paitsmouth Jounr.iL
f. V. S-11KIIA.
I'nblUhrr.
NFBII3;
rLAi t.-mgu- ii.
THROUGH FIIiE.
EARS a ? o,
among those
who trod the
busy streets of
Great New
York, was a
man one could
scarcely have
passed without
some notice; a
man with beet
lie g eyebrows
and glittering
black eyes and
n. Vi;irr! rpdnftss
r-. .t-- -
01 cnees; siuuur
ders like Robin Hood's, "a cloth yard
measure from tip to tip," and six feet
at least in his boots; a man of might
and pluck. It was a. pity that, at
thirty vears of vge, this man could not
have remembeted had he desired to do
so, one worthy deed, one honest piece
f lalor honestly paid for, even ore
kindly deed, such as ordinary men do
out of mere good nature every day of
their lives.
Somehow he had come by the name
of lshmael certainly not by christening-.
It was the fittest name for him
that could have been chosen.
With a bank robbery on his con
science, if he had one, and the knowl
edge that all the powers of the police
were at work to prove him engaged in
it, few men would have walked down
Eroadway that day, glittering and
flashy, with a long- cigar in a long
amber mouthpiece, and a stolen watch
in his fob, but he did it. He met an ac
quaintance and said anathema "How
are vou? and" anathema again, his
ordinary way of salutation. He knocked ;
an innocent little Frenchman down for '
being in his way and kicked a boot
olack for saying: "'Shine your boots?"
And just then, way down at his feet, a
little voice said: "Papa, papa," and
two little arms encircled his leg, and,
looking- down, he saw a toddling thing
in whit e and blue, with sunny curls and
a ri se bud mouth, clinging there.
"Fap" it said again, and then a tidy
nurse aiaid, all out of breath, came up
and caught it and cuddled it and
lauched over it.
"The gentleman ain't your papa,"
taid s-he. "It's the way with her al
ways; any fine-lookln' gentleman she
will lake for her papa."
And the girl smiled on lshmael, and,
for a wonder, he did not insult her
eithe- by word or look.
Something nipped at his heart A
preat bail seemed to le in his throat.
He dvibbed children "kids," and hated
them, but this was not like the chil
dren of the dens he frequented. A lit
tle soui pure as when it came from
TAPA papa:
God, and with all outward purity
about it, too fragrant, fresh and
white of garb as a lily is of leaf. Such
a thing had never touched him before.
He wanted to be kind to it. and he
hardly knew how. He bent his head a
little.
"Give us a kiss" he said, in a gruff
rumble of a voice, and the nurse giri
held the baby up to him.
"Give the gentleman a French kiss,"
Bhe said, and Innocence personified did
riot even know sin in the llesh when it
looked at and touched it- The cherub
hands caught softly at the man's
whiskers, the angel mouth kissed his
two cheeks, one after the other, then
his mouth.
"Say, 'day day.' " cried the girl, and
baby said it, and the two were gone.
The man had never had a pure kiss
before had never felt a tender emo
tion, h?xl never loved anyone. On the
instant he loved this baby. He walked
aw-ay very quickly. His heart was
troubled, as the waters of the pool
when the angel descended into it. He
passed the people going home, and
asked himself if they had babies at
home like that one.
"I'll be respectable. I'll go to for
eign parts and start fair. I won't have
jail and gallows ahead of me, and I'll
have a little kid like that to call me
daddy."
And then two big tears squeezed
themselves out of his eys ami rolled
down his cheeks, unconsciously.
"I'll go in the steamer," he said.
"I'll change my name. If I'm not
nabbed for this bank affair I'll make
xny fortune as these fellows do. I'm
their match, I reckon. I'll not hav.
the gailows ahead of me, as it's like I
shall if I staj- here. And I'll have little
kids and an old woman. J will "
There was more of it. He could not
help swearing, but, I think, had he
known how, he would have prayed this
time instead. Put just then there came
upon las ear a sudden tumult. Men
were living past him; a bell was ring
ing; women were shrieking. lie caught
a boy and aked him what the row was.
"House afire, and a young ne burn
ing up in it," said the boy.
And at that lshmael followed the
crowd. He had never before cared for
anyone's danger. He had never feltpity
for anjuiic Now the tliuu-ut of that
Si. .1
soft mouth that had touched his heart
made hira quiver with the thought that
a little fcoul like that was in such awful
danger; made him promise himself to
save it, if he had the power; made him
call them all cowards for standing
there, staring ar.d shouting and doing
nothing
Tne engines had not yet !
come, and the house, all in names in
side, belched forth fire from its many
windows, as thousrh they had been the
mouths of the fabled dragon. And in
the midst of the crowd a girL restrained
by kindly hands, struggled and
screamed:
"Let me go! Let me go! They left
her in my care. She's burning to death
up there. I'd rather die than face
them. Let me go!"
And lshmael heard the voice and saw
the face of the nurse-maiJ who had
held the baby up to kiss him.
"Is it the little kid you had along cf
you?" he asked, clutcning the girl's
shoulder with his big hand. "That
little critter say?"
"Yes, yes," cried the girl, "make them
let me go. She's atop of the house,
back in the nursery. Oh, make them
let me go!"
' You stay here," said IshmaeL "I'll
g-o myself, i.nd I'll bring her out or
never come at alL"
And with these words lshmael
dashed into the building, already a
very furnace of red flame. A shout
TROT KNELT DOWN.
arose as be did so a cry between a
scream of horror and a roar of ap
plause. No one expected to see the
man come out of that blazing pit alive.
The engine came rattling up. The
firemen fixed their ladders to the win
dows and ran up them, and were driven
back acain scorched and faint. Noth
ing alive could be within, they said.
l!ut suddenly, on the blazing parapet,
appears a figure holding a burden in
Lis arms. He looks downward at the
ladders, which could not reach him,
then backward at the flames. Then
he dropped, clinging by one hand to the
hot ledge, swung there a moment, and
dropped upon the ladder,
had thought to see him
The crowd '
dashed to '
pieces on the street, and had stretched
up their hands involuntarily, as though
to cat:h him; but some were on the
ladder, and they did their best for him.
Even they were in great danger, but
good angels watched over them. The
bundle that he held so fast, wrapped
in a wet blanket, was seized by one
man; two otners neiu mm in tneir
arms ana brougiit nim uown.
The girl rushed forward screaming,
and those who held the blanket un
wound its folds. Out of it peeped a
little flushed baby face a head of
rumpled curls. Half smothered, but
unhurt. Trot held her tiny arms to
ward her nurse, and cried in baby
fashion to be taken by her.
No harm had come to Trot, but what
of her preserver, lshmael? lie lay there
with his head upon a fireman's knees.
A doctor had his hand upon his heart.
His eyes were closed; his hair singed;
nis eyebro'AS whitened; his Hash clothes
one mass of tin der; his very boots
shriveled and scrolled away from his
burnt feet; the hand that had held the
little burden and clung to the molten
roof ledge so bravely was one mass of
blistered burns.
Like one dead he lay for awhile, but
at last his e3-es opened. He looked at
the faces about him, all kindly, pitiful,
full of sympathy, and felt that for once
he was a friend among friends. He
heard men call him brave, and heard
women sob. A new life had dawned
upon turn ne, lshmael, was a hero.
He had often been stared at by a crowd
before, as he stood at the prisoner's
bar, but a host of kindly eyes had never
thus turned upon him. He did not feel
much pain, but he knew that the end
was at hand. He was dying dying
just us he had begun to see what life
might be; yet, after all, he was happy.
"It's no use, pals," he said faintly
to those busy about him. "I've swal
lowed fire! I'm a dead man! Where's
the little kid? I want her."
They brought her to him. The inno
cent thing had neither fear nor dread,
but she came solemnly, and her great
eyes dilated as she looked at him.
"Bit up," she said, softly, and patted
him "dit up."
"Kiss him, Trot," said the girl, sob
bing. "He took you out of the fire.
Oh! poor, poor fellow! Kiss him. Trot."
And Trot knelt down and took the
singed black whiskers once more in
her hands and holding them apart
gave the dying lshmael her pretty
"French kisses," one for each cheek
and one for the mouth. He drew her
to him.
M -.vint -irmt nint mt- nrrlr " Ti
said, faintly.
"Cuddle him. Trot." said the girL
And Trot sat down and wound her
tiny arms around the great throat and
put her cheek closedown to hi.-., and he
whispered so softly that no one but
this innocent baby heard him.
"Good-by, little kid. I might have
had something rougher around my
scrag when I died. If the prison chap
lains are right maybe we'll meet again.
I wish I'd had a l.ttie kid like you. I
mlsrlit have been another man."
His hands dropped away from Trot's
waist with these words.
"Man's asleep," said Trot.
And lshmael was asleep, indeed,
The sleep that knows no waking had
come up-n him yi Trot's innovent arms,
lie lay there deJ. 2i. Y. Nw.
1)1 '"' t'J
MEXICO.
American rmnlovrii Gradually Reluc
Sop
planted by the Natives.
"Railroading in Mexico is not what it
used to be," recently remarked an old
train-dispatcher. lie had just returned
from that country, having been there
on ms seconu inp. v uen lurstweui,
down there," he continued, "nearly, if
not quite all, the railroad employes
were 'gringoes.' Now it is changed.
The 'mozos' run everything, it seems.
The American telegraph operator is
rapidly being supplanted by the native.
But the Americans are to blame for
it. They would not stay in the
country over two or three months.
Then they foolishly taught their trade
to the 'mozos,' and as a result, when
' a hundred and twenty-five dollar
: American quit his place, the railroads
I filled the place with the natives at for
i ty dollars to sixty dollars a month.
Now, as they become more proficient,
j the Mexican operators are taking all
; the larger stations. On the Mexican
' National no American operators are
; employed any more, while the Central
1 is discarding them as rapidly as possi
; ble. In my line, however, we yet reign
! supreme, but salaries are very low, and
as the employes are paid in Mexican
silver a train-dispatcher receives really
; less for his labor than the ordinary
country operator in the United States,
j "In the transportation department
j nearly all the brakesmen are Mexicans
I and quite a few conductors and engi
neers are natives. The passenger con
ductors, trainmasters and superintend
ents, however, are Americans, but with
. another five years I believe their
places will lc filled with natives. To
show you bow cheap the natives will
j work I will cite the case where a Mexi
! can is operator and station agent and
i runs the water-tank pump for forty
dollars per month in Mexican money,
' or nineteen dollars and twentv cents
' American money. j
j "The cost of board is about double '
i the price of like accommodations in
; the states, so that railroading is no j
1 longer profitable. To return to the i
j employment of natives, nearly all the ;
j clerks and agents are natives, as are
; the maintenance-of-way employes and
i laborers. Many American railroad
j men flock to the republic expecting
big pay and rapid promotion. The lat
ter is possible, the former impossible to
' obtain. Thpy get there, and it is hard, :
' under the existing prices of exchange,
for them to get home to the states." .
! St. Louis Glcle-Democrat.
UNREASONABLE FREAKS.
The Sidetbowman Airs Ills
Justifiable,
Grievance
"I bin hardlin' freaks fer nigh onto
twenty yea"," said the sideshowman,
"an I must say I jist cum in from a
trip what caused me more worritment
than any 1 ver had. The freaks I had
this time didn't do a thing but lay
awake nights trvin' to think up new
schemes to .make me baldheaded. Thev
was btefin' the hull time, an" I'm dod
rotted glad I got rid of 'em.
"That tl:ere only genooine mermaid
of mire." he continued, reflectively,
"she was the darndest I ever see.
There was no satisfj'in' her. I give
her the best they was to be had.
I and p i id her
her salary reg'lar
mornin", but there
; everv luesdav
was neve" a time but what she hart a
kick com in' Down in Peloit, O., I had
my last racket with her, an' I up an'
give hei the bounce. She sent word
for me to cum in where she was being
shown that day, an' I went in. Au
what do you think she wanted?"
No guesses were hazarded.
"Well," the sideshowman said, "she
tol' me that she would quit if I didn't
hire a chiropodist t" travel 'round with
the show for her special benefit, an" I
fired her. I was willin' to pay for corn
plasters, but I drew the line at a pri
vate chirop."
The sideshowman stopped long
enough to finish his beer. "My ossi
fie'd man." he went on, "he was anoth
er just like the mermaid. lie more'n
kicked at things. Down in Mobile I
had "era all quartered in a hotel an", as
I was walkin' through the hall, I
heard a terrible cussin' comin' outen
the room where they was. I went in,
an' I'll be blowed if that there ossified
man wa'nt swearin' a blue streak at
the snake-charmer. He didn't have no
idea cf courtesy toward the fair sex. I
never heard such talk, an I give him
notice there an' then, for my show was
highly moral an' I was afraid he would
learn bad talk to the wild man of
llorneo.'"
"What was the matter?" asked the
unsophisticated advance agent.
"Why," replied the sideshowman, as
he pulled on his overcoat and prepared
to go, "the snake-charmer wanted to
put him across the tops of two chairs
so's she could use him for an ironin'
board an" iron out some handkerchiefs,
an' he wasn't gentleman enough t
oblige a lady." Puffalo Express.
The War It Is Done.
First Weather Operator (in the weath
er bureau) How's everything in north
ern Illinois?
Second Weather Operator Lovely.
Palmly and springlike.
"A warm south breeze?"
"Yes."
"Men in spring suits and women in
thin wraps?"
"Yes,"
"Well, then, just reach for that snow
valve and turn on the blizzard pres
sure." Chicago Record
Cori flotation.
The yonng lady at the piano was
playing a difficult selection from Wag
ner. In the midst of it she suddenly
Btopred in confusion.
"What's the matter?"' inquired one of
the company.
"I struck a false note." she replied.
"Well, what of it?" said another.
"Xolxly but Wagner would ever
know it, and he's dead. Go ahead with
the music."
And she went ahead. Chicago Trib
une. It Koauded UiOrently.
Mi-s. Coffee Where did j-ou learn
th.it new piece?
Daughter--It isn't a new piece. The
piano has hnu tuned. Town Topics.
RAILROADING IN
PERSONAL AN& LITERARY.
Lord F.osebrry at schoool was so
p-irlish that he was nicknamed "Miss
Prim," but former schoolmates do not
! venture to address him now as they
! then did, "Miss Prim."
j It is said that in Rhode Island the
! name Olney is commonly pronounced
j O'ney; but the attorney -general him
j self pronounces it Ol-ney, with the ae
cent on the first syllable.
I Foreign papers say that Mascagni
has given himself up to gambling, and
: has lost a large part of his fortune in
i Monte Carlo. It is also said that he
, has severed his relations with his pub-
Usher. Souzagno.
Mr. Gladstone, as one of his daugh
' ters says, is always very careful to
avoid traveling Sunday, and also to
put aside all secular work on that day
i and keep himself to his special Sunday
; books and thoughts.
j Thomas Ellis, the new liberal
whip, is the son of a tenant farmer in
Wales and so thorough a Welshman
' that he learned English as a foreign
I language. By temperament, too, as
well as by origin, he is democratic.
I D. Russell Brown, ex-governor,
hold-over governor and governor re
; elect of Rhode Island, is a native of
: Connecticut and forty-six years of age.
He is the senior partner of the great
j mill supply store of Brown Bros. & Co.
j of Providence.
! The president has pardoned nenry
j Williams, of Texas, who was under
sentence for life and five years lor
"holding up" the United States mails
In 1S75). In some countries he would
have been lucky to get the extra five
years cut off.
The richest man in Prussia is Al
bert Hoesch, who owes his wealth to
his manufacturing establishments
viron and paper.) His income is about
-2.000.O0O a year, and his taxes last
year, when his wealth was rated half
a million more, were 510S.O3O.
Congressman Morse, of Massachu
setts, is not only a manufacturer of
polish but of poetry. The combination
ought to be profitable. With the
poetry he can boom the polish, and
happily he may get a little of tho
polish on the poetry, and reap dis
tinct benefit in the literary end of his
dual output.
Alice Ayres was a domestic servan
in London the only support of her
aged mother. In trying to rescue her
employer's children when the house
burned down she lost her life. The
newspapers lauded her as a heroine
and a big monument was placed over
her grave. Her mother has just been
sent to the poorhouse.
The Amir of Afghanistan has pre
sented the shrine of Imam Reza at
Meshed with a large Koran. It waB
received with great pomp. The gov
ernor. Prince Moayyed-ed-Dowleh, re
ceived it in person in the mosque.
The Koran is inclosed in a valuable
casket of massive silver and n0
beautiful workmanship.
A Princess Galitzen, in tights and
spangles, is a bareback rider in a French
circus. A l'rinee Krapotkin is a cab
man in Moscow. A l'rinee Soltykoff is
a porter in a St. Petersburg meat mar
ket. A Princess Dolgorouki is singing
in concerts in America. A Prince Eris
toff is serving a sentence of penal servi
tude for stealing. On the whole, the
Russian princes seem to be working.
HUMOROUS.
Hoffman Howes "Haven't seen
Pick at the club lately." Puttson Calls
"No; he's enganged. But he's to be
married soon." Puck.
"They say that money is a drug in
the market." "Yes, but the trouble is
one has to have a prescription in order
to get it." Brooklyn Life.
Carson "Seeing is believing."
Volkes "Nonsense. I see Wetherell
every day and I wouldn't lelieve him
on his oath." N. Y. Herald.
"Now, Tommie, stop your crying.
What on eartli do you want, anyhow?"
cried mamma. "Want to see the woyld
go wound." said Tommie. Harper's
Bazar.
"Is Smarter just right in saying
that he speaks French without any no
ticeable accent?" "Yes, indeed. With
out even a French accent." Chicago
Iiecord.
Mr. Top "Our youngest child talks
all the time." Mr. Chumppe "Is it a
boy or a girl?" Mr. Pop "Didn't I say
it "talked all the time?" Detroit Free
Press.
There are two reasons why some
people don't mind their own business.
One is that they haven't any mind; the
other, that they haven't any business.
Tid-Bits.
Dibbs "Swelton says he isn't
afraid of work." Sarcas "Why should
he be? He never got near enough to
any to find out how he'd feeL" Chica
go Iiecord.
The Spectacled Girl "nave you
read "Ships That Pass in the Night?"
The Auburn-Haired Girl "No. What
kind are they courtships?" Indian
apolis .Journal.
"Where is the bearded lady?" asked
the manager. "It is time for the show
to begin. "He went out to vote," ex
plained the ossified man." Indian
apolis Journal.
Patient "I am troubled with in-
i somnia. What would you recommend?"
i Doctor "A good, refreshing sleepseven
j nitrhts in the week. Five dollars,
please." Boston Transcript,
; Extremely Bad. Customer "These
trousers are the worst I ever saw."
j Tailor "What's the matter with
them?" Customer "Confound it, they
. won't hang anyway." Tailor (blandly)
; "Perhaps hanging is too good fortheoi,
sir." Detroit Free Press.
: Couldn't Understand It "I don't
understand editors," said Mr. Fresh
i field, late of Yalevard. "They sour on
j ambition so. I told the editor of the
Gazette that I'd like to write for him
and give a literary tone to his paper,
and he wouldn't hear of it. I think
j it's very stransre that he should not
' want his paper to have a literary tone."
I ilarpci's Bazar.
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.
GRZTCHZN AND KATCHEN.
Cretccen anl Kutchen, the tvro little mtlls.
Wear pretty will to caps over libt llaxen
braids;
They're clad liie twin slaters trcm Ucrchicf lo
shoe.
And both have rvunJ eyes cl forget-me-not
blue.
But Gretehen's In motion from morulas till
ulght;
Bhe rnns, and she elps, and she jumps wl'-h
delight:
While ILucLen won't moTe, even Tthen eho Is
bid,
BecAuso Ehe's a dolly of chins and kid.
Bald Gretchen to Katchen: "We're left aU
alcne;
Well Just have a quiet pood ttmo of our own;
You'll ride In your wagon to call on th cat,
o talio her some cherries and have a long
chav
In the ylne-ccvered arbor the table' ve'll
srre-.kd.
And load It with cherries, a!l shining and red!
I'll pick o-Jt the richest from these on the shelf,
For sleepy Frau Green-Eyes, and you and my
self. "I'll do all the talking for you and for her,
Binco you, my poor Katchen. cannot even purr,
I never eat cherrleb. I tnank you,' says she.
And then Ciero'll be more for my Katchen and
EC!"
Taoy called on Frau Groen-Eyes, tho sleepy
old dame.
And grove llttlo Katclwn rode back as sc
came,
TV 1th never a spot on hor kid finffcr-tlps:
But gay little Grctcben had purrle-stalnedllpsl
Eclen Gray Cone, In St Nicholas.
THE GIANT STRIDE.
Aa Amoving Device Which Affords Most
I . excellent Exercise.
Boys, did you ever make a "giant
stride?" My brother Frank and I spent
many happy hours in boyhood exercis
ing upon this exhilarating device.
If you live in or near the country, se
lect a pood, straight young hickory
pole, eight or ten inches through at
the bottom and running up twenty or
twenty-five feet to four or five inches
through. Saw the top off square, and
skrink on an iron ring to prevent
splitting- of the wood.
Drive an iron pin, half to three-quarters
of an inch in diameter and ten
Till; CIAJCT STBXDE-
Inches long, into the center of the top
cf the pole- Set the pole up securely
in the ground, in a space where you
can have a free swing of fifteen feet
from the pole on every side.
Take an oak or hickory bar four and
cne-h:Uf inches wide, four inches thick
and tvo feet long, and bore a hole in
the center of such size as to permit the
bar to turn freely on the pin in the top
of the pole. Near each end of this bar
bore a hole about one-half an inch in
diameter.
Secure to each end of the bar, by
passing it through the small hole and
firmly tying, a good piece of rope,
with a loop of at least two and one
half feet at the lower end. When
these looped ropes are suspended from
the Crossbar they mnst touch the
grouufi, or clear it by only a few
inche? at the bottom of the pole.
Above the loop fix a short, round
piece of wood to form a hand piece.
Make a "saddle" by placing in each
loop a piece of carpet or bagging.
Your "giant stride" is now ready for
use.
Two of you must put your right
legs through the saddles, so as to
bring the body on the outside of the
loop, away from the pole. Grasp the
hand piece and run in a circle as far
away from the pole as possible; as you
gain momentum you will find yourself
supported easily in the saddle, and will
be enabled to swing entirely around
the pole, often making the circuit sev
eral times without touching the ground
with the feet. If you wish to reverse
the movement place the left leg, in
stead of the right, through the loop.
Youth's Companion.
BILLY IS POPULAR.
ne Is
PHvilercd Character on
Board
of the San Tranrlsro.
Sailors are the children of the sea.
Cut olf as they are from all that makes
life merry, they take to simple sports
and pets. This is especially true on
the big white ships that sail in the
service of ITncle sum. The most com
fort Jack takes is in cultivating pets,
and on board every warship some sort
of a menagerie is to be found. The
best and most unique "happj- family"
In the navy is that kept on the "San
Frar eisco," the splendid flag-ship of
the 7orth Atlantic squadron. Though
the dignity of the navy is at its high
est development on a flag-ship, that
formal stiffness which great men have
Eb:ut them is well-nigh banished from
the San Francisco by the antics of
"Billy," the ship's goat. He 13 the
id6l of four hundred prank-loving sail
ors, and bis education is anything but
what a nice little black-and-white
peat's should be.
But Billy is privileged because he
vrould be able to w;-ite "A. B." after
Ids name if he knew how. That means
be is an old sailor wlo has crossed the
line and has been -tround the Horn.
The San Francisco was built in the
city whose name she bears; and as she
was the first warship to be constructed
on the Tacific coast, San Francisco
couldn't do too much to show
eppreciation of that fact. Gifts wer
t howered upon shij and crew. Down
In the ward-room Is a case of beau
tiful silverware, and every cover has
for a handle a solid gold grizzly beari
end this does very well indeed as a tes
timonial, but it is nothing to Billy.
San Francisco supplied Billy as welL
lie w as little more than a kid when tha
ship sailed away for Valparaiso to hav
a hand in settling the Chilian squab
ble that made so much noise in the fall
of 1S91. After that the San Francisco
took her time getting around Cap
Horn,but Billy improved it all until now
4
I
BILLT, THE SHIP'S COAT.
tes an accomplished sailor ne toolc
part with the ship's crew in the Colum
bian naval review, and was every inch,
as good a goat as the British capricor
nus on the big cruiser Magicienne.
Billy is a privileged character. He
bas the run of the ship, as sailors say.
His favorite loafing -place is on the
"bridge" with Lieut. Kimbali the nav
igating oflieer, but he is as much at
home on the quarter deck as the fore
castle. Every day the men are formed
in line for an exercise walk around the
gun deck. When the drum taps to "fall
in" Billy scampers to the head of the
line and marches to the piping of the
fife as long as he can. When at sea
the roU is so heavy that Billy's sharp
hoofs can find no footing, and after a
desperate struggle he is pitched head
long into the scuppers. The line does
not wait, but Billy finds sweet revenge
in bracing himself against a stanchion
and butting every pair of legs that
goes by. It fills him with keen delight
to butt a marine, but that is part of his
education.
On the day his portrait was taken, Bil
ly was not feeling very welL He had
eaten a bos of matches, and the phos
phorus did not agree with him. Don C
eitz, in St. Nicholas.
FUN FOR THE BOYS.
A Wooden rish That Swims Only la Salt
Water.
Take a piece of light pine wood,
about six inches long, and cut it to the
shape shown in this illustration. Paint
two of the sides black and the third
white, to give it the appearance of a
fish. You can prove to your friends
that this fish lives only in seawater by
the following device. Place it in a
basin of water, into which you hava
thrown several spoonfuls of salt, and
it will float with its back out of the
water like a real fish. Now put it in a
basin of ordinary fresh water and it
will instantly turn on its back and
show the white under surface, like a
dead sh. This trick is extremely puz
zling to people who do not know that
the water in one basin is strongly im
pregnated with salt. The phenomena
is merely due to a difference in the
density of the liquids.
SOME QUEER FOODS.
Prenllar Diet of the Indiana of California
and Oregon.
There is an old proverb to the effect
that what is food to one man is poison
to another, and the proverb is well
illustrated at the department of agri
culture at Washington by an odd 6ort
of exhibit of queer foods eaten by out-of-the
way people.
Among" the articles in the exhibit is
a loaf of bread made from the leaves of
a plant that is allied to the century
plant; as also another kind of bread
from a dough of juniper berries. These
are relished by some kinds of Indians,
wh ile others make cakes out of different
kinds of bulbs. The prairie Indians
like a dish of wild turnips, and the
"screw beans," which grow on mes
quite bushes, are utilized by Indians
for food. Soap berries furnish an
agreeable diet for some tribes. The
Digger Indians in California do not dis
dain the seeds of salt ,grass, and the
seeds of gourds are consumed in the
shape of mush by Indians in Arizona.
The exhibit in question includes a
jar of pulverized crickets, which are
eaten in that form by the Indians of
Oregon. They are roasted, as are also
grasshoppers. These delicacies aro
cooked in a pit. being arranged in al
ternate layers with hot stones. After
being thus prepared, they are dried and
ground to powder. They are mixed
with pounded acorns or berries, the
ilour made in this way being kneaded
into cakes and dried in the sun.
Aaocg- other curious things used by
Indians for food are acorns, sunflower
seeds, grape seeds, flowers of cattails,
moss from the spruce fir tree and tha
blossoms of wild clover.
That Settle Ilia Fate.
"Young Mr. Spudkins is desperately
in love with Miss Bellefield, but he ia
as poor as a church mouse," said Mr.
Snaggs to his wife.
"Then she won't h4.ve him," replied
Mrs. Snaggs, decidedly. "She's afraid
of mice." Pittsburgh Chronicle.
Tred'a Supposition.
Fred Mamma, doesn't that colored
boy make awful faces playing on th
harmonicon?
Mamma He does indeed, Fred.
Fred Mamma, is that what is called
expression in playing-? Harper's Young
People.
7