if-
2" ?
' ' y yBWii 'tatte irritate :v--: "
" - 1 . -HF-V; "
VOL. IX.
NORTH PIATTE, NEBRASBI WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 1893.
NO. 80
"MODEL
T
I
HOUSE,
Moved to Foley's Old Stand.
The Nicest Stock of the Season
Is here, is unpacked, is marked low, and is.reayloT
Anyone WoMkes a Good Thing.
We are simply asking for business that
will save buyers money.
Our Wonderful Spring Stock
will make friends, outshine rivals, win victories,
and sell itself on its merits every time.
Men's and Boys' Clothing,
Hats and Caps, Boots and Shoes,
Gents5 Furnishing Goods.
Marvels of Popularity in Seasonable Styles
and Fair Figures.
THE MODEL CLOTHING HOUSE
Foley's Old Stand,
lsjzz BirLsteirL, 3Propxietor-
North Platte National Bank,
NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA.
3?aid up Capital.
&75.000.
DIRECTORS:
W W BIRGE, O. M. CARTER,
C. T. IDDINQS, M. C. LINDSAY,
A. T. 8TREITZ, H. OTTEN,
All business intrusted to us handled promptly, carefully, and at lowest rates.
D. W. -BAKER.
M. OlIERST,
A. D. BUCK WORTH.
C. F. IDDINQS,
LUMBER
i COAL, 1
H A3XTP GRAIKT.
Order by telephone from Newton's Book Store.
Dr. N. McOABE, Prop.
J. E. BUSH, Manager.
NORTH PLATTE PHARMACY,
Successor to J. Q. Thacker.J
ISrOilTH PLATTE, - NEBEASKA.
WE AIM TO HANDLE THE BEST GRADE OF GOODS,
3ELL THEM AT REASONABLE PRICES, AND WARRANT
EVERYTHING AS REPRESENTED.
orders fvom the country and along the line ol the Union
" Pacific Railway Solicited.
OB1. J. BEOEKER,
Merchant Tailor,
LARGE STOCK OP PIECE GOODS,
embracing all the new designs, kept on hand and made to order.
PERFECT FIT GUARANTEED.
PRICES LOWER THAN EVER BEFORE
Spruce Street, between Fifth and Sixth.
THE CASINO BILLTAED HILL,
J. E. GRACE, Proprietor.
SUPERIOR BILLIARD and POOL TABLES.
Bar Stocked with, the Finest of Liquors.
A QUIET AND ORDERLY RESORT .
Where gentlemen will receive courteous treatment at all times and
where they will always be welcome. Our billiard and
is not surpassed in the city and lovers of. tu
be accommodated at all times.
BOI'HOODTEADITIONS
HOW SCIENCE HAS RUTHLESSLY
PLAYED HOB WITH THEM.
-Fhr
lesegames can
Even the Horsehair Snake Is Declared by
the Natarallst to Be a Hnmbnf-Still
Clinging to That Belief and Presenting
Pretty Good Argument.
Science plays bob with the fond tradi
tions of rural schoolboy days. How
many ngiy Dnt nserai toaas nave Deen
left in undisturbed possession of a gar
den bed because to handle them was
but to cover your hands with warts and
to kill them would force your cows to
let down bloody milk? What boy would
have crushed a cricket, assured as he
was that its mate would come at night
and avenge its death by eating up that
fash boy's clothes? What man lives to
day who, as a rustic lad, has not held
the stilted daddy-long-legs prisoner by
one hairlike shank and informed the
globular insect that unless it forthwith
pointed out the way in which the
lost cows had gone instant death
awaited it, and when did daddy-long-IegB
fail to raise one slender leg and in
dicate, according to boyish belief, the
direction the straying kine had gone?
And tho devil's darning needle, that big
eyed thing that lived and prowled for
nothing else than to sew your ears up,
'and the' magic eel skin tied round your
leg, or neck, or arm, to keep the cramps
away when you went in swimming, and
the snake that swallowed its young, and
greatest of all, that vivified hair from a
horde's tail, wriggling and gyrating iu
the roadside mud puddle, the horsehair
snake,.
But science has stepped in and solemn
ly and seriously said that these are all
myths. It is a shattering of idols, but I
fear that to science must be granted all
it denies about them, except as to suakea
swallowing their young. I have been an
open mouthed and wido eyed witness of
that interesting trick too oft,en to let
even profound scientists stand up and
declare that it'isn't so.
I hold out a little, too, for the horse
hair sniko, for I hayein my mind a cer
tain vagrant horsehair fhatrl once put in
an oyster keg filled with rainwater, and
either that horsehair in the conrai of a
few weeks took on the seuiblanco of liJfo
and. form of a horsehair snako and kept
it up all season iti. a bottle to which I
transferred it, or olso it disapieared, and
the germ of what we supposed was a
horsehair snake happened to bo in the
water and developed there. I have al
ways insisted that 1 made a horsehair
snake, i liavo heard many veracious
persons declare that they hp.ve done the
same thing.
"But you are nil wrong," says Nich
olas Pike, the naturalist. "The horsehair
snake, or hairworm, is the Gordiua
aquaticus. and it is common in most
fresh water ponds and rivulets. Though
no larger around than a coarse cotton
thread, they have two months, one on
each side of the head. They lay scpres
and sometimes thousands of eggs. The
eggs are deposited in strings, like a
chain, on the sides of shallow ponds or
creeks, and the' are greedily swallowed
by various aquatic insects. Then from
the time the egg is hatched the first part
of tho worm's nutriment is spent as a
parasite, absorbing nutriment from the
body of it3 unlucky host. Tho large
water beetles are subject to these para
sites. They have been fonnd in a crick
et. They are graceful swimmers, but
when taken from the water they twist
themselves into such an intricate knot
that it is almost impossible to unloose
it They are called Gordius from this,
the Gordian knot.
"I have no doubt that one reason why
the idea of the horsehair snake has been
propagated is from ignorant persons
who have had various insects in clear
water watching them for study or curi
osity. Knowing that they put in only
certain live creatures, and some day
finding these live worms, they were as
tonished. The chances are that the
worms were developed from a pet beetle
that in its native pond made a feast on
some ova of tho Gordius, to be paid
dearly for later when these hatched."
But there was no pet beetle or any
other insect in my keg of rainwater.
The horsehair went away, and the snake
or worm appeared. I don't believe the
horsehair ever swallowed any Gordius
ova. I can't imagine any reason why a
horsehair should turn into a snake or
worm when kept in the water, but why
not a horse's hair as well as a cow's hair
or a deer's hair? Science had better not
tell any of the few old settlers of north
ern Pennsylvania or any other locality
where the pioneers were frequently their
own tanners that cow's hair and deer's
hair will not turn into worms under cer
tain conditions or ecienco will get a
black eye. In the pioneer days, when a
settler wanted leather for boots or shoes,
it was not an uncommon thing for him
to make a vat by hollowing out a pine
log, and using wood ashes instead of lime
in removing the hair. When the hide
was taken out of the vat it would be
placed in a creek to soak out the alkali.
I have more than once heard the sons
of such pioneers tell of finding curious
worms swimming about these hides
where they were lying in quiet pools.
These worms were about two inches
long, somewhat thicker than a cow's
hair, and always in various stages of de
velopment from the hair as it came off
the hide, some being for a part of their
length simply hair, while the rest was
the living worm, white and eemitrans
parent Some would be still fast to the
hide, but wiggling to get loose, when
they would swim about with a hair for a
tail. These worms were never seen ex
cept in the pools with the hides, either
cow or deer. The more I think of these
well authenticated cow hair worms the
more I am inclined to defy science and
hold out for the horsehair worm. New
York Sun.
A Theory as to Swlggins.
"What makes Swiggins such an un
conscionable liar?'
"Stinginess. He has as many facts as
anybody, but he hates to give them out."
Exchange.
SaTed by a Nickel.
At Longview, Tex., while Jim Vines
was fooling with a revolver it went off,
and all that saved his life was a nickel
which he had in a pants pocket. The
hall struck the coin and glanced down
his leg, making a long blue streak.
Accommodating;.
was endeBtlv a verv oblirinir bov.
for when he applied to the merchant for
a position and was asked his age he re
plied: "Ob, sir, I shall be whatever age you
wish me to be!" Harper's Bazar.
FEMALE, WOMAN, LADY.
The Distinction Between Sereral Wards,
anil How They May Bo Used.
An interesting discussion is going on in
the columns of some newspapers over
the use of the words "lady" and "wom
an." There is no real difference as to
J the occasions upon which each word is
to be used, bat there is a frank acknowl
edgment upon the part of some that they
do not use the word "woman" where
their good sense tells them that they
should, for fear that it might give of
fense to the person to whom it was di
Tected "as not sufficiently polite."
There are certainly no words so abused
as "woman," "lady" and "female."
Among certain people the use of the sec
ond of these terms is like the wearing of
fine clothes or jewelry. Originally be
longing to a superior class they insist on
appropriating it to themselves as proof
that they are the equals of any other so
cial body. Now, while all that may be
true enough and while class distinctions
have no place in this country this use of
the word has led to some strange and
amusing confusions. The humorist who
depicted tho servant as addressing her
mistress, "Mam, the laundry lady is
a-wanting to speak to the woman of the
house," did not have to depend upon his
imagination for his facts.
As absurd things as that may be heard
in any one of the large dry goods stores
in town any day, and almost any news
paper will yield a rich specimen or two.
Bishop Warren, referring to this same
point, says that he glanced at the wall
opposite him at the moment and saw a
diploma from the " Female acade
my," and then turned to a bookcase and
read as the title of one of the volumes
there, "Female Holiness." In the report
of a southern woman's Christian teni
pernnce union convention appears the
fact that "Mrs. Blank was chairlady."
Now the proper word in all this is
"woman." That is always and ever
right. Than it there is no nobler or
stronger word in the English language.
"Man" is a general word as well as a
particular one, and as such includes both
sexes, so that the term "chairman" sig
nifies no subservience of one sex to the
domination of the other. If called upon
to address a stranger, a woman, then the
proper w6rd is "madam" and not "lady,
this way" and "lady, that way," as so
many ushers appear to think to be the
only solution to the problem of address.
"Female" is never to be used as a syno
nym of "woman." It is a term common
to one-half of the animal creation, and to
apply it to woman as the substantive of
designation is an insult. "Lady" is ap
plicable to every well bred and educated
woman, but it is something that is re
served rather for social usago and has
not tho sturdy strength and nobility of
"woman." Boston Journal.
Color Protection From Intense Heat.
With reference to tho protective effect
of certain colors against the smi's rays,
years ago on my way to India the second
time, having already been invalided
home once from the effects of the sun,
it occurred to me to try the photogra
pher's plan. I reasoned to myself that
Eince no one ever got sunstroke or sun
fever from exposure to a dark source of
heat or even to one which, though lumi
nous, possessed no great degree of chem
ical energy the furnaces in the arsenal,
for cxampld it could not be the heat
rays, therefore, which injured one, but
must be the chemical ones only.
If therefore one treats one's own body
as the photographer treats his plates
and envelops one's self in yellow or
dark red, one ought to be practically se
cure, and since the photographer lined
the inside of his tents and belongings
with yellow it was obviously immaterial
whether one wore yellow inside or out.
I had my hats and coats lined with yel
low, and with most satisfactory results,
for during five years and even extreme
exposure never once did the yellow lin
ing fail me, but every time that either
through carelessness or overconfidence
I forgot the precaution a very short ex
posure sufficed to send me down with
tho usual sun fever. Many friends tried
the plan and all with the same satisfac
tory results. Cor. Lahore (India) Civil
and Military Gazette.
Sleeping Under Feathers.
Years ago we used to smile with con
scious superiority at the idea of the
Dutch sleeping under a feather bed in
stead of over it. The idea of sleeping
upon a hard mattress and climbing un
der a soft one seemed rather an ana
chronism and a singular perversion of
common sense, but the introduction of
down or feather comfortables is simply
the utilization of that knowledge of
things which some of the older countries
had long ego known. Feathers are ex
ceedingly warm, and a covering made of
them superinduces and retains the heat
in the human body.
A curious claim is now made for a new
comfortable of down. The makers as
sert that their product retains all the
natural warmth, but allows the impure
air to escape from thq bed, how or
wherefore we are not informed. Up
holsterer. Velocity ol the Earth.
The highest velocity attained by a can
non balLhas been estimated at 1,622 feet
per second, which is equal to a mile in
3.2 seconds. The velocity of the earth
at the equator, due to its rotation on its
axis, is 1,000 miles per second, or a mile
every 3.6 seconds. Therefore it has been
calculated that if a cannon ball were
fired due west, and that it could main
tain its initial velocity for 24 hours, it
would barely beat the sun in its ap
parent journey around the earth. Phila
delphia Press
. Death of "Mother Shlpton."
Mother Shipton is dead, or at any rate
the real author of her famous prophecies
is no more. In other words, the book
selling world has to deplore tho loss of
Mr. Charles Hindley, who long ago con
fessed to the innocent imposture. He
wrote a good deal in one way or another,
partly to the press and partly in books,
but Mother Shipton was his most fa
mous achievement He died at Brigh
ton, where he used to carry on the busi
ness of a bookseller. London Globe.
Mayor and Wooden Ig.
Mayor Willard of Argentine, Mo., un
strapped his wooden leg and beat into a
tractable mood a claimant who was too
persistent in his attempt to collect an
unjust bill from the city. It does not
follow that all wooden legged men would
make good mayors, but such a man as
Willard, with a wooden leg, has points
of advantage over a man with a wooden
head and towns east of the Rocky
mountains have had that kind of mayors.
New York Commercial Advertiser.
Li u FlylaC Machine.
An extraordinary kind .of flying ma
cbiae has been designod by Horatio Phil
lips of Harrow, England. In appear
ance it might bo compared to a long
board on which are a pair of window
blinds, so mounted that the shutters are
nearly flat. The frame is boat shaped in
plan, 23 feet long and 3 feet wide. It is
supported on three small wheels and
carries a small compound engine work
ing a screw propeller 6 feet in diameter.
The sustainer, or wings, consist of a
number of wooden blades or slats
mounted ono above tho other in. a steel
frame. Each slat is 19 feet long and 1
inches wide, the combined surface of. all
tho slats being 140 square feet The
frame is placed in a vertical position and
arranged transversely to tho line of mo
tion. The weight of the whole machine in
working order is 360 pounds. It could
not, of course, be allowed to soar away
unfettered, as it is too small to carry any
person to-guide its flight. It is therefore
attached to a pillar by means of wires
which confine its flight to a circular path
628 feet in circumference. When it is
desired to operato the machine, steam is
turned on and the1 propeller set to work.
It has made 1J turns around the track
without any of the wheels touching
ground at a speed of 40 miles an hour,
and this with enough dead load to bring
the total weight up to 885 pounds. This
is equal to lifting a load of about 2
pounds per square foot of sustainer sur
faco when all the conditionr, are taken
into account. New "York Telegram.
A "Coollus Off" Troccss at the Shore.
The Bowery is tho favorite lair of the
representative professional and business
men of Coney Island and the uiecca o
all tho "jays." as the visitors are termed
who come down from the city to "cool
off." Close observation of the habits of
these "jays" reveals the fact that the
popular method of -"cooling off" ia to
pound with a large mallet in a vain at
tempt to register some impossible num
ber on a dial overhead, to blow into a
"lung tester" until one is black in the
face, to mount a yellow wooden giraffe
and be swung r.ronnd a "carousal" to
the music of a bronze steam organ, to
.drink bad beer and to listen to all the
unpopular airs sung by yellow haired si
rens with the sea fog air in their throats.
I had seen several thousand citizens
engaged in this "cooling off process,
which, by the way. frequently landed its
votaries in what is known as tho "cool
er," beforo it occurred to me to inquire
what mesmeric power led them to act in
this manner. My researches brought
tne face to face with the representative
Coney Island business and professional
men the worst band of fakirs that the
world has ever seen. New York Cor.
Boston Herald.
Uncstentntlons Charity.
William C. Todd of Atkinson. N. H.,
is a philanthropist wiso in his giving.
The Boston Public Library is o0.000 rich
er for his generosity, and his largess is
to be invested so as to secure a perma
nent annual fncomo of $2,000 to bo ex
pended in maintaining anowspaper read
ing room in which papers from every
largo city in the world will be found. If
it did not r-quire a struggle to overcome
tho temptation to found some weak in
stitution bearing his name instead of
burying his gift in a great organization
already established. Mr. Todd is a man
of less than average vani ty. It would be
hard to find an investment in the direc
tion of popular education likely to bo
more beneficial than this one. A read
ing room makes little show. It is influ
ential nevertheless. New York Tribune.
Canada's Now Governor General.
Canada is to have a new governor gen
eral in the person of Lord Aberdeen, one
of the most brilliant and rising of tho
youngerstatesmcn of Great Britain. He
will be ably seconded by Lady Aberdeen,
described by The Woman's Herald of
London as ono of the half dozen famous
women of the world one who believes
in women as an active force in politics.
"We should work side by side, men and
women, each endeavoring to accomplish
'something, and thus make the world a
littlo better than wo found it. Canada
stands with maple leaves in her ha ds to
extend the heartiest of welcomes to the
Earl and Countess of Aberdeen. Wives
and Daughters.
By the Wish of His Wife."
It is generally believed that the money
which the Duke of Portland wins at rac
ing is given to charity, according to tho
direction of tho duchess, and the duke,
not content with this, seems determined
to hand down to posterity a tribute to
her wholesome influence. In the center
gable of tho new fine almshouses lately
erected on his Welbeck estate for the
widows,of those employed on it there is
a stone with an engraved inscription
'setting forth that the buildings were
"erected by tho sixth Duke of Portland
'by the wish of his wife.' " Thereafter
follow the names of the successful race
horses and their victories. London Tit-Bits.
A Nctt England Slave.
The Bangor (Me.) News has found a
slave in that city. This man is the driver
of a hose wagon and is stationed at a
little brick house on Hammond street.
Tho Bangor fire department pays him
$10 a month, and ho stands eternal
watch, day and night, having no vaca
tion or holidaj-s. Ho occupies the sta
tion alone and, The News says, cannot
leave to get a meal or chango of cloth
ing unless ho hires some ono to take his
place, and then he is liable to be called
on as usuaL But probably if this man
should give up tho job there'd be a score
of applications for the place.
A Cable's length.
The nautical terms used in the ac
counts of tho Victoria disaster puzzle
many, and the principal one is, What is
a cable's length? The cable, like the
knot, is only used in maritime parlance.
It is 100 fathoms, or 600 feet The evo
lution ordered by Admiral Tryon at six
cables' length consequently brought two
mammoth battleships to converge within
3,600 feet. The maneuver was nothing
but what a landsman would call a coun
termarch, but the columns converging
instead of diverging. Jamestown AIL
- OLD HSTEUMENTS.
A BROOKLYN DEALER WHO HAS AN
INTERS ,NG PAIR.
i. I-ute That Is Ono Hundred and Twelve
Tears Old A tyre That Has Existed
Kearly as X.ocg History or Varioas
String Instruments.
William V. Pezzoni has on exhibition
-in a window in Brooklyn a lute that is
112 years, old. It is said to be the only
one of its kind in existence. From a
printed strip of paper in the interior of
the instrument it is learned that it was
made by Renault & Chatelain of Braque
street, Paris, in 1781.
The lute is as old as tho hills. It is
mentioned several times in the Bible.
Jubal, said by historians to have been
the first musician, was tho inventor of
it, as lie was of tho organ and all string
instruments. He flourished about 1,500
years before the deluge andAvasthe first
to observe that strings of different sizes
or lengths when stretched produced va
rious sounds.
In tho earliest ages of Egypt instru
ments having tho samo.general f orni as
tho harp, lyre and guitar of modern times
were common, as the discoveries of trav
elers in that country have proved. Tho
ancients had inanj- other stringed instru
ments, but these three classes wore the
principal ones.
The lyre is supposed to be more ancient
than tho harp- A very old painting at
Be'ni-Hassan in Egypt represents the ar
rival of soino foreigners in that country
supposed to bo Joseph's brethren. Ono
of them holds a lyre having four strings.
The guitar is nn improvement, on the
lyre. It is seldom found sculptured in
the monuments of Greece and Rome,
as the people did not consider the in
strument sufficiently dignified to so
symbolizcTit, which accounts for its not
appearing in the ruins of those proud
cities. It was, however, ono of tho most
ancient musical instruments of Egypt.
Some historians are of the opinion that
Hermes, one of the Egyptian councilors,
invented the three stringed lyre. These
strings gave forth three sounds grave,'
mean and acute representing respect
ively winter, spring and summer. Tho
Egyptians and the Greeks, as is well
knov.ii, divided tho j'ear only into three
seasons.
The lute was adopted by the Arabs
from Persia and reached tho west about
the time of the crusaders. In the psalms
of David it in spoken of as tho raahha
lath", and it is said to have been used by
tho children of Israel in their rejoicings
after the overthrow of Pharaoh's host.
The modern Egyptian lute is a direct
descendant of tho Arabic lute. It has
seven pairs of strings and is played by a
plectrum. When frets are employed,
they are disposed of according to the
Arabic, scale of 17 intervals in the oc
tave, consisting of 12 limmas an in
terval rather less than a semitone.
There are also five commas, which are
very small, but quite recognizable as
regards difference of pitch.
The large double necked lute has two
sets of tuning pegs, the lower set for the
finger board and the higher for the diapa
son strings. This style luto was known
as the theorbo. Us height varied from 3
feet G inches to 5 feet. Very deep notes
wero produced from it. Another lute
somewhat differently formed was known
as the archlute. Botli have, however, long
sinco given away to tho violoncello and
double bass. Handel wrote a part for a
theorbo in 1720. After this date the lute
appears no more in orchestral scores. It
remained, however, in private use until
tho close of tho century.
Venere of Padua, celebrated as a maker
of lutes, flourished in 1660. His instru
ments were highly ornamental and were
admired for their beauty, ivory, mother
of pearl and tortoiso shell being used in
decorating them. The present direction
of musical taste and composition is ad
verse to the cultivation of such tenderly
sensitive timber as the lute possessed.
The instrument has now become an ob
ject of research for collections and mu
seums. It was a favorite instrument of
music in tho sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, but declined in the eighteenth
century. The great J. S. Bach wrote a
partita for it, which still remains in
manuscript. The latest engraved publi
cation for the lute is 17C0.
Mr. Pezzoni was placed in the posses
sion of the lute a short timo ago by
Signor Guiseppe Vitale, a prominent
Brooklyn musician, who obtained it at a
pawnbroker's sale. It is a very valuable
instrument, although it was sadly in
need of repair when it came into Mr. Pez
zoni's hands. He has been offered sums
for it varying from $8 to $200, but it is
not for sale.
Tho lute is a handsome one. The body
is pear shaped. It is beautifully inlaid
with ivory and pearl. Tho neck is 28
inches long. The fingerboard, containing
17 frets, is 12 i inches long, and the body,
with a three inch sound hole, is 15J
inches long. The base of the instrument
is 4J inches deep, wliile at the neck it is
3 inches. It has 16 strings, 8 of which
are designed for the bass. The head, or
nut, is divided into two sections and con
tains the pegs, or keys. One of these
sections is 12 inches long and the other
U inches. Tho latter is used for the
open bass strings, which are above and
independent of the fingerboard. Four
of tho middle strings are double and are
formed from very fine wire. The re
maining strings are of silk wound with
copper wire. New York World.
Trading In I.ivo Rattlesnakes.
Live rattlesnakes are sold for $1 a
snake by peddlers in the streets of
southern California towns. Buyers are
found among persons who want to tan
the hides for various uses, and each
buyer can kill his snake in the manner
that he regards most conducive to the
preservation of the skin's colors.
A Long Bicycle Tour.
1 Mr. Frank G. Lenz, a young American,
is at present making a tour of the world
on his bicycle. His journey will oc
cupy about two years, and his route
leads across the United States from New
York, then on to Japan, through China,
India, Persia, Turkey, Austria, Ger
many, Holland, France, England, Scot
land and Ireland.
The Great Sllstake Columbus Made.
Schoolmaster Why was it that his
great discovery was not properly appre
ciated until long after Columbus was
dead?
Nineteenth Century Schoolboy Be
cause he didn't advertise, sir. London
Tit-Bits.
Natural.
Castleton I hear you are engaged to
Miss Biggerolle, the girl you went horse
back with so much last summer. How
on earth did you manage it?
Summit I couldn't help it, old man.
We were thrown together so much.
Truth.
The highest waves ever met witfein
the ocean are said to be those off the
Cape of Good Hope. Under the influ
ence of a northwesterly gale they hay
been knowii to'exceed 40 feet in height
D?
PRICE'S
The qnly 1'ure Cream of Tartar Powder. No Ammonia; No Alum.
Used in Millions of Homes 40 Years the Standard.
legerdemain That Failed to Work.
The bright young man who isn't so
very young either was fortunate enough
to secure a seat right in tho midst of
Deacon Hnggum's young ladies' Bible
class and by their arch manners was so
far decoyed from his usual staid indiffer
ence as to try and make himself agreea
ble.
The speaker of the evening pleaded
most earnestly the cause of sweet chari
ty and made the last remaining quarter
and nickel burn in the scribe s pocJtet.
When the deadly contribution box be
gan its gyrations in his isle, the news
paper representative began to chuckle
under the mellowing influence of a hap
py thought. He would execute a neat
little piece of legerdemain with that
quarter and 5 cent piece, and. whilo
properly impressing his fair neighbors
with the larger coin would really drop
in the smaller.
He held the quarter daintily between
his thumb and finger and pressed the
5-cent piece between his third finger and
his palm. There was a click of a coin
in the bottom of the box, a rather un
usual twist of a large cuff and a bland
smile on the reporter's face.
A second later the young man started
as if he had been shot and turned ex
citedly toward the deacon, who was now
two seats behind him.
He had dropped in the quarter!
The deacon mistook the gesture as a
sign that the young man had been over
looked, and again he thrust the box un
der the reporter's hoso.
What did be do?
Just what you would.
He put in the nickel.
And walked home. Boston Herald.
t -
! A Touch of Fellow Feellne.
I "We do indeed have some queer ex
periences," said the trained nurse, tak
ing off her white cap and giving its
; dainty bow a few deft, reconstructing
, touches, "and many interesting and di
( verting episodes also. Not long ago I
was sent for to attend a minister's wife
I and must confess that I responded to
If , ?A, A 1 I
me can wiiu somo trepiuauon aua up
prehension. It was my first experience
in a minister's family, and I was afraid
that my patient might ask me to pray
with her or read the Bible to her, which
most excellent- offices would be wholly
out of my line and would cause mo
much embarrassment.
"When I reached my post of duty, I
found the minister's wife suffering a
great deal, and my first office was to
make and apply a mustard plaster. I
concocted it with a generous and con
scientious hand, and it must have been
pretty warm, for several seconds after I
had deferentially applied the mustard
plaster on the person of tho minister's
wife she groaned dismally. Leaning
over her to discover whether her pain
had increased, I heard her murmur softly
but energetically:
"'Oh, jiminy! It's too hot! I can't
Btand it!'
"Perhaps you can imagine how my
heart leaped toward the dear woman at
this touch of nature. Wo had a delight
ful timo together when she got better.
She was a good woman, too, but liko the
rest of us she had her favorite ejacula
tions under compelling circumstances."
Louisville Courier-JournaL
Cariosities of Glycerin.
One of the great advantages of glycer
in in its chemical employment is the
fact that it neither freezes nor evaporates
under any ordinary temperature. No
perceptible loss by evaporation has been
detected at a temperature less than 200
degrees F., but if heated intensely
it decomposes with a smell that few
persons find themselves able to endure.
It burns with a pale flame, similar to
that from alcohol, if heated to about
800 degrees and then ignited. Its non
evaporative qualities make the com
pound of .much use as a vehicle for hold
ing pigments and colors, as in stamping
and typewriter ribbons, carbon papers
and the like.
If the pure glycerine be exposed for a
long time to a freezing temperature, it
crystallizes with the appearance of sugar
candy, but these crystals being once
melted it is almost an impossibility to
get them again into the congealed state.
If a little water be added to the glycer
in, no crystallization will take place,
though under a sufficient degreo of cold
the water will separate and form crys
tals, amid which tho glj-cerin will re
main in its natural state of fluidity. If
suddenly subjected to intense cold, pure
glycerin will form a gninnry mass
which cannot be entirely hardened or
crystallized. Altogether it is quite a
peculiar substance. Good Housekeep
ing. forewarned of Her Child's Death.
A few months after my father's death
the infant son, who had been pining him
self ill for "papa," was lying one night
in bis mother's arms. On the next
morning she said to her sister, "Alf is
going to die." The child had no definite
disease, but was wasting away, and it
was argued to her that the returning
spring would restore the health lost dur
ing the winter. "No," was her answer.
"Ho was lying asleep in my arms last
night, and William (her husband) came
to mo and said that he wanted Alf with
him, but that I might keep the other
two." In vain she was assured-that she
had been dreaming; that it was quite
natural that' she should dream about her
husband, and that her anxiety for the
child had given the dream its shape.
Nothing would persuade her that she
had not seen her husband or that the in
formation he had given her was not true.
So it was no matter of surprise to her
when in the following March her arms
were empty and a waxen form lay life
less in the baby's cot Mrs. Annie Be
sant 1 w
Tragedy of Literary Disappointment.
An English periodical says disappoint
ment in authorship over there sometimes
has tragic results. Recently a gentle
man committed suicide because he had
had an article rejected, and a confec
tioner's assistant shot himself because,
though he had written several books,
they were all rejected. The article goes
on sagely: "Yet he went on writing to
the last, unable to see that he was pro
ducing what was not wanted. Nowa
days there is a market for what is good
in any class of literature, and the writer
who cannot secure a publisher may rest
assured either that ho is not ready for a
public appearance, or that he has been
denied the gifts with which he fancies
himself to be endowed."
The Dwarf Palm of Algeria.
The dwarf palm, which furnishes con
siderable quantities of fiber, grows in
great profusion in Algeria and is one of
the principal obstacles to the clearing of
the land, so thickly does it grow and so
difficult to pull up. Its roots, in shape
resembling carrots, penetrate into the
ground to the depth of a yard or more,
and when its stem only is cut it sprouts
out again almost immediately. As its
name indicates, this palm is very small,
and can only attain a certain height
when protected, as in the Arab ceme
teries, for example. Monde Econom
ique. Lord Sherbrooke.
Lowo said that when he was minister
Df education a parent would sometimes
consult him about sending liis son to a
public school. His invariable answer
was: "My advice would be not to send
him to a public school. But if you feel
bound to sen him to your own public
school take him away as soon as-possible."
I think it was Talleyrand who
nid of tho English public schools, "Elles
out les nieillcnres du monde, mais elle
nnt dotes tables!" London Spectator.
Old Time Cures.
In mediaeval times if a child did not learn
to walk with readiness the. wise wizard
would direct it to creep through a black
berry bush which had the canes bent
down to tho earth and rooted by their
tips. At the present it would be a3
pleasant and efficacious for tho tardy,
toddler to creep among a few barbed
wire fences, and it would bo more in
keeping with tho keen spirit of tliis age
of wire.
One of tho leading sources of income
to the old herbalist was the compound
ing of love powders for, despondent
swains and heartsick maidens. If a pow
der would not bring the desired relief ,
various juices of roots and herbs were
mingled in a potion and sold as the lovo
phial. Here is an old recipe: "Mistletoe
berries (not exceeding nine in number)
are steeped in an equal mixture of wine,
beer, vinegar and honey.
"This taken on an empty stomach be
fore going to bed will cause dreams of
your future destiny (provided you retire
before 12 o'clock) either oa Cliristmas
eve or on the first and third of a new
moon." Perhaps as a lingering remnant
of this absurdity there ia a current no
tion in some parts of the world today
that a whole mince pie eaten at mid
night will cause the reappearance of
long departed friends, not to mention
tho family physician and the more inter
ested members of the household. Chau-tauquan.
lbs Curso of Militarism.
Our Prague correspondent says that
tho Bohemian deputies in the Austrian
parliamentary delegations continue
strongly to oppose the new military ex
penditure required by the war depart
ment on behalf of the triple alliance.
The figures the opposition gives are sig
nificant. From 1868 to 1893 tho Austrian
army budget rose from 6S,690,640 florins
to 107,374,863 florins. During those years
2,833,000,000 florins have been expended
on the army. The navy and the landwehr
are not included in this vast sum. The
occupation of Bosnia alone has cost the
empiro since 1878 245,993,500 florins. ,
On the other hand, nothing is incurred
for works of peace. Not a mile of a
navigable channel has been made. The
support of primary Echools, asylums,
road building, etc., rests entirely on the
shoulders of tho. provinces themselves.
Other figures nre no less suggestive. In
the wholo of Austria-Hungary thero are
4,000,000 paupers and 16,000,000 persons
unable to work viz, children, old peo
ple and cripples; 9,000,000 women and
hand workers earning no more than 180
florins a year; 2,000,000 workmen and
servants whoso yearly income does not
exceed 300 florins, and only 1,681,060
persons getting from their work, trade
or capital more than 300 florins. The
physical and moral condition of the im
poverished population is deteriorating.
-IJU1IIIUO ..u -
.........fr;
i
A Wagon Load
Of Monej'
does not necessarily imply content
and happiness on the part of its
possessor. It is not money that
gives us pleasure, but the things
that money will buy.
Some people spend money fool
ishly, and fancy they find enjoy
ment in doing it, but the pleasure
is more fancied than real. No man
who buys
The McCormick
No. 4 Steel Mower
can ever be accused of spending
money foolishly, and he'll find a
hundred reasons to convince him c
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You'll like this mower; net me;ciy
because thousands of other farmers
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Get the McCormick Catalogue any way.
AH agents furnish it oa application.
McCormick. Harvesting machine Co.
CHICAGO, ILL.
HERSHEY & Co., Agbs.
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