The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 26, 1897, Page 23

» ¥ THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1897 25 R KKK KRR K KR KR NEW Napoleonof Financehas ap peared in the person of young Joseph Leiter of Chicago. Five or six years ago he was com- paratively a poor young man. Mark you, I say comparatively. His father gave him a paltry million dollars, to see, as he expressed it, “what sort of stuff the college-bred dude was made of.” He is now thirty vears old and is worth $30,000,000—just one million for every vear of his life. He is a trifle over six feet tall with enormously broad shoulders. He has an arm like a j driver. His hair is parted carefully in the middle and it is becoming rather scanty. He lives all alone in magnificent style in a splendid mansion. He manages an estate with many diverse interests, an estate of $30,000,000, conducts the most successful corner in wheat known in vears, in which he has locked horns with P. D. Armour, and still finds time to drive the finest turn-outs in Chicago and to have a good time gen- erally. “I like rare books, horses, dogs and the human race,” said Leiter the other day, and that tells a good deal about him. If you will keep this in mind, to- gether with the fact that when he laughs he shakes the windows, and he is always ready to laugh, and that he is the most popular man in Chicago, you will get a very good idea of the man if you read what follows: When the young man came back from college his father had planned a W of “trying him out.” Old Levi Leiter is a very remarkable man. He has a genius for accumulating money. He had passed through a long course of hardship before he arrived at the age of financial discretion. Like all rich men who have made their own money, he had grave fears for his son. He had made money fly at Harvard, and he never gave any particular indica- tion that he would amount to much. The old gentleman didn’t take stock of his son’s chin. The senior reasoned in this way: He would give the boy a lump sum to do with as he pleased. If he chose to be a society man, very well. If he elected to go into business and lost the mo- the price. So the old gentleman called the boy to him one day and gave him $1,000,- 000, saying he could do as he pleased with it. Joseph thought a moment and asked for more. He really didn’t see how he could do much with a mere million. Whereat his father’s ire arose. He harshly told his son that he could get and at the same time determined | capacities, it would be cheap at | R e - Meteoric Career in Speculation of Young Joseph Leiter of Chi- cago. B e R a t 2 2 2 L T TF e pr e pravp gy I along with the million or come home | to live if it wasn’'t enough. Joseph reflectively caressed that chin of his and remarked that he would take the million. Of course this became known. The enterprising promoters and men with nvestments trembled for a time. They ess. But he did. For a time young Joseph was amazed at the goodness and disinter- estedness of mankind. People flocked to his office. There wasn't a gold brick in Chicago that wasn't offered | months ago that he | tention to wheat. eared that he might not go into busi- | | R LR to him, and he bought them in plenty. Many a bank account was fattened at his expense. Now and then he plunged, | and he never saw the bottom of the | hole into which he threw his money. | The banks had come to the conclusion | that it would be an act of charity to | send to Washington for his father to | take the youngster in out of the wet. ‘ A few hundred tkousand of young | Leiter’s money were in the street rail- way stocks and bonds. He didn’t lose these. When he reached a point where ruin stared him in the face he caressed his chin more solicitously than ever. He realized that he must know a few things if he wanted to keep in the pro- cession. He began studying street railroads. Nobody knows how or where h2 picked up his information. He kept very quiet for two or three years. Then he began to assert hims He showed that he knew more about the practi- cal workings of a railway line than anybody in the game. He knows the cost of transmitting electricity, the utility of every bit of machinery used, and a whole lot of technical informa- tion usually relegated to engineers. He runs his company in Chicago now. He will be made its president in the spring. Then he went into electric-light mat- ters. The Edison Company in Chi- | cago gets more valuable hints from | him than from any other man con- | nected with the concern. Afterward he tackled mining. He went to the mines themselves. He can guess as accurately at a piece of ore or a hole | in the ground as his engineers. It is | even said that he once recognized the | | dust of a salted mine and told whence it came. | Suddenly Joseph Leiter’'s money be- | gan to flow back. It came in strength. | He doubled his original fortune. | it was that old man Leiter opened his 1 eyes. He took cognizance of that | chin. So did other people. If they | had been pugilists they would have re- | alized that it stood for something long before. | The old gentleman looked into his | son’s affairs carefully. He was forced | to the conclusion that the point had | been reached where he knew more about making money than tHe father. His methods were radical and new, | but the results proved their worth, | and old man Leiter was alw s a great hand for results. He showed | his confidence in his son by turning over the management of the whole es- tate of $30,000,000 to him. Gradually it became known that | there was a new force in the financial | world in Chicago, a force that a few | vears ago had been a college dude. The most wonderful thing about this new man was his capacity for discovering gold bricks, no matter how skillful the gilding. It was something more than six turned his at- Nobody knew any- Leiter had learned his lesson. He reversed his original ex- perience. He studied first and ope- rated afterward. He took it up as | thing about it. light and mining. He began at the | bottom. He learned the tricks of the Then | I vard six years ago. | he took up street railways and electric | o0 1t MADE A MILLION IN WHEAT THIS SEASOHN. took his precautions in advance. Last July he made his appearance in the wheat pit. The jubilation of the Board of Trade men was beyond all words. They could hardly contain themselves. The prospect of this strapping big youngster with a valet and a college education coming into the market with $30,000,000 back of him was a prospect so gorgeous that its mere contemplation was almost l enough to cause delirium. | The fact that he had succeeded in | ordinary business made not the slight- | est difference. Many a man who has | made a million in ordinary ways has | been plucked in the wheat pit, and | they couldn’t imagine so juicy and | tender a victim as young Joe Leiter. | The young man heard of this and laughed a mighty haw-haw, and then stroked his resolute chin. Apparently Leiter plunged into wheat like a man who falls off a boat. He was ready to buy all, the wheat that anybody had for sale for Decem- ber delivery. His checkbook was open. Young Mr. Leiter's willingness to buy wheat attracted the attention of JOSEPH LEITER, TH Young Leiter graduated from Har- His father, a well- known Chicago millionaire, gave him $1,000,000 just to see what he would do Young Leiter began speculat- ing on all sides and lost money rapidly. Sharpers of all kinds did their very best to capture the money he was E YOUNG KI known to have. In a very little while young Leiter was out several hundred thousand dollars, but he was gaining valuable experience all the while. He began a careful study of all kinds of speculative interests. Gradually some of his lost money began to flow back, and with the experience gained he be- gan to reach out in his enterprises. NC OF THE CHICAGO WHEAT PIT. Some six months ago he headed a clique to corner wheat. Phil Armour had a lot to sell, and a big battle be- tween Chicago capitalists ensued. The deal has just been cleaned up and it is currently reported that the Armour combination alone is short about $1,000,- 000. Young Leiter is credited with cap- turing most of this. HOLIDAY MAGIC FOR THE PARLOR By Professor Hoffman UOME years ago I invented a stage trick to which I gave the name of the Spiritualistic Ball and Ring. The apparatus consisted of a rod, of wood or metal, ng perpendicularly from a heavy stand or foot; a wooden ball, with a bore through its center a trifle larger than the rod, and a wooden ring of the kind used with curtain poles. Each item was submitted to the closest ex- amination, and yet, on the performer dropping either the ball or the ring | over the upright, it would rise, fall or stop half way, as it might be com- manded. The Climbing Ring. The secret lay in the fact that the performer, immediately before drop- ping the ball or ring (whichever was first used) over the upright, privately attached to the top of this latter one end of a silken thread, the opposite end of which was in the hands of an assist- ant behind the scenes. The ball in fall- ing down the rod carried down with it the slack of the thread, by pulling which it could be made to rise or fall at pleasure. Mr. Ellis Stanyon has re- cently devised a simpler trick, which makes a very pretty drawing-room il- lusion. The performer’s wand in this case takes the place of the fixed upright, and a borrowed finger ring that of the wooden ring used in the older trick. The thread may be connected with the wand in various ways, but the best, in my own opinion, is to use a wand made, after a frequent magical pat- tern, with a nickel-plated mount at each end. A cap, of very thin metal, and plated in like manner as in the figure, is made of such a size as to be easily slipped over the mount. At one side of this cap, near the closed end, is found a minute hole, through which is threaded a piece of fine black silk, about double the length of the wand, secured by a knot on the inside. The opposite end of the thread should be attached to the low- est button of the performer’s vest. The cap, till needed, may be tucked under the vest, or lie hidden just inside the vest pocket. Having handed the wand for examination, the performer gets this cap into his right hand, and when the wand is returned to him. slips its lower end into the cap. He then takes the wand (by the opposite end), in the left hand, so that the cap is now on its outer end. The slack of the thread is secured by the thumb, and lying along the wand, is invisible. Holding the wand with the cap end upward, he advances to the holder of the borrowed ring, and in- vites him to drop it over the top. The trick is now practically done. The Magic Tambourine. The visible apparatus for this feat consists of two flanged rings of nick- eled brass, seven inches in diameter, as depicted below, a square of white pa- per, size about fourteen inches each way, and a pair of scissors. The one ring, A, i8 of such a size as to fit eas- ily over the other, B. Having submit- ted the rings and paper for examina- tion, the performer, standing behind his table, explains that they are the materials for a tambourine. This he proceeds to construct by laying the sheet of paper on the top of B, and pressing A down over it, the thickness of the paper wedging the two rings to- gether, and causing them to fit tight- ly. He trims off with the scissors the superfluous paper, and a neat tambour- ine is the result. The next proceeding is to thrust his wand through the center of the paper from the outside, and from the hole thus formed to draw yards upon yards of colored paper ribbbons, half an inch wide, the quan- tity when all is out being enough to fill a wheel- barrow. For greater rapidity in extraction, af- ter he has got out half a dozen yards or so, he inserts his wand within the coils, and drawe: out the remaining ribbon by quick, circular sweeps of his arm. This brings out a cou- ple of yards at a time, with very pretty effect. The secret lies in the fact that the paper produced is in the first instance coiled flat, after the manner of tele- graphic paper, in which condition a hundred yards or so occupies but a very small space. When required for use, this coil is suspended on a project- ing pin against the hinder side of the performer’s table, just below the top, in line with the spot on which the tam- bourine is to be formed. As soon as the one ring has been placed cver the othe with the paper between, the performe with his right hand, picks up the sc sors to trim off the superfluity. Mean- while, the left hand, grasping the tam bourine with the forefinger and thumb, draws it backward off the table, as in the following figure. Meanwhile, the middle finger, which is below the level of the table top, is inserted into the central opening of the coil, and lifts both together, the coil naturally set- tling itself within the co ity of the tambourine. All difficulty is now over. The performer trims off the superfluo: margin as described; makes the hole through the center, and produces the paper ribbon at hi$ leisure. The Dictionary Trick. In effect, this trick consists of the di- vination and mysterious production in writing of a word selected by the au- dience, apparently haphazard, from the dictionary. The necessary apparatus consists of a dozen or more of smali dictionaries, a paper-knife and a bagof counters, numbered consecutively from 1 up to the average number of words on a page—say 120. With regard to the dictionary used, that kncwn as Rout- ledge’s Penny Dictionary will be found suitable, as combining in a special de- gree cheapness and portability. The dictionaries are distributed among the spectators, and one of them is request- ed to insert the paper-knife anywhere he pleases, between the leaves of the copy that he holds. This is to decide where the dictionary shall be opened, but for the moment he is requested to keep the book closed, the paper-knife remaining therein. The audience are next invited to decide, by show of hands, whether the right or the left hand page shall be taken. They decide, say, for the left-hand page. The only point that remains to be decided is which word on that page shall be taken. This is done by offering the bag of counters to a lady (first taking out a handful to show that the numbers are all different), and asking ner to draw one. If she draws a counter bearing, say, the number 29, the twen- ty-ninth word is to be taken. Meanwhile the performer bares his arm to the elbow, and shows that it is free from writing or mark of any kind. He then draws down his sleeve again. The gentleman holding the dic- tionary is asked to open it, and to de- clare the number of the pages. There are, say, 24 and 25, the left-hand page being 24. This done, the performer takes the dictionary, again closed, with the knife in it, in his left hand, and holds the arm outstretched, in- forming the audience that he is about to invite “the spirits” to write word upon his arm. usual mediumistic twitches and pasms, while those holding the other dictionaries are invited to open them and ascertain by inspection what word 9 on the chosen page is. After val of a minute or so, during declares he “fe them writ- ing,” he pulls up his sleeve, and shows inscribed on the forearm in blood-red the characters, the chosen word, say ‘De- clamation.” The acute reader will doubtless have guessed that by some means the selection of the audience is “forced.” Such is, in fact, the case, save as to the choice of “right” or “left.” = Here nature, having provided the performer with two arms, enables him to offer a genuine alternative. He prepares the left arm with the twenty-ninth word on the left-hand page, ‘‘Decla- mation,” and the right arm with the twenty-ninth on the right-hand page, “Dentist,” so that he is ready for | either contingency. The preparation consists in writing the word with a strongly colored red ink (or, still bet- ter, Judson’s crimson dye) on the soft part of the inside of the arm, just within the bend of the elbow. The selection of the particular word on the page is insured by having a bag with two compartments, the one containing mixed counters from 1 to 130, the other none but counters mark- ed 29. When the performer desires to show that all are unlike, he draws his supplies from the first compartment. In offering the bag for the actual draw he opens the second. To compel the insertion of the paper- knife at the right place the performer starts by procuring some four or five dozen of the little dictionaries. A dozen of these he reserves to be hand- ed about among the audience. The remainder he takes out of their cov- ers, and, assuming that he desired the knife to be inserted between pages 24 and 25, he takes out those two pages, which have on their reverse side pages 23 and 3. He pastes together, two and two, side 23 against 25, and side 26 against side 24. He will thus have a number of leaves of double thick- ness, showing page 24 on the one side, and 25 on the other. These he stitches together, or has stitched by a book- binder in one of the original covers. The book thus made up will look ex- actly like one of the unprepared dic- tionaries, but obviously, wherever the knife is inserted, it can only be be- tween pages 24 and 25. In distributing the dictionaries at the outset of the trick the operator has the prepared one at the bottom of the pile, and follows the handing out of this last one by an immediate re- quest for the insertion of the paper- knife. It only remains to be explained how the performer manages to show his arm free from writing, while it, in fact, bears a bold inscription in blood- red characters. This is achieved by the performer, on drawing up the sleeve, first showing the outside of his arm, and then dropping the arm, as in the drawing, apparently showing its opposite side. As a matter of fact, He feigns the | however, as he extends it, he at the same time gives a half-turn to the | arm so that he is actually showing the same side as before. I have used this sleight before many thousands of spectators, and have never once found the artifice even | suspected. The Flying Thimble. This admirable little trick is the in- vention of Mr. David Devant, of Egyptian Hall celebrity. In its essence it is simply the passage of an ordinary sewing thimble from the forefinger of one hand to that of the other, or to some other desired spot, but the amount of diversity whichmay beintro- duced even into so simple an effect is surprising. As a preliminary, the performer must acquire the power of “palming” the thimble after the manner shown in the drawing. The thimble being, in the first instance, placed on the tip of the | forefinger, as A, this latter is rapidly bent into the fork of the thumb, which closes upon it. (See B in same figure.) The finger belng again extended, the thimble is left “palmed,” as in C. A reverse movement brings the. thimble from the fork of the thumb to the tip of the finger again. The sleight is by no means difficult of acquisition, and, if performed with the arm in motion, the smaller movement of the finger is quite invisible. The only point requiring spe- cial caution is to keep the hand wherein the thimble is palmed with its back toward the audience. Space only permits of my giving one or two.of the possible “passes.” - Mr. Devant usually begins by holding the 1 hands as shown in the figure, the right | hand having a thimble concealed in the fork of the thumb. He waves the right hand backward and forward alternately before and behind the oth- ers. As the fingers of the right hand pass out of sight behind the left, the visible thimble is palmed as above de- scribed. At the same moment the fore- finger of the left hand is bent and again extended with the thimble on it, the effect to the spectators being that it has flown from the one forefinger to the other. A very good effect is produced by putting the forefinger (with the thim- ble on it) in the mouth, and repro- ducing the thimble from the back of the head; then inserting it in one ear and bringing it out of the o‘her. Such, at least, is the.effect to the eye of the spectator. As a matter of fact, the forefinger is rapidly bent in its pass- age to the mouth, and leaves the thim- ble palmed as above described, only the bare finger passing actually into Only Thirty Years trols Over EEREEEREER R EERRER R R RO R R RR R TRS Already. Old, and He Con- $30,000,000 SRS Ll R * :***********ll***************F*******************‘k**** * the elderly Mr. Armour, that authority upon hams, wheat and philanthropy. It tickled Mr. Armour almost to death to sell wheat to Mr. Leiter. He closed one eye and began to open the ficod- gates. It gave Mr. Armour so much pleasure that he could not keep it to himself, so he let a few of his friends in to take a slice of the newest and best “good thing” that Chicago has known. The wheat crowd has Jong been anx- fous to get a whack at the Leiter mil- lions, but the old man had always re- fused to play the game. Mr. Armour prepared to go into the deal with both feet. His first preparation was take $24000,000 in cash from the bank he practically owns and place it in a safety deposit vault. He wanted to give Mr. Leiter a really good time. Now it is on record that never in his life was Mr. Armour so merry and on such good terms with himself as when he went into the battle against Mr. Lei- ter. He thought it was a battle. Leiter didn’t. He thought it was a business deal. He had studied the situation. He arrived at the conclusion that any man who had wheat to sell this winter would find open market for it all over the world. Mr. Armour called his wheat capital into play. Mr. Leiter sent for his father, who was in Europe. The senior hurried home. He found that his son did not want advice, but he did want permission to draw upon the capital of the vast estate to the last cent if neces- sary. It isn’t on record what the old gentle- man said or did. But it ‘s whispered about that he was struck absolutely dumb by the audacity of the request, and that when he recovered he ex- pressed a regret that he was no longer able to take the boy across his knse. The youth scratched that wonderful chin while waiting for the ebullition to pass. Then he suggested that his father take a chair and they would talk it over. Joseph sent for George R. French, a beardless young operator who can put a sack of flour on his shoulder as easily as a man can handle his first baby, and a great deal less awkwardly. quite as tall as Joseph, but he has the same kind of a chin and his head is chock full of brains. French is the commission man who has been hand- ling the deal in the pit. Joseph and French pulled off their coats and went for the shrewd old financier. They drew a map of the sit- uation. They showed how they had month before. They had a mathemat- ical diagram which showed the exact relation of their hand to the Armour bank account. The whole scheme was as plain as day. There was a certainty of $4,000,000 in sight for four months’ work. The old gentleman communed with himself for five minutes, while Joseph whistled a college tune and talked about the horse show. Then the father announced that he was wrong when he suggested spanking Joseph. The father even went so far as to say that he wouldn’t mind taking a little bunch of December wheat himself. the mouth. The second thimble, palm- ed in the other hand, is then produced from the back of the head; and the passage from ear to ear is effected in like manner. Another pretty effect may be pro- duced, the performer being in a seated position, by bringing the hands down thrice with a slap upon the knees, at the same time, after the manner of the “Fly away, Jack; fly away, Jill,” of our childhood, saying, “One, two, three!” At the word “three,” the thimble passes from the forefinger on which it was first seen to the other. The principle of the trick, once mas- tered, it will be an easy matter for the amateur to arrange other passes for himself. A Maglc Needle. An apparent mechanical impossibil- ity may be accomplished by simple means, using a copper cent and a cork with a common cambric needle as ac- cessories. Announce that you will drive a small needle through a coin, and few will be ready to accept your statement, yet it is very simple and any cne can do it. Take a copper ccin, place it upon two small blocks of wood leaving a very narrow open space be- tween the blocks. Now, having selected a good, sound cork, force the needle through it until the point just appears at the other end. Break off the portion of the head of the needle showing above the top of the cork. Place the cork upon the coin and strike it a fair, smart blow with a hammer. The needle wiil be driven entirely through the penny by a single nlow. The Flying Coln. Another and almost equally simple experiment is none the less perplexing to those who have never seen it at- tempted. Procure a small, tapering glass, the largest diameter of which is just a trifle greater than that of a sil- ver dollar. Place a ten-cent piece in the bottom of the glass, and the silver dollar above it, to serve as a hid. New ask your guests to take the ten-cent piece out of the glass without touching either coin or the glass that ‘holds it. All sorts of devices will be suggested, but none that come within the limit of the rule you have laid down. After it has been given up, place your lips a few inches from the rim of the glass and blow downward, obliquely, but smartly upon the edge of the dollar within the glass. The force of the air will turn the dollar over upon its own axis and at the same time will force the smaller coin to leap out as the dol- lar is turning. 2 The Jumping Cork. Ask some of the ladies if they think they can blowa small bit of cork, which you have placed in the mouth of a boz- tle, so that it will go into the botue. Lay the bottle upon the table upon its side, and place the bit of cork about an inch or less inside the open end. The ladies will blow until they get red in the face, and the cork will invar- iably come out of the bottle instead of going into it. Simple reason for it, too; the direction of the air, forced by to - He 1sn't | made $500,000 off the Armour crowd the | There was a warm time in the pit the follobwing day. Young Mr. Lelter was buying more freely than ever, and Mr. Armour was just as wilimg to sell. He thought that the father had come home to call his son off, and that the free buying was the last gasp. Mr. Armour was certain that his opponent must be getting near the end of his tether. He didn’t know the reserve back of the youth. Mr. Armour called his forces togethar and began dumping actual wheat into Chicago. Just as fast as it arrived the young. man loaded it onto boats and cars and sent it eastward. Then it came out that he had made contracts for European shipment long before he began buying. Then Mr. Armour began looking about for his old tricks. In former cor- ners the grain inspection has been a tower of strength. It has been easy to get shady wheat inspected as high grade. It didn’t work this time. It came out that Governor Tanner, who made Leiter a colonel on his personal staff, had appointed a board of inspect- ors wilo were fair, and, moreover, men who are friends of Leiter's. When the members of the Board of Trade made this discovery they an- nounced that Mr. Leiter was a “wise guy,” which is the highest praise that can be given a man in Chicago wheat. As the deal stands now Leiter has a line of 10,000,000 bushels of wheat at the very lowest estimate, and Armour is trying to deliver it to him at prices | made all along since last summer. Ar- mour feels that he is in danger. He has announced that he will break the cor- ner. He has called all his free capital into play. And Leiter only laughs. He is ready for any emergency. Young Leiter is in his office every day in the week from 9 in the morning until | luncheon time, in the afternoon from 3 | o'clock to 5. He dines at home alone | oftener than with any one. | _There is nothing in society for him. While society runs after him he runs the other way so much that society is discouraged. His independence is phe- nomenal—not so very phenomenal con- sidering that he manages $30,000,000 of the best real estate, bonds, stocks and | other gilt-edged properties in the West. | “I like rare books, horses, dogs and | the human race,” he mused along as he had time between fixing controver- sies among his agents and tenants and | getting bulletins from the wheat pit. “I | can play golf, but-it is too hard work. | “It has been my theory in the short | time I have been in active business | that business men work too much. | They don’t get emough of the right kind of relaxation.” His charities are so many and genu- | ine that ke says he has no time to talk | about them, and about all that gets | into the public ear is the fact that he | supports the Waifs’ Mission, the home | for newsboys, out of his own pocket. “There has been no ill feeling in this i“’heat deal,” he said. “It was a plain business proposition with me. I fig- ured that wheat in December would be worth more than a dollar away back in | July, and I simply bought all I could. It | has been a fair trade. The men who thought differently from me saw their mistake when it was too late. All they have to do now is to walk up and set- tle.” bottom of the bottle. The air com- presses within the bottle’s walls and must find outlet, therefore is turned and forced out at the only vent the bottle has, necessarily blowing the 2oric out with it. But take a common lemon- ade straw, place the end of it near the cork in the bottle neck, blow very gently—and the cork rolls in. Mysterious Smoke. I will give one chemical experiment that rarely fails to produce a marked effect upon spectators. A glass or gob- let is placed upon a stand or table and covered with a plate. The magician steps away a distance of twenty feet or less, blows a puff of smoke from his lips from a cigar or cigarette and thae goblet is filled with smoke. It is a weird, mysterious trick, but is as sim- ple as it seems difficult. Prepare the goblet by placing a few drops of chem- ically pure ammonia in it. Prepare the plate by placing two or three minims of muriatic acid upon it. Until thae plate is placed over the glass contain- ing the ammonia neither of the chem- icals will be detected. But as soon as the fumes of the ammonia come into contact with the muriatic acid danse fumes, looking exactly like smoke, are evolved and the illusion is perfect. During the very brief interval required for the operator to walk away from the glass his own movements and his conversation will hold the attention of his audience until he has had time to blow forth a cloud of smoke. —_—— HELPING HIM OUT. Crawley and his wife were at a din- ner party the other night, and Craw- ley, who had been waiting three-quar- ters of an hour for the opportunity, suddenly burst out with: “That reminds me of a little story I heard the other day about an absent- minded man who was going to take a bath one Saturday night, and—" “You are mistaken, my dear,” said the wife of Crawley’s bosom across the table, in her calm yet firm voice. “It was not Saturday night; it was on ‘Wednesday night. You always get it wrong when you try to tell the story, and I think that even a simple .little story should be told correctly if told at all, and you are apt to get muddled on the main points of a story, so I'd better help you out by telling the main points myself, which were that the man was very absent-minded, and one night when he had filled the bathtub full of water preparatory to taking a bath his head was so full of other things that what did he do but plunge right in without taking off any of his clothes! Those are the main points, and now you may go on with the story, Mr. Crawley.” And Crawley laughed lightly as he said, “I guess there is nothing left to tell, my dear,” but the thoughts and strong desires that were hidden away in the secret recesses of his heart only Mr. Crawley Knew as they went on their homeward way. —_——— The method of locomotion of the con- dor in air is a mystery. This bird has been seen to circle to and fro in the sky for many hours at a time, ascend- ing and descending without once the one blowing, brings it against the | flapping its wings.