever you find ‘em. They get up any- where between daybreak and 10 o'clock, and eat threo meals a day, on an average, and ‘tend to business {f the live off their re} “re able. or the commun: and y it they ain't. They get into fights and make up again, and spend most of their time trying to get the b trade. 1 folks. and talkin’.”” * _* Matter-of-Fact. He is a young man whose unbow surance has ever been his ch teristic, When he proceeded to talk to the prac- tical old gentleman about marrying his daughter he evidently prepared for the usual question: “Do you think you can support my daughter in the style to which she has been accustomed?” The parent spoke this phrase with the air of a man who thinks he has uttered a Poser. The suitor looked him in the eye. “Let's talk this thing over,” he said. “Do you think your daughter is qualified to make @ man a good wife?” “Yes, sir. Her mother and I are both practical people and we have given her practical education. She can not only read Greek and play the plano—she practices three hours a day—but she can get a good dinner and make her purchases in market as intelligently as an experienced steward. Moreover, her abilities with the needle are not confined to fancy work. She's a tr ure, and we don’t propose to have any mis. understandings about her futur: “You were asking me if I thought I could support her in the style to which she has been accustomed.” “I was.” “Weill, I could. But I don't propose to. After she marries me sb not going to Practice three hours i Y on any piano nor cook dinners nor take back talk from market people. She's going to have all the je the house, read what er it’s Greek or Choctaw, ee twice a week. It’s time that girl was beginning to have some good times in this life FOUGHT AT FIVE YARDs. And, Strange to Say, One Escaped Uninjured. From the St. Louls Republic, Two Mexican citizens of El I «so, Texas, to settle an old feud, met on the field of honor, a half mile south of town today and exchanged shots until one of the duel- ists fell badly wounded. The feud out of which grew the sanguinary encounter began three years ago, when Ramon Go- mez eloped from Juarez, Mexico, one night with the -beautiful sixteen-year-old sister of Antonio Velarde. The lovers fled to this side of the river and were married. The brother had strenuously objected to he match and never became reconciled ‘ome his sister or her husband. He ivored to make the life of his brother- inlaw a burden by taunting him with being a sneak and coward. Yesterday morning the two men met and Gomez told Velarde that he would demonstrate to him that he was no coward and challenged him to fight a duel with six-shooters. V larde promptly accepted, and a quiet spot on the Texas shore of the Rio Grande was selected for their rendezvous, eaca procured a second and, armed with six- shooters, met at midd They took their positions five yards apart and, at a signal, both deliberately took aim and began to shoot. Six shots had been exchanged when Gomez fell with two bullets in his left leg below the knee, and shin was badly shattered. Just then the wounded man's wife appeared. She attacked her brother with the fury of a tigress and she was with difficulty flung aside. The uninjured duelist and “oth seconds were preparing to beat a hasty re- treat, when a mounted customs inspector gailoped up and succeeded in capturing Gomez and his ond. The other second swam the river and eluded his pursuer. Both prisoners were locked up on the charge of dueling, and Gomez was re- moved to the hospital, where his leg was amputated. Velarde is engaged in the cigar business in this city and Gomez is a merchant. How Two Soldiers Died. From Leslie’s Weekly. “Well,” he said, “we lay there in Bloody Bend that Friday morning about four hours, say fifty yards beyond Bloody Bend, but it was plenty hot enough. On one side of me was a fellow who'd been telling us the night before how he was sure he'd be killed. I watched him when we started in firing, and I could see he was pretty scared —his gun wobbied a lot every time he tried to shoot—but pretty soon he braced up and aimed her steady as a tree; didn’t seem to mind the builets at all. Then, zip, one caught him in the right arm and swung him round, and, zip, another one caught him plumb in the heart and down he went. I opened his black shirt and saw the mark. “No use monkeyin’ with him,’ said the lad on my other side—I called him Dutch; ‘he’s got his wis Let’s lay low a whi! and cool our guns off.’ “I touched my gun barrel and it was steaming hot, for we'd been letting “em go pretty fast; so I stretched out flat in the grass, and the other lad he stretched out beside me. ““I'll take a chew, Dutchy,’ said I, ‘if you'll throw it over.’ So he threw me his pouch and I took a chew. “Listen to them balls,’ said Dutchy; ‘they fans me and they sings to me, but that's all. I ain't a-going to be hit.’ “How do you know that?’ says I. “Easy enough,” says he; ‘there's too many folks a-prayin’ for me up in Connec- ticut—good folks.” “Those were his very words, and then he got up on his knee and began firing the fresh load in his magazine. I don't believe he'd fired two shots when a bullet smashed him between the eyes, and that was the last of Dutchy. After that I worked there alone between two dead men, and listened to the balls’ talk. Once I went over like a log, and thought they'd fixed me, but it was only a ball that had struck my car- tridge belt and glanced off. It bent two cartridges, though, all out of shape, and it made me sick the stomach. After that I didn't like to look at Dutchy, for the in- side of his head was all over his face, so I threw some grass on him; and about two hours iater 1 threw more grass on him. You soon get enough of a dead man down there when the sun is hot,”