THE OMAIPA DAILY JJEEr WEDNKSDAV, J Ay VARY 8, 3002.
9
(
'
Absolute Zero.
Hy tUANK LILL1IJ POLLOCK.
(Copyright. 1901, by Frank 14111c J'oliock.)
For many years Mr. Augustus Kearnahnn
had been a Rijldlng wheel In tho "machlno"
that mlfgovorned ono of tho lons-sufferlng
cities of the middle went. The ppllce de
partment was his nnd ho used It much as
a Ocrman baron of old might havo used bis
mercenaries, but his end was at hand. Tho
municipal elections were near and tho GUI.
xens' Keform league was straining every
neryo to put up a decent ticket, and Inci
dentally (and successfully) to collect evi
dences of the misdoings of tho present
holders of office.
It was In this latter work that I had part,
meting as ono of the league's special de
tectives, for which I was qualified by somo
experlcnco with tho government secret
atrvlce. It was not long before wc found
good reason to .suspect n most astonishing
state of things; Kearnahnn himself seemed
to have been In actual collusion with one
or more gangs of "hlnh-cl&ss" saft-hluwcrn
and counterfeiters. As yet wo bad not suf
ficient proof to convict or ovon to serve as
a campaign weapon, so we preserved nn
wful sllcnco and bad our man shadowed
wherever ho went.
Thus, when ho left town, ostensibly lor
Bt. Louis, I was detailed to follow him.
Ho spent several hours most Innocently In
that city and then took a ticket for Den
ver, still In my unsuspected company. As
e left tho depot nt tho destination, how
ever, I lost him In some unaccountable
manner and could not pick up the trail. I
could not well call on the local detectives
for help, but I went through tho city as
scientifically as I know how and afterward
visited Lcadvllle, Colorado Springs and
Paeblo without finding nny clue. It was
most mortifying for his adroit disappear
ance strengthened the presumption that ho
was engaged In shady transactions. Nearly
throe weoka I spent In rushing nbbut the
etato and finally returned, discouraged and
disgusted, to Donvdr,
At tho hotol I glanced over tho register
ror somo tlmo back, as Is my habit, and
found a nomo which Interested me, though
It was not that of tho man, I sought. Years
ago I had known Carl fllnnnv at thn tint.
vcrslty of Chicago, wbcro he was one of tho
most brilliant mon In physical science they
vor turned out, a devourer of scholarships.
Ho had mado no friends, scarcely any ac
quaintances, owing to a curiously- stnnd
offish mariner that ho wore, It seemed to
me, against his real nature. I bcllovo I
wau tho only man with whom ho had any
Intimacy, and ho novor Invited me to his
rooms, and always met me with something
, the embarrassment of n shy lover keep
i ing a tryst. It was not a question of
poverty. Ho seemed to havo plenty of
money. The students simply considered
him "queer," and let him alono, as ho
seemed to desire. I had never heard of
him since leaving college, and hero ho wns
at tho Hotel Denfson.
"Do you know whether Mr. Olcnny Is In?"
I asked tho clerk.
"I'm pretty sure ho Is," was tho roply.
"Are you a friend of his?" looking at me
with some Interest.
"Why, I used to know him pretty well,"'
I said cautiously.
"We'd bo glad to see any frlond of Mr.
Olenny's," continued tho. dork, still looking
at me curiously. "Ho seems to bo a
stranger :in town He's beon horo for two
or three weeks, and to toll tho truth, wo're
Rotting n little uneasy about htm not
afraid of his bill, you understand! But' he
don't soom quite right, Homohow; hardly
vtii?,c.em?40. 'fft1 flf. leopdaml...BMpm
leaves the house. Maybo ho's sick, hut he
looks well enoughf Anyway, something
socms to bo troubling him badly, and wo'd
hate to havo, anything happen In the house.
You'd better go up and eco him. Don't tell
him that I aald anything."
So I wont up. A bell boy showed mo tho
room, and knocked.
1 "Who Is it? I tWt sco anybody," said
voice. , '
"It's Billy, Klrkman," I said. "Don't you
remember me, Glen, nt 'vnrlsty?"
A crack was opened and an cyo ap
peared, thon Olcnny .swung' tho door wide,
dragged me In and slammed It nftor me.
"Lord, Klrkman, I'm glad to sea you!"
he cried, and repeated It. "Any' friend
I uever needed ono more! I swear I
couldn't think of a soul on earth to call
on."
He had changed greatly, nnd looked older.
I thought, than ho should havo done. Ho
had been a big, handsomely-built man. bu
he was stooped, his head showed patches of
grlnle and his face was pitifully llnod.
Moroover, bis nerves were clearly In raK-i.,
no couia not bu or stand still for a mo
meat and It seemed to me that be was
gulping down a fit of hysterics as we shook
hand.. I did not much wender that thi
hotel people wero afraid of having a
aulclde.
"You look'v run down," I remarked.
"What'a tho matter;"
"The matter? Tho matter?" he sild.
rawer , wildly. "Why, man. I'm rcJolclnc
I'h a free man, pretty nearly for tho first
time since I can remomb'cr."
"You look It," I said. "Slop It!"
Ho bad burst into a roar of discordant
laughter, rolling In his chair, and ho kont
it up. till I emptied tho water pitcher ever
nis head. Thon he sat up dripping ard
looKea at me moro sanely.
Thanks," ho said, seriously. "That was
what I needed. Uut you'vo no Idea tow
badly I'vo wunted help or advice. I rav.
you've got to come with me. I can't fell
you hero; you'd never believe It. Will
youi"
Half an hour later we woer on nn evnn
Ing train for Limestone, where wo snent
the night. Olonny was excited and moodv
by turns, but he would give me no hint of
the cause. Next morning wo hired two
addle horses and rodo up a very dcvhvn
trail Into the mountains, for nearly two
hours. ThUi brought us to a little valloy
where .stood tho rudo buildings of what
mlBht havo beon a mlno. Thoro was nn
engine shed with a tall smokestack and an
enormouslyUong belt that ran over a couplo
cr intermediate pulleys to a small, gal
vanlzed Iron house fifty yarda awn, v. Wn n.,1
the horse under the- pines and Olonny lod
tho way to the house. Thorn Boomed no
living being about the valloy nnd ho un-
jocnea tho strongly-fastened dcor.
The slnglo room seemed to havo been do
Igncd partly as a laboratory and partly
as dwelling place, 'rii'ero was an Iron be.i
with other domestic arrangements nt ono
side, while along the other, under three
large windows, ran a long bench Uttered
wim strongo Instruments lf brass an.
tints, quite Incomprehensible to me. Dla
aster seemed to have been there, howevor;
nuiiio oi mo apparatus was broken and frag.
ments of gluss had boon actually molted
inio iitua pools on tho burned table.
"Nothlnc here." said (Jlenny.
tlently. "This Isjust my workshop.- Step
on here and wtx'll go below."
Then I observed that In the center of the
floor was a movable platform llko that of a
freight elevator, dlenny had lighted a long
canuio ana gave It to mo to hold while h
manipulated the rope thjat controlled tho
counterpoise and we4wonf down down a
dark shaft, twenty or thirty feet. Then the
earth walla changed to stono and la two
minutes wo touched tho bottom
We wero In a chamber porhaps fifteen
feet square, hewn and blasted from the
solid rock. At one side stood a small tablo
folding physical apparatus', umong which I
w j
j
noticed a number of delicate thermometer
An Iron shaft ran down, apparently from
., W. nnH nnoM,1 wilt, o ..11
resembling a shallow grave, cut In the rock
floor. Its massive metal lid was raised and
In tho cavity lay some long object covered
with a blanket.
"That," sold Olenny solemnly, "Is my
evil angel."
"It looks very harmless," I said, more
carelessly than I felt, and pulled off the
cloth.
I bbatl never forget the shock. I hardly
know what I had expected to find perhaps
a corpse. But there lay n marvelous statue
of a man In solid gold, a little lees than lite
size, and somewhat spongy-tooMng, hut ab
solutely perfect. livery hair, overy thread
of tho clothing was, duplicated, In tho
I
"THE COLD
precious metal tnat glittered In tho candle
light. But nt the moment 1 scarcoly real
ized tho mtrncln of Its workmanship and
material, for tho form arfd features wero
thoso ot Augustus Kcarnahan.
"In heaven'B name!" 1 ejaculated. "Is
this a mlno? Do you mean to say that you
cast ithat statuo yourself? Do you know
that It's tho meat wonderful thing over
done?"
'I dare say," said Olenny. "I ,kncw you
would'nt believe unices you saw It. But It
Isn't a statue; It can't be called anything
but a corpvto-rtat any rato It's all that re
mains of tho man. Do ynu know him?"
"I know tho face," I cried. "But this ts.
gold." . ,
"Yes," ho said. "I'll tell you all about
It. I wanted you to see for yourself. ou
probably didn't know that I was once mme-
thlng of n cracksman, did you?"
"I ccrtalnnly did not."
"It was before I was 20, and I wns qulto
n succens at It. That was how J came to
know him," pointing, at tho golden Image
that regarded the roof with a yellow stare.
"He kept a gambling house In Now Orleans
then, and one night I tried to get Into his
sate with somo tools ot my own Invention,
and ho came down nnd caught mo In tbu
net. , Greatly to my surprise, ho did not
havo mo arrested, hut utter a long talk
over a revolver barrel, ho let me go.
"That wns tho beginning. Nobody can
think worse of Kenrnahau than I do, hut
he had moro foresight and shrewdnesa than
any other man I ever knew., 1 was ar
rested a month later for another affair and
he baled mo out and then told me to jump
my ball and go north, whoro ho would loox
after me. It seema that ho detected my
rclcntlfic bent before I discovered It myself,
and ho sent mo to a good tehool, where
they hammered mathomatlcs and elemen
tary science Into mo and finally matricu
lated me for Chicago university, where you
saw me. 'I don't want you to fall In lovt,
take to drink, mako any friends or get ro -
llglous,' ho said to me. 'Outsldo that you
can do as you d plcaso nnd call on ma
for" the price. I know you've' got tho head
for what I want.' i
"It seemed that I bud. You romorabor
the way I went through practical 'nnd
thoaretlcal physics, I seemed to have a
peculiar knack for tho work and 1 never
was happier In my life, except tor bis pro
hibition against making friends. I felt too
much gratitude, howevor, to disobey him In
anything, but 1 never could understand the
reason for It, or for his befriending mu ut
all till I graduated.
Then ho sent me to his own city,
where fie had Just got, himself appointed
chief ot police, and I found that ho had
been quietly collecting evidence ot all
my . youthful misdeeds, enough to get
mo n good twenty yenrs In tho pr'son of
two or thrco states. He said blandly that
ho wouldn't bring these things to light
Just at present, though, ns ho bad a;mo
work ho wanted mo to do and he proposed
to establish mo In n lnbcratory ot my own
In St. Louis.
"Of course I Jumped nt tho opening. I
had hoped to spend my life- In scientific
work nnd t would rather havo faced dtath
than twenty years of penal scrvltuds. Just
then. But it wasn't long before I dlscov
fed what sort of scientific labors wero to
bo Imposed upon me. Kearnaban mado no
bones about tolling me that he was 'Inter
ested In' tho cnterpr!scssof half a dozen
gangs of expert safe .crackers und countor
fellers, nnd ho wanted to apply modern
science to those industries. Ho never ac
companied tho gangs on their raids, you
understand, but ho supplied the capital, and
acted as 'fenco,' and got hold f most of
the profits.
"I rebelled, of course, but what could I
do? I've often wondered since what 1
ntlcht to hnvA rinno. Thn iirlunn hlnpbi.il
oyery road but one, la short, I succumbed
tne room aooye, ono connecieu wiin a nwu , l0 pcrlmentlnK bcsl(,rfl and Kc,mia. I cxpMj to ,urn alc A11(, forc , rcaHed
and complicated, ooklnx machlno In a cor- boURh't (he CMHMt nppnratl), for ma ,ho lran!lformnllol;i ,,,'ey were while as mar
ner. Close to this was b box-llko Irench, h k) fc (, , h $0 b) Bnd cnn6l(lcrn,,iy )nrRPr , mUcj lhe
pnanmrillne) a atinllnu.' ffaVA ftt In Inn rnrl I ... .
' '
- iiiiiMaa a aaaar r 1
nnd went to work, and tiler .work It wa!
There was no tort of lawless implement
that I didn't handle. Moulds and dies for
coining, chemical erasers for bank notes then they ceased to work. I the expert
ftnd checks, electric drills nnd blow-pipes ment go on for an hour mnrr diid then held
for safe cracking 1 had them nil. I did , nn electric bulb over the Rl h window In
good work, too, and 1 nm ashamed to say the lid nnd peeped In.
that It wasn't very long before the scientific j
side of the work began 'to eclipse the morat,
. .., ... , .... ... ... ...
,u 1 ,u" ' ""- ,
000 n yenr to him, and, In fact, 1 believe
that somo of tho cleverest robberies of
that period owed their success to me.
"But the jnore I came to know of my
master the more I loathed htm. Ho never
mmln nnv nrotinlnn tn nlotv M'fn In hln 1
public life, you know-; Ho posed as a 'sport,' .
but his private llfo was a thing to turn the
stomach of n beast. Ho wallowed In overy
sort of vice, and how ho managed to keep
his wits so clear I can't Imaglno. He used
to come to my laboratory and talk Lord!
I slckon to think of It!"
"You never seem to hnve heard of the
thing called state's evidence." I remnrkcdT
"Yes, but I had no direct proof and he 1
BOX STOOD OPEN AND I DRAGOED HIM,
had it all straight agalnsl me. Besides,
I knew that tho Influence of his 'ring'
extended oven to tho courts, In a greater
or loss degree. Well, It was cowardice, I
confess, but I daren't risk It. As I' got to
know the breadth nnd depth of that man's
unholy power I was half cowed and I tried
to think of nothing but science till a new
stimulus came to mo."
Olcnny stopped, nnd wn' silent, for'"' half
a minute. Tho winking cAiidlo glittered on.
that strango yellow effigy, and queer re
flections danced on tho dark walls.
"Except for Its Intellectual Interests, my
llfo tins been bare and grncolcss to nn un
Imaglnablo degree," he went on nt Inst. "I
hardly realized Its colorlossuess myjclf till
a woman enmo Into It If you will belluvo
me for tho first tlmo. Kcarnahan novcr
knew of my acquaintance with tho Lcso'lra.
Hp wasn't In their class, nnd I would havo
folt It profanation to mention Helen's
name In his brutal presence, She was tho
brightest thing that ever touched my ex
istence. Man, you must remember what
my llfo had been tho slums and the gutter
and the thieves' hangout till I wns 20, and
nothing but retorts nnd crucibles after
that!
"I couldn't sec her often, but Bhe enme
to care for mc-I know she did. .Then 1
had been going on In a sort of golden
drenm then I seemed to wnke up to the
horror ot my position. I was nothing better
than a slave, chained down to crime. I
would havoi cut my throat sooner than have
dragged Helen Into the net thnt held mo,
but rebellion meant tha' prison that would
shut mo off from her forovcr.
"I tried hard to break the cords. 1
plotted mid planned till I almost went
gray, but I could find no opening for es
cape. Those waiting years of Imprisonment
I couldn't dodgo them. I concluded that
I had betcr lie low for a whllo and wait
for nn opportunity. To go up for trial
meant never to see her agnln. I knew that!
And now I've lojt her forever nnd to all
1 eternity!" Ho ended his sentence with a
i sort oflry gasp.
"Well, 1 turned back hard' to work and
moved out here, I needed n laboratory out
of tho reach of thu jar-and vibration of a
clt-. I was, working upon tho production
of low temperatures, for wo had nn Idea
that by tho uso of liquid nlr In somo wny
steel could bo mado as brittle as glass nnd
a safo door could bo erncked with a ham
mer. It wnB Interesting, but I presently
stumbled upon n discovery that promised
g'reater ihjnga yet, nothing less than Hie
productlon'ot tho Absoltlto Zero.
"That, you must know, Is tho tempera
ture nt which nil heat Is absent. It is
about 275 degrees ccntlgrndo ntid lina never
even been approached by science. A lump
ot matter nt tho Absoluto Zero would be
dead, ns no created substance, has ever
been absolutely, deprived of energy of any
sort. Its atoms would only hold together
by mere Inertia, und would bo liable tn be
broken up( by nny shock. I speculnted a
good deal ns to what '.form matter would
nssumo In such a state. It would bo sim
ply matter, deprived of all Its nttrlbuto's,
and no moro Iron or eurth lhau flesh or
watir. I could not even d,ccldo whether It
would bo visible or not.
"I had tho underground cell built to get
as tar from vibration as possible nnd
moved tho engine shed to n greater dis
tance. You wouldn't understand my ex
periments If I described them, but I
worked for two or three mouths before I
saw my way clear. I had already obtained
temperatures lower than had ever been be
fore obtained. Liquid nlr I employed
largely, but liquid air was boiling oil com
pared to somo of the ghastly fluids I dis
tilled under tremendous pressure and cold.
"Two months ago I arranged my appartus
for tho great nttempt. That stone trough
In the floor was tho 'cooling vbox,' and I
put half n dozen ordinary bricks In it,
locked the lid and. ejarttd Jho machinery,
For an hour 1 watched the -registering
thermometers go down. Dow thoy went -
200 dtgroes, 250 degrees, 26, legrers and
"Just for n moment I sa.v the pile of
bricks exactly as I had left inem. Then, at
. ... ... ...,.. .., ,
" "KUl. - ...v.i .u ...... w ,
lid, but the gush of white vapor and awful
cold that Come nut drovr me hurriedly up
tho shaft In the lift. When the place had
warmed a little I returned, Instead of the
bricks I found half a down blocks of solid
fee. tirlrlt.Bhiil)fl. btlt nearly a third larger.
"I bnd half oxpertcd something of tho
sort. It had been a stisceis The rays of
tho electric lamp lad broken up the atoms
of dead matter Into n new molecular ar
rangimont, which bnppjned to be that of
water. Tho increase In bulk Blmply repre
sented the difference In tho specific gravi
ties of tho old nnd the new compounds.
"It wns certainly tho greatest selcntlflo
fenj of tho century, end my state of excite-
INTO IT."
ment nnd triumph Is hard Jto describe
Moreover, tho prnctlcal possibilities of tho
thing1 were enormous, unlimited. If bricks
could be turned to wnter, stone could be
turned to dln'inhnds; It was only a question
of finding the.rlglit sort ot shock to npply
to tlio deadened matter. So I devoted my
self to' tho problem of ascertaining what
sort of Bh6cks' produced certnlir results, and
I worked nt It for weeks. I had tho lerml
mils of nn Induction coll run Into tho cold
box, nnd used sparks of dlfferonl Intensities
ns ngents. But 1 could 'not arrive at any
nccurnto results; tho chilled matter Hcemcd
tn tako ono turn as readily ns another
Lump's of rock changed to ice or carbon
readily, sometimes to lead, sometimes to
nlr, and once I nearly blew up tho whole
plaro by suddenly producing .several thou
sand feet of a highly expansive gas. But I
never got anything ot any Intrinsic value..
"I. had totally neglected Kearnahan'n
work .for some t(mo and ono morning ns I
was nt work In this dungeon i wns stnrtled
to seo him letting himself down by tho
lift. It wns the first time ho had over
visited my mountain lnborntory, though ho
had written sovcral times. I had almost
forgotten how I loathed him. But I ro
rrcmbcred when I snw In his hand n pho
togrnph of Helon Lenoir which hnd hung
on my wnll upstnlrs.
" 'Devil of a place you'vo not here." ho
eald. 'How about tho work ou chilled
steel? I sco you'vo got Mies Lenoir's pnoto
Fine slrl.'
"I simply glared nt him without saying
anything.
" 'I didn't know you knew her. Remem
ber, I warned ynu ngalnBt 'falling in lovo
I wjen't havo you marrying; not this k'.tI
anyway.'
" 'Why not?' I said. 1 .
" 'Because. I'm going to marry her my
self,' ho grinned.
"I believe ho lied, but 1 wns In no statu
ot 'nil ml to balance probabilities. Tho man
appeared fa mo ns n pernicious reptile that
It would bo nn net ot graqc to kill. I
sprang at him barehanded, and ho flung a
heavy glass retort straight nt my head
It smashed on my temple and the next
Instant 1 had lilm by the throat and we
went down together, his hend crashing
on tho stono floor. I thought he was
dead, but after u moment I discovered that
ho was allvo, but badly stunned. The cold
box Btocd open, for 1 had Just finished
preparations tor nn experiment, nnd- I
drugged him Into it, muttering, I remem
ber, 'Stny thoro! Stay there!' nnd shut
down tho lid. i
"I swenr that I hnd no sober notion of
killing tho muu. If I huu been In mv
senses I would havo. returned and lot him
out presontly nnd had It out In some other
way. But the blood wns running down my
faco and I was half dazed with the. blow
I hnd received. I hurried up the shaft nud
ran out Into tho wocds, unconscious of
whoro I wont, but feeling drlvon to move
I must hnvo reamed about far hours with
out knowing It, and I was only brought to
myself by n hard pelt of cold rain on my
bare head.
"You know how thundcrstouns come up
In the mountains. The sky had turned a
livid purplo, and at that moment a llash'of
llghtnlug exploded with a noise like the
crack of n whip, followed Instantly by a ter
rific clap. 1 ran for the house, which wns
not more than half ratio distant. Tho rain
ramo heavier, shot through wilh vivid, near
lightning. As f aproached tha buildings, I
saw thu puffs of steam from tho-englno she'd
and romemhered that I had ordered the' ma
chlnery to bo slnrtrd at 0 o'clock. I looked
ut my watch; It was 10i30.
"I hardly dared to think what might have
happened. I had Just reached tho door of
the houso when tho world seemed to turn
to white fire. I was knocked down on the
threshold, and distinctly felt the earth
quake nt the fearful peal of thunder that
came with tho flash.
"But the discharge had missed me after
all It had struck our lightning arrester,
and when lj;ot up dizzily and went Into tho
but I saw the ravage It Kbd made. Jumping
from the conductor It had smashed and
melted .the Instruments, split and scarred
the table, nnd finally seemed to have gono
down the electric wires leading under
ground. "I went down and then roturncd to lift
the lid of tho cold box by the tackle that
ran above. When 1 descended again the lid
stood open, but thoro was no corpse there
nothing but whnt you see.
"The horror of tho thing almost upset my
mind. I couldn't touch the golden Image.
I covered It tip; phtd off and dismissed my
onElncmen and went to Denver, where you
found me. I wns free of my tormenter, but
I hnd boenmo a murderer. I didn't, daro
think of Helen. What to do I didn't know.
I think I would have shot myself It you
hadn't turned up."
"On the contrary," I said, ''It seems to
me that you should feel that most of your
troubles aj-e done with."
So I argued tho casn with him for an
hour In that cold cavern In the rock over
the yellow Image, finally ho chcorcd up a
little and consented to ndopt, my view.
"Tell her tho whole story as you have
told It to mo," I advised. "It she's ant
good she'll stick to you. Report the whole
affair to tho authorities and take what they
glvo you. But I think I can safely promise
that yen won't bo badly treated."
"And what will wo do with this?" said
Olenny, pointing to tho Image.
"I would remark," I said, "that you are a
poor man now nnd that you havo here al
most ISO pounds of excellent gold, worth
somo $40,000 at tho mint."
"Never," ho declared. "I could as ttoon
rob n grave. No, wait. I hnvo a better
plan. Let's see If the engines are In work
ing order."
They appeared to be, nnd I got up stenm
with nn enormous cxpcndlturo of time and
unskilled labor, whllo Olcnny busied blra
self with numerous occult preparations.
Flnal'y, wo started tho apparatus and
waited.
After nn hour the mnchlnery wob stopped
nnd wo raised the lid of tho cold box by the
rope and tacklo in thn upper chamber. j
freezing blast swept up tho shaft, followed
by a cloud of whlto vapor. Its touch made
me shudder. I hardly know why. Olcnny
was palo and Impatient.
Presently wo went below. There was
nothing In tho box, absolutely nothing.
"Melted to air!" ho muttered. "Melted
to nlr! My Ood, Klrkman, from this day I
novcr touch these devil's arts again!"
Then we ascended the shaft for tho last
tlmo and went out to where tho horses
were stamping under tho pipes.
AVAMTS ltl.000,000 MOflB WOMEN,
Statistic- flhovrlnar thnt a nachelor Is
n HlFsalnsr In Dlsgalae.
Tho government of ono of the Prussian
states has Just passed a law warning all
bachelors to marry under a heavy penalty,
Somo of tho men havo gone over to the
majority and become husbands rather than
pay tho fine Imposed by tho now act; but
generally speaking, tho new movo has
proved a failure. . t
Instead of It having the desired effect and
reducing tho number ot spinsters and In
creasing that ot the benedicts to any great
extent, rolates Pearson's Weekly, It has
taken a contrary course. There has been
a sort of general exodus of the young men
from tho country, who havo gono to live In
the neighboring German statos, where they
may remain bachelors.
It Is qulto a common thing to hear people
In Britain describe a bachelor as a selfish
person, and as an object lesson for the
world to shako Its head at. They' have a
belief, hold In reverence bv thousands, that
every bachelor cheats seven women out of
a chanco ot marrying.
As a matter of fact, there are In the
world 15,000,000 fewer women than men, so
therefore, supposing that every eligible man
wanted to marry happily all men don't
.there would not be i sufficient number of
women ''for distribution ns wivesf Indeed
thoro would have to' remain' 15,000,000 bach
elors.
Taking America nnd Australia, there arc
1,500,000 more mqn than women, so that
bachelordom In those countries Is an en
forced necessity.
In Britain there are moro women thau
mon, It Is true, and If our unmarried girl
the surplus who are not engaged have
nny matrimonial ambitions they havo only
to proceed cither to Australia or the United
States In order to rcnllzo their highest as
plratlons.
Now, lumping the countries ot Europe
together, we nrrlvo at a grand total' of
334,000,000 of human beings, with nearly
4,000,000 more women than men. Poputa
tlon statistics show that It Is not every
country In Europe which, has a population
comprising more women than men. Tho
greater powors arc placed In that position
but In Italy, for example, and also
In
Servla, Bulgaria, and In tho state adjoin
Ing Turkey In Europe, there are more men
than women.
And even whero 'the women outnumber
the men tho difference between the two
sexes Is really not very alarming.. Six na
tlons of Europe, Including Great Britain
havo only, on the total population seventy
women In excess of men per 1.000. whlls
In Oerronny, France, Belgium, Austria and
Hutsla, thu surplus female population rep
resents only aboutr fifty per 1,000.
It Is a popular statistical fact that whero
tho population Is thickest there you are
suro to find the number of men In tho
minority.
Asia has a population of SlC.000,000, with
n male surplus ot not less than 16,000,000
Africa hns 1,000,000 moro men than women,
In China tho question of the sexos le a
moot ono. The summary disposal of the
new-horn feinnlc infants by those of the
Chinese who do not want girt babies nc
counts for tho, denrtb of women tn the
Celestial nmplro.
In Hong Kong tho sexes are very uneven
there being fewer than D00 women to every
1,000 -men, a condition of things which Is
practically tho samo In Hawaii.
In thoso countries whero progress Is
marked by tho pursuit of an llllmltnbl
number ot Industries, such as is followed
by tho majority of tho nations constltutin
me qemispnere we live in, women, from
point of number, are In the nscendancy.
And by tho samo rule, whero the peopl
follow n pastoral llfo, as, for Instance, the
uoers, who will find that their community
is mado up or more men than women
Climate, too, exerts a considerable Influenc
tn determining the multiplicity of elthe
sex wu mean tho climate peculiar to the
zone you live In. Thero arc more men than
women in tropical zones, but thero are
more "Women than men In temperate rones.
Kvltlrnce of Cliuructrr.
It le not roverslble error for a court to
refuse to permit a party to Introduce evl
dencc of the general good character ot his
own witnesses, who are Chinese, whero
there has been no attempt to Impeach their
character, holds the United States circuit
court of appeals In tho 'case ot Woey-Ho
HKalnst United States (109 Fed. Hep,, 888.)
Tho court said that "a court Is not at liberty
to arbitrarily arid without reason reject or
discredit the testimony of a witness upon
tho sround that ho Is a Chinaman, an In
dian, n negro or a white man. All people, "4
without regard to their race, cojor, creed
or country, whether rich or poor, stand
PI"?,! before tbe law."
FOR
The Twentieth
No other agricultural
similar record of fulfilled promises or
make a prospective as inviting.
Some of the Eminent Specialists who will be repre
sented by articles on timely (subjects in the tirst
few issues of the mw year.
Col. F. M. Woods,
Lending live stock auctioneer of the west.
Prof. C. F. Citrttss,
Director Iowa Experiment Station.
Dr. A. T. Peters, ,
Animal Pathologist Nebraska Experiment Station.
E. A. Burnett,
Director .Nebraska Experiment Station.
Elias E. Nelson,
Horticulture and Agrostology.
Prof. Lawrence Br u tier, i!
Nebraska State Entomologist.
Hon. J. Sterling Morton,
Father of Arbor Day.
Prof. O. V. P. Stout,
Irrigation Engineer.
F. E. Bone,
Pris Hog Breeder, Tallula, 111.
T. P. B. Sothatn,
Noted Hereford Breeder, Ohillicothe, Mo.
Here are a few of the regular departments
contributors!
Live Stock,
Household,
Dairy,
4
Crops.
Horticulture,
Bees,
Horses,
Irrigation,
Live Stock,
Veterinary,
Soil Culture,
In addition to these special features each is
sue of The Twentieth Century Farmer
contains.
Frank G. Carpenter's , entertaining and instructive let
ters of trarel.
Short Stories, by the best known writers of the day.
Market Quotations, moat accurate and latest on every-'
thing the farmer wants to know about
Editorial Discussion of live subjects, treated from the
standpoint of intelligence and progress.
Best Illustrations, from fine half tone engravings, repro
ducing actual photographs,! made special ,fcy pur
own artists. . ' V- '
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY RARMER,
a ;
as its name indicates, is a weekly farm
paper for uptodate farmers, designed
to be helpful in every branch of his
work . and appealing strongly at the
same time to the domestic circle on the
farm It is a well printed, 24page pe
riodical, high class in every respect, re
fleeting as no other paper the rapid
forward strides of this section of the
west, . The price is only $1,00 a year,
.Subscriptions or requests for sample
copies should be addressed to
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY FARMER
OMAHA,
1902
Century Farmer
weekly can point to a
J. J. BDGBRTON,
lows Agricultural Cotl.gs.
MBS. NELLIE HAWKS,
- Friend, Nebraska;
O. H. BARNHILL,
Sh.nandoab, Iowa.
JAMES ATKINSON,
E. P. STEPHENS,
Crete, Nebraska.
A. H. DUFF,
Lamed, Kansas.
N. J. HARRIS,
Bee'y. Am. Horse Registry AsVn.
H. A. CRAFTS,
Fort Collins, Colorific,
W. S. KELLY,
Mondamln, lowt
DR. H. L. RAMACOIOTTI.
Omaha City Vcterlnarlai
H. W. CAMPBELL,
Holdrtge, Nebraska.