1 " 1 . Of
THE MORTGAGE PAID.
Wo ain't havin' many luxuries, Uko city folkscs do,
Wo ain't wearln' all tho latest Btyles an' all our clothes ain't new?
Of our honesty and goodness wo ain't makln no parado,
But we're havln' all wo want to eat an' got tho niortgago paid.
Wo ain't pllln' up a fortune for tho boys to fight about
When our last day's work is over an wo'ro stcppln' down an' out,
But it's good to have succeeded In tho effort that wo nindo
For to keep things runnln' smoothly an' to got the mortgage paid.
Wo have had our sharo of ups and downs, as other people do,
But we've tried to Icoep our spirits up when things wore lookln' bluo;
We'll bo ready for tho ending when tho game of life Is plnyed,
For wo'vo raised tho children best we know and got the mortgage paid.
MIRIAM LESLIE'S PROPOSAL.
f DON'T care if it is unmaldenly,
II I'm going to do It. 1 know the
man loves mo, and what Is leap
year for If It isn't to glvo girls an op
portunity to help out thoHO of tho other
sex Avho don't know how to hell) them
selves? So here hops! He can't more
' than refuse, and ho won't do that; but
Whatever the verdict, I know that
too is too honorable ever to brcntho a
iword of tho affair."
When Miriam Leslie had concluded
tho dellvory of this speech, which had
only Miriam for an altentlvo audience,
ehe sat down at her desk at once and
began to write the letter which she
ihad planned tho night bofore, after
nTrauk Webster hud left tho house. She
(had parted from him with a smllo on
jhor lips, but the smile had lasted only
(long enough for tho door to close upon
Ihim, and as Miriam had entered her
room she had looked far from happy.
She had enjoyed Frank's call; but It
;had ended ns unsatisfactorily as had
all tho others, In that words which
would have niado her happy, and
.Which sho believed had been almost
i upon his lips many times, had again
emalncd unspoken. If the man sho
;loved wouldn't take a hint, ho must
I -be ghon something broader than a
(bint, and when Miriam went to sleep
lit was with the determination to write
a letter on the morrow that oven a
stupid man might understand. Strange-
WITH WEAK VOICK AND FAINT HEART.
ly enough, as sho admitted to herself,
the morning found her mind unchang
ed, with determination llxod to take
advantage of her leap year preroga
tives. The writer of the letter had gone
,over In her mind Its prospective con
sents a number of times, and us a re
sult her editorial revision had "boiled
it down" until it was brief and to tho
point. It ran as follows:
"Dear Frank You have been com
ing to see me for several years, and
the evenings spent together have made
me think how pleasant It would be if
we could go on spending them togeth
er tho rest of our lives. Has the idea
ever occurred to you 7 MIRIAM."
Miss Leslie heard her brother pass
her door, preparatory to starting for
business, and she no longer waited for
the ink to dry, but grabbed a piece of
blotting-paper and the letter was soon
in the hands of her brother, who was
told that' It was important and that it
must be mailed by him whou on the
way to his ofllce. The brother's de
parture was timely, as Miriam had be
gun to weaken in her determination,
and as she gave him the Jotter she said
to herself: "Here's where I don't got
a chance to change my mind." She
did, however, have many changes of
mind through tho day, which seemed
to her one of unusual length. Soon af
ter her brother had left she was tempt
ed to telephone to him to try to get the
nmtM.iw kick i mm in nnsirinipn imr
LI.. L t 1- if 11 ....
ami uusmus uiu ItiqutiSl WOUIU
so her brother to ask a good many
stions which It would be awkward
her to answer, and so the request
s not made.
y the afternoon mull Miriam re
Cflved a letter addressed In the well-
Known nana wri Hug of the young man
to wiiom Hue had proposed. "Is it pos
sible that ho has answered so quick
w&2wsk III,
' f
mi
.-'jW. .i . 3111? umki'li iim'unir iiu unit in i -)
I .1 !..' .V. ....I 1 1. ...
I'll 'lm'iopo in nor Hand, fearing to open
infil H,H '""I ld a little experience us
a writer and knew that quick returns
Vfw UKimllv meant
W thought was thut Frank hurl declined
Ml' v " ' 11 "i Ulilk
)2000
tho honor of bolng hor husband. That
was a mortifying thought In ltsolf, and
tho continuation of the train of thought
suggested by tho comparison of her of
fer with the manuscript was not a
comforting one.
Sho had offered herself, oven as she
had been wont to submit a story or
poem to an editor. Tho only consola
tion sho could got out of tho compari
son was found in tho thought that she
wasn't exactly placing herself on the
market, as If ouo editor, Frank Web
ster, by name, declined, sho wouldn't
offer herself to another.
When Miss Leslie thought to look
at tho postmark she was convinced
that the letter had been mailed before
Frank could have received her letter.
With trembling lingers, this maiden,
who had had so much courage a few
hours bofore, opened tho envelope and
read as follows:
"My Dear Miriam I , see you so of
ten that it seems cowardly to write
what I might speak; but, although
many times when in your presence 1
have tried to say certain words, cour
ago has always failod me. Resolu
tions made when alouo have not been
Kept wnen i round myself by your
side.
"I think you know what has been in
my heart for n long time, and I have
occasionally felt that you cared for
mo; but if you have, you have never
made the least attempt to help mo out,
I should have forgiven you If you ha;
made it eusier for me, and should have
blessed you for having done so, and
yet, after all, dour, I love you all the
more for your womanly reserve, and
have always contrasted It with the
actions of some of your sex, who seem
over ready to say, 'This is so sudden!'
I hope, dear, that you do care enough
for me, or feel that you can caro
enough some day, to make me the hap
piest man on earth. I know they all
say thut; but forgive my lack of or-
iglnallty, and remember that thero Is
something original about my statement
as I really mean that on tho day
you say you will be my wife I shall bo
happier than anybody in this or any
other neighborhood.
"Don't answer this letter in a hurry,
unless you can at once reply to my
question: 'Will you be my wife?' by
saying 'Yes.' If you can send that an
swer I shall have no cause to com
plain of your haste. But I feel that I
must have the right answer to my
question, and If you cannot give it at
once, 1 want you to tako all the time
that you need In order that you may
arrive at the favorable verdict so nec
essary to my happiness.
"It Is hardly necessary to say that I
shall not call again bofore receiving
your reply; but when you say tho word
'Come!' it will not take any crreat
length of time for mo to accept the
welcome Invitation. I hope that you
will be able to say that word. Yours,
with love, FRANK."
Miss Leslie's mingled feelings of mis
ery and Joy when she read the letter
may bo imagined. "Why did I write
that miserable letter? Why didn't I
give him one more day after all these
years? Oh, why wasn't I too sick to
got up this morning?" were some of
the questions that tho poor girl asked
hersolf, when tho feelings of misery
were in control, as they wore during
nearly all the rest of tho afternoon, the
happiness which sho had felt for a
short time giving way under the Inilu
enco of the thought that she might
have been happy without the loss of
her self-respect.
"But, perhaps, thero Is yet a chance
to save It," thought Miriam, as once
more came to her' mind thut friend of
mankind and womankind, the much
abused and misunderstood telephone.
She would try to get Frank at his of
llce, and if by any chance he had not
received It, she would make him prom
ise to return it without reading. But
she realized that tho hope was a faint
one, as there was almost no chance
that tho letter had not been received,
und if he had received it well, she
would like to see him leave a letters
of her's unopened for more than a
minute! And so this contradictory wo
man went to the telephone Avlth a
weak voice and a faint heart, hoping
agulust hope thut Frank had been
away from the ofllce. and that the let-
ter had arrived In ills absence
The
reply to hor Inquiry for Mr. Webster
gavo hor momentary comfort, as sho
wna told that ho was out, but when
sho asked further questions sho learn
ed that ho had boon at tho olllco until
a fow minutes boforo tho tlmo of hor
tolophono call. As sho huug up tho
receiver Miriam said to hersolf, with a
sad sndlo, that sho wished sho could
hang horself as easily.
Tho next half hour was ono of tho
most miserable that tho girl had ever
spout. Sho again read hor lover's let
ter; but Instead of finding any com
fort for her troubles tho reading only
added to hor misery. "Ho thought mo
so modest and womanly and contrast
ed my fonduct with that of others who
wore not so modostl But what does
ho think now that ho has read my lot-
tor? Modest girls don't proposo to
men, even If tho men huvon't ncrvo
enough to propose themselves."
Miriam was still in a most unhappy
frame of mind when lior brother re
turned at night from business. Ho had
a shame-faced look as ho approached
hor.
"I'm sorry, sis, after all you said
about tho Importance of that letter;
but well, l'vo had an awful busy day
of It and I forgot to mall it. Hero
it is."
Her arms wore around his nock In
an instant. "You dear, darling, forget
ful, absent-minded brother!" alio cried,
as he looked at her In amazement
"Now that you havo forgotten to mail
the letter, just forget another thing;
forget that I asked you to mall It"
And tho brother, who dearly loved
Miriam, and know from her earnest
ness that it was important to her that
he should say nothing about the lot
ter, kept her secret faithfully. But ho
marveled as tho days wont by at her
continued sweetness to hlin, until sho
told him of her engagement, and then
ho explained the problem to himself
by saying that there was nothing like
requited love to change a woman's dis
position. And to this day Miriam's
brother believes that her happiness in
loving and being loved saved him from
a scolding tho day ho forgot to mail
her letter. Mklam has been married
for ten years, and In all that tlmo has
kept only ono thing from her husband.
That Is the dark secret of the letter
that her brother forgot to mail. New
Tribune.
HARD RIDING IN NORTHWEST.
llulfbrccil Who Jlmle 120 Miles lu
Ten IIoui-H.
"You people who came hero since
tho railroads were built have an idea
that wo used to have a bad time of
it in getting about Washington Terri
tory," said tho old-timer the other
day. "That's where you are wrong.
Distances were no greater than they
are now. True, wo didn't always go
so fast as you do now, but we made
speed that would astonish you.
; "I remember one trip an old friend
of mine made, a big cattle man from
Kittitas County, afterward tho owner
of considerable property in Seattle. His
divorced wife was living here, and sho
took It into her head to go after him
through the courts for non-payment of
alimony. There were a number of rea
sons why he shouldn't pay, but he
didn't caro to stay hero and argue It
out with the court, so, getting a tip
on what was doing, he decided to go
back to tho cattle In Kittitas. About
0 o'clock ono evoning, accompanied
by his horse wrangler, who happened
to bo here with him, lie struck out
horseback for Eliensburg. The two
rode all night it was in midsummer
and at the full of the moon and the
next morning they ate breakfast in
Eliensburg 100 miles away. And they
didn't think It was much of a ride at
that.
"Rides? Why, I could talk all day
about rides In those days. Ono of
the best ever done In the territory,
however, was that by a young half
breed during the Ness I'erces uprising
of 1877. When Joseph went out with
his band one of the first things thoy
did was to cut the military telegraph
between Fort Lapwni up the Clear
water river from Lewlston and Walla
Walla. Fort Lapwal wanted to send
dispatches to Gen. Howard at the post
at Walla Walla, and wanted to send
them bad. At that time nearly all the
Indians on the reservation had a half
breed or at least one pretty good horse
In his riding string. This particular
young half-breed boy had an extra
good one, and ho was selected to carry
the dispatches, being a reliable and
faithful follow. Well, he rode through
to Walla Walla In ten hours, a distance
of 120 miles, and during the ride lie
never slowed down from a gallop.
That was In midsummer, and If you
ever have been In that Snake river
region at this season of the year you
can imagine that was some riding."
Seattle Post-Intelllgencer.
Gotttntr Kvon.
Slim That dentist Is an old enemy
of mine, but I had to go to him, it was
a case of emergency. Though 1 think
he needn't havo rubbed it in so!
Jlm-AVhatdldbedo?
Slim When I asked him if he'd pull
my tooth, he said "with pleasure!"
Detroit Free Press.
After a girl passes 18, siic can't take
so much as awweek off her age by
weaniuc ur hair down- u:r badt. 4
""T-
If r s&Wf I
, zzz
Soapstono Is now fused by tho oxy-
hydrogen flamo Into a clear glass. This
can bo drawn Into very lino fibers,
which havo all tho advantages of tho
quartz fibers used for delicate suspen
sions, and Is likely to provo othorwlso
serviceable.
Nearly 12,000,000 tons of coal per
year are now saved, acordlng to tho
cstlnmtos of A. A. Campbell Swlnlon,
by tho uso of water power for tho pro
duction of olcclrlclty. Statistics col
lected by him show that up to last Au
gust about 1,500,000 horse power for
electrical work was being gonoratcd
from water power, and of this total
nearly one-third belonged to tho United
States. In Euglnnd only 12,000 horse
power is thus developed.
That somo of tho lower vortobrates
possess a souso unknown to us has
been made evident by tho prolonged ob-
sorvatlons of M. Werner, a naturalist
of Vienna. Not less than 1B0 Individ
uals, one-third of thorn at liberty, havo
been studied, and It has boon made cer
tain that reptiles and amphibians are
so strongly attracted by water that
thoy go straight toward It, oven though
bo so far away that no sense known
to man can dotect It The now sense
Is supposed to dopond upon some kind
of chemical attraction, though how It
acts and on what part of tho body are
mysteries.
Students of the science of tho weath
er are giving greater' attention than
formerly to tho phenomena of the at
mosphere high above tho earth's sur
face. Explorations of the upper air
with kites and balloons havo had re
sults which have mado evident onco
more the great value of mountain ob
servatories. The Weather Bureau Is
now planning a great center of meteor
ological research to be placed on Mount
Weather, In the Bluo Ridge mountains,
six miles from Blucmont Va. A new
theory of tho nature of cyclones and
antl-cyclones Is expected to result from
the Investigations now going on.
The increasing demand for platinum,
particularly for uso in tho manufac
ture of gas mantles, has led to tho in
vention of a process of saving tho lino
powdery grains of this metal found
iu tho gold plncer deposits of southern
Oregon and elsewhere. The platinum,
being In n state of very fine division,
almost In the form of dust, will not set
tle In a placer sluice so long as the
water is briskly stirred. After the
metal-bearing water has passed over
a rlllle table, on which nearly all the
gold settles, It Is drawn more slowly
over a coco-mat rlllle, on which the
platinum settles, and Is then collected
by rinsing the coco-mats over tanks.
Formerly tho platinum was all wasted,
at first because Its Identity was not
recognized, and afterward becauso no
process was then known for saving It
In order to counteract tho opinion
that the Amazon Valley offers favora
ble opportunities for Investment and
settlement, our consul at Para, Louis
11. Aymo, sends to tho Department of
Commorce a discouraging picture of
the conditions that new colonists In
that part of tho world would havo to
face. The banks of tho vast river and
Its tributaries are Hat and swampy,
and the tangled forest Invades tho
edges of the streams. Expanses Unit
look like fertile meadows are composed
of green ooze, In which the capybara,
or tapir, wade more than knee deep.
The extraordinary forests do contain
many kinds of precious woods, the
most valuable In tho world, but those
trees are scattered and hard to get at.
There are almost no markets, and no
wavs to reach markets. The food sup
ply Is neither varied nor abundant
TRAMPS IN SWITZERLAND.
Vatfranta Who Wont Work Aro Scut
to Prison.
The leading citizens of one of tho
townships In a county adjoining Phil
adelphia, which suffers from the In
vasion of city vagabonds and other ho
boes, have organized for the purpose
of executing the anti-tramp law, says
the Philadelphia Ledger. The example
Is pruisoworthy. If the society Is ac
tive In Its field, the nuisance will soon
be abated. Iu trampdom bad news
travels swiftly. The places that aro to
be shunned are soon known to the fra
ternity of work-shirkers. The mere
existence of the anti-tramp association
will probably check the tramp Invasion
to some extent, but arrests and Impris
onment the vigorous, persistent en
forcement of tho law are necessary
for the removal of tho evil and often
terror of the countryside. No law Is
self-executive. Tramps prevail in coun
try townships because the statute pro
viding for their suppression is allowed
to slumber. Constables arc fow and
far between. There Is no Stato con
stabulary to patrol tho highways. Cit
izens must, therefore, become detect
ives and make arrests, as thoy aro em
powered to do under tho law in this
case. Neighborhood organization, In
tended to bring a large body of citi
zens together to glvo vitality to tho
anti-tramp law a rural law and or
der society to make gooi the doll-
I clency and inefficiency of the ordlimry
meager pollca establishment Is atxratj
all that can be dOno to cope with th'
troublo In an offectivo way In tbef
present stato of local government in
small communities.
Tho treatment of tho professional,
tramp is a matter of world-wldo con
corn. Parhaps Switzerland has mado
a noaror approach to a satisfactory so
lution of tho problem than any other
country. From a report mado by H.
Proston Thomas, an Inspector of tho
English local government bvard, on
tho molhods of dcnllng with vagrancy
In Switzerland, it appears that a plan
has been dovlscd for distinguishing tho
honest soarchor for work and tho pro
fessional trump, which has dono much
for the elimination of the beggar from
that country, If an able-bodied man
s without means and Is genuinely In
search of work, and his "papers" are
n order, ho is supplied by tho police,
or tl.-o International Cantonal Union,
with rood and lodging, and will, if
possible, have work given him. If
ho cannot obtain any, he is passed os
to tho next town, to a rollof station, t
his own district, or to tho frontier. If
It Is decided that ho is "work-shy," in
tho exprcsslvo Swiss vernacular, ho i
sent for from three months to twa
years to n forced labor institution.
It has been found that certificates oi
origin and of discharge from work,
which tho logltimato wdrk-sookor can
possess In Switzerland, materially help
In tho Identification of tho professional
tramp. By means of the system ot
identification of tho Inter Cantonal
Union, represented In fourteou out of
twonty-two cantons, valuablo assist
ance is rendered tho authorities. Tho
union Issues a traveler's rollof book,,
with which real workmen can travel!
all over tho country and bo fed and
clothed until work Ib found for thom;
but the Inveterate beggars and thai
"work-shy" aro turned over to tho au
thorities for punishment. Switzerland
Is a country of small Jurisdictions. Tho
system described may not bo prac
ticable In this expansive country, and
resort must bo had to other methods.
Tho Pennsylvania statuto for tho sup
pression of tho professional tramp will
bo found Directive wherovor It Is en
ergetically applied.
ANOTHER NEW CULT.
Chicago Girl Found a Religion Wlilcb
She Call Scientific ClirlMtlanlty.
Another religious cult which Its
foundress calls Scientific Christianity
has been born In Chicago and already
Itccordlng to tho.
young woman who
has evolved It It
claims 1,500 adher
ents. Tho young
woman la Mabel
A. Jackman. It la
not easy to tell
what S 0 1 0 n ti fio
Ohrlstlir ly Is. It
seems to a mix
ture of (':t'!.stlan
Science and tho
M.UIi.l, A. JACKMAN 8nJvuton A ,. m y (
with a few frills of John Alexander
Dowle thrown In. The home of tno
now cult Is a former Methodist church,
which was gutted by lire somo tlmo
ago and which came into tho posses
sion of the now society recently. This
church Miss Jackman calls Paradise,
whilo sho Assumes the title of tho
Shepherdess of Paradise. Connected
with the church Is a small printing
olllce whero Miss Jackman Issues a
weokly publication devoted to hor pe
culiar religious views. It costs a new
member $2 to Join tho now church,
while monthly dues of $2 aro supposed
to bo paid afterwards.
Like the Christian Scientists tin
members of tho new cult claim tlw
power of healing the sick and allllctod,
Miss Jackman Intends creating a now
city to be known as Paradise, In which
there will be no saloons, no gambling,
no vice, no cigar stores and no politics,
Her movement she says, will sweeu
tho world clear of sin and distress.
Between Zlon on ono sldo and Para
disc entering upon Its great carcor os
the other tho peoplo of Chicago should
bo happy. Utlca Globe.
Ito! and Green Snow.
At various times it Is recorded thai
thero has been "blood on the face 01
tho moon." Some old chronicles tel
of showers of blood, which, however
are not well authenticated. Tin
"bloody snow," on the other hand, Ii
an actual thing. Snow Is sometlmei
found In polar and Alpine regions
whore It lies unmelted from year ti
year, and the annual fall Is small
colored red by tho presence of lnnuim
ernblo small red plants. In Its nativ
stato the plant consists of brilliant red
globules on a gelatinous muss. Red
snow whs observed by tho ancients, a
passage in Aristotle referring to lb
but It attracted little or no attention
until 1700, when Saussure observed b
In the Alps and concluded that It wui
duo to tho pollen of a plant. It waa
also noticed by tho Arctic expedition
under Captain Ross on Baffin's Buy
shore on a range of cliffs, the red
color penotratlcg lo the depth of 12
feet. Less frequent a giouii growth
of snow.
Every one admits thut rich peopia
are not happlor limn hot jj.mr. or 11s
happy, yet every one U r-ii'U'iug to he
come one of the mhu imI !o rich,