UN HOPE OF SAVING
MOTHER, CHILD SEVERED
HAND OF PINIONED SIRE
hc i c of QXwn
Like to tlie falllntr of u star,
Or nn the llUlits of ongJcs ..re,
Or like the fresh spring's gaudy hue,
Or silver dreixi of morning detv,
Or like a wind that clmfs tho flood,
Or bubbles which on water stood
li'en such Is man, whoso borrowed light
Is HlKht culled In and paid to-night.
Tho wind blows out, tho bubble dies,
'Che spring entombed In autumn lies,
Tim dew's dried up, the star Is shot,
Tho Might Is past, and innn's forgot.
Francis Beaumont.
(GEORGIA GIRL PROVES A HEROINE
Tragic Ordeal of Little Ada Price,
Unscathed by the Tornado That
Wrecked Her Home, and How She
Met the Command of Her Impris
oned Father by
the Rescue Ax.
-vOWI)liN, OA. All alono In
m the darluiCHH stood Ada
Price, a Blip of a girl of 10.
n About heir oars Bhrlokcd tho
J lant bhiHtR of the fast-dying
tornado, which had left
everything In rulnH In Its twisting,
whirling way. At her foot lay tho
ruliiH of what had boon her pretty
homo only a few hocoihIh boforo.
From bonenth that shnttored heap
of boards and bricks, still wreathed In
dust, emtio a tuonn and a groan. Noxt
tho Hiirlil cry of a child Hinoto her
heart. Not a houI Htood near. And
thon Ada Prlco know tho truth be
neath that gluiHtly pllo lay burled her
falhor, her mother and her two little
brothorn. And she was nlono In tho
darkness.
Wreck and ruin lay all about her.
jThoro waH no uso crying for help;
Help thcro was none. Tho neareBt
neighbors woro somo distance uway,
nnd Ihoy, too, woro having troublcB of
their own. It was for Adn Prlco to do
for herself and hers alono.
And boforo that dreadful night waH
'over Hho wns called upon to do sonic
Ithlng more; perhaps, Homothlng that
Inovor a girl ban been cnllod upon to
do boforo. Sho had to cut off her fath
or'a hand with an ax that ho might bo
Bet freo. Tho mothor lay bonoath tho
ruliiB, too It was In tho hopo of biiv
ling her that tho hand whb Hacrlllcod.
Hut all to no good.
(Joorgla never know a worso tornn-
do than that fatal ono which swopt
down upon a doomed community re-
contly without a word of warning. It
iBiiurfed out 31 Uvob In tho twinkling of
'jin oyo. It leveled Iiouhos and barns
"CUT OFF MY HAND!
right and loft, and ruined hundreds of
thousands or dollars' wortli of stand
ing crops.
Wholo Family Durled Under
Wreckage of Their Home.
When tho cyclone broke, the homo
of Jllmlo Prlco lay right In tho teeth
of tho fury of tho oleiuonts. Tho fain
lly of llvo woro nil sound asloop
Mlmlo Prlco, his wlfo, Ada, tho daugh
ter, unit tho two llttlo Prlco boys. At
tho first Hwoop of tho blast tho Prlco
homo caved In like a house of cards,
burying tho family under tho ruin of
beams and boards.
In soino wondrous way Ada was
spared tho fato of tho rest of tho fam
ily sho was not pinned bonenth tho
wrock, but managed to work hor way
out Into tho air unhurt. Cries and
groans enmo from under tho mass of
wreckage which had been hor homo
but n nilmito before. It was bo dark
that tho frightened girl could see
nothing; but all tho time sho could
hear thoso orlos for holp from those
oho loved best in all tho world.
4 Half stumbling, half falling, Ada
Bravely Swinging
Prlco found tho woodpile In tho dark
iicrh. Hho know an ax was thcro.
Down on her hands nnd kneos sho
wont, feeling this way and that for
the tool alio know sho must have to
chop out lior fnthor nnd her mother
nnd her two little brothcrH. Then she
got a lantorn from tho ruins of tho
woodBhcd It had not been broken
and lighted It. Hack to tho wreck of
her homo she went, guided by tho
moans of hor father and the ricroaniB
of her llttlo brothers. Thcro wnB no
ono elso to holp.
Ilrnvoly the lono girl set at hor task.
She Bturtod chopping nearest tho
crlos of hor brothers, all tho time fear
ful that a false stroke might end their
Bufferings. Hut sho kept hor wits and
her strength, and finally thoro was n
holo jitBt big enough to pull out tho
llttlo follows, badly bruised but not
sorlouflly Injured.
Finally Chopped Her Way
To the 8lde of Her Father.
Her fnthor was burled moro deeply
In tho wreck. For nn hour Ada Prlco
tolled on, getting nearer and nenrer to
whoro ho lay. Ono by ono sho loos
onod tho timbers that pinned him
down, chopping nway at each with all
the skill that lovo could conjure. At
length sho got down to him. Tho last
tlmbor was chopped away.
"Can you got out now, fnthcr?" sho
asked of tho groaning man beneath
her. "AH tho timbers nro chopped
through."
Poor Prlco mado an effort to lift
himself. It was no use a hugo stono
was pinning him down by the hand;
ho could not move. With all her fast
ebbing strength tho nngulshed girl
YOU MUST DO IT!".
nought to push tho stone awny and re
lease her father. Hut her efforts woro
futile, Sho failed to budgo It, struggle
as sho might against Its superior
wolght.
"Where Is mother?" gaspod tho
father.
"I haven't henrd hor at all!" an
Bwereil Ada. "Sho must bo down thoro
sontowhoro."
"Thon you must got mo out; bIio'H
dlo It I can't get to her soon," said
Price.
"How?" aiiBWorod Ada.
"Cut off my hand!" bogged hor
father.'
"I can't, oh, I can't!" cried tho girl.
"If you don't," said hor father, linn
ly, "then your mother's life will be on
your head!"
This vlow of It hadn't struck tho
poor girl. PorhnpB bIio could got hor
mother out, alono. Hut thoro woro no
cries to guldo hor, If Mrs. Prlco was
to bo saved, It would have to bo at
0110,0.
"You must do It; please, ploaso,"
urgod Prlco, "Your mother's llfo de
HEROIC LITTLE ADA PRICE (From a Photograph)
pends upon It; every Bocond counts
now!"
Nerved to Strike by the
Thought of Mother's Dangor.
"I enn't do It; I won't do It!" was
tho girl's roply.
"Thori I order you to do it," said hor
father. "If you disobey mo now and
lot your mothor die, thon you must
tnko tho consequences. And bo quick
nbout It!"
To this thoro was no answer. Ada
Prlco knew that she must. Without a
tremor sho lifted the ax and brought It
down with ono swift, sharp blow.
Tho mangled hand was left under tho
stono nnd slowly tho Injured father
tottered out of his prison,, minus his
left hand. Quickly tho girl tore a
plcco of sheeting Into strips nnd bound
up tho stump of her father's bleeding
forearm as beat she could. Faint and
weak, still tho man's Indomitable cour
age kopt up, and with his dntightor
they worked at tho wreckage until
they canio upon Mrs. Prlco.
Hut their mutual sacrlllce had boon
In vain. Tho wlfo and mothor lay cold
In death. Sho had evidently died of
her hurts ovon beforo tho llttlo boys
had been taken out by their devoted
sister. Then Ada took hor father to
tho nearest physlciau to have his
handloss arm properly treated.
Weak to tho point of collapso; com
pletely overcomo with grief nt tho
death of the mother sho ndorcd, Ada
Price kopt up until tho last detail was
done by tho doctors. Even then there
could bo no lot-up. Thoro woro tho
two niothorlesB llttlo boys to bo enrod
for now, nnd that duty fell upon tho
frail shoulders of that bravo llttlo
daughter of tho house. Not a thing
was lift undone.
Kvory ono who knows pretty Ada
Price Is loud In hor praises. Hut Ada
la very modest through It all.
"I don't seo why peoplo aro making
so much fuss ovor whnt 1 did," said
Ada to a correspondent of tho Now
York World. "I was tho only ono not
pinned down by the wreckago of our
houso, and I had to got to work. It
was too far to tho neighbors for mo to
go nnd get holp, and I was afraid to
ntay out In tho .dark by myself.
"1 wnn waked by tho crash of tho
house as It fell In. 1 don't seo how any
of us woro allvo when tho roof dropped
In on us. Anywny, It wasn't no hunt
for mo to get out; but when I began
to look for my mother nnd father, and
my brothers, 1 soon found they hadn't
been as lucky as I.
Little Heroine Tolled Hard
Without a Thought of Self.
"Then I heard soino low crying, and
then tho voice of my fathor crying out.
When 1 managed to get near enough
to talk to him he told mo to got tho
ax and try to chop them out. 1 wont
to the woodpllo oh, It was an awful
long way, or It seomed so, for It was
mighty dark and tho wind was blow
ing bard and 1 got the ax. Thon I
came hack to the house and found n
lantern. I lighted It and put it whoro
tho light foil upon the ruins of the
house.
"I started at tho best spot and be
gan to cut away tho fallen tlmbors. I
novor worked bo hard In all my life,
and I thought I should never got
through. At last, howevor, I found
that 1 was making good headway and
that oncouraged mo. My father kept
talking to mo and cheering mo up,
though ho was suffering horribly at
tho time, and I kopt cutting.
"In half an hour 1 got enough of tho
tlmbors cut nnd out of tho way to got
my two brothers out, nnd then I began
work on getting out my fnthor. Thnt
was tho hardest part. Whon ho found
out that 1 couldn't get the ruins oft
his hand ho told me to cut It off. I
told him I would not do it, and boggud
him to lot mo go for tho uolghbors,
but he iwub afraid mother was suffer
ing.
"And so whon ho was frco and wo
got to mnmiua wo found that It was
all useless, anyway; sho had been
hurt by tho roof when It fell In. Sho
had died oven beforo I got the children
out."
And through It all Ada Prlco hadn't
fnlntod or glvon up, or sat down to
cry she wns jtiBt a plucky llttlo girl
who did what sue could for thoso bIio
loved.
PLANTING WITH THE MOON.
Idea Has Firm Belief Everywhere, and
If It Does No Good, Does
No Harm.
Tho agricultural department has
undertaken to disabuse tho mind of
tho American farmer of tho "supersti
tion" that tho moon's phases lnllu
enco tho growth or yield of crops, tho
Washington Post says. This is n mat
ter that haB pestered tho husband
man nnd tho philosopher for ng'oa and
tho Interrogatory la ns pertinent to
day as It was whon 'Shnkcspearo was
a farmer. If tho moon Influences tho
action of tho waters of tho ocean, why
should it not exerclso soino dominion
over tho energy of tho soil?
Ten thousand times ton thousand In
telligent, thrifty, successful farmers
will tell you that they have prollted
by giving respect nnd making note of
this superstition. They have been
governed by It, and when thoy havo
disregarded It they will Bay tho re
sult has proved disastrous.
Shakespeare was endowed with a
wondorful understanding, nt once tele
scopic nnd microscopic. Nothing was
too groat for him to obsorvo and noth
ing too mlnuto for him to disregard
Ho was a successful planter and ho
believed in tho moOu superstition. In
"Trolllua nnd Cressldn," whoro tho
lovor made tho extravagant protesta
tions of his loyalty to bis mistress,
ono of the similes ho drow was:
As truo uh steel, n b plnntngu to tho
Mirion.
As huh to ilny, uh turtlo to hor mate,
As iron to utluiuanl, uh carta to tho
center.
What Is It that could occunv tho liu.
man mind that Shakespearo did not
Investigate and nursuo to Its Inst con.
elusion, If it woro confined to matters
material to the world? Nothing abso
lutely; and If ho advised tho Diamine
of potatoes la the dark of the moon
anil uij laying of a rail fonco worm
in mo ngitt or tho moon nobody Is go
ing to the poorhouso by noting on his
admonition,
"Superstition" Is a very uood thine
to encourage now nnd then especial
ljtho moon part of It In relation to
planting and cultivating.
The Unconquerable Foe.
John IJrighl once described tho va
riety of stage fright with which he
was familiar with tolling nnd quotable
point. Ho was discussing public
speaking with (Jeorgo Dawson, an
eminent Englishman of his dny, when,
according to a paragraph In tho Into
David Christie Murray's "Recollec
tions," ho said:
"Toll me, friend Ooorgo, you havo, I
suppose, as largo an exporlonco in
public speaking as any man In Eng
land. Havo you any acquaintance
with tho old nervous trnmnr?"
"No." Dawson replied, "or If 1 havo
It Is a moro momon,tury qualm, which
Is gone beforo I can renllzo It."
"Now, for my pnrt," said tho great
triimne, "I havo had practlco enough,
hut I havo never risen to address nil
audleiico. largo or small, without n.
porlonclng a slinking nt tho kneos
nnd u soiiBo of n scientific vacuum h.
hind tho walstcont." Youth's Com-
paiilon;
New Arc Lamp.
A patent wns recently Issued for nn
are lamp In whloh uso Is made of a
uiuntlo similar to that of a Wolsbach
gas mantle, whloh surrounds tho arc
and Is heated to Incandescence thoro
by.
A Watermelon Waterloo
By E. DE LANCEY PIER.SON
(Copyright, 1809, by
"Ther 'pears to bo consld'ablo doln
In reel estate In theso pnrts," re
marked Mr. Japes, who began to puff
noisily on bis plpo. Wo had been
trying to got tho old man Interested
In the purchase of town lots In tho
suburbs, but tho cloquenco was
wasted.
"You young fcllors keep away from
It, I tell yo," after n pause. "I oncct
bought n farm through tho papers,
and mebbe my egsporlenco might do
ye a lot of good. Tho property was
located on n steep hill 'bovo tho town
of Crooked Hun, Idyho. Ef they'd
th'owed In n' olovntor, I'd had a bar
gain, for tho groan' wns mighty rich.
I concluded that I'd plant tho hull
ten acres with watermelons, ther' bo-
In consld'ablo call fur slch lnrge
fruit In them pnrts. Wal, Blr, I never
did see slch things fur growln after
they wns sot out. In a week thoy was
big as washttlbs and nporlently was
Jlst gettln' down to business. Tho
Mammoth Mnstodon Iron-Clnd Gold
Medal Melon they wns called, guaran
teed to have as hard shell and keep
as long as n cokynut.
"Whilo tho crap was engaged In
gettln' filled out I'd 'cnslonally sa
shay Inter town to git groceries and
havo my Jug filled. I toll yo that
thcro hill como In mighty handy for
to lean up ng'in' when rcturnln' by
night feolln somo proud!"
Hero the patriarch wagged his head
remorsefully.
"Ono night when 1 was comln' homo
nnd thlnkln' no evil, I runs inter ono
of tho wust windstorms yo ovor see,
but belli' well ballasted I didn't got
rattled none.
"Suddon'y soniethln llko a bar'l
comes n-bowlln' out o nowhnr, nnd
fetches mo a knock that sendB mo to
grnss all spraddled out. 'Fore I
Piles Inter Me, Simultaneous-Like.
knowed whnt luul took mo about a
dozen more of theso ornery objec's,
on'y hoftlcr, sccln' mo at a disadvant
age, piles Inter mo simultaneous
like. Hlcst If tho hull outfit of melons
hadn't slipped ther' moorln's nnd was
bearln' down on mo with tho Inten
tion of ploughlp mo undor tho United
States.
"Ef you mudtortlos kin Imnglno 'tit
yo went to sleep In n bowlln'-alloy
among Hho pins, nnd Jest woko up
whon a tournoytnent was In progress,
yo'll have a faint Ideo how I was fixed
on a Biittln' night In July, 1898.
"I'm pooty good whon It comos to
n run, but I soon seo that I wa'n't In
the sumo class as thorn fruit, which
likewise thoy hnd a good start o mo,
Ther' was ono fellor 'bout tho size
of a watorbutt, I tako It, 'at scorned
tor havo a special grudge ng'ln mo, a
trlppln' of mo up, nnd thon Jumpln' on
mo In tho most onfrlondly way. Thon
I sticks my foot in n ripe one, and
the next thing I remembers was roll
In' down tho hill mixed up with about
a carload of fruit that would havo
.mailo a nigger throw n lit for J'y. A
spell a'tcr soino distinguished citizens
of the placo gathers up my ronmlns
nnd I rotlros from public llfo for somo
two weeks.
"When I was able to open n' oyo
I wns waited on by a commltteo of
promlnont parties of tho town, A'ter
oxprcssln' their dls'p'iiitnient nt find
In' mo nlivo, they porceded to make
remarks cal-lated tor hurt tho foelln's.
Thoy axes mo, among othor things,
would 1 prefer Jumpln' tho town that
night or spcndln' tho dim future In
J. 13. Llpplncott Co.)
cold storngo. From tho looks of theso
geijts I seo thoy would prefer I chooso
tho latter. Natcrally I axes tho chief
of theso he-b'ars wherefore thoy was
so eager to play It dirt on a' orphan,
and thoy oblecglngly shows their
kecrds. It seems 'nt tho night my farm
took to tho rond ther' woro a' enter
tainment In tho basement of the meet-In'-houso
glvo by Tho Lambs o' Zlon
for tho bcnlflt o' stithiu' or other. The
chapel sot at tho bottom o' my hill,
and tho revelry was Interrupted
mighty suddlnt when the front door
busts open an' In sashays 'bout four
dozen o' them lron-clnd watermelons
full o' business and mixes up with tho
company pormlscus. Them what
couldn't git In tho door como tumblln
In th'ough tho winders, which hap
pened to bo open on 'count of tho
warm night. Wal, yo'd Imagined thoy
lied bed special Invertntlons, to soo
tho way they mndo thelrselvcs to
hum.
"Now It happened thoy wns two
cliques 'mong tho Lamlm o' Zlon, nn
whon this fruit Invndes tho placo thoy
each accuses tho othor of puttln' up
tho Job. Words flow back and forth,
nnd soon the melons too. In ton min
nteB I was told tho placo looked llko
a slaughter houso. It must ha' bo'n a
slgbt!
' "Thar1 was ono lady thoro doln' tho
Rebecca at tho well net what got took
bock of tho year by a green 'tin. Horp
sho leaves her duties and disappears.
In tho lomonndo bar'l. Boln' a sour
party, it don'tsweeton her disposition
none. Sho makes onklnd remarks to
the gout whnt Ashed hor out, nnd thoy
exchnnges compliments and other
things. Tho room mennwhflo wns n
lnadln' up. Tho hull ton acros seemed
to have fixed on that mectln' room for
n rondywoo, an' tho sociable folks was
gettln' ter bo anything but social.
"A'tor a spell ther' was a simul
taneous move for tho door, but tho
melons hnd tho right of way on tho
stairs, which tho same was' narrer.
When all did mnnngo to scrunch ther'
way out I hear tho remarks made was
tur'blo, and It wns variously suggested
by Interested pnrtes that burnln' nt
tho stako and bollln' In oil would be
showln' nngcllo mercy to tho cnty
mount that injured their clothes and
feclln's.
"Slch was the theory tho fust citi
zens onloads on me. Thoy fu'thor re
quests mo ter pursue my fnrmln' oper
ations a dozen states away tho fu'ther
tho bettor, Inslnoratln' 'at If I didn't
seo It in that light, a' Improved meth
od of plantin' would bo shown as a'
Illustration of what might bo done
In that line.
"Now tho Ideo!" exclaimed tho pa
triarch, looking around tho room for
sympathy ,with a snort of Indignation,
"blamln' a man 'causo his farm hnd
took to tho rond an' was runnln'
amuck. Novor heerd slch foolish
ness. "They snys I ortor ha knowed not
to plant slch heavy vogotoblo artillery
on a steep hill 'thout chalnln' It down
or glttln a shopherd to watch It by
night with a dog, so's It couldn't git
away and hold up tho town.
" 'Course, I soo It wns no uso to
arglfy with them mushrats, so I
slings my hand and quits tho game.
Since then, gents, I buys no land on
til I gets nil tho p'Ints from tho Inst
foller what squatted thcro."
China Preparing for Census.
China Is preparing to tako a census'
of hor 100,000,000 peoplo. From a cir
cular received In Now York city It ap
pears that tho Job Itself Is to bo a
most thorough ono, nnd thnt nftor
It Is done tho facts and figures aro
to bo kopt protty well up to date.
Ono provision or tho regulations
reiidB: "After tho completion of this
census, nil births, deaths, marriages
and ndoptlons must bo reported by
tho head of the family to tho local
census olllco or police stntlon; tho roc
ords of tho families must bo revised
every two months and rccordB of In
dividuals ovcry six months, nnd re
ports must bo mado nnnually to tho
board of the lntorlor by tho dlroctors
general of tho census from tho vari
ous provinces."
Not a Close Likeness.
"I bollovo thnt In tlmo of peaco a
nation should bo In ono respect llko
a woll-behaved young lndy.
"For goodness' snke, what respect Is
that?"
"Maintaining a proper reserve"
Startled.
"Don't you know what to say when
I glvo you ton cents?" nsked Mr
Tito wad.
"Yes," answered the wnltor; "I
know. Hut I'm too surprised to talk,"
The Probable Reason.
Sho (Innocently) What mado Mr.
Tipple ro oft bo suddenly Inst night'
Ho (rollectlvoly) I rather think It'
wub because ho wna loaded.