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About Dakota County herald. (Dakota City, Neb.) 1891-1965 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1904)
HBBaESaSBaaBBBESBSESraSSSSSaBBSaSSBBBBJ Old Blazer's Hero By DAVID CHRISTIE MURRAY. : CHATTER II. (Continued.) "Very well, gentlemen." said the cen ter of iuterest, rising. "If you will have It, you will have It. I'm as hoarse .ns a crow, but if you make rue sing it's no fault of mine, and you must put up with it." He threw down hi ridina whip and enautcred to the piano. He struck a (Chord or two and the character of the Instrument seemed to change. It jingled till it would have jingled under the hands of the king of pianists but his irolee was richer, fuller and softer thnn It had been. Even now he was not go ing to waste a sniff of the incense which wa wafted about him, and was at once o common and so delightful. He pre luded at half-random for a minute or two, and when he had whetted expec tancy to its keenest edge he struck some opening chords and in due time began to iing. His voice was of that rare and exqui ite quality which inspires immediate on!:dence in the listener. On the song ot nature's born singers the soul em barks without hesitation at the call of the first true note. i If there had been nothing else to have accounted for It, it would have been a Remarkable tribute to Will Hacketl's vocal powers that n wayfarer should Jiave paused in the street at the first note of his song, and should have stood stock till in the wind and snow to listen. There was, however, much else to ac count for this circumstance, for the way farer was none other thnn Will Hack ctt's unsuccessful rival. He had forgot ten the wind and the snow half an hour (before, and now iu the very act of stand ing still to listen he forgot the song. He Idoubted the news lie had heard, and had tried vainly to persuade himself thut lie (had no belief in it at all, but his thoughts fwere comfortless and disturbed. He had leen Mary Hdwnrth's suitor these two years, and though he had been more than sufficiently shy in his suit and timid enough iu his hopes, he had hardly iden tified swaggering Will Hackett as a rival. The Ilacketts had been well-to-do time out of mind, but for the last three or four generations the family had been rolling en industriously downhill that it was a marvel they had not long since reached the bottom. This sweet-throated Will's great-grandfather had in his time gam bled away one-half the family belong ings. The grandfather had in like man cor reduced his share by a moiety; and the father, whose career was briefer and more rapid than that of his predecessors, ad left the remnant of the property so theavily mortgaged as to bo almost value less. Since his death the Hackett home tcad had been closed and was likely to remain bo, for the mining resources of the district round about were fast being opened up, and coal pits and blasting furnaces are undesirable neighbors for a country scat. The discovery of the min eral resources of the land would have ntide careful people wealthy, but it had only encouraged the later generations of (he Hackett to larger extravagances. "Will had Inherited the tastes and procliv ities of his ancestors, and was as deep in debt as he knew how to be. If there had been nothing worse than the fallen fortunes of his family with which to reproach Will Hackett the thing might have been borne with; but the young fellow kept the family reputation alive in all ways, and the graver sort of people 6h rugged their shoulders at the mention of him, whilst the feebler held op their hands in horror. Tho long and the short of it is, he was the last sort of man in the world for a girl to think of marrying. Now the disappointed lover knew nil these things, and they galled tiim terribly. Edward Blane, sunk deep in the mem ory of these things, stood iu tho storm, wrathful, sore-hearted and piteous. When the song was finished and the applause which followed it aroused him from his thoughts, he awoke out of a dream which bad carried him both into the post and the future by a year or two. He could not have told then or afterward what Impulse drew him into the hotel and led fciin to the upper room in which the sing ing was going on. The thing seemed most to desire just then was solitude, and he had no mind to exchange unmean ing talk with people he did not care for, or even to listen to Will Hackett's de . lightful singing. Yet he entered and etood rather moodily propping himself Against the door, until his old half-abandoned crony, discovered him, and crossed the room to shake hands. "Why, Ned, old lad, it'a a hundred years since I saw the last of you. What brings you here?" 1 "T heard your singing as I was going hy said Ned. "I wouldn't come up till you'd finished." "And uow," cried the landlord, "it's pretty well bcknown as there's nothing Mr. Hackett wouldn't be williu to do to oblige Mr. Blane, and he can hardly do Jess than sing nuother song to pay him for standin' out 1' the cold to listen to the first uu." "Ay, slug us a song. Will!" said bis old compauion. "They're all rarely pleas ed to hear you." "Why, so I will." auswered Hackett; "but I'll have a little refreshment first, if you please. Warden." The landlord bustled from the room and soon returned. Then Hackett sang another song. This time lie choso "Sully in Oar Alley," and the unlucky lover, though not easily disposed to be affront ed as a rule, felt a personal application In the ditty and took umbrage at it. The joyful aud tender exultation of the line "Oh, then I'll marry Sally" especially wounded him, and the singer's accident al smiling look in his direction seemed to his raw and distempered fancy as if it were meant to barb the shaft. Ho leaned moodily against the wall and re signed himself to bitter funcies. Hack ett, his song being over, began to rally tiim upon his gloomy temper. "You're taken rather more than' good for you," said the sufferer. "Better atop it and go home." "Who? i?" erie nackett "Not a bit f Itt To-day's the only day we own. We mayn't be alive to enjoy ourselves ito-morrow." f The foolish youngster spoke with so touck aplomb, and with an air so gay and sprightly, and laughed so heartily In bl apeach that everybody but Ned Plana took tho speech Itself to be full of wit and humor and laughed loudly with aim. ad. In brief, the popular tenor sang an often and fot.nd refreshment so essen tial between ting that when but an our had gon by bla dlttWa war all of 3d 3SJ ' r- i m m m m - - - - . . the Il.ii'clmnalinn sort, and were sunt; with less taste and refinement than might have been asked fur from so accom plished a viu-al'v.r. A!! this was gaM mid wormwood to the unfortunate lover. His thoughts ran be fore and he saw the girl he cared for sit ting lonely and pale and sad at homo, and in the same flash of time saw her husband as he saw him now, swaggering and ro.vstering with boon companions who were unworthy of him. These fan cies cut him to the heart, and at last, taking Hackett by the arm, he whisper ed in a tone which sounded a trifle fierce from so ordinarily mild a man: - "Come home, Hackett. If you can't see when you're on the way to make a fool of yourself, your friends must see it for you." It may be allowed that, along with his congenial vices, Mr. Hackett had at least the congenital merit of being good tempered. He laughed ullowingly, and suffered himself to be drawn away, but in the keen fresh air of the streets lie bejiaii to reel and to talk thickly, aud his rival, with a heart growing moment arily heavier and sorer, piloted him home, and, bidding him grind night at. the door, turned away, feeling as blank; as desolate as the night itself. CHAPTER III. Church bells were ringing on a March morning. They rang under n sky half covered with a tatter of ragged cloud, through the vivid rents whereof broad sunshine poured. The wind, which buf feted the music of the bells, chased the tattered clouds so swiftly that the sun light flowed over the heath, the cluster of cottages, and the church, like a series of charging waves.' A quarter of a mile away from the center of the music which tumbled in such exuberant nnd wind-swept mirth, stood a sign post, holding four gnunt arms. Against it leaned Ned Blane, wearing an air of deep chagrin, and kick ing with occasional suddeu emphasis at any projecting bit of turf which lay within reach. While he lounged thus dejected he was una ware of the approach of a portly broadcloth personage, who picked his way with a cat-like nicety and delibera tion among the shining puddles on the western road. This person had for a long time held in view the figure of the melancholy lounger at the sign post. Findiug himself stiii unnoticed, when he had grown quite near he coughed behind one of his glossy gloves with an air of nccideut, and having thus attracted the lounger's notice, he bade him good morn iug. There are people who in speaking convey the impression that their vocal organs are oiled. Mr. Horatio Lowther was one of these. His salute was a benediction. Ned drew himself up with n start and blushed like fire. He pushed buck the soft felt bat and nodded in unswer to the salutation "It is a lovely morning," said Mr. Lowther, pausing. "It gives one a sense of " He did not say what it gave one a aense of, but he waved his Binning black gloves hither and thither, and smil ed with the look of a man who has achieved a conversational felicity. , Ned's face wore an expression of dis gusted weariness which he tried in vain to replace by one of interest as he sur veyed the landscape, in answer to the invitation conveyed by the waving black gloves. "The weather's right enough," he an swered. "The be!K" said Mr. Lowther. "The bells. Those morning bells! How many a tale their music tells! I perrisume" he had a knack which suited his voice and face to perfection, of lengthening certain words in this way "I perriau.je they are ringing for young Hackett." Ned looked at him with sudden keen ness. Mr. Lowther, with his head slight ly thrown back and a little on one side, was smiling softly and benevolently at nature and the bells, ami appeared to he unaware of the other's gaze. Observing this, the young man answered iu an un interested tone: "Yes, they arc ringing for Will Hack ett." "Has it occurred to you?" asked Mr. Lowther, preserving his attitude and his smile "do you think " "Has what occurred to me?" asked the other, looking up at him. "That Hackett might have done I wouldn't indicate a breath to disparage the young lady." He was still smiling softly at the landscape ami the bells, and could not be supposed to know that Blane was looking at him with eyes of wrath and wonder. "But might he not now might ho not have done a little fetter?" "Perhaps he might. 1 don't know where, though. It seems to me he has done a lot better than he deserves." "It may be so," responded Mr. Low ther. "It may be so. But in a worldly sense." "It is his own affair," said Blane, as if the talk wearied him. "Assuredly." Mr. Lowther answered. "Oh, yes. Assuredly. ijuite his own affair." He paused there and smiled on his companiou. "I do not say that we should set too lofty n vallcyoii on our worldy goods, but it behooves us to be careful even of our own temporary wel fare. I you happen to know if our young friend receives anything with the bride?" "No." said Xed, loudly and with angry em pliasis. "My dear young friend," cried Mr. Lowther, somewhat taken aback by this unlooked-for vehemence, and recoiling a pace or two. "I am not your dear young friend." said Ned, with a smile, which hail as much auger as amusement in it. "I have untiling iu the world to talk to you about, and I would a great ileal rather be alone." "That," replied Mr. Lowther. very sweetly, "is an invitation not to linger. I will accept it in that sense, Mr. Blune. and will wish you good morning." The windy music of the bells and the swiftly alternating bands of shade and shine were still careering over the heath as Mr. Lowther turned his broadcloth back upon the finger post, and le't the young man staring sadly after him. "What do you want to know about Will Hackett' affair for? I he in your clutches, you fat old spider? Heav en help him If be Ul The bit b ha left won't be long In going after what he used to cava if he ba got Into your web." Until the actual coming of the wed ding day b had never been able to coo vine himself that bi sweetheart would really make si bad a business of herself a to marry Will Hackett. Something wns to have turned tip to prevent so egregious a sacrifice, some outbreak on the part of the intended bridegroom, or discovery on the side of his victim. His wife could be nothing less than a victim, to the unlucky rival's fancy, and he found people enough to agree with him nnd confirm him in his opinion. '! h-ul qui'e resolved to sec noth'tig of the wedding ft iviun.o , for lo what good end should he vox himself by that? And yet hero hr. ans. n mile nearer the parish church than he had a right to be, nnd hankering after pain with thnt nn reasoning instinct which prompts children lo irritate sore places. When Mr. Hora tio Lowther had got some two, or three hundred yards away Ned lounged after him slowly nnd irresolutely. There were no faces at the ccttege windows and no idlers or wnyfarcr in the road. The bells were silent now. for the wedding procession had entered the church. He must needs enter the porch, and there. In company with two or three peeping children, whom bis pres ence awed Into supernatural gravity nnd silence, listen lo the murmuring and echoing voice of the minister as it rolled indistinctly about the hollow building, which was more thnn five-sixths empty. He heard the groom's voice more clear ly, for Hackett's loud swagger was but little tempered by the place and tho oc casion. The listener turned away and stood at the entrance to the porch, look ing out upon the graveyard for n little while; nnd then, stepping lightly by in stinct, walked down the path and into the village street. It was all bare and empty ns he had left It, hut a sudden unreasonable fear of being observed set him walking rapidly, nnd he felt ns if any one who should chance to see him must know how raw and desolate and heartbroken he was. Behind him and somewhat gaining upon him, though not rapidly, was a man on horseback. The horse was fat and unwieldy. By dint of hard kicking and tight holding the rider quickened his pace and kept his seat until he came on a level with the foot passenger and gasped his name. "Mr. Edward." Ned Blane looked up and recognized the Bard. "What's the matter?" he asked, for Shailrach's face was wild. "The I'.lii.er; the Old Bla.er." said Shadi-K-li. breathing hard. "What! Not on fire ngain?" "No; drowned out this time. Feven-nnd-forty down. You'tn wanted. 1 seen you by the church an' I've been tryin' to holler iver sence, but I've had all the breiith snook out o' me." The first feeling in the wounded lover's heart was so terribly like thankfulness that some absorbing duty called him from himself that he stood stock still for a moment, more horrified at himself than at the news. In the next iustnnt he turned back upon the way he had traveled, running like a deer. (To be continued. t A Poet's Mother. Bolicrt Buchanan bad otic deep en thusiasm, his mother. She was al ways young in her appearance, but be regarded her. to tho end of her life, as abounding eveu in girlish charms. He could never realize that she was grow ing old. In looking at her, even when she was close upon 80, he saw the soft blue eyes nnd golden hair which he had loved long ago. "I cannot Imagine my mother as old." he said again and again, the day afier she died. "I do not feel thnt she Is dead, for I cannot imagine the world without her." Whin, a youth of eighteen, he went up to I.ot'.d.Mi. "to take the world by strrm," he was a miserably homesick lad. He sat in n corner of the railway carriage, his heart helilng. his eyes dim w ith tears. "I real's! d " he says, ' that 1 was for the tirst time quite friendless and alone. I thought of my dear mother praying tor me at home, and I longed to turn buck nnd ask her forgiveness for any pain I had caused her. Even now, I never take a railway journey at night without recalling the dismal heartache of that midnight journey to London." Alinist daily, during this early struggle, d:l he receive a letter from her, alwayr, full of loving instruction for his guidance. Ills answers were ovufliwlng with heart and hope. Moth er and sin were constant In this ten der service. From first to Inst they were the best and most Intimate of friend. True (allHDtry. Sir Walter Italcigb's chivalrous ac tion of throwing his cloak on the ground for ills queen to step on Is re called by the story of u small boy's generosity, which Is described In V. C. A little girl wits standing one very cold morning in one of the poorer dis tricts of Edinburgh, waiting among a crowd of other poor children to gain admittance Into n hall where a meal was to be given them. It was bitterly cold, nnd the little girl shivered vio lently, and tried in vain to keep her bare feet warm. A ragged little urchin who was standing mar observed her, and taking off bis cap nnd laying It at her feet, said, "Here, lassie, stand on my cap till the door i pons." No Horsewhips 1'sed. There Is a notable law In effect In most of the large Busslan towns con cerning horses thnt deserves special mention. Anions the curious things that arrest the attention on arriving In Moscow b the entire absence of whips among the drivers of cabs, car riages and all sort of vehicles. On Inquiry, Kays a traveler, I was Inform ed that then wus a law prohibiting their use. 1 don't believe there la a nlng' whip In use In Moscow. The excellent condition of the horses at tests the benefit of this humane law. Nothlt.g can exceed the- beauty of the sleek ami well groomed horses used In tho carriages uf Mostow. L'nule Keuhen'a Philosophy. 1 In v had a right smurt lot of people cum to me fur advice at one time or another. In de fust place, dey wanted to save a lawyer's fee an' In de next dey wanted to see If I wa as big a fule a dey was. If I didn't agree wld 'em I was a bigger one, of course.-" Detroit Free Tress. Hard. "The expedition endured the extrcrn est hardship." "Ye, I understand they were locked in the Ice during two lecture season." Detroit Free Press. A sensible woman seldom wiiUi kef time on a baadaome man. IlfcJUVENATEI) EGYPT THE ENGLISH LORD CROMER IS ITS REAL RULER. From Him tbe Khedive Take III Or der Ureat Fertile Lund of the Nile Most Promising Country In the World-It Varied People. F.gypt Is one of the most cosmopol itan of countries. Not even ours, with Its varied peoples, gathered from every civilized quarter of the globe, outranks the laud of the Nile In diffusion of races. In the regions out of which Moses led his persecuted countrymen there arc still iK.000 lews. ( J reek and It o iu a ti Catholi cism have here lokd chomek. yj.,mt inherent, divided among Creeks. Italians. French, Austrlnns. Russians, Portu guese and Spaniards, with some En gllsh, Hermans, Amcr'.cans, Swiss, Swedes, Belgians. 1 Hitch nnd Innes, though for the most part these races tire IncKided In the iM.Otm communi cants of Protestant churches. There are 000.000 Copts nnd the rest of the 10,000,000 inhabitants are Mohamme dans. In view of the preponderance of Mussoluion, tbe rejuvenation of the realm of the Pharaohs is one of the marvels of modern times. Thirty cen turies ago Egypt dominated the world. Rome nt the Renlth of her greatest power was insignificant in comparison, for the country was the garden and the granary of the world. But with the relitn of the Pharnohs ended, the prosperity of the country declined and for 3,000 years Kgypt was dead. Her BBIDGE KASIt ACBOS8 finances were ruined nnd her water ways fell into desuetude. Her people were sullen, hostile to every civilizing Influence and growing Into hopeless barbarism. Kngland'e Work. When England took up the Egyptlun problem, subdued the rebel dervishes and determined to restore fertility where stagnation prevailed, a new era opened for the Nile region. Even the Sphinx might have been pardoned for smiling dubiously at the temerity of the Invader, but English keenness fore saw great possibilities and English 1'ALACE OK (JIhl 11, AT CAIHO. persistence was not to be checked. To day, Egypt Is one of the most promis ing regions In the world. Tbe con struction of dams under tho direction of Lord Cromer, the British consul general and diplomatic ngent, has add ed 2,.r'X) miles to the cultivable area of Egypt, the value of which will amount to about $100,000,000. It was the great est engineering achievement the world has ever seen nnd under proper control the land of the Nile should become the richest on earth. That is what con servatives bespeak for It n?nl what England is seeking to make it. But that Is In the future. It is the condition of the country to-day, In the Infancy of its reju venation, that the world wants to know" about. Of Its varied Inhabit ants, the Moham medans are the most liberal mil tolerant of any ad hering to the faith of Islam ami oiTcr no objection to the Christian mission- KOTfTIAN 8IIK1K. Iirl,,8 ThU , hciicful sign. The Copts ure the de scendants of the ancient Egyptians. They ure well educated and furnish the professions. In their religious views they differ from the great majority of Christians In thut they deny the hu man Bid" of Christ's nature, asserting thnt be was wholly divine. Tho Jew i control commercial affulrs to a large extent. They are bankers, money lend er, exporters and Importers, being riv aled In this respect by the Greeks. The Bedouins, descendants of Esau, live on the plains, Iu tents of camel's hair, while the lulxtrer are Nubians. The English control politics. The English populutlon Is mostly en gaged in tlie government ottlces. There are probably 1,200 or 1..VX) in the sev eral departments of , the administra tion, with a few French, German aud Italians. They receive largo salaries, twice., iui much a- natives In corre sponding position and about twice os much ai the would be paid In similar . ' ' , , service in England. They control the '(liil life of Egypt, lend nil the sports and amusement, organize the clubs a 'id -ot the fashions. In every KfT tinr. city I hero Is a Church of Eng land establishment, with n rhaflalu, a s. 'iool nnd regular services on Sun day, While I'gypt Is nominally n province of Turkey and pays an annual tribute of C-.(hh,ooO to the Sultan, nnd the Khedive Is supposed to be subject to his will, Lord Cromer, the British con sul general and diplomatic ngent, la the de facto ruler of the country, and (he Khedive Is allowed to do nothing without his consent and approval. He bus no formal title. In tbe official lists he ranks with the consul generals of tbe I'tilted States and other countries, and on ceremonial occasions be ap pears with bis .colleagues of the con sular corps, and makes his) bow to the man on the throne. Aud the man on the throne returns the salute of his muster, nnd Is conscious that tbe quiet looking gentleman with unostentatious manners and a pleasant smile controls bis thoughts as well as bis nets, for It Is a waste of time for bis highness to reflect plan or even tmngine things that Lord Cromer does: n0t approve. Lord Cromer I Hoc. Wblic the administrative force and the executive departments of the gov ernment are nominally in control of natives, every official of Importance from the minister of foreign relations to the chief of police in every city, lias an Englishman at his side who acts ns bis "adviser" and receives his orders from nnd makes bis reports to the British consul. If the official does not conform to the views of bis "adviser" he loses bis job. If he proves himself capable, useful, honest and Is willing to carry out the British policy he Is promoted, honored and admired. Hence liord Cromer has his linger upon every bureau and upon every clerk of eery department of tho Egyptian govern- THE NILE CAIBO. inenf, and every wire runs into his bouse. Tills supervision begins with the Khedive himself, who has his "ad viser" In the person of tin aid-de-camp, and appreciates the importance of following the counsel he gives. If Abbas Hllinl II. should decline to obey his "adviser" or if he should attempt to guide unaided the government of which he Is the titular head, he would be quietly reminded that there are heirs to the throne. He Is therefore compelled to accept tho situation which continues as it existed when be came to the throne In 1KIU!, aud is likely to continue Indefinitely. Englishmen are careful to explain that they have not annexed Egypt; thnt there Is no protectorate, and that no ofllclal tic exists between the two governments. Tho word "occupation" is used to describe a condition thnt baa existed since 18.S2, and In theory Great Britain has never attempted to legullzo her position in Egypt. Her army Is there theoretically nt the request of tho Khedive to preserve the p?ace nnd protect bis throne, but for twenty years Egypt has been nctuully governed from London, nnd more absolutely than any British colony. Lord Cromer has greuter authority than any of the vice roys or governors of Australia, Can ada, India or any other colony. The other powers of Europe accept the situation for financial reasons, be cause the Interests of their subjects in the Egyptian debt can best be served that way. They are ullowed represen tation In the treasury department and in the courts, and England assumes the rest of the responsibility. Two Kind or Law. Georgia has a law intended to Induce stock owners to keop their animals in their own fields, says the Atlanta Con stitution. When a farmer finds Ids neighbor's cattle in bis corn, Instead of sending them to the pound or shoot ing them, be puts them in his own corrul, and when the owner comes for them, charges him fifty cents a bend to pay for the trespass. It happened that when the law was under discussion two nelgblMirs were very' violent, the one In favor of It, the other against It. After tho Inw had been passed the cattle of the man who bad opposed It got into the other man's field and were captured. Their owner went for them. "As I am it law abiding cltlien," snld the other fanner, "und as there are fourteen cattle, It will cost you seven dollars. The man whose cuttle bad been lin pounded was indignant, but be paid the bill. A little later he captured bis neighbor's cattle in his field. Wallet In pocket, the owner of the cows rode over to get them. "Well," be demanded, "bow much do 1 owe you?" "Not n cent," replied the other. '"I inny uot lie a law-abiding citizen, hut I'm n neighbor." House. "He seems to be cjulte on Important personage now." "Why, lie always was, aud o were the other members of hi family," "Nonsense!" "Not at ull. He started as Janitor In a flat, his brother' is a policeman and his sister a cook-lady."- Philadel phia Press. After: She Ah, you men I Before marriage you pay compliments, but after He After? Why, after, we do lietter; we pay bill. Life. If a woman doesn't have time to eat, he gets along pretty well, utt huvlng Umt to thluk about It AT The Movement Please. The good roads movement in making substantial progress, according to tbe Chicago Inter-Occnn. It says: Among the several organizations Interested In rond construction Is the New York and Chicago Bond Association. This or ganization is endeavoring to extend tlie road Improvement idea to all parts of the country, but It Is particularly Interested in a good road from Chicago to New York. While the association is making an effort to secure from Congress an ap propriation to pay for part of the pro posed Improvement, It Is exerting Its Influence to secure State legislation favorable to good roads and county nnd city appropriations for improvements along the line of the projected high way. Becently the county board of super visors nt Elmlrn, N. Y., appropriated Jo-I.OttO for the construction of roads to be built in conformity with the plans of the State engineer and nc cording to the suggestions of tho New York nnd Chicago Good Bond Asso ciation. This Is one case Illustrating not only the Interest In the movement, but nctlon on practical lines. Six or eight years ago residents of New York city, as soon as they passed the city limits iu the northern portion, came to almost impassable roads. Streets in the city were well paved and well cured for. The roads In the lone be tween the city nnd country were eared for by tr.'lther city, nor county, nor State. Tills condition led to new legislation, under which the roads leading into the cities of New York State were greatly Improved. Under the Influence of the New York and Chicago Good Bonds Association still grenter Improvements have been made. While the cities and counties are expending money for their own benefit, tbe Improvements are made under the direction of the State engineer and with tlie general system of road construction In mind. This Instance nt Elniini, shows what is be ing done at the eastern end of the pro posed highway from Chicago to New York city. A good deal has been done In Ohio aud Indiana. How much bus been done in Illinois? Last May the Illinois Legislature passed a bill creating a good roads commission. This law went Into force July 1, HMVJ, nnd the commission is under instructions to embody in n re- ' port to the next general assembly a bill for au act to amend the present roud laws of the State so as to con form to the present advanced thought and requirements on the subject of road building. This Is a move In the right direction. Meantime roads lead lug out of Chicago, with some notable exceptions are In as bad condition as were those In the vicinity of New York city eight years ago. Before the State road commission call submit the re port the western contingent of the New York and Chicago Good Bonds Association can do much. Congress will be asked to give practical assist ance to tbe good rouds movement. The State of New York ha uot waited for national legislation. Other States have not waited. New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana are constructing roads with a highway to Chicago iu mind. Illinois should not lag behind. SOME DREAMS DISPELLED. Turkey' Hod Coffee-Kgy pt' Had To buccoNo Castile 8oap In Castile, What traveler has not dreamed of sipping the real Turkish coffee In i Turkey? -Of smoking tho authentic j Egyptlun cigarettes In Egypt? Of ' eating rich, melting, luscious Smyrna ligs iu Smyrna? Of washing one's bauds with the only orlghuil Castile unp In fuir Castile? How do these travelers' dream ma terialize? Alas and alackl They are but clouds and shadows. They don't come true. How about the delicious Egyptian clgiirettes? Tbe delicate Egyptlun to bacco? Alas! the native Egyptian tobacco is so bud thut nobody smoke it but the natives, and not even they wheu they can get uiiythln else. In Egypt, as in so many places, the to bacco comes from Home where Else. The highest grade tobacco there ap parently Is imported from Europe from Itoumelhi, Tbe next best comes from Northern Kyrlu the best known Kin de of this tolMicco being known to Europeans us' "Latukla,", although not so called In Egypt. Persian tobacco Is also imported. In short, Egypt im ports the tobacco, the wrapMS-H, the boxes, and the smokers, aud then you have the Egyptian cigarette. J.. "But still." contendM the enthusiast. there can Ik- no coffee like the genuine Turkish coffee. Ah, think of tho Arabian nights! And Scheherezade! And Lady What' Her-Nauia, the En glish peeress who wore Turkish trous ers, lived In Turkey for years, and nipped Turkish coffee with Turkish pashas. Aud of the ttcurded sheiks In tiio desert with bubble bubble pipes and harems of beautiful black-eyed houiis all sitting on dlvana and all tipping coffee with all the comforts of a home out in the desert! Come, now! You must give in on the Turk itdl coffee." To thla 1 can only reply that they may have had good coffee In Turkey In tho time when Sultan Hnrouu-ul-ltasclild walked his city' street In cognito, but they have not now. You ran get bt ttr Turkish coffee (so called) In New York than Iu Turkey; you can get much lietter Turkish coffee In the Hoffman House than you can In fttauiboul, Peru, Scutari, Smyrna, Beirut, Jerusalem or Cairo. How about the luscious figs st Smyrna? Well, my exiK-rlence wa that the nearer we got to Smyrna the poorer grew the figs. When we reached Beirut 'they were pretty 'bad; wheu we were off Smyrna, the peddlers brought wune aboard that were very bad; when we got ashore at Buiyma 5V we were offered some on tlie quay thnt were worse;. In tho hotel they wer wormy, and when we got into the heart of Smyrna the figs were able to walk avoiind the dealer' counter. I used to be very fond of Smyrna figs hefor I went to Smyrna. I have not enten any since. I shall never eat any again. Never mind why. In Castile I found no Casllle soap. They did not know what I meant;, they bnd never heard of Castile soap. This Irritated me, so I began Invertl gating the Castile-soap problem. I learned or was told that Castile? wmp Is not made In Castile; It Is not used In Castile; thnt It Is made In Mar seilles out of olive oil Imported from Palestine. Thus we note this Strang anomaly the name given to a soap comes from a country which knows naught of this particular soap, it Is) manufactured In a city using Utile or no soap, out of materials coming from a country which iues no snap at all. Jerome Hart in Argonaut. CABINET AND MINISTRY. What the Terra Mean as tJaed ia Great Hrltain. London dispntches sometimes refer to the "cabinet" and sometimes to the "ministry," and may lead readers t believe that these are distinct bodies, whereas the cabinet Is the Inner circle of the ministry, says the Ixindon Transcript. A mini may Ik in the min istry without being in the cabinet, but be cittmot be In the cabinet with out being In the ministry. Tlie cabinet members nre those of the ministers! 1 whose advice Is most eaniestly desired by the premier and constitute his mln- . Isterlal staff. As Mr. Balfour origi nally formal his ministry In July, 1002, the cabinet wus made up of the premier himself, the lord high ehnneellor, tha lord chancellor of Ireland, the lord president of the council, the lord privy seal, the first lord of the treasury (Mr. Balfour),' the first lord of the admiral ty the secretaries of state for homa affulrs, foreign affairs, wur, the colo nies nnd India, the chief secretary of Ireland, the chancellor of the ex chequer, the secretary of Scotland, tba presidents of the board of trade, tha local government board, the board of agriculture, the liourd of education and the postmaster-general. Ther were thirty-one members of the min istry who were not In the cabinet vindei Mr. Balfour's original organisation. Certain great offices of the atate ara found in tlie cabinet according to un written law, but ofllce of secondary rank are represented or unrepresented, as premiers decide, the political power of their Incumbents often being tba determining Influence. Thus, the chief secretary for Ireland, George Wynd ham, was not In Lord Salisbury's cab inet, but Is In Mr. Balfour's, his ptMnence being an absolute necessity in view of the Irish land legislation policy Mr. Balfour has adopted. On the other hand, Mr. Balfour' a cabinet schedule did not Include the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaater.nor the first commissioner of works and publlo buildings, both of which were in Lord Salisbury's. The cabinet, like the mln isitry, is an evolution, neither rearing on any specific statue. A good many British institutions have grown up lo the same way, tbe law coming front tho Institution and not the Inntltntion from the law. Here In thla country everthing Is dependent on the written law. In the abeence In Great Britain of a formally designated written "con stitution," some Americana have leaped to tbe absurd conclusion that Great Britain has no constitution at all Island of Laoe Maker. The Maltese are famous as lace makers, although tlie methods employ ed nre of a primitive type, aaya thi Montreal Herald. AU Maltese laoe ! of uecesHlty homl nmde. Tho peopla of Gozo, one of tbe Maltese group, have a deeply rootttl aversion to labor saving machinery of all klnda In many tisnt of Industry there flie methods In vogua a cetrtury ago are employed today. The art. of lucemaklng h handed, down from generation to generation and on will often find an exceptionally beau tlful detdgu tlus Jealously guarded, Be crvt of a single family. Of Gozo's 25,000 population 10,28(1 nro women and glrbs of whom about two-thirds are hicemukem The, art lms also been taught In Uhe schools since the recent Impetus glvei to tha tnide. Wages are low there, and the I nomumt luMna.wifo is ehwl t nM to the family exchequer by thua utilizing hei spare time. As her children grow up alio trains them In the art, and it la not long before the female meinbera ot tho family, are found to be lmportaut factors In tlie supjKrt of the households Among the articles made are handker chiefs, edging, parasol covers plHu'w cover, collars, boleros, lunrp shades, sluawls, innntUhis and even whole tfilrfc. Silk Is the chief material used, but of late there has been a dienMUMf . for cotton lace. Mia Flutterly on Floods. "Isn't It awful the floodH we're liavlng nowadays ?" said little Mlaa Flutterly. "Pupa says It's been us they cut down so many trees. I sup pose treos stop the springs front coming too fast by absorbing their moisture, und when they cut down whole for ests, why, there's nothing to. da but let the floods come. But it's awful for the people that get washed away. Papa wa reading the other day about some Busslan Immigrants that had Just settled on the banks of a river oat West when the flooda came) and they wore carried Into Kansas, and tbey bad no means of telling what Stat they had come from. One of the youngest had been horn there, and he w HI never . know what State he Is a native of be- cause those Bussluns are a Ignorant. Doesn't It seem awful our allowing ao many igiuiruut people to come to thla beautiful country? I think they ought to have put a stop to It Just ca toon a we were declared Independent. Be cause we're not reully Americana now, except the negvoea, and they're Afri cans." Leslie's Mouthly, lleitr than Married. Caddie I bear Goodman I' a married to Mlsa Dolley. Crabbe Oh better than Gaddle Ueullyt You Crabbe I nirt.n the broken off. l'hlladiiph'.f